A.N. For "Cold Ramen Challenge" on Banana Pajamas, drabbles for Naruto's birthday. ^_^
"Would you do that for me? No, for him."
"Hmph whatever."
"You're in a talkative mood today Uchiha."
"Hn."
And all three of the shadows scattered.
"I really don't know Sensei. I mean…"
"Shut up Hatake."
"It's Hatake now?"
"Shut up and do as you're told. Or..."
Said silver haired nin whimpered and stalked away to do as he was instructed.
"No way in hell! Why not make Kotetsu do it?..."
"You know you're the man for the job Zumo and hell, you owe me a lot! And he's busy anyway."
"Yeah, fine. I do remember favors."
The brunet smirked and watched as his friend left with shoulders slouched.
"Naruto!"
Sakura clung to the blonde.
"I have a favor to ask. Will you get these flowers from Ino-pig? I don't want to see her."
"Sure, Sakura-chan."
And Sakura left the boy with a piece of paper in hand.
"Iruka-sensei, are you sure it's even physically possible?"
"Yes." Was the plain answer Teuchi the ramen shop owner got.
Naruto was inspecting the flowers he just got from the florist as he automatically followed the route to his teammate's house. It was a colorful bunch, big and sparkly flowers, spilling some kind of powder with every little move. He shrugged and started to think about what the flowers are for instead of his loneliness for nobody remembering his birthday.
"Shh! He'll hear you!"
"Idiot wouldn't hear us even if we screamed his name."
"Why are you here again Neji?"
"I don't know really. You dragged me here."
Tenten sighed and continued her surveillance of a certain blonde.
"So guys, everything set?"
The small crowd nodded positively.
"The ramen are all ready sensei. I had to close the shop for the day but it's the least I can do for my best customers."
"I sent him Ino's way."
"And I gave him the flowers."
"You didn't forget the sandman* powder though, right?"
"Of course I didn't Iruka sensei!"
"I-I've had the food ready."
"Thank you Hinata-chan. Now, how about Izumo? Has anyone seen him?"
"No. But our surveillance team is on the target."
"Yeah and 'the chick left the nest'. What, are we playing ANBU or something?"
"Kotetsu! Leave Kiba-kun alone. And have you done your job?"
"Of course Ruka-chan."
"No one calls him that but me!"
"Can it, you possessive…"
The earlier mentioned chuunin stumbled into the small room. He plopped on the floor and waved. Brunet was covered in some kind of white powder and sticky, colorful liquids. His bandana was subsided, barely holding and his vest was missing.
"I'm done."
And he passed out. Kiba couldn't hold his laughter as Kakashi inquired:
"Just what was he supposed to do?"
The sensei scratched his scar nervously.
"He was supposed to get cream and cake and some drinks. And hire a DJ."
"A DJ?"
"Yeah, the said guy was his friend, so I just asked him to contact him since Naruto loves the guy."
Naruto woke up in a dark place. He couldn't remember aftermath of his delivery of flowers. Sakura was nowhere to be found so he had decided to leave the bouquet in the porch after a few circles around the village. He tried to take in his surroundings as he reached for his kunai holster. He frowned when he realized he couldn't. He was tied up on a chair –or rather an armchair? What the…?- He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Oh shit he's trying to sense our chakra!"
"Don't worry Ko, he can't. Not unless we want him to."
"He's gathering Sage chakra!"
"What!"
"We're screwed."
Naruto jumped out of his trance with some sticky and cold liquid pouring down on him.
"You don't wanna make that mistake. I'm seriously in a bad mood'tebayo and these cheap tricks won't save you once I'm outta here!"
"I believe him."
"Okay Kotetsu, just shut up, will ya?"
"He's gonna kill us."
"We have Hatake on our side."
"Screw Hatake, we have Iruka-sensei on our side. He's way scarier."
Naruto growled. Just who were these people and what the hell did they want? He was getting impatient.
"He's getting impatient."
"Just a few more minutes Izumo-san. And you really should stop trying to evaluate him. He's the number one unpredictable, ne?"
The said brunet, now all clear of foreign substances, narrowed his eyes at the snickering boy.
"Watch your tail.**"
Naruto released a breath and stiffened as he saw the light pouring inside the dark room. It was gone as quickly as it appeared. Although the door was closed again now he could sense someone's presence in the room.
All he saw before he passed out again was a bright red swirling eye.
Woken up, Naruto took in his surroundings and gaped. He was on a seashore. Looking at the sky, he could see thousands of colorful balloons swaying, tied to ground with chakra wires. He looked around and saw a small crowd looking at him, smiling. The Konoha 12 minus himself, Sai, Yamato-taichou, Izumo-niisan, Kotetsu-niisan, Teuchi-jisan and Ayame-neesan, Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei…
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!"
Sasuke was sitting on top of a large and fairly creamy cake, stoic as ever. Naruto held back the bubbling laughter, being aware of that everything was for him.
His eyes were stinging but that sentimental mode passed as soon as he identified the large lump in front of the crowd.
"Noo…"
He stared incredulously for a few seconds for the crowd's amusement.
"Dig in Naruto. Special for your birthday."
He did exactly as he was told for the first time in his life, he dug in. Literally. And he looked up, inquiring from his small lake of ramen to his precious people.
"Kakashi-sensei prepared the genjutsu with sharingan. The horizon and no one else here but us… Some of it is illusion. All the ramen are real though. And all edible."
After the rather sticky food fight accompanied by Naruto's favorite music, he went home tired, but with memories he'd always remember.
*The Sandman is a mythical figure in ancient tales. According to popular legends of Europe, he comes to children's houses and sprinkles sand in their eyes. The sand makes the children fall fast asleep and have peaceful dreams. (that should give a clue about what that "powder" does ^_^)
**sempai you inspire me a lot :D
A.N. Hope you enjoyed… Please review ^_^