A/N: DUUUUDDDE! My muse friggin' bit me! Two chapter's written within like, three days of one another. o.O; Freakky.

Okay, this chapter starts out a little… angsty, but bear with me, I'm trying to lighten the mood a bit. Christmas Eve is in two days which means that there's only THREE CHAPTERS LEFT! 00 Wow. I'm actually gonna finish this and be satisfied with it. SWEET!

And thanks to all my reviewers! 98 reviews! Gee-wiz! I love you guys too! -

And thank you Vera-chan! I owe you lots for your wonderful beta-ing! D

Day Nine—

Sasuke had fallen asleep on his couch, too tired and depressed to lug his sexy-ninja ass upstairs. He immediately regretted it when the sun viciously attacked his eyes through his unusually blind-less windows. He shivered slightly from a light chill that rubbed his uncovered body. He squeezed his eyes tightly in a feeble attempt to block out the sunlight. After a few seconds of his silent battle with the morning, a crash resounded through his home. His eyes snapped open, and his body jerked awake and off of the couch.

That sound… He thought, it came from my room… was it… glass? Sasuke mentally trashed himself for not noticing someone inside his house. I must have been really out of it… Eyes narrowing, he snuck up his mahogany staircase.

Who the hell would break into my house? He pondered. Kakashi is the only one that uses the window… But he's too careful to break anything. Sasuke shook his head violently, willing the after-effects of sleep and yesterday's events to stop from clouding his mind before gingerly pushing open his bedroom door.

A quick intake of breath was Sasuke's excuse for a gasp when his sharp mind glanced upon the scene before him.

Three of his fangirls clad in dark-blue jackets (with his picture on the back), thick white pants, and a white pleated skirt over them, sat helplessly on his bedroom floor. All three were staring off into space, looks of horror on their faces and tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces. Two of them were holding photographs taken from the wooden box he kept underneath his bed, the contents of which were spilt all over the floor. Sasuke could see the countless number of foxy grins donning a tanned, whiskered face peering at the world from their pieces of paper. Broken glass shards from a shattered window were sprinkled all over his dresser and carpet like small diamonds. His eyes narrowed into the death glare he was so famous for.

I see… So they broke in through the window. He shifted his gaze towards the frail figures next to his bed.

"What the fuck?" He growled at them, all the while glaring like a basilisk. One of the girls, Chelsea, turned to him with puffy eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Naze… Sasuke-kun…?" She practically whispered. Another girl turned her gaze towards him, still hiccupping from her heart-wrenching sobs.

"You –hic- tricked us, Sasuke-kun!" She choked. Sasuke returned to his stoic visage, though rage was building up inside him like the pressure in a shaken soda can.

"You LIED to us!" The last girl screeched, her voice cracking on every word. The Uchiha simply shook his head.

"I didn't lie to anyone." Except myself, He added, remembering a time when he denied his attraction to his Naruto. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and spoke again.

"I don't understand you girls. I've rejected every one of your advances, I've never done anything that could even be REMOTELY considered flirting, and for some FUCKING reason, you keep thinking that I actually LIKE you all!" He snapped, eyes beginning to bleed red with the Sharingan. "Now listen; I'm only going to say this once."

"I"

"Am"

"Gay!" He spat out the words as if he were striking the cowering females with every syllable.

The room fell deathly quiet.

"Now leave." Sasuke hissed out the command, his tone barely above a whisper. His eyes glew red, pupils spinning wildly. All three girls immediately snapped out of their sorrow long enough to dart back out his window and away from the Uchiha grounds.

Sasuke sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Everyone would know of his 'secret' by the afternoon. He kneeled down and picked up a picture of his smiling dobe.

"This is… all I can do to prove to you that I'm serious, Naruto. I don't know what else to do…" He whispered, tracing the grinning cheek on glossed paper, black eyes softening at the likeness of the person who could melt his heart at a glance. Sasuke held it close and closed his eyes.

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Naruto woke slowly, awareness overtaking him at a snail's pace.

"Mmmm…" He moaned softly, slowly letting his slitted eyes adjust to the gently rays of sun.

He felt oddly at peace with himself. He sat up in his bed remembering yesterday's events. That kiss wouldn't leave him alone. Naruto sighed and slipped out of bed, sleepily shuffling off to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later a squeaky-clean Naruto entered his kitchen donning a black turtleneck, orange tee-shirt, and cargo pants.

I should apologize to Sasuke… He thought to himself, opening his fridge and grabbing the milk carton for cereal.

Rap-rap-rap.

Naruto set down the milk on the kitchen table while walking towards the door.

"I'm comin'!" He yelled, strolling across the floor and swinging open the door, foxy grin in hand.

"Ohayo Naruto!" Sakura said brightly, beaming at him in her cherry-cola parka and maroon pants.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Wanna come in?" Naruto asked, moving aside in case she wanted to enter. But instead she shook her pink locks.

"No, thanks. I just came by to give you this!" She held out a white envelope with his name on the front with both hands and a cheery smile.

"What's this?" He asked, taking it from her. She replied with a hefty whack on the back of his head.

"Naruto no baka!" She said, "It's an invitation for my annual Christmas eve party! Don't tell me you forgot!" Naruto rubbed the back of head in pain and embarrassment.

"Eh-heh…" He laughed. Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I would've given it to you earlier, but you were on a mission. Anyway, be at my house at six… And we're exchanging gifts too, so don't forget to bring them!" She waved to him and started to leave.

"Okay. Ja!" He waved.

"Ja!" Naruto watched Sakura leave before closing his door and remembering something very important.

I don't have a gift for Sasuke!

"SHIT!" He cried, startling what little awake fauna there was.

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"Awwww man…" Naruto groaned, "What'm I gonna do?"

Naruto had finally finished shopping for seven of the rookie-nine, all three of his sensei's, old baa-chan, and Konohamaru's gang, but still one gift remained to get. Frustrated, he collapsed on a nearby bench.

"Man… I had had it all planned out too." He muttered, remembering his promise for the dinner with Kakashi and Iruka.

"AUUGGHH!" Naruto could feel his eye twitching. "The hell am I supposed to get that bastard?"

"Talking to yourself again?" Naruto looked up, half-expecting to see Sasuke towering over him with that sly-ass smirk. He was genuinely surprised when he saw Chouji instead.

"Yeah, whatever." Naruto said, scooting over to make room for his hungry friend who sat down and continued to munch on salt-and-vinegar chips. There was a moment of silence that was broken only by Chouji's munching and crunching.

"So, what's eatin' you?" Chouji asked, crumpling up his snack bag and tossing it into the wire trash-can beside him. Naruto sighed.

"Gift hunting." The whiskered boy grumbled, perching his chin on his hands.

"Ah." Chouji retorted. "Who for?"

"Sasuke-teme." Naruto said, leaning back.

"I had trouble with him too… until I found this cool scroll on charka tricks. He probably won't need it with his Sharingan an' all, but there's still some pretty cool stuff in there." Chouji grinned at Naruto's cod-fish imitation.

"AAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH! Why can't I find ANYTHING?" Naruto's eye was twitching again. A small popping sound shortly followed by the rhythmic crunching signaled the opening of another snack bag.

"When in doubt, eat on it." Chouji said.

"That's a stupid saying." He scoffed.

"But it's true! No one knows what to get you, so they just get you Ramen passes. Free dinner man, it doesn't get much better than that." Naruto shrugged slightly.

"Yeah I suppo-" His eyes suddenly widened at the dawn of a sudden epiphany. A bright smile of relief slit Naruto's cheeks.

"CHOUJI!" He shouted loud enough for anyone within a five-meter radius to go deaf. Chouji jumped slightly, then rubbed the ear closest to Naruto.

"What?"

"You're a GENIUS!" He bellowed, tearing off down the road. Chouji blinked a few times, staring after the recently departed figure. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and thrust both fists in the air.

"YEAH! WHO'S THE GENIUS NOW, SHIKAMARU?" He whooped a few times before continuing to munch.

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Sakura knocked on the door of the Uchiha estates. She then stepped back and waited for the door to open.

A few minutes later, she was wondering whether or not to knock again, or if Sasuke simply wasn't home, when the door opened.

"Ohayo Sasuke!" She said cheerily. He looked at her with an appearance of total indifference.

"Here!" She said holding out a white envelope with his name on the front.

"Hn…" Sasuke said, taking the envelope from her.

"You'll be at my Christmas eve party, right?" He didn't bother to look up at her. Instead, he continued staring at the folded white paper in his hand. Sakura quirked one eyebrow. Something wasn't right.

"Naruto'll be there…" She suggested, but was immediately silenced with an unexpected glare.

What the hell… did something happen between them? No… Naruto was fine this morning… Sakura pondered to herself. Sighing, she tried the next best thing.

"Look, you don't have to stay, just come over long enough to pick up your gifts." He shot her a quizzical look. "Yes, you have gifts this year. Since Naruto got you those big shuriken last year, everyone wants to include you." He opened his mouth to speak, but she got there first. "No, you don't have to get anything for anyone else unless you all ready did." He nodded in compliance.

"Hn… Fine." Sakura flashed a huge smile.

"Great! I'll see you there!"

Sasuke closed the door before she left, glancing down at the paper in his hands.

I don't want to go… But I need to patch things up with Naruto. He sighed, ruffling his bangs. He glanced over to his kitchen table, eyes lingering on the small, blue package set upon it.

I hope this makes things clear, dobe. I'm completely serious.

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"Thanks, Obaa-san!" Naruto said, rushing out the door with a friendly wave. Surprisingly enough, the old woman smiled and waved back at him.

Ha! This is the best Christmas gift I can get that bastard! Naruto thought to himself with a fond smile. It's perfect.

Sasuke's freshly obtained gift in hand, Naruto took off towards his apartment to wrap presents and prepare for the day after tomorrow.

Vocab –

Ohayo – oh-high-oh – 'Morning

Naze – nah-zeh – Literally,why

Naruto no baka – noh- bah-kah – Emm… Kay, baka means idiot, and 'no' in this case makes Naruto a possessive noun, so basically, Sakura is calling Naruto a moron. P

Ja – jah – Did I do this one all ready? Ah well. It literally means "Later!" (As in the good-bye meaning)

Obaa-san – oh-bah-sah-nn – Literally means respectable old woman, but it can also be used in reference to an aunt, or grandmother. In Japan, older and middle aged women are referred to as "Obaa-san". It's kinda like saying "ma'am" or "sir" here.