Naruto's Twelve Days of Christmas

by Twisteddarkness225

Somebody's leaving Naruto gifts during the last twelve days until Christmas. He wants to know who it is and tries to figure it out during the busiest time of the year. One-shot. Naruto x ?

After only being able to write a short x-mas one-shot last year I thought ahead and threw this together for the holidays. Still just a one shot, but I like to think it's pretty good. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. If I did, there'd be a whole lot more cute kunoichi running around the village. I make no money from writing this story.

Naruto's 12 Days of X-mas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a freshly cut Christmas tree.

Fifteen year old Naruto Uzumaki walked back in through the village gates. He had just returned from a mission escorting a group of merchants to a neighboring land. It hadn't been so bad, only one group of bandits attempted to jump them. The real pain had been the weather. It was getting colder and the days were getting shorter. Snowstorms were in abundance around the land and Naruto had the luck of a blizzard hitting just as he started his return trip to the village. He had to take refuge in a cave for a day when the storm got really bad. Needless to say, it hadn't been fun. He was just grateful to be back home.

As he entered the village he noticed some changes. He had been gone for five days and in that time the entire village had been decorated. Naruto marveled at how different the streets looked now that there were wreaths and Christmas lights hanging. He remembered he had decorating of his own to do as well. He sighed, starting to feel a little depressed. He loved the holidays, but as he got older they just started to seem like there was something missing. While he walked, Naruto looked at all the other people out on the streets. Everyone was with someone, a friend, a family member, a loved one. That's what he wanted, someone for him to share the holidays with.

Naruto sighed again. It wasn't like he couldn't just spend time with his friends. But they all had families that they were spending the holidays with and he didn't want to be a fifth wheel. It looked like he'd be spending Christmas alone again this year.

Soon enough he reached his apartment and unlocked the door. It was getting late so he decided to just grab a bite to eat and then go to bed. Maybe tomorrow he could go out and try to find a Christmas tree…or not.

When he opened the door he stopped in his tracks. At first he questioned if he had the right apartment but shook that off, knowing it was in fact his. He continued to stare in surprise. There, in his living room, was a Christmas tree. Naruto entered his apartment and went over to it. Yup, it was definitely a Christmas tree, all set up and put in his tree stand. It even looked like someone had watered it already too.

Naruto wracked his brain trying to figure out who did this. Pervy Sage? Iruka-sensei? Grandma Tsunade? Any of them could have done it, as could have any of his friends. He went and sat down on his couch, looking over at the tree. It looked really nice, easily better than any of the trees he had gotten in past years. It was almost perfectly straight and the needles were a lush, dark green. He'd even go as far to say it was perfect. He really wished he knew who got it for him. He started to take off his boots, when he noticed a note on the coffee table in front of him. Naruto picked it up and read it:

Naruto-kun,

I hope you don't mind, but I picked out a tree for you this year. I asked Tsunade-sama to allow me to set it up in your home for you. Consider it an early present, the first of many. I hope you like them and wish you happy holidays.

Naruto checked both sides of the paper but there was no signature. He reread the note, hoping he might recognize the handwriting. No luck, it wasn't like that knew the handwriting each and every one of his friends had anyway. Shrugging it off, he ate a dinner of instant ramen and went to bed. He could try to figure out things in the morning.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me…two hand knit mittens.

"Come on Grandma, why can't you tell me who it was?"

The fifth Hokage shook her head, "I'm sorry Naruto but I was asked to keep it secret. Besides, that would ruin the purpose of the whole thing."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Huh, what are you talking about Grandma?"

"Do you know what a Secret Santa is?"

Naruto nodded, "It's when you buy a gift for someone, but you don't let them know it was you who got it for them." Tsunade nodded, smiling. It took a second for it to click in Naruto's mind. "Oh I get it! Someone is being my Secret Santa!"

"That's right and your Secret Santa asked me to keep quiet about their identity. Sorry Naruto but maybe you'll find out who it is, maybe you won't. Either way I'm sure your Secret Santa will be happy so long as you're happy. Now I need to get back to work, just because Christmas is almost here doesn't mean things are going to be any easier for the village."

Naruto thanked her and left. While he walked back to his house he tried to think of just who his Secret Santa could be. He knew it was supposed to be a secret but still, he wanted to know who it was. So far all he knew about him/her was that s/he obviously knew where he lived and also obviously liked him enough to go through the trouble of doing all of this. That didn't really narrow it down much. It could still be any one of his friends. For all he knew it was really Tsunade who just acted like she had nothing to do with it.

Naruto gave up trying to figure out who his Secret Santa was. Maybe he'd be able to figure it out as he got more of the gifts that were promised him in the note. He might even see who ever it is leaving a gift for him at his house. It was possible, but for now he had other things to think about. He figured since he had a tree now he might as well decorate it along with the rest of his little apartment.

Naruto put his hands in his pockets. They were starting to feel cold from being exposed to the winter air for so long. Feeling the warmth return to his hands he finished walking home. Opening his door he walked in and plopped down on his couch. He wanted to rest a bit before going down to the storage area in the building to get his decorations. As he relaxed he looked over at the tree again and noticed something different. There was a present sitting underneath the tree.

Naruto got back up and went over to it. It was a small box wrapped in red paper with a white bow and a small card taped to it. Naruto picked up the present and read the card.

Naruto-kun,

As promised here is your second present. I'm sorry to say that I had to enter your apartment again when you weren't home. Tsunade-sama has granted me full access to it so that I may leave you my gifts as I please. I hope you don't mind but I'll be doing this each time I leave you a gift. If you want you may open this one now. I'm sure you'll find it useful at this time of year.

Once again there was no signature. Not that Naruto was surprised, but at least whoever it was could just sign it 'anonymous' or something. Naruto looked at the present, wondering if he really should open it or just set it back beneath the tree until Christmas. The note had said that it would be okay to open it, but it was still too early in the month to be opening presents. After a quick debate with himself on what to do, Naruto opted to open it. He tore off the wrapping paper and opened the white box that was in it. Inside he found a pair of mittens. They were orange like his coat and looked like they had been knit. Now Naruto had a better idea of who his Secret Santa might be. He knew for a fact that none of the guys he knew knit. So it was probably a girl.

Naruto tried on his new mittens. They were very comfy and fit him perfectly. He took them back off and returned them to their box, making a mental note not to ever wear them when he was sent on a mission. They were too nice and he didn't want them to get ruined. Setting the box back under the tree, Naruto left to get his decorations out of storage.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me…three gift baskets.

Naruto finished hanging the mistletoe. He set it up so it hung from the middle of the living room ceiling. He never had the chance to actually use it (having originally got it with the hopes of Sakura paying him a visit one year) but he felt it was a necessity for the holiday. Satisfied he got down from the ceiling, having channeled chakra into his feet so he could put the mistletoe up. Now he was officially done with decorating. Taking a look around at his work he smiled in satisfaction. His apartment looked nice all decorated like this. He had even cleaned the place up.

A growling sound came from his stomach. He had worked up an appetite while he had been decorating and knew just what to get to eat. Throwing on his coat and the new mittens he got yesterday he ran outside, headed for his favorite place in the entire village. Walking down the streets, he felt something he hadn't felt during the holidays in the past few years. He felt a warmth inside him that he remembered experiencing back when he was younger, back when the Third Hokage was still alive and paid him visits on Christmas day. The blonde couldn't help but smile to himself; it was because of his Secret Santa. Whoever it was, they reminded him of the old man. The way he would surprise Naruto each year by having a present left for him on Christmas Eve while he was fast asleep.

Naruto broke away from his train of thoughts as he reached his destination. The Ichiraku Ramen Stand. He was about to go in when he noticed something. It was closed, but it was still too early for it to be closed. It normally stayed open until at least nine or ten depending on the day of the week. Naruto saw a sign on the front of the stand. It said that they had to close early due to reasons beyond their control. Apparently Teuchi had caught a bug from the cold weather and needed plenty of rest.

Naruto sighed and turned to go back home. So much for his good mood. He had really been looking forward to having some fresh, hot ramen. He guessed he'd just have to settle for the instant ramen he had at home.

Soon he reached the building he lived in and climbed up to his floor. He got to his door and opened it, taking his coat off once he was inside. He removed his mittens as well, going to return them to their place in their box under his tree. That's when he noticed that while he was gone he had been left another gift, three of them actually. There, under the tree were three gift baskets. Naruto went over and took a closer look. One basket was full of cookies and other sweets, the second held fresh fruit, but the third is what caught his attention the most. It was full of instant ramen. Both cups and packets and in several different flavors too. Knowing that no stores sold ramen gift baskets he came to the conclusion that this one had been specially made for him.

Naruto put his mittens back into their box and then returned his attention to the gift baskets. On the one with the sweets was another note. He picked it up and read it.

Dear Naruto-kun,

I noticed today that Ichiraku's wasn't open. I know that you love to eat there and that you'd be disappointed when you saw it wasn't open. That is why I made a special gift basket for you along with the two others. I know how much you love ramen so I made sure to get the best instant ramen I could find. I understand it won't be the same as Ichiraku's ramen, but I hope it'll be good enough until the stand reopens.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Santa

Naruto got up and went to put the note with the other two. He had started to keep them together in the drawer of his nightstand in his room. His mind went back to the subject of his Secret Santa's identity. The fact that whoever it was signed the note this time made him wonder if maybe it was Tsunade. She had been the one to tell him that he had a Secret Santa in the first place. But then again maybe not. Naruto set these thoughts aside as his stomach growled again. He went back into the living room and picked up the ramen gift basket. He looked over his choices and settled on a cup of instant beef flavored ramen. He started to heat up some water for it and sat down to wait. He'd return to trying to figure out who his Secret Santa was after he ate a quick supper.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…four DVD's.

Naruto sat on the couch in his living room. He was rereading the three notes he had gotten in the past few days, still trying to find out who his Secret Santa was. So far he knew that whoever it was knew where he lived, knew he loved ramen and ate at Ichiraku's almost every day. He also knew that whoever it was knew how to knit, or maybe knew someone who did, or knew where to buy hand-knit stuff. His previous theory of it being a girl just because he thought that his Secret Santa actually knit the mittens was no longer in play, but still plausible.

Sadly, all of these facts still didn't do much to narrow it down. For all he knew it could still be anybody he knew. He had also come up with the idea that maybe it was someone he didn't know. Maybe it was a secret admirer, but he really doubted it.

Naruto got up, going back into his room and putting the notes away. He'd try again later, after he got the next gift. In the meantime he could go out and see if there were any missions he could do. He still needed to earn some more money so he could do his own Christmas shopping.

A couple hours later he had finished the mission he had been assigned. He had to help chop firewood for some of the older villagers. It had kept him busy and the pay wasn't so bad considering it was a d-rank mission. Plus he hadn't been the only one who was assigned to do it. Both Kiba and Lee had been helping him. The three boys had gotten into a contest to see who could chop the most wood, Lee coming out to be the winner.

So now Naruto was walking around the village, looking into the windows of various shops and trying to think of what to get for whom. The people on his list included Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Sakura. He wanted to get gifts for everyone, but wasn't sure of what to get for anyone other than who was on his list.

He was currently looking into a jewelry store window. His eyes went from one thing to the next, seeing if he could find something for Sakura. Everything looked so expensive and he just decided to try somewhere else. He kept going to different shops and looking at what was on display, trying to get ideas for gifts.

Naruto spent a total of one hour and forty-six minutes window shopping before he decided to head home for the day. He had gotten a good idea of what to get for both Kakashi and Jiraiya but had no luck with anyone else. When he got home he wrote down his ideas on a scrap of paper. He would have bought the gifts today but wanted to earn a little more money first. That way he could do all the shopping at once and maybe even get the presents gift wrapped in the stores.

Naruto taped the paper to his fridge and then went over to his Christmas tree. He felt like having some more ramen out of his gift basket and some of the sweets in the other gift basket for dessert. Under his tree he saw that another present had been left while he was gone. He wasn't very surprised; he had expected that it this might happen. He grabbed a cup of ramen and went to start boiling the water.

He returned to the tree and picked up the gift. It was wrapped in green paper with red ribbon and like the mittens, this one had card taped to it. He picked it off of the gift and read it.

Dear Naruto-kun,

I'm happy to see you like the gifts I've left you so far. I hope you like this one just as much. Feel free to open it now if you want.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Santa

Naruto set the card down and started to unwrap the gift. It was a four DVD box set. Each DVD featured one of the Princess Gale movies with deleted scenes and director's commentary. Naruto had only seen the movies when they had come out in theaters and never got the chance to buy them for his own. How did his Secret Santa know he wanted these? The sound of the kettle on the stove whistling snapped him from his thoughts. He'd worry about that later, for now he could enjoy dinner and a movie.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…five ramen coupons.

Naruto scooped up more snow with the shovel and tossed it over his shoulder. The snow landed in a pile with the rest of the snow Naruto had shoveled. Now done he took his leave for the day and returned to the Hokage's tower to receive his payment. In addition to the pathway he had just done he had done several other ones as well. In fact he had done just about every place in the village that needed to be shoveled after the recent snowstorm. Tsunade hadn't wanted to assign the job to just one person, but Naruto had convinced her to. Besides, with the shadow clone jutsu it had been a breeze. He had created a dozen clones and each of them had taken a section of the village cutting the time it would have taken down considerably.

Naruto collected the payment and went back out into the streets. Now that he had more money he decided to go looking around for gift ideas again. He walked down to the part of the village where most of the shops were located and looked around. Unlike yesterday he decided to venture into the shops so he could browse more, not to mention get out of the cold.

The first shop he stopped in was the book store where he had gotten his ideas for Jiraiya and Kakashi. He knew that Sakura had been reading a lot of medical books lately and thought that maybe he could find one for her. It seemed easy enough, that is at least until he saw the wide selection of medical books available. Naruto's head started to spin just looking at them all. Plus he had no clue as to which ones Sakura wanted or even already had. Maybe this wasn't so easy after all. He continued to look around, trying to see if there was maybe another kind of book Sakura might like. Romance novels, girls liked those kind of things right? Naruto located the romance section of the store and started browsing.

A couple of hours or so later Naruto left to return home, now having an idea for everyone on his Christmas list. While he was out he also picked up some Christmas cards, he guessed since he had no idea what to get the for teams Kurenai, Asuma and Gai the least he could do was give each member of the teams a card. It wasn't much but it was still something. Maybe if he had enough money left after he finally did his Christmas shopping he could put a little in each card so the recipient could spend it on something.

Naruto wrote down the new ideas on the paper with the other two and put it back on the fridge. He looked over at the tree and saw no new gift underneath it this time. He shrugged; it wasn't late yet so there was still plenty of time for his Secret Santa to stop by. In the meantime he could have a snack and watch one of his new DVDs. He went over to the tree and picked up the fruit basket, taking out a juicy looking apple. Taking a bite out of it he set the basket back down. While reaching for the DVD box set he noticed that the tree needed some water. Going to his kitchen he pulled an old mug out of a cupboard and filled it with tap water. He returned to the tree and poured the water into the tree stand. After repeating the process again the tree had plenty of water. Naruto put the cup next to the sink for future tree watering use and then went back to the living room.

As he knelt down again to pick out a DVD he heard a knock at the door. Getting up he went over and answered it. There was no one there, but something did fall from where it had been slipped between the side of the door and the doorframe. It was an envelope. Naruto picked it up and saw that his name was written on it. He took another quick look around before shrugging and shutting the door to go back inside. Taking a seat on the couch he tore the envelope open at the side and pulled out a piece of paper, no doubt from his Secret Santa. Five smaller pieces of paper, each in the shape of a rectangle, fell out of the envelope when he did this. Naruto picked them up and discovered they were Ichiraku coupons, each good for one free bowl of ramen. He set them aside and turned his attention to the note.

Dear Naruto-kun

I don't know if you are aware of it yet, but Ichiraku's is open again. Not being able to eat at your favorite place for so long must have been a bit disheartening for you so I took the liberty of getting you these the second I saw it was back in business. Sadly there was a limit of five on them (actually it was one but when I mentioned that they were for you the owner made an exception). This isn't exactly the kind of gift I wanted to get you, but I knew that you'd love it so I did.

Sincerely

Your Secret Santa

Naruto's face broke into a grin as he finished reading it. This was not only because now he could go to Ichiraku's again, but also because now he had a lead as to who his Secret Santa was. If s/he had gotten the coupons from the stand then either Teuchi or Ayame could tell him who got them. Naruto got up and put on his coat, mittens and boots. He grabbed the ramen coupons and left, almost forgetting to shut his door on the way out.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…six slices of cake.

A snowball flew the air, speeding towards Naruto. It hit its mark, striking the blonde boy in the chest. Kiba, being the one to launch the projectile, smirked in triumph.

"Ha! Gotcha Naruto!"

Naruto wiped the snow off of himself and then looked over at Kiba. He smiled and pointed at Kiba, or rather he was pointing to something behind Kiba. Kiba turned to look at what Naruto was trying to show him and got hit in the face with a snowball. He wiped it off and glared at the one who threw it. It was Naruto, or at least one of Naruto's shadow clones. Kiba growled and knelt down to get more snow to make a snowball. While doing so, more Narutos where emerging from various hiding places, each armed with a snowball. Kiba could do nothing as he was barraged by each and every one of them.

"Hey! Cut it out already! I give!"

The clones all vanished leaving only the real Naruto and Kiba in the clearing in the woods where they had started their little fight. Naruto walked over to the other boy and grinned smugly. He was about to rub his victory in Kiba's face when he suddenly froze. He tried to move but couldn't. Apparently what ever was going on, Kiba was being affected too. Both boys were struggling to move, even if it was just a tiny bit, but were both failing. What neither of them noticed is that when they hadn't been looking a shadow had shot out of the bushes and branched out to connect to each of their shadows.

They heard rustling from the bushes. Choji Akamichi emerged from his hiding place with Shikamaru. The chubby ninja walked over to both of them, a large grin on his face. Once he got close enough he performed the hand signs for his clan's signature jutsu.

"Expansion jutsu!"

Choji increased in size at least by tenfold. The jutsu complete he grinned wickedly down at Kiba and Naruto. Taking a massive amount of snow in each hand, he created a meteor sized snowball and held it above their heads. Over in the bushes, Shikamaru tilted his head back, making Naruto and Kiba tilt their heads back as well to give them a view of what was in store for them. Naruto and Kiba's eyes widened, watching as Choji released the giant ball of snow. The two cried out in unison as the snowball descended towards them.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!!!"

Shikamaru released his hold on them a split second before they were hit. The two were buried alive beneath all the snow, not even a single hair on their heads visible. Choji returned to his normal size and Shikamaru got up, walking over to stand by his friend. They high-fived each other and helped Naruto and Kiba out of all of the snow.

A short while later, Naruto was back in his apartment. When he had gotten back he had quickly removed all of his wet clothes and ran a hot bath for himself. He was currently relaxing in the hot water, his eyes closed and head tilted back. He was disturbed from his peaceful state when he thought he heard someone in the other room.

Naruto got out of the tub, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around himself. He carefully slid the bathroom door open and peeked out. He didn't see anyone…yet. Opening the door all the way he stepped out of the bathroom and took a look around. There still wasn't anyone in sight. Naruto shrugged, guessing it had just been his imagination and went to his room so he could get dressed. Unknown to him, the second he closed his bedroom door someone snuck out from their hiding place behind the tree and left via the window.

A minute later Naruto came out of his room, fully dressed. He went over to his tree, checking to see if maybe what he had thought he heard earlier was actually his Secret Santa leaving another gift. He found nothing beneath the tree that hadn't already been there. Letting out a sigh he went over to the kitchen, deciding to prepare some instant ramen for dinner. While passing by the fridge he noticed a piece of paper that hadn't been there before he took his bath, taped right next to his list of gift ideas. The paper only had two words on it:

Look Inside

Naruto opened the fridge and found a cheesecake sampler sitting next to his carton of milk. It had a red ribbon on it and a tag addressed to him from his Secret Santa. Naruto took out the sampler, it was a 7 inch cake cut into six slices. Each slice was a different flavor cheesecake. There were three kinds of chocolate (regular, dark and double chocolate), the traditional style, a strawberry swirl and a slice of marble cheesecake. Naruto felt himself drooling over the dessert and couldn't help but take a slice to eat right away. He sat down at his table with a glass of milk and picked out a slice of the cake to eat.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…seven jutsu scrolls.

The sun was starting to set, the signal for Naruto to end his training for the day. Taking a minute to catch his breath he made his way from the training grounds back to the village. His stomach growled fiercely, protesting at its own emptiness. Naruto had skipped lunch to work in an extra bit of training and was now regretting it. He stopped at Ichiraku's, taking a seat and inhaling the scent of ramen.

Teuchi and his daughter Ayame smiled at their best and favorite customer. Teuchi gave him a quick wave before returning to preparing the ramen for his customers, now that Naruto was here he'd need to make sure he had plenty to go around. Ayame approached him, still smiling sweetly.

"Hi Naruto, what can I get for you?"

"Two Miso ramen with extra barbequed pork to start with."

Teuchi nodded, "Coming right up, Ayame here's the next order."

Ayame took a bowl of steaming hot ramen and placed it in front of the customer who had ordered it. The customer thanked her and she turned back to Naruto, "So any luck on finding out who your Secret Santa is?"

The boy shook his head, "No, but it would be a lot easier if you could just tell me. You do know who it is right?"

"Well, yes. But we promised we wouldn't tell you who she is."

Ayame clapped her hands over her mouth, mentally kicking herself for slipping like that. Naruto smirked, "So it's a girl?"

"Oh I shouldn't have said that! I can't believe I broke my promise."

"It's okay Ayame. You only said it was a 'she'. You didn't say any names. It could still be any of the girls I know, or maybe even a girl I don't know. So you didn't really break your promise."

Ayame smiled, "I guess you're right. But still, if you find out who she is, could you leave out my little slip up?"

"You got it, I give my word!"

Ayame retrieved Naruto's order and gave it to him. He thanked her and quickly inhaled the first bowl, moving straight on to the second one.

Eight more bowls of ramen later, Naruto paid for his food and left. He arrived back at his apartment and went inside. He was greeted by the sight of a large, rectangular gift sitting under his tree. Rushing over he picked it up; it was wrapped in blue paper with a snowflake pattern and had white ribbon. As to be expected by now there was a note on the box.

Dear Naruto-kun,

I couldn't help but notice you leaving for the training grounds this morning. The fact that you try so hard to better yourself, even when it's so cold out, is truly something to be admired. I hope that this next gift will be helpful for your future training sessions.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Santa

Naruto set the note aside and tore the wrapping paper off of his gift. Underneath he found a plain cardboard box, with its flaps taped shut. He ripped of the tape and opened the box. Inside he found seven scrolls. Pulling one out, he opened it and read its contents. It was a scroll containing instructions on how to perform some of the more advanced jutsu out there. Naruto checked the other six scrolls and found that they were all similar in this way. He couldn't help but smile; this was such a great gift. Lately Kakashi and Jiraiya hadn't been teaching him anything new and it really had been bugging him. But now he could teach himself new jutsu. Unable to wait he picked up all of the scrolls and sat on his couch so he could start reading them.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…an 8 karat gold watch

Naruto rolled over in his sleep, letting out a loud snore. He had stayed up the entire night looking at his new scrolls. By about four in the morning he couldn't focus any more and decided to get some rest. Unfortunately he had been up so long and was so tired as a result of it that he couldn't seem to fall asleep. Another hour or so passed before he finally succumbed to his exhaustion and passed out.

As he dozed he entered the REM (rapid eye movement) cycle of sleep. It is the cycle in which one has their dreams. A smile came to his face at this particular dream.

Naruto was standing atop the Hokage tower, the entire village was there as well. Everyone was sitting in chairs facing him and two other people. One of which was an old priest who was standing in front of him. The other person was standing next to him and dressed in an elegant white gown. She was his bride and he the sixth Hokage. Everyone in the village watched on as the priest performed the wedding ceremony. Naruto was only half listening to what the old man was saying. He was far to busy looking at his blushing bride out of the corner of his eyes. Her face was hidden by a veil but he knew in his heart who it was. His bride was none other than his childhood crush Sakura Haruno.

After what seemed like eternity he finally heard the words he had been waiting for.

"Do you, Naruto Uzumaki the lord Sixth Hokage, take this woman to be your wife?"

Naruto smiled and looked at his bride, "I do."

The old priest smiled as well, "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. She slowly reached over and lifted the veil shrouding his bride's face. He froze momentarily when he saw that she wasn't Sakura, but Hinata. As he tried to figure out what was going on, Hinata kissed him. As the sound of the entire village applauding him and his new wife drowned out his thoughts, Naruto realized that for some reason this just felt right.

Hinata pulled back, blushing and looking him in the eyes. He was awestruck by how beautiful she looked just now. So beautiful that he couldn't resist pulling her in for another kiss. He could hear his guy friends cheering him on as Hinata's lips pressed to his once again. Weird…he was kissing her on the lips, but he could swear that he felt them against his cheek.

Naruto's eyes slowly cracked open, he was awake now. He sat up, getting out from under his blanket and rubbed the sleep from his eyes while he let out a yawn. His thoughts turned to the dream he had just been having. It hadn't been the first time he'd had it and now matter how many times he did he just couldn't get it out of his head. But this time it was different. He brought his hand up to his cheek, as though he could still feel Hinata's lips there. The blonde boy knew that the kiss on his cheek that he felt in his dream had never happened before. He was pulled from his thoughts when he realized something else was odd. He remembered just lying down on his couch and going to sleep, but he didn't remember covering himself in a blanket. Yet when had woken up, he was underneath one.

His eyes lit up as he suddenly figured it out. His Secret Santa must've just been here! He looked over at the tree, but saw no new present. It instead had been left on the table in front of the couch with the scrolls. It was a small and triangular in shape and wrapped in red paper with Christmas light patterns. He picked it up and unwrapped it, finding it to be a pocket watch. It was gold, eight karats according to the sticker on the plastic case it was in. Naruto pried open the plastic casing and pulled it out. He opened the watch and saw that it had been set to the right time. Another thing he noticed is that there was an engraving on the inside of it as well.

'Future Hokage'

Naruto smiled, he had a funny feeling of who just might have thought of this gift. It was only a hunch, but if he was right then he owed his Secret Santa quite a lot for everything she's done. He put the watch back on the table and neatened up the scrolls, outing them in a row. Getting up he went to his kitchen to grab some breakfast. Maybe afterwards he could go and see if there were any missions he could do.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…nine hundred channels.

Another big snow storm had hit the village. This one had been bigger than any of the others so far this winter. The entire village had practically been buried in snow and Tsunade had left it to Naruto to help shovel it all so the villagers would be able to actually leave their homes. Once again his shadow clones proved highly valuable for this task. At least a hundred of them, including the original Naruto, had dispersed themselves throughout the village and made quick work of it.

Not too long after finishing that job, Naruto had gone off to help chop more firewood for the whole village as well. To be safe he, along with Kakashi and a few other ninja, were asked to cut a large amount for everyone just in case an even worse snow storm were to occur. It was a long and laborious task, which kept them all busy through out the course of the day, but it was done.

The payment for both the missions was pretty decent considering they were only d-rank. Now Naruto finally had enough saved up to officially start his Christmas shopping. And not a moment too soon either; Christmas was just a few days away and he knew that the stores were only going to get busier as the holiday came closer. It was too late in the day now, but if he got up early enough in the morning he should be able to get it all done before it got too crazy.

As he walked home he turned his gaze skywards. It was cloudy out, the entire sky hidden behind a veil of grey. It started to snow lightly, snowflakes slowly descending from the clouds to the ground. Naruto looked back down and let out a sigh. Hopefully this storm wouldn't be the same as the last one. He was really tired after everything he had to do today, good thing he was nearly home.

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts when something caught his eye. It looked like someone had been peeking at him from around that corner up ahead. Having a good idea who it was, he went over to see.

Around the corner, Hinata Hyuga felt her heart racing. She always felt this way whenever she saw Naruto. Especially whenever she happened to run into him, alone. She closed her eyes and calmed herself; she couldn't afford to do anything to embarrass herself in front of Naruto just because she had the luck of finding him all by himself.

"Hey Hinata!"

Hinata let out an 'eep!' and fell into a snow bank, landing on her butt. Naruto had popped around the corner so suddenly that he had startled her. The blonde scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He held out his hand to help her up.

"Sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to scare you."

She took his hand, feeling a warmth fill her heart from such simple contact. "T-that's okay Naruto-kun."

Once she was on her feet, Naruto brushed the snow off of her. Of course since all of it was on the backs of her thighs and such, it made her blush furiously, Naruto being completely oblivious to it all.

"Sorry again Hinata. So what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"Um, I-I was just taking a walk around the village. T-to see how nice it looked with all the fresh snow."

"Oh, then why are you in this alley?"

Hinata blushed, trying to think up something. She couldn't tell him that she had ducked in here when she had seen him after all. "I…Um…I was just taking a detour t-that's all. I-I was actually on my way home."

"Would you like some company?"

Hinata's blush grew, "N-no that's okay. Thank you."

"Well if you're sure. I'll see you later then."

He continued his way home, Hinata waving bye to him and then mentally kicking herself for turning down such a great opportunity. She let out a sigh. Oh well, at least he didn't notice her coming out of the building he lived in. She didn't want him to figure out what she was doing, not yet at least. She watched as he left her sight and then left for home as well.

By this time Naruto had already made it into his apartment and was taking off his boots and such. He plopped himself down on the couch and reached for his TV remote. He stopped, that wasn't his remote. He picked it up, it was nicer looking and newer. There were tons of buttons on it and it had a red ribbon tied to it with a tag addressed to him. It must be his gift for today.

Naruto turned on his TV, taking notice of the new cable box sitting on top of it. He flipped through the channels, seeing he had several more than he ever had while growing up. He couldn't help but keep going until he got back to the beginning. Nine hundred, he had nine hundred TV channels now. His Secret Santa had seriously out done herself this time, Naruto just couldn't believe it.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…ten brand new kunai.

Naruto flung the kunai; it flew for the target, but lost altitude and struck just below it. Naruto cursed under his breath, he had missed again. He just didn't get it, he knew he was aiming right, so why did the kunai keep hitting so low? Fortunately he had someone there to help him. It was none other than the best weapons expert in the village, Tenten.

The bun haired girl shook her head and went over. She stood next to Naruto, pulled out one of her own kunai and threw it with deadly accuracy. The kunai whizzed through the air and hit the target dead center in the bull's eye. Naruto groaned in frustration.

"I don't get it! How can you hit the target when you're throwing it the same way I am!?"

Tenten sighed, "Naruto it may seem like we're doing the same thing but trust me we aren't. Hold your kunai like you're about to throw it again."

Naruto did as told, wielding the weapon as though he was about to fling it at the target. Tenten took a quick look at the way he was holding it.

"There's your problem, you hold it as if you're using it in close combat. Here try this."

She readjusted his hand to hold only the ring on the end of the kunai handle. Tenten asked him to try it again. Naruto threw the kunai; this time it hit the target, only slightly to the left of Tenten's kunai. Naruto pumped his fist in triumph and Tenten nodded in approval.

"Much better Naruto, if you keep practicing throwing like that you'll improve in no time. You might want to also try and get better quality kunai. The ones you use are a little old and worn down."

"Maybe; I only use these ones for practice and I guess I have had them for a while. But I'll have to wait until after the holidays are over to buy some."

"Who knows, maybe you'll get some for a gift."

"Yeah, I probably will. Thanks again for the help Tenten."

"Anytime."

They went their separate ways, Tenten off to join her team for a quick mission; and Naruto for home. A short while later Naruto arrived back at his apartment. As he went inside he tried to decide what to do with the rest of his day. Maybe he could check out some more of the channels he had recently gotten or go over one of the scrolls again. On the other hand he still hadn't done any shopping and it was the day before Christmas Eve. That settled it, he'd grab a bite to eat and then head out to do his shopping.

Naruto went into his kitchen and started to boil water. He went to his tree and reached for a cup of instant ramen out of the gift basket. While he was there he checked to see if he had gotten anything from his Secret Santa. A quick look was all he needed to see the rectangular box wrapped in red paper with a silver bells pattern on it. Grabbing it he took off the note attached to it and read what was written on it.

Naruto-kun,

Here's a little something for the next time you decide to do some target practice.

Sincerely

Your Secret Santa

Setting the note on the table, Naruto ripped the wrapping paper off of the gift, revealing a box with a brand new set of kunai in it. There were ten in all and they were very high quality. Naruto suddenly remembered what Tenten had said to him earlier and thought for a moment that maybe she was his Secret Santa. He dismissed the thought afterwards, it couldn't have been Tenten. He had found her not long after he had left that morning and there was no way that she could have snuck to his apartment and left him the gift. Well, unless she had someone do it for her, then maybe she could be the one. Naruto set his thoughts aside; he could think it over later, after his shopping was done. He finished making his ramen, ate it and set out to do his task.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a delicious Christmas dinner.

Naruto set the gifts beneath the tree. He had somehow managed to get all of his shopping done the previous day and had just finished wrapping the gifts. Tomorrow he'd go out and deliver each one to his friends and then give out the Christmas cards to everyone else. He had managed to earn enough money so that he was able to put a generous amount in each card. That way the recipients of the cards could buy themselves something nice. Naruto smiled to himself, he had really done well this year. Not that he was able to do much the past couple years while he was away training with Jiraiya.

Now having the rest of the day, he could go out on his own personal mission: to discover the identity of his Secret Santa. He knew it was a girl, most likely one of his friends and that whoever she was; she had must like him a lot and have a lot of money considering all the things she had given him. So far the top three most likely girls he could think of were, Tenten after what had occurred yesterday, Tsunade who he thought had given him the watch, and lastly Sakura which was mostly because Naruto hoped it was her.

Knowing that he couldn't just go around and ask them directly, he opted to do the next best thing. Go and ask people close to them if they knew anything. It seemed like a solid enough plan and so Naruto set out for his first target: Ino. He found her at work in her family's flower shop. It was slightly busy, apparently some people actually bought flowers for their loved ones as a Christmas gift. Naruto waited patiently for it to slow down before going up to the other blonde.

A minute later he left the store, the sound of Ino's laughter still coming from inside. All he had asked was if she knew whether Sakura had bought any of the gifts for him and she started to laugh. He knew that there was no point in bothering to try any further so he just left. Next he'd try Neji and Lee since they were Tenten's teammates. Knowing how they were he went to their team's training grounds and found them just as he expected. He ran up to them waving.

"Hey guys!"

Both boys turned to see him coming, Lee smiling and waving back at him.

"Naruto! It is good to see you, what brings you here?"

"Well I was wondering if you guys could tell me something…about Tenten."

His statement quickly caught their attention, Neji raising an eyebrow. "And what exactly is it you want to know?"

"Well, it's just I thought that maybe she was kinda…leaving me gifts when I haven't been home."

Not exactly the best way to word it. Instead of thinking of it as the whole Secret Santa thing they both got the impression that he thought Tenten was leaving him gifts because she liked him. Neji said nothing, not that he had too. Lee spoke enough for the both of them, although he didn't say what Neji was thinking.

"Naruto are saying that you think Tenten is infatuated with you?"

"What!? No, what I meant was…"

"There is no need to be shy my friend!" Lee threw an arm over Naruto's shoulder "There is nothing wrong with your feelings for our teammate, if you return her feelings then do not hold back. I assure you that both Neji and I shall give you our full support!"

"Lee, what the hell are you talking about?"

The three boys turned to see Tenten, who had just arrived in time to hear Lee's little speech. Lee smiled and went over to her.

"Do not act like you do not know. Naruto has told us of your leaving gifts for him when he is not at home."

"What!?! You can't be serious!"

"There is no need to be ashamed my youthful teammate. Your feelings for Naruto are perfectly…ahh!"

Tenten grabbed Lee by his collar. "Let me make something clear. If I was going to sneak into anyone's house to leave them a gift it would be Neji's not Naruto's!"

She suddenly blushed as she realized what she had just said. Naruto took the opportunity to take off, Tenten clearly not being the one he was looking for. Lee also went off so his teammates could have some alone time. The two were left alone, an awkward silence between them.

A short while later, Naruto returned home. After a quick trip to see Tsunade he now knew she wasn't the Secret Santa either. But he did get some valuable information from her. But it was getting late and he needed to get something to eat. He had tried Ichiraku's but he had been denied seeing as the stand closed early that day. Letting out a sigh he entered his apartment…only to be met with a huge surprise. On his kitchen table were eleven silver platters with lids covering them. He went over to the table and removed the lids one by one. Under the lids was everything for a Christmas dinner including a turkey, gravy, a ham, stuffing, potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, steamed vegetables, rolls, a loaf of cranberry bread, and apple pie for dessert. Naruto drooled over the feast before him, unable to do anything except sit down and dig in.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…………..???

Naruto's eyes opened and he sat up in his bed. He felt an excitement in his being that he hadn't felt since his Christmases from when he was younger. Today was Christmas and he had a lot to do. Getting up, he hurriedly showered, dressed and ate a quick breakfast. He then grabbed the gifts for his friends and went out the door.

A few hours later Naruto was en route back to his apartment. He had spent a little time with everyone after he gave them their gifts. He was glad that the ones who he had given cards were happy with it. To be honest Naruto felt a little cheap having gone out to buy gifts for some and then only given a bit of money to everyone else. Hinata hadn't been at home so Neji offered to give hers to her. Of course Naruto suspected that maybe the Hyuga girl wouldn't be around when he had gotten there. After all, he now knew she had her own private agenda to keep thanks to what Tsunade had told him.

-Flashback, the previous day: Tsunade's office-

"Come on Grandma, admit it you're the one who's been leaving me all those gifts!"

Tsunade sighed, "Naruto as much as I like to wish I was the one, the thing is I'm not. I've been so busy lately I haven's really had any time to leave my office."

Naruto's shoulders sunk, "Oh. Then if it wasn't you, who is it?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell."

"Can't I have just a hint?"

Tsunade thought it over, "Well I suppose it couldn't hurt. You'll probably find out anyway."

Naruto's face broke into a wide grin. "So what's my hint?"

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed that your Secret Santa has always shown up whenever you aren't home or not in the room right?" Naruto nodded. "That's because this person has known when to sneak in and leave your gifts for you Naruto."

He looked confused, "Huh? How could they know that?"

"It's not that hard, especially if you can see through walls."

It took Naruto all of ten seconds to process what he had just heard. "Wait, are you telling me it's Hinata!?!"

Tsunade gave him a knowing smile, "I told you already, I promised not to tell."

-End of flashback-

Naruto finished climbing the stairs to his floor. Making his way to his apartment he saw the very person he was just thinking about. She was standing in front of his door, looking very hesitant, as though she was afraid to go in. Seeing that Hinata hadn't noticed him yet, Naruto snuck over behind her, taking advantage of her clearly being lost in thought. He stood behind her and quickly pulled her into a hug, snapping her from her thoughts.

A number of things occurred then. Hinata squeaked in surprise, her face turned a whole new shade of red, and she nearly fainted from the close contact between her and Naruto. Once that had all transpired, Naruto laughed nervously and let her go.

"Sorry if I scared you Hinata. Merry Christmas."

"T-that's okay Naruto-kun, um M-merry Christmas to you too."

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head, "Sooo, what did you get for me this time, Santa?"

She took a step back, startled "H-how did you… I-I mean, um"

"It's alright Hinata; I know that it's been you who's been leaving me all of those gifts." He pulled her back into his arms. "Thank you, for everything. You have no idea how much it means to me that you cared enough to go through all this trouble just for me."

He heard her sniffle a bit, was she crying? He pushed back to look at her face and saw tears escaping her eyes.

"Hinata what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I…I forgot to get you a gift to…to actually give you on Christmas day. I…I went and gave you everything else ahead of time, b-but I completely forgot about today. I-I'm sorry."

Naruto laughed, "Are you kidding me? You gave me a lot of great gifts! Plus you've made this the best Christmas I've had in years. I'm the one who should be sorry for not getting you anything to show you how much I appreciate it."

Hinata wiped the tears from her eyes, "Do… do you really mean it?"

"Of course I do. I loved everything you've given me. You don't have to give me anything else." He smirked and took her hand, "But if you really want to give me something for today, I'll settle for twelve kisses under the mistletoe."

Hinata's face turned red again as Naruto led her inside his apartment. It suddenly didn't matter that Naruto hadn't actually bought her a gift. He had just given her something she had always wanted.

End.

Okay, I really hope you guys like it. It took me a couple weeks to actually write this (stupid homework and group projects) so I would really appreciate some feedback on how it turned out, especially since I proofread and edited it several times. Happy Holidays.