Chapter Text
A hand on his shoulder shook him awake. Naruto grumbled and turned over. "No. Wanna sleep." The hand on his shoulder grew more insistent, closing almost painfully around him.
Naruto groggily sat up, glaring sleepily at the figure looming over him. "What?" he demanded, still hazy with sleep.
Ringed eyes narrowed threateningly, thrumming with suppressed power and Naruto was instantly wide awake, his mind screaming 'Danger' over and over again.
Uncomfortable silence filled the room as the man spent several long seconds simply staring at him with his unnerving, emotionless gaze and the child unconsciously edged away.
He did not like having the missing-nin's full attention on him. His presence was just too strong, too overwhelming and Naruto was suddenly reminded of the massive destruction left on the battlefield. The man had come out unscathed while Naruto had not even seen a trace of whoever had been fighting him. That was when he realized that he had just snarked at someone who had probably effortlessly obliterated a much stronger opponent.
Naruto clenched the blanket and averted his gaze. Just why was he so weak?
He could feel the stare on him a few moments longer, before the man finally broke the silence with a curt order. "We are leaving in ten minutes. Get ready."
Naruto ran towards the bathroom.
They left the inn barely eight minutes later. Naruto was chewing on a loaf of bread as they walked through the overcrowded street, disguised as brothers yet again.
The village's entrance was nearing, and Naruto suddenly felt his heart drop. He did not want to get dragged to some strange place. He wanted to go home.
Something of his reluctance must have shown on his face because he suddenly felt a heavy hand on his right shoulder. "Don't even think about it," the man whispered quietly and there was something so dangerous in his tone that Naruto felt a shiver running down his spine. He nodded mutely. He would not challenge his companion? - guard? captor? so soon again.
They passed a pair of old women who smiled brightly at them.
"You have an adorable brother, young man," one of them remarked, looking fondly at Naruto.
"Thank you, madam," Pain answered politely, moving his hand from Naruto's shoulder to ruffle his hair. "He is a very obedient child."
"Good, good," the second woman replied. "It's nice to see a pair of brothers being so close to each other. I hope you take good care of him, young man."
"Of course," Pain assured her calmly and rested his hand on top of the child's head. "Always. But I am afraid that we have to go now. Our parents are waiting for us."
"Then you should not let them wait," the first woman agreed immediately. "It was nice meeting you, boys."
"Likewise," Pain answered and slightly inclined his head.
"Such a good pair of brothers," the second woman told the first as they continued their walk. "Their parents must be very proud."
"Indeed."
The missing-nin led him past the village gates and stopped once they were out of sight, dispelling the henge and bending down to pick Naruto up again.
The child took a step back. "Wait…".
"What is it?" the man asked dispassionately.
"I…ehm…could you…carry me some other way?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "It really hurts when you jump around…please?"
The missing-nin answered by grabbing him by his shirt and throwing him over both of his shoulders. "Remember that you asked for it."
He took off.
Naruto was miserable. The rain kept hitting him with an almost punishing intensity and the ride was even bumpier than before. Every time the man's steps became the slightest bit uneven, he was jostled rather harshly.
His entire body hurt, and he really just wanted to be let down.
Naruto whimpered slightly as a particular high jump resulted into an especially painful jolt.
The man's gaze flickered shortly in his direction, emotionless and uncaring and the grip around Naruto tightened, pressing him further against the man's back.
"I have some business to take care of," the missing-nin informed him calmly. "We will be making a stop soon."
The man had not lied. It was not long after that they reached a small cave, hidden behind a waterfall. A campfire had already been set up. Naruto distantly wondered who had ignited it but was quickly distracted when he finally felt solid ground under his feet again. He almost cried in relief. He was not sure how much longer he could have endured being carried around.
The missing-nin dropped a bag on the cave floor and turned towards the child. His eyes flashed and Naruto suddenly found himself pinned to the wall by a powerful force.
Emotionless eyes watched impassively as he struggled to free himself, but the pressure was just too strong, too overwhelming. He could barely breathe.
"This is only a very small fraction of my power," the man told him with zero infliction in his voice. The calm, indifferent tone was unnerving, and Naruto shivered at the sheer lack of emotion in it.
"You will stay here. You will not attempt to escape. If you do, I will let you experience the full force of my true power. Do you understand me, child?"
Naruto swallowed and nodded rapidly, unable to speak.
"Good." Suddenly the intense pressure was gone, and Naruto slumped to the ground, staring wide-eyed at the man in front of him. Just how could he be so strong?
And why were there suddenly two of him?
"I will leave a clone with you while I am gone. It should be a sufficient deterrent for any…temptations."
One of the men turned to leave. "There is food in the bag should you get hungry."
Then he was gone.
Naruto stood up and looked warily at the clone. The copy glanced at him and moved to sit next to the fire. "Strip down," he ordered curtly. "Your clothes need to dry."
Hesitantly the young boy obeyed and spread his wet clothes on the floor, before curling up next to the fire. The clone's eyes met his over the yellow flames and Naruto suddenly felt very tired.
He yawned loudly and slowly succumbed to sleep.
He was floating nowhere, distant voices ringing in his ears like faded memories. Sounds of dripping water echoed in the background, loud and foreboding. The nothing below him rippled. Shadows danced over the surface, distorted pictures of a time long passed.
"Indra, you have to calm down."
"Don't tell me what to do! I am father's heir, not you!"
"I know that…I didn't want to take it from you. Please, we can talk about it."
"Talk about it up? We have nothing left to talk about."
"Indra…"
"We are going to end this! Here and now."
"Brother…"
The nothing around him twisted, the images shattered under the force of an unseen power.
"Madara…"
"Don't try to convince me, Hashirama."
"But our dream. You can't have forgotten it!"
"Our dream? What dream? Peace? What a joke."
"Madara! How can you-"
"Because it's the truth. Face it, Hashirama, peace is nothing but an illusion."
"You…"
"I have nothing left to say to you. Goodbye, Shodai Hokage."
Naruto groggily opened his eyes and looked around. Where was he? Why was it so dark everywhere? He tried to sit up, but he could not move. Apprehensively, he looked down and his eyes widened as he saw the vines tightly wrapped around him.
What? How?
"He is awake," a voice suddenly whispered next to him. "Yes," a darker one agreed.
Naruto's head whipped into the direction of the voice and stared open-mouthed at the strange creature in front of him. It was a mixture of black and white and there was a strange plant-like thing covering its head.
"What are you?" he blurted out unthinkingly.
"That is not a nice question," the white side chided softly. "He is a rude child. We should punish him," the black part added. The yellow eye fixed on him. "We are Zetsu."
"Zetsu?" Naruto repeated lamely. Was he still dreaming? He was dreaming, right? Because this was way too strange to be true.
The strange being approached him. "You carry it," the dark side hissed angrily. 'The pendant," the white side clarified.
The pendant? Did it mean the thing he had found in the cabin? He glanced at the symbol dangling down his neck.
Zetsu followed his gaze. "Open it," he demanded.
Naruto shook his head. He had no idea why this Zetsu wanted him to open the storage, but he had no intention to do it.
The vines around him tightened painfully. "Open it," the darker side ordered. "Now."
"No."
A hand grabbed his head and slammed it against the stone behind him. "Open. It."
"No," Naruto ground out, head throbbing in pain.
The vines closed so tightly he could barely breathe.
"Don't you want to go home?" the white side suddenly asked.
Naruto froze. Home. Of course, he wanted to go home. He wanted nothing more than that. The longing must have shown on his face, because Zetsu suddenly leaned in and the black side whispered. "I can take you home."
A hand grabbed his chin and yellow bore into blue. "I can take you back to Konoha. You could be home tomorrow, little leaf."
Naruto swallowed. Home. He wanted to go home.
"Or you could stay here," the white side pointed out helpfully. "Afraid. Alone. In pain," the dark side added.
Naruto opened his mouth to reply, he did not know what, when Zetsu suddenly hissed in annoyance "I will be back little leaf." And melted into the ground.
Naruto blanched as realization hit him.
That was the strange figure Ashura had written about!
He needed to get out of here. Now.
Naruto shifted and rubbed his arms against the sharp rock behind him.
Without the man's control, the vines snapped easily.
Naruto jumped up and ran.
He did not know for how long he had run, but when he suddenly collapsed from exhaustion, the sun was already high up the sky.
Tired, thirsty, and hungry Naruto crawled into an evergreen thicket to escape the thundering rain.
Where was he?
Who was this Zetsu?
What had happened to the clone?
If the man found out that he had left, he was as good as dead.
Naruto shuddered.
He had to get as far away as possible.
But where to?
He had nothing.
Nothing besides the briefs he was currently wearing.
Angrily he snatched one of the twigs on the ground and tossed it at the rainy sky. "Stupid rain!"
As if in retaliation, the rain intensified.
Naruto groaned.
He had to stand up.
Had to go on.
Or he would die here.
Clenching his teeth in determination, the young child left his shelter and soldiered on.
It was cold.
So cold.
Naruto shivered as his bare feet trudged through the wet and muddy ground.
He desperately wanted a warm a bed.
Clothes.
Food.
Anything but this never-ending rain.
He hugged his arms around him in a desperate attempt to warm himself, but his arms were so cold it hardly made a difference.
Naruto was just so incredibly tired. His vision swam and he collapsed onto the grimy path, his throat raw with thirst and his stomach growling with hunger.
Was he going to die here?
He did not want to.
He wanted to go home.
He needed to.
Suddenly a warm feeling emitted from his chest and Naruto looked down. The pendant was glowing and the skin it was touching started to tingle pleasantly.
The strange feeling quickly spread through his entire body and Naruto could feel a warm presence settling around him like a protective blanket, sheltering him from the cold and rain.
It felt so familiar and yet so different.
Smiling softly Naruto succumbed to the darkness.
Pain was furious. The child was gone. He had been on his way back when he had felt his clone dispel. Moving as quickly as possible he had returned to the cave only to find it completely empty.
Well, almost empty.
The child's clothes were still spread out next to the fire.
It was very unlikely that the boy had left without them. Whatever had happened here, he was sure that the child's disappearance had not been a voluntary decision. Besides that, the boy would never have managed to knock him out. Clone or not.
That left only one conclusion.
The child had been taken.
By whom?
The ones who had abandoned him in the cave? But that did not make any sense. Why should they have left him there, risking his death if they wanted to have him back?
Well, it did not matter now. The child needed to be found.
He had no time to waste.
Pain opened his mental connection. 'Chikushõdõ.'
'Yes, Tendõ?'the Animal path asked.
'Are you still close?'
'Yes,' Chikushõdõ affirmed, 'What happened?'
Pain shared his impressions over their mental link.
'I will send out the animals. We will find the child.'
'Good,' Tendõ answered and looked towards the sky.
It was a pity that they were not closer to Ame or he could have used his rain.
But it did not matter anyway.
Uzumaki Naruto would be found.
Pain had an entire organization of S-class ninja at his disposal after all – and if necessary, a whole village as well.
Akatsuki would always get what was theirs.
