Author Notes:

Italics are used purely for emphasis.

Bold is for thoughts and jutsus.

" " – Speaking

' ' – Thoughts

This one-shot takes place some time in Part 2. Don't ask when, because I have no idea, but just know that Naruto and Sakura are both about 16 years old. Please keep in mind this is technically my first story. I've written many other things, but not really a story. Mostly just satires. Hope you all enjoy.

It was that time of year again. The 24th of December. Christmas Eve they called it. For Naruto though, it was just another day to remember how little he had. No family. No friends that could get away from their own families. Just about nothing.

"Heh, same as always I guess."

Now Naruto wasn't one to dwell on things. He was a live-in-the-moment type of guy, and if the moment wasn't good, well then it would just pass along, he figured. However, there were those few instances where he held off his impulsiveness to let the bland, unwanted thoughts roam freely through his mind. Christmas Eve just happened to be one of those instances.

"Man. Just one year I'd like for it to be different."

It was then that Naruto decided to do something he hadn't done since his youth. He pulled out a piece of paper, and began to write a letter to Santa. It read:

Dear Santa,

I know I haven't written you in a long time, but I figured if it could help in the slightest, I'd give it another try. There is only one thing I'm asking from you for Christmas, and that's someone to spend it with. Maybe even someone like Sakura-chan. Ok, maybe that's asking for too much, but at least one person.

"Hmm, it may be too late though," he thought while signing his name. "No use worrying about it now I suppose. I'll just send it out, and see what happens."

And with that he set off.

Redundant. That was the only word that came to Sakura's mind as she lay on her bed after spending another Christmas Eve with her family. It was the same caroling, the same dinner, and just about the same everything. She stared off into the dark night.

"I'm tired of it being boring each year. I wonder if Naruto's Christmas Eve was any better. Knowing him, he probably made it exciting himself," she chuckled out. However, she abruptly stopped her short lived laughter.

And that's when it hit her like a brick.

'Why was I talking about Naruto?! Why is my heart racing?! Why am I blushing?! Better question yet, why in the HELL am I freaking out?!'

Shaking her head and deciding not to press on with the already brain numbing topic, she sat up and walked briskly over to her desk.

'At least I can bring closure to one stupid topic my stupid brain thinks up,' she thought as she pulled out a pent and paper.

Dear Santa,

It's Sakura again. I know I'm pretty late sending this out this year, but ninja duties called. I figured this year I'd break out of the more traditional gifts. I want just one thing-excitement. I just want my Christmas day to be different and fun.

Hoping,

Haruno Sakura

She checked it over a couple of times for mistakes. Feeling the letter to be sufficient, she placed it in an envelope, wrote North Pole on it, put on a jacket, and set out towards the Courier Ninja office.

'Um…I thought it was somewhere here, but…'

Thirteen minutes. That's the amount of time Naruto had been wandering through this current section of Konoha. Naruto worked hard and trained everyday to fulfill a promise he had made, he had done missions that placed him in great danger, and put his life on the line countless times to protect those important to him. Through all of this, he used basic instincts, and knowledge gained right then and there, while ignoring most of what he was actually taught at the academy. Ironic, that now of all times, geography would be important.

'Dammit! This is stupid! Think Naruto! Iruka was talking about courier ninjas that day. Um…Sakura had on a blue blouse, and a cute red ribbon. She was writing something down in her notebook and-AGH! I'm never figuring this out!'

"…Naruto?"

The voice's sudden arrival caused him to fall out of his stupor…and right onto his face.

"Ow! Who the he-Sa-Sakura-chan? What are doing out here this late?"

"Me?" she asked as her cheeks heated up. "I was just, uh...wait! What are you doing out here?"

'Crap! She already thinks I'm a little kid.' "I was just um…trying to uh…send out a letter to Ero-Sennin! Although I kind of forgot where the office was…" he said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

Sakura sighed. 'Typical Naruto to head off somewhere, without even thinking about where it is.' "Fine, I guess that I can take you there. Come on," she said, mentally scolding herself for smiling so easily at him.

"What? Really, Sakura-chan? Thanks! Oh, so why are you out here anyways?"

At that Sakura froze up. 'Should I tell him? No! He'll think I'm some little kid, and I REFUSE for Naruto, of all people, to think of me as such!' "Why I was just sending out a letter to…um…my relatives!" 'Nice save Sakura,' she thought as she congratulated herself mentally.

"Oh, alright then Sakura-chan," he said smiling warmly at her.

With that they set off side-by-side, enjoying the silence of the each other's company. Upon arriving, they each handed the courier ninja their respective letters, said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

Sleep, as some would call it, did not treat Sakura well. She spent a good amount of time before falling asleep convincing herself that her feelings for Naruto were just natural and friendly because of all the time they were around each other, and that she really shouldn't fret over it. However, once she fell asleep, her dreams only concluded that she was just lying to herself. It didn't start off bad. It started with dreams of them talking, and doing other normal things. Progressively though, there was a brush of hands, then a stroke of hair, a peck on the cheek, a full-blown kiss on the lips, a good amount of making out, and well you get the general idea.

The knowledge of having such dreams was driving her crazy. That was just the tip of the iceberg though. No, what was really driving her crazy was that no matter what she told herself, the idea of doing those thingswith Naruto didn't disgust or even bother her in the least. In fact, it was quite the opposite, and she found an unfamiliar urge to just know how real she could make them, and it made her absolutely livid with her brain.

"Aghhhhh! Why is this happening all of a sudden?!" Unfortunately, her question would hang unanswered as she caught sight of a carrier hawk on her windowsill.

Haruno Sakura:

You are called to the Hokage's office immediately. And bring along the blonde idiot when you find him.

Godaime Hokage

'Not only is it some mission on Christmas, but I have to do it with Naruto too?! Have I really done something bad enough to deserve this?!'

She cut her sulking short in order to get ready. After a quick shower, and getting dressed, she set out for Naruto's apartment.

Like a log. Naruto never quite understood the phrase, but he slept like one each and every night regardless. Last night was no different. Even the same dreams, involving him finally bringing back Sasuke, and Sakura thanking him, but instead of rushing to Sasuke's side, she'd usually end up kissing him. It was interesting how the same dream seemed to evolve through the years. Sometimes it ended it with him and Sakura in intriguing positions to say the least. He blamed Jiraiya for it.

He rose from his bed and headed off to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the shower, got dressed in his usual attire, and sat down to eat some instant ramen he made.

He heard a couple of knocks. Seeing as the clock read 7:23, he thought nothing of it. Another thirty or so seconds passed by before he heard the knocking again. Thoroughly convinced that it wasn't important, he continued to ignore the person's quick tapped pleading. About a minute after the initial knocking, he was sure his door had just been destroyed, quickly followed by a voice.

"Answer your door dumbass! It's freezing outside!"

'Sakura-chan…? Hmm…I shouldn't leave Sakura-chan outside, but…well after that last knock, I'm afraid of what she's going to do…' he thought to himself.

Feeling that making her wait any longer would result in even further unpleasantness, he quickly rushed to the door to answer it.

"Uh, hey Sakura-chan. What brings you over here?"

The deadpanned stare that Sakura was giving him was all but friendly. She sighed. "Tsunade-shishou wants us to head over to her office immediately. I don't know exactly why, so don't ask. Just hurry up."

Naruto invited her in while he grabbed his tool pouch and jacket. He then decided the old bag wouldn't mind waiting a few extra minutes and decided to finish off his ramen. After that, they left to the Hokage tower.

"What the hell took you both so long?! When I say immediately, I DAMN well expect your arrival to be such! Not this thirty minute later crap!" Tsunade boomed out.

"But master, it's because Naruto took-"

"I don't give a damn what the reason was!"

If there was one thing that would forever scare Sakura, it would be a pissed off Tsunade. Naruto, however, always seemed to brush it off nonchalantly.

"Yeah, yeah baa-chan." An eyebrow twitched. "What did you want anyways?"

Tsunade sighed. There were three things that were predictable about Konoha's #1 Unpredictable Ninja. Those were ramen, Sakura, and calling her 'baa-chan'.

"You two have a mission. Now it's not a very diffi-"

"Tsunade-baa-chan, I refuse! It's Christmas day and-"

"ENOUGH! Don't interrupt me again brat!" She took a deep breath. "Now as I was saying, it's an easy mission. D-rank, but you'll-"

"D-RANK?! There's no way I'm doing some lousy D-rank mission today!"

"You're going to accept the damn mission, and you're going to like it! Now if you interrupt me one more time, I'll make sure you'll never do any mission ever again! Understand?!"

Naruto could only nod dumbly, while Sakura just eyed her master with absolute terror.

"I need a god damn drink…" she mumbled out. "I'm making this short. It's a D-rank mission, but with B-rank pay. Apparently a wealthy business owner needs a cabin of his at the outskirts of Konoha cleaned in preparation for some party he's throwing in a week. He wanted ninjas doing the work to make it faster I suppose."

"You really expect us to-" but he never finished his sentence once Sakura covered his mouth, glaring at him. "We'll take care of it master," she quickly got out.

"I expected such. You are dismissed."

They gathered the mission documents, and left the office.

"Baka! Why do you always have to make things difficult?!"

"Because a D-rank mission is under my level Sakura-chan," he said matter-of-factly.

Sakura sighed. She felt almost stupid for thinking his response would be any different. 'He has gotten a lot stronger though.' She didn't notice the smile that graced her lips as they headed towards their client's cabin.

Upon arriving, Naruto and Sakura realized just why he hired ninjas for menial cleaning duty. There was nothing 'menial' about it. Furniture was tipped over, dust was everywhere, the kitchen was in complete disarray, and there was grime and mold everywhere. Hell, some small animals had even decided to make their stay at the residence.

"D-rank my ass…" was Naruto's only response upon looking around.

"Stop complaining and let's just finish this stupid mission."

Naruto walked towards the living area muttering some, "You're complaining too Sakura-chan…" to himself. Upon entering, he performed his favorite seal, uttering "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Five Narutos buzzed about, moving furniture, mopping the floor, and dusting off everything. A few hours had passed by.

"Hey Naruto, come here."

"Huh? What is it Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked walking into the kitchen.

"According to the documents, we'll receive a bonus for setting up a tree. All decorations are here at the cabin, meaning we would just need to get the tree."

"So you want to do more work…?" Naruto asked deadpanned.

"It won't take that much longer, and I could really use the extra money. Please?"

"I still don't like the idea of extra work…"

"Oh please! Na-ru-to!"

"…You're an evil woman. Fine, but I'm not getting it by myself!"

Pleased with herself, Sakura responded, "Deal. I can work out my frustration on the tree anyways."

"Not much longer," turned into an extra two hours. No matter what tree Naruto pointed out, it was never good enough. "This one is too small Naruto." "The branches are spread out weird." "I think this one is a little too tall." "This one doesn't have enough pine needles Naruto." It was driving him straight up the wall. He wasn't sure what that meant, but if it involved wanting a tree to fall on him, and take him away, then he was definitely feeling that way. Tack on the fact that it had started snowing again, and Naruto was less than pleased. Probably even further down that particular chain.

Naruto wasn't the only unpleased person. As time moved on, Sakura realized more and more, that the extra money was definitely not worth the extra work. To top it off, she still hadn't worked out her cleaning frustration, and swore to herself that if Naruto complained one more time, she knew exactly what, or rather who, she would use for it.

And that was when she saw it. It was the Christmas tree of Christmas trees. The tree stood a good eight feet tall, and looked to be in perfect health, with a completely proportional span all the way up it. She walked around it a few times, inspecting nearly every branch, and decided that it would do.

"You'll be happy to know that we can finally stop searching Naruto."

"Surprisingly I'm not really that happy. After all, it only took us two freaking hours…" Naruto mumbled.

"You say something?!"

"I said lets get th-this tree back Sakura-chan!" said Naruto, nervously waving his arms in front of his face.

And with that, Sakura punched down the tree in one, clean punch. "I didn't think so," she sing-sang, smiling.

"Heh, I uh, guess we should head back. So which way should me, me, and me carry this?" He asked pointing to each of his newly arrived clones.

"Um…" 'Shit! There is no way we're lost. We came from that way, but…NO, NO, NO! This can't be happening!' "-kura-chan." 'I mean, I could've sworn we were only walking in on direction.' "Sakura-chan." 'But what if we weren't, and we get even more lost?!' "Sakura-chan!"

"Huh?" she asked dumbfounded.

"You were spacing out. I've been calling your name for awhile now."

"Oh," she fake laughed, "I'm sorry. Um, anyways let's head back. I'm pretty sure we head that way," she said point behind Naruto's back.

"Naruto, how in the hell did you get a bear to chase us?!"

"I thought it was a person who could help us out!"

"And the growling didn't tip you off?! Eh?!"

When Sakura asked Santa for an exciting day, this was hardly what she had in mind. 'Guess this proves it. It's karma.' "I don't know what I did to deserve this, but it must have been really bad," she pouted out.

Naruto's mind wasn't fairing much better. 'When I wished for a person to spend the day with, I wasn't expecting to spend it cleaning a cabin for a D-rank mission, having to find a tree and getting lost while doing so, having to keep that person from falling off of a cliff, getting chased by a bear, and I definitely didn't expect to do it all in a freaking blizzard!'

"Oh thank god! Naruto, I think that's the cabin right up there!"

"I'm happier that the bear decided to leave us alone…"

"Let's hurry up and get inside, the snow is coming down really hard."

They both rushed to the cabin and Naruto quickly got the tree inside, leaned it against a wall inside the living room, and used his remaining strength to shut the extremely wind pushed door. Sakura had gotten a few of the logs set in the corner, placed them in the fire place and lit them. Hypothermia was a horrible disease to get, and she refused to have either of them develop it, if for nothing more than the sheer guilt it would bring.

Looking out the window, Sakura realized the snow was not going to let up anytime soon. "This is just great. Now I'm trapped here. And it's with Naruto of all people!"

"I didn't think I was really that bad…" Naruto mumbled walking out of the room.

It took a couple of minutes for Sakura to realize that Naruto wasn't near her anymore. "Now where'd that baka go?" 'He probably got the hint after that, "And it's with Naruto of all people," spiel.' "Wait, that didn't come out right! Naruto! Hey Naruto, where'd you go?" Sakura asked looking around the house.

"I'm in the kitchen Sakura-chan. I thought it was probably a bad idea to bug you anymore than I had already."

"Naruto, I'm really sorry, that just came out wrong! I didn't mean it in any mean way, I swear!"

"How else could you have meant that?"

"It's because of this dre-" 'Whoa! Way too close there!' "Look, today has just been a really weird day, alright? Now come over near the fireplace. I don't need you getting sick, since we'll probably be stuck here for at least a day."

"It's alright Sakura-chan, you know that I don't get sick. I'll be fine in here."

"…Naruto. Fireplace. Now."

"Sakura-chan, I already said that I-"

"Now!"

"Ye-yes ma'am." 'First she's all annoyed that she's stuck with me, and now she's forcing me over to the fireplace with her. Jeesh, maybe this day really has been weird for her. I know it has been for me.'

"I found the decorations for the tree."

"Huh?"

"We already have it here, and it's not like we're going anywhere soon, so what do you say we set it up?" Sakura asked smiling.

"Sure why not. After all, I didn't get chased by a bear through a blizzard to not set this stupid tree up," said Naruto with a mischievous grin on his face.

Sakura laughed. Just a few moments ago, she felt horrible for the way she must have made him feel, but she was glad he was relatively back to normal now.

Sakura figured that they would set up the tree in one of the corners of the living room, somewhat near the fireplace, and next to a window. Once she planned out the location, they got the tree standing, and began decorating it. The cabin owner had four boxes filled with lights and other ornaments, enough so that not all of them could be used on the tree.

It took about an hour before they had everything up. Luckily by then, the fire had actually warmed up the cabin, and you could almost say it was cozy in there.

"Hey, come sit over here Naruto," Sakura said patting the spot on the couch right next to her. "It's near the fireplace now, and there's only one blanket anyways."

Naruto walked over to the couch and plopped down next to Sakura. Only a few moments, and awkwardness had also settled in next to them. "So uh…are you thirsty? I'm sure there's something in one of those pantries that wasn't rotten."

Sakura thought for a second. 'Well I am kind of thirsty.' "Um…sure Naruto, I'll have hot chocolate if you can salvage any. If not, I guess I'll just have some water."

"Sure, I'll go see about it." Naruto got up and walked into the kitchen.

'Great. It's so obviously awkward, even someone as oblivious as Naruto can notice. Why did I invite him to sit next to me? Was it purely to torture myself?'

"Hey Sakura-chan, there's some hot chocolate. Probably enough for about 3 or so cups. Um…I don't want to sound ungrateful, but are you sure there's no other blankets?"

"No, I'm positive. Why, what's wrong? It's just two friends sharing a blanket to keep warm and survive. There's nothing wrong with that." 'You can keep telling yourself that, but it still isn't going to come true.'

"Oh, there's nothing wrong at all! I was just uh…curious I suppose. Anyways, I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Alright."

Ten minutes passed by before Naruto re-emerged from the kitchen with two cups of steaming hot chocolate. "There was no milk to make it with, so I just used water. I hope that doesn't bother you."

"No, that's fine. I usually use water anyways."

"I'm glad," Naruto said as he sat down next to Sakura again, after pulling a coffee table in front of them, to set down the hot cups. He went under the blanket, and tried not to think about what it could or could not have meant when she moved in closer.

"Comfortable?"

"Hmm, almost," Sakura said as she scooted closer to Naruto and laid her head on his shoulder. "There, now I'm comfortable."

"Heh, that's good to know. Um…fire is starting to make it kind of hot in here, huh?"

"Now that you mention it…"

Sakura looked up at Naruto, to see him smiling down at her. She immediately blushed and looked away. "It's uh…fine I suppose. Not too hot or anything."

Naruto on the other hand was trying to look as comfortable as possible. It's not that he was necessarily uncomfortable with his position. After all, Sakura was the girl of his dreams, and he loved the fact that she was this close to him. He was just afraid of what she would think to know he loved her being this close. Given their proximity, it really didn't help matters elsewhere. 'I just need to stop thinking about it. We're just good friends, and she's trying to keep warm. That's all, nothing more.'

Sakura too was trying not to dwell on their current position. 'Why did my body just move here? Great, I decide to get closer, and I'm almost immediately regretting the decision. Although, from right here, it's pretty easy to access to his lips. Wait, no! These thoughts need to go away!'

"Sakura-chan…you don't look all that comfortable. Um…I can sit down on the floor if you'd like to just lie on the couch."

"Huh? No, its fine, I'm pretty comfortable," she semi-lied. 'He can be really nice when he wants to. Fine, just one kiss, and then I'll just forget about this all. Maybe after one, my brain will finally just stop thinking about it.' "Hey Naruto, look over here."

Naruto began turning his head to see what Sakura was referring to. "What is it Sakura-cha-mmphh!"

It was short, random, and completely awkward, but to both of them, it felt like forever, and it felt like words transcending the cliché of 'perfect'. The original kiss may not have lasted all that long, but the next one was twice as long, and the one after that involved tongues and a complete loss of breath.

It was after that last kiss that Naruto began to freak out.

"Sa-Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to do that, I just-"

"Shh," Sakura said, placing a finger on his lips to silence them. "I did mean for it to happen. Looking back on today, I've been so afraid about how I was feeling around you. I don't regret this at all. There's no point in lying to myself anymore. I'm not sure if I love you Naruto, but I uh…would like to get the chance to find out."

It took Naruto completely by surprise. "Sakura…I…are you asking me…?"

"Are you so happy that you're speechless?" Sakura quipped.

"Heh…I'm just…beyond that. It's kind of funny actually."

"What's funny?" Sakura asked, confusion and fear now on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing dealing with you! Well not specifically at least. If I tell you, do you promise not to laugh at me?"

Sakura began to laugh. It wasn't that she wanted to, but the serious countenance that Naruto had did not suit him at all. "I'm sorry Naruto. Your face just looked funny. I promise, I won't laugh at what you're going to tell me, but promise me that you won't do that face again."

"Fine, jeesh. Anyways, when we saw each other near the Courier Ninja's office, I sort of lied about my letter." Naruto sighed, really hoping she'd keep to her promise. "It was actually a letter to Santa. Specifically one asking for someone to spend my day with, since well…I don't normally have anyone to be with today."

Sakura didn't quite know why, but the last part of what he said felt like a knife in her chest. 'That's right, he doesn't have a family. It must be horrible for him this time of year. And I was being selfish complaining about how bored I am, when I actually have a family to spend it with. But it's alright, because I promise he's never going to spend this time by himself again.' Unfortunately for Sakura, she began laughing while thinking of his actual reasoning behind going to the Courier Ninja's office.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh at me!"

"No, you have that wrong Naruto! I'm not really laughing at you, I'm just laughing because I kind of lied about my letter too. I had also sent a letter to Santa, asking for some excitement. I was just kind of bored with the mundane activities that I do every year. I wanted to spice it up, you know?"

"Wait. You were sending a letter out to Santa too. Glad to know that I wasn't the only one. I felt like a little kid for doing it."

"Well if you're a little kid for doing it, then that would make me one too," she chuckled out.

"Heh, I guess that's true. It's weird. I sent it out so late, but in the end…he really came through for me. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Ok, well maybe a few things could have been better." Naruto laughed a little. "Was your day at least a little like you hoped for?"

"Nope." She saw his face falter. "It was so much better than that. It's kind of late, let's get some sleep Naruto."

"Yeah," he said while positioning himself to cuddle with her on the couch. And with that, they went to sleep, dreaming about each other, and this perfect day they both shared.

So remember all. While you may think it's childish, and you may think you're too late, just write a letter to Santa for what you'd want. It could be anything, because if there's one thing that both Naruto and Sakura could tell you, it's that wishes can indeed come true.