Breathe. Don't forget to breathe.

I took in a large amount of air into my burning, tingly chest. I can see my legs shaking in the long mirror in front of me. The one I've been standing in front of for about an hour now. I put on my nice, long-sleeved red shirt and my fancy (well…as close to fancy as I'll ever get…) black semi-skinny jeans. As I scanned my body once more, I made a point to make sure I kept my hair loose, and free of its usual pony-tail. She loved my hair that way.

My heart jolted at the thought of my beautiful wife. Yes…wife. And I love that I get to call her that for the rest of our lives. My wife. Today is a special day – her birthday.

My mind automatically snapped back to reality at that thought. My eyes flew open (wait…I had closed them…?) to stare at another cerulean (and quite nervous looking) pair. I swiftly pulled my sleeve out of the way of wrist to read my watch. CRAP! It's already six? I told her to start getting ready at four! I glance at myself one last time before I dash to my bedroom door, slip on my "fancy" shoes and run out into the Akatsuki base's hallway. Itachi said he was gonna help her with getting ready, and that he'd let her stay in his room till we left. I ran to the end of the hall, and froze outside the door.

I smoothed out my hair and clothes, and swallowed hard. I hope I haven't already made a terrible fool of myself. I knock on the big heavy door, and then wait. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I hear her call, "Come in!"

I grip Itachi's doorknob extremely tightly, as if to squish away all my shakes, and to calm my…extra…mouths. They always start to get antsy when things like this happen. I swing open the door with little force, and I am instantly star struck by what I see; There she is, her beautiful black hair parted at the side, decorated with many beautiful Japanese hair pins and flowers, her streaks the shade of blue with a hint of purple. Indigo, maybe? She has a cute dark blue dress on, with small black polka-dots and black straps. As my eyes travel down her beautiful body, my eyes finally land on her feet. I chuckle a little at what I see – Bright yellow, high-topped sneakers. My smile spreads wider when I hear her speak.

"Itachi said I shouldn't have…" My heart leaps in my chest, as she sends me a smirk, "but I couldn't help myself." I take a step closer to her, and sigh.

"You look…so beautiful, Amaya. Perfect. The best work of art I've ever seen." I reach for her face, and gingerly caress her cheeks. She smiles at me, and places her hands over mine. I honestly can't tell you how she doesn't get grossed out by my mouths – that's even a mystery to me. But, I'm glad she's not. I swiftly move my arms away from her face, to wrap them around her slim waist, and pull her in for a hug. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long."

I loosen my arms a bit as she leans back to face me, a comforting smile still on her face. I stare into her bright green eyes as she says, "Eeh. That's ok…" Her eyes slip from mine, to travel up and down my body. I can feel a small blush starting to appear on my face. "It was worth the wait." I glance away, the redness turning darker. "By the way…" I turned back to face her (slightly) when I heard her voice. She got within two inches of my nose, and her hand was now on my cheek. "Is that a blush I see?"

I explode out of her arms and turn away. It only made my blush worse. But still, I'd never admit to it! "N-no! It's just…um…HOT in here, ok?" Dang it! Why am I SUCH a loser? Turning toward the door, I signal for her to follow. "C'mon. Our ride is waiting." I saw her eyes widen, as well as her smile, at the sound of that. I held open the door for her, and we both made our way outside.

I couldn't help the giant grin that appeared on my face when I heard her gasp. I walked up to the giant clay bird, and lifted my arms jokingly. "Like it?" She stared at it with wide eyes and a big smile.

"OF COURSE I DO!" HaHa, she's so cute when she's excited… I laughed out loud and ran to her. A small squeal escaped from her when I swooped her up bridal style. I smiled at her and jumped up onto our "ride." I seated her down gently and we took off, into the clear night sky. Once we were high enough in the air, and on the right track, I laid down next to Amaya, who was staring at the stars. We laid there, the cool breeze washing over us. Once in a while, I'd turn my head and sneek a peek at her, gazing like a small child up at the stars…a certain twinkle in her eyes…

"You know…" I whispered to her, calmly catching her attention, "You really are a work of art…" I felt cheesy the instant the words spilled out of my mouth, but I honestly, truly, meant them. She smiled, still keeping her eyes glued to the shining stars. I reached down, and intertwined our fingers, and star gazed with her.

I never wanted the moment to end, but I could tell we were close, because the bird was beginning to descend. I rose from my spot. "Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for landing." I heard Amaya giggle as I directed the bird down. "QUICK! Amaya, close your eyes!" She closed them just as we landed. Perfect.

I picked her up like before and jumped off. I landed in the sand, but I didn't want to give our location away just yet, so I continued to hold her as I walked. I followed a cleared out path through sea grapes, until it opened up into a small, private section of beach. I smiled, glad to see that the picnic arrangements I had set up were still perfectly placed. I had a large amber blanket spread out, with a special woven basket lying opened in the middle, piles of food – including dango. ("Our" food) I had lit candles everywhere, surrounding us on all sides, as well as a couple lit tiki torches. And in one corner of the blanket, a basket of chilled sake, and a wrapped box.

Satisfied, I stood her up a few feet away from the scene, in the sand. I ran over to the blanket, and laid down, trying my best at doing a sexy pose. "Okay…open!"

The look of shock and wonder on her face was priceless. I'll never forget it. EVER. I watched her eyes as they took in the beach, the candles, the food, the sake, and then finally, me. I stretched out, and made a pouty face. ( one that was supposed to look somewhat sexy) "Tell me…what do you think? Like what you see?" She laughed, and got onto her knees. Before I knew anything else, a sand ball had smacked me right in the face! I broke out of my "sexiness" and laughed, trying to shake it out of my bang. She giggled as she climbed onto the blanket next to me.

"That's what you get for trying to act sexy, sexy." I laughed happily, and pulled her into my arms. As I looked into her eyes, I couldn't get it out of my brain: This beautiful girl is mine. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. I gazed around at everything and then sat up.

"So! What do you want to do first, Birthday Girl? Eat, Walk, Swim?" My eyes followed her as she turned and sat across from me on the large blanket. She glanced past me, to look at the ocean for a moment, before her face became saddened. Why's she sad? After inspecting her for a moment, I asked, "Hey, what's wrong, Amaya-chan?" She longingly glanced back at the water before sighing.

"I WANT to swim…" She looks down. "but I didn't bring my swimsuit…" I hide my smirk as I stand and walk over to the wrapped box. I bend down, pick it up, and toss it to her. She catches it, and smiles. "What's this, Dei?" I smile at her.

"Just open it. You'll see…" I plop back down on the blanket and watch as she rips the box to shreds and opens it. She slowly reaches into the box, and once she feels the material, her entire face lights up. I smile at her, and she flings the clothing out of the box. A brand new swimsuit. She gasps and looks at me.

"Dei! Thank you! I love it! I'm gonna put it on right now!" And this is where my pervert mind decides to butt in. Right now? In front of me? RIGHT HERE! YES! I shake my head and my blush grows hotter. I watch as she runs into the sea grapes to change. I smile and stand. I unbutton my jeans, and let them fall to the ground, as well as my shirt. I wore my yellow trunks underneath. (which took me FOREVER to do, wearing semi-skinny jeans…ug…) As I wait, I turn to look at the ocean, it's black waves lapping at the grey sand, the moon casting a beautiful light onto the surface of the water. Just perfect.

I heard the sea grapes rustle, but turn round. I hear her slowly pad toward me in the sand. A smirk spreads across my face. "RACE YOU THERE!" I took off toward the water, laughing my butt off. I can hear her laughter behind me. Right at the water's edge, I stop. She files right by me into the water, and shrieks when she realizes that I'm not there. I laugh, and dive at her.

We splash and play for what seems like hours until finally, our hunger caught up to us. We seeped out of the refreshing water, and ran to our towels, the cold hitting us like a sheet of rain. I snuggled up next to her and fed her dango. We talked, and even had some sake. (SHH! Don't tell anyone….) It was wonderful. Perfect. As she took the last bite of her mini cake I got, I wrapped my arms around her, and pulled her close to me. "Happy Birthday, Amaya-chan…" closer, "I love you…"

And then it happened.

I'm not sure why I still get so excited. My face turned completely red, and I couldn't think strait. (Part of that might have been from the alcohol…) I closed my eyes and let the feeling sink in. My beautiful wife and I will be able to share kisses like this for the rest of our lives… It warms my heart. Our lips move together perfectly, until we both need air. When we separate, I blush even more; I'm panting waay harder then she is! My eyes widen and I move away from her, covering my mouth. To my surprise, she laughs.

"You liked that, didn't you, Dei?" My blush grows.

The ride home was peaceful; Amaya fell asleep. I gently and quietly scoop her up, and slide off the clay bird. I turn to watch my piece of art, as it flies off to explode. I hear a bang in the distance, smile, turn, and head inside the base. The dark halls are silent. Guess all the guys decided to go out…thank GOD… I open my bedroom door, and slowly stroll in. I walk over to my newly sheeted bed, and lightly lay my wife down. When I come back from closing the door, she'd already gotten comfortable, hugging a pillow close. A small smile crosses my lips, as I stare down at her loving, peaceful, sleeping face. So beautiful…so perfect… I stand there for a moment, bound by her beauty. I lazily change into my PJ's and climb in next to her. I lightly place my arms around her waist, and nestle my face into the back of her neck. I whisper as quietly as I can, so as to not ruin the moment.

"Goodnight, my beautiful work of art. I love you, Amaya."

"Happy Birthday…."