Chapped
"Ughhh" I stretch, as I reluctantly get out of bed. Rubbing my eyes, I see beautiful snowflakes gracefully fall over the streets of Konoha. 'Huh. I guess they brought the Land of Snow here.' I chuckle at my bad joke. I walk to my tiny bathroom in my dark apartment. 'Right. I have to meet my squad today for training…How the hell does Kakashi-sensei expect me to train in this weather?' I ask myself. I run cool water over my face and gasp. In my reflection, my hair is disheveled and my eyes glazed with sleep. But that's not why I'm shocked. No no. My lips are a cherry tint of inflammation as well as the skin around it. I didn't notice it but I guess that mission in the Land of Snow yesterday did affect me. 'This is what I get for not bringing my lip balm.' I berate myself. I stare at the redness of my chapped lips and my mouth drops. "Oh my god. It's all over my mouth! I have to see my team today! My team is going to see me like this." I stop. "Sasuke is going to see me like this." I pace around my bathroom. "Oh no no. What am I going to do? No one can see me like this." Suddenly a light bulb flickers on. "I'm not gonna go to training. I'll just stay home. I'll tell them I'm sick. Mwahaha." I inwardly cheer at my plan as I go back to bed.
LATER
"Ahoy!" Kakashi greets as he walks to the usual meeting place with his team. " You're late!" Naruto, a spiky blonde, accuses. Kakashi chuckles and glances at the empty space where the third teammate usually sits. "I guess I'm not the only one." He mumbles. Naruto's eyes widen as he looks back at Sasuke, who gives him an indifferent look. "Wait! Sakura-chan's not here. But she's usually early!" Naruto freaks out. "What if something happened to her? It's not like her to be late!" Sasuke sighs. Naruto smiles pervertedly. "Well. I guess I should go check on her at her apartment. Hehe." Kakashi puts his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Not this time. I will go check on her as I am her sensei. As for you two, you will be practicing strategy in only taijutsu." Naruto groans as Sasuke rolls his eyes. Kakashi walks away before turning toward them. " And don't try to sneak in any ninjutsu. I will know if you will." He turns and saunters off.
AT SAKURA'S APARTMENT
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! "Mmmm go away." KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! "Oy Sakura-san. Are you in there? It's me Kakashi." KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! I get out of bed and walk to the door. "Hey Kakashi-sensei." I say through the door as I touch my lips and flinch at the scraping pain. "You're late for training." He deadpans. I chuckle nervously. "Um yeah. About that. Hehe. I can't train today. I'm sick" COUGH COUGH! I hope he bought my fake cough. "I can tell you're not sick Sakura-san. I have the Sharingan remember?" I guess not. "Sigh. I can't train today sensei. It's too embarrassing." I confess. He sighs. "Well let me in so I can see what's so embarrassing." He says. I open the door as I cover my mouth. He glares as I reluctantly put my hand down. 'So embarrassing.' "Oh. Is that all? Just a little chapped lips?" He chuckles. "I can't go out like this. I look diseased." I look toward the floor. Kakashi ponders for a few seconds before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black mask identical to his own.
"Put this on, get dressed and let's go." He instructs. I grab the mask without question and get ready, leaving the mask last. I stare at my reflection as I put on the mask. 'Hmm. Not bad." I muse as I walk out of my apartment with Kakashi and head to the training grounds.
AT THE TRAINING GROUNDS
"I will beat you this time, Sasuke!" A loud blonde jabbers on. "Rather than making false promises, look. Kakashi's back." Sasuke huffs. I overhear them as Kakashi and I make our way to meet them. I roll my eyes. "I found her." Kakashi says. Naruto looks at me. "What's with the mask? Are you hiding something?" I quickly turn away and spot Sasuke's curious eyes. "Anyway, we should train." I suggest. "Haha! Sakura is like a mini-Kakashi-sensei! Like Bushy Brow is the mini to Bushier Brow Sensei!" Naruto laughs. Kakashi smirks. "I guess so, right Sakura-san?" 'Okay now I'm officially ticked off.' I march up to Naruto and bonk him on the head. " Can we please just train?" I plead. Kakashi, still smirking nods. "Alright then. Sakura spar with me. Naruto, Sasuke, take a break." We sparred for a good half hour while Naruto took a nap and Sasuke stared into the distance.
AFTER THE MATCH
"Oy Naruto! Your turn." Kakashi calls to Naruto, waking him out of his daze. Me, tired and sweaty limp to the tree Naruto was sitting at. Normally, I would be squealing being beside Sasuke but I feel too gross to be near him. I shuffle away from him as I watch Kakashi deflect Naruto's attacks while reading his stupid porn book. In the corner of my eye, I see him glance at me and shuffle toward me. I shuffle away. He took this as a challenge and this back and forth went on for a while until, "Would you stop moving away from me!" He says, frustrated. I stop and we sit in silence for a few minutes until he speaks up. "What are you hiding beneath your mask?" My eyes widen. "Uhm. Nothing. Just thought I'd try something new." I lie. His eyebrows narrow as he says, "Well, if you're not hiding anything, take it off." I nervously chuckle. "Umm. How about no. I would rather keep it on. You know. With the cold and everything." He reaches up and I flinch. He stops. He then proceeds to pull off the mask revealing my gross, red, chafed lips. "Hn." "That's why I wore the mask. I mean.. its gross and embarrassing and oh my god why are you staring at it?" I question. His eyes flicker to meet mine as he covers my broken lips with his smooth, untainted ones. He pulls away. "You're still beautiful regardless of your chapped lips." He talks in his velvet voice and then goes in for another kiss but this time, I kiss back. Elated, we pull away as Naruto approaches us and I pull on my mask once again but Sasuke grabs my hand. I mean. It's no big deal. It's only a little chapped.