Under the Mistletoe
A SasuSaku oneshot
"We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmaaaaas!"
"And a jolly good year!"
"Naruto!" Ino chided. "It's 'and a happy new year!'"
"Ah, it's original!" Naruto replied, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, it gets boring singing the same song over and over again."
"Original isn't always the best." Sakura responded. "I mean, look at all the traditions involved with Christmas. Getting a real evergreen tree to decorate, hanging stockings over a fire, putting up decorations, eating a good Christmas dinner, Santa Claus!"
"And don't forget the mistletoe!" Ino piped, pointing towards the plant hanging over the entryway to the hall."
"Why do you think no one goes over there in pairs?" Sakura retorted.
"And that is why I am watching that doorway like a hawk!" Ino declared. "Waiting for the two forgetful people to walk under it, then bam!"
"You are so twisted." Sakura huffed.
"Orrrr," Ino grinned, "I'll wait and watch for someone to intentionally bring a special someone under it to steal a kiss!"
"Yeah right…who'd do that besides you?"
Ino narrowed her eyes, beaming accusingly at Sakura as her eyes then flickered across the room. Sakura threw a glance over her shoulder towards where Ino looked, and her cheeks flushed as she quickly looked back at Ino.
Ino's grin widened. "Gotchaaa."
Sakura's cheeks darkened and her eyes flickered back towards where they had gone before. She laid eyes on Sasuke across the room standing with some of the guys.
"I would never do something like that!" Sakura retorted. "That's just wrong…trying to steal a kiss. Besides, it'd only be half-hearted…not a real one."
"Says you." Ino responded. "I bet he's waiting for you to make the move to get you two under that mistletoe, so then he has a reason to kiss you!"
"You are so delusional."
"I am so on to something! I mean, you like him, and according to my sources, he probably has a thing for you, too! So why not take this perfect opportunity to take a crack at it?"
"But what if your 'sources' are wrong? What if he really doesn't like me? What if he just thinks of me as a friend? Friends don't kiss friends. That's just awkward."
"But what if he does like you, and after feeling sparks fly from your kiss under the mistletoe, he'll take you away for some not-under-the-mistletoe action? It's called taking a risk!"
Sakura blushed. "Well, I'm not much of a risk taker."
"Well then it's a perfect time to start. Go over there, start conversing, and then take casual steps around till you're under the mistletoe. I'll call it for you, so it doesn't seem intentional."
"Ino, please, I'm not going to go through with any of your crazy little plans. It's just going to be a nice Christmas party."
"Fine." Ino suddenly grinned again. "So maybe you won't get a kiss, but maybe you'll get a present from him for our game of Secret Santa!"
"Come on, there are like twenty people. What're the odds that we'd get paired up?"
"Never know. They don't call it a Christmas miracle for nothing."
Sakura sighed and proceeded to walk away from her friend. She reached the couch to find Hinata seated by herself. She dropped down next to her.
"Hey, Hinata." Sakura greeted.
"Oh, hi Sakura." Hinata responded.
"Having fun?" Sakura asked.
"Um…I guess. What about you?"
"Besides Ino giving me a headache…it's been alright." Sakura's eyed flickered towards Sasuke at the mention of her blond friend.
Hinata noticed Sakura's glance towards Sasuke. "Is there something wrong?"
"What? Oh…no. Well…" Sakura let out a huff. "Ino's just trying to play matchmaker again. She wants me to trick Sasuke into standing under the mistletoe with me so I can kiss him. Stupid right?"
"Yeah…I guess. Um…but…I-I thought you liked him." Hinata declared.
Sakura's cheeks darkened. She glanced over at Sasuke again and then looked back towards Hinata. "Well…I do…but I don't know what he thinks of me. I mean what if he doesn't like me and I did do that plan? He'd only end up feeling really awkward around me, and then there goes any chance of us ever being together." She looked down at her lap dejectedly.
Hinata gazed sympathetically at her friend. "But…I also sorta thought…that Sasuke liked you back."
Sakura snapped her gaze up to Hinata at her statement. "What? Don't tell me Ino's gotten to you, too!"
"N-no." Hinata replied. "I-it's just…the way he looks at you…and whenever he talks about you…I-I think at the very least you're really special to him."
Sakura stared at the Hyuga, her cheeks flaming. "Really?"
Hinata nodded. "Whenever I'm with Naruto and he's around, sometimes he'd talk about you. Naruto's even accused him before of liking you, and even if he denied it at the time…I think that he really does like you."
That was right, Sakura thought, Hinata had been dating Naruto for almost five months now. It made sense that she'd eventually end up in a room with just the two of them.
Sakura made another little glance in Sasuke's direction. He was talking with the guys, like he had been the whole time.
Sakura gulped. "Is it really possible that he could like me?"
Across the room with the guys, a surprisingly similar conversation was going on.
"Come on, man." Naruto goaded his best friend. "Just go over there, start talking, and casually lead her over to the mistletoe. Ino's been watching that thing like a hawk. I'm sure she'd point it out for you guys. Or if she doesn't, I will!"
"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke growled. "I will not sink that low just to get some half-hearted kiss from Sakura."
"Come on! I mean, what if she does like you back? Which I'm sure she does. Then you can get your starter kiss, and then you can take her off for some more! Eh? Eh?" Naruto playfully prodded the Uchiha with his elbow.
Sasuke glared at the blond. "Yeah right. Shut up already. I'm not going to sink to your low standards."
"Hey! My standards are not low! I mean, who's the one with a girlfriend already? That's right. ME! Oh, and speaking of Hinata, where'd she go?"
"She's sitting on the couch with Sakura." Sasuke answered.
Naruto turned his head towards the couch to confirm it, and then whipped back to look at Sasuke. "Wait a minute. You knew where they were?"
"They're in my peripheral vision."
"Uh-huh." Naruto grinned. "Sure you haven't just been keeping your eyes on Sakura this whole time?"
"I have not. Shut up."
"Okay, how about this. We go over there all casual-like. I sit down with Hinata and we get all couple-y, so Sakura will feel inclined to leave. You draw her in and start to walk away, and then accidentally stop just short of the mistletoe, and slowly inch towards it. Then, once me or Ino call it, you can have your chance to—"
"Dobe," Sasuke snapped, "I've had enough of your stupid plans. She is not interested in me like that."
"And what makes you think that? What's told you without a doubt that she doesn't like you?"
Sasuke's words caught in his throat. Come to think of it, he didn't have any evidence to back up that she wasn't interested. She'd been nothing but a kind friend to him.
"Teme, I'm telling you. Me, and a bunch of other people can totally see that you two are into each other. So be the brave one! Go over there and make a move! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to see I'm right when at the end of the night you and Sakura are cuddled up together in bed and—"
"Naruto!" Sasuke seethed. His face felt red hot. "I've had enough of this." He walked off.
"Finally going to do it, Teme?" Naruto called after him.
Sasuke threw a glare over his shoulder, but then kept walking.
Once he got a reasonable distance away from the blond, his gaze flickered over towards Sakura, who still sat conversing with Hinata. Her cheeks seemed a little flushed as she talked to her friend.
Sasuke watched her for a moment more. "Could she possibly like me?" His hands twitched nervously, and he put them in his pockets. He began with a couple steps, and then finally started to walk towards the two girls. "This is going to be embarrassing, but…I am curious."
Sakura fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "So…if what Hinata says is true…then Sasuke might actually like me, too…. So then…should I go with Ino's plan…should I really risk it? Should I really risk our friendship on that possibility that he—?"
"Hey." A voice suddenly called. Sakura looked up and felt the blood rush out of her in surprise as she saw Sasuke standing in front of her.
"U-uh…h-hey…Sasuke." Sakura awkwardly replied.
"Oh, great, now you sound like an idiot!" Sakura roared mentally.
"Why's she suddenly stuttering?" Sasuke wondered. "She sounds like Hinata back when she used to hide her crush on Naruto. Wait…so does that mean…she really does like me?"
"Uh…" Sasuke began. "Hey Sakura, could I—?"
"Hinata! There you are!" Sasuke's statement was interrupted as Naruto suddenly leapt between them all to land on the couch next to Hinata. He wrapped an arm around her. "Sorry, I was talking with the guys, then next thing I knew you were gone! Oh, hey Sakura, hey Teme. Hope you don't mind my being here."
Sasuke didn't respond. Sakura stood up from the couch and said, "No, it's fine. I'll just head off and leave you two alone."
"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why don't you hang out with the Teme?" He sent a secretive grin the Uchiha's way.
The two looked at each other, looked away, and stared at the ground for a moment.
"Uh…sure." Sakura declared. "If Sasuke wants to."
"Fine." Sasuke responded. He then took a few steps away from the couch, and seemingly unwittingly towards the mistletoe. Sakura followed him silently, not even noticing the general direction they were headed.
"I just know I'm going to receive some sort of hell for actually going along with the Dobe's plan."
Sasuke turned around just a few steps away from the mistletoe and faced Sakura.
"So…" Sakura drawled. She glanced over her shoulder. "Seems Naruto and Hinata are doing well with their relationship."
"Hn, yeah, I guess." Sasuke responded, taking a casual step to the side an inch closer to the mistletoe.
Sakura responded to his casual movement with one of her own. Mentally Sasuke smirked, the plan was actually working. He just needed to keep her talking.
"How's the party been for you?" He asked.
Sakura seemed surprise to hear him asking her a question. She struggled for an answer that wouldn't tip him off to her recent conversation with Ino.
"Come to think of it," Sakura thought, "we're getting really close to the mistletoe. Ugh…and I just know Ino's probably watching us from somewhere right now…waiting for a misstep. Have to avoid that. Unless….Sasuke's trying to get us under the mistletoe." She mentally shook herself. "Yeah right! How delusional! As if! Sasuke would never sink down to a plan like that! He probably just doesn't know it's there."
"Oh, the party's been fine." Sakura finally answered. "Just like any other really…except with Christmas decorations. You know."
Sasuke nodded in understanding, taking a half-step back. They were just two feet off from the designated "under the mistletoe" space now. It seemed the plan might actually succeed, he thought.
Sakura noticed his half-step back. Her eyes flicked momentarily towards the mistletoe overhead.
"We're getting so close to it now." Sakura mused. "Should I warn him about it? But what if this really is a part of some plan? What if Ino's right and he does like me? But…this is Sasuke! He's not the kind of guy who would actually go through with such a cheesy plan. At least…as far as I know. Gah! What if we do end up under it, Ino calls it, and Sasuke wasn't expecting it? Would he blame me for not pointing it out to him? Then not even want to kiss me? Argh! This is so frustrating! What should I do? What should I do?"
Someone came to stand near Sasuke as Sakura thought, and he used their proximity as an excuse to take a full step back and to the side, placing him mere inches off from the mistletoe space. Sakura followed him seemingly out of reflex, but then he noticed her eyes flick upwards like they did just a few moments ago.
"Does Sakura notice the mistletoe?" Sasuke wondered. "Gah, I'm so stupid! Why did I have to put my back to it? It would have been better if her back was to it. But now we're so close. Another half step and we'll be declared under it. Just a little step. I can do this."
Sasuke raised his foot slightly off the ground to make the step back. His heart hammered in his chest at the thought that in a moment they'd probably be called out for standing under the mistletoe, and they would be forced to share a kiss. Well, he thought, maybe forced on one side, unless it was true that Sakura liked him back. His foot trailed back, and was just about to stop under the mistletoe.
"Attention!" A voice suddenly declared, making him freeze. The two turned their heads towards the entryway to the kitchen, where they spotted Ino looking over all the party-goers from her vantage point on a chair.
"Did she notice? Is she about to call that we're under the mistletoe?" Sasuke wondered.
"Okay everyone! The event you've all been waiting for has finally arrived!" Ino exclaimed. Sasuke stared, tensing for the possible announcement. "It's time for our game of Secret Santa!" Sasuke's heart dropped.
"Fucking perfect." Sasuke growled in his mind. He took a step away from the mistletoe and his chances of kissing Sakura and turned his attention with everyone else to the female blond.
"Okay! So as was required, everyone had to buy a gift! Now go find the gift you bought!" Ino ordered.
Everyone did as she instructed, and a couple minutes later everyone stood with their present in their hands.
"Now, find someone of the same gender as you, and switch your gift!" Ino continued.
Sasuke glanced around until his eyes landed on Neji. He took a couple steps away from Sakura, who had also taken a few steps away to exchange her gift with a girl.
"Here, Hyuga." Sasuke declared, holding out his gift.
"Uchiha." He responded, swapping gifts with him.
"Once that's done, switch your gift with someone of the opposite gender."
Sasuke looked around for Sakura, and spotted her a few feet off. He took a step towards her, but suddenly Lee bounded over to her and exchanged gifts with her. Sasuke glared at the boy in an almost jealous way as Hinata came up to him and bashfully switched presents with him before scampering off towards Naruto.
"And now that that's done," Ino suddenly held up several strips of cloth, "it gets interesting! Everyone must now blindfold themselves!"
Several confused gazes were directed at Ino.
"Let me finish. You all blindfold yourselves, and then I turn on some music. Everyone moves around, and whenever I stop it, everyone can take off the blindfolds and they must switch gifts with the person in front of them. This continues until the song ends, and the person in front of you in the end is your Secret Santa! Got it?"
A few mixed responses came from the crowd. Ino hopped off her chair and began to pass around blindfolds. Once everyone had one and was blindfolded, Ino went over to a stereo which had been playing Christmas songs for the past few hours and turned up the volume. A Christmas song blared through the room, and everyone just barely heard Ino yell "begin!" over the noise of it.
There was only one flaw in Ino's blindfolded Secret Santa game, which was that during the blindfolded portion, the room could have been mistaken for a human version of bumper carts.
People clashed and were knocked around in the chaos of walking blinded people. Seconds of mayhem passed until Ino shut off the music. People dizzyingly pushed their blindfolds up to identify the person in front of them. They then proceeded to swap gifts and place their blindfolds back on as Ino turned the music back on.
The music was stopped five more times before it finally came to an end. Once the last notes faded off, Ino turned off the stereo and declared, "Okay! Now take off your blindfolds and meet your Secret Santa!"
For Sasuke, the whole game had been a big pain the ass. He felt battered and annoyed, and just wanted to get the game over with from the second Ino had started it. He pulled off the blindfold, happy to be rid of it, and prepared to face whatever random person was supposed to be his Secret Santa.
Only it wasn't a random person. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he found himself standing face-to-face with none other than Sakura, who blinked almost disbelievingly up at him.
"Hey." Sakura greeted as she realized that Sasuke would be her Secret Santa.
"Hn, hey." Sasuke responded, and then held the gift that he had received through the game to Sakura. Sakura did the same.
"Okay everyone! Open your presents!" Ino proclaimed. Everyone did as they were told.
Sasuke unwrapped the present he received from Sakura and found it to be a red and white Christmas scarf. Mentally he huffed; he'd probably never use it.
Sakura, however, received an interesting gift. She unwrapped the package to find herself looking down at a large boxed cookie with "I love you" written in icing. The love part was put down as a heart symbol though. Sasuke could feel heat creeping up his neck at the irony.
"Hey! You found the gift I brought!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, looking over Sakura's shoulder at the present. "I forgot about the Secret Santa thing, and I was going to give that to Hinata…but you can have it, Sakura!"
"Uh…right…." Sakura stammered.
Sasuke opened his mouth to make a comment, but suddenly a screech rang out from across the room. Everyone whipped their heads in the direction the scream came from and saw Ino gawking and pointing her finger at Sasuke and Sakura.
The two didn't quite understand what had shocked Ino until they noticed about every other person in the room staring above their heads. They looked up simultaneously, and noticed a little green plant with white berries hanging over their heads.
"Finally!" Ino exclaimed excitedly. "Finally I caught someone under the mistletoe! And even better, it's Sasuke and Sakura! Heehee! Come on guys! Don't just stand there! It's a tradition you know! Don't leave us hanging!"
Sakura's cheeks darkened and Sasuke stared ahead blankly.
"Well shit." Sasuke thought, and then finally turned to look down at Sakura, who still appeared dazed.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Sakura roared in her mind. "I can't believe this! This is so unfair! Ino's plan happened without me even doing anything! Where's the justice in that? Oh…but….AH! Now I have to kiss Sasuke! With everyone watching! Oh no, oh no! This can't be happening! I really can't—"
Seeming to sense her lost state, and having had enough of it, Sasuke did the last thing Sakura expected. He reached over, hooked a finger under her chin, tilted her head towards his, and kissed her without missing a beat.
For a moment, all Sakura could do was stare ahead with a surprised look on her face. But then the logical side of her kicked her shocked side in the pants, and she began to kiss him back. Meanwhile, friends and party-goers alike cheered and whistled for the two.
The kiss didn't last that long, probably only eleven or twelve seconds, but it was enough. The moment Sasuke pulled away Sakura had an almost insatiable urge to grab the front of his shirt and bring him down to continue kissing him. Sasuke didn't show it, but he had the same urge.
Silence filled the room for a moment after their kiss ended, and then the room slowly picked back up to its usual noise level of chatter and music.
Ino came bounding up to the two with a huge grin on her face.
"Leave it to luck to end the game with you two standing under the mistletoe." She beamed. "I'd say job well done! Eh, Sakura?"
Sakura blushed. "Ino, it's not like that."
"Sure, just keep telling yourself that." Ino responded. Then someone called for her. She threw a glance over her shoulder and said, "Well, I gotta go mingle. You two enjoy yourselves." She then went over to the person who called for her.
The two stood there in silence for several moments; neither one knowing what to say to the other. Finally, Sakura took a step away from Sasuke.
"Uh, I guess I'll go off and…get some food…or something."
Sasuke didn't say anything, so Sakura turned to begin walking away. However, just as she thought she had gotten away, Sasuke lashed out and clasped her wrist. She whirled around, surprised, as Sasuke pulled her back towards him.
"Look," he stated, "we're under the mistletoe again."
Sakura knew he was right, but looked up anyway at it as her cheeks turned pink. "So? I mean…we already had to kiss."
Sasuke completely shocked her, though, when he leaned in and gave her a quick, light kiss. Sakura stared at him in disbelief.
"I'm gonna be truthful." Sasuke announced. "Earlier, I actually tried to use the mistletoe as an excuse to kiss you, but then Ino started her game and things were ruined. I didn't expect us to end up under here in the end, but now that we are," he smirked, "I want to take advantage of it."
Sakura took several, slow moments to process what he had just told her.
"Am I dreaming," she thought, "or did I just get the Uchiha version of a confession?"
Just to confirm her thought, Sasuke came down and kissed her again. She reacted a moment later and kissed him back.
When they pulled away again, Sasuke took the scarf he had received and wrapped it around Sakura's neck. He looked at her for a second.
"Looks better on you." He stated, and then took hold of the ends of the scarf and used them like a leash to pull her down the hallway.
"W-where are we going?" Sakura stammered out.
Sasuke threw a look at her over his shoulder. "Off somewhere to do what we just did under the mistletoe some more."
Sakura gaped in shock, but quickly recovered herself and grinned. "Sounds good to me."
What a Christmas miracle!
THE END
I DID IT! I have written! I'm so proud of myself! And this only took a few days to write! Woo! (And I got it done a few days before Christmas! Perfect!) Ah…this makes me happy. To think I've finally found some spirit to write again. AtR is going…really rough. I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter's gonna be out. (Actually, with how it's going, I don't even know if I could continue it…I'm at such a block with it…and I don't know why.) But on a happier note: this is done, and I actually have been getting a bunch of ideas lately! (Which I've been able to write! This is just the first one I finished.) So, I can hopefully keep up a supply of oneshots for a while till I maybe get something back to continue AtR again. Till the next thing readers!