Her gorgeous chestnut hair felt softly in front of her shoulder as his fingers traced her spine from the neck and slowly moved down, her skin was like silk and his touch made her shiver. She made that noise that could drive him ecstatic.

"This is utterly horrible and is one of the worst bullshits that I have ever been forced to read."

Sasuke Uchiha closed the small 'Icha-Icha Make-Out Tactics' book with a loud noise, which had never been produced by a reading tool such as this before. The venom in his voice could kill a small nest of mice. The young man sighted and after a second of consideration he grabbed the book from where it laid on the table and threw it out of the half open window.

"Ridiculous!" he muttered under his perfect nose, his dark eyes narrowed. "Why would he send me such a thing?"

The Uchiha's usually calm demeanor was moved aside and he was now annoyed and a bit agitated. He shifted restlessly in the small chair on which he was situated and stared at the note that had come with the little package containing the book.

Sasuke,

You have been as grumpy, sullen and huffish as a panda that has been denied of its sleep for a week.

You need to loosen up…. and it's past time you learn about the things that can make you cheerful (if you can ever achieve this state…). I am including the master manual on the subject. Use it well.

Happy Birthday!

Hatake Kakashi

"You will always remain a pervert, Kakashi," Sasuke breathed heavily. "Why would you assume that… How could you…" he sighted again. One of the ninja-dogs of his ex-teacher had brought the package to him, while he had been walking in the less-crowded edges of Konoha's park, trying to delete the whole world from his mind. He liked walks, and hated to be interrupted.

The coldness in his eyes returned as he stood up and went towards the door. He opened it with a single, smooth movement and was standing in the doorframe, motionless. He was on the second floor of the building where his loggings were. He had run away from Konoha several times after the end of the war, but something in the village pulled him back. This made his skin itch and annoyed him very, very much.

The people below on the street paid the figure in the shadow of the door no attention. It was early afternoon and everyone was hastily moving towards the end of the day and the long-awaited rest. The Uchiha's face grew darker as he remembered yet again the beginning of this weird day.

It all had started when he woke up on the cold floor of one of the Uchiha's hideouts, outside of Konoha. The day promised to be warm, but not as hot as in the middle of the summer as there were white clouds dancing in the sky. Of course, Sasuke did not know that as underneath the ground, where he was at right now, was always humid and cool. The boy stood up and moved his dark hair from his even darker eyes. His sharingan suddenly loomed in the blackness that surrounded him.

Next to him laid a sealed envelope with his name written on it by the hasty, uneven pen craft of Naruto.

"What is that?" the Uchiha had demanded, his brows furrowed

"I know you don't like celebrations," The blond boy had said, when handing him the letter. His face was blank "But this is no form of any such thing and on the contrary, it will bring you more sadness than happiness." Then his ex-team mate, rival, enemy and friend had left, leaving him alone in the street, without explanation for strange exchange. There were just a few minutes until midnight and his birthday.

This was when Sasuke decided that he needed to spend the night away from the village. Now, after stretching his numb limbs, he began to question this decision. Once out of the shelter, he removed his shirt and washed his face with water from an abandoned pond nearby. After the procedure he turned around slowly to gather his belongings, only to find Sakura standing next to them, staring at him. The Uchiha's face did not change.

"You forgot to conceal your chakra, so it was easy for me to find you here, Sasuke-kun." she said, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What is it that you want, Sakura?"

"I wanted to give you your birthday present first" she blushed. He moved next to her and equipped his shirt and sword. She blushed even more.

"Well?" he questioned her and she leaned forward.

To say he was surprised by her actions would be a huge lie, but still the kiss got him unprepared and it was done and gone in a few seconds. As was Sakura herself.

When he came back to Konoha, Sasuke made sure to hide both his face and chakra, but still he got ambushed by Karin, that made strange suggestions for a joined hot spring party. Sai found him while he was having some rice balls and handed him a painting of Team 7.

"You are now not the horrible shithead that you had been before." Sai had told him.

Chouji bought him a pork pie, while Ino gave him a cactus plant, 'to lighten up his room'. Rock Lee presented him with a custom made green overalls, which Sasuke had burned on the spot. There was a few more nonsense to follow, but he wanted to forget them all.

What a tedious day. Really… Sasuke closed the door behind him and took the stairs that lead to the building's garden, then out to the back allies of the city. At the corner of his eye he saw that two of the girls living there had found his birthday present book and were now giggling madly near the flower bushes. Suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable, he managed to keep his composure and walked calmly out of the inn. The laughter followed him. He suddenly changed his pace and started running. Behind him the urban noises started to fade.

"Hmmmm," he said to himself as he turned around a corner and went to the ends of the city "I find this quite disappointing. I was hoping to avoid the presents and any reminders about this day."

He was talking to no one in particular, but it was as if everything around him heard his words.

Then he remembered that envelope that Naruto had given him. Still walking, he pulled it out of his pocket and examined it. His fingers traced the letter, the corners of the paper, the thickness of the fabric. What was Naruto up to? Why was there no note? Why had he said what he had said? His sharingan was not active and he didn't want to use it. He simply opened it with his steady fingers and pulled out a single picture. It was old. It was strange, it was painful, it was wonderful. It was a picture of the day Sasuke was born. There was his mother holding him, his father's hands on her shoulders and his brother, smiling, looking at him.

"Oh, I like this one…" Sasuke whispered, a gentle warmness coming into his voice. "This is a birthday I would like to remember."