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Sakura is seven-and-a-quarter years old when she meets Ino’s parents.
Ino’s been nagging at her to come over for AGES now, and Sakura’s been really really unsure because- because what if Ino’s parents don’t like her? What if they take one look at the weird girl with pink hair and giant forehead that Ino’s decided is worth something and be like “Nope, never mind, Ino you gotta bring somebody different home”.
Someone like... like Hinata, who might be quiet and shy too but is much prettier than Sakura (but not as pretty as Ino!). Or maybe Ino’s sort-of guy friends, Shikamaru and Chouji, cause Ino’s parents definitely like them and it sounds like they have dinner and stuff together a lot. Or someone very very cool like Sasuke, who is top of their whole class!
But Ino wants Sakura to come and Sakura is incapable of saying no to Ino forever so she eventually says yes.
She’s SO nervous. She puts on her prettiest dress, a nice red one with some green on it that Papa says brings out her eyes, and paints her nails and bites her lip so hard it might bleed. Sakura wants them to like her SO MUCH, to like her and to make sure she gets to hang around Ino a lot and still gets to be her best friend in the whole wide world cause she loves Ino so much.
Maybe she’s quieter the whole day or maybe Ino can just know what she’s thinkin’ really well or maybe both but Ino immediately grabs her hand when they’re done packing up when the last class ends. “It’s gonna be okay, Sakura!” she says, and she says it with all of her Ino-firmness, the firmness that she’s never ever wrong and Sakura sometimes wonders if Ino CAN ever be wrong (except sometimes in class because Ino’s willing to answer EVERYTHING even if she doesn’t really know the answer). “They’re gonna love you.”
“I... I hope so,” Sakura whispers, cause she doesn’t want to ask Ino about if they don’t cause she knows Ino will just be like BUT THEY WILL. Her hands are kind of sweaty. She pulls hers free from Ino’s and wipes them on her dress. “Who... Who’s gonna pick us up?” she asks.
Ino shakes her head. “I getta walk home,” she says, puffing up with pride. “Ever since I turned seven.”
“Wow,” Sakura says, her eyes growing wide.
She makes sure that she holds onto Ino’s hand the whole way home, even though her hand gets sweaty again. Mama and Papa had said yes to her going over to Ino’s, but she’s not sure if they realized that meant she would be walking by herself (she didn’t!) so she wants to be as careful as possible.
Ino’s house is pretty and big but Sakura can barely look at it cause her stomach’s in knots. Ino throws open the door. “Daddy!” she yells, and she kicks off her sandals. “We’re home! Come meet Sakura!”
Sakura pulls off her own sandals, setting them neatly by the door, and around the corner comes a man with brown hair and a kind smile. “Hello,” he says, and he bends a little, some slippers in his hands. “You must be Haruno Sakura.”
She nods, and she gives a little bow. “Nice... Nice to meet you, Ino’s Dad,” she says, and he nods back, smile getting a little bigger.
“Daddy,” Ino interrupts, and they both look at her - she’s looking at Sakura, though. “He’s my Daddy.”
Sakura blinks, surprised, and then gives another quick bow. “Sorry, um, nice to meet you, Ino’s Daddy.”
He laughs. “It’s nice to meet you too,” he says, and he winks at her when she straightens up, offering up a pair of sandals. They’re pink, like her hair, and they have cute little puppies on them and Sakura’s eyes go wide in delight. “Ino picked this out at the store, just for you.”
Her friend blushes. “Daaaaaddyyyyyyy!” She whines, but nods at Sakura with a little huff. “Yeah,” she says. “You’re gonna be here a lot, so you gotta have your own, okay?”
Sakura can’t help it - she throws herself at her friend and she squeezes her tight, and Ino squeezes back. “Thank you,” she says.
“Course,” Ino says back.
---
They play for like, ever. Sakura’s almost reluctant to go outside at one point, not wanting to take her cute new slippers off, but Ino persuades her cause she wants to be a princess and Ino’s Daddy can be the scary enemy ninja and Sakura can be the brave ninja who saves her.
It’s really fun if kind of scary, charging at Ino’s Daddy like this and yelling, but he’s great. He goes down with a yell every time. “Nooooooo!” he cries out. “My plans... foiled! The princess... was mine!” And then he gasps dramatically and his head flops down, tongue hanging out. Sakura giggles and grabs Ino’s hand and they both hop over his legs to run away.
“You... you saved me!” Ino gasps, just as dramatic. “My hero!” She throws her arms around her and gives Sakura a peck on the cheek.
Sakura turns the same color as her hair. “Uh-huh,” she says, because she’s very good with words, and she hugs her best friend ever back.
“Well,” says an unfamiliar voice. “What have we got here?”
Ino peels away from Sakura immediately to make a beeline for it. “Dad!” she yells, and Sakura is... very confused.
Ino’s Daddy is still laying on the ground, but sitting up with a grin, and when Sakura looks back at the doorway... Ino’s getting scooped up by a tall man with blonde hair who looks a lot like Ino. Daddy. Dad.
Sakura gasps, eyes lighting up and hands flying to her mouth. “Ino,” she says, eyes sparkling. “You have TWO?”
“Yeah!” says Ino, and she squirms her way down. “Come on, come meet my Dad!”
She’s so- that’s so- Even as Ino runs back to grab her hand, Sakura’s staring at her with wide eyes. Ino might be one of Sakura’s favorite people in the whole wide world, but so is Sakura’s Papa, and she wants two Papas! “I wish I had two,” Sakura says, and she lets herself be pulled.
Ino giggles at her. “You can have mine,” she says. “Then you can have THREE.”
Sakura loves Ino so so much. She’s the best friend EVER. “You can have mine, too,” she says. “We can BOTH have three.”
“Perfect!” she says, and Ino grins. “Dad, Dad, this is Sakura! Sakura, this is my Dad! We were just playing ninja, I was this pretty princess and Sakura was this really cool ninja and...”