Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Darkness descended upon the once happy street that sat in the middle of a once happy village. On this street sat a small coffee shop where people from each corner of the village and those visiting from other villages flocked to for peaceful thought and reminiscing. The slightest smell of its' popular pumpkin soup and caramel coffees was seen as the scent of happiness and the warmth of the store was only outdone by the warmth of the smile of the cheerful old lady who would greet you upon entrance.

The sun always seemed to shine on such a place, but today was different.

April showers threw themselves at the window of the store with no regrets or hesitation, cascading down the glass like a flurry of tears. It was cold; the breeze knocking people around without a care in the world.

It had been 13 days since the death of the cherished grandmother Chiyo. It had been 4 days since the funeral.

Two figures silently watched the store, nothing but sadness shown on their faces; dressed in full black, lazily holding umbrellas over their heads, the only sign that they were aware of anything other than the sadness that emanated throughout the street.

A shaking of the head caused pink hair to cover a crying face as small sobs cut through the silence, causing the other figure to look at her friend, a small sad smile gracing her delicate features.

"C-come on, Sakura-chan. You'll c-catch a cold." She rest a hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder which was met by a small laugh and a sniff. She looked at her companion and smiled the smallest smile as she rubbed her left eye

"Ne, I guess you're right Hinata. C'mon, let's go home" She turned briskly and walked down the street with great hurry, not wanting to look back, lest she fall into another session of tears.

Hinata followed swiftly behind her, only to turn around soon after and bow before the shop

"G-goodnight, Obaa-chan!" She turned again to run after her friend.

They walked in silence for many minutes before the pink-haired female broke the silence

"What do you think will happen now?" She asked with uncertainty and concern in her voice. Her friend simply rose a confused eyebrow at her and shook her head

"You know," she continued "With the shop, now that obaa-chan is… gone" She struggled to get the last word out, a frown appearing on her face at the thought of what she meant to say

"A… Ano…" Was her reply before she looked up at the crying heavens and thought deeply about it. "She m-must have left it to someone… in her will… maybe." She spoke quietly with great uncertainty, her voice wavering from the emotions brought on by the question.

Sakura smiled sweetly at the friend, aware that she was just as heart broken by the events as her. She nodded and turned forward, the silence continuing in their journey until Sakura abruptly halted.

Noticing this, Hinata turned slightly so she faced her companion. "Ne, S-Sakura-chan?"

"Hinata!" Sakura shouted excitedly, making her friend jump

"H-Hai!" her face grew warm as the blood rushed to her head, confused by Sakura's outburst

"Promise me something!" Her friend just nodded excitedly, unaware as to what brought this on. "When the shop re-opens, you have to get a job there and restore it to its' former glory!" She winked at her friend and fist pumped vigorously into the air as her friend grew redder

"H-huh?! Why me, Sakura-chan?" She flustered, trying to cover her face.

"Because I already have a job, and I'm studying full time. You take private lessons and haven't got a job yet" She grinned heartily, showing off her white teeth to which her friend smiled gently back at.

"D-Deal…" She agreed quietly

"Good! Now let's go eat something!" The two friends walked off into the damp streets, smiling and laughing, conversing over how they'll do their best to make it so that no one would ever forget Chiyo obaa-chan.

Meanwhile, outside the coffee shop, a small black car pulls up beside the front door, only one wheel up on the curb

"This is the place." A deep voice had said bluntly "Are you sure you wanna do this?" it asked with a small bit of concern laced within the words

"I am sure. I have thought of this since word of her death and I believe it to be best; both for her memory and my peace." An equally deep, though not as deep as the previous voice, replied. It held no emotion in the words it said, nor did it fault at any time.

"You know dad's gonna be all over your ass and this place trying his best to ruin it. You know how much he's wanted this place since before we were born." The first voice grew more concerned and faltered slightly.

"Obaa-chan never gave in to him, and nor will I. There is absolutely no way that he is going to get his hands on this place. It is a sacred place to me."

The owner of the deeper voice smiled gently and reached out his hand to ruffle the dark red hair of the other gentleman in the car

"I'm proud of you Gaara." He said with the smallest smile

"Get off me Kankuro" there was no hesitation in his speech but nor was there any venom. The older man laughed once more

"I'm sure you'll have a lot of people willing to help you around here. Granny sure was a popular one wasn't she?" Kankuro said with a smile, resting his hands once more on the steering wheel.

"That's what worries me the most." Gaara said solemnly, staring at the shop through the window, making his brother raise an eyebrow. "People may expect me to be like her. They will be disappointed and I may let her down…" The smallest frown appeared on his face, only to be interrupted by Kankuro slapping him gently on the back

"Don't think too much about it. Who knows? This could be good for you and a lot of good things could come out of it."

Gaara looked at his brother with a soft expression before looking back at the shop, the smallest attempt at a smile playing on his lips

'Maybe.' He thought to himself. 'Just maybe.'


	2. Chapter 2

It was cold, yet the sun still shone down intently, making the morning bright and cheerful, reflecting off the glass that stood in front of the male. He sighed and looked at the front of the shop, taking in all the memories he had of this place.

All of the days he had spent as a child running around the inside, the times he had begged for a cup of obaa-chans' famous coffee but was told no due to him being too young, the days he had made himself almost throw up by over indulging himself in his obaa-chans' pumpkin soup.

So many things had changed now, and so many things had been let go. So many things he could never get back again; that he had regretted that he ever lost. He sighed once more and shook his head, looking at his watch. It was only 7:33 in the morning and he was already standing outside his newly acquired shop; the shop that wasn't even going to be announced to be re-opening for at least another week.

He had decided to come on his own whim to sit inside and get a feel for the shop, see if anything had changed and to see if he could still remember all those days and nights he had stayed in the small café.

'_Just Another Coffee Shop' _his Grandmother had named it, being the overly cheerful and modest woman that she was. It was printed on the shop in a plain verdana font, coloured bright orange, with a white rim on each letter.

It was so plain. So… average. Yet it was so extraordinary for those that ventured inside.

He rested his head on the glass door and reached into his pocket, fondling the key idly

"A…Ano…" A soft voice rang out behind him, cutting him from his day dream. He turned his head sharply to see the source of the voice, his emotionless eyes cutting deep into her gaze, causing her to look down.

Her fringe slightly covered her eyes from view and the red that flooded her face was barely visible from the angle of her head. She played idly with her fingers, trying to look into the man's eyes but failing every time

Her face grew hotter thinking that she caused unnecessary attention to herself and was now being stared at

"If y-you were h-hoping to g-go into the c-coffee shop, it's c-closed…" She said very softly, turning her head away from him

"I know that." He said plainly, staring at her intently.

"A-ah… Th-then what are you d-doing here?" She asked, before inwardly cursing herself. The question had come out naturally out of curiosity, but she had not meant it to be worded so rudely

"I'm… going to make myself a coffee." He replied with a slight hesitance, as if he were unaware what he was doing there himself and had decided at that moment. She raised her head and looked at him, confusion apparent on her face. Her eyebrows rose as she watched him take the key out of his pocket and unlock the door. He opened it slowly and looked back at her from the doorway, "Would you like one?"

She froze at the question, completely unsure of how to response. He didn't wait for an answer and proceeded to walk in on his own. In her small panic, and her family tradition of not wanting to seem rude without a justified reason to be, she squealed in response a small "H-hai!" and followed him swiftly

She sat at the small 3 person circular table that was both closest to the window and to the counter, playing with the hem of her skirt that sat on her knees, looking at Gaara every other second out of curiosity.

Gaara on the other hand immediately sat on the counter out of habit and quickly jumped back off, hearing a small creaking from the old wooden counter. He smiled to himself slightly, a smile that soon passed due to the remembering of the guest in the room.

'I guess I'm too big to be sitting on the counter now' he noted to himself, more memories flooding his mind. He looked over to the girl, who seemed to be conflicted between watching him and playing with her clothing.

"What would you like?" He said, maybe a bit too bluntly, giving off a harsh feeling. She looked at him with a small amount of fear flooding her eyes before looking away again, stuttering to herself. "To drink, I mean." He reiterated.

"C-Caram-m-mel M-Mac-c-" Speech had completely escaped her as she slowly realised what kind of odd social climate she was in at the moment; a scenario that anyone who knew the young girl would know that she would have a mental implosion in.

"Macchiato?" The stranger finished for her, to which she just nodded in confirmation. "Coming up."

She was left in silence for another few minutes. A thousand thoughts flew around her mind. Who was this man? Was he related to Obaa-chan? Was he the heir of a fortune that bought this place on a whim? Is he just an eccentric who wants a shop?

She was interrupted as her drink was placed in front of her and the mysterious man took a seat directly across from her.

She grew red once more and bowed her head deeply "A-Arigato!" He simply waved off her thanks and took a sip of his coffee, staring out the window towards the street with one of his legs resting lazy on the other.

They drank slowly in silence, enjoying their drinks in the quiet that enveloped them

'Amazing…' Hinata thought to herself. 'It's almost as good as obaa-chans''

Gaaras' pale turquoise eyes flickered over to her for a second, watching her place the cup to her soft pale lips and taking gentle sips, her faded violet eyes becoming brighter with every sip.

"It's a good thing you can drink it, at least" He interrupted her, causing her to become confused, looking at him "Seeing as you can't say it." Their eyes locked and he gave her the slightest of smirks, making her face redden more so than she thought was possible.

"N-ne, w-what relation d-do y-you have to Obaa-chan?" She asked out of the blue, making the boys eyebrows shoot up, only to be quickly lowered once more as he caught his composure. He brought his mug to his lips slowly

"I'm… her youngest grandchild." He stated, taking a sip from his coffee, Hinata's eyes widening from this piece of information as she stood up quickly

"Y-you're T-Tanuki-kun?" she said in the loudest voice a shy girl like her could muster, causing Gaara to spit his beverage over the table, his face a bright red from the nickname his grandmother had given him when he was five years old

"G-Gaara! My name is Gaara!" He corrected with an embarrassed tremor in his voice.

He cleared his throat as Hinata realised what she had said and turned her head away from him, walking to the bathroom quickly

"I-I'll get some tissues!" She said hurriedly, leaving the man in silence.

She came back soon after, cleaning the table quickly, averting the gaze of the red-head she had just embarrassed herself in front of.

"Arigato… Ah." He said to himself. "How rude of me. What is your name?" he asked, looking at her with an emotionless face.

"H-Hyuuga Hinata…" she stuttered, playing with her fingers once more.

"Tell me, Hinata, were you close to my Obaa-chan?" he looked at her with a serious expression which made her breath catch in her throat. She just nodded briskly and coughed "Are you… the one she called… 'A Raven Beauty'?"

Hinata smiled to herself and nodded slightly "Obaa-chan w-was always t-too nice to m-me…" she looked at him and cocked her head to the side "H-how do you know?" she asked quietly, taking a sip from her drink

"She's sent me letters for the past 3 years saying how there's a 'Raven Beauty' that visits her shop frequently," She smiled at this, knowing that obaa-chan thought highly of her "Saying how I should marry her" He finished.

Hinata choked on her drink and dribbled it slightly, receiving an odd look from Gaara.

"H-how d-did you know it w-was me?" She asked incredulously, wiping the coffee that dribbled down her chin.

"You knew my nickname." He stated plainly, looking back to the window. She looked down and nodded slightly. That was pretty obvious, when she thought about it. "And-" her thoughts were interrupted

"You fit the description." She blushed and looked at him, her cheeks a dark crimson. That was the closest she had got to a man calling her beautiful. Well, a man who was not related by blood.

She looked at his thin face stare lazily off into space, his pale eyes seemingly glowing in the light of the morning sun through the glass window.

"So, Hinata." He said, shocking her once more from her stupor, "I have a favour to ask."

She raised her eyebrows at this and her lips parted slightly "H-hai?"

"For both my obaa-chan and I, and for the good of this shop, I would like to ask for your assistance." She continued to stare at him, his vague request not helping her understand what he actually wanted "Could you please, help me run this shop?" he leaned forward on the table and looked at her with a slightly softened face, his eyes slicing through her defences.

"H-Hai!"


	3. Chapter 3

Two girls made themselves comfortable on opposite sides of a single bed; one laying in a foetal position on the pillows staring intently at the wall directly in front of her gaze and the other sat cross legged at the foot of the bed staring at her friend.

"So… this guy comes out of nowhere, just staring at the shop and then he just… opens it and makes you coffee, then offers you job, claiming he's Obaa-chans grandson?"

The dark haired girl nodded to confirm her friends query in beat to the gaps of her speech, causing the pink haired teen to furrow her eyebrows and hold a quizzical expression.

"Doesn't that seem a bit… odd?"

Hinata cocked her head to the side and gave her friend a side glance, making sure not to lose concentration on that patch of wall she had all but burned a hole into.

"W-what do you mean?"

It was true that Hinata found it a bit odd, but until now had been so overwhelmed with the whole situation that she hadn't actually sat down to think about it until this present moment.

"Well," Sakura continued softly "If he were anything to Obaa-chan, shouldn't we have seen him before?"

Hinata broke eye contact with that patch in the wall and made eye contact with her friend fully and frowned slightly

"I… I guess… M-maybe he has his reasons f-for not visiting?" she tried to justify, not being any wiser than Sakura to anything that went on the strange boys mind.

"Hmm…" The questioning hum was almost silent and was quickly followed by a sharp loud "ah!"

Hinata jumped slightly at the abrupt noise and turned red from the embarrassment of being scared so obviously

"We'll just ask him!" Her green eyes shone brightly out of curiosity and eagerness, hoping that this stranger would be somewhat like her beloved obaa-chan.

Hinata just smiled weakly back and nodded, returning her gaze to the patch on the wall that captivated her so.

Hinata was slightly dreading this, what seemed to be, confrontation. She had guessed that Sakura's and Gaara's personalities weren't exactly matched for… easy conversation.

Tomorrow was probably going to be a long day

Gaara sat inside the isolated café and sighed to himself quietly. Was he ready for this? It wasn't the responsibilities that hassled him, or the thought of so many people being around and expecting something of him;

It was more the social interaction needed in such an environment and he honestly didn't know if he was able to handle it well.

He had never been a people person, being raised in isolation with no one but his Grandmother and siblings for conversation when he was younger.

His thoughts were interrupted by the flat tone of the doors bell ringing and the squeaking of the door hinge as it opened.

Gaaras' eyebrow rose slightly as he stood up to greet the intruder of his newly acquired shop.

He absent-mindedly puffed his chest out, ready to proclaim in a steady voice that the shop was in fact closed when orbs of violet met his aquamarine eyes.

They stood still in silence for what seemed like multiple minutes before Gaara breathed out and sighed

"You got me on edge then. I thought I'd have to go to business mode." He said in monotone, staring blankly at her as he sat back down at his desk

The girl struggled to imagine him in any mode other than business mode, was he suggesting that when they met the day before that he wasn't in business mode? What mode was he in then?

He picked up his mug and closed his eyes, taking in the scent before opening them once more, raising the mug to his lips before halting slightly, looking up to see that the unexpected guest had brought someone with her.

He placed the mug down and leaned back in his chair

"I don't believe I've had the honour." He stated towards the second guest who smiled brightly back at him. She quickly stepped forward and sat on the chair that was unused on the opposite side of Gaaras' table.

She stuck her hand out swiftly, barely missing the mug that was in front of Gaara and smiled wider

"I am Haruno Sakura! I come here all the time!" Gaara raised an eyebrow at that and slowly took her hand only to have it shaken energetically, causing him to frown slightly.

She let go of his hand and smiled at him before ushering Hinata into the seat that was next to hers

Gaara watched the shy female sit down awkwardly, flattening out the wrinkles in her skirt and making sure that she wasn't showing anything off in an awkward position.

His eyes darted between the two and he smirked slightly, leaning his head on his hands, slouching forward slightly on the table

"Well, now it feels like I'm being interrogated." He said in a small joking tone that had a small rasp to it, causing the darker haired girl to blush at the odd infliction of his speech.

"Call it more of a small questioning!" Sakura replied, nonplussed by the Redheads voice

"Well, go on then." He continued to smirk but he now leant back in his chair and waited for whatever they wanted to ask.

"Numero uno! What relation are you to Obaa-chan?" She pointed her finger almost menacingly at Gaara, to which he just ignored

"I am the son of her daughter and the reciprocate of this shop, as stated in her will." He said bluntly, no emotion was detected in his speech

"Two! What do you plan on doing with the shop?!" He finger got closer to his chest, her tone becoming more menacing which was, again, ignored completely

"I plan on selling coffee. What else do you do in a coffee shop?" He was expecting more than this to be honest. He would have preferred to have been asked questions he could have more fun with, or at least ones he could answer quickly and go back to his day without feeling like his time had been wasted.

"And finally!" The pink haired girl practically shouted "How come you've never been here before?"

At that, the redhead's eyes widened and his eye contact with the girl was broken as he looked down at the ground before slowly getting out of his seat.

"This conversation is over." He stated in a shaking voice, refusing to make eye contact with either of the girls present

"But-" Sakura's objection was interrupted by the sharp sound of Gaaras' fist hitting the table top followed by the clinking of porcelain hitting the floor and breaking.

"Over." He had made it perfectly clear before running a hand through his hair.

He looked down and saw the mug and cursed under his breath, turning to get something to clean the mess with. He stopped at the door frame of the kitchen and spoke firmly.

"I don't mind what you do, just… don't ask that question again."

The girls sat quietly, processing what had just happened.

The pink haired girl was shocked to the core, completely frozen and unable to move or speak.

Hinata, in a burst of energy and empathy, stood up quickly and followed the strange man.


	4. Chapter 4

The redhead angrily snatched a roll of toilet paper off of the shelf in the supply closet, muttering under his breath a string of vulgar and angry words. He searched the small supply closet for some kind of implement to pick up the shattered remains of his coffee cup without the risk of cutting open his fingers.

He once again snarled at the lack of his findings and turned around sharply, only to be pushed back by his impulse, a pair of lilac eyes meeting his faded shades of green. The owner of these deep pools also took a step back from the shock of his reaction and quickly looked away, her index fingers pushing into each other slowly and gently.

"A-Ano… what are you looking for?" The question was directed at him, but the words were aimed towards the now dusty floor of the small step in cupboard. Her eyes explored the room, as if looking for any kind of distraction from the man standing in front of her.

He bit back a sarcastic comment that brewed inside him, sighing to try and calm himself down before responding to his new employee.

"I am attempting to find a dustpan and brush." He stated in a soft, worn out voice, a small tremble of irritation laced in his words. The girls' lips faltered into a small frown at his tone.

"Obaa-chan usually l-left them in the bathroom…" She tried to be louder than usual but her words still rolled out peacefully, not holding much force behind them. The male nodded in response which was completely unseen by the shy woman in front of him.

He scowled slightly at how she averted her gaze from him. As if she was scared, disgusted or _fearful _of him. She radiated an awkward uncomfortableness that he had seen many a man show his father as they shook in front of him. The very thought that he also created those emotions in someone; the thought that he was in any way just like _him…_ made him feel great unease. It clenched at his stomach and brought a small, painful pang of anger to the back of his mind.

He raised his hand to her face slowly and cupped her chin with his finger and thumb. The young lady was quite surprised by the sudden physical contact and froze up, her face heated from the blood now rushing to her head. He had unexpectedly soft but cold hand that held her chin firm but not tight enough to harm

He held her gaze with his soft eyes, his brow furrowed lightly in annoyance.

"If I am to be your boss, you must be able to both look at me at all times, and be able to communicate with me fluently. Okay?" she was still frozen in shock and was unable to respond. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side "Okay?" he repeated

The girl broke free of his hold with a quick nod. He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Try again…"

She scrunched up her face and grew redder in the face. She clenched her hands into fists and summoned up as much courage as possible. "H-Hai!" She remained still and was brought out of her stupor by a soft 'hm'

A single hand slowly lowered onto the top of her head and patted her gently. "Good. Now lead me to the dustpan and brush. Please." The polite word seemed to be an afterthought, a small indicator that Gaara may not be completely well tuned when it came to social interaction

Hinata raised her head to be met with a small smile and pale green. From the angle that she looked upon him, she could see the definition in his face and form. He chin was sharp and angled; his lips small and pale. Although the taller gentleman had quite a dark shade of hair, his eyebrows were thin and quite light in comparison, almost to the point of nonexistence. His shaggy hair drooped down over his forehead, which at further investigation had some sort of marking, maybe a scar, on his left side.

She shook her head and collected her thoughts before turning around heading towards the bathrooms. Gaara followed her closely; seemingly apathetic towards anything that had just occurred; almost as if it were a regular thing.

They collected the necessary item and returned swiftly to the impatiently waiting Sakura. Her arms were crossed and her foot rapidly tapped on the floor.

"Took an awful long time to get some paper towels and a brush... Anything I'm missing?" a mixture of teasing and annoyance in her words.

"Blatantly." The redhead replied in a bored tone. "You forgot to mention the dustpan"

"The dustpan wouldn't have increased your time by much." She growled lightly, only to be thrown a worried look by Hinata

Gaara, who was now brushing the last couple of pieces of porcelain into the dustpan stood up and looked at the dustpan intently before looking Sakura directly in the eye, emotion vacant from his face. "It's a heavy dustpan."

"I can tell we're going to be _great _friends." She mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him as he walked away to dispose of the trash.

He leaned on the counter and looked over at the two. "I assume you have no more questions and are satisfied?" He questioned, looking at them with a lazily cocked eyebrow.

Sakura stood up slowly and beckoned Hinata with a single hand motion, sighing. "Questionless, yes. Satisfied, no." the pair walked slowly to the door, the darker haired of the two looking back at the sound of the Cafés new owner's voice calling out:

"Hinata. The shop will open in four days. If you have any questions or problems with anything, please return here whenever. Sakura, feel free to come by whenever as well; as long as you have good reason to, and not to just ask me inane questions."

Sakura made a small noise of confirmation that she had heard him and gave a slight wave of the hand, but didn't look back.

Hinata looked at him with her cheeks tinted a light pink, nodding at his words and waving her hand gently to him before running out the door to join her friend.

Gaara sighed and let himself slide down the counter until he was sat on the floor.

Things might change for the better? Who knows, maybe his brother was right.

He didn't remember to tell him it would be so… stressful.

He was struggling to communicate with the two people he had met so far. He had to remember the words and teaching of his siblings and grandmother and completely go against his natural instinct of being incredibly blunt with people.

Today had been the first time he touched someone by choice, and he did it absent mindedly in what could be considered a rude action.

He sighed once more and slumped his head back.

This was difficult already.


	5. Chapter 5

She fumbled with her navy blue messenger bag idly as she stared at the door in front of her. Three days had come and gone so quickly, and she was expected to start working at the coffee house she had loved so much in less than 24 hours. Her figure shook in fear; the long thin coat she wore was easily swept up in the breeze that ran past her, causing another flurry of shivers.

She looked around desperately to see if the owner of the shop was anywhere to be seen before glancing at her watch, only to realise that it was only 7:25AM. She frowned at herself for being overly eager to arrive and shook her head. She assumed that any employer would appreciate some kind of eagerness to work and to help out at their station, but as the cold morning wind danced around her legs and sent chills up her body, she realised that Gaara was probably not one of those people.

He would probably see her earliness as nothing and show no reaction to it above a nod of the head. The man seemed to be collected, yet sarcastic; polite, but only when needs be.

He was quite different to the grandmother that had left him the store.

He was quite different to how she pictured Tanuki-kun being.

Tanuki-kun, in the words of Obaa-chan, was a hyper active bundle of joy that could bring a smile to the miserable of faces. He was a chubby faced, bright eyed child that spoke freely and loudly, even if it were not appropriate.

'Then again,' she thought to herself, scrunching her nose up at the words the dear old lady described her grandson with, 'he was about 8 in the description…' she smiled lightly at picturing what he must have looked like and struggled to imagine that small child turning into… Gaara.

Her small frown was interrupted by a small cough, making her clutch at her bag in reflex.

"You know, it's hard for me to unlock the door when you're blocking it." The deep voice stated plainly. She looked down immediately, her face reddening at this, and side stepped out of his way quickly.

Her actions still confused him greatly and he gave her naught but a raised eyebrow in response. He shrugged it off as another life event he was yet to understand.

"We have a lot of work to do today." He announced as they entered the store. "We will need to completely dust, polish and clean this place. This will include furniture movement and possible order of replacements, so if you need any help moving something, just shout." Before she could respond, he waved her off and walked towards the back of the shop.

She sighed and placed her bag down on the counter, obviously disappointed with the lack of conversation involved. Not that she herself was the most talkative of people; she had just hoped he'd push for a response.

She rumbled through her bag and placed a few CDs on the counter, smiling to herself as she walked behind the counter to use the previous owner's relatively older CD system that had speakers coursing throughout the café, the cables lazily hidden by plastic cases along the ceiling.

As the music quietly poured from the speakers, she relinquished an apron from its' place underneath the counter and dusted it off before putting it on.

Cleaning had always been one chore that she was completely comfortable with doing, with no hassle or argument. She had always cleaned when the family were away on family business and social outings, as she was a slight introvert. She always lost herself to thinking and breathing in the music when she was cleaning.

She had cleaned so often in time of trouble, that like a blind man with his cane, she could clean the entire downstairs area of her family house with her eyes closed using her broom.

Her small feet, encased in thin black plimsolls, danced gently across the tiled floor as she hummed along to the music, losing herself to it completely.

Gaara opened the door to the small room hidden at the back of the café, revealing an incredibly messy and dusty room that his grandmother would close herself in at night to write to him and others and slowly reminisce until the early hours of the morning.

He hesitantly waked inside and pulled out the old wooden armchair from beneath the desk and sat on it, gently resting his arms on the armrests, sighing.

As a child he had always wanted to be let into this room, but was never allowed as it was her 'sanctuary'. He'd always wanted to explore and revel in this room. But not like this. He could barely let himself look around the room, let alone explore it.

He rested his elbows on the desk and let his head fall into his hands, closing his eyes and breathing in the thick scent of pumpkin that lay thick on anywhere Obaa-chan would go.

He opened his eyes slowly to see a small envelope with his name on it. His eyes widened incredibly and he swiftly snatched it from his resting place, recognising the handwriting all too well.

The slid the paper out from the envelope and read it quickly, his breath catching in his throat.

_Dearest Tanuki-kun_

_If you're reading this, this will probably be the last letter of mine that you will receive._

_Yes, it is true, I must leave all of this behind and take my place on my pedestal in heaven as the next Aphrodite, goddess of eternal beauty! Kekekeke, I joke._

Gaara rolled his eyes and barely managed a smile at the old woman's incredibly odd sense of humour and carried on.

_I have left for you this store, knowing that you would never hand it over to that awful son-in-law that my daughter burdened me with. You children are the only thing that came out of that marriage that is truly precious. _

_I know that you will not let me down and that you will fill these old walls with the same love and passion you gave it all of those years ago. _

_I hope that you make many a friend and colleague along your journey as a coffee shop owner and realise how truly wonderful serving people happiness is._

_With much love Tanuki-kun. _

_Your obaa-chan._

He re-read the letter thrice and set it down on the table once more, a sad smile gracing his features as he slumped backwards on the chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

He flung himself out of his nostalgic trance and perked his ears when the slightest sound of music caressed his eardrums.

He raised his eyebrow and walked out of the office.

Poking his head around the door frame of the small hallway to the sanctuary, he saw Hinata slowly side step from table to another as she mopped the tiles clean, her eyes glazed over as if in some kind of trance, a lazy smile on her face.

He leaned against the threshold of the door and watched her, intrigued. The music was quiet and gentle, the sound of acoustic guitars and folk instruments resonating throughout the store being accompanied by the percussion of her footsteps.

This had be the first time that he noticed her properly. From first glance, it was obvious to see that the woman was splendour for the eyes, but that was only from a superficial glance.

She had her hair tied back into a long ponytail that swayed side to side slightly between her shoulder blades, a full fringe covering her eyebrows that drooped slightly over her eyes. The fringe accented her eyes in both size and colour; they contrasted with each other, making the other stand out more.

He face was small, thin and met into a slightly squarer chin, her cheeks looking slightly chubby because of it.

The apron hugged her curved form loosely at the top and bottom, but constricted her waist closely, pointing out her curves beautifully.

Her smile was infectious, and he couldn't help but smile lightly at her pale lips. She truly was a raven beauty, as his grandmother had said.

He walked into the room nonchalantly and smiled more when he was met with a gasp and the sound of the mop hitting the wet floor.

"I never saw you as a Stornoway fan." Gaara simply stated as he walked up to her, her face reddening with every step that he got closer to her. Her lips parted slightly but no noise was made, and in shock, her eyes remained on his.

He leaned down slightly to see her on eye level and inspected her closely.

He saw every loose strand of hair that lay on her porcelain skin; like slithers of cloud made purple in the dark starlight that hung beneath the moon. He made note of that small dark freckles that were faded by foundation on the lining of her cheek bones. He even made a note of the small mole that would usually lay hidden by her hair that sat behind her right earlobe.

He smiled as she radiated from the closeness, pulling his head back so that he now stood normally.

"Would you like another Caramel Macchiato?" He asked softly, catching her attention. She nodded swiftly, almost too swiftly for her to be comfortable with.

He turned and walked towards the counter, turning his head back to look at her again.

"You know what? I think I prefer you with a ponytail." He turned his head again and grabbed two mugs from below the counter.

Hinata felt her face grow redder and her heart clench at his statement

She couldn't help but look at her feet and smile embarrassedly.

She made a mental note to always put her hair up from now on.


End file.

Naruto, Humor, Romance