35 Birthday Boy

-April 4th, 4:37 PM-

"Happy birthday, Hideyo-chan!"

I stood on my tippy toes and blew the candles. My face instantly went red when Sasuke and Mikoto smooched my cheeks whilst Itachi bumped our noses together. Fugaku then, on a rare show of affection, gave me a peck on the forehead. Happiness bloomed inside my chest and I held back a grin. I have an image to maintain, duh.

I had officially survived another year today and we were celebrating it at the orphanage. The orphans could certainly use the free new clothes and the free pastries. Birthdays were usually a quiet affair in our household; my previous birthday passed just like any other day, Sasuke's were celebrated with simple cakes, whilst Itachi were simply given pats on the shoulders and new weapons or books as gifts; thus the change of pace, though nice, was also unbelievably suspicious and strange. We were still watched by the ANBU of course, I could faintly sense them around the perimeter, but there were only three of them if one discount Itachi, whom to no one's surprise, had rejoined the ninja force as quickly as he was kicked. I honestly was not sure if the boy was an ANBU or a jōnin or a military police officer.

I shimmied away and wandered into a small table that had been set nearby. My fingers hovered over the assortment of gifts, not really searching for something in particular. My eyes locked onto a nondescript envelope that was attached into a small, green box, that smelled exoticly foreign. I quickly skimmed its content.

"…very rich with exuberant vegetation in spring and summer. The soils are carpeted with flowers in every color. Every temple has these marvelous gardens of flowering plants and vegetables, where they would then praise their Gods and Goddesses through sacred celebration with songs and dances.

I heard from the locals that the island harbored all sorts of exotic plant life. There are plants which assist in chakra control, illnesses, and other various impairments as well. One man even said that he owned an eel that could drastically increase the potency of lightning chakra users–"

"Hideyo-chan!" an annoyingly familiar voice called me.

Ignoring it, I quickly skimmed the letter and then skipped into the last page.

"Enjoy the flowers, bocchan. Send my regards to everyone (or don't).

- YK"

I shoved the letter into my jacket and poked at the small box, one that contained what Kabuto-san had said to be an edible flower. I honestly did not know whether the teen was serious or was simply messing with me; I didn't even know how he managed to send all of his letters and gifts from wherever the hell he was right now, but I was certainly not complaining. The flowers were very pretty.

A sudden presence behind me alerted my senses and I quickly wrapped my fingers around the nearest projectile that I could find and hurled it towards the newcomer. The plastic fork bounced innocently off of his clothes. The young man grinned whilst I resisted the urge to face-palmed.

"Shisui…"

"Happy birthday, nephew!" the curly-haired teen bellowed jovially.

Shisui was actually our cousin, whom I had mistakenly called uncle once because he was so darn tall and because I did not know anyone in the clan barring my immediate family. Needless to say, the teen still wouldn't – and probably would never – let it go. I grumbled halfheartedly when I was scooped off of the ground and gathered into a bear hug. It felt nice.

Shisui carried me back to my family and made it his business to make sure that my hair was as messy as they could become.

I futilely tried to smack his hand away and protected my hair, much to his amusement. "Yes, yes… Thank you for your enthusiasm. I'm sure I shall live for another year. Put me down now, please. Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

The teen jokingly scrunched up his face. "Aww, you're no fun…" I was given another smooch on the cheek before I was deposited onto my giggling mother's waiting arms. Shisui then snagged his arm around Itachi, who was trying very hard not to smile, and gave us all a salute before disappearing with a swirl of leaves.

"Ja, ne!"

Sasuke gaped. "I can't believe him... He stole Aniki again! From a birthday party!"

I hummed. "They probably have a mission or something… it's fine, really."

"Actually…" Mikoto interjected slowly. With care, she put me down besides Sasuke. Her hands lingered over my shoulders, as if she did not want to let go, "your father and I have to go too… We have an important clan meeting coming up in five minutes, so we cannot stay long."

I warily watched Fugaku step closer and knelt beside Mikoto, one of his hands squeezed Sasuke's shoulder whilst his other hand squeezed mine. "Both of you, listen to the orphanage matron, understood? Sasuke, I want you to take good care of your brother. Hideyo, behave. I don't know how long the meeting will go, but I don't want to hear any shenanigans."

My eyes narrowed. What kind of meeting was this? Why would they bother to set up a birthday party if they did not even plan to stay anyway? Was the party only served as a front?

"On one condition," I said.

Fugaku, Mikoto, and Sasuke all looked questioningly at me.

I shrugged off Fugaku's hand and rolled up my left sleeve, tying its end and forming a rudimentary tourniquet. I blinked my sharingan into existence and eyed my antebrachial vein, for once thankful for my pale complexion. Behind my back, I channeled chakra into my right forefinger, condensing it into dark blue. Before my family could intervene, I made a shallow incision over the subcutaneous fat and then grabbed an empty vial on my pocket, quickly filling it with blood.

Fugaku and Mikoto stared at me with wide eyes. Sasuke looked downright horrified.

"What the f-fudge!" Sasuke screeched.

"We both know that compared to everything that you have seen me done, this is actually a quite tame one, Aniki."

Seeing that it had reached a sufficient amount, I quickly capped the vial and applied pressure towards my forearm. I flicked the vial towards Mikoto, who reflexively caught it.

"If things go south," I said, "I need you to pour it to the ground and run, no question asked. Would you do that?"

They both remained silent.

"Don't make me cut off my whole arm just to save you," I threatened. "You have less than 45 seconds before the meeting concur. I suggest you go now."

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other.

"We're going to have a talk after this, Hideyo," Fugaku said. "Sasuke, please watch over him."

"We love you very much," Mikoto continued.

Then they too, disappeared into thin air.

.

.

.

A tendril of wood climbed from my ankle and wrapped around my forearm, applying an adequate pressure as red-blood sap seeped into my skin, leaving an unblemished skin in its wake.

"Master… your order?"

I felt Sasuke's clammy hand wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

I gazed into the horizon, where the afternoon sky was filled with shades of orange and pink, peach and magenta, amber and rose, each one of them radiating hope of a new beginning, of the good that tomorrow could bring.

In a few hours they would all be hidden by the black despair of night, a symbol of the suffering that tomorrow was going to bring.

I closed my eyes and linked my hand with Sasuke, its firm weight and surprising strength comforted me.

I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.

I exhaled.

"Kill every hostile."