EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT
"It's Christmas Eve, It's Christmas Eve!" I sing loudly. It doesn't matter if anybody can here me, I'm too excited to care. 'Cause it's Christmas Eve! My absolute favorite holiday is less than twelve hours away!
I guess I look pretty stupid just messing around and singing by myself. So I switch on the radio. More Christmas carols.
"Sleigh bells riiiing, are you listenin'? In the laaaaane, snow is glistenin'…"
I sing along with the last part after finally discovering my scissors under my chair.
"A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walkin' in a winter wonderlaaaand…"
I clip off the ends of the ribbon in my lap and tie it around a bright orange-wrapped box. The ribbon is dark blue, so Naruto should recognize it.
I place it next to the others, an assortment of green, red and black boxes. Finally. It took me long enough, but they're all done. Tomorrows' presents stacked not-so-neatly in a pile.
"And he smiled and he said, with a twinkle in his eye…"
Whee! My number one-favorite Christmas song.
"Merry Christmas to all, now you're all gonna DIE!" I sing along loudly. Can you blame me? Mister Yankovic is a god.
"The niiight Santa went crazeeeee…the night Saint Nick went insaaaane…."
Weird Al on the radio happy dance!
"Realiiized he was gettin' a raw deeeal…something must've finally just snapped in his braaaain…"
Normally my insanity would've been confined to my room only, but I moved into my own apartment months ago. So the whole place is the dance floor. Mom would be furious.
I glance out the window at the pouring snow. Yes, I can describe it like that, 'cause it's falling like rain, fast and hard. I'd feel sad for anyone caught out in that weather. Even Tsunade said there hasn't been a snowstorm like this in the Leaf Village for years.
I close the blinds quickly. Just looking at all that white makes me feel chilly.
Ding dong.
Eh?! Who's nutty enough to be standing on my doorstep in the freezing cold at nine p.m.? Probably Naruto wanting to find a last-minute present for Hinata…wait, no, that can't be it, he got her present when we all went shopping last weekend…
I make my way towards to front door, trying to figure out who could be here at this hour. I unlock it, and pull it open.
Ok…a very tall person is standing on my welcome mat. Is it Kakashi, 'cause he's got whi-?
Oh, wait. His hair isn't white. It's covered in snow.
"Sakura. It's very cold out here."
"Sa-Sasuke!" I say. "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you for a second. Come in!"
I stand by to let him trudge into my apartment. He's completely covered in snow, and I feel a little guilt under my excitement to have him actually in my house. I mean, it's only been a few months since he came back to the village, so I guess I'm not really used to having him back yet.
"Oh, you must be freezing," I say. "I'll go make some hot chocolate, ok?"
I get a murmur in reply.
Several minutes later finds us in the living room together, sitting across from one another and sipping Swiss Miss out of plastic cups. I'm staring at my hands, wondering what to say to him. His eyes are wandering over the decorations on my two-foot-tall plastic Christmas tree.
The minute I finally think of something, he speaks first, unusually enough.
"Sorry for intruding," he mumbles.
"It's totally ok," I say, giving him a smile. "You're always welcome here, Sasuke. But…"
He sighs. "But you want to know why I'm here?"
"Uh…yeah…" I sweat-drop. Am I being too intrusive?
He shifts in his seat. "It may sound dumb to you, but…it's my first Christmas back in the village, so…"
I'm absolutely astounded. "You…felt lonely?"
"…Yeah."
"Oh. Well, that's perfectly normal!" I say quickly to hide my surprise. "Sometimes Naruto used to come over, but he's got Hinata now, so I guess he'll be spending Christmas hiding from her dad…"
He mumbles something again. I should say something to fill in the silence.
"So…when Naruto's here we usually watch a movie," I suggest. "Have you ever seen 'A Christmas Story?'"
He shakes his head. I'm amazed. How could he have gotten to the age of nineteen without seeing such a classic?
"You have got to," I say, standing up. "It's absolutely amazing."
More mumbling, but he follows me into the only room with a TV. I dig through the cardboard box of holiday movies as he finds a seat on the couch. After around sixty million Scooby-Doo movies, I finally find the beat-up old DVD case I'm looking for. I blow some dust off the cover, and pry it open.
After sticking the disc into the player, I find a seat on the other end of the couch. Which is only about three inches away from where Sasuke's sitting. If I've learned anything about him, it's that he doesn't like being touched. I keep my distance.
I hit play on the movie, and we sit in the darkened room as the movie starts.
During several scenes I sneak a quick sideways look at him. During the part with the kids standing in line to meet Santa at the mall, it might have been the light, but I almost think I see a flickering smile on his face. During the part with the kid's tongue stuck to the telephone poll, I'm sure I see it, if only for a second. And when the boy finally gets that BB gun as a present, he not only smiles, but gives a little snort-laugh. I'm thoroughly amazed. He's made a lot of progress with his emotions since we were genin.
After the credits begin to roll, I stand up and switch on the light.
"What did you think?" I ask casually, wondering if he knows I peeked at him while we were watching.
"It reminded me of Naruto in a way," he says, his eyes still on the list of names scrolling across the screen. "Stupid, childish, overexcited, but comical all the same."
"You liked it?"
"Sorta'."
"Well, you're welcome to come next year and watch it again, if you like."
Mumbled thanks.
I glance at the clock. "Wow!" I exclaim. "It's almost midnight!" I turn back to Sasuke. "I have your Christmas present here, if you want to open it. It's been a tradition in my family, you get to open one on Christmas Eve and the rest the next day."
"If that's what you wanna do."
I retrieve his box from the next room. It's navy blue with a black ribbon, his two favorite colors. I take my seat again, and blush a little as I hold it out to him. "Here's yours…I made it with Naruto and Kakashi's help…"
He takes it, and places it in his lap. I can see another flicker of emotion, maybe excitement, as he pulls at the ebony ribbon. From inside it, he pulls out a delicately carved wooden picture frame. The photo inside it is of us, the old team seven as genin. Me, him, Naruto, and Kakashi.
He turns it over in his hands, and I explain, "This was meant for you when you finally came back…"
His dark eyes scan the back of the frame, where two short lines are scribbled in, one with a red pen and one with a green pen.
The untidy green printing says,
"Teme! We knew you could do it! Thanks so much for coming back, we knew you had it in you! Dattebayo!"
The neat red cursive says:
"Sasuke, I'm so happy to have you back with us. I'm sure by the time you read this I'll have missed you more than ever before. Thank you for returning to us, we could never be complete without you."
The date underneath the writing is nearly seven and a half years ago.
He looks up at me with something like astonishment. "You…how did you know?"
"We didn't," I answer, smiling sadly. "It was our prayer, our shared hope. Kakashi told us that there was no way you weren't going to come back someday, so we might as well make something for when you did."
He looks back at the writing, then flips over the frame and stares at the three genin and one jonin on the other side.
"Well…what do you think?" I ask.
"This is…" he murmurs. I get a little nervous, until he says, "…one of the most heartfelt gifts anyone's ever given me." He looks back up at me. His mouth isn't smiling, but his eyes are. They're all sparkly. "Thank you."
I smile. "You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it."
He places the frame on top of the box of Christmas DVDs before turning to me again.
"I…got you something too, Sakura."
"Uh?" is all I can blurt out. He what? He got me something? That's a first…I think I like this Sasuke better than the one who left the village. He's a lot nicer.
He seems to have made a tiny red box appear out of nowhere. I'm impressed. It's tied with a tiny golden bow, which unravels pretty easily. I dig around in the tissue until I find something…
I stare at what I pull out in disbelief.
"Sasuke…is this…"
He nods, grinning a lot like Naruto. "Yeah. Mistletoe."
I stammer something, blushing like crazy. "But-but isn't that fo-for…"
Suddenly he's leaning closer to me than he's ever been before. "Yeah."
The next thing I know, I find myself pressed against his body, held in place by his arms. Hs face is only inches away from mine.
"Sa-Sasuke!" I stutter. "Wha-what d-"
I feel his fingers running through my hair as he speaks, a tinge of red covering his cheeks.
"You don't know how much I missed you," he murmurs.
There's no way my brain can handle all this at once. I feel my energy being somehow drained away into the air. I sleepily gaze up at him with half-closed eyes and a dopey-looking smile.
"Sasuke…I…I…"
"Shhh, you don't need to say it," he whispers.
He then lowers his head ever so slowly. I feel something soft and wet touch my mouth. The chemicals in my brain go into overdrive, giving me some much-needed energy. I wrap my arms around his neck and return the kiss I've been longing for since I was an Academy student.
He smirks through our contact, and in the space of a second we're kissing each other with a vigor I've never experienced before. My hands are ruffling his disheveled black hair, his are finding new ways to coil themselves around my body. Thank god for adrenaline.
We only separate when our lungs are about to give out. I smile at him from where I'm leaning against his chest, both of us breathing in unison, both our hearts beating rapidly together. He's smirking triumphantly, and giving some of my crimson decorations a run for their money with that blush.
Something in the background beeps. I glance behind me at my digital clock. It's twelve a.m. Midnight. December twenty-fifth.
He pulls me back into his embrace, resting his chin on my head.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbles.
"Merry Christmas, Sasuke," I reply. "Thank you for your gift. It's wonderful."
"Glad you like it," he says.
"Can I have another?"
"Of course," he answers.
I guess I'll have to find a way to explain to Naruto why Sasuke seems so much more cheerful than before. I'll have to explain why he's acting more possessive than usual and why we glance at each other and blush like school kids.
But it's Christmas, after all. It can wait.
Hope you enjoyed the holiday-themed fluff! Have a wonderful Christmas/Haunnukah (sp?) and a Happy New Year! Dattebayo!
(And how many of you expected a ring? Come on, they're nineteen! The vast majority of people don't get married at that age! Sheesh!)