A/n: Sorry if the chapter seems out of sorts!
"Hey! Stop crushing the eggs! You're supposed to break the egg-shell gently, not smash it against the bowl!" Trixie scowled as she glanced at Naruto, who looked quite messy with blotches of flour and egg-yolk over his Orange Jumpsuit. She never knew Naruto could be this much of a hazard in the kitchen. This explains it why the boy was feeding off the ramen. He literally burned Water over the stove!
How come he actually survived the early thirteen years of his life, she'll never understand.
"But I'm doing it as the best I can, nee chan!" Naruto whined as he picked up another egg from the tray and tried to break it gently, but ended up smashing it between the palms of his hand.
"At this rate, I don't think we can even prepare the batter for the cake! I swear if it wasn't your birthday today, I'd have hexed you into oblivion!" Trixie threatened as she threw the kitchen knife at him, which he easily dodged. She muttered something about "Quick reflexes," but Naruto was too irritated about the simple task of mixing the batter that he was given, in which he no doubt was utterly failing, to even notice.
"Theo-nee chan! You could've killed me!" Naruto asked incredulously, disbelieved by the fact that she'd even try to throw a weapon at him –which happened to be a blunt kitchen knife, but still.
"But I didn't." She said nonchalantly as she grilled the fish she had stolen –er- borrowed. Well, to be truthful, she had to steal almost all the ingredients to even think of making a nice supper for Naruto's birthday, and once again, she wasn't even a bit guilty. The bastards deserved a little loss to their earnings, since they sold everything on such high prices to Naruto, and even then the quality of those things was so low that even looking at them made her want to puke.
"Was that supposed to mean something?" Naruto asked, offended.
She snorted and answered "Come on Hero, it's not like you can actually die with a kitchen knife no less. I mean you're a freaking Ninja."
"...I take that as a compliment."
"I will neither confirm nor deny it." She said as she ruffled his blonde hair affectionately and then placed her hand over his, and guided him about how to break an egg-shell without smashing it against the bowl. "The key to achieve anything is to be patient and gentle." Naruto glanced back at her and realised that may be she's talking about something much more than how to break an egg, "There will be times when you will be angry, hatred and frustrated beyond belief," The tenseness over her shoulder spoke wonders to him, that she was remembering some bad times. He realised that may be she was teaching him something more important than breaking an egg, "however, hate is never the answer for anything. You want to achieve anything, then first you need to calm down and keep a clear mind. I am not saying to bury those feelings of hate and anger and forget about them, no, they'd do more damage than anything. You should know when and how to let those feelings out. Sometimes, these emotions give us so much power that wouldn't ever be possible. There are times when a bit of emotion makes a big difference between life and death."
"Now," She stepped back suddenly and smiled brightly at him, "Looks like you finally got it, now mix the batter correctly and make sure it is even."
"Yes nee chan!" Naruto gave her a mock salute, to which she chuckled, and turned her attention to her previous task, only to see a brown cat munching on one of the cooked fishes she had placed near the counter to cool off.
"Crookshanks!" She picked the cat gruffly by it's neck, and scowled a the cat, who looked back at her with a cute expression, which Trixie thoroughly ignored. "Stop eating the food which isn't prepared for you! You're already getting fat with all the food your owner feeds you, you do not need to get more fatter than you already are. If you got fatter, then what will I say to Hermione?"
Naruto snickered at her comment, to which Crookshanks shot him a dirty look. 'I always knew Hermione's cat was too smart for his own good.' She mused as she dropped the cat, who immediately pounced at Naruto for laughing at him while he was being scolded, which led to an epic battle between a Ninja boy and the infamous Demon cat of Konoha. And it was obvious that the winner of the little match was Crookshanks. Trixie had to literally kick the cat out of the kitchen so as to heal Naruto's bruises and scratches caused by Crookshanks, and also to clean up the mess created by the cat and the knuckleheaded blonde boy.
"You should know better than to pick up a fight, and with a cat no less!" Trixie scolded him as she healed his wounds with her magic.
"I didn't start the fight! That Crook-whatever- pounced on me!" Naruto whined, but Trixie didn't want to hear any excuses.
She gave him a death stare, to which he squirmed away from her. "It's Crookshanks! And it doesn't matter that who pounced on who, what matters is that you didn't stop the fight, and even got hurt. Although," She then snickered as she remembered the outcome of their little fight, "I can't believe you lost to a cat. Some Ninja you are."
Naruto blushed a deep red. "n-nee chan! It's not my fault that the cat doesn't like me at all and hates my guts!"
"Sure, whatever you say." She said with a short smile as she patted his shoulder and then stood up, but then paused and said teasingly "But still, losing to a cat. Who knew you could be so embarrassing?"
Naruto let his head fall in his hands and asked "You're going to rub it on my face every chance you get, won't you?"
"You bet I will." She said with a sadistic smirk.
Naruto groaned at her reply, wondering why the hell he had such a worse luck?!
Naruto clutched the silver fox locket dangling from his neck, which happened to be a gift from Theo-nee chan. To say that he was afraid was the understatement of the century. He was extremely terrified. Theo-nee chan's ideas were always crazy, but this was a tip off the edge. Why did he even opened his mouth to say that he didn't have any friends to invite for the birthday party?! And now, she wanted him to make friends with others.
Normally, he could have ran away the moment she was out of sight, but that was the thing, she was watching him like a hawk. It was lunchtime in the Academy, and considering he had already missed half of the day, staying with Theo-nee chan at home and eagerly helped her in the kitchen than to come at Academy and endure all the hate stares that usually tenfolds on this day specifically, he had no objection on skipping the Academy for the whole day. But when she had asked him to go invite his friends from the Academy, he just had to open his cursed mouth and tell her that he had no friends. And now, that sadistic woman wanted him to make friends on his birthday, believing that this experience would be quite important for him. He honestly didn't understand what all this appeal was about. He wanted to make friends too, but no one had ever given him a spare glance to even bother to be friends with him. Also, there were the trust issues. And not to forget that even if he makes friends with them, then when the day ends, their parents will eventually will them to stay away from him and not to be his friend, because that's what has happened before also. He didn't think he can handle that heartbreak all over again.
He had Theo-nee chan, and that was enough for him. He knew she won't ever leave him, because, well, she herself had confided that she didn't know how to go back. Even though it may sound cruel, but Naruto was glad that she won't abandon him like everyone else. And he could see in her eyes that she loved him and cared for him, that's why he trusted her. He didn't need anyone else as long as he had her.
But she seems to think otherwise as she had literally forced him to make friends, and she was watching him like a hawk. He turned around to look at her, as she sat next to that bastard- Sasuke, whom she calls Bird Brain –now to think of it, his hair really looks like a bird's ass- and gave her a pleading look. At her stern glare, and Sasuke-bastard's amused smirk, he gulped down in fear and looked back at the two people sitting under the tree- Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akhimichi. Theo-nee chan had at first suggested Bird-brain, but Naruto had refused flatly –was Theo-nee chan insane? How could she even think that he'd be friends with that antisocial, retarded Uchiha?- then she had suggested that weird girl Hinata and the bug boy Shino, but they were too strange for him so he refused. Naruto wanted to be friends with Sakura Haruno –she is really so pretty *sigh*- but theo-nee chan had refused, saying that the girl was too much of a hassle for her own good. And now he had no option left but to be friends with Shikamaru and Chouji, they weren't arrogant bastards like Sasuke, were less weird than Hinata and Shino, and were quite normal –according to Theo-nee chan. As if.
Realising that theo-nee chan was burning holes through his head by her glare, he decided that maybe if she's persisting so much, then he should at least try it out.
Releasing the grip over the silver fox locket whom she had called Whiskers –she ranted something about her Marauder name or something...- he gripped the lunch box in his hands and took a deep breath. Oh well, if he has to go to hell, he may do it thoroughly. Pulling his chin up like he had seen his nee chan do so as to muster up her courage, he took a step forward towards his impending doom, unaware of the amusing smiles his nee chan and Sasuke were sharing at his actions.
"Um, Shikamaru? Chouji?" He asked in a timid voice, making the two boys sitting under a tree look up at him in confusion, wondering if he actually said anything or not.
"You said something, Naruto?" Chouji asked "Sorry, we didn't hear ya."
Naruto gulped down in fear and stuttered "I-I..." He sighed and looked down at his feet and remembered nee-chan's words-
"You can make anyone your friend by just a simple gesture of goodwill, Hero. People can have many friends, but only a good friend will stay with you through thick and thin. And a best friend is the one who won't let you do stupid things, alone. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
He still didn't understand correctly what she had meant to say, but he got the gist of it. You have to have friends. Friends are important.
So, gathering up his courage, he took a deep breath and said in a rushed voice "It's just- it's my birthday today and my nee chan invited you two over our apartment for the party. Will you come?"
"You have a nee chan? Since when?" Shikamaru asked as he tiltred his head in confusion.
"Since three days ago." An amused voice said from behind them, making Naruto whip his head around, only to find nee chan walking towards them, dragging Sasuke forcefully with her, who was glaring daggers at her. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the scene in front of him, making the bastard turn his glares to him.
Shikamaru still didn't understand. "Huh? Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Theo, and I am Naruto's nee chan!" Theo-nee chan said cheerfully.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled, while Chouji just gave her a dumbfounded look.
Theo-nee chan winked at them and said "If you want, Naruto can tell you two the full story tonight if you come to his birthday Party."
Shikamaru sighed and muttered "Troublesome." Then he looked up and said "I will have to ask my Father about this."
"So do I." Chouji said with an apologetic look.
"It's alright, but please do try to come though. I've made so much food for today that I don't think me and Naruto can eat it all alone. And then there's that huge chocolate cake Naruto helped me bake." Theo-nee chan said with a shrug.
"Cake?" Chouji perked up. "I'll definitely try to come then!" He cheered, making Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto stare at him with incredulous looks.
Theo-nee chan just chuckled at Chouji and ruffled his hair and said "I sure like you, kiddo."
Chouji couldn't help but beam at her. It was strange, really, how Theo-nee chan had a pleasant effect on everyone she meets.
Sasuke tugged away from her, trying to loosen her grip on his blue shirt, but Theo-nee chan tightened her grip on him, and turned to give him a stern look. "And you, Bird Brain, I want you at naruto's apartment, 6'o clock. Sharp."
"Bird Brain?" Naruto, Chouji and Shikamaru snickered.
Shikamaru tapped his chin with his finger and stared impassively at Sasuke's hair and mumbled "I sure can understand where this nickname came from."
That made the other two's snickers into a full blown laughter.
Sasuke shot a death glare at his three classmates, and then scowled at Theo-nee chan and retorted to her "And what if I don't."
She gave him a sadistic smirk, making a shiver run down the spine of the four thirteen year olds and said in an overly sweet voice "Oh Sweetie, believe me, you wouldn't want to know."
Sasuke wouldn't ever confirm it, but he was scared of theo at that moment. He ignored the unsettling feeling in his stomach, and scoffed at the woman before him and said begrudgingly "Fine! I'll be there."
She smiled genuinely at him and ruffled his Duck-butt hair, to which he scowled. "Before I forget..." she said as a thoughtful look dawned over her as she placed her hands in her little purse, in which soon her whole arm disappeared, making the four thirteen years gasp.
"What the...?" Shikamaru said incredulously.
"How did you do that?!" Chouji asked.
"nee chan! Your arm! It disappeared!" Naruto fretted out.
Sasuke said dryly "As we can see that, idiot."
"What did you say, Bastard?" Naruto snarled as he turned to Sasuke, glaring at him, completely forgetting the situation on hand, making Theo almost pause to glance at them. Another Harry and Draco banters.
Sweet.
"Hard of hearing, idiot?" Sasukie shot back.
"Hero, Bird Brain, stop fighting," Theo said with a chuckle.
"How did you do that?!" chouji asked in alarm as he pointed to theo's hand that had disappeared in the little purse.
How do you explain the concept of some harmless extendible charms to Ninjas? Theo shrugged and in waved them off and said in a dismissive way as she "it's just nothing, but an end product of a harmless Jutsu, which makes some extra space in anything it is used. And don't worry, Hero, my arm is just fine."
"That sure looks like a handy jutsu." Shikamaru said, staring impassively at her.
Sasuke looked at her with a strange expression on his face and said "You sure have some strange Jutsus."
"I think they're pretty cool, nee chan! Believe it!" naruto explained.
"Yeah, me too!"Chouji beamed at her.
"Thanks!" She said with a warm smile, and then her eyes twinkled as she said "Ah! Found it!" She pulled out a stack of blue coloured envelope from her little purse, which seemed too big to fit in the small purse. She handed one to each of them with exception of Naruto and said "the place where I'm from, we don't usually send Invitation cards for Birthday Parties to friends unless they're from some stuck-up Pureblood Family-" *cough* Malfoys *cough* "-but I don't know the customs here hence I'm going to do it old fashioned way." She then handed some more Invitation cards to them, and said "Since I have some business to attend to, I don't really have time, so would you mind giving these invitation cards to the cute, shy girl with freaky eyes, the strange boy with black glasses wearing a baggy yellow hoodie and the boy with the dog having red painted marks on his cheeks?"
"By any chance you don't mean Hinata, Shino and Kiba, do you?" Sasuke said dryly.
"I don't know their names, Bird Brain." Theo-neee chan said with a shrug.
"Your description do fit them perfectly, though." Shikamaru said, and then he sighed lazily "So we really have to give them the Invitation cards? What a drag."
"Don't worry, we'll give it to them!" Chouji beamed at her, already taking a shine to her.
"Yeah! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Thanks!" she said with a smile, and then paused a bit and said "Since I am knew here, I don't know much places in Konoha. So... Does anyone of you, by any chance, know a place where I can pay my respects?" She asked, her voice having a soft tone to them.
Shikamaru said "I think I know a place..."
Kakashi Hatake was known to be a Genius, a prodigy, a hard-to please person, even a pervert... but a stalker wasn't one of them. He swore, he wasn't stalking the blue haired woman. He was just... curious of her. Like him, people usually visited the KIA stone on 10th October, when thirteen Years ago the Nine tailed fox almost destroyed Konoha and killed many loved ones. This was also the day when Kakashi lost his father and mother figures, and his Sensei's son was orphaned. Every year, he stood before this KIA stone this very day and mourned for his dead comrades. So, imagine his shock when he turned up at the KIA stone to see a Blue Haired girl sitting in front of the KIA stone, with a bunch of Sunflowers on her lap. He could have waited for her to finish, imagining she'd be staying for just two or three minutes like everyone else and go back Home, or he could have come at a later time. But he was transfixed there on the spot behind some trees, just a few metres away from the girl, why though, he had no idea. The girl was quite pretty, with sun kissed skin, soft blue hair in a braid and her brown eyes filled with a storm of emotions, and the clothing she wore clearly stated that she was a Civilian. But Kakashi knew better than to judge a Book by it's cover. Outer Beauty doesn't matter to him. You can be very beautiful, but if your heart isn't good, then that beauty is of no use. Alas, in this Ninja world, he has yet to find a person with untainted heart. He can count in his previous sensei, but he was Dead, hence it's no use to count him in. Besides, the Third Shinobi War and Obito's Death had hardened him.
So that's why, Kakashi may appreciate the view from a distance, but he was sure he wasn't transfixed by her Beauty because it didn't matter to him. What enchanted him more was what she spoke while she sat in front of the KIA stone.
Her voice was soft, but was filled with pain. The unshed tears glistening in her eyes said wonders too. "...I feel so bad Daddy, really. I was sent here even before Harry gave the final blow, and I had been goofing off since then. What a pathetic person I am. I never got the chance to pay my respects to Remus, Tonks, and even Fred's deaths. Looks like Harry's Potter Luck is shining Brightly over me, eh?" She chuckled, though it sounded too hollow.
To some extent, Kakashi could sympathise with the woman. He knew what it was like to lose your loved ones and couldn't mourn for their deaths. Being a Ninja, he had to hide his emotions and bury them deep, deep down inside of him. After all, according to Ninja rules, a Ninja mustn't show emotions. Not that he cared for Ninja rules, anyway. Not anymore.
She bit her lip as her eyes glazed and she said "I wonder how everyone is. Is Harry okay? Has he gotten over me? Does everyone think I'm dead? Do they miss me? And what about Teddy? I hope he doesn't miss his 'GodMomma' too much." a wry smiled made her way on her lips. "Though, I do wish if i could see them again. For one Last Time. Oh what I wouldn't give up to see my little brother and Godson once more, and George too. Merlin knows he'd be cursing me to just disappear like that, and didn't even say good-bye to him, unlike Fred."
Kakashi felt horrible to hear her pour her heart out, and mourn the Death of her loved ones in her own way. He felt like a Trash, listening to the woman as she spoke of her miseries, but now that he had started listening, he couldn't help but stay and listen to her. Because the woman reminded him so much of himself, and he wished to know how she will cope up with all this heartbreak. He wanted to. No, he just had to.
"I wonder how George is coping up, though. In less than twenty four hours, he lost his twin brother and best friend-slash-fellow-prankster. I hope he is fine. Look out for them, just like you look out for me. Will you, Daddy? I know you will." She nodded to herself, as if convincing herself. Then a sadistic gleam appeared in her eyes and she smiled teasingly "And if you don't, I'll find you even in the deepest, darkest pits of hell and kick your ass for not looking after my Babies."
Kakashi snickered at her comment. So this was her way of coping. She never forgets the one she lost, but she's not afraid to make more bonds with others, and is ready to move on. That is a remarkable trait he has seen in so few people.
"And look Daddy, I even brought you your favourite flowers- sunflower." She said warmly as she placed the sunflower over the KIA stone, "And yeah, I'm so bribing you. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Daddy."
'She is surely an interesting one.' Kakashi mused as he leaned against the tree, still hiding from the woman's view.
The woman then stood up and brushed dirt off her pants, and was about to turn around to go away, but she paused and whipped her head towards the tree where Kakashi was hiding and said "You can come out, you know. I'm done here."
Kakashi almost fell down head first at her revelation. How long did she know he was here? And how come she even knew he was here? He had masked his chakra perfectly such that even high level Jonins would have trouble sensing him, then how come she knew he had been hiding there? Was she really a civilian or something else?
Realising that there is no need to hide from her more, he stepped out of his hiding spot and walked towards the peculiar blue haired woman, only to find her smiling amusingly at him.
"How long did you know I was hiding here?" He asked her curiously, and slightly warily.
"Since the time you came here, Mr. Stalker." The woman said teasingly, making Kakashi's cheeks tinge red in embarrassment, though it was hidden under his mask.
"I-I wasn't stalking you." He said.
The woman hummed and said "Could've fooled me."
That made Kakashi blushed even brighter. Oh Kami, this is embarrassing. He got caught stalking –er- watching, by a civilian no less! Some ex-ANBU Captain he was.
A look of curiousness occurred in her eyes as she asked "So, came here to pay respects too, Gramps?"
Kakashi blached. Gramps? What the hell?! "Excuse me?!" He said in an offended tone. "I am not that old. I am just twenty-four."
She blinked in confusion and pointed at his gravity defying hair and said "You have white hair." She said, as if stating an obvious fact.
"It's silver!" he hissed, narrowing his only visible eye.
"No it's not."
"It is."
"It's not."
"It is."
"Well, whatever." She said with an eye roll. "I have better things to do than to have an argument with you, Grandpa." Saying this, she turned around and started walking away.
"I'm not that old!"Kakashi retorted, but she didn't even look back, and just held up her hand as Farewell.
He stared as she walked away, and soon disappeared from his sight. Only when she disappeared he remembered an important thing.
"Shit, i forgot to even ask her name!" He then sighed as he rubbed his temple in despair "Some Ninja i am."
Trixie's back was sore, and her legs felt like they had been through a torture. She had been decorating the little Apartment for about two hours now. For a Little Apartment, it sure as hell took a lot of time to decorate –regardless of the fact that she had used an extendible charm to make the room a little larger than it seems, Gotta love Magic!- and she was glad that she had already made some of the supper earlier today and placed them under the preserving charm –because the fridge is a piece of crap and doesn't work properly at all.
She smiled as she admired her Artwork. She had decorated the house with Balloons, ribbons and whatnot, and it was looking so darn better than earlier. Though she still had to repair some things in the Apartment, like that earlier mentioned Fridge and the oven and whatnot, she had almost repaired all the cracks in the wall, and even changed the colours of the wall from a Puke-green to light blue. And now she stood in the centre of the apartment, admiring her Artwork like a Proud Mommy, reminding her of a similar situation when she had decorated her Apartment in Diagon Alley with Fred and George and had admired her hard-work. Ah some things just never changes.
She jumped when a sound like that of a gun-shot rung around her apartment, making her snap her head around, and stare dumbfounded as a Black hole –literally- appeared in the middle of the apartment, a few feet away from her. A bright glow illuminated from it, and soon a bird with orange and red feathers flew out from it, and the Black-hole closed behind her. The bird was about 4' long, and stared at Trixie with beaded black eyes. And not to forget that the bird looked oh so familiar.
"You?!" Trixie exclaimed as she pointed her finger at the bird, at the same time, the bird snapped-
"You?!"
She didn't understand what the hell was he doing here, but then she realised that Time had warned her about an Inter-Space being who would visit her. It was him? Trixie's Potter Luck seems to get worse, and she wasn't even a true Potter!
Seriously, why can't Time ever give her a fair warning?! That's so not fair!
Wait... did he just talked?
"You can talk?!" Trixie shrieked, the concept of him talking was strange for her.
The bird gave her an offended look, "Of course I can, brat. Just because I chose not to talk in front of you humans doesn't mean I can't talk. Silly, little, idiot, humans."
She gave him a death glare and said "For being that old coot's pet, you sure are a potty-mouth."
The bird rolled his eyes heavenward and said "I can't believe I got stuck with you. I should have gone with my gut feeling and should have denied to be the Representative from my clan. Though I can't believe of all the people in this world, you have to be chosen as the Mistress of Time!" Then he glanced at her and rolled his eyes and said "... but then again, I shouldn't be surprised, after all, you and the Potter boy seems to have the worst luck."
She narrowed her eyes at him and said "If you're here to insult me and my brother, then you can just go back from wherever you came from." She turned around and walked away from him, only to pause when he called out to her.
"Wait!"
She turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it?!" she asked.
He sighed, feeling as if he was too old for this shit. "I came here with an offer for you from my clan and two others."
"And what is it, Fawkes?" She asked in a mocking tone, as if she had much more important things to do than to listen to some offer by some Phoenix. Which she really did.
"We would like you to sign the summoning contract of the Phoenixes, dragons and Owls." He dropped the bomb.
Cue a two minute silence.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!"
