Author's Opening Rant- Cutting it a little close here, Fox! Yes, yes…I know. Not too many days left until X-mas, but…TA-DA! The Final Chapter of "Borrowing Christmas."
I have to thank all of you guys so very much for your kind and encouraging reviews. It really really does help the authors to read such wonderful reviews, and I thank you for taking the time to read my little fic here. I wouldn't get far in any of my stories without my reviewers, so thanks! I hope you've enjoyed this short little story of mine.
And yes—Anyone who wants him can take Naruto home for X-mas!
Chapter 4- HomeIt was the early morning of Christmas Eve. And where was Uzumaki Naruto spending this holiday? In a hotel, miles from anyone he knew or cared about, jacket-less and cold, and out of money after paying for a room and his lukewarm breakfast. The blonde shinobi stared down at the food in front of him, mentally cursing his luck.
What had he ever done, in all of his twelve years, to deserve this? A cold breakfast, a colder day, and an absolutely frigid feeling within. Sure, he was mischievous, and…well, a little annoying, but was that really bad enough to be spending a lonely Christmas surrounded by happily chattering families? Naruto lifted his gaze from his food, slowly scanning the gathered people crowded into the hotel's dining room. Vacationing, most likely, and all grinning and smiling with anticipation over who would be getting what presents tomorrow morning. He watched as a father hugged his daughter, and as a son giggled from his mother's lap. That familiar feeling shifted in Naruto's gut, his eyes burning with the threat of oncoming tears. He stared back down at his breakfast, dejectedly, wishing he at least had some token memory of his family other than the ones he had made up as a child. Yes, when he was younger, Naruto would make up all kinds of crazy stories about how his parents were never around because they were the absolutely best ninjas in all of Konoha, even better than the Hokage, and they had so many missions to complete that they often had to leave him alone. It was all a lie. For all he knew, his parents weren't even ninjas, or maybe they never lived in Konohagakure. Or maybe he really never did have a family. But regardless, Naruto had made up his stories in hopes of impressing the other children, and also, to ease the suffocating loneliness of that empty apartment he lived in. It made the days easier to endure, hoping that someone might show up at anytime and shower him with love. But still, it was all a lie, and he knew it.
Naruto heaved a sigh. He lifted a piece of bread from his plate and tore into it, hoping he could wash away the feelings of sorrow and replace them with some kind of misdirected anger. He gnawed on the bread half hanging out of his mouth, muttering, resting his cheek into his palm, "Ahh…who needs stupid-ass Christmas anyway?! Halloween's a MUCH better holiday! Yeah! To hell with Christmas! Hah!" He smiled, not convincing himself or anyone around, but happy to be acting out instead of mentally kicking himself even more. He swallowed his bread, biting off another piece as he poked at the tepid meal in front of him, wondering if it still held any flavor. Anything to distract the lump of misery that had built up in his throat.
There was suddenly a light, airy ringing sound as the front door of the hotel was swung open. A quick blast of icy air entered the room, and Naruto shivered before twisting around in his seat out of curiosity. The girl at the front desk offered the newcomer a cheery "Merry Christmas," but only received an angry sounding grunt in reply. Naruto stretched his neck, peering over the back of his chair to get a good look. His bright blue eyes fell on a very familiar, very fish-faced man wielding a scaly looking sword . The little fox-boy nearly choked on his bread, suddenly recalling exactly who this man was: the one who had attacked him in the snowy forest, and the one who had attempted to kidnap him from another hotel room…with Sasuke's older brother. The memory of that encounter sent shivers up his spine; how easily the Chidori was swept aside, and how that mysterious black flame had lingered after their escape. Naruto definitely didn't want to mess around with these guys.
"Crap! Crap, crap, crap!" the blonde lowered himself in his chair to avoid being easily seen, "Because I wasn't in a bad enough mood! What the hell's next?! Banning ramen forever?!" He watched as the fish-faced shinobi sent a scrutinizing glare across the dining room, more than likely looking for him, Naruto thought to himself. Kisame's eyes caught on a little blonde boy across the room with very similar hair, and Naruto decided to make a move for the exit. He slipped from his chair, just about crawling over the floor, his backpack weighing down most of his movements. Kisame didn't move though, and Naruto bit his bottom lip so hard that it turned white as he snuck soundlessly past the elder shinobi's leg.
And at the worst possible moment, Naruto's stomach growled.
"What the-?!" the noise called Kisame's attention, and the fishy Akatsuki member stared down in shock as he saw his target crouched right beside him.
Naruto was frozen for an instant. He then very nervously smiled, and waved upwards, "Ehhh…heh-heh…Merry Christmas?"
Kisame dove at him, "Come here, you!" Naruto bolted, dropping his backpack so he could move a little faster. The pack went slamming down on Kisame's head as he dove, knocking the Akatsuki member over and onto the floor. There was another light ringing as the door was forced open and Naruto dashed outside. Kisame regained himself, cursing freely as he went for the door and followed the little Gennin out into the snow, "I've got you this time, you little—OWWWW!" He reeled as a snowball—or rather, a ball of ice with some snow packed around it--belted him square in the eye. Kisame rubbed furiously at his eye, blinking against the numbing pain that had caused. When his vision had corrected himself, he found that he was staring down an entire hoard of Narutos, all packing snowballs.
"You want me, jackass?" Naruto smirked along with his thirty-something Shadow clones, "Then come and get me!" A flurry of snowballs was unleashed at Kisame, and all the stunned Akatsuki member could do was cover his face as the snow came raining down on him. "Take this! And this, and this, and this!" Naruto and his clones kept scooping up snow and launching it at his attacker, hoping this would keep him at bay long enough to escape. All of a sudden, Naruto heard the rapid crunching of approaching footsteps behind him, and he was abruptly lifted by his waist, his body held parallel to the ground as he flailed and shouted, "HEY!!! What gives?! Lemme go, you moron!"
To his horror, when Naruto looked up, he was staring into a pair of cruelly malicious Sharingan eyes. The Shadow Clone technique dropped as Uchiha Itachi spoke up, "Enough fooling around, Kisame. We have what we came for. Let's go." Kisame hurried to brush himself off as his partner appeared, his eye still stinging from the first hit.
Naruto was in serious trouble now. He squirmed like crazy, trying to break free of Itachi's iron grip, "I said lemme go!! Lemme go or else!! I'll kick your ass for this, you hear me?!" Itachi just looked down at him, crimson eyes shining with devious intent. Naruto flinched just from the look in the older Uchiha's eyes. But there was no one here to help, no one who cared…no one to save him…
"NARUTO!"
The blonde shinobi's head jerked up at the sound of the familiar voice, "Huh? Sasuke!?"
From seemingly out of nowhere, Uchiha Sasuke bolted down out of a tree, bright red Sharingan eyes narrowing as he sent a swift kick straight at his brother's head. Itachi easily avoided his brother's onslaught, able to fight just fine with only one hand. Naruto stared in utter shock; he thought Sasuke had gone home.
And of course, Sasuke never went very far without Sakura tagging along behind him. The pink-haired girl rushed in, at first catching Kisame off guard with a kunai to the shoulder, then hurrying to lend assistance, "Naruto, hang on!"
"Sakura-chan…Sasuke…" it would have been a touching moment for the blonde, if he weren't currently being tossed around like a rag doll in the midst of the Uchiha's fight. He squirmed, trying to pry Itachi's arm off, but still finding it difficult, even though the Akatsuki thug was engaged in a fierce battle, "LEMME GOOOOOO!!"
For the most part, even one handed, Itachi was overpowering his younger brother. But luckily, Sasuke and Sakura were not alone: Kakashi dashed up behind Itachi, a kunai knife in hand and his single Sharingan eye spinning. Fighting both of them off one handed proved more of a challenge for Itachi, and against his better judgment, he dropped Naruto to the ground, freeing his hand to crack Kakashi right across the jaw. The white-haired Jounin staggered backwards, but still had enough sense to shout orders to his three students, "Sasuke, Sakura! Get Naruto out of here! Hurry back to Konoha as fast as you can!"
"Right!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him roughly to his feet. Sasuke, however, lingered a moment, eyes seizing his older brother in a chilling glare. It would have been the perfect opportunity for revenge; Itachi was right in front of him and struggling in his fight with Kakashi. But Sasuke's murderous train of thought was interrupted by the Haruno kunoichi's voice, "Sasuke-kun! Come on, we have to go!" She recognized that look in his eyes—Sharingan or otherwise—and she wasn't sure that Sasuke could survive a fight with his brother as he was.
"…" the younger Uchiha slowly, and very reluctantly turned, jogging to catch up with his two teammates. There would be another time…and when that time came, No force on earth could save Itachi. But right now, the more important thing was getting the dobe back to the village, "…damn it…" Sakura allowed a soft sigh of relief to escape her lips as the three of them tore through the woods.
The fish-faced Akatsuki member quickly wrenched the kunai from his shoulder and scowled at the three retreating Gennin. "Oh no you don't!"
"Oh yes they do." Before Kisame could move to follow them, Iruka dropped from his perch high in the trees, an unusually dark look coming across the teacher's face as he reached back into his pouch and pulled out a hand full of shuriken, "You…will not lay a finger on Naruto…"
While the four ninjas battled it out, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto beat a hasty retreat back through the snow-covered forest. They ran as quickly as the slick snow would allow them to, constantly checking over their shoulders to see if they were being followed. Sakura kept pace with Sasuke, but Naruto jogged just a little distance behind them. The blonde shouted, staring at their backs as he came to a stop, "HEY!!! Wait a second! I told you already, I'm not going back yet!"
Sakura skidded to a stop, turning to face him, "But Naruto! It isn't safe for you to be this far from the village!"
"Not this crap again." Sasuke slowed down and turned about, quickly closing the distance between him and Naruto.
"It isn't crap!" the shorter boy screamed, startling a few birds from a nearby, snowy branch, "I don't go back on my words, Sasuke-teme! I said I'm not going back home until I've found a family!"
Sasuke snarled at him a moment. All at once, he snapped at the blonde, his voice surprisingly much louder than Naruto's, "What the hell do you need to find a family for when Sakura and I are standing RIGHT HERE?!" The statement echoed dully, then gave way to the whistling silence of the wind.
Naruto stared at him; eyes wide like azure crystals. There was no mistaking the meaning behind Sasuke's words, and it was a considerable shock. Even Sakura's green eyes trained on the younger Uchiha in astonishment. Sasuke almost immediately regretted the outburst, cursing himself for having said something like that as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned his back on Naruto. Naruto slowly regained himself, staring at Sasuke's face half hidden by his bangs, "Wait…you…you don't mean…it's not like a…"
"Naruto" Sakura smiled sweetly, approaching the two boys as she spoke, "Sasuke-kun is right. I know it's not like a real family, but still…we care about you. Really. That's why we came all this way out here to find you! Everyone back home too, they're all so worried about you. So…instead of looking for some other family out here…wouldn't you rather spend Christmas at home with your real family?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at her speech, hoping he wouldn't throw up from the overly-sweetness of it all. He had said it better, anyway!
Naruto watched Sakura, and then let his eyes trail over to Sasuke who had turned his head to see the blonde's reaction. To think that they considered him family. To think that someone had cared that much about him. And to know that he had been so stubbornly blind to the whole thing. It was all too much at once, and a wave of relief mingled with guilt washed over the fox-boy. But more importantly, he felt…loved. Before he could do a thing about it, Naruto felt silent tears streaming down the sides of his face, "S-Sakura…chan…thank you…"
The kunoichi smiled at him, despite his noisy attempts at keeping his nose from running down his face, "Oh, Naruto…"
"Heh." Sasuke just smirked, "Don't tell me you're gonna cry now, dobe."
Naruto's face twisted in an effort to stop sobbing, "SHUT UP! I am not crying! I just…I got snow in my eye, bastard!"
"I'm so sure." Still sneering, Sasuke casually slipped his arms from his long black coat and tossed it at the crying shinobi, revealing a long sleeved, dark blue shirt imprinted with the Uchiha symbol underneath, "And where'd your jacket go, moron? Loose it?"
"My…Oh! Oh, I gave it away." Naruto quickly tugged on the black coat, grateful for the warmth, but soon finding that the end of it dragged slightly in the snow. He scowled; hoping neither of his teammates would crack a short joke at his expense.
"Gave it away?! But its freezing out he--" Sakura's question was cut off by a mass of shuriken raining down on the three Gennin. Sasuke and Sakura covered their heads, but Naruto just flopped over onto his backside to avoid the attack.
Slowly and calmly the sound of footsteps in the snow approached, and those wicked Sharingan narrowed on the three younger shinobi, "I have had enough of this. This ends right now."
"Itachi!" Sasuke growled through clenched teeth, quickly jumping between Naruto and his older brother. Sakura followed suit, standing in front of both of her teammates, a hand anxiously brandishing shuriken, and fully prepared to take a shot at Uchiha Itachi. Naruto stared up at both of them in grateful awe, unable to pull himself to his feet because of the continued shock of it all.
Itachi's glare turned deadly. He eyed Sakura, then Sasuke and Naruto. Dispatching with them would be simple enough, but it was becoming a real pain. Itachi slowly began to lift an arm to attack, but stopped as someone tapped him very rigidly on the shoulder. The looks on the three younger ninja's faces changed from determination to surprise, and the Akatsuki member turned to glare death at whomever was interrupting him. Itachi found himself face to face with a very large, and heavily armored, frog.
"Ahh, so this is where you brats took off to." Jiraiya, the famous frog hermit and legendary Sennin, spoke up from behind the armored toad, smiling wickedly at Itachi, "You caused me much more trouble than usual, Naruto. You're becoming a real burden, you know."
"E-ero-sennin…?" Naruto's already wide blue eyes went even wider. Just…how many people had come out looking for him?!
Jiraiya pouted down at the blonde, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"
Itachi was not amused with their drabble. He knew better than to take on a Sennin by himself—it wasn't something he could do very easily. And he also knew damn well that this Sennin would be able to strike at him before Itachi could rush past and grab Naruto. The large frog ribbited at him, and Itachi just scarcely suppressed an angry snort. This round, it would seem, went to the pathetic little Konoha ninjas. He glanced back at the three Gennin an instant before a black flame crept swiftly up his body. Once the flames had receded, Itachi was gone without a trace. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stared in disbelief, but Jiraiya just chuckled to himself.
"Oh well…I guess we won't have any fun today after all, Gamasamu. You can head on back." Jiraiya nodded to the large frog, which ribbited again before disappearing in a plume of smoke.
Sakura beamed at the Sennin, "Ero—Uhh, I mean, Jiraiya-sama! You chased him away!" Sasuke just growled, wondering why Itachi had run away like a little girl from the notorious pervert.
"Yes, yes…" Jiraiya stretched his shoulders as if he had put in a great effort, taking a seat on a nearby boulder, "I am impressive, aren't I? Heh Heh! Anyway, we can just wait here while Kakashi and Iruka catch up with us. Shouldn't be any reason to rush home now." He slipped a flask of sake from his outfit and took a sip; relieved he had arrived just in the nick of time.
"Yeah, yeah…don't get so full of yourself…" Naruto glared at him. His attention turned from the Sennin as a hand was offered to the blonde to help stand up. Naruto smiled as he took Sasuke's hand and stood, brushing the snow from the borrowed coat. As he did, he noticed something heavy in the pocket, "Huh? What's this?" Both slender blonde eyebrows rose in surprise as he pulled the poorly wrapped present from Sasuke's coat pocket.
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Sasuke reached over and took the package, eyeing it a few times. He had stuffed the present into his pocket in his dash to collect Sakura and find Naruto without thinking twice about it, but now, he was more than a little curious as to what they had given him, "And this is from you both?"
"Uh-huh!" Sakura nodded, already blushing happily.
Naruto smiled one of his mischievous little smiles as he noticed to look of interest on the other boy's face, "Go ahead and open it, idiot!"
"Huh?"
Sakura nodded again, "Yeah! While we're both here! I want to see if you like it or not!"
"But it's Christmas Eve. I can wait another day." Sasuke quirked a brow at them, his curiosity being peeked more and more by the instant.
"Just open it!" Naruto insisted, nearly tearing the present from his hands and opening it for him, "Open it, open it, open it!"
"Alright!" Sasuke batted Naruto's hands away. He ignored the blissful squeak that Sakura gave as he began tearing the paper away, "…what is it, anyway? It feels like a picture frame. What am I supposed to do with--" Sasuke stopped speaking mid-sentence as his breath caught in his throat. It was a picture frame, with a very old picture of him, his mother, and his father. It had been taken during his first week at the ninja academy, he remembered, and in the picture, a much smaller Sasuke smiled widely from atop his father's shoulders as his mother giggled at them. One of the few pictures they had ever taken without Itachi in it. He stared in utter shock at the present. Where on earth…and how on earth…
Naruto took the stunned silence as a good sign, smiling over at Sakura, "See? I told you he'd like it!"
"How…did you two…" Sasuke glanced back at his two grinning teammates.
Sakura just about burst out with the explination, "You like it? We knew you didn't have any pictures of your parents left, so we dug this one up! It took a whole week! We had to go through all the old pictures at the academy, and then bring the negative into the photo place. Ohhh, do you really like it, Sasuke-kun?"
"Well…I…" Sasuke stared back down at the picture in his hands…then grimaced as a sickening thought hit him, "Oh, crap."
"What's wrong?" Sakura leaned in to see if the frame had cracked during one of the many fights they had been in.
Sasuke's onyx gaze went guiltily to the side as he felt an uneasy shifting in his stomach, "I…didn't get…anything. For either of you." In all the panic that Naruto's leaving had caused, Sasuke had lost his precious few days of Christmas shopping.
Sakura lifted a hand to cover her mouth, "That's right! Naruto! I didn't get you a single thing for Christmas!"
Naruto just smiled softly at the both of them, his hands resting in the pockets of the coat, "That's okay. I think you guys already gave me your presents." It was more than enough to feel as if he belonged somewhere, he didn't need something else wrapped up with a pretty bow.
Sasuke and Sakura stared at the blonde, all three of them happily grinning a silent understanding. From his seat on the boulder, Jiraiya broke into a wide grin. It certainly was a warm and fuzzy kind of holiday, this Christmas.
The rapid crunching of footsteps alerted everyone for an instant, but they all relaxed their guard as they caught sight of Iruka and Kakashi running over towards them, the Chuunin in the lead, "Naruto!"
"Iruka-sensei! Over here!" Naruto waved at his former teacher.
The little fox-boy was again consumed by surprise as his teacher caught him in a hug, "Naruto! You little idiot! Don't do such stupid things!"
"I…Iruka-sensei…?" Naruto squirmed at the unfamiliar feeling…staring sideways at Iruka, and turning a little red from embarrassment.
Iruka breathed a sigh of relief, "You…had me worried half to death." Behind him, Kakashi scratched at the back of his head, grinning under his dark mask.
Naruto could have kicked himself for ever thinking he had no one who cared about him. This time, though, he was able to keep the tears in check, and just pulled back to offer his teacher a happy little grin, "Hey, I'm in one piece, aren't I? Nothing to worry about, Iruka-sensei!" Iruka smiled back at the boy.
"Ahh…hate to interrupt." Kakashi spoke up, wagging a finger in the air, "But we really should get home. Iruka took a pretty severe wound to his back from that fish guy, and Sasuke looks about ready to turn into a ninja Popsicle." He glanced up, looking from Iruka's torn back over to Sasuke shivering in the snow. Jiraiya stood at the suggestion, slipping his sake back into his pocket.
Naruto glanced around at the gathered shinobi, his face beaming, "Yeah…let's go home already."
The six of them made it back to Konoha in time for Christmas. Of course, just as soon as Naruto had re-entered the village, Hinata had launched herself at him and whimpered sadly about how scared she had been. All of the Gennin had expressed similar concerns, which only made Naruto feel even better about being home. He hadn't gotten many Christmas presents, but he did get to spend Christmas day with Iruka-sensei, at the Ramen stand, with Sasuke and Kakashi, and even Sakura once she had finished with her own family's dinner.
Finally, Uzumaki Naruto felt as if he were home for Christmas.
Author's Ending Rant—That's all!! Don't complain if it's too short—it was a rush job for X-mas! Be glad it went past one chapter!
Ahh, all the fluffy, fuzzy feelings that should be around during Christmas! Yes, Naruto got the super-happy ending! Deal.
Ero-sennin means Pervert Sage, and Naruto ALWAYS calls Jiraiya this. Gamasamu is a name I created, Gama meaning frog and Samu being the first half of the word samurai.
Hope you all enjoyed this fanfic! And one last thing—
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
-Fox