A/N:
OMG! I can't believe this is the end of it! It's been an amazing thing to do - and especially because of all the response I've gotten from you guys! I'm eternally grateful for those of you that cheered me through it and gave me an extra push when I needed it. You all make me writer better that I ever could alone.

So, for the last time on this story, I'll ask you to leave a review. Not only to tell me what you thought iof this chapter, but also of what you thought of the story in general and also the idea.

Thought it might be a bit early, I've already started considering a project for the next December - but it all comes don to you guys^^

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Disclaimer:
«I do not own any of the following pictures, music, characters or the original universe. I only own the story itself the main character and to the idea.»
This has yet to be beta'ed.

Chapter 24 - Merry Christmas

The silence fell on the village hidden in the leaves as the sun set. Most of the inhibitors had all hurried home after work to celebrate the joy of the holidays with their families. As the sky turn darker, the lights of the windows houses gave a warm light that ignited the streets.

A dark shadow moved through the streets without making a sound. He was alone, but he didn't seem to be bothered by that. As he reach the end of the street he looked up at the sky, his hair blowing in the wind. It was about time he got inside..

"Put it on!"

"I told you that I wasn't gonna wear that again." Shikamaru leaned his head back, trying to get away from the reindeer headband Ino tried to get on his head.

"Oh, come on! I know you didn't hate wearing it."

"True," He admitted, moving his head to the left, just in time. "But that doesn't mean I enjoyed it."

"You're no fun at all you know..." Ino stuck out her lips pouting. "I was looking forward to having fun, and-"

"Aah," Shikamaru let out a groan of distress. She really wasn't going to give up, was she. "Fine… I'll wear that stupid thing. Hand-" Before he could ask for it, Ino got up on her toes and caught him off guard, sliding the headband down behind his ears.

"There you go." Ino giggled, smiling bright at him as if they'd never argued. Women were truly frightening.

"Well, isn't it miss Santa and her reindeer." Kankuro teased as he saw the pair as came into the Hyuuga guest house kitchen. "I didn't know we were gonna play dress up today."

"That coming from the guys painting his face every day..." Ino made a grimase, but a second later she broke out in a laugh.

The sand ninja opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do so, another boy entered the room.

"Ino, I think we've ran out of-" Kiba blinked he saw the three of them. "Wow, what are you all doing in here?"

"Nothing much," Ino said, stepping away from her teammate, a slight blush covering her cheeks. "What were you saying? Did you need something?" As the best in the kitchen of the girls, Ino had been chosen to be in charge of the kitchen - something that she'd more than happy to do.

"Ehm, yeah." Kiba nodded to himself, recalling why he was there. "Pudding. Do you know if we have more of if?"

"It's empty already?" She turned her head and scanned the many container and bowls on the benches. "No, I don't think so. Sorry, we didn't think it would that popular."

"Ah, okay. Nothing to do about that, I guess. We're not all out, just thought I'd check." With that, he smiled and went back to the living room.

"Auch!" The air went out of Kiba's lunges as something suddenly hit him in the stomach..

"Oh!"

The sound of the thin squeak made him open his eyes, and he blinked surprised as she saw what had hit him.

"Hinata?" He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back to get a proper look at her face. "Are you alright?"

"Ehm, oh, Kiba, I'm sorry." She muttered, excusing herself.

"No biggie." The dog boy looked her over. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? You don't-"

"AHA! KIBA AND HINATA ARE STANDING UNDER THE MISTLETOE!"

The booming voice made Kiba look up. In front of them stood none other than Naruto.

"HEY, GUYS! COME AND SEE! THE MISTLETOE IS-"

"Turn down the volume, can you?" From the entrance to the living room, Temari peeped in.

"What''s going on?" Tenten and Neji walked passed Temari and over to Naruto. "Don't tell me..."

"You're an idiot, Naruto." Tenten scolded, turning towards the blonde ninja.

"Tenten," Naruto looked at her with a shifting eyes. "What's wrong, Tenten?"

"Really… You are pathetic." The stare he received for Naruto made him back up a few paces. What was going on?

"Anyone want some cookies?" Out from the kitchen came Ino. In her hands she was holding a tray filled with cookies, and a big smile. However, her smile dropped as she saw the faces of her friends. "Uhm? What's going on here?"

"I-" Naruto tried, but Tenten forestalled him.

"Naruto placed a secret mistletoe..."

"Oh?" Ino eyes lit. This might turn out to be an evening more interesting than she'd thought possible. She let her eyes roam the room, looking for other excited eyes, but found none. In the end her eyes fell on the two members of team eight, and as she lifted her gaze, she understood the tension in the room. "Oh… I see."

"What?" Naruto turned to Ino. What was it that everybody seemed to understand except him. "Tell me, you guys."

"You have no shame. Out from the shadows appeared Shino. "You think you behave as it's fitted. But know this. What you do in in no way acceptable." He then turned and headed for the living room, earning agreeing nods from the others as he passed them. Before they followed him into the next room, leaving Naruto with only Kiba and Hinata.

Naruto's brows curled in a nervous fashion. Had he really done something that was that wrong? He looked over at HInata. She was standing still, her eyes fasten to the ground. He then moved his eyes over to Kiba. The Inuzuka met his eyes, and as Kiba noticed his friend's expression, he gave a slight nod and walked to the other side of the room - seemingly to look at the painting.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I really didn't mean it like that. I mean it. I'm really, really sorry." The guilt was glowing out of every pore of his body.

"I-it's okay..." Hinata muttered. She knew that he never could have done this on purpose. It was just a joke that had gone a little too far.

"Really, Hinata?" Naruto asked, surprised by forgiveness. "If there anything you want me to do, just tell me, I'll do anything!"

Anything? Hinata blushed. If he meant anything, did that mean that he might agree on going on a date with her? Another layer of pink was added to the first one. Maybe he would even agree to be her boy- No! She shook her head. She shouldn't get ahead of herself. A date would be more than enough.

"I," She opened her mouth, ready to let him know her wish.

"Hohoho! Merry Christmas!"

All eyes turned to the front door. In the doorway stood a tall man dressed in a heavy red cloak and red cap.

"Santa!" Naruto screamed out in excitement as he ran towards the new guest. "I've been waiting for you! Did you get what I wanted?"

The knuckleheaded ninja jumped up and down as the newcomer got of his footwear. It was a silly sight, but Hinata didn't feel like laughing as she watched them.

"Hinata?"

She turned, and her eyes fell on best friend.

"Oh, Kiba. Hi."

"You okay?" he asked, a worried expression on his face.

Hinata gave a slight nod. Despite what had just happened, she felt fine. It wasn't as if she'd expected anything to happen between her and Naruto…

Before she knew what was happening, Kiba bent down and placed a small kiss on her forehead.

"K-K-Kiba!" Hinata jumped back, red as a cherry. "W-what was that?"

"You're just too cute, you know." Kiba could not help but laugh. His teammate always reacted in such extreme ways. "We did land under the mistletoe, didn't we?" He grinned, watching her as her wide eyes relaxed more and more as she understood what he'd meant.

"Oh.. I see." She nodded. Then she shrugged her shoulder with a little chuckle, before looking him in the eyes as she smiled at him. "Well, I guess all that is left is for me to-

"It's not like you have to," Kiba ensure her, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean since I did-" Before he could complete his sentence, Hinata got up on her toes and placed a soft kiss on his right cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Kiba"

"Wow, this is really awesome!"

Matsuri tuned her eyes away from the two ninjas from team eight, and looked over at Lee unwrapping his presents.

"Oh? What did you get?" she asked, leaning over to see what had got him excited.

"A pair of new leggings!" He grinned, holding them up for her to see. "It's perfect. My old ones are in a terrible state after the last mission."

"Ah! How nice! Who did you get them from?"

"Ehm," Lee looked down at the gift card. "From Gaara."

"Gaara? Matsuri couldn't believe what her ears. Had Gaara bought a pair of orange leggings. If only she could have been with him to see his straight face as he paid for them. Let let her eyes drift over to the sofa where Gaara was sitting with Chouji.

Matsuri didn't know much about the time Gaara and his siblings came to know the ninjas of Konoha, but she'd heard that everything had not always been as warm and friendly as it was now. Who would have thought, she thought to herself with a smile on her lips; that the monster of Sunagakure would one day sit in a sofa in Konoha while eating cupcakes with a friend...

"Who wants the last bowl of pudding?" Sakura asked, holding it out for someone to grasp. However, none seemed interested, and the pink haired kunoichi was left with the bowl. "Geez, that many people but no one that wanna eat this…"

She kept muttering to herself as she headed for the kitchen. Then, in front of the fireplace, she caught the eye of her teammate.

"Oy! Naruto, you want the last of the pudding, right? It's chocolate! You favorite."

"..."

"Naruto?" a worried wrinkle appeared on her forehead and she walked over to him and sat down. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, Sakura." The boy looked up at her, first noticing her as she sat down. "Sorry, did you say anything?"

"Pudding," she smiled, holding the bowl out to him. "You want it?"

Naruto looked down on the brown dessert but didn't feel like it and shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, Sakura, but I don't really feel like eating anything."

Sakura's heart sank a little. She knew Naruto - probably the best of all the ninjas here today, and she'd never seen him like this. This was how he looked when-. Her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. Sasuke.

Carefully, she put a hand on his forearm. She'd never understood the pain Naruto was carrying, but ever since Sasuke had left them, it had been as there was a big black hole in his chest.

"Naruto, I know that you must feel-"

CRACK!

A sound made the two of them stop talking, and they both turned in the direction of the noise.

"Was that?"

"I think it came from inside the fireplace." Sakura said.

The two of them got down from their seats and move over so that they could get a better look. Nothing seemed out of ordinary. The fire was burning and sending black smoke up the chimney.

CRACK!

"There it was again! Sakura whispered.

"HELLO?" Naruto shouted into the opening. "IS THE ANYONE THERE?"

"Naruto, stop." Sakura hissed, noticing the other guests turning to them to see what was happening.

"But, Sakura, there might be an intruder up there!" He explained, before turning back to the opening.. "HE-LL-O?"

"No need to scream. I'm not deaf yet, though that screaming yours might change that..."

"That voice!" Sakura couldn't believe it. It couldn't be? Or could it? "Sasuke?"

"Yeah, it's me…" faster than the could see, he came down and out of the chimney. "Now, can you place get me some food, I'm starving."

The room was quiet and filled with shocked guests.

The Uchiha let out a sigh. He looked around and saw the remaining bowl of pudding and picked it up.

"Sasuke… Don't, don't you have anything to say?"

He looked up from the pudding, an annoyed flicker in his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I do." He took another spoonful in his mouth and swallowed it.

"...And?" Sakura asked, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Merry Christmas."

A/N:
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it will help me write better in the future^^

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