It had been nearly a month since the war ended. Everyone was healing nicely and the village was being rebuilt to nearly completion. Sakura watched as Naruto left Tsunade's office again and started walking towards the third training field. She sighed as she remembered the last day of battle. It had been a grand victory for the alliance but Naruto and Sasuke were down for the count for a week. It had been Naruto's birthday and although it was, a good birthday gift to win the war it was hard for him to celebrate when he knew how many lives had been lost. He always looked down when he thought no one was watching, but she was. Sakura seemed to always notice him. She smiled just thinking about him. She had come to the conclusion that she truly did love him when she watched him in the final battle. She just did not know how to tell him. Then a thought clicked in her mind. She knew what she was going to do for him to show him how she cared for him. She hurried to the store to pick up what she needed and then went straight home to get started with a bright smile.
After two hours she was sure she had everything set. She smiled to herself, pulled her boots on and left to find the man she had fallen in love with. She found him sitting against the new memorial stone. "Naruto?" She said softly making him jump and look at her.
"Sakura-chan…" He jumped to his feet and watched as she smiled and walked over to him.
"I have something for you." She smiled and held her hand out. "Come with me and I'll show you." He looked at her a minute before taking her hand and following her as she led the way back to her apartment. "Okay. Close your eyes." She told him once they were in the apartment. He looked at her confused but she was not budging.
"Sakura-chan, what's this about?"
"You see. Now keep your eyes closed until I tell you." She warned before leading him through the apartment he had been in many times since arriving back. She stopped him in the dining room with a pleased smile. "Stay here and keep those eyes closed." She walked away and he was about to peek when he heard her coming back into the room. "No peeking." She warned again.
"I'm not." He sighed.
Sakura glanced at him before she placed the plat on the table in front of him. She walked around behind him and covered his eyes. "You ready for your surprise Naruto?" She asked and he nodded. She removed her hands, "Okay you can look." She walked around to watch as he opened his eyes and saw the cake in front of him.
He looked up at her confused. "Sakura-chan, my birthday…"
"I know." She shrugged. "I just figured since we were fighting during your birthday you deserved to have some sort of celebration for turning seventeen." His blue eyes brightened as he looked at her and a smile spread across his face. He looked back at the cake with seventeen candles on it. He took a breath and blew them out making a wish.
"This is awesome." Naruto looked happier than she had seen him in a long time. "Thanks so much Sakura-chan." He laughed.
"You're welcome Naruto." She handed him the knife and plates. "Your cake, you cut it." He smiled again, taking the knife and cutting a piece for her and one for himself. They sat down to eat the cake while they talked about their days and what they planned on doing now that the war was over. "I know lady Tsunade has been backing down her shifts at the hospital so I've been taking more and more there. She mentioned making me the head of the hospital in a year or two."
"That's great! You'll be great."
"And you'll be a great Hokage." Sakura smiled at him as he chuckled and took another bite of his cake.
"Well I have to wait till after Kakashi-sensei. He's going to be the sixth and I'll be seventh. I'll get to finally be Hokage, I just have to wait." He laughed.
"You'll still be a great Hokage when you go get into the office." Sakura shrugged. The two sat talking and laughing about their travels and old times. They moved to the couch to watch movies as they laughed and continued talking. Soon they were relaxing against each other watching another movie. Suddenly Sakura sat up and looked at his startled face. "There's one last thing. You have to get your birthday present."
"My birthday present?" He asked confused.
She nodded with a small smile. "Close your eyes."
"Again?" He asked but sighed and did as she had told him. He felt her move around on the couch before he felt pressure on his lips. He opened his eyes and looked at her, shocked, before he melted into the kiss. The world seemed to melt away as the kiss continued. They pulled back and looked at each other. "Sakura-chan…" He whispered before gently pulling her back to him for a deep, loving kiss.
"I love you Naruto." She told him making his blue eyes burrowed into her green ones.
He smirked as he pulled her to him. "I love you too." He whispered before holding her in his arms.
She shifted and turned to look at him again. "Happy Birthday Naruto." She said softly before laying back down against his chest and felt his strong arms wrap around her where they fell asleep for the rest of the night.
