Chapter 5: Fourth Circle - Greed

Synopsis: Team Naruto now has made their decent into the domain of greed. However things here are not as orderly as they appear. The guardian of this circle is no longer in charge and unable to maintain order in its realm. But if that is the case then who is currently in control of the fourth circle and why has it fallen into disarray?

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

"Go!" yelled Naruto as he repelled another attacker which materialized out from the ground

Team Naruto were racing down the transition area leading into the fourth circle. However on their way there they encountered a surprise resistance force. The monsters that appeared were most likely from the third circle since they were fat, stinky, ugly, and were attacking them by puking up acid while following up with biting attacks.

"They are so gross!" said Sakura as she recently threw a monster at another one that had just materialized.

Tenten was busy throwing explosive tags around while bashing a few with a Chinese war hammer. Meanwhile Lee and Shikamaru were punching holes into their opponents as they came. As for Neji and Shino, they were exploding their targets as they came near them.

But their troubles weren't over as minions from the second circle started to get in on the action. However Naruto and Lee failed to fight them out of embarrassment and disgust while the rest of the group took care of them. (They are the enemies encountered in the second circle by Dante in the video game/anime Dante's Inferno, and due to particular reasons I cannot, will not, and shall not describe them. But if you are curious just look it up on the internet)

After a while the minions stopped materializing to which Naruto and group took a quick breather as they began their walk to the fourth circle.

"That was really creepy" said Lee

"What was?" asked Tenten

"The monsters we just fought! They were so disturbing that my skin crawled upon their appearance" responded Lee

"You were scared by those big guys?" said Tenten as she raised her eye brow in curiosity to why Lee would be afraid of such a thing

Naruto then continued his thought process, "No, it was those girl monsters. I have never seen such a horrifying thing in my life!"

"What are you talking about?" she then asked turning to Naruto

The blond ninja thought this out a bit on how to word his question. "Do tentacles actually pop out a ladies . . . ." but before Naruto could finish his question he and Lee were smacked over the head by the pink kunoichi. Sakura then lectured both Lee and Naruto on the functionalities of female physiology and anatomy while also saying it wasn't polite to say such things.

At this discussion Tenten could only sweat drop while Shikamaru, Shino, and Neji shook their heads at the two stupid people behind them.

Now as they stepped foot into the new circle the Konoha ninjas could tell a lot of things. One was the fact it was extremely hot in this circle as it would appear some form of hot metal was being poured from place to place as if this were a giant metal forging factory. Another fact was the circle had the set up of a maze as it appeared to be one giant machine as gears, doors, and other contraptions were spinning, closing, chomping, and moving around like clockwork. But upon closer inspection team Naruto eyes could only go wide at the substance of the metal. For it was gold, the entire circle was practically made of gold. At this sight the Konoha ninjas could only wonder what one could do with a perceivably infinite amount of gold such as this.

But it was only after a few steps into this circle that Naruto collapsed onto his hands and knees while breathing heavily

~9th Circle – Treachery~

The master stood in front of a dark glowing sphere as it watched with anticipation about how enjoyable its plan is going to be. But from behind the master approached one of its loyal servants who was about to deliver some unpleasant news to which he knew he was going to suffer for. However withholding the information would gain a far greater sentence.

"I bring news from the third domain my master" said the servant nervously

"Speak" was all it said while maintaining its focus on the dark sphere

"Of course" replied the servant. After a few moments of stalling, the servant decided how to word the report. "My master, the souls that you have sent failed in their attempt to eliminate the humans. Furthermore the third guardian has fallen and they now have possession of the gate as they have proceeded into the fourth domain. Forces have already been dispatched to deal with them. Unfortunately they have not been stopped as of yet"

The servant immediately got into defensive stance ready for the horrific pain he would receive. But the master never turned around, and without even looking the servant was told to leave. Relieved that he wouldn't be burned again the servant peered around to see what the master was doing. Before his eyes he witnesses a maniacal smile plastered on the fallen ones face. For the master looks on with interest as the dark sphere which was the accumulation of evil created by humans began to choke out the once brilliant light of Hinata Hyuga.

~4th Circle – Greed~

"Naruto-kun! What's wrong?" asked Lee as he tried to help Naruto up and soon enough Sakura began scanning him for injuries while wondering what was wrong with him. The rest of the team stood around him curious to why he was in pain.

As Naruto stayed there he could feel himself pulsating as if something was trying to rip itself out of him. But he wouldn't allow it to win as he begun to focus and try to contain this feeling. However it soon became quite overwhelming to which Naruto then found himself within similar halls of a flooded wet floor.

"How did I end up here?" he thought as he took a look around his soul for some answers. Naruto began to walk down a few of the corridors. But as he got further in he began to notice some of the lighting getting dimmer. As he looked around he understood what section of his soul he was in. Naruto then took a turn around the corridor and went straight down the hall to end up in front of an all too familiar cage holding one of the strongest tailed beasts in existence.

"What are you up too?" he asked as he looked upon the demon fox who could only display a Cheshire cat like smile.

The Kyubbi laughed at this. "You are such a foolish boy to have done all this for the sake of one pitiful human girl"

Naruto instantly got angry at that comment. "Hinata is not a pitiful person! She sacrificed so much just to keep me safe! I'll bring her home even if I have to die trying!" he said while clenching his fist

However the fox didn't look a bit fazed to which the blond looked to the demon with scrutiny. "What are you planning?"

The fox laughed again, "You've noticed haven't you? The further you go down the stronger my influence becomes. Soon I'll be able to control you without needing your consent"

"I won't let you, so long as the seal is in place and my will is strong all you can do is wag your tail while you're in their" said Naruto mockingly as he placed his hands on his waist in a show of superiority

But the Kyubbi didn't look a bit threatened by this. "The fourth's seal and your will power alone cannot overcome an infinite accumulation of malice that permeates this world"

Naruto flinched at the odds he had to face, but the tailed beast had more to say. "However there is a way to save your soul and keep me locked in here" smiled Kyubbi

Without letting him finish Naruto already knew what he wanted to say. "I would have to leave here and abandon Hinata"

The Kyubbi roared in laughter. "Precisely! You can let me have your soul in your futile attempt to rescue that Hyuga girl or you can abandon her just to save yourself". Now the fox already knew his answer but he wanted to torture his host at the prospect of what he had to lose in order to gain.

Naruto didn't have to think for a second about his decision. "As I said before, I'll bring her home even if I have die trying" and with that he began to walk away. As he walked he could still hear the Kyubbi roar with laughter chanting on how it will soon be free from his caged life. Soon Naruto was back to the material world.

The blond blinked for a moment and then immediately got onto his feet. His friends all looked to him for an explanation on what just happened.

"Hey Naruto, what's up? Is there something wrong with you?" asked Shikamaru

"Are you hurt somewhere?" then asked Sakura as she began to scan him from head to toe for any injuries

Naruto simply waved them off assuring them that he was fine

But Neji and Shino had a feeling what was wrong because with their respected jutsu they had an idea what was going on inside their blond teammate. The Byakugan user decided to step forward on this one. "Naruto, what is really wrong with you?"

The blond ninja knew he couldn't lie to Neji eyes or Shino senses, and the way things are he would be a liability if he kept his teammates in the dark about his condition. So he explained the situation the best he could while trying to reassure his friends that he would be fine as they went on. However his team thought otherwise.

"That's suicide! If you get completely corrupted then you'll be stuck in fox form forever! You won't even be sane enough to return home and probably end up living here for the rest of your life" argued Sakura as she grasped Naruto by the collar trying to shake sense into him

"Naruto, if something like that happens you'll most likely attack us out of some misguided animalistic rage. So it would be better if you returned to the surface and let us handle it" then said Shikamaru

Neji and Shino simply nodded in agreement while Lee and Tenten were conflicted about what they should say. But this was one of those times where Naruto would not listen to reason and do what he was told.

"I don't care! It's all my fault that this happened to Hinata, and I'm going to make this right!" and with that the blond ninja broke away and began his run into the fourth circle of hell

"Naruto-kun, wait!" called Lee to which his team then began to chase after him. Soon enough he came to a full stop to which everyone else did the same right behind him. But before anyone could speak Naruto spoke up first "We're surrounded"

Instantly monsters from the second and third circle materialized around them and began the attack. At the same time monsters or possibly human souls were climbing out of the gold lava bath to attack as well. But strangely enough they were also being attacked by their comrades. The Konoha ninjas thought this was strange but didn't care to much as it helped them either way. So with the use of the sutra seals once again applying it to their weapon of choice the fighting began.

As the fighting went on Sakura smashed and grabbed any female tentacle monsters and threw it against the opposing group. Neji and Shino were bursting body parts and organs of any monsters within their view range. Lee and Tenten just used blunt force to subdue their own opponents while Naruto and Shikamaru slashed away with a kunai. A short while later the monsters from the previous circle were defeated while the news ones regrouped and ran off aware that they couldn't win as of yet.

Naruto and group took a quick break in order to catch their breath. But then a thought came to the group to which they were all thinking the same thing.

"Why were they attacking their own comrades?" asked Naruto to which everyone thought about this as well. Although no one had a plausible theory to why it was like this. Then something interesting caught the weapons mistresses' attention.

"Hey guys, doesn't it seem unusually quiet here?" she asked

"What do you mean?" asked Lee

Tenten took a look around before looking back to the group. "Well first off I don't seem to hear any souls in agonizing pain, and second from what I can see this place seems deserted"

With that assessment Neji turned his Byakugan on only to confirm what was just stated. "This is indeed odd. It appears as if there is nothing here in this circle. There isn't even a trace of one soul in the area"

Shikamaru found this quite suspicious. For the obvious point that there should be some greedy souls screaming their butts off in pain and second that they weren't being indiscriminately attacked like they should be. However the shadow nin saw no reason to take advantage of this brief moment of peace.

"Things are quiet for now" Shikamaru then looked to Naruto, "So you should take this time and head back up now"

Naruto looked back with unwillingness to move as he crossed his arm. The team strategist was getting annoyed at the blonde's stubbornness. But at this point in time it was pointless to argue with a teammate, and forcing him up would waste both time and energy.

Shikamaru sighed at this, "and what the hell do you think you're going to do if you lose control?"

A solemn yet serious look came about Naruto's features. "Don't worry, I got it covered"

The shadow nin could only shake his head at such a simplistic answer, but he understood that there was no point in arguing this any further. However Shikamaru did have one last thing to say. "If you do lose control you know what we have to do"

Naruto could only nod his head in acknowledgment in understanding the seriousness of his predicament. With that the team headed out.

But just like Tenten had noticed, the entire circle was practically empty. Everywhere the ninjas looked all they could see was moving machinery and hot pools of gold, but no souls anywhere. This was beginning to bother everyone as this was just too unusual even for hell. The first thought to come to mind was a trap, but if that was true it wouldn't be practical. Due to the set up of the terrain their enemies would also be at a disadvantage. Not to mention that the area was far too open. So materialization for them wouldn't give them the chance of a quick sneak attack. But just by chance the group noticed some erratic movement and immediately went undercover to investigate what it was. As they hid around some stationary points, the Konoha ninjas listened in on the conversation taking place.

"Hey let's hurry to the destination, the boss wants us there to hear out his plan" said an enormous fat man who had a look that just screamed evil

Next to him was a frail thin weasel looking man who seemed to be in well dressed clothing. However a part of him looked pretty burned from spending an unknown amount of time within the heated metal baths. The man turned to his compatriot, "are you sure about this? If the guardian finds out we'll all be in big trouble"

The fat man simply laughed at this statement. "Guardian? He was already taken care of. The boss now is pretty much in charge of this level. If we play along just right we'll be breathing living air in no time"

The frail man shivered a bit, but nodded in response. "I hope you're right"

"Did you hear that?!" whispered Lee from the hiding spot of the group. "What could they be planning?!"

"This doesn't seem right. I think it would be good if we investigate this matter" whispered Neji

"Aren't we on a rescue mission at the moment" then said Naruto

Shikamaru thought about this for a moment and then came to a conclusion. "I agree with Neji, something doesn't seem right. We ought to investigate this before heading on to the gate"

Everyone agreed to this as they then began to tail the pair.

But the task proved difficult as the two souls could easily make their way through many of the obstacles as the Konoha ninjas were forced to deal with the constant machinery, the giant pools of melted gold, and the puzzle traps in the way. However none of them proved too difficult as ninja speed and techniques easily bypassed the first two obstacles while Shikamaru's brilliance easily solved the puzzle traps which ranged from weight distribution to number control problems.

However there was one puzzle trap which kept them from entering the final area where the souls had said everyone else was. Now before them was a giant five by five square board. By the looks of it, it was impossible to skip due to the terrain composition and the hot gold which prevented them from going around. So looking at this board two numbers stood suspended over each of the columns while two other numbers represented each of the rows. The shadow nin unsure of the puzzle didn't want to take chances on a guess. So at this point he asked Naruto to create a few bushins to test out a theory of what he thought about the puzzle.

Shikamaru looked up to a column marked 2,3 on the first row marked 5,0. "Alright jump on that one"

The Naruto clone did as he was told and nothing appeared to have happened. Next the strategist looked to the next row which read 1,4. "Step on that one", but as soon as the clone stepped on it he was instantly incinerated as all the numbers for each column and row changed. After some deduction Shikamaru came up with a plausible solution to what the game was.

"It's like a game of minefield, chance, and math all wrapped in one" he said

The group looked to the shadow nin to further explain. "It seems the first number of each column and row tells how many safe squares there are while the second number tells how many traps there are" the group simultaneously nods. "The trick to this game is to look at all the possible chances of what squares could be trapped while others are safe. So basically it's a big game of statistics" Shikamaru then looked the board over again. "I should be able to figure this out in a moment"

"How long will it take" then asked Shino

"A few minutes, why?" replied Shikamaru

The bug ninja could only stare as monsters from the second and third circle were bearing down on their position. It appeared a near infinite wave was coming right at them. "I highly doubt we have a minute"

The strategist of the group could only look back in wide eye at what they had to deal with. "I need everyone to buy us some time. Naruto and I are going to quickly map out this board"

"What are you talking about?! I need to be out there fighting as well!" retorted the blond

Shikamaru looked back at him. "Naruto! We need to focus on this first! As soon as we map this out we can escape this area. So trust everyone to do their job". Naruto begrudgingly agreed to this.

With that Shikamaru looked over all the numbers once again as he got into his thinking pose calculating all the statistical possibilities of each square being safe or a trap.

Meanwhile the rest of the Konoha ninjas were barely holding the line as monsters kept coming and coming one after the other. The sutras they had gave them a slight edge in battle. But with the odds as they were the line could only hold out for but a few moments.

In that moment Shikamaru's eye snapped open as he looked to Naruto to prepare several of his bushins. He then looked back to the board at that moment. "I only have one shot at this so I need to get this right". So with that in mind Shikamaru began directing Naruto clones across the board mapping out each square to be safe to cross. But on the last row only two of the squares were safe and by his calculations he narrowed it down to a fifty-fifty chance for one of the clones to get it right. However time was short and action needed to be taken now. "Naruto that square!" he commanded. For he knew if he failed then he would have effectively killed the entire team. But lucky for him he guessed right.

"Everyone, this way!" called Shikamaru as he crossed the board where each bushin stood on. The rest of team Naruto disembarked from their fight and immediately started to run for the board. As they ran Tenten dropped a few explosive tags to slow the wave down, and finally after each member had safely crossed the puzzle board Shikamaru issued his final command.

"Now!" and in that moment all the bushins stepped on a trap square not only wiping out the entire front of the enemy wave, but also resetting the board. With that the Konoha ninjas crossed into the area where the meeting was taking place.

However before they entered the main area the bulk of the team required a few minutes of rest due to the intense battle they had to fight. For Neji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, and Sakura were in pretty rough condition as they had to exert a large amount of physical power and chakra in order to keep the previous forces at bay. Now each of them looked like hell from badly torn cloths to slash and bite marks here and there. A soldier pill could take the edge off their exhaustion, but they still needed a little more time to recuperate and for Sakura to start healing the group.

"You guys wait here. Naruto and I will go check out what this meeting is about. So stay quiet and you'll be fine" said Shikamaru to which everyone nodded in agreement as both the blond and shadow nin made their way out to the main hall.

The two ninjas decided to go for a high route as that was the best method for surveillance. Now as the pair looked around they were surprised to see how neat the place was. Granted the place did seem a bit gaudy, but it was far too fashionable for an apparition of hell to appreciate.

In the center of this greet hall, a near infinite of souls stood amongst themselves talking about miscellaneous things such as what kind of lives they had, how rich they were, and how they spent it. Some of the stories Shikamaru and Naruto heard made them feel a bit inadequate while others downright disgusted them. But finally after some waiting something seemed to be happening as loud horns were heard.

"Hey the boss is coming so shut your traps and listen up" said one guy who appeared to be a bodyguard most likely. As the main door opened a short man emerged which surprised Naruto to who is was.

"Gato!" shrilled the blond almost screaming it out at the very sight of him

"You mean that guy from Wave country?" asked Shikamaru picking up one of his eyebrows

Naruto nodded as an angry look came about his face at the memory of what he had done. However Naruto calmed himself down not wanting to do anything drastic.

"By this staff I am the master of greed and if you are all to serve me we shall leave here and be back on the human world in no time" preached Gato with a fat smile on his face. Everyone in the great hall cheered to the businessman's proposal while also confirming their alliance to him.

"You cannot do that!"

This instantly caught everyone's attention as even both Naruto and Shikamaru looked to the direction of the voice. As they looked to the corner of the great hall they saw a giant who had the appearance of Buddha but more of a warrior physique with green skin. By the looks of it the arch of gold around him was melted which bounded his entire body in the corner with an extremely dense golden mass.

"Silence Bishamon" called Gato as a bolt of yellow energy shot out from the buddhist staff zapping the bounded deity. The god screamed in pain as almost everyone in the great hall laughed at his torment.

"Now as I was saying if you work for me we shall enter the living world with not only the infinite riches of this world but with also the gift of immortality" said Gato as once again everyone cheered to his proclamation. "Now onwards" to which the waves then began to move out.

"We can't allow them to leave" said Naruto

Shikamaru nodded at this. If they make it to the living world then there would be no real way to stop them by any human means. But the bigger concern of the moment was the fact that there teammates were still resting back in the hallway, and far worse than that was their other teammates were keeping the gates opened to which they would all be slaughtered as the infinite army made their way through.

Shikamaru gave it some thought and finally spoke up. "We need to free the guardian"

Naruto nodded to this, he understood that the control of this circle was far better in the guardian's hands then in the hands of this lunatic. Even if the guardian turned on them they had to risk it. "Got a plan?"

"Hell yeah" said Shikamaru as he pulled out several explosive tags

Soon the massive army was marching out the door but was soon to be interrupted. "Fuuton!, rasenshuriken!" called several Naruto clones as they came crashing down in multiple areas wiping out huge chunks of enemies. Although this created gaps they were immediately filled in a blink of an eye. But the clone that had struck the center caused the biggest wind explosion creating a huge space. The real Naruto soon landed in the center catching everyone's attention.

"Get him!" called Gato as now everyone came rushing at him

Naruto crossed his fingers to perform his signature jutsu. "Taijuu, shadow clone no jutsu" and in that moment thousands of clones appeared to take on the army. Now although the numerical odds were terrible it was still quality versus quantity as the thousands of Naruto clones got mixed into the group mixing it up. Things were going well, but it was still an uphill battle as there was still too many of them. Within the span of a few minutes the thousands of clones were defeated to which only one Naruto was left only to be surrounded again. The blond at this time was too tired and was suffering from a few deep cuts to resist. Gato sneered at the Konoha ninjas end. However if one were to look closely a smile could be seen on the blonds face. Soon enough numerous of blades came crashing down around him skewering him in all directions. But in that instant he was reduced to a puff of smoke.

"Here we go" said Shikamaru as he still stood on the high arch way. "Shadow sewing no jutsu" and in that moment every well placed explosive tag that had been planted detonated destroying the arch way and ceiling creating massive debris to fall upon the infinite army. Shikamaru and Naruto rode on the falling debris as it flattened the thousands below. However it wasn't enough as thousands of greedy souls began to climb out of the ruins to attack them again.

"Oh crap" said Shikamaru at the sight of how many were still left

"I got it" then said Naruto as he rammed his rasengan into a nearby wall to create a way out. "Come on" he said guiding Shikamaru out the newly formed door. At their escape the army began to chase them.

The duo had run for a good while. But they soon turned around knowing they couldn't keep running forever. So they both drew their kunai ready to fight them all off to the bitter end. But the enemy army ran around them creating a flanking circle. But the duo smiled once again as Shikamaru turned back into Naruto.

"Boom" was all he said as another round of explosives were detonated swallowing the enemy force within an eight hundred meter radius while also blocking off their possible return back to the great halls.

Gato could only stare at the unbelievable state his army was in. Most of them were outside separated from him while a few were still left in the hall. "How did this happen?" But he then found himself unable to move as he looked to see one of his thugs using a jutsu on him. As he continued to look the thug was then surrounded by smoke to which Shikamaru emerged from it with Naruto doing the same next to him.

"Naruto, you're on clean up. I'll take care of him" said Shikamaru

"Understood" replied Naruto as he started to engage the leftover forces

The shadow nin then turned his attention back to the former wave businessman. "Now let's have you drop that staff"

Gato grinned at this as he squeezed the staff which then zapped Shikamaru in that moment

"OK, I didn't see that one coming" he said

Gato grinned as he pointed the staff at him which then shot out energy which captured him in an attack which not only caused him great pain, but also immobilized him.

"Shikamaru!" called Naruto as he had just finished off the last remnant

Gato spotted him as he turned the staff and started to attack him. Naruto was hit by the bolt and was sent flying.

The old geezer grinned, "hey, you're that blond brat from those years ago"

Naruto tried to pick himself up, but was having trouble doing so. "You've caused me a lot of money and I'll be happy to have this opportunity to get my due pay" and with that he pointed his staff at him once more and fired.

"Kaiten!"

The shot was deflected as Neji stood in front of Naruto in his Gentle Fist stance

"You OK" he asked

Naruto looked up with a smirk. "What took you so long?"

The Hyuga grinned to this in which the recuperated team Naruto then began their counter offensive. Shikamaru who was being helped up by Lee then gave his plan of attack. "Me, Naruto, Shino, Tenten, and Neji will focus of this old fart. You and Sakura go free the guardian"

Lee looked to his compatriot with shock. "Is that OK?"

"Just do it!" and soon the attack began as Sakura and Lee attempted to break the dense gold metal while everyone else focused on Gato.

Surprisingly an old man of forty-eight was keeping the offensive group on guard as his attacks were quick and caused momentary paralysis. Even when attacks were perfectly aimed at him a barrier would form nullifying their technique. However that was going to change as something extremely . . . . Awkward was going to happen.

"Eight Trigrams Empty Palm!" called Neji as he fired two vacuum shells which were stopped by the yellow barrier

Shikamaru then used his shadow sewing technique in order to give Shino an opening for his insect sphere move. However Gato then expanded his barrier blasting the two back.

Next was Naruto as he himself plus multiple shadow clones attacked him with a rasengan from all sides. But it proved ineffective as the old man waved the staff blasting them all back dispelling the clones and forcing Naruto away. Gato then walked towards him wanting to have the pleasure of finishing him off close and personal. He then began to charge power directly into the staff while raising it up preparing to swing down.

"Time for you to die brat" said the old fart

Naruto then saw an opening at this point. He flipped back and shot forward with a kunai. But he soon realized he reacted too slowly as Gato's attack was going to hit first before his kunai landed. This is where the awkward incident occurs.

"Naruto get back" said Tenten as she appeared in between the two using her body to push the blond back. But it was too late as the attack was coming right at them.

Out of instinct the weapon mistress leaned back as far as she could to avoid the strike to which she was successful in avoiding damage. However the attack did end up cutting something else. In that instantaneous moment Tenten retaliated by punching Gato with equipped brass knuckles as hard as she could in the face while screaming "Pervert!" The force of this attack could have rivaled that of the fifth hokages legendary punch as the old business man was imprinted into a nearby wall with the staff falling out his hand. For certain reasons, this attack was only successful because Gato had been temporarily "stunned" from what he had saw. But before anyone could notice, Tenten had retied the remnants of her gee jacket into a make shift strapless tank top.

Neji was first to arrive on the scene. "You OK" to which Tenten gave a slight blush while giving a nod

Naruto then got up and went to go get the staff. Now at this time Sakura and Lee had significantly weakened the bonds, but then the blond came walking right behind them.

"Hey! move!" to which the pair moved aside as Naruto jumped up and bashed the staff onto the mass which instantly fractured it.

"Freedom!" yelled Bishamon as he busted out from the golden chunks around his body

The giant soon got up and looked down on the Konoha ninjas but more specifically to the person with his staff. "Return my staff to me mortal. I must return order back to this circle"

Sakura looked to Naruto with worry. "Naruto we can't trust him. What if he turns on us?"

Naruto knew that many of the occupants of this circle were already trying to escape. So to keep the friends that were left behind safe he knew what he had to do as he handed Bishamon his staff. As the holy relic touched his hand it grew in size matching the height of the god. With a wave of his staff something definitely happened.

~Near the exist to the 3rd Circle – Gluttony~

"Where almost to the next circle" said the fat guy from earlier

"I can almost taste that freedom" said the frail looking man

And many other statements were heard as the numerous of corrupted soul were coming up

"What's that?!" said Kiba as he looked past the gate. Akamaru got up and started to growl

"Damn, it looks like trouble" said Chouji as he got into fighting stance.

The numerous of souls not wishing to be denied their freedom were ready to kill anything in their way. But before they even made it fully up, all the souls were then swallowed by a pool of hot melted gold as they were all returned to their place within the fourth circle of hell.

"What was that?" asked Kiba as he pointed

Chouji shrugged at this

~4th Circle – Greed (main hall) ~

"It is done" said Bishamon as he then turned his attention back to the humans before him

Team Naruto immediately got into defensive stance ready for whatever this deity may do. But it was not as they expected.

"You've made a fine mess of my palace as well as this domain. However you have freed me and assisted in restoring order to this cirlce, so you have my thanks and forgiveness" said Bishamon

Everyone was stunned at this statement, but they didn't sense any killing intent coming from the deity so they decided to relax. But they were still suspicious of his intention.

"I'm assuming you wish to go to the next circle. This way then" the god said as he began to walk out the hall towards some location. The ninjas then started to follow although still wary of the deity's actions. After some time they arrived in front of the gate as he had promised.

But now too tempting to avoid Lee asked the question everyone was thinking. "Why are you helping us?"

Bishamon looked before the humans and gave a simple smile. "Because your quest is noble and that in itself is reason enough to help you"

"But aren't you a fallen god too?" then asked Tenten

The deity laughed at this. "I may be a guardian of this circle, but I chose to be here in order to dispense my justice onto wrong doers such as them"

Sakura looked to Naruto, "we can't possibly trust this guy"

However one of the blond's greatest gifts was his ability to judge anyone's character and he knew what he saw within this god.

"I believe him" said Naruto to which the pink kunoichi face smacked herself.

Bishamon nodded his head. "You better be off now humans". The divine being then forced the gate open while placing his staff between the doorways in a firm action to keep the path back available.

But before the Konoha ninjas could leave Bishamon had one last thing he wanted to do. "Mortals, I have two gifts to give to you". The ninjas looked to the giant curious to what it was.

"First I present you this" to which Bishamon removed an octagonal instrument from his belt which shrank in size for the humans to have. "This will help you along your path"

Naruto took the device to on first glance looked like an ordinary but well decorated compass. "How is this going to help us? Don't compasses only point north?" he asked

The giant gave a light chuckle. "That is a special compass. For what it points to is not north, but instead where your heart wants to guide you". Bishamon face then got serious. "The second gift I present is information. As you had found me I would have not allowed such petty souls to get the better of me. However there was a human male with strange powers who crossed into this domain. I in my overconfidence fought him, but soon discovered I had underestimated his powers. As a result, I lost in which he learned of the location of the gate. The rest is then history as the souls then took advantage of my state and started running amok"

The god then took a breath. "Be careful if you are to ever cross his path. For in his eyes I saw a coldness to which I had only believed existed in hell"

Naruto nodded to this. "Understood, and thanks for your help" as he then grasped the compass tighter. Soon after team Naruto started their run into the next circle as Bishamon waved then good-bye before returning to his duty of guardianship while fixing everything the ninjas had broken.

~9th Circle – Treachery~

"Ku ku ku" chuckled the master as its little experiment had just finished

For as the dark sphere dissipated a naked girl stood in its place with black lines etched in certain places of her body. The master looked upon the once pure girl with satisfaction in its eyes.

"How do you feel?" it asked

The girl then looked up with a sinister smile on her face as her eyes which use to carry warmth and concern were now replaced with callous and desire. "Just fine" said Hinata Hyuga the new resident of hell.

Authors' notes: I hope everyone liked this chapter since I was sort of half asleep when I wrote it. But I do hope the story thus far is still relatively making sense. So as a preview for the next chapter in next two weeks, our favorite blond ninja and his friends are going to make their way into the fifth circle. As they make their way into the City of Dis, Naruto is going to be in for one hell of a surprise.

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