Cherry Blossoms In Middleton
Chapter 14: First Christmas.
Written by Jlargent.
Me: I know that some of you were expecting more action last chapter but detailed action sequences are not my strong suit. Originally I was planning to have Shego use her own version of the fireball jutsu but in the end I decided to have her use her plasma to break up Sauske's fireball by focusing her power in one singular point.
Ino: Interesting idea. And why are you skipping ahead in the fic?
Me: Simple, I really haven't caught up with Naruto up till now so I figure I should get to key points in the story. Asuma's death was pivotal point in the series forcing your team to grow up fast and face the hardships of losing a close friend and teacher.
Ino: Typical disclaimers apply. What are your plans for the future of this story?
Me: To be honest I have an idea of what to do but I need to think of a decent plot hook for it. Fact: The first novel that was written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer.
Sakura's POV
I look out of the window of my room to see the snow lightly falling it has now been four months since Naruto has returned home and we are heavily involved with battling against the Akatsuki only recently that my dear friend Ino has recently lost her sensei Asuma Sarutobi to them and since then her team have been disbanded temporarily until a new sensei would be assigned to them. But to be honest I think that they won't be as effective without their sensei to help them, to Ino Asuma was like a father and friend to them and to have him taken away from her is unimaginable. I know that if I lost Kim I wouldn't know what to do.
I grab my heavy coat and head outside, my breath clearly visible in the early December cold as I walk to Anko's home to talk to her and Kim about how to help Ino cope with her loss from what I've heard from her father Inochi she seems fine physically but mentally is what he's worried about even though he's very thorough in human psychology he feels that maybe seeing some familiar faces to help her through her ordeal would help her greatly. I walk in to hear some music playing curious; I follow the source of the music to the living room to see Anko, Shego, and Kim decorating a tree in the corner of the room "Umm what's going on here?" I asked Kim who seems to have been supervising the bickering couple on where they should put the decorations on the tree "Well in my world we have a holiday called Christmas and typically we share gifts and spend time with our loved ones." Kim explained as she handed me a mug of hot chocolate as the older couple decided to take a break to join us. I explained what was happening with Ino and my concerns for her, Kim got into a thinking position a few moments later she snapped her fingers "I've got it! How about we have a Christmas party here in Konoha and we invite Ino's team and her families to attend. Something lighthearted and cheerful should get her out of this depression." Kim suggested as the rest of us agreed upon the idea "How about we invite my mom and Konohamaru since they are close to him?" Anko tossed out as we started making plans an hour later we started to make the guest list and the supply list for the party. (A/N I'm going by the assumption that Christmas doesn't exist in the Narutoverse.)
One week later…
After talking to the guests we set the party up with the help of Naruto's shadow clones we managed to set everything up, as the guests walked in there was some confusion on their faces, why should there be a party at a time of war? Most of them asked us "Ladies and gentlemen as most of you know by now that Kim and Shego are from an alternate world and in their world they have a holiday called Christmas and she felt as though celebrating with just the four of us wouldn't be fair so we decided to host a Christmas party and invite all of you since you've became like a family to us throughout their stay here. Christmas is a time to spend with your loved ones and reflect on the past year, if I had known what this year would be like I wouldn't trade this for anything." I said as I kissed Kim on the lips, the party started and the guests were enjoying themselves I walk over to Ino "Hey Ino are you okay? Your dad said that you weren't feeling too good." I asked her as she sniffled a couple of times "I miss Asuma-sensei a lot, he took the time to actually teach us useful things like tactics and information gathering. Now that he's gone the team's not the same Choji is not eating as much as he's used to and Shikamaru is not as lazy as he's used to be. And he's spending more time with Temnari while I'm trying to make sense of all this chaos." she said as I gave her a hug as she cried into my shoulders, I pulled a small box out of my coat pocket and handed it to Ino "Here. It's a tradition to exchange gifts but since this holiday is new I figure that we could make an exception to the rule." I said as she opened the gift, inside was a small locket, Ino opened it to reveal her team photo on one side and a picture of me and her on the other side "Merry Christmas Ino." I said as I gave her another hug, throughout the rest of the night Ino was in a better mood. Now she can really move on and heal.
Later that night I climb into bed and look out my window to see the pale moon hanging in the air and for a moment I don't know if I was seeing a genjutsu but I saw a sleigh being pulled by reindeer flying through the night sky and a deep rich voice going "Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas Sakura!" I smiled despite my confusion and snuggled into bed and fell asleep.
To be continued.
Me: Now that's a chapter worth remembering I really think that I did a decent job on this. Anyway pleaseread and review.
As always Hoody Hoo!