Chapter 15: Christmas
~~~
"Danzo-sama," Many ROOT members including Naruto said, kneeling down towards Danzo. He nodded at them and began explaining what he had called them all here for.
"As you know, Hiruzen knows about this subdivision and has allowed it to continue for years on end." Everyone nodded, still kneeling down to Danzo.
"But due to recent actions, Hiruzen has found out about my exploits of murder, kidnap, experimentation, and many more. And has said that ROOT is disbanded and is no more." Before anyone could say anything, Danzo continued.
"But Hiruzen was the one who said that, not me. You all take orders from me and not Hiruzen. So when I say that ROOT is not disbanded then it's not disbanded. As long as we are here, we support the tree." Danzo was looking down on everyone.
"And we will continue to do so, whether are disbanded or alive. We shall continue as ROOT and only as ROOT. The people who have no names, no emotion. We only focus future and nothing else. For ROOT!" Yelled Danzo at the end.
"For ROOT!" Everyone yelled. This brought a large smirk to Danzo's face.
"Good, you all are dismissed." Everyone nodded, slowly disappearing from Danzo's sight all at once.
~~~
Naruto sighed, sneakily going inside his apartment. God, his life was getting harder and harder by the day. He had seen better days. Naruto took off his mask and hid it to the side inside a scroll.
ROOT was disbanded but was also not disbanded.
Yes, it wasn't disbanded at all. They just had to keep a low profile until further notice by Danzo. Naruto stretched his limbs out, putting on his attire for the day.
Naruto jumped outside and onto the streets of Konoha. It has been a year since the incident with him and Satsuki. Everyone in class was around the age of 8 — including Naruto.
It was currently December 15 and it was quite close to Christmas.
The academy hadn't done anything for Christmas due to obvious and controversial reasons. Naruto had a warm orange jacket and a warm orange pants to his very disposal.
It was cold — very cold. Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha.
God, I hope it doesn't snow this year. Though Naruto knew better than that — it was definitely going to snow this year. Naruto looked at the amount of people selling their goods for the day.
Not many. Thought Naruto, walking past the amount of sellers that were quickly selling their products for the day. Damn, people were slurping up the goods quickly this year.
Naruto looked up, seeing the clouds covering the beautiful sky above. Any moment now it could possibly snow. He didn't like Christmas at all. Reason being?
Naruto wasn't good at giving gifts. There was actual proof of that when he didn't give a gift to Satsuki and just gave her the vulgar words that he likes using all the time. Satsuki was still much the same.
Just a lot more. . . antisocial.
Naruto had finally reached the academy before he was considered late. He entered the halls of the academy and walked towards his designated room. He slid the door open, getting a few glares from Satsuki's fanboys.
Such a depressing time. Naruto thought, already dreaming of the day when he graduates this academy. He walked towards his seat, passing by Satsuki with her antisocial behavior. He arrived at his seat and sat down right on it, eyeing everyone with a keen and intelligent eye.
Iruka came walking in, smiling at everyone like usual. People smiled back and waved at him with content. "Good morning, everyone." Everyone nodded. "Good morning, Iruka-sensei!" Many yelled, giggling as they said it.
Iruka nodded, continuing his walk towards the middle-front of the classroom. He seemed quite happy today. While it was usual, this level of happiness should be inhuman and not possible for humans.
"I have good news for you all today."
Oh, that's why. . . It's probably something about the upcoming Christmas Holiday or something. Thought Naruto, hoping that they don't have to give each other gifts in return.
"So, I have talked to the Hokage about this for quite some time now and he has allowed for you all to give each other gifts." Many of the people had their mouths gaping open.
"Hell yeah!" Yelled Kiba, excited for this year.
"But. . ." People immediately died down, hearing that magic word just after them celebrating this news. "To make it fair for everyone, we will insert their names into this box. Then each person will pull a person's name out of the box and that person will be the person that they have to give a gift to for this year." The class groaned, displeased at this sudden rule that was enforced.
"Why can't we just give a gift to whoever we want?" Whined a student, hoping to give Satsuki a present of their own. Iruka sighed, knowing this question would be asked almost immediately after.
"It's because I know a lot of you will be giving a gift to one person only. All the other kids won't be given a gift due to this problem. So this will be the only reasonable and logical solution to a lot of your favoritism to this one person." They knew who the person that Iruka was talking about.
Uchiha Satsuki.
"Now, I would like for you all to write name on a small piece of paper and insert it inside this box." Many people groaned but nodded anyway. Everyone was handed a small piece of paper by Iruka.
People started to write their names right on the piece of paper at a quick pace. Naruto quietly sighed, getting up from his seat and giving the piece of paper to Iruka.
"Your handwriting is quite. . . articulate and very. . . elegant?" Naruto nodded to Iruka. "I know, you don't have to remind me," replied Naruto, walking back to his seat at the back of the class. Naruto was hoping to get someone that would appreciate the shit gift that he was going to give them.
Soon enough, everyone had put their piece of paper inside of the box that Iruka had shown. Most of the boys were hoping to get Satsuki as the person that they would be giving a gift to.
Naruto hoped the person that got him would give a shit gift to him as well. "Alright! It seems like everyone has managed to give me their name. The picking and choosing shall begin!" Announced Iruka, getting many claps from the class. Naruto waited as each person got their student that they had to give a gift to.
It was Yu's turn. His heart was beating at a tremendous rate. Yu was known to be the number 1 fanboy of Uchiha Satsuki. . . and that got him to where he is now.
Please. . . please. . . please. . . give me Satsuki-chan! Yu yelled in his mind, sinking his hand into the box and grabbing a random name from it. To his surprise, he didn't get Satsuki.
Sucks to suck.
Hyuga Hinata? Yu has never even interacted with Hinata before, and he gets her?! Yu grumbled back to his seat, glaring at the floor as he sat back down. But he still had a chance to be the person that Satsuki will get.
All he had to do was hope.
"Uchiha Satsuki, please come and take a name out of this box." Satsuki got up from her seat, a little scowl forming on her face. She came up to the front of the classroom.
She outstretched her hand into the box. Please don't be Yu or Naruto. Please, please, please. Satsuki thought hopefully. She didn't want anyone actually. If only if she had the ability to pick which one she got.
Satsuki would've preferred Hinata.
"I got Ahihcu Naruto," said Sasuki with her scowl deepening to an incredible degree. Naruto wanted to die so badly. Not only did Naruto hate this gifting thing, he had to put up with Satsuki's potential gift!
He got multiple glares from all angles, hating the fact that Satsuki was giving Naruto a gift. Naruto sighed, waiting for the time that his turn was upon him. After a little bit, Naruto was finally up to get a name out of the box.
Naruto walked away from his seat and towards the front of the class. He was one of the last 10 people that were waiting for their turn to be called by Iruka. Naruto outstretched his hand into the box, pulling out a name that was still inside the box. He looked at the name that he had gotten from the box.
Naruto sighed, looking at the name that he unfortunately got.
"Uchiha Satsuki."
~~~
It has been a week since the challenge of trying to get a gift for Satsuki had started. And Naruto was failing at finding the perfect gift for the infamous Uchiha.
What would she possibly like? Naruto thought, walking throughout Konoha to try and find the perfect gift. And like what Naruto said, he wasn't very good at finding nor giving gifts at all.
I know that she likes grandeur things. I think. I'm not too sure. Naruto thought, wondering and wondering what he could possibly get for her at the current moment. God, he sounded like a hopeless fanboy who cared about her wellbeing.
Naruto stood still, pondering on what he should get.
Oh, I think I have an idea. Naruto thought, running back home. He was hoping this idea of his would work like a charm. Naruto ran into his apartment complex and into his apartment room. Naruto slammed the door shut and crashed right onto his bed.
The best possible way for me to get a good gift for an Uchiha like her is to confront someone who has fought an Uchiha before. Naruto thought, closing his eyes slowly and drifting off into his own minds-cape.
Soon enough, Naruto appeared in a different plane of existence. He was in a place that looked like a damn sewer system. Though it was way too large to even be considered a sewer system even though it did look like one.
Naruto looked around and saw sight of a cage that was way too large in length to be normal. Hahahaha.
"Kyuubi," said Naruto, announcing his appearance as he slowly made his way towards the cage more closely. "I got a few questions for you." Naruto saw a pair of glaring eyes suddenly open up to life.
The familiar overgrown fox growled at him, its sharp canines being directed right towards him. "What. . . do you want?" A low growl could be heard escape the Kyuubi's mouth.
"I told you — I need some questions answered from you." Naruto gave the Kyuubi a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I need gift advice for Satsuki." A louder growl could be heard from the Kyuubi.
"That Uchiha. . . why? Your little girlfriend wants a gift?" A menacing tone was being displayed by the Kyuubi. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.
"There is actually many facts that prove that what you just had said is incorrect and needs to be edited." An even louder growl made itself known. The Kyuubi used its claws and tried reaching it through the bars of the cage.
"While she is not my girlfriend, I have to give her a gift that would be worthwhile. If I don't her fanboys will just berate me until the moment I die." Naruto had no idea what tp give her and that was the reason why he wanted this talk with the Kyuubi.
"And you're asking me?! The Kyuubi?! I'm not a joke!" The Kyuubi roared, infuriated at Naruto's current words. Naruto shook his head, confused at that. "Who said you were a joke? I have not once implied you were — you assumed that." Naruto felt a large whoosh in the air, seeing the Kyuubi clench the bars of the cage with its claws.
"You and your damn words. Once I get out of here, I'll rip our body to shreds in a single SLASH!" Naruto could feel the raw bloodlust radiating right off of the Kyuubi. Naruto's heart was beating quite rapidly.
"Can I just get advice? I'll stop bothering you until I need help on something." He got another glare in return. Naruto waited for an answer by the Kyuubi right in front of him.
"Grrrr. . . fine. It seems like that Uchiha girl likes grandeur things. And she wants to avenge her cursed clan by killing her own brother. Get her something that will be help her for that goal. Like a tanto since she is not ready for a damm katana." Naruto thought about it for a second before he nodded.
He started to slowly disappear from the minds-cape. "That's actually a pretty good idea. Didn't think a bijuu had a brain at all. Aren't you all made out of chakra?" Before the Kyuubi could give him a nasty remark, Naruto fully disappeared from the mind-scape with no problems at all.
~~~
It was the day of the gift giving that everyone was so happy about. And well, Naruto was running late for class. He had taken so much time trying to get a tanto that was specially crafted so you could channel chakra into it.
Satsuki gritted her teeth.
She was the only one being left out during this damn event in the academy! A scowl was on her face, looking at everyone as they gave gifts to each other.
Where the hell are you? Do you see how embarrassing this is for me? Satsuki thought, angrily clenching the gift that she had gotten Naruto. Sakura came right next to her.
"Where's Naruto, Satsuki-san?" Sakura asked confusedly. Oh, first person to ask her. "That idiot is not here yet. He's running late for this event in the academy." Satsuki had a vile tone. Oh, boy, if Naruto didn't give her a good gift, he was about to get a punch in the face.
"Look Satsuki-chan! I got a gift for you!" A fanboy was about to slide the gift towards her. Iruka immediately stopped him. "Give that give to someone else that is not in this class!" Iruka yelled from the other side of the room.
"Yes, Iruka-sensei!" He immediately stiffened up and turned away. Satsuki's grit on her teeth became much harder than before. "Man! Screw Naruto! Just sit with me!" Yu offered, getting a cold glare from Sakura.
"Can you leave her alone? Gah, fanboys." Yu glared at Sakura. "What? And you're any better? Grrr. . ." Yu glared right back at Sakura. Satsuki glared at the two of them.
"Just go away," cursed Satsuki. The two gulped and immediately walked away from her. Satsuki waited at her seat patiently. She didn't know why she was waiting for Naruto.
He was going to give a shit gift anyway. She saw Iruka leave the room. Satsuki noted that to the back of her brain. She soon aw Iruka's head pop out from the doorway.
"Uchiha Satsuki! Come here. Naruto is here to give your gift!" Iruka yelled from the doorway. Satsuki widened her eyes for a few seconds before returning back to her cold scowl on her face.
Hn, about time you showed up. Satsuki thought, getting up from her seat and walking towards the door. She saw the amount of additional presents that people wanted to give her.
Weirdos. Thought Satsuki, arriving at the door and walking to the hallway. Her eyes traveled to the side and saw Naruto — literally wearing only a shirt and pants and no jacket on.
"Tch, I took some time getting here because of the damn snow." Satsuki just nodded, seeing the amount of snow covering Naruto's body and head. "And where is your gift exactly?" Asked Satsuki, curious on what the gift was. Naruto stayed silent before taking out a scroll and unleashed a puff of smoke.
A jutsu? Satsuki thought. No, it couldn't be. "Your fanboys would berate me if I didn't give you a good gift. Actually, they'll probably berate me either way. But, here's two presents." The puff of smoke revealed a tanto and. . . another scroll?
"Here's a tanto that you can use until you grow out of it. And here. . ." Naruto outstretched his hand right towards her. "This is a C-Rank Fire jutsu." Satsuki's eyes widened at those words.
"It's called: 'Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'. You're quite lucky that I was generous enough to give you a sample of my stash of jutsus that I have no use for. . . yet." Naruto had both of the items outstretched towards them.
"You can use these to kill. . . your brother." Naruto's voice gave Satsuki a shiver down her spine. God, Naruto was a weird mystery to everyone.
"Thank. . . you. Hn, here." Satsuki shoved her gift to Naruto. He widened his eyes slightly. "You know, this gift is already better than the gift I gave you. Deluxe Edition Chess Pieces that are said to be unbreakable by human standards. I've been trying to get myself one of these." Naruto looked at it with a pleased expression on his face.
"Thanks," said Naruto, patting her head carefully as he walked past her.
"You might be more stable than I originally thought you were." Naruto gave her a rare genuine smile.
~~~