Konoha High

7 - Christmas

Amaya Shimizu

New Text Message

From: Ino Yamanaka ^o^

Merry Christmas! There's a party at Hinata's, and you're definitely coming.

New Text Message

From: Sakura Haruno :D

Hey! You're invited to Hinata's house for a Christmas party. Hope you can make it!

New Text Message

From: Hinata Hyuga

Merry Christmas, Amaya-chan! There's a Christmas party at my house, I hope you can make it. If you have any gifts to give any of us, please do bring them. We'll have a small gift exchange (:

New Text Message

From: Shikamaru Nara

Merry Christmas. Are you going to the party at Hinata's house later?

This may have been the most text messages I've gotten at 10 in the morning.

Compose New Text Message

To: Hinata Hyuga, Sakura Haruno :D , Ino Yamanaka ^o^

Merry Christmas to you, too! I'll go to the party (: What time is it though?

Compose New Text Message

To: Shikamaru Nara

I'm going . See you there, and Merry Christmas :D

"Aiko-nee-chan! Merry Christmas!" I shout to her. I'm pretty sure she's awake, since she has this habit of getting up early, even on the days we have no school.

"Morning, and merry Christmas! Come to the kitchen, I made breakfast!" She shouts back.

I jog to the kitchen and take a seat in front of Aiko. She has bacon, eggs, and pancakes with powdered sugar and red-and-green sprinkles all over. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks, Aiko. Itadakimasu!" We both clap twice.

After taking one bite, my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?"

"A-Amaya-chan! It's Hinata, I just called to say that you can come over at around 5 this afternoon. Glad you can make it!"

"Of course, no problem. I'll try to get there on time, but I'm just telling you in advance that I may be early."

"O-okay, that's fine. W-well, bye for now! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" She hangs up, and I continue eating.

"Who was it?" Aiko asks without looking up from her food.

"My friend Hinata. She's throwing a Christmas party."

"So you're going? That's great! What time is it going to start?"

"Five. Do you wanna come?"

"I'll see… But did you get everyone presents?"

"…Just Hinata-chan."

Aiko rapidly finishes her food and sticks the dishes into the sink. "Well hurry up! Get ready, you need to buy gifts for your friends, or they'll be offended that you only got one for Hinata!"

"I-I know! But I have like 6 hours, no rush."

"But the mall is so full on Christmas! Not everybody will be out to celebrate and they have really good discounts at this time, so hurry! I don't wanna get there when it's gonna be crowded."

I finish my breakfast and get dressed. Aiko and I walk to the mall, talking about what each person would want.

"Okay, so you already got something for Hinata. What about…Ino, Sakura, and TenTen? Girls first, they should be easier since they're your gender…if that makes sense."

"I think… they would all appreciate something as simple as makeup or gift cards."

"Um…, okay. Well won't they be somewhat offended to see Hinata got something more personal?"

"Yeah maybe… Gift cards aren't gonna be enough. Maybe just scarves? Like Hinata got."

"Sure. Now what about the guys? I don't know all of their names."

"Um… Kiba-kun, Shikamaru-kun, Naruto-san, Choji-san, Neji-san… I think they'd be fine with money."

"You sure? I can't really tell. I don't have a lot of friends that are boys."

"Yeah. Or treat them to Ichiraku ramen."

She just nods as we step through the mall's entrance. "Let's go get the scarves."

[…]

"So choose the color's you think they'd like."

As I pick them up, I tell my sister. "Red for Sakura; Purple for Ino; White for TenTen."

"Alright! Here, I'll pay half." She hands me the money and I walk to the register.

"Would you like me to wrap these for you, ma'am?" The cashier asks. I nod, so he places them in small boxes and begins wrapping. When he's finished, he hands them to me with my change. "Have a day," he says as we leave.

"Now for the boys… I'll bring them all to Ichiraku…, and that's it I think."

"Well okay," says Aiko. "Let's go home so you can get ready for the party."

It's only 12 in the afternoon, but I get out some formal clothes and let Aiko curl my hair again.

"Take a look," she turns me so I face a mirror. "Did I do okay?"

"Yeah, thanks nee-chan." She did really well. My hair has been curled and I'm wearing a flowy midnight blue blouse with a black skirt, plus black stockings underneath, and black flats.

"Here," Aiko gives me a large plastic bag, which she placed all the gifts in. "Now… You think Hinata will let you go early so you can help her out setting up?"

"I can call…, but I'm four hours early still."

"Well it takes a while, you know; preparing food, setting up the decorations, tidying up…"

"Fine, fine." I dial Hinata's number.

Ring, ring…

"Hello? Amaya-chan?"

"Hi Hinata, do you mind if I come early? I don't mind helping you out with the set up."

"Of course you can. T-Thank you Amaya-chan. It was getting to be a bit too much for Neji and me to handle…"

"No problem, I'll be there in a few minutes."

I throw on a long-sleeved, cream-colored cardigan and a red scarf as I walk through the door.

[…]

The walk to Hinata's house is slow and gentle, but the weather has gotten worse. Snow is falling now, and I'm still about ten minutes away from Hinata's, though I left twenty minutes ago. Usually, it would talk me around 15-20 minutes to walk there, but this snow has already delayed me.

The wind is whipping my face harshly, but I try to ignore it so I can keep a reasonable pace. I pull my scarf over face and bury my hands within the sleeves of my cardigan. My flats are soaked with melted snow. I really hope I don't get sick.

"Hey, Amaya!" Who is that?

"Amaya, over here!"

It's Kiba, calling through the mild snow storm. He's wearing an unbuttoned gray jacket with a fur-rimmed hood over a black t-shirt. And is that a bow-tie I see around his neck? I can't really tell from this distance.

"Oh, hey!" I yell back. I start slowing down so he can walk with me. "I-It's pretty damn cold right now," I say, my teeth chattering slightly.

"Eh, this isn't much to me, but you, on the other hand, look horrible."

"Thanks for that, Kiba."

We don't say anything for a few seconds, so I decide to speak:

"Seriously though, I have been walking for like, thirty minutes already. This snow is insane."

"You should of came prepared. Are you tired of walking yet?"

"Kinda."

"Here-" he bends down, "-You can get on my back."

"Are you sure?" I ask. I think my cheeks are actually getting warmer- and more red, too.

"Yeah, go ahead."

I hop on and let Kiba place his arms around my thighs, while I place mine around his neck. We walk through the snow storm like this for five minutes before reaching Hinata's front door.

I jump down. "Thanks, Kiba. I really needed a break."

"No problem. You're pretty light, so it was nothing, really."

I knock on the door, and soon Hinata opens it with a warm smile on her face.

"Hey, thanks for helping out." She looks at me, then Kiba. "Kiba-kun? I didn't know you'd show up this early, too."

He scratches the back of his head, "I thought the snow would slow me down, so I started walking pretty early."

Hinata looks past us, out at the storm. Her eyes widen. "I didn't know it would be this bad! Should I call everyone else and cancel?"

"Nahh," Kiba shakes his head. "They'll be more disappointed than you are."

"O-Okay.., well let me take your coats." She places them in a closet near the front door.

"So, what do you need help with?" I ask.

"Umm.. Here, could you lay out-" she walks away from the door and is back within five seconds with a tray of food, "-this food? Here, come in." She backs away from the door again so that we can enter, then leads us to an area further into the house.

It's pretty big, with a long table against the wall, a TV against another wall, a few couches and chairs, a fridge, and the Christmas tree, with its red-blue-green-yellow-white lights, and a bright, transparent glass star at the top.

"Okay… so the food can just be laid out on this table," she gestures towards the one against the wall. "And I'll be hanging up some more decorations."

"I'll help you decorate," Kiba offers.

"Thanks, Kiba-kun. Here, Amaya." She hands me the tray filled with onigiri and shrimp tempura and walks off into a different room with Kiba.

Hinata Hyuga

I lead Kiba to a hallway in my house with a string hanging from the ceiling. He pulls on it and a part of the ceiling drops a bit to reveal an entrance to the attic, along with a ladder leading up to it.

I climb the ladder, and Kiba follows along. When we're up, Kiba looks around.

"You've changed it again?"

I nod. Of course he notices; he's been to my house pretty often. The attic also happens to be my room. Its spacey, with my bed against a wall next to my bookshelf, and my dresser on another wall. Four other doors line the wall next to this first door we came through. One leads to the bathroom, another to my closet, the third to my office-ish area, and the last one is the storage room.

I head for the last door and open it, revealing plenty of Christmas décor, extra furniture, and other random items scattered around.

"Kiba, help me lift this box." I start sliding it off of the shelf. He stands next to me and takes the other side as it falls off. We walk it towards the door that leads downstairs, and he lets go to climb down the ladder.

I push the box through the door and let Kiba catch the other side again, then we start walking to where Amaya is.

Amaya is arranging the food on the table as we carefully walk past, trying not to hit her or the table. When we set the box down, I take the ladder I dropped (just after I heard the knock on the door) by the wall and prop it up again.

"Kiba-kun, you can just hand me the decorations while I stand on the ladder."

"K."

I climb it and look down at Kiba, who is lifting the flaps of the box. I point to some red streamers, and he takes it out of the box to give them to me. Using the tacks I placed in the pockets of my sweatshirt earlier, I attach them to the wall.

"Here." I didn't even ask, but Kiba hands me green streamers when I finish placing on the red ones.

"Thanks." I intertwine the red and green streamers before pinning the green ones to the wall. "I think it looks alright so far." I climb back down the ladder.

"We still have over two hours before the party actually starts, so no hurry," Amaya calls from the table.

"Yeah. Kiba, lets move onto that wall."

[…]

Finally finished with the wall decorations, I think. Now we should start working on-

"The tree?" My thoughts are interrupted but at the same time completed by Kiba-kun.

"Yeah, let's start working on the tree."

We take some cream and red-colored ribbons then start wrapping them around the tree. Amaya comes by with some gold-colored ornaments and starts hanging them up, too. Kiba and I follow in what she is doing.

Amaya Shimizu

I place on the last ornament, then take a few steps back to look at the tree, then I step back even more to admire our overall work on the room. The décor is nicely and evenly placed among the walls, the food is arranged neatly but decoratively on the table, the furniture is all straightened out, and the tree looks beautiful.

"By the way, Hinata," Kiba says. "Did you move the furniture yourself? It's definitely not the way it was the last time I came to your house."

"No, I'm not really strong enough to do it myself. I had Neji-nii-san help me out."

Neji? Oh, Neji! I almost forgot that Hinata mentioned Neji over the phone. She said they were both preparing for this party. But…where is Neji? There weren't any signs of him being here from the time we entered the house.

"Hey." A voice from behind sends me practically jumping forward from where I'm standing. Neji.

"N-Neji-san. Hey."

"Thanks for helping out, Nii-san," Hinata says.

Neji observes the area. "It turned out well," he comments. "I'll be going back to my room. Just call if you need anything."

Hinata nods and turns back to talk to Kiba and me; "Kiba-kun, Amaya-chan, I still have to go get ready for the party. You can wait here. Feel free to eat already if you want, and please open the door if anyone knocks, k?" She starts walking away.

I sit down on a nearby couch, while Kiba remains standing up. Now I'm having this feeling, like I forgot something… The gifts! I forgot everybody's gifts!

Noticing the panic in my face, Kiba speaks up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…, I just forgot some things…"

"Like what?"

"…Everyone's gifts."

His head snaps in my direction.

"You got something for everyone?!" Then he looks down. "Oh wait…, sorry. You don't wanna go through that snow storm again, do you?"

"And it would be a lot worse coming back. You know, with more stuff to carry. I think I'll just give them their presents when school starts again…"

Kiba takes a step toward me. "No, I'll help you."

"But Kiba, it's probably getting worse out there, and-"

"Seriously, I'll help you. It's no big deal- just some snow storm. So what? I mean, if you have gifts for people, this is the day to give it to them, right?"

I just look at him for a second. "Are you sure? You really don't mind?"

He's putting his hood over his head and walking to the front door.

"Well? Come on already!"

I follow him through the door and immediately start wrapping my arms around myself, then hiding my face behind my scarf.

"Still too cold?" He asks.

"Yes!" I shout.

He sighs, " I guess I'll just go get them myself."

"N-No, I'm still gonna come with you." I sneeze right after saying this. Could the timing of that have been any worse?

"Look! You're gonna get sick if you go now, so you stay here. You tell Hinata where I went and why, k?"

"But Kiba-"

"You trust me, right?"

I look down. "Y-Yeah…, okay. Just tell Aiko."

"Your sister, right? K, I'll be back in half an hour, maybe less." And with that, he begins trudging through the snow again.

Kiba Inuzuka

Cold? How did Amaya think this was cold? It's only around… thirty, maybe forty degrees Fahrenheit. Not too bad.

It's a pain walking through the snow again, but I gotta do it. I mean, she was getting sick! I'm just worried about how I'm gonna talk to her sister.

I hope Hinata doesn't feel disappointed that I'm gone. She's my best friend and all, but she has to understand. Amaya was getting sick, and she forgot her presents is all, k? Besides, I'm only gonna be gone for thirty minutes. Maybe an hour, if the snow gets worse, and even if I am gone for an hour, she'll probably get over it once Naruto gets there, assuming he does. But I'm pretty sure he will, since Hinata invited Sakura, too.

[…]

I'm kinda regretting this decision now. It's too quiet out here for me, and with nobody to talk to, I'm getting bored walking and seeing nothing but white ahead of me until I get a good 20 feet in front of a building. I'm following a path just to avoid walking into a wall.

[…]

I knock on the door as soon as I step on the welcome mat. A girl with the same brown hair and eyes as Amaya opens the door. Her face is slightly more angular. She's pretty, but definitely not my type. She leans, with her back against the doorway, and crosses one foot over her leg.

"Uh, hey, I'm uh, Kiba. Amaya's friend. I just-"

"Yeah, I know." She smirks a little and holds up a plastic bag with two fingers.

"Th-Thanks." I bow lightly to be polite, and turn to walk back.

"Wait." I stop immediately.

"What?" I ask.

"How's Amaya doing? Friends? School?"

"You shouldn't worry," I start walking again.

"Why not?"

"She's doing just fine." And I continue walking until the house disappears into the whiteness of the storm again.

Hinata Hyuga

"Kiba-kun?" I call out as I climb down the ladder. "Amaya-chan?"

"Yeah?" I hear Amaya from the area the party will be taking place in. I swing around the wall and see her sitting on the couch, then I look around.

"Where's Kiba-kun?" I ask. I can't see him anywhere around.

"Oh, well I kind of forgot the gifts I planned on giving you guys for Christmas, so he went to go get them because it was too cold outside."

"Mm…, well okay. I hope he doesn't get sick…"

Amaya sits messes with her phone, Probably texting Ino or something. Awkward silence between us. Suddenly, her head snaps up from her phone.

"I forgot! I just wanted to say thanks, Hinata-chan. I got your gift from the other day. It's nice." She smiles.

"It was nothing, really," I say. "Just…, a welcome present, you could say."

"Well thanks again."

We hear a knock on the door and Amaya jumps. "Sorry, that kinda scared me. Um…, I can go get it if you want."

"No it's okay, I can do it."

I walk to the door and open it slowly so I can see who it is.

"Merry Christmas!" Shout two voices in unison. Then, a late "Hey."

Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru have arrived.

"Welcome, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, Shikamaru-kun." I take some coats and scarves as they come into the house and place them in a nearby storage closet.

"Hey guys," Amaya calls to them.

"Oh hey," Shikamaru replies, "What time did you get here?"

"Around one I think."

"Why were you here so early?" Sakura asks.

She shrugs, "I finished getting ready early and figured I would help out."

"Well okay. So is anyone else here?"

"Kiba was, but he went to go get the gifts I forgot at my house."

"Alright… So we're missing… I believe Naruto, Choji, TenTen, and Lee, right?"

"And Sasuke-kun." Sakura says in a high-pitched voice.

"You invited Sasuke?" Shikamaru asks in some kind of disbelief. "Nobody here really knows the guy, let alone even talks to him. Why'd you invite him, Hinata?"

"Sorry, Shikamaru-kun, Sakura-chan thought it would be a good idea," I tell him.

"Whatever," he dismisses the topic.

"Hey, I'm back!" Kiba-kun! I run to go open the door.

Amaya Shimizu

"I brought back the gifts," Kiba says as he walks into the room and hands me a plastic bag. "Your sister had them ready as soon as she opened the door."

"Yeah…, she probably noticed already, anyways, thanks."

"Knock, knock!" Somebody shouts at the door, and Hinata goes running back to it again. I can hear them as they walk here.

"Welcome, N-Naruto-kun."

"Oi, Hinata! So who else is here?"

The appear at the doorway to the area the rest of us are in.

"Hey everybody!" Naruto does his wide grin and immediately makes himself comfortable, jumping onto a couch and placing his feet up on the table. I glance at Hinata, who seems to be glad that he's here, and Kiba, who seems to be annoyed at this.

There's an awkward silence across the room…

Beep! Somebody's phone goes off and breaks it.

"Oh hey!" Ino holds up here phone, "Choji says he's here with Lee!"

"Yup!" Choji's scream has caught us all off-guard this time.

"Oi, Choji! Don't do that anymore!" Naruto yells back.

"I've got it," Shikamaru says as he walk over to go get the two.

Now that I think about it, I've never really met Lee…, have I? Choji walks into the room, and then TenTen, who I guess ended up running into them, too. The last person to walk in besides Shikamaru is this kid with a bowl haircut and green t-shirt with… spandex? What the- He interrupts my thoughts by running up to me and standing uncomfortably close.

"You must be Amaya-san! I am your senior, Rock Lee. We met at the mall." He thrusts his hand out to grab mine, resulting in a very firm but painful handshake. How did I forget about meeting this guy?

"Nice to meet you, Lee-san." I wince a little.

Shikamaru goes to sit back down on the couch next to Ino, where he does as Naruto did by putting up his feet.

"Sh-Shikamaru-kun, could you please put your feet down?" Hinata says. "I can go get a stool or something for your feet instead…"

Kiba looks even more annoyed, placing his head down with his finger and thumb pinching the area between his eyes. Naruto puts his feet down immediately to avoid getting told off.

"Go ahead and eat," Hinata gestures toward the table. "Then we can start the gift exchange, okay?"

"Yeah," Choji says. "I'm starving…"

"Aren't you always?" Shikamaru jokes around.

[…]

Everyone gathers around the beautifully decorated tree, plates piled with food in their hands.

"Okay…" Hinata says. "I think everybody's here…"