The Butterfly

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are still not mine.

A/N: Wow, thank you everyone for your amazing response to
the last chapter! It totally made my day. The reviews have just been so
phenomenal, I’m glad you all liked it so much.

And Mint, you’re right, I am planning something.

About the pairings: Again the question has come up and gain
I shall tell you, I’m not sure. At the moment I’m having a of of fun playing
with all the possibilities so you’ll just have to wait and see and see
whichever pairing you like for the moment.

In some related news, the drawing I did of Sakura with the
butterfly wings ( found here for those who haven’t seen it href="http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php/162165">http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php/162165
) received a request to be used in the banners and logos of a (I think) small
original fiction site. When I have the address, I’ll send it along because it
looks like this fic might possibly become hosted in the Anime fanfiction part
of the site as well.

Also, the first chapter of the story has been put up on
Rokudaime as well as tons of other new stories so you should go check them out.

This chapter isn’t very eventful but I promise the next one
will have the first of many confrontations between Sakura and Sasuke so stay
tuned. I hope to have it up late tonight.

~~~

The Butterfly: Chapter 14

By: Tea Leaf / Banana Soap

~~~

She felt good. Her body was pleasantly heavy as it always is
after you wake up from blissful sleep. She was so warm. She felt rested. She
felt normal for the first time in years. Her eyes opened a bit and she watched
the steady rise and fall of his chest.

They were both lying on their sides, facing each other and
cuddling close.

She’d missed waking up with another body. She’d missed
sleeping with another body. Who was she kidding? She’s missed sleeping plain
and simple.

She felt a little guilty though. She was a little worried
that Sasuke would get the wrong idea. It wasn’t his presence that she
needed, it was simply a presence and he just happened to be the one on
hand.

She couldn’t tell him that though, at least not now at any
rate. He’d be offended and wouldn’t let her sleep with him anymore and then she
wouldn’t be able to sleep at all again.

She sighed softly. She’d ask Gaara what he thought she
should do, he was good at figuring out sticky situations.

Thinking of Gaara, she had promised to go visit him today.
She lifted herself a bit to peer over Sasuke’s body and see the digital clock
on the other side.

Noon already! Damn, she had so much to do today and so much
less time in which to do it now.

She easily slipped out of Sasuke’s grasp. He was still sound
asleep. She wasn’t surprised, he didn’t sleep much on the train and she was
willing to bet that he hadn’t slept much while he’d been pursuing her either.

She stood up out of the bed. First step, she needed a
shower. She headed te bae bathroom.

~~~

Sasuke flopped over onto his stomach. That wasn’t right,
there should have been something stopping him from doing that.

His eyes opened groggily as he looked around the bed and saw
that he was now the sole occupantit.

He frowned. {Where did she--} then he heard the sound
of rushing water coming from the shower in his bathroom.

His ego toyed with the idea of joining her. His conscience
sucker punched his ego and told him not to.

So he flopped over onto his back and waited.

He didn’t wait long, the shower was turned off a few minutes
later and he heard a bit of shuffling and he assumed she was dying herself off.

She came out with a towel wrapped around her body.

“Oh, you woke up.” She said simply as she spotted him
watching her.

“I did.” he answered easily.

She walked over to the small pile of clothes she’d been
wearing for the past few days and pulled on the shorts under the towel. She
turned her back to him and dropped the towel.

He was glad for her long strands of wet hair that hid here
back. He didn’t want to see those scars right now.

She pulled on the mesh shirt and then the red dress before
pulling her long hair out from between her back and her shirt and twisted int into a messy bun.

“Do you have a pen?” she asked.

He blinked. She turned to look at him.

He pointed to the dresser. She walked over and spotted one
and jammed it through her hair, holding the knot in place.

“Where are you going?” he asked then as his mind finally
clued in that she was in a hurry and getting dressed so she could go out.

mal> 

“I promised to go see Gaara today and I promised Tsunade to
go by the hospital and I need to go clothes shopping and then I promised Naruto
I’d go over to his place for dinner…” She answered as she straightened her red
dress.

It needed to be washed, desperately, but it would do for
now.

“I could come with you…” he offered then.<
<

She looked at him and blinked in surprise.

“No, its fine, you stay in and sleep.” She answered, smiling
a bit.

“I’ll see you later” she called as she left the room and the
house.

He opened his mouth to ask why her wounds weren’t bound but
she’d been gone before he could.

~~~

Sakura limped as fast as she could to the guesthouses were
visiting shinobi always stayed and she knew Gaara would be staying.

She was cursing herself for not replacing the splints for
her leg but she’d been in a hurry and she was going by the hospital later so
she could do it then.

Gaara was sitting outside; Mika was playing with the sand
from the gourd on his back.

He looked up and smiled at her as she approached, Mika waved
happily.

She smiled back at Gaara and ruffled Mika’s hair a bit
before taking a grateful seat beside her friendthe the bench he was occupying.
She hadn’t realized her leg was this weak without its supports.

“Good afternoon. You look rested.” He said as he reached up
and grasped her chin lightly, moving her head around to look at her face from
different angles.

“Well I am rested, that’s why I’m here so late.” She
reded ded easily.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He told her seriously, his green
eyes holding hers.

“Why aren’t your wounds bandaged?” he asked heen, en,
noticing her chest didn’t look nearly as constraint as usual and her right leg
and forearms were bare.

“I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to rebind everything
after I showered. But, the wounds are a month old now so they should be able to
hold up until I visit the hospital later.” She answered.

Gaara frowned slightly but let it go. She didn’t need to
hear a “take better care of yourself” speech from him and she did intend to
stop by the hospital to get her wounds examined so at least she was conscious
of the possible harms.

“Why were you in a rush?” he asked instead.

 endiendif]>

“I have lots to do today. Had to come see you, have to get
new clothes (these ones are really starting to smell)” she said as she wrinkled
her nose a bit, Gaara gave her a half smile. “Then I told Tsunade I’d stop by
the hospital and I promised Naruto I’d go over for ramen with him and Hinata.
Not a lot if I had started in the morning but I only woke up at noon.” She said
before stifling a yawn that crept up on her.

Gaara nodded and stup.

She looked at him quizzically.

“We can talk and shop at the same time.” He said. Sakura
smiled.

Mika cheered, she loved shopping.

So they headed over to the market.

“So tell me of your travels.” Gaara said as they walked at a
comfortable pace.

“I’m afraid I can’t really say much about it. The first few
days I was just walking through the woods and then decided to stay at an inn
because of the rain. I met some gypsies there and thought it would be pretty
interesting to travel with them instead of by myself. A mistake. Got drugged,
and well, I’m sure Mika’s told you about that part.” She said in an undertone.
She didn’t want to discuss the tribe in front of the little girl.

Gaara nodded.

“The rest is essentially a blur. I remember starting to move
again and waking up in a hospital. I remember leaving and wandering some more,
then winding up in another hospital near the border with the Cloud Country.
Then I found out that Kakashi-sensei was in a coma in the northern part of the
country so I went there. Found him but something happened. And Sasuke was
there…and then I woke up again and was told I’d been in a coma for 6 days. Then
we took the train back here and here I am.” She concluded as they reached the
shopping district and started to browse the shops.

“Why is that part so blurry to you?” Gaara asked as he kept
his eyes on Mika as the little girl examined a sequined dress.

“Shiny!” she said to herself as she played with the
material.

“I had a bad head injury and was fighting off the side effects
of the drug at first and then I got a really bad infection and spent the whole
trip slipping in and out of consciousness and battling the illness.” She
answered honestly as she examined a rack of black shirts.

Gaara frowned and went to pick Mika up off the floor before
a shopper trampled her.

Sakura sighed as she grabbed a bunch of things off the rack.
He was not impressed with her and now she wouldn’t be able to ask him about
Sasuke.

~~~

Sakura made her way into the hospital with various bags and
packages. Gaara had not questioned her any further on her expedition; he hadn’t
really spoken much at all for the rest of the shopping spree. But Mika had
talked enough to fill in the silence.

Tsunade was waiting for her in the lobby.

“Are you moving in?” she asked sarcastically at thte ote of
all the bags.

She rolled her eyes.

“Why aren’t your wounds bound?” she asked then, her eyes
narrowing a bit.

“I didn’t have time earlier but I figured seeing as I was
coming here anyway, you could take and look and re-dress them” she answered as
she set her bags down with the receptionist.

Tsunade “hmph”ed.

“This way.” She said as she turned and walked down the hall.
Sakura followed, pushing a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear.

She walked into a bare room. Kakashi lay on the bed.ura ura
felt sad suddenly, there were no flowers or visitors or even guards to keep him
company.

“I need you to touch him.” Tsunade said bluntly.

“Why? We’ve told you what happens.” Sakura responded as she
stayed at the door.

“I need to see it for myself, please comply Sakura.” The
Hokage answered.

Sakura swallowed and stepped into the room, walking up to
the bed. Her hand trembled as she reached out and stroked his cheek. Again the
pattern flared, this time she almost thought he winced at the contact.

She pulled her hand away, lifting it to her lips as her eyes
glazed over slightly.

{The one person who’s never been afraid to touc is is
now the one who suffers from it the most…} her inner self spoke in a dead
tone.

Tsunade’s eyes were wide. She hadn’t wanted to believe it.
She hadn’t wanted to believe that Sakura had poisoned Kakashi.

What amazed though was that poison was highly corrosive. If
Kakashi had been in contact with it, he should be dead. But he wasn’t.

The 5^th Hokage frowned and made notes on her
clipboard.

“Alright Sakura, lets take a look at you now.” Tsunade said
before leading her into another room and having her sit on the examination
table.

“Would you mind removing your clothes pl?” T?” Tsunade asked
monotonously as she pulled out and examined a chart. Sakura did as requested.

Tsunade came over and started poking and prodding at her
leg.

“How long ago was it broken?” she asked.

“About a month” the girl responded.

“You’re lucky, your bones heal quickly. I want you to keep
walking without the splints to help rebuild the muscle but if you’re going to
do any running and training, both of which I highly discourage at the moment”
Tsunade looked at her sternly “ wear the splints.”

“Lift your arms please” she said then and Sakura again
complied and Tsunade started poking at her ribs. She winced slightly.

“The bone is healing well but you’ll have a lump because it
didn’t set quite right.” Tsunade began.

Sakura wasn’t surprised at that, her makeshift job didn’t
have to be perfect, just functional.

“The bindings you wear are too tight though, they’re
preventing proper blood flow to the area and slowing down the healing, you’re
also developing bruises and skin irritation. So, no more bindings. If you’re that
worried about your breasts, wear a bra.” She continued bluntly.

“Stand up please.” She asked then, and Sakura complied.

“You’re too thin.” She muttered and then scribbled down
something on a prescription pad.

help you regain the weight. Its not healthy to be as thin as you are. Drink
lots of milk too, it will help your bones recover.”

Sakura nodded.

Tsunade pulled the pen out from her hair and prodded around
the back of her skull.

“Your head wound has healed nicely” she commented.

“Alright, you’ll do.” Tsunade said finally and Sakura pulled
her clothing back on.

“If any of your wounds start to irritate you again, I want
you to come to me immediately. And remember to keep taking your antibiotics and
start taking these pills as well” she said as she handed her the prescription
slip.

Sakura nodded and rewound her hair, sticking the pen back
in.

“Is that everything?” she asked.

“For today yes. But come back tomorrow and ask Gaara to
bring Mika around too. I would like to do some blood tests.” Tsunade replied.

Sa nod nodded and left the room.

Tsunade smiled slightly to herself. Sakura’s health was
improving, she was healing quickly and Tsunade suspected that she had been
sleeping more too. Having Uchiha baby-sit her seemed to be helping.

But then she frowned as she remembered Kakashi’s situation
and walked back to the comatose jounin’s room.

~~~

Sakura collected her things and the bottle of pills from the
reception desk and walked slowly back to Sasuke’s house. The door was unlocked
and she smiled at the sign that was still there.

She went up the stairs into the spare room and dropped her
bags on the bed and then started hunting for something to wear.

She had figured that Tsunade would tell her not to bind her
ribs anymore, she’d already decided to stop for ile ile beforehand. She picked
up a plain black bag and dumped its contents on the bed.

Good thing she had stopped at that lingerie store. At first
she’d done it mainly to embarrass Gaara and get him to loosen out of his funk a
bit. He’d taken one look at the store and had decided to take Mika to the toy
store instead of going in with her, even after she’d jokingly offered to model
for him.

She picked up a black lace bra and the matching panties and
set them aside. She then grabbed another bag and dumped it, hunting for the
black sleeveless shirt with the red Chinese knots she’d gotten. She set that
aside too as well as a pair of black mid-calf length pants.

She then stripped off her clothes and tossed them in the
trash, she never wanted to wear them again, and put on her new things.

It felt so good to be in fresh, dry, clean clothes for the
first time in a month.

She then pu the the pen out of her hair and grabbed the
brush and pins she’d bought and tamed the mass into a real bun.

{Much better} her inner self approved.

She then grabbed come red gauze and bound her forearms. She
didn’t care about the scars but she knew Naruto would.

She left the room and walked into Sasuke’s, half expecting
him to have gone back to sleep but the bed was perfectly made and the only
trace that he’d been here were the pajama pants hanging over the edge of his
laundry hamper.

She frowned slightly, wondering where he was then shrugged
it off.

She had to get to Naruto’s.

As she turned to leave she cast one last look at the bed and
noticed a key ring lounging in the middle of it.

She smiled a bit; he’d left her the spare key.

She grabbed it and left the house, locking the door behind
her before heading over to the apartment complexes.

~~~

Naruto was rushing around, reorganizing everything in the
apartment. He was nervous.

Hinata frowned. She didn’t really understand why he was
nervous; it was just Sakura and Sasuke coming over for ramen, not the Hokage.
On second thought, thkagekage visiting probably wasn’t the best comparison…

“Naruto, please calm down. You’re making me dizzy.” She said
finally, a little exasperated.

“Huh? Oh sorry Hinata” Naruto said as he grinned and rubbed
the back of his head.

Hinata smiled at him. He was just too cute sometimes.

There was a knock at the door.

Naruto ran to it and opened it in time to receive the
knocker’s fist in the face.

“Payback for this morning.” Came a sarcastic deep voice.

Naruto glared at Sasuke as his hand came up to stem the
blood flow.

“That was an accident.” Naruto responded in annoyance,
referring to the incident of theningning.

“So was that” Sasuke responded as he stepped into the
apartment.

“Hey Hinata.” He said with a half smile.

“Hello Sasuke.” Hinata said as she wiped away her sweat drop
from the scene at the door.

Naruto grumbled as he walked to the sink and washed the
blood from his hand, his nose had already stopped bleeding. He’d always been a
quick healer.

“Sakura’s not here yet?” the dark haired young man asked
with a slight frown as he scanned the room.

“Obviously not.” Naruto answered sarcastically.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

A soft nock sounded at the door.

Naruto rushed to it again and answered.

Sakura smiled slightly at him.

“Sakura! Come in, come in” he said as he moved out of the
way and waved her in. She laughed a little as she crossed the threshold.

“Ah, so this is where you were.” She said to Sasuke as she
saw him. He raised his eyebrow.

“Hi Hinata.” She said then, turning to the Hyuuga heir.
Hinata smiled at her.

“How are you feeling Sakura-san?” she asked.

“I’m ok, I saw Tsunade-sama earlier and she said I was
healing well, she even gave me the ok to walking without a splint for my leg.”
The pink haired girl answered as she walked over to the kitchen where Hinata
was working.

“Anything I can do to help?” she offered.

“Oh, no thanks. I’ve got everything under control here.”
Hinata said as she chopped some vegetables.

“You can have a seat on the couch if you like.” She
continued.

Sakura nodded and sat down on one of the couches, Sasuke was
sitting on the one opposite her.

There was a table in between that had been set for four.

Naruto came over and plopped down beside Sasuke across from
Sakura, taking advantage of the moment to give his rival a charlie horse in the
thigh as payback for the punch he’d taken to the face. Sasuke winced and
gritted his teeth and dealt the hit back to the blonde.

Sakura sweat dropped.

{I guess some things will never change} her inner
self commented.

Hinata came out of the kitchen then carrying a tray with
four large bowls of ramen on it and set thut but before taking her seat next to
Sakura.

“Itadakimasu” Naruto said brightly as he grabbed his
chopsticks and started eating.

Sakura and Hinata chuckled slightly.

The meal passed essentially peacefully, the food had been
great. But then, Sakura had always suspected that Hinata was a good cook.

The dishes had been cleared and they were all lounging
around on the couches, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata were all holding and sipping
at glasses of red wine.

Naruto didn’t like anything alcoholic so he had a large
glass of milk.

For the past little while, Sakura had been relaying in as
best detail she could every moment she had spent away from the village. Naruto
was merciless in his questioning, asking about the most unusual things such as
the favored ramen flavoring in the Cloud country.

But now they were talking about Kakashi.

“What do you think is wrong with him?” Naruto asked. He had
visited his former sensei earlier that morning and had thought he was asleep.
The nurses had kicked him out for being too loud and obnoxious when he had
tried to wake him up.

“I don’t know.” She answered softly. “But he reacts to my
skin so it must have something to do with me.”

“What did you do to him?” Naruto asked.

“I didn’t do anything. At least I don’t think I did, I hope
I didn’t.” she answered again before taking another sip of her wine.

Sasuke was watching her very intently. It was a little
offsetting.

“How do you think the old hag’s gonna fix him?” Naruto
continued to question.

“I don’t know. She wants to run some blood tests tomorrow
though.” She answered.

Sasuke frowned.

“Blood tests?” Naruto asked as he frowned as well.

She shrugged.

“The old hag thinks it has something to do with blood?”
Naruto continued to pry.

“Naruto, I don’t know.” She said, enunciating carefully to
make sure he understood her.

Naruto sighed and his face drooped a bit.

Hinata moved and sat on the arm of the other couch, wrapping
her arm around Naruto’s broad shoulders.

“I’m sure Tsunade-sama will figure it out.” Hinata said
softly.

Sakura and Sasuke suddenly felt like they were intruding.

“We should get going.” He said then as he stood up.

Sakura nodded and stood as well.

Hinata and Naruto followed them with their eyes.

“Thanks for dinner you guys, it was nice. You’re an awe
ce
cook Hinata” Sakura said with her polite smile as she and Sasuke moved to the
door.

They waved slightly as they left, closing the door behind
them.

They didn’t speak to each other as they walked back to
Sasuke’s house. He kept his pace slow so that she could easily keep up.