Meeting the Family (SOS Version): Chapter 1

 Meeting the Family (SOS Version)

-SleepyArcher

Chapter 1

Sakura knew that she was well acquainted with her boyfriend's family. In fact, she could call most of them her friends. She had grown quite close with Temari since the latter became a Representative of Sunagakure at Konoha. Kankuro had held her in great esteem since she cured him from the poison, and Gaara had become a close friend due to their respective friendships with Naruto. As for the elders of the Kaze clan, well, Sakura didn't like to brag but she knew that both Chiyo and Ebizō treated her with affection, especially Chiyo.



The elder Suna medic was like the grandmother Sakura never had. Her grandparents on both sides had passed away before she was born, and as a child, Sakura had been envious of her peers. It was illogical, but a child Sakura, who was ostracised by most of her classmates and had seen them being doted on by their grandparents, had been incredibly jealous of them. Naruto called the Godaime Baa-chan, but to her, Tsunade had always been more of a cool (and crazy) aunt-slash-mentor than a grandmother. Unexpectedly, it was Chiyo who filled this empty space in her life. She was the perfect grandmother from her childhood imagination, and Sakura found herself truly lucky to enjoy this unexpected gift.



This was an opinion that most other people, including the Sand siblings and their cousin, aka her boyfriend, who were in fact Chiyo's biological grandchildren, did not share with her. Their thoughts were radically different from Sakura's as far as the elder kunoichi (not so affectionately called hag by Sasori) was concerned. All of Chiyo's grandchildren found her to be a manipulative, often toxic, and at best times an indifferent individual they were forced to tolerate since she also happened to be a member of the Suna Council. Their opinion of Ebizō was marginally better, as Sasori never actively planned for his murder. It was treated as more of a necessary casualty.



But all this happening did not change the fact that she was meeting them with a new identity now. The identity of Sasori's girlfriend. And Sakura knew that no matter what both of them say, Sasori was, without a doubt, Chiyo's favourite grandchild. So, she felt more pressure to be as perfect as possible.



The pink-haired kunoichi unwittingly made a fist in her signature style to boost her confidence. The person whose family she was going to meet, aka her boyfriend, aka Sasori, saw her gesture and held back a sigh. As far as he was concerned, this entire endeavour was a waste of time, and it was the proof of his love for Sakura that he was enduring this farce of a meeting. That didn't mean he wouldn't try to sway her to leave this place before she opened the door to head out in a bid to impress the living members of the Kaze clan. But he met her gaze, and they were filled with such earnest determination despite the nervousness that he could only open his mouth to console her. "They already know you, and they like you. You would know if they didn't."



It was an understatement, and not only because of his lack of ability at consoling a person. The members of the Kaze clan did not like people. That was their default state; liking someone (usually their spouse) was the exception. In fact, till Gaara had met Naruto, this was the absolute truth. The current Kazekage had mellowed out after becoming friends with the Hokage-in line. His siblings were sceptical about the nature of this friendship, but as of yet they were unable to find evidence to support their suspicion. That, however, was a tale for another time.



But even Naruto, for all his charm, wasn't adored by all of the Kaze clan members as Sakura was. Adoring someone, as they clearly did with Sakura, was near miraculous.



Sakura was completely oblivious to this and had often felt that her friends in Konoha judged them too harshly. She frowned and said, "It's easy for you to say that. You are Akasuna no Sasori, the best puppeteer the world has seen!"



"And you are Haruno Sakura, one of the only two people in the world to have mastered the pinnacle of Iryō-ninjutsu." Sasori replied calmly.



His reply took her aback, as it always did. Sakura had been praised by plenty of by now for unlocking the Byakugō no In, but none of them ever shook her to her core like Sasori did. Perhaps it was the matter-of-fact tone he used. He made it seem like a universal truth as simple as the sun rising in the east, as if there was no scenario where she would not achieve it.



She shot a wobbly smile of gratitude towards Sasori and took a deep breath before marching towards the main house of the Kaze clan. Her boyfriend followed, his lips curving in a wily smile.

***

In a perfect world, Sakura would knock on the door, and it would be opened by Temari or Kankurō, and they would be let in. Despite her nerves, she was determined to present herself as a confident, mature woman who was a perfect fit as the partner of the Godaime Kazekage. She had it all planned out in the minutes it took for her to reach the main residence from Sasori's house.



Alas, this wretched world was not perfect, and before she could manage to knock, a clay bird exploded on her face. Well, almost exploding on her face would be the correct sentence. Shinobi training and experience and years spent as teammates with the village prankster of Konoha made her body react even as her brain caught up with the situation, and she managed to avoid both the explosion and the resulting debris. By the time the dust had cleared, Sakura had worked herself into a volatile temper at the blond with too many damn eyes who was admiring his "artwork" and cackling like the half insane and half idiot he was.



"And that's how you make an impactful first impression, Pinky!" The idiot then turned his head towards Sasori and asked, "Did you grasp the vision of my performance, Danna?" He threw his hands apart in a dramatic gesture towards the remnants of the door that Sakura was about to knock.



Sasori raised one eyebrow by a miniscule amount. The fool had forgotten that an adjective usually tags along with impact. In this case, the adjective was decidedly negative. Any other time, he would have absolutely made a scathing reply to Deidara's idiocy, but this time... He maintained his blank expression as anticipation bubbled inside him.



This bolstered Deidara's confidence and cackling to enormous levels, and he turned towards Sakura to gloat some more.



A punch caught him on the chin, and before his brain could process the punch, he was already flying towards the horizon. And before he could actually fly away, two hands pulled him down back to earth and started to pummele him into it.



Sasori felt that bubble of anticipation burst with a wave of pleasure as he watched his lover rain punches down upon the fool. He loved Sakura's analytical mind and extensive knowledge on various subjects, but there was something uniquely attractive about her bringing destruction with such delicate wrists. Ironically enough, this was one of the rarest times when he came close to agreeing with Deidara's perspective on art being transient.



It was at this exact moment of Deidara hanging between life and death and Sasori contemplating the subtleties of interpretation of fine arts that the latter was joined by his family members. They had all heard the explosion blowing away the door, but Gaara's eye had assessed the situation to confirm there's no real threat, and they took their time in coming to watch the show.



Ebizō was the first to break the silence. "Didn't I tell you that she is a perfect fit for our family, Nee-chan? My words came true."



Kankurō leaned forward to take a better look, his eyes focused intently on the spectacle in front. He shared his findings with his siblings: "Guess we have to pay up now."



He didn't sound very sorry to have lost. His sister nodded at his side, her eyes never off the pair. She didn't try to restrain the vicious glee taking over her expression. Deidara had nearly killed Gaara once, and she had never forgiven him for that. The Kazekage, standing a few feet behind them, shared Temari's sentiment, though he was more upset at Deidara, almost making Naruto lose control of his Bijuu. His eyes slid towards his cousin, and he remarked placidly, "Well, Sasori having incorrect information could be disastrous for the village, so it is no surprise that he won." He hadn't taken part in the bet, so he was not affected by the results.



This went to Sakura's ears and somehow cut off her red haze of anger. Letting Deidara go limp, she swerved around and pointed an accusatory finger at Sasori, "You set me up!"



"Not at all, my dear. I simply facilitated his idiotic plan so that your so-called harrowing task becomes easier to handle." It was also because he wanted to get rid of the ugly door the hag had installed last summer, but that was neither here nor there. Seeing his beloved forget her apprehensions due to his careful manipulation of the events filled him with complete satisfaction, and had he been a lesser man, he would have been unable to let a smug smile not creep across his lips.



Sakura didn’t catch the subtle implications; her mind was stuck on the "harrowing task" and unable to look underneath the underneath. The task could only mean one thing. Heart sinking, she looked at the rest of her audience, most of whom were sporting smiles on their faces, tinged with approval.

She stood up abruptly, trying to come up with the correct words to apologise in order to salvage this situation and whatever was left of her image as a poised woman, when Chiyo stepped forward towards her. The smile on her face turned softer and almost maternal as she took Sakura's dusty hands in her wrinkled ones and said, "Welcome to the family, my child."

***

Note: Just like Sakura, I also had plans for a nice dinner. Then an unhinged Deidara appeared, and all plans went flying out. Then everyone started acting however they liked. I kind of have vague ideas for some future chapters but no promises till they solidify for good. Anyway, here's my (late) entry for Day 16 of Sasosaku month and also my first Sasosaku story.