~A Flower Amongst Thorns~

Chapter Three

A year or so had gone by since Orochimaru had taken Hana in. The girl had been very shy during the first few months, but she slowly started to warm up to the other people around her. She was actually a very sweet and kind child in spite of her previous surroundings and the horrible treatment that she had endured. However, she stayed close to Orochimaru, often trailing behind him like a second shadow. Many of the other people that worked for Orochimaru didn't really like the fact that the child would follow Orochimaru around the way she did, however they didn't dare say anything. Except for this one woman who would pull the girl aside and scold her, saying that she was being very disrespectful. This action, in turn, would cause Orochimaru to retaliate; he didn't mind the girl being near him, and he didn't appreciate them scolding her for something like this. It wasn't their place to do this, and if she did something that would merit being scolded, then he would take care of it.

It was also around this time that Hana started calling Orochimaru 'Chi-Chi'. It was a cute little nickname, and, oddly enough, Orochimaru actually found the name endearing. However, this also led to Hana being yelled at by the same worker. Again, Orochimaru would step in and defend her, saying that she was just a young child and young children would often do this. He also said that she had trouble pronouncing his name at times. The nickname made it easier and she would grow out of it as she got older.

On this particular day, the two of them were outside in an open area of the forest. Orochimaru had decided to start the girl's training early and they were starting with handling shuriken and kunai properly. The chakra control training would have to wait until a certain issue was resolved. For reasons that Orochimaru didn't quite understand at the moment, Hana's chakra wasn't entirely stable and would burn the child's hands whenever she would try to use it. So, he decided to hold off on teaching her chakra control until he could find a way to help her control it. For now, they would stick to basic weapons training and other basic subjects

A simple target had been set up against a tree and Hana was throwing shuriken at the target. Orochimaru was standing behind her, keeping an eye on her. The child was trying to hit the center of the target and was becoming increasingly frustrated as she kept missing her mark.

"Chi-Chi, I can't hit the middle of the target. Can you help me?" she asked.

Orochimaru nodded and he knelt down beside her.

"Alright, let's see what we can do. Hold your arm out for me." he told her.

Hana did as she was told and she held her arm out towards the target, shuriken in hand. Orochimaru moved her arm so that it was aligned with the center of the target.

"Now, try hitting the target again." he said.

Hana nodded and she threw the shuriken at the target. It hit, but it just barely missed the center. Hana's disappointment was evident on her face.

"I missed again…" she said, defeated.

Orochimaru placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now, there's no reason to get so upset. You're still learning, and these things take time to master. You just need to keep practicing." he told her.

Hana only nodded and responded with a very quiet, "Okay…"

Then, another voice rang out.

"Stop coddling her like that! The only way she'll improve is if you discipline her when she makes a mistake!" it called out.

The source of the voice was a man who was standing a couple of meters away from them. He was tall, with dark green hair and grey eyes. He wore a white lab-coat over his Konoha jonin uniform.

Orochimaru stood to his feet, allowing Hana to hide behind him.

"She is my student and I will use whatever teaching methods that I see fit. Just who are you anyway?" he questioned.

The man stepped towards them and this action caused Hana to hide herself even more. Orochimaru noticed how timid and fearful the child had become, and he had two theories as to why; either she knew the man personally or it was the fact that he was a shinobi from Konoha that frightened her so much.

"My name's Yahiro Takashima. I was in charge of looking after the kid before she ran away. I've spent the last year trying to find her, and now that I have I'm taking her back to Konoha with me." he stated.

Ah, so she did know this man, and it was the same man that had mistreated her so badly while she was under his care. No wonder she was so afraid of him.

Orochimaru knelt down and he pulled the girl close. Hana gripped the front of his kimono tight and huddled against him; her small body was trembling. She was terrified; she was terrified of this man and she didn't want to go anywhere with him. All she wanted was for him to disappear forever.

Orochimaru wasn't going to let him take the girl back to Konoha. The poor child had suffered enough because of him and there was no way that he was going to allow that to happen again. She wasn't going anywhere with Yahiro.

"Hana…" he whispered, his voice quiet enough for only the child to hear.

Hana looked up, not verbally responding to him. She was too afraid to speak.

"Hana, I need you to listen very closely to what I'm about to tell you. When I stand up, get behind me as quickly as possible and then run back inside. Find a place to hide and I'll come and find you when this is all over. Do you understand?" he asked.

Hana gave a quick nod in response. She understood everything that he had told her.

Orochimaru stood to his feet once more, allowing Hana to hide behind him again. The girl waited until he began speaking to Yahiro again and then she started running. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, but she didn't get very far.

A high-pitched scream echoed throughout the forest, catching Orochimaru's attention immediately. He turned around to see Yahiro standing there, holding Hana's arm in a vice-like grip as she desperately tried to get away.

He had tricked them!

When Orochimaru turned around to face the man that he had been speaking to, the man vanished in a puff of smoke.

A shadow clone. Of course.

He turned back to Yahiro, his expression dark and his eyes seemed to almost glow with anger.

"Let her go. Now." he demanded.

Yahiro merely scoffed at Orochimaru's demands.

"You don't have any right to be giving me any orders. This brat is going back to Konoha with me, whether you like it or not." he replied.

Orochimaru reached down and he picked up one of the kunai that lay at his feet. If he wasn't going to let her go willingly, then he would have to force him to.

"It doesn't matter if I have any right. You will release her and I will use force if necessary." Orochimaru told him.

Then, without any warning, Orochimaru charged at the man, kunai in hand. He had the intent to kill and he was more than willing to go through with it. However, before he could manage to land a hit Yahiro vanished right before the kunai could pierce his flesh. Orochimaru skidded to a halt and he looked around frantically for any sign of them, but there were none. They were gone.

Orochimaru gripped the kunai in his hand tighter and he grit his teeth. He couldn't believe that Yahiro had managed to get away. He was angry- no, he was outraged. That little rat had gotten lucky this time, but one thing was for sure, it wasn't going to happen again.

Orochimaru heard fast approaching footsteps and he quickly turned around to face whoever it was. Luckily, it was Setsuna; she must have heard Hana scream and had come out to investigate.

"Orochimaru-sama, what happened? What on earth is going on?" she asked.

He sighed and then flung the kunai at a nearby tree, which frightened Setsuna.

"Hana's been taken. Her former guardian took her and they're on their way back to Konoha as we speak." he explained.

Setsuna gasped in horror. That awful man had taken that poor child back to that hell she had escaped from.

"Oh, my god…What are we going to do?" she asked. She was very concerned with the child's well-being.

Orochimaru took a deep breath and he started walking back towards the hideout. He was going to take the girl back before she was killed by that man.

"We're going to find her and bring her back home. We leave in ten minutes." he stated.

Setsuna gave him a quick "Yes, sir!" and she rushed back into the hideout to prepare.

Orochimaru waited outside of the hideout for Setsuna, going over all of the locations of Konoha's underground tunnels and the entrances to said tunnels and making a mental note of them. Knowing Danzo, he would probably have Yahiro keep the girl locked up somewhere underground. No one would know that she was there, and no one would look for her.

That is…except for him.
He would search for her, and he would find her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Get in there you little shit!"

Yahiro violently shoved Hana into a small cage and he locked the door. He took a couple of steps back and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You gave us a lot of trouble kid. Danzo was on my ass for months after you ran off like that. Now that you're back, we need to figure out what we're going to do with you. So, you're staying in there for now." he said as he was walking out the door.

Once the door had shut and she had been left alone in the dark room, Hana curled up against the back of the cage, pulling her knees up to her chest. She started crying softly, knowing that she would get in trouble if Yahiro were to hear her.

She was all alone, and she was so scared. She didn't know if she was going to live through this or not. From her perspective, she probably wouldn't.

She wanted to go home so badly. She was safe back home and there were people there that actually cared about her. If she could escape from this place she would, but Yahiro made it impossible by locking her in this cage.

All she could do now was wait and hope that someone would save her from this nightmare.