~*Your POV*~

You walk through the cherry blossom forest. Your birthday is in only one day and no one shows any sign of knowing. A gust of wind blows behind your head, pushing your hair forward.

You curve your hair behind your ear and look up at the sky, where three sakura petals fly up into the sky. "Do they really not remember? Actually I only told Mattaki once... of course they wouldn't remember..." You think out loud. You look down and scoff to yourself, "Not like this is any different from all those years..." In the near distance, you hear Sakura's voice clearly.

"Sasuke-kun! Wait a second!" She calls.

You watch Sasuke turn, facing Sakura with his regular stance. His hands are in his pockets, he's slouching a bit, and his eyes are expressionless as always… What?

As soon as Sasuke's eyes hit Sakura, he lights up a bit. He even fixes his slouch!

"He... likes her?" You bite your lip. Then again, you laugh awkwardly to yourself, "Of course, I never really spoke to him."

In the middle of Sakura's sentence, Sasuke glances at you from the corner of his eye.

You blush and are suddenly thrown off balance. You make an excessive effort to fix yourself and end up using your chakra to teleport behind a cherry tree. "H-he looked at me with... such emotion..." You think, remembering his eyes widen so much in childish awe.

(AHAHA I EDITED IT AND FAILED)

When you were walking home that day, you saw Sakura and Sasuke talking again. They were in front of the apartment building that you and Mattaki live in. This time, Sasuke was taking a big part of the conversation!

You couldn't help but swell with jealousy. You want to be the one he's speaking to. You want to be the one he's friends with. You want to be the one who has his smiles. You blush at your own thoughts and rush past them so that they can't notice you, and head up to your room.

Your room is right next to Mattaki, Sasuke's cousin. You used to live with her, but that was when you were recuperating from your "jail break."

You walk onto the balcony of your apartment and you hear a familiar voice greet you, "Oh, hey Shikyo-chan!"

You smile, "Hi, Mattaki." You lean on the rusty green railing that's next to Mattaki's balcony and rest your head on your hand. You're just about to ask her, "what's up," when Sasuke appears below the both of you.

He cups his hand on his mouth and shouts up, "Hey, Mattaki, I'm hungry."

Mattaki pouts and hangs over the couch, "Hey, nii-chan! That's a very boring greeting! And I'm not making you anything to eat, get your own food this time!"

"And if I greeted you differently you'd complain about how out of character that is, right?" he replies in a typical older-brother attitude. He laughs to himself and calls, "I'm gonna be up there in a second, Mattaki."

She snaps at him like a cat, gripping the railing and almost threatening to jump over it while he walks away like nothing happened.

"He's so nice to Mattaki... I kinda wish I were her..." You catch yourself thinking weirdly again and blush. "Mattaki, I'm going to bed now," you announce. As you step back into your apartment, Mattaki says, "Oh, good night, Shikyo!"

That night, you rest in your bed, thinking. "Sasuke is nice to Sakura and Mattaki... what are they like?" You close your eyes and picture the two girls in your head.

You remember Sasuke playing with Mattaki's long hair and looking at Sakura's pink hair often.
Your eyes fly open as you reach a conclusion, "Long pink hair!"

~*Sasuke's POV*~

I walk over to Mattaki the next morning and tug on her long hair, "Mattaki. Are you going to make something for you-know-who's you-know-what?"

She rolls her eyes, "First Sasuke, don't pull my hair! Second, I'm making her cake. You should buy her something! Like a necklace." Mattaki goes back to reading the instructions in her cookbook and mumbles, "Four large eggs…"

I stare into space and mumble subconsciously, "A necklace huh...?"

Mattaki whips around and pushes me out the door, "Here's 2,000 yen! Now go buy her something, you like her don't you?" She slams the door after sticking her tongue out at me and pointing in the general direction of a store.

"She's pushy sometimes huh?" a feminine voice chuckles.

I turn around, recognizing the voice as Shikyo's. However as soon as I turn, I see a different girl standing in front of me, "Uh, who are you?"

~*Shikyo's POV*~

You blush like mad at his question, understanding that you do look different, but you didn't think unrecognizable! You glare and stomp you foot, "I'm Shikyo! How can you not recognize me?"

He stares for a while then presses his hand against his mouth, failing to stifle his laugh. Sasuke's laugh is wonderful, deep yet light, and kind but mocking.

You love it, but you can't help but be annoyed. You become even redder and stomp your foot again, kicking up dust. "Sasuke!" you cry.

He regains his composure and gives you a smirk, "What did you do to yourself?"

Last night, when you came to your conclusion, you ran to the bathroom and dyed your hair… Pink.

You dyed your hair pink last night because you came to the conclusion that Sasuke liked girls with long hair and pink hair. You don't understand why you did it actually; it was something like an impulse. You like him so much that you'd do something like that to get his attention.

He kept smiling at you, not a nice, oh-I'm-happy-to-be-around-you, smile. It was a ha-ha-you-look-so-weird, smile.

Thoughts rush through your head as he keeps smiling at you. "Oh gosh I must look really weird. I thought this'd be okay though because I have long hair and if it's pink wouldn't he like it that way, too? Well it's not the same pink as Sakura's hair but I like this pink because it goes well with the black clothes I wear. Oh geez he's laughing again, maybe I shouldn't have done this. Ugh, and of all days for this to happen it's my birthday-"

Sasuke cuts off your thoughts by extending his hand and saying, "C'mon Shikyo, I'll take you somewhere. It is your birthday right?" His smile turns softer and kinder, not the same mocking smile he had on at first.

You are blown away by the fact that he knows it's your birthday. Your shock shone clearly on your face and, eventually, you got out the words, "Y-you know it's my birthday?"

Sasuke turns away, "Of course." He starts to walk down the street and waves up his arm, beckoning you to follow. "Hurry up, Shikyo; I don't want to lose you."

You can't see his expression. You wonder what he's feeling right now. Even when you trot up to his side, he suddenly finds an acute interest in something to his left, the opposite to the side you were on.

He guides you to Konoha's beach, a place you've never sought to go yourself.

The sun is dropping in the sky, and the orange sunlight highlights the features of your friend's faces and smiles.

"Shikyo's here!" Mattaki shouts with glee. Her hair is tied into two low pigtails and she's wearing a yellow and white striped tank top and white shorts. She makes a few hand signs and says, "Fire dragon jutsu!"

Everyone must have not planned this, since their expressions turn to fear and shock. They run and trip backwards as the dragon of flames comes out of Mattaki's mouth.

The jutsu swims up straight into the air and circles the sun's image. It flies around and lights a dozen torches that have been imbedded in the sand.

Mattaki grins and makes a peace sign at everyone. "Ehehe, happy birthday, Shikyo!"

"Shikyo! Catch!" Sakura shouts. She tosses you a small box and you catch it easily.

You open the small pink textured box and find a rope bracelet with a small silver heart that has your initials on it. It's colored blue, purple, and white. You take it out and look up to find all the girls holding up their wrists and smiling at you.

All different colored bracelets with the same charms sway in the salty sea breeze.

You start to tear up and they all run to you, laughing with soft kindness. They hug you tightly and smile sweetly.

"Aw Shikyo! Don't cry!" Mattaki sooths.
You hiccup then smile through your tears trying to reassure them, "It's *hic* not that... *hic* I'm just so *hic* ha~*hic*~ppy!"

Temari and Tenten grin as they place their arms around Hinata, who's wearing a lavender and white T-shirt. "It was Hinata's idea! Isn't she cute?" they laugh. Temari is wearing a black and white tube top and Tenten is wearing a pink and green V-neck tank top.

Hinata blushes and starts fidgeting. She mumbles, "Uh... I'm glad you're h-happy Shikyo..."

You smile through your happy tears and hug Hinata.

Later, one by one everyone leaves.

"Bye, Shikyo!"

"Happy Birthday, Shikyo!"

"Hey, we forgot your birthday punches!"

"Aaah, don't touch me!" You shriek.

Mattaki runs towards you from the tall hill she just climbed. With the help of gravity, she tackles you onto the sand and punches you lightly fourteen times. "And fifteen for good luck!"

"Ow!" You laugh, "Mattaki that hurt!"

She laughs, out of breath, and topples onto the sand. "Well I'm satisfied, see you later, Shikyo-chan!" She stands up, wobbling, then runs away.

As she leaves, the sun finally is out of sight and the moon is shining brightly up ahead.

You exhale and sniff the cool air. The stars dot the sky and everything is beautifully quiet. You break the silence as you admire the ocean, "Shouldn't you go, Sasuke?"

He walks up to you, his hands in his pockets, "I could say the same to you."

You try to stare as far as you can out to sea, making it seem like you're glaring. You say, almost spitefully, "Like it matters. You don't care."

Sasuke grabs your arm and twists you around to face him. "Does it seem like I don't care now?" he mutters. His lips press onto yours softly yet powerfully. He slides his hand down your arm to your hand and grips it tightly.

You can only stare in shock as he pulls away from you. Simultaneously, the both of you bring up your free hand to your mouth. You stare at Sasuke, blushing softly, and Sasuke looks down at the sand sideways, blushing violently. "Sorry that couldn't be my first kiss. I liked that a lot."

You giggle, remembering how he told you about the Naruto "incident."

Sasuke reaches into his pocket and pulls out two silver necklace chains. One has half a heart that says "I" and the other half says "Love you"

"I love you," Sasuke whispers as he kisses your forehead. He puts the "Love you" half around your neck and strokes your cheek.

You open your mouth to say the same thing when Mattaki comes rolling down the sandy hill.

"Oof! Itai... Thanks a lot Ino!" She growls.

Sasuke glares at her and you suppress a laugh.

Mattaki laughs and rubs her head nervously. "Uh... Hi!" then she runs back up the hill shouting, "ABORT ABORT! SASUKE'S GETTING PISSED!"

All the people who, "left" started to run away like crazy, laughing and giggling.

"Geez... Mattaki's is in for it now..." Sasuke muttered.

You grab his shirt and kiss him again, "This was the best birthday ever."

He smiles and sweeps you off your feet (litterally!) "I'm glad you're happy. You know, you didn't have to change for me. Don't change, Shikyo."

You rest your head in his chest and nod, "Mmhm..."

Epilogue

You dyed your hair back to normal after the party. There was no point in keeping it pink since Sasuke loved you the way you were originally. Mattaki always hid behind you for protection whenever encountering Sasuke, and Sasuke never did get his "revenge" against Mattaki.

You wore the necklace whenever and wherever you went. Nothing could tear you and the necklace apart, or you and Sasuke for that matter.

*Note* Fangirls be upset, but I like ShikyoXSasuke the most! :D