~A Flower Amongst Thorns~

Chapter Four

A day had passed before Orochimaru and Setsuna arrived on the outskirts of Konoha. Once they were there they immediately began to search for an entrance to the underground tunnels. Using Orochimaru's knowledge of the area, they searched the perimeter until they happened across a rusted iron door that had been attached to a rock face. Going off of a shared hunch, they opened they rusted door and entered into the tunnels.

The tunnels were dark and eerily quiet; there wasn't a soul to be seen or heard. The only sounds that could be heard were the echoing of their footsteps against the stone floors. As they ventured deeper into the complex, they came across a room that was, strangely, lit. They were careful upon entering, as to not trigger any sort of trap; however the room didn't seem to be rigged. On one side of the room there was a desk, and on that desk were a small key and a file. Thinking that it would be useful later on, Orochimaru took the key. He picked up the file next, out of curiosity, and he was shocked at what was written inside. The information that had been written down and stored in this file was about Hana; everything from date of birth to blood type had been recorded. He handed the file to Setsuna, ordering her to hold on to it.

They continued on until they reached another iron door at the very end of the corridor. As it was the only door left in this corridor, they had no choice but to check inside the room. Orochimaru opened the door and he stepped inside. Although there was no source of light, he could see that the only object in the room was a small cage located in the center of the room. In order to see what could possibly be inside he knelt down in front of the cage. Inside was the trembling form of a small child curled up against the back wall. He knew that it was her.

"Hana…" he whispered, attempting to draw the girl's attention towards him.

The child slowly lifted her head to see who had called her name and when she saw Orochimaru her eyes lit up.

"Chi-Chi…!"

She hurriedly crawled to the front of the cage and she reached her hand through the space between the bars. Orochimaru took the child's hand in his own and held it tight.

"You really came looking for me…" she said.

"Of course I did. Did you really think that I would just leave you here?" he asked her.

In all honesty she had started to believe that no one would come looking for her. Yahiro had left her in here all alone and no one had come through the door until now. But she was happy that Orochimaru had found her. Now she could go home.

"Hana, I'm going to try and open the door. I need you to back up a little bit." he told her.

Hana nodded and she moved back so that he could open the door. Orochimaru took the key that he had found and inserted it into the lock. He turned it and when he heard it click, he pulled the door open. Once the door was open, Hana rushed out and she threw her arms around Orochimaru's neck and she hugged him tight. Orochimaru held the child close as she cried into his shoulder.

"There, there, little one. You're safe now; we're going home." he whispered.

"I don't think so." another voice replied.

Orochimaru glanced over his shoulder only to see Yahiro and two ANBU standing in front of the door. He sighed in irritation; this little rat just wouldn't give up.

"You are a persistent one, aren't you? While I do find your persistence impressive, it is really beginning to irritate me. This child does not belong here. I am taking her home, and you will not stop me." he stated.

Yahiro laughed at him; he wasn't taking anything that Orochimaru had said seriously.

"Hah! You really think that you'll be able to save the little brat? That's highly unlikely. You may be one of the Legendary Sannin, but you won't be able to stand against me!" he replied.

Was Yahiro really that stupid? He knew of Orochimaru's status as one of the Legendary Sannin, and yet he claimed that Orochimaru wouldn't be able to stand against him. It was laughable. It seemed as though he would have to show Yahiro just how wrong he was.

"Hana, go stand with Setsuna and cover your eyes. You don't need to see what's about to happen." he ordered.

Hana did as she was told and she ran over to Setsuna. Setsuna picked the child up and she made sure that she couldn't see what was about to happen. In all honesty, Setsuna herself didn't want to witness this either; she knew that it was going to be brutal.

Orochimaru stood to his feet and turned to face Yahiro and the other two.

"You're quite the cocky one, you know. Although, perhaps a bit too cocky. Your hubris and overconfidence in your own abilities will be your undoing." he said.

Without another word, Orochimaru lunged at the three men. He managed to take one of the ANBU's weapons and he effortlessly slaughtered the two masked men. As the men's bodies hit the floor, Orochimaru began to slowly approach Yahiro; agonizingly slowly. The man's true colors began to show as he backed away and into a corner. He was nothing but a coward. A coward with an over-inflated ego.

Orochimaru punched Yahiro in the gut and as he went down, Orochimaru hit the back of his neck which effectively knocked him out. Once the deed had been done, Orochimaru turned back to Setsuna.

"We need to leave. Now." he ordered.

The two of them, with Hana in tow, rushed out of the underground complex and into the surrounding forest. They had to make it across the Land of Fire's border with the land directly northeast of Konoha. Once they had made it across the border, they would be safe and out of Konoha's reach.

They stopped to rest on the outskirts of a small town. This gave them an opportunity to check and see if Hana had sustained any sort of injuries. Unfortunately, she had been injured.

Setsuna called Orochimaru over to the tree stump where the child was sitting. She moved over so that Orochimaru could see the large bruises on Hana's face and left arm. Orochimaru was honestly shocked at the sight of the bruise on Hana's face. He also noticed a bit of dried blood under her nose. Yahiro must have slapped her hard enough to cause her nose to bleed. Orochimaru calmly told Setsuna to take care of the child's injuries and he stepped away in order to cool off; he was very upset.

Setsuna gently took the girl's hand and held her arm out. She held her other hand over the injury and her hand began to glow a pale green with healing chakra. Hana watched, with eyes wide in amazement, as the bruise vanished. Once it was gone, Setsuna moved to the bruise on her cheek.

"Is Chi-Chi mad at me?" Hana asked, breaking the silence.

Setsuna shook her head no.

"No, he's not mad at you. He's mad at Yahiro for hurting you the way he did." she replied.

Hana looked over to where Orochimaru was standing. Even though none of this was her fault, she still felt terrible. She hopped down from the tree stump she had been sitting on and she walked over to him. She reached up and tugged on his sleeve, which caught his attention.

He knelt down so that he was at eye-level with the child.

"What's the matter, little one? Is something wrong?" he asked.

Hana, without saying a word, wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and hugged him.

"I'm sorry Chi-Chi…" she said.

"Sorry? For what? You haven't done anything wrong dear." he replied.

Hana let go and she took a step back. She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

"I did what you said, but Yahiro caught me. I didn't run fast enough…" she sobbed.

Orochimaru placed his hands on the child's shoulders.

"Hana, listen to me. None of this was your fault. Yahiro tricked us both; it's his fault, not yours." he told her.

Hana nodded and she continued to rub at her eyes. Orochimaru took a moment to think of a way to cheer her up. Maybe they could find something in the town.

"I have an idea; how about we go into town and see if we can find something for you to eat. I'm sure you must be hungry." he said.

Hana merely nodded in response.

Orochimaru stood up and he took the child's hand in his own. They started walking towards the entrance to the town, only stopping for a moment to tell Setsuna where they were going.

"Alright, but I would recommend that you change your appearance before you go, Orochimaru-sama. You don't know who might be watching." she warned.

"Yes, I know. I was just about to take care of that." he replied.

Orochimaru made a quick hand-sign and his appearance began to change. He took on the appearance of a man in his early thirties with mid-length brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone who saw them would simply think that he was a father walking with his daughter. No one would ever suspect it was him in disguise.

Once they had entered the town, Orochimaru looked down at the child who held his hand tight.

"Stay close to me; don't go wandering off."

"Ok…"

They walked along the towns somewhat crowded streets until they stumbled upon a little shop that sold mochi. They stopped there and he bought some mochi for the girl, who waved and said 'thank you' to the shop keeper as they made their way back to the main street. As they were walking back towards the entrance of the town, something caught Hana's attention and she stopped in her tracks. Orochimaru stopped as well and he turned to see what had caught the girl's eye.

There, in the window of a small shop, was a plush doll in the form of a snake. Orochimaru couldn't help but smile at the irony of the moment. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to buy the doll for her.

"I'll buy the doll for you if you really want it, Hana." he said.

Hana smiled brightly and she nodded.

Orochimaru told her to wait outside for him and he walked into the shop, returning a few minutes later with the doll in hand. He handed the doll to Hana, who took it and hugged it tight.

"Thank you, Chi-Chi!" she said happily.

"Think nothing of it dear. Now, I think it's about time for us to start heading home." he replied.

They made their way out of the town and met up with Setsuna again. Once Orochimaru's appearance had gone back to normal the three continued on their journey back to the hideout. About an hour into the journey, Hana started to lag behind; she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. So, Orochimaru picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.

When they finally arrived, night had already fallen and Hana was already fast asleep. Orochimaru handed the child over to Setsuna so that she could put the child to bed. In the meantime, he would look over the file that they had found while scouring the tunnels. This was definitely the file that Danzo kept about the girl; whatever information that this folder contained would surely be important in the long-run. He could only hope that it would help, rather than hurt.