Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any characters therein.
Birthday Ponderings
Sasuke is lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Today was his sixteenth birthday.
Birthdays, he's noticed, have a tendency to screw with other people's minds. His has been no exception. Some of his friends/family members acted completely normal today; some seemed to be doing their best to convinced him that yes, he had fallen into the Twilight Zone and would never return.
His mother made him a cake, utterly and cheerfully ignoring the fact that he-despite her hopes-still doesn't like sweet things. He dutifully thanked her and choked down a piece by hoarding bites in his cheeks (like a chipmunk, Itachi was all too happy to point out) until she had looked away, and then subtly spitting them into his napkin.
His father was away on a mission, for which Sasuke did not complain. He didn't have any particularly burning need to sit through another speech about 'upholding the honor of the Uchiha name' and 'living up to the crest on his back' and 'when Itachi was your age'…that sort of thing.
Itachi granted him a poke to the forehead (which, as Sasuke is now sixteen and not six, sort of vaguely gives him the feeling that he wants to claw his brother's eyeballs out) and a spar, which Sasuke lost. Naturally.
Kakashi convinced the rest of Team Seven to sing a miserably loud and off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday', of course, because it's Kakashi and he would know the date of Sasuke's birth and how to celebrate it to the most grating extent possible.
Sakura apologized for not getting him anything (he didn't care) and wished him a happy birthday (in case he hadn't gleaned that wish from all the singing).
Naruto said nothing until Sasuke, feeling he deserved some fun after all this birthday torment, pointed out that he was now older than the blond boy. To which Naruto was perfectly happy to reply, "Yeah, great! Means you're one year closer to death, bastard." Which was followed by one loudmouthed ninja laughing merrily at his own joke (while Sasuke's pride tried to avoid admitting the fact that he had been-as they say-owned), which in turn was followed by a pained yelp as Sakura smacked him over the head.
Kiba gave him a puppy as he headed back to the compound (a joke, he was sure, except that the furry thing is currently curled up on his bed and getting slobber all over the place-it would appear that the Inuzuka has no intention of taking it back, and Sasuke's still trying to figure out how Kiba knew it was his birthday in the first place. His teammates hadn't been singing that loudly).
Sasuke ponders all of this at eleven AM on July 23, and at some point comes to the conclusion that most people do whilst thinking about their birthday's events.
It actually-
This is when the puppy wakes up, sees his new master's foot and promptly decides, Chew toy. Forcing Sasuke to change his conclusion mid-conclude.
-could have been worse.
End
A/N: LOL…Happy birthday, Sasuke. XD