Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character in Naruto, but I do own my OC(s) and this fanfic's plot.
A/N: This is a part of my Naruto fanfics with OC. I made this chapter for Christmas. (I was to make the Prince of Tennis's fanfics, but I was stuck with the plot). It'a bit early, but..oh, well. (I won't have time at the exact day anyway, busy with the celebration) There is a pairing with OC, as usual. It's SasukeKira (Kira's my OC). Anyway, enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Oh, and this story contains major spoiler for the real plot.
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Bitter-Sweet Bond
Special Christmas Mission [First Snow]
~~**+\\\|///+**~~~
A girl walked alone, entering the gate of Konoha. Most of the people ignored her, or they were just too busy preparing Christmas, she was not sure. She stopped in the front of the gate, sighing softly. The cold breeze hit her face and she involuntarily shuddered. A small smile appeared in her face and she stepped down to the place where she would surely find one of her friends.
Her waist-length light brown hair was a mess – she blamed the wind for that. Because of the icy weather, she had to wear white long-sleeved shirt under her long purple vest. Her mother was so worried if she would catch a cold. She had no choice, but to follow. Her mother let her wearing her short was more than enough. Moreover, she did not want to break her mother's heart after the divorce. A brown scarf was around her neck, the same shade of brown like her eyes.
As she had guessed, a very familiar voice could be heard from inside Ichiraku Ramen Shop. Chuckling, she stepped into the shop and was greeted by her blonde friend's yell.
"You put that discount sign outside! Why in the world is the price still the same?" the blonde-haired well-known ninja shouted.
"It's clearly stated that it's only from twelve to four! Now it's five o'clock!" the owner shouted back.
It was not exactly the right way to treat a customer, but it was Naruto. He would always come to that shop again. She stared at the bowls' stack and shook her head at her friend's antic; he would never ever change. She waited for some time to inspect the situation. Sensing the argument would last forever, she stepped in to the problem. She took her money and put it on to the table silently. It was not every day she would pay for Naruto, but it was Christmas. Why not? She could count it as her Christmas's present for the blue-eyed genin.
The two who were fighting stopped abruptly and stared at her. The owner of the shop got the sign and took the money. He soon returned to give the change to her. However, Naruto was not recovered from his shock yet. He stood there with mouth wide-opened. The brown-eyed girl frowned and waved her hand in front of his face. She even poked his forehead, but he stayed still like a statue.
"Naruto, are you still there?" she asked, still frowning.
The called one finally recovered and grinned widely. To everyone's surprise, he jumped on her and tackled her to the ground. Both of them fell to the ground. The impact had made her head hit the ground, hard. The girl groaned and was near to kill her friend, which would be easy because he was laughing on the ground next to her, but she did not.
"You should have seen your face!" Naruto laughed loudly, holding his stomach.
She sent him one deathly glare and he stopped laughing, raising his hand in surrender.
"God, your glare was still as scary as ever." He smiled nervously.
"Yeah, so you'd better be careful." She glowered at him one last time and stood up, dusting her clothes. "You should be thankful I'm not in a nasty mood today, otherwise…"
Naruto took a step back fearfully. "Kira-chan, please don't kill me…"
Kira shrugged. "I told you 'I'm not in a nasty moody today', so today won't be your death day."
He let out a breath of relief. "Hey, wait a second! Why are you here?" He asked curiously.
She slapped her forehead lightly. "Naruto, I can still come to Konoha even after I moved out, you know. Although it's quite far, I'm still able to reach here quite fast."
The blonde nodded and grinned. "Now that you're here, let's go to meet your other former teammates!"
He did not even waste a second as he dragged her out of the shop, yelling a good-bye to the shop owner. Kira stumbled, but followed him to only-God-know-where-to. She was more than delighted to see her old friends; one of her few friends. Being stubborn and anti-social as she always did, she was not the most favourite person to befriend with. She did not trust person and outspoken; tended to keep everything on her own. There were only few she could accept as friends and a few who could do the same to her.
A sigh escaped her lips and she said to Naruto, "Naruto, no need to rush. It's not like I'm dying now."
Naruto stopped running and stared at her. "What?"
"You're such in a haste that I wonder why." She put her finger on her chin. "Oh, could it be that you're so eager to meet your beloved Sakura?"
Naruto turned slightly red and stuttered, "S-Shut up! You're only saying that because you actually can't follow my pace!"
She scoffed. "Oh, please. I can defeat you in a blink of an eye."
"No, you won't!" He retorted. "You will not be able to defeat me on a running competition! I challenge you!"
"Don't regret it later, Naruto." She smirked, accepting the challenge.
-----+++++------
"Kakashi-sensei, why are we having a mission on the Christmas' Eve?" a pink-haired girl asked.
Her teacher kept walking with his book on his hand. "Well, every group is supposed to have rest today, but somehow we're on a mission today. Don't ask me why the Hokage gave us a mission, Sakura. It's his decision."
Sakura nodded and glanced towards her raven-haired teammate. He was walking on the right side of Kakashi while she was on the left. The pink-haired kunoichi wanted to spend her Christmas with Sasuke, but the mission was on the way. So she had to find Naruto and finish the mission fast! That way she could be with Sasuke sooner. And the sooner, the better.
The boy, in the other hand, was not interested at all. He just wanted to finish his mission so that he could train. There was no other thing in his mind but revenge. Although he had to admit, there was time when he missed the time talking to his 'most sane' teammate. Sasuke was not sure, but if he had to choose among his teammates: noisy-and-too-energetic Naruto, the fan girl Sakura, and cold-and-stubborn Kira, he would choose his former teammate.
"You will not be able to defeat me on a running competition! I challenge you!"
"Don't regret it later, Naruto."
Two voices caught their attention and they all looked at two figures; one with blonde hair and the other with light-brown hair. Kakashi immediately recognised the girl and smiled. Sakura went wide-eyed in shock, not expecting her 'love rival' to return. Sasuke was not happy, but not disappointed either when he saw Kira again; he was just confused.
"Kira, it's nice to see you again!" the silver-haired jounin interrupted the match which was about to begin.
Kira jumped in surprise and turned quickly. "Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto repeated her action. "Kakashi-sensei!"
The brown-eyed girl raised an eyebrow. "Why are you following my words, Naruto-baka?"
Sasuke smirked; he really liked Kira when she was acting like this and they teamed up to call Naruto 'Naruto-baka' or such that. That was one of the rare moments when they were not in a fight. Sasuke and Kira argued a lot, but they could get along well sometimes. They both were really alike in one aspect; their stubbornness.
"Argh! Kira's teaming with Sasuke again!" Naruto exclaimed dramatically.
"Shut up." Both Kira and Sasuke said at the same time.
That was when Kira realized Sasuke and Sakura were also there. Kira glared at Sasuke with a 'don't follow my words' look. He gave her a 'as if I'm following' stare in return. They both glared at each other. One second they were friends, another second later they would become enemy. One second they agreed, another word spoken and they got into a big fight.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Kakashi quickly interrupted them. "Well, while Kira's here, why doesn't she join to help us on our little mission?"
Sakura supported the idea fully. "Yes, it will be nice to have the four of us work together again and we can finish the mission even faster!"
Naruto raised his hand and everyone looked at him strangely. "Why do we have a mission?"
"Ah, I forgot to tell you, Naruto. The Hokage gave our team a mission today. I don't even know why," Kakashi answered his student. "But I think you'd like a mission, don't you?"
"What kind of mission?" Naruto's eyes were lit up with excitement. "Is it something special?"
"Hmm, it won't be fun if I tell you now. I'll tell you later on." Kakashi smiled, but his four genins suspected something was fishy.
Sakura scooted closer to Kira and smiled at her female teammate. "So, Kira-chan, do you want to join in?"
Kira sighed and crossed her arms, started to walk away. "Come on, let's move on. I'll help you guys."
Naruto beamed; he was filled with joy to finally be able to work together with Kira again. Kira was not the best girl he had ever known, but she was still a great teammate. She was just like him; working so hard to become stronger. Sakura smiled happily; although the brown-haired girl was her 'rival', she still admired her for the way she spoke up her mind without fear. Sasuke scoffed a bit. He never really liked Kira, but she seemed to be able to understand him a lot. He disliked it when she could somehow 'read' his mind. Kakashi was just glad he was finally able to have his student back, even just for a short moment.
Kira stopped and turned when she realized her friends and teacher were stuck in place. "Why the hell are you all acting like a turtle? Hurry up!"
The four were jerked out of their musing and walked towards her, ready for their mission.
----+++++-----
"Thank you so much!" A lady seemed to be at the age of early thirty opened her door's house with a smile, ushering the members of Team 7 in.
"Ka...ka…shi…sen…sei," Kira glared at her sensei, who was reading like nothing was happening.
"What kind of mission is this?" She growled lowly as she lifted up a crying toddler. "Shut up will you!"
The small boy immediately stopped, but abruptly started again. Kira sighed and half-heartedly patted the kid's back, trying to soothing him down.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Naruto screamed as another small boy pulled his hair forcefully. "Let go of my hair!"
Sakura was trying, with difficulty, to escape the 'attack' from a little girl. "Hey, don't throw your wooden doll to me! No, not that glass! Hey! Don't throw your plate!"
Sasuke was met with an emotionless boy and they were both staring at each other silently. The raven-haired ninja sat down in front of the kid and stayed quiet. The kid followed suit, although there was a little speck of curiosity on his eyes as his eyes travelled up and down Sasuke's form.
The mission was requested from a widow named Akari, who lost her husband recently. She had four young children: Yuto, six years old, the oldest one, was the one who pulled Naruto's hair, Yukari, the second, five years old, was the 'attacker' of Sakura, Hikaru, three years old, the third was the emotionless boy, and the last was Takuya, only a year old, the one who cried after being screamed by Kira. Akari met a very fine man about several months ago and they wanted to go on a date on the Christmas Day. So, she requested for a mission to take care of her children while she was away.
"Hey, Sakura, want to exchange place? I'm getting tired of this baby," Kira pleaded. "He keeps crying and crying. Will he ever shut up?"
"Sorry, Kira-chan," Sakura replied, dodging the throwing fork. "I think I can cope with this girl now. I'm getting to like her."
"Hey, but what if-" Kira stopped abruptly.
"Kira-chan? Ouch! What's the-Ow!-matter? Ow, that's hurt!" Naruto yelled as Yuto pulled his hair again, almost tearing it.
Kira stayed silent and she shook a bit.
"Kira?" Kakashi even asked, out of curiosity, and a bit of worry, seeing her shaking.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Sasuke finally spoke up after his moment of silence with Hikaru.
Kira gritted her teeth and lifted Takuya a little higher and farther from her. "He peed! And damn it! I'm wet!"
Everyone sweat-dropped as Kira scolded the small innocent boy with a big vein mark on her head; she kept rambling, but everyone bet the baby would not even understand a word. Kakashi shook his head and continued his reading, seating comfortably on the couch. Now he was truly glad that Kira was there, otherwise it would be him to get wet. Yuto got back to his work pulling Naruto's hair again, Yukari with her throwing, and well, Hikaru was…silent.
Kira finally stopped and carried the baby to another room. She wandered a bit and was glad to see a note with a light-blue big bag near it. She read the note saying 'This bag is filled with Takuya's stuff. Feel free to use it.'
"Well, glad you still think about preparing them." Kira thought with a small smile.
She gently put Takuya down and took out a new diaper. She changed it quite skillfully, all thanks to her experience with her much younger brother. Once she finished, she lifted Takuya high and the baby laughed. She could not help but to smile back. The baby then tried to reach something on the table. She peeked and noticed another paper with clothes under it. She took it and read it aloud.
"I think you will get wet. So I have prepared changing clothes for you; it's my old clothes. P.S: I'm glad it's a girl who takes care of my Taku; otherwise I won't have clothes for you to change." Kira rolled her eyes, but she was thankful nonetheless; she did not want to wear the wet clothes all day.
"So, she prepared the changing clothes, huh?" A sudden voice near her head made her jump and whipped around quickly.
Sasuke stared at her with his hands on his pockets. "What?"
She glared and put her hand over her heart, the other still holding Takuya. "Stop scaring the hell out of me!"
He only 'hn'-ed and gestured with his head to the clothes on the table. "You'd better change your clothes."
He took Takuya from her arm. Surprisingly, the baby boy smiled at Sasuke, although the black-eyed ninja only raised an eyebrow. Kira stared back and forth between Sasuke and the clothes. She knew Sasuke had to take care of Hikaru; she peeked to the living room and found the boy was staring into space in front of him, where Sasuke used to be. She sweat-dropped and shrugged; taking the clothes in her arms, she went to the toilet to change.
"You smell awful." Sasuke remarked with a smirk as Kira went pass him. The brown-eyed girl did not miss it; she went to bonk his head, but he was too swift to get hit. She just grumbled as Sasuke went to the living room with the youngest kid.
Sakura stared at Sasuke who had just returned to the living room; he somehow had gotten Takuya with him. Yukari had calmed down and was now playing with her doll quietly. Yuto had gotten bored with the 'pulling hair' game; he was playing cards with Naruto. Sadly, the blonde was the one who was in the edge of losing. Not too long after Sasuke got back to the room, she heard a loud yell. The pink-haired ninja also heard her name being yelled. Noticing Yukari was happy by herself, she decided to go to see Kira.
"Kira-chan, what's wrong?" she asked, knocking on the door.
"Um, nothing," a voice replied, "But, uh, can we exchange our clothes?"
Okay, Kira was being shy, something was definitely wrong…
"Err, why?" she questioned back.
"Uh," another shy Kira, wonder if tonight was going to be rainy, "I just don't want to wear this dress."
"What?" Kira wearing a dress; that was absolutely new! "Why are you wearing a dress?"
"Um, you know my clothes are wet, right? So, I change with the clothes that were prepared on the table before." The voice was filled with nervousness; tonight was going to be stormy!
"But she only prepared this dress. I mean, this dress is nice, but the guys will-Can we just exchange?" She said exasperatedly.
"If you like the dress, why you want to exchange it with me?" The green-eyed kunoichi wondered.
"I look bad in a dress. I love the dress, but I look…strange," Kira finally said what was on her mind.
"Come on, Kira-chan! Let me decide whether it's strange or not!" Sakura pleaded and the door was slowly opened. She could not help but beamed at the sight.
-----++++-----
"Now I wonder what are taking Kira and Sakura so long," Kakashi said loudly.
Naruto nodded in agreement absent-mindedly, and then he threw his hands to the air in defeat. "Damn it! One more time! This time I will beat you!"
Yuto grinned and shuffled the cards again. The silver-haired jounin shook his head and turned to Sasuke. The said guy was watching Takuya and Hikaru; Takuya playing with his brother long bangs happily while the older one remained stationary. Sasuke did not even move, probably did not even care. Yukari had gone bored and finally joined his eldest brother who was beating Naruto again. Naruto yelled madly and demanded another round, and another, and another…
"I'm not going!" Kira's voice could suddenly be heard from the room across; everyone turned their attention to the opened door.
"Oh, yes, you are!" Sakura said with a very happy voice. "Come on!"
At first, Sakura appeared at their sight, but her hands were pulling something – or someone, it had to be Kira she was pulling. Kira kept yelling and resisted; something was embarrassing her there. When Kira refused to come, Sakura sighed and finally came to a decision of using a little violent. She used all of her power and jerked Kira out. The brown-head girl finally appeared at the view, stumbling on her feet. And the three ninja's eyes went wide.
There was a scene that they had never seen before. Kira was wearing a knee-length long-sleeved purple simple dress with frilly end. It was very normal for her to wear them, but it was the first time they really saw her looked like a real girl. She squirmed under the gaze for some time. The guys remained still, stunned and paralyzed. She felt her face heated up, but she was fast to regain her composure. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and waited for a response. The two boys and a man were still motionless.
Naruto's mouth was hung open wide. All this time he had been looking at her as a "great teammate" or a "good ninja", but never a girl. It was the first time he felt Kira was genuinely a girl. The Icha-Icha Paradise book that Kakashi read had fallen to the floor. The jounin was surprised and speechless; he never thought he would see the tough girl looked so feminine. Sasuke was another story; he was far beyond surprise. He did not feel it was not so Kira; in fact, he thought it was the real Kira. Why? He did not know; she was not even girlish, but it felt…right.
"Kira-chan looks like a girl!" Naruto exclaimed, finally got out of his trance.
Kira opened her eyes and gave him an intense glare. "Say another word and you're dead."
Naruto gulped; he had made her enraged twice, better not doing it again. The blonde quickly averted his gaze to Yuto and pretended to be talking to the younger boy. Sakura shook her head at Naruto's dumbness. She examined the two other guys, hoping they were not as idiot as Naruto – they were not, she knew that. The silver-haired jounin smiled lightly and picked his reading, leaning on the couch casually. Her major crush was not even looking at Kira anymore – she was glad for a certain reason – but at Takuya and Hikaru. Sakura shrugged and went to Yukari, who was laughing aloud because Naruto had just lost to her brother again.
Kira was glad, but not certainly satisfied; she wanted to know Kakashi's and Sasuke's opinions. Hopefully, they would not react like Naruto did; otherwise she might end up kicking someone's ass. She glanced at Kakashi and he responded positively, very unlikely of what she thought he would do. Her teacher gave her a thumb-up with a smile; she was pleased with the answer, but a little embarrassed at his encouraging sign. She gave him a small nod in return, after which Kakashi continued his 'work' with the book. All that was left was Sasuke.
Walking to Takuya, she sat behind the child and lifted him up to put the boy on her lap. She was glad the baby did not reject her, instead, he laughed when she did that. She noticed Hikaru staring at her with empty look and gave her quite a scare. Unexpectedly, he moved towards her and sat next to her; his gaze was not on her anymore. Takuya giggled and tugged at his brother's hair again. Kira glanced at Sasuke and gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. Having two little boys around her made Kira forgot about her first intention. All was left behind as she laughed when Naruto screamed and went frantic after he was defeated by Yuto, in the same game, again.
"Thank you so much for taking care of them!" Akari said with a huge smile.
"No problem at all, Ma'am. We're glad to be a help," Kakashi replied.
"You're the one who did nothing!" All of the four students thought at the same time.
Akari bowed and waved happily as the five ninjas walked away, back to Konoha. Sakura was struggling to make Sasuke willing to go to her Christmas party. Naruto was beyond happiness when Sakura invited him. Kakashi excused himself and left his students; he had his own party with the other jounins. Kira was not keen with a party, so she rejected Sakura's invitation. The pink-haired sighed heavily when Sasuke had decided not to come at any reason. So Sakura and Naruto left for the party while Sasuke and Kira walked down the streets silently.
Surprisingly, Sasuke was the one who started a conversation. "Aren't you feeling cold?"
She questioningly stared at him, even though it did not stop her walking. A strong cold wind suddenly blew and she felt much colder than before. Kira finally realized her clothes were not her original clothes. The dress was thinner than her real clothes; no wonder she felt cold.
"Oh, crap! I left my clothes on the house." She slapped her forehead. "Oh, well. I might as well buy a new one."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You will be freezing, you know."
She smirked. "What's it? Uchiha Sasuke is worried about me?"
"No way." He responded quickly. "I'm just stating a fact."
She shrugged. "I won't die because of cold. Besides, winter in my new town in much colder than here in Konoha."
He was about to lecture her again, but stopped mid-action. "Now I wonder. Why are you here?"
She laughed. "Now, that's a déjà vu. Naruto also asked me the same. I can still come to Konoha even after I moved out, right?"
"That doesn't explain why," he stated the obvious.
She stopped laughing. "You're sharper than Naruto. Damn, I forget this is you." She sighed. "Well, just say that I was bored to death in the new hometown. There is no one want to befriend me."
"Only that?" he questioned. "I'm sure there's more."
Kira gave him a grin. "Correct."
She suddenly pulled him, like the way Naruto did to her earlier. Sasuke almost bit his own tongue, but managed his composure and kept up with her. He was sure to be mad at her later on. Unfortunately for him, the girl was not even noticing his anger; she was too excited to show him her Christmas present for him. She had treated Naruto ramen, put Sakura's gift – a pair of gloves – in front of her house, a new set of weapons for Kakashi, but she had no idea what to give to Sasuke. Having no idea, she gave up and made up her mind to give him something different.
"Here we are!" She exclaimed and let go of Sasuke's hand.
Sasuke glowered at her. "What the-" He stopped and was stunned by what he saw.
She smiled. "Like what you see?"
It was a view from a top of a cliff; the full moon shining brightly on the night sky, a frozen waterfall and a small pond beneath it. The ice seemed to be sparkling under the shine from the moon. Around them was trees and grass; they were dead, but would bloom again in spring for sure.
Kira sat down on the ground. "Isn't the moon pretty? It's not the best season, but on spring, summer, or fall, the panorama here is extremely stunning. Moreover, this place is far from crowd, serene and revitalizing."
"Why do you-" Sasuke started, but was cut short by Kira.
"It's my secret place, now it can be yours too. You know, when you want to be alone." She shrugged, lying on the cold grass. "Ah, this place is the best."
Sasuke sighed, but sat down next to her. "You're an idiot."
"What?" She sat up abruptly. "What do you mean-"
The raven-haired boy put his hand over her mouth to silence her. He took something from his pocket, a small box. He took her right hand and put it on her opened palm. He lay on the grass and ignored her confused gaze. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, but shrugged and tore the wrapper. She stared in amusement at the gift and the giver back and forth, confused, but pleased nonetheless.
It was a necklace with a teardrop-shaped crystal. The amethyst dangled at the end of the necklace, beautifully crafted. Kira smiled and carefully put it around her neck, staring at the brilliant light from the purple gem. Sasuke sighed silently in relief when she wore it; he was glad she accepted it gratefully. He sat up and stared at the amusing sight in front of them, his other friend joined in. They fell in comfortable silent until something white fell slowly between them. They both looked up and saw snow falling, the first snow of the year. The tranquility and magnificence of the snow that slowly filled the ground around them made them feel blessed. A bless on a Christmas Day, for both of them.
Several minutes after the snow-gazing time, Kira finally spoke up, "Hey, Sasuke."
"Hn." Sasuke responded quietly.
"Merry Christmas, Sasuke," She said softly.
Sasuke turned to look at her. He never saw her so gentle like this before, could it be the effect of the snow? Or was it the shine from the moon? Or was it just his eyes? He scooted closer to her, taking her by surprise. It seemed so natural to him, nothing was wrong at that time. Everything was right. Leaning towards her, he took her hand and held it firmly. He smirked when he saw her flushed cheek and leaned towards her slowly. Kira had closed her eyes nervously when Sasuke gradually getting closer to her face. He breathed on her ear, getting her small squeak, and whispered softly.
"Merry Christmas, Kira," He murmured.
He backed off from her bit by bit, but never letting go of her hand. The girl had let go of her breath which she had been holding, although her cheek was still tinted pink. She was nervous, bewildered, but happy all the same. They sat close and held each other's hand as they watched the snow slowly falling from the night sky above where the moon shining dazzlingly.
-------++++++----- FIN-------++++++-----
A/N: So, what do you think? If you feel this story is interesting and want me to post the real story, please let me know. If you want to, you could review this story (reviews! I need them!!!)
Anyway, thanks for reading this one-shot XD
Merry Christmas, everyone! Have a joyful time!
