Beneath the Mistletoe

By The Ambitious Blank

Disclaimer- Naruto isn't mine.

Comments- Apologies for me not going to work on the fics I should be working on, but I really wanted to get a Christmas fic out, considering I missed both Sasuke and Naruto's birthdays this year. n.n; (I'm sorry, my pretties.) Anyway.. here's a nice little fluffy one-shot, just in time for Christmas. (Hey, I met a deadline for once, be proud of me!) Also, we're going to pretend they're around 15 years old, Naruto is a Chuunin, Sasuke's an Anbu member, Sakura's a med-nin, and that all the problems between them have ended. And that Orochimaru is dead. (He freaks me out. Killing him is my Christmas present to myself. xD) Thelyrics are from Thomas Howard's "Silent Hill".

---

Up above the snow is falling,
And stars disappear,
My heart is calling,
Christmas is here...

---

Uzumaki Naruto sat and fidgeted, looking anxiously back at the calendar again. It couldn't really be only two days until Christmas, could it? He stood up, pacing around the room.

"Okay, well, let's think here, Uzumaki," he said to himself, musing. "It's two days until Christmas and you've bought everyone a present except for Sasuke. But jeez, what the hell do you buy for that bastard?? I mean, it's not like he's totally open about his hobbies. If he has any, that is."

Running a hand through his mussed blonde hair, he sighed. The doorbell rang, and Naruto blinked.

"Now who could that be..?" He wondered, going over to the door and opening it. Konohamaru stood there with Moegi and Udou.

"Merry Christmas!" Konohamaru chimed, holding out an envelope with a bow on it. "We saved up some money and bought this for you, Naruto-niichan! But, Iruka-sensei told us to let you know he's having everyone over for a big Christmas party on Christmas Day, so save all your presents you get from people until then, and let everyone else know, too! Tsunade-sama's gonna try and give all the ninjas the day off!" The eleven-year-old threw his arms out for emphasis. Naruto laughed.

"Thanks, Konohamaru-kun." He said, patting the younger boy on the head and taking the envelope from him. "But how did you get the money for this?"

"Well, we're selling mistletoe! Iruka-sensei already bought a whole bunch." Moegi said, holding up a box she'd been carrying. There were sprigs of the plant inside, each tied with ribbons. Naruto bit back a laugh.. he could tell which ones Moegi had made and which ones Konohamaru and Udou had tried. Moegi's were tied elegantly, while the two boys' were rather messy and sloppily done.

"Speaking of which, wanna buy one, Naruto-niichan?" The young girl asked. Naruto blinked and chuckled.

"Thanks, but I don't have anyone to kiss around here." He said, laughing, albeit a bit sheepishly. Konohamaru crossed his arms.

"Oh, come on, Naruto-niichan! You must have someone," he insisted. "What about Hinata-chan?"

"I think Hinata-chan's nice, but she's not really my type, you know?" Naruto said, leaning against the doorway, amused by the trio's efforts.

"How about Sakura-neechan, then?" Moegi suggested instead. Naruto shook his head, running a hand through his hair again.

"Nah, you guys know she's totally not interested in me."

"Ino-neechan?" Moegi tried. Naruto shook his head again.

"She's way more interested in Sasuke, you know that."

"Well, what about Sasuke, then?" Udou suddenly suggested. Three pairs of eyes settled upon him, all wide and staring. Udou shifted uncomfortably beneath all their gazes. Naruto shook his head, but this time to make sure there wasn't any earwax or something clogging his ears.

"Wh-what??" He asked disbelievingly, wanting to make sure he'd heard Udou just right.. hoping he hadn't just heard him right. Udou moved his weight from foot to foot.

"Um, well, the thing is.. I think Sasuke-niisan kind of likes you too, Naruto-niichan."

"What do you mean, 'likes me too'??" Naruto demanded, crossing his arms. "I couldn't care less about that bastard!!"

Moegi grinned suddenly.

"You know, you guys.. now that I think about it, Naruto-niichan does seem to get jealous of Sasuke-niisan a lot.." She said, smirking, while Naruto's expression slowly grew more and more horrified. Konohamaru finally grinned himself.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, Moegi-chan, you're right. I've seen the way Naruto-niichan looks at Sasuke-niisan sometimes." He said, crossing his arms and smirking up at Naruto.

"Out! OUT! All of you, out!!" Naruto cried, shutting the door in their faces. He heard their giggles and retreating footsteps outside, slumping against the wall and glaring at the ceiling.

"I hate kids. I hate them." The Uzumaki growled under his breath, grabbing his frog wallet from the table and running out into the snowy weather. The snow season in the Country of Fire didn't last much longer than two months usually, so the people had learned to enjoy it when it did. The first snow of the season was always reason to celebrate to the villagers. A lot of people would close their shops early and rush outdoors to catch the first falling snowflakes. Naruto remembered being one of those people.. whenever it started snowing, he'd stop whatever he was doing and run out to run in it.

Well, come to think of it, he still did that, didn't he?

Smiling to himself as he stepped out into the cold weather (glad for his chuunin vest and turtleneck.. it was warmer than it looked), Naruto locked up his apartment and headed down the street. The shops were all open and all the shopkeepers called to him from their doorways, most of them knowing him and greeting him, offering discounts and other such things. But Naruto was mostly window shopping, searching for the something he could buy Sasuke. He had a feeling he'd know it when he saw it.

Well, jeez, if that didn't just make me sound like some love-struck girl.. Naruto thought, scowling to himself.

Speaking of Sasuke..

Naruto's eyes widened as he spotted the mess of dark hair as Sasuke inspected something in the window of one of the shops. He was dressed in his ANBU outfit minus his vest and gloves, a scarf thrown around his neck. It would have looked ridiculous on most people, but only Sasuke could pull something like that off and get away with it still looking good. Naruto, despite all his efforts to ignore the Uchiha and go running in the other direction, found himself heading across the street to go say hi. Sasuke glanced up, feeling the presence approaching him. Naruto almost smirked.

He's still all paranoid, as usual.

Naruto held up his hands.

"Oi, stupid, don't look so nervous, it's just me." He said. Sasuke rolled his eyes, quickly masking the surprise that had remained momentarily on his face.

"Aa. Good morning, Naruto." Sasuke said. Naruto sighed.

Still as exciting as usual, too. He thought, sarcastically. Well, at least he had the courtesy to say good morning.. and he called me "Naruto" instead of "usuratonkachi" or "dobe" for once.. hm, maybe I can get a hint from him on what to get him for Christmas…

"So, what are you up to, Sasuke? Shopping for Sakura-chan? Ino-chan?" Naruto inquired with that annoying, "whatcha doin'?" smirk on his face. Sasuke shook his head.

"No, not exactly.." He said, trailing off as he stepped in front of what he'd been looking at. Naruto tried to peer around him.

"Sasuke, move! What were you looking at and who.." He paused once he saw. It was just a bunch of cakes.

"Naa, Sasuke, you're buying someone food? Who?" Naruto asked. Sasuke sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.

"No one, idiot. I'm just shopping for myself."

That heartless bastard! I should have known he wouldn't buy anyone anything for Christmas.. Naruto immediately thought, scowling and crossing his arms, pausing as a sudden thought came to him. Wait, this isn't right..

"Sasuke, you don't like sweets." He pointed out, blinking. Sasuke flushed slightly and turned away.

"Well, maybe I changed."

"Is that so." Naruto said, deadpanning. Sasuke turned away, looking extremely uncomfortable. Naruto laughed.

"So who's it for, you ass? Just tell me, it won't hurt."

"I bet it will." Sasuke muttered under his breath, frowning as he stared at the ground. Naruto bent over a bit, trying to look up at Sasuke's face, searching for a clue.

"Could it be? Ice queen Uchiha has a heart after all?" Naruto asked, grinning, intending to enjoy this torment to it's fullest.

"S.. shut up!" Sasuke said, his cheeks darkening another shade. The Uzumaki laughed again, much to his dismay.

"Maybe you even have a lover, Sasuke? At fifteen!" Naruto dramatically posed against the shop window, putting a hand to his forehead. "I can't believe it! My Sasuke, so young, and yet so grown up!"

"Be QUIET, usuratonkachi!" Sasuke said, smacking him over the head and making Naruto topple off balance and to the ground, glaring at the people who had stopped to stare at the two of them. Naruto yelped, now sitting on the snow-covered ground.

"And what the hell do you mean by 'my Sasuke'?!" The Uchiha demanded.

"Jeez! I was having a little bit of fun, lay off!" Naruto groaned, rubbing at the bump on his head and grimacing. "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just joking.."

"Pfft.. whatever!" Sasuke snorted, then turned and stormed away, as Naruto slowly got back to his feet, brushing the cold flakes off his clothes.

"Jeez, talk about overreacting.." He muttered, glancing to the cakes in the window. "I know Sasuke wouldn't suddenly have a change of heart.. who the hell would he be shopping for, I wonder? He hasn't shown any interest in Sakura-chan or Ino-chan.. hm. It's so weird.."

He scratched his head, watching the retreating figure storm away down the street. The people that had been watching him whispered to each other, a few of them giggling faintly. Naruto turned to keep heading down the street and keep his search for the perfect present for Sasuke going, while remaining furiously in denial that he gave a crap about the stupid bastard.

He was just hard as hell to shop for, that was all.

---

Sasuke sighed as he continued his way down the snowy streets, a hand to his forehead, running again through his hair. It was a nervous habit he'd picked up, and everyone always teased him about it, calling him vain and such.

If Naruto had known Sasuke was trying to find something for him.. well.. Sasuke didn't really want to imagine what the blonde idiot's reaction would have been.

Jeez, what the hell was he supposed to get him, anyway?

Sasuke sighed, crossing his arms as he looked into a window. They were selling teddy bears and other girly sorts of things.. nothing Naruto would like.

Of course, it would be easy as hell just to buy him a ticket to the ramen bar, but Sasuke was sure that's what everyone else was giving him, too. And Naruto only ate a few things, nothing that was good for him, and nothing that Sasuke would like to be caught buying.

He didn't understand why it was so hard. He should just be able to pick up anything for him, like he was everyone else. He'd bought everyone else small things.. a cheap piece of jewelry or some teddy bear for the girls, a new set of shuriken or some unique item for the boys, depending on their personalities and such..

So why was Naruto so hard to shop for?

The blonde was amused with almost anything. Sasuke had a feeling he could buy Naruto a pad of paper and a pen and the usuratonkachi could amuse himself for hours on end with it. But somehow, that just didn't seem like enough. Sasuke didn't understand it in the slightest. He'd thought it would be easy, that he wouldn't really care what Naruto thought of his gift or not, but the honest truth was..

..he did care.

He didn't want to see a disappointed look on Naruto's face when the blonde opened his present on Christmas at Iruka-sensei's party. He didn't want to see the boy looking up at him with a forced smile and saying "Thanks, Sasuke". He wanted a real smile, some honest gratitude.

So what could get that?

Sasuke sighed, looking over everything in the next window before moving on. This was probably the hardest mission he'd ever taken on, and as sad as that was, it seemed to be true.

How could he ever find anything to give Naruto?

Thunk.

Sasuke blinked, surprised.. he hadn't even sensed the other person coming up to him. Quickly, he lowered his head slightly and muttered a quiet "sorry", but the other person was already bowing low, and apologizing in a hurried, embarrassed manner.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there, I didn't mean anything by it, I was just in such a hurry!!" The girl said, looking up finally, her pale eyes and skin contrasting with her dark hair. Sasuke blinked.

"Hinata?" He asked, brows raising. Hinata blushed a dark red.

"O-oh, Sasuke, I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you.."

"It's okay, calm down." Sasuke said, brushing himself off a bit. "Why the rush?"

"Well, it's almost Christmas, and everyone's going to be at Iruka-sensei's party, and I haven't found anything to buy Naruto-kun yet, and.. oh!" She blushed even more at her rushed confession. Sasuke blinked.

"Hm, seems like you and I have a similar problem, then." The Uchiha said, sighing.

"Oh.. are you trying to find something for someone too, Sasuke?

"Uh, well.. yeah. It's for Naruto, actually." Sasuke said, anxiously running a hand through his hair, embarrassed at being caught in this sort of situation. Hinata's eyes widened a little. Sasuke felt bad.. it wasn't like it was any secret how much Hinata liked Naruto. The only one still oblivious to it was Naruto himself. Sasuke swore you could smack the kid over the head with a brick and yell into his ear that Hinata liked him and he still wouldn't have a clue. Hinata smiled suddenly.

"So you don't want to just buy him a ramen bar ticket either, huh, Sasuke?" She asked. It was Sasuke's turn to blush. His pale cheeks darkened, and he looked away again.

"N.. not really," he said, really embarrassed now, "I mean, that's what everyone else is buying him already, and I don't want him dying from an overdose of ramen or something." He added, quickly. Hinata gave him a knowing little smile.

"Aa. Well, Sasuke.. it's no secret that I like Naruto a lot, it's true.. but it's also no secret that you seem to like him, too." She said. Sasuke's dark eyes went wide.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" He said, quickly. A bit too quickly. The Hyuuga girl laughed softly.

"So it is true, then. I was afraid of that." She looked at the ground, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"To be honest, Sasuke.. I think he likes you too."

"Wh-what??"

Hinata suppressed another giggle. Seeing Sasuke, who always so calm and serious, totally flustered like this was quite amusing, at least to her. The Uchiha was completely taken aback, his cheeks pink, his eyes wide. Hinata continued.

"You can't tell me you've never noticed, Sasuke. I'd swear you were more oblivious than Naruto-kun sometimes," she said, smiling again, "But he does seem to like you too, you know.. if you'd just tell him."

"I can't do that!" Sasuke said, turning away, "I don't like him like that. I can't.. he can't.. ugh, how did I.." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"It's hopeless. Maybe I really do like him like that." He muttered finally, sounding defeated. Hinata smiled.

"You see? I knew it. Well, Sasuke-kun, good luck on your search for a present. I have no doubt you'll find something he'll like.. now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hope the same is true for me!" She bowed, waved to him with another smile, and went off down the street again.

Sasuke watched her go, his hand instinctively going back to thread through his hair again. He slumped against the nearest wall, totally defeated.

"Alright, so what if I like Naruto a little bit? But what the hell do I get him for Christmas.. and how the hell do I tell him?" He muttered to himself, before pushing away from the wall and continuing on his way down the street.

---

Little did he know, a certain blonde Uzumaki was wondering the same thing, back at his apartment later in the evening. It'd been a long day, and after a futile search, he'd realized he'd never find the perfect present to give Sasuke, and he'd just have to show up at Iruka's party empty-handed. It was rather depressing.

"Okay, so maybe I do like Sasuke. Even if that's the case, I doubt he even gives a crap about me in return. So, I don't even know why I bother to think about it." He sighed.

"Jeez, I'm hungry. I guess I'll go make myself some ramen."

Naruto leaned heavily against the small kitchen counter he had as he waited for the water to boil impatiently, fiddling with the packet of dried noodles in his hand.

"It's not like I haven't hinted at it, I guess.." He muttered, popping open the package and pulling out the flavor packet, setting it aside. He picked up his chopsticks and toyed with those, too.

"But at the same time, I guess I was in denial about it, so.. I didn't hint enough?" He wondered, and then smacked himself in the forehead.

"ARGH! Stop thinking about it, Naruto, you dummy! He's just a stupid bastard Uchiha who doesn't give a crap about anyone but himself in the first place!! Stupid asshole.."

Naruto threw the block of noodles into the now-boiling water, standing over it and watching it cook, sighing heavily again.

"Still, though, it'd be nice if I could figure out what to say to him." He stirred the ramen idly, breaking apart the noodles, "It's not like he makes it easy on anyone to tell him that they love him. Even if someone does tell him, he just ignores them.. like with Sakura-chan and Ino-chan. They're always telling him how much they like him and he doesn't bother sparing them a second glance."

Removing the pot from the stove, he poured the noodles into the bowl and dumped the flavoring in, stirring it idly with a chopstick.

"I don't even remember when I started liking him. Must've been a while ago.. I haven't really realized it until now, I guess. Or I didn't want to believe it. And why the heck would Konohamaru think that Sasuke likes me back? I mean, all he does is glare at me, right?"

Naruto groaned.

"Argh.. I told myself I'd stop thinking about him two seconds ago and here I am, still with Sasuke on the brain. I guess this really is bad." He slumped, despairingly, against the counter.

"I don't believe this. I'm such an idiot. I'll never get Sasuke to notice me at this rate."

Naruto sighed and poked at his ramen, finding himself without an appetite for once in his life.

---

It was two days later, Christmas day. A certain buzz had fallen over Konoha-gakure. Everyone was bright and chipper, waving to each other in the streets, calling greetings to each other, wishing everyone else a merry Christmas. It seemed there were only two unhappy souls in the entire Hidden Village, and they belonged to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke slowly locked the gate to the Uchiha manor, carrying the bags of presents he'd bought for everyone. He turned, looking down the bustling road he'd have to get through to get to Iruka's house, sighing and brushing some of his long bangs from his face. He hadn't been successful in finding something for Naruto, despite Hinata's predictions. All he'd done was wasted the past few days looking for something that he was sure at this point didn't exist, even if he had no idea what it was by now.

Before he had time to convince himself not to go to the party, he found himself standing at Iruka's door, and discovered, to his dismay, that he'd already reached up and knocked. Iruka opened it and grinned brightly.

"Sasuke, you decided to come!" He said, ushering the Uchiha inside, before heading over to start up conversation with Genma, who was standing off to the side. Flustered, Sasuke looked around. Almost everyone they knew was there. He didn't see Naruto yet.. good. Then he wouldn't have to explain why he was one present short just yet. Ino and Sakura greeted him brightly, and he gave them nods, handing them their presents. He hadn't gone out of his way to look for things for people.. for the girls he mainly bought hair ribbons or brushes or something, and for the guys he'd bought a new set of weapons for each person.. Sasuke wasn't exactly creative with his presents, but no one seemed to mind.

The doorbell buzzed again, and Sasuke, now having seen that everyone had gotten to the party but Naruto, quickly made himself scarce by ducking into the kitchen. He could hear Naruto and Iruka conversing at the door, and felt his heart pound hard against his ribcage when he heard Naruto ask the question..

"Oi, Sensei, have you seen Sasuke around?" The loud blonde asked, searching the room. Everyone else seemed to glance around as well, and Sasuke felt his cheeks warm as he backed himself into a corner of the kitchen, finding himself with no place to run.

Finally, after he'd handed out all of his presents to everyone, Naruto slipped into the kitchen. He was holding a bunch of coupons to the ramen bar, amongst a few other trinkets people had bought for him. He blinked when he saw Sasuke back against the far wall. Sasuke was fiddling with a cup of hot cocoa nervously, tracing his fingertip around the rim of the mug.

"I thought you didn't like sweets." He said, as a brilliant conversation starter. Sasuke flushed a little and looked away.

"I.. I don't. Iruka-sensei just kind of handed this to me so I took it."

"I see." Naruto said, glancing down. He glanced back to the bunch of people just past the doorway. It was like he and Sasuke were standing in an entirely different world, even though they were just a few feet away from the rest of the guests.

"I.. uh.. ran into Hinata today." Sasuke said, desperate for something to fill the silence.

"Oh, really?" Naruto asked, feigning interest in this small talk, "What'd she have to say?"

Here there was a long pause. Naruto's brow furrowed slightly when Sasuke didn't answer him immediately. Finally, the Uchiha spoke, slow and awkwardly.

"Well, she.. um.. mentioned something.. interesting," he began. Naruto was surprised. This was the most awkward he'd seen Sasuke.. ever. He was sure this was the first time he'd ever seen the Uchiha blush this much, at least.

"Yeah? Well, what'd she say, Uchiha? Spit it out, already!" He said, though his own heart was pounding for some reason. The way Sasuke was looking at him now.. it was so strangely.. intense. The red on his cheeks had vanished. Naruto wasn't used to seeing that much emotion showing in those normally cold eyes. Shifting uncomfortably, but not daring to lower his eyes from Sasuke's, he waited, staring directly into Sasuke's gaze defiantly.

"She said.. she said that.. you.. liked me."

Naruto felt his face go so red, he was certain his face would explode.

"Wh-what?! That's ridiculous, Uchiha!!" He cried, flailing his arms and earning a glance or two from the adjoining room, "Why the hell would I even consider something like that?!"

"Well, for one, you're blushing like hell, which tells me you've thought about it too." Sasuke said, as calmly as he could without blushing again himself. Naruto seemed to falter.

"O.. okay, maybe I do like you a little, stupid.." He muttered, chewing on his lower lip. Sasuke moved forward, standing before him in the doorway, staring down at him. Naruto swallowed hard, looking up into the Uchiha's face.

Sasuke smiled.

Naruto felt his heart stop momentarily. Sasuke was.. beautiful when he smiled. Of course, the moment only lasted a few seconds, torn away from them as someone loudly cleared their throat. The two young men looked up to find the entire room with their eyes upon them. Konohamaru grinned and spoke first.

"Oi, lovebirds!" He said, jokingly, "If you're gonna confess undying love to one another, at least don't do it where everyone can see you! Jeez."

The tense moment vanished, and smiles broke out on everyone's faces. Even Sakura and Ino were grinning at them.

"We've known for a while we didn't stand a chance. But good grief you two idiots are slow in realizing love." Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, look up!" Sakura said, pointing to the top of the doorway.

Slowly, two pairs of eyes shifted upward, and to their surprise, there was a sprig of clumsily tied mistletoe above the doorway. The Konohamaru Corps all grinned widely at each other. Moegi smirked and piped up.

"So what are you waiting for? Kiss him already, Naruto-niichan!!" She cheered. Naruto gulped again.. everyone was watching. He glanced back up to Sasuke, who didn't seem worried at all.

Stupid.. bastard.. always has to show me up, does he??

Smirking, Naruto reached out and drew the Uchiha into his arms, tilting his head and pressing his lips to Sasuke's. A cheer went up from the other room. Everyone applauded. Genma smirked as he watched; sliding an arm around Iruka's waist and pulling him back behind the tree. Iruka yelped softly, but blushed and giggled.

As Naruto and Sasuke drew away from each other, Naruto reached up and brushed away some of the hair from Sasuke's face.

"I couldn't find anything to give you for Christmas." He said, apologetically. Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't find anything for you, either. Sorry."

"Well, I guess I'll have to settle for this, then." Naruto said with a smirk, kissing Sasuke deeply again.

A few catcalls echoed throughout the room. Naruto and Sasuke drew away, and Sasuke murmured a soft "MerryChristmas" and kissedthe Uzumaki again before he could respond. Konohamaru put his hands on his hips and declared:

"Merry Ninja Christmas, everyone!"

---End.

Well, it was a lame-ass, cheesy ending, I know. But I hope you liked it, and at least I got this done in time for Christmas. Also, the random Gen x Iru stuff at the end is a surprise little Christmas present to my friend, who we affectionately know as Iruka-sensei. :B

Merry Ninja Christmas to everyone. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then may you have a great Ninja Holiday nevertheless.

I shall work on Linked, I promise! n.n;;;

--TAB