Chapter 11: Foolish Actions
"Hold your horses Uzumaki Naruto!" a voice called making Naruto stop. He turned to his left and saw a group of academy teachers jogging towards him irritancy and hatred evident in their faces mostly in their eyes.
'Heh, they must be the new ones here. No wonder they are not showing any respect towards me' Naruto thought chuckling a little. The teachers stopped right at front of the blonde boy and heard his light laugh. They wondered to themselves about the funny thing Naruto was laughing at. Nevertheless, they narrowed their eyes even more.
"You have no reason to laugh, young man and definitely, you have no reason to just walk away from here. Would you just look around and see the destruction you've caused?" Mizuki said opening his right palm towards the surroundings. Being the most talkative, free willed and the one holding the most hatred towards Naruto, he will be always the first one to talk harshly towards the demon child.
Naruto looked around him and definitely the damage done not only to the schoolyards but also to the walls as well as the main building is undeniable. Some parts of the walls had crumbled and the entrance to the academy is widened due to Naruto deflecting Sasuke's first Katon jutsu. Craters also littered the entire schoolyard though they are not so big; they are not so small either.
The main academy building, though not the one that's most wrecked, seemed to be the one to be the most damaged being the most significant infrastructure in the academy. Three holes each as big as an adult German shepherd (It's not like there's no dog resembling a German shepherd in the Naruto world, right?) were punctured on three of the building's supporting pillars though thankfully they are not enough to make the building shake neither enough to make it crumble in a medium earthquake. A classroom on the first floor was also almost hit and burned to a crisp by a stray fireball. Thankfully, the fireball hit the windowsill instead indicated by the shattered glasses lying around and by the irregular hole just below where the windows should be.
But probably the biggest attraction and the biggest damage was the crater where Naruto was standing in its center during the entire duration of his fight with Sasuke. He was exactly standing on the undamaged part of the ground which is still standing firm in the center of the crater. It was like a tower that was built as a marker or remembrance in the center of a crater created by a meteor which fell out of the sky.
"How are you going to pay responsibility for all of this damaged that you caused?" Mizuki asked again.
"Oh don't worry, Mizuki-sensei" Naruto replied his voice as casual as ever but turning into sarcasm in the word sensei. He was thankful since Mizuki or any of the teachers didn't caught it
"I will pay half of the price needed to repair all of this wreckage. I saved a lot of money for the pass few years just incase an emergency occurred but I didn't expect to use it in something like this" he continued while looking around reevaluating the damage.
"Only half of the price? You should pay for the whole damn repairs!" Mizuki responded like correcting the blonde's sentence. His accompanying teachers nodded in agreement.
"Pay for all of it?! You must be retarded! I'm not the one who shot all of those fireballs!" Naruto countered with a raised eyebrow and an expression on the face which seemed to ask the teachers 'Are you all idiots?'
"You are the one who deflected all of those fireballs towards the academy's infrastructures" Mizuki countered back.
"I have nothing to deflect if Sasuke didn't shoot those fireballs. I will only pay for one half and you should make him pay for the other. He's an Uchiha so therefore, he's a definite rich kid also hence, and he will have no problem in paying half of it. Heck, he will have no problem in paying all of it!" Naruto replied back.
"You provoke him into a fight thus forcing him to use Katon jutsus that you were forced to deflect. And why did you choose to deflect it instead of evading it or letting all of those fireballs hit you? This village is better of without a demon like you!" Mizuki said finally loosing a bit of his sanity from so much hatred he had.
"That's not the right way to talk to a kid like me especially to a fellow shinobi" Naruto talked back seriousness filling his tone and face but he became casual again upon continuing to speak.
"Look here. First, I was only trying to make him talk to us with our other teammate, Haruno Sakura, so that we can learn something more with each other. Second, it's his fault that he gets provoke so easily by just a few words. I mean seriously, what did you guys teach him before he graduated? How he should look down on all people around him? How he should be treating everyone like bloody insects and inferior to him? He's practically doing exactly that. For him, none of us is significant and you…" he said pointing at the teachers.
"are none of the exceptions because you are definitely included. I'm sure you are insightful enough to see his arrogance since it's far too goddamn BIG to be ignored so easily even if you are looking up to him. You did become his teachers after all for more or less five years."
The academy teachers gritted their teeth becoming more annoyed and more annoyed at the blonde boy's words. However, they just can't help but release the tension on their shoulders not because they want to but because they realized that he was right. They have to admit to themselves that he was right. Everything that he said was right. And it is all proven by their experiences during the entire duration of Sasuke's stay in the academy.
For a long five years, none of the academy teachers were called sensei by Sasuke. Heck, none of them get any respect from him. He only treated them as sources of knowledge, sources of strength, sources of power and he shall use that knowledge, that strength, that power for revenge. It doesn't take a genius to know what Sasuke's intentions are in his life. He was after all, only an eight year old child when he witnessed his entire family, his entire clan to be wiped out right in the very front of his eyes. And that young of a child is easily traumatized and easily moved, easily carried, easily dictated by his emotions, his sorrows, his anger. Those emotions, those sorrows, those anger shall give him but only one goal in life, vengeance.
Yes, the great Uchiha Sasuke treated them like materials, like things, like objects that when they have no use for him, he will just throw them away and ignore them like trash. Yet none of them pay any heed to this abuse, to this discrimination. Heck none of noticed that they are abused, that they are discriminated. It's their own fault anyway since they are looking at him as a very high individual being the only one to survive the Uchiha clan's massacre, being the only one they see as hope that will raise the clan again, that will raise Konoha again to its former strength, to its former power, to its former glory. Being rare after all, is being precious thus the reason for the pampering.
These are the things that the teachers didn't notice in Uchiha Sasuke even though they are his teachers for the last five years. Yet Uzumaki Naruto immediately saw it in one glance. They were asking themselves, how could he do that?
"I see now that you are seeing what you should have seen before all of these. But don't worry for you are not the only ones at fault for pampering the Uchiha. You are with the entire of this village" Naruto spoke again turning around to face everyone who were still watching all wearing the same looks of worry for their precious Uchiha and the same looks of hatred for the demon boy, namely him.
The teachers' minds momentarily came back to the world of the living as Naruto's words made them remember their seniors' advices to them.
'The boy is not really dangerous but if you really can't see him that way, it doesn't really matter. He his not only strong and intelligent but also wise and insightful very much like an old man. Perhaps it's because of the treatment he received and is receiving from the villagers and from us, of course. Perhaps, no, that definitely made him so mature for that young age of his. At least you should see him under that light.'
Indeed, they were right like they always were they have to admit. They gave out a deep breath before speaking again.
"Alright, we got your point now, boy" the man to Mizuki's right spoke.
"But still, just paying fro the damaged you have done is not enough. You two shall be subjected to disciplinary actions for starting such a meaningless fight. Your jounin instructor should be the one doing this but since your meeting is still this coming noon, we shall take over temporarily and take you the Hokage's office" the man to Mizuki's left said and started to walk towards the still panting Sasuke.
"There's really no need for you to do that since I'm already here" an aging voice said coming from the academy gates. They turned to the source of the voice and saw Sandaime Hokage walking casually towards them while looking at damage attained by the academy.
"Jeez, this place sure became a mess" he mentioned just as he approaches the teachers small group.
"Hokage-sama" the teachers called out bowing respectfully at Konoha's leader.
"I overheard your words that you are taking Naruto and Sasuke to my office and seeing what had happened here, I believe I don't have to be oriented of the reasons" the Hokage said while still looking around
"I'm leaving the disciplinary actions to their jounin instructor since there's only about three more hours before they meet him. And about the payment for the repairs here, if the two boys are willing to pay for it using the money they have then they shall be allowed. If they are not then I'll just have to take away thirty percent off the payment they will receive for every mission that they will accomplish. That will be until the whole cost for the repairs are paid."
"You two do hear me, right?" the Hokage asked the two boys making his voice a bit louder for Sasuke to hear.
"Yeah, yeah, I get you" was Naruto's response waving his right hand at his front. The Hokage looked at Sasuke asking for his reply but no words were muttered from his mouth nor were movements made by his head for he was too tired to speak or even shake his head. However, his face did hold a look of confirmation making the Hokage nod in understanding.
"Call in one or two medic nins to check on Sasuke" the Hokage ordered the teacher nearest to the Uchiha.
"Isn't it better that I carry him to the hospital, Hokage-sama?" the teacher asked.
"Sure, that is if you can" the Hokage replied seemingly reminding him about Sasuke's outlook to him and his fellow teachers that Naruto told them about earlier.
'Damn it! Why did that boy have to tell us about that? This makes things harder for us in approaching Sasuke' the teacher thought gritting his teeth a little in slight annoyance about Naruto's wisdom and disappointment in Sasuke's attitude. In the end, he only managed to stifle a nod before blurring out of sight only to come back a little while later with two medic nins in tow.
Now right after he disappeared to fetch the medic nins, Naruto walked towards the Hokage and dragged him away to a distance great enough for anyone not to hear what he wanted to say. But he did only talk in a light voice just in case that someone in the place had ears sharp enough to hear their words.
"Let our jounin instructor give us the disciplinary actions, huh? Like anyone in this village have any plans in disciplining Sasuke but they do have plans in disciplining me. Big time that is" Naruto said.
"I know what you mean, Naruto-kun. That's why I already prepared a displinary action of my own for you two and you'll know that pretty soon enough" the Hokage replied with a light chuckle reminiscing of his plans for the two boys.
Naruto, being able to read minds, widened his eyes a little from what the Hokage was planning.
'This old man surely knows the punishment fitting to anyone' he thought and narrowed his eyes back.
"For now, Naruto-kun, I suggest you not to approach Sasuke until you or your jounin instructor thinks that it is okay. His pride was severely wounded by that fight and will most likely challenge you to another fight. Your other teammate, Sakura, may be involved as well and since it's her, she'll surely get involved."
"Speaking of your other teammate, it will also be wise if you don't approach her as well. She may be smart but she's also the greatest of Sasuke's fan girls. His defeat might have already affected her just as bad and as much as he did" the Hokage advised.
"So you are actually considering sacrificing our future harmony and teamwork for that Uchiha's arrogance and pride?" Naruto asked narrowing his eyes.
"I'm giving you this advice for you three's future harmony and teamwork. Listen, harmony and teamwork will never form between teammates if they hate each other just like in the case of you three" the Hokage replied before asking.
"Do you get me?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's pretty easy to get" Naruto replied.
Mizuki, however, didn't keep away his suspicious glare at Naruto. He did really have the greatest hatred for the boy and the least affected by his wise words. Only a little part of him was worried that Sasuke was only treating him like trash. It was so small that it was easily neglected. The larger part of him still believes, still trusts, and still admires what he considered the great Uchiha. He believed that what Naruto had just said was merely a diversionary tactic for him to escape punishment or on a larger scale, an influential speech that will make everyone side with him. So when Naruto and the Hokage finished their conversation and the latter started to walk away, Mizuki followed up to him to discuss matters he had in mind.
"Hokage-sama, are you really serious about giving Sasuke the disciplinary actions that he shouldn't receive?" he asked.
"I thought I already told you that I'm leaving that matter to their jounin instructor" the Hokage replied as if trying to evade the question.
"That's not what I meant, Hokage-sama. I mean Sasuke shouldn't be punished for the incident that occurred here. It's that dem… I mean Naruto that should be punished solely. He's the true reason why this commotion broke out!" Mizuki pushed his want.
"Naruto did say that he only want to know something about Sasuke, right? And being the antisocial and arrogant boy that he is, maybe Sasuke said something that made Naruto provoke him to fight" the Hokage replied.
"Maybe?" Mizuki implied the word that he thought the Hokage shouldn't have said.
"Yes, maybe but not just it, most probably. You know Sasuke's attitude" the Hokage replied before continuing.
"Besides, Sasuke is already a shinobi and I know he learned from you that shinobis should not be provoked by their enemies' words for that will merely blind their sense of judgement and dull their skills. Therefore, all that had happened here is partially Sasuke's fault."
"The same principle applies to you too, Mizuki-kun. But in your case, you shouldn't be provoked and be affected by you emotions, specifically your hatred, in making decisions. Use your logical thinking more" the Hokage finished in the form of an advice before finally walking away from the academy.
Mizuki gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists annoyed on what he observed to be diminishing hatred Naruto was getting. Nonetheless, he forced upon a wicked smirk on his lips thinking of a good way of executing his plan, a plan that he guaranteed to succeed.
'Nevertheless, my plan for tonight will never change and things are going according to my favor' he thought and chuckled lightly enough for anyone not to hear it.
(-------------)
Ten in the morning, just about an hour after the commotion Naruto and Sasuke had caused in the academy. Quite unbelievably, things were quiet and peaceful unlike what most expected to be chaos caused this time by the collision of Naruto and Sasuke's fans club. Luckily they are more focused in following their respective idols rather than bang their heads with each other. This gave Sasuke more problems than just mere chakra exhaustion as his fan girls are fighting over each other in who should take care of him until he recovers. So far this is the only rumble occurring in Konoha and it is small enough to be neglected easily.
Speaking of Sasuke, the medic nins who took care of him were merciful enough to give him a couple of shots of soldier pills for his chakra to recover instantly so that he can run his ass away from his fans club. The medic nins, however, hoped that the soldier pills gave Sasuke enough chakra to run for at least two more hours.
The other graduates were obedient enough to follow Iruka's advice of bonding with their respective teammates. Some of them, however, got bored out of their wits easily and just decided to go on to their individual stuff. They will just have to meet later at noontime when their assigned jounin instructor will arrive to fetch them.
Naruto also followed the Hokage's advice of not associating with his teammates for now. This left him with nothing to do for a freaking three longs hours therefore, just as expected, he was bored out of his mind. He actually envied Sasuke since he got something to do even though it's just running away from his fan girls. Fortunately or unfortunately for Naruto, his own fans club was just newly established therefore the members were still shy to approach him hence the absence of another chase.
'Maybe I should go and associate with them' Naruto thought considering what he shouldn't actually do.
'Nah, that shouldn't be considered as it will only cause more complicated problems in the future' he thought giving up the idea after realizing that he might end up like Sasuke or possibly even worse.
'Then what should I do to kill time?' he asked himself reminiscing.
With the reishi (spirit sight), Naruto heard two individuals talking on top of the Hokage monument while passing by. Both of them possessed distinctive minds filled with nothing but despise and wickedness. The only difference between them was their ages and the level of darkness possessing them. But the bewildering thing is that the younger one's mind was more wicked than the elder one.
Naruto recognized that these two minds were so familiar so he decided to eavesdrop. After all, eavesdropping on people who have such minds is not wrong. It's compulsory. Who knows what kinds of hellish plans these kinds of people are devising? Preventing their evil intentions starts with learning what they are intending to do.
Naruto crawled stealthily up at the back of the Hokage monument and found a nice place to eavesdrop. His luck was quite plenty that day since he also got a good view of the two individuals talking. He confirmed one of the two to be one of the academy teachers, Mizuki, and the other one to be his teammate, Sasuke.
'Eh? That's definitely them alright. They are the only ones in this village who possess those kinds of mind patterns. I wonder what they are talking about' Naruto thought and focused more on using the reishi.
"Sasuke, your fight with Naruto was certainly pathetic" Mizuki said trying to anger to anger the Uchiha.
"Is that the only reason why you saved me from those stupid girls who know nothing but fawn on me? Is your only intention is to insult me, huh Mizuki?" Sasuke replied rudely. His lack of respect for his former teacher was undeniable from his tone.
"No, Sasuke, that's not what I want. I only want to help you avenge your defeat to Naruto" Mizuki said raising his hands on front of him in defense.
"I was not defeated by that dead last! There's no way I can be defeated by someone like him!" Sasuke said getting really irritated as the conversation goes on.
'That's right I can't be defeated by someone like him. No! I can't be defeated by anyone! I have to be the strongest in order for me to kill him!' he thought clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.
"Alright, alright, Sasuke, you are right. You are not defeated by Naruto" Mizuki said trying to calm his former student down.
"But you can't also say that you won against him" he continued making Sasuke look at him with narrowed eyes.
"Look, how can a shinobi say that he won a battle when he didn't even land a hit on the enemy?" he asked making Sasuke look at his feet but still kept his annoyed face.
"Your ninjutsus are pretty strong and your mastery of katon jutsus is even better than mine. But since Naruto easily deflected all of your attacks, I figured that they are still not enough. Say, I know I scroll that contains the most powerful jutsus known here in Konoha" Mizuki continued making Sasuke look at him again but this time with curious and interested eyes.
"When I say that that scroll contains all of the most powerful jutsus that means it also contains kinjutsus. If you learn a jutsu or two from that scroll and use it on your next fight against Naruto, your win is most probable if not guaranteed" Mizuki said as Sasuke's interest grows even more.
"I'm sure Naruto's ability to deflect justsus is limited to the lower level ones. He can't possibly deflect any jutsus from that scroll."
"Where can I find this scroll?" Sasuke demanded.
"The scroll is called the Scroll of Forbidden Seals and you can find it there" Mizuki replied pointing at the Hokage tower which was just right next to where they were, the Hokage monument. Sasuke looked at the Hokage tower with widened eyes before turning back to Mizuki narrowing his eyes back in suspicion.
"I have no idea about that forbidden scroll that you are talking about from the start but from what you told me, it's obviously a very important item. Therefore, no one can possibly take it away so easily without due permission from the Hokage himself and I don't think that he will just give it to me even if I beg on my knees. So the obviously the other way to get that scroll is to steal it. Is that what you are trying to imply?" Sasuke asked getting more and more suspicious at Mizuki.
"Of course. Is there any other way?" Mizuki replied smirking wickedly.
"Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!" Sasuke retorted loudly anger filling him up.
"Should anyone get caught in getting or using any important items from the Hokage tower without the proper authority, punishment will no doubt be delivered. Is that what you truly want to happen to me?!"
"It's true that I want you to steal that scroll but failure to do so doesn't mean that you will be punished. This is yet another test given especially to every rookie genin every year as a way to know if they are already worthy of the rank chuunin. If you steal the forbidden scroll without being caught and learning at least one jutsu from it, you'll be promoted to chuunin. What can you say about it? It's like hitting two birds with one stone. You'll become stronger by widening your jutsu arsenal and you'll be promoted at the same time" Mizuki replied and continued on explaining.
Sasuke looked at Mizuki studying the adult's features. A small part of him was suspicious of the man but this part was easily overwhelmed by the other larger part. With his obsession for power and revenge and Mizuki's very convincing words, he slowly falls for Mizuki's lies. He looked again at the Hokage tower with eyes full of determination.
'Power, that scroll contains the power that I am seeking. I shall get my hands on that scroll and learn the jutsu that will defeat that dead last Naruto and finally kill Itachi' Sasuke thought.
"So what is your answer, Sasuke?" Mizuki asked again although he already knew the answer.
"When will this test begin?" Sasuke asked.
(-------------)
"Eh? Mizuki has that kind of plan?" the Hokage asked to Naruto who had reported what he witnessed at the Hokage Mountain.
"I don't know if he has any other intentions aside from gaining those jutsu from the forbidden scroll but I do know that he has an accomplice or two. There's no way that a chuunin know the exact location of that item much less how to break the seal encasing it. But I have the feeling that we will know the truth tonight when Sasuke meets with Mizuki again" Naruto said.
"I guess there's no avoiding this matter. How troublesome. Very well, then I shall prepare a warrant of arrest and you will be the one to deliver it to Mizuki and whoever his accomplices are. I'm authorizing you to arrest these criminals as well. You won't need any backup for sure so I'm not going to send you any. You can choose any method of approach you want for this case but I'm ordering you not to kill any of the criminals. I do feel the same anxiety as you. Something's fishy around here" the Hokage said contemplating on the matter at hand.
"So when can I get the warrant of arrest?" Naruto asked as if trying to leave immediately.
"It will take some time. Come back here after your meeting with your jounin instructor" the Hokage replied.
'Even before he pick us/Naruto up, the warrant of arrest will surely be ready' Naruto and Sandaime thought simultaneously.
(-------------)
I'm planning on making another version of this fic but don't expect it to be out so soon or any other updates. My eyes are getting on bad shape. I need to rest them every now and then or else my eyeglasses will be back. I really hate my eyeglasses! Don't worry. I will not give up this fic.
