Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Christmas Wish ❯ Chapter 1

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“No.”

 

Eyes of molten gold glanced up from an open scroll to the shinobi standing in front of the desk. Setting the scroll down, Tsunade leaned back in her chair, one perfectly manicured hand tapping a steady staccato beat onto the surface of the oak desk as she regarded the young man who dared to defy the command of the Godaime Hokage. She had been expecting the defiance since the moment she had decided on assigning this particular shinobi to the mission, however, it was still annoying to deal with it regardless of the expectation. As one infamously brilliant but lazy ninja of Konoha was known to say, "Mendokuse."

 

“I don’t believe I was making a request, Uchiha,” Tsunade said. “In fact, I’m quite sure there was nothing in my words to indicate that it was one. You've been given a mission. I expect you to complete it.”

 

Uchiha Sasuke glared at the Hokage, his eyes proud and defiant as they had ever been despite the circumstances. The circumstances being how he had turned his back on his village at the age of thirteen to join Orochimaru, a known enemy of Konoha, in his quest for power to avenge the destruction of his clan. And then there were all the actions thereafter when he decided to avenge his brother, after he learned the truth of the matter of the Uchiha massacre, by destroying Konohagakure. Those crimes alone should have had him executed on the spot once he was captured, however, even those who fall off the path into darkness have angels watching over them.

 

Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, and Haruno Sakura, the apprentice of the Hokage and one of the leading medical-nin of Konoha, and former teammates of the Uchiha had pleaded for his life. Both individuals were well-liked and loved by the village, which was why their opinions were heavily weighed into the decision. The fact that they had pleaded for Sasuke’s life said something about either the Uchiha’s ability to inspire loyalty or the two shinobis’ hearts that they could remain loyal to a comrade who turned his back on them and had on several occasions tried to kill them. Not to mention that the two had also pled the cases for the three shinobi who had accompanied the Uchihia (which really said a lot about Sakura’s loyalty since she didn’t get along with Karin at all).

 

In any case, due to the influence of Naruto and Sakura and that of the Council’s desire to maintain and retain the Bloodline Limit, Sharingan, the decision was made to allow Uchiha Sasuke to live; at least for now and under a probation period with many restrictions. One of those restrictions was that he was required to complete all missions that were assigned to him, which really wasn't a bad thing when one considered the Uchiha fortunes had been confiscated into the village’s coffers as part of his punishment. By being forced to accept missions, he would be able to save ryo which would allow him to repair the Uchiha district and build up his clan once more.

 

“Last time I checked the conditions of your probation said you had to accept all missions, Uchiha,” Tsunade continued. “For a punk who’s getting a second chance for himself and his people, you should be kissing the floor and asking how high I need you to jump.”

 

A vein ticked in the Uchiha’s neck, the only visible sign of how pissed off he was about the situation. He wouldn’t dare show any more disrespect for the Hokage than he already had. Or would he?

 

"No. I don't do Santa hats! It just doesn't fit in with my image. And there's no bloody way I'm going around jingling a bell and yelling 'Merry Christmas' either!"

 

“I believe the mission also included sitting in the Winter Garden to listen to the Christmas Wishes of the children,” the Hokage said, ignoring the man’s outburst. The fact that he had given into such a display showed how much he must hate the mission and the stress he had been under since returning to Konoha. The Uchiha was a man who liked to hold everything in, although from her own impression of the man and that of others who knew him as a boy, Tsuande was the opinion was that he was more passionate and hot-tempered then he revealed. He reminded her of a pressure cooker with the way he faced the world and it was only a matter of time before the man blew his top again (one could certainly consider deciding to destroy the village of his birth as a blow top moment).

 

“No.”

 

Tsunade stared the Uchiha down until she was sure he was uncomfortable with the power of her stare, even if he didn’t give any physical indicators of it. And that was the trouble with most high-ranking (well technically he was still a Genin until he took the exams to raise his rank) or powerful shinobi. It was always difficult to tell when you were making them nervous because they rarely gave themselves away with physical indicators (of course, Naruto was the exception to that rule, but Tsunade thought he would grow out of with age as Jiraya had). The boy was worse than Hatake Kakashi or that damn Oorchimaru; not surprising since both men had been mentors to the Uchiha, so he had probably learned how to be annoying as them by osmosis.

 

“Hn.”

 

Uh, the universal Uchiha sound that managed to convey a million different responses with one syllable. Having little experience with this, Tsunade wasn’t as well versed to interpret the sound. Sakura, she knew, would have been able to understand that single syllable and gave her a full explanation. It just showed how much her apprentice loved this arrogant brat, even though it had been years since Sakura had spent time with the man. The pink-haired kunoichi understood the Uchiha in a way that few people could ever hope to come close to, except for the Kyuubi.

 

The Hokage considered for a moment and decided that the ‘hn’ meant reluctant amusement from Sasuke. Which meant it had taken twenty-two minutes to wear him down to do what she wanted (because Kami forbid any of her ninjas actually do what their Hokage wanted without putting up some kind of fuss or arguing with her) and she had won the private bet she had made with Shiranui Genma when she had mentioned the mission to him earlier that day. The damn man had laughed so hard at the idea of it, that she thought the idiot was going to swallow the trademark senbon he always had between his teeth and she’d be forced to do an emergency procedure to remove it. It would have served him right too, for laughing at his Hokage’s ideas.

 

“Here,” she opened a drawer and took out a scroll, tossing it at him. He caught it, glancing at it, and then looking back up at her. “There’s a jutsu in there guaranteed to erase all traces of your chakra for three hour periods, so you’ll have to remember to renew the jutsu unless you want everyone to know it’s you.” Although that would be quite funny, it wouldn’t do well for the honor of the Uchiha clan to have the leader of said clan to be the laughing stock of the village.

 

“Remember to be at the Winter Garden on Friday morning. You’re dismissed.”

 

Sasuke nodded and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

"Yo,” a voice said from behind her, as Konoha’s Copy Nin entered her office through the open window behind her desk. “Are you going to tell me this big plan or am I supposed to guess?"

 

~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~

 

“It looks like we just might get a white Christmas this year after all,” Sakura said, looking up the gray skies as she paused to pull her red coat tighter. The Land of Fire was typically too warm, even in winter to get snow, but every once in a blue moon a miracle would happen with the weather around the holidays and Konoha got snow.

 

It had actually been quite a while since a holiday miracle had occurred. In fact, the last time had been the Christmas before Sasuke had left Konoha. That had been over nine years ago and all that time there had been no miracle snow. But now the Uchiha was back and it was like the weather knew and was celebrating the return of the status quo.

 

“What’s so great about snow,” said an annoying female voice; well annoying to Sakura. Although there were quite a few others who might have agreed with her, namely the females of the Rookie 9 and Tenten.

 

Some things weren't exactly the same as they had been before. Team 7 not only consisted of the original four members, but there was also Sai and Yamato as well as the bitchy loud-mouthed four-eyed redhead, a wisecracking energetic sword-wielding maniac who killed as a hobby (a hobby which was thankfully restricted now to missions and the defense of Konoha only), and a normally gentle giant unless enraged (who reminded Sakura of some green monster in one of Naruto’s comics) that had come along as a package deal with Sasuke’s return. As far as Sakura was concerned, Jugo and Suigetsu were fine even with their personality quirks. It was Karin that she could do without; all she ever did was complain or go on about how great Sasuke was or how he was her Sasuke-kun.

 

It was enough to make the pink-haired kunoichi cringe. Kami, she hoped she hadn't been that annoying and pathetic when she was younger, but she feared that she probably had been. It was no wonder Sasuke had thought her annoying and hadn't wanted her to come along when he left. That and let’s face it; she had been weak and useless, barely even good enough to be cannon fodder. And who’d want to let some weak girl follow you around and fangirling you 24/7? Karin wasn't a strong fighter, but her ability to track chakra and healing abilities made her useful, which was more then Sakura had once been.

 

Sakura had come to that conclusion shortly after Sasuke’s defection from Konoha. It had been one of many character flaws on her part that she had been determined to fix in herself; not for Sasuke (okay maybe a little), but mainly for herself so she could hold her head up high as a proud kunoichi from the Village of the Hidden Leaf. In so many ways she had accomplished that goal. She was now a Jonin, whereas once upon a time ago she had doubted that she had the strength and abilities to even be a Chuunin. She was respected for her abilities as a fighter and a medic and was mere months away from going through the tests that would decide if she had what it took to be an ANBU. Unlike her first Chuunin exam, she had no doubts on her passing (especially not with the way her shishou was training her in preparation for the event).

 

And if there had been any chance of her falling into her old fangirling habits once Sasuke had returned? Well seeing how Karin acted had cured her forever of that flaw, so there would never be a relapse of her old embarrassing and childish behavior. Truth be told, Sakura had done everything to make sure that she’d never act that way again around her beloved so she came across as being polite and aloof towards him. There was no way he would be able to call her annoying, at least not for that reason.

 

It didn't mean that her feelings were any less or that they had changed, although she was sure that Naruto and Kaskashi-sensei were speculating exactly what her feelings were for Sasuke. She, Haruno Sakura, loved Uchiha Sasuke. She had loved him since she was twelve and had gotten to know him well enough to love him for who he was, flaws and all, and not this idol she had had in her head. Oh, she had still fangirled him like crazy, but her feelings were much more than any of the other girls who had behaved the same way. That love had not been diminished by time, nor had it faltered or been destroyed by the darkness that he had let seep into his soul or the horrible things he had done because of that darkness. Sakura understood Sasuke in a way that few others could. She knew that deep inside that stoic, quiet and angry man was the hurt and lonely little boy he had once been; the little boy who had been betrayed by his brother and then later by his clan and members of the village he had grown up in.

 

But the girl that Sakura had once been had matured and learned to control her feelings. She realized back then that behaving like a fangirl had been embarrassing to herself and to the boy she loved; it had to stop and so she had learned to squelch any fangirl tendencies and control most of her emotions better (well her temper was harder to control, but considering what she had to deal with from her teammates one couldn't expect perfection there). It was this maturity and control that she presented to the world and to the man she loved. He would find nothing in her behavior to fault her. It wasn't always easy; having to put up with the redhead’s barbed comments about her person (clearly Karin wasn't stupid and could spot a rival at a hundred paces) and the Sasuke-kun Fan Club who acted like rabid dogs towards any female who was near their idol (and happened to be one of the few things that Sakura and Karin agreed to hate together and work as teammates to deal with). Not that Sakura wasn't tempted to lose her temper a few times and just might if she was pushed too far. She wasn't a saint or anything and the fact that she hadn't exploded yet was something that Tsuande-shishou had complimented her once (Tsunade being fully aware of her pupil’s feelings and possessing a similar temperament to understand that her student’s control bordered on sainthood).

 

Yet in the end, all that mattered was Sasuke’s happiness and what he wanted. That was what love was all about. And should there come a day when a woman walked into his life and give him the happiness he deserved…? It would hurt more than any words could describe, but she would keep a smile on her face and be happy for him. Because nothing mattered more to her than him and for today that meant accepting and putting up with the additional teammates he had brought back with him. Although some days it was awfully hard, especially when Kaskashi and Yamaoto had decided that the new Team 7 needed to hang out more and bond outside of training (yet conveniently both men had yet to appear to bond with them even though they should be setting an example as the team's leaders).

 

“The Land of Fire rarely gets snow, Karin,” Sakura explained, reminding herself that this was her teammate and there had to be some good in the other kunoichi if Sasuke and shishou had accepted her. Besides Karin was from the Uzumaki clan and as a relative of Naruto, however distant, there just had to be something decent about the woman. Even if sometimes it seemed like you needed a magnifying glass and pack of ninken to find it.

 

“The few times it happens is around Christmas, so people like to think of it as a miracle. And… well, it’s really been a long time since we’ve gotten snow and it just doesn’t seem like the holidays without it.”

 

“So, what,” retorted Karin, being even more disagreeable than usual as she continued to suck on what had to be the seventh candy cane that day since Team 7 had met up (Sakura suspected that the other kunoichi was doing in hopes that Sasuke would see her and get another idea about her sucking habits, which only served to irritate the pink-haired kunoichi). It probably had something to do with the fact that she hadn’t seen Sasuke for a whole ten hours. He was in the village, as far as they all knew, working on some D-class mission but nobody had seen him. “Christmas still happens with or without some dumb snow.”

 

“Never mind,” Sakura said. Either the redhead was deliberately being dense or she was being a bitch from Sasuke-withdrawal.

 

“I believe Ugly was trying to make the point that people have more Christmas spirit when it snows,” Sai said, glancing up from the book he was reading. How he and Kaskashi-sensei managed to read and walk without tripping or bumping into things was beyond her understanding. “I’ve observed that most Christmas illustrations contain snow which strengthens the concept that it is a vital part of the Christmas holidays for people to feel like it is Christmas. Then there is the fact that its rarity of it here and the timing of its occurrence makes snow seem like a miracle caused by the holiday itself. However, because Christmas is about good cheer and giving I suppose it’s understandable why you would find it difficult to understand her meaning, Fire Crotch.”

 

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME,” Karin screeched in outrage at the nickname. The others, however, didn’t see why she was getting bent out of shape considering Fire Crotch was one of the nicer nicknames that Sai had come up with for her since they had met. Although it was clear his reading material was influencing his thought process since a lot of nicknames he'd been trying out were rather raunchy if you thought about it.

 

“Fire Crotch,” Sai repeated, a rare and true smile gracing his lips as he appeared to be unaffected by the redhead's display of temper. Then again, having been on the wrong end of Sakura’s temper probably made Karin’s seem tame in comparison; after all, Karin didn’t have the ability to punch you through a few walls or remove body parts with chakra scalpels.

 

"How would you like me to stick this candy cane where the sun don't shine?" Karin threatened, waving said candy cane at him.

 

“That would be very painful and masochistic,” Sai replied cheerfully. “While I appreciate your attempts at flirting, I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to fulfill your sadistic sexual fetishes as I am currently being wooe by an intelligent and sexually attractive woman.”

 

“WHY YOU-”

 

“Yo.”

 

Sai was saved from an untimely demise by the timely arrival of Konoha's infamous Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.

 

“Kakashi-sensei where have you been,” asked Sakura. “I thought the whole point of today was for Team 7 to spend some bonding time together. ALL of Team 7. The only exception was Yamato-sensei and Sasuke because they have missions to complete. You’re four hours late!”

 

Which was a new record, even for the notoriously late Copy Ninja.

 

“Yes well, I fully attended to arrive at the meeting place on time but on my way, I was waylaid by a little girl who needed assistance retrieving her Pikachu from a tree…”

 

“Geez, Kakashi-sensei if you’re going to lie at least come up with something believable,” Naruto complained. “That one’s so lame.”

 

“What’s a Pikachu,” she heard Suigetsu whisper to Sai and Jugo, although not their responses.

 

“Anyways, Sakura-chan your help is needed at the Winter Garden right away,” the Copy Nin said.

 

“Did one of the kids get hurt,” she asked, her voice filled with concerned. Since the Winter Garden had just opened today, it was guaranteed to be packed with kids and their parents. Children waiting in line, particularly young children, tended to get bored and antsy which led to horseplay, which was often a little rough and resulted in injuries occurring.

 

“Well no, not exactly,” answered Kakashi. “The thing is this year’s Santa is a bit intimidating, so the kids are afraid to go sit on his lap. It would help if they saw someone they trusted to sit on his lap without getting stabbed with a candy cane. You’re well known and liked by the children since you help out at the children's hospital. They’ll trust you.”

 

“Probably because she’s no bigger than they are,” said Karin, which made Sakura’s fingers twitch as she held back the urge to clench them in a fist and punch her teammate. It was true that Sakura wasn’t tall; she was the shortest member of their team at 5’4”. However just because she was short didn’t mean anyone would mistake her for being a kid; kids didn’t have her kind of figure. She was no Tsuande or Ino, but she had filled out rather nicely over the years and no one looking at her would think child.

 

“Well it’s been a while since I’ve sat on Santa’s lap, but okay I’ll help,” the pink-haired kunoichi said.

 

~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~*=*~

 

At the Winter Garden, there was a long line of children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap and talk to him. Despite having arrived a few hours earlier, the ‘jolly, old’ man had yet to have a single child grace his lap and the line continued to grow longer. The reason for this might have had something to do with the fact that the man in the red suit had an intimidating aura. Despite the best efforts of Tenten, who had been assigned the mission of being Santa’s elf that day, she had been unable to coax a single child to come sit on his lap. She knew all it took was one child to break the ice, but none of them were brave enough to face what was surely the Grinch disguised as Santa.

 

Not that said she could blame the kids. Whoever the Godaime had suckered or punished into being Santa this year, he was (there was no way of knowing who it was since 1) he was using a jutsu that concealed chakra identification and 2) she couldn’t rip off the beard since it wasn’t a costume but a Henge no Jutsu) was definitely not happy about it and the kids were getting that loud and clear. If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew for a fact that her boyfriend Neji was off training with their teammate, Lee, she would have suspected it was him because there was no doubt in her mind that the Hyuuga genius would be giving up dark vibes if he had been stuck in the role of Santa (although she was sure he would have appreciated seeing her in the short skirt and tights that were required of her elf costume).

 

The Weapons Expert glanced over her shoulder at Santa, who was practically glowering at the crowd of children. Sheesh, hadn’t anybody reminded him that Santa was supposed to be jolly?

 

And the answer to that question was yes, but Uchiha Sasuke was finding it quite hard to be jolly when he was pretending to be an old, fat guy, who he found to be a questionable pedophilic thief. Well, consider it. The man kept watch over kids all year long like a stalker as if that didn’t scream pedophile, and then he broke into their house once a year.

 

He kept reminding himself that no matter how much he found this ‘mission’ beneath him, it was just one more stepping stone in gaining acceptance and standing in his village and rebuilding the Uchiha clan once more. It was true he could have found another Hidden Village, who would have accepted him just to have the Sharingan and because he was a powerful ninja, yet he hadn’t chosen that path. After everything that he had done, that his clan had done, it seemed only fitting that he repent and rebuild the clan in the place where it was destroyed and lost its honor in the first place. That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t get frustrated or annoyed with being assigned a pathetic D-rank mission; however, he wasn’t about to give up (although this particular mission was definitely pushing his limits), because a Uchiha did not back down, nor did he fail.

 

It also annoyed him that some of the things he had counted on upon being the same weren’t. He knew that change was inevitable and there had been some changes he had expected, but then there were some that had caught him off guard. For example, he had expected that Naruto would get stronger over the years and still be the same idealistic idiot who didn’t always think things through before speaking or notice certain things that should be obvious. The Kyuubi hadn’t failed Sasuke much in his expectations, although he had thought it would take another couple of years before Naruto realized that Hyuuga Hinata was head over heels in love with him. Yet he had come back to find that not only did Naruto know, but that he was also dating the Hyuuga heiress. Then again it was kinda hard for even that dobe to not get the hint when Hinata, coached by friends in confidence, had kissed the Kyuubi one day which was in action that even Naruto couldn't ignore the unspoken meaning to (or at least that’s what he learned from Ino, who was the village gossip who had been happy to help an old friend and former crush catch on village news).

 

He had expected that his place on Team 7 would be replaced; unless it was needed, shinobi typically worked in 3-man cells along with a team leader and when he had left to get stronger and kill his brother, he had left them at a disadvantage. It was logical that they fill his place, although that didn’t mean he was thrilled when he had learned of it. Not that he let it show, his mind had been on his goal then. He also hadn’t been thrilled to find that his replacement was a physically similar albeit paler albino version of himself.

 

Yet those weren’t changes that bothered him a whole lot. The one change that had gotten to him was Sakura. The girl he had left on a bench near the gates of Konoha was nothing like the woman who was his teammate today. It was more than the differences in her strength and abilities; it was surprising, but deep down he had always known that she had it in her. She had a will of steel that none could hope to bend once she had set her mind. That was one thing about her that had not changed, while nearly everything else had.

 

The old Sakura had called him Sasuke-kun. She had tagged along behind him, just so she could be near him (which often meant that Naruto was with them too as the dobe had a huge crush on her when they were younger). She would chatter on about anything and everything in hopes that he’d respond. It had annoyed him, although after she had become his teammate, he had learned to become more tolerant of the chatter and attention. He found it annoyed him more now that he didn’t even seem to be on her radar. And while he didn’t want her to go back to being annoying like Karin, he was starting to get pissed off that she was so indifferent.

 

Within months of returning, he found he was obsessed with those changes in her as much as he was obtaining his new goals in life. She treated him more like he was some acquaintance or a little better than that since they were teammates again. What had happened to her claims of loving him and doing anything for him? He had often thought back on the night he had left. He hadn’t doubted the sincerity of her words, although he had refused to let them tie him to a place that he felt was holding him back from his true potential. Her love had been the one thing he thought could be counted upon; something that was eternal and unchanging.

 

Everything else in his world could change and go to hell, but her feelings for him were supposed to be the same. Because he had realized years after that night, that he had cared about her more than a friend or teammate. He wasn’t sure if those feelings were love or if he was even capable of the emotion anymore after everything that had happened in his childhood; but if there was anyone he could love it was her. She was the one person in the world besides Naruto and Kakashi, who really knew and accepted him and his flaws. He wanted her love again and he wanted her as a man.

 

Yet it seemed like her love was something he no longer possessed and that bothered him a helluva lot more than playing Santa for the holidays.

 

“Oh look, kids, it’s Sakura-chan.”

 

Sasuke’s head shot up at Tenten’s words, wondering if this mission could get any worse when he saw the rest of his team (except for Yamato). It didn’t matter that they were unable to recognize him physically or by his chakra which was hidden by the Hokage’s jutsu (the only reason he wasn’t plotting her death and thus speeding up Naruto’s inauguration as the Rokudaime Hokage). However, if there was anyone who would be able to figure out who Santa was, it was the people in this group (or a Hyuuga and Kami knows that Hyuuga bastard, Neji would be smirking over Sasuke’s predicament).

 

“Sakura-onee-chan, Sakura-onee-chan, Santa is evil,” one little girl cried, as a group of little kids gathered around the kunoichi while the rest of the team moved back out of the way of the pattering of little feet in snow boots. Well, that was taking things a little bit far in Sasuke’s opinion; just because he wasn’t happy or comfortable about the situation didn’t make him an evil Santa. “He’s not jolly at all!”

 

“Santa’s not evil, he’s just stressed out,” Sakura said, ruffling the little girl’s hair and making Sasuke wonder if that Hokage-baa-chan had lied to him and told her apprentice about his mission. “There are so many people who need him this year after everything that’s happened. It’s not that he’s not happy to see any of you, he’s just really tired.”

 

“I don’t know,” said another child doubtfully, glancing at Sasuke as if he was the reincarnation of Orochimaru or Kabuto. “He doesn’t look nice.”

 

“Tell you what,” Sakura replied, “how about I go sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what I want for Christmas? Then you guys can see Santa’s not evil and go take your turns.”

 

The children responded by trying to stop her from that action, clearly wanting to protect their beloved Sakura-onee-chan from the evil Santa. Yet with patience and reassuring words, she calmed them of their fears and reminded them that she was quite capable of handling Santa if he really was evil. She was, after all, a Jonin and the Hokage’s apprentice, and therefore strong enough to deal with him (which made him silently snort because as strong as she was, he doubted that Sakura could defeat him). Finally, the children agreed to the plan.

 

Sakura clearly had a knack for dealing with children; she had the patience to deal with them and the kind of serenity to calm down their fears or leash the wildest child. It was another facet of the woman that he had never considered before, but now seeing it made him think. He knew he wanted her body. He knew that he wanted her love again. And now, he thought, he knew he wanted her to be the mother of his children and the future of his clan. Sakura would be a good mother; loving and kind like his mother, but strong enough that if he behaved like his father, Uchiha Fugaku, to put him in his place and ensure that he was a better father this his ever was to him.

 

However, his thoughts didn’t remain long on future children as she approached him; instead, they turned towards what had to be done to create those children and the other changes that time had wrought in his Sakura. The Sakura of the past hadn’t yet begun the process of change that would turn a girl into a woman. The Sakura of today couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, but all woman. There were other women with bigger breasts or longer legs or other features that were attractive, yet in his mind, the woman he had chosen was perfect for him. He also noticed that there were several men who were watching what was his with appreciation and it strained his control to refrain from snarling at them.

 

“Hi Santa,” Sakura said, with a big bright smile on her face. A smile that he wouldn’t have gotten if he had been in his own form; usually all he got were little half-smiles from her now. It was like being offered an onigiri without nori.

 

‘Smile’ she mouthed at him as she sat down on his lap as if she did it every day. He found it hard to smile or even think past the fact that she was sitting on his lap. Her ass (which he had noticed, as soon as he returned, was the sexiest ass in all of Konoha) was nearly brushing his crotch; it was probably best that it didn’t because his body, which was usually under his control, didn’t listen very well when she was close to her or if he thought about her in a sexual manner. Just being this close to her, aroused him; he was only lucky that the Santa henge no justsu helped hide that fact from her. She looked up at him expectantly and it took him a minute to realize what she wanted.

 

“Hello Sakura, have you been a good girl this year?” Somehow this Santa Claus mission wasn’t turning out to be so bad.

 

“Well I’d like to think so Santa,” she replied, rewarding him with another smile, “but there have been times when I haven’t been so good.”

 

“Like when?” Somehow he didn’t think the Santa Claus conversation was supposed to be so… stimulating. Clearly, Kakashi was rubbing off if he was finding something perverted by this conversation. Or maybe it was just his reaction to Sakura. “If you tell me Sakura, I may be able to overlook your lapses in goodness.”

 

She seemed to be considering his words. He didn’t actually think she’d tell him. This was only to help reassure the kids so they’d be able to approach and talk to him or Santa rather. Besides she had no way of knowing which shinobi was playing Santa this year, so why risk saying anything to someone who might be the village gossip.

 

“Well…” she hesitated and then seemed to decide ‘the hell with it’ and continued on. “A few weeks ago, my teammate was really pissing me off with the way she was clinging onto and cooing on our other teammate. And I don’t think he really liked it either since he pulled away from her. Anyways… she was about to try grabbing his arm again and well… I focused a little chakra in my foot and stomped the ground so that it caused a crack in the sidewalk and made her trip.”

 

Sasuke’s eyes widened in shock. He had remembered that incident because Karin had went crashing into the ground, although she had enough reaction time to shield her face, the palms of her hand and her knees had been scratched up. The redhead had instantly blamed Sakura for the whole thing, saying she had sensed a spike in the pink-haired kunoichi’s chakra. Sakura had denied it and Naruto had backed her up saying that she had whacked him on the back of the head for saying something perverted. At the time, Sasuke had accepted their explanation since Naruto had been saying perverted shit since they were kids, that pissed off Sakura. It had never occurred to him that Naruto would cover for Sakura like that, but then again why shouldn’t he? They had been teammates since they were eleven and Naruto saw Sakura more as his family than Karin who actually had a blood connection to the Kyuubi.

 

“That was very naughty of you, Sakura,” he said. “Is there anything else you want to confess?”

 

“Well there is one more thing,” she said after a moment. “A couple of months ago, I punched one of my teammates.”

 

“And why did you do that?”

 

“Well we were at the club dancing and he slipped his hand under my skirt to grab my butt.”

 

“He what?” His tone took on that quiet and deadly tone that occurred when he was seriously pissed off. She looked startled for a moment and for a moment he panicked that she was going to figure out it was him since there weren’t a whole lot of people in her world that spoke like that, but then it seemed like she brushed off the possibility.

 

“Oh, it really wasn’t Sai’s fault. He was part of ROOT.” Which explained why he was pretty much an emotionless and socially backward asshole (which said a lot coming from him since he knew he was well aware of his own flaws) although according to Naruto, the guy was actually getting better. “So, he’s not exactly socially advanced. Anyways he read in a book that grabbing a girl’s butt was a sign of affection, so he was trying to be affectionate. After I punched him, he realized that the book he was reading wasn’t exactly a good source to get information.”

 

“And what book was that?”

 

“Icha Icha Paradise. Kakashi-sensei loaned it to him, which is why my other bad behavior of the year was hitting Kakashi-sensei for loaning Sai the book.”

 

Sasuke was of the mind to beat the crap out of both of him, but he kept that fact to himself otherwise Sakura would be questioning who Santa really was. Besides Sakura had proven she was capable of handling the situation on her own.

 

“Well I suppose you can be forgiven for those lapses in good behavior,” he said, trying to keep in character of a Santa so she would smile at him again. “So, what do you want this year, Sakura?

 

The kunoichi became silent, the smile on her face fading a bit, as she thought. It surprised him since he figured she’d give him a silly little request for the benefit of the kids. Yet it seemed she was really thinking about the question before she responded. “All I want is for the one I love to be happy,” she answered.

 

The one she loved? Who the hell did she love and where could he find him to end his existence?

 

“What about you,” he inquired. “Don’t you want something for yourself? Don’t you want to be happy too?”

 

“If he’s happy, then I can be happy. He…” there was hesitation as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to reveal to someone she didn’t even know the true identity of. “He hasn’t had an easy life since he was a kid and he’s done some bad things in the past. But he’s so sad and lonely inside. Even though there are so many people around him, who care about him… he’s still lonely. He doesn’t deserve what’s happened to him. I can’t change the past for him, so all I can hope for is for his future to be happy. All that matters is his happiness.”

 

Was… was she talking about him? Was Sakura still in love with him?

 

“You… you must really love him a lot.”

 

“I do.” Her eyes were shimmering and he thought she might cry. “I think I’ve loved him forever.”

 

Realization hit him. She was talking about him. Sakura’s feelings hadn’t changed and she still loved him. The only thing that had changed between then and now was that she had learned to hide her feelings.

 

“Hey, Sakura! Santa!” They both turned their heads toward the sound of Ino’s voice and wondered when the blonde has arrived. “Look up!”

 

In unison they both looked up saw a sprig of mistletoe hanging above Santa’s chair. Sasuke hadn’t noticed it there before when he had first arrived; actually, he was pretty sure it hadn’t been there before, but he found he really didn’t give a damn how it got there. He knew what it meant to be beneath the mistletoe with another person and he was finding this was one Christmas tradition he could get behind; although he would have rather his first kiss with Sakura be in his own form, he’d take what he could get now. He glanced back at her and found that her cheeks had turned a faint pink which was steadily becoming darker as Naruto and few others were chanting, including some of the kids, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

 

“Well I guess we can’t break Christmas tradition,” he remarked, watching as her cheeks darkened from pink to red. She was embarrassed, but she still nodded before tilting her face up towards him. He leaned down and his lips brushed against hers. It was a bit strange since he was currently sporting a white beard and mustache, but strange or not, the moment their lips touched he felt something hot flare between them. It had startled her as well because he had felt her lips part in surprise. He took advantage of the moment to deepen the kiss and slide his tongue into her mouth, his tongue dancing with hers. He heard her moan and felt a smug sense of satisfaction at how she responded to him, even though she didn't know it was him. It proved that she was his woman. Everything around them seemed to fade into the distance as the only thing that mattered was this woman.

 

And then the moment was interrupted by a loud screech from a certain redhead. Sakura broke off from the kiss, her face an even brighter shade of red as she jumped off his lap. It was that moment the Uchiha debated on whether he should try killing Karin. Again. He was pretty sure Naruto wouldn’t mind the loss of this particular relative.

 

He watched as Sakura quickly moved back to stand with Team 7, since their actions had clearly proved to the children that Santa was definitely not evil. As the first child approached to sit on his lap, he watched as his team left and the sound of Karin’s voice carry over everyone else’s to ask, "How could you French-kiss SANTA?! Isn't there some law against that?!"

 

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Sakura stepped out of the shower, briskly using a towel to remove the excess water from her hair before she wrapped it around her body. She moved to the sink, leaning over it to wipe the steam off the mirror so she could stare at her reflection. “What were you thinking,” she asked herself. “French-kissing Santa? Karin’s right there is definitely something wrong with that.”

 

‘But damn Santa sure could kiss,’ remarked Inner Sakura.

 

“Shut up,” she said, although she had to admit her inner-self wasn’t wrong. Just the thought of the kiss sent a shiver down her spine. “It was still wrong. You can’t just French kiss Santa, especially with all those kids and adults watching.”

 

And if that wasn’t wrong, she had enjoyed the kiss. A kiss from a man who wasn’t Sasuke. And if that wasn’t bad enough, damn it, it had been her first kiss and it had been to an old man. Okay, Santa’s true form was probably a lot younger than that of the jolly old man. But still… she felt incredibly guilty of enjoying that kiss when she loved Sasuke. The Uchiha might never return those feelings and they might not ever have a relationship outside of being teammates, but she still felt like she had cheated on him.

 

Sighing, she walked out of her bathroom and into her darkened bedroom and froze as she sensed that someone was in her room. She couldn’t sense the person’s chakra, but she just knew that there was someone in the room. And of course, this had to happen when she had nothing on besides a towel and no weapon to speak of, not that she couldn’t defend herself without one, but she’d feel a lot better if she had a kunai in her hand. There had to be something she could use.

 

She reached to her right and grabbed the first thing that she touched, which unfortunately was just a teddy bear.

 

‘Beggers can’t be choosers,’ chirped Inner Sakura ‘Tsunade-shishou always said to keep a weapon nearby. I guess this is what she meant.’

 

Well, now she knew. She’d just have to make the best of the situation.

 

"Okay! Who's in my room? I have a teddy bear and I'm not afraid to use it!"

 

“Sakura.”

 

The kunoichi froze as she recognized the voice as belonging to the Santa at the Winter Garden. The lamp on her nightstand clicked on and she saw him standing there and watching her.

 

“Okay, I don’t know who you think you are but stalking is illegal around here, buddy,” she said angrily, shaking the teddy bear in front of her. “Now you can either leave now of your free will or in pieces.”

 

He kept watching her and those two black button eyes of Santa held a heat in them that should have sent her running in the opposite direction or at least aiming a chakra-enhanced punch at his jolly face. Yet she just stood there and suddenly she began to sense something or rather someone who wasn’t even there. Her eyes widened as the puzzle pieces connected so that she knew even before he transformed back.

 

“Sasuke…”

 

“You used to call me Sasuke-kun.”

 

She glanced away, unable to meet his eyes now. “Some things change.”

 

“And some don’t,” he said, suddenly standing in front of her. She had forgotten how fast he could be when he wanted. His hand touched her face, turning it so she was looking at him once more. “You still love me. Don’t deny it. You said as much today.”

 

“So, what if I do,” she asked defiantly. Defiance was all she had left. She had been content to love him from the shadows, and quite frankly she hadn’t wanted to know the sting of rejection as she had when she had first offered her love to him. She didn’t think he would be cruel about it because even if he didn’t love her, they were teammates so he had some care for her. But she still didn’t want to live through another rejection.

 

“I want your love.”

 

Sakura stared at him, shock filling her eyes. He didn’t just say what he had, had he? ‘Shannaro! He did,’ screamed Inner Sakura, who was currently doing cartwheels in her head in joy.

 

“You… Do…” she was still too stunned to even finish any of her sentences, but he seemed to understand what she wanted to know.

 

“I want your love, Sakura,” he repeated. “I don’t know if I love you. I’m not even sure that I know how to love anymore, but if I was going to love anybody it would be you. I want you.” He paused, which was probably best for both of them since this was the first time he had ever been so open with her before. “Say it.”

 

And because she knew him, she knew what he wanted from her.

 

“I love you, Sasuke-kun.”

 

His lips curved up into a smile. It wasn’t a gentle smile. She wasn’t sure he was capable of those kinds of smiles, or at least not yet. No, it was an arrogant and knowing smile, because he was so sure of himself and now of her too.

 

“You’re MINE. And no one and NOTHING is going to come between us,” he said, causing a thrill to go through her because this what she had always wanted. It seemed too good to be true; like a dream, one she never wanted to wake up from. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

 

‘Oh yes,’ said Inner Sakura and outer Sakura agreed as she felt the first brush of his lips against her. The heat flared between them once more; it made her feel like an idiot that she hadn’t realized it before. There was no man but Sasuke who could make her feel this way. It was only him and had always been.

 

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Outside Sakura’s apartment building in various hiding spots, such as trees and bushes, was a rather large group of people, who were very interested to see what was happening through the kunoichi’s bedroom window. It was only lucky for them that the kunoichi hadn’t remembered to close the blinds before she had gone to take her shower, although she would have surely have done so before dressing if she hadn’t been interrupted by her unexpected guest. They all had an invested interest in the events unfolding.

 

“Be brave Lee,” whispered Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey to his protégé. “A brave and great man is at his best when he is able to step aside for rival who will make his love the happiest. I know this is tough, but you will get through this. There is nothing more touching and breathtakingly beautiful as your first broken heart.”

 

“Gai-sensei,” his student whispered back, eyes watering as he tried to hold back tears manfully.

 

“Stuff it you two,” the Hokage ordered as she used binoculars to get a better view of what was happening. “I think he just said he loved her.”

 

“No, he said if he was going to love anybody, then it was going to be Sakura-chan,” corrected the Copy Ninja. The Hokage was heard to mutter something about the damn Sharingan before hissing at a few others (namely Karin and Ino; Karin was crying about losing her Sasuke-kun to some pink-haired ho which had pissed off said ‘ho’s’ best friend) to shut their traps before they all got caught

 

“This is awkward. It is awkward, right?” said Tenten, glancing at the window and then at the others. “I mean, here we are on a Friday night, hunched behind a bush and watching a couple make-out. Either we need a life desperately, or we have hentai-tendencies and should seek professional help!”

 

“If you felt that way, then we should have never have come,” replied her boyfriend, who was leaning against a tree and looking anywhere but the window. He had only come because Tenten and his teammates had dragged him along.

 

“And miss finding out of Tsuande-sama’s plan worked,” Tenten replied. “I don’t think so. Now hurry up and use the Byakugan, Neji. Gai-sensei stole my binoculars and I wanna know what’s happening.”

 

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Final Thought from Sasuke:

MY Sakura…

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was written a few years ago and has since been revised and edited. I've gone over it a few times, but it's still possible that I missed a few things, so please excuse the mistakes, and give me a head's up so I can go back and fix them. This story was inspired by challenges that I found on Destiny's Gateway Romance Fanfiction Archive

The ones I used were:

One Hour Challenges 118, 177, 110, 98, 5, 39, 122, 161

And if you're curious the peeping Toms were Tsunade, Shizune, the Rookie 9 group (excluding Sakura and Sasuke, of course), Team Gai and their teachers although of course, not everyone spoke during the scene being as they were busy being nosy.

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Mendokuse – Shikamaru’s catch phrase. A rather rude way to say ‘How troublesome.”

Jinchuriki – literally the term means the “power of human sacrifice”; the term refers to the human vessels of a tailed-beast

Kyuubi – nine-tailed fox

ryo – the currency of the Naruto world.

Kami – god

ninken – refers to ninja dogs

kunoichi - female ninja

-shishou - teacher/mentor

-onee-chan – a term to refer to an older sister or an older female.

hitai-ate - the forehead protector worn by nins

baa-chan - Naruto's way of referring to Tsunade which basically means grandma or old lady; Sasuke has picked up Naruto's bad manners in this

dobe – idiot or dead last; Sasuke’s term for referring to Naruto

senbon – metal needles with a point at both ends which are often used for medical purposes although a ninja with good aim and proper medical knowledge could use them in battle incapacitate or even kill their target.

onigiri – riceball; one of Sasuke’s favorite foods

nori – edible dried seaweed that is often used to wrap riceballs

Shannaro - This phrase has no literal meaning, but is usually translated as "Hell yeah!", "Hell no!", or "Damn it!” depending on the situation and a catch phrase for Sakura

hentai – pervert or perverted

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Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Naruto or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Kishimoto Masashi and anyone else he says has rights to it.