10.JUDGEMENT

THE FOURTH DAY

SINCE THE MASSACRE....

The arbitrator from Fire Capital has arrived in Konoha two hours ago. The waiting is over. It's time for the judgement. Either Naruto will be proved innocent or will be imprisoned for atleast seven years which is the most probable outcome. But that won't stop the Third Hokage from trying his best to prove Naruto's innocence or to lessen the sentence. Inoichi's plan is the last resort. He had instructed Inoichi to arrive late in the court and present his plan in such a way where he will claim that he found all of the evidences at the last minute. Hopefully it will decrease the sentence of Naruto, atleast by some significant years.

The Third Hokage has hired the best lawyer in all of the Land of Fire. But even if by some miracle, the said lawyer somehow manages to win the case, the village has now became too dangerous for Naruto to live. As far as the civilians are concerned, they wholeheartedly believe that Naruto is the only one responsible for the Uchiha massacre. And even if the culprit who has framed Naruto is caught and his innocence is proved, in the minds of the villagers, they have already concluded that the 'DEMON' aka Naruto is in fact the 'Mastermind' behind the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan and is also the reason why Itachi Uchiha suddenly went berserk and turned into such an insane, lunatic, psychopathic family-killer and butchered his entire clan. Hence, it's quite impossible to reason with them. They are hell bent on punishing him, the people of Konoha were now more angry than ever, since the Nine-Tails' incident. The years of torment they had to endure from his presence while waiting and watching Naruto has cultivated their hatred to unseen levels. So now, when he showed his true colours, atleast according to their mentality, that he finally revealed them his demon side; it was already too late as the demon took away the lives of their greatest and one of the founding clan. The Uchiha Massacre has made the dam of their patience broke open releasing all of their pent up frustrations, suppressed rage, hatred and all kinds of negative feelings; they are out for blood and wants to make Naruto pay for the crimes of his tenant.

The Third Hokage is feeling nothing but shame, "To think that this is the village for which Hashirama-sensei, Tobirama-sensei and Minato-kun gave up their lives. How shameful! But I can't do anything to change their mentality. I am sorry Naruto! Kushina! Minato! I have failed you all. I hope you understand my situation and will forgive me for my helplessness."

Whether Naruto's guilty or not, it didn't matter as the people were too irrational to care. The death of a whole clan is just too much for them to bear, especially, since it involves one of the Founding Clan of the village. As soon as they heard the rumor that the demon child may or may not be involved, it triggered an instant chain of reactions and everyone together started a revolution of sort against the government of Konohagakure with the demand for Naruto's death. They have tolerated him for all these years because he had yet to show them his colors. Now that the village's greatest clan was dead because of him, atleast in their eyes, so his life in this village is as good as forfeited. Hence, why the entire village is asking for his blood.

FIVE HOURS LATER,

HOKAGE TOWER,

COURT ROOM...

The Arbitrator was sitting calmly in front of the seating areas reserved for the Konoha Council in the court room. His name was Kinoe Isamu. He was a rather plump man in red-golden kimono and had what he believed was a rather dignified moustache. His vision circled around the room as he waited for councillors to get seated before officially opening the Court Session.

Kinoe Isamu was chosen by the Fire Daimyō to preside over a very important and private trial in the village of Konohagakure as he was known throughout the Land of Fire for being a man of fairness, neutrality, and justice. It wasn't until that he had arrived in Konohagakure that he was told he would be deciding the fate of a eight-year old child accused with murders of two individuals in extremely extenuating circumstances. The case was that much private.

Kinoe Isamu finished contemplating his thoughts on the case as the last of the counsellors entered the room and seated in the chairs around the court room.

The shinobi and civilian councillors mainly discusses the issues in the village that affects both the military and civilian populaces and most of the times the meeting held were organised separately, purely shinobi related were left to solely to the Shinobi Council and vice versa for the Civilian Council, but sometimes there were matters that affects both councils and this was one of those times.

"Seeing as everybody have arrived, this meeting now officially begins." intoned the Third Hokage in Kinoe Isamu's direction.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage! As you all know we are gathered here today to discuss the case of the accused Naruto Uzumaki with the charges of murders to decide whether he is innocent or not!" Isamu's begin only to be interrupted by one of the Civilian councillors shouting, "Malignant Demon!" This was followed by a volley of other similar shouts. Isamu merely looked annoyed at being interrupted and waited for the Hokage to settle things down.

"Enough! You will act like counsellors and not children in this meeting or you will be forcibly removed!" boomed the voice of the Third Hokage throughout the court room. The effect was instantaneous, everybody went silent.

"Thank you again, Lord Hokage! As I was saying we are here to discuss whether the accused Naruto Uzumaki murdered Satsune Uchiha and Sugerei Uchiha or not. Let us begin this trial." said Isamu.

The public prosecutor of Konoha addressed the case, "My name is Hasame Gōsengi. I am the public prosecutor. I am going to prove to you, Your Lordship, that the malignant dem... I mean, the accused child is indeed guilty. He murdered those two unfortunate souls and has turned Itachi Uchiha into such a vile criminal that not only Itachi massacred his own clan without any hesitation but also his own family. It was only a matter of time before that criminal...."

"Public prosecutor! I would advise you to watch your tongue. By law, everyone is 'innocent' until they are proven guilty, especially, when that someone accused is anything but a mere child of eight years. I hope you haven't forgotten that. So you have no right to address my client as a criminal until you prove it." interrupted Kisima Kirisagi, the defense attorney in this case.

"Who are you?" asked Isamu.

"My name is Kisima Kirisagi. I am the hired defense attorney for Naruto Uzumaki. I will represent him." said Kisima Kirisagi.

"Kisima-san, with all due respect, obviously, you hasn't studied this case carefully otherwise I don't think you would have even bothered to take this case." said the public prosecutor Hasame Gōsengi and then in an objective tone he continued, "We had five eyewitnesses' account who have witnessed him executing the murder of Satsune Uchiha at the crime scene. Those five witnesses have subjected themselves to a mind walk by Inoichi Yamanaka, the head of Konohagakure's T&I Department himself. They saw him in bloodied clothes and holding the weapon of murder plunged in Satsune Uchiha's corpse. He had also admitted the murder of said Uchiha's in front of fifty three civilians and thirteen shinobis."

The public prosecutor knew he's getting an upper-hand because the evidences are highly against the demon. Bringing the matter back, the public prosecutor pushed forth his attack, "Not to mention, the weapons and the files on the surveillance of the Uchiha Clan and on the weaknesses of Sharingan. So isn't it proof enough to call him a criminal?"

The defense attorney knew he had to respond quickly, if he wants to convince others of his client's innocence, "Hasame-san that's quite a wild accusation. Do you really think those witnesses saw him murder Satsune Uchiha. They only saw him holding the weapon of crime. Isn't it?" asked Kisima Kirisagi.

"Yes!" said Hasame Gōsengi while frowning internally.

"So isn't it possible that my client was only trying to take out the sword to help Satsune Uchiha?" asked Kisihma.

"Yes! But..." said Hasame.

"I hasn't finished my explanation. My client has clearly stated that he was only trying to help Satsune Uchiha. He tried to remove the sword because he was asked by Satsune himself. And as for bloodied clothes, he simply slipped on the gate gaurd's blood. This is the report from Ibiki Morino. He had personally evaluated him." He lifted the paper and showed it to everybody then continued, "The report also says that none of the eye witnesses has saw him skewering Satsune. They only saw him holding the sword." He again lifted another paper and said, "This is the report from the medical department. It says that the height of the murder of Satsune must be at least four meter and three inches after they analysed Satsune's wound. The height of my client is three meter and five inches. Please explain this Hasame-san!"

"He could have jumped. What about the confession?" asked Hasame.

"Really! He jumped such a great length. As for the confession, he did it to scare away the mob who were hell bent on lynching him." replied Kisima and then resumed, "I would also like to remind the court that the so called eyewitnesses were drunk."

The Hokage smiled and the Civilian Council frowned.

"What about the motive of his visit to the Uchiha compound? Care to explain it Kisima-san." asked Hasame.

"He wanted to prank the clan. He had a reputation for it, that's why he visited the compound." replied Kisima Kirisagi.

"Yet there was no supply for the said prank near one kilometer area of the Uchiha Compound. Face it Kisima-san you client is an accomplice of Itachi Uchiha. He and that vile criminal both planned for the demise of the Uchiha Clan and later succeeded in it." said Hasame in a hardened tone.

The defense attorney frowned at this statement and so did the Hokage. He then asked, "Hasame-san, How do you explain a child of eight years managing to kill the elites and veterans of Konohagakure?"

....

...

.....

The trial continued for the next two hours.

TWO HOURS LATER.....

"That's all! Your Lordship!" finished Hasame Gōsengi.

"Despite a good defense presented by the defense attorney for the accused Naruto Uzumaki and said accused being a minor, I still have to unfortunately judge his case based on the facts and evidences provided by the public prosecutor, not on the basis of his tender age, which so far wasn't in the boy's favor. So I am asking again, did the defense attorney has anything else to prove his client's innocence?" asked Isamu.

"No! Your Lordship!" replied Kisima in a defeated tone.

The Third Hokage grimaced and signalled to call Inoichi and use his plan. The Civilian Council was full of happiness. They had finally managed to get rid of the demon albeit at the cost of an entire clan but justice has been served to the martyr of the Nine-Tails attack as well as for the fallen Uchiha Clan.

The Third Hokage knew the truth that the Uchiha massacre was infact Itachi's secret mission but he cannot reveal it to prove the innocence of Naruto because he has sworn to Itachi to keep it a secret for the rest of his life. He cannot tarnish the Uchiha name by revealing it and let the great sacrifice of Itachi go in vain. Sasuke was of no help either since he's still in coma due to the shock and trauma from the tragedy as well as because of the side effects of Itachi's genjutsu. Jiraiya's whereabouts are unknown. And somehow, unfortunately, some of the Shinobi Clans too have started to suspect Naruto.

He knew that the shinobi clans are thinking that Naruto had murdered the Uchiha Clan under the influence of the Nine-Tails, given the history between the Uchiha Clan and the Nine-Tails, it isn't a far fetched thought. So he couldn't blame them, it's a possibility.

While the Konoha Barrier Team has confirmed that the bijū's chakra was never used, the Shinobi were reluctant to believe and were a little afraid, he couldn't fault them, such was the power of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Hence, in this scenario they would rather have the Nine-Tails far away from Konohagakure than being among them, with the possibility that it could one day go berserk. The damage was already done as even the Shinobi clans have started to side with the civilians.

Isamu waited for some more minutes and upon finding nothing, he decided to pass his judgement on the boy, "I see! On the basis...."

"Your Lordship! Please hold your judgement!" screamed Inoichi Yamanaka as he burst past the doors into the court room.

"Who are you to dare to do such an insolence as to barge in the court room in the middle of a judgement and ask me, the arbitrator for this case to stop giving the judgement?" asked an offended Isamu.

"I am sorry for my insolence but I have no choice! Your Lordship! My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, the Yamanaka Clan head and the current head of Konoha's T&I department. I am also one of the investigators of this case. Pardon me for barging in the court room like this but I have no choice since I have found some new evidences which suggest that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't an accomplice of Itachi Uchiha but rather a victim of his cunningness." finished Inoichi.

"Explain!" exclaimed Isamu in a commanding tone.

"Your Lordship! Not only Itachi Uchiha but the entire Konohagakure knew that Naruto craves for attention, friendship and acknowledgement. So Itachi took advantage of these insecurities of Naruto and manipulated him into joining him in performing the Uchiha massacre without his knowledge. Those weapons, the files on Sharingan's weakness, surveillance on the patterns of the Uchiha Clan, etc are all belonged to Itachi. Naruto had no prior knowledge of what is Itachi Uchiha was going to do to his clan when he visited the compound with him at the night of tragedy. As soon as Itachi reached the compound gates, he attacked and started killing his clan members. And Satsune Uchiha retaliated. Naruto having no knowledge of what is going on around him, he killed Satsune in self defence. These are the files which has the proof. Please consider these new proofs and give a fair judgement to the poor boy." explained Inoichi Yamanaka and then handed over the files to Isamu.

"On the basis of these new proofs presented against Naruto Uzumaki, I have not only found him guilty but also victim of a nefarious criminal. I would like to thank Inoichi Yamanaka to shed light on this case otherwise I would have given the child an unfair judgement, it would have been dishonourable of me and a stain on my reputation, and I would have failed to uphold the dignity of my post as an arbitrator. So I thank you again Inoichi-san" said Kinoe Isamu. Inoichi nodded in agreement.

"I am asking you all again, did the defense attorney or anybody else has anything else to prove child's innocence?" asked Isamu in an impartial tone and then after some consideration he resumed, "After analysing all of the facts and evidences against the accused Naruto Uzumaki, I have found him guilty and an accomplice of Itachi Uchiha. Therefore, we must now decide the punishment of one Naruto Uzumaki, keeping in mind that he was also a victim of Itachi Uchiha's manipulation. While the final decision on sentencing is up to me but I am not a Shinobi and nor a citizen of this village so I will be listening to the advisement of both the Civilian and Shinobi Councils, since I have been informed that the child Naruto Uzumaki is of great importance to Shinobi of this village and is also one-in-making as well as a citizen of this village. I am involving you all because I want to verdict the most sensible and fair judgement I am capable of which is the reason why I am asked to oversee this case. Now we shall discuss with each other the most sensible form of punishment for the extenuating circumstances of this case....." Isamu's speech was interrupted by one the civilian councilor's shouting, "Execution!" This was followed by a volley of other similar shouts. Isamu merely looked annoyed at being interrupted again and waited for the Hokage to settle things down.

"Silence!" shouted the Third Hokage while releasing a large amount of killing intent which made a shiver run down the spine of civilians and shinobis alike, even the arbitrator.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage! As I was saying because of the extenuating circumstances and the age of the boy in question, execution will not be considered." Isamu said with in his impartial tone while twirling his long moustache with his finger and giving a glance towards the Civilian Council. The Civilian Council in turn were about to start shouting in outrage and protest but were again silenced by the Hokage.

"A Prison sentence is the only logical course of action for this case unless there are other suggestions? Although I suppose the fairest decision would be to put it to a vote." Isamu said while looking around the room.

"The suggestion has some merit..." said one of the Shinobi Councillors. The Third Hokage's frown deepened.

"I would like to know what others feel about this choice and would like you all to vote on it. All in favor..."Isamu said but stopped the voting when he noticed the hands of the civilian council members had instantly shot into the air. "I am sorry but I believe that this voting should only be decided by the shinobi council."

The Civilian Councillors' eyes widened slightly at this statement, "And why is that?!"

"We deserve the right to vote on this matter as well!"

"Outrageous!"

"You can't do this!" came the shouts of most of the civilian council members.

Once the shouting has again stopped by the Hokage, Isamu explained the reasoning behind his decesion. "Since the boy is a Shinobi-in-making, I believe that the boy would have ceased being a civilian and hence would not be under the jurisdiction of the Civilian Council. And if you all haven't forgotten, the murder involves the death of two Shinobis not civilians, therefore I believe that the voting on this decision is solely a shinobi matter and falls under the jurisdiction of the Shinobi Council."

The Sandaime sighed in relief. He had managed to put the civilian council out of the decisions for Naruto's punishment. He also knew that the voting would go in draw, thus it will ultimately fail.

"Are there any more suggestions?" asked Isamu after the voting has failed. This time the Hokage was the one to rise. Isamu nodded in acknowledgement of the Third Hokage and asked him to continue, "I would like to suggest that the boy be put under house-arrest inside the village." suggested the Third Hokage.

No sooner than the statement had been made the entire civilian council started shouting in disbelief and disagreement. As soon as they had calmed down, Isamu spoke again, "I'm sorry Lord Hokage but I don't think your suggestion has merit. After the 'events of civil unrest' that had transpired in this village and with the destruction of the boy's residence at the hands of rioting civilians, I don't think there is anymore a secure enough location present in this village for the boy. Putting the boy under house-arrest within this very village would just make him a target. I also don't think that it would be wise to put him in a safe-house outside the village either. The evidence in the trial had suggested that the boy was able to kill a Jōnin all by himself, albeit in self defense and he may do so again so I cannot risk that."

Before the Hokage could put forth another alternative, Isamu continued as he knew what the Hokage would say next. "I also cannot place him in a cell inside the village. Konoha does not possess any long-term accommodations for prisoners. You have the cells in the police station but that would definitely be unwise considering what occurred just over a week ago at the police station." The council acknowledged the arbitrator's words and Third Hokage too but with sadness. Isamu took a deep breath and resumed, "Also... The detention facility that is manned by your ANBU forces is only made to temporarily hold prisoners and is not suited for long-term accomodations."

"Then what shall we do about the 'boy'?" asked a rather irritated civilian council member.

"Since there are no other suggestions..." Isamu paused for a moment to observed the councillors to make sure that no one had anything relevant to say, "...the only course of action is to decide where the boy will be incarcerated and for how long." Isamu finished with an air of finality and impartiality.

The silence was broken by Aburame Shibi, "Whether the boy will stay in a civilian prison or in a shinobi criminal facility?" While the Land of Fire had many civilian prison facilities, there was only one prison facilitated with proper measures to accommodate Shinobi criminals.

Trying to get advantage of the situation, the Civilian Council Head was about to suggest a civilian prison which would be under their control but he was cut off by the Hokage. "I believe that given the boys condition that a civilian prison facility would not be as adequate as a shinobi prison." Although the Third Hokage did not want to even suggest that Naruto might be capable of escaping or breaking out but if it was inevitable that Naruto must be sent to a prison then he wanted it to be a prison where he controlled the guards and everything within it.

Isamu gave a deep thought over the Third Hokage's suggestions, it seemed logical and besides it would be difficult and very costly to make the necessary precautions such as seals and chakra limiting devices, etc at a civilian prison facility. It will be a waste of resources, especially when these countermeasures already exists at the shinobi prison. Kami forbid if something happened and the guards were needed to subdue the boy, the civilians guards wouldn't stand a chance, the boy had killed a Jōnin and a Chūnin in self defense.

"I agree with Lord Hokage's suggestion, a civilian prison would have to refurbished to accommodate the necessary measures like seals, chakra limiting measures, etc which will be a complete waste of resources whereas a shinobi prison already has these facilities. Since there is only one shinobi prison in all of Land of Fire, Naruto Uzumaki shall be transferred to the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility for the duration of his incarceration. Now regarding the length of his sentence..."

No sooner than Isamu had said this, someone in the civilian council interrupted him again, "He should be imprisoned indefinitely!" Several shouts of agreement followed this statement.

Isamu frowned again at this outburst as did several others in the shinobi council. He really did not think that the crimes the boy had become a part of unknowingly and the murders he committed in self defense required a life sentencing, "While the boy has been indeed proven guilty for the crimes he committed unknowingly but it hardly warrants a life sentence. We have to take some facts into consideration before deciding his punishment... The minimum sentencing for a murder committed by an adult within the borders of the Land of Fire would be twenty one years of imprisonment..." several people and even the Third Hokage from the side of the Shinobi Council paled slightly at the estimate, "...but seeing as the boy is a minor and on top of that was manipulated by Itachi Uchiha into becoming his partner-in-crime without his consent, It really wouldn't be appropriate to sentence him any longer than seven years. Steps shall be taken to seal off the boys chakra completely and then he shall be transported to the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility to serve his sentence."

The Hokage sighed in relief. He had not only managed to take 'Public Execution' and 'Life Imprisonment' off the table but also sentence him to a prison where he could control everything. He can make Naruto's life a little comfortable and easier there.

Before everyone left the meeting; the Third Hokage made it very clear to all of the councillors that should anyone speak of the results of this court session outside then they would be charged with treason. This was of course met with much protest from some of the members of both councils but the Third Hokage remained firm in his decesion. Also no one was to speak about what happened to Naruto or about the case and the incident in general. Most people would be outraged that Naruto was not executed or imprisoned indefinitely and it could once again led to civil unrest which would be disastrous that's why he restricted the councillors from discussing about it.

He had failed to save Naruto from this injustice and the last thing the Third Hokage wants is for people to know about Naruto's predicament. Reluctantly and a little bit bitterly but the counsellors agreed to his demands as they too did not want to face the same situation of civil unrest within Konohagakure. And they couldn't force the Third Hokage to make a public announcement about the fate of the boy because it could harm Konohagakure's image as a village of child abusers which could reduce the numbers of possible customers employing Konohagakure and not to mention, the other villages might learn about the incident and also about the Nine-Tails in which case, they might sent their shinobi to assassinate Naruto, the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, to weaken Konohagakure.

The Third Hokage didn't wanted to disclose the name of Naruto's confinement facility to the general public, he wanted to keep it as secretive as possible. Why? Because it wouldn't be surprising to him if some rich civilian tries to hire missing-nins or Shinobi from another village to kill Naruto in the prison and with tensions in the village as high as they were right now, he simply could not afford to trust most of the people in the village. Both of his advisors, Koharu and Homura did agree with him.

Everyone but the Hokage filed out of the meeting room. The Hokage barely noticed as he was still immersed deep in his thoughts about the results of the court session and how it will affect Naruto.

After contemplating on the situation for some more time, the Third Hokage decided that he had no choice but to secretly send Naruto away. It may be a prison but it still will be a lot more safer for Naruto than anywhere in Konohagakure. As for the Civilian Council, their only consolation was that they were finally able to get rid of the demon boy.