Christmas in July.

Why?

Because the powers that be are in the holiday spirit but the timeline for this work of fiction doesn't allow December to proceed July. Stupid logic.


BONUS CHAPTER

Christmas In July


Sakura paused in the washing of the dishes. The suds were warm and clinging to her skin when she pulled her arms back out of the dish water. She tapped her palms against the rim of the sink once or twice before taking a dish towel off the hook to wipe them clean.

"This weekend?" she repeated, sounding confused. "Isn't that kind of sudden? It's already Thursday."

"We like doing impromptu things," Kakashi laughed. He was hovering awkwardly in the kitchen with nothing to truly do except watch Sakura clean the dishes. Sakura didn't mind, but she thought it was odd that he tended to hover when she vacuumed or cleaned. "Do you have plans, Sakura chan?"

Sakura hooked the damp dish towel back onto the hook beside the sink and turned to the stack of drying dishes in the dish rack. Before she answered, she pulled the first two out and began stacking them. "No, I don't have plans, but I really wasn't looking forward to making plans."

She almost said something along the lines of, 'I've been tired a lot, lately and want to sleep in bed all day,' but decided against it because that sounded like complaining. Besides, they didn't need to know anything more about her chronic headaches or the spells of drowsiness that hit her like a freight train not long after being around her brothers too long.

She felt a stab of guilt in her chest and mentally berated herself for the gut reaction to blame the boys for her problems. It wasn't their fault. They had been nothing but kind to her since she moved in with them and not once did she ever have cause for concern or doubt her safety. They were all trying their best to be perfect gentlemen around her, even Madara.

Regardless of that, Tobi was still the only person she really actively sought out and didn't mind spending the whole day with. He didn't make her nervous or anxious or want to leave the doors always open to the outside. That was something Kabuto taught her. Keep the doors open unless you're alone. When you're alone, keep them bolted.

"There's actually this tradition we were hoping we could get to. Sunday is the first day of July and we celebrate it with Christmas."

Sakura felt a tug on her lips. "Christmas in July?" she almost laughed. "For real, you do that?"

"We used to, every year. Sometimes only a few of us make it up to the cabin, but tradition dictates that we take the weekend off, drive up to the mountains where it is always cold, decorate the cabin with lights and decorations, set up a bonfire, and exchange gifts we bought the night before in the village." Kakashi's smile began to grow with each word. "We each randomly pick a person and become their secret Santa. The kids used to love it when they were younger."

"I'm not a kid anymore," Sakura started to say.

"Neither am I, but Tobi still is, and I think he would enjoy it if you were there. He's started going straight to you after his nightmares now for snuggles. I'm jealous."

Sakura laughed and it was so natural that Kakashi almost winced, because she didn't laugh like that with any of them for anything else. In fact, she didn't laugh very much at all. Her smiles were all polite, but never easy.

Kakashi was being honest when he said he was jealous, but it wasn't Sakura he was jealous of. No, he was jealous for Tobi and his all access pass to the more vulnerable sides of Sakura's character. It had been almost two months and there was still a lot of distance between Sakura and the other boys that Kakashi wanted to see grow smaller…at least in his case. Sasuke could stay a stalker in the shadows for all he cared.

"Will you come?"

"I don't know. How long would I be gone?"

"Just until monday. We drive back in the morning and make it back before dark. You won't miss much."

Sakura stacked a few more dishes. "I'll think about it. Let me call my friends and let them know, because I think we were going to do something together this weekend, but Ino wouldn't tell me what. If it's not important they can just wait until I get back."

"So you'll come?"

Sakura sighed, pretending to be dramatic. "If you insist."

Kakashi crossed the room to stop in front of Sakura and reached out to squeeze her elbow. It was meant to be endearing or comforting, or even caring, but it almost felt like Sakura stiffened from the touch. He pulled up another honest smile and she relaxed a little.

"Pack for the cold. Plenty of hoodies and coats if you get cold easily." He took a step backwards, glancing at the cute white apron she wore before meeting her eyes again with the same smile from before. "I'll let the boys know and see who else wants to come."

Most of the males in the house had zero to no interest in going with Kakashi and Tobi up to the cabin, tradition or not. Obito was sort of wrapped up and obsessed with following Rin around wherever she went during the summer vacation, Sai was as chatty as ever, and Sasuke didn't like hanging out with Kakashi, least he be spoiled and treated like a child again. The rest of the males seemed to have excuses of work or school or a combination of the both.

It took Pein stopping by Sakura's room to return a book he borrowed to change his mind. She had a suitcase out half filled with cute sweaters and cable knit cardigans open on her bed. She was pulling boots out of her closet when she spotted him and asked his advice on the terrain of the area surrounding the cabin she would be staying at with Tobi and Kakashi.

'Cute boots or hiking boots?'

Pein calmly and politely replied that it could get muddy sometimes, so it was wiser to overpack and bring tall boots. When Saura asked him if he was going he nodded and made an excuse as to why he wasn't already packed before making a beeline for his room. Itachi was intelligent enough to notice the swift change in his adopted brother and double checked with Sakura before packing himself. By the time they were ready to leave Friday morning, Kakashi had to make room in the rented van for Pein, Itachi, Sasori, and Sasuke. Thankfully Shisui and Madara were away enough that they weren't aware of the situation.

Sasuke wasn't shy about aggressively perusing a seat next to Sakura on the bench, while Sasori pinned her in on the other side. Pein and Itachi were a bit more reserved about showing their eagerness and took seats in the back behind Sakura's bench.

When Sasori looked back over his shoulder, Pein's eyes were narrowed in the red head's direction. Sasori stuck his tongue out and then faked a yawn before resting the edge of his head on the corner of her shoulder.

"Sakura, I'm sleepy," he whispered around another yawn.

"You're not used to waking up so early," she hummed, absently patting the wild and stray strands of hair that managed to tickle the underside of her chin. "Try and go back to sleep, it's a long car ride."

"Not too long," Kakashi corrected from behind the driver's wheel. "It's only three and a half hours the way I drive, and the traffic isn't so bad."

"Do you like road trips, Sakura?" Pein asked, trying to engage Sakura in conversation.

Sakura gave a little half shrug, since Sasori was already on her shoulder. "I've never been on a road trip, my only experience with them is the overly romanticized movie plots that use road trips as a means of achieving personal transformation in the characters."

Pein nodded at her words. "The fulfillment of a journey, I'm familiar with that trope."

"What about through school, didn't you ever travel as a class for school trips?" Itachi interjected before Pein and Sakura could start rolling on the literary interpretations of common tropes in popular fiction. While it was a subject Itachi could keep up with, there was no doubt that it was Pein's subject of excellence and that meant no one but Sakura would be able to get a word in edgewise.

Itachi didn't smirk when he felt his adopted brother's glare.

Sakura squirmed a little in her seat, cheeks flushing. "I went once, to Koto, but that was by train and I slept most of the ride there and back. I was not the most social kid at the time so I don't remember it fondly."

"I have a hard time believing that. You're so sociable at University." Sasuke had a small leather box out that, when unfolded, transformed into a checkers game-board for both he and Sakura to play. She smiled when she saw the game and quickly helped him set up the pieces.

"I did a lot of growing up between then and now. I don't think anyone is the same person they were in high school, for better or for worse, we all change."

Sakura watched her thought his bangs, remembering how engaging she was with the other students and the professor while he sulked in the back. He couldn't picture Sakura switching places with him and being the moody emo kid with daddy issues. But then again, Sakura could be reserved when she felt threatened.

As unintentional as it had been, there had been a few incidents where Sasuke or another male spooked her, got too close, popped her personal bubble, and she shut down. She could be friendly and outgoing, but it sapped her energies to keep it up, and when she was spent she retreated like a proper hermit to regenerate all that lost energy.

Sakura was a puzzle. There were so many sides to her and so many mysteries about how she thought and felt for Sasuke to understand. Sometimes he felt like he would never solve the puzzle that was Sakura, but even then, he always felt she was worth the trouble of trying.

"King me!" Sakura cried, breaking through the haze of his thoughts. In the seats ahead of them, Tobi laughed at the look on Sasuke's face.

"If my foolish younger brother is not providing enough of a challenge for you," Itachi began to say, putting his phone away and leaning over the back of the seat. "I would be more than willing to take his place."

"Not a chance," Sasuke hissed, pushing his brother's face away. "It's just one stupid king, that's not enough to take me down."

Sakura smiled knowingly before proceeding to king all her remaining pieces and wipe out the last of Sasuke's pieces. Itachi chuckled in the background as Sasuke stuttered. "Ah-a-a best two out of three!"

Together the group was a controlled sort of wild with games, sweet snacks, and loud stories as each brother tried to out-do the other and leave an impression on their only sister. Oddly enough, once they arrived at the cabin, it was Kakashi who was the most worn out and needed a break after unloading. Driving so long always wore him out, so he expected as much before he signed up as driver.

Tobi burned brightly, cheering over everything and getting excited enough to run laps through the cabin while the others pulled bags and luggage from the van. By the time Kakashi retreated to on of the back rooms for a power nap, Tobi was dead on his feet. Sakura thought it was cute how the pair of them passed out on the same bed, face down, arms sprawled. The oldest and the youngest were the most alike.

"Are you tired?" Sasori asked, picking up a piece of lint that clung to the shoulder of her sweater. Sasori sounded tired and a part of him always looked tired, so it sort of made sense for him to be the one to suspect her of being tired.

Sakura shook her head, grinning out of the side of her mouth. "Nah, I'll crash later, but I want to do something now. What about you? You slept all that time, didn't you?"

Sasori wouldn't meet her eyes but shrugged. Maybe he did fall asleep for a little while in the car, but most of the time he just wanted to be on her shoulder. He pretended he didn't see Pein glaring at him.

"Traditionally," Sakura began, looking to Itachi and Sasuke. "What do you do the first night here?"

Itachi's smile was subtle but clearly evident. "Ah," he pointed to a empty place on the carpet. "We set up the tree and decorate."

"Great!" Sasuke exclaimed, patting his brother on the back and pushing him towards Pein. "You two can pull it out of the garage and set it up while Sakura and I pull down decorations from the hall closet."

"Then we can all decorate together," Sakura finished, seeing the picture of their plans. In light of her smile, both Itachi and Pein nodded their heads and pretended it didn't annoy them that Sasuke got the easy job with Sakura. The two groups split up while Sasori retreated to the kitchen to start making snacks for them once they were finished. Being the artist that he was, he was overly particular about how anything was done and in the past the brothers had banned him from the decorating team because of his mood and temper. If Sasori wanted to decorate something, (and he did an amazing job of it whenever he did,) he had to work alone, least one of the brothers suffer his direction.

"I've never decorated a tree this large before," Sakura commented, watching as Pein and Itachi set up the base. It was a large tree that would reach the roof by the time they were done putting it together.

"Haven't you had christmas trees before?" Sasuke asked, setting his box of glass balls down.

"We've had trees before, but only really small ones, the kind you put up on a table. Dad would only come back for a week or so around the holidays and it was never…I didn't decorate on my one because I never saw the use in it. I would be the only one to see it for most of the time anyway."

"That's sort of…sad." Sasuke frowned at his own words. To him, tress and decorations and lights had always been a bother, a chore he had to do because it needed to be done. He never remembered wanting to do it, or appreciating the final product or how much happier they all were once it was finished. Christmas always had a lot of lights and decorations. He couldn't imagine Christmas without it.

"Maybe," Sakura answered, bring him back to the present. "But, at least I get to try it out now with others. It's fun for the first time."

'God you're so cute,' Sasuke inwardly whined to himself. He wanted to just jump her already and squeeze her to death and do….other things. But he knew, the sane part of him anyway, knew that Sakura wouldn't like that and if there was something he valued more than her body it was her respect. If nothing else, he desired being close to Sakura, being a part of her life, and he couldn't do that if she lost all respect for him and cut him out of her life like she did in his occasional nightmares.

"You going to snap out of it anytime soon?" Pein intoned, picking glass balls out of the box in Sasuke's hands to hang.

Sasuke snapped out of it and saw that the tree was already snapped together and Sakura was already hanging ornaments with a little steadying help from Itachi. Sasuke wasn't the only one watching the exchange with envy. Beside him, Pein simmered in controlled displeasure.

"Sakura, if I hand you ornaments will you hang them?" Sasuke asked, thinking fast. He put on a harmless face that beamed with attention and Sakura responded just the way he knew she would.

"I'll hand you the hooks," Pein added, not to be outdone.

Itachi chuckled darkly to himself, taking a step back and letting the trio do their thing with one side while he attended to the other. In little to no time the group had exhausted all their ornaments and Sasori was finishing his breakfast for dinner treats.

Waffles weren't hard to make, but Sasori had also pulled out the bacon and sausages to fry and heated up hot chocolate for later. The smell was enough to rouse both Tobi and Kakashi from their power naps. While the others set the table, Kakashi put on 'It's a Wonderful Life' and let it play in the background while they ate together as a family.

"We have one more major tradition to see to before tonight is over," Itachi began, wiping his mouth with the backside of his thumb.

"Two traditions," Sasuke cut in. Itachi shook his head and rolled his eyes while Sasuke beamed.

"What's the two traditions?" Sakura asked, glancing between both brothers.

Kakashi reached behind him on the counter and pulled down a metal can with popsicle sticks inside. He sorted through a few and gave a blank one to Sakura along with a sharpie. "Write your name on it and put it name side down back in the tin. We use these to decide who buys for who when we go shopping for gifts tomorrow. We used to do it for everyone, but that was just too much on such short notice."

"Like secret santa," Tobi added with a nod.

"The other major tradition," Itachi began, glancing sideways at Sasuke. "Is that we all go out to view the lights in town. Part of the reason we have this tradition in our family is because it has been a tradition in this mountain town for far longer. Those who live here year round always have their lights up and some of the displays are a sight to see."

"I want to ride on Pein's head!" Tobi squealed, running over to his older brother in barely contained glee. Before Pein could protest, Tobi climbed out and hugged his brother around the head. "Pein has the best hair for warms, he he."

Sakura blushed, hiding her smile behind her napkin at the face Pein made in response. It was hard for anyone to say no to Tobi. The only thing funnier was Kakashi's crestfallen look of disappointment.

"What about my hair?" Kakashi asked, trying to sound jovial.

"Too thin," Tobi quipped, still hugging Pein around his head. Kakashi face fell in the background, making Sakura giggle.

"I'll go get our coats then," Itachi said, standing up and moving to the hall closet where all the extra heavy coats were kept.

Sakura moved to get her own oversized sweater out of her luggage, but Itachi stopped her and handed her an extra coat that had been his in years past. It was a bit big for her, but Itachi pulled her close to him and adjusted it so that it had a snugger fit.

Sakura held her breath as he pulled on the buttons and then coiled a scarf around her neck. His deaf hands, long, slender, pale, were so close to her hipbones she thought he was going to grab her and pull her into him the way a lover would, but it was only her imagination making things weird. She fought back the blush and smiled her awkwardness away, readjusting the scarf so that it tucked into her coat.

"Better?" he asked, watching her.

She nodded, letting some of her loose hair fall in front of her face. "Better."

"I made hot chocolate," Sasori said, interrupting. He held out a stainless steel canister and handed it to Sakura before producing a second he handed to Itachi. Then, without another word, the red head turned his back to them and followed Pein out the door.

They didn't drive, but Kakashi knew a side road that cut them through some back yards and soon enough they were on the next street over, walking down the sidewalks and looking at the yards all lit up in lights. It was amazing to someone like Sakura, who never took the time to actually see lights around Christmas time. They were always there, but she never stopped to look at them. Each new house brought more joy with every bulb lit up. She couldn't help but squeal a little alongside Tobi who was getting just as worked up.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this?" she breathed to herself, feeling her nose go numb from too long outside.

"Looking at lights?" Sasuke asked.

"Enjoying the lights with family."

Sasuke had been reaching for her hand with his but stopped. He looked at her face again and felt a twinge. "Yeah," he agreed, pulling his hand back. "I'm glad you're here with me too."

"It's all so lovely," she hummed, watching as a miniature carousal of reindeer and elves rotated in lights. Another house with trees wrapped in yellow lights blinked and twinkled in time with a music box melody that made her grin like a little girl. Sasuke watched it all with eyes magnetized to her. He couldn't help voice his agreement with her out loud.

"Yeah, beautiful."

He didn't pay attention to the way his closest brother watched her just as reverently.

By the time they made it back it was past midnight.

The next morning Sakura got up early to made breakfast and the group ate together before pouring into the van and heading into town to buy presents for their secret person. It was no small feat considering how much grief was had over who got Sakura's name and who's name Sakura drew and who was buying for who. Tobi wanted to know the names of everyone and though Sasuke was quieter about it, he also had a secret longing to sneak a peak at everyone's names. He was close to Sakura, so he tried leaning over her shoulder, but she slapped her stick down flat and pinched his cheek.

"No peaking!"

Sasuke would have tried again if for nothing else than to get pinched by Sakura again. His attraction to her was starting to dip into unhealthy levels if he even wanted pain if it came from her. Or maybe he was a M and never realized it till now. If Sakura was his Dom he could see himself being her masochistic sub.

A mental image floated through his mind and he suddenly felt very heated.

'Bad thoughts for breakfast!'

Kakashi had envelops for all of them with money inside, because Sasuke and Sakura didn't have jobs and Tobi was still in grade school. The other brothers declined the offer, scoffing at the idea almost, but Kakashi just smiled at them and forced the envelops into their hands, his smile evident by the way his eyes crinkled above his wool knit sweater.

"What are you getting?" Sasori asked Sakura, dropping his head onto her shoulder. "I'll tell you who I'm buying for if you tell me yours."

Instead of pinching his check Sakura flicked his forehead, causing the red head to pout. "Mind your own business and I'll do the same. We're splitting up, right?"

"As well as can be managed in such a small town. There is a main strip of shops that sell all different things one block over to the tourists. We're staring at the lesser known corners of town where the real treasures can be found," Kakashi answered with a softer smile for Sakura.

"In your own opinion. They may be overpriced, but I like the wears of Main Street," Pein answered, tapping Kakashi on the back before heading off in that direction, followed shortly by Sasori and Deidara.

Sasuke meant to follow Sakura, but when he turned around, she was gone and Kakashi was already on his back, corralling him off in a different direction to shop on his own. No amount of whining or complaining on Sasuke's part made it any easier to break off and search for Sakura so long as Kakashi was around to keep an eye on him.

It was hours before the group finally met back at a cute cafe called the Evergreen Broom. Sakura was one of the last to show up, and when she sat down her cheeks were flushed like she had walked a good distance.

"I did a lot of exploring. This town is sort of amazing and I got a little lost at one point," she explained as the waitress brought them a selection of sandwiches and soups. Tobi offered up his to Sakura but she waved the offer away, content to drink her glass of water until another soup could be set up for her.

Sakura winced to herself and reached down to rub the backs of her legs, feeling the strain of all that walking and frantic running once she realized she had gotten mixed up. It hadn't been long, but the trek had tired her out, and from the way Sasuke was staring at her, she hadn't hidden it well enough.

"Where did you go?" Itachi asked, eyeing the plain brown bag she had set down beside her feet.

Sakura playfully stuck her tongue out at him. "Not your business just yet."

"You can't blame a man for asking, can you?"

"Who said I was blaming you, Itachi?"

"I got lots of things!" Tobi exclaimed, cutting in and demanding the attention of everyone at the table. "I got a bug that hops and it's green, do you want to see it? I can make it hop."

"I wanna see it," Sakura answered, laying her head on the side of the table. She covered her mouth with her hand she felt she had to yawn. Somewhere in the back the radio was playing Carol of the Bells, her favorite holiday song.

"You have to save that until tomorrow," Kakashi cut in. Just because you picked it out doesn't mean you can have it whenever you want. That's a gift, wait until you unwrap it."

Across the table, Sasori sipped his coffee, looking as drowsy as Sakura felt. Sakura peeked at the bags beside his feet and nearly gasped. "Sasori, how many things did you buy?" she asked.

"I like to do my actual Christmas shipping early. Only one thing is for the exchange tomorrow. Everything else will be saved until December. I…hate waiting for most things. I had some extra time, so I decided to get done what I could while I had the opportunity and the means."

"Smart," Sasuke nodded, not meaning it as much.

"I always prefer to scramble at the last minute," Pein added in humor. Sakura chuckled at the scared look on Kakashi's face.

"No wonder you gifts always suck," the older sibling responded.

"At least I get gifts." Pein looked pointedly at Sasuke.

"I forgot you once, just once, and you don't let it go, do you?"

Pein's voice was monotone and devoid of humor when he replied. "Trauma is not easily overcome, Sasuke."

Beside him, Sakura yawned again. Itachi's eyes narrowed before switching over to Kakashi. The older brother nodded in acknowledgment. "Ah, once we are done here we will head back. We have games and movies to entertain ourselves with after we finish wrapping."

Sasuke stuck his tongue out at his brother Itachi. "I already had mine gift wrapped." Wordlessly, Itachi reached inside his bag and pulled up a red and white gift wrapped present complete with a tiny silver bow in the corner.

Sakura yawned again, and this time Tobi took action, hopping off his chair to sit on her lap. He nuzzled his head in between the crook of her neck and shoulder, finding purchase there for his own naps. Kakashi wanted to pull Tobi back and chastise the younger sibling for bothering their sister when she was already tired, but Sakura wouldn't let Tobi go once she felt his warmth. She ended up carrying Tobi all the way back to the van and even into the cabin where he took another nap.

"He's not used to staying up so late and using up so much energy," Kakashi explained.

"We were up pretty late last night," Sakura said, thinking back to the card games she played with Sasuke and Itachi while Elf played on the TV. It had been silly, but no one wanted to go to sleep at midnight, so they decided two in the morning was a better idea. And that was fine for most of them, because they all slept in, but Sakura had been stupid and got up early to make pancakes from scratch. It wasn't that she didn't like the instant waffles last night, but she knew she could do better.

Sakura felt light. Her body was without weight as she drifted into the living room and turned the Christmas tree lights on. A rainbow of colors came to life. Smiling to herself, she pulled a blanket off the couch and curled up underneath the tree. Sasori had cut evergreen branches to lay in a water bowl under the tree skirt, so when Sakura inhaled she smelled the wild outdoors. With the lights and the smells and the sound of a fire Itachi had started un the fireplace, it was all too perfect.

"I don't want to fall asleep," she mumbled into her shoulder.

The radio was playing a soft and soulful O Holy Night in the background. She could feel the eat from the fire and kicked off her boots to curl her toes to.

Someone brushed her hair back and chuckled when she shivered. Another blanket was draped over her body and someone pulled a pillow off the bed to wedge under her head. She felt something cold on her cheep, like lips, before sleep became too much to resist. When she drifted off, it was with the most natural of smiles and the warmest of hearts.

"Merry Christmas Sakura chan."


AN: I like this chapter and I like Christmas and this was, (let me tell you) a much needed break from reality because my life sort of fell apart this year. So, 2014 was my least favorite year of all the years and I just want it to be over and to crawl into a hole and bury myself until the world burns away into nothing. But I liked this chapter. I got the warm fuzzies. I'm also super happy I finished it before Sunday, because that's my birthday and I wanted to get a lot done before then and this was all I could manage.

My other main project, Obelisk, is on track and should be finished and ready for revisions in a week or so. I plan to publish that around New Years if I can manage to sit down long enough. That's where most of my writing time went but I had to sit down and write this chapter. I miss Brother Trouble and I keep getting reviews asking for more, so this should make most everyone happy.

And speaking of happy, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Vesper chan

(Rush edit-will revise at later date.)