Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Butterfly ❯ Everything to Everyone ( Chapter 14 )

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 lot 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 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 to the 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 occupant of it.

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 in 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.

"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 friend on 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 responded easily.

"I'm glad to hear that." He told her seriously, his green eyes holding hers.

"Why aren't your wounds bandaged?" he asked her then, 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.

"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 stood up.

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 the site 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. Sakura 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 touch me 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 5th 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 please?" 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.

"I want you to take one of these pills at every meal, it'll 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.

She examined her arm then, specifically the latest kunai wound. The stitches had been removed while she was still up north but the infection had left a nasty scar around the cut. The wound itself was healing well and was starting to scab.

"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.

Sakura 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 a while 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 pulled 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, the Hokage 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 the morning.

"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 them out 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 awesome 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.