Happy Birthday

Wow - I'm glad so many of you could guess what was coming up.



as for sadistickiss - that depends on your referencing. I said Dec. was a month away because it nov. right before it and the fic is at the end of oct. just a matter of point of view, but no biggie.



glad y'all have enjoyed it so far!



Here's part 2



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Happy Birthday

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The next day, Sasuke stood at the bridge, waiting, with his fellow companions for their late sensei. They had already been waiting for two hours and forty-five minutes. Needless to say, Sasuke was annoyed. Sakura, his pink-haired teammate, was silently fuming, and probably trying to plot their sensei’s death for being so late. And, Naruto? Naruto was bored out of his mind.



Finally, after nearly another twenty minutes had gone by, Kakashi arrived. As soon as Sakura and Naruto heard the ever familiar, “Yo!” and saw the poof of grey smoke, both were on their feet. Their customary shout of, “YOU’RE LATE!!!” was more capable of clearing the smoke from around their sensei than the gentle breeze that carried the many falling leaves of late autumn to the ground.



“Ho! Sorry, Sorry.” pleaded their jounin sensei as he started to explain his tardiness with yet another of his lame excuses. “On my way here, I was stopped by a little bird, and I just had to stop and listen to what it was saying.”



Both Sakura and Naruto were prepared, though. Honestly, Sasuke found it amusing that the two could work so well together at yelling at their sensei, but be at odds with each other any other time.



“That’s the lamest, ” started Sakura. And Naruto finished the statement in full agreement, “LIE, ever heard!”



“Oh, ho-ho!” smiled the white haired jounin from behind his mask, “but this time it’s no lie. The Godaime has summoned me for a meeting.”



“Tsunade-baa-chan? What does she want?” asked Naruto.



“That is none of your concern,” answered Kakashi seriously. “What is, is this. Since it is so late, and due to the fact that you have all been working very hard - today’s training will be canceled. So, go relax and have fun. Cho!” Then with a puff of smoke, Kakashi was gone.



For a minute, all three genin stood there in stunned silence. First, because their sensei had had a valid reason for being late. Second, he had not lied or made up an excuse (a lame cover up but not an excuse). Only afterwards did their late sensei’s last words begin to penetrate. Training was canceled.



Finally, it was Naruto who broke the silence.



“Dammit! I could have stayed in bed! But nooooo! I had to get up, and come out here to wait for three hours. - Only to find out that training is going to be canceled!” fumed the aggravated blonde.



Sasuke was in agreement with his enraged teammate. But unlike Naruto, his Uchiha pride wouldn’t allow him to give in to the desire to act as he wished. Just as Sakura’s act to be a proper young lady, and ‘probable candidate’ for Sasuke’s affections. But Sasuke wasn’t fooled. He knew Sakura was just as passionate with her emotions as Naruto. After all, she and Naruto had known each other for a long time. Surely something had rubbed off.



It actually made Sasuke want to smile. As much as Sakura professed to disliking Naurto. She was more like him than anyone else they knew - except for maybe Kiba!



With a small sigh, Sakura excused herself from the two boys. Apparently, her mother needed her to come straight home after training. And as usually, it wasn’t until afterwards, that Naruto realized that she was gone.



“Eh? Where’d Sakura-chan go?”



“Che, Dobe.” was all Sasuke said.



“What’d you say!?” demanded the blonde.



“If you had been paying attention, DOBE,” started Sasuke, making sure his nickname for the blonde was well heard. “You would have heard her earlier. She left because her mom told her to go straight home after training today.”



Naruto growled. “Don’t call me that!”



Sasuke smirked, “I wouldn’t call you it, if you didn’t act like it, Do-be.”



“SASUKE!!” roared Naruto. Unfortunately, before he could say or do anything more to the Uchiha heir, his stomach decided to remind him that it was almost noon.



~~~~~ gggrrrrooowwlllllll ~~~~~~



Sasuke couldn’t hide the smirk the crossed his lips as the blonde’s rant was put to a quick death by his own stomach. Holding his stomach, Naruto frowned.



With a sigh, Sasuke pushed off from the rail of the bridge. Grabbing Naruto by the arm, Sasuke ignored both the small tingling sensation and Naruto’s protests. “Come on, Dobe. Let’s go.”



“H-Hey, Sasuke! Teme! Where are we going? Where are you taking me!?”



“Che.” remarked the Uchiha, annoyed. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”



“Well, yeah, but-”



“I owe you a meal, remember? I plan on feeding you and clearing my debt. Now, come on.” stated Sasuke as he release Naruto’s wrist. I swear, sometimes being a genius is a pain, thought the young Sharigan warrior.



With his back to Naruto, the Uchiha prodigy continued on his way to Ichiraku’s, the blonde’s favorite place to eat. He never saw those bright, beautiful, blue eyes that he loved so much, dull and sadden. He didn’t see the way, the normally carefree and goofy blonde quieted and gently cradled the hand he had just released. Nor did he see, just how hard it was for the happy-go-lucky genin to fight back his tears and smile as he ran to catch up with him.



“Yah!” cried Naruto, happily. “Thanks, Teme.”



“I owe you for yesterday,” answered the black haired youth. “It’s no big deal.”



“That’s where you’re wrong,” stated Naruto, matter-of-factly, as the entered the small booth and placed their order. “Kiba still owes me a meal for a chore I helped him out with two weeks ago. I filled in for Ino at her parent’s flower shop once. Sakura was sick and she wanted to go visit her. That was way back in May. Choji and Shikamaru also owe me, but both are only willing to pay half and neither of them ever have the money at the same time. Plus Choji always wants to eat bar-be-que.”



By the time he finished explaining, Ichiraku had finished with their order. Placing two steaming hold bowls down in front of his most frequent customer, the old man smiled. Smiling back, Naruto thanked him for the meal.



Grabbing a pair of chopsticks, Naruto said a quick prayer of thanks. Breaking the chopsticks apart, he then began to dig in. Sasuke merely smiled softly, before picking up his own pair of chopsticks. Together, they ate in silence.



It wasn’t until Sasuke was half way through that he truly realized that it was quiet. Normally, Naruto could be heard slurping up the noodles, draining the bowl, or just chattering away. But, Sasuke heard nothing.



Glancing at Naruto out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto picking at the noodles. Taking a closer look, Sasuke saw that it was just the blonde’s second bowl.



Now, Sasuke was starting to get worried. Naruto should be on his fourth or fifth bowl of ramen by now. Plus he never picked at his food. - Not if that food was ramen. Naruto LOVED ramen!



He was about to ask Naruto what was wrong, but stopped when Naruto looked at him. Picking up some more noodles, Sasuke took another bite, even as he continued to watch the blonde from behind the cover of his long spiked bangs.



It seemed as if Naruto wanted to say something. If fact, two times he seemed close to almost asking something of the Sharigan user, but both times he stopped himself before saying anything. It was like, like he lost his nerve and couldn’t bring himself to say what he wanted to say.



Finally, Sasuke got tired of it. Draining his bowl, Sasuke placed his chopsticks and turned to stare at Naruto. Startled by being caught by full force of Sasuke’s gaze, Naruto could do nothing to break the hold the Uchiha’s eyes had on his.



“Naruto, is there something on your mind?”



“N- Nani?” squeaked Naruto.



Closing his eyes for a moment, Sasuke sighed in defeat. Opening them again, he met Naruto’s wide blue eyes with his own hard black ones. “You’ve hardly eaten anything. You’re picking at your noodles. You’ve been staring at me for the last fifteen minutes, and there seems to be something you want to say. But you’ve stopped yourself from speaking, twice. So now I’m asking you, what is it that’s on your mind?”



“Oh, he-he. Sorry about that,” apologized the blonde nervously. “It’s nothing that won’t keep. Don’t worry about it.”



Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”



“Yeah. It’s nothing. Really.”



With a sigh, Sasuke gave in. He knows Naruto is hiding something, but he can’t force the blonde boy to talk if he doesn’t want to. He’d just have to wait until Naruto decides come to him and talk.



Handing his money to Ichiraku, Sasuke paid for his food plus Naruto’s two bowls. Then he handed over a little more just in case Naruto wanted a few more bowls. He also told the elderly man to just send him the bill should Naruto eat more than that.



Then turning to Naruto, Sasuke reached into his back pocket and pulled out the money that he had been overcharged for at the store yesterday. Along with the receipt as well. Taking Naruto’s hand he returned the money. Seeing Naruto’s confused look, Sasuke leaned close to the other so that no one else would hear what he had to say.



“Next time, be more careful and don’t let people overcharge you. You work hard for your money, don’t let people cheat you out of it.”



Then, with a smile on his lips that would have stopped the hearts of every last one of his fan-girls, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.



If the Uchiha had stayed, he might have seen two tears fall from two shining, bright blue eyes.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Naruto couldn’t stop the two tears from falling.



Jumping from his seat, he ran through the smoke left from Sasuke’s departure. Running down the street, Naruto searched frantically for his dark haired companion.



He just had to find him!



He had to find him so that he could . . . so that he could . . . could ask him that question!



After searching for two hours straight, Naruto gave up.



Wiping away his tears of frustration and regret, Naruto slowly headed for home. It was getting late, and besides he had a cake to make.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Sasuke arrived home three hours after having left Naruto at Ichiraku’s. Removing his shoes at the door, Sasuke made his way inside.



Panting from exhaustion, he carried his items into the kitchen. Setting his bags down on the counter, Sasuke opened one of the overhead cabinets and pulled out a glass. Placing it under the sink facet, he poured himself a glass of cold water. Gulping it down quickly, he sighed in relief.



He had only meant to be gone for an hour at most after leaving Naruto, but he had spent nearly two and a half hours just in trying to get away from the near rabid girls of his fan club. Some days I really hate being a single, handsome and wealth ninja heir with a powerful bloodline limit.



He had dodged past every one of those girls and would try to lose them by escaping down the nearest alleyway only to end up running into another one. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear that they had gotten together and had planned this in an effort to ambush him. Thankfully, they weren’t that smart - plus they were all too jealous and suspicious of each other to try.



Setting the glass aside, Sasuke began to put away the few groceries he had gotten at the store. Once he finished with that, Sasuke then pulled out the shurikens and kunai’s that he had set aside yesterday. Rummaging through the cabinets, he began gathering together the things that he would need to sharpen and repair his weapons.



Once he had found everything he needed, Sasuke picked up his tools and headed for the low table in the sitting room. Depositing the items on the table, Sasuke returned to the kitchen. Grabbing an arm load of towels and he weapons, Sasuke returned to the living room.



Setting the assorted weapons on the floor, Sasuke stepped over them and sat down on the floor. Setting the towels on a cushion beside him, he set about organizing his supplies. Once he had all the sharpening stones, oils, and polished organized, Sasuke began to sort through his weapons.



Separating each item into it’s own pile, Sasuke then organized them according to what needed to be done. From sharpening the blade to repairing the grip to blades that would need to be filed down because the were chipped or nicked, Sasuke set about his task.



As he finished with each item, it’s blade was sharpened enough to split a hair into and was thoroughly cleaned and polished. It would then be placed beside the one that had proceeded it on one of the many towels he had arranged over the surface of the table. The towels protected the table from the oils used on the weapons and allowed the to dry out nicely.



Once he was finished with the ones he had started with, Sasuke took the ones he had tucked away in his weapons pouch as well. No sense in not doing them as well. It would save him from having to do them a week from now.



# # # # # # # # # # # #



Sasuke was in the middle of examining his flexible wire for kinks when his back reminded him that he wasn’t a human pretzel. Straightening, Sasuke stretched in an effort to work all the knots from his back. As he did so, he chanced a glance at the clock on the wall overhead. Nearly falling over in surprise, Sasuke realized just how much time had gone by. According to the clock, he’d been working for three hours straight.



Almost, as if, by just looking at the clock woke his stomach, it softly growled at him. With a sigh, Sasuke set the wire aside and climbed to his feet. Glancing down at his work, the heir to Uchiha clan couldn’t help but smile. He’d gotten more done in those three hours than he would have thought.



The table top was literally covered with kunai, darts, and shurikens. He had even run upstairs and gotten his two large folding shadow stars and had sharpened them. Everything on the table was sharp and gleaming. Not one item on it showed a single sign of rust, chipping, or dullness.



Wandering into the nearby kitchen, Sasuke began to rummage through cabinets and the refrigerator. He wanted something simple and easy to make for dinner. Unfortunately, there was nothing that he could find that he wanted. At least not something that didn’t take less than fifteen minutes of prep work beforehand any ways.



With a sigh, Sasuke closed the cabinet he was currently looking through. Rather than worrying over what to fix, he finally decided to just go out for food instead. Besides, it would do him some good to get out of the house for a while. The oils he had been using were starting to affect his senses. Plus the walk would help him to work more knots and kinks out of his back as well.



Slipping a kunai and a few shuriken into his pockets from the secret drawer, Sasuke left the kitchen. It was as much out of habit as it was out of discipline. He was a ninja in training after all. Plus Kakashi would skin him alive otherwise - no matter how safe one feels, the life of a ninja is a hard one - never leave home unprepared.



Stopping just long enough to slip his sandals back on, Sasuke locked the doors and headed on his way.



Making his way through the quiet, deserted streets of the Uchiha district, Sasuke began to ponder over just where he wanted to go to eat. By the time he reached the bustling streets of the main part of town, he had decided to settle with going out for bar-be-que.



It had been a while since he had let himself enjoy the rich flavors of the beef that was offered at the restaurant, especially since a certain blonde teammate always insisted on eating ramen. Just thinking about the blonde genin, caused Sasuke to smile.



To be honest, he wished that he could have stayed to see the blonde’s reaction after returning the money, but he had no wish to end up in an argument with the blue eyed teen. And there was no doubt in his mind that that is exactly what would have happened. Naruto would want to know why he had been followed, and Sasuke’s own pride wouldn’t allow him to admit to the blonde just how worried he had been. So he had done the only thing that he could do to avoid such a confrontation, he had run.



Turning to enter the bar-be-que restaurant, Sasuke’s body was on auto-pilot while his thoughts centered around a certain teammate. The dark-haired genius wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and bumped into someone else. Cursing himself for his lack of attention to where he was going, the sharigan user looked up as he began to apologize to whoever it was he had run into.



“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying atten-”



“Oh, excuse me. I’m sorr-” started the other person at the same time.



“Iruka-sensei!?” gasped Sasuke in surprise, as he looked up at his former academy sensei.



“Wha- . . . Sasuke?” asked the brunette in return. Smiling the chuunin teacher offered out his hand, “What a surprise this is. I was just thinking about you, Naruto, and Sakura.”



Accepting the offered hand, Sasuke shook it. “What are you doing here, sensei?”



“Oh, I just left the missions’ registration office, and decided to just eat out tonight. I assure that you are of the same idea?”



Sasuke merely nodded his head rather than bothering to voice his answer.



“Quiet as ever, eh, Sasuke?” Smiled the academy teacher knowingly. “Well, since we’re both here, would you do me the honor of dining with me? I would just love to know how things are going with Team 7.”



“Hmph. You’re just worried about Naruto.” smiled Sasuke as he nodded in acceptance of Iruka’s offer.



Iruka just laughed. “You know me too well Sasuke. Yes, I am curious as to how Naruto is doing, but I would also like to hear about how well you and Sakura are doing as well.”



‘And Kakashi-sensei as well I would bet,’ thought the young ninja, as he followed Iruka inside and selected a booth. Not more than three minutes passed before a witress came up to take their orders.



Iruka wanted pork, while at the same time Sasuke wanted the beef. Each gave their orders to the waitress along with the drinks, but at the same time both knew that they would be willing to share his order with the other. Shortly after the waitress left, she returned again with the raw seasoned meat. Setting the meat trays down beside their grill, she left once more. She was back in just three minutes with their drinks and a plate of fresh vegetables. They could cook the vegetables along with their meat or just enjoy them as they were. Her job finished, the waitress left them to their meal and went to see to another group of guests.



While the meat cooked over the small grill located in the center of the table, Iruka chattered away. Immediately, he began asking about Naruto. About training, the jutsu they were learning, and their missions. How did Naruto look. Was he taking care of himself properly, etc.



Only after he had pried everything that he could out of Sasuke about Naruto, did Iruka begin to ask about Sakura and himself. Sasuke was hard pressed to keep from smiling over his previous sensei’s antics.



Not only was Iruka as bad as a moother hen worrying over her chicks when it came to Naruto; but he was also at the same time so very much like Naruto that it was funny. So much so, that Sasuke could understand why Iruka was always looking out for Naruto.



Both were pranksters, though Iruka had grown out of that. Both chatter non-stop and are always curious. Both were orphans and were without another form of family. And, both, each in their own ways, seek acknowledgment of their existence. Although, Iruka being an adult, was much better at the last than Naruto, but Sasuke would bet that he had had just about as hard a time as Naruto did.



Content and relaxed, Sasuke let the older academy sensei dominate the conversation. Willingly answering any of the questions that the brunette asked. Including those about a certain wild-haired jounin sensei.



Finally, just as they were finishing up, the waitress came back over to them with each of their bills in hand. Moving quickly, Sasuke grabbed both slips of paper. Glancing over each to make sure that the calculations were correct, Sasuke was about to hand the academy master his when he remembered yesterday.



Since it was probably his birthday - because Naruto would never go to such care except for Iruka - Sasuke figured that the least that he could do was to pay for both of their meals. So, it was with both bills in hand that Sasuke got up and began to head for the cashier at the door. But before he had even gotten three steps from the table, he was stopped.



Turning, Sasuke found himself face to face with the bewildered chuunin teacher.



“Uh, it was nice of you to dine with me, Sasuke. But I’ll pay for my own meal.”



Glancing at the two bills in his hand, Sasuke decided that it would be better if he explained his reason for wanting to pay. Otherwise, he would probably end up arguing with the elder chuunin over who paid for what.



So, with a gentle smile, Sasuke simply answered, “It’s alright, Iruka-sensei. It’s on me. Just consider it as my birthday present to you.” With that, Sasuke turned once more and started for the exit, but he was immediately stopped by Iruka’s firm grip on his shoulder.



Looking back over his shoulder, Sasuke was surprised by the serious look on the older ninja’s face.



“Sasuke, that is very kind and all. But what makes you think that my birthday is near?” asked Iruka softly.



Looking up at the chuunin, Sasuke almost refused to answer because he didn’t want to feel like a fool. But something in the brunette’s concerned gaze, pulled at the genin. Something that seemed very serious and very important.



Finally, he gave in and answered. “I assumed that your birthday was near because of Naruto.”



“N-Na-Nar-uto?” stuttered the brown-eyed chuunin, in a voice so small that even Sasuke nearly missed, as he watched the older ninja sink back down into the cushions of the booth. From that small voice, Sasuke could clearly hear a fear and sadness that he had never before witnessed in his old sensei.



Sitting back down in the seat opposite, the chuunin ninja, Sasuke asked in a concerned voice, “Iruka-sensei? What is it? What’s wrong?”



“Huh? What was that, Sasuke?” returned the chuunin, obviously having been lost in his own thoughts.



Truly concerned, Sasuke repeated his question, “What’s wrong, sensei?”



For a long time Iruka was silent, then slowly he clasp his hands together in front of himself over the table. Looking down at his own entwined fingers, Iruka quietly spoke, “Sasuke, would you please tell me, in detail, what it was about Naruto that lead you to believe my birthday was near?”



It was an odd request, to say the least, and Sasuke didn’t want to reveal exactly how he had been mislead. But as he starred at the young academy master, he noticed that the longer he was silent - the more serious Iruka became. And it wasn’t until he saw the near invisible trembling of the brunette’s form from how tense he was that Sasuke finally relented.



Quietly, he told Iruka about how Naruto had been acting during training yesterday. He had been so bad, that even Kakashi had even asked the boy about it. He told of how Naruto had avoided answering their sensei but that he had claimed that he would be fine after tonight. Having heard everything, but he hadn’t been fooled. He continued by telling about how he had followed Naruto and about the incident at the store.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Iruka listened quietly, as the young genius before him told him his tale. He could not help but become angry as he learned about what happened at the store. He really hated it when the villagers used their unfair and unwarranted hatred for the kyubbi to take advantage of Naruto; and all because the demon was sealed inside of the young boy and not dead, as they would prefer it to be.



As the Uchiha continued, Iruka was filled with relief when he learned that the dark-haired boy had stood up for his once troublesome pupil. He even smiled a little when Sasuke recounted just how he had returned the money that he had been overcharged back to it blonde owner.



He honestly couldn’t blame the Sharigan wielder for disappear as he claims to have afterwards. To tell the truth, Iruka had been watching the two boys from a distance for a good while. And even he could sense that things were different between the two.



Oh, he knew that they were still as big a rivals as they had always been, but something was different in the way the two behaved towards each other. Truthfully, it pleased the chuunin immensely to see that the two had grown closer together.



And, Iruka had a feeling that if Sasuke had in say in the matter, the young Sharigan warrior would see to it that they became much more than just friends. Though the young Uchiha prodigy was a wise and cautious one, he didn’t want to scare the young blonde away. So for now, Iruka knew that the black-haired genin was content with just being a friend and would bide his time and take things slow.



Closing his eyes for a moment, Iruka forced his mind from his wandering thoughts and back to Sasuke’s story. He wasn’t surprised to learn that the Uchiha had followed the blonde back to his apartment and had spied on him through his window from a nearby tree. As Sasuke’s tell was drawing to a close, Iruka prayed that it would not end as he feared that it would.



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~



Sasuke continues with his tale by recalling how Naruto had proceeded to fix dinner. He told Iruka about how the other boy had set to wrapping up the two stuffed animals that he had bought as gifts for someone. He admitted that it was after Naruto had the two gifts wrapped that he began to realize that they were meant as birthday presents for someone.



Since it had been late, he had then left to head home. While on his way, he had tried to think of anyone and everyone that he could who had a birthday coming up. And so it was, that Sasuke admitted that Iruka had been the only person that he could think of that it might be.



By the time Sasuke finished, Iruka had fallen very quiet. Something about everything that was happening with Naruto, seemed to be very important and serious to the older man.



Finally, it got to the point where Sasuke just couldn’t stand it anymore. He just had to know what it was that was going on that he was obviously missing.



“Iruka-sensei? What exactly is going on? And please don’t say that it’s not important, because it is obviously quite important to you. What is it, that has Naruto acting so odd - so much so that it has you worried?” he asked.



For a moment the older chuunin seemed surprised by the Sharigan user’s straightforwardness. But after a few minutes, Iruka finally looked Sasuke straight in the eye. Something that very few people ever dared to do, except for Naruto, Gaara, Neji, and Kakashi.



Then, very gravely and very quietly, Iruka spoke. “Sasuke? Just how much do you know about Naruto? How much do you really know about him?”



^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^



So far - I have up to the third part entirely typed - more than likely I will have the third posted tomorrow - I hope to get as much of the last piece typed today as possible.



So for now enjoy! -



ps - please don't threaten to kill me like my sis did for the cliffhanger - even though she has never seen naruto - I asked her to read it provided I gave her a basic background on the characters - now she's hooked!