𝐀 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐄 ━━ S. UCHIHA

LX

※No Sasuke※

"Sasuke?" Slowly but surely, I connect the dots between the two, yet it still leaves me in a bit of confusion. I know he has a birthday, but when is something I never really thought of.

"Yeah. Naruto thought that since his birthday is coming up, we should celebrate it somehow."

My heart pounds a little harder than I would like.

"Birthday?" Hinata pipes, tilting her head innocently. Neither one of us had known.

"You guys really know nothing, huh." After letting two more voices yell at the others, the guy sits up. "His birthday is the twenty-third, you know. And this guy," he points a thumb to Naruto, "thought it would be a good idea to throw him a surprise party."

The twenty-third? That's in a couple of days. Funny how I never knew that. "And you guys are at my house because...?"

"Naruto said something happened at Ryuken's party and said you wouldn't leave the house." His dark eyes linger on me for a second. I nod in confirmation but make no further effort into explaining the events of that night. "He said that since you're his friend, we should all do this together. So, we're all here."

"Wow, that's impressive," Hinata breathes with her eyes wide. "I only came because Sakura told me to."

I pout. "You didn't come here for me?"

"I was planning to later, but she said this time specifically."

"I'm surprised everyone agreed, though," I mutter, quickly glancing over to the members arguing over what to decide.

Shikamaru sighs. "We always do this for someone. It's expected that the group will do something for someone's birthday, but no one knows what. So, it wasn't hard to get everyone together."

I nod. "I guess that makes sense." Huh, so that's how.

"Yeah, and everyone knew something happened with you, so they didn't complain about coming over. As for what to do, not everyone agrees with Naruto's idea."

I chuckle nervously. Naruto went to that extent and everyone suspects something happened with me. Though I doubt anyone spilled anything. People might've seen me leave the party. Naruto before didn't know what was going on and might have mentioned it before which gave everyone an idea something went down. It still shocks me how many people suspect.

"I see that."

"Naruto will somehow manage to convince them, though. He always does."

I raise a brow at his comment. I never really thought about how persistent the guy is, especially when it comes to his friends. "Well, if he does convince them, I'm not really going to be able to help."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asks.

"I mean, after Saturday's events, I don't feel comfortable with going to a party, even if it's for someone's birthday. I don't think I could bring myself to go."

"No, you don't have to go to the actual party, but you can still be a part of it."

"How?"

"When you make a movie, there are tons of people part of the production, not everyone is on camera."

"Analogies won't help me."

"What I'm saying is you can still set up the scene, plan the time and place, still blow balloons or make a cake," he explains, wincing when Ino shrieks. "You just won't be there for the celebration."