Summary: Sakura tells a lie and it comes back to haunt her.
Prompts: I know what you did & Kakashi's dick
Sakura's eye twitched as a small group of village women slowly waded toward her in the water. Her team had come to Rain to enjoy the country's famous onsens. It had been difficult to schedule the holiday between everyone's work and the popularity of the site, but they were finally able to fully take advantage of the perks of Kakashi's title and Sasuke's brief return to travel out there for a much-deserved rest.
Except so far she had found it more aggravating than relaxing. Despite their 25 years, Sasuke and Naruto continued to bicker as though there were still 13, Sai kept snarking about Naruto's small dick at every opportunity, Kakashi did nothing to stop them, and the locals kept oogling all of them as though they were prize meat. And now these women were about to interrupt her quiet soak with their nonsense.
"Can I help you?" She glared at them when they continued to tread closer and stare.
The women whispered to each other and then they seemed to agree on a leader. "You're with those group of male shinobi, yes?"
"Yes."
"We wanted to know about one of them."
Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. May as well get this over with. "Okay. Which one?"
"The tall and handsome one!" One of the other woman joined in.
"You're going to need to be more specific," she begrudgingly added. Unfortunately, that description fit all of them."What color hair?"
"He has the most distinguished silver hair…"
"Oh." Sakura let out a long-suffering sigh. Of course it was one of her unattached teammates; that would only encourage them. "That one."
"Tell us about him" another prompted.
Sakura tapped a pruned finger to her chin. "Well, he's perpetually late—"
"A laid-back man!" The women seemed to agree.
"—who's obsessed with weird romance novels—"
"A well-read man!" They praised.
"—uh—" she paused, trying to find something else to complain about Kakashi. "—who never takes off his mask."
"Mysterious!" They tittered.
"You're the team medic, aren't you? Surely you've seen—"
She cut them off, having had enough of their swooning "He rarely has injuries to his face, so the mask stays on even for medical checks."
"Oh no, we meant…" Some of the women giggled, and Sakura did roll her eyes this time.
Why the fuck did she have to endure this whenever their team traveled together? Why didn't they have to field these ridiculous questions about their daily habits and dick sizes?
It was utterly unfair.
But Sakura was going to even the playing field this time.
"Yes, I've seen it," she told them matter-of-factly, making sure to pinch in her features in distaste. "I'm afraid you would all be disappointed."
Indeed, they did quickly shift to disappointment and alarm. "But he's so tall! And his hands—"
"Are you sure you got a good look? Medical offices can be quite cold…"
She shook her head as though to bat away their excuses. "Ladies, I'm sorry to put a damper on your fantasies, but I saw what I saw. I wouldn't lie or exaggerate about my one of my precious teammates," Sakura lied.
The women's disappointment was palpable as they lowered themselves into the water again and moved away from her. She almost felt bad about ruining their fun, but as the warmth of the onsen water enveloped her and the newly-achieved silence settled her into relaxation, Sakura concluded she had no regrets.
As with most lies, eventually it came to haunt Sakura. The women left her alone, but word had spread and she was getting disapproving looks from everyone as though Kakashi's made-up predicament was somehow her fault. The ryokan staff did the bare minimum to look after her room (ONE bath towel and an extra-large robe, really), and the other women moved to the other side of the onsen when she entered.
Her desire for some peace and quiet had made her a pariah in this beautiful vacation spot. If she pouted about when alone in her room, that was between her and the walls.
Her dour mood came to a head during dinner two days during the evening debate between Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto swung his chopsticks wildly in front of her face as he pointed them as Sasuke, and she ground her teeth together and slammed her chopsticks on the table to avoid crushing Naruto's fingers in her fist. She had promised herself no violence on this trip, and she wasn't going to let her stupid boys go back on that promise.
The entire dining area fell into silence.
"I'm going upstairs," she announced to her table.
Sasuke and Naruto both had the decency to look sheepish, while Sai looked uninterested. Kakashi's gaze remained in his book, as it had been for most of the evening.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan."
She ignored Naruto's apology and stood from the table, aware of the many pairs of eyes on her as she made her exit. No doubt by tomorrow they would be calling her a brute in addition to a lousy medic.
She was in the ryokan's residential area before she noticed she had company.
"Ah, Sakura. May I have a word with you?" Kakashi's voice sounded, and suddenly he was walking beside her, book nowhere to be found.
Her gut twisted and alarm bells sounded in her head: somehow she knew that he knew. "I'm pretty tired, Kakashi-sensei. Could it wait until—"
"The other women staying here are very pleasant," he continued as though she hadn't tried to wave him off. She bristled at the implication that she, also a woman, was not very pleasant.
"Okay…"
"They've been very attentive. The past two days, three different women have offered me medical herbs for my—ah—" He threw up air quotes, "'personal problem.' Another assured me performance mattered more than size, and one tried to take me to her medic, stating you were clearly not interested in helping me."
Sakura did her best to school her expression to one of innocent puzzlement when he finally asked her: "Do you know how they may have gotten the impression I have a problem?"
"Maybe they're trying to gain your attention." She stopped in the hallway to face him and tried to deflect. "Do you have a personal problem that needs my attention, Kakashi-sensei?"
Too late, she realized she should have worded her question differently. She cleared her throat, but there was no stopping the damning blush she knew was rising from her neck to her hairline. Even in his yukata, Kakashi's tall stature, broad shoulders, and toned chest and calves, all spoke of a man with a good-looking, well-proportioned body. She suddenly felt very foolish for insinuating Kakashi was lacking in anything.
Thankfully, Kakashi either didn't notice her word choice or didn't take advantage. "No, I don't believe so," he assured with a smile.
"That's good," she returned the smile, hoping that would be the end and he would leave. "If that's all—"
"It is, for now. I'll walk you to your room."
"S—sure."
He kept pace with her the rest of the way, and the silence that was usually so comfortable between them made her anxiety spike. 'He knows. He KNOWS,' kept repeating in her head, while another part of her reassured he wouldn't broach the subject more directly with her.
"This is it," she announced with relief when they arrived at her quarters. "Thank you for walking me."
"You're welcome." His smile was still in place and he raised his hand to give her a small wave goodbye.
She turned to her door and was fishing for the key in her pocket when she felt the air shift around her.
"Sakura." Kakashi's voice was a low murmur against her ear, and she could feel each of his fingers where his large, warm hand gently encircled her upper arm. She shivered in response to his closeness. "I would appreciate if you didn't tell others my dick is small."
As if an afterthought, he added. "Unless you need me to prove otherwise."
She whimpered pitifully, a half-formed response caught in her throat as her pulse quickened and warmth pooled in her abdomen. She was tempted to lean back into him, but his grip kept the scant centimeters between them present.
"Okay," she finally whispered, unsure if she were agreeing to one or both of his statements. He made a noise she couldn't interpret, and then his hand suddenly released her. She stepped back to chase the contact, but he was moving away.
"Good night."
The air shifted again, and he was gone.
