Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies: Naruto does not belong to me, all characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, I am but a lowly fan, etc, etc, etc...
Author Notes: "Yup, today's the dobe's birthday. October 10th. (10/10… doesn't it sound like it would make a good birthday for Tenten?)
Naruto: So, dobe, you've never been my favorite character, but I do like you. The series wouldn't be the same without you. Still, I don't think I've ever written a fanfic centered on you… But there's a first time for everything. I hope I kept your character intact.
…And NaruHina is love!!" -- These author notes were written yesterday, but today it's actually October 11th... So it's being posted on fanfiction dot net a day late.
It was clear and sunny that morning, a perfect start to his favorite day of the year. The ramen he ate for breakfast was the best he had ever had, even if it was the same brand he always ate. Perhaps it was just the excitement in his stomach. The expired milk tasted great too, and he even decided that today, he didn't hate standardized testing. He didn't hate anyone or anything today, because today was a special day and with all the happiness filling him up like air coming into a balloon, there was no room left for him to get mad.
The only thing that made him feel like he was lacking something was that, well, he wasn't sure how old he was turning. But that was perfectly fine, perfectly normal. After all, what kind of people remembered how old they were all the time? He decided to talk to Iruka, his next-door neighbor. For a grownup, Iruka was pretty cool. And, being a grownup, he was sure to have a good memory of things like ages and whatnot.
Upon seeing Naruto ask about his age, most people would have cried, "You don't know how OLD you are!?" Actually, most people wouldn't have talked to him, as they didn't like it that he had a mental condition known as Jinchukyuubi -- not to be confused with Jinchushukaku.
Iruka, however, was not surprised. He was Naruto's next-door neighbor and schoolteacher, and had often babysat the boy when his parents were away, so the workings of the boy's brain were not new to him. "Naruto, you are turning seven today," he said perfectly calmly.
Naruto scratched his chin. "Seven, huh? I thought I was older than that… I thought I would be four by now, dattebayo…"
"Naruto, count from one to seven for me, please."
"Sure thing, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said brightly. "One, two, three, seven, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten." He beamed, proud of himself.
"Naruto, I hate to break it to you, but you're counting wrong. Seven comes after six."
Naruto shrugged. It was his birthday; he wasn't going to let himself get disappointed over some stupid numbers. "Okay, I'll try again. One, two, three, seven, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." He broke out into a huge grin, suddenly quite happy with himself. "Well, sensei? Was it right that time? Was it?"
Iruka considered telling him that if seven was after six, it couldn't also be after three, but when he looked into the boy's smile he decided against it. "Close enough. Happy birthday, Naruto."
Naruto started laughing through his smile for no reason at all; he was that happy. "I'm seven! Seven, oh boy oh boy oh boy! That's the coolest number in the world, don't you think so, sensei?"
Iruka watched him and felt the child's happiness leaking out until it soaked his soul, and he thought for a moment that it must be nice to be a child. "Yes," he said, and he smiled back. "Seven, I think, is a great number. It ate nine, you know."
"Cool," said Naruto said, not getting the reference to the joke. "In that case, do you think old man Ichiraku would give me nine bowls of free ramen? On account of my birthday?"
Fortunately, Iruka didn't have to answer that, because Naruto dashed out the door, presumably to the ramen bar. Iruka chuckled lowly and went back to bed. Children were so energetic.
Naruto, of course, knew the answer to that question. He was going out to train, or, as some people would have called it, to play ninja. He didn't agree with the term "play," though, because the training was something he was completely serious about. Ninja had to eat plenty of food to gain their strength, so even though he had already made himself instant ramen for breakfast, he dashed off to Ichiraku's with his hopes high.
Ayame, the daughter of old man Ichiraku, was asleep over the table, her head resting on a piece of paper that looked suspiciously like an unfinished piece of math homework. Naruto, taking the idea that laughter is the best medicine, supposed it was likely the best answer to math problems. He tugged the paper out from under her cheek and considered writing "lafter" under all the questions, but then he remembered hearing that LOL was a shortened version of "laugh out loud." He decided using an abbreviation would make him sound smarter and proceeded to write "LOL" in child's scrawl in the answer space for each of the questions.
Ayame would be so grateful. His dimples came out with the thought: she might even reward him with that free ramen he hoped for! He tapped her shoulder to wake her up, but apparently she was too tired to respond, so he left to train, making a mental note to come back later.
His little legs sped with the all the energy and excitement of the word birthday, and soon enough he had arrived at the playground, or, as he liked to call it, the training ground. And why not? It was well suited to a ninja's needs, and there was plenty he could do here. From the swings he could pump himself up high into the air and then leap off, catching himself squarely on his feet so that he would not fall over – or trying to, at least. On the monkey bars he told himself he was crossing over a pool of lava. On the slide he went down backwards and on his back, having been pushed off by some mysterious assassin, and he had to right himself before he fell to the ground, where, no doubt, there was an army of enemy soldiers waiting for him. There he leaped and dodged, threw woodchips and kicked out in various directions, yelling about how the soldiers had kidnapped a princess – this part was for dramatic effect. It was good to be a ninja, good to be strong and to feel the sweat running down one's skin and to not wince at the drawing of blood.
It was good to be brave, good to be courageous, good to be unfaltering in the face of evil. This, of course, was before the girl entered the playground. He lost his bravery at once and ran.
From his past experiences with other children, he knew that he couldn't be liked by others of his age. Their parents had warned them about his disease, and if he didn't know any better he would have thought they believed he WAS the disease itself, rather than another human being with rights and feelings. He had tried in the past to change them, but it had failed. He had tried in the past to change himself, but it had failed too. He could not become someone to suit the others, because they could not accept him, could not accept someone with Jinchukyuubi, even though everyone knew it wasn't contagious.
This was why when the little girl called, "Wait!" he didn't stop running. She probably only meant to tease him, and he didn't want to be teased, not on his birthday. He kept running, kept running, didn't stop – Then he heard her crying. He didn't like crying, and he especially didn't like people who caused him to cry. Was he doing that to someone now? Was he the reason she was crying?
He stopped, turned around. She was a pretty little thing, with pale skin and dark purplish hair. He guessed she was about his age, and someone his age was too old to cry – at least that was what he told himself when he felt like crying.
His eyes met hers. Bright cerulean blue questioned gentle white-violet, and he noticed that, at least from far away, her eyes gave the impression of having no pupils. They were very quiet eyes, hiding underneath her tears, but he thought that if they stopped hiding they might look kind of nice.
She read the question in his eyes: ~Why are you crying?~ She didn't know him, but she answered anyway. "You won't talk to me," she explained, "just like Neji-san… He told me he never wanted to see me again…" And her face scrunched up like a sad little fist, squeezing in on itself. She was crying and it was wrong, horribly wrong.
"Don't cry," said Naruto. "It's my birthday. People shouldn't cry on my birthday."
"Oh," she hiccupped, "I'm sorry." And, just like that, she stopped.
"That's better," said Naruto, feeling a little thrill run down his spine. He was talking to a kid who didn't hate him! And he had helped her stop crying. He had been of use to somebody! This was the best present he could have asked for, and it filled him up more than any ramen could have. An invisible force tugged at his cheeks, at the corners of his mouth, and he smiled.
She smiled back, a little shyly, and Naruto thought her eyes were very pretty, whether they had pupils or not.
"Um... um… I'm Hyuuga Hinata," she said, and he noticed that after he gave her that smile she had started poking her fingers together when she talked to him. "W… what's yours?"
"I'm Naruto," he said excitedly. Someone wanted to know his name – that was a first. "Uzumaki Naruto. Hinata-san, do you think I'm helpful?"
"H-hai, Naruto-kun," she said. "You're v…very helpful."
"Then," he said, noticing the red flush on her face, "I'll help you again by telling you to go home. You look like you have a fever."
"H… hai," she squeaked. "Arigato, Naruto-kun!" And she turned to go.
This time it was his turn to say "Wait!" And her turn to stop.
"Wh… what?"
"Will I see you again?" he asked.
"W… well, what… what sc-school d'you go to?"
"Konoha Elementary. I'm in Iruka-sensei's class!" he grinned, showing white teeth.
Hinata let out a little gasp. "Ah… I'm– I'm in that class too!" she exclaimed.
"Really? I never noticed you…"
"W… well, I'm kind of q… quiet," she murmured, scuffing awkwardly at the grass with her feet. "I don't… meet people m-much, I guess…"
"But you're my friend now, right?"
"H…hai," she said, sounding surprised.
"Good," he smiled, "but you still have a fever, so I guess you really should be getting home…"
"Hai," she said and she sounding a bit like she was laughing, but not in a mean way. "G… Goodbye, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto was still grinning after she left, and when he went back to the ramen bar and Ayame yelled at him about her homework (how was he supposed to know "LOL" was the wrong answer?) and he didn't get any free ramen and on the way home some kids laughed at him because of his disease and he skinned his knee when he tripped over a rock, he didn't care. None of it mattered, none of it concerned him. A certain pair of violet eyes was frozen in his mind, and he knew this was the best birthday he could have asked for.