Chapter 17: Reflection
The rest of that day passed as if it were a blur. After reassuring the group that I was ok, Shikaku interfered and told them to head home. Although reluctant, they all eventually relented and went to their respective homes. The Uchiha police arrived shortly after they left. It turns out that the shrieks let out by the woman were heard by some passersby, and they reported the general area to the Konoha Military Police Force. Since it was only seen as a disturbance and not a real problem, they didn't attach much priority to it and thus arrived late.
When they arrived at the scene though, they were surprised to see the leader of the Nara clan and a young boy there, along with a dead civilian with a kunai sticking out of her head. The Uchiha, the main force of the Konoha Military Police Force, or more accurately the only force, naturally got tenser and started questioning Shikaku and I
"Mr. Nara and the boy. Can you please follow me to the Police Force station "
They both had their hands on their side, ready to draw their kunai.
Shikaku and I were more than willing, and so he responded
"Yeah, that's no problem. We can go with you"
The Uchiha were relieved that the Nara clan leader agreed, and one of the men stayed while the other led us to the Police Force Station. When we go there, I saw an official-looking building with an Uchiha emblem. We entered and I was greeted with the sight of tens of Uchihas. The one leading us there went to the side and whispered something to one of the other policemen, and he quickly left. The one leading us then led us into a room and told us to hang tight for a bit.
Shikaku and I sat down, and he started checking on my well-being.
"So, how are you feeling kid?"
Shikaku was a wise man, that's for sure. He has lived through a Great Shinobi War, gone on countless missions, and thought of countless strategies. 5 years of his entire life has greater experience than all 30 of mine. I decided to consult with him this time and be honest about my feelings and thoughts. I couldn't just bottle everything up, I knew that much.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I knew from the moment that I wanted to be a shinobi, that I would have to take another's life. I just wasn't... I didn't think the day would come so soon.. and so sudden. I always thought that I had more time until that day came."
He had the same passive face as always, not changing his expression one bit.
"Tell me Sosuke. What did you do today?"
"What?"
"I asked you what you did today?"
"I.. hung out with my friends.. had fun.. relaxed.. and then got into a battle... and killed someone"
"Why did you go into battle?"
"Because she was going to kill me"
"Tell me Sosuke, if you didn't go into battle today, and if you didn't kill your enemy, what would have happened?"
"I would have died."
"Is that all?"
"...Naruto would have died too"
"So, because you killed someone today, both your life and Naruto's life were saved. Every shinobi remembers their first kill Sosuke. I do, my teammates do, and my son will. What you have to remember along with that, is the reason behind that, and the good that came from it"
"..."
The silence continues until the door was opened. In entered the man who led us there, as well as the leader of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku Uchiha. Fugaku had brown hair reaching down to his shoulders, onyx-colored eyes, and a stern look on his eyes. He entered the room and greeted Shikaku,
"Shikaku, I'm surprised I'm seeing you in here"
Shikaku chuckled and said
"I'm surprised seeing you here too Fugaku. Who knew the commander of the Police Force would make an appearance for a civilian death."
"Well, hearing that the Nara clan leader was here, I naturally had to make a visit. Now, let's get onto business. My men tell me that there has been a killing"
"I'll leave the explaining to my son's friend here, Aizen Sosuke"
Fugaku then moved his sights onto me and, seeing my still fresh wound, ordered his men to bring a medic. Then, he started questioning me,
"Would you like to tell me what happened, Sosuke"
"Yes, Lord Uchiha. I was walking home with my friend, Naruto Uzumaki, when I sensed a bloodlust lock into us"
"Oh? Why were you walking together?"
"We live in the same apartment house sir"
"And you say you sensed a bloodlust?"
"Yes sir. After sensing this, I told Naruto to run and get help from Lord Nara, while I dealt with the assailant."
"Why did you do that?"
"Well, I had more confidence in my chances against the assailant, since I had assumed they were a civilian by the fact they were releasing their bloodlust without control. I wanted to make sure I could receive help if something went wrong though, so I told Naruto to get help. After that, I began the battle with the woman and was able to injure her with a surprise attack from a shuriken....
Eventually, I was able to obtain the victory and kill her. Around that time, Lord Nara arrived"
Fugaku didn't say anything for a while, but eventually just nodded. He then turned his head to Shikaku, and asked him to confirm the state in which he found me and the woman. Shikaku told him that he found me wiping blood from my wound and that the battle was already over.
At this time, a knock on the door was heard. Who entered was an Uchiha medic, who bowed to Fugaku and Shikaku and proceeded to come over to me. After cleaning my wound, the medic began using the Mystical Palm Technique, and that familiar itching feeling came. After a couple of seconds, the medic stopped the technique and told me
"The wound will be a little sensitive over the next day or two, so don't do any strenuous activity that might reopen it. Also, a scar will be left over. I can't do anything about it since the wound was fairly deep"
I nodded at him and he left after bowing to Shikaku and Fugaku.
Fugaku then addressed me, saying
"After my men confirm the situation, we will let you out of questioning if we find no faults in your statement."
I nodded at him and said
"Thank you, Lord Fugaku."
He gave a slight nod and started talking with Shikaku. Even though he looked anti-social, he was surprisingly talkative with Shikaku. I knew that Shikaku was pretty neutral on all Uchiha matters, so the relationship between the two clans was probably pretty good, or at least not bad. After a while, some other Uchiha clansmen came in and gave the report to Fugaku. After confirming it, he turned to me and affirmed
"Very well. We have confirmed your statement and I officially release you from questioning. Shikaku, I won't hold you up any longer, I have some other matters to go attend to as well"
Shikaku nodded and we started leaving. Before exiting the room, though, Fugaku mentioned
"By the way, I have heard about you from Itachi. Thank you for being friends with Sasuke. I am glad he has a talented shinobi as a friend."
I couldn't help but be surprised by a lot of things from that statement. First of all, he had called me a talented shinobi! I was pretty shocked, that was one of the last things I expected to come out of Fugaku's mouth. The other thing that surprised me was the fact that he was still talking with Itachi, considering he had chosen Konoha over the Uchiha clan and Fugaku knew that. Also, he cared about Sasuke's matters. I knew that Fugaku cared greatly about him, but I never knew he would outwardly show that.
I bowed to him and said
"It is my privilege to be complimented by you, Lord Uchiha. And it is a pleasure to be friends with Sasuke as well"
He nodded and we left soon thereafter. The Uchiha were all bustling around, taking care of matters and coming in and out of the headquarters. Fugaku and I left and he walked me to my home. I bowed at him and thanked him,
"Thank you for everything you have done for me today, Mr. Nara. I greatly appreciate it"
And I did. He went above and beyond for me today, accompanying me to the Police Force Headquarters, rushing to help me without knowing what was wrong, and giving me advice about my thoughts.
He smirked and said
"Don't worry about it. You're a good kid Sosuke. I'm glad Shikamaru was able to become friends with you"
I looked up and remarked
"I'm glad I was able to become friends with Shikamaru as well."
He left after making sure I got home safe, and I was left to my thoughts afterward. Today was the most hectic day I had experienced since arriving in Aizen's body, even if it started as one of the most peaceful days in the beginning.
What started as a lazy day, quickly turned into a day I would never forget for the rest of my life. The first time I took a life. It was something that I still haven't completely accepted. Everything happened so fast... I didn't even have the time to think about anything other than kill or be killed. I didn't regret my actions, however.
As Shikaku said, there was a reason behind my actions today. In the end, that woman would have killed me, and attempted to, without a second thought. I wasn't even her original target. She switched killing intent from Naruto to me in the blink of an eye, showing me that I was right about the civilians. They only needed an outlet for their anger, and Naruto was only their scapegoat. I had no regrets about the murder of that woman. I just needed time to accept the path I have embarked on.
I decided to meditate to get my thoughts into order. I was a little scatterbrained at the moment, and meditation would help me reel in my mind. I was having too many thoughts, and I needed to reorganize them.
As I sunk into a meditative state, I reviewed the battle over in my mind, thinking about what I could have done differently, or what I need to continue to work on. One thing I noted, was my complete lack of caution or use of ninjutsu. I knew the three basic jutsu, and creating a clone could have served as an excellent distraction to let me finish the battle earlier. I didn't even think to use substitution until the woman herself performed it. I was completely unprepared for a ninja's way of fighting. If the woman had a spare kunai on her today... I would not be alive to think about that.
I had taijutsu on my mind, and that was something I needed to fix in order to survive in the coming battles. I was thinking too much like someone from Earth, who only knew how to fight using their bodies. Lee was a person who could only use taijutsu and could afford to not think about ninjutsu or genjutsu techniques. He only had taijutsu to support him after all.
I was different. I needed to dedicate my time to multiple paths to push myself, and I thought I was succeeding. But all my abilities don't translate into combat power, as I realized. I need to be able to integrate them into my fighting style for my combat power to increase.
I decided to put a hold on my training to make my unique martial art. After today's battle, I realized that there was no need for me to do that yet, and I didn't have the necessary experience to do that in the first place. I could barely combat a normal civilian with some ninja training after all. I needed to start dedicating my time to things that would increase my combat power, then I could worry about branching off.
From now on, body conditioning is at the top of my list. The body is the most important after all, and that was what allowed me to win today. If I didn't have the necessary stamina to keep going in battle, I would have ended up like the woman. It would also increase my chakra, so body conditioning was the most versatile option to practice right now.
Next would be combat and sparring. I needed more combat experience. Just from the battle today, I had gotten a lot of insights into the errors in my current path. I needed to be able to use combat to check my ways and abilities. I wasn't truly fluid in all my techniques until that last moment when I decided to leave it all to my instincts. My kunai technique was rough and unpolished, and I could have probably ended the battle a lot faster if I knew how to take advantage of my opponent's loopholes.
Lastly, jutsu training. I couldn't slack off on that anymore. If I could perform the substitution without the use of hand seals, I wouldn't have had to throw my kunai away and put myself at risk. I was stretching myself too thin, and I deemed these fields the most important for me right now.
What good was all my chakra control, when I couldn't use it towards anything right now anyway? I was getting too ahead of myself because of all my knowledge. From now on I would take it slow, and I would train all the necessary things for me right now rather than for my future. When I'm satisfied with my accomplishments there, only then can I start expanding my training into other fields again.
After being satisfied with my reflections on the battle, I decided to take some time and review my thoughts about today as well.
I didn't really feel disgusted when I killed that woman. Even if the thought of it seems wrong, I didn't have any hesitation today. I just needed time to accept that today was the first time I experienced the risk of the shinobi path. I have only been training this entire time, but today I could have very well died.
I touched my scar. It ran from the right side of my forehead, down through the edge of my eyebrow, and to the middle of my cheek. The wound was still sensitive, but the pain from it was already gone. The pain didn't bother me too much during the fight, I was high on adrenaline and I experienced the pain of my body breaking before in training. It seemed I developed a useful resistance to pain during training.
The woman flinched a couple of times from the pain, and those little moments decided the outcome of the battle.
I decided to use this scar, and this incident, as a reminder to never become too complacent. Even if I thought I could become incredibly strong in the future, for now, I was only a pipsqueak. I had to train according to my level, not my ambition. Otherwise, the foundation I build now would be too flimsy and weak in the future, and I would greatly limit my potential. A tree can only keep growing if the roots and trunk are strong enough to keep it grounded from the wind.
After I finished meditating and reflecting on my day, I quickly went to my bed early today and fell into a slumber. I had to begin my second year in the Academy tomorrow after all, and the events from today left me exhausted both mentally and physically.
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Bob_Kizmet_5542
Bob_Kizmet_5542 There you have it. MC is too young and green to be dipping his toe into so many fields. Body training, justu training, kunai and shuriken training, chakra control. From now on, he will focus on increasing his powers before considering branching out to become more versatile.
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