Warnings: swearing, shounen-ai,

Disclaimer: Naruto (and all of its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto and not me)

A/N: Merry Christmas! I love waking up on the 24th. In Denmark we celebrate Christmas this evening only, eating with our loved ones, dancing around the tree and opening all of the wonderful presents! ^^ In my family we have a tradition that started when me and my sister were little. We wake up and there's a present in our bed from Santa(granted, it's gotten more challenging for our parents to do so since we stay up longer than them XD ). We still have that tradition even though I (19 years old) and my little sister (16 years old) obviously stopped believing it's from Santa years ago. It's sad really, how Christmas loses it magical feel when you stop believing. Anyways, merry Christmas, I love you, enjoy!

(um, for those of you who might still have questions to the story, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them in the A/N of the epilogue ^^)

Chapter 24

Spirits were high in the town of Yule Land. In the last 15 hours all elves had been working hard and fast to make sure everything would be ready in time. Naruto had had to leave Sasuke alone with Itachi and Kyuubi as he went back to the real world to gather more magic through good deeds. He'd promised Sasuke he'd pay the little Lucia a visit, too.

Sasuke had dreaded spending too much time with their brothers, seeing as it might cause him some severe scars on his soul, but the two did their best to not be all over each other. Itachi was being a pain, though, as he was smothering his little brother whenever Sasuke accidentally flinched when turning too quickly. The injury he'd received from Orochimaru didn't hurt much – just when he moved. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Itachi to stop worrying but when it finally happened the boy took the opportunity to leave Kyuubi's house. He'd spent the rest of his time watching the elves work.

Hinata and Kiba had been working hard with the other Tamers to get the reindeer ready for their big trip. The animals now stood proudly at the landing strip by the stables. All elves were gathered as they waited for their new Santa Claus to come. Every elf was standing perfectly in place, lined up with the other elves of the same profession. Naruto stood, perfectly in line with the other Do-Gooders, clad in the same green uniform as the others. He winked at Sasuke as he caught the boy staring. Sasuke grinned back at the elf but didn't move from his spot next to Itachi in the back.

The sleigh was bigger than Sasuke had ever imagined. It was enormous and with the reindeer added it took up an insane amount of the space in front of the mountain. The elves stood closely together, and Sasuke saw Ino nudge Naruto, whisper something to him before nodding her head in the humans' direction. Naruto blushed a deep crimson, before saying something to the girl who looked a bit sad at the answer.

Finally a bell chimed loudly and all talking stopped. The elves straightened their backs as a pair of figures walked through the crowd. Sasuke recognized the woman as Tsunade, clad in the trademark red suit. He didn't know the man walking beside her who winked at a pair of female Do-Gooders which made the new Santa pinch his arm painfully.

Tsunade held up her hand to get the elves attention – which was a very unnecessary action seeing as all eyes were on her.

"Friends," she called out loudly. "I'm very glad to say that your hard work has paid off. We're ready in time and Christmas will once again be a reality. I'm very proud of you all."

A loud cheer exploded from the group of elves, carrying on as the woman made her way onto the sleigh. The man next to her kissed her cheek and went to stand with the Counters. Tsunade waved as the elves began a united countdown.

"10, 9, 8.."

The reindeers stomped hard on the ground, lifting and sinking their legs as they prepared. The new Santa took hold of reins and leaned back against the big sack of presents behind her.

"7, 6, 5, 4.."

Guards spread out to stand in two lines, outlining the path before her as their sleeves lit up.

"3, 2, 1 – Merry Christmas!"

The blonde woman cried out a command and the reindeers began to run, faster and faster as their hooves lifted off the ground. A loud applause sounded from the elves and Sasuke couldn't stop himself from grinning broadly as the sleigh he'd heard stories of in his childhood took off, flying away quickly until it broke though the veil surrounding the town.

The elves stood still for a while before once again chatting loudly amongst each other and breaking their perfect lines. Naruto hurried back to Sasuke's side, taking his hand and leading him away.

"That was amazing!" Sasuke sighed. Every image he'd imagined when his mother told him about Santa Claus resurfaced in his mind.

"It always is," Naruto said and smiled at Sasuke's happiness, then he looked sad.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked worriedly. Naruto shook his head dismissively.

"Nothing," he lied. "Let's go home."

"Yeah the boy needs to get packed before the train leaves," Anko said as she walked past them, waving tiredly at the two boys.

Sasuke stopped abruptly. "I'm leaving?"

"It's town policy," Anko shrugged before rounding a corner and disappearing from their sights. Sasuke looked confused and frantically at Naruto.

"What's town policy?" he asked.

"Human visitors are always sent home as soon as the sleigh takes off," Naruto explained sadly. "You have to be on the platform in like an hour or so."

Sasuke could do nothing but stare at the elf. Naruto sighed. "Look, this time there's really nothing you can do about it so let's just… go."

His grip on Sasuke's hand tightened as he pulled the boy towards his town. They passed all the merry elves in the streets celebrating. They all looked tired but very much satisfied as they waved cheerfully at the two boys. As they reached Naruto's house, the elf began gathering Sasuke's clothes, stuffing them into a bag. Sasuke looked confused at the elf.

"I'm almost all out of magic. You'll have to carry these by yourself," the blonde explained. Sasuke swung the back over his shoulder.

"So, you're not coming until later?" he asked the elf. Naruto bit his lower lip and scratched his upper arm.

"Actually," he said miserably. "I'm… not coming at all. At least not the way I used to."

"WHAT?" Sasuke yelled out in surprise. He couldn't stop himself from pushing the elf up against the wall. "What do you mean you're not coming back?!"

Naruto eyed him sadly. "I'm sorry Sasu-chan but I can't. You don't need me anymore. You're not sad and you've made up with your brother."

"But I do need you with me," Sasuke said, voice breaking. Naruto shook his head unhappily.

"No, Sasu-chan. You want me with you," he said. "You don't need me. But someone else does and I have to go where they are."

Sasuke let go of the elf and took a step back, thinking his options through. "And don't even think about doing something stupid to get in trouble 'cause if that happens I'm forbidden to come see you. Ever. I might even have to erase your memory then."

Naruto eyed him cautiously. Sasuke didn't know what else to say. It wasn't like he didn't know the elf had a job to do but he'd never really considered Naruto not being with him. When the teen didn't say anymore the elf took hold of his hand as he slowly began pulling him towards the door.

"Sorry, Sasu-chan," he mumbled. "But they'll drive the train through my house if they have to. Come on."

Sasuke allowed the elf to drag him out since he couldn't defy the pleading voice.

Neither of them spoke a word through the trip to the platform. Tamari waited for him by the Yule Express. She smiled warmly at him but sadness was visible in her eyes. She knew.

"Hi," she greeted politely. "Your brother's waiting for you on board."

Sasuke nodded dejectedly. Naruto's hand tightened in his and the elf looked up at Sasuke with big puppy eyes. Sasuke sighed. He really wasn't able to stay mad at the Do-Gooder. He opened his arms and the elf rushed into them and wound his arms around Sasuke's middle. Sasuke returned the embrace, hugging the elf closely as he inhaled the scent of cinnamon.

"I love you," Naruto whispered into his shirt. "And I really hope you have a long and happy life, Sasu-chan."

Sasuke held the blonde even closer, forcing his eyes to hold back the threatening tears. He wanted to tell the elf he loved him, too, but the he didn't say a word in fear that he might start crying.

They pulled apart and stared at each other for a while before Tamari coughed behind them. Sasuke went to get on board and looked back at the elf who waved halfheartedly at him. He waved back with just about the same enthusiasm. After taking a final glance back at Naruto, Sasuke walked into the train. The door shut loudly behind him and Tamari looked like she was about to show him to where Naruto's room was but then she shook her head.

"Let's go find your brother," she said and began walking in the opposite direction. The train began to move as they walked through the hall. Entering a room with Kyuubi's name on it, Sasuke found his brother sitting by the window. Itachi smiled sadly in understanding as Sasuke went to sit across from him. Neither spoke a word the entire trip home.

A stream of tears ran down Naruto's cheeks. He sniffed and did his best to compose himself. A large hand was placed in his hair and he looked up to see his brother look down at him. Kyuubi stroked his hair soothingly.

"He's gonna be just fine," the Guard said reassuringly. "They always turn out to be fine."

Naruto nodded sadly. Kyuubi sighed at the boy's state.

"Are you going back to Itachi after New Years?" Naruto asked croakily. Kyuubi nodded. "Probably."

Steps sounded behind the brothers and as they turned they saw Anko come up to stand by their side. She threw Naruto a worried look.

"You really love that one, don't you?" she asked. Naruto sniffed and nodded. Kyuubi kissed the top of his head in comfort.

"I honestly don't get why you're not following him," Anko spoke and rubbed her tired eyes. Naruto's head shut up in confusion.

"I can't. The rules, remember?" he said to his boss.

"Never stopped me," Kyuubi smiled at him. Anko nodded in agreement. Naruto looked from his boss to his brother.

"What are you saying?" he asked cautiously.

The other two looked at each other before grinning at him. Anko placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We're saying that Christmas can survive without you for a few decades."

Naruto nodded and grinned before turning to run back to his home. He only had about a week until his powers returned, so there was a lot of planning to do for the newborn rule-breaker.