The forest was fairly quiet as they leapt through the trees to avoid the main road until they were far enough away from the base to use the trail and not be concerned about being seen. Like Konan said, the snow melted for the most part since the blizzard. However, the dark clouded sky and cold air indicated it would snow again soon. Hopefully they would be back before then and not have to be out in such horrible weather.

Currently piggybacking on Konan, Hanaki had her face buried in the co-leader's shoulders, likely to avoid seeing the sheer drop to the ground beneath them as the plant nin traveled alongside. She wore an extremely oversized, thick black sweater, scarcely leaving enough room for the ruffles of her pale green dress to show below the hem. It was Konan's last-minute solution to the toddler not having anything warm to wear. Really she didn't have anything other than the dress, pair of socks, and sandals he found her in, which left her wandering around in borrowed clothes whenever they were washed. That being said, Zetsu had a feeling this was small part of the reason Konan changed her mind about going to the village and bringing her along.

Really Zetsu believed this was a bad idea especially since Hanaki literally just had her bandages removed and it was never good to have a newly healed injury exposed to the elements for very long. Unfortunately, the co-leader seemed to be telling him they were going to the village instead of suggesting, and orders were orders no matter how much he didn't like or agree with them. At this point he wished he never said anything to begin with and never put the idea in Konan's head. All he was trying to do was make a point, not start this fiasco. He should have let sleeping dogs lie. He sighed after they dropped to the trail and Hanaki squeaked at the impact. Oh well. His fault, his problem.

Getting down from Konan's back, the toddler took her place between her and Zetsu as they walked. She kept one arm on the teddy bear and latched onto the plant nin's solid black cloak with her free hand, watching ahead excitedly. His black side groaned inwardly, but didn't comment. Both sides were gradually growing to accept she preferred to be near him. Whenever she wasn't inadvertently getting herself in trouble these past several days Hanaki practically glued herself to his side and he hadn't a clue as of why. At the very least she had to be in the same room most of the time. He wasn't sure he was okay with all the clinging. By no means was he used to so much attention, and it really set him on edge. His black side mainly. The sooner we get her out of our hair the better, it groaned. And his white side, though not remarking on the matter, agreed. Even so, the second he glanced at her, he wondered if he really felt that way. Probably.

Soon the village entrance came into view. The archway hardly rose to twice Zetsu's height, which wasn't impressive. The bricks had tiny patches of ice still clinging to them and they looked cracked and weathered, and the gate itself was dusted with signs of rust. Even for a small village it didn't seem to take much care and pride in first impression. Talk about disappointing. Hanaki, however, chimed happily and made it evident she didn't mind. Actually, when they stepped into the village and she saw so many people bustling around and all the different buildings and markets her eyes grew wide in surprise and curiosity. She kept tugging at Zetsu's cloak or poking Konan to get her attention, then pointing and saying, "Lookit! Lookit! Lookit!"

"We see," Konan said humoring her with a slight grin and the toddler looked up at her with a wide smile and giggled. Though, Zetsu wasn't paying attention to anything she pointed out. He was too busy noticing all the strange looks and glares he was getting from the villagers and trying his best to ignore them. He growled under his breath. I wonder if I could kill them all as they stand in one shot. Likely, his white side mused. But then a thought occurred to him and he settled his anger. Not only would Konan reprimand him for attacking someone out of the blue, but having Hanaki see something like that would be a serious problem.

Wait, since when did he give a damn? He didn't. The concept itself was ridiculous. And Hanaki was a just a child; what would she know? "Panda?" His attention diverted down at the toddler, who was tilting her head to the side with a clearly concerned look.

Zetsu narrowed his eyes in confusion. Is that directed at us? Are you an idiot? Of course it's not! As true as that probably was, he still couldn't come up with a solid explanation for this either way. On one hand Hanaki was somewhat intelligent for her age. On the other, her age was exactly what kept him from believing she could have noticed his anger so easily when even the Uchiha couldn't read him. Something else being on her mind was far more likely, and as for what, he couldn't imagine.

This is ridiculous… It would be best to just bypass the issue. "Move along, Hanaki," he ordered levelly.

"Mmph…" She pouted with dissatisfaction, but nodded obediently then went to catch up with Konan, who had walked slightly ahead. Her excited smile quickly returned as she pointed out more new sights.

Well, on the bright side, he wasn't thinking about the villagers anymore.

Wooow! Hanaki thought in excitement. There were so many people walking around, too many for her to count. One…two…three…four… One…two…three…four… Yep! All together there had to be like…a whole bunch of fours! She wondered why the dragon-lady- oops… She couldn't call her that because Zetsu said so, but she didn't remember her name either. Thankfully the picture-like thought process gave her a solution.

Miss Blue-hair didn't look as excited as she was. It was kind of obvious she wasn't, but she still needed to be shown all the pretty and new things the toddler had never seen before. There were all sorts of these little stands lined up along both sides of the street with different things, like candy, toys, decorations, food, clothes, those sharp, shiny things she was told to never touch because Zetsu said not to, and there was even a stand just for flowers! Sure the toys had a lot of color and looked fun and the candy smelled really good, but the flowers were just so pretty! Some were tall and have been growing for a long time, and others were really short like they only just bloomed for the first time. And they all had their own sweet, friendly voices that Hanaki could hear. She hoped with all her heart she would be able to go over to the stand and visit with them. Maybe they would like Zetsu too.

Looking back at him, she wondered what could be making him act so weird. He was paying more attention to the villagers than what she pointed out. She wanted to ask him what was wrong and why he was acting like that, but she couldn't find the words to put together. Talk about frustrating. Of course, not being able to ask wasn't the really big problem. The big problem was that he looked upset, and that made her want to cheer him up. But how?

For the most part she tried to stay focused on her little dilemma. However, every time Miss Blue-hair moved from one stand to another she forgot her resolve and had to think of it all over again because all the different things distracted her. At one point, they went into an actual building. It was full of different kinds of fabric of all colors and designs, thread, and sewing tools. Miss Blue-hair guided her around as she examined the different fabrics, periodically glancing at Hanaki and back again then either putting the fabric back or gathering it in one arm. The whole time Zetsu just stood at the door, watching outside and shocking people with his appearance when they came inside. When they left after Miss-Blue-hair paid the owner, Hanaki saw the colors of the fabric that were picked out. Red, black, green, white, and also something looking a bit like fish net. What in the world could that be for?

After that, they seemed to just wander around looking for nothing in particular but stopping to look at everything. Hanaki either clung to Zetsu or Miss Blue-hair to keep from getting lost in the crowd, but she mostly kept a good hold on her teddy bear. Couldn't lose that. If she did it would be bad. She didn't remember why, but still in the back of her mind it felt very important.

Eventually, Miss Blue-hair led them to another kind of shop that sold things like drinks and rice. For some reason Hanaki thought it was one of her first times sitting at a table. The seat was so low she almost couldn't see over the tabletop. Out of curiosity she set her teddy bear on the bench and stretched her arms over the table to see how far she could reach, which wasn't very far. She tried several times to see if practice might make a difference, but it must have been annoying because Zetsu sat her back with a firm "Stop it."

"I sorry," she said. Still, she couldn't help but fidget until a woman in an apron brought three cups to the table. She couldn't place the scent coming from them, but it was somewhat earthy. Hanaki tilted her head in confusion. Did Miss Blue-hair ask for those? Or Zetsu? She really wasn't paying attention. Pulling on Zetsu's sleeve to get his attention she asked, "Wha's that?"

"Tea. Here, it will be good for you." he said as he took the smallest mug and gave it to her. As she took it in her hands she could tell how hot the tea was. She didn't know how she knew, but it would burn her tongue. Maybe if…this? She blew on the drink for several seconds, successfully cooling it down a bit before taking a sip. The drink was still really warm, but not too hot. Whatever it was, she liked it a lot. Except for when it nearly spilled all over her when her hands slipped. Then Miss Blue-hair sounded almost dragon-mad. Hanaki didn't like that part. The funny thing though, is she thought she saw Zetsu flash a brief grin. At least he wasn't mad.

Miss Blue-hair was the first to stand up after they finished with their tea, but Zetsu was the first to speak. "We need to leave now, Hanaki," he said. "It is getting late."

"Kay." The toddler scooted off the bench, quickly remembering to get her bear, and then following Miss Blue-hair out of the shop as Zetsu led the way. The second she was outside she worked to gather her thoughts, absentmindedly noticing the sky was turning orange as the sun began to set and almost all the other people were gone now. Only a few were still walking around including the shop owners.

What was it she wanted to do again? With both arms wrapped around her bear, she glanced around at the shops in attempt to jog her memory. Her mind was blank for a long time before she saw the flower stand again. Oh yeah! she thought with a wide smile. Finally she knew what she wanted to do for Zetsu. A new flower for the garden would be good.

Before she could say anything, Miss Blue-hair veered off to another stand as something caught her attention. Zetsu tried to ask her what was going on, but she waved a hand in dismissal as she stood talking to the person who was running the stand. Well… Hanaki glanced from them to the flower stand, which was right across the narrow street, kitty-corner to this stand. If she was only gone a second to at least see the kinds of flowers and come immediately back, that wouldn't be a problem. Right?

Taking one more glance at Zetsu, only to see his full attention on the stand keeper, the toddler quickly ran across the street to the flowers. There was no person here at the moment, but there were many, many flowers. Most of them were pink, orange, yellow, or white. She was hearing their cheerful voices chiming amongst themselves. A few seemed to direct their voices toward her and say things like, 'Oh, who is this?' or 'Good day,' or 'Hello, little flower~' though she wasn't sure why they were calling her that. After all, she was pretty sure she was a little girl. Unless someone told her wrong, of course. Giggling happily, Hanaki almost didn't hear another voice. This one was sad and tired. Maybe even sick. Where is it? She began looking all around the stand, but found nothing. Suddenly it was very loud and urgent, and she flipped her head around in the direction she was sure the voice came from. Far back in the alleyway behind the stand was a trash bin. She immediately ran over to it, and what she saw broke her heart.

Inside the bin was a wilting wildflower. The red petals were turning as brown as the broken pieces of the small pot it was in. Now she knew what she was hearing was a cry for help. Who would throw away a flower? How awful! And it was still alive. A thought donned on her. Panda! He would know how to help it. Picking up the flower, pot and all, Hanaki started to walk back to the flower stand. But suddenly the flower's voice turned into a shrill shriek of panic and she paused. 'Look out!' it screamed. 'Look out!' Well…for what?

At that moment she saw a shadow fall across her vision from behind. Widening her eyes in curiosity, she was about to turn around to see what the shadow was. However, there was a voice that spoke first. "Hey there, kid." Hanaki turned around, looking up to see a tall man with scraggly brown hair, a wide smile, and sly expression. He looked like one of the villagers, but something seemed off. The very air felt yucky.

Cautious, the toddler stepped back a few steps, partly so she could see the stranger better and partly to keep distance between them. "Who are you?" she asked.

He gave her a closed-eyed grin. "Oh, I uh…know your parents."

Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion and confusion. What was that word he used? "My…parents?" Gosh, that didn't even sound like a word to her.

The stranger knelt in front of her, making her instinctively back up again. "Yeah, you see, they told me to come and take you home."

Another word she didn't understand. 'Home.' It sounded like part of some foreign language. None of what the stranger was saying sounded right, and the wildflower continued to warn her to get away from him. Something was definitely wrong. And Hanaki certainly wasn't about to ignore the feeling of uneasiness. Turning around she plainly said, "Go away," and started walking.

'Run! Run now!' Again the wildflower's voice shrieked in panic just as the air became thick with hostility. She started to run but before she could take another step a rough hand gripped her arm and pulled her back. The force made her drop the flower and her bear. Flipping around she saw the stranger's expression changed into something scary and threatening. "Don't you walk away from me, you brat," he snarled.

A cold wave of panic shot through Hanaki as he began to drag her down the alleyway. Wha's happ'ning?! Frantically struggling to pull away, she managed to turn enough to catch a glimpse of Zetsu across the street. Her heart pounded furiously. Now she was wishing she had told him where she was going. Maybe then this wouldn't be happening. But now she had her chance to correct her mistake. Taking a deep breath, she screamed.

"PAANDAAAAA!"