touchdown turnaround

"'Tis the season to be dru-unk, fa la la la la, la la l—hey, Sakura-chan, when'd you grow a second head…?" Naruto asked woozily, a liquor bottle clutched in one hand as he staggered around Sasuke's living room, narrowly avoiding the various clusters of people that stood talking and socializing.

"I think Naruto's had too much liquor," Sakura sighed as she got up and tried to wrestle the bottle from her friend's hand.

"You mean you didn't see that coming?" Sasuke grumbled, mourning the destruction of his living room. It had been entirely Sakura and Naruto's decision to throw a Christmas party in his living room (his because he had the biggest apartment); the only reason he had condoned it was because Sakura had looked so disappointed when he had initially said no.

"Well, I thought—Naruto, watch where you're—!" she ended with a small shriek of surprise and distress when Naruto smacked into a chair and spilled almost the entire bottle of alcohol all over Sakura's blouse.

Sakura stared down at her soaked garment, hands raised helplessly. "Well. So, um, okay. Shit."

Naruto squinted at her. "Sakura-chan, I think you're bleeding…your shirt's all wet and stuff…"

The green-eyed girl made a fist to punch him with, only to be deterred by Sasuke, who put his hands on her shoulders and propelled her out towards the hallway. "Come on," he muttered. "I'll get you a shirt to change into."

Sakura blinked and allowed herself to be ferried along. "Oh. Thanks, Sasuke-kun."

"Whatever," he mumbled, lightly shoving her into his bedroom. He rifled through the drawers of his dresser momentarily before coming up with a dark blue, long-sleeved shirt, which he unceremoniously threw at her.

She caught it easily and inspected it, noting the Uchiha crest on the back. As she slipped out of her ruined blouse (she was wearing a camisole underneath and was modest, not a prude) she asked, "Hey, does everything you own have your family's crest on it? Like, everything? Your shirts and your shorts and your pants and your socks and your underwear?"

Sasuke scowled at her, making a point of looking elsewhere while she switched tops. "No," he snapped. "Don't be stupid."

Sakura, who had finished the swap, made a placating motion with her hands. "Easy, easy. Just a question, Sasuke-kun. Don't get all defensive and whatnot."

"I'm not defensive," he returned, his scowl deepening as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You just ask stupid questions."

"There you go again, being defensive," Sakura chided, but went up and ruffled his hair to show him that she was just teasing. He snorted but did not try to push her away.

"Hey, can I run this through your wash…?" Sakura queried, holding up her blouse. "I mean, I know it's probably ruined, but…"

As opposed to speaking, Sasuke took it from her and strode off to the laundry-room, where he threw it in the machine with a few other articles of dirty laundry.

Sakura, who had followed him, smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

What she got in response was something just shy of a smile on Sasuke's part before he flicked her forehead gently.

They reemerged into the living room, where everyone had decided it was time to begin the 'Sneaky Santa' activity, also known as a Chinese gift exchange. Each person (there were twelve altogether) had gone out and purchased a small gift of roughly five dollars. Each person drew a number, and the person with the lowest number chose and opened a gift. The next person had the option of either choosing a new gift or "stealing" the one that had already been opened. If they chose to steal, the person whose gift had been stolen chose a new gift. The process continued until everyone had a gift; however, once a gift had been stolen three times, the person who stole it the third time got to keep it with no chance of it being stolen again.

Ino drew number one, so she went first. Hers turned out to be a small bottle of expensive, lavender-scented shampoo.

Kiba nudged Neji. "Betcha wanna steal that, huh, Nej?" The pale-eyed boy did not dignify that with a response.

Shino, who was number two, ended up with a small basket of what seemed to be every type of candy imaginable. Sakura went through it, announcing, "M&Ms, Skittles, chocolate, jelly beans, Starbursts, caramel, toffee…" and the list went on.

"Jesus Christ," Shikamaru muttered.

"He's got nothing to do with it," Tenten drawled. "If he did, it'd be salvation, not candy."

"Five dollars worth of salvation," Sakura grinned.

The game progressed. Sakura, who had originally gotten a pack of scented bubbles, had it stolen from her by Hinata (who apologized profusely), and then chose an unopened gift, which turned out to a collection of fake plastic bling. That was also stolen by Kiba (who did not apologize). Finally she stole a hideous pair of holiday toe-socks from Naruto (who was too drunk to care) and said lowly, "I swear to God, if any of you tries to steal this from me, you'll be spending Christmas in the hospital."

They believed her, and consequently she got to keep the socks (which, in Ino's words, looked like Christmas threw up all over them). When everyone had gotten their final gift, the game ended and the party dispersed.

Sakura stayed at Sasuke's later than everyone else as she was waiting for her blouse to come out of the dryer. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a good half of an hour, during which Sakura put on her new socks and wiggled her toes and Sasuke sat there, thinking nothing in particular.

Finally, Sakura sighed. "Jeez, Sasuke-kun, how slow is your dryer?"

He rubbed his face. "I have no idea." He looked at the clock, which read 12:47. "You might as well stay here for the night," he sighed.

She frowned. "I don't wanna impose…"

"Stop being stupid," Sasuke grumbled, going into the hallway closet and coming out with spare sheets, blankets, and pillows, which he proceeded to make up on the couch. When he was finished he stared at Sakura, who obediently made her way to the couch.

Before she could lie down, however, she was intercepted by Sasuke. "Not there, moron. You sleep on the bed; I'll take the couch."

She smiled at him. "Aw, Sasuke-kun, that's sweet—but I'm not gonna force you out of your own bed. I'll take the couch."

"No, you won't," Sasuke, who was tired and wanted to sleep, snapped. "Bed. You. Go. Now."

"I have a better idea!" Sakura enthused, before she also rummaged through the closet before pulling out two sleeping-bags that Sasuke used on missions. "We can use these in the living room. It'll be just like those missions we had back when we were Genin!"

She looked so pleased with herself that Sasuke couldn't find it in him to deny her. He grabbed one of them from her and sighed, "Whatever makes you happy."

He unrolled the sleeping-bag, and Sakura put hers next to it. She lay down while Sasuke turned off the lights. When they were both settled and Sasuke was drifting off to sleep, the rumble of the dryer lulling him, Sakura reached over and took his hand.

He groaned. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see," she insisted, and placed her palm against his. His hand outsized hers considerably. "Oh, that is such crap. And you're so much taller than me, too…ugh. I am not okay with this."

"Sakura. Sleep," Sasuke commanded.

"Okay, okay," she conceded, keeping a light grip on his hand while she snuggled into his side.

He stared at her, half amused and half perplexed. "Personal space," he reminded her.

"You don't really mind," came her muffled reply.

And in truth, he really didn't. So he settled back down and, as an afterthought, loosely secured an arm around her waist, not really sure why but just knowing that waking up to find Sakura in his arms would make his Christmas.

--

Sure enough, when Sasuke awoke with his face in her hair and their limbs a chaotic tangle, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so content.

When Sakura became conscious, she took one look at him before she started laughing.

"What?" Sasuke asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Nothing, nothing, it's just—your hair. It's actually like, flat," Sakura giggled.

Sasuke raised a hand to the back of his head and, indeed, his hair was not sticking up, most likely due to his abnormal sleeping position last night. "Hn," he remarked.

"It's a Christmas miracle," Sakura grinned, before getting up and announcing, "Dude, I am so making waffles."

Sasuke groaned and went back to sleep.

Random, I know. AND YES I KNOW THAT THEY DO NOT USE DOLLARS IN JAPAN OR WHEREVER NARUTO IS SET IN. Shut up. But eneeweigh, this was just a fun little fic that really went nowhere plot-wise, but...I hope you like it, Jen! :D And no, the title does not relate to anything. At all. Period. Just don't even go there.

Happy Holidays! And stuff. I've given up on being specific.

Prompts: laundry, Christmas miracle, too much liquor

Disclaimer: Naruto's on my Christmas list, but... -shrugs-