Birthday Surprises

"Nuh-uh. No way could it have been them. It's just way too creative for it to have been any of my neighbors," one girl claimed, balancing birthday cards and balloons in her arms.

Two students weaved their way through crowded halls of Konoha High, slowly making their way toward first period Economics. The brisk spring air was as refreshing as it felt. The slight chill in the air warranted the long sleeves both girls donned.

"Come on, give it some thought," urged her friend, also juggling gift bags. "Who else could it have been? You said it had to have happened after 4 in the morning, right? That's about the time you got up to use the bathroom? Honestly, if it wasn't your neighbors, who else could get to your place, TP your house, and fork your lawn? No one but your immediate neighbors would have the time to pull that off. You live out in the middle of nowhere." Her friend shot her a glance. "Okay, maybe not that far out. But still."

"I'm thinking along those same lines. That's why I'm looking for anyone who looks overly tired. You look pretty suspicious yourself, you know."

"Oh please. We're in high school. What do you expect? This is practically where the term "all-nighter" was coined. Besides, I was staying up late to work on that "Monetary and Fiscal Policy Report" for econ class. No way would I have wasted my time celebrating your birthday like that."

"Yeah, yeah. But if it was you, I'd have to say: that was the best forking job I have ever witnessed. Kudos to the culprits. But I really, the toilet paper just sucked. The morning dew made it all stick to the shingles and the walls… it's going to be a pain to get rid of." Both girls ambled into the classroom and set the gifts and balloons in the back corner. Then, they took their respective seats near the middle of the room while Sakura received several birthday greetings. "Oh wow. Who did this?" she questioned, waving her arms at her desk, which was entirely decorated with vibrant pink birthday wrapping paper.

Tenten winked. "Don't move around, or you'll make too much noise. And don't sweat over the clean-up, Sakura," she responded. "We'll help you clean up right after school. I'm sure your parents aren't too pleased with the uh… atrocity."

Both girls took out their binders and began filling in their agenda for the period. "Thanks, Tenten," Sakura replied absent-mindedly. "You guys are life savers. Though I must admit, I wouldn't put this kind of thing past someone like Naruto. This practically reeks of his pranks."

"Oh give it a break. It's your birthday! They wouldn't want you to waste your special day cleaning toilet paper off your property or taking plastic forks out of your lawn. Besides, we have dinner and movie plans tonight. The clean up job will take an hour, tops. That leaves us enough time to get ready and catch the movie," Tenten replied enthusiastically, almost disappointed at how distraught her friend seemed. Almost….

Just then, the tardy bell rang and the morning announcements began and Ino's bubbly voice greeted the student body with an enthusiastic, "Good morning, Konoha Warriors!" Soon after, Tenten received a text. Surreptitiously, she checked her phone and read from Naruto, "Does she suspect us? I don't think I can look at her without cracking up. "

Snickering to herself, Tenten quickly responded, "Yeah, she does. Not like it matters. Everyone gets TPed on their birthdays. But she got the forks this time. Where are you? Did you get the car?" SEND

Tenten smirked. She went back to writing down the class agenda. Not even a minute later, the response came, "You bet! I'm on my way to class right now. I'll tell Morgan I was doing announcements for the dance next week or something"

Smiling to herself, Tenten began taking notes on the importance of imports and exports to economy.

"Now, Warriors, before I let you go, I want to give a special shout-out to Haruno Sakura, our very own student body Treasurer! Make sure you wish her a very happy birthday! Also, a special thanks to the rest of the crew for the wonderful creativity! That's all for now. Peace."

Sakura nearly pounded her head with her binder and sighed. Ino will be Ino, I guess… I wonder what she meant by "creativity."

Nearly 2 minutes later, Naruto walked into class right behind Ino. "Morning, Mr. Morgan! I was doing announcements with Ino." The teacher nodded his agreement and continued lecturing.

"Happy birthday, kiddo," Naruto greeted. Ino flashed her best friend a smile and handed her a small envelope.

"iTunes?" Sakura asked, eyeing the small card-shaped envelope.

"Haha, you know me too well, Sakura."

"Hey, settle down back there, girls," Mr. Morgan called out. The period droned on until there were only a few minutes of class left.

"Hey guys," Sakura called out to her friends, "I need to go to my car to put all the cards and gifts away. Can we go after class?"

"No!" Naruto vehemently protested. Sakura shot him a quizzical glance. "Uh, well, if you don't have your balloons with you, no one will know it's your birthday!"

"Oh, I think Ino took good care of that," Sakura responded. "But fine." Just then, the bell rang. "Let's go. Time for calculus."

The group of four walked to their next class, exchanging pleasantries with fellow students as they walked down the hallways. In every class, Sakura found her desk to be wrapped up in birthday wrapping paper. These guys are too thoughtful, she mentally complimented.

As the day winded down, Sakura cringed at the task at hand, but was pleased with the later activities she had planned with her close group of friends. On the way to the parking lot, Sakura was joined by Tenten, Ino, Naruto, Hinata, and Neji.

"Alright, so we're going to meet the others at the movies, right?" Sakura confirmed absentmindedly while scanning the parking lot for her car.

"Yeah, that's the plan. We five are going to help you clean up your house and then head over to the theater," Naruto jovially responded.

Sakura nodded, but wasn't paying much attention. Where's my car? I thought I parked right next to that colorful Corol – Oh no. Please, no. "You guys sticky noted my car?!"

All of a sudden, the group exploded in laughter, except for Hinata and Neji, who kept their amusement down to mere chuckles. "Oh, you guys!! Last time, it took me over half an hour to get them all off!"

"Don't worry, Sakura!" Naruto managed between huffs. "We'll help you this time. It's your birthday, after all." Immediately, everyone began pulling colorful sticky notes off Sakura's red Corolla. She quickly noted that the pink and purple sticky notes had her friends' names written on them with smiley faces. Well, they get points for creativity, I suppose.

No more than ten minutes later, the group had effectively removed all 500 sticky notes from the car. "Keep these ones, Sakura," Naruto suggested, gesturing to the notes tagged with their names. "You can put them on the toilet bowl cover we gave you."

"Toilet bowl cover? What toilet bowl cover?!" Sakura immediately began reevaluating her car, looking for any signs of germ infested toiletries.

"The one in your back yard. You didn't see it hanging off tree by your back patio?" Naruto blurted out before Ino could silence him. "Oops…," he responded belatedly.

"…Everyone here has to the count of 10 before I run you all over. No… screw it. You have until I can get the key into the ignition. Go. Now," Sakura threatened while pulling out her keys.

"Aw come on, Sakura," Ino replied soothingly. "It's not like it's dirty or anything. Wait, Naruto, which one did you use?"

"You mean I was supposed to use the new one?! But I used it to replace my toilet bowl cover!" Naruto cried, brow knotted in false confusion and worry.

By now, Sakura had started her car. Everyone ran for their cars. "We'll see you in fifteen, Sakura!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder while trying to stifle a laugh.

Everyone rushed to start their cars and beat Sakura out of the parking lot. But who could blame them for being in such a rush? De-forking a lawn, cleaning up toilet paper, and cutting down a toilet seat bowl hanging from a tree may sound interesting, but they had movie and dinner reservations. It was time to clean up, and there was no way Sakura was going to let them forget that.

A/N: Alright, so this is just a little one shot that I thought up today. It's actually drawn from some things my friends have told me, or things I've participated in. Fun times, in high school. I hope it wasn't too boring… I graciously accept constructive criticism. What can I change in my writing? I know this one was probably really slow and not much action, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

Anyway, make sure you leave a review!! Constructive criticism is very welcome! Thanks for reading, guys.

InfiniteIdealist