Charmed Kitsune

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NarutoxPhoebex Prue x Piper x ?

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''Normal Speech''

Inner Thoughts, Dialogue, or reading passages from books and scrolls

(Quick Notes and Messages or Echoes.)

(Dark over lapping echoes)

''Boss Summons, Demons, Dark beings speaking, Demonic/Angry characters Speaking as well as extremely Dark spells and Magic.''

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Story Start

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The manor shook violently as an aftershock shot through San Francisco. Pictures fell from the walls or tilted at an awkward angle and glassware slipped off their shelves and shattered on the hard wood floors before everything settled. As quick as it had come, it had gone again and only moments later the three Halliwell sisters ran down the stairs.

"Oh god, not another aftershock!" Phoebe exclaimed, keeping close to her sisters while her eyes flickered nervously around at the walls as if she expected them to come down around her.

"Yeah, well, at least they're getting smaller." Prue pointed out casually. "What was the main one? 4.3?" She asked, looking over her shoulder toward Piper for an answer.

Piper was the first to hit the main floor and immediately veered to straighten their pictures that had toppled over. "The radio said 4.5." She answered with a slight shrug.

Phoebe didn't appear to be paying attention to her sisters' conversation and carefully straightened a picture of their Grams on the wall. "There you go, Grams." Phoebe mumbled to the picture before turning away.

"Earthquakes give me the jeebies." She admitted, shivering slightly at the thought.

"Would that be the Phoebe Jeebies?" Prue quipped, unable to resist the temptation as she picked up a vase of flowers that had miraculously not shattered.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and cast a playful glare in Prue's direction. "Oh, you know. It's the comedy styling of Prue Halliwell." She jibed in return.

"The only Halliwell that actually likes earthquakes." Piper added, beginning to make her way toward the kitchen with the others slowly following behind her.

"I don't like them, but I don't go running through the house naked, screaming ''run for your life'' either." Prue argued casting a glance of amusement toward Phoebe.

"Okay, that is such an exaggeration." Phoebe insisted, ''I was wearing slippers.''

''Okay, okay, okay, does anybody smell that?" Prue demanded, obviously only directing it to Piper.

"Yeah, uh, I caught a whiff of it first thing this morning. I think it's coming from the basement." Piper explained.

"Gas leak?" Prue squeaked with wide eyes.

Piper shrugged and turned her gaze to her elder sister's. "I don't know, but I called somebody to check it out. They should be here…" She trailed off as the doorbell rang. "…Now. I'll get it." Piper offered, squeezing around the crowded table to head to the front door.

"We're never gonna pull this off." Prue fretted the moment Piper had left her sight.

"Everything is going to be fine.'' Phoebe reassured her gently.

"Yeah, until the house blows up." Prue returned before taking a moment to steady herself. "Look, this Bucklands VIP specifically requested for the dinner party to be here. Now, Claire may have prodded me into agreeing, but the point is… I did agree… and, and…" Prue trailed off as the thought began to freak her out.

Phoebe listened silently through her rant and nodded sympathetically. "Nothing has changed. Piper's gonna cook a feast, I will serve with grace, and Claire is gonna kiss your ass…" Phoebe paused as Piper cleared her throat

pointedly, announcing the presence of the gas man. "…tronomical talents." She amended. Prue, Phoebe, turned to politely greet the gas man.

"Morning ladies." The gas man greeted and took a moment to survey the area. "Wow, that's the smell, huh?"

Prue took several nervous steps forward. "Yeah, but if it is we can't light the stove. No stove. No dinner." Prue exclaimed, only stopping when Piper came around behind her and linked arms with her.

"Relax. If we have to, I can have it cooked at the restaurant and brought here." Piper offered and Prue nodded enthusiastically, grabbing hold of any assurance sent at her.

"Well, let me check it out and see what's up." The gas man suggested, looking from sister to sister.

"Great thanks. The basement is that away.'' Piper pointed in the corresponding direction and watched as he disappeared down the stairs.

Piper grinned and couldn't resist teasing at Phoebe. "Look, Phoebe, he's going into the basement, alone."

Phoebe glared at Piper. "Don't even start." She snapped.

"Yeah, what if, dare I say it, the Boogeyman gets him." Prue jumped in, temporarily forgetting that she should be worrying about her dinner party.

"Actually, I believe Phoebe pronounced it Woogyman, or was that just the buck teeth?" Piper continued with a glance at Prue as if asking though it was rhetorical.

"Okay, I was five years old you guys." Phoebe pointed out defensively.

Prue nodded in mock understanding. "Oh, so what, you're over it now, and that's why you haven't been down there in what? Fifteen years?"

"You guys were not there…" Phoebe accused, pointing a finger at them. "… It was real. It was…"

"A story." Piper finished with a laugh. "Grams told you she got rid of the Woogyman in the basement so you could sleep better." Piper laughed.

Phoebe didn't really have a counter for that and settled for glaring defiantly at her two sisters. ''What I miss?''

Phoebe let out a little scream and nearly jumped out of her skin. ''Don't do that.'' she hissed at Naruto who held up his hands defensively.

''Sorry,'' he replied with a chuckle. ''Just making sure you were all okay.'' he explained as Prue and Piper snickered.

''What?''

''Hey Naruto, have you heard of the Woogeyman?'' Piper asked in between snickers as Phoebe rolled her eyes and left the room.

Down in the basement the gas man surveyed the basement curiously, his eyes eventually landing on a huge crack in the foundation. The gasman kneeled down beside the deep crack and used the screwdriver to open it up more. A shadow spewed from within and the gas man eyes widened in fear as the shadow wrapped around the terrified gas man. "You have freed me and now you will help take back the house." The shadow announced ominously as he entered the man's body. The gas man suddenly smirked and looked back toward the door that led upstairs.

Back upstairs, Piper flipped through the day's mail, passing most of it to Prue, she looked questioningly down at an envelope that was left. "Who is Chanda Lier?" Piper wondered.

"Oh, that's me. I ordered some CD's." Phoebe explained, taking the package eagerly.

"Is Phoebe's dark side rearing its ugly head?" Prue questioned with a giggle.

Phoebe glanced up, offended. "I do not have a dark side, thank you very much. And just because I protect the innocent does not mean I have to be innocent all the time." She pointed out.

"Ooh, I don't know, still believing in the Woogyman is pretty innocent." Piper countered teasingly. "It's so cute too." She gushed.

"Well, you didn't think it was so cute when we were all sharing a room which kept you up all night." Prue argued, slipping her purse onto her shoulder.

"It was scary and it was real." Phoebe insisted. Despite Naruto's assistance of never being skeptical, even he admitted it could have been in Phoebe's imagination.

Everyone stopped and turned toward the basement as the gas man suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs.

Piper was the first to speak after it became apparent the gas man was waiting for some acknowledgement. "So what's the verdict?" She asked.

"Bad." The Gas man replied shortly.

Prue paled and laughed nervously. "Bad, as in, destroy my entire dinner party or bad, as in, you can fix it quickly, it'll just cost more than my entire education?" Prue demanded snappily.

"By tonight, there will be no more problems." The gas man answered cryptically. Without another word he turned and disappeared into the basement.

Prue stared after him in confusion and suspicion. "Okay… I'm off." She decided.

Piper smiled and passed Phoebe the remaining mail. "Yeah, I gotta go too. I'm going to the wine store." She announced following Prue out.

"Thanks." Phoebe mumbled, tossing the mail to the side.

''Anyway I have to run,'' Naruto stated as he leaned over and kissed Phoebe on the cheek.

''Where are you going?'' she asked as he paused and turned around.

''Since Tanjella died her niece is inheriting her shop as her only family. She's still quite the novice and she's going to need help so I volunteered to be one of the people to help her. I'll be back in time for the party.'' he called back before he left.

The gas man stared at his shadow on the wall. "Which one do you want?" He asked it.

At the top of the stairs, Phoebe hung around nervously. "Uh, I'll just be up here if you need me." She offered. She rolled her eyes when she didn't get a response and left.

The shadow lifted his hand and pointed at the stairs. "Phoebe…"

At the Bucklands Auction House Prue moved around her office, carefully picking up fallen artifacts, books, pictures, and even her desk lamp and returned them to their proper places. As she stood up from picking up a stack of paperwork, she noticed the tilted picture on the wall. With a slight narrowing of her eyes the picture straightened out partially but she was interrupted by the footsteps that were coming toward her office.

Claire came in, just after Prue had stopped using her telekinesis, and saw her employee observing the picture. "A little down on the left." Claire pointed out helpfully, causing Prue to spin around.

"Thanks." Prue appreciated, biting her lip slightly before closing the distance between her and the picture and manually straightening it. "Uh, so was this your first quake?" She wondered politely as she dropped her stack of papers on her desk.

Claire gave the slightest of nods. "And hopefully my last I prefer my ceilings above me." She remarked from where she stood just in the doorway. Her eyes flickered to the paper in her hand before quickly walking toward Prue.

"Alright, this is the final guest list for tonight. All important clients to me to Bucklands and therefore to you at the top of the list…"

Prue quickly skimmed the paper. "Professor Whittlesey. Didn't she just buy the Caldor?" Prue asked.

"Well, her family did and they can afford to buy much, much more. And for whatever reason, she's fascinated by your house so your job is to keep her happy." Claire replied.

Prue started to say something but stopped as none other than Professor Whittlesey walked in. She knocked on the door to announce her presence. "Excuse me. Claire, I will be bringing a guest if that's alright." Professor Whittlesey explained.

"Of course." Claire allowed before turning back to Prue. "Prue tonight is going to be five plus one." Prue's eyes widened slightly at the short notice but she refrained from arguing despite feeling Piper's outrage shoot through her due to the mysterious telepathic bond.

"So it's your home then?" Professor Whittlesey guessed, looking at Prue with an enthusiastic expression.

Prue smiled wide and nodded. "Yeah." She admitted.

"Oh, oh, oh! Prue Halliwell, Professor Whittlesey." Claire introduced the two.

"Beth." Professor Whittlesey corrected politely as she shook hands with Prue. "I can't tell you how excited I am to be spending an evening in a house with such history."

"I understand you know a lot about the Halliwell history?" Prue prompted the polite conversation with a glance in Claire's direction.

Professor Whittlesey smiled but shrugged slightly. "Well, I'm better versed on the house's structure than its inhabitants." She elaborated.

"The Professor's tenured at Berkley." Claire added for Prue's benefit, who nodded in acknowledgement.

"Architectural history." Professor Whittlesey offered before continuing. "As a matter of fact I use your house as an example in one of my lectures."

Prue couldn't suppress the smile at the irony. Their house was practically falling apart on the inside. "Really, well, do you mention the leaky roof and limited hot water?" She quipped.

Professor Whittlesey glanced at Prue before turning to Claire, the only person not well acquainted with the house's history. "Well, the original house that stood on that spot was a masterpiece, but it had to be rebuilt after the earthquake of 1906 when it was completely destroyed." The professor explained.

"That's right around the time my great grandparents moved in." Prue agreed.

"Meta-physicists believe the land to be what they call a spiritual nexus." Professor Whittlesey continued.

Claire suddenly jumped into the conversation before it could go any farther. "But it's still standing after this morning's rumble." She announced enthusiastically. "So, okay, gotta go, gotta go, see you at seven." Claire started to follow Professor Whittlesey out Prue's office door but stopped just in the door way. "Plus one." Claire reminded with slightly narrowed eyes.

Prue frowned as Claire and Professor Whittlesey left her office.

Piper was down at the wineshop, having just turned off her phone with an annoyed huff after Prue informed her they were going to have another guest. She reach out to grab the bottle of wine only for her hand to swipe through air where it had been seconds before. She spun around looking for it to find a young, handsome, blonde-haired man reading the label. "Hey, that's…"

The man glanced up at her and smirked. "Calera Jensen '93, last bottle." He replied.

"… Mine." Piper finished with a glare. She hurriedly glanced around her for a different wine that they might be able to trade for. "Why don't you try this? It's got a robust flavor, good nose, great vintage, it's probably better than the Calera." Piper suggested, holding out the bottle of wine for him.

"I'm impressed." The man admitted, his eyes flickering over Piper with interest. "… But why do you want this so bad?" He wondered curiously.

"Because it's got a great body." Piper answered immediately. "Look, I'm making coq au vin and I need that bottle more than you." She insisted.

The man rolled his eyes, also getting fairly irritated. "Look, I'm sorry, but I've already been to three wine stores, lunch break is long over, and I was told this was the bottle to get." He argued.

Piper laughed mirthlessly and slammed the other bottle of wine down where she had gotten it. "Told?" She pressed, crossing her arms in aggravation.

"Well, the woman who recommended this grew up on a vineyard and she does know how to choose wine." He explained with grin.

"Well, I grew up in a house with three sisters and I know how to do this." Piper snapped, throwing her hands out and freezing him and the rest of the wine store. For a moment she reached out to take the wine but stopped herself. "Oh, I can't. I can't use my powers for personal gain. But- but it's not really personal gain exactly.'' After thinking about it for a moment Piper realized it would be wrong. "Damn, you can keep the wine." She called over her shoulder even though everyone was still frozen. As she left his sight, the wine store unfroze, everyone's business continuing as if nothing had happened. What the hell was with the sudden emergence of handsome men in her life? Was this life's joke or something? Now that she was taken men suddenly found herself irresistible? With those irritated thoughts Piper decided to get an extra bottle of wine, to unwind later.

At the Manor Phoebe was making her way to the kitchen when her eyes landed on the picture of her Grams. She stopped her progress and regarded the picture curiously as it was once again crooked. Slowly, she reached out and straightened it for the second time that day.

"Help me!" The gas man's voice broke Phoebe from her train of thought as his voice carried easily through the silent house. Phoebe immediately ran to the kitchen, the general direction.

"Where are you?" Phoebe called, her eyes scouring the kitchen.

"Please, help me!" He yelled again.

Phoebe turned toward the door to the basement where the voice seemed to be coming from. She very hesitantly approached it. "Uh, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Uh, I-I fell." The gas man fabricated. "I think I may have sprained something, my ankle. I could really use a hand." He continued.

Phoebe bit her lip and leaned against the door frame. "Right… a hand… I'm okay." She mumbled to herself before raising her voice so that he could hear her. "Um, I'm coming!" Keeping one hand on the wall for support she stepped down the first step, only to be pulled into a premonition as her hand brushed against a picture of her sisters, her, and their Grams.

Their grandmother was in the basement, holding her hand out against a laughing shadow. Her back was too little Phoebe.

"Grams?" Little Phoebe called.

Grams turned around half-way to see her granddaughter. "Phoebe, go back to bed, honey. Go on." She pressed her voice soothing.

Phoebe jerked out of the premonition and she stumbled back up the step fearfully. "The Woogyman…" She whispered in realization. She now regarded the doorway to the basement with renewed terror. "Uh, you know, I think I'm just gonna call somebody for some help." Phoebe told the gas man. There was no way she was going down there.

"No, please. I need your help." The gas man replied, stopping Phoebe from turning away.

"Okay…" Phoebe mumbled, taking several deep breaths before she forced herself down the steps, one hand tight on the rail for support. She finally stepped down the last step and looked around for the injured gas man. "Hello? Where are you?" She asked, trying to see through the dark for him. Phoebe spun around as he stepped behind her and blocked her way to the stairs. She backed up, almost tripping in her haste to get away. "I thought you said you were…" Phoebe began but trailed off as she heard her name in a voice that sent shivers down her spine.

The shadow had swirled around behind her. "Phoebe…"

Phoebe desperately looked for a way out as her nightmare came alive. "No." She denied with wide brown eyes.

"Your nightmares are true, I exist." The shadow, named by Phoebe as the Woogyman, continued.

"I'm a good witch. You can't take me." Phoebe answered defiantly.

"You'll fight me at first, but in the end, you will do everything I ask." The Woogyman replied as he possessed the younger of the middle Halliwell sisters.

In response, Phoebe immediately calmed and smirked as she heard the front door open.

At Tanjella's shop. Naruto was sitting in the backroom with Tanjella's niece, she had just transfer from community college to a four-year college. She had her aunt's hair but she small cheek bones and was remarkably tall. ''And this Amulet: Arrow head grants the bearer additional protection from envy, jealousy, and harm.'' he explained as the blue swaovski crystal centered in the center of the arrow head spark brightly as he held it from the silvertone chain.

''And what's that?'' the young woman asked.

''That's...'' Help me. Please. Naruto trailed off as the voice echoed through his head. ''I'm sorry...I'll explain more later. I have to go.'' he said as he bid the young witch goodbye.

Back at the manor Piper kicked the front door open, her arms laden with the grocery bags that made it increasingly difficult to get the door open. "Don't worry. I can handle it all myself. It's me, the culinary pachyderm." She snapped to the empty room. Piper stepped across the threshold and jumped as she was shocked by the front door. "Ow!" She screeched, staring uncertainly at the door. "Uh, Phoebe, maybe we should call someone to check the electricity too." She suggested loudly, assuming her sister was in hearing range. Piper threw her purse on the table next to the door, careful not to drop the groceries. Her eyes narrowed in surprise as Kit meowed loudly and ran out the door as if in fright. "Kit? Hey!" She called after the cat, though obviously didn't get a response in return. "Pheebs?" Piper tried to get a response from her younger sister. With a loud sigh of frustration, Piper stumbled into the kitchen and dropped the heavy bags on the counter. "Oh God!" She screamed when she turned around to find the gas man standing creepily behind her. "You scared me." Piper admitted her hand flying to her heart while she laughed softly at her fright. "Is everything okay with the house?" She wondered.

"It will be." The gas man answered, taking a step closer to Piper.

Piper narrowed her eyes dangerously and took a step away from him. "Good. Could I get E.T.A? Because I'm gonna have one very stressed out sister…" Piper trailed off as he took another step toward her so that he was uncomfortably close."Have you seen my sister?" Piper threatened, as she stepped back into the counter.

The gas man suddenly reached out and grabbed Piper's arm, causing her to yelp in surprise. He pushed her against the table and pulled her arm behind her back so she couldn't freeze him.

"Prue! Phoebe! Phoebe! Naruto! Phoebe!" Piper screamed for someone's help. She could see the gas man reaching over her, trying to grab the carving fork just out of his reach.

Phoebe came running in and stopped short at the scene in front of her. She started forward when a bat conjured in her hand. With hardly a thought at it, Phoebe swung at the gas man, hitting him hard enough that he fell to the ground unconscious and effectively released Piper.

"Phoebe… he just…" Piper stuttered, jumping away from the unconscious man.

Phoebe quickly reached out to steady the surprised Piper. "It's okay. It's okay."

"I thought he was going to kill me. I didn't even have a chance to freeze him… where'd you get the bat?" Piper asked, tilting her head in confusion as it finally registered that Phoebe had hit the man with a bat.

Phoebe glanced down at it equally confused now that the adrenaline had worn off. "Uh, I don't know. It just sort of appeared." She admitted hesitantly.

Piper narrowed her eyes even more. "What do you mean it appeared? Like you opened a closet and found it or you thought 'bat' and there it was?"

"Yeah, door number two. I can't explain it, but something weird happened to me in the…" Phoebe trailed off with a shudder.

Piper appeared irritated at the lack of explanation. "What? Phoebe, spill, how'd you make the bat materialize?" She demanded.

Phoebe ignored Piper and glanced in the direction of the gas man who was lying on the floor.

"Safety first witchcraft later we gotta call 911." Phoebe decided.

Naruto shushined into the manor. ''What happened? Is everything okay?'' he asked. Suddenly Piper was in his arms.

''That man attacked me and if Phoebe haven't been here...'' she trailed off as Naruto softly stroked the back of her head.

''Its okay.'' he said as he looked up at Phoebe. Something was wrong; he could see it in her eyes. Whatever it was he was going to find out.

"This doesn't track." Andy commented to his partner. Both of them had been called to the scene regarding the gas man's attack on Piper and Andy was looking over the gas man's record.

"What's that?" Darryl asked half-heartedly.

Andy slowly followed Darryl as he continued to flip through the information. "I just got the background on the gas man. He doesn't have a record. Not even a parking ticket." Andy explained. "A family man, church volunteer, Little League coach." He read off.

"When good coaches go bad, next week on Fox." Darryl joked.

Prue parked her car along the side of the road as their driveway was still blocked by the police and ambulances. She quickly noticed Andy and Darryl and ran toward them. "What happened?" She wondered as soon as she was in hearing range of the two officers.

Andy stepped around Darryl and stopped just in front of Prue. "The gas man that was checking your house got a little rough with Piper." He explained.

Prue didn't wait for an answer as she ran into the house to check on her sister.

She pulled the door open and rushed to the conservatory, "Are you okay, Piper?"

Piper nodded and smiled reassuringly at her sisters. "Yeah, I'm fine, forget it." She assured them, from where she was leaning comfortably against the couch with her head resting on Naruto's shoulder whow as holding her protectively.

Prue frowned, unconvinced. "Are you sure? Did he hurt you?" She questioned hastily.

"No, Phoebe stopped him." Piper insisted before turning to the last Halliwell sister. "Go on, show them." She ordered, causing Prue and Naruto to exchange a glance in confusion.

Prue spoke up. "You conjured something?" Prue exclaimed, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Conjuring? That's not a conjunction or even a branch point of your power.'' Naruto noted.

''I only did it once,'' Phoebe duly replied.

"And it saved my life. I would think that you'd be thrilled. You've always wanted an active power." Piper continued, exasperated with this conversation and Phoebe's uncharacteristic coldness.

"Whatever." Phoebe replied, drawing the word out.

''This new power is anything but a natural progression.'' The eldest Halliwell sister observed. "I smell Book of Shadows. Did you do something?"

Phoebe's eyes flashed indignantly and jumped to her feet. "I just saved Piper's ass. Where were you?" She demanded the accusation clear in her voice.

"Phoebe…" Piper warned.

Phoebe spun on the next oldest sister. "Prue's just pissy because this time she didn't get to play Wonder Woman." Her gaze returned to Prue. "I'm not in the mood to soothe your ego."

Prue just shrugged in reply. "Tonight's gonna be fun." She remarked sarcastically.

"She'll be fine. Everything will be fine." Piper assured them quickly.

''No,'' Naruto spoke up as he shook his head. ''Something is definitely wrong. When I looked into those eyes I didn't see Phoebe, at least not our Phoebe. I think it might be demon related.''

''No...but how? When?'' Prue asked.

''I don't know but I want to observe her behavior without alerting her so we have to go about our lives as nothing is wrong.''

''You must be kidding,'' Prue challenged. "You can expect me to worry about some party when my sister's mind is possibly being twisted.''

''I'm just asking you, and Piper to be inconspicuous. We don't want to alert the presence that we have an idea on what's going on. Don't worry, if there is something up we'd be better equipped getting information first then charging head first.'' he gently assured her.

Phoebe invariably made her way through the house back to the basement where she turned to her shadow on the wall. "Thanks for my new power." She appreciated, pointedly conjuring a nail file.

"You must not fail me again. You must use your power against your sisters." The Shadow reminded her in his creepily airy voice.

Phoebe suddenly appeared uncertain and started to back away. "Please don't make me do this. I don't want to hurt them." Phoebe pleaded, managing to overpower the creature's hold for a mere moment.

The Shadow laughed in response. "Phoebe, you are not strong enough to fight me."

Hours later, Phoebe was still seated in the basement, filing her nails though she was now dressed in her chosen party dress.

"It is almost time, Phoebe. Use your powers." The Shadow ordered her.

Phoebe showed no acknowledgement that he'd spoken to her and instead conjured matching red nail polish to replace the bright blue that had been on her nails. She smirked and slowly stood from her chair. Tonight would be the night the Power of 3 would be shattered.