The sun in the sky had gradually shifted westward, and the living room wall in Kakashi’s room was covered with celebratory banners.
Round hydrogen balloons were also tied throughout the room, and the previously monotonous room suddenly became adorable under the trio's decorations.
“Finally… it’s mostly set up.”
Chizhao put her hands on her hips, looked at the results, and smiled with satisfaction.
“It really feels like a birthday now.” After hanging the last banner, Sasuke stood beside Chizhao, surveying the scene with her.
“Bang!” The sound of a balloon popping came again, and the two of them turned to look at Naruto, who was sitting on the ground, speechless. Looking closely, his surroundings were already covered with fragments of burst balloons.
“Naruto, that’s enough balloons, no need to inflate any more.”
“But I want more balloons! If the whole room is filled with balloons, Kakashi-sensei will definitely be very happy!”
Sasuke retorted impolitely, “You’ll be happier, you big idiot…”
“No, I won’t!”
“Stop!”
Standing between the two, Chizhao reached out to stop their impending argument:
“There’s no time for you two to argue right now, we still have one most important thing left to do!”
“The cake! Let’s go now!” Naruto excitedly waved his arms and ran out of the room.
Sasuke sighed, a headache forming, “That hot-blooded idiot.”
“Alright, stop complaining, let’s go quickly!”
Chizhao naturally took Sasuke’s hand and followed Naruto’s retreating figure out of the room.
The scene shifted, and the trio finally arrived at the cake shop. The dazzling array of birthday cakes inside, looking exquisite and delicious, made the three, who had been busy until now without eating, swallow their saliva.
“They look so delicious…” Naruto wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, Sasuke’s stomach rumbled. He quickly covered his abdomen and gave an embarrassed cough, “Hurry up and choose, it’s almost dark.”
“Chizhao~ I want this one~”
Naruto nudged Chizhao’s side, pointing at a cake shaped like a Shuriken, constantly squirming.
“But I like this one with fruit~ It looks very delicious.”
Sasuke, standing behind them, felt a vein throb on his forehead. He forcefully pushed Naruto, who was leaning on Chizhao, away:
“It’s not your birthday, why are you picking according to your own tastes? Hurry up and choose a suitable one and let’s go back!”
After a period of indecision and bickering, the trio still couldn’t decide on a cake that fit Kakashi’s style.
In the end, they asked the pastry chef to custom-make one on the spot, which finally brought smiles of satisfaction to all three of them.
“I can’t wait to see Kakashi-sensei’s face when he sees the cake.”
Fearing Naruto would drop the cake again, Chizhao took it from his hands and held it securely in her arms: “No more accidents this time.”
Looking at the sky gradually darkening outside, Sasuke urged, “It’s getting dark, let’s go back quickly.”
As dusk fell, Sakura, who still hadn't found a suitable ninja tool, seemed to have run out of all her strength, bending over with her arms hanging limply, her legs moving weakly.
It’s already dark, that should be enough, right?
Kakashi gazed deeply at the somewhat unusual Sakura today, stroking his chin: “Sakura, did you argue with Chizhao and the others?”
“Eh? No, Kakashi-sensei, why do you ask?”
Kakashi stopped, pointing at the three figures with happy smiles on their faces, their backs to them:
“Then why aren’t you playing with the three of them?”
When Sakura saw the trio who should have been preparing in Kakashi’s room, she instantly froze on the spot.
A surge of anger rose from her heart, she clenched her fists tightly, and quickly approached them, shouting loudly:
“Hmph!! What are you guys doing here?!!!”
“Sa… Sakura?!”
Everyone was startled.
When Sakura clearly saw the birthday cake Chizhao was holding, and then looked at a nearby cake shop, she immediately understood everything that was happening, and couldn’t help but frown, her eye twitching.
If Sakura was here, then that meant Kakashi was also nearby?
“Yo! What are you guys doing here, sneaking around?”
Sure enough, Kakashi’s unique, lazy voice sounded behind them, making them all shiver involuntarily.
What to do? What to do?
If Kakashi-sensei saw it, a whole day's surprise would be for nothing!
Finally, at the moment when everyone was sweating profusely, Chizhao, in a flash of inspiration, quickly pulled open Naruto’s jacket.
“Eh? Wait… Chizhao?”
“Shh! Don’t speak!”
She forcefully stuffed the cake into Naruto’s arms, then quickly zipped up his jacket, and Naruto’s belly instantly bulged.
At this, the four of them breathed a sigh of relief, slowly turned around, and greeted Kakashi with smiles:
“Go… Good evening, Kakashi-sensei, hehehe.”
Naruto, with the most obvious belly among the four, immediately caught Kakashi’s attention. His eyes widened, and he asked with concern:
“Naruto… what’s wrong with your stomach?”
“This is… He insisted on having a ramen eating contest with Sasuke just now, and ate too much at once, so it ended up like this.”
Kakashi looked suspiciously at Chizhao, then turned his gaze to the frowning Sasuke:
“That’s strange, would Sasuke actually compete with Naruto in a ramen eating contest?”
“Today is just an exception…”
“I see…”
Looking at the nervous expressions of the four in front of him, and Naruto’s suspicious belly, Kakashi naturally realized they were trying their best to hide something from him, and his gaze dimmed for a moment.
Was he not trusted in their hearts?
“Grumble~~~”
The sound of a hungry stomach came from Naruto’s round belly, and once again, everyone’s nervous feelings rose to their throats.
Naruto quickly hugged his rumbling big belly, squealing, “Huh? Huh? Why do I feel hungry again?”
Kakashi blinked, thinking this was an opportunity, and so he smiled easily:
“In that case, I can treat you all to ramen again!”
Naruto’s eyes lit up at the mention of ramen: “Really?!”
Sasuke immediately held him back, saying coldly, “We’ll just go by ourselves, right, Chizhao, Sakura.”
“…Mm.”
The two girls nodded, and the four of them turned in a different direction, leaving Kakashi standing behind, at a loss.
“Hey! I’m treating you to ramen, you can eat as much as you want!”
“No need.” Sasuke turned his head, still cold and unfeeling.
“How can you be like this? Sakura! Aren’t you still going to choose ninja tools?”
Sakura turned back, showing an apologetic expression: “Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, that’s not needed anymore either.”
“How… how can this be? Am I disliked?”
Suddenly, Chizhao turned around and jogged a few steps towards Kakashi.
“Chizhao? So you’ve decided to go eat ramen with me after all?”
Kakashi, thinking someone finally wanted to be with him, immediately brightened up.
“Kakashi-sensei, I just came to remind you to go slow on your way back, bye bye!”
“This…”
The three of them, protecting the “big-bellied” Naruto, slowly disappeared from Kakashi’s line of sight. Once he could no longer see them, they took out the cake from Naruto’s arms and ran like mad towards Kakashi’s house.
“Faster! We must get everything ready before Kakashi-sensei gets home!”