Chapter 38

Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto, but I have been the only vegetarian in my family since I was five. I'm eighteen now. I hate when people make a big deal, and complain about me being a vegetarian. -Ritsu

The day of Koharu's birthday finally arrived and everyone was busy getting ready for the party later that night. Manami, on the other hand, was busy trying to drag her best friend out so the others could prepare.

"Please Manami, I'm already going to let you drag me shopping, just let me stay longer."

"No Koharu, if we don't go now, the stores will get really busy and we won't have as much time!"

"Thirty more minutes! I really do just want to hang out with everyone for a little bit longer."

"Koharu, we can't! I have several places on my list we need to hit. Let's goooooo."

Koharu groaned and finally gave in to her friend. "Alright, alright. Drag me around against my will."

She grabbed her stuff and waved to the group, "Bye guys, see you tomorrow."

The group responded with a healthy mix of goodbyes and happy birthdays.

All day Koharu had been bombarded with birthday wishes, but the one person she really wanted to be with was nowhere to be seen.

Could it be that he forgot? How could he just disappear on my birthday? He was the one who would bring it up with me.

She never liked making a big deal about her birthday so she tried to push the thought out of her mind. Even so, she couldn't help but get a little sad and also a little angry.

And I'm only agreeing to this shopping spree because the last time Manami didn't get her way, it was not pretty.

Manami grabbed Koharu's hand and ran out of the school, dragging the brunette along with her. "YAY! It'll be a lot of fun, I promise! You won't even feel like you're shopping!"

When they finally hit the clothing shops, the two girls put on a lot of funny costumes and cute dresses. While it was distracting for a while, Koharu just couldn't shake the thoughts of Kakashi out of her head.

I just really wish he was there today…

"It's been a long time since it was just the two of us!" Manami smiled as she pulled another dress off the rack.

"Especially considering how busy we've been since we stumbled across the host club," Koharu agreed.

She turned to her friend and put her hands on her hips. "By the way, you haven't told me how things have been going with you and Gaara. Fill me in!"

The blue-eyed ninjabeamed at the mention of Gaara's name and readied herself for all the stories she had.

"He's been so great! Where do I even start?"

Back at Koharu's house, chaos had broken out as everyone struggled to put up the party decorations.

"I JUST RAN OUT OF RIBBON, KUSHINA! WHAT DO I DO, I'M ALL OUT AND I'M NOT EVEN HALFWAY DONE!" Minato yelled across the room.

Sai glared at Minato as he walked over and yanked the ribbon off the wall. "Am I really the only one who can be artistic in anyway around here?"

The yellow-haired ninja pouted and stormed off to go find Kushina, who was working on decorating the cake while Itachi watched.

Shikamaru walked over to help Sai take down the decorations Minato had done. "Minato, why did you only use streamers on that one part… It's not even symmetrical."

"Who put Minato in charge of the decorations anyways?" Gaara questioned.

"Himself," Sai said, rolling his eyes.

The three watched as their president visibly deflated with each comment and they all laughed.

Gaara stifled his remaining laughs. "We're kidding, Minato. This was a really great idea."

"I thought so!" Minato agreed, puffing out his chest.

As the four continued to decorate, Itachi wandered in.

"Where is Kakashi? Haven't seen him at all today," he mentioned.

"Oh, he was sent on some C-ranked missions at the last minute. He was pretty upset that he would be late but he should be coming later," Minato answered.

"Wouldn't he be late anyways?" Sai asked, looking away from what he was decorating.

Itachi chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure about that… Have you seen the way Kakashi looks at Koharu?"

"Well, we all saw what happened at the beach… I still can't believe none of us saw that coming," Gaara added.

"How else would we have been able to see it? They could hardly be in the same room for months without barking down each other's throats," Shikamaru said. "But it's just good to see Kakashi actually care about something… someone."

Minato nodded along. "He deserves something good in his life, a little light in the darkness. He doesn't like to admit it, but he gets lonely in that empty house of his… It's not a pretty sight."

"Come on boys! Stop standing around, ya know? There's only one hour left," Kushina called from the kitchen.

The guys all snap out of their thoughts, and frantically continued decorating.

"QUICKLY SOMEONE HAND ME THE STREAMERS AGAIN!"

A/N: I feel like I am Koharu on a deep level in this chapter. Shopping is a pain in the ass. -Ritsu