Summary: There's one place in the world where Tenten truly feels she belongs, McDonalds. There she's found people to surround herself with that she never expected. Yet, on a seemingly normal day, Tenten finds herself being watched by a pair of white eyes she left behind. Maybe a part time job isn't worth it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, obviously.
The scent of grease filled the air as smoke raised from a vat in waves through the air. A silver haired man was putting a cap on the vent, looking over sternly, well as sternly as one could imagine behind a dark mask, as he lectured a blonde boy on why they weren't supposed to be burning the store down. This was the eighth talk this week on this subject, and it was Saturday after all.
The boy seemed apologetic as he rubbed the back of his head, ruffling the hair through the small open portion of his cap. It wasn't like Naruto meant to almost burn the place down, he just got too excited about filling the old fryers and it lit up in flames.
"Only Naruto could make a seemingly easy task turn into an instance where we nearly end up jobless," a pink haired girl leaning against the back wall mused as she took her finger off the middle button. Those words were only meant for the dark haired girl in the front of the store to hear. Otherwise she would have just yelled across the store.
"No kidding, he means well though. It's not often the grease needs changed before Kiba and Shino get here," the dark haired girl mused back, hitting the middle button on the headset to reply to her friend. "Who would of thought those two were actually useful when it came to maintenance."
"No one would have, Tenten. Not a single person."
Their conversation was interrupted by a single greeting, prerecorded, chiming into Tenten's ears as she leaned against the drink machine. Once the simple phrase, 'welcome to McDonalds, go ahead with your order whenever you're ready' finished, Tenten hit the according buttons on the register and repeated the total and the car drove off.
"Oh look, our first car in almost an hour," a blonde haired girl mumbled as she began to bag the order. It was a slow night for the fast food joint, something they were all happy for at least. It gave them a break from the usual shenanigans and rush they would normally account for tonight.
It was a Saturday afternoon, around three, and all of those who were on the floor had either just gotten here, or like Tenten, had been here for four hours now. It was halfway through her shift and the time had been dragging on and on since she had gotten here.
Once the food had been handed out, Tenten found herself handing out the drinks before she told the customer to have a nice day and wandered back to her original place against the counter.
"Who else comes in tonight, Ino?" Tenten called to the blonde, who was leaning over the counter looking at the simple floor plan for the evening. She hoped that one of the boys would come in at four, so she could get some help up front. It wasn't that she had problems handling it, there was just the fact that she hated being on the headset all night. The pushing against her head gave her a wicked headache to endure the rest of the evening.
"Shikamaru and Lee. It also says we have two trainees starting today. Joy," the sarcasm was evident in the girl's voice. Had Tenten's curiosity not piked at that, she might have been proud of the overly zealous girl who was known for her boy-crazed mind.
"Two newbies? Doesn't Kakashi know we're not the nicest bunch to introduce to trainees?" Tenten inquired, looking towards the blonde girl in a look of surprise. It wasn't that Tenten particularly hated newcomers, she was actually rather nice to them at the beginning. There was the simple fact that a lot of their new employees were usually rich kids who their parents made them 'earn their own money' as punishment, or fangirls brought in by one of their current employees. They hardly ever lasted, to the point that Tenten often forgot their names before they even walked out that door.
"The names weren't even written down. Annoying really," Ino said with a huff, looking back at the older girl. "I wonder if one of them will be attractive." Ino winked as Tenten groaned and put her head on the counter, pushing up the hat slightly.
"Sakura, why am I stuck up here with Ino again?" Tenten asked through the headset, getting a small laugh out of the other girl through the headset.
"Character building, of course," the pinkette recalled as she made her way towards the front.
Just then, Kakashi came up front as they noticed the three girls all chatting among themselves. He couldn't be bothered to break the three up, everything that could be done was so chatting was just a way to pass the time.
Right on cue, the door opened and Kakashi made his way out to the dining room, feeling the girls' gaze on him as he approached a few people. They were chatting quietly and Kakashi ushered for a small girl to follow him around the counter and to the back of the store.
"Newbie alert," Sakura joked as she watched the girl carefully try not to knock into anything as she followed the girl haired manager towards the back.
"Wait is that – Hinata?" Ino called out, to which the girl turned and looked towards her with a small blush and a wave. It was all the girl could muster up before disappearing towards the back.
"You know her?" Tenten questioned the blonde, who shrugged her shoulders and gave a grin.
"Sure we do, she's in our grade, after all," Sakura answered the question, looking towards the back. "She always kept to herself mostly. Hinata is pretty good friends with Kiba and Shino, actually. They're always together at school. You should know this, or are you always too absorbed in your books that you've never noticed?"
A blush crept up Tenten's face as she shook her head at the pink haired girl. "Not all of us can be natural geniuses like Sasuke, or you for that matter. I have to try to actually get scholarships."
That was what was funny about this after school job they all had. Everyone here wouldn't be friends if they didn't work here. Ino was popular and the most sought after girl at school, but her and Sakura had been friends since childhood. All in spite of the fact that Sakura was one of the brightest pupils in her class.
She wanted to become a doctor, but the hard work ethic was why she wanted to try balancing work and schooling now. Her family wasn't as well off as some of the others, so the schooling would be paid through working at the time. It was the same reason Tenten had gotten the job.
Through McDonalds, Tenten had befriended the two girls a year younger than her. That soon brought on the others that worked here. It was a small family, which would stick together no matter what. Only they truly knew what it was like to balance their sanity from their cooky coworkers and stressful clients that would walk in and out of the door on a regular basis.
"What's weird, is why would a Hyuga need an after school job?" Ino contemplated, and that last name struck a chord in Tenten's heart. Freezing upon hearing the last name, that was why the girl sounded so familiar.
"Maybe it's their way of getting their heiress to open up to the world?" Sakura answered as she glanced towards the back, neither girl realizing that they had opened up a whirlwind of emotions for the brown haired girl to the side of them.
Her eyes were wide as Tenten pictured a piercing white gaze and long ebony hair. No, he didn't phase her anymore, that was the mantra she repeated to Lee, and herself multiple times.
"Tenten, you look like you've seen a ghost," Sakura said softly, concern lacing her words as she stared at the girl in question. "Should we tell Kakashi you need to go on break?"
Suddenly, the feeling of her friend's hand on her shoulder snapped the girl out of her funk and she gave Sakura a small smile. "N-No, that's okay. Just forgot about a test on Monday," she frantically lied, unable to come up with a better excuse. "The possibility of failing might as well be like seeing a ghost," she joked, giving the girl a bigger smile.
"Sakura! Tenten!" A booming voice called out, which pulled their attention away from Tenten's problems for a moment. It was a flash of green for a moment before a boy with a bowl hair appeared in front of them. "How are the youthful blossoms doing on this fabulous afternoon?" He had a grin, that almost sparkled, on his face as he looked at the two.
"Lee, don't shout!" Tenten scolded the boy, punching him in the shoulder before crossing her arms. Had she not been used to the cheerful boy, she might have been extremely put off by him by now. The two had been friends for years, even before working here. It was the only friendship she had left over from her childhood and on. "You're going to scare our customers away."
He seemed to quiet up, for as much as he could, before scurrying off to chat up Naruto and Sasuke, the latter unwilling, on the backline. "Sometimes I swear he's like a kid in a candy store," Ino huffed, shaking her head towards the boy in the back.
"You should see him in an actual candy store," Tenten added, an amused smile on her face. "He's worse."
Just as they were going to continue the conversation, Sasuke came up to interrupt the girls, looking at Tenten in question. He held his hand out for the headset and she felt a rush of relief. "Kakashi wants you on break."
Nodding her head, Tenten grabbed her phone and made her way to the register to clock out and grab her bag, before heading outside to clear her head. The air was getting cooler as she sat down at the empty picnic table, her phone set across from her as she pulled out her notebook and began one of the many math problems on the page. Her book was lazily thrown open, slid further up on the table as she began to work through her homework.
"You're using the wrong equation," a voice broke the silence surrounding her and she felt herself freeze for the second time that night. No, this couldn't be happening to her right now. That voice had been one she had never forgotten, yet seemed to haunt her to this day. She didn't want to look up and see the proud smirk on the boy's face. It would be there, she knew that much.
It didn't take her long to give in to her curiosity, thus her head jerked up in surprise. There stood a boy in all the smug glory that was the Hyuga prodigy. She knew him by a different name, one that she hadn't uttered in almost two years. "Neji," her voice wavered for a moment before she found her ground. Soon, a glare replaced her shocked eyes and it was focused on the Hyuga boy. "What are you doing here?"
"Hiashi decided it would be best if we both learned responsibility, but really he wants Hinata to open up." Neji concluded, as if it were obvious. They were both going to be working here, that alone scared Tenten. She hadn't spoken to him in so long, she couldn't push away the part of her that missed it, missed him. Yet, she would never let him know that.
Tenten couldn't help but mutter a 'fantastic' under her breath before she thought of something that made her grit her teeth. "Does Lee know you're going to work here?" Tenten asked, not caring about herself but rather the boy inside that was like her brother. He had been just as hurt as she was, so how would he feel?
"Yeah," was all the Hyuga boy would say as he looked away from Tenten and back at her paper. He stared at it for a long time and Tenten could feel her skin shiver at it all.
"Well, just stay away from us and do your job." Tenten snapped harshly, shaking her head at him. "Unlike you, I actually need this job so just leave me be. Lee, too."
A grunt was given in response and that was the final straw for Tenten. She grabbed her things and made her way inside, heading straight for the back of the store to the crew room, wanting to put as much distance between the Hyuga male and herself. She could feel the worried stares on her back of Sakura and Ino, but she didn't stop her movements to explain. She knew they would be on her case tonight when they got off anyways, so what was the point?
Why, after all this time, did he manage to make her heart squeeze?