A.N. All characters belong to Kishimoto.

Naruto yawned and stretched his arms up above his head, in a classic I-just-woke-up pose. Letting his arms flop back to his sides lethargically, he smiled in a dopey manner. Then, his eyes snapped open to reveal brilliant blue irises in realization.

"Today's the day!" he cried excitedly.

He hopped out of bed and scampered to the bathroom in a mad dash with a gleeful look on his face, nightcap falling on to the parquet floor in the corridor, forgotten in his excitement.

It was, of course, the day the blond had been looking forward to all month; Christmas Eve.

Brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, Naruto ran back to his room in a towel, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. Throwing on his usual combination of clothing, the Uzumaki clattered into the kitchen and fixed a quick cup of instant ramen before grabbing Gama-chan and dashing out the door.

Nearing the market, Naruto slowed down to a more leisurely pace, and grinned at familiar faces as they passed. Pulling out a crumpled list from the frog pouch, he smoothed out the paper and scanned through the hastily scrawled words titled "Naruto's Christmas Shopping List".

"Let's see…" he mumbled under his breath. Looking up from the paper, he squinted up at the signboard of the shop he'd stopped in front of. "Reiko's Multi-purpose Store" was printed neatly on the signboard in yellow, and Naruto smiled. Multi-purpose included last minute present shopping, didn't it?

Strolling in, the bell hung on the door handle gave a clear chime as Naruto stepped into the store. It was fairly large, and well lit. A few people were frantically scanning shelves, tossing things into the green shopping baskets they clutched tightly, some doing last minute shopping for decorations, some for food, and some, like Naruto, for presents.

Snagging a basket on his way to the first shelf, Naruto glanced up and down the length of it, and saw that it only contained multiple brands of breakfast cereals and digestive biscuits. Scrunching up his nose, he moved on to the next shelf, repeating the process. A few shelves down, he spoted a section of the shelf containing glass and ceramic figurines, and happily walked over to scrutinize the array of miniature statues. Finding what he wanted, he grabbed a few and placed them gingerly into the shopping basket before moving on again.

An hour later, a very happy Naruto exited the shop with numerous paper bags. Strolling down the street to the bookshop, he bought two yards of colourful wrapping paper, ribbons and scotch tape. While making his payment at the counter, he spotted something from the corner of his eye, and quickly grabbed it and handed it to the cashier, who looked at Naruto with a surprised expression, to which Naruto returned with a wide grin.

"It's for my perverted sensei," he explained.

The cashier gave him another unbelieving look, and Naruto sighed and made his payment before exiting hastily.

Finally, he headed home quickly, and dumped all his shopping in the middle of the kitchen table.

Now, for the worst part… he thought. The wrapping.

Naruto really hated wrapping presents. The tape would get stuck in his hair, the scissors would slip and cut him, the ribbon would fray and get into a tangled heap around his feet, or he would accidentally break the present while wrapping it. Last time he tried using glue, and after accidentally sticking his fingers together, he vowed never to use glue again.

He sighed heavily and sagged onto the table. Suddenly spotting his instant ramen collection behind the treachrerous mound of wrapping paper, ribbon and presents, he leaped up from the chair to fix himself a cup.

As he added in the hot water, a delicious aroma wafted up to his nose and Naruto grinned happily, gift-wrapping-woes forgotten.

Ah.

Ramen never failed to make him feel better.

Sasuke stared up at the ceiling, lying motionless on his large bed. The dark blue covers were impeccably neat, not even slightly creased, except for the area where Sasuke was lying on it, partially covering the large infamous red-and-white Uchiha crest. He moved slightly, propping his head up on the white pillows.

Pathetic.

He was alone on Christmas Eve.

He hated holidays. It was just another reminder of what he had lost, so many years ago.

His hands fisted the covers, trying to force the unwanted thoughts from his mind. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and frowned tightly for a minute, before relaxing his expression, eyes still closed.

Vaguely, he wondered about what other ordinary people did on Christmas Eve. Even in the past, before the massacre, he never really celebrated Christmas before. His father didn't like it; hence he never had celebrated Christmas. Sure he knew about the traditions, but textbook knowledge is always different from first-hand experience.

Suddenly, he had a thought. Naruto didn't have a family. Did that mean he didn't celebrate Christmas either? He recalled getting a present from Naruto the year before though. Naruto had given him a tomato with a hidden explosive tag in it, which he had detected and hurled at Naruto just before it detonated. And since they had been standing on the bridge, Naruto stumbled, lost his balance, and tipped into the river below, hurling profanities at the unscathed Uchiha once he had surfaced and caught his breath.

He smiled slightly. Thinking of the idiot's antics always made him laugh.

Being bored out of his wits, Sasuke decided to pay the blond a visit. After all, best friends visit each other all the time, right? There was no other reason. He was just bored. Really.

Sliding off the bed, he smoothed down his clothes and exited his house in a brisk walk, heading over to the opposite side of Konoha.

Naruto stared at the bottom of his empty ramen cup. This was bad. Finishing his ramen break meant… returning to the wrapping. He groaned as he tossed the cup over his shoulder into the bin behind him perfectly, not even needing to turn around to aim; a result of daily practice.

Then, he heard a sharp knock on the door. Eager to do anything to further put off the wrapping, Naruto leapt up to answer the door. He flung the door open excitedly, startling the visitor slightly.

"Sasuke-bastard! I never thought you'd visit, even though it's Christmas Eve," Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm not visiting because of Christmas," Sasuke replied in a monotone.

"Then what are you here for?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Can't I not have a reason to visit?" Sasuke drawled. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

"Sure!" Naruto held the door open wider, and stepped back to give Sasuke space to enter.

Sasuke walked in, and spied the messy heap on the kitchen table out of the corner of his eye.

He started to make his way towards it, only to get blocked by Naruto at the doorway.

"Don't go in there!" he said frantically.

"Why?" Sasuke cocked and eyebrow and tried to give Naruto a patronizing stare. Something he barely managed to pull off, considering that he was a few centimeters shorter than the blond.

"Because!" Naruto said childishly, pouting.

"I don't think 'because' is a sufficient enough answer, Naruto. Are you going to give me a proper answer or not?" Sasuke asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"BECAUSE!" Naruto replied obstinately. Sasuke just had to laugh. Pushing past Naruto, he entered the kitchen, and realised that the messy heap was actually a pile of what he presumed were Christmas presents.

"BASTARD! GO OUT! OUTOUTOUTOUTOUT! I HAVEN'T WRAPPED YOUR PRESENT YET!" Naruto protested violently, pushing an amused Sasuke out of the kitchen. "At least until I'm done with your present!"

"Fine; three minutes, dobe," Sasuke said, settling down on the couch in the living room.

While Naruto disappeared into the kitchen, Sasuke took the opportunity to look around the apartment. He had never seen the inside of Naruto's house before, and was glad to see that it wasn't like what he'd imagined it to be.

He'd thought it would be cluttered and messy, but it was actually rather neat, all things considering. The small living room didn't have much furniture, and consisted of only a few necessities. There was a television in front of the couch atop a simple black cupboard, and although it wasn't as good as Sasuke's 42 inch flat screen, it was decent enough. On the right adjacent wall, there was a large window with black window sills, framed with a curtain made of a gauzy white material, giving the room a homey, peaceful feel. The wind blew in from the windows occasionally, and the curtains billowed out, caressing Sasuke's pale cheek from time to time.

Opposite the windows, on the left side of the couch, a simple sound system sat on a black table that matched the cupboard.

"SASUKE! YOU CAN COME IN NOW!" Sasuke heard Naruto yell from the kitchen.

Smiling slightly, he rose from the couch, and walked into the kitchen, where he saw a very proud-looking Naruto holding up a crinkled yellow package tied with a bright orange bow, with bits of scotch tape and small pieces of wrapping paper all over the table. He smiled wider.

"What happened here?" he asked."Typhoon? Tornado, perhaps?"

Naruto pouted and whined, "I can't help it if my gift-wrapping skills are non-existent! But I did try!"

Sasuke laughed, pulled up a chair and sat next to Naruto in front of the messy pile. Picking up a hairclip with a polyester cherry blossom on it, he asked, "For Sakura?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I couldn't think of anything else."

While he was replying, Sasuke leaned across the table to get the wrapping paper, and, cutting out a smaller square, he placed it flat on the table. Putting the hairclip in the middle, he started to fold the edges in, put some tape here and there, and before Naruto's eyes, finished the wrapping absolutely perfectly.

Tying the orange ribbon on in a faultless bow, Sasuke handed it to Naruto smugly; the latter's mouth agape.

"How… how did you DO that?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Teme, you have GOT to teach me that!"

Sasuke smirked.

"You'll owe me."

"YES!"

"Sure?"

"YESSS! Just get on with it, bastard!"

"Fine."

Sasuke chose another unwrapped present, and started to wrap it again, Naruto watching carefully before attempting another one. However, it turned out just as bad, if not worse, than the first one.

"Aw man…!" Naruto leaned back in the chair resignedly. "I can't do it… I absolutely hate gift wrapping!" Rocking the chair backwards on two legs, Naruto sighed in frustration. Then, loosing his balance, he started to topple backwards in the chair.

"Whoa!"

Bracing himself for the inevitably painful impact, he waited for the crack to land on his skull, but nothing came. Instead, he found that a pair of incredibly warm and comfortable arms were encircling him, and that his nose was suddenly infused with the smell of… strawberries.

"Sas… Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't really know what came over him. He only recalled seeing Naruto start to fall, as if in slow motion, then his body moved as if on its own accord, lunging forward swiftly and catching him just in the nick of time, hugging the blond to his chest.

It was one of those horribly cliché moments only seen in movies and fanfictions where the author would go into bouts of absolute fangasm. Time seemed to freeze for the two boys, wrapped in an awkward, but weirdly comfortable, embrace.

Naruto felt his heartbeat fluctuate wildly, thumping loudly in his ears. Oh gosh. Could Sasuke hear it too?

In an effort to get his mind off the matter, he commented lightly, "Are… are you going to let go of me soon, bastard? I… can't breathe."

Sasuke let go off Naruto suddenly and sat up stiffly. What in the world was he thinking?

Naruto's head collided with the tiled floor with an audible crack.

"I-itaiiiiiiiiiii! Bastard, why did you do that?!" Naruto cried as he winced, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

Sasuke didn't answer, blushing a deep red when he realised he was straddling Naruto. Standing up jerkily, he offered Naruto a hand and pulled him up, trying to get his face back into its normal callous expression.

"….Dobe," he mumbled, settling back into his chair and continuing his wrapping. "I wonder how you manage to survive on a daily basis."

"And I wonder how you manage to survive with STRAWBERRY SCENTED shampoo!" Naruto retorted huffily, pulling back the chair and plopping down on sulkily.

Sasuke stiffened, and ignored the comment. So what if he liked smelling decent, and not like dirt and perspiration?

Naruto's anger dissipated quickly enough, though, and five minutes later, he was happily offering Sasuke some biscuits.

"I found it at the store; an absolutely new and unique flavor! You have GOT to try it, teme."

Sasuke looked at the silver package suspiciously, before slowly tearing the aluminum bag open and forking out a small square cracker. Apprehensively, he raised it to his lips, and slowly took a small bite while Naruto looked on in excited expectation.

"So how's it?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke popped the whole cracker in his mouth, being unable to taste the small nibble properly before.

"It tastes… familiar," he said, after a while. "What flavor is it?"

Triumphantly holding up the brown cardboard box the bag was in, Naruto shoved the red print in Sasuke's face: SPICY RAMEN FLAVOR!

Sasuke gagged. He should've known all along!

"It's amazing, isn't it, bastard! …Bastard? Oi, BASTARD!" Naruto shouted, a hint of worry in his voice, shaking Sasuke by his shoulders when the skinnier boy's face turned green.

"Hey Sasuke, don't scare me! SASUKE?!!" Naruto ran to get a glass of water and shoved it in the pale boy's hand, bringing it up to his lips for him when Sasuke remained immobile.

"Oi! Drink up!" Naruto said, pushing this rim of the glass against Sasuke's lips. Growling in frustration when Sasuke still remained unresponding, Naruto took a large swig of the water himself, keeping the water in his mouth, and leaned over to place his lips over Sasuke's.

Sasuke opened his mouth in shock, and Naruto took the opportunity to deposit the water in Sasuke's mouth.

"Ha! Think you can outsmart me and not drink the water, eh? Ha! Well, you thought wrong!" Naruto proclaimed triumphantly, while Sasuke, who'd regained 'consciousness', was blushing hard again, coughing and spluttering. Did Naruto just fucking KISS him?! God forbid! And what on earth was that fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach?

"Idiot! Trying to kill me on Christmas Eve?!" Sasuke choked out.

Naruto laughed. "It's your OWN fault, bastard. Ha."

Sasuke scowled. It's nothing. It was only an innocent happening. Naruto definitely, DEFINITELY did not do it on purpose…

Calming down somewhat, Sasuke and Naruto continued to wrap the remaining presents, this time without much incident.

"There! DONE!" Naruto announced happily as he tied the bow on the final present. "Heheh, finally!"

Sasuke smirked, adjusting the slightly wonky bow. "Never thought that gift-wrapping would be so eventful."

"Thank you, Sasu-chan! Never would have done it without your help," Naruto said happily, throwing his arms around Sasuke's neck.

Not again! That queasy fluttery feeling…

"Dobe… gerroff me!" Sasuke growled.

"Hee," Naruto grinned, detatching himself from Sasuke. "Well, since you're here, do you want your present now?"

"Isn't it against custom to open it before Christmas?" Sasuke asked.

"Custom, schwustom. Come on, do you want it or not?" Naruto asked, bouncing up and down on his chair.

"But… I didn't get anything for you," Sasuke realised guiltily.

"Pshaw, no biggie. You can always get it later. Or…" smiling devilishly, Naruto continued, "I can just have you in my debt! Yes, you will have to do me a favour."

"…What… favour?" Sasuke asked cautiously.

"Ahh, I'll tell you when I think of it!" Naruto said happily. "Now that that's done and over with, open your present!"

"Now?"

"Yes! Genius, my ass," Naruto said exasperatedly. "Geez."

Sasuke slowly tried to peel off the scotch tape bit by bit, but as Naruto's previous gift-wrapping skills were non-existent, it simply was an impossible feat. Giving up, Sasuke took out a kunai and slit the paper open delicately.

Returning the kunai to his pouch, Sasuke tore the slit open wider, revealing a simple rosy tomato.

"Well? Do you like it?" Naruto asked, bouncing on the chair again.

"…Yes, thank you," Sasuke said, bringing it to his lips and biting into it, savouring every bit. Why was it that this tomato was especially delicious?

"I'm glad you like it!" Naruto exclaimed happily, "I knew you would!"

Sasuke smiled at the hyperactive blond. It was just too difficult to stay mad at him for long.

"Now that we're done, all we have to do is to wait for the carnival later, when we can distribute it to everyone!" Naruto exclaimed gleefully. "Oh, it's going to be so much fun!"

"Carnival?" Sasuke asked. "What carnival?"

Naruto looked at him, shocked. "You mean you don't know there's a carnival?! There's a Christmas carnival later at the town center! Everyone's invited, Sasuke, you mean you don't know?"

Sasuke blinked. Oh, that carnival. "Ah, I forgot."

"But you're going, right?" Naruto pressed.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke asked, getting irritated.

"Like DUH. Who else can I go with?" Naruto replied matter-of-factly. "Sakura'll be with Ino, Shikamaru will be with Choji, Kiba with Akamaru and other random girls, and so on and so forth."

Sasuke, to his own surprise, felt priviledged. He felt priviledged to be going with an idiot. What the heck was wrong with him?

"Hello? Sasuke? Anyone home?" Naruto said, waving his hand in front of Sasuke's blank expression.

"What?" he asked irritably.

"Are you coming or not?" Naruto asked again.

"Yes… yes…" Sasuke replied.

"Yay, good!" Naruto said, grinning. It certainly didn't take much to make Naruto happy, Sasuke thought.

"Well then," Sasuke said, "I'll see you later then."

"What, where're you going?"

"Home."

"Why?"

"Ja," he said simply with a small wave as he strode out of the house back to his own home. He couldn't spend another minute with the blond without these foreign feelings growing more and more intense. He needed to have some time to figure out this… alien emotion.

A.N. Hee! I was getting into the holiday spirit and decided to have some light-hearted fun with my fave couple! :D Hope I can finish this before Christmas... Reviews please!