Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

He pulled me up and placed me down, facing him. "I won't hurt you." His voice was stern and commanding. I was silent. "But, I'm not letting you go either. We are here to retrieve you. You are a child of Konoha, and are wanted back home."

In my shock the first words to come out of my mouth were, "Are there flowers in Konoha?"

…

We were standing idle when I heard the oncoming sound of hurried footsteps coming towards us. I could still feel the fear of being released from my cell. I had never been outside of it before, and even during the process of them sealing my sight, it had been done within the bounds of my prison. Every stone and every crack had been counted; it had always been and at one time I had thought it would always be. That I would never be released, that my life would be bound by those four encasing walls.

But standing here now, trembling with the taste and smell of freedom, I had never been more terrified. I had no experience or knowledge of this foreign, outside world, and almost instinctively my breath quickened at the thought.

"We need to get her to Hitoshi-sempai. He should be well and able to remove that seal." I heard a small shuffle of clothes. "Here take this scroll, and be sure to give it to Hokage-sama when you see him. Take the girl as well and guard her with your life. You three stay with me; the rest of you have your orders. Move out!"The man who had caught me ordered these words to his comrades before exiting. My ears caught the sound of their feet carrying down the hallway, echoing back to where I was until it was gone.

Fear cradled me in its unforgiving arms once again as another set of hands grabbed my shoulders.
"Let me carry you. It will be faster this way." I felt my feet leave the floor once again. "Put your arms around my neck." I felt him grab my hands and place them in a locked position before nodding his head to his partner. Underneath my petite palms I could feel the strength of his shoulders and it felt dangerous. Once again I was unsettled. I obeyed him though – I was too afraid not too. He adjusted his shoulders and took off.

…

"Girl..."

'shifting and rustling'

"Oi, Girl! Wake up!"

A distant voice said, "You're going to have to shake her Kenta-kun."

A soft slap on my cheek caused me to wake up. My eyes opened and I gasped. Where was I?

A deep sigh."You didn't have to hit her."

Apparently, the other man deemed it worthless to answer him for I heard no response from him. Just the sound of his feet walking away from me. I guess that was a good sign that he didn't want to harm me.

"Senji, you're in charge of making meals. I did it on the last mission so now it's your turn."

The man named Senji gave no response.

Who were these men? My breath hitched. What are they going to do with me?

They had said I was 'wanted' back home. But where was that? My mouth begged to ask the question but I was still too afraid to form the words. My life had completely flipped in a matter of minutes; everything that had once formed who I was, was now gone. I didn't know what would happen and, yes, I was still frightened.

It felt as though my eyes weighed ten pounds each and my cheek carried a painless, numb feeling. It was at times like this that I wished I could rub my eyes and take the itch away. That annoying tingle bothered me so much. I rubbed the cloth covering my eyes anyways and it did help, somewhat.

Limp from exhaustion my hand fell to the ground beside me and that's when I felt it – soft, warm soil. This is where my flowers lived. With a force of it's own my hands began to almost pet the surface. Clumping and engrossing themselves within the very dirt that gave birth to flora life. Never in my entire existence had I felt such a wonderful feeling.

A cool cloth came in contact with my face and I jumped. "Easy now." The voice came from the one who had waken me up. He took his time in cleaning my face and he particularly favored my left cheek.

"I didn't mean to hit you so hard, little one. War and fighting can make a man forget his manners." Another round and he was done. "You must be hungry." He spoke his thoughts aloud.

He left, but came back not long later with some food. It smelled delicious.

I lifted my hands to take it when I heard him chuckle. "I thought only boys liked to play in the dirt."

He laughed again and I could feel him cleaning the dirt off my hands. He gave me the bowl of soup and before eating it I inhaled once more, feeling my stomach growl in appreciation. Pressing my lips on the edge I slurped it up.

"She does know there's a spoon right?" Kenta-kun spoke to his companion.

Senji-kun just grunted.

Spoon? My fingers felt around the bowl for the spoon, and not long later I found it. The smooth texture of it surprised me and the bowl shaped end had me fascinated.

I held my first piece of home and smiled.

…

We had been traveling for days; I had counted ninety-four hours in total. Counting had always been something that brought me peace of mind because it took up most of your attention and allowed everything else to just exist.

Right now our focus was to get me to the man who was going to remove my seal. We had traveled through rough terrain and I could feel myself being lifted to higher altitudes. My breath came faster than before and not long after there was a chill in the air. I was still being carried on Senji-sans back and even the extra weight seemed like nothing to him. He truly was well conditioned but he barely spoke a word. My sensitive ears caught the sounds of his breath and he would sometimes grunt when he had to go through more challenging areas.

The words he had spoken were few, but his comrade, on the other hand, had been more that talkative. He told me all about Konoha and the people.

"You're going to love Konoha, little one. There is everything you could ever want." His voice seemed to be entranced by what he was saying. " Plenty of food for you to eat. The people are welcoming as well, no chains, no bars, and you'll be free to walk around all you like."

I tried to picture myself walking freely around and found that I couldn't. What would Konoha look like? Where ever it was that they were taking me, I hoped it would be sunny.

I felt the tips of my nails as though trying to imagine what they looked like. The tops of my hands felt rough from neglect.

"Senji-san. We're almost there, lets pick up the pace so we're not late." I heard his voice drift off the further he went. My arms automatically tightened their hold as Senji-san picked up speed.

An hour later they landed, stopping completely. Kenta-kun stepped forward and I caught the sound of his feet walking on an unfamiliar type of flooring. It sounded a lot less secure than what I was used to. He knocked and soon the door opened.

"Good evening, how may I assist you?" An voice, worn with age, inquired.

"Good evening, Obaa-san. I'm here for Hitoshi-sempai." His voice lost the playful banter I had become used to and took a serious tone instead.

"Ah, yes, of course. You must be the Konoha ninja we were expecting. Please do come in."

Senji-san kept me in his arms but once we came into the house he set me down. The structure beneath me felt soft and even. Characteristically, I bent down and felt it.

"Oh, she must be tired. Come now, I'll draw a bath and get a fresh set of clothes for her. Hitomi-sama will want to talk to you both anyways."

I felt a wrinkly hand take my own and gently begin leading me out of the room. I could hear the sound of doors being opened then being closed and not long later we entered, what seemed to be, a bathhouse. My senses picked up the sounds of running water, my upper lip was perspiring from the heavy weight of moisture in the air, and I could smell the fragrance of body wash.

"Now, lets start by removing your clothes." I felt her untie my soiled kimono and help me into the bath. Once the warm water made contact with my body I felt I'd just entered heaven. "Pick one." Different smells hit my nostrils and I randomly chose a scent. "Good choice. My mistress always picks that one. It's from her homeland you know, the land of keys." She started rubbing the flowery scented substance on me. "I've never been there myself but I here it's beautiful country, renowned for it's fields of wildflowers."

That caught my interest.

"My master met her there while he was still in the army, and I guess she charmed her way into his serious heart." She chuckled and washed my hair next while gently massaging my scalp. "May I ask you dear, when was the last time you had a bath?"

I thought about it and said, "I've never had a bath, ma'am."

She stopped her washing. I could almost sense her moment of understanding, because not soon after she continued her ministrations on my head. It relieved me that she didn't want my story. Because I never wanted to tell it. It was done. It was gone. Forever.

"Oh dear, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut your hair. Such a pity, you have the most extraordinary color." She attempted to run her fingers through my hair, but it just wasn't working.

"What does it look like?" I asked.

"What does what look like dear?" Her voice became even more motherly than before.

"M-my hair." I grabbed a piece of it and rubbed it between my thumb and index finger. "What does it look like?"

Compassion hit her and came through her voice. "It's very dark." I felt her rinsing my head. "And it looks like the ocean. Have you ever seen it?"

I shook my head.

She began to explain saying, "The ocean is the largest body of water in the world. When you're looking at it, it seems as though it never ends. But when you see it at night, well, it looks beautiful. It almost looks black, but when it shifts and rises you can see the most exceptional of blues." She stood me up and wrapped me in a warm, feather-soft towel.

I carefully maneuvered out of the bath and walked towards her. While I held the towel in place, she started on drying my hair with another towel; it was just as soft. I bent my head and inhaled my new scent. Never in my life had I felt so attended to and for the first time in a long time my eyes shed a single tear.

Completely unaware of my springing emotions, she gently grabbed my shoulders and sat me down into a comfy chair. The sounds of cutting crept into my ears and soon enough she was finished.

"There now, that should do it. Just wait right here and I'll go grab some clean clothes for you. Do you need anything else?"

My lips trembled but replied, "N-no."

"Very well. I'll be back real soon."

The door closed and all at once my emotions ran haywire. I couldn't feel. I couldn't breathe. My hands fell limp upon my lap and the towel soon followed. The kindness shown to me by these people unlocked all that I had kept stuffed down. And that single tear immediately turned into dozens. I covered my face and wept. Fatigue plagued my body but I was so shaken that even that didn't stop me.

Thoughts of all the times before now soon made me realize that I had never had a life. Never.

I had merely existed, nothing more. I had been chained and locked away and never once had I ever been given an answer as to why. My humanity had been robbed from me. How would I know how to function in this world when no one had taught me how? How was I going to survive?

Fear took another bite at my hope and wounded me. But it was the soft caress that shook me back to reality. "Hana-chan, what is the matter?"

What did she call me? "What did you call me?" I asked her.

She took her time to answer. Back and forth her elderly fingers caressed my shoulders and I felt her re-wrap the towel around me. "I called you Hana-chan. You are the young girl Konoha has rescued, yes? I was informed that you had always been a prisoner there since the day of your birth."

She continued her caresses. "If you want to forget your past, then you must also forget your name. Whatever they chose to call you, you are not that person anymore. I called you Hana-chan because that's who you are now." She cupped my cheek and wiped my tears. "Little Hana-chan."

I cried one more tear, but this time it was of joy.

So, I know there's a lot of description and emotion going on right here, but it's essential to the story because this girl has never experienced anything outside a cell before. I have to write everything by sound, taste, touch, and smell; no sight whatsoever. There will be romance in later chapters, but right now I'm focusing on her growing into her character. I myself am a big lover of romance so it'll definately be abundant in "Unknown", so don't think every chapters going to be like this one, because it's not.

Thank you An-Angels-Lily and Shadow for your wonderful reviews. I always save all my reviews so know that I do appreciate them.

Read and review please!

~Keirii