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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
- 3
- 4
- 5
Disclaimer: No, I unfortunately do not own Naruto the series
or the characters involved in it, I�m just borrowing them for a little while
and promise to put them back exactly where I found them, hopefully no worse for
wear.

A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. I really and
truly do appreciate it and am anxious for your impressions on this chapter. I�m
not sure how I feel about it�it feels a little off to me but it�s the best I
could do. So let me know what you think and if you have any ideas, please send
them my way. I�m ly jly just writing this as it comes to me and have no real
destination in mind with it.

~~~

The Butterfly: Chapter 4
By: Tea Leaf / Banana Soap

~~~

For a long time he just stared.

The sun slowly sunk behind the horizon and clouds blew in
overhead. The light died.

Still he stared.

Slowly, almost lazily, fat drops of cold water began to
fall. They soon picked up speed though and it became a race between thousands
upon thousands of drops, from the heavens to the earth. He was soaked.

He didn�t notice.

Tsunade watched sadly. He�d been there for over two hours
now. The guards had sent for her, he was starting to unnerve them. With a soft
sigh she walked towards him, an umbrella protecting her from the onslaught of
rain. She crouched down beside him covering him with the umbrella as well as
she placed a hand on his back.

He didn�t react.

�Its time to go home now Sasuke.� She said softly.

His eyes shifted away from the gate, down to the ground then
up to the rain. He seemed confused, how could he have not noticed the storm.

Then it hit him: she was out in the storm.

His eyes snapped to the gate again in sudden alarm and his
muscles tensed as he was about to rush after her.

Tsunade grabbed his arm, stopping him.

�Its time to go home Sasuke� she said again, her voice a
little firmer, a little more convincing.

He looked at her. She was tired. She was weary. She looked
old. She was sad too. She was telling him he couldn�t go after her, at least
not yet.

He nodded slightly and the pair stood up. He walked away,
soon disappearing in the rain.

Tsunade watched him go then turned and walked to the gate
placing her hand on its seam.

Good luck kid

~~~

She walked. She couldn�t stop walking. She couldn�t look
back.

She didn�t hurry, she knew that no one would come after her.

She was a butterfly, out of sight out of mind. Just a detail
in the scenery.

She walked on.

Then the rain started and she stopped as she raised her face
to the cold droplets.

She loved the rain. Nature�s shower. She always felt clean
after standing in the rain.

Butterflies couldn�t fly in the rain.

She started walking again and the rain poured down for
hours. Finally, she decided on a rest. She was tired, but not sleepy. She still
couldn�t sleep.

She reclined under a tree, letting the water soak her
clothes and coat her skin. She smiled ever so slightly at the sky.

This was a good sign, she was sure of it.

~~~

Naruto sighed in contentment as the village came into view
through the mists left by the continuing rain.

Finally some decent ramen!

He couldn�t wait to see everyone, he�d been away for a week
and had gotten a new scar, it had a cool story to, and he was going to tell it
to everyone.

And brag to Sasuke! He thought with a foxy grin.

�Alright boys, just two more miles!� He cheered before
taking off again.

Jiraiya, Kankuro and Kiba all groaned. Naruto had been
running at breakneck speed since this morning, it was all they could do to keep
up.

�Bah, let him go, we�ll catch up later.� Jiraiya muttered
before taking out his spyglass and aiming it towards a river in the distance
hoping some girls might be swimming despite the rain.

Kiba and Kankuro sweat dropped but didn�t complain, they
were grateful for the rest as they sat down under a tree, hoping to get some
shelter.

~~~

He lay on his side, curled slightly into a ball and staring
at the wall below the window. It was still raining. It had been raining for
days. Ever since she left.

He hated the rain. It was cold, it was wet, it was
miserable. He was miserable.

He wouldn�t move. He wasn�t hungry. He couldn�t sleep.

Ino and Shikamaru
had stopped by a day or so ago (he wasn�t really keeping track of time) and had
tried to get him to eat something. He hadn�t wanted to.

Tsunade had come by the next day and tried to help him
sleep. None of her remedies had worked.

Suddenly there was a large bang as his front door was thrown
open. The heavy stomping of feet followed as the intruder ran up the stairs.

He didn�t move. He didn�t react.

With what seemed like an explosion of energy, Naruto burst
into the room.

He was about 5�10� now and had really filled out; he could
easily have become a football player (if you know, they played football or knew
what football was). Despite his heavily muscled bulk though, he was still as
quick and agile as a fox. And right now, this fox had a huge grin slapped on
his face and his blue eyes were practically glowing with restraint excitement.

He ignored him.

�Yo, Sasuke!� Naruto
boomed out in his characteristically loud voice.

�Go away.� He muttered.

Naruto frowned. �What the hell�s wrong with you?� he asked,
kinda ticked that Sasuke wasn�t as lively as he was.

�What the hell do you think?� Sasuke responded
sarcastically.

�How the hell should I know, I�ve been out of town for the
past week!� Naruto replied with equal sarcasm.

Sasuke was quiet a moment and Naruto was starting to
consider asking again.

�She left.� He finally answered in a quiet voice, as if he
didn�t really want to admit it out loud.

�She? She who?� Naruto continued to pry, concern starting to
creep across his features.

�Who do you think?� he responded harshly<
<

�Would you just tell me?!� Naruto yelled back.

He glared at the wall and curled in on himself a bit more.
He didn�t answer.

�Sasuke, who left?� Naruto asked in a calmer tone.

��Sakura�Sakura left.� He said, some indistinct emotion
straining his voice.

Naruto froze but his shock was quickly overcome by anger.

�Il>�I don�t believe you!� He yelled harshly before taking off,
running as fast as he could to Sakura�s apartment.

Sasuke didn�t move.

~~~

He pounded on the door and wtherthere was no answer, he
broke the lock and went it.

The room was empty, but the room had always been empty. He
checked the drawers under her bed. The clothes were all gone. He checked the
cupboards. They were all empty. He checked her window seat. The faint
impression of a human was rapidly fading from the cushions; the blood on the
windowsill had dried several days ago.

A small blue and black butterfly was perched by the blood.

He sat down on the sill.

�Hey.� Came a quiet voice from the doorway.

Naruto looked up to see Hinata standing there and watching
him.

�Hey.� He said back in a withdrawn tone.

Hinata walked over
and hugged him tightly.

Naruto hugged her back; she always knew just what he needed.

�She came to see you two days ago but you weren�t home.�
Hinata began in her soft voice.

�She asked me to give you a message though.� She continued.
Naruto looked up a little hopefully.

�She said thank you, thank you for everything. And she said
goodbye.� Hinata said, sadness creeping into her voice as she locked eyes with
him.

He hugged her closer as he felt tears start to sting his
eyes.

She was gone�

Now, of course he knew she wasn�t the same person anymore
and of course he knew that he couldn�t help her but still�

He�d known this would happen. Sakura had never been the type
to go down without a fight once she was trapped in a corner. And she�d been
living with her back pushed harder and harder against the wall for a long time
now. And now she was trying to fight back. He knew that, he understood that.

But she was still his friend. And it still hurt that she had
left.

~~~

Sakura looked up at the clouds as the rain started to calm,
it looked like the storm was clearing up.

She kept walking, her pack feeling a little heavier now that
she had raided the group of bandits she�d stumbled upon. She was still in the
fire country, she knew that much but she really had no idea where in the fire
country. Honestly, she didn�t really care.

She still wasn�t sure was she was looking for; something
just kept pushing her to keep moving.

The sky was clearing and the sun was setting, she decided to
find an inn to stay at tonight and try to dry her clothes out.

She found a main road easily enough and about a mile after
she�d started following the well-worn stretch she�d come to a comfortable inn
with a spare room for the night.

She took a small table in a shadowy corner, watching the
room. No one looked familiar.

She didn�t suppose anyone would ever look familiar again.

In another corner of the room there was a stage that was
well lit and currently empty. The sign on the wall promised live entertainment
later tonight though.

She enjoyed live music.

~~~

Tsunade stared at Sasuke. He hadn�t moved since the last
time she�d seen him. From the slight gauntness in his cheeks she�d bet good
money that he hadn�t eaten since then either. The dark smudges under his eyes
proved he hadn�t slept.

Man! What a pain. One ghost leaves only to create another
one!

She had no idea what to do.

clasclass=MsoNormal>�Sasuke, you can�t just lie here. You have to do something.
Even Sakura at her worst still moved!� Tsunade exclaimed in frustration.

He winced at the sound of her name and pulled a pillow over
his head.

Tsunade could have cried in frustration. Of all the stupid
things to say!
&nb>
She stomped over to him and grabbed the pillow pulling it
off his head. He hid his head with his arms.

�Sasuke! Please move! Eat! Do something! You�re really
starting to worry, not onlybut but all of your friends!� Tsunade said,
desperate for some kind of reaction.

She didn�t get one.

�Oh I give up!� she exclaimed as she tossed her hands into
the air.

�Eat something at least, Ino and Hinata have been stocking
your fridge with homemade food all week. The least you could do is eat some of
it.� She said with a final �hmph� and left.

He�d tried eating but everything tasted like ash. It made
him feel sick.

He was sick.

Sick with worry, sick with guilt. Sick with misery.

He didn�t understand it. It wasn�t like he even talked to
her anymore but at least when she was here he could have, had he wanted to.

Then why hadn�t you?! His inner voice yelled at him.

He winced.

Why hadn�t he? Maybe if he had he could have helped her and
she wouldn�t have had to leave.

He stared at the wall.

His eyes started to droop closed but he snapped them open
again.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. But he didn�t
really see her. He didn�t see the real her, he saw the her that she used to The The one he�d destroyed.

His eyes stung.

Why did she have to leave? Why did she have to remind him?
Why did she have to force him to acknowledge the damage he�d done. He just
wanted to forget everything.

Don�t you understand? That�s what I want to do too.

He tried to shut his ears to her voice but he couldn�t, it
was coming from inside his head. His eyes closed again and he saw her as she
had been that night, when she�d looked at him with those wounded eyes, when
he�d finally seen how broken she really was.

Her arms had been bandaged; there had been dried blood in
the gauze. The gauze had been black specifically to hide how much blood there
must have been.

She�d been skinny, too skinny. He could see her bones. Her
cheeks had been gaunt and shadowed.

But it was her eyes. Her eyes had been open to him for the
first time since the night he�d left.

He�d finally seen it.

Her ravaged soul, that gaping wound that just wouldn�t heal.
The wound he had caused.

He�d seen her desperation.

Through everything he�d gone through, she�d always been
right beside him. She had always been the first to defend him, the only one to
protect him.

And how had he repaid her? Hreparepaid her in pain. He�d
told her off countless times, he�d brushed her off even more. He�d ignored her.
He�d intentionally hurt her.

His memory provided him with the vivid picture of her back
with three shirukens protruding from between her shoulder blades. The lowest
one, the one that had been a centimeter short of severing her spine�he�d thrown
that one.

He�d almost killed her.

But still she had saved him when she should have been the
first to condemn him.

He couldn�t lie to himself anymore. If there was any reason
that he had finally been able to live a normal life, it was she.

And he�d stolen her normal life.

He�d left her. And then he�d been part of the attack that
had killed her parents. Then he�d almost killed her.

She should hate him, like he�d hated his brother.

But that was what he loved most about her. She wasn�t like
him.

Even more, she�d always brought out the best in him.

~~~

Sakura�s eyes fluttered open. She couldn�t remember the last
time she�d felt so good.

She�d slept.

She hctuactually slept!

A soft smile of contentment curved at her lips as she closed
her eyes again and snuggled deeper into her bed.

Rafael smirked at the latest addition to his gypsy tribe.
She looked like a cat that had just had all the cream.

He grinned mischievously as he prodded her ribs with his
foot.

She winced and her eyes snapped open in a glare.

Her glare lessened slightly as she noticed the shock on his
face.

�I�m so so I d I didn�t realize you were hurt there!� he
said quickly as he raised his hands in a defensive way.

She scrutinized his appearance from the messy ash brown hair
to the dark blue eyes, down his strong nose, past his thin lips beyond his
stubbled chin and jaw, then over his lean body with his various layers of
miscellaneous clothing.

Finally she sighed and rolled over onto her back.

�Time to go?� she asked.

Rafael sighed quickly with relief (he�d seen what she did to
the last guy who�d pissed her off) before smiling easily and nodding.

She sighed and sat up then proceeded to start packing her
things.

She�d med the gypsies at the inn she had stayed at a week
ago. They had been the live music. She�d stayed up late, listening to the tales
of their travel and becoming enchanted with the idea of simply wandering
wherever you felt with fascinating people for company and no real goal other
than to appreciate life.

Most of them had a secondary goal of making good music
though and so she was currently being taught to play the guitar and had started
secretly writing every now and then.

It wasn�t a rich life, it wasn�t a glamorous life but it was
a good life. She could lose herself in it; forget the past and maybe even start
to recover.

Despite that though, something in the back of her mind gave
off a vague warning that something was wrong. But the voice was so weak the
chatter of the misfit company she traveled with easily drowned it out.

And so she walked on, the unnoticed butterflies trailing
after her.
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The Butterfly