Pi Day

In honor of Pi day, even if I am a little late (it is still Pi day in California, I am going to say that counts!) I wrote a little something about our favorite pie maker: Ibiki! That's right, he isn't just a cupcake master but a professional level pastry chef.

Everyone has that one holiday that speaks to them on a personal level, that one day of the year that makes the rest of the it worth dealing with. That holiday they are 100% down for, decorations, costumes, music, the whole nine yards.

Anko, for example, was probably the biggest Halloween fan in the village. She lived and breathed for the dark and macabre atmosphere of the season and usually had her costume plans for the big night thought out by May, at the very latest.

Genma was a Valentine's Day kind of guy and not just because it was easier to hit on girls who were desperate for a date (though if questioned that would be his reason). No, he was a hopeless romantic who loved the flowers, sappy songs and any good excuse for fancy dinner dates.

But some prefer less… showy holidays. Ones that were more a community acceptance than official holiday. After all, to those in the know, every day was national "something" day. From National Hangover Day (January 1st), to National Get Out of The Dog House Day (the third Monday in July) to National Whiners Day (December 26th) everyday could be a holiday if you kept up with the extensive list of dates.

Ibiki was one who made it his business to always know what day it was. After all, there were so many wonderful baking opportunities to be had. January alone had National Cream Puff Day (2nd), Whipped Cream Day (5th), Shortbread Day (6th), English Toffee Day (8th), Bittersweet Chocolate Day (10th), Marzipan Day (12th), Blonde Brownie Day (22nd), Peanut Brittle Day (26th), Chocolate Cake Day (27th), and Croissant Day (30th). Ibiki's date book was meticulously organized and each date that related to baking had the day's title inscribed in the top right corner of the page.

Some of these days he liked more than others (December 15th - National Cupcake Day was always a big baking day for him), and some he chose not to celebrate at all (April 23rd, National Cherry Cheesecake Day he avoided due to his cherry allergy) but one of his all time favorites was March 14.

Also known as Pi Day.

There were other pie days of course, in fact the year had two National pie days on both January 23rd and December 1st. Specific pies had their 24 hours in the spotlight as well, such as Banana Cream Pie Day (March 2nd) and Pecan Pie Day (July 12th). August was host to five separate pie themed days in the course of it's 31 days.

But Ibiki liked Pi Day best. It gave him free rein of pies to bake for the day, and was an amusing pun. (Little known fact, Ibiki could never resist a good pun.)

Ibiki smiled as he closed his date book, the smell of baking crust and caramelized apples filling the air of his bright kitchen. The window was open, letting the delicate scents mingle with the flowery fragrance that came with early spring, and cooling the three pies that he had baked earlier. Lined up on the windowsill was a perfect blackberry lattice pie, an egg custard pie with a braided crust, and a sour cream strawberry pie. The various smells laced together were positively sinful and Ibiki honestly wasn't sure which he was the most excited to taste.

The timer sitting on the counter, a novelty item fashioned to look like a purple spotted bull mastiff (a gift from Kakashi he found on his desk not long after the masked man learned of his hobby) went off and the shrill beeping broke the quiet serenity of his home. Knocking the thing on the head to shut it up, Ibiki slipped on his oven mitts and quickly removed the pie.

He smiled as he inspected the pastry, the top crust perfectly golden brown and the Konoha Leaf he had cut into it had held it's shape beautifully while working as a steam vent.

A quick glance at the clock showed that he had more enough time for the pies to cool before he packed them up to take into the office for a late-night shift (that was assuming of course the Anbu squad was back on time with his next guest). While he was always a bit excited to share his creations with others, he couldn't possibly eat all of these on his own after all, he could almost hear Genma's griping about the lack of a pumpkin pie in his mind.

Ibiki turned from the window, having moved the apple pie to join the others to cool, and decided that he really didn't want to spend the night listening to the senbon chewing ninja bitching about his need for a pumpkin spice fix. Reaching for his cookbook he mentally thanked his mother for teaching him a very important lesson about baking.

Always have extra ingredients on hand because you never know when you will need to satisfy a craving (even if it isn't your own).