Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of Kishimoto's characters. I do, however, own the few original characters you will find here. This will only be stated in the first chapter, because I don't want to copy and paste it to the beginning of each and every chapter, but it will apply to the entire story.

Author's Note: I had written this story a long time ago, and when I went through it all I hated it. The way I wrote, the character I create...I didn't like any of it. So I'm rewriting the entire thing. I've deleted all the old chapters because I don't want people to get confused. The beginning will the be same and the general idea will be the same, but several scenes and characters will be altered for a fresh start. This first chapter won't contain Kakashi or any other Naruto characters, for that matter. Why, you may ask? Because I want to give my character more attention than she got in the previous version, by actually giving her a good introduction and letting you guys get to know her.

For everyone's information, this story is based on my original character, Hana Inoue. Not Kakashi. That being said, expect this to follow Hana and her story, even when it mingles with the fabulous creation of Kishimoto's that we call Kakashi Hatake. I love his character, but the main character here is Hana.

I hope everyone enjoys the new version, and let me know how you like it (or hate it). I'm also looking for any and all constructive criticism, since I always want to know what I need to work on. Enjoy!

Flower Girl

Again

The picnic basket felt light in her small hands, as opposed to how heavy it was when the two set out for the fields earlier that morning. Then, it had been full of bread, cheeses, and Hana's favorite, oranges. Back home, oranges were hard to come by. But in the warmer, wetter climate, the trees that bore the fruit seemed to thrive. And they were cheaper, too, which meant that even though Hana and her grandmother were currently living on a budget, they could afford to have their fruit bowl on the small kitchen counter full of the juicy fruit.

The day had been perfect so far, starting with a warm breeze waking Hana up. School had been canceled due to the Springtime Harvest Festival, in which the small town Gonohe celebrated the spring with large stands of food, craft tables to weave baskets or paint small pictures with nothing more than paint, a piece of paper, and fingers, and a small fireworks show when the sun went down. Since Hana didn't care too much for crowds or the loud noises of the fireworks – that being a small understatement – Granny Lee had suggested that they go to the large fields for a picnic.

The two had dressed in clothes that were easy enough to train in, but not suspicious enough to warrant any attention. Granny Lee had worn her regular light blue blouse and skirt, knowing that she would be doing a majority of the knife throwing and offensive attacks. But she had instructed Hana to wear some older clothes, where the grass stains wouldn't be so noticeable and any tears wouldn't require a trip to the clothing store. At Hana's insistence, though, Granny Lee had bought some new bandages so that Hana could continue her new fashion statement – wrapping her arms from her shoulders to her wrists – in the soft fabric.

With one glance, a passing person wouldn't question a young girl wearing bandages, especially at an age where children often sought their own style, but after a few more glances, someone might wonder why the small girl refused to leave her arms uncovered.

The clothes that Hana was currently wearing were old and worn down, and Granny Lee would be yelled at if she mentioned that the flecks of dirt made her freckles more noticeable even though it was true. Granny Lee could easily guess that Hana was hiding her excitement to get home and change into some fresh clothes and try on her new tan colored bandages, if the bouncing steps in her stride were anything to go by.

The open fields of Gonohe were perfect for their plans, and while they were indeed going out into the wilderness for a nice picnic as their basket suggested, they had more on their minds. Specifically, Hana's training.

"Your kicks need to be a little higher," Granny Lee said, her tone taking on that of a teacher lecturing a child. "A hit to the diaphragm will be more effective than the lower abdomen. Even if you can't quite reach it yet," she added the familiar jab that would often rile the quiet girl up. Her grandmother flattened out her bright blue blouse to pat the upper part of her abdomen, where her diaphragm was.

The empty picnic basket was beginning to feel heavy. Or maybe it was the fact that a perfectly fine training session was being broken down into what she did wrong that made her shoulders sag. Either way, her grandmother seemed to notice her lowered gaze and slouching posture. She didn't even yell in outrage at being called short, which she undeniably was.

"But you're improving a lot," Granny Lee added, sighing when Hana didn't seem to perk up at all.

Instead, the small girl let out a short breath that could have been a small laugh, and blew a few strands of red hair off of her small, unusually freckled nose. "A lot for the amount of training we're doing."

"We can't chance any more than what we're doing now. You know that," she added in a sterner, but not angry tone, trying to push the seriousness of their situation onto her granddaughters small shoulders.

She didn't necessarily want her to worry in the same was that she, herself, constantly had been for the past few years. But she would rather see her granddaughter ready and prepared for anything that was ahead of her, instead of being taken by surprise and lead like a lamb to the slaughter. It hadn't been her initial job to watch over the girl and train her, but in a single moment, the responsibility of a young life was pushed into her hands, and the only thing she could do was get her granddaughter ready for what she would have to soon face.

The small girl, at the mere age of twelve, had experienced more anxiety and worry than the adults in Gonohe have in their entire lives, and the guilt that she was adding more onto the young girls plate weighed down on her more so than usual when she noticed the way that Hana's shoulders fell a fraction of an inch more.

"I know. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for you help. I just get antsy sometimes." Hana sighed and finally looked up from the dirt path they were walking on to see the speckle of clouds across the otherwise bright blue sky. "I hate waiting around when something could happen. I want to be ready." Her voice was a little firmer and her dark blue eyes, normally so soft and curious, hardened in determination - something her grandmother had only witnessed a handful of times before.

"You are ready." Hana sent her a look that said she was not impressed with the blatant lie. Okay, so the twelve year old wasn't ready to deal with the obvious problem in her life, but she was getting there. "I don't think I'll ever be able to teach you like your old sensei, though." The topic was breached with carefully chosen words, and Granny Lee watched Hana for any signs that she should stop talking. "You're a very defensive fighter by nature, and I am something of an offensive one."

The light, child-like laugh that followed made Granny Lee relax a tiny bit, enjoying the sound that she didn't hear nearly as much as she wished.

"'Something of'?" Hana asked in mock exasperation. "I don't think I'll ever have a problem dodging weapons ever again after the training you've put me though."

In her light hearted mood, Hana's voice had risen higher. Granny Lee paused to glance around the tall grasses and sparse trees that surrounded the dirt path, sure that she would find someone spying on their conversation, or just hearing it by chance. Either way, it wouldn't end well.

She forced her expression to relax, even if she didn't completely feel it herself, when she confirmed that no one was hiding behind a tree or in the tall grass. She turned back to see Hana's face red in embarrassment, almost matching her bright red hair in shade.

The two continued down the path, Hana's gaze on the ground again as her face returned to it's paler color.

Hesitantly, making sure that her voice was low enough so that only Granny Lee would be able to hear it, Hana continued. "Do you think it'll happen again, though? Like before?"

"I don't know. I would like to think that we could stay here a little longer." It hurt to not be able to promise a long stay in the nice village, but that promise could very easily be broken in a matter of seconds, and it wasn't as if Hana didn't know the truth. "But there's no predicting what that boy will do."

"No, I guess there isn't."

They made a silent agreement to walk back home in silence, enjoying the warm weather, sunshine, and the light breeze that blew through the grass and made the fields look like they were rippling like giant lakes. The path wasn't too long, but Hana's short legs and Granny Lee's general preference for taking a slow pace meant that they made their way down the road at a leisurely pace.

The first few signs that they were entering Gonohe were the few farm houses on either side of the road, often surrounded by fields of flowers and vegetables. When they passed by, Hana's curious gaze left the road under her feet to admire the large houses, some more well kept than others, and the various gardens that surrounded them.

Soon, the houses stood closer together, and the garden beds were forced to be smaller or nonexistent as they walked through the main street of Gonohe.

The heavy footsteps were the first sign that something was a little off. The entire town was currently on the east side of the village, eating the freshly picked fruit, watching smaller children finger paint, or preparing for the fireworks show that would take place later on in the Springtime Harvest Festival. The footsteps fell in unison, but Granny Lee, with her trained ear, counted four men before they rounded a corner and turned towards the two.

Granny Lee knew her granddaughter enough to know that Hana was tense, eyes wide and transfixed on the Iwagakure ninja with their stoic and determined expressions, marching their way. Gonohe was a somewhat isolated village with a miniscule crime rate, so the presence of ninja was sometimes to be wary about.

Taking a step forward, Granny Lee caught the sleeve of one of the shorter ninja, a man with short cropped brown hair.

"Yes?" He turned to look at what appeared to be a helpless aging woman and her terrified granddaughter, and his hardened expression softened just a bit. "Can I help you?"

"May I ask what brings you to Gonohe?" If Hana wasn't staring in utter shock at the ninja and trying to discreetly look around the buildings that lined the street, she would have rolled her eyes at her grandmothers tone. When she wanted to, it was only too easy to take on the roll of a helpless, elderly woman who needed a little extra help, and people were all too willing to lend a hand. Or in this case, hand over information.

"It's nothing to worry about, ladies. Just passing through." He seemed to think for a moment, glancing at the three other ninja who had continued walking without him. The man continued in a lower voice, leaning down to talk in a lower voice without being overheard. "It's just a rouge ninja passing through, but he shouldn't cause you any trouble. Best you two stay indoors until the firework show tonight. Just to be on the safe side."

After a polite thank you, the man jogged to his team and continued down the street, unaware of the terror that his words left.

Granny Lee grabbed Hana's arm, ignoring the violent jerk that followed as she dragged her granddaughter down the street, around a corner to a small, less traveled street, and down the small rock path that led to their front door.

The loud slam seemed to echo through the empty house, knocking Hana back into an alert state as she pushed herself away from the door as if it had physical shocked her.

"It's him, isn't it?" Hana asked in a rush, following Granny Lee who was now walking away from her. "We have to leave again?" Her grandmother still didn't answer her, and walked through the kitchen towards the hallway that led to their bedrooms. "Grandma!"

It was the pure desperation in her child-like voice that forced Granny Lee to turn around before she realized that she had been called 'grandma' instead of 'granny', reinforcing the look of utter helplessness in her granddaughters wide eyes.

"Pack a few things. We need to leave tonight."

This wasn't the first time that it felt like Hana had woken up standing in the middle of her room and throwing various outfits into her suitcase. She just opened her eyes and there she was, looking at the newly purchased skirt in her hands, hovering over the suitcase as she tried to think about what needed to come with her.

She felt like she was being cheated. But it was in a weird way that made her feel guilty for even thinking about it. Then, she would think about it again. There was the unmistakable feeling of self-pity, but was it entirely uncalled for?

Other children got to run around in the streets and play with their friends. She couldn't make any for fear of being found. Other kids got to go to school and learn how to be a ninja, but that path was stolen from her at an even younger age than she was now.

Most humans got to live without the fear of being found and slaughtered hanging over their heads every day, but she wasn't that lucky.

Hana gently closed her suitcase and zipped it shut, her fingers lingering on the cold metal zipper as she glanced around her bedroom. This was definitely one of her favorite bedrooms so far. It was large enough to give her space, without being too big and making her feel as if she had no possessions. When her eyes swept over the nice wooden dresser that her grandmother had gotten her when they first moved in, she lunged forward and grabbed the tan material coiled neatly on top, feeling a slight shock as she realized that she almost forgot it - her new wrappings.

Quickly, she unwrapped the dirty grass-stained bandages and cast them aside. She then carefully wrapped the new bandages around her arms, enjoying the soft new fabric and the way it tucked comfortably into itself at her wrists to keep it from unraveling. She admired the new material, despite the fact that it clashed with her dirty, designated-training shirt.

Hana grabbed the handle of her suitcase and dragged it off the bed, stopping only to throw a jacket over her shoulder before leaving the bedroom and the house. Leaving her life behind in order to save it, again.