Butterflies

"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!

Chapter 46 – This can't be real…

8-8

Training. Training. And just for the sport of it, we're training some more. Momochi-san's been arranging more and more 'team spars', which usually means either me against a team, or a team against me. Take your pick. Although, to be fair, I'm pitted against Momochi-san a lot, and Mitarashi-san, and Haku-chan. And I actually won against Haku! Once! I was so proud!

Honestly, I've only regularly won against Minori, Ao-chan and Haruki when they're teamed up. And that's because –like right now– I know to pick them off one at a time. So no matter how well Minori and Haruki work together, no matter how well Aomaru switches from mid to close range. The fact remains that I'm used to training with Naruto-nii and Sasuke; neither of them is a pushover.

So even as Aomaru body flickers right behind me, trying to score a win, I just do a little somersault and whack his leg with the blunt end of my kodachi. Even as Minori and Haruki rain down kunai on me, I use it as practice with my Sound Barrier – pleased that my barrier is now strong enough to repel kunais. Even as Minori tries to overwhelm me with her water release jutsus, I counter with my earth release. Even as Haruki tries to reinforce her water release with his lightning release, I use my sound release instead. I can now say for certain that my Sound Barrier is strong enough to withstand a collaboration jutsu.

"Alright, alright. I think you three have gotten knocked around enough." Momochi-san announces. Great, that means he wants in on the action. "Namiki. You against me this time. Stealth mode and no visual."

"This again, Momochi-san." I complain. He shrugs, once again motioning for the others to clear the 'battlefield'. They all take a seat on the porch – I'm so grateful we've never damaged the house during these little… scuffles.

Once Momochi-san is satisfied, he does his thing again – the Hidden Mist jutsu, as usual. Once it's thick enough that even he can't see a thing, he makes his announcement. "Well, Namiki. Let's see if you can keep up." That's his way of saying: I'm starting, you might as well start too.

And as usual, he's attacking me with his sword. Yes, the sword that's bigger than I am. The sword that's heavier than I am. And the sword that packs more of a punch than I can block. So my only option is avoiding him at all costs, which is his whole point, really – to rely on my instincts to keep me alive against an opponent that might kill me as collateral damage.

The mist doesn't drown out my sense of smell, but Momochi's skilled enough to overwhelm me by filling the air around me with his scent. So I know he's here, I just can't figure out where. And what's worse, even if I focus on my hearing to the point that I can hear the heartbeats of those sitting on the porch… I still can't hear him. Either he stopped his heart, or he knows a trick to cover that.

Still, two can play this game. The second my instincts scream at me to move, I use Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole jutsu. Once securely three metres underground –the under ground barrier won't let me go deeper than five metres, so this will have to do– I make four shadow crows. I'm still peeved that I can only make crows; I've tried other animals, but I just can't make them stable enough to do anything useful with them.

At any rate, once they're formed, they use the same Hiding Like a Mole jutsu and make their way back up to the surface. While they're up there gathering the intel I'll need, I place my left hand on the earth around me, annoyed that even like this, I can't locate Momochi. He just really doesn't leave a trace.

Poof. The first shadow crow is killed. It didn't even sense the moron. Poof. The second quickly follows. Fine. That isn't working at all, let's try with some clones then.

I make the Snake handsign, moulding my chakra carefully. Then I tap both fists on the 'roof' of my little cavern, allowing the chakra to move up to the surface – thank Kami-sama I don't need a sense of direction down here, just a sense of balance. On the surface, I can finally sense something, even if it's only my own mud clones. I really want to learn a more stable jutsu than this, seeing as a solid hit would turn the clones back to mud, but… you've got to start somewhere.

While my clones are up there, trying to lure Momochi-san into revealing where he is, I'm down here plotting the next step. He won't stay still for longer than a second, if even that. So I prepare my Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears, for the moment that I have something worth attacking. I lay on my back, my hands folded in the Bird handsign, and my feet ready to strike the 'roof' to attack my opponent.

I just hope I don't accidently kill someone.

The first mud clone is ended, so without a moment's hesitation, I kick the 'roof' repeatedly. I sense the spikes jump out of the earth and something splashes onto the soft grass. Not a little splash either, I mean enough to believe that I just cut the man in half.

I panic! I make my way up to the surface, trying to see what I'd done. "Crap." A puddle of water. And now… there's the not so subtle Executioner's blade at my throat.

"You're still too soft, Namiki." He chastises.

"Hey! I wouldn't care if it was an enemy I killed. I don't want the weight of a comrade's corpse on my conscience."

"Heh. Like you could kill me." He sounds amused.

"Emotions and fears do not follow the rules of logic, Momochi-san. You of all people should know this." I point out, trying to move the blade away from the tender flesh of my neck. He allows it to move – let's be real, I'm not strong enough to even wield the blade, let alone force him to move it when he doesn't want to.

"Maybe, but the facts don't change with your perception of them." He lectures. I roll my eyes, amused with him. "I like your tactic though. There was nothing I could do other than trick you into coming up. And adding those spikes to try to take me out? You might just have the perfect counter to my technique."

I snort. "Yeah, too bad I still can't track you at all. I mean, I couldn't even hear your heartbeat!"

"Heh. I'm a jounin for a reason, kid. I might teach it to you in time…" He trails off, vaguely suggesting something I don't catch onto. I shrug – it's not like I don't have enough to keep me entertained until he decides whatever he needs to decide on.

"So, can I relax a bit? It's almost lunchtime and you guys have been running me from one match to the next!" I complain, smirking – it's mostly me that's been demanding that my mornings be like this.

Momochi-san snorts, amused. "Yeah, yeah. Go play with your flute or something." He teases.

8-8

"Hey, hey, there's a face I haven't seen in a while." Fuu teases, sitting down next to me at the table.

"Hnn? Fuu, I've been training. Being in the same house as me doesn't mean you'll see me very much." I point out. Yasu-nee fixes me a plate, smiling warmly at me. "Thanks, Yasu-nee. I don't know what we'd do without you." She smiles a little brighter, pouring me some tea as well.

"Aya-nee! You haven't been showing your little sister any attention at all lately, ya know!" Saki-chan complains.

"Hnn? Is that so?" I think about that. "Well, how about I make it up to you this afternoon?"

"REALLY!?" She obviously wasn't expecting me to give in so easily. Honestly, I could use an afternoon off, so focusing on her training isn't such a bad thing.

"Really." I nod and muss her hair a little. "I scalped a really cool sword during the second exam, and I think it'd be perfect for my little sister." I point out. Crap… Sasuke didn't tell me what the secret is behind those umbrellas I scalped! Oh well, I'll bug him about it in time. I'm not in a rush to learn a new weapon.

-Aya, Naruto. We have a problem. Orochimaru's here with backup, and he's trying to take Kakashi out. Haul ass to the mesa thirty-five kilometers north-west of Konoha.- Sasuke goes and ruins my afternoon off.

"Crap it all! Momochi-san. I need you to help Saki-chan. An emergency's come up. I need to head out, like now." I fish into my pouch for my scroll, going through it until I get to the one with the sword. I unseal it and put back my scroll quickly. "Saki, baby, this is the sword I'm talking about. I swear I'll show you what I want you to work on with it another time, but lives are on the line right now." I kiss her, leaving my meal and my tea where they stand and head out to the front gate. I don my wolf mask, and I head straight for the gate. I love that I'm so paranoid that I've been training in my Anbu gear.

-I'm already at South Gate, sis. The old perv's with me.- Fox-nii gives me the heads up. I'm there in almost no time flat, and we head out immediately.

8-8

It takes us more or less twenty minutes to get to the mesa Sasuke was talking about. Fox-nii and I both pick up the residual chakra of some powerful techniques used recently. Sasuke's chakra easy to pick out among them.

We follow the trail up to the plateau, finding Sasuke's Uchiha Flame Formation still very much active. Jeez, even with that things like ten metres away from us, the heat it gives off is almost too much. Kakashi's going to be inside there.

-Hey, broody. Drop the barrier, we're here.- Fox-nii really needs to not be like that with Sasuke, but frankly if Sasuke won't complain about it then I'll just keep out. The barrier drops a second later, revealing a badly injured Kakashi and a kunoichi I've never met – pink haired and covered in seals to show Sasuke did a number on her. Crap! He used the only one of my mini windmill shuriken he had on him to apply the seal! That means I can't track him! Well, technically that means he can't track me or Naruto as well, which might be why he did that.

Whatever! Focus! Kakashi!

Both his hands were sliced off at the wrist. He also has a few deep gashes in his left leg. He lost a lot of blood. The first thing I do is induce a coma – I don't need him reacting to me while I'm trying to save his life. Then I reattach his hands – after cleaning them out with some water and an antiseptic.

"You worthless scum! I can't believe you left me here to die!" The pink haired one sounds peeved.

"Fox, please shut her up." I order, already focusing on closing the wounds on Kakashi's leg. Once the three major injuries are dealt with, I focus on the Mystic Palm jutsu, starting at Kakashi's head and working my way down. No poisons, thank Kami-sama. No other major injuries. Plenty of cuts and bruises, but frankly I'm grateful and don't heal those yet. Once I get to his hands, I focus on correctly reattaching all the nerves, blood vessels and bone tissue. And all this without even having lunch too! Jeez, give a girl a break!

Once I'm satisfied with that, I continue down to his leg, neutralizing the onset of an infection and fixing the nerve damage I sense. He'll be messed up for weeks because of this. I guess good ol' 'Kashi is warming the bench for the invasion then.

Having done what I can, I unseal the equipment I'll need. Fox-nii helps me put Kakashi on the stretcher, and I bathe the three major wounds with a disinfectant and wrap them in gauze to keep them as sterile as possible. Once that's done, I go through the motions of closing all the smaller wounds and make a mental note to properly go over him once we've got him in more friendly territory.

-Oi, Broody. Kakashi's stable. You can relax.-

"Fox, mind him. I'll deal with her." I say, refusing to get between the two almost-brothers. Instead, I turn my full attention to the kunoichi with my special shuriken still sticking out of her belly – just above the stomach. "Sasuke wanted you to come with us." I tell her simply. "I don't understand why, but the fact remains that you will comply." Having made it to her, I focus the jutsu into my left index finger and tap her forehead, inducing a coma.

With her no longer able to fight back, no matter what her conscious or even subconscious mind wants, I jerk out the shuriken from her, catching her before she falls. I take my time healing her major wound – the one stab wound that isn't all that bad, all things considered. The nicks and scrapes get ignored completely, and I don't disinfect her wound after I'm done.

"Oi, you carry this one, we'll carry Kakashi." I turn to the silver-haired man I still haven't been properly introduced to.

"The younger generation never seems to show me any respect." The man says, annoyed.

"I don't respect those that abandon my packmates, Jiraiya." I turn to him, fixing him with a glare. "Now carry her, and don't expect me to close her wound if you go and reopen it."

8-8

It takes us almost three hours to make it back to Konoha. We can't rush and risk Kakashi's health in any way. Once back, Jiraiya announces he's taking the kunoichi to T&I, not that I care. We take Kakashi straight to the hospital, to the Jounin Unit.

Protocol dictates that we announce the patient, have him written in, blah, blah, blah. I don't bother with that. I order Fox-nii into an empty room, we ease Kakashi off the stretcher, and I send Fox-nii out in search of a doctor to take over for me. In the mean time, I start carefully stripping my patient of his clothing, laying them on the side table next to me. The headband, the mask, flak jacket (which conveniently can be taken apart manually if you unclip the shoulders and unzip it), shirt… anything I cannot take off without moving my patient simply gets cut off and removed that way. I don't care, ensuring his wounds aren't in any way compromised means more than any emotional value he places on what he's wearing.

Once he's down to his boxers, I start wiping him down with a special mix I scored from the cabinet to fight off any kind of infection inducing crap from my patient. I then very carefully move him onto his side in a stable side position so he doesn't move about more than I want him to, and I tend to his back in the same way. Once I'm satisfied, I lay him on his back once again and wrap him in a hospital gown. He won't like it, but he'll just have to deal with it.

"Wolf, right?" I turn, seeing an unfamiliar face by the door. Judging from the uniform, I'd say this is one of the doctors. "Fox told me you'd be here with Hatake Kakashi. I've got to say, I don't know how you even got him in here."

"I put him in a coma, of course." I half joke. Kakashi, like any high ranking shinobi, hates being in the hospital. Even with the increased security, the fact remains that they are in unfamiliar surroundings, wounded, and unable to predict who'll enter their room – which hospital personnel have a bad habit of doing regularly. His survival instincts would drive him halfway insane if he wasn't in a coma – induced or no.

"That makes more sense. So what do you need me for?" He doesn't seem pleased for some reason.

"I'm not a fool, sensei." I say, hating that doctors get called 'sensei' by definition. "I have medical skills, but I might miss something that could end up having long-lasting effects. I need you to double-check my patient, make sure I didn't miss anything, and help me come up with a plan to wake him up without aggravating his injuries."

"Hmm. Sounds fair. May I?" He says, still not introducing himself. I growl. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure if you were close to this one or not. I'm Mogusa. Second ranking Medical Nin of this department. I've tended to Hatake-san a few times, so I know his quirks well enough. This isn't the first time I've seen another react the same way as him, either. You're an Inuzuka, a Hatake or a Namiki."

I study the man for a moment, the black markings on his face, the seemingly all-black eyes. He smells like he's lived in Konoha all his life – his chakra itself smells almost like trees and shrubs, like most Konoha shinobi.

I take a cautious step back, allowing the man to work. He scans my patient carefully, going over everything from head to toe. "Hmm, you should try offering just a little more attention to the smaller cuts. If you were to try to heal them a second time, the skin would grow back quicker and thicker, which would allow for the patient to reengage in battle immediately. It's not preferred, seeing as you would have just put them back together, but it gives you the option. The nerves in both hands were healed well enough, but not so well that I couldn't tell they were damaged. And those gashes on his leg will scar. Either you got to him more than twenty minutes after the wounds were inflicted, or you just need to practice more."

"Both." I intone.

"Ah. If that's the case, then I'd have to estim-" I growl, cutting the man off. I don't need him trying to identify me via my skillset. "I assure you I have no intention of doing anything other than helping you become a better medic. There aren't many Anbu Medics, so I tend to treasure them if given the chance. Now, as I was saying, I'd estimate you to be about Rank Six. Not the best, but certainly a Medic worth having around."

Rank Six out of Fifteen, where Senju Tsunade is the only Rank Fifteen in the known world, and the average 'field medic' ranks as a Four. I can definitely live with that.

"Now. Personally, I would advise that he be kept in a coma until his wounds have healed enough to not risk reopening. However, as I said, I know this man. He'll rouse himself from this coma within a day. Two, tops. It's better if you take him home and let him rest there. He'd never stay here."

"He lives alone. That is not acceptable."

"I'm aware, but I will not risk myself or my personnel by rousing him here." As much as I hate to admit it, he makes sense. A high-ranked shinobi brought in comatose from what can only be assumed is a mission… He'd be on an adrenaline high, and waking up from a coma will leave him mentally disoriented. He'd react to external stimuli on instinct alone – and that means that the enemy that wounded him might well still be attacking him.

"Letting him wake up naturally is the best option then?" I ask seriously.

"It is. Hurry. Stay well away from him the moment he's in a low stimulus environment. And talk him down from the moment he's lucid."

8-8

It takes some doing, but we set up a room in my house for him. The last free room too – there'd better be no more surprise guests like this! At any rate, Naruto-nii heads back out with his… well, with Jiraiya. So that means I'm the only one that can talk Kakashi down when he wakes up. I set up vigil inside his room and near the door, making sure Kakashi's as comfortable as can be. Yoshino-sensei offers to bind him with her Shadow Possession jutsu, but I turn her down.

While I'm here, Yasu-nee takes it upon herself to bring me every meal and snack and Momochi-san takes over for me whenever I need a little break. But for the most part, it's just me in here monitoring the idiot that nearly got himself killed.

Since I've got nothing but time anyway, I study a few scrolls I find interesting – one earth release jutsu I'm really interested in, two medical seals that could prove useful, another seal that could be used to monitor brainwaves, and the last is another sound release jutsu I copied from The Sound of Silence, this one on using the tiny vibrations from one's own heartbeat to create a weak barrier around the user to counter genjutsus.

Between the studying, the food, the constant supply of tea, and the worry I see on Yasu-nee's face each and every time she enters, I have enough entertainment to keep me going.

So it isn't too surprising that I almost miss the moment when Kakashi's brain reengages. "Stop being an idiot. You're in my home, Kakashi." I tell him plainly. "Don't open your left eye, because your headband is not on you. And if you even think to complain that your face isn't covered that I will chop off your hands again and let you figure it out for yourself."

It takes Kakashi almost five minutes to take in whatever he wants to take in. "How long was I out?" He asks.

"Eight hours, give or take." I say, still reading my scroll. "I brought you to the hospital, so I know you're in working order. But leaving you there is something even the hospital staff thought was a bad idea. So Naru-nii and I brought you here."

"Yeah, I can imagine you would find dropping me in my apartment when I'm like this is a bad idea." I snort, not commenting. "My hands feel weird. And my left leg isn't responding the way it should."

"You're hands were cut off at the wrist. And your left leg was almost turned into minced meat. Seriously, we almost had Kakashi filet for dinner." I tease lightly. "It wouldn't surprise me if you can't walk properly."

"So I'm back in rehab, huh." He sounds annoyed. "I'm guessing you won't let me out of the house until you personally green light it."

"Do you want me to answer that?" Yes, in other words. "Can I trust you to behave if Yasu-nee tends to you?" I ask seriously, looking up from my scroll.

"… Not if I'm asleep. But if I'm already awake, then yes. She wouldn't pose a problem." He answers honestly. I can live with that.

"Good. I'll make the arrangements. I still have a lot of training to do, so I can't baby you the way I'd like. Yasu-nee is practically the only one available to offer you the time needed." I lie easily. It's more like Yasu-nee would be upset if I give the position to anyone but her – she seems to have developed a thing for Kakashi. Well, her business, not mine.

"Just a question though… who all has seen my face?"

"Are you still going on about that?" I huff. "Yasu-nee, Naruto-nii, Mogusa-sensei from the hospital, but he says he's tended to you before so I doubt it's news to him, and Momochi-san, but he says he'll never tell seeing as he hides his face too. No one else."

"No stupid comments?" He wonders.

"Kakashi. You're gorgeous. Get over yourself." Happy now?

"… Kami-sama, I've missed being around Namikis." I'm not sure if I should take him seriously or not, so I just ignore him. "Can I have some sort of face covering?"

"I already sent Haku-chan into town, so we have new shirts with the mask you oh so love. But Yasu-nee flatly refused to let you wear one before she washes it properly. So you'll just have to wait until she brings it in." I say, keeping my tone light. "If you get hungry or need to go, let me know. Other than that you're on bed rest until at least tomorrow afternoon so we can run some tests on your wounds and whatnot."

"Nn." He isn't fighting me. That's a step up. I expected at least one escape attempt and having Yasu-nee get on his case about it before he became this agreeable. "Thank you, Aya."

"…" I look up at him, wondering what's gotten into him. "For?" He doesn't answer me though. He falls asleep, actually falls asleep; unless he's so good an actor… which might be closer to the truth. Whatever.

8-8

"You know… I think I might be tempted to buy a few of those shirts myself. It's a lot easier than wrapping up my face every morning." Momochi-san comments. I don't know why Yasu-nee sent him up here with our late night snack, but I have a hunch. We'll just have to wait and see.

I roll my eyes, but only Kakashi can see that. He's once again wearing his shirt and headband, only showing the one eye, but his hands are still messed up beyond belief, so he's forbidden from using them. That of course means that I have to feed him. Which means I get to once again pull his mask down. Which is what prompted Momochi-san to make a stupid comment about the mask in the first place. Sigh. Why am I always surrounding by idiots of one sort or another?

I take my time feeding my patient. Regardless if he's usually stupid enough to prop in his whole meal in one go just for the sake of keeping his face hidden, I take my time. I already know he's strong enough to handle this, because we've gone through the whole soup thing… and frankly I'm not in the mood to do that again.

Maki offered to help, but no one but Yasu-nee and myself are allowed – 'logic' and 'shinobi' aren't synonymous. Momochi-san might know what Kakashi looks like, but I can't imagine what kind of twist in the fabric of reality it'd take to get Momochi-san to (be allowed to) feed Kakashi.

Once his plate is empty, I help him with his tea to wash it down. Then I wipe his face carefully and pull back up his mask. I leave his bed propped up so he can relax a bit, though I do put both his forearms on pillows to make sure they aren't put under any unneeded strain or stress.

Other than that, I leave him be. He'll let Momochi-san know if he needs something, so I can eat in peace. I start heading downstairs, munching on my stir-fry as I go (Yasu-nee's really spoiling Kakashi). Once in the family sitting room, I sit down to the table, glad to be away from my patient for a bit. I don't mind taking care of people, really. But sometimes I just need to get away from them.

And, of course, that means I run from one patient to another. "You seem to be collecting people, you know." Maki teases, smiling brightly at me. I keep eating my stir-fry, not bothering to disagree with her. "I'm glad. That Kakashi-san has someone like you to watch out for him."

"Nn?" I noise, giving her a questioning look.

"I don't know him that well, but I know the type. That he lets you take care of him says something." She says honestly. I shrug, sucking in another chunk of beef without a care.

"You won't be in top form. You know that." I toss out there. She looks down, but not very surprised.

"I know. I'm not even at fifty percent yet." She says sadly. "Still, I'm more than grateful that I've had you and your family caring for me." She smiles, obviously meaning that. I shrug again. I wouldn't have it any other way.

After finishing my meal, I wash my dishes and head back upstairs… I blink. Yasu-nee is just coming out of Kakashi's room. And Momochi-san is standing guard outside? And why is Yasu-nee smiling like that?

One sniff answers it all. She smells like Kakashi… and musky… and aroused… and there's another scent in there that I can guess is Kakashi's response to her arousal. I smirk at my sister, rolling my eyes playfully at her. "Just tell me you were gentle. I don't feel like putting him back together again."

8-8

End Chapter 46

8-8

A/N: Yasu! Naughty, naughty! So much for showing her little sisters a good example :P

I hope I haven't made this too graphic for you guys? I mean, after what I've seen from the Anime itself? This is still kind of tame, right? At any rate, I'm sure you've noticed I didn't update this story yesterday, but those follow me as an Author know I posted a new story (The Gin Haze). I'm unsure if I'll be alternating which story gets updated, but I know I'll be writing which ever story matches my mood better (long story, don't feel like telling it).

At any rate! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!