New World Same Rules

The Hill I'll Die On

Walking up the stairs to the monitor room, I was met with looks of disbelief and amazement. All Might seemed to get a grip and had the four of us from the exercise line up to discuss our results. Despite the results, the MVP of this exercise was Yaoyorozu!" All Might shouted, and Aizawa nodded next to him.

"Yaoyorozu is the MVP because she's the only one who respected her role in the exercise and made a realistic attempt to stop the hero team. Mineta, after splitting up from Sakura, succeeded in scaling the building and locating the bomb; however, you failed miserably in taking action when you reached it, resulting in your capture by Yaoyorozu. Hatake, You made a valid attempt to stop Haruno but were inevitably unable to stop her assault. You do earn points for removing your classmates from harm's way despite that not being part of the exercise." Aizawa said, going through the lineup. When it came to be my turn, he took a deep breath. "And finally, Haruno, what you did was unfathomably stupid. While you may have succeeded in your end goal of obtaining the bomb, you managed to destroy the entire building in the process. If that had been a real situation, you risked the detonation of the bomb and endangered your teammate and yourself. You failed to understand the principle of the exercise." Aizawa said with a strict glare.

"Well actually, I would argue I'm the only one that played into the true nature of the exercise," I argued, and the class looked at me bewildered. "If Yaoyorozu had truly tried to act villainous she could've taken Mineta hostage and used him to make me surrender, therefore sparing Kakashi from having to fight me. Kakashi could've killed me several times but chose not to. Mineta acted cowardly, resulting in his capture." I argued, and the class was jaw-dropped. " In comparison, I not only came up with a feasible plan that required mutual trust between my partner and me, but when that failed, I devised a last-ditch effort that resulted in our success," I explained. Were people in this world really so naive that they can't accept an imperfect outcome?

Aizawa pinched his brow, sighing, "Haruno, you're failing to understand that you destroyed a building! Have you learned nothing in your classes? That action alone risked the lives of your classmates and, had it been a real situation, civilians. You also risked the detonation of the bomb, which would have resulted in many more deaths, including your own!" He tried to explain. I could tell he was getting frustrated, but I was too. I'm sick of these stupid hero rules. I'm sure Naruto never thought twice about leaving a crater or two when saving lives, and I wouldn't either. People die, and yeah it sucks but if one or two civilians have to die in order to save a few hundred, so what? At least they would've died honorably.

Kakashi, noticing my frustration, grabbed my arm, "They don't understand, so just let it go Sakura." He tried to reason.

"But you know I'm right," I said before taking off his hand and turning back to Aizawa, ready to die on this stupid hill.

Kakashi simply sighed, already knowing his attempt had been futile.

"So what if I did destroy a building? Taking into account the empty building and desolate street I decided that was the best plan of action according to my situation!" I argued, " Seeing as I was the only person capable of stopping the explosion, which, as you said, could've killed many civilians. Not taking that risk would have resulted in an explosion where hundreds would have died, and I would've failed. So instead, I decided to risk it all for the slim chance I had at success, and it turned out in my favor. I understand that will not always work out, but as a hero, isn't my job to take those risks?"

Needless to say, the class and teachers were stunned by my explanation. I was right; they knew it, I knew it, but no one wanted to admit it.

"Haruno, I'm not going to argue with you about hero ethics anymore. The main issue is you forgetting that this was only an exercise. You endangered your classmates recklessly and pointlessly!" Aizawa stated harshly.

"I didn't endanger them, and I didn't forget!" I said curtly, raising my voice ever so slightly; it was all I could do to not punch him into the wall. "If you had been watching as closely as you seem to think you did, you'd know that I didn't destroy the building until they cleared out! I didn't bring the building down until I was sure no one would get hurt. Just because I operate differently than you doesn't make it wrong or reckless; everything I did was a calculated move, and it's insulting my ability to insinuate otherwise." At this point, the faces of my classmates were as white as paper, and seeing as Aizawa had no response either, I determined it was a fitting time to take my leave.

As I made my way down to the locker rooms, I had time to reflect, which resulted in me feeling mildly embarrassed about my actions.

"You know, if I was still your teacher I wouldn't have let that slide." A monotone voice came from above me. Startled, I turned around to see a poof of smoke as Kakashi appeared behind me.

"Hah, you scared me Kakashi, but I guess it's a good thing you're not my sensei anymore, right?" I joked, silently feeling glad that he had come to check on me.

"Hm, I would've made you run 100 laps around Konoha for that level of disrespect. Although I can't exactly say you were wrong either." He said, giving me one of his eye smiles.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll probably apologize later, but I just get so frustrated. All these rules and ideals about being a hero make no sense! They try to make everything so black and white when really the world is just a jumble of grey." I sighed.

"Well, despite how you may feel, that's just the way things are here, and we have to acknowledge that, clearly, this world hasn't seen the things that you and I have."

"I know, I know.... But thanks Kashi, I'm glad you're here with me." I said, smiling. If he hadn't been here, I'd probably be losing my mind right now.

With that I walked into the locker room to change and grab my clothes. When I was done, I walked out and was surprised to see Kakashi still waiting for me outside, holding some papers.

"Aizawa came by; he told me to give you this once you came out. He gave me one as well and said to have them filled out by class tomorrow." He said, handing me the form.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Costume Detail Form: Sakura Haruno

Written Statement:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Additional Images:

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

"Great." I sighed and he appeared to feel the same. I shoved the form in my bag before walking with Kakashi back to the dorms.