When I was younger I used to sit by the window as the winter set into the village and beg for some signs of snow...but it never came. The temperature would drop and the rive would freeze, yet the snow avoided the town like the plague. I had long since given up on ever being able to see it, that was until the Fourth Great Shinobi war began. Perhaps someone above thought that during this time of death a sign of hope would not go unnoticed, they were right. My coat laid forgotten in a dusty corner of my closet as I walked the empty streets of the village. I enjoyed the way the cold caressed my exposed skin, making me feel more alive than I had in a long time. In the dead of night the only sound was the soft crunch of my footprints in the freshly fallen snow. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a flickering candle in the window of Naruto's apartment. The sight made a weight settle deep into the pit of my stomach, it was unlike him to be up so late. Then again the Naruto Uzumaki I had known seemed to have left a long time ago, leaving an empty shell in its wake. During my days at the academy Naruto's lopsided grin was enough to make me want to slap it off his face, but now I would kill to see it.
The reason for this drastic change in the yellow haired ninja was hardly a secret, he had become essentially a prisoner in his own village. With the start of the war the nine tail chakra, according to the Kages, seemed far too valuable a thing to risk in a battle. Lady Tsuande fought to let Naruto be able to participate in lower ranking missions, but the other leaders would not hear it. For the first few weeks he was content enough to help at home, usually accompanying me in the hospital or lending Iruka Sensei a hand with the younger kids. I could see in his eyes that it killed him not to be on the battlefield with Sai and myself, yet he knew it was for the best. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Madara, annoyed with Naruto's inactivity, began to hire mercenary groups to draw out the jinchuriki. They were easy enough to deal with at first, but now they had become perhaps an even bigger issue than Madara himself. For every ten we killed it appeared that fifty more would take their place, we had lost a considerable amount to their forces in just the past month. Lady Tsunade ordered everyone to keep that fact hidden from Naruto, but when he looked into my eyes I could tell he knew the truth. He was not quite as stupid as most people wanted to believe. People were dying because of him, and I think somewhere across the way he began to hate himself for it.
I do not know what guided my steps, all I did know was that I found myself staring at the heavy oak door of Naruto's apartment. It had been quite a long time since I had come to visit Naruto, I tried to ignore the guilt that crept into my consciousness. I brought a hand to knock, yet stopped short as I saw the door was already slightly ajar. A sense of dread filled my senses as I slowly pushed open the door to find two untouched cups of ramen sitting on his table, something was not right. I did not see any evidence of him on the bottom floor as I made my way up the staircase. In fact the whole apartment almost looked completely untouched A cold draft of wind whipped through the stairway as I threw open Naruto's bedroom door. A familiar form was splayed out on the rug. I grabbed ahold of the byakugan wielders shoulder and gave her a rough shake.
"Hinata," Naruto had placed an extremely gentle genjutsu over her, "wake up Hinata. Naruto is gone," with a sharp intake of air she shot up from my arms looking around the room. I waited patiently as she struggled to catch her breath.
"I'm so sorry Sakura. I thought he should know, it seemed like the right thing to do," her voice was quite, I almost had to strain my ears to hear her whisper. I clenched my fists. I knew she cared about Naruto, but she had no idea how delicate his state of mind was right now. Love was as annoying as it was amazing.
"Just what exactly did you tell Naruto?" Her long dark hair shielded her eyes from mine, but I did not miss the tears that fell onto the carpet. I clenched my fists in an attempt to remain calm.
"I told him the Kazekage had been kidnapped," my blood ran cold, that was enough to push Naruto over the edge without a doubt. Him and Garra and a very special bond, Naruto would never risk anything bad happening to the young Kazekage. It did not surprise me Naruto took off in a blind rage, I could not blame him.
"Alright Hinata, I am going to go see if I can find Naruto, you report to Lady Tsuande and have her send a Jounin level team after me as soon as possible," I jumped to the window sill hanging precariously on the edge. A small hand on my shoulder halted my movements, when I looked at her again her Byukugan was pointed straight on my chakra points.
"It is not safe for you Sakura, you are not at full strength either," I shoved off Hinata's hand and leaped from the window calling behind me.
"Do as I said Hinata," I hit the ground hard, but got my footing quickly and took off for the outer limits of the village. I had been injured in an altercation with Kabuto a week ago, he had developed a poison that ate away at the chakra points. If it had not been for my mentor's quick thinking I would've been dead by now. The cold nipped at my face as I raced past the frozen landscape, what strength I had left would have to suffice. My eyes scanned the line of scorched trees that laid in Naruto's wake, it seemed as though his ninetail's cloak was at full strength. I hated to be the first person he ran into. It felt as if I was running in a snowglobe, forever moving, but not actually gaining any ground. I gritted my teeth and pushed myself harder, the thought of losing Naruto was absolutely unacceptable. I had already lost one teammate I was not about to lose another. The sound of a nearby battle caught my attention, I settled myself on a sturdy branch peering through the dead limbs.
A group of rogue ninja had Naruto surrounded, the cloak that he had earlier was long gone. Judging from the way these ninja moved they were experienced and incredibly cautious in their approach, I wondered how they were able to surround Naruto so easily. It was then that I spotted the chakra collar they had managed to fasten around his neck, I thought they had all been destroyed. These collars absorbed the chakra from the wearer making them completely vulnerable to any sort of attack a seal, similar to a paper bomb, prevented anyone but the owner from removing it. They had been used during the first shinobi war, but had been deemed as dehumanizing. As a result all of them had been destroyed, or so the story went. I had to act fast for the first time Naruto was completely powerless. There were seven mercenaries surrounding Naruto, but I knew they were not simply common thieves. The branch below me swayed violently as the winter wind kicked back up sending a wave of thick snow through the air, I saw my chance. In the blink of an eye I leaped down onto the closest ninja by me knocking him unconscious with ease, I moved onto the others before they could realize what was going on. It seemed mother nature decided to be on my side for once. I turned to find Naruto staring off into the tree line.
"They have Garra I have to get him back," I wanted to strangle him, but I knew that would not solve our problems. I, instead, grabbed him by the collar hoping to knock some sense into my teammate.
"And we will Naruto, but you going off by your own is only going to get you killed and give Madara exactly what he wants," the look on Naruto's face did not change, I knew nothing I was saying was getting through. My head whirled around as a branch snapped in the distance, there were more of them closing in fast. Damn. I had used most of my remaining chakra on those thugs, I glanced at Naruto. He was the most important person here, his safety was vital to the leaf village and the whole shinobi world at this point.
"When you get back to the village Naruto, go to Kakashi-sensei I am sure he can figure a way to get that collar off of you," I pressed a quick kiss to his cold cheek as I used the last of my remaining chakra and threw Naruto as far as I could towards the leaf village, by now hopefully a ANBU team was on the move. Another branch snapped, then there was nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see.
The first thing I remember after that was the feeling of cold cement pressed on my back, a unpleasant reminder that I was still alive. My eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness of the room, the only light was the moonlight that slipped through the cracks of the stone. My limbs felt as though they weighed a ton as I reached out to be met with rod iron bars.
"I would be careful if I were you, they are most unkind when you get close to the bars," the voice stopped me in my tracks, it seemed I had found what Naruto was looking for. I turned my head to find the Kazekage lazily leaning against a nearby pillar, although he was a far cry from the way I remembered him from our last encounter. His already lean form was now painfully thin, his pristine robes were tattered and covered with blood, and there was a glint in his eyes that sent a chill up my spine.
"Where are we?" My words seemed to echo endlessly throughout the stony prison, I noticed for the first time the chakra collar that he had around his neck.
"Hell, Sakura Haruno, we are in hell," such a thought was ridiculous, yet the pain in his eyes seemed very real. Could such a place really exist?