~A Flower Amongst Thorns~

Chapter Six: Truth Revealed

As another year passed the group departed from the Land of Water and moved on to the next hideout. However, instead of being located on the mainland, this one was on an island of its own. Hana wasn't exactly thrilled about being on an island, as she was very much looking forward to going back to the mainland. She had grown tired of being around water for so long and being stuck on an island for who knows how long sounded far from appealing. As she had done before, she pouted and complained but went along with it anyway.

The new hideout was a bit different from the last one; this one was actually above ground…for the most part. There was an area that was located underground. Hana was curious about it for a little while but she became disinterested rather quickly. Most of her time was spent studying and training with Kimimaro. Everything was actually pretty normal and it was starting to get kind of boring. The same old routine can become rather tedious after some time. That is until someone new joined their group. It was a young, silver-haired teenager named Kabuto and, according to what Orochimaru had told her, he had been hurt by Danzo too. It took the two of them awhile to warm up to each other, but they eventually started to get along very well.

During this time, Orochimaru was researching ways to correct the damage that had been done to Hana's chakra network. He observed the effects of the damage and hypothesized that whenever she would use a jutsu or simply just concentrate her chakra an excess amount would build up and be released. In return, the excess chakra would burn her hands. Understandably, Orochimaru was concerned that the damage would become worse over time and would become irreparable. So Orochimaru began developing a pair of specially made gloves that would aid Hana in controlling the amount of chakra that she would be able to use. It would take some time to fully perfect it, but he had managed to finish a prototype set. However they still required routine testing. Hana agreed to take part in testing the gloves since they were being created to help her.

However, on this particular day, things didn't go exactly as planned.

Kabuto had been sent to fetch Hana and bring her to the exam room for another round of testing the gloves. Sadly, Kabuto wasn't given very clear instructions and he ended up leading her downstairs…towards the laboratory. Kabuto was not aware of Hana's past experiences with this type of environment, so he wasn't prepared for what was going to happen.

As he opened the door, the strong smell of disinfectant invaded the girl's senses. Hana recognized that overpowering scent and her whole body went cold. When she saw what was beyond that door it felt as if everything, even time itself had stopped completely. Memories came flooding back to her; memories that she had been trying so hard to suppress for so long.

"No…"

Hana began to back away slowly, and this caught Kabuto's attention. He was confused as to why she was acting this way; everything was fine just a moment ago. What on earth was going on?

Kabuto placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to flinch.

"Hana, what's wrong?" he asked.

She didn't say anything in response to his question. She didn't know what to say and she was honestly too terrified to speak. She only stood there, trembling violently. Kabuto thought that this was a normal reaction; it was normal for children to be scared of medical exams, right?

"Hana, come on. We have to go inside."

"NO!"

Hana shouted and then she violently shoved Kabuto away from her and Kabuto hit the wall opposite her. Hana backed up against the wall behind her, holding her head in her hands and repeating the word 'no' over and over again; she started to cry. Now Kabuto was very concerned. This was not ordinary fear; this was absolute terror.

He stood to his feet and he walked back to her. But when he touched her shoulder again, she shoved him away. When he hit the ground Hana took off running. She stumbled going up the stairs and into the corridor and she kept running until she made it to her room. Once she was inside she slammed the door shut behind her and she ran straight to her closet, only stopping to grab her plushie snake off the bed. She shut herself inside the closet and she pressed herself against the wall and she continued to cry.

She wasn't coming out for a very long time.

Orochimaru began to grow concerned when Hana didn't arrive at the exam room. After waiting for a little while longer, he went out to search for the child. As he rounded a corner, he ran into Kabuto but Hana was nowhere to be seen.

"Kabuto," he began, "Where is Hana? She was supposed to be with you, correct?"

Kabuto nodded.

"Yes, sir, she was. But…something happened." he replied.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at this.

"Go ahead and tell me what happened. We need to know what happened so we can start looking for her." he said.

Kabuto sighed and he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I took her down to the lab like I was told. When I told her that she had to go inside, she got scared and she ran off. I've been looking for her for a while now but I can't seem to find her anywhere." he explained.

"I see…"

Ah, so that's what happened. The poor girl had seen the laboratory which was something that he had been dreading for a long time now. Poor Kabuto had not been told of Hana's past experiences of being a human test subject for someone else's experiments before he had found her. Orochimaru didn't blame Kabuto for what happened; it wasn't his fault. He had been given unclear instructions. Now that he knew what happened he could start looking for her; and he had an idea as to where she was hiding.

He continued down the corridor and made his way to the girl's room. He had a very strong hunch that Hana was currently hiding in her closet. She had made it a habit to hide away in her closet whenever she was scared or just wanted to be alone. She had even put a blanket and a couple of pillows in there just in case she fell asleep while she was hiding. If she were hiding anywhere in the hideout, it would most definitely be in there.

He knocked on the door before going inside, calling the girl's name in order to catch her attention. However he received no response. He walked into the room and while there didn't seem to be any sign of the child, he could hear soft crying coming from the closet. As he had thought; the child had hidden herself away in the closet after what had happened earlier.

He walked over to the closet and he knocked on the door.

"Hana? Hana, dear, you need to come out now." he told her.

"G-Go away…" was the muffled reply he received.

This wasn't good; normally Hana would do as she was told and she would rarely argue with him. But now she was outright refusing to leave her hiding place and had told him to go away. She had clearly been shaken up very badly.

Orochimaru pulled back the sliding door to the closet and he looked inside. He saw Hana huddled against the wall with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and clutching her doll tight. He knelt down to her level and he moved into the small space as much as he could. He wasn't going away.

"I'm not going anywhere Hana. I need to know what upset you so badly and I'm going to stay right here until you tell me." he told her.

Orochimaru already had a general idea as to why she had done this but he wanted to hear her side of the story. He would probably have to wait some time before she would be willing to speak though; Hana was stubborn and wouldn't talk if she didn't want to. So he sat there in silence, with the sound of the girl's quiet sobbing being the only sound in the room.

"Why…?"

A quiet voice broke the silence.

"Wh-Why do you have a l-laboratory here? Why do you have a lab a-at all?" Hana asked.

Ah, this was going to be difficult to explain. Orochimaru was performing experiments of his own but he could tell Hana that. There was no telling what she would do if she ever found out. He had already gained the girl's trust and he saw her as a very valuable asset; she was also a very good student and, really, an overall good child. Losing her would be terrible.

In the end he decided to tell her the truth. She would end up learning the truth eventually and he decided to be the one that told her. Her reaction was what he feared, but it was a risk that he was willing to take.

"I think it's time that I told you the truth." he said.

Orochimaru took a deep breath and he sighed. He had to prepare himself mentally as he didn't know how the child would react to hearing this news. But she had every right to know, and he wasn't going to keep it a secret from her anymore.

"I've been conducting experiments of my own." he stated.

Hana's head jerked up and she started at him with eyes that were wide with shock.

"You have…? B-But…why?" she stammered.

"Well, to put it simply dear, I've spent the past few years creating new jutsu and researching immortality." he replied.

At least his reasons for the experimentation were different than Yahiro's; that did come as a relief to Hana. But there was still one question on her mind and it was a very important one.

"Do you…use humans in your experiments?" she questioned.

Orochimaru hesitated for a moment before he answered her question. He actually debated on whether or not he should lie to her or not, but he knew that she would find out later on. Despite it being an incredibly loaded question, he gave her the answer.

"Yes…I have." he answered.

Hana was absolutely shocked and horrified by this revelation. How had she not known about this? Why hadn't she been told about any of this?

She didn't understand.

Orochimaru could see just how upset Hana had become upon hearing the news. He knew that she must have been very confused, scared, and angry. After all that she had been through, she believed that she had escaped from it all. In reality, he had been keeping his activities a secret from her and he had lied to her.

"I understand that you're very upset. The only reason that I kept this from you was to keep you safe. I was afraid of what would happen if you found out." he explained.

There was a short pause before Orochimaru spoke again.

"However…I do understand if you do not wish to stay here any longer. If you wish to leave and get away from all of this, then I will not stand in your way." he continued.

Hana stayed quiet for a few minutes, thinking over what he had just told her. She was mad at him for lying to her for so long and for keeping something like this a secret from her. She should've known; he should have told her.

But…what would she do now? She couldn't leave and go somewhere else; she didn't have anywhere else to go. Also…she didn't want to leave. These people were her family and they were all she had. She didn't want to leave them. She couldn't leave them.

She had to stay.

"Where would I go if I left? I don't know where my parents are, or if they're even alive. Even if they are alive, I don't know if they want me or not." she whispered.

Hana's words were somber and the sadness in her voice was heartbreaking. The poor child seemingly had no family and if she did there was no guarantee that they gave her up willingly. Not even Orochimaru knew this information. There was no information on the child's origins to be found. Any information had been blacked out and hidden away.

"Then…will you stay?" he asked.

Hana looked down for a moment and then she looked back up, nodding.

"I'll stay. This is the only home I have, so why should I leave?" she answered.

Orochimaru smiled; the girl had made a very wise decision. She was much safer here than she would be in some orphanage. There was always a chance that Yahiro would find her again. This place was her home; her safe haven.

"I'm glad that you've decided to stay. You have nothing to be afraid of, Hana. You're safe here." he told her.

Hana did feel a bit better now, however she still had one question on her mind that she felt needed to be asked.

"You won't use me in your experiments, will you?" she asked.

Orochimaru shook his head.

"No little one, I won't."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

Hana was very happy to hear this. She believed that Orochimaru wouldn't use her like Yahiro did, and she really did trust him. Her trust did waver today, but she still believed him.

She was still so innocent and naïve.

It took some time for Hana to muster up enough courage to emerge from her hiding place. Once she had decided to leave, she went looking around for Kabuto so that she could apologize for shoving him.

Hana's behavior changed after that day. Unless she had to train or test out her gloves, she would spend most of her time alone in her room. She would try her best to avoid the stairs that led down to the laboratory. The event had left her very shaken and she never went back there again.

Hana would never be comfortable with Orochimaru's experiments. No matter how much she wanted to fight and no matter how much she wanted to protest, she knew that it wouldn't do any good. All she could do was stand aside and let Orochimaru do as he wanted. There was nothing that she could do.

Now that she knew the truth, she would never see Orochimaru the same way ever again…