I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money off of this.
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter 20:
"Happy birthday!" Naruto's friends yelled as Naruto blew out the candles on his cake. The cake was marble with orange vanilla frosting. It said 'Happy 18th Naruto' on it. Mikoto grabbed the cake and began to cut it, serving it to everyone. She made sure that Naruto, Kiba, and Choji got bigger slices. Sasuke, Neji, and Gaara took smaller slices. Sakura, Ino, and Shirai refused to eat any of the cake, saying they were on a diet. Rin happily accepted her piece. She was a big fan of marble cake. Temari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, Shino, Sai, and Lee took their regular sized slices and sat at the large table in the middle of the Uchiha dinning room. Fugaku was busy at work.
Once they were done, everyone gathered in the living room. Two tables were set up in the room. One had unopened presents on it. The other had nothing on it. Naruto was handed a bag and opened the card. It was full of scratch tickets. Naruto thanked Sakura as he began to open up the rest of her present. It was a book on art. Naruto laughed as he unwrapped the same exact card and book from Ino. Even the scratch tickets were the same type. Itachi had to kick them out when Shirai also gave him the same things since the three began to fight. Rin shook her head at her friends antics then handed Naruto her gift. It was also a book, but this one was one photography.
"Wow!" Naruto smiled. "How did you know I liked photography?"
"I overheard you talking about it with Kiba," Rin said. "Also," she reached back over to another package on the unopened present table and handed it to Naruto. "That's from Hiro. He couldn't come today."
Naruto quickly opened it. It was a photo album. His smile widened. "Thank you."
"Your welcome," Rin said smiling back at the blond.
"This is from us," Kankuro said. "Temari, Gaara, and I bought it for you." It was the newest game system. Naruto hugged each of them even Gaara who flinched but hugged back.
"Shika heard about it from Temari," Kiba said. "So the three of use pitched in and got you some games." He handed Naruto a big box. "We each got you two games. I got the shooting games, Shika got the driving ones, and Shino got the fighting ones." Naruto also hugged them.
Choji handed Naruto a larger bow. "I know you'll love it."
It was ramen, a lot of ramen. Naruto let of a cry of thanks before glomping the other. Choji chuckled as he fell onto the couch. Sasuke shot the blond a glare, silently telling him to stop hugging people. Naruto pulled back and smiled at Sasuke before thanking Choji again.
"Hinata picked it out," Neji said. It was a rectangular box. Everyone knew it was some form of clothing.
Naruto opened it and pulled out an orange shirt with red flames at the hem. Sasuke and Itachi smirked at the back. Naruto raised an eyebrow before turning it over. He blushed. On the back was the Uchiha Family Symbol. Mikoto giggled as Naruto quickly put the shirt away.
"This one Tenten picked out," Neji said. Again, it had to be some type of clothing.
Naruto pulled out a long black robe. On the back was the Uzumaki swirl. Naruto hugged it before putting it away. Sasuke was busy picturing Naruto wearing the red and orange shirt. When he glanced at the robe, his mind shifted to a Naruto who was wearing only the robe. He licked his lips before Neji's voice broke through his daydream.
"And this one is from me," Neji said. This box was different. Naruto opened it but quickly closed it with a blush. He glared at Neji. Neji just shrugged it off.
"What is it?" Kiba asked. "I didn't see."
"It's nothing," Naruto said trying to hide it.
"Come on!" Kiba said. "Let me see!" He tried to grab it from Naruto, but the blond held on tight to the box. A tug-a-war started and soon, the box fell out of both hands as the two fell to the floor.
Itachi had grabbed it from the shorter two boys. He opened it and chuckled. "Good choise." Neji had a smug look on his face. Naruto blushed as Itachi showed what it was off. It was fox ears, a collar, and a fox tail on the end of a dildo. Sasuke smirked.
"Oh my," Mikoto said, also blushing. The others just gasped. Naruto finally got the box back and put it on the table of opened gifts. On the unopened gift table was one present. "This is from our family," Mikoto said. She handed the bag to Naruto.
Naruto opened it and nearly cried. It was a camera, and not a cheep one. Tears were on the edge of Naruto's eyes. "T-thank you."
"No problem, dear," Mikoto said. The rest of the party was spent like any other, playing games. When it finally got dark, Naruto was saying good-bye to all of his friends. Sasuke said good-bye to Neji. Mikoto and Itachi began to clean up. When Naruto and Sasuke offered to help, Mikoto told them to just go back to their house. They didn't argue.
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Sasuke sat on the bed waiting for Naruto to get out of the shower. He had a box in his hands. He couldn't wait to give Naruto his birthday gift. Laying down, Sasuke smiled. He was finally happy. Fugaku willingly let the marriage annulment slide and on top of it accepted Sasuke for loving Naruto. His thoughts were interrupted when a fully dressed Naruto walked into the room.
"I had a great day today," Naruto said. "Thank you."
"Thank Itachi," Sasuke said standing up. "And Mom. They planned it."
"I can't believe that Sakura, Ino, and Shirai all got me the same book," Naruto laughed.
"What are you gonna do with the extra copies?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm gonna give one to Iruka-sensei," Naruto said. "And the other I'll put in your library. That way if something happens to one copy, I'll have the other."
"That's a good idea," Sasuke said.
"So what are you hiding?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke smirked. He showed Naruto the velvet box he had. It was a small rectangular box. Naruto's first guess was a ring, but the box was too big for that. Sasuke opened it and Naruto's eyes widened. It was a necklace with an aquamarine gem and two silver beads, with one on each side.
"This is..." Naruto began.
"I found it at that pawn store," Sasuke said. "I knew it was some special to you and when you had to pawn it, it had to have been the hardest thing you've ever done."
Tears rolled down Naruto's eyes. "H-how?"
"Shikamaru told me about it," Sasuke said. "I went to several pawn stores around until I realized that it had to be in Suna. So I went there and found it."
Naruto jumped on top of Sasuke who fell back onto the bed. He hugged the raven, crying. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Sasuke chuckled. "You're welcome."
Naruto pulled back. "I love you."
Sasuke smiled. "I love you too." He leaned forward and kissed Naruto. He pulled the blond against his chest. Naruto soon fell asleep, exhausted from the day. Sasuke smiled down at the blond. He grabbed the velvet box and removed the necklace. With swift movement, the necklace was clasped around Naruto's neck, hitting his chest above his heart. Sasuke put the empty box away. Then he cuddled the younger boy, glad that he made the blond so happy.
The necklace is the one Tsunade gives Naruto in the series. In this story Naruto had to pawn the necklace in order to pay for his schooling. He wasn't able to get a job that paid enough for him to go to school, eat, and pay rent. Jiraiya hadn't sent Naruto enough money for all three either.