Disclaimer: I don't own this shit, it's Kishimoto's shit.

It was windy that morning. The trees elegantly rustled in the wind, and the leaves slowly turned color and fell from the trees one by one, the wind simply speeding up the process. Just like the wind, the streets were flowing with people making their way through the village, running their errands or going to work. One of them was a woman with flowing pink hair, only she was in a hurry. She charged through the streets, occasionally taking to the rooftops to make her trip even faster. Her bangs would occasionally get in her eyes, irritating her as she kept her pace going. There was only one reason why she would be in such a hurry.

She was late.

"Oh god... Lady Tsunade is going to kill me!" The young woman said to herself, fearing the punishment she would receive for running late. She vaulted off of the building, landing in front of the Hokage tower. She ran through the street, then up the stairs of the building, not letting her momentum up. The busted through the door, and charged through the hall.

As she ran, she rapidly approached Tsunade's secretary, Shizune who was holding a stack of papers. She noticed the woman, looking at her. "Excuse me, Sa-" She started, as the pink haired woman charged past.

She looked back, giving Shizune an apologetic look. "No time, I'm sorry Shizune!" She apologized, running to Tsunade's office. She rapidly approached the door, and began skidding along the floor to slow down. Once she reached the door, she knocked, then entered. "Made it!..." She cried out, panting heavily.

"No, not really." The older blonde responded, looking at her. "You're an hour late, Sakura." She pointed out, giving the girl a heavy stare. And of course, Sakura would feel intimidated by her presence, this woman was the leader of their village, Senju Tsunade.

Sakura bowed in respect, before looking up at Tsunade. "I'm so sorry, Ma'm. The hospital called me in to do paper work, and I couldn't get out of it." She explained as she fully stood up, brushing some bangs off of her sweaty forehead.

Tsunade could only laugh, sitting back in her chair. "Is that all? Well, since you understand what I have to put up with on a daily basis, I guess I won't punish you this time." She told her, smiling at the young woman.

Sakura returned Tsunade's smile with one of her own, giving another bow. "Thank you, Ma'm!" She exclaimed, standing up fully once again. She then glanced over, finally noticing the other person in the room.

There only a handful of people she could recognize from behind, but this person she would always be able to notice. Whether it be from his wild antics, his golden blonde hair, or his blaring orange jumpsuit. It was her comrade and best friend, Uzumaki Naruto. "Naruto? What're you doing here?" She asked, looking at the blonde in confusion.

He didn't move for a moment, before turning to look at her from his seat, his cerulean eyes meeting her emerald eyes. He rubbed the back of his head, as he flashed his trademark smile, while laughing a bit. "Baa-chan was just lecturing me again..." He explained, his voice proving that he was lying.

It showed on the rest of his body as well, he was bruised all over, his clothes were torn, and there was splotches of blood here and there. He looked like someone who just got out of one hell of a brawl. "Just a lecture, my ass! This is the third time I've gotten reports of you getting into fights with other ninja, Naruto!" Tsunade shouted at him, slamming the reports on her desk in frustration. Sakura and Naruto both flinched slightly at her actions.

Said pinkette looked down at Naruto, curiosity and surprise showing on her face. "Is that true, Naruto? Have you been getting into fights?" She asked the boy, watching as a disgruntled face formed on his face.

He looked to the side, grumbling slightly. "...Wasn't exactly by choice." He finally told them, pulling off his forehead protector so he could wipe the blood off of it.

Tsunade shook her head as she stood up, looking down at the blonde. "Well, that's not what the reports, and eye witnesses tell me." She told him, her stare never wavering.

This surprised Sakura greatly, Tsunade always sided with Naruto. "My lady, with all due respect, there are a lot of ninja and villagers alike that still don't trust Naruto. Much less want him to be a ninja. Are you sure that these people aren't just lying?" She asked her teacher.

Tsunade sighed heavily, looking over at Sakura. "I commend you for wanting to protect your teammate, Sakura. I also understand that what you're saying is definitely a possibility. Nevertheless, Naruto still took action, and now we have ninja in the hospital. With that said, I'm suspending you from ninja duty for the rest of the month, Naruto." She told the blonde, while looking at the window.

Naruto stood up from his chair, his eyes widened. "W-What?! You can't!" He shouted, clearly panicked by this. "I told you it wasn't my fault! I had no choice but to fight them!" He explained once again, in hopes to defend himself.

Tsunade looked back at him, her expression not changing. "My decision has been made, Naruto. Sakura, take his forehead protector, he can have it by the end of the month." She told her student, said student jumping slightly from being talked to suddenly.

Sakura looked at her teacher, then at Naruto. She clearly didn't want to do it, but she had her orders. She looked down, as she took Naruto's forehead protector out of his hand. Tsunade sat back down in her chair, looking down at her paper work. "That'll be all, Naruto." She finished, the dumbfounded blonde simply standing there. After a minute, he slowly walked out.

The pinkette turned back to her teacher, putting the headband on her desk. "Lady Tsunade..." She trailed off, a look of sadness could be seen on her face.

"I know, Sakura... You don't think it's fair that I punished him, but trust me when I say he won't be the only one facing consequences. Those who decided to incite violence upon him will also be harshly punished..." She explained, before looking up at the pinkette. "There are other reasons for why I suspended him. I saw this as an opportunity to force a... Vacation on him for this month." She admitted to her student.

Sakura could only look on in confusion, as she put a hand on her hip. "What? Why? What's so special about October?" She asked, not understanding her master's reasoning.

Tsunade's expression saddened, as she leaned back in her chair. "Do you know the big event that happened on October 10th?" She asked the pinkette.

Sakura nodded in response. "Yeah, that was when the Nine tails attacked, and was sealed away by the Fourth..." She explained, her eyes slowly widening in realization.

"It is also Naruto's birthday." Tsunade added, noticing her student's reaction. "It was a couple days ago, but he never celebrated it because he was on a mission. Also... October has never been a good month for him." The blonde pointed out, taking a sip from her sake dish.

Sakura looked down as she began piecing things together. "Because the villagers hatred for the nine tailed fox only becomes more pronounced this time of year... Oh god, is that why those ninja attacked him?!" She asked in shock, only to receive a nod from her master. "Oh I'm going to go beat the fuck out of those ingrates!" She turned to walk out, only to be grabbed by the wrist.

She turned to look at her master, who could only shake her head. "No, Sakura... Even if they deserve it, it won't change how they feel about Naruto, no matter how much he's done for our village..." She told Sakura, all the while looking out the window.

The pink haired woman folded her arms, while pursing her lips "So... What do we do?" She asked Tsunade.

"Go spend time with him. You didn't know about his birthday, so make it up to him." She ordered Sakura, smiling slightly. "He did turn 20. Take him out for drinks!" She exclaimed, causing her student to laugh a bit.

"Alright then." She answered, giving a bow to her teacher before walking out. As Sakura walked through the halls, a grimace formed on her face as she thought back to how Naruto looked in Tsunade's office.

'I've never seen such a hollow look on his face before... I guess he normally just hides it better...' She thought to herself, holding one of her arms as sadness washed over her being.

'I can easily think of another time. Like when you made him promise to bring Sasuke-kun back to you.' Her inner self pointed out, almost spitefully so.

Sakura sighed heavily as she walked out of the building, jumping up onto the roof tops. "Don't remind me about that..." She told herself, not wanting to remember something so selfish.

'Why? Because you know that it wasn't because he was a close friend? That it was because you couldn't be a ninja without him there?' She pressed further, antagonizing herself now.

Sakura growled in annoyance as she made her way to Naruto's house. "You made your point!" She shouted, receiving confused glances from those in the streets below. She shook her head, before looking ahead. "I get it... But things are different now. We're adults now." She told herself. "And I'm going to give him the best damn belated birthday ever." She finished.

A door could be heard slammed shut, as a varied sounds of anger and annoyance echoed through the small apartment. Naruto threw his coat across the room, shouting in frustration. "God dammit! This isn't fair!" He complained while taking off his shoes. He ran his hand through his hair as he walked into his living room. He looked around at his home, it was dusty, and half of the lights didn't work. He groaned inwardly, as he fell on his couch. "Why am I getting punished?!" He yelled towards his ceiling.

He heard a growl come from within him, as the fox stirred awake. "Kid... Shut up..." The large fox tiredly told him, getting annoyed by the boy's yelling. Said boy sighed heavily, folding his arms over his forehead.

His gaze looked toward the window, the word 'monster' poorly spray painted on it, same as every year. "Sorry..." He finally apologized to the fox, sitting up and keeping his gaze locked on the window. He brushed his bangs away from his eyes as he stood up. "You'd think they'd get more creative after all these years... All they do is change the color." He remarked, making a stab at the person who always defaces his home.

"I guess that alone is enough for them. Unless that was the same person who threw rocks at your apartment that one year." The fox chimed in, giving a low growl as part of his comment.

"Come on Kurama, that guy doesn't have the balls to deface my apartment THAT badly. Besides, I found out it was a bunch of kids." Naruto pointed out, walking over to his fridge. He pulled a bottle of water out and began to drank it. "Still..." He trailed off, lowering his arm with the bottle in hand. "I'd like at least one year of not dealing with that..." He muttered sadly, while rubbing his arm.

It was always the same. Every October, for as long as he could remember it has been the same. He would wake up to some defacement of his property, he'd repair or clean it, then spend the rest of his day being pestered or attacked. Whether it was physically or verbally, it didn't matter. Granted, it started to get better after he got to know his teacher at the academy, Iruka. He actually made Naruto's birthdays somewhat decent. Taking him to Ichiraku's, and letting the boy eat whatever he wanted. Iruka had always been the closest thing Naruto had to a father, but now Iruka was married and had children of his own. He and Naruto still hung out, but not as much as they used to, so things started to dwindle back to the same old routine he dealt with as a child. The only difference? He knew why they tortured him now, 'they' being the village. It just started to weigh down on him.

More than anything, he was tired... Tired of the treatment, even after everything he had done for them, it didn't matter. Because as soon as the clock struck midnight, and October began, the villagers devolved back into the vengeful savages he knew as a child. It wasn't scarring like it was back then... It was now a nuisance, because now it could cost him his job. Just once, he'd like it so no one would judge him during this dreaded time of the year.

"Kid, you gonna stay lost in your thoughts? Or are you gonna answer the damn door?" Kurama asked, growling in annoyance as he knocked the blonde out of his thoughts.

Naruto blinked as he looked toward the door. "H-Huh?" He stammered as reality over took him once again. He walked toward the door, rolling his eyes. "I get it, you want to stick a knife in me, or throw food at me. Thanks for being polite and knocking, though!" He mocked his would-be guest. He then opened the door, surprised at who was on the other side.

Oh hi.

So it's been a while since I wrote anything, and by god does it show. I think.

But anyways! I was reminiscing and looking back at my older work, and I thought 'hmm... I want to write something!'. So since it's October... Naruto birthday fic!

And who knows, there might be something... Sexual! Who knows?!

Later!