Chapter Three; Baking Cookies
Thanks for the great review! And yes Sasuke loves Naruto very much. Of course can you really blame him? Naruto might be trouble but he sure is loveable and cute at the same time. Here's the next chapter!
As soon as Sasuke got home his wife was once again there to greet him at the door. "Hey babe, you came home just in time. Sasame and I were just getting ready to get the tree up." She said. "Where's Naruto at?" she wondered as soon as she realized that he was alone.
"He's out in the garage." Sasuke began. "That loser almost wound up getting us both killed." He told her.
"Oh no,.." Sakura began before breathing a deep and heavy long sigh. "What did he do this time?" she questioned him reluctantly.
"It's a long story I'll tell you later. Right now I have another problem." He began with a sad sigh.
"Really? What?" she wondered.
"I have already bought Christmas presents for everybody except Naruto. I have no idea what to get him." He told her but Sakura just simply waved her hand at him.
"Oh don't worry about him he's easy." She began. "All you have to do is take him out for a bowl of ramen and he's as happy as a clam." She told him.
"I do that every year." He said.
"Exactly. And you never heard him complain have you?" she questioned him with a giggle as Sasuke grinned.
"Yeah, I guess you've got a point there." He began. "But still, I wanted to get him something different this year." He told her.
"Listen to me Sasuke, Naruto loves you. I've seen the way he looks at you and it's like he thinks of you as his hero or something. I'm sure that whatever you give him he's going to love it simply because of the fact that it came from you." She told him.
"Hm." Sasuke began again while continuing to grin at her. "I never did really give you enough credit for your intelligence back when we were on squad seven." He told her before he took a few steps towards her. "And it's about time I did too. Oh and look at just what we happen to be standing under." He told her as she tilted her head backwards and smiled when she realized that they were standing under the mistletoe.
"Oh." She began. "I get it." She said before they both closed their eyes and Sasuke tilted her chin back and placed his hand upon her cheek and leaned into kiss her. That's when suddenly Naruto burst into the room.
"Hey Sasuke I think I found the problem." He told him as Sasuke quickly turned his head and glared at him. "Uh oh,.. am I interrupting something?" he questioned him while blushing and taking a step backwards as Sasuke clenched his teeth together.
"Naruto!" he hollered.
"Sorry, I didn't realize that you guys were kissing in here alright!? Geeze, I just wanted to let you know that I found the problem with your car that's all." He told him as Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"I wish that I could say the same thing about your brain." He told him before he turned back to look at Sakura and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be right back." He said before he turned around and walked over to him. "You are such an idiot you know that?" he questioned him before he followed him out into the garage. "Alright, you brought me all the way out here so what's the problem. Or rather, what do you think the problem is?" he asked him before Naruto raced over to the front of it and lifted the hood.
"Right here." Naruto began with a cough while he blew away the smoke with his hand. "You had the same problem as Sakura did. Your head gasket blew which caused your engine to overheat, and you didn't have enough oil to start with. When is the last time you got an oil change anyway?" he wondered.
"Probably about six or seven months ago when I last got it washed." Sasuke admitted.
"No wonder why it broke down. That's your problem right there, you're supposed to get it changed every few months." Naruto told him. "So, I figured that you don't really like spending an awful lot of money, I'll do it for you free of charge." He said.
"Really? You would do that for me?" Sasuke questioned while widening his eyes at him.
"Well sure Sasuke you're my brother it's the least I can do. I just have to take this sucker out and replace it with a new one." Naruto told him before hitting the gasket with his wrench causing it to leak out all over his face. Sasuke laughed.
"You really are a hopeless loser you know that?" he questioned him before he handed him a rag.
"Thanks!" Naruto exclaimed with a scowl before using it to wipe his face.
"But, thank you for helping me anyway." Sasuke told him.
"No problem." Naruto said.
"How did you come to learn so much about cars anyway?" Sasuke wondered.
"Eh, what can I say I like to read. Besides, it sure comes in handy since I've had breakdowns myself. That's why I really didn't mind it too much when you asked me to help you push it up the driveway? I've had to do that quite a few times myself." He explained as Sasuke chuckled again and grinned at him.
"So how long do you think it's going to take?" he asked him.
"As soon as I pickup a new gasket for this baby not long at all. You'll be driving it again in no time. But since we just got back, do you mind if we bake our cookies first?" he asked.
"Uh,.. I'm not sure if_" Sasuke began.
"Great, I'll go ahead and meet you in the kitchen!" Naruto exclaimed before he quickly hurried back inside and slammed the door behind him.
"That guy just doesn't take no for an answer." Sasuke said with a simple shake of his head before he turned around and walked back inside.
…..
"Hey Uncle Naruto what are you doing?" Sasame asked him as she walked into the kitchen.
"I'm baking cookies." He told her.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed excitedly while widening her eyes.
"Now don't be getting any ideas, these cookies aren't for you." He told her.
"Oh. Then who are they for?" she inquired.
"They're for the kids down at the homeless shelter." He told her. "Now where's your father I need his help." He told her.
"He's in the bathroom. I can help you instead if you want me to. I don't think he really wants to help out anyway." She told him but Naruto just simply eyed her suspiciously and placed his hands upon his hips.
"Hmph! What do I look like to you an idiot!? Sorry sis but there's absolutely no way that you can pull the wool over my eyes! You don't want to help bake the cookies, you really want to eat them don't you?" he questioned her.
"No that's not true Uncle Naruto, I swear it isn't!" she exclaimed. "I really do want to help you!" she cried indignantly. "I help my mother all the time in the kitchen and I really like doing it. Besides, I think it's great that you want to help all of the kids out at the homeless shelter. Isn't that what Christmas is all about anyway?" she questioned him when suddenly he smiled warmly and affectionately at her.
"You bet it is." He told her. "I'm sorry for snapping at you Sasame. It looks like you know the true meaning of Christmas after all." He told her when all of a sudden her face lit up with excitement.
"Does that mean that I can help after all!?" she questioned him eagerly.
"You sure can, and maybe you can also do me another favor." He began.
"Sure, what is it?" she asked while she washed her hands as they both heard the toilet flush down the hallway.
"Well our church is putting on its annual Nativity. Your parents already agreed to play Mary and Joseph, so I was wondering if you wanted to play the angel and if I could use one of your old baby dolls for the baby Jesus." He told her.
"Yeah, sure!" she exclaimed excitedly before Sasuke entered the kitchen.
"What's going on here?" he wondered before catching a glimpse of the Santa hit sitting on top of Naruto's head. "What is this Mrs. Claus' kitchen?"
"Hey guess what Sasuke good news, you've been reprieved. You don't have to bake cookies after all because your daughter volunteered to do it instead." He told him.
"Oh." Sasuke replied before slowly hanging his head. "Well good, I'm glad." He said.
"What's the matter Papa? You seem a bit upset." Sasame observed.
"Yeah what's up Sasuke I thought you hated doing things with me." Naruto said.
"I don't. I lied. I was actually looking forward to baking cookies with you." Sasuke told him.
"Huh?" Naruto questioned while widening his eyes at him. "Then why did you make it seem like you weren't?" he wondered but Sasuke simply shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess I was just embarrassed to admit the truth." He told him.
"You should never be embarrassed to admit the truth." Sasame began. "Remember what Mother has always taught us? We should always tell the truth no matter what because honesty is always the best policy." She told him.
"That's right Sasuke listen to the wise words of your daughter. You and Sakura really have done a good job with raising her. She's got a good head on her shoulders and at such a young age too." Naruto said before Sasame placed her hands upon her hips.
"Hey! I'm not that young you know! After all I'm not a child anymore! In another few years I'll be driving." She told him.
"Whoa wait a minute." Sasuke began. "You've still got a little more than a few years to go, but you're right. You aren't a child anymore and you're developing into a rather fine and beautiful young lady." He told her with a grin as she smiled back at him. "I'll leave you guys alone to bake now." He said before he started to turn around.
"Hey wait Sasuke where are you going? I thought you said that you wanted to help." Naruto said.
"Nah, that's alright. I'll let you guys spend some time together. I'll go help Sakura and Hiro decorate the tree instead." He told him.
"Well alright, but we could always use an extra couple of hands if you change your mind." Naruto told him as Sasame went to get the eggs out of the refrigerator while Naruto read the recipe silently to himself and then went to the cupboard to get out the cinnamon.
"Hey Sasuke how's it going in there?" Sakura asked him while hanging the ornament of Sasame's first Christmas up onto one of the tree's branches.
"Sasame's helping Naruto so I decided to help you instead." He explained.
"Well thanks but I don't really need an awful lot of help." She told him.
"Even though I was sort of looking forward to spending time with Naruto, there is a silver lining here." He began.
"Oh really? What's that?" she asked him as Sasuke simply just grinned at her.
"I finally know what I'm going to get Naruto for Christmas, and I honestly can't think of a better present." He told her.
Well that's it for this chapter! I'm glad that you guys are able to read a Christmas story in the springtime LOL! I'm really sorry for such a long wait but yeah, I haven't been in perfect health the past few months. I have a few more Christmas stories that I'm behind on, but as soon as I'm finished with this story I will try to think of a very good Valentine's Day story for Naruto, Sasuke, and their wives.