"Otou-san! Paws off! Those are for Santa!"

Naruto Uzumaki, who had a cookie halfway to his mouth, easily dodged the tiny hands that were slapping at him. However, he moved out of their line of fire directly into the sights of an even bigger set of hands, who promptly snatched his prize away from him.

"No fair Sasu-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" he whined, his lips forming a beautiful pout.

Sasuke's eye twitched at the insipid endearment as he turned and set the cookie back onto the plate, blatantly ignoring his husband. He adjusted the small note next to the plate pointedly, upon which was clearly written "4 Santa ONLY" in childish scrawl.

"You can have some later, dobe." he said sternly, depositing a small lump into Naruto's lap before making his way back to the kitchen.

"That's right, get back in there where you belong." mumbled the blonde darkly, still pouting as he stared at the cookies with longing. He winced suddenly as an ornament hit him in the back of the head.

"I HEARD THAT."

Naruto smirked, rubbing the point of contact gingerly as Sasuke's angry footsteps faded away. That was going to leave a mark. Ouchhh. But it had been totally worth it.

"Ne, Otou-san, since you're not eating Santa's cookies no more, can we finish trimming the tree?" said a small voice from his lap.

The blonde ninja looked down at his daughter, who was staring up at him with anticipation. He smiled, ruffling her long dark hair gently.

"Of course! But first, I think we need some music!" he said, tossing the five-year old into the air and catching her easily. She squealed in delight, scrambling up onto his shoulders and giggling. Sasuke peeked out from the kitchen at her exclamation and, once satisfied that Naruto had not dropped, maimed, or killed her, disappeared again.

Naruto trotted over to the stereo, rummaging through some of the CDs set next to it. He held them up high enough for his daughter to see, then turned his head so that he caught her eye.

"Which one do you want, Kitori-chan?" he asked with a smile.

The little girl studied both CDs for a few moments, then tapped her choice. Naruto nodded, and popped it into the stereo. Then the two of them made their way to the big evergreen tree in the corner of the living room, which was already situated in its tree stand and covered in lights. All that was left was to put on the millions of ornaments that were sitting by in boxes. Kitori squirmed, and Naruto let her down gently so she could rush to the nearest container and start rummaging through it. As soon as she picked up a suitable ornament, she would find a place to set it. Naruto followed behind her, moving them when she wasn't looking so that they stayed on the branches, because his daughter had a habit of putting the heaviest decorations on the thinnest branches. They continued in this manner for a while, humming along with the Christmas carols and songs coming from the stereo.

I saw Mommy kissing Saaaaaaanta Claus underneath the mistletoe last niiiiight~

"Otou-san, would Santa really go around kissing people's mommies?" asked Kitori suddenly, turning big blue eyes to her father. Naruto stared at her for a moment, struggling to contain his laughter. He covered it up with a cough, then kneeled down to her level. He didn't know what to tell her--he couldn't say that Santa wasn't real and that the person in the song was actually kissing her husband, but he couldn't say yes to her question either.

"Well, if Santa was standing under the mistletoe when someone found him, I suppose they'd have to kiss him, wouldn't they?"

Naruto turned his head at the sound of Sasuke's voice. The man was leaning against a door-post, idly twirling a stirring spoon in his long fingers.

"Exactly. If you're under the mistletoe, you gotta kiss whoever finds you first!" agreed Naruto, squeezing his daughter's shoulder reassuringly.

"Ne?! Even tou-san?!" she said, eyes widening as she stared at Sasuke incredulously.

"No, not tou-san. I'd break Santa's face if he tried."

"NARUTO!" said Sasuke scandalously, smacking the blonde on the back of the head. Kitori simply giggled, her fears assuaged easily by the gentle banter between her parents. Smiling once again, she bounced off to put put more of the ornaments on the tree.

"Don't worry Sasu-chan, I'll protect your virtue," said Naruto playfully, leaning over to molest his husband with a waggle of blonde eyebrows. The younger male blushed, but batted the other man's hands away, hitting him in the forehead with the end of the wooden sppon.

"What if she went and said those kinds of things at school? Iruka-sensei would have your hide." he said, rolling his eyes. "Then maybe you'd learn your lesson about how to watch what you say around impressionable five-year olds. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Please try not to teach Kitori any more phrases like that."

With that, the Uchiha stomped back to the kitchen again, muttering about idiotic dumbasses and corrupted childhoods. Naruto grinned at his lover's retreating back before helping Kitori put on the last of the ornaments and candy-canes. Once done, they settled down on the couch to survey their handiwork. Well, Naruto did whilst his daughter stared longingly at the few presents that were sitting under the tree. They were covered in bright Christmas wrap, and she was already itching to get into them.

"Can we open one outo-san? Pleaaaaaaase? Just one?" she asked, bouncing up and down and batting her eyelashes at Naruto pleadingly.

"Hmmm, maybe. After dinner perhaps, before bedtime." he said with a smile. Kitori pouted a little at the "maybe", but she nodded and snuggled into her father's side with a small sigh.

+_+_+_+

After dinner, Sasuke agreed to let Kitori open one present under the tree before she was sent to bed. Of course, the present turned out to simply be a pair of socks from uncle Kakashi, much to her disappointment, but she went to bed eventually with only minor complaints. They were blue, after all, and since it was her favorite color she supposed it would do. Besides, Naruto assured her that the sooner she went to sleep, the sooner Santa would come. And no, Santa would not try to make out with Sasuke. Content with those answers, Kitori settled down easily, and soon drifted off in Naruto's arms.

After disentangling himself from his child's grasp without waking her, Naruto padded back out into the living room. Sasuke was already putting the rest of the presents they'd kept well hidden under the tree, and handed Naruto one of the cookies from the plate. Naruto grinned happily, devouring the whole thing in two bites. Ahhh, sweet victory. The cookies were his. And so was the egg-nog. So was Sauke, for that matter. Bwahahaha. Ha.

"What a good little helper you are, Sasu-chan," purred Naruto, wrapping his arms around his lover's torso and nuzzling his neck. The brunette stiffened a little, making a small gasp as the blonde's warm breath tickled the sensitive area just behind his ear.

"S-shut up usuratonkachi."

"Bring it, teme."

With that, Naruto pushed his husband against the wall, trapping him there with his body. Sasuke glared at him, but there was no denying that he was enjoying it.

". . . You really are an ass, you know that?"

Naruto grinned wickedly and licked his lips before kissing the shorter boy's cheek. He smelled of pine and nutmeg, and when Naruto kissed him again--this time on the mouth--he tasted the fiery tang of of brandy on his tongue. From the egg-nog, no doubt. Sasuke liked to put liquor in his, as it drowned out the majority of the sweetness.

"Now come on, what would Santa say if he saw you in such a compromising situation?" he said with a wicked grin.

Along with a light pink tinge to his cheeks, a lazy smirk slowly met Naruto's remark.

"I suppose he would say that I've been a very naughty boy who should be punished for my actions."

One eyebrow raised in response, but Naruto's smile widened. He leaned in closer, their lips almost touching.

"Oh? Is that an offer, Sasuke? Do you want some coal in your stocking?"

"Hn. Perhaps."

"Well then, I think I may be able to do something about that." said Naruto, dipping his head and giving his lover what he wanted.

~Owari