This chapter is meant to take place when Naruto & co. are 11 years old, the last year in the academy before they become Team 7, and several years after the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. Some things might not make complete sense due to the timeline (like inter-team relationships) but some things I just had to do for the fun of it. It is Christmas, after all!
I know that the characters in the story probably wouldn't have the kind of connection portrayed as of yet, but since you can't write a good story without personality, I just used the relationships from later on in their lives. It was a lot of fun giving Asuma's cell some spotlight, and throwing Kiba in there. Kishimoto has so many fun characters to play with.
All characters, techniques, and terms belong to Masashi Kishimoto, creator of the Naruto Universe. The only rights I claim to this story are for the plot. Do not distribute this fic without my permission and proper credit.
Make Love, Not... Snowball War?
The walk to class was colder than usual. A biting wind numbed his skin all the way from the Uchiha district to the schoolyard. Every tree was coated in lights, and every yard, a fresh blanket of snow. Everyone he passed was busy preparing for the holidays, bustling in and out of stores and homes for last minute gifts and preparations. The cold of winter permeated every fiber of his being, but it was no match for his frozen heart.
Christmas was a time of misery for Sasuke Uchiha. The last of his namesake for over four years, almost half a decade had passed since his last merry Christmas. Almost half a decade since his closest friend and only brother had destroyed everything he loved. Since that time, there had been no joy in his life. Nothing could fill the void left by his family for even a moment. Christmas merely put on display every cruel twist and wrongdoing in Sasuke's life.
A storefront lit up as its owner tested the new arrangement of lights. "Merry Christmas," it read. Satisfied, the storekeeper pulled the plug, and the lights went dark. Sasuke's life, described in only seconds. There had been a time when he had been excited for this season. A time when his face lit up at the presents under the tree. Yet now, there was only darkness.
Merry Christmas… his last merry Christmas was almost too long ago to recall. Perhaps he simply didn't want to recall it. Nearly all of his memories before the murder of his clan had vanished. It only hurt him more to think of his family. Over time, the memories simply faded away from disuse.
One faint recollection floated to the top of his mind. He had been staring out over the lakeside, talking to a girl with pink hair. She could only be Sakura Haruno, from his academy class. That's right… he had spent Christmas day with her. And from what he could remember, after that day he had spent more time with her at school, talking with her on walks home and by the lake at the park.
It was only after his brother's betrayal that she had ceased to be a part of his life. Sasuke withdrew into himself for a long time. Nothing mattered to him now. Sasuke clenched his fist. Only revenge.
Sasuke shook his head, letting the memory of her pass as all the others had. She was part of his old life. There was no room for her now. Giving one last look to the falling snow, erasing even the faintest trace of grass in the yard, he walked inside.
"Come on, come on, you can do it," Naruto chanted to himself, staring at the only clock in the classroom. "You can do it little buddy, just a little faster…"
The last day of school before Christmas vacation. Almost a holiday in itself, really. There were traditions and celebrations on this day unlike any other. Naruto came to school, he watched the clock for several hours, encouraging its progress and urging it to press onward, he got in trouble, and he left at the end of the day, cheering. Nothing productive ever got done on this day, only lectures.
Why do I come here on the last day, anyway? Naruto thought to himself.
"Naruto!" Iruka called out. "How long are you going to stare at that clock?"
"As long as it takes to scare him into ringing that stupid bell!" Naruto yelled back. The class laughed. Iruka sighed deeply to himself.
"Alright, alright, settle down, students," Iruka said. As usual, the children of Konohagakure were growing more and more restless as Christmas vacation neared. The fact that so many had even attended this last class could only mean that their parents dropped them off to accomplish last minute Christmas shopping.
"We don't have anything too challenging for today, being the last class before Christmas," Iruka continued. "And seeing as how that's the case, I think we should spend it having a little educational fun!"
The class groaned at the word "educational," but Iruka calmed them down with a raised hand.
"As a ninja, you will face many challenging and unpredictable scenarios. Sometimes, you'll have no choice but to fight your way out over unstable terrain with whatever weapons you can fashion yourself."
Oh great, Sasuke thought as he figured out what was next. Here it comes…
"And so, we have decided to replicate this situation by issuing…"
Oh no, Sakura moaned, not a-
"… a snowball war!!" Iruka cheered. The students all went wide-eyed and squealed in delight. "Students will be pitted against their Chuunin instructors! All classes will cooperate with one another. You have five minutes to get outside and make preparations for the war, starting… now!"
The students clamored out of their seats and scrambled to get out the door as quickly as they possibly could, yanking coats off their hangers and trailing scarves across the floor behind them. None of them even bothered to close the door. Only Sasuke and Sakura trailed behind, the former standing calmly from his seat and making his way to his jacket as the latter hesitantly followed.
He looks so depressed, Sakura thought sadly. She wanted to reach out to him some way, even if it was just to wish him a merry Christmas, but she was afraid to bother him. I would give anything to make his Christmas as happy as he once made mine.
In the years following that wonderful Christmas day long ago, more than once Sakura had tried to talk to him. She would put on her best smile and ask him if he'd like to walk home together, or wish him "Merry Christmas," but he only mumbled in response. He had completely changed after the death of his clan. Though he had never been overly talkative or friendly, neither had he been cold or brooding. The Sasuke that stood before her had no interest in her, neither good nor bad. It was as though she didn't exist to him.
Sakura followed him slowly, lost in thought as she put on her white earmuffs and coat over her green sweater and red skirt. Sasuke wrapped a crimson scarf around his neck and exhaled deeply as he stared outside frozen world.
"Hey Sasuke," Iruka called behind them. "I'm expecting a lot from you, even if it's just playing in the snow."
Sasuke stared back for a moment or two as the cold wind whipped his raven hair across his face, and then moved on.
"Sure."
I wish I could make him smile one more time, Sakura thought miserably as she watched his solemn features crease in anger.
The freezing wind blew harder, and she shivered in her knee-length skirt.
Just one more time.
Sasuke quickly moved to the trees just outside the yard once he got outside, certain that the teachers wouldn't be giving them the full five minutes promised. He pulled himself up to a branch about 15 feet above the ground behind two large evergreens. The pine trees still had their dark needles, which provided enough cover that Sasuke wouldn't be seen right away, but he still had a good view of most of the yard.
From what he saw, some students were digging in, setting up small walls to hide behind, others were preparing ammunition in the form of snowballs, and others were flat out hiding behind some of the smaller trees in the yard. A larger group was forming up on the right side of the yard in front of Naruto Uzumaki.
"Allllllright, troops!!" Naruto shouted from the short stone wall that encircled the academy yard. He was holding a fallen tree branch and drawing a crude map in the snow as he rallied the students around him. "Listen up! The teachers will be coming out of the three back doors, here, here, and here!" He indicated with an "X" scratched into his makeshift blueprint. "We will be waiting for them here, and here. Build up strong forts and make lots of snowballs! As soon as they come out the doors, we pummel them! Any questions?"
"What happens if they come out before we're ready?" A voice asked from behind him.
"Who cares?" Naruto grinned as he turned to face his questioner, not even looking at him. "I won't let Iruka-sensei sneak up on me!"
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called from the crowd.
"What?" He asked.
The children only stared in horror as they all pointed behind him.
"I know I said five minutes," the voice said. "But a ninja should always be prepared, right Naruto?"
He screamed in terror as he was buried under a mountain of snow thrown by all the instructors, who must have gone out the front door and circled around the tree line. It was no secret that they weren't fond of Naruto. They probably had that five-minute trick planned out all day just to humiliate the poor kid.
Students fled their forts in every direction, crying out in fear as they tried to avoid the frosty blows being fired from their teachers. Sasuke remained motionless, knowing that the worst thing he could do would be to move, and give his position away. Slowly, he rolled a snowball in his hand, ignoring the burning-cold sensation of ice on his bare skin. Gloves would be too imprecise. He would only have one shot before they caught on to him.
The entire yard was pure chaos. The students had abandoned their walls and stockpiles the moment their instructors had buried Naruto. Only a few children dared to fight back, and they were quickly crushed underneath a pile of snow as punishment for their courage. The only chance they had was to team up and take the instructors on with a numbers advantage, but fear had overcome their simple minds.
Sasuke's eyes sharpened as he saw the opportunity for a clean strike. Mizuki-sensei had just cornered a student and was preparing to throw. Sasuke lashed out like a whip, the snowball that had been melting against the heat of his hand and freezing again in the cold air now streaking towards its target with blinding speed.
"Aaargg!!" Mizuki yelled as the now icy snowball smashed into his face with more force than he thought a snowball could muster.
Sasuke didn't even stick around to see the look on his face, already moving to a new position, as he was sure another instructor had seen where the attack came from. He launched himself from branch to branch, finally deciding on a high perch in one of the tall trees next to more evergreens. He glanced back to ensure he hadn't been followed, as well as checking on his secondary attack.
One of the teachers had seen his throw, and raced to his initial position- only to get tangled up in the rope trap that Sasuke left behind.
"Ahh! Someone get me down!" The teacher called out, embarrassed.
They're pathetic, Sasuke sighed. This is how Konoha's Chuunin measure up against the Uchiha clan? They can't even stand up to an academy student!
A scream woke him from his thoughts, and he could see from his perch Ino Yamanaka, a blonde girl in his class being cornered by two teachers. They grabbed two fistfuls of snow and prepared to throw them, then suddenly froze.
"What's going on?" One of them asked as his hands opened against his will to drop the snowballs.
"Is this Kage Mane no Jutsu?" The other asked. "I didn't even know Shikamaru had learned his family jutsu! He's always so lazy in class!"
"As troublesome as it is," Shikamaru Nara answered as he stepped out from behind the tree next to Ino. "My mom makes me practice every day."
"Phew," Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "You could have been a little faster with that move, Shikamaru, what would you have done if they had hit my beautiful face with those snowballs?!"
Shikamaru groaned and muttered to himself, "Probably would have spent my days in more peace and quiet."
"What was that you just whispered?" Ino cried out.
"Why are we getting so worked up over a snowball fight?" Shikamaru grumbled. "What's the worst that's going to happen? Getting hit by some snow?"
"Oh, Shikamaru, why can't you be more self-motivated like Sasuke-kun?"
"Sasuke? What's that guy got to do with this?"
"Don't be jealous of Sasuke-kun's good looks and amazing skill, Shikamaru, I'm sure you could do better if you would just try harder."
"What are you even talking about? When did the subject change to be all about that guy?" Shikamaru exclaimed. "Women are so troublesome…"
"What are you saying about me now?" Ino protested.
"Um, kids," The suspended teacher interjected. "Are you going to do anything but argue?"
"Don't rush a perfect battle strategy!" Ino answered. "Choji, now!"
The four shinobi waited silently for a moment as the wind blew.
"Choji!" Ino yelled.
"Mmmff, just a minute!" Choji Akimichi called out from behind the wall.
"What are you eating now?!" Shikamaru accused.
"Mmmff… nothing! Mmmf."
"Dang it, Choji, are you making snow cones?!" Ino yelled.
"Did you actually bring the syrup to make snow cones to class?" Shikamaru added.
"Come on, guys, I was hungry!" Choji whined.
Ino and Shikamaru only bowed their heads and sighed in exasperation.
"You guys had the right idea," one of the teachers started to say. "But your teamwork still needs a little fine-tuning!"
Shikamaru's shadow withdrew, the time limit reached.
"Sorry kids, but it looks like you don't have enough chakra to hold us any longer," the other added. "Now what are you going to do?"
"This is bad," Shikamaru muttered as the teachers picked up new snowballs.
"Ya-hooo!!!" Kiba Inuzuka howled as he and his dog Akamaru jumped in the middle of the fray. "Take this! Double Avalanche!!"
He and Akamaru squatted down on all fours and flailed in the snow like dogs digging for a bone, shoveling the snow right into the faces of the two instructors, who spat and sputtered as it covered them.
"Ya-hoo! This is the best project ever!" Kiba gave a toothy grin. "Come on, Shino, help me bury these guys!"
Shino Aburame stood motionless in the corner of the school and the wall, bundled up in a massive gray coat, still wearing his signature sunglasses.
"Insects do not enjoy cold weather," he stated seriously. "Especially not the snow."
Kiba could only glance back awkwardly. "Yeah… okay then."
"Bark!" Akamaru yipped to get his partner's attention.
"You're right Akamaru, more for us! Ya-hooo!!" Kiba cheered as he continued to bury the unfortunate instructors.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Iruka were having a Western stand-off in the middle of the schoolyard. Each one scrutinized the other for the slightest movement that would set them off.
"You see that, Naruto?" Iruka asked, tilting his head to his classmates. "They used teamwork, surprise, and deception to get the better of their teachers. That's the only way a shinobi can be successful on a mission, Naruto. You won't get anywhere just swinging your fists by yourself."
"Ha! You say that because you don't know who I am, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called back.
In an instant, Naruto was across the yard, right in front of Iruka, who kicked up a wall of snow.
"Nice try!" Naruto jeered as he leaped over the snow and over Iruka's head, grabbing his teacher's collar to slow his momentum and to deliver a surprise. "Now take this! Naruto's Snow-Down-the-Back Icy Pants jutsu!"
Just before he could get the snow down his sensei's back, Iruka vanished, using the substitution jutsu with a nearby snowman, which fell on top of Naruto.
"Ahh! You cheater! Where did you go?!" Naruto yelled as he ran in circles with a backwards snowman head.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata Hyuga mumbled as she watched from behind a tree on the other side of the yard, pained at his trouble. She gasped when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Worrying about that kid, huh?" A teacher asked, lifting up a huge snowball. "You should be worrying about yourself, Hinata-chan. A ninja should never let their guard up!"
He was about to drop it when he was struck with a very small snowball in the back of the head.
"Leave her alone!" Sakura yelled as Hinata scrambled away to safety.
Sakura! Sasuke thought urgently.
"Very good, Sakura-chan! A teammate who values her comrades' safety is important in a three-man cell!" The teacher praised.
Sakura, always the perfect student, beamed over getting the "correct answer."
"However, now you're alone, without any backup. You have to think a step ahead in battle, Sakura-chan! Without checking the area for reinforcements, you've attacked your opponent without knowing if there is one or many!"
Two other teachers dropped down from the trees to surround her.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, but it seems that this time you just didn't do your homework!"
The three teachers cocked their arms back to throw and Sakura screamed, just as the branch Sasuke sat on moved back into its neutral position.
In the blink of an eye, Sasuke had teleported from his perch in the trees to the ground next to Sakura, wrapped his arm around her slender waist, and teleported them both safely behind the three Chuunin teachers. All before the snowballs had left their fingertips.
Sasuke kneeled in the snow; panting, surprised at how much stamina it took to carry both of them such a short distance. He still hadn't mastered the Shunshin no Jutsu, it seemed. Sakura realized quickly what had happened, amazed and joyful at the sight of her handsome savior, but concerned when she saw his drawn face and the beads of perspiration freezing at the tips of his dark hair.
"Sasuke-kun," she started, but he waved her off to tell her that he was fine.
"Very good, Sasuke-kun!" The instructor praised. "I suppose I should have listened to my own advice, eh? That was very skillful for just an academy student! But we can't expect any less from the top of the class, can we?"
Sasuke didn't answer, only taking a deep breath to regulate his breathing as his eyes hardened.
"That's a pretty scary look, Sasuke-kun," another teacher said. "But, like Sakura-chan, you don't have a plan now, do you? You mean to take on all three of us?"
His silent stare was enough of an answer.
"Sasuke-kun, your courage is admirable, but it's time to face reality!" A fourth teacher added as he landed in the snow next to the others. He was the teacher who had fallen for Sasuke's rope trap. The teachers all raised their arms, snowballs ready. "Do you know what comes next?"
Sasuke raised his arms from his sides slowly, then produced hand seals lightning fast. Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.
"Do you?" He asked threateningly.
"Wait, that's a-"
"Katon! Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
Orange flames leapt from his mouth, consuming the falling snow in a moment. The teachers dropped their snowballs and dived aside as the angry flames licked up the ground they had stood on only seconds ago. Steam filled the air around them as the snow instantly evaporated from the heat.
A-amazing, Sakura thought in awe. She had of course read about advanced ninjutsu, but to see Sasuke, not even a Genin ranked student, perform such a huge fire jutsu was simply breathtaking.
The fire died down quickly and Sasuke slumped to his knees, exhausted. Steam from the melted snow enveloped the entire field in front of them.
"Impressive," Mizuki said from behind them, clapping slowly. "But a shinobi must know his limitations. I still owe you for that hit you gave me earlier, Sasuke-kun."
He smiled, but Sakura wasn't at all comforted. Mizuki-sensei was embarrassed that a Genin student had beaten him, if only for a moment, and now he was simply going to remind them who was the instructor and who were the students.
"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun," Mizuki continued. "There's no one to see you lose, so there's no sense in worrying over a silly thing like pride. Unless you're afraid your little girlfriend will be embarrassed that you lost to a teacher. You won't tell anyone, will you, Sakura-chan?"
Sasuke glared at him, but he couldn't defend himself yet, he was still too chakra-depleted. Sakura frantically formed a snowball and prayed it would be enough to help.
"Oh well," Mizuki shrugged, bending over to scoop up a large amount of snow. "You know what they say: 'The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.'"
He lifted the mass of snow above his head for the final blow, his attention entirely devoted to crushing Sasuke and his superiority, while Sakura threw her only weapon.
"Aarg!" Mizuki yelled as it struck him in his eyes. He tensed, causing his giant snowball to crumble above him and cover his face. "Damn brats!"
Sakura didn't have time to answer, instead running forward and grabbing Sasuke's hand, pulling him into the smokescreen his fire jutsu had created. She took him into the trees beyond the cloud and dropped behind a thicker tree trunk, hoping no one saw them. The two of them sat, panting, for several moments.
"Good move…" Sasuke breathed. "hiding… in the steam."
Sakura smiled widely at his praise.
"Thank you," she said nervously, blushing slightly. "And… thank you for saving me earlier."
"Hn. Those idiot teachers get so out of hand…" Sasuke answered angrily.
Sakura laughed softly. "They get way too excited for the holidays. They're just like my father."
"Does he still put up those ridiculous reindeer on the roof?" Sasuke asked, smirking.
"Those and more!" Sakura exclaimed. "He got a sled and Santa to go with it!"
They laughed at that, Sasuke recalling the first time he had spoken with Sakura, and how she had complained about her father's overzealous decorations.
"You… you still remember that about my dad?" Sakura asked.
He turned away, blushing slightly. "Well, I just remember you telling me about his Christmas fanaticism, that's all."
She smiled sweetly to herself, glad that he still remembered that Christmas, even if he didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to ask him more, ask him if he remembered anything else from that day. Remembered how they had connected, and how close they had been after that day, but she didn't know how to ask.
"Um, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn?"
"Um," she fidgeted, but she couldn't find the words.
"What is it?" He asked, giving her an inquisitive stare for a moment before snapping back to attention, seeing a dark shape in the fog.
"Wait," he whispered fiercely, pressing a finger against her lips. His finger was freezing from the snow, but it could have been an icicle for all she cared. Even sitting in the snow wearing a skirt, scared that she was about to be ambushed by some holiday-crazed sensei, she wouldn't trade this moment for anything.
He dropped his finger and took her hand in his own, indicating with a nod that they should jump up a couple branches, and she nodded. He picked a spot in the tree where the trunk split, giving Sakura a good place to sit and still be hidden while he grabbed a chunk of snow and rolled it in his palm.
The shadow in the fog grew darker and larger, and Sakura held her breath in anticipation. Who would it be? Mizuki-sensei again? The shape was definitely taller than a student, running quickly towards them.
Just when she thought she would explode from holding in air, Naruto came running at full speed through the fog, the snowman's head still towering over his own, still backwards. He burst through the smoke at a sprint and ran headlong into a nearby tree.
BAM!
The bark cracked and branches fell on top of him, but he instantly stood up, shaking his fist in the air.
"Damn you Iruka-sensei, that was a cheap shot! I'll get you for that!" He yelled towards the smoke, even though he couldn't see anything but a dark circle. The dark circle became a bigger circle and a snowball came flying through the fog right into his face.
"You shouldn't give away your position, Naruto!" They heard Iruka's voice call. Three tall shadows moved towards them through the vapor.
"Bring it on!!" Naruto yelled, scooping up snow and throwing it in a windmill motion with both arms. "Take that! And that! And that and that and that and…"
Using the commotion to their advantage, Sasuke and Sakura slipped away back further in the trees, stopping by a giant oak tree. Its roots were partially exposed, creating a hollow at the base of its trunk. Confident in their secrecy, Sakura could finally breathe easily once more.
"What were you saying, Sakura?" Sasuke asked innocently, causing her breath to catch once more.
"Um, uh, brr, it's cold!" She said, pathetically trying to push her thoughts away.
Sasuke chuckled. "I'd expect to hear that from someone wearing a skirt."
"It's fashionable!" She defended, blushing deeply as she tried to pull the skirt down a little bit.
He laughed as he removed his jacket. "Come here," he said holding out his arms.
Shocked and nearly happy to tears, Sakura moved closer to him, curling up against his warm body as he covered her bare legs with his coat. "You aren't cold?" She asked as she rested her head against his shoulder hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it," he answered.
"Thank you," she whispered, smiling against his chest. "…Sasuke, do you remember that Christmas Day we spent together?"
"I remember," he murmured. "My last merry Christmas."
There was a deep sadness in his voice. A scar that still hadn't healed, and maybe never would. Sakura could bring back the happiness that he lost when he lost his family. She knew that now. But she would do anything for him if it would restore even a small part of that happiness.
"It doesn't have to be your last," she whispered back, her voice shaking slightly, her body trembling, and not from the cold. Slowly, she craned her neck back and kissed his warm cheek, which only got warmer.
Thank you for reading Crimson Christmas chapter 2! I hope that last sentence was clear; I couldn't think of any other way to word it. The point is, Sasuke starts blushing, meaning blood rushes to his cheeks, meaning it gets warmer? Is that how biology works? I really don't know. XD
Anyway, thank you again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the second installment of Crimson Christmas. Chapter 3 is now finished, but I'm leaving to visit family, so it will be up sometime on Christmas day, and the next couple chapters will -hopefully- be up within a week after Christmas. If it gets to be after New Year's, I'll probably just wait to finish it up next year or something...
If you enjoyed the story, hated the story, or see some room for improvement, let me know by writing a review! I love to read them and I respond to every one I get (though sometimes not as fast as I'd like to, sorry!).
Merry Christmas, everyone!
-Uchiha Ryken