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The Butterfly	By : tealeaf Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1742 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Disclaimer: Naruto isn�t mine. Never has been, never will
be.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the last few
chapters and thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting me and
helping me with this fic. Hmm�what to say about this chapter�I think Sasuke�s
still too ambiguous. I know I said I would try to fix that in this chapter but
that didn�t turn out so we�ll try for it in the next one. Also�I was thinking
maybe when this is over that I might write a prequel called �The Cocoon� which
would be about Sakura�s life with Kakashi and have a lot more of her
relationship with Gaara�well, we�ll see. I should finish this one before I
start thinking of the next one, eh? Ok, so here goes chapter 17, hope you all
enjoy ^^

~~~

The Butterfly: Chapter 17
By: Tea Leaf / Banana Soap

~~~

She walked along the edges of the village, preferring to
avoid the morning bustle in the streets. Predictably, her feet found their way
to the bridge. She walked to the middle and leaned against the railing as she
looked up at the clear blue sky.

It was beautiful out today.

�Nee-chan!� came a small voice and she turned and smiled at
Mika as the little girl ran up to her.

�Hey kiddo, how are you today?� she asked as she crouched
down to the girl�s level.

�Mika-chan is very good. How is Sakura nee-chan?� she asked
brightly.

�Sakura nee-chan�s ok� she responded hesitantly.

Her smile transferred to Gaara as he crouched down beside
them too.

�Really?� he asked her as he took in the slight bruise like
smudges under her eyes.

�Maybe.� She answered.

�Does Sakura nee-chan want to walk with Mika-chan and
nii-san?� the little girl asked hopefully as she put her hands on Sakura�s
knee.

�Yes please, thank you for offering.� She answered.

She and Gaara straightened, and Mika grasped their hands and
started to lead them over the bridge.

Sakura shook her head in wonder at the girl. It was amazing
how well she was recovering and moving on from her trauma. Gaara appeared to be
a miracle worker when it came to healing. But then, she�d already known that.

They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the
field of the hero monument and Mika let go of their hands.

�Can Mika-chan play here nii-san?� she asked Gaara. He
smiled and nodded at her and she tumbled into the long grass, hunting for
grasshoppers.

The two adults sat down back to back, resting their heads
back on the other�s shoulder as they looked up at the sky, watching the fluffy
clouds roll by.

This was a familiar pass-time for them.

�So are you ok?� he asked after a moment.

�I�m not sure. Things are weird right now.� She answered.

�How so?�

�Its Sasuke�I did something stupid and he reacted�and then
he asked me about me and Kakashi and I told him something that he misunderstood
again and I haven�t talked to him since�� she answered, her words awkward.

Why was she feeling so tongue-tied lately? Nothing was
coming out right.

�What did you do?� he asked.

�We got drunk�I kissed him�then we slept in the same bed,
actually slept though nothing else�and I think he made more out of it then
there was. And then I told him that it wasn�t about him, it was just that I
sleep better when there�s someone else there. And he asked me how I learnt
that�and then I evaded but he asked again and I told him a bit about me and
Kakashi but�I don�t know what really happened�� she responded.

�What did you tell him about you and Kakashi?� he asked.

�Just that we used to sleep in the same bed�and that I liked
to sleep naked�� she answered, embarrassed.

�It was so stupid�I shouldn�t have told him that.� She
continued.

�Yeah, I can�t imagine that would normally go over well.�

�It was weird though�he didn�t say anything, he just walked
away from me.� She said, a pain she didn�t want to admit to filtering into her
voice.

Gaara winced in sympathy, being walked away from was one of
the worst experiences a person could have.

�He probably just didn�t know how to react. Did you explain
it to him?� Gaara questioned now.

�No�I didn�t know how�he wouldn�t understand even if I did.�
She answered him.

�I don�t think you give Sasuke enough credit. You should
explain it to him, make him understand.� He told her.

�Why should I even bother?� she muttered numbly. She felt
like she was stuck in some cheesy soap opera with all this petty drama.

�Because you care.� He answered.

�I don�t want to care.�

�Yes you do. You�re just afraid to.�

She didn�t respond.

�Explain it to him. Make him understand. Force him to if it
comes to that.� Gaara ordered her gently.

She sighed and leaned more heavily against his back.

�Fine�� she muttered.

�Go do it now.� He ordered her then.

She sighed painfully as leaned forward and then stood up.

�Thanks Gaara.� She told him with a small smile and a slight
wave as she walked off.

Gaara sighed and lay back on the grass. He didn�t really
want her to finally sort things out with Sasuke; that meant she wouldn�t really
need him anymore.

But at the end of day, she needed that closure. She needed
things to be sorted out. And he knew that, he understood that and he wanted her
to have that. She deserved it.

The air was knocked out of his as Mika suddenly plopped down
on his stomach and smiled at him.

He smiled back at her.

~~~

She hesitated at the door. That sign was still there. This
was her last chance to change her mind.

But she couldn�t, she had to go through with this. If
nothing else, she owed it to the girl she had been seven years ago. She needed
Sasuke to understand her.

She took a deep breath and opened the door softly and
stepped in. The main floor was empty.

She closed the door behind her and slipped off her sandals.
She gulped as she grasped the stair rail and walked up the steps.

She opened the door to his room and walked in.

He was lying on the bed, watching her with that numb
expression she recognized from the mirror.

She bit her lip as she stood at the foot of the bed, facing
him.

He didn�te.
She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out at first.
She closed it again.

He raised an eyebrow.

Why did she always have so much trouble expressing herself
around him?

She squared her shoulders and tried again.

�There is something you need to understand about me.� She
managed to say.

He didn�t respond.

�You�re not looking at me.� She told him.

He frowned. �Yes I am.� He said.

�No, you�re looking through me.�

His frown deepened.

�You�re not seeing me, you�re seeing who you think I should
be.� She continued.

�Everyone has always looked through me�� she said then, as
some emotion he couldn�t really see in her expression rose up and clogged her
throat.

She paused for a moment, collecting herself.

�What you need to understand is that I am not that ideal.
I�m human just like everyone else.� She said then looking directly into his
eyes.

She looked away from him then.

�Back then�back then no one would treat me like I was a
person. Not even you and Naruto. You treated me like I was made out of glass.
But I�m not. And I�I really needed to be allowed to be human then but no one
would acknowledge my humanity.� She said.

Still he didn�t move. He didn�t know what to do or what to
say.

His conscience told him that now would probably be a good
time to simply say nothing at all and listen to her.

This was the first time she�d opened up to him since he�d
left.

�Kakashi-sensei�He was the only one who would look at me.
He�s the only who treated me as a human being.� She started but stopped and
tried again.

�I need to feel human, it tears me apart if I don�t. I start
to go numb and I hate that. I want to be alive and feel like everyone else.�
She said then.

�With Kakashi�it wasn�t about any of the emotions that
usually run relationships. It wasn�t about love, it wasn�t even about lust or
sex. It wasn�t about anything other than a human connection. He understood that
I needed to feel human and he helped me. That�s all that it was. It was just
skin, just bodies.� She said still looking away.

She was quiet for a moment but then snapped her eyes to his.

�Stand up.� She told him.

�What?� he asked, surprised with the sudden command.

�Just stand up.� She repeated.

He frowned suspiciously but did as she requested and she
walked over to him and grabbed the edges of his shirt, pulling it up.

�What are you doing?� he asked shocked as he tried to fight
her hands away.

�Just trust me. Now quit fighting me and take off your
shirt.� She commanded as she kept tugging at it.

With a slight growl of frustration he helped tug tug it off.

She grabbed the edge of her own shirt and pulled it up over
her head and then unhooked and dropped her bra.

He froze. What the hell was she doing?

She hooked her fingers in the belt loops of his pants and
pulled him towards her until their chests were pressed against each other.

�See? Its just skin. Its just bodies.� She told him as she
looked up at him.

�No its not. Its your skin and your body
against mine.� He answered as looked straight ahead instead of at her.

�You�re wrong. This is the same skin everyone has. These are
the same bodies everyone else has. Don�t you understand? That�s the point.� She
told him softly as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him to her.

His arms instinctively wrapped around her back.

She was right. He had always looked through her. But now
with her body pressed against him, now that he could feel her physically, he
was forced to look at her.
- 15
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- 17
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The Butterfly