Chapter 37: Birthday, Part 1

Naruto left off with Killer Bee and a squad of specialty Jonin ninja from both Konoha and the Cloud, along with Jiraiya. He will be gone and hidden away from the Akatsuki, and he will be training for the war. This time around, he knows about the war. He works better when he is focused, and Kakashi was actually the one to fight for him to know instead of hiding in ignorance. The only thing no one told him was when the war will start. He just knows it's soon, and that he will be of no use until he learns to master his nine-tails mode with his sage mode.Soon after the war was announced, and the day before Neji and I's 18th birthday, Lord Hiashi called a full clan meeting."We, the Hyuga clan, will play an important role in the coming war." Hiashi says to the entire clan who are assembled together. "Expect to be given sensory-type duties once the impending Fourth Great Ninja War begins. Assignments will vary, but in a crisis, we'll need one person to unify and lead the whole clan." Hiashi looks around at everyone assembled. "I can't, I've been assigned to the rear guard, and Hanabi's too young for real combat. Neji," He says, completely ignoring his oldest daughter, looking at my brother who is by my side. "I want you to command our clan on the front lines. Ami, I want you to be the second in command, and stay by his side." Everyone around us starts to whisper, wondering why Neji was chosen and not Hinata. "The entire clan is well aware of Neji's abilities, especially when combined with his twin's. Go, Neji, Ami. Do well." He says with finality, getting up and leaving.I look to my brother, who's eyes are wide in shock. I smile at him and grab his hand gently. "Good job, Neji. How's that for destiny, Commander?" I nudge him gently."If anyone, I thought it would be you. You have the furthest sight of the clan, and have been more involved with the Akatsuki fights." Neji says to me. "Plus, you have such diversity in your jutsu's.""Yes, but that diversity has lessened the amount of time I spend mastering the Hyuga style. You are the true genius of the Hyuga clan, you have the forms mastered to perfection." I tell him, and we stand up last to leave the room. We head outside, stopping when we overhear one of the main family members arguing with Hiashi over appointing Neji as Commander, saying that Hinata should have been chosen because of how hard she has been training. Hiashi argues that Hinata is just too kind to lead, and doesn't disagree with her advancing in her skills."We should have a party." I say randomly, smiling up at him while he and I are walking home. "For our 18th birthday tomorrow.""A party?" Neji asks skeptically. We've never had a party before."Yes, seems like a good time to start a new tradition. We could rent out the tea house and have all our friends over. We honestly all could use a break before we all get thrown into nonstop training and war preparation." I say thoughtfully."Fine. It does seem like a nice idea, I suppose." He smiles fondly to me when he thinks about it. "Let's go invite them then."We divide up who we will invite. He gets Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Lee, Choji, and Tsunade. I get Shino, Shirotsu, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Kiba, and Sai. We also just vow to invite any others we see around town while we are out. I make a clone to help me out with my list and we go out at the same time. By the time I get through my list, I dispel the clone, gathering back the confirmations of those she spoke to. So far, everyone has said yes to joining us."Tenten!" I call out, seeing the familiar hairstyle walking down the street towards me. She stops and looks at me with a smile. "Hey, Neji and I are having a birthday party tomorrow at the tea house, would you be able to join us?" I ask her, glad I ran into her. She and I haven't gone on many missions together since I became an assassin and left my team, but I know she has gone on some with Neji and the others of our group."That would be great, thanks!" She says, her eyes lighting up at the thought of going. I notice a subtle dusting of pink forming on her cheeks when I said Neji's name, and smirk lightly to myself. We part ways and I continue to my home.I ran into Raido as well, but he was heading out on a mission and couldn't join, though he appreciated the invite. I partnered with him once before the Asuma mission, he's a man who keeps himself fairly busy. I did also run into Izumo and Kotetsu, and they will be joining the party as well. I was almost back home when I stopped to get some dumplings for a snack, where I ran into Genma and Hayate. I invited both of them, and they said they will try to stop by, but they are on border patrol tomorrow. I looked one last time at Hayate before I left, smiling at the fact he is still alive and able to be sitting here with his friend eating dumplings."Neji, I got a bunch of people who are going!" I tell my brother excitedly when I get home."Me too, they are all excited. I also booked out the tea room for us." He says calmly, making us both some tea. I thank him and we sit and chat about the party tomorrow while on our porch. There's not much we have to plan it out, so really we are just wondering how all of them will react together. Yamato, Guy Sensei, and Aoba went with Jiraiya and Naruto to train with Killer Bee, so we couldn't invite them. I have a feeling Sensei will cry when he finds out we had a party without him, and Yamato will pull a depressed face he sometimes does when not included. I fall asleep on my brothers shoulder as we are peacefully resting together."Congratulations!" Everyone says to us at the tea house the next day when we enter. Most everyone are already here, we were running late from a clan meeting going over strategies. For the night, Neji and I are dressed in different clothes than usual. He is wearing a dark blue yukata with a blue band over his forehead. I am wearing a teal kimono with pink flowers, and a matching teal bank over my forehead."Thanks for coming!" Neji and I say, though with different levels of excitement. I say it happily, genuinely surprised that everyone came, while he says it calmly and kindly. I look around at all the people here, and my eyes widen at three additional guests."Gaara! Temari! Kankuro!" I shout in surprise to the Sand siblings. "What are you guys doing here? Not that I'm not extremely happy to see you, I just figured you would be in your village right now.""We had a meeting with the Hokage today, and Neji here ran into us this morning and invited us." Gaara says slowly, pointing towards my brother who just smirks at me and walks away to greet other guests. That sneaky bastard, he didn't tell me.I grin at the Sand siblings, happy to see them. I chat with them for a while, sharing a pot of tea and some dumplings with them before moving on to greet other guests. I spend hours talking with everyone, often reminiscing on how we met or some of the intense missions we went on together. I had a lot of fun interactions with everyone; fun flirting back and forth with Kankuro, challenges over wind attacks with Temari, a soft conversation about surprise battle tactics with Gaara, complaints about the effort it will take to organize so many shinobi with Shikamaru, excitement about seeing different fighting styles with Lee and Kiba, clan activities and Naruto teasing with Lady Hinata, weapons talk with Tenten when she wasn't actively talking with my brother, the Chuunin exams with Sakura and Ino, new art techniques with Sai, favorite foods with Choji and Shino. Genma, Hayate, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Tsunade all arrived later in the party, around the time the Sand siblings had to leave. Those five ganged up on Neji and I and lined up alcoholic drinks they convinced the tea shop to serve. We both braved through the drinks well enough, and even if it had been 18 years since my last drink, I handled it well. I can't say sake is a favorite drink of mine by any means, but it was strong and made me laugh. Neji and I ate some dumplings after our drinks, trying to balance ourselves out, and we both turn when Hinata is taking a picture of the both of us eating. I just hold my dumpling up proudly while Neji is caught mid bite.At one point during the evening, after a couple drinks and seeing Neji happily talking with Tenten while Lee was chatting away happily with Sakura, I stood up to get some air, pardoning myself from the conversation I was having with Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi about Sensei. I went outside to get some fresh air, and looked back in, seeing all the people in there. For a moment, a dark thought entered my mind. I consider all of these people gathered to be my friends, and I have learned what it means to be a friend, but what if I only became friends with them because they were characters I knew from the show? What if I only knew how to relate to them because I already knew their personalities?"You shouldn't be frowning so much at your own party." A voice says from my side. "You don't have to tell me what it is if you don't want to, but I would be happy to listen to you if you want."I look over at Shirotsu, who has now joined me outside. I look at him, and then I really think about him. He's my friend just as much as everyone else in that room, but he was never a character in the show. He didn't come with my cheat of knowledge, I built my friendship with him based only from our interactions together. I did that all by myself, and could easily consider him one of my closest friends. I smile broadly at Shirotsu at the thought."Just over thinking too much." I say honestly. "A million 'what if' scenarios were going through my mind.""What were some of them?" He asks hesitantly. "If I can help disprove them, I would be happy to."I contemplate for a moment, then decide to be brave and open to my friend, "What if I had a selfish reason for choosing these people to be my friends? What if they are only friends with me through obligation? What if they are actually Neji's friends and not mine?" I say softly so no one in there can hear us."I cannot presume to speak for others, but I can say that you are the least selfish person I know." Shirotsu says sincerely. "Why? Because you fight hard and sacrifice yourself time and again for the safety of those people in there and for the village. I know that I am your friend because of who you are, knives and all. There is no obligation to be around you, you are company that I actively choose to keep around me. Also, I hardly know Neji, so I'm not here for him as much as I am for you.""Thank you..." I breathe out after a moment, a single tear falling down my cheek at his words. His words just helped erase my doubts, confirming I really did it, I achieved my soul's lesson properly. "That really means a lot to me, Shirotsu. You are one of my closest friends, bugs and all." I joke back with a chuckle to him that he returns.He hesitates a moment, then wraps an arm around my shoulder. I know he's not big on touch, so this was a surprising move for him now. "Come, you are missing your own party." He says softly to me.He guides me back inside, where I am greeted by several people who said they were looking for me. I just smile at them all, feeling the negative thoughts disappearing in the presence of all my friends. I look around and watch everyone socialize, and smile broadly when I spot Sakura forming a light blush at whatever Lee is saying to her as she giggles. I know she loved or maybe still loves Sasuke, but I can see she is developing real feelings for my teammate, and I wish him the best. He has worked so hard for years to get her attention, and it seems to finally be working.