Merry Christmas! Here's a sequel to "All I Want for Christmas." It's a bit of a different story that I usually write, but before you get angry and go, "what the hell NaruDeeds?" I would like to remind you all that I'm a fan of happy endings =) I originally intended to release this story the same way as I did "All I Want for Christmas" last year- with each chapter being released on its corresponding date. But that didn't work out this time around.

You can read and understand this story without reading "All I Want For Christmas," but I HIGHLY recommend reading the first one. And it won't hurt to read "The Sakura Ball" (the first sequel to "All I Want for Christmas") either.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else Naruto would have Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as a summon! Well... not really. But hey, it's Christmas, I need the disclaimer to be Christmas themed right?

Alright. On we go to the show! Please do enjoy "All We Want for Christmas" - December 23


A 21-year-old Sakura Uzumaki stood in the orphanage watching the children open the gifts that Naruto had gotten for them with a smile on her face just as fake as her husband's. This was a happy occasion, a very happy occasion, and both of the Uzumaki's were determined to not let the children think there was unrest between them. They didn't want to distract the kids from their happy day…

Now that Sakura thought about it, this was really the first thing they had agreed on in months… Although neither of them verbally said anything, they had both become very good at wearing masks over the years.

"Whoah! This is exactly what I wanted! Thanks Hokage-sama!" A small boy missing his two front teeth grinned happily.

"It's Naruto. Na-ru-to!" Naruto groaned, which caused Sakura's fake smile to briefly flicker to a real one. He had been Hokage for almost a year now and he still hated being called by his title. There were just some things about Naruto that would never change.

"Ah ah ah Hokage-sama, we need to teach our children proper respect." The old woman who ran the orphanage chided.

"But…"

"You spent how many years trying to obtain the title of Hokage?" Sakura teased. "Some would think you would be more receptive to being called by your title now that you've finally obtained it." Her mood was just starting to improve thanks to Naruto's antics.

Naruto looked at Sakura with a bashful grin on his face, but Sakura could see the pain hidden deep in his eyes and her mood crashed back down.

"I just don't want people treating me differently just because I'm Hokage." Naruto explained to Sakura as if she didn't know that. Of course Sakura knew the reason Naruto hated being called "Hokage-sama!" They had been married for six months, did he really think that…

Sakura took a deep breath and widened her fake smile. "I was just teasing Hokage-sama."

"Ohoho, see Hokage-sama, even your wife knows the importance of referring to you by your title." The old woman chuckled.

"Jeez, talking about getting ganged up on. But I'm sure all of the children are with me right? You're all with Naruto-nii chan?"

"Of course Hokage-sama!" All the orphans chirped in perfect unison.

"No love." Naruto sighed with a small smile on his face.

"Are you gonna stay and play with us Hokage-sama?" One of the younger orphans asked with a hopeful smile on her young face.

Naruto looked over to Sakura with an almost pleading look on his face. Sakura sighed. He always did this. He always tried to get her to give him permission to do things even though he had no extra time on his schedule. He basically constantly set her up to be the bad guy.

Sakura knew he didn't do it on purpose, he just didn't think about the position he was always putting her in. Of course Sakura wanted to stay here and play with all of the kids for a while, especially with Naruto. It always warmed her heart to see him around children.

But Naruto had an important meeting with all of the clan heads in 15 minutes, Sakura would not only be shirking her duties, but she would be doing a disservice to her entire village if she let Naruto skip out on his meeting. She mentally sighed and prepared herself for the pouts and disappointed frowns of all the children.

"You have a meeting with all of the clan heads in 15 minutes Naruto, we need to get going."

"Awww!" All the children chorused with giant frowns on their faces.

"That meeting isn't that important, and they really want me to stay!" Naruto protested.

Sakura couldn't completely hide the angry expression from her face. It seemed like making her the bad guy wasn't good enough for Naruto. He had to go and make her into the supervillain. All of the kids were going to hate her at this point.

"It's a very important meeting Hokage-sama. You're meeting with the clan heads to discuss Konoha's budget for next year. It's December 23 and you still haven't finalized a budget. This is not a meeting that Konoha can afford for you to miss."

"Sorry kids, but my assistant here is making me go to some stupid meeting." Naruto pandered to the children as he rolled his eyes, which only caused Sakura to clench her fist tightly.

"I'm sorry! We'll make it up to you and stop by again soon when the Hokage doesn't have so many important meetings, ok?" Sakura attempted to compromise. She didn't want to be the bad guy to all of these kids.

Unfortunately for Sakura, Naruto had painted her as the bad guy, and the children saw the picture Naruto inadvertently painted. They merely nodded their heads and their frowns didn't leave their faces.

"Oh don't be like that, the Hokage is a very important and busy person! And Sakura-sama is in charge of his schedule. If she says they'll be back soon, then they'll be back soon. Now thank Hokage-sama and Sakura-sama for your gifts children."

"Thank you Hokage-sama! Sakura-sama…" Sakura noted that the children did not have as much enthusiasm when they said her name. She felt bad, but her duty was to Konoha first. These kids would not be able to enjoy the comfort of the orphanage if Konoha didn't finalize a budget for the following year.

"I'll see you all soon." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and gave the kids one final wave as they walked out of the orphanage. Sakura could tell by the way Naruto was holding her hand that he really didn't want to be holding her hand.

But he was the Hokage, and as such, he had an image to uphold. The Hokage was the leader of the village, who everyone inspired to be like. It just wouldn't do for the Hokage to be having marital problems. If the Hokage was married, then he had to be happily married and his relationship had to be perfect.

Sakura sighed. So far, marriage was nothing like she had imagined it would be when she was a little girl. She always dreamed that she would find a guy, fall in love and live happily ever after. She figured once she found someone to love, everything else would fall into place.

Sakura found the guy she loved. Even with the problems they were having, Sakura didn't doubt for a second that she loved Naruto with all of her heart. But the first six months of marriage had been far more difficult than she would have ever expected.

The first month of marriage was pure bliss; it was easily one of the best months of her entire life. Despite how exhausted they both were after a long day of work, both still made time for each other when they got home. They were too busy enjoying being married to argue about anything.

But then that blissful and surreal feeling that came with getting married started to wear off, and they started fighting. Sometimes it was about something more serious- like whose job it was to do chores around the house; and other times they fought over the stupidest things- like baby names for a child neither of them wanted to have for a couple of years.

The past three months especially had gotten bad- Naruto's natural messiness grinded on Sakura's nerves, and Sakura's obsession with cleanliness grinded on Naruto's. Mix that together with the fact that they both have extremely stressful and demanding jobs, and that their jobs force them to be together at all times and you have a recipe for a lot of fighting.

Sakura had fought more with Naruto over the past three months than she had during the rest of her life combined. And she hated it. She hated fighting with him, she hated having to plaster a fake smile on her face everywhere she went, and she hated seeing Naruto's fake smile all the time.

The few times she had tried to sit Naruto down and just talk everything out hadn't gone well either. Her temper made those discussions fall apart quickly. Sometimes Sakura really wondered if she made a mistake in accepting Naruto's marriage proposal last Christmas. Yes she loved him, but they had only been dating for a little over a day.

Maybe if she would have waited longer she wouldn't be scared that she was in a failing marriage. That single thought had haunted Sakura's thoughts for a month now. She knew that if she and Naruto didn't make this marriage work, their relationship would end, but even more, their friendship would end as well. They were too far in to go back to being friends.

A powerful gust of wind blew across the ground, causing Sakura to shiver. Before her body could even finish it's shiver, a familiar cloak was being put on her shoulders. Sakura looked up at Naruto to see genuine concern in his eyes and smiled.

Small acts like this showed Sakura that Naruto still cared. Small acts like this affirmed for Sakura that their marriage wasn't a total lost cause. They were not in a failing marriage yet, they were still just in the fighting stage. The two of them could still pull out of this somehow…

"You didn't have to." Sakura mumbled, but she was very appreciative of the added warmth of Naruto's Hokage cloak.

"But I wanted to."

"Well thanks."

No other words were spoken as the couple quietly walked hand-in-hand back to the Hokage Tower for Naruto's meeting. They finally stopped in front of the entrance to the office where Naruto's meeting was scheduled to take place in a few minutes.

"Well…thanks for keeping me on task Sakura." Naruto said. "This is going to take the rest of the day, you can go home now."

Sakura hesitated. She didn't want to go home. Not without her husband. One of the many downsides of being in a struggling marriage was that whenever she was home alone, she secretly worried that Naruto would decide to end their marriage and never come home…

But there really was no point for her to be in the meeting. The Hokage's assistant did not make decisions about Konoha's budget, the Hokage did with input from the clan heads, and then with approval from the civilian council.

"Alright, have a good meeting." Sakura turned to leave but stopped herself when she realized she was still wearing Naruto's cloak. "I guess you'll probably need this back."

"Nah keep it, it looks better on you than it does me anyways." Naruto replied with an actual smile. Sakura returned his smile. If only they could be like this all the time. If only they didn't constantly fight over who was going to do this, and who was going to do that…

Sakura took a deep breath and gathered up her courage. Seeing flashes of her Naruto gave Sakura the courage she needed. They needed to talk; they needed to work on their marriage, because love couldn't magically fix everything.

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Depends what it is." Naruto replied with a forced "teasing" smile. Sakura hated when he did that. When they first got married six months ago Naruto's answer to her asking him for a favor would always be a solid and emphatic yes without a second thought.

"Please come straight home after work. We really need to have a talk." Sakura implored with a slightly pleading look in her eyes.

"I can do that. Do you want a ride back home or are you ok walking?"

"I'll walk thanks, I think I'm going to stop by and visit Ino since I'm getting off early."

"Well… have fun then."

"I'll see you after work, love you." Sakura offered her husband a weak smile.

"Love you too Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with a weak smile of his own before turning and entering the office.

Sakura watched the door close, sighed, and started walking down the stairs to leave the Hokage's Tower.


"We really need to have a talk." Sakura's words were ringing through Naruto's mind as he walked to his desk. The clan heads were already gathered.

What did Sakura mean by they need to have a talk? What if she wanted to…

"Good to see you Hokage-sama." Shikaku Nara greeted, interrupting Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto took a deep breath. He was the Hokage now, he couldn't let his personal life get in the way; he had a job to do. He would freak about Sakura's words after this meeting.

"Same to you Shikaku-san." Naruto cordially replied. "I would exchange more pleasantries, but it's almost Christmas, I'm sure everyone in this room wants to get this meeting over with so we can all be with our families. So I think we'll just get this meeting underway."


"Ino, are you home?" Sakura called out as she walked into her best friend's house. Most people would consider it rude to just barge into someone's house uninvited, or even without knocking, but Ino had opened her home to Sakura over the past few months as Sakura and Naruto's marriage continued to get more and more strained.

Ino was one of the few people in the entire world other than Sakura and Naruto who knew the truth about their marriage. The villagers all thought their Hokage and his wife were happy and living the perfect life, because that's the image the leader of a village had to portray. But Sakura needed someone to talk to when things got too bad. Ino had stepped up in a big way, and Sakura was grateful for that.

"I'm upstairs Sakura! I'll be down in a minute." The familiar voice of her best friend called. Sakura took a seat on the couch in Ino and Shikamaru's spacious living room and absent-mindedly stroked Naruto's cloak while she waited for her friend. She got so distracted by Naruto's cloak, that she didn't even hear Ino come down the stairs.

"Nice cloak Sakura." Ino smirked. "Looks like things are going better with Naruto."

"Today was…nice." Sakura admitted with a small smile. "We fought some in the morning, but we went to the orphanage today…"

"It's hard to be mad at him when you watch him hand presents to those kids isn't it?" Ino chuckled as she remembered watching Naruto distribute gifts to the orphans last year.

"Yeah…" Sakura smiled softly. "And there flashes of my old Naruto today… The Naruto before we got married, the Naruto before he was Hokage… It was nice."

"My it sounds like a good day then." Ino smiled. "So does that mean you're not here to talk about your marriage with everyone's favorite hokage then?"

"When you say it like that Ino you make it sound like that's all I ever talk to you about!" Sakura huffed.

"Well…"

"We talk about a lot more than that!"

"I'm just teasing you Sakura." Ino laughed at the indignant look on her best friend's face. "So what's up?"

"Well… actually I did come here to talk about Naruto." Sakura admitted with a sheepish smile. "I asked Naruto to come straight home after work today so we could have a talk. Just seeing him today… it gave me the courage I needed to do something. I have a good feeling Ino, I really do. I just feel like we can talk about everything and figure out how to make everything work again."

"That's great!" Ino yelled excitedly. "But I've heard this story from you before. You tell me that you and Naruto are going to have a talk, and then the next day you come storming into my house screaming about what an idiot he is and then I find out later that the Hokage "slipped" and somehow hit the top of his head…

"Ahhh, yeah…" Sakura chuckled. "I just have a feeling Ino, I have a feeling that won't happen this time. Maybe it's this day. It was on this day last year that I finally broke through his stubborn defenses and we started dating. This was a magical day for us last year, and I know it's going to be a magical day for us again."

"So what are you planning on talking to him about then?" Ino questioned. "You know since you're the one who asked for the talk, you are probably going to be the one who has to start the conversation."

"I don't know… Everything I guess. I'll tell him how much I hate it when he makes me the villain, that I work hard too and don't want to do chores when I get home, but we both need to, I'll tell him about how important it is for us to keep our apartment clean, I'll…"

"It sounds like this is going to end the same as all of your last talks ended Sakura." Ino interrupted with a sigh.

"What? No way! I saw my Naruto today. This time is definitely going to be different."

"No it's not. Sakura… a marriage is a lot more work than people advertise."

"I know that, that's why we're going to…"

"You don't seem to know that." Ino interrupted. "Right now, you're putting all the blame on Naruto, but you guys are in your marriage together. You aren't perfect either."

"How is any of this my fault? He's the baka who doesn't see the importance in cleaning, or doing his share of the chores or…"

"And I'm sure Naruto has gripes about you just like those." Ino interrupted. "As I said Sakura, marriages are a lot of work, for both husband and wife. You two both need to realize that you're not perfect, and that you need to grow together."

Sakura had her mouth open to retort, but promptly snapped it shut. What Ino said did make sense…

"So what do you suggest then?" Sakura quietly asked as the revelation that she could partially be blame as well for her struggling marriage sank in.

"Jeez what am I, your psychiatrist?" Ino let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you think Forehead? Tell him what you don't like about your marriage and ask him what he doesn't like. Then, without getting pissed off, work everything out."

"You make it sound so easy…" Sakura muttered.

Ino smiled. "I do, don't I? Luckily Shikamaru and I have less stressful jobs, and haven't had the marital problems you and Naruto are having, so I can't say from experience, but it's going to be hard- especially for you. You have to keep that temper in check."

"Thanks for the pep talk Ino." Sakura sighed with a small smile on her face. Ino could very well have just saved her marriage with her advice. "But seriously… thanks."

"Oh don't thank me, once you and Naruto patch everything up we'll finally be able to go out and do couple things together!"

Sakura chuckled. "Right. Well, I'm going to go home and make some ramen for dinner."

"Ooh smart." Ino grinned. "It's hard for Naruto to be anything but giddy when you're feeding him ramen."

"That's the plan." Sakura returned Ino's grin. "Thanks again Ino, I mean it."

"No problem. Of course you know that this advice comes with the requirement you give me ALL the details later."

Sakura chuckled at her friend and nodded her head before leaving to go to her house to get prepared for the upcoming night.


Evening light was caressing the streets of Konoha as Naruto slowly trotted home. The budget meeting dragged on and on, and as a result, Naruto's very brain was aching from being subjected to such dull boredom. But he couldn't complain, he happily signed up for the job.

Naruto's thoughts were now far removed from the meeting though. Now his weary brain was working in overdrive to analyze Sakura's words. What did she want to talk about? He tried to remember her body posture, to see if there were any hints, but his brain was too exhausted.

He didn't know what Sakura wanted to talk about, but Naruto knew it wasn't good. Every time he and Sakura had a "talk" it ended with the two of them bickering, and eventually him sleeping out on the couch. They hadn't tried to have a "talk" for a month and a half, but that's because both of them knew how pointless the "talk" would be.

What if Sakura wants to get divorced… Naruto's panicked mind repeated the thought that had been swirling around it since the word "talk" came out of her pretty mouth.

Naruto wasn't sure what he would do if Sakura wanted a divorce… He loved her so much, and he finally got her to love him back. He achieved his dream. He wasn't sure if he could handle having that dream ripped from him.

The familiar aroma of ramen wafted into Naruto's nose as he neared Ichiraku's. He promised Sakura he would return straight home after work… but he was getting close to freaking out. A bowl of ramen from Ichiraku's would calm him down so he could face whatever Sakura was preparing to throw at him.

Naruto walked into the ramen stand and plastered a fake smile on his face. He was now a symbol to his entire village. As Hokage he had to be strong, caring, determined, compassionate, but most importantly of all… Naruto had to be happy. His villagers needed to see their leader smiling.

"Ah Naruto, good to see you!" A familiar voice greeted as Naruto pulled the tent flap aside.

"Iruka-sensei, good to see you too." Naruto replied.

"Hokage-sama, thank you for stopping by!" Teuchi greeted.

"Na-ru-to Teuchi." Naruto sighed to the amusement of the ramen owner.

"Miso ramen?"

"You know me so well Teuchi." Naruto replied with an honest smile. Words would never be able to fully describe just how grateful Naruto was for Teuchi's kindness.

"I'm surprised to see you here tonight Naruto." Another voice said. Naruto turned to see Kakashi flashing him a one-eyed smile.

"Kakashi-sensei? I didn't see you there."

"You must be losing your touch then." Another voice called. Naruto looked one more seat down and was surprised to find Sasuke.

"Sasuke? Jeez, I must be if I didn't notice an arrogant prick like you sitting there." Naruto joked which got a slightly irritated scowl out of his friend.

"So what are you doing here tonight Naruto?" Iruka asked. "I would have expected for you to be with Sakura today."

"I had a meeting that Sakura-chan didn't need to be in, so I let her go home early." Naruto answered, purposefully not directly answering Iruka's question.

"You don't look to be in a meeting now, so why are you here instead of home with Sakura then dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naruto mentally scowled at his friend for forcing him to actually answer Iruka's question.

"Oh you know me; I can't resist a bowl of Ichiraku's on my way home." Naruto chuckled as he widened his fake smile to sell his story.

"No you can't." Iruka agreed with a smile on his face.

"Why are you all here tonight?" Naruto countered praying to kami that Iruka, Kakashi and Sasuke would get distracted with their reason and forget about the reason Naruto was currently sitting in the ramen stand.

"Tsunade wanted to take Shizune and Keiko shopping for Christmas." Iruka explained. "So I had nothing to do tonight."

"Kakashi and I are just here for dinner." Sasuke said when Naruto's eyes landed on him.

"So that's why we're all here. Now why don't you tell us why you're really here right now?" Kakashi "asked" but it sounded a lot more like an order.

"What?" Naruto innocently asked, while silently cursing his sensei for being even more observant than Sasuke. "What do you mean why I'm really here? I told you, I'm just here for a bowl of ramen!"

"Are you and Sakura fighting again?" Sasuke asked. He really didn't feel like dancing around the subject all night.

"Again? What makes you say again? And what makes you think we're fighting?" Naruto sputtered.

"We've known you your entire life Naruto." Iruka sighed.

"Do you really think at this point you can fool us with your masks anymore?" Kakashi added with another one of his signature one-eyed smiles.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about." Naruto lied. He wanted to tell them, he wanted to tell them that he was trying to prepare himself for his conversation with Sakura where she was probably going to tell him she wanted a divorce… But he couldn't. They were his precious people, but they were also his villagers.

Naruto still had a duty to all three of these men to remain perfect. He couldn't allow them to see anything less.

"We know you've been having problems with Sakura for the past four months Naruto." Sasuke sighed. "We know both of you very well, and we can easily see the smiles you guys force on your faces in public are fake."

Naruto's eyes widened in panic. Were he and Sakura really that easy to see through? Did the villagers see through them? What if…

"Relax Naruto, we can only see through your smiles because we know you so well. The villagers don't suspect anything." Iruka reassured as he saw the look of panic flood across the face of the man he viewed as a little brother.

"But I think that confirms you're having some sort of problem." Kakashi added.

Naruto looked at the faces of his three friends. They each had a look plastered on their faces that essentially said they weren't going to drop this.

"Fine. I just need a bowl of ramen to calm myself down." Naruto finally admitted.

"Did you guys have another fight?" Sasuke reiterated his original question.

"Not yet… But it's only a matter of time. It seems like that's all we do now."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Iruka asked.

"I don't know… She's just… she changed after we got married. Suddenly everything had to be perfectly organized. All of our groceries must be put away in perfect alphabetical order; our spices are organized in alphabetical order… It's ridiculous! Who the heck cares? As long as they're put away it should be good enough!"

"Is that so?" Iruka asked with a small smile. He could tell that Naruto had needed to get this off his chest for a while.

"Yeah, and she's so crazy about keeping our apartment clean! If I so much as leave a sock on the floor it's like it's the end of the world! And then there's the chores… I'm the freaking Hokage! By the time I get off work I don't really feel like doing chores, but I'm willing to do them if they need to be done… But she wants them done when they don't need to be! She pesters me to do laundry when we still have plenty of clean clothes, to do the dishes when we only have a few that are dirty…" Naruto ranted. It felt surprisingly good to let all of his frustrations out.

"And don't even get me started on the trash… There will be a half bag full and Sakura will want it taken out! And then there's everything else… I have to put everything away at exactly the right spot! EVERYTHING! Even something as stupid as scrolls has a particular spot they HAVE to go! Kami help me if I leave a scroll on a table!"

"How awful. What a terrible woman." Sasuke said in a very sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.

"She's not terrible." Naruto sighed. "It just wasn't like this when we were engaged. When we were engaged she didn't nag me on all of those things… She was more understanding of how stressful my position is… That all changed when we got married. I don't know what I can do anymore… Every time we've tried to talk about it we just end up fighting."

"So Sakura is the reason for your marital problems then?" Kakashi asked.

"Well… Sort of… If she would just lighten up a little… OW!"

"I taught you better than that." Iruka sighed as he slapped Naruto in the back of the head.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're married now." Kakashi smiled. "Marriage is a lot of work."

"I know that!" Naruto protested.

"Apparently not." Sasuke sighed.

"How the hell do you know teme!"

Kakashi withdrew his little orange book and waved it in Naruto's face. "Unlike you, Sasuke here recognizes how excellent Jiraiya-sama's books are."

"Those pervy books?"

"Jiraiya had a surprisingly good understanding of women." Sasuke explained.

"That old pervert? That's a load of crap!"

"That's not important." Iruka interjected. "What's important is that you realize that marriage is a lot of work. Just because you're in love doesn't mean everything will magically work out. You two need to work together."

"I try!" Naruto protested. "But she doesn't seem to want to! She just expects me to do everything without question! She's not working with me!"

"Sounds like you aren't working with her." Teuchi chuckled as he placed a bowl of steaming ramen in front of his favorite customer.

"WHAT?"

"Have you ever considered that perhaps you're not perfect yourself?" Sasuke asked.

"I know I'm not perfect! But this isn't my fault!"

"With how much you obsessed over Sakura's happiness when you two were growing up I'm surprised you haven't figured it out." Kakashi smiled. "But I suppose the stress of being the leader of the village makes it easier for you to miss things you normally would have caught."

"What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's talking about the fact that Sakura probably has complaints about your marriage too Naruto." Sasuke sighed.

"Yep." Kakashi confirmed. "Have you ever once asked her what her frustrations with your marriage are?"

"Well, I…" The answer to that question was a definite no. All of their talks usually were Naruto complaining about how crazy Sakura was about doing the chores and cleaning, and Sakura complaining how unorganized and messy Naruto was… And then yelling… and then a night on the couch for Naruto. He had never once asked her what she would like improved…

"And have you ever calmly told Sakura what your frustrations with your marriage are?" Iruka pressed.

"Ah…" Again, that answer was no.

"And have you ever considered that her job is just as stressful as yours?" Teuchi added.

"Her job isn't just as stressful as mine!" Naruto protested. "Her job is stressful, but a mistake by her doesn't doom the entire village! She doesn't have to be perfect!"

"And neither do you, but that's a conversation for another time." Kakashi retorted. "Put yourself in Sakura's shoes. Your husband, who you love very much, has finally achieved one of his greatest dreams and is the leader of the village. Now he tends to be disorganized, and has a history of jumping into action without fully thinking things through."

"I do not have…"

"Yes you do." Kakashi interrupted. "So if you're Sakura, you are in charge of keeping the leader of the village organized, and on top of that, he's your husband, so you need to keep him organized so he can succeed in the dream he's achieved."

"I… Well, I didn't think about it like that." Naruto finally admitted. He knew that Sakura worked hard, but he always just assumed he had the more stressful position by far. But when Kakashi put it like that…

"Well you need to." Iruka smiled. "The next talk you have with Sakura, make sure you think about things from her point of view. If you do that, you guys will be fine."

Naruto smiled, maybe there was hope yet. "I think I'll do that."

"Good! Now since I have a free night, let's get some sake to celebrate Naruto getting his marriage back on track!" Iruka didn't like to drink often, and now that he had a daughter, he didn't have a chance to drink often; but he was in a celebratory mood tonight."

Naruto knew that he should say no, and that he should finish his ramen and go home to his wife, as he said he was going to do… But even with the advice he received, he was still scared of the "talk" Sakura wanted to have. He wasn't sure if he was ready to use the advice he just received.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto finally agreed while mentally apologizing to Sakura. He just wasn't ready yet to face her conversation, and he wasn't ready to use the advice he just received. He hated himself for being afraid, he had never backed down from anything… But the prospect of losing Sakura after finally gaining her love… It terrified Naruto.

I'll just have a little bit. Naruto reasoned. Then I'll go home to Sakura-chan.

"Four bottles of sake Teuchi!" Iruka grinned.


The smell of homemade ramen wafted through the apartment as Sakura busied herself getting ready for her husband's return home. She was wearing the exact outfit she wore one year ago when she finally broke through Naruto's defenses- her white spaghetti strap tank top that left her belly exposed, and tight black cloth shorts. She was even wearing the exact same pair of black lace panties and the exact same black lace bra. Tonight was going to be perfect.

Naruto is probably going to be home soon. Sakura thought with an excited smile. He would get home and then they could fix everything. She was finally going to get things back on track with the man she loved.

She pulled a bottle of red wine out of their cabinet and poured two glasses. She then walked around their apartment lighting candles and finally turned off the lights in their apartment so the apartment was lit up by soft candle light.

It was only a matter of time now… Her husband would be home, and they would fix everything. Sakura sat down on the couch with an excited smile on her face and awaited her husband's return.


Naruto was feeling a little warm as he knocked back another cup of sake with his two former senseis and his best friend. Despite his original plan to only drink a little bit of sake then go home to Sakura, he was already on his second bottle of sake. He had a hard time saying no when Iruka offered to buy him a second bottle. Especially when the alternative was going home and having Sakura try to divorce him…

A small voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to stop and go home to Sakura and work with Sakura to fix their marriage… but that small voice was being drowned out by sake. Besides, Sakura wouldn't be able to stay angry when he fixed their marriage right?


Sakura was starting to get worried as she took the ramen off the stove top. She couldn't keep it on the stove any longer or else it would be overcooked… even on low! She had the agenda for Naruto's budget meeting memorized; there was no way that it was still going on.

She knew she shouldn't be worried about his safety, he was one of the most powerful men in the world, in the safety of one of the most powerful villages in the world AND he was guarded by an ANBU squad. But the only other option was that Naruto didn't come straight home as he promised.

But that just didn't make sense. Naruto always fulfilled his promises. Always. He promised her he would come straight home after work, so he would be home right after work.

"Maybe something came out of that meeting that he had to do right away…" Sakura mumbled to herself. "Yeah, that's it. Naruto will be home soon." She reassured herself.

Sakura walked over to her couch, laid down and flipped the TV on while she waited for her husband to return home.

Naruto wants to work on our marriage just as much as I do… He promised me he would come straight home so we could talk.


"Thasss right." Iruka drunkenly grinned. "That's what you and have to look forward to Naruto."

Iruka, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto had been drinking for quite some time now. They were each on their fifth bottle of sake, and were all quite drunk. Naruto's original plan to only drink a little bit and go home was definitely out the window.

"Ohhh great." Naruto chuckled. "As if Sakura's temper isn't bad enough right now."

"Yourr gonna have to perfectly behaved when Sakura's pregnant or else your head is going to get punched off!" Sasuke grinned.

"Hehehe, Sasuke… you're drunk."

"Am not." Sasuke shot back. "You're drunk!"

"I…I may be a little." Naruto grinned.

"Well I think I'm going to call it a night." Kakashi announced. Even though he had drunk so much sake and was pretty drunk himself, he seemed to be perfectly fine. If Gai were here he would be going on and on about how "hip" and "cool" Kakashi was…

"That's probably a good idea." Iruka agreed.

"I guess I'll go home to my wife now…and I'll fix everything!" Naruto drunkenly quipped.

"Goood luck Hokage-sama." Iruka slurred.

"Don't need it!" Naruto got up and wobbled a little bit as he struggled to maintain his balance. "Thanks for the food and drink Teuchi!"

"I'll see you again soon I'm sure." Teuchi replied.

"Right! I'm off then!" Naruto waved one last time to his friends and started drunkenly stumble home. He wasn't worried about the conversation his wife wanted to have with him. He had no fear anymore; he was definitely going to fix everything!


Sakura's eyes slowly opened to the very dim light in her apartment. The candles had almost burnt out. She sat up and looked around her apartment and frowned when she saw no signs of her husband, or that he even returned home.

Her eyes found a clock and widened when she realized it was one in the morning. There was no way Naruto wouldn't be home by now… Not when he promised to come home straight after work.

What if something happened to him? Sakura worried. What if something happens to him before we can fix everything…

Her worried thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone fiddling with the door handle to her apartment. She channeled chakra to her fist, preparing to deal with whoever was trying to get into her and Naruto's apartment until she heard a voice she recognized quite well humming.

The door opened and Naruto stumbled in. Sakura's heart dropped when she saw him. He was drunk. Extremely drunk. He not only broke his promise, but he broke his promise to get drunk. He chose to get drunk instead of working on their marriage together.

"Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto slurred when his eyes landed on her. "What's going on in here? It looks nice. You look nice."

Sakura took a calming breath. Naruto promised her. Naruto wouldn't break his promise; he had to have some sort of explanation. Maybe the clan leaders decided they wanted to go out for drinks…

"Where were you?" Sakura quietly asked as she looked deep into his sapphire eyes.

"Ichiraku's!" Naruto grinned. "I stopped for a bowl of ramen, then…"

"YOU WHAT?" Sakura yelled. She wanted to cry, she wanted to sob… Naruto had just confirmed with his actions that he didn't to work on their marriage… It hurt… But Sakura hated crying, she felt like the weak little girl she used to be when she cried.

"Yeeeeah! And Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei and even Sasuke were there! And they gave me all this advice! I…"

"You promised me you would come straight home Naruto." Sakura quietly interrupted.

"Well I…"

"You broke your promise to me Naruto… you've never broken a promise to me before." Sakura nearly whispered. "You chose to get drunk instead of work on our marriage with me."

"Work on our marriage? You were going to…"

"Save it Naruto." Sakura seethed as her anger started to build. "You don't want to work on our marriage? Fine. I won't try to make you work on it anymore."

"Sakura I…"

"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura yelled angrily. She knew what she had to do now. She couldn't fix their marriage on her own… and Naruto didn't want to help her fix it. So that only left her with one option. It was an option straight out of her nightmares, but it was now the only option she had left.

Sakura shoved her welling sorrow aside and called upon her determination. What she was about to say had to be said. Even if she didn't want to say it.

"I want a divorce." Sakura whispered as she focused on maintaining the angry glare on her face. She couldn't let Naruto see her pain… her weakness. She was no longer the weak little girl she used to be.

"WHAT? Sakura…"

"No Naruto. Tonight said all I needed to know. You don't want to fix our marriage. If you don't want to fix it, there's no point in us trying to maintain it. The longer we do this, the worse it's going to be in the end."

"No, you don't…"

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight. I'm going to move in with my parents tomorrow, you can keep the apartment." Sakura again interrupted.

"You don't want to do this! I…I know what to do now!" Naruto drunkenly retorted, his eyes wide with terror. "And this is your apartment, you don't want to leave it."

Sakura's eyes widened. "This is my apartment?" She hissed.

"Well… yeah! I moved into your apartment with you, I…"

"THIS WAS OUR APARTMENT!" Sakura roared. She didn't know why it made her so angry that Naruto didn't consider their apartment his… but her blood boiled in rage.

"But…"

"No Naruto. No buts. I don't want to hear anything else from you. Shut up and go to sleep. I'm going to have Shizune take over as your assistant. I can't be near you. Now I'm going to bed."

"Sakura!"

Sakura ignored her soon to be ex husband, stormed into their bedroom and slammed the door shut. She jumped onto the bed that had been so magical a year ago and her tears finally started falling.

"Sakura…please don't do this." Naruto begged from the other side of the door. "I know how to fix it! I love you!"

"I love you too Naruto." Sakura whispered too quietly for her drunk husband to hear as more tears continued to pour from her eyes. She wanted to believe that he knew how to fix everything... but he was drunk. He chose to get drunk instead of coming home as he promised. Naruto had proven with his actions tonight that he did not want to fix their marriage... She wanted to get up, throw the door open and drag Naruto into bed with her... She wanted everything to be perfect again... But that wasn't possible anymore. Their marriage had officially failed...

"Go to bed Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto leaned his forehead against the door to Sakura's bedroom. He was absolutely terrified and he had a giant pit in his stomach. He thought about trying to reason with Sakura more… But he knew he was drunk, and Sakura was furious.

He mentally scolded himself for giving into his fear. But it was too late to go back now. He held back the tears that were threatening to fall. He knew how to fix everything… Tomorrow he would talk to his wife. Tomorrow Naruto would make everything better.

He stumbled over to the couch and plopped down.

Don't worry Sakura-chan… I'll make this all better... That's a promise. A smile found its way onto Naruto's face. He was definitely going to fix everything tomorrow. He would still get to give Sakura her Christmas gift that he had worked so hard on... that he knew she would love so much.


Oh no! What kind of asshole writer writes a NaruSaku Christmas story where they get a divorce! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!

Feel free to leave your thoughts on this chapter, or just wait to review on the third one! December 24 is going to be up soon, and I'll be writing December 25 right after that! Morale of the story- all three chapters of the story are going to be posted tonight =)