What's up everybody, thesaiyanjedi here with another one shot story for you.

I know that a lot of you are looking forward to reading the climax of "Shinachiku's First Adventure," but the latest chapter has been giving me a bit of difficulty. But I promise you that I am working on it and I am doing all I can to make sure that its as good and satisfyingly epic as possible!

For right now, I decided that I wanted to hammer out a quick one shot in honor of Naruto's birthday today. I don't necessarily think that this is some of my best work, but I hope all of you enjoy it anyway.

With that said, lets get to reading!

Naruto Uzumaki was sitting at his usual bar at Ramen Ichiraku. Old Man Teuchi sat a bowl of the young man's favorite meal—miso flavored ramen with extra pork on top—in front of him.

"Here you go!" Teuchi said with a wide smile. "One order of miso with pork for my number-one customer!"

"Awesome! Thanks old man!" Naruto quickly broke apart his chopsticks and started slurping up his noodles as sloppily as he always did. Teuchi and Ayame didn't say anything about his manners because...well, what was the point anymore.

"So Naruto," Ayame said, "how's that new arm of yours working out?"

Naruto finished slurping up his ramen before rotating his recently-attached prosthetic right arm, grown from harvesting Hashirama's cells and covered up with white gauze bandages. "I think I'm getting used to it. Training with it's coming along alright, but it still feels kind of weird forming a Rasengan in this new hand."

The young woman's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you mean you're already training with that arm?"

"Sure I am," the seventeen-year old said nonchalantly. "I've got to get used to it and train it up to be as strong as the rest of my body."

"But I thought Sakura told you to take it easy with that arm after the operation?"

"So? Its been at least a couple months by now since my operation. Laying around my apartment and taking it easy isn't my style."

Ayame narrowed her eyes conspicuously. "Still, you wouldn't want to risk upsetting your new girlfriend by telling her you've been dismissing her own medical advice, would you?"

The poor blonde suddenly felt a cold shiver run up his spine. 'Shit! She'd got a good point! Sakura already would have killed me before, but now that we've been dating for two weeks...' He smiled goofily as he scratched his head. "Hehehe...On second thought, maybe a bit of R&R for a while might do me a bit of good after all?"

Ayame smirked as she turned around and went back to work.

"By the way kid," Teuchi said, "where is that new girlfriend of yours anyhow? Its a shame not to see you two having lunch together."

"She said she couldn't make it today. Something about some business with some of our friends."

"What kind of 'business?'"

"I don't know, she wouldn't say anything more besides that."

Father and daughter eyed each other in curiosity for a little bit before they figured into was best to leave the boy to his lunch. The rest of Naruto's meal passed by uneventfully as he finished off his bowl of ramen with a satisfied gasp and a full stomach.

"Thanks for the meal old man!" he said as he excused himself, heading back out into the village streets...and straight into a mob of irritating fangirls that wanted to see his face and muscles, get his autograph, or in the most extreme cases try to convince him to break up with Sakura and start dating them instead!

'Oh great...' Naruto groaned as he greeted the girls as politely as he could. He seriously wanted to get this over with and was really hoping that neither Sakura nor anyone else they knew happened to walk by and get the wrong idea.

No, right now he just wanted to go home and...well, try to figure out what else he wanted to do with his day that didn't involve training.

"Okay, I think that's everything. Let's go ahead and go over the checklist one more time?"

Sakura got out a handwritten list that she had made herself and went over it one more time. "Okay, do we have the letter sent?"

"Yes," a fellow voice said.

"Are we sure that the manager is totally clear on what's happening tonight?"

"We cleared everything up," another voice said. "All the arrangements have been made."

"Is the cake on the way? Oh! What about the others? They all remembered to be here by 5:00 didn't they?"

"SAKURA!" Ino's voice was the one that finally put a stop to all of it. "Calm down! I now you and Naruto are still a new couple and all, but its going to be fine. We've got everything covered. Just relax!"

After a moment, Sakura took a deep breath and sat down at a table. "I'm sorry you guys, I just want to make sure everything's perfect for tonight."

"Sakura," Tenten said, "its just a surprise party. Just the eleven of us, a few adults, and that's it. What could go wrong?"

"Yeah," Ino agreed. "You're acting like the doofus has never had a birthday before."

"He hasn't..."

There was a sudden silence among the four young women. They weren't even sure they'd actually heard their pink-haired party planner say what they'd thought she'd said.

"W-What did you just say?" Tenten asked in shock.

"You heard me. This is going to be the very first birthday party Naruto's ever had."

Hinata's eyes glossed over in sadness. "Naruto..."

"How can...How can that be?!" Ino questioned in alarm. "He's seventeen years old! How has he never had a birthday before?!"

Sakura's mind drifted as s recalled the memory of a lunch date the two of them had about a week ago.

"Aw man! Why do we have to eat here of all places?!"

"Because Naruto, you need to get more than just ramen into your diet! Now cheer up, this place has some great food."

"What food? This place is just a pub!"

"You know full well that Shushuya is more than just a pub doofus. Their yakitori roasted over charcoal is some of the best in the whole village."

"Yeah, well, if I was in the mood for barbecue, I'd just go to Yakiniku Q—AAAGGGHHH!"

Sakura was in no mood for his usual whining. She may have been in love with him, but that didn't mean that she was ever going to jus troll over and give in to any of his bullshit. Somebody needed to keep him in line and make sure he ate right, that's why she'd stopped his complaining by grabbing him by the ear.

"Naruto! Quit being stubborn for once and just trust me please? I know Ichiraku is your favorite, but there's more to enjoy in life than just one kind of food. You can understand that can't you?"

Even as she was tugging his ear, Naruto could sense the sympathy in her voice. That was the Sakura he loved, the woman who was firm with him, terrifyingly so if she really needed to be, but deep down was compassionate, kind, someone who really cared about him and was just looking out for his own good.

"Alright Sakura, if you say so."

Smiling sweetly, she let go of his ear and took his hand. "Thank you Naruto. I promise you won't be disappointed." She gave him a kiss on the cheek for good measure before they went inside...

...

"Wow! This tastes great! Great idea for lunch Sakura!"

Sakura smiled sheepishly a she sweat dropped. 'Sure, he says that after I go out of my way to persuade him just to set foot through the door.'

Taking a sip of his soda, the blonde swallowed his food before asking his girlfriend a question. "Say, how did you know how good the food was here anyway Sakura? Have you eaten here before?"

"Yeah, well, we came here once for my dad's birthday one year when I was still a kid. He wanted a place where I could at least get some good food while he and my mom celebrated with a couple drinks."

"Hmm...Well, we'll both be turning twenty-one pretty soon, so I guess we'll both have to work extra hard steering clear of those "Three Prohibitons" eh?"

The two of hem shared a laugh before sharing a quick kiss.

"Hey Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"The day we sealed away Kaguya...that was your birthday wasn't it?"

"Yup! I turned seventeen that day. Hard to believe huh?"

"So much was going on then, and so much happened after the war ended until now, it must suck that you never got the chance to celebrate your own birthday."

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

"Huh?"

"I just meant that I never had a birthday party growing up. Not one."

"...You...You never had—?"

"People hated me because of Kurama remember? I had almost no friends for years. Iruka-sensei would take me out for ramen, but that was about it. Normally I needed to stay away from other people on my birthday, because of what Kurama did that day." Naruto diverted his eyes down in pause, seemingly lost in thought, before he started talking again. "I guess after a while, things like birthdays didn't matter to me that much...I just got used to being alone."

Sakura had nothing to say...She'd known he was lonely, but this...

After a moment, Naruto took another drink of soda and went back to his lunch. "Hey Sakura," he said, "your food is getting cold. Aren't you hungry?"

Sakura snapped out of her daze. "W-Wha? Oh yeah, sure."

The rest of their meal passed by without discussion. While Naruto ate his yakitori in peace, Sakura ate in silence, her mind unable to drift away from what he'd told her.

Sakura had finished telling her story to the others, all of whom looked stunned and quite sad. Ino was the one who came up to her best friend and took her hand into her own.

"Sakura, I think I understand now."

The pinkette smiled weakly. "Arigato pig."

The platinum blonde smiled back. "You're welcome forehead." She followed that up by bringing her best friend into a hug.

"Sakura..."

She looked up to see none other than Hinata approaching her with a sincere smile on her face. "I'll do whatever you need to help get this party in order."

"Me too," Tenten confirmed.

Sakura actually dried a tear that was in her eye. "Arigato you guys."

Tenten then continued however. "But can ask you something else?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"How come we're going out to throw him a surprise party? Why not just wait for him at his apartment?"

Sakura sweat dropped. "Umm...Girls, take it form someone who's actually seen the way the way he lives, you really don't want to throw a party at his place."

After lunch, Naruto opened the door back to his apartment. Sitting down at his dinner table he placed his head in his hand and went into deep thought.

"Well shucks! What the heck am I supposed to do now if Sakura doesn't want me training yet?"

He'd just eaten, so he was too full the go rummaging through the fridge for some milk for still more ups of instant ramen. Instead, he decided to go rummaging through his stuff to try to find something he could kill some time with.

And then, he'd turned his eyes back towards his front door and notice a letter was resting on the floorboard that he'd somehow totally failed to notice when he got walked in. "What the heck?"

Picking up the letter, he carried it with him back the table and opened it up as he read it:

Naruto,

Sorry I couldn't make it to lunch today, I had a lot of important errands that I needed to get done. But I think I know the perfect way to make it up to you.

Meet me at Shushuya's tonight at 5 o'clock. Try to look nice. Don't be late.

I love you.

Sakura

"Hmm..." the blonde thought out loud. "Sakura's inviting me out to another date tonight huh?" he smiled widely in excitement. "Oh well, the chicken was really good, and any excuse to see Sakura's pretty smile is good enough for me!"

He checked his clock, which told him it was still only one o'clock. 'But what am I gonna do to kill time until then?'

Looking over in the corner, he saw that his plant was looking a little dry. ' guess I can at least give it a little water if nothing else.'

By 4:30, Naruto had decided he'd better start heading over to the restaurant. Instead of his famous orange jumpsuit, he instead there on a pair of slacks he had lying around and a solid black shirt with some black dress shoes, figuring it was good enough for jus the two of them. He really didn't feel like putting on a full suit just for a dinner date.

He kept his head low to try to avoid eye contact with other girls as he walked. The last thing he wanted to deal with was yet another mob of fangirls just before his date with Sakura.

Finally, he made it to Shushuya's and found that there wasn't any kind of huge line outside. 'Good, that means I get to see my Sakura that much sooner.'

Walking up to the entrance of the restaurant, a place that, ironically, he probably would have been immediately thrown out of if he'd ever dared tried to eat here before Pain's invasion, he approached the server. "Excuse me sir, my girlfriend told me to meet her here at 5 o'clock. Is she here yet?'

"What is her name sir?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Aw yes, I see her name on the list. She's been expecting you sir, right this way please."

Naruto followed the server to a curtain in the back of the restaurant. "Right through here sir."

The server left Naruto like that, prompting a suspicious and confused expression from the young blonde...But, he shrugged his shoulder, straightened out his clothes to make sure he looked as nice as he could, and stepped through the curtain...

"SURPRISE!"

Balloons went up, confetti shot out of tiny poppers, whistles were blown. Sakura was right up in front and behind here were most of his friends—Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Lee, Tenten, Konohamaru, Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka—all of them were there.

Naruto was totally shocked. He never saw this coming; in fact, he was unable to blink for the entire time.

"Wha...Wha...What is this?"

Sakura came up to him. "Naruto, I've been thinking about what you told me last time we came here and I wanted to do something nice for you. Nobody deserves to be alone on their birthday, so I invited our friends over her to throw you a surprise party."

"But...But my birthday was months ago?"

"I know, but I felt you deserved a party anyway."

He looked up from her and to all of his friends, every one of them smiling at him. 'They...They're all here for just for me? I...I can't...'

Suddenly the blonde's look of shock evolved into one of pure joy. There was that same, stupidly wide smile that never failed to light up the room. He looked back down at his girlfriend and lifted up her shin. "I love you so much Sakura."

"I love you too."

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his back as she succumbed to his deep, romantic kiss. The two of hem were so caught up in their love in fact that they totally forgot that all of their guests were looking at them—at lest, until everybody started clapping.

Breaking up the kiss, both the blonde and the pinkette blushed sheepishly as many of their friends were grinning—Ino, Shikamaru and Kiba looked particularly smug about it. Even Hinata and Lee appeared proud of them.

"Happy belated birthday Naruto," Sakura said.

"Arigato Sakura." He kissed her one more time on her forehead before addressing the rest of the crowd. "Come on everybody! Lets party!"

The party lasted about two more hours, with everyone ordering food and trading stories with Naruto. Well, more specifically the guys started trading manly stories with him, while Sakura spent much of her time with her girlfriends. The younger shinobi called for soda pop with the adults ordered a round of sake—hey, the place was still a pub after all.

"To Naruto!" Shikamaru said as he led a toast. "The strongest shinobi and the most loyal friend one could ask for."

"CHEERS!" Everybody raised their glasses as Naruto smiled fondly.

"Aw shucks you guys, I don't deserve this."

"I'd say you do," Iruka interjected. "After everything you've accomplished, after all you've been through, I think you deserve this more anybody here."

"Iruka-sensei..."

"He's right Naruto," Kakashi interjected. "This is your night, so loosen up and have a good time."

"Arigato Kakashi-sensei."

About that time the waiter came back with plates of everyone's food. He had to keep coming back several times of course because of how many people there were.

"Sakura," Naruto told his girlfriend while he was eating, "thank you so much for this. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Happy to do it sweetie." She kissed him on the check for good measure. "And I'm happy to see you're satisfied. I mean, I only had time to put together a small gathering of—"

"No, no, its fine honey. In fact its almost perfect."

Sakura couldn't help but notice his choice of words. "Almost?"

Naruto hung his head in mild regret. "I just...its a real shame that Sasuke isn't here, that's all."

Sakura hung her own head. "I know..."

And yet, no sooner had Naruto said that than his gloomy attitude vanished and his was back to his overly enthusiastic self again. "Aw heck! What am I saying?! I still got all of you guys here! So what the heck do I have to complain about?"

Sakura paused for moment before she chuckled. "Never let anything get you down for very long, do you?"

"Yup. That's one of the things you love about me right?"

She smiled cutely. "Right."

After everyone was finished eating their food, the waiter came back with the cake. There were seventeen wax candle already lit, waiting for Naruto to blow them out as it was set in from of him.

With Sakura leading them, everybody started to sing: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR NARUTO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

After taking a moment to close his eyes, he then let out a mighty whip of air and blew out all of his candles. His friends all clapped as then took the candles out and started serving the cake.

After that, everybody handed him their presents. Most of them weren't anything too fancy, mainly just clothes since Sakura had thrown this party together so quickly and they really didn't know what he did and didn't need. It didn't matter to his though, anything they got him was welcome.

Once all that was done and everybody chipped in to help pay the bill, it was time for everybody to go back home, saying their goodbyes to the belated birthday boy and his girlfriend. This left the two them alone.

"Happy birthday Naruto."

Thank you so much Sakura, honestly."

He leaned in to kiss her, which she accepted without question. When the two of them finally broke apart, Sakura smiled and told him one last "I love you," before waving goodbye to go back to her family's apartment.

As she walked away, the pinkette thought to himself, "I'm glad you had fun tonight sweetie, you deserve it.'

Naruto was left by himself now, smiling wide. 'Wow...so that's what a birthday party feels like. I'll have to do that a lot more often...Arigato Sakura, I'll return the favor someday.'

With that, the blonde Hokage-to-be started walking back home, a new sense of pride and self-worth filling his heart and soul.

A couple of weeks later, Kakashi was slumping along as he came in for another typical day of work. He'd asked Shizune to make him a cup of coffee that he could take while climbing the stairs, but even that wasn't quite cutting it this morning.

Opening the door to his office, his heart practically sunk as he already saw stack upon stacks of paperwork piled up on his desk. "Perfect..."

With a deep sigh, he sat down and started signing paper after paper. When he finally gotten through the current business, he found a backlog of remit documents. "Oh for crying out loud!"

As he started going through this pile of work, knowing full well that Shizune would come back with a plenty more as soon as he was finished, he suddenly stopped when his eyes fell upon one suspicious looking scroll. "What the...?"

It looked like any simple scroll he would find in the archives, but what caught his attention was a seal that was holding the paper shut. Upon the seal, it read the following: The Last Will and Testament of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he stopped all that he was doing and immediately unsealed the scroll. Whatever fatigue or disinterest he might have had when he first came into work was instantly wiped away as his eyes carefully read the contents of the scroll.

Two more thing s had fallen out of the scroll, a map and a key. He had no idea what any of that was about until he got to a key passage of the will that made everything click together.

Finishing reading the will, Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "Heh, wait until Naruto here's about this..."

Well, there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed that, even if it was just a short, feel good kind of story.

For those of you who are wondering about the ending this is directly meant to lead into a story I wrote last year called "A Surprise Inheritance." If you haven't read that, could you please do me a favor and go check it out? I'd really appreciate it!

In terms of continuity, this story takes place fairly early in my SFA continuity, where Naruto and Sakura have only been dating for a couple of weeks by this point, a relationship that first began in my story "Heaven and Earth Together At Last."

Not much more to say other than that today. But again, I hope all of you enjoyed this story, and I hope to see you all again for he next one.

Until next time, see ya! ...Oh, and Happy Birthday Naruto!