Miso Ramen

I needed to get back into my fics, so I wrote this. It can be a one-shot, or have a second part. Depends.

Warnings: besides the usual, this also contains SPOILERS!! Yep. This contains spoilers for... about chapter 180 in the manga. And I'm absolutely sure the anime hasn't gotten that far. Also, there's Yaoi/Shounen ai... lime, but no lemon... and my fave, Sasuke x Naruto! (Also a mentioning of Zabuza x Haku)... that's about it... Oh, and slight angst. No fic is truly complete without it.

Miso Ramen

Author: Nazo

Naruto ran towards the front gate. He was worried by what Sakura had told him. He never realized Sasuke had been carrying Orochimaru's seal for so long. Even though he had assured Sakura that Sasuke was smart enough not to go seeking Orochimaru for power, he wasn't too sure. Sakura hadn't been there when Sasuke had found Itachi and his goon towering over him in the hotel, and Itachi hadn't wanted anything to do with his younger brother. Naruto wasn't stupid. He'd seen the spark flare in Sasuke's eyes when Itachi merely dismissed him. He saw the look in Sasuke's eyes when he had challenged him that morning, too. He didn't want to lose Sasuke, after everything they'd been through together, to some bastard who'd probably use Sasuke for his own means before tossing him aside like a rag doll. He heaved a sigh of relief when he got to the gate and found it both shut and devoid of any sign of life. Sasuke wasn't that stupid. Naruto had to give him more credit.

He turned around to head back when a figure, shrouded in darkness walked up to him.

"What are you doing out so late, Naruto?" The shadow asked, head down. Naruto's eyes widened when he recognised the voice.

"Sasuke!" He exclaimed. His eyes scanned over Sasuke's form and he winced when he recognized a large bag on his back. "No, don't go." He grabbed the teen's arm firmly, evading the question. "I won't let you give up your life for this blood-lust, for this search for infinite power. What happens when you kill Itachi?" Sasuke raised his head and glared at Naruto, trying to subtly dislodge the blonde's grip. "Will you become like Gaara, Sasuke- san?" He asked, purposely saying his name formally. The boy shook his head.

"No."

"I think you will." He went on. "I think you're going to become another monster just like Gaara. You always said your purpose was to become an avenger and kill your brother. What do you do when you've completed your ultimate goal?" Sasuke looked down. He obviously hadn't thought of exactly what he'd do then. "You're no better than Itachi. He took your family away. He murdered your loved ones. Have you even thought about the one's who love you? We're losing you because of this too." The dark- haired genin looked up, the glare back on his face.

"I've lived all my life for this. I know nothing else. Friends will only hold me back. Make me weak." He deadpanned. Naruto snorted.

"You may not remember this, but... when we were fighting Haku and Zabuza a lot happened. I thought you were dead. You had jumped in front of that attack." He took a deep breath and dropped Sasuke's arm, trusting that Sasuke would stay to hear him out. "I thought you were dead." He repeated. "I went berserker and was so close to killing Haku." Sasuke frowned in disbelief. Even after seeing Naruto in battles he couldn't believe the boy was capable of that, especially not when they were younger. Naruto ignored the look. "I was in so much pain. I couldn't think of anything but hurting him back, because of what he said to me. He told me you died to protect me. He said that to protect a precious person, knowing it was a trap, you were still able to save my life. And that pissed me off. I never wanted you to die for me. I wasn't worth it. And... I almost killed him." Sasuke lowered his head in respect.

"Who killed Haku?" He wondered aloud, only knowing that by the time he had awakened everything was over.

"Kakashi." His eyes widened. "But, even though he loved Haku, he didn't try and take revenge on Kakashi. It was only when that Gatou man came and disrespected Haku's death that he became truly strong. He ended up dying... but he died for a cause. You're going out for vengeance. If you die it will be pointless. You don't become stronger for revenge. Over these years I learned that. You grow strong for your loved ones."

"Do you really believe that?" Sasuke wondered.

"Hai." Naruto smiled warmly at Sasuke. "Over the past few years I've had things to fight for. Like Konoha village. Sakura. You. Tsunade-sama. Kakashi and Iruka. I've even fought for Hinata and Rock Lee." He stepped back and sat on the bench that he remembered from many years ago, when he tried to pass off as Sasuke and get a kiss from the girl. Sasuke followed, dropping his bag to the ground beside him, but stayed towering over him.

"When we were fighting against Haku, how come you became so strong?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"For you." He muttered. "Because you nearly died for me. Hell... you're the reason I went up against that snake of Orochimaru's. And you're half of the reason for me going after Gaara. You become strong for people who are precious to you. Loved ones. That's why I'm trying to stop you now." Sasuke stayed above Naruto unmoving, face shadowed by his bangs and the moonlight at his back.

"Stay with me." Naruto whispered, slightly frustrated at the lack of response on Sasuke's part. "Stay and train with me. I'll teach you everything I know. Summoning. Rasengan. Kage bunshin. I know you hate me, but I don't want to lose my rival, my best friend..." He trailed off, looking down, slightly ashamed. Sasuke thought about this for a second before:

"Miso ramen."

Naruto looked up, confused.

"Nani?" He asked. "What does that mean?"

"That's what you tasted like." Sasuke tilted his head, making his smile apparent to Naruto. "The kiss." Naruto blushed, cursing the moonlight for giving him away. "You remember that?!" Sasuke nodded.

"Am... am I your precious person?" He asked cautiously.

"Of course! Except for the loved one's thing, I am also always trying to become more powerful to earn your approval."

"You do it for me?" Sasuke's eyes widened in surprised. "What about Sakura?" Naruto turned his vulpine face up to Sasuke, narrowing his eyes as if studying the boy in front of him.

"What about Sakura? She's in love with you. You'll break her heart if you go."

"And you?"

Naruto hesitated before answering.

"...Mine too." He whispered, hoping it was quiet enough that Sasuke didn't hear. No such luck. Sasuke leaned forward, resting his hands on Naruto's thighs and brought his face in as close to the blonde's as possible.

"Miso ramen." Sasuke whispered, his lips ghosting across the other boy's before lunging forward, kissing Naruto with as much passion as he could, smirking when Naruto's eyes went as wide as they had for their first kiss, only this time, Sasuke closed his own and pressed forward.

It took Naruto a couple of seconds to get over the shock, before he flung his arms around Sasuke's shoulders, pulling him closer so fast that he lost his footing and fell into the eager boy, pressing their bodies flush against each other. Naruto was thrown off balance by the sudden weight and ended up lying beneath Sasuke's body along the length of the bench. Throughout their clumsiness, however, their lips never separated. Sasuke, who had been holding up his weight with his palms and knees, let his legs give out, thrusting his lower half into Naruto's body. This impulsive move shocked Naruto and he broke the kiss to gasp desperately for air. This slight distraction gave Sasuke the incentive to let his lips do some exploring as he began nibbling and licking along his jaw.

"Sasuke." Naruto hissed out in an impatient whisper. He had been waiting for this for so long. Sasuke stopped and brought his face to eye level with Naruto once more before allowing another smirk.

"You did a great job at pleading me to stay." He replied, earning him an undignified snort.

"Pleading?" Naruto cried out, trying to keep his voice down. Sasuke ground their hips together, causing the blond to arch his back slightly, eyes rolling to the back of his head. "Okay... maybe just a little pleading." He laughed at Naruto's willingness and went back to his ministrations.

There's actually a second part to this but I figured I haven't written anything for a while and I really need to post SOMETHING. Unfortunately this is crap for my first Naruto post... I actually have another few Naruto stories... but they're in the process of being revised to take into account the... er... rest of the series... I had only gotten to about the end of the Haku arc when I wrote them. Anywho... hope it was okay... for a rushed job... and sorry about the spoilers. ONE-SHOT... unless you really really want more. Then I have to edit the next part.

It's a shame it was Sakura who tried to stop Sasuke from leaving. I can't believe she actually said she'd kill for him... well, they made up for that whole Sakura x Sasuke mush with her saying:

"I couldn't do it... I couldn't stop him. The only person... who can probably save Sasuke-kun is you... Naruto. Only you..."

cheers Total character development for Naru-chan!! Whoo hoo!! That plus it's got so much shounen ai potential. I swear Kishimoto-sensei really knows how to satisfy us fangirls.

Oh and disclaimer... I own a Naruto and a Sasuke plushie... that's about as close as it gets.

Birthday

Birthday

A Naruto Fanfic By Lackey H

Six years ago.

"Happy birthday to me."

One candle, two candles, three candles.

Naruto's tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth as he fiddled with the tiny wax candles that he was busy fishing out of a somewhat grotty little metal tin.

"Happy birthday to me."

They were small, thin things. Each one no longer than his thumb, and no wider than a throwing needle. They were, however, brightly colored.

Some were blue, some were red, some green and there was even the odd pink one.

There always was. To Naruto, it was a complete mystery as to how the pink candles appeared in his little tin. Heck, when he bought a packet of the things he had even made sure that there were absolutely no pink candles present.

And yet. he still ended up with more than a few in his tin.

Well, it wasn't as if the color mattered much to him really.

It wasn't like anyone was actually going to see them after all.

"Happy birthday Uzumaki."

Four candles, five candles, six candles, seven candles.

As he fished each candle out, Naruto carefully stuck it into a little metal candleholder and then jabbed the whole thing into a rather large chocolate muffin. It wasn't much but, really, it was all he needed.

After all, he had no-one to share it with.

"Happy birthday to me."

#

Three years ago.

"Happy birthday to me."

One candle, two candles, three candles.

The small was rods were lying on a nearby counter-top as Naruto stared at the object he held in his arms.

A present.

How. strange.

Naruto cradled the small box in his arms like a mother would cradle a child. This particular box was small and rectangular, like a small shoebox. Bright shining and shimmering paper had been wrapped around the bow and, very carefully, tied off with a dark blue ribbon and bow.

As he tilted it in the light, Naruto marveled at how the wrapping caught the light and sent thousands upon thousands of little colored sparkles reflecting off into the ether.

Eight candles, nine candles, ten candles.

"Happy birthday to me."

A card had been attached to the box when he had found it on his doorstep that morning. The card was, unlike the box, plain and simple - containing only a few small words written in a neat, precise script.

'Please, don't cry.'

The ten-year old ninja smiled and clutched the card to his chest for a moment. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he did so - tears that he quickly wiped away with the back of his sleeve.

After all, whoever had sent him this present had asked him not to cry.

Speaking of which.

Naruto poked a small hole in the wrapping paper with a dull kunai. Inserting his finger, he carefully tore along the side of the box - reasoning that he should savor the feeling of opening this present. After all, it was the first one he had ever received.

Granted, Iruka did treat him to a fancy meal now - he had done so since he had turned eight and had been put into Iruka's care. In fact, Naruto loved the meals Iruka took him out to - since just being with the older man made him feel somewhat less lonely.

But this.

This.

"Happy birthday Uzumaki."

This was from someone who wasn't Iruka.

This was a gift that had been sent by someone who had wanted to send him a gift. It wasn't something that someone had been ordered to do for him.

Peeling open the wrapping paper, Naruto stared at the box for a few moments before opening it, his face lighting up like a small sun as he saw the contents.

The next day, Naruto happily left his home wearing a brand new pair of goggles - the same ones he'd been dreaming about since he'd seen them in one of the village shops.

So pleased and excited was he that he never noticed the single white-eyed young girl who watched him as he left - and smiled at Naruto's happiness.

"Happy birthday to me."

#

This year.

"Happy birthday to me."

One candle, two candles, three candles.

Naruto rummaged around in his tin of candles, pulling out thin wax sticks of every color - including pink.

Around his head was not the forehead protector he had become used to wearing but instead goggles he had received three years ago this very day. They were old now, a bit scuffed, a bit scratched and the strap that held them on was thinning somewhat around the back.

Still, to him they were as precious as any treasure - especially on this day.

Naruto's voice was barely a whisper as he sung under his breath, his hands busy with pulling candles out, stuffing them into candleholders and jabbing them into a chocolate muffin.

"Happy birthday to me."

Eleven candles, twelve candles, thirteen candles.

His day, thus far, had been rather bad. First he had turned up to practice even later than Kakashi had and, so, was forced to run several laps around the village as a lesson.

An attempt to hug Sakura had gone horribly wrong when she had kneed him in the stomach before smacking him in the head with one fist.

Sasuke, of course, had done his usual trick of making Naruto look useless compared to everyone's favorite Uchiha.

"Happy birthday Uzumaki."

Well, that was in the past now. All that mattered to Naruto at this moment was himself and his muffin - with the thirteen smoking candles he had jabbed into it and lit.

"Happy birthday to -"

A knock at the door made the young genin blink in confusion. Who the hell would want to see him now?

Grumbling he extinguished the candles and traipsed over to the door. Swinging it open he prepared to yell at the poor fool who had dared interrupt his birthday muffin.

The moment the door was open, however, a large chocolate cake was thrust in front of his face. Upon the cake was his name in white icing, surrounded by thirteen orange candles.

"Happy birthday Naruto!" Congratulated Sakura, as she Kakashi and Sasuke pushed past the stunned Naruto and into his dining room.

The blonde-haired genin stood there in shock for a few moments, vaguely realizing that a few other people were brushing past him - Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Shino to name only a few.

Finally though, he was bought out of his stunned silence by a timid, shy voice that originated from in front of him.

"Hi-" He began to say, but soon cut off as two gentle lips pressed against his for the barest fraction of a moment.

"H. Happy birthday Na-Naruto-kun." Stammered the now wildly blushing Hinata as, behind her, a laughing pervert sennin nodded at the two - his hand pulling back from where it had pushed Hinata forwards slightly.

Naruto blushed in a mix of shock, surprise and embarrassment as Jiraiya - closely followed by a grinning Iruka - slipped past the two genin.

From behind him, Naruto could hear the sounds of his 'guests' beginning that well known song.

"Happy birthday to you."

#

Authors notes:

Well, there it is. A little thing I decided to write up after seeing someone's comments on a message board.

shrugs To be honest, I don't have much to say about it actually ;;

Ah well.

Lackey H - wishing he had a kiss from Hinata for his birthday P

Almost Perfect

Almost Perfect

Author: Arcynic

Rain splattering against the windowpanes. That was the first sound Uzumaki Naruto heard as he awoke from a dreamless sleep. Groggily rubbing his eyes, the blonde youth let out a long yawn before lazily getting out of bed. An icy coldness shot throughout his entire body as his bare feet hit the tiles lining the floor. Repressing a shiver, for a real shinobi should never show any sign of weakness, Naruto made his way to the bathroom, still half asleep.

Groping blindly for his toothbrush and toothpaste, for his normally bright blue eyes were still closed, Naruto brushed his teeth to the rhythm of the falling rain. Opening one eye groggily, Naruto happened to glance at the corner of the mirror in front of him, where he saw the reflection of a small circular clock... reading 8: 30...

The time having effectively woken Naruto up, he promptly spit out the toothpasty foam from his mouth, rinsed, changed, and ran out the door as fast as humanly possible... or perhaps a bit faster...

Now if we were to look at this objectively, Naruto, as well as the rest of team 7, should realize that their teacher, Hatake Kakashi, is not the slightest bit punctual in their meetings, and therefore, one could take a leisurely stroll to the bridge of Konoha, perhaps taking along an umbrella if it were raining outside, as it was today.

If we were to look at this subjectively, however, we then realize that when in panic, Naruto goes by instinct, and not by thought... of course... the times that Naruto ever goes by thought are few and far between. In any case, Naruto ran all the way to the meeting place of team 7, the Konoha Bridge, in the freezing rain which began to fall harder and harder by the minute. Out of breath and somewhat tired, Naruto walked onto the bridge to face... no one. He was confused for a brief moment until he recalled a conversation among team 7 yesterday.

Flashback

"All right team, tomorrow there will be no missions, understood?" The gray haired jounin told his younger genin students.

"Why not Kakashi sensei?" Haruno Sakura asked green eyes alight with mild curiosity. Naruto was far more expressive however...

"WHAAAAAT?? HOW COME??" To the young blonde's outburst, all Kakashi could do was shrug noncommittally.

"Just don't forget, all right Naruto?" Kakashi asked him, his one visible eye crinkling merrily. Naruto in turn frowned sulkily as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah yeah, like I'd forget."

End Flashback

"Guess I forgot." Naruto mumbled to himself, now thoroughly soaked by the rain. Shoulders slumped from the disappointment of no new and exciting missions for the day, the young genin walked slowly back into town.

'Maybe I can con a bowl of ramen out of Iruka sensei then...' Naruto thought to himself, drool already mixing with the endless water pouring onto him from the skies. Now renewed with vigor from the thought of a steamy bowl of miso ramen, Naruto began to run to the residence of his former teacher. It was halfway there that Naruto recalled another fleeting memory from a few days ago.

Flashback

"Ehm... Naruto?" Umino Iruka asked the younger boy next to him.

"Humgh?" Naruto looked up at the older chuunin; mouth stuffed with slippery ramen noodles.

"I'm going to be gone for a few days, okay? So you behave yourself."

Naruto gulped down the rest of the noodles and looked at his ex teacher in mild annoyance. "I'm not a little kid anymore, sensei." He grumbled in a way that didn't prove his point.

Iruka smiled sheepishly, "I guess not." but he patted Naruto on the head affectionately nonetheless, as a father might do to his child.

Flashback

Slowing his run to a slow paced walk Naruto gave a slightly remorseful chuckle. "I guess today is all about forgetting things." Changing direction with a new resolve, Naruto smiled his trademark fox like grin.

Who said he couldn't eat ramen all alone? It wouldn't hurt to pay for himself once in a while... With those thoughts in his mind, Naruto once again power ran to his favorite place ramen place, the Ichiraku.

He arrived there quite quickly, fueled by the thought of mouth watering ramen, steaming hot to get rid of the chilling cold that came from being out in the rain so long. However, upon trying to open the door, Naruto found that he couldn't. Perplexity and irritation spread through him like wildfire as he spotted a white piece of paper attached to the door, though nearly as soaked as Naruto himself, the paper was still legible.

"October 10th-- The Ichiraku will be closed for renovations until the 15th. Signed, Satoshi Ichiraku."

Naruto smiled tightly as he finished reading the paper aloud. 'Of course... there had to be something else I had forgotten right...? Like my own birthday?' He laughed hollowly as he slowly made his trek back home.

'I should have guessed it... after all... Kami sama doesn't see me fit enough to have a loving family, so why should I expect even a nice happy birthday for once in my life?'

Feeling warm water running down his face and knowing instantly that it wasn't from the rain, Naruto angrily wiped at his face as he suddenly began to run home... After all, a real shinobi should never show any sign of weakness...

Naruto arrived home soaked to the bone from the ice cold rain, with his blonde hair matted to his face, and usually cheerful azure eyes replaced by somber and red rimmed ones. Not even bothering to change into a clean and dry pair of clothes, he walked straight into his bed, knees curled slightly. He didn't even seem to notice that his whole bed was becoming waterlogged, and even if he did, he didn't move an inch. It was then and only then that Naruto let his suppressed tears flow freely as the rain fell steadily down upon his roof.

--

Knocking, knocking and the ever present sound of rain were what Naruto woke up to for the second time today. He buried his head into his pillow and pulled the still damp covers over his head, shivering.

"Naruto! Naruto?"

He blinked. 'Sakura chan?' Naruto rose slightly from his bed, turning in the direction of the door. Upon catching his reflection in a mirror however, he grimaced at the bloodshot and slightly puffy eyes. 'I don't want Sakura chan to have to see me like this.' And with that thought, Naruto curled back into his bed, hoping against hope that she would think he wasn't home.

"Narutooo!" Sakura's voice was slightly muffled through the door, although it didn't hide the note of worry in her voice. Despite that fact, however, Naruto continued to ignore her, though not without feeling a twinge of guilt. There was a shuffling outside the door and then a deeper voice mumbled something incoherent.

'Sasuke's out there too? Then there's no way I'm gonna let him see me either.' Naruto stated firmly to himself, after all, his pride was on the line.

He heard Sakura's voice mumble something back to Sasuke, and then hesitantly, Sakura called through the door once again. "Naruto... we have food."

His ears perked.

"Ramen."

His stomach grumbled, Naruto hadn't eaten all day.

"Miso ramen."

With this statement, Naruto's stomach finally rebelled against his mind and he found himself hungrily walking towards the door.

'Traitor' His brain grumbled to his stomach, which could only growl back in meek protest. Naruto opened the door tentatively.

"HAPPY BI..." Sakura's happy greeting died in her throat as her green eyes widened. Never in the entire time she had known Naruto had he ever looked in such a state of despair. Sasuke too was surprised, though he hid it much better than Sakura did with his emotionless onyx eyes. Naruto on the other hand, had his eyes fixed on the bags they both held in their hands, for once not having the courage to meet their eyes.

A slim hand was placed on his shoulder and Naruto curiously looked up toward Sakura. "Why don't you go and take a shower? We'll fix everything up, isn't that right Sasuke kun?" She asked, placing a small smile upon her face. He could only nod after seeing Sasuke do the same.

Turning the nozzle in his shower, Naruto was suddenly met with a blast of steamy water. He stood there for a moment, relishing in the warmth that the water provided him with.

--

"Sasuke kun..." The pink haired kunoichi trailed off as she began to chop up various vegetables while also preparing the noodles. Feeling Sasuke's dark eyes on her back, she continued knowing she had his attention, "Have you ever seen Naruto look so..." She frowned not knowing exactly how to word it.

Fortunately, Sasuke seemed to understand what she meant, for he stopped cutting his own vegetables and replied, "Aa... I've never seen it either, or even thought it was possible." That answer didn't seem to help Sakura any, thought she doubted any answer would have. They both paused as they heard the shower stop abruptly. Sakura sent one last worried look at Sasuke before they both resumed their chopping.

--

Naruto idly wondered what he was going to do about his clothes. They were still damp and it would not do him well to wear them after just having gotten warm again. He contemplated asking one of his 2 team members to get some clothes for him and opened the door cautiously. What he found was a clean pair of his usual orange jumpsuit folded neatly under a black fishnet shirt.

He smiled.

--

Upon entering the kitchen, Naruto was met with the lovely aroma of miso ramen. Sakura was busy ladling the soup into 3 bowls while Sasuke brought over glasses filled with water onto the table. Sasuke noticed Naruto's presence first, and poked Sakura softly on the back to notify her. She blinked, then smiled.

"Oi, Naruto! Perfect timing! Let's eat, ne?"

"Itadakimasu!" They all said together before they dug into their ramen. Naruto's eyes widened the moment he swallowed a mouthful of the ramen.

"Sakura chan! This tastes just like the Ichiraku ramen... no... Better!" Naruto exclaimed.

The pink haired kunoichi blushed slightly and held out a victory sign, "I took lessons from Satoshi Ichiraku himself after all." As Naruto busied himself with his ramen, Sakura sighed under her breath. Naruto was... well... Naruto again, and Sakura couldn't be happier.

'Sasuke is happier too I'll bet.' Sakura smiled to herself as she also began to dig into her ramen, after all, her diet could allow this small splurge today.

--

"It's time for presents!" Sakura exclaimed happily as the trio put their empty dishes and glasses into the sink. Naruto blinked. "Presents?"

"Of course! Today is your birthday after all!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly as she held out a pastel pink wrapped present towards Naruto. He took it wordlessly, for he had no words to say. He couldn't believe that Sakura and Sasuke had remembered his birthday, hell, he was surprised they knew it at all!

"Sakura chan... ari-"

There was a sudden rustling of leaves as a familiar gray haired jounin appeared in front of the three, cutting off Naruto's thank you.

"Kakashi sensei?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

"Yo!"

"You're late!" Sakura yelled at their jounin instructor, who merely sweatdropped.

"Oi Naruto! Happy Birthday!" He said to Naruto, flinging a neatly wrapped present in his direction.

"Now Sakura chan, where's the food?" Kakashi asked eagerly, smiling through his mask.

"There's none left."

"What? How could you be so cruel Sakura chan?"

"You were late." She deadpanned monotonously.

Naruto chuckled as he watched the exchange, his spirits having been greatly lifted over the past hour or so. He heard a snort next to him and Naruto took a sideways glance towards Sasuke who was smiling for a change.

"Kami sama must really like us." Sasuke's voice was soft but Naruto heard it clearly.

'It's true... even though... even though Sasuke and I grew up without a family... in some strange way... these are not just my comrades or friends... team 7... is my family. Sakura always looks out for me like a mother or a sister... Kakashi sensei is like an older cousin of sorts... and Sasuke... We fight and argue a lot, and we're constant rivals... but... we're also like brothers... Team 7... really is the best gift ever given to me...'

Returning the smile, Naruto nodded, "Aa... he must like us a whole lot."

"...Oi..."

"Hm...?" Without looking at him, Sasuke tossed a somewhat strangely wrapped present at Naruto.

"Happy birthday..."

Naruto's azure eyes widened in shock, but slowly softened as his mouth quirked upwards into a half smile. All of team 7 was here to celebrate his birthday, he had just eaten the best miso ramen in the world, and even Sasuke was being nice to him... Naruto's birthday had just gone from horrible to... perfect...

"...dobe."

"NANI?!"

Well... almost perfect.

And outside, the sun shined brilliantly against a field of blue... perhaps one last gift from Kami sama...

--

Bunni: Well... I overdid it again... This was supposed to be a short oneshot... maybe 5 pages at max... but well... here we are at 10 pages...! I suppose it's all right, considering that this is my first Naruto fanfic. Why a birthday fic for Naruto though? Because today is Uzumaki Naruto's birthday of course! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!

Well, I hope you enjoyed it and I'd also like to know your opinions on how I did for my first try. I'm sorry for the ooc-ness as well as the name of the Ramen place which completely eluded me so I'm not sure if it's right... I try to stay away from ooc-ness but I haven't watched or read Naruto for a while... and plus... I like my version of Sakura better than how she really is...

Reviews would be greatly appreciated and cherished!

A Little Crush, a Lot of Bugs

Um.. Heheh.. What to say.. Um.. I suppose I could simply say that this was one of those ‘spur of the moment’ things. Got a cute idea for a drawing, sketched it, and a few months later decided to turn it into a oneshot. Yep. Go me.

This really has nothing at all to do with the storyline, just some made up event during Sakura’s childhood years. Well, it amused me, so my job's done. Tah-tah! Farmer Blob

A Little Crush, a Lot of Bugs

Author: Farmer Blob

“Ino-chan! It flew too high!” Sakura called to her best friend who was a few feet behind her.

Ino approached Sakura and they both watched the dragonfly shimmy through the wind. Sakura hung her head low, as though it saddened her.

The young, blonde girl attempted to sound cheerful, “Hey now.. It’s only a bug. I’m sure there’s.. plenty.. around here.. somewhere.”

Shuffling her feet, Sakura nodded as she watched dragonflies and butterflies flutter within the lush trees. The two girls began to make their way back to the village, when suddenly Sakura gently poked Ino on her shoulder.

“Hm?” Ino was brought to her attention.

“There’s a kid over there,” Sakura lightly whispered, pointing to their left. Ino turned around and squinted.

“Hehe.. I know who that kid is,” she looked back to Sakura, “He… really… likes bugs.”

Sakura leaned over and studied him as he rested against a tree; hands behind his head, one leg crossed over the other.

Ino suddenly gleamed, “He could probably help you catch a dragonfly! Or one of those pretty butterflies…!”

Sakura smiled, “Wow! You really think so?”

Ino grinned and they both giggled loudly to themselves, covering their faces to hide the blush.

From a distance, the boy opened his right eye and looked at the two, giddy girls. Hoping they would leave, he ignored them.

“Sakura! Why don’t you go talk to him? Ask him to help you!” Ino gently pushed her ahead. Sakura suddenly became stiff.

“A-a-lo-alone?” she stammered. Ino looked at her oddly.

“You can do it! Besides, this would be the perfect chance to help you boost your confidence! Go on!” Ino lightly patted her back.

“But, but, Ino-chan! What would I say…?!” Sakura turned around.

“C’mon, you don’t want to be shy forever, do ya? B’sides! That kid wouldn’t hurt a fly!” she paused, “…literally.”

Sakura looked back over her shoulder, when suddenly Ino grabbed her arms and forced her to turn around.

“I-Ino-chan!” Sakura seemed to almost yelp.

“I have faith in you!” and with that, Ino pushed her a few feet in front of her, waited until Sakura moved on her own, and then dove behind a rather wide tree.

Sakura almost tripped over her own left foot as she slowly, but surely, made her way up to the boy. Once she stood almost 4 feet in front of him, she stopped.

Behind his sunglasses, the boy opened an eye and looked up. Sakura blushed and tried to talk, but no words would come out.

Meanwhile, Ino clawed at the bark of the tree, waiting for Sakura to say something.

After a few moments, the boy spoke.

“…What…?” he asked with both eyes open all the while raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, um… I.. uh.. could.. I.. you.. You see…” Sakura’s hands seemed to become itchy as she tried to speak. She looked over to Ino’s tree and squinted her eyes to see Ino motioning her to sit down.

The boy looked at Sakura funny, and then turned in the direction she was facing quick enough to see the young blonde quickly dive back behind the tree.

Sakura started to stutter again, “I’m.. I.. I.. I’m… Gonna sit.” With that, she quickly sat next to the boy, and they both remained silent for a few more moments.

“…Did you want something?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

Sakura fumbled with her hands and swallowed, “Y-yes.. My friend.. told me.. you liked bugs.. I like dragonflies.. And butterflies.. And I wanted to catch one… But I can’t.. But I want to.. And she said you could help.. Because I can’t.. And… I was hoping.. Maybe you.. could help…,” her voice seemed to fade as she ended her sentence.

She looked over and attempted to smile, however, suddenly, Sakura saw a small, spider-like, black insect crawl up her arm.

“AAAIIII!” she shrieked as she quickly thwacked it off of her arm and crawled a foot away. Suddenly, she saw a whole squad of the little buggers crawl out the boy’s clothing and from underneath him.

Sakura fearfully scrambled to her feet and jumped back. She shakily held her hand up to her face as though she thought she was the only one who could see them.

“…You ok?” he asked, somewhat concerned.

“Y-ye-.. N-n..o.. No!” she quickly, “Ah…! Sorry! Very sorry!! Excuse me!!”

With no time to spare, she sped off back to the dusty road to meet her friend, “INO-CHAAN! You’re so mean!!”

Shino watched the girl with the pink hair shake herself off. Her friend put her hand over her shoulder and praised her for being brave.

He couldn’t help but smile the smallest of smiles as they continued to follow the path.

Momentary Happiness

Momentary Happiness
Author: PockyReiko

That is my nindo...my way of the ninja

Rock Lee sighed. He was stuck in this boring white hospital room, with nothing to do, and all the muscles in his body were throbbing. He has tried to sleep away the pain, and it worked for a while, until he woke up. Of all people, why was he the one to fight Gaara? Gaara must've been the toughest opponent during the exam and Lee had put up a heck of a fight. Gaara had gotten no damage. And yet...everyone he knew had gotten stronger. Lee wondered what Tenten, Neji, and Gai were doing right now. He wondered what /Sakura/ was doing.

His fine hand reached behind his head and played with the hair on the nape of his neck. Lee wanted to get up and leave now. He wanted to for a while. But he couldn't. He'd make his team worry, Gai worry, Sakura worry...why was he thinking about Sakura right now? Because even during the Chuunin Exam he couldn't protect her like he wanted to. How was he supposed to know? He had a pretty big chance of death right about now. Right now, death didn't look so bad, actually.

Sakura was cheering for him so much during the fight. How was it that a Chuunin Exam fight could lead to this? They said that some people might not come back alive...but he thought they were just joking. Atleast everyone who had been sent to the hospital was up right now.

Sakura, I want to protect you

Suddenly, it became colder in the room. He checked the window, it was closed. He checked the door and Sakura's worried eyes looked back at him.

Oh great

The last thing he wanted to see right now was Sakura's pity. He didn't want her to see him like this, suffering.

"Lee-San? Are you going to be all right?" Sakura asked softly.

"Of course, Sakura-San! Couldn't be better!"

Sakura eyed Lee suspiciously. Keeping his cheerfulness at a time like this...was it a trick? Of course it was, no one could be able to stand an awful situation like Lee's.

"Can you be serious with me?" Sakura asked.

Lee sighed once again. "Sakura-San, I don't see how I can right now."

"I heard Tsunade's coming soon." Sakura changed the subject.

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah..."

"It's nice to see another visitor."

"Hmm? You mean Tsunade?"

"No, I mean you."

Sakura blushed at the comment. She had always visited her friends when they needed visiting. But she had gained a new sort-of respect for Lee.

"That's very sweet, Lee. So do you think you'll be up soon?"

"Tsunade's a wonderful doctor, isn't she? I bet I will be."

"And then what will you do?"

"Fulfill my nindo!"

Sakura laughed. "Of course, your nindo! And what is - "

Sakura stopped talking when she realized Lee was crying so softly. Worry crossed her face and she reached her hand over to Lee before he swatted it away.

"Sakura, what if I'll never be able to fight again?" He looked up at Sakura with sad eyes. Sakura looked shocked, for one, Lee wasn't calling her Sakura-San, and two, how could he think things like this?

"Of course, you will, Lee-San! Don't worry!"

"I was supposed to protect someone precious to me..."

"You'll be up soon, Lee-San."

"My nindo..." Lee plucked the crutches that were lying by the side of his bed and lifted himself off the ground, wobbling.

"Oh, don't push yourself!"

"I'm not pushing myself, it's just been a long time since I've been up. Do you know how hard it is to steer myself around on these?"

"Not really..."

"And those stares everyone always gives me..."

Sakura didn't understand Lee's emotion right now. People had always gave him stares, why was it so important now? She always thought that he thought of it as a compliment. Or maybe it was because...they were only giving him stares because he wasn't regular anymore. She didn't know why, but the emotion on his face matched her's at the moment. Tears streamed down her face. Maybe sadness was contagious like how happiness is.

"Oh, Lee, don't feel sad."

"How can I /not/ feel sa --?"

Lee's lips were closed tightly together while pink ones lay on top of his. His eyes were open ever so widely, contemplating this very strange moment.

Sakura was kissing him.

He dreamt of this moment so many times, but never in a place or time like this! Why was she kissing him now? Ah, that wasn't important now. He kissed her back.

It was particularly strange how when two people are kissing, they're bodies moved on their own. Sakura's body pushed Lee's limp one onto his hospital bed, leading his lips in a rhythmic motion. Her tongue swept over his bottom lip, and he opened it without thinking, their tongues touching. It felt weird, but pleasant. A gentle hand brushed onto Lee's broken arm and he pulled away, emitting a low "Ouch."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lee-San!" Sakura gasped. She picked up her hand to help him when he just waved her away with his fine one.

"No, it's ok, Sakura. You really gave me a wonderful time today."

Her smudged lips traced into a smile and more tears fell down her cheek.

"Do you want me to leave now?"

"I need time to think."

"Ok, Lee." Her hand swept over the golden knob on the door before the swung the door open and left to go join her team. A look of momentary happiness graced Lee's face.

AsnGothic: How is it that whenever I think I do a good job, I get lame reviews? ;; Do you guys not like me? Waiii!

Kasumi: Crybaby.

AsnGothic: I was kidding, jerk.

Kasumi: Whatever. And you forgot to mention you don't own anything.

AsnGothic: That's because I wanted it to start of dramatically!

Kasumi: Ha! As if you're dramatic!

AsnGothic: Grrr...:Starts to strangle Kasumi:

The Cast of Naruto Travel the Oregon Trail

This story came about after playing a game of Oregon Trail after watching episodes 49-51 of Naruto. For those of you who've seen those, you'll understand why I needed to get my mind off of the episodes after they were over. So I hope you enjoy: "The Cast of Naruto Travel the Oregon Trail!" But sadly enough I don't own Naruto. Oh but if I did..

The Cast of Naruto Travel the Oregon Trail

Author: Bizzaro Mikey

Kakashi and Gui argued with the townsfolk over trading materials.

Naruto pouted, "Hmph, this is BORING!!"

Sakura hit him, "Shut up. This is no time to yell. We'll be leaving soon."

"Well we did it," Kakashi walked up with a huge smile on his face, I think, and Gui was also quite happy. "We'll be heading out on the trail with 40 oxen, 4000 pounds of food, 100 sets of clothing, 6 wagon wheel, axles and tongues, 1000 boxes of bullets and 1000."

"How did you do that with starting with only 800?" Rock Lee questioned.

"Ninja trading abilities," Gui responding with a huge thumbs up. Rock Lee responded with one of his own and the two started laughing. So the wagons were decided. Gui would be taking Rock Lee, Neji, Ten Ten, and Hinata. Kakashi would be taking Naruto, Sauske, Sakura, and Ino.

Naruto leapt onto the back of the wagon. "How pounds of Ramen did you get?" Simultaneously he was beaten by both Sakura and Kakashi.

So the two wagons headed out to Oregon. They traveled at a grueling pace but ate filling rations. Near the start of their trip they we're stuck by a severe snowstorm. They had to wait a week to start moving again. During that time, Sakura and Ino fought of Sauske who trained furiously. Sakura was fought over by Rock Lee and Naruto who was watched in the distance by Hinata. Kakashi just read his ahem books and Gui made sure no one froze to death. After they were able to travel again, they came to the Big Blue River.

"How deep is it?" Kakashi asked.

"Appears to be about four feet," Gui was up to about his chest is the rushing waters.

"Think we can ford it?"

"No problem!" Gui gave another thumbs up.

So the crew headed right into the water. However, no one saw the log traveling at a high rate of speed and right for them. Sauske saw it first, it was barreling at Hinata who was blissfully unaware of the danger she was about to face. Sauske pushed her out of the way and took the log as it his the side of the wagon and broke through.

"Sauske!!" Sakura watched as the man she loved fell unconscious into the water. She prepared to leap.

"Sakura, NO!" Kakashi yelled. "If you jump we will only lose you too."

"I apologize Sensei. But I must," Sakura leapt into the water. No one saw her head come up again.

Along with Sauske and Sakura, the party lost 1200 pounds of food. 3 axles and a wheel. On the other side of the river, they constructed a memorial for the two lost ninjas. They would be missed. They waited for a day then continued.

At the next stop, Kakashi and Gui went off to bargain for the supplies they had lost. Not only did they get the supplies but another 500. Just after leaving Ino caught the measles and Rock Lee got bitten by a snake. Both healed but not before Naruto was also bitten by a snake. Right after Naruto healed Rock Lee was bitten by another snake and killed. Another memorial was made to honor them. On the trail they had found a few abandoned wagons and pillaged them for the supplies they needed. Soon after Ino was bitten by a snake and she died as well. At the memorial of her, Naruto was bitten by a second snake as well.

They had traveled almost all the trail now they were heading out on to the home stretch. Naruto had been bitten by a third snake a few days prior. Then just before getting to the last hurdle, Naruto was simultaneously bitten by two snakes and dropped dead. Now all that remained were Kakashi, Gui, Ten Ten and Hinata. They eventually made it to the river that would lead them to Oregon. They built a raft and abandoned one of the wagons. They put the other wagon on the raft and set sail. They traveled for a good portion of the river before it turned to rapids. They crashed into a rock and Ten Ten was thrown from the raft. They watched in horror as her body was beaten against the rocks. They crashed into another rock, this time defying all logic known; Kakashi was thrown from the raft and killed on the rocks as well. Finally they had made it to Oregon. They had lost all their friends. But it was time some ninjas finally made it all the way.

Fin

Hope you enjoyed it. As with everything in life: REVIEW IT!!

Naruto Shippuuden 063

Naruto Shippuuden 063

I'm sorry, i'm late for update the movie...
know enjoy for download Naruto Shippuuden 063

Just click the tittle and download it with opera.
How to download?
After you click the tittle, automatic your web engines (Mozilla firefox, Opera, or Explore) will download the torrent. after that Click your left mouse on the torrent then open it with opera then opera will process to download the file.

Or if you have torrent software just open it with your torrent software.

Naruto Shippuuden 062

Naruto Shippuuden 062

I'm sorry, i'm late for update the movie...
know enjoy for download Naruto Shippuden 62

Just click the tittle and download it with opera.
How to download?
After you click the tittle, automatic your web engines (Mozilla firefox, Opera, or Explore) will download the torrent. after that Click your left mouse on the torrent then open it with opera then opera will process to download the file.

Or if you have torrent software just open it with your torrent software.

White

Disclaimer: do not own Naruto. I'm a french writer, and I translate this fic for an other writer.

My english is awful, sorry. I hope you will understand my story.

WHITE

by Canelle

I do not understand.

This girl is the only girl of all the ninja villages not to look at me. To say the truth, I did not look at she either.

She did not grant even a glance to me, her eyes was fixed elsewhere, and I didn't care at all.

I did not grant a glance either to she, like to all the others, all those which do not have any force.

We were in the same class however, we made the examination of the chuunin together, but we never spoke one times.

We did not exist one for the other.

Then why? Why one day her image fixed in my eyes to never leave? she didn't do anything of special however. She was in a park playing with her small sister. So white. So pure in her white kimono. She greeted me politely, then again turned to her sister, without occupying more of me.

Look at Me Hinata! Please, looks at me! Let me plunge in the white of your eyes! Reheatings me of your light!

I really do not understand.

Perhaps this is to see her playing with her sister, whereas my brother never wanted to play with me, which struck me. Such an amount of kindness.

Perhaps my pride felt wounded to be ignored for the first time by a girl.

Perhaps I felt sympathy to somebody whom one always compares to another member of the family, more shining?

Perhaps I simply become aware of her existence for the first time.

Perhaps is the attraction of the darkness for the light.

perhaps this is the softness of spring.

I do not know. I fell in love with her.

For this day, I have done all to see her, in randomly street, in the places of practice, everywhere.

For this day, I have done all so that she sees me. But she doesn't look at me. My power don't impressione her , she don't extasy in front of my prowesses. Every evening I am surrounded of a swarm of girls who ask me to go out with her. It don't interress me. I want just one of your glances, Hinata.

Often the evening, I find her alone in the field of practice, being exerted without stoping, until exhaustion. Then I come practice too. I try to help her. she always thanks me, but she would have thanked for the same manner no matter whom. When tiredness is too strong, she sit by ground to take again his breath, I sit close to her, I wait until she rest .She speaks to me only seldom, even at these times , she keep silent. She is a quiet girl, She is a timid girl. I too almost do not speak. I always found the words useless. They are always useless. They will not help me to collect her glance, always far. Then I look her in silence. I look at the moon reflected in her eyes. She is so beautiful.

When our team cross during missions, I see nothing any more but the sun of the hair of Naruto in your eyes. You looks at only him. Why him?! Why is he always my rival?! Why do you prefer the light to the darkness, moon girl? The light is not made for you, the sun masks your glare, whereas in the darkness you are queen, you shine.

Please, look at me "Looks at me, Hinata."

The words left without I realizing there. Sat both in the clearness of stars, silencers, I let my think too much rove, and the words have escaped me.

Hinata looks at me. She looks at my face, she plunges her look in mine; "What there is, Sasuke?"

"I wanted that you looks at me". She was surprised a little, but she continues to look at me, her eyes vis-a-vis with mine, her face turned towards mine, her lips so close to mine. A few tens of centimetres. A space which could quickly be crossed. Her eyes always looks at me, as if she scanned my heart; as if she wanted to bore the black of my pupils to see what they hide. This glance, a glance I waited since so a long time. Dazzled by his light, I close my eyes and my lips crosses the distance which separates us.

It's soft. When we separate, she always looks at me, reddening, disturbed... but she didn't try to push me back. "Looks at me, Hinata. Look at me trying to obtain your heart."

I am disturbed.

He did not really surprise me when he kiss me. My eyes had understood that he wanted to do it for a long time. But then why I let make? Now, I am disturbed more.

You asked me to look at you... I did not know that my glance was so important for you. Then, since that , I look at you. And I am disturbed more and more.

What touched me in you, it is not your force, it is not your beauty, it is not your intelligence, it is not your dark and mysterious side.

What touched me in you, It is that you looked at me. You paid attention to me, you held account of my presence, you recognized my existence. For the third time, somebody looked at me and I felt to shine. Yes, when you looks at me, I have the impression to shine, to be the white moon illuminant your face, heating your glance.

We looked at ourselves.

What touched me, it is that you listened to me. I am a timid girl, I have difficulty to speak. But your ear is attentive to my weak voice. Far from the noise and uproar of the day, when we sit down side by side on the surface of practice, you hear me, you hear only me. For the third time, somebody was attentive with my words. And you answered me.

We spoke each other.

What touched me, it is that you resemble to me. You know the pain which make these words :"I believed the members of this clan stronger than that". You too know the weight of the name of a famous clan is heavy. You feel weak, too weak. You entraines all the time, you work without rest to become stronger.

We understood ourself.

What touched me... What filled me of heat... that you love me.

However... Naruto, you also, you did all that for me. You looked at me, You listened to me, You supported me and encouraged. You fought for me. I admire you always as much. You are always for me an idol, a brulant sun. But it is not me whom you like. I know it. I sees it. For you, I am a friend. Then I would be your friend.

Sasuke, you, you love me. Then when you will sit with me in the night and silence, I whisper you that I love you.

END

please be kind with my English.

Bird in a Cage

Hey! I apologize for my poor english, I originally wrote the story in german and translated it. My beta-reader said it was ok but I'm not sure... if you have ideas how to make it better please contact me... anyways, please R&R! This story takes placed after the latest manga chapters. I dont know what's going to happen next so I just thought Naruto and the others managed to bring Sasuke back to Konoha...

Bird in a Cage Author: Salieri

It’s already dark outside and the village has become quiet. But I can find no sleep. My huge apartment is cold and empty and as always in lonely nights such as this one, I feel like something is missing. I miss Sakura smiling at me. I even miss Naruto’s constant bragging. I can’t take it any longer, the silence in this room is suffocating me.

I decide to take a walk outside, to enjoy the air on this warm summer night. I walk through the empty streets with no specific destination, yet I eventually find myself in front of Sakura’s home. Secretly, I scold myself for being so foolish. Why am I here? She must be asleep already, and although I doubt that she’d mind me waking her up in the middle of the night, I turn around and walk ahead. Something is different. I can’t look into her eyes any more.

Undecisively, I take direction toward Naruto’s small apartment, but when I approach the house, I don’t have the courage to go and visit him. I climb a tree, which highest branches reach up to Naruto’s apartment, and take a timid look into his room. Just as I thought, he is fast asleep. Doesn’t he ever feel the loneliness?

I want to wake him. Shoo him out of his bed with a pretense reason, and maybe argue with him a little, just so I don’t have to be alone any more. But I can’t. When I climb down the tree, before anyone can see me up here, and find myself back in front of his door, my hands just won’t move.

Crestfallen, I give up.

Why am I fooling myself? Since the day they brought me back, things have changed. They pretend that nothing happened, but after all they despise me for leaving Konoha. Secretly, they blame me for leaving them behind. Maybe things will never be the way they were. Naruto doesn’t argue with me any more. Whenever we meet, he just keeps smiling this weird smile, I think, he has lost respect for me.

Now I am really lonely. I just wanted to be the lonely avenger, chasing after my brother, living only for revenge. Well, this is it. I am lonely. I lost the only friends I ever had. How could they ever forgive me? I knocked Sakura unconscious and joined up with the four sound-nin, ready to leave in search for Orochimaru and thus also for power.

My path leads me a far off side of the village, close to the entrance. I am about to leave Konoha for a slight walk in the woods, but I hear a sudden scream. I stop and turn around, listening closely, following the unfamiliar sounds. Its origin is within the garden of a huge estate and I recognize it as the Hyuga estate. In the back yard, far away from the buildings, I discover the source of the screams. Someone is training.

A thin mat, tied tightly around the stem of a tree, is what his punches aim for. Again and again he hits the mat with punches and kicks, I can see that his fingers are bleeding. I come closer. He is real good. I don’t see why he is pushing himself so hard. All of his punches are exactly placed and I can tell there is a lot of strength in his kicks. Actually I have hardly ever seen anyone strike so efficiently. Having gotten curious I step closer to him and involuntarily analyze his combat style. I wonder, if he could be a match for me.

“Who’s there?”, he suddenly screams, then spins around and aims a punch at me. He is taken aback when I catch his wrist easily. But I’m also surprised about the force behind this blow. I was right, he is strong indeed.

White eyes stare at me and now I recognize him. Hyuga Neji, the guy who was beaten by Naruto in the final chuunin exam. “Uchiha Sasuke…”, he says and lowers his hand. “Why are you here? This is the Hyuga main house, you’re not welcome here.”

“I was watching you.”, I reply honestly.

He loosens the bandages around his arm and wraps the cloth around his bleeding hands. “So what?”, he asks indifferently.

I smirk at him. “It seems that you have nothing else to do, so what about a little training battle?”

I can see the fighting spirit shine in his eyes and after a short pause he replies: “Sure, why not?” He prepares for the fight and I notice his unfamiliar fighting stance. Must be a characteristic for the Hyuga family.

I take a look around myself. Here? The house is quite far off, but I don’t want to attract uninvited observers. On the other hand, all the windows look dark and I’m not planning to use my special powers in this fight. It’s just supposed to be a training battle. I lift my arms, ready for his attack.

When we approach each other for the first time, we exchange simple punches. Each of us is testing the other’s force and speed, and I must say his strength is remarkable. He is talented. The speed of our attacks is increasing steadily, and so is the force of our blows.

Oh, he is a good fighter. I’m beginning to have problems following his fast moves. And he is reaching his limits as well. Therefore we jump to a new level. I activate the sharingan and he uses his famous Byakugan. His eyes seem to see through everything. This technique is similar to mine, yet it’s different. His insight goes deeper, but he cannot copy moves as I can. And I do. Over time I adapt his combat style and even his stance.

And yet I cannot get the upper hand in this fight. Incredible! I feel excitement rise within me, but also anger. I want to win against him. I cannot lose to someone who lost to Naruto! I just can't! He cannot block one of my kicks and I hit his head. He is not hurt, but his forehead protector loosens and falls to the ground. I hesitate when I see the sign on his forehead. What is that?!

My hesitation earns me a blow to my stomach and I get really angry. I almost lose my temper and create an energy ball in my hand. “Chidori!” While I prepare my final attack, he bends forward and his left hand almost touches his left foot. I don’t recognize this stance. But I can tell it’s a form of defense, I can feel him gather chakra around himself. Is my chidori going to break through his defense or is he stronger than me? I strike out and attempt to attack him.

Out of the blue a searing pain runs through my body. The energy ball disappears unused, while I fall to my knees and press a hand over the scar on my shoulder. It hurts all of a sudden. The seal… did I break the seal? I shouldn’t have used so much chakra in a simple training battle. But this pain is new. What’s happening?

“Uchiha-kun!”, I hear Neji say as he approaches me. “What’s wrong?” He knows well enough that he didn’t injure me. His Byakugan must see the unusual symbol burned onto my shoulder, even through my clothes. The proof that I’m right is his asking me: “What the hell is that?” He kneels down beside me, but there is nothing he can do.

The seal is breaking and I double over in pain. Something is going wrong. But what? Is this Orochimaru’s doing, because I refused him? Because I went back to Konoha with Naruto and the others? I feel the familiar black symbols covering my skin. Neji sees them as well.

“I’ll get help!”, he yells and attempts to stand up.

My arm snaps forward and I grasp his wrist firmly. “No!”, I gasp, and it takes me a lot of willpower. “The curse… might take over… ughh… You have to stay and stop me, if I lose my temper…” It’s obvious that I cannot control the curse this time. It’s just like the first time, when it broke out during the exam, when my hatred threatened to take over my body. If this happens, nothing and no one will be safe from me. Neji is strong enough to stop me. He has to keep me from going berserk when I lose control.

He doesn’t understand what’s happening, yet he nods softly. Good. Now I can concentrate on winning back control over the curse. I still hold on to his wrist and in my agony I squeeze it with all my strength. He draws back slightly and stares at me wide-eyed, but doesn’t say a thing.

It seems to me like an eternity during which I almost lose complete control over myself. But then I get a hold onto a clear thought. I remember how Sakura brought me back. I need another human being, a good friend at best, but neither Sakura nor Naruto are there right now. So I stick to the next best thing. Neji. I stare into his eyes and try to hold on to this sight. There are people who are worried about me. There are people I care about. If I lose it now, I might hurt them. I feel the touch of his skin beneath my fingers.

And it works. I repress the curse and the black symbols disappear. I fall forward in exhaustion.

“Uchiha-kun?” His soft voice reminds me that he is still there. I lift my head as soon as I regain my composure. My hand is still grasping his wrist firmly. I let go and he draws back his arm. My grip left red marks on his pale skin.

I sit back and sigh in relief. “Thank you…”

He seems to be confused. “What was that?”

“The curse.”, I reply. “Orochimaru marked my body with his symbol.” I pull the hem of my shirt over my shoulder and show him the scar on the base of my neck. “When I’m angry or my body is weak, then the seal breaks and I lose control.”

His expression changes, and if I didn’t know better I’d say he’s smiling at me. “She was right after all. We are alike.” When I stare at him in awe, he explains: “Hinata-sama said that some time ago. Although I don’t think she knew about the curse.” He touches the mark on his forehead swiftly. “This mark was burned into my forehead to keep me under their control. I’m at the main house’s mercy.”

Finally I understand what he means. We both had our bodies marked against our will. And although mine increases my strength and his is supposed to suppress his powers, they are both meant to take away any control over our body. In some ways, we’re caged. “Like a bird in a cage…”, I say absent-mindedly. I didn’t even mean to say that out loud. He is staring at me bewildered.

“What did you just say?”

It must be the exhaustion and maybe the loneliness that makes me say these foolish things. “Even if someone opens the cage, we cannot fly away. I hold on to my revenge, even if it destroys me.”

“And I cling to my hatred against the main house.” He touches his forehead again and seems almost forlorn to me suddenly. “I almost killed Hinata-sama.”

Although each of us can understand the other’s pain, we’re both too involved with ourselves. I can find no consolation in the fact that I found another being who has to suffer as much as I. He is like a mirror to myself.

“Maybe we should finally learn to fly.”, he says depressed. “And let go of our past.”

But none of us can do so. I can feel his despair as much as mine, although I have never been a sensitive person. Why should I care about someone else’s feelings? Must be the loneliness…

I lean forward on my knees to reach him, who is still sitting on the grass with his eyes cast down, and kiss him on the lips ever-so-softly. Hell, I don’t think about what I’m doing right now. He was so beautiful sitting there, just like me and yet so different. I just did it.

Instead of pushing me away, he kisses me back.

It feels so unreal as we touch each other in the moonlight. I have never kissed somebody, I have never wanted to. And all of a sudden I am caught in a kiss, with Hyuga Neji of all people! Neji, who has this distant aura and the piercing eyes. We both forget everything around us. Where we are, who might watch us, even our pride and the reputation as cool, distant fighters. I feel strangely attracted to him.

He pulls my shirt over my head and kisses the scar Orochimaru left on my body. A shiver is running down my back. I undo the bandage on his head, which is keeping his hair back, and tuck at his hair-band. Black strands of hair fall freely over his face, making him look so vulnerable now. I stroke a strand of his hair behind his ear and slightly touch the mark on his forehead. It must have been hurtful when they cut it into his pale skin.

None of us would say a word. I know that any word spoken out loud would make this weird sensation that has gotten a hold of us disappear instantly. He removes his shirt.

My hands stroke his muscular chest and a wave of arousal washes over me. For the first time I realize what this might lead to. But my head feels dizzy, I am blinded with grief and loneliness, and as well with lust. And so is he, his heavy breathing increases, his chest is rising heavily beneath my soft touch. He draws me closer to himself and our hips grind against each other, sending waves of pleasure through my body. I want him. I can feel only this: I want him.

Between deep kisses, longing touches of our hands and soft sounds of arousal, we tear at each others clothes, undressing each other.

He presses me to the ground, and the grass feels cool against my heated up skin. For the first time since that first kiss, we are looking directly into each others eyes. His white eyes meet my black ones and his right hand is cupping my cheek.

What am I doing here? I must be losing my mind.

Hot breath grazes over the sensitive skin on my neck. Fingers stroke wantingly over pale skin. Black hair, tickling me. His soft voice in my ears, suppressed moans of arousal. Our fingers entwine and we hold on to each other as if for dear life. We both want to escape our loneliness for a few precious moments.

The world disappears into a sea of sensations and this weird mixture of lust and loneliness and I completely lose my mind and my composure.

Eventually I find myself lying face-down on the ground, my face pressed into the cool grass, and his hands grasp my raven hair. Beads of sweat are glistening on my skin. With one hard thrust he buries himself deep inside of me and I can help but crying out. He gently kisses my shoulder and whispers meaningless words softly into my ear, words of comfort.

Then he starts to move, slowly at first, but his rhythm steadily increasing. I lose count of time, to me there’s just the two of us and the thick air and this sensation within me.

We come closer to the moment of relief and I can hear his hardly suppressed moans. He is supporting his weight with his right arm, the other strokes my back, moves over to my chest, down to my stomach, and goes down further, and I tilt back my head, screaming my excitement out into the world. From far away I hear his gasps when we reach climax simultaneously and the world disappears and my body trembles and while I cannot grasp a single thought I feel incredibly focused at the same time.

At this single, perfect moment I feel like a bird that flies out of its cage into the endless sky.

Then we fall over onto the grass, enjoying its cool touch on our bodies, gasping for air, listening to our hearts beating in the same, fast rhythm. He rolls himself off of me and lies down on his back, staring into the night sky. I lie there by his side, facing him, refusing to come back to my senses. I know that as soon as I regain control over myself, it’ll be over and I’ll be alone again.

Eventually, when we are able to breathe again, he reaches out for his pants and puts them on. Upon seeing this I do so too, afterwards sinking into the soft grass once again, enjoying the aftermath of our love-making. His eyes seem dull from exhaustion, now he is avoiding my gaze once again.

I feel endlessly tired, but in a wonderful way. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open and for a little while I doze off. When I feel like I’ve been resting for long enough I sit back up. Neji is asleep next to me. He is still lieing on his back, his head slightly tilted at my direction, and his black hair is mingling with the grass. Even now that I am coming back to my senses, I still think he is so very beautiful.

Careful not to wake him I kiss the mark on his forehead like he kissed the scar on my shoulder minutes ago. I watch him sleep for a long time. He looks vulnerable, almost fragile in his sleep.

To me he is like a bird with broken wings.

And yet I don’t feel lonely in his arms any more. I can feel this insatiable longing for closeness I have always denied. If I could, I’d forget about my pride and my cool image, and just stay with him. Wake up next to Hyuga Neji tomorrow, give him a good-morning-kiss and embrace him.

But whatever happened to us tonight, it’s over now.

Each of us will cut his own path, locked up in his cage, haunted by the ghosts of his past. I cannot share my path of revenge with anyone, even though I shared my pain with him for one night.

As quiet as possible I gather up my clothes and head back home. The same crescent moon is shining down upon me as it has been a few hours ago. My apartment is still the same, still dark and empty. And I am still the same. I am Sasuke Uchiha. Forever trapped like a bird in a cage. I look through my window over the quiet village I call home. Maybe I will never change. But…

I wanna learn to fly.

OWARI

Oooh! My first Neji/Sasu Fanfic! I'm obsessed with this pairing but there are hardly any fanfics about them! Please, everyone! Write Neji/Sasu or Sasu/Neji fics!! P L E A S E!!

Freaks Flock Together

A/N: Just a waff fic that was inspired by Kaminiko’s fic, ‘Reprieve’. This is dedicated to her, since she DID inspire it..

Just because this is shounen ai doesn’t mean Byakko is going to become shounen ai. Hell, it doesn’t mean Byakko is gonna end up with romance in it at ALL.

Insomnia Productions Presents..

Freaks Flock Together
By Clara, part of Insomnia Productions

“Fox.”

It was one of those particularly lazy days where it was just a bit too hot for comfort and there were fat clouds drifting lethargically across the sky. They were lying on top of Naruto’s house in identical positions, arms crossed behind their heads and faces lifted towards the sky, hoping to catch a brief breeze that sometimes came at this height. Both had opted to rid themselves of their shirts and Naruto was a bit amused to see that Sasuke was starting to sport quite the burn.

“Shuriken.” Naruto turned and frowned at his companion, then looked back up at the particular cloud they were observing. He tried tilting his head one way, then the other, then just shook it in resignation. “I don’t see it.”

“That’s because you’re not looking hard enough,” Sasuke admonished, then scooted closer to Naruto. The blonde chuckled, since his friend looked like a strange worm. Ignoring Naruto’s mirth, he lay his head right above Naruto’s shoulder and pointed to the sky. “See? Shuriken.”

“Nope. I still see a fox.”

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes, moving a back to where he was laying before. “Idiot. It’s obviously not a fox. You need to get your eyes checked.”

Naruto reached over and pinched Sasuke. The black haired boy hissed in surprise and faint pain.

“You’re starting to turn into a lobster, albino.”

Sasuke shot him a glare, then flipped over on his stomach. “Great. Maybe it’ll scare away some of the girls.”

Naruto chuckled, tilting his already bronzed face further up. “I doubt that. They’d probably baby you and blame me for your burn.”

“Most likely.” Sasuke folded his arms under his head and closed his eyes. Dusk was just beginning to fall, giving the overly baked world some respite. “I don’t know, I’m looking pretty multi-colored though. White legs, pink chest, faintly burned back.. I’m sure they’ll give it a rest until I’m normal again.”

“You, normal?” Naruto laughed, mimicking Sasuke by flipping onto his own stomach. “That’ll be one long break.”

Sasuke retaliated by jabbing Naruto in the side. “Look who’s talking, Mr. ‘I-need-ramen-every-single-day-in-order-to-survive’.”

“Hey!” Naruto yelped, extremely offended. “Mock me if you have to, but watch what you’re saying when you talk about my ramen!”

Sasuke turned his head and looked at his rival for a long moment, then shook his head. “I wonder about you sometimes, you know?”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

They lapsed back into silence after that, enjoying the sinking sun's rays on their backs. Naruto has closed his eyes and Sasuke was looking at him thoughtfully, watching as the sun played with the shadows on his face.

"Hey."

"Mmm?" Naruto asked sleepily.

"..what's that on your stomach?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open. He really hadn't been expecting that, especially during such a peaceful moment between them. Frowning, he turned his head away from Sasuke opting instead to press his nose against his roof. He could feel his ears begin to burn with shame.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled against the roof and grimaced slightly when he heard Sasuke shift.

“Liar.”

“And?” Naruto buried his face deeper into his arms. “It’s none of your business, anyway.”

There was a beat of silence where Sasuke pondered pointing out that it technically was his business, considering they were teammates. He decided, however, that the topic was probably much too tender to use such a brash form of persuasion.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Sasuke murmured in what he hoped was a comforting voice. He didn’t get to use such a voice often, since there wasn’t anyone he had to comfort. “But.. you can if you want.”

Naruto turned back to Sasuke, looking surprised. “So where’d this sentimental side come from?”

“He pops up once in awhile when I’m least expecting it.” Sasuke gave one of his rare smiles, igniting a bright one from Naruto.

“You’re weird.”

“Freaks flock together.”

Naruto let out a surprised laugh at that, then rolled over onto his back again. Carefully gluing his eyes onto the fat cloud he and Sasuke had been debating on, Naruto reached down to place the palm of one of his hands on his tattoo.

“Have you heard of the fox demon?”

“Who hasn’t?” Sasuke asked, sounding mildly surprised. This story was promising to be interesting. “Why?”

Naruto grimaced. He was half hoping that Sasuke would be all, “What fox demon?” That would have made things much easier.

He had hoped.

“I’m not it,” he said quickly, scrunching his eyes shut. This was becoming harder than he thought it would, though he had never expected to have to explain his curse, as silly as it sounded. “I mean, I am it, but..”

“Oh. You’re like Gaara.”

“I am not!” Naruto burst out vehemently, shooting up to a sitting position. Sasuke blinked, surprised at the reaction. “I mean, I’m not a psycho like Gaara. I don’t embrace the fact that I’m a demon or use it to my advantage or anything like that. It’s just.. there.”

He sunk back down, the sudden burst of energy draining away his anger. The nervousness was still there, though.

“But.. it is still there. It.. heals me and acts as a shield sometimes, and there are times.. it takes over. Like, when I get this terrible burst of emotion. Or something.”

Naruto laced his trembling fingers across his tattoo in a slightly self-preserving manner, closing his eyes and waiting for the mockery to befall on him again.

“..what do you think that cloud looks like?”

Naruto’s eyes snapped back open again in a bit of offended surprise. He turned to give Sasuke a piece of his mind but had the words shocked out of his throat by the tense, thoughtful look on Sasuke’s face. He turned his face back to the sky and found himself looking at the same cloud they had been debating about before, only changed ever so slightly.

“..a fox,” he said meekly.

“I don’t.” Sasuke was smiling slightly. “I think it looks like you.”

“Wh-what?”

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, the smile still gracing his features. It broadened and his eyes closed briefly, causing Naruto’s heart to skip a beat. Sasuke looked so.. peaceful. He loved catching Sasuke at moments like these, when his barriers were down.

“Naruto, whoever you are.. you’re just that. You. You’re still an idiot who has a ridiculous amount of potential and still.. you. My main rival.”

The blonde blinked several times, then blushed furiously. He blushed even more when he realized that he was starting to choke up.

Sasuke was the only other one aside from Iruka who accepted him for who he was, despite knowing about his horrible curse.

He reached up to scrub at his eyes ineffectively, hoping Sasuke hadn’t noticed.

“Your sentimental side frightens me.”

Sasuke laughed slightly. “I know. That’s why I usually keep him locked away.”

“I’m beginning to think we should lock you away,” Naruto retaliated, looking back up at the sky. His cheeks were still stained pink, but fading back to their natural color as they approached the more familiar grounds of idle banter. “Hey.”

“Hm?”

“..You really think that cloud looks like me?”

“..stupid.”

“No, really.” He tilted his head to the side, observing the cloud intently. “I can kind of see it too.” He let out a gleeful laugh. “Look! The cloud floating beside it! It looks like ramen!”

Sasuke shoved him.

“You really are a nerd, you know that?”

“A super-cool, number one Hidden Leaf ninja nerd, you mean!”

“Hardly,” Sasuke scoffed. He turned back to the sky and was quite surprised by the abnormally bright star twinkling back at him. “What on earth?”

Naruto followed Sasuke’s gaze and grinned. “What, don’t tell me the great and powerful Sasuke doesn’t know about Venus.”

“Venus..” Sasuke repeated, rolling the name on his tongue as if he had never heard of it before.

“Yeah, you know, Venus. Born of sea foam after Cronus threw Uranus’ blood into the ocean. Said to be the Goddess of Love. She’s supposed to be one hot chick, man.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I could ever be attracted to a woman..”

“Words marked, remembered, and stored for blackmail!”

“..that has been born from blood and fish crap..” He turned to glare at Naruto, wondering if he could shove the other boy off the roof without getting into too much trouble. “I didn’t say that.”

“You did so.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You still said it.”

Sasuke punched him hard on the shoulder, earning a satisfying grunt from Naruto.

“Anyway. Venus. Goddess of beauty and love and whatnot. She gave birth to Cupid. You must know who Cupid is..”

Sasuke nodded slightly. “Yeah, Ino wrote a poem a couple years back on how Cupid shot her with an arrow or something and she fell madly in love with me. I didn’t get it. Who would fall in love with someone after they got shot with an arrow?”

Naruto chuckled. “It’s a myth. Venus was like the ultimate matchmaker and got upset when people didn’t marry when she wanted them to, so she would have her son shoot them in the heart with like, love-arrows or something.”

“Brutal way of falling in love..”

The blonde shrugged slightly. “Eh, you know those Greeks. Obsessed with romantic tragedies and whatnot.” He shot a discreet look out of the corner of his eye at the Uchiha. “Speaking of love.. have you ever been in it?”

“Been in love?” Sasuke snorted with disdain. “Do I look like the kind of guy who has time for love?”

“I had a feeling you’d answer like that.” Naruto grinned up at Venus. “I haven’t been in love either. I mean, I really like Sakura-chan and whatnot, but I don’t think it’s love unless it’s mutual. You know? Besides.. not many people like me, ‘cause of the demon and whatnot..”

“They’re stupid,” Sasuke said vehemently, then sighed. “You’re worth more than all of them.”

They both froze at Sasuke’s admittance, the taller of the two turning an unhealthy shade of pink and the shorter looking justifiably surprised.

“Eh?”

“That came out wrong.”

Naruto grinned. “I don’t know, you’re blushing. Sounds like it came out right but in a way you didn’t want me to hear.”

If possible, the other turned redder. “Now you’re just letting your ego control your thoughts.” In order to hide his flush, he rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his arms. Pride be damned.

“You have a crush on me!” Naruto crowed, delighted. He crawled onto Sasuke’s back, sprawling out on top of him and making the two of them look like a demented cross.

“WHO would have a crush on YOU?” Sasuke growled, waiting for the roof to open up and swallow him whole. Despite the fact that they had been close friends for a good five years, and he did harbor some (by some he meant an itsy bitsy amount).. romantic feelings towards the other boy, that was not how he planned on telling him.

“Good question.” He pretended to think about it for a moment, scratching his chin. “Lemme think.. you!”

Sasuke growled and flipped over, shoving Naruto off him. The boy tumbled and landed with an ‘oof’, sending a half hearted glare at the blushing boy.

“Just because you can’t get in touch with your inner feelings..”

“..you’re taking this a lot lighter than I would imagine,” Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto grinned, folding his hands behind his head. “Yeah, well, I can use it on all those annoying girls. Be like, ‘that’s right, girlies, Sasuke likes me, not you’.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to look at Naruto. “So, what you’re saying is..”

“A love is a love is a love,” Naruto answered, beaming.

“..yes, okay, you’re saying something that makes absolutely no sense, I see.” Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed.

“Funny. What I’m saying is.. I like you too.”

Black eyes snapped open and met a pair of amused blue ones. Naruto had scooted a bit closer, the bottom of his chin just above Sasuke’s shoulder. Sasuke tried to say something, then just shook his head hard and swallowed thickly.

“I’m glad you finally said something, you know,” Naruto said idly, resting his chin against his palm. “I was getting worried that I was the one who was going to have to say something.”

“You mean, you knew?”

“Hell no! Man, you’re insanely good at hiding stuff. I was just hoping.”

Hope. He was hoping Sasuke liked him. Naruto was..

He felt his head turn.

“Ha! You look so surprised. That’s classic. And hey, I was right! You really don't like women!”

Without saying anything, Sasuke grabbed Naruto and pulled him up to his side, nearly crushing the other boy. Naruto let out a large breath and turned to press his forehead against Sasuke’s shoulder, a (rewarding, definitely, for Sasuke) blush finally staining his cheeks.

“You really are a freak, you know that, Naruto?”

The blonde grinned cheerfully, leaning over to place a small kiss on Sasuke’s jawline. “You know what they say.”

“Hm?”

“Stick with what you know.”

Sasuke laughed and pulled Naruto up, kissing his forehead.

Stick with what you know, indeed.

end

Wow. This is.. very rambling. Kinda like my conversations with people. Rambling.

Someday Dreams Will Come True

"Someday Dreams Will come True"
Author: GothicAzNGirl

"Geez," Shikamaru sighed as he walked out of the partying room and out to the balcony. He put his back against the wall then just plopped down to the ground, with his legs spread out in front of him, and his hands dangling at his sides.

He looked up at the sky. No clouds. Lazily he kept his head up and stared at the moon. Damn his father, giving him so much booze, he was only 12 for crying out loud. This was just a party for celebrating him passing the Chuunin exam. Slowly he closed his eyes and began to fall asleep, but before he could relax he heard the sliding door swish aside abruptly. He didn't flinch he just, sat in the dark area and looked to the side idly.

It was Sakura and Ino hanging onto Sasuke, each begging him to be theirs. Shikamaru looked away and just went back to sleep but they were too loud. They were exclaiming back and forth and then Sasuke jumped off the roof and ran away. Then they started blaming each other whose fault it was that Sasuke left. Sakura slammed the door and went inside leaving Ino there. Ino screamed and then she noticed a figure sitting on the floor to the right resting.

Ino moved closer to see that it was Shikamaru, resting his eyes, peacefully. She got a little angry, kicked him and said, "Get up you party pooper! This is your party and you go out and sleep!!"

"Eh, don't take your anger out on me just because you Sasuke ran away from you," he said calmly looking at her with a drunken face, then back at the moon. He just sat there quietly..then Ino came by and sat by him.

"Pretty isn't it?" she said dreamily.

"Yeah, sure," he said with indifference. "You have a weird thing for the moon and the sun, don't ya?"

"Shut up!" she snapped, "I like it and I don't care what everyone thinks it makes me feel escape from this hell.

"Yeah, whatever," he said.

There was a moment of silence. Ino looked at his face, but Shikamaru already had his eyes closed again. A little startled from her trance she saw Shikamaru ask her something.

"Come again?" She said.

He sighed in an annoyed way, "What do you girls see in that guy anyways?"

"Well, first of all he's got a killer look, so hot!! He's good looking, those sexy dark keen eyes. He's a bit cold. But other than that he is the perfect guy in the world," she explained. "I thinks he's gay like Neji," Shikamaru said.

She stood up quickly retaliating on that comment. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?! YOU BASTARD!" Ino shouted.

"Well, then answer me, why do they always avoid women, and so cold? Y'know what I think those two are two gays in love," he said like a drunk.

Ino became furious and then slapped him across the face. Shikamaru did nothing his face just flung to the side; a red hand mark appeared on his face. He chuckled. "Ah," he sighed as if he was done from a good laugh.

"You're fuckin' drunk, Shikamaru, Sasuke is twice the man you'll ever be! You're just jealous because you're not like him!" Ino scolded at Shikamaru.

"You know nothing about me, my dreams, what I want, and how life is just a bitch," he said almost lifeless. "I don't need or want a thousand girls to like me, I don't want it.I don't want to be hot, I don't want to be a Chuunin, I never asked to be a genius, it's just the way I am."

Before Ino could say anything he continued, "I just want an average girl, she doesn't need to be sexy or a beauty queen. We'd have two kids a girl first then a boy. Then.I want to live an easy life, but now that dream has been shattered because now I'm a Chuunin. Life's sucks," he finished.

"Shikamaru," she said softly, "Sorry...I didn't know." For the first time Shikamaru had opened up to someone, but maybe it was just because he was drunk, or pissed at her for yelling at him without knowing him. She sat back down next to him, "How long...has it been since we've known each other?"

"Long ass time," he replied.

"Why are you always like this?!" she yelled angrily, "You always act as if life is a bore and you'd rather just jump off a cliff and die? I really hate that about you, I hate everything about you!! You just don't care, I hate the way you act, you responses, the things you do, everything!!"

"I don't care," he said sleepily.

"But then...why do I love you?" she broke into tears, "Why is it that over and over again my heart leaps with joy when I see Sasuke, I've convinced myself that I love him but I can't to seem to get you out of my mind!! When I dream, I dream of you, not Sasuke! Tell me why??"

"Are you suffering mental stress?" he asked. "Maybe you just need someone to talk to. Since Sakura left...you felt abandoned, hurt, and rejected, and I believe you've kept those feelings locked up inside this whole time. Acting tough, you wanted to be friends with Sakura even though you fell for the same guy...but Sakura didn't see it that way. You want everything to be the way it once was, don't you?"

She was amazed, within a few minutes he had figured her out; he had just told things about her that she didn't know even about herself. Her shocked face turned into a gentle smirk, "Y'know, you should be drunk more often Shikamaru, you'd make a great psychiatrist," she laughed.

For the first time he laughed openly, never had he laughed like this before. Maybe...it was just like Ino said, there's more to life than what he sees with his genius. He now had a new perspective of the world, maybe...being a Chuunin wouldn't be so bad. He finally was able to stop laughing and leaned his head back and sighed. He stared back up at the moon and the stars, where they this bright before?

Suddenly he felt something heavy on his left shoulder; he slowly looked to his left and saw that it was Ino leaning on his shoulder. She was crying out of happiness, somewhere within in that tough, sexy, was the average girl he was looking for. He gave a warm smile to her.

She gave her almighty smile, "I hate everything about you, but why do I love you? I don't think we'll ever figure that out even with y your genius."

"I know," he said then put his arm around her waist and pulled her in close. She cuddled next to him and smiled.

"I know I'm tough," she said then paused, "but for tonight and when I'm with you, let me be that average girl you dream of." She looked at him and silver tears skated down her cheeks. Shikamaru took his thumb and wiped those tears away.

"Of course," he smiled then pulled out that bun she had, and let her hair fall, she looked like she did when she was younger with the short pixie hair. He smiled and said, "I like you better this way, much cuter." Shikamaru out his warm hand n her cheek and slowly moved in and kissed her, Ino returned it and extended it.

A/N: How did you like our story? I liked it even though I had to add Kairi's shitty love crap, but for the first time I liked it. Maybe I liked it only because it was about InoShika lol. I'm also a NaruSaku fan. I HATE SASUKE!! AGGGHHHHHHH!! HE'S SO GAY!! Any ways review our story for us.

Kairi: Hey are you talking bad about me again Kaori?

Kaori: Uh, no of course not, I actually complemented you!! Heh heh.

Kairi: Sniff AWWWWW...you el complement-o el me-o cries

Kaori: mops tears never again will I compliment her...she's too sensitive..