Me: Hey guys! Well here's chapter eleven that you have all been waiting for! Enjoy! ^^

Ok now here are the votes for couples that I got from the reviews:

Itachi- llll

Sasuke- llllllllll

Garra- lllll

Naruto- lll

(Poor Naruto, only gets sisterly love from Kags)

Don't forget you can still vote! By poll (if you haven't already) and review. If you REALLY want your guy to win you can review multiple times, I really don't care. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Inuyasha. They belong to the original owners.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter Eleven: Birthdays and Goodbyes

"Took you guys long enough! Where have you guys been?" She yelled back to them.

"Sorry, we...bumped into someone and...and–" Seeing as how Naruto was having trouble coming up with a good lie, Sasuke decided to help him out.

"–And they gave us an assignment to do, so we can't play today." Sasuke finished.

"Yeah so bye! See you tomorrow." Naruto said, and ran off with Sasuke right beside him.

"Wait, guys!" She yelled, but they were already gone, leaving her alone on the field.

~With Naruto and Sasuke~

~Normal POV~

After telling Kagome that lie, they ran back to the Hokage. They found him standing in the same spot where they had bumped into him. "Ok old man, so what's up?" Naruto asked, once he ran up to the leader of the village.

"W-what? Old? Do I look old to you?" the Hokage asked, a bit irritated by the comment.

"Uh... yeah," Naruto replied bluntly.

The Hokage sighed. 'Minato, your son is something else...' he thought. The Hokage coughed to change the subject, "Anyway, I wanted to tell you guys that Kagome's birthday is tomorrow, and as her best friends I think you guys should get her something special." After explaining what's happening, he looked at the kids in front of him. They both looked shocked and frozen stiff. An awkward wind blew passed them.

"WHAT!" they both screamed in unison. "Why didn't she tell us!"

"Are you positive it's tomorrow old man?" Naruto asked, still a bit in shock.

"Yes."

"... Well that's just great! We didn't know about her birthday, so now we have only a day to get her a gift!" Naruto yelled, frustrated by the news.

Sasuke couldn't take anymore of Naruto's obnoxious yelling, so he decided say something that would actually be beneficial to their current predicament. "So what do you suppose we do Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked, politely.

"Well since the day is still young, I think you two should walk around the marketplace and see if you can find anything that would hold meaning and be special to her," he told the two boys.

"What if Kagome see us in the market place finding her present?" Sasuke questioned, worried they would get caught by her.

"Don't worry. I will find some new scrolls and books for her to read to keep her busy," the Hokage said with a smile.

"Dude, that's cold. To make her study before her birthday," Naruto added, sincerely sorry for Kagome. The Hokage didn't say anything about his comment and just continued to smile.

"Wait, what about a party for her?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't worry, the adults will handle planning the party. All you two have to do is find her a gift."

"Don't worry old man, you can count on our gift to be the best gift she will receive! Believe it!" shouted Naruto holding up a thumbs up.

'I truly hope it will be Naruto, for Kagome's sake,' the Hokage thought, knowing that she won't see these two boys for quiet a long time. The Hokage gave the two boys one last smile, "Well, I better get going and find Kagome, while you two go and find a present." With that said, the Hokage began to walk away.

~At the Marketplace~

"GAAHHH! Who am I kidding! This is impossible! How are we supposed to find the perfect gift?" Naruto screamed, freaking out because he said their present was going to be the best, but didn't know where to begin in finding that so-called-amazing present.

"Quiet down, you idiot!" Sasuke whispered-screamed at Naruto. "What if Kagome hears you!"

"Oh. Oops, sorry..." Naruto said, finally calming down.

"Ok let's see..." Sasuke said while looking around the marketplace.

"Oh! How about flowers? I heard girls love flowers!"

"No... that isn't good enough, plus flowers wilt quickly. The gift we're getting her has to be something really special, Naruto," Sasuke told the boy, while still looking around.

"Oh, ok," the boy responded, looking around as well. "How about candy?"

"Nope."

"Fruit?"

"Nope."

"Clothes?"

"Hm... Still not good enough."

"Stuffed animal?"

"Not even close."

"DANGIT SASUKE! Stop shooting down all my ideas!" Naruto yelled, glaring at the Uchiha.

"Well maybe if you had better ideas, and knew how to buy a gift for someone- let alone a girl- I wouldn't be saying 'no' to all of them," countered the Uchiha.

"... I hate you, you know that?" Naruto said still glaring at Sasuke.

"The feeling is mutual. Deal with it idiot," Sasuke replied without even having to look at Naruto.

"Hmph!" Naruto childishly turned away from his rival with his arms crossed. Sasuke just sighed. 'This is getting us no where,' he thought, then something caught his eye in a nearby store window. He ran up to the window, leaving Naruto behind. "Hey where are you going?" Naruto asked, but the Uchiha simply ignored him, so Naruto decided to run after him.

"Hey Naruto, do you think she will like this?" Sasuke asked, while pointing to something in the window. Naruto stepped closer and saw that the object he was pointing to was very beautiful. Surely, Kagome would love it. "We are going to have to work really hard to be able to pay for it though," Sasuke stated.

"Then we better get started! Try to get as much money as you can, and then we can meet up later!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.

"Right now it's about nine o'clock (morning). Meet me here at six, and we will add up what we have by then," Sasuke instructed.

"Ok!"

The whole day, two boys ran around asking people for small tasks that they could do for some money.

From the Hokage's window, he saw the two boys frantically running around trying to get as many jobs done in the shortest amount of time. 'It's a good thing some villagers didn't terribly hate Naruto like they did before. It's great to see Naruto put all his energy into something productive,' the Hokage thought with a smile. Suddenly his door opened, to reveal a tired Kagome.

"Jii-san, can I stop studying now?" Kagome asked, ready to collapse.

"I'm sorry Kagome, but if you want to travel to Sunagakure, you need to read up on their history," the Hokage explained to her.

Kagome sighed. "Yeah, I guess your right... but can I at least play tomorrow?"

"Oh ok, tomorrow," the Hokage smiled. "But right now you need to study and then get some rest.

"Yes, Jii-san." Kagome walked out the door and closed it.

'I am so glad she bought that excuse,' the Hokage thought happy he was able to delay her for the rest of the day.

~Six o'clock~

~Marketplace~

Naruto ran back to the shop. He noticed that Sasuke was already there waiting for him with a bag, which he guessed contained Sasuke's portion of the money.

"Ok, ready to add up the money Naruto?" Sasuke asked the blond.

"Of course I am! I even bet I got more money than you!" Naruto shouted, while holding out his bulky green frog wallet.

"Not everything has to be a competition, Naruto," Sasuke said, while shaking his head at his rival's childishness. "Plus, we are doing this for Kagome, so shut up stupid."

"I will look over that insult this time Sasuke, but only because it's for Kagome."

"Whatever," Sasuke said as he turned back to their pile of money and began counting. "Ok, let's see..." A few minutes passed as Sasuke counted. "Aug! We are still ¥3000 short!" Sasuke frustratedly yelled.

"What are you kids doing in front of my shop?" a deep, rough voice asked. The two boys flinched and turned around. Standing in the doorway of the shop they were hoping to buy from, stood a big, tan, burly man with a dark mustache and beard and huge muscle running down his arms. His big structure frightened the two boys, because this man could easily crush them just in the palm of his hand. (Ok, not really, but it seemed that way to them. :P) "Are you two not going to answer?" his voice boomed.

"W-we're sorry for b-blocking your doorway, s-sir," Naruto stuttered, completely scared of this man. "W-we just w-wanted to buy something f-for our friend."

"Oh? Who is this friend of yours?" The man asked.

Sasuke decided to step up to the question sensing that Naruto was about to pee his pants from fright in the middle of the street. Sasuke was scared as well, but he had better control on his emotions than Naruto. "Our friend is Kagome, and her birthday is coming up, so we wanted to buy her a meaningful gift and your shop just so happen to have that very gift," Sasuke explained.

"... Did you say Kagome?" the man asked seriously.

"Um... yes," replied Sasuke, a little scared at what the big man was thinking. The man was silent and didn't say anything for a few minutes, until he began to laugh- but with his deep voice, it sort of sounded like thunder more than a laugh.

"So, you are the two boys she was talking about," the man said, not looking as mean anymore as he laughed.

"Eh?" Both boys were confused, not just by the man's sudden laugh and the change in mood, but also how he talked as if he knew Kagome.

"Oh sorry, I forgot to explain," the man said calming down. "One day when I got a new truckload of merchandise and I was moving the boxes into my shop, a little girl out of nowhere offered to help me carry the boxes. I declined because she was so small and could not possibly carry those heavy boxes," the man told the two boys. "Boy, was I wrong. To my surprise, she carried two of those boxes with one arm. I didn't really question it, because her strength did make everything go faster," The man paused to take a breath. "But that wasn't all. She also helped me put everything away and even helped clean up my shop. To this day, I still don't know how to repay her for her kind deeds."

"Wow. I guess Kagome is nice to everyone no matter who they are," Naruto commented.

"So, what did you two boys want in my shop?" the man asked.

"Actually, we wanted to buy that," Sasuke pointed to the object in the window.

"Oh! You have an eye for quality, young man. I just got that a few days ago," the man explained. "Come in. I will show it to you." The two boys followed the man into the shop. They stood at the counter as the man took the object from the window and placed it in front of the two boys. "Here you go."

"Thank you, sir... but we are ¥3000 short on cash," Sasuke told him.

"Oh, that's ok. Just take it for free."

"What!" both boys freaked out.

"You said it was for her birthday, right?" They nodded. "Well, then take it. It's the least I can do for Kagome."

"But sir, we would feel bad if we didn't pay for this gift ourselves," Sasuke said. "It wouldn't being meaningful if we don't."

"Boy, to make a gift special doesn't require money, it just requires heart. I'm sure if you two bought her the tallest, most expensive statue in the world, that would still not make her as happy as if you two got together to make her a scrapbook with all the things that she liked, or a photo album of everyone she cared about," the man explained.

The boys were silent, contemplating his words. "Yeah... I guess... but I still feel bad for just taking it without giving anything back."

"Well, how about this then. You give me all of the money you two have in that bag, and I will carve this for free," I man negotiated, while holding the object. "This way, I can still do a little bit for you two and Kagome, but not entirely for free."

"I guess that works..." The two boys thought about their options.

When they finally came to an answer, they both nodded to each other. "Ok! It's a deal!" Naruto said, while handing him the bag of their combined money.

"Ok, the carving will only take a little bit of time," the man walked into the back room, where they guessed was where the carving machine was. After several minutes, he came back. The two boys watched as the man put the object in a box with a cushion at the bottom to protect it, then put the box in a bag. He handed the bag to Sasuke. "Here you go."

"Thank you... um... we never learned your name."

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Matsuoka Hisao," the man known as Hisao said.

"Oh, then thank you again Matsuoka-san," both boys said and bowed in respect.

"Well, we better be going, it's getting late," Naruto stated. They turned and began walking away.

"Don't forget to come again!" Hisao yelled, while waving the two boys goodbye.

"We will!" both yelled back while smiling, which was returned by Hisao as well.

~The Next Day~

~Kagome's Birthday~

Kagome was sleeping sounding in her warm bed. It was already ten o'clock, but since she stayed up late last night to read all of those scrolls and books the Hokage had given her, she could not follow her regular schedule and wake up at seven because she was just way too exhausted. Sadly her sleep was interrupted by foots steps pounding at the floor as a person ran in the hall. Soon her door was thrown open and her body was met with a blond boy on top of her shaking her vigorously. "Kagome! Kagome! Wake up!" the blond boy shouted.

"Ahhh! Naruto... will... you... stop... shaking... me!" Kagome demanded between shakes.

"Oh! Sorry Kagome!" Naruto stopped shaking her and looked as she had spirals in her eyes, showing she was dizzy.

"Geez idiot. Is this how you treat everyone on their birthdays?" Sasuke asked, finally making it to the door, because, unlike Naruto, he walked so that their steps wouldn't disturb her sleep- too late.

"Oh yeah! Happy birthday Kagome-chan!" Naruto shouted with a huge smile.

"Uh... thanks... but Naruto...?"

"Hm?"

"... Can you please get off of me...?" Kagome asked, still pinned to her bed as Naruto's body was sitting on top of her.

"Ah!" Naruto screamed as he finally noticed he was still on her, but he jerked back so fast he lost his balance and fell off the bed. "...Ow..." he groaned as his head hit the wooden floor of the bedroom.

Sasuke stood at the doorway shaking his head. 'Idiot...' he thought as Naruto sat up and rubbed his sore head. Sasuke walked up to Kagome's bed as she was sitting up. "Happy birthday Kagome," he said with a small smile.

She smiled back. "Thank you, Sasuke." Kagome got out of bed and paused. "Uh, boys."

"Yeah?" both said at the same time.

"Can you get out, so I can change my clothes?" she asked nicely. The two boys then noticed she was still in her pajamas, which were slightly wrinkled from being slept in. They blushed as she stretched and her shirt slightly showed her midriff.

"U-uh, s-sorry. W-we will be in t-the hall then," Naruto said nervously and was still blushing. He walked out the door with Sasuke, who was also blushing from their earlier sight. Once they reached the hall and closed the door, both boys collapsed onto the floor with steam coming out of their ears as they blushed like crazy. (Aw~ They're so innocent. Being affected so easily just by seeing some skin. ;3)

After several minutes, Kagome stepped out like a complete new person. She was no longer in her wrinkled pajamas or had her bedhead. Now she was in a cute red, pink, and white lolita dress with a small bow on one of her shoulder straps, her hair was down and still a bit damp from her shower. She was gripping her dress with her hands and blushing while looking away from the two boys in a cute manner. "H-how is it?" she asked nervously.

Not hearing a reply, she looked up to two boys with there mouths open gaping at her. "Is it really that bad?" she asked worried that she didn't suit girly clothes anymore.

"No!" both boys shouted at the same time. "You don't look bad at all Kagome-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Actually, you look very cute!" With that complement she blushed and looked down.

"Yeah, we are just not used to seeing you in that attire," Sasuke pointed out. "What's with the sudden change?" he questioned.

"Jii-san, wanted me to wear it on my birthday. He said it was his early birthday present for me. I wanted to refuse, but he was all like, 'Will I never see a granddaughter in a cute dress,' and almost began to cry." Kagome sighed. "I feel like I was conned."

'Good job old man!' Naruto thought as he admired her in the dress.

'Way to go Hokage-sama," Sasuke thought as he was doing the same.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Kagome asked.

"You will just have to wait and see!" Naruto said excitedly.

The whole day, the three kids have been doing several things, like going to the nearby forest and looking at birds and bugs, and where Kagome picked flowers and gave it to Naruto and Sasuke, who blushed at the gesture, they played games on the open field, and even made snacks at Sasuke's house with Mikoto's help. (Although, Mikoto was mainly trying to restrain herself from glomping the poor girl to death, so she had to settled with squealing over how cute the girl looked in her dress with an apron on. There were many pictures taken of her in those couple of hours they were at the Uchiha Compound.)

They also went to the river to feed crumbs to the local ducks, but Sasuke "accidentally" pushed Naruto into the river, which caused Naruto to become mad and try to splash Sasuke back, but missed. It wasn't too long before it turned into a big chase between the two. Kagome just sat there with the ducks just laughing at her friends' silliness. 'It's a good thing they have each other to mess with,' she thought. 'They may not know it, but they are closer than they think.'

"Great Sasuke! I can't believe I have to go change into another pair of clothes!" a soaked Naruto shouted at the Uchiha as the three made their way to Naruto's apartment.

"I'm sure you were probably thinking about doing the same thing to me as well. I just beat you to it," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Come on guys. Can't you just get along for one day?" Kagome asked sweetly as they made up the stairs to Naruto's room.

"... Ok fine, but only for you Kagome," Naruto said while opening his apartment door.

"... Yeah," Sasuke agreed.

"Thanks! You guys are the best~!" She happily said and hugged the two. They both blushed again. (Wow. I think their faces are going to burn off if they keep blushing so much. ;P)

"W-wait here. I will be right back," Naruto told them and went inside.

"Why do we have to wait out here?" Sasuke asked her.

"I think he doesn't want to show you his room. I've already seen it when it's at it's worst, and let me say it's not pretty," she said, shuddering at the memory. "I cleaned it a few days ago, but with Naruto, it's probably a disaster again," she said with a vein popping out on her head and her hand clenched into a fist. "I'm getting angry just thinking about it."

The door swung open, revealing Naruto in the same clothes, but dry ones. "Ok, now I'm ready!" He noticed that Sasuke was glaring at him. "Hey! Why are you glaring at me, Sasuke?" Naruto yelled.

'I can't believe this guy had Kagome clean up after him. How much of a loser can he be?' Sasuke thought while glaring at Naruto. "Nothing idiot. Now come on. We have to show the photographer where to take the photo.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Naruto said, waving him off.

"Great... more pictures..." Kagome said, not really happy about it.

Sasuke just sweat dropped completely understanding why she feels this way. "Sorry about how my mom basically traumatized you with all those pictures she took at my house."

"It's ok, she meant well," Kagome said with a smile.

After walking around the village for ten minutes, they finally found the photography in a shop drinking tea waiting for them.

From Kagome's point-of view, the man looked old and kind- sort of like Jii-san. He was just sitting there drinking tea and relaxing his back and legs from having to stand up all the time.

When the old man saw the two familiar boys walk up to him, he put his tea down. "So this is the girl you two kept talking about," the old man said with a smile. He looked at Kagome in her dress. "She sure is as cute as you guys described her to be." All three of them blushed. The man laughed at how cute these kids were. "So, you there," the old man pointed to Naruto, "You said you had a certain place you wanted this photo to be taken, yes?"

"Oh right!" Naruto just remember why they were there. "Follow me old man!" Naruto shouted and began walking away in the direction of the place he wanted the picture taken. The old man didn't even twitch at the name; he just smiled.

Kagome turned to the man, "Sorry about the name, sir. If it's any consolation, Naruto calls every older male 'old man.'"

The man just laughed. "It's ok, my dear. I understand that my body is getting old, so the name is appropriate." Kagome just smiled at his understanding. As they made their way to wherever Naruto was leading them, Kagome talked to the old man the whole way. She told him how Sasuke and Naruto fought all the time and could never agree, and how much fun she had all day with them. The old man just smiled and laughed here and there as he listen to her tale.

"Ok here we are!" Kagome and the old man turned to what Naruto was pointing to. They had not noticed where they were going, but once Kagome looked up she knew exactly where they were.

"Oh, Naruto this is the perfect place to take the picture!" Kagome said excitedly.

"What's so special about this place? It's just a hill with a tree," Sasuke pointed out.

"Silly Sasuke, it's not just a hill and a tree. There is a deeper meaning behind it," Kagome said with a smile. "Come on lets get in position for the camera." The three kids were working out how they wanted to look in the photo, as the old man was setting up his equipment.

When the old man was done he looked up a the kids, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" they shouted from the hill.

"Ok, smile!" The camera made the snapping sound to show the picture was taken. The three kids went to the cameraman to see how it came out.

"This is perfect!" all three said. In the photo, Kagome was in the middle with her arms around both of the boys' shoulders smiling, with Naruto to her right (left in the photo) with a toothy grin and holding up a peace sign to the camera, and Sasuke to her left (right on the photo) also with a peace sign, but with a more Sasuke-like-smile; and to tie everything together, the tree stood behind them covering them like an umbrella.

"Thank you old man!" Naruto shouted.

"You are very welcome," The old man said with a smile.

"Can you make a few copies of this photo for us," Sasuke asked.

"Why sure, young man. Just come by my shop in an hour."

"Let us help you with your equipment," offered Kagome. "I don't think you should strain your back."

"How sweet of you dear. That would be most appreciated." Each one of them carried a part of the equipment. They made their way to his shop and set down the stuff in the back room.

Once they were done, they told the old man they would come back for the photos in an hour, and then they left.

~An Hour Later~

With everything that had happen today, Kagome's time with her friends passed by quickly. She looked towards the sky and felt sadden when she saw that the sun was going down. 'I only have a few hours left with them now...'

She turned to the two boys in front of her, she watched as Naruto had his hands behind his head and was bickering with Sasuke, who walked with his hands in his pockets and looked like he didn't really care about what the blond had to say.

She sadly smiled at them. Naruto slightly turned his head and noticed her expression. "Kagome? What's wrong?" Naruto asked concerned. "You have a sad look on your face. Did you not have fun today?" Kagome shook her head and smiled, "That's not it Naruto, today was great! I was just thinking of something that's all."

"Oh... ok..." he said, but was still worried. Even Sasuke was giving her a worried look. They didn't have time to question her any further because the photographer soon greeted them.

"Hello children. Your pictures are done," the man said with a smile. They went into the shop and saw that the pictures were already put into frames. The old man grabbed the three picture frames and handed them to the kids. "Here you are. The frames are free of charge."

"But old man, we can't take this," Naruto said, with the other two agreeing with him.

"Oh, it's fine. You three helped me out earlier and these frames are nothing special, really."

"Well, then thank you," Kagome said and bowed. Naruto and Kagome walked out the door with their picture frames. Once they left, Sasuke turned back to the old man.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget." The man went to grab another copy of the same photo, but this one didn't have a frame. "Here's the separate copy you wanted."

"Thank you," Sasuke took the photo and put it in his pocket. He turned to leave, but the old man's words caught him off guard.

"You should act quick."

"W-what?" Sasuke turned; the old man was smiling at him. "Um... What do yo mean?"

"She will become beautiful in the future. A lot of men are going to try to fight for her heart, so you should act quick." Sasuke was a loss for words. He blushed like crazy.

"H-how did yo-"

"After all my years of living, I think I can recognized when a young man is in love," the man said with a wink. Sasuke didn't know how to respond. He had only known this man for a few hours, yet he could see right through him. He couldn't think of a reply so just turned and briskly walked out the door. The old man just stood there chuckling at how innocent they were. 'Aw... young love... I remember those times.'

~At night~

"Man, I'm so tired," Kagome said, while dragging her feet as she walked. "I can't wait to get in my bed and sleep."

Upon hearing this, the two boys looked at each other and nodded, understanding what the other was thinking- it was time for the fun to begin.

"Come on Kagome, can you at least take me to the old man's office?" Naruto asked. "I have to talk to him about something."

"Eh? Don't you know where it is?" Kagome asked, not really wanting to move.

"Nope!" Naruto stated, while popping the "p" for emphasis.

"Ok, fine," she caved.

"I will meet you guys there, I have to tell my mom something really quickly," Sasuke said and hurried to the Uchiha compound.

"Couldn't he have told her earlier when we were at his house?" Kagome asked.

"Maybe he just remembered something important," Naruto said and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess that could be it. Ok then, let's go Naruto," she gestured for him to follow.

As they got closer to the Hokage's building, Kagome noticed that it was a little too quiet.

She looked up at the Hokage's window and started to panic- the lights were off.

'Jii-san never turned off those lights. Did something bad happen?' Kagome thought and began running to the Hokage's office.

"Kagome! Wait!" Naruto shouted, but she ignored him, so he ran after her. "Kagome what's wrong?"

"Jii-san never turns off those lights since he is always working, so I'm worried something bad happened," Kagome said with a panicked voice.

Naruto didn't say anything. 'We were going there anyway, so there's no need to try to stop her,' he thought, letting her do whatever she wanted. 'Boy, is she going to get a huge surprise when she opens that door,' he grinned, but luckily Kagome was to far ahead to see. When she got into the building, she rushed to the Hokage's door.

She hesitated for a second.

'What if there is a criminal? They will most likely be armed,' she analyzed the situation. 'Urg! I can't fight in this frilly dress! I knew wearing this was a bad idea!' Kagome screamed in her mind.

She took a deep breath. 'Ok, here goes nothing.'

She slowly opened the door and turned on the light, but instead of being greeted with knives, dead bodies, thugs, or criminals, she saw all her friends jumped out of their hiding places and yelled "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGOME!"

"W-what?" Kagome stuttered. Let's just say she truly wasn't expecting this. 'But I guess I prefer this surprise over the one I was expecting,' she thought as her shock expression turned into a smile.

Naruto walked calmly next to her. "You were probably thinking they were in trouble, right?" he asked trying to hold back a laugh. "You should have seen your scared face!"

"That's not funny Naruto, I was really worried," she said looking down cast.

"We're sorry we worried you Kagome, but come on it's your party, so don't make a face like that," Kiba said from the crowd. Kagome saw that the Hokage, all of the Jonins, and the future rookie nine formed the crowd of people that attended her party.

"Yeah I guess your right," Kagome said, while a smile made its way to her lips again. After the issue was cleared up, everyone began talking and laughing and wishing her a happy birthday.

About ten minutes later, Sasuke shows up with his family to join the party. When they arrived, that was when the real party began. Apparently the party was actually going to be on the roof, so there would be more room for everyone.

Everyone made his or her way to the roof of the building. Once she arrived, her eyes and mouth opened in awe. Lights were hung on the pillars of the building so that the roof was draped in a warm yellow light, many flowers were placed on the edges of the building so that when the light bounced off the petals it made them look as if they were glowing. On the far end of the roof were tables with smaller multicolored lights set up on them. The tables held all of the food and a big beautifully decorated cake in the center. Next to that table was another decorated table that had her gifts piled neatly on top to form a pyramid.

Kagome was speechless. No words could describe how happy she was. She didn't even know she was crying until Naruto started freaking out and asking if she was ok. "W-why are you crying Kagome?" Naruto asked worried. Upon hearing the question everyone looked at her and became a little worried as well. "Do you not like the way everything looks?"

Kagome shook her head, wiping away her tears. Naruto looked closer and saw that she still had a smile on her face even though she was crying. "That's not it Naruto. Everything looks great, I'm just so happy that you guys did all this for me." After she said that, everyone's worried expression turned into a soft smile. They watched as she continues to cry tears of joy.

She finally rubbed all her tears away. "Ok, it's time to get the party started!" she shouted with a smile. Everyone cheered in agreement. They started getting games out and setting everything up.

Soon, everyone began having fun and started laughing as they played messy games like when the Jonins did a pie eating contest and got fruit and pie crust all over their faces. The only person that was clean was Kakashi. He somehow magically ate the whole pie without showing anyone his face or getting anything on him, and yet still won the contest. All the other Jonins were a bit mad Kakashi won without getting messy like them, so they decided to take one of the extra pies and throw it at his face causing him to be covered in pie as well.

A vein popped on Kakashi's head as the pie tin slid down his face. He was about to fight back when someone tapped him on his leg. He looked down and saw that Kagome wanted him to bend down to her level, so he did. All his anger was forgotten as she took napkins and began wiping his face for him. Everyone "awed" at how cute they looked. They looked like a father and daughter.

Before it got too late, everyone wanted Kagome to blow out her candles and make a wish, so that they could move on to the presents. She obliged to their request, and soon everyone began handing her gifts one by one as she opened them in her chair.

She got new blades from Asuma (awesome), a tight green suit from Guy (um... thanks...), useful books and scrolls on jutsus from Fugaku (those will be useful), a cute white frilly cooking apron from Mikoto (Kagome saw more pictures in her future -_-), A cute black and blue bracelet from Itachi (Who received a kiss on the cheek from Kagome as a "thank you," which made Sasuke angry- not like he was going to show it.) Apparently, Ino had her family decorate the roof with flowers from their shop, so that was her present to Kagome.

As time passed, she eventually opened everyone's presents and gave them her "thank you hugs", with the occasional "thank you kiss." (Which Kakashi and the Hokage got as well.)

The only people who she didn't receive a gift from were Naruto and Sasuke. They said they wanted to be the last ones. The two boys stood together as Sasuke brought out a small bag with a card sticking out and handed it to her. She took the bag and opened the card and sweat dropped. 'Clearly Naruto drew this," she thought as she looked at the crude drawing of the three of them holding hands... at least she thought it was their hands. They looked more like potatoes. "Thank you for the lovely card, Naruto," she said as she placed the card down and Sasuke pick it up and looked at the drawing as well. He immediately gave Naruto a "This was the best you could do?" look.

Sasuke set down the card and looked back at Kagome as she proceeded in opening their gift. The two boys' hearts pounded against their chest as she slowly took out the tissue paper and was slowly getting closer to what laid inside. Once she saw the small white box at the bottom of the bag, she took it out and set the bag down. She started opening the box, and to the two boys it seemed like it took forever. When she fully opened the box, a huge smile grew on her face. She grabbed the chain and pulled out the locket that laid inside. The locket was silver and had beautiful flora carvings outlining the ovular edges with a fancy engraving of her name in the middle. When she opened the locket, on the right was plain silver, on the left was a picture of Naruto and she recognized the picture. It was the very photo they took earlier that day. 'Now I know why they suddenly wanted to take that photo,' she thought smiling. She saw that the locket could be opened again, so she unclipped the side near Naruto's picture and saw two more pictures. It was a three-panel locket with Naruto on the left, her in the middle, and Sasuke on the right–just like in their photo.

She was so happy she put the locket on and then suddenly got up from her chair and wrapped both her arms around the two boys and gave them a hug, they both blushed at her action, but blushed even more when she stepped on her tiptoes and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. Once she stopped hugging them, the two suddenly melted to the ground. "Eh? What's wrong with them?" she asked the others, clueless at why they were on the floor. Everyone just looked at her in disbelief, 'She is really dense,' they all thought.

As the night dragged on many games were played, many people were humiliated, many laughs were shared, but everyone had fun.

Parents of the future rookie nine came and picked up their children because it was getting late and their children were dozing off. Fugaku and Mikoto went home with Itachi but had left Sasuke, because he had fallen asleep with Naruto and Kagome.

Right now, they were in Kagome's bed, lying with her in the middle and her arms spread out with her palms up, where the two boys had placed their hands on her's in there sleep, so it looked like they were holding hands. They looked too cute to wake up so everyone left them to sleep.

As time passed into early morning, a dark figure slowly opened the bedroom door and approached the three children. Kagome opened her eyes hearing the person's footsteps. She sat up slowly, so she wouldn't wake up her two friends, and nodded to the figure telling him she understood.

It was time to leave.

She slowly got out of bed and went to her closet to change out of her dress and into her ninja clothes and also to grab her travel bag full of scrolls, which contained all her things. She threw the bag over her shoulder and followed the man out the door. Unbeknownst to them, Sasuke had woken up. He carefully listened to the two figures talking on the other side of the door.

"Ready to leave, Kagome?" a familiar voice asked.

"Hai (Yes), Otou-san (Father)," Kagome replied.

"Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye? You wont be back for several years."

'What? She's leaving?" Sasuke thought as he listened in.

"I'm sure. We should be leaving now."

"Okay, let's go."

After they walked away, Sasuke was left with silence. 'She was going to leave without saying goodbye? Doesn't she know how we would feel if she suddenly left?' he thought, slightly angry at her for leaving them. 'We have to at least see her one more time!' he shouted in his head. He turned to Naruto and began shaking him awake. "Hey idiot, wake up!"

Naruto groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Sasuke? Where's Kagome?" he asked looking around on the bed.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Sasuke said with a serious face.

~With Kakashi and Kagome~

Kakashi and Kagome walked to the main gate of the village. Before stepping out of the gate, she turned around and looked back at the place that took care of her fore a few months. 'I guess this is it, Konoha. I won't see you for awhile, so I hope you protect the villagers for me,' she thought as she let a sad smile graze her face.

'Sayonara minna (Goodbye everyone),' she thought as she turned her back to the village and began walking out of the gate.

"Wait!" two familiar voices called. The voices shocked her. She quickly turned around and became wide-eyed. She saw Naruto and Sasuke and Sasuke's family running up in her direction with the Hokage walking behind them.

"Why are you guys here?" Kagome asked, as they got closer.

"I heard you and Kakashi-san talking on the other side of the door," Sasuke spoke up.

"You were awake?" Kagome asked, surprised.

"It was a good thing too, or you would have left without saying anything."

"Yeah! Sasuke woke me up and told me everything! And then he called Itachi and his family," Naruto yelled. Then a sad expression appeared on his face. "Why would you leave us without saying anything? Do you not like it here anymore, Kagome?" Naruto asked while beginning to cry. He used his arm to try to wipe the tears away, but it didn't help, the tears just kept coming.

"That's not it Naruto. This place is great. I've met some really wonderful people. But..." she looked out the gate, "There are people out there that need me."

Naruto began to cry harder. "But I need you Kagome! Sasuke needs you! Konoha needs you!" he screamed in frustration. Mikoto cried as well, watching the events happening in front of her.

Kagome looked back at Naruto and gave a soft smile. She walked over to him and embraced him in her arms. "You don't need me anymore, Naruto. You have some wonderful friends now."

"But I do need you!" he shouted in protest. Kagome pulled back from their embrace and shook her head.

"You will be fine without me for a little while. Plus, this isn't the end. I will come back someday," she said, trying to reassure him. "When I get back, I expect you to have grown into a great ninja," she stated with a smile.

Naruto didn't reply. He just kept crying, so Kagome let go of him and walked over to Sasuke. "I'm sure you will be a great ninja as well. I can't help you with training anymore until I get back, but you can always get your brother to help you," she said while smiling. She leaned in close to his ear. "Also, please help Naruto train as well. You know he looks up to you," she whispered in his ear. He didn't say anything, all he did was nod and hold his same stolid expression. Uchiha men never showed weakness, so he was not going to cry. (Plus, his dad was there watching this whole thing and he did not want to look weak in front of him.)

Kagome just smiled at how he was trying to act tough even though she could sense he was sad. She leaned in again and kissed him on the cheek for the second time! He touched his cheek in surprise and was mentally freaking out as he blushed like crazy.

To her, it was a sign of friendship, but to him it felt like something more.

Mikoto had already stopped crying and was now cheering in her mind about the future if Kagome somehow became her daughter-in-law. She could dress the girl up everyday and take lots and lots of pictures, and of course many hugs (glomps) as well. She really liked the idea of Kagome as a daughter-in-law and started picturing her and Sasuke's wedding.

Kagome then went to Itachi. "I'm going to miss you too, Itachi," Kagome said with a smile, but it dropped when she remember the letter about what Danzo was going to make him do. 'I have to do something before it's too late,' she thought no longer holding a smile on her face.

The sudden change in expression didn't go unnoticed by Itachi. Kagome suddenly looked up at him and gestured for him to kneel down, which he did. Once he was at her level, she embraced him. She whispered in his ear, "Itachi I know what they are going to make you do." This caused Itachi to be shocked, but he didn't show it. "P-please promise me you won't do anything that you might regret. Please..." she pleaded with desperation. He felt something drip on his neck and he knew she was crying, but no one else could see because she was covering her face with her bangs.

He was silent for a few seconds progressing her words. He didn't like to see her sad, so he whispered, "Okay. I promise." He wrapped his arms around her small frame and they held each other for what seemed like awhile. Kagome quickly wiped her tears on her arm as she pulled away, so no one could see she was crying. Before she could leave, Itachi pulled her close again and gave her a kiss on her forehead, and this time he gave her a true smile- a small one, but still a smile. Those actions surprised her, but left a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Mikoto was freaking out in her mind. 'Oooh~! This is sooo cuuute~! I wonder which one of my sons will get Kagome in the future! I guess it really doesn't matter as long as she becomes my daughter-in-law!' she thought as she was making overly happy faces and smiling to herself. Fugaku was just watching her and sweat dropping at her actions.

Kagome said the last of her goodbyes and gave her last hugs to the Hokage, Fugaku, and Mikoto (who they had to pry Kagome away from because she wouldn't let go). By the time they finally finished their goodbyes, the sun had started to color the sky, signaling dawn was approaching.

Kakashi and Kagome waved goodbye for the final time and began running out of the gate and into the distance. The group watched as their forms disappeared the farther they went.

'Goodbye Konohagakure'

Next Arc: Sunagakure no Gaara

Me: That was a long chapter! O_O

I guess I sort of owe you guys, since I haven't updated in so long. ^^

Sorry if there were a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. I didn't really take the time to edit this chapter, because I'm lazy. :P If you do find mistakes please correct me on them. I absolutely hate reading a story–especially mine–with mistakes.

Anyway, thanks for reading and of course don't forget to REVIEW!

(P.S. I'm just going to leave the poll up, because I don't know when to take it down. ^^" Also as the story progresses you guys can vote for either the same or different person(s). Who knows maybe your vote will change later.

P.P.S. I drew a picture for the photograph scene under the tree on deviantart. My name is "Fire-and-Ice-Dragon." The art is not the best since I can't draw anime characters, but if you still want to check it out, then go to my account. I hope you like it! :D)