So, here it is, my late Christmas Naruto fanfiction. To be honest, this had been finished by the 20th and I was intending to post it on the 24th (since that is they day we traditionnally celebrate Christmas with my family), but since we were on the road to join our family for the holiday, I kind of forgot to post it ever since... Sorry! Still, I hope you'll enjoy the read! :)
No one knew for certain where the holiday had come from, nor when for that matter. They suspected that it was the merchants who had brought it along, for most shinobi had neither the time nor inclination to introduce foreign celebrations into their hometowns. Hidden villages were known to be conservative and jealously protective of their cultural wealth. Yet for some unknown reason, this particular celebration had stuck. It spread, even. Most shinobi villages had adopted and adapted it. Oh, they had kept its basic message: it was the celebration of love of any form and generosity, but the way they honored it differed from a country to another. Many made a point of travelling each year to a different village to witness the diverse ways it was celebrated. Konoha in particular made for a very prized destination at that particular time of the year, for it had the largest population among all the Hidden Villages and most – if not all – of its inhabitants fervently participated in the yearly celebration. The climate also added to its appeal, for the snow that covered and embellished the village every year was nowhere near as harsh as it was in Kumo or Iwa, as damp and bone-chilling as it was in Kiri, nor as blaringly absent as it was in Suna. It was enough for children, and the occasional grown-up, to enjoy a sleigh-ride or a snowball fight without interfering with people's daily life or the village's proper functioning. Not that there was much working done during those few days for, except for the few shinobi who needed the extra money or had no better plans, most were relieved of duty. Even the Hokage took some time off to gaze at her bustling home or take a leisurely stroll about the animated market. For it was Christmas.
It was Christmas and she was late. Well, would be anyway. She had accepted a pre-Chirstmas solo mission since she knew she'd be needing more money if she were to buy all the gifts she intended to. She didn't have to, of course, but wanted to do so nonetheless. She was intent on offering something to all the people she held dear and boy, were they abundant! She paused for a minute on top of a building near the Hokage Tower, where the party was being held. Every year, on the 24th of December, a huge party was organised in the tower's conference room – redecorated for the occasion. Every shinobi off duty was invited as were foreign dignitaries, ambassadors and even visiting nin. For some, it was a chance to mingle, regardless of their background or age. For others, it was an opportunity to relax, have fun and eat for free. This year's party was even more special for some very important individuals had accepted to participate, though they were less here for political reasons and more to see some old friends. Smiling, she let herself fall from the roof, landing softly on the snowy ground.
Checking herself once more to be sure she was presentable, she lightly made her way towards the entry, glad she had bought the shoes she was currently wearing. It had been an impulsive purchase really, on one of her free days during a mission in Iwa, where she had been wandering around in the shopping district. She had stopped in front of a shoe store, where a pair of adorable black, peep-toe platform shoes with a t-strap had caught her eyes. She didn't own many pairs of shoes, because she was very picky. She always knew exactly what she wanted and never compromised, so if a store didn't have what she was looking for, she left without considering any of their other merchandise. Yet this pair had caught her eye from afar and as she had gone closer to inspect them, she had already known she would be buying them. The shopkeeper had smiled at her arrival and explained how these shoes were – as every other one in her shop for that matter – specially designed for kunoichi. As a retired one herself, she knew how female fighters needed to be able to jump into action at any given moment, yet still yearn for pretty footwear. Nice to look at and easy to move in. So she, along with several other comrades who thought the same, had decided to start manufacturing and selling such shoes. And of course, their idea had worked incredibly.
With a smile, she handed her coat over, all the while scanning the impressive room in search of her friends. It didn't take long to find the merry, and somewhat loud, group of young people standing close to the food stand. Of course they were. Shaking her head, a fond smile splayed on her lips, she made her way towards them. They were all dressed up for the occasion, the boys looking smart in their prim tuxedos and the girls radiant in their dresses. Her best friend was the first to notice her arrival and waved at her with a huge grin.
"Sakura, you've finally made it!" her friend exclaimed, shoving her glass in her teammate's hand to hug her.
"Ino." the pinkette greeted, smiling and waving at her other friends from the Yamanaka's embrace.
"You're red and breathless. Lemme guess: you were late, so you ran. In a dress and heels." Ino pointed out flatly, eyeing her friend.
Sakura shrugged, thanking Shino for the glass he was offering her. "Naruto's not here yet?"
"He's over there, talking to the Kazekage." Tenten pointed out.
Her blonde teammate was on the other side of the room, excitedly chatting with a rather impassible redhead, flanked on both sides by his siblings. Though Temari was breathtaking, Sakura's gaze was immediately drawn to her brother, who looked completely different without his usual face paint. The last time she had seen him without it was four years ago, pale and sickly, when she had been extracting poison out of his system. He definitely looked better now. Her eyes inadvertently met Gaara's and she smiled at him, lifting her glass. His nod brought Naruto's attention to her as well and he proceeded to drag all three of them towards their group. She was suddenly enveloped in a bear hug with a loud and cheery "Sakura-chan!", while Neji deftly took the glass out of her hand, before it went crashing on the neatly polished floor. She fondly patted the blonde's back, silently urging him to release her so she could breathe again.
"I thought you wouldn't make it!" he whined, taking a step back to get a good look at her. "You're beautiful."
"Thanks, Naruto. Sorry I was late, the trip back took longer than expected." she smiled apologetically. "On the other hand, I've got presents! For everyone!"
"Hey, Forehead, that's not fair! We decided on not getting presents! We never do! How does that make the rest of us look, if you're the only one distributing gifts?"
"For starters, I bet everyone has a bunch of gifts stacked away somewhere, waiting for the right moment to send them." the medic-nin answered, smirking. They had decided back in their Chûnin days, after becoming a lot closer, that buying gifts for eleven people would not only be expensive, but 'troublesome' as well, so they would just forgo the custom. Despite the agreement, anonymous gifts still appeared in their mailboxes or on their doorsteps every Chirstmas day. "Besides, this is also a thank you for last year." When she had spent the entirety of her holiday at the hospital after a rather serious flu outbreak, taking on her mentor's and fellow apprentice's workload as well, who were more in need of a few days off than herself. Her friends had decided on waiting for her at the end of her shift, inviting her out and showering her with the presents they would have otherwise hidden somewhere in her home.
She fished a small box, wrapped in purple, and waved it in front of her friend. "But if you really don't want anything this year..."
"Oh, quit it, Forehead!" the blonde said, snapping the box out of her hand.
Sakura chuckled and continued giving out her gifts, not at all surprised when some of her friends started doing the same. So much for deciding stuff together and sticking to it!
They spent the rest of the evening chatting and eating, engaging in long debates with more or less valid arguments as to why the boys needed to invite them for a dance at least once, only to end up awkwardly twirling around the dance floor amidst lots of giggles. For such skilled and formidable shinobi, most of them were rather poor dancers. By one o'clock, they seemed ready to turn in for the night and after a few goodbyes, they all headed out. It had started snowing while they were inside and Tenten stopped in the middle of the road, arms stretched out on both her sides and face turned skyward.
"Such a beautiful night!" she giggled, snowflakes sticking to her eyelashes. The others stopped walking to watch her spin around, her long dress raising the snow around her feet.
"Tenten, you will end up falling and dirtying you beautiful dress!" Lee warned, though he wore an amused expression.
"Wouldn't matter, everything's just so pretty. I love Christmas!" she shouted, laughing.
Suddenly, a snowball struck her straight in the chest. She blinked, confused, and stared down at the wet spot on her now ruined gown, before turning towards the hysterically laughing culprit.
It was Ino who retaliated, though. "You're an ass, Kiba." she grumbled, aiming a snowball at him, that he easily dodged.
"She said it wouldn't matter!" he replied, wiping at the tears in the corners of his eyes. He ducked from the weapons mistresses snowball this time. "Your aim sucks!"
"Wasn't aiming at you." the brunette replied with a satisfied smirk, as the ball dislodged the snow from the nearby roof, all of it pouring on the unsuspecting young man. They all exploded in laughter as he tried to free himself. Tenten avoided his snowball, which ended up in Shikamaru's face, cracking them all up once again.
A major snowball fight broke out on the square, everyone forgetting the place and time as they struggled to hit as many of their friends as possible, while dodging as best as they could. There was no age, no rank and no authority, it was every (wo)man for (her/)himself. The Sand siblings, who had tried to stay clear of the crazy Konoha nins's fight had been dragged in by Naruto's well aimed snowball to Temari's side and Sakura's bold tackle that sent her and both men sprawling in the snow. Their efforts were rewarded by a mini snowstorm, courtesy of the Sand nin. What started out as a simple snow fight ended up with them using their abilities to an extent, as Neji had no qualms resorting to the use of his Byuakugan to reveal approaching «foes» or finding his preys faster. He had banded together with Kankurô, who used the people he was surrounded by as human shields with his chakra strings, Tenten, who had the best aim out of all of them and Shino, with his uncanny ability to suddenly turn up next to you and shove snow down your shirt while you only managed to whine and shiver. Kiba was the exuberant leader of the second team, using Hinata's ability to spot people, Shikamaru's to immobilize them and Chôji's for massive snow attacks. The third team, on the other hand, had built a fortress, hiding behind a massive snow wall created by Gaara and Lee, who was busy encouraging Naruto's multiple attacks (in had been hastily decided he wasn't allowed to summon more than two clones at a time) and Sakura's destructive ones, while Temari was charged with keeping their opponents away from their burrow. Ino had decided to stay on the sidelines having decreed that they would need someone to keep count, though it was mostly to make sure her dress wouldn't be ruined beyond repair. Also, after seeing one of Chôji's snowballs knock one of the Naruto clones five feet back, she decided it would be safer to stay out of it.
By the time they decided to stop, they were all drenched, covered with red spots and certain they'd end up with quite a few bruises come next morning. Their clothes were mostly torn, Hinata having to hold her dress up after losing on of the straps. Sakura's feet were killing her, but she couldn't bring herself to discard her shoes the way Lee had – she was still wondering why he had taken them off in the first place and how he could manage to stand in the snow. She smiled as her eyes swept over her friends. They looked all exhausted, but happy nonetheless. Even Gaara's cheeks were reddened and she could still remember catching him with a small smile during their game. It had been a great way to end an already fun night.
Shikamaru was the first to depart, grumbling something about a hot shower between his chattering teeth. Chôji soon followed, waving at them until he was out of sight. Hinata bowed and left as well, Kiba's mostly intact vest covering her ripped dress, escorted by her cousin, whose hair had slipped free from the band and was dripping melting snow onto his back. Naruto, in an uncharacteristic moment of gallantry, offered to take Ino home, who shrugged and took him up on his offer, blowing a kiss to her best friend and dragging Tenten and Lee along. Shino left as inconspicuously as he had appeared on the blind side of their fortress, bombarding them with snowballs during their earlier battle. Sakura watched all her friends leave, then faced the remaining trio. Kankurô was busy getting snow out of his shirt with Temari leaning into him and massaging her aching feet. She sympathized with her, those heels were huge and she had spent hours standing, dancing and «fighting» in them. She turned toward Gaara, who was studying his siblings, and had a hard time not laughing out loud at the sight of his red nose and cheeks. In that instant, he was positively the most adorable creature she had seen all night. They set out silently towards the foreign dignitaries's housing area, Sakura accompanying them for a while.
"It was pretty fun." Kankurô observed, handing her his jacket.
She accepted it with a smile, grateful for the added warmth. "The snow fight was a nice touch." she agreed.
"Maybe we could try a water fight next time, though." Temari said, rubbing at her sides. Gaara's jacket hadn't been of much use, as drenched as it was. But she appreciated the gesture. "In the middle of summer."
Her brothers silently agreed and Sakura herself had to admit that as much fun as it had been, she wouldn't start again anytime soon. They arrived at a crossroads, where she bid them goodnight, still snugly wrapped in the jacket Kankurô had refused to recover. Shivering, she made a dash for her home, the prospect of a warm bath and hot chocolate overriding the throbbing pain of her feet.
She was woken the next day by a loud and insistent banging on her front door. She groaned, turning around to check the time: noon. Covers wrapped around her shoulders, she left the warmth of her bed and sluggishly made her way to the door. She swung it open with an irritated "What?" and glared at the person disturbing her.
Ino took one look at her disheveled best friend, her bloodshot eyes and runny nose, before ushering her inside. Taking a mug from her small kitchenette, she filled it up with water and poured the contents of the small pack she had brought along in it. Handing the mug to her friend, she stood beside her until she was sure the pinkette had drained all of its content.
"It's from Tsunade-sama. She heard about our little post-party game from last night – as did pretty much everyone else, mind you – and correctly assumed most of us would end up with a cold." she answered the medic-nin's questioning gaze. "Sai and I are the only ones still on our feet, so the Hokage sent us to distribute these to all of you. We're all off duty until you all get better."
"Was she really angry?" she had to clear her throat and ask again for the blonde to understand, as her voice broke in the middle of the sentence.
"Because of our little game? Not so much. It amused the guests. She was more exasperated at, and I quote 'these morons for being stupid enough to get sick afterwards'."
Sakura gave a pained smile, before remembering what her friend had said earlier. "Where was Sai during the snow fight?" she asked, because for the life of her, she couldn't place the boy after they had left the party and she was sure she hadn't seen him participate in their game.
Ino handed her a rolled-up sheet, that she immediatly recognised as the type Sai used to draw on. "He was busy drawing this. There's a different one for each one of us." she explained, as her best friend unraveled the drawing. "His Christmas gift, I'm guessing."
The drawing was a representation of them during the snow fight and she was amazed at the amount of details. Her teammate had perfectly captured each of their expressions and gestures. Neji with his Byakugan out, seemingly shouting something as Kankurô used Naruto as a human shield, with Shino creeping up on their fortress. Kiba, in the middle of the square, protecting Hinata from most flying snowballs, Tenten, covering her face with her arms as one of Chôji's projectiles was about to hit her, Temari conjuring a small snowstorm with her fan, ready to engulf Shikamaru in it, herself and Lee, squatting behind their snow wall, Gaara's small smile as one of his snowballs hit its target. Even Ino was in the drawing, standing underneath a shop's porch and watching them play with a huge grin.
Her heart swelled at the sight of it and she turned towards her friend with a brilliant smile. "You'll probably see him before I do, so could you thank him for me? This is probably the best present I've ever got." she said, her voice unsteady and not only because of her cold.
"That's pretty much what everyone said or implied after seeing it. No worries I'll pass your thanks along." the blonde smiled at her friend, taking the mug back to the kitchen. "I left another two bags for this afternoon and tonight, don't forget to take them. Take care and get well soon!"
Delicately rolling the drawing up again, she placed it on the coffee table, before heavily rising and shuffling back to her room. The first thing she'd to once she was feeling better would be to frame the drawing and hang it in her living room. She was so touched by the gift that she could almost forgive him for the 'Merry Christmas, Ugly' scribbled on the bottom of the drawing.
The first part kind of sucks, since I wasn't sure where to go with the story from it, but I personally liked the snow fight and it was fun writing it. I'm also terribly jealous of Konoha and its snow, for we don't even have an inch around here, we only have rain and a remnant of storm! So yeah, I'm dreaming (was, anyway) of a white Christmas! Thank you for reading and reviews are welcome.
I hope you all had a very nice and a merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year, let it be good! :D