Disclaimer - I own nothing of Naruto. Though I do own any original characters used within this story. Woosh.

Author's Note - Its winding down towards the end of this story. I'm thinking of making a sequel to this one. But that will come much later in the future, if time permits. I should have another two chapters, and a epilogue. I will try to add as much information into the last chapters as I can. :3

----------------------------

Chapter Eight - Hurt Feelings and Birthday Party

----------------------------

Rica had fallen asleep that night, to wake up only to find that she had been covered with a blanket. Looking around she noticed that Kakashi was on the floor beside her, fast asleep. Yawning she threw the blanket over him and tip toed off to change back into her old clothes while she went off to clean her new ones.

Kakashi rolled over in his sleep and banged his head on the leg of the coffee table. Slowly rolling over to his other side he got up. Groaning, he wandered over to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Why did things have to become so complicated? He thought as he filled his glass.

Things have certainly changed. With the arrival of the two girls, his world had been turned upside down. No one would know it though, since he did a good job of hiding his feelings on the matter. It would be so easy to hate the girls for ruining his way of living, but he opened himself up to it the moment he went over to see that they were okay that one night. Besides, he could not hate their smiling faces. Especially Luca's way of turning anything into something funny. And Rica's way of handling her friend. Rica was wise beyond her years and hid a lot about herself. He found it easy to relate to her for some reason. All she needed was a friend that understood it. And Luca wasn't the best choice for that.

Shaking his head, dispersing his thoughts Kakashi went back to the living room to find that Rica wasn't there, paying no mind, he sat down with the newspaper and began to read. Luca held his Icha Icha Paradise books hostage, so he had nothing else to read.

Kakashi flipped through the paper without reading anything, his mind was on trying to find a way to give Rica a nice birthday, without overdoing it.

Maybe she misses her family? He thought as he flipped through the classified section. She has never spoke of them, and when she has, it wasn't in a good light…so count that out.

After flipping through the entire paper, Kakashi set it down and leaned back on the couch. He had little to no idea on what to do for someone's birthday, let alone for himself and his close friends. Someone he barely knew was even harder.

"I got it." He said aloud after ten minutes of silence.

He decided that a simple gathering of those she knew would be good enough for a birthday. He'd go and tell Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura that it was her birthday, and it was their mission to make it a happy one. This would take some of the pressure off himself. He smiled from behind his mask and got up to get some breakfast.

Meanwhile…

Rica was busy putting her new clothes on a line in the very small 10x10 foot backyard that belonged to Kakashi.

"Not much room to move around back here." She said to herself as she picked up some clothes pins and strung up her pants. After hanging up everything she went inside to wake Luca up.

Luca was already awake, she was reading Kakashi's book. And from the looks of it she never went to bed last night.

"Have you been reading that damn book all night?" Rica asked as she sat down on the bed.

"Yeah…" Luca said uninterested in what Rica had to say.

"You're still on the first one and it looks like you haven't made any progress." Rica continued.

"I've been re-reading parts…that's all…" Luca said still uninterested in what Rica had to say.

"Are you going to get up today?"

Luca made a few hand gestures that added up to "go away". Rica took the hint and walked off and slammed the door.

"Wonder what got her all uptight…" Luca said looking up from the book briefly before going back to it again.

----------------------------

"Bloody woman…" Rica fumed as she stomped into the living room and sat down next to Kakashi on the couch. She picked up the newspaper he had previously read and opened it up, her actions obviously showing that she was angry.

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at the girl's actions. He could see that she was upset about something.

"Something happen?" He said glancing over her shoulder to see that she was reading the local news.

"Oh nothing, nothing. Luca has been sucked into that book you hold in such high esteem." Rica said sarcastically with a smile.

"I guess she likes the story too."

"A little too much if you ask me." Rica said gritting her teeth.

"Why are you so upset over your friend reading a book?" Kakashi said as he still was looking over her shoulder.

"I…I…don't know. Its just this feeling I get inside that bothers me. My old friend completely forgot about me when she found something new. It just feels like I'm being thrown away for a stupid book, is all." Rica said, her expression softening.

Kakashi looked at her and felt a twinge of sadness for the girl. Its hard losing friends, especially those you really care about. He put a hand on her shoulder and let out a long sigh.

"Don't worry about her. I'll hide the rest of the books when she leaves the room." He said with a smile as he got up and walked into the kitchen.

Five minutes later Rica jumped when she heard Kakashi shout.

"Luca! Ramen is ready, a nice big bowl just for you! Get it while its hot!"

A loud thud and the fumbling for the doorknob could be heard as Luca ran full throttle into the kitchen and squealed with joy.

Kakashi walked back into the living room and gave a thumbs up to Rica as he went into his bedroom and emerged with the rest of his books and hid them under the cushions of the couch and sat down.

"That was easy." He said as he picked up the paper again.

"Did you take all of them?" Rica said with a hopeful look on her face.

"No, no, just left the one that was on the bed. It would be cruel to take them all."

A loud belch was heard as Luca walked from the kitchen to the living room with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Thank you Kakashi-san for the food." Luca said as she sat on the chair facing Rica and Kakashi.

"No problem." He said, smiling.

"So what's going on today." Luca said, breaking the silence.

"Well, considering it is your friend's birthday, I was thinking we could do something nice for her." He said giving Rica a few poked on the arm as her face reddened a little. She still was not used to the fact that someone actually remembered her birthday and was willing to do something nice for her.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm perfectly fine with just having today go by without incident." Rica said feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Oh no, no, no. Well, have to do something even if it is just you and me." Kakashi said looking down at the girl.

"That's really nice of you…"

"Oh stop being so damn humble Rica, can't you see the guy likes you." Luca blurted.

"Oh bull." Rica rebuked.

Kakashi sat there blinking. It was better that he just sit there and not say a damn thing. He didn't like Rica in that way, in fact they were a little outlandish for his taste.

"I'm going to go out and see what I can come up with, I'll come get you two when I am done." Kakashi stood up and walked to the door. He waved goodbye and shut the door behind him.

Girls…I'll never understand them. He thought to himself as he went to go meet his students..

-----------------------------

"Why'd you go and say that, Luca?" Rica snapped the moment the door shut.

"From the way you two have been acting its easy to see that you two like each other."

"I don't like him, he's just been so nice to me that I find it easy to talk to him." Rica said. This was the truth. She did find it easy for herself to talk to him, perhaps it was because he understood her, or so she thought. Little did she know that was the truth.

"I see." Luca said making kissy faces at Rica.

"Knock it off. There's nothing between us, period. We're only friends. Nothing more, nothing less. He's treated us with respect and let us stay in his home." Rica said loudly.

"Okay, remove the stick from your ass, alright." Luca said getting up and heading back into the room and slamming the door.

Rica just sat there in a daze for a few minutes. This was the first time that Luca had ever gotten mad at her.

Maybe this is the feeling every time I yell at her…Rica thought as she put a hand on her heart. Her feelings had been hurt. She sighed and looked down at her knees before letting out a bitter sob. She sat there crying bitterly, not only because Luca had yelled at her, but for all the times she made Luca feel the way she felt right now.

------------------------

Kakashi met up with his students, who were dumbfounded that he was actually a half an hour early. Not an hour late, but a half an hour early. The three just stood there, their mouths open as their sensei just stood there with a stupid grin on his face.

"Looks like I'm early today." He said putting a hand behind his head.

"Like hell you are Kakashi-sensei." Naruto blurted out. "Are we all doomed or something?" He said looking around himself quickly.

"Baka." Sasuke said looking at Naruto. "What's the deal anyway?"

"No big deal, I didn't even realize I was early. Honest." Kakashi said looking at his students. "Though instead of training, I have a mission for you."

"A mission? Seriously?" Naruto shouted waving his arms about.

"Yes, a mission." Kakashi said seriously.

"What kind of mission?" Sakura asked.

"A mission unlike any other you have ever been on before…" He stopped due to Naruto's excited expression and watched him squirm with anticipation.

"What is it, what is it, what is it?" Naruto said.

"You three are to help me make Rica's birthday a nice one. Nothing too big, just something simple."

Kakashi smirked as Naruto fell to the ground.

"That has to be the most anti-climatic thing I've ever heard!" Naruto yelled.

"He has a point." Sasuke said.

"He does have a point, but I'll do it anyway." Sakura said with a smile.

The two boys nodded in agreement as Kakashi clapped his hands together.

"Great, great. Now do any of you have any ideas?"

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura groaned. "You have no ideas at all?"

"Nope."

Sakura put her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"I guess I can think of something." She said.

"Good, good. I leave it to you three." He said and disappeared into thin air.

"Damn him." Naruto said shaking a fist. "What in the hell do we do now?"

"Do our mission as assigned." Sasuke said as he started to walk off. "Lets go to the village and see if we could find anything there."

"Good idea Sasuke-kun" Sakura said following him

(Sasuke-kun always comes up with the best ideas) Inner Sakura shouted.

------------------------------

Kakashi walked around the village looking at the various displays in store windows as he walked.

"Hmm…too girly…too…mature…" He said as he peeked into a lingerie shop. "Too childish…not suitable for children under 21...what to buy a girl on her birthday…" He said to himself as he passed various shops looking a little despondent each time he passed one. This was going to be hard, but he was going to come home with something no matter what. He wanted to do something nice for the girl.

Kakashi's frown flipped over as he stopped at a shop.

"Perfect." He said as he walked into the store and pointed at the object he wished to purchase. Kakashi emerged from the shop minutes later with a small parcel in a brown bag, with a grin on his face. He did his part, now he hoped that his students would do the rest.

----------------------------

"We should take her to some place nice to eat!" Naruto said as the three were walking to the village.

"Good, good, also gifts, we need to each get her something nice." Sakura said smiling.

"I know what to get her." Sasuke said quietly.

"Good, we have Sasuke-kun set for a gift, what about you Naruto?"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and blinked.

"I got nothing guys." He said a bit sheepishly.

"Typical." Sakura sighed. "Flowers and a card are nice gifts, and you should be able to afford that." She added.

Naruto nodded, feeling better.

"Now where do I get flowers?" He asked.

"Baka. I'll show you." Sakura fumed as she stomped ahead of the two.

A couple minutes later Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stood outside of the flower shop in which Ino helped out in. Stepping inside Ino greeted them.

"Sakura, Sasuke-kun, Naruto, didn't expect to see you guys in here." Ino said from behind the counter.

"Yeah, need flowers…birthday…any ideas…" Naruto said looking around at the various plants that lined the walls.

"Carnations are nice." Ino said pointing to a small selection of carnations in a corner. "They're cheap too so even you can afford them" she said with a grin.

Naruto grumbled to himself as he stooped down to look at the flowers. They were nice. He picked out a dozen white ones and took them to Ino.

"So who's birthday is it anyway?" She asked as Naruto handed her the money to pay for the flowers.

"A friend." Sasuke said as he walked up to Ino with six yellow carnations.

"How nice." She said happily. "She must be lucky to be able to get flowers from you, Sasuke-kun" Ino's grin grew wider.

"That's enough Ino." Sakura said as she grabbed Sasuke's arm and led him out of the shop, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, we got flowers, now to get the gifts. Lets split up and meet back here in an hour? Is that alright?" Sakura said looking at the two.

Both boys nodded and went their separate ways as Sakura stood there for a few moments trying to think of where to go.

--------------------------------

Kakashi walked into the flower shop ten minutes after Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto left. He looked around a bit before Ino spoke up.

"Anything in particular you looking for?" She asked.

"Nothing in particular, birthday today, need flowers." He said looking at some light pink roses.

He picked down six of them and took them to Ino.

"These will do nicely." He said as he gave her the money to pay for the roses and walked out to the store.

"Got the card, gift, and flowers. Might be over-doing it with the flowers." He shrugged and went back to wandering the streets.

-------------------------------

Sasuke had an idea of what he should get Rica. She had been looking at that display at that one clothing store for a long time, so he went back to see what it really was. Stopping right in front of the store he looked at the display. All it was, was a jacket with a high collar. Sasuke noticed the words "clearance and 50 off" and shrugged.

"Why the hell not." He said as he walked into the store and bought the jacket straight off the display rack.

Coming out of the store, Sasuke had a small smile on his face.

"Mission accomplished."

-------------------------------

Naruto on the other hand was having a hard time thinking of what to get Rica.

"Damnit, I'm never going to find anything." He said as he was holding up a bra. The saleswoman supervising the store walked up to him and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him out of the store.

"Screw you too, witch." Naruto shouted at the woman in the store who shot him an icy glare which went Naruto packin'.

"Gotta find something…damnit." He said again as he walked in and out of stores. Shrugging, he walked into a small grocery store and wandered around. Smiling, he stopped and looked at a gigantic display of ramen.

"Bingo" he said, a devious grin forming.

Naruto walked out with a large bag and some brown wrapping paper humming happily to himself. He went to go back to the flower shop and bumped into Sasuke on the way.

"What did you get her Sasuke?" Naruto said looking at the bag he was holding.

"Something she was looking at the other day." He said simply. "What did you get?" He said looking at the large bag with a weird expression on his face.

"Ramen." He said with a huge grin.

"Typical." Snorted Sasuke as he leaned against the wall of the flower shop waiting for Sakura to return.

-------------------------------------

Sakura hummed happily to herself as she was having a good time looking through the various clothing stores as she was looking around for a gift.

"I should be shopping for Rica, not myself." She said as she put away a nice shirt she held up to herself. "Now what to buy…what to buy…"

Sakura's face lit up as she was rummaging through a clothing rack. She found a nice gift, she just hoped it was to Rica's liking.

Walking out of the shop, Sakura stopped and thought for a second.

"Should get a card too."

Sakura walked to the small grocery store that Naruto bought his ramen and got Rica a card. She hastily wrote something in it and sealed it in its enveloped and put it in the bag with her present to Rica.

"Now to get back to the boys." She said walking back in the direction of the flower shop.

---------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were walking back to their regular meeting place where they waited for Kakashi to come.

"So how about all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ?" Naruto said looking at Sakura.

"That does sound nice, and its all you can eat too." Sakura said.

"Yeah, sounds good." Sasuke said as he stopped walking.

"Its settled then." Sakura said.

"Why are we here? Do we even know is Kakashi-sensei is going to come back here?" Naruto said.

"Maybe we should go to his place." Sakura said.

"Alright, lets go." Sasuke said, without any hesitation.

------------------------------

Kakashi sighed as he opened the door to his home to find that Rica had fallen asleep on the couch. Quietly he put the flowers in the kitchen and his gift in the front closet and walked out of the house.

But before he could go anywhere he saw Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke walking up to meet him.

"Did you guys complete the mission as planned?" He said with a smile.

"Mission accomplished sir." All three said in unison.

"Good, good." Now lets go inside, but be quiet, Rica is asleep on the couch.

All four walked inside the apartment quietly and put their gifts, flowers and whatnot away without having Luca or Rica notice.

Kakashi walked into the living room and gently poked Rica to try to wake her up. Rica pushed his hand away and rolled over to her side. He poked her again, this time harder. Rica rolled over again and opened her eyes.

"What…?" She said groggily.

"Surprise." Kakashi said softly.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura shouted happy birthday, which caused Rica to jump.

"Get dressed, we're going to take you to dinner. Bring your friend too." Sakura said with a smile.

"A-alright." Rica said getting up and walking to the backyard to get her clothes. "Give me a few minutes."

Kakashi walked to the bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Luca, if you're awake get dressed, we're going out to eat." Rustling could be heard behind the door as Luca hurried to get her pants and shoes on.

"Coming, coming." Luca said as she opened the door, almost knocking Kakashi over since he was leaning against it. "S-sorry." She said as she looked at him.

"Alright, ready to go." Rica said as she walked back into the living room. She froze for a second when she saw Luca and quickly turned away. Luca did the same thing.

Kakashi looked at the two and blinked.

Something must have happened when I was gone. He thought as he saw the two girls not even looking at each other.

"Alright. Lets get going." Kakashi said opening the door and walking out. The others followed behind him.

-------------------------------

"Happy birthday Rica.." Naruto said as he put another piece of raw meat on the BBQ. He was glad that they decided to go to the Korean BBQ, all he could eat, and he could eat a lot.

"Thank you." Rica said as she filled her plate with her cooked meat.

Luca ate her meal in silence, which even disturbed Naruto since she wasn't even trying to compete against him.

"Something up Luca?" Naruto said looking at her.

"Nothing." She said as she filled her mouth with food.

"Lets all be happy today, okay, this is a good day." Sakura said smiling.

The six of them ate, drank and had a good time for four hours. Each left the restaurant full and content.

"Time to go back and give Rica our presents." Kakashi said walking slowly down the street.

"Someone is going to need to drag Naruto back, I think he's down for good." Luca said pointing at Naruto lying on the ground. He stuffed himself silly.

"I can make it back…" Naruto said struggling to get up.

"Give me your hand." Luca said taking Naruto's hand and pulling him up.

"Thanks." He said as he groaned.

---------------------------

Rica smiled at all the flowers and gifts placed in front of her.

"I've never received so many flowers in my life, even when I was sick in the hospital." She said with a smile.

"The white ones are from me and the yellow ones are from Sasuke. I don't know who the roses came from though…" Naruto said looking at the roses.

"They're from me." Kakashi said.

"Thank you all so much." Rica said reaching for Sasuke's gift.

Quickly removing the present from its packing Rica's eyes lit up to find that it was the jacket she was looking at from the other day.

"T-thank you so much Sasuke. How did you know I liked this jacket?" She said as she held up the black jacket with the high collar.

"You were looking at it so intently the day I found you, it was the best thing I could come up with."

"Thank you so much." Rica said again as she went for Sakura's.

Rica quickly took the present out of the bag and smiled. She held up a black and silver trim tank top with a zipper down the front.

"Wow, this is awesome. Thank you." Rica said carefully folding up the garment and opening up the card.

Happy birthday to a newfound friend. Hope to celebrate many birthdays with you. From Sakura.

A tear came to Rica's eye as she read the card.

"Thank you." She said softly.

Naruto grinned as Rica reached for his.

Rica quickly got rid of the brown wrapping paper to reveal a medium sized box filled with every flavor of ramen the store had in stock. Rica laughed as she gave Naruto a hug.

"Very thoughtful, thank you so much." She said between laughs.

Setting the ramen down she reached for the last gift on the table, which was Kakashi's.

Rica opened the bag and pulled out a small stuffed black cat. She held it for a few seconds while Kakashi broke the silence.

"I had a hard time finding something, so I thought that would be suitable." He said feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"This is more than suitable. Its very sweet. My mother and father never got me stuffed animals when I was younger." Rica said with a smile. "Thank you so much."

She got up and gave everyone hugs. Luca stood up and poked Rica.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she said walking to the kitchen.

Rica's expression changed from happy to serious as she followed her friend to the kitchen. Luca sighed, not looking at Rica as she walked in.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier. I don't know what came over me."

"…That's ok. I guess I realized how it felt to be yelled at for saying something stupid."

"No, no. I had no right to point fingers, or make you embarrassed."

"That's alright, it really is." Rica said putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything…well…I kinda did already, its just back home. I've been keeping it for some time." Luca said her eyes to the ground.

"Well, I'll see it when we get back, or if we get back that is." Rica said softly.

"Do you think we'll ever get to go back home, Rica?"

"I don't know, the man said we'd return home, he never said how long we'd have to stay here."

"Well, lets make the best of it then." Luca said, brightening up.

The two girls smiled and walked back into the living room.

------------------------------

Everyone talked, played games and had fun for at least 3 hours before Kakashi kicked them out.

"Time to go everyone, you three have training in the morning." Kakashi said as he shooed them out.

The three waved and said their goodbyes and left. Kakashi shut his door and leaned against it and sighed.

"Well, I'm going to go read." Luca said getting up. "I'll probably go to bed tonight too." She said with a smile and left for the bedroom.

"So what do we do now?" Rica said looking at Kakashi.

"I'm getting a drink. You're old enough so lets go."

"Okay." Rica said as she got up to meet Kakashi.

---------------------------------

The two entered the same bar as last time, and took the same table as last time.

"Want anything different?" Kakashi said as he waved his hand for a waitress to come over.

"No, nothing different. I'm fine with sake thank you."

"Okay." He gave the waitress the order and she walked away.

"Hey." She said pointing. "Aren't they the same guys from last time."

"Ary and Shinneri? Yeah, that's them:"

Ary and Shinneri were at the bar talking to the bartender as he was cleaning a few glasses.

"At least one of them isn't on the ground this time." Rica said amused.

Kakashi nodded as the waitress came back with a bottle of sake and two cups.

"More this time?" Rica said cocking her head to the side.

"Yes. More. I've had one hell of a day looking for your gift." He said pouring himself a cup full.

"It was that hard?"

"Definitely. I don't know what to get for a girl, let alone myself."

"Sorry to have caused you trouble then." Rica said apologetically as she took a sip from her cup.

"Well I'm glad you like what I got you at least."

"I really love it. Even if you had no idea what you were getting, it actually means a lot to me." Rica smiled.

Kakashi nodded as he managed to take a sip without removing his mask.

Rica blinked and wondered how in the hell he did that, and without thinking she asked him a question.

"Why do you keep that mask on anyway?" She asked.

Kakashi shrugged and took another mysterious sip.

"Can I see what's under the mask?" She asked.

Kakashi shrugged as he took yet another sip.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

Kakashi shrugged and smiled.

"Rrrr…" Rica said as she poured herself another cup.

Two hours and five cups of sake later Kakashi was carrying Rica home on his back.

"Guess your limit is five, eh?"

"Aye, aye el captain." Rica said saluting the ground.

Kakashi laughed as he opened the door and let himself in. Luca was already asleep by the time they got home.

He opened the door to the bedroom and set Rica beside Luca who was asleep with the first Icha Icha Paradise on her face. Smiling Kakashi removed the book from her face and set it on the bed stand.

"Get some sleep." He said to Rica as she got under the covers.

"Aye, aye." She said tiredly.

He smiled again and left the room and shut the door.

Strange girls…that's for damn sure….

----------------------------

End Chapter

----------------------------

Now that has to be the longest chapter ever. Took long enough to write too. XD

The story is winding down to a close, as I said in the beginning of the chapter. I should finish it by the end of next week. :D

Reviewer Responses -

Nada for this time - so sad, too bad. shuffles off to a corner XD