Chapter 10: Forgiveness

"Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Murderer!"

A punch sends a thug flying through the air. He slams into a building wall. Blood sprays from his mouth before he hits the ground unconscious. Naruto glances around to find all the Yakuza members knocked out cold. A few pictures are taken before he vanishes in a swirl of leaves. The ninja reappears on the roof of a building. It has been seven hours since he left the team. A mixture of emotions filled him that were driving him to be a bit rougher than normal with the criminals he came across. The first emotion that he felt was anger. Anger at the team for not trusting him. After everything he had done for the team. He saved them from certain death at the hands of Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. If he had not shown up the entire team would be dead. How many times does he have to save them during a mission to prove that he is trustworthy?

The second emotion that filled him was sadness. For the first time in his life, he had found a place where he belonged. A place where people were not calling him names or trying to kill him. He leaps to the next roof. Perhaps that is the true reason he joined the team. Always being alone is more painful than most people can imagine. No one to rely on, no one to talk to, and more importantly no one to care about his well-being. Loneliness can inflict terrible pain on a person. When Canary offered him the chance to join a team where he would work with others his age it was a chance to drive away the loneliness. That was the real reason that he agreed to join the team. And it worked. Though the team didn't know a thing about espionage, it was nice being able to do missions with others. More importantly, he even managed to make a couple friends in Megan and Aqualad. But all that was gone now. He refused to be on a team that didn't trust him. As much as it hurt to leave, he did what he had to do.

A presence struck his senses. Naruto paused at the edge of the roof. He turned around to stare into the shadows of the building. "You can come out," states the ninja. Out of the shadows emerges a beautiful young woman. The woman is one of the most gorgeous women he ever laid eyes upon. She has high cheekbones, a sharp nose, green eyes like her father, and long brown hair. She wears a green and black full body jumpsuit with matching gloves and boots, and a white belt and holster with a small semi-automatic pistol. He has come across many kunoichi and heroines, this woman is one of the most beautiful he ever laid eyes upon. And judging from the way she moves with such confidence she knows of her beauty.

"You are good. Would you prefer to speak in your native language?"

Naruto's eyes dart around. "If your hidden partners make a move I will take you all down."

A smile forms on her face. She nods in acceptance. "I am impressed. It seems that the rumors about you are all true." Naruto stares at her with a blank expression. "My name is Talia and I come bearing a request from my father. We wish to offer you a spot within in the League of Shadows. One with your skill and abilities would be at my father's right hand. You would be denied nothing."

"I don't serve those that are weaker than me."

"Yet you are on a team filled with those weaker than you including the team leader," replies Talia knowingly.

"Let me rephrase my comment, if I was to become an assassin I would not do it under the command of another. My skills outstrip all your soldiers including you and your father. I would not need his assistance in being at the top," states Naruto.

Talia gains a hint of annoyance at the slight to her abilities. Still, she knew that he was not bragging or being arrogant. This is a child with the abilities and strength to defeat super villains like Mammoth and Grundy. Not to mention he humiliated the League of Shadows assassins during the peace summit. He ruined her father and Luthor's plan to use the summit as a grounds to show off a new weapon to get the leaders of Rhelasia in Luthor's favor. In the end, Luthor managed to charm the leaders of Rhelasia but it took longer than desired. Uzumaki Naruto was not an opponent to underestimate. As much as she loved Batman, she knew that this young man was far better at working in the shadows than the Dark Knight. "Perhaps, but there is much about the world that is a mystery to you. And our organization is not as cold blooded as you think. We seek to guide the world down the right path…"

"Save the speech, I have heard it before. You are not the first organization to seek me out for the power I contain." Well, that is not the entire truth. Akatsuki sought Kurama's strength not his. "I no longer wish to speak to you. Leave," says Naruto.

A sigh escapes the woman. She snaps her fingers. Assassins surround Naruto. "You give me…" Her eyes widen as Naruto suddenly vanishes. In a split second all the assassins are taken down. Naruto reappears back in his original spot. Multiple thuds fill the air as the assassins drop unconscious. She draws her pistol. Blood sprays from her mouth. Her brown eyes look down to see Naruto in front of her and his fist buried into her gut.

"This was not the best time to talk to me. I am in a very bad mood," glares Naruto. A second punch to the gut makes her cough up more blood before her eyes roll up into her head. She falls face first unconscious. He turns leaping to the next roof. Talia would forever remember this moment as the first time she came close to death.

Mount Justice

Canary waits impatiently for the team to get back from the mission to India. She taps her foot impatiently. If the team didn't show up soon she would go to India and find them. Fortunately, it doesn't come to that as the computer alerts her to the bio-ship entering the cave. Reaching out she hits a button opening communication with the team. "Team this is Canary, you are all to meet me for debriefing right away," she closes the link before any argument could be made.

Batman believes that the team should handle its problems on its own. She was all for individuals learning from their own mistakes, but this is a matter that needed to be discussed right away. Canary was going to make the team realize it's foolish behavior resulted in a situation that couldn't be fixed.

Kaldur was first to arrive followed by the rest of the team. "Where is Captain Marvel?" asks Canary curiously.

"He flew off after the mission," answers Kid. "I am starving can't we do this tomorrow?"

"No," states Canary. The team is surprised by her hard tone. "This isn't about debriefing, I have another matter to discuss with the team."

"Is it about Naruto?" asks Kaldur. Canary nods.

Kid scowls, "why do we need to talk about him? He is not part of the team anymore, good riddance." The young speedster gulps as her eyes narrow upon him. For the first time in his life, Kid wants to run away from a beautiful woman.

"There is nothing to talk about. He knew that there was a traitor and didn't tell us. It almost got everyone killed," states Superboy angrily.

"You forget the part where he saved all of you," points out Canary. "If he had not risked his life to fight against Red Tornado's siblings, none of you would be alive. I don't care if you are Kyrptonian because that wouldn't matter if the droids shipped you back to Cadmus to be mind wiped." Superboy folds his arms across his chest and refuses to meet her eyes.

Robin steps forward. "That is true, but if we had prior knowledge about a traitor than we would have been more cautious."

Kaldur voices his own opinion. "Or would we have turned on each other?" The team turns to look at Aqualad with questioning eyes. "It would be hard to trust one another if we knew that there was a traitor in our midst. Such knowledge might even tear the team apart making it impossible to complete a mission or worse get us killed. I have been thinking on it this entire time. And I agree with Naruto's decision to not tell us."

"It has been on my mind too," admits Megan. Superboy looks at his girlfriend in surprise. "Batman knew about a possible traitor because Naruto told him. Even Batman didn't see fit to tell us. If Batman never saw it as important information than maybe it wasn't that big of a deal."

Artemis raises an eyebrow, "isn't Batman like the most secretive person in the world?"

A chuckle comes from Robin. "You have no idea," smirks the Boy Wonder. Robin sighs. "Alright, maybe we jumped to conclusions, but we had a right to know. We are a team."

"Then as a team, why don't you go ask Naruto the real reason he didn't tell you?" says Canary. "Instead of jumping to conclusions hear it from the source. This is a chance to make things right." The members of the team all look at each other.

Tokyo – Higurashi's Weapon Shop

Higurashi examines the sword closely. "You have been keeping it in good shape." The old shop keepers sheathes the sword. He looks over to see Naruto examining the kunai and shuriken. A smirk appears on the old man's face. It took him awhile, but he soon figured out that this kid was the hero that had started to protect Tokyo five months ago. Took him a few months, but a blacksmith always recognizes his weapons. Several officers and reporters had been going around to various weapon shops to find out if any of the owners were supplying this new child hero with the weapons that he used to take down criminals. Higurashi instantly recognized the kunai and shuriken. He made them after all. A good thing he no longer had the real steel weapons on display or the cops and reporters might have been able to match the weapons to his own. Fortunately, the displays are made of a much weaker metal and easily broken.

"Good quality, but not mine. I create ornaments and decorations not suitable for any type of real life usage," yawns Higurashi.

A nod comes from the officer. "If you come by any information let us know," says the officer. Higurashi nods before going back to his book.

There was no way that Higurashi was going to sell out his favorite client. Besides, Naruto saved several friends a month back. As far as he was concerned the kid's secret was safe with him. "I have been working on creating a new sword for you. It is going to be my finest creation," states Higurashi.

"The katana I have is fine," replies Naruto. "I have no need for a new one at the moment."

"You won't be saying that once I finish," Higurashi smirks proudly.

Naruto places the kunai and shuriken in his pouch. He glances at Higurashi. The shop keeper tosses Naruto's katana back to him. Catching the weapon, he sheathes it on his back. Higurashi watches as the kid leaves the shop. Laughing, he heads to back of the shop to continue work on his masterpiece.

In a swirl of leafs, Naruto appears safely on the roof of the weapon shop. He leaps to several more roofs. It is almost noon. Naruto starts to think on whether he should head home or find a nice place to eat at. 'Naruto,' says a familiar voice. The ninja lands on the ledge of a building. His eyes drift to the sky to see Megan flying towards him. Ocean blue eyes track the movements of several others. Artemis and Robin are zip lining from roof to roof. Superboy is leaping the distance between each building with ease. Aqualad is using his water bearers to create a water platform to move from building to building. Naruto turns his head as a yellow blur runs up the side of the building and is soon standing in front of him.

Megan lands next to Kid. Superboy is the next one to land. Robin, Artemis, and Aqualad are the last to land on the building. Naruto stares at them curiously. 'We want to talk,' says Megan. 'No, we want to apologize.' She sends him a pleading look.

Aqualad steps forward. "Naruto, the words we send back at the cave were said out of anger. We were confused and angry at Red Tornado's betrayal. To find out that our friend might have known information about a traitor and didn't tell us…it hurt." Naruto remains silent. "Try to understand it from our position."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asks Robin.

Naruto answers without hesitation. "The information was not reliable."

"What is that supposed to mean?" frowns Superboy.

"On my solo mission to Taipei to protect the peace summit I fought against Sportsmaster. He made a comment about Biayla…"

"Sportsmaster!?" Artemis's eyes narrow in anger. "You can't trust him."

"You never did," smiles Megan.

"I am sure he knows all about our mission to Biayla, but not because I believe there is a traitor."

Kid frowns, "how else would he know?"

Naruto glances at Kid. "It was a failed mission. Our cover was blown from the start." Realization appears in Aqualad and Robin's eyes. "Not to mention that all the soldiers we fought including the psychic were left alive to relay information on our presence to others. Sportsmaster knowing such information was not a surprise nor an indication of a spy. Batman believed it might indicate a mole, but I did not."

"I apologize, we should have trusted you from the start," says Aqualad.

"I'm sorry too," says Megan. She looks at Superboy. He remains silent. A glare from his girlfriend makes Superboy grunt and mumble an apology. Kid grumbles out an apology.

Artemis gives an apologetic look, "yeah sorry."

"Me too," says Robin.

Aqualad steps forward. "Would you reconsider joining the team?" He offers his hand.

Megan smiles, "please Naruto?"

Naruto can sense no negative emotions. As much as he wanted to say no because of the betrayal, he couldn't. He wanted to be part of the team. Reaching out, he shakes Aqualad's hand. "Okay," nods the ninja. It felt good to be back on the team.