The Konoha Community and Cultural Centre was a rather nondescript building, tucked a few street corners away from the Hokage Residence in the town centre. The entrance hall's walls were adorned with artwork created by the village's children, and a large billboard stood beside the doorway, its surface crowded with notices for upcoming events, fairs and festivals, opportunities for volunteering and all manner of announcements.
But tonight, the building had been cleared of civilians, and all regularly scheduled events had been cancelled for an emergency session of the Jōnin's Assembly. By now, word of the Fifth Hokage's hospitalisation and of fellow Jōnin Asuma's death had travelled far and wide, so there was little doubt in anyone's mind as they filed into the main hall as to what this gathering would concern.
"Kakashi," said Guy, giving him a nod as Team 7 stepped into the building.
Evidently, he'd been waiting for them by the entrance.
"Guy," replied Kakashi, returning the nod.
Sakura gave Tenten a sideways glance. The bun-haired girl lingered at her sensei's side, looking rather lost, and Sakura couldn't help feeling a pang of sympathy for her. But more than that, she couldn't begin to grasp the depth of the grief Guy and Kakashi must be carrying. Asuma had been their classmate and had stood beside them throughout their careers, save for his brief stint as the Daimyō's bodyguard…
Together with Guy and Tenten, Sakura and the others entered the main hall, which was not nearly as full as she had imagined. Without counting, she reckoned there could not be much more than fifty people gathered there. Even allowing for those away on missions, the number of fully fledged Jōnin was strikingly low. After all, the Hidden Leaf had just under twenty thousand shinobi in its standing forces…
Standing on tiptoes, Sakura looked over Kakashi's shoulder at the stage at the far end of the room. Shikaku, Shikamaru's father and the Jōnin commander, stood there. The three elderly members of the Konoha Council— Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu— sat in a row behind him and to his left.
They were the fortunate ones, with chairs, while everyone else had to stand.
"Before we begin, allow me to address some of the concerns I've been hearing this evening," said Shikaku, his voice carrying across the room. "Doctor Shinnō assures me that the Lady Fifth is expected to make a full recovery, though he cannot say with certainty when she will awaken from her coma."
The room rumbled with low sighs of relief.
"In the meantime, I would ask you all to refrain from leaving the village, so that it may remain properly protected," Shikaku continued. "Until the investigation unit can determine whether the Hidden Stone is truly behind this assassination attempt, or if it is a false flag operation by a third party, I propose that we establish an information blackout and impose restrictions on movement in and out of the village."
That sounded reasonable to Sakura, and judging by the murmurs of approval, the other Jōnin also seemed to think that was the case.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Suddenly, the sound of Danzō's cane rhythmically tapping the ground echoed across the room. Taken aback, Shikaku glanced behind him and looked at the old man incredulously.
"Was there something you wished to add, Lord Danzō?"
Leaning on his cane, Danzō pushed himself to his feet. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the front of the stage, until he was standing side by side with the Jōnin commander.
"Don't you see? It is the weak-willed policies of the Lord Third, which his disciple the Lady Fifth upheld, that have brought us to this deplorable state of affairs," he said, smiling faintly at the assembly before him. "Year by year, the Hidden Leaf's military budget shrinks, and our eyes abroad are blinded one by one. Had the leadership projected strength instead of extending the hand of friendship, the Hidden Sand would never have dared to mistake our desire for peace for weakness and abandon our alliance, and the cowards of the Hidden Stone would never have attempted to assassinate our Hokage!"
"We cannot be yet certain that it was the Hidden Stone," Shikaku interjected.
Danzō ignored him.
"As usual, Jiraiya is nowhere to be found, and if your so-called doctor is to be believed, the Fifth will not awaken any time soon," he proclaimed loudly. "I have just received a telegraph from the capital! The Daimyō of the Land of Fire has already accepted my proposal to be appointed acting Hokage, until such time as the Fifth emerges from her coma!"
"Is this true?" said Shikaku, aghast, as he read the telegram slip that Danzō had just handed to him. "Why wasn't I notified beforehand!?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Danzō coolly. "While you were all running around like headless chickens, I did what had to be done for the good of the village."
Sakura looked on numbly as Danzō and Shikaku continued arguing on stage. She somewhat remembered that Danzō had once tried to assassinate the Third Hokage, but that the old man had shown leniency to his old friend and allowed him to continue serving the village.
If Danzō had done it once, then why not twice?
Sakura was now certain that Danzō was behind the assassination attempt, yet she could not fathom what had given him the confidence to gamble in ways he had never dared in the original timeline. And then it hit her: hadn't she also guessed that Danzō had been behind the monster that had flattened Tanimagakure?
If that had been a test run, then it had passed with flying colours!
The only difference between this timeline and the original was that, in the original, Danzō had never had the perfect testing grounds to experiment without the other Five Great Villages catching wind of his ace in the hole… at least before he could strike and decapitate all four of the others at once!
"Retreating into our shells like helpless turtles is not what we ought to be doing!" Danzō declared passionately. "The time has come for us to strike at our foes directly, rather than passively waiting to counterattack! As my first act as Hokage, I—"
Boom.
Danzō's voice faltered as the distant rumble of explosions reached his ears. The ground shuddered, sending motes of dust tumbling from the ceiling as the detonations grew louder.
"Enemy attack!" roared Kakashi. "Everyone out, now!"