A/N: More fun with Sakura and Naruto. I love these two in KakaIru stories so much, it borders on ridiculous.

As a reminder, in the-story-I'm-going-to-write-eventually, Danzou tries to kidnap Sayuri in an attempt to complete his original mission of training her to be loyal to him. He was ultimately unsuccessful, obviously, but he did get a hold of her for a little while, and it looked at the time like the mission would succeed. To explain Kakashi's first reaction.

I wonder if George Lucas ever felt like he was giving the whole story when he wrote his out of order…

Christmas with the Hatakes
By: Reggie

December 7th: Hiding Presents

Seeing the door to the apartment slightly open made Kakashi's heart skip several beats. Danzou was locked away permanently. He couldn't try to take Sayuri from them again. No one would take her away. And she wasn't home; she was with Kurenai while Kakashi went Christmas shopping. If anyone tried to take her, they'd have to deal with one royally pissed of kunoichi with maternal instincts to spare.

The breathing process having now been resumed, Kakashi slunk silently through the door. He could sense two people inside, and heard them arguing in hushed whispers. They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with if they were being this careless about it.

He was the shadow of death, creeping down the hall, and pushing the door open. The kunai in his hand froze and instant before release, and Kakashi stared in utter bewilderment. There, by the bed, stood his two students, arguing in hushed voice and passing a horribly wrapped box in painfully red paper back and forth.

They hadn't noticed him yet, and Kakashi couldn't decide how he felt about that.

"Naruto, they're elite ninja! They'll notice if we hid it here," Sakura hissed, snatching the box away from her teammate. "We should hide it in your apartment."

"But Iruka-sensei cleans my apartment all the time, he'll find it," the blonde squawked, making a grab for the box. "They'll never think to look under their own bed."

Kakashi chuckled under his breath, admitting to himself that he WOULDN'T have thought to look there, and made a mental note to add that to his list of places to secure every night, right after putting traps on all the access points in the apartment.

"They won't have to look, they'll know," Sakura hissed. "Have you ever been able to play a prank on Iruka-sensei?"

"Well…"

"Your idiot jutsu doesn't count!" She hit him over the head smartly with the box, and Naruto whimpered. "That would shock anyone."

'Except me,' Kakashi thought proudly. 'And people call me a pervert.'

"If you're so against hiding it here, why can't we use your house," Naruto whined, once again missing grabbing the box from her hand. "Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei never go there."

"I told you, my mother opens all the presents I hide there. If she finds this…" Sakura's face went scarlet, her green eyes horrified at the very thought.

Now this was interesting. What could his students have gotten him and Iruka for Christmas that the teen didn't want her mother to find? This was too much of a temptation for him to resist. "Looks like someone has earned herself a spot on Santa's naughty list, hm?"

…That had sounded much worse a loud than it had in his head.

Both of the teenagers jumped, Sakura dropping the box in shock. It rolled on to its side with a dull thump.

"Kakashi-sensei! We were just…I mean…" Sakura floundered, waving her arms around wildly.

"Testing the traps on the door," Naruto grinned confidently. "You need some work, sensei."

Cute. "I don't set the traps when nobody is home, Naruto-kun. There is no point. They're welcome to steal stuff."

It was all set to explode if it left the premise with someone who didn't deactivate the seal anyway.

Naruto's face fell, and Kakashi wondered what kind of horrors they had encountered while breaking in. Maybe Iruka, who was a master of traps, had set some up that were always active and would catch anyone who wasn't Kakashi? That was possible.

Sakura fidgeted nervously, playing with her hair. "Where is Sayuri-chan today, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Kurenai was watching her while I went Christmas shopping." Check on presents for Sayuri and his students, still nothing found for Iruka. "I had to stop by here to drop off some things before I went and picked her up."

Namely the bag stuffed with baby toys that were now lying outside the door.

Before either of the lower ninja could protest, Kakashi had scooped down and picked up the offending box. Grinning under his mask, he gave it a little shake. He assumed it wasn't breakable since Sakura had used it as a weapon earlier. "What's in here, I wonder."

"Ah, nothing!" Sakura looked ready to pounce on the box, her eyes humorously large. "It's just a present for Sayuri-chan. We were going to put it with the others."

"Really?" Kakashi found it impossible to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Well, you don't mind if I have a look, do you? I need to check that it's safe for her, you see. No small parts or anything." He flicked his thumb, undoing one strip of tape.

"No!" Both teens cried out, making unsuccessful grabs for the box.

"What Sakura-chan meant was it's supposed to be a surprise!" Naruto laughed nervously, shifting from foot to foot. "If it's not safe, we'll take it back after Christmas and get something else."

Kakashi's grin turned slightly evil. He wouldn't spoil their fun by opening the present, but even so he could have a little fun with them. Minato-sensei had pulled this trick on him often enough, until Kakashi wised up found good enough hiding places that his sensei wouldn't find the present early. "If you two want to hide this so badly, how about I do it for you?"

"But," Sakura protested, half reaching again, "Kakashi-sensei, it…"

"I won't peak." He promised, spinning it on his finger, while the evil voice in his head laughed. "But you two are going to have to find it again before Christmas. Otherwise, Iruka-sensei will think you have forgotten him. Consider it a lesson in stealth."

He dashed out the door, too quick for them to follow, as they both let out yells of frustration and fury. This was really too much fun, Kakashi decided, even as he ran through the list of all the places his sensei had chosen in the past. Maybe deep in the tunnels under the mountain? Or Tsunade's office, that had great potential.