Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Silence was the first thing he sensed. Everything was so peaceful. No running, chasing or escaping from some phantoms of the past. He was so damn tired of all that. But he had learned to endure. He was always master of hiding his true emotions under false bravado contrary to what his senseis' or ex-senseis' believed. He showed optimism and never die attitude because one his closest friends told him that it was only remaining constant in many of their lives. It gave others hope that things could still be salvaged.
They have lost everything. Their homes, their desires, and their beliefs; even their identities were questionable. They didn't know how to escape from this nightmare their existence has become. Fathers killed children; mother skewered by their sons, lovers tore their beloved bodies again and again. It went on till you were dead and then you started fighting from the other side. He had lost the count of several times he had obliterated his loved ones. The infinite chakra of the Jubi was used to fuel continuous EDO-Tensei. Obito was dead set on not only killing them but breaking their will till they remained a formless husk of their earlier self. A person can kill a cherished one only so many times that he started doubting the times spent with them were real or not.
Any truth in this world is sometimes defined by what most thinks. All the hidden cruelties were bound to come out in such situation. When you didn't belief in anything you are bound to do as you please. The world turned into self-styled anarchy. All principles and morals were lost or people pretended they didn't exist. He had witnessed proud Ninja behaving worse than lowest of the scums. It was quite surprising that in the time like these he still remembered Teuchi giving him ramen on the house, Kakashi knocking on his windows with a basket of vegetables, Jiraya sharing a popsicle.
He was betrayed at last by few of his rag-tag groups when they dumped him in front of Obito. He didn't blame them through as they were only rushing the inevitable. Whatever resistance they thought they had, been washed away much earlier. He was the only relic of the past that was still fighting on the other side of peace-force or so-called peace of Obito. He listened to rumblings of Obito as how with him out of way finally the infinite Tsukiyomi will finally be started and after all his stubbornness has only achieved delaying the inevitable. He didn't reply just made faces to all this talk. Though it was childish but totally worth it under the circumstances even worth losing his tongue in the process. Seeing Obito coming down from his high ground and become so much affected by his cheek to cut off his tongue was a plus. And then the pain started. It was as if he was being unmade piece by piece. He and Kurma were not only connected in the body but also in the mind during their recent developed partnership. So when kurma's chakra was being extracted it was like being cut in two pieces not only bodily but on the mere level of your essence. For a moment he thought about other jhinchurikis if this is what they have to endure; but only for a moment. Then the pain was too great to consider anything else. He started repeating a mantra that someone told him in their philosophical moments and he had made it his current motto "this too shall pass." But like in his life the condition only worsened.
So the silence was godsend. He didn't know how long he was there. Time has lost its meaning. He didn't have his normal senses. For the matter of that he didn't know if he had a body or not at that time. But some sense was indicating that he was distinct from his surroundings so he concluded that he was somewhere, wherever that was.
He became aware of them. They could only be classified as such. When they started prodding him with their mind if they had mind it was feeling like when Ino sometimes delved into his memories. He shivered at the sensation. He had stood in front of Bijuus and had felt their overwhelming presence but this was something different. The beings dissecting him were on a whole different level. He was feeling like a tiny straw in front of a hurricane. They were not interested in his mere memories but his intentions. All his pretences fell for first time in his life. The feeling was worse than being naked. It was like going through all his memories but with a team of psychoanalyst. The things from his subconscious which he had willingly or unwillingly suppressed, were led bare before him. He had never felt so vulnerable before. In those moments they knew him better than he knew himself.
When it ended he felt bruised, even without a body, worse than the feeling of being skewered by a horde of shurikan. The moment of tranquillity passed again too soon for his liking.
And suddenly he started falling he didn't know how or where or if it was rushing.
He only heard one thing "DON'T FAIL THIS TIME NARUTO."