Prologue: Wake Up Call
He saw only the emptiness that was his prison cell. He saw only the darkness that surrounded him. The only thing Naruto could feel were the cold shackles clamped around his wrists. A similar pair was wrapped around his ankles. Naruto was bound to the wall, unable to move. His bindings were connected directly to the wall, of course. Chains are easily broken. This just proved that Naruto was dealing with professionals.
Naruto struggled to break free, but the bonds were too strong. It was as if chakra was infused directly into the steel. He let out a deep sigh at his failed attempts to break free. After all of his training with Jiriaya, he was still unable free himself.
Then Naruto came up with a lifesaving idea. He began focusing his own chakra into the shackles. He soon grew tired and found his efforts, once again, in vain.
'Ok' Naruto thought. "I can't break these bonds physically, and I can't focus my chakra.' Naruto growled, "I can't even make any hand signs! Alright, come out, whoever you are!"
Naruto heard a small laugh, along with footsteps in the distance. They grew closer and closer, until Naruto saw a small light in the distance. Naruto began wondering just how large of a prison cell he was.
He saw a man's face, or at least what he assumed to be the face of a man. He had so much hair in his face that it was hard to tell. All Naruto knew was that the two had met before, in pitched combat; in midair.
"Deidara! I thought you were dead; in fact I thought you killed yourself," Naruto smirked.
Deidara chuckled, "Since when did you ever think?"
"Shut up!" Naruto snapped. Naruto thrashed about in his restraints. All he accomplished was bruising his wrists under the shackles.
"Don't bother; Leader forced most of his energy into that. Even you don't have power to escape." Deidara smiled, "I just came in to tell you that you should probably get some rest; you'll need it. Besides, you're making too much of a racket and no one can sleep. It's almost midnight," Deidara laughed once more, before spinning on his heels and walking off. "Not that you would know."
Naruto hung his head down in shame, when he heard a loud whisper. "Naruto!"
"... Did you hear that?" He asked.
Deidara opened the door a crack, just enough to let a shimmer of visible light in, "You must be hearing things, kid."
He slammed the door on his way out leaving Naruto, once again, alone in his cell. Naruto barely slept that night. He couldn't help think how he could have got captured in the first place.
All he remembered was waking up that morning.
Naruto woke up extra early that morning; the sun had yet to peak over the horizon. Everyone in the village was still sleeping, but he wanted to get some extra training in that day. He got dressed in his trademark black and orange jacket and headed out to the training field. The stars had just begun to fade in the morning sky. Naruto ran quickly, but quietly, as not to disturb the rest of the village.
Naruto arrived and immediately began his warm ups. He practiced his taijutsu on the training dummies and soon had them torn apart. He later used his shadow clones as sparing partners, effectively getting his ass kicked in the process. Because Naruto had not eaten breakfast, he was feeling a bit woozy. He sat down by an old tree and unpacked his lunch from home; a container of instant ramen and a bottle of water. Naruto, of course, used that bottle of water to make his ramen. He didn't really care if he choked from eating too fast, as long as he had his ramen; and that's exactly what happened.
Naruto was rolling around on the ground, trying to breathe. He could feel the noodles lodged in the back of his throat. He slammed his back against the tree, trying to catch a breath. Naruto stood up and was about to stick his hand down his throat when someone grabbed him from behind and pulled. After a few dozen times, Naruto spit up the ramen and was released from the man's grasp.
Guess who it was.
