Flu Shot
By Avalon Estel
Disclaimer: Not mine. Go away.
Sasuke wanted to know how in the world he had ended up in the hospital, his eyes squeezed tightly shut in order to keep from reacting to the idea that a needle was going into his arm in less than thirty seconds.
It was a stupid question, really, considering he remembered clearly all the events of the day, and he knew that it was only a simple vaccination shot, but since the incident in Wave Country, he'd been none too fond of needles.
This was all Sakura's fault.
…Earlier that day…
Sakura came to the usual training ground late that morning, looking sullen and slightly miserable. She was hanging onto her upper right arm and wincing now and then.
"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, concerned.
"I had to get a flu shot," she mumbled.
"A flu shot?"
"Well, it is winter," Kakashi said matter-of-factly.
Winter in Konoha rarely included snow, but it always got a lot colder and rained in copious amounts. Kakashi's statement was punctuated by the fact that they were all wearing cloaks and scarves. Colds and the flu came along with the package, and by no means were shinobi exceptions. Precautionary measures were necessary, unless one wanted to miss out on missions or get speared by a couple dozen kunai due to a sneezing attack.
"Have you boys had your flu shots?" asked Kakashi.
Sasuke and Naruto shook their heads.
"Have you, sensei?" Sakura asked Kakashi.
The jounin nodded. "Yup." He pointed at the boys. "You two are going to your doctors now."
"Um, sensei…" Naruto began, sounding a little embarrassed. Sasuke didn't even bother saying anything.
"You don't have doctors, do you?" asked Kakashi, his eyebrow arched.
They solemnly shook their heads in unison.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Then come on. You can come to my doctor."
And so there Sasuke was, two hours later, sitting on the bed in the doctor's office, wearing one of those ridiculous paper hospital gowns and waiting for his arm to get punctured.
Needless to say, he wasn't the happiest little genin around.
"I promise it won't hurt," the doctor told him gently. She smiled in what Sasuke assumed was supposed to be a reassuring way.
"That's what you told Naruto," he muttered.
Naruto was currently huddled in a chair in the waiting room, moaning and clutching at his arm, leaning against a very irritated Sakura.
"Naruto's a crybaby," Kakashi said pleasantly from the corner.
"But he fights like a wildcat," the doctor put in. The room was still in shambles from the blonde patient's mad dash for survival. He'd had to be secured to the bed with leather straps.
"At any rate, you can take a shot, can't you, Sasuke?" taunted Kakashi, grinning. "How will you ever kill whoever it is you want to kill if you can't even take a little flu shot? Just think of it as getting stabbed with a kunai."
Directing a glare of utmost and absolute hatred at his teacher, Sasuke stuck his arm out to the doctor.
"Look on the bright side," Kakashi continued. "At least you don't have to stay here and eat that terrible hospital food!"
Sasuke didn't reply.
As Squad Seven left the hospital half an hour after Sasuke's injection, a surly Naruto dragged on Kakashi's sleeve.
"Kakashi-sensei, you owe me something for making me suffer like that!" he whined.
"It was for your own good," Kakashi told him.
"Was not! My arm hurts! Buy me some ramen!"
"You're acting like a two-year-old, Naruto."
"Am not!"
"Are too."
Sakura slapped her forehead. What a stupid day this was turning out to be.
Ten minutes later, they sat at the bar at the Ichiraku ramen stand. To shut Naruto up, Kakashi had agreed to treat them all, as long as they didn't try to make him eat. They sat in silence for a full minute; the only sounds were those of the ramen cooking behind the counter and the slurping of the children.
"Oh, Sasuke," Kakashi said suddenly. "Did you show them the lovely bandage the doctor gave you?"
Sasuke froze, his eyes closed, chopsticks poised over the steaming bowl in front of him.
"Come on, now! It really is lovely."
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed. "No."
"Oh, come on!" Sakura chimed in. "I'm sure it's nice if Kakashi-sensei says so!"
"How come he got a special bandage?" demanded Naruto. "I got one of those stupid skin-colored ones!"
"There's nothing special about it, Naruto," Sasuke growled. His grip tightened dangerously on the chopsticks.
"Yes. There. Is," Kakashi insisted, poking Sasuke's head.
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Show us, Sasuke-kun! I'm sure it's beautiful…just like you!"
The tension on the chopsticks became greater. The eyebrows dropped lower. And then the chopsticks broke in half as Naruto seized Sasuke's sleeve and jerked it up over his shoulder. Staring up at the blonde ninja from the fabric of the bandage was a large, yellow, smiley face.
"Isn't it cute?" asked Kakashi. They could just hear the grin in his voice.
"It's adorable!" Sakura squealed. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, it's perfect on you!"
Naruto couldn't talk, due to the strength of his laughter. They all watched as he tipped backwards off his chair and into the street, rolling about and cackling the whole time.
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. So much," Sasuke drawled, yanking his sleeve back down to cover the humiliating object on his arm. He decided that that doctor was the next to go after Itachi.
"You're most welcome, Sasuke," Kakashi replied, still grinning beneath his mask.
"Naruto!" Sakura called, sounding embarrassed to be seen with the laughing boy. "Get up. It wasn't that funny."
"Yes…it…was…" Naruto wheezed, dragging himself back onto his chair as the occasional giggle popped out of his mouth. When he'd finally managed to heave himself back up, he asked, "Sasuke, can I see it again?"
In answer, Sasuke dropped his entire bowl of ramen on Naruto's head.
Kakashi blinked at them for a moment, then said, "Sasuke, that one's on you."