Naruto waved it off, "No need Kuma-san. I do my best when I'm on the spot, I just want to get the gripe-fest inside over with so I can go home and watch my shitty closed-circuit TV."
A snort came from another corner of the hall as Kuma moved and allowed Naruto entrance into the council chambers. As he walked inside he noticed the conversation drop off and most of the focus fell on him. There were almost unanimous glares from the civilian council, and when he turned to bid them a jaunty hello he almost broke down in laughter as they tried their hand at their pathetic excuse for killing intent.
Naruto saw that all of the clan heads were looking at him and he could read their expressions as he made his way to the table he was to remain at. The Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Nara clan heads were pretty objective, the Nara and Akimichi clan heads were actually giving him looks of acknowledgement, obviously being told by their sons about his actions during the mission.
The Inuzuka matriarch was smirking at him with mirth evident on her face, a smirk that he readily returned. The Hyuuga clan head was just looking at him, he couldn't tell what was going on behind those white eyes, damn, Hyuuga's have a great poker face, likewise for the Aburame clan.
Naruto saw the council elder advisers and saw Danzo, but let his face betray nothing, as did Danzo. Naruto knew they would never openly get a chance to speak, not for a long time, and if Danzo found that opening he would find Naruto if he really needed to, there was no need for Naruto to act like a lost puppy right now.
Taking his seat at the table he looked at the elders as if to state, 'can we start yet?' Tsunade then cleared her throat to speak, "Chunin Naruto Uzumaki, you have been brought here at the behest of Konohagakure no Sato's village council for your details on the mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha." She turned to the elders, "Those of you that have questions on what happened, you may ask." Naruto turned his attention to the elders themselves who opened the floor with questioning. Koharu Utatane chose to go first, "Uzumaki-san, if you could, would you give us a verbal description of your experiences during the mission?"
Naruto nodded, "I set out from the village during the morning to catch up to the retrieval team in order to provide adequate assistance to them in case they wound up being outclassed by their opposition. After picking up a trail within the first half-hour I proceeded to give pursuit for about three hours before catching up to Choji Akimichi who was engaged in battle against, now identified, Jirobo of the South. Choji was on the verge of taking the third of the secret Akimichi pills in order to combat his foe when I stepped in and sent him to go catch up with the rest of the team. I then proceeded to swiftly dispatch Jirobo and follow suit in catching up to the team."
The old man next to Koharu, Homura Mitokado nodded, "This much was revealed by young Choji's report and by the Anbu that found Jirobo's corpse following the mission. You may proceed."
Naruto rolled his eyes, 'Then why did you fucking ask me then?' Ignoring that voice in his head he continued, "I then found Neji Hyuuga in the middle of fighting Kidomaru of the East. He seemed to be doing fine on his own, it was an even deadlock, but Kidomaru had yet to unlock the second stage of his cursed seal so I decided to intervene. Neji was able to keep Kidomaru's attention until I was able to launch a stealth attack from a distance that ended his life."
Naruto licked his lips in pause before continuing, "Both Neji and myself then caught up to Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi who had rejoined the main force. Rock Lee and Kiba Inuzuka had been separated from the team while Shikamaru and Choji were being held up by Tayuya of the North. I sent Neji off to find Kiba who had fallen from a cliff into the river below and fought Tayuya along with Shikamaru and Choji. She caught them in a genjutsu, and knowing how much trouble a skilled genjutsu specialist usually has against a close-range specialist, I closed the distance and defeated her, freeing Choji and Shikamaru. I captured her and Shikamaru along with Choji returned her to Konoha as a prisoner."
Naruto then looked at the elders as if expecting comments. Tsunade motioned for him to go on, "Proceed Uzumaki."
Naruto sighed and looked at all of the people. No doubt everyone in the room knew what was next, "I ran ahead and then made contact with Rock Lee who was fighting Kimimaro Kaguya at the time. I sent Lee off ahead to retrieve Sasuke while I stayed to keep Kimimaro from assisting Sasuke's escape. After a prolonged conflict and timely momentary assistance from Sabaku no Gaara I was able to outlast Kimimaro and defeat him, however I was too injured to continue with the mission and had to be assisted by Gaara who had also found and retrieved an injured Rock Lee."
A civilian council member stood up, "So you let the last Uchiha escape did you boy?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, 'You already know he got away you son-of-a-bitch. You just want to use me as your whipping boy on the matter.' Naruto spoke evenly, "I did not allow anything. He may have gotten beyond the border, but the team and myself did everything we could to prevent that from happening."
Another council member stood and pointed at him, "But you already defeated the Uchiha in combat. If you had just left the battle with the Kaguya to that Rock Lee person then you could have personally stopped Sasuke yourself."
Naruto bristled at the insinuation, "Listen. Kimimaru Kaguya was far beyond any of their levels. He was sick, he was weak, and it still took everything I had to put him down. Nothing that Rock Lee is capable of would have beaten him. No one else on the retrieval squad or the relief team from Suna could have fought and defeated him. He might have even found a way to overwhelm me had he not used the last of his chakra on his final technique, or does a giant forest of bones not register as potentially hazardous to a team comprised of genin?"
The civilians sat down seething at Naruto explanation when Hiashi Hyuuga's firm voice was heard, "The forest of bones… was also inside of a massive crater. The crater was the epicenter for the tremors that struck Konoha. What can you tell us about that?"
Naruto knew there was no need to lie at this point, "Yes, I did it. It was necessary to keep up with Kimimaro Kaguya after he activated the next level of his seal. It's a high price to pay to use that much power however, the force of my technique cracks my entire skeletal frame."
Inoichi Yamanaka was curious as to the nature of Naruto's maneuver, "Would you mind showing the technique to us?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Yes. Yes I would, actually. Not only is it something that really shouldn't be used outside of combat, it's not something that I want people to know about, let alone actually see. You all have your own clan secrets and all of that, well consider this something that none of you have any right to coerce out of me."
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