The pale-eyed girl stared at her wall in thought and a little bit of regret.
"I should have given it to him before he left…" her soft voice whispered. She hung her head. "Sakura-san told me to. I should have listened. But I got so nervous…"
The teenager flipped back her dark hair and leaned over the side of her bed, reaching underneath it to pull out the Christmas card with the certificate for a couple of free ramen at Ichiraku.
For Naruto.
Hinata sighed and gazed at it sulkily.
"Nee-sama?"
The girl jumped and blinked, wide-eyed at her younger sister. "H—Hanabi. Why didn't you knock?"
The younger of the Hyuuga girls narrowed her eyes and frowned. "Why should I have to?"
Hinata sighed again and shook her head, ignoring her sister's comment. "What is it?"
Hanabi bit her lip thoughtfully before she spoke again, a worried expression on her face. "You know how Naruto left for his mission this morning?"
Hinata looked up, her cheeks slightly pink. "Y—Yes, I do."
"Well, they're not back yet. Something happened, nee-sama. His team was attacked and they've lost contact with them." Hanabi looked away as soon as she finished.
Hinata was frozen for a moment, mouth agape.
And then she leapt off her bed, her usual calm personality drastically changed as she shouted questions at her younger sister. "What do you mean they lost contact? How did they lose contact? How do you know this?"
Hanabi crossed her arms patiently as she answered each of Hinata's concerned inquiries. "They can't speak with Kakashi-sensei anymore, and they probably lost contact because of the snowstorm. They're in Land of the Snow right now. I know this because Konohamaru-kun was on his team too and he isn't back yet, so I went to ask Moegi-san."
Hinata shut her mouth, nodded her thanks and dashed from the room, the Christmas card in her tightly clenched hand.
"Ah, I wouldn't worry so much about it, Hinata-chan! You know Naruto. And you know how much he cares about Konohamaru. They've probably stumbled upon Koyuki-sama's palace out there."
Hinata looked at the optimistic kunoichi skeptically. "K—Koyuki?"
Sakura grinned. "They're fine. Don't be so concerned. —Ah, what's that?"
Hinata glanced down to see the envelope in her hand. "O—Oh, it's Naruto-kun's Christmas present. I never gave it to him."
Sakura studied the girl's tortured expression, trying to think of some way to cheer her up. "Hey," she said suddenly, startling Hinata out of her self-mental-torturing. "Let's go to the Hokage's and ask her about it. Will that make you feel better?"
She nodded once, firmly. "Yes. Thank you, Sakura-san."
"We haven't heard anything from them," Tsunade told the two shocked kunoichi. "Frankly, it's starting to worry me. Kakashi send a messenger hawk telling me he hasn't seen them yet and that the storm's getting worse. It's coming down hard over—"
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune interjected, watching the girls' faces.
The blonde cleared her throat. "Well, I'm sure they're fine."
Hinata glanced at Sakura, whose green eyes were now also showing signs of concern.
"I'll see you later, Hinata-chan!" Sakura waved to her friend as the Hyuuga heiress ran in the other direction.
Hinata wiggled her fingers back, managing a small smile. "Ja ne!"
Neither of them mentioned Naruto.
And on Christmas, too. Oh, Naruto-kun…please be safe.
She trudged up to her house by the light of the moon, her heart heavy. The Christmas gift she had failed to give was still in her hand.
She smirked a little. She found it a little funny that she'd held onto it all day, just in case she saw him.
"Hinata!"
The girl yelped and spun. "Eh?"
"Whoa! Hold on, it's me!"
A hand caught a hold of her wrist as she was going to attack the unexpected guest.
Hinata blinked at the chest of her foe. Orange and…black?
She lifted her head so fast, all of the colors blurred together at once and she had to continue blinking to focus on the person's face. "Naruto-kun?"
The blonde's blue eyes were filled with concern. "Oh, why are you crying? I didn't scare you that badly, did I? Jeez, I'm sorry, Hinata." He reached to wipe a tear from her face.
"What…what are you doing here?" She asked, too shocked to blush at the sudden physical contact. "I thought you were lost on your mission. And Konohamaru-kun…" she glanced behind Naruto as if the mischievous child was hiding right there behind him.
Naruto grinned and took her hands. "The only one 'lost' was Kakashi-sensei. He's still out there. We just took a couple of different turns and got out of the range of his radio. But, we also got back here before he did, haha!"
Hinata covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, Naruto-kun. I was so worried. O—Oh, here's your Christmas gift. I forgot to give it you today…"
Naruto laughed happily. "Then we can give gifts at the same time! I didn't give you anything this morning because I couldn't find anything right. But, here, these are for you."
Hinata gently took the white-frosted flowers Naruto gave her from his belt. "Oh, Naruto-kun, they're so beautiful…"
He scratched behind his head modestly. "They kind of reminded me of you for some reason." He laughed nervously.
She handed him his and he opened it wordlessly.
She bit her bottom lip, a habit she had acquired from Hanabi. "You don't like it, do you?"
Naruto glanced up, surprised. "Oh, no. It's not that, Hinata! I was just thinking…that the best gift is that I get to see you today." He laughed, his face red. "Wow, that sounded better in my head. I think it should have stayed there."
But Hinata was giggling cheerfully at the remark. "No, Naruto-kun! I feel the same way. Thank you for the flowers." On impulse, she bent and brushed her lips lightly against his cheek.
The ninja's face turned several shades before he smiled and reached out, hugging her to him. "Thank you for being you, Hinata."
"Merry Christmas," yhey said together before laughing, their breaths making small clouds in the cold.