Breaking Rules
Suddenly, Kakashi's face turned serious and he directed his gaze towards the blond pilot. "Naruto, you do know what happens now, don't you?" The silver-haired man said. The blond just looked at the captain straight in the eyes and nodded. "Very well, now I have to escort you to your cell."
Everybody went silent, Sakura didn't understand what was happening, Naruto had just save the Luster form being capture, of worse destroyed, and he had to pay for it. The blond just smiled sadly and followed the captain, the rest of the crew just looked at the floor.
The next morning, according to Earth's western time, Sakura was making her way to the captain's quarter, she needed answer about the blond pilot's situation and she wanted them now. As the pink-haired girl approached her destination, Sakura saw the door opening and Neji stepping; his face was a mix of seriousness and anger. The black-haired boy walked pass Sakura lost in his thoughts, without giving the girl any sign of acknowledgement.
Sakura realized that with Neji she'll had a better chance to receive a straight answer. "Neji, wait up" Sakura called, walking to the boy. The black-haired pilot stopped on his track and turned around to face the pink-haired girl. "What is it Sakura-san?" Neji asked politely. "I just wanted to ask you something." The pink-haired girl said a little embarrassed. "Is it about Naruto?" The pilot asked looking at the girl straight in the eyes; Sakura blushed a little before nodding. Neji sighed. "Follow me." The pilot said.
Neji lead Sakura to the Raikiri's observatory. "You're wondering why he's in trouble, right?" Neji said. Sakura just nodded and waited for Neji's response. "The reason that Naruto is not a pilot anymore and why is he in so much trouble." Neji looked out of the observatory's window. "It's because Naruto has his own mind." The black-haired pilot said.
Sakura was confused be Neji's answer. "What did he meant by 'his own mind'? I'm even more confused than before." The pink-haired girl thought. Neji sensed the confusion on the girls mind and decided to explain himself. "What I meant, is that Naruto makes his owns decisions, he will always chose right instead of wrong, even if the council disagrees." Neji frowned before he continued. "The majority of the council doesn't trust Naruto. There are a few members who approve Naruto, your father, along with my uncle, are among those few, but the rest are afraid of Naruto, of what he can do if he's given the power."
"What do you mean by 'afraid'? Sakura asked, still confused. "You see, Naruto is special." Neji started, now looking at the girl straight in the eyes. "He doesn't like to talk about that, and I won't betray his trust, all I can say is that he's beyond the average teenager. Since Naruto would go as far as to disobey the council, they don't want to give him any kind of power without having completely control over him." Neji clenched his fist before continuing. "A week ago, Naruto did something honorable that went against the council's orders. And even though it cost him the position as pilot, something that we had been waiting for a long time, he's still isn't sorry of what he did." Neji formed half a smile, as he started to tell Sakura the events of that day.
Flashback
Naruto and Neji were in LEAF's headquarters' cafeteria, they were stationed on the space colony Kirigakure, it had been a boring week and the worse part was that they'll have to wait another week to finally head over to the Raikiri. "So what are we suppose to do here, we already finish our training, why can we just go to the Raikiri now?" The blond whined, Neji was getting frustrated with the situation too, but after four hours straight his friend's wines had become even more annoying than the waiting. "Naruto, for the last time, we can't go to the Raikiri right now, I don't know why, we just can't."
Naruto sighed. "It's just so boring here; this is a place for Shikamaru and Shino, not for me. By the end of next week I'll be traumatized with boredom." The blond kept on whining. "Naruto stop your whining, it not making anything any better. Come on, let go to the command center so you can annoy Zabuza-san instead of me." Neji said standing up. Both pilot started their way down the hall.
The boy hadn't been walking five minutes when all the alarms in the base went off. Both teen started to run, it wasn't long before they started to hear explosions. "Ok, so it's true when they said be careful what you wish for" Naruto said as they began to approach their destination "Launch all the mobile armors." A tall man with black hair and a white uniform standing in the command center said, immediately the room's door open as Naruto and Neji entered it. "Zabuza-san what's going on?" The blond asked. The black-haired man looked back at the two pilots before turning to the monitors again. "SOUND attacked, and their forces are too strong their overwhelming us." Zabuza responded. "Are there any mobile suit left?" Neji asked looking at the monitors also. "Only an Aile Dagger, that's all we don't have already in the battlefield." Zabuza said looking at the two boys.
Both teens looked at each other; there was a moment of silence between them. "I'll take it." Naruto said. "After all, I'm a better pilot." The blond finished with a grin, Zabuza chuckled slightly while Neji just smirked and shook his head. "Ok, Naruto go and get ready immediately." Zabuza said.
Fifteen minutes later Naruto was insides the Aile Dagger's cockpit. "Naruto the council has sent orders for you protect the base's research lab, it'll be your top priority, did you got that?" Zabuza said from the command center. "Yeah, yeah don't worry." The blond said. "GAT-01A1+AQM/E-X01 Aile Dagger, Clear to launch" Was heard in the base launching platform. "Uzumaki Naruto, Aile Dagger launching." The blond said before the Dagger took of the platform.
Two seconds after taking of, the Aile Dagger had its saber out. Naruto stabbed the Ginn that had attacked him the moment he had come out, the SOUND mobile suit exploded moment later. "And that's one, Neji you better keep track of how many I take out." The blond said grinning, back in the command center the black-haired teen just smirked.
Naruto started to make his way towards the research lab; he had taken out three other mobile suits on five minutes. Suddenly the blond pilot picked something on his radar; Naruto looked back and saw a civilian shuttle trying to escape the battle field, but what really bother him were the three Ginns near the shuttle, and one of had just spotted the civilian ship. The teen turned the Dagger around to face in the direction were the shuttle was. "Naruto, What are you doing?" Zabuza asked. "There's a civilian shuttle in danger, and none of the other mobile suits or mobile armors are able to assist it." The blond responded. "No Naruto, you can go, remember that your top priority is to defend the research lab." The boy frowned at his superior's words.
"There are innocent people in that ship, I can't abandon them." Naruto said, he was starting to get frustrated. "Naruto, remember your situation with the council, they'll see this as an act of disobedience. I want to help them too, but I can't let you get yourself into trouble, the council could destroy your life if you go against their orders." Zabuza said unconvinced that his words had reached the blond, he wanted to help the shuttle too but he couldn't allow Naruto to walk to his doom. If he goes against his orders, the council would not forgive the spike-haired pilot.
Naruto stood there unable to decide. The blond looked up and saw the Ginns starting towards the shuttle. "Screw the council; I'm going to help them." The teen exclaimed, as he started the Dagger's thruster-pack, and took off towards the civilian ship.
Everybody inside the shuttle gasped when the saw on of the Ginns rise its rifle pointing towards them. A second later both the Ginn's rifle and its arm were hit by a blast and exploded, the Ginn turned in the direction where the attack had come from, immediately the mobile suit received a hit on it's leg and chest, completely destroying the Ginn.
The two remaining Ginns turned to see an Aile Dagger flying towards them, both mobile suits started to shoot towards it. Naruto blocked the incoming attacks with his shield, when he got close to the Ginns, the blond put away the Dagger's rifle and took out its saber.
Naruto slashed the legs of one of the Ginns before stabbing it on the side its chest, causing the SOUND mobile suit to explode. The last Ginn kept on shooting towards the Dagger, Naruto dodged all of the Ginn's attack until he found and opening and stabbed the enemy mobile suit on its chest.
Before he started to make his way towards the research lab, Naruto looked back towards the shuttle. On one of its windows sat a boy around the age of ten, he had black unruly hair that was mostly cover with a white hat with two blue stripes, The boy smiled towards the LEAF mobile suit and waved. Inside the Dagger, Naruto smiled before flying towards the research lab.
Just when a Ginn was about to attack the lab, the SOUND mobile suit was hit with three blast on his back, destroying it. Naruto took out his saber and cut the second Ginn down the middle as the Dagger landed. The blond smirked as the Dagger turned around to face the incoming SOUND forces.
End Flashback
"Naruto took out twenty-nine SOUND mobile suits that day, without receiving any serious damage; he even accomplished his mission to defend the lab. But he was still punished for going to the shuttle aid." Neji said as he looked at a shocked Sakura. "The council realized that could do all that with a basic mobile suit like the Aile Dagger; just imagine what he's capable of doing with the Demon. The council said that he's a loose gun, that his unreliable, but the true is that they're afraid of what he can do, they're afraid of what they turned him into." Neji said with a serious face.
"So the punish for helping the civilians, the punishment was that he was to be taken out of the pilot program and brought to Earth to face trial, all because he decided to do the right thing. I bet that the council was worry after they saw what Naruto could do, and they took any excuse to prevent him from piloting a Gundam." Neji said. Sakura was still unable to speak. "I talked to Naruto before I went to talk to Kakashi. I asked him if he was sorry of going against his orders, and even though they're probably going to kick Naruto out of LEAF or even throw him in jail, he still isn't sorry of saving that shuttle. He said that, that kid's smile was worth it." The black-haired teen said with a smile. "Naruto is good person. When my father died, he was there for me, and prevented me from becoming a hateful person."
Neji looked out of the window once more before he started to speak again. "The council might thing that if given to much power Naruto will betray LEAF, but I don't think that there's anyone more loyal to LEAF than him. Naruto is one of the few persons that I would trust with my life." Neji finished. The black-haired pilot looked at Sakura before turning and walking out of the observatory. Inside the room, Sakura stood trying to let what she has just learned sunk in. After a couple of minute the pink-haired girl turned around and left the observatory.