A Smashed Cupcake…
"NARUTO!" Every person in the village heard the pink haired ninja shriek. It didn't matter that Naruto may have done nothing but brush her hair with his hand by accident. Naruto's name coming out of the super-strong kunoichi's mouth was something everyone knew to be a bad thing – especially at that volume. Sure enough, dust was kicked in the air and stopped right in the middle of the street in front of Yamanaka Flowers. Coincidentally, Ino and Shikamaru happened to be sitting in the shop chatting as business was low. Shikamaru stood behind the counter, leaning against the wall next the curtain to the back.
"I wonder what he did this time," Ino pondered. Shikamaru just looked out the window, not really caring about the fact that Naruto already looked like he would have bruises in the morning from the pounding Sakura was giving him.
"Probably…" Shikamaru's voice was droned out by the persistent whining coming from Naruto, pleading for surrender.
"Sakura-chan! Please stop! I didn't do anything! Sai did! Why would I say that you look like an old hag? You aren't even old. If anyone is old, it is Tsunade-baa-chan!" Sakura paused. Shikamaru waited, fairly interested, for what would probably happen next: Sakura beating him up, even though he just complemented the pink haired firecracker.
Sure enough, she did. Ino looked at Sakura with disgust.
"Isn't that a complement?" she asked. Shikamaru sighed.
"Yeah, but this is Sakura we are talking about. She probably only heard the word 'hag' come out of Naruto's mouth." With that, Shikamaru straightened and gave Ino a peck on the cheek before exited the shop to save Naruto. Again.
"Sakura-chan, please!" Shikamaru grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her away from Naruto.
"Sakura, don't kill him. People won't like you anymore." Said girl looked at Shikamaru with a deathly glare.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"Naruto was complimenting you. You shouldn't kill the guy who complimented you. Besides, if you kill Naruto, the village will try to kill you. I don't think you want to die yet. "
"Go back into Ino's shop and go kissy-kissy with your girlfriend and let me deal with Naruto."
Not much caused Shikamaru to go cold. Sakura hit a point that caused Shikamaru to go cold. He felt his eye twitch in irritation. Why does everyone assume that I make out with Ino twenty-four seven? Ino watched from the door of the shop as Shikamaru controlled his anger. She watched amused as the eighteen year old tried to figure out a way to insult that the newly nineteen year old would find offensive without causing bodily harm to him. He found none that would make him hypocritical – including her being hotheaded. Exhibit A: his girlfriend. Ino wasn't exactly calm and collected when riled up. And it didn't take much more to rile her up than it took to rile Sakura up.
Shika is so sweet. Why does Sakura always beat Naruto up anyway? And just what did the idiot do anyway? Before Ino could ask the question, Naruto was already being dragged away by an irritated and moody Shikamaru, who was still fuming over the comment made by Sakura about his love life. Ino went back into the shop, completely forgetting it was the pinkette's birthday.
"Naruto, just what the hell did you do to piss off Sakura?" Naruto looked sheepish.
"All I did was give her a cupcake with a candle on top. It's her birthday, so I thought I would get her something. I thought it was a good idea until Sai showed up and Sakura began to punch me…." Shikamaru blinked a few times. Naruto really didn't do anything. Unless Naruto unknowingly sabotaged a diet Sakura may or may not be on – and Shikamaru, like Naruto, never really paid much attention to begin with whether a girl was dieting or not because it made no difference to him – he was being beat up for no reason.
Naruto was still hurt that Sakura refused his cupcake. Honestly, how was he supposed to know that gifts were offensive? I thought it would be nice to give her something for once…
"So, do you plan on buying her something else?" Naruto looked up at Shikamaru and blinked.
"Huh?"
"For her birthday. Do you plan on buying Sakura something else for her birthday because she destroyed your original gift?" Naruto just blinked when he looked at the lazy genius.
"What should I buy her? I can't afford anything too expensive. It just isn't in my budget."
"How about you buy her a flower or a reasonably priced bracelet?" Both boys jumped at the sound of Ten Ten's voice. They looked up at the girl hidden in the trees above them. The buns on her head loosened as she flipped to the ground. In her attempts to lose weight, the girl had grown slack in keeping her buns too tight. She was just too exhausted to deal with her hair every morning when Lee came over at the crack of dawn just to go for a "walk" which actually turned out to be a jog for twenty miles without stopping. Ten Ten may not have lost weight, but has discovered that she was now keep up at least a little bit with the jumpsuit demon duo when they go on missions.
"Ten Ten-chan!" Naruto shouted.
"Ten Ten!" Shikamaru said, slightly startled by her appearance in the trees. The weapons mistress sat down leisurely, fairly tired from her morning "walk" – which she was hiding in the trees for. She suggested hide-and-seek to Lee so she could take a break, but Lee was surprisingly good at finding her. She had found a very good hiding spot – and if Lee did happen to find her, she could easily distract him with talk of finding Sakura a gift.
"Why are you guys buying a girl some gift anyway?" she questioned.
"Sakura-chan's birthday is today. She hit me for getting her a cupcake." Ten Ten's eyes glossed over dreamily. Cupcakes! Oh I can see it now! Delicious, caramel frosting and cheesecake filling surrounded by chocolate and vanilla swirls with vanilla chips and chocolate drizzle on top! Ooo!
As Ten Ten daydreamed about cupcakes, Shikamaru continued on with suggestions.
"Well, you could buy flowers. I am sure Ino wouldn't mind giving a discount if it comes out pricey. How about a money pouch? She is Tsunade's pupil, so you could buy one that looks like Katsuya. A stuffed animal would work, too." Ten Ten snapped out of her daydream then.
"Do not buy her a slug." Shikamaru and Naruto looked at her.
"Why?" Ten Ten blinked. Coming from Naruto, that would have been understandable. But Shikamaru? I thought that boy had more sense than that. Then again, he did suggest to buy the slug to begin with.
"She would find it insulting. You should buy her a cupcake. Girls love sweets." Naruto paled. Shikamaru just looked at Ten Ten with obvious ware.
"Cupcakes are what got Naruto into this mess, Ten Ten."
"WHAT?" she screamed. This brought Lee over to them.
"Now that is youth! But you really should put the energy you use in that scream into training your body." The jumpsuit clad boy looked to Shikamaru and Naruto. "What are you guys talking about?" Naruto blinked before answering.
"I am trying to figure out what to buy a girl without them killing me like they did over the cupcake." Ten Ten grumbled again, determined to give Sakura a stern talking to before the day ended on the ethics of accepting gifts: you do not under any circumstances, turn down a cupcake.
"A hair clip could work. Maybe something in their favorite color or even a book you think they would enjoy. Maybe you could go the route of their hobbies, picking something they could use, like a medicinal plant or a root they could use in cooking." Naruto and Shikamaru looked at Lee with awe. Ten Ten just grumbled (continually) about the cupcakes.
"That's a good idea!" Naruto shouted as he ran off. "Thanks, Bushy Brow!" Lee smiled and shouted "You're welcome" right back at the blonde ninja.
Naruto looked at all the clips in the market stall. He had no idea what Sakura would like book wise. Girly books were not his specialty, especially considering he traveled with the most perverted ninja on the planet. He wasn't willing to risk his inner organs over the wrong book.
"Oh! How about this one? Hey! Baa-chan!" Naruto said. The older woman who ran the stall turned and looked at Naruto calculatingly. She decided quickly that Naruto meant it in affection. Doesn't this boy call Tsunade-sama by a similar title?
"Yes?" she asked quietly.
"Do you think this is a good gift for a girl? I am looking for a birthday present for my friend. She is a medic ninja and has pink hair and green eyes. I want to buy the right gift this time. I tried a cupcake earlier and it didn't really end pretty…" The blonde trailed off. The old woman smiled.
"I think the one you are looking for is this one." Naruto looked down to where the old woman pointed. Instead of the purple and red stoned butterfly he had been looking at, the old woman pointed to a white and pink Sakura blossom on a branch with leaves.
The old woman smiled as Naruto looked critically.
"That one is prettier… I just hope she doesn't kill me for going off of her name…" The old woman smiled.
"It has matching earrings, too!" Money always did have a pretense sometimes.
Sakura wandered around the streets, feeling just slightly guilty. Ino had dragged her inside her shop afterwards, after hearing her side of the story, Ino said that Naruto would have never said that she was just becoming more and more of a hag and he probably didn't think much on the cupcake. And he spent money on something for me I feel so guilty… She glanced up and paused. Naruto was standing in front of an old woman's stand, looking at her wares. It is probably food. He collected a bag from the old woman and turned and continued on the street. A dango shop caught his attention.
"Naruto!" Said boy turned and looked for her. Naruto froze and looked like he was trying to decide whether he wanted to run and hide or face a storm. Sakura gave a smile and she saw Naruto decide to stay, though he was extremely weary.
"Sakura-chan," he said nervously as she approached. She walked into the dango shop with him and sat down in the seat across from him. Once they ordered, Naruto pulled out the bag he got from the shop owner just minutes earlier.
"I am sorry for punching you earlier. I kind of went haywire. Either I thought it was you who called me a hag or I thought you were Sai. I apologize. Forgive me?" she asked sheepishly. Naruto just blinked.
"O-okay," he stuttered. "I bought you something else, though. I thought I made you mad with the cupcake. Ten Ten looked like she wanted to murder you for destroying the cupcake. I didn't know she was sitting above us when Shikamaru asked me why you were killing me…"
Sakura blinked before shaking her head. Ten Ten sure loves her cupcakes. Didn't Lee give her a "shorter" workout for her birthday? I know Neji-kun gave her a recipe book. He made her the happiest person alive that day. I wonder if they are dating or not.
"Sakura-chan! Are you going to take the gift?" Sakura jumped and focused on Naruto. He held a paper bag out to the pink haired kunoichi. She took it and slowly opened it. "I know that Sakura blossoms seem cheesy, but the old woman said you would like this better than the butterfly keychain I had been looking at previously. She also told me that the earrings would be cool, too. I also bought something for Hinata! I thought she would like the wildflower earrings and bracelet set the old woman was selling. She also gets a clip, too! But hers is of a fox instead of flowers." Naruto grinned.
Sakura felt her eyes soften as she looked at the clip and earrings. The clip itself was rather pretty, though she could tell that the woman probably gave him a small discount for the set, seeing as he was buying to different gifts at once. The earrings, however, were what caught her attention. Naruto may not have known it, but she distinctly remembered trying to get her ex-boyfriend to buy her these just before they broke up. She really wanted the Sakura danglies for a while. She teared up before attacking Naruto with a hug.
"Arigatou Naruto!" She ran off as Naruto looked at her.
"Sakura-chan! You forgot your dango!" he shouted as the woman came up to their table.
"You take it!" she shouted as she turned, a smile lighting up her face.
Sakura pranced across the room as she came over to Ino's shop.
"Guess what, Pig!" Ino looked up from the arrangement she was making for Shikamaru, who was lounging behind her on a cot that he deemed worthy of putting effort into bringing down from the closet upstairs. The lazy genius looked up and saw immediately that Naruto out-did himself. The earrings alone must have cost at least 20,000 yen.
"What?" Ino said, obviously not noticing something she usually would have abraded him about not doing. She still seemed unable to guys why he was saving up money.
"Look what Naruto got me!" She spun around and Shikamaru caught a glimpse of a Sakura branch clip: the very one Ino had been pining over for weeks on end. Shikamaru now knew for a fact that Naruto must have spent a fortune on that gift.
"How the heck did Naruto manage to buy that?" The lazy ninja shouted, shocking both Ino and Sakura, who not only didn't know the ninja could looked that outraged outside of battle, but also by the fact that Shikamaru had flown to his feet at the sight of Sakura's hair-clip.
"I think he got some discount. I have seen this lady's stand. Her items are extremely expensive, though they are definitely worth every yen used. He spent even more on Hinata! He bought a fox clip as well as a wildflower bracelet and earring set for her. He didn't show it to me though. It must be pretty though."
"Why did Naruto get you those, though?" Ino asked, still having forgotten that it is her best frenemy's birthday. Shikamaru whispered something into Ino's ear. The girl shrieked and immediately tied off the flower arrangement she had been working so delicately on for her boyfriend and gave it to Sakura. "I am so sorry I forgot! Here! From Shika and me. A bouquet of flowers!"
Sakura immediately calmed down. Shikamaru had a feeling that it had something to do with the gifts she currently wore in her ears and hair. Naruto definitely saved Ino this time, no doubt about it.
"Arigatou, Ino and Shikamaru! You better invite me to your wedding!" Shikamaru went wide eyed and Ino looked questioningly. The glare Shikamaru gave to the pinkette seemed to get the message through. Before Ino turned around, Shikamaru just hugged her, deciding to brush it off.
"Girls give so many innuendos. I wonder why she had to make that comment." When Ino just giggled, Shikamaru sighed, suddenly happy with Ino snuggling up against him.
"Shika…" The boy groaned. " Why don't you ever buy me things like that?" How did I know she would ask about that?
Sakura looked down at the flowered items Naruto bought her and smiled peacefully. Aside from Sai's gift of a painting he made, similar to the one he titled "Friends" when all three of them were first assigned a team together, Naruto's was her favorite. And to think it all started with a smashed cupcake…