Naruto walked home slowly from a late dinner at Ichiraku Ramen, a favorite ramen bar in Konoha. The taste of the last sip of broth still on his tongue, he couldn't help but smile. It was a good night for a walk, not cold at all. In fact, it had been unusually warm for this time of the year. He looked up to the sky to see the moon large and bright in the sky, bathing everything in light past what the streetlamps could provide.

I could eat that every night, no, every meal! He thought to himself, then returned his attention back to his walk, and to the dread in his mind. In a few days it would be his birthday, he reminded himself bitterly. One of the days he hated most. Most people look forward to their birthdays, but not him, he practically refused its existence until it was upon him, which may be the worst thing for him to do, for then the wave of emotions crashed down even harder. Ever since he talked to his mother while trying to take control of the Nine-Tails' chakra, he is plagued with the knowledge that his parents both died over him. It wasn't that he wasn't thankful, or that he didn't love them, only that…. Well… he was always alone from that point on. Even Jiraya, his own godfather, didn't enter his life until Naruto was old enough to become his pupil as a shinobi. He did make some friends in those years, and most of them were still in his life. Now he was faced with another birthday that, although his friends wouldn't forgot it, would be spent alone.

When he reached his house he stopped. There was one friend that he couldn't help miss the most, her smiling face illuminating his thoughts, driving out all the negativity. He pushed her aside however, replacing her with the dread. That was how his birthdays went mostly; Naruto was in that mood where one almost wants to be sad. He opened his door and tossed his shoes off, glancing at the picture of a young Team 7.

So long ago… how old will I be now? 20, yeah that's right. Naruto never believed the elderly people in the village when he would ask them how old they were and they had to seriously consider their answer, but now he understood why. He looked around his apartment, thinking about the other shinobi his age that only just got their own places to live and how refreshing it must be to have space, but to him….. It was just another reminder of how alone he was, and had been. However one new thing for him was the attention he had been getting from the village elders as of late. After his exploits during the fourth ninja war, he had been tested time and time again and was gaining even more popularity among the villagers. Everything was shaping up to make him the sixth hokage.

His friends were achieving in their fields as well. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji had perfected their formation and were now being sent on some of the toughest missions the village had to offer. In fact, they were already being called the best Ino-Shika-Cho group so far. After Sasuke returned, he had pursued the idea of hokage for a time, but abandoned it after seeing the paperwork that was required, and after realizing how restraining the job could be as a result. Instead he decided to join the ANBU. Usually they wouldn't have taken him due to his age, but they made an exception because of his obvious capabilities.

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were still working together, despite having squads of their own, if the village ever needed a tracking unit put together fast that could still hold its own in a fight. Lee and Tenten also worked together at the academy, teaching the taijutsu and tools portions of the curriculum to the students. Then there was her, Sakura Haruno. Naruto's stomach fluttered at the thought of her. He even imagined the smell of her before getting himself under control.

What was the point he thought with anguish, flopping onto his bed with a groan. There wasn't one he decided, after remembering the numerous times he had been shot down. Why would she decide now to find him attractive? With that he drifted off to sleep, but not before letting his imaginations wander to her one last time.

"The next morning he woke in a cold sweat. The nightmares had begun a few nights ago and he knew they would not go away until after his annual torment. They always had the same theme, Minato, Kushina, fire, pain, Kurama, death, and suffering. Nevertheless it was all part of the process, and to his dissatisfaction, he was getting used to it. Naruto was a generally happy person, so he didn't enjoy the thought of himself growing accustomed to such things. However he decided it was inevitable, and sat up in his bed.

Looking around his room he realized what a mess he left it in. Clothes were strewn across the floor, and there were empty take out boxes mixed in with them. He squirmed in disgust as he thought of himself letting a part of his house get this messy, he wasn't 15 anymore after all. but decided it was too big a job for right now. He swiveled himself around on his bed and got up, walking to his bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw that he himself was in little better shape than his room, so he took a shower to rid himself of the perspiration that still clung to he slipped back into the pants he was wearing the night before, and sat down to a cup of tea to start his day. He never used to drink the stuff, but realized with enough sugar it tasted like candy, something Sakura scolded him for constantly. Being one of the top medical ninjas she was always going on about what was and what wasn't healthy.

"What am I going to do today?" he wondered aloud, realizing he had taken the next days off. He used the excuse every year of trying to enjoy his birthday with his time off, but in reality he simply didn't want to slow everyone else down with his mood and how tired the nightmares left him. Looking around he was thankful that the rest of his house was clean, giving him one less thing to worry about. While he was thinking about it, there was a knock on his door, but when he went to answer it, no one was there. He wondered if it had been his imagination, or if it had been one of the damned kids that had moved in with their next-door a few weeks ago. They were always getting into things, and he had already promised himself not to help them if they were being attacked by another kid, or a large rodent. Still though, he thought he smelled something in the air, something sweet.

"Probably something they knocked over" he mumbled and retreated back into his house to watch something on T.V.

...

Sakura was ashamed. She hadn't forgotten he friends' birthday, rather, she had simply come a day too soon. She had been planning to surprise him with lunch on the day and had even gotten a reservation. While she knocked on his door, she just happened to look at her watch and saw that it was the ninth. Naruto's birthday. Or so she thought until she remembered that his birthday was actually the tenth. As quick as she could she ran around a corner in hopes of avoiding embarrassment. Soon enough she heard Naruto's door open and slowly close. She felt lucky that she was fast enough, or their friendship may have hit a rough patch. She looked down at herself in dismay, she had dressed up and was planning to take him somewhere nice. She had even put on her cherry blossom perfume. Afraid it may have lingered in the door she decided to leave, but as she turned around she nearly kneed a small boy in the face, who she realized must have been staring at her butt.

"Hey!" she shouted angrily, but instead of seeing the child scurry away in fear like most kids his age, she only saw him give a mischievous smile.

"What are you doing around Naruto's house?" he prodded

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked. She was taken aback with the bluntness of the question, and the meaning it seemed to hold to the boy.

"You seem a little dressed up, and that perfume…" he sniffed the air dramatically "You must be over there to take him out on a date or something" he said with a wink.

"No no no it's not like that" Sakura said hurriedly "We are only friends and-" she stopped mid-sentence as he slowly walked past her and rounded the corner. Curious, she followed him, but immediately regretted it as she saw his hand moving to the door in front of him, Naruto's. She knew what was about to happen, she was about to be tossed into this awkward situation by this kid. She had to do something, without thinking she leapt forward and delivered a light punch to the child's face, sending him careening into a pile of rubbish, dazing him and creating a loud thunder. She knew the child would be fine, she was taking plenty of punches like that from Ino at that age; nevertheless, she opted to run far far away from there.

Just as she left, Naruto poked his head out the door annoyed, saw the child unconscious in a pile of garbage, and closed his door once again. Once inside, he caught another whiff of the sweet smell he had before, and knew it was familiar but couldn't quite place it.

I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! Read more!