Barangay Konoha: Chapter 1
Sasuke gritted his teeth for the umpteenth time for the past two minutes. How the pink-haired health center doctor can bear to listen to the obviously fabricated heroism of his blond tanod patrol partner is beyond him. He swore to god, if he hears the word "lodi" again he would-
"So yun nga buti na lang andun ako! Kung hindi, walang lodi na-" he heard the blond say again.
Lodi...
Lodi...
Lodi…
"Putangina Naruto saan mo ba nakukuha yang mga pinagsasabi mo?!" snapped the young Uchiha tanod. His coal-black eyes held a glint much sharper than it usually had. It successfully silenced the loudmouth at fault, his normally chatty mouth slack and agape. Sasuke sighted a fly casually land on the crevice where the blonde's upper and lower lips met and felt himself wince inwardly. Kadiri.
"Naruto." He began, talking slowly to calm himself down. "Kinagat ka ng aso dahil hinampas mo ng arnis si Kiba." From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura's eyebrow arch quizzically, curious as to what the full story was. "That is not how you deal pag may nagpapatae ng aso sa kalsada." he finished.
At once he saw Naruto deflate and Sakura guffaw. He noticed color rise to her cheeks as she stifled a barrage of laughter brought forth by the embarassing revelation. He suddenly remembered the last time the three of them were together. Was it two, three years ago? He was leaving for law school then and Sakura for her residency when Naruto decided he would treat them to his favorite mami at Ichiraku. Since he dropped out and came back, he was not able to see much of Sakura due to her work at the health center and medical missions; and he saw too much of Naruto as he was assigned to be his partner for his barangay tanod duties. Appraising her once more as she wiped tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes, he decided that she was and not quite the girl he grew up with. Her laughter still had the same airy lilt and her words were spoken in the soothing cadence he was used to. Yet, her voice also reverberated the firmness and confidence of a woman who worked hard and is proud of what she has accomplished. It was arresting, the Uchiha allowed himself to admit.
"Alright, I get the picture." an amused Sakura said as she scribbled something down in a little booklet. "As a tanod hindi ka dapat nagsisimula ng away, though I don't approve of dog shit around the streets either. Dapat pinabarangay mo na lang instead of this." she gestured to Naruto's bandaged calf. She sighed and handed the little booklet to Naruto. "We're good for now, but I need you to come back here on the dates I wrote para makumpleto yung buong set ng rabies shots, okay?"
Naruto peered at the dates and felt warmth drain from his body. Four more shots? It can't be right. He mustered a sheepish smile at Sakura. "Sakura-chan, this can't be right. Sigurado ka ba na kailangan pa ng apat na injection?" Sasuke tutted in amusement beside him.
"Definitely." was Sakura's decisive reply. "Napanood mo naman yung rabies public service ad noong bata tayo right?" she added, looking at the blonde pointedly. Naruto nodded and gulped dryly at the memory of that haunting television ad he saw as a kid. "You should've thought about it before you tried attacking a man with a trained dog."
The blonde sighed in defeat and rose from his monobloc seat. The Uchiha followed suit. "Foooooine Sakura-chan. Kitakits on these dates." he said, waving the little booklet like a flag. "I guess, it's a date?" he added, laughing at his quip from their childhood together. Before Sasuke could even cast his infamous glare, the blonde was hit on the head by the nearest item Sakura could grab from her desk.
A box of Trust condoms.
Naruto bent down and picked it up gingerly. "Whoa sakto, Hinata-chan and I need this." he marvelled, brandishing the box of condoms using the same hand where he wore his wedding ring. The shiny metal caught the light and set off a gleam that made Sakura quite conscious of her own state of affairs, or rather, lack of.
"You sure do, mahirap na pag dumami ang katulad mong ungas." came Sasuke's reply. Sakura pushed back her earlier thoughts and managed another giggle, sinking back into the comfort of her swivelly office chair. The edge of Sasuke's lips involuntarily curled up at the sound.
Naruto clutched his heart and looked at Sasuke and then at Sakura. "Ouch, you guys wound me. Ngayon na lang tayo nagkasama ulit, tag team nyo pa ako yuyurakan."
Sakura smiled and shook her head, stealing a glance at the Uchiha. Him who is the embodiment of all that is virile and mysterious and beautiful. She allowed her gaze to linger on his face, his body for a mere moment longer than she normally allowed herself to for fear that her well-trained countenance would crumble back to when it was during their younger days. When she felt something in her chest doing somersaults, she quickly averted her gaze and busied herself with shooing the two out of her clinic. "Remember, kailangan bumalik for the next shots. Sasuke-kun make sure you bring him to all schedules, I'm sure he'll do anything to skip them." she called after them, trying to get the last words in the exchange as her way of reassuring herself that she regained control.
Naruto waved his hand in acknowledgement of the doctor's orders as he retreated. Ambling behind him at a much relaxed phase was Sasuke, a little smirk forming at his lips. He saw Sakura looking earlier. With a quick sleight of hand he grabbed the post-exposure prophylaxis booklet from Naruto's grip, intent on following Sakura's orders. He could hear Naruto whimper on his side as he looked down and quickly memorized all the dates they need to come back to the clinic. He swiftly tossed the booklet back to Naruto. Thinking to himself that if the earlier encounter was the consequence of the blonde's stupidity, then Naruto is welcome to get himself bitten by a dog as often as he pleased.