It's Time

He hadn't slept for days. The instant Sasuke had woken up, his body had reacted on fear and instinct, wrapping a partial Susano'o around himself. Before, it'd been impossible to use much of his chakra due to the pain and while it still hurt, his fear made him push through any agony.

The skeletal frame only protected him from his waist on up, or at least it had. With each passing day, he lost the energy needed to sustain it and a rung of the purple, flaming ribs would disappear, slowly exposing him. He could feel his chakra running low; he maybe had another day or two left, if even that. He wasn't sure if he was still up north though wherever he was at, it was very cold. His head and shoulders were warm by his natural fire chakra but his legs had long gone numb.

Every so often his captors would check on him, peaking in through the barred window of the iron door. He could tell their gaze stopped just at his feet, never rising far enough to meet his eyes, using caution in case he activated his Sharingan. Sasuke had certainly thought about it, but with his limited energy, there was a high chance that if he dropped the Susano'o to take a limited chance with the Sharingan, he'd miss. Not only that, but even if he did manage to capture someone within it, he wouldn't have the energy to sustain the genjutsu.

He'd already heard them speaking to each other during those check-ups, eagerly expressing their impatience and their desire for his eyes. Of course they wanted them, he thought ruefully. Everybody wanted the Sharingan. Even those that feared it, secretly wanted it. Lucky of him to have picked the Susano'o to protect himself, which kept them at bay but he knew they were waiting him out. They hadn't fed him in all this time and he didn't even want to look at the far corner of the cell where he'd been forced to do his business like an animal. They figured in time, they'd break him. If he didn't crumble physically, then mentally he'd snap and cave in. Unfortunately for him, time was on their side.

Just then, he heard a key turning. A slip was opened from the other side of the door where a tray emerged. Before the thought had even completed itself, Sasuke lunged himself roughly at the door, but was immediately jerked back by several chains. His back was slammed roughly against the wall, making him see stars for a moment and causing his Susano'o to waver. He panicked when the bones faded for a moment and instantly became still. The fear of losing it caused him to reluctantly slide back to the floor, trembling at the close call.

"Yeah, I wouldn't try that if I were you. The moment that thing is gone, you're dead," he heard a voice laugh on the other side of the door, clearly having heard his attack attempt. He couldn't see a face, but a hand reached through the slip with the tray and gave it a rough shove. The arm retreated and he heard the slip being locked once again, the footsteps receding.

The tray had come to rest beside him and he examined its contents. A slice of bread and less than a quarter bottle of water; just enough to keep him alive a little longer. He wanted to turn his nose up at the food, but his stomach gave a loud growl. He'd never been so hungry or thirsty in his life and swallowed dryly as he eyed the plate. He had a moment where he imagined flinging the food away, but knew that'd be stupid. His pride wasn't going to get him anywhere with this situation. Feeling disgustingly helpless, he picked up the bottle and took a sip.

At just the briefest taste of liquid, he instantly chugged the rest in a swallow. He scarfed down the bread, ensuring he picked up any crumbs that fell and even licked the tray. His stomach growled again, churning hard to digest the food after such a long lapse and he wrapped his arms around his middle in pain.

He would've loved to have slept it off, but he didn't dare. The Susano'o was all he had and in the delirium that sometimes tinged his wakefulness, he'd sometimes call it his friend. A precious guardian, encasing him in its breast to shield him from all evil. Yes, he didn't need anything else, so long as he had this. He'd break out of here by shooting one of the arrows and would spread the massive wings and take to the sky. He'd be free…absolutely free…

He slumped to his side on the stone floor, curling his knees up to try to warm them. Who the hell was he kidding; he was screwed. He didn't have the energy to defend himself even if he did try to conserve his chakra. He could barely think straight and he was so damn tired. There wasn't much sense in prolonging the inevitable, right?

In relief, he closed his eyes, allowing the Susano'o to dissipate.

~.~.~

They'd flown far north using only Sai's birds but after no further sightings of Sasuke had come from the Land of Earth, they'd finally split ways. After Naruto had shared some of his energy with them to keep contact, Yamato and Hinata continued searching the land around Iwagakure while Naruto and Sai decided to continue upwards into the mountains.

The trip had taken five long days with few hours of rest and Naruto could see it was wearing on Sai. "If you want, I'll lead. You've done plenty already," he said kindly. In an instant, he tapped into Kurama's energy, his body covered in the gold chakra. While still riding the drawn bird, he extended out an extra limb, a paw shape that could seat a body.

Sai looked at it and gave one of his cryptic smiles. "I'm never going to get used to that, but I'll accept your generosity." He maneuvered his bird right over the paw before dissolving it, landing safely on the glowing surface.

Slowly, Naruto closed claw-like appendages to seal him within, hoping that it'd let him get some sleep. With Sai no longer at the helm, he jumped from his own bird, which dissolved in a spatter of ink. Not having to worry about three other people allowed him to finally travel the way he wanted and he immediately launched himself into the sky, fighting against the strong winds from the higher altitude.

By nightfall, they'd crossed the border into the Land of Iron. With a literal hop, skip and an extended jump (which was closer to the flying that Yamato had mentioned), he touched down outside the large fortress for the Shinobi Union. Instantly, he heard hundreds of swords being unsheathed with an equal amount of soldiers appearing on the higher tiers. At the very top, archers poised at the ready.

"We knew the instant you crossed over into the Land," a voice boomed, echoing in the open space that surrounded the fortress. "You're a fast one but you shall not get any further. State yourself; who are you?"

Naruto scanned the lines but smiled when he caught sight of the old speaker. Mifune was there amongst those wielding swords, as he figured he would be. "Don't worry, it's just me, Gramps, Naruto Uzumaki," he called up with a laugh. "Oh, and my friend Sai." He unwrapped the yellow paw to reveal Sai, curled on his side sleeping. His body reacted before he'd even fully woken up, shivering at the cold.

"Where are we?" he asked groggily, slowly standing up on the ground. He shivered again as his feet sank into the cold snow.

"We've crossed over to the Land of Iron. The Shinobi Union's here so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask them about Sasuke." As he spoke, he touched Sai and passed along a small amount of his energy, which surrounded him in a vaguely red current. Though Sai still wore his usual attire with the exposed midriff and open-toed shoes, he stopped shivering.

Naruto hadn't spoken very loud, but his voice had carried. Or that could've been due to him having a naturally loud voice. At hearing Sasuke's name, Mifune's face darkened. "It would appear something has happened to Sasuke. He asked to settle here for a few weeks and was staying in a cabin just over that ridge," he pointed to a mountain that honestly looked like every other surrounding mountain peak.

"We went to check his home a few days ago and found the entire thing burnt to the ground. Not in the way of a normal fire, however. There was nothing left of the house, only the scorched earth. We sent word to Tsunade, but we have yet to receive a response. Is that the reason you're here?" The leader asked.

At the mention of the fire, Naruto's blood ran cold. "We were already on the way to find him. He hadn't reported back to Konoha so—" He faltered. They were checking on him because the village was scared he'd done something criminal again. "We got worried about him, so we wanted to make sure he was okay," he said, speaking from his heart.

Mifune nodded, sheathing his sword. "Very well. My men have been scouring the country for him. If either of us finds anything, report back here to share your information."

Naruto gave a wavering smile. "Will do!" With that, he turned in the direction of the ridge that had been pointed out. Without waiting, he immediately gave another leap, propelling far across the quiet snow.

A glance behind him showed that Sai had done the same thing and while he wouldn't be able to keep up perfectly, it was still faster than using the birds right now, considering the winds at a higher altitude might rip them apart. He continued until he'd made it over the mountain, but paused to examine the sight below. To the left was a valley that housed a village, though it looked nothing like what storybooks would show. There were lights on and most homes had smoke rising from chimneys but the area seemed to be sunk into a shadow. Perhaps it was the mountains. It was almost a little depressing and Naruto wondered how anyone lived there for very long.

"Wax nostalgic?" Sai said, tilting his head.

"…I don't know what that means," Naruto mumbled. He scanned the entire area until he caught sight of something. To the far right of the village, a massive splotch of black was spread out. If he could see that much damage from this distance, that meant something had seriously gone wrong. "I think I see where Sasuke was living. Let's go!" He used the mountain's height to do another massive jump, which landed him nearly where he needed to be.

As he approached, the cold feeling from earlier began to intensify. Sai bravely stepped forward, kneeling on the dark ground and sifting some of the dirt in his fingers. "This goes down nearly to the permafrost. The flames must've been pretty powerful."

"Amaterasu," Naruto said, looking at the scene in dismay. "Flames that don't go out unless the wielder commands them to. But why would Sasuke need to use that? He only saves it for strong opponents…"

At hearing that, Sai huffed, running a hand through his hair. "Well then, you know Sasuke better than I do. Until further notice, it might be best to treat this as the scene of an attack. Let's move carefully and look for clues."

They began to circle the charred area where the cabin once stood. There was little chance the black soot held any clues considering Amaterasu burned anything it touched to nothingness but Naruto figured it was worth a shot anyways. However, after they'd sifted through the ground with nothing to show for it but grimy hands and knees, he gave a hopeless sigh. "Damnit, Sasuke…would it have killed you to just use a regular Fireball Jutsu?"

"It very well might have," Sai said but with no laughter in his voice. "Look at this." Several feet away, another area had a burn mark, though this one smaller and not as dark. Sai came forward and knelt down again, feeling the texture. "This doesn't look like the other spot. If I had to take a guess, this seems like it might've been caused by lightening, but I've seen Sasuke's power. He certainly could do something much more damaging than this. Perhaps something stopped him from getting off his attack."

Naruto stared at the star-burst shaped burn mark and felt his heart lurch. "Probably a failed Chidori," he whispered, trying to control himself as he began to shake. "I've seen the damage caused by it plenty of times. This looks like one of his attempts back when he was first learning the technique. Except now, Sasuke has no reason to ever not fully form the Chidori."

"Unless something interrupted him," Sai repeated solemnly. "We need to tell this to Mifune. And we should wait for Yamato and Hinata…" he trailed off as he saw the look on Naruto's face. "Let me guess; you're not waiting, right?"

"I don't want to waste time, it's already been days. I'll go on ahead and you guys can catch up," Naruto said, beginning to grit his teeth.

Sai looked like he wanted to protest but surprisingly, no sharp quips came. "I can appreciate that. Sasuke is someone very special to you now that you've admitted you two are dating. Since you insist, I'll go inform Mifune's army of what we've found and wait for the others to arrive. We'll be able to find you via your chakra signal. And Naruto?" His expression changed to one of genuine concern, without a hint of his usual smile. "Be careful out there. I know you're pretty tough, but it seems whoever did this either took down Sasuke or got a good sneak on him. With only that knowledge, it seems they're very powerful so just…watch your back."

Naruto didn't need to be reminded; it was that very reason that had him on edge. "Yeah, I know. Same to you too."

The two gave an understanding nod and on that signal, each split off to fulfill their mission.

~.~.~

"At last, it is time," Sasuke heard the same mysterious voice from the day of his capture announce. The person hadn't made an appearance since then. "Bring him to the room that's been prepared." The door to his cell opened and heavy footsteps came closer. Between dehydrated delirium and physical exhaustion, he didn't bother with resisting.

At last, this would be it.