Here it is… MY FIFTH AND FINAL CHAPTER OF MERRY CHRISTMAS NARUTO!!!! Enjoy!!!!
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Ch. 5 Merry Christmas Naruto!
Earlier in the Day…
It's the greatest time of year,
And it's here…
So let's go celebrate it!
It's---
"Stop singing, Kaida! It's too early for that!" Sakura yelled while putting up the decorations with Sasuke.
"Sorry. But I'm just so excited! Today's Christmas and Naruto's finally going to spend Christmas with his friends!"
"It's technically not Christmas yet. It's 11:56 pm. Why did we wake up so early?!"
"Sorry. I thought if we decorated early, we could have more time to rest up and get ready. Besides you wanted to spend some time celebrating Christmas with your family, Sakura."
"Whatever."
"But I do feel bad for waking you guys up so early."
"Don't worry about it, Kaida. We're almost done." Sasuke reassured. "When are the senseis going to come?"
"Don't worry. They said they would be here ear---" Right on cue, Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi were appeared in a puff of smoke already dressed up for the party. All of them wore scarves and coats over their outfits.
"That was fast!" Sakura said.
"I didn't know they'd come this early." Kaida informed.
"You guys need any help?" Asked Asuma with a cigarette in his mouth.
"Yeah. We still need to decorate the inside," Kaida informed. "Kakashi you still need to distract Naruto too so we can get ready."
"I know. I'll do it as soon as he wakes up."
"You kids shouldn't be on the roof." Kurenai said. "You could slip and fall, especially since it's still dark out. What are you doing outside so early, anyway?"
"We just wanted an early start on things," Sasuke said. "Don't worry, we're almost done."
"Then we'll finish the rest. You guys go home, rest, and come back later so you can be ready for the party."
"Hai, Sensei!" Then the three all went home (and no Kaida didn't go all the way back to the Hidden Hare Village!) and rested because it was so early and so they could be ready for Naruto's party.
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A few Hours Later…
Naruto's POV
YES! Today's Christmas! I'm usually upset on this particular holiday, but now I'm not. And that's because I won't be alone this year! This time, Kaida and Aiko are going to be spending time with me! I even woke up early (early as in a few minutes after I went to bed early) to get her a thank you gift for my appreciation.
--
FLASHBACK
As soon as I knew everyone was asleep, I went to get a little thank you gift for Kaida and for Aiko too because she always likes to be with me but Kaida drags her everywhere.
I knew some of the shops would close early because it's Christmas Eve, but there was always this little store that was always open for late shoppers during the holidays. It was called "Trinkets Galore"; a shop that always closes late on holidays and has small trinkets for little kids and for late shoppers to buy. It's kind of like a souvenir shop for visitors of Konoha. I went inside and was met by the elderly shop owner named Jijii Tegaru (Cheap Old Man) and he was a very kind man but made cheap offers when it came to shopping. "Hello, little boy."
"Hey Jijii-san. Can I buy anything that's small and not cheap?"
"Why certainly." Then he started dragging me around showing me things that looked like they were going to break from just a gust of wind. Then my eye was caught on something beautiful and it didn't look very close to breaking in any second. I picked it up and it didn't break in my hand. It was very dazzling and it reminded me of Kaida. I was very sure that she would want it so I bought it. I left as soon as I purchased it and before Jijii Tegaru was going to make me another offer.
I was glad to leave the store as soon as I could because that old man was too ugly to describe and he creeped me out. I couldn't wait to give Kaida my gift. As soon as I was back to Sakura's house I rushed in as fast as I could and hid the present under the bed I was sleeping on and went to sleep before anyone woke up and suspected anything.
FLASHBACK END
--
I was too excited to sleep so I woke up. Hopefully I didn't wake up anybody so I went downstairs. It was 8:00 am so I was guessing that everybody was sleeping in but my theory was wrong when I saw Sakura's mom in the kitchen drinking coffee. "Oh, good morning Naruto." Sakura's mom said. "Merry Christmas." For once I didn't mind anybody saying that to me, but I was still hesitant of saying it myself.
"Morning ma'am. Are Sakura and Kaida awake yet?"
"I don't think so. Do you want to eat something while you're waiting for them?"
"Sure. Thanks Mrs. H!" I would say no and go back to my house, but I was afraid she would make me stay because of how early it is. Besides… who could resist a free meal? Mrs. Haruno gave me some pancakes with whip cream and a cherry on top. It looked like Santakuro-su with his cherry red nose.
A few bites later, Sakura and Kaida came into the kitchen with sleepy looks on their faces. "Hey guys!" I exclaimed hoping it would raise some spirits. "You guys look tired. You sure you got enough sleep?"
"Yeah," Kaida reassured. "We just smelled something delicious and wanted to know what it was."
"Pancakes, anyone?" Sakura's mom said. She handed them their own plates with the some pancakes on it and they immediately began eating. Later, Sakura's dad came down and got some pancakes himself, but he received a kiss from Mrs. Haruno before eating. It seemed like hours when I was half way done but Sakura and Kaida were already finished. They seemed like they were in a rush to do something. I suspected that Sakura was helping Kaida finish planning with our Christmas play date, but I was wrong once again when they were heading for the living room and went by the tree. "Don't open any gifts until everyone's done girls!"
"Yes Mrs. Haruno."
"Okay Mommy."
I felt disappointed. They just couldn't wait until they could open their presents! Either that or Kaida forgot. I was hoping it was the second option. She would remember later in the day. But then I remembered what Shikamaru said: Christmas is a busy holiday, Naruto. Everybody's going to be busy. Apparently when he meant everybody he meant everybody and I just had to wait.
I left as soon as I was done with my breakfast and went upstairs to get my present for Kaida. I went back downstairs, but as soon as I opened the door, someone grabbed my wrist. "Naruto, wait." I turned around and saw Kaida with guilt on her face. "I didn't forget if that's why you're leaving." I was going to ask her what she meant but then I realized she meant our play date. Yes! She didn't forget!
"No that's not it," I assured her. She looked really sad about me leaving. "I just need to go back home. You know, to make sure that no one stole anything."
"Oh, okay." Then she gave me a hug. "I promise I'll see you later. You're going to be really surprised." And I seriously hoped that she would be right.
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Kaida's POV
Naruto and everyone else were finished with their breakfast so that meant one thing… PRESENT TIME!!!!!! Sakura and I were seriously eager and impatient for this day to come and Aiko seemed to always be by the Christmas tree. But some of our excitement was held back due to the fact that we planned for Naruto to have a special Christmas.
Sakura's parents came into the room, but we still had to wait. Since I was spending Christmas at the Haruno's, I had to follow their traditions of Christmas. Every year they would play this game that they called The Present Race. The first one to grab one of their presents had to blow the whistle that starts the race and they got to open it before anyone else and the other contestants had to watch the winner open their first present. Once their present was completely open with no wrappers suck on the gift, the other people get to open their gifts. They made it challenging when they flipped over the tags on the bottom so the contestant didn't have a better advantage than everyone else. I wondered how we would find our presents without knocking the tree down or breaking anything around it. It sounded fun so everyone, including Aiko and Sakura's parents, got ready to grab a present from under the tree.
We started finding our gifts when Mr. Haruno blew a whistle. Everybody flipped over presents, desperately trying to find their own. But everyone stopped when the whistle blew again and everybody looked to where the noise came from. Aiko was on the couch with her gift next to her with the whistle in her mouth. Everybody clapped for the winner and waited for her to open her gift.
Aiko had trouble opening her gift and her teeth didn't really help her, so I had to help her. When I opened the package I found the gift I bought for her: a beautiful emerald collar with a rose design around it. I knew how much she liked flowers, especially roses, so when we went shopping for a gift for Naruto, I spotted the collar and decided to get for Aiko. As soon as she saw it, she wanted to wear, so I put it around her neck. "I knew you would like." Then I hugged her.
Everybody else got very interesting gifts as well: Sakura got a cute pink cat plushy, Mrs. Haruno got a makeup kit, Mr. Haruno got a new cell phone, and I got rabbit plushy that looked like Aiko (I don't want to name all of the things they got). When we were done, Sakura and I left to get ready for Naruto's party. Sakura already told her parents about our plan so we got ready and left.
Our outfits were very close to the holiday style: Sakura wore a red shirt with a candy cane on it and a pink skirt that had fluff (I don't know what it's called) around its hem with a belt. I wore a shirt that was close to Santakuro-su's coat; it had the fluff at the end of the sleeves, the collar, and the hem of the shirt. I also had a black belt with a golden buckle and black pants. We both wore black boots that went under our knees and a Santakuro-su hat. We left as soon as we were ready.
"Your family is fun, Sakura."
"I thought they were kind of embarrassing."
"No. It was great! I had fun." And I hoped that Naruto's party would be the same.
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Naruto's POV
A Few Minutes Earlier…
It was very lucky that it snowed last night. It looked like a Winter Wonderland outside. No slush, no gray spots, and luckily no yellow spots either. It looked so perfect. Maybe Christmas wasn't going to be as bad as I thought it was. I was really looking forward to my play date with Kaida and giving her my gift.
I was on my way to my house when all of a sudden, I was stopped by Kakashi. He was dressed as if he was about to go to a party. He was dressed in a formal tux without the jacket part of the tux. Over that was a coat and scarf (usually the scarf is the only thing he wears when it's cold), but he still had his forehead protector and mask covering his face. "Yo, Naruto."
"Ohayo, Kakashi. Why are you all dressed up?"
He looked hesitant when trying to answer me. He looked around as if the environment around us was going to give him an answer. "It's Christmas. Why can't I dress up this way?"
"Whatever."
"So where you heading, Naruto?"
"To my house. I just want to make sure no body snuck in."
"Uh, that's not necessary Naruto. Knowing that you would eventually go back, I checked for you."
"Oh, well, thanks Kakashi!"
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Well I still need to go home. See ya Kakashi." Then he stepped in front of me.
"Want some ramen?" Want to move out of my way so I can go home? Every time I mentioned my house, Kakashi always tried to get me to go else where. But hey, who could pass off such an offer, even though I already had a dozen pancakes? But if you do the math: Kakashi's offer + Ramen = FREE FOOD!!!!!!
"Sure Kakashi!"
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Normal POV
The girls were on their way to Naruto's house so they could help finish setting things up for the party and hopefully Kakashi was stalling Naruto so they could finish with the preparations. When they got there, Naruto's house was already covered in Christmas decorations and it looked very colorful. "Wow! The senseis did a good job!" Sakura exclaimed.
"I wonder what the inside looks like." Kaida said. They opened the door and saw a beautiful pattern of Christmas decorations. It looked so beautiful and everything looked perfect. Kaida looked around the house to see if everything was in place. The last thing she saw was the Christmas tree that Sasuke promised already decorated and with a star on top. There were a few gifts under it from the guest that were already here to help.
"Hey," Sakura and Kaida turned around to see Sasuke all dressed up in a casual blue shirt that said "How Can I Make Your Christmas Wish Come True?" and jeans. "You guys came."
"Why wouldn't we?" Kaida asked.
"Well, everything's almost ready." Kurenai came in the room with a tray of eggunoggu (eggnog). "We just need Choji to bring the food, some music, and the other guests." She placed the tray on the table near the tree and gave the three each a glass of eggunoggu.
"Kaida was suppose to get the music." Sakura informed.
"Don't worry. I got it." Kaida put her glass down and grabbed the CD from the pack she had and put it in the stereo. The first song it played was "Jingle Bells". "The other guest should be here soon."
Right on cue, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino came carrying loads of food. "Hey sorry if we're late." Choji said.
"Yeah. We had to stop by Choji's house to get this food." Shikamaru complained.
"Not to mention that there's more outside." Ino said.
Everybody else ran outside to see what she meant and they saw a pile of contained dishes. "Choji, we didn't need this much." Kaida walked up to the pile and grabbed a few containers. "I hope you guys didn't forget your gifts while getting all of this food."
"Don't worry, I have them." Ino said waving the presents in the air.
"And they're the only things that she carried." Shikamaru complained, again. Ino just gave him a "humph" and grabbed a cup of eggunoggu. She saw Sasuke and put on her flirty face.
"You can make my Christmas wish come true any day Sasuke-kun." She said referring to his shirt.
Why did I wear this shirt? Remembering his reason, Sasuke walked away from Ino and towards Kaida to help carry in the food leaving a very pissed Ino.
A few hours later, more people came either bringing more decorations or just themselves and a present for Naruto. Kaida made sure everyone brought a gift and the gifts were put under the Christmas tree waiting for Naruto to open them. "I'm guessing everyone's here." Kaida looked around and saw everyone that she expected to come: Shikamaru, Choji, Ino (not really), TenTen, Neji, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Hinata, and of course Sasuke and Sakura. "Kakashi should be bringing Naruto soon."
"They're coming!" Sakura warned. Kaida came to the window next to her and saw two spiky-haired figures walking towards the house.
"Everybody, get ready!" Then she turned the lights off waiting for the Guest of Honor…
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Naruto's POV
A Few Hours Earlier…
After six helpings of ramen, I decided I needed to go home. I didn't want to be late for me and Kaida's play date. Kakashi was already in front of me when I was out of the restaurant. "Hey Naruto where are you going?"
"Home. Thanks for the food, but I need to get going."
"Uhhh… no you don't."
"Why not?" Oh what now?!
"Kaida told me about your play date and she's not done with the prep---I mean planning." He was scratching the back of his head and had a nervous face. I suspected she should've been done weeks ago, but then I had another idea of what was going on.
"Kakashi," He looked down at me. "I know why you want to hang out with me…" Then he hesitated and it looked like he was going to pee. "You're alone on Christmas, with Kaida being with the Haruno's and all and you wanted someone to hangout with, right?" Then a look of relief formed on his face.
"Um… yeah that's it." That must've been the answer because he doesn't really do anything on Christmas and he always looked kind of down.
"Well I promised Kaida I would be there on our play date, but since you insist…"
"Okay then. Let's do something fun!"
"But I can't be late for me and Kaida's play date."
"Don't worry. I'm keeping track of time."
--
A Few Hours Later (I don't really want to explain what happened also I can't think of anything)…
I had so much fun with Kakashi that I lost track of time! It was great hanging out with him, but I promised Kaida I would be there for our play date; she was probably done with her "planning" by now. "Kakashi?"
"Huh?" He replied.
"Today was fun and all but I really need to go."
"I understand. I had fun too. I'll walk you home."
"Thanks!" I never actually thought that he would let me go home.
On our way home, it was extremely and awkwardly silent. I wanted to talk to Kakashi about… something, but it would be like we were on a… date! I mean, I had fun and Kakashi's great guy, but that would just be considered "hanging out as friends". What am I, gay? Besides, I'm too young to go on a date. If I was older, I would rather go on a date with a girl, like Sakura or Kaida? No! Me and Kaida-chan are just friends. Me and Sakura-chan are more intimate than me and Kaida even though Sakura beats me up and does other bad things to me when I mention her forehead, but it's still a relationship. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to catch her under the mistletoe…! If I had the chance! There was mistletoe hanging above her front door. Was I the only one that noticed it?
We were so close to my house that I could see the lights on… wait, lights? What were my lights doing on? Kakashi seemed to notice this too. I quickened my pace when I saw them turn off. It's like my house knew it was coming, or at least the people inside it. I was close to running until Kakashi held my shoulder. "Hey Naruto, chill." I'm chilled enough to be mistaken for a snowman Kakashi!
"But there are people in my house!"
"Don't worry Naruto. I'm sure it's just Kaida and the others." What others? Who are you talking about Kakashi? We were in front of the door and tension rose inside of me. I was kind of afraid to open the door, so Kakashi opened it for me knowing that I was too hesitant to do it myself.
As we walked in, it was really dark. Darker than usual. The sudden darkness turned light, inside and outside my body, when suddenly the lights came back on and I saw all of my friends. "SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!" I couldn't believe what I saw. Everybody I knew, except Lee and Gai, was inside my house wearing happy faces and it looked like a party. Even Neji was there and he held a light smile.
"What's going on?" What a stupid question Naruto!
"It's a Christmas party for you!" Sakura said.
"What?" Stop asking questions you BAKA!
"We knew that you always had a troublesome Christmas…" Shikamaru stated.
"So we decided to throw you a party so you wouldn't be lonely anymore." TenTen continued.
I was at lost of words. Everybody was worried about me and they threw this party so I wouldn't be sad. They must really care after all. "Thanks you guys!"
"Don't thank us." Sasuke said. "Thank Kaida. It was her idea."
I looked at Kaida and she gave a charitable smile. It did make sense. She did seem like she was the only one that was concerned about me. And she did promise that we would have a "play date". Maybe this is what she meant. "Thanks Kaida."
"Don't mention it, Naruto. What are friends for?"
"But this is the best thing that anyone has done for me!" I lunged at her so hard to give her a hug that I almost fell on her. "I owe you one."
Then she hugged me back. "Like I said, don't mention it."
"Hey you guys. We're not invisible ya know!" It was always Ino's job to ruin a moment. We stopped hugging trying not to start a scene. "Don't just stand there, everybody! Let's party!" Ino turned my stereo on and played remixes of some Christmas songs.
Every place I looked at was covered in something related to Christmas. There was even mistletoe over my front door. I was devising a plan to get Sakura under there with me. My plan backfired when Hinata caught me under a mistletoe over the kitchen door (that I didn't even notice!). She gave a small peck which was soft and pleasurable. Everybody looked like they were having fun, besides Neji and Shino who were hanging around the food table engaging in a conversation. TenTen and Kiba were dancing and Shikamaru was trying to stop Choji from eating everything that was on the table.
Ino and Sakura were flirting with Sasuke and it was unlucky for him that Ino was wearing a hair band made of mistletoe. He looked like he was trying to get to Kaida. Did he have a crush on her or something? Kaida didn't seem to notice. Kaida didn't seem to notice anything. She was sitting on the sofa, staring at the presents in a daze.
I walked up to her to see what was wrong. "Kaida, are you alright?" Then she looked up at me like it was the first time she ever saw me.
"… Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just tired from preparing everything."
"Oh, well, maybe a dance will wake you up?" Her face turned bright red and then she got up.
"Thanks." I got up and went with her and we danced like there was no tomorrow. The next song turned slow and then we decided to waltz.
"I don't know how---"
"Just follow my steps." I did as she told me and we danced to the rhythm of the music. I watched my feet to make sure that I didn't step on Kaida's. "Relax. Just follow the rhythm." She probably was experienced because all of the places she's been to when Royal villages invited her family. After all, she's a princess.
--
During the rest of the party I opened some of my gifts deciding that I'd open the rest of tomorrow. The guest started leaving one by one except Sasuke who left with Sakura and Ino on his shoulders. I started cleaning up assuming that everyone was gone. "Need any help?" I turned around to see none other than my white-haired female friend and my brown furry friend. I kind of didn't notice Aiko was at the party.
"What are you two still doing here?"
"We wanted to stay over. I am going to be leaving in a couple of days, so I wanted to spend time with you. Sakura and Kakashi already know I'm staying here. Kakashi put our stuff in the guest room."
"Don't worry I'm almost done… And thanks."
"Okay and your welcome." She walked back to the sofa and plopped herself on it. She put Aiko next to her and she started staring under the tree again as if she could still see presents there. I put them in my room.
"Why are you still staring at the tree?" I finally asked her.
"Oh a no reason." She said really quickly. "Well… actually…" I looked back and saw her face turn red again. "I have something to give you."
That's when I remembered I had to give her her gift. "Me too! I'll be right back!" I ran quickly to my room to retrieve the box that contained Kaida's gift and ran quickly back downstairs. When I returned, I saw a small box in Kaida's hands. It looked about the same size as my gift to her.
I walked up to the sofa and sat down next to her. "Here." She made the first move and handed me the decorated box.
I gave her her gift but then there was silence. "Aren't you going to open your gift?"
"Aren't you going to open yours?" We waited a few more seconds until we couldn't take it. "Fine! We'll open them at the same time."
"Deal!" I counted to three then we carefully opened our gifts. When I opened mine, I saw something that made me want to cry, but not in front of Kaida 'cause that would be embarrassing. It was a glass figurine of a fox. It was orange and see-through and it had the same amount of whiskers I had. It was so beautiful. I wanted to hug Kaida and give her lots of kisses but that would be creepy so I held in my excitement until I saw Kaida's reaction when she opened my gift to her.
But her reaction was no different. Her eyes looked like they were going to water with tears. The gift I gave her was a glass figurine of a rabbit and it had slashes on its face one on each side. It was a light shade of brown and it was also see-through. I knew she would like it because she loved animals, especially rabbits. The figure looked similar to Aiko because she had the same slashes on her face. I figured Aiko would like it too. Tears were flowing down Kaida's face and she did what I was too cowardly to do: she flung her arms around my neck and started kissing me rapidly. "This is the most wonderful gift that anyone has given me! I love, love it, LOVE IT!!!!!"
I pushed her off a little so I could breath then I hugged her back. "And this is the most wonderful gift that anyone has given me too. Thanks a million Kaida. For the party, the gift, and for giving me the best Christmas I've ever had. Merry Christmas Kaida." That was the first time I've ever said those words and smiled.
"Merry Christmas Naruto."
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Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you liked my fifth and final chapter of "Merry Christmas Naruto"! I also hope you liked this entire story!
Those lyrics in the beginning from "Greatest Time of the Year" by Aly & AJ
Happy Holidays!