The NaruSaku Collection

Story Twelve: Cake

Summary: Sakura gets it in her head that she's going to make Naruto a birthday cake. She would admit that the idea was a momentary lapse of judgement. She can't bake, but that's not going to stop her trying... again and again and again. Naruto's worth it. What is her boyfriend going to think of the result?

It was a well known fact that Sakura Haruno's baking attempts didn't always go to plan. More often than not, the products of her labour went in the bin or Naruto's stomach.

This time, while her creation was still going to Naruto, she wanted it to be perfect. She was making him a cake for his 20th birthday. Normally, he said he loved her cooking, despite how awful everything turned out. For once, she wanted his words to be true. She wanted to genuinely surprise him.

The thought was definitely there. However, the baking skills still weren't. Yet once she had set her mind on it there was no way she was going to backtrack on her plan. Naruto deserved something nice and she didn't want to give him food poisoning or make him ill. She had already hinted at her making something for him and the excitement he had expressed (and pure willpower) was keeping her going. She did not want to disappoint him.

It was only her ninth go. The first three didn't count because she tried another recipe which just wasn't the right one for Naruto's special day. The sixth didn't count either because putting out a fire is an unfair distraction.

It was only her twelfth go but she was crying tears of frustration. No matter how hard she tried, cakes were over-cooked, under-baked, collapsed, or couldn't be cut with the sharpest of kunais. She used too much flour or not enough – the list of mistakes was endless – but on her life she couldn't get the ingredients right. She started not following the instructions but the results did not improve, surprisingly.

She was certain someone was sneaking in and replacing all of her perfect cakes with failed alternatives - that was the only logical reason, it had nothing to do with her of course. She was trying her best and usually that eventually worked – at least it did for Naruto more often than not and she liked to think she had a similar drive when it came to stepping up and achieving her goals.

She did, however, occasionally let her emotions get the better of her. How could something so simple be this complex?

Only when she realised she was crying into one of her more recent cakes did she pull away and slide her back down the counter until she was sat on the floor. She rested there and looked up at the ceiling, disheartened but not completely broken.

"The things I do for you, Naruto..."

To spare her insanity, she didn't make any more cakes the next day. But it was Naruto's birthday today and now it was her last chance to make the perfect cake.

She knew he'd love it no matter what she made but she really did want it to be special.

She got up extra early and took a big, deep breath before she began. She took her time. She measured all the ingredients out perfectly - that was the easiest bit.

As she mixed flour and cracked eggs, she imagined Naruto's smiling face as she told him that she might have a small surprise planned – that she, of all people, was going to do something a bit creative. He knew she wasn't the best cook (although would never admit it), so if she could just create something that was average she would be happy.

Yet at this rate, they were not going to be able to eat a cake, or have one. She wasn't going to cheat. She would just have to give him this next one and promise to make it up to him next year.

Sakura held her breath.

She might have actually done it.

This cake looked good! She had tasted parts of it during the process and it had not made her want to throw up. It was circular, the decorations were neat and it showed no early signs of utter failure. It stood tall on its plate which was a remarkable accomplishment. At the very least, it made her other attempts look bad – that wasn't hard to do but nobody was going to see them anyway.

She didn't want to move this one due to the fear of it collapsing but she carried it with extreme care through her kitchen and across to her dining room table. She sat it down slowly and decided she wasn't going to risk taking it over to Naruto's house. He would have to come here.

As she glanced at the clock she realised she didn't have much time before she had planned to meet her boyfriend. She would rush and get ready and would just have to make sure that she closed the door to the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind. If this reveal went well, that may also prevent the cake-related nightmares repeating from her fitful sleep the night before.

To Sakura's pure delight, the horrible people who had been sabotaging her previous baking attempts had not broken in and stolen her perfect cake. She had rushed out to meet Naruto and insisted he come back to hers for his surprise – right now. When they got to her house, the cake was still stood on her dining room table and she nervously gestured towards it.

Naruto approached the confectionery with a smile on his face.

"You made this for me?"

She nodded. "I know my baking usually likely makes you feel sick but I really tried with this. Tell me the truth though, if it's no good..."

Sakura swallowed as Naruto picked up the knife and successfully cut out a slice of cake. It didn't collapse or burst into flames so at least that was something. She really hoped it tasted OK. She winced in anticipation as he took a bite.

Naruto's eyes lit up and his grin widened to make his signature happy expression.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, you should make this every year!"

Her heart simultaneously lifted and sank.

Every year? She was guaranteed to lose a week of her life to this every time his birthday came around!

She forced a smile. "Ah... maybe."

Naruto devoured another three slices which took the pressure right off her shoulders. He didn't have to put that much effort into something he didn't like.

He had offered her a piece but she waved him off. After he seemed confused by that, she explained that it was his cake and she wouldn't dare take any.

But he insisted and she caved and... she was pleasantly surprised.

The fact that it was more than edible took some of the sting of the experience away. To be honest, Naruto's unwavering smile made it all worth it. She would even do it all again in an attempt to replicate his happy mood.

"You could even sell this, Sakura-chan!" Naruto insisted.

"You're kidding me, right?" She looked at him seriously. "Me? Running any kind of food stall? That's ridiculous."

Naruto shrugged. "Then I could have ramen for dinner and cake for dessert all the time!"

She laughed at him and with a mouthful of cake, she said, "You'd get so fat."

He grinned at her. "But I'd be happy and fat."

It was a fair point. If she could eat sweet food every day, she would. A chubby Naruto would still be cute.

When she laughed again at that thought, she ended up choking and broke into a series of coughs.

Naruto stood up and sped towards the kitchen. "I'll grab you a drink, Sakura-chan!"

Her eyes widened in panic. Not the kitchen! She swallowed down her cake and rushed after him.

Naruto paused as he opened the door and was greeted with the gigantic mess that was her counters, walls and floor. Flour, equipment and cakes littered all of the surfaces in sight.

Hesitantly, she approached him. Maybe she could hit him over the head, knock him out and see if she could get away with pretending he drank too much after they had their cake and that this whole messy kitchen totally didn't exist. They did have a party to go to later and it was almost guaranteed that one of their friends was going to try and get the birthday boy completely wasted.

"...Did you make more cakes, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura sighed before admitting, "So many of them sucked that much... I literally think one has my tears in it."

She watched Naruto's back as he scanned across the failed cakes scattered all over the place, embarrassed that she had been caught out and that there was no hiding from it now.

"This is great!"

"Huh?" She couldn't help but express her surprise.

"I get even more cakes for my birthday!"

"No, wait, Naruto-"

It was too late. Naruto had bounced over to the first cake, picked up a collapsed section and was already swallowing most of it.

She cringed.

He turned around and grinned at her. "I love it!"

She frowned at him. "Naruto, you're just saying that to make me feel better. Please don't eat any more. I don't want to poison you."

He pouted. "But I want to try all of them."

After staring at his pouting face, she eventually caved. "Fine, you can have one tiny piece from each."

He grinned again and moved onto the next cake.

"Out of the two, this is definitely my favourite so far."

They were that terrible she doubted you could rate them on a different level of bad. He was going to make himself sick.

"This one's a little salty..."

"I think that's the tears cake."

"I thought so," Naruto said with an all-knowing nod. "I don't like it when you're sad."

He sampled every cake, each time critiquing it with extreme positivity. He even looked like he was enjoying himself. He also managed to cheer her up. After the week she had gone through, she felt like she actually might cry at his genuine kindness.

He got to the first cake she created and she held her breath.

Naruto took his bite and smiled down at it. "This is my favourite."

If he wasn't sweeter than the sweetest of cakes, she would have been annoyed. She doubted he meant it, although his expression told a different story.

"I can taste the good intentions." He looked round at the kitchen again. "Sakura-chan, all this effort for me, you're the best girlfriend in the world. This is the best day ever. I'm so happy."

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.

He bounced over to her, worried he had upset her, but the moment he was in reach she pulled him into a strong hug.

"Oh, Naruto... you idiot."

A hearty laugh vibrated through him and she gripped him tighter. Even though she was still facing her mess in the nightmare of a kitchen, she managed to smile happily. She looked over his shoulder at her creations and was so glad for them.

"I love you, Sakura-chan."

"I love you too, Naruto. You're the best person in the world."

"No, you are," he mumbled.

He could never convince her that he wasn't the most spectacular guy in existence. In fact, they'd had this conversation before.

"Don't make me hit you," she warned.

"OK, OK, I'm the best person ever."

She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. She dabbed at her wet cheeks as she watched him grin at her.

"Do you think you have it in you to make one more cake?" he challenged.

"Oh no!" She groaned.

Definitely not. Despite the success, she was not going to bake anything else for a long, long time.

But Naruto was getting excited again...

"I think that while our baking skills alone are epic, together we will be the best cake-making team alive!"

"You've got to be kidding!" She laughed.

She let him pull her towards her kitchen.

It was safe to say that they got more flour over the walls, the house and each other than in the cake tin. They managed to create the most sorry-looking cake in history. Yet when she tasted it, she had to admit that it was pretty good. And she wasn't just saying that to make Naruto cheer, like he did. She was so high on happy that she could have eaten her famous tear-cake and thought it to be the most scrumptious thing in the world.

Author notes:

I got the idea for this story as I read through chapter 11. I was surprised I found some kind of inspiration for a new story idea right after I said I thought I would struggle. Then again, this is NaruSaku, the possibilities are endless.

I was going to post this as a thank you for 150 reviews, but I'd post it if I finished it anyway and one of you asked for an update, so here you go. I do need to titivate it when I have some time but if I didn't upload it now, I wasn't sure how much longer the wait would be.

I finished this at 12 PM exactly. That means it's now officially Christmas day. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant New Year.

I no longer write Naruto fanfiction so I'm now marking this collection as 'complete'.

Thanks for all the support over the years. I've really appreciated it. You're all great!