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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
- 19
- 20
- 21
Disclaimer: Naruto still isn�t mine so please don�t sue me.
I�m poor, I swear.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I
loved reading them. And here�s the next one, it�s a little shorter but I think
it turned out well anyway. I hope you all like it and I look forward to your
reactions ^_^

~~~

The Butterfly: Chapter 21
By: Tea Leaf / Banana Soap

~~~

The rest of the morning was spent under the ominous shadow
of Kakashi�s impending operation. The comfort and sunshine they had been enjoying
earlier had been obliterated.

Sakura spend a good deal of the time in the spare bedroom
going through a few things that she had kept buried in the bottom of the pack
she had taken with her on her journey.

Sasuke stayed in the kitchen. He had gone up to see her but
had felt uncomfortable, like he was intruding in something that wasn�t meant to
be intruded upon by him. So he�d gone to his room and gotten dressed before
coming back to the kitchen and having another cup of coffee. And another. And
another. Until suddenly the pot was empty and he had developed a twitch under
his left eye due to the caffeine.

He stared at the clock. Kakashi�s operation was due to start
at 3:30, an hour from now. He heard soft feet on the steps and looked through
the kitchen door to see her descend. Her shirt had a high collar and was hiding
his mark. Her arms were bandaged, hiding her scars. Her hair was pulled back
into a braid, not loose and flowing like he liked.

She was carrying a small bag in her arms. He didn�t know
what was in it, he wasn�t supposed to.

His slightly unstable hand grasped his now empty mug as he
stood up and he placed it in the sink as he past it on his way to the foot of
the stairs where she stood.

She tried to smile a bit but he could see the fear and worry
still plaguing her. He tried to smile reassuringly as the vise around his lungs
tightened.

He motioned to the door, she nodded and stepped past him to
pull on her sandals, he did the same and they left.

They walked slowly side by side, she was limping slightly
having aggravated her leg the day before.

Still they said nothing, neither really capable of figuring
out what would be the appropriate thing to say. So the silence stretched and
the tension thickened between them.

The reached the hospital and he pulled the door open for
her. She hesitated for an instant before walking in. They went to the desk and
signed in before heading to Kakashi�s room.

They blinked as they saw Gai sitting beside the bed and
grasping one of Kakashi�s hands as tears streamed down his face. They�d caught
him in the middle of an impassioned speech about how their eternal rivalry
could not end now and so he was sure that Kakashi would pull through the
operation or some such thing. Neither of them could really hear anything beyond
the resonating heart beats in their ears.

Sasuke moved into the room and took a seat opposite Gai, on
the other side of Kakashi�s bed and stared at the comatose Jounin thoughtfully.

She stayed at the door. She couldn�t go in. She stared at
his corpse. Part of her didn�t believe he could ever revive from this. Part of
her was afraid he never would.

She stepped back from the doorway and leaned against the
wall on the outside of the room.

She clutched her package to her chest and slid down the wall
to sit on the floor.

�Sakura!� came a loud voice and she looked up as Naruto
waved at her. She smiled back slightly.

He crouched down beside her on the floor and laid his hand
on the top of her head.

�Don�t worry Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei will be fine. That
old hag is a brilliant doctor; do you remember the operation she did on Lee
after Gaara crushed his limbs? That went perfectly and this operation isn�t
nearly as complicated. It�ll go great and Kakashi will be sleeping in and being
late for training sessions again in no time.� He reassured her brightly.

She smiled as a slight laugh escaped her throat.

�Thanks Naruto� she told him as he settled himself down on
the floor beside here.

�Aren�t you going to go in?� she asked.

�Why? Its not like this is going to be the last time I see
him alive. Besides, I heard Gai�s bawling from all the way down the hall and
I�m really not in the mood to be scarred for life by the image of him crying
over Kakashi.� He answered her with slightly wide eyes. She laughed a little
again.

�Yeah, it was something of a disturbing sight.� She
answered.

Sasuke heard her laugh and the vise tightened painfully.

~~~

The waiting was killing her.

Tsunade had come to them at precisely 3:30 and had explained
the operation and the dangers to them. Best case scenario, Kakashi would be
fine. Scenario to be expected, Kakashi would be paralyzed from the neck down.
Worst case scenario, Kakashi would die.

She didn�t want him to die. Not now. It wouldn�t be fair if
he died now.

Gai was pacing, unable to sit still for more than a second.

She, Sasuke and Naruto were all standing, leaning against
the wall that faced the window that normally looked down onto the operation
room. Curtains had been drawn closed across the glass. They couldn�t risk
Tsunade being distracted by anything.

She was still shocked by the nature of the operation. How
had one of her butterflies, no wait, they weren�t her butterflies anymore.

A pang of loss clenched in her stomach.

How could one of the butterflies have gone into Kakashi�s
bloodstream? What had the butterflies been doing around him? Had they followed
him? Had they intentionally tried to hurt him? Had they saved him?

What had happened to him?

She didn�t know. Tsunade didn�t know. Nobody knew anything.

{What happened to you?}

"It's a long story. I'll tell you when I wake
up."

His voice echoed in her head. She bit her lip as her eyes
began to sting slightly. She shifted and leaned against Sasuke�s shoulder, her
hand finding his at his side and tangled their fingers.

He rested his chin on the top of her head.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at them.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

Gai paced on.

And so they waited.

~~~

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she made a delicate
incision. She pulled the skin away from the area slightly so that she would
have better access.
p>
There it was. She could see the small lump in the vein. She
took a deep breath as an assistant sponged her forehead.

She set down her scalpel and made a quick seal with her
hands, finishing with her finger pointing to the correct vein. The blood flow
would be temporarily blocked in it.

She picked up a smaller scalpel and took a good number of
steadying breaths; this was the tricky part, slicing the vein without slicing
anything else.

She lowered the
knife, her hand steady and broke the surface of the tube easily with her sharp
instrument. She pulled back carefully.

The incision was made without any problems. So far, so good.
Now she just had to make sure she didn�t hit the corded nerves as she removed
the butterfly.

She set down the smaller scalpel as picked up a pair of long
tweezers. She lowered them carefully into the incision and clamped them down
onto the wing fragment.

She pulled slowly and carefully, her hand never wavering.

The butterfly came out. She pulled it away from the
dangerous area without any problems and placed the bloody and now dead insect
on a tray and set down the tweezers.

She formed another seal with her hands and placed her open
palm about an inch above the surgical area. The small incision in the vein
sealed itself.

She formed another series of seals and pointed to the vein,
a small string of chakra left her fingertip and reactivated the blood flow of
the vein.

Her face was still impassive; she wasn�t finished yet.

She removed the small clamps that stretched the skin away
from the area. She grasped a needle and thread and carefully stitched the inch
long cut.

She stepped away and breathed easier. Complete. Success.

~~~

Her grip tightened almost painfully as Tsunade walked
towards them.

The older woman smiled as she got closer and her knees went
weak in relief, she would have fallen had he not caught her.

�The operation was a success. The obstruction has been
removed without any damage having been done to his nervous system.� The Hokage
told them.

Gai and Naruto cheered loudly and did a happy dance as she
sagged more in his arms.
&n
She felt light headed, like some huge weight had just
disappeared from her shoulders and mind.

He didn�t react.

�However� Tsunade began. Gai and Naruto froze, she tensed
again.

�There is still a significant amount of poison in his system
that we have yet to cleanse so he is still comatose.� She continued.

�We will let you know when the detoxification process is
complete.� The Hokage told them before turning and walking back down the hall.

Sasuke helped Sakura to a chair and crouched down beside
her. She held on to his hand tightly with both of hers.

Things were better but things weren�t over yet. They still
had to cleanse the poison, assuming of course they even could. She bit her lip.

Sasuke frowned slightly and squeezed her hand gently.

~~~

Again, runes spidered across his naked skin and he lay on a
bare metal table covered from the waist down with a flimsy hospital sheet.

Tsunade stood at the head of the table, still in her
operation scrubs.

She took several calming breaths, centering herself. She
concentrated on her chakra flow, gathering it into her hands.

She performed a long, complicated series of seals then
placed her hands on his head: forefingers and middle fingers over his eyes,
ring fingers and pinkies fanned out to his temples, thumbs together on the
bridge of his nose, palms resting on his forehead.

She closed her eyes in concentration, sending her chakra
flowing through his body, pushing the poison into the runes that covered his
skin.

>

The runes, once red, slowly turned black. She felt the
connection between them close and opened her eyes. All the runes were now pitch
black, the poison had been moved from inside of him and into the symbols.
Perfect.

She called in a few nurses and together they started
scrubbing off the runes, washing the poison off of him.

~~~

Everyone stared with intense eyes as Tsunade walked down the
hall towards them again.

�He is currently recovering from the surgery. He�s asleep.�
She told them as she came up to them.

�Asleep? Are you sure he�s not still in a coma?� Naruto
asked her.

�There are signs of active and conscious brain activity and
he has recovered mobility. So yes, we�re sure he�s just asleep.� She answered.

Sakura looked at her hopefully.

�Yes you misitisit him but you are not allowed to wake him
up� she said with a stern glare at Naruto.

Naruto snapped his fingers, she�d caught him.

~~~

Ho couldn�t remember ever feeling so rested. He smiled
slightly at the hand that was stroking his hair and the sweet scent that was
enveloping him. She was waiting for him.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her.

His eyes snapped wide and he yelled in shock as G fac face
flooded his vision.

�KAKASHI!!!� Gai yelled out as he grasped his rival in a
bear hug and happy tears spilled down his cheeks.

Team 7 sweat dropped at the ensuing sparkles.

Kakashi tried to pull away but three years of not moving
had left him with very little actual physical strength.

{Ok, That was not what I had hoped to see} he thought
to himself.

�Gai, get off of me.� He said still trying his best to pry
the man off of him.

Gai finallg gog go of his death grip and grabbed Kakashi�s
hands.

�Now that you are back in the village, our rivalry must
continue! I challenge you to a competition of your choice.� He said vibrantly.

Kakashi sighed.

lasslass=MsoNormal>�Gai, now�s a really bad time.� He answered.

His fellow jounin frowned in confusion.

�Gai, he�s been in a coma for the past three years, he�ll be
needing some pretty extreme physiotherapy before he can do any competitions
with you.� Tsunade said from the other side of the bed where she was checking
some machines and making notes on her clipbard.

�Oh, right. After your recovery then!� he insisted.

�Fine.� Kakashi consented reluctantly attempting to pull his
hands away from Gai�s.

�You�re late.� Came a timid voice from the doorway.

Kakashi looked over and smiled slightly as he spotted Sakura
there looking at him cautiously, her arms wrapped nd and a package she held
pressed to her chest.

�Sorry �bout that� he said as he scratched the back of his
head weakly. �I got lost on the way back.�

�Liar!� she said, a smile starting to creep across her lips
as Naruto echoed the word and stepped past her into the room.

�Geez, and I thought you had been lazy before you left!�
Naruto complained good-naturedly as he walked up to the bed and pulled a chair
up to the bedside.

�For the record, I would like to point out that this time it
really wasn�t my fault.� The copy ninja answered.

Naruto snorted.

�I�m not talking about the coma, I�m talking about the six
hours you slept for afterwards.� He told him sarcastically.

Kakashi smiled apologetically and glanced back over to where
Sakura still stood in the doorway, a soft smile playing on her lips to match
the softness in her eyes as she watched him.

Sasuke stood behind her and slipped his hand around her
waist.
- 19
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- 21
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The Butterfly