I love Christmas. There, I said it. And I've really wanted to write a Christmas fic. And now that Christmas is nearly upon us, I thought that it was about time that I wrote one! I'll try so very hard to have it finished before the day itself, so read on and enjoy the knowledge that my updates shall be coming! (Reviews are still much appreciated though!)
Warning: Will contain YAOI and the odd LEMON
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
It was the time of year that Naruto Uzumaki loved. The time of the year with snowfall and sleigh-bells; the time when everything smelt like pine and holly; when the world was full of singing and cheer –and everything was covered in tinsel and glitter. Everything. Everyone was in high spirits; the excitement of giving and receiving in the air –with plans for gifts and food and holiday traditions occupying every free thought. There were costumes and candy, and photographs, and family and friends coming together…He wasn't religious, but he loved it.
Life didn't get much better than Christmas.
"Say 'Merry Christmas'!" Naruto grinned; waving at the camera set in front of him. A little girl with her front teeth missing just beamed shyly; mimicking his wave as the camera flashed twice. She giggled and lifted her arms up for Naruto to sweep her up into the air and carry her back to her very stressed out mother. The girl tugged on his green hat shyly and giggled when it came down over his bright blue eyes.
"Merry Christmas!" he said to her brightly; placing a candy-cane in her chubby little hand as her mother gratefully received the photos from the photographer; Itachi Uchiha. The raven-haired man had his long hair tied at the nape of his neck and was wearing a bright red dress shirt –obviously to show that he was being 'Christmassy' -though he'd drawn the line at a Santa hat; and god forbid someone try and get him into an elf outfit.
As Naruto grinned at Itachi, the next little kid was already in line; arms raised to be picked up like he'd seen the girl before him get treated.
"Up you come!" Naruto chuckled; balancing the little boy on his hip as he headed up to the stairs where Santa was sitting on his big, comfy chair; red suit and all. "What's your name, little man?"
"K-Konohamaru!" the little boy replied excitedly.
"Nice to meet you," Naruto grinned, "I'm Naruto. What're you going to ask Santa for this year?"
"Secret," the boy informed him very seriously as he was placed in Santa's lap. Naruto looked across Choji's head to see one of his fellow elves standing out of sight of the line; tugging at his tights and looking thoroughly pissed off.
" –What's the matter, Deidara?" he inquired curiously. Deidara just glared at his crossly and tugged on his green tunic and red tunic; the same one that Naruto was currently wearing with red stockings and little green elf-boots. Their costumes were completed with green, belled Santa-hats and red cuffs for their wrists.
"This job is the matter, yeah," the long-haired blonde man retorted in a low tone. "Ugh…why does Itachi manage to rope me into this every damn year?"
"Come on, get into the Christmas spirit!" Naruto laughed; thoroughly amused by the same routine that Deidara pulled every year; he apparently hated being a Christmas elf. Unfortunately he was a crowd favourite, for some reason. "…At least this year you got a guy's costume?" He clamped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the female elf costume he'd had to wear the year previous; dress and stockings and all. And he'd looked fabulous -much to his disgust.
"Shut up, yeah," Deidara sniffed, folding his arms, "Where's Ino anyway? Isn't she meant to be here, yeah?"
"Probably over with Sakura doing gift-wrapping," Naruto shrugged, "Come on; you can't just hide back here or Fugaku isn't going to pay you." Deidara just made a mutinous, angry noise, and flicked his hair in disapproval. Unfortunately, this just meant that the bell on his hat rang out with the cheerful jingle of a bell, and so ruined the dramatic gesture entirely.
"Something the matter?" Itachi inquired; lowering his camera with a sigh as Naruto led the young Konohamaru back to his grandfather.
"Deidara's being a Grinch," Naruto informed him with a shrug and Itachi rubbed his brow in frustration.
"Of course he is…" Itachi muttered, "Where's Ino?"
" –Probably over doing gift wrapping."
"…Slacking off, more likely," the raven grumbled, "Go find her, would you? And...keep an eye out for Sasuke, while you're at it," he added innocently, "He should be somewhere around here..." Naruto did a double take.
"Sasuke?"
"…You do remember my brother, right?" Itachi commented angelically, "Your best friend from high school? The other handsome devil that lives next door to you? Ring any bells?"
" –He's coming home for Christmas?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief, "And who do you think you're calling handsome? The pair of you are just plain devils!"
"Oh you, flatter me," he chuckled lightly, "Yeah; Sasuke's home this Christmas, and father's making him work here with the rest of us. I'm surprised mother didn't mention it to you. What's it been, five years since you've seen him?"
"Almost," he admitted weakly, before clamping a hand over his mouth, "Oh my god, the last time I saw him, I still had braces!" Itachi just chuckled, waving him away, "Why's he back this year?"
"Mother demanded it," he replied with a short laugh, "He's been away from home too long, and she didn't want him to lose touch with his high school friends. Now go find Ino!"
"Yes sir!" Naruto saluted, quickly grabbing his basket of candy-canes and heading off to the gift-wrapping booth; handing out candy-canes to small children as he did so.
"Deidara!" Itachi hollered innocently, "You have to come help Santa!" Deidara, who had just known that Itachi was going to call on him, just tugged on his tunic one more time with a mutinous growl of, "I hate my life…" before springing out from behind the curtain to come jogging down to greet the line of children and their exhausted parents with what he hoped was a smile and not a grimace.
"Your hair is pretty!" the next little girl in line exclaimed in delight, "Can I touch it!" Deidara shot Itachi a deathly cold look. Itachi just quirked an expectant eyebrow at him and the blonde, with a defeated look in his eyes, stooped and let the little girl pat his head in delight before shyly gripping his tanned hand to be led up to Santa.
"…I swear to God, one day, I'm going to kill you," Deidara hissed at Itachi from between gritted teeth as he passed the smug, raven-haired photographer.
"Just not in front of the kids," Itachi smirked back in much the same fashion before his expression expanded into an overly enthusiastic smile that made Deidara want to punch him. "Now, are you ready to get your picture taken with Santa?"
The mall was currently packed; panicked parents trying to keep track of their children whilst simultaneously present shopping, grocery shopping and figuring out when on earth they could get their kid a picture with Santa. Here, the Court, where Santa was stationed, served as the merging point for all shoppers –providing an open space for them to catch their breath; huge, store-lined walkways extending out in all directions. Currently, there was a group of carollers on the stage singing some cheerful tune, and the huge Christmas tree that went up every year in the centre of the room was in the process of being decorated.
Naruto scurried along through the crowd; bells chiming cheerfully on his collar and hat. Every so often he would stop to hand out a candy cane to a crying child; only to then be completely swarmed upon by every child in sight. He didn't mind though; if it made them happy, then he was more than willing to oblige.
He'd been doing this for years; since he was sixteen years old. The Uchiha family owned and ran the mall, and since they were old family friends of Naruto's parents –he'd known Itachi and his younger brother, Sasuke literally his whole life –Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the household, had given him a Christmas job.
That had led to several of his friends and Sasuke's also getting the holiday jobs there as Christmas elves and gift-wrappers, and pretty much anything Fugaku needed them for. Even when they'd all graduated, they all came back just for the holiday season –and had been doing so for the last four years. Except for Sasuke.
"Ino! Ino! Ino! Sakura! Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed in delight as he finally managed to approach the gift-wrapping booth without being elbowed in the face by an intensely-stressed mother. "Guess what? Did you hear? Did you hear?"
"What?" Ino and Sakura; two of his old friends –and currently fellow 'Fugaku's little helpers' -looked up at him as though he was crazy.
"Sasuke's coming home this Christmas!" he exclaimed in delight; too excited to even be annoyed at his friend Kiba stealing one of the candy-canes from his basket. Ino and Sakura both squealed in delight; the bells on their hats ringing along with them.
"What's this about Sasuke?" Kiba inquired curiously; sticking the end of the candy-cane in his mouth; leaning heavily on the bench.
"Ew, gross; you're going to get the paper all sticky," Ino scolded, "Yeah; where'd you hear that, Naruto?"
"Itachi just told me!" he informed them, "Pretty cool right!"
"God…I haven't heard from him since he left at the start of our last year of high school!" Sakura sighed dreamily, "I bet he's gorgeous now!" Ino gave an approving murmur of agreement.
" –And even you haven't seen him since he left, right?" Kiba commented conversationally; obviously disregarding Ino's comment about the sticky paper, "Crazy. You guys were like best friends; you'd think he would've made an effort to keep in touch...Will he even recognise you? You used to be a shrimp, and like, didn't you, like have braces back then?"
" –And bad hair," Ino pointed out.
"My hair was not bad," Naruto complained.
" –It was," Sakura and Kiba assured him and he pouted. "Not to mention that awful orange…"
"Okay; moving on from Naruto's embarrassing high school sense of fashion," Ino interrupted, "Why's he coming back? He's missed the last like, four Christmases, so why come back now?"
"Aunt Mikoto made him, apparently," he shrugged, "But really, who cares? It'll be real good to see him again, and he's going to be working with us; it'll be just like old times!" Again, Ino and Sakura squealed in delight.
"I hope he has to wear the elf costume again!" Sakura whispered as Kiba and Naruto rolled their eyes in exasperation. Sure, the two women were studying to be doctors at college…and it'd been four years since they'd seen the guy…but even now, the very mention of Sasuke Uchiha could set them off.
" –I bet that's why he left," Kiba chuckled; tugging at his own elf costume, "These are humiliating." Naruto just shrugged, grabbing a piece of tinsel from nearby and wrapping it around him as a fashionable scarf.
"I think I rock it," he sniffed. "Ino, by the way, Itachi thinks you're slacking off."
" –Which she completely is," Sakura assured him with a glare at her best friend; who was leaning on the bench rather casually and not even getting involved with the serious gift-wrapping that was taking place further down the line. Ino just waved her away as though it was no big deal.
" –Well…you might want to go help Deidara," Naruto advised sheepishly.
"…You left him alone with Itachi and the kids?" Sakura exclaimed warily, "You know Itachi abuses his power; and Deidara never stands a chance against children!"
"I was too excited…and there was candy…" Naruto rambled, "I messed up; I messed up! On another note; Kiba, wanna come dance with me over by the Christmas tree?"
"Anything is better than wrapping another figurine of a dude from some lame boy-band …" Kiba sighed heavily, grabbing another piece of tinsel and wrapping it around his neck to match Naruto's. "How's about it, ladies? We fine, or what?"
"…You're covered in glitter," Ino commented distastefully as she fixed her hair and adjusted her dress to head back over to save Deidara from the hordes of children. Kiba groaned in annoyance as he shook his length of tinsel and discovered that he was now coated from the neck down in sparkles. Sakura and Naruto both laughed openly at him as Kiba forlornly began following Naruto through the crowd towards the stage at the foot of the giant tree. A group of small children were dancing beside the stage; looking up in awe at the beautiful choir-girls.
Kiba grinned up at the girls and waved brightly at one of them; who immediately turned bright red and appeared to forget the lyrics. She was a beautiful creature; long, purple hair and soft, pale eyes –Hinata Hyuuga; Kiba's long-time friend and first love.
"She looks happy to see you," Naruto commented slyly.
" –This is the year, man, I just feel it," Kiba assured him with a grin, "I'll ask her out this year. I definitely will!" With a wink up at the flustered Hinata, he bowed courteously to one of the little girls nearby and spun her around charmingly when she shyly took his hand. Apparently doing twirls was the most exciting thing ever for six year old girls, because instantly, all the children attacked his legs; all wanting to be his next dance partner. Naruto just laughed at Kiba getting overwhelmed, instead of helping him out. He could see that Hinata was eyeing the wild-haired brunette timidly; a cute blush spreading across her cheeks. Why Kiba always put off asking her out, he didn't know –it was obvious that she liked him!
And then Naruto looked up, and instantly realised why Kiba was so terrified of asking her out.
There was a long-haired brunette standing at the top of a rather precariously-balanced ladder; glaring down at Kiba's antics with the same pale eyes as Hinata.
That would be Neji; her overprotective cousin; who Kiba both respected and greatly feared. Through high school, Neji had made it abundantly clear that Kiba wasn't good enough for Hinata, and had done his utmost to make sure that he knew that. Leaving Kiba to the children, Naruto skirted around the tree towards the ladder to discover that there was a bored-looking man leaning there, yawning.
"Yo, Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted with a wave. Shikamaru's eyes flickered open and he actually did a double take as he drank in the sight of his old friend wearing tinsel around his neck. Then he decided that he wasn't surprised. Naruto didn't half-ass Christmas. "Kisame decided not to put you up the ladder this year?" Shikamaru just shrugged with a sigh.
"…You fall asleep up a ladder one time and suddenly no one lets you up one," he commented flatly, and then looked up the ladder to where Neji was still poised halfway through hanging a decoration –eyeing Kiba warily; probably calculating whether he could hit him with the ornament if he threw it.
"Neji's better at arranging the ornaments," Shikamaru informed him, "Plus, it keeps him from tackling Kiba." He just shrugged simply as Kisame; the mall's manager, wandered over and greeted Naruto with a concerned look.
"…Itachi's not making that uniform, I hope?" he commented; genuinely concerned as he looked at the gold tinsel adorning Naruto's neck.
" –Why're you worried; you don't even have to be an elf," Shikamaru reminded him; tugging on the tunic. Somehow, he always managed to misplace his hat, so Itachi had given up on enforcing that part of the uniform for him. Since he and Neji were the helpers always responsible for decorating and helping Kisame out, they got out of wearing the elf boots as well –they were a hazard on the ladders.
"…I just don't think I could handle seeing you all with tinsel scarves…" Kisame replied weakly; shaking his head weakly. "Shikamaru, could you go get more of the gold stars and start getting them ready to hang. They shouldn't be too hard to find in the storeroom –Neji arranged everything by shape and colour."
"Of course he did," Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome. Yeah, I'll be back soon. See you later, Naruto."
" –And don't go to sleep in the manger again," Kisame hollered at him; just getting a dismissive wave in response. "You're too big for it now!" Kisame just sighed in exasperation. "I swear, you kids get harder to boss around every year."
"We are adults, thank you," Naruto sniffed, though it didn't come across very 'adult' since his bell had decided to rattle flamboyantly. Kisame sniggered at him and looked up to see that Neji was descending the ladder, trying to tug his tunic to best preserve his modesty.
"Why can't we wear pants…" Neji sighed coldly, as he reached the bottom rungs and dismounted elegantly.
"…You could always ditch the tunic and just go for the tights," Kisame reminded him in amusement. Neji just glared at him darkly and looked up at the tree to survey his handiwork. It was perfect so far; he really had an eye for detail…if he did say so himself. "…You're lucky no one's noticed that you cut the bells off your uniform."
"…This costume makes me look female," he sniffed back, "I don't need to be sounding like a fairy as well."
"Are you still sore about the year we dared you to wear your hair in a plait to work and told everyone you were actually Hanabi; because that was hilarious," Naruto admitted in a snigger; earning a glare from the Hyuuga, "Oh come on, Neji; chill out; it's Christmas! Tis the season to be jolly, and all that!"
"Five people today have called me "Miss"," Neji informed him dryly, "…I see no reason to be jolly about being mistaken for a woman, when I am a man."
" –Well…in any case…you're a very pretty woman," Naruto replied with another laugh. Neji deadpanned.
"…Like you can talk, Tinseltoes."
"…Hey guys…" a dry voice commented from behind them, and the three of them turned and promptly had to bite their lips to keep from laughing; even Kisame, who was a good ten years older than them. Then, even the stoic Neji had to break out into chuckles as Naruto couldn't contain himself and laughed his head off.
"Guys…guys stop. Stop…it's not funny…" Gaara commented flatly; his eyes clearly reflecting his current 'fuck my life' mentality. This just made Naruto laugh even harder as he wiped away his tears of mirth to once again see that the redhead was standing there in a red shirt, green elf-pants and gold suspenders; completing the look with red hat and elf-boots. The vibrant costume contrasted rather heavily with the 'kill me now' glint of despair in his eyes.
"What…I don't…" Naruto stammered; unable to form proper words, "I –I'm so sorry, Gaara…"
"No you're not," Gaara deadpanned.
"You're right; I'm not," Naruto chortled, "…I love Christmas!"
"Oh…It's not that funny…" he grumbled crossly; adjusting the wicker basket he was carrying. "…Temari made me wear this."
"At least you get to wear pants," Neji managed to cough out; trying desperately not to lose his stern composure. "Wait, did you say 'Temari'?" Gaara nodded flatly.
"She's finally come home this year," he informed them, and then glared mutinously at his outfit, "When Fugaku wanted someone to sell cookies and fruitcakes, she signed us up." He sounded incredibly displeased by this arrangement. "I feel ridiculous."
"On the plus side, you're not willingly wearing it –unlike some people," Kisame nodded pointedly at Naruto.
" –Hey; tinsel is very in this season," he defended, "Get it…coz it's the Christmas…" His friends and boss just rolled their eyes dramatically. "So Temari's finally back? Did anyone tell Shikamaru?" Gaara shook his head silently and Naruto winced, "…You should probably keep an eye on him then," he added to Neji, who just nodded in acknowledgement. Despite so much time having passed…there was no way of knowing what Shikamaru's reaction would be when he found out that Temari was back in town.
"Ugh…there you are, Naruto," Itachi's powerful voice could be heard over the steady chatter of the Court. The raven was stalking over towards him; the crowd parting for him –somehow sensing his intimidating presence and responding appropriately. "I sent you to find Ino…and of course you're over here…oh…hello Kisame."
"Hello, Itachi," Kisame replied politely.
Neji and Naruto exchanged glances and rolled their eyes.
" –Are we done?" Naruto inquired of Itachi suddenly; noticing that the Uchiha didn't have his camera hanging around his neck.
"I'm just taking a break," he replied simply, "I sent Deidara for a timeout; he almost snapped when a kid said she wanted to be as pretty as 'her' when she grew up." Naruto sniggered, and then frowned.
"Then who's taking the –" he suddenly stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened in excitement.
"He showed up almost as soon as you left –why are you wearing tinsel?"
"…The real question is: why aren't you wearing tinsel?" Naruto sniffed; adjusting his itchy scarf vainly. "He's here?"
"Who's here?" Gaara asked, but that was all Naruto heard before he was off into the crowd again; leaving Kiba to his fate with the children and hoping that Neji would have enough sense to give Shikamaru some warning that his ex-true-love was back after getting up and leaving to college five years ago, with zero contact since.
The line for Santa was finally beginning to diminish –at least for the moment. Ino was the only elf up by Choji at the moment –since Deidara was in 'timeout'. She appeared to be posing a little more than usual.
It only took him a few seconds to identify the photographer –he was dressed all in black, which was really in quite violent contrast to the glitz and colour around him. His dark hair was naturally spiked at the back; just the same as Naruto remembered five years ago. For a moment he stared. Five years was a long time –or at least right now it felt like a long time. What was Sasuke like now? Would he recognise him? How did you greet someone you hadn't seen in that long? He put down his basket and tugged the tinsel from his neck.
In the end, as the child was led back to the line by Ino, he chose to launch himself forwards and wrap his arms around the unsuspecting raven in an excited hug.
"Sasuke!" he exclaimed in excitement; hearing a sound of surprise emerge from the man staggering beneath his weight. A raven head turned to look over his shoulder in annoyance; eyes glaring sharply at whoever had decided that it was a good idea to invade his personal space. Naruto just beamed at him; recognising that same irritated look even after so long and therefore not being at all deterred by the death-look. Sasuke's dark eyes appeared confused for a moment, and then they widened in recognition.
"Naruto?" he queried in surprise.
"You do remember me!" he grinned with a laugh; squeezing him tight and making Sasuke cringe.
"…Let go…moron…" Sasuke snorted crossly; shrugging him off, and Naruto obeyed; sticking out his tongue childishly. "…You got taller."
"I know, right!" Naruto grinned, and then pouted as he noticed that the raven was still a few centimetres taller than him; like he always had been. "Man, it's so good to see you after so long! We've totally gotta catch up later; okay?"
"Whatever," Sasuke snorted disinterestedly and raised the camera, "Well? Get on with it." Naruto frowned slightly at his attitude, but held out a hand to the twin children clinging to their mother's legs nervously.
"Hey there, kids!" he greeted kindly; holding out a hand to each of them. They seemed a little hesitant, so Ino wandered down the stairs and bent down to their level to welcome the little girl into a hug; carrying her up the stairs and bouncing her until she giggled.
"Okay…you kids tell Santa what you want this year," Naruto whispered to them with a grin, "And then we're gonna smile real big for the man with the camera, okay?" He gave them a thumbs up, and the two of them returned the gesture; the crowd letting out an 'aww'. When the kids were finished with their Christmas wish list, they turned to the camera for a photo.
Sasuke wasn't smiling, and that bothered Naruto. Wasn't he glad to see him?
"Sasuke?" he queried with a raised eyebrow; leaving Ino the task of dislodging the little girl perched on her hip to return her to her mother. "What's with the face? Not happy to be home after all this time?"
"…Hn…" came the noncommittal response.
"Come on; smile a bit; it's Christmas!" Naruto beamed; gesturing at his costume to further reiterate this point.
"So?"
"…So?" Naruto legitimately didn't understand the question. "It's Christmas? What's not to smile about? Can't you just feel the Christmas spirit of the place –"
"No." Naruto just rolled his eyes. Ice-cold as ever. Typical bastard. He really hadn't changed, had he?
"You could at least try to act like you're Christmassy," he pointed out; gesturing at the kids that were still eagerly waiting in line. "You used to love Christmas! Well…not outwardly but…"
"Things change," Sasuke snorted flatly, "Go and sit with Choji, will you? We have to get these photos done before he finishes his shift."
"Santa," Naruto corrected with a frown, "…You mean 'Santa'."
"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, "Just do it, idiot. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to be."
"Tch; be an ass then," he sniffed; sticking his nose in the air and refusing to let Sasuke's negativity get him down during his favourite part of the year. Sure, he hadn't expected their reunion to be warm and fuzzy –that just wasn't Sasuke –but this was completely unexpected…
" –Well, you just got back," he shrugged lightly; just to make sure that the Uchiha knew that there was no way that he, Naruto Uzumaki, was going to have his mood dragged down in the Christmas season. Having wondered what his best friend had been doing for the past five years, he was not about to let Sasuke's return ruin his Christmas, "It's understandable that you're not feeling Christmassy yet."
"…Christmas isn't my thing anymore," Sasuke snorted darkly; checking his camera.
" –We'll see about that," Naruto smirked, looking back over his shoulder gleefully, "Don't worry, Sasuke! Even if you've forgotten what Christmas here is about, (since you missed four) I'll make you remember!"
"Tch...Whatever. Just get on and do your job." Naruto just shrugged and set his jaw determinedly. Sasuke was a stubborn bastard at the best of times, and even worse when he was in a bad mood. He just didn't understand how someone who had just come home after five years -come back to his old friends; and at Christmas, could be anything but happy. Unless there was something playing on the Uchiha's mind that he didn't know about?
No matter. If there was something, he'd find it out, and he'd make sure to give Sasuke a reason to never miss a Christmas again.
"There's still two weeks until the big day, so I'll be sure to find a way to get you into the Christmas spirit! Believe it!"
"Short" introduction done! What's with this weird attitude from Sasuke? What will Christmas be like having him around again? How does Naruto plan on instilling Christmas cheer into his old friend? And will these plans work?
Well, he has to try! Christmas is meant to bring people together, isn't it?
Look forward to hearing from you! (and looking forward to writing with a Christmas theme!)
xx K