CHRISTMAS LISTS FOR DUMMIES: A GUIDE TO GIVING THE PERFECT GIFT

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: PG-13 for Naruto's potty-mouth

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto and it's wonderful characters and storyline. I'm just a lowly fangirl whose brain has been eaten by this awesome manga and I'm finally giving in to my obsession. I'm in no way making any money off of this.

PAIRINGS: SasuNaru, mentions of KakaIru, SakuLee, KibaHina, ShikaIno. Yes, there is yaoi in this, flamers please go away and keep your opinions to yourself.

SUMMARY: Naruto prides himself on being the best gift giver at Christmas. But when it comes to giving his best friend (and secret crush) Sasuke a gift, he hits a serious speed bump. Will he find the perfect gift in time? Or will he realize that the best gifts don't necessarily have to be wrapped?

AUTHORS NOTE: Okay, this is my first try at a Naruto fic so please be gentle if I get some things wrong (unless it's a big mistake then criticize away). It's obviously a Christmas fic so expect some fluff and a happy ending. I will be updating this once a week up until Christmas day/week when it'll be finished. Enjoy.

STEP ONE: MAKE A LIST OF PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET GIFTS FOR

Naruto Uzumaki loved Christmas.

It was without a doubt his favorite holiday. He loved it even more then Halloween where he could eat loads of candy and play tons of pranks. There were several reasons he enjoyed this holiday.

The first reason was that the villagers tended to be in a more forgiving mood around this time of year. Thanks to the Christmas spirit, he was scowled at a little less then usual. In his book, any day that caused that was great.

The other reasons he loved Christmas all ranged from how pretty the village looked when it was decorated with lights to being able to make Christmas cookies with Iruka on Christmas Eve. Like everyone, he also enjoyed getting gifts, even if it was usually just Iruka or Sakura giving him one.

While he enjoyed getting gifts, it was giving gifts that was his favorite thing to do. Knowing that there was someone who actually appreciated something that HE had given made him feel happy. So he made it a point to give presents to anyone he considered a friend, even if they didn't have a present for him. Being a ninja, he wasn't always present in Konoha to give his friends gifts but this year Tsunade had decided to make sure every ninja was home for Christmas week if possible. So he would finally be able to show off his gift giving skills.

Yes, he was a great gift giver. He made sure that each and every present he gave was suited to the person he was giving it too and prided himself in the fact that the gifts were usually thoughtful and useful at times. Sakura had loved the cherry blossom pendent he had given her for her eighteenth birthday and wore it very often. Iruka still used the dolphin coffee cup he had given him when he was younger.

Since every one of his friends was going to be here this year he was going to have quite a lot of gifts to get. The blonde grinned; he was definitely up to the challenge. He sat at the table in his apartment and started to make a list of who he needed to buy a present for. When he was done, he looked over the list critically making sure he didn't miss anyone.

"All right, I need a gift for Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Neji, Hinata, Lee, Kiba, Gaara, Temari, Tsunade-baba, Konahamaru, and Jiraiya-sensei," he muttered to himself. Then he grinned. "Piece of cake!"

'This is going to be the best Christmas!' he thought with glee.

AUTHORS NOTE: Before anyone asks, no, this isn't an AU, and Sasuke being there despite him going nuts in the manga will be explained next chapter. Please review.