A/N: Don't fear, Lystee is here! XD Yeah, I'm a nerd. Okay, anywho... I am currently, at this very moment, watching Naruto on Cartoon Network. Sadly, the only Sasuke action we've seen is Tsunade healing him and Sakura jumping on him. sigh No, Naruto didn't jump on him, although I'm sure he wanted to. Oh, and I saw Akamaru pissing on trees. Yeah, exciting episode...
Anyway...enjoy the first Christmas-themed drabble.
One-Shot #49
Secret Santa
He just stared at the small strip of paper in his hand. Upon the white surface was neatly printed handwriting, almost too neat for any boy to write, which read: "Sasuke Uchiha."
Of all the people in the world he had to draw out of that ramen bowl, it just had to be him. The one person in Konoha he could never impress or do anything right in front of. Now what was he going to do?
"Who'd you get?" Kiba loudly whispered, leaning over to peer over an orange-clad shoulder.
"Huh?" Naruto asked, turning to face his friend.
"Who'd you get? Who do you have to buy for?" Kiba was still attempting to whisper, but his voice always did carry not matter how low he spoke. It was his downfall at trying to cheat on tests at the Academy; he never did have the knack for whispering so no one could hear.
"Oh," Naruto said, staring back at the strip of paper again. "I, uh…I got Sasuke."
Kiba just stared at him before forming an 'o' with his mouth. He shrugged and turned to the other side, sliding an arm around Hinata and asking her the same question.
Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who was sitting at the end of Ichiraku's row of stools, surrounded by his fan girls. The stoic teen was never very open about things he wanted in terms of material possessions. Instead, the only thing he voiced was his hatred for Itachi. And, well, his distaste for Naruto.
All at once, Naruto decided that this whole Secret Santa idea was stupid. Really, really stupid. The things that Sasuke probably did want were probably things that Naruto couldn't afford. What could a financially-challenged shinobi get an Uchiha? Taking another glance at Sasuke, he saw the teen staring at him, too. Naruto's tanned cheeks blushed at the gaze, but couldn't look away quite yet. It shocked him to discover that Sasuke was blushing, too.
When they finally looked away, due to Sakura sticking her face in Sasuke's and asking who he'd have to buy for, Naruto stood up and began to walk away. The sudden loss of the blonde ball of energy wasn't lost on the group, however, as Kiba turned around to face Naruto.
"Where are you going?"
"I've gotta get a jump on the whole shopping thing. See you later!" Naruto waved as he ran down the street, trying to rack his brain for something, anything, he could get Sasuke for Christmas.
Sasuke turned to watch him go, his running figure dodging in and out of his vision due to annoying fan girls.
Naruto walked in and out of shops that entire day, and he was getting frustrated. If he thought he saw something Sasuke might like, he couldn't afford it. If he saw something nice he could afford, it wouldn't be good enough for Sasuke. It was vicious cycle, and something he never wanted to do again. How could one teenage boy be so damn hard to buy for? Taking a deep breath, he walked into the last store on this block and prepared himself for another round of "not good enough, too expensive."
As he stared into the glass cases, trying to see anything that would catch his attention, as someone stopped beside him.
"Can I help you, kiddo?"
Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice, being so intently concentrating on his task at hand. The old lady who asked the question smiled as his arms flailed out in surprise.
"Old lady, you scared me!"
"I'm sorry, hun. I've been watching you stare into this case for ten minutes. Is there something you need help with?"
"Oh." Naruto looked back at the case, his head dropping in defeat. Those price tags had way too high of numbers for his taste. "No…I guess not."
"You know," the lady said, eyeing the boy carefully. "Sometimes the best presents aren't the most expensive. They're the ones that come from the heart."
"My heart won't pay for them, though." Naruto whispered, absentmindedly patting his Gama-chan wallet currently residing in his back pocket.
Taking pity on the poor boy (literally and figuratively) standing in front of her, she smirked and turned to her husband behind the register. "I think," she whispered. "That we have a special going on. For the next two hours everything is half off, but only for Leaf ninja wearing orange."
Naruto formed his lopsided smile. "Thanks, but you don't have to do that just for me."
"Hun, it's no problem at all." She patted him on the shoulder and left him to stare into the glass case.
Twenty minutes, and a million indecisions later, Naruto decided on the slim black iPod sitting in the case, which was already marked down – being last years model and all – and would still take everything he had in his Gama-chan to buy it.
He sat in his apartment that night just staring at his present for Sasuke, still not sure if it was the right thing to get him. Sasuke liked music. Who didn't, right? He took a deep breath and flipped open his laptop, which was technically on loan from Tsunade, and began flipping through his recently visited web pages. He found an advertisement on one site which began listing off things people normally got for their loved ones. Naruto got a sudden shiver at seeing that word and his associating it with Sasuke, but attempted to ignore it.
Get the one you love something special, something that is from the heart. Order a special music mix online now!
Naruto's brain clicked on an idea. Right now the iPod was empty, but it didn't have to be. He could fill it up with songs he thought Sasuke would like, or songs that he wanted Sasuke to hear. Smirking, he began downloading songs.
The group decided to trade their gifts on Christmas Eve, since the majority of the group had at least some real family to share the actual day with. They were all gathered around the Hyuuga's living room, sitting in various places and positions. TenTen initiated the exchange, handing Sakura the present she got for her. As the rest of them took their turns, they all began changing places and fumbling over wrapping paper and bows. Naruto got shakily to his feet and walked slowly over to Sasuke. The Uchiha was attempting to rid himself of Ino's incessant chatter about what Chouji got her, but stopped his fidgeting when he saw the blonde walking ever-so-slowly towards him.
"Ino, move." Sasuke's smooth voice drawled out, making the blonde girl stop mid-sentence. She looked up to see Naruto moving forward and took the hint. Quickly, she swooped over to Sakura and began showing off the present to her.
"Sa…Sasuke. I had your name." He was nervous to the point he thought he'd throw up, but instead he tried to hold it down and handed Sasuke his present with nervous, sweating hands.
"I, uh…I had yours too." Sasuke said, reaching behind him and pulling out a wrapped box.
When Sasuke opened his, his eyes widened as big as saucers. "How…how did you…?"
"Afford it?" Naruto asked, his cheeks flushing a deep red.
"No, how did you know I wanted one?" Sasuke asked, looking at him with a strange look in his eye.
"I, uh…just guessed."
"Open yours." Sasuke smirked, motioning toward Naruto's present which was only half opened.
The paper was peeled off to reveal an orange iPod. "Oh, Sasuke!" Naruto gasped. "How did you know?"
"I guessed." Sasuke said, still smirking. "It's, um, filled with songs, by the way."
"So is yours."
Naruto took a seat beside Sasuke as they both turned their iPod's on, listening to the tracks they had on their respective music players. Surprisingly enough, some of the songs were the same. They were sitting there for a while, candidly watching their friends 'ooh' and 'ahh' over their presents, when Sasuke suddenly paused his player and turned to face Naruto.
He pulled the earbud from Naruto's ear, causing the blonde to jump slightly. When he looked at Sasuke, the raven haired teen smirked.
"Dobe, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Nothing. Iruka-sensei's on a mission."
"You, uh…want to come over to my house? We'll watch movies or something. I'll cook you a real dinner. Without ramen."
Naruto smiled a real smile, the first in a long time. "Really, Sasuke? Can I really?"
"Yeah, if you want." Sasuke looked a little flushed at the excitement coming from the blonde.
"I would love to, Sasuke. Thank you!" The blonde threw himself on top of Sasuke, nearly knocking him to the floor and gaining the attention of everyone in the room.
"Get off me, dobe!" Sasuke hissed, trying to push the blonde off, but just barely. He would never admit he liked it, but he sort of did.
And having company on Christmas day wouldn't be so horrible either, even if it was an annoying blonde ball of energy.
I'm not sure if I like it, but I'll deal. Besides, Naruto just bumbed into mini-Naruto (a.k.a. Konohamaru) and I still think NaruKono is gross. I like how in the middle of Konohamaru's rant, all Naruto can think about is Tsunade healing Sasuke. Ah, that's love for you...
