Shika vaguely heard the distant sound of her phone ringing in her dream as she turned over in bed. The longer it rang, though, the louder it became. Until finally she realized that she wasn't actually dreaming.

With an irritated groan, she reached across her bed to grab the offending object from her nightstand. Nearly dropping it on the floor brought more clarity to her hazy mind than the ringing itself as she sat up and looked at the name displayed on the bright screen.

And despite the irritation just moments ago, she smiled. She'd kinda expected to receive a call from her mom today. It was her 16th birthday after all.

She answered it.

"Hey momma"

"It's about time you answered! I've called you five times already!"

Shika winced at her mom's loud voice before looking at the time on her phone.

"Mom, it's 5:30 in the morning. I was asleep."

"I know, but I was too excited to wait any longer. Besides, it's the weekend. You dont really have anything to do anyway. But Happy birthday baby!!"

Shika laughed.

"Thanks mom."

"I've missed you so much and I can't even see you on your birthday! This is the first time you've ever been away from me on your birthday. Mom is so sad!"

"Aww, I'm sorry mom. I wish I could come home for summer break at least. I really miss you too. I'm definitely gonna try next year if I'm still here."

"No worries babe. Mom will be okay. Worrying about my baby and missing you so much is all a part of being a parent. I'll be this way with you even when I'm old and gray."

"Don't I know," Shika said and they both laughed.

"Anyway, mom has to finish getting ready so I can go and get the store ready for opening time. There's a sale on eggs and produce today so it's gonna be super busy. But I just wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday. I've already shipped your gift so be on the lookout."

"Okay. Thanks again, mom. I love you."

"I love you too baby. Bye"

"Bye-bye"

And with that, their early morning conversation came to an end. Shika stared at the date on the phone and sighed. It was already June 28th.

She'd been away from home for two and a half months already, but today is one of the only times she'd ever really missed Konoha.

She especially missed her mom though. Yeah, she definitely missed her mom the most. Even though she was a single parent and had to do everything on her own, she always made sure Shika had the best birthday possible.

It was the one day every year that the store was left closed for the entire day.

The day would be spent together doing whatever Shika wanted to do, no matter what it was.

Then she'd either cook or take Shika out to a restaurant for dinner. And even after that, if Shika wasn't ready to call it a night they'd just find something else to do.

She'd also spend time celebrating with Shikamaru and the rest of their friends either the day after her birthday or during the weekend. It was always so much fun.

But now everything was different. She wasn't home in Konoha, she didn't have her mom or her friends and Shikamaru was...

Shika buried her face in her pillow to wipe the tears away. But there really was no reason to cry.

Especially since she'd made the choice to leave home on her own. She really did want to be a hero and her life in Musutafu has been pretty awesome so far. But man was she homesick.

And being homesick really, really sucks.

In the end, Shika didn't celebrate her birthday or even talk about it. She didn't want to seem needy and self-centered or bother anyone by telling them.

To her it felt like she'd just be saying,

"Hey, look at me! Look at me! I'm the new girl and I deserve to be celebrated!"

Ugh! No!

However, Mr. Aizawa did mention it and tell her happy birthday when he saw her that following Monday. He said it was his duty as a teacher to know as much as possible about all of his students.

So that, along with all the calls and texts she received from her friends back in Konoha really did help her end the day with a smile.

"So, guess whose birthday is coming up soon," Nejire said as she, Shika, Tamaki and Mirio walked towards the school.

Shika looked up at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. It had already been a little over a week since her birthday passed, but she hadn't considered that one of their's would be so close.

"Whose?" She finally asked.

"Mirio's!!! Yep, next week on July 15th he'll finally be turning seventeen! Are you excited Mirio?" Nejire asked.

Shika looked up at him and he gave a modest smile while rubbing the back of his head. Their birthdays were only a little over two weeks apart! She was surprised. Never would she have expected that. It kind of made her happy.

"Well," Mirio began, "not really. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm all that excited. There's nothing really special about turning seventeen."

"Aww! Booooo!" Nejire pouted, "But you were so excited for your birthday last year. What happened to the old Mirio?"

"Well, that's because it was my sixteenth birthday. That's a huge milestone, you know? Seventeen is just...well, seventeen. Nothing special," he answered.

Nejire gave him a sour pouting face before speaking.

"Well, I for one, can't wait until I turn seventeen. I'm gonna have SO much fun!" Nejire bounced as she said this before bending forward to look at Shika. She pointed to herself and smiled.

"My birthday is last out of the three of us. October 6th! I'm gonna have a party and you're definitely invited Shika-chan!!!"

Shika giggled at her enthusiasm. "Okay!"

"Yay!" Nejire excitedly hugged Shika before running ahead to catch up with Tamaki, wrapping her arms around one of his.

"That's Nejire for ya," said Mirio, "She always gets like this around our birthdays."

"It's pretty adorable though," Shika said with a smile as she watched Nejire playfully tease Tamaki.

"Yep. She's more excited about it than I am. Do you like celebrating like that?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"Uh, birthdays I mean. Did you celebrate with your friends a lot back home?"

"Oh, yep! There were a bunch of us so it seemed like it was always someone's birthday. But it was lots of fun." Shika smiled as she remembered those day.

"And how about you, Sunshine? When's your birthday?"

Shika froze. She couldn't possibly tell him that it was just a week or so before. Mirio was definitely the type to feel bad about not having known, and that was the last thing she wanted.

So she gave him the best smile she could muster and waved her hands at him dismissively.

"Oh, it already passed a while ago. I was so busy that I don't really even think I remembered it myself."

Just as Mirio was about to speak, they heard the first school bell ring.

"Ah, we'd better hurry!" She said before quickly jogging away.

But her odd behavior hadn't gone unnoticed. And Mirio's stomach was telling him that something was off.

A few days had passed since the whole awkward birthday conversation and Mirio hadn't brought it up again, which put Shika at ease. She really didn't want to make a big deal out of one missed birthday.

It was over now. Besides there were other things to look forward to. Like the fact that she'd already been invited to Nejire's birthday party. Though it was a few months away.

After finishing up her homework Shika found herself sitting up on her bed browsing through her friend's social media pages.

Fuyumi had already been home from work and left out again to run some errands so she was home alone. Bored...and hot.

It was early July so even with a small fan and her bedroom window open the heat was torture. She silently wondered why such a well-off family hadn't invested in air conditioning.

Japan was hot!

She was lucky in the sense that her mom wasn't a native of Japan. And as such, she never got used to the heat. She'd made sure to have air conditioning installed in their house back in Konoha as soon as it was available.

Shika sighed, aware that she did indeed sound like a spoiled brat, whining about air conditioning.

So, she laid back and decided to deal with it like a true native. But suddenly, in the quietness of the house, Shika heard a familiar noise.

Yeah, you know the one