MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Phew. This took me forever to write. It is just after midnight for me and I have just finished a bit too late. Hopefully, most of you will still be asleep dreaming of sugarplums. I am a little sad to see this story end, but I am more happy to see it finished (at least until the sequel).

Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and to everyone who ever took a peek at my stories! You all make me so happy. I'm honored by your taking the time to ready the stories that I dream up.

12 Drummers Drumming

~*G*O*L*D*E*N*~

Sasuke shot awake. Her heart was racing. She looked around. Monkeys! Monkeys with drums! What was going on! Where was she! Monkeys? Really?

"NAAAARUTO!"

Said man pranced happily into the room and dived onto the bed next to Sasuke. "MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY TRUE LOVE!"

"On the 12th day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me,

Twelve Drummers Drumming!"

Sasuke could barely hear him over the sound of the drums, but she was fairly certain that whatever he had said could not save him from being thrown out the window! She reached to grab the large encyclopedia she kept by her bed to bash Naruto on the head with … only to find it not there. In fact, there was nothing there. Where was her nightstand?

She looked to her side to find that herself in unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she? BoomBoom This was Naruto's apartment. BoomBOomBaNg Why was she …BANGbooM … ugh, she could not think with all the noise!

"NARUTO, TURN OFF THE DRUMS!" With that, she dumped Naruto off the edge of the bed. She jumped up and grabbed the nearest monkey, throwing it across the room towards another monkey. The next few minutes would be forever known as the great monkey massacre of 2010.

Naruto lay traumatized on the floor amongst a sea of fur and metal gears. "..suke … hold on … .stay back … it was a.a.a.a j..ke …"

"Na~aru~utoooo …" Sasuke sang sweetly.

" …"

The adrenaline from her rampage was wearing off, leaving Sasuke surprisingly awake and clear-headed. Suddenly, she was able to remember why it was she was in Naruto's apartment.

Last night after having to face her uncle, she had come looking for Naruto. After the initial shock of finding him in his apartment covered in bubbles, Sasuke had remembered everything that had happened at her apartment, which made her have a sad face that Naurto unfortunately spotted.

After a lot of coaxing on his part, he had finally gotten the gist of the story out of her although he knew there was something that she was hiding. When she was finished explaining, Naruto simply said, "Can you help me clean up this mess?"

Sasuke frowned. That was all he had to say? She scowled for a moment longer before deciding that she did not really mind his reaction. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how out of character it was for him, which probably meant he had something up his sleeve. "Sure," she mumbled finally.

They cleaned in silence for a while, occasionally glancing at each other. It took forever for them to clean up the mess. It felt even longer with the silence, but eventually they got everything bubble free.

"Look at that," Naruto said strangely calm.

"What?" Sasuke asked confused.

"After cleaning up all the mess, it looks even better than before," he continued softly. "I'm just like that."

"Huh? Naruto?"

"Shh … just listen … my life was pretty good when I was a young guy, but then became a huge mess. It seemed like it could never be clean again, but with a little help from Jiraiya, I think I became an even better person than I was before everything bad happened.

"I don't know all the messy things that happened in your past, but even the dirtiest pasts can be cleaned with a little work. Let me help you!" His smile was so bright after that.

Sasuke had been stunned. The warm feeling she had received from his words yesterday was the only thing stopping her from inflicting serious bodily harm to him in the present.

Deep breath.

"This better be the last stupid prank you have planned for the holidays or you won't make it to 2011. Got it?" Sasuke growled.

"*gulp* Yes, I promise," he said pathetically. He smiled carefully. "Would you like breakfast now ?" he asked cautiously.

Sasuke smiled back at him. "Coffee?"

Naruto chuckled. "Of course."

Sasuke held out her hand to Naruto. Naruto grabbed it and pulled himself up. They walked hand in hand to the Naruto's small dining room, where Naruto had set up a beautiful Christmas breakfast.

"Sometimes I still have trouble believing you can actually cook well," Sasuke commented absently.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped. "I am a great chef!"

"Uh huh," she replied skeptically. "And, how many things did you burn or blow up before you became a good chef?"

"Eh hehe … nothing … important," Naruto mumbled.

"Sure. I'll just ask Jiraiya when he gets back in January," she teased.

Naruto just pouted at that. "Just enjoy your food!" he huffed.

With a gentle smile, Sasuke picked up her fork and began eating the pancakes set out for her. It was nice having someone there when you woke up and someone to eat breakfast with.

Shortly after she and Naruto had finished cleaning the apartment, some of their friends came over and they had danced to Christmas music, eaten tons of Christmas goodies, and watched a bunch of Christmas movies. Despite there not being that many people as most of their friends had already gone home for Christmas, it was a great party.

After everyone else had gone home, Sasuke and Naruto sat cuddled on the couch watching some lifetime Christmas movie. Sasuke could not really remember the end of the movie, so she figured she must have fallen asleep sometime in the middle. Naruto must have put her in his bed sometime in the middle of the night. She was even more surprised to see he had time to make breakfast for them. He probably did not even get as much sleep as she did and she only got maybe four hours.

"MM … ginger," Sasuke said around a mouthful of pancake.

"Yup. I thought it would make them more festive," Naruto announced proudly. "Is it good?"

"Fishing for more compliments?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto stuck out his tongue at her. "Don't I at least get a 'thank you,' meanie?" he whined.

Sasuke looked down at her plate quietly.

"Sasuke?" Silence. "Sa~asuke?"

Without warning, Sasuke leaned across the table and pecked Naruto on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

This caused Naruto to drop his fork on his plate and blush brightly. He never would have thought that Sasuke would actually take the initiative to kiss him, at least not anytime soon. Wow. He was so lucky to be dating an amazing girl like Sasuke. Of course, he would not tell her that anytime soon because it would just inflate her ego even more.

"Wow?" Sasuke asked, blushing behind her triumphant smirk.

There was an awkward silence between them for what felt like forever. Eventually, Naruto's phone broke the silence. Looking around, Naruto spotted his phone not to far away on the kitchen counter. He reached over and grabbed the phone, then sat back down and stared at Sasuke as he answered the phone. "Hello," he said into the phone. A pause. "Who?" Another pause. He frowned and looked strangely at his phone. "It's for you," he said, holding the phone out to Sasuke.

With a quizzical look, Sasuke gently took the phone from Naruto. "Hello?" she asked.

"Sasuke, Merry Christmas."

"Kakashi?" she said in confusion. "Why are you calling me on Naruto's phone?"

"I tried calling your phone several times already, but you didn't pick up," he explained.

"How did you know I would be over here? How do you even have this number?" she grumbled. She had been having such a nice, albeit slightly disturbing, morning with Naruto and he just had to call and interrupt.

"You have taken us to the café a couple times, Sasuke. I could not help but notice that you were pretty friendly with your waiter, so I did a little research on him," Kakashi explained cheerfully.

"Kakashi! What did you do?" Sasuke asked angrily. It was not exactly the right thing to ask, but at the moment it was all she could think of saying. She was fuming. After all this time, she had thought he had finally backed off a bit from his overprotective ways. Oh no. If Kakashi knew about Naruto, then there was no doubt in her mind that Aunt Obito and her brother knew, too. She groaned.

"Calm down," Kakashi chimed. "I just did a little background check and of course, a smidge of surveillance."

"KAKASHI!" she yelled into the phone. "You had no right to do that! I can take care of myself!"

"Course you can, sweetie, we were just wondering who your new friend was," said the voice of her Aunt. "Don't worry. I didn't let him do anything obtrusive to your little friend and he is under strict orders to leave you alone to make your own choices about him."

That helped ... a little. "Aunt Obito, how could you let him do that?"

"Well, it wasn't your uncle who did the background check. It was your brother," Obito explained.

That was not good. "What did he say?" Sasuke asked apprehensively.

"Oh, nothing," Kakashi replied sweetly. "Although, he did ask if Naruto would be interested in coming to Christmas Dinner with you."

"I … don't think … that would be a good idea," Sasuke said slowly. It was never a good thing when her brother wanted to talk with one of her friends, not that she had that many thanks to him. All through middle school and high school, Itachi would 'invite' her friends to their mansion whenever he felt 'the relationship was becoming serious.' A third of her friends never made it through the front door, half wished they hadn't, but the people who survived had become her good friends, though they would forever be traumatized by the experience.

And, that was just with friends. She had no idea what her brother would do if he found out that she had actually agreed to become Naruto's girlfriend. Plus, Naruto was too idiotic to actually behave in the appropriate, respectable way that might ensure his survival.

"Oh, come now," her Aunt chided. "If you are spending Christmas morning with your friend, I'm sure he is free to come over with you later."

"That's not … I don't think … I don't know if he has any plans for tonight," Sasuke scrambled for an excuse. "I did not think to ask since I was planning to leave this afternoon."

"Are you talking about me?" Naruto whispered. He had been hanging onto Sasuke's every word and expression and he knew something was going on.

Sasuke tried to wave her hand at him to tell him to shut up, but of course, Naruto did not pay attention to it. Naruto started shooting out questions. "What's happening? Who is that? What do they want?"

"Nothing. Be quiet," she tried to whisper to him without her Aunt and Uncle hearing, but she was not that lucky.

"What did your friend say?" Obito asked.

"Why don't you put him on? I'll ask him," Kakashi interjected.

"No," Sasuke snapped.

"Why not?" Obito asked. At the same time, Kakashi said with an evil chuckle, "Are you trying to hide him from us?"

"No … Just …"

"She wouldn't do that, honey," her Aunt chided Kakashi over the phone.

"Of course, she would," Kakashi countered.

"It's none of your …" Sasuke tried to interrupt.

"Don't be so hard on her, honey. She's a good girl," Obito continued, completely ignoring Sasuke.

"I know she is, which is all the more reason she is not a good judge of character," Kakashi said.

"Hey, that's not …"

"Well, that's true," her Aunt said, again seeming not to hear Sasuke's protest.

"Exactly, which is why we should meet this Naruto guy in person," Kakashi explained.

"GUYS!" Sasuke yelled. "Stop it! It is none of your business who I am friend's with!" Before her relatives could have a chance to protest, Sasuke hung up the phone. "I can't believe those two sometimes," Sasuke muttered. After a moment more of fuming, she looked up to see Naruto staring at her curiously.

"What was all that?" he asked slowly.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Sasuke said dismissively.

"That was about me, wasn't it?" he continued.

Sasuke groaned. Why did he have to choose now to be so very smart and perceptive?

"Just tell me. Girlfriends should always be honest with their boyfriends," he chided with a chuckle.

That earned him a glare. After all the stunts he pulled, what right did he have to tell her how to be a good girlfriend? But, she knew he was right. "My uncle invited you to dinner at my house," she answered carefully. "But, I really don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?" Naruto asked grumpily.

"I may not be an expert on relationships, but even I know you don't bring your boyfriend home to meet the family after just three days of dating," Sasuke shot back.

"Well," Naruto said thoughtfully, "I'd say we have practically been in a relationship for at least two years now."

"What are you saying?" Sasuke snapped, with a slight flush appearing on her cheeks.

"We've known each other for a long time, Sasuke," he explained softly. "Besides, I have already met your family a couple times when they come to visit you. I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad to have dinner with them."

Sasuke snorted at that. "You have no idea what they can be like to my friends. I don't even know what they will do if they find out you are my boyfriend."

"If?" Naruto echoed with a frown.

"Really?" she scoffed. "You want to have this argument, now? On Christmas?"

"Well, were you planning to tell your family about me?" he asked.

"Naruto, my family is not the kind of people who would be excited to meet my boyfriends. I've told you before how overprotective they can be of me," Sasuke explained. "You've heard of dads threatening their daughters boyfriends with guns?" A nod. "My brother prefers poisons that are excrutiating and completely untraceable." A gulp. "And, he is one of the most powerful men in the country at the moment. The police would not dare investigate him, let alone arrest him."

"Sasuke," Naruto said with a nervous chuckle, "Stop trying to scare me into not coming. I'm not afraid. Believe it!"

"I wish I was exaggerating," Sasuke muttered.

"*gulp* … I'll … I'll just have to get them to like me," Naruto argued.

"Naruto …" "No," Naruto interrupted. "I want to do this, Sasuke. We … this isn't just a casual thing between us. I'm really serious about you and I want your family to know that."

After a long, tense silence, Sasuke finally murmured, "Your funeral, idiot."

"Great! Let's eat!" Naruto exclaimed and then continued to shovel food into his mouth.

Gingerly, Sasuke continued eating as well. She was secretly happy at Naruto's determination to meet her family, but she could not help feeling apprehensive about the dinner. A guy from her high school had come over to her house once just to work on a project and her brother had sent him home with a psychological break down. The boy had spent the next month in a psychiatric facility. She had no idea what he would do to an actual boyfriend.

After a calm breakfast from that point on, Naruto dragged Sasuke into the living room, where last night they had set up and decorated a small, fake Christmas tree; however, last night, Sasuke did not remember there being a small, brightly wrapped box sitting under it. "What's that?" she asked in surprise.

"You're gift!" he proclaimed with a huge grin.

"Naruto," she said slowly. "You promised no more crazy pranks. Besides, I thought you already gave me all my gifts over the past twelve days?"

"Well, that was just my wooing!" he explained, earning a snort from Sasuke. "This is your real Christmas gift." He picked up the package and held it up to her excitidely. "Open it! Open it!"

Sasuke gave the package a skeptical look.

"It's not anything bad," Naruto pouted. "I promise!"

There seemed to be sincerity in his voice, but she still eyed him cautiously. Carefully, she took the present from him. Naruto smiled when she took the present. Then, he pranced over and collapsed on the couch with a puff.

"Come here," he said, patting his lap.

Sasuke shot him one last suspicious glare before climbing onto his lap. Snuggling was another thing she thought she would never do, but now found quite pleasant. After getting comfy, she turned the present over and slowly started undoing the tape.

To his credit, Naruto waited almost a whole minute before exploding. "Argh, I hate when people open presents like that. Just tear it open!"

"It's my gift! I'll open it however I want," she snapped back at him.

Naruto puffed his cheeks out in silent protest and waited as calmly as he could for Sasuke to finish neatly unwrapping her gift.

"Finally," Naruto shouted as Sasuke opened the wrapping to reveal the cardboard box underneath.

Slowly, Sasuke lifted the lid of the box to reveal a rather large something covered in white tissue paper. Peeling back the paper revealed a porceilin face staring up at her. Quickly, she pulled back the rest of the paper to reveal an angel doll. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

The doll had short curly black hair and black marble eyes on its pale white face. It was wearing a silk white dress lined with fake fur and embroidered with sparkling beads. The wings were made from pure white feathers and studded with clear crystals that shone in the light.

"It reminded me of you. It's so beautiful, but it is cold and has an expressionless face," Naruto said softly.

Sasuke looked at him on the verge of a glare. She was not sure whether she should be insulted or flattered. For now, she would just see what he said next and then determine if she was going to hit him or not.

"You look at this doll and can't help but think how beautiful it is," Naruto continued recognizing the warning. "When you look at the beauty of this doll, I want you to know that that is how beautiful I think you are. But, the longer you stare at it, the sadder it makes you. All that beauty, but no life. It can't taste the sweetness of chocolate or the warmth of a hug. You have the beauty and the joy of life. I hope you can always remember how unique and precious life is. Your life is especially precious to me."

Who would have thought the idiot could make such a moving speech?

Naruto stared down at her with so much sincerity that Sasuke could barely breathe. A tear leaked out and trailed down her face. He reached up and wiped it gently off her face.

She leaned into his hand.

"Idiot," Sasuke mumbled with a sob.

Instead of replying, Naruto leaned down and they shared their first realy kiss. Sasuke's tears brushed across their joined lips, then trailed down Sasuke's throat, bringing some saliva with it. It was absolutely disgusting and absolutely wonderful. It ended after just a moment, but it would be remembered forever.

"Thank you," Sasuke whispered. She looked down at her lap, where the doll was still lying in its box. "Suddenly, my gift seems so inadequate."

"You got me a gift!" He shouted cheerfully. "What is it? What is it? What is it?"

Sasuke chuckled. It was amazing how quickly Naruto could go from a sweet, mature man to a loud, silly little boy. "Calm down. It's still at my apartment," she replied.

"Go get it!" Naruto said before he could think about what he was saying and what it would mean.

"You want me to leave?" Sasuke teased. "You would rather have your gift than be with me?"

"That's not what I meant," Naruto pouted.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you want to go to my house for dinner tonight?"

Naruto cupped her face in his hand once again. "Absolutely. Believe it!"

"I better call and tell my brother that you are coming, then," Sasyuke said more to herself than to Naruto. "I guess I should head back to my apartment to pack and get ready to leave. I'll call my brother when I get back to my apartment. You should get ready, too. Make yourself presentable."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

"You want to come? Then, you have to put up with everything that goes along with coming, including getting dressed appropriately," Sasuke lectured.

"Fine," Naruto pouted, "But, I want to open my gift before we leave!"

After agreeing, Sasuke went back to her apartment, carefully carrying her new doll with her. She walked right into her apartment, remembering that she had forgotten to lock it yesterday when she had ran over to the café. "First, I should find my cell phone and call brother."

After a few minutes searching for it, she found the cell phone on her desk under a couple stray pieces of paper. She stared at the phone, then took a deep breath and dialed the number. The ringing seemed to echo in her head ominously.

"Sasuke?" her brother's voice sounded in her ear. "What are you calling for? You are still coming home for Christmas dinner tonight, aren't you?"

"Of course, brother," she said softly. "I would never miss Christmas dinner with the family. Um … brother?"

"Yes?" his voice indicated that he suspected something from the way she had called him 'brother.'

"You think we have enough food for one more?"

…

"Brother?"

"You are bringing Naruto?"

"… yes."

"I see."

"Brother?"

"Will he be driving with you or separately?"

"I … I don't know. We haven't talked about that yet."

"Why don't you drive together in your car? He can bring an overnight bag and sleep in one of the guest bedrooms tonight."

"Brother!" Sasuke was surprised. Why on earth would he actually suggest letting a man stay at their house. "What do you have planned for Naruto?" she growled.

"Nothing much," her brother said slyly. "I just want to … talk to him."

"Brother! You will be nice to him!"

…

"You will be polite and respectful and you will not traumatize him at all!"

"That is hardly fair, little sister."

"Don't even think about it, brother. I swear, if you do anything to him, I will never come home again!"

"… Does he mean that much to you? More than your family?"

" … I love him, brother," Sasuke admitted quietly. "He has healed my heart and if you hurt him, my heart may never be whole again."

"Very well, I will treat him with the utmost respect for wining the love of my dear little sister. I will see you soon. Goodbye," Itachi agreed, then hung up the phone.

Sasuke let out a huge breath. That went better than she expected. So, she had said it. She had admitted to her family that she loved Naruto. Now, she just had to admit it to Naruto. After a moment, she dialed Naruto's number to tell him about what had happened.

About fifteen minutes after telling Naruto about the new plan, Sasuke heard him knocking on the door. Quickly, she rushed to the front door and opened it. "Hi," she greeted absently. "Here." She threw him her keys. "Put your stuff in the back seat of my car. My stuff is already in the trunk."

"Okay," he agreed, "But, then I want to open my gift."

"Just go!" she snapped and threw one of her nearby hats at him. He rushed out of the room laughing. It was just so much fun to annoy Sasuke.

After he left, Sasuke opened the hallway door and slowly pulled out the Christmas bag containing Naruto's present. She knew it could never match up to the gift she had been given, but she hoped he would be happy with it. She opened the top and peered inside one last time before Naruto got back.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked from the doorway. "Let me have it!"

Snapping the bag shut, Sasuke turned towards him. "Here," she said, holding the bag out to him. "It's no where near as special as the gift you gave me, but it did make me think of you and … well, just open it."

Naruto gave her a quick smile before ripping all the tissue paper out of the bag. It was a miracle he did not tear the gift to shreds as well. "It's a fox," Naruto said, seemingly happy. He picked the thing up out of the bag. As he grabbed the animal around the middle, he set off the voice recorder in the middle.

"You are my true love, forever!"

Hearing the voice coming from the animal startled Naruto almost more so than the actual words. Sasuke watched apprehensively as Naruto reached down and picked up the fox. He squeezed it again.

"You are my true love, forever!"

"Sasuke," Naruto chocked. "That's your voice."

"Of … of course it is," she said angrily, to hide her embarrassment. "You didn't actually think the stuffed animal was talking to you, did you?"

"Do you mean it?" he asked quietly.

" … of course," she answered softly.

That night was a string of crazy familial encounters, wonderful food, embarrassing stories, spectacular Christmas music, and so much more, but the highlight of the day for Naruto would forever be the slightly electronic sound of Sasuke's voice. This was the best Christmas of his life!

~*A*N*G*E*L*~