Title: Cakes and Candles
Disclaimer: I don't even own my own soul anymore.
Pairing/s: If you really squint, you can see hints of SasuNaru and KakaMina. More gen than anything, though.
Summary: Why they only ever celebrate Sakura's birthday.
A/N: Part of my dumb Tumblr 'headcanon-turned-fic' fics.
They only ever celebrate Sakura's birthday.
Once, Naruto remembers, they tried to kidnap Kakashi and force a birthday party on him—but no matter how hard they tried, that slippery fuck just kept finding a way to disappear into thin air. They tried every year, over and over again. But, just like he somehow manages to eat without showing his face, it turns out Kakashi is also very, very good at turning another year older without anyone noticing.
(Kakashi hasn't celebrated his birthday since he was thirteen—since the day Obito died and it was all his fault. The same day that Kakashi turns older is the day he's reminded that Obito will never see another birthday, and Kakashi hates birthday presents, anyway.)
Sasuke, of course, refuses birthday parties with every ounce of his being. He hates the attention, the people, the everything. Back when they were still Team 7 (back when they were family), Naruto tried to throw him a birthday party, too. It ended up with two broken wrists and a scar just under Naruto's chin. Needless to say, once Sasuke left the village, forgotten birthdays were the least of their worries.
(Sasuke sometimes thinks back to that time, thinks about the cake and the candles and the brilliant, blinding grin Naruto had tossed at him like nothing. And while Sasuke doesn't think fondly about all those other things, he still smirks sometimes when he remembers the feeling of Naruto's jaw beneath his fist.)
Naruto's birthday is probably the most deserving of celebration. He's saved the entire village time and time again—why shouldn't he get the most amazing, special, perfect birthday ever? But on the day Naruto turns older, the village becomes dark and somber and lonely. So many anniversaries. So many deaths to be remembered. Naruto was born on the day the Kyuubi attacked the village, and maybe it isn't his fault—but it doesn't really matter. Naruto's used to celebrating alone.
(He hates to admit it, but he thought that maybe, when he was assigned to Team 7, things would be different. He thought that he'd have someone to celebrate with for the first time in his life. But the day Naruto turns thirteen, Kakashi disappears and doesn't come back till evening. And Naruto doesn't know who his Sensei lost in the Kyuubi attack, but sometimes, he feels blame on his shoulders like he killed Kakashi's friend himself.)
So they celebrate only Sakura's birthday, so pure and fresh and untouched by any of the tragedies the others have suffered. It's a day to be happy and a day to rejoice. No one died on Sakura's birthday. No one ran away on Sakura's birthday. And so Sakura smiles and takes their hands when her birthday comes around, and when she finally blows out the candles and makes a wish, she knows she's doing it for all of them.
owari