Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Naruto franchise unfortunately.
Naruto stared blankly at the calendar hanging on his wall. It was surprising he even had a calendar at all. The blonde wasn't exactly an organised person per se. He lived each day as a new one and he went by his gut every time. If he was to be honest, he didn't even know how on earth he had acquired a calendar. Nevertheless, he had to admit, it was very useful. With a sigh, Naruto reclined and let himself fall on his bed; the springs of the mattress creaking under his weight.
The blonde risked another glance at the dull calendar and regretted it. The big fat red "X" glared back at him almost accusingly. Yes he knew, damn it. It was nearly march 28th. Yet, he didn't even have the slightest idea of what to do. It was Sakura-chan's birthday for crying out loud! He had to do something! Or at least find a gift for her! One month, he had exactly one month left.
Realistically, he really wasn't obligated to. She had even told him so countless of times when he had probed what it was she wanted for her birthday. However, he wanted to. It was Sakura-chan. Naruto grinned broadly. Hopefully, Sakura-chan will give him a thank you kiss. That would be the best reward ever, dattebayo!
His grin faltered as a bittersweet feeling suddenly coursed through him. He stared at the ceiling grimly. He thought about his own past birthdays; how others had treated him. It was no secret Naruto has come to hate that particular day. Truth be told, he absolutely avoided going out on those days. As a young child, he didn't know better and he had innocently ventured the streets of Konoha as usual. Cerulean blue eyes darkened inconsiderably at the memory. He remembered it. Honestly, how could he forget? It had hurt so much. All of it: the pain, the hateful words, the disgusted stares, the beatings. Naruto chuckled sardonically. Since then, he had locked himself in his rundown apartment every other year.
He had felt joy when the Hokage visited him in his apartment on those days, yes, but when the old man left, it only accentuated how truly lonely he was and just how much the other villagers hated him. As Hokage, it was the Third's duty to overlook prejudices and make it seems as though he cared. At least, that's what a younger Naruto had thought. Now that he was older and knew about his past, he came to realise that the old geezer did genuinely care.
When Iruka-sensei had come to finally accept him, he usually came over to celebrate with him. Naruto was, of course, overjoyed for the company. But again, when the older shinobi left for the night, the blonde was reminded that only a handful of people truly cared for him at the time. He has never had a proper birthday celebration. What others took for granted was a privilege to him.
The blonde shinobi sighed in dismay. The memory of his painful past was beginning to give him a headache. Massaging his temples, Naruto stood up from his bed and made his way out of the bedroom. Some fresh air sounded nice at the moment.
Opening the door, a fox-like grin tugged at his lips as he stepped out on the balcony which overlooked the village, the same village he first hated then grew to love. His gaze drifted from the buildings to the Hokage monument and lingered on the fourth face he saw engraved in it. The fourth Hokage, his father. One day, his own face would join his. It was his dream to be Hokage. He had vowed to. However, now, for different reasons. The village has finally acknowledged him. Now, he wanted to protect his beloved people.
Naruto took a few steps forward to lean against the railing. It was almost sunset and the dying rays of the sun merging with the sky and clouds was a spectacular scenery. The orangey and pinkish hue was breath-taking, giving the horizon an almost mystical feel. Konoha was truly a beautiful village. His golden locks fluttered in the afternoon breeze and he couldn't help but think of a black haired person, a certain runaway teammate of his. Sasuke. He wondered where he was right now. Was he alright? Has be become stronger? Probably yes.
A sudden cry broke him out of his musings. He looked down just in time to catch a boy barrelling into a stack of neatly arranged boxes, sending the contents inside flying every which way. Not a second later, something scurried out from under the fallen boxes, only to disappear into the alley a few feet away. A normal person would have only seen a brown blur but Naruto's trained eyes caught a flash of red before the shadowy figure disappeared completely and immediately, an enormous grin spread on his face, almost threatening to split his face in two. Ah, he kind of missed that. The Tora mission. Sure, he used to complain a lot about it but he couldn't deny that seeing other Genins chasing the runaway cat was nostalgic. Everything had been so much less complicated back then and Team 7 had still been comprised of its original members. Heh, maybe the countless Tora missions they had had rubbed off on Sasuke-teme and contributed to why he had ran away from Konoha. Bad Tora, bad.
"Konohamaru-kun! Are you alright?" came a voice from the right and Naruto turned his head slightly to see a girl with orange hair tied up in two upright pigtails and a boy with black hair and glasses run towards the mass of fallen boxes.
'Konohama- ah,' Naruto thought with a churkle. He watched as the two children moved the boxes aside to reveal another black haired boy. The Genin accepted the extended hand offered to him from the girl Naruto now realise is Moegi and stood up, only to fall back down as the end of the blue scarf wrapped around his neck was trapped under a box. The blonde couldn't stop the snicker that escaped through his lips. Suddenly, he felt that much better.
"Yo, Konohamaru, need another hand?" Naruto yelled from his balcony and was amused at seeing the three Genins jump up in shock. Startled, Konohamaru was unfortunate enough to be sitting under a box and knocked his head on the underside of it and the movement made it fall upon him. After a second of pause, he roughly pushed the box aside and sat up.
"Ite! That hurt, kore!" the Genin cried and gripped his head in pain. The other two around him quickly rushed to his side in alarm. Naruto almost felt bad for it. Almost.
Jumping from his perch, the older shinobi landed a few feet from the trio. He took a few steps towards them only to stop when Konohamaru jumped up only to be harshly pulled back down, having forgotten that his scarf was still stuck.
"Ite! How many times have I fell today! I'm tired already, kore!" the black haired boy then sat up sharply and viciously pulled his scarf free. Giving it an annoyed look, he then flung the end around his neck, making several loops till the end reached just past his shoulder.
"Naruto-nii-chan! That was dirty, kore!" the dark glare he received made him smile sheepishly. On closer inspection, he could make out the beginning of what would be a huge and painful bump later on top of the boy's head. Okay, he did feel bad now.
"Mah, Konohamaru, it wasn't my intention really. Sorry." Naruto placed a hand behind his neck in embarrassment. The offended boy glared for some more seconds then slumped his shoulders in defeat.
"That stupid Tora fled again. We have to look for it. Come on, Moegi, Udon. Let's go." The two nodded and the trio then made to run but the arm that suddenly flew out before them made them pause. Konohamaru looked up to see Naruto smile apologetically at him.
"I feel kinda bad for that," the blonde confessed and flickered the boy's forehead. The younger Genin flinched slightly and immediately swatted the offending arm away. Another glare was sent his way and Naruto sniggered.
"Gomen, I didn't mean to further hurt you but what I'm trying to say is that I would gladly help as an apology," blue eyed shinobi then flashed his best grin at them. Yes, he hadn't meant for the box to fall on him. He had only wanted to catch their attention. And catching their attention he did, all right, Naruto thought, looking at the triple sets of eyes looking brightly and expectantly at him.
"Really, Naruto-nii-chan? You'll help us catch the straight-from-hell-beast?" Moegi asked, her eyes practically shooting sparkles and glitter around. Naruto grinned and impersonated the best Rock Lee thumbs up pose he could muster.
"Dattebayo!" The blonde then proceeded to cross his fingers in an all-too-familiar pose. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Nine puffs immediately followed Naruto's cry and after the smoke has dissipated, ten copies of the orange clad ninja stood before the three Genins. Konohamaru suddenly face palmed. Why hadn't he thought of that, kore! He then straightened and mimicked the blonde's pose. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Several puffs later then found a squadron of ten Naruto's and ten Konohamaru's rushing from the cloud of smoke, followed closely by Moegi and Udon. The hunt was on!
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto scanned the streets down below. The team has decided to split the village into different sectors and allocate each clone and member a sector. The real Naruto was assigned the central part of Konoha and almost regretted not allocating it to one of his clones instead. Now that it was night, the village was devoid of people. It should normally have been an advantage but it was not when coming to searching for a ball of fur. The streets was literally littered with stacks upon stacks of empty boxes and cartons and bins were full to the brim from a day of busy work. Plus, the growing shadows was of no help whatsoever. Everything was perfect for the cat to easily have the upper hand in this game of hide and seek.
Naruto hopped down from where he was on a low wall and scanned the area around him. He was incredibly grateful that restaurants didn't close as soon as the sun goes down as opposed to shops. He didn't feel like rummaging around in leftovers and kitchen waste. It was just… eww.
Looking behind a huge pile of neatly tied up newspapers, the blonde heaved a sigh as it was revealed to be feline-less yet again. He was tired and all the mess around wasn't very encouraging either. Not to forget that he was growing increasingly hungrier every minute. As if to prove the point correct, his stomach gave a mighty growl. Naruto placed a hand to his stomach and sighed again. Apparently, he had forgotten just how difficult it was, sometimes, to track down Tora.
Blue eyes scanned the area one more time before he leaped to the rooftops again. Maybe, just maybe, if he was lucky enough, he would spot a food stand soon and calm his tummy before he went for ramen for dinner. Unfortunately, it seemed that this district was a business one and the only places which sold food was way too expensive for a simple snack. Naruto scratched his head dejectedly. Well, it seemed like he would have to go hungry till they caught the damn cat.
Jumping to the ground once again, the blue eyed shinobi assessed his surroundings. Apparently, he was in the residential area. Great, domestic waste was as bad as restaurant waste. Well, it wasn't like he had a choice, now, did he. Tora was smart sometimes. It knew just where to hide to dissuade its pursuers. Consequently, it wouldn't be surprising if Naruto found it hiding in the most disgusting place possible. Well, at least, he was glad there weren't as many boxes and cartons as earlier. The less hiding places, the easier it was to inspect the zone. Time to get started.
Naruto walked to a trash can by a brick wall and hit the jackpot on his first shot. Diapers! Hurray! The golden haired teenager slammed the cover back straight away. This was why he hated residential areas for Tora missions! You never knew what you'd come across on your search. At least, in the business district, the worse you could come across would be shredded paper mash!
The shinobi approached another set of trash and internally crossed his fingers. Please, Lady Luck, have some mercy! Naruto crouched down and lifted a carton box. A blonde eyebrow twitched in aggravation. A dead rat. Heh. Apparently, Lady Luck as pmsing. Naruto got a whiff of the smell and immediately dropped the box. Wait, a dead rat? Cerulean eyes observed the box under which the dead rat was inquisitively. Nah, on reconsideration, Tora was too high class for that. It was the Daimyo's wife's pet after all. So his only lead was… wait, no, he didn't have a lead. Naruto sighed in dismay. Back to square one.
He looked up from the ground and stood up. What next? A loud growl was his sole answer. Right. Oh ramen, how he missed it so. Naruto sighed yet again and ruffled his hair, growing more and more frustrated. It was late, he was exasperated, he was hungry and he hasn't seen any flashy jutsu in the sky yet, indicating that the feline was still missing. Naruto was about to run when he heard another growl. This time, louder than the first. Now that he thought about it, both growls had sounded a bit off. Was that even his stomach? It was just at that moment that a loud crash was heard as a bin was sent tumbling to the ground and a cat shriek and barking resounded in the air. Naruto whipped around and saw Tora round the corner of the street down and being chased by what he assumed was a stray dog. Snapping out of his stupor, the blonde dash after the two animals.
"Tora!" he cried, hoping to catch the cat's attention but it was very unlikely given the situation. Naruto cursed and crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The clone that appeared quickly leaped to the rooftops so as to outrun the duo while the real Naruto was at the back for good measure. Tora shrieked again in panic as the Naruto clone suddenly dropped before it. Unfortunately, the clone wasn't prepared for the eventuality of the cat jumping on the nearest wall and make a break for it. Naruto internally groaned. Granted, Tora was fat but it was still a cat after all. Naruto cursed again and both he and his clone followed. At least, the dog was out of the way.
"Tora! Stop! Kitty, kitty!" he tried again but the feline ignored him and continued on his mad dash. Naruto tried to outrun it but with it always changing directions and switching roofs and walls as it currently was, it was an almost impossible feat. He grew even more frustrated. Why wouldn't that cat surrender? Didn't it understand that it would be caught sooner or later? Fortunately, the last route the cat has chosen had a very tall wall that even itself would have difficulties climbing up. Therefore, Tora only had two options: either left or right. The blonde boy grinned, already feeling victorious. Taking a deep breath, both Naruto's dove for it, the real one to the left and the other to the right.
Luckily or unluckily, the fur ball turned left, exactly in the blonde's trajectory. However, it was the fall that Naruto didn't expect. As soon as his arms closed around the feline, it began to trash in terror and scratched at everything in reach. That had caused Naruto to lose his balance momentarily but it was enough to send the shinobi tumbling over the edge of the roof. Auspiciously for him, he landed in a heap on a balcony just under where he was standing instead of down below. And with a lot of noise, might he add. Talk about being a ninja.
"Aha! Caught you! Oh! Hey!" Naruto tightened his hold on the cat as it tried to wriggle free while mewling in distress. As hell was he going to let go after all this! He would be damned if he did! The sliding door behind him suddenly slammed open.
"What's this racket all ab- Naruto?!" Said person looked up only to freeze in shock. Pink hair, jade green eyes, fair skin. There, in front of him was Sakura-chan… his eyes quickly surveyed her and went back to her surprised face… dressed in a… flimsy nightgown. Naruto didn't realise it when his eyes drifted lower from her face to rest just a little below her collarbone… and quite a see-through nightgown at that.
Sakura blinked at the fascinated look on the golden haired boy's face and soon realised at just what he was staring at. Her temper flared. Her first instinct was to flail.
"NARUTO YOU HENTAI!" Charging as much none life threatening amount of chakra as possible, but more than enough to hurt very badly, Sakura lunged a colossal upper cut straight in the blonde's jaw, sending him flying off her balcony. She didn't care where he landed and hurriedly dashed inside her room and slammed the sliding door shut. She was fuming, absolutely livid. How dare he!
The pink haired girl stomped over to her vanity mirror and sat brusquely on the stool. Her face was red in rage. That Naruto! When she saw him tomorrow… Sakura roughly took her hairbrush from the table and brushed her hair. Sadistic thoughts fleeted though her mind, each being more painful than the previous one. Oh yes, when she got her hands on that baka!
Sakura gritted her teeth and banged the hairbrush back on the table top. She then stood up and leaned closer to her mirror to look at her face. She was outraged, yes, but she couldn't help but wonder why she had had a flipping feeling in her chest at the blonde's gaze earlier. Was she sick?
Author: Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Please review :)