OK! Since I completely ran out of time to get in the three chapters I wanted before Christmas Eve, I'm going to go ahead and just work on the Christmas special and hopefully upload it tomorrow. I'll have to go back when I get the Halloween and Thanksgiving chapters done and switch them out. That way, everything is in chronological order.
The smell of cooked turkey and other foods brought Sakura and Naruto wandering into the kitchen from somewhere in the big town house that they lived in. It was Christmas break and everyone was out of school and at home for the holidays. The sounds of dishes clinking into the sink and bouts of arguing rang out through the warm kitchen as the two teenagers drifted in. Sakura took a deep breath of the enticing aroma and opened her eyes.
"Shoo," Tsunade said from her spot by the stove, absently waving a hand in their direction without looking up. "It's not ready yet."
"But Baa-chaaan!" Naruto whined as he hovered closer to the counter top full of food.
"Out." She ordered, this time pointing her finger in the direction of the door. Sakura eyed the mashed potatoes hungrily and tried to keep herself from drooling. Tsunade might not seem like it, but she really knew how to cook. Home dinners were something that both Naruto and Sakura looked forward to greatly, even if the food at school was decent enough.
"C'mon Tsunade," Sakura added her pleading voice to the act. "We're really hungry…" As if to accentuate her point, Naruto's stomach gave a very piteous noise of hunger. The whole room paused before the teenagers burst out into hysterical fits of laughter, Tsunade finally turning to give them an amused, albeit exasperated look. Her expression changed rather quickly when her eyes fell upon the two teenagers twitching in heaps on the floor.
"Why aren't you two dressed?" She asked sternly, arms folding across her chest. The two quite laughing as they saw Tsunade's narrowed visage standing above them. Her high-heeled foot tapped against the tiled floor, impatiently waiting for an answer.
"The guests aren't here yet, so we were gonna wait." Naruto offered meekly from his place by the counter.
"Yeah," Sakura added. "If we wait, we don't have to be all dressed up as long." She grinned up at the scowling blonde haired woman. Tsunade sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes.
"Whatever." She muttered before turning back to the stove. Naruto and Sakura exchanged grins at each other before standing up. Sakura was heading towards the door when Tsunade's sharp voice cut grabbed her attention, causing her to look back curiously.
"Naruto! Do NOT even dare!" She said sharply, pointing a finger backwards at the blonde haired boy frozen over the rolls, hand stopped inches above the top-most one. Sakura leaned against the door frame in a fit of giggles as Naruto stared in dumb shock at their foster mother.
"How did you do that!" Naruto shouted incredulously at Tsunade, blue eyes stretched wide. Sakura smirked slightly to herself.
"She has eyes in the back of her head, that's how." She teased. "Can't you see them right behind her pigtails?" Naruto's mouth formed into an "o" as he turned to stare at Sakura before quickly whipping his head back towards Tsunade. Sakura chuckled softly as she rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. She paused for a moment when she heard Tsunade give an enraged shout, quickly followed by Naruto running through the doorway with a wooden spoon trailing behind him. Sakura laughed as Naruto nearly ran her over trying to avoid the cooking utensil and cast a confused look backwards.
"Dang, she's really touchy about people trying to look at the eyes on her head, huh?" Naruto said as he looked down at Sakura with a grin. The pink haired girl rolled her eyes and shoved Naruto playfully.
"Stupid, she doesn't actually have eyes in the back of her head," Sakura said as she stuck her tongue out at the blonde. "There was a pan in front of her; she saw you in the reflection." Sakura shook her head as she kept walking down the hall, Naruto casting an awed look back at the kitchen.
"Dude, that's so ninja!" He exclaimed as he caught back up to the shorter girl. Sakura grinned to herself and nodded in agreement; Tsunade could be pretty ninja-like at times.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing Sakura and Naruto to snap their heads in the direction of the front door.
"I'LL GET IT!" They both screeched at the same time, bolting for the foyer, each trying to trip the other up in their mad scramble. Tsunade was yelling angrily at them from the kitchen, trying to pull the apron off to greet the first of their guests.
oooooOOOOOooooo
From: Yoko
Subject: BLEHHH
You know you've gotta tell Naruto at some point, right?
Sakura sighed as she looked down at the message for the forty-seventh time. Her eyebrows furrowed in irritation as she tried to figure out a way around the complicated mess her roommate had just brought up. She could hear laughter coming from the rooms below her and the sound of Christmas music drifted softly up through the air vents. The first guest had arrived nearly half an hour ago and Sakura was still holed up in her room, trying to get ready with the distraction of her raging thoughts. Well, she actually was ready; she just didn't want to go downstairs anymore. She paced quietly, chewing softly on her nails as she did so and starring at her bare feet.
You've gotta tell Naruto at some point…
The thought kept prancing around her mind, providing an irritating and constant reminder that she really did have to tell Naruto about the folder she had seen on Tsunade's desk all those months ago. Sakura had gone back the next day, when she knew Tsunade was in a meeting with the teachers and had searched the office frantically for the folder marked confidential. She had found it and sat for what felt like hours poring numerous times over that folder and the three others marked the same. She had discovered with silent relief that he wouldn't be coming back until the next semester. She still wished that he wouldn't be coming back at all, but gratefully accepted the eighteen week countdown.
It hadn't mattered so much then; she had time. Plenty of it. Time to get her thoughts in order and figure out how to delicately tell Naruto the news.
That was the news that one Uchiha Sasuke, after two and a half years of being away and all severed contact, was once again returning to Konoha High.
At first, Sakura had been very angry. Incredibly so to be exact. Then she had begun to think of how it was going to affect everyone, Naruto especially. She hadn't known how to tell him, and in fact, didn't want to tell him in fear of how it would make him react. She had given the excuse that she didn't want to distract Naruto from schoolwork, although it was a rather weak excuse to begin with. Naruto was usually always distracted from school, and if he wasn't, he found a way to be. But nevertheless, Sakura stuck by that excuse vehemently.
When Thanksgiving break had come around, Yoko had casually brought it up that Sakura should tell Naruto about the Uchiha's return. It was only fair, after all, since Naruto was one of her closest friends and the one person that Sasuke had meant the world to. But once again, she had chickened out, this time claiming that a week wouldn't be enough for Naruto to get over the shock and it would end up making his grades on the finals even worse than they usually were.
Now it was December 24, Christmas Eve, and Naruto still didn't know. Sakura secretly had been hoping since the beginning of break that Yoko wouldn't bring up their little secret and tell her how she needed to tell Naruto too. She had just gotten confident in the fact that Yoko wouldn't bring it up after a week of silence on the subject when her roommate had finally sent the message. Sakura cursed inwardly to herself. The dark haired girl was probably waiting for her to get comfortable before bringing up the tabooed subject again.
So here Sakura was, pacing across her bedroom floor, decimating her fingernails and trying to keep her fingers from ripping out chunks of her hair. In all honesty, she really wasn't ready for the Uchiha's arrival. She didn't want him to be back, not after her life had settled back into a semblance of normalcy. Her temper would still flare every time she thought of said black haired boy, and she usually felt like ripping the nearest object to pieces whenever she thought of his face. A sudden rapping on her door caused Sakura to jump, whirling around to see Tsunade leaning in around the now opened door.
"You know it's pretty rude to hide away from guests at a party, right?" She said, leaning casually against the door frame, arms and legs crossing lazily. Tsunade was wearing a cream business suit and pencil skirt, her pale blonde hair pulled back into the usual loose ponytails. A light eyebrow arched delicately over honey brown eyes as she stared at Sakura expectantly. The girl offered a small smile in response.
"Sorry, I'm just…a bit nervous is all. I've never been to a social Christmas party and all." Sakura inwardly cringed. It wasn't a lie truthfully, this was the first year she had ever stayed with Naruto and his foster family or attended a high class Christmas party, but it still didn't sound very convincing to her ears. Tsunade didn't really seem to buy it either, but shrugged her shoulders and pushed herself up of the door.
"You don't have to worry," she said as she walked across the room and laid a hand gently on Sakura's shoulder. "All you have to do is be yourself and be polite. It works for Naruto at least." Sakura nodded and gave a weak smile, hoping that Tsunade would take pity on her and let her stay in here room until she could sort out her tumultuous thoughts. However, the older woman didn't seem to want to wait for that to happen, and settled for a time limit.
"You have two minutes." She said with a smile, patting Sakura's head before turning back to the door. "I'm sending up Naruto if you're not down by then."
Sakura grimaced. That was the last thing she needed. So with a sigh she picked up her phone and sent a reply to Yoko. She tossed the phone back onto her bed and turned to look at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was pulled back as best as it could be into a short ponytail, the rest straightened and framing her face. She smoothed down the white sweater dress she was wearing. Tsunade had bought it for her to wear at the Christmas party that she held every year. It was really simple, white with black designs along the neckline, hem, and around her wrists. It was a little short, but Sakura felt it was long enough to wear without leggings. She reached down beside her bed and pulled on the grey leg warmers and tan UGG boots that Tsunade had also bought her to go along with the outfit.*
Sakura sighed again, readjusting the hem of her sweater before she turned and headed out the door. At the top of the stairs she fixed a bright and cheerful grin onto her face, carefully walking down the stairs. A few people turned to look at her from their places on the sofas and various chairs placed around the living room, and Sakura vaguely heard Tsunade introducing her to everyone as the new addition to their family. Sakura did her best to wave shyly at the group of people sitting throughout the room, and offered the excuse of nerves to account for her tardiness.
She relaxed slightly as they bought her excuses and greeted her as cordially as one of high society would greet a teenager that had Sakura's…unique appearance. Sakura smiled cheerfully as she took a seat next to Naruto, who was currently engaging in an argument with an old man whom Sakura recognized to be the Mayor. She vaguely wondered at how Naruto managed to deal with the other guests who they knew to greatly disliked Naruto. She entertained the thought that maybe Naruto could deal with the news of Sasuke's return fairly well and was just about to open her mouth to tell him when she caught herself. She snapped her mouth closed and clamped down on her wild thoughts, struggling to push them out of her mind. She didn't need to deal with this right now, and she cursed herself for being so stupid as to nearly let Naruto know her little secret in front of such a crowd of people. She knew Naruto well enough to know exactly what his first reaction would be and wouldn't make the mistake of telling him now.
Naruto was looking curiously at her now, as were the Mayor and a few others who had noticed her movement. She smiled brightly towards Naruto and shook her head.
"Sorry, it's nothing." She said cheerily, sighing inwardly with relief as Naruto bought it and went back to listening to the Mayor recount stories about his foster parents. Sakura suppressed the groan trying to force its way up her throat, recalling the message she had sent to Yoko a few minutes ago. She knew she was being a coward, but she had good reasons to not tell Naruto yet.
At least that's what she kept telling herself…
To: Yoko
Subject: BLEHHH
I'll tell him later.
So there you have it! The first half of the Christmas special! The next part will be updated tomorrow cuz it has to deal with Christmas day and such. Anyway, hope you guys liked it and are having a great Christmas Eve! Remember what Christmas is all about and be kind to everyone in your family, even if you don't want to be at the various Christmas gatherings and such.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Oh, and this is the link to the outfit Sakura was wearing for the Christmas party: http:/im .c om/wsphoto/v0/483224462/ free-shipping-Wholesale-201 1-NE W-ARRIVAL-fashion-women-long-slim-swea ter-dress-with-Chri stmas-Deer-lon
Just take out the spaces and it should work!
~Cherry