Not beta-ed so let me know of any errors! Enjoy and R&R!

Aurora had become very fond of Sasuke. I'm not sure why she attached herself to him, but she loved him like an older brother. She even calls him nii-san now. Sasuke didn't seem to care that he had a little shadow following him practically everywhere. In fact, if she wasn't always trying to hold his hand, I doubt he would have even noticed she existed.

"Nii-san!" She called after him as we walked through the square. She had found him outside of the weapons shop and had ran to him. He gave her his usual blank look and scoffed. I could tell he was in a bad mood.

"I don't have time to play." He was gruff and cold towards her today. Did I forget to tell him about today? No, I made sure he knew what today was. Both he and Sakura had already been told.

"But...today's my bifhday! I'll be tree!" She beamed up at him, oblivious that he had no interest in her today. Why she choose to look up to him was beyond me.

"Tsk." He turned and was about to walk away when Aurora took ahold of his hand. He hid his eyes under his bangs, which usually meant he was angry. I was about to intervene when Aurora spoke.

"Are you ok?" She tilted her head to the side and looked up at the brooding preteen. Sasuke sighed and turned to look at her, the darkness in his eyes fading just a bit, and poked her on her forehead. Aurora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion while Sasuke seemed stunned by what he did.

"Happy birthday. See you later." Was all he said before he quickly walked away. If I remembered correctly, yesterday was the anniversary of his clan's murder. No wonder he was feeling down.

We ran into Naruto on the way home from the store. I needed cake mix to make her birthday cake. She insisted that I make a strawberry cake instead of me buying a store bought one. She didn't like the taste of the store bought ones apparently. I wouldn't really know, I didn't really like cake so I never tried them.

Aurora didn't run up to him the same way she did with Sasuke and didn't call him her brother either. She did still smile at him as she ran up to him.

"Hi Naruto!" She greeted him cheerfully. "Do you know what today is?!"

He scrunched his face in thought.

"Hmmm...they day ramen is only five ryo a bowl?" He apparently forgot too. Oh well, at least we found him.

"No! It's my birthday!" She laughed. He gave her a bright smile and ruffled her hair. She didn't like having her hair messed up and quickly tried to fix it when he let go.

"Well happy birthday, believe it!" He cheered for her. "What are you going to do to celebrate? I always go get ramen!" She giggled.

"Fader said he's gonna make a cake!" She beamed back, nearly matching Naruto's bright smile.

"Kakashi-sensei can cook?" He said in mild disbelief. I would have smacked him if Aurora wasn't around.

"Uh huh! He said we'd get dinner at my favorite place too! Ya...umm...Yakun…" I chuckled at her trying to pronounce the name.

"Yakiniku." I helped her. "Ma, would you care to join? We have to go home and make the cake first but you can meet us at about five?" Naruto's face looked like I had promised him the moon.

"R-really?! You'd want me there?" The blonde looked like he was about to cry but pushed it a side and beamed. "I'd love to! Believe it!"

Little did Aurora know, I had invited everyone she knew. Naruto had been hard to track down, but luckily we had found him in time. Everyone was there when we got there and shouted surprise when we entered. Aurora had been scared by how loud they were, but quickly recovered when she saw her favorite people. Iruka, Gai, Tenzo, Sakura, Naruto and Ino were all there. She liked Ino because she always gave her a flower when she saw her. Apparently her team had heard she was coming here, so Choji and Shikamaru were an added surprise. Aurora didn't seem to mind and got along well with them. She thought it was funny how serious Choji was about food. Sasuke however was nowhere to be seen.

Aurora loved her party. Everyone had given her a little gift, some a little more extravagant than others. Gai gave her a green and orange stuffed elephant that she loved, Ino had given her a potted lavender plant that smelled lovely, and Sakura gave her a doll with blonde hair and changeable outfits. I think it was a Barbie doll, but I wasn't too sure. Iruka gave her a new blue dress that sparkled, which she wanted to try on, but I told her not until we got home. Tenzo went over board and gave her a doll house with furniture, all made of wood with little wooden dolls to go with it. The detail on each doll made me wonder how long he spent making them. Obviously he adored her more than he initially let on. Shikamaru and Choji got her a new set of dull kunai knives, which I would have to hide away for a few years, but they were a very nice quality. Last was Naruto's gift, it was a purple and blue pin wheel. I know he had gotten it last minute, but she loved it.

She loved the whole affair, but I knew she wanted Sasuke to be there. I wasn't too surprised he didn't come, but he could have lied to her earlier and said he couldn't.

I sealed everything away in a scroll so it would be easy to take home, but she insisted that the elephant and blonde doll stay out. On the way home, the doll became a warrior of some kind that could ride elephants. Apparently the elephant could fly too, as she made whooshing noises. Children's imaginations still fascinated me.

I kept my eye on her as I read along the way. As cute as she was, I wasn't too interested in watching a flying elephant and a Barbie doll. People gave me weird looks for reading my favorite book while walking with my daughter. Some muttered it wasn't appropriate and others said things I prayed Aurora didn't hear. Some people are so judgmental. It's not like I read it to her, though she had asked at least once.

She stopped her playing all the sudden and looked towards our house. I looked up and saw someone sitting on our porch steps. I recognized his chakra signature, but wondered why he was here.

"Sas-nii!" Aurora took off towards him, dropping the doll off the elephant in her excitment. I picked it up and approached carefully, not knowing what the Uchiha was doing at our house. I didn't even know he knew where we lived.

Aurora had her arms around his neck, but he didn't really hug back. He just patted her head as she let go.

"What brings you here?" I asked, looming over the stair rail. "The party is over you know." He knew of course. I had told him the time and place yesterday with Sakura.

"I didn't want to be around that many people." He stated. "So I came here to give her her gift." He moved and pulled a small white box from his pocket. Aurora gently took it and opened it. It was a set of earrings. They were small, purple jeweled butterflies. They were beautiful, but Aurora didn't have her ears priced yet.

"Pretty!" Aurora smiled. "Thank you Sas-nii!" She smiled and handed me the little box, knowing I'd keep them safe and not lose them.

"They clip on, but can easily be changed to normal earrings." He gave her a small smile. "Happy birthday. Sorry I missed the party." He said as he got up to leave.

I realized then how much he really did care about her, he just didn't know how to show it.

"Thanks for stopping by." I told him as he walked off.

The Chunin exam sign ups were today and my team was as ready as they could be. I arrived late again, the reason was because I went to get the sign up papers and had to drop Aurora off with Iruka.

"Hey, good morning!" I called to them. "Today, I got a bit lost on the path of life…"

"Right! That's a lie!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as I jumped down to join them.

"Um, well…" I paused. "This is sudden but I recommend you guys for the chunin exams, so…Here, these are your applications." I handed them three slips of paper.

"Chunin exam…" Sakura mumbled.

"That being said, the recommendations are not compulsory. You guys are free to decide whether you take the Exams or not." I told them. I left out the fact that if one didn't show up, the others could not compete.

Naruto gave a cry of excitement, stating he loved me and hugged me.

"Hey, cut it out. Get off already…" I said, making him let me go. "Only those who want to take the Exam sign that application and come to room 301 of the Academy at three pm five days from now."

Naruto was over confident as usual, Sasuke was indifferent and Sakura seemed a bit hesitant. I left them to think it over, and to pass their pre-exams.

Later that night, after putting Aurora to bed, I sat on the roof tops waiting to see how they did.

"How was it?" I asked as the man appeared.

"We went to the trouble of having a special preliminary exam, but all nine rookies passed." In a poof of smoke, Iruka released his transformation jutsu. "As you said, it appears their skills have definitely improved."

"Well, the actual exams won't just end at this." I turned and smiled at the chunin. "Maa…I told you they were ready." Iruka blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"I should have just listened and trusted you…" he admitted.

"Maa, we've been through this." I waved him off. "Well, I must return home, least Aurora wakes up without me."

"Gah…y-you left her home alone?!" Iruka turned on me.

"She's fine. She's asleep and there are traps set up." Before he could say any more, I poofed away.

I waited for them by the exams door and was anxious to see if they would all show up. Thankfully all three did and they were able to enter without any problems.

"I see. Sakura, you've come too." They looked surprised to see me. "Now you can formally register for the Chunin Exams."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. I told them about how all three needed to be there in order to enter. They were a bit mad I didn't tell them that in the first place.

"I didn't want that fact influencing your decision. Nor did I want Naruto and Sasuke pressuring you into participating." I looked towards Sakura. She was the one I worried about not coming. She blushed softly but didn't say a word as the entered into the exam room. I felt a swell of pride as they went in.

I went home and continued to silently worry about my team. Unfortunately for me, Aurora was very in tune with people's feelings.

"Fader?" She looked up from playing with the doll house. It was set up in the living room right now so I could watch her play. It had a lot of small pieces and I wanted to make sure she didn't put any in her mouth. "What's wrong?"

I sighed and moved from the couch to the floor. "Ma, it's nothing. Just nervous for my team." I picked up a wooden doll with a blue shirt and set him in the little house. She didn't like that I put him in the living room.

"Why?" She asked moving the blue shirt doll into the little kitchen. "He's hungry now." She stated as if I should have known all along.

"The exams can be tough. I just worry is all." I was also on call for the second half of the exams. If more passed than we needed, I was there to help watch the preliminary fights.

"They be ok." She smiled. "They strong!" She stood and made a pose to show how strong.

"Oh? How do you know?" I asked, amused by her antics.

"Cause you taught them!" I laughed at her bold statements. She was adorable. I grabbed her, pulling her into my lap and tickled her. She laughed and struggled to get away.

"Thank you, Aurora. I know they will do fine." I stopped and held her close. She continued to giggle for a little while before she wanted to be set free to play again.

Yes I used the dialog from the show and no I do not own any of it. The only thing I own is Aurora. Please R&R!