Hello! It's been awhile since I wrote a story, but with my pairing becoming canon I have so many feels! So I decided to make this advent fic ^_^ Hopefully school will let me post a chapter a day. Well let's begin!
There weren't many things that Naruto hated. He hated when Ichiraku closed, but instant ramen rectify that problem. He hated when Iruka-sensei assigned extra homework or when Tsunade made him do extra paperwork, but he could easily get around that. Even when the village didn't want him around there was always something he could do to keep him busy, until he pushed the loneliness into the back of his mind again.
Then there was one thing he hated that he couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried. Holiday season in Konoha. He couldn't push back the sadness of looking at all the holiday cheer that seemed to spread around the village like fire. At the academy when Shikamaru and the others talked about their families and presents, Naruto would increase his pranks, until they stopped talking about it.
Every year he did something different, something bigger, to distract himself from the holidays. It beat going to his lonely apartment and daydreaming about the holidays with his family. However, one day things changed. Iruka joined him for ramen and gave him a present. Kakashi would give him a gift after he treated him to dinner. His friends made sure to invite him to the group holiday dinner.
Hinata would try to give him a gift or card, but she always ran off before Naruto could say anything. He didn't understand it at the time even when Jiraiya teased him about it. Naruto really enjoyed the holidays with Jiraiya even if the old pervy sage snuck away to drink when he fell asleep. It was nice to wake up to a present by his bed.
In time the holidays became something Naruto started to enjoy. When he walked through the gates towards Hokage Tower he looked forward to the new holiday season.
"Alright Naruto, that's all for today."
"Thanks Kakashi-sen—I mean Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a grin.
Kakashi chuckled as he organized the papers on his desk.
It felt different to be in Hokage Tower with Kakashi behind the desk instead of Tsunade. The last thing Naruto heard about Tsunade she went on a gambling spree where she finally won, then lost everything at once. Naruto felt bad for Shizune, but he knew she could handle it.
Once Kakashi put Naruto's report away he turned to him. "Hmm, isn't this the time you ask for extra work? Tsunade-san told me it's something you do around this time of year."
"Oh, um, not this year. I have plans."
"Is it with a certain young lady? A certain young lady that's heiress to a certain clan…"
"Hey! I mean, um, well yes." Naruto mumbled with a blush across his cheeks. It would be their first Christmas together and he really looked forward to it.
Kakashi chuckled again. "I see, I see, well I don't want to hold you up. Have a nice evening Naruto-kun."
"You too, Hokage-sama." Naruto nodded before he walked over to the door. He opened the door and turned to Kakashi. "Oh yeah, Hokage-sama, tell Iruka-sensei I said hi." He smirked before he closed the door behind him. They weren't very obvious, but Naruto could tell. Iruka-sensei became very happy whenever Kakashi was around.
Naruto grinned as he walked down the hall. As much as he loved messing with his former sensei he couldn't wait to see Hinata again.
If someone told Hinata that one day she would be decorating the apartment she shared with Naruto, she wouldn't believe them. She would think the person was playing a trick on her or bullying her again. Kiba teased her about it when they were younger. It only took one look from Shino to quiet him down, but it was something Hinata dreamed about. For that dream to come true made her so happy it almost felt surreal.
Hinata hummed a holiday tune softly as she taped a snowflake on the wall. She stepped back to look at her handy work with a pleased smile on her face. When she found out that Naruto was coming back from his weeklong mission she got to work. She bought ingredients for ramen along with Christmas decorations. She may have bought a lot of decorations along with a tree, but she wanted their first Christmas together to be memorable.
Hinata couldn't decorate around the compound. Her father wasn't one for the holidays, so she always snuck a plastic snowman in her room every year. It felt so good to openly decorate and do all the activities around the holidays. Not to mention spend it with Naruto. She didn't want her dream to end.
Hinata walked to the kitchen to check on the ramen when the door opened. She smiled when she heard her name.
"Hinata! I'm home!"
She would never get tired of hearing that.
Hinata turned down the heat on the pot before she walked out the kitchen with a warm smile on her face. "Welcome home."
Naruto grinned. There was something wonderful about seeing Hinata's warm smile when he came home. He walked over to her when he noticed the decorations around the room. There were stars, snowflakes, garland, and an empty tree in the corner with various boxes of ornaments around it. Naruto never had time to decorate when he lived by himself. When he tried to shop for decorations the store owners wouldn't let him stay for more than five minutes before they yelled at him or glared at him, until he left.
Now there were decorations along the walls and warm ramen in the kitchen. Things couldn't get any better. His eyes watered a bit as he walked around the living room.
"Naruto?"
Naruto looked over at Hinata who walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm. "Is this okay? I wanted to surprise you when you came home, but I'm still not finished. We have to decorate the tree and the kitchen, and…Naruto!" She squealed when Naruto picked her up and swung her around as Hinata giggled in her arms.
Naruto gave a big grin as he placed her down and pressed kisses against her cheek.
"I love it! Are you going to make cookies too? Can we get stockings too?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes, we can get everything. I'm off too, so we can go Christmas shopping soon."
"I can't wait!" Naruto smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Oh Hinata, I missed you."
Hinata smiled. "I missed you too." She whispered as she placed her arms around Naruto's neck.
Naruto leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss. There was nothing better than having Hinata in his arms after coming home from a mission. He loved the soft sigh that left her lips when he rubbed her back. He moved to deepen the kiss when Hinata reluctantly pulled away.
"What's up?" Naruto whispered.
"Kiba wants to meet at the new tea shop to discuss Secret Santa. I told him to postpone it, until you came back. Do you want to go? I understand if you want to stay home and rest…" She whispered as her fingers trailed down his cheek.
Naruto hummed softly as he leaned into her touch. "Yeah I want to go, but first I need to rest…" He gave a foxy grin as he picked Hinata up and carried her to their bedroom.
"Naruto!" Hinata giggled as she placed her arms around his neck.
Naruto kissed her as he kicked the door closed behind them.
He couldn't wait to see what the holiday season would bring.