A/N: Ha ha erm…I do have a reason for this! Well, I really wanted to see if I could get this out for the holidays since this is really what it was inspired by, so…yeah. The first quote was said by (though not directly quoted, I don't remember exactly what my advocacy teacher said) my advocacy teacher at school. This is AU, so some people taken to be dead might appear. Just a warning ahead of time. I'm done rambling so on with the story!
--NarutoKyuu (Oh, and yes, I am going to use the English form of speaking to teachers, friends, and family.)
Title: Love on them like there's No Tomorrow
Chapter: There will only be one (as this is a one-shot) so there is no chapter title.
Summary: Before the winter break, Naruto is told by one of his teachers to love his family and friends like there's no tomorrow. As he resolves to make this reality, he's troubled by what to do with his infatuation for a certain someone.
Pairings: SasuNaru (or NaruSasu, whichever floats your boat) hints of LeeSaku and KibaHina
Rating: I'm gonna try for K+
Genre: Humor/Romance (hopefully)
Warnings: light shonen-ai fluff, maybe OOCness
Disclaimer: Oh how I wish I could own Naruto. Santa, can you give me ownership? Oh, but then I'd have to write and have a deadline and ugh! Never mind. I'm happy.
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"Over winter break, I want you to love on your family and friends. Love on them like there's no tomorrow. Because you never know when they won't be around anymore."
Naruto looked at his teacher with interest. He considered Iruka to be the strangest, yet kindest, teacher at Konoha Middle School. Iruka was extremely passionate in his teaching, of his subject of Language Arts and the subject of great character traits one could own. The funniest thing was that in his three years at Konoha, he had had Iruka as a Language Arts and an Advocacy teacher all that time.
Now in eighth grade, Naruto was a bit sad knowing that next year, in his freshman year, he would no longer see his favorite teacher on a regular basis anymore. It was now that Naruto resolved to finally take Iruka's words to heart and to make something of them.
Naruto was about to leave to break as the bell rang, but Iruka called him back.
Naruto and Iruka watched the last of the students trickle out of the room. Once everyone was gone, Naruto turned to Iruka. "Yeah, Mr. Umino?"
"I'd like for you to actually consider my words this time." Iruka requested. Smiling, he interrupted Naruto as he was about to speak. "I know you don't usually do, but these may help you. You never know when the chance of telling a friend you love them will disappear."
Naruto looked at Iruka strangely. It was as if he knew. It was as if Iruka knew that Naruto had more than a crush on a certain friend. It was as if Iruka knew that Naruto was having suspicions that a chance to tell that friend he loved them was slipping away. Naruto shook his head and told himself he was being paranoid.
He plastered a wide grin on his face and said, "I will, don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Umino." And with that Naruto left to the halls. Before he fully left the room he called back, "But stop scaring me and making me think you can read my mind!"
Iruka chuckled and turned to his desk to arrange his things. Maybe what he assumed was true. Since that day Naruto had first come into his care, Iruka had taken close observation to the little ball of energy. Every day for two and a half school years now, at break and lunch, Iruka had noticed how Naruto acted ever so slightly different around the Uchiha boy.
But by now, Naruto was acting a bit more differently. He was more cautious and not as open around Sasuke. He seemed to slightly withdraw from the conversation whenever Sasuke came. This was especially the case these past couple of months, after the eighth grade school trip to Yosemite.
Through these observations, Iruka had concluded that Naruto had, at least, a crush on Sasuke and was gradually coming to fear that Sasuke did not feel the same.
Naruto's comment was about all the facts Iruka needed to support his conclusion.
Iruka just hoped that Naruto would tell the Uchiha his feelings soon. It might just make the difference between Naruto's happiness and his depression.
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"Oh, Naruto, good you're here," Sakura said, the tone of relief clear in her voice. The pink-haired girl was holding a stack of presents and looked like she would collapse under them all.
"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said. He waved and walked over to her. "I thought we all agreed that we would exchange gifts at the party?"
"We did," Sakura agreed. "These are from the other guys in my classes. I feel bad for not getting them anything."
Naruto nodded and looked over as Ino joined them, carrying just as many presents Sakura was.
"Naruto, would you be a dear and hold some for me?" the blonde asked.
"Of course," Naruto replied, relieving Ino of a present or two.
"Thanks so much. I thought my arms were going to fall off!"
"Sasuke! Over here," Sakura called over. She would have waved, but her arms were occupied.
Sasuke looked over and joined the growing group. Naruto looked nervously between Sakura and Sasuke. He had been doing a lot of that lately, but to his relief, no one seemed to notice.
"Can you help me carry some of these, please?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke shrugged and took a few from Sakura's load. He looked at them with mild interest.
"Who're they from?" he asked.
Naruto stood there in shock. Sasuke definitely was not one to usually ask about things like that. He felt a boulder of insecurities drop on top of his head and squash him into a pancake.
"Oh, just some other friends in my classes," Sakura explained. She said it in such a way that could be heard as, "No need to worry. I still like you."
As the bell rang to signal the end of break, Ino said, "Can you carry those for me until the end of the day, Naruto?"
Naruto grinned and said, "Sure, but if you forget I have them, they're automatically mine, okay?"
"Like I would let you keep them," Ino said, and she left off to her Social Studies class.
"Well, see you at lunch later, Ino," Sakura waved and the three teens left to Science.
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"Naruto, it'll be interesting to see how much our bridge holds, huh? I mean, we spent so much time on it, I hope it holds a lot," Sakura commented, as the class went outside to where they were going to test the bridges they had made. Out of raw spaghetti and white glue. The slow drying kind.
Naruto nodded. "It seems really slanted, doesn't it?" he asked, looking at the bridge in Sasuke's arms.
"And it's really tall compared to the others," Sakura murmured.
"That may be the case, but I have a feeling it'll hold quite a lot. The support we made is pretty good," Sasuke reassured.
Naruto looked doubtfully at the bridge. "Mmm, I still think it won't hold much."
"Willing to bet?" Sasuke asked.
"You know I'm always ready to take a bet! How about five bucks?" the cerulean-eyed teen asked.
"Are you that confident in yourself?" Sasuke smirked.
"Heck yeah!"
"Heh."
At that moment, Naruto could not have been any happier than if Sasuke had proclaimed his love for the blond himself. The small friendly banter the two always had always made Naruto feel like he was floating and always left him beaming. It helped that Naruto could catch a ghost of a smile playing on the raven's lips.
As it was their turn to test their bridge, Naruto took a snapshot of it (as he had been doing with the others) and watched as the first few textbooks were stacked on it. Naruto looked on nervously as more and more books were added to the pile. Soon it was up to twenty-five. Naruto quickly stepped back to take a picture of the marvel and anxiously counted as more books were added. Finally, at twenty-nine, their bridge cracked and collapsed.
"I believe that you know owe me five dollars, Uzumaki," Sasuke said smugly into Naruto's ear.
Naruto repressed the urge to lean back against Sasuke and said, "Yeah, yeah. At lunch then, Uchiha."
"Don't skip out, Naruto. A bet is a bet."
Naruto grumbled and turned his attention back to the bridges, taking a snapshot of the newest one right before a book was added.
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"Hey, Ino, want to take these presents back before I drop them?" Naruto whined. It was after school and they were waiting under a large tree.
"Don't mind him. Naruto's just sore that he lost another five dollars to me," Sasuke explained.
"Che. I told you to stop betting, Naruto. But do you listen to me? Of course not," Ino reprimanded.
"Bleh. If I'm gonna have to deal with this all the way home, I'm leaving now," Naruto said.
Ino shrugged and said, "It's about time anyways. C'mon, or else we won't get there in time."
"Fine. See you guys tomorrow," Naruto said as he and Ino started walking.
"See you later," Sakura called out.
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Naruto waved bye to Ino as they went their separate ways at the fork. The two blonds lived quite near each other, only a block or so away. Naruto ran home and nearly rammed into the front door before he could unlock it and open it.
He shut the door behind him and ran upstairs. Naruto sighed in relief. The stash was safe. For nearly two weeks now, Naruto had made it a habit to come running into his room as soon as he got home, just to make sure the Christmas presents were safe. The presents were hand-picked from various stores over the span of nearly six months (since summer) for his friends.
They were all special and Naruto figured they would be appreciated. He frowned as he noticed the "missing" present once more. Sasuke's. No matter how hard Naruto looked, he could never seem to find a present for his life-long best friend. Nothing really stuck out to him as special.
"I thought by now you would know that the presents aren't going to go walking off by themselves."
Naruto spun around quickly and looked at Haku. His older brother. "But I can't risk having any of them getting lost or stolen! I mean, they're really special and I don't think I'll be able to find them anymore." He said frantically.
Haku smiled and said, "Just teasing, you know that." The brunette looked at the pile with interest and mentally counted them. "Still don't know what to get for your little crush?"
Naruto blushed in embarrassment. "No," he spat out.
"Hey, I'll make you a deal. If you finish your homework then I'll take you out to go gift hunting." Haku offered.
"Mmm…" Naruto looked at his backpack holding his textbooks. "Deal. I don't have much to do anyways."
Haku grinned and said, "Get working then. I'll be downstairs if you need any help."
"You'd better be doing your work, considering how hard you make me work on mine," Naruto grumbled as he took out his books.
"Don't worry, I am."
Naruto huffed and sat down at his desk. He stared at his geometry book. Yeah, he was surprised too when he made it into geometry. Most of the time, he seriously wondered how in the world he got into that level. After staring blankly into the covers of the book for a while, he decided he should start.
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"So what are you looking for?" Haku asked as he followed his younger brother around the store. A chocolate store in the mall. An odd store to find a gift for the Uchiha he thought, but Naruto was an odd guy.
"I can't tell, it's a secret," Naruto replied. Oddly enough, it was a secret Naruto protected viciously.
He came to know it one day when Naruto was over at Sasuke's house working on a report for Social Studies. Sasuke had pulled out a tray of chocolate covered strawberries from the refrigerator and started eating them as the two brainstormed ideas for the cover of their report on the Reformation. Naruto had glanced up and noticed them.
He asked, "I thought you didn't like sweet things. Especially chocolate."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, wondering where such a random question came from. After a couple of seconds, the Uchiha had realized it was not as random as he thought. He felt uneasy at confessing this to Naruto, but his friend was waiting for an answer expectantly. And when Naruto wanted an answer, he wanted an answer. "Yeah, I don't like sweets and chocolate much. I get way too many of them. But…chocolate covered strawberries, especially dark chocolate covered ones…well…I'm practically obsessed with them."
Naruto stared at Sasuke with surprise.
"Don't you dare tell anyone, got it?" Sasuke growled out.
"Got it," Naruto agreed, nodding. For one thing, Naruto was glad (read as ecstatic) to know something about the Uchiha no one else knew. For another thing, the look that Sasuke gave that said he would rip out Naruto's guts and burn him in a bonfire if he told was a good motivation to keep the secret.
Naruto glanced at Haku warily. "No looking! Go somewhere else. Like, out of the store!"
"You're so childish, Naruto," Haku commented, smiling. But he left the store like a good brother.
Naruto watched Haku until he was out of the store and looked at the cashier. "How much is a dozen chocolate covered strawberries?"
The lady looked at him like she thought he was crazy, but went ahead and answered.
"Oh, and can you put them in a box please? Those are easier to wrap."
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Naruto was quite content. They were currently all gathered at Sasuke's place for the party. Itachi had nicely settled to set everything up for them. It was late into the night and everyone was sharing Naruto's feelings of happy contentment.
Simultaneously, as if on cue, everyone turned their heads to the large Christmas tree. Underneath were all the presents everyone had brought and there were quite a few. It was silently agreed that it was time to get to the gift giving and gift receiving.
Everyone grinned as the presents were passed out. Sakura received Naruto's gift to her. It was a beautiful pink diamond necklace in the shape of a flower. She laughed when she received Lee's, which was a pair of dangling earrings with the same exact flower shape and diamonds.
"Is this coincidence or did you plan it out?" Sakura asked the two.
"It is a complete coincidence, Sakura," Lee exclaimed. Of course it was planned out. Naruto snickered.
Naruto's gift to Hinata was a nice hooded jacket. It was a light baby blue color and had a beautiful Chinese dragon winding around it in dark blue. She blushed and thanked Naruto profusely for it.
"No sweat, Hinata. Open Kiba's. He took forever in picking it out," Naruto commented.
"Naruto!" Kiba yelled.
"Just doing ya a favor, dog boy," Naruto grinned.
"K-Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed softly. Her pale eyes were shining. In her hands was a plush wolf. Now it would not have been very original idea to the general onlooker, but Hinata had once said she dearly wanted the plush but was not allowed to purchase it. "You remembered." Her eyes looked gratefully at Kiba.
Slight color went to his tattooed cheeks and he stuttered, "It was nothing, really."
This went in a very similar pattern for everyone. They would wonder at Naruto's gift choice for them and then surprisingly find a meaningful gift from their "significant other." Naruto particularly liked the look Shikamaru gave him. The genius had looked utterly baffled when he found his present to be a pillow that was in the shape of a frog. Of all things, the pillow was a frog. Of all things the gift was a pillow.
Naruto had laughed and said, "You need it."
Shikamaru had shrugged and secretly smiled at the strange gift.
Gaara had looked at Naruto strangely for his gift. It was a glass bottle in a vague shape of a gourd with a cork.
"You like making sand art, right?" Naruto asked.
Gaara had blinked and then gave Naruto a small smile.
Itachi had actually cracked up at Naruto's present. It was an over-used pun yes, but still funny nonetheless. What added to the humor was that Itachi never expected anyone to be daring enough to do that to him. It was a plush weasel with a collar that read "Itachi."
Everyone looked at Sasuke as the last gift was handed out. It was Naruto's to the Uchiha. After the wide arrange of gifts the blond had given everyone, they were all wondering what in the world was in store for the raven. Sasuke was a bit curious as well. Sasuke carefully peeled off the envelope that read his name in Naruto's messy writing. He opened it and read the card to himself. Mentally of course. One could never be sure what was contained in Naruto's messages after all.
Sasuke,
Honestly, your gift was such a butt to buy. I didn't know what to get until this Thursday. Really, I thought it'd be easy, after all, I've known you forever. Anyways, it's your favorite. You'll know what I mean. Just don't open it right now. Don't want that secret to get out, do you? Umm…Anyways…That's it I guess. Merry Christmas.
Naruto
PS – Love you.
Sasuke raised his eyebrow in question. Especially at the post script. It seemed to have been scribbled out and written again multiple times until Naruto had finally decided to leave it there. Sasuke looked up to the blond but Naruto was busy looking at another card.
Sasuke calmly put the card back in the envelope and put it back onto the wrapped box. He did have a good guess at to what the gift was, and really did not want to risk opening it in front of everybody.
Naturally, everyone was disappointed Sasuke had not opened it.
"Naruto," Sasuke spoke quietly. "Can I speak to you? In private."
Naruto took a deep breath and said, "Sure."
As the two left to talk in the hallway, everyone burst into frantic speech. Everyone was wondering what the card had said and what the gift actually was. It was a good thing everyone was polite enough not to grab the card and read it out loud.
"Naruto."
"Er….yeah?" Naruto looked at the older boy anxiously. They were talking in low whispers, just in case anyone overheard.
"Strawberries?" Sasuke asked, smirking.
Naruto laughed nervously and said, "Mhm."
"Not the most romantic confession I've seen," Sasuke commented.
Naruto slightly blushed and growled, "Well of course not. Do you know how hard it was to write that?"
"But it'll do." Sasuke added.
"What?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening in astonishment.
"You didn't let me finish, idiot."
"Don't call me an idiot!" Naruto snapped as loud as one could while still whispering.
"I'll call you whatever I like." Sasuke replied calmly.
"What's that I see?" Itachi randomly called out. Of course no one had noticed it. After all, how many people looked at the top of the entrance way when entering a room? Not many, really.
"Mistletoe," Temari replied.
Naruto and Sasuke slowly looked up. There, hanging above them was indeed the feared plant. They slowly looked at their expectant friends who really did not know what to expect. Their eyes slowly looked at each other and they both had the same thought. "Damn."
"Best get this over with then," Sasuke said.
The way Sasuke had spoke made Naruto's gut twist into fancy knots. The way the Uchiha had spoken was as if he was contradicting his earlier words. Cerulean eyes met shimmering coal ones. Then again, those eyes were what really mattered. To everyone's surprise, Naruto grinned mischievously, eyes sparkling, and pressed his lips sweetly against the taller boy's. And even though the kiss only lasted for mere seconds, everyone was surprised at how Sasuke kept an arm around Naruto's waist as they turned around and looked at them.
Everyone laughed, probably relieved a fight had not occurred, and there were even a few cat calls and wolf whistles to be heard.
"Enjoy your gift, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, seeming to materialize out of thin air beside them.
They both jumped and looked at the elder Uchiha. "You planned this?" Sasuke asked incredulously.
"Of course. I mean, poor Naruto here was killing himself over the thought of you liking Sakura," Itachi answered simply.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, questioning this, and Naruto turned his head sheepishly away.
Sasuke chuckled and said, "Well I apologize for worrying you so."
"Shut up."
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Naruto yawned. It was the first school day after winter break. He just had geometry and he was already dead bored. All Naruto had been doing throughout geometry was staring at the clock watching the seconds tick by. And now he was doing the same in advocacy, barely listening to a word said. The bell rang, signaling the end of advocacy and the beginning of break.
Naruto leapt out of his chair at a speed much faster than how he had been going about all morning. Before he left however, Iruka called out the blonde's name again.
They waited as everyone left the classroom, eager to get outside for their fifteen minute break.
"How was your break, Naruto?" Iruka asked.
"It was great. Why do you ask?" Naruto wondered.
Iruka gave Naruto a small smile. "Just wondering, that's all. Well, off you go then."
Naruto nodded and bolted out the door.
Iruka followed Naruto outside in curiosity. There he saw the whole large group talking animatedly at each other. Naruto and Sasuke seemed awfully close. Then Iruka smiled as he saw the Uchiha wrap his arm around the Uzumaki around his waist, whisper something in the blonde's ear, and peck him on the cheek. After this, Sasuke pulled his arm away and replied to a remark Kiba had spoken.
So he had been right. The two felt for each other all along. Iruka allowed a grin to make its way to his face as he walked back inside. He knew it was probably wrong, but he had to share this news with at least Kakashi, another teacher very familiar with the two best friends/rivals.
What was spoken in that little moment?
Naruto tensed a bit as he felt an arm wrap around his waist. He then realized it was Sasuke's. Now, the two were not sure if to say they were "officially" dating, but the two and their friends knew that they were definitely together.
"Love you too," Sasuke whispered in his ear. After that, the Uchiha gave his blond fox a kiss on the cheek and withdrew his arm from Naruto's waist.
"I was wondering when you were going to say that," Naruto said quietly, smiling. Only the Uchiha heard.
"Enough PDA(1), you guys. I swear I've had enough of it for the past week." Kiba commented, seeing the exchange between the couple.
"You're certainly one to talk, Kiba," Sasuke replied sarcastically.
Both Hinata and Kiba flushed slightly, and everyone else laughed.
In the teacher's lounge, not so far away, Iruka was busy telling Kakashi what he had seen in frantic whispers.
Kakashi replied as coolly as ever, "Told you so, Iruka."
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(1) Public Displays of Affection
A/N: Wow, I'm certainly getting a lot of inspiration these days. I'm writing a lot more than I expected. One of those rare periods of time I get a lot of creative juices flowing in my brain I guess. I wonder if that's a good thing. Hmm…-shrugs-
Thank you much for reading. If you would bother to be nice and review, I'd appreciate it very much. Happy Holidays to all of ya!
--NarutoKyuu
PS – If anyone is wondering here's a list of Naruto's gifts to all his friends:
Sakura: the necklace with the pink diamond sakura flower pendant.
Sasuke: the dark chocolate covered strawberries (and his confession).
Hinata: the baby blue jacket with a dark blue dragon design on it.
Kiba: a dog chew toy (as a joke) and a dog tag necklace that said "Kiba Inuzuka".
Akamaru: a dog collar with a tag ("just in case Akamaru got lost" says Naruto).
Shino (yes he was there): one of those little tanks with a vented cover.
Shikamaru: the frog shaped moshi pillow.
Ino: a hair tie and hair pin with little pigs on them.
Chouji: a pack of 100 calorie snacks (the ones you get a Costco xD).
Lee: lots of shirts nearly all the colors of the rainbow ("you wear way too much green" said Naruto).
Neji: a bird feeder (his uncle wouldn't let him get one. "sorry, but you gotta get your own seeds" Naruto said).
Tenten: a big fat book that was practically an encyclopedia of all the weapons ever created.
Gaara: the gourd shaped glass with a cork ("you've got plenty of colored sand, right?" Naruto asked).
Temari: a medium-sized white fan with a koi swimming in a pond with a lily on one side and a lily pad on the other end.
Kankuro: a little puppet of a nine-tailed kitsune ("I had lots of choices but of course it had to resemble me" Naruto commented).
Haku: a pair of scissors ("cut your hair dang it!" yelled Naruto) ((a joke)).
Itachi: the plush weasel wearing a collar that read "Itachi" (over-used pun).
There ya go. Naruto's gift list of wonders. :3