Happy Birthday, Sakura!
Today, March 28th, is Sakura Haruno's birthday. She turns eighteen years old. Today, we celebrate the birth of a true, beautiful cherry blossom.
"Shikamaru, if you don't shut up I will cheerfully beat you!" Ino hissed.
Shikamaru only grunted sullenly. He cast Ino a hateful look as he put up red and white streamers along the ceiling. Chouji, through a mouthful of chips, asked, "What time is Sakura-san supposed to be back?"
"I don't know, Chouji," Ino said, sighing. "Could you please hand me the hanging sign over there?"
Chouji reluctantly set aside his bag of chips and got up, walking over to Sakura's coffee table. He picked up a hanging cardboard sign, walking over to Ino, who stood on a chair in the left corner of the living room, holding it up to her. Ino took it, muttering a "thanks" as she taped the string holding the sign to the ceiling.
Shikamaru continued his grumbling. Ino was in a horrible mood, due to the stress she had been under for the past few days. Ino was in charge of the whole thing; she was the one who had assigned jobs, and made all the plans. After hanging up a particular decoration, Shikamaru took another glance at the paper Ino had left on the kitchen table nearby. It read as follows:
Sakura's Birthday Bash!
JOBS:
Naruto and Hinata- Presents
Neji and Lee- KEEP SAKURA OCCUPIED!
Shika, Chouji, Myself- Decorations
TenTen- Cake
Kakashi, Yamato, Sai- Food
Kiba, Shino- Games, Entertainment
PRESENTS:
From Team 7 (Naruto, Sai, Yamato, Kakashi)- Metal-plated gloves, new headband, Ichiraku coupons(how lame…)
From Team Gai (Neji, Lee, TenTen, Gai)- New kunai pouch(with new shuriken and kunai), weapons scrolls, and green jumpsuit(not that she'll ever wear that ugly thing…)
From Team 8 (Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Kurenai)- War paint, Hyuga necklace, new elbow-bands
From Team 10 (Shika, Chouji, Me!)- Make-up, special Nara medicine(she'll frikkin love that… nerd…), free barbecue dinner, new boots
TO DO:
-Decorate Forehead's house
-Give money to Naruto and Hinata for presents
-Give TenTen design for cake
-Call and order from Taki's for food
-List of games for Kiba and Shino
-MUSIC
No wonder she was so grumpy.
Women were complicated, women were troublesome… But women had some pretty amazing abilities.
But women, especially women like Sakura, and Ino herself, had short tempers. Shikamaru wondered how Lee and Neji were faring…
She was practically clinging to his arm, which would normally be a bit too close for comfort, since he didn't know her that well.
But, due to their situation, he didn't blame her, not one bit.. Perhaps TenTen could have dealt with it, but this was Sakura.
Sakura wasn't used to dealing with Lee.
Especially not a Lee that was hyped-up on chocolate.
Now, Neji didn't know where Lee had gotten chocolate, since he was banned from all of the sweets shops around Konoha, but somehow, he did, and it was not going well.
"Neji-san… I want to go home," she whispered, watching Lee race around the training field with big jade eyes.
Go home?
No, that was bad. Neji fought with what to say without sounding stupid. Now knowing Sakura personally was proving to be a problem.
"How about we get some lunch, Sakura-san? Are you hungry?"
"AIIIYOOOOOO SILVERRR! YOUTH IS SO YOUTHFULLY YOUTHFUL!"
Sakura's eye twitched. "We.. Just had lunch, Neji-san."
"Yes, we did."
Lee ran up to them, nearly knocking the pair over. "DID YOU SEE THAT SQUIRREL, NEJI? SAKURA-CHAN, THAT SQUIRREL LOOKED LIKE YOU!" He screamed cheerfully, his mouth moving a hundred miles an hour. His eyes were big hearts, cheeks flushed.
Sakura's eyes widened before narrowing, her face tinting pink with embarrassment. She was getting highly agitated. Neji could tell she was about to go off on the poor bowl-headed boy.
He had to get her out of there.
He grabbed her arm and began tugging her away as soon as Lee ran back off towards a tree, most likely to chase after the squirrel. Neji tugged the pinkette along behind him until they were a safe distance away. Once out of Lee's range, he let her go, walking along the cobblestone rode through the middle of the village. He looked at her. "I'm sorry about him, Sakura-san. I didn't think you'd have to put up with that."
"You've been through it before?" Sakura looked horrified.
"Yes, sadly." Neji looked grim.
His serious expression made the kunoichi giggle to herself. "You and TenTen must have a pretty hard time, with Lee and Gai."
"We used to." Neji looked up at the sky, a small smile crossing his lips. "Of course, we've gotten used to their idiocy over time."
"Lee and Gai are both excellent ninja, though, even though they are a bit.. Overzealous," Sakura said, giggling.
Neji nodded in agreement. "Lee had grown up a lot since we started out as a team. Of course.. All of us have, really."
Sakura smiled at him. "Say.. Wanna see a movie, Neji-san?"
He looked at her, a bit surprised. He quirked a fine brow. "A movie, huh?"
She looked up at him with those big jade eyes. "Yeah. You know.. Go into a complex, sit down with popcorn, and watch a huge screen for an hour or two?"
Neji sensed her sarcasm, and, luckily for her, he had a sense of humor. He smirked. "I'd like that."
"Okay.." Sakura grinned. "But… Whoever gets there last has to pay for the popcorn! GO!"
She raced off, leaving him in the dust.
They walked out of the theatre, eyes wide, horrified. "What did I just see..?" Sakura whispered, lips barely moving.
"I'm not sure," he replied just as quietly, swallowing. The images they'd seen were horrific, at least to them. Both the Hyuga and the medic were inexperienced in the realm of intimacy, so seeing 'Icha Icha Paradise' wasn't the best idea…
However, Neji couldn't say he didn't look at Sakura in a different light, after that. He now noticed how curvy and womanly her body was, and exactly how much she'd grown up since they were Genin…
He shook his head, clearing his throat. He would not let this get to him. He just had to keep her occupied until Ino had the party set up and everyone was there. He hoped it wouldn't be much longer…
Ino had just finished setting up her own flat-screen and big karaoke machine inside Sakura's apartment. She was sweating from everything she'd done so far, and was stressed so badly her long blond hair was frazzled.
"Ino, where do-"
"FIGURE IT OUT!" She shrieked, turning on Shikamaru like a rabid dog. He shrunk back, muttering "troublesome".
Finally, everything was ready. Naruto and Hinata came back with all of the presents, nicely wrapped and labeled(due to Hinata, not Naruto), and shortly after that Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai arrived with bags and bags of food for the party. They then helped Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji with the rest of the decorations while they waited for the cake and entertainment. The whole time, Ino was going crazy over whether Sakura was going to come back too early (she knew the pinkette and she could be quite stubborn), or if something wasn't going to show up…
Then TenTen arrived, along with a beautifully decorated cake. Ino took it to the kitchen, setting it on the counter, thanking the weapons master for her excellent work. Everything was set and ready, except for Kiba and Shino's absence. Knowing Kiba, he would be going all out on his 'entertainment' plans, so she could expect him to be late.
However, if he wasn't there before Neji, Lee, and Sakura got back, she'd be very, very upset.
"SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!"
Sakura jumped into Neji's arms in fear and shock, screaming her lungs out. "AAAAACK!"
Neji looked at her, flabbergasted, before saying, "Sakura-san, look."
She opened her eyes slowly, and looked around. She saw all of her friends and teachers standing up from what she assumed to be hiding places. Neji slowly let her down and she looked around with big jade eyes, surprised. "What.. Is this?"
"Happy birthday, Sakura-san!" Kiba yelled from the back. "Wahoo!"
"Y-Yeah! I-Ino-chan did most of this, but we all wanted to wish you a happy birthday.." Hinata said, blushing.
Sakura looked at Ino, who was grinning, hand resting on the back of the couch she was standing behind. Tears welled up in the pinkette's big eyes. "You did this, Pig?"
"You know it, Forehead," Ino replied, winking at her.
"Oh, you guys.." Sakura sniffled and smiled widely. "You didn't have to do all of this!"
Ino stepped out from behind the couch and walked forward, enveloping Sakura in a hug. "We wanted to, Forehead. Now stop blubbering and enjoy your party."
Sakura nodded, wiping her eyes, and grinned at all of the guests in her house. She looked around at all of the decorations. "The place looks fantastic..!" She murmured, her green eyes nearly sparkling with awe.
"Well, what are we waitin' for? Let's get this party started!" TenTen shouted, and a loud chorus of agreement followed. Ino skittered over to the stereos and put on some music.
"I'm dancing with Sakura-chan first!" Naruto yelled, shoving a few people out of the way to get to the medic nin. When he got to her, he swept her off of her feet.
"Naruto, what the-" she paused, then just laughed as he carried her to the middle of the living room to dance. He set her down and began to dance, and she finally joined him, the pair laughing. Other people soon joined in, with the exception of Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Kakashi, and Yamato. Sakura bumped and dipped, her body moving quickly, accurately. She giggled as her hips bumped against Ino's, and she looked around at all the people around her, grinning. Then she spotted the sore losers on the sideline, just watching sullenly. She moved through the small crowd of friends, before looking at them all. In one second, she just automatically chose him. She grabbed his hand, led him into the fray. He protested, but she didn't care; she tugged him in anyways.
"Sakura-san, I do not dance," he said seriously, just standing there.
"Come ooon, Neji-san.. It's my birthday party." She grinned and began dancing again, and he couldn't stop himself from staring. The way her body moved, how beautiful she was.. He couldn't help but want to just move a little bit closer. So, that he did. He moved a bit closer to her, and a wildly dancing Kiba knocked against his back, pushing him forward, bumping into her. She didn't even notice and just grinned, hooking her arms around his neck and beginning to grind. She was dancing against him, now, and he fought back a small groan rising in his throat. Instead, he just concentrated on trying to dance without making a fool of himself. He didn't touch her, no; that would only make things worse.
"Hey, Hyuga! She's mine for a while now!" said a boisterous Ino, winking. She grabbed Sakura's arm and tugged her over to herself, beginning to dance with her best friend. Frankly, Neji was never more grateful to Ino than he was right then. Sighing in relief, he made his way back out of the dancing populous, moving to stand beside Shikamaru.
"Troublesome," They both muttered.
To be continued…