A.N: Christmas special! Takes place when Naruto's around 8 or 9.

Christmas

"I wonder what I'll get this year…"

"I'm sure my mom's knitting socks for me again"

"I get chocolate every year"

"I bet I'll get something cool; dad said so since I'm an academy student now!"

Naruto listened to his classmates with a small frown on his face. Who cared about something like Christmas? It was stupid; everyone was home, so no one came out to play! He hated Christmas!

…Maybe it'd be nice if he got some presents, too.

Not that he needed any.

XXXXX

"It's Christmas again already… what would you do if you were here?" Kakashi wondered as he stood in front of a grave "Rin… Obito…"

He sighed, adjusting his headband as he walked away. There was no use in thinking about it. They were gone, and that's that… but if they weren't, the three of them would probably be spending the Christmas together. All of them had lost their families after all.

"I should've paid more attention back then…"

Flashback

"Why do we need to invite Kakashi too?"

The young chuunin's attention was caught when he heard his name. Looking down from the tree, he saw his teammates, Obito and Rin, walking down the path.

"Because he's our teammate" Rin answered "We can't just leave him alone during Christmas!"

"Can't he spend it with his family or something…" it was really faint, but Kakashi did hear Obito's muttering.

"He has no family, Obito" Rin tells the boy, who looks at her in surprise "That's why it's up to us to cheer him up during Christmas."

Kakashi appreciated the thought, he supposed, but it was unnecessary. He didn't care about Christmas.

…But if he didn't go, Rin would be stuck alone with that idiot Obito. Rin was a good person and a decent comrade; it wasn't a fate he'd wish on her.

Decision made, he jumped down, right behind the two.

"You called?" he asked, making Obito jump a foot in the air, while Rin was only mildly startled "Kakashi!"

And that's how he had ended up spending Christmas with his teammates. And Guy. And Kurenai. And Genma. Asuma snuck in at some point, too. In fact, most of their classmates from the academy were there.

He wouldn't have been needed after all.

And all this was made worse by all the hyacinths around. He hated those so much.

He was allergic.

Guy and Obito had a blast once they realized it.

They didn't bother him the whole night though, and once they lost interest, Kakashi had just sat down in a corner, reading his book, hoping that this wouldn't be repeated next year.

Flashback

"And it wasn't"

Today, he'd give everything to make things so that it wasn't the case.

But the past couldn't be changed.

As he walks down the street, Kakashi doesn't pay any mind to the children rushing home, no doubt looking forward to Christmas meals and spending time with their families. He'd been like that too once, a long time ago. Very long time ago.

"Well, this is a relatively peaceful era; maybe their innocence lasts longer" he thinks, trying to be optimistic.

"Christmas is stupid!"

…Or not. Looking behind him, he sees a blond child sulking with his hands in his pockets, slowly walking ahead. It takes him a few seconds, but eventually, Kakashi recognizes the boy: Minato-sensei's orphaned son.

"Guess the kid has no one to celebrate with" he thinks before turning to continue on his way.

"Who needs presents anyway?"

"…" Kakashi almost, almost went and told the kid that he wasn't fooling anyone. But he didn't; it wasn't any of his business. It wasn't any of his business, so he should just keep walking and forget about it.

"…" too late. If he did nothing, he'd just end up feeling bad, now. Sighing, he began to tail the kid. After figuring out where he lived, the shinobi made up his mind. He'd get the boy a Christmas present. Just something small to lift the child's spirits, no big deal.

Now he just had to figure out what the child would like.

XXXXX

Itachi watched his sleeping little brother, wishing that things were different. If only he could stay to spend the Christmas with him…

"I've already chosen my path" the Uchiha reminds himself, shaking his head "There's no going back."

Even so, it didn't hurt to leave a present on Sasuke's bedside table. The boy would never know it was him.

XXXXX

Kakashi sighs, thankful that he had finally been able to pick a gift and get it wrapped. Not that he was sure at all if the kid would like it or not, but could you blame him? He was an old soul, as some people called him, and had never really been much of a kid himself, so how would he know what a child would want for Christmas?

Eventually, he'd settled on a stuffed toy, hoping that it would work. Kids liked stuffed animals, right? Or was the boy too old for those?

"Well, sink or swim" Kakashi thought as he snuck in to the sleeping boy's home "It's not like I even had to do this in the first place."

And yet, he really hoped the child would like it.

XXXXX

"What were you doing there?" Obito asks as Itachi sneaks out of the village. The other Uchiha barely looks at him before saying: "Personal business."

"Went to see your brother, didn't you?" the older one of the two asks, not waiting for an answer "Were you seen?"

"Of course no- "Itachi starts, but is interrupted by his own sneeze.

Raising an eyebrow under his mask, the man asks: "Did you catch a cold?"

"I don't think so" Itachi says "Must be the season and all the hyacinths; I'm allergic."

"Ah" is all Obito says before patting his cloak a few times "That's pretty common."

The two leave the village alone, but before leaving, Itachi can't help but look over his shoulder one last time.

XXXXX

Sasuke stared at the present on the table with a frown on his young face, wondering where it had come from. Had the Hokage snuck in during the night? Creepy, but he couldn't think of who else it could be from. Not that it'd be any less creepy had it been someone else.

"Tsk, I'm not a little kid anymore; I don't need presents" the boy thought with a scowl, turning his back to the present and heading for the kitchen. And yet, he came back only a few seconds later "It'd be a waste to not at least see what it was."

XXXXX

Naruto walked to his kitchen half asleep, rubbing his tired eyes. He could've slept longer, but he was hungry. It was time for some morning ramen.

"Huh?" the boy blinked sleepily, thinking that he was seeing things. There, on his kitchen table, sat a box neatly wrapped in red paper, finished with a white ribbon on top. It was a Christmas present. He blinked again, still not sure if it was really there, before smiling widely as he came to the conclusion that it really was there. Excited, he ran over, picking the thing up far more carefully that he ever held anything. He didn't know what was in it and in case it was something that broke easily, he didn't want that to happen. Carefully, he sat on the floor, putting the present down between his legs before pulling the ribbon off and starting to peel off the paper. When it was gone, he hesitated for a small moment before taking a hold of the box's lid, lifting it and peeking inside, where a pillow sized stuffed animal, a dog, lay. Smiling widely, he took it out, no longer as careful as before since he'd realized it wasn't something that would break easily. It was all white, and really fluffy. What kind of dog it was supposed to be, he didn't know, but maybe he could ask his classmate Kiba about it? He seemed to know a lot about dogs. Not that it mattered; he liked it anyway.

Hugging the toy to his chest, Naruto got up from the floor, realizing that he was still hungry. It was time to eat.

It would only be later that he'd start to wonder where the present had come from.

XXXXX

Laying on his futon, Kakashi woke up to an itchy nose. He sneezed. He hated sneezing; it messed up his mask. Had he caught a cold? No, it didn't feel like it; his eyes were a little watery. This felt more like an allergic reaction.

"I'm only allergic to one thing" he thought as he sat up, blinking after he did. Why exactly was his place filled with hyacinths, the only freaking thing in the world that he was allergic to? Sure, hyacinth was a Christmas flower, so getting some during Christmas time wasn't suspicious at all, but who'd bother to sneak in to his home in the middle of the night to bring them, not to mention so many of them?

"There's a small chance that Asuma might, but he knows I'm allergic and so wouldn't take such a health risk. Who would?"

….

That wasn't much of a question, really.

"Guy better watch out"

A.N: I'm not sure if it's common around the world or not, but here in Finland, hyacinths are one of the most popular Christmas flowers. Being allergic to them is also very common; some people even get really strong symptoms from them.

Merry Christmas to everyone, with or without hyacinths!