Well, forget about this story being delayed or put off... XD I realized within a few hours, aided by your wonderful reviews, that one measly flame shall not keep me down for long. After all, there is no point to be all upset and moping just over a little bump in the road... - I'm not the only one who has been flamed before, I'm sure!

-giggles- I love you all. =D You guys are so optimistic and appreciative of my fic... 3 3 -showers you all with love- Yes, I shouldn't have taken it so personally, but it was my first time being flamed that I kind of magnified the insults... I'm a sensitive person. XD But, anyway, now that's over and done with, and I think about it, it was rather funny... especially because Sasuke didn't even touch Sakura. XDDD

Now the only reason why I took so long in writing this is because... well, I couldn't get an idea. XD But no matter.

Kiyana Va Sala: Yes, you're right... And I really did laugh and feel better.

Me: Dude, you're right.

Jinx-22: Thank you!

Kashienshey: Don't worry, apparently, that guy doesn't appreciate the stuff I'm trying to write, but I'm over it now!

Kitty: I'm glad you like my fic! (:

M. Alicia Garcia: You're very correct. I now think of the guy as someone who is just a waste of space... XD

Rain-in-silence: XD That's funny, and true. He really couldn't spell, could he?

Nikita-of-the-Rocket: Here's the chapter you've been waiting for, and I hope you haven't forgotten it. Oo;

Pickles: Thanks. I won't ever get down just because of a flame again.

Sonydjsnmix: You summed it up quite nicely.

Drgaon noir: Well, Sasuke will go on with the plan as usual, and he'll probably get his ass kicked quite hard by Naruto... XD

Behold The Void: Yes, it is difficult to go back to a story once it's been flamed. I found myself looking at my story from different eyes, and just giving up at times on the plot. But I'm trying to get back on track now, and I think this'll be all right. But I think that my chapters might be very mildly different, when it comes to writing style... I don't know. I just have a different feeling for this story now. It's not a bad feeling... just not the same feeling I used to have.

Lovelight: I have no wish to offend you in any way if anything I've said about 'hate comes in...' was offensive to you... But a single flamer will no longer bring me down. His words hurt at the time, but I have thought about it, especially after reading your review. And I figured that there are plenty of people out there who suffer far more then I do, and still continue with what they do best. So I shall continue with my own work, and ignore flamers forever more.

Dark-and-Daisuke: No, I'm not offended, because you're right! It is just a story, and should be considered so!

On with the story! XD

Oh, and I completely forget the title of one of the games at the party, so it's simply called a 'kissing game'. And I forget mostly everything about it (ahaha xD) so I half made it up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing a disclaimer. XD

Titled. Chapter 10.

Sasuke sat on the edge of his bed. He had heard everything they said, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel happy about this, or upset. He was invited... meaning that they didn't hate him. But... ah. In his mind, another plan formed. Yes, there would be more birthdays, and he would wait. And he'd get his revenge on Naruto too, this way. Yes. He would wait.

And they would be in for the surprise of their lifetimes.

And Sasuke felt so good that he laughed out loud.

- - -

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek huffily, forehead puckered with the effort of his thinking. Of course, he didn't think that much to begin with, but he was thinking now, and thinking furiously hard at that. He had to make two horrendously difficult choices, and it was tearing his heart up.

He whirled around to the girl beside him; a girl that he had personally dragged away from another guy.

"Ino, the pink cake, or the red one?" he whined.

The blonde girl sighed with frustration. "Gods, Naruto-kun, I'm sure that Sakura would love any cake you buy for her, so just get on with it!" She grumbled to herself as Naruto turned back to the two cakes. He had already blew apart her date with Shikamaru, hauling her away despite her loud protests and Shikamaru's glares. But it was for Sakura, so she relented after he babbled out his reason and apology. And her surprise that Sakura had chosen him over Sasuke pretty much made her jaw drop... and when people's jaws drop, they aren't in much of a place to argue.

She threw a side-glance at the hard-pressed kitsune, wondering once again just why her former rival had ditched her former love. Naturally, she didn't pebble Naruto with questions, but she could fuss about it in her head. As Sakura's best friend, she would steal some time away tonight at the party, and she and Sakura could have a nice long talk.

"Ino-chan, you're not helping!" Naruto's shrill rebuke yanked her out of her thoughts.

"What, Naruto-kun, didn't I say that she'd like any cake?"

He was deathly irritating... but sweet, nonetheless.

"So what do you think she'd want? And do you think that I should've made someone else tell everyone to come? I mean, Shikamaru is kind of... lazy..." Naruto paused to offer a grin at Ino. "And slow..."

Ino whacked him over the head. "Well, you made him be the inviter, and ruined my date, so stop dawdling and hurry up!" Eyeing the rather pathetic puppy-dog face Naruto was trying to pull off, she pointed a finger at the pink cake. "That one. It matches her hair." Duh, her mind muttered.

"... It matches her hair!" Naruto shrieked, causing several other people on the street to look around in alarm. "Thanks, Ino-chan!"

"No problem, Naruto-kun." She leaned against the window of the next store, running her gaze over a bracelet. It was a little chain, pink dolphins connected to it at odd intervals.

"Ooh, Naruto-kun, that's so pretty!" she gasped. Disregarding Naruto's reply of 'Huh?' she dashed into the store.

Naruto blinked dumbly at the space where Ino had stood a few seconds ago. He shrugged. She'll get whatever she's getting, and I'll go get the cake!

- - -

Shikamaru dragged his feet slowly against the ground, dust settling into his shoes.

He ticked off the names of people already informed, if not by him then by others. Kiba, Naruto, himself, Neji, Ten-Ten, Ino...

You might've noticed that Lee was not invited. That's because the author really hates him. Anyway...

He mumbled incoherent words to himself, slowly making his way towards Hinata's house... or rather, manor. She was second-last on the list, and considering how little time had gone by, he was quite proud of himself for being so... not slow.

- - -

Hinata curiously opened the door, blinking shy white-lavender eyes at Shikamaru. "H - hi, Shikamaru-kun."

"Hinata-sama," he said respectfully, inclining his head. "I have an invitation from Naruto-kun, to Sakura-chan's birthday party..."

Hinata listened silently to the rest of the invitation, a bright smile lighting over her normally closed face... but not because it was from Naruto. Actually, she now sort of went over to pieces of Kiba. Ahaha.

To Sakura's birthday party... What should I buy for her? Her face took on the dreamy look of one lost in one's thought, so Shikamaru stopped talking. Assuming she had heard enough to know the starting and ending times, he politely allowed her to ponder away.

"See you soon, Hinata-sama." He dipped his head once more, and left. Now... Just Sasuke left to invite.

- - -

Sakura idly traced a pattern on her bed sheets. She had gotten up, opened the blinds, washed and cleaned up her room. And now the author will skip mentioning Sakura's meaningless wasting of time in her room, staring into space, because the author's head is completely dead for ideas at the moment. Party time!

- - -

"Get that one!"

"No, that one looks better!"

"..." [Choke, splutter, cough, cough.]

"I think he's choking, you guys..."

"I'M FINE!"

And so, we come straight to the party, where Naruto suddenly received the idea to go apple bobbing. And a fruitless search around Sasuke's house unearthed Sasuke's secret. He had no apples! And he wasn't in the mood for Naruto to waste a lot of water, so they used vinegar instead.

... Worst-case scenario, they settled for onion bobbing. Naruto just had to go first. He was rather successful, managing to sink his teeth into an unpeeled onion. However, being sort of - well, stupid - he had completely forgotten that onion-juice really, really, really stung if you got it in the eyes. And the onion squirted onion-juice into his eyes.

... Vinegar wasn't pleasant either.

Thus, Naruto had to try and yell in pain, failing because he ended up choking on his onion/a mouthful of vinegar, and his eyes turned red. No, not because the Kyubi just decided to go on a killing rampage of all onion farms, but because, as said before, onion-juice irritates the eyes.

Which resulted in hysterical laughter from everyone. Excluding Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru - because hysterical laughter wasn't a 'Sasuke thing'... plus, Neji and Shikamaru... just didn't laugh.

Ah, eighteen was such a happy age to be.

Sakura nibbled on a piece of the pink cake that Naruto had bought for her, chuckling. Ino sat beside her, openly laughing her head off as Naruto squirmed and flailed about, tears streaming from his eyes.

The hubbub died down after a few minutes, and one of those odd silences took over the group. You know, those sorts of silences that just happen in the middle of party, where everyone takes a few seconds to think about what just happened, and ponder why exactly it happened.

Except, Sakura wasn't really thinking about the onion stuff, she was thanking her lucky stars that Sasuke was acting normally. Which consisted of ignoring her and calling Naruto names.

Ino broke the silence, a devilish glint to her eyes. "Well," she said, grinning, clapping her hands together. She stopped talking, throwing sly glances around the room. She had everyone's attention now, because when Ino had that scary look in her eyes, she was plain scary. "I have an idea," she said slowly, drawing each word out as long as possible.

Silence ensnared the group.

... Silence continued to hang over the group, until Naruto barked, "Anytime tonight would be fine!"

Laughter rippled through the people in the room. Ino shot him a glare. "We could... play..." The title of the game was said so quickly that no body caught it, except for the girls.

Sakura went into a fit of serious giggling. Hinata blushed to the roots of her hair. Ten-Ten wore a vague smirk. Ino remained mysterious looking. And the author glared daggers at everyone present, because there are very few girls in Konoha worth mentioning, and the author doesn't want to drag girls from Sand over (ahaha).

"Eh?" chorused all the boys. Excluding Sasuke and Shikamaru - because speaking in a chorus wasn't a 'Sasuke thing'... and Shikamaru was just too lazy to care. But including Neji this time, because he was truly puzzled.

"It's a - a k - kiss - kissing game," piped up Hinata, to everyone's surprise.

"A kissing game?" Sasuke questioned stupidly, looking mortified (as did all the boys).

"That's what she said, jerk," Naruto mumbled, looking anywhere but at the group.

Ten-Ten gave everyone smirks. "Boys are so immature," she said loftily. "I think they're scared to be kissed," she added loudly. "Poor little babies."

Immediately, several said 'babies' jumped up to defend their manly prides.

"I'M NOT A BABY!" Naruto bellowed, stamping his foot like a three-year-old.

"We're not immature," Kiba said irritably, Akamaru barking in agreement from the corner of the room. Sasuke contributed to the rebellious two as well, even if his argument was a bit lame.

"We're... guys. We don't like... getting kissed." His words were almost stuttered.

There was a short silence. "Speak for yourself," Shikamaru said lazily from his position on the couch, with a bit of a crooked grin. He yanked Ino unceremoniously into his lap, lips seeking hers. Without so much as batting her eyes, she gleefully met his kiss, eyes closing.

Everyone else just stared blankly.

Ino broke off the contact, turned and glared at everyone else. A bit pink around the face, she yelled, "You're all big fat sissies who can't take the heat of being kissed!"

- - -

Within seconds, everyone was down on the ground, in a circle, listening to Ino gloatingly recite the rules and instructions in how to play the game. After that, she applied a thick layer of lipstick to each girl's lips. As soon as she finished, she pointed a finger at Hinata. "You first, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata entered 'Goodness me I must poke my index fingers together' phase. Flushing furiously, she stammered, "B - but Ino-chan, I d - don't think I -"

"Nonsense, Hinata!" crowed Ino. Time for matchmaking, she snickered inwardly. "Kiba! Go!"

The dog-loving boy grabbed Akamaru and held the dog in front of his face to hide the light blush that graced his cheeks. No one was supposed to know that he harbored a secret love for Hinata! NO ONE! But apparently, Ino did... So she shoved both of them into the nearest closet and slammed the door, cackling.

- - -

Akamaru stuck his tongue out, panting agreeably.

Hinata pushed her index fingers together; blushing so red that one might've fried eggs on her face.

"Hinata-chan?"

"Y - y - y - y - y - y - y - y - yes?" she stuttered. God heavens, that was my worst stutter ever.

"Um - uh - you don't have to do this if you don't want to... We could just pretend." Kiba himself sounded unsure in the darkness.

Oh no,Hinata cried frantically, no, no, I want this - I mean, no I don't! I mean, I'm really innocent and scared and naïve and I feel like I'm going to dieeee! So the poor girl grabbed Akamaru from Kiba and buried her face in the dog's back. "Mffphly," she said.

Kiba squinted in the closet's darkness. How cute. Go, Kiba, go!

Shifting closer to her, his right arm placed against her head on the wall, bringing his face close to hers. "Hinata," he whispered huskily (partly from high-strung nerves), "I want you."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, you silly reader, no one was being murdered. It was simply Hinata screaming from joy and apprehension in her head. Here we go with the author's creepy laugh now. Ahaha.

"I want you too," she said breathlessly, lifting her face from the dog's back to find Kiba shockingly close.

"Then... I guess we don't have to pretend." He leaned down and captured her lips.

- - -

Sakura sat on the edge of her chair, worriedly peering at the closed closet door. Hinata was so nervous, so shy; perhaps it wasn't a good idea to have sent her in first... But the door opened an inch, and Kiba stuck his head out, grinning sheepishly.

Everyone stared for a second, eyeing the pink lipstick smudged over his mouth and face. And all the girls let out shrieks of laughter.

Of course, everyone had his or her turn. Ten-Ten practically dragged Neji with her, and they stayed for less then a minute before both came running out, blushing furiously. Ino and Shikamaru went next, refusing to emerge for ten whole minutes. Just what they were doing in there, no one wanted to know.

"Sasuke!" Ten-Ten cheered, pointing a stern finger in there. "You and Sakura! Get in there!"

Sakura blushed and shot Naruto a nervous look. "Um - um - I don't -"

But willing hands pushed the unwilling couple into the closet and shut the doors; deaf to Sakura's protests... except for Naruto, who watched on anxiously, and Ino who bit the nail of her thumb nervously.

- - -

Sakura instantly squished herself as close as possible to the nearest wall.Crap, crap, crap, what do I do? Inner Sakura said wildly, waving her arms in the air.

"Sakura."

"Yes?" she squeaked, her voice higher then usual.

"One kiss. Just one. And I won't ever bother you again."

Well, Inner Sakura admitted, that isn't so bad, I guess... Just one kiss, right?

"Just - just that one... It's not like I don't like you, Sasuke-kun... It's just - " She hushed when he pressed two fingers against her mouth.

"I know. Just one."

"Oh, um - all right," she said warily, pushing all thoughts of Naruto's apprehensive face out of her head. Besides, it was just one little kiss. And then they'd be left alone... "It'll be like old times, right?" she piped up, grabbing his hand. "And we'll all be friends, right?"

"Right." He stroked her cheek. "I won't ever hurt you again. Uchiha Sasuke will never hurt you again."

"Thank you," she said quietly. With trembling fingers, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and felt her waist encircled quickly. Her words of 'maybe this isn't such a good idea' were cut off as his mouths enveloped hers.

Before she could think, she was kissing him back, nipping on his bottom lip. He ran his tongue lightly across her teeth, seeking entrance, and she gave in.

Felt his tongue entwine with hers.

Felt her tongue battle against his.

Felt his arms tighten.

Felt her fingers in his hair.

Felt his body against hers.

Felt her gasp of breath as she pulled away.

"I'm sorry, I can't," she fumbled breathlessly, staggering out of the closet and followed by Sasuke.

- - -

She practically flew across the room, and attached herself to Naruto's side, and he cast her an odd look before wrapping an arm comfortingly over her shoulders.

"Sorry," she whimpered, so quietly that Naruto could barely hear her.

"It's just a game," he quipped warmly, and the two of them forced friendly laughter as their friends teased Sasuke mercilessly.

A few minutes later, and no one remembered as they went on to play more games, but Ino beckoned to Sakura with her hand. The pink-haired jounin squeezed Naruto's arm for reassurance, and he let her go, joining in the game of bobbing for onions.

Sakura sighed as she scrambled towards Ino. Doesn't he ever learn?

- - -

Ino headed straight for the closet and shut themselves in the darkness. No, you hentai! They're not going to do anything dirty, it's just private in there!

"Sakura, are you sure you're letting go of Sasuke?"

"What?" Sakura said blankly. That was really blunt, Inner Sakura grumbled.

"I mean... Naruto's kind of dim at times, you know?"

"No. He's not. He's perfectly fine, and Sasuke was terribly mean to me."

Ino bit her lower lip. "But could you really let go of him so easily? Have you really stopped - loving him? I mean... you guys were in the closet for quite a long time..." Ino couldn't see the look on Sakura's face in the dark, but she sensed the bitter note in her next words.

"You love Shikamaru now. If you could let go, why couldn't I?"

"Oh, Sakura-chan, I'm worried for you... You always seemed to like him so much."

It was only a habit. I didn't really like him. I can't like him anymore. I love Naruto! I love the boy who's always been right behind me, supporting me to his limit. I love the boy who's never doubted my word, who's always loved me faithfully...

But somehow, the words wouldn't come out.

- - - - -

I'm still trying to get back in my story-mood. XD

Now... Commence begging pathetically for reviews.

Oh, please, please, PLEASE, review! It's my LIFE! I CANNOT LIFE WITHOUT YOUR SWEET REVIEWS! TT

... Review!

... Go, now, the button's right there...

... You know that I love you and will always love you, and will love you to pieces if you reviewed... =D

... GO REVIEW DAMN IT NOW! OO -goes into hyperventilating mode-

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe in, LAIB&%$W$W(&ZE, breathe out!!!

See, if you reviewed, I wouldn't have to go through breathing difficulties. =D

Until next chapter. ;D Ciao.