Naruto felt something whiz by his cheek, leaving a long, bloodless cut. He looked over his shoulder and screeched when he saw their prison guard in close pursuit.

The white-haired young man held his hands out toward them, and some sort of small, round nubs shot out of the end of his fingers toward them.

Obito was also so busy looking back that they collided while trying to dodge the bizarre projectiles.

"Oi, be careful!" Naruto pushed Obito back, but didn't stop running. "Argh, damn it! Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The hall instantly became filled with Naruto's copies, blocking the path and view of their pursuer. Naruto pushed Obito down an intersecting hall, and the other boy caught on quickly, regaining his balance and putting on an extra boost of speed to put some distance between them and the guard.

"You're pretty good," Obito said as they rounded another corner, trying everything they could to cover their tracks. "But if neither of us know where we're going, then how're we supposed to escape?"

"You're not bad, either," Naruto said with a grin. "We just have to find a way outside, then maybe I can contact someone. You got any better ideas?"

"No, but if we get out, I'm not waiting around for that guy with the weird fingers to catch up. So unless you can—"

Obito screamed and halted, violently shaking his foot. Naruto saw a small snake fly against the wall, and he looked down at the floor to see a stream of the things winding toward them.

"Crap! Keep running!" Naruto yelled, and the two boys stumbled and kept on running. What else could they do?

"I guess this means Orochimaru's caught up to us, huh?" Obito called, jumping over a bundle of snakes with a disgusted look on his face.

"Whatever you do, don't let them bite you!" Naruto swerved around a snake in his path and ran sideways along the wall before hopping back down to the floor. "There's a good chance these have a kind of venom that's made to paralyze our bodies. Orochimaru got me with it a few weeks ago."

"But there's so many of them! How're we supposed to do that?"

Naruto crossed his fingers over each other to create another barrage of kage bunshin. Not to be outdone, Obito jumped up and attached himself to the ceiling. Running through a quick series of hand signs, a large stream of fire came out of his mouth once again, torching the snakes writhing around on the floor. Naruto had to jump up beside him to dodge.

"Hey! You'll hit my bunshin!"

And it did, at least a few of them—but most of them were able to get out of the way, yelling and stomping down the hall to delay the snakes further back. Obito and Naruto jumped back down to the floor, now completely cleared of snakes. They looked down the hall where the bunshin were still struggling, one popping right after the other.

"And what're we going to do if Orochimaru shows up himself?" Obito continued, watching them.

"Ugh, it's too late to worry about that."

Ultimately, their efforts only delayed the snakes chasing them.

A huge wave of them suddenly burst through the barrage, their glistening bodies slipping over each other in a large, unbroken mass.

The two preteens shrieked, holding onto each other's arms, then promptly made a break for it again without having to discuss it.

"What—the—hell?" Obito wheezed, eyes wide open with terror.

Naruto couldn't have summed it up better himself. Their bodies were strong, but not completely tireless. How long could they continue running aimlessly like this, avoiding the snakes' fangs?

As it turned out, not very long. After making another turn, they found themselves trapped at a dead end. Naruto and Obito turned around at the same time when they saw the blank wall blocking their path. All it took was that small pause. The barrage of snakes, which appeared to have only grown bigger the longer they ran, rolled over and through them like in a hissing, squirming tidal wave. Naruto tensed and stepped backward as he felt the rough scales brush over his skin, arms held up defensively. He wanted to scream, but he didn't dare open his mouth. He felt several stabs of pain as he was bitten—on the arm, near his ankle, even on his neck. It didn't take long for the numbing effect of the poison to set in.

"Obito—" Naruto tried to say through gritted teeth, but as the snakes retreated, he could easily see for himself the same thing had happened to him. Obito fell to his knees, arms and legs jerking awkwardly as he tried and failed to make his body move. Naruto also slumped to the ground when his legs gave up on functioning.

"Hmph."

Naruto looked up to see the Edo Tensei guard walking toward them calmly, a strange, pure-white sword in his hand. It looked very sharp.

"I told you all you had to do was wait there quietly. Did you really think it would be that easy to get away?"

"That's enough, Kimimaro," a familiar raspy voice said, sounding amused. Naruto's gaze slipped past Kimimaro. A few remaining snakes slithered over to Orochimaru and hid themselves in the loose sleeves of his shirt.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Kimimaro stepped aside to let him approach the escapees. Naruto glared at him, feeling the unique combination of anger and hopelessness that only Orochimaru could instill in him. He almost imagined that that self-satisfied smirk was meant just for him—mocking him for believing that going home had been his choice alone.

"You two certainly have a lot of spirit." Orochimaru chuckled. "But as Kimimaro said, all you had to do was practice a little bit of patience, and then you'd understand everything. I didn't bring you here just to keep you locked in a cell, after all."

"I always knew there was something suspicious about you," Obito snarled, voice strained from the effort it took to speak. "You're not going to get away with this! We'll see if you're still smiling once Sandaime-sama or Minato-sensei get a hold of you—"

He was cut off by Orochimaru's laughter as it echoed through the hall. It didn't sound mocking, but genuinely amused, as if he was delighted by Obito's threats. Naruto had a sinking feeling he knew why, considering Obito's mention of the Third.

"I'm afraid you're a little behind the times there, Obito-kun. Both of our senseis are dead. We actually have a lot in common when it comes to that—but that's a story for another time. Kimimaro, go ahead and take them to their new room. They won't be able to move for a while, given how much of the new formula they took in."

"Dead?" Obito whispered as Kimimaro stepped up and Orochimaru started to walk away. He looked over at Naruto, who was still laying there with his teeth gritted in frustration. Neither of them were able to do a thing as Kimimaro scooped them up and carried them under each arm.

He carried them all the way back, past the crumpled door of their cell and up a flight of stairs. Naruto couldn't so much as twitch his little finger.

"Why are you keeping us here?" he said, voice sounding strained and weak.

"Still trying to get information out of me, huh? You're certainly a tenacious one. Of course, that's part of what makes you so intriguing. I think you already know the answer to that one, Naruto. Hasn't Orochimaru-sama already told you multiple times?"

"Yeah, but in what world is that a good enough ans—"

"You'll just have to wait here a bit. Someone will be along after a while with the antidote."

Kimimaro had brought them to a room that looked like it was forged from a natural cave. Unlike the last room, it felt more like a permanent residence. The furnishings were nicer, and it was more spacious. There were still no windows, so they were probably still underground, but the door was completely normal. No bars or locks to be seen. Kimimaro put them each down on one of the beds on either side of the room.

"We're not going to just stay here, you know," Obito said scornfully.

"Yes, you are," Kimimaro said. Then he simply left, closing the door behind him as he went out.

Still, neither of them could move. Once again, Naruto was stuck staring up at the ceiling waiting around for whatever it was the snake was going to do. His soul was quite literally under Orochimaru's control. He might not have tried controlling him directly like one of the Edo Tensei summons—yet—but he had the power to drag Naruto (and presumably Obito) back and forth from the past as much as he liked. How were they going to fight against that kind of power?

"Hey, Naruto."

"What?"

"What that bastard said about the Sandaime, and my sensei… is it true?"

"Probably, yeah," Naruto said heavily. "I don't know about your sensei, but the Sandaime was killed by Orochimaru. It happened in my time. Orochimaru attacked the village."

"It figures he would do something underhanded like that. But how could you possibly not know who my sensei is? I figured he'd be the Hokage by now! If it's not me, I mean." Obito paused. "Are you seriously saying you don't know Konoha's Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato? I mean, everyone knows him. He's a jounin. And he's blond, like you."

"No," Naruto said irritably. "I mean, his name's kinda familiar, but it's not like I remember everything from the Academy."

He felt like that was where he'd heard it before. And not just one time, either. Maybe it was like Obito said, and he was one of the old Hokage.

Wait. Naruto remembered what the masked man had said. The Yondaime, his father, who sealed the Kyuubi into him. He remembered what his older self had said—died protecting the village. What he'd always been told his whole life, that his parents died in the Kyuubi attack. The whole picture was starting to come together. His eyes widened, and he would have jumped up from the bed at the electric shock that went through him, if it were possible.

"I think… I think he was my dad."

"Huh? You think?" Obito said with unabashed confusion. "You don't know your own dad's name?"

"No one ever told it to me," Naruto said, frustration coming through again. "I just know he died defending the village from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

But then, just as quickly, he was struck with another realization—there was someone else he could ask, someone that had been there and seen the entire thing. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before?

Kyuubi… is it really true? Was it him?

Either the fox didn't hear his question, or didn't feel like answering. All he heard for a few seconds was silence, until Obito spoke up again.

"So in the future, Sensei is dead… and he never got to meet his own son? That's messed up."

"What? You mean you believe me, just like that?"

"Yeah," Obito said quietly. "When I said you didn't seem like a liar, what I was really thinking was you reminded me of him. And that thing you did, with the ball of energy—he can do that too."

Naruto turned his head the small amount he could, but all he could see was Obito in the same state as him, laying on his back facing the ceiling.

Obito knew his dad, so did that mean he knew his mom, too? And Obito's dazed inability to accept how things had changed in this time reminded Naruto of himself when he'd first arrived in the future. In a way, he was glad he wasn't facing all of this alone. Maybe together, they could find a way out of this mess.

"Ne, Obito, you know? That's in this time. It hasn't happened yet where you come from, right? That means you can stop it from happening. We just have to figure out how to get back. My shishou is dead in this time, too. But I'm going back to save him. I can't save my mom and dad, but… you can. And then maybe I can grow up knowing them somewhere."

"I guess that means you're related to Kushina-san too," Obito said gloomily. "But yeah… you're right. Hey, wait. If you're Minato-sensei's son, how have you never met me before? And how come you never knew who he was? I definitely would have told you! Hell, I would have taken you in if no one else was gonna do it!"

"Really? I've… I don't think I've ever known anyone who knew him that well." Except, wasn't it said that Jiraiya also taught the Yondaime? And if the Yondaime was his father, then shouldn't Jiraiya have known plenty of things about him?

"Well, what about Rin or Kakashi?" Obito said, sounding annoyed.

"Ka—Kakashi? You mean Kakashi-sensei? He's my team's jounin instructor! You're saying he knew my dad?"

"Knew him—of course he knew him!" Obito burst out, managing to lift his head up a few inches before it fell back down again. "That jerk is on a team with me and Minato-sensei and Rin! He never told you stories about us when you were little, or anything?"

"I heard he was in the ANBU when I was a kid. I only met him after I became a genin." It was odd to imagine Kakashi reaching out to him when he was little, like Obito seemed to think he should have. It was odd knowing he might have had a reason to.

"Figures he would," Obito muttered. "I guess that's to be expected from an elite prodigy like him. Okay, but what about Rin? I know she wouldn't let something like that slide."

"Nope, I don't know her."

"What the hell? This doesn't make any sense! I dunno, maybe we come from places that are completely different. You know? Like some of the names would be the same, but everything else is some kind of weird other-thing. Then again, if Sensei died and it's just Kakashi around, and not me and Rin, could that mean… could we have eloped?" Obito's voice turned into a mumble around then, and Naruto couldn't hear his exact words, but it sounded like he having an intense debate with himself.

"Um… I don't know, but… I say we should find out what happened, and then send you back so you can stop my mom and dad from dying in the Kyuubi's attack," Naruto said determinedly. "And I'm going back home, too. I can't just wait around in a place like this."

They both fell silent when they heard the door open again. Naruto didn't see anyone at first. He had to turn his head further to the side to catch sight of their small visitor. It was a boy younger than them with silver hair and dark, intelligent eyes that watched them from beneath his wire-rimmed glasses. He paused for a moment at the door before walking over to Naruto's bedside, carrying a small metal tray with various syringes on it.

"What is that for?" Naruto asked in a high-pitched voice. He hated shots, and he definitely didn't trust any coming from this place.

"Don't worry, it's just an antidote for the venom. Please hold still," the boy said, putting down the tray and lifting one of the needles.

Naruto thought his soul might leave his body right then, making it no longer necessary to find a way back home, but he was distracted from his panic by getting a good look at the boy's face as he stuck the needle into his arm. A numb sort of confusion replaced the fear, but it made Naruto feel like he'd just been bitten by a snake again.

The boy's face, adorned with those round glasses that seemed too big for him, looked horribly familiar.

"Kabuto?"

There was no way.

"Eh? How do you know my name?" the boy asked cautiously, looking up at Naruto and pushing the edge of his glasses back.

"B-But they said you were dead, I don't—are you an Edo Tensei?"

"Ah… it's possible the poison has caused you some confusion. Please try not to push yourself," Kabuto said politely. He removed the needle, now empty, and placed it back on the tray.

"What's with you and thinking everybody's dead?" Obito put in from across the room. "Do you know this kid or something, Naruto?"

"Ah, no, I'm afraid your friend is mistaken," Kabuto said, turning to walk to Obito's bedside with the tray. "I don't know how he knows my name, but we've never met before."

"I know Kabuto from my time!" Naruto said loudly. "And this time, too… he's the one who brought me to the future to begin with! But he's older than me…"

"So what, you think Orochimaru brought in a past version of him, too?" Obito lifted his head to try to look at Naruto, but caught sight of the new needle Kabuto was wielding. "W-What are you going to do with that?"

"There's no need to be afraid. It won't hurt."

It had to be that, didn't it? It was the only thing that made sense, and yet it didn't, because Kabuto was dead. But this one didn't look like an Edo Tensei—and anyway, wasn't part of this new jutsu's power the fact he could call someone from all different points of their life? He couldn't do that with the Edo Tensei, right?

"Why are you here?" Naruto demanded, aggravated by Kabuto's complete calmness. Some feeling was starting to come back into his limbs, and he flexed a hand slowly. "Why aren't you a prisoner like we are? Are you working for Orochimaru?"

"Please rest and take it easy. It will take a while for the poison in your system to clear." Kabuto came back over to him, sounding genuinely concerned. "Yes. I was brought here to work for Orochimaru-sama, so my orphanage can receive the funding it needs. I was also told to assure you that you aren't prisoners. You're only being held here for right now."

"Huh?" Naruto was still confused, but he felt a little less numb now, so he shakily sat up. "Okay, but why? And if we're not prisoners, then what exactly do you call holding us here against our will?"

Kabuto hung his head regretfully. "I'm sorry, that's all I was told. In any case, there is no way for you to get out of here before Orochimaru-sama is ready to release you. You will only get hurt if you try."

"You want to bet on that?" Naruto moved—slowly and jerkily, but he moved—pushing his feet to the edge of the bed and over. He was confident this wasn't as bad as the state his real body was in back home. The same weakness may have been there, but not the pain.

"Naruto-san, please, you shouldn't try to get out of bed yet." Kabuto's silver brows scrunched together worriedly as he watched him.

"C'mon, Obito. See if you can move around some. We're going to slip out again while they're not expecting it."

"Yeah!"

Naruto held onto the edge of the bed as his legs wobbled and threatened to give out underneath him.

"That is really not a good idea." Kabuto hovered beside Naruto uncertainly. "If you try to do that, you'll just be knocked out and brought back again."

"Maybe so, but… that'd be the case if we waited, too, and right now I bet they don't think we'd be going for it again," Naruto said determinedly. He pushed off from the side of the bed and held his arms out, swaying from side to side for a second before regaining his balance. He turned around, one little step at a time, and took a few slow, heavy steps toward Obito, who was trying to sit up.

Kabuto followed him. "Please don't do this, you'll get us all in trouble! And then I'll be sent back, and Mother will have to earn my share too…"

Naruto wasn't paying attention to his soft-spoken pleas. "Obito, see if you can stand up. Hold on to something if you have to."

"Ugh… I don't know if I can, but I'll try. It feels like I can barely move."

"Stop it," Kabuto said a little more strongly. "I-If you don't, I… I'll run out right now and tell them what you're planning!"

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head to look over his shoulder. "Wha… ahh!" The act of twisting his head in a different direction from his body made him lose balance, and he stumbled to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Are you alright?" Kabuto knelt down by his side and put a hand on his shoulder. "You see, you can't make it very far like this. Just lay down until the poison is gone."

"We're not…" Naruto wrenched himself off the floor enough to rest on his hands and knees. "We're not going to cooperate with whatever they're keeping us here for. I don't care if it seems pointless, impossible, or whatever. Even if everything we do is somehow part of it, and it looks like we can't win, we won't know if we lay down and do nothing." He turned his head to glare sidelong at the child version of Kabuto, who flinched and scooted backward. "Are you happy staying here, Kabuto? That's what you should really be worried about. Don't you want to go home at all?"

Kabuto folded his hands in his lap and looked down. "I do miss Mother… and my friends. But I can't go back to the orphanage now. They depend on funding from Konoha to keep going. The village needed an orphan to come work for them and become a shinobi, so I volunteered to go. If I go back, they'll just take someone else, or worse—Mother will have to carry the burden by herself."

"Do you really think this is Konoha?" Obito asked from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed. He'd finally managed to pull himself up. "It's Orochimaru. And he's probably not even the Orochimaru you know. He brought us here for some kind of experiment. Naruto says you're older than him in this time, so you're probably the same as us and brought here from the past. How're you going to help your Mother or whoever when you're not even in the same world anymore?"

"What are you talking about?" Kabuto stared at Obito wide-eyed and stood from Naruto's side.

"There's no time to explain it right now. Just… we're going to stop this jutsu somehow, and then you'll be able to go home, too." Naruto pulled one of his knees up, braced his hands against the floor, and began working on using his legs to lift himself off the ground. It was an agonizingly slow process. "So don't worry… 'cause we'll make sure to put an end to it. Just stay here and we'll definitely… huh?" Naruto glanced up when he felt Kabuto's hand on his shoulder again. He felt a pinch on his arm, and looked over at it to see Kabuto injecting him with another syringe. "Wha—wait! What is that?"

"Another dose of the antidote." Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "You won't make it out of here without getting caught. But at least with this, you'll be able to move a little bit better."

"Kabuto," Naruto said, stunned. The feeling in his arm was rapidly coming back, and that was spreading to the rest of his body. There was a small glint in the boy's dark eyes, and Naruto remembered what Orochimaru said the first time he'd been immobilized by the poison.

I can't fully take the credit for this one. This is a poison Kabuto discovered that suppresses the Shodai's cells.

Despite what happened to Kabuto's older self in the end, Orochimaru still acknowledged him on some level. That was why he was here. Hadn't Itachi said that Orochimaru was fascinated by potential?

So then, did that explain why Obito was here, too?

"Heh. Now you're talking." Naruto grinned. He pushed himself to his feet slowly and carefully. The extra antidote was helping, but it would still take a few minutes to really work. "Okay, now give some more to Obito, and we'll be ready to try again!"