Kairi's Birthday

"Big brother," Boruto stirred at the sound of his little sister's voice. He opened his blurry eyes to see Himawari's smiling face. He sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, Himawari," Boruto yawned, "You didn't have to wake me up, ya know."

"Mommy said you need to get up, she doesn't want you to be late again," that got Boruto up. The last thing he ever wanted was to make is mom mad.

He sat at the table with Himawari, waiting for breakfast. For some reason it was taking a little longer than usual. His mother was stirring the pancake batter, but it was like she was on autopilot. She slowly stirred as she stared into space.

"Mommy?" Himawari asked.

Hinata seemed to perk at her daughter's voice, "Yes Himawari?"

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Himawari reminded.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry dear," Hinata poured the batter on the skillet, "it'll be ready soon."

Boruto looked at his mom confused; she was usually attentive when making breakfast. She only acted like that when… Oh.

Boruto looked at the calendar on the wall and frowned. Sure enough, it was April 21st. Every year on that day, his parents would act weird. Spacing out, forgetting things. When he was little Boruto did notice that once in a while his parents did that. As he got older, he noticed it all happened on the exact same day.

Hinata served the pancakes. Himawari happily dug in, but Boruto took his time. He watched his mother as she stared at her empty plate. She rarely ate on that day. She cooked them food. Boruto didn't know why his mom acted weird, but he wanted her to eat.

"Um… Thanks mom, but I'm full," Boruto passed his half-eaten breakfast to her, "You should have the rest."

Hinata perked up again, then smiled at Boruto, "Thank you Boruto, but I'm fine." She did take his plate to the sink. Boruto sighed as he got up, "I gotta go, don't wanna be late for the academy."

"Okay," Hinata called, "Study hard."

Boruto left their dining room and got his backpack. He left the house and started walking. Normally he would go to the nearest train and ride that to school, but he decided to just walk. He couldn't get his mother's empty stare out of his head.

Every year without fail, both his parents would act like that. Empty, distracted… sad. Boruto didn't know what, but something happened on that day. Something really bad, it hurt them both. Before his dad became Hokage, he would spend that day sitting on the back porch, starring into the sky.

One night, Boruto went to his parents' door. He wanted to ask them, why that day made them so sad. He wanted to know how to make it better for them.

He remembered standing outside their door. He remembers how he finally having the resolve to ask them. Raising his hand to knock… only to stop when he heard his mother's sobs. He lowered his hand hearing his father trying to comfort her, only his voice was trembling, as if he was trying not to cry himself. Boruto couldn't take hearing them like that, so he just went back to his room.

There was another time on that day, when Boruto was little and he was playing in the park. His mom was keeping Himawari close since she was only four. Boruto was kicking his ball around. When one particular kick sent it further than intended. Into a cluster of bushes, Boruto had to climb through them to get his ball.

A few minutes later, his mother was screaming for him. She sounded scared, panicking. Boruto quickly exited the bushes to see what was wrong. His mother wasn't hurt, and neither was his sister. When Hinata saw him, she immediately asked where he was, he held up his ball and told her he just went into the bushes to get it. Hinata then just pulled him into a hug. He never forgot how she trembled.

The other adults understood what was going on. They knew what caused his parent's pain on that day. Every year, at least one of his parent's friends came over to hang out with them. Aunt Sakura would come hang out with them and help his mother around the house. Old man Kakashi would take his dad out for ramen.

Boruto did ask them. However, he never got anywhere.

What are you talking about, your parents aren't sad?

You must be imagining things, I just thought it would be fun to hang out with your father.

Don't be such a drag kid.

April 21st is April 21st

Except it just wasn't April 21st. He saw it on their faces, they were hiding something, the nervousness, the guilt. But they weren't going to tell him anything. He wanted to ask his parents, but he never could muster up the courage again to ask.

If things were going the way they were, at least they'd get some cake. His mom always made chocolate cake for dessert that day. As Boruto walked, he couldn't help but wonder how his dad was taking it?

Who cares, he was probably too busy with work to know what day it was anyway.

Naruto looked through his paperwork. Missions needed to be ranked before being distributed. They needed to run fact checks on some reports. They needed to order new headbands for the next class of soon-to-be genin. They needed… They needed…

Naruto put down the papers. He leaned forward on his elbows and rested his head in his hands. He glanced at the picture of his family, that he had on his desk. Him, Hinata, Boruto, and Himawari. He loved that photo; it gave him comfort… on any day but that one. On that day, it was a painful reminder, that someone was missing.

"Lord Seventh," Shikamaru came into his office. Naruto forced himself to straighten up and listen to his advisor.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"We have some more reports we need to go over," Shikamaru was holding another stack of paper.

"Oh, alright," Naruto rubbed his head, he could feel a headache coming. Shikamaru noticed the calendar and frowned.

"You should take today off."

Naruto sighed, this happened every year, "I'm fine."

"We both know you can't focus."

"I said I'm fine," Naruto repeated. Refusing to slack in his duties.

Shikamaru sighed, knowing there was no way to get Naruto to leave. So, he left the papers on his desk. As he began to leave, Shikamaru left with a piece of advice, "Kairi wouldn't want you to work yourself ragged."

Shikamaru closed the door behind. Leaving his words to stun Naruto. Naruto looked at his family's photo. He took the picture framed and placed it down on it's face. Not to obscure his family's image. He started to undo the small latches that kept the frame together. When he opened it, he found a second picture, hidden behind the first.

He pulled it out and looked at it. He and Hinata were in this one too. They were younger, Hinata's hair was still long. They were sitting on their couch. Sitting between them was a little girl. Her sweet smile made his heart stung. She had white eyes, like her mother. She had red hair, like his mother. And small little whisker marks adorned her cheeks. She was holding both of their hands.

Naruto remembered this day, she hated sitting still, all she wanted to do was go play. Hinata managed to bribe her with a promise of ice cream if she went along with the photo.

Naruto closed his eyes, fighting back the tears.

%%%%%

Kairi played on the swing. She swung her legs back and forth. She figured out she didn't need to be pushed to have fun on the swings. She wondered if one day, she could make her swing go over.

"Kairi."

The voice called. Kairi stopped pumping her legs and let the swing come to a stop. She looked towards the voice and smiled. It was _. Kairi got off the swing and ran over. He knelt down so she could run into his hug.

"It's time to go home Kairi," he said as he pulled away. He held out his right hand, that was always wrapped.

Kairi opened her eyes and sat up. She was in the small room Merlin prepared for her. She was still in the forest with Axel. Merlin was training them for the war that was coming. Here they could train for as long as they wanted. Luckily their aging wasn't affected, Kairi was glad, she didn't want to come out an old lady while Sora was still young.

Kairi didn't know how long she was there. It felt like a year. Maybe more. She took in a breath. Today, she and Axel were going to fight. They promised to not hold anything back.

They went to the area where they could spar. Kairi was trying to not show that she was nervous. She had trained, she trained long and hard. For the day she could finally be strong enough to fight by Sora's side. No more getting rescued and no more waiting at home. Kairi was going to be the one who goes out and does something.

She stretched her arms and legs. She saw Axel doing the same thing in front of her. She asked him to not hold back yesterday. She needed to know how much more training she needed to do. She couldn't hold back anyone. She needed to be strong.

"Are you ready?" Merlin called.

"Yeah," Kairi summoned her Keyblade and got into a stance.

"Always," Axel summoned his keyblade and did the same thing. Axel held his keyblade like his chakrams. Kairi didn't know why. Axel had his Keyblade slung over his shoulder, at first glance it didn't look like Axel was taking this seriously, but Kairi knew better. She had been training with him for a while. Axel, was loose and unpredictable, his specialty was fire.

Kairi needed to keep her guard up.

"Now begin!" Merlin signaled the spar to begin.

%%%%%%%

Hinata finished putting Himawari to bed. Himawari snuggled under the covers with her teddy bear. Hinata smiled before leaving the little girl's bedroom. Boruto had already gone to his room, but Hinata still opened his door a crack.

Boruto was on his bed playing his video game. She was about to go in and tell him to stop. He knew he wasn't allowed, it was a school night!

However, she stopped… Maybe, just for tonight. Hinata closed the door quietly and went to her bedroom. Naruto was working late again. So she wasn't going to see him for a while. Normally, Hinata was fine. She knew being the Hokage was a difficult job and required a lot of work.

But, it was April 21st…

She already did the dishes and put the rest of the cake in the fridge. She wanted Naruto to have some later.

Hinata sat on her bed. This day, she didn't hate this day. She loved this day. She remembered this day was special, important.

Fifteen years ago

Hinata screamed in agony. Her body wrecked with pain; her lower body felt like it was being ripped in half.

"You're doing great Hinata," she heard Sakura tell her.

"You can do it, Hinata," Naruto said. He held her hand, well, she was positive a few fingers were broke by now.

"Just one more push," Sakura coached.

Hinata took in a deep breath, gathered all her strength, and then with an ear-splitting scream; gave a final push.

If Hinata wasn't already lying down, she would have collapsed from exhaustion. Gasping, as sweat rolled down her body. She was tired and more sore than any training had left her. Her eyes closed, as if she were trying to sleep.

Her eyes opened back up when she heard her baby cry for the first time.

"Congratulations," Sakura's warm voice said, "It's a girl."

Hinata looked back up to see Sakura washing her newborn daughter.

"She's here," Hinata heard Naruto whisper in disbelief, "She's finally here… I'm a… dad…"

Hinata looked at her husband and smiled tearfully, "And I'm a mom."

The two new parents were on the verge of tears as Naruto leaned down and kissed Hinata.

"Hey," they looked up to see Sakura holding a crying baby wrapped in a pink bundle, "I think she wants to meet you."

Hinata held out her trembling arms. Sakura carefully handed her the crying baby. When she was in her arms, the baby squirmed a little as she cried.

"Shh… it's alright," Hinata said gently as she rocked her crying daughter, "It's alright, you're safe, there's nothing to fear."

The baby looked up at the woman now holding her. As Hinata held her, the baby started to calm down. Her cries went from screaming, to slight whimpering. She looked at Hinata, with the same white eyes as her. She squirmed, but it looked like she was just trying to get comfortable. When she found a position, she liked. The whimpering finally stopped.

"Hello," Hinata whispered, "I'm your mother… It's nice to finally meet you."

Hinata looked at her daughter with so much love, she didn't think it was possible. She knew she loved this baby the moment she found out she was pregnant. That only got stronger with each passing day. The first time she felt her kick, the first time she heard her heartbeat, and especially now. She looked over her daughter. She definitely had the Hyuuga eyes. On her tiny cheeks were two little birth marks in the shape of whiskers, like her father. However, there was one surprise.

"Her hair is red."

The small tuft of hair wasn't blonde or black, but red.

"Like my mother," Naruto gently reached out and ran two fingers over his daughter's head, "I guess it skipped me and went to her, ya know."

"I see," Hinata didn't care that she had red hair. Her baby was absolutely perfect.

"So," Sakura asked, "Do you have a name?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, looking at Hinata. They remembered what they decided. That moment when they sat on the beach, while Hinata's belly was still small. They chose the name of their first child.

Hinata smiled, "Kairi."

Hinata put on her pajamas, despite that she wasn't going to sleep yet. She was going to wait up for Naruto. She still went back to her bed. She opened the bottom drawer of her night stand and pulled out a photo album.

She opened the cover to the first page. It was a picture of her still in the hospital, shortly after the delivery. Naruto was next to her, holding Kairi. Hinata glanced at the date on the bottom.

April 21st, Kairi finally arrived.

Hinata wondered, if this was the year. The year they finally tell Boruto and Himawari about Kairi.

Neither of them knew. Himawari wasn't born yet and Boruto was only a baby, when it happened.

Hinata was pushing Boruto's stroller, while her five-year-old daughter walked next to her happily singing, "Daddy's coming home, Daddy's coming home~."

Naruto had just finished an S rank mission. Hinata wanted them to meet him at the gate so that they could all go out for ramen.

Boruto then started to get fussy, until he started to cry, "Oh dear," Hinata went to the nearest bench.

"Is Boruto stinky?" Kairi asked. Hinata knew Kairi was asking if Boruto needed a fresh diaper.

"I don't know yet, Kairi," Hinata took him out of the stroller to examine him better. Kairi looked towards somewhere and smiled.

"It's Luxu," Kairi said, "Mommy can I go play with Luxu?"

Luxu was Kairi's imaginary friend. She would go into the yard and play with him for hours. Hinata needed to know why Boruto was crying, so she didn't look up when she said, "Alright, but don't go to far."

"Okay," Kairi then skipped off.

After a few minutes, Hinata had control of the situation with Boruto. He was just hungry. Now fed, she placed him in the stroller.

"Kairi, it's time to go meet up with your father," Hinata called looking at Boruto. However, there was no response. She started looking around, "Kairi?" Kairi wasn't anywhere in sight. Hinata began to panic, "Kairi?"

"Hinata?" Hinata looked to see Naruto approaching her. When he saw the panic look on his wife's face he ran over to her, "Hinata what's wrong."

"I can't find Kairi," Hinata said, "Boruto was hungry, I only took my eyes off her for a second, I told her to not wonder to far-."

"Hinata calm down, we'll find her," Naruto said placing her hands on her shoulders, "Maybe she just saw some flowers and went to pick them. You know she loves them."

Hinata forced herself to calm down. He was, panicking was going to find her, "I'll- I'll use my Byakugan."

Naruto nodded and took a step back. Hinata focus her chakra. It wasn't easy but she did find time to train so that she didn't get rusty, "Byakugan."

Hinata's kekkei genkai flared to life as she searched the area. She began to panic when she didn't see Kairi was anywhere near them. She expanded her search radius, scanning the village for red hair, whisker marks, and a sweet smile.

Then Hinata saw her, but her relief was short lived. Kairi was halfway across the village. How did she get there so fast? That question died, when she saw that Kairi was walking away, hand-in-hand, with a stranger in a black coat. Hinata could not stop her fearful gasp.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked?

"Kairi's halfway across the village, she's with someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know, my Byakugan… it can't see through his hood for some reason."

That alone made Naruto enter chakra mode. And shoot towards Kairi.

%%%%%

Naruto walked to his house. All paperwork finally done. His mind still recalling that day. The day he lost her.

Naruto went straight to Kairi's location. He was in chakra mode. He could sense her in the mode, so he went straight to her location.

Kairi and the stranger was in view, "Kairi!"

Kairi looked behind her to see that her father landed several yards behind them. She let go of the strangers hand and turned around, "Daddy, you're so shiny."

"Kairi," Naruto was doing everything he could to not lose it, "Just… come here."

Kairi flinched at her fathers' tone, she could tell she was going to get scolded later. She was about to take a step forward, when the stranger placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Now why don't you just calm down," the stranger said, "Your girl just wants to be strong, so you don't get hurt."

"And what do you know about strength?" Naruto growled.

"I know plenty," the stranger snarked, "I know a lot of things you don't know. Like how special your girl is."

Naruto did not like where this was going. What was he after? The Byakugan? He didn't even know if Kairi inherited it! Naruto needed to get him away from Kairi.

"Well, I think it's time to go."

"Where are we going, Luxu?" Kairi asked innocently.

Luxu? Kairi's imaginary friend? All those hours Kairi spent in the backyard… was it him? How could Naruto not sense him, how could Hinata not notice? Naruto was just about to yell more questions, when something happened.

The shadows began to swirl around them. Without thinking Naruto lunged forward to Kairi. Kairi started look scared at swirling darkness, so she looked towards her father, and held out her hand.

"Daddy?"

He was so close, his hand was only and inch away… when the darkness covered them completely and vanished. Leaving no trace left of his daughter.

%%%%%

Kairi blocked another attack from Axel, by casting a barrier. Immediately, she cast a counter blast to knock Axel of balance. She lunged forward for another attack, but Axel jumped back for some distance.

Axel pointed his Keyblade at Kairi. Kairi cast another barrier expecting another attack, but Axel changed the trajectory in the last second, "Fire!" The fire spell hit the ground next to Kairi, kicking up smoke and dirt all around her.

The barrier dropped. Kairi squinted, looking for Axel. She couldn't see a foot past her. She tried looking for movement in the smoke, but it was all swirling around. She needed to find Axel!

Suddenly her eyes started to sting. Was the smoke irritating her eyes? She closed her eyes and started to rub them. She felt pressure behind them.

Keep your eyes open. That lesson came back to her in an instant. So, Kairi opened her eyes even if she couldn't see past the… smoke?

Kairi could see the smoke, and she could see through the smoke. What?

She could see the entire training field, in front of her and behind her! What was going on? Before Kairi question this further. Axel shot towards her from behind. On reflex, Kairi turned around and cast a blizzaga spell. The ice hit Axel and the impact sent him flying back. Kairi did not miss the surprised look as he was sent sailing backwards.

"Axel!" Kairi knew immediately this fight was over. Axel took a spell to the chest. She dashed out of the plume of smoke to where Axel landed. Merlin was already next to him casting a healing spell.

"Axel," Kairi knelt down next to him, "Are you okay?"

"Kairi what was…" Axel looked at Kairi's face in confusion. He sat up and stared intensely at her eyes.

"Um…?" Kairi was getting a little uncomfortable.

"Axel, lay back down, I'm not down," Merlin pushed him back down to finish healing.

"Is there something on my face," Kairi pulled out her hand mirror and looked. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Blue eyes, red hair, the small zit she was trying to ignore.

"When you shot that spell at me, I thought I saw…" Axel began. Kairi looked at him confused.

"You thought you saw what?" Kairi asked.

Axel hummed before continuing, "Nevermind. I must have shell shock or something."

Kairi just raised an eyebrow. Weird.

Kairi was lying in bed. She thought back to the fight. She saw through the smoke, like x-ray vision. She saw what was behind her, like having eyes in the back of her head. What was that? A new power? Having x-ray vision and eyes on the back of her head would definitely come in handy, but Kairi didn't know how she did it.

She heard a knock at the door, "Kairi," Merlin's voice came through, "Could you please join us in the dining room?"

"Okay," Kairi called, dinner must had been ready.

Kairi, followed Merlin to the small dining room. When she entered, it was dark.

"Um, guys?"

The lights flashed on, "Surprise!"

Kairi looked to see Axel and Merlin standing next to a table, with gifts and a cake, with the words, 'Happy Birthday, Kairi,' written on the top.

It then hit her, it was her birthday. She actually forgot. She smiled, it felt like forever, since she last had a party.

"You guys," Kairi said, "You didn't have to-…"

"Hey," Axel interrupted, "Don't get mushy, just sit down and eat your cake."

"Sora, was actually the one that told us," Merlin explained, "He even had a little chef make this cake for you."

"He did?" Kairi asked.

"Yes. He wanted to be here, but he still needs to acquire the power of awakening, so he asked me to meet up with him and he gave me this cake."

Kairi smiled. Sora, even far away, he was thinking about her.

"Well, then, let's have cake!" Kairi sat down along with Merlin and Axel. Axel started cutting the cake and gave Kairi a piece.

Kairi tried to recall her other birthdays. Most of them, were on the islands though; Kairi didn't think she could remember celebrating birthdays in Radiant Garden. She remembered picking flowers, taking walks with her grandmother, next to the tall towering castle- -next to the great stone faces- -Kairi paused just as she was about to take her first bite.

Wait… what was that?

"Kairi? You okay?" Axel noticed Kairi pausing.

Kairi blinked, "Um… yeah, sorry. A little spacy today, that's all," Kairi then started to eat her cake. She tried to focus on the small party her friends threw her and not on… whatever that was.

Kairi went to bed that night feeling a bit nervous. She forced herself to relax. It wasn't the time to get nervous. As she drifted to sleep, she thought she heard voices. Voices that were far away, and unrecognizable.

"Finally, she's starting to notice."

I'm not usually good at requests. I live by the rule "My fic, my rules." But this idea, was so alluring. Almost as alluring as Kairi being Naruto's sister. So I worked with PHL360 to bring you this new idea.

PHL360 I hope I have delivered.