Greetings,

Welcome to ARC 2! Lol. Now you probably will all demand Deidara. So, here he is! *shows them Deidara* Okay now he's done! *Puts him away*......Just Kidding! I thought this would be the best way to bring him back to her. I had thought of a lot of ideas, but I liked this one the best!

Now someone had a question about Karin. No, she didn't die, she just left to be with her husband. Ichigo was named strawberry because of his father's intense hatred for the child who looks too much like his brother (he was not killed in this story). Sasuke hates sweet things and Ichigo is pretty much the sweetest thing around. Karin has other children and that may come back and bite Sakura, but for now, she cares for the two children who needed a mother.

It has been about six years since Sakura first started this journey, pregnant and such. So the children are about five now. Deidara has been looking for her for six years. When they are finally reunited, I will warn you, he will seem kind of flirty. That is because he's already won the girl. Both know their feelings for the other, and so he will be as flirty as he wants in order to show her how much he cares. Blame Aya. She was his mother and she is pretty vocal about.... things...

I might up the rating to M just because I'm not sure if some of the things I want to add are apporiate for T. It's not like I'm going to be writing lemons (go find something else for that), but they will be a little... like rabbits. Yeah... good term. Okay, I'll stop my ramblings!

That is all my notes for now. I will write some end notes, but until then...

From Leaf to Flower

ARC 2

Chapter 9

Patience can only Pay Out at the End

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or this would be where the story line would progress.

"Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in." -Amy Lowell

It was serendipity that brought them together the first time. But this time, it seemed that the goddess of serendipity was conspiring with the goddess of irony and the goddess of fate, because this was too similar to how they met the first time.

She wasn't even suppose to be out today. She had snuck out on her own accord. Naruto was watching her household of children at his house, Ino was currently running around with a henge of her on, and Tsunade grudgingly assisted with the paperwork with Haitaka, of course.

She rode happily on Tsubasa as the elk dashed through the trees, leaping form ledge to ledge in the surefootedness only these shinobi raised elk had. Sakura couldn't help but laugh a bit when Tsubasa purposely jumped into the middle of a pond, getting her rider wet, and muddying the too perfectly white outfit Sakura was wearing.

Not that Sakura cared.

She thought the same thing about the outfit Ino had pulled out for her to wear. Her hair was still short, being its wiry self as it stood on end on some parts and sticking out there and there on others, the wind adding to the wildness as it fly this way and that. The only sure thing was the hair accessory she had clipped tightly into her hair. It was silver with a fiery orange gem cut smoothly into an opal drop in the center and four long, slender, and light weight blades sticking out of the top in a equally spaced way starting from the half way mark on the accessory to the other halfway mark. A bell and tassel hanging off the bottom of it.

That was her 'half crown' as Ino called it. She wore it to signify who she was and it was usually worn when she wasn't going to something formal. She had a whole different 'crown' for that.

She giggled a bit as she pulled off a layer of her dress and stuffing it into Tsubasa's side back, her dress muddied but still a blinding white dress that was alterable so she could fight in it, right now, she had it in battle mode so she could move easier. A silver obi around her waist and a wing on her left shoulder blade and a shoulder guard made of pure silver, feathering a bit like a wing, on her right.

Her jade eyes gleamed a bit as they left the borders of Hanagakure.

She loved her village, but there was one thing it didn't offer her, and that was the freedom to act naughty and get away with it. Sure, she bent a lot of rules, just like Naruto did in Konoha, but she usually had to act like some noblewoman when in front of the eyes of the villagers, though most already knew she was crazy and weird, but the traders and sailors didn't get it when they came into port. She had to behave for them.

"Faster Tsubasa," Sakura said as they came to her favorite forest.

She loved this place because it was just like the place that she had met Deidara. A bamboo forest with massive trees and thick jungle feel to it. She had promised Amariris a baby tiger and she had promised Ichigo a wild cat, not to mention a kit for Rei to give to Kushina.

She smiled at the thought of her son loving the wild blond and raven haired child with pupil-less deep blue eyes with the hint of lavender in them- that's how he had described her eyes.

The elk did as she was asked and sped up, the trees blurring to the fast pace that the elk was going. Sakura only laughed more as Tsubasa jumped off a ledge and the two of them temporarily when flying into the sky, landing nimbly on the ground where Tsubasa began to slow.

"Thank you Tsubasa," Sakura said gleefully as she hopped down and began to walk, the elk following its master of almost five years without hesitation.

Sakura hummed a bit as she let her chakra senses stretch across the area. She remembered a mother tiger, who was a little too old to raise cubs, living around here. The tiger was intelligent and would know Sakura meant to assist her.

She almost giggled when the tiger appeared, towering over her as only the elder tigeress could, and lead her to her cave.

Sakura had discovered this tigeress during her earlier visits and knew the tiger had been shinobi bred. It still understood its role to anyone who had massive amounts of chakra like Sakura.

"I'm here to see you cubs," Sakura said with a smile, "I will take good care of them if you wish me to relieve you of them."

The tiger nodded as it lead her to the small cave, three blind tiger cubs snuggled together, looking for mommy.

"They are so pretty," Sakura cooed as she looked at them, glancing at the tiger quickly for permission, "May I hold them?"

The tiger nodded again picking one up and placing it in Sakura's arms. It wiggled and wormed as the little cub searched for a milk supply.

"Very cute," Sakura said as she walked over to Tsubasa and placed the cub in the side pouch, with her muddied skirt and wrapped him up.

She was about to ask for another one, but the tigeress seemed to have already predicted what Sakura wanted and brought her the next one, which she also securely placed in the specialized pouch. The last one was the runt, so Sakura decided that would be the one Amariris would get, since it would need a bit more TLC then the others and her daughter was extremely good at caring for animals, even if she was not even five.

"Thank you," Sakura said as she looked at the tiger, "Would you help me with one more thing?"

The tiger nodded as it put its head to rest on her shoulder, showing that she trusted the rosette that visited her when she could.

"I promised one of my little ones a wild cat and also a kit. Do you know where to find those?"

The tiger let out a rumble from her throat, telling her that she knew, and began to lead her. The area that she had lead her to was half destroyed and there were broken bamboo everywhere. It seemed the last storm that had just passed recently had left some homes broken. The tiger stopped at a foxhole as pawed at it, looking at Sakura before padding off.

The tiger was a smart one, Sakura had realized months ago, and would not offer something that was not up for grabs. Sakura checked the chakra around her and discovered there to be a small chakra source near what felt like bodies that once held chakra. The kit's family had died. Sakura dug it out and played with it a bit as she checked it over. The storm had been not even a day ago, so the kit was fine.

Sakura had just placed the little kit in the other pouch when the tigeress came back with a black wild cat kitten in its maw. Sakura accepted the kitten and placed it next to the fox kit before turning to the tigeress.

"Thank you so much! I have everything I promised to get. Is there anything else that may need my attention before I leave the area? I can't be gone long, the village gets a little worried when their kage isn't there." Sakura explained as she petted the tiger's chest.

It stared down at her before nodding again, turning and leading her once again to some location.

It was a little closer to the tiger's den and the area looked like it had quite the beating from the storm. Bamboo was ripped out of the ground and trees where burnt. But the tiger paid no mind to that. She knew the jungle would rebuild itself. What she was leading Sakura to, to Sakura's horror, was a man.

He was thin, that much she could tell by the hollowness of his face and how his cheekbones protruded out, and he was badly wounded. The ground around him had a pool of his blood surrounding his figure. He was stabbed through and through on the left side of his chest from a bamboo tree, yet he was still gasping for air, still barely conscious as chill wracked down his body.

But that wasn't what made Sakura cry out in terror. It was the long blonde hair and the blue eyes that were barely open and glazed over. It was the familiarity of the man who was dying before her.

It was her Deidara, and he was almost just like he was when they had first met. But this time, there was no mistaking his identity. She knew.

She kicked her heels against Tsubasa's stomach, asking to elk for forgiveness, but at the same time for it to run faster. Time was of the essence.

Deidara was in her hold, as she sat upon Tsubasa and keeping him on the speeding elk as well, bleeding and panting as he press up harder against her. She couldn't understand why he was doing that, but knew it couldn't be good. She just buried her face into his grimy, muddy, and bloody hair breathing in his scent, praying for the chance to be with him after this trial.

The guards at the gate were very surprised to see their kage in such a panic, her elk speeding up a bit more now that they had hit home field and knowing it would be done once she got Sakura home. The house came close and finally the elk came to a screeching halt. Sakura leapt off the elk with Deidara in her hold and began to drag him inside.

"Aozora! Nikkoo! Yuugure! Yuki! Zaazaa! Kosame!" Sakura yelled as she managed to get him on her back and entered the hallway towards the first empty bedroom.

The women came running since she had alarmed them with the panic in her calling and each one let out their own shocked gasp.

"I need one of you to go get Tsunade and Ino! Another one of you needs to get some medical supplies from out stock, as much as you can get, and some scissors and a bowl of hot water with a rag. Also, someone help me get him on the bed!" Sakura ordered as she began to lift him, his body wracking with chills.

She moved him quickly into the bedroom while the women decided what they would do.

"I'll go get Tsunade-chan, hm," Nikkoo said as she ran out the door.

"I'll go get Ino-chan, she's the opposite direction of Tsunade-chan, desu," Yuugure said, following the head of staff out the door.

"I'll get the hot water and rags, un," Aozora said as she too left the room.

"I'll get the first aid, aru," Yuki said ran too.

"We'll help you with whatever you need, yeah," Kosame said as she moved to pull away at the comforter so it didn't get bloodied up.

"Just tell us what to do, yeah," Zaazaa said as she helped Sakura set Deidara down.

"Get his shirt off of him. I don't care if you shred it, I need it off. Also, get his hair out of the way and check for cuts on his scalp. I'll check for a concussion later." Sakura said as she began to pull his shoes off as well as his tattered pants, ripping them with ease as she began to assess the damage.

He was sweating profusely, his breathing was erratic, and his body was wracking in shivers. Sakura checked his heartbeat, which was beating three times the normal rate, allowing him to bleed everywhere.

"What's going on?" Tsunade said as she entered the room with Ino hot on her heels.

Haitaka was also peeking in, while cradling the surprised toddler that was crying. Tsunade gasped a bit as she saw the wounded blond and looked up at Sakura.

"Please help me get him stabilized," Sakura said as she began to slow his blood flow a bit.

Deidara was leaning into the skin contact, almost like in need. He wasn't lucid, but his instincts were as strong as ever.

"I need to know why he's doing that," Sakura said as she looked up at Ino and Tsunade.

The two women rushed in, dismissing the twins, and beginning the access the damage done to the young male. The other maids brought in the needed items and also getting told to leave. Soon it was just the three of them, healing the blonde bomber.

"I'd like to say that I think he just escaped someplace," Tsunade said as she pointed to a few of his deep gashes, "That's signs of torture right there. So if anything, he's probably poisoned as well."

"It's not just any poison," Ino said as she pulled away from her diagnosis jutsu, "It's a rare and very expensive one. There is only one way to dilute it enough to where he would live."

"And that would be," Sakura said, choking back a sob as she cleaned up the wound on his back that pierced into his mouth captivity.

"Sexual intimacy." Ino said as she pulled away, "We can't do much for him till we get rid of the poison, any drugs will affect it and his wounds won't close until then either."

Sakura nodded, understanding her role in this, "I brought back some animals we can use as familiars. Bring them inside, I left them in Tsubasa's side pouches. I will be a while."

Tsunade and Ino nodded, leaving the room. Sakura went to the door and sealed it shut as well as activating the soundproof seal before she turned to Deidara's weary form.

She unlatched her crown and her shoulder guard as well as removing the wing, before pulling off the dress and the undergarments.

"I love you Deidara," Sakura whispered as she neared him, "So please live…"

It had been several hours since Sakura had been left alone with Deidara. Tsunade comforted Haitaka as he stared at the door hopelessly absorbed in his own little world. The six maids, who were usually laughing and giddy like school girls, were unusually quiet, doing their chores without noise.

Even little Nawaki was not making much noise, sensing his father's intense feelings. Tsunade just cradled her son as he petted his father's hair, not even aware that his half-brother was hanging on by a thread.

"This tension is so thick," Ino whispered as she nursed one of the tiger cubs with a bottle, the only thing that was making any amount of noise.

"We don't know if he's going to make it, Ino," Tsunade said with a grave look on her face.

"He's going to make it," Ino said with a firm tone, "He has a son and daughter who need to meet their father and a woman who is hopelessly faithful to him. If he dies, we lose Sakura."

That truth rang about in the air. Sakura had always clung to the hopes of Deidara finding her; that's what got her through the hard days where she just needed something to keep her anchored. Rei and Amariris were her life, but Deidara was her whole world. Take him away, and she would die too.

The gloom in the room grew thicker, if it was even possible, and even the tiger cub was quiet.

Suddenly the door opened and Sakura, though very weary looking, was fully dressed and staring at the ground as she panted a bit.

"Finish up the job; he's going to pull through," Sakura said before moving out of the way, "I think I'll take a long nap.. by his side. I don't want to leave him alone."

And before she could even move anymore, she collapsed into a heap and promptly passed out from chakra depletion.

A head wound to the back of his head, his right temple, and forehead; his left eye banged up and light sensitive in the healing processes; a mended jaw that had been shattered in three spots; a collapsed lung while the other was infected badly; six of his ribs broken, fractured, or shattered; his right shoulder broken; his pelvis bone fractured; his hip bone cracked; his right thigh bone broken in two spots; and six of his ten fingers broken or sprained, that was the amount of damage that Tsunade and Ino had mended.

Sakura seemed to have fixed a couple gashes and lower region stuff while she had diluted the poison, as well as cleaning out his lungs of any smoke, taking care of any concussion he had, and closing up the wound on his back the best that she could.

Deidara was just lucky to be alive in Tsunade's perspective. He was skinny, too skinny, for one of his height and it showed badly when all he had were boxers on. He had probably stopped eating a lot when he discovered that Sakura couldn't be found.

Tsunade just sighed as she tucked her daughter in. Sakura was asleep, lying next to Deidara and already pulling the blond into her embrace, as if she feared in her sleep he would vanish. Tsunade smiled a bit as she dimmed the lights and headed out to greet the worried family members.

"He's stable." She said with a grin, "He'll pull through with no difficulties, but he's going to be a little delicate in health for a while. It seems he had stopped eating as much as he should a long time ago. Sakura will probably fix that problem, but Deidara will have to be watched carefully, he won't feel hungry, even when his body is need of substance. Also, his lungs are in bad shape right now, treat him like you did when he was little and had the breathing problem. Don't get him too excited, it's bad for him right now. Let Sakura be the one to tell him things, and until he knows Sakura is around, don't mention her name. Got it?"

"Yes Tsunade," the people all said in some form of speech or another, the relief on their faces apparent.

"Good, now let those two rest for now, Deidara is probably going to be out for a day or two, depending on how well his body can flush out the drugs we pumped into him." Tsunade said before closing the door and walking over to her husband and child.

"Thank you, hm," Haitaka said as he hugged her tightly with one arm, while hold Nawaki in the other, "I don't know what I'd do if I had to bury another loved one."

"I know," Tsunade whispered as she kissed the base of his jaw line, "Children should outlive their parents, and parents should live long lives to watch their children grow and see grandchildren."

"Who dat, hm?" Nawaki asked, pointing at the door, "Wit' Sakuwa-nee?"

"That," Haitaka said with a smiled as he played with his little boy, "Is your brother, Deidara, hm. He's not feeling very good, so we had to make sure he would feel better."

"Ah," Nawaki said with a grin, "Like Mommy wit' Daddy!"

"Yes," Tsunade said, hiding her embarrassment better then Haitaka, "Like what Mommy does with Daddy when he's not feeling well."

"Geez, what are you teaching him, hm? It's bad enough Rei goes around listing off the parts of the human anatomy for both men and women."

"Utewus!" Nawaki shouted happily as he leaned towards his mother, wanting to be held by her.

"Yes," Tsunade said as she scooped him up into her arms, "Uterus! And who has that? Mommy or Daddy?"

"Daddy!" the ignorant child said with a laugh.

Haitaka's blush just deepened as he thought about that concept.

"No," Tsunade said, "Mommy has the uterus. It's what makes babies."

The child's eyes grew big.

"Mommy makes babies?"

"That's right," Tsunade confirmed with a grin.

"Make une! Make une, hm!"

"Only if Daddy says we can, but it takes time. How about we just let Sakura make one?" Tsunade said with a laugh, noticing how Haitaka's whole face had gone red now.

"Let's just let Deidara and Sakura sort that out, hm," Haitaka finally said, "Plus, mommy and daddy are too old to have another baby."

"Aw…" Nawaki said, a pout forming on his lips, tears threatening to spill, "But I 'ant baby…hm"

"Well, let's wait till daddy's 'not feeling well' and see if mommy can't weasel a 'yes' out of him, shall we? Mommy hasn't hit menopause yet."

"'Kay!" Nawaki cheered, "Mommy no have minopaws, hm!"

"What are you teaching our child, hm?!"

"Reading, writing, arithmetic, and basic human anatomy with pictures. Why?"

"Forget I asked…"

Sakura stared at his sleeping figure lying right next to her. He was dirty and had dried blood crusted all over him, but he was there. She never had thought she would be able to hold him again or hug him or kiss him or make love to him. She refrained from laughing as he burrowed further into her chest as he slept, desperate for her warmth that he had not had for years.

She rest her cheek on his, then moved to kiss his forehead slowly to take his temperature. He was a little warm, but not too bad for being in the condition he was in. She was just glad she was able to pull him through.

She sighed as she used kawarari to switch places with a pillow, allowing her to get up and ready for the day as he just snuggled further into the pillow, his breathing loud and rumbled with fluid.

Sakura pumped her chakra through her veins again to flush out anything that she may have contracted when treating him. She walked to the door and quickly left the room, leaving the lights off so he could sleep. It was best if he didn't see her till later that day.

Soon Sakura was showered, dressed in clean clothes with her half crown pinned in her wild locks of hair that had a more Mohawk look today, her clothes easy to maneuver in and varied from orange gems to white articles of clothing.

"I'm off," Sakura said as she grabbed breakfast, and walked out the door.

"Come back as soon as you can," Aozora said.

"By the way, Sakura-chan, what should be done if Deidara-chan awakens, hm?" Nikkoo asked as she folded a towel.

"Clean him up, do that check-up your clan does, and get some food down him," Sakura said before sighing, "I'll try to be back before supper, but I will have to tell Naruto and Gaara that he's here. We'll trade information for his pardon."

"Good luck," the women said before grinning mischievously.

Sakura felt bad, but Deidara needed to be punished a bit for neglecting to take care of himself properly. She did, even when he wasn't there, there was no excuse for him not to do the same.

Poor Deidara.

He had woken a little after noon, dazed and a bit confused. He didn't know where he was or what had happened after he crashed into the jungle that stormy night when he tried to escape custody for his enemies. He had been dying, he knew that much, but when he tried to distance himself so his kekkei genkai didn't get exposed to the wrong people, he ran into a storm and ended up like he had all those years ago when he had met with her.

His heart ached a bit at the thought of her not being with him.

He raised a hand to run though his hair and was shocked to discover the feel of gauze covering his left eye. He was about to take it off when he heard the door open.

His visible eye widened as he remembered the faces of the women who were staring at him now with those malicious grins on their faces. He couldn't even get up in time to escape their grasps.

Okay! End and wrap! This is the end of the first chapter of ARC 2. There will be more!

Alright, the next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for! Yay! Rei and Amariris and co. are gone for a bit, so there will be oodles of fluffy between Deidara and Sakura. Remember one thing though, for Deidara, getting healthy again will be a bit of a long road since he wasn't taking very good care of himself. He has low immunity ever since he was a child. That will be important later.

But until then, a few questions because I love feedback.

Do you like it? Why? (Give more then just yes)

What was you favorite part? Why?

What did you think about this chapter as a whole?

Alright. That is it for now.

And this means I'm done for now!

Unknown Artist of Hanagakure.

Signing out.

-bleep-