Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Divine Comedy. Masashi Kishimoto and Dante Alighieri do. So don't yell at me for using the same characters and settings.
Naruto: Journey through the Land of Darkness
Chapter 6:
The Fifth Circle
Upon getting to the bottom of the stairs to the fifth circle they witnessed a strange sight. A forest or rather a swamp, with rotted trees and dirty, scum-filled water for as far as they could see. In the distance Naruto could hear the sounds of fighting, explosions, death screams, trees being demolished and roars. Minato then spoke up, "This is the fifth circle, and swamps of regrets were the angry and wrathful fight eternally. This is the circle you and I have been sent to."
"And when are you going to tell my why we were assigned this circle?" Naruto asked.
The trio stopped walking and Minato looked back to Naruto. "It's a long story and we need to get going." He replied.
"NO EXCUSES!" Naruto yelled. "I haven't seen you for my entire life and you expect me to not have questions? Who and where is my mother? Why are we assigned this level of Hell? And why the hell did you place the Nine Tails inside me?"
Minato looked down with a sad expression, contemplating how to tell the story of his life and Naruto's birth. Konan stood back, feeling uncomfortable with the situation. "I think we can afford a few minutes, Forth Hokage…" she said, barely above a whisper, trying to ease the situation.
"Fine." Minato said, defeated. "Naruto, your mother is dead, but she is not here. She's in heaven. The village feared and discriminated against her because she was the former Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, and yet, she never bore any kind of hatred against them. I never understood it, but she always told me that the anger wasn't worth it and they didn't know any better."
Naruto was in shock, his mother was the previous Jinchuriki and she was able to overcome her anger at the village. He couldn't help but feel both pride in his mother and jealousy at her empathy. "What happened to you guys?" he asked.
Minato continued his story. "I hated them, the villagers, for the way they treated her when I wasn't around. They would yell things at her, forbid her from entering certain places and they threw things at her. And then we found out she was pregnant. We were so happy and scared. Pregnancy makes a Jinchuriki's seal weaker and we needed to keep your mother sealed in a hut, just outside the village on the other side of the Hokage Monument. When it was about time for you to be born, the seal was almost completely broken. After you were born the hut was suddenly attacked by a masked man claiming to be Madara Uchiha seeking the Nine Tails' power. Your mother and I fought him, with you hidden away. She died in battle and the beast was released and it attacked the village. I quickly defeated the man and went on the offensive against the Nine Tails. I knew I couldn't defeat it so I then got you and sealed it, making you a Jinchuriki like your mother before you. I died angry that I would have to leave you alone to face the pain of being a Jinchuriki, angry at Madara for killing your mother and at myself for failing the way I did. That is why I came to be here."
Naruto then asked. "What was her name?"
"Her name was Kushina Uzumaki, and I loved her more than anything until you were born." Minato replied. "You were given her last name to keep my image in the public's eye clean. If it were up to me, I would have been proud to call you my son, regardless of how the village looked at you."
"What a touching story." A voice from up in the trees said.
Everyone looked up and saw the blonde haired, blue eyed bomb master standing in the tree. "Deidara." Konan called to him. "Why am I not surprised you would up here? Your hate for the Uchiha really knows no bounds does it?"
"Not just the Uchiha! That Nine Tails brat too! I've got a score to settle with your sorry ass! This is for the Shukaku incident!" Deidara jumped down and turned grey and then he suddenly lit up and exploded. Everyone jumped out of the blast radius and were blown into the trees.
"Is everyone alright?" Minato called. Naruto and Konan called out saying they were fine and rejoined Minato. They jumped down and found themselves surrounded by Deidaras, all jumping forward and exploding. Konan covered everyone with a paper dome to protect them.
Naruto looked to his father and realized that he was still there. "How come you haven't disappeared yet?"
"I'm solid in this circle. Since I have no chakra left, I'm only a ghost outside of it." He said, explaining a little more about Hell's rules.
When the explosions stopped, Konan let down the dome and they looked around the destroyed area. Now instead of Deidara, there was a huge group of mindless shinobi, wearing the same gear as the first Hokage. Decades in the inferno wiping their minds of everything but their anger. The first one quickly went in for the attack with a sickle to Naruto's neck, but was stopped almost instantly by the Yellow Flash's lightning quick speed. "So fast!" Naruto exclaimed, seeing now how he got the nickname.
"Let's go, Naruto, Konan!" he said as he disappeared into a flurry of lightning quick attacks. Naruto got a kunai and Konan fluttered into paper butterflies as they attacked the giant group of shinobi. It might have taken about an hour, but eventually the combined force of the three sinners took down the armada.
They continued their journey across the circle until they came across a large clearing, made from Deidara's explosions. In it, hundreds of shinobi endlessly fighting and destroying each other, then rising to do it all again. Down in the center of it all, fighting to his fullest was Deidara, using his hand mouths to chomp on the dirt and make bombs from it. He seemed both angry and psychotically happy in the fighting. His reason for being in the circle clear and making it obvious that he was the circle leader.
Naruto couldn't help but look at him with anger in his eyes, the red chakra of the inferno started to swell around him. Minato quickly grabbed his shoulders. "Naruto, don't lose yourself to the circle's influence."
"How can I? He was the one who killed Gaara! I can't help but get angry seeing his ugly face!" He snapped at Minato.
"This circle has a strong grasp on you, Naruto. This is our circle and you'll lose yourself to your anger, unless you do what I did and learn to forgive. Otherwise, we won't get you out of here." Minato said to him.
Naruto unclenched his fists and breathed deeply. He then opened his eyes, now glowing red and surrounded by the Inferno's chakra. Naruto roared like a beast and disappeared in a flash into the crowd of shinobi, destroying anyone who got in his way to Deidara.
Upon seeing him, Deidara wasn't afraid, still cocky. "I see you're here to fight me head on! Good, now we can settle this score!"
Naruto disappeared and tried to attack Deidara from behind, but he grabbed Naruto and threw him into the crowd with a handful of small bug shaped explosives. The area he landed in began to explode, the other shinobi not being able to escape. Naruto jumped out with the force right at Deidara, tackling him, but it was just another diversion. He lit up and exploded sending Naruto flying. Deidara caught Naruto in a bird shaped bomb and blew it out of the air. Naruto was caught before he hit the ground by Minato and Konan blocked another bomb. She then closed the shield like an umbrella and shot it straight at Deidara. He caught it in his chest mouth and chewed it into another bomb, but threw it into the crowd behind him where it destroyed everyone
"Naruto snap out of it! Let it go, we need to get out of here!" Minato said, trying to get Naruto out before it was too late. But he wouldn't listen, now the inferno chakra began to cover him like the Nina Tails' chakra when it took control, shaping in the back as nine chakra tails. Naruto took his dad and threw him at Deidara like a missile. Minato threw marked kunai all around the area and instantly disappeared; teleporting between areas avoiding Naruto's stretching chakra attacks.
Meanwhile Deidara and Konan were battling in the air, Konan flying with her paper wings; Deidara on his bird bomb. Each of them were shooting endless streams of bombs and paper, countering each other perfectly. "I never knew you were this good!" Konan yelled at Deidara sending a spiral of paper flower knives his way.
"I was always a genius tactician!" Deidara responded as he skillfully dodged the attacks. "But I don't need to only rely on my special clay here! I can use anything as an explosive!" Deidara surrounded Konan in a swarm of humming bird bombs. "True art, is a blast!" Deidara yelled as the swarm all simultaneously exploded.
Konan fell out of the air, in flames, her paper jutsu weak against the fires of Deidara's explosions. "Long range won't work; I need to get in close." She thought to herself. Suddenly she ran in avoiding his homing bombs, jumping up and getting up close to Deidara. She took him by surprise and attacked with her taijutsu; rusty as she was she was still better then Deidara's pitiful attempts at blocking. She effortlessly tripped him and kicking him off the bird, sending it crashing to the ground, she jumped down after him. However she backed off when she noticed that the crowd of angry shinobi began tearing him apart, in a bloody mess.
Minato made a few hand signs and placed his hand on Naruto's chest after an opening let him get close. Markings spread all over Naruto's body as his father placed a sealing jutsu on Naruto weighing him down and preventing him from moving. However, the evil chakra then burned off the markings and Naruto knocked him across the circle; his, or rather the inferno's power, was a sight to behold.
Konan then came in and attempted to detain Naruto with her paper but just like the marks the chakra burned the paper. Unlike Minato she avoided his attacks and flew to Minato by choice. When they met again they decided they needed a plan.
"I know what this circle does to its sinners. They become increasingly angrier as they fight; the punishments here are the loss of all emotions and reason other than anger." Minato said.
"How were you able to regain your senses then?" Konan asked.
"Kushina appeared to me, and told me to let go my anger towards the villagers. It was that simple. She was the only person who made me feel at peace." Minato said.
Naruto roared in the distance as the chakra grew in size and began looking more like the Fox. "How long do we have, before it's too late to save him?" Konan asked seeing Naruto.
"I went through this phase when I first entered this circle. For now the inferno chakra won't deplete his chakra, it's saving it." Minato explained. "It's the inferno's version of a slap to the face. It'll save his chakra and making think there's a chance of escape, then it disappears. When that happens you become temporarily paralyzed and your chakra is depleted instantly as you get killed the first time in this circle's chaos. We need to snap him out of it and get him out as fast as possible, if we don't he's as well as damned."
The blonde terrorist reappeared from the chaos, taller than he was before, and seemingly more powerful. He only opened his hands and ready bombs began shooting from them at the large Fox-like Naruto. The explosions knocked him back slightly but did not do much to deter his charge when suddenly, from the ground, explosions everywhere. It seems Deidara planted mines in the ground upon his newest resurrection.
Deidara spread his arms and opened the mouths on his chest and hands; from each came forth his specialties. From the right arm came the C3 terrorist's delight, from the left emerged the C2 Dragon and from the chest came the cell killing C4 Giant clone. The first to attack was the C3, Deidara threw it into the air and it grew to a massive size and began to freefall. Just before impact it lit up and blew into an explosion large enough to rival Pain's most powerful Almighty Push.
When the smoke from the blast cleared Naruto was even bigger, protected by the chakra. Minato and Konan were nowhere to be seen. Upon seeing this Deidara got up onto the C2 Dragon and flew high into the sky as the C4 Clone moved forward. It looked as though it would attack when Naruto simply tore it to shreds; it was hollow like a balloon. Then suddenly, all the resurrected shinobi on the ground began to disintegrate, leaving ashes in their wake. None of the shinobi hit by the cell destroying C4 were resurrected, they were permanently destroyed.
Naruto on the other hand simply became smaller in size, the C4 only destroying half the chakra surrounding him. Deidara saw this as him becoming weaker and flew down to attack. From the dragon's mouth Deidara began firing smaller dragon shaped bombs at Naruto, knocking him around. Naruto retaliated by having his chakra tails attack like spears and destroy most of the bombs sent his way. Soon enough the C2 Dragon's tail was gone and Deidara out of ammunition to use against Naruto. Deidara sent the dragon on a collision course with Naruto as he jumped off. The dragon connected and exploded into Naruto shedding the chakra that protected his upper body. The chakra was different then the Nine Tails', it didn't grow back into shape when it was blown off. It simply stayed the same, like a wound.
Seeing this Deidara summoned two more C2 Dragons and sent them to destroy the rest of the chakra, then soon enough it was all gone. Naruto laid there, fully awake, but now paralyzed. He was angry and afraid, he was going to die as Deidara placed a fox shaped bomb on Naruto's head. "The reason you lost Naruto, is because you couldn't appreciate the art of battle. And I think you realize it now." Deidara said with a sadistic smile. "Art… IS A BL-" a marked kunai flew just passed Deidara's head as Minato suddenly appeared in front of Deidara and hit him with a powerful Great Rasengan. Deidara flew back away from Naruto as Konan flew in and threw the fox shaped bomb back at Deidara as it readied to explode. The bomb landed on top of Deidara's broken body as it detonated, destroying his head.
Naruto looked up at Minato, anger still in his eyes. "Konan, do it." Minato said, as Naruto's body was enclosed in a dome. A paper clone of Konan appeared within it.
"Naruto, your father and I figured it out. Your anger wasn't directed towards anyone else, it was towards yourself. You were angry with yourself because after everything that happened, you still couldn't hold within your heart the ability to hate. Not even Pain." She said to him. The clone then disappeared into the dome and Naruto was left to contemplate this revelation.
Then in the darkness within the dome, another Naruto came into existence. This Naruto was exactly the same; the only difference was pitch black eyes of hate. "You are pathetic!" it yelled. "Why? Why don't you hate them? Why don't you just kill them all? You want acknowledgment, right? Then kill them all! It'll fill you up inside, their deaths will make you feel good, it will remind them that you existed!"
And suddenly it clicked. Deep down, he was exactly the same as Gaara was. Memories of Gaara's hardships and change for the better after meeting him flooded Naruto's mind. Gaara's change of ideals was possible, because they were the same. Not just as Jinchuriki, but as people. "You're wrong." Naruto said to his darkness. "Killing them would have only made them fear me. That's not the kind of recognition I wanted. I wanted to be recognized as someone they looked up to, someone they looked to for leadership. I wanted friends and I got them. I had the old man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata, Kiba, the Pervy Sage, Sai, Yamato-sensei, Bushy Brows, Neji, even Sasuke. They acknowledged me without fear, but with love." Naruto began to cry, feeling stupid and selfish for his years of anger and jealousy. "I was sent to this circle because I never acknowledged my own feelings other then my misplaced loneliness. I was loved for years and I never realized it." Naruto then looked up to this dark side. "I don't need you anymore, because I have my friends."
Naruto's dark side then began crying and before he could respond, disappeared. For the first time in his life, Naruto truly felt at peace. The burdens of his sins were finally lifted. Now Naruto felt like he could move again. It was time to face Deidara and move on.
Outside Minato and Konan were having a hard time dodging explosions and futilely attacking Deidara. Naruto emerged from the dome as it collapsed. Naruto now had the Sage Jutsu activated, but it was not like it was before. It was now as it was back on Earth. The inferno's chakra now no longer held any influence on him, as he was now cleansed of his sin of anger. He was almost a glowing beacon of hope in the eyes of Konan and his father, as they lay on the ground in pain.
Naruto grabbed one of his father's kunai and threw it at Deidara. He summoned ten shadow clones and they all prepared giant rasengans. When the kunai hit Deidara in the chest, all the Narutos surrounded him and wiped out his body in the crash of rasengans. Almost instantly, Naruto knew what he would do. He was going to personally forgive Nagato and help him escape his punishment.
Naruto picked up his father and Konan and brought them to the door to the next circle. He let them rest and they were able to recover. Naruto then opened the door and he could hear the sounds of millions screaming in a cavernous echo and he felt the heat of fire.
"What's next?" he asked, determined to find Nagato.
His father responded. "The Sixth Circle. There heretics burn and it's where we will find Nagato."
I'm sorry I don't update as often as I should, but I've said before, I'm not just lazy but also have a lot of problems to work through. Anyway, next we'll encounter Nagato and others with god complexes.