Fic: "Familial Bonds"
Title: Familial Bonds
Author: redbrunja
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Sakura/Sai
Rating: PG
Author's Note: written for the cinco de mayo meme, for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iki_teru , Mother's Day.
Summary: Sai forges bonds with his teammate's parents. Sakura is not amused.
On the Mother's Day of Sakura's seventeenth year, Sakura realized that her mother would have preferred to have a son.
Specifically, Haruno Saki would have preferred to have birthed Sai.
"I still can't believe that you're Sakura's mother - you look so young," Sai said with patent insincerity.
Saki blushed, pushed a bit of raspberry colored hair behind her ear, and gave him another one of the peach cookies with white icing that Sakura had stayed up until 3:00 am after a double shift to make.
"You're such a sweet boy," she said, discreetly slapping Sakura's hand away when she reached for a cookie for herself.
Sai's smile fractured for a minute at this. He gave Sakura a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Aren't you going to react violently Ha-Haruno?" he asked.
Saki frowned. "Oh, Sakura. Are you still stomping around and slamming doors and complaining about that nice Yamanaka girl. You should really try to be nicer to her." She sighed. "I thought you outgrew those temper tantrums you used to have."
Sakura smiled tightly. "Of course," she said through her teeth at the same moment Sai said, "Not noticably."
Sakura glared.
"I mean, 'yes, she has,'" Sai quickly correctly.
Which was surprising. Usually Sai just let his insults lie until she blooded his mouth up a bit.
Saki gave Sakura an I-expected-better-of-you look that reminded Sakura why she'd moved out as soon as she'd made chuunin and could afford an apartment.
"Let me make you some tea, Sai," she said, switching focus. "Do you like jasmine?"
"I do," said Sai, smiling so hard his eyes were crescents.
"Actually, I hate-" Sakura said to her mother's back, watching her patterned yukata as her mother bussled into the kitchen.
She bit her lip, waited until she could hear the clink of the kettle being set on the stove and then grabbed Sai's lapel and yanked him close.
"What the fuck is going on?"
Sai looked confused for a split second and then raised his voice.
"It's Mother's Day, Sakura, I thought you knew," he said, in a voice that undoutable carried to the very fartherest corners of her family's house. "Since I have no mother of my own, I thought it only right to express my gratitude to the beatiful women who raised you, my lovely teammate."
Haruno Sakura realized that there were exactly three possibilities for what was going on:
1.) Sai had suffered a mental breakdown.
2.) Sai had been infected with kijuuki flu, which caused fever, hallucinations, and psychotic symptoms.
3.) Sai had discovered a new way of making her life frustrating and miserable and had decided to exploit his invention to the fullest.
Sakura decided that the appropriate course of action for all of the above was punching her 'lovely teammate' through three walls.
She cocked back her fist right as her mother returned with the tea-tray, tears glinting in the corners of her eyes.
"You're such a sweet boy," Saki murmered.
"You're too kinda, Haruno-san," Sai responded in the exact same saccarhine tone.
"You must stay for dinner," she continued as Sakura's eyes widened in horror, "a poor motherless child like yourself, alone on the day devoted to maternity? It just wouldn't do."
"Unfortunately," Sakura cut in desperately.
"I would love to," Sai said, smiling so widely she expected his head to split in half.
~~~
Sai spent fifteen minutes of reassuring Saki that he would walk Sakura right to her door, right to her very doorstep, and protect Sakura from any and everything including rogue nins, tsunamis, and hangnails, before Saki let the door closed.
By this point, Sakura had bitten her cheek bloody and did not even try to mention that she was a fucking Konoha jounin, in Konoha, and that she had proven she could protect herself back when she, you know, helped kill Sasori of the Red Sands or, you know, kidnapped Kisame so Ino could pick his big, fat, fishy head apart.
But no.
According to her mother, she was still the stupid little gennin who needed to be reminded to leave the house on time.
And Sai, the bastard, just lapped it all up.
At the end of the block, Sai turned to her and said, "I think that went well."
Sakura flicked him with her finger without breaking stride.
The lamp-post across the street snapped when Sai's body hit it.
Two blocks later Sai caught up with her, limping and coughing blood.
Sakura turned to him and started yelling. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she started off, continuing with, "HOW DARE YOU TRY MAKE MY MOTHER LIKE YOU BETTER THAN ME!"
Sai looked at his, blood smeared across his pale lips, dark eyes luminious in the dust.
"It's Mother's Day," he said slowly, "I thought it would be an aspicious day to... I thought... I was trying to make a good impression on your family."
Sakura snorted. "Trust me, you did," she said reaching out and stroking Sai's ribs with hands gloved in chakra. "Over dessert I thought my dad was going to offer you my dowery."
Sai sucked in a breath.
"Did that hurt?" she asked. At his negatory head shake, she continued setting and healing his ribs.
"You made a great impression, Sai," she said slowly. "You're doing so much better with social interactions. I just don't get why you thought you had to make a good impression on your teammate's family, you know?"
"Well, Sakura," Sai said in a by-route way that made her sure he was about to recite something.
"Well, I'm sure it made sense to you at the time," Sakura interupted, standing up straight and brushing her hands off. She so wasn't up for untangling Sai's latest snarl of social expectations and relationships. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
She waved at him as she trotted up the stairs to her apartment. When she peeked out her window after undressing for bed, she saw him still standing in the street, paging through a thick book under the streetlight and then looking up at her apartment and back again.
Author: redbrunja
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Sakura/Sai
Rating: PG
Author's Note: written for the cinco de mayo meme, for
iki_teru , Mother's Day.Summary: Sai forges bonds with his teammate's parents. Sakura is not amused.
On the Mother's Day of Sakura's seventeenth year, Sakura realized that her mother would have preferred to have a son.
Specifically, Haruno Saki would have preferred to have birthed Sai.
"I still can't believe that you're Sakura's mother - you look so young," Sai said with patent insincerity.
Saki blushed, pushed a bit of raspberry colored hair behind her ear, and gave him another one of the peach cookies with white icing that Sakura had stayed up until 3:00 am after a double shift to make.
"You're such a sweet boy," she said, discreetly slapping Sakura's hand away when she reached for a cookie for herself.
Sai's smile fractured for a minute at this. He gave Sakura a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Aren't you going to react violently Ha-Haruno?" he asked.
Saki frowned. "Oh, Sakura. Are you still stomping around and slamming doors and complaining about that nice Yamanaka girl. You should really try to be nicer to her." She sighed. "I thought you outgrew those temper tantrums you used to have."
Sakura smiled tightly. "Of course," she said through her teeth at the same moment Sai said, "Not noticably."
Sakura glared.
"I mean, 'yes, she has,'" Sai quickly correctly.
Which was surprising. Usually Sai just let his insults lie until she blooded his mouth up a bit.
Saki gave Sakura an I-expected-better-of-you look that reminded Sakura why she'd moved out as soon as she'd made chuunin and could afford an apartment.
"Let me make you some tea, Sai," she said, switching focus. "Do you like jasmine?"
"I do," said Sai, smiling so hard his eyes were crescents.
"Actually, I hate-" Sakura said to her mother's back, watching her patterned yukata as her mother bussled into the kitchen.
She bit her lip, waited until she could hear the clink of the kettle being set on the stove and then grabbed Sai's lapel and yanked him close.
"What the fuck is going on?"
Sai looked confused for a split second and then raised his voice.
"It's Mother's Day, Sakura, I thought you knew," he said, in a voice that undoutable carried to the very fartherest corners of her family's house. "Since I have no mother of my own, I thought it only right to express my gratitude to the beatiful women who raised you, my lovely teammate."
Haruno Sakura realized that there were exactly three possibilities for what was going on:
1.) Sai had suffered a mental breakdown.
2.) Sai had been infected with kijuuki flu, which caused fever, hallucinations, and psychotic symptoms.
3.) Sai had discovered a new way of making her life frustrating and miserable and had decided to exploit his invention to the fullest.
Sakura decided that the appropriate course of action for all of the above was punching her 'lovely teammate' through three walls.
She cocked back her fist right as her mother returned with the tea-tray, tears glinting in the corners of her eyes.
"You're such a sweet boy," Saki murmered.
"You're too kinda, Haruno-san," Sai responded in the exact same saccarhine tone.
"You must stay for dinner," she continued as Sakura's eyes widened in horror, "a poor motherless child like yourself, alone on the day devoted to maternity? It just wouldn't do."
"Unfortunately," Sakura cut in desperately.
"I would love to," Sai said, smiling so widely she expected his head to split in half.
~~~
Sai spent fifteen minutes of reassuring Saki that he would walk Sakura right to her door, right to her very doorstep, and protect Sakura from any and everything including rogue nins, tsunamis, and hangnails, before Saki let the door closed.
By this point, Sakura had bitten her cheek bloody and did not even try to mention that she was a fucking Konoha jounin, in Konoha, and that she had proven she could protect herself back when she, you know, helped kill Sasori of the Red Sands or, you know, kidnapped Kisame so Ino could pick his big, fat, fishy head apart.
But no.
According to her mother, she was still the stupid little gennin who needed to be reminded to leave the house on time.
And Sai, the bastard, just lapped it all up.
At the end of the block, Sai turned to her and said, "I think that went well."
Sakura flicked him with her finger without breaking stride.
The lamp-post across the street snapped when Sai's body hit it.
Two blocks later Sai caught up with her, limping and coughing blood.
Sakura turned to him and started yelling. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" she started off, continuing with, "HOW DARE YOU TRY MAKE MY MOTHER LIKE YOU BETTER THAN ME!"
Sai looked at his, blood smeared across his pale lips, dark eyes luminious in the dust.
"It's Mother's Day," he said slowly, "I thought it would be an aspicious day to... I thought... I was trying to make a good impression on your family."
Sakura snorted. "Trust me, you did," she said reaching out and stroking Sai's ribs with hands gloved in chakra. "Over dessert I thought my dad was going to offer you my dowery."
Sai sucked in a breath.
"Did that hurt?" she asked. At his negatory head shake, she continued setting and healing his ribs.
"You made a great impression, Sai," she said slowly. "You're doing so much better with social interactions. I just don't get why you thought you had to make a good impression on your teammate's family, you know?"
"Well, Sakura," Sai said in a by-route way that made her sure he was about to recite something.
"Well, I'm sure it made sense to you at the time," Sakura interupted, standing up straight and brushing her hands off. She so wasn't up for untangling Sai's latest snarl of social expectations and relationships. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
She waved at him as she trotted up the stairs to her apartment. When she peeked out her window after undressing for bed, she saw him still standing in the street, paging through a thick book under the streetlight and then looking up at her apartment and back again.
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