Chapter Fifteen: Cornered

Hana sat motionless on the riverbank. She was frozen; her body remained still while her brain screamed at her to get up and run. Her heart was beating loud and fast; it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She didn't want to turn around, but her body moved on its own. She turned her head to catch a glimpse of the person approaching her.

Out of the brush stepped three ninja from Takigakure. Hana felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw them; were these the guys Asuka had seen?

She was praying that they weren't. But luck didn't seem to be on her side.

"Looks like we found her, boss."

"Yeah. Took her long enough to separate from her teammates."

So these were the guys that were staring at her the day before, and they must have been the ones that had been watching her and her group. This was bad; this was very, very bad. She had to get out of here quick.

"Wh-Who are you? What do you want?" she asked nervously.

The taller man laughed, amused at how nervous she was. He was happy that his target was scared; it made things much more interesting.

"I guess we should tell you. It's only fair that we do." he said.

The leader of the group stepped towards Hana, putting her on edge even more. She didn't want any of them getting close to her. He was a couple of yards away from her when he stopped.

"We're not actually here for the chunin exams. We're part of an underground organization that supplies wealthy individuals, such as feudal lords, with servants and...other hired help."

It took a moment for Hana to realize who these people were. They were traffickers.

"What does any of this have to do with me?" she questioned.

The man smirked and it sent chills down Hana's spine. His smirk wasn't confident or cocky, but malicious and sinister.

"One of our clients is looking for a young lady to serve as...a lady-in-waiting for his oldest daughter. He gave certain criteria for us to follow, and you match every single category." he replied.

That was a lie, and Hana knew it. Why would a nobleman hire an underground organization to find a lady-in-waiting for his daughter? Wouldn't it be easier to just send a message to different villages saying that he was looking for someone to fill the position? It didn't make sense, and when Hana realized what their client was really after, all of the color drained from her face.

"Now, don't make a fuss. It'll be easier for everyone if you come along quietly." he said, walking closer.

He reached out his hand to touch her shoulder, but Hana slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted.

The man scowled. He hadn't expected her to try and put up a fight. If she kept resisting they would have to use force.

Hana backed away and reached for the hilt of her wakizashi, only to find that she didn't have it with her. She had left it at camp!

"Shit!"

She was unarmed, save for the few kunai in the bag attached to her waist. If she couldn't find something to use against them, she was screwed. She fumbled around in her bag as the man slowly drew closer. A kunai wasn't going to cut it; she couldn't engage them directly. She was far outnumbered and, most likely, outclassed. She had to make a break for it and get back to her teammates.

Her eyes widened for a moment when her hand brushed against something round in the bag. After fumbling around a moment more, she realized they were smoke bombs.

Yes! She found her escape method!

The man glared at her; he was angry with her for making his job more difficult than it should be.

"Resisting won't help you; you'll only get yourself hurt. Our client doesn't want us to deliver damaged goods." he stated.

Hana took another step back.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." she replied.

She pulled the smoke bombs from the bag and threw them, all three detonating upon making contact with the ground. Hana used the thick smokescreen to make her escape and she made a beeline for the trees. She kept running as fast as she could, only stopping for a moment to catch her breath. That's when she heard the men shouting.

"Spread out and search for her! If we don't find her, we don't get paid!"

"She couldn't have gotten too far! Make sure to search the underbrush; she could be hiding there!"

She had to keep running. She couldn't let them catch her!

So, she did just that. Hana ran through the thick brush, hoping that the low hanging branches, brambles, large stones and exposed roots would be enough to keep them far enough away so she could get back to her teammates safely.

But it soon became difficult for her to breathe due to her running and panicking. By now she was wheezing and was about to pass out. Against her better judgement, she hid in the hollow section of a large tree; someone had hollowed it out years before. She sat there for a few minutes, huddled against the very back and trying to catch her breath. When she heard a noise, no matter how small, she flinched. She was terrified of being found.

She finally calmed down after a few minutes, thinking that she was safe and could continue running. But first she looked out from the hole in the tree and observed her surroundings; she didn't see or hear anything. It seemed like she had lost them.

"Phew...looks like I lost 'em. That was close." she said.

Her blood ran cold when she heard a voice coming from behind her.

"Heheheheh...not close enough!"

She whipped her head around and saw one of the men emerging from the wall of the hollowed out tree. Then, it dawned on her that he had been there the entire time she had been hiding.

She screamed bloody murder as she tried to escape from the man. But he used the chain on his kusari-gama to trip her and drag her back towards him. Desperate, she dug in her bag a pulled out a kunai. But, even though she was ready to fight back, she still kept struggling to escape. She clawed at the ground and grabbed hold of an exposed root, but he was stronger. He grabbed hold of her ponytail, causing her to wince.

The man laughed at her.

"What are you going to do now, little rabbit? You can't run anymore!" he laughed.

No, she couldn't run, but she could do something else. Hana gripped the kunai in her hand and then she rammed the blade into the man's eye.

The man screamed in agony as the blade pierced his eye. His grip on Hana's hair loosened and he released her as he made desperate attempts to pull the knife out, splattering blood everywhere.

"You little bitch! What the fuck did you do to me?!" he shouted.

Hana didn't respond. She just...stood there, shocked at what she had done. Then, to her horror, the man yanked the knife free from his eye socket, taking the eyeball with it. The sight made her nauseous, but fear soon overtook the nausea and she took off running once more. She knew that her now half-blind attacker would pursue her once he had gotten his bearings.

As she ran, she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. The sudden pain caused her to stumble and hit the ground rolling down the embankment. When she stopped, she looked down at her injured leg and saw that a kunai had been lodged in her thigh.

"I don't have time for this!" she said as she pulled the knife from her leg.

The wound was deeper than she had originally thought, since it had been pushed in deeper when she fell. The wound bled freely and she needed to get it stitched up before she lost too much blood. But when she got back up and tried to run, something grabbed her leg and pulled her back down.

One of her attackers had used an earth-style jutsu to sneak up on her after wounding her. She kicked at the offending hand to try and force them them to release her, but that only caused them to tighten their grip. Hana became desperate and she tried clawing at the ground to give herself more leverage to escape.

Her captor emerged from the ground, grinning madly at her desperate attempts to escape.

"Sorry, but this is as far as you go." he said.

Hana was unaware of the dark figure creeping up behind her. When the man suddenly released her, she tried to run again. But then, everything went black.

When she came to, Hana found lying on the ground and felt a sharp pain in her head. After a minute or so, the pain subsided and she could hear men's voices once it had gone completely. She stayed perfectly still and listened.

There were only two of them; it seemed like the one who lost his eye didn't make it back to the rest of the team. Their discussion involved how they were going to deliver her to their client and how much money they would lose for delivering damaged goods.

They were speaking of her so callously, as if she were nothing more than a couple of sacks of rice to be sold at the local market. She was furious and she wasn't going to let them get away with any of this. She was going to escape.

She had to be careful so she wouldn't get caught again. She turned her head slowly to assess the situation; both men had their backs turned to her and were mulling over what Hana assumed to be their contract. She believed that this would be the perfect time to make a run for it.

She pushed herself up off the ground but was only able to take a few steps before she was grabbed by her hair and violently pulled back to the ground and dragged to where the men were standing. The leader had had enough of her antics and kicked her in the stomach; hard.

"You insufferable piece of shit! You've caused us enough trouble already, and you still try to escape! Why won't you just accept your fate?!" he shouted, kicking her again.

Hana sat up slowly, wiping away the blood that was trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"I refuse...to be locked away and used by some freak. Or be sold like livestock so that you can make some quick cash! I'm not an animal!" she replied as she stood to her feet.

The man grit his teeth and clenched his fist before rearing back and striking Hana across the face. Then he took his weapon - a weighted bo staff- and began striking her with it. Hana managed to cover her head after the first strike to keep him from damaging any part of her face or head.

The force behind each strike was great. He was using that amount of force on purpose in order to get a point across to her.

"The only thing you small-town kunoichi are good for is being a feudal lord's plaything! You're worth nothing in the shinobi world; none of you are! You all would be better off if you just accepted your fate!"

He paused for a moment, breathing heavily and looking down at bruised and bloodied young woman lying at his feet.

In one last act of defiance, Hana raised a shaky, bloody hand and proudly displayed her middle finger.

"Fuck...you." she spat.

The man, now enraged, raised his staff over his head and prepared to strike her down once and for all. Hana shut her eyes tight and waited for his finishing blow. But...it never came. Instead, she heard ungodly screams coming from both men and the disgusting sound of flesh being ripped apart. Then silence.

She felt someone place their hand on her shoulder, only this time the touch wasn't rough. In fact, it was very familiar to her. She relaxed her tensed shoulders and opened her eyes. Well, one of them; the other was swelling shut after being struck in the face twice. She focussed on the other's face, only able to make out blurred lines and colors. But she could recognize them just by the blurred colors alone.

She smiled weakly, blood still dripping from her nose and the corner of her mouth.

"Oro-" was all she managed to say before she lurched forward, reeling from the wave of pain that just struck her. Her entire body ached but that was alright. Pain was good; pain meant that she was still alive.

She was in bad she, but still alive. Her face was badly bruised, with one eye almost swollen shut and a possible cut on her scalp. She had struggled to escape her captors, indicated by the cuts on her hand and legs and the dirt under her fingernails. There was also the possibility of a concussion due to how hard she had been hit. But she was still alive, albeit a bit delirious.

"It seems I arrived at just the right time. A moment later and they would have killed you." he said.

It was only at that moment that Hana realized how close she had actually been to dying. Her smiling face warped into a look of sheer terror. How could she let herself get to that point? She was a ninja and she had been taught by one of the strongest in the world. How could she let this happen? Not only that, but Orochimaru had to come in and rescue her. What kind of ninja was she if she couldn't even protect herself?

She was an embarrassment. A failure. A disgrace to her village.

She knew what failure meant. In Otogakure, failure of this magnitude meant death. She had seen it happen before. She thought she was better than them, making sure that every mission was successful. She had been so proud, but now she had fallen, and fallen hard.

Her iminent and deserved demise never came, however, and it left her very confused. She looked back at him, the frightened expression still on her face, but didn't see anger in his. In fact, he seemed…calm. Tranquil fury most likely.

But he helped her back onto her feet. He didn't leave her behind.

"Why…aren't you leaving me behind? I couldn't protect myself…I'm a failure." she muttered.

"You're far too valuable. I'd be losing a very important asset if I left you out here to die. In fact, I'm actually proud of you for being defiant. Although, you could have been less vulgar." he replied.

She laughed, finding humor in his words. However, the tears now falling from her eyes betrayed her. She wasn't sad, but very relieved; she wouldn't be dying today.

Orochimaru paid no attention to her tears and didn't question why she was crying. He knew how she was feeling now; he felt a similar way. But now wasn't the time for sentiment; he to get her back to the rest of her group and make sure she got there safely.

"Come. I will escort you back to your group. I think it would be wise to avoid any more unfortunate encounters, wouldn't you agree?" he questioned.

Hana nodded and followed close behind him as he led her away from the bloody carnage surrounding them.

"Something isn't right here. Don't you think she should have been back by now?" Asuka questioned.

Mamoru sat up and stretched, feeling his joints pop.

"Yeah, she really should have. Do you think we should go look for her?"

Asuka nodded.

"I think we should; she might be in trouble."

They were just about to venture off when they heard rustling in the underbrush. Asuka and Mamoru both went into defense mode and prepared to attack whoever- or whatever- had encroached on their space. But they relaxed when they saw Hana stagger out of the brush.

"Hey." she muttered.

Asuka's eyes went as wide as dinner plates when she saw the condition that Hana was in. She looked like she had been in a massive brawl; and lost.

"Holy shit! What the hell happened to you?!" she shouted.

Hana laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well...you know those Takigakure guys that were starin' at me the other day?"

"Yeah. What about 'em?"

Hana was silent for a moment.

"Turns out they were actually traffickers and they had set their sights on me for some reason."

Both Mamoru and Asuka were absolutely dumbfounded by this revelation. How on earth could a group of traffickers manage to infiltrate the Chunin Exams? Konoha's security must have been extremely lackluster in order to miss something like that.

"So how did you end up like this?" Mamoru questioned.

Hana leaned against a tree and sighed.

"Well, I ran off, got caught, ran off again, got caught again, got knocked out, came to and tried to run again, didn't make it that time and one of them decided to beat the shit outta me." she answered.

There was a moment of awkward silence after Hana finished her explanation. Hana just shrugged.

"That's the abridged version, anyway. I don't want to bore you with the details. Although I did manage to take out one of their eyes." she stated.

"Really?"

"Yep. Jammed a kunai right up in there. Hopefully he bled out."

Again there was silence. The other two really didn't know how they were supposed to respond to any of this; especially Hana's rather calm demeanor. That was very strange, given that she had been attacked and beaten to a pulp.

"You're being awfully calm about this," Asuka said, "What's up with that?"

A quiet chuckle escaped Hana's lips. Her teammate really was daft; she couldn't even see just how shaken she really was.

"I'm trying not to break down; this is neither the time nor the place for that." she muttered.

As Asuka looked closer, she saw that Hana's whole body was trembling. She really was trying to hold herself together and not break down. Asuka wasn't sure how she was doing it, but was impressed either way.

"I need to rest for a while," Hana said, walking to where her belongings lay, "Once I've recovered some, we should start heading for the tower."

Mamoru and Asuka both agreed.

Hana lay down on the soft grass, resting her head on her bag. She was still in pain; a dull ache radiated throughout her body. She would be like this for a while, but the pain should go away soon; a day or so at least.

Hana sighed and closed her eyes. Hopefully she would be granted a moment's rest. After what she had just been through, she certainly deserved it.