It was surprisingly quiet in the hideout. Naruto and Obito crept slowly from one hall to the other.
They couldn't move well enough to run yet. Obito was recovering from the poison more slowly than Naruto, and he had to hold onto the wall with both hands for support while they walked.
"I know you said we'd find the way out and everything, but how're we supposed to do that without running into anybody? It's not like we can fight them right now," Obito grumbled quietly.
"That might not happen if we keep quiet," Naruto said, looking up and down the halls as they met a corner. He motioned for Obito to keep following. "You remember what Kabuto told us right before we left. Orochimaru is still busy directing stuff in the war, so he's probably not gonna worry about us too much right now. And if there's only five guards for this whole place, we can definitely avoid them."
"Maybe in here, but what about when we find a way out? They'll be watching the exits."
The younger Kabuto had given them what information he could, but he still insisted they wouldn't make it out without being caught. Only he and Kimimaro were helping Orochimaru inside the base, but the other four guards were outside, keeping anyone from getting out or in. It would take a lot of luck to get by them without being noticed.
That explained why they weren't bothering to keep Naruto and Obito locked up anymore. They were that confident the two wouldn't make it past the guards.
"Heh! I've been sneaking around the ANBU since I was a little kid. This won't even be a challenge," Naruto said, a touch arrogantly.
Obito raised a brow. "So what you're saying is you don't have a plan. Are you sure you're Minato-sensei's kid?"
"Uh, no, not a hundred percent. I told you that already." Naruto scowled. "What's that got to do with anything, anyway? We can't make a plan if we don't know what we're up against. That's why we have to face them head-on now. If we don't make it, then we'll have something to go by for the next time. It's a win-win."
"Sounds like you just made that up."
"Hey, shut up! I don't see you coming up with any better plans."
Obito shifted his body so he leaned on the wall with just one hand, testing out more weight on his legs. "I've got one right now. I say if we do get caught this time, we should cause enough damage to make Orochimaru show up again. We're going to have to fight anyway if the guards catch us, right? So we'd see what we're up against, like you said, but then we can find out more about what's really going on here. I wanna talk to Orochimaru himself and get some answers."
"I guess he hasn't been around because of the war, but… I wonder why he's still bothering with it, anyway. I thought he didn't really care about it."
"What war? You guys keep talking about the war, but in my time there was the war, and I'm really hoping it's not the same one."
"Nah, this one's new," Naruto said, frowning. He paused to look and make sure their way was clear before they turned another corner. "It's… kind of a weird war. It's not the different countries fighting against one another. It's just everybody against this one guy, with Orochimaru helping him."
"How is that a war? That sounds kind of dumb. No offense."
"There's more to it than that, alright? They're the ones behind everything, but they actually have a ton of people—er, things on their side. Orochimaru summoned a bunch of Uchiha as zombies to fight in the war. And these Edo Tensei guys can't be hurt or killed. On top of that, they have those clone-plant things. And the one behind it all is Uchiha Madara."
"Madara? Like my ancestor, Madara? Hasn't he been dead for a long time?"
"I don't know. Things with the war have been so weird and messed up. I've seen a lot of unbelievable things already." Naruto shook his head. "I met Madara one time. He told me about the jutsu Orochimaru used to bring us here. But the important thing is, Madara is trying to gain enough power to cast a genjutsu over the entire world. He wants to make everyone live in a dream controlled by it, so there's never any more fighting."
"What? That just sounds like he wants to control everyone."
Naruto wasn't so sure. He thought the same thing when he first heard about the enemy's plan, but after talking to him, he got the feeling the masked man's motives were genuine. If anything, that made him more dangerous. But it was hard to explain that without going into way more detail about the meeting than he wanted.
"So that's why everyone's standing up to him. The Five Kage made an alliance with each other, and they're probably out there trying to stop Madara right now. The older me is with them, too. He could probably help us, but maybe it's a good thing I can't contact him. The people of this time need his help in the war."
"So the older you is pretty strong?" Obito tilted his head curiously. "Did you grow up to be cool like Minato-sensei?"
"Hah! The older me is definitely cool! And strong! And badass, and completely awesome! ...Wait, are you trying to say I'm not cool now?"
"I wish I could find out what my older self is like. Are you sure you don't know anything?"
"There's no way your older self is more awesome than mine. But maybe you've been on some kind of top-secret spy mission in a foreign country since I was little," Naruto guessed.
"Hm... that does seem very fitting for a man like me. I bet once I awakened my Sharingan, I had no trouble rising through the ranks. I probably even made jounin before Kakashi! Oh hey, stop. Look down there." Obito dropped into a whisper. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and peered down a hall they were just about to walk past. "Don't you think it looks different down that way from what we've been seeing?"
"Different how?" Naruto stopped and looked down the hall. Just like everywhere else, the passage was lit with eerie torches in the shape of open-mouthed snakes. It was long, and ended with a wide stone staircase lit from above.
"You see how the floor goes from wood to stone at the end? And it's wider through here, too. I bet those stairs lead to somewhere."
Naruto squinted, trying to see the far end where the light came from. It almost looked like sunlight streaming down onto the first few stairs, and now that he was paying attention, there was a noticeable flow of air coming from that way as well.
"It's gotta be the way out!" Naruto hissed, seizing Obito's arm. "Come on, you have to move faster!"
"Don't pull me! Besides, what if this is another trap?" Obito edged along the wall, staring down the path as they crept a little closer.
"Even if it is, the worst that can happen is we'll get chased by snakes again."
"Great."
Obito pushed off the wall to test his balance, then started walking toward the end of the hall beside Naruto.
Both of them were a lot steadier on their feet now, and Naruto was confident they could make a run for it if they found themselves outside. He looked behind them when they reached the foot of the stairs, then turned back to look up and saw sunlight and trees. But he didn't see anyone around besides the two of them.
"I'll go up there to look around first," Naruto whispered.
"Wait, shouldn't you send a bunshin or something instead?" Obito glanced over at him.
"Right, okay." Naruto was impatient, but that probably was the best thing to do. He crossed his fingers over each other and called up two kage bunshin.
"What's the other one for?"
"He's gonna go back and stand at the end of the hall, in case anyone comes this way while we're waiting here."
The first bunshin saluted them importantly, then trotted off down the hall. The other one sidled up the stairs, stopping at the top with half its body above ground and half below.
"Hey, do you see anything?" Obito asked in a carrying whisper.
"Blue stuff," the bunshin said.
"Huh?" Obito looked at the original as if asking for a translation.
"Could you be a little more specific?" Naruto called/whispered with his hands cupped around his mouth.
"Just come and look. I don't see anybody." The bunshin motioned for them to come closer.
Naruto and Obito glanced at each other, then climbed the stairs.
They soon emerged into a green, lush forest, the kind that felt like home. Did that mean they were in the Land of Fire?
Sure enough, there didn't appear to be anyone around. But when they looked up and through the trees, they could clearly see a huge, translucent blue wall enclosing the entire area.
"I get it now. This must be the only way in or out of the base," Obito said. "Okay, so all we have to do is bust through that barrier."
"Ha, good luck with that one, kid. Unless you think you can break through the work of a barrier master."
The voice came from behind them. The three whirled around to see a girl sitting on the ground behind the entrance to the base. The blue walls came together at a 90 degree angle and it was this corner she sat in, leering at them through the sheen of blue that encased her.
"I was wondering when you kids were finally gonna show up. It's been so boring here with nothing to watch but the squirrels and birds." The girl inside the barrier smirked at them. Her eyes were mostly black—another Edo Tensei.
"What happened to you not seeing anyone up here?" Obito shot accusingly at Naruto's bunshin.
"What? She was hiding over there! But see, there's blue stuff, just like I said."
"Notice what's actually important next time, idiot!" Naruto said, grabbing his bunshin by the collar.
"Well I'm you, so what does that say about you?"
"That's it, you're out!"
"Hey! Stop ignoring me, you damn brats!" the girl snarled. They all looked over. The bunshin in Naruto's grip stuck its tongue out and poofed out of existence.
"Yeah, who are you, anyway? What is this?" Obito commanded.
"Hn. It's about time. My name is Tayuya of the North Gate. And you kids should be glad I can't move from this spot. Just looking at your idiotic faces makes me want to kick both your asses into next week. I can't believe Orochimaru-sama wants me to keep up a barrier for a couple of pansy-ass genin."
"I am not a genin," Obito growled. "I'm a chuunin, and one who's gonna be promoted to jounin really soon!"
"Really? They must've been willing to promote anyone back during the war days."
Obito's face reddened, and he stomped over to where Tayuya was sitting and kicked the barrier surrounding her. "Come out here and fight me, then! I'll show you!"
"Hey! Get your dirty foot away from me! I'm seriously thinking about breaking this barrier to teach you a lesson, you little shit."
"Tayuya, you do that and you'll have more to worry about than just these kids," Kimimaro's voice came from the entrance to the base, and they all turned. Naruto, who was closest, got into a fighting stance. Obito stopped kicking and turned around.
Only Tayuya seemed unfazed. "Relax, it's not like I was actually gonna do it, pretty boy."
"What happened to the bunshin I had watching the hallway?" Naruto demanded. He knew from the time spent training at Mount Myoboku that his bunshin should have transferred its memories to him if it had been dispelled. How did he not know someone was coming?
Kimimaro sighed. "I'm surprised you thought something like that would be difficult to get around. Your clones aren't exactly attentive. Now if you don't mind, I'd like the two of you to come back with me. You've wandered far enough."
Naruto looked back at Obito, who gave a small nod. They didn't stand a chance right now, but what did it matter?
The bunshin Naruto had left in the hall suddenly jump-tackled Kimimaro from behind, wrapping its arms around his neck. Naruto took advantage of the distraction to create more clones, but even though he was aiming for at least fifty, only about a dozen appeared.
Before he had a chance to rally the troops, Kimimaro appeared right in front of him, moving incredibly fast. Naruto caught sight of his green eyes standing out starkly against the black Edo Tensei sclera just before Kimimaro kicked him hard in the chest. Air rushed out of him and he flew backward, slammed hard into the barrier, then slid to the ground. His clones instantly took the opportunity to attack Kimimaro once again.
"Are you okay, Naruto?" Obito knelt beside him as Naruto slowly started to pick himself up off the ground.
"Do something to keep that guy occupied," Naruto grunted as he got into a sitting position. "I'm going to try going into Sage Mode. It's the only thing that might stand a chance of breaking through this barrier."
"You're gonna what?"
"Just do it, okay? I need you to buy me enough time to gather energy."
"If you say so... but whatever you're going to do, try to make it quick." Obito stood and ran into the fight along with Naruto's clones.
Naruto closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. It was completely against his instinct to sit still and not fight, but it was the only thing he could think of. Nevermind that he hadn't once pulled this off successfully yet—he knew it was possible if he just kept trying. He could do anything his older self could do.
Sense the Natural Energy in the air. Feel it flowing through everything around you, touching and connecting everything in existence.
He could feel it. As usual, it felt heavy, almost overwhelming—Fukasaku had said that it was drawn to him. The danger was trying to control that energy once he drew it in. The few times Naruto had managed tap into the Natural Energy, it had always been far too much, tipping the balance out of control in an instant.
But as he'd been told by Jiraiya, and Iruka before that: the key to making something like this work was focus.
Of course, he'd never tried to do this in the middle of a fight, with the yells and shuffling intruding on his senses as Obito tried to buy some time. Memories from a dispelled bunshin interrupted him every few seconds.
Focus, focus! Naruto commanded himself desperately. Just like the Rasengan. It was about the right amount, the right balance, with external energy thrown into the mix. Simple.
He could feel the energy prickling the surface of his skin, embracing him like a friend. It started to mix with his own energy very gradually—he was being as careful as he could. Naruto fought to ignore the excitement clawing at him as the energy started to combine with his own. Almost there. Just a few more seconds, and there would be enough to—
"Oi, Kimimaro! Stop daydreaming and get over here. This kid is doing something." Tayuya's voice cut through his concentration from very close by. He was still sitting near the barrier.
Naruto frowned—an involuntary movement as he tried to quickly regain focus. He opened his eyes, saw the world shift strangely for just a second, but it wasn't enough. He went tumbling backwards once again as Kimimaro kicked him, rolling for a second before ending up flat on his back, all the energy he'd gathered completely dissipated.
Kimimaro loomed over him. "It's clear the two of you still have a lot to learn."
He stepped on Naruto's chest and raised two long, sharp blades, then brought them down to stab into the palms of his hands. Naruto yelled out in pain and made to kick his attacker, but his strike was blocked by sharp spikes that suddenly burst from Kimimaro's body.
Obito ran up and tried to throw a punch at him, but Kimimaro captured Obito's arm in the crook of his elbow and more spikes burst out, digging into Obito's trapped arm. Obito screamed and tried to pull away, but the action drew the spikes into deep gashes, tearing the sleeve of his coat and into the skin underneath. He jumped back holding his arm, blood pouring from the tattered sleeve in thin rivulets.
"As you have realized by now, I am able to transform the bones in my body at will to use in both offense and defense. You should give up trying to land a hit on me."
Naruto looked at the strange white swords stuck into his hands. Though it hurt, the pristine material was completely unstained.
"Obito! Don't forget that's not your real body! Whatever he does to you, you can make it go away in a few seconds just by thinking about it!" Naruto called. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, then sat up, yanking his hands as hard as he could to free them. The sharp edges slicing through his hands stung terribly even though it didn't bleed, but he ignored that and kept going. Kimimaro's eyes widened in surprise as Naruto lunged toward him.
Kimimaro's ribcage shot out in an instant to block the strike that Naruto and a couple of his remaining bunshin aimed at his chest. Naruto's foot ended up trapped, and alarm bells in his mind went off as he realized the same thing that happened to Obito was imminent.
"This is completely futile." Kimimaro swiped his spiked fists at the two bunshin, dispelling them. Then he shoved Naruto backward, and the latter lost his balance and fell on his back again, deep, bloodless lines scraping painfully into his leg.
"You're forgetting something very crucial in this fight. I am Edo Tensei. We can tear each other apart all day long, but unlike the two of you, I will never tire or run out of chakra. I am surprised you are managing so well after being paralyzed by the venom, but this is a losing battle for you."
"What, it's over already? What a ripoff," Tayuya complained from the corner.
Naruto stared up at the blue ceiling of the barrier high above their heads, desperately wondering what to do next. They hadn't even managed to stir up enough trouble to bring Orochimaru out.
Undo the seal. Use my power. Orochimaru's seal will be destroyed then, too. We can get rid of his hold over you and escape from here.
Naruto screwed his eyes almost shut, squinting as he considered what the Kyuubi said. Maybe it would work. Maybe it was the only thing that would work.
But what if it was a trick? What the fox was saying sounded too much like how he would try to persuade Naruto to give up control in the past.
I want to go back too, remember? the Kyuubi snarled.
But that wasn't the only thing. He'd already seen what happened when some of the fox's power leaked out and reacted with the strange cells that made up the plant bodies.
'What would happen if it all came out at once?' Naruto asked him. 'And how am I supposed to get past Orochimaru's seal to reach it, anyway?'
The Kyuubi didn't answer. He seemed to be considering Naruto's thoughts. Maybe he'd expected outright rejection.
Kimimaro kicked again, and Obito landed beside Naruto with a thump and a grunt. All of Naruto's clones were dispelled, and the boys weren't in great shape. It was just as Kimimaro said: they had no chance of winning.
"If you two want so badly to fight, you'll get the chance soon." Kimimaro stared down at them coldly as all the bone spikes sank back into his body. "It's surprising you managed to use your jutsu, though. I wonder if perhaps you were given a higher dosage of the antidote than we intended."
"No, we're just good at surprising people," Naruto said stubbornly.
"How should we know, anyway?" Obito retorted.
"You two are going back to your room, and you will stay underground from now on. You're free to move around the base, but come here again and you will be locked back in a cell."
Obito was mumbling curses under his breath as Kimimaro pulled them to their feet and dragged them back into the hall, continually pushing until they started walking on their own.
...Even though this body is more stable, he thinks it will still react if you were to let my power out completely. That would ruin everything for him. That's why the seal is still there, even now, the Kyuubi said.
'Huh?' Naruto wondered, confused by the sudden intrusion.
The only thing he has left to test is where that line is.
'Would you start making sense, already? What are you talking about?'
Orochimaru is going to force you to use my power. He wants to see how much this new body can withstand before it starts corrupting, like before.
'What?' Naruto abruptly stopped walking, earning him another shove in the back from Kimimaro. 'But that... how do you know?'
You remember what he said earlier. He wants you to be able to use my power, but this jutsu is one that has never been done before by anyone. You, as a jinchuuriki, bring extra complication into it. It makes sense he would summon more test subjects. But if he wants you to have access to it, why keep the seal on?
'You said earlier it was so I couldn't escape.'
There is more. He doesn't want you to try using it to escape, because he doesn't know how much you can withstand now. If the plant body starts transforming out of control and absorbs all of my chakra, we will both die. Orochimaru has already invested so much time into this particular version of you that he doesn't want to risk it. You've become valuable to him.
'So what's your point? I don't want to die, either!'
We can use that against him. He will have to loosen or remove his seal in order to do a test like that. And since you're valuable to him, if we can escape in that moment, we will have some leverage to work with.
'I don't really get what you're saying, but... if you really think he's going to take that seal off soon, I definitely think we should try to escape then!'
They had arrived back at the room. Kimimaro gave them one last push into it, warned them again about going above-ground, then left. He closed the door behind him, but though Naruto listened, he didn't hear a lock being turned.
"Are you alright? You were kinda spacing out there," Obito said, sinking down glumly onto his bed.
"Y-yeah," Naruto said, caught off guard by the comment. "I was just trying to think of a way we can get out of here."
"Yeah, me too. How are we supposed to get past that stupid barrier with Orochimaru and that creepy bone-guy around?"
Naruto wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to share the possible opening for escape the Kyuubi had seen, but that would mean he'd have to explain his jinchuuriki status to someone he'd just met. But it was probably going to be hard to avoid it forever, especially if the Kyuubi was right about Orochimaru's plan.
"Um... hey, Obito."
"Huh?" Obito looked at him and blinked, thrown by the sudden seriousness in Naruto's tone.
"You remember how I said my... parents died fighting against the Kyuubi?"
"Yeah?"
Don't tell him about me, idiot brat! He's an Uchiha!
"Well... there was a little more to it than that. I didn't know much about how it happened before I got here, but my dad didn't just make the Kyuubi go away. He... well, he sealed it. Inside of me. I'm what they call a jinchuuriki."
Obito's mouth fell open, and Naruto hurried to say more, seized with a sort of mild panic. "Like I said, I'm not completely sure how it happened, and I just learned really recently who my dad was, but the older me said he did it to save the village. That I'd understand it someday—and I don't, but yeah, that's basically it."
"I can't believe he would do that." Obito frowned, and the relief Naruto felt from that one statement was both strong and unexpected. "I know it's after my time and everything, but I can't imagine him doing that to his own son." Obito stayed silent for several seconds, then looked up at Naruto again, examining his face like he was looking for something. "Is that what this...?" He touched his own unblemished cheeks.
"Probably, yeah."
Obito crossed his arms and seemed to consider it a little more. After a minute of silence, he started speaking again in a gruff tone.
"I guess I don't really know, either. I do know Minato-sensei would do anything for the people he cares about. He's one of the nicest people I know, but also one of the smartest. It's almost scary sometimes, how good he is at planning ahead. There've been times during missions when he would ask us to do something, and we wouldn't understand it at all—not even that smart-ass Kakashi—but we would do it anyway, because we knew he was always looking out for us. And every single time, it turned out he was brilliant and had seen something that no one else had seen. This is probably like that, too."
Obito's attempt to comfort him was even more unexpected than his acceptance. Naruto kind of wanted to cry again, but that was embarrassing, so he forcefully pushed the urge back.
He cleared his throat and continued with what he wanted to say. "Anyway, that's one of the reasons Orochimaru brought me to this time. But the Kyuubi says—"
"Whoa, wait, you can talk to it?" Obito asked, leaning forward interestedly. "Has it said anything about me?"
Naruto, the fox growled.
"He keeps yelling at me for telling you stuff, 'cause he doesn't like the Uchiha." Naruto sat down on his own bed and casually stretched out. "But listen..."
Naruto explained everything the Kyuubi had told him about his theory, about the seal Orochimaru had placed, and the possibility of him loosening it as a test.
That inevitably led to him explaining more about the war, how Madara had stolen almost all the bijuu for his plan, and what Naruto had been doing in the future up until he thought he'd found a way home.
They talked for a long while, taking stock of the situation. After learning how both the younger and older Naruto were connected with the war and Orochimaru's own stock in it, Obito only had one question still left unanswered.
"So then, why me?"
"Don't worry, we're going to find out. Even if we have to beat an answer out of him," Naruto said determinedly, punching one hand with his fist.