Once the whole cake was eaten and the table was clean, they took turns to take their stuff out from Sai's closet.

Hinata was looking for her gloves when she found Naruto's hat in her pockets. She watched him wrap his scarf around his neck and once he was done, she approached him and tiptoed to place it on his head.

"Ah, thanks Hinata. Hey, guess what I found."

He took out her gloves from his own pocket and she chucked, slightly shaking her head.

Then, when everyone was finally ready to go, Sai's flat door closed behind them and they all met with the chill wind of the night.

Since the first day of december, it was snowing every night, thickening the roadsides and the patches of black ice that seemed to wait mischievously for the most reckless ones on every street corner.

Fortunately, that hadn't stopped Konoha inhabitants.

Christmas and New Year were really something the villages would be eager to celebrate. Especially this year, after the last events that had taken place during the Rinne Festival. The moon incident had worried everyone who wanted now to gather and have fun.

Therefore, between the day the Hokage had announced that the entire world was out of danger and tonight, the whole village had been really busy.

Christmas lights lit up the streets, Christmas carols were sung by carol singers, ideas of Christmas presents were exposed at consumers' eyes in shops and the Christmas spirit warmed everybody's hearts.

It was almost impossible to not feel people's cheerfulness. Especially when younger ninjas surrounded them, asking for autographs and pictures with the heroes of the war, some more eager than others for speaking to Naruto in particular.

Being their quiet selves, Hinata, Shino and Sai left the group to sit at one of the shops at the Christmas market entrance. Eventually, the rest followed as they were speaking and they all decided to take another hot drink.

Her boyfriend took out his froggy wallet and paid for the hot chocolate with a lot of cream they will both share while she wished the nice workers a merry christmas.

Laughs and screams from children riding their chosen animal from the huge carousel echoed across the large Chritsmas market opened until dawn pierced the snowy clouds. A few couples who had left the intimacy of their home were wandering or playing with fate at the gift lottery. Groups of teenagers packed together in front of the shooting games and expressed their victories by patting on their backs. Families were taking pictures next to the giant Christmas Tree with Santa Claus and his elves, all of them having happy, toothy smiles.

It was the most beautiful time of the year.

And yet, back in the days Naruto failed to enjoy this cheerful atmosphere.

When he was younger, he might well be staring at the fake Santa Claus which seemed to be really friendly, he couldn't feel the overwhelming euphoria like the other children around him. So he'd bought strawberry cakes. The first year, he'd eaten the whole cake the same night and what he'd gained the next day was a stomachache. The second year, he'd savoured a small slide everyday, but after a while, he'd got tired of it. He'd then understood there was no point in having cake at home if he couldn't share it with someone. He also wasn't a good boy at that time so his name couldn't be on Santa Claus' good list. The worst was that all the toys he would've wanted to buy for himself were too expensive. Then gradually just the idea of buying something for himself had made him feel blue.

That's why every year, he'd taken the opportunity of the Christmas break the Academy gave its students to practice his techniques and in doing so, avoid all this atmosphere he failed to understand.

His seventeenth Christmas will forever be the hardest though. Behind all the smiles he'd seen were still hiding woundes from the war families were trying to heal.

In spite of not understanding humans, Kurama had tried to lighten his burden by repeating, "It's not your fault." And Naruto was grateful for the fox's efforts, but...

Tightening the empty sleeve of his jacket, he couldn't help thinking that he, Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, was the reason for all this sadness.

However, he'd discovered Christmas again last year. When the teenager he was celebrated his eighteenth birthday, he realised that he could gather with his friends for the holiday period.

It was definitely funnier than alone.

This December had welcomed parties with alcohol and nocturnal strolls with his friends, but also moments where Naruto had found himself surrounded by fans wishing for his autograph, a photo or asking straight for spending the night with him.

Indeed, after leaving childhood, Christmas turned out to be a season extremely romantic. When he'd realised it, Naruto had asked the question to Hinata and poor Hinata had tried to give him the reason without shuttering, but he still recalled her crismon cheeks and shifty eyes.

Now he knew why his question had unsettled her so much.

His gaze softened when he looked at his petite girlfriend holding his arm. She was fitting so well against his body, her fingers intertwined with his and buried into his coat pocket; he felt like walking on air.

She must have felt his eyes on her because she turned her head away from the concert ad she was looking at with their friends and met his sapphire blue. Head tilted to the side, the smile she gave him made him feel weak in the knees.

Never could he be able to get used to seeing the immensity of her love for him in the whiteness of her irises being tarnished tonight by the multitude of colours above them.

"Naruto-kun, what do you think is the most interesting to see? The snowmen contest or the concert?"

He drank a mouthful of his hot chocolate and shrugged, "Snowmen are ugly. Don't you see them in your nightmares?"

"What? No, I don't."

Giggling, Hinata gently whipped the dash of cream on the tip of his nose with a paper napkin before snuggling a bit more into him, never breaking their eye contact.

As a result, he was the one to look away, his gaze coming and going between her pearly eyes and her ruby lips. His head started to spin faster than the carousel, butterflies invaded his insides with mass destruction intentions, and his heart decided to do high soubresauts against his rib cage.

It was so violent it hurt.

But not like previous years.

It was the kind of pain he loved too much to make it disappear.

And like an addict, he leaned in to collect his dose of Hinata.

There, in the middle of the crowd, at the same place the kid he'd been hadn't felt happy, he kissed the one and only woman making his being and soul quiver.

Protecting her from the snowflakes swirling around them with his broad shoulders, Naruto brushed his lips against her smaller ones, once, twice, before fully capturing them, tracing oh so slowly their shape, and drinking greedily on the strawberry taste still lingering on them.

His girlfriend gave him a "hum" of appreciation that didn't smooth his emotions already all over the place.

Longing for more, his tongue charmed the entrance of her mouth, aiming to explore it in depth, but Hinata's fingers curled on his torso to gently push him back.

Allowing her to catch her breath, Naruto watched her lids quivered with pleasure. Her fingers then pressed themselves onto her lips as to hold back what he just gave her. She took several seconds before looking up at him.

"Maybe... neither activities are interesting..."

Huh? Naruto was taken aback. He hadn't said anything about the concert; he didn't mind being in the middle of the crowd just for her to see the singers closer. Not too close though in case they were handsome. And if she wanted to see her snowmen each uglier than the one before, he was ok with that too.

But he didn't have the time to express himself on the matter because Ino and the others walked towards them, "Have you two seen Sakura?"

"Um... Last time I saw her she was with you, Ino-san."

"She went to the bathroom alone, but it's been more than fifteen minutes. Maybe I should've gone with her, you know. Damn, what if-"

"No need to worry," spoke Naruto and everyone looked at him. "She'll come back."

"Troublesome..."

"It's ok to wonder where she is. Why? Because many women get kidnapped-"

"You guys are here!"

An out-of-breath Sakura extracted herself out of the mass of people walking to stop next to the group, hands on her knees. Messy hair and red cheeks, she seemed to have completely sober up.

But what Hinata noticed right away was how her friend was glowing and she was sure it wasn't due to the cold. It reminded her a lot of the cute face Naruto would make after she'd told him she loved him out of the blue.

Hinata gave Sakura a soft smile when their eyes met.

"Where were you?" Ino cleared her throat, "It's not like I was worried or anything, but maybe, as a group, we should stay together."

"Geez, Ino, relax. I just got held back by a group of fans, that's all," Sakura answered quickly before changing the subject, "Anyway, what did you pick? Concert or snowman contest?"

"We chose the concert, if that's ok with you too," the group leader turned towards the only couple.

"Actually, Ino-san... we are going to leave."

"Really?" Ino and Naruto voiced their surprise at the same time.

She nodded with a shy smile and her friends understood. They had already spent most of the night with the group like they had promised they would do before being a couple. Now they surely wanted to have some time just the two of them.

Naruto was still surprised though.

But he gave his "goodbye" and "merry christmas" while Hinata received new compliments on her strawberry cake and encouragement for next year's dessert.

Keeping her friends busy didn't prevent her from seeing the quiet exchange of thanks between Sakura and Naruto.

Even before spending more time with her boyfriend's teammates, she knew team 7 was known for their chaotic ways of communication. Whereas team 8 was all about hugs and comforting silences when one of them would feel down, team Kakashi would rather patting harshly on each other's back while laughing loudly to cheer up and Sai's addition to the team did nothing to change their dynamic.

But Hinata had witnessed some moments in which the three of them became softer, tenderer with each other.

"It's really nice what you did for Sakura-san," she spoke as they walked away from the group, "I'm sure she had a great time like everyone else."

"Ha ha, Sasuke coming here was a Christmas miracle, Hinata." He replied after having their surroundings checked.

They knew the Uchiha topic was still a sour spot for most people in Konoha.

"I disagree. It's thanks to you. You arranged the meeting for them while giving one hundred percent of your energy today to everyone, as always. You really embody the Christmas spirit of sharing and spending time with one's loved ones, Naruto-kun."

"It's not a big deal, you know," he scratched the back of his head, "I just wrote a couple letters-"

But, in her eyes, she was telling him she truly believed he was a part of this holiday.

Speechless, that was how she made him feel again.

"Um, you did help me by the way... So... thank you," and he gently squeezed her hand still in his.

"No I didn't. And if someone should be thankful, it's me. You really helped me today, so thank you."

"Hinata. I messed up your schedule and the strawberry jam," he laughed. "And still you saved our Christmas dessert. Exactly like last year. Remember my mochis?"

"Of course I remember..."

Warmth bloomed in her chest at the mention of that event and she couldn't hold back her small smile. She quickly scolded herself for feeling silly when her heart throb in her chest at the fact that they'd thought of their first time cooking for Christmas together without consulting each other.

"I thought about this day today." She confessed.

"Really? What a coincidence! Does it mean we can talk by telepathy? How come you never told me couples could do that, Hinata."

He poked her side a few times, making her chuckle, but he stopped as soon as he felt her escaping his hold.

He was pleased when she willingly came back close to him.

"Anyway, remember how ugly and bad they were?"

"That's not true."

"They were! But you did something with your magical hands, and they were so well-shaped and delicious afterward. You're a Christmas miracle, Hinata."

He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer against him while leaning a bit to kiss her temple, a light blush now spreading on her cheeks.

"I'm not." She shyly refuted.

"Yes. Yes, you are. Accept it."

Of course she kept denying it, being all cute in the process, but it didn't stop Naruto from arguing back until he realised they were out of the Christmas market and weren't taking the way home.

He got curious to know where she was leading him, but when he saw the gleam of excitement in her eyes, he stayed quiet, deciding to simply follow her to wheresoever she had planned to go.