1ST PLACE ISN'T EXACTLY THE BEST

-CHAPTER NINETEEN-

An unexpected guest

Sakura bopped him on the head.

"Don't about your mother like that.At least your mother's here with you!"

"Yeah…well she's just too troublesome…"

Then his father's voice called for them from down the stairs.

"Hey,Shikamaru!We're having dinner…and bring your girlfriend too."

"(asd)Does your father even know my name?"

"I highly doubt that…"

'This is going to be so much fun…'((sarcasm intended.))

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sakura could tell that her boyfriend wasn't exactly ecstatic about her being there.He didn't give her the occasional peck on the cheek or the weird smile that he would usually give her when he complimented her.

'Shikamaru-kun's such an asshole sometimes…but I guess that he's my boyfriend regardless.'

Sakura gave him a peck on his cheek as they descended the stairs.Shikamaru looked at her weirdly.

"What was that about?"

Sakura smiled at him.

"Nothing…"

They both sat beside each other at the dinner table.It was laden with a large turkey in the middle and a heavy amount of rice and mashed potatoes.

Inner Sakura: How can one little family eat this much?

Sakura made sure not to come off as greedy when they offered her a plate of rice.It looked like Mrs.Nara wouldn't approve of her if she ate too little or too much.

'(asd)His mom's kinda freaky…'

-You're telling me!It looks like she'll stab us if we eat too much!-

But that was only the beginning of it.Sakura was soon bombarded with questions that generally involved her career and her parents from Shikamaru's mother.Sakura noticed that his mother was very nit-picky about certain aspects of interest about who was involved with her family. This obviously annoyed Sakura and made Shikamaru look nervous about his mother's approval of his girlfriend.

"What about your modeling career?Is it very structured and well balanced?"

"Yes,it is.My agent makes sure that my career is carefully built up before I take on any major deals."

"I see.What about the income?Would you say that you are overworked and underpaid?"

"No,modeling is quite stressing because of the fame,but I deal with it.The income is considerably…large for a person of my age."

Sakura could tell that Mrs.Nara was pleased because she kept quiet for the rest of the time that they sat at the dinner table.Shikamaru however,looked like he was going to beat up his father for not stopping his mother.The pink haired girl sighed as they had finished their meal.She began to pick up the empty plates from the table when Mr.Nara stopped her.

"If you don't want to get beaten by my wife,you better just leave them there."

His wife must've heard anyway since he was smacked on his hands with a wooden spoon.

"Thanks for appreciating me dear!You dump all the work on me and don't help me at all!"

'(asd)What a weird couple…'

After Shikamaru's mother was done complaining about her husband,she turned to Sakura and smiled.

"It's okay Sakura,my husband will be washing the dishes today."

Sakura nodded and ran upstairs to try and avoid being asked anymore questions.When she was at the top of the stairs,Shikamaru was there looking quite relieved.

"Your mother's very curious about me."

"I can't even believe that you made it past the questioning session.My mom has killed every single girl that has come through my front door with her stupid questions.Even Ino!"

Sakura beamed.

"I'm used to answering questions like that.I had to do a couple of interviews before.It's pretty much second nature."

"Looks like I was right.You are the perfect girlfriend."

He gave her a peck on the cheek and she beamed even more.But they were caught off guard as the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who it could be.I didn't invite anyone over or anything…"

The couple rushed downstairs and opened the door.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?"

The boy in front of them was indeed the same raven haired boy who had been 'stalking' her when she was walking home.

"Yeah?"

Shikamaru could see the tension between the two and he stepped back,

"Looks like you guys can sort thing out on your own…heh…"

He went back inside the house and left the two alone outside.Sakura was about to protest against him speaking to her when he held a small envelope up.

"For you,Sakura.."

Sakura hesitated before taking the envelope.She tore it open and found a key in it.

"What's this?"

Sasuke looked at her annoyed.

"I guess that you're too stupid to recognize the key to your own house."

"Eh…"

She opened her mouth to speak,but shut it quickly.

'Well at least he's not being mean.'

Sasuke turned around to hop back in his car and drive away,but was stopped by Sakura.

"…Why,Sasuke nee-chan?"

He turned around and stared her down with his onyx eyes.

"Because…you're my enemy,but you were also my first friend and probably my last."

Then he smiled.It wasn't the same as the first time he smiled.This one showed the real Sasuke.The one that Sakura could confide in when she was troubled or could hang out with when she was bored.

'I like Sasuke this way.He's actually being a gentlemen.'

Sakura then headed back inside the Nara household.She told them that Sasuke had brought her an extra key to her condo so she didn't have to be a burden upon them any longer.When she stepped outside,Sasuke was still there and it began to rain again.

"Damn…I might have to stay here after all."

She stomped her foot on the ground aggravated and Sasuke just watched her.

"Hey,what are you doing?Are you trying to stall me or what,forehead?"

"Huh?"

"…Get in the car…"

Sasuke wanted to tell her that he liked her right then and there,but his pride didn't let him.His head kept on telling him,'I don't need her.I have Temari…'.But his heart kept on saying,'Go for it!Forget about pride!'

"Alright,I'll get in the car,but you can't call me forehead!"

"Fine,forehead girl."

Sakura tried to ignore his snide remark as she sat down in the passenger seat of his car.But as she sat down,a golden locket fell out of her pocket and fell open onto the floor of the car.Sakura desperately tried to pick it up off of the floor before Sasuke could see the picture but she was too late.He had already seen the picture.

"Who were those two people in the picture with you?"

Sakura was silent for a while.

"Those were my parents…"

Her parents had given her that locket when she was just a little child.It was around the same time when people started to pick on her for having a big forehead.It was also the time when her parents started going out on business trips and leaving her at home.

"I see…where are they now?"

Sakura was taken aback by Sasuke's interest in her personal life,but answered anyway.

"They're both out on business.It's pretty likely that they're not coming home for a long time."

Sasuke nodded like he understood.

"What about your parents,Sasuke nee-chan?"

Sasuke paused then said,"They're dead."

Sakura felt ashamed for asking him that question.

'How stupid of me…'

"So,you live with your brother now?"

"Yup.But he's only my half-brother.After my mother died,my father got married to some rich lady,who was obviously out for his money."

Sakura tried to lighten up the mood with a bright smile,but Sasuke wasn't phased by it.

"What the hell are you smiling for?"

"Oh…well,smiles cure everything.Including pain and dissapointment."

Sasuke looked even more weirdly at her,but continued their conversation.

"I don't even know why I'm talking to you.We're supposed to be mad at each other.We're enemies after all."

"Yeah,but we're only enemies because I kicked your ass at the arcade and took your title."

Sasuke looked at her with evil dripping with every word he said.

"I only let you win!"

"Really?That's why I beat you three times in a row?"

"That was a fluke!"

"I think that the proper word is 'skill',Sasuke-teme!"

"Don't call me that forehead girl!"

Sakura stopped glaring at him and frowned.

"Hey,what's wrong with you?"

Sakura stayed quiet.

"HEY!"

She kept silent in her seat.

"I'm sorry for calling you that,okay?But you never even told me why you were bothered by that."

"It's because…of my past."

Sakura didn't usually tell people about this,but she felt so relaxed around her 'concerned' enemy.

'Looks like the saying,'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer' is right after all.'

"Oh really,huh?"

"Yeah…I was teased as a kid and…no one was ever around to console me or even stand up for me.I didn't even make friends till I was in grade 3.I couldn't trust anyone enough."

"Well,I guess that we're pretty alike,considering that I hate you and all."

"Why?You were teased because you had a big forehead?"

Sasuke sighed before continuing.

"No.I was teased because my brother would overshadow me in everything I was in good in.It didn't matter if I had mastered something…because my brother would get the praise for it by doing it better than me and any other kid his age.After my father died,I just felt a little more relaxed that no one would be there to undermine me and force me to be more like my brother.Actually,my mother was the only one who ever cared about what I did."

Inner Sakura: (asd)What am I complaining about?I'm more better off than shadow boy over there.

"Why are you even talking to me about this,Sasuke?"

He shrugged.

"I guess because I needed to tell someone who actually had the guts to trust me in the first place."

"So are you saying that trusting you is a bad thing?"

"Not necessarily."

Then Sasuke smiled,'So this is what it's like to have a real friend?It's pretty convenient…'

"What are you smiling about?I didn't say anything…or are you just laughing at my forehead again?"

Inner Sakura: Baka teme!You're always laughing at my forehead!

"I'm not laughing at anything…you're so annoying."

Sakura glared at him.

"Why do you keep on saying that I'm annoying?"

"Because you are,okay?"

"No…I'm not."

Inner Sakura: How come when it seems like it's all good between us,he goes and makes it bad again?

"Uchiha Mikoto…"

Sasuke looked at her with surprise,

"H-how do you know my mother's name?"

"You mean your biological mother is Uchiha Mikoto?"

"…yeah…"

"She was an interviewer who started the Uchiha condos and had given them up to her husband.She was really nice."

"But…how did you know her?"

"Huh?Oh,she was a very close friend of mine.My mother used to know her when they were little."

"And did you know that she had two sons?"

"Nope…I only knew that she had one son until now.She always talked about him like he was the most precious thing in the world."

Sasuke was quiet for a while,but prodded further.

"Mother must've been talking about Itachi…"

Sakura smiled.

"Actually,Sasuke,she was talking about you.She would always talk about you trying your hardest to surpass your brother,when you really didn't have to."

"…Mother was always like that."

Sakura sighed after hearing Sasuke's comment.

"At least your mother cared about you.My mother…is another story."

Sakura opened her old locket and glanced at the picture once again.This time,she noticed something different about it.She squinted at her mother and she was talking on a cell phone.She wasn't even smiling.It was more like she was in the background while Sakura and her father were in the front.

'My mother was so stupid for not even caring about me.I'm lucky that my father's still around…'

Then she looked over at Sasuke who was concentrating on the driving.

'So this is what it's like to be friends with a total jerk,huh?How interesting…'

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Author's note that I forgot to include when I updated so I'm including it now…

Sakura calls Sasuke 'Sasuke nee-chan' as a joke because he called her that before((I forgot to write that Sasuke gets pissed about it)),so sorry if you got kind of confused with it.((you'd be surprised at how many times my guy friends scolded me for calling them 'big sister' because that's what they had called me when we were little)).

Aaaaaaaaaaaand…I haven't exactly been reading my reviews so I can't exactly answer them…but I promise that I'll get my friend to read it…cause I'm too lazy to (tee hee).

-shihna dojinshi-