Howdy, partners! I'm just going straight into this story, decided to leave my babbling for the end :p

Summary: Eggnog, costumes, and an onyx-eyed, grumpy Santa. Isn't that what all Christmas parties are about? SasuSaku AU

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, the last chapter definitely would not have ended like it did. Just sayin'.

Enjoy!

'Tis the Season.

"Tree?"

"Check."

"Lights?"

"Check."

"Santa costume?"

"Che- wait, what?"

Sakura sighed and placed her list of 'Christmas necessities' onto the wooden kitchen table, staring at her boyfriend, who was currently (unwillingly) putting decorations against the mint-green painted walls of their home.

"Sasuke, you can't throw a Christmas party if you haven't got a Santa Claus. It's like throwing an Easter party without chocolate. It's just wrong."

Sasuke Uchiha stared at the girl before him, "Who throws Easter parties?"

Sakura glared, her hands firm on her hips, "That is not the point! Sasuke, you need a Santa costume! I can't believe you didn't think of it!"

"Why do I have to be Santa?"

Sakura scoffed, "Neji is too much of an asshole to ever consider for the role of Santa, Lee is too … Lee, he'd scare everyone away with his enthusiasm, Shikamaru is gonna spend the entire party asleep on the couch-"

"What about Naruto?"

"Please. He'd spend the whole night wishing everyone Happy Ramen Day. You know what he's like. Plus, he'd ruin the costume."

"Chouji?"

"I thought about him, but I was worried he'd bring up the fact that I only thought of him because he's … a little bigger than everyone else. Thus, ruining Christmas."

"Kiba?"

"Kiba offered, but I would much rather you do it. The look on your face would be the best Christmas present ever."

Sasuke glared at the giggling girl, and briefly wondered how he managed to fall in love with her. She was way too much trouble.

"Fine. If it really bothers you, I'll get Kiba to do it. He's always willing to help me out."

Sasuke turned back to the decorations, just to glare even harder. He'd always been well aware of Kiba's little crush on Sakura (though she seemed completely oblivious, which, he supposed, was a good thing) and could just picture the look on the asshole's face when she asked him to dress up for her, because her boyfriend was being a dick about it.

Jamming nails into the wall with more force than necessary, Sasuke thought about what being Santa Claus would entail. Thankfully, there would be no children, with this being a Christmas party for Sakura's friends, but he was sure she had mentioned once how Santa would have to let people sit on his lap and listen to their drunken whines about what they wanted on December 25th.

If Sasuke wasn't socially constipated at the best of times, he was definitely unprepared (and unwilling, but that aspect never seemed to bother Sakura) for something like that.

He knew that some of the others would be dressing up for the party. Sakura had told him that Ino was becoming an elf for the night – and there was no doubt Ino would certainly dress … interestingly for the occasion. Shikamaru was apparently being forced into an elf costume too (courtesy of the Yamanaka), and Hinata was going to dress as an angel, which Sakura insisted 'would suit her perfectly'. Others would simply wear Santa hats or Reindeer antlers, getting into the festive spirit, and Sakura was …

Come to think of it, he had no idea what Sakura was dressing up as.

He wasn't sure why that bothered him so much. She had often told him she was dressing specially for the party, but not once had she mentioned what she would be wearing. What if it was a Mrs Claus outfit? What if that was the real reason behind wanting him to dress so embarrassingly.

He supposed being Santa wouldn't be that bad.

"So, you'll do it? Awesome, you're the best. Sorry it's so short notice, Sasuke was being a dick about it. Thank you so much!"

Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts when Sakura placed her hand on his shoulder, beaming a smile in his direction, "Change of plan. I know how much you hated the idea, so I phoned Kiba. He'll dress up as Santa for the party. But you still have to look good!"

Sasuke blinked. Sakura had already bounced back to her list, biting her lip as she went through everything that had to be completed before that night, though Sasuke wasn't listening. Kiba was dressing up as Santa? If she was Mrs Claus, that would technically make them –

No. He refused to even think about it. There was no need to jump to conclusions. He knew she loved him, not Kiba. Besides, he couldn't even be sure that she was a Mrs Claus. She could be dressing up as something entirely different.

"What are you wearing?"

Sakura halted in her tracks, frowning at being interrupted, before looking down at her green knitted jumper featuring a reindeer head, and black skinny jeans, "Uhh … you can see it."

"Tonight."

"OH. It's a surprise. It kinda sucks now that you flatly refuse to be Santa, but what the hell. It'll still work with Kiba."

Sasuke didn't dare listen to any more. He headed for the door, taking his coat on the way, and walked out of the house, leaving the silver tinsel hanging against a picture frame of Sakura's, vaguely hearing the pinkette's protests to him walking out. But he didn't listen.

He had something to do.

"So, he refused to wear a Santa costume, then freaks out when someone else does. Then he storms out the house and he hasn't come back, so he left me to do all of this work!"

Ino sighed and shook her head; her blonde ponytail swishing behind her, almost knocking the green hat off her head. She knew of Kiba's obvious crush towards Sakura, and also knew how much Sasuke hated him for it. Though she found his jealousy incredibly cute, she didn't understand his logic of walking out the house, leaving Sakura to not only finish off setting up for the party, but also leaving her in the hands of the new Santa Claus, who was casually leaning against a wall further down, having a conversation with Shino about something or other, although the sneaky glances towards the pinkette could be seen by the entire household (but the girl herself).

Though, if Ino was being perfectly honest with herself, she fully understood why he wouldn't stop looking at her.

Sakura, like many of the others, had dressed up festively for the party. Though her outfit wasn't as provocative as Ino's green tight top that ended above her belly button and the ruffled green mini skirt with bells on it (which, looked awesome), it was definitely an outfit that could be considered sexy by a lot of the males in the room.

Another reason she couldn't understand why Sasuke left her alone in this room of raging hormones.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sakura-chan. I mean, you got this place looking totally awesome! Besides, I'm sure he had something important to do. There's no point being mad! It's Christmas!"

Sakura smiled at Naruto, who was listening in to her conversation with the other blonde. Naruto had decided to turn up dressed as a penguin, and Sakura had to admit it looked pretty cool (pun definitely intended).

Ino took another swig of her eggnog, feeling incredibly buzzed as she reached the bottom of the glass. Frowning, she ignored whatever her best friend was about to say (probably more whining about her boyfriend) and went to get another glass, leaving her with a talking penguin.

Sakura opened her mouth to call the blonde back, but decided against it. Ino's main focus at parties had always been, and would always be, alcohol. She didn't think she had ever seen the girl hold an empty glass for longer than 3 minutes, and that one time was only because there was a line for the beverages.

Instead, Sakura took a look around her house. She had just managed to get the entire place done up ready for the party, with the help of Ino and Hinata. Baubles were hung, tinsel was scattered, Ino had even brought some fake snow to make the place look more authentic. Hinata had prepared the eggnog, and was getting constant praise from a tipsy Ino Yamanaka, while Shikamaru sat on the couch, as Sakura had predicted, only he wasn't asleep. He seemed far too pissed off being forced to wear a green shirt and shorts with bells attached, along with the elf-like hat which hid his trademark pineapple-style hair. The dagger-filled glares he sent towards his long term girlfriend seemed to have no affect on her, as she once again tried to make a toast to Hinata for creating 'such a delectable alcoholic substance' as Ino had put it.

Chouji was by the buffet table, and Sakura was glad she didn't choose Chouji to be Santa, as he had turned up in all white and a carrot strung to his nose, dressed as a snowman, which Sakura thought looked absolutely brilliant. He was currently munching on a couple of mince pies while trying to hold a conversation with Neji, who clearly didn't appreciate having pieces of pastry flung in his direction from Chouji's mouth. Neji had simply turned up smartly dressed with a Santa hat that TenTen had made him wear (come to think of it, Naruto and Chouji seemed to be the only males that willingly dressed up without being told to) while she had creatively dressed as a robin, with the red belly protruding outwards, her baby bump showing in all its glory. She was sipping on a glass of water and playing with her wedding ring, a habit that the pinkette had noticed long ago, and Sakura smiled, as she turned to look at more of the guests.

Naruto in his black and white penguin suit was definitely an image she would hold on to forever, and watched as he spoke to Hinata, who looked gorgeous in a flowing white dress and a home made halo attached to her head. Hinata immediately turned a deep red colour when Naruto kissed her cheek, and Sakura smiled once again. She remembered the day they got together so long ago, and her eyes were automatically drawn to the engagement ring on Hinata's finger, briefly wondering if her and Sasuke would ever end up getting married.

She shook the thought from her mind as soon as it came. While she had often pictured herself marrying the Uchiha, it wasn't a dream that was about to become real any time soon. Especially with the way he stormed out just hours before.

Her heart sunk a little as she replayed his random anger. All she wanted was for him to dress as Santa and have a fun time, she wasn't expecting him to go all mad and walk out. She was glad she decided against the Mrs Claus outfit, as it would've been very awkward having Kiba as her 'husband'.

She wasn't stupid. She knew that the Inuzuka had feelings towards her, and she always felt bad that she didn't reciprocate them, but she had told him time and time again that her heart belonged to someone else, and he understood that. It was Kiba that had chosen for them to be friends, knowing that nothing more would happen otherwise.

She sighed as she looked at Shino and Kiba talking. Kiba in the Santa costume was a good sight. She glanced at Akamaru, who had been given a brown coat, antlers and a red nose. She knew that the dog was well trained, but wasn't sure how he managed to keep all of that on.

Lee practically bounced past her at that point, being careful not to poke anyone's eyes out, but at the same time being too hyped up to really care. Sakura had to admit, when she told people to dress Christmassy, she wasn't expecting anyone to turn up as a Christmas tree.

Still, it seemed to work for Lee, and he was pretty content with having to drink through a straw with the glass held by someone else as he couldn't move his arms in the slightest. Sakura laughed as he attempted to walk through a door, but got stuck as the frame was too small. As she watched him try to turn sideways and hobble through, the front door burst open, and the sudden chill from outside made everyone stop what they were doing and stare at the person on the other side.

Sakura, who stood nearest, went wide eyed. She had never thought she would see the day this would happen, and wondered if she had drunk too much eggnog herself and was simply seeing things. There was no possible way this could be real.

"SASUKE'S IN A SANTA COSTUME!"

Sure enough, in the front door way, looking pissed off at a drunken Ino who was now on the floor dying with laughter, was Sasuke Uchiha.

The Uchiha glared at everyone who even smiled at the way he looked right now. The second he heard that Kiba was dressing as Santa Claus, he just couldn't take it. So he left the house with one thing on his mind: Find a Santa Claus outfit.

It didn't take him long to find one, but it sure as hell took eternity trying to get it on. It was extra padded to show Santa's chubbiness, which meant complete and utter embarrassment as he walked from the shop he got it from to here. Oh, how he hoped no one he knew saw him.

He walked inside, his big black boots stomping on the linoleum flooring, and swung the door shut behind him. Sakura was still too shocked to move, so he took the moment to finally see what she was wearing.

He would not complain.

Sakura was wearing a brown, suede dress that ended mid-thigh, and had thin straps to help keep the fabric on her body. She was wearing brown heeled ankle boots, along with a pair of antlers atop her head and the tip of her nose painted red.

Sakura was Rudolph.

Now he understood what she meant. It wasn't a Mrs Claus to pair up with Santa, it was the most famous reindeer of all time. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Akamaru dressed almost the same, and all the pieces clicked together.

Now he felt like even more of an idiot.

The room was silent apart from Ino's snorts from the floor. Sakura just continued to stare at Sasuke. He had always said he would never dress up as Santa, from their first Christmas together three years ago to now. She always mocked him and asked him, and every year she'd get the same response. She never thought she would actually live long enough to see her boyfriend, the love of her life, Sasuke Uchiha, dressed as Santa Claus.

The world was ending.

Sasuke walked towards her, and though his face was emotionless, Sakura could see the love he held in his eyes. Everyone had crowded around the two now, even Ino, who had been picked up off the ground by Shikamaru, all waiting to see what was going to happen.

"I hate Santa. I'm not a big lover of Christmas. But I love you. I was going to wait until Christmas Day, but I can't wait that long. So I'm going to give you your present now."

Sakura went to protest, but as the Uchiha attempted to get down on one knee in the ridiculously large costume, all she could do was gape.

He wasn't …

"Sakura, the past three years have been the best of my life. I know I don't say it often enough, but it's true. Since I'm not one for speeches I'll just come right out and say it."

He wouldn't …

"Sakura Haruno, will you marry me?"

He did …

Dramatic gasps were heard by each and every person from the party, and Sakura still stood there shocked. She had dreamed of this day, but had never imagined that Sasuke would actually go through with it. But the way he looked at her in that moment, eyes almost hidden beneath the fur of the Santa hat, mouth completely hidden beneath the fake white beard, was enough to know that he wanted the same thing she did. Forever.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but choked out a sob. Just an hour before she had been complaining about her boyfriend walking out, and here she was, getting proposed to.

Sasuke had fished the ring out of one of the pockets and opened the box, and Sakura was sure she was close to fainting. It was a simple silver band with an emerald in the centre, with the engraving 'always' on the inside.

Knowing she had completely lost the ability to speak, Sakura simply nodded, still trying to convince herself this wasn't a dream. Tears streamed down her face as she nodded more vigorously, and Sasuke thought her head would come off if she kept doing it.

Aware that no one else would see, Sasuke smiled underneath the itchy beard and stood up, albeit clumsily, before sliding the ring onto her finger. Cheers and hoots erupted from everyone at the scene, and Sasuke had momentarily forgotten that anyone else was in the room. He had known for ages that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and there was no doubt about it.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly, as he wrapped his arms around her petite waist. His eyes locked with Naruto's, who smiled sincerely and nodded, to which Sasuke returned the gesture. Naruto was, after all, the only person who had known of Sasuke's plans from the start.

Sakura pulled back and stared into Sasuke's eyes. Seeing him embarrass himself by wearing a fully padded Santa costume, with an itchy hat and even itchier beard, and almost saying a whole speech in front of all of their friends, Sakura was sure of one thing.

That Sasuke was in love with her.

Best present ever.

The two stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, both knowing that nothing could ruin this perfect moment.

"Wait … SASUKE HATES SANTA?"

Perfect...

I can't believe I've been on this site for years, and this is the first Christmas fic I've ever written. Whut? Anyhoo, I thought I'd give y'all this cute little thing, since the world hasn't ended, I have a day off, and it's four days til Christmas, people! I spewed this out in two days, because I was determined to write something, and the next chapter of Inconspicuous is … eh. Ya know, this is the 18th thing I've put on FanFiction this year, and since my resolution for 2012 was to write more, I'm quite proud of that. Last year I barely did anything. I suck.

Side note: The last chapter of Naruto. Why. I'm still hurt. Hence why I had that little Neji/Ten bit in this fic. They deserve it!

Please review! It annoys me that people can still just 'favourite' or 'alert' something without having to review first. I think reviewing should be mandatory if you wanna favourite it too. But hey ho, that's just my opinion. But knowing what you guys actually think would be awesome.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND AN AWESOME NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

Over and out :)

-x-Emma-x-