"What is a birthday party?" Naruto asked Masahiro while they were walking to the academy one day.
Masahiro's mouth dropped open at Naruto's question. "You don't know what a birthday party is?"
Naruto frowned, "No, is it something fun?"
Before he could say anything, Masahiro felt his sister's hand on his shoulder, "A birthday party is when your friends and family get together to celebrate when you were born. And since you are officially Masahiro's best friend, we can help you celebrate."
Naruto's eyes lit up, "Really? What do we do?"
"Well we can have your favorite foods, there is normally some sort of cake and lots of presents!" Masahiro exclaimed.
Naruto frowned, "But how do we do any of this? Does Kakashi know how to do birthday party?"
Harumi smiled, "Even if he doesn't I can help him, I have some experience in planning a birthday party. But the biggest question is, Naruto, do you want a birthday party?"
Naruto frowned as he thought, Masahiro could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears as he thought hard.
"There is no wrong answer. If the idea of a large party isn't what you want, you could do just a special small dinner with Masahiro and Sasuke. Just because Masahiro likes to have a huge party with all of his cousins, doesn't mean that you have too," Harumi said gently.
Masahiro grinned, his sister was the smartest person he knew. She could always make you feel better. And, he thought, she always knew when Naruto was getting overwhelmed and would help him. This is why Masahiro would always say that he had the best older sister in the entire shinobi nation.
"Could we have Sasuke over and eat ramen?" Naruto asked.
"If that is what you want, of course that is what we could do. You will need to clear it with Kakashi of course, but you can always do this at our house."
Naruto nodded, "My house is too small, there isn't enough chairs."
"That's fine, Naruto. So tonight, you need to ask Kakashi about your birthday party. Just tell him what you want and let him know that I will help, okay?" Harumi asked.
Naruto nodded again, "I can do that."
"Great! Then next time I see Kakashi I will bring it up and everything will be done. See easy."
"Yo!" a familiar call came from just outside their house.
Masahiro turned and saw Kakashi standing on the street. He waved as Naruto went running over to Kakashi.
"Kaka-nii! I want to have a birthday party with Masahiro, Harumi, Sasuke and I want to eat ramen. Maybe we can have cake, but mostly ramen."
Kakashi turned to look at Harumi, his eyebrow low over his eye.
"Naruto and Masahiro were talking about birthdays when Naruto told us that his birthday is coming soon. Which led to the discussion about what type of birthday party Naruto wanted. Naruto is also supposed to tell you that I can help you plan, and that if you want you can have the party over here."
Masahiro watched as Kakashi's one eye blinked very slowly, "Maa, sure, I guess. Can I come over and we can talk about it?"
Harumi smiled, "Of course, you know you are welcome any time."
"Okay. So Naruto, are you ready to go home?"
"Yeah! Can we get ramen?"
Masahiro yelled, "Bye Naruto! See you tomorrow!"
"Bye Masahiro!"
Once Naruto and his.. Kakashi were out of sight, Masahiro ran up to Harumi, "Nee-chan, we need to find the best birthday present ever! If this is Naruto's first present, it needs to be the best!"
Harumi laughed, "Of course, we can look. I just don't want you to get your hopes up that we will find the best present ever. It just might need to be a good birthday present."
Masahiro shook his head, "No it has to be the best present ever!"
"Well then you have to think about it, because I'm not going to go to every single store in Konoha while you look for the perfect gift."
Masahiro's bottom lip jutted out in a pout, "But we go to all the stores when you are shopping."
Harumi laughed and ruffled his hair, "No I don't! I don't bring you along when I window shop anymore. Not after the last time. However what I meant was, you need to have an idea of what you want to give to Naruto, so that we can focus our energy on that, not trying to figure out what to get for him."
That night at dinner, Masahiro brought up Naruto's birthday gift.
"I think you should get him something orange," Hideaki offered.
"I think you should get him something for his ninja kit, like sharpening kits, or senbon poisons or something like that," Maiko suggested.
"But he is my best friend. Shouldn't I get him something special?"
"Well Masahiro, it will be special because he is your best friend. It isn't the gift that matters, it is who gives it to you," Harumi answered.
"Yeah, but if he hasn't gotten a birthday gift before, this needs to be extra special."
"You said that before, but what would be extra special to Naruto?"
Hideki laughed, "Coupons for free Ramen."
"But everyone knows that!" Masahiro yelled.
"Boys!" Harumi admonished. "You have a little bit of time, I'm sure you will figure out the perfect gift, Masahiro. You just need to think about it for a bit."
"Okay, but you promise you will talk to Kakashi-san about making Naruto's birthday perfect?"
"I promise, Masahiro. But you have to remember that just because you want it to be perfect, doesn't mean that it will be perfect."
"But you can try, right?"
"I will do my best, but I can't promise that it will be perfect."
"Okay," Masahiro finally gave in and then moved onto the next thing. "Do you think that we can get a cake?"
"Well I don't see why not, after all what is a birthday without a cake?"
"It.." Masahiro began.
"Has to be perfect," the rest of his family chorused.
Masahiro groaned, "Is it going to be like this the whole time?"
Hideki answered his question with a question, "Will you be like this the whole time?"
Masahiro sighed, this was going to be a long wait. But worth it if Naruto is happy with the birthday party.
The next day Masahiro woke up with lots of ideas. The best part, he didn't have to go to the Academy today, so he was able to make plans and get ideas for the present. Thinking of his nee-chan, he decided that he should make a list of what is the most important ideas and things needed for the best for the present.
First it needed to be orange.
Second it had to be awesome.
He read the list, it needed to be longer.
So not a book.
Not clothes.
Satisfied that at least he got the main points down, Masahiro tried to think of what to get the blond boy. It was going to be hard, because he needs this gift to be the best.
"Masahiro! Come down for breakfast!" Harumi called from downstairs, probably the kitchen.
Masahiro grabbed his list and went downstairs. "Can we start looking for a present today?" He asked as soon as he sat at the table with his plate in front of him.
"We can start. I do have to go to the hospital for a couple hours, though."
"When do you need to go?"
"It can wait until later this afternoon if necessary. So where do you want to start?"
"The cake," Masahiro said with a nod of his head.
"We can do that," Harumi replied, "I was able to talk to Kakashi-san last night. He did say that we could take care of the party and he would make sure that Naruto invites the Uchiha brothers. That means we can do the decorations and food. We will go order the cake, talk to Teuchi about getting enough ramen for everyone and look for the perfect present for Naruto."
"DId Kakashi say what he was going to get Naruto?"
"We talked over a few ideas, I will steer you away from anything that is similar to what we talked about."
He nodded as he finished his breakfast as fast as he could without getting nee-chan yelling at him to not choke. When he was finished, he took his dishes to the sink and quickly washed them.
"I'm ready!" Masahiro called as he moved to the front door to grab his sandals.
Harumi came out of the laundry room with a smile, "Let's go then. First the cake."
It didn't take long before the two walked into one of the few bakeries in Konoha. It specialized in mochi and other small cookies, however for family and friends, they would make special order cakes.
"What kind of cake do you want?" the woman at the counter asked when Harumi told her what they were here for.
Harumi turned to look at Masahiro, "What kind of cake do you want?"
"White?" he asked. When Harumi nodded he continued, "With orange frosting and black words 'Happy Birthday Naruto."
"How many people do you want this to feed?"
"At least eight, although leftovers would be nice," Harumi spoke up.
"Good, and when do you need this?"
"Next Saturday please."
"We can do that. It is an easy cake to make. Did you want anything else?"
"Maybe a piece of mochi?" Masahiro asked.
Harumi laughed and nodded, "Just one."
With his mochi in hand, the two continued to the market area to find Naruto's present.
They passed the merchants with toys, Naruto was going to be a ninja so he didn't need any toys. Masahiro pulled Harumi past the bookstore. He looked at the weapons but shook his head, weapons were practical, not a present.
He looked at some of the wooden carvings, the beautifully created boxes. He also looked at some of the more decorative metal works.
"None of it is good enough, nee-chan!" Masahiro whined. "Why is it so hard to buy the perfect gift?"
"Because you are looking for something that doesn't exist. But I have an idea, do you trust me?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then let's make one more stop, then I need to go to the hospital. I will need you to go home by yourself, can you do that?"
"Yes! Although I might go to see the deer and see if they have any ideas," Masahiro grumbled.
Harumi ruffled his hair, "Of course, just make sure you leave a note or have Shikaku-oji or Yoshino-oba sent me a message."
"Of course."
Masahiro and Harumi stopped at one of the smaller shops.
"Just wait here," Harumi told Masahiro before she walked into the building. She walked out with a round piece of wood. She knelt down to show him.
"It's perfect," he whispered staring at the piece of wood in front of him.
"Great, now go put this on my bed. If you are going to the Nara compound, leave a note," Harumi leaned forward and gave Masahiro a hug and a quick kiss on his forehead. "Love you otouto."
"Love you too, nee-chan."
Harumi stood up and walked to the hospital.
Masahiro walked home and put the wooden sign on Harumi's bed. This would be the best birthday ever. He would do whatever it took to ensure that Naruto had the best birthday ever.
This was turning into the worst birthday ever. It all started with Masahiro waking up late and had to rush around. He left the house decorating to his older brother and sister while he went with Harumi to get the cake.
"What do you mean there isn't a cake?" Masahiro asked. Well more like screeched.
"Well, it looks like the order you put in was lost and so we don't have a cake prepared for you," the teen behind the counter said.
Harumi put her hand on Masahiro's shoulder, which got him to stop talking, his nee-chan would take care of this.
"Is there something you can do?" Harumi asked, "It is for a birthday party we are having tonight."
"I am waiting for Akamichi-san to come in and we will see what we can do," the teen whispered.
"When will Akamichi-san be in?"
"Any minute," was the response.
"Okay, we need to grab a few things, I will be back in a little bit and hopefully we will have a good solution," Harumi said.
Harumi guided Masahiro out by his shoulder and when they stood on the street, Masahiro looked up at her.
"What are we going to do, nee-chan?"
Harumi smiled, "We will go and check on the Ramen and come back to see what can be done. Even if we can't get a cake from here, the Akamichi-san will give us a few suggestions."
"Well at least we don't have to worry about the ramen. Ichiraku would never let Naruto down."
Moments later, Harumi sighed, "What did you say a few minutes ago? That we don't have to worry?"
Masahiro didn't answer, he was too busy staring at the black smoke rising from the small ramen booth.
"What happened?" Harumi asked Teuchi who was standing next to them.
"Grease fire," Teuchi sighed, "We were trying to clean the stove and, well let's just say that somehow the can of oil fell and caught on fire. It looks bad, but it isn't too bad. Most of the damage is from smoke. The shop is fine however we can't work for the next day or two until we have finished cleaning the place."
"Would it be too much to hope for that you have all the stuff for our order ready?"
Teuchi nodded, "We were working on the broth when the fire began. We have some stuff, like the fresh noodles and the meat, but the broth is gone."
"Any advice you can give me? It looks like I am going to be making ramen tonight."
"I can bring over the stuff you will need. I will chop the vegetables and meat for you. I can also bring over a broth base, you will just need to add a few things to it to make the brother perfect."
"I appreciate any help you can give me, Teuchi-san. I haven't made ramen for anyone who loves ramen as much as Naru-chan does."
Teuchi grinned, "Remember, he also loves instant ramen, so anything you make will be great according to him."
"Will it taste as good as yours?" Masahiro asked.
"I don't know. However it even if it doesn't taste like mine, it may even taste better, because it will be made with something that only you and your family can give it."
"What?" Masahiro was almost frantic, anything to make this one thing work perfect.
"Love. Your ramen will be seasoned with love, which is something that only you can do."
"Love!" Masahiro burst out, "Love isn't going to make this the best birthday ever! Love isn't going to make a cake! Love isn't going to make Naruto happy!" He turned around and ran away like his pants were on fire.
Harumi glanced at Teuchi and gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry for his outburst. He is very stressed about the whole birthday party. Please come by when you can. If I'm not there, feel free to leave it on the porch with any instructions."
"Of course, Harumi-san. You take care of your brother, we will take care of this," Teuchi waved his hand at the food stand that was still smoking, but at least it wasn't on fire. "I will be by your house in an hour or so."
"Thank you, Teuchi-san," Harumi said as she took to the roof in the direction that her brother ran in.
It didn't take her long to find Masahiro, he was running towards the Nara forest. Harumi moved faster, she needed to say something to Yoshino-oba, then she needed to go back and see what could be done about that cake.
"Harumi? What are you doing here?" Yoshino-oba asked, looking up from the vegetables she was chopping.
"Masahiro is on his way to the forest and I wanted you to know so you could keep an eye out for him please? He is stressed over this whole Perfect birthday party for Naruto thing. The cake wasn't made and the ramen shop is shut down due to a fire. I need to go and see what we can do to fix this, I just didn't want him to be alone," Harumi said in a rush.
Yoshino-oba nodded as she put her knife down and began to move the vegetables into a container. "Don't worry about it. I will take care of Masahiro. You go and take care of this party. What time is everyone arriving?"
"Dinner time. Thank you, Yoshino-oba. You are the best!" Harumi gave her aunt a quick hug before she ran out the door and took off towards the bakery.
"Why today of all days?" Masahiro yelled at the empty forest. "I just wanted to everything to be perfect!"
The wind softly rustling the leaves on the trees was his only answer.
Naruto deserved a perfect birthday! He didn't have one before.
No presents.
No cake.
No friends or family to celebrate the day they were born.
Masahiro didn't notice the tears running down his cheeks until a young deer came over and licked his face.
"Hi, I'm sorry if I scared you. I just…" he sniffed, "my best friend is having his first birthday party at my house today. It was supposed to be the best birthday ever, but now the cake isn't made and the ramen isn't going to be made. The only thing that could make this worse is no one shows up or I loose his gift."
The deer shoved his head into Masahiro's shoulder.
"Yes, I know. This isn't helping. But I don't know what else to do."
The deer snorted.
"I know, Harumi is going to work hard to fix this. She will even ask our family to help."
The deer shoved Masahiro in the chest.
"I know. I know. I should go help. I just wanted it to be perfect."
The deer shoved Masahiro harder.
"Fine, fine. I'll go and help. I don't know why you are being so pushy."
"It might be because I'm here," a voice called from behind him. Masahiro whipped around. Not that alarmed because he recognized the voice, but still.
"Yoshino-oba? Why are you here?"
"Your sister was concerned and she asked me to keep an eye out for you. But I figured you were being stupid, so I thought I would come and knock some sense into you. Good thing I did too, because I was right."
"What? I'm not being stupid!"
"Really? Because I heard you making unobtainable results and leaving your sister to try and make it happen. Am I wrong?"
"No," Masahiro's shoulders slumped.
"Do you remember the first holiday after your parents died?"
The abrupt change in conversation had Masahiro struggling to catch up. "Umm, it was Christmas, right?"
"Yes. I know you were probably too young to remember, but your sister was determined for that Christmas to be exactly like the Christmas' you had when your parents were alive. If not better to make up for the fact your parents died."
"What happened?"
"Well it was a long story, but the important thing was that I had a young Harumi in my kitchen three days before Christmas, so tired she couldn't keep her head up, with a pounding headache from lack of sleep and food. She cried and cried. She told me she was a failure because she couldn't do the work that both your parents put into Christmas. She didn't have the cookies made, nor did she have the presents wrapped and under the tree. She barley had the energy to help you all put up the tree and decorate. She was working double shifts at the hospital every day, taking care of the three of you and studying instead of sleeping. Throw into the mix, trying to make cookies, buy and wrap presents. She was overwhelmed and frustrated. So I talked to her and I will tell you the same thing I told her."
"What?"
"That it isn't the stuff that makes a celebration memorable. It is the people you spend it with. Now let me ask you, do you remember the lack of homemade Christmas cookies? The lack of presents from that first Christmas?"
Masahiro shook his head, "No, I remember Harumi smiled for real for the first time in a long time when I got my new ninja clothes. I remember Hideaki laughed when I tried to put my clothes on over my pajamas. I remember Maiko putting whipped cream on my nose when we drank hot chocolate."
Yoshino-oba nodded, "That's right. You remembered what you had, not what you didn't have because you were surrounded by those who love you and who you love. That is what you need to remember for Naruto's birthday. He is already excited because this is something new."
Yoshino-oba walked over and gave Masahiro a hug, "Now go and help your sister before I really hit you in the head. You should let her know that it doesn't have to be perfect, that is just needs to be a great party with friends."
Masahiro nodded, "I will. I don't want Harumi to stress herself out trying to make it better for me."
"Go," Yoshino-oba said pointing in the direction of the gate, "Naruto will love this party. Remember that."
Masahiro nodded and took off running. Before he broke through the trees he turned around and yelled, "Thank you!" before taking off as quickly as he could.
First he went to the bakery, he just missed Harumi, but the cake was being baked right now and should be ready in two hours. It won't be a fancy, but it would still taste delicious. So Masahiro ran home, Harumi would need help to make the ramen.
"Harumi? I'm home!" Masahiro yelled as soon as he threw open the door. Kicking his shoes off in the direction of the shoe rack.
"I'm in the kitchen," Harumi called back, "go upstairs and make sure I wrapped your gift correctly. You will need to write your name on the card."
"I can do that," Masahiro answered as he walked into the kitchen. Harumi was standing at the counter chopping something and dropping it into a pot. The pot was boiling as Harumi continued to add things. He walked up and wrapped his arms around his sister, "Thank you for helping me. I know this will be the best birthday party ever."
Harumi stopped chopping and put her hands on top of Masahiro's, "Why the sudden change?"
"Yoshino-oba and one of the young deer."
Harumi laughed, Masahiro smiled as his cheek vibrated where it was pressed against her back.
"Well Yoshino-oba is always ready to tell us when we mess up."
"Yes, but she reminded me that we can have a good celebration, even if everything doesn't go according to plan."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I will go look, but I know that you chose the right wrapping paper. When I'm done writing my name in the card I will come and help."
"Sounds good," Harumi said as she stirred the broth. "The broth is almost done, so we can let it cook on the stove. We still have a couple hours before the cake is finished and from the look of things, your siblings have finished the decorations."
Masahiro nodded, making note that he would need to thank Hideaki and Maiko. They were very helpful.
The sign was wrapped in bright orange paper with a dark blue ribbon. The card was simple, but touching. Harumi, Hideaki and Maiko had already signed it, so Masahiro added his name. Tucked the card behind the ribbon, and smiled, there perfect.
He brought it downstairs. Told his other two siblings thank you and set the present on the side table in the living room.
Masahiro was happy and calm, this party would be great.
Harumi left to go and get the cake, Teuchi stopped by, checked the broth and smiled. He set the small nests of noodles in the bowls he brought. He put the pork, beef and chicken in the fridge.
"This is good. Just fry the meat to make it crispy and you will have a great dinner. Your sister has a good broth, with these noodles, you will have a great dinner."
Masahiro smiled, "Thank you, Teuchi-san for your hard work with helping us with Naruto's birthday party."
Teuchi smiled at Masahiro, "Don't worry so much. Naruto will love everything about today because you are his friend and because you care."
"Everyone keeps telling me that," Masahiro replied.
Teuchi nodded, "Then it must be true because people keep telling you. Don't worry too much, it will cause you to get grey hair like me," he pointed to the greying hair on his head.
Masahiro nodded, "I will try."
"Good. Enjoy the party," Teuchi called out over his shoulder as he walked down the street.
Masahiro nodded and went back inside. There he grabbed the present and placed it on the table.
Harumi came home baring the cake. While it wasn't everything Masahiro wanted it to be, it was blue, orange and white, with giant "Happy Birthday Naruto!" written on it. Shortly after Harumi came back, Naruto and Kakashi arrived.
"Today is my birthday party!" Naruto shouted when he walked in the house.
"Inside voice, Naruto!" Harumi yelled from the kitchen, where she was preparing the meat.
"Sorry Haru-chan!" Naruto yelled back.
Masahiro could feel his face split with his smile as Kakashi sighed. The masked man put a small wrapped present on the table with Masahiro's gift.
"Go outside and play boys, I'm sure Harumi doesn't need you underfoot while she finishes dinner," Kakashi told them.
Masahiro grabbed Naruto's hand and led him to the front yard. It wasn't as fun as the backyard, but this way they would be able to see Sasuke and Itachi arrive.
Maiko and Hideaki arrived, each holding a small wrapped gift.
"Happy birthday, Naruto," They called as they walked past the two boys and walked into the house, where they also put their presents down.
Sasuke and Itachi came and Naruto was vibrating with happiness.
"You came! It's my birthday party Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as the two Uchihas walked through the small gate at the front of the yard.
Sasuke looked up at Itachi who waved a hand at the two boys, "Go and play with your friends Sasuke. Happy birthday, Naruto."
"Thanks Itachi-nii!" Naruto yelled back.
Itachi walked inside, the present joining the small pile.
Harumi looked at both Itachi and Kakashi, "It looks like the boys are having fun. What are they doing?"
"It looks like they are playing a game that Sasuke plays with me, called guess my stance," Itachi offered. "It started when he would ask me what I was doing and then moved to wanting to know what happened next. Finally I just began asking him, to see if he would recognize where I was in the katas."
"Ah, well that sounds useful, but only if you are familiar with the kata in question," Kakashi said.
Itachi shrugged, "I didn't say it was perfect."
The two adults and the three teens watched as the boys would take a stance and the laughter that would happen as the other two would try and guess what was going on.
Harumi smiled, "Dinner is done. Kakashi, would you please get the boys and have them wash up?"
Kakashi nodded and went to do what Harumi asked.
Dinner was loud. Everyone talking over the others. Funny stories of pranks filled the air. Masahiro looked around the room and his chest was warm. Everyone was right, it was a perfect birthday party.
Naruto didn't complain that the ramen wasn't Ichiraku, in fact he cried when he found out Harumi made it, with some help from Teuchi.
Naruto didn't care that the cake was a single layer chocolate with simple writing. He got teary eyed when he read the cake, "In my favorite colors! Awesome!"
Then came the presents.
Sasuke got Naruto some specialty ninja wire. This wouldn't wire wouldn't tangle. Masahiro tried not to grin, he could see Naruto already planning on how to use this, and it wasn't for ninja training.
Maiko and Hideaki got Naruto some ramen coupons for Ichiraku Ramen. Maiko also got Naruto a special ramen bowl that had the same orange whirl that was the Uzumaki clan symbol. While Hideaki got Naruto the chopsticks that matched the bowl. Naruto loved them and gave the two hugs.
Kakashi handed Naruto his gift.
"Tale of the Gutsy Ninja?" Naruto asked when he opened it.
Kakashi nodded, "This book was given to me by my sensei. I'm sure he would love to know that you have it now. If you want we can read it as your bedtime story."
Naruto's face lit up at Kakashi's explanation. "Do you think your sensei would have liked me?"
Kakashi nodded and ruffled Naruto's hair, "I think he would have loved you."
Masahiro handed Naruto his gift.
"More orange," Harumi laughed.
Naruto tore into the gift and gasped when he saw it. He stared at it for so long, Masahiro got scared. Did he not like it? Was it the wrong color?
"If you don't like it we can.." Masahiro's frantic explanation was cut off as Naruto launched himself off his chair to tackle Masahiro. Poor Sasuke happened to be between the two boys and managed to get pulled into the tackle.
"It is the best present ever!" Naruto yelled. "Thank you! I will be your best friend forever!"
The small wooden sign was painted white. The words "#1 Best Friends" was written in orange with a black outline. In blue were the three symbols of the Uzumaki clan, the Nara clan and the Uchiha clan.
Crushed under the weight of his two best friends, Masahiro decided that everyone was right. The stuff didn't have to be perfect to make a perfect birthday. It was the people you spend the party with that made it perfect. Because this was the perfect birthday party for Naruto.
AN: Sorry this took so long to upload. As I was editing this, I ended up just rewriting the whole thing. The original version just didn't work as well. I hope you all like the final product.