When lunch arrived in thick plastic trays, all six of them had gotten comfortable. They had removed their headbands and taken down their hair and loosened their belts and buttons.

Naruto and Choji sat by the bars at the front of the cell, running their fingers across the cool metal. Sakura and Ino sat opposite from each other, toes nearly touching, Ino fiddling with her hair, Sakura meditating. Shikamaru laid haphazardly in the middle of the room, resting his head in Ino's lap and staring at the ceiling. Finally, in the darkest corner at the back of the room, Sasuke sat, crossed-legged, facing away from everyone.

The guards who brought lunch could barely make him out at first.

"Where's the sixth?" one of them asked Naruto gruffly. Naruto pointed to the back of the room where Sasuke refused to turn around.

The guard scoffed. "It's been one day and he's already acting like he's been in solitary for a month. Fucking nutcase."

The guard grabbed at the heavy keyring that was hooked into his belt loop and opened a small tray door. He roughly slid the trays into the cell without any care for whether the food spilled out and left, saying that they'd be back in about an hour to collect the empty trays.

Choji thanked them graciously and Naruto pressed his face up to the bars to watch them leave.

"You guys are laying it on a bit thick," Ino said, rolling her eyes, "we've only been here for a few hours."

Naruto chuckled as he turned around with the lunch trays. "Yeah, but if they want a show, it's my duty to give them one."

"Oi, Sasuke, take a break," he said, "You're going to be doing this for a really long time."

Sasuke rolled his shoulders and turned around to face the others. Behind him, small words were drawn into the sand, scribbled with Sasuke's index finger.

Naruto passed around the plates that held some rice and some meat in a brownish sauce. A sad-looking apple came with every meal.

"How nutritious," Sakura commented with a frown as she passed a tray down to Sasuke.

Naruto made a face as he lifted the lumpy meat on his spoon and it slipped off, back into his tray with a sickening squelch.

"Sasuke, how is it coming?" Shikamaru asked, pushing his tray away from him, and looking a little queasy.

"Well, these bars work," Sasuke said, gesturing to the cell bars. "I can't access my sharingan, but I am rewriting whatever I can remember from memory. It still doesn't make much sense to me but…"

"I'll see if I can make any sense of it as soon as you are done," Sakura said.

Sasuke had begun rewriting whatever data he could remember into the sand. Maybe there was something in those notes that would explain why they had been arrested. Perhaps they were on the verge of uncovering some mass conspiracy and Sato wanted them fleeced in the public eye before they could expose him. It was a working theory. When Naruto had first mentioned it, Sasuke thought the confinement was getting to him, but the longer he thought about it, the more it stuck with him.

Shikamaru nodded slowly. "Right now, we know how they trapped us, but we don't know who did it or why. But whoever planned this was really thorough. They planned it out months ahead of time, as evidenced by the fact that Kitsune was born in Konoha, making him Konoha's responsibility to return. This wasn't some small vengeful attack. It was orchestrated on a really high level."

"Shikamaru…" Ino started, "something Sakura said earlier really stuck with me…" She glanced at Sakura. "You said that the fourth war really showed that Konoha was the strongest village. We have Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Sakura…not to mention all our sensei's and the upcoming generation."

Naruto looked at her, fiercely. "What are you trying to say, Ino?"

Ino hesitated but persisted. "…The first three wars were because the hidden villages wanted to be the best. This last war…we all worked together…but what if we were just united because we had a common enemy. Now that the enemy is gone…maybe…" Ino stopped to look around.

Everyone was looking at her with disappointment or anger. No one liked hearing this.

"Look!" she said, "I have friends in the other villages too! But we'd be stupid not to think that this was a way for them to fleece our strongest shinobi! It just takes a few bad jealous apples!"

"They would never," Naruto said, fiercely.

"Naruto, we have to think of it as an option!" Ino replied, pleading with him.

Sasuke, who was staring at the tray in his lap whispered something that Naruto could barely make out.

"What?" Naruto asked, turning to Sasuke.

"The ambush," he repeated in a louder voice, still staring at his tray, "when we were ambushed between villages, they were earth-nin. They used stone jutsu to bind us, remember? What Ino is saying…it may have some weight to it." Sasuke felt guilty even saying the words. He, more than anyone was a firm believer than people could change. But he had to put the facts out there.

Naruto stood up abruptly, nearly tipping his plate over, his hands clenched into shaking fists. "How can you even say that? After everything we went through with them. Our blood flowed in rivers down the same battlefields! We buried their dead the same way they buried ours!"

Sasuke refused to look at him. He agreed with Naruto with every fiber of his being, but Naruto tended to be blinded by his love for people.

Thankfully, it was Ino who replied. "I know that!" Ino said back, voice raising, "I was there! But now I am here, and I have to think of all the possibilities, Naruto! Who else would have a motive?"

Naruto turned away and slammed his fist into the cement wall.

Sakura got up and placed a gentle hand on his back.

"Come sit," she murmured to him, "we can't think with our hearts."

Naruto reluctantly turned around. Sakura took his hand and gently brought him back to the circle. He muttered an apology to Ino but refused to look at her.

Ino looked away too, cheeks flushed an angry red.

"Ino…" Sakura tried but stopped herself. She didn't know what to say. Ino was right. It could very well be a shinobi from Iwa or Suna who felt miffed by Konoha. It wouldn't take much to gather allyship with a cause like that. It had happened many times before.

Shikamaru broke the awkward silence first. "Listen," he said with a deep breath, "we don't know who did this. We can speculate all we want but it won't get us anywhere. Right now, we need each other more than ever, do you understand that?"

He looked at Ino and Naruto. They both nodded, but still refused to look at each other.

"We need more information…and we'll get it tomorrow," Shikamaru said, confidently.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, grateful for the change in topic.

"Sasuke said it best. The judge was weaving a story when he introduced us. Tomorrow, we'll get to hear more of it," Shikamaru said in a low voice. The others leaned in to hear him better. "Every story is intertwined with the voice of the writer. If we pay close attention tomorrow during the trial, we'll be able to figure out what the writer of this story is trying to do. If we can figure out his motive, we can figure out who he is."

"Or she," Ino added.

"Or she." Shikamaru amended.

"Well then," Choji said, having polished off his plate and getting to his feet, "there's nothing more to do than to wait for tomorrow."

Sasuke got up and went back to his corner. Naruto piled up the plates and placed them by the front of the cell and everyone resumed their positions. They couldn't tell when the sun slipped under the horizon or when morning came, but they sat in silence, listening to the sound of Sasuke's scribbles.

When the door at the end of the hallway slammed open, all six of them sat up straight.

"Look as presentable as possible," Ino had hissed at them. They passed around a glass of water that had come with breakfast and wiped their faces clean and attempted to set their hair in a way that made them look less brutish.

"They're making us out to be monsters," Sasuke had added, "so whatever you do, don't do anything that makes you fit that category. Act as meek as possible."

Naruto had reached to put his headband on, but Shikamaru shook his head. Any shinobi attire wouldn't help them right now.

The masked shinobi who had led them into the cells yesterday opened the door and handcuffed them to one another and lead them down the dark hallway. Naruto noticed that most of the other cells seemed occupied but silent. He shuddered at the idea of being locked away without his friends for company. Even Ino was another warm body and voice to escape the monotony of imprisonment.

The hallway got warmer as they got closer to the end of it, and the masked shinobi opened the door into the large courtroom again. The seats were filled yet again, and the murmurs and conversation stopped as Sakura walked in. All eyes followed them as they made their way to their table and waited to be uncuffed to sit. Naruto fought the urge to turn around and ask them what they were looking at.

An extra seat had been added to their table, and another small table was set up a few feet away from theirs, presumably for the attorneys. As they took their seats, Sakura let out a small gasp.

The others followed her line of sight to the seats in the mezzanine that were directly across from them, above the judges table. There, decked in full Hokage robes, sat a stoic Kakashi. Between the mask and the hat, there was very little of him to see, but just the sight of his eye comforted Sakura.

She likened the feeling to when she got in trouble at school and her mother would come to get her. Sure, she'd have an earful waiting for her at home, but at least she was with someone who loved her. She was safe.

Sakura smiled at him gratefully, but Kakashi gave the slightest imperceptible shake of his head.

"Don't act too friendly," the shake of the head said.

Sakura dropped her smile quickly and sat timidly in her chair.

Flanking both sides of Kakashi were the other Kage's, sitting just as regally and poised as he was.

Naruto fought the urge to wave at them all. Their stoic faces made it very clear that this wasn't the time for a warm reunion.

Regardless, seeing their friends and mentors in a line directly above where the judges who would determine their fate sat was a comforting sight. There was something poetic about it. The message was clear; they would be okay after all.

Moments after they had taken their seats, a small man in a suit went to the box that stood next to the stage. He climbed in the witness stand to use the microphone and said, "if everyone could settle down, we can start day 1 of The Shinobi Tribunal versus The Konoha Six." The way he kept adjusting the round glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose made it clear that he felt very important in the moment.

A hush fell over the audience. It was clear that this was a show they were eager to see.

The bailiff stepped off from the witness stand and disappeared somewhere behind the judge's table.

"Mieko Kirino for Prosecution, your honors," a velvety voice said from behind Naruto. He nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't noticed anybody was standing so close behind him.

Before he could turn to look, a tall woman in a dark blue business dress walked past their table and made her way into the center of the clearing, hips swinging. Despite the gravity of the situation, Naruto had a feeling that he and every other man in the room were all staring at the same thing.

Her dark wavy hair fell over an eye but she raised her heavy-lidded gaze towards the judges and curled her lips in a smile like a cat. "Pleasure to be here, your honors," she said in a slippery voice.

"Likewise," another voice said from behind Naruto. Naruto would have jumped if he wasn't so hypnotized by the woman who stood in front of them. A tall broad-shouldered man walked confidently into the clearing next to Mieko. He was young. His hair was slicked back and shiny and while he didn't smile at the judges, Naruto noticed that the lady judges smiled at him. Even Mieko seemed to eye him up and down for a moment. "Akio Nanami for the Defense," he said.

"Thank you both for joining us today," the judge from Konoha began. "We'll begin with opening statements."

Mieko remained standing in the clearing and Aiko walked back to the table where the defendants were.

He took the empty seat next to Shikamaru and turned to face them all. "I'm your defense attorney," he whispered to them, "I'm a public attorney, assigned to you by the tribunal to ensure you have a fair and just trial. I was assigned to this case yesterday, and I am super excited because it's my first case so let's give it our all!" He gave them a thumbs up and turned his attention back to the clearing where Mieko was standing.

Ino leaned towards Naruto with wide eyes and whispered, "did he just say he was assigned to us yesterday?"

"Did he just say first case?" Naruto whispered back but before Ino could reply Naruto felt a sharp kick to his shin. Sasuke was glaring at him to focus. Prosecution was about to begin her opening statement.

"Ladies and Gentleman of the bench," she began, voice loud and clear as a bell, "we have not gathered here today to discuss the technicalities and microdetails of the offenses committed by the six shinobi sitting behind me. We are here to do something far greater than that. We are here to entrench the necessity of this tribunal into our basic legal system."

She paused for a moment and licked her red lips, making eye contact with each of the judges.

"For centuries," she said as she took a step back from the judges and turned to face the audience on her left, "we have lived in a world of shinobi. Their power dictates everything we do. We war when they war, we rest when they rest. Their internal conflicts collateralize us, our homes, and our futures."

The audience murmured quietly amongst themselves as Mieko turned back to the judges. "The past few decades have made one thing incredibly clear, your honors. This unbridled power is too heavy for any human heart to hold. It corrupts people. It makes them power-hungry and conscience-less. It turns humans into gods," she turned back to glance at Naruto, "and gods into monsters."

"There is no better example of this than the young men and women that are brought in front of us today," she said, turning to face the six shinobi and addressing the audience behind them.

"Heroes of a war created by their own kind," she said, eying Naruto. He gritted his teeth but said nothing. "don't be the monster they make you out to be," he repeated to himself.

"Burdened by generational power passed through the darkest of means," she added, catching Sasuke's eyes. He glared back at her, refusing to avoid her gaze. He refused to let this woman humiliate him for the pain and suffering he and his ancestors went through.

"These young men and women have the ability to control minds, manipulate bodies, deprive one of their own free will, and destroy acres of land with a single hit." She looked at Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Sakura respectively as she spoke slowly. Each accusation sent a flurry of murmurs through the crowd.

"All of this power, and yet, they are held accountable only to their own." She turned on her heel briskly, facing the Kage's. Shikamaru noted that everyone in the audience followed her gaze to look at them too. "They are chastised for bad behavior by their own teachers and friends. Admonished for the most heinous crimes with just a slap on the wrist."

She turned back to the judges and positioned herself in the middle of the room again. "Make no mistake, your honors. Shinobi are a core part of our society. Our world would not exist as it does without them. But they are still humans. The rule of law applies to all men and women the same, regardless of what their bodies are capable of."

Next to them, Aiko was taking furious notes.

"These six shinobi are a product of a world where ninja are not held accountable for their actions. They have lied, cheated, betrayed, frauded, burned, stolen, and destroyed and they expected to face no consequences for their actions."

"We have been given the chance today to set an example…We have been given the chance to set the record straight. No matter who you are or what you can do, there are certain rules everyone in society must abide by. No matter how many powerful people you have in your corner," she glanced back up at the Kage's "actions have consequences."

She took a step back and took a breath. "That's all, your honors," Meiko said.

Naruto gulped. She was undeniably good. Her whole speech was rousing and judging from the approving nods of the audience and the judges, some of what she said had resonated with people.

Mieko returned to the small table next to the defendants and poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher. She looked over the rim of the glass as she took a sip. Sakura, who sat closest to her stared at the woman, unabashedly. Up close, it was clear that everything about Mieko was perfectly manicured. The bottom of her dress had a light seamline from where it had been tailored to her body. Her heels were padded, ensuring they fit perfectly. Every curl in her hair was perfectly framed.

"What she just did," Sakura thought, "was nothing short of a choreographed performance. Every turn, every word…. she planned it all out. She's fucking good."

Sakura continued to look at her as the judges whispered amongst themselves for a few moments, but Mieko didn't even bother glancing at Sakura. Instead…it looked like she was smiling at someone else, further down the table. Sakura followed her gaze and saw the recipient of her tantalizing smile was none other than Akio, the defense lawyer.

'Don't fucking tell me…' Sakura thought to herself. "Don't tell me they know each other."

"We're ready for you, Nanami-san," said the Suna judge.

Aiko got up, glancing at his notes one final time before taking his spot in the clearing, back straight, eyes confident.

'Maybe his lack of experience really won't matter,' Naruto thought to himself as he looked at Akio adjust his tie and clear his throat. 'After all, Sasuke said this was a sensationalized trial. They wouldn't give it to a complete idiot…No, he has to be an amazing rookie!" Naruto allowed himself a small smile as he waited with bated breath as their lawyer began talking. He could use some words said in their defense.

"Ladies and Gentleman of the Jury…. I mean…of the bench," Akio began.

Naruto's small smile was still plastered on his face but the excitement leaked out of him.

"Mieko, I mean, Kirino-san explained to you all why we are here…" Akio tried again, hesitating as he spoke. All traces of the confidence that he had stood up with had drained from his body. Worst of all, the familiar way in which he referred to the prosecution attorney confirmed Sakura's fears. They did know each other.

"But I ask you all…what did they do that was so bad?" Aiko stuttered over the question, sounding like a child who had forgotten his book report.

Naruto's small smile dropped completely. He looked at the man in disbelief, mouth slightly open. 'Who let this idiot graduate?' Naruto thought furiously, 'He's the worst rookie I've ever seen!'

Akio turned rigidly towards the left side of the audience, the same way Mieko had done, but far more robotically. "They didn't…like…kill anybody or anything like that," he said, voice trailing off at the end.

"Umm…Mr. Nanami?" the small lady judge from Storms said gently, "this isn't a murder case."

"R-right! No, I knew that I just meant…" he trailed off again. The audience laughed endearingly, as though their lawyer was a child who had messed up during his talent show act.

Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore. He planted his face into his palm. They were so. Utterly. Fucked.

They were taken back to their cells when court broke for lunch. Following the horrible opening statements, none of them, not even Choji, had an appetite. The growing fear that jail food would be all that they would eat for the foreseeable future made it even harder to stomach the gray slop that came with their trays.

Aiko's performance had only gotten worse as he continued. At one point, he suggested Sasuke should be pardoned because as the carrier of the "Uchiha blood curse" he had already suffered enough just by being born. At another, he mentioned that Team 10's "devastating" jutsu's defied the very laws of nature, and that although they may be "freaks of nature" that was not a punishable offense.

By the end of Aiko's statement, Sasuke considered whether pleading guilty would be better for their case than to allow Aiko to continue representing them further. When the judge broke for lunch, Aiko came back to sit next to them, wiping sweat off of his brow.

"I'm sorry that was a little shaky," he whispered to them, "it was my first opening. But the only way to go from here is up! Next time I'll give it even more of myself!"

Sasuke wasn't sure if Aiko heard Naruto mutter, "please don't."

As the six of them sat in silence in the cell, remembering the painful speech and staring queasily at their trays, a familiar tingling sound caught their attention. It was the sound of the guard's keyring. It jingled as he walked.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke and Sakura with a look that said, "back already?"

It hadn't been more than 10 minutes since their trays had been given to them. The guard had given them an hour for lunch.

The guard led a pretty girl with long hair to the jail cell and roughly said, "10 minutes. Then I'll be back for you."

The pretty girl smiled at him and dropped two gold coins into his outstretched palm. The guard closed his fist and turned on his heel, walking away.

Naruto looked closely at the girl in the dim light of the lanterns in the dark hallway. She looked at the six of them and smiled. Naruto got up and took a step closer to her. She looked so eerily familiar….she looked…like...

"It can't be," Naruto whispered to himself. "H-Haku?"

"Look underneath the underneath, Naruto," the girl replied back with a smile.

Sakura's eyes widened and immediately got damp. She leaped to her feet and ran to the cell bars, wrapping her fingers around them and pushing herself as close to them as she could. "Kakai-sensei?"

The pretty figure put a finger up to his lip and closed his eyes in another smile.

Sakura's shoulders shook as all the fear, anxiety, and confusion of the last for hours seeped out of her. She didn't realize how exhausted she was until she felt his familiar presence.

"Shhh, Sakura," he said in a comforting tone. "Listen, we don't have much time."

He wrapped her fist with one hand and when she leaned her forehead into their intertwined hands, stroked her hair with the other. Sakura choked out another sob before taking a deep breath and trying to regain her composure.

Ino and Choji both looked confused, but Shikamaru spoke up, still sitting on the ground.

"Sen-I mean…what are you doing here?"

"I had one of my security team transform into me during the lunch break so I could sneak in here. I don't have much time, so I need you to listen very closely," whispered Kakashi, leaning into the bars.

Shikamaru and Sasuke stared at him with knitted brows and strong set jaws.

"I'm sure you have realized now that this trial is going to be anything but fair," Kakashi whispered, "they wouldn't even let Konoha hire you a defense attorney. They gave you that quack with half a brain cell to his name instead. All of this is on purpose."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, growing frustrated. "Give us some detail and stop talking in riddles!"

"I wish I could," Kakashi replied, shaking his head with annoyance. "But what I can tell you is that your guilt was decided before you even stepped foot in this building. What they're doing here is going through the formalities."

Kakashi reached his hand into a pocket of the dress he was wearing and slid a folded-up piece of paper into Sakura's fist.

"That was from today's paper," he said, "the front page."

Sakura unfolded the paper and stared at the headline.

"Konoha six trial set to start! Monsters exposed!"

"W-what is the meaning of this?" Sakura asked, passing the newspaper article down to Sasuke who was sitting by her feet. "I don't understand," she said, her voice cracking at the end. The sound broke Naruto's heart.

"It means that someone wants every single person in the world to think you all deserve to be punished. This is a trial in the court of public opinion, and you have already been declared guilty."

"So…it's useless to hope that we can plead our cases in this trial," Shikamaru said, reading over the article quickly, "but…you aren't here, risking your safety and ours just to tell us that. What do you want us to do?"

Kakashi looked Shikamaru in his eyes and took a breath. "Run."

"What?" Sakura asked, her mouth ajar in suprise.

"I said, run."

"We'll be international terrorists. We'll be on every wanted list," Sasuke said, getting to his feet and standing next to Sakura. He'd been there once in his life, and he had no intention of doing it again.

"If you stay, you'll be turned into an example. I don't know what the sentence is going to be, but its already been decided and it will not be in your favor."

Naruto looked at Kakashi closely. He was a man who had loved and lost. A man who was thrust into situation after situation against his will, who tried to escape his powerlessness through immersing himself in fantasy worlds in his books. A man whose emotional armor had become a second skin. But the way Kakashi was looking at them all now…

"Okay," Naruto said, voice steady, "we'll get out of here."

"Naruto, what-" Sakura started to say, but Naruto cut her off.

"Kakai-sensei would never suggest this unless he was one hundred percent sure. This much I know." Naruto turned to the group with a stern look, daring anyone to challenge him before he turned back to Kakashi.

"What do we do after we escape, sensei?" Naruto asked. Sasuke noticed the emphasis Naruto put on the word sensei. This wasn't just any man giving them orders. This was their first teacher. Their mentor, who had built them from the ground up. If there was anyone that could be trusted right now, it was him.

Kakashi smiled softly at Naruto. "I can't officially give you a mission, obviously, but you need to figure out who is doing this and why. This isn't just about a personal grudge against one of you. It's something bigger. Whoever it is, they are trying to limit shinobi autonomy."

"Well…from the sounds of it, that could be a lot of people. Turns out ninja have pissed off more people than we thought," Naruto grumbled back.

"I know, and I am sorry I can't be of more help," Kakashi replied, regret heavy in his voice, "I will help as much as I can, but they will be watching me very closely. They already are, but as soon as you escape, they will be watching everyone close to you."

Naruto gave Kakashi one of his rare serious looks. "Don't worry about it, sensei. We'll figure this out." Naruto said, voice even and strong. He spoke with such passion that Sakura almost believed him.

Kakashi looked at Naruto for a moment longer before addressing the group. "Naruto...Sasuke…Sakura…Team 10…It's time to use everything you have ever learned as shinobi. You're all strong, there is no doubt about that, but I need you to be smart too. No one is a friend right now. Everyone is an enemy. This mission…it will take everything you have. Is that understood?"

The six shinobi got to their feet and looked at Kakashi with a fire in their eyes. Naruto pulled his headband out of his pocket and tied it on his forehead, tightly, never moving his eyes from Kakashi's transformed face. The others followed his lead.

"Understood," they replied in unison.

Kakashi bit his lip for a moment before allowing himself a small smile. "And guys?"

Kakashi leaned in forward one last time.

"For me and for Asuma….be careful."

Naruto was about to reply but the distant sound of jingling keys got their attention. They all jumped away. Kakashi took a step back and returned to petting Sakura's head. She let herself cry, loudly. The others returned to the floor.

"Court's about to resume," the guard said to Kakashi without an ounce of sympathy for the crying girl in front of him. "Let's go."

"Goodbye," Kakashi said softly to Sakura as the guard motioned for him to move away, "come home soon."

Naruto didn't know if the tears Kakashi was blinking away as he walked away were a part of his act or not. Sakura wiped away her own tears as she joined the others on the floor.

"Well," Naruto said with a grin as he turned back to the group, "you heard the man. We just got the go-ahead to make some chaos."

He looked at Sasuke who gave him a smirk and a nod.

He looked at Sakura who was still sniffling and rubbing her eyes.

"What do you say, Sakura-chan?"

"I say," she said, sniffling again, "better to go out with a boom than a fizzle."

AN: HELLO FRIENDS. Happy Thanksgiving! This year, I am grateful for being able to share this crazy little story that I thought up in my head a few years ago and finally being able to put it into words. I always thought this would be a story I'd tell my (future) kids at bedtime, and they'd be like "mom, that's lame, can't we just like…play a game on our phones?"

So, thank you so much for reading another chapter!

So much action coming in the next chapter its going to be wild! How will they get out? Who is doing this? Who let Aiko speak in court?

Keep reading to find out more! As always, please like, follow and most importantly, review! It means so much to me!