Birth of the Demon
I waited till the VERY last minute to post this, I know, but I didn't realize it was October 10th until almost 6 hours ago. I hope it doesn't seem too rushed or anything. I might edit it later or something.
WE LOVE YOU NARUTO!
TANJOUBI OMEDETOU!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; Sasuke does.
Naruto sighed and rolled over in his bed. His stomach growled, waking him up from his deep sleep. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and glanced at the calendar. His eyebrows locked together.
The date hadn't been marked as anything special, to Naruto it wasn't, but it was October 10. The Uzumaki's birthday was today. Along with it, it was also the anniversary of that day many died when the Kyuubi attacked the village.
Naruto didn't like his birthday. Ever since he was young, he had been glared at and shunned more than usual on this day, as the villagers remembered the deaths of their loved ones that the demon inside of him had slaughtered.
He reluctantly dragged himself out of his bed and went into the kitchen to make instant ramen for breakfast. Slumping down in his seat as he waited for it to cook, he pondered whether he should just skip training that day. Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't give him ugly looks, would they? He didn't want to find out.
Grabbing his ramen after the 3 minute wait, Naruto sighed.
"Itadakimasu… (Japanese: Time to eat)" He muttered. "Happy birthday to me, I guess."
Then he heard someone pounding loudly on his door.
"Wake up, usuratonkachi!" A familiar voice called. "Even Kakashi-sensei made it to training before you!"
He considered just staying there and pretending that he wasn't there, but Sasuke would sooner knock down the door than search elsewhere. He had no other choice but to answer it.
He hauled himself towards the door and opened it slowly. Sasuke slammed it open before Naruto could.
"You're making me miss the beginning of training, dobe. Why aren't you dressed yet?" Naruto looked at him cautiously. He looked pretty pissed this morning, but not more than he normally would be. He let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would do if Sasuke hated him…
"I'm sick today, Sasuke. Just start training without me." He said. He made a feeble attempt at a fake cough, but it just ended up sounding like he was choking on something.
"Bull shit." Sasuke said, not buying it for a second. "Get dressed. Now. No more excuses." Naruto sighed.
"Okay." He muttered. Maybe he was overreacting. It wasn't like it was when he was little anymore. Naruto had friends now and they none of them cared what happened 13 years ago.
Naruto sighed in defeat and let Sasuke drag his sorry ass to training. Naruto sweatdropped and tried to forget all about his anxieties.
'I'm just being stupid,' He told himself.
Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other, panting hard, kunai in both hands. Sakura cheered in the background. Kakashi smiled at them, as far as they could tell with his mask on.
"Great job today, guys." He praised. Sakura beamed.
"Sasuke! You were so cool!" She cooed. Sasuke sighed.
"Hn." The Uchiha was used to this kind of admiration by now and, he had to admit, it was rather annoying.
"How did I do, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, hopefully. Sakura gave him a fake smile.
"Sasuke SO kicked your ass!" She said in a sing-song voice. Naruto sulked as Sakura skipped off.
Sasuke leaned against a tree and smirked at him.
"Looks like I win again, Naruto." He said, clearly pleased with himself. "That means you have to buy me ramen again." Naruto gaped.
"Sasuke…" He groaned. "Not again! I bought you ramen every day this week!"
"That's what you get, dead-last." Naruto pouted, making Sasuke chuckle.
They made their way through the now busy streets of Konoha. Naruto had completely forgotten all about the worries he had that morning.
He laughed with Sasuke, he argued with Sasuke. The older boy seemed to always make everything else seem trivial to him. He wondered when he and Sasuke had gotten so close.
Naruto hadn't noticed the glares some of the people were giving him, but Sasuke did. He eyed them warily.
"What did you do this time, dobe?"
"What do you mean?" Naruto hadn't even noticed the looks of hatred random people were giving him.
"Everyone looks really pissed at you." Sasuke said. "Did you steal a scroll again?" Naruto shook his head. Realizing what Sasuke meant, all of his fears came rushing back. All of a sudden he felt very self-conscious.
Someone passing by him pushed him over.
"Stupid Kitsune." He heard them mutter. The person kept walking without bothering to help the poor boy up.
"Seriously. What happened?" Sasuke asked. He gave the onlookers his death glare, and no one dared to look at him anymore.
"Nothing, Sasuke." Naruto said a little sadly. "Just forget about it." Sasuke glanced at him one more time, before deciding that it would be best to leave the matter at that.
The blonde boy burped loudly.
"That's what I call food." He sighed. Sasuke, having finished his one bowl of ramen long before Naruto finished all six of his, smirked at him.
"How can you eat all of that, dobe?" He shook his head.
"I've had a lot of practice!" Naruto said, laughing. They paid for their meal and stepped out of the shop.
Naruto ran right into someone, getting knocked over for the second time that day. This time he took the other person down with him.
"I'm so sorry!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and holding out a hand to help the middle-aged Kunoichi up. She slapped his hand away.
Her cold eyes pierced his heart.
"I don't need your help, jinchuriki." She spat bitterly. She stood up and brushed herself off. "Go to hell." She spat on his feet. She gave him one last hard look before walking away.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Everyone's been acting that way to you because of the Kyuubi." Sasuke stated. Naruto nodded slowly. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back toward his house. Sasuke followed.
"Today's the day the Kyuubi attacked. That's why you didn't want to go to training this morning." Naruto kept nodding, not having the energy to use his voice. "What a sucky way to have a birthday," Sasuke mused, "but you haven't gotten my present yet, so you shouldn't give up hope!" Naruto was astonished.
"You bought me a present?"
"Well… not bought. It's pretty cheap, but I think you'll like it." Naruto raised an eyebrow. He had never really thought Sasuke was a present type of person.
"What is it?" Naruto asked curiously. Sasuke smirked.
"You want it now?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
Sasuke put his finger under Naruto's chin to raise it up to his level, before pressing their lips firmly together. Maybe birthdays weren't so bad after all.