~A Flower Amongst Thorns~

Chapter Five: Stranger Like Me

Three months had gone by since the kidnapping incident had occurred. During this time, the group was forced to relocate to another hideout due to the fact that Yahiro knew of their location and he could have possibly leaked that information to Danzo and some of Konoha's higher ups. So, Orochimaru had the group move from the mainland and to the Land of Water. This temporary hideout was located near the coast and a safe distance away from Kirigakure. They wouldn't be staying there for very long; it was only until the manhunt died down and they could move to the hideout in the Land of Rice Fields.

The move wasn't easy for Hana. She didn't want to leave and she protested multiple times. During the boat ride there, Hana became ill, which made the trip an even worse experience for her. She was sick for a few more days after they had arrived and Orochimaru attributed her illness to the stress of the move and the sudden change in environment.

Despite this hideout only being meant for a temporary stay, they ended up staying there for almost two whole years. The manhunt that had been orchestrated by Danzo was still ongoing and they couldn't return to the mainland until it had died down. Knowing of Konoha's strained relationship with Kirigakure, Orochimaru thought that it would be best for them to remain in the Land of Water until it was safe to return to the mainland. Despite not wanting to be there at first, Hana got used to her new surroundings over time. Still, she found the land rather gloomy due to the mist that constantly covered the land.

One day, during the second year of their stay, Orochimaru informed both Hana and Setsuna that he would be gone for a few days. Hana asked if she could go with him, but he said no and this upset the nine-year-old very much. So during the time he was gone, Hana sat around and waited for him to return.

After about five days, he finally returned home. When Hana was told that he was on his way home, she rushed outside to greet him. Setsuna, not wanting the child to wander around outside on her own, waited with her. Hana was very impatient and she couldn't stop pacing around and fidgeting. When she saw Orochimaru approaching in the distance Hana took off running towards him.

"Orochimaru!"

When Orochimaru saw the girl running towards him, he smiled and he held his arms out to catch the girl when nearly tackled him into a hug.

"Welcome home!" she told him.

"Thank you, dear. I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome."

Hana looked up to him and she smiled brightly.

"I really missed you. Where did you go?" she questioned.

Orochimaru placed a gentle hand on the girl's head and ruffled her hair a bit.

"You are a curious one, aren't you? However, I'm afraid that I can't tell you where I've been." he answered.

Hana's smile disappeared and she started to pout.

"Aww…but why not?" she whined.

"Now let's not start whining, alright? You don't need to know where I've been. Do you understand?" he stated.

Hana frowned and she looked down to the ground. Now she felt bad; she didn't mean to pester him about where he had gone. She was just curious. But, maybe it was best that she didn't question him about it any further. It would only upset him more if she kept asking.

"I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

"It's alright dear. I understand that you're curious, but there are some things that I can't tell you. This is for your own good, do you understand?" he asked.

Hana only gave a quiet nod as her answer.

Orochimaru smiled and he gave the girl a pat on the head.

"Good girl. Now then, there's someone here that I want to introduce you to," he said, turning his head to face someone else, "Kimimaro, would you come here for a moment?"

He had brought someone with him? Who was it?

Hana leaned to the side to try and get a good view of whoever it was. It was a boy who looked like he was around her age, maybe even a year or so younger than she was. Honestly it was hard to tell since they were around the same height. His hair was white and it was just about as long as Hana's and his eyes were a vivid deep green. There was something about this boy that just resonated with Hana, but she couldn't understand why. It was strange to her.

"Hana, this is Kimimaro. He will be staying with us from here on out. I hope that the two of you can get along." Orochimaru told her.

Kimimaro bowed politely to Hana.

"It's nice to meet you." he said.

Hana repeated the gesture, bowing as well.

"It's nice to meet you too." she replied.

Orochimaru was very impressed by the way things were going so far. The two of them seemed to be getting along fairly well so far, and hopefully it would remain that way. Only time would tell if this would actually last or not.

Later on that day, sometime during the evening, Hana was sitting alone in her room. She was sitting at her desk and reading over some of the scrolls that Orochimaru had given her to study. But now she was getting bored and was now starting to doze off.

"Why do I have to read all these scrolls? It's so boring; I wish I could go outside and actually practice…" she thought.

She sighed and she continued reading until she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Come in." she called, not looking up from the scroll she was reading.

The door opened and Kimimaro walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Hana-san, are you busy right now?" he asked.

Hana looked up from her scroll and looked over to him.

"No, I'm not busy. What's up?" she answered.

She jumped down from her chair and she walked over to Kimimaro. She smiled, which put the boy at ease.

"Well, Orochimaru-sama wanted me to come and talk to you. I wanted to wait until you weren't busy." he said.

"You wanted to talk to me? Sure! I don't mind at all!" Hana replied.

She sat down on her bed and she motioned for Kimimaro to sit down beside her; and he did.

"So what do you want to talk about?" she asked him.

"Orochimaru-sama said that we've shared similar life experiences. I want to know what happened to you." he answered.

Hana's eyes widened in shock; it had been a long time since anyone had asked her about that and it really surprised her when Kimimaro asked. Honestly she didn't want to talk about it; it made her very uncomfortable. But…maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to Kimimaro about it. Maybe…Maybe he would understand.

"I…" she paused for a moment to swallow the lump in her throat, "I lived in Konoha before Orochimaru found me. The person that was supposed to take care of me kept me locked up and he would beat me if I did something that he didn't like…or if he was drunk. He also used me in his experiments and they ended up damaging my chakra network. I overheard him and someone else saying that they were gonna kill me, so I ran away. Orochimaru found me after that and he's taken care of me ever since."

Kimimaro listened to her story closely and he was surprised to hear that she had been locked away too. But she had been locked up for a completely different reason than he had.

"You've lived a hard life, Hana-san, and I'm sorry to hear that you suffered so much. What you went through…it must have been horrible." he whispered.

Hana wiped away the tears that had begun to fall. She knew that she would cry if she started talking about this again; it always happened.

"It was…It was horrible. I hate that stupid village and I hope it burns to the ground!" she cried. Her voice was filled with anger and hatred.

Her anger was understandable and very much justified; she had every right to be angry at the people who had wronged her. Kimimaro could sympathize with her.

"I understand how you feel." he told her.

"Y-You do…?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do. My clan kept me locked away too. But…it was for a different reason." he replied.

Hana's curiosity and her concern for the boy grew even more. What had happened to him? Why did his clan keep him locked up?

"What happened?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

Kimimaro hesitated for a moment before he spoke. Much like Hana had been, he wasn't all that comfortable discussing this topic. But since Hana had told him of her experience he thought that would be appropriate to tell his as well.

"My clan feared me; they saw me as a monster. Our kekkei genkai was only inherited by certain people in our clan, and I was one of them. Because of that, the head of our clan feared me and kept me locked away. They would only let me out if they wanted me to fight. I was alone too…" he explained.

Hana stayed quiet for a while, thinking over what Kimimaro had said to her. It seemed that Orochimaru was indeed correct; the two of them had gone through very similar experiences when they were younger. Their origins were different but they both had ended up in the same place. But they didn't have to worry about any of that anymore; they had both found a place where they could both be free.

"We don't have to worry about being locked up anymore. Orochimaru won't let that happen to us again." she said.

Kimimaro couldn't help but smile. She was right; what happened to them would never, ever happen again.

"Yeah, you're right. We're free now; no one will ever lock us away ever again." he replied.

Hana smiled back; she had returned to her normal, happy self. The two of them continued to talk for a couple of hours until Hana asked Kimimaro about his kekkei genkai.

"Hey, Kimimaro, you said that you had a kekkei genkai, right?"

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well…I was wondering if you could show it to me sometime. Maybe during training?"

Kimimaro thought about it for a moment and then nodded in approval.

"Sure! When we start training together I'll show you the abilities that I have."

Hana was very excited now. She had been reading about the kekkei genkai of some of the prominent shinobi clans and she was very curious about Kimimaro's kekkei genkai. Honestly she thought that it was very cool that he had inherited one.

They continued to talk until Hana began to grow tired. It was getting late and she really needed to rest; she had a taijutsu training session the next morning and she didn't need to be tired. So after wrapping up their conversation and saying goodnight, Kimimaro left and returned to his own room. The two of them had only known each other for a few hours but they were getting along very well. They were becoming fast friends and it seemed to be doing them both some good. After all that they had gone through they both needed someone to support them and it seemed like they had found that person.

After being alone for the past few years, Hana finally had a chance to make a new friend and she hoped that their friendship would last.