Sweet Sixteen

"He's late!"

Sakura paced back and forth on the bridge, twitching more and more as the seconds ticked by. To think that Naruto was later than their sensei! Sakura was starting to wonder if he was going to show up at all. And on today of all days…

Biting her lip, Sakura snuck a look at Sasuke, who leaned against the rail tossing a small rock up and down. Even Kakashi, besides not being the last one to arrive, was giggling behind his book like it was any other day.

Sakura sighed to herself, shoulders slumping. This sucked. If she'd known it would turn out this way, she wouldn't have gotten up early to practice reactions in front of the mirror.

"Good morning, team!"

Sakura twitched, hands curling into hard fists. Shoulders trembling, she slowly turned around. "NA-RU-"

"Ack!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks, fist suspended en route. She blinked several times, and when the vision didn't fade, eventually focused on the flame dancing cheerfully in front of her nose. It took several moments for her to register that it was planted on a small, round and creamy… thing. Finally, her questioning gaze reached the blonde boy cowering behind the plate.

"Uhh… happy birthday?" Naruto said uncertainly. Sakura just stared at him, mouth falling slightly open. None of the reactions she had practiced came to her, because this was the wrong timing, the wrong person.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. He was pretty sure it was Sakura's birthday, if the fantastically large scribble on his calendar was anything to go by. He peered over Sakura's shoulder to see Sasuke staring at the sloppy cake Naruto had spent all morning on. Kakashi closed his book, a dim 'oh, that's right' look emerging on his features.

Right.

Naruto put the cake even closer to Sakura's face, shaking her back to reality. "Make a wish!"

"O-Oh." A strange expression on her face, Sakura closed her eyes, wrinkled her brow in concentration, and then blew out the melting candle.

At least Kakashi had the grace to clap in the background. Sakura began to smile.

Naruto grinned. "Ne, ne, Sakura-chan, what kind of wish did you make?"

She looked at him like he was stupid. But he had remembered, and he had been kind of sweet about making her a cake… and maybe taking more initiative wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Naruto leaned in as Sakura mumbled something, red-faced. "I can't hear you, Sakura-chan."

Her eyes flitted to Sasuke as she repeated a little louder, "I said, I wished to get my first kiss before I turn sixteen."

Kakashi's head bobbed. "Hmm, ambitious," he said in what he thought was a kind way, but it only made Sakura's face burn.

Naruto glared at the tactless jounin. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll grant your wish right now!"

She stomped on his foot before he could even begin to pucker his lips. Naruto howled. "Baka! Not even when worst comes to worst!" she yelled. Then she stopped, glanced at Sasuke, and felt like sinking into the ground. At the moment, taking a bite out of Naruto's cake seemed like the next best thing.

"Plergh!"

"Oh God, I'm going to be late. Naruto – Naruto, get up!"

"Muh?" The blonde peered blearily at his teammate as she bustled in and out of the living room. He levered himself up on an elbow, wincing as his bones cracked from spending the night on Sakura's sagging couch.

Sakura came back into the room, her hair dripping over the floor. "I'm going to have to kick you out in ten minutes," she called as she disappeared into her bedroom. He could hear a blow dryer.

"Happy birthday, Sakura-chan," Naruto called over the dull roar.

She poked her head around the door, hair whipping around her flushed face. "Thanks, Naruto," she smiled. He grinned back at her.

"Sweet sixteen, huh? Is what's-his-name doing anything for you?"

"He's picking me up in fifteen minutes."

"Whoa." Naruto shook the haze from his consciousness and got up. "I better scram then."

They'd only returned from a mission in the early hours of the morning and as usual, Naruto would have tripped and fallen comatose in a dumpster before making it home, so Sakura let him stay over at her new apartment. Nothing had happened of course, but explaining it to Sakura's almost-boyfriend was a chore Naruto was not up to at this time of day.

He had just found where he had haphazardly tossed his pack when Sakura appeared beside him. "Pink or green?" she asked, holding up two bottles of nail polish.

Naruto scratched his head, looking lost. "Err… none?"

Sakura looked at him, then at her nails. "None," she agreed, and he let out a large sigh of relief. "You're leaving already?"

"Gentlemen are always early," he pointed out, which made his teammate stare at him in horror. Hastily, he tried to keep her from escalating into a hurricane. "I'm sure he won't mind how you look."

He ducked under an airborne cushion. "Is that supposed to be comforting?"

Naruto had reached the door. "Hey, Sakura." She looked over her shoulder. He flashed her a grin. "He remembered, so he's a keeper, right?"

A small smile fluttered across her lips. "We'll have to see about that."

After dinner they went down to the hospital, sitting by the fountain in the courtyard. It wasn't one of the prime spots to take a girl on her birthday, but both of them had fallen out of cheap romantics that came straight out of Kakashi's orange books. They'd met at the hospital after all; her as the Hokage's apprentice, him as a budding medic under Shizune's instruction.

He told her to wait for a moment, and Sakura spent the time gazing up at the glowing moon with a content smile on her face. She'd enjoyed the day. If Naruto pestered her tomorrow – and she knew he would – she would be able to hand down her verdict: he was indeed a keeper. Naruto would definitely tease her for the rest of the week. Knowing him, he would probably demand that they gained his unnecessary approval.

Sakura was on the verge of snorting to herself when her companion reappeared in front of her, and she choked on it. Going red, she peered up at his easy smile, eyes lingering on the large box he held out to her.

"Happy birthday, Sakura-san."

The box was heavy. She gave it a light rattle, eliciting a strange metallic sound. His smile widened when she gave him a curious look.

He helped her unwrap it, and she laughed when she saw what it was. "Wow, this is so perfect. A coffeemaker."

"You like it?" He sounded relieved.

"I love it." She leaned in to kiss his cheek, making him sit straighter. "Thank you."

They were sitting close, shoulders brushing. She had been born at 10:48pm. It was quarter past.

He rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. "I'm glad. Uzumaki-san told me your coffeemaker broke last week."

Sakura blinked. Then, slowly, a small smile touched her lips. "He knows me too well," she admitted in a soft voice.

"I think your friendship is a great thing," he said, far too honestly. "I always see him waiting for you outside the hospital."

He began to lean in and she followed like a magnet, her body moving on its own. Their foreheads touched. Sakura's grip tightened on the box in her lap. "He's my best friend," she whispered, the words falling between them as she closed her eyes.

Naruto put the last strawberry on the icing and stood back to admire his handiwork. It was a masterpiece, if he did say so himself.

Now if only he'd thought about how to fit it in the fridge.

He was pondering if Sakura really needed three cartons of milk when he heard the door click open behind him. His eyes widened. Shit.

He whirled around to find Sakura staring at the cake, keys still in hand. The door fell shut behind her. He began to sweat. "Y-You're back so early, Sakura-chan."

Her eyes cut to his, and something unreadable flashed in her gaze. Then she abruptly looked away, biting her lip and running a hand through her hair. Naruto blinked. Putting down a milk carton, he walked toward her. "What's wrong? Was he an ass? Tell me. I'll go over and-"

"No," she interrupted quietly. She glanced at his face. "He was a keeper."

Naruto relaxed slightly. "Oh good." Then he tilted his head. "Wait. 'Was'?"

Sakura sighed. "He was such a keeper I might regret this."

"Eh?"

Before he could say more, she seized him by the jacket, pulled him down and captured his lips with hers. Naruto went stiff at first. Then his hands settled on her hips and pulled her flush against him, and he responded like the opportunity would never come again. He was warm in a way Sakura had always defined him by.

When they pulled back for air, he laughed quietly. "When worst comes to worst, right?"

Sakura laughed too, shaking her head. "No," she murmured into his lips, as his arms gently held her up. "When idiots are finally on the same page."

AN: With the exams that define thirteen years of schooling only three weeks away, I'm a little worried. Both that I've made more productive use of my time fulfilling plot bunnies than studying, and that I'm still not sure if it's 'worst comes to worst' or 'worse comes to worst'... Am I screwed?