A/N: The day before, and I finally get around to writing you all a Valentine's Day-themed one-shot. Like I said, I hate this holiday and I did this all just for my lovely readers! I hope you enjoy it, anyway...


One-Shot #64
Valentine's Day Eve

One would think ninja could care less about romance, love, and pink streamers, but one would, apparently, be wrong. Konoha was decorated, with help from every love struck kunoichi currently not on a mission, with pink and white everything. Pink hearts, pink and white streamers, banners with hearts, chubby chibi cherubs, and Sasuke couldn't care less.

He hated Valentine's Day, to a degree that rivaled his hatred of Itachi…or spiders. A few days before and a few days after, Sasuke had to tolerate fan girl presents and the village he called home looking like Sakura's hair exploded.

Walking past a few shops on his way back to his apartment, Sasuke saw the window displays offering candy or diamonds or something equally frivolous. Frowning, he kept walking, his hands in his pockets and his head turned down, his dark bangs shielding his face from the ogling of fan girls. Noise seeping out of one of the shops drew Sasuke's attention, it sounded oddly like Naruto.

"Oi! Oi! Does that come in orange?"

Sasuke groaned. What could Naruto possibly want in that horrid color now?

"Aw, hell, thanks anyway Old Lady!" Naruto came jogging out of the store just as Sasuke started away from the shop. Catching a glimpse of his best friend, Naruto immediately began jogging faster to catch up to Sasuke's quick pace. "Oi! Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke groaned again. "What do you want, dobe?"

"What ya doing on Valentine's Day?" Naruto met Sasuke's pace, linking his hands together behind his head.

"Nothing."

"What you mean nothing?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at Sasuke.

"Just what I said, baka, nothing."

Naruto began to say something, but trailed off when he saw the window of the last shop. "Hold on, teme!"

Sasuke's frown deepened as the blonde jolted into the shop. He waited there for nearly ten minutes, unaware of why he'd even listened to the idiot in the first place, before Naruto finally emerged from the shop. He was carrying something in a bag, something that looked to be a small box, before he turned to Sasuke stating that he was ready.

Sasuke was trying to hide the fact that he was interested by what Naruto was carrying, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he simply walked toward his own apartment, with Naruto following closely. Once they reached his apartment, Sasuke wished he'd have gone somewhere else. On the mat in front of the door was a pile of fan girl Valentines, all of which he was sure he'd be throwing away without reading. Naruto, on the other hand, looked like he'd just seen someone sacrificing his cat.

"These are all yours?" Naruto asked, swooping up a pile in his arms, the bag hanging off his wrist. "Wow, Sasuke, you sure are popular."

Sasuke snorted and, stepping over them, unlocked his door. He entered, leaving the door hanging open. The blonde would follow him, he normally did. Sasuke was in the kitchen fixing tea before he finally heard his door shut. Peeking out the doorway, he saw Naruto carrying a large amount of the Valentines toward his kitchen.

"I don't want them, usuratonkachi." Sasuke said, shoving a cup of tea in Naruto's direction. The blonde took the tea, but gave Sasuke a frown.

"Why not? They made them for you."

"Like I care? Valentine's Day is nothing more than a holiday made to celebrate something that only certain people in the world actually have: true love. Ninja can never expect it, nor keep it if we found it, so why celebrate it?"

Naruto just gaped at Sasuke's rambling, which had to be the most words he'd ever heard Sasuke say in one clip. "Um…okay…"

"Never mind, you wouldn't get it." Sasuke turned around, sighing and crossing his arms. He'd never meant to go that far.

"Why does everyone think I won't understand anything?" Naruto asked, suddenly very defensive. "I know everything thinks I'm slow, but I'm not stupid! I get it, Sasuke, really I do. You're lonely, so am I!"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Naruto, who was standing up, palms flat on the table, staring intently.

"What would you know about being lonely? You've always had someone who cared!"

"You're wrong, Sasuke. I was always alone. No one cared about me until Iruka-sensei. And then I meant you and Sakura and Kakashi and, for once, I knew what it was like to have a family. What it meant to have people I love." Naruto walked around the table and put himself right in front of Sasuke.

"You're in idiot." Sasuke said, attempting to turn back around and ignore him. Naruto, however, had other plans.

"I bought you something, you know. I felt bad that you'd be alone tomorrow, so…here." Naruto held up the bag from the shop earlier, thrusting it into Sasuke's crossed arms. "I'm stealing your candy, since you don't eat it anyway."

Naruto was frowning, but his eyes held a hint of amusement as he nicked a couple pieces of candy and walked toward Sasuke's front door.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Sasuke opened the bag slowly. Inside was a black box, which Sasuke pulled out. There was a card on the outside, apparently being what took Naruto ten minutes in the shop, with his scribbled handwriting.

Happy Valentine's Day, 'suke! If you need someone to spend it with tomorrow, give me a shout out. I'll be alone, too.

Signed, the Rokudaime! Believe it!

Sasuke snorted at the signature before opening the black box. Inside was a set of shuriken with the Uchiha symbol carved in each one. They were a spitting image of the shuriken Itachi had before the massacre, but Naruto couldn't have known that. It gave him a wave of melancholy as he ran his fingers lightly over the blades.

He didn't go to Naruto that night like he wanted to, if only to say thank you. It wasn't until the next morning, and when the fan girls got particularly annoying, that Sasuke packed up the candy and made his way on the rooftops to Naruto's small apartment.

His own gift to Naruto was a bag full of candy he didn't buy and a humble thank you. But, to Naruto, it was a start and, this year, it was good enough.


Happy Valentine's Day (I guess) even if this story made you want to go jump off a cliff. lol. I'm so melodramatic, aren't I?