Chapter V
Partner Christmas
They were brought closer by something that tore them apart
It was the day before Christmas, and the students sat in their seats, itching for their tardy teacher to call it a day. But, of course, Kakashi-sensei had to be to swallowed up by the pornographic book their sub-master had written years ago. He had even taken off his usual eye patch over his scarred left eye to read the vertical lines, and snicker beneath his mask. When he put his feet on top of the desk he was sitting by a long sigh soared through the air.
No one dared say anything, because Kakashi-sensei might be lazy, but it was nothing that stopped him from being a bastard from time to time. He scratched his head as if wondering something, but soon his eyes narrowed in a happy-face. He absentmindedly tapped his fingers against the history book on his desk. Few knew why he was carrying it around, but Sakura, as well as her two best friends, who had been under the tender care of their sensei for years, knew. It was not so that he could quickly find some ethic dilemma, but it was to hide his precious porn from the gaze of the dean. He had glued all the pages together and cut a hole in them, a hole big enough to hide his extravagant orange book full of warning symbols on the cover. He knew he couldn't punish the three which he had under his care too hard, because he couldn't risk they told the head mistress about his secret.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! We've gone overtime!" Naruto burst out when he couldn't bare it anymore. One minute extra in these godforsaken chairs was too much for him to handle!
With a raise of his eyebrows the grey-haired man in his late twenties blinked and looked at the clock hanging on the wall (he was too lazy to put one on his arm). He nodded, put his bookmark on the page he was and settled his feet on the floor where they belonged. "Alright everyone, on Tuesday I want a full report on the Nazi ethics and idealism on four pages or more," the words 'or more' always meant 'if you don't give more than what I said you will fail', "happy Christmas."
The students returned his greeting with a hurl of screams and panicked scrambling with pens and books. Even Sakura, who was always the one last to leave hurried more than usual. She took the thick booklet she had written at home and walked up to the teacher's desk. He seemed surprised to see the white paper with the words 'Nazi ethics and idealism' written in big, fat letters.
"Merry Christmas, Kakashi-sensei!" she smiled and was about to run out the door when he called her.
"Sakura, are you already done?" he asked. Usually, his pink haired protégé only turned her assignments in the day they were due to, to make sure she didn't let faults, unnecessary or false facts ruin her essay.
"Yeah, I want to be free for the weekend, for once," she smiled broadly, a pink blush tinting her cheeks.
"Something good's happening?" he asked, quite puzzled with her cheery mode.
"Something very good," she confessed in a low voice, giggling excitedly.
Kakashi-sensei frowned in confusion at first, but then quickly came to a conclusion, "is your boyfriend going to celebrate the holidays with you?"
"He is," her grin widened, "and my family will come too!"
"I see. You will have to give Sasori and Amarante my greetings, I have not seen them for quite a while. And Shisui too, if he is still together with her," he smiled as his student nodded excitedly, "and tell your boyfriend I will personally break his spine if he tries anything."
She laughed, remembering that her sensei was an old karate champion. "Don't worry, sensei, he has been able to resist so far. And he's…well… the noble type," she happily chirped and strutted towards the door.
"What's his name?" for some reason, Kakashi felt he was going to have a love-hate relationship to whoever the lucky man was.
"Itachi," she said and walked out the door, giggling when she heard a thud, probably coming from the orange book hitting the floor.
"Sakura-chan, what's taking you so long? It's a long weekend, you should be running against the exit!" Naruto yelled when he saw his best friend. He fixed the bag on his shoulder, before raising his arm that was holding her jacket and bag.
"Naruto! Did you pick my lock?" she hissed, but was still amazed at how fast he must have done it. With a huff she grabbed her new jacket (she had forced her mother to buy her a thicker one) and put it on. Then she took the unusually light bag and put it over her shoulder, and smiled at the thought of finishing all the papers the teacher staff had decided to throw at them to finish over the break. She only had one, in history, which she was going to do to Wednesday, hopefully with the help of her partner.
"It was an accident," the blonde whistled innocently, but the mischievous look in his eyes told her otherwise.
"Come on," Sasuke grumbled in his ordinary grumpy manner. It was the only way he was ever going to express his eager to leave the scholar grounds. His spiky hair was ruffled when his boyfriend twirled his hand around in it.
"Don't be so dark and emo now, teme! We're having a sleep-over at Sakura-chan's!" Naruto whoop-ed, throwing his arm around the Uchiha's shoulders and grabbing his female friend by the hand to lead them on the way towards the crowded exits.
"We can walk on our own, dobe," even if he thought it risky for them to be so physically close in his public area he couldn't hold up the angry and solemn tone very well. No matter how hard he tried, he was never going to hold up to his brother's standards in the art of being emotionless.
"I know, but I decided that you needed some help!" the Uzumaki refused too let his good mood to be destroyed by his soul mate's faked annoyance, "I hope you've bought a lot of presents for me!"
"As modest as always," Sakura giggled and hit him on his arm.
"Your aunt and uncle will come, won't they?" he asked sheepishly.
"Yeah, and my cousin's too," she smiled at the thought, "together with their respective others. All of us will have a partner with us this year."
The two more easygoing of the three friends laughed, while the restoring one frowned. "I can't believe your parents convinced mine to come. Kaa-san always ponder on how important it is to spend time with our own family," he said.
"Mikoto-oba-chan and kaa-chan have always wanted to celebrate this holiday together, and now they got the perfect excuse," she smiled wickedly, "me and Itachi."
Naruto's face scrunched up in a displeased grimace. "Damn him," he grumbled.
"Naruto…"
"What?, I didn't say anything!" he stared at the gray sky, and yelped when he saw the white flakes falling down, "snow!"
"Again?" Sakura skewed with her eyes as she observed a flake as it sailed down on her nose. Her muscles twitched at the cold. "Let's run," she said and sprinted down the street, dragging the two boys behind her.
"S-Sakura-chan?" the blonde was surprised at her sudden dashing.
"She hates the cold, stupid," Sasuke said as he came to even grounds with the other two.
"Just shut up," Sakura sneered before an argument would break out.
They continued running through the many streets, only getting breathers whenever they crossed a street or a crowded area. They also stopped once when they ran past Naruto's favorite restaurant Ichiraku, and he whined about going in to get the special Christmas offer, five bowls of ramen for the price of three, or a luxurious and extra large serving of any dish on the menu. You can only imagine his displeasure when they continued to run, shaking their heads. With much effort, he succeeded in ignoring his urge for that delicious soup and noodles, and followed the two who were almost leaving him behind.
They could thank their stupid and upbeat gymnastic teacher for forcing them to run for their lives every class they had with him, it made it very easy to run when you want to. And, it reduced the usual forty minute walk down to a quarter. But it punished itself by leaving them all warm, panting and sweaty when they stood on the sidewalk outside the Haruno residence. Sakura, who had less stamina than the two boys had to grip the mailbox for support when they stopped. She gathered her restoring powers and walked up to her front door and opened it, knowing her mother to be home.
"I'm home, kaa-chan!" she yelled, and kicked off her shoes.
"Sorry for intruding," Sasuke said as he entered.
"Mikaru-ba-chan!" Naruto screamed in his usual manner.
Mikaru appeared from the living room, lighting up when she saw the youths. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun! Welcome, come in, come in!" she eagerly waved her hand for them to come into the kitchen. As they stepped on the floor tiles she gave them a kiss on the cheek each, commenting on his she was the one who used to have to bend down to kiss them and something about the years going to fast and other grown-up what-not's.
"Ah, Naruto, Sasuke!" A deep and manly voice said, and the trio noticed the blonde man coming raising from the table to greet them with a hug. "You two have grown a lot since I last saw you!" He ruffled their heads.
"Too-chan!" Sakura called in surprise and threw herself around her father's neck, crying out in ecstasy. With his work as a producer for a large music company he traveled a lot, his most recent trip had been to America for three months, working with a large festival and the promotion of a new artist. "You said you weren't going to make it home 'til Christmas!"
"I have to have some surprises for you, don't I?" he smiled and kissed her. It was custom in their family, kissing each other on the mouth was as normal to them as drinking and eating.
"Then I have one for you too, Agito-ji-chan!" Naruto smiled, "me and Sasuke are together!" He proudly put an arm around his lover, grinning.
"I figured that would happen soon…" Agito blinked a few times before smiling, "congratulations!"
"Dobe, don't be so obstinate," Sasuke said and quietly settled his arm on the blondes waist. He leaned down and placed a wet kiss on his cheek, making the skin turn red beneath the whisker scars.
"Well, that's not the only surprise, honey! Sakura has a boyfriend!" Mikaru exclaimed happily from the other side of the table. What she hadn't noticed was that Agito had just taken the glass he had been drinking from just a few moments ago, and at the revelation it slipped from his grasp and down on the floor, breaking into a thousand pieces.
"What?"
The distinguishing smell of peppermint and gingerbread filled the house in the morning when the teenagers bothered to open their eyes enough to discover that they were indeed not inside their respective dreams, but in the room of Sakura. They would tiredly rub their eyes as the blonde on the floor tried to comprehend how he had ended up there. As far as he had recalled he fell asleep on the bed, squeezing the pinkette between himself and his boyfriend. It was the position they had always been sleeping in, ever since they were little squirts with far shorter legs and much lesser developed physique. But they were never bothered by each other's proximity, being used to it.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto grumbled as he turned over on his stomach, finding that he had no reason to sit up with the cover of the bed tightly twirled around his torso and legs.
The pink hairball appeared from beneath the thick duvet still laying on the bed. She couldn't handle the light flowing through the windows, and her eyes were squinting heavily, the green emeralds covered by feminine lashes glued together by sleep. "What are you doing on the floor?" her voice was hoarse, and low with the thick night-saliva.
Behind her messy spikes appeared behind her and dark eyes watched in tired and clouded amusement as the blonde tried to get up on the bed again. "Morning…" he yawned, his naked muscles ripping against the back of his childhood friend when he settled on his elbow and made a faint attempt at rubbing the weariness from his head.
"Shutem…" Naruto was, astonishingly enough, not a morning person, surely a habit he had rubbed off on his friends. He ungraciously slipped out of his cocoon, and sneaked in beside Sakura, twisting his legs and arms around her to regain the warmth he lost the few seconds it took to crawl from the floor and up on the bed.
Happily they all laid there, all curled up with one another, for a whole ten minutes before interruption came from the door in the form of a mother. They all agreed in that moment that mothers were so very annoying an itch in the back of the throat seemed like nothing. "Rise and shine, honeys," she smiled and lit the lights in the ceiling.
They groaned in unison and glared angrily at the intrusion. "Kaa-chan…" Sakura mumbled angrily, she was not thrilled at all about leaving the immense heat between her childhood friends.
"Come on, go and eat breakfast, the guests will be here in a few hours," Mikaru said and left to return to the kitchen.
With long and exhausting movements the three teenagers tried to untangle themselves from the other's, only to fail miserably by falling down on the floor. Naruto had the unfortunate to be at the bottom, and he gasped out a large gush of air when the girl and man following him landed on top of him. They laid on a pile of limbs, hair and naked skin, until Naruto was about to choke.
"You're too heavy, teme," the tired blonde stated when he sat up, rubbing the sore spot on his head where he had first made contact with the floor.
"You don't usually complain about that," Sasuke drawled, dragging himself to give his boyfriend a kiss. He smirked lazily, and hugged the tanned body close to himself, nuzzling whatever skin he could reach.
"You're such a horny dog in the morning," Sakura smiled as she got up, and stretched her short body, moaning as she did so.
"It's a family trait," Sasuke grumbled, blushing ever so slightly.
"Sakura-chan, beware," Naruto narrowed his eyes, before smiling. The grin widened when he suddenly attacked her, letting out a roar as he grabbed her and started tickling her belly. She let out a shriek, trying to fend him off while protecting herself from his evil fingers.
"N-Naruto!" she managed to yelp through the giggles and laughs, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Stop that!"
"Dobe, knock it off. If she's unconscious when nii-san comes you never know what will happen," Sasuke said and grabbed the collar of the open PJ's, dragging the blonde down to the kitchen, where they all sat down by the table, waiting to be served some breakfast.
"Nice to see you're alive," Agito smiled, closing the newspaper in front of him.
"It's only ten…" Sakura grumbled before having a plate with toasted bred placed in front of her. A smile spread on her face, as she closely observed her mother take out the spread. Immediately, almost before the bottle had touched the table, she snatched the marmalade, scraping it out over the surface of her toast.
"There's more Sakura-chan, no need to panic," her father told her.
"Are you kidding me? These two are wolves and-hey!" she slapped Naruto's hand as he tried to steal the marmalade from her, "I have to get to the shower first."
The frown appearing on the men's foreheads were frightening alike. Sakura was their little girl, and the idea of her making herself pretty for someone else didn't sit well with either of them. "Cover up, ok?"
"Oh stop it, Naruto. It doesn't matter if I do or don't," she rolled her eyes, "he's going to spend the night here anyway."
Naruto dropped the toast in his hand, and Sasuke choked on the milk he was drinking. Agito frowned deeper.
"Say what?" the Uchiha said after regaining his breath.
"You heard me, Itachi is going to sleep here tonight," she ignored their outraged glares, "kaa-chan said he could."
"Mikaru!" Agito said, looking at his wife as if she had committed an awful crime (which she had, if you go by the daddy-law book).
"It will be fine! Darling, we've known Itachi his entire life, I trust my godson with my daughter," Mikaru said, "and besides, she is old enough to have sex."
A cup went into the floor, coffee spilling over it. The next second the havoc broke out.
"What do you mean, old enough for sex?"
"She is not having sex with my brother!"
"He will not come inside this house!"
"He's your godson?"
Mikaru sighed, and turned around, facing the males that had cornered her by the worktop. "I mean that she is allowed to have sex with Itachi if she wants too, it is her choice. And yes he will, I personally invited him here, and Mikoto would be devastated if he didn't come," she made a quick sign to her daughter too escape the scene while she had the chance. Thankful for the salvation, she slipped out the kitchen, with the toast in hand, and headed up to the bathroom.
She threw the large shirt she wore into the laundry basket, along with her underwear, before she turned the water on in the shower. As the water became burning hot she thought about how convenient it was to live in a western styled house. She remembered when she had lived in a smaller house outside of Tokyo that was a traditional one, and thought that it certainly wouldn't have worked out with her current lifestyle.
She shivered when she stepped into the water, letting it damp her hair and skin before she put in the rose scented shampoo. She closed her eyes as she washed it out, turning her face upwards to meet the stream, the pitter patter reminding her of hands on her cheeks, caressing them.
She felt her insides heat up as she thought of her lover, smiling as the remembered the last time they had seen each other a few days prior. He had taken her out after school to a small café where they talked about something's and someone's.
He had, for some reason become very protective of the time they spent together. Whenever the phone rung he never answered it, and he snatched hers away when it vibrated. And he seemed to be quite careful to not show that worn stare he had all those nights ago. It was as if he steeled himself against her, but still didn't. A strange mixture of devotion and resent.
Then, she saw image of his smiling face, his eyes glowing with something akin to happiness when she had walked into his house the other day. He had gladly abandoned his paperwork by the desk in his office to make her dinner, even though he clearly didn't have the time nor energy to do it. He pushed himself to his limits for her, and here she was judging him.
But no matter the loss of energy he had he never seemed to be too tired to try and get into her pants. He would always start the same way. His hands would stroke her hair and shoulders, moving on to her arms as he leaned down to kiss her. Then, when she had wrapped her hands around his neck he would let his palms rest by her waist, before he sneaked them around her back to hold her close.
Then he would deepen the kiss by putting his tongue in her mouth, affectionately rubbing it against hers. He would groan in appreciation when she massaged his scalp, and return the favor by gliding his hands down to her hips, gently pushing them against his…
That was when she realized that her memories had turned into fantasies, and that she was acting out what she though about. With a blush she slapped her own face, trying to calm her heating body. Then she shook her head, turning the water off and stepping out onto the tiled floor. She grabbed the large towel hanging on the wall and dried herself. She looked at herself in the mirror after ruffling her hair, and thought she looked like a monster. Really, how could anyone be happy to see this?
With a sigh she went out of the bathroom with the towel around her body and into her room. Naruto and Sasuke was still making a fuzz down in the kitchen, to judge by the noise. She giggled at their childishness, and started to dig in her closet.
The loud rumble from the stairs had Mikaru wondering whether the three teenagers were human or a herd of elks. She walked out of the kitchen and saw them laying in a pile after falling down on the floor. She giggled at their energy before walking to the door and opening it for the guests waiting behind it.
"Ah, Sasori-chan! And you must be My-chan, right?" she motioned for them to come in and quickly kissed them.
My seemed utterly surprised, and blinked before looking to her lover unsurely. "Um, hello, Mikaru-san. I look forward to celebrating Christmas with you," she said with a bow, before she reached a bottle and a basked of brown and sun yellow Christmas snacks to the hostess. "Thank you for having me!"
"Oh my, what a nice girl you got yourself, Sasori-chan!" the Haruno accepted the gifts and walked into the kitchen to put them on the counter.
"Sasori-nii-chan!" Sakura fought to regain her standing balance as she collected herself off the floor. She tipped over to him and put their lips together, before turning to his girlfriend, "nice to meet you again, My-san."
"Ah, it's my pleasure!" the brown haired female bowed again before being met by another kiss.
"Wow, she's pretty!" Naruto said after he got up, and bowed to the newly arrived.
"Nice to see you too, Naruto-kun," Sasori growled, daring him to say anything else.
"Welcome," Sasuke gave a nod, and was surprised when his boyfriend gave him a smack in the back.
"Hey, a li'l bit more curtsey, teme!" the blonde said.
"Shut up, you ass!"
"Boys," Agito scolded when he entered the hall from the living room. "Sasori, My-san, welcome!" he said and hugged them, but not without a kiss (although he kissed Sasori's cheek instead of lips).
"Good to see you, Agito-ji," Sasori smiled, and took the hand of his girlfriend.
"Please, go inside the kitchen and have some amazake!" the blonde smiled and scooted the pair inside the kitchenette.
"I thought you only drink amazake at New Year?" My asked.
"Not necessarily, My," Sasori smiled.
Naruto rushed after them, because true to himself, he loved amazake. Especially that which his mother and ba-chan's did. Sasuke sighed at the energy wasted by his boyfriend as he walked after him. Sakura was about to follow when the doorbell rung again. With a delighted squeal she ran to the door and opened it, revealing her aunts and their respective husband, together with the parents of her best friend.
"Akane-ba, Sazuki-ba, Haku-ji and Nibaru-ji is here, and Minato-ji and Kushina-ba too!" she yelled into the kitchen before stepping aside to let the guests in. She greeted them all with a kiss each as the rest of the family came to welcome them, along with a tray of amazake for them.
"Welcome, Aka-nee, Zuki-nee," Mikaru smiled at her sisters before turning to the Namikaze and Uzumaki, "it's so nice to see you again, Kishina, Minato."
"Thanks for having us, and our son, Mikaru," Minato smiled.
They stood and socialized for a good ten minutes before the door was opened once again, this time letting the Uchiha's in. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" Mikoto said as she kissed her friends and son. Fugaku was reserved as always and sternly rejected all the offered kisses.
"Mikoto-baa-chan, wasn't Itachi supposed to be with you?" Sakura asked, disappointed that her lover had not appeared yet.
"He was, but he was caught up in paperwork, and will be arriving later. He said his deepest apologies and asked us to start without him," poor Mikoto, she looked like she could cry when she saw the dejected look on the young woman's face.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, he will be here as soon as he can, and I'm sure he has Shisui and Amarante with him," her mother said comfortingly, before she once again focused on her guests.
"Sakura, could you check the gingerbread in the oven?" her father asked.
"Sure," she said and slipped through the collection of people by the door. She sniffed the air and was pleased that it did not seem to smell anything like burned cookies. She loved gingerbread, especially the ones her father made. He was so much better at baking them than her mother, because he had learned it as a kid, when he still lived in the states. Her grandmother had also been skilled at making them, but she had died a few years ago.
She took a peek inside the hot oven and saw that the brown heart shaped crisps. She put on the pink oven glove and took out the baking sheet and smiled when the warm and distinctive smell hit her nostrils.
"Did you make gingersnaps, Sakura-chan?" with a surprised squeal the pink haired girl twirled around, seeing her aunt standing on the other side of the table.
"Damn, don't scare me like that, Akane-ba," she breathed before setting the cookies on the worktop.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan. Your mother asked me to tell you that we are settling in the dinner hall.
"Yeah, I'll be right there," she smiled and fuzzed a bit with the baking sheet and the parchment paper before she took off the glove and was about too go to the dinner when her phone piped in the pocket of her green tunic. She took it up and saw the message she had just received.
'I will be coming by 6, Shisui and Amarante are already on the way.'
She frowned, and felt the anger and frustration boil up inside her when she read the message again. What the hell did he mean by six? It was a good three hours 'til then! Was he just expecting her to obediently sit around and wait for him like a good little girl? He promised to come at the very latest half past three (together with his parents), but she didn't see any handsome police officer anywhere!
She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, but she controlled herself and didn't let them slip down. She also resisted the urge to throw her phone in the wall, to see his aggravating message fade on the screen and hear it smack into the floor. With a grunt she stomped off to the dinning hall where a long table was filled with delicious looking food and appealing decorations. The people seated around it was laughing happily about their respective conversations.
But the chat's stopped when the immensely strong feeling of a real Haruno loosing her temper entered the room. The small female, who could be unbelievably hot-tempered and violent, was glaring at all and anything that was crossing her eyes as she sat down.
The silence laid heavy for a few moments before Mikaru decided to ask what was wrong.
"That jerk isn't coming until six," she grumbled, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, I see…" Mikaru and Mikoto seemed utterly disappointed, but they soon figured that nothing was going to get better with them all depressed and so invited everyone to taste the many dishes placed before them.
"Did he say anything about Shisui and Amarante?"
"He said they were on their way," the girl grumbled, putting a piece of ham on her plate. The seemed displeased with the fact that everyone was letting the fact that Itachi was not going to come until six go so easily. But she didn't say anything about it and listened in on the conversations around her.
"Mikaru-san, how is work going right now? I heard you had a pretty rough case on your shoulders."
"No, no, I'm not related to Agito, we just happen to both be blondes and blue-eyed."
"I am the oldest of myself, Sazuki and Mikaru."
"The case with the serial rapist was closed earlier this week, Fugaku-sama."
"Dammit, teme! Don't take my drink!"
"I work as a biology and chemistry teacher."
"About that…"
And so the dinner went on for half an hour, before the delayed arrival of Shisui and Amarante occurred. The lot was delighted to see them, especially Sakura, because now she would have someone to talk to, and who wouldn't let herself get distracted by a certain spiky haired teenager.
"Hi, Ama-chan," she smiled when her cousin sat down next to her.
"Hello, Saku-chan. Did you hear from Itachi?" Amarante asked as she sat down and flipped her purple strands out of her eyes.
At the mention of the bastard the pink haired girl snorted, "I did."
"Well, he said he would come by six, and there's only a little bit more than two hours left," at the poorly chosen words Sakura frowned, and sighed in frustration.
"He told me he would be here by three yesterday, that idiot," she glided down in her seat and gabbed the low alcoholic sake she had been poured.
"There were some complications with the authorities, he have to sort them out before he comes," Shisui cut in, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"Ew, Shisui…" his girlfriend said with an abject sigh.
"What kind of complications?" Fugaku asked from the other side of the table, and suddenly everyone was listening attentively.
"Seems there was some trouble with a case. A politician has been suspected for pedophilia, and Itachi's negotiating with the political party on whether too release the information to the public or not," with the tact to swallow before he spoke Shisui answered truthfully.
"Why constantly go after Itachi? They know he's not even in charge of that," Mikoto frowned, irritated with the fact that everyone seemed to enjoy causing her little boy trouble.
"Who's the suspect?" Nibaru, the husband of Sazuki, asked.
"I'm not allowed to say," Shisui faked seriousness and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"You told me," Amarante giggled.
"That's totally different!" he seemed disturbed by the fact that his lover was out to get him in any way she could.
"Minato, I heard about your promotion to general, I have to congratulate! I always knew you were a fantastic leader and fighter," Mikoto said to the blonde, startling him.
With a modest wave of the hand he discarded her praise, "I am sure they only choose me to annoy my colleagues. Also, I'm far behind Fugaku in that matter."
Fugaku chuckled, "Surely not, Minato. In our high school days you were the one to order the class around, I shall not take that honor from you." The mocking tone sent the wife's of the two men giggling at old memories.
"I care to remember you were also quite bossy, darling," Mikoto poked the slightly chubby tummy of her husband.
"That comes from one who ordered someone to go on a date with them?" Mikaru laughed, seeing the blush flushing up on the Uchiha's cheeks.
"That was a slip of the tongue," she insisted.
"Oh? Then that time when you ordered me to sit down and let my hair be cut by you? You know how long it took me to grow it out again."
"Mikaru, you could mess around with too-sama quite a lot, you know," Akane said, putting her younger sister in her place.
"I think that the easiest thing to do is to conclude that we all can be quite dominant to a fault at times," Kushina said, trying to calm the slightly heated conversation.
"Sakura-chan," a small whisper sneaked into the Haruno's ear, and she shivered as the weird sound.
"What, Naruto?" she turned to him, seeing his stern face.
"You have to explain to me, how the hell are you related to all these people?" he asked with a frown.
"Is that all? Well, Amarante and Sasori are my cousins, from my mother's side. Sasori is the son of Akane, my kaa-chan's oldest sister, and Haku. Sazuki is my mother's second oldest sister, and together with Nibaru she had Amarante. Mikoto and Fugaku are Sasuke's parents, and of course, my boyfriends parents-
"I know those relations, Sakura-chan…" Naruto scratched his head. "Hm… So your mother is the youngest sister amongst the three. Amarante-chan is Sazuki-ba-chan's kid. Sasori is Akane-ba-chan's kid. Sazuki-ba-chan is married to Nibaru-ji-chan. Akane-ba-chan is married to Haku-ji-chan. Is that right?"
"Amazing dobe, you remembered the whole thing," Sasuke said and smirked. He leaned close to the knuckle head and whispered; "do you know what our relation is?"
A shiver ran through the blonde before he leaned in and whispered something in the ear of the young Uchiha. With a satisfied smirk he nodded, praising his partner with a peek on the cheek.
"Sasuke, no sexual aggressiveness at the table," their long time female friend said, smirking as she did.
"Exactly, teme!"
"You usually don't object," damn, Sasuke could be terribly like his older brother at times, and when he used such a low, lusty voice was one of those times. He was very bewildered when both his friends shivered pleasantly.
The dinner continued with dessert and merry talk, as well as some singing. Everyone was delighted to hear the young trio sing, even if Naruto didn't have a voice to boast about. Amarante, who had never been good with alcohol, mind you, was currently giggling like a mad man, hanging on her boyfriend. Not even Fugaku ruined the mood with any stiff prayer for his son to stop embarrass himself, and such an outrageous thing had not occurred since, well, never!
It was not long until the party moved into the big and cozy living room, and Sakura was asked to help with the dishes. She and her parents carried the many plates and trays from the warm dinning hall to the kitchen where they put it in the sink, dishwasher and on the worktop. Really, having a dinner was nice and all, but all the after work is truly horrible.
"Sakura-chan, could you mince the chocolate? I will fix the fruit salad while you do," her mother said, pointing to the block of brown laying by a knife and cutting board.
"Sure," with the awkwardness of an amateur chef she picked the knife up and carefully started chopping down on the chocolate. But even if she tried her best to keep her frustration of the epic slowness of the process she failed miserably when a chip flew away. With a long breath she glanced at the clock, and saw that it was well over six. The sky was dark outside and the snow had started falling to judge by the droplets on the window.
"Are you done?" Mikaru sighed when she saw that only half the block was in little pieces, but she was rather understanding about it, since her daughter was longing herself sick for her boyfriend, and the fact that she was not very skilled with a kitchen blade didn't help it either.
"No, sorry," after the little detour out of the window with her thoughts, Sakura started chopping again, tensing her arm and make somewhat quick work of the chocolate. She put it in a bowl that her mother had placed next to her and went to clean her hands again.
"Oh, could you take the ice-cream and berry-mix? I've got my hands full," the purple haired woman asked when she walked out the door.
"Sure," with a roll of her green eyes the teenager obeyed the wish and tarried the two bowls out to the living room, where the rest of the merry collection was watching in delight at how delicious-looking bowl after delicious-looking bowl was placed in front of them.
"Really, Mikaru-chan? Fruits even on Christmas?" Mikoto laughed.
"What? Fruits are healthy, and tasty!" it was a well known secret, the Haruno was a fructuary. She only used hygiene articles with fruits like apples and cherries in them, detergent scented like lemon and lip-balm with taste of apricot.
"We know darling, we just want to tease you a little," Agito said and sat his wife down on the couch, and was about to say 'go ahead' when she stopped him.
"We should wait for Itachi," she said and smiled when her daughter sat down next to her.
"Why should we?" the pink haired girl muttered lowly and leaned on the armrest of the sofa. Her gaze was fixed at the door, and every time she saw car light reflect on the frosted windows by it she thought that he would soon appear. Only that he didn't.
"I wonder if something has happened?" Akane furrowed her eyebrows.
"I'm sure something happened, but not to Itachi. It's a bit stormy outside," My mumbled, staring into the light on the table.
"What? It's pitch black outside, how do you know?" Naruto asked in bewilderment.
"I'm telling you! She's a psychic!" Shisui exclaimed with a sudden jump.
"I bothered listening to the sounds outside, Shisui," the Nordic looked sanctimonious.
The Uchiha was quiet a few seconds. "But there is no sound," he said.
"Exactly. Isn't it a bit strange that there is no sound what so ever in a city? So either the world just went under, or the wind is stealing all the sounds away," My smiled with a light shake of the head.
"Genius, honey," Sasori squeezed her as she sat on his lap.
"They said the weather was going to rough up at work today," Nibaru said.
"Oh yes, you work as a meteorologist, Nibaru-ji," Sasori confirmed to himself.
"Weather is fascinating indeed," Fugaku nodded.
"Why are you weather-guys never right?" Naruto asked and was smacked in the head.
"Don't be rude, you knucklehead," Sasuke sighed.
"Naruto, don't be so rude!" Kushina gasped.
"Don't hit him in the head, Sasuke!" Mikoto scolded.
"Calm down, honey," Minato and Fugaku said at the same time.
Ding-dong.
"He's here!" up went Sakura, leaving the others surprised by her sudden squeal. She ran to the door and ripped it open, allowing a large gush of cold air hit her skin. She immediately started chattering her teeth.
"Someone must be happy to see me," the soft tenor was unmistakable, and when he stepped into the light of the inside lamp he seemed dangerously pale. But that might have something to do with the fact that he was covered in quickly melting snowflakes. He gladly walked inside when she dragged him and closed the door with a weak bang.
But she didn't throw herself around his neck like a rag doll, no, she glared at him instead. Her gaze scanned him from head to toe, only leaving the side turned away from her unseen. "You deserve a slap for lying to me and being late, but for now, the fact that you look so good in uniform saved you," she concluded.
He raised an amused eyebrow. "So now I am only good for my looks?" he asked her lowly.
"What else would I have you for if I couldn't look at you?"
"Oh, I don't quite know…" he purred and leaned down, sticking his tongue out and flicking it across her cheek. At her shocked expression he smirked, "everybody loves chocolate."
She blushed a deep red, but was fortunate enough to be saved by his mother. "Itachi! I was so worried about you!" she said, hugging her son tightly.
"There was no need for worry, kaa-san," he was so authorized under normal circumstances that it was hard to believe he seemed sort of…resigned when he talked to his mother.
"Itachi! How nice to see you, after such a long time!" Mikaru came walking in, her arms open wide to embrace her godson.
"Hello, Mikaru-san," the black haired man said and accepted the contact.
They entered the living room, and was greeted by a loud cheer from the people sitting there. Shisui jumped up from his seat to put his cousin in a head lock, which he failed at miserably. My and Amarante tipped over a plate with fruits onto the floor and in panic cleaned it up with kitchen paper. Naruto made an attempt at gracefully separate his friend from her boyfriend but happened to be stopped by his mothers grip on his pants. The aunts and uncles of Sakura seemed to be the only ones that didn't have any trouble while welcoming the newly arrived.
"Now everyone, sit down! We have to open the Christmas presents!" Mikaru said happily, and ran to the closet in the hall. She pulled out a big sack that seemed full of things. She struggled a while before she set the brown bag down. "Alright, first is for… Sasori! From us."
"Thank you," the redhead accepted the gift.
"Kushina-chan, I can't read what you've written here…" the purple haired mother furrowed her brows.
"That one's for Sakura-chan," Kushina smiled, used to her poor handwriting being unreadable for others.
"Thank you, Kushina-ba," with a smile Sakura took the red box in her hand.
The Christmas gift distribution continued for almost an hour, after being interrupted by a few incidents (namely Shisui choking on bread). They all received lovely gifts, and by the time the clock was nearing eight most of the visitors made themselves ready to leave.
"I'll see you soon, imoto-chan," Akane smiled and hugged her sister.
"See you then, Minato," Agito grinned.
"I can't leave you here with that wolf, Sakura," Sasori growled.
"I can't believe I'm going to sleep in the same house as him," Naruto sighed dramatically.
"Naruto, behave yourself while you're here, you are a guest," Kushina scowled.
"Bye bye, Itachi. Be nice to Sakura-chan," Mikoto smiled.
"See you later, Amarante," Sakura eloped her cousin in a big hug.
After the many good bye's the remaining people of six went to sit in the living room once again, all of them settling in their respective furniture with their respective other. Itachi minded to occupy the larger couch, while his brother settled for the smaller one. The older couple sat in a generous armchair.
They lay there, in the light of the glowing fire coming from the hearth. The older Uchiha unselfishly lent his stomach to his girlfriend as a pillow, seeming to not be troubled at all by her weight. He gently made small circles on her thigh, while absentmindedly watching the wood smolder. His steady breaths raised her as he inhailed, and she thought it amusing, but she refrained from giggling, it would ruin the mood. However, she didn't need to worry about that, because Naruto let out a loud sneeze just as he was about to fall asleep.
With a tired laughter Sasuke kissed the top of his head, sitting up. "Should we go to bed?" he asked gently, feeling warm inside when the blonde nodded somewhat dizzily.
"That weird drink Sasori's girl had with her made me sleepy," he rubbed his eyes, yawning widely. He stretched his arms as good as he could before he was pulled up on his feet.
"You can't even handle that little alcohol?" the raven haired man asked, leading his boyfriend by the hand to the stairs, "goodnight."
"Good night, Sasuke, Naruto," Mikaru called affectionately.
"Night," Sakura said.
"Koi, we should go to be too. Especially you," Agito mumbled and stroke his wife's hair, "you've literally been working 24 hours straight the last couple of days."
"You're right. If I'm not careful I'll get wrinkles," the amusing comment had them all chuckling.
"There is nothing you need to worry about Mikaru-san, you still look like you did fifteen years ago," Itachi said.
"My, I must have been looking really old back then in that case," she stood, dragging her husband with her. "Sakura, will you put the lights out?"
"Yeah, we'll go to bed now too," the small woman turned to her pillow, "won't we? You must be tired, and I still haven't given you any punishment."
"Punishment for what?"
"For being so late, you big jerk," she frowned at his forgetfulness.
"I am terribly sorry, your highness," he said, "but isn't sitting on my stomach and thereby nearly choking me punishment enough?"
"I'm choking you?" she immediately stood up, worried about is confession.
He chuckled, "no, you are not."
She huffed irritably, turning on her heel to go and switch the power in the room off, leaving him in darkness. "I hope you hit your foot on something," she hissed. Then, with a haughty stance, she walked into the dinning hall and made sure the candles weren't burning anymore before moving to the kitchen.
She sighed as she let her fingers hit the relay, covering the many devices in shadows. She turned with a long stare at the fridge, thinking of all the delicious food inside it and how she would eat it in the morning. But when she also turned her head she let out a high squeak, jumping backwards into the darkness. Long fingers grabbed her, hindering her from moving further away.
Red eyes warmed with calm, and the owner of them closed in on her, until there was only a hair between them. His hand came up to stroke her cheek, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead, then her nose. His other hand gently grabbed hers, interlacing their fingers. He leaned down, kissing her jaw, neck and shoulder. The odd administration had her leaning her head back, allowing him to nip at her throat.
She slid her fingers over his shoulders, digging her nails into the back of his uniform jacket. She absentmindedly twirled his black hair, humming in appreciation when he kissed her by the neckline of her tunic. Then she gasped in surprise when he grabbed her thighs, lifted her and set her on the cooking island a few meters behind her. There he continued kissing her, roaming his hands all over her body.
"You pervert…" she mumbled with a sigh.
"I know you like it when I am," he smirked while hugging her tightly, pushing her breasts against himself.
"Not in the kitchen," she giggled, soon laughing when he hoisted her up over his shoulder, carrying her up the stars to where she pointed out to be her room. As quietly as he was capable he sneaked inside, located the bed and walked to it with determined steps. He threw her down on the green sheets and quickly climbed on top of her. He straddled her rather awkwardly in the stiff pants he was rearing, but didn't fail to impress her non the less with his large stature.
He let a hand trace her side, fingering the hem of her tunic before leaving it be. He tapped gently on her belly bottom, stroking it. His expression changed, from a amorous god who hadn't had any in a long time to a man mourning over something. The solemn light in his eyes when he looked at her was striking, and she forgot how to breath.
She bit her lip, wondering whether she should speak or not. "Itachi?" she asked gently, breaking him out of the peaceful and sad trance.
"I'll be going away in two days," he said, stretching his back.
She gasped at his cold and uncaring voice, and statement. Her previously hot body immediately cooled down, and she tried to sit up, but was pushed down before she could do any damage. Her heavy eyelids flew up and she stared at him for a long time, feeling his hair tickle her skin. "What do you mean, going away?" she hissed, "I thought you said you'd spend New Year with me…"
'Going away' never mean a day or two. It meant 'I'm leaving for a long time', otherwise he wouldn't have said it like that. He wouldn't have been sounding almost depressed if he was only going to be away for a few days!
"I was invited by the Minister of Defense in America to go there, as a representative for the Japanese military," he sighed.
"But…you're not even in the military…?" she was feeling insecure, having him so negatively emotional, and the bad news was not helping either.
"I have an officer degree," he laid down on top of her, laying his forehead against her shoulder, "and the civilian defense is part of the military force."
Her body was limp beneath him, unmoving. "How…how long will you stay there?" she blinked, hesitating the question, fearing a far to disagreeable answer. His hand came up and cupped the nape of her neck, massaging it.
"It could be for up to two months," he confessed quietly, letting his lips brush her skin as he talked.
Her eyes widened, and she failed to notice her breathing stopped. She turned her head to look at his black locks. Her mouth was wide open and she tensed up. Suddenly she became frustrated. Who the hell did he think he was? First he arrives late, without an acceptable explanation, and now he is telling her he's leaving the country the day after tomorrow for two months? The heat rose to her face and she gritted her teeth.
With a powerful movement with her left side she over threw him and herself, leaving her on top of him. She struggled a bit to sit on his stomach, al the while pushing his shoulders down. His glowing gaze was surprised at her spontaneous act, and when he tried to sit up she forced him down again.
"What the hell are you saying?" she half yelled, still considerate of the others in the house, "two months? You're going to be away for two months?"
He blinked, taken aback by her strange behavior, "yes."
His simple answer made her even more aggravated, and she felt the urge to slap him across his pretty face. "Why the hell haven't you told me about it? You're always like this! Never tell me anything, and if you do, it's last minute!" she hissed, fighting to hold back the tears of frustration.
He sighed, removing her hands from his shoulders to sit up, still with her on his lap. "It was a sudden call, I was told a few days ago. I figured I'd better tell you myself than over the phone," he said, moving his head closer to hers.
"I think you could have told me over the phone," she grumbled, still angry with him.
"I am sorry, I will reflect over my actions," she gasped at his apology, feeling a strange kind of dominance. The impression was strengthened when he brought her hand up to his mouth, and gently kissed her fingers. "Will you accept my apology, hime-sama?"
The nickname hit her like a ton of bricks. Her memory immediately replayed the moment he had called her that in the classroom, but she felt like there was another memory to it, ghosting in the back of her head. But non the less, she blushed heavily at his flirtatious tone.
"N-not completely, sir," she stuttered nervously.
He chuckled at her obvious embarrassment. "Then, I will have to try harder to seize your anger," he mumbled as he put her underarm to his mouth, kissing the sensitive skin lightly. Tingles flew up her spine and down again, making a strange heat boil in her stomach.
"Itachi…" she whimpered when he laid her down again, tugging on her hand. Her meek plead was all he needed to understand what she wanted. He moved to her face, pushing their lips together with great care, making her close her eyes. They savored the feeling of their skin brushing against the others, competing on who would be the one who would give into the other first. And not surprisingly, Sakura soon moaned into their touch, craving more from her partner. He was happy to grant her wish by forcing his tongue inside her mouth, tasting a fruity aroma in her saliva.
He sneaked his hand down her stomach, lifting the hem of her tunic that had slid up. The soft skin of her stomach reacted to his touches by heating, leaving him satisfied with her. The tip of his fingers brushed the under-wire of her bra, and he felt an aggressive excitement over finally getting to touch the chest he had admired from safe distance oh-so many times.
But his anticipations were abruptly crushed when his wrist was grabbed, and stopped. His red eyes opened, and he broke the kiss to look at his girlfriend properly. He was frowning, and she smirked at him.
"Since you were late, you won't be getting any today either, darling."
Whai! I'm done! What a feat, almost 20 pages! I am rather proud of myself, although most of this was just filling out the chapter, until I got to the goody stuff (aka Itachi).
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll be back with more soon!
Love, Angel