"SAKURA!" Naruto's voice was impossibly loud, and yet the girl he was yelling to was blissfully unaware of it. Stamping his feet impatiently, he turned to the two shinobi that stood with him on the doorstep of their teammate's house. Sai and Kakashi stared back; one bemused, the other bored.

"I don't think she can hear me," Naruto observed.

"Well she's the only one in Konoha then," Kakashi replied, fighting the urge to rub his ears. He had almost forgotten that Naruto could reach decibels reserved for exploding tags. "You two just wait here, then." Wishing he weren't the only jounin among the three, he streaked away from Haruno Sakura's doorstep, up on to the neighbour's rooftop, then round to the back. Sakura's bedroom window had to be there somewhere. And there it was; two large glass frames that led to a small outside balcony. Kakashi smiled grimly as he landed on the platform without a sound. The next part would probably be the hardest…

Sakura was having a wonderful dream. She wasn't sure of any details, but there was an unmistakeable good feeling flowing through her body as she enjoyed her sleep in. That feeling evaporated when she heard a slight tap come from behind her curtains. "Sakura?" the voice was hesitant, and much quieter than the caterwaul she had been unable to hear before. Sitting up and throwing off her blanket, she tried to focus on the bright light coming in through her window. It was making a wavering silhouette against the drapes that protected her eyes from the worst of the glare. She decided that whoever the silhouette belonged to, she hated.

"What?" She snarled, pushing herself off the bed and toward the window in a single motion, before her body could fall back onto her sheets. She grabbed the curtains and flung them apart with force, hissing as the sun assaulted her eyes. "What the hell do you want?"

Kakashi took advantage of her few seconds of blindness to take in the girl's appearance. She wore red silk pyjamas and an expression that could have skinned a cat. Her light pink hair was tousled and looked almost as crazy as the man's own. Sakura had focused enough by now to identify who had disturbed her slumber. Considering her attitude could only get worse, Kakashi cut to the chase.

"Can you let Naruto and Sai in downstairs? We were told to bring you to the Hokage."

That got Sakura's attention a little. She stood a little straighter at the mention of her mistress, and opened the glass door to let Kakashi and the fresh air in. "You go through and let them in. I'll get changed," she said, turning away from the door and rummaging in her drawer for fresh clothes. "Business or pleasure?" she called over her shoulder before Kakashi left her room. She would need to know whether to wear her mission clothes or not. Kakashi wore his, but that was nothing to go by. Sakura doubted he owned anything else.

"Pleasure," Kakashi replied, sounding bored by this fact. "No mission today, so wear something nice."

Sakura grumbled to herself as her ex-sensei headed downstairs to unlock the door for Naruto and Sai. "I always wear something nice…"

Team Kakashi was assembled before the Hokage, but only Sakura's stance was respectful. The other shinobi knew this was a personal summons, and so even Sai was slouched and distracted. They had only been roped into this because they were Sakura's teammates, and had been convenient to find that morning.

"Sakura," Tsunade began, her commanding voice a little softer than it would have been with most, "I suppose you know what today is?"

Sakura did know. She had realised the significance of the date a little after Kakashi woke her up. "It's my birthday."

"Yes. You are now eighteen, which means a lot as a shinobi. Your new civilian freedoms will often be restricted by your new responsibilities. You are officially an adult, though ninja are considered adults from the time they graduate the academy. You've always known the risks associated with the life you've chosen. Well, they're about to increase tenfold as you take on more challenging missions. Eighteen is practically middle-aged for most shinobi. The Hokage's butterscotch eyes looked a little sad at this unfortunate truth.

"It is also around this time that most consider taking the jounin exam. As your mentor, I want to express my confidence in you, should you choose to apply in the near future." At this, her eyes moved from Sakura to the silver-haired man by the door. "Kakashi?" The man in question jolted theatrically at the address, and met her eyes with his one. "You were her teacher once too. Do you believe she is ready for the Jounin exam, if and when she chooses?"

Kakashi's looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if thinking hard. Did he think Sakura would cope as a Jounin? It seemed like yesterday that he was deliberating over making her a chunin. She had been so green back then, still young and weak. She was definitely stronger now. She had grown so much under Tsunade, and he had always felt a little guilty at how much more the Hokage had done for her than he had.

Kakashi looked into Sakura's no longer too-innocent green eyes for a moment before facing forward once more and nodding. "Ah," he said, by way of agreement, "she'd cope."

Once they had all been dismissed, the four went their separate ways. Sakura was going back home to have a shower and drop off the present Tsunade and Shizune had given her. Naruto was going to drag Sai to go and get ramen, and Kakashi was going to read Icha Icha Paradise and enjoy the rest of the day. At least that was his plan before he ran into Gai. Maito Gai's booming welcome of "Ah! My eternal rival!" almost made the man long for Naruto's over-excited yelling. Almost. As Gai fell into step with Kakashi's lazy stroll it became apparent he had something he wanted to talk about. Why else would the energetic giant force himself to walk so slowly? Not taking his eyes off the page, Kakashi asked him outright: "What is it, Gai?"

The big man scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. "Ah, well. Nothing really…" Kakashi knew there was more to come, so remained silent.

"So- Lee's eighteenth birthday went by pretty recently…" Gai said conversationally.

"I don't really remember, Gai." Kakashi wished he'd taken the other path from Hokage Tower. Gai was probably the only man in Konoha who would try to make small-talk with him.

"That's just what I'm saying!" Gai stopped walking and turned to face his silver-haired friend. "We couldn't really celebrate it because he can't drink sake or anything." His tone suggested that this was akin to being allergic to air. Kakashi had a bad feeling about this topic.

"So… it's Sakura's birthday today, isn't it?" Kakashi's bad feelings were always correct.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," he replied, knowing where this was leading and not liking it one bit.

Gai's face lit up as though he had suddenly had a great idea. "So I suppose she'll be celebrating at the local bar tonight, wont she?"

"I wouldn't know," said Kakashi, trying hard not to sound annoyed at this weird conversation, "I'm not her teacher anymore."

"Oh, she has to have a drink to celebrate the blossoming of her youth!" What was it about Gai that made everyone sound like flowers?

The copy-nin shrugged. "Gee, I guess."

Sadly the sarcasm was lost on the green-clad ninja. "Then that's settled! We'll all have to go out for a drink tonight! To celebrate Sakura's birthday!" He looked triumphant at having finally gotten his excuse.

Kakashi shrugged once more. "You'll have to ask her first if you want it to happen."

Gai's triumph was slightly dampened. He had hoped the other man would offer to ask. He was her old sensei after all. But then he spied the Yamanaka Flower Shop behind them and his youthful mind presented him with a solution. "Well alright; I will definitely invite everyone to the bar tonight, or else I will do five-hundred bench-presses!" With that, he turned to run back the way they had come. Before he sprinted off, he pointed a sausage-like finger at Kakashi. "You'll have to come too, of course." Kakashi rolled his eye and nodded- anything to get Gai to leave him alone.

Sakura was at the training ground, but she wasn't doing anything strenuous. She just wanted to be outside in the sun rather than inside somewhere. It was her birthday and she didn't have any missions or hospital shifts. She planned to soak up the peace and solitude until it got dark, then jog home for a bubble bath. At least that was her plan before she ran into Ino. Her sort-of best friend waved as she approached, a purple cosmos in her hand. Sakura sat up from where she had been watching the clouds, pulling blades of grass from her hair. Ino drew level with her and dropped the flower into her lap. "Happy birthday, billboard-brow," she said, grinning.

"Thanks," Sakura said as she delicately picked up the symbol of friendship. "Shouldn't you be working at the moment?"

"Lunch break," Ino explained as she sat down beside the pink-haired girl. "So I thought I'd take the time to ask you about your party."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I'm not having a party, you know that."

"I thought I knew that," Ino replied, "until Gai-brows walked into my shop and told me to tell you that you were. He said something about not 'wasting the springtime of your youth'. Basically, everyone's going to the bar tonight in your honour."

Sakura looked deep into Ino's milky blue eyes to see if this was a wind-up. "Gai-sensei said that I had to drink now just because I can?" The weird jounin had never seemed to care much about anyone other than Lee and Kakashi. She wondered what the catch was now.

"He didn't say you had to, he just said that everyone else over eighteen would be." Ino smiled a devious smile. "But I personally think it's a good idea. You're only eighteen once, and I've been waiting for you to grow up so I have someone to party with."

"Hey grandma, you're only two months older than me!" Sakura scowled at being treated like a child when her friend was practically the same age. "You're not the only one that's an adult now!"

Ino didn't fight back. She wanted Sakura to defend her right to drink. "Well if that's how you feel, then I guess you are celebrating tonight after all," she said casually as she stood and brushed herself off, "Good thing too, because I already told everybody." Her smile widened at Sakura's expression before she disappeared back toward town.

The other kunoichi was left sitting alone, holding her birthday flower and feeling as though she had been tricked.