Secret Santa
Uzumaki Naruto was depressed. It was eleven o'clock on Christmas Eve, and yet he hadn't even had time to decorate his Christmas tree. All week long he had been sent out on missions, so, even though he had a tree setting in his apartment, it was as bare as it could be. Not a single ornament hung from its browning branches, much to his disappointment.
"Damnit, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto cursed. It was her fault he hadn't been able to decorate his tree until now. She was the one who forced all of those missions onto him.
Opening his ornament box, he slowly grabbed the tangled set of lights that rested on the top. It was going to take forever to untangle that mess…unless, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto summoned two clones to help him. "Untangle those lights, dattebayo!"
The clones muttered in anger, "Whatever…" And then they got to work.
As his clones were untangling the mess of lights, Naruto started to sort his decorations. He liked to put the lighter ones toward the top of the tree, and the heavier toward the bottom. After he had finished his work, he noticed the clones had finished putting the lights on the tree. He smiled and then released them. He was going to do the rest.
After he had arranged the ornaments to his liking, he smiled, having completed the job. But then, all of sudden, he frowned. Something wasn't right…and then he realized what it was. The star on the top of his tree was missing.
"UGH, where did that damn thing go?" Naruto shouted, searching the box. It was to no avail however, as the box was empty. "I can't have a tree without a star!"
Panicking, Naruto raced around his room searching for the missing star. However, he could not find it. Falling to his knees, tears started to run down his face. "WHYYYYYYYY!"
Just as he was going to slam his fists down in rage, he noticed something. A shuriken sat on the floor where his hand was just about to land. Cursing, Naruto grabbed it and was about to send it flying into the wall when he realized something. Jumping up with a whoop of joy, he ran over to his almost completed tree. The shuriken would work perfectly!
Carefully, Naruto tied it to the tree and smiled at his work. The tree was now perfect.
After a few minutes of admiring his tree, a knock sounded at his door. For a moment he was confused…who could it be at almost midnight? Then he smiled. Maybe it was someone giving him an early present?
Not wanting to miss out on a possible gift, Naruto rushed to his door to answer it. When he flung the door open, he yelled, "HELLO—" But then stopped. Nobody was there.
Frowning, Naruto was about to slam the door shut in frustration, when he noticed a note lying on the ground. Bending forward, Naruto picked up the note. In perfect script, he read:
Naruto-Kun,
If you wish to get your gift, first you must follow the clues.
This is your first clue: What's your favorite food?
Sincerely,
Your Secret Santa.
Naruto was shocked. He had a Secret Santa? Who could it be? Sakura-chan? Naruto dismissed the thought. It wasn't like her to do something like this. Kakashi-sensei? No again, he was too lazy to do it.
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He wanted to know who it could be, but more importantly, he wanted his present. "I WILL FIND YOU, WHOEVER YOU ARE! DATTEBAYO!"
Naruto then rushed from his apartment, clutching his hand around his first clue. He thought over it once more, wondering just what it meant, when…"RAMEN FROM ICHIRAKU!" That one was easy.
Having been a frequent costumer of that bar for years, Naruto easily made it there it in record time. It, as he expected, was closed. But the clue had to be somewhere. Walking up to the closed restaurant, Naruto quickly searched. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for. A note addressed to him in that perfect script. This time, however, it was connected to a watch. It was a cheaply made thing, and Naruto hoped this wasn't his present. Opening the note, he read:
Dear Naruto-Kun,
Good job at finding the second clue! The watch connected to it, is not your gift, but you need to hold onto it. Without it, you will not get your present.
Now for your third clue: This is a place you often go to think.
Sincerely,
Your Secret Santa.
Naruto frowned. This clue was a bit harder. Closing his eyes he concentrated…where did he go to think most of the time?
After a few moments his eyes snapped opened. The only place he ever did any serious thinking was on the top of the Hokage Monument. He always felt most at ease when sitting on top of the Fourth Hokage's head, for some reason.
Turning, in the opposite direction, he made his way toward the familiar path of the mountain. It, being on the opposite side of town, made the trip a bit longer than the first. However, after about ten minutes of nonstop running, Naruto stood at his favorite part of town.
He loved it on top of the mountain as it was so peaceful. It also had a great view. Naruto smiled as he looked out toward the village. Everyone had lights put up for Christmas, and it made it even more beautiful.
For a couple of minutes, he forgot why it was he had gone there. But then he remembered and he searched for the clue. This time it was connected to a plant of some sort. Looking at it closer he realized the plant had berries on it. He frowned, unsure of what this plant was. Looking at the note, he read:
Naruto-Kun,
Congratulations for making it this far, I knew you could do it! The plant you are holding is called mistletoe, and you will need it in order to receive your gift. It's more important than the watch, but that doesn't mean the watch is worthless. You will still need both to collect your gift.
This will be your final clue: Before the final round of your first and only Chūnin exam, you stood here, worried about what was to come.
Sincerely,
Your Secret Santa
Naruto frowned once more. It had been a few years since he took the Chūnin exam, how was he supposed to remember that? However, after thinking about it, he remembered. Before he went up against Hyūga Neji, he had stood by the place where his career had first begun as a ninja. It was near the training posts where he had been tied up by Kakashi. He tried to remember who it was who cheered him up all those years ago, but drew a blank. Who was that person?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto rushed toward the spot he knew he had to go. He'd try to remember who that person was later, but, for now, he was going to focus on one thing and one thing only: getting his Christmas gift.
After a few minutes of running, he arrived at the designated spot. On the post he had been tied to all those years ago was one final note. Naruto opened it and read:
Naruto-Kun,
At the stroke of midnight, hold the mistletoe plant up above your head and you will receive your present.
Sincerely,
Your Secret Santa
After reading the final note, he realized what the watch was for. He'd need it to know the time. He, however, was confused at why he would have to hold the plant over his head. Naruto shook his head, and looked at the watch. He had about ten seconds until midnight.
10
Naruto noticed someone appear from the other side of the training area.
9
The shape of the figure told Naruto it was a female.
8
The woman was too far away for Naruto to tell who it was.
7
As the person drew closer, Naruto tried to figure out who it could be.
6
The woman was about Naruto's age, he could now see.
5
She was a very petite girl with the most beautiful eyes Naruto had ever seen.
4
The woman held her hands in front of her timidly and it was then he remembered who it was who cheered him up all those years ago.
3
It was the girl he always thought of as weird…
2
It was Hyūga Hinata.
1
The very girl who was nearing him.
0
Naruto held the plant high over his head and blushed as Hinata drew closer to him. His heartbeat began to become erratic as she stopped in front of him. She too was blushing, he could see.
Hinata was very nervous, just as Naruto was, but she hadn't done all of this just to lose her nerve at the last second. Standing on her tip toes, Hinata lightly pressed her lips to Naruto's.
Naruto's eyes widened at the tender kiss.
"Merry Christmas, Naruto-kun." Was the last thing he heard before he fainted; a smile graced his lips as his world went black.
A/N It's not very good as I wrote it really quickly. I thought I should write something for Christmas. I probably should have spent more time on it, but this is the best I can do at like four in the morning. It's sleep time now. XD