Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
7 Days, Come What May
Chapter VIII: Birthday Preparations
"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata shook the sleeping boy on the bed. "Please wake up."
The blonde fox-boy shifted from his position but didn't wake up. Hinata sighed.
"N-Naruto-kun? Today's your birthday, don't you remember?" Hinata said timidly.
Hearing the word 'birthday' vaguely in his mind, Naruto pried one eye open.
"Eh?"
"I-It's your birthday today, Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated. "Wouldn't you like to wake up?"
"OH!" Naruto sprang up excitedly from his bed. "YEA!"
He turned to Hinata, flashed her an adoring smile, and pulled her in to a crushing hug.
"N-Naruto!" Hinata cried out in embarrassed surprise.
"That's my birthday hug for you, babe!" Naruto smiled cheerfully, making Hinata blush.
"Aw, don't tell me you didn't like it," the blonde boy faked a pout. "And where's my birthday kiss?"
This made Hinata blush even harder. The Hyuuga heir quickly got up from the bed.
"N-Naruto-kun, I-I'll be downstairs, helping preparing for your birthday. P-Please come down at about noontime," Hinata stammered, quickly turning around to hide her red face and starting out the door.
Suddenly, Hinata felt something tug at her wrist. It was Naruto, grinning teasingly (yet again) at her. His eyes told her that he wasn't planning to release her anytime soon.
"But where's my birthday kiss, Hinata-chan?" Naruto walked up closer to her, saying all this in a seductive whisper.
Hinata couldn't find the strength to speak, let alone even stammer. Now, his face was so close to hers that their lips could almost be touching. Hinata's face was on burning fire. Suddenly, pinched Hinata's cheek and his face changed from its previous serious expression to a playful expression.
"Hahaha, caught you again, Hinata!" Naruto smiled at her cutely.
"Y-You're being mean again, N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata tried to resist her urge to just give him a 'birthday kiss'.
Naruto laughed good-heartedly and released his grip from her wrist.
"I'll let you go this time, Hinata-chan, but you still owe me a birthday kiss!"
"I-I'll be going now," again, Hinata blushed prettily as she backed up and went out the door.
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As Naruto was showering and preparing to come down, almost everyone was busily preparing for the birthday party. Aunt Midori and Hinata was helping out in the main kitchen to prepare for the food while Ino, Sakura, and Lee were busy with the decorations.
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Over in Shikamaru's Section (arranging the tables and chairs)
Shikamaru lazily dragged over two chairs and put it in coordination with the table.
"Hah. Finished now. How troublesome," the Nara genius muttered under his breath.
"Finished your ass, Nara genius," came a voice behind him.
Shikamaru's hair pricked up on the back of his neck. He knew that voice only too well. The only woman scarier than his own mother. 'Temari.'
"What's wrong, woman," Shikamaru casually stated as he turned around to face her.
"What's wrong? What's wrong. Very funny. Open your eyes once in a while and look at what you're doing. There are eight chairs on that side of the table. There are seven on this side. Go get one more. Oh, and don't forget that you need tablecloth," the spicy sand ninja said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Shikamaru sighed.
"Look, woman, you don't need to get that upset over the loss of one measly chair," Shikamaru gave her an exasperated look.
Temari glared back.
"Go get that chair and tablecloth before I'm going to kiss you again, just like last night, remember?" Temari said in a triumphant tone.
She knew that he was uncomfortable about this kind of stuff. Sure enough, the Nara's face turned bright red. After muttering his trademark 'how troublesome' remark, he walked off to get the chair and the tablecloth. A few moments later, Shikamaru came back with the stuff. He pushed in the last chair while Temari spread out the tablecloth.
"Ahh, finished," Shikamaru remarked again, forgetting that Temari was still there with him.
She gave him a disapproving look.
"What, not satisfied yet?" Shikamaru tiredly asked her.
"No."
"What else then?"
"Silverware," Temari placed both hands on her hips. "Go get 'em."
Shikamaru couldn't take in the nerve of this woman any longer. He had NEVER in his WHOLE LIFE met anyone this arrogant and bossy. Well, he wasn't about to have some woman step all over him. He wasn't a genius for nothing.
"No, I won't," with that, Shikamaru lazily sat down on the chair that he had just brought.
Temari's face told him that she was running out of patience.
"I said, go get them," Temari said in a warning tone.
"Why should I?" he looked up into her face, his eyes lazy but stubborn.
Temari fumed.
"Do you want me to kiss you, huh? Like last night? You were so red," Temari threatened, trying to make Shikamaru embarrassed so that he would give in.
Inside, Shikamaru was as humiliated as hell but he kept that from showing in his face.
"Fine, go on. I don't mind," he replied, standing up and looking down into her bewildered face. "Would you mind making it a French kiss this time?"
Temari was shocked. She was so angry that she lifted up her fist and tried to punch him. Fortunately, Shikamaru caught her fist in time and twisted it around her back.
"Where's your bravado act now, woman?" Shikamaru drawled as he tightened his grip.
"What do you think you're doing?" a pissed off voice interrupted from behind them.
It was Kankurou who had shouted. Gaara was coming up behind his brother.
"How troublesome."
"Let go of Temari," Gaara stated, an edgy hint to his voice.
Shikamaru sighed again. 'How troublesome. I'm just not in the mood for a fight.' With that thought, he released Temari, but not before he lazily drawled something into her ear.
"I still win this, woman. I'm a genius, after all."
"Shut up," she hissed back and walking back towards her two brothers.
"Don't mess with my sister again, Nara. Or you'll die a painful death," Kankurou threatened.
Gaara just glared, his eyes giving the same message.
"Yea, yea," the Nara replied carelessly. 'Troublesome woman, with even more troublesome brothers,' he thought.
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Over in Neji's section (preparing the cocktails)
Despite what other people might think of Hyuuga Neji, he was surprisingly good at preparing cocktails. Back at the Hyuuga mansion, where Hinata prepared the tea all the time, Neji always was the one preparing the cocktails and special drinks for his other family members. Neji was at the cocktail stand, shaking the drink in his hand. Next to him was Ten Ten, who was supposedly now his cocktail apprentice. When she asked him if she might learn how to prepare a drink, he surprisingly accepted.
"Neji, for the Avocado Daiquiri…how much ice?" Ten Ten asked, preparing to pour in a bit a light rum.
Immediately, Neji caught her hand before she could pour anything into the cocktail shaker.
"The golden rule of a bartender is to never, never put the liquor in before you put the ice. This is so that all the ingredients can be cooled by the ice properly," Neji calmly explained as he took the rum bottle out of her hand. "You also don't want to the drink to be too strong. It's still early."
He bent down for the bucket of ice and scooped up one cup.
"One cup of ice for the Avocado Daiquiri," he stated, handing the cup to her.
Ten Ten took the cup and poured it into the cocktail shaker.
"Okay, thanks. Now, what?" she asked.
"Some lime juice should do," Neji replied, turning around to look for the lime juice.
Apparently, the place where the bowl of lime juice was supposed to be was empty. Instead, somebody was holding it. When the Hyuuga looked up, he saw that that someone was Shino.
"Ten Ten-chan, the lime juice," Shino said unemotionally, handing the bowl to Ten Ten.
"Thanks, Shino!"
Neji was somewhat annoyed that Shino just had to come and interrupt his lesson. But, the Hyuuga decided to ignore it and continued to give instructions.
"Ten Ten, you need to put-"
"Put in ¾ ounces of that lime juice," Shino finished for him.
Neji was getting annoyed.
"Get lost, Aburame. You are interrupting my lesson," Neji shot a look towards the buy guy's way.
"I'm trying to help her here, Hyuuga," Shino replied, his face as same as always.
Ten Ten looked in between the two guys nervously. 'Oh, no I don't want a fight to start now! Why, oh why did Shino have to interrupt!'
"Um, Shino…thanks a lot for offering to help me, but I think Neji can help me," Ten Ten spoke up uncertainly.
She tried to sound as grateful as she could. Neji smirked.
"Whatever you say, Ten Ten-chan," Shino simply replied and walked off. "But only because you say so."
After that, Neji and Ten Ten resumed preparing their cocktail.
"So you prefer me over him?" Neji asked as he put the lime juice into the shaker.
Ten Ten looked surprised.
"Of course, Neji. You're my teammate, after all," Ten Ten replied, her face turning slightly pink, even though she had said nothing embarrassing.
Neji turned and gave her one of his rare smiles.
"Good, then."
In the background, Lee smiled. 'Yes! Shino's hitting on Ten Ten didn't even work!'
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Over in Kiba and Akamaru's section (organizing the electronics)
"Hey, Akamaru, hand me the plug for this microphone," Kiba told his dog while examining another random plug.
"Woof!"
Akamaru ran and carried the plug in his mouth to Kiba.
"Hah. Thanks, Akamaru," the boy plugged in the plug and tried to test it. "One, two, three. Testing. One, two, three."
"Woof?"
"Yea, works fine, Akamaru. Just wait, my friend. Today I'll be the ultimate spotlight of the party with this microphone."
"Woof, woof!" Akamaru cried in agreement.
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As for Sasuke, he's probably out brooding somewhere.
Joyce: MORE reviews please! I need them! It's so fun to read! Yea, that's all :D