Chapter 94 – Post-Mortem Review
"Talk"
'Think'
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.
Hyūga Hizashi was guarding the tree when he heard a rustling; he turned, saw a doorway and moments later, Naruto, Neji and Sasuke appeared, looking none the worse.
"Halt!" said Hizashi as he activated his byakugan and 'scanned' the three of them.
"We are not imposter, Hizashi-san" said Sasuke drily as he showed him his sharingan.
Hizashi deactivated his byakugan and added "Better safe than sorry. So, what happened?"
Before anyone could answer, the tall tree next to them started to unravel into pieces of paper; some flew off into the direction of Konoha while the rest flew away from Konoha.
The four Konoha shinobi stood on their spots, their eyes transfixed to the event that transpired right in front of them. When the last of the papers have flown away, they noticed a bouquet of paper flowers laid on the ground, and a note with "Friendship" on it.
Naruto took the bouquet and the note, looked contemplatively at them, turned to them and said "I have to report to Hokage".
Hizashi nodded and they moved towards Konoha.
"… … … and that's all" reported Naruto as he stood in front of a number of high-ranking shinobi with Hizashi, Neji and Sasuke.
Nara Shikaku's eyes were probing into them while Naruto was giving the report, trying to detect any lies but he saw only stoic faces. Shikaku said "While I should reprimand you for walking into a known enemy's lair without plan, the result of your action showed us that you have good instinct. Thanks to that, many of our befallen comrades are amongst the living".
Once the invaders were taken out of the village, it was the duty of Head Clans, Team Leaders and appointed Representatives to report to him (Shikaku, since Shisui was making the barrier) the status of their people. Despite of the Plan, quite a number of people have died. He was there with the deceased when lights hit them and moments later, they awoken. It was surreal to see that.
Then he saw the Red Barrier was dropped and later, he was summoned to the War Hall for debriefing along with other representatives from each clan (not necessarily Clan Head) and organization in Konoha (e.g. ANBU, police force etc.). The point of debriefing is to straighten out all facts so the representative can convey correct information to their respective clans/organization (unless the Hokage forbade it).
"Nevertheless-" added Shisui "-I will ask your jōnin sensei to have a talk with you the consequences of that-" Naruto, Neji and Sasuke grimaced "-as not all mission will turn out like this, nor would all you enemies be honest with you" Shisui finished sternly.
"I think that's all the important points. This meeting is adjourned until further notice, thank you everyone" said Shisui before moving towards Naruto "I'm going to the hospital, you want to join?... … …"
Uchiha Tekka approached Sasuke "Come Sasuke, I hope Ichirou is doing well checking up on the Uchihas, I have to go to the Station so-"
"I'll take over Ichirou, don't worry Tekka-san, I can do it" said Sasuke knowing that this is part of the duty of a Clan Head.
"Neji, let's go" said Hizashi "I have to report to Hiashi-sama".
"Hait, otōsan" answered Neji.
"Noriko!" gasped Naruto as he saw Noriko being wrapped up Kakashi-style (one eye being bandage quite thickly).
Noriko grinned and Tenzō too, who was sitting next to her bed.
"I'm okay, Naruto. I overused sharingan, so got to lay-off from using it for a while, how about you?" asked Noriko.
"What happened after you left?" asked Tenzō with great interest.
…
…
…
"Whoaaaaa" said Noriko and Tenzō altogether. Naruto looked abashed before his face fell and looked solemn.
"What's wrong?" asked Noriko.
"I just wonder if I did the right thing…I meant, I was called out for acting rash" said Naruto.
"You did-" added a voice. The three of them turned and saw Kakashi entering, still in wheelchair "-acted a bit rash and they were doing their jobs when they reprimanded you"
"I don't understand" Naruto was frowning.
Kakashi sighed before explaining "Shikaku-sama is the Jōnin Commander, in-charge of all jōnins, who are leaders to chūnins and genins-" Naruto, Noriko and Tenzō nodded "-whereas Hokage-sama is responsible for all the people in Konoha, civilians and shinobi alike-" more nods "-so it's their responsibilities to ensure that your action, despite of the outcomes, are not to be followed by others…in general" finished Kakashi.
"In general?" echoed Noriko.
"During Academy, you've learnt that there are things you should and shouldn't do-" answered Kakashi as he looked at his students "-these general guidelines were made based from careful analysis of tons of missions. Sometimes, the lines get blurry in certain missions. For example: completing mission or saving the lives of your teammates?"
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…
…
"In the history of Konoha, one shinobi chose to save lives thus failing the mission while another chose to complete the mission with little regard of his teammate. The first one ended up committing suicide as he was shunned by the very friends he saved while the second one lost his teammates and living in regrets ever since-" Kakashi's voice was hollow at this point "My point is, your actions are being told to many right now; neither Shukaku-sama nor Hokage-sama want an impressionable shinobi to follow what you did and expect similar outcome-"
"-So Naruto was reprimanded publicly as a warning to others" added Tenzō.
Kakashi nodded.
"What would you do, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Noriko.
Kakashi put on thinking pose "Most probably I'll fight him, and ended up killing him or dying, like many others did earlier. What Naruto and the others faced was one of those grey-areas moments: we were under attacked, the lines between should have, could have, right and wrong became blurry…what's left was instinct. Sometimes following your instinct was the right choice, and you were commended on that by Shikaku-sama, Naruto"
"How do we know which one and when?" asked Naruto.
"You don't. Not even I know. Just give your best in every mission" Kakashi smiled at them.
Somewhere near the borders of Hi no Kuni, Itachi was savouring his dango in a tea-shop when news about Konoha reached his ears.
"Konoha was attacked?"
"I heard people died!"
"I heard they were zombies!"
"Zombies? Pfffttt…I heard the Hokage was injured and was hospitalized"
Itachi put down some money on the table and left
End Chapter 94
Hi no Kuni – Land of Fire