Merry Christmas my lovelies! Besides my on-going fic, it's been quite awhile since I've done another KakaNaru fic and I actually was not gonna do a xmas one but then was suddenly given the urge to...I blame my friend Dana 0-o She's also doing a xmas fic and if anyone is interested, it's a SasuNaru one and you can find it on her profile! ;D Dana-Eliza Anyway, enjoy and Merry Christmas! Or...Happy Holidays! 8D

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

~Holiday Grump~

That jolly time of year again. Even though most people weren't exactly jolly anymore at this point since Christmas had been shoved down their throat and beaten into their mindless brains since the day after Halloween. Really, there was only so much Christmas joy you could spread until people turned into the Grinch. And those that remained happy and spirited with Christmas joy...Kakashi really wished he could show them his "joy".

He wasn't normally such a grump, he liked Christmas. It's just that the holiday really lost its appeal after being exploited for so long. And could you blame him? Jingle Bells and Santa's Coming to Town can really grate on your nerves when you're having a shitty day. The last day before Christmas break and what was he doing? Sitting at his desk correcting test papers because he had been stuck with detention duty. And there was only one kid in detention too.

One kid. It really only took one kid to make his day a little worse. Withholding the urge to sigh, Kakashi peaked at the clock. His eye twitched. He had been sitting here for an hour, and there was still another hour to go of this kid's detention and he had finished grading all the papers for his classes.

So what to do for the next hour? He could read his book, but he surprisingly wasn't in the mood too, especially since he had reread it at least ten times and he was itching to get the next volume. It was just his luck that it was sold out in book stores. His bored gaze shifted over to the young man sitting in his desk in front of him, head down. The boy hadn't uttered a peep the entire time, and he faintly wondered if he had decided to take a nap.

By right, this was a punishment and he shouldn't be sleeping. He was meant to sit and suffer and think about whatever he had done. Especially since he had to sit here and suffer as well.

"Oi, wake up. No sleeping in detention."

The body shifted slightly, the blonde head readjusting itself on the boys arms and irritated blue eyes stared directly at him.

"I wasn't sleeping old man."

Old man? Really? There was just no respect anymore. He was twenty-nine!

Kakashi leaned back in his chair and stared hard at the young man in front of him. "Then sit up straight. That way I won't mistake you for sleeping."

Despite that scowl and defiant look in the boy's eye, Kakashi was surprised to actually see him comply and sat up straight in his seat. Usually the delinquents gave him a bit more of a fight than that. The two of them stared at each other. Kakashi with a bored look on his face and the kid with an irritated scowl on his.

From what Kakashi could remember when he looked at the detention sheet, this student's name was Naruto Uzumaki. What his crime was that landed him in detention however was unknown to him. He didn't even know the kid that well either, he wasn't in any of his classes mainly because he taught advanced placement classes and the seniors.

However, despite his lack of knowledge about Naruto, he was aware that he was a new student. A foreign one at that. He was originally from France and had started into the year about a month late. And so far he hadn't gotten off to a very good start. From the detention sheet record, this was Naruto's seventh detention in a row since he came here.

The tension between then started to build, and while Kakashi normally wouldn't of cared, he didn't want to sit through a tense and awkward silence for the next - he glanced at the clock - forty-five minutes.

"So Naruto, I heard you were from France. What part of France are you from?"

Naruto shifted slightly in his seat, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Does it matter? It's pointless trying to get to know me if that's what you're trying to do. You can just look it up in the schools records."

Kakashi eye smiled at the brat. "Yes I could look it up myself, but that would seem creepy now wouldn't it?"

"I wouldn't put it past someone who actually wears a mask."

This brat was quite cheeky. But with that slight, almost unnoticeable accent laced within his voice, it was actually a little amusing.

"You could cut me little slack here. I just thought a little small chat could make the time go faster. I'm sure you want to get out of here quickly to enjoy your Christmas break."

If possible, the tension between them thickened, then suddenly dropped into a heavy silence. It took Kakashi a moment, but he figured out quickly why that was. The expression on the boy's face was at first anguished, but quickly turned into bitterness.

"Something the matter?"

"No."

The answer he received was delivered to quickly with a very gruff edge to it. Obviously there was something wrong. Now the pressing matter here was whether or not Kakashi should push the subject or let it go. As a teacher, it really wasn't any of his business but he was here to help a student in need whether it be for education or other personal matter if said student needed that type of guidance.

With another quick glance at the clock and seeing that there was thirty minutes left, Kakashi thought what the hell.

"You know Naruto, if you're having any problems at home you can always speak to a teacher you like and trust about it. We're not just here for-"

"Oh spare me the compassion, I've heard that recited more times than I can remember and I'm sick of it." Naruto's hands clenched into fists, his teeth gritting in anger. "And as if I'd ever go to a teacher about my problems. What could they do anyway? Nothing. Whatever issues I might be having is none of your, or the school's, damn business anyway!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. "You may think it isn't the school's business but when someone lands themselves in detention seven times in a row within three months, then there's definitely a problem that the school will find big enough to intervene at some point. Next time you might just get suspended."

"Good. I hope I do."

Wow, was this the typical teen angst? Kakashi had been a teacher for about three years now and had dealt with some difficult students before with similar behavior, but this was just ridiculous. Kakashi really didn't have the patience to deal with the kid anymore.

"Alright then."

The blonde sneered at him. "What? No speech about how I should stay in school, further my education and how I'm being stupid right now?"

"No cause I really couldn't give a crap." Kakashi blatantly looked back over at the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes left. "Why should I when I could of left and went home to start enjoying my vacation about two hours ago? Instead I have to sit here with someone dumb enough to get detention for the seventh time, and right before the Holidays. You're not my responsibility, so do whatever the hell you want."

The tension in the room oddly dropped a little. "About time I was given an honest answer." The sneer on Naruto's face slowly turned into a neutral look. Without a word, the blonde got up, gathered his stuff, and walked out of the room.

Kakashi watched him leave, and only after the door shut did he question his actions just then. That was very unprofessional of him, but he really didn't have the patience anymore. Kakashi was definitely a grump. Though he blamed that on all the Christmas music he's been hearing nonstop for a month and a half.

With a sigh, Kakashi stood up as well and gathered his things. He didn't bother writing Naruto a conduct card for leaving detention earlier since he practically gave him the invitation to just leave if he wanted. A small part of him felt a little guilty and ashamed of himself for saying all of that, but what's done is done. On the plus side he could finally leave and enjoy his vacation.

Possibly another reason why Kakashi was a bit of a grump during the holidays was because he spent them alone. Actually not entirely, he did show up for his friends Christmas parties to catch up and have a good time. But he didn't have any family to spend Christmas with. Since he was a young teenager he had either spent Christmas or Thanksgiving with friends, but as he grew older he was losing the enthusiasm to do that.

He was incredibly grateful of Asuma, Gai, and Yamato always inviting him and including him in with their families, but it just wasn't the same. This year they were having another Christmas party and of course invited him, but Kakashi wasn't exactly feeling up to it. Despite that, he'd probably still show up for a little bit anyway. He couldn't be an ass and not show...

And the moment he decided he'd go even if for a short while did he remember he hadn't gotten Gai anything. So here he was, out last minute Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. To top it off it was lightly snowing. He could of been home right now, warm and cozy with his cute little pug Pakkun, but no, Gai needed something. He should be easy enough to shop for though. What did he get for him last year again?

After getting out of his car Kakashi walked across the street and maneuvered his way through the throngs of people. Every Christmas in the city square they went all out with the decorations. Even a giant ass tree. Kakashi would admit that it all looked quite nice and festive even if it seemed a little overdone. Though he could imagine the amount of work it took to decorate everything, and then to take it all down. In the freezing bitter cold too.

It was just a bit past noon and the place was packed with people. Even if he had a pleasantly passive look on his face, he was still mildly irritated with how crowded it was. His eyes scanned the small shops, but nothing really caught his eye.

The sounds of laughter, animated talking, children screaming or crying filled his ears. It was loud. Maybe coming to the city square wasn't the best idea, it was way too crowded. The mall would be just as bad too. After hearing a child wailing over something not too far away from him, Kakashi decided to go back to his car and sit in there and try to think of a gift for Gai instead of aimlessly searching for something. He needed to have a little peace and quiet to actually think.

On his way to his car, he actually heard music playing through the cacophony of noises. It surprised him that he could even hear it through all this racket. Instead of heading to his car, Kakashi made his way towards the source of the music. Now that he was a little closer, he could make out that it was the flute playing the Little Drummer Boy.

When the crowd of people started to thin, Kakashi noticed a figure sitting on a bench on the other far side of the Christmas tree. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly when he recognized who it was.

Playing the flute was Naruto, sitting there by himself. He was bundled up in a thick winter coat, with scarf and gloves, his left leg up and bent in front of him on the bench. Kakashi walked up to the boy and went completely unnoticed. His eyes were closed with the most peaceful expression on his face.

As he continued to play, Kakashi took a seat next to the blonde and just enjoyed the music. It had a calming effect and it was just now that he realized what a nice spot this actually was. Not many people, and away enough from the chaotic crowds. Some people who passed by stopped and listened for a few minutes with a smile on their faces, but then would continue on their way.

Once the song came to an end, Kakashi turned his head slightly towards the boy with an eye smile. "You play the flute incredibly well. That piece was beautiful."

A high pitched sound from the flute was heard as Naruto's body stiffened. Blue eyes flew open and stared at him in shock first before a scowl overtook his face.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be bothering someone else?"

Kakashi casually brushed off the glare he was being given. "Oh I was doing some last minute Christmas shopping for a friend. What about you? Shouldn't you be home with your family right now?"

Clearly irritated, Naruto huffed and put his attention onto his flute, which now with a closer look, was actually a bamboo flute.

"Are you going to play another song? I'd love to hear another."

"Go away!" Naruto grounded out, but still brought the flute to his lips. However he didn't play anything, just sat there with a fixed gaze on the ground covered snow.

Kakashi inclined his head slightly, observing the boy. "Something wrong? Can't you play with an audience?"

A biting glare was sent his way. "Nothing's wrong! Shouldn't you be Christmas shopping instead of bothering me? Why would you be sitting here if you hate me!"

Kakashi's eyebrows shot up. Hated him? "I don't hate you, what made you think that?" Actually, from how he spoke to him last time he couldn't blame Naruto for having that kind of impression.

Sure enough he got the 'are you serious' look. "You couldn't wait to get rid of me before so you could go home. Obviously you can't stand me, and probably can't stand the rest of the student body. You must hate your job."

With a heavy sigh Kakashi rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand. "Truth be told, I just wasn't in the best of moods that day. I mean, anyone would be a bit put off having to stay later on a day right before Christmas break, don't you think?"

Shoulders relaxed slightly, and a small guilty but understanding look shined in those blue eyes. "Sorry..."

For some reason, that tiny apology was really heartwarming. He reached a hand over and ruffled the boy's hair and brushed some snow off of his head. The action was taken with surprise which quickly turned into annoyance.

Kakashi chuckled at the hand shoving his whole arm away plus the growl directed at him. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm the one who should be apologizing after what I said to you. It was unprofessional of me."

The blonde just shook his head and looked up at him through his fringe. "It's okay. To be honest I...I respect you for saying it. Never has a teacher been so brutally honest before, I'm mostly used to hearing the pre-trained bullshit from them all."

The kid respected him for being an asshole? That was a first...Kakashi had expected him to be highly pissed off with him, or at the very least hate him. But he had to admit he could understand where he was coming from. Half the stuff teachers say is taught to them on how to deal with students, particularly difficult students with problems. Kakashi has met teachers who were actually very caring towards their students, but then he had also met quite a few that couldn't give a crap, but still went about the standard routine when faced with a problematic student.

His eyes softened a bit. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you in detention for?"

Naruto frowned and looked down at his flute. He remained quiet, deep in thought for a few minutes before speaking. "Since coming to America I haven't been able to...fit in. Learning to speak the language was difficult, and I had to do it within a year. For a country with many diverse cultures and nationalities I thought it'd be easy to settle myself in. But I was made fun of for my accent..."

His frown deepened as his grip tightened on his flute. "I know I still have a bit of an accent left but I've tried hard to hide and get rid of it. Even still, it's like I've been marked as the outcast from day one, so nothing I do or say will change anyone's minds. And they're all hung up on these horrible French stereotypes. Claiming I like my women hairy and would have sex with bigfoot too if it actually existed. Some make a huge deal and say I reek cause all French people stink cause we supposingly don't bathe. I've gotten into a lot of fights since the start of the school year, and it's only gotten worse."

An angry flush started to creep up the blonde's neck. "What landed me in detention with you was cause that morning the guys in my homeroom surrounded my desk and started pointing out my features, saying I looked very feminine, then proceeded to flirt and hit on me. One of them even touched me...and once one of them did, they all were trying to."

Naruto's lower lip started to quiver slightly, but his hand came up and rubbed his nose and sniffed, "Of course the teacher walks in the moment I throw the first punch. After breaking up the scuffle, he didn't even ask what had happened or how it happened. He just wrote me off with another detention slip. Not once has that guy ever listened to my side of the story, yet he always says if I ever have problems or need help I can go to him."

If Kakashi felt a little guilty for being unprofessional with Naruto, he felt like an utter bastard now. It amazed him that Naruto actually respected him for just being honest even though it was just because he was in a bit of a bad mood.

"Naruto...I know going to a teacher is the last thing you'd want to do, but have you at least told your parents of this bullying? At the very least you can even take it up with the principle."

"I don't have any parents. They both died when I was young, but I was still old enough to at least remember them." A sad, and a tad bit guilty, smile appeared on his face as he watched people walk by with their small children. "But sometimes I wish I didn't. It sounds horrible of me, but sometimes I think maybe if I didn't remember them, it wouldn't hurt so much. But then, it would probably still hurt just as bad not knowing anything about them too wouldn't it?"

That hit way too close to home. Kakashi could a hundred percent relate to that. Sometimes forgetting seemed like the best cure to heartbreak. It certainly wasn't painful when you forgot the source that was causing it. But...it wasn't right to just toss aside the memory of one's parents like that, no matter how painful it was. Kakashi felt that he should say something, but found he wasn't mentally prepared to give moral support on something so deep and heavy as this when it affected him as well.

"Don't you have a guardian? Someone has to be watching over you..."

"I do." Naruto looked away from the crowd and fiddled with his flute. "He's like an uncle or grandfather to me since he was so close to my parents. He took me in when they died since I didn't have any other family. But he's an author and travels a lot to gather material for his novels. Right now I think he's in Canada. He's come home a few times to check on me but I never wanted to bother him when he travels so much."

Kakashi gave the blonde a very stern look. "He's your guardian, he's suppose to be looking out for you and be someone you can turn to when you're having problems like this. Is he home now?" Kakashi was actually ready to drag Naruto home and have a talk with his guardian about this bullying problem. That was just unacceptable!

However Naruto just shrugged and brought his other leg up and wrapped his arms around them while resting his chin on his knees. "He's in Canada right now. He was suppose to be home a couple days ago but because of a big blizzard that hit the area he's in, all flights have been canceled." Naruto turned steely blue eyes onto him. "And don't you dare think about telling him any of this. He's sacrificed a lot for me already."

As much as he wanted to argue with the boy and make him see reason, he didn't have much of a place or right to do so since he didn't have a full understanding of his situation. But he was an adult, and a teacher at that, so it was his duty to report such abuse...

One look at Naruto's face told him that might be the worst possible thing he could do. Sometimes people think they're doing the right thing by speaking out for others and helping them. But sometimes...doing exactly that could cause more harm than good. Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, brushing the snow out of it and sighing. The least he could do for now is keep an eye on him and make sure he was alright.

"So you're alone for the holidays? Any idea of when your guardian will be back?"

Naruto shrugged. "When the airports in his area deem it safe he'll be on the next flight back here to Rhode Island. Maybe before New Years."

"I see." Kakashi thought it over, and came to his decision quite quickly. "Well, since you got no one to spend the Holidays, why don't you spend it with me?"

"What?"

The look on Naruto's face was almost comical. "Spending Christmas with a teacher? That sounds a bit pathetic of me..."

"Not as pathetic as spending it all by yourself though right? What do you have planned anyway?"

Naruto toyed around with his flute, looking very uncertain with himself. "What would we even do...?"

That was a pretty good question. It'd probably be loads awkward between the two of them, but Kakashi would try and make it work somehow. He shrugged casually as he scanned the nearby shops with a bored look. "Well first I guess I'll start with looking for a present for you. Then do a little grocery shopping to make a Christmas dinner. By the way where would you like to have this, your place or mine? I wonder if there are any Christmas trees left to buy too. I don't own one of my own cause I usually just go to friend's Christmas parties. Maybe we'll swing by one of them tomorrow if you're up to it. How's that sound? ...Hm?"

Naruto was staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "A-Are you being serious right now?"

Kakashi blinked. "Of course. What's wrong?"

His response was slow, but Naruto was shaking his head quickly. "Nothing's wrong I'm just...just surprised ya know? And uh...your place I guess..."

Kakashi smiled at the blonde then stood up. "Come on, there's a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow."

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TBC...

A/N: Hello my wonderful peeps! Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays lol This will be my Christmas fic and...actually it's the first Christmas fic I've ever done too. And don't worry, it's not going to be a very long drawn out fic that will take me ages to finish lol I plan on making it 3 chapters long. 5 chapters being the max if it calls for it. And for those of you interested in Dana's sasunaru Christmas fic, it's titled Secret Santa. Again, you can find it on her profile if you search for Dana-Eliza! :) You have her to thank for this kakanaru Christmas fic 0-o

Anyway thank you for reading and the next chapter shall be up soon! ;D