Recommended story: 'The Lucky Ones' by Terri Botta, an Inuyasha fanfic and my personal favorite fanfic of all. I've decided to stop limiting myself to only recommending Naruto fanfics here.
Chapter Forty
After being given their options, the three judges allowed the four living people one day to think over what they wanted to do. Along with an ultimatum.
"You cannot stay here, the living have no business. You have tonight to decide, but tomorrow morning you must tell us what you choose. And should you fail, we will decide for you. And just so you know, killing you and thus turning you into the dead like us will be an option."
They were told to leave, and on the way back to Shinju's place none of them had anything to say. The fact that they were threatened with murder just to maintain some kind of status quo was horrifying. They needed to decide what to do, but what? Challenge a monstrous guardian, or beat devils in a game?
"What are you going to do?" Shinju asked when they were back inside her residence.
Ice broken, all four spoke at once.
"This is too risky."
"Do they seriously want us to die? Is all this just a way for them to kill us?"
"Does anyone here know any details we can use?"
"Could we steal a few coins and use those? Would that be better?"
"Calm down!" Shinju called out, getting their attention. "No one's going to be executed. So as risky as it is, you must decide on one of the two options. Now take deep breaths and talk about it."
Nodding, all four did just that, feeling slightly better afterwards.
"Okay, we can either fight some kind of monster to get back to the tree, or challenge the devil to a game." Naruto summarized. "Shinju, do you know anything about either?"
"Nothing about the guardian monster. What I know of Hell is that it's ruled by devils which are much worse than ordinary demons. I can't say for certain what they can and can't do, but all the stories say they're tricksters but honorable in defeat. They'll do what they can to win but if you do defeat one they will keep up their end of the bargain."
"Do you think we can beat them and get out of here that way?" Ino asked.
"It's possible, but I have some concerns." Shinju answered. "For one, I don't think one of you can do all the risk for all four of you. Meaning I don't think just one of you can make a challenge on behalf of all four of you."
"I can try." Naruto boosted.
"No Naruto. You can't." Shinju pressed. "As noble as that is, I'm pretty damn sure it would be all four of you risking your individual lives, so that means Moegi would be at the most disadvantage."
All eyes turned to the youngest person present.
"I think there are two ways it could go. Either all four of you participate in one challenge and it's winner take all, or each of you have your own challenges and it's best of luck. But still, the odds of all four of you winning is low unless it were the first option. And I doubt any devil would give you a fair chance of that, not without making things harder in another way."
"Sounds like we might be better off with fighting the monster." Naruto commented.
"Maybe, but that would be like fighting the Kyuubi. Do you four think you can do that?"
"Why do I feel like we've been set up with a no-win situation here?" Isaribi commented.
Shinju sighed. "I'm starting to think you were."
Naruto shook his head. "I don't believe in no-win situations. I beat Neji, I beat Gaara, I beat Sasuke, I will not give up on this just because some jerks think we're going to die no matter what we do."
Moegi smiled, happy to see her role model's confidence. Ino and Isaribi felt more reassured by the whiskered blonde as well.
"That's well and good Naruto, but luck favors the prepared more than the stubborn. This won't be like the first part of the Chuunin Exams where you got through on sheer gumption. This time, you'll need some answers." Shinju pointed out.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Ino asked.
Now Shinju looked a little pleased, in that way a parent gets when they get to lightly tease their child. "Oh, you didn't know? Naruto told me that he couldn't answer even one question on that test and only passed because of the tenth question." She paused to chuckle for a second. "Even he's amazed he got away with that."
Ino looked at her companion in shock. "Seriously? You couldn't answer even one?"
"Well how many could you answer without cheating?" He defended.
Ino opened her mouth to counter, but stopped herself. In his defense he wasn't wrong, she had to use her clan jutsu to get answers and spread them to her teammates. And before she could bring up his own methods of cheating, she remembered all that Sakura had confessed to her on this journey about their lack of proper training and team bonding, so it wasn't like Naruto was ever taught how to steal information. Nor could he at the time rely on Sakura or Sasuke to provide the answers to him. So in hindsight what other option did he have other than to take his chance with the tenth question?
"Alright, but we don't have that option here. Monsters aren't going to test us and devils aren't going to let us pass on technicalities." Ino admitted.
Naruto sighed. "Agreed. Alright, so how do we put the odds in our favor?"
All four looked at each other, not sure what to say. But there was an unspoken agreement among them, they weren't going to sleep tonight until they had an answer.
Back in Konoha, Neji was a mixture of thoughts and fears as well, though he was doing his best to not show it. The fact that his clan had 'surprised' him with news of an arranged fiancee some time ago had been something he had not been anticipating. In all honesty, he still wondered why the clan had done this in the first place, and not just that but kept him in the dark about it until recently.
He could only think of two reasons as to why. The first was the obvious one, that this was a way for the clan to gain something they otherwise couldn't and thus Neji was essentially nothing more than a key to someone else's lock. If he knew when this arrangement was made, such as long ago or recently, he could narrow down the motives more by seeing if his old fatalist attitude was a factor in this or not. The second option was based on the idea that Hiashi actually was trying to do something for his benefit rather than the clans, but again Neji still could not come up with a motive. Guilt? Another wish of Hizashi?
Neji sighed. 'It's times like this I almost wish I still held onto my old paradigm. At least back then there was no place for confusion in my thoughts. It's not a feeling I like experiencing.'
Tonight was the night he was going to actually meet this supposed fiancee in person and make an impression. Up until now he had only been given a name, Rin Kiohen, and that she came from a respected family elsewhere in Land of Fire but not a shinobi clan. Instead she was supposedly a descendant of a samurai line. 'Supposedly' because Neji was told so little that he wondered what if anything he should take as truth.
Neji's team had learned about this, and Guy and Lee were rather encouraging. Guy admitted he knew nothing but once he did he had offered to come along in order to help 'endorse' Neji to this other family, after all his marital merits would be judged just as much as the young lady's were. But he was declined, this first meeting required a more formal take. Lee wished his teammate well and Tenten... well, Tenten just said 'good luck'. Now Neji might not be the most socially aware person due to old habits, but even he knew that when his female teammate said that, she really wanted to say something else. What that was, he had no idea, but he doubted it would have been supportive.
So now he stood instead the clan dojo, a closed screen all that separated him from the women his family intended to make his bride.
"Now Neji, I understand that this will be awkward for you." Hiashi said as he stood by his nephew. "Fortunately I've arranged it with the Kiohens to give the two of you privacy. You go into the garden, she'll do the same, no adults around to do the talking for you or her, and I give you my word that no Hyuuga will be observing you from a distance. This is a lot to ask of you, the least we can do is give you privacy."
Neji said nothing, almost certain that if he were to open his mouth he'd regret what came out of it.
"Neji, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say this, but the arrangement isn't set in stone." Hiashi added. "If you are truly opposed, the deal can be called off. All I ask is that you give this girl an honest chance, unless you already have a reason to be opposed."
Neji knew that his uncle was actually asking if he already had a romantic interest, which to be honest he did not. Sure people had made comments about him and Tenten being an item someday, he had overheard it before, but for the last year he had seen her as just a teammate he had to put up with. Sure he noted she was good at what he did, but fatalist Neji hadn't exactly welcomed any companion that he was not legally required to. He was more tolerant now, but that didn't mean he was looking for a girlfriend.
"I am not the right person to have any relationship right now outside of professional ones." Neji confessed. "And if I'm being frank, I'm not sure I'm the right person even for professional ones."
"Then at least think of this as practice, like training." Hiashi said, trying to be soothing. "Just do it this once, maybe twice, and see how it goes."
"Why am I doing this in the first place? Why did you agree to this?" Neji asked, trying not to sound hostile.
Hiashi sighed. "I didn't, Hizashi did."
"What?"
Hiashi nodded. "Your father regretted that he could not save you from the seal, but he had an idea for the next best thing. Saving your own children by finding you a wife outside of Konoha. Several Hyuuga have done so in the past, and a few succeeded. If you marry a woman from a noble clan outside of Konoha, you will have grounds to refuse sealing your own children. Though I should warn you this is not a perfect solution and may fail, but it is an option."
Hearing this made Neji feel doubtful about his oppositions. It wasn't like he wanted this more, but now he saw a benefit to it. Was it enough to go through with it?
"Fine, just tonight but I promise nothing further."
Hiashi nodded. "That's all I ask."
The door opened and Neji stepped outside. The garden was a place he was familiar with, though frankly Hinata and Hanabi liked it more than he did. There was a glowing lantern set up to offer some light, and with it he saw someone else come out from a different door.
The newcomer was a girl about his age, long black hair going down her back with no bangs, a cute face with some makeup on, purple eyes, and she wore a royal blue kimono covered with silver circles and pink flower petals. With careful steps she walked up to him like any princess would to her prince.
"Hello, my name is Rin Kiohen." She greeted with a slight bow, which he politely returned.
"I am Neji Hyuuga."
She got in closer. "Is anyone watching?" She whispered, glancing around without trying to make it obvious she was looking.
Confused, Neji activated his byakugan and looked. "No, everyone is walking away. We're alone."
"Good." She said at a normal volume, shedding her kimono. Underneath was a bright pink tank top with red shorts and a black belt, small bit of cleavage visible. She then wiped the makeup off her face and moved her hair to look more casual. Neji just looked on in surprise while she did this and hid the kimono behind a tree.
"Wanna go have some real fun, not this prissy formal crap?"
"What?" Neji asked, surprised by her sudden change.
"Oh don't tell me you actually wanted to sit here and talk about our families did you? C'mon, let's blow this place and have some real fun before someone notices."
Not waiting for a response, Rin managed to jump onto a tree branch then over the nearby wall, going out of sight. Neji stood there watching, unsure what to think, then on reflex went after her. If nothing else, he had to make sure this girl didn't do anything stupid.
Ever since the Sasuke Retrieval Mission and the immediate aftermath, Ibiki had been quite busy. Several people had been arrested and brought to him as part of a conspiracy to undermine the hokage and give majority power, if not all power, to the civilian council. Or if not that, a hokage that worked in their interest first and foremost, and could be replaced should they wish it.
Ibiki still thought the idea was laughable. Konoha was a shinobi village that happened to have civilians in it, not the other way around. And it wasn't just a village that had shinobi in it for economic reasons, Konoha was when you really got down to it the barracks of the army of the Land of Fire. So no matter how you looked at it,the village existed for the benefit and well-being of the shinobi first. As harsh as it was to admit it, the civilians really were second class citizens. Their benefits and rights should not come at the expense of those of the ninja.
The worst part was that their motive, or at least the admitted motive, was money. That seemed to be it, the civilians wanted more money. All the money. They wanted complete control over the village's budget and where it went, selecting ventures that would greatly benefit themselves first and foremost and then went into shinobi needs if anything was left. And to get this kind of leverage they intended to diminish the hokage's powers in whatever way they could. Getting rid of Naruto had been one way, both as a show that they meant business as well as personal satisfaction of getting rid of him.
Ibiki still wanted to laugh. This plan was utterly stupid no matter how he looked at it. No real thought or preparation had gone into it, it was like the civilians were making it up as they went, being opportunistic over strategic. Clearly this was a big reason why they had failed to become ninja themselves, if they had ever tried before in the first place. There were attempts to diverge funds into hidden accounts, defund some programs by making them redundant, and gaining influence in the market by trying to run some of the shinobi-owned businesses out of business. These were more thought out tactics that by themselves were not that alarming, but all together pointed to intentional internal sabotage.
What truly made this stupid, so much so that Ibiki had to repeatedly point it out to the conspirators, was that Konoha's entire economy was based around it being a shinobi village. The entire reason people brought money into the village in the first place was so the ninja could do their job and do it well. No one came to Konoha looking for civilian work. So like it or not, the money had to go to the shinobi's first. To change the system was the essentially drive the village bankrupt, the Hidden Hot Water Village was proof enough of that. Either these civilians let their greed get in the way of common sense, or they just didn't care.
Which was what Ibiki was looking into now. If the civilians didn't care, and apparently some shinobi didn't either given a few willingly worked with them on this, then what was their ultimate end goal? Get rich and just watch the village fall apart around them? Rebuild it from the ashes in their image? No that would be too costly unless they already had plans on how to rebuild, and if they had barely any plans to defund Konoha in the first place then the only way they'd have plans to rebuild it was if they were terrible planners or too zealous to wait to take action. Yet they seemed to act with some level of coordination when they did.
Ibiki could only see two possibilities, either this was the biggest example of "Didn't think this through" that he had ever seen, or there were still some pieces missing from the puzzle. But where to find those pieces?
Despite the hour and his own weariness, Kakashi found himself wide awake in his house. He had wanted to keep an eye on Sasuke's cell but he knew that at some point his body would demand sleep whether he liked it or not. Not to mention that him standing guard in such a place would draw attention and potentially suspicion towards himself.
"What did he mean it's not over?" He asked himself, recalling the only thing his wayward student had said during the visit. "Does he expect Orochimaru to try again? I mean, sure that is a reasonable assumption, but the only reason it worked the first time was because we didn't know it had happened until it was too late. This time we are prepared, so it's not like a second group of Orochimaru's best minions could try it again. And even if they could, Orochimaru was too smart and pragmatic to do the same thing twice."
He walked back and forth for a bit, hoping it would help him think better. "Okay, it's very highly that Sasuke is just assuming things aren't over. I highly doubt that when the Oto nin were collecting him the first time that any one of them said 'Oh by the way in case this fails and you get brought back to Konoha here's our Plan B'. Still, just because Sasuke's assuming doesn't mean he's wrong. Orochimaru will in all likelihood try again, he just doesn't know how. Sadly, neither do we. So if we can't predict the how, maybe we can predict the when. Moving Sasuke to the Blood Prison will help keep him at bay longer, but does Orochimaru have a way in there too?"
With a sigh, Kakashi looked out the window. "The weird thing is, I think I'd actually feel better about this if Naruto was here in Konoha. Heh, imagine that, at some point I think I started seeing Naruto as someone who could change any situation for the better. If he were here, I'd be able to sleep better. I guess I took him for granted, or maybe I didn't want him to change. Maybe that's why I was so hands-off with him, though that doesn't make it right. I have to do what I can to make sure Naruto has a home to come back to, and that Sasuke doesn't ruin it in the long run."
He paused to yawn. "But that can wait till tomorrow."
"Have you reached a decision?" The three judges asked the four living humans after they were escorted back to the courtroom in the morning.
Naruto stepped forward. "Yeah, we have, though we don't like it."
"And what do you choose?"