For the Sake of Art, Love, and Chocolate

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 10: Birthday Part 1

(Mika's PV)

I tried to walk to art class as slow as possible. I wanted to avoid talking to Deidara as much as possible. When I finally made it to art class, being 15 minuets late, Kakashi wasn't there.

That lazy ass teacher! Why can't he ever show up on time?

Deidara noticed me and came toward me. I wanted to turn around and run. I didn't want to have him pity me.

"Hey, un. If you don't want to talk about it I won't ask, yeah." My whole body seemed to relax. Deidara really was an understanding person. I'm glad I made friends with him even though he was a jerk at the beginning.

"Thanks." I gave him a grateful smile and went to our work table. Our project was on top of the table covered up with some cloth. Kakashi finally came in and made up some excuse, same old same old. The class went fairly quickly as we looked at the other art projects. They were all stunning and took my breath away. Deidara and I got a lot of compliments on our project. I saw Kakashi grading the projects; he just gave you an +A if you did the project. The bell rang and we all left our projects in the art room. I was feeling much better after that class. It was refreshing to see so many unique works of art take so many different forms. Deidara said something about wanting to blow up our project later; I didn't really care if he did as long as I could take a picture before hand.

"Mika, wake up. Come on and get up. Mika?"

"Ahnnn...leave me alone. Need more sleep."

"Mikama Elizabeth Stone! If you don't get up right now I'll be forced to get the ice bucket!"

"AHHH! NOOO! Not the bucket!" I bolted upright from my bed and stared horrified at my aunt. The last time she threatened me with the ice bucket I had thought she was kidding, but she actually did dump ice water on me. Never again would I let that happen to me.

"Good you're finally up. Happy birthday my seventeen year old niece. I'm so excited for your party and to invite all your friends and-"

"Woah. Who said I was going to have a party? I don't want one." I liked parties and all, just not ones that I had to throw. Auntie Mo huffed and looked disappointed.

"For once I would like to throw my niece a birthday party. Mika don't be so mean to your aunt. I promise to throw you a wonderful party." Auntie Mo was using the guilt trip and pouty face on me. Wasn't I the one who was suppose to do the puppy eyes and yet my Auntie Mo was doing it to me.

"Fine, whatever you want," I mumbled as I tried to snuggle back into my bed. Auntie Mo wouldn't take any of that and stripped the covers off leaving me cold.

"Come on down stairs. I have a surprise waiting for you." I groaned again. It was Saturday which meant sleep time for me. I glared at my alarm clock as it blinked 8AM.

Today was December 15, my seventeenth birthday. I had successfully avoided a certain ex-boyfriend for a whole month. When I saw him I would turn the other way or hide behind Kisame or anyone that was tall; which meant almost everyone, being really short. I know I was acting like a little kid but I still didn't want to confront him. Deidara and I seemed to get along even better and we became even closer friends. I still had to find Christmas gifts for everyone and I only had 10 days left.

I trudged down stairs in my shorts and warm hoody holding Mr. BaBa. I kept rubbing my eyes, I was still so tired. I looked around the kitchen and saw Auntie Mo making pancakes. My friends sat at the kitchen and dining room tables.

"Hey guys," I waved slightly and yawned. I went to the fridge and looked inside, squeezing my stuffed sheep closer to me.

Nice to see my friends here and...Wait! What the hell are they doing at my house! It's eight in the morning for crying out loud! I'm wearing shorts...and a hoody...and holding Mr. BaBa! Crap!

I whirled around and stared at all the people in my house. Deidara, Tobi, Kisame, Itachi, Pein, Konan, Hidan, and Kakuzu were all sitting at the island in the kitchen. Sasori and Sakura were sitting at the small coffee table. Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Temari, Sasuke, Tenten, and Neji were sitting at the dining room table. They were all staring at me with either amused or suppressed laughter on their faces. We just stared at each other for a few minuets. Finally Hidan broke the silence with his cocky mouth.

"What the hell! You still sleep with a fucking stuff animal! That's hilarious; the Bitch hasn't grown up yet!" He started cackling and slapping his sides. I glared daggers at him and at the other people who started to crack up as well.

"Shut up Hidan! Mr. BaBa is special to me so fuck off!" I grounded my teeth at him. I heard Auntie Mo gasp at my colorful language.

"Mr. BaBa?" Sasuke was smirking trying to be cool and not laugh. I wanted to punch something or someone right now.

"Shut your trap chicken butt!" Sasuke glared at me. You could feel the static in the room as I glared at Sasuke and Hidan. Sasuke glared at me while Hidan was still laughing his guts out.

"What are you guys doing here? Trying to free load off me and Auntie Mo?" I still glared at Sasuke as I said this. Auntie Mo frowned and gave me a be-nice-to-your-friends look. I rolled my eyes and looked back at everyone this time.

"Your Aunt invited us over so we could help plan for the party, yeah." I glanced at Deidara and raised an eyebrow at Auntie Mo. She had planned this with my friends and didn't tell me. I really didn't want a party right now.

"Auntie Mo, I really don't want a party. Maybe you should wait until I turn twenty-one so I can drink and stuff." I was hoping maybe, just maybe, she would go with the idea.

"Mika, I want to throw you a party. Let me do this one little thing. I promise it won't be too big of a party." I have a soft spot for my aunt since she was the one who took me in.

"Alright. It can't be a huge party, though." Auntie Mo gave me a smile and went back to work on the pancakes. In the end everyone stayed and ate breakfast. Auntie Mo wouldn't let me kick anyone out so I had no choice. She wanted to kick me out of the house so she could prepare for the party. Sakura, Ino, Temari, Hinata, Naruto, Pein, Konan, Kakuzu and Itachi stayed to help Auntie Mo prepare while everyone else went to the mall to kill time. Unfortunately the group that went to the mall included Sasuke and Hidan. Hidan was still cracking up about and calling me a baby for sleeping with a stuffed animal. Sasuke was just being his emo self and annoying the heck out of me with his one word answers. I mean sure Neji does that too but at least when he's with Tenten he says a lot more and even smiles sometimes. Sasuke really needed to get a girlfriend if Neji acted different when his girlfriend was around. I really couldn't think of anyone besides Karin and even I don't think it would be right to have them date.

We got to the mall and decided to split up in two groups. Tenten, Neji, Deidara, Tobi, and I were one group while Sasuke, Kisame, Hidan, Kiba, and Sasori were the other group. We all split up and promised to be back by ten. Trying to kill a couple of hours in the mall was not my idea of fun. At least Ino and Sakura weren't here to try and get me in another outfit. We wandered around for a while. I even stopped at Jiraiya's place and he gave me, for my birthday, 'Devil's Temptation' fudge. Sai grumbled about not getting anything for his birthday and Tenten just said that he would of if he weren't a male.

"I'm so bored. You can only walk around this mall so many times before you loose your mind." I groaned and flopped onto one of the many random and hard benches the mall so generously supplied for tired shoppers. Tenten and Neji had gone off somewhere so that left me with Tobi and Deidara. Tobi was bouncing up and down for no reason. Deidara looked like he was going to kill him if he didn't stop.

"Tobi can't believe Mika-chan is so old now. Tobi can't wait for the party and cake!"

"Tobi, I'm not that old. Your older than me by a year so you're the old one." I looked at all the windows. It was so crowded here and people seemed really busy.

Why are so many people out and about? It's Saturday, they should be sleeping...I should be sleeping. Well, ten days until Christmas...holy seltzer water, I forgot to get gifts!

I knew I was forgetting something. I needed to get everyone a gift; which meant I had to get Sasuke one as well. First, I had to get rid of Tobi and Deidara so they wouldn't see their presents.

"Hey, guys? I need to go shopping, so could you leave me alone."

"Why do you need to be alone, yeah?"

"Uh, I have to get some girl stuff, you know bras, tampons and stuff." Deidara's face went red when I mentioned my womanly necessities. He worked in a Women's underwear store and yet mentioning tampons made him go red. Tobi didn't seem fazed by what I said. He just blinked at me as if he had no idea what any of the stuff I mentioned was.

"Uh, lets go Tobi, un. We'll, ah, meet you back here in one hour, yeah." Deidara tugged at his collar and dragged a confused Tobi away. His ears were red and it slowly spread down to his neck. I giggled as they disappeared. Seeing an embarrassed Deidara was really funny. I should try and make him embarrassed more often.

Onward to an hour of grueling work!

"It's so good to be home!" I fumbled for my keys with a bunch of shopping bags in my hands. Everyone was shivering from the cold and looked tired. The mall wasn't that big but walking around it about five times was a workout. As I opened the door someone covered my eyes. I growled as I nearly tripped on the Welcome mat.

"What the hell? I can't see!"

"We don't want you to see the end product yet, un. Your Aunt wants you to go up to your room and wait a while, hmm." Deidara led me into my house and up the stairs. He finally let me go and I scowled at him.

"I could of closed my eyes if you told me, you know. I nearly broke my neck when you did that." Deidara just gave me a shrug. I pushed him out of the my room and locked my door. I had to put all the gifts I got away so no one could find them. It took me a good hour and a half to find gifts for everyone.

I got Hinata I got her two ivory white hair clips made in the shape of a lily. I got Sakura dangle earrings with dark pink cherry blossom flowers hanging at the end. Ino's new obsession was a new line of makeup and perfume. I got her a makeup kit from that line; it was so expensive, she better have gotten me something nice. I went and got Tenten a book on weapons throughout the centuries. Temari present was a little hard; I ended up getting her a book on different hairstyles. I saw an origami book while I was shopping and Konan came into mind.

I got Naruto a coupon book for a years free supply of different flavored ramen. I had no idea they had those kind of things. Kiba needed a new jacket. He wore his fuzzy hoody too much so I got him a chocolate brown leather jacket. I think the best gift was the one I got for Sasuke. I was going through a book store and happen to find the perfect gift for him. It was a book called 'A Dummies Guide on How Not to be Emo'. I almost fell on the floor laughing my head off. Sure he would hate me for it but it was too good to resist. The second best gift was for Hidan. I got him a book to but it was called 'How to Learn Manners and Edict'. In my opinion Hidan needed to learn this; I would probably be getting an earful of swears later on. I got Sasori new wood cutting tools for his puppet making. Deidara would receive some new art clay and a book on making chocolate pastries; hopefully he would make me some. I got Pein a gift card to a tattoo store where they do piercings as well; just in case he wanted a new piercing. I got Itachi a book for '101 Ways to Annoy Your Little Brother'. Kisame would be getting a gift card to the new sushi place since he loved sushi; just not the fish kind. Kakuzu would be getting twenty bucks from me. That was the only thing I could think of. I got Tobi a book called 'How to Be a Good Boy'. It had really cute pictures in it. Neji was hard because I didn't really know what he liked so I just got a book on Philosophy. For Auntie Mo I got her a porcelain tea set made in England. It was pink with delicately drawn flowers. I spent a good fortune on buying all these gifts; good thing I saved up my money.

Auntie Mo made me dress up in a new outfit for my party. I could hear the door bell ring and people down stairs talking. There was music playing and it sounded like everyone was having a good time. I kept my door locked so Ino and Sakura wouldn't try and help me get ready. The dress Auntie Mo got me was a midnight blue color that came up to my knees. It flared out and had spaghetti straps. Simple but very beautiful and I actually liked it. I put on a pair of silver gladiator sandals, yes I own other shoes besides Converse, and left my hair down only putting a silver ivory hair clip on the side. No makeup except some clear lip gloss and I was done. I came out of my room and down the stairs. Everything had gotten quiet and I peeked around the corner.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKA!"

Everyone yelled at me and then they all ran and we had a group hug, me being squashed in the middle. I had a feeling Auntie Mo invited everyone from my grade to the party. I said a small party but this was defiantly not small at all. I went and talked to everyone and we hung out for a while. I was standing near the door when it rang.

"Hey, come on-" I stared at icy green orbs. I blinked and he was still there. Kimimaro looked at me holding a warped present. He looked very handsome in a simple white shirt and dark washed jeans. My mouth opened and closed as I tried to say something. Finally I just closed the door in his face and ran through the crowed of people to get as far away as I could.

Hello all. Sorry for such a long wait. I've been very busy with school. First term is ending next week so I have lots of work and projects to do. I'll try to update soon. I must now work on my other story and hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter.

Please Review.

Kitkat d(^.^)b