Chapter 43: Akatsuki Christmas Arc - Reign of Festivity

Okay, I promised you all a shorter chapter, but I couldn't resist typing out this long one. After rereading my work a few times, I realized that I write chapters that contain Kaiya and Deidara's growing feelings for each other much longer than others...I hope I'm not being too much on you guys by writing so much. I think that the rest of the chapters for this arc will be around 8000 words long...but don't worry too much about it. There's only one more chapter after this left in this arc.

But still, writing this fanfiction has really helped my writing a lot. I have never been this enthusiastic about writing a story before.

Also, from now on, I'm no longer saying whose POV it is...I think the context should give it away. It kind of breaks the flow of the story, so I'll be removing the labels from all the previous chapters as well, once I get to them.

Disclaimer: The OCs and the plot are mine. Everything else is not!


By the time the day before Christmas Eve came around, we had been in the winter house for only two days.

The Hoshiyume siblings were definitely anticipating the arrival of Christmas, spending the previous days preparing as much as they could for it. While most of the Akatsuki just rested at home, including me, they had taken out a lot of boxes from the basement, and boy, they were huge. I mean, one was about half of the size of Kaiya's car, and that thing was already enormous enough.

Just imagine our surprise when all four siblings lugged that thing upstairs from the basement and set it down with a loud thud, right in front of us.

Sasori ended up being the person to ask them the question that was on all of our minds: "What is that?"

"It's our Christmas tree that we keep tucked in the basement of this house every year," Kaiya answered, holding up a pair of scissors. "Do you want to help us set it up in the living room?"

Before I could answer, Zetsu was immediately at the girl's throat...not literally, but he stood right in front of her and shot her an angry glare. "Are you joking with us right now? Why would you keep a poor tree shoved inside a cardboard box like that?"

Kagami patted the plant-man's shoulder reassuringly. I was slightly surprised that she had the courage to do that, but then again, she wasn't scared of any one of us, especially after we had lived with them for four months already. "Don't worry, Zetsu-san! It may look real at first, but it's a fake tree. We wouldn't harm any trees for the sake of Christmas!"

Zetsu calmed down and heaved a sigh of relief. I used this chance to approach Kaiya and try to open the box, but for some reason, it had been sewed shut or something. "What's this shiny stuff?" I asked her, pointing towards something that reflected the light and seemed to be keeping the box closed.

"That's masking tape," she explained to me. "It fixes things and keeps boxes and containers closed, but they can be easily removed or cut with something sharp, like these scissors. I'll show you, but just don't let your hands get in the way."

Nodding, I obliged, watching in interest as she poked a hole through the tape using a sharp point on the scissors. Then, she swiftly cut across the line of tape using the scissors, and the box opened up as soon as she removed her arm.

Peering inside, I spotted what looked like three parts of an evergreen tree, though I could easily tell that it was all fake. The needles looked as if they were made out of plastic, and there was no tree trunk at all, just a metal pipe.

"Can you guys help me take the parts of the tree out?" she asked us. Most of us nodded, and together, we lifted the three parts out of the box, trying our best not to spill too many needles on the floor as we did so. They did prick me a couple of times, but I quickly determined that they weren't sharp enough to break my skin, even though they itched a lot.

"Make sure to unfold the branches," Naoki instructed us, while taking one small branch of one of the parts and pushing it down. "Like this."

Sasori seemed to be slightly amused by that, whipping out all of his puppet strings on the ends of his fingertips and using them to unfold all the branches of one of the parts at once. Kakuzu did the same for the second part of the tree with his tendrils, leaving the rest of us to unfold the third part to old-fashioned way. Still, it was quite entertaining, minus the fact that the needles pricked my skin.

"Onee-chan!" said Kagami as soon as we had finished unfolding the branches. "Can we hang up ornaments now? Please? I wanna hang up the candy canes and the lights! And the Christmas star, too!"

Kaiya gently patted her sister's head as she shook her own. "Have patience, my imouto. We can do all of that as soon as we get everything else set up, so just wait. Santa Claus loves children with lots of patience."

"Who's Santa Claus?" inquired Tobi, standing next to Kagami and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She let out a small squeak because of the sudden contact, but seemed reassured when she realized who it was. "Tobi wants to know!"

"I'll tell you!" cheered Kagami, gazing at him with bright brown eyes. "Santa Claus is a large man who dresses in a suit and brings presents to all the good little children all around the world on Christmas Eve! Then, we open all of his wonderful presents on Christmas morning, except for all of the bad kids. All of the naughty little children get no presents, just lots and lots of coal!"

Tobi panicked slightly, shrinking to make himself look small. "Oh no! Kagami-chan, has Tobi been a good boy? Tobi doesn't want coal! Tobi wants some presents from Santa Claus!"

Kagami stood on her toes and patted his shoulder reassuringly, since she couldn't reach his head. "I think that you've been good all year, Tobi-chan! Santa Claus is probably making your presents right now so that he can deliver them to us tomorrow!"

The masked boy cheered, and the hyperactive duo began bouncing up and down. "Yay!"

However, Naoki didn't crack a smile, but simply shook his head. I didn't even need Kaiya to tell me what he was thinking: it was evident by the expression on his face that he doubted that we would get presents this year, being infamous criminals and all.

"Speaking of presents," Kaiya began as she helped Kakuzu and Sasori connect the three parts of the tree together and hoist it up, "I don't think we've really gotten the chance to buy or find some for each other yet. After we set up the tree, we can head straight to the mall, but all of you must use the Henge, okay? Naruto fans can be literally anywhere during this time of year, and who knows what they'll do?"

I shivered at the very thought of it, then nodded obediently. "I don't have to dye my hair to do it anymore, right?"

"No, you don't," she replied, and I grinned, pumping a fist into the air to show my relief. "I know how much you hate having your hair bleached light brown, so I won't make you do it until we get back to school. Furthermore, that jutsu is the one you guys have practiced the most in our world, so might as well use it, before it weakens. Don't do it yet, but do it as soon as we're ready to head out. The mall is pretty close to here."

Nodding, I headed over to where Yukio was opening another box, which seemed to be filled with a braided rubber rope that stretched on for yards. Attached to it were teardrop-shaped lights, and the eventual end of the rope was an electric plug.

Yukio proceeded to unravel it carefully, handing one end to Kaiya and untangling all of the knots that had been made in the rope. Once the entire thing was straightened out, the four siblings began wrapping it around the tree, as if they were frosting a giant cookie. As they did so, the rope occasionally fell, but Akane, who had usually slept due to the cold, helped them place the lights on higher branches.

When the entire tree was covered with the lights, Yukio handed the plug to Hidan. "Plug this into that outlet right there," he instructed the Jashinist, pointing towards the closest outlet, which was by the wall. "Then, the entire tree will light up."

Hidan raced over to the outlet, but before any of us could warn him, he violently jammed the plug into the socket as hard as he could, a sadistic grin spreading on his face as he did so.

Suddenly, the entire house went dark, blinding all of us and prompting Kagami and Tobi to yelp and cling to each other in fear. The only reason why I was able to see that was because in the corner of the room, right next to the plug, was a glowing Hidan, being zapped by the plug.

"Ow!" he roared angrily, continuously yanking and jamming the apparatus. "Why the f*** is this thing electrocuting me? Light up the d*** tree, you heathen!"

Had it not have been a dire situation, I would have laughed my head off, alongside Kakuzu and even Yukio. However, Kaiya and Naoki were panicking, trying to restore the power and have Sasori yank Hidan away from the plug.

Sasori didn't seem to mind, since wood wasn't an electrical conductor. Sighing, he attached his chakra strings to Hidan and yanked the cursing man away from the plug, rerouting the electricity to the Christmas lights instead.

Seconds later, the lights of the house came back on, making everybody breathe a sigh of relief, even Kakuzu. However, Yukio was no longer amused, and began lecturing Hidan on how not to handle everything so violently all of the time. Kagami and Tobi let go of each other and headed back over to the other cardboard boxes, which somebody had managed to open while the room had turned dark.

"Anyway," stammered Kaiya, holding up what appeared to be a candy cane, "let's continue setting up the tree. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can leave the house. Kagami-chan, will you do the honors?"

The little girl cheered, then ran over to her sister to snatch the ornament. "Oh, yes! Onee-chan, can you lift me up? I wanna hang it on a high branch! Please?"

Kaiya grabbed Kagami's waist and hoisted her happy little sister up, smiling and shaking her head. The seven-year-old quickly hung the candy cane on the edge of one of the higher branches before being set down again, as some of the other Akatsuki members arrived with other ornaments and more candy canes.

Deciding that I should hang something up as well, I followed Konan as she walked over to the box and grabbed what seemed to be a paper angel, with the halo acting as a hook. I peered inside the box, observing ornaments of all different shapes and sizes piled on top of one another.

Suddenly, Hidan, who was standing right behind me, nudged my shoulder. "Hurry up and choose, blondie!"

Yukio was immediately at his side. "Hidan...remember what happens to naughty children on Christmas?"

"I don't give a s***!" he roared. "And I'm not a kid, you b******!"

"Leave Hidan be," I told Yukio as I plucked two dove-shaped ornaments from the box. "It's his own fault if he receives nothing for Christmas, if he even wants to celebrate it."

The Jashinist scowled, but we both ignored him the second time around, proceeding to cover the tree with ornaments. I hung the two doves next to each other on one of the middle branches, and I made sure they were facing each other, almost as if they were kissing.

Silently, I pictured a large K on the left dove, while the other dove seemed to be embroidered with a D pattern. Sighing to myself, I backed away from the tree and returned to the box of ornaments, preparing to string up more.

Yeah, my inner thought. As if something like that would ever happen in real life.

Next, I grabbed two candy canes, while Sasori, who was behind me, reached inside with his strings and hooked a ton of ornaments, as if he was fishing for them. However, he kept the same, emotionless expression on his face as he immediately hung them all up at once.

It was almost as if he showing off, even though I was more of the type to do that. However, I immediately shoved the thought away, realizing that the only things that he would show off was stuff that he created.

We continued sprucing up the tree with the various decorations in the box, though it was kind of annoying how Sasori and Kakuzu were doing everything at once, the overachievers. Still, it was quite entertaining to watch everybody compete against each other to see who could put up the most decorations.

"Whoa!" shouted Kaiya, attempting to calm everybody down after noticing how many decorations the poor tree was being hugged to death with. "Cool it with the ornaments! Do you want to suffocate the tree and make Santa Claus faint from fright?"

Immediately after she had said that, Zetsu stopped casually hanging ornaments up on the tree, then turned towards all of us with a menacing glare on both of his faces. He bared his teeth, almost as if he was a protective guard dog, and the Christmas tree was his owner.

"Step away from the tree," he growled threateningly. "Don't harm nature if it has done nothing to you!"

Sighing, all of us stopped hanging up so many ornaments, then assisted Sasori, Kakuzu, and the Hoshiyume siblings with taking down the ones that overcrowded the area. Before we knew it, they had taken down the majority of the ornaments, which allowed me to actually see the evergreen needles that had pricked me earlier. But this time, I silently admitted that I was glad to see it again.

Because if it had gone any further than that, the result would have been a disastrous remake of Kagami's bedroom walls.

"And last but not least," said Yukio, "there's the Christmas star, which goes on the very top of the tree. Kagami-chan, would you like to hang it up again?"

To my surprise, she shook her head, but grabbed the crystallized ornament — which didn't even look like a star to begin with — anyway, then carefully handed it to Tobi, of all people.

"You should hang it up, Tobi-chan!" she encouraged the masked boy, who was probably giving her a confused look, but I couldn't tell because his mask was in the way. "Come on! The Christmas star is a symbol for the spirit of Christmas, and Santa probably thinks that you have the most out of all of the Akatsuki! Please put it at the top of the tree!"

Tobi, of course, instantly nodded and took the star from her. "Yay! Tobi-chan will hang up the Christmas star! Where does Kagami-chan want Tobi to put it?"

"It goes on the very top of the tree," she instructed, and Tobi nodded, reaching for the top by standing on his toes. "Keep going, Tobi-chan...wait! Watch out for the carpet underneath the tree!"

Too late.

"Wah!" exclaimed Tobi, tripping on the carpet and falling towards the tree. "Tobi slipped! Tobi slipped!"

Kagami shrieked as the tree began to topple over, unable to support the masked man's weight. Sasori and Kakuzu were dragging the boy off of it, while Kaiya, Naoki, and Yukio heaved the tree back up, dodging a couple of falling ornaments.

I ran over to help as well, but by the time that I reached the tree, it was already back up and stabilized, the only thing needing fixing being the ornaments that Tobi had accidentally knocked off of the tree.

"Are you alright, Tobi-chan?" asked Kagami, checking on her best friend. Like I usually did, I didn't care about the boy's condition, so I simply resorted to helping everybody else put the ornaments back where they had fallen from.

In the end, Kaiya ended up placing the star on the tree by herself, though Naoki held her waist to make sure that she didn't fall over like Tobi had. This time, she was able to place the star at the very top, without anything falling over, as if she had done it for so many years. But then again, she probably had.

"Okay," said Kaiya, moving towards the front door, "now that the tree is all set up, we can all head out now, but make sure to use the Henge. Also, make sure that you get warm and comfortable clothes, as it is much colder up in the Charcoal Mountains than it was back in our town."

We all nodded, making the proper hand seals and transforming into different identities. I decided to keep my blonde hair, but use a different hairstyle so that nobody could tell the difference. So instead of my usual long ponytail, my hair was spiked and stuck out at all different angles. Although straight hair was usually what I sported, ruffled hair actually seemed more natural to me.

The rest of the Akatsuki had varied identities, with some of them, such as Itachi and Kakuzu, keeping their current hair color. However, everybody had changed their hairstyles, even Hidan, surprisingly. In addition, they all were dressed up in casual winter clothing, consisting of heavy or puffy jackets and even beanies. It made me feel underdressed, since I was only wearing thermos underneath a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater, without even a hat.

Yeah, I definitely underdressed.

I was about to transform again, but Kaiya interrupted me, handing me a pair of what looked like Naoki's headphones, but a lot fluffier.

"These are earmuffs," she informed me and she carefully put it on my head, effectively covering my ears, though I could still hear out of them. "They're not as warm as a beanie, but it suits you. Besides, I gave all of our beanies to the others already."

Nodding in a form of gratitude, I fixed the earmuffs quickly, before the pink tint came to my cheeks again. It wasn't like I was madly in love with her or anything...actually, it hadn't even gotten that far yet. After all, I couldn't really tell, with Kaiya being my first crush and all. My mind and body was just not used to the feeling yet. It felt like someone had come to a village, but nobody in the village was used to the newcomer's existence until they eventually became friends with one another better.

In other words, it had not taken over my life. If it had, then I would have told her or even kissed her already. And neither of those had happened yet.

So with that, we all headed outside, into the colder outdoors. Luckily, it was midday, so it wasn't absolutely freezing, but cold enough to make us all keep our jackets and coats on. The only exception was Sasori, who couldn't feel the cold and had donned only a sweater and comfortable, baggy pants.

And with that, we headed to the local mall.


The mall was about the same size as the one we had previously visited: the one where Deidara had cross-dressed to win Kaiya a yellow mechanical pencil from Sugar Top Central. However, since it was Christmastime, we didn't even need to see the giant crowd to know that it existed.

Actually, looking at how literally every parking space was already full was how we could all tell. And then, as we approached the place, there came the noisy clamors, which all of us could easily hear.

Yeah, it was definitely that time of the year.

I assumed from the gasps coming from my siblings that they had never seen the mall to be that packed before, though it was probably because they were accustomed to buying presents for only each other, before the Christmas rush.

"Onee-chan," I asked curiously, tugging on my sister's sleeve. "Are all the toy shops sold out already?"

She shook her head, though there was a slightly uncertain gaze in her eyes. "Probably not, by the looks of it. There's got to be a few gifts that people haven't spotted yet, and if we're lucky, we'll be able to get our hands on them. Come on, let's hurry before this crowd gets even bigger."

After that, we all sped towards the mall, not wanting everything to already be gone by the time that we finally got inside a toy shop. I ran the fastest, with Obito close behind me, almost as if it was tag all over again.

"Let's go, Tobi-chan!" I called to him, making sure that I only used his real name whenever we were a hundred percent sure that nobody else was around. "I wanna get everybody a great gift! We can't do that if we don't go now!"

But judging on the size of the crowd when we got inside the mall, the toy shops didn't look as busy as the other shops, especially the clothing stores. As cheap as clothes were during this time of year, none of us had really hit a growth spurt since our last trip to the mall, and all the Akatsuki had to do to change clothes was to use the Henge.

We stopped in front of the nearest store, waiting for the rest of the Akatsuki and my siblings to catch up. They were not running as fast, but the majority of them were sprinting, making sure not to lose us in the crowd.

"This one doesn't look as busy," said Kaiya, as customers began to walk into the store. "And judging from its size, we can find a lot of things in there."

Everybody hurried into the store to check out what was inside, and to our surprise, quite a huge amount of items were still in stock. Even the wrapping paper section was packed with tons of paper rolls, and the seasonal aisle still had a lot of stuff left on the shelves.

"We should all split, if we're going to shop for each other," suggested Naoki. "It won't be any fun if we see what we're getting each other before Christmas Day, will it? Just make sure that you buy a paper bag so that we can't see through it while we walk out of the store, alright? Then, you can leave the wrapping for home."

Nodding, we all scattered and headed towards different aisles throughout the store, though a couple of us still followed each other. I tailed Deidara, knowing that he was probably going to search for something to give to Kaiya.

Five minutes later, after he seemed to have bought a seed packet, a feather pen and notepad, and a wallet, my theory was proven correct. I mean, his hands actually flew to the sides of his head as he mumbled to himself, "Ugh...what the hell do I get her?"

I decided that this was a good time to leave my hiding spot. "Deidara-san?" I called, catching his attention. "Do you need help?"

His cheeks turning pink, he shrugged. "Well...possibly. You know your sister better than I do, so do you know what kind of stuff she would want for Christmas?"

Shaking my head, I sent him a soft smile. "Onee-chan will probably like whatever you get her, just as long as it doesn't try to attack her," I answered truthfully. "Actually, maybe you don't need to buy her a gift. Since you're here, and nobody will know what you buy unless you tell them, why don't you buy some clay for yourself and make something out of it for her to give onee-chan on Christmas morning?"

"That's a good idea," he remarked, "but what do I make, un?"

"Just do whatever comes to your mind first," I told him. "What does your heart want to tell her? Listen to it...how does being with her make you feel? How exactly do you want her to feel, Deidara-san? Happy? Pleased? Flattered? It's your emotion, so only you can fully understand and see it."

He seemed to ponder about this for a while. "I see," he deadpanned. "I guess I'll have to surprise you, then."

"Don't surprise me," I giggled. "Surprise onee-chan instead! I think that whatever you make her, she'll love it! Anyway, I have to go...I need to find gifts for everybody as well! Bye bye!"

Giggling, I dashed off into an aisle where none of the people I knew were, though there were some other people shopping in it. Looking around, I spotted a few items that I wanted to put to use: a navy blue visor for Zetsu, a stress ball for Hidan, a Sushi Go! game box for Kisame, and a lavender scarf for Konan. Quickly, I grabbed a large paper back off of the shelves and shoved all of those items in carefully, before anybody else went for them.

Suddenly, a voice that I hadn't heard in my head for a long time decided to speak up and surprise me. So, what are you planning to get for Obito?

I jumped, causing a couple of people to shoot me odd looks, as if they were wondering if I was supposed to be that eccentric. I don't know yet. Got any ideas, Rin-chan? You've known the boy longer than me.

Try out your advice that you gave to Deidara, she suggested, making me ponder. The best presents usually come from the heart, Kagami-chan. I would suggest getting him something that he would like, such as candy or a plush, but once again, it's your decision. What is your heart and mind telling you to give him for Christmas?

I'm not really sure what it wants me to get, I replied truthfully. Suddenly, an idea formulated inside of my head. I've got it, Rin! I'm going to get him a charm bracelet that I'll make at home!

Rin went silent or a few seconds before giving her insight. Hmm...that's definitely from the heart, and you've definitely got creativity. After all, handmade gifts often beat just buying a pre-made one.

Yeah! I inwardly smiled, hoping that she could see it. Thanks for that, Rin-chan! I'm going to go buy presents for everybody else now!

After that, I felt her presence inside of my mind fade away as I continued checking out everything on the far side of the shelves. I carefully analyzed and observed each object, making sure that they weren't damaged, cheap, and perfect for each member of the the Akatsuki.

Sasori will probably like this set of wind-up toys, I thought, taking a handful of them and placing them in the bag. Good thing onee-chan allowed me to have forty dollars to shop…

I skipped towards other aisles to check out their contents, deciding against getting food or clothing for anybody: it had to be a toy or trinket. However, unsure of what to get Kakuzu, I eventually decided that I would just give him an envelope of money or even a savings bond.

Unfortunately, I couldn't resist shopping a little for myself as well. As soon as I spotted a velvet santa hat with adorable kitty ears that was just my size, I had to put that in the bag. It's not like anybody will know…

"Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together!" I chanted happily, even though I wasn't with anybody. However, the song definitely boosted my mood, despite reminding me of my parents.

It was quite weird, honestly. I had never really spent Christmas with a family — celebrations at the orphanage didn't count — though my real parents had probably celebrated it with me when I had been little. But then again, I was too young to remember anything, but I had probably felt it back then.

After all, the purpose of being young wasn't to know everything. It was to discover and feel everything.

In a way, Kaiya, Naoki, and Yukio probably felt the same, since I assumed that this was going to be the first Christmas that they would celebrate without their biological parents. I could tell from their voices as they decorated the tree that they were quite sad about it.

Likely, I would have mourned my parents more, had I had known them better. It was hard to grieve for anybody who you were never too familiar with, but still, I did. Even though I didn't really know them, I still loved my biological family.

Anyway, I continued walking down the aisle, when all of a sudden, I spotted it. Immediately, my face lit up with a playful, yet mischievous smirk, knowing exactly what it was supposed to on Christmas.

Swiftly, I checked the leaf shape and the berry color to confirm that it really was it, and sure enough, both of those factors matched the image in my head perfectly. Snickering to myself, I took a whole string of it from the shelf, counting sixteen different berry clusters.

Kisame will definitely approve, I grinned to myself as I held the string of mistletoe. For some reason, just looking at it made me feel somewhat mischievous and sassy, as if it really was my job to make something happen.

I'm not Kisame's personal cupid, but I can teach my sister one or more things when it comes to romance…

Suddenly, Yukio approached me from the opposite end of the aisle, curiosity reflecting in his gaze.

"Imouto, what are you holding?" asked Yukio, eying the string of berries and leaves in my right hand. Suddenly, his eyes gained a mischievous glint as he slowly began to understand what I wanted to do with them. A sly grin spread on his face. "Oh...I see. Who are you planning to set up?"

"I want Deidara-san to confess to onee-chan," I explained to him, and his eyes widened in slight surprise. Then, some sort of angel must have whispered something in his ear, because the crooked smile immediately returned. "You know it too, right? Deidara-san really likes her. He doesn't really say it directly, but I can tell that he does!"

Yukio scratched his head for a moment. "But then, won't onee-chan be a little upset if she doesn't hand her first kiss over to Daichi-san? I mean, she's never kissed anybody, let alone a single hug…"

I shrugged. "I'm sure onee-chan won't mind this at all, nii-chan! Besides, I think that she likes him, but doesn't realize it yet! Have you noticed how she hasn't been acting normal ever since they last trained Akane-chan?"

For some reason, I had begun to add the honorific to the clay bird's name, even though I didn't really talk to her all that much. But then again, I called Mayu using that honorific before I had even met her.

"You're right," realized Yukio, still smirking. "Perhaps I can use this information to bribe both of them whenever I need something, like having one of the Akatsuki teach me how to do epic stunt tricks or something."

"Did you remember to tell Santa in your sleep that you've wished for a skateboard?" I asked him curiously. "Don't you need one of those to do a flip in midair?"

He nodded. "How could I forget? I've been wanting one of those ever since I was your age, Kagami-chan! And it's a key thing to have when I become a teenager in two years! After all, to be a proper teenage gangster dude, you've got to be strong, smart, rebellious, and sassy!"

I giggled at my brother's crazy thoughts. "Anyway, do you wanna help me set the mistletoe all around the house, where onee-chan and Deidara-san will probably meet up?"

"Yeah!" he grinned, "but still, what are you going to tell them?"

Tilting my head to the side in slight confusion, I blinked at him. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Don't we have to say something like, 'Deidara, Sasori wanted to talk to you in the living room for a moment'?" he questioned, crossing his arms. "Usually, that's what happens in cliché love stories that are set during Christmas."

"No, they'll suspect that something is up," I told him. "Let it play out naturally, since we can't really force anything to happen between them. Whether they end up enjoying the kiss or even kissing at all is completely up to them, with the mistletoe merely acting as a guide. Onee-chan would appreciate that, wouldn't she? Or at least, that's what all these romance stories tell me."

He shrugged. "I'm alright with your plan, Kagami-chan. I think you might know more about this kind of stuff than me, since I don't really like romance stories. I prefer action, adventure, and superheroes."

I cheered, then grabbed Yukio's hand and began dragging him over to the checkout station. "Come on, nii-chan! Let's help make some magic happen!"


Kaiya dug through her shopping bag, checking to see if everything she wanted to buy for the Akatsuki and her siblings was present or not. Carefully, she took out a roll of wrapping paper, making sure to buy the same kind so that she didn't have to use money on tags.

To her, Christmas gifts weren't all about aesthetics, not even the patterns or the bows that were used. It didn't matter to her if the present that she would receive was wrapped in plain silver paper or wrapping paper embroidered with rainbow-colored flowers. Actually, she didn't really care about the quality of the present at all.

It's the recipient and the giver that counts, she thought, taking out a tightly sealed can of oil and placing it in the middle of a large sheet of wrapping paper. Hate the sin, love the sinner. But still, not all gifts are bad…

Swiftly, she folded the paper over the can to cover it completely, then taped the final product together neatly. Just as quickly as she had wrapped that one, she wrapped the next gift in line — a hand-painted watering can — and continued the process with the next.

Although she wanted to be horsing around with everybody downstairs, Kaiya also wanted to make sure that nobody could see what presents she got them as well as wrap them up so that she didn't have to do it later.

For some reason, it was rather quiet downstairs, the only sound being Tobi's occasional outburst of something completely random. Yukio had taken Kagami outside to play in the snow a bit more, since it was her first time ever seeing it. Kaiya instantly knew that something was probably wrong: the Akatsuki were never that quiet. Over the course of four months, she had gotten so used to their presence that the noise level no longer bothered her.

She stood up and stretched, tired of sitting down. I'm going to see what the boys are up to, she decided, opening her bedroom door and walking casually down the stairs.

To her surprise, nobody was in the living room except for Deidara, who was wrapping the gifts that he had bought for some of the members of the Akatsuki. The earmuffs that Kaiya had given him earlier were still adorned on his head. Unlike Kaiya, who had bought gifts for every single person, he had only gotten a few.

Suddenly, noticing her presence, Deidara quickly shoved his gifts underneath the couch before she could see them, then turned to her with a friendly smile. "Hey, how's your gift-wrapping going?"

"Fine," she answered, her eyes attempting to glance at whatever he had hidden underneath the couch. "I didn't see what you bought, but how come you didn't buy a gift for everybody, Deidara?"

"Must I give them to everybody?" he questioned, standing up and placing his hands on his hips. "I don't want to give one to Hidan or Tobi, un."

Kaiya tilted her head. "Why not? It's just a gift."

"Look," he mumbled to her. "I couldn't care less about those two, really. Hidan is just a big, foul-mouthed idiot who does nothing to contribute to your family, and Tobi is just extremely annoying...I don't know how you guys manage to tolerate him."

She shot him a disapproving look. "Seriously, Deidara? It's Christmas. Does it matter how annoying they've been to you or what they look like and say? Give Tobi a chance. If my little sister can become friends with him, so can you. And sometimes, Hidan just can't control himself, but despite how much Yukio seems to despise him, I can tell that in actuality, he doesn't mind Hidan unless he does something to hurt his family. I'd say that you should at least make them a gift that shows that you care about them and acknowledge their existence. After all, you've been living underneath the same roof with them for four months, right?"

He seemed to ponder over her words for a moment. "Once again, you do have a point. But still, I don't want to give them a gift…"

"Maybe you don't have to, then," I suggested. "Just tell them 'Merry Christmas', and they'll be happy that you acknowledged them. Tobi isn't trying to annoy you, he just wants attention and you to notice him. Isn't that what a kohai wants from their senpai most of the time, according to Naoki-chan?"

"I guess," he mumbled. "Maybe I should make them some sort of—"

Suddenly, he trailed off, frozen in place. Kaiya blinked at him incredulously, but began to grow worried after he just stood there for a full minute.

"Deidara?" she asked him, waving a hand in front of his face, which was staring blankly at the ceiling. "Hello? Earth to Deidara?"

"Um…" Deidara said nervously, pointing to something above his head. "Kaiya, do you know what that plant is above our heads? Why is it attached to the ceiling with a string and a piece of masking tape?"

Instinctively, she looked straight up, gasping at what she saw. There was no mistaking it: the leaf shape, the red ribbon, and the white berries were the same. Slowly, she felt her cheeks begin to turn pink and then bright red.

"It's a mistletoe," Kaiya informed Deidara. "It's a very...uh, festive plant, so each Christmas, people usually hang it somewhere around their houses, especially if they throw huge parties. However, there is a...well, very embarrassing tradition that comes with it."

He looked at her funny. "What is it, Kaiya? Is that what is making you blush so much?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "We usually never hang mistletoe around in our house, since we don't throw huge Christmas parties. But it seems like one of the Akatsuki members or my siblings decided to place some around the house."

"That doesn't answer my question, un," he told her. "What is the tradition supposed to be with the mistletoe?"

She blushed harder. "Well, you see, whenever two people that are not related to each other by blood are caught standing underneath a mistletoe, the tradition says that once you are aware of the mistletoe's presence, you have to—"

Kaiya trailed off, not wanting to say anything more. Her face was as red as Akane at that point, and she hid her face in her hands shyly.

"What do you have to do?" he demanded impatiently. "Tell me more!"

"You don't want to know," Kaiya said, turning away. "Perhaps we can just forget that we were caught underneath the mistletoe and walk away without anybody noticing us. I don't think you'd want to do it to me, anyway."

"It's too late," he sighed, motioning towards the front door. "Kagami and Yukio are coming back inside. They're going to catch us under here anyway, so just spill the details about being underneath the mistletoe."

She sighed. "Fine, you see, the most embarrassing thing about being caught underneath a mistletoe…"

Deidara's ears perked up, wanting to hear more.

"...is that you have to...um, kiss whoever you were caught under the mistletoe with."

He immediately froze after hearing her say that. Then, it was his turn to blush as pink as Kaiya's kimono, as he looked at the mistletoe, then at Kaiya, and then back to the string that held the bunch of white berries. Once his mind had fully processed this, he smirked at her.

"Well then," he grinned, "I guess rules are rules."

Kaiya's cheeks continued to blush bright red as she too, averted her gaze from the string of mistletoe to Deidara, and then back again.

"Yeah," she stuttered nervously. "Rules are rules."

Is this how it's really going to go? she asked herself, inwardly panicking. Am I really going to give my first kiss away...to an S-rank criminal, just like that? I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to be in love with Daichi, not Deidara. But still, why do I keep feeling like this is what I want to do? What is this odd beating in my chest? Why...why?

Sure enough, her heart was beating as loud as a drum. Deidara could hear it, only making his smirk wider, but inside, he was blushing as well. Still, he tried to keep cool as much as possible, despite his crush not being that big yet.

Kaiya, on the other hand, was still wondering why her heart was thumping so loudly as she began to lean in. It was just one small kiss, so what did it matter?

I can't do this, she thought meekly, swallowing hard. I can't do this...

Deidara leaned in closer and closed his eyes, expecting Kaiya to lean in closer and repeat his action. She did, but unlike Deidara, it took her about ten seconds longer to finally close her eyes. Together, under the bunch of white berries, they leaned in closer…

And closer…

And even closer…

I can't do this.

Suddenly, Deidara felt something drop into his palm, causing him to jump back and open his eyes in surprise. But by the time his eyes had fluttered open, Kaiya had already evacuated the area, sprinting away as fast as she could in the opposite direction, out of the sight of the blonde.

"Huh?" he muttered to himself in disbelief, just as Yukio and Kagami entered the house again.

"Are you alright, Deidara-san?" she asked him, noticing how distraught he looked and how he was just standing still. Her gaze darting towards his palm, she quickly grabbed the object that Kaiya had dropped in his hand and gave it to Yukio.

"What's this?" asked Yukio, staring at the wrapped piece of candy in his hand.

"It's a Choco-Kiss," Kagami answered, then paused, looking straight up. Realizing what had probably happened just before they had entered the house, she froze, then sighed, knowing that her plan had been bungled.

Yukio stared at his sister in confusion, just as Deidara regained his senses and bolted off in another direction, feeling too embarrassed to stay underneath that spot, where the mistletoe was hung. As Deidara sped off into the hall, Yukio seemed to get the idea. "Wait, are you telling me—"

"Onee-chan chickened out," Kagami told him. "I don't think she wanted to kiss him at all, to be honest. Perhaps she just wasn't ready yet, being torn with feelings for Daichi-san and Deidara-san, probably."

Her brother just shook his head, glaring at the chocolate candy that had probably shattered Deidara's expectations. "That was not how this was supposed to go, imouto…"

Meanwhile, Deidara continued to run, eventually coming to a halt as he was about to run into Sasori, who was wrapping his own gifts. The red-haired boy looked at his partner emotionlessly, then listened as Deidara began to ramble.

"Danna!" Deidara began, "I-I-I think that I just got rejected, Sasori-danna! Kaiya and I were underneath it and everything, and she even said that rules were rules, too! So why did she give me a piece of candy instead of a kiss, like the tradition said? Was it too unbearable for her or something—"

"Stop," commanded Sasori, flicking his hand at Deidara, stopping the boy. "Brat, if you really think about it, she's probably feeling conflicted right now. If she just ran out on you like that, then she was most likely torn between kissing you or saving it for Daichi, who she probably still likes. But what are you even talking about, anyway?"

"She called it mistletoe," Deidara explained to him. "It has small, rounded leaves, white berries, and are usually tied with a red ribbon. Any two people caught under the mistletoe that don't have a familial relationship have to kiss."

His eyes widening slightly, Sasori pointed towards a cluster of white berries taped above his head, making Deidara turn ghostly pale for a few seconds. "Is that the plant that you're talking about?" he asked, making Deidara stomp and clench his fists in anger.

"Oh, you have got to be freaking kidding me, un!"


A/N: SasoDei shippers, I'll let you imagine the rest. I promised a guest that there would be no yaoi (since I'm not good at writing or imagining it, since I ship a lot of het ships), and I'm not exactly in my SasoDei phase right now. However, I am not a homophobe. I do enjoy yaoi stroies every now and then!

Question: Admit it. Did I get any of you with the fake DeiKai kiss? Yeah, it will be a while until we get a real one...if I decide to let it happen or not. I mean, Kaiya is torn between her feelings right now...

See you all real soon!

— Tenshi-chan —