Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

AN: Quite belated but I only got the idea after Christmas. Still, happy after-Christmas to you folks!

Crooked Cantankerous Cookie

Born ceaselessly forward, snowflakes drift amidst the wind blowing through Konoha. The streets are glazed over by the coat of white that conquered the village like it always did around this time of the year. Every so often though, Naruto holds in his trek through the village. It is the first in eight years, and once standing still, he drowns in the view around him, admires it as if to never let go again. After the momentary spell is lifted, he pulls the brown cloak tighter around his body and moves on until another memory, another image of the past makes him stop again.

As Naruto turns around the next corner, high-pitched laughter greets him, and he finds a pair of young children playing under the maple tree beside the old bakery. They're chasing each other, running past the window pane of the store and the stone benches before it, their faces flush with excitement. Naruto waves at them as he walks by, but when the boy returns the greeting, he loses his footing and falls down. The girl is quick to shove snow on him before throwing herself to the ground too and starting a tickle war that looks as though it will last far into the evening if left alone.

Naruto is about to continue, when he notices their clothes. No jacket, no sweater; only long-sleeved shirts, a bit of mesh, and black pants. His gaze swivels to their feet, but they're wearing shoes at least. He shakes his head. This kind of recklessness in the face of excitement rings a bell. "Oi, you'll get a cold," he says, crouching next to them.

"Uh-huh," the boy says, staring dubiously at him. "Who are you?"

"Naruto." He points at the boy's shirt. "Look, you've no thick clothes and those'll get wet from the snow."

Satisfied with the name, the boy ignores his advice, and says, "I'm Kira." Then he points at the girl and grins, revealing a small gap between his front teeth. "That's Ally. She's a bit slow though. She's my sister."

"Slow?" Ally asks menacingly. When she pulls her hand away from the sleeve of his shirt though, she makes a noise of surprise. "It's soaked."

"That's what he said, slowpoke!"

Without warning, Ally jumps at Kira, snow in each hand and rubs it into his face. Naruto pries them apart and helps them to their feet. "Where's your mom?" he asks after ruffling Kira's hair until it looks like a basket filled with crumpled, brown leaves.

"Work," the boy says, his breathing evening out now that Naruto stopped the attack on his hair. The novelty of snow now slowly begins to wear as thin as their clothes and Kira starts to shiver in his wet shirt. "We're staying with onee-san."

"More like stayed," Naruo murmured. "Where's your onee-san then?"

"She's home," Ally tells him. "Baking… and knitting."

Naruto understands now why they ran away to play—even at twenty-four he'd do exactly the same. He wouldn't forget his jacket though. At least that much credit he gives himself. Shrugging off his cloak, Naruto puts it around both of them, choosing to remain in his orange shirt for the time being. "You know the way to your onee-san's place?"

They do and Naruto follows them up to the main road from where they move through Konoha's bustling center. According to them this isn't the fastest way, but has to do because it is a rule and their mother taught them that talking with strangers in empty places is bad. On the way they pass under snow-crusted streetlights, and Naruto tells them of the time he learned how to write Haiku just to scribble funny ones all over the Third's official scrolls. His first academic enterprise, the old man had called it. They listen, and huddled together, half-buried beneath the cloak that still is far too big for them, they look like one of the plumper monks Naruto met on his travels… just several sizes shorter and far lighter on the mood.

Before long they arrive at the steps leading up to a two-storey house. On a small patch of grass before the entrance, a beautiful magnolia tree reaches skyward, and Naruto believes that it is the blessing of the Senju that even in winter the trees remain in full bloom.

Standing a bit to the side, Naruto knocks with the brass ring at the door, and then, as they wait, inspects the icicles hanging from the roof. One is large enough that he can make out the fidgeting forms of the two kids in it. He grins. Their adventure's been fun, no doubt, but it'd be over soon.

Soon the door opens and he turns to say hello. "Hi, I think I picked up something belonging to you…" His sentence trails off toward the end; the words barely leave his mouth. The woman at the door, too, seems unprepared for the sudden meeting. She's wiping her hands at her apron more than once, then notices the children and forgets him for the time being.

"Why are you two out here…" she begins, then shakes her head. "No matter. In with you, we'll talk later."

By now the smell of sweet dough, cinnamon, and chocolate is wafting through the doorway. The siblings grin. "Onee-san—"

"I said later." The woman smiles and Naruto notices that her dimples are as cute as they were eight years ago. "Once you're warm again," she says, and when the children don't move, she adds, "In with you, now!"

The kids snicker, wave good-bye to Naruto, and then dart inside, taking his cloak with them. He doesn't care much for it though, certainly not with her in front of him. She grew up to be even more beautiful, though he notices a few differences. Her hair is longer for one, and she added a small braid behind the left ear. Under her eyes are prominent half-moons now, but they're not the worst he's seen and fade from memory the moment he looks at what they underline. He stares and drowns in memories once more until her voice breaks him out of his stupor.

"I… Thank you for bringing them, Naruto. I thought they were playing in my old room. I didn't even check…" she says, and a fair bit of shame resonates in her words.

"No troubles, Sakura. Funny kids." He laughs awkwardly. This isn't going according to plan, not that he ever had one to begin with. "Well, I should go then. Still have to tell Kakashi-sensei I'm back."

"Yes, of course." It's getting colder by the second now and she's rubbing her arms to keep warm. "Give him my regards."

"Right. Will do," he says, but doesn't move, mesmerized by the way the wind picks up her hair, fanning it out beside her. It reminds him of the old days, when he spread the rumor that Sasuke liked long hair. He found it beautiful back then, and he finds out now that there are things in life that simply never change.

She must've seen something on his face, because her lips lift into an unsure smile. "Do you want to come in? Warm up, I mean." After a beat of silence, she adds, "There are cookies, too."

He scratches his cheek. "Can I? I wouldn't want to, you know, be a bother or something. You've got kids there and all."

"They seemed to like you just fine," she says, grinning, gaining assurance. "You're not going to be a bother, don't worry."

It is easy to agree, since every fiber of his being rebels against the thought of turning around to leave. Naruto takes off his shoes and follows Sakura inside and through a sparsely decorated hallway. The living room is covered with white carpet, soft to the touch, and a Christmas tree hung with tinsel and baubles thrones on a round table in one corner. Kira and Ally are kneeling in front of the large hearth at the far side of the room.

Sakura quickly puts a bowl filled with cookies on the flat table in the middle of the room, and everyone sits down on the red and yellow pillows surrounding it.

"How do you know Sakura-nee?" Ally asks, breaking the silence.

"Sakura's my teammate… from way back."

"We both learned from Hokage-sama," Sakura adds.

Kira's eyes widen as he hears this information. "Really? Kakashi-niisan is so cool!" Then his brow furrows and he pauses. "How come I've never seen you? At the big tower."

"I've been away for some years."

"And what—"

Ally pokes him between the ribs. "You're rude."

"Kakashi-niisan?" Naruto mouths to Sakura as each sibling tries to slap their hands over the mouth of the other.

"Shizune's kids," Sakura mouths back and Naruto nods. That explains why Sakura takes care of them while their mother is working.

As the afternoon gives way to the evening and the cookies inside the bowl near extinction, Naruto finishes his latest tale, "… you wouldn't believe the amount of crab I've eaten there. Nothing beats Mizu's crabs. Well, Ramen does, obviously, but nothing else. I wonder what crab Ramen tastes like."

"Ayame is—" The chime of the doorbell interrupts Sakura. "That'll be Raidou," she says, getting up. "Ally, Kira, get your things and say good-bye to Naruto."

"Good-bye Naruto!"

"Greet Shizune from me, will you?"

"Yes, Sir!" Kira snaps off a quick, sloppy salute only for his sister to use the opening and attack his sides with tickling fingers of damnation.

After making sure that the kids got their bags, Sakura turns to Naruto. "Do you know Raidou? You can come to the door, say hello if you want."

Naruto takes the second to last cookie, a weirdly deformed one, out of the bowl. "Nah, I'm good here," he says, savoring the jam on top of it.

While Sakura brings the kids to their father, Naruto is left alone. He listens to the crackling of the fire that rings through the otherwise silent room, and wonders if the eight years have been worth it. He shakes his head. It doesn't matter anymore. He's back now, and that's the important part.

When Sakura returns, Naruto does his best not to let the situation descend into awkward silence again. "So, I heard you're knitting now. Enough to make the kids run away."

She arches an eyebrow. "I do. Got a problem with that?"

Sakura is laughing, but Naruto gets the feeling that the hobby is important to her. The arms crossed in front of her chest tell him as much. "Just kidding," he says, putting his hands up. "Why don't you show me?"

"I… do I have to? It's nothing special."

"Eh, let me be the judge of that." Naruto counts it as two victories when she sighs and walks over to the dresser at the wall opposite of the hearth—one because he convinced her, and two because she looks great from behind.

Sakura opens the bottom drawer, pulling out her work, and Naruto laughs as he sees the red Santa hat with the white plush pompon in her hand.

"You're laughing," Sakura states.

"Why shouldn't I?" Naruto asks between wheezes. "It looks awesome. Can I try it?"

Sakura puts the hat on her head and steps back until her back hits the drawer. "It's mine. And you laughed."

"I'll still get it." Naruto crosses the room with a grin, closing in on Sakura, intent on getting the hat. When he stands in front of her though, his palms braced against the wall on each side of her head, he stops. "I…" His throat seems suddenly dry now and looking into her eyes, he wonders if they have always been that green.

Sakura doesn't look away, doesn't say anything, but he feels her hand on his chest, shivers as she trails circles with her fingers on it. For a moment Naruto wonders, but then he tells himself that only wondering would never lead to anything. So he tells his wondering side to shut up and leans down. Her lips are incredibly soft, even though a scorching heat goes out from them, and they carry a smoky taste mixed with cherry.

Naruto pulls away for a bit, his hands now holding her in place, but then he sees Sakura still looking at him, the white pompon leaning against her cheek, and finds that he doesn't want this moment to end just yet. So Naruto leans down again, until eight years of being separated are nothing more than forgotten memories in the night.

Next morning, a stray beam of sunlight wanders across his face and twitches in his nose. What really wakes him though is the clattering of dishes from far away. With a tired mumble, he opens his eyes slightly. Then he sees the white carpet on which he lays—the table beside him, the red blanket that is askew, only covering him from stomach to the knees—and his eyes open the rest of the way with force.

This is Sakura's, right. He moves his hand to scratch his head but his fingers rake over wool instead of hair. He snorts. The battle about the hat found its winner then. Before he can get up though, the clattering comes closer and soon Sakura stands in the doorway, his orange shirt covering what he previously uncovered. Or is it discovered? She has a tray in her hands with fruits and coffee on it.

"Oh, you're awake," she says, putting the tray on the floor before sitting down next to him.

There's a silence in the room now. And some distance between them, too, which wierds him out more than it did yesterday and for good reason. He remembers the feeling of her body pressed against his. And he wants it back. So Naruto reaches for Sakura, pulls her against his chest, and when her breath electrifies his skin, his frown finally vanishes.

"You won't leave again, will you?" Sakura mutters into his chest after a while.

There is something vulnerable in her voice and he cringes, because the last time she asked he had answered with yes and left for regions unknown. This time will be different though, because, damn, he won't be able to live with himself if he leaves this woman again.

"I won't," he assures her, and unable to stand the solemn mood any loner, adds, "A Hokage can't leave his village all the time, can he? Sensei's used my cushy office far too long now."

Sakura doesn't respond, but her arms squeeze tighter around his body and that is answer enough for him.

FIN

AN: Well, that's it. The title has, by the way, no relevance to the actual content of the story. It's a catchy alliteration though and since I got the idea after biting into a yummy, yet hard and slightly deformed cookie, I found it oddly appropriate. In any case, I hope you enjoyed it.