Summary: Kakashi and Sakura reflect on the past, and things get... emotional...

Ages: 16 (Christmas after the war)

Category: Team 7 (DUH) Christmas time!!!!

Note: Since its 12:15 AM as I start to type this and it will take me around an hour or two to write this, I shall continue it later, meaning it is Christmas!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! And enjoy, because this is one of my favorites. I will warn you, I cried while making this. A lot.

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Kakashi was never a huge fan of Christmas. Not because he didn't like the traditions, the food... no, it was because every Christmas was normally spent by himself. That made everything depressing, so he normally decorated, but sat around reading all day to pretend he didn't care.

He did.

The last Christmas he'd spent with actual humans was a Christmas party Kurenai had invited him to.

The one before that (with actual humans) was with Minato-sensei and his old team that consisted of himself, Obito and Rin.

The ones before that were either by himself or with his dad. And he didn't want to relive those memories.

So he was planning on being by himself again, maybe catch up on the reading time he'd lost during the war, doing nothing. Like he did every year.

But then Sakura came around and said, "Kakashi-sensei, come to my house for Christmas."

And he agreed. Mostly because he didn't want Sakura's nasty temper directed at him. Since everyone else on Team 7 were going to be lonely on Christmas too, everyone was coming over to her house to hang out. Maybe watch a movie or something. She was taking care of the food, which was another reason Kakashi was going.

Kakashi bought them all presents, which he was sure they'd appreciate, and met at Sakura's house. There was Sasuke, walking up, balancing three, pretty big presents.

"Whoa there, Sasuke, what did you get us, elephants?" Kakashi asked, taking one from his student to help him out.

"Oh, nothing." Sasuke smirked. "Thanks for the help."

Kakashi shook his head, smiling. "I'm kinda scared now."

"Okay." Sasuke shrugged, the expressionless look returning to cover the devilish look in his eyes.

The door opened and an overjoyed Sakura grinned  with closed eyes at them. "KAKASHI-SENSEI! SASUKE-KUN!"

"HEY, Sakura!" Kakashi couldn't help but smile at his female student.

"Hn. Sakura." Sasuke nodded, looking away a little. 

Kakashi was certain it was because of the undeniable attraction Sasuke felt toward Sakura. He could see it in every move Sasuke made, and he was also certain that Sasuke had no idea what to do about it.

"HEY GUYS! SAKURA, DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto came running over with three more presents.

"Of course not, Naruto. Come on, let's go inside. It's cold out and Sasuke-kun looks like he's struggling." Sakura giggled. Sasuke blushed and looked away, allowing Sakura to take a present from him. Her face instantly strained from the effort. "How did you carry 3 of these all the way here?!"

"Skills." Sasuke remarked, a smirk on his face. Kakashi shook his head and smiled again. His student was smitten with the cherry blossom.

He probably just didn't know it yet. 

Kakashi would enlighten him. What else were senseis for?

Shutting the door, Sakura grinned. She'd wrangled all of her team and dragged them here, now none of them would be lonely. Mission accomplished.

Taking the gifts from them -well, the ones she could carry- she placed them under the tree that was decorated prettily in the back room. Her parents' house was pretty big, so she'd decided to have Christmas there instead of at her lonely apartment. The memories were kind of painful, but she was okay.

Turning around with a mischevious grin, Sakura looked at her team. "Okay. Who wants to play hide and seek?"

Sasuke snorted. "We're shinobi. Not children."

Sakura had known he would say this, so she simply smirked at him. "Hide and seek was originally invented as a shinobi training method until it spread to the general public. To this day, jonin test their abilities of hiding and sniffing people out using this game, but you wouldn't know that, would you, genin?"

Sasuke and Naruto gaped at Sakura's response, while Kakashi laughed. "Smart reply, Sakura. Sasuke, Sakura is a med-nin. I'm sure she has some extra ice around that you can use. Although I'm not sure she would let you."

Naruto's face spread into a grin. "See, Teme? Sakura has really grown up, eh?"

Sasuke simply stared, his mouth trying to form words, a comeback perhaps, but his brain was unable to process what just happened. He sputtered, until Naruto closed his mouth forcefully.

Sakura smiled smugly, a tinge of pride in her quiet victory. "Are you okay, Sasuke? I can take you up on the ice thing if you need it."

Then Sasuke's famous smirk returned, his face reverting back to it's normal, expressionless self. "Well then, shall we play a game?"

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After playing 5 rounds of hide and seek, Sasuke winning one, Sakura with one, Kakashi with two, and Naruto, as you can guess, with a big fat zero. Embarrassed, Naruto began to complain about how he was "STARVING, dattebayo!" And Sakura had to get out the feast she'd somehow made. (Hinata had helped, but it's not like she would say that)

After eating, the three of them opened presents and Sakura made popcorn.

"SASUKE, WHAT IS THIS?!"

"SASUKE-KUN?!"

"TEMEEEEE!!!!"

Sasuke sat back and savored their shouts with a smirk. "I say you try them on."

"HECK NO." Naruto scowled, holding up his present in disgust. "How could you do this to me?! And poor KURAMA! Do you have ANY IDEA how traumatized he is right now?!"

"You have to wear it. Or I'll be offended."

"FINE. BE THAT WAY." Naruto scowled. "I WILL NOT WEAR THIS. I REFUSE, DATTEBAYO! I AM NO CHILD."

"Says the one who plays hide and seek and talks to a voice in his head." Sasuke smirked. He'd known earlier's game would help his situation greatly. "Now put it on. All of you."

"You cannot be serious." Kakashi frowned, lifting his present over his head.

"Deadly." Sasuke's eyes glittered. "You can put them on over your clothes. I want to see how they look."

"You are evil, Sasuke Uchiha!" Sakura giggled, watching as Naruto shed his jacket, scowling, and slipped on the fox onesie.

"I know." Sasuke grinned. Naruto actually frowned, scowling down at himself.

"I look ridiculous!" He complained.

"I know." Sasuke resisted the strong urge to burst into laughter. "What does the fox say?"

"I'LL KILL YOU, UCHIHA!" Naruto growled.

"Look, you're even playing the part."

"TEME!"

Sakura twirled around, putting the cat  hood over her head. "This is actually really warm, Sasuke-kun. I kind of like it." She smiled at Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled softly. "It looks good on you." He whispered, barely audible. Sakura heard, though, her head shot up, and she stared at him in surprise, blushing.

"Thank you." She blushed harder.

"What am I supposed to do with this?!" Kakashi complained, looking down at himself in his cute panda outfit.

"Wear it on your ANBU missions. Tell them your crazy student bought it for you. They'll believe it." Sasuke's smirk made a reappearance. "Look at you, Mr. Pandaface."

"Sasuke..." Kakashi sighed wearily. "What am I going to do with you? Actually, now that I think about it... this really is warm..."

"So, do you like it?" Sasuke grinned. It was impossible to erase off his face. No no, he was enjoying this too much.

"Kurama hates it. He says it's a disgrace to all foxes. But it's actually growing on me..." Naruto shrugged.

"Tell Kurama he's a pathetic excuse of a fox." Sasuke smirked. "This fox here, is the real thing."

"He says he'll tear you apart piece by piece and feed you to his kind for what you just said." Naruto groaned. "It doesn't sound like he's kidding. Next time he gets out, I would start praying."

"It's probably not wise to provoke a giant, crazy, 9 tailed fox that already hates you." Kakashi frowned at his student. "Sasuke, Sasuke, have I taught you nothing?"

"Oh, you taught me stuff. That doesn't mean I listen."

"Shhh." Kakashi raised a finger and closed his eyes. "You're starting to sound like Naruto."

Sasuke laughed. "Naruto is a weird person to be compared to."

He then looked at Sakura, who was simply staring at the onesie silently, seeming to he content. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked up. "Oh, yeah, I am. Thank you for the onesie, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke dipped his head, but frowned. Did she not like it? No, she'd loved it a couple minutes ago.

"Okay, what do you guys want to do?" Sakura took a deep breath and stood up. She gathered Kakashi's gift, (a limited edition signed copy of Icha Icha) and Naruto's gift, (a special, new kind of ramen, along with a beautiful journal because he knew Sakura liked taking notes of stuff) and took it to her room, coming back quickly.

Meanwhile, the guys still hadn't decided what they wanted to do.

"I want to watch a movie, dattebayo!"

"What do you want to watch, then?" Sakura asked. "I have a bunch of Christmas movies."

Naruto dove into the movie pile, searching.

"HEY TEME!" Naruto grinned, holding up a movie. "When did you do this photoshoot?"

Oh look. It's the Grinch. "Funny, Dobe, but I think he resembles you more than me."

"HAH. Look, he's got the Uchiha scowl and everything." Naruto mimicked the Grinch's sour facial expression. "He's like your twin."

"Just pick a movie already." Sakura snapped at her teammates.

Both of them turned to her with confused faces.

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Naruto came over and felt her for a temperature. "You don't feel sick. Is it your time of the month or something? Ouch. During Christmas? Double ou--"

"NO!" Sakura smacked him over the head, making the poor Uzumaki go flying. "No, that's not it."

"What is it then? You've been acting strange."

"Ah, so you felt it too?" Kakashi asked his female student. She looked up at her sensei with sad eyes, nodding.

"Hey! SENSEI! Got something to say to us, Panda-crap?!" Naruto groaned. "Just tell me what I'm missing."

"Yeah, normally dobe is the dense one, but I'm completely confused." Sasuke nodded. "Mind explaining?"

"It's nothing," Kakashi reassured them. "She's just getting used to the fact that Sasuke is home for good."

All eyes traveled to the Uchiha.

"It's not just because of me, right?" Sasuke chuckled nervously. "There's got to be some other reason."

"No, it's just that we're all here together." Sakura smiled sadly.

"Wow, we really are like a dysfunctional family, huh?" Kakashi laughed.

"In every way possible." Sasuke nodded.

"That's what makes us who we are." Naruto added. "It's what makes this matter so much."

"You guys may be the biggest idiots in the world, but you're my idiots." Sakura smiled at her team. "And it means everything to me that all of my idiots are home for Christmas. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I love you guys."

The boys became silent.

"I love you too, Sakura. And you guys too, dattebayo." Naruto put his hands behind his head and smiled that goofball smile of his.

So Sasuke and Kakashi, the two emotionless bastards in the room, were forced to reveal how they truly feel.

"You guys have been like a family to me since my clan was killed. I never really knew to value you guys, and after I left I realized what you all mean to me. I lost all feelings, but the one feeling I couldn't erase was the love I felt for you three. It hasn't gone. I would do anything for you guys." Sasuke confessed. "I love you all too."

Everyone turned to Kakashi. He cleared his closing throat. He was quiet.

"I am so proud of you three." Those words hit his students hard. "You are my legacy, what I leave behind when I leave, and I couldn't be prouder. Looking back, I haven't been the best sensei. Sasuke, I should've realized you were hurting. I should've helped you through that time in your life. I'm sorry."

Sasuke bit his lip to keep from telling Kakashi that it was okay. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. Kakashi clearly blamed himself for everything.

"Naruto. I don't know why I never told you about your dad. I think it hurt me to see how much you looked like my old sensei, and how much you acted like my old best friend, Obito. I never fully believed in you when you were a genin, and I never provided you with enough support."

Naruto thought that just him being there was enough support, but like Sasuke, he kept his mouth shut.

"Sakura..." He turned his sad eyes to Sakura. "I'm so sorry. I failed you the most, I think. I never spent time with you, training you, and worried about you constantly. I barely had any faith in you, and shipped you off to Tsunade as soon as I could. I'm so, so sorry for that. I was a horrible teacher."

Sakura's eyes filled with tears.

"You three are my life. You're like my children. As I watch you grow up, the more I realize that I care about you more than I care about anything else. You have become so much more than what you used to be, and you have made me so proud, I want to burst. Sakura.... the ways you have grown never fail to impress me. Sasuke, you have achieved so much more than you thought you would get out of life.  Naruto. You have grown spectacularly. I've seen you make friends out of some of the most dangerous enemies, because you find some way to relate to them."

Sakura was full on crying, Naruto was tearing up, and Sasuke was about ready to join them.

"I do not deserve the title of sensei of this group, but you are my students. I care about you, and my selfish self doesn't want to not deserve you. So as we celebrate the first Christmas together in three years, I want to tell you all that I love you so much. You are my pride and joy, and I have loved every minute of being your teacher." Kakashi finished.

Sakura, bawling, launched into Kakashi's arms, hugging him so tightly he forgot how to breathe. Naruto joined in, and he pulled Sasuke in too.

So there they were. Team 7.

A crying, hugging mess of broken people who were all alone when they weren't together.

But they were family. Connected. They were each other's light.

And every Christmas after that was spent together, even after the three of them started families of their own. Because you can't forget where you come from. Which for them, it was Team 7.

The dysfunctional family.

Their family.

And nothing would change that.