Hey guys. I'm sick so this going to be short.

Sorry this took so long especially when the last chapter wasn't very progressive. I think that chhaged with this chapter. This was actually the only chapter where most of it came from the first version of prophecy. So if something doesn't make sense, please tell me. I'm pretty sure I got most of the unrelated stuff out. Hopefully you all enjoy it.

I don't make any claims on anything from Naruto. I only own the plot and the OCs.

Chapter 12

Unite

There was a spilt second where the world seemed to slow down. The guard's eyes rolled into the back of his head and a drop of blood slowly crawled over his lips and down his chin. The tip of a kunai ripped through the tender skin in his neck, blood, muscle, and fat flying form the wound. Kushina gapped at the dead man in surprise. Aiko opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for water, fear evident in her eyes.

Then everything was thrown into chaos.

The remaining guards noticed their fellow collapse and jumped to their feet. The head of the guards shouted orders to the others setting them up in some strategic plan. They never got the chance. The weak lights in the prison were extinguished, throwing the room into darkness. Aiko screamed and something hit the bars and collapsed. The faint outline of the guard stood still for a moment before slumping into the cell and sliding to the floor, blood pooling around him from his neck.

There were more shouts from the leader and cries of terror. More bodies slumped to the floor, the wet slapping sound of blood soon following. There were clashes as the guards fought off the unseen attacker. Aiko whimpered and pressed herself against the bars of the redhead's cell, trying to get as far away from the fighting as possible. There were more grunts and cries and something hit the ground with a thud. There was a clash relatively close to her prison and a stray kunai embedded itself in her side. Biting her tongue to keep form shouting and possibly turning the attacks on herself, Kushina tried to peer into the darkness with no luck.

She heard Aiko release a sob. "Miss Kushina? What's going..."

"Sh!" The sounds of battle continued for a few more seconds, before silence engulfed the room. Kushina strained her senses to find the attacker, but whoever it was, was excellent at masking their chakra. The blond's outline froze and nodded slightly. The two girls fell silent, both listening for any sign to give away the intruder's position. Blood pumped through the kunoichi's veins and she felt a rush of exhilaration. Whoever it was, they obviously weren't afraid to oppose Jun. This might be her ticket out of here.

A nagging voice in th back of her mind dampened her joy. There was always the option that it wasn't either of them and that the attacker wasn't friendly. Kushina squashed the voice down. She really didn't want to think about that right now. Whatever happened happened. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

The was a shuffle of clothing and both girls tensed. Whoever the attacker was, they were about to find out if he was friendly or not. A gruff voice cursed and the shuffling continued. The person must have found what he was looking for , because the shuffling stopped and a light appeared in the middle of the room. Kushina felt her heart stop. There was no way that voice belonged to either Minato or Ryou. She was caught between calling out fro help or pretending they weren't there.

The light traveled along the empty cells. So whoever was there was looking for someone. Most likely her. Two cells away from her own, the light stopped and the outline put his hand up to his head. He whispered something angrily into a mouthpiece. A wireless device? Someone on the other end shouted at the man, apparently not happy with whatever the intruder had said. Scoffing, the man continued to search the cells. Holding her breath, Kushina prayed to whatever god that would listen, that all her fighting hadn't been for naught.

The light finally came around to her cell and landed on her form. With the light in her eyes, the redhead couldn't make out any features. The man barked excitedly into his mouthpiece and ignored the person on the other line as he bounded forward. It wasn't until the light finally left her that any hope she had of it being one of her friends vanished.

He was a few inches shy of six feet. He had a mane of scruffy black hair and a beard to match. His green eyes were small and made his face seem pudgy. His clothes were made of animal skins, sewn unceremoniously into something resembling a shirt and pants and his heavy boots clicked against the rock floor.. He had a small hunting knife and pouch tied around his waist with a leather belt.

A smile crossed his face as he neared the cell, showing off a row of yellowed and missing teeth. He made to move toward the cage, but was stopped as a small body slammed against his. Kushina watched in amazement as the man stumbled backward from the blow and stared, flabbergasted, at Aiko. "Go away! I won't let you hurt her! I won't let you hurt Miss Kushina!" The girl's eyes were red and her cheeks streaked with tears, but her mouth was screwed into a determined scowl that only little kids could pull off. The blond moved her frail frame in between the redhead's cell and the barbaric man.

"Kid, get out of the way. I'm trying to get her out of there. Unless you have a better idea." Aiko paused but didn't move away. Kushina could hear yelling outside the door and shouts coming from the man's earphone.

"Aiko." The little girl tilted her head so she could see the redhead out of the corner of her eyes while still keeping a watch on the man. Maybe she had been wrong with her first assessment. Aiko might be able to handle herself in a battle if she was given a chance and some training. "It's okay. We don't have time to be picky." The blond looked like she wanted to argue, but stepped aside anyway. Turning to the man, Kushina glared. "If you try anything funny, I'll make sure you won't ever be able to breed your evil spawn." The man just blinked and nodded, taking out a ring of keys from his pouch.

"You don't need to worry. I don't do that kind of thing 'til the second date." He flashed her a smile and fiddled with the lock. "Come to think of it, I don't think we've even had our first date yet. We should get right on that once this is over." He grinned again as he opened the cell. He rushed inside and began to unlock the chains around her wrists. Aiko stood behind him, watching him warily.

"I swear if you try anything..."

"Calm down Red. I won't do anything. You're not exactly my type anyway." Kushina gapped while the man grinned. The chains finally came loose and the redhead dropped to the floor.

"Ryou?" The man grinned and Kushina felt her heart stop. That grin could only ever belonged to the knuckle-headed brunette medic.

"You don't have to act so surprised. I know we're late, but you didn't think we'd just leave you here did you?" The Whirlpool shinobi had never been one for hugging, btu as soon as her arms were released from the chains, she threw herself at the medic. Ryou stumbled at the sudden attack before hesitantly returning the gesture, blush on his face. He coughed and pulled away, quickly looking her over. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Kushina shook her head, ignoring the minor cut in her side and aches and pains remaining from her injuries. A look of relief rushed over the man's face, messing with the crude features.

"What the hell happened to you?" The medic grinned again and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I'll have Minato explain later. All his seal mumbo-jumbo doesn't make any sense to me. Now come on! We have to go. Minato's injured and from the sounds of it, not making many friends with the Stone nin." His giant hand enveloped hers and pulled her out of the cell. Kushina however, pulled him back and put her hands on her hips.

"Why is he here if he's injured? Don't tell me you were stupid enough to let him come if he was hurt! What am I talking about? Of course you were!" Scoffing, the redhead walked out of the cell and leaned over the dead guard. Taking his sword, she tied it over her shoulder and took his weapon pouch. Motioning for Aiko to follow, she began to walk to the front of the room. "Come on Aiko. You know this place better than any of us. Can you get us out?" The little girl nodded and ran to the door. Ryou just stood in the middle of the room, looking confused.

"I thought we were the ones rescuing you. Since when do you get to lead?"

"Just shut up and follow me idiot!" Sighing, the medic scampered off after the fiery redhead and their young guide.

Kushina dropped to the ground, the kunai thrown at her throat missing by centimeters. Ryou pulled her close to him and into the shadows of the wall, closing the door into the hall. Aiko crouched and curled into a ball, holding her head in her hands and biting back tears of fright. "Careful. They're not too happy with us right now. Minato's holding them until we can find another exit, but who knows how long he can keep it going. These guys are vicious, they just seem to keep coming. Oh, and try not to use any chakra. They must have detectors or something. It's been a pain trying to shake them. Believe it or not, we're trying to be inconspicuous." The redhead nodded her understanding and the medic released her. Ryou brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. There was a short pause in the fighting, and a figure slammed through the door, breathing heavily.

Kushina had to bite her lip, whether form worry or laughter, she couldn't decide. An old man leaned against the wall, holding a hand to his side as he panted. Where Debiru and the Hokage and aged gracefully, this man seemed to be slowing rotting away. His skin was pale and thin with huge blotches. His frail bones seemed accented even with the heavy brown cloak thrown over his shoulders. Why Minato had chosen this man to impersonate, Kushina couldn't imagine. Ryou's disguise wasn't the most attractive thing she had ever seen, but at least he didn't look like he was dying.

That's when her attention was brought to her friend's distress. He clutched at his side, but he couldn't stunt the growth of the red staining blooming over his cloak. Numerous cuts ran over his frail body, each deep enough to draw blood. He seemed to be favoring his left leg and arm, making sure not to put much stress on them. The thing that scared her the most though was the ragged and short gasps he was making. Over the last few months she had known him, she had never seen him this out of breath.

"Minato? Gods! What happened? Are you alright?" The old man turned to her and starred at her for a second, his eyes unfocused and confused. He blinked and recognition spread across his face.

"Kushina!" A smile pulled at his lips but quickly turned into a wince as a stab of pain raced a through him. "Ah! I'll... I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. How about you? Are you alright?" The redhead opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off as the other boy grunted.

"Sorry to break up the lovely reunion, but I highly doubt we have time for that." The brunette had his back pressed against the door, rocking back and forth as the people on the outside pounded on it.. "These guys just don't know how to give up. What did you do Namikaze? Insult their mothers or something?" Minato ignored him and dug in his pouch.

"Here put these on the door, they should hold them off long enough for us to come up with a plan." He held out a shaky, blood covered hand and passed some tags to his friend. The medic took them gratefully and slapped them on the door. The pounding stopped instantly and Ryou stood back to appreciate his handiwork.

"I've got to hand it to you Minato. You're seals are next to none. How long do we have?" Minato closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

"About ten minutes. We need to hurry though. We can't risk another fight with them." He settled himself down on the ground, back supported but he wall. Taking a deep breath, he leaned his head against the wall, glaring at the ceiling. "I think we can drop the disguises now. They now we're here anyway." The medic nodded and pealed a piece of paper off his forehead. The scruffy visage flickered and died, leaving the brunette in its wake. Minato soon followed and chuckled at the surprised look from the two girls. "It's just a simple seal that has the disguise melded into it. When you activate it, the image of the person covers yours. It's kind of like wearing a full-body suit of that person."

Kushina nodded in understanding and watched as Ryou knelt down by the blond teen. Taking bandages from his pack, he ripped off a part of Minato's sleeve to see the wound underneath. "Sorry, but this is as much as we can do until we're out of here. Like you said, the last thing we need is for them to have our chakra signatures. Can you make it out?"

Minato tried to grin, but it ended up looking more like a wince than anything else. "I'll be fine. Just a few scratches." The redhead looked skeptically as the wound Ryou was bandaging gushed blood.

"Right, scratches. You idiot! What were you thinking pulling something like this when you're hurt?" The blond just smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. There was sudden boom as someone on the outside threw themselves at the wood. Aiko jumped and scrambled over to hide behind Kushina. The redhead looked at the girl in surprise than grinned. "Hey? What if someone from inside this place healed you? Would that be alright?" Ryou turned to face her, his expression clearing questioning her sanity. Minato just frowned and waited for her to continue.

"What are you nuts Red? Sure, I guess expect for one small detail. Do you honestly think any medic in this hell would willingly help us?" Kushina made a face, but managed to bite back the retort. Now wasn't the time to be fighting amongst themselves. There were plenty of people waiting to do that right outside the door.

"If you would let me finish, I would be able to tell you that Aiko here is a medic." Ryou blinked and looked at the little girl cowering behind his friend. Kushina put her hand on the girl's shoulder and made her look up. "Aiko, I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but can you heal my friend ?" The little girl sniffled and looked hesitantly at the elder blond. Minato smiled encouragingly at the young girl. Nodding, Aiko moved out from behind her hiding spot by Kushina and kneeled by the boys. Her hands were engulfed by silver chakra, and the wounds in Minato's side began to close.

It wasn't long before the more serious of his wounds were healed. Aiko sighed and slumped to the side. Using his superhuman reflexes, Minato reached out and caught her. "I'm sorry I can't do any more. I've used all of my chakra." Minato smiled thankfully down at the girl, moving her hair out of her face soothingly.

"No, you did great. Thank you." The little girl smiled and leaned into his touch.

"Can you still lead us out of here Aiko," Kushina asked as Minato passed the girl to her. Ryou took over and wrapped the rest of the groups injuries. The blond girl nodded and slowly pushed herself up, swaying on her feet.

"Yes Miss Kushina." Ryou tried ro hide his laughter, earning him a glare from the redhead. "Don't ... don't worry about me. I'll be alright." Kushina glanced worriedly at her self- proclaimed charge, watching for any weakness. "When I first came here, I found a... a lot of secret hideouts no one else knows about. There's one right outside this room." The three shinobi shared a look and Ryou sighed, gigging through his pouch.

"I have a few more smoke bombs left. If we time it right, we might be able to make it." Kushina nodded and offered her back to Aiko.

"Well right now that's the only plan we have. We might as well try it. We don't have much of a choice anyway." The blond girl hesitantly climbed onto her elder's back and wrapped her small arms around her neck. "Lets go." Ryou helped Minato to his feet and held the round pellets in his hand.

"Get ready. I don't know how long the cover will last." Filing by the door, Kushina counted down, ripping the door open. Shouts overwhelmed her ears and the sound of weapons scraping against each other sent a flow of adrenaline into her system. With a grunt, Ryou threw the five bombs out into the crowd of Stone-nin. They exploded and the hallway was filled with thick fog. The four rushed out, bumping into guards as they sprinted through the cloud. Aiko pointed to the opposite wall and they skidded to a halt next to it.

The little girl crept over to the wall and ran her tiny fingers over the rough stone. Finding what she was looking for, she counted up the bricks and pressed one. The wall, instantly fell aside, sliding into the other stones.

The three teenagers gaped openly at the sight as the little girl turned around and smiled proudly at them. Kushina walked over to the opening and felt damp air rush past her face. Ryou and Minato wobbled up behind her, Minato favoring his left side. "Lead the way Aiko." The girl nodded and walked into the dark. Ryou just shook his head and sighed.

"We come to save you and end up relaying on the enemy's kid for help. This is some crazy shit. Remind me to never go on another mission with you Red."

The tunnel was pitch black, twisting on into the inky blackness. Kushina gently led her fingers over the hard rock, making sure to stretch her senses to follow Aiko and watch for anything that might pose a threat. Minato and Ryou followed behind, the blond leaning on the brunette, breathing heavily. The girl shivered as the cold penetrated through her ripped clothing and seeped into her bones. Water dripped down from the ceiling and collected on the uneven ground. Kushina had stepped ina puddle to many times for her liking.

"How much longer Aiko," she whispered. She felt the youth stop and turn to face her, whatever good that did.

"I'm not sure Miss Kushina. I've never been down this far before. I usually stop a few minutes back." The redhead fought the urge to curse and elbowed Ryou in the stomach before he could insult their guide. "I'm so... sorry. Please do not be... be mad at me! But if we had gotten out at the other opening, we would have been found for sure. Your friend can't survive another fight. He's too badly wounded." Kushina sighed and leaned against the wall. The girl made sense.

"So what do we do Minato? You're the leader of this operation after all." The boy didn't seem to hear her, not making a sound. About to yell at him for ignoring her, he shuffled up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We go on. There's no use doing something we know we'll get caught doing. Might as well try this way. If it doesn't work, we can always backtrack." Ryou moved beside him and chuckled. Kushina nodded, even though noone could see in the dark. "Aiko? Thank you for bringing us this far. Please, if you don't mind, can you get us out of here?"

"Of course. I'll do anything to help you Miss Kushina." The sound of little feet scampering down the tunnel resounded off the stone walls. Grabbing Minato's hand, Kushina looped his arm around her shoulders and let him lean on her as they continued down the hall. It wasn't long before the darkness began to lift and outlines became visible. Kushina could feel the chakra signatures of the guards running around somewhere above them, and winced whenever someone stumbled on the uneven path.

Minato was dragging his feet more as the journey drove on. Most to her horror, the redhead could feel something wet clinging to her clothes were his body touched hers. He must have been near death when Aiko had healed him for him to still be so bad. Ryou was suspiciously silent, watching their backs like a hawk.

"Miss Kushina! I found the exit!" Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kushina felt a grin pulling at her lips. Minato straightened at the exclamation and Ryou squeezed her hand. The teens could see the crack in between the rocks just big enough for a person to squeeze through. Aiko pulled insistently on the older girl's hand, leading her toward the opening.

Making sure Minato could handle himself, the group slipped between the rocks. Kushina could feel warm air wafting through the crack and light spilled from the other side like a fire. Feeling around for anyone in the room they were about to enter, the redhead motioned for Aiko to go ahead, soon following behind. The hum of machinery and an eerie green light greeted them as they stepped from the crack.

Aiko stopped in her tracks and froze, gaping at the room's contents. Kushina couldn't blame her when a shriek of terror ripped from the girl's throat.

I'll break the habit of having cliffhangers. I promise! I'll start right after the next chapter.

Mwhahahahahahaha!