He was being carried over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. When he tried to turn his head to get a better view of his surroundings, he was met with a face full of long dark hair.

"Awake, Sasuke-kun?" a voice from somewhere above him purred.

He blinked groggily as the memories came flooding back. "Where am I?"

Aki-san chuckled. "Well, I can tell you that you're not in Konoha at least."

"What are you doing?" He struggled in vain to free himself. "I never agreed to go with

you."

"That's not what you said earlier," she replied lightly. "You were quite willing to cooperate after a little...persuasion."

This final word came out more as a hiss than as human speech, and a shiver ran down his spine as his last memory clicked into place.

"You used a genjutsu on me."

"That's a clever boy."

"They'll come after me, you know," he said. "Sandaime-sama will figure out the truth, and once he does, he's not just going to sit by and let you steal the last Uchiha from Konoha."

"I don't doubt that Sarutobi-sensei will discover the truth eventually, but by then, it will already be too late."

"What do you want with me?" Despite his best efforts, he couldn't keep a note of fear from entering his voice.

She laughed silkily—a sound akin to air whistling through the trees. "What do I want? My dear boy, I want your eyes, your body...I want your everything."

His heart threatened to pound out of his chest. "You...You're not an Uchiha, are you?"
She laughed again. "How cruel, Sasuke-kun. This is the genuine Aki Uchiha—or her body at least."

He wanted to recoil, but this person—whoever they were—had a grip like iron. "I'm sorry to disappoint you," he bit out, "but if you're after the Sharingan, I don't have it."

"Thank you for your concern, Sasuke-kun, but that will be remediated soon enough."

Sasuke was momentarily distracted by the stone around his neck. He had been too busy to pay much attention to it, but the thread-like tug had been growing steadily stronger. Only now did he finally stop and think about what it meant.

"He's coming, isn't he?" she said knowingly. "Naruto-kun."

"How did you—?" He stopped himself as realization struck. "You gave him the necklaces."

"Close," she smiled. "It was actually my subordinate, but I congratulate you for figuring out that much."

"But why? Why do you want Naruto?"

"That child is interesting in his own right, but for my purposes, I need to have him die so that you can awaken your Sharingan."

He felt cold all over. "What?" he whispered.

His captor smirked cruelly. "You really don't know, do you? In order to activate the Sharingan, you must watch someone that you care about die. That's why Naruto-kun is an essential part of my plan. He will die and I will gain your Sharingan."

"That—" He stared at her, momentarily speechless. "That will never work! I don't care about Naruto—I hate him! He's an idiot and a dead-last and a klutz and a terrible cook and—"

Her softly rasping laugh cut him off. "It seems like I've picked well."

The pulling sensation was even more tangible now, and he knew that Naruto was nearly upon them. In a few moments, he would walk into the trap and then he would die—just like his parents and everyone else.

"I promise you that it won't work," he tried again, forcing down his rising hysteria. "I really don't—"

"Enough." She slowed to a stop and dropped lithely to the ground. With smooth, practiced movements, she bit her thumb and swiped the blood on a scroll. A human-sized snake with pale scales and glinting yellow eyes appeared with a puff of smoke. At her command, the serpent coiled around his body, holding him tightly in place.

"It appears that young Naruto-kun has brought along back-up, so I'll have you stay here

for now. I'll deal with the interference and then it will be on to the main event."

She leapt away from him as a masked figure appeared in the treetops. Sasuke recognized him as the ANBU who had escorted them to the Hokage's office. The newcomer exuded an air of lethal strength, but his captor didn't seem concerned in the slightest.

"It's been a while, Kakashi-kun. I wonder if you'll be able to stop me this time?"

The masked man glanced at the snake holding Sasuke then back to the dark-haired woman. "Orochimaru...?" he said in confusion.

Sasuke tensed at the name of the rogue Snake Sannin. He remembered his brot—or rather, that man—telling him that the Sannin were the strongest shinobi in the village, and that Orochimaru was the strongest of the three. Even the Sandaime himself wasn't able to stop him from leaving the village. If this really was Orochimaru, then everything was over.

Naruto. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing desperately that the necklaces could convey thoughts too. Wherever you are, stay away. Please just stay away. I can't...I can't lose anyone else.

Author's Note: So, there you go! Orochimaru was the mastermind behind everything. Also, congrats to those who guessed that Kabuto was the hooded figure. The next chapter will be up tomorrow, but until then, thanks for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think!