Wrapping

Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-made piece that is using the world and characters from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and is made entirely for enjoyment. No financial gain has been made in the making of this piece

Summery: Iruka hates the gift wrapping table.

Author's Note: Written for Kiterie and is sort of a sequel to 'Coming Up Short'. Alternate universe, possible out-of-characterness,

Constructive Criticism is always welcomed

Published: 21 December 2007

Rating: K+

Iruka gritted his teeth. He hated this part of the season, more than just about anything else during the holiday season.

It wasn't that he didn't like getting things together for the charitable institution that his store helped (every year it was the nearby orphanage that they raised money, books, and toys for)—he thought it was one the most important things he could do during the holiday season and he avidly worked to try and get more for the orphanage.

No, it wasn't that.

It was the gift wrapping.

Every year, the store set up a table for gift wrapping (all donations went to the orphanage) and it almost always was manned by Iruka's Demon Boss from Hell, Kakashi. This, of course, meant that any time that Iruka was up working up at the registers, he would be assigned the register right in front of the gift wrapping table, right where Kakashi could harass him and make disparaging comments.

Even when he was wrapping some elaborate gift (and Kakashi only wrapped things elaborately), he still managed to watch Iruka and find new things to point that Iruka was doing wrong—when he wasn't asking Iruka when he was going to finally learn how to count money properly.

And it seemed that he was always assigned to be up at the register instead back in Children's—which was a section nobody other than him ever wanted to work, especially over the holidays—so people like Ibiki and Iwashi kept having to work back there, despite the fact that Iruka was fairly sure neither one of them had ever read a children book in their lives. This resulted numerous phone calls to the registers from the back of the store, Ikibi or Iwashi or anyone else in the store asking what the hell they should tell this customer that their little darling would like.

Iruka glared at Kakashi from behind his long fringes and thick-framed glasses. All he could do was be miserable and wait for the season to be over.

And Kotetsu and Izumo were no help; Izumo was convinced that Kakashi was some sort of undercover CIA and would spout his theories off to Iruka anytime he could. Kotetsu would just snigger and ask Iruka about his tight jeans and his ASSets or something else equally inappropriate and irrelevant. Iruka had learned that complaining to his friends didn't get him anywhere

The only good thing that came of this whole thing was on Saturday before the twenty-fifth of December, when Kakashi always managed to draw the short straw and had to be Santa's elf helper. And it got better, because the Santa role always seemed to rotate through Ibiki, Ebisu, and Gai (Asuma and Raidou were starting to get a little mutinous over this). It gave Iruka great satisfaction watching Kakashi having to wear that hideous costume and forced to be pleasant to all the horrid little undisciplined little children and their frazzled and bitchy parents.

Kakashi smirked at Iruka again. Iruka scowled, and decided that it was a good year to make Gai Santa.

x Fin x