They passed the next day without incident, which was in itself remarkable.
At least, it might have been a day. It was from the time they woke up until the time they went to sleep again. It was impossible to tell time accurately inside the underground lair.
The only other person they saw was Kabuto, who came back to check on them again. They tried persuading him to come along with them on their next escape attempt, but he declined. It seemed he was determined to remain on Orochimaru's good side for the sake of his mother and friends. As frustrating as it was, they could hardly fault him for that.
It didn't matter, anyway. They were going to find a way to save themselves and him. If they found a way to undo the jutsu, they could all go home.
Thinking they might be able to find scrolls or other hints around the base, and having nothing better to do, Naruto and Obito spent a lot of time exploring. Because they never went above-ground where the barrier was, neither Kimimaro nor anyone else ever tried to stop them. It was eerie, traveling the halls in the semi-darkness and silence. They filled the time with chatter and joking to dispel the creepy atmosphere.
Orochimaru had to be somewhere inside the base—how else could he direct the war while keeping an eye on them? But despite the hours they spent scouring the place, they never caught sight of him.
It wasn't until the next day, when they stumbled upon a room they hadn't seen before, that they finally found out why he'd taken the trouble to imprison them together for all that time.
"I can't believe we missed something this big before. What do you think this room is for?" Naruto leaned over the rail to look down into the large, circular room. It reminded him of where they'd had the Chuunin Exam preliminaries, except it was round instead of square, and the floor below was lined with mysterious doors. They stood on the balcony overhead, looking down to the dim and empty room.
Obito pushed his goggles up to get a good look. "Those doors have to lead somewhere. Let's go check it out." He braced his hands on the railing and vaulted over it, landing smoothly down below. Naruto quickly followed. There was no other way to get down to the bottom.
"Okay, let's start with this one and work our way around." Naruto motioned to the door nearest to him. He turned and reached for the door handle—only to lower his hand when he realized it was missing. "Hey! That's annoying... there's no doorknob!"
Obito looked around. "There's not one on any of these. Guess we'll have to break in?"
"You shouldn't do that. I'd rather you stay here a bit longer."
The two boys snapped their heads up toward the balcony. Orochimaru looked down at them, grinning widely. Kimimaro stood by his side and a respectful step back.
"It's about time you showed your stupid, ugly face again!" Obito yelled, snapping his goggles back over his eyes as if preparing to fight.
"There's something here you don't want us to see, is that it?" Naruto pointed at Orochimaru dramatically.
"Oh, you're not here to do any sightseeing, I'm afraid. Sorry it's been boring for you while I've been busy with other things. I promise that right now, you have my full attention."
A crawling, prickling feeling worked its way up Naruto's arms at the statement. He had a feeling it wasn't a coincidence they ended up here.
Naruto glared up at him with fists clenched. "Whatever you're planning to do, we deserve some answers. Obito—"
"I know you've told him everything, and that you've figured out part of why I brought you here now," Orochimaru interrupted. "Though I'm sure you had the Kyuubi's help. I can't see what goes on in your mind, but with my control tag, I can see through your eyes and hear through your ears. It's similar to the way I use my Edo Tensei summons."
"What?" Naruto's thoughts were derailed, going from defiant to extremely confused. Orochimaru could see and hear everything he did? Was that literal? "Since when? The control tag... you mean, since Suna?"
Orochimaru just smiled. He seemed content to let him figure it out himself.
A cold feeling swept over Naruto as he stared into Orochimaru's eyes—those sinister yellow eyes he often felt watching in the space between consciousness and unconsciousness. It shouldn't have been much of a surprise, given the Kyuubi had already told him that Orochimaru could use the control tag as an anchor to drag him back from the past. But the snake had never used it to control him, so it seemed relatively benign. So easy to forget with everything else going on.
Orochimaru started laughing, first as a low chuckle, growing into a full-bodied laugh that echoed all around the empty room. The laugh he despised, the one that could have his anger boiling in a matter of seconds.
"I was around them all that time... I put everyone in danger!" Naruto snarled. Why did it always turn out like this? Always?
"You've done a good job of cultivating your anger." Orochimaru gestured toward him. "I hope soon we'll see results that merit so much effort."
He disappeared. Naruto took a step backward, putting his fists up. He knew what was coming a split second before it happened. Orochimaru slammed his hand into the seal he'd placed before, making Naruto give a pained grunt and slump over.
"Hey, what did you do to him?" Obito demanded, taking a swing at Orochimaru, who simply stepped away just as he'd come, landing back on the balcony.
"Worry more about yourself, Obito-kun. This is meant as much for you as it is for me."
"What the hell does that mean? Oi, Naruto, are you okay?" Obito shook his shoulder.
"I'm fine, he just—just took off that seal blocking the Kyuubi's chakra," Naruto wheezed, using Obito's arm to pull himself up. An uncomfortable pins-and-needles feeling was starting in each of his limbs, as if his whole body had to adjust to the circulation of the new chakra.
He'd never realized how much of a constant presence it was before. But the Kyuubi had said—
"Wait—Obito, you have to get away from here!"
"I'm not leaving, are you stupid?" Obito shook him again, this time out of frustration. "You wanted that block to be gone, right? You'll be fine. We should run away while we've got the chance!"
"No, it isn't that... he's about to..." Naruto's voice became gravelly as he leaned over, holding the seal like he had a bad stomachache. He couldn't speak anymore. He wanted to keep telling Obito to run away, but it was getting harder and harder to move his mouth.
"You're right. You deserve a little clarification for all your hard work," Orochimaru said calmly, holding his hand up in a half-ram seal. "Yes, Suna is where everything changed. After I suppressed Kabuto, I wanted to bring you under contract with me as soon as possible. Itachi and Nagato were loose ends, and I couldn't let you slip away because of them. My control tag brought you into contract with me. The rest should be obvious."
Naruto couldn't answer. He was straining to move even the smallest amount.
"No? In Ame, you lost your hold on the world because I sent you home. I wanted to test the contract, and undo the trap Itachi had put on you. I didn't manipulate the ASF into sending you home because I couldn't do it myself. Undoing the jutsu by sealing Nagato stopped being a possibility before you met him. I just wanted him out of the way."
Naruto was still hunched over, clutching the seal that steadily burned. He couldn't stand up, because something heavy was holding him down. It was power, energy—it smoldered and stung, but it also felt good. It was an answer for the hopelessness that tried to gnaw at him.
Naruto. He's choosing to tell you this now for a reason. He expects you to react emotionally. Get a hold of yourself! the Kyuubi growled.
"I released the jutsu when Nagato was sealed, so they would believe they'd successfully sent you home. I needed to undo it again anyway, to summon you back using this new body. Let's see... did I leave anything out? Oh, yes. Obviously, the reason you can't move right now is because I am controlling your movements. Can't have you trying to escape just because you can use the Kyuubi again."
Naruto tried to look up at Orochimaru, to move his head, to do anything, but it was no use. He could feel the power coursing through him, but he wasn't directing it. The desire to use the Kyuubi's power faded quickly once this sunk in. The fox was right.
"I won't... do something just because you want me to!" Naruto growled in a low tone with all the effort he could muster, unable to speak any louder. His anger was settling down into a dull roar, no longer all-encompassing.
But the burning feeling throughout his whole body did not stop. Stuck halfway hunched on the ground, Naruto could see the nails on his hands lengthening into sharp claws.
The burning was so intense it made his thoughts go numb.
That was when everything became a white-hot blur.
"Stop whatever it is you're doing! Let Naruto go!" Obito shouted at Orochimaru, positioned defensively beside his new friend with absolutely no idea how to help. But he had to do something.
This was his sensei's son, after all. All the times Minato been there for Obito and the others, teaching them, talking to them—those were all things his son should have had, too, but never got the chance.
It was all because of the Kyuubi, and people like Orochimaru who wanted to use it for their own selfish goals. Obito didn't understand why his older self hadn't been there for Naruto the way Minato was for him, but now was the perfect time to correct it. Or it would be, if only he could figure out how to help Naruto break free from Orochimaru's control.
"Come on. Stand up!" Obito pulled on Naruto's arm. "We can bust through one of those doors, and figure the rest out from—what?" He let go and took a step backward when he realized Naruto's eyes had changed from clear blue to a dark red, with angry-looking slitted pupils.
The whisker marks on his face thickened, and a bubbling aura of energy materialized around his entire body.
Naruto finally climbed to his feet, slowly, turning to face Obito just as a single tail-like formation grew from the aura. He remained slightly hunched, hands low.
"The form is still stable at one tail," Orochimaru said smoothly. "Now, what about two?"
Obito looked up at him and then back at Naruto, eyes widening when he saw a second tail beginning to form. He wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it couldn't be anything good.
Glancing back from Naruto to Orochimaru again, Obito quickly came to a decision about what to do. The only way to stop this was at the source.
Obito dashed to the edge of the room and jumped onto the wall, ran up until he was on level with the balcony, then he pushed off and launched toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't make a single move in defense, and neither did Kimimaro, who was still watching from further back. Instead, as Obito shot toward Orochimaru, he felt something wrap around his leg and throw him hard to the ground.
Intense pain unlike anything he'd ever felt shot through the affected limb, and he gave an agonized cry while trying to roll out of the thing's reach. It was like someone applied a hot iron directly to his skin.
Obito saw a huge, ephemeral claw draw back and rejoin the aura surrounding Naruto, which had grown even bigger, and—did it have three tails now? He looked down and saw that the aura had burned through his pants leg, leaving welts on his skin that were a very dark red, almost black. He spent a couple of seconds trying to think them away, like all of his injuries before, but they remained.
"Interesting. So that's how the Kyuubi's chakra reacts with those cells in its corrosive form," Orochimaru said, leaning over the rail to get a better look. "We need to take extra care that it doesn't damage his own vessel. The fourth tail was when it became damaging to his human body, so perhaps we will keep it below that number until we see whether or not Obito-kun's injuries heal."
"Doesn't the four-tailed cloak cause damage over the entire body? A much larger scale," Kimimaro said. "A small mark on the leg isn't enough to fully test the cells' healing capabilities."
"Very true. Perhaps there should be a bit more."
"What?" Obito gasped as Naruto stalked toward him slowly, crawling on all fours now like a feral beast. His face was pulled into a snarl, showing pointed teeth, and his eyes were unfocused. It was like he didn't recognize Obito at all.
"N-Naruto—" Obito tried scrambling to his feet, but putting weight on the injured leg sent another wave of agonizing pain through it. He cursed loudly and stepped back and sideways out of Naruto's direct line of sight, hopping slightly as he went. He was breathing heavily after the pain and struggle to run.
"Come on, you have to snap out of it! Please!"
Naruto's head turned toward him slowly, and then he gave a loud cry that was halfway between a screech and a roar. The bubbling energy around him formed into a gigantic claw again and shot toward Obito.
He managed to throw himself to the side to avoid it, and the claw went crashing through the wall, creating a hole the width of several doors. Dust and shattered pieces of brick flew everywhere, and Obito put his arms over his head to block the sharp projectiles. It felt like the entire place might come crashing down soon.
Naruto screeched again, a haunting, terrifying sound. The three tails elongated and swung around wildly, and the concrete underneath his feet cracked. Obito squinted through the debris, mouth dry and fear gripping him at the sheer power he could feel from the Nine-Tails' chakra. There was so much noise and destruction that he might be able to get away through the hole in the wall, even with an injured leg, but... he couldn't just run away and abandon Naruto to this cruel treatment.
How far was Orochimaru willing to go for this? Would he let Obito die? Was he really just an expendable extra to him, put here for the sake of this one experiment?
Obito got to his feet again. He would not die. He would save Naruto, and they were both going to make it the hell out of here and back home. But how?
How?
Against his better judgment, Obito ran toward Naruto instead of away, jaw clenched and eyes frantically darting, watching for his next move. The animalistic features made him barely recognizable, but the most disturbing part was how blank Naruto's expression was. Was he even aware of what was happening?
Obito crouched down as one of the tails whipped out and tried to knock his head off. He thought himself lucky to have avoided it. The colors surrounding his friend had grown even more vibrant—the immense power almost hurt to look at. As Obito ducked down, pain shot through him again, causing him to lose his balance and roll over onto his back. Naruto jumped over him and gave another earsplitting wail, raising a clawed hand up high.
Obito flinched at the swift movement, throwing his hands up defensively. It was too late. He closed his eyes... then opened them again, squinting at the figure above him when, after a beat, nothing happened.
The great claw made of chakra hovered right above his chest, sharp points aimed to rip him to shreds at the slightest movement. He locked eyes with Naruto. The claw started to retract, and the corrosive energy roiled and sank back down into Naruto's body.
Obito sat up quickly, staring in disbelief as Naruto's eyes faded back into blue and the claws and teeth grew back to normal. Naruto's eyes closed, and he slumped to the ground in a dead weight.
"Naruto!" Obito pushed himself up and hobbled to him, turning Naruto over. He just looked unconscious. The corrosive energy hadn't put a scratch on him anywhere.
"What did you do?" he demanded of Orochimaru, who was still watching them from above with a self-satisfied smile.
"Ngh..." Naruto stirred slightly. So, he hadn't lost consciousness.
Obito looked back down at him and tried shaking him more awake. "Naruto, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
"Ugh... huh? Obito?" Naruto looked like himself again, no longer blank or frightening. He looked up and around at the destruction of the room, then at Obito. "What happened—w-whoa!" he exclaimed after looking at him, jerking back a bit in surprise. "Obito, your eyes! I thought you said you didn't have the Sharingan!"
"I—what?" Obito yelped. He quickly took off his goggles, but there was nothing reflective he could look into. He tugged his hitai-ate loose and squinted into it, hoping to see something in its polished metal surface. Everything in it just looked like blobs, but... there were red blobs where his eyes were! He was sure of it!
Obito was excited for about five seconds, before he remembered. Kyuubi-cloaked Naruto had turned back into regular Naruto after seeing his eyes.
"You're going to regret this." He turned to glare up at Orochimaru with his new eyes. "You can't keep using us like this! We're not your toys, or your minions! I guess all that was meant to scare me, huh?"
"Not entirely," Orochimaru said. "You're much more useful to me with that Sharingan of yours. Without it, you might as well be ripped apart by the Kyuubi. I'd say we accomplished a lot today."
"He..." Naruto grabbed Obito's arm. "What happened? I remember I couldn't move... and then I..." a terrible expression came over his face and he let go, staring around at the destruction of the room like he couldn't believe the evidence in front of him.
Obito hated to admit it, but he'd appreciate even Kakashi's help right now. The Hatake was a world-class jerk, but he was also good at planning, good at figuring things out in stressful situations.
"Let's just try to make it through that hole in the wall, alright?" Obito hissed quietly to Naruto. "First we have to get away, then we can worry about the other stuff."
There was a sudden loud crash from the vicinity of the damaged wall, and a telltale shriek of lightning jutsu. Obito spun around wildly, eyes widened in disbelief. He already half-expected to see Kakashi wielding his chakra blade, charged with lightning. There was another crash, and more of the brick wall exploded outward.
"K-Kakashi?" Obito wondered out loud, coughing in the dust that was kicked up by this new explosion.
Someone stepped out of the dust—but it wasn't Kakashi.
Obito didn't know who it was, but it was obvious from a glance he was an Uchiha. If his face and hair weren't clue enough, his eyes definitely had the Sharingan, though it was a pattern Obito had never seen before.
"Sasuke!" Naruto coughed. The dust had gotten to him, too. Obito looked at him and then back at the Uchiha. That was Sasuke? The one on Naruto's team? But he didn't look like—wait, that was right. It was the older version of Naruto's teammate.
"You found us," Orochimaru said. "I didn't think Kabuto would slow you down much, but you got here sooner than I expected. Did you fetch Karin first, then?"
"No. Suigetsu has been to this base before. Why weren't you at the place we agreed to meet?"
"My apologies, Sasuke-kun, but you were taking a very long time, and it couldn't wait. I would have explained it to you when you got there, if you hadn't killed the snake-bunshin I left for you."
Obito saw a tall, broad-shouldered man behind Sasuke on one side, and a shifty-looking guy with white hair on the other. He had no idea who these people were, what they were talking about, or what was going on. But neither Sasuke's group nor Orochimaru were paying attention to them right now. This was the perfect chance.
"Hurry," he murmured, pulling on Naruto's arm again. "While they're distracted. Come on!"
Naruto seemed to wake up. He looked at Obito, then glanced at the gaping hole where the wall had once been. "You go ahead and go. I need to talk to Sasuke."
"What? This isn't the time for that!" Obito tugged more insistently as Naruto tried to turn away. "Talk to him some other time, when Orochimaru isn't over there ready to control you, or put that seal back on, or whatever else!"
"Obito, just get out, you don't have to be caught up in—"
"I'm not going to leave you behind! Even if you are a dumbass!"
Their squabbling made Orochimaru's yellow eyes flicker over to them for a second. Obito practically dragged Naruto in the direction of the opening.
"Ugh—" Naruto flinched. He was no longer resisting, but he slowed down, his free hand going to his stomach again. "It... burns."
"Shit!" Obito hissed. This wasn't going to work if Orochimaru took over Naruto again! He had no idea if getting them out of this room would help at all, but it was the only thing he could think of.
"Kimimaro, make sure our little mice don't scurry away. I'll give Sasuke-kun the chat he wants," Orochimaru said. Kimimaro jumped down to the floor gracefully. Cursing under his breath even more, Obito hobbled and pulled Naruto away as quickly as he could. The wall was crumbling—it didn't exactly look safe, but it was the only way out.
He looked back over his shoulder. Kimimaro had paused for some reason. Obito couldn't see or hear what was going on very well, but the tall man beside Sasuke had called out to Kimimaro, interrupting his steps.
That was all Obito needed. He turned back and trudged forward with his mouth set in a grim line. He was worried about Naruto. That aura of corrosive chakra hadn't reappeared yet, but his skin was burning. It prickled uncomfortably at Obito's hands and the back of his neck as he pulled Naruto's arm over his shoulders. That energy was truly like a sentient being all on its own.
They reached the crumbling opening, and someone called at them from in the room. Obito hurried to climb through while dragging Naruto, his grip tightening in panic.
There was a loud crash from overhead. Was someone attacking?
There were more shouts. It was completely dark in the hall.
Would this even work? The barrier outside was still up, right?
Another crack directly above them. This one went on for several seconds before something heavy fell right in their path.
Obito backpedaled as quickly as he could, swearing up a storm. The entire hall was caving in.
Stepping backward, his heel caught on a chunk of debris in the darkness, causing them both to lose their balance and fall. He bumped his elbow painfully, but worst of all was the split-second realization that falling pieces were spilling from above, too many to get away.
"Kimimaro," Juugo said, eyes wide. The shock of seeing him here so suddenly left him completely stunned.
Kimimaro stood from the crouch where he'd landed and paused before turning to Juugo.
"It is good to see you again," he said with a small, but genuine smile. "We can catch up after I take care of this."
"Juugo, focus on Orochimaru," Sasuke said.
The command made Kimimaro frown. "I don't want to fight with any of you, but if you plan to move against Orochimaru-sama, I will have to." He looked from Sasuke to Juugo. Suigetsu edged away from all of them, in case things turned ugly.
"Don't worry about this group," Orochimaru said from above them. "Just bring back the other two. We can resume the test after Kabuto sees to their wounds."
"Understood." Kimimaro gave a nod. He turned from them and started toward the other side of the room, where Obito was climbing through the destroyed wall.
"Are you sure it's alright, Sasuke?" Suigetsu muttered, sidling up beside him. "That was the younger version of your old teammate, right? From what we heard, wasn't he supposed to have been sent back?"
All of them turned as a loud series of crashes shook the entire room. Kimimaro stopped, then rushed forward into the cloud of dust that spilled out from the hole.
"Do we have to have a chat here? This whole place is falling down!" Suigetsu shouted, looking up at the ceiling warily.
All the noise and stress was too much for Juugo. His body started melding into gray. With a wild yell of his own, he started to punch the wall, destroying even more of it.
"Okay, that isn't going to help! Sasuke!" Suigetsu turned to him, sounding annoyed, but also melting a little bit around the edges from all the chaos.
Sasuke could see the collapse had distracted Orochimaru, as well. Judging by the way he leaned over the rail and looked to where Kimimaro had gone, this was not something that had been within the snake's calculations. He almost looked ready to jump down there himself.
"What is it?" Orochimaru called as Kimimaro came out a few minutes after he went in, completely empty-handed.
Kimimaro climbed all the way out and looked up, brows knit in consternation. "We should clear out everything to make completely sure, but... they aren't there. The hallway was blocked ahead, and they weren't under the piece that fell close to the entrance. They disappeared."
Naruto opened his eyes a slit. He was laying on a hard, cool surface, face pressed down by a weight on the back of his head. He remembered drifting in and out for a while, ever since Orochimaru started controlling him. But now, that heavy, oppressive feeling was gone.
Naruto braced his hands against the floor and pushed himself up, moving out from under Obito's arm.
Everything was dead quiet here, but... where was here?
At first he thought they must be locked in a cell again. But as he looked around, he realized this place was far too big for that.
It was so large that he couldn't see the walls or the ceiling. Was it even indoors, or outdoors? All Naruto saw was a bizarre expanse made of white blocks and square columns of varying heights. There was enough light to see everything, but no hint as to where it came from. It just gradually got darker further and further away, until the edges were completely obscured.
"Hey, Obito, wake up." Naruto tried to shake Obito awake, but he just rolled over with the push and didn't move. The young Uchiha's face looked very pale. Was there something wrong with him?
"Hey! Heyyyyy. What happened? Oi!"
That was worrying. Just as soon as Naruto felt in control of himself again, Obito had to go passing out. What if Orochimaru and the others were nearby?
Yet, it didn't seem like they were. No matter how much he listened, he couldn't hear anything. And they had no reason to hide.
Naruto stood up to increase his line of sight, but it didn't really help. Surely if there was anyone else here, they'd stand out against all these white blocks, right?
"Sasuke? ...Anyone?"
Nothing changed, no matter how much he called. There was just silence, and the strange geometric landscape that stretched into infinity.
"Where the hell are we?"