Sasuke POV~

It was much more dull than I thought it would be. Sitting that snowy village in the Land of Iron.

I didn't like having nothing to do. It left me alone with my thoughts. And my thoughts often plunged me into places I would much rather leave behind.

I stood silently on the roof, letting the chill of the evening soak itself into my bones in an attempt to settle the flurry of my mind. A motion out of the corner of my eye let me know that Kakashi has joined me.

"Boring, isn't it?" he said, perching on the roof beside me. I made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement, which seemed to please him for some reason. 

Why did everyone see right past my rude exterior?

"You know, I'll tell you something if you promise not to run off."

I turned and glared at him suspiciously. "That depends on what you're going to tell me."

The jounin just hummed calmly and said, "Naruto was supposed to be at the five kage summit."

My heart stopped for second. 

"At the summit?" I blurted before I could stop myself.

Kakashi waved his hand, "The summit is close to over by now. Knowing him, he won't be there anymore. But he was asked to meet them there to talk."

"About what?"

"Oh, Sasuke. Akatsuki things. Other possibly-classified information." he shrugged, "Just the fact that he was there was probably classified as well, yet here I am spouting out all the secrets of the world."

I looked away to hide my scowl. Kakashi could be infuriatingly irritating at times. He could switch from serious to teasing in a matter of seconds, and it was fucking frustrating. 

Kakashi, still glancing at me knowingly, hummed softly in the back of his throat and stood. "Oh, well. I'll be heading to bed. I assume that, since you're here, you'll be taking first watch!" he clapped his hands together, "Yamato will be here at midnight to take up your position. Have fun."

He vanished in his signature body flicker, leaving me alone with lingering annoyance. 

Not just annoyance. Warmth, too.

There was silence for a while. It had grown peaceful, in a way. The snow was still falling in light, feathery flakes. The moon was silver and bright in the dark sky, stars dotted across the vast horizon.

For several long, bliss minutes, I found myself in a state of peace. For once, my brain wasn't spinning and spinning, actually opting to stay put this time.

Something broke the peace, instantly putting me into frustration. It was an unsettling feeling. 

I wasn't alone anymore.

I sensed the figure just as he spoke.

"Ah. I've finally found you, Sasuke."

One second I was sitting on the roof. The next I had four shuriken flying straight for his face.

They flew right through him, causing me to stutter. I'd never seen that before.

Before he could respond, I tugged sharply on the wire attached to two of them, sending them flying straight for his back. Again, they passed through him harmlessly. I caught them out of the air, pausing in my attack. He hadn't fought back the entire time, which suggesting that either he was waiting to capture me or he wanted to talk.

"Hm. It seems you have quite the good sense." He raised his hands, though I didn't feel any safer despite his lack of hostility. Something dangerous was radiating from his aura, and I didn't like it.

"I'm simply here to speak to you, boy." he said. The masked figure took a step forward, and I whipped out a couple shuriken again. He froze and didn't advance further.

"Ah well." he shrugged, dropping his hands to his sides, "I'm just here to give you some information. Pass on a message, you may say." he tilted his head, and I could a glint of red from the eyehole of the mask. From this distance, I couldn't see what it was, not even with my sharingan activated. 

I'd turned on the sharingan automatically, now. I hadn't even noticed, with how familiar I'd gotten with it.

"It's a message from your brother, Itachi."

Silence. My brain froze, every drop of blood in my body running cold. I could hear my own breath, my own pounding heartbeat loud as a drum.

Itachi.

My brother...

No.

Not brother.

Murderer.

Traitor.

NOT BROTHER.

I couldn't make myself move. Not even when he took another step toward me. Another. And another, until he was right in front of me. My breath was shallow, and I could see it fogging the air in short bursts.

"He wants to meet at the abandoned Uchiha hideout. He said you would understand what he meant." he leaned in closer, until his face was right in front of mine. The shadows hid his eye, the eyehole seeming empty and dark and so, so cold. "From the looks of it, he wants to fight."

To fight.

He wants to fight.

Fight him.

Kill him.

KILL HIM.

In that moment, a still, numb tranquility overcame me, laying waste to whatever emotion I was feeling.

"Tell him I'll be there."

Despite me being unable to see his face, he looked pleased. "Very well. Goodbye, Sasuke."

He vanished, then, in a swirl of darkness.

A chanting appeared in my head, growing faster and wilder the longer I stood there.

Itachi is there Itachi is there Itachi is there

Kill Him

You Must Kill Him

YOU MUST KILL HIM

Naruto POV~

I only had a second to feel heart-stopping terror before I was plunged into oblivion.

At least, it felt like oblivion. I fell heavily in a heap...somewhere. I looked around, seeing nothing but odd, blue platforms everywhere, each a different height. Other than that, pitch black all around, no semblance of time or light visible anywhere.

Tobi wasn't with me. In fact, I was completely alone.

'Kurama?' I checked, panicked. My breath was coming out in quiet, harsh bursts.

"Kit. I'm here. It's okay, it's - calm down, Naruto." 

I curled in on myself, rocking back and forth as my mind whirled and my heart drummed frantically.

'Oh no no no no they got us.' I buried my face in my knees, a sob ripping through my throat, 'After all we went through, after all we did to avoid them, oh fuck, they got us-'

"Kit. Calm down."

'No no no. Kurama -'

"I'm right here." he shushed me softly, "I'm here. Calm down."

I spoke out loud, my voice a quiet, meek whimper, "I can't lose you. I can't lose you, Kurama."

Kurama was quiet. I could sense his chakra, what's usually a rough river flowing gently within my mindscape, mingling with my chakra as if it they were of the same.

"He got us. One mistake and he got us." Kurama said, his voice quiet and so much more solemn than I've ever heard it, "But we're here. Wherever here is. He hasn't gotten me yet. We're still together, and as long as we have my chakra and your strength, no pathetic masked Uchiha is ever going to beat us. Imma kick his ass before he ever lays a hand on you."

This prompted a small giggle from me. 

Kurama chuckled softly. I stood, wiping my tears and brushing myself off.

'This doesn't look like any place in our world. Think he sent us to another dimension or something?'

"Maybe. That would make a lot of sense, actually."

I shrugged, forcefully shoving my anxiety to the back of my head, 'Might as well explore. I don't have anything better to do anyways.'

I wandered around the area, hopping from one big blue platform to the other. It was pretty tedious, considering that there was literally nothing else. I wondered absently if this dimension or whatever was endless.

I thought of the prospect of Tobi himself coming here to get me, and then having to search for me in this vast area.

That thought alone was what compelled me to run what was at least ten miles from where I first appeared. Any thought of making that bastard's life even a little harder gave me a little pleasure. I was living off pure spite alone.

It wasn't until what felt like hours later (I had no way of telling) that I stopped. Tobi still hadn't appeared. It wasn't like I could go anywhere, unless he let me out. 

I kinda wanted to leave now, but I didn't want to make it easy for him to find me.

'If he keeps me here, he can keep me completely trapped until he releases me himself.'

"The perfect prison." Kurama growled.

It wasn't until what was (maybe?) a day later that Tobi finally found me.

I'd only managed to get a couple hours of sleep, out of fear that he would arrive when I was asleep. I was wide awake and waiting, sitting cross-legged on one of the platforms, when his signature swirly portal appeared several feet in front of me. 

'Hm. I'm dozens of miles from the starting point.'

"Looks like he can teleport to objects and people in here, then, rather than location."

'Awfully convenient for him, I guess.'

I was marginally calmer than I was before. Calm enough that I was back to my old snarky self.

"You finally show up?" I asked, not getting up from where I was sitting. 

"I'm simply here to check on you." he said. "It looks like you're fine. Goodbye."

"See ya, motherfucker."

He disappeared without a word.

'Think I should jump into that portal next time?'

"Please do so."

Tsunade POV~

We were all ready. 

We. Were. Ready.

Even so, none of us could react in time.

We were all on our feet. Naruto had moved fastest, a kunai flying out from within his cloak and placing itself at the masked man's throat, golden chakra blazing in small scraps around him.

Even so, he was still taken. Right before our eyes.

"Naru -"

The shout died in my throat, because he was gone. Three years, he evaded capture, and now, right before our eyes, he was gone. Taken. 

They'll kill him.

The thought spurred me into action.

They'll take the Kyuubi. They'll kill him.

A punch, a reflex as natural as breathing to me, thrown right at the floor.

They'll kill him.

Right at the floor at the masked man's feet.

They'll kill him.

A moment. All it took was a second.

My fist collided with the wood, and the whole building shook. Shards of the floor and wood flew, the entire floor caving in and blowing up in a massive shockwave.

Dust billowed up from the debris. The kage and the Samurai would be fine. They were skilled.

But this motherfucking piece of shit who took Naruto had to die.

There he was. Standing perched on the railing above. We'd fallen down to the floor below. I hadn't noticed.

Standing perched there with an unreadable posture and I couldn't even see his goddamned face.

I didn't even know who this guy was.

Seeing him standing there, almost smug, sent rage burning through my blood. I'd never been this angry before. Everything was red. 

Another adrenaline fueled punch shattered the entire wall he was next to. Again, he escaped, now standing on the other side of the room.

Another punch blew up that wall. Another section of the building came down.

A shout came from behind me.

"Get back, Hokage!"

The Tsuchikage.

I knew better than to not listen, considering what he was about to do.

A second later, a molecule shattering prism appeared right where I was, and right where the so-called Tobi was.

The dust cleared, and he was gone.

"Did it work?" Mifune asked, jumping down to join us. The other kage were here too.

"No, I don't think it did." came a voice from behind us. 

Again, I was met met that masked faced.

This bitch.