It was an oddly peaceful morning in Konoha, as the sun was shining bright on the village and the birds were chirping happily. It was nice and warm outside, and there was a cool breeze that would occasionally blow by so it was never too hot. For once, Konoha actually seemed… well quiet. These sort of days were extremely rare for a ninja village, especially one as big as the Hidden Leaf. Since a quiet morning like this was so rare, Sasuke was intent on taking advantage of every second of it, by sleeping in and relaxing for a change. For weeks, Team 7 had been kept busy by numerous missions and training sessions. Not to be mistaken, Sasuke enjoyed being busy. The missions were good pay and although Kakashi was a lazy bastard who could never show up on time, he was a kage level ninja and a good teacher. Sasuke would need all the training he could get if he wanted to achieve his goal one day.

Sasuke laid in the comfort of his bed for a few minutes after finally getting the full amount of sleep he desired. Although the slumber felt great for his body as he was able to relax, he couldn't help but feel as if something was out of place. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but something in the back of his mind kept creating this uncomfortable feeling. Rolling over in his bed and checking his bedside clock, he noticed that it was ten minutes until noon. He decided that he had stayed in bed long enough and finally got up to begin his day, trying to shrug this uncomfortable feeling for the moment.

After eating breakfast, well technically lunch due to the time, the young genin decided to train in the Uchiha compound using some of the old Uchiha scrolls filled with multiple clan jutsus. Although trying to focus on his training, he just could not shake the feeling that something was not right. For some reason, it was too quiet. Even though he was the only one who live in the entire Uchiha compound, Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he experienced this kind of peace and quiet in his home. Realizing that he could not train properly with his mind wandering, the young genin decided to go for a walk around the village.

However, as he made his way through his home before leaving, he stopped as he noticed the picture of his team by the door. His eyes fell on his annoying loudmouthed teammate, Naruto. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized why it was so quiet that day. It was already getting close to two in the afternoon, however there hadn't been a sign of the dobe all day. Usually if Team 7 had the day off, Naruto would wake him up no later than seven in the morning by breaking into his home and making his presence known by yelling at Sasuke to wake up and train with him. After Sasuke would angrily throw the young blonde out of his home, the boy would be back about four hours later begging the young Uchiha to join him at Ichiraku's for lunch. In short, Sasuke's days off usually consisted of being bothered by his teammate. Thus, it didn't feel right that he had not seen any sign of the loud boy all day.

As he walked into the village, Sasuke tried to convince himself that he should be glad that his teammate wasn't bothering him for a change. It's not like he enjoyed the blonde's company anyway. The sound of beating drums and flash of colors pulled him from his thoughts as he noticed a group of people passing by him dressed in colorful costumes and dancing to a beat of a drum. Looking around, he noticed that decorations were posted up on all the buildings and shops around him, and people were dressed in odd costumes. It was as if there was a festival going on in Konoha. Suddenly, realization struck the boy as he remembered why. Today marked the anniversary that the Kyuubi had been defeated by the Fourth, thus in honor of it, the Village held an annual festival to celebrate it, which usually lasted all day and consisted of dancing, songs, plays, and food. Not on to get caught up in festivities, Sasuke kept walking.

He noticed that he was approaching his teammate's favorite restaurant, Ichiraku, and just out of curiosity, decided to peek inside and check if the blonde was there. Looking into the stand, he spotted no sign of the blonde as well. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Okay, that was strange. Where can that dobe be? It's not as if Sasuke was worried about his teammate or anything, but this just didn't feel right. He decided to drop by the training grounds, concluding that maybe the boy was practicing some sort of secret jutsu that he didn't want anyone to see. And if that was the case, the Sasuke really really wanted to know what that would be. However, Sasuke's suspicion would be proven wrong as he there was no sign of the blonde at the empty training grounds as well. Sasuke clenched his fist in annoyance as he turned around and headed back into the village. He couldn't help but get the feeling as if his teammate was hiding something, and he didn't like it.

Finally, Sasuke decided to head to the last place he could think of where is teammate could be, his home. As he made his way through the village, he suddenly stopped and let out an irritated groan. He didn't even know where the fucking dobe lived!

"Shit" Sasuke muttered to himself as he rubbed his temple. What kind of ninja didn't even know where his teammate lived? Looking up, Sasuke recognized a blue haired girl walking in his direction.

"The Hyuga" he said to himself. He recognized the girl as one of the ninja who graduated in his class. Although he never paid her much attention, he has seen her and Naruto interacting from time to time, and also noticed the girl following the blonde around on separate occasions. She must know where the dobe lived. Waiting for the girl to get close enough to hear him, he spoke up.

"Hinata" he simply stated. The young Hyuga's head shot up as she had been occupied with a box she was holding in her hand and had not noticed the Uchiha. Her eyes quickly widened as they landed on Sasuke. She had never spoken to the boy in her life. For a second, she wondered if someone else had called her instead, but that quickly went away as she noticed his eyes fixed on her, making her uncomfortable.

"Y-y-yes?" she softly stammered before quickly butting the box in her pocket. Sasuke noticed this but paid no attention to it.

"Do you know where Naruto lives?" he asked. Her eyes widened at the mention of her crush and a small blush formed on her cheeks.

"N-Naruto?" he nodded to her in reassurance.

"Y-yes." She answered. She turned away from him and pointed down the road. "J-just go th-three blocks down and t-turn left. H-his ap-apartment is n-number twenty-two." Sasuke nodded at this and proceeded to walk in that direction after telling her a small thank you.

He found himself standing in front of the apartment the Hyuga led him to and knocked on the door. After a few moments, he heard some sound on the other side. The door slowly opened a few inches with Naruto's head peeking in the crack. Sasuke made a questioning face at the odd behavior of his teammate. He almost seemed, scared.

"Oh, it's you." Naruto said as he swung the door open and gave Sasuke a cheeky grin. Sasuke however had been around his teammate long enough to see that it was not the same as his usual smile, as this one seemed force. He also noticed that the blonde was still in his pajamas. "Come in." Naruto said as he stepped out of the way and let the Uchiha pass. As Sasuke walked in, he automatically knew something was wrong. Although he was trying to act like it, the blonde did not seem like his usual, cheerful self. The apartment, was unsurprisingly filthy.

"Sorry about the mess, I haven't had much time to clean." The blonde said with a smile as he sat on his couch. Sasuke didn't say a word as he watched his teammate eat a cup of instant ramen without the same enthusiasm he normally showed. The room fell silent as neither of them said anything for a while, making Sasuke uncomfortable. Being around Naruto so much, he had grown accustomed to the blonde's loud nature. Since he was so loud, Sasuke never had to talk and there would still never be any awkward silences. However, today Naruto was strangely quiet as he slurped his noodles. The silence was unbearable.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke spoke up. The question caught Naruto off guard and Sasuke noticed his body tense.

"Nothing's wrong, why do you ask?" the blonde replied as he gave Sasuke his fake smile. Sasuke eyed his teammate for a few seconds before turning away.

"Hmph" the Uchiha replied, causing the blonde to continue his meal. Sasuke took this time to look around the place. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. There was a living room with a couch and a kitchen, and a doorway that led to a bedroom. Sasuke noticed two pictures on the table beside the couch, one of Team 7, and the other of Naruto and his master Jiraiya. Turning around, Sasuke noticed an envelope next to the sink. Picking it up, he realized that it was a letter.

Dear Naruto – I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for your big day, but I got caught up on this mission tracking the Akatsuki and I didn't think it would take this long. I really wish I could be there. You are really growing up to be a fine man and a strong ninja. I am proud to call you my student. I hope you can forgive me and I promise when I get back I will make it up to you. Maybe I could help you begin your own "research!" Happy Birthday! – Jiraiya

As he finished reading the letter, Sasuke's attention turned to Naruto who had dropped his cup of ramen and had a terrified look on his face.

"It's your birthday?" Sasuke asked the blonde, not knowing why he had such a look on his face. He noticed Naruto begin to shake as he stared at the ground, covering his face.

"Y-yeah." He softly let out. Sasuke couldn't help but be confused by the blonde's behavior. Why would he react so terrified about him discovering his birthday? I mean, sure it's kind of strange that his birthday is on the same day that –

Sasuke's eyes quickly shot open as a thought entered his mind. Naruto's grip on his bedsheets tightened as he sensed this realization by his teammate. He remained staring at the ground.

Sasuke stared at the floor as realization filled his mind. Naruto was born on the same day that the Kyuubi had been defeated. Sasuke had always questioned how the Fourth could have managed to defeat such a powerful force, but now it all made sense. His eyes slowly fell on Naruto. All the unexplainable surges of power that erupted from the blonde, how he was able to defeat Gaara, how he could summon so many clones, and why the entire village despised him suddenly made sense now. The kyuubi was not defeated, it was sealed inside Naruto!

The room once again fell quiet. Naruto did not dare look up into his friend's eyes. The disgust and hatred that must be radiating from them would be too much for him to bare. He had finally found his first real friend, someone who had pulled him out of that dark, cold hell of loneliness, but now he had discovered his deepest and darkest secret, and he probably hated him for it, just like everyone else. He was just waiting for him to either hit him, insult him, or worst of all, leave. The grip on his sheets was almost tight enough to rip them, and tears were beginning to form on the corner of his eyes.

"Get dressed." Sasuke simply stated as he put the card down. Naruto's head shot up as he stared at his friend wide eyed.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. Sasuke let out an annoyed grunt.

"Get dressed, we're going to go train. I need a sparring partner." With that, Sasuke began walking to the door. "I'll be out side, hurry up." Naruto sat on his bed in shock of what had just happened. Did he not care? He thought for sure that Sasuke was going to hate him. He quickly got dressed and met his teammate outside.

The duo walked through the village in silence as they headed towards the training ground. Sasuke noticed the countless number of looks that people directed at Narutol and silently wondered if it was because it was the anniversary of that day or if it was just always this bad. Sneaking a glance at his teammate, he noticed that the blonde simply chose to keep his head down and ignore it. Now that he knew the cause of these looks however, Sasuke couldn't help but feel bothered by them as well. Before, he had simply assumed that Naruto was treated that way because he was a pest. Hell, that's why Sasuke treated him that way. But, Sasuke felt as if the treatment Naruto was receiving now was unfair. Although he wouldn't admit it, it sort of made him mad.

They continued walking until they heard someone call out to them.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Hey I need to tell you something!" The two turned around to see their teammate Sakura approaching them. Naruto however seemed uncomfortable.

"I'm going to go on ahead to get in some stretching. I'll meet you at the training ground." He ran off. Sasuke had the feeling he just wanted to get out of the village as fast as possible to avoid all the looks he was getting. Or he didn't want Sakura to notice them.

"Where is he going?" Sakura asked as she watched Naruto run off.

"He's going to go save us a training ground so we could spar." Sasuke simply responded. He wondered if Sakura knew it was Naruto's birthday.

"You guys are incredible. Even on our days off you guys need to go train." Sasuke made no reply as he simply waited for her to get on with what she needed to say. "Anyway, I was going to ask you guys if you wanted to come with me to the festival tonight. There is supposed to be some big party tonight and it's supposed to be alot of fun!" Sakura told him with excitement.

"Did you know that it's Naruto's birthday today?" Sasuke asked her, ignoring her question. Sakura's face dropped as she heard his question.

"What?" she asked in a mix of surprise and confusion. That was all Sasuke needed to know her answer.

"It's Naruto's birthday today." Sasuke simply told her. Her eyes went wide with news. For a second, Sasuke wondered what kind of shitty teammates the two of them were. He also wondered if the they knew his birthday as well. Come to think of it, Sasuke didn't even know Sakura's birthday! Well shit, that is going to be hard to explain when the day comes.

"Oh, he only told you?" Sasuke looked down at the girl and suspected that she probably had her feelings hurt thinking that Naruto would keep that information from her and not him.

"No, I figured it out." he stated, making the pink haired girl feel better. She nodded her head but kept her eyes downward. He could tell that she felt bad about not knowing the boy's birthday.

"So umm, why didn't he tell anyone then?" she asked him. Sasuke knew it wasn't his place to tell the blonde's secret so he merely shrugged his shoulders and turned around.

"I guess cause no one cared." he stated as he walked away with his hands in his pocket. Sakuras shoulders slumped down as she watched her teammate leave.

After sparring for a few hours, the two genin laid on the floor of the training ground, breathing heavily as they stared up to the sky. The sun was beginning to set and it was quiet, however this time the silence felt peaceful. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, just right.

"Sasuke" the blonde spoke up.

"What" Sasuke replied as his teammate had interrupted him from his thought.

"Thanks"

"For what?" the Uchiha replied in an annoyed tone.

"For you know, not hating me." his teammate replied in a gentle tone. Sasuke stayed quiet for a few moments.

"I do hate you dobe." Naruto let out a soft chuckle at his reply.

"Yeah, I know."

Towards the village, the two noticed fireworks going off and the sound of music becoming more noticeable. Sasuke proceeded to stand up.

"Let's go, it's getting late."

The two walked back into the village side by side, not saying much.

"Hey umm, Sasuke, you want to hang out at my place for a while? It kinda sucks just being by yourself on your birthday. Naturally, he wanted to say no and go home, but considering the state that the blonde was currently in, Sasuke felt it would be extremely cruel to deny him of this. Besides, he too knew the pain of loneliness.

"Hmph" he replied, which Naruto knew as a yes, causing him to smile and place his arms over his head as they walked. Finally, they reached Naruto's apartment.

"Surprise!" Numerous people shouted at the duo as they walked into the room. Naruto was speechless as he stared at the room filled with all of his friends. All of the rookie nine and team Guy were standing in his living room and a banner was hung up from his ceiling that read "Happy Birthday Naruto!" To say Sasuke was surprised was an understatement.

"What the fu-?" he muttered to himself.

"Wha-what's going on here?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

"What does it look like?" Sakura spoke up as she stepped forward. "We're celebrating our favorite blonde ninja's birthday!" she said with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey watch it forhead!" Ino yelled from behind Sakura as Shikamaru attempted to restrain her. Naruto stared around the room in disbelief as all of his friends were here to celebrate. He noticed that decorations were hung up around the room and deduced that they probably stole them from the ones hanging up around the village.

"You guys...did this...for me?" he asked in shock.

"Wh- why wouldn't w-we? W-we all c-care about you N-Naruto-kun." Hinata spoke up from behind causing some eyebrows to raise.

"Kun?" Neji questioned as his eye twitched, causing Tenten to giggle. Naruto felt tears forming on the corner of his eyes and put his head down to cover them while wiping at them with his forarm.

"How did you guys even know?" he asked, looking up at all them. He noticed Sakura's face light up.

"Well, none of this could be possible if it weren't for Sasuke." she said with a smile causing Naruto's eyes to go wide and Sasuke's to go even wider.

"What the fu-?" he muttered once again. Naruto turned to look at his best friend. Sasuke looked at the blonde as if he were being accused of committing a crime. A smile slowly spread onto Naruto's face and tears began to roll down his cheeks. Sasuke, knowing the conclusion that the blond was coming to, began to quickly shake his head.

"No! I did not do this!" Naruto however had the widest smile on his face as he enveloped the Uchiha in a hug.

"You bastard!" the blond shouted as he gave his best friend the biggest bear hug of his life.

"Damn it." Sasuke couldn't help but let out.

The party lasted for a few hours as Naruto went around and talked to everyone. Even the all jounin, along with Iruka, Tsunade and Shizune showed up, making the blonde even happier.

Sasuke stood in the corner watching the blonde interact with the shy Hyuga girl. She merely listened to whatever crazy story he was telling her and giggled at his over the top antics. Naruto, in return smiled and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug similar to the one he gave him when she had gave him his present, a small box which contained a necklace. Sasuke couldn't help but grin at the blonde's antics he tried to wake the girl after she fainted.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned to see his pink haired teammate smiling at him.

"Hmph" he grunted at her, returning his face to its usual scowl.

"Come on, don't be like that." she said as she stood next to him and watched the same event he was watching. Sasuke didn't reply as the two of the continued to watch him shake a sleeping Hinata.

"You know you care about him." she continued. A few moments passed before Sasuke replied.

"Yeah, so what if I do?" he said almost in a whisper. Sakura smiled even more at this as she shrugged her shoulders.

"He's lucky he has you as a friend." she said before walking away to talk to Ino.

Sasuke kept watching the blonde, a small grin forming on his face.

"Yeah, me too."