Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Butterfly ❯ That Comfortable Groove ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer: Naruto most certainly does not belong to me.

A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for all the reviews you've been sending me, they make me so happy and want to write more ^-^

To Ashi-chan: About the coffee, personally I'm actually not that big of a coffee person. I react really strongly to the caffeine. I am however a tea addict ^^ I figured that Sasuke would probably be a coffee addict though which is why he's always drinking it until he's twitchy.

Sailor Tiamat: I know its been a while since you've asked this and I'm sorry for the late response. I will attempt to draw Gaara, if it comes out well, I'll put it in my image gallery on mediaminer.org and attach it to the fic.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. The next chapter should be up later tonight. Thanks again for the reviews and I can't wait to read more ^_~

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The Butterfly: Chapter 22

By: Tea Leaf / Banana Soap

~~~

She didn't notice. She was too absorbed in the reality of the moment. There he was, alive and well, chatting with Naruto, Gai and Tsunade. Catching up on the two years he'd missed in the form of random anecdotes and political movements.

Everything seemed to have this hazy glow around it, everything felt so surreal.

Finally Tsunade looked at the clock and announced that it was currently 3 o'clock in the morning so she had to go home and get at least a little bit of rest. Naruto spazzed, remembering that Hinata would be at home alone and worried for him and about the operation so he had to go see her. Kakashi had smirked. Gai had declared he had to leave too, he had promised Lee some early morning training.

She moved out of the doorway, allowing the three to pass as they all waved to Kakashi and promised to visit again the next day. She stayed.

Sasuke got the distinct feeling that he was intruding again.

She still hadn't moved towards him, she was still watching.

Kakashi made slightly strained conversation with Sasuke, centering mainly on his work with ANBU until they couldn't really think of anything more to say and the silence stretched in the room.

She looked up at Sasuke. That uncomfortable feeling that had been growing in the pit of his stomach grew heavier still and he knew he had to leave. So he sighed and reluctantly took his leave telling her that he would leave the door unlocked.

She'd smiled at him and he'd left.

The silence still stretched as she continued to simply look at him, that soft look still on her face, coloring her eyes and her small smile.

He was comfortable just looking back at her.

This was a common ritual for them; they didn't really need to talk and were perfectly comfortable just enjoying the other's presence.

Finally a grin broke across his face. "Yes, I am really here." He told her, guessing the cause of her dreamy look.

She blinked, then grinned, then laughed as she suddenly rushed him, jumping onto the bed and hugging him tightly.

"Welcome home." She said.

He hugged her close, re-familiarizing himself with her texture, her weight, her scent.

She leg go of him and sat back, still sitting on the bed with him.

"This is for you." She said as she handed him the package she'd been holding.

He opened it. The first thing in the bag was a book, Come Come Paradise Volume 5.

She grinned as he blinked at it and sweat dropped slightly. "Thanks." He said, half sarcastically.

She chuckled. He pulled the second thing out of the bag; it was a photo album.

He looked at it questioningly.

"They're pictures I've been taking for the past few years of things I thought you might like to see." She said a little shyly.

He lifted an eyebrow with curiosity as he opened the book and smiled slightly at the first picture. It was the one of team 7 after they had all passed the Jounin exams. The next few pages were photos of highlights from both Naruto's and Sasuke's battles.

"Why aren't there any of you?" he asked as he looked through the book.

She looked down.

"Everyone forfeited so I didn't have to fight. And even if I had, there wasn't anyone else to take the pictures." She answered him with a forced smile.

He frowned but let it go and continued turning the pages. More pictures of Naruto showing off some new skill. He continued to flip, pictures of Sasuke's try-outs for ANBU.

"How did you manage to watch the ANBU tryouts? Those are closed to the public."

She smiled mischievously. "Tsunade helped me sneak in."

He smiled slightly and continued to turn the pages, there were a few of various places that she said she had visited on missions.

About halfway through the book though, those pictures ceased. He'd considered asking, but she'd looked a little strained so he let it pass. He continued to flip through; there were pictures of everyone but her.

He flipped through to the end, enjoying her commentary for the various images. Finally he got to the last one and looked at it. It seemed familiar but different; he couldn't place why he recognized it.

"That's the view from the bar over the bridge that you always showed up on whenever we met there." She said softly.

He smiled a little, only she would ever think of taking a photograph from that spot.

He looked at it for a long time then closed the book and set it aside to look at her again. Her eyes were shadowed and she was watching him intently, as if expecting something from him.

He raised his eyebrow.

"You said you would tell me what had happened to you after you woke up." She reminded him.

He frowned.

"When did I say that?" he asked, confused.

She frowned back.

"When I was unconscious…you came and told me I had to wake up and then I asked you what had happened to you and you said you would tell me after you had woken up." She said.

He continued to frown, it was impossible that he had done any such thing but if she wanted to believe it, he'd let her. So he shrugged and leaned back against the pillows, attempting to stifle the yawn that crept up on him. He was so tired. He didn't have any stamina left at all, just talking with her and flipping pages in a book left him feeling drained.

"You know what, you can tell me later." She said as she watched him force the yawn back.

His lips twitched at the corners gratefully as she stood up.

"Going home?" he asked her.

She hesitated slightly.

"I am home." She answered, looking away from him, and turned off the lights before curling up in one of the chairs and watching him.

He patted the spot beside him in the bed. She uncurled herself and crawled under the covers, snuggling up to him, to his warmth. He was warm again.

~~~

He stared at the ceiling. He was tired but he couldn't sleep. It was sunrise and she hadn't come back yet.

He was sure she wasn't going to come back.

~~~

And she didn't. Not that day, not the next, not the week after, not two weeks after. She didn't come back.

He didn't see her. He hadn't gone to the hospital. She hadn't come to the house, sending a nurse instead to get some more clothing for her.

He was going out of his mind; he had to get away for a bit.

So he threw himself on the "mercy" of the Hokage. She'd been in a vindictive mood, still stinging from him having skipped out on duty that day…

So she'd sent him on a particularly grueling mission that required espionage, assassination and diplomacy and would probably take him at least a month to complete.

~~~

It was amazing how quickly he was recovering. With only two weeks of physiotherapy and already he could walk around if he used a pair of crutches. He could also do five one-finger pushups with his own weight.

She had to laugh at him though, he was so frustrated. He thought he should be far more recovered than he was.

She hadn't left his side in the past two weeks. She'd drowned out anything that had suggested she should. He needed her to be here and so she was.

This was where she belonged; this was where she was supposed to be.

But still, deep down, she felt unsatisfied.

He glanced at her from the weight training equipment he was working with. She had that faraway look on her face again, that shadow in her eyes.

He sighed, three years was a long time. She'd changed.

~~~

"Sakura, may I speak with you?" Tsunade asked from the doorway to the room. She looked up from her book then over at Kakashi who was still asleep and nodded.

She stood up and moved into the hallway.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I just thought I should let you know that Kakashi is fit to return home, provided of course that you are to stay close and keep and eye on him and help him continue his physiotherapy." She began. "His old apartment has been reopened for him and his things that were in storage are being moved back there as we speak. Also, Sasuke has been sent on a mission and will be gone for the next month so I hope you have a key to his house so that you can collect the rest of your things." The older woman told her.

Her eyes stung slightly.

{He left?}

She blinked and nodded.

"Yes, I do." She answered.

"Excellent, I suggest you gather your things now. I'll stay here with Kakashi," Tsunade told her before walking into the room.

Sakura nodded numbly and walked down the hall towards the door as Tsunade settled herself in a chair and picked up the copy of Come Come Paradise, Volume 5 that had been on the table beside the bed and began to read.

~~~

Her feet were dragging. She didn't understand it. Why was she nervous about going to his house, especially if he wasn't even there?

Because he wasn't there.

She stood on the doorstep for a long time, just looking at the wood.

Finally she sighed and reached into her pocket for the spare key he had given her and opened the door.

The hall was dark and cold. The kitchen was immaculate. The stairs were silent as she walked up them.

She went into the spare bedroom and gathered the few things she had left on the bed and shoved them into her old backpack.

She looked around the room. It was like she'd never even been there.

She left and her feet turned against her will and took her into his room.

The room was clean, the bed perfectly made. Like it always was.

Her rebellious feet took her to the bed and she ran her hand over the dark blue comforter.

She cast one last look around the room, her eyes frowning when she spotted a worn photograph on the table beside his bed.

It was full of crease marks and water stained. She picked it up. It was the picture that had been taken of all four of them after he had returned to the village.

She set it back down and turned, and ran, practically flying out of the empty house.

~~~

The move went smoothly and the month passed quickly and easily with very few points of interest.

The only real event was Gaara returning home to introduce the now adopted Mika to his siblings. They hadn't said much to each other. Mika had still been afraid of her.

She'd felt like the most horrible person on the planet. It hadn't been enough that her whole family had been killed because of her, she'd had to go and traumatize the child even more.

She'd been half relieved that Gaara had been taking the little girl far far away from her influence.

He hadn't really wanted to leave her, something had been off about her ever since that day she'd seen Mika hold the butterfly. But she hadn't opened up to him about what it was, he was pretty sure she wasn't consciously aware of the presence.

And so he'd left, returning to the desert, dragging a promise out of her that she would come to visit soon.

The only really interesting bit of news had been Kakashi's report on the elimination of the Akatsuki. The long and short of it had been that a few members had tried to escape during the battle and he'd gone after them. He'd been outnumbered and overpowered.

Just when he'd about to be killed, butterflies had flown out of nowhere and started landing on his opponents. They'd all been killed.

A butterfly had landed on a cut on his arm and that was the last thing he'd remembered.

Gossip had spread that Sakura had sent the butterflies to protect him.

The truth was that they'd followed the scent of her blood on their own whim. The truth was that that was all they had ever done. The truth was that they had never been under her control.

They still followed her every now and then, fluttering to a window ledge of Kakashi's apartment or following her around if she was in the woods.

But still, it wasn't her they'd cared about. It was her blood. The one unique ability she'd had had been a fake all along.

She'd ignored the numbness that had grown with the realization. The same numbness she'd been fighting off ever since she'd found out that Sasuke had left. She let herself drown in Kakashi's presence and recovery.

He was making amazing progress. He still wasn't able to really fight but he could walk on his own and even run for short periods of time and could now do 200 one-finger pushups on his own, and 30 with her as extra weight.

He'd encouraged her to start training again as well and with the pressure of the promise she had made to Lee, she'd returned to honing her body for the sole purpose of standing around and looking pretty seeing as she had resigned as a jounin and Tsunade wouldn't send her on missions even if she hadn't.

Lee still pretended to go all out with her but she could see straight through him. She didn't bother calling him out on it though; there was no point.

And so life settled back into the familiar, remembered patterns of three years ago. But still, she felt something missing and she cursed him in the middle of the night when she still couldn't sleep even though Kakashi was with her. She cursed him when all she had to occupy her mind was worry for him. She cursed him when she could barely move past the weight of her heart when she became aware that he wasn't around her.

She spent the month cursing him. She spent the month hating him for doing this to her again.