Chapter 16: Kurisumasu no Kawaii! Cute Christmas! Part I

Finally, it was Christmas Day today! For some odd reason, Itachi wanted Phire to go to Konoha, but come back at 7 p.m. instead of 8-9. He seemed to be acting very strangely lately, as well.

'Meri-kurisumasu, Tsunade-sama,' Phire greeted as she checked in with Tsunade. Tsunade smiled. (Merry Christmas).

'Meri-kurisumasu to you too, Phire,' she greeted her back. Shizune also greeted Phire, and vice versa.

'You didn't have to come, today,' Tsunade told Phire. Phire shrugged.

'I wasn't doing anything today, and besides; Konoha seems to be like a home for me,' Phire told her. Tsunade was happy that such a strong Jounin was on Konoha's side.

'Well, it's pretty cold outside as it snowed today,' Phire told her. Tsunade nodded.

'Hai, well, everybody is going to the academy to hang out, including the Genins, Chuunins, and Jounins! Why don't you go?' Tsunade suggested. Phire nodded, and as she left, Tsunade noticed a strange present on her table.

'Nani? What is this?' she thought as she first inspected it, but since it was harmless, she opened it, and it was a pom pilot!

'Phire is really nice today! I guess she gave this because she cares for Konoha,' Tsunade muttered. Shizune was surprised, and there was a second pom pilot just for Shizune in the box.

'Yes she does care!' Shizune exclaimed, but then thought for a moment.

'Wait, why is she being so nice?' Shizune asked. Tsunade thought, but Phire was always nice to her.

'Well, she's always nice, but I guess that she really likes Konoha enough to buy us such gifts,' she said. Shizune sighed, and agreed with Tsunade.

'Or does she really care? Hm.. I guess she isn't so bad,' Tsunade thought, still wondering.

'Phire!' Team 7 exclaimed when she reached. Everybody looked at her, including the Jounins, Chuunins, and other Genins; even ANBU were there.

'Meri-kurisumasu,' she greeted, hugging each Genin, including Sasuke, who hugged her back with a slight smile. Ino was jealous, and Sakura grumbled to herself.

'Naruto, look what I have for you,' Phire got out a pack of 100 coupons for ramen, and Naruto tackled her to the ground.

'THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!' he exclaimed, in tears of happiness.

'Phire, you are being too nice,' Kakashi chuckled. Phire shrugged.

'Hey, I had to repay these 3 for cooperating while you were down,' Phire explained. He nodded, and Phire hugged Kakashi too. He raised both of his eyebrows and hugged her back, and she gave him the most rare edition of Icha Icha Paradise.

'Oh, thank you!' he thanked her, laughing. She smiled. She looked to Sasuke and Sakura.

'So, how are you two today?' she asked. Sasuke smiled at Phire, and Sakura was still angry from before.

'Sakura, why is your face all red?' Phire joked. Sakura turned normal, and laughed. Phire gave her a necklace that was pure ice crystal.

'Whoa, thanks Phire!' Sakura thanked her. Sasuke looked at the snow, and then noticed that a pair of sai and a hand was on his shoulder.

'Phire, you didn't have to,' Sasuke told her. She smiled.

'You remind me of someone close to me that expired years ago when I was a child,' Phire whispered to him. He looked at her eyes; they weren't of sadness one bit; yet her expression was full of melancholy. She shook her head, and he sighed.

'These were given to me by that special one, but when I had gotten my sword, I stopped using the pair of sai,' she told him, 'and I want you to keep them. Use them or just keep them, I don't care. Just don't lose them; these are very hard to find and craft.' Sasuke couldn't imagine getting such a gift from Phire; they weren't that close of friends, but she gives a good gift anyways. He hugged her tightly all of a sudden, and a small water drop trickled down his cheek.

'Arigato, Phire, really, I mean it,' he told her. She smiled, and then pointed to the steaming Ino, and when Sasuke looked, he laughed. Phire laughed, and then Naruto and even Sakura. Everybody started to laugh.

'Hey! What are we laughing about?' Naruto asked, killing the whole thing. All you could hear were crickets.

'You killed it, baka,' Sasuke muttered. Naruto sighed.

'Oh,' he said. Everybody continued talking, and then a snowball went flying into Rock Lee's face, which was actually meant for Sasuke, but he dodged it.

'Snowball fight!' Naruto yelled, and everybody, even the Jounins and Chuunins fought. It was every guy/girl for him/herself, so there were no teams. Apparently, Phire pawned them all, so everybody, when the second round came, ganged up on her and they tried to pin her down, but she was too good.

'I win! Ah ha!' she laughed as she threw a snowball right for Neji. He dodged it because he was using byakugan, and it hit Tsunade right in the face. Everyone "Oo'ed, and then every ninja, including the hokage, Jiraiya, ANBU, and Shizune fought. Even the academy students fought too. It was a memorable time. Finally, after 5 hours of fighting, Tsunade had gone back to the office, as well as Shizune and the ANBU members left as well. Jiraiya had gone back to the inside hot tub to spy on girls as usual, and Everybody else just went back to talking.

'That was amazing,' Naruto said. Everybody nodded. Ino all of a sudden came up to Sasuke and hugged him from behind. He made an angry face.

'Meri-kurisumasu, Sasuke-kun!' she said in her annoying, perky voice. He rolled his eyes.

'Yea, you too,' he muttered, shrugging her off. She stuck her tongue out at Sakura, and Sakura was angry.

'How troublesome,' Shikamaru muttered. Just then, Hinata went up to Naruto.

'M-Meri-k-kurisu-sumasu, N-Naruto-kun,' she muttered. He smiled and hugged Hinata; he hugged pretty much everybody, even Sasuke…

'Meri-kurisumasu, Hinata!' he exclaimed. She was blushing red so much, that they thought she was going down with a fever. She hugged Kiba as well, and even Shino…

'Meri-kurisumasu, Lee-kun,' Sakura told Rock Lee, quickly hugging him, and making him faint. After the dance and the food which Chouji and his dad ate 89 of, it was already 7 p.m.

'Oh, I have to go,' Phire muttered, leaving. Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

'Already?' he asked. She kissed him on the forehead, and he blinked; very small signs of red flower buds were seen on his cheeks.

'Hai,' she told him, disappearing. Everybody saw a kiss mark on Sasuke's forehead, and Ino was angrier than ever, as well as Sakura.

'Girls, how troublesome,' Shikamaru muttered.