If Only
Summary: Team Yondaime's first Christmas. What on earth Minato going to do with his team of five year olds, whose families are all away doing missions during CHRISTMAS? Well, spend it with them of course! R&R
A/N: I wanted to do something Christmas-y for the holidays, so here it is.
Merry Christmas!
Obito kicked the side of the bed angrily. "Why do you have to leave?!" he cried, tears running down the five year old's face. His mother smiled at him.
"I'm sorry, but the Hokage has a mission for your daddy and I, and I have to go. We'll spend next Christmas together, okay?" she soothed him. Obito scrunched up his fists and ran from the room, bawling. "Oh dear," his mother murmured sadly. Sighing, she decided that she would have to arrange for Obito to stay with his sensei for the next week or so. It was the only way.
She geared up and went to Obito's room, to find him sound asleep. Smiling gently, she left through the window to alert his young sensei about the new plans. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong.
At least, she hoped not.
Sakumo sighed as Kakashi stubbornly held onto his leg, refusing to let go. "Kakashi, please let go of my foot." he asked calmly. Kakashi shook his head, refusing.
"Not unless you promise to stay. You promised!" Kakashi cried, tears soaking Sakumo's pants. His father sighed as he picked Kakashi up and set him on the bed.
"When you are a ninja," he began quietly. "You will have to learn to make sacrifices. Please understand this, Kakashi." Kakashi pouted and sniffled to hide any more tears. "I've arranged for you to stay with your sensei, you'll be fine with him." he continued, ignoring the young Hatake's look of horror. Oh great, spending time with the ramen-devil. Just what he needed.
This Christmas was going to be a blast.
Rin tearfully bid her parents goodbye as they left for their mission. She was standing outside of her sensei's door, with Minato beside her. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." he assured her. Rin said nothing, except cling to his leg as she saw two more parties approaching.
"Sensei, who are they?" she asked. The twenty year old turned to face Sakumo Hatake, who had a stubborn Kakashi kicking every snow pile on their way to his appartment.
"I'm sorry," Sakumo appolagized. "This is short notice, but this little baka needs a place to stay until I come back. I was hoping that he could stay with you?" Minato nodded as he squatted to look Kakashi in the face.
"Of course!" he said. "Hi, Kakashi. Looks like you're spending Christmas with me and Rin I guess."
"And Obito, of course." Obito's mother cut in crisply. She held a sleeping Obito in her arms as she handed him to Minato. "We have a mission too, so he'll have to stay with you. I'm sorry for all of this."
Minato said nothing. Three kids, all of them furious at their parents' sudden betrayal during Christmas. How on earth was he going to get through Christmas Eve and Day with them? Nevertheless, the Hokage hopeful put on a smile as he nodded. "They'll be fine with me." he said. "You guys can have a good mission. Bye!" They left when Minato turned to his team.
"I'm not sleeping with Obito." Kakashi began bluntly. "My bedtime is 1 o' clock, I only eat chocolate and I have no curfew." Minato smirked.
"Nice try, Kakashi." he said. "But I only expect that behavior from Obito. You see, when we became a team, I had to speak with all your parents. They told me exactly what I need to know in cases like these. So, don't try to pull the pantyhose over my eyes, buster." he pointed at a nonchalant Kakashi.
"Sensei, I think it's supposed to me, 'the wool over my eyes'." Rin corrected. Minato nodded at Rin.
"Thank you, Rin. What would I do without you?" She blushed, but said nothing. "Your rooms are down the hall, no fighting. All three of your bedtimes are promptly at nine, you may leave out milk and cookies for Saint Nike or what's-his-name if you want."
Kakashi pushed past him. "What do you think we are?" he tossed. "Three year olds?" Minato scratched the back of his head sheepishly, but said nothing. "And by the way, my bedtime is at 1 o' clock." The last bid attempt failed, however.
Staring at a sleeping Obito, Minato smirked as he went into the bathroom. Filling the tub with cold water, he dropped the five year old in, and screamed. "Wake up!" before running out the door.
He spent the rest of the day taking care of a sneezing Obito.
"Do you want to make cookies?" Minato asked.
"No."
"Gingerwheat house?"
"It's gingerbread house."
"Right. Er...um...shortbread?"
"What does that have to do with Christmas?" Obito cut in, before sneezing violently. "Sowwy." he said, reaching for a tissue. Rin inched away from him.
"How about we have a snowball fight?" Rin suggested. Obito stood up on the sofa.
"YEAH!" he screamed, jumping up and down. The ancient sofa's springs gave way and it collapsed on the ground, taking Obito, Rin and Kakashi with it.
"Fiwer!" Obito yelled before sneezing. "Aah-choo!" Kakashi ducked and glared at Obito.
"Watch it, dumbass!" He shouted before launching a barrage of snowballs at Minato.
"Language!" Minato shouted back at them, before swinging his arm back and throwing one at Obito. "Heads up Obito!" he yelled. Obito looked up from the ground to have the snowball hit him square in the face.
Rin ran towards her teammate and bended over him. "You okay, Obito?" she asked concerned. Obito opened one eye, and smiled at her.
"'m fine!" he replied before standing up at pointing at a smirking Minato. "You'll pay fo' that, sensei!" he shouted before throwing another snowball. It hit Minato, followed by snowballs from Kakashi and Rin. Rin giggled at the sight of him. Kakashi however, simply shrugged and bent over to make another snowball.
Obito grit his teeth in frustration before spotting some untouched snow not too far away. Eyes sparkling, he made his way over there. Minato looked up just in time to see Obito trudge past the sign that was erected not far away.
Warning!
Thin Ice Ahead!
Minato's eyes widened as he rushed to Obito. "Obito Uchiha! Stop right there! Get back!" he yelled, pointing at the sign. "It's thin ice! You'll fall through!" Obito simply looked up curiously to find Minato waving his hands around like a windmill. His eyes wandered to the sign, and he dropped the snowball he had been molding. How could he have missed those red, blaring letters?
Kakashi merely looked amused as Obito took a step forward. The ice cracked and Obito withdrew his foot, looking scared out of his wits. Minato sighed. "Obito, go back the way you came." he instructed. Obito did as he was told, but the ice broke through, taking Obito with him.
"Help! Help me!" Obito spluttered. Minato sighed at his student's stupidness, simply folded his arms.
"Obito. Stand up." he said. Obito stared at him before standing up. The water came up to his waist. Rin giggled, while Kakashi sweatdropped. Minato sighed.
He's going to get sicker than ever...
"Aa-choo!"
"Obito, stop sneezing all over the cookie dough!" Rin cried exasperatedly. The grey mass on the bowl was now slightly wet, thanks to Obito's snot. Glad we're not eating that, Kakashi thought as he armed himself with a pair of rubber gloves.
"Right, team!" Minato began. "Now that step five of our operation is complete, we will now load the cookie dough into the pan to make a lovely, edible cookie for our beloved Saint Nike." he announced. Rin cringed at the mistake.
"Saint Nick," she corrected.
"Right," Minato replied. He grabbed the spatula and attempted to shift the grey mass onto the cookie pan. It budged, slowly, slowly. Kakashi impatiently pushed Minato away and grabbed the mass and tossed it onto the pan. "Good job, Kakashi. I suspect you got your experience from your dad's attempts on making cookies I guess."
Kakashi cringed as memories of his father's 'cooking' invaded his mind. Shuddering, he watched as Rin opened the preheated oven and Obito picked up the pan.
"I'll put it in!" He announced cheerfully. Minato hesitated.
"I don't know if you should Obito." he said. "You know, the oven's hot and all that and you might pan-" Obito's shriek echoed throughout the village as the Uchiha jumped away from the stove. The concotion of supposed 'dough' rose up into the air and stuck the ceiling. Everybody stared at the grey mass on the ceiling before looking down and sighing.
More work.
Great.
An hour later, after Minato had scraped the last of the dough from the ceiling, the cookie was baking in the oven. The three of them sat beside the fireplace. Minato was looking over a scroll that the Third Hokage had given him, Obito was busy reading a comic book and Rin sat quietly. Kakashi was polishing his ninja equipment.
The silence was broken by a small sniffle that came from Rin's direction. Minato kept his eyes trained on the scroll, but Kakashi looked up. Obito had fallen asleep some time ago, the comic book fluttering with each of his breaths. "Rin?" Kakashi whispered. Rin turned to face Kakashi, her face streaked with a single tear. "Why are you crying?" he asked, annoyed.
"I miss my parents," she replied. Minato looked up from his scroll at this point. "We always used to spend Christmas together. But things have changed this year I guess." she sniffed again.
"Aw Rin, don't worry." Minato said, giving her a hug. Kakashi looked indifferent. "Things happen, but we're always there for you. Okay?" Obito kept on sleeping, and Kakashi edged forward.
"Yeah," he said, his voice normal. The timer on the oven dinged, breaking the moment. Obito woke up with a start.
"Wha-?" he asked, yawning. Spotting the three others huddled together, he moved closer. "Can I have a hug too?" he asked. Kakashi crossed his arms.
"A shinobi can't let his-hey!" The comment was cut short when Obito threw his arms around Kakashi, squashing the Genin in a bone-breaking hug. "Let go of me Obito!" he shouted furiously. The timer continued to ding. Minato stood up and pulled out the cookie. Setting it on the table he stared at it. It looked like solid concrete, with brown rocks thrown in. One side of it was burned. The sounds of three small feet pattering on the wood was heard, and he turned around to find his team staring apprehensively at the cookie.
"Sensei, I don't think that Santa is going to like that." Obito pointed out, scrunching his nose.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers." Minato said, pulling out a plate. He picked up the cookie and put it on the plate, and set it by the fireplace. Rin opened the fridge while Obito pulled out a pitcher of milk. Kakashi held the glass steady while Obito poured. The three of them worked in a rare moment of teamwork as Minato watched on, smiling.
"Good job." he said, as he placed the milk beside the semi edible cookie. "Go to sleep you three, it's almost time for bed. You'll want to wake up early tomorrow from Christmas."
Obito yawned. "'night, Minato-sensei." he yawned and the other two bid each other good night before they padded away to sleep. Minato spent the next hour setting the presents by the empty fireplace and smirking at the cookie one last time. I sure hope that 'Santa' like it, he thought before heading to sleep.
Later that night, Hizashi Hyuuga grunted as he tried to get out of the fireplace. Damn those stupid Main House brats, he cursed furiously. Making me deliver dumb presents on Christmas Eve.
Hizashi pulled out his 'Santa Instructions' out of one pocket. His eyes wandered to rule fourteen.
14. Always, ALWAYS eat the cookies and milk set out. This is essential for putting on your best Santa Claus facade.
He looked up and eyed the grey mass on the plate. Cautiously, he picked it up and almost dropped it. The cookie weighed a ton. Trust that dumb blonde to make something so semi-edible. He's the only person who could mess up making cookies, he thought while cautiously taking a small bite.
A second later, Hizashi screamed as he dropped the cookie on the floor and rushing out the window into the cold Christmas Eve night.
He was never going to volunteer for this again.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Look for a New Years fic sometime soon!
BookWyrrm