Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

7 Days, Come What May

Chapter X: The Party Continues

"Oh. Really?" Naruto cheerfully turned to the red head. "You have a present for me?"

Gaara silently nodded and brought out a plastic bag. He reached his hand into the bag and brought out something that made everybody stunned. Naruto, especially, since it was his present.

"W-Why, thanks, man!" Naruto's stunned face broke into a wide grin as he grabbed the present from Gaara's offering hand.

The gift was carved out of hard sand. It was a perfectly formed statue of…a naked…girl? It looked suspiciously a lot like Naruto's sexy no jutsu form. And the girl was holding…a ramen bowl in her hand!

'So…when I told Gaara that Naruto liked ramen and using the sexy no jutsu…this is what he made out of it!' Chouji thought, thoroughly observing the statue with a slightly comical face.

In fact, all the males there were 'thoroughly' observing the arm-length sand statue. It was beautiful. Naked, but beautiful. Although Kankurou would never admit it, he was quite proud of what his brother had brought out of Chouji's little information about Naruto. Suddenly, Temari spoke up.

"G-Gaara. Where did you get this idea!" The redhead's elder sister's was a bit shaky, like out of impatience.

"Chouji."

Temari's eyes narrowed towards Chouji.

"You! What did you put into my brother's head!" Temari shouted maniacally while Kankurou and Shikamaru tried to hold her back.

"Hey, calm down, sister! I was there! Chouji was just telling Gaara what Naruto liked-" Kankurou was interrupted by a glaring Temari.

"You! You were there? And you supported putting ideas such as these into Gaara's head?"

Temari's looks could definitely kill.

"Easy, woman!" Shikamaru tried to hold Temari back. "Easy. At least, look on the bright side. Naruto likes it, right?"

"Hmf. Fine."

'Whoa. Maybe Shikamaru's not so bad after all. At least he's the only one who can stop Temari's tantrums,' thought Kankurou, relieved that his sister has stopped.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still gloating over the sand statue. Gaara observed Naruto closely all this while.

"What do you think?" the red head asked after a long while.

"What do I think? I love it! Ah, yes, my lovely self displayed in a statue…I'm hotter than I thought," Naruto grinned. "Thanks, Gaara."

Gaara just nodded in acceptance.

"W-Wow. Gaara…I think you have to watch out being with Naruto too much. First, it's Jiraiya-sama affecting Naruto's brain too much and now Naruto has affected your brain," Sakura spoke up, still a bit shocked at Gaara's bold (but beautiful) present.

"I will watch," Gaara answered nonchalantly.

"Gosh, that guy needs to learn basic social customs," Kiba whispered (not shouted, for the first time in the evening) into Neji's ear.

The Hyuuga just shrugged and continued looking at the statue (Ten Ten was looking…suspiciously pissed!).

"Anyway, Naruto, it's my turn! I've also got something for you! I don't know if you'll like it…but here," Sakura handed Naruto small box wrapped in pink flowery paper.

Inside,there was a silver chain necklace with a squarish locket attached to it. When Naruto opened, it, he saw that there was a picture of Team 7 in it—him, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke. The gift, little though it was, touched him.

"Aww…Sakura, thanks," Naruto smiled.

"Yea, it's good that you like it," Sakura smiled back.

In the background, Sasuke was a bit pissed, mainly because his picture was in there and he did not like being caught in a photo. It was even worse for him because everyone was crowding around to see the picture. Kiba, who was behind every body else, was trying to push everyone out of the way to see what picture it was.

"Hey, hey, move over, people! I haven't had a chance to see what's in that locket!" Kiba said (into the microphone).

"Oh, it's just a picture of Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke, and I," Sakura informed him, smiling again.

"Oh. Okay."

Somehow, this pissed off Sasuke even more, even though he had no idea why. It pissed the Uchiha off that Sakura didn't seem pressured saying his name. It pissed him off that she didn't put in the usual 'kun' at the end for his name. Heck, she didn't even put his name in any special order when speaking about him. Normally, he knew, his name was supposed to come first, something like "Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, and I", but now, now… 'Whatever. I deserve it. For telling her off like that.' Either way, the Uchiha was still pissed (even though he'd never admit it).

"Hey, Sakura-chan…help put this around my neck…" Naruto fussed with the chain.

"Okay, Naruto-kun…" then, Sakura stopped, as if she just remembered something. "Actually, Hinata, why don't you help him put it on?"

Sakura winked at the white-eyed girl. She was smart enough to know that Hinata and Naruto had some kind of spark in between them. Meanwhile, Sasuke was still partly sulking.

'Yea, yea. Naruto calls Sakura 'Sakura-chan' and Sakura calls Naruto 'Naruto-kun'. And I don't get anything. Yea,' Sasuke was still pissed. 'Oh, that's right, just because I told her not to mess with me anymore. Whatever. Like I even care.'

Naruto got Sakura's hint.

'So Sakura-chan's noticed that I have something Hinata-chan, huh? Thanks then, Sakura-chan!' Naruto thought, winking back at his pink-haired teammate.

"S-Sakura-chan! W-Why me?" Hinata stammered, her face pink.

Sakura just gave the Hyuuga girl a smile and shrugged. Hinata didn't know how to respond to this so she just timidly took the necklace and carefully hung it around Naruto's neck. When Hinata was finished and was about to lift up her hand, Naruto caught her hand.

"That's right, Hinata-chan, I happen to remember…where's my birthday kiss? Hmm?" Naruto beamed sweetly up at the embarrassed girl.

"N-Naruto-kun…I…I…umm…" The Hyuuga girl was at a loss for words.

Suddenly, a big bump landed on Naruto's head. It was Neji, who was apparently overprotective of his cousin.

"What the-! What the heck did you do that for!" Naruto turned around to face Neji, still rubbing his sore head.

"The next time I see you flirting with my cousin…" a murderous aura came from the Hyuuga male for the second time that even.

"Uh…hehehehehe…okay…." Naruto released Hinata's hand, but not before flashing her another one of his killer smiles.

After that, Ino proceeded to give Naruto a night cap in flower patterns ('cause she knew that Naruto liked to wear night caps) and Sasuke gave Naruto some kunai (special ones, a bit better than the normal ones, since it was a birthday occasion, after all). Then, the time came for the last present of the day.

"Noooowwwwww, ladies and gentlemen! The time for my present!" Kiba's voice boomed into the microphone.

Everyone looked over at the dog-boy in slight annoyance (except Naruto). Kiba reached down and got up a box from under the table. The box had holes punched into it.

"Don't tell me that what's inside…needs oxygen?" Sakura leaned over curiously closer to the box.

Kiba nodded. "Open it, Naruto."

When Naruto opened the box, he found a dog inside, as suspected. It was a white Shih Tzu with a big, red bow tied all around it.

"Whoa thanks, Kiba! I always wanted a pet!" Naruto brought out the little dog and began to pet it. "What's his name?"

Kiba sweatdropped.

"It's a she. The name's up to you."

"Hmm…I don't know…how about…Ramen?"

Everyone sweatdropped. Inner Sakura: 'Can he seriously not think of any other name!'

"Umm…Naruto…I don't even think Ramen is a girl name," Sakura remarked with an unconvinced look.

"Aww, that's okay, it's still cute, isn't it?" Naruto was now cuddling Ramen.

Inner Sakura: 'Seriously….gosh….oh, well. It's his birthday after all.'

Now, again, Kiba's voice exploded into the microphone.

"Okay, dudes and dudettes (Author's note: Yea, somehow, he's changed from the usual 'ladies and gentlemen')! Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime to retire for the evening! But don't forget, the party's not over! Party at the night bar downstairs starts at eight! We gonna have some funnnn!"

"Yay!" Ino cheered. "Sakura-chan! Let's go dress up and look nice!"

"Yea, sure!" Sakura smiled back, hiding all trace of the nagging that was going on at the back of her mind.

'Maybe the party'll make me cheer up about Sasuke…'

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At about eight-thirty that evening, Sakura and Ino came downstairs from their room. Yes, they were thirty minutes late because Ino had insisted on perfecting her make-up. Both of the girls were dressed to kill. At least, Ino was. Ino was dressed in a sexy red dress while Sakura was just wearing a pink yukata. At least, the yukata was something fitting to wear for an evening at the Konoha Hot Springs. Besides, both of the girls looked pretty all the same.

When the girls entered the bar room, everyone was already partying. They spotted Kiba at one end of the room (obviously already drunk) wooing at some random girls who had also come to the night bar also. Strangely, anti-social though he was, Gaara at the other side of the room was also surrounded by a hoard of girls. Sakura seriously wondered if the guy was drunk.

Anyway, Ino soon departed when Kankurou (who was obviously, also partly-drunk) came and asked for a dance. The blonde quickly accepted, although a bit surprised at why he would ask her. Nevertheless, Ino was not someone who would give up having a dance. So now, Sakura was left all alone. She looked around the room, trying to find some people she recognized. She spotted Naruto sitting at he same table as Hinata, Shikamaru having a staring contest with Temari... 'All couples…,' Sakura thought. 'I'd rather not go interrupt them.'

With that, Sakura decided to go get a drink instead. A light drink, something that won't get her drunk. When the bartender said they didn't have anything 'not drunk', she just asked for plain water. 'Gosh, at least they have plain water,' Sakura thought, drinking the water. Taking another look around the room, Sakura thought that she was dressed for the wrong party. Her yukata looked too conservative to the night bar's flashing colors and loud music.

So, she decided to walk out and get some fresh air. She didn't feel like dancing, anyway. Outside, Sakura sat on a bench, staring into space quietly. The silence brought back the thoughts of that night.

F L A S H B A C K

"Why do you keep on trying? I always ignore you anyway. Don't you ever get it into you head that you're really annoying?" Sasuke looked at her with emotionless eyes.

F L A S H B A C K

Sakura was unaware that her eyes were getting a bit wet.

F L A S H B A C K

"I-I get it Sasuke. Sorry for wasting your time all this time…I promise…I'll never annoy you again."

F L A S H B A C K

A single tear made its way down her pale cheek. Suddenly realizing that she was crying, Sakura quickly wiped the tear off with her yukata sleeve.

'Why do I have to think about this? Why do I care so much when he doesn't even care?'

Sakura's eyes refused to be kept dry. Again, it was shedding tears. She was about to wipe them again with her sleeve when someone's hand touched her face. She spun around the bench to see Sasuke, looking down at her with a merciless face. He brushed off the wetness from her cheeks and slowly went to sit beside her on the bench.

"Why were you crying?"

'Why does the last person I need to be here has to be here?' Sakura refused to look into Sasuke's eyes.

"I wasn't…S-Something went in my eye," Sakura forced a smile, but still avoiding looking in his eyes.

A long silence complimented her answer. The soft night breeze blew Sakura's hair.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke broke the silence with a hoarse whisper.

Sakura stiffened. She didn't answer, so the stillness in the night continued.

"I thought…rejecting you would be best."

"Why?" Sakura's voice held no emotion, although her mind was in a blur.

"Remember that time when I fought with Naruto when he was trying to bring me back to the village?"

Sakura nodded, now turning to look at his eyes.

"…Sakura, I almost killed him, because he was my best friend. And all that was for power. If I had let you get closer to me…" Sasuke stopped, his voice unreadable. "…who knows if I will kill you someday."

Once more, Sakura was silent. The breeze blew the stray leaves on the ground.

"Then why are you apologizing to me?" Sakura's voice was hard.

"…because I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I thought that rejecting you would be best. You're too…good for me. I'm just an insane maniac who once yearned for power. I never wanted you to be hurt," he stopped, turning away from her. "But I see that doing this has made you hurt even more. So…I'm sorry."

After a long while, Sakura reached over to touch Sasuke's hand.

"I believe you won't hurt me, Sasuke-kun," she gave him a slight smile, although there were still traces of tears in her eyes. "You're not an insane maniac."

After a long while, he finally replied.

"Thanks."

Sakura slightly blushed.

"May I ask you one thing?"

"What?" he looked at her.

"Do you still think I'm annoying?"

He smirked. "Do you still like me?"

Sakura's face went as pink as her hair. There was a long pause.

"Y-Yes…" the answer that finally came was barely audible.

"Then yes, you're still annoying."

Sakura was about to protest, but Sasuke had pulled her into a hug.

"You're always annoying…"he repeated, then added quietly. "…But I like it."

This time, he released her from his hug and kissed her softly on the lips instead. Sakura blushed again. Even thought this was supposed to be her dream come true…she surely didn't know how to react.

"I…I'll go back in now," was her resolution.

Sakura quickly got up but a hand forcefully pulled her to sit back down.

"One more thing."

"Y-Yes?" the pink-haired girl colored even deeper, seeing his grip on her wrist.

"You look good."

She looked up at him, confused but still blushing.

"But only because I'm the one who bought you that yukata in the first place," he said, smirking.

Sakura looked down at her attire.

'Oh, right, he bought this for me on the first day here…'

Sasuke smirked again at Sakura's blushing face. He roughly pulled her in for another kiss, a deeper one this time.

'His arrogance is back…this means that everything is back to normal,' Sakura thought, her lips captured in another kiss.

Joyce: Yay, I loved all the reviews for the last chapter:D Left me smiling :)...yea...so I wanna know what you think again, so please don't forget to review! Love ya all. :)