…At All Costs

Naruto was all but literally being ripped apart. From his vantage point on the wall, he witnessed the stream of Kurama's energy as it was siphoned away, a river of deep red that could've been mistaken for blood. Takami's cult continued their chanting, invigorated by the now visual progress they were making.

When the pain first began, he did everything he could to hold his voice down, but the aching reached beyond just the body. His mind was also being split as his link with the fox demon became disjointed, a presence that'd always been a part of him now stripped away bit by bit. And so, he screamed. He screamed and prayed that he'd black out to sweet nothingness. However, his human will wouldn't let him. Instinct told him to fight and that going to sleep was even more frightening. He convulsed and sputtered, rolled his eyes back and thrashed, and still fainting eluded him. His sanity would slowly die first and then him.

Takami stopped chanting and as the others paused with him, the pain blessedly ebbed away. "The alarm on my barrier has been set off. Well then, that didn't take Sasuke too long, but I didn't expect it to. You two never fail to find each other and so much so that I'm starting to wonder if you two are actually able to sense one another," he murmured almost to himself.

Naruto said nothing, but fear crept over him. He'd wanted to handle this on his own, especially as Sasuke wasn't fully healed. And...he hadn't forgotten how Sasuke had frozen at seeing Takami. He was still traumatized by what had happened to him; what if he seized in the middle of a fight? A tiny opening like that was all that Takami would need to have Sasuke on the losing end.

"I'll go handle him personally myself," Takami announced, looking at one of the walls of the room as though he could see Sasuke through it. "The rest of you continue with the extraction. I'll be back presently."

He stalked out of the room and Naruto fell from his pinned spot on the wall down to the rough floor. He didn't have much of a respite though as the rest picked up where he left off and the torture continued, now making him roll on the ground as a means to get away. If Sasuke was fighting as a one-man army, he was going to need to hurry...before the damage became irreparable.

~.~.~

Sasuke was not alone; Aoda was still there with him, his massive body drawn up like a viper about to strike. From still atop him, the Uchiha stood, both the Rinnegan and Sharingan activated. Aoda had taken them into a web of catacombs hidden in a mountain directly within the Land of Fire. The fact that Takami would remain so close pissed Sasuke off at his arrogance. This location wasn't in any of the memories on paper; had it not been for Aoda, they would've hit a complete dead end.

Takami appeared from one of the many caves, entering the cavernous space where the two waited. However, around his eyes was a black cloth…adorned with a silver Konoha plate, which was obviously there to protect him against any visual genjutsu. At noticing it, Sasuke channeled his rage into Aoda, who verbalized it with a loud hiss.

Takami paused, putting a hand to the cloth. "Oh, this? I'm sorry, it's all I had available. We're almost finished with Naruto so I don't think he'll need it anymore."

The words weren't said with any malice or humor, but as though stating a simple fact. People lived; people died. The belongings of the dead were no longer of any use to them so there was no harm in taking what once belonged to another. But Naruto's headband didn't once belong to him, it did belong to him as Naruto was still alive and the blatant disrespect made Sasuke launch forward, disregarding any previous strategies.

"Sasuke, wait!" Aoda shouted but Sasuke had already leapt off and was charging. He cloaked himself in the purple flames of his Susano'o, readying not one but three of Indra's Arrows at the same time. Had the situation been different, he would've marveled in how he was performing such a technique when he'd never practiced it before, but he wouldn't concern himself with that now. Still airborne from his initial jump, he allowed his wings to carry him higher before releasing his attack, unconcerned with hitting Takami directly as the widespread damage would be hard to avoid.

Instead of striking down though, the arrows were halted in midair before being flung in various directions, one being tossed in Aoda's direction, who just managed to slither out the way. Another was shot back at Sasuke, the Susano'o protecting him with crossed arms only a breath from impact. The last glanced off the ceiling which caused several massive stalagmites to fall to the ground with the resonance of a bomb. Realizing what he'd done, Sasuke swore under his breath, quickly swooping over to Aoda to lift him up and carry him to an unaffected area of the cavern. He kicked himself inwardly, upset with how easily Takami had gotten the better of his emotions.

Once sat down, the snake summon turned on its master, winding his way around the Susano'o body of energy, which would've hurt a lesser creature. "Calm down and stick to the plan, Sasuke!" he yelled, but the sound that came out wasn't intelligible to anyone else. He communicated with Sasuke using Parseltongue, the language of snakes. "Takami isn't going to let his guard down and his telekinesis makes catching him with any general attack that much more difficult. You're fortunate that move didn't hurt Naruto; his screams haven't changed since we arrived so it seems he was unaffected."

"Screams?" Sasuke latched on to, speaking the word in a human language as his blood started to boil again.

A movement to the left showed Takami hopping on to a newly-formed pile of rock, brushing off his clothes though he was still blindfolded. "We're close to completing our extraction of Kurama, which I know is a terribly painful process. But once it's finished, I'm sure Kurama will be happier not being tied down by yet another human. As for Naruto…we'll build a shrine in his honor. For everything Naruto has done, he deserves nothing less," Takami said gravely, giving a small bow of his head in reverence.

Like Naruto, Sasuke couldn't tell if the man was patronizing him or spoke from some twisted sense of genuine nobility. Ignoring him for the moment, he refocused his attention back on the snake and whispered, "Go find Naruto. I can handle Takami on my own."

"I don't think you can," Aoda instantly countered, unfazed by the intensity of the Sharingan that was thrown his way for the comment. "Naruto can last a little longer, but the success rate goes down to nearly zero if I leave."

And Sasuke knew he was right. There was no way Takami would let either of them leave to find Naruto anyways. He wasn't sure how long "a little longer" was, but time was running out for Naruto and if the plan was going to work, it would have to be now or never. He dissipated the flames of the Susano'o.

It was Aoda who suddenly struck first this time. From his mouth, he spat several projectiles of venom, each releasing acidic fumes as they landed and eroded whatever they touched. This included part of Takami's robe when he failed to step out of the way quickly enough. Aoda didn't let up, calling forth hundreds of other snakes hidden within the caves, most which were also equipped with poison. They surrounded the man, crawling over feet and legs, biting repeatedly at any exposed skin.

At a point where nearly nothing of Takami could be seen amongst the scales, the writhing mound gave a muffled detonation and the snakes fell to the ground. It'd only been a clone, but that was to be expected. During the attack, Sasuke slipped away to find the real Takami. With the clone out of the way, he'd formed his own clone to also locate Naruto. Though there were dozens of passages to choose, he darted down a cave to the right and sent the clone to search the left.

He hoped that he would find Naruto first so that he could also handle up on Takami's lackeys and quickly narrow the playing field but no sooner had the thought crossed his mind that he felt the distinctive vanishing of energy that came when a clone was wiped out. Shit…he didn't have Naruto's chakra reserves to form more clones and each one that was killed was energy that was thrown away. He hadn't expected his clone to be disposed of so quickly but there was no way he could form another and still ensure he had enough energy left to do what needed to be done. He picked up the speed, straining his ears to hear Naruto.

He managed to make it down several levels within the mountain fortress before he came to a passage that caused him to rebound back the instant he tried to go down that way. It was a barrier, similar to what he'd encountered when he'd first entered the cave. It was nothing for him to break through but he'd need a second to concentrate.

He glanced around quickly to ensure he was alone and saw a movement on the edge of his vision behind him, causing him to instantly spin around. The form presented itself as Aoda, whose form entirely filled the passage. "We're close; I can definitely hear Naruto's voice in this direction. Hurry! I'll still stall for time." The snake turned its back to Sasuke, keeping a lookout.

Grateful, Sasuke closed his eyes and concentrated with the Rinnegan, swiftly shifting his hands as he formed the signs needed to break the barrier. However, after doing it the first time, the barrier still remained. Takami had been thorough and had added multiple layers to the jutsu. He shouldn't have expected anything less, but still it gave him a moment of pause. In that moment, he felt the massive form of Aoda suddenly move away from him. He glanced over his shoulder and stifled a gasp as Takami stood on the other side of the snake with an arm out, lifting the form off the ground by a few inches. He could tell that it was taking a toll on him to lift something that massive with his telekinesis. Now was his chance to strike—

"Go to Naruto!" Aoda instantly stopped him. "Don't worry about the plan, Sasuke, just get to Naruto!"

That had initially been Sasuke's desire, but it'd been Aoda who'd convinced him to focus on taking out Takami first .Why was he changing his mind now? But Sasuke looked into the snake's eyes and knew the answer. Aoda had stressed that the success of their plan hinged on him being the decoy and now he was giving Sasuke the ultimate opening.

But it meant leaving Aoda behind.

Rationality had always preceded his emotions and now was no different. His hands shook as he continued to weave signs but when he heard the booming crash of Aoda's body as it was slammed forcefully into a wall, he didn't allow himself to stop. The barrier broke just as he heard a loud crack but he instantly rushed forward down the passage, biting his lip and willing himself to block out the fact that Aoda's spine had just been snapped.

As he ran, he coated his sword with a layer of his chakra. Layered on that, he spread the black flames of Amaterasu, wincing as his Sharingan bled a little from the force it took to create it. He didn't have time to manually manipulate the weather conditions to assist him, instead mixing his own chakra elements from within to form the right balance. He'd only have a minute or two before the flames ate through the chakra and dissolved the sword but with luck, that would be enough time to take out whatever—or whoever—lay ahead.

He reached a large door at the end of the hall just as he started to feel his feet lift from under him. From beyond the wall, he could definitely hear Naruto now, a voice dry and cracked from overuse and exhaustion. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke managed one last push forward and slammed his sword in the space between the door and the doorframe. Wedged there, Sasuke tightly held on as he felt the strength of Takami pulling him backwards with his entire body floating in the air. He pressed the sword's blade tightly against the door but his grip was starting to loosen. Please don't let him let go…please…

And then, just as quickly as he was being pulled, he suddenly slammed face-first into the door, the shift temporarily stunning him. Before he could get his bearings, he was slammed again, though managed to break the impact with his forearm. He glanced behind him and saw that Takami was advancing with his eyes still blindfolded, but his calm expression had finally been worn down to a face that was showing impatience. Good, it was much easier to get a read on him this way. As such, when Takami again forced his body to hit the door, Sasuke shifted his shoulder to take the brunt of the force. This was repeated multiple times and finally with the help of the flames to weaken the structure, he crashed through onto the other side.

His landing placed him in the middle of a room full of people that'd been casting an incantation but fell silent as he hit the floor. There was a bright red streak crossing from one end of the room to the other, but when their voices grew quiet, the stream started to fade. Sasuke still had enough time to follow it though before it fully dissolved and the origin of the energy led him to seeing Naruto's wreaked body. With a mad desperation, he bolted towards him, casting all others back by shielding himself with the Susano'o.

Naruto's face mirrored how his own must have looked after his capture. The normally ocean blue eyes were wide and had become cloudy as their owner's mind was locked elsewhere. The immense agony would've nearly driven him insane and as though to serve as a reminder of Sasuke's previous condition and Naruto's current status, Naruto also showed no awareness of him as he picked him up. He only allowed half a second to assess Naruto's form before barreling through a wall of the mountain, one that thankfully allowed him to tumble back outside.

The sky outside was darkening and Sasuke's lit form was a beacon to all, both good and bad. That didn't matter though as going undercover was pointless; Takami would surely follow them either way. Still, Sasuke wanted to get as close to allied forces as possible before the final showdown so that Naruto would be safe. He spread his wings and flew higher and faster, the roiling purple fitting nicely with the other shifting colors of the darkening sky.

He did take a moment though to glance back at the mountain and to lament that he wasn't able to take Aoda's body with him. For his sacrifice, he deserved better, which made him think of Takami's comment about a shrine.

In Parseltongue, he whispered I owe you everything. Thank you.