Under the Mistletoe

Chapter 3: Christmas Mission

Jonin ninja, Kakashi Hatake, sighed as he watched his students battle. Snow was falling peacefully outside, and it was already after dark, but they were in a nice, warm, and well-lit building, specifically used for winter training. Sakura stood beside him as they witnessed the pitiful fight between Sasuke and Naruto.


Both boys had been going at it for quite sometime, but the jonin knew it should have been over long before. Something was wrong with the Uchiha survivor. Many times Kakashi observed Sasuke avoid a knockout blow against Naruto, and he had not used any big moves using his chakra nor his Sharingan eyes to help him evade the blonde’s attacks. Time and time again, the boy would simply freeze up for a few moments, as if something would automatically stop his body from moving.


To say Kakashi wasn’t worried would be a lie, though he never showed any emotion as he stopped the two, after they knocked each other down once more.


“That’s enough,” he said, walking up to them, Sakura running up to Sasuke as Naruto stood.


“C’mon, Kakashi-sensei,” the blonde whined. “We’re not done!”


“No,” he responded, coolly, “it should have been done long ago, but one of you just didn’t seem to have your heart on victory today.” The jonin looked calmly at the raven hair. “Your battle would have dragged on forever.”


Crossing his arms, Naruto said, “So what? I’m up for it! It isn’t my fault if Sasuke isn’t up to the challenge!”


At the sound of his name, the Uchiha blushed, eyes never locking with the blonde or his teacher as he stood.


“I don’t think it’s that he’s not up to it, Naruto,” Kakashi said, eyes still locked on the suddenly quiet ninja, “I think something is troubling our Sasuke.”


Naruto growled. “He’s sick, Master Kakashi!” He stood straight, as if this was some very important news that nobody knew, staring at his teammate, pointing at him. “Sasuke’s been sick for a while, now. Every time I see him, his cheeks are flushed and he never wants to talk or even look at me—because I know the truth! Then he always leaves in such a hurry when I arrive, probably too scared that I’ll tell everyone what’s wrong with him. Well I’ve had enough, Sasuke!” The blonde’s eyes shot daggers as he glared at Sasuke, the latter not even glancing at him. “Now that Master Kakashi knows, something is finally gonna be done about this sickness of yours. Right, Kakashi?”


The jonin chuckled. ‘So that’s what’s wrong with him. He’s not really sick, well, in a way he is, but this surely is something I cannot cure.’ “Uh, we’ll see, Naruto. For now, I think we should call it a day.”


Naruto humphed. “Fine. Just don’t blame me if his fever gets worse!” He turned on his heel and steadfastly exited the room, chin held high in a superior manner.


“So,” Kakashi said, looking at the other two as soon as the blonde left, “you haven’t told Naruto how you feel about him, huh, Sasuke?”


Sasuke’s eyes widened as he stared at his teacher, face now a vibrant red. He then glared at Sakura, who put her hands up as if to hold him back from any outburst.


“No, Sasuke,” she said, a little nervously, “honestly, I didn’t tell Master Kakashi anything! I haven’t told anybody, just like I promised you a week ago! You know how observant Kakashi is!”


The raven-haired teen sighed, nodding and looking at the floor.


The older ninja sighed. “You know, Sasuke, keeping this little bit of information to yourself isn’t going to help you. I saw how you fought today, and you were very… distracted, and that’s something we can’t have out on the field.”


“I know,” the Uchiha admitted.


“Then, you’re going to have to tell Naruto how you feel about him.”


“…No,” came a quiet whisper.


“Listen, Sasuke,” Sakura chimed in, “Kakashi-sensei is right. You should tell him. The way I understand it, it’s better to know how another feels than to not know, right? How does the saying go? ‘Better to have love, than lost, than to have never loved at all.’”


“You don’t understand!” Sasuke snapped. “Fairytales, stories… not one of them holds the truth. They fail to mention the fear and the unimaginable pain that comes when thinking the person you love doesn’t love you back. I’ve already decided never to tell him, for the sake of our current relationship… for the team.”


“But what about you, Sasuke?” Kakashi asked. “What about for the sake of your heart?”


“I’d….” He looked into his teacher’s face, tears threatening to escape his dark eyes. “I’d rather go through life not knowing, than to live with a broken heart.” The Uchiha sighed, looking away, trying his best to hold his tears at bay. They stood there for several minutes before the teen whispered, “I’m going home,” and walked out of the room.


“Poor Sasuke,” Sakura said, quietly.


“Indeed.” In all his years of life, Kakashi had encountered many ninja battling with the same complicated emotion that the Uchiha teen was now dealing with. ‘But the way he’s dealing with it now, it’ll do more to hurt the team than actually help,’ the jonin thought, sighing, looking at some holiday decorations, which had been scattered about the hall.


Then, an idea hit him like lightning. A smirk tugged at his lips beneath his mask as he looked over at the pink-haired ninja.


She looked at him, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. “What is it, Kakashi-sensei?”


“Want to help me get Naruto and Sasuke together?” he asked.


“Huh?” Her expression was that of, ‘Get serious, Master.’


He chuckled. “Think of it, Sakura. Sasuke can’t very well battle enemies in the condition he’s in, and Naruto isn’t helping the situation. Wouldn’t it be a nice Christmas gift for Sasuke?”


The female ninja closed her eyes, fingers curling delicately around her chin in thought. “I don’t know, Master. It’s a very complicated situation. We know that Sasuke’s feelings for Naruto run pretty deep, but… I just don’t think Naruto feels the same way.”


“I wouldn’t say that,” Kakashi told her, and she looked up at him with a questioning eye. “Didn’t you notice how concerned our hyper-active friend was about Sasuke, when he made that little declaration of Sasuke being sick?”


Her eyes averted to the floor. “Hmm. I guess, but I would be just as worried, you know, but that’s because….” Sakura’s eyes lit up as realization hit her.


“It’s because you care for Sasuke so much,” her master finished for her.


She smiled. “Maybe you’re right, but,” her eyes looked straight at him as worry and excitement began to flow through her body, “how will you do it?”


Kakashi’s smile grew. “Subtly.”


Sasuke dodged another blow from the blonde-haired ninja, careful not to loose his footing. ‘Focus! Focus!’ It was all the Uchiha was allowing himself to think; he had to pay attention to the battle at hand. He had to remind himself not to think of how seductively the other moved, swaying parts of his body this way and that; don’t stare at those gorgeous eyes, so determined and piercing; ‘just like in my dreams.’ The raven hair couldn’t consider how soft his love’s skin was every time he would land a punch, wishing he could touch him in another, softer way; ‘I don’t want to hurt you, you know….’ He could feel the lust slowly rising up inside him—


Pow! The Uchiha went flying backwards, skidding roughly in the cold snow. “Damn it,” he cursed himself. This wasn’t the first time today he let himself get distracted by Naruto. He couldn’t help it, if only the blonde wasn’t so friggin’… alluring, maybe the raven hair could focus better… a lot better.


‘I didn’t even want to be here,’ Sasuke thought. After their last encounter a few days earlier, the raven-haired teen didn’t even want to see Kakashi, let alone fight with Naruto again. He had been embarrassed enough in the training facility, going head to head with his love, and having his master watch and analyze his every move. Now, here he was, in the middle of the forest, ankle deep in snow, once again sparring with someone he couldn’t handle hurting.


The Uchiha sighed as he slowly stood. ‘Damn Sakura, why did I let her talk me into doing this?’ He knew the answer to that question, although he refused to admit it; he wanted to see Naruto again. Even if the raven hair couldn’t truly be with the one he loved, he could at least be this close to him, even if they were fighting.


“What’s the matter?” the focus of his thoughts taunted. “You too scared to come after me?” He crossed his arms and smirked. “Scaredy-cat.”


Sasuke wiped the blood dripping down his chin, answering with his own smirk, “Not hardly… dunce.” He quietly cursed himself, as the word had come out much more sharply than he intended.


Naruto glared and growled at the other teen, anger flashing within his blue orbs, quickly running toward him in a flurry of snow.


‘Please don’t be mad, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ The Uchiha just had enough time to block the attack, but the blonde kept striking, trying to find a weak point. He pushed the raven hair farther back under the branches.


No matter how much he loved the other, Sasuke couldn’t allow him to win in a match against him, his pride refusing that particular outcome, nor would he hurt Naruto. His heart broke with every landed punch. In turn, his ego rejected the idea of letting the blonde win, just to end the bout between them.


Naruto threw his fist at the Uchiha, who was throwing a punch of his own. They caught each other’s fists, not six inches apart, glaring and growling at one another.


‘Maybe,’ Sasuke’s heart suggested, quieting his pride, ‘maybe… just this once… Naruto can win. I don’t think I can stand being this near to him much longer. I’m able to feel his skin, but for fleeting moments, and I can’t control all of my feelings, yet.’ The Uchiha teen stared deep into the blonde’s defiant eyes. ‘He should win this one.’ He readied to release the other’s fist, and pretend to slip, giving his love the chance he would need to claim victory.


“Stop, Naruto and Sasuke!” Master Kakashi called from the sidelines. “Don’t move!”


The boys stayed motionless as their teacher and Sakura ran up to them. The girl’s expression was something the Uchiha had a hard time deciphering. ‘What’s… up with her,’ he wondered.


Kakashi eyed the boys up, then looked above their heads for a few moments. “Yep,” he concluded, a faint smile showing through his mask. “I’d say you two are right under it.”


“Huh? Under what?” Naruto asked, loosening his grip on Sasuke’s hand.


All the jonin did, however was point with his thumb above them.


Their eyes met with each other, indicating neither of the ninja teens knew what their master was talking about, until they looked up.


Sasuke’s eyes got wide and his face flushed as he gazed upon a branch covered in small green leaves and red berries, tied to a tree limb with a red bow. ‘Oh no….’


“What’s that?” The blonde ninja had his head cocked to one side, eyeing the plant curiously.


“It’s…” the Uchiha whispered, “it’s mistletoe.”


“What!!” Naruto’s face first paled, and then flushed a bright pink, dropping his hand covering the raven hair’s fist. He looked at his teacher. “It’s… a plant, right? Uh… the one where if you’re caught under it… you….”


“Have to kiss the person you get caught with.” Kakashi’s smile seemed to be extremely wide; despite the fact Sasuke couldn’t see it. “It’s a Christmas tradition, you know, and we take tradition very seriously here in Konoha. So, get on with it!”


All they could do was stare at each other, both their faces flushed. ‘What… in the world….’ Sasuke couldn’t figure it out; how the hell did he get into this? Then, his eyes snapped over to Sakura, who was nervously fidgeting next to their sensei. ‘She and Kakashi must have thought this up. No wonder Sakura was so adamant about me coming here today.’ He felt like a complete idiot for not seeing a trick sooner, but his attention was soon turned to the blonde.


“But doesn’t that rule only fall to different sex couples?” Naruto cried out, desperately to the jonin.


A stab of pain shot through the Uchiha, and he looked down at the snow. ‘Naruto….’


The older ninja chuckled. “No, Naruto, that ‘rule’ applies to everyone. There are no exceptions.”


The blonde groaned, forgetting Sasuke was still holding his fist tightly. “C’mon, Sensei!”


“You’d rather not?” Kakashi asked it as if his student were crazy.


“Of course not! I mean, it’s Sasuke for crying out loud!”


Another wave of pain coursed through his heart.


Their teacher sighed. “Very well, if that’s how you feel.” He quickly ran through several hand signs before slapping their still clasped hands.


“Sensei, what are you doing?” Sakura asked.


Kakashi brought his hands away to reveal that Sasuke and Naruto now adorned something, which looked a lot like handcuffs; their wrists were bound together. However, the boys could not seem to break nor bind the material.


“What the hell, Kakashi!” Naruto screamed, after many attempts to free his wrist failed. “What’s gotten into you?”


“Since you insist on breaking tradition,” the jonin answered, calmly, “I had no choice but to place a bonding spell on you. Those cuffs will come off when you two share a kiss.”


The blonde’s eyes shot to Sasuke, who was staring at the cuffs, wishing they would just fall off. ‘Why couldn’t they mind their own business,’ he wondered. The raven hair’s eyes widened, as a pair of soft lips touched his cheek. It was only for a short moment, but the Uchiha found himself too shocked to move, or to even react fast enough to return the favor the blonde had just given him.


“There!” Naruto cried, triumphantly. “We kissed, now take these things off!”


“No, Naruto,” Kakashi explained. “You and Sasuke must ‘share’ a kiss for the spell to be removed. In other words, you both have to agree to the kiss, then kiss each other on the lips; cheeks don’t count!”


“Why not?”


The teacher’s smile returned as he turned around. “Come on, Sakura, let’s leave them to work this out.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and began guiding her back into town.


Sasuke caught a glimpse of her eyes, seeming like she was apologizing to him before she was lead away.


Soon, the two were alone, the Uchiha teen still feeling great waves of pain as the blonde groaned.


“Damn it!” Naruto screamed, eyes staring at the bonding cuffs, looking as if to cut them with his glare.


The raven hair looked back at the snow sparkling in the dimming sunlight. ‘‘Damn it’ is right,’ he thought. ‘Why… why did they do this? Just from his reaction, Naruto doesn’t….’ Sasuke could feel a lump form in his throat and he couldn’t finish the thought. He looked up at the setting sun, wondering why it was so painful… and why the pain wouldn’t go away.