Yes, yes—this is what happens when you're trying to update your Naruto Fan fiction and all you hear is Christmas music! It's a theme that's been done, and re-done, and re-re-done, but I can't help but want to try my hand at it! Besides, it's a perfect opportunity for some Naruto Angst! And you KNOW I love angsty things!
And don't worry! My other story will still be updated as frequently as possible!
Chapter 1—MeaningIt's cold. It's soft. It's wet. And it was about the most fun Uzumaki Naruto had had all year long.
Late last night, a thick layer of pure white snow had descended on Konohagakure village, coating trees and rooftops with the glistening substance. And as soon as they had seen it, Naruto and Konohamaru had jumped out into the snow to start possibly the largest snowball fight Konoha had ever seen. The two of them pelted not only each other, but also every single passerby who had the misfortune of coming within snowball range. Even poor chubby Akimichi Chouji had fallen victim and was pelted right in the head by a rather amused Naruto, who howled with laughter as the fat ninja flopped face-first into the snow. After a while, both young boys being numb from the cold yet panting from the exercise, they had flopped down onto a very soft snow bank for a break.
"Hey, Naruto-nii-chan?" Konohamaru turned to the blonde shinobi. The younger boy adjusted his goggles, dusting his felt gloves and overly thick winter coat free of clinging snow.
"Yeah?" Naruto panted back. The blonde stared happily up at the still gray sky, completely sprawled in the freezing snow. Rather than his usual outfit, Naruto had found a long orange winter coat buried at the back of his closet, and had a rather thick red scarf wrapped around his neck for warmth.
Konohamaru sat up to regard his 'older brother' Naruto, "What are you doing for Christmas?"
"Huh?" Naruto's bright blue eyes left the sky to stare over at the young would-be-ninja.
"I was just thinking," Konohamaru reached up to brush the snow from his hair, "if you don't have anything to do, you could spend Christmas with my Uncle and me." True, Konohamaru had recently lost his grandfather in the failed coup d'etat by the sand village, but the boy did still have some relatives to spend the holidays with.
This stung Naruto more than he would ever let on. Christmas for the fox-boy had always just been an excuse to cause more mischief for the poor villagers of Konoha. Growing up alone, never having known what a family felt like, and having been ostracized by most of the village, Naruto had only known Christmas as a cold time where everyone else seemed happy for some stupid reason or another. He lapsed into memory, falling eerily silent as Konohamaru stared at him for an answer. Somewhere behind him, Naruto heard a mound of snow fall from a tree branch and crunch into the already covered ground. It brought him somewhat back from his thoughts, offering a strange little smirk up at Konohamaru, "Ahh, to hell with all of that! But listen, Konohamaru, you wanna help me do something REALLY fun?!"
"R-really…fun?" Konohamaru blinked in confusion at the suddenly fox-like grin that Naruto had grown.
Over at the Uchiha estate, a still groggy Sasuke was just waking up, making his way through his chilly house. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, hoping to rid himself of the lingering laziness he felt. He noticed just how very bright everything seemed this morning, and curiously made his way to a window. It almost looked like…snow. Just to be sure that sleep was not still fooling him, he flung the window open. Sasuke immediately withdrew from the windowsill shuddering lightly as his eyes snapped wide open, "Yup…definitely snow." A slight "Brrrr!" escaped him as he rubbed his bare arms, wishing his pajamas offered a little more warmth. For an instant, the Uchiha considered returning to his bed, knowing his sheets were at least still warm. But before he could pass judgment on that thought, a snowball came sailing right through the open window, and belted Sasuke squarely on the nose.
"WAHHH-HAAA-HAAA!" that obnoxious laughter was distinctly that of his teammate, Naruto, "I got you good, Sasuke-teme!"
Naruto's little accomplice cheered him on, "Nice shot, Naruto-nii-chan!"
"Nyaa-haa-haa-haa! It was, wasn't it!" Naruto puffed his chest out, running his finger under his nose a few times. He cackled from his perch, high up in a tree right next to Sasuke's house, so proud of his aim that he failed to notice the look of death that the Uchiha had trained on him.
Sasuke slowly reached up and wiped the bitterly cold snow from his face, his voice threateningly dark, "Naruto…"
"Nya!" Naruto stuck out his tongue and flipped Sasuke off, "What're you gonna do about it, teme?!"
That was clearly the wrong thing to say, because three or four shuriken came soaring out of Sasuke's house, startling the blonde shinobi from his perch and sending him down into a snow bank below, "Naruto!! You are DEAD!"
Though it was early, and freezing, and she had begged her parents repeatedly to let her sleep in today, Haruno Sakura was out wandering the streets to run a few errands. She shuffled through the newly fallen snow, toes freezing through the thick boots she had on, trying to remember if her mother had wanted two loafs of bread and a gallon of milk, or two gallons of milk and a loaf of bread. Meh, either way, it was milk and bread. Sakura sighed to herself, curling up in the fuzzy pink coat she had on; a darker, more burgundy sort of pink as opposed to her decidedly bubble gum colored locks. She even had on a pair of white gloves and a thin white scarf in an attempt to keep warm, not that it was working. Sakura shivered, watching as her breath materialized in the air in front of her. The only good thing about snow, she surmised, was that it meant Christmas would be coming. For that, she could put up with enough snow to burry the whole of the fire country. Christmas was always fun: Buying and receiving gifts, watching all those bad holiday specials on TV, a great big warm holiday meal, and, of course, mistletoe. Sakura flustered at the thought. Maybe, just once, she'd somehow trick the gorgeous Uchiha Sasuke under the mistletoe, and kiss him before he had the chance to run away.
Her Inner self relished the idea, "HELL YEAH!! That would be the best Christmas present of all! Look out, Sasuke-kun, I'm coming for ya!"
Almost on cue, the voice of Uchiha Sasuke interrupted her thoughts, "COME BACK HERE!!"
"No way in hell!" Naruto's voice spoke up next, but the first person Sakura caught sight of was Konohamaru, who dove behind the pink-haired kunoichi for cover.
"What the…?" she glanced down at the ninja in training.
Konohamaru offered her a sheepish smile in response, "Ehhh Heh…Ohaiyo, Nee-chan!"
Next, Naruto came whizzing by in a blur of yellow and orange. He skidded to a less than graceful stop as he realized just whom he had passed, then tromped back through the snow to smile at her, "Good morning, Sakura-chan! What're you doing out so early?"
Before she could answer, or even ask why he and Konohamaru were tearing through the streets as if a pack of rabid sound ninjas were on their heels, Uchiha Sasuke made his appearance. Still tugging on his boots, the disheveled Uchiha looked as if he had just rolled out of bed and went running—which, he did! Sasuke hopped through the snow, pulling a boot onto his right foot, a long dark jacket carelessly tossed over one arm, and his Konoha headband tied loosely around his neck. He certainly did look furious, though, "Naruto!! You ass! Hold still so I can kill you!!"
"Drop dead, Sasuke! GAH!" Naruto went scrambling behind Sakura and Konohamaru as Sasuke finally got his second boot tied into place and rushed at the blonde. Naruto and Konohamaru did their best to keep their pink-haired shield between them and the fuming Sasuke.
"Okay, okay! Everyone relax!" Sakura tried to diffuse the situation. Not as if she minded that Sasuke was practically on top of her, though trying to throttle the still snickering Naruto, but she figured that Kakashi-sensei would probably like it better if all three members of his cell were alive and breathing, "Sasuke-kun, take it easy! You really shouldn't be running around half dressed."
"That's right—he shouldn't be dressed at all!" Inner Sakura giggled at the thought. Sakura bit her lip to keep herself from actually giggling stupidly at the very nice image now implanted in her head, she just reached over and gave Sasuke's loose headband a few tugs to remind him that he looked like a wreck.
Sasuke backed off, finally pulling his jacket into place as he remembered just how cold it was, "…dobe."
Naruto smiled triumphantly, pleased at having gotten away with pelting Sasuke. Even Konohamaru had adopted that mischievously evil fox-like grin that was so often on Naruto's face. Sakura just shook her head; she didn't know what this was about and she was pretty sure that she didn't want to know. While the raven-haired boy adjusted his headband back into place over his forehead, Sakura turned to grin at Naruto over her shoulder, "So, Naruto. What do you want for Christmas?"
"Huh?" Naruto's eyes squinted shut in thought.
"You're the only one I haven't gotten a gift for yet. Come on, anything." She turned to face her shorter teammate, smiling, but wagging a finger in the air as if she were about to lecture him, "Just don't tell me ramen! It has to be an actual, bona fide Christmas gift."
Naruto laced his fingers behind his blonde head, cheeks flustering as he spoke, "Awww, Sakura-chan! Anything you get will be good!"
"Please…" Sasuke just rolled his dark eyes. When it came to flirtation, Naruto was about as talented as a one-legged racehorse.
The blonde shinobi immediately went on the defensive, "Hey, Sasuke-teme! Don't you roll your stupid eyes at me!" Naruto balled up a fist, trying to get in his partner's face, which proved difficult due to the height difference, "And YOU better get me something damn good, you ass! Cuz I already did all my shopping, and I even wrapped everything myself!"
Sasuke sent him a look of mild curiosity, a single slender eyebrow raising on his face, "You. Got ME a present?"
Sakura was also surprised that the usually irresponsible Naruto had already finished his Christmas shopping, "Me too?"
"Well yeah!" Naruto turned to smile at the kunoichi, "I got everyone a present!"
Konohamaru finally detached himself from Sakura's jacket at the prospect of gifts, "And me, Naruto-nii-chan?! Did you get me-"
"GAHHH!! Milk and bread!" Sakura suddenly shouted, startling both of her other teammates. She tore through the snow, jacket and scarf flailing slightly in the wind as she took off for the grocery store before her mother killed her, "Naruto, Sasuke-kun! I'll catch up to you later! Bye!" None of the boys tried to figure out what the hell 'milk and bread' was supposed to mean, some weird code maybe, but they simply watched her dashing out of sight.
Konohamaru gave Naruto's winter jacket a tug, "Hey, Naruto-nii-chan. I have to get going too. Iruka-sensei will have a fit if I'm late again. Can we play later?"
"Heh! Sure thing, Konohamaru!" Naruto smirked down at the little ninja in training, but Sasuke gave them both a scowl. What the hell were ninjas doing 'playing'!? Idiots…
"Okay! I'll see you later then!" Konohamaru turned and ran back home, waving as he still shouted to the pair of them. "Ohh, and don't forget about Christmas, okay?! Spend it with me and we can have an even bigger snowball fight!" The little kid disappeared from sight, though, Naruto was sure he heard the distinct sound of a snowball catching an unsuspecting villager off guard.
This left Naruto and Sasuke alone on the seemingly deserted street, standing ankle deep in the tussled snow. For a while, they were both silently admiring the frosted buildings and trees, but Naruto felt a thought prick at the back of his head, "Hey…Sasuke?"
"What?" Sasuke's usual tone of apathetic irritation answered.
"What do you do for Christmas?" bright blue eyes trained on the Uchiha, awaiting an answer. Sasuke was basically in the same situation as he was, all alone for Christmas, and Naruto wondered if there was something that lonely kids did on Christmas to celebrate.
First, there was a scowl, as if to say 'You're frigging kidding me!' But Naruto's gaze told him that this was a sincere request. Sasuke gave the question a moment of thought, raking his fingers through his bangs to make sure no hairs were sticking out of place, "Well…not much. I usually just sleep in, then grab a bucket of chicken and relax at home."
Naruto's eyes fell, "Ohhh…that all?"
"Yep." Sasuke buried his hands into his pockets, "I don't even have a picture of my parents to look at, you know. So it's not like I've got any remnants of a family to be with. Christmas is nothing special. New day, same old crap." He turned, ready to head back home and take a nap before he would have to meet up with Kakashi to run missions. Sasuke took one step in the snow, listening as the substance crunched under his boot; but then, a sad little thought curled his lips into something of a smile, "Heh. It's too bad, huh? They should have some kind of Orphan Outreach program for you and me, huh?"
"What…do you mean?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke.
"Too bad we can't go borrow a family for Christmas." Sasuke took off back towards home, finding his feet a little heavier with the weight of that thought.
Naruto watched him for a moment, wondering about the comment. He then gave Sasuke a shout, "Hey! See you later, okay?" He only received a raised hand in reply as the Uchiha stalked off. Naruto stood by himself for a while, ignoring the numbness that was slowly creeping in through his thick clothing. Slowly, he reached up and tugged his crimson scarf over his mouth and nose, then set off through the snowy street to head back home and get some breakfast. All the while wondering…
Over at the training grounds, Hatake Kakashi was engaged in his usual morning ritual of grieving. The white-haired Jounin had taken about an hour to thoroughly clean off the monument to all of Konoha's fallen heroes, hands freezing after having brushed away all of that snow. Unconsciously, he traced a finger over Obito's name. Fond memories flooded his mind, distracting him completely from reality as a smoky breath escaped through his mask.
The sound of footsteps crunching in the snow brought the Jounin back to reality, "Ah, Kakashi. I thought I'd find you here."
The famed copy ninja turned his head towards the newcomer, and was greeted with a faint smile across Iruka's face, "Something you want?"
"Actually, yes." Iruka fidgeted in his downy jacket, "You're meeting up with your cell in a little while, correct?"
"I am."
"Good. Could you do me a favor?" Iruka stretched a moment. All this fidgeting and twitching was the most that the Teacher could think of to keep warm, "I need you to ask Naruto to meet up with me after your mission. I was…going to ask him if he would like to spend Christmas with me."
Kakashi smiled under his dark mask, "Heh, you certainly have grown fond of that little brat, haven't you?" Iruka twisted his head to hide an embarrassed blush that had consumed his cheeks, and the Jounin just chuckled, "Sure thing. Maybe I'll see what kind of mood Sasuke is in."
"Thanks" the two would-be foster fathers exchanged a nod before Iruka set off towards the academy. It wasn't that bad of an idea, really. Two boys with no fathers, and two men with nothing to do. However, Kakashi mused, if Sasuke was in one of his usual bitchy moods, this would become a more dangerous mission than sneaking into Sunagakure and pelting Gaara with a snowball. With that amusing thought, Kakashi patted the gravestone tenderly, and set off to go find his probably freezing and cranky cell.
Just as the Jounin had guessed, Sakura and Sasuke were standing at their usual meeting spot on the bridge, both of them curled up into their jackets. Sasuke was trying his best to seem as if the chilling wind wasn't bothering him, just grimacing as Sakura went on one of her usual morning tirades.
"He's ALWAYS late!" the kunoichi shuddered, blowing on her hands for warmth, "You'd think, just once, he's show up on time! I mean, it's freezing out here for godsake! He's got no compassion in his bones, I swear it!"
The Uchiha heir suppressed a yawn, "How in all hell is she this energetic?! I know for a fact she was up early, and she's STILL talking!! Damnit…damn Naruto and his damn snowballs…" His thoughts trailed off as it occurred to him that they were short one lunatic, "Hey…"
"Yeah?" Sakura turned her emerald orbs over at him.
"Naruto isn't here yet." Sasuke glanced down the street, seeing if the blonde was running over here as he spoke. But all that he saw was white mounds of snow and a chalky gray sky.
Sakura also looked around, having been oblivious to the missing ninja this whole time, "That's weird. He's usually here by now."
A loud popping sound just off to the side signaled the arrival of their tardy sensei, "Yo. Sorry I'm late today, but I had to help a little boy on crutches get his father away from a very mean old man and-" Kakashi was stopped, not by the usual screaming of Sakura and Naruto, but by an icy snowball dead in his face.
"Save it!" Sakura snorted, dusting her gloves free of snow, "You go stand outside in the freezing weather for three hours and we'll see how you like it!"
Kakashi's uncovered eye surveyed the gathered Gennin, "Mmm? Where is Naruto?"
"Probably screwing around somewhere." Sasuke's blank tone answered as he leaned back against the snow-covered railing of the bridge.
Kakashi cleaned off his face, wondering what could distract the easily excited Naruto away from running missions. The white-haired Jounin just shrugged it off, attributing it to the season, and turned to address the other two, "Alright. This mission should be simple for just the two of you." Both pairs of youthful eyes set on their sensei as he began explaining the nature of their latest mission, "Simple find and retrieve mission. It seems that Tiger slipped away from the Fire Country Master's wife again late last night, and she's just worried sick about him."
"Oh geez…" Sasuke growled under his breath, glaring down at the half frozen river below him.
Sakura shared in his enthusiasm, "That damned cat again?!"
"Now, now. A mission is a mission." Kakashi turned and walked off, expecting his young charges to follow him obediently, "So let's hurry up and get this one done in time for dinner, shall we?"
Sakura went instantly skittering after him, but Sasuke took his time, still muttering about how much he hated these kinds of missions, "Stupid cat…wish she would just get a damned DOG already…"
One would think that finding a ginger cat in a snowy white forest would be a simple task, but it took the three of them the better part of the day to find and finally pin down Tiger. When they returned the reluctant cat to his owner, Sakura was flushed and out of breath, and Sasuke had a massive scratch across his nose. Kakashi was virtually untouched, but of course, he had done nothing more than read through the pages of Come Come Paradise while Sasuke and Sakura kept diving in snow banks to grab the creature. But the mission was complete, and it was already pitch black outside, so the three of them decided to just head back home. Naruto never did show up for the mission, which aggravated Sasuke to no end, because without the dobe, HE had been the one stuck grabbing that evil little cat and suffering the wrath of those claws. Sasuke scratched the tiny wound on his nose as he groused about it, Sakura trying her best not to giggle at him as they trudged through the streets. It had begun snowing again, gentle flakes wafting through the air and landing silently on the already covered ground.
After a while, Sakura broke the silence between the three of them, "Say, Sasuke-kun?"
"What?" he didn't so much as glance at her as he answered.
"I was just thinking…well, my mom makes this great big Christmas dinner, and we never do finish it by ourselves, so…" Sakura smiled brightly, her cheeks erupting in a blush.
Sasuke just shook his head, already knowing what she was getting at, "No."
"No?" Sakura sadly mimicked, pouting over at him.
"No."
Kakashi smirked to himself, deciding that, while Sakura's request fell flat, he might as well give it a try, "Come now Sasuke, you don't want to be alone on Christmas, do you?
If you'd like, I could treat you to a warm meal."
"No." Sasuke the broken record stuffed his hands into his pockets, but just shrugged the questions away, "Christmas is nothing special. Alone or not, I don't really care."
His sensei laughed lightly, relieved that, while he was turning them down, at least Sasuke didn't seem to be in one of his darker moods for once. But Naruto was another matter. He had promised Iruka to tell the blonde shinobi to meet up after the mission, and so he intended to keep it. Kakashi lifted a hand at the two Gennin behind him, "Well then you two, I'll see you tomorrow." He disappeared in a poof of smoke, just as he had appeared. But rather than going home, Kakashi was headed straight for Naruto's humble apartment to see what the psycho fox had in mind for his own Christmas celebrations.
Sakura and Sasuke parted ways, after a lengthy begging session by the kunoichi. Sasuke had only gotten out of it by agreeing to meet up on Christmas day to exchange presents with her and Naruto…not that he HAD any presents to give them yet, but…well, he still had a few days left to shop. He allowed the thought to slip from his mind as he shuffled back into his still cold house, letting his coat fall carelessly onto the floor by his boots. Sasuke crawled right into bed, fully clothed, not bothering to change or bathe or anything. He was just tired.
But he was woken up only a few hours later by a loud 'THWACK' on his front door. Muttering death-threats, Sasuke stumbled over to his door and swung it open to find a mushed snowball smeared across the front of the door. He grunted, speaking without bothering to open his eyes fully, "Naruto, I'm not in the mood for your stupid-ass snowball fights. Go the hell away." He slammed the door shut. About a second later, Sasuke flung the door back open as it occurred to him that there was no one outside, "Naruto?" He forced his eyes open enough to see straight, glancing through the falling snow to see who had thrown the snowball.
At once, an object caught his attention just at his feet. On his doorstep sat a brightly colored, yet poorly wrapped gift. There was more tape on it than wrapping paper, and it was clear to the Uchiha who would be stupid enough to wrap a gift like that. Gingerly, he stooped and lifted the package from the snowy steps. There was an official tag on it that read 'From: Sakura and Naruto' but a stray piece of paper hung from the side, seemingly taped on at the last moment. Sasuke grabbed the stray paper and flipped it open, eyeing the words on the page.
Sasuke-teme,
Just after the first two words, Sasuke was ready to kill someone, "Merry Christmas to you too, asshole." He grimaced, finding it hard to make out most of Naruto's chicken-scratch handwriting, but continued on with the letter.
Sasuke-teme,
I'm giving this to you early 'cuz I won't be around for Christmas. It's half from Sakura-chan, so remember to THANK HER, you ungrateful bastard!
I'm going to have at least one normal damn Christmas before I drop dead. If I don't come back, it's been fun! Take care of Sakura-chan, and Kakashi-sensei, and Iruka-sensei, OH! And Hinata! She's real shy and stuff, so keep an eye on her! And yourself too, idiot.
Merry (the next word was so badly scribbled that it was unintelligible, But Sasuke was sure it was 'Christmas')
Sincerely, Uzumaki Naruto.
P.S.-If you take my crap while I'm gone, I'm gonna come back and kick your ass!
Sasuke tore his eyes off of the note, gaping. This was a joke, right? Any minute now he'd get a snowball to the face.
When nothing hit him, Sasuke quickly pulled his dark jacket off of the floor and tossed it on, crumpling the note into his pocket as he took off to find Sakura.
So much for sleeping in late and lazing around the house this Christmas…
Author's ending Rant- Whoo! That felt therapeutic! Know how it feels when you have an idea cramped in your head? Know how good it feels to get that idea out? n.n
That's just the beginning! Expect long chapters and a fast plot line, because now the challenge begins: Can the Fox finish this before X-mas?! Probably not, but I'll try! It'll be close, I promise!
Here's your daily Japanese Lesson! "Nii-chan" is older brother; "Teme" is bastard so "Sasuke-teme" is Sasuke-bastard (Naruto says this often!), "Ohaiyo" is good morning, "Nee-chan" is older sister, and "dobe" is The worst (Sasuke's favorite insult for Naruto.) And Sunagakure is the "Hidden Sand" or Gaara's village.
PLEASE review! I love reviews! Really! They keep me going! Flames don't bother me, I laugh at them!
Until next update then, enjoy!