Day One of KakaSaku Week.

Theme: Salty

If there was something Haruno Sakura hated dearly, it was family reunions. Meeting her relatives annually, who just couldn't give a damn about her usually was always a pain in the lower part of her backside. So, when one evening her mother came over to her place and announced that her grandma and grandpa Chiaki were expecting for her to attend said gathering, she desperately tried to find an excuse. She did not have any mission scheduled for at least two weeks, and was off the hospital roster for the time being. Sakura didn't even try to lie to her mother, knowing far too well that it wouldn't have a pretty outcome. Mebuki knew her daughter like the back of her hand; she could tell when Sakura wasn't telling the truth in a matter of seconds. Her mother also insisted on bringing Kakashi as well, stating that it was about time for the family to see that she was indeed in a relationship. Like it was so unbelievable or something.

The medic visited her supposedly inexistent boyfriend not long after. She started immediately rambling about how her mother forced her to go, even though she knew that her one and only daughter absolutely loathed them. How Sakura managed to dodge these invitations for the past 5 years with regularly having missions and the occasional saving of the world responsibilities. That her mother's side of the family were your average civilians, who failed to understand the notions and merits of being a shinobi. That even though she was the second best medic on this goddamn continent and defeated a god, her merits still paled in comparison to her cousin's. How her uncles and aunts taunted her for still being unmarried at the age of 21.

The Rokudaime Hokage sat at his desk, patiently listening to what his girlfriend told him animatedly, pacing around his office. Though these problems that she was talking about were completely foreign to him, he did understand that what they said about her, about what she choose to do with her life was really important for her. After all, these were her choices, and if they had a sour face while being reminded of them, she felt hurt.

But on the other hand, Kakashi felt jealous. He did not have close relatives that would invite him, coax him into attending such kind of events, worry about how he was doing and so on. Unlike Sakura, he couldn't share anecdotes about how he battled his cousins during winter, in knee-length snow, or climbed neckbreakingly high on trees and almost falling down. These moments would be forever absent from his life.

"And now mom wants me to bring you as well, because apparently these idiots are starting to think that you do not exist." She flopped down on the plush chair in front of his desk, clearly out of breath. "And to be frank, I would really like you to come. God knows what I'd to without you."

Kakashi wanted to say yes immediately. To be honest, he wanted to see how such kind of events looked like, to experience the whole thing first handed. He tried to keep it cool, tried not to seem as enthusiastic about it as he really was.

"Well, it'll be a bit hard to cajole Shikamaru into letting me leave the village for a few days…" Seeing Sakura's hopeful gaze fell made him quickly add the rest of the sentence. "But I can manage."

The brilliant grin and the kisses she rewarded him with felt really nice.

…

Her first cousin, the daughter of her mother's brother was everything that Sakura wasn't in her grandparent's eyes. Watanabe –formerly Chiaki- Noriko was beautiful and talented…or so did they say. While Sakura failed to master playing any kind of classical instrument, Noriko excelled at both playing the violin and the harp. She also was an excellent cook at the age of twelve while in the meantime Sakura almost burned their kitchen down during one of her exploits into preparing scrambled eggs. Noriko by the way could knit…anything. Sakura? Let's just say that she was better at using sharp objects to draw blood. Her cousin married at the age of 17 and already had three children. Did she mention that they were both 21?

It was really amazing how different they were…and even though Sakura realized a long time ago that her achievements would always pale in comparison to those of Noriko, it hurt nonetheless.

So, it was an understatement to say that the pink haired medic absolutely loathed her cousin, who sometimes was painted as her better, more improved version. And Noriko's behavior didn't make things better either. The problem was that the girl had a quite big ego, and always looked down upon Sakura. So, even though they never really addressed the situation, they always felt salty in each other's presence.

…

Mebuki's hometown was situated on the Southern coast of Fire. It's citizens were either fishermen or merchants who usually traded with Wave. The Chiaki family was one of the latter, and probably the wealthiest amongst the settlement's citizens. Sakura's parents met when Kizashi was sent on a mission to said town.

"It was love at first sight." Her mother stated dreamily, as they traveled toward the coast. Kakashi grinned underneath his mask as he saw his girlfriend roll her eyes in total annoyance.

"My parents were of course completely against the whole relationship. They already chose someone for me to marry." Mebuki continued, completely oblivious to the fact that Sakura mouthed the exact same words. She heard the story at least a thousand times by now.

"But we didn't listen and I left town when Kizashi's mission was over. We soon married and then welcomed her into the world." She patted Sakura's head, like she was still a little girl. "My parents severed all connections with me until Sakura's birth. And they still have a condescending look on their face when they are reminded of the fact that I married a shinobi…and that my daughter followed in his footsteps."

"Good thing that I couldn't care less about their opinion." Sakura shrugged, though they all knew that she was lying.

The Chiaki family compound was close to the beach, Kakashi could taste the salty air even through his mask. The central building of the complex was a three story family house. The stone walls around it were so tall, that he would've to jump in order to see what was behind them.

An old woman greeted them the moment they entered the house. Her almost snow white hair was in a braided up do and her green eyes, that were framed by glasses were the exact same shade as Sakura's. The black qipao dress she was wearing had a red seahorse embroidered on its front. It was the Chiaki family crest.

"Mebuki, Sakura-chan!" She hobbled over to them, hugging both women tightly. "Kizashi." Her demeanor changed completely, though she tried to hide the fact. Said man nodded curtly and kissed the back of her hand. "And who's this young man?" Her green eyes looked expectantly at Kakashi.

"He's Hatake Kakashi, grandmother. He's my boyfriend."

"A boyfriend? I thought that you'll never have one!" She laughed. "Good thing that we have spare rooms!"

In the end Kakashi and Sakura were given separate rooms. Her grandparents obviously didn't believe in a couple sharing a bed before marriage. Too bad that they didn't count on the fact that both him and Sakura were shinobi.

After they all got settled in their rooms, Sakura showed him around the house, commenting on some pieces of furniture and decorations. As they passed by the kitchen, they got ambushed by her grandmother.

"She wants to interrogate you." Sakura whispered.

"Come in and have some tea." She ushered them inside. "I hope that you like black tea Hatake-san. It's freshly imported from the Land of Tea." She said, preparing the drink. "And what do you do for a living?"

"Here it goes." Sakura muttered so that only he could hear.

"I'm the Hokage."

"Hm…is that a ninja thing as well?" Grandma Chiaki raised a brow.

"Yes." Kakashi crinkled his eyes, deeply amused by how oblivious the older woman was to 'ninja things'.

"He's Konoha's leader, grandmother." Sakura translated patiently.

"Like a mayor?"

"Like a mayor." The pink haired woman replied in resignation. She clearly gave up on having them understand the ninja world.

"And how did you meet?" She set two cups in front of them.

"Well…" Kakashi began.

"We were teammates and worked together a lot." His girlfriend answered diplomatically. Her grandmother would clearly misunderstand the true circumstances of their relationship. After all, civilians always had a more traditional mindset.

"I see. And when do you plan on getting married?

"Grandmother!" A faint red line appeared across Sakura's cheeks.

"What? You are already 21 years old, Sakura. 21! Noriko already has three children! Not to mention that even Takashi's going to be a father pretty soon. You are the only one amongst your cousins who doesn't have children." It was clear that her grandmother's words clearly upset Sakura.

"We've been dating for only a few months…we agreed on not rushing things." Was Kakashi's diplomatic reply.

"You should still consider marrying as soon as possible." Her green eyes landed on the clock mounted on one of the walls. "Noriko and her family should arrive pretty soon. Aren't you happy that you can meet her after so many years?"

"I'm exhilarated, grandmother." He almost started laughing at how painfully fake her smile was.

"Poor Noriko, since they cannot afford to hire some extra help at the shop, she has to work there as well, also take care of the children, not to mention the daily chores in the house!" Grandma Chiaki shook her head. "But she still manages to hold her place. I just can't imagine how hard it is for her." She rested her right hand above her heart. Kakashi could see his girlfriend's jaw setting, probably trying to stop herself for saying something not so nice.

"Actually Sakura has to do 48 hour shifts on a weekly basis at the hospital, not to mention her daily exploits in the ER. We could've lost so many great shinobi without her help." He mused with a nonchalant air around him.

"Oh really?" Grandma Chiaki asked surprised after a few heartbeats of silence. "I never knew that you were so busy…you should really tell your boss to give you some time off…spending all of your time there. No wonder you are not married!" She sighed, hobbling back to the stove.

He felt her grabbing his hand, squeezing it gently. "I saw what you did there." Sakura whispered.

"Did what?"

"Thanks…but as you can see, it was quite futile." She laughed, kissing his masked cheek.

…

He finally met Sakura's favorite cousin a few hours later. She had long, sandy blonde hair which was in a high ponytail. Her green eyes were sparkling, but their shade wasn't as nice as Sakura's. She had a voluptuous figure, something that most men absolutely loved about women. But it paled in comparison to Sakura's lithe figure.

"I'm Watanabe Noriko." She outstretched her hand, expecting him to kiss it or something…which he promptly did, earning a discreet eye roll from Sakura.

"Nice to meet you, Watanabe-san." Kakashi crinkled his eye, but she could see it even through his mask that it was only superficial. Sakura was pleased. "I'm Hatake Kakashi."

"Oh, just call me Noriko!" Her stupid giggles always made the pink haired woman's desire to just shove some solid objects down her throat resurface.

"Hotkage-sama!" She winked her pretty green eyes.

"It's Hokage." Sakura gritted.

Noriko just blinked at her slowly, a look of utter confusion and innocence on her annoyingly pretty face. Like she didn't just blatantly flirt with her boyfriend in her presence.

"Did I say something wrong?" Oh, her fists were practically twitching with the want to show her what her problem was.

"Nothing at all, Noriko."

The blonde was about to say something, but one of her (rather cute) spawns started calling for her. "Oh, my youngest needs me. Sometimes I just got so many things to do, that I completely forget that it's feeding time." Noriko laughed, delicately flicking her wrist to look at her watch. "See you later." She swayed her hips seductively while she walked away.

"You know, it never fails to amaze me how she can prove to me each and every time that I can hate her even more." Her musings earned a soft chuckle from Kakashi.

"She is a fairly entertaining person."

"Annoying. She's a fairly annoying person."

"You know, you are really not like her." She started to look upset because of his words and was about to reply, but he put his index finger on her lips. "In my humble opinion, she pales in comparison to you. I highly doubt that she can punch as hard as you. Or save as many lives." His finger caressed her cheek. "And what's most important…" Her breath got caught in her throat, eagerly awaiting his next words. "You have better legs."

Sakura punched his arm lightly, but kissed him nonetheless.

I think that almost everyone has a relative or an acquaintance to whom they are always compared to, and that no matter how hard they try, they can never live up to them. For Sakura, this person is Noriko. Also, aren't family reunions kind of annoying sometimes?

Thank you really much for reading!

Please review!