Riayu: Wearing festive clothes Happy holidays everyone!
Sye: Shut up you stupid –bleep- I have a –bleep- headache and your –bleep bleep bleep- will only make it worse.
Riayu: Be back in one second everyone! Drags Sye into a bathroom and washes her mouth out with soap, loud screams drifting out.
Sharin: Right…we know, it's late, but we have a good reason. Internet was taken away for a few days because…Riayu's an idiot.
Riayu: Right then, you're next, Sharin! We do NOT slander the author.
Sye: She's –bleep- crazy!
Riayu: More soap! Thanks for reading this far guys, it makes me happy that you still find this worthy of your time, so, there will be a lemon…just not in this chapter. Not sure where yet, I write on the fly.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters, except for Sharin and Riayu, those are mine growls
"Sasuke! Sasuke, wake up!" Naruto squealed, standing at the window of the room that looked out over the landscape of the school grounds.
"What do you want, dobe, it's only six," Sasuke said, glancing at the clock before plopping his head back on the pillow.
"Sasuke, it snowed!" Naruto said, hopping onto the bed and shaking the pale boy awake.
"What?" Sasuke nearly yelled, glancing out of the window where, sure enough, snow was falling in dainty clumps. He sat up, shivering as the covers fell off of his bare skin and the chill air caressed him.
"I'll get to wear my jacket!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
"I can't believe you woke me up just to tell me it was snowing, I don't have to be awake for another two hours, and now I'm cold." Sasuke said grumpily, flopping back down onto the bed. Naruto cuddled close to Sasuke, pulling the pale boy into a tight hug and smiling against his neck.
"You're welcome," Naruto said, knowing all to well that Sasuke was enjoying Naruto's body heat and contact. Next thing they knew, the alarm-clock was beeping for them to get up so that they could shower. Naruto walked out of the room first, being courteous enough to put on a pair of boxers before leaving the room. The showers were still empty because people opted to get up only half an hour early and rush instead of having an extra half-hour to laze around. Kaki, Psy, and Suki soon joined them along with Tobi, Itachi, Gaara, and Zetsu.
"Anyone seen Sasori and Deidara, it's not like them to be late," Kaki said, wrapping herself in a towel and walking out of the shower section to brush her teeth.
"They were having sex last night, it was hard to sleep," Psy said, rubbing her hands over her eyes as she looked in the mirror. "That room is really creepy with only me in there."
"I can stay with you at night," Zetsu offered sweetly, "we can have sex!" the rough undertone in his voice declared that he had switched sides.
"I'll have to think about the sex part, I scream like a girl," Psy said, smiling at Zetsu via the mirror. Naruto choked on his mouth wash and it began to drip out of his nose in generous amounts.
"You're gonna smell that for a week," Kaki said, laughing at the humiliated blonde. "Nothing will taste right for a while, either," she said, holding her side as she shook with silent laughter.
"Is she always like this in the mornings?" Suki asked, spitting the pinkish foam from her toothpaste in the sink and filling a paper cup with water to rinse with. This was the first time she'd gone through the morning routine with the others, having finally shed the skin of embarrassment of being naked around the boys, but only because most of them were involved or gay.
"She's a natural-born morning person," Gaara said, "freak."
"Life is my drug!" Kaki shouted before stealing Naruto's Listerine and taking a generous amount, swishing it around in her mouth.
"I'll give you five dollars if you can keep it in for two minutes," Naruto said, watching Kaki's eyes water. She stood there, her cheeks puffed out slightly, then she held up ten fingers. "Ten dollars, sure, starting…now!" Her face, which had been scrunched in distaste, suddenly turned slack and she stared into space.
"That was a stupid bet, do you know how tolerant of pain she is? She broke her arm last year and used it normally for a week before I made her go and get it check out. It was broken in two places and should have been inoperable because of the pain. It's been more than two minutes, you can spit it out," Psy said, looking at Kaki over her shoulder. Kaki leaned over the sink and spewed the blue-green liquid into the bowl, coughing and hacking, spitting and hocking globs of mucus.
"You owe me ten dollars," she said, gagging and belching. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
"What did you do?" Itachi asked, pulling her hair out of her face just as she hurled.
"I think she had too much sake," Psy said, frowning when Kaki nodded.
"That's a lot of sake, I pity your liver," Itachi said, frowning as Kaki threw up again.
"I've had liver transplants twice already, first time my dad ruptured it. I'll probably have to get surgery again next year."
"What about the toll it takes on your brain?" Naruto asked.
"What brain? All that's there is a bunch of mush," Kaki said, smiling a sour smile. "I need your mouth wash again." She took another great mouthful of the Listerine and swished it around for a few minutes before spitting it into the bowl, her shoulders shaking as she held in a cough.
"Maybe you should relax for the day, tell your teachers you're sick and take the day off," Psy suggest as they filed out of the room. Kaki shook her head as she turned towards her bedroom door, looking at everyone over her shoulder.
"I'll be fine, don't worry," she disappeared into the room, leaving the door opened for Gaara, who shut it quietly behind him. Sasuke pulled Itachi out of the group and hung back as Naruto disappeared into his room and everyone else vanished.
"Listen, Itachi," Sasuke whispered to his brother, his face perfectly serious, "I'm only telling you this because you helped me with Naruto. If you don't make a move on Kaki soon, you'll lose her to some asshole that'll treat her like crap…or Gaara. Now that Gaara's on her good side again, he's a huge threat, you should really think about telling her sometime soon."
"She already knows," Itachi said tonelessly, looking down at his brother like the tiny speech had meant nothing.
"Just because she knows you like her, doesn't mean she'll save herself for you. She's a lonely girl who wants to be loved, and she'll take the first offer she gets, even if it's not the best."
"What makes you think she would do something that stupid?"
"Kimimaro," with that one word, Itachi recalled vividly the fight at the beginning of the year, a shiver working through his body.
"Right, good point, I'll talk to her later," Itachi said, patting his brother on the head before going to his room.
"Nn…ah…yeah, right there…ah!" Kaki's voice was so breathless and full of pleasure that everyone thought the same thing: she was having sex with Gaara. "Harder, Gaara, ah!" Yeah, defiantly sex. Itachi was pale as he stared at the door in horror, Sasuke had been right, he was out of time, he had lost Kaki to that stupid, red-headed emo son of a…
"What are all of you staring at?" Kaki asked, opening the door to stare at the wall of people, her hair neat, her clothes on, and her skin dry.
"We thought you and Gaara were…" Psy stared at her friend. "What were you doing in there?"
"I had an itch on my back and Gaara was getting it for me, why?" her eyes went wide as she suddenly realized what they were implying and she looked at them in disgust. "Do you really think I would pick Gaara of all people?"
"You did once," Psy said simply, turning on her heel and walking over to Zetsu, letting him wrap his arms around her.
"Bitch, ok guys, let's go!" Suki led the progression to the Mess Hall, though they were ten minutes early. Everyone was wearing heavy jackets to protect them from the cold outside, noses instantly beginning to drip as the wall of frigid air smashing into them like concrete. Naruto shrieked in surprise and stood close to Sasuke, who was embarrassed to be seen with someone clad in such a bright-orange jacket.
"Naruto, what's with your obsession with orange?" Suki asked, she was wearing a white coat with black fake-fur lining the inside.
"It keeps me safe when I cross the street," Naruto said, leaning his head on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Naruto, I think you have just reached a new level of stupidity," Kaki said, slamming her hands into her pockets as she walked along the path, her brown eyes set on the grey horizon that was dumping a light white film onto the distant mountains.
"Are you cold?" Itachi asked, walking up beside Kaki. His heart had jolted badly that morning when he heard Gaara and Kaki, and he was determined not to lose her now.
"Not really, I like the cold, it makes my fingers blue," she pulled a hand out of her pocket to show her purple hand, its fingers stiff and dead-looking.
"That's…kinda gross," Suki said, reaching out and touching one of them before pulling her hand back and shrieking.
"So you touch it? Does that make any sense to you?" Sasuke asked, smirking at her.
"Shut up emo kid," Suki said, sticking her tongue out at Sasuke. "Where'd Kaki go?" She had disappeared from the group, and nobody knew where she had gone until a snowball lodged itself on the side of Naruto's head. A roar of outrage spewed from Naruto and he ran off the path, scooping up a snowball and launching it at Kaki, landing it square in her chest.
"I'M HIT!" Kaki yelled, falling into the snow. "Ow!" she shouted, all of the joking gone from her voice. Naruto, who had been scooping up a second snowball, dropped it and ran over.
"You ok? I didn't think I hit you that hard," he said with concern, holding out a hand to help her up.
"No, it wasn't you, I forgot I had this in my coat pocket," she pulled out a small, square box.
"What is it?" Suki asked, taking the box from her hand and opening the lid. "There's nothing in here."
"It was something my mom gave me before she died, the lid says 'For all of your wishes.' I've had it ever since I was a year old." She took the box back and shoved it back into her pocket before running back down the path and away from the rolling tide of boys making their sluggish way down the path.
"You know what I just realized," Kaki asked, leaning her shoulder against Gaara's as she grabbed her glass of juice and brought it to her lips. "With the exclusion of Suki, we all lived within a few miles of each other and we never met. I mean, don't you think we would have gotten to know each other during school or something before now?"
"I went to private school before coming here, and so did Itachi," Sasuke said, breaking a biscuit in half and nibbling on it.
"I just moved here not to long ago, so this is the first time I've been to a local school," Naruto supplied, stealing the other half of Sasuke's biscuit.
"But still, we should have met sometime, at the pool or on the subway, maybe even in the grocery store. But I only knew Psy and Gaara, and I only knew Gaara because his dad killed my mom and sister." Silence fell over the table and every eye turned to her. "What?"
"Gaara's dad killed them?" Suki asked, looking at Kaki with concern.
"It was a car accident, nothing big, I was really little, so I don't really remember them," she smiled suddenly. "I'm gaining weight!"
"You know, most people would be a little upset about that," Itachi said, looking at her skeptically.
"Yeah, right, forgot, people are supposed to be bone thin now. Oh well! Naruto, your dad is coming over."
"Naruto, can I talk to you?" Iruka asked, coming over to the group of teens.
"Hello, Iruka-sensei, how are you?" Suki asked politely, her face the picture of innocence.
"I'm fine, Hito, how are you?"
"No complaints."
"Naruto, come with me, please," the two of them walked off, disappearing into the cold air outside, the door swinging shut with a loud bang behind them.
"Naruto's in trouble," Psy said in a sing-song voice.
"Cool, what do you think he did?" Kaki asked, taking a large bite out of a pear.
"Well, we can ask him when he sits down," Zetsu, who had his arm around Psy's waist, pointed at the blonde with his chin. Naruto look thoroughly pissed off as he took his seat again, shooting Sasuke a forbidding look when he tried to hug him.
"What's your major malfunction?" Kaki asked when she saw the hurt look on Sasuke's face.
"Iruka and Kakashi are dating," Naruto said grumpily.
"Well, what's the big problem; you don't want Iruka to be lonely, do you?"
"No, but I don't want him to be with a pervert like Kakashi."
"It's like you and Sasuke, you're a crazy nymphomaniac (A/N: Someone who craves sex constantly) and Sasuke's the sensitive, quiet guy who almost everyone loves."
"Shut up," Naruto said, getting a swift, hard kick to the balls from Psy.
"Be nice or I'll make you pay," she said, her eyes narrowing.
"What's everyone doing for Thanksgiving?" Tobi asked, looking around at everyone.
"Nothing," Kaki, Psy, Sasuke, Itachi, and Naruto said in the same dead tone.
"No turkey dinner?" Suki asked.
"My dad doesn't like turkey," Kaki said, her chin in her hands.
"No family get-together?" Zetsu's kind half asked.
"My family hates me," Psy said.
"Then why don't we all get together for Thanksgiving and we can have a huge party!" Suki cried enthusiastically.
"Sounds like fun…whose house are we staying at?" Kaki asked, her face brightening.
"Itachi's and Sasuke's, of course, we'll have plenty of time to plan everything, Thanksgiving isn't for another few weeks." Suki said, standing up with the tide of boys as people began to file out into the cold. "Everyone make a Christmas list! Only fifty-four days until Christmas!"
"Kohoro," Itachi said, jogging to keep up with Kaki's fast-paced strides as she sailed through the halls towards the History room.
"Itachi?" she asked, her face expressionless as she took a sharp turn, weaving her way around a group of chattering boys at the last moment.
"Slow down, Kohoro," Itachi said, panting as he upped his jog a little.
"If you can't keep up, then talk to me in the classroom. Hey! What are you doing?" Kaki shrieked, her voice as manly as she could manage under the circumstances, as Itachi grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner of the hallway that was secluded.
"I need to talk to you," Itachi said, holding her arms.
"And I need to go to class, can it wait until we're in the room?" she asked, scowling at him as she tried to wrench herself away.
"Not really, no, it's important to me."
"And being in class on time is important to me," Kaki said, looking over her shoulder at the room that was just up the hallway. "We're almost there, can't we just go?"
"There are too many people in there, and I need to talk to you now, we have ten minutes."
"Exactly, nobody's there yet! Just let me go!" she said, trying to pull away from Itachi again.
"Do you like Gaara?" Itachi asked, lowering his head so it was just inches from hers.
"Yeah, I do, why? Is that a crime or something?" she asked, staring at him viciously.
"How much do you like him?" Itachi asked, his mind switching between knowing she was a smart girl and knowing that she didn't always grasp such subtle things.
"Enough to do what you think I might do," Kaki said, her stare challenging him. Itachi stood there, his grip loosening on her instantly, loosening so much that she was able to get free and make her way to the room. Inside, Itachi grabbed her again and threw her against the wall, only hard enough to get a startled gasp from her. He leaned in close, his frown deepening when she tried to push herself closer to the wall, her eyes like those of a deer trapped in the headlights of a large truck.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Itachi asked viciously, leaning closer.
"It means that I want to screw Gaara's brains out, hardhead, I want him inside me, I want him to molest me and have sex with me then kiss me until I fall asleep, naked, in his arms." Kaki said, still trying to push herself flatter against the wall, staring up at him in a mixture of fear and challenging. Itachi narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows coming together in rage.
"Didn't you say this morning that you would never want to be with Gaara?"
"I also said my name was Kohoro, doesn't make it true," she whispered, her eyes darting around to make sure the room was empty.
"What the hell is your problem today?" Itachi screamed at her, finally leaning away from her.
"I don't know, maybe it's the fact that your sexually harassing me!" she hissed, sliding away from the fuming brunette.
"You were happy last night, what changed?" Itachi asked, the anger slowly draining from his voice as he stared longingly at Kaki's back.
"You had the perfect chance and what do you do? You sit there like a lump on a log and smile like and idiot," she took a piece of chalk and started writing on the blackboard. She had a section of dialogue from their talk the night before there. "You see this part? The part where I said 'idiot' that was your chance, or even when I stood up and started walking away, that would have worked too, but no, you're too thick! Stupid idiot." She hastily erased the board as students finally began to come in. "That's why I'm angry, Itachi, because you're an idiot," she whispered to the brunette before taking her seat as the bell rang and Pein came into the room.
When class was over she walked out of the room before Itachi could confront her about their conversation, but Suki made up for him.
"Why are so mad at weasel-boy?" Suki asked, walking along side Kaki to the math room.
"Weasels are deceivers, they fool you with their appearance then cause you more trouble than they're worth," Kaki's voice was so venomous that people were staring at her in fear.
"Still, Kohoro, that a little cruel. Maybe he's just afraid to…"
"Itachi? Afraid? That's funny, ha, really funny. No, he just doesn't care very much."
"Kohoro, you're being unreasonable."
"I know," she stopped and hugged Suki tightly, "thanks for helping me, Hito, I'll see you later." She disappeared into the classroom and Suki turned around and made her way back to the study hall she was supposed to be attending.
"Anything?" Psy asked, sharing a seat with Zetsu and letting him doodle on her left palm.
"She's mad at him because he didn't ask her out. It's a little bizarre, if she cares so much, why doesn't she ask him out? She doesn't seem like the type that cares who asks who," Suki sat heavily in the seat beside Tobi, frowning deeply as she swept her blonde and crimson hair back and pinned it in a bun with a pencil.
"That's because she's not that kind of girl, something else is bothering her. She was nice to him last night, though, so it's got to be something new besides for that."
"PMS," Zetsu suggested, drawing a heart on Psy's palm then closing her hand over it.
"Nah, she only gets really hungry, it's something else… Any thoughts, Tobi?"
"Gaara," he said simply, leaning back in his chair. "She likes them both and she's trying to figure out who she likes more, so she's confused." He was about to say something else when a loud alarm pounded through the school, alerting everyone of a fire. Chaos broke loose as everyone stampeded out of the room, joining the crowds of people trying to escape the school as the smell of smoke floated down the stairs.
"What happened?" Naruto yelled, getting a hundred yards of distance from the school before slowing down to a complete halt.
"Some dumbass in the math class decided to play with his lighter," Deidara said, hugging Sasori closely.
"He lit a piece of paper on fire and got some guys hair, then all hell broke loose," Kaki said, panting slightly and leaning over. Everyone watched as smoke slowly glided out of an opened window, rising in wisps to the sky.
"I guess classes are over for now, who wants to go back to the dorms?" Naruto asked, smiling widely.
"And do what? There's no TV, there's no radio, there's no anything!" Psy whined, plopping into the snow.
"We can plan for Thanksgiving break, or we can just hangout."
"I think I'll take a nap," Kaki said, jogging ahead of the slowly progressing crowd.
"Something's up with her, she'd usually say 'It's almost time for midway exams, we should study' or something like that." Psy stared after her retreating friend and let Zetsu pull her out of the snow.
"Just let her brood for a while, if she wanted us to know, she'd tell us," Naruto said wisely. "If we bother her, it could upset her even more than she already is."
"I think that's the smartest thing you've said all week, Naruto," Suki said, patting his head affectionately. They walked back to the dorms and stuffed themselves in Tobi's and Suki's room, talking loudly. Naruto was the one who called attention to the Thanksgiving they would be spending at the Uchiha manor and slowly everyone began to make suggestions.
"What about rooms, where will everyone be staying?" Psy asked, leaning into Zetsu, who had an arm around her waist.
"There are seven guest rooms, so someone will have to share; all the rooms are on the same hallway and roughly the same size. There are five bathrooms, so there shouldn't be much of a problem," Itachi said, leaning his back against Tobi's bed as he looked at Sasuke, who was sitting on the windowsill with Naruto at his side.
"Does anyone have any allergies?" Psy asked, looking around the room and smiling when no one raised their hand. "Good, then what will we eat?"
"Turkey is a given. Chocolate cake, ice cream, and stuffing!" Suki said, flopping her chest onto Tobi's lap.
"I like twice-baked potatoes, and turnips!" everyone stared at Zetsu in disgust. "You got a problem with that?" he dark half hissed menacingly.
"Peas and black olives, and creamed onion. Does anyone know how to make pumpkin bread?" Naruto asked, looking around eagerly. "It tastes the best when it's made from scratch."
"Kaki can cook the best pumpkin bread ever, pumpkin pie too," Psy said, smiling proudly.
"You say it like you taught her," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Maybe I did."
"I doubt it; you don't seem like the kind of person who's any good in the kitchen."
"At least I'm not a spoiled little brat."
"Who you calling little?"
"I'm taller than you, that makes you little," she sneered at his red face and narrow eyes, sticking her tongue out when he flipped her the birdie.
"Stop bickering, for heavens sake, you're making my head hurt!" Suki said, throwing her pillow at Sasuke.
"Why'd you hit me with a pillow?" he whined, pretending to hide behind Naruto.
"Because A) I hate you, B) I can, C) you flipped her the birdie." Suki said, smiling sweetly.
"I'd say 'Up your's' but you'd enjoy that." Sasuke jumped down from the windowsill, crossed the room in three quick strides, and left them all sitting there, staring at his back.
"Your brother has to get that stick out of his ass," Psy said, staring at the closed door.
"Nah, he's upset because there's nothing up there, Naruto, go shove something in his ass for me," Suki said, staring up at the blonde with pleading eyes. "Or else he'll be miserable during the whole vacation, and I'll have to kill someone."
"Suki didn't take her meds today!" Psy said, flicking a paper wasp at Suki's butt.
"That's Mr. Kokoro to you!" she said in a gruff voice, flicking Psy in the ear. There was a sudden, loud crash and the power went out, throwing them into almost darkness, the only light coming from the window.
Riayu: Again, I apologize for it being so late, stupid dad and his stupid stupidnes.
Sharin: Idiot. Hope you liked the chapter, and happy ChrismaHanuKwanzaKa!
Psy: What the hell is that?
Riayu: Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, and that other one I can't remember. Anyone know what it is?
Sharin: Just shut up and say goodbye, Riayu.
Riayu: Goodbye Riayu! Waves WAIT! Presents for everyone gives out presents and thanks for reading, please review, it's the holidays! Merry Chrismahanukwanzaka! Bye!