So, I was thinking of a Christmas one shot to make, needless to say I didn't come up with a one shot, but a short story. Starting today, I'll be posting my Naruto version of the Nut Cracker, it's one of my favorite stories, the last chapter will be posted on the 25th. Of course this is a story about Hinata, those are just the stories I make, though I'm thinking of making another story with a different pairing, give me suggestions, and I will post it along with the last chapter of this on Christmas. Also, since it's an AU, You are warned of OOC-ness.

I hope everyone enjoys.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does, nor do I own The Nut Cracker and The King of Mice, by E.T.A. Hoffman

Title: The Best and Last Christmas

Rating: T

Type: Short Multi-Chapter Story

Authoress: Ilostmyplace

Description: She was sick, her Christmas was miserable, but her uncle changed all that. The only thing he did was give her a red haired doll.

Chapter one:

The Terrible Dance and Wonderful Gift.

There she sat, like a perfect doll, her dress a dark blue with dark purple accents. Everyone around her chatted and danced, having a great time, looking at the grand tree she had helped decorate, it's dark green contrasting to the bright lights and gold garland. Her pale eyes drank in all the pretty fabrics and pretty faces of the party, wishing that someone would ask her to dance, or talk to her. However the long, curly, dark haired girl was ignored, sitting on the over stuffed white couch, that made her pale skin look that much more like a china doll's.

She wasn't allowed to partake in the party very much, too much excitement was bad for her, so she was constantly ordered to sit by her father, who had wanted her to stay in her room, though she had begged to be down with everyone else. He had said if she showed any signs of coughing, or getting weak, he was put her into her room to rest and she could not come out the rest of the night. She knew he was worried for her, after losing her mother years earlier, and then finding out she was very sick, he didn't want to lose her as well. So, the pretty, doll like girl of sixteen, silently watched kids of her own age interact with each other and have a good time. How she wished she could be like them.

A frown marred her features, as a heavy sigh escaped her lips. The music was so cheery, yet it only managed to dampen her already dwindling spirit. She didn't know how it was possible to be in a big room full of people, but feel so terribly alone. Closing her eyes she leaned back more against the couch, wishing that she were better, though the doctors said it was a slim chance she would ever be fully healthy again. Soon she started to drift off, the sounds around her becoming a distant muddle that made no sense at all. She didn't know how long she sat there, falling in and out of the real world, next thing she knew though, someone was gently shaking her.

Opening her eyes slowly, blinking a few times so she could see properly, she came face to chest with a person who was standing in front of the couch. Looking up a smile broke out onto her face. "Uncle Hizashi!" She cried, trowing herself from the couch, and hugging him tightly, with a great amount of enthusiasm. Her uncle lived so far away and she didn't get to see him very much, he was the only one who didn't treat her as if there was something wrong with her, she loved it. "Hinata, how are you Darling?" He asked, a smiled on his face as he hugged her back.

"I'm great now that you're here!" She exclaimed happily, pulling away from him, feeling an itch in the back of her throat, though she refused to cough. "What did you bring me?" Her question was innocent, Hinata's uncle always brought her sister, and her gifts when he would visit. The older man laughed merrily at his oldest niece's enthusiasm, he was well aware of how her father treated her, and made it clear he did not agree, it was part of the reason he hardly got to see his two nieces. He and his brother bickered far too much.

"Be patient, I'll give you your gift later, first I'd like to show you something I've made. I think you will like it. Come on to the dance floor." He said motioning for her to follow, people were already curious as to what was going, Hinata's cousin Neji was attending to two big boxes. Standing at the front of the circle that was starting, around the clear area of the living room that people were dancing it, murmurs ran through the small crowd. "I hope everyone has been having a good time, though I'd like to interrupt the party to show off my latest creations." Her uncle said, as he nodded to Neji.

Unlocking both of the boxes and opening the doors inside her revealed two people, who in actuality were two life like, robotic, dolls. Her uncle unloaded the male doll, while Neji handled the female, since it was smaller. The dolls were both stood in front of each other, they looked like people from a ball or something. The female doll was dressed in a breathtaking dark green dress that touched the floor, her hair was dark brown and left down in thick curls, a pair of matching brown eyes made her face look terribly young but extremely feminine. The male was the same way, dressed in a formal suite, his hair was jet black, though he had bright blue eyes and like the female he looked young but oddly masculine at the same time.

Hizashi flipped a switch on the necks of both the dolls, it took a minute, but they both stopped standing ram rod straight. The male bowed to the female, who giggled a bit and smiled before holding out her hand, which the male doll took. Hinata had read about these sorts of things, people were working on making realistic dolls for decoration that could entertain and even interact with people a little bit. The music kept playing as the two started to dance, it was so fluid Hinata thought she was looking at a real pair of people, the only thing that showed they were fake were their joints, and the lack of expression while they danced.

It was breath taking, the female doll's dress flowed around her stunningly, none of the movements were jerky, even when the male doll dipped the female. The balance was amazing, neither of them wobbled or missed a beat. The dancing was almost so perfect that it was sinful, Hinata didn't know anyone who could truly dance so well. However when the music that was playing stopped the two dolls broke apart and ceased to move. However, when people started clapping they both came to life once again, the male bowed and the female curtsied, like they knew they were being praised and that they had done a good job, faces smiling.

However once Hizashi flipped the switches again, they raised to stand ram rod straight, faces going into a neutral look as their eyes closed. The dolls were packed back in their boxes, while Neji left and then returned with two boxes. "Hinata, Hanabi, please come here." He said, holding both of the boxes, that were fairly big. Slowly Hinata stepped forward her sister coming from somewhere else in the crowd. Both stopped in front of Neji, as he looked back to his father, who nodded his head.

"Merry Christmas, I hope you like your gifts, Dad and I worked on them really hard." He gave a small smile, which was rare, Hinata's cousin was always so serious, no matter what he did, even as he presented the gifts to them he'd been serious. Hinata recieved the box Neji held in his right arm, while Hanabi got the one in his left. Neither of the girls bothered to wait to rip the wrapping off. Hanabi was the first to say something, she had gotten a doll horse the looked very life like, and when turned on would also act like a horse. It was easy to see she loved the gift by the way she held the animal, then again horses were her favorite.

Hinata opened the box that held her gift, she gasped. Laying safely cradled in the box, cushioned by colorful tissue paper, was a male doll. His hair was red-ish brown, and his eyes were amazing they seemed to be an amber-ish red color. He was beautifully crafted for something so small, there was so much detail in his features, his lips had tiny lines, his eyes even had eye lashes. It almost seemed ridiculous how real the small thing was, it must have taken hours to craft him so perfectly. Even his clothes were real, a small black shirt, with a pair of jeans. He even had shoes!

However Hinata did notice he wasn't made from the same materials that Hanabi's present was, or that the dolls were made out of. He was made of wood, and smelled like such. "His name is Sasori, I spent a lot of time on him, I haven't made a doll from that sort of material for a very long time." Hizashi said, picking the doll up out of the box. "He's the last doll I'll ever make like this, and instead of selling him, I wanted to give him to someone who would take care of him." It was obvious that Hizashi had spent a lot of time on the doll, it showed in the way he carefully handled him. "Do you like him?"

Hinata gingerly took the doll as her uncle handed it to her. "I love it, I promise to take care of him, he's perfect." She couldn't believe her uncle would give her something he had spent so much time on, and had put so much effort into. "I knew you would." He said smiling, watching his teenaged niece carefully handle his gift. "Merry Christmas." Her uncle said, placing his hand on her head and giving her hair a bit of a ruffle.

After that the party went on as it had before, though people were talking to Hinata now, wanting to see the master piece her uncle had given her. It was no secret that he was a great doll maker, and that his company was famous. Anything specially made by him cost an arm and a leg. Everything seemed to have turned around for Hinata, she wasn't lonely anymore, sitting on her couch, she was actually having a good time talking to people, hanging on to the doll she was given, examining and admiring it. It really was a handsome doll, too bad it wasn't real.

Hanabi glared at the back of her sister's head, not liking that she was getting so much attention and that she had gotten a better gift. It wasn't fair! Her sister wasn't suppose to get so much attention anyway, it was bad for her! Walking over to her older sister she smiled, reaching out and grabbing hold of Sasori. "Hinata, let me see your doll." She said sweetly starting to pull. "No." Hinata replied, starting to pull back, not wanting to chance getting the special doll broken. "Come on Hinata, I only want to look at it!" Hanabi pulled harder.

"You look with your eyes, not your hands!" Hinata exclaimed, pulling back, the next thing she knew she heard her fathers voice loud and commanding. She let go of the doll startled, as did Hanabi, the item fell to the hard wood floor with a loud thud. Everyone fell silent as Hinata gave an upset cry, slipping of the couch and kneeling on the floor picking up her doll, only to see one of the arms had come off. "Look what you did Hanabi!" She said angrily, she couldn't believe her sister would do that to her!

Her uncle was going to be so upset, how could she tell him she's gotten the doll broken, she'd just gotten it and said she would take care of it. Hinata felt the burning and itching at the back of her throat, and the next thing she knew, she thought she would cough up a lung. Placing her hand over her mouth, she could feel the warm liquid splatter into her hand, it was blood, she could already taste the metallic liquid. She knew her father was yelling at her sister, as someone place a hand on her back, trying to help her up, though she couldn't stand from her constant coughing. It hurt so much, she though something in her chest was being shredded.

Clutching the doll to her, keeping her hand over her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain to stop, she felt some one pick her up bridle style and start carrying her. Hinata couldn't fight, too busy trying to gasp for breath and to coughing. She knew she was being carried upstairs from the steps, which means she was going to be imprisoned in her room the rest of the night. Finally she opened her eyes as she was laid on her bed, starting to get a little control over her coughing. She saw Neji leave the room, and her uncle standing by her bed, taking hold of her hand that was attached to the arm that held Sasori.

Neji came back with a cup of water and a warm we wash cloth. Taking a drink Hinata's coughing started to calm as she wiped her other hand off on the wash cloth. "Ah-I'm suh-sorry. I didn't mean to get Suh-Sasori broken." Her voice was strained and breaking as she talked, she was so upset about the whole ordeal. "It's alright Hinata, it wasn't your fault, can I see Sasori?" Her uncle asked, and Hinata reluctantly handed over the broken doll along with his disconnected arm. Hmming, slightly Hizashi looked the doll over before pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket, then making a sling for the dolls arm.

"I can't fix him completely right now, but this will hold him together until I can later tonight. Is it alright if I take him with me?" The older man asked, looking at his niece, who just nodded, she wasn't about to argue with her uncle on the matter. "Alright, I'll have him fixed for tomorrow, don't worry about it, I'm not mad at you, I know your sister had a hand in it, I saw the whole thing." Her uncle reassured her, knowing that she still probably though he was furious with her. "Now, I want you to get some rest, that way you can be up early tomorrow for breakfast." He said smiling, and leaning over to give his niece a peck on the forehead, a bit worried by the lack of response he got from her.

However, before Hizashi fully pulled away Hinata wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you Uncle." She said softly, before letting go and laying back in her bed, snuggling under the covers. "G'night Hinata, have sweet dreams. Come on Neji." Hizashi said as he started to leave the room. "Night Hinata, Neji said following his father, seeing Hinata wave at him, before he guessed she drifted off to sleep.

She didn't know how long she had lay there after she had changed into her pajamas, pretending to be asleep so no one would worry about her and constantly check if she was okay. She knew the party had ended after the incident, and that her father and uncle had talked for a while, she could hear their voices drift up the stairs because the house was deadly quite for the most part. Once the house fell totally silent, signaling her father and uncle had gone to sleep, Hinata could take it no longer.

Getting up she quietly tiptoed across her floor to her door, which creaked a bit as she opened it, she was almost afraid someone else would here it. Slowly and silently she crept down the hall, freezing when she saw her father's door was open. Painstakingly she watched where she slept, doing her best to step on the parts of the floor that wouldn't creak all that loud. She could feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest, she thought that her father would hear it and wake up as well.

Once she got past her fathers door, Hinata quickly made her way down the stairs, everything was dark except for the living room which was lit by her tree. Slowly she walked into the room and saw that Sasori was sitting under the tree, there was no longer a bandage around his arm, her uncle really had fixed him. She possessively picked up her gift, taking it to the couch and sitting down with him in her arms. "I'm so sorry Hanabi broke you, she never thinks before she does something." Hinata whispered, though she knew she wouldn't get a reply from him.

She laid down, cradling Sasori in her arms, she really was tired after practically coughing up a lung, and she was happy that Sasori was alright. Closing her eyes she relaxed, just resting her eyes, she was going to go back to her room in a little bit, just not right at that second. Soon however, Hinata fell asleep and as the clock in her living room struck twelve she started to shrink.