Note: I'm one of those people that gets mushy and gooey around the holidays, so I thought I'd make a couple of Christmas-themed chapters , One of them does get referenced in the sequel, so keep an eye out for that! This bit takes place about four weeks before the first meeting with Danzo.

Kana handed Neji a box of ornaments, "You know, I'm pretty sure the last time you actually decorated a Christmas tree was the year after you joined the Academy."

The teenager frowned as he took the box, giving the tree a suspicious look, "I distinctly remember not assisting with the decorations. Are you sure I'm the best pick for this?" he asked, nodding towards the seemingly random assortment of decorations that had been slung all over the branches within arm's reach.

"Neji, do not be absurd! I am positive that we all are confident in your abilities!" Despite being hidden by the other side of the tree, Lee's voice rang loud enough for his teammate to make a face at the outburst. He had been surprisingly quiet back there, which meant he was probably working hard to make sure that his section was up to par with Neji's.

A fond smile graced the kunoichi's lips as she remembered how seven year-old Neji had somehow dropped, stepped on or otherwise shattered every ornament he came in contact with. It seemed that there truly was something that Hinata bested her cousin at, as she had managed to gracefully and systematically decorate what parts of the tree she could reach at six years old.

"Just because you think I can do a good job doesn't mean anything, Lee," he sighed, stringing some tinsel along the upper branches – or, at least, he tried to; most of it just floated to the floor to pool around his feet like a group of gold snakes. Neji really was terrible at this.

"Oh, Neji, decorating isn't just about making it look fancy," Tenten cut in from where she was pinning a Christmas garland over the sliding glass door of Raido's apartment, "It's just about… Doing it together, is all."

His frowned seemed to lessen some, but Neji still looked doubtful as he gingerly strung the tinsel around the tree without further complaints. Kana stepped away from her section of the tree to give him some space and decided that now would be a good time to put up the last of the lights. Raido had been put on a rather long shift in the mission room, thanks to a favor owed by Kotetsu when he apologized for losing his shit in the middle of the market, so they had about two hours left before he got home. Plenty of time.

"I simply don't understand why we're decorating the apartment of a grown man," Neji grumbled. Looks like the complaining was still in full force, "Surely if he wanted his apartment to resemble Guy-sensei's then he would be perfectly capable of doing it on his own…"

Kana frowned – not because he was complaining, since that was basically an everyday thing with the teenager, but because he compared her decorating to Guy's, who was known for going all-out during the holidays.

"Mister Namiashi is an elite bodyguard of the Hokage, he doesn't have time to do this like we do!" Tenten protested with a disapproving frown of her own; she dropped down from the chair she had been standing on to admire her handiwork.

Well, it really wasn't that Raido was too busy to decorate… He was just lazy and kept things simple – hence, the almost complete lack of furnishing in his small one-bedroom apartment. Kana wondered if maybe the genin had a rather skewed idea of what exactly it meant to be a part of the Hokage Guard Platoon, because it really just meant that you were a shinobi that was sent on more A and S-ranked missions than most jonin, had high security clearances, and you escorted the Hokage everywhere. A lot of the time they were just stuck doing paperwork and going over mission reports in the Hokage's stead.

Ah, well.

Finished with his section of the tree, Lee finally appeared from the small corner he had been tucked away in, "Not only that, but Mister Namiashi was an important part to Kana finally achieving the true happiness of youth!" he added cheerily, "It is the least we could do! Think of it as Team Guy's gift to him, as a thank you for teaching her the ways of passionate-"

"Lee, why don't you check on the cookies?" Kana cut in with a forced smile, hoping he would not finish that sentence while simultaneously cursing herself for leaving him in a room with a copy of Icha Icha. Sure, he had been rather persistent in his curiosity, but why the hell did she think that was a good idea?

Thankfully the kid was easily distracted and immediately snapped his attention to his new task, scurrying out of the living room. She didn't resist the urge to reach out and ruffle his bowl cut as he rushed past; even at fifteen Lee was still so goddamn cute. Kana turned back to the kitchen counter/half wall that divided the kitchen from the living room and climbed up with the bundle of lights in hand, her forced smile now fond.

As she worked, she surveyed the small apartment. Even as minimally furnished as it was, the foursome had managed to do a pretty decent job so far on bringing it to life with the Christmas decorations. Some of them had been borrowed from Guy, who had more than enough to spare, but most of them had been bought by Kana, who felt almost giddy at the idea of spending the holiday with Raido and the others.

Most shinobi their age no longer had families to spend Christmas with due to the Kyuubi attack when she was a kid, but they weren't old enough to have a family of their own, so they tended to either spend it alone or join up in groups to celebrate it together. Their group was no exception, and this was the first year that Kana would be joining them since, last year, she had been stuck on a two-week mission and missed it.

The clanging of a baking sheet being set over the stove burners pulled Kana out of her musings. It seemed that no matter how nimble of a person you were, there was no graceful way to handle cooking ware, she thought while wrapping the last of the white lights around the small column that connected the edge of the counter to the ceiling.

While Lee came off as the type of person that would be rather incompetent when it came to cooking, he was actually a pretty damn good baker and the smell of the cookies wafting through the apartment made Kana's stomach rumble. They were just plain sugar cookies that they were going to frost later with the pre-prepared assortment of colored frosting and sprinkles, but she hadn't eaten in nearly seven hours thanks to the mountain of mission reports that had come in from her platoon. All her stomach cared about was that there were delicious, warm, fluffy vanilla cookies being transferred to a cooling rack.

Her stomach rumbled again.

Wait, no it didn't-

By the time it had registered in her mind that the sound was actually a key being slid into a lock, Raido was already stepping through the doorway. A chorus of discontented noises rang through his apartment.

'Oh, god dammit,' Kana could feel her face droop into a disappointed pout; she dropped the last of the light string off of the side of the counter so that the plug swung next to the outlet with a huff and had half of a mind to hang Kotetsu from the roof with it.

Raido stood stock-still in the genkan, just sort of blinking at the display before him. The four shinobi scattered through the room blinked right back.

For a few agonizingly long moments they just stared in silence at each other; Tenten was the one to finally break the silence, "Uh… Hey, Mister Namiashi…"

Despite the formality being something that normally made him squirm uncomfortably, Raido only raised an eyebrow. "Hey… Um…" he muttered awkwardly, "You're… Decorating?"

Neji sighed next to the tree and set the box of tinsel on the coffee table, "I told you that this was a bad idea-"

"Don't be rude!" Tenten punched him on the shoulder.

Raido's stunned expression softened into a sheepish grin before he slipped off his flak jacket, "No, it's nice," he said, hanging it on the coat rack, "It just threw a wrench into something I was planning, is all." Dropping his forehead protector onto the small table next to the door, Raido kicked his sandals off and finally stepped out of the entryway.

"I'm sorry…" Kana murmured as she slid off of the counter; if she had known that the surprise was going to prove to be an inconvenience…

Leaning down to seal their lips in a chaste kiss, Raido shook his head, "I said it's fine. Let me go call Gen real fast and get changed, and I'll help you finish," he said with a small smile still on his lips. Kana pouted a little, mostly at her surprise being ruined, but nodded and kissed the palm of his hand since she couldn't reach his cheek. Seriously, she sometimes considered just using the Transformation Jutsu so she could kiss him without having to stand on a stool, or him doubling over.

When he had disappeared into his bedroom, Kana moved over to help Lee ready the next batch of cookies while the other two finished up their own tasks. The curious, almost pensive way Tenten followed the tokujo's movements didn't go unnoticed, though, and she wondered what the genin was thinking about as she rolled the dough into balls and placed them in a grid on the sheet of aluminum.

Lee wiped the residue off of his fingers, which he had left uncovered so he didn't soil a roll of bandages. The rough, scarred texture of his skin, which had visible tan lines, was a rare sight to even someone that knew him on a personal level, and Kana couldn't help but sneak a peek every few moments. It wasn't as if he was self conscious about his appearance, as scars were considered proof of hard work with the spandex-wearing trio, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable by staring.

She looked down at her own hands as the towel was passed to her. Barely visible white scars littered her own skin like tiny stripes, joined by slightly translucent calluses, though they were nothing in comparison. Kana didn't know if she felt bad for not being to rigorous in taijutsu training like he was, or if she was grateful that there was some part of her body that was remained somewhat feminine.

Clad in a plain t-shirt, jeans and a short athletic sleeve that extended to his elbow, Raido emerged from the bedroom just as Neji finished up the tree. As much as the kid wanted to deny it, it was obvious that he was enjoying himself. "What else needs to be done?" he asked, looking genuinely interested.

"Um… I was going to wrap some of this around the balcony, if you wanna do it," Kana held up a box of garland that had lights worked into the system of fake leaves. It really wasn't as if there was any rhyme or reason to how the apartment was being decorated, all things considering. What had begun as a planned theme ended up being twisted into three teenagers, and a shoddy excuse for an adult, throwing decorations wherever they individually saw fit.

Raido took the box from her with an amused expression before exiting through the sliding glass door. As he knelt down to begin carefully coiling the garland around the metal railing, the kunoichi couldn't help but lean against the back of the counter and watch him work.

Even though one would think that someone as tall and muscled as he was would move gracelessly, every movement Raido made was lithe and nimble; he moved like a shinobi. Swirling eyes paid attention to every flex of muscle that showed through his snug t-shirt, not needing much imagination to envision what his back looked like under the dark fabric. Kana loved his back – hell, she loved literally everything about him – even if she didn't look at it very often. There was so much strength and regulated power beneath the tanned flesh that pulled and stretched with every movement; his back always reminded her of just how alive Raido was.

It was probably a peculiar thing to think, which was part of why Kana never voiced it, but it was true. The night he took his shirt off for her for the first time, after they had made love and he had fallen asleep, was when she realized how almost sensual it was to watch him move from behind without anything hindering her view, to see the muscles flex and pull as Raido breathed or shifted in his sleep. It was fascinatingly human. Since then, Kana had a new appreciation for his body.

An almost overwhelming urge to step out into the cold with him and run her hands underneath his shirt, so she quickly grabbed a fistful of garland from another box to wrap it with the lights on the column. While she knew that Raido wouldn't be bothered by the contact, she didn't want to make the kids uncomfortable.

Idle chatter filled the air as the group worked together, knocking out the last of the decorations in under half an hour while Lee fussed over the mountain of cookies he made. There had to have been at least seven dozen of them, all iced and festively decorated, and even if half of them were going to be given to her platoon, it seemed like she let the genin get a little too carried away in the kitchen.

Kana began packing away what ornaments were left to tuck them away in the hall closet while hiding the grin on her face. As reserved as Raido was, he had been really softening up to Tenten and Lee over the past few months – she wouldn't go so far as to say that they were friends, but it was nice to see them getting along, as opposed to when they first started dating and Raido only ever answered questions with awkward one-liners. Thankfully he and Neji were quiet types so it was easy for them to get along easier than when Raido had been barraged by Lee's energy and Tenten's questions.

The three had found a place to sit in the living room and were talking about their holiday plans, with Neji explaining to Raido how the Hyuga compound closed up on major holidays.

"It's a practice common among larger clans," he said simply, leaning back into the easy chair with a glass of water, "The Shimi Clan does it, as well, though it's less of a familial event and more of a ritualistic one. With the Hyugas, it acts as one of the few times a year where the entire clan merges as an undivided family."

The tokujo hummed, narrowing his eyes in thought, "That doesn't sound half bad. So you won't be dropping by, then?"

Neji shook his head and took a sip of his water, "Lord Hiashi is my father's brother, so it would be viewed as nothing short of ostentatious to even consider leaving."

"Which is why you better keep your window unlocked this year," Kana said with a fake pout when the boxes had been properly stowed away, "I'll break the lock if you forget again," she added as an afterthought.

Tenten remained unusually silent as they went back and forth, staring at Raido with the same thoughtful expression from earlier. Her cheeks were a little flushed, too, as if she were embarrassed or shy about something. The last time Kana had seen the genin blush was when she was talking about Sasuke Uchiha during the Chunin Exams…

Oh.

Oh.

A small grin tugged at Kana's lips; she had a crush on Raido. Instead of feeling jealous, like she did when she found out that Shizune had openly hit on her lover in the mission room, the jonin only smiled at the situation and mulled it over. It would make sense, really. Tenten had only the utmost respect for high-ranking shinobi, and he was one of the village's best assassins and was extremely skilled in kenjutsu. Not only that, but he was pretty damn handsome.

Kana probably should have seen something like this coming, though she had always assumed that the genin would have shown interest in someone like Genma, who was skilled in bukijutsu and was a man that half of the village kunoichi would literally kill to sleep with, since she crushed on Sasuke for a few months.

Ah, well, it didn't really matter either way. Tenten wasn't the homewrecker type, and Raido wasn't a cheating cradle-robber, so she couldn't find herself concerned-

"…Na?"

Lee tapped Kana's shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she noticed that the three teenagers had risen to standing positions. She blinked a couple of times, "Sorry. Thinking about paperwork."

The knitting of Neji's brow told her that he didn't believe the lie, but he didn't push the issue and ran a hand through his hair. "It's time for us to take our leave," he explained for what was probably the second time, "Are you still available to train tomorrow?"

Kana tried not to frown. There really was still a huge pile of mission reports that needed to be sorted and reviewed before she submitted them to the commander, but she had promised Neji that she'd spar with him in the morning…

"Of course," she answered with a smile, "Be at the training field at the butt-crack of dawn or I'll make you run laps with me."

Even if they got along, when the genin left, Raido looked almost relieved and sagged into the sofa. "I thought the magpies made me feel old," he sighed, looking over the back of the couch with an almost helpless expression, "Can you fetch me a beer while you're up?"

With a small smile Kana picked up one of the cookies before snatching one of the dark beers he preferred, handing them both to the tokujo as she plopped down next to him. A thank-you kiss was placed against her temple, and Kana decided to flip on the television for a bit.

"You're not old," she yawned while reaching for the remote to flip through the oh-so-stellar quality that daytime TV provided.

Raido hummed half-heartedly, "I'm thirty-three, kitten. Most shinobi retire around my age."

The kunoichi frowned. Considering most shinobi began their careers around eleven or twelve years old, retiring in their thirties and early forties was really just a matter of math more than anything else, since a career typically lasted about twenty to thirty years…

When she peered up at him and paid attention, sure, Kana could see fine lines around his eyes and in his forehead, and there were a couple of grey hairs near his temples that were hidden by the rest of his hair. Even if they were subtle and barely noticeably, did they really bother him and make him feel old? 'Well, he is kind of an insecure guy…'

Catching her gaze with his own, Raido arched an eyebrow curiously and took another swig of beer before setting the bottle on the festive runner that had been placed over his coffee table.

"Have you thought about retiring?" she asked rather quietly, not sure if this was a sensitive issue or not.

He shifted so that his body was turned towards Kana. A few moments passed where he didn't say anything, the only sound in the room being the soap playing on the television and the low hum of the refrigerator. It didn't look like Raido was upset by the question, rather, he looked as if he was trying to properly line up his thoughts before saying anything; this must have been something he really had been thinking about.

"Well…" Raido slung an arm over the back of the sofa, "I've been a tokubetsu jonin for nearly fifteen years, and I'm coming up on ten years with the Guard Platoon. I can't say I haven't given it some thought…" He trailed off as his eyebrows furrowed just a tad as if a new thought occurred to him, and Raido brought his eyes up from where he had absentmindedly rubbing Kana's thigh, "Have you?"

Retirement? At her age? It wasn't necessarily a totally off-the-wall question, she supposed, considering that most Anbu left the service after about ten years… Though, that was mostly because shinobi weren't given the option to join until they were about twenty or so. Not only that, but, the average life expectancy for them averaged at the mid-twenties.

She frowned as Kana recalled the words she had said to Neji after the Chunin Exams; the kunoichi slid a hand over her lover's forearm for some sort of support. "I…" Kana began to chew on the inside of her lip as she tried to find a way to express her thoughts without coming off as totally selfish, "Not really, no. I mean… Considering the missions we're given," Her eyes fell to Raido's chest, "I guess I always just assumed I'd be killed first."

Tension hung in the air as the pair found themselves sitting in silence again. After a couple of agonizingly long minutes, Raido brought the hand up that had been hanging over the back of the sofa to brush darkening bangs out of his lover's face, a sigh escaping his lips.

"Would you consider it?" he asked softly, looking anxious, "Would you consider returning to the jonin force? If given a good reason?"

Kana's heart skipped a beat. While it would have been a decision she would have fully supported if it were one of her comrades, the idea of leaving Anbu was a concept completely foreign to her; it had literally never crossed her mind in the ten years since first donning the mask. Going on missions was something that she enjoyed, just like Kana enjoyed sleeping in the barracks with her platoon and helping her men with training. It wasn't just a rank – Anbu was a part of her genetic makeup by this point.

Raido must have picked up on her discomfort, because he gave her a guilty smile and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I'm sorry. I know what Anbu is to you – "

"No, it's just…" Kana snuck in a kiss, mostly for her own comfort, before scooting closer to rest against his body, "I don't know what it's like to just be a 'normal' shinobi," she admitted with downcast eyes, "I was only a genin for a year, and I was promoted to jonin before I could even grow into my flak jacket. It wasn't even six months later when the Third asked me to join Anbu with Itachi after he made chunin… I literally have no clue what it means to be a ninja outside of Anbu…"

Some of the tension in Kana's shoulders left when Raido slipped an arm over them and pulled her closer into him. She slid her eyes shut with a sigh, "I feel like I'd be letting them down if I quit, you know? Like I'd be abandoning my duty."

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, rhythmically rubbing his thumb over her thigh. When she nodded he took a deep breath as if readying himself for something. "I noticed that when you talk about being a shinobi, you only ever talk about your duty to your comrades and the village… But not the Hokage."

Of course Raido would pick up on that – he was a bodyguard for a reason. The kunoichi wondered if her reasoning would bother him, but decided it was best to not lie to him. "I am not loyal to a single being, Rai. I fight for the Leaf, and for my allies."

The hand on her knee flexed, "That's dangerous thinking," he said in a low voice, "I understand the sentiment, and I don't think any differently of you for it, but to anyone else that could sound like treason." Raido kissed the top of Kana's head as it to reaffirm his feelings for her; she slid a hand over the top of his thigh and squeezed it in response.

Turning her head up to meet his warm gaze, Kana narrowed her eyes as a thought occurred to her, "Do you want me to leave Anbu?" This wasn't the first time he had brought something like this up with her…

A light flush appeared on Raido's tanned cheeks, and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. Yeah, that was definitely it.

"Like I said, I know what Anbu is to you. However…" the tokujo shifted slightly, "I think I'd like to settle down in the next few years."

"Look, kid, he's getting to that point in his life where he's gonna want to get married and have kids," Shikaku rasped, pouring another cup of sake, "I know that you're young, but that's something to think about."

Guy shifted uncomfortably next to her, "Just because he's a little older than her-"

"He's right, Guy," Kakashi cut in, "Raido's one of the best shinobi in the Leaf, but he's not like you and me. This is something Kana needs to think about, and this isn't the time for you to show your protective fatherly side."

Asuma tapped his cigarette into the ash tray before nodding in agreement, "We work together pretty often since we're both squad leaders in the Niju Shotai, and his chunin friends are under my command. Raido reminds me a lot of myself and Shikaku – a real family man type," he said rather casually. It seemed like the chain smoker was better at talking about other peoples' relationships than he as about his own, considering he still got sheepish when it came to talking about Kurenai.

The idea of quitting Anbu to get married and have babies made Kana toss her head back a little too eagerly to down her cup of peach sake.

Sensing her discomfort, Asuma chuckled knowingly and exchanged looks Genma, who had been the assnugget that brought up the subject, "Look, we're not saying that he's going to suddenly demand that you settle down with him," he assured, "You know he isn't like that."

"Just be prepared for that talk when it comes," Shikaku finished after taking a shot of his own.

Kana bit her lip. A part of her knew that this kind of conversation would come sooner or later, especially after the discussion at the bar, but that didn't mean she was any more prepared for it. It wasn't that she didn't love Raido to bits... It was just that the thought of marriage meant abandoning everything she knew about being a ninja - it was more than a life-altering decision for her, it was a decision that would force Kana to change herself as a human being.

Though now seemed like a good idea to break the news she had been hoping to save until after Christmas...

She felt her cheeks heat up, the telltale sign of a blush crossing her unnaturally pale skin, and tried to keep her eyes from flitting away from Raido's, "I want to move in with you," she said matter-of-factly.

The tinge of pink deepened to red as his eyes widened in surprise. Raido's lips stretched into a small, hesitant smile, "Yeah?"

"I mean, I need to file a bunch of paperwork, and there's a 30 day waiting period for approval, but…" Kana suddenly felt shy and knew her voice gave that away, "Yeah. I was actually going to tell you on New Year's… I mean, if the offer's not on the table anymore-"

"No!" Raido screwed his eyes shut as his grin widened, "I mean – yes – yes I still want you to move in," he said a little louder than he normally spoke, clearly pleased. He sealed their lips together into a kiss, smiling against her mouth.

His reaction released the tight knot of worry that Kana hadn't even realized had coiled in her stomach, and she returned the kiss with as much eagerness her lover displayed. When Raido wrapped both of his arms around her waist to pull her into his lap, she couldn't help but giggle and let him trail sloppy, playful kisses long her cheek and jaw.

Cupping his face in her hands, she pulled back enough to plant a chaste kiss on his lips, "Thank you."

Raido hummed low in his throat and rubbed their noses together, "For?" he asked before sneaking in another kiss.

'For being patient, and warm, and kind, and for dealing with my shit, and for being so perfect,' Kana thought with a fond smile. She stroked his scarred cheek with her thumb, feeling the patterns of the skin's ridges and slightly rough surface that she had memorized by then. Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and Kana released his face to wrap her arms around his broad shoulders, burying her face into Raido's neck.

Even though she didn't answer his question, he seemed to understand what was going through her head; Kana heard as much as felt him release a content sigh as he pulled her into a tight hug. "The decorations really do look nice," he murmured into her shoulder, "That was a lot of fun. Thank you, kitten."