Sorry guys! I got sick! Plus we had our examinations! Got low in Physics… sigh… I've been busy with life and all. Plus I fainted yesterday morning due to my sickness… I should really not use the computer but you guys have waited too long so I'm typing like mad and I can only hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I do –hint hint- Anyway! On to the story!

Warning for the younger readers: Don't say mean, hurtful and bad words that will be present in this chapter. Just because they do it doesn't mean it's cool. Don't roll your eyes when you read this too cuz it's rude.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to me in my dreams.

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It was a lot colder now in Konoha but nothing drastic has changed. There was no snow but that's to be expected since Konoha is in the Land of Fire. Although there is no snow, the Christmas spirit could be sensed. You could see it and feel it everywhere for ever house and door, there were many colorful decorations. There were bright lights everywhere.

People chose to ignore this showcase of bright and cheery decorations due to their last minute shopping for their loved ones. The streets were bustling and everyone looked harried. A young woman was also doing her last minute shopping too but she couldn't help it. She IS a Shinobi and it IS her obligation to do missions even if it was Christmas time.

Aya checked her shopping bags just in case she missed anything. The gifts she bought were there and also the equally bright and cheery gift-wrapping paper and ribbons were present too. She smiled and went home immediately to wrap the gifts she had. She will have to send the bracelets to Suara and Hikaru by mail since they don't live anywhere near her anymore.

She got back home when it was that special time of the day, where it was neither day nor night but a mix of both; a playful blend of pink and yellows with the purples and blues. Aya took a moment to admire the breath taking sight before taking out the keys to her house and going in. She then proceeded to wrap all of the gifts she bought.

Once she was done with the gift wrapping, she proceeded to change into a comfortable outfit. She put on her favorite pair of jeans (bell-bottoms) and paired it with a sleeveless red shirt to get a Christmas-y feel to her outfit. She then wore a red and white pair of sandals and she gathered her hair in a neat ponytail. Aya added red lip gloss to her lips and she took her gifts and proceeded to the venue of the party.

It was night now and the sky was decorated with tiny diamonds sparkling in a black velvety cloth. Not wanting to be late, she quickened her pace. Aya did reach the building. It was a small restaurant which the teachers and students booked for the night. Aya struggled to open the door and balance the gifts but thankfully someone else opened the door from the inside.

The person who opened the door greeted her with a smile, "Merry Christmas, Aya-neechan!", Sakura chimed.

Aya couldn't help but smile and greet back, "Merry Christmas, Sakura-chan!"

"Want me to carry your gifts?", the pink-haired one offered.

"If it's okay.", Aya said before giving the gifts to Sakura.

Sakura took them and let Aya inside the warm restaurant. It was bustling with activity and almost everyone was there. There were several teachers already present (No Kakashi yet, he must be late again), and a lot of genin students. Aya saw Sakura making her way to a table of gifts and dumping Aya's own set of gifts to that table. She then spotted a familiar face and decided to walk towards him and give him a warm greeting.

"Merry Christmas, Iruka-kun!", she greeted, sitting next to him.

He turned to her, "Merry Christmas.", he said with a smile.

"How's the party so far?", she asked.

"It's doing fine so far. Nobody's completely drunk yet.", Aya gave out a chuckle which Iruka responded with his own chuckle.

"So? Do you want a drink?", Iruka asked, offering her a small cup filled to the brim with Sake.

Aya stared at the drink and gave it a distrustful look, "Sorry but no drinking this time. The damage it caused the first time was bad enough."

Iruka responded with a laugh, "That's true."

The two talked for a little while, about things that normally perplex them and how thankful they are that they can finally relax during the holidays. The man soon got hungry so he excused himself towards the buffet table and Aya sat alone, waiting. After a while, Aya suddenly heard the door open. She turned to look at the newcomer but she suddenly found herself blushing like mad.

He's here…

Kakashi has finally arrived. He didn't wear his forehead protector like everyone else but his mask was still ever so present. He wore dark blue jeans and paired it up with a semi-tight black shirt which showed off his drool-worthy body. Aya could just stare at him the whole night and admire how he looked handsome even if the face behind the mask was still ever so mysterious to her.

Her heart beat's pace quickened and she shifted in her seat nervously. Aya forced herself to look away and she tried calming herself down. She took in deep breaths saying that she can do this, she can greet Kakashi. It took her a while but she did finally turned to look back at him. But she found a muscular chest clad in black in front of her. Her eyes widened and she looked up. It was Kakashi. She felt blood rush into her head and she struggled to say the greeting.

"Ah… Um….. I…"

Thankfully, he greeted her first, "Merry Christmas."

A little shocked, she greeted back, "Merry Christmas!"

He nodded and walked towards the direction of the buffet table. Aya turned back away. She placed her hands to the bases of her cheeks and felt their warmth. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and found Iruka with a plate of food.

"I got some food, would you li-", he paused and stared at Aya. He then started laughing boisterously, almost dropping the plate while doing so.

"What's so funny?", she pouted.

He tried suppressing his laughter but failed. So he pointed at her face. Aya looked at Iruka skeptically but decided to find a mirror. Luckily she found one near the table she was sitting. She looked at herself with wide eyes when she saw that she was as red as a tomato. She felt herself blush even more and tried to cover her cheeks with her hands again.

"This is not funny, Iruka-kun!", she whined with a pout.

"Haha! Sorry! Maybe you drank too much sake when I was getting the food. Don't worry it'll go away soon if you can wait."

"Thanks Iruka-kun…", she mumbled and sighed. He soon left her after giving a supportive pat on the shoulder.

Aya then placed her chin on her hands, her elbows resting on the tabletop. Her brow wrinkled in confusion and her lips puckered. This was sort of her habit when she feels kind of frustrated and confused with her emotions.

'Why did I blush when Kakashi greeted me? It's not like he hasn't greeted me before or something…'

Her thoughts floated around her head and she was completely oblivious to some young shinobis who were busy planning their sneaky matchmaking. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were gathered in the corridor that was connected to the restaurant kitchen. The three discussed their plan in hushed whispers. The topic was something called the MASK.

"Okay. You both know what you must do." Sakura said, her voice surprisingly serious.

"Yes…", the two boys chorused.

Sakura muttered with a glare, "This plan must not fail… I won't allow it!"

The two nodded in response. The three then placed their hands in the center of their small circle and they shouted in unison.

"Mission Aya Smooches Kakashi! Go!", the three immediately started moving out to execute the plan that they carefully planned out for a long, long time.

The pink-haired one immediately dashed to where her ex-best friend was. Once she was in position, her calculating green eyes searched for the brown-haired young woman. She finally spotted her. Aya was sitting alone in a small table; Sakura called for her.

"Aya-neechan! Will you help me arrange the gifts?", she hollered.

Aya turned to Sakura with a smile, "Sure! Wait for me until I get to you!", she then proceeded to where Sakura was.

In another part of the room, two boys were not far away from the pink-haired girl. They were still looking for their assigned victim. The blonde one beamed and pulled a part of Sasuke's shirt which got his attention. Naruto pointed to the buffet table where their jounin teacher was located. He was having a conversation with Asuma who looked slightly drunk. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke and he nodded. They turned to where Sakura was and they already saw that Aya was already there beside Sakura. Their plan starts now.

"Sasuke! You bastard!"

"Shut up asshole!"

"What did you say?", Naruto threatened with a fist.

Due to the overexposure to their petty quarrels, Kakashi hear the two immediately. Turning, he saw his two male students pushing each other roughly, clearly attempting to know each other to the floor. He sighed, knowing that the fight might get ugly if he won't act now. He then quickly made his way towards the loud-mouthed enemies.

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Sakura looked over to where Naruto and Sasuke. They were already fighting and Kakashi was already there trying to calm the two of them down. Sakura took this as a signal. She turned to Ino and shoved her hard.

"Sasuke's mine, Ino-pig!", Sakura screeched.

Ino, infuriated, pushed Sakura back. She screeched even louderm "Shut up Forehead-girl! No way will he date you and your forehead!"

"Is that a threat?", Sakura screamed, her face turning rather red.

'This is your only chance Sakura. Get it right!', she thought and waited for Aya to get into position.

"Guys! Please don't do this in the middle of the party!", she exclaimed while moving towards Ino's back where she could get Sakura's attention and keep Ino down.

'Now's your chance!', Sakura thought when she saw Aya reaching the desired position.

"Shanarooooooooo!", she gave out a loud shout and pushed Ino with all her might. The female blonde was pushed back due to Sakura's inhumane strength. This caused Ino to 'accidentally' bump into Aya. She gave out a little yelp and was thrown back hard. She collided with something hard behind her and she turned around to look at what or who she bumped into.

Her jaw dropped when she saw who she collided with. She bumped into Kakashi, and he looked rather flabbergasted. They stared at each other for a good long while; that was until somebody shouted out something that made their blood run cold.

"Hey! There're two people under the mistletoe!"

Aya felt her heart sink lower than the earth's core when she heard that. She could see Kakashi also feeling the same thing. His eye was rather expressive. Gulping, they both looked up to see the guilty mistletoe hovering above them.

"How did we get here?", Kakashi asked, his voice clearly nervous and shaky.

"I…. Um… Sakura and Ino fought and I was pushed back when Sakura shoved Ino…", she babbled. She couldn't bring herself to look at Kakashi straight in they eye.

"Um… What about you?", she asked all of a sudden but she still didn't dare to look at him.

"Naruto and Sasuke fought and the same thing happened to me.", he answered rather calmly while rubbing his nape.

Asume disturbed the two's conversation, "Well? Aren't you both going to kiss?", he shouted out with a smirk.

Iruka backed up Asuma, "Yeah! It's a Christmas tradition!"

Kurenai joined in as well, "Do it!", she cheered with a big smile.

Sakura walked up to them with a smirk on her face. She said with mischief matching that of her smirk's, "Yeah, and this time, take off you mask, Kakashi-sensei. It would be very rude to Aya-neechan."

It hit them both when Sakura said those words. Team 7 had planned everything. Aya's face grew an even darker shade of red when she the thought of kissing Kakashi came into mind. Everyone was looking at them expectantly which made Aya even more jumpy. Kakashi felt the same. He felt pressured that everyone wanted him to kiss Aya, without his mask! Everyone in the party cheered for the kiss. THEIR kiss.

'Help me!', she thought helplessly, closing her eyes.

"Kiss her!"

"You know you want to!"

"Do it!"

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!", they all chanted with big grins in their faces. The two of them were cornered. They had no means of escape. The crown won't take no for an answer, whether they liked it or not. Kakashi slowly turned and looked down at Aya's eyes. She looked back at his eyes, the black one and the Sharingan.

Shaking, Kakashi reached up to take hold of the mask. Aya's heart skipped a beat when he did and she felt the adrenaline rushing. He pulled down a little and Aya felt herself panicking. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was short and fast. A bit of face can now be seen.

'I'm not ready yet!', was all that she could think of the moment when he pulled even lower.

The eyes of Team 7 almost popped out stating at the masked face. They were going to see his face soon! The face that remains oh so mysterious to them and everyone they know. Kakashi pulled even lower and their hearts quickened in excitement and anticipation. His face was almost visible now. Their faces started to hurt for smiling too wide in their excitement. Their eyes went wider and wider when the mask got lower and lower. They can finally see it now! He's almost done pulling it! Then all of a sudden…

Darkness…

"What happened?"

"I can't see!"

"What's going on?"

"The lights are out!"

"Don't move anyone! You might break something!"

"Hurry and fix the lights!"

Aya tried staying still. She couldn't see the front of her nose in the darkness! She felt vulnerable in the dark but she can't resist moving around and try grabbing something for reassurance. When she turned, she felt something…. on her lips

It was warm and soft… somewhat dry but still rather nice. It made butterflies fly pleasantly in her stomach. The feeling was still foreign to her so she was still shocked at the touch and feeling. The gentle touch soon went away and she felt a hot wind brush her face until she felt nothing and vulnerable in the darkness again.

Before she could completely analyze the situation, the lights turned on again. The bright lights momentarily hurt everyone's eyes but they soon adjusted to its luminous intensity. A waiter soon came in.

"Sorry! The fuse burst but I fixed it!", he hollered.

Aya was still rather shocked and her face was red from blushing. People looked at her peculiarly. They asked her if she was fine. She finally did snap back to reality.

" Sorry! I was still thinking!", she apologized.

Iruka walked towards her and asked in a concerned tone, "Are you fine? What happened?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine.", she replied simply. She then made her way to the table that she sat in and she was back to her deep thinking.

'Was that what I think it was? Could he have? Did he?', she thought and then turned to look at him. The man still had his mask on and he was still his calm and aloof self. But why is she still blushing so profusely? She looked away and touched her lips lightly. The memory of the feeling replayed on her mind and she blushed even more but she couldn't help but smile genuinely.

The girl wasn't alone with the genuinely happy feeling. Kakashi's lips twitched upwards into a secret smile, hidden safely behind his mask. He was also deep in thought and was sitting near the window. He stared outside of it and he looked up at the moon.

'I didn't need to kiss her but I did it anyway… I don't know why I did it… It wasn't as if I needed to do it… Maybe… I really wanted to do it…', Kakashi felt blush on his cheeks but he was really glad that he had on his mask.

The two didn't look at each other for the rest of the party. People crowded around them, curious about what had really happened underneath the mistletoe when the lights went out. The two of them would just shrug nonchalantly leaving busybodies frowning with disappointment.

The party went on smoothly but not before everyone heard Sakura screaming bloody murder in the girl's bathroom. Naruto and Sasuke looked really upset too but thankfully, it didn't affect the party that much. Soon enough was the Gift giving game. The rules were simple enough. Each person present in the party was assigned to a certain table with their names, written neatly in a piece of paper, was on top of it. People who want to give that person a gift will then place their gift to that person on his/her assigned table.

The game started and the party was bustling with activity. Aya immediately went to Kakashi's table. She neatly placed a white envelope on his table with a smile on her face. Hopefully, he'll like what she has given to him for Christmas. She then proceeded to give the rest of her gifts to her friends. A dolphin keychain to Iruka (it seemed appropriate), a necklace with the fan resembling the Uchiha clan symbol for Sasuke, a perfume for Sakura to enjoy and use, some orange leggings for Gai (seems even more appropriate) and and orange bandana with swirls for Naruto.

Later one was the highlight of the party, the opening of gifts! Aya was very pleased to see a pile fore her resembling a small mountain. There was one from Gai, Iruka, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke (surprisingly) and Kakashi. She decided that she will save the best for last.

Gai gave her a clip with a pink lotus flower sitting delicately on it, Sakura gave her a cute looking comb, Naruto gave her candy and Sasuke, a handkerchief. The last gift was from Kakashi. His was a small box whit fit her palm just right.

Aya took the tiny gift covered with a rather untidy Christmas themed wrapping paper. She carefully untied the ribbon, in the same manner, she tore off the paper and she found an elegant velvet box.

Aya squealed in delight, certainly expecting that she'll get jewelry. She opened the small box and smiled. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and she was struggling to not let them fall. The gift Kakashi gave to her was the necklace that she had admired during their window shopping (see Chapter 2). The elegant engravings of the master craftsman were there. The pink stone called the rose quartz, decorated elegantly on the silver metal was sitting there innocently. The opal stone looked amazing when it shone mysteriously of the gleaming light. The pendant looked more beautiful now than it had been during that moment.

She held the pendant in her hands delicately, afraid that she might break it. A single tear quietly slid down her cheek. This time, it wasn't a tear of sadness.

In the other side of the restaurant, Kakashi was also finished with his opening of gifts and all that was left was Aya's. Her gift was very distinctive, a clean white envelope which was eye-catching against the brightly colored presents around him. He tore the side of the envelope open and he found a gift certificate from a bookstore. The amount was enough to buy him three or four more volumes of his favorite book series. It won't seem much to an average person but the certificate truly showed him how Aya accepted him as himself, who he is and what his imperfections are, how dirty it may be.

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Three kids were once again found discussing something at the same hallway as before. They all looked glum, tired and unenthusiastic, even after the opening of gifts.

"MASK completely failed….", Naruto mumbled.

"It was a complete waste of time…", Sasuke also mumbled.

Sakura couldn't help but sigh as well, "Well… The real objective of the mission WAS to unmask Kakashi-sensei, but the other objective might have come out fine."

"Why do you say that?"

"I noticed, after the black-out, that Aya-neechan was blushing and smiling."

Naruto, still not getting the point, asked, "So? What's wrong with smiling after the black-out?"

Sakura smacked the blonde at the back of his head for his lack of comprehension, "Stupid! It means that Kakashi-sensei might've kissed Aya-neechan!"

Sasuke nodded, "One of our objectives was to get Aya-san a boyfriend…They'll probably be the next "in" couple."

Naruto though about it, "Yeah, that's true…. But we still don't know what's underneath Kakashi-sensei's mask…"

Sakura and Sasuke said in unison, "Yeah…", the three then bowed their heads in defeat.