Sinking in Sand...
Sand: Yo! (slithers onto the window) I thought I should post something for my co-writer's b-day.
Gaara: ... (turns away)
Sand: Kawaii! (glomps Gaara)
Gaara: It's kaasan's death day.
Sand: O.O (loosens grip on Gaara's head) But...
Gaara: I killed her.
Sand: But...
Gaara: ... (gets up and leaves)
Sand: But... I already got you a cake! (melts in defeat)
Chouji: Mmm... Cake. (stares and drools at the large, flaming cake on Sand's kitchen table)
Sand: Don't you dare touch that... (glares daggers at Chouji)
Shikamaru: Mendokuse... (lures Chouji away with a bag of potato chips and leaves)
Temari: Oy! (whacks Kankuro's hand) You can't have any either. Gaara hasn't cut the cake yet.
Kankuro: (mutters under his breath while nursing a throbbing hand) Hurry up and cut the cake already.
Sand: Gaara! (runs out of the window)You have to cut the cake!
Temari: After the story. (whirls the story onto the window with her fan)
0o0o0o0
Birthday
One Shot
By Sand
0o0o0o0
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing...except this birthday fic for my co-writer. Gaara! Happy birthday!!
0o0o0o0
January 19
A slight sigh escaped the little redhead's lips as he turned his hurt face away from the happy child who was holding a toy.
"Waugh! Arigatou! This is the best birthday ever!" The shrill cry rang throughout the streets.
He tried his best to drown out the child's excited cries with his hurried steps home. 'What's so great about a birthday?' He didn't understand that boy's excitement at all.
The joyeous atmosphere around that boy was foreign to the redhead.
Mostly because he had never had a birthday since the day he was born.
0o0o0o0
Light green eyes bore down into sky blue eyes. "You want to what?" If the redhead had eyebrows, he would've raised one in confusion from what the blond had just said.
"I'm going to throw you the best birthday ever, dattebayo!" The blond enthusiastically exclaimed as he punched the air with great excitement. "You do know what a birthday is, ne Gaara?"
The young Suna nin was so absorbed in his missions that he almost forgot his own birthday. But he would almost always remember the death of his mother.
This would've been the first time in a very long time since he remembered that the days were the same.
Sabaku no Gaara gave the blond his usual dead silence as a response before he spoke in a dead pan tone. "There's no need to do that, Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto stared at the Suna nin in confusion. "Eh? Naze? Don't you celebrate your birthday with your family?" He had his eyes closed in slits as he scratched his head.
Gaara fell silent again before he let out a soft exasperated sigh. "I don't celebrate my birthday."
Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head. "NANI?!" His shout rang throughout the entire village, causing several people to become disarrayed.
Unfortunately, that shout didn't faze the redhead at all.
"No one celebrates the birth of a monster." Gaara's expression was seriously stoic. He didn't hesitate once in his direct answers.
Naruto's eyes softened and downcasted. 'Sou ka... Ko aitsu...Was always hated by everyone... So they would rather celebrate his death than his birthday.' He understood his friends disposition. 'Demo...'
But this wasn't going to diminish Naruto's determination to throw his friend a great birthday party.
"Ja, Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara turned and disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.
"Ahh...! Matte! Gaara!" Naruto was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that the redhead was gone by the time he had cried out Gaara's name.
"Chikusho... I'm still going to throw you a party whether you're there or not! Gaara!" Naruto yelled into the wind. He didn't even care whether his words reached its destination or not.
0o0o0o0
Mysterious notes of invitations popped into peoples' open view as an orange flash zipped throughout the village.
All of the rookies of the rookie nine along with Team Gai, all of the sensei including Anko, Ibiki, Genma, Kotetsu and Izumo, the remaining two of the Sannin and Shizune were there.
"Hokage-sama...?" The pink-haired kunoichi drawled in amazement. "Even you were invited?"
The long-haired blond smirked at her young apprentice. "Of course! This should be interesting."
The long white-haired man whispered over to the pink-haired kunoichi, "Tsunade just came for the sake." And he added a wink to his note.
But his remark only earned him a large bump on the head.
"Ahh... Mendokuse." The brown, spiky-haired chuunin yawned. "Why did Naruto do something so mendokuse?" He flipped the little white note around in his hand.
'And why so many people?' But this wasn't what surprised him. It was the coincidental timing that all of these shinobi would be in the village at the exact same time of this exact same day that his blond haired friend gathered them all on that awed him.
It was almost noon when most of these "guests" started getting restless.
"Mou... When is that baka going to arrive to the party he arranged himself?!" The blond kunoichi with the single high ponytail cried out in impatience. She has had enough of Naruto's games.
"I'm leaving!"
But just as they began to scurry away, loud laughter rang out from the shadows hidden in the trees.
"Yosh! Let the party begin, dattebayo!" About sixteen Narutos popped out of their hiding spots doning their foxy grins.
0o0o0o0
Naruto's plan surprised everyone. It made so much sense that some of them didn't even believe that it was the blond that had come up with it.
"Chotto matte." The pale-eyed boy raised a hand before everyone departed to do their part. "Why are we doing this for him?"
Naruto's confused face grew into a wide smile at the Hyuuga prodigy. "Because Gaara's probably never had a birthday in his entire life."
Everyone became silent as they thought about this. The silence hung in the air for a while before...
The scruffy dog-like boy whacked Naruto on the head, effectively snapping everyone out of whatever thoughts that were going through their heads. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" He grinned widely.
Everyone joined in and gave Naruto a hard whack or two. Mainly for making them wait.
"It would've saved us the wait." Tsunade dealt the final blow. Naruto fell to the ground with several large lumps on top of his lumps.
"Yosh! Let's throw the best birthday ever!" Tsunade riled up the shinobi. She knew there had to be a plausible reason why all of these people were gathered together.
And Naruto never failed to deliver a stupid one.
0o0o0o0
Gaara could feel the dozen pairs of eyes following his every move from the shadows. 'Naruto no baka.' He gave a sigh before dissolving into sand and going to a more secluded and peaceful place to rest.
His original destination would've drawn those eyes with him, making him even more restless than he already was.
0o0o0o0
Team Eight was given the job of keeping an eye on and tracking the redhead's every move for the day. "Chikusho... How are we supposed to keep an eye on someone who can disappear and leave traces of his scent everywhere?" The dog-boy cursed under his breath. "How about you, Shino?"
The bug shinobi was also having some difficulties. The bug he had placed on the redhead earlier got blown away by the wind or crushed by the wind speed/pressure when Gaara had shunshin away earlier.
Even the young Hyuuga heiress wasn't able to spot the redhead with her byakugan.
"Agh! Baka Naruto! How are we supposed to keep an eye on a guy like that?!" The dog-boy growled loudly in annoyance.
0o0o0o0
Somewhere in one of the training grounds, the blue-eyed boy sneezed.
"Ah! Naruto! Don't sneeze on the preparations!" Team Ten, Sakura and Naruto were decorating the place and setting up stuff for the party.
"Mendoku--"
"Urusai! Shikamaru!" The very irritated blond kunoichi whacked the lazy chuunin on the head for his unwanted comment. Her day was already cancelled thanks to the blond kitsune. She didn't need her inert teammate to add to her frustration.
"Will there be enough food, Naruto?" The pink-haired kunoichi piped up. She had the tables set, but with the way that the plump shinobi was staring at the food, it didn't look like there would be enough.
"Daijoubou, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned. "Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei are in charge of that."
Sakura grew uneasy. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to reassure her or make her worry more.
'What in the world is Naruto thinking?' Her always late sensei paired up with his all time rival in everything were bringing the food? 'Now I'm hoping they don't bring too much.'
Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. They brought nine long tableful of food. And Kakashi won again in their competition of who could carry the most food in their arms.
0o0o0o0
Gaara watched from his place. He just watched silently as the people below scurried and prepped the area for his upcoming sixteenth birthday.
He still didn't see the point of birthdays. There didn't seem like anything special about the day. Nothing special at all.
So why were there so many people making such a big deal about it?
He closed his eyes to drown out the sounds of the party preparations occuring below. And of Naruto's loud yelling.
'Baka.' He closed his eyes to shut out the world. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts on a day like today. And feed his kaasan with plenty of fresh blood.
0o0o0o0
It was almost time for the party to begin. Team Eight was supposed to bring Gaara or lead him to the training grounds. However...
"You lost him?!" Naruto's vein popped out of the side of his head. "Weren't you tracking him?" He couldn't believe that Gaara was that slippery.
"Ahh... Gaara's first birthday..." Naruto was making too big of a deal of this. "Chikusho... I'm going to find him! In the meanwhile, keep the party going, dattebayo!"
And within a large puff of smoke, several Narutos set out to find the redhead.
"Kuso...! I'm going to drag him here even if I have to beat him first."
0o0o0o0
Gaara's eyes caught the presense of someone behind him. He silently turned towards his guest as his sand swirled cautiously in front of him.
"Ah... Gomen. I know Naruto might do some stupid stuff from time to time but don't you think you should attend your own party?" The silver-haired jounin scratched his head as he came out of his hiding spot. "Besides... This might be the last time you could walk around freely in another village."
"..." Gaara didn't know that the jounin was that well informed. Not even the people of Sunagakure knew about the upcoming annoucement. "Does everyone know?" He didn't want everyone to know until it was official in Sunagakure.
"Iie. Only Hokage-sama, Jiraiya and I know." The masked nin walked up to the ledge near the youth. "Well, if you're going to be late it's best to have an excuse ready." The jounin waved goodbye before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Gaara's eyes didn't shift from the place where the man once stood. "Hatake...Kakashi." He knew the man was definitely dangerous.
And with that, the redhead disappeared into a whirlwind of sand.
0o0o0o0
The many Narutos flew through the rooftops at lightning speed looking for the redhead. 'Chikusho. Chikusho! Chikusho...!!' But even with this many eyes searching, not a strand of red stuck out in the crowds.
"Chikusho!" All of the Narutos cursed simultaneously. He was starting to worry that Gaara might not attend his own birthday after all.
The Suna nin's words still stung even from a few days ago. "No one celebrates the birth of a monster."
His eyes downcasted. "I don't celebrate my birthday."
Naruto was starting to get disillusioned by Gaara's melancholic words, however...
That was before his own words came rushing back to his head. "I'm still going to throw you a party whether you're there or not!"
And his eyes brightened instantly. "I'm going to throw you the best birthday ever, dattebayo!"
'Sou ka...' He snapped out of his reveries as he slapped a fist into his open palm. The serious faces that washed over all of their faces would've sent any enemy flying in a few seconds. But Gaara was one tough oppenent.
He wouldn't go down without a serious fight.
"Yosh! Let's find that Tanuki!" All of the Narutos set up their single hand seal to multiply their numbers even further.
However... Kakashi had popped infront of the real Naruto before the jutsu had its full effect, causing all of the Narutos to stumble and fall. Most of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Yo." He didn't know what Naruto was up to, but he was glad he made it in time. He didn't want the village overturned just to find one shinobi.
"Ahh... Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto held onto his reddened nose as the other kage bunshin disappeared. "I was just about to go all out and find Gaara!" He glared daggers at his sensei's silver pointy head.
"Eto... Hmm... All out, ka?" Kakashi looked around. He didn't sense Naruto's seriousness. "Well, you don't have to find Gaara-kun any more." Kakashi jumped down from the roof that he was on and started walking away.
"Eh?" Naruto was confused. He thought that Gaara was missing. "Ahh...! Chotto matte! Kakashi-sensei!" The blond rushed as fast as he could to catch up to the jounin. He even tried to tackle him down to get him to explain further on what he meant, but only caught a kawarimi log or a straw doll.
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto glared at his teacher.
"Hmm... You said something, Naruto?" The jounin didn't hear Naruto's question. He was too engrossed in his Icha Icha Paradise book.
"Ahhh! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto was going to start pulling out his hair by the roots if he wasn't going to get an answer soon.
But his actions were stopped by a large whack to the head.
"The party has already started, Naruto." The dog-boy stood over the blond. "They even sent us to find you." He pointed to the rest of his team.
"Kono... What kind of greeting is that, Kiba?!" Naruto jumped to his feet. He was about to whack Kiba's face when he suddenly felt his body rise from the ground.
"Our mission is to bring you to the party, not to start a fight." Shino cooly walked back to the training grounds while his bugs totted Naruto along from behind.
"Oy! Let me down! Shino! Shino!!" Naruto was more embarrassed at having to be carried than being caught off guard by the bugs. "Let me down, teme!!"
"Ano... Naruto-kun..." The shy Hyuuga didn't know what to say to get the blond to calm down. Although she wouldn't get the chance to since the blond was screaming so loudly that her voice wasn't even audible to him.
"Hanase!!! Shino!"
They walked down the main road as well as a few other heavily populated places before heading towards the training grounds. The bug shinobi didn't like Naruto's overly negative attitude at the moment.
"Oy... I think Shino's angry." Kiba whispered over to his female teammate. "What do you think, Hinata?"
The kunoichi could only feel sympathy and understanding for the blond. "I think Naruto-kun has calmed down a bit." A slight blush swiped her face as she started to fidget with her fingers.
But Naruto hasn't fully calmed down. He was devising devilish plans to sabotage the bug shinobi. 'Maybe if...' Hehehehehe... He knew he was a genius!
Shino could start feeling himself feel a little sleepy and he didn't know why.
'What's going on?' He didn't train himself hard enough to get this tired earlier in the day.
And before he could even asked his team mates what's going on, all of the bugs holding Naruto fell to the ground, freeing the blond from their grasp.
"Yatta! It worked!" Naruto was proud of his accomplishment as he pulled out a bottle of sake from his kunai pouch. "Don't underestimate the great Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo." He even added a wink and stuck out his tongue at the fallen shinobi.
Both Kiba and Hinata were shocked that Naruto got Shino drunk! "Teme..." Kiba grabbed hold of Naruto's collar before the blond could run away. "You didn't have to get him drunk!" He just didn't want to admit that it was a good prank on his teammate.
'Why didn't I think of it first?' It was a first for anyone to get Aburame Shino drunk. It was a sight worth being late for.
"S-Shino-kun, daijoubou?" A worried expression graced Hinata's face as she knelt next to the bug shinobi.
"D-daijoubou." Shino was trying to get the alcholic liquid out of his system. But his kikaichou were already out cold. They weren't going to sober that fast. "I just need to rest."
"Eh...? Shino can't hold his liquor." Naruto grinned wildly. He was enjoying his fellow shinobi's disposition.
"Mattaku...Naruto." Kiba picked up his unconscious teammate and placed him on Akamaru's back. "I don't want to be you when he wakes up." It was a serious offense to play a prank on the serious shinobi.
And the penalty was dire. Naruto would have to learn that the hard way.
0o0o0o0
When the blond arrived with Team Eight...and an unconscious Shino, everyone at the party knew right away that Naruto did something.
"Baka Naruto." Sakura whacked her stupid teammate on the head. "You didn't have to beat the guy for getting you to the party you arranged yourself."
But the blond only shirked the blow away when his eyes fell on the quiet redhead near his siblings.
"Gaara!" Naruto's yell quieted and froze everyone. "You c--"
But his enthusiasm was crushed instantly by several tiny black insects dangerously writhing up his legs to the tip of his blond hair.
"Naruto..." Everyone shivered at the murderous aura emanating from the grumpy and very annoyed bug shinobi. "Don't. Ever. Drug. My. Bugs." Shino didn't cover Naruto's eyes so that the blond could see how serious he was.
Naruto could only nod slightly with the bugs dripping off of his body. He was a big writhing mass of black in only a few seconds.
"I know what that's like." The puppet shinobi whispered over to his sister. He had fought against the bug shinobi almost three years ago and lost. It was a fight he would never forget since he almost had all of his chakra drained from his body.
The bugs slowly receded back to their host after getting the response from the blond.
The crowd was still silent as the redhead broke away from his niche and headed towards the very freaked out Naruto.
"I still don't understand the purpose of this celebration." Gaara stared down at his friend. His expression was dead pan stoic.
And Naruto's cheerfulness rejuvenated instantly. "Heh. We're not here to celebrate the birth of a monster." He sighed as he slowly got to his feet and gave the redhead a serious look. "All of these people want to celebrate the birth of Gaara."
Naruto's face broke out into a very large grin. "That's the only purpose there is, dattebayo."
Gaara's eyes widened slowly at Naruto's words.
"All of these people want to celebrate the birth of Gaara."
And at the foolishness of his earlier words.
"No one celebrates the birth of a monster."
The redhead could only sigh before walking back to his niche earlier.
"That's the only purpose there is, dattebayo." He was still pondering on the blond's words.
No one has ever said that they were glad that he was born before. It still disturbed him to no end.
But he was starting to understand the meaning of a birthday thanks to a certain nosy blond kitsune.
Owari
0o0o0o0
Omake: Presents
The redhead had opened all of the presents that everyone tried to scrounge up. No one truly knew what the birthday boy wanted without the help of his siblings.
And even they didn't know the facts on that.
"Gaara! Gaara!" The blond held up a bright orange box. "Open my present next!" He ran all the way from his house and back to the training grounds because he had forgotten it.
But as he neared the crowd surrounding the redhead, he tripped and almost squashed the paper box.
Luckily, he was able to get his hands out fast enough to break his fall.
The entire crowd sweatdropped at the sight.
"Ehhehehe..." Naruto got up quickly and rushed to his friend's side. "Hora!" He knew that his present was going to be the best.
But when everyone looked at what the blond got for the birthday boy, they all had the same thought going through their heads.
'Baka...' They knew they shouldn't have counted on Naruto to give anything useful.
"Tanuki ramen?" Gaara was confused. He wasn't really familiar with the different types of instant ramen since he didn't eat the food very often.
Unfortunately for the blond, the overbearing blond suna kunoichi and the puppet suna shinobi were preparing to murder him for trying to corrupt their little brother.
"He's a bad influence." Temari's hand was reaching for her fan on her back. She didn't want Gaara to develop the same unhealthy diet as the orange clad Konoha genin.
"I still can't believe Gaara lost to this guy." Kankuro's hand reached the bandage wrapping the puppet on his back. He didn't want the annoying genin to get any closer with Gaara than he already was. Naruto's stupidity might be contagious.
But before either siblings could murder the grinning kitsune, Naruto held out another box.
This time, it was larger.
"I thought you might want to have one of these as well." Naruto knew how annoying his sensei was.
And Baki should be just as annoying for the suna nin.
Everyone were anticipating what was inside. 'It's probably something stupid again.' They knew not to count on Naruto to give anything meaningful.
Even the two siblings were holding on killing the blond. They wanted to know what else he had to poison their baby brother with.
And everyone sweatdropped again at the sight.
"Baki...sensei?" Gaara was confused again. He looked over the horrible rendition of his sensei as a straw doll. The half-face and one eye and everything.
Kakashi's face grimaced at the memory that surfaced in his mind. 'I think mine looked better.' He remembered discovering a similar doll of himself in Naruto's apartment earlier with a few kunai sticking out of it.
Unfortunately for the blond kitsune, the siblings had pounced on him. 'It looks like a voodoo doll.' They knew not to trust the blond who beared presents.
Everyone ignored the cries coming from Naruto and went back to the party.
However, Gaara only got up from his spot and allowed his sand to trail the presents after him. "Arigatou." He said over the badly beaten blond. "Uzumaki Naruto."
He would never have known that his life had such meaning if it weren't for this stupid kitsune. And how many people considered his birth worthy of celebrating.
0o0o0o0
Sand falling on you...
Sand: (runs up breathing heavily) Hah... Hah... Gaara... Cake...
Gaara: (shivers at the ragged sight of Sand) ... (thinks) It's like a ghost offering food to the living.
Sand: (moans) Cake... Gaara...
Gaara: ... (stares at the cake) No.
Sand: O.O (cries) Gaara... TT TT It wouldn't be a normal birthday without cake.
Gaara: (sweatdrops) ...
Sand: And I put in the tongue and gizzards too. TT TT
Everyone: Bleh. (grosses out and barfs)
Gaara: ...I'll eat it.
Sand: Yatta! (holds up a blowtorch) Saa! Hurry up and blow out the candles.
Gaara: (sweatdrops) ... (thinks) I'm leaving. (tries to leave but can't)
Sand: You can't leave now that the party has begun. (lights the candles) You didn't even get to my present. (a malicious grin forms on Sand's face)
Everyone: (shivers and thinks) Sand's gone crazy again.
Sand: (shoves a large box at Gaara) Open it.
Gaara: (stares at the box) ... (opens the box very slowly) ...Uchiha Sasuke?
Sasuke: Mmmph! (gags and struggles under his bondings)
Sand: Heh. I caught him last night. (grins evilly) It's his fault for being so damn annoying. (cackles)
Gaara: (stares at the annoyed Uchiha) ... (and pokes him) ... (leaves with Sasuke to the washroom)
Several flushes later...
Gaara: Arigatou. (drops a swirly-eyed Sasuke on the ground)
Sand: Yay! Happy Birthday Gaara!! (hugs him and waves to the audience) That's it for today. Give Gaara plenty of presents and I might consider letting you hug him.
Gaara: ...I want the day off.
Sand: O.o Day off? I already gave you christmas and new years.
Gaara: ... (dissolves and leaves the window)
Sand: Oy! (runs after Gaara) Gaara! Matte! I can't work without you!
Meanwhile...
Chouji: Mmm... Tongue and gizzards... (munches happily on the cake Sand made)