Dreamer's Wake
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What does one wake up to, without reality?
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"Yamanaka-kun, where do you see yourself in ten years?"
Eight year old Ino Yamanaka giggles.
"With Sasuke-kun! And my best friend Sakura, and my godbrothers Chouji and Shikamaru! We'll be totally awesome ninjas!"
It's silent. So obnoxiously silent that the light ticking of the clock is driving her mad. What the hell is TAKING so long? They are ninjas, for crying out loud! Wasn't there some kind of way to speed this up? Isn't there some jutsu that could do these kind of things automatically, or something? It had already been ten minutes. Ten minutes since she left the room. It was no wonder so many shinobi never bothered to go to the hospital, it was proving to wear on her patience. Just as the nimble mind-walker was considering hopping off the cold metal whatever-the-hell-its-called and putting her clothes back on, the person she had been waiting for calmly opened the door and walked in.
"Congratulations, Ino."
Ino looked taken aback. It never ceased to amaze her when their Hokage exhibited blonde moments.
"Um, Tsunade-sama, I've been married for three months now. You came to the wedding ceremony, remember?"
She corrected lightly. She hoped this little lapse of memory was due to fatigue and not a certain liquid the elder blonde was notorious for keeping in her office. The idea of Tsunade being even slightly tipsy during this check-up really made her uneasy.
The pigtailed woman peered at her over a clipboard and mustered an annoyed look.
"I'm aware of that. I'm not senile. It was the day the last Uchiha got married; the entire village was there."
Clear blue eyes stared back at her blanky.
"Yeah. Well...?"
Tsunade stepped a little closer to the lithe young woman. Such a petite waist and hips. Such dainty ankles. Havoc would wreak her body soon enough.
"Well, I'm not congratulating you on your marriage. You'd better ditch the fishnet and find yourself some support hosiery."
Ino cringed at the thought of support hose. The very image was so...matronly.
"Why? Are my legs flabby? Are you telling me I'm getting fat? I am, aren't I? You want me to lose weight!"
Painc rose in the young kunoichi and horror was painted across her face.
Oh god! It's too soon for me to be gaining weight! Sasuke-kun likes me thin! THIN! If I gain weight, he might...(gasp!)..He might cheat on me with Sakura!
Tsunade made a grunt that barely caught Ino's attention. When the younger blonde finally did snap back to reality, she found herself on the receiving end of an acute frown. She muttered under her breath.
"By god, I hope it has it's father's genius."
"Huh?"
"I said," Tsunade started, "Get the damned support hose if you don't want stretch marks all over those pretty little legs. You're carrying the Uchiha heir."
"Yamanaka-kun, where do you see yourself in ten years?"
Twelve year old Ino Yamanaka stands tall, with all the confidence in the world and flashes a smile that puts the sun to shame.
"With Sasuke-kun! And as leader of team ten; Asuma-sensei's star pupil and Shikamaru and Chouji's captain!"
Impatience has her at it's mercy as Ino takes a victory bite out of a large hock of ham. She's celebrating with Chouji and Shikamaru at their favorite restuarant, but she hasn't told them what the celebration is for yet. She wants Sasuke to be the first to know, but she suspects from the way Shikamaru is warily eyeing her -- her jubiliant expression, her wearing loose pants in lieu of a miniskirt, and her lack of mention of the word 'diet' -- that he already has a clue. And Chouji's actually letting her have the bulk of the meal; he's not surrendering the last bite, but he's still giving her more than her share. He's not stupid. She's still not telling.
"How does it feel?"
"Mmmph?"
Ino is startled out of her chow-down momentarily, and shifts in her seat to more fully face the chubby shinobi addressing her. His smile widens and his eyes become mere slits.
"You know. How does it feel to be living your dream? Sasuke, he's everything you've always wanted, right?"
Her hands finally relinquish a gnawed-on bone that used to be part of a set of ribs, and her face takes on a look of bliss. And a little barbeque sauce under her lip.
"Yeah! It feels...I don't know. I've never been this happy. I kind of want to walk around singing all day!"
She punctuates the statement with an easy laugh, and the two laugh with her, because it's infectious when she's this happy. And corny.
"You're such a girl !", Chouji exclaims. It's something he's been known to say every since the day they met, and Ino still draws pride from it rather than offense.
"Don't go all Gai on us."
Shikamaru drawls from the other end of the table, but it's said in good humor, and Ino doesn't hit him. This moment, right now, is positively the best moment of her life. Her two best friends are here beside her, as they've always been. She's married to the guy of her dreams. She's having his baby. Nothing can top this moment. Such moments, however, are just that: moments. Brief, and quickly reduced to a simple memory. Worse yet, is that they are easily ruined.
"Oh! Forth wheel heading our way."
Ino and Shikamaru's heads snap in the direction of Chouji's gaze. On the other side of the window, Ino makes out the shape of four pony tails and a large, flat thing peeking over a narrow shoulder. It's unmistakably Sabaku no Temari. Shikamaru's grin drops instantly and he's already standing and putting money down for the meal.
"I'd better get over there before she gets over here. And breaks something. Catch you guys later."
And with that, the lanky jounin ambles out of the shop and onto the street. Chouji and Ino watch as he approaches a not-too-happy ambassador.
"Is she going to hit him?"
Ino feels a little nervous for Shikamaru, she can feel Temari's unsteady chakra from all the way over there. Through the building.
"No. She's not the type. She'll make him regret whatever he's done, though. Make him wish she had just hit him and got over it."
Chouji sounds so sure of himself that Ino has to divert her eyes and look at him. There's something there, in his face, like he knows something she doesn't. It piques her curiousity; the three of them don't keep secrets from one another.
"He thinks she's the one, y'know. He's real serious about her."
Ino frowns, and turns her attention back to the couple.
They're kissing.
It hurts. For some mysterious reason, it hurts her to see the two of them so affectionate.
What am I getting so wound up about? It's just Shikamaru and his gir--Temari. There's nothing to fuss over. I'm well off, I'm a jounin now, and Sasuke's amazing in bed. Shikamaru's...my best friend. And he's happy. And I'm happy. Nothing to be upset about.
The devastatingly long kiss finally ends, and Shikamaru and Temari walk off somewhere. Ino and Chouji readjust themselves in their seats, and Ino takes a sip of soda. What she really feels like drinking right now is sake, but she knows she can't because of her condition. She should be contemplating baby names and wondering whose kekkei genkai the child will inherit, given that the two don't cancel each other out, but she can't get Temari and Shikamaru out of her head. It was like her mind had been invaded, she couldn't change the flow of her thoughs even when she tried. The irony was not lost on her.
"I think he's going to propose to her."
Ino nearly spits out her drink and suddenly, her apetite is gone. The reason, the answer to a question she'd never asked herself is finally clear. Sasuke was her ideal, her prince, the living, breathing, man of her dreams. A dream she held onto, chased, and eventually attained. But Shikamaru was her reality. Her mind knew he would always be there for her. In the deepest parts of her heart, though, she had always thought of him as hers . She always knew that, if for some asinine reason Sasuke actaully chose Forehead over her, Shikamaru would pick up the pieces of her heart and put them back together again. She always knew that, despite all his abuse of the word "troublesome", he cared for her more than he was willing to admit. At some indiscernable point, Shikamaru -- the strong hands that always caught her when she felt like she was falling -- had let go. Had moved out of the way to let someone else catch her, and she didn't know it until now. He cared, so he didn't stand in the way of her and Sasuke. At what point had she started relying on his feelings? When was it that their places in her heart had switched, when had Shikamaru become her main love and Sasuke the side interest?
And now that her reality was gone, the dreamer was awake.
"Uchiha-san, where do you see yourself in ten years?"
Eighteen year old Ino Uchiha looks as if she's far, far away. Her stomach is round, breasts are perky, hair is shiny, and skin is glowing. She's arguably the most beautiful female around, yet she somehow exudes the aura of an older woman.
"In hell."