Recommended story: 'The Guardian of the Tailed Beasts' by RaNK001
Chapter Forty-two
"We're back."
A door opened in the tree and everyone stepped out into the Elemental Nations again.
"I never thought I'd miss the sun so much." Ino said, spreading her arms out to absorb the heat of the living world.
Sarutobi and Shinju shielded their eyes while they readjusted to the light. To their relief, they didn't look like ghosts or zombies or anything dead or undead, they looked... alive. Shinju reached down and scooped up some dirt.
"I'm not a ghost, I have a real body now."
"I wonder what this means for our original bodies, if anything." Sarutobi commented, imagining his rotting corpse still in its grave while he stood right here.
"I'm more concerned about if the shinigami are going to be mad at this." Shinju said.
"I doubt they'll be happy, but what can they do? Kill us?"
The group saw a tent in the area, one that was rather familiar to them. They went over calling out, and the flap opened with Tsunade sticking her head out.
"Thank Kami you're all ba... Sensei?"
"Hello Tsunade. You've sure changed since the last time I saw you." Sarutobi greeted, noting the wings and tail.
"How are you alive?"
"Naruto gave me a second chance and I took it."
Tsunade smiled. "Well I'm sure glad you're back. Konoha made a lot of stupid choices and I think you're the right man to scare them straight."
"Sheesh, I must be the only person in history expected to become a kage three times."
Sakura came out of the tent and froze for a second before she pounced at the whiskered blonde. "NARUTO-KUN!" She tackled him to the ground and smothered him with kisses.
"How long were we gone?" Isaribi asked as Shizune and Ursha left the tent too.
"Only two hours. Why?" Tsunade answered.
"We were in the underworld for about two days."
"Time differences between the realms. Remember six years in Alfheim is twelve years here. Maybe time gets faster the lower you are on the world tree?" Kushina offered.
"Well the important thing is we're all here back in the Elemental Nations. I think it's time we go home and fix the problems there before getting back to dealing with Orochimaru, Akatsuki, and Kushina's other family." Tsunade summarized.
"Yeah, let's go home." Kushina said.
"Could you repeat that?" Jiraiya asked.
"The Anbu have checked and double-checked and triple-checked sir, and the fact is every member of the civilian council has disappeared. Even the ones that weren't arrested or had their background checks cleared. Their cells, their homes, their beds, all deserted without a trace but with all possessions and even food remaining. It's as if they just... vanished in a blink." Kakashi explained.
"With no evidence left behind at all?" Jiraiya asked.
"Only one thing was seen at each site. Pollen."
"Pollen?" Jiraiya repeated.
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. There are no known jutsu that involve pollen, so whoever did this is completely unidentifiable to us. But there's so much of it that it doesn't seem accidental. Part of me wonders if whoever's responsible is trying to throw us off."
"To make it worse, pollen isn't exactly something that's easy to track. At least I think so, I'm no botanist." Jiraiya noted. "How exactly did this come to our attention?"
"The prison guards noticed it first, and the Anbu then checked the residences for further clues. None were found, but to cover their bases they checked the houses of the other members and found the same results."
"Isn't there any security footage?"
Ibiki shook his head. "No, sadly the cameras in prisons are more cost-effective to survey the places where inmates are likely to gather. It's not considered financially wise to install a camera in every cell."
"What about witnesses?" Jiraiya inquired.
"There were a few, but several are proving to be difficult. Wanting privileges in exchange for giving details, and contrary to what you might believe my intimidation methods are less effective on those already incarcerated. They have nothing to lose, so I would need your permission to go to more extreme measures."
The toad sage sighed.
"Fortunately, there is one who did give an account of what he saw, but sadly there's no way to verify it. He said the other person turned pale, like they were dying, until they wilted like a dying flower before crumbling into dust. He said while they did it, they were smiling, almost like they had accomplished something."
"If that's true, then what he saw wasn't the real council member. If anything it would have been more like some kind of plant clone." Jiraiya commented.
Ibiki nodded. "But then what happened to the real council member? And this couldn't be true for the entire civilian council, could it?"
Jiraiya put his hand on his chin and looked out the window. "The civilian council as a whole has been not quite normal for years if you think about it. Why would they care so much about controlling the shinobi here? Why would they plot to weaken the very thing our economy is based on if their plan was to seize wealth and authority? And why would they be so adamant and vocal in their opinion of Naruto? Recently we were under the impression that this was all because of some half-baked conspiracy to usurp control over the village and it's money, but what if there's more to it than that?"
"Sir, even if that is true, who could replace the entire civilian council without using knowing it?" Ibiki asked.
"That I don't know, but if someone did, I'm more concerned with what they were after, and if they got it."
"So Neji, what is there to do around here for fun?"
Neji was currently giving his arranged fiancee Rin an official tour of Konoha, since their elders both insisted on them spending time together. And despite his history of having a bad attitude, Neji was not the type to disobey. After all, a good little branch house Hyuuga knows to follow the chain of command. Rin didn't mind.
"I'm not the best person to ask that. I've never been the fun type." Neji confessed.
"Don't tell me you're one of those stick-up-your-butt types instead." Rin replied.
Neji looked a little bothered. "Growing up, I had a lot of anger issues that frankly made me a jerk. I just wanted everyone around me to feel worse than me, and I wasn't afraid to show it. Unless they outranked me, then I settled for mentally cursing them and wishing for them to suffer."
Rin looked surprised. "So... you were a bully?"
Neji grimaced. "I suppose I was."
"So then what changed?"
"I got my ass kicked by someone I thought of as a complete inferior, and he didn't gloat over it. Instead he encouraged me to hope and do something about my life instead of be salty. He, a person I thought that the world could only be better without, showed more humanity than I ever did. It really made me rethink how much I thought I knew about the world."
"So you got the anger beaten out of you?" Rin asked.
Neji shrugged. "I'm still angry, but I'm accepting that the world doesn't owe me happiness. If I want to be happy, I'm not going to get it by taking it from someone else."
"Good, I'd hate to have a sourpuss of a fiancee." Rin commented.
"Speaking of which, are you not bothered by this... arrangement?" Neji asked.
"Of course I am. Engaged to a complete stranger just because my parents knew yours? Who wouldn't be bothered? But at the same time I might as well give you a try. If it works, then that's less trouble for the both of us, and if it doesn't then at least our complaints are justified and not something our parents can wave off as us just being difficult."
"Uh, you know, when you put it like that you make a good point." Neji conceded. "By the way, do you know why our parents made this arrangement? My uncle hasn't said, or alluded that he does know."
"You ought to ask my mom for the full story, but apparently she and your mother were good friends when they were our age. I think they met several times on some ninja missions and became good friends. They made some comment about us being friends too and sometime years ago your dad talked to my dad and here we are now."
Neji was surprised by this. He didn't know much about his mother, according to Hiashi she had died when he was about a year old. Hiashi never elaborated on how other than it had been an accident, something akin to falling down the stairs. Neji for years had refused to believe that, ninja didn't die from things that civilians would do as slip-ups, so she must have been killed unfairly too just like Hizashi. A part of him still believed that, but he had been wrong about his father's death so perhaps his mother really was the victim of unfortunate circumstance after all.
Rin reached into a pocket and took out a photo. Neji saw his parents, the unmistakable face of Hizashi beside a white-eyed woman he had only ever seen in other photos. Both of them covering their foreheads of course. Alongside them were two other adults he didn't know anything about, but he assumed they were her parents.
"I'm not expecting either of us to fall in love with each other, but we might as well see if we can get along too."
Neji handed her the picture back. "Then I need to know, what kind of person are you like? You see like you know how to act proper, but you clearly have a wild side to you."
Rin scoffed. "You're literally taught how to kill people but you still act like a high class person when you need to, don't you?"
Neji could only nod slowly at that.
"Now come on, you've got to know something fun to do around here. You couldn't possibly have been so uptight that you never did something to relax, could you?"
"Well, I often meditated when even I wanted a break from being in a bad mood. And there is this music store I often go to, as it helps me calm my mind."
Rin perked up. "Great, I love music. Is there karaoke involved? I've always wanted to try karaoke."
"There is, but I never used it."
"Then today's the day." Rin said, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward despite not knowing where to do.
"Wait, what?" Neji asked.
Kakashi eyed the Anbu as they kept guard around the caravan. Five wagons were gathered side by side, covered with metal plating to act as armor, along with lots of tarps and genjutsu cast over the area. All Anbu there were armed and skilled with seeing past genjutsu, so there were a few Hyuuga among the crowd. The entire arrangement was by the side of the Konoha prison.
"How you holding up?" Kurenai asked, obviously there to keep up the genjutsus.
"I feel like I let down everyone. I know this isn't all my fault, I'm just not sure what exactly I do need to blame myself for." Kakashi confessed as some Anbu led out the whole reason for this event in the first place.
"Is there more than one thing you can be blamed for?" Asuma asked, blowing some smoke.
The doors to the prison opened but no one came out or went in. Nonetheless, everyone outside went on edge. A few Anbu came out, with one person covered all in black who was tied up and led by two Anbu essentially dragging them on a leash. Asuma's hand stayed close to his weapon pouch while Kakashi got ready to move his hitai-ate.
Fortunately nothing happened, but the situation wasn't over yet. An identical set of Anbu and captive on leash came out and went to another wagon. This happened again and again until there was one prisoner per wagon, with none of them being distinct compared to the others. The Anbu pushed them into the wagons and locked them.
"Nothing yet, maybe we-" Kurenai started.
"Don't jinx us Kurenai." Asuma warned.
A small pug came up to the jounin. "All clear Kakashi, no scent of snake or anything similar in the area."
"Thanks Pakkun."
The wagons shortly started to go off all at once, heading away from Konoha.
"Alright, now it's out of our hands." Asuma sighed with relief.
"We will get confirmation from the Blood Prison that the one that actually has the Uchiha in it gets there, right?" Kurenai asked.
Kakashi nodded. "Of course. We didn't go to all this trouble of decoys and more just to assume it worked."
"Orochimaru's not going to just forget about him you know." Asuma reminded them.
"No, but for the time being he's not as much as a threat as he would have been. And at least the rest of our students won't have to make it their business for the next few years."
Night came and everyone was gathered in tents to rest. Naruto was with Hinata and Sakura, as expected, and they were getting comfortable when they heard some tapping against the fabric. As if someone was knocking. Confused, Naruto unzipped it and Ino came inside.
"Ino? Hey, is everything okay?"
"Oh yeah, nothing's wrong. Listen, could I have a moment with Sakura and Hinata? Girl talk."
"It's okay with me." He said, looking to his two mates. They seemed apprehensive, as if they had a good idea what this was about, but they nodded. He nodded back and left the tent. Ino unzipped it behind her.
"What do you want Ino?" Sakura asked, a little more defensive than normal.
Ino sighed. "I'll be frank, can I join in?"
"Join in?" Sakura asked, confused.
"You mean you want us to share Naruto-kun with you?" Hinata asked, also a bit defensive.
Ino nodded. "Yes. Spending time with him, seeing sides to him I didn't know existed..."
"Yeah I don't buy it." Sakura cut in, surprising the platinum blonde. "I think the real thing here is Sasuke's no longer the most interesting boy around so now you want the guy who is. If we weren't with Naruto-kun, you wouldn't want to be with him either."
Ino looked hurt, then angry. "And what about you? Would you be here now if Sasuke hadn't attacked you in the hospital?"
The pinkette looked a little disturbed, and perhaps a little ashamed.
Hinata shifted in her spot for a second. "Ino, could you tell me what brought this on? I just want to be sure that you're not only interested in Naruto-kun because of shallow reasons. Or that you'll get bored of him when we get back home."
"He saved my life. Twice."
There was an awkward silence.
"Explain." Sakura insisted.
"He protected me when that jerk vampire bit me and made sure I got to the nurses. I was terrified, but he made me feel safe. And down in the land of the dead, a dragon ate me. It literally swallowed me, I was going to be digested. But Naruto jumped down the dragon's throat to save me and made the dragon's neck explode from the inside."
Hinata and Sakura were completely shocked. This hadn't come up when Naruto told them what happened in the dead realm, he had mostly focused on who they met and how they got out of there. Probably not to worry them if fights got this risky.
"You tell me, after something like that, who else is going to be as good as him?" Ino asked. "I admit, at first I might have been driven by physical attraction and envy. Seeing the two of you so happy with him, yes, I admit I wanted to have that too. But I held back, I don't know how the rules work but I'm pretty sure I can't exactly 'test drive' Naruto to put it bluntly. And I know the two of you would be hesitant to let anyone else into this arrangement you have, especially me. But Naruto... tell me, if you were me wouldn't you want the chance to see if there could be something there?"
Sakura and Hinata looked at each other, as if trying to silently decided between themselves what to do. Ino was nervous but determined not to show it.
Hinata looked to Ino first. "I understand. Him helping me in heroic ways is what made me start to fall for him too. But that's just infatuation, you still don't really know Naruto-kun like we do."
"I can learn, if you'll let me." Ino suggested.
"And what if Naruto likes you better as a friend?" Sakura asked.
Ino fidgeted. "Then at least I tried. Though the next guy will have a high bar to meet, won't he?"
The girls giggled a little at that.
"Which makes me wonder something else." Ino continued. "How many girls are you willing to share him with?"
"How many?" Sakura repeated.
"Come on forehead, you're not dumb. Naruto's got me interested so there's no way I'm going to be the last one to ask what I'm asking. Someday there will be another girl, maybe more, wanting to join in on this... relationship you have with him. Right now you're a throuple, but with me I think it becomes polyamory, so how big can this get before it's 'big enough'?"
Hinata and Sakura looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
"I was wondering if Isaribi was taking a shine to him." Hinata admitted.
"Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Moegi is hoping she'll have a shot when she's older." Sakura added.
"And what about his cousin? I don't think she followed just out of curiosity." Ino pointed out.
"Eww." Hinata cringed.
"Well, she is a succubus. She might not see a problem with it like we do." Sakura thought out loud.
"Let's get back on track. I want to ask Naruto to have me be his girlfriend too, and I'll do all the stuff that comes with having an incubus for a boyfriend. If he says yes, will you two be okay with that?" Ino asked.
"If I know Naruto-kun, he won't say yes unless we do first." Hinata claimed.
Sakura nodded. "Honestly, I can't think of a real reason to say no, and we need to think about the 'big enough' thing later. At least Naruto-kun is out of his Frenzy, so it's not like he's going to be needing sex like crazy now."
"Bummer." Ino joked.
"Tell you what, we're going to talk to Naruto-kun about this, and you'll have your answer then." Hinata suggested.
"Now or tomorrow?" Ino asked.
"Tomorrow. We're not in the mood to share him tonight." Sakura insisted, and Hinata nodded.
"Thanks." Ino said before getting up and leaving the tent.
"Everything okay?" Naruto asked when he saw her depart.
"I sure hope so."