Title: There Is Always Room for Pie

Author: xxfissshbonesssxx

Summary: There is always room for pie. A quick look at pie, and the persons connected to it.

Author's Note: This is an old fic I wrote at one point in a certain vein. I've lost the vein, but I still find this piece fun to read over again when I want a warm fuzzy feeling. So, in short, it's a good old story. Or, at least, I think so. / Lots of pairings, all very lightly done. Just to name a few: SasuIta, KakaIta, GaaNaru, ShikaInoCho.

P I E

There is always room for pie.

P I E

The two brothers are walking home together. Sasuke is on Itachi's back, but this time, his leg is just fine. The nine-year-old smiles to himself, enjoying the warmth of his brother's back and the smell of Itachi's hair. He's happy and warm and spending time with his brother and the feeling prompts a statement.

"Nii-san? I want some pie."

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "Mother is going to make a pie next week," he says, "Wait 'till then."

"No, nii-san," Sasuke complains, "I want our pie."

"Aa."

Their route home changes. They have to go by the market and pick up special ingredients for the pie.

P I E

Everyone had their own version of the pie.

Sasuke liked strawberries. Sasuke's version of the pie had strawberries.

Gaara liked raspberries. Temari said raspberries were too tart. Gaara argued (albeit softly) that bananas were too bland.

They agreed to disagree.

Naruto used kiwi. Somehow, it was sweeter than strawberries, and everyone thought it tasted good. Several of the girls offered him their napkins when even Sasuke offered his compliments on it and Naruto burst into loud tears on the spot, startling everyone including himself.

Shino used raisins. This was met with mixed reactions, though no one could argue that it wasn't unique.

Shikamaru knew that Chouji liked pears and Ino liked blueberries, so their pie had a small fruit salad to garnish. The pears were sweet and the blueberries were tart and petite, and the slices of Kumquats were nice and bright.

Tsunade used lime, and it was so tart that only Shizune's lemon pie could compete for tartness.

Gaara and Temari agreed that raspberries were much better than lemons or limes.

Kakashi also liked strawberries. His version of the pie was small--enough for one hungry person, or two mildly hungry people. It was personal, really. That, and when his father had written the recipe, it had been intended to feed two mouths.

P I E

Itachi admitted that strawberries weren't his favorite. Itachi sparsely ate pie at all--just helped little Sasuke make it sometimes when he had nothing better to do.

Sasuke called it 'their' pie. Itachi called it 'Sasuke's pie, because Sasuke wasn't the only one who liked strawberries.

Kakashi called it 'their' pie, but Itachi called it 'Kakashi's pie.

The two were distinctly different, except for the strawberries which Itachi didn't particularly care for.

At one point, both Kakashi and Sasuke shared a loathing for each other. The initial reason for their rivalry was that Itachi appreciated one slice of strawberry pie only every so often, and both men wanted him to eat their own pie.

It got to the point where the older Uchiha would end up caring for them both after a physical disagreement over whose pie Itachi would eat, ending with both men bruised and bleeding and with Kakashi's leg fractured and Sasuke's arm dislocated.

Itachi learned to like strawberries.

P I E

Gaara really liked raspberries. They were tart and sweet, but kiwis were tart and sweet, too.

In return, Naruto learned to enjoy raspberries, and both boys were pleased.

Their pies were about the same size, small, but enough to feed three. Gaara had a slice of kiwi pie and Naruto had a slice of raspberry pie, and if there was a little cream left on their faces due to their haste and hunger, they were happy to point it out to each other.

P I E

Shikamaru also learned to like certain fruits that weren't his favorites. Chouji had an easy enough time picking off the little sections of Kumquats, and Ino's plate always had a few pears on the side, but Shikamaru's plate was always clean.

Sometimes Ino would help make the whip cream, but sloppy whipping would lead to splattered cream, and stray cream would lead to tasting, and tasting would lead to licking, and then the pie rarely got finished.

Chouji learned that if anyone wanted pie, Ino was never allowed to help make the cream.

Although... after pie, if Ino wanted to help whip up more cream, no one was going to argue.

P I E

Hinata and Kiba really, really aren't fond of raisins. Shino doesn't mind.

The pie is big enough for three, but he really only puts on enough raisins for one.

And if a raisin ends up on Kiba or Hinata's slice, no one's really going to complain.

They don't mind.

P I E

Jiraya loves lime and lemon. Tsunade is glad to share, since her pie is big enough for all of them to have two generous slices and still have room for Shizune's pie. Jiraiya doesn't make pie, but he's glad to help the two women wash the pans and dishes and pour them milk afterwards.

And then they purr like content cats, and Jiraiya really likes lemon and lime pies.

P I E

Each version of the pie has its origins in the same kitchen cupboard above the stove or next to the herbs and spices. Each version of the pie has the same instructions; 'roll the dough, bake the crust and set aside; mix the cream and sugar and stir well, set aside; mix the custard, stir well, chill throughly and set aside; garnish with fruit.'

Each version of the pie is different due to the variety of fruits with which to garnish their pies.

But each chef has their reasons for choosing their particular garnishes over others.

Tsunade and Shizune both have the same reason--lemons and limes are relatively cheap. They taste good, too, but mostly lemons and limes are pretty cheap.

Raspberries are rare in Sunakagure. Gaara likes them because they're small and sour, and because when you crush them in your hands they look like blood. Their dark maroon flush reminds him of the way blood looks when it trickles down your fingers, and the tartness is pleasant on his tongue.

Temari likes Bananas because they're abundant in Sunakagure. They're bright and yellow and cheap, and they are smooth and bland on her tongue. They don't prickle and bite like raspberries, and her pie never looks like it's bleeding. Temari's pie is always bright like the sun or full moon, pale and pleasant, and never bleeding.

Like Tsunade and Shizune, Naruto's reasons for kiwis stem from his financial strain--kiwis are not expensive in Konoha, and there are lots of them. Naruto can make lots of pie, and eat it, too. When you look at a kiwi, you see a brown ball that's sort of spiky, and you don't want to pick it up at first sight--but upon closer inspection, once you touch it, you can see the spikes are really fuzz, and the fruit is fuzzy and the smell is sweet. And the inside is such a different color than the outside. Naruto particularly likes the kiwi because the outside and the inside are so starkly contrasting.

Strawberries are also plentiful in Konoha, but a tad more expensive. Sasuke likes them because they're red like Itachi's eyes in battle--red like blood, and smooth on his small pink tongue. He likes their ripe redness, the way all the seeds wash off in water, the sweet tingle on his tongue when he bites into a raw one. Strawberries summon a smile to his face, and Sauske likes strawberries very much.

Kakashi likes strawberries because they remind him of the way his mother smelled. He also likes the redness of Itachi's eyes, but with a different kind of admiration than Sasuke.

To Shino, the raisins look like bugs. They don't taste like bugs, but they remind him of his ever-present friends, and he likes they way they taste anyhow.

P I E

Naruto had originally used oranges for his pie. They were bright and beautiful and round and juicy, and then Naruto heard that a certain red head didn't care for oranges.

Naruto stopped using oranges for his pie.

The blonde confided his troubles in another boy, and this boy provided a memory of the red head eating kiwis for lunch one day. The blonde smiled shyly and thanked his best friend, and Sasuke was the only one who didn't wonder when Naruto's pies stopped being orange and tart and started being green and sweet.

P I E

One day, when Kakashi and Sasuke came back from the market with the same ingredients, they agreed for once to bake together.

When Itachi got home, he wasn't sure what to be more surprised at--the fact that the kitchen was still intact and functional (just covered from tip top to floor in various ingredients, scorch marks, and stains that were either strawberries smeared or blood) or that there was actually one small strawberry pie waiting for him beside the two chefs that greeted him when he opened the door, just big enough for three slices.

It was adorable and thoughtful and Itachi made them swear to never do it again as long as they lived.

P I E

So in the beginning, Tsunade had to admit that it was Shizune whose cooking skills far surpassed her own. She couldn't remember what ingredients she'd put in, and was never able to watch the crust cook or wait for the custard to chill long enough to set properly. Impatience prevented her from ever getting it right.

Then Shizune showed her how to cook.

There was an art, Tsunade learned, to letting the custard cool just long enough, and a practiced way of whipping cream so that just a little bit splattered out of the mixing bowl and onto your lips.

Of course, if Shizune wasn't careful, too much cream would splatter, and splatter would lead to tasting, and tasting would lead to licking, and then the pie would rarely get finished.

Tsunade learned to cook and Shizune always made the cream the night before (unless neither one was really in the mood for pie).

P I E

There is always room for pie.

The circumstances of the day are irrelevant when it comes to pie. Whether you've eaten all day 'till your guts were bursting or haven't had anything to eat since dawn. When it comes time for pie, there's always room.

Whether you like strawberries, raspberries, bananas, or limes, whether you can't cook or have perfected the art of whipping cream...

There is always room for pie.

P I E

E N D

A/N: Yes, I realize that I left out a boatload of characters that I could've included... when I wrote it, I wrote what came to mind. -shrugs- This is what I came up with. (: Hope you enjoyed; thanks for reading. There is an accompaniment to this fic, called 'There is always time for hugs', written in the same fashion, which is probably not posted yet.