Author Notes: Seasons Greetings, everyone! Here's my annual Christmas offering. Enjoy :)
Summary: Someone else finds out about Himawari's special friend. Chaos ensues. Sequel to The Little White Snake.
Warnings: Spoilers for the above story and Boruto the anime, but nothing major. Possible OOC-ness and fluff.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to fanofthisfiction, a talented writer who is wonderfully supportive of her fellow writers. Thank you for making my 2020 a little brighter :)
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
- Story Start -
Snow had arrived in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. As early as a week ago, the inhabitants of Konoha awoke to a pristine blanket of white outside their windows.
It started as a thin layer, turning to slush and muddy puddles on the ground by mid morning. But the snowfall grew heavier every night until on the morning of Christmas Eve, it was higher than Naruto Uzumaki's knees.
"Papa's trousers are getting wet, Boruto-nii-chan," Himawari commented, kneeling on the sofa and looking out the living room window.
"He'll be fine." Boruto continued eating his breakfast.
"But he'll catch a cold and-" Himawari broke off on a surprised giggle.
"What? Did Tou-chan fall down?" Boruto looked up from his plate.
When Himawari shook her head, he got up and hurried to the window. Their father was clearing a path with both hands out in front, snow blowing away on either side of him.
"Wind release, huh?" Boruto smirked. "Smart move, Tou-chan. I'll do that too, you know!"
"Is your training still on today, Boruto?" Hinata asked. "Make sure you wear something warm."
"Don't worry, Kaa-chan, it'll be fun!" Boruto said with a grin.
"Don't be too sure about that," Hinata chided. "It's been snowing every night. Even your ojii-chan is recovering from a cold."
That was why Boruto and Himawari still hadn't visited the Hyuuga compound to receive their annual Christmas presents from their grandfather.
"We'll be fine," Boruto assured her. "Konohamaru-nii-chan promised to have a snowball fight this afternoon; Mugino-san and him against the three of us!"
"Well, make sure you're here by five. Are you sure Konohamaru-kun and Mugino-san don't want to join us?"
"I'm sure, Kaa-chan," Boruto said. "They have plans of their own."
"Well, don't be late then."
For the past few years, Sasuke, Sakura and Sarada joined the Uzumakis for Christmas Eve dinner and returned the favour the next day for dinner. Mitsuki was always invited to both meals, but tonight would be the first time that Orochimaru accompanied his son.
- o -
Hinata and Himawari spent the whole afternoon getting dinner ready. A small Christmas tree had been set up in a corner of the living room, decorated with baubles, tinsel and fairy lights. A pile of gaily wrapped gifts lay underneath.
Hinata had decided on fried chicken, beef stew, mashed potatoes, plain rice, miso soup and deviled eggs which Orochimaru seemed to like very much. Sakura would bring over a salad and a Christmas cake. Himawari helped her mother to mash the boiled potatoes and decorate the deviled eggs while she chatted on.
"I hope we prepared enough eggs, Kaa-chan. Shiro-chan loves them!"
Hinata chuckled, looking at the heaping plate.
"I'm sure we did. Don't forget to call him Orochimaru-san in front of your father and Sasuke-oji-san."
"I know," Himawari replied. "Otherwise, their eyes will start twitching."
"That's right," Hinata said, biting back another chuckle.
When the doorbell rang a little while later, they both looked at each other and then Hinata's head whipped towards the clock on the wall - it was just past four.
"Who could it be?" She wondered and went to wash her hands at the sink.
"Maybe Shiro-chan's early!" Himawari clambered down from the kitchen chair and ran out into the hallway.
"Let me see who it is first," Hinata said, hastily following her while wiping her hands on her apron.
"Boruto-chan! Himawari-chan!" A deep, gravelly and very familiar voice called out.
Hinata exchanged another startled look with her daughter before opening the door. Standing on their doorstep in a winter coat and scarf with large paper bag in hand, was none other than the Head of the Hyuuga Clan, Hiashi Hyuuga.
"Ojii-chan!" Himawari greeted with a big smile. "Merry Christmas, ojii-chan!"
"Merry Christmas, Himawari-chan! Ho. Ho. Ho."
"Otou-sama," Hinata greeted rather faintly. "You're not supposed to be out in such cold weather! We said we'd visit once you recovered."
"Nonsense!" Hiashi declared. "Can't a grandfather bring his own grandchildren their presents? Ho. Ho. Ho!"
Himawari giggled and dragged her grandfather inside by the hand before closing the door.
"Hanabi is meeting friends for dinner so I said I'd join you all instead," Hiashi continued.
"I... see," Hinata said, still in that faint tone. "She never said a word."
Himawari stared at her in surprise. Her mother was well known for her polite and gracious manners, but right now, she was just standing there with her right eye twitching. With a sigh, Himawari turned back to Hiashi.
"Of course you can stay for dinner, ojii-chan! Right, Kaa-chan?"
- o -
Orochimaru and his team set out from their underground lab at five in the evening. Jugo, Suigetsu and Karin wanted a night out and promised to be on their best behaviour while in Konoha.
"Don't worry, Orochimaru-sama," Suigetsu drawled. "I'll make sure Karin doesn't sneak off to the Uchiha home to spy on Sasuke."
"Of course I won't," Karin snapped and tossed her head, cheeks turning red.
"There won't be anyone home anyway," Jugo said. "Sasuke and his family always have Christmas Eve dinner with the Uzumakis."
"Oh?" Karin's eyes widened at once, gleaming with interest.
"Great, you just had to tell her that," Suigetsu sighed. "Now she'll sneak off to the Hokage's house instead!"
"Of course I won't!"
Orochimaru sighed and pressed his fingers to his temple.
"Don't cause any trouble. We'll meet back at the main gates at eleven."
"Yes, boss!"
- o -
Hinata hadn't felt this stressed since Himawari's seventh birthday last August when Orochimaru visited their home for the first time. Since then, she and Sakura had gotten their husbands reconciled - if very grudgingly - to the idea of having Orochimaru at their table on festive occasions.
It made for stilted conversations, expounding on the weather to death (good thing there was snow this year!) and a few elbow nudges, kicks under the table and meaningful looks, but it was worth it - Himawari was always very happy to have her special friend Orochimaru join them for a celebration.
But what was to be done now?
Hinata refused to send her father back to the Hyuuga compound without dinner especially with the obvious signs and smells of a big feast underway. She cringed at the very thought. Besides, Hanabi who usually dined with him was out meeting friends which meant their father would be all alone on Christmas Eve with only the servants for company.
But the alternative was dining with Orochimaru whom Hiashi hadn't seen since... well, since the Fourth Great Ninja war. Hinata couldn't recall if they had even met then. The Hyuuga clan had joined in the battle against the Ten Tails while Orochimaru had gone to the aid of the Five Kage.
Hinata gave the beef stew a final stir and covered the pot. Then she peeped at the living room where Himawari was happily chatting with her grandfather. The clock said it was very nearly five.
Naruto, Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki would arrive soon. Sasuke and Sakura would come at six and Orochimaru at half past six. With a sigh, Hinata hoped her husband and friends had some good ideas to prevent a possible explosion.
- o -
Sasuke and Sakura arrived at six on the dot, complete with presents, cake and covered bowl of salad. They were greeted at the door by Naruto and Hinata who had identical fixed grins on their faces. One peep into the living room where Hiashi was listening to a recounting of the latest Team Seven mission, and Sasuke and Sakura's eyes went wide in unison.
"I'm sorry," Hinata apologised once she had pulled Sakura to the back of the house on the pretext of looking for additional placemats. "My father just turned up without any warning."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sakura assured her.
"Should I tell him about Orochimaru?"
Sakura hesitated before shaking her head.
"There's no need, I think. Orochimaru's been an exemplary guest so far and your father's the head of his clan. Neither will cause any trouble, I'm sure."
"I hope so," Hinata said fervently. "I'll put my father next to Himawari since he loves to talk to her. But I don't want Orochimaru to feel left out."
"We'll keep him occupied," Sakura promised with a familiar glint in her eye. "Even if I have to fill his ears with medical ninjutsu facts all night!"
They both laughed at that, but stopped when they remembered his past exploits. Orochimaru was one of the legendary san-nin and famous (or infamous) for conducting experiments of all kinds in his quest for immortality.
"Although he probably knows more about the human anatomy than me," Sakura said weakly.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Hinata told her and knew she was trying to reassure herself as well.
- o -
When the doorbell rang a few minutes later, four of the five adults were so tense they jumped while the other merely looked surprised.
"It's Shiro-chan!" Himawari exclaimed, eyes lighting up. She jumped up from where she and the others were playing a board game and rushed out of the living room, Naruto a step behind her.
Himawari flung open the door with all the confidence of an eight year old who knew who her guest was. Indeed, it was Orochimaru who stood there with a bag of gifts in his hand.
"Merry Christmas, Shiro-chan!" Himawari chirped.
"Merry Christmas, Himawari-chan," Orochimaru greeted with a gentle smile. Then he looked up and almost took a step back, smile disappearing. "Hokage-sama. Sasuke-kun."
"Orochimaru," Naruto greeted in a polite voice.
"Orochimaru," Sasuke greeted in a neutral voice.
In the blink of an eye, Hiashi Hyuuga stood behind them with his Byakugan activated, long hair lifting and robes rippling from the speed of his appearance.
"What is he doing here?" He demanded in a cold voice.
- Chapter End -
A/N: Thank you for reading!
The Japanese term for grandfather ('ojii') and uncle ('oji') sound very similar so I tried to differentiate it a bit more using the honorific 'chan' in how Hiashi's grandchildren address him, and 'san' in how they address Sasuke.
Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, would love to hear from you :)