o0o-o0o-o0o-
White seemed to be the dominant color. White buildings, white roofs, white roads, heck even white people! It was a sight to behold, especially since snow had not come to Konoha since the December before it.
Children played in the powder, some of the older ones even going so far as to show off a hiton jutsu. In some areas the snow was beginning to pile up to three feet, easily submerging some of the younger children. Shouts of "Kaasan! Tasukete!" were becoming rather frequent. Said parents would help their children out of the snow with a smile, and continue to smile as they watched them run off to tell the story of how they had almost frozen to death.
Uzumaki Naruto watched these proceedings with a thoughtful frown on his face. How had all those other kids roped the grownups into helping them out? Had they learned some cool trick that made them do it? The logic was lost on the young boy.
A rather nasty gust of wind brought the blond back to the present and why he was out in the first place. Shopping! Normally he would have waited until after December 25th to go do his shopping, as for some reason the prices were so high from November until then. He wasn't quite sure, but perhaps it had something to do with the green trees that everyone seemed to have. A holiday? Worship green trees month?
He really didn't know.
Occasionally rubbing his numb arms, the five year old continued on oblivious to the three rather large shadows that he'd gained. Why would he? Everything was right in the world today. It was shopping day after all, which meant that he was allowing himself to buy a cookie! A nice, warm, gigantic-sized cookie!
The thought of the chewy goodness pushed away the cold better than any coat ever would. Just the grocery store and then I can go get the cookie! He turned down a backstreet, intent on taking a shortcut to said market. Oh Cookie-san, san! Yummy cookie-san, I'm gonna be there soon. Oh Coo-
"Hey there kiddo" the greeting broke Naruto out of his inner song, and turning the boy was able to make out three men in green flak jackets. Said men had what appeared to be black socks stuffed on their heads, making their appearance a little…distorted.
"Ohayo! I'm gonna go get a cookie! Do you guys wanna come?" if the socks hadn't been covering their faces, then the five year old might have caught sight of three identical smirks.
"No little boy. Just give us your money and you'll make it back home without having to make a stop in the hospital"
"Hospital?" the word took a second to process before, "HOSPITAL! IIE! You can't make me! They feed you icky food and make you wear weird clothes and…SHOTS!" clearly, the outburst was not what the men had expected.
"I'll kick your asses before you take me there!"
"Naruto-kun, little boys shouldn't be using such foul language" the three men instantly froze, and the blond turned to get a look at the newcomer.
"Jiisan!" Sarutobi smiled as the young boy caught him in a hug, completely forgetting about the now retreating shinobi. After Naruto deemed the old man 'sufficiently greeted' he turned around to face his attackers but found nothing.
"Hah! No one can stand up to my might without running away! I am the great Uzumaki!" Sarutobi nodded and laughed silently to himself, as if in on a joke that only he knew.
"Hai hai Naruto-kun. Now what was that about a cookie?" the boy's face lit back up, instantly forgetting everything and anything about his would be attackers.
"It's shopping day so I get a cookie and it's gonna be REALLY big and warm and chewy and it's gonna be super yummy, did I already say big? And it's gonna be soooo GOOD!" nobody noticed the sweatdrop on the back of the Sandaime's head, and nobody was going to point it out.
"Well, let's get going then Naruto-kun. I don't think your shopping will mind if the cookie comes first" the Sandaime watched with amusement as Naruto's expression quickly went from one of happiness, to shock, and then back to pure delight. Before he knew what was going on, Sarutobi found himself being forcibly dragged out of the alley with the now hyper five-year old as his guide.
Children and their sugar, I'll never understand it. Then again, he really didn't want to either. Youth was for the young, and he was an old geezer. The child has begun to rub off on me…
An excited yelp drew the third from his musings and he found himself now in front of the Sarudoshi bakery with Naruto impatiently waiting for him to come inside. The old man shook his head and followed, giving a wave to the man, woman and child behind the counter as he did so.
"Tousan? Fancy seeing you here! Look Kohonamaru-kun, it's your grandpa!"
"Tousan?"
"Ah Naruto-kun, this is my son, Shoujou, my daughter in law, Miyuki and my grandson, Kohonamaru" actually to Naruto, both the son and daughter in law (whatever that was) looked like they were the Jiisan's. Both had chocolate brown hair and eyes, and both had the same impish grin that could be found on Sarutobi's face on a good day.
"In-law?"
"It means that Miyuki married Shoujouo, so now she is my daughter" the small boy mouthed an 'oh' before looking back up at the two with a curious gaze. He put a hand on his chin in thought, then looked back up at the Sandaime.
"What's a 'married'?"
"It's where two people love each other very much, so they promise each other that they'll always stay together. And then, they have a family!" Miyuki had been the one to explain, and a it stood, Naruto was still puzzled.
"Family?"
"It's a mommy, a daddy, and little children"
"So those grownups who were helping the kids out of the snow, they were mommies and daddies?" Miyuki smiled and nodded, and Naruto turned a curious gaze to Kohonamaru, giggling in his father's arms. Something was still troubling him…
"So where do the kids come from?" All occupants of the room, save Naruto, blanched at the question. "What? What'd I say?" Sarutobi was the first to react, answering with a mere cough to disguise the awkward situation that only a five year old could create.
"You'll find out when you're older Naruto-kun" the blond began to pout.
"But why not now?" sensing that he wouldn't get anywhere with the topic, Sarutobi turned towards the glass that held the various treats of the bakery.
"So which cookie did you want?" the boy continued to pout, but finally relented and put his face on the glass cover. Completely forgetting about the past minute, Naruto became enthralled with the display of Christmas goodies. There were gingerbread-men, chocolate cakes, candy canes, red and green chocolates, the pick was just so enormous. The five year old's breath fogged up the glass as he stood on in wonder. Sugoi..!
But there, right in the middle, sat the cookie of all cookies. It was big enough that he bet two of his hands could fit in it and still not touch the edges. And it had chocolate chips…giant chocolate chips…
"That one!" Miyuki smiled and nodded as she placed the super-cookie in a bag. The blond began to reach for his coin purse, but stopped as Sarutobi handed over his own money, before handing the cookie to Naruto.
"Happy Christmas Naruto" the boy took the cookie gratefully, but was still confused about something. Christmas? What was Christmas? Did it have something to do with the trees that everybody was worshipping?
"Jiisan, what's Christmas?" the Sandaime smiled and placed a hand on the boy's hair, ruffling it fondly and just making it even more wild than before.
"Christmas, Naruto-kun, is a holiday where we celebrate family and friends that we hold dear. And usually, if somebody holds another person dear, then that person gives the other a Christmas present. Hence your cookie" Naruto looked down at his treat, before glancing back up at Sarutobi.
"So when's it over?" Naruto asked, still confused about this whole holiday business.
"Well, today is the 24th, so that means that tonight is Christmas Eve. You see all those people outside? It's so busy because they have to finish buying gifts for their friends" the Sandaime motioned to the swarm of gift hunters outside, better described as an ant colony gone wild.
"Oh"
"So you get back to your shopping Naruto-kun, and save your cookie money for another day, okay? Happy Christmas!" without giving the boy a chance to answer, Sarutobi had ruffled Naruto's hair one last time before leaving through the door.
The blond remained in the crowded bakery for a moment more, a thoughtful frown on his face for the upenteenth time that day. Presents, huh? Lemme think…I got it! With his sudden moment of enlightenment, the boy tore out the door while waving to the trio of Shoujouo, Miyuki and baby Kohonamaru.
He had a present to get.
o0o
A few hours later found Naruto in his apartment, alone save for the nanny that had neglected to come shopping with him and was still chatting away on her phone. Well, at least he didn't have to pay the phone bill…
"…and so he walks up to me, just walks up to me and says that he's hungry! Like he expects me to do anything, honestly, the nerve of that kid…" He really didn't like this nanny by the way. His old one used to play games with him, and she used to feed him. But she hadn't come back one day, so now he was stuck with this nanny…
Well, either way, it was a good thing that she was in his bedroom, or he wouldn't have heard the end of it for making such a mess in the kitchen. Naruto was, in no way or form, a high quality cook. He couldn't throw stuff around like the guys at the sushi place, and there was no way he would even attempt cooking those giant birds that he'd seen people carrying around. (though they were expensive anyway, so it didn't matter)
But, he at least knew how to use the oven. And that was a really good thing too…as it seemed the baking looked like it would be the only 'home-made' part of this cookie. Normally the boy would have spent his extra money on a toy or something, a new toy would have complemented his stuffed 'action figure' very well. However, Naruto had dragged himself around the whole store in search of cookie dough, and after the fourth time around, finally found it.
By some miracle he'd gotten the last package, and had been forced to run for his life in a mad dash to the check-out counter. It was amazing how many people didn't know how to make chocolate chip cookies on their own…
Nonetheless, here he was! And he had successfully found a tray on which to put his insanely large cookie. For, you see, Naruto had neglected to slice up the cookie dough, instead opting to roll it into one giant mass and slap it onto his cookie tray.
"And into the oven it goes!"
"PIPE DOWN IN THERE! So what were you saying? No way! I can't believe…" the blond stuck his tongue out at the nanny, not that she could see it. But it was the thought that counted. As it was, he was up 150 tongues, and she was up 37 fingers. Naruto didn't quite get why she stuck up her middle finger, but he didn't really care either.
The giant lump was slid into the oven and the blond began to watch the clock with impatience that only a five year old could have. It had said ten minutes on the package, but after a mere thirty seconds, the boy was bored to tears.
But it wouldn't hurt to play with his toys would it? It was just ten minutes, he wouldn't forget about the cookie. He was a big boy now after all. But I might forget, or nanny might find it or…He glanced up at the clock again, and found that only fifteen seconds had passed since his last check. Meh, I won't forget.
Or so he told himself. Five minutes turned to fifteen, and the boy was still caught up playing 'Save Konoha and become the best Hokage ever' with his stuffed "action figure" It was normal after all, five year olds did happen to have rather short attention spans…
Naruto finally realized something when his nose began to burn and the nanny stopped talking. It was even weirder when the woman abruptly stood up and left the small apartment, saying not even a word to the young boy. Usually there was at least a "see you tomorrow, brat"
While still pondering the sudden departure of his nanny, Naruto noticed his oven. Or to be more specific, the smoke that was beginning to pour out of it. In vain the boy tried to think of an appropriate word that would express his frustration, but found his five year old vocabulary lacking. It seemed he would have to do without.
"I gotta get it out!" without thinking the blond had opened the oven door and grabbed the cookie tray. About halfway to the counter, Naruto's small hands began to burn and the tray was promptly dropped on the floor.
"Owie…" the boy sniffled and looked at his now raw palms. It hurt so much! Temporarily forgetting about the cookie tray, the boy ran his hands under cold water in hopes of dulling the searing pain that was now spreading across his palms.
Wait a minute, was water supposed to be red?
Using his elbow to shut off the water, Naruto inspected his hands once more to find a rather warm substance beginning to ooze out of them. B-blood? Eww…Making a face at the sticky substance, the blond now began his trek to the bathroom, and ultimately the bandages. Well, at least he knew how to wrap himself up properly.
So a couple rolls of gauze later, we find Naruto once again ready to take on the challenge of picking up the cookie. Now armed with an oven mitt, the five year old hesitantly poked the tray, as if it would attack him…again. The rectangular piece of metal did no such thing and, inching his confidence forward, the boy carefully gripped the pan.
It hurt at first, even with the gauze on his palms. But he'd take it, after all, you gotta be really strong to be the Hokage! The blond nodded to himself, happily forgetting about the rawness of his hands. The boy eased down the cookie sheet and got a glance at his monster cookie.
Perfect!
Or as close to it as a five year old could get. The edges were burnt to a blackened crisp, as opposed to the center, where one would suspect that it was still doughy and undercooked. Not that Naruto really cared, his cookie was done!
And now…
o0o
"Uh! Where'd Ko-chan go? Where'd he go?" the baby in question nervously peeked out from behind his hands, before breaking out into a giggle at the silly face of his grandfather.
"There he is!" the giggle turned louder and Sarutobi couldn't help but smile as well. From the kitchen, Miyuki was able to spare the two an annoyed glance before sighing and turning back to the chopping of vegetables.
"Honestly pops, it's nice that you came over an all, but can't you help out just a little bit?" the Sandaime had the good grace to look sheepish, but quickly turned to his grandson and held him up, as if the mother had trouble seeing him.
"But look at poor Ko-chan! He's all alone out here, without any other person to look after him. If I was to leave, just think of the mental scarring that it might cause!" the brunette gave a leveled glance before shaking her head in an 'I give up'
"I think he's spoiled enough"
"Don't listen to her Ko-chan. She doesn't know what she's talking about" Sarutobi ended the statement with a nod, causing the baby to giggle and nod along with his grandfather. Miyuki sweatdropped and turned to her husband.
"It's almost done anyway" he noted without giving her a chance to speak. The woman puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, but said no more. Hmph, there's no way that I'll end up doing the dishes for these guys, they can clean 'em themselves! Nodding to herself, Miyuki deemed the two men's punishment to be just that. Then they would be able to experience first-hand the horror, the agony, the pain, the torture, the-
Ding-Dong!
-doorbell? "Would you get that? Since some of us have more important things to do…" Sarutobi knew a lifeline when it was being offered to him. So picking up Kohonamaru, the Hokage made his way over to the door and made a silent prayer for it not to be an emergency. He was pleasantly surprised.
"Ah Naruto-kun! What are you doing here?" a slightly worse for wear blond grinned up from the snowy doorstep. He took a second to shake the snow off his back before digging into the sac on his shoulder and pulling out what appeared to be a brown lump of plastic.
"Happy Christmas!" a pause ensued, "Heeey…It got squished!" The blond pouted at his smushed surprise while Sarutobi attempted to figure out exactly what 'it' was. It took him a moment, before finally recognizing the cookie crumbs for what they were. He shook his head, but motioned for the five year old to come in.
"It's okay. Despite what it may look like, a cookie is still a cookie, is it not?" the blond grinned and nodded, before stopping short in order to gaze in awe at the brightly lit green tree in the corner of the room.
"Wow…"
"Ah, like the tree?" Naruto nodded, still a little dumbstruck, and Miyuki took that as her cue to add her two cents.
"He better like it, took forever to get it ready" the Sandaime sweatdropped, but nodded all the same.
"Now how about we eat this before it gets too cold?" the five year old huffed and shook his head, though still handed the cookie over to the old man.
"I'm not going to eat it! It's for you! And Kohonamaru-chan, if he wants some…" Sarutobi laughed and smiled, before ruffling Naruto's hair with his free hand.
"Of course, of course! But you'll stay for dinner won't you?" as the Sandaime mentioned this, Naruto looked towards the roasting turkey with a near ravenous hunger. But he shook himself out of it quickly and politely shook his head no.
"I don't want the nanny to worry. Ja Jiisan!" the boy began to walk out the door and Sarutobi stole a quick glance towards the grandfather clock in the corner.
"Naruto-kun, I don't think she'll mind. I'll tell her tomorrow, okay?" Naruto paused in the doorway, and for a moment the Sandaime thought he would leave. But…
"SANKYUU!" Sarutobi stumbled backwards as the kitsune container caught him in a forceful hug. Well, that was one problem solved…
"I suppose that means we have a dinner guest. Another place setting coming up…Not like I really have a choice" the Hokage sweatdropped again, but found that he couldn't do much with Naruto attached to his leg and Kohonamaru still in his arms.
Speaking of Kohonamaru though…
"Now how'd you get that open?" by some stroke of genius, the baby had torn open the saran-wrap covering the smushed cookie and eaten the inside contents, burnt edges and all. Down on the ground floor, Naruto began to tear up as he realized where his present had gone.
"Now, now Naruto-" he didn't get a chance to finish as the boy broke out into a full out fit. Proving to the world exactly how healthy his lungs were. Too bad the world didn't care…
Miyuki sighed and took the now crying Kohonamaru, it was a chain reaction, from her father in law's arms and set him with a look that clearly stated 'Hokage or no, you eat after he calms down' Sarutobi grinned nervously before looking down at the wailing blond once more.
Fun…
"Come now Naruto-kun. It's okay! I'm sure Ko-chan enjoyed it very much, you should be glad you made him so happy!" the boy paused to wipe away a tear before looking up at the Hokage with what had been dubbed 'the puppy eyes of DOOM'
"Y-you mean it wasn't good enough for you?"
"N-n-no! Th-" He didn't get a chance to finish as Naruto broke out into tears again, still clutching on the bottom of the older man's coat. Hoping to quiet the boy, Sarutobi hastily picked him up, only to find two red splotches in his wake. Looking to the blond's hands, the Sandaime found slightly red bandages covering each palm.
"Well no wonder you're so grumpy Naruto-kun! These must hurt a lot!" then, for good measure, "You must be a very brave boy to wrap them up all by yourself!" the boy sniffed but nodded, a relatively good sign considering the circumstances. Without moving Naruto too much, Sarutobi quickly removed the bandages.
It only took a quick bit of charka summoning to his fingertips before the raw skin healed over and closed without a scar. Within moments both hands were as good as new and no one the wiser. Well, knowing a thousand jutsus did have it's uses…
"Better now?" the blond inspected his hands before giving a teary smile and another hug. "Come on then, dinner's getting cold"
"Dinner! Yay!" and with a sigh, the Sandaime Hokage realized that as far as his stomach was involved, Naruto would never change.
o0ostill not over… o0o
It was white, and there was no denying that fact. The Hokage monument seemed to be covered more than other areas of town, maybe due to the fact that nobody really walked up there.
Or did they?
A single boy sat and sighed, not really caring as the flakes fell around him. Despite wearing short sleeves, the cold failed to register. It merely served as part of the scenery to the teenager, nothing all that special. Though of course, that was missing the fact that it hadn't snowed for twelve whole years.
Such was the disadvantage of living so far south. Maybe some day he'd visit the snow country, they had enough snow after all…What am I thinking? Of course I'll visit the snow country, I'll get to go everywhere when I'm the Hokage! The boy nodded to himself, before sneezing. It seemed that a tee-shirt wasn't the best choice of clothing.
"You know, you're gonna get sick out here. And I for one am not gonna drag you back through all this snow when you pass out from hypothermia" Kohonamaru turned to get a look at his visitor, then snorted and shifted back to his overview of the city.
"I didn't know you knew such big words Naruto-niichan" the aforementioned blond pouted at the blow to his pride, before plopping down and taking a seat next to the brunette.
"So what happened to me being your boss?" the genin stiffened before huffing and turning away, embarrassed at such childish antics that he had been a part of four years ago.
"For your information, I'm a genin now, and genin don't take orders from other genin" the blond sweatdropped, seeing as there was no real way to salvage his pride from that.
"That was low…" before he was able to stop himself, Kohonamaru let out the tiniest of laughs. And that was all Naruto needed.
"There he is! I was wondering where my successor was. You can't appreciate pranks if you can't even laugh!" the boy pouted, but didn't respond. The silence caused a frown to appear on the elder's face, before what he assumed was a comforting hand was placed on the boy's shoulder.
"You know I'm just worried…and not just about that hypo-whatever"
"I knew you couldn't say it" the blond grinned and placed a hand behind his head in embarrassment. It wasn't his fault that big words had a tendency to evade him…
"Come on Kohonamaru-kun. It's Christmas! Tsunade-baachan and Ero-sennin got drunk on eggnog and last I heard they were doing the tango…That's perfect blackmail and you know it" the brunette paused, but shook his head.
"Nah, I think I'll pass. The view's pretty good from up here…" Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes at the statement. There was no way he was going to let Kohonamaru get away with that lame excuse.
"Are you sure?" a nod "Fine then" he dug into his thigh pouch, usually reserved for kunai but holding a different package today. One that happened to be covered with saran-wrap. It held a slightly burnt smell as well, but that was okay.
"You'd think that I'd get it right after twelve years" the bundle plopped into Kohonamaru's lap, leaving the thirteen year old to just stare for a moment. Then…
"You'll never let me live that down" it wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Nope!" was the cheerful response. Naruto's hand came up to ruffle the brunette's hair and Kohonamaru grinned again. Albeit not as wide as Naruto would have wished, but it was a step in the right direction.
"Now come on, Jiisan wouldn't have wanted you to mope around, right? And besides, who else is brave enough to eat my cookies?" the blond pulled up the brunette, before fixing him with the most serious look he could muster in the holiday season.
"Look, Christmas is for friends and family, right? Don't waste it" the boy sighed, before crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air.
"And how am I supposed to waste it when you're always bugging me about it? Hmph…When I'm Hokage there'll be a law that says you're not allowed to bother me" at this the blond raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really now? I was under the impression that I'd be Hokage before you, and then I'll make a law that says that you must be bugged on Christmas!"
"Yeah right!" Naruto glared, but then put a thoughtful hand to his chin. A sight that always spelt trouble for some poor person or another.
"Well then, I say that no Hokage is complete without blackmail of his subordinates…to the Christmas party!"
"To the party! And then, we will run for our lives like the true prank masters we are!" the blond smiled and placed a hand on the younger's head, nodding as he did so.
"Exactly"
o0o
Heh, X-mas is too much fun…I wish I'd gotten this out earlier…but ah well. I really hope I didn't mess up too terribly much there…doesn't seem fluffy enough…ah well –shrugs-
So…
(1) dun't own it
(2) Miyuki and Shoujou are mine, along with Naruto's cookie…
(3) slightly AU, ah well…
(4) sorry about all the Japanese...blame my room/dormmates! it's their fault!
(5) MERRY CHRISTMAS! Or as the Japanese say it, HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Now off to go watch the KH2 opening over and over and over again! –grins evilly-
Ciaonesses!