"Do you think that they'll like me?" Sakura asked as she blotted her cherry-red lipstick on a soft, white cotton kerchief.
Sasuke sighed. This had to be the hundredth time that she'd reapplied and blotted in the last hour alone... "Hn, I don't see why not."
"I can think of a hundred reasons." She countered, "I'm too outspoken, I drink too much, I dress too ostentaciously, I have my own career - and no, we are not having that discussion again, I still have absolutely no intention of giving it up - I'm too independent, I don't want to have children -,"
"We're just having dinner. It's not like they're asking you to deliver your entire autobiography." Sasuke said, "Just be yourself and I'm sure that everything will be fine."
But Sakura still wouldn't hear it, "But even you think that I'm annoying at least fifty percent of the time - and you're my boyfriend!"
"More like eighty..." the elder grumbled beneath his breath.
To her credit, Sakura didn't let it faze her - she merely rolled with the punches. "See? How can I ever expect to be able to win over your family when even you want to duct tape my mouth closed fifty -,"
"Eighty." He corrected.
"...eighty percent of the time?" She finished, as if she had never been interrupted.
With their engagement on the horizon, Sasuke had insisted that Sakura be properly introduced to his family. They'd been introduced once before, when Sasuke was in Tokyo on a business trip that had rolled over into a two-week vacation and had called his father via Skype to let him know that he'd checked into the hotel. Sakura, who had accompanied him on the trip, had just emerged from the shower and was patting her hair dry with a towel whilst he discussed negotiation tactics with his father.
Uchiha Fugaku had chastised his son for 'mixing business with pleasure', and before Sasuke could inform his father that Sakura was not, in fact, a prostitute, his scantily clad girlfriend had come over, stuck her face uncomfortably close to the screen, and proceeded to tell him exactly where he could shove his misogynistic comments. She'd slammed the laptop screen closed, abruptly ending the Skpye call, before returning to wringing the excess water from her hair as if nothing had transpired.
"So, your first meeting was far from ideal." Sasuke said with a shrug, "I doubt that Dad even remembers -,"
"But I do remember." She said. She adjusted her collar, attempting to conceal as much of her cleavage as possible. "Maybe I should just change my dress. I wouldn't want to look too provocative and be mistaken for a whore again -,"
Sasuke frowned, "If you change one more time, we're going to be late. You look fine -,"
"I have to look better than fine. I have to look perfect."
"Fine. Whatever. You look perfect. Can we please leave?" It was likely his mother would literally kill him if dinner went cold because they had to wait to eat.
"Seriously, I want you to give me your opinion on this dress." She rose from her vanity stool, doing a little twirl to show off the simple black and red halter she'd chosen for the occasion. "I think that I'm showing too much skin -,"
"If you managed to find something less revealing than that damned frock, I'd be surprised. You look like a fucking mummy." And then, quickly, "And no, that was not my not-so-subtle way of suggesting you change into something less smothering. Like I said, you look perfect -,"
"No, you said that I look fine -,"
"Fine. Perfect. Whatever. The important thing is that you're not changing." He grabbed hold of her wrist, "We're leaving."
"But Sasuke-kun, I need my earrings!" She was reaching back toward the vanity, but her actions were in vain. Sasuke was already dragging her down the hallway and toward their front door, the bedroom fading into a distant memory.
"Leave them."
She was thinking too hard. She shouldn't feel the need to change her outfit three times and re-do her make-up five times just to gain the approval of a family that already considered her one of their own. Well, he wasn't entirely certain if his father felt that way, but... He assumed that the rest of them would love Sakura simply because he himself did. If just being her normal, brilliant, beautiful, annoying self had been enough to win Sasuke over, it should be enough for his family as well.
It was difficult to manuever Sakura into the car - mostly because she was still blabbering about those damned earrings - but eventually he settled her down and buckle her in. She began to pick at the belt, the standard-issue gray belt replaced by Star Trek themed belts. Thankfully, the sight of the seat belt was enough to break her mantra about her damned outfit... only to start another about how adorable it was that her boyfriend was a closet nerd.
In his attempt to remind her that his car was in the shop for the week thanks to Naruto's inability to parallel park - he could still remember the horrific crunch his baby had made when Naruto backed into it at almost twenty miles per hour (and who backs up at twenty miles per hour, anyway?) - and he'd had to borrow his older brother's corvette until the whole thing blew over... He only served to remind Sakura that his brother would, in fact, be attending dinner as well.
"Isn't his wife a famous fashion designer? Oh god, how could you have let me leave the house in this? We have to go back." She reached for the door, which he promptly locked. Just as she'd started to whine, he peeled out of the driveway, leaving angry black skid marks in their wake...
"Oops, looks like it's too late to turn back now. What a shame." Sasuke continued as the apartment complex faded to a dot in the distance.
Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, "You're an ass."
Oh yes, this was bound to be a wonderful night.