Be Careful What You Wish For
Because you just might get it.
Uchiha Sakura had it all – all that I ever dreamed of. I had grown up the prettier, more popular, more well-off one. But once high school ended and real life began, it sunk in that she had indeed beaten me in just about everything.
It all started right before my senior year of high school, my father – who had been in the navy – was killed. His death left a heavy burden of grief and debt on my family and prevented me from going to the prestigious college I had been accepted to – the same one that Sakura and Sasuke would still attend. Instead, I could only afford a local university (which I am still trying to pay off, by the way). There, I mostly clung to my childhood friends, Shikamaru (whose father had also passed away alongside mine) and Chouji and even their idiot friend, Naruto. However, Chouji transferred into a culinary school and Naruto dropped out to join the police academy. So it was just me and Shikamaru. And so I got pregnant at 19.
I tried to keep up with school, I really did, but being a mom was already far more than I could handle. I flunked out of college trying to run the flower shop for some extra money and raising baby twins. (Yes, twins, at that!) I ended up having to move in with Shikamaru's mom, Yoshino, and soon Shikamaru himself left school to work more on the Nara farm and other part times and odd jobs. We were absolutely overwhelmed; so much so, that we had never even bothered to officially get married.
Then, when we were about 22, Sakura moved back to Konoha – with my high school crush, Uchiha Sasuke, as her husband. On top of that, they had both climbed up the business ladder and were wunderkind – young and rich and successful, and oh yeah, smoking hot. Sakura not only came with a new man and a new mansion but with a new pair of round, C-cup boobs. It was obvious they were fake – considering she had grown up flat as a board, but one could not deny how amazing she looked with them.
While she was rocking her brand name V-necks, I was, on the other hand, throwing on less form fitting t-shirts and long skirts to cover up the cellulite and stretch marks that had crept up on me within the years. I felt old and drab next to her, and it drove me all the way up the wall. Shikamaru, however, didn't really seem to give a flying fuck, as he is from some other planet where men seem to not notice how disgusting their wives have become and instead somehow actually seem happier that they are now less "troublesome" about the way they dress and look. (He still threw around the "T" word when it came to my nagging, though.)
However, Sakura had managed to remember our friendship and at least took enough pity on me and my now pathetic life by employing Shikamaru in her and Sasuke's pharmaceutical company, and having me take care of her garden on the weekends. I knew that she could have employed other, more qualified people but I couldn't shake the feeling of irritation that boiled inside me every time Shikamaru or I received our pay from her. I felt like it was her way of looking down on me. I wanted to refuse it, I wanted so badly to be independent from her, but my children were growing up and Yoshino was growing old, and Shikamaru and I looked crappier everyday with the stress of our jobs. There was no other way; I had to suck every drop of my pride up every single day and accept the goddamn money.
Sakura had suggested on numerous occasions that I become a live-in maid, but I couldn't go that far, so she offered it to a meek woman we went to school with – Hinata. Hinata had married out of a wealthy family in order to be with Naruto – why? Beyond me – who unfortunately had been shot on duty and left paralyzed and jobless. So they moved into the Uchiha manor and I continued to live in a cramped little house with Shikamaru, Yoshino, Shikako* and Inoichi (our fraternal twins whom we named in honor of our fallen fathers).
Now my kids were almost ten and I was pushing thirty and I was pounding on Sakura's door for at least fifteen minutes now. Finally, Hinata answered the door and bowed apologetically while explaining she had been cleaning the other side of the house while Sakura was upstairs. I nodded and forced a smile before stepping in and slipping off my shoes.
No matter how much I was in that place, I would feel struck by the wealth every time. The grand, golden stairs, and the crystal chandeliers and the marble floors and the regal furniture all blinded me as I made my up. As I walked down the hall to Sakura's room, I could hear he dogs start to get frantic and bark and claw her door. She opened the door and the two snow white Maltese dogs with pastel pink and baby blue bows tied on their heads ran and tackled me. I tried my best to pet them but they were all over going crazy and not even letting me walk. I heard Sakura giggle and I looked up to find her stupid forehead shining back at me, halfway out the door.
"Rozu! Azuru! Get back over here!" Sakura demanded, and her dogs raced back to her room. Finally able to take a step, I followed her into her room where her fluffy white Persian cat, Gucci, was licking herself on Sakura's pink, silk sheets. I envied that cat. "What's up, Pig?" I twitched at the pet name; it had always gotten on my nerves, but now that I actually looked and felt like one, I couldn't stand it.
"Same old, same old, forehead," I emphasized her nickname to spite her back but she seemed immune to it at this point. After all, big forehead or not, her skin was flawless and tight while mine was weary and starting to wrinkle.
"Shikako and Inoichi are turning ten tomorrow," Sakura said while stroking Gucci's long, elegant fur, "What are you guys going to do for it?"
"I don't know. Maybe a small party or something," I cleared my throat, trying to keep the conversation on that topic brief. I didn't want her feeling bad that I couldn't throw my kids some extravagant celebration like she could.
"You know you guys can do something here," Sakura suggested, to which I shut my eyes impatiently and tried to breathe without raging, "Don't be like that!" She whined, "We can have it at your house, too…its just…" I lifted my eyebrow at her pause and she continued with a slight blush, "We have more space; we can make it really, really big and fun! We can have karaoke and a little dance competition! What was that singer they liked…? I think she came by the store the other day, maybe we can get her to-"
"Singer? Karaoke? With what money, Sakura?" I scoffed, crossing my arms. I glued my eyes to hers. I knew she wanted to pay for it, but she knew that I would not allow that.
"Ino…" She bit her lip and looked away, "I just want to help-"
"Well I don't need you charity, Sakura!" I spat, standing up and heading for the door.
"Ino!" She called behind me, but she couldn't stop me, I was already heading out, "Ino! Come back!" I heard her shout down the stairs but I still kept going. She really pissed me off sometimes.
"Hey, did you ask Sakura for the day off tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked when I walked in the house. I shot a glare at him before stomping towards our room and collapsing face down on the bed. "Piggy…" He cooed, and I responded by snapping back and slapping him harshly on the arm.
"I hate when you call me that! UGH!" I pouted, punching the pillow under me and then tossing it towards the mirror next to the bed. I heard Shikamaru sigh and plop down next to me. I peeked over and saw him with his arms thrown back behind his head, and he was already dozing off. "You're going to sleep, now? It's like six p.m." He groaned a little at me and opened an eye.
"I've been up since dawn…" He mumbled under his breath.
"Oh and I haven't?!" I retorted, to which he responded by turning over and wrapping his heavy arm around my neck, pulling me into his chest. He smelled murky and sweaty from working on the farm, so I struggled to push him off along with some exaggerated gagging but he fell asleep almost immediately. I sighed in defeat and tried to writhe away but it was useless, so I guess we took a nap together.
"Where are you going..?" I uttered groggily when I stirred awake and found Shikamaru changing his clothes.
"Work." He responded without looking back at me; he was buttoning up his shirt. I pulled on the back of it and he turned to me.
"Why?"
"You never asked Sakura, remember?"
I stared at him and growled a little: "Stop being an idiot. Obviously she's going to give us the day off."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Shika…" I sighed, "Sakura has been my best friend forever."
"I thought I was your best friend…" He joked, looking away because he couldn't hide his smile.
"Dork!" I sat up and punched him playfully in the arm, "I'm your wife. Chouji is your best friend."
"Yeah, well… Sasuke isn't exactly my best friend, and he's my boss." His smile faded slowly. So did mine.
"Sakura won't let him chew you out for missing today."
"Maybe…" He nodded, but he finished buttoning his shirt and stood up then leaned down to kiss me softly on the cheek, "But we need the money."
Once he was gone, I was left with some bitter, heavy energy around my chest.
"I'm not even really your wife," I scoffed to myself, "We've never actually gotten married."
Hello there lovlies! If this is your first time reading one of my fics, then thank you for giving my writing a chance and please stick around! If not, then you were probably wondering where my ShikaIno/SI triangle stories were, huh? Well, I took a break to take on other ships, and I'm still doing that, but I missed writing for my troublesome babies and I've been wanting to do this fic after watching a cheesy Lifetime movie with a similar plot (won't reveal what it is yet so I don't spoil anything ;) so I hope you will enjoy this!
*Shikako is a female name (Ino and Shikamaru have fraternal twins, one boy and one girl) version of Shikaku. Shikaku can mean "assassin" but the "Shika" means deer, and the "ko" means child (and also makes it a feminine name).
R&R!