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Sasuke ran through endless tunnels, each one exactly like the previous.
He didn't know where he was. He had woken up in a grey room, devoid of windows and gadgets, all alone, with no memory of how he had gotten there. Now, this wouldn't have worried him too much, he was a superhero after all. It wasn't the first time someone had kidnapped him, and he escaped easy, too. But.
But, but, BUT!
There was a new player in the game. Someone, someone much more dangerous has showed up, and compared to this newcomer his old 'arch-nemesis' seemed like child's play. So he was worried for his comrades fellow heroes.
He checked his watch again. Still no connection. He was hoping to reach his associates via the watch they were all given alongside their suits. Simple things, really.
A body-tight, long-sleeved shirt with some loose pants and sandals, plus the optional vest and jacket. The colours were chosen personally. (You can guess who took advantage of that.)
The only distinct part about their suits where the helmets -The kind you'd wear on a motorbike. - The front was all one-way glass with their respective symbols on front- The Uchiha fan, for example-, and there were illustrations drawn on the side, simply for design purposes. Sasuke had lightning bolts running sideways, and he thought it looked fairly badass.
But, back to reality.
The raven turned a corner, and all of a sudden, the dull hallways were no more. Sasuke found himself in a enormous room, the walls lined with machines and- were those human-sized scrolls...?
Sasuke mentally shrugged and focused on the opposite side, where computers, screens, work benches and a single swivel chair could be seen. No person in sight.
As he walked closer, he studied the blueprints thrown around, littering the floor, the tables, everything. They didn't make any sense to him, but they seemed to be awfully detailed.
Ultimately, his eyes were drawn to one of the screens, which happened to be playing the news. He stopped in his tracks when he processed what he saw.
The villain he had been wary of, the one that had injured many strong fighters in a time too short, was reported dead. Killed. Assassinated.
Annihilated.
The photo was censored, but it was obvious her death wasn't an easy one. Most of the street was blurred out, and Sasuke didn't want to think about why that might be.
"Oh, already up? You always manage to surprise me, ya know."
Turning around, Sasuke was eye-to-eye with his arch-nemesis. The man -unnaturally red hair, eyes of the same colour with slit pupils, whisker marks on his cheeks and all- was more strange than menacing.
Even with all the... questionable weapons he carried around.
"Should have known it'd be you." Sasuke grunted. "Although, I have to say I'm impressed. It's very rare that a villain is a big enough idiot to bring a hero straight to their lair." The villain scoffed and waved in Sasuke's direction before walking over to one of the scrolls propped up on the wall.
Sasuke tensed, getting ready for whatever his crazy opponent was setting up.
However, instead of throwing a bunch of toxic fishcakes that would make him vomit frogs, the villain simply pressed a button on his right glove and fell into the chair that raced to catch him.
And yes, he had pulled that move with the fishcakes before. It was damn inconvenient.
Sasuke's eyebrows creased as he watched the other. "No comeback? No clever trick that would make crows come for my eyes until you get bored of watching me suffer?"
At that, the villain smirked. "Ah yes, that was hilarious." He clapped his hands together and his eyes lit up. "Actually, I just had a great idea- give me a minute and I'm sure I'll be able to cook it up for you. You know what? Nevermind, I'll just sprinkle you with those violent little ladybugs I made the other day-"
"Kyuubi! I don't care what you come up with, just fight me and let me be on my way!"
Kyuubi look a little saddened at that but shrugged and stood up. Sasuke couldn't understand how someone could be so nonchalant when facing one of the best heroes of their era.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm just a little tired, ya know? That, and I don't get to talk to anyone about my genius inventions when I'm playing civilian- and I do that quite often, otherwise how would I finance all of this?!" He spread his arms, indicating his works and properties.
Sasuke frowned. "You're a villain, don't you just- steal?" He was genuinely confused.
Kyuubi dramatically raised his hand to his heart. "Steal? ME?! Never! I'll let you know I even pay taxes! How's that little hero? The big bad villain isn't all that morally corrupted, however are you going to process this?"
Sasuke scoffed and decided that he had enough of Kyuubi for the day, attacking without hesitation.
[...]
"There you are, dumbass!" Naruto crowed, running up to his best friend with a smile on his face. "I was almost scared when you weren't here yesterday, believe it! Where were you?"
"Tone it down, moron." Sasuke nudged the blond. "And I had a last-minute emergency. The fish tank broke and I had to fix it somehow. I swear I'm giving it back to Itachi as soon as I get the chance."
Naruto burst into laughter and punched Sasuke's shoulder. "Just your luck! Oh well, you didn't miss much, but-"
Naruto paused and grimaced. "I just remembered. Did ya see the news?"
Sasuke raised a brow. "The one about the homicide?"
Naruto clicked his fingers. "That one. Nasty thing, ya know?"
Sasuke nodded. "I wonder who did it."
This is when Sakura materialised beside them. "You don't know? It's pretty obvious to me."
Sasuke ignored the blond's indignant outcry of surprise and focused on the girl. "So?" He asked.
Sakura sighed. She would have rather discussed this only between fellow heroes. "It must have been Kyuubi. Don't look at me like that, I know it sounds idiotic! Hear me out.
"There was none of the overly flashy stuff- something that's literally the insignia of Kyuubi- but, here come the gross part; according to witnesses, the victim was taken apart from the inside! The body parts- scattered! All because of little robots. I think someone said they looked like ladybugs..."
Yeah, it was Kyuubi alright. But, "Why?"
Sakura crossed her arms. "I'm still trying to figure that out." Her phone dinged and she fished it out of her pocket.
"The bell's going to ring any minute now and I have PE." She pouted. "Well, see you later!"
Sasuke waved half-heartedly and Naruto gave her an enthusiastic hug before they parted ways. After that Sasuke let himself be led by Naruto as they moved through -familiar- hallways to their first class, his mind working on solving an illogical problem.
[...]
Naruto groaned as he fell into his bed, closing his eyes. He barely had any sleep the last few nights, too busy inventing.
Blinking, he looked at the poster above his desk, the one with all the heroes grouped up.
He knew their identities, of course. How could he not? He literally spent the better part of his days with them.
And yet.
And yet they couldn't even guess who he was.
That was for the better, he knew. He did become The Kyuubi to protect them.