Hey guys! Long time no see. I'm sorry this has taken so long. Life has been extrememly busy for me and I just haven't had the inspiration or energy to write anything. It finally took a sick day for me to sit and write it. Thanks to ContrastingDeath and PeanutAngel whose emails finally got me to sit down and write something. Check out some of their fics.

Also, there will be mistakes. I don't have the attention span to check it right now nor will I for another week or so. I figured a messy chapter is better than no chapter right? Anyway, sorry! Tell me what you think. I hope you enjoy.

I have no claims on Naruto.

Chapter 11:

Forsaken

Kushina could see everything at once.

The large barred gate slowly swinging open as if to prolong the suspense, groaning with disuse but opening all the same.

Yamamoto smirking at her, excitement sparkling in his beady eyes. The remote was still held in his hand.

The mutated mixes of humans and animals shrieked and pounded on the bars of their cages, red eyes glued tot he two humans.

And finally, the mutated form of Hideki, growling at her and getting ready to pounce, bloodlust glowing in his eyes.

"I know how much Master Jun wanted to keep you girly, but I'm afraid you've seen too much to live now. We can't have you leaking our nasty little secrets now could we?" Kushina sent a quick glare at the man, but didn't take her attention off the beast in front of her.

Hideki crouched on all fours, tail swinging with eagerness. A sadistic grin pulled at his crooked lips, revealing sharp teeth that hadn't been there when he was a man. The redhead quickly weighed her choices. Try and get past the mad scientist behind her who was more than eager to use her as an experiment or try and fight the deformed monster that had once been a companion. A bead of sweat trailed down her temple. Neither option held much hope as it were.

Taking a deep breath, she stared into the red eyes of the creature in front of her, trying to find some semblance of the strict man she had once known. "Hideki. Snap out of it. You're better than this. You don't have to listen to him." A deep chuckle made her stop.

"You misunderstood me girly. When I said he retain a bit of himself, I meant he wasn't completely an animal. He can think and plan, but he doesn't remember anything about his life before he became the beautiful creature he is today. He is the closest to our goal that we have gotten. He is the perfect weapon. All the others just killed everything in their path. You should be proud of your friend girly."

"Bastard!" Her angry cry was accented by a roar that made all the other experiments stop their yelling. Hideki finally leapt, his muscles corded. The kunoichi felt her body freeze as the giant from of the beast come at her. Fangs flashed in the poor light.

Kushina grunted as a furry leg paw pushed her aside, claws leaving shallow cuts on her arms and side. Her back snapped as it hit the metal cages. Her breath escaped through her lips and she slumped to the floor, winded. Hands and claws made a grab for her and tried to tug her closer to the owner. Shaking her head, she tore herself from the groping hands and looked at the giant beast.

Hideki barreled past her.

Yamamoto gave a short cry of surprise before the experiment was on top of him. Long claws swung through the air and tore into the wrinkled flesh of the scientist. He chocked in pain as the paw finished its blow, tearing the man in half. The two pieces of Yamamoto hit the wall with a sickening slap and the creatures yelped in pleasure as the mutilated body fell into the cages. Kushina felt her stomach turn as ripping and snapping sounds came from the blood- drenched cages.

Hideki growled and turned in the small space to face her, fangs beared in a growl. Yamamoto had been right. He was the perfect weapon, able to think and plan his attack so that his kill would be the best. He had gotten rid of the person who was closest to the door and knew the area first, leaving the hurt and lost person for last.

Pushing herself to her feet, she glared levelly at the creature. She knew that without any weapon, the odds of her surviving were low, but she wasn't going to be knocked off as easily as Yamamoto had just been. Gathering her chakra, she let her finger slip through the memorized signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." The usual enthusiasm she had when preforming one of her favorite jutsus was missing. A sudden emptiness had befallen her and she couldn't find the will to fight, because to fight would mean kill one of her companions or be killed, and she wasn't about to die.

"I'm sorry Hideki, but I'm not about to loose." Her voice was echoed by the clones, all with the same serious expression on their faces. The beast's expression didn't change as it crouched to attack. The five Kushinas did the same.

With a roar that made her ears ring, Hideki launched himself at her.

Without a weapon, Kushina had nothing to fend off the monster's attack. Throwing herself to the ground and rolling, she saw the large form of the beast soar over her head. There were two soft pops as two clones didn't move in time to survive. The other two had followed their creator and watched as Hideki slide across the ground as he landed and twisted to face her. Cursing herself for not being able to find another way, the redhead turned and bolted, kicking the door open. It may be cowardly to run, but dying here wasn't going to help anyone, especially herself.

Landing in a crouch as the door swung open and slammed against the stone walls, she pushed off and began her flight through the maze-like halls. She could hear a set of footsteps behind and peaked over her shoulder at one of her two remaining clones. She hadn't heard or felt it disappear so it must have gone the other way to distract the creature fro as long as it could. There was another roar that resounded off the walls and echoed down the hall. Kushina gasped as the memories of the clone rushed back to her. Fear clenched her heart as the feeling of her body being torn apart made her skin tingle. Her clones deaths had never really bothered her, but the sight of Hideki's deformed face coming down on her made another batch of adrenaline leak into her system. Her pace quickened.

She needed to get out of here. The halls were too small for her to make any serious effort at fighting the monster and there was no way she was opening another door. The only guarantee was to get out of this labyrinth and into the open air.

Blood trickled down her arm from her neck and shoulder wound. At least the psycho was gone. Having to worry about running into Hideki or Yamamoto would have given her grey hairs. Though, she wouldn't be surprised if she walked away from this whole ordeal without a single strand of red hair.

She passed by an intersection and jumped as another roar made dust and rocks fall from the ceiling. She involuntarily gasped as her last clone disappeared, razor-sharp teeth tearing the head from the torso. Her head pounded and her lungs burned, pleading with her to stop, but she knew very well what would happen if she so much as turned around. The sound of giant paws slamming against the ground warned her of the incoming attack.

Pain shot through her calf and she bit her lip to keep from screaming in pain. Her left leg gave out as the muscles and tendons were torn and shredded. Twisting to land on her back, she felt the skin scrape across the rough ground as she slid away from the next attack. Hands flying before her, she held one out toward Hideki. "Water Needle Jutsu!" The water in the heavy air congealed and sharpened into a wall of needles. They shot forward and imbedded themselves in the creature's touch skin. It roared in pain and thrashed in an attempt to dislodge them.

Using the precious few seconds, Kushina jumped to her feet and forced her leg to support her, hobbling down the hallway. The sound of the beast banging in the wall was accompanied by another shower of dust and rocks. Turning the next corner, the redhead didn't know whether to sign in relief or cry in frustration.

She had finally found the stairs leading up to the mansion, but the hundreds of stairs seemed to stretch into the horizon. Her leg throbbed just looking at it. The tunnel was tighter than the hallways and the doorways would stop the beast from getting her easily. A snarl behind her gave her the needed incentive to start the climb. She bit down a cry of pain as her feet pounded up the steps. There was a crack as the deformed form of Hideki threw itself against the small doorframe preventing it from following her up the stairs. The kunoichi was knocked to her feet and chanced a glance over her shoulder.

Hideki's face stared angrily up at her. The beast paced outside the stairway, trying to find a way to follow its prey. A feral gin crossed his face as he bent down and bit into the doorframe. There was a horrible screech as the frame was torn off the wall and the opening was widened. Crouching, the creature crawled into the small space, eyes glowing with bloodlust.

Cursing in every way she knew, she pushed herself to her feet and began her climb up the stairs. She needed to get to the top before Hideki got too close to give her time to run. Once the monster reached the top, there was no way she would be able to outrun it with her leg barely working as it was.

A light filled the tunnel as she neared the top and she felt tears form in her eyes. She would finally get out of this place and find Minato and Ryou! Her feet hit the glossy floor and she skidded across the smooth surface. Scuffling could be heard near the mouth of the stairway. It was only a matter of time before Hideki was free of the confined space.

Limping down the hall, her green eyes flashed around in an attempt to find a weapon. She had seen several swords displayed on the wall in one of the rooms, but the odds of her finding that exact room were dismal.

A roar made her swivel on her feet. All the blood drained from her face. The monster had finally gotten out and was watching her with a smug smile.

This was it. It was either fight or die. There was no turning back.

Face grim, Kushina tensed and moved into a defensive stance. Hideki crouched and growled. They're eyes locked for a moment and Kushina's resolve hardened. She wasn't fighting Hideki anymore. There wasn't anything human left in the monster.

They leapt at each other.

Teeth flashed and Kushina kicked the bottom of the gruesome jaw. The head snapped up with a sickening crack and the kunoichi sucked in a shaky breath as she landed on her bad leg. A giant paw swiped at her, but she pressed herself against the ground and let it fly over her. Her hand flew up and punched one of the points in the monster's joints The beast roared in pain and back away from her, favoring his front leg. Kushina grinned grimly. Ryou had taught her that trick in case she ever went against something she couldn't beat in hand-to-hand combat. She had scoffed at him at the time. Next time she saw him she would make sure to thank him for it.

She rolled as the beast threw itself at her. Unlike last time, it made sure to drag its back paws near the ground. The sharp claws tore into her skin and left a trail of blood smeared on the ground. It really was learning. The dodge wouldn't work again. Kneeling on the ground, she glared at the monster.

The next roar made several of the decorations on the walls fall t the floor with a crash. The redhead flipped over the low swipe and brought her knee to the monster's temple. It clamped down on her injured leg and flung her into the air. She twisted away from the shining teeth as she came back down and landed another punch on the same joint.

The leg collapsed and the beast slammed to the floor. Groaning, Kushina glared at her left leg. The lim was covered in blood and the skin and muscle was so torn she could see the white of bone. A wry grin pulled at her lips. It figures that when she crippled her opponent, she would be crippled too.

The only difference between the two was that she only had one leg left while the creature had three. Whining in pain, the beast stood on its three remaining legs and snarled at her, the expression messing with the twisted human face.

Gritting her teeth, Kushina wobbled to her foot, the other hanging uselessly on the ground. The beast limped over to her and stared. "You want me you ugly fucked-up experiment? Come and get me." The monster growled and lunged at her, mouth ready to tear her head from her body. She fell to the ground and kicked out at its knee. It jumped away and snarled.

It lunged at her again and she threw herself to its side, letting it fly past her. The beast had expected her movement though and the spiked tail lashed out at her. Her eyes widened and she held her arms out in a vain attempt to avoid the attack.

Three spikes punctured her skin and she felt the poison leak into her blood system. Ripping her arms away from the needles, she grabbed one and tugged with her remaining strength. There was a snap and a sucking sound as the spike broke off from the tail. Liquid splashed onto her and she guessed it was a mixture of blood and poison. Her skin burned from the poison, but she ignored the pain as the monster roared in pain and whipped around to face her. With all her might, she took the spike and threw it at the beast's head. With no leg to stop its momentum, the creature couldn't stop as its movement brought it right into the spikes path.

The projectile sliced through the air and pierced through the monster's throat. It froze and stared at her, hackles bared. The monster finally swayed and collapsed, a pool of blood collecting around its head. Kushina stared for a moment, letting her breathing even out. Hopping over to the head, she knelt down to check for any sign of life. The creature was deathly still and her hand hovered over the scarred human face.

Bright eyes opened and stared at her. She jumped backward, but the monster didn't move. The glowing red pupils darkened and the fierce snarl turned into a pained sorrow. Hideki looked back at her. The torn mouth opened and closed, a sharp whisper passing through the thin lips. "Get out of here Uzumaki. Get back to our people in Konoha." He took in a harsh breath and his eyes glazed over. "Rebuild Whirlpool. Rebuild our people and honor those you lost their lives that day." Blood poured from the wound in his neck and he gazed into her eyes. "You've fulfilled your promise Uzumaki. Ryoichi would have been proud. I'm sorry." The light died form his eyes and Kushina gaped at the corpse in front of her.

Sighing, the redhead leaned forward and closed the lifeless eyes. "Thank you." Biting her lip, she stood up and limped over to the wall, leaning against it for support.

"The prisoner has escaped! Warn Master Jun!" Her head snapped up and looked down the hallway, footsteps resounding in the cavernous hall. Cursing her luck, she hobbled over to the nearest door and pushed it open.

Several people turned to face her. She didn't care however, her eyes focusing on the little dirty-blond girl laying on the examining table, wires attached to her forehead, next to set of computers. Images of the distorted experiments flashed across her mind's eye and she growled. "What are you doing? Get away from her!" Despite her injuries, she sprinted over to Aiko.

A hand clamped down on the pressure point at her and her world darkened.

"I'm sorry to do this Love, but you give me no choice. It seems that you are far too much trouble."

She guessed she should feel special. After all, how many people could say they got an entire dungeon and a dozen guards to themselves?

Kushina made sure to put much as hate as she could into the glare she sent a passing guard. The man just sneered and walked by. Grunting in annoyance, the redhead lightly hit her head on the wall behind her back. She hated these new guards. No matter what she said or did, she couldn't get anything out of them. Not that she could do much anyway, chained to the wall.

So much for her escape plan. She had only gotten halfway, if even that. The bastard Jun was still alive and planning his war while she was stuck in some dungeon, unable to do anything to stop him. She hit her head against the wall again, this time harder. "Idiot! You should have kicked his ass when you had the chance."

"Please...please stop th... that Miss Kushina. You'll h... hurt yourself again!" The girl watched her with wide eyes, fear for the kunoichi evident in the pale blue pupils.

"Sorry Aiko. I just need a good smack in the head." The girl didn't seem convinced and wrung her fingers nervously. Kushina's gaze softened. There was just something about the girl that made the redhead feel an intense desire to protect her. "Why are you here anyway? It's not the most exciting place to be."

"I don't mind. You... you're actually the first person to ever be nice to me beside the boss. Everyone else th...thinks I'm a freak. Plus... it's nice to have someone to talk too fro once. I miss you." The girl nibbled on the piece of bread one of the guards had given her. Kushina gazed pitifully at the young girl. When she had woken up a day ago, Kushina had found herself partially healed and bound in the cell. It turned out that she had seen too much for Jun to have her among other people.

Aiko had come in after a few hours with food and continued to heal the wounds the redhead had acquired in her escape attempt. The little girl came in every few hours to visit, must to the ire of the guards. The poor girl had been terrified when she had first come down here. She smiled fondly at the blond.

"Same. Especially these guards are about as interesting as lecture on mud. No entertainment whatsoever!" The blond girl giggled and picked at her food again. "Aiko?" The girl looked up at her, a questioning look in her clear and intelligent eyes. "What were they doing to you?"

The medic averted her gaze and picked at her food again. "I... I can't tell you. Master Jun ordered my not too." Ksuhian gritted her teeth. Bastard!

One of the guards passed and kicked at the girl. "Time's up brat. Get up and leave before I kick you out."

"Shut up asshole! She's a little kid. Don't you have any sympathy or you as stupid as your bastard boss up there?" The guard banged on the bars with his sword, the noise hurting Kushina's ears.

"Watch it bitch, before I accidently gut you." He waved the sword threateningly into the cell, the tip leaving light cuts across her skin. He gave Aiko another good kick before her walked away, chuckling to himself. The blond pulled herself up and wiped her eyes. Kushina was surprised to see raw determination shine in her blue eyes.

Kushina chocked down the groan that threatened to escape her lips. Aiko had fallen asleep outside the cell and the redhead had no desire to wake her. Her internal clock was so messed up in this room. By what she learned from Aiko's visits to the cell, it should be somewhere near midnight. However, with nothing else to do but talk to Aiko and sleep, her body was protesting against the large amount of sleep. Kushina had to give Jun credit. For someone as active as her, this was the worst type of punishment, to be strapped down and not allowed to move.

A guard passed by without so much as a glance into her cell. She almost felt sorry for the poor suckers, stuck down here with only one prisoner to watch. But then again, 'almost' didn't make her sympathetic towards them. It was their fault working for that bastard.

Kushina looked around for something to do, but her only mean of entertainment was currently asleep and , as she said before, waking her was not one of her options. Deciding to see if her bonds had loosened for the hundredth time, she pulled at the chains bonding her to the wall. Forgetting about her decision to not wake the little girl, the redhead thrashed against her bonds, chains rattling. One of the guard reluctantly came over to her cage, banging on the bars. Aiko stirred and blinked owlishly at the guard.

He banged on the bars again and glared at Kushina. "You bitch! Shut up! If I hear one more thing form you I'll make sure the rest of your life is a living..." The guard jumped, body tense. Kushina looked at him curiously waiting for him to finish his threat, when Aiko screamed. The man's eyes rolled up into his head and blood trickled out of his mouth, a kunai protruding from his throat.

I'm sorry! I just adore writing cliff-hangers! I'll now go into hiding for a year or two! Bye! Haha!