A/N: So I've been gone for a looong while. I hope this long chapter suffices to make it up to you guys. Please accept this as a peace offering. TT~TT Again, I just wanted to remind everyone that updates will be highly erratic until further notice. It all depends on my schedule for this academic year. I assure you though that I still write whenever I get the free time. I wanted to apologize yet again for this.
So the chapter introduces three loveable characters. :D Two of these characters didn't have proper last names so I took the liberty of using their seiyuu's last name (thank you Narutopedia!) Also, super mild amount of angst (?.. Like ant bite intensity level of angst, I guess). Just a heads up.
*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*
BEFORE THE WORST
A Surprise On The 23rd of July
Three pairs of eager eyes gazed upon her with utmost admiration and adoration; one pair more so than the others. It irked her how the three Middle School-looking kids were almost trembling in excitement where they stood. It didn't ease her suspicions in the slightest that the kids looked sloppy to some extent, save for the only girl with high tied pigtails. One glasses-adorning boy had a dribble of snot coming out of his nose while one boy had an unnecessarily long blue scarf trailing behind him. Judging from the dirt and grime clinging onto the scarf, Naruto guessed that the piece of clothing graced the filthy ground in all hours of the day.
Naruto had to do a double-take on a repulsive piece of gunk stuck to the scarf.
...
Ew.
The boy with the disease-ridden scarf who appeared to be the group's leader took a step towards Naruto which caused her to tense and step back to create distance. She didn't want to take any chances on the high probability that the scarf was carrying variations of infectious illnesses.
"C-c-can I help you guys with something?" Naruto stalked further back when what appeared to be an excitable gust of air came out of the 'Brat Pack' leader's nostrils. The blonde comically frowned over the ridiculous action.
"We're you're number one fans, Boss!" Scarf Boy none but screamed. "My name is Konohamaru! That's Moegi and that's Udon! We saw you dancing at the School Year Ender! YOU TOTALLY KILLED! Teach us! We want to be a part of Twist!" The three, as if choreographed, bowed their heads simultaneously.
A sweat drop began to form on Naruto's head. It was then that she noticed that she and the Brat Pack were getting unwanted attention from the mall goers currently having their meals at the food court. Cripes. So much for having an unsuspicious and low key meeting with Sakura and Ino (who were still missing! Trust those two to go shopping and lose track of time!)
Naruto raised her hands, palms down to chest-level in a gesture to calm the kids' enthusiasm. "Konohamaru was it? Hey, take the excitement down a notch, huh?" She pleaded while consciously shifting her eyes through the crowd.
"No way, Boss! It's awesome that we finally get to meet you face-to-face! We'll do whatever you ask to earn the right to be your students!" Konohamaru stated while the two kids, Moegi and Udon, exclaimed in agreement. The act caused a sudden flurry of whispers that reached Naruto's ears.
"Is she bullying those kids?"
"How cruel! For someone her age to be bossing around a couple of kids like that!"
Naruto 'eeped' and tensed. These damn brats were marring her ultra fantastic super awesome image! "Fine, fine! I'll teach you or whatever! Just stop bowing like complete idiots. People are getting the wrong idea." The blonde teenager adorably blushed while the trio began to rejoice. She allowed a small smile to grace her face. These kids could be an amusing addition in her life.
"Proper introductions are in order then. Name, Team, and something about yourself. Go." She crossed her arms and smirked authoritatively.
"I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, future ace of Twist. MS-8K Team 9! I love chocolate bananas!" Konohamaru enthusiastically announced. There was a small hint of surprise visible from Naruto's face. The kid was a Sarutobi. Now that he mentioned it, he did kind of look like Asuma, Naruto's math teacher. Yeah. There was definitely a resemblance; and if the kid and Asuma came from the same family, no doubt Konohamaru was related to Old Man Sarutobi.
"Nice to meet you, Leader! My name is Shitaya Moegi. MS-8K Team 9. I punish Konohamaru when he's being a pervert." This introduction had Naruto chuckling. Moegi was Konohamaru's keeper, it would seem. It was also a good thing that Moegi decided to shed some light on Konohamaru's pervert tendencies. That information might come in handy ... or may be taken for precautionary actions.
The last of the trio, a brown-haired boy whose bangs were parted in the middle, mumbled something out with a lowered head. Naruto strained to hear what he had to say as the boy had an apparent penchant for speaking in more hushed tones (a complete contrast from Konohamaru). The blonde teen decided to move her head closer to the quiet boy. "Hey? Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't really hear it." The close proximity of their faces brought about a brilliant shade of crimson to the poor boy Naruto was addressing.
"I-I-I'm Sh-Shigematsu Ud-d-don. MS-8K T-t-team 9. I love m-math." Udon stuttered horribly and began to sweat profusely. Poor kid. Must be hard to be speaking with your idol in the flesh like that. Naruto bristled at her egotistic thoughts. The Uzumaki teen charmingly beamed at the stuttering lad causing the latter's face to heat up so much that steam could have come out of the boy's ears and nose.
Naruto straightened her posture so she could cheekily introduce herself. "Nice to meet all of you! Since I've decided to be your awesome ultra talented mentor, I think my students, whom are destined for greatness, should get to know their teacher better." She puffed out her chest with pride. "The name is—"
"Uzumaki Naruto. Seventeen years old. Birthday is on October 10. MS Section K Team 7 during Middle School. Teammates are Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke." Konohamaru interjected, with eyes sparkling.
"—Whu? How'd you-?"
"Started studying at Konohagakure at the age of three. Moved to Iwa briefly during middle school, returned here just in time for the first day of high school. Member of Twist since freshman year and currently in line to be the Street Division Head." Moegi flawlessly relayed the facts. The last piece of information had the young girl gazing up at Naruto with an immense amount of marvel.
The older teen rubbed the back of her head in mock embarrassment. "Heh. S'not a big dea-"
"Your favourite food is ramen, especially the ones served at Ramen Ichiraku. You get bored with academics; and your favourite color is orange..." Udon, in a relatively more audible voice, said his part.
The flaxen-haired teen couldn't help but twitch at what she just heard. It would appear that she had a group of stalkers in her hands. Great. Just excellent. Well, it was flattering in a weird sense, but still creepy nonetheless.
"Anything else you three want to share about myself? If you leave anything out, I might get the wrong picture of myself." She responded in jest.
"Oh! People thought you were a boy until the first grade!" Konohamaru exclaimed. Naruto instinctively frowned at the addition information. How dare these brats unearth something so humiliating!
"A-anything else you might want to add? Embarrassing stories or anything?" She strained to calmly ask that question. Hopefully the brats understood that they were walking on thin ice as of that moment. But like any other normal fan boys and girls (she had enough experience with Sasuke's hoard of fans to know), the three were too blinded with awe to notice impending doom. The Brat Pack simply beamed at her and shook their heads simultaneously. At that, Naruto internally sighed. Damn. No choice but to accept that she now had stalkers tailing her. At least, the kids didn't know every aspect in her life. It was nice to know that she still had a sense of privacy. Speaking of privacy, she still had that top secret meeting with Sakura and Ino; which meant these kids had to scram soon. It would most definitely be in her favour to tell the trio to bolt just to avoid the hassle of explaining.
Just as the seventeen-year old was about to send the kids off, she felt someone place an arm around her shoulder. "Hi Naruto! Who're your friends?", and just as fortune would have it, Ino arrived along with Sakura trailing behind her.
Naruto sighed, the faster she answered all the questions, the faster the whole ordeal would be resolved. "Ino, Sakura, meet Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi." She pointed respectively to each person as each name was called out.
"They're both from Twist too right?" Again, Konohamaru's fanboy tendencies were blaring.
Sakura pouted in her confusion. "Uh? Mind shedding some light, Nar?"
"These are my adoring fans, Sakura-chan. My faithful minions as long as I teach them a thing or two about dancing." Naruto, the youngest of the three high school ladies, boasted and prided over the fact that she was being fawned over by a bunch of middle schoolers.
"That right?" Ino sighed. "Well, good luck with that, kids." The pale blonde subtly rolled her eyes. She doubted there would be some mentoring that would occur. They would probably end up goofing off or whatever. Anyway, it wasn't any of her business what Naruto and her minions would be doing in their future endeavours. "It was really nice meeting you guys but Sakura and I have some business to discuss with Naruto." Ino chirped amicably.
At the mention of said 'business', Naruto began to take notice of the video camera strap that Sakura failed to sufficiently hide in one of the shopping bags. The sight caused Naruto to become flustered. "No way! You guys are not taking a video of me!"
"Video of what? Can we watch? We want to watch, Leader!" Moegi's eyes sparkled, thinking that Sakura and Ino were out to shoot a video of Naruto showing some of her moves. If that was the case, there was no way she and Team 9 would leave any time soon.
Moegi's suggestion had caused Naruto to stiffen. And such was the downside to having fans. Anything she did, would be under surveillance thus compromising her privacy. "No. No one's watching anything because I will not participate in the video!" Naruto pointedly glared at their small group, noting the general aura of disappointment. Konohamaru was the first to voice out his disagreement with Naruto's refusal. Soon, Moegi had joined in while Udon mumbled out a few words every so often just because. Generally, the trio had clearly divulged quite their propensity to do thorough research on their blonde blue-eyed idol by mentioning facts about Naruto as if they knew better. Then Ino was starting to argue which Naruto reacted to by trying to speak over the noise of the group; and all hell almost broke loose. Luckily, Sakura decided to be the adult in the situation.
"Hey! Hey! Shhh! Children! Let me settle this!" Sakura pulled Naruto away from the mayhem. When the three kids made motions of following the two of them, Sakura stopped them and made quick instructions for the kids to stay with Ino and to respect the few minutes of privacy she and Naruto needed.
Once they were away from earshot, Naruto began to unload her feelings. "Dude! You can't make me do that message thing for Sasuke's birthday! It's sooooo cheesy!" The younger girl groaned as if pained.
"Nar, you're the one who mentioned the idea. Frankly, I think it's a great gift. I mean, what can we possibly give someone who already has everything? Nothing material, that's for sure; so our best bet is something coming from the heart." Sakura, with hands on hips, reasoned with Naruto. To make matters worse, the pinkette had started to use her motherly tone, tipping the odds of getting Naruto to cooperate to her favour.
"But I was joking! I didn't think you'd take it seriously." Naruto stuck her tongue out. "If you want to go through with it, please count me out. Anyway, I'm taking Sasuke out before the surprise party as a present so I don't really have to be in that video." That was an excuse of course because Naruto was just a tad bit shy about saying romantic crap to Sasuke when there were other people present to witness the act.
"Please, Naruto! I'm begging you! The video would mean so much more to Sasuke if you were in it. Think about it! If it's just us, Sasuke probably just gonna say 'Hn' and delete the file in a heartbeat." Naruto hummed in agreement to Sakura's point. Sasuke was the kind of bastard who would do that. The blonde then noticed the way Sakura's eyes seemed to take a glassier appearance. Well, fuck. Haruno was pulling puppy dog eyes on her.
Argh! Naruto had more will power than that! Hell, she was the master of puppy dog eyes! This would not change her mind!
"Also, if you don't join in on the video, Konohamaru and his friends might find themselves in possession of your address and phone number. Just saying."
That dirty bitch.
The younger teen heaved a sigh. "Fine. I'll do it." There was a high-pitched squee before Naruto found herself being enveloped into a tight embrace.
"We can play it during the party as well?" Sakura cooed.
"...Sure. Why not." Uzumaki Naruto had sealed her fate.
"You're the best, Uzumaki! Now, let's get back to Ino so we can shoot the last message. This is so great!"
"Yeahh. Grrrreat."
llllllllllllllllllll
"Tell me why again you found the need to bring the Stalker Three?" Ino voiced out the question as she eyed the three eager beavers in their presence.
"Yeah well deal with it, Ino. They're with me now. It's creepy, I admit but we all gotta suck it up now." Naruto leaned against one of the few cars parked at the Konohagakure shared faculty/student parking lot. It was actually Udon's brilliant idea to shoot on campus since no one in their right mind would visit school during summer vacation. Secrecy would be kept and no Sasuke around to catch them!
"So basically, I just say what I gotta say and then we're done, right?" Naruto then did a couple of unnecessary stretches to prepare herself for the task. The blonde noticed the obvious presence of an audience and frowned. She gestured towards Sakura and whispered, "Can Ino and the Troublesome Trio back off for a sec? I'd feel more comfortable pretending to talk to Sasuke if it was just the two of us, Sakura-chan." The older of the two teens was quick to understand the request. After shooing the four observers away (under the order of keeping watch), Sakura began to film.
"And we're recording, Nar!"
It took Naruto a couple of moments of awkwardness but once she was able to forget that Sakura was filming and put her heart into the message, everything went by like a breeze. In fact, Sakura had to catch herself and stop tearing up. God. Why Naruto would be embarrassed with expressing something like that was beyond her comprehension. Ten to fifteen minutes later, Naruto and Sakura called back their little assembly to call it a day.
While Sakura was keeping her recording equipment, she decided to disseminate a few instructions before officially dispersing the group. "K, Ino, come to my place tomorrow and we'll finish up all the prep work then. You're ready for Operation Distraction too, right Naruto?" However, the only response the pinkette got from her childish friend was a muffled sound. Moegi had promptly covered the sunflower-haired teenager's mouth; and all in good time too, because just as Sakura was about to probe further on the matter, a deep baritone voice questioned the group.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke stood just a few metres away, holding a couple of folders and documents. As the handsome Uchiha approached his fellow classmates, he couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow at the three rather young additions to the group. "Who're the kids?" He aimed an intimidating glare at Moegi whose hands were still clamped onto Naruto's face. Quick as a bunny, Moegi scampered away from Naruto and hid behind Konohamaru whom was trying to appear unfazed by the appearance of Uchiha Sasuke. In fact, the Sarutobi boy dared to even try to match the famed Uchiha glare with his own.
"Be nice to my kids, Uchiha." Naruto challenged her best friend with her very own patented Uzumaki glare which was a cross between a pout and a glower – the only known counterattack powerful enough to equally combat the infamous Uchiha glare. After all, protecting her minions from the big bad Uchiha was the least she could do since Moegi managed to keep them from spilling tidbits about Sasuke's surprise party.
"Your kids, dork?" Sasuke immediately dropped the intimidation tactics and adopted a more bemused expression.
"Long story, Sasuke. Just be nice to Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon." Naruto seamlessly slipped in an introduction during their very brief lover's banter. "What are you doing here, Sasuke-bastard?" She asked to appear casual since some of them (ahem, Sakura and Ino, ahem) were still scared stiff by the fact that they had almost gotten caught.
"Kakashi decided to be a lazy ass today and asked me to get a couple of things from his cubicle in the faculty room." Naruto flippantly shrugged at Sasuke's answer. Heh. What were the odds of Sasuke being on campus as well? It was at this moment that Sasuke took notice of Sakura and Ino's apprehension. He squinted suspiciously before asking, "What are you guys doing here?". The question prompted a squeak from Ino and Sakura, and caused Naruto to scramble for a plausible excuse.
Shit!
They had to answer soon or else!
"Naruto-nee was teaching us a few moves for Leaf Twist auditions. We practiced here so there would be more space." Udon, the last person they thought could help in the situation, spoke up. Sasuke directed an indifferent gaze at the poor boy. Udon, in turn, squirmed from where he stood with his cheeks getting dusted pink from the attention. The Uchiha remained in his slack and cool posture, putting his hands in his pockets as he surveyed Udon with critical eyes; as if those dark, endless depths probed the young boy for an admission.
The silence stretched on, causing Udon to have a mini panic attack. Naruto decided it was high-time she cut in and saved her kid from further Uchiha abuse. She put an arm around Udon and buried the boy closer to her side. "Stop that, Sasuke. You're scaring him." Udon's reaction to Naruto's actions was more than enough to confirm Sasuke's suspicions. The Uchiha sneered at the bright red coloration the snotty brat adopted.
"Hn. Whatever. I'm heading out." Sasuke took out his car keys from his pocket and twirled the simple metal keychain with his index finger before securing it in his palm. "Wanna hitch, lugnut?" Sasuke drawled, and walked to close his distance between himself and Naruto. Their proximity, to any outside observer, appeared too close for comfort but of course that wasn't the case with the couple. Naruto shook her head in response, opting to stick with her newly found minions for a bit before heading home. Sasuke then looked to Ino and Sakura to offer a ride. When he was politely declined by the two ladies, he shrugged his shoulders and went towards his car which was parked behind one of the trees in order to shield the vehicle from the sun.
"So that's Uchiha Sasuke, huh? Can't believe Sakura-nee and Boss were stuck with such a bastard for a teammate." Konohamaru whispered to his group, scowling at the sleek car that pulled away from the lot.
"I think he's super cool!' Moegi exclaimed with hearts in her eyes. Naruto felt Udon shyly nod in agreement against her side. She casually chuckled at the thought that she would be sharing Moegi and Udon's adoration with her stuck up boyfriend now. Well, that was a bit of a bummer and, to be honest, a relief at the same time. If she ever got tired of the brats, she could just throw Sasuke at them and all would be well.
"He's the coolest! Goes to show how Sasuke's appeal reaches all demographics!" Ino swooned in place.
"Tch. I don't get the commotion. He's just a prick." Konohamaru sneered. Naruto's eyes alighted with humour, finding herself unable to agree any further than she already had. The truth in Konohamaru's words was spot on.
"Now, now, Konohamaru. It would be unwise to speak badly against your boss' darling boyfriend." Sakura informed the kids just to see their reactions about the matter. Just as the pinkette had predicted, three pairs of eyes widened in disbelief.
"WHAT?!" Three resounding screams spread across the expanse of space.
Naruto winced and covered an ear with her hand. "Chill! Way over the top reaction, don't cha think?"
"Boss! She's kidding, right? Uchiha isn't your boyfriend, right?" Konohamaru frantically questioned and awaited an answer. Udon, while also waiting for her response, took on expression that was a cross between disappointment and admiration. How the kid managed to do so was beyond the Uzumaki teen. Moegi need not a confirmation to Konohamaru's query. The idea of Naruto being Uchiha Sasuke's one and only had managed to gain extra points for her in Moegi's eyes.
"Heh. I'm more surprised that you guys didn't know. Sorry, Konohamaru. She's not lying." Naruto blushed at having to admit her relationship with Sasuke to her minions. "He's my best friend and it sort of just happened." She consciously let out an awkward laugh.
"Naruto gets all the luck." Ino groaned and pouted to express her state of forlorn.
"Aww Boss! You could do so much better!" Konohamaru adopted Ino's same expression and brooded. This earned the young Sarutobi a quick ruffle of his spiky hair from his idol. There was no use swaying Konohamaru from his current opinion of Sasuke, Naruto surmised. The guy did make a bad impression of himself just then, redeemed only by his apparent natural coolness. Konohamaru would just have to learn eventually that no one could ever replace Sasuke in Naruto's eyes. So yeah. There wouldn't be someone 'better' in Naruto's opinion.
"Ino and I are heading out, Nar. You and the kids wanna ride with? We can squeeze in my car again." Sakura offered.
Naruto declined. "Nah. I'm gonna stick here. If I remember correctly, I owe these kids a lesson." The blonde amicably winked at the Troublesome Trio. The promise of tutelage sent the three younger teenagers into a joyful frenzy; they were now one step closer to their communal goal. Sakura and Ino fondly shook their heads in amusement before bidding their blonde friend a goodbye.
"Come on, runts. Follow me." The seventeen-year-old nodded towards the direction of the football field and led the way. The sound of scurrying feet followed closely behind. As she listened to the animated chatter coming from her minions, she allowed a great smile to form on her face as an expression of bliss. The thrill of making new friends would definitely not lose its charm to her.
llllllllllllllllllll
Three days later, on the 23rd of July, Uchiha Sasuke found himself being startled awake by a harsh scream to be followed by what felt like a comet landing on top of his still drowsy body.
"RISE AND SHINE, LOVER! It's your eighteenth birthday! Let's party it up and have hot, raunchy sex afterwards! Whooooo!" Naruto shamelessly announced to the entire universe while straddling the poor Uchiha.
The boy groaned and shut his eyes tight, thinking maybe if he ignored her, the blonde cretin would think he was dead and decide to go away.
She then began to jump on the bed like the hooligan she was. The bed screeched in pain at the constant abuse. "Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke SasukeSasukeSasukeSasukeSAAAASUKEEEE!" Had Sasuke had the means, Naruto would have been murdered by him two hundred and forty-seven times now.
"Go fuck yourself." Sasuke grumbled, burying his face under his pillow. He had a fucking right to sleep in today! It was his god damn birthday for Christ's sake! And he'd just pulled a late night the day before (he had Orochimaru to thank for that one) so he was. Going. To. Sleep. In!
Naruto hopped off the bed to harshly pull the fluffy black blankets away as well as the pillow Sasuke sought refuge under. This rewarded Naruto one of the deadliest, most acidic glares she'd ever seen Sasuke conjure. Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke had killed her in his head over a thousand times and exponentially counting.
"Uchiha! Wake up! I swear I'm not stopping until you wake your ass up!"
The world must be punishing him for something he did in a past life. He must've done something horrible to have granted him the gruelling task of having to deal with this demonic blond girl. Maybe he stabbed someone ruthlessly in the chest with his bare hand or some other act that brought about the same degree of pain. Well, whatever it was, he was deeply sorry; anything to get the blue-eyed ditz off his back so he could catch a couple more hours, or minutes even, of sweet sleep. With strengthened resolve, Sasuke did something he would never admit to doing; an act he considered so beneath him that he vowed to take the secret to his grave. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and as such whatever necessary actions must be taken to achieve the goal. Uchiha Sasuke slackened, slumped, and lay in his bed like a sack of potatoes.
In order to stave away the noisy, annoying, and moronic golden beast, Uchiha Sasuke decided to play dead.
The whiskered monster griped and groaned and pulled at her hair to express its discontent, however, resorted to admitting defeat in the end. "I give up." Naruto sat at the edge of the bed and silently wallowed in self-pity.
"No luck, huh?" The addition of a familiar third voice piqued Sasuke's immediate concern. The sudden yet miniscule jolt of the Uchiha's shoulders was not lost to Sai. His presence was most definitely a hook, line and sinker tactic to the ploy of getting Sasuke up and at 'em. Count on Shikamaru's innate talent for thinking up simple yet effective contingency plans. In the event that Naruto failed to rouse the target from sleep, the lazy genius suggested that Sai take the reins and do what he did best. "We can just go back until he wakes up, Naruto. For now, I believe I have you. All. To. Myself. Sweetheart."
Check.
Sasuke swiftly sat up.
And.
Glared at the insufferable pest.
Mate.
"I'm up. Now get lost, Baikan."
"Oh but Sasuke-chan! When I heard about your day date with dickless here, I felt overwhelmingly jealous. She shouldn't get to hog you all to herself on your birthday! So I decided to tag along with you." The pale boy deviously smiled. Boy, what Sasuke would give to smack Sai's mug in. Like hell Sai wanted to spend the day with them! The fucking schmuck just didn't like the concept of Sasuke spending alone time with Naruto!
Sasuke's stare could have easily sent Sai to the ninth circle of hell if Naruto hadn't put a stop to Sai's successful teasing. The blonde placed a gentle hand over Sasuke's flashing eyes to shield and save the Baikan teen's soul from the clutches of hell's fire. "I fear for your life, Sai. You should probably head out. We're having a party tomorrow anyway so you can have some special alone time with birthday boy then." Naruto winked, enjoying how their whole group of friends were pulling a fast one on the ever aware and knowledgeable Uchiha.
The Baikan stage sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll go. But you owe me a date, Dickless." He took his chances and teased to make the act a bit more believable.
"BAIKAN! OUT!" The birthday boy released a fearsome snarl, one that clearly sent the message that Sai was overstaying his welcome. But Sai, in all his callousness, merely laughed at the threatening sounds. "Happy Birthday, Hardass! See you tomorrow." He pleasantly greeted before seeing himself out.
The recently turned eighteen-year-old heaved a great sigh while burying his face in his palms. It was clear that the boy was already exasperated this early in the morning. What an awful way to begin what was supposed to be a fantastic day. "I can't believe you let him in the house." A headache was starting to form caused by the rude awakening, care of Naruto, and the subsequent breach of territory thanks to Baikan. Blue eyes guiltily eyed the young man. She nimbly placed her soft lips against Sasuke's temple and murmured an apology. They meant well. It was just a shame that she had to subject Sasuke to Sai so early in the morning, but it was an unfortunate necessity. It was her responsibility to get the birthday boy ready and out of the house soon so that Kakashi, Sakura and the rest could set up the Uchiha residence for the party.
When she felt Sasuke relax his tensed state to her touch, it prompted her to the fact that she had been deemed forgiven. This made her beam and then nuzzled the soft tufts of hair at the side of Sasuke's face.
"Happy Birthday, love. Hurry up and get ready. Kakashi and Nekoba are downstairs making breakfast." Sasuke softly grunted at the given information, finally registering from his senses the delicious scent of bacon, eggs and an array of food that constituted a hearty meal. His mouth watered which garnered a rumbling response from his stomach. The loud cries of Sasuke's stomach made Naruto laugh which displeased Sasuke somewhat. The uncharacteristic pout from the boy had Naruto cooing and kissing the boy's cheek.
"C'mon. Make sure to eat up. I've got an awesome day planned out! We're going for paintball first and we'll start from there. Don't think I'll go easy on you just because it's your birthday!" She stood up to go and made sure to warn him beforehand lest he complain later in the day. Naruto laughed while hastening her steps to get out of the room when Sasuke made motions of reaching for his pillow to throw at her. Luckily, she managed to get the door closed just as she heard the light 'thump' the pillow made against the wooden piece.
The echoes of the girl's laughter from outside the room began to die down as she proceeded downstairs. Sasuke grinned and shook his head, knowing all too well that the only person who was getting their ass kicked was Uzumaki Naruto. After a cat-like stretch of his body, earning him the pleasing sound of his back cracking, he got out of bed to officially start the day.
The spread of food that greeted him after his warm shower was beyond what he imagined beforehand in his room. He was also pleasantly surprised to find Naruto's so-called minions helping out with cleaning the used cookware. Everyone had partaken from the gratuitous meal, having idle chat here and there. After having their fill however, Kakashi promptly shoved Sasuke and Naruto out the door, stating that he and the others would handle with cleaning and that the lovebirds should get a move on with the day. Before either of them could even get a word in, the couple found themselves with a face full of the front door. Naruto promised to get back at Kakashi for that one soon but for now, she had promises of kicking Sasuke's ass to keep.
"Let me drive, Sasuke. You get to have a day-off today." Naruto decidedly offered as she took Sasuke's car keys from his grasp. The sentiment was sweet and considerate yet Sasuke paled at her suggestion. Naruto wasn't exactly the best of drivers out there. Not that she didn't have control of the wheel but rather she tended to be more daring and reckless on the road. Suddenly, Sasuke found himself regretting having to have taught her how to drive.
The rest of the day was spent doing activity after activity after activity. A friendly game of paintball had somehow become an intense bout of modern warfare between them. Each of them had even managed to conjure up their own respective teams which consisted of elementary school kids that were sharing the field with them. The war was brutal; hostages were taken and revenge attacks were exacted upon, yet only one would be deemed the victor.
And who would ever doubt an Uchiha's innate ability to take for himself the glory of victory.
The seventeen-year-old blonde took off her helmet and annoyingly wiped a disgusting shade of green paint from her mouth, courtesy of Sasuke's last winning headshot. What added to her frustration was the fact that Sasuke had meant to accurately hit her in the only protective weakness the helmet had which were the small slit openings in the oral and nasal area.
Sasuke smirked at the mosaic that was Naruto's face. "You have a little something..." He gestured at the girl's entire face. "everywhere."
"Tch. Don't get smug with me yet. We're just getting started, bastard. We're going karting next!" With her renewed vigour to win, she led the way to their next event.
Lap after lap after lap, it would seem that their apparent draw wouldn't come to an end. Just when Sasuke thought he'd one up Naruto in the battle, the younger teen would surprise him with her skill which would ultimately end with them being tied for first place. In this event, Naruto's vehicular daredevil tendencies became an advantage. On their final run through the course, the competitive tension between them rose exponentially. They were at a tie and the next win would decide their fates. Those two were neck and neck for about three-quarters of the last lap. Sasuke had used to his advantage a particular steep left turn in the last quarter of the course to push Naruto into the outer lane, thus causing her to give up her momentary position in first place. The girl clicked her tongue and floored the pedal. She wouldn't grant Sasuke the satisfaction of a win this time. By some miracle, she was able to catch up within the final 500 metres of the track. The race was intense; and as they reached the final 100 metres, both teens held their breath. The finish line was well within their sights. The zoom that whooshed past the karting employee manning the finish line station allowing the man to wave his black and white checkered flag announced that the race had come to an end.
Naruto swiftly parked her kart in the designated area and immediately demanded for answers. "Hey! Did any of you see who won?" She eagerly eyed the karting facility employees, certain that she had come out first. When no answer came, she looked to the people gathered at the side of the track.
Sasuke had just arrived to stand beside Naruto, equally curious with the verdict, when a little girl answered. "She won." The child pointed to Naruto; however before Naruto could rub in her victory to Sasuke's face, another child, a young boy countered "No way she could win! He won for sure!" This exclamation sparked the small crowd in the facility to argue amongst themselves. The arrival of someone who seemed to be a senior employee of the facility served to calm the patrons. After doing so, he approached the couple and openly admitted, "It was too close a race. Sorry guys. None of my guys can say for sure who won." The announcement of an unwanted draw had the two lovebirds glaring at each other.
Naruto pointed an accusing finger at her significant other. "What are you glaring at me for? You should be thanking me for letting you even get this close to winning. I felt sorry for you since it's your birthday. Feel free to kiss my feet for I am a generous god."
"Whatever. I could see you struggling back there. Sad that after all your hard work, you still ended up with a draw." Sasuke smirked at the resulting glower on Naruto's face. "Actually, YOU get to have bragging rights anyway. No one's ever tied with me before. So good for you. I on the other hand have to wrestle with the trauma of having to tie with a dweeb." The Uchiha then began to walk away with head held high.
One could only imagine the violent ride to lunch that followed. Although the initial plan was to let Sasuke decide where to have lunch, Naruto was too far gone with bantering with Sasuke to ask him where he wanted to eat. Figuring that this was the case, Sasuke chose to keep his restaurant choice to himself and instead decided to SAFELY drive them to Ichiraku's (the idiot was too frazzled to be taking the wheel). If there was one thing that would calm Naruto down, it was treating her to ramen. Although he enjoyed teasing and returning quips with his best friend, seeing Naruto upset for long periods of time didn't sit well with him. Sasuke was a good boyfriend that way. Besides, the enjoyment of Naruto trying - operative word being trying - to come up with comebacks against Sasuke's wit was starting to lose its lustre today.
And like clockwork, the blonde's first sip of the steaming, savoury broth immediately lifted her grouchy mood.
Their meal was quick seeing as they were still quite full from that morning's breakfast. They thanked Teuchi for the meal and made their way to the arcade. There Naruto challenged Sasuke to DDR to which he lost to the blonde fair and square. They didn't stay long, leaving after playing a few rounds of shooter games and a rather forced (on Sasuke's part) visit to the purikura.
They spent the rest of the day with Naruto behind the wheel just driving around town, deciding what to do next on a whim. They passed an old-fashioned movie house in the outskirts of the city and thought to enter the establishment. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the theatre designated one theatre for old movies, while the remaining ones were to cater to newly released films. The couple ended up watching the very beautiful Audrey Hepburn on screen just because (plus they didn't really feel like watching a kid's movie or even some sappy variation of the premise of A Walk To Remember). They went with a different movie genre this time; lucky that they found it relatively enjoyable.
After the movie, they returned to the general vicinity of their neighbourhood and killed time under the guise of Naruto just wanting to have Sasuke for herself a little bit more, complaining that once they get back to the Uchiha residence, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Nekoba (old people galore!) would be waiting with an ostentatious and unclassy birthday cake. Sasuke obliged, seeing as what awaited him at home didn't appeal to him in any way as well; so they spent their time just walking around aimlessly, just talking about everything and nothing the way that best friends and couples do. Sasuke would say something to make Naruto laugh and Naruto would do something that would amuse Sasuke. They lightly pushed and shoved, teased and jibed, and told stories as they walked to their unknown destination. As dusk began to settle in, they found themselves resting in the place where they first met - the Konohagakure preschool playground. Naruto took her place in the lone tree with a swing - her swing - and let a comfortable silence take over. The Uchiha willingly welcomed the quiet, letting his weight fall against the trunk of tree with his arms and ankles crossed.
They surveyed the playground with fondness, each of them replaying the various good times they shared together in that very place. Naruto smiled then began to lightly kick the ground to push herself on swing. Nearly fourteen years of friendship... Time flew by so quickly.
Sasuke curiously scanned the area, noting how some things hadn't changed about their playground and, at the same time, how modern times made itself present in the nostalgic set-up; proof that no entity was safe from the clutches of change. One very clear example of such was the addition of a vending machine nearby. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the machinery and smirked. He made quick strides towards the machine and looked at his choices. However, once he caught sight of one particular beverage, his mind had been made up.
Naruto, who was previously gazing mindlessly into the twilight, was caught by surprise with Sasuke's closeness. She hadn't noticed him move at all.
"Thought you might be thirsty." Sasuke said while he reached out a cold bottle of apple juice; the mere sight of which had Naruto melodiously laughing.
"Wow! Apple juice right off the bat? Last time you were giving me your gross cherry-flavoured juice you didn't want." Naruto took the bottle, opened it, and took a swig. "I grew on you, huh?"
He shrugged at the jibe in amusement, taking a sip of his own apple juice. Jolting the two teens was the sound of Naruto's phone ringing. With a quick look to the blaring screen of the phone, Sasuke saw the caller to be Kakashi. Only a few words were spoken on the phone; in fact, Naruto's only responses were affirmative grunts. In mere seconds, the call ended, after which Naruto stood up from her swing, brushed off grits of dirt from her bum and glumly announced, "Kakashi said to stop hogging you to myself and to get both our asses back to the house otherwise they'll eat the whole cake." Trust Naruto to be easily bribed by sweet things. Sasuke wouldn't have minded spending more time in their playground (having no particular love for sweets) but alas, Naruto's heart would be broken if they came home to a devoured cake. And so, they treaded back to their parked car and made haste home.
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Something felt off. Sasuke eyed the more than usual amount of cars parked within the nearby streets of his home. Then there was Naruto who was fidgeting like a nervous deer on the passenger seat and his sudden awareness of her keeping him occupied for the whole day. From these instances, he was able to formulate a hypothesis. He was able to make certain of things once they were ten steps away from his front door. Having noticed the awkward dim lighting and the less-than-subtle edginess nature Naruto adopted, the Uchiha came to one brilliant conclusion. The evidences added up seamlessly and were too connected for it to be considered coincidence.
"Please don't tell me you planned a..."
Naruto rang the doorbell once to which the door suspiciously opened immediately, then the whole foyer was bathed in the brilliant white light Sasuke knew it could provide (no longer emitting the pathetic dim lighting it held before). Quick as a bolt, Sasuke took in the sight, sound and smell of the inside of his home.
Then Sasuke mentally cussed.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SASUKE!" A multitude of voices simultaneously exclaimed just as the party poppers went off, causing a brilliant flurry of whimsical confetti to fall from above.
"Of course you would." The birthday celebrant mumbled to Naruto amidst all the excitement of the party goers. She was about to call him out on being such an asshole when she found quite an uncomfortable smirk-smile on his face. The sight made Naruto chuckle and decide not to push him as he was at least trying to look surprised-slash-thankful over the gesture of a surprise party.
The amount of people who came exceeded Naruto's expectations. Knowing how Sasuke was such a god damn bastard, she thought that a few would bail the event. Clearly, that wasn't the case. Sakura and Ino did a stupendous job with decorations, making the house appear almost like a legitimate events place. There were banners, balloons and lights; it was overwhelming to the eyes. Leave two of the most avid Sasuke fangirls to plan the guy's eighteenth birthday. The turnout was great, the food, care of Tsunade, was fantastic, the music was perfectly thought out, and the company was phenomenal. Kakashi even allowed alcoholic beverages in the occasion, granted that everyone drank in moderation (but who was he kidding? Of course people would get drunk). Naruto watched from a distance Kiba's pathetic attempts to impress Hinata with lame ass pick-up lines. The blonde chuckled at the way the dog lover progressively made himself look like an idiot however Hinata's eyes remained kind and accommodating. Lee and Neji even joined in on the comical display to which Naruto's eyes softened. Those two would be entering University come fall. She and everyone else would hardly see them anymore. Tenten was probably taking this the hardest. One year without your two best friends would never be easy; this, Naruto definitely knew from experience. This party definitely served more than its initial purpose of celebrating Sasuke's birthday. It was also the perfect way to spend the most of their time together as a group of close friends before everyone moved on with life, inevitably leaving the nostalgic carefree nature of high school behind. They had this moment and they would make the most of it. Everyone was having such a grand time that even Sasuke didn't appear to be hassled in any way.
It was nearing half past 11pm when the group decided to sing the Birthday song, much to Sasuke's mortification. It grated his nerves that he never actually knew what to do with himself while people were singing for him; it was just the most awkward thing ever. He was sure he wasn't the only one who felt rightly so. The candles, which were the numbers 1 and 8, were lit on top of a deliciously moist rectangular mocha and vanilla cake. He quickly blew out the candles, seeing as Naruto was just itching to have a corner piece of the pastry.
"Sasuke, we made something for you for your birthday." Sakura said, finally about to show what Naruto was dreading the past seventy-two hours. The blonde's skin tone increasingly became paler as Sakura set-up the cheesy montage they had prepare on the television.
And just as Naruto predicted, it was a full four and a half minutes of complete and utter cheesiness. The video showcased pictures of Sasuke with random people in their circle. Naruto snickered when she realized that she could count with one hand the number of photos in the video that had Sasuke smiling. There were video messages from each and every one of their closest friends and extended family. Kiba's video proved to provide the most laughs since the guy basically wore a headband that had Cookie Monsters eyes attached to it and was dared (by Ino most probably) to deliver his message while impersonating the loveable blue monster. For added acting points, Kiba even 'ate' (he put the cookies in his mouth and crumbled the darn things with his teeth and let the crumbs fall to the ground - true blue Cookie Monster style) a few servings of chocolate chip cookies that were supposed to be for Sasuke as part of the gag. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sai's video garnered the most violent reactions from the birthday boy himself. God, he despised Sai to the core. Neji's came a close second in the hatred scale, threatening Sasuke with bodily harm unless the Uchiha takes care of the Student Council as its incoming President. Kakashi and Jiraiya, of course, drilled their message with all kinds of perverted innuendos or variations of such after imparting a few wise words; an apparent standard for parental guardians such as them. Lee's video message just made the audience feel exhausted. Even the Troublesome Trio gave a few words which were mostly akin to Sakura, Ino, and Karin's general wishes of well-being. Other than the more notable videos, all other messages were pretty straight-forward; a hi or a hello, a message, then a happy birthday, simple enough.
Naruto, upon realizing that the video appeared to be reaching its conclusion, rejoiced. The thought that Sakura had a change of heart and decided not to put her message in the presentation made calmed her nerves greatly. This was exactly why she loved Sakura the most!
"Sakura-chaaan! This is sooo embarrassing! Can we just not do this?"
She took it back. Naruto hated Sakura the most. There were a few whistles and catcalls in the room that had her massively blushing. Yup, she hated Sakura the most.
"Aw, come on, Naruto! Just say a few things. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just act natural and pretend you're talking to Sasuke. Remember, I am not here."
The Naruto on screen adorably pouted and resigned herself to her fate. "Um, h-hey, bastard. Uhh, nice weather we're having!"
Sasuke and Naruto facepalmed, the word 'idiot' both crosses their minds.
"So, uhh, it's your birthday soon. In, like, three days. Yay you! Aheh. Happy Birthday!" The girl on screen waved. "I.. I hope you end up liking your surprise party. We all worked hard on it, most especially Sakura-chan and Ino. You should thank them even though I know you're not really into surprises." She tucked a blond forelock of hair behind her ears as she appeared to think up what to say next. "I guess since you're eighteen now, you're technically an adult so, uhm, my wish for you is that you achieve your dream." This made the on-screen Naruto laugh and cutely stick out her tongue. "God. Way cheesy but I mean it though, Sas. There's nothing more I could ever want for you than having you achieve whatever it is you're striving for. I see how hard you work and, geez S'uke, if your parents could only see you now... they'd be so, so proud of you. I know because I'm already so overwhelmed with how proud of you I am; so you can just imagine Aunt Mik and Uncle Fugaku."
Sasuke smiled at what was just said. That may be true but he still hoped to give more; much much more. He looked to Naruto who was standing just beside him. Well, if anything else, he was glad to know that at least Naruto thought highly of him.
A chuckle erupted from the television. "I can't help but be jealous of you, jerk. The opportunities waiting for you are endless! I can't believe a jerk like you gets all that glory." She smiled. "Sasuke, you're destined for greatness and even beyond that. You're so unbelievably perfect that sometimes I still catch myself wondering why you chose..." The T.V. blonde stopped, refusing to complete the sentence since it was way off topic. Silence followed as the girl continued to collect her thoughts.
In that very brief momentary pause in the speech, Uchiha Sasuke answered the question 'Why Naruto?' in a million and one ways the way he had countless times before; and even then, a million and one reasons still didn't seem enough to properly justify his feelings. 'Why Naruto?', the answer was simply beyond comprehension, and the closest, most accurate reply to such a conundrum was because Naruto was Naruto. Naruto is Naruto. Naruto will always be Naruto.
"That aside, I hope that in the pursuit of your goals I may be able to give you strength. That whatever trouble or problem that comes your way, know that you don't have to deal with it alone. You have me, S'uke. You have me and you'll always have me to give you hand. Your goals are my goals and I'll do everything in my power to help you in any way I can because you're my best friend."
The room had gone silent with each person taking in the words with smiles on their faces. Such deep and highly sincere sentiments demanded respect and Sasuke was appreciative of the fact that everyone understood that Naruto's weighty words commanded the utmost silence in order to be appreciated.
"You are, first and foremost, my best and most cherished friend, Uchiha Sasuke. You're stuck with me for life, buddy." She aimed a most heart-warming smile at camera, as if she was speaking to Sasuke in person. "Don't you ever forget that. Happy 18th Birthday. I love you with all of my heart, and then some. Ramen doesn't even come close! I'll see you around, Sasuke-bastard." It would seem that Sakura saved Naruto's birthday message for last since seconds later, the video presentation had started to roll its credits as well as a few bloopers. The comical footages of blunders made by their cohorts revived the light and partying ambience of the occasion. Not soon after, everyone had resumed their previous activities and continued on with the pretty blonde noticed Sasuke shift from her periphery, then soon after, she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist from behind. Naruto let herself relax against Sasuke's warm, broad chest while the latter let his chin rest on the blonde's petite shoulders. He rested his mouth against Naruto's soft, round cheeks and inhaled. Leaning her head against Sasuke's, these two were perfectly moulded within each other's embrace. They stayed like this, enjoying each other's company, watching the celebration wage on full force; both untouchable in their own little bubble.
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When the last guest had cleared out, the logistics crew (namely the Troublesome Trio as well as Sakura and Ino) began cleaning up the place. Kakashi and Sasuke were out, giving a ride to those incapable of driving to their respective homes. The two had yet to return. The clock struck a quarter to 4am when logistics finally headed out while Sasuke just arrived from his driving services. He found Naruto in the same position he left her, sprawled out hideously on the living couch. An unimpressed sneer formed on Sasuke's handsome visage. It was a terribly uncute and unattractive sight; which was exactly why Sasuke flipped out his phone and took an incriminating photo of the girl. Heh. That was for his own personal amusement as well as his revenge since the little idiot did not help out with after party responsibilities.
With a roll of his eyes, he decided it was high time to get rid of the slob on his couch. He took a firm hold of Naruto and, once he was sure he had secured her, carried her in his arms. There was soft grunt of displeasure coming from the seventeen-year-old at the feeling of being removed from comfort yet she resumed snoozing soundly afterwards, even curling towards the warmth radiating off of Sasuke.
The kindness of carrying Naruto to his room was in no way difficult to the Uchiha. Naruto, in all her brashness and coarse demeanour, was very light. It wasn't like Sasuke was surprised at this observation; he'd been subjected to Naruto's tackles and pounces ever since he could remember. In addition, Naruto was sort-of (not really but technically speaking) part of the Konoha cheer team so she kind of had to be light to be carried around. Sasuke snorted out a brief chortle at the miraculous phenomenon of Naruto's ability to wolf down bowls and bowls of junk food and still have the physique of a skinny git.
When he found the door to his room to be somewhat ajar, he thanked his lucky stars. At least he didn't have to awkwardly manoeuvre Naruto in his arms just so he could turn the doorknob. He opened the door with his foot and pushed it slightly closed in the same manner. After gently lowering the girl onto his soft king-sized bed, he smiled at the way Naruto naturally made herself more comfortable in her new location. Sasuke then sat on the floor next to where Naruto snoozed, held the girl's hand that was hanging off the edge of the mattress, and allowed himself to relax by fully resting the back of his head on the soft surface behind him. With his available hand, he pulled out the USB that had his video messages out of his pocket so he could raise it above his face to gaze at it. There were only a few places he could think off that would secure the USB from Naruto's nosy grasps. Based from Naruto's reluctance to give her birthday wishes, Sasuke imagined that Naruto would hold no qualms over disposing the item. Maybe he could keep it in behind his old Algebra books, he thought while his thumb unconsciously rubbed little circles over the top of Naruto's hand. One thing was for sure, the necessity of making copies of the video for himself online was absolute, just as a precaution.
There were a couple of raps at his door that brought him back from his musings. The door softly creaked open to reveal Kakashi bringing with him a small white envelope that caught Sasuke's curiosity. The older man approached sombrely, showing the Uchiha teen the envelope. "A messenger brought this over shortly after you and Naruto left." Kakashi shot Sasuke a pointed look, one that alerted a certain level of preparation for the young man.
"From?" Sasuke wondered as he reached out for the item.
"It's from Suna.", was the glum reply rendering the young Uchiha speechless. The silver-haired guardian continued, "I wanted to get rid of it once it came in but I thought it wise to let you decide what to do with it."
After Kakashi made himself scarce, the raven glared the envelope in his hand. There, in plain red letters, read the Amaterasu company name and logo as well as the address of the Suna branch. What made Sasuke gasp for breath was the fact that 'For Sasuke' was handwritten at the centre of the envelope. He recognized that hand-writing even after all these years.
With one hand still holding onto Naruto, he opened the letter by ripping it with his teeth. Inside, he found a card with a minimalist design. Upon opening the folded parchment, four words greeted him with a certain kind of coldness one felt at the experience of being estranged.
'Happy Birthday, little brother' was written in neat, precise, perfect strokes. The second son of Uchiha Fugaku simmered, his hatred increasing by the second. Fuelled by such dark emotions, he read and reread the words of mockery therefore rendering him unaware of himself and his surroundings. Tunnel-vision occurred which created a wide rift between him and reality. Involuntarily, his grip on Naruto's hand became tighter and tighter until the pain the action caused stirred Naruto from her slumber. She whimpered at the snake-like hold then, in her half-asleep state, noticed what had caused her pain.
"Sasuke?" Her voice was thick with sleep. Another whimper escaped when Sasuke failed to hear her and only kept on with his crushing grip. When Naruto attempted to pull away, the action startled Sasuke from his brooding. Sasuke let go of her immediately.
"Sorry, Sunshine." He said as he stood up from his spot on the floor. "I didn't realize I was hurting you. Go back to sleep."
Uchiha Sasuke apologizing? Clearly, something was bothering him. "Sasuke, what's wrong?", she asked but try as she might, she couldn't get herself to fully wake up.
"Nothing. I didn't mean to wake you. Just go back to sleep. I'm gonna take a shower." Sasuke whispered, brushing the side of Naruto's face in the same way his mother had when he was younger to ease him back to sleep. Like clockwork, Naruto's eyes fluttered shut. At the sound of Naruto's rhythmic breathing, Sasuke released a strangled breath. To say that he was not shaken was a shamefully blatant lie; a mere birthday card from his brother had him nearly hyperventilating for fuck's sake. And he had every right to be bothered! Why? Because the last time he had any contact with his brother was before the death of Uchiha Fugaku five years ago. Five years of Uchiha Sasuke striving to be better for the execution of his revenge, for romantic justice; while Uchiha Itachi sat on his undeserved throne, not even bothering to keep in touch with the little brother he betrayed. Itachi had chosen to lose touch so why the hell would his weasel of a brother acknowledge his presence now?!
He needed some time alone, some time to calm down and ... think. The young man then swiftly left the room with a tight hold of the birthday card in his hand. So distraught he was that the memory stick he was previously fretting over was accidentally forgotten and left for abandon on the cold floor of his quarters. But surely anyone would understand that relatively trivial things such as birthday presents coming from the heart could wait until tomorrow. There were more pressing matters for an Uchiha heir to attend to that evening, such as wrestling with his past to fuel his ambitions.