By Jennifer Darknight

Sasuke really hated Christmas. Maybe it was because he thought of family on that day, and the only family he had was Itachi. Maybe it was because he was stalked by a bunch of crazy girls that only wanted his body, and not to see the true soul deep within himself. Maybe it was because the only one he wanted to spend Christmas with was in love with the Village Idiot. . . He didn't know. He just hated it.

Hinata on the other hand, loved Christmas. It was a cheery time where people could spend time with their loved ones. It was also a time for her to try to get Naruto-kun to notice her, even though she knew that he wouldn't. It was about as likely as Neji giving her a big hug, but it was still nice to dream. Even if she knew that her dream would never come true.

But they still sat on a bench on Christmas Eve, on separate ends of the same park, thinking about the ones they loved.

Sasuke was thinking about the one girl who had stolen his heart. She never said anything to him, never chased him like all the other girls. She was just. . . there was no real word to describe her. She was like an angel, larger than life. She was a woman he couldn't attain, but he loved her anyway.

Hinata was thinking about Naruto, and one other. He thought she didn't notice his eyes on her. Her face would redden when she'd catch his soft gazes. . . she had expected him to fall in love with someone beautiful, like Sakura. But someone like her. . . HER. . . she didn't understand. She didn't think she ever would.

Sasuke stood up; he was in the mood to walk. He had been restless for the past few days, and this did him good.

Hinata noticed a familiar figure in a blue sweater walking towards her. She didn't think he noticed her yet, but that was all right. She looked down towards her lap and blushed a little bit.

He knew what girl was sitting on the bench. . . Hyuga Hinata, the shy girl who had a crush on Naruto. She was dressed in a pearly-white sweater with matching fluffy gloves and earmuffs. . . she was beautiful.

Hinata looked up at the one who had been watching her. Uchiha Sasuke. His coal black eyes held a slight warmth as they gazed upon her, which made her a little nervous. After the first Chuunin Exam, she had begun to respect his strength, and maybe fear him a little. But it was hard to say what his intentions were, even though she had known him (or really, known OF him) for so long.

"D-do you. . . wish to sit down?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Hn."

The two were sitting together, not looking at each other, just watching the snow fall gently in front of them. It was a peaceful moment, unable to be interrupted.

But what they didn't notice was that, in the bushes, four pairs of eyes were watching them. . .

"So, what's happening?"

"They're just looking at the snow."

"Come on, Sakura-chan, can we go home now? I'm hungry."

"Not yet, Naruto! Those two need a nudge in the right direction!"

"How troublesome. . ."

"So, how are we gonna do that?"

"Well, we could always do. . ."

Sasuke was watching the falling snow, sitting next to the girl he loved, and yet he was clueless as to what to say. Should he just comment on the weather? Her eyes? All these years of being chased he should have picked up some tactic to use on a girl.

But Hinata started the conversation, much to his surprise. Well, at least somewhat of a conversation.

"Um. . ." She said softly, as if unsure. She didn't continue what she wanted to say, so that gave him an opening. Maybe he could say something cool to impress her. . .

"What is it?" . . . or not. . .

"Um. . . nothing. . . I-I was just wondering. . ."

((Should I ask him?)) She wondered. ((Should I ask him why he watches me?))

". . ."

"Y-you watch me. W-why?"

Sasuke was taken by surprise, but he didn't show it. He had grown to showing emotion only in small doses, and the only times he did that were when he was with Naruto, Sakura, and when the time arises, Hinata. The Byakugan user was now looking at her lap, face red. He wouldn't admit it, but he thought it was cute. She expected an answer, so he had to give her one.

"I can't help it." Was all he said.

"C-can't. . . h-help it?"

"Yeah. . ."

"Why?"

He paused a moment. He didn't want to sound stupid, and yet his heart was beating hard and his face was reddening. His thoughts were whirling, but her managed to keep his cool as he said: "Because I think you're beautiful."

In the bushes, Sakura wanted to cheer. Sasuke really was as romantic as she thought he was! Naruto blinked, Ino grinned, and Shikamaru shook his head. They couldn't interrupt the two, but in their own little way, they all wanted to.

"Wh-what?" Hinata felt the sudden urge to faint. The village heartthrob, the last of the Uchiha clan, THE Uchiha Sasuke, just called her beautiful, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Nobody had ever told her that before, not even members of her own family. ESPECIALLY members of her own family. Something in her heart started to give. She didn't know what, but it was a start.

"Like I said," the Uchiha Clan Member said, "You're beautiful."

He hoped that she would get the point. Or at least, try to figure it out. Uchiha Sasuke, the final member of the Uchiha Clan, was not good at expressing himself with words. He was better at showing how he felt, but he didn't wish to do that without Hinata's consent. She just blushed, and looked down.

"A-arigatou. . .Uchiha-san."

"Sasuke wa ii yo, Hinata-sama."

"Onegai yo. . . 'sama' wa dame. . ."

"Hai, Hinata."

Sasuke had turned down Sakura so. . . emotionally, due to his love for this girl, and yet he couldn't get the guts to tell her how he felt. Or so it seemed from her side of the coin. She wanted to watch and see what was going on. . .

"A-ano. . ."

Sasuke looked to Hinata. She was looking down towards her feet still, a blush spread across her cheeks like a tiny blaze.

"Yes?"

"Wh-why are you o-out here a-alone? D-don't. . . you have a. . . party to g- go to. . . or something?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I don't care for parties much. It's too noisy for me. And seeing Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya get drunk is not my idea of fun. . . What about you?"

"I. . . I get nervous. . . around. . . l-large groups. . . of p-people. . ."

There was a crash nearby, and some noises were coming out of the nearby bushes. It took Hinata by surprise, but Sasuke stood stoic.

"Woo-hoo! PARTY!"

"Sakura-san. . . you look lovely!"

"YEEK! WHO LET LEE IN HERE!"

"This is too troublesome. . ."

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, SHIKAMARU?"

Sasuke sighed to himself. Idiots. Hinata was looking rather nervous due to the fact of the voices sounding out nearby, and being a gentleman (or as much of one as he could be), it was his job to make the one he loved comfortable.

"Hinata, do you want to go somewhere else?"

The Hyuga heir nodded, although still not looking at him.

And then the two left. . . and as they did so, Sakura failed to notice that Naruto was missing. . .

***

"A-are you sure it's okay for me to be here?"

Hinata walked into the apartment with wide eyes. This was the first time she had been near Uchiha Sasuke's home, and she was a little apprehensive, to say the least. She herself didn't know why she had complied. . . maybe it was because she was starting to see Sasuke in a different light. A different view that made her feel more at ease around him. Her tongue could feel itself loosen, but her blush and stuttering would not go away. The boy, or really man next to her gave her a reassuring look. . . not a smile, though.

"It's all right."

Hinata walked into the apartment, and her eyes widened with shock at what she saw. This didn't look like a boy's room at all. . . it was clean and well-kept, with not even a speck of dust on anything inside. Sasuke had to have spent hours everyday working his fingers to the bone to keep it clean. Not even Neji, the cleanliness Nazi, could complain. She smiled to herself.

"Would you like something to eat?" Asked Sasuke.

"No. . . it's all right." Hinata shook her head, and just stood in the doorway, unsure as of what to do or say. This wasn't like this house belonged to Shino-kun or Kiba-kun. . . this was the home of the most desired man in the village. And SHE of all people was here. She looked to Sasuke for a moment, and almost gasped. He. . . smiled at her!

"You can sit down if you want." Sasuke said.

Hinata seated herself to a small white couch in the middle of the room.

"A. . . A. . . Ano. . ." She fiddled with her thumbs a little bit, and looked down. She couldn't make decent sentences at this rate. . . but what went on back there? She heard Sakura-san's voice. . . she was scared that the pink-haired girl heard everything that went on, and would kill Hinata in her sleep. Something didn't add up. . . didn't feel right.

Sasuke sat down next to her, and gave her a concerned look. ". . .What?"

"Oh, ah. . . um. . ."

"It's all right if you don't wish to tell me."

"No. . .I. . .I just. . . why me?"

"Because I love you."

There, he said it. He told her how he felt. He knew that she didn't feel the same way, but it didn't matter. He just saw the redness increase in her face, and she stared at him. It wasn't with rejection or disgust. . . just with. . . shock. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was ridiculed by her own family, and the one she loved failed to notice her. Naruto was such a fool. Sakura was a useful ally, but. . . he didn't feel any attraction to the young Haruno. His eyes were only for Hinata.

"Y-you. . . love me?" The words sounded like they were rubber on the girl's tongue. It was like she couldn't believe it.

"Yes, I do."

How was he being so calm about this? His face had to have been ten different shades of red. . .

And then something clunked on the top of Sasuke's head. He looked up, and touched the small plastic thing that dropped. It wasn't malicious, so he didn't jump up and kill whoever dropped it on the spot. Actually, he smiled a little. It was a plastic mistletoe, suspended off a string. He looked to Hinata, blushed, and pointed to the small object that stood between them.

Hinata on the other hand, blushed even worse, and looked down. She knew what mistletoe meant, and it was wrong to break tradition. Even though deep in her heart, she didn't know whether or not she wanted to do this. But. . . Sasuke loved her. And she didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying no.

Sasuke leaned closer a little bit, propped her back gently with one hand, and gave her a soft, chaste kiss on the mouth. It was slow, warm, and tender. . . Hinata attributed the feeling and the taste to chocolate, or some other kind of sweet. She felt her entire body feel weak, and her heart seemed to race at his touch. Never had she been touched like this. . . or really, kissed before. It felt strange. But even stranger still was that she didn't wish to push away. She leaned in closer, and deepened the kiss a tiny bit. . . she could feel Sasuke's body tense in surprise, but then his arms encircled around her, a little tighter. It kept its innocent motive, but the two wouldn't move. New feelings arose out of both of them, and both of them felt like they were living in a dream. Not even in her dreams of Naruto doing this did she feel this way. So protected and safe. She had no desire to let him go. . . as her arms wrapped around him and hugged him, she understood. She understood everything that she was. . . well, that she was missing. . . all this time.

Is this. . . is this. . . is this really love?

She wondered this as she hugged him closer, and her mind whirled with each passing moment. She wanted to be near him. . . to experience more feelings like this one. She didn't want to let him go. She didn't want to leave. Ever. Maybe this was what she was searching for all this time. Perhaps she. . . this was what she was looking for. All of her life. . .

As Sasuke held her close and felt the softness of her lips against his, a completely (well, not completely) different thing was running through his mind:

Maybe Christmas isn't so bad after all. . .

And meanwhile, Naruto still held himself on the ceiling, holding onto the mistletoe. . . should he sneak out while they're still involved and tell Sakura? Or watch them a little longer?

Oh, what to choose. . .

Instead, he chose to get out the camera.

***

YES! I AM DONE! FINALLY! *does a dance* This is my first Naruto oneshot, and I think it's the best one I've ever done. I hope you enjoy it! Yes, it's dangerously fluffy, but oh well! What isn't these days! There just aren't enough Sasuke/Hinata stories. . . people need to make more! ^_^

Please Read and Review! ^_^

~Jenn-chan