Here we are with the Christmas Special.
I'd like to thank everyone for all the positive feedback. Personal I'm very proud of this story and I hope to keep it going for a good while yet.
And in response to Cipher:Can the 4th charm be Bahamut? Think bigger. Muuuch bigger.
Just a few thing to be aware of before reading, this chapter is a said story so it's not really connected to the main story line and anything that happens won't tie ion to future chapters. So basically it's a stand alone.
Also Tsunade is Hokage now.
Enjoy
Christmas Special.
No matter where you go in the worlds some things remain constant. Elves are royal jerks, someone is planning world domination, brussels sprouts are disgusting, and December 24th is always Christmas Eve.
On a world called the Elemental Nations, in a ninja village called the Hidden Leaf it was snowing gently as night set in. The snowfall hadn't been originally forecast but someone had fired off a few blizzard spells into the clouds four days ago it hadn't stopped since. Not that anyone was complaining, who doesn't love snow at Christmas? As the last of the remaining shops started to close for the night the village began to settle down for a nice, quiet
"GET HIM!"
So much for that.
The peace was shattered by a cry from Anko, who along with Kakashi, Guy and Kurenai were leaping from rooftop to rooftop chasing after the greatest annoyance to ever curse their village.
"Keep up slow pokes! I'm not even breaking a sweat here!" yelled Hunter as he continued running away. He was holding a large cardboard box in front of him that was filled to the brim with decorations that he was putting out all over the village while avoiding his pursuers.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Falalalala, lalalala!" he sang as he jumped down to street level and began rapidly nailing holly reefs to people's doors.
"You've sung that song EIGHT times now!" yelled Kurenai.
"'Tis the season to be jolly! Falalalala, lalalala!" now he was running along the side of buildings putting up long lines of lights and fir garlands.
Kakashi noticed the direction they were going in. "He's heading for the Hokages Tower!"
Hunter rounded a corner and sure enough the Hokage Tower was just down the next street. The only thing between him and it was a few yards and a small armies worth of shinobi who'd gathered outside for the express purpose of stopping him. Now, at this point anyone sane would have turned and ran the other way.
Hunter is many things, sane however is not on the list.
He didn't even slow down, if anything he ran even faster. The ninjas readied their weapons or started making hand signs for their jutsu but just before Hunter reached them he opened a black portal right in front of him and ran into it.
The exit portal appeared in the Hokages office. Tsunade and her assistant Shizune had been working through the seemingly never ending pile of paperwork for the past four hours, they were almost glade for the interruption. Before either of them could speak Hunter used a stop spell. When time resumed for them the office had been fully Christmas-fyed, with lights and wreaths hung up on the walls, two stockings hanging above the window, a small fully decorated Christmas tree in the corner, he'd even put Santa hats on the both of them. Hunter was now standing just in front of Shizune, holding a small branch of mistletoe between them.
"I don't suppose there's any chance of-" He was abruptly cut off when Shizune brought out a kunai and took a slash at his neck, forcing Hunter to move out o her reach.
"Well, can't blame a bloke for trying." he said disappointedly as the teleported away.
Several miles away on a hill overlooking the village.
"Fools." muttered Thorn as he looked out over the snow covered village. "Still. I can take advantage of this. Now is the time to..." he turned to face the small army of Nobodies that had assembled behind him, only to find that they were now throwing snowballs at each other or ice skating on a large frozen pond that was close by.
"Stop!" he ordered. The other Nobodies all froze mid action and turned their heads to face him.
"Now is hardly the time for-Humph!" once again Thorn was silenced, this time by a snowball that struck him in the face. He raised his hand and slowly wiped the remaining snow away.
"Alright. Which one of you-" He was pelted by several more snow balls.
Once he'd quickly dusted all the snow off he noticed that the other Nobodies had gone right back to their snowball fight. "Well. If you can't beat them." Thorn scooped up enough snow to make a snowball the size of a very small car and through it at a nearby Berserker.
Back in the Leaf village
"He's coming this way Boss!" said Konohamaru.
"Excellent. Hehehe, this is gunna be perfect!" giggled Naruto. He and the rest of his team were hiding in a narrow side street just off from a main street that Hunter should be coming down any second. With them was Team Eight, Udon, Moegi and now Konohamaru and in another alley almost dead opposite was Team Ten and Team Guy.
Apart from Naruto and the three academy students no one was too happy with this 'plan' of his as it basically amounted to waiting for Hunter to pass then all jumping out at once, but seeing as no one had thought of a better plan yet they'd decided to go along with it. The promise of revenge had been a massive deciding factor as well. Since Hunter had first appeared they'd all been subjected to his 'humour' and at this point they'd all take just about any chance to get their own back. Apart from Sasuke who just wanted to steal some of Hunter's Darkness power before the jōnin got hold of him.
"Alright, here he comes!" said Naruto.
Everyone tensed up and readied themselves.
"NOW!" they all surged forwards just as Hunter came to an abrupt stop. Instead of catching their target the entire group ended up crashing into each other and landing in an heap on the floor.
Naruto was (unsurprisingly) on the bottom of the pile. He gave a groan of pain then looked up only to find Hunter looking down at him, eyes closed and smiling broadly.
"Nice try fellas. But as the Roadrunner said to the Cyote. 'Meep Meep'!"
Now this would have been the part where Hunter took off into the night, if it hadn't been for...
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Hunter turned round just in time to see Might Guys foot before it smashed into his face. He flew backwards over the genin, crashed into the ground and skidded back a further ten feet through the snow.
"HA! I finally got him. The fires of youth still burn strongly within me!" Guy proclaimed. The rest of the Jōnin showed up at that moment. "Hey Kakashi. I got him before you did. That's one point to me!"
Kakashi let out a tired groan 'There's going to be no living with him now.' he thought.
Hunter hadn't gotten up yet, he was too busy making a snow angel where he'd fallen. Once he was done he stood and turned to admire his handiwork.
"A perfe-what the blue blazes!?"
Everyone else cautiously moved in behind Hunter to see what had him so confused. What they saw dumbfounded every last one of them. Hunter had done all the actions necessary to make a snow angel yetsomehow he'd left in the snow an imprint of a man with horns holding a pitchfork.
"Looks like the Laws of Physics are on holiday today to." everyone turned their gaze back on Hunter, who suddenly realised that just about all the people in this village who wanted to kill him were literally right behind him.
"Oh snap."
Before anyone had a chance to grab him Hunter dashed forwards, ran up the side of a building and perched up on the roof. "Now where was I,...Tis the season to be jolly, falalalala, lalalala!"
"Oh, not again!" groaned Anko.
"Don we now our gay apparel!"
Naruto and Konohamaru made a few childish giggles that were instantly silenced when Hunter nailed them both in the face with two thrown holly wreaths.
"For the ancient yewl tide carol. Falalalala, Lalalala!" Hunter stopped carolling and took a moment to survey his work. Satisfied, he looked back down at the ninjas who were still on ground level, staring angrily up at him. "This has been fun and all but I'm afraid I must take my leave. I've still got some last minute Christmas shopping to do." everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "But don't worry. I'll be back before the night is out." then he disappeared into a black portal.
"Well, that was fun." said Anko, the tone of her voice suggesting it had been anything but.
"I say we go back to enjoying Christmas eve while he's gone." suggested Ino. In a flash she was next to Sasuke asking "So, erm, Sasuke. There's a party on tonight and I was wondering if-"
"Dream on Ino." Sakura interrupted her "If Sasuke's going with anyone it's gunna be ME!"
"Oh, like he'd go anywhere with you, bill-board brow!"
"Ino-pig!"
Sasuke was already walking away having resolved to spend a nice, quiet evening alone.
Slowly everyone else dispersed until only Naruto was left behind. He gave a tired sigh as he watched his friends go, then started walking back to his apartment. Christmas had never been a happy time of year for Naruto. Despite it being the season of good will everyone in the village had always ignored him the same as they did every other day of the year. The worst part of it though had to be watching all the other kids with their families, shopping, playing just generally having fun. Every time he saw that it just made him think about how he had no parents or real family of his own. Sure, he'd had Iruka and Ji-ji in the past and his friends now, but they were still no substitute for the real thing.
"Feeling down, huh?"
Naruto was so surprised he actually fell over. Looking up he saw Hunter, who'd apparently been standing right next to him.
"What the...but you were...you left!?" Naruto sputtered.
"Not exactly." Hunter admitted "I still have some...shopping, left to do here. So I just warped to behind the building and turned into dog."
Naruto gave him a questioning look "You turned into a dog?"
Hunter gave Naruto a condescending look "All the things you've seen me do and you find that hard to believe."
"Ok, so why are you following me? Again?"
Hunter took a deep breath and put on his 'serious' face. "Look, Naruto. Even without my whole 'seeing' people thing I can tell you're feeling down in the dumps."
Naruto wasn't in the mood to be comforted so he made a face and started walking again.
"I know it's hard to see everyone else with their family, especially at this time of year. But, it's Christmas Naruto, you shouldn't be focusing on what you don't have you should be thankful for what you do have."
Naruto spun round and angrily yelled "Thankful!? For what, the Demon Fox I've got sealed inside me or the group of S-rank ninjas hunting me!? Why couldn't I just have a normal life? Why did all this have to happen to ME!?"
Hunter wasn't sure how to respond, that's when Naruto blurted out "You know what? I wish I'd never been born!"
"You don't mean that."
"Oh, really? I wish I'd never been born!" Naruto repeated.
"Naruto, you really shouldn't-"
"Hey, Hunter. Come here, I want to tell you something." Hunter leaned in closer to Naruto. "I WISH I'D NEVER BEEN BORN!"
Hunter jumped back, clutching his ear. "OWW! Bloomin' 'eck."
Naruto was already walking away, still in a foul mood. Hunter was about to go after him, but that factory in his head that churns out insane ideas started working. Hunter started smiling as a plan slowly came together in his mind. All he needed to do now was convince Naminé and Riku to help.
Twilight Town. The Old Mansion
"Riku, are you sure you don't need my help?" asked Naminé. She and Riku were both in the Old Mansion's foyer, with the latter up a ladder trying to put up some tinsel.
"Naminé, after everything I've faced I'm pretty sure I can handle a-"
That was when a dark portal suddenly opened in the middle of the room and Hunter burst out yelling "HI GUYS!"
Riku lost his balance, fell off the ladder, and crashed in a heap on the ground. Once he got back up he shot Hunter an annoyed look.
All the Heartless could manage was an embarrassed "Oops."
"Hunter, you're back!" declared Naminé. "Did something happen in the Elemental Nations? Are you here to report to DiZ?"
"Yes and no. Speak of the devil, where is DiZ anyway."
Riku pointed to a carved wooden door off to his right. "In his study. He said not to disturb him. That was four hours ago now."
Hunter shrugged "Maybe he'll get visited by three ghosts in the night and change for the better." they all laughed at that. "I didn't come back here for work stuff anyway. I actually need your help."
Hunter quickly explained the situation to Riku and Naminé, then he told them his plan.
"That...could work." said Riku even though he didn't sound convinced.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just talk to Naruto?" asked Naminé.
"No. He won't listen. I need to show him he's wrong. So are you guys in?"
Riku and Naminé looked at each other, then they both nodded.
"Great! Riku, I need you to get the lab ready. Naminé, I need you to come with me and help get Naruto here."
"But I'm not supposed to leave the Mansion." said Naminé with a nervous look towards DiZ's study.
"Ah, what Scrooge won't know won't hurt him."
A few minutes later.
Hunter and Naminé both appeared out of a black portal in Naurto's bedroom. Naruto himself was asleep, hugging his pillow and snoring just loudly enough to be annoying.
"Oh, Naruto." said Hunter in an attempt to wake the blond up.
Nothing happened.
"Naruto!" he tried again a little louder with the same result.
Naminé poked his head a few times but Naruto just mutters something like "I'll save you Sakura." dreamily.
Hunter rolled his eyes and walked out of the door into Naruto's kitchen. He returned a second later holding a frying pan and said in a calm voice. "Oh no, Ichiraku's Ramen is on fire."
Naruto instantly bolted upright "Huh! Fire!? I-" *clang*. Then Hunter whacked him over the head with the frying pan, causing a now unconscious Naruto to fall out of his bed and onto the floor.
"Um, was that necessary?" asked Naminé
"It was for me." answered Hunter.
"Owww." Naruto groaned as he started to get back up. Hunter whacked him over the head again, knocking him out once more.
"Right, now all we have to do is drag him back to the mansion."
Back at the Mansion. One hour later.
"Is it ready yet?" asked Hunter for the twentieth time as he paced about the room.
"Hunter, when I'm done making a virtual copy of an entire world, you'll be the first to know." said Riku
All three of them, including the still unconscious Naruto were in the Mansion's lab that was hidden beneath the main library. Riku was sitting at the multi screened computer, typing away while Naminé and Hunter stood behind him waiting. Naruto was slumped in a small cylindrical alcove on the left wall.
"OK." announced Riku. "The simulated Leaf Village is all ready."
"And the changes? This won't work without those." said Hunter.
Riku rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I had the computer run a simulation and it's changed everything accordingly. We're ready to begin whenever you are."
"Alright. Fire it up."
A cone shaped beam of light appeared above Naruto, the a narrow beam shot down from the tip and made contact with the sleeping ninjas head. Naruto began to come apart in digital blocks that floated up and disappeared into the cone of light. In a matter of seconds he'd disappeared completely.
Riuk looked up at one of the computer monitors. "He's back in his room. Well, not his room but, you get the point."
Hunter nodded in understanding, then he stepped into the alcove where Naruto had just been. "Hit it Riku."
Riku tapped a key and the alcove activated once more. Hunter had just enough time to say "Beam me up Scotty!" before he was digitised.
Later. In Naruto's room
"Owww" Naruto groaned as he got up, clutching at his aching head. "What...oww..."
"'Bout time." at the sound of Hunter's voice Naruto jumped out of his...wait, where was his bead. In fact where was all his stuff. Looking around Naruto found that his room had been completely emptied, there wasn't so much as an end table left. Apart from himself the only other person there was Hunter, who was standing in the middle of the room looking smug.
"I suppose this is your idea of a joke right? What did you do with all my stuff!? If you sold it to a charity shop or something I swear I'll-"
"Naruto, you don't have any stuff. This isn't your room, or your apartment for that matter." said Hunter.
Still angry and now confused to Naruto asked "What do you mean? Of course it's my room I should know, I've lived in it my whole life"
"Remember what you said a while ago. What you wished for. Well, you were so insistent I decided to grant you wish." Hunter spread his arms wide and proclaimed "Welcome to the world where you were never born!"
"Uh huh." Naruto was unconvinced to say the least. "Seriously now, what did you do with my stuff."
Hunter face palmed and let out a heavy sigh "Don't believe me? Fine, come on, this way."
Still sceptical Naruto followed Hunter out of his empty apartment and up onto the roof of the building. It was night time now and Naruto was still in his pyjamas so he had to cross his arms over his chest to keep some warmth.
"Ok, what are...we...WHAT!"
Naruto had looked out over the Hidden Leaf village many times before. He knew it like the back of his hand (almost). This was not the village he knew. Parts of it were similar but there were buildings here he'd never seen before, and places he knew that were missing altogether. A big part of the leaf seemed somehow...lower that the rest, like it was sitting in a dip.
"What...why...how?"
"Shocking I know." said Hunter. "See, Naruto without you the Fourth Hokage had no one to seal the Nine Tailed Fox into. His sacrifice still weakened it but it took a lot of effort, and the lives of more good people to finally destroy it. It's last attack blew up a good chunk of the village too. Most of it had to be rebuilt. That little dip you can see. It's a blast crater."
"Destroy it?" Naruto repeated questioningly. Even the real Fox inside him was paying attention now.
"Well, not 'destroy' destroy. The Fox is gone but it will come back someday. A lot of people down there are afraid of that."
"This is...No. I still don't believe it you're up to something..or..." Hunter grabbed hold of Naruto's head and angled it so he was now looking at the Hokage Mountain. Naruto's eyes widened. Next to the fourth Hokage's face was another giant bust of a man whose face was mostly covered in stone carved bandages.
"Who is that!?" Naruto demanded.
"Danzo Shimura. The Fifth Hokage."
Naruto rounded on Hunter "No he's not! Tsunade is the Fifth Hokage!"
"No she's not. You were never born here. You never brought her back to the Leaf. When Sarutobi died Danzo became the new Hokage. He's a lot less...tolerant than his predecessor, but he's kept the Leaf going strong. Not a task for the faint of heart." Hunter let his words sink in for a moment. "Now, let's see if we can find your friends." without warning he picked Naruto up and jumped off the roof. He landed with a slight puffing noise as they hit a snow bank.
"Are you nuts!?" demanded Naruto as he dusted snow off himself.
"Of course I am. I thought everyone knew by now."
Naruto looked around. From ground level the village looked the same as ever, people he vaguely recognised were walking about shopping, talking, cleaning, fixing. As usually they were ignoring him.
"They can't see or hear us right?" Naruto asked.
"I'm not the Ghost of Christmas Past. They can see and hear us just fine." To illustrate the point Hunter wished a passing woman a 'Merry Christmas' and she smiled and said the same thing back.
"Ah, there's someone you know well." Hunter pointed to something behind Naruto. The boy turned round, and his head very near exploded.
Standing in a group a few feet away was Tenten, Lee, Guy and Gaara. It wasn't the same Gaara he knew however, he was still dressed the same but he didn't have those black rings round his eyes, or that red symbol on his forehead. He was also...laughing. Gaara was laughing and not in his usual 'I'm gunna kill you and love it' way, just normal, fun laughter. It was weird.
"That's...Gaara" Naruto finally managed to say.
"Yeah. See, the whole reason, well, the main reason that Gaara got stuck with the Shikaku was because the Sand Village wanted a counter measure."
"For what?"
"For you."
Naruto looked like he'd been slapped.
"The Kaszekage was afraid that the Leaf would turn you into a weapon, so he thought he needed a weapon of his own .Just in case. But Because there is no Nine Tails here, Gaara never got the Shikaku. He grew up a normal teenager."
That was when someone else Naruto knew showed up. Sakura walked up to the group and went to stand next to Gaara, who put his arm around her shoulder.
"Huh?" Naruto looked confused. The last time he'd tried that with Sakura she'd punched him almost through a wall.
"Oh, right. Those two are dating." said Hunter casually.
"Dating!" yelled Naruto in absolute disbelief. When that subsided he was left feeling sad "So his life is actually better without me."
"Not exactly. After the whole Sand-Sound invasion Danzo covertly annexed the Sand village. Gaara's a political prisoner of sorts. His sister Temari is the new Kazekage and if she goes against what Danzo says then..." Hunter drew a line across his neck with his finger. "He's free to walk about the village, but he can't leave. Life in a gilded cage."
Naruto looked back at Gaara and the others. The group had started walking away now.
Suddenly Naruto realised something "Wait. Why is Sakura with Gaara? She's had a crush on Sasuke for ages?"
Hunter didn't look at Naruto, he just said. "This way." and started walking.
Naruto followed him all the while trying to ask about Sasuke. After a while Naruto accidently bumped into someone, knocking over them and what they'd been carrying.
"Sorry! said Naruto as he helped pick up the various groceries that had fallen to the floor. He was about to hand them over to the person he'd bumped into, the he froze.
"H-hinata?" the girl in front on him looked like Hinata but instead of her usual outfit she was dressed more plainly in grey winter cloths. She was also wearing a black piece of cloth tied round her head.
"T-thank you sir." she stammered quietly as she took the groceries from him, all the while never meeting his gaze. Then she hurried away.
"Hinata, wait!" Naruto called after her but she was already gone.
"Now there is a sad story." said Hunter.
Naruto looked up at him. "What happened to Hinata? She's ever shyer than I remember a-and where was her forehead protector?"
"She doesn't have one."
"What?! She does! She's a ninja of the Hidden Leaf!" said Naruto, angrily
"No she's not. Do you remember when you first met her?"
Naruto nodded. It was years ago now. Hinata had become separated from her chaperone and some local bullies had decided to make her the target of their fun. Naruto had tried to stop them but this was all before his ninja training and they wiped the floor with him. Still, at least he'd kept them from going after Hinata.
"She never told you but that was what inspired her to be a ninja." Hunter continued "But you were never born here. That never happened. She never lived up to her father's standards and eventual she was thrown out of the Hyūga clan. That bandana on her head. It's to cover up her Caged Bird Seal."
Naruto was horrified. He knew what that seal did to people and the idea that Hinata now had it was almost more than he could stand.
"It's...not all bad. She's living with Kurenai now as her adoptive daughter. Things aren't great but..." Hunter trailed off, unsure of what to say. "Come on, we still have to find Sasuke."
They carried on walking until Naruto saw Ino, Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru sitting together in a restaurant. Kiba was staring at his food while the others looked as though they were trying to talk to him.
"Kiba lost Akamaru in the invasion." said Hunter, pre-empting Naruto's question. "He hasn't been the same since. Everyone's worried about him but they're not sure what to do."
As they carried on walking Naruto saw something else that shouldn't be. Ichiraku's Ramen with a sign up saying 'Out of business'.
"What!? I-Ichraku's Ramen is gone to?"
"Ayme was another casualty of the invasion." said Hunter.
That hit Naruto hard. Ayme had always been nice to him and when he was a lot younger he had a childish crush on her for a while to.
"Teuchi couldn't go back to work after that so he sold his business and left the Leaf."
Hunter urged Naruto to keep going, even thought the young ninja kept insisting he'd seen enough. The two took a short cut through a side street, but when they got back on to the main road they were nearly run over by an expensive looking carriage that was passing by.
"Get out of the way you scum!" yelled one of the carriages guards. "Commoners are not permitted to go near the Water Daimyō! Get lost!"
The carriage carried on by and Naruto got a good look at the man inside. there was no mistaking that face.
"Gatō!?" Naruto yelled in alarm. "B-but he died in the Land of Waves. I was there!?"
"No you weren't. That mission never happened. Tazuna's bridge never got built, Gatō didn't die. Heck, the greedy pig's thriving. He took over the Wave, then he expanded his enterprises further. After paying off the right people and making all the right deals he became the new Water Daimyō after the old one's tragic 'accident'."
Naruto watched the carried containing Gatō roll away into the night. Then he felt Hunter's hand on his shoulder.
"One last stop kid."
Hunter lead Naruto away from the village towards a place that Naruto had only ever visited once in his life. The Memorial stone.
"Why are we here?" asked Naruto.
Hunter said nothing and just kept walking towards the stone.
"Y-you said we were going to see Sasuke. But I don't see him."
More silence.
"Answer me!" Naruto yelled.
Hunter turned and beckoned him over. Slowly, unwillingly Naruto approached the black, kunai shaped stone that was covered in a thin layer of snow. When he was right in front of it Hunter bent down and wiped away a patch of snow revealing a recently added name.
'Sasuke Uchiha'
"S-saskue's...he's..." Naruto couldn't bring himself to say it.
"It was during Orochimaru's invasion. He used took on a whole platoon of sound ninjas by himself, but he couldn't do it alone. He used his Curse Mark. The one the snake man gave him, but he overdid it. It killed him.
Naruto had tears in his eyes now. It looked like he was about to break down at any moment.
"He's not the only one who died."
Hunter wiped away more snow revealing more names.
'Neji Hyūga'
'Yūgao Uzuki'
'Mizuki'
'Shino Aburame'
'Konohamaru Sarutobi'
"No. No no no no no NO!" Naruto screamed. "This is all WRONG! It shouldn't be like this! The world shouldn't be like this!"
"This is what you wished for Naruto."
"I DIDN'T WISH FOR THIS!" Naruto roared.
"Yes you did. What, did you think the world without you would be the same, just no you in it? You've touched a lot of people's lives Naruto, made them better. And now that's all been undone."
Naruto looked around franticly "Then I take it back. You hear me, I take it all back!" Naruto ran forwards and grabbed hold of Hunter's shirt "Whatever you did just undo it! Put everything back the way it was!"
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
"YES! yes I'm sure! I was wrong, alright! I-I have a good life after all a-and I was wrong to wish it away. Now please, please just fix it!"
"Ok." Hunter smiled and produced a frying pan from somewhere.
"What's that for?" asked Naruto.
There was a slight clang as Hunter hit him over the head, knocking him out.
"Ok Riku, lesson over. Let's get Naruto home." said Hunter. There was a slight pause, then both he and Naruto vanished from the replica Leaf Village in a beam of light and data.
The Hidden Leaf. Christmas morning
Naruto bolted upright yelling "I take it back!" then as he fully woke up he took stock of his surroundings. He was back in his room. And it was his room. All his stuff, his bead, his chairs, his pictures. Everything was back to normal. Naruto bolted out of bed, out of his apartment and up onto the roof. The Hokage monument still only had four faces and the village looked as it always had.
"I-it's all back. Everything is back! Hahaha! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled joyously.
Without even bothering to get dressed he ran down several flights of stairs and out into the village. It wasn't long before he found the rest of the Konoha Nine who were exchanging gifts outside the Haruno's flower shop.
"Guys!" Naruto yelled "Hey! You're here! You're all here Hahaha!"
They all looked at each other, confused and a little worried.
Sasuke spoke first "Naruto. Just what's wrong with-ekk!" he was cut off when Naruto ran forwards and hugged him. Sasuke's face was an absolute picture, Kiba wished he had a camera to capture the moment.
Akamaru gave an amused bark, then Naruto broke the hug, scooped the dog up and started hugging him. "Akamaru! Oh, it's good to see you to!"
"Errm, Naruto? Any chance you could let my dog breath?" said Kiba.
"What's gotten into him?" asked Tenten as Naruto dropped Akamaru and proceeded to grab Shino a bear hug.
"Christmas Spirit?" suggested Lee.
Shino was now using his bugs to try and get Naruto to release him but it wasn't having any effect.
That was when the sand siblings turned up.
"I can't believe you dragged me all the way here for Christmas." said a very annoyed Kankurō.
"Stop whining Kankurō." said Gaara. "Tsunade invited us all here, we should-gahh!"
Naruto had tried to run over and hug Gaara but he'd ran headfirst into the sand shield that kept popping up to 'protect' him.
"Ouch." the blond squeaked as the shield dropped and he feel over.
"Is he ok?" asked Temari.
"We're...not sure." replied Sakura.
Naruto got back up and yelled "Gaara! You're alright!"
Gaara blinked a few times then said "Erm. I'm...fine. Are you?"
"Me? I'm great! I'm fantastic! Believe it!" Naruto cart wheeled off to the left "Everything's great! It's all fine just the way it is!"
There was a loud crash from further away.
"What was that!?" yelled Ino in surprise.
"No idea. Let's go see!" said Naruto, who ran off in the direction of the sound.
Sakura called after him "No, Naruto wait it may be- ah, who am I kidding. Like he'd ever listen."
The rest of the Konoha Nine and the Sand Siblings chased after Naruto. Soon they all came to the source of the commotion. In the middle of the village where four main roads joined was a large, fully decorated Christmas Tree. Most of the village, shinobi and civilian was gathered around taking presents from the huge pile at the trees base.
Naruto looked around and saw Tsunade standing with her arms founded as short distance away. "This wasn't here three seconds ago. How'd it get here?" she wondered aloud.
An ANBU ninja walked up to here and presented her with a piece of fouled paper. "This was found on one of the braches Lady Hokage."
Tsunade unfolded it and read the message. It was just four words.
"Merry Christmas Chesty La Rue"
She scrunched up the note and angrily hissed "Hunter."
"This one has my name on it!" said Lee, who'd apparently got to take a present while on one was looking. He quickly unwrapped his present and found a small set of weights inside. He picked on up, seemingly disappointed, then he noticed a small red button on it. He pushed it and the weight suddenly became incredibly heavy, so much so that it pulled Lee down to the ground.
"Excellent!" Lee declared. "A most youthful gift. I shall train with them until I can lift both with ease!"
Everyone else started to close in on the tree, picking up their own presents. Guy received a set of weights that were much like Lee's, only larger. Gaara got a joke book with a note suggesting he should laugh more. Kankurō got a whole new battle puppet that he loved to bits already. Temari got and ornate and expensive looking doll with a note reading 'for the growing collection'. She blushed and made and attempt to hid the doll from sight.
Konohamaru got a miniature Hokage's hat that he was already wearing. Moegi received a pretty looking hair pin while Udon got a set of handkerchiefs.
Kakashi got..."The latest Icha Icha! It's not even on the shelves yet!" he was holding the book to his chest and crying a river of anime tears.
Jiriya got a book as well along with a note saying' Some new book ideas'. He looked at the title. "Hmm 'Fifty shades of Grey'?" he thumbed through the first few pages, the his eyes went wide and he put on his trademark pervert grin. "New ideas...Hehe, lots of new ideas."
Tenten got a few exotic looking weapons that she was closely examining. Neji's gift was a cook book. "How did he know I was learning?" he muttered to himself. Anko had gotten a picture that showed Hunter posing over a badly beaten up Orochimaru and Kabuto "Hehe. This is so going on the wall."
Sasuke had gotten an anger management self help book along with a note saying 'If you don't read it I'll give all your fan girls a key to your house'. Sasuke gulped and resolved to read the entire book that day.
Ino had gotten a dress she'd been looking at for weeks but never had the money to buy. Choji had gotten a single apple with an accompanying note saying it was an 'Apple of Arlathan'. He cautiously took a bite, then he seemingly spaced out for a moment. When he came to his senses again he looked down reverently at the piece of fruit and said "Best. Apple. Ever!"
Shikamaru's gift was a chess set, Shino had gotten an encyclopaedia of exotic bugs and where to find them that he was already studying intently. Kiba had received a dog grooming kit, and Akamaru had gotten a nice juice bone.
Asuma and Kurenai had both gotten baby cloths and parenting books. Needles to say the two of them looked a little uncomfortable.
Tsunade had gotten an advanced medical textbook that Hunter had 'borrowed' from another more advance world. Shizune got a large guide book detailing various cultural heritage sites around the world. Even the small pig Tonton got a bag of pig food.
The Old Mansion
It was Christmas in Twilight Town to, and in the old Mansion's lab Riku, Naminé and Hunter were all opening their gifts from one another.
Riku had gotten a hand draw picture of himself and Sora on Destiny Islands from Naminé and from Hunter he'd gotten a sword.
Naminé had gotten a pad of paper and colouring pencils from Riku and a history book of art from Hunter.
Hunter himself had gotten a picture from Naminé of the time they both sat on the rooftops of the Leaf and eat ice-cream together and Riku had given him a book on various forms of combat.
"Thanks guys." said Hunter earnestly.
"Do you think DiZ will like our gift?" asked Naminé.
DiZ was still in his study, sitting at his desk, looking at his 'gift'. A book entitled 'A Christmas Carol'. He picked it up like it was toxic, then he dropped it in a waist paper basket and got back to work.
"He's probably putting it through the shredder as we speak." joked Riku. "I still can't believe you got gifts for everyone in that village."
Hunter shrugged "What can I say. I'm a giver."
"Did you get a serious gift for a single one of them?" asked Naminé.
"Two." Hunter responded slyly.
Back in the Leaf
(Authors note: Open a new window, go to YouTube and play something Christmassy. Go on, you know you want to.)
After much searching Naruto had finally found his present. Unwrapping it he was surprised to find another present inside. The label read 'To Hinata from Naruto'. Looking around he saw Hinata and walked over to her. She had apparently received similar gift, only hers was addressed to Naruto.
"Hey Hinata." he said as he approached.
Hinata started and let out a small "Eep." she quickly blurted out a "Hello Naruto." to cover it up.
Naruto looked down at the paper wrapped box in his hands "I erm, think this is for you." he offered the box to Hinata who shyly took it while giving Naruto her own present.
The two opened their respective gifts, then they jumped back in alarm as a ball of light emerged from each box. The two orbs collided with each other in the space above and between them and formed a spectral mistletoe that hovered above them.
"Oh, that's erm..." Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Hinata had turned several shades of red at this point.
"Hinata, we er..don't have to."
"No!" Hinata blurted out. "I-I mean, no I w-want to..."
The two of them moved closer together, Naruto leaned in and Kissed Hinata lightly on the lips. For Hinata it was as though the world was standing still. Without thinking she wrapped her arms round Naruto and gave him a passionate kiss. Naruto was stunned at first but he returned Hinata's embrace and started kissing her back.
Most of Naruto's friends had taken notice at this point.
"Those two are..." said Sakura disbelievingly.
Sasuke managed a slight smile "And I thought he'd never notice."
"It's about time." said Kakashi.
Lee and Guy nodded in agreement and said "Most youthful." while both giving a thumbs up.
Tsunade groaned "I'm going to have to give Hunter a pardon for this aren't I."
"Well, it is the season of good will my Lady." said Shizune.
Naruto and Hinata were only now braking their kiss and blushingly looking at each other as the first snow of the day began to fall.
"Merry Christmas Hinata." said Naruto.
Hinata's smile widened "Merry Christmas Naruto."
"Merry Christmas to all of you!"
Everyone looked up and saw Hunter dressed in a Santa suit un on the roof of a nearby building.
"Hope you all enjoyed your gifts. Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got some last minute gifts to deliver!"
Hunter brought his hand up to his mouth and whistled loudly. Nothing happened for a while, then people started to hear something.
"Is that...sleigh bells?" asked Naruto.
He got his answer a second later when a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer appeared and pulled up next to the roof Hunter was on. He jumped into the back of the sleigh, then leaned over to talk to the driver.
"Thanks for letting me do this Santa."
Santa Clause looked over his shoulder at the Human-Heartless "It's the least I can do to thank you. You have no idea how big a debt I owe you for keeping Jack Skellington occupied this year."
"Don't mention it. Now let's get rolling."
With a tug of the reigns the sleigh started to take off. Hunter leaned out over the back and started waving at the people down below.
Having recovered from the weirdness of this event everyone started waving back.
"Do you think he's gone for good?" asked Guy.
"Like we'd ever be that lucky." said Tsunade
Hinata and Naruto just smiled and held each other tighter.
"So many childhood dreams coming true right now." Hunter said to himself as the sleigh climbed skywards.
"Hahaha! Oh won't you giiiivvvve...your looovvvveee...for Chirstmassssss!"
Thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoyed it.
For the next chapter I've decided that I'm going to bring Danzo back. He's just to good an antagonist for me to just kill of so early, so I'll be going back to chapter two to tweak the ending majorly. I'm also going to be revealing Hunter's third summon in a few chapters time. I bet none of you can guess who it is.
See you next time
Merry Christmas
