Chapter Six

"Please, Lady Tsunade." Sakura begs. There were panicked tears in her eyes as she leaned over her mentor's desk. "Please, let me be a part of the team that goes to find him!" She's already asked and had been rejected but she kept asking. She needed to be there to see if he was still alive. Waiting around for a report would kill her. She was sure of it. Already, the green-eyed girl's heart was pumping so fast and hard she was sure she would pass out if it didn't slow down. "Please, let me go!"

Once again, Tsunade sighs and refuses to answer her. She'd said 'no' once and she wasn't going to keep saying it. I swear, sometimes she's such a child. The blonde woman turns her chair toward the large window behind her desk, trying to ignore her student's pleads. Naruto, you'd better pull through this...

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura cries out in frusteration.

"Shut up, Sakura!"

The rosette flinches away, involuntarily. Tsunade had been so quiet, she honestly hadn't seen that coming. The yell had just come from nowhere. But now, the two women were standing on opposite sides of her desk, glaring into eachother's eyes. And after her original recoil, Sakura doesn't give an inch.

"I need to go." She says.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's dangerous."

"I don't care! I need to know he's okay!"

"I know you're worried but-"

"No buts!" Sakura suddenly barks. "Naruto is my teammate and my best friend! I don't understand why you would send some random shinobi after my Naruto before you'd send me!"

"They aren't 'random shinobi'." The Hokage protests. "They are highly trained members of the ANBU! Specializing in search and rescue!"

"Why can't you send me with them?!" Sakura demands, her tears were rolling freely now. And she didn't care, she was too focused on the fight to wipe them away.

"Because," Her teacher's voice was suddenly much softer. "We have no clue where he is. These ninja are experts when it comes to tracking people, using only the faintest trace of chakra. You'd get left behind almost immediately." Tsunade explains. "They were taught differently than you. If you couldn't follow the same trail they could, they wouldn't think twice about abandoning you. It's better that you stay here and let them do their jobs."

"But..." Sakura lowers her gaze. She knew Tsunade was right. "What if they don't find him in time?" She asks, finally wiping some of the tears from her eyes. "What if he..." She couldn't finish the sentence, her voice failed her.

"All we can do is hope for the best." Tsunade tells her. "And hope Naruto is strong enough to stay alive until they get there."

-xXx-

"W-wha...?" Naruto's vision was blurry when he opened his eyes. "Ahh..." He turns his head away from the blinding light above him. His eyes go in and out of focus as he turns, trying to look around but finding himself oddly stiff. "Where...am I?" He wounders.

"What, you don't recognize this place?"

The deep, menacing voice sent Naruto's body going rigid. "Madara!" He hisses as his memory snaps back into place. "Let me go!" He shouts, furiously. Only then does he notice the tight binds around his wrists and ankles. I'm tied down! His heart was pumping quickly at the knowledge that he was completely helpless at the moment. Drained of almost all his chakra and bound to a table, Naruto felt like a caged animal. He could almost picture that dumb fox laughing at the irony of it. Well we'll see how long you're laughing once you're trapped inside that creepy statue!

"Sorry, I can't just release you. Especially after all the work I went through to get you here. It wouldn't make much sense to just let you go..." He shrugs.

"Tsk!" Naruto pulls with all his might against the binds but they don't even budge. Man, I can barely feel my chakra at all... Somewhere in the back of his head, the fox was urging him to use his power. But Naruto was already accustomed to telling the kyuubi to shut it and pushes the half-tempting idea away. I'll do this on my own! "Logical?" Naruto laughs. "You realize, by kidnapping me, you're gonna end up bringing the whole Leaf Village down on your head, don't you?!"

"Hm? You're getting quite full of yourself in your old age, aren't you?" Madara shakes his head. "There's no reason to worry, Naruto. They won't find us here."

It's like he's trying to reassure me...funny. Naruto rolls his eyes. "And what do you mean? This is the same place as where Gaara..." Died. He can't bring himself to finish the sentence out loud. Would he end up the same way?

"Yes, it is. But think about it." Madara shrugs. "Why should they come after you?"

"What?" Naruto voice sounded weak and scared, even to himself.

And the sound of fear in Naruto's voice brought much pleasure to the Uchiha towering over him. It sounded like victory almost as much as his screams surely would... "You're the Nine-tailed Jinchuuriki." He says, as if it were an obvious explination. "The demon sealed within you killed hundreds of people from your village. Their beloved Hokage being one of them. Do you think, just because you defeated Pain, they love you now?"

Naruto's teeth grind together. He's just trying to get to me. It's not true.

"After all, it's your fault Pain came there in the first place." Madara smirks when the blonde flinches at that. "No...they won't come for you. Your death will be a relief."

"NO!" Naruto barks, his eyes were squeezed shut as he tried, desperately, to keep the fox contained. He was furious and terrified and that made the demon active. It was pushing, hard, against the seal. A little too hard for someone with almost no chakra left. "It's not...true..." He shakes his head.

Madara sighs. "But, I guess we'd better stop wasting our time."

Naruto freezes. What did that mean?

"You see, your little village has become quite the nuisance. Many of my members have died and even more of them are...unavailable at the moment. So I am going to preform the ritual myself."

When Naruto's eyes open, they are colored a deep, blood-red. "What? I thought that was impossible..." He squeaks, silently hating himself for sounding so pathetic in front of his worst enemy.

"Heh," The Akatsuki member draws closer. "Not impossible," He purrs. "Just a little longer for me...and bit more painful for you."