Collide

Chapter 2

"Hana…Hana…wake up, dear. We're home."

Hana opened her eyes slowly, and she carefully observed her surroundings. She couldn't see much. The area around her was dark, with only a few candles to light the way. This wasn't good. Hana was not fond of dark places. At all. She absolutely hated them.

"Orochimaru, it's dark here. W-Where are we?" she asked him.

An amused smile stretched across Orochimaru's face as he ran a hand through the girl's dirty, matted hair.

"This is your new home, dear. You'll be living here with me from now on." he replied.

Orochimaru continued walking down the long hallway, eventually stopping in front of one of the closed doors. He knocked on the door, and, after a moment or two, a woman with long, lavender-colored hair opened the door and stepped out into the hall.

"Ah! G-Good morning, Orochimaru-sama, did you need something?" she asked him.

"Yes, Setsuna, I have a favor to ask of you." he responded.

Orochimaru set Hana down on her feet.

"This is Hana; she will be living here with us from this day forward. Setsuna, I need you to take care of her for a little while; make sure that she gets cleaned up." he said.

Setsuna nodded in response.

"Yes, sir, I'll take care of her." she replied.

Setsuna held her hand out to the girl, and Hana hesitantly took it. She looked back up at Orochimaru with a look in her eyes that begged him not to go.

Orochimaru placed his hand gently on the child's head.

"Don't worry, dear, I'll be back soon. Just stay here with Setsuna for a little while, alright?" he said.

Hana nodded, but she kept silent. Setsuna pulled the girl into the room and she shut the door behind them. Before the door closed, Hana caught a glimpse of Orochimaru walking away.

Setsuna picked Hana up and she carried her into the bathroom. Once they were inside, she set the girl down on the counter.

"Okay, first off, let's get all of that dirt out of your hair." she said.

Hana nodded once again, still not saying a word.

Setsuna smiled at her.

"Alright then, lie down on the counter and I'll start washing your hair, okay?" she told her.

Hana did as she was told and she lay down on the counter with her head facing the sink. Setsuna started running the water, waiting for it to warm up before she started washing the dirt out of the girl's hair. Hana remained completely still as Setsuna washed her hair. She was afraid that Setsuna would get mad at her if she moved even a little bit.

It took a little while for Setsuna to wash all of the dirt out of the child's hair. The dirt had caked up so badly that she really had to work hard to get all of it out. She astonished at how matted and dirty her hair was, and she wondered how on earth someone allowed this to happen. Once she had finally gotten all of the dirt out and all of the mats untangled, she helped Hana sit back up.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, would you mind if I cut your hair a little bit? It's awfully long…" she asked.

"You can…if you want to." Hana replied, quietly.

Setsuna took a pair of scissors out of one of the drawers and then she started to cut the girl's hair. She cut it short so that it stopped just above her shoulders.

"There we go. Your hair is much shorter now and you can see better." Setsuna said.

"Th-Thank you…" Hana replied, her voice still low and quiet.

Setsuna picked the child up and set her back down on her feet. Hana's attention was now on her short hair. It felt nice to have shorter hair; Yahiro didn't care enough to make sure that her hair was kept clean and manageable. Then again, he didn't really care about anything that related to her. Setsuna smiled when she saw this. It seemed like the child was happy about her short hair.

The next thing that needed to be done was to give the child a bath. She was covered in dirt and it really seemed like the last person that had taken care of her didn't care about the child's hygiene.

"Okay kiddo, I think it's time we gave you a bath. I'll get the water started for you and then I'll go find some new clothes for you. You're able to bathe yourself, right?" she asked.

Hana only nodded silently.

Setsuna turned on the tub faucet and she waited with her back turned until Hana had gotten in the tub.

"Alright, I'm going to find you some clean clothes to wear. Just call me when you're ready to get out." she said.

Once again, Hana only nodded silently. Setsuna walked back into the adjoining room while keeping the door about halfway open. She searched through some of her daughter Yomi's old clothed in order to find something for Hana to wear. Some of the clothes looked like they would fit her, but all of them were a little too big. She eventually found some clothes that could possibly fit her, and only a minute or so after, she heard Hana calling for her.

"S-Setsuna-san…I'm ready to get out."

Setsuna walked back into the bathroom, clothes in hand, and after she set them down she grabbed a towel and she helped the girl out of the tub. She wrapped the towel around Hana's frail body and she helped her dry off before handing the girl her new clothes.

"These used to be my daughter's, so they may be a little big for you. They'll have to do until we can get you some clothes of your own." she said.

"I understand…"

Setsuna turned around so the girl could dress herself. Once she had finished, she tugged on Setsuna's sleeve to let her know. Setsuna turned around and she gave the girl a warm smile.

"There we go, you're all cleaned up now. Do you feel any better?" she asked.

"Y-Yes, ma'am, I do…" the child replied.

"That's good to hear. Now, let's go and find Orochimaru-sama." Setsuna stated.

Hana lowered her head and a quiet whine escaped her throat.

"Hm? Hana, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Setsuna asked her, kneeling down so that she was nearly at eye level with the child.

Hana covered her stomach with her small arms and she looked back up.

"I-I'm really hungry." she answered.

Setsuna stood back up.

"Well then, let's go and find something for you to eat, okay?" she asked, holding her hand out to the girl.

Hana nodded and she took Setsuna's hand. Setsuna led her out of the room and through the halls to a small kitchen. She sat Hana down at the small table and then got to work on making something for the girl to eat. Hana sat there quietly, looking down and swinging her tiny legs back and forth. Once everything was finished, Setsuna set a plate of onigiri and a bowl of miso soup in front of the girl. Hana's eyes lit up at the sight of all of the food. She hadn't seen this much food in such a long time, and she was really hungry.

Almost immediately, Hana grabbed the bowl of soup and she gulped it down pretty quickly. She grabbed one of the rice balls next and she gobbled it down pretty quickly, too. Setsuna was amazed at how fast the child was eating. It was as if she hadn't been fed in a while; at least a few days.

"Hana, please slow down. You're going to choke if you keep eating so fast." she said.

Hana stopped and she swallowed the mouthful of rice.

"I-I'm sorry. I haven't eaten for a long time, and I'm really hungry…"

Setsuna's eyes went wide in shock when she heard this; it seemed as though her assumptions were correct. She was about to respond to this, but another person beat her to it.

"I see; so the abuse went further than just the beatings and isolation. How awful…"

Both Setsuna and Hana looked up to see Orochimaru standing in the entryway. Setsuna immediately stood up and gave a low bow.

"Setsuna, you may take your leave now. I can handle everything from here." he said.

Setsuna gave a quick nod and she walked hurriedly out of the kitchen. Once she had left, Orochimaru sat down in the chair across from Hana. The two of them stayed quiet until Hana had finished eating the rice ball in her hands.

"Well, are you feeling any better now Hana?" he asked her.

Hana nodded silently and she picked up another rice ball and she took a bite.

"I see, that's good to hear. Now, I need to ask you a few questions about your time in Konoha. I know that you might not want to talk about this, but try to tell me as much as you can, alright?"

Hana froze. She didn't want to talk about that; not at all. Why did he want to know about all of that? She didn't understand. But, maybe if she told him, he could help keep those people away from her. Maybe he could keep her safe.

"O-Okay…I'll tell you." she answered.

Orochimaru gave her a soft smile.

"Thank you, dear. Now, just take your time; there's no rush." he said.

Again, there was silence for a minute or two before Hana spoke again. Her voice was shaky and sounded even more timid and shy than it had been before.

"I hated it there. Yahiro was really mean to me; he would hit me a lot and he would make me stay in a dark room all by myself. He wouldn't let me eat anything sometimes too. He a-also made me be part of his e-ex-experiments. He would stick needles in my arms and if I cried, he would hit me even more. There was also an old man with a cane. He wasn't there a lot, but he was mean to me too. He would hit me with his cane if I was crying or if I talked back…" she told him.

Orochimaru listened closely to the child's story. The poor thing had gone through so much in her short life and it was no wonder that she was so timid around people. He had an idea as to who the old man with the cane was. It was probably Danzo; hell, he was positive that it was Danzo. He wouldn't put it past him to do something like this.

Orochimaru was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the child sniffling. He looked up and he saw her crying. This was hard for her to do, and she didn't want to relive the nightmare that she had escaped from.

"I-I don't want to go back! They'll kill me if I go back! I'm scared; I don't want to die!" she cried.

Orochimaru went over to the girl and he knelt beside her. He placed a hand on her cheek and he wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"Hana, everything is going to be alright. I'm not going to let them kill you; I'm won't even let them come near you. You're safe here. Do you understand?" he asked her.

Hana nodded and she rubbed at her eyes to make the tears go away. Then, with no warning at all, Hana flung herself into Orochimaru's arms. She buried her face in the man's shoulder and she continued to sob. Orochimaru was definitely taken aback by this, but he wrapped his arms around the girl and held her as she cried. He got up off of the ground and he sat back in the chair and he waited for the girl to cry herself out. It took some time, but her cries eventually began to die down and became soft whimpers. Soon after that, they stopped altogether. She had actually cried herself to sleep.

When Orochimaru noticed that the child had fallen asleep, he sighed and he stood back up. He carried the child through the darkened halls and to a room that he had set up for her. He carefully laid her down, making sure that her head was actually on the pillow, and he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. He left the room silently, leaving the door open just enough to let a little bit of light enter the room. Her room wasn't far from his own, so she wouldn't have to go far if she went looking for him. If she called for him, he would be able to hear her.

He still had many more questions that he wanted to ask her. However, he would ask those questions later. Right now, the child needed to sleep. She had already been through enough today.