A/N: Just a short, quick interlude probably spewing out errors because (while I know the timeline is tangling itself up) I know Naru-chan's birthday would be near this time, plus, this shall serve a the calm before the angst storm

Warnings: The usual

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own either, mock me all ya want

Previously:

Her plan had worked perfectly, first she wrote a letter to... 'Albus Dumbledore', what a strange name, suggesting that another 'portkey' could be sent so someone could bring the two hired shinobi's more of their necessities, considering they'd be gone for a whole year, they'd need things from home every once in awhile.

After a few drinks, Tsunade was easy to persuade to sign it.

All she had to do now was wait.

As she watched the owl fly off, all she could think was, 'Don't worry Sasuke, I'll be with you soon.'

Chapter 13... ish

.birthdays.

The moment Sasuke woke up, he knew that the day was a special one, one that he should have remembered.

He went through his normal morning routine without incident, threw a bucket of water on his partner to wake him up, you know, the usual. But something was still bothering him.

Once he and Naruto were dressed and ready, it was time for their morning workout, they walked to the Room of Requirement together.

"You're awfully quiet today," Sasuke commented in a voice that would've sounded to cold to anyone who didn't know him, but Naruto could hear worry in it.

The blonde pasted one of his patented grins on his face, "Eh?! What are you talking about, teme? I'm fine!" For effect he gave the Uchiha a victory sign.

"If you say so, Naruto..." Sasuke made a mental note to watch his partner more closely.

"Well come on! We're wasting time, let's fight!" Naruto yelled, taking Sasuke's hand and dragging him into the room, not looking back to see the faint blush on Sasuke's cheeks.

Right when they entered the room, Naruto attacked him with a kunai, taking the black haired boy by surprise, "You're not keeping your guard up!" he cried before throwing two more.

Sasuke dodged the kunai before un-sheathing his katana, "Why are you in such a rush to hurt me today?" he asked calmly, blocking more attacks.

"Ahh... no reason," Naruto cheekily said as he... wait, what was that flash Sasuke saw?

'He seems kind of... sad' Sasuke surprised himself when he came to that conclusion.

Before he got a chance to think, he heard a cream of "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" and was attacked by four katana-wielding Narutos at once.

This continued for about twenty more minutes, until Sasuke was being overwhelmed with clones.

'Ah! Last one!' he thought as he watched the Bushin disappear, 'No where's the real one-'

When he was about to finish that thought, he felt a weight on his chest that brought him to his back.

The smoke cleared and who was sitting on his chest, face inches away from his own, then Naruto's.

"I win again, you bastard!" Naruto exclaimed, but still wasn't getting off.

Silence.

Blush. On both parties.

Naruto jumped off, "Gah! Sorry teme! I was too caught up in the thought of beating you!"

Sasuke, controlling his blush, pulled himself up and started brushing himself off, "You won't get so lucky next time..." he said simply.

Naruto frowned for only second before grinning again, "You wish!" a 'hmmf!' was heard before he continued, "Come on, the students are probably all awake now, we need to get to the Great Hall..." Naruto disappeared, probably back to their room to get his mask, and left Sasuke to think.

'I'll definitely find out what's wrong,' Sasuke promised himself before disappearing himself.

A couple hours later, Sasuke was watching over a Charms class. He had no idea where Naruto was, probably watching over another classroom like the Uchiha was himself.

He sighed, gazing at the giggling second years as they whispered and passed noted to each other. They were so... immature, so... like someone he knew.

'It would shock anyone in this culture if they knew about us,' Sasuke contemplated, 'Killers... at our age. But our appearances are deceiving. Even Naruto, as childish as anyone here, hell, even younger then the Potter boy we're protecting...'

He was interrupted by another voice in his head, 'Well, not much as before, considering today..."

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, since today's his birthday an everyth-"

WAIT

Rewind

Sasuke's head snapped up. That's what he forgot! It was Naruto's fucking BIRTHDAY!

'I'm such an ass! I didn't even remember!' he scolded himself, 'Okay... okay, calm down, what can I do to make this better...'

'A gift can probably work...' the voice supplied.

'Right! Of course, a gift!'

Right as Harry Potter was walking out of his Potions class, an arm grabbed his and dragged him through the hallway at an amazing speed. He didn't even have time to scream.

And just as quick as it started, it all stopped. In front of him was the Raven masked guard, looking unusually disheveled.

"Are you-" Harry started.

"No time to explain..." Sasuke said as calmly as he could as he straighted his back and regained his composure, "I need money."

"Um... sure? Why?" Harry stumbled along his words. Then he watched the guard take a breath.

"It's for Naruto, it's his... birthday, I need a gift," he explained.

"Uh, let's see what I have..." he fished through his pockets and eventually found only a couple sickles and a gallon, "I-"

"This is perfect, thanks," was the quickened reply before the money in his hands were gone and so was the guard.

There was silence before Harry said aloud to himself, "I hope he gets Naruto something good..." thinking about the blonde and raven's interesting relationship.

Sasuke bolted at full speed over the lake and while doing so, henged himself into a plain looking man.

Finally he reached Hogsmeade. After looking through the storefronts, he started to wonder what he could get his friend.

He paused in front of the joke shop. Would he get something there? After a brief moment of thought, Sasuke decided against it. Everyone in Konoha knew Naruto was a prankster, so it seemed so... impersonal.

Most of the stores didn't seem to carry something that would interest Naruto, but soon he was at the last store, his last hope, a simple toy shop.

The bell jingled when he entered, and being the trained ninja that he was, he tensed at the sound. Many of the items in the store seemed enchanted, whirling and buzzing around.

While he was inspecting some of the shelves, he heard footsteps behind him. A kind, "May I help you, sir?"

All the shopkeeper saw was an ordinary man, looking somewhere in the range of forty to fifty years old. He scanned the shelves until his eyes landed on two objects next to each other.

'But which to get?' he asked himself, taking out the money he had and then back to the objects.

The store's owner seemed to understand his dilemma and her smile widened, "Don't worry sir, I think I know what we can do..."

Sasuke looked up and smiled too, silently thanking her.

Naruto continued poking his stomach as he gave the password to Emiko. It was almost midnight so he had decided to call off guard duty for the night and go to bed.

'What a day, such a long day...' he thought to himself as he opened up the door to his room.

The day had started off wonderfully, that is until he noticed Sasuke's ignorance.

'You'd think that after four years of being best friends, he'd remember how special today was...' was a quiet, bitter comment he heard in his head.

He walked over to his mirror, starring at his reflection, "Well, since no one else has said it today, Happy sixteenth-" his voice faded as saw something that was one his bed through the mirror. He turned around to get a better and what he saw left him wide eyed.

Two simple stuffed animals lay on his pillow next to each other, one was a toad while the other was a fox. Between them was a note.

He jumped on his bed as fast as he could and grabbed the note to see what it said:

'Couldn't decide which you would like better...

-Sasuke'

He had to smile at the card. He put it down carefully, back to it's original position, before running out of his room.

Sasuke, at the moment was pulling off his shirt in his own room before he felt something warm hug him from behind.

"Thanks for the gift..." the voice was muffled.

Sasuke smiled and turned around, patting the shorter boy on the head, "Happy birthday, Naruto..." he replied quietly.

A/N: Okay, okay, the main plot will be back in the next chapter, I promise, here's a little more SasuNaru to hold you guys over. Hope you all liked it! Please review!