Thanks for the reviews everyone. They really were great and inspired me to write more for this chapter. Naruto and Kirabi fought but did not push each other to their limit thanks to Sasuke and his attack. Naruto knows about a terrible outcome regarding Konoha while Hinata mourns her opportunity loss and curses herself because of how useless she was in the mission. Tsunade learns about the failure of the missoin an bit of Naruto's new attitude and nasty news arrive at Konoha. I think that sums a bit of the incoming chapter…

Disclaime: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

X.X.X

Chapter14: situations and apologies

"You got to hate that guy for ruining a good battle like that" Naruto exclaimed as he sat on a huge rock to rest after running for an hour with his chakra on a limit "But got say… I was relieved that it stopped since you looked like you had a thing up your sleeve and I wasn't going to like it" he added with a chuckle as he turned to look at his companion.

"I was going to do something but the landscape would be gone in an instant" Kirabi stated with a smirk "Damn that Uchiha… that attack was powerful" he added with a frown as he thought about the time the two of them battled and how he almost killed the kid.

"Yeah, he has a thing for the dramatic. Like you, I'm a bit flabbergasted at the technique but not too much… he's a genius after all" he added a small smile as he thought about his friend. "I can't believe those things are running wild on Fire country… a war… Akatsuki or should I say Madara is behind this" he thought with misery as he kept calm to not alert his companion.

"You seem a bit preoccupied about something… the wind shifted slightly and a bit of killing intent flared randomly" Kirabi stated as he the blonde looked at him in surprise.

"Well… it seems that my former village is being attacked by "monsters" that are being led by an incredibly strong Akatsuki member" Naruto stated with worry "I mean, sure they scorned me and hated me for something so dumb but they are just weak… weak people are bound to fear powerful things in which leads to hate them" he added with a confusing rambling.

"Haha… so you miss your old village, that's understandable since I miss mine and I left it because they thought of me as the village weapon and not a normal shinobi" Kirabi said with a laugh "Listen man… do what you think is right. If you think the village or anyone in it deserves another chance then what are you waiting for. I wasn't treated kindly in my village… only those close to me did give a chance and I appreciate them for it" he added wisely. Naruto looked at the strange man at his side with confusion but reflected on those words.

Naruto thought about all of those who he cared about in the past but the anger and hatred he had for them now was still much greater that compassionate feelings. The blonde had mixed emotions about all of his former friends and village… he knew about the economic crisis they were having right now, he knew about the friends he made on other countries were not helping Konoha because of what they did to him and that made him happy for a moment but he still couldn't shake the feeling that hundreds or thousands of people could die because he wasn't man enough to take mere insults. Naruto though back on those who didn't care about a stupid demon inside someone… Iruka, Kakashi, Yamato, Tsunade, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, heck even Sasuke and last but not least Hinata. The blonde jinchuuriki thought about her almost every night he could, how she came back to his apartment to apologize that day for something that it wasn't even her fault… she was perfect in every way he could think off. She didn't judge him for something as being a jinchuuriki, in fact, she admired him for it, she always had a smile (even if it was hidden) just for him… and she didn't hit him or insulted him for no good reason.

"Seriously… my life back them would've been incredible if I would've noticed her sooner" Naruto thought with a tiny smile as he thought about the girl just a few hours ago he knocked unconscious "I knew she loved me but hearing it from her was just heart pounding… too bad I have things to accomplish first or I would've been in that village again"

"I told you some are worth the pain… so you were going to propose something to me?" Kirabi asked cutting the image extravaganza Naruto had on his mind with a curious and yet srious look on his face.

"Right…"

X.X.X

Two day later, six hours away from Konoha

"War?" Naruto's shocked and dumbfounded whisper rang into his eardrums once again. Sasuke couldn't get out of his head how the blonde he always thought was an idiot knew about the recent attacks Konoha were going through "He went too far this time" he remember the blonde whisper in anger before everything went black for him.

"I just can't get it out of my head… how did he know?" Sasuke questioned himself as he lay back against a rock in a clearing. Konoha's team is currently resting after almost an entire day of nonstop running to gain some distance between them and anymore trouble regarding Uzumaki Naruto "Ironic… we wanted to meet him and now we're running to separate from him" the Uchiha though and a smile formed on his face.

"Okay guy's one hour, get some rest, eat and dispose of earlier inconveniences… after this is a one trip to the village" Kakashi stated as he sat down and began to eat a tiny bowl of ramen he had left "One of the many things that I miss about that knuckle-head *sigh*" he thought with a downtrodden look on his one visible eye and he began to chew the noodles.

"We need to give the information we found to Hokage-sama as fast as we can… its crucial" Yamato explained to the strained faces some were making "Also we need to help the village fend off against those attacks and still rebuild some areas… Akatsuki really screwed us big time that time. I can't believe the village was so stupid to scorn the one that save it from certain doom" he added with anger but quickly calmed down.

"We were all stupid Sempai… Naruto-san was a great comrade and a special friend that could destroy his body just to know if his friends were okay" Shino commented emotionlessly as he sat near a tree eating a rice ball and circling the air with a finger… a sign of communication between him and his bugs.

"Indeed… we owe him a lot even if he almost kill a few here but we can't blame everything on him do we" Sakura said as he glared at the Inuzuka petting his giant dog and the Uchiha who looked at her with disinterest "You two took off irresponsibly and not only did you two almost died but we failed the mission thanks to your recklessness" she added furiously.

A bit away from the arguing group sat a dark haired girl whose face looked blank and clearly thinking about something or someone. Hyuuga Hinata sat at the bottom of a tree eating her part of rations and watching the scenery with a sad look on her face as she thought back on a few days ago, her encounter with the man she had loved all this years went terribly wrong. She thought on convincing him to come back to her or at least go with him but he'd been keeping tabs on the village and knew about the things she'd done to get stronger. Isolating herself and hating all who treated her love badly was a mistake Naruto pointed out and she was ashamed of herself of acting like her family.

"Naruto-kun… I feel so ashamed of myself… would you forgive me?" Hinata asked herself mentally as she remembered the cold distant look Naruto possessed "You've changed a lot but I know you have good intentions somewhere to say those thing to me" she tried to assured of herself and then looked at the group of shinobi she was with "I'll apologize but not right now since they're not the only ones that need to hear it"

Half an hour later, the Konoha platoon was a bit refreshed and relaxed but still on high alert in the occurrence of an attack. Everyone got the decent sense to pack their belongings right away in the case of an immediate escape or just simply because they didn't have anything better to do. Having eaten and rested for a bit some of the shinobi in the group were feeling a bit anxious about the incoming meeting with the Hokage, they all knew that this mission report wasn't going to be like the other failures… since they meet the one they were searching but couldn't do anything about it.

"Ok guys enough rest, time to go back to the village… will go in a decent pace so to not get tired right away" Kakashi stated as he holstered his backpack and jumped to a branch. The other shinobi mimicked the masked jounin's movements and the clearing suddenly lost the crowd it had a mere seconds ago. Everyone in the platoon had a face of "not wanting to face the Hokage about what happened" since even at the old age 56, Gondaime Hokage still had much strength.

"Why do I feel like hating myself?... oh right I'm reporting" Kakashi thought with misery as they kept jumping through the branches in the deep forest of Fire Country.

X.X.X

Same time in Naruto's hideout

After sleeping for a few hours, Naruto and company arrived at the location of the hideout to find small traces of battle. Two days from the Konoha team encounter all of the shinobi present in the hideout had a meeting seeing that their leader woke up from his extended "nap". Actually Naruto took the time of relaxation to find any more information he could get about the supposed attacks Konoha was receiving. The blonde jinchuuriki led them to think that he was sleeping and slipped away with his new stealth techniques and spent a day running through his nearby spy network to pick up his much needed information… he forgot to pick some a few months ago so maybe that's why he didn't knew about the attacks. What he found was truly devastating; Konoha was fighting a war with a few hundred Cursed Sealed shinobi, leftovers from Orochimaru's reign, he meant to ask Kabuto about this in a "civilized" manner but he had always kept a clone or two watching him so he just needed to see for himself.

"This is bad… my plans and goals are in jeopardy because of this situation" Naruto thought as he headed to the conference room in the middle of the hideout "Madara just had to go and do this… couldn't he just waited for me like a old man waiting for death?" he asked himself as he opened the door to find the room filled with the members of his organization.

"Well the sleeping princess finally decided to wake up… we need to discuss a few things boss" Doki said in a mocking but serious tone as he was glared by Kazuru.

"Don't you have any respect… even if Naruto is younger than all of us, he's still the most powerful" Kazuru stated seriously as he stared at the newcomer with a blank look "Although I still don't know your skills… Kirabi was it?" he added with a slightly curious look.

"That's my name dawg… and I'll show you my skill whenever you feel like it" Kirabi stated with an amusing grin as he mutely challenged the experienced Suna shinobi.

"I don't think now is the right time to test the new guy Kazuru… leader is getting impatient" Kusamaru said smirking as he glanced at the blondes direction who indeed had an impatient look on his face but it was mostly amused at the situation against his group.

"Don't worry about it, it was getting good. Listen, I deceived a few of you since not even I sleep for that long except for exhaustion. I went to some rendezvous points nearby to collect information about the attacks against Konoha and I found out that it had been going for almost a month now" Naruto said calmly as the room suddenly went quiet "I've also found out who's controlling the creatures, since they're not human anymore, and it may baffle a few of you and some may expect it…. Uchiha Madara is behind those attacks" he added with overall seriousness as he stared at Kabuto with a cold penetrating look.

"Don't look at me like that Naruto-kun… true, those "creatures" were created by Orochimaru and I helped make them but it escapes me that why they're attacking Konoha since Madara knows you're not affiliated with them anymore" Kabuto stated calmly but kept tensed for any breakout he had to endure… his leader was the unpredictable ninja Uzumaki Naruto, anything could happen.

"Indeed but since you and I didn't see each other for almost two years… anything could've happened" Naruto stated coolly "Don't take me for the idiotic child I once was… trust me when I tell you that" he added with a hard glare that scared the medic-nin for a second.

"I'm not Naruto-kun but since they all scorn me for what I did and now that they're as powerful as ever… I wouldn't have survived their encounter since they're a very big group" Kabuto said with a bit of fear by the look on the blonde's faces but then he felt relieved when said blonde smile.

"I knew you didn't do it… my spy network is very good and they hide spectacularly so they haven't seen within their gatherings at all. They know if a person is hiding under genjutsu or any other technique… they're specialists and all of this information was delivered by them, although the principles I already knew thanks to Sasuke" Naruto said with a smile but then he covered his mouth as he wasn' supposed to say the last part.

"Sasuke?... as in Uchiha Sasuke?" Kazuru asked clearly intrigued by the slip their leader let out.

"Oho!... so you went and met with them eh?" Doki asked with a smirk "You told us to go ahead because you had to resolve a problem… how did you know it was them?" he added with a small frown.

"That's not important right now… if you want me to tell you how marvelous it went ask me after I finish with the problem at hand" Naruto said with a slight sarcastic tone of voice "The information that I was given also says that they would attack today or someday this week… so this is my plan…" he started saying while the rest paid close attention.

X.X.X

Few hours later, Konoha

The platoon composed of jounins in which the "Copy Cat" Hatake Kakashi led finally arrived at the Gates of their village but no one seemed to be in high spirits about the accomplishment. None of the shinobi present in the platoon wanted to come face to face with the Hokage since the mission was a failure but not because the "target" wasn't found but because they pretty much gave him an edge to get away. Not even the student of the Godaime Hokage wanted to be in the room but it was inevitable as Kakashi said on the way here.

"C'mon guys as I said later… it's inevitable since you'll face her when she gives a mission again" Kakshi said as he walked rather calmly to the big red tower that was near the Hokage Monument and some of the things that wasn't destroyed in the Akatsuki attack years ago.

"If we survive you mean" Sakura said in a sad low tone while Sasuke chuckled in amusement.

It was little past noon and the Konoha residents kept building in specific places in the piece of land some earth based shinobi managed to bring from the crater that was the village. Since the Hokage summit all countries have had some problems with cursed sealed monsters as they killed their troops and even if the hatred ran deep in some, they decided to help one another in their need. Konoha had a few strong shinobi from Earth Country help the small quantity of earth based shinobi in their village. Konoha helped other countries as well, some to strategize about incoming attacks and how to defend from the resources they possessed and the Nara clan was gaining more reputation because of this.

Godaime Hokage or better known as the Slug Princess or the Legendary Sucker, Senju Tsunade was like always stamping the living crap of the increasing amounts of paper in her office. She hasn't got over the loss of her assistant and best friend Shizune but in her honor she has stop the amount of alcohol she consumed by half but this days she was going to break the rules a bit. Tsunade won the lottery in a small ticket again the other day and instantly knew something bad was going to happen, she hoped Naruto wasn't the bad news but knowing her luck… not a good posibilty.

"Damn brat, gone without a trace, leaving the necklace and your head-bad behind… now giving me more trouble" Tsunade thought as she took another look at the wanted poster she had on her table. The Naruto she knew was lost, he would never go to a village and kill shinobi just for the heck of it… she had help from the Tsuchikage to rebuild the village and now the treaty could be gone and a war may begin at any moment since Naruto was one of them before. Kakashi sending the wanted posters he got from Iwa was a big help to her and now she knew what kind of people Naruto was hanging with. Hearing a little knock on the door she lifted her vision from the wanted posters to the door and managed a firm "come in" and the door opened to reveal the team she was ever so anxious to receive a report from.

"Well, well, it's about time you get here or hear a steady report from you guys" Tsunade stated staring at each and every one of the shinobi present before her "I don't see the one you were out to get… so let's hear it" she added strongly with a look that said 'better be sincere'.

"We found and encountered Uzumaki Naruto… he managed to get away" Kakashi started with a heavy exhausted voice, clearly wanting not to be in his position "Naruto's power has over-exceeded any expectations we could've possessed… and thanks to some overeager shinobi he managed to get away from us" he added painfully as he saw the slight glare forming on Tsunade's face.

"Who are the ones responsible for the failure of the mission?" Tsunade asked in a barely controlled voice as she tried to pipe down her anger. The look and the massive killer intent she produced sent the already wary and weakened shinobi to their knees.

"I-I did!" Kiba half shouted as he struggled to get up from the floor "I was angry at seeing him that I rushed to a fight instead of talking… I'm responsible" he added with slight shame and sadness as he sobbed, tears coming out of his eyes.

"Well it doesn't surprise me that you would…" Tsunade started saying but was cut over as Uchiha Sasuke got up from the floor calmly.

"I'm responsible for the failure of the mission as well Tsunade-sama" Sasuke said fearlessly as he stared back at the last Sanin "I wanted to fight Naruto all this years and even took many retrieval mission because I knew he would never come calmly… I realized in this mission that teamwork or not, we were not match or him" he added regretfully.

"Another one huh?... who else?" Tsunade asked but no one else even flinched at her tone. Suddenly Senju Tsunade did something that no one in the room expected, flickering the legendary medical ninja delivered two powerful punches to each standing shinobi, sending them towards the wall which was destroyed at impact. The two shinobi had difficulty in getting up as to show respect towards their leader but to no avail, hours of not resting and still not fully recovered of the previous fight had its effects "Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba, you have done too much, the success of this mission was going to turn the ties against those attacks and you two blew it… what kind of punishment I should give you I don't know!" she yelled as she thought about the hyperactive blonde and started to sob a bit.

"Hokage-sama, may I speak for a moment?... there's something I must say to all of you" Hinata suddenly asked the sobbing Hokage as she got up from her position "I want to apologize to each and every one of you, the moment I confronted Naruto, h-he made m-me see t-things t-that c-clearly s-says… I've b-being d-doing s-something w-wrong… I'm-I'm s-sorry" she sobbed as tears came from her eyes as she dropped to the floor of the office while everyone in the room looked at her in mild shocked. No one had seen the Hyuuga heiress like this in years, always cold to everyone and always reserved, it a wonder that she'd be crying now trying to apologize to the friends she scorned for so long.

"We forgive you Hinata… we deserved what you did to us in a way and we should apologize to you as well" Sakura said with a small smile. The other shinobi present, except for the Uchiha, nodded in agreement as to the young woman deserving apologies from everyone.

"It seems that you understand a bit of the dobe now… he'll never accept someone who betrays their friends like you did. Naruto, as dumb as he is, has morals and honor… if you ask me, he left because he wanted to do something that would be prevented if he stayed here" Sasuke stated as he frowned at everyone who looked at him shocked.

"You talked to Naruto?" Tsunade asked having calmed down a little at hearing the girl speak and turned to her "You said you talked to him while these two say they've been fighting?" she questioned again.

"Y-Yeah… I-I went alone to t-talk to h-him since I saw a large chakra signature far a-away from the initial battle… I saw a different m-man that he was b-before leaving, c-cold and d-distant… p-powerful" Hinata narrated a little more comfortable after apologizing and gaining forgiveness.

"That's the Naruto from the wanted posters… Uchiha, tell me more about your theory" Tsunade demanded in a calm tone, her eyes though were still furious at the two shinobi who cause the mission to fail.

"There's not much to it… if Naruto wanted to destroy the village he would've gained the wanted posters attacking Konoha and disappearing it from the map" Sasuke rasped a bit as he still felt the punch the Hokage gave him "Naruto must've got a reason to boost his rank and to not come back to this place" he added flinching a bit as he massaged through the rib cage.

"I see… well thought but we still need to find out where is his prime location, their base" Tsunade said as she massaged her temples, suddenly her door was knocked "Enter!" she said in a annoyed tone as the door opened to reveal a panting team of Anbu.

"Hokage-sama… *pant*… we have crucial news" one of them said as he handed in a scroll with the kanji for "Lightning" on it. Opening the scroll Tsunade smile a bit at the news incoming from the scroll and then looked at the more relaxed team of experienced shinobi with a critical eye.

"Well… tell me this crucial piece of information you have" Tsunade demanded as she felt that the good new she just received were about to become meaningless.

"My Lady… we spotted a battalion of Curse Sealed shinobi on our way here" another Anbu said, this time a female "We came at our top speed and didn't rest until we got here… they'll reach the village in a day and a half!" the tained shinobi exclaimed as every visible eye in the room suddenly widened in shock.

"WHAT!!!!" Tsunade yelled in rage as the attack would've gotten them by surprise if it weren't for this team of Anbu "The situation has changed so much… group of jounin alert all available high ranking shinobi and evacuete the civilians immediately, Anbu alert your comrades and the go take a rest we'll need you for this" she ordered with authority, the Anbu flickered away to tell their corporation while the group of exhausted jounins flickered to different location to tell their own comrades. Only the masked jounin Hatake Kakashi stayed behind.

"Hokage-sama… I need to discuss something with you" the masked jounin started somberly "Is in regards of Naruto's new… skills and techniques"

X.X.X

Well how do you people like them apples… no fighting in this one but I think it was good. The apologies some of you didn't want happened (for a reason). Naruto started to see some of his past flaws as well thanks to KB and Curse Seal monsters are coming to destroy everything. Akatsuki is going to show its ugly head and Naruto and company are going to be dramatic… as always.

Next: experiments gone strong