Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Sorry, but even though I don't like Sasuke that much, I had decided that Sasuke should view Naruto as his closest friend. And no, this will not be a yaoi.

Sasuke Uchiha glared at the picture in his hand. It was the picture of his murderous brother, his best friend, and himself in front of the compound.

"Why did you do it? Why did you kill our clan and kidnap Naruto, Itachi?" Sasuke asked the picture.

Not getting answer, Sasuke finished getting ready for school. If he ever wanted to get Naruto back and avenge his clan, he needed to be stronger than his brother.

As he walked out of the silent compound, Sasuke thought about Naruto, 'He will be turning nine tomorrow.'

He scowled at some people putting up decorations for the celebration of the Kyuubi's defeat. The day would be his least favorite day if it weren't for the anniversary of the murder of the clan as well as the fact that his best friend was born on that day.

"Sasuke!"

"No Ino pig, Sasuke's mine."

Sasuke sighed at the voices behind him. Sakura and Ino had taken the level of fan girl to a new extreme. Deciding to ignore them, he continued on towards the Academy.

"I am glad that Naruto disappeared," Sasuke tuned into the girls' conversation when he heard this. "I he was still here, Sasuke would be spending all his time with that loser."

Ino was agreeing with Sakura for once, "Yah, he never was serious about anything except for ramen. If he had continued to be friends with Sasuke, Sasuke would have probably been affected."

At this, Sasuke turned on the two, "You two should not be talking about him like that! He is the best person I know, he would never leave a person in need! You don't even know what his life was even like! He was beaten all the time for no reason and was called demon! In fact, he did not know anything about friendship until he met me! So don't talk about Naruto like that, especially the day before his birthday!"

The two girls were shocked, scared and excited at the same time. Sasuke had never spoken that much to them; the only con about it was the fact that he was angry at them. They were still standing there when Sasuke stalked off.

…

Iruka sighed as he watched the class walk in, silently wishing for the missing blond to walk into class with the trade mark grin on his face. Instead a scowling Sasuke walked in with two lovestruck girls following him.

"He is probably going to have a better birthday outside of the village, Sasuke," Iruka told the Uchiha.

Sasuke nodded, understanding what Iruka was trying to say, "Yah, but I still wish he could celebrate it with me instead of him."

Almost the entire class was sitting there trying to figure out what their sensei and fellow student were talking about. The only people who understood were Choji and Shikamaru, both having known Naruto as a friend before Itachi kidnapped him.

"Ok class, get out your homework on the Fourth Hokage from last night," Iruka instructed the class, causing most to jump a foot in the air.

Shikamaru, just sat there, wondering what Naruto was doing right then, 'Probably whining about wanting to eat some ramen.'

He had no idea how off he was.

…

The blond was running around the Akatsuki base with two furious missing nins chasing him.

"Get back her, un!"

"You're going to lose a limb when I catch you!"

Currently, Naruto was being chased Kisame and Deidara, who joined a month ago. Both had suffered humiliation by waking up that morning wearing lace nightgowns and bows in their hair. Unfortunately, they were both distracted with chasing Naruto to change into something else.

"What are you three doing?"

Naruto had ran into Itachi who had just stepped out of his room. Deidara and Kisame had slid into Naruto due to the sudden stop in the blond's movement.

Kisame peeled himself off the floor and then shouted, "That brat did this to us!"

"Yah, un. This is worse than the time he replaced my clay with cookie dough and I got a cavity on my left hand!" Deidara added.

Itachi glared at the two, who both paled, "If you harm him in any way, you'll die. Naruto, don't you dare sneak off, you are going to have to be punished for this."

Naruto froze as he was about to leave the passage.

"Now, Naruto, head to the training grounds and do your usual warm up as well as fifty laps," Itachi told the younger blond.
The three who caused the commotion headed off to their separate destinations, Kisame and Deidara to get changed while Naruto headed off to finish his punishment. Sasori, Deidara's partner, stuck his head out of his room.

Seeing the backs of the blonds and the blue haired man, Sasori asked, "What happened?"

"You don't want to know," was Itachi's only answer.

…

"Happy birthday, Naruto!" chorused the Akatsuki members.

The only one who was truly happy for the whiskered blond was Itachi. Deidara and Kisame were still sore about the prank that Naruto had pulled the day before. Sasori just didn't care.

Naruto didn't mind, "Thanks! Can I open presents now?"

Itachi nodded and everyone handed their gifts to the new nine year old. Deidara had given him a scroll on the art of explosions. Sasori had given Naruto a puppet. Kisame offered to give kenjutsu lessons. But Naruto's favorite gift was a single earing that was shaped like the Nine Tails.

"Thanks!" Naruto said, happily gathering up his presents. "I love everything, especially the earing."

Naruto had learned about the demon inside of him the day after Kisame had led Itachi and Naruto to the base. At first he was afraid of it, but then he accepted it as a part of him.

"Now you can get even stronger, un."

Kisame grumbled, "If he gets to strong, we will have to deal with more pranks."

Deidara paled at this. Itachi would have smiled if he let himself show emotion.

…

Sasuke scowled at the celebrating village. How could they be so joyful? When Naruto still was in Konoha, he was beaten the worse on his birthday.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said from his position beside Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn't agree more.

Sakura, who was following Sasuke along with Ino, screeched at the genius, "How could you say that? This is the celebration of one of the biggest events in Konoha's history!"

Choji was about to retort when Shikamaru stopped him, "Don't listen to them, they don't know anything."

"Let's go back to the compound," Sasuke suddenly said. "If I stay out here any longer, I think I'll go on a rampage."

Shikamaru and Choji followed Sasuke, leaving behind Sakura and Ino who were arguing over a necklace. The peace and quiet of the compound's streets was welcomed, as it calmed Sasuke down.

Sasuke sighed, "I hope Naruto is having a good birthday."

Shikamaru and Choji agreed with their friend.

The next chapter will introduce my oc, so this is your last chance to submit a name for her.