"Where… is my son?"

"Minato," Jiraiya replied.

Tsunade and Sakura had cleaned him up a bit. He didn't look as rough as when they first collected him, but it was clear he had been seriously abused. The blood and other substances had been removed from his matted hair, his clothes had been replaced with clean, typical shinobi clothes, and the blood had been cleaned off his face. However, his face was still swollen, and bruises were on almost every inch of his exposed skin. Minato had taken a severe beating.

"Where… is…. Naruto?" Minato repeated before Tsunade pushed him back down. He turned to stare down his sensei, "Jiraiya."

The older shinobi noticed that his student had dropped the 'sensei' from the end of his name.

"He did something stupid," Rasa shook his head, and Minato narrowed his eyes, "we couldn't stop him."

"What?" Minato replied, almost trying to get up again, but wincing in pain.

"Minato!" Tsunade scolded, "I need you to tell me what happened to you, or you won't live long enough to see him."

The Hokage turned towards her, "he gave me platypus venom. Said it would kill me."

Tsunade sighed, "No, that won't kill you. It's painful, and you'll want to die, but it won't kill you."

"Oh god, it is," Minato agreed, cringing at the pain searing through his body.

"It will take a while to wear off, especially if they gave you a lot and there is no antivenom. There isn't even a pain medication I can give you for it," Tsunade shook her head and started preparing a syringe, "The only thing I can do is give you something to sleep through it."

"Wait," Minato stopped her, "Where is Naruto? What did he do?"

Jiraiya and Rasa both looked at each other.

"Jiraiya, tell me. Now." Minato ordered with as strong of a Hokage voice as he could muster.

Jiraiya nodded, "he gave himself up to save you, me, and the Kazekage."

"Oh god, no," Minato's eyes widened, "He's…. Pein?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"We know that he's alright for now; we've already been able to speak with him," Rasa explained, "We've got a plan to get him back before Pein takes the Kyuubi."

"Minato, I promise you that I will bring Naruto back to you," Jiraiya walked over to the blonde, kneeling before him.

"You don't understand," Minato turned away from his sensei and looked up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean? Minato?" Jiraiya asked.

"Pein… He'll know that I lied to him," Minato said.

"About the village?" Shikaku called.

"Yes," Minato whispered, "He will take it out on Naruto. He will torture him, worse than what he did to me."

By the looks of Minato, they couldn't even imagine worse. It was silent in the tent as the other shinobi digested what Minato had said. Tsunade took this moment to give the Hokage a sedative to put him to sleep.

A moment after Minato was out, she spoke, "Jiraiya."

The older shinobi looked at her, meeting her gaze.

"You better get Naruto back, unharmed, or Minato will never forgive you."

Naruto had no idea how long he had been left in this highly uncomfortable position. His hands ached from the rods, and his shoulders were numb from laying on his stomach with his arms in front of him. He could have sworn he'd been there for days, but it could have been minutes or months for all he knew.

Suddenly, the door to the chamber slammed open with a loud bang, and when Naruto looked up, several shinobi, all with orange hair, stood before him.

"Bring him up," Pein ordered. Naruto noticed it was the same one he had been speaking with earlier. Offhandedly, Naruto noted that he must have been the leader.

Two shinobi roughly pulled the rods out of his hands and tossed them to the side. Grabbing under his shoulders, they pulled his limp body up, strapping his wrists back in the cuffs that hung from the ceiling.

I know what's coming.

I'll help as much as I can, Naruto.

Thank you, Kurama.

"I told you before that your father lied to me," Pein said, walking up to Naruto and grabbing his chin.

Naruto resisted the urge to spit in his face. It might have made it worse, and he didn't want to tempt Pein into killing him before his team reached him.

"Because of that lie, I lost several men and bodies," Pein continued, "You will unfortunately bear the punishment of that lie. You will know what true pain is before you die, and you have your father to thank for all this pain you'll have to experience."

"No," Naruto smirked.

"No?" Pein repeated.

"No, I was the one who told him to lie to you. It was my plan," Naruto continued to smirk.

"You?" Pein gave a creepy half-laugh, "Well, then, you have brought this on yourself."

Pein let go of his chin and pulled his hand back. One orange-haired shinobi had ripped his shirt off to expose his abdomen. The next thing Naruto knew, he felt five fingers press hard into his stomach, causing him to cough.

"I need to make sure you really don't have access to the Kyuubi's chakra for this," Pein explained as he pulled his hand back., "I've heard about your unnatural healing abilities due to the Kyuubi. We can't have that."

Naruto.

Did he place another seal?

Ah, I won't be able to help you at all.

It's alright. I'll be okay, Kurama.

"Let's begin," Pein said.

Naruto felt a giant, hard fist collide with his face not a second later. There was blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Another fist slammed into his stomach, causing him to spit out blood.

He then noticed a familiar searing pain in his forearm. Looking over, he saw another black rod had been stabbed through. The process was repeated on his other forearm. Then, both of his calves. A second later, Naruto realized that he couldn't move. The rods were preventing him from moving.

After so much abuse, Naruto was bruised and bleeding several hours later. He had never been in so much pain. It showed him how much the Kyuubi's charka had taken care of his injuries and the pain. He had passed out more than once, but Pein brought him back quickly each time. Pein said he didn't want Naruto to "miss any of the fun."

Naruto was sure he had several broken ribs and had some internal bleeding. He had several black rods around his body- keeping his charka and the Kyuubi's lock away, but it also kept him from moving. He could feel how swollen his face was, and his wrists were so raw that they had gone numb. His throat was so sore from screaming that he knew talking was out of the question for some time.

"I think that is enough for now," Pein said, waving off the others, "Any more, and I might just kill you, but extracting the Kyuubi is more important than my revenge."

Naruto couldn't even look up.

"Now, your father had a seal on his mind that locked away classified information, including the location of the Jinchuurikis," Pein said as Naruto kept his head hanging, "As Hokage, this would make sense, but you? Let's see if you have the same seal."

Two of the shinobi walked over to him. One grabbed a fist full of hair on the back of his head, yanking it back; Naruto let out a weak grunt of pain while the other placed a hand on his forehead.

Pein smiled, "It looks like you do not."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Oh, yes," Pein nodded, "it looks like your plan to escape will no longer work, and don't worry about contacting them. You won't be able to contact them with that extra seal."

The other Pein bodies released Naruto's head, letting it fall back.

The shinobi left the prison, leaving Naruto hanging from the ceiling, bleeding, bruised, and maybe dying.

Finally, Naruto let the black, empty void take hold, temporarily releasing him from the pain.

Shikaku.

Inoichi?

We've got a problem.

What is it?

My connection with Naruto. It's been cut off.

Did he shut it off?

No, I don't think so. He told me the line would be kept open if we needed to adjust the plan. I don't see any reason why he would cut it off.

Hmm. Shikaku thought for a moment. The only thing I can think of is that Pein figured out that Naruto has been able to contact us and Minato.

Yes, most likely.

Pein must have found a way to cut Naruto off, but you are right. This is going to be a problem. Let me gather everyone; we will need to devise another plan.

Naruto.

Kurama…

With this seal, we are going to need another plan.

…

Naruto!

…

Naruto!

I'm sorry. I can't.

Damn it.

Naruto let the void take hold once more.

"So, what do we do now?" Rasa asked.

The small tent was occupied by all the Kages, with Minato still sedated on the cot in the back, as well as Shikaku, Tsunade, Yamato, Jiraiya, Gaara, Bee, and Sakura, attending to Minato.

"I'm still working on it," Shikaku asked, "They will still have to transfer him to the Gedo Statue for extraction. Since they don't have the key to Naruto's seal, and he's strong enough no matter what they do, he won't give it up. At least, that is what I hope."

"We know where they are going," the Raikage stated, "let's just meet them there."

Shikaku nodded, "That's the only option I can think of. Without the connection to Naruto, we won't be able to know when they transfer him or if there will be any opposition."

"What if they beat us there?" Gaara asked.

"That's the biggest problem that I see," Shikaku nodded.

"It might just be a risk that we have to take," Jiraiya stated.

"Well, the other solution is to ask a Byakugan user to come with us," Shikaku thought out loud, "Once we arrive at the sealing location, we can see if Naruto or Pein is in or around the area."

"Do we know where the sealing location is?" Mei asked.

"Raikage-sama," Shikaku turned to the muscular man.

"Ah, I know where it is," A nodded, "We found it after they took the two tails, although we were too late by then."

"So, we head there now, with a Byakugan user," Rasa nodded, "If they get there before us, then we will know and get to Naruto before the sealing is complete; if not, we will wait until they arrive."

"Yes," Shikaku nodded, "that's the plan."

Inoichi.

Hai?

Please get in touch with Gai and have his team meet us at this location.

Will do.

"Gaara," Rasa called as the meeting wrapped up and the shinobi were heading out.

"Otousama?" Gaara turned back, facing his father.

"You are staying here," Rasa said as a few other shinobi turned back, almost eavesdropping on the conversation.

"What?" Gaara responded.

"We are heading to the location where the tailed beasts are extracted," Rasa explained, "We don't know if they know you are a Jinchuuriki, but if they do, you will be in danger. If they don't, they may find out if you accompany us on this mission."

Gaara didn't respond but just looked at his father.

"Gaara, please understand," Rasa continued.

Again, Gaara didn't respond but looked away from his father.

"Son, you saw how devastated Minato was when he found out that Naruto had been taken," Rasa turned toward the older blonde who was still sedated on the cot, "If you…. If you were taken too…"

"I understand, father," Gaara nodded, cutting him off.

"Bee," A said, "You, too, are staying."

"Eh?" Bee turned toward his brother.

"I'm not arguing about it, Bee," A said, walking past him out of the tent.

Rasa approached his son and touched his shoulder, "Plus, I am sure Naruto would appreciate you looking after his father until he returns."

"Yes, Father," Gaara nodded, then returned farther into the tent.

"I'll see you when I return," Rasa waved.

"Good luck, tou-san," Gaara gave his father a rare look that had almost a hit of a smile.

"Inoichi, please tell the Kazekage and the rest that we have arrived at the sealing location," Gai radioed through his headset.

Yes.

Gai turned to his student, "Neji!"

"Hai!" Neji nodded, "Byakugan!"

"What does it look like in there, Neji?" Tenten asked.

A moment later, Neji responded, "he's here."