Bonus Chapter

Spending Christmas Together

"Mom! Dad! Are you home!?" A young high pitched voice called out in excitement, a young face flushed with that excitement and from her rush to find her parents. She stopped at a window in the living room and looked out to see the foot of snow on the ground.

"Oh my gosh!" She cheered as she looked at the white fluffiness of cold. It rarely snowed in Konoha and normally when it did it normally never stuck. But there it was now! Sticking and covering the ground in great mounds of snow and fun. She couldn't wait to go and play in it.

But first she had to go and find her parents.

"Mom! Dad! It snowed! It snowed! And it's Christmas! It snowed on Christmas!" She cheered as she ran towards her parents room and slammed the door open with a wide smile on her face.

Only for that smile to fade as she stared at the empty bed. She shook her head as she ran out and towards the kitchen, only to find that empty too. Then she went and checked the bathroom but that was empty. All the lights had been off when she had gone running through the house but she hadn't really paid attention to that.

Her parents should have been home but they weren't. Her mother had told her that daddy would be home from his mission earlier that night. But he wasn't and now her mother was missing. They were missing Christmas morning with her and she didn't understand why.

So she sat on the couch in the living room and waited for someone to come back.

She wasn't prepared for the sight of her mother pale in the face and her father limping through the door, blood covering half of his face and his lower leg.

ItachiSensei

"Wake up little brother." Itachi said with a smile as he shook his little brother's shoulder, trying to wake the younger child up gently. "It's time to get up, we must have breakfast with father and mother."

"I don' wanna." Sasuke groaned into his pillow as he clutched at it desperately. He knew though that it would be pointless as soon as Itachi would pull his blankets off of his curled form. He did this every time he came to wake Sasuke up and he normally did it with a sadistic smirk on his face.

Itachi rolled his eyes before sadistically smiling and ripping the blanket right off of the boy. "Come on, mom made a huge breakfast and then we're going to celebrate. Christmas is one of the few times we're all together."

"For like an hour." Sasuke grumbled as he sat up in bed with a glare on his face. "But then you get called in for a mission and leave sometime in the day and leave me to deal with dad. Who likes to remind me how I'm not you and so much weaker, less skilled, and less intelligent."

Itachi sighed as he rubbed at his face. The boy wasn't wrong. The Hokage would call him for a mission that only a few of his trusted could do and he would be off on the same day. He couldn't only count on one hand how many years he had been able to spend with his little brother to begin with. But his loyalty to the village and his duty to it was just as important as his family and he would serve it until he could no longer move, breath, or his heart stopped. "I know little brother, but as far as I know, there are no missions for me at this time and I'm supposed to be on break anyways due to the fact I just got home this morning anyways."

Sasuke could only send a glare at his brother as he got dressed for the day, grumbling how that wouldn't stop his brother from leaving.

And just as he had guessed early that morning, Itachi was called and left for a mission not even three hours after their talk.

Itachi Sensei

"Come on, come on, come on." He whispered under his breath as he turned a corner sharply, hoping that it would be sharp enough to lose his pursuer.

He had no money at the moment and he was starving. Almost all of his allowance had been to pay for the apartment he lived in and the rest had been to buy a few packets of ramen that he had already eaten, even though he had managed to make them last a week. He wouldn't get his allowance from the Hokage for another month so he had to go and find a different way for food. He would scavenge around the village when the weather permitted, but most times he was left to steal his meal from the villagers.

Not that the villagers appreciated his situation any and most often were pissed about his stealing to begin with. He didn't let it bother him a whole lot though as he could most often times out run them and leave them stumped into wondering who had taken the items to begin with.

Thank god he had found an old half face mask and bandana that day he had gone dumpster diving. It hid his distinctive facial features and bright blonde hair. None of the villagers knew it was the brat stealing the food and instead thought it was one of many homeless and orphaned kids.

So he went with it and just kept running away. The man he had stolen a bucket pull of bread from was following him and was gaining on him. The only reason why he hadn't been caught yet was because he knew all the short cuts and allies and niches to take to gain some distance. But the man was persistent, which meant he had one last trick to try and if he didn't lose the man with that, he would dump the bread and disappear into the forest so he could climb a tree and hide there for a while.

With that in mind, he dashed down a long street near his apartment, ignoring the slurs and shouting behind him and the Anbu that was trailing the two of them. They wouldn't interfere unless the old man showed he would kill the kid on the run, otherwise they would just let it be.

Down that street was a simple fence that looked entirely sturdy. But there was a single board that was loose and he could slip through easily, all he had to do was get behind the bushes that blocked it and use it to get away.

So with that thought in mind he put on another burst of speed, distancing himself from the man, and then dove over the bushes, pushed through the wooden board, and onto the other side where the board slid back into place, hiding him.

He waited at least a half hour before sighing in relief and retreating to his apartment, where he chowed down into his dinner for the night. A loaf of bread, a chunk of cheese, and a cup of water. "Merry Christmas Naruto." He muttered to himself with a sigh as eh relaxed against the counter of his kitchen, eating his meager dinner.

Itachi Sensei

"Oh my god! Naruto! Don't do that!" Sakura screeched as she laughed at her blonde teammate, watching as the blonde stuck chopsticks in his mouth and barked like that walrus they had seen while traveling to the Wave Country.

"Dobe! We're in public!" Sasuke hissed but was chuckling at his teammate as well, his water pushed away so that he wasn't tempted into drinking it and then forced to do a spit take due to his blonde teammate's acting out.

"Oh come on! Where's the fun in having fun on Christmas if all we're going to do is sit here and just stare at each other?" Naruto questioned with a smile of his face. "Didn't Itachi-Sensei invite us to a private Uchiha owned restaurant so that we wouldn't have to worry about that?"

"Except Uchiha's are different than normal ninja. They're quiet and don't act out loud like you do you dobe." Sasuke explained with a scowl on his face.

"Not all of the Uchiha do that!" Obito shouted as he leapt onto his cousin with a wide grin on his face, wrapping his arms around the younger one eagerly. "Hello cous! Long time no see!"

"We saw each other this morning! Get off of me you idiot!" Sasuke grumbled as he pushed against the older Uchiha angrily, going so far as to poke at the still somewhat tender side of the other's face where his eye was missing.

Obito whimpered theatrically as he fell over onto the floor clutching at his face. "Rin! Sasuke's abusing my face!"

"You deserved it." She replied simply as she settled into a seat next to Sakura, giving her a side hug. "Hope these two aren't causing you too much problems."

"They're boys so of course they are!" Sakura sent a smirk at the two offended looking boys as Kakashi just shook his head and took a seat next to Naruto while Obito took the seat on the blonde's other side.

"All three of them are nuisances for me." Itachi replied as he appeared next, with Nawaki standing next to him. "Merry Christmas you three."

"Merry Christmas Sensei!"

"Yeah! Merry Christmas! Now can we order since we're all here?" Obito questioned as he looked at the menu hungrily.

"Yeah, sure, Itachi is paying for it all!" Nawaki replied with a grin on his face.

"NO, both of us are paying and if you don't, then I'll make sure that the next co-op training session will be hell for you." Itachi threatened with his Sharingan spinning.

That easily cowed the Shodaime's grandson into paying the other part of the bill rather easily, but if anyone asked, it was an epic battle of skill and wit between the two senseis.

Itachi Sensei

A.N. Okay so this is just a bonus chapter for the Christmas holidays. It won't have any effect on the actual story. Just little fun and somewhat depressing bit I thought would be nice to add one. I hope you all enjoyed it and if not, well, you didn't have to read it. Anyways, review and tell me what you thought. I wish you all a merry Christmas and happy holidays and a happy new year! See you all next year!

I would like everyone to think about some of the authors on Fanfiction that died recently or a while ago. Some of them died in tragic accidents or illnesses and have left stories unfinished or had others finish them for them in memory. I would like everyone reading this to lower their heads, clasp their hands together and pray for those who have been lost. Allow there to be a moment of silence for wherever you, the reader, are and remember not just the writers here on this site but those who have been lost in your life or in tragic events.

Please remember that life is short and that you should love those in your life while you can and show your appreciation for water comes into your life.

Again, thanks to those who have lost their lives for spreading inspiration through their works.