Chapter 20 – It's Christmas!

His cheek had been soft and the shocked expression on his face had been so innocent.

Sakura smiled to herself as she pulled back her sheets, getting out of bed. After kissing Gaara yesterday, she had given him his gift and left, not even giving him the chance to get over his shock. Since then, she hadn't been able to wipe the smile from her face.

When she was a little girl, Christmas had seemed so magical to her. Every year, Sakura would wake up at around five in the morning, open the smaller gifts in her stocking before running to her parents bedroom and bouncing on the bed, singing and shouting that it was Christmas. Never had they yelled at her for doing it, though if she tried it any other day of the year, they would have. After that they would all go downstairs and open their gifts together. Her mother used to record Sakura's reactions, but she had stopped when Sakura turned ten. She couldn't remember why.

Last Christmas had been… difficult. Her parents had been watching her every move and Sakura had been cold and aloof. She hadn't been able to get into the Christmas spirit at all.

This year, Sakura was determined to make it happier. She wanted her parents to be happier.

It was around ten now and Sakura could hear her parents downstairs already. Why hadn't they come upstairs to wake her up? It was probably because they knew how important sleep was to her. It smelled like her mother was cooking. Since Sakura had turned fourteen, they had all agreed to have breakfast before opening presents. That way, when tidying up the mess made with the wrapping paper and whatnot, they could also tidy up the mess from making and eating breakfast. When she was younger, Sakura had protested, saying that she wanted to open her presents the moment she woke up, but it didn't change anything. Now, Sakura could see why they had chosen to do such a thing.

As a person got older, Christmas was never as fun as it used to be when they were a child. Back then, all of the presents were a surprise and they believed in Santa. Once they found out that Santa isn't real, when they started choosing their presents as well as buying them for others, they started to realise how stressful Christmas could be.

"Morning!"

Her parents seemed surprised to see Sakura so cheerful in the morning, but when they saw her smile, they couldn't help but smile right back at her. "Morning, Sakura."

"How're you feeling, Kicker?"

She shook her head at her father's nickname for her. As a kid she had loved it when he called her that. It had made her feel badass. Now, it was a little embarrassing, though she never told him that. "I'm great. What time's Itachi and Sasuke going to be here?"

"Around one," Mebuki answered, placing a plate filled with food in front of Sakura as well as a cup of tea. "Here you go, sweetie. I made your favourite tea, too."

"Thanks."

Sakura made a genuine effort of eating everything on her plate without her parents having to force her, despite it making her feel a little sick. The smiles that her parents gave each other only made her carry on. Not for herself, for them. The past year had been hard on all of them.

Her eyes widened. "Did we get my medication back off of Itachi?"

"Yes, it's here," Mebuki told her, chuckling at her daughter's expression.

Moments later, they were in front of the large Christmas tree, opening their gifts and as they did, Sakura's smile was less forced and more genuine. They had both gone out of their way choosing her presents and some of them, like back when she was a child, were a surprise.

A gasp caught her attention and as she looked up, her grin dimmed to a smile as she saw what her mother was holding. It was the necklace she had bought for her. "It's a locket," Sakura told her, watching her mother turn the silver necklace this way and that. "Open it."

And when she did, tears of happiness filled her mother's eyes. The older woman sobbed as she covered her mouth and Sakura couldn't help but chuckle as her father shook his head and looked at the picture inside, smiling as he did. His hand patted Mebuki's knee in a comforting gesture.

The picture was of the three of them, together. Well, there were actually two pictures, but the one of them together was the one that made her mother cry. It was of when Sakura was around eleven, when they had gone away for a month on holiday. They were standing close together, smiling brightly. She couldn't remember a time when they had been happier. The other was of her when she was first born. It had been hard finding that picture, but she had managed to find it, thanks to Itachi's help.

"Oh, Sakura, I love it. Thank you."

It was no secret that she was spoilt and as Sakura followed her parents outside, an unsure smile on her face, she couldn't help but let her mouth drop wide open at the sight before her when they finally reached her last present from them.

It was the car she wanted, the Volvo C30.

"Oh my God."

Her parents grinned.

"I love you both so much," she told them while running towards the car, her eyes still wide.

There was a pink ribbon wrapped around the car and even though she should have, Sakura couldn't bring herself to take it off. It was too pretty. The car was silver and since it had obviously been brought out of the garage only moments before by her father, there wasn't any snow on it. Well, not yet there wasn't.

"You can't drive it, yet," Kizashi told her as both he and Mebuki walked over in her direction. "You still need to retake your test but when you pass, you can drive it as much as you want."

Mebuki nodded. "After this past year, your father and I both agreed that you deserved it."

Sakura only grinned. "Thank you!"

Because they were having guests over, Sakura had had to change. So, instead of her pyjamas, she was wearing a dark blue bodycon dress. It was long-sleeved and had a high neckline, since it was a little on the short side. To go with it, she was wearing black boots that were about calf-high. There was a heel on them, though it wasn't any bigger than three inches and was quite thick, so they were extremely easy to walk in. They were rather comfortable, too. Both items were gifts from her mother. The necklace she was wearing, however, was a gift from her father. It was beautiful. There were diamonds on it and the chain was made out of silver.

Once her makeup and hair was done, Sakura looked herself over in the mirror before leaving. She had decided just to straighten her hair and leave it down, while her eye makeup was a little more dramatic. She had decided to go with the whole 'smokey eye' effect, though instead of using browns, she had gone with blacks. Brown wasn't really her colour and because of her eye makeup, she was wearing lip gloss that only made your lips look shiny.

Only minutes later was there a knock at the door and unlike previously, when her mother hadn't liked Sakura opening the door, this time, she had no problem with it.

She couldn't help but smile brightly at the two before her. They smiled, exchanged their 'Merry Christmas' wishes and made their way to the living room to join her father, since Mebuki was busy with the dinner. She didn't like having help in the kitchen – Sakura had already asked her if she wanted any, though. Mebuki was one of those types of people who had to be in control, who had to have everything just right.

There wasn't much conversation, but when you were sat with Kizashi and the two Uchiha brothers, it wasn't all that surprising. However, despite his empty face, there was a smile in her father's eyes as he watched Sakura while she spoke with either Sasuke or Itachi. After a while though, they all settled on watching a film.

"Sakura," Mebuki called from the kitchen. "Will you come and help me set up the table?"

She didn't respond, only got up to help and she didn't fail to notice Sasuke's eyes on her as she left the room, making her smirk to herself.

"You're in a good mood today," Mebuki commented as the two of them set up the table.

Smiling, Sakura looked up from where she had been setting down the cutlery. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," she quickly answered before chuckling to herself. "No, it's a nice thing. I've missed seeing you this happy. It's been a while."

It had.

Christmas dinner had been delicious, though nobody was surprised by that since Mebuki had always been a great cook. During dinner, Sakura had sat next to Sasuke and when his leg kept brushing against hers, it took everything in her not to start grinning. Damn! She was acting like a twelve year old girl who had a fan-girl crush again.

That thought didn't stop the pair from sneaking off up into her room when Itachi and Kizashi both offered to help Mebuki with the dishes. It didn't stop Sasuke from pinning her against the wall and capturing her lips with his, from lifting her legs and wrapping them around his waist. It seemed she wasn't the only one who was in good spirits this Christmas as Sasuke's more than obvious arousal pressed against her, making her gasp into the kiss.

His hands were suddenly pulling at her dress, trying to take it off, but Sakura quickly grabbed his hands, stopping him. She didn't want to take her dress off. She couldn't. Not around Sasuke. "Keep it on," she whispered breathlessly against his lips. "Just in case somebody comes upstairs."

Thinking her explanation as acceptable, he nodded once before kissing her again and unbuttoning his jeans. Once they and his underwear were half-slid down his legs, Sakura pushed her underwear to the side and was barely able to hold back her moan when he entered her.

Knowing that they had to be quick so that nobody would suspect anything was thrilling. However, for a split second, Sasuke could have sworn that Sakura's eyes were unfocused and not only with lust, but before he could be certain, she buried her face into his neck, trying to muffle her sounds of pleasure and not even a second later, the thought was gone as he felt her orgasm creeping up on her as well as his own.

A/N - Originally, this chapter wasn't even going to be in the story and it only took me about fifteen minutes to write, which is probably why it's a bit on the 'meh' side. I think this is the last chapter now where I'm going to try and show you the type of girl Sakura is, since you're all dying to know what happened to her. For those of you who haven't guessed what type of girl she is, Sakura is spoilt and a little on the vain side. You'll have to figure out the rest for yourselves because if I tell you now, then I'll be giving away the big secret! ;-)

Also, can any of you guess how her relationship with Sasuke works, yet?

I'll be updating again in a couple of hours and I have a very, very nice surprise for you all! ;-)

HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!