Twelve Days - Day 12
title : Twelve Days
author : autumnwaters
rating : G
word count: 1211
pairing : ItaNaru
summary : Twelve days, twelve gifts. A nice thought isn't it? But Naruto's just wondering who's breaking into his apartment to do that.
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. That privilege belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12 : It was you!
Naruto woke early the next morning and went through with the usual motions of getting ready before he went downstairs and joined the kitchen chefs. His mind was not on his tasks at all, but had still managed to work passably. By noon, he still hadn’t decided on whether or not to accept the shadow’s offer of finding out who he was. He only had another hour and a half before he had to leave or he would be late. He didn’t know what to do.
After lunch, he sought out Hinata’s company to pester her some more about how she got the envelope. But even then the girl was oddly stubborn about the fact, though she did reveal that she did know him.
Later, deciding he needed an outside opinion, he sought out Mikoto-san and found her in the third floor sewing room. She was surrounded by several bolts of fabric and had a few embroidery hoops lying around as she worked on her current project. For some reason, he felt comforted around her and chalked it up as her being a close friend of his mothers.
He knocked on the door and asked for a moment of her time, anxiously twisting his hands and shifting his weight as he looked for her response. She smiled and set down her work and patted the cushion of the window seat next to her. He walked up and told her what had been going on for the last eleven days.
She listened patiently and without a comment until he finished. Then did nothing more then ask “Do you not want to meet a friend who has your best interests at heart, even if he may be doing it in an odd fashion?” The blond thought that over before he excused himself and left the room.
***
The medium sized theater currently housed a troupe from France and also served as the locations movie theater. Currently it was showing some foreign film with subtitles. But Naruto didn’t care for that. Even in one of the best seats of the house, he was wriggling around looking for a familiar face in a sea of unfamiliar ones. But soon even the few in the box he was sitting in started to stare and he settled down, finally paying attention to the performance.
As the play started to climax, he was approached by one of the nicely dressed attendants.
“Uzumaki-san,” she said, looking oddly anxious.
Naruto dressed in the snappy pinstriped suit turned to look at her, a question written on his face. “Yes,” he looked at her name tag. “Kurokawa-san.”
She looked around before handing him an envelope. There was nothing on it to make it look special. For anyone looking around, it looked like she was either propositioning him or giving him a gift. The few unrighteous guests in the box were already staring, their minds thinking of reporting her.
The blonde grinned at her, “Thank you Kurokawa-san for bringing this to me. Merry Christmas.”
He slipped it into his pocket and pretended to pay attention to the show as his hand fiddled with it in his pocket. Naruto redoubled his somewhat subtle observation of the people, hoping to find a semi-familiar face.
***
Several more people arrived at the Uchiha Manor throughout the day, some with luggage and others without, but all carrying one gift or another. Those who were staying were lead to rooms by Haruka-san and others sought out people they knew to chat with. One guest in particular went about the rooms looking for the host.
“Good afternoon Mikoto. How have you been?”
The lovely mistress of the house looked up and found one of her old friends in the doorway dressed in a dark emerald green-turquoise wrap dress with a shawl dangling on her arm.
“Tsunade!” she called out as she set her book down and walked over to her friend. They did their usual hug and cheek kiss whenever they met before the blonde was dragged to an overstuffed chair next to her friend by the fireplace. The two sat and chatted for a bit as was their wont before Tsunade decided to broach the topic she arrived early to the manor for
.
“Have you heard from Itachi recently?”
“Hmm…yes actually. Are you worried about his plans for young Naruto - who by the way seems to have grown into a fine man.”
“He came to work early last week in a huff. Something your son has been doing is dragging up the memories my cousin would rather have forgotten.”
“Are you sure of that Nade?” Mikoto looked over at her friend. “The boy has repressed those memories for so long. He’s even forgotten the promise he made to my boy.”
The blonde caught that last line and snapped it up. “You see. It’s only for personal gain isn’t it. That brat isn’t doing anything to help Naruto. He’s gone through-”
“That’s enough Tsunade. Itachi has the best intentions in mind. The fact that he has told you is enough. This may be a hard way to do it, but since when has that little blonde run away from hardship.” The unspoken ‘unlike you’ could be heard resonating between them. Tsunade’s eyes narrowed then relaxed.
“That may be true…”
***
The envelope in his pocket seemed to burn a hole in his suit. The minute that show was over, he clapped and hurried out of the box and pulled out the envelope. Inside was a note.
Naruto-kun,
I am assuming that you are interested in knowing who I am as you are at the theater. Once you step outside, there will be a car waiting for you to take you to the next destination. Look for the table with the Christmas card.
Naruto walked outside and found plenty of cars, but there was one who had the driver step out once he did and open the back door. He walked over towards it and looked at the man, hoping for a clue. The man nodded at the open door. “Uzumaki-sama, if you please.”
He stepped in and the door closed.
He stepped out of the car and stood in front of a nice upscale restaurant after a good thirty minute drive. Naruto entered the double glass doors and was stopped by the maître d’ who asked for his reservation. In his hand, he fiddled with the envelope and note. He told the man, his party was here, but he didn’t know the name.
“Are you, perhaps, Namikaze-san?” the elder man asked.
The blonde flinched imperceptible and nodded. It had been the longest time since he went by his father’s surname. His mother’s drew less attention to him since their death.
“If you will head towards the rooms located on the side, your guest is waiting there.”
Naruto thanked the man and walked off, puzzlement and hesitation in the body. Thankfully none of the waiters questioned him.
The blonde walked passed each room and looked inside briefly before ducking back out. On the sixth room, he found the Christmas card at the edge of a table, though he couldn’t see the man. The table was in a little alcove with the wall hiding where the person was sitting. He walked towards the card and without looking at the man, picked it up and opened it.
“On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” he read out loud before a familiar voice spoke out.
“Merry Christmas Naru-chan.”
***I should end this here and leave it be…***
Itachi watched the blonde from afar at the theater. He was there until midway after intermission and left the family box and signaled one of the attendants. He gave her the envelope and directed her to the blonde man before he left the building, calling for his driver.
Once at the restaurant, he headed to the back office and finished off some paperwork before calling in his maître d’ and giving him specific instructions in regards to a young blond man who would arrive in half an hour dressed in a dark navy pinstriped suit. At the same time, he arranged for a light dinner and drinks and dismissed the man.
Christmas card in hand, he went off to one of the rooms and picked the alcove table and sat with the patience of a waiting hunter for his prey.
***
Naruto looked up at his Secret Santa.
“Itachi…” the man blinked. “Uchiha-san, you’re…you have…”
“Have a seat Naruto. We have some time. Mother’s dinner parties of this size last a while and with how remote we are, dinner won’t be until eight at least.”
The blonde still didn’t understand, but knew somehow that he once knew Itachi quite well.
“What do you remember of the Christmases of old?”
The blonde grimaced. “There’s nothing worth remembering. Parents were always too busy or just too tired to do anything.”
“I don’t mean the ones after your family moved away. But those much older, when you were a child.”
Naruto stared, eyes seeing nothing. “Snow, fire, the songs, and someone who I loved very much. I just remember singing the Twelve days of Christmas with him and making him smile for me. Those were the best presents since he never smiled much…but I can’t remember his name.”
“That winter your parents passed away, you were with us. I was so busy and you wanted to go out into the snow and play. I had told you I would go with you in an hour. And an hour and a half later, when I went to look for you, you weren’t in the house. No one had seen you for nearly an hour. We searched for you for hours. It had started to snow and if we didn’t find you soon…” he drifted off; his dark eyes were staring straight at his shocked blue ones.
“I finally remembered the riverfall that we had found over the summer when you visited. There was a small cave, just big enough for you to crawl through. When I there, there you were, curled up as tight as you can but still covered in the falling snow. You were so cold. We got you back to the house and threw so many blankets over you and lit the fire. The room was sweltering. But you didn’t wake up at all. The doctor said you were hypothermic approaching stage three.
“When you finally awoke, you were in a hospital. We had you moved once the snow cleared. But before then, your parents were in the car crash and you were alone in the world. Social services wouldn’t let us take you since you were injured under our care and they couldn’t find anyone else who was in the country to take care of you. You were let into the foster system and we couldn’t find you again.”
“It was you. You’re the boy.”
Itachi nodded and stood. “Let’s go otherwise we’ll be late for Mother’s dinner and she’ll have my hide.”
***
Naruto didn’t know what to do about Itachi. He remembered much more now that he was told about it. But that promise he made to him…would he be keeping it? He wasn’t the child he was and would have grown into. He looked up at the moon and let its soft light wash over him…but it wasn’t going to give him any answers.
He didn’t hear the crunch of footsteps in the snow until the voice was behind him and arms wrapped around him. Naruto stiffened and relaxed. It was familiar in his mind, though consciously he rebelled. He pushed away, his mind overruling and turned to face him. The moon washed away the pale tan and left his face glowing, his dark eyes shadowed but glinting with emotion. He didn’t know how, but lips were suddenly pressed onto his and he leaned in, eyes closing.
“My promise. Let us see where this goes Naruto. If nothing, we’ll just be reacquainting our friendship.”
Naruto stared at Itachi, his mind remembering the joy they used to share. He nodded and went back into the man’s arms. “It’s cold out here.”
They stood looking at the stars and moon above the forest tops with warmth and light at their backs. Music drifted out of the open doorway, letting out some of the heat in the house.
“On the first day of Christmas my true love gave me…”
“Merry Christmas.”
***
Well this is the end here. I've enjoyed writing this...though I don't think I will try doing one chapter a day for a long while.
Happy Holidays everyone!
author : autumnwaters
rating : G
word count: 1211
pairing : ItaNaru
summary : Twelve days, twelve gifts. A nice thought isn't it? But Naruto's just wondering who's breaking into his apartment to do that.
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. That privilege belongs to Kishimoto-sensei.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12 : It was you!
Naruto woke early the next morning and went through with the usual motions of getting ready before he went downstairs and joined the kitchen chefs. His mind was not on his tasks at all, but had still managed to work passably. By noon, he still hadn’t decided on whether or not to accept the shadow’s offer of finding out who he was. He only had another hour and a half before he had to leave or he would be late. He didn’t know what to do.
After lunch, he sought out Hinata’s company to pester her some more about how she got the envelope. But even then the girl was oddly stubborn about the fact, though she did reveal that she did know him.
Later, deciding he needed an outside opinion, he sought out Mikoto-san and found her in the third floor sewing room. She was surrounded by several bolts of fabric and had a few embroidery hoops lying around as she worked on her current project. For some reason, he felt comforted around her and chalked it up as her being a close friend of his mothers.
He knocked on the door and asked for a moment of her time, anxiously twisting his hands and shifting his weight as he looked for her response. She smiled and set down her work and patted the cushion of the window seat next to her. He walked up and told her what had been going on for the last eleven days.
She listened patiently and without a comment until he finished. Then did nothing more then ask “Do you not want to meet a friend who has your best interests at heart, even if he may be doing it in an odd fashion?” The blond thought that over before he excused himself and left the room.
***
The medium sized theater currently housed a troupe from France and also served as the locations movie theater. Currently it was showing some foreign film with subtitles. But Naruto didn’t care for that. Even in one of the best seats of the house, he was wriggling around looking for a familiar face in a sea of unfamiliar ones. But soon even the few in the box he was sitting in started to stare and he settled down, finally paying attention to the performance.
As the play started to climax, he was approached by one of the nicely dressed attendants.
“Uzumaki-san,” she said, looking oddly anxious.
Naruto dressed in the snappy pinstriped suit turned to look at her, a question written on his face. “Yes,” he looked at her name tag. “Kurokawa-san.”
She looked around before handing him an envelope. There was nothing on it to make it look special. For anyone looking around, it looked like she was either propositioning him or giving him a gift. The few unrighteous guests in the box were already staring, their minds thinking of reporting her.
The blonde grinned at her, “Thank you Kurokawa-san for bringing this to me. Merry Christmas.”
He slipped it into his pocket and pretended to pay attention to the show as his hand fiddled with it in his pocket. Naruto redoubled his somewhat subtle observation of the people, hoping to find a semi-familiar face.
***
Several more people arrived at the Uchiha Manor throughout the day, some with luggage and others without, but all carrying one gift or another. Those who were staying were lead to rooms by Haruka-san and others sought out people they knew to chat with. One guest in particular went about the rooms looking for the host.
“Good afternoon Mikoto. How have you been?”
The lovely mistress of the house looked up and found one of her old friends in the doorway dressed in a dark emerald green-turquoise wrap dress with a shawl dangling on her arm.
“Tsunade!” she called out as she set her book down and walked over to her friend. They did their usual hug and cheek kiss whenever they met before the blonde was dragged to an overstuffed chair next to her friend by the fireplace. The two sat and chatted for a bit as was their wont before Tsunade decided to broach the topic she arrived early to the manor for
.
“Have you heard from Itachi recently?”
“Hmm…yes actually. Are you worried about his plans for young Naruto - who by the way seems to have grown into a fine man.”
“He came to work early last week in a huff. Something your son has been doing is dragging up the memories my cousin would rather have forgotten.”
“Are you sure of that Nade?” Mikoto looked over at her friend. “The boy has repressed those memories for so long. He’s even forgotten the promise he made to my boy.”
The blonde caught that last line and snapped it up. “You see. It’s only for personal gain isn’t it. That brat isn’t doing anything to help Naruto. He’s gone through-”
“That’s enough Tsunade. Itachi has the best intentions in mind. The fact that he has told you is enough. This may be a hard way to do it, but since when has that little blonde run away from hardship.” The unspoken ‘unlike you’ could be heard resonating between them. Tsunade’s eyes narrowed then relaxed.
“That may be true…”
***
The envelope in his pocket seemed to burn a hole in his suit. The minute that show was over, he clapped and hurried out of the box and pulled out the envelope. Inside was a note.
Naruto-kun,
I am assuming that you are interested in knowing who I am as you are at the theater. Once you step outside, there will be a car waiting for you to take you to the next destination. Look for the table with the Christmas card.
Naruto walked outside and found plenty of cars, but there was one who had the driver step out once he did and open the back door. He walked over towards it and looked at the man, hoping for a clue. The man nodded at the open door. “Uzumaki-sama, if you please.”
He stepped in and the door closed.
He stepped out of the car and stood in front of a nice upscale restaurant after a good thirty minute drive. Naruto entered the double glass doors and was stopped by the maître d’ who asked for his reservation. In his hand, he fiddled with the envelope and note. He told the man, his party was here, but he didn’t know the name.
“Are you, perhaps, Namikaze-san?” the elder man asked.
The blonde flinched imperceptible and nodded. It had been the longest time since he went by his father’s surname. His mother’s drew less attention to him since their death.
“If you will head towards the rooms located on the side, your guest is waiting there.”
Naruto thanked the man and walked off, puzzlement and hesitation in the body. Thankfully none of the waiters questioned him.
The blonde walked passed each room and looked inside briefly before ducking back out. On the sixth room, he found the Christmas card at the edge of a table, though he couldn’t see the man. The table was in a little alcove with the wall hiding where the person was sitting. He walked towards the card and without looking at the man, picked it up and opened it.
“On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” he read out loud before a familiar voice spoke out.
“Merry Christmas Naru-chan.”
***I should end this here and leave it be…***
Itachi watched the blonde from afar at the theater. He was there until midway after intermission and left the family box and signaled one of the attendants. He gave her the envelope and directed her to the blonde man before he left the building, calling for his driver.
Once at the restaurant, he headed to the back office and finished off some paperwork before calling in his maître d’ and giving him specific instructions in regards to a young blond man who would arrive in half an hour dressed in a dark navy pinstriped suit. At the same time, he arranged for a light dinner and drinks and dismissed the man.
Christmas card in hand, he went off to one of the rooms and picked the alcove table and sat with the patience of a waiting hunter for his prey.
***
Naruto looked up at his Secret Santa.
“Itachi…” the man blinked. “Uchiha-san, you’re…you have…”
“Have a seat Naruto. We have some time. Mother’s dinner parties of this size last a while and with how remote we are, dinner won’t be until eight at least.”
The blonde still didn’t understand, but knew somehow that he once knew Itachi quite well.
“What do you remember of the Christmases of old?”
The blonde grimaced. “There’s nothing worth remembering. Parents were always too busy or just too tired to do anything.”
“I don’t mean the ones after your family moved away. But those much older, when you were a child.”
Naruto stared, eyes seeing nothing. “Snow, fire, the songs, and someone who I loved very much. I just remember singing the Twelve days of Christmas with him and making him smile for me. Those were the best presents since he never smiled much…but I can’t remember his name.”
“That winter your parents passed away, you were with us. I was so busy and you wanted to go out into the snow and play. I had told you I would go with you in an hour. And an hour and a half later, when I went to look for you, you weren’t in the house. No one had seen you for nearly an hour. We searched for you for hours. It had started to snow and if we didn’t find you soon…” he drifted off; his dark eyes were staring straight at his shocked blue ones.
“I finally remembered the riverfall that we had found over the summer when you visited. There was a small cave, just big enough for you to crawl through. When I there, there you were, curled up as tight as you can but still covered in the falling snow. You were so cold. We got you back to the house and threw so many blankets over you and lit the fire. The room was sweltering. But you didn’t wake up at all. The doctor said you were hypothermic approaching stage three.
“When you finally awoke, you were in a hospital. We had you moved once the snow cleared. But before then, your parents were in the car crash and you were alone in the world. Social services wouldn’t let us take you since you were injured under our care and they couldn’t find anyone else who was in the country to take care of you. You were let into the foster system and we couldn’t find you again.”
“It was you. You’re the boy.”
Itachi nodded and stood. “Let’s go otherwise we’ll be late for Mother’s dinner and she’ll have my hide.”
***
Naruto didn’t know what to do about Itachi. He remembered much more now that he was told about it. But that promise he made to him…would he be keeping it? He wasn’t the child he was and would have grown into. He looked up at the moon and let its soft light wash over him…but it wasn’t going to give him any answers.
He didn’t hear the crunch of footsteps in the snow until the voice was behind him and arms wrapped around him. Naruto stiffened and relaxed. It was familiar in his mind, though consciously he rebelled. He pushed away, his mind overruling and turned to face him. The moon washed away the pale tan and left his face glowing, his dark eyes shadowed but glinting with emotion. He didn’t know how, but lips were suddenly pressed onto his and he leaned in, eyes closing.
“My promise. Let us see where this goes Naruto. If nothing, we’ll just be reacquainting our friendship.”
Naruto stared at Itachi, his mind remembering the joy they used to share. He nodded and went back into the man’s arms. “It’s cold out here.”
They stood looking at the stars and moon above the forest tops with warmth and light at their backs. Music drifted out of the open doorway, letting out some of the heat in the house.
“On the first day of Christmas my true love gave me…”
“Merry Christmas.”
***
Well this is the end here. I've enjoyed writing this...though I don't think I will try doing one chapter a day for a long while.
Happy Holidays everyone!