183 Patrolling Incident (2)
"Nice to meet the three of you, I'm your temporary teammate, Mikoto," she smiles and introduces herself. While she knows that they know who she is, a proper introduction is a basic etiquette but it becomes clear at a glance that her team doesn't hold social niceties important by the lukewarm welcome she receives in return.
Her team leader, a middle-aged female jonin named Kira Inuzuka nods calmly while ruffling the head of her brown-furred Ninken. While the two Uchiha Chunins scoff under their breaths. Both of them, despite being older than Mikoto, are in the prime of their life and one of them, a brown-haired youth replies with a roll of his eyes, "We know who you are. Marrying outside like Hazuki... women and men like you are the reason why the Uchiha clan is in decline?"
Not minding their words but also not used to enduring shit from shits like a few of her clansmen, Mikoto smiles breezily, "I am not aware of this decline that you mentioned but I assure you that I and Hazuki, most likely, feel lucky we didn't get to marry a rude imbecile like you."
"What?" The black-haired youth instantly scowls when Mikoto's irides take a red shade and three tomoes begin to spiral around her smaller pupil, "And please refrain from addressing me with such familiarity."
The two activate their sharingan out of instinct but the brown-haired youth named Hori Uchiha and the black-haired youth named Koshi Uchiha only have the second stage of sharingan— eyes with two tomoes.
"You should stop with this useless pissing contest," Kira commands in her low and raspy voice as her ninken, Bosu, barks out, too. For a ninken of a middle-aged Shinobi, Bosu is relatively young and from the intel Yakumi provided Mikoto, Kira's previous ninken died during the war, forcing her to train a new one all over again.
"Apologies," Mikoto deactivates her Sharingan while the duo snorts with displeasure clear in their expressions. As clear as those activated Sharingan of theirs.
Mikoto frowns for a moment due to the lack of scolding the duo as they persist in keeping their sharingans activated while Kira seems to brush past this act of 'insubordination' while commenting, "We take the usual route. Patrolling the seventh, eleventh, and twelfth sections before seeing if we have time for following a few of our leads."
"Uh, can you go into a little bit of detail?" Mikoto questions but Kira throws her an annoyed look before commanding, "Move out."
The three of them flicker away while Mikoto grumbles under her breath, "No wonder Hazuki left."
She follows after her team quickly without needing to resort to activating the Sharingan to track their movements.
Konoha, while called a village, is beyond the size of an ordinary village or city. Not only do they use the surrounding forest as their training grounds but the clan compounds work as miniature towns with their own stores and professional stalls. Then various official establishments of the village need to occupy large areas to conduct their own business.
Of course, Anbu cannot be depended on the entire operation. And the village itself is divided into several sections including unoccupied training grounds. Only clan compounds cannot be patrolled in by the police force or the Anbu in most cases... unless they are caught. These are simple unwritten rules of the Shinobi world— One is righteous until caught.
The 7th, 11th, and 12th sections of Konohagakure are the exit, the market near the entertainment district— where the artists from the capital would arrive to perform for the civilians and shinobi alike, and Training Ground 19th respectively.
As one would expect, patrolling included walking in the streets like a stroll of sorts and not jumping on other civilians' and shinobi's roofs. But Mikoto observes quickly that Team Kira has quite an acceptable reputation. Many civilians and shinobi treat Kira, Hori, and Koshi with enough respect which makes the duo chunin smirk pridefully while Kira has a rather egoistic smile, too.
Of course, others may not notice this but it's the same kind of smile Kushina has after thinking the stuff she has learned recently will help her defeat Kai... before facing the absolute beatdown of her life.
'But ego aside, public perception is fine. Police used to have a bad rep when I still stayed in the clan compound. Is Fugaku being paranoid or am I missing something?'
Mikoto walks behind Hori and Koshi, too, not minding the fact that her rank is greater than theirs.
After the stroll around the exit and making sure that no civilian was up to anything strange, Mikoto suddenly hints at her team and asks them to gather around the corner.
"What?" Hori frowns but brushing past the perpetually irritated man, Mikoto questions curiously, "According to the handbook, shouldn't we spend a total of 90 minutes in each section? It's only been 15 minutes. Do we return after looking into other sections and rotate our patrols or divide ourselves to patrol these sections?"
"For a Jonin, you sure ask stupid things," Koshi smirks.
"For a chunin, you sure know how to get on a Jonin's nerves," Mikoto narrows her eyes that regain an undeniable killing intent that finally stifles the other teammate as Kira replies calmly, "Patrolling these areas are useless and a waste of our time. After giving these three sections a look over, we will be training for a while and then try to check a few of our leads?"
"Leads?" Mikoto questions, "What kind?"
"The kind that's none of your business at the moment," Kira frowns and nods at her team before using Body Flicker once more.
Yet, this time, Mikoto's hand moves quicker and catches hold of the slowest member of the team.
*Awu*
Bosu whines the moment Mikoto's hand clamps up on his tail to keep him in the alley. Needless to say, a furious Kira, Hori, and Koshi return after a few seconds.
"Don't ever lay hands on my Bosu!" Kira growls only to find Mikoto not only has a hand on the ninken but the said hand also holds a kunai next to the Ninken's eye.
"Are you crazy?! We can have you investigated for insubordination!" Koshi snaps.
"According to the laws, I will be suspended for a week for the crime of threatening the life of a comrade. Ninkens are considered comrades, too. During this, a team from Anbu will conduct an investigation. Your actions of not paying attention to your duties will come to light which is as great of a crime as me threatening a comrade. But, this is my first offense... and you three... look experienced ones."
Kira frowns and demands, "What's gotten into you?"
"I just want to know what leads you are talking about?"
"Alright, alright," Kira barks as she scratches the back of her head, "It's a lead on a chunin smuggling in red sugar."
"Excuse me?" Mikoto raises an eyebrow.
"Oh my god, it's Red Sugar from the capital. It's getting more and more popular so some Chunin would want to make quick Ryo and smuggle the drug in," Hori grunts.
"I know what Red Sugar is," Mikoto sighs, "But you're actually breaking rules for that? Aside from the fact that it's a condiment from Land of Earth, it has no other crime."
"Shut up, it's our job to find all these outlaws!" Hori barks back when—
*Slap*
Mikoto flickers forward with a smack sending Hori flying away.
"Our job is to follow the rules during a mission. Patrolling is our mission," Mikoto stares at the other two with her sharingan not the least bit shy in threatening the other two, "If you wish to be a hero or go rogue in hopes of catching a grave spy or smuggler, leave the force or report it to the higher authority. Else, as long as you choose to be here, you follow the rules expected from us."
"These rules include following the orders of your team leader," Kira growls while Hori sits up and holds his stinging cheek.
"And if I break them, I am ready to suffer the consequences. Are you?" Mikoto retorts calmly, "You three have sorely misunderstood the purpose of this job."
"Our job is to protect the village!" Kira growls.
"Our true job is to surveil shinobi and civilians of the village," Mikoto comments, "During our time of duty, we are not friends of these shinobi or civilians. There are many shinobi and groups outside of the police's jurisdiction and that includes Shinobi smuggling goods. That is a job for Anbu due to the possible involvement of spies."
"Are you kidding me?" Kira scoffs and crouches down to pet Bosu once Mikoto lets the Ninken go.
"I am not," Mikoto replies, "When we go to the missions outside, our targets are not our friends. Similarly, the sections we have to patrol do not have any friends. Showing empathy and twisting rules is one thing but disregarding it entirely is not."
"You just attacked me," Hori hisses, "I'm going to arrest you!"
"Wait," Mikoto smiles as she slips her Kunai back into her pouch.
"I did not attack you, I slapped you," She explains, "And if you're going to arrest me, do so for proper reasons."
"What?" Hori frowns but his vision distorts suddenly and he issues a loud scream that attracts a lot of attention while Mikoto deactivates her sharingan and heaves deeply, "There you go. Now I attacked a comrade with a Genjutsu. I'm going to turn myself in now."
She shrugs and flickers away, leaving the remaining duo dumbfounded.
---
"You threatened the life of a Ninken, berated your superior, physically assaulted your teammate, and then used a Genjutsu against your teammate during your duties," Fugaku lists the actions committed by Mikoto before looking across his table and questions the Kunoichi in question, "I remember you being more tolerant and level-headed."
"It was a level-headed response," Mikoto explains, "It doesn't take a moment to see that these 'elites' that surveil civilians and other shinobi are complacent. Not only that, but their titles themselves make them interact with those that are inferior in terms of position. However, the police have no jurisdiction over Anbu, T&I, Research Department, and many more crucial facilities."
Organizing her thoughts, Mikoto sighs, "In fact, Military police are set in the same league as other such facilities but the only difference is that the Military Police is in direct contact with civilians who don't know any better. And... without rigorous training, an Uchiha can easily get provoked due to their more active emotions after activating their Sharingan. The ego formed from this including their complacency is one of the major reasons for their insubordination."
"Active emotions... the kind you showed towards disrespect against Hori Uchiha?" Fugaku inquires.
"No," Mikoto shakes her head, "That was a superior disciplining a junior irrespective of age."
"In Kira's report, you seem to be hiding your actions behind the rules but using the said rules manipulatively, too. What do you have to say about that?" Fugaku continues.
"It is true," Mikoto nods, "I used rules for convenience."
"You won't deny it?" Fugaku frowns.
"I don't have to," Mikoto smiles, "This is why you hired me."
Fugaku raises an eyebrow and goes silent.
"You felt it?" He questions somberly.
"I'm not into politics but these hints are hard to notice," Mikoto admits, "Uchiha Clan... is unable to let go of the past. It still thinks that the clan deserves it all. The Sharingan makes our vision more dynamic but for some, it has only continued to narrow their visions. The Clan thinks that it is the only hurt during the Warring Era..."
"I would like to believe that it is only a temporary problem but it has continued for years," Fugaku contemplates, "Things turned out for the better the moment we entered the war. Uchiha Clan seems to thrive in bloodshed but the moment it returns to a more peaceful side... its emotions lose a target to vent. Our Dojutsu is not only our greatest strength but also our greatest weakness. That is why I said I cannot laugh about the Wheel of Love analogy from Kagami Uchiha."
"May I sit?" Mikoto questions and Fugaku nods.
Once she takes a seat, she questions, "What is the course of action then?"
"You're interested... can I assume that you are willing to help out?" Fugaku inquires.
"I don't need to tolerate Hori and Koshi for another week to decide," She rolls her eyes.
Fugaku nods and then mutters, "For now, you are suspended, of course. But after a week, I will let you know the key individuals I am keeping my eyes on."
"It's fine," Mikoto nods, "But Anbu is still not allowed into Senju Compound so I will return here every morning to let them investigate things clearly."
Fugaku nods calmly.
***
Alternate Title: Mikoto Tolerates No Shit; The Rule Baby!; C is for Suspension!
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A/N: So, I don't really believe the Uchiha problem is just because of Second Kage. Uchihas are kind of dicks, too. I mean, the first proper Uchiha (Indra) fucked his friends for mangyeko and you may blame Black Zetsu but he just manipulates what is already there.
***
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