With a grin, hidden by his mask, Kakashi slammed two metal containers down onto the table. Kurenai, Gai, and Asuma looked to each other, then back to the silent Kakashi.

"Kakashi… Why are we here?" Gai asked the other Jounin teacher. Kakashi, still silent, pulled two scrolls from his vest and gave them each a flick, sending them twirling open. In the same motion, he laid them down on the table, one beside each container. Gai, fist clasped in front of his chest, watched with interest, his eyes burning with fire at what his Eternal Rival had planned.

"As you know… It's going to be Christmas soon…" Kakashi started, slowly bringing his snow-white, hair, covered head up to catch their eyes with his usually lazy one. "… And I was thinking…" He kept his voice low, speaking directly the other three. Outside, Naruto strolled by, hands in pockets, whistling a tune, which sounded remarkably like one of his very own opening theme songs, Go!.

"… And I was thinking…" Naruto heard his teacher say in a low voice. Kakashi-sensei? What is he doing in the Academy building? Naruto thought, quickly slipping over, pressing himself against the building wall to listen. "…This Christmas… As teachers… Train them… Like a mission… Keep it secret…" Naruto managed to hear only bits and pieces of what his teacher was saying.

"Hey, Naruto! What are you doing here?" Sakura yelled from a ways down the street, her arms full of grocery bags. Naruto, surprised by Sakura's sudden call, spun around to answer her. With a muffled cry of shock, Naruto fell face first to the ground. When he had spun, he managed to trip over his own two feet, sending him crashing, none too gracefully to the pavement. Sakura, sighing loudly, turned and headed the other way. Hopeless… She thought, yet still allowed herself a glace back to be sure Naruto wasn't hurt. Hearing him curse loudly, she figured he was fine, and continued home.

Inside the building, the Jounin, hearing not only the yelling of Sakura, but the crashing of Naruto, ceased their secretive talk.

"But, Kakashi!" Asuma started with a horrified voice, "T-That mission! Do you really think they can handle it!" He gave a wink to the other teachers, who quickly caught on.

"I agree! Something like that… Will kill them!" Kurenai yelled in an equally scared tone.

"Yes… But, it must be done! Tell your students to meet us here tomorrow at noon!" Kakashi, nodded to the other teachers.

Kakashi! To come up with such a cool idea! Gai mentally yelled, dancing around the room in his own, Gai-ish ways.

"K-kill us…?" Naruto muttered into the pavement before scrambling back up and darting off at top speed. "I have to tell everyone!"

"Hey, Kakashi…" Kurenai asked as they made their way out of the school, "Do you really think it's a good idea to fill Naruto's, of all people, mind with things like that?" Kakashi simply smiled at her and waved his left hand before bounding away.

The sun rose the next morning, showing off the dim blue, black, and hints of purple, in the sky. Naruto was going to tell everyone about what Kakashi had said… but then he saw the Ichiraku Ramen shop… and just had to stop, just for one bowl. Make that two. No, three… By the time the spunky ninja had had his fill, he'd forgotten the whole reason he was out. Now, said Shinobi boy was laying, sprawled out across his bed, snoring, the slightest hint of drool rolling down his cheek. The time slowly ticked by, inching towards noon. By now, a slimy pile of drool had formed on Naruto's pillow, yet, he slept on.

"Where's Naruto? It's not like him to be late," Sakura asked, looking around the classroom. Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, and maybe it was best he didn't, the sound of pounding feet echoed in the hall. The thumping grew closer to the room and the repeating curse of, "I'm late! Damn! I'm late!" could be heard. Five seconds later, the door slammed open and a breathless Naruto flopped into the room.

"There he is." Sasuke said dryly, pretending not to know the so called Ninja.

"Don't accept the mission!" Naruto yelled, standing up at record time, his arm thrown out, pointing towards the Jounin. "That's an evil Kakashi-sensei! He wants to kill us all! None of th…em are… re…al… What are you all staring at! It's true!"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke softly, her cheeks tinted pink, slowly moving to gesture towards just below Naruto's waist. Naruto titled his head to the side, a confused expression on his young face. He blinked and then slowly followed to where Hinata was pointing.

"AH! Don't look!" Naruto flung his arms in the air and spun around, facing his back towards the giggling group. The sound of a zip was heard coming from Naruto's pants. "There we go!" He turned back around, his zipper now up. "Like I was saying--"

"Naruto, be quiet." Kakashi cut him off, receiving a huffy pout from the blonde boy. "As you all know, Christmas is next week… And the other Jounin and I decided to have a Christmas Party for you. The party will take place on Christmas Eve, around 6 PM. At this party, there's going to be a Secret Santa. Clear so far?" A collective set of "Yeah", "Uh huh", and "Yes" was heard in response.

"Ok. Here are the rules for the Secret Santa," Kurenai started, stepping up beside Kakashi, "First off and most important, this is secret, no one can know what numbers you have. Alright, now for the numbers. Each of you will pull a number out of the first container. One thru eleven. Then, you'll show this number to Asuma, ONLY Asuma. He'll write it down on the list. This number is what number you are.

Next, you'll pick a number from the second container. This is the number of the person who you're buying a gift for. But, you don't get to know who's number it is. In other words, you need to use your information gather skills and find out who you're supposed to get a gift for, before the party. That's basically it for that part." Kurenai finished off with a deep breath.

"At the party," Asuma began, "each of you will bring your gifts with you and place them on the table. On the card, you put the number of who you got, and your name. Then, later that night, everyone will get their gift and open it. Also at the party, they'll be food and music and stuff like that. Gai, do you have anything to add?" Asuma asked, turning to look at the last and final Jounin.

"LEE!" Gai yelled out to his student.

"GAI-SENSEIIIII!" Lee yelled back.

"…" Kakashi cleared his throat, "If that's all… Everyone go ahead and pick the numbers, then." With that, everyone pulled two numbers, one was on a blue slip, which they showed to Asuma, the other on a pink slip, which they kept secret.

As Naruto exited the school building, he saw Sakura walking a few feet ahead of him. "Sakura-chan!" He called to her and she stopped, turning to face him. "Good luck finding out who you got!" He smiled and Sakura, surprisingly, smiled back at him.

Naruto walked down the main street of Konoha, once again humming a familiar tune, this time it sounded shockingly like Harmonia. He had decided, almost instantly, that the number he pulled MUST belong to Sakura. Who else could he get besides his love? The number 2 went so well with Sakura, too. He'd already decided what he was going to buy her, too: A nice, new dress for her. The one she had been wearing lately seemed to be getting dirty, and it smelled slightly. But what wouldn't smell if it was worn for 113 consecutive episodes! It didn't take Naruto long to find exactly what he was looking for, either. Quickly, he handed the clerk the yen and skipped out of the store.

Sakura, who pulled number 6, knew exactly what she was going to get, and exactly who she was supposed to get it for. Sasuke! A few years ago, her mother had given her the wedding ring of her Grandmother and told her to give it to someone special. The pink-haired ninja blushed lightly as she thought of how Sasuke would react to her gift… "Hehe…" She giggled and placed the ring into a small box, writing "Love lots, Sakura" on the top.

Sasuke, who had decided that he didn't like Christmas, firmly stuck to the idea that the number he pulled didn't even belong to anyone. It's not like anyone would pull 5 out of the container anyway. Hell, even if someone did pull it, they'd get over it sooner or later. With that thought, Sasuke grabbed his kunai and went off to train, despite the cold weather.

After pulling the number 4, Chouji knew it had to be his best friend, Shikamaru. He knew his friend had a liking of thought provoking names, but he already had a Shougi set. Chouji, unsure of what to buy, was munching on some Barbequed Flavor chips when a commercial for a Rubix Cube came on. "It's perfect!" Chouji yelled and ran, as fast as he could, out of the house. However, he ran back to his couch, picking up the bag of chips, then turned and left again.

Shikamaru pulled the number 12. It was too troublesome for him to actually try and figure out who he would have gotten in the draw, so he simply guessed. After a whole 5 seconds of thought, Shikamaru decided he had gotten Shino. "What would I want for Christmas if I had a bug obsession…" Shikamaru sighed and looked to the ground, seeing a tiny black ant crawl by. "… Ant… Bug obsession… Ant… Ant farm!"

Tenten, the Genin with the high pitched voice, pulled the number 1. Her thoughts instantly drifted to a certain green-suited Genin, Lee. No one knew it, but Tenten was actually quite taken by the loud ninja. Only one thing about him annoyed her… his eyebrows. "Now is finally my chance to make him get rid of those nasty eyebrows of his!" Tenten said excitedly as she paid for the Eyebrow Waxing kit.

Hinata hoped she got Naruto for hers. She had picked the number 11, and was fairly sure that 11 and Naruto went along well. She knew Naruto loved ramen. He always talked about it. So, Hinata decided to get him a gift certificate for 3 free ramen meals at the ramen shop. She hoped Naruto would like her gift. Maybe he would even notice her more, too.

Kiba, who had the number 8, used Akamaru to sneak around and find out who had that number. Akamaru came back and told him Hinata did. Perfect. Hinata had always liked Akamaru… "Maybe I should give her one of the pups Mom's dog just had, eh Akamaru?" Kiba asked his canine companion who "woof"ed in response.

Lee wasn't sure why fate had done this to him. He had been unlucky enough to pull the number 7, which defiantly could not be Sakura's number. According to what Neji had said to him, it seemed that Ino was number 7. Gosh darn. Lee sighed. I'll make this simple… Lee thought as he entered the Yamanaka flower shop. He purchased two flowers from Ino and left the store, leaving a slightly confused Ino behind.

Number 10 HAD to be Sasuke! That's what Ino decided, at least. Within an hour of getting home, Ino had pulled out her sewing kit and set to work sewing a sweater for Sasuke. It would be the best sweater! It would be his favorite color, dark blue, with the words "Ino loves me" sewn into the back in bright pink letters. Sasuke would love it!

After much Byakugan'ing , Neji discovered that the number 3 belonged to none other than Chouji. He remembered the Akimichi and he remembered that he ate almost constantly. Neji decided to keep things simple and buy Chouji a couple of cans of Slim Fast, Ninja Version. It wasn't that he meant to insult the boy, just maybe help him out a bit.

Shino, last but not least, used his bugs to try and find what person the number 9 was. His loyal critters reported to him that Kiba was number 9. He had seen Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. "Dog… dog collar? Dog food? Flea collar? Kibbles and Bits?" Shino asked himself before the light bulb beside him flickered and burned out. "I know. I'll get him a lampshade… Never can have too many lampshades around, y'know."

The day of the party had finally arrived and all the Genin had gathered in the large meeting hall. Cheery Christmas music was playing, and festive decorations had been hung. A long table, which was piled with gifts, was off to one corner, and another table, filled with food, was in the other. The night ticked on, Naruto asked Sakura for a dance and was proud to say that she accepted. Ino tried her luck on Sasuke but was met with a dry "No." from her love.

"Ok, everybody! Time to open gifts!" Gai announced to the Genin. Everyone raced to the table, interested to find out what they had received. Sasuke reached for the gift with his number, number 2 and began to open it. A large, twitching vein popped on the Uchiha's face as a silken dress flowed out of the box onto his lap. He turned the box over and read the tag "From Naruto!", is what it said.

"Naruto… This is the part… Where I kill you…" Sasuke muttered to himself, stuffing the dress back into the box.

"Number 5... Number 5... Why isn't there a number 5!" Lee cried out, digging thru the gifts. "Gai-Sensei! There isn't a gift for me here!" Tears were streaming down the Genin's cheeks as he ran to his teacher.

Chouji, persuaded by Shikamaru, put down his chicken leg long enough to open his gift, number 10. Atop the box the words "To my love, from Ino" were neatly written. In one powerful movement, Chouji ripped the heart covered wrapping paper off and pulled the sweater from it. His eyes went big and immediately he pulled it over his head. The sweater was much too small for him, squeezing at his body and cutting off circulation to his arms. "Ino likes me!" Chouji yelled to everyone. Ino's face paled to a ghostly shade of white as the oversized, sweater covered, Chouji ran at her and tackled her down in a loving glomp.

Naruto reached out to grab the perfectly wrapped gift, marked to number 6. On the box it said "Love lots, Sakura." Naruto's heart swelled at the thought and he quickly began to unwrap the gift. Inside he found a tiny box, which he opened carefully. "I ACCEPT, SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto squealed and shoved the ring onto his finger. Sakura's mouth twitched, and her hands balled up into fists. "Sakura-chan… You show your love in weird ways!" Naruto squeaked and dove behind a chair, narrowly avoiding the dish Sakura had thrown at him.

"That didn't go very well, Kakashi…" Kurenai said later that night, after the Genin were gone and they were stuck cleaning up. There was food on the walls, floor, and roof. Not to mention broken dishes and wrapping paper.

"I think it went perfectly." Kakashi grinned his hidden grin and continued his sweeping.

"Poor Naruto, though, the mission really did almost kill him… Sakura's one tough girl…" Asuma said thoughtfully.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." Gai said, pulling 3 green jump suits out of no where. "Wear them with pride!"

"… Merry Christmas" The other Jounin said tonelessly, looking in horror at the green outfits.

Above Konoha, the stars and moon shone brightly in the dark sky, lighting up the darkened streets. Snow slowly began to drift from the midnight sky, down onto the ground. The sound of jingling broke the silence as a sled full of gifts and a team of summoned dogs flew over the village. "Merry Christmas, Konoha!" The white-haired, mysterious man yelled as his sleigh flew out of sight.