With You, Forever | Naruhina

Chapter 2: Happy Birthday, Naruto

"So I'm eighteen today," Naruto thought to himself. He wasn't exactly sad, hell he was feeling a lot happier than yesterday. Yes, the pain of not having those who he loved dearly was hard, but he thought today, he wasn't going to let that interfere with his spirit. He dressed up in his black and orange jacket and wore his orange pants. He headed out into the village.

It was exhilarating. Everyone wished him a happy birthday, he was swamped with gifts. Even with the help of Konohamaru it was difficult for him to handle all those presents. 

So he went back with him to his apartment to keep all the presents there. He thought to himself, "No one saw me as the nine-tails jinchuriki anymore that's amazing, I think". But there was still doubt in his mind.

Naruto... Came a voice from his head, it was Kurama the nine-tailed beast that was sealed inside him. Naruto, Happy birthday boy!! Naruto couldn't help but smile a little. This dammed fox was never upfront about his feelings and whenever he was it seemed sarcastic. Though today there was a different sincerity in his voice, it made Naruto feel a little bit loved.

"Thank you, Kurama" was all Naruto could say, he didn't even make fun of him. The fox smiled a little and went dormant again. Konohamaru was shaking Naruto to wake him up from his dreamy state.

"Big brother Naruto, let's go and have some ramen today!! I finished a mission and I can treat you today!!"

"Alright!! You brought on yourself Konohamaru!" teased Naruto.

They went to the Ichiraku ramen shop, where Naruto ate to its heart content. But he was still a little bummed out. He hadn't even met one of his friends today. It was almost evening and he started to feel that they forgot it was his birthday. He has had a lot of lonely birthdays and he thought maybe this year it would be a little different. Just after eating ramen and emptying Konohamaru's wallet, he started to walk towards his apartment. When suddenly he stopped in his tracks. There she was standing at a stall though not in her usual white hoodie but a lavender dress but which perfectly complimented her blue hairs and as the sun was setting she looked like an angel. When her lavender eyes suddenly made eye contact with his deep blue ones, he realized he was staring at her and saw her face turn into a deep shade of red, which was a normal thing whenever she was around him.

"There you are Naruto-Kun, I've been searching all over for you!!" said Hinata, her face turning even redder.

"Oh yeah, I was with Konohamaru, he was treating me and—" he looked around to see where Konohamrau was standing just a second ago. What? Where did he go?! NOT AGAIN!!! It was always like this, whenever he meets Hinata by chance, anyone who he was with disappeared suddenly, he thought.

"Do you want to go to the Barbeque shop?" came Hinata's soft voice, almost as if she was struggling not to faint as she was saying these words.

Even with a full stomach, Naruto couldn't say no to her as she rarely asked him out so they both went together to the Barbeque shop in silence. Hinata was carrying a bag which contained something that caught Naruto's attention, just as he was about to ask her about it they reached the shop. Hinata stopped short and signaled him to go in first. He did as he was told and what he saw made him jumped back in surprise.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!!" shouted everyone. Sakura, Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, Tenten, Iruka sensei, Kohonmaru, even Kakashi sensei was present there. He looked at them with bewilderment. He wasn't sure what to do. He stared back at Hinata who was smiling, a kind of smile he has never seen before which made her look even more like an angel. He was pulled back from his train of thought when Sakura brought out the most adorable birthday cake ever. It was Kurama, the cake was shaped in form of the nine-tails, that did it. Naruto couldn't control his emotions any longer and began to cry, tears of joy. This is what he wanted all his life.

"Hold onto your tears a little longer, Naruto-Kun. We have another surprise for you" said Rock Lee.

Another??? Naruto thought... everyone made way for him to enter intake in the surroundings, a huge banner was hung which said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO", the walls and tables were covered with orange things which made him think of the time he meet his mother when he said he was the "Orange Spark of Kohana". Just as he moved in a little bit more he stopped and looked at the thing before him. He was mesmerized by what was in front of him. All of his lonely birthdays and lonely days seemed to melt away. His heart was racing and he once again started to shed tears of joy.

There were two things hung on the wall -a picture of his parents his dad with the same spiky blonde hairs as his and his beautiful mother with amazing red hairs. Another one though was a sketch of all three of them together. Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was exactly how he imagined his family would look like. The painting was of course done by Sai. He turned to everyone and saw that all of them were smiling at him.

"Than- Thank You, everyone.. I-I have no words" was all he could say.

"Sai, you drew this right?". Sai nodded with the brightest smile on his face.

"Thank you, Sai," Naruto said crying like a baby.

"It was Hinata's idea, Naruto," said Sakura, "although the cake was my idea, I hope you like it!!"

Hinata's idea? Naruto's eyes shifted to her and fixed at her. It was like no one else was in the room except her. His blue eyes found her lavender one and he rushed to give her the biggest hug. He couldn't help himself, he saw her face go crimson red but he didn't care, he didn't care about Kiba's "Oooooo" teasing comment, all he cared about was the girl who made his day.

"Thank you, Hi- Hinata, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me" he said pulling out of the hug.

"It was n-nothing, Naruto-Kun," Hinata said, blushing.

"Alright!! People let's celebrate this idiot's birthday!!" said Kiba. Everyone laughed and Naruto went to cut the cake.

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I hope you enjoyed the little Naruhina moment here!! Let me know if this was a good chapter or not?