"Better alive… think… control…"

"Jinchuuriki…kill…"

"Scientist… need… learn…"

Naruto slanted his head, feeling a heavy chill settle on his wrists. He pushed his arm up, but it stayed in place. Chains. He thought, just what I need. More madmen after my life. He clenched his eyes tight. What competent ninja got into this situation? They tied him down, chained him up, and now had him at their disposal. Every ninja's worst nightmare. Sakura would throw a fit when she saw him missing. Kakashi too, and maybe, maybe a couple others. But everyone else? They may value his as a hero now, but they hardly knew him.

I'll be back soon.

"Is he awake?" The pressure to open his eyes was overwhelming. To see where he was, who had him, was an itch he couldn't scratch yet. He was ninja, trained for this situation, and ready for whatever came next. Protecting the village was his priority, keeping the secrets of Konoha secret was his job. He was the future Hokage, and he'd be damned if anyone kept him captive for longer than he wanted.

"Still asleep, I think. We were supposed to kill him."

Kill me? He repeated the words over in his head, searching for a face to the voice and finding none. Would Akatsuki attack so soon after their leaders death? No. Death was an unfortunate side effect of removing the Bijuu sealed within. Akatsuki never ordered anyone to kill the Jinchuuriki. Never saw reason until they had a demon's chakra in their grasp.

So, who the hell kidnapped me?

"Hear me out on this. Orochimaru's—"

He jerked his wrist up, breath rattling as he felt metal slice into flesh. Anyone but that, anyone. Orochimaru, a child kidnapper, manipulator, and a man who had tried to kill him on multiple occasions. He was the worst of the worst, a human fucking experimenter. Sasuke had joined him, and that man had turned his best friend into someone unrecognizable.

"Where is he?" He said, arms thrashing against the bonds. He felt his body convulse as blood spilled from his wrists. His limbs felt like a flame had danced around him, burning, searing. He was trapped under a weight he couldn't lift. And no matter how much he summoned his chakra, nothing worked. "I'll kill him. I'll kill him dead."

He blinked his watery eyes, gaze burning into the two monsters before him. His back arched off the table, and he twisted his arms, hoping, needing the chains to break free. They brought him here, in chains, slabbed chakra blockers to his wrists, and brought him to a man past redemption.

"Someone's got a temper. What'd he do to you? Torture? Kill a friend? Let me know when I'm getting cl—"

"Where is Orochimaru?" Fire seethed beneath his chest, and somewhere, somehow, he found his pulse booming through his head. "Where's Sasuke?"

Sasuke, his best friend, his promise. Naruto was closer to him than ever before, and yet, had never been so far away. He was trapped, chained, and possibly almost dead. But Sasuke was near. He was somewhere within Orochimaru's evil lair. His best friend, and still, Naruto could not save him.

He'd think Naruto as pathetic for getting caught.

"You know, I think you're right. We went through all this trouble. What was it you were saying?"

Naruto forced himself to take deep breaths, to calm down. Stupid, idiotic fool. He meant to keep his eyes shut. He wanted to hear what they said while they thought him unconscious. He was Ninja, and he was awake. He was a captive, a jinchuuriki, and he couldn't do a damn thing.

"Oh right. I'll tell Orochimaru when he gets here. Pretty sure he'll be happy about it."

"Better not get us killed."

His wrists were raw and bloody. They'd bruise in the coming days if Kyuubi didn't heal him soon. He wasn't getting out of the chains, not without a key or something to ease his hands out. Or until they leave. He recalled a lesson in the academy the class had gone through. Never had he thought he'd have to use it, but he supposed every shinobi needed a lesson on how to escape cuffs and rope. So, for the time being, he settled for remaining calm, as Sakura would recommend had she been here, and Sasuke too, would call him stupid. He'd find a way out. Not at the moment, but soon, in the coming hours, he'd have Orochimaru's body lying before him and he'd be out in the world again.

"I don't think he's going anywhere. Hungry?"

"Starved." Naruto listened to their fading voices, hearing a door slam shut and he was left in complete silence. His breath was rattling against the quiet, and for the first time in a long while, he was utterly alone.

Better get started, then.

He pushed his arm towards his body, biting his lip to muffle any screams as metal chaffed into his flesh until all that was left was blood. He bent his thumb at such an angle that it either dislocated or broke. Hopefully, it was a dislocation, because a broken finger wouldn't help him now. He worked at this until the cuffs were over his hand, and then worked on the other.

It was when he finally stood up, hands and ankles free of metal, that he realized his mistake.

"Entertaining. But I'd prefer a less gory display."

Of course they wouldn't leave him unsupervised.

And it was with dismay that he felt the symptoms of a drug still seeping into his blood. Waves of dizziness washed through him as Naruto flailed in the darkness, searching for the woman that had spoken as she attacked him mercilessly. And in the end, he wound up losing, because of course, they'd never make escape easy.

His sense of time had never been so poor

He'd gone days without knowing the date before, but never had he not had the option to learn. He lay on a table for hours, days, maybe. Perhaps weeks? The darkness was consuming him like the sun that used to blind him. Boredom consumed every second, with only the tables chill to give him thought.

Sleep was all there was to do these days. Every time he woke, he looked through the shadows, pressed against the chains, and closed his eyes again. They came back to stick a needle in his arm, putting something inside him. Whatever it was brought him unwanted sleep and a headache that could rival his worst hangover. They never fed him, never handed him water. It was as silent as Sasuke had been in school. So quiet, in fact, that it was almost loud.

Sasuke. He'd forgotten for a moment that Sasuke was here too. Did he know Naruto had gotten caught? Did anyone know? Or was he forgotten among Konoha, even to Sakura,.

He had to keep faith. If he couldn't come to them, someone would come for him.

It felt as if he'd been chained for years.

"Well, you're a quiet thing." Naruto cracked his eyes open, turning his head, squinting his eyes. A shadow stood by him. Their face was hidden under darkness, but their voice spoke louder than anyone before. "I expected screaming."

Naruto lifted his head before letting it fall onto the metal table. "Fuck you." He said. He should be screaming now, thrashing, threatening to kill. Orochimaru deserved worse than any death Naruto could grant him. And yet he did nothing but close his eyes.

God, he was starving.

"Just get Sasuke already. I can just hear his mocking voice." And he'd been hearing Sasuke in all his time here. Memories of past squabbles, deadly fights, and Ichiraku ramen pounded through his dreams. He remembered all the time with Sasuke as team seven, all the screaming matches that eventually led to fists. It came back to him full force. The valley of the end, the way Sasuke's voice shriveled with despair as they fought their first real fight.

The way Sasuke drove his fist through Naruto's lung.

He'd thought he buried that particular memory into the deepest depths of his mind, but in the darkness of the shrouded room, it was all he could think about.

Sasuke was so close, yet so far away.

"Such as asshole." Naruto chuckled. Was it so bad that he be caught? It wasn't as if he were at Akatsuki, and once Orochimaru got to work on whatever he wanted, Naruto could bail like Tsunade running from debt. Surely they couldn't keep him in chains forever. The atrophy would affect not only his muscles, but could end up killing him. They hadn't offed him yet, why should they now? Besides, the voices from earlier had said they found a use for him, a way to keep him alive.

"So I've been told. Marionette made a rather interesting point to me, you know? Can't believe I never thought of it before."

He felt Orochimaru lay his hand flat on his stomach, right where the seal was. Naruto squirmed, tilting his head to meet a shadow. He wished he could see Orochimaru's eyes. Wanted to make him see that although he had no energy, his spirit was long and never ending.

"My search for immortality has been around all along. Sasuke couldn't provide it. But you, my demon, have an immortal being within you. Imagine the answers I could find with a few simple experiments."

"I'm not your demon."

He felt as if he should be alarmed by what was said. Experiments implied some kind of science. But the science behind the seal was known to few, and Orochimaru already had it. What more could he want? There was no sharingan to control him, no sealing complication he hadn't fixed. What more could Orochimaru get from an arrogant fox.

Immortality. As if Kyuubi would give its secret to a madman.

Sasuke could control him. He might do it, for the right price, for the right reason.

"That's stupid. Go back to hell." He wouldn't give Orochimaru any ideas. "And get Sasuke, already. Sick of waiting."

"He's dead. Killed in my attempt to possess him."

Naruto froze (not that he could move much anyways), hunger forgotten, with only the words of Sasuke's death swimming through his mind. Impossible. Sasuke was one of the strongest Shinobi Naruto had ever met, and he'd never be killed by an obsessive lunatic. He was stronger than Naruto, stronger than anyone in Konoha if his murder spree was anything to go by. Orochimaru was lying, and only wanted Naruto to react in a way that benefitted a madman.

But still, that thought, that small possibility that Sasuke could, in fact, be dead, was enough to send his brain spiraling.

"You're lying." Naruto said. Orochimaru was a sannin. He was stronger, Naruto was reluctant to admit, than most anyone in the Elemental Nations. Team seven had lost to Orochimaru in the exams. But they'd grown since then, became stronger, and every one of them had survived an attack by this man. Orochimaru was a lunatic, a lying, horrible human being, and Naruto had no reason to believe a word he said.

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you're a lying piece of shit."

He jerked his wrist, fists clenched as if ready for a punch. He wanted this man to hurt, to bleed for what he had done. Taking Sasuke was the worst decision Orochimaru had ever made, not because it hurt Naruto and Sakura, along with countless others, but because taking Sasuke created an army against Orochimaru. Most everyone in Konoha eleven was against this man, along with most Shinobi and Kunoichi in the world. Few wanted anything to do with him, but all wanted him dead.

"Let me go, you sick bastard." He licked his rough lips, tongue dry and mouth begging for water. Orochimaru wanted nothing more than to kill him since the Chuunin exams, and now he kept Naruto alive, but strapped to a table? Why not kill him? Wasn't that to goal all these years? To put an end to his life so Naruto couldn't bother Orochimaru anymore? "I've got nothing you want. Let me go or kill me."

"But you do have something I want." Orochimaru's eyes traveled to Naruto's stomach. Naruto wasn't a fool. He knew where the seal was. The only reason anyone would want to kidnap him was for Kyuubi. And yet he wanted to be wrong, wanted to play a game of cat and mouse until he won and killed this man off. "The thought has crossed my mind. But I never truly considered it until now."

"Considered what?" Extracting Kyuubi? Torturing him? Taking his DNA? There were countless things Orochimaru could do to him, and with Naruto's chakra gone and being tied down, he was a victim of anything Orochimaru wanted to try.

He'd get out. He'd find a way out, or someone would come for him.

"I think you know." Orochimaru said. Naruto closed his eyes, feeling the hairs on his neck rise. How much effort would it take for him to break out of the cuffs? How much wit would he need to walk out with people watching his every move? What would Sakura do? She'd remain calm, refuse to give him what he wanted, and wait until she saw a chance to run.

"You haven't brought Sasuke down. Thought he might be interested to know he could kill me now."

Orochimaru's face was as pale as ever, golden eyes leering down at him. He could have killed Naruto a thousand times in the few minutes they'd been together, but he hadn't, and Naruto wanted to know why.

"I told you, Sasuke's dead."

Again, he insisted. But it was unrealistic. Sasuke was not dead, never had been, and never would be for a long while. Sasuke was going to return home, even if Naruto had to drag him through forest after forest to get him there. He was Naruto's best friend, the strongest person Naruto had met in a long while. He was alive, and chances were, Orochimaru knew exactly where he was.

"Give me one reason why I should believe you."

Orochimaru's lips curled. He gazed down at him, helpless, disposable, weak, and did nothing but stare. Naruto wanted to shift. He wanted to punch Orochimaru's face until it was unrecognizable. He wanted Sasuke down here for one chance to see him, because this may very well be his last few breaths.

He needed to stay alive, to fulfill his promise, to go back home, and someday become Hokage.

He was not dying here. Any thought of death, helplessness, or anything that made him feel inferior and weak would be banished from his mind until he was back at the gates of Konoha.

"One reason, you disgusting leech, and maybe, maybe I'll believe you."

Sasuke was alive until Naruto saw a body.

He watched as Orochimaru waved a hand, and heard some doors open, followed by a muffled scream. Naruto twisted his head to get a better look, but he was strapped down too tight, unable to move to see anything worthwhile. Muffled howls echoed through the room. He clenched his eyes, pulling his hands into fists and pushing against the cuffs once more. He felt his chest tighten, his breathing quicken, and he knew, just knew, that something horrible was about to happen.

Orochimaru had someone else. Someone who was afraid, someone who was screaming behind some sort of gag.

"Let go of them." Naruto said. He saw nothing, only listened, only heard. He felt nothing, but knew someone was in trouble. He smelt nothing, yet knew there was a pile of bodies lying around. Whoever Orochimaru had didn't deserve to be here. No one deserved to be here. Not a soul in the Elemental Nations, in the universe. Yet he had to listen to them scream, hear their muffled cries for help. He listened, and he heard, but could do nothing. "They've done nothing to you. Let them go."

"And what do you know of who's done what to me?"

He swiped his tongue over his lips, listening as their cries grew closer. He should open his eyes, see who it was, face them. He was ninja. His job required him to protect the village, not whoever else Orochimaru had. But he would, because no one deserved this, not him, not anyone else, not even an animal.

He pried his eyes open, turned his head to where he knew the sound came from, and felt all the hope within him vanish.

Konohamaru stood before him.

"No." He said, feeling his breath clog his throat. He took some rattling gasps, blinking his tears away and waited for the image of Konohamaru to be replaced by a stranger. The image never vanished, but Konohamaru's voice grew louder. As Naruto thought, he did have a gag wrapped inside his mouth, something Naruto might have soon. "No. No. Not him." And now he had more than one person to stow away, someone else to tag along. A genin with only D-rank experience. His follower, his admirer, his favorite kid in Konoha.

There was hardly anything to admire about Naruto now.

"He's a child, Orochimaru. A child."

Was Orochimaru this inhuman? There were lines that should never be crossed, and taking a child, whether they be a shinobi or not, was crossing far beyond the line.

Sasuke was that age when Orochimaru took him.

"So are you." Orochimaru said. Naruto shook his head. This wasn't happening. Konohamaru was not Orochimaru's captive. It was a henge, a trick. Hell, it could be a genjutsu for all he knew. Maybe it was Sasuke that had him and everything he saw now was an illusion. Maybe this was one, horrible dream he'd soon wake from.

It wasn't real. None of this was real.

"You are seriously fucked up." Naruto said, "gagging him? Konohamaru? Taking him captive? What is it supposed to accomplish? He has nothing you want. Nothing. I'm the one with Kyuubi. I have the secret to the bullshit of immortality. So why take Konohamaru?"

He'd snap himself out of the genjutsu. He'd wake up from this horrible nightmare. He'd meet with Sakura soon now, and all this would be over. Because Naruto was not captured. Konohamaru was safe at home. Orochimaru was in his fucked up lab doing god knew what. They were safe, him and Konohamaru. They were home, sleeping, and Naruto would soon wake.

Then why am I still playing along with this?

"He has nothing you want."

Nothing except leverage over me.

"You know what I want, Naruto. This is how you're going to stay. This is why you're going to help me."

Naruto swallowed. Konohamaru was still screaming, still struggling. It was useless though. Konohamaru didn't stand a chance against Orochimaru, not as he was, not for many more years of training.

"One wrong move and I'll slash this throat."

That was it then. Konohamaru was a member of Konoha. They were both ninja. Naruto's job was to protect him no matter the cost. It was his job to get Konohamaru out, even if it meant Naruto was trapped here.

There may not be an out for Naruto, as tagging two on one escape plan was asking for trouble, but he'd sure as hell find one for Konohamaru.

"We'd better get started, then." Naruto said, "what's the first experiment?"

No better way to tame a demon than to use a loved one, right?