Chapter 3: Second Circle – Lust

Synopsis: Now as they make their decent into lust, the team or rather Naruto and Sakura will come upon a familiar face of the past. But will this said person be either an ally or a hindrance to the rescue operation?

But as they get further down into the next, what friend must Naruto leave behind to keep the gates of lust open?

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Naruto franchise or characters associated with it. I also do not own any part of the 14th century Italian divine comedy Dante's Inferno.

"talking"

thoughts


~9th Circle – Treachery~

Within the very bottom of hell is a circle where the most evil souls are said to reside. The 9th circle is place devoid of warmth and light upon where it is only awarded to those fitting to the crime of treachery to be punished for all time.

But within this cold dark circle exists one soul whose light and warmth cuts through the void of the hellish place. That soul belongs to none other than Hinata Hyuga, and although her soul doesn't belong there it is unable to leave. Any soul that could still see within the void saw Hinata was bound by chains which anchored her arms, legs, and body on the very spot she stood on. Of course attempts were made to break the bonds, but the more she struggled the tighter and more painful the chains became. So now after her latest attempt to break free, Hinata decided to sit for a while to recover. Although she was just a soul the cold was definitely getting to her. But even in these harsh conditions Hinata reflected on the happier times of her life with friends, family during certain times, and more specifically the man she paid with her soul to protect. At this thought, Hinata thought about the chain of events from the very beginning which led up to now.


~flashback (11 years ago) ~

At the tender age of five, Hinata stood within the bedroom of her parents looking at an amazing sight. For her mother was currently pregnant with her soon to be little sister Hanabi. But unknown to the little girl her mother had something important to give her.

"Hinata" Hinata's mother called

"Yes okaasan?" asked Hinata

Hinata's mother looked down at the girl who looked back with a curious look on her face. "This is something I want you to have" she said as she handed a peculiar scroll to the young child.

"What it is okaasan?" then asked Hinata as she stared at the object within her hands

"This is a special scroll passed down the main Hyuga branch from mother to daughter" she replied. "This scroll has the power to perform miracles beyond ones wildest imaginations" she smiled

"Can I see what's inside it okaasan?" Hinata asked as she attempted to unbind the seal which kept the scroll closed.

But immediately Hinata's mother clasped her hands stopping her progress in the matter. "No Hinata, for this scroll must only be opened in times of need. Do you understand?"

At that question the young Hinata nodded to her mother with a smile on her face. "I understand okaasan"

Hinata's mother returned her smile. "Very good Hinata, but remember even miracles have rules to them. So that is something you must remember OK Hinata-chan" her mother smiled

"OK" smiled Hinata

After some months later Hanabi was born, but at a sorrowful cost. During child labor her mother had died bringing her little sister into the world. Of course Hinata grieved heavily at the loss of her mother and using the scroll which could grant miracles was something that would be very appealing to anyone in her position. But an unfortunate fact was one of the rules which governed the function of the scroll. For once that particular person has died; making a wish for their revival after their death would prove fruitless. With that fact she cursed the scroll on how powerless it was to bring her mother back to her.

Now eleven years later with Hinata sixteen years of age, there was a wish she wanted to have granted. After Pein's attack on the village which left it in ruins, she could only feel how helpless she was to protect Naruto when he needed it most when Pein had him completely pinned down. So after the village was finished being rebuilt courtesy of Yamato, Hinata decided to unbind the scroll and make her wish. Now upon revealing its content it seemed to be a summoning contract scroll, but not quite at the same time. So following the basic instructions she signed her name in blood and with a few hands signs she made her wish which was the most characteristic to her personality.

"I wish for Naruto-kun safety for all time" said Hinata before the scroll. After a short passage of time nothing seemed to have happened which at first made kunoichi think she did something wrong. But soon a voice which Hinata could only hear responded back.

"Your wish has been heard" said the ominous voice

Hinata to say the least was scared at the response. For whoever said it had a vibe to them which echoed a coldness which could scare even the toughest of shinobi. But it mattered not, for so long as her wish was granted nothing really mattered in the end to her.

~end flashback~


Now back to her current predicament, Hinata felt no regret or remorse for her decision. For Naruto was everything to her and as she had declared before her love himself she was not afraid to die for him.


~2nd Circle – Lust~

As the rescue team descended into the 2nd circle, a weird ominous feeling began to tighten in Naruto stomach.

"That's strange, why do I feel so weird?" thought Naruto, but for the moment he decided to ignore the feeling and continue on with the mission.

Meanwhile Shikamaru was giving some considerable thought to the current situation and how to approach it. So thus he decided to stop the group for the moment to speak his mind.

"Listen everyone, we're not so sure what we are going to run into on each level and it is most likely we'll have to face a guardian on each circle. So we need to start being more conservative with our chakra concerning them" said Shikamaru

"So what are you thinking?" asked Choji

Shikamaru hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "We need to reform the team for higher efficiency in which we have our main fighter for each circle while the rest of us acts as support"

"Are you kidding! We already had trouble enough fighting Yama together. So fighting them as individuals would be like suicide" said Kiba

"I agree, it would be better if we fight together as a team" then said Ino

"If we stick together we should pull through fine enough" said Lee

"I know that! But the way things are now we need to keep ourselves as fresh as possible because the way I see it things are going to get far more worse before they get any better" retorted Shikamaru

Neji and Shino knew he had a point and decided not to say anymore on the matter. Naruto, Sakura and Tenten couldn't really argue the point either since it was relatively the right idea to keep the ones going further down as fresh as possible for the tougher fights up ahead.

"So who is going to stay on this circle then?" asked Naruto

"Well it depends on the kind of guardian we're going to face. For each of us are better equipped in skill or experience when dealing with certain situations. So until we know more about the guardian here we won't know for sure" explained Shikamaru. He then looked to Sakura for any additional information.

"Unfortunately there is not much to go by. The texts information on each circle is sketchy at best" said Sakura

"So we won't know much until we're face to face with them practically huh" said Naruto

"Indeed" stoically stated Shino

With that the conversation came to an end. The group began their decent again until a little while later they eventually found themselves within the 2nd circle of hell. As they walked further in the group was amazed at how different this place was in comparison to the last circle they were in. First off they noticed how huge the gate was that led into the next circle since one would have to be blind not to see it was right there. But now for scenery, it was completely far removed from what purgatory was like. The area around them looked like a barren wasteland with absolutely no sign of plant or wildlife. Aside from that, there seemed to be a near infinite amount of souls wondering all around them screaming out names here and there. Although they were the most animated things in the area, the second most animated thing was the tornados going around. Especially the one coming right at them . . . . wait! A tornado!

Without a second moment to think the tornado was right on top of them which engulfed the entire team into the cyclone. Naruto wasting no time created multiple shadow clones in order to keep everyone together, but to no avail the currents overwhelmed the clones from reaching each other and before anyone knew what had happened they were all scattered into the winds within the different areas of lust.


"Oh, what happened?" asked Naruto as he stood up rubbing his head from the impact he had just endured from the fall.

"It seems that tornado sent all of us flying into different directions" answered Naruto clone 1

"It would also seem that we are here by ourselves" then said Naruto clone 2

"Then I should create more clones and find everyone else quickly" said Naruto as he was forming his seal, but then was quickly stopped by both of his clones.

"Don't you remember what Shikamaru said?!" said clone 2. "We need to conserve our chakra for the journey ahead"

Naruto then stopped his actions and stood up in a thinking pose followed by his other two clones. "You're right . . . . hmm so at this point what would Shikamaru do in this situation"


"Obviously since we're all heading towards the next circle. It would be apparent to just head towards the next gate. Do you got that?" said Shikamaru to one of the clones that landed with his group

"Got it" said the clone as he dissipated from existence relaying the information to every other clone plus the original.

"Will everything be fine like this?" asked Tenten

"As long as our objective is clear we'll rendezvous at the gate. So let us be off" said Shino. Tenten nodded to this assessment as the three ninjas traveled on the wastelands through the storms of lust.


"So that's the plan huh, alright notify everyone we'll be on our way there now" stated Kiba as the Naruto clone disappeared in order to spread the news.

Kiba then turned to his occupant. "You must be getting worried about Hinata now. I just wish we could hurry up and rescue her"

"Hinata-sama is a strong woman. I know she'll be able to hold on until we arrive" said Neji in his usual tone but with a slight hint of worry behind it.

"Well we better get going then" said Kiba as he climbed on top of Akamaru to begin their journey towards the gate.


"Alright let's get going on this trip" said Lee enthusiastically as he began to run off towards the gate

"Hey wait!" screamed Ino who was chasing after Lee to make him stay with the group. "Choji! Hurry up or you're going to get left behind!"

Choji who was running the average speed of any other chunnin shinobi was indeed going as fast as he can. "Just make sure not to lose sight of Lee. It's already a bad situation in itself since we've all been split up like this"


". . . . and that is the current situation as it is now Sakura-chan. All the groups are beginning to make their way towards the gate. So you should get a go on right now" said a Naruto clone. "Hey Sakura-chan, were you listening?"

The said kunoichi at that moment had her back turned to him and seemed to be staring off somewhere.

"Sakura-chan, oi Sakura-chan. What are you doing?" the clone asked

Sakura still remained unresponsive as she stared off to some place until she whispered one word "Sasuke-kun . . . . ".

"What?!" said the clone, but before he could learn anymore something violently forced him to poof out of existence.


"Did you feel that?!" said Naruto who received a nodding response from his two clones.

"Whatever it was, that wasn't Sasuke" said clone 1

"We need to find Sakura-chan fast" said clone 2

Immediately Naruto and clones began running all over the place searching for their missing and potentially in danger teammate. But soon time seemed to fly by quickly with no sign of the pink haired kunoichi showing up anywhere. Then Naruto came to a conclusion on what he had to do.

"Damn it! I didn't want to use another one so soon" cursed Naruto as he released another one of his clones carrying his sage energy. Upon release his eyes took on the very traits that marked him as a true toad sage. With his change he began to scan the area for everyone location.

"Hmm, it seems Shikamaru and Neji group are closing in from right behind me. Lee's group will be approaching soon from the 3 o' clock position. But where is Sakura?" thought Naruto. As if to answer his own question he immediately picked up her chakra signature. "There she is!" but then accompanied with Sakura signature were two other presences. One of them had an intense feeling about it so it had to most likely be the guardian for this level. But the other had something that definitely seemed . . . . familiar? and with further focus . . . . "What is going on?"


"Sasuke-kun, wait!" yelled Sakura as she pursued the ghostly figure. But the closer she got the further it seemed to get away. But soon the two eventually found themselves in front of the massive gate which would lead them towards the next circle of hell. The ghostly figure then turned around in order to speak to the visibly tired kunoichi.

"Come Sakura, if you can take my hand I might consider going back to Konoha" said the ghostly Sasuke

Sakura who recently regained her composure began walking slowly towards the extended arm that Sasuke offered. Now if anyone could see Sakura in her current state, her eyes were completely glossed over as if she were in a trance of some sort. Slowly she inched her way towards Sasuke convinced that if she were to take his hand she would be able to bring him back to Konoha.

"Please Sasuke, return to us" thought Sakura repeatedly as she soon was beginning to reach for his hand. But then . . . .

"Fool! Don't be tricked by your own hearts delusions!"

Then out from the sky, a darkened figure ripped right through the ghostly form of Sasuke with his mighty scythe swinging down cleaving the figure in two easily. Sakura then blinked for a few moments when her consciousness finally began to fill her eyes again.

"Ahh, what was that? For a moment I thought I saw Sasuke, and then blank" said Sakura as she began to rub her head. "That must have been one hell of a genjutsu to get me like that"

She then turned her attention to the dark figure expecting it to be one of her friends, but then was surprised to see who it really was. "Wait, you're . . . ."

"Well it seems you're a glutton for punishment if you've come to face me again" said the now shadowy remains of Sasuke

"Don't patronize me, I'll be sure to take your head off this time guardian of the 2nd circle!" said the dark figure

Then as Sakura began to glimpse up she saw the shadowy remains begin to twist into that of a very feminine looking boy.

"So let us see if you can take my head while being in this form" laughed the 2nd guardian

The dark figure growled at this. "You won't trick me twice with that illusion" the figure said as he began to swing his scythe rapidly as his target. The guardian easily danced around the attacks until it finally assumed its original form. The guardian appeared as an adult woman who seemed to be well dressed in a kimono as well as have exceptionally long hair.

"So you show your true form now" yelled the dark figure as he swung his scythe across in attempt to disembowel his enemy. But the lady easily jumped over the attack as well as her opponent while also noticing an easy target for her to go after. So as she landed, she immediately began her assault on the still recovering kunoichi.

Sakura who was still trying to get her wits about from the hallucinations finally realized who the opponent was. The guardian of the 2nd circle was a harionna. These were demons who had the ability to manipulate their hair into anything they so desire not to mention had a relatively good understanding of demon arts.

But finally Sakura managed to get her motor functions going again as she caught the two large spires of hair that were coming right at her. Upon receiving them, she gave them a firm yank pulling the harionna in at faster velocity to which Sakura shot a firm kick into the monsters face.

"You dare to strike me! The most beautiful being in all the nine circles!" raged the harionna who was rubbing her face from the impact.

Sakura gave the demon a death glare. "I don't only dare to, but I plan on ripping out every last hair follicle on your head by the time I'm done with you" she threatened as she cracked her knuckles in preparation for the fight. For at this point she was pissed at what the demon had done to her.

So as the fight began, she began by punching the ground creating an upheaval which she then followed with a second punch creating multiple projectile rocks. However the demon easily countered this by creating a wall of hair thus nullifying the attack.

"Don't think something as pitiful as that can work on me" smirked the harionna. Then from behind came the scythe attack which was stopped by another hair wall, but with higher difficulty. "Don't forget, you're still fighting me" said the rouge

The battle continued on as such with Sakura throwing punches as well as rock projectiles which managed to hurt the fiend some of the time. As for the rouge, he was no slouch as he was giving the demon an equally or even harder time then Sakura by cutting down her hair defenses which were promptly followed by an immediate strike afterwards. However, a defining point in this fight was when the rouge went for another horizontal slash to which the demon responded by jumping rather high in order to evade but soon to realize her mistake as Sakura was right behind her in the air. At this point, Sakura using her chakra enhanced punch grinded her fist right into the face of the harionna sending it crashing to the very ground below creating not only a crater but a giant dust cloud as well.

"That ought to do it" said Sakura as she landed right next to the rouge. But immediately upon remembering who it was she got back into defensive stance.

"Don't worry, I have no business with you" said the rouge. "But more importantly this fight isn't over yet"

"What" said Sakura as immediately from the rubble erupted a giant dragon made of hair.

"You'll pay for what you have done!" screamed the harionna as her newest creation came throttling at them at full speed. The rouge attempted to intercept but was immediately moved aside as he was hit by a sharp turn made by the serpent. Sakura then planned on destroying the head of the dragon by hitting it full force with every bit of chakra she can squeeze into her fist. But as she began to move she realized she couldn't for as she looked herself over some hairs from the demon were constricting her movements. She then looked up to see the dragon about to engulf her.

"Damn!" was all she could think at this point. However in that moment the attack never seem to have come. So as Sakura opened her eyes she then realized she was saved. Naruto and co. had just arrived in time to stop the dragon from making her into a quick meal. Naruto had stopped the dragons advance by wrestling it down by its teeth, Lee attacked the demon directly breaking the concentration it had on Sakura movements, Kiba made quick work on the dragon by severing the main body which connected it to its master, and everyone else just secured Sakura by pulling her out of there.

"So you guys finally came to the party" Sakura said trying to be humorous all the while

"I can't believe you fell for the same trick I used on you before" said Ino accusingly

"Sorry, I let my guard down at that moment" replied Sakura

"Well as long as you're alright, then that is fine" smiled Tenten

"Alright, so let's get this butt kicking started" called Kiba

Shikamaru immediately interjected, "Wait! Remember what I said, we need to conserve as much chakra as possible. So only one of us needs to fight while the rest of us must act as support"

"Then who is going to do that" called Lee as he was still in the middle of defending himself against the harionna counterstrike

"I'll do it" said Ino

"You can't! You're a medic and that makes you too valuable to lose on the mission now!" argued Shikamaru

"Ino you mustn't do this!"Sakura then added in

"Don't worry, they still have you and besides I don't have a lot of chakra to begin with. So you would be the better choice for the future of this mission" said Ino. She then looked back with a smile while giving a thumb up to her best friend. "So have a little faith in me, I can take this one on my own"

"Ino . . . " muttered Sakura

Shikamaru didn't like how this was going, but Ino was definitely adamant about her decision. "Everyone! Pull back let Ino handle it from here!" yelled Shikamaru

At that call Lee, Naruto, and Kiba pulled back allowing Ino to take this one. But that is when she noticed the extra fighter.

"Uhh, who is that?" asked Ino

"Someone from the past we knew" answered Sakura

Naruto then gave a confused look. "From the past? When did we meet this person Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto! You know who this person it too!" said Sakura angrily at how forgetful her teammate was

"We have?" then asked Naruto

"Just forget it, but for now that man in on our side" said Sakura

The blond kunoichi shrugged at this. "Well good enough for me I suppose". She then looked towards the rouge. "You mind backing me up"

"Just don't get in my way" the rouge responded and with that the fighting began again.

Ino began with a couple of kunai as cover fire as the rouge closed the distance to get into striking range of his scythe. Soon the rouge was swinging away chopping away the hair that protected the guardian. Ino then ran in kunai drawn ready to continue her assault. This back and forth continued for a good while with the harionna on the losing end. But as it is known when you back an animal into the corner, it will then show its true fangs to you. For the harionna has had enough of this fight.

"This will end now!" screamed the harionna as her hair pierced the ground beneath hitting everything within the half mile radius. For the attack created hundreds of hair spires which all had spikes on them making it impossible to avoid harm. With the aftermath of the attack the demon was pleased with the results. For the technique had killed the group that was watching the fight as their bodies laid in bloody messes and body parts were scattered everywhere with blood soaking the ground below. As for her opponents, the rouge was clearly unable to fight anymore since a spike had pierced his head making him unable to fight due to being pinned. So she decided she was going to have fun torturing him for the next millennium for trying to rise against her. As for her other opponent she was still alive but barely. Her arm and leg had been severed from the attack with a spike going right through her abdomen. The harionna then walked up to Ino with a sneer on her face as she chopped off her remaining arm and leg to which Ino gave off a heart wrenching scream.

"Do you have any last words mortal?" said the demon as she gave off a maniacal smile. But she soon would come to be surprised at her soon to be victim's demeanor.

Ino smiled back with an overwhelming confidence on her face. "Yeah, two words. Got'cha"

And with that the harionna blinked to soon discover everything around her was melting away. She then realized she was having trouble breathing. As the demon blinked her eyes she realized she was drowning at that moment. She looked up to see the blond kunoichi canceling her jutsu while the rouge having his hand on the perfectly shaped sphere of water.

"Suiton, water prison no jutsu" said the rouge with maniacal smile of his own

"But how?! There isn't any water here for you to use such a technique!" thought the harionna

As if the rouge had read her mind he answered her question. "I've been gathering water all these years trying to form this technique. But when those guys opened the gates to the floor above I managed to get everything I needed for this moment"

"But there is no way you could've trapped me so easily like this?!" then thought the demon

But once again as if to answer her question, "You're such a fool, for as soon as I arrived I started releasing a pheromone into the air but it would have taken some time to work. So the whole point of us fighting you was just to buy time so that I could trap you in my genjutsu" stated Ino smugly

"No! To be disgraced by these mortals! I refuse! . . . . I refuse! . . . . I refuse! . . . .", and eventually the harionna passed out from the lack of oxygen

"Alright that should do" said Ino as she prepped the signature move of her family. "Mind transfer no jutsu"

Upon transferring in the rouge canceled his technique. The harionna then got up to check herself.

"Wow, this body feels kind of interesting" said Ino in the voice of the demon they had just defeated

Upon finishing the transfer Ino used the same technique that the demon used before in the genjutsu in order to act as pegs to keep the gate opened. Afterwards, the group then turned their attention to the rouge

"So Sakura-chan, who is this guy?" asked Naruto

"Are you serious?! You don't remember who this guy is?!" screeched Sakura, but then came up with an idea. "Alright how about this"

Sakura taking out a bandage kit from her pouch began to wrap the mouth area of the rouge, and bit by bit Naruto came to realization who it was.

"You're! . . . . You're! . . . . You're Zabuza!" exclaimed Naruto while pointing his finger at him

Zabuza looked to Naruto as if he were an idiot. "Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"

Naruto shook his head, but then a question came to mind. "Why are you here? I kind of figured with your background you would have been most likely further down"

Zabuza then gave an intuitive expression. "I thought so as well. But it seems my reason to give Haku a place to call home as well as killing that fat bastard got me some credit which ended with me coming here"

"OK", then Naruto gave the scythe a good look to which it definitely didn't look like anything a normal human could make. "Where did you get that?" as he pointed at the said weapon

"I got this from the reaper who sent me here" bluntly stated Zabuza

Tenten eyed the scythe with amazement. "Where could I get one?" she asked excitedly

"Well first you have to die, than second you have to forcefully take the scythe from the reaper. If it wants it back then all you have to do is decapitate him with it" stated Zabuza with some glee in his voice

"Why did you decapitate the reaper?" then asked Kiba

"He was talking too much"

At that point everyone in the group sweat dropped to the story. But things immediately got back on track. For like anyone who knew Naruto, Zabuza asked why he was in hell to begin with and as he explained before they were on a rescue mission to save Hinata.

"I see, so that was the girl who passed this gate recently" said Zabuza

"Yeah, so we need to get a go on right away. Can you help us?" asked Naruto as he and the gang began to move towards the gate

"There would be no point in me going since my chakra had already been used up fighting that guardian for all these years. Since I have no body it's rather difficult to recover in this state" explained Zabuza

"I understand, oi Ino are you going to be OK?" Naruto then asked

"Well so long as my body is undisturbed and the harionna conscious remains unconscious I should be able to maintain things here" smiled Ino/harionna

With that the remaining team began their decent once again. . But before Naruto left he had one more thing to say to the former water ninja, "You've really changed"

Zabuza scoffed at this "I'm still the same bastard I was before I died. But I do know the importance of protecting the people close to you. So I'll keep things going smoothly here until you get back"

"Great" but then something came to Naruto mind about a previous event from before. "Zabuza, was there someone alive who came here before us?"

The water nin then gave the boy a serious look. "I don't know, it was noticed that someone was crossing through here. However they had their presence well masked not to alert anything around them. Plus whatever that person did to the guardian here, she didn't do as much as raise a finger when allowing that person to cross the gate"

"So you have no idea who it was?"

"No, but I do know you should be careful from here on in. For just like your friend earlier hell can play some tricks on the heart. So don't allow your will to weaken at any point in time"

Naruto nodded his head "understood"

The young blond then began his run through the gate. "Alright, hold down the fort until we return!" yelled Naruto as he was getting caught up with his team as they made their decent into the next circle of hell.


~9th Circle – Treachery~

As Hinata sat in the cold darkness recovering from her latest attempt at escape she soon was going to have company. That entity was none too pleased about Naruto and co. breaking through the first two gates of hell and was definitely going to make Hinata know it.


Author's notes: I hope this chapter was an improvement from the last one. Also I hope this explains how Hinata had ended up the way she is. If you are curious about the rules of the scroll Hinata has they are: 1. It cannot take life due to the probability of unbalancing the karma of the universe, 2. It cannot control the freewill of others, and 3. It cannot bring the dead back to life.

So I thank you for your time in reading this fic and further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.