A/N: Hello, everyone and welcome to my story, The Barista. I started this story September 27th, 2015, with no plan in mind. I just had the desire to write a MultixSaku with a coffee shop AU. Now, this story has been almost entirely rewritten, so if any fans are looking to re-read the old stuff, you're in for a surprise. Please enjoy my new work, I am proud to share it with you all.

I do not own Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto knew Konoha like the back of his hand. It was the city he grew up in, the place where he spent most of the twenty-one years of his life in, asides from Uzushio, the birthplace of his mother.

Naruto knew the best shortcuts to take when running late to school, the best hiding places to hide from his detention-giving teachers, the best places to challenge Akimichi Chōji to eating contests, the parks with the best view of the stars. He knew it all. In his opinion, Konohagakure no Satō was the best place to live in all of the country. That was why, when Naruto walked down a quaint street that made up the old sector of the city, he immediately noticed something out of place. A narrow, short building squashed between two taller ones on the block, was now boasting a coffee shop on the first floor, where it originally had been a simple apartment complex.

The sign hanging above the door said "Cornerstone Coffee" in delicate lettering. The door was made of glass, with a sign hanging on it, indicating that the shop was open and ready for business. Through the wide bay windows, Naruto could see people bustling around, indicating the place was busy. He checked his watch, and it read a little past twelve. It made sense for the shop to be busy, with the lunch hour in full rush. It was so popular, that people spilled out onto the sidewalk in front of the coffee place, sitting at the tables in front of the window boxes that dripped bright yellow flowers and green vines.

Naruto knew he had promised to meet up with Hinata in almost an hour at Ichiraku's after the girl had worked up the courage to ask him on a date, but as he looked more closely, he wondered if maybe this new coffee shop was a better option for their first date. He knew that the amount of ramen he ate in one sitting could be a bit much for some people.

He made a split decision and walked across the cobblestone street, watching his footing as he climbed up the steps and opened the door. The aroma of split beans hit him like a wall, but it was not an unpleasant smell. Naruto was never one for coffee, especially not after he graduated high school, but it reminded him of his parents who both drank it in the morning.

Naruto took a few steps on the polished wood floors and into the shop. It had a calm, cozy atmosphere that added to it's hole in the wall feeling. Golden, twinkling lights were strewn around the whole place, complimenting the low hanging light bulbs and white walls, mixing with the natural sunlight from the windows. People perched on leather couches with coffee and various pastries in hand, throw pillows and blankets draped across, clashing in texture and muted in colors. He craned his neck up to view the high ceiling, where unfinished pipes acted as hooks for hanging plants, and the second set of wide windows cast shadows across the dark wood that made up the walls where there was no plaster. Just below was a lofted area with more seating and wide bookshelves filled to the brim with various novels. The spiral staircase was the only way up and down from the loft, as far as he could see. In the corner of his eye, he saw a small baby grand piano, which looked polished and well taken care of. More bookshelves and coffee tables littered the ground floor of the place, with small, thin vases of black eyed susans topping the tables. He noted after a moment, that the seating was on the right side of the shop, while the coffee bar and pastry case was on the left, with a wide space between. A record player sat on a table to the left, and he laughed. What he originally thought was a space for people to wait and place orders could be transformed into a place for dancing.

Naruto was thoroughly impressed. The place was beautiful, clean, and as he listened to the indistinct chatter of the people around him, he knew it was well-liked.

"Excuse me," someone said from behind him. Naruto started, before realizing he was still standing in the doorway.

"My bad," he murmured, and took another step into the shop, allowing the other man to pass in front of him. He received a few nods here and there from the patrons, entirely due to the fact that the whole city knew him as the son of their beloved mayor.

He looked at the menu, written in a looping scrawl, entirely in chalk. Most of it was coffee jargon, which went entirely over his head, but he did recognize some words in the mix. Mainly things like espresso and milk but the rest was Greek to him. The pastries in their casing looked delicious, and he felt his mouth water, but knew he shouldn't eat until he met up with Hinata later.

This is definitely a nice place, Naruto thought to himself. It would work well for a first date, it was welcoming and had a calming air. Based off of what he knew of the shy Hyuga from high school and university, she would need something calm.

Naruto was about to turn around and text her when something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, and his heart leapt to his throat, and stayed there. He knew that shade of pink anywhere.

He dared a brief glance to his right, and his heart stopped. In all her glory, Haruno Sakura stood behind the counter, in a heather grey sweater and a white apron, smiling and sunshine like he last remembered her. Her petal pink hair was much longer now, a braided tail hanging down her back instead of cropped short at her shoulders, but her dimples were still there, and those eyes that creased with the width of her grin. Naruto stood there, gaping at her as she glowed radiantly even in the soft lighting.

And then her eyes, springtime and summer captured into irises, caught his, and god, Naruto forgot how to breathe. Recognition, surprise, happiness- her emotions as she looked at him flitted by too fast for him to catch, but her smile and her dimples returned and it was for him.

She opened her mouth and his name was like honey when she spoke it with her lilting soprano. "Naruto," she said, still smiling.

"Sakura," he breathed, and almost winced at how reverent it sounded, especially with the fact that he would be going on a date soon. But, he realized with startling clarity, some feelings fade, and some never left in the first place. Even after three long years of not seeing her, not even hearing from her, he was still just as in love with her as the day of their high school graduation.

"I haven't seen you since, well, forever," the blonde man said, scratching the back of his head. He certainly felt like a highschooler all over again, blushing and bumbling in front of a pretty girl.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" She agreed with him, and then walked away from the counter. Brushing by him, she put a sign on the door, signifying the shop was on lunch break and wouldn't be taking any other customers for an hour and then returned to him. Sakura was still just as dainty as he remembered her, in her pretty sweater and dark washed jeans and ballet flats. He didn't remember being this tall, though. Apparently Sakura noticed, too. "You've grown like a weed since we last met, that's for sure."

He was a head taller than her now, and wide around the shoulders. He remembered all the nights he used to spend watching movies, curled around the pink haired girl, Sasuke on her other side on the couch. She fit so well into his arms, their arms, and he wondered if she still would. When she went to hug him in greeting, he lifted his arms and let her in. She still fit perfectly, of course she would, it's Sakura. He, Sasuke and Sakura had been thick as thieves. The three of them had been a team as long as he could remember. From kicking a ball around the playground during recess in second grade, to chorus class in seventh grade, to Student Council, to racing each other on their bikes to the store next to the Naka river that sold the best anpan around. It was always the three of them, and nothing could tear them apart. Until one day, he stopped hearing from Sakura, until everyone stopped hearing from her.

"Wh-what happened?" He asked her into the crown of her head. "Your parents said you went backpacking, but we worried so much…" he trailed off. She sighed into his burnt orange t-shirt and pulled back from him, green eyes wide and imploring. He knew what those eyes could do, but he couldn't look away. No, not after three years of not seeing her.

"I had to leave, Naruto. Medical school was too much, my parents were too much," she shook her head. Naruto pulled her back into his arms, wrapping them around her small frame and squeezing. "Sakura, you know Sasuke and I would've dropped everything to go with you."

The pink haired woman pulled back from him again, to look into his sky blue eyes. Hers were sadder this time, in a way that Naruto could not comprehend. "I know, Naruto. I know."

And then she pulled away, taking a step back from him. "That's why I couldn't tell you. You two would have left everything behind for me, and that would've been selfish. You both needed to go to university, to make sure you can follow your dreams."

Naruto shook his head, and brushed away the blond strands that got into his eyes. "But what about you? You always wanted to be a doctor, a pediatrician. You loved kids."

"And I love coffee, too," she reminded him, placing a hand on the counter of the bar. She was right, Naruto knew that. Sakura had practically lived on the stuff the last two years of high school. She was always talking about owning her own shop if she didn't go into medicine, but with the way she always talked about becoming a doctor, no one really considered it would become a reality. Everyone always thought it was a pipe dream of hers. But there Naruto was, standing in Sakura's coffee shop, a real one, and from the look on her face, he could tell she was very proud of it.

"Yeah," he sighed. "You could've written, though," he chastised, wondering what she had been up to that she couldn't answer a single call of his or Sasuke's or even send an e-mail, a letter, telling of how she was doing.

A noticeably guilty look crossed her face at that moment, and while Naruto knew he could be dense, especially when he was younger, but he was not so much anymore. He could read the lines of discomfort in her body language and the pinch between her eyebrows. What was the pink haired woman uncomfortable about? Before he could do or say anything else, his phone buzzed in his back pocket.

"Shit!" He exclaimed when he read the text. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked him.

Running a hand through his golden blonde hair, Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm late to meet up with Hinata. We were supposed to go on a date at Ichiraku's."

Sakura laughed. "Hyūga Hinata? So, you're finally giving her a chance. Why don't you tell her to come here and you guys can have something? It'll be on the house."

Naruto shook his head, because all of a sudden he did not want to bring Hinata there, not with Sakura there, who he thought he had moved on from, but the fluttering in his chest told him otherwise. In fact, he didn't want to go on the date anymore, with his thoughts and feelings a jumbled mess, but he was a man of his word, and he wouldn't stand her up.

"No, I'll see about getting a taxi to Ichiraku's. She's already there," Naruto said as he texted her when he'd arrive there.

He was so engrossed in his phone that he missed how Sakura briefly wilted when he confirmed he would be leaving. She went behind the counter and pulled out a pastry, putting it into a small bag and returning to the young man, to whom she offered it to.

When Naruto began to refuse, she told him, "Please, it's on the house," and that shut him up immediately. He couldn't say no to that generosity so he accepted the parcel, and went to hug her again.

Burying his nose into her soft pink hair, he murmured, "Please don't just up and disappear like that again, I don't know if I could handle it." And it was true, Naruto didn't think he could do it all over again. He was going to be selfish this time, he didn't want to have a broken heart. This time, he pulled away and ignored the way her eyes were getting misty and walked away.

When he was a couple of blocks down the street, well on his way to Ichiraku's, he opened the bag and pulled out the small, chocolate filled croissant he had been given. Taking a bite of it, he could taste the rich, earthy flavor of the dark chocolate and the tanginess of oranges.

If a tear escaped his cerulean eyes, it was brushed away as quickly as it fell down his cheek.

A/N: At the bottom of each chapter, I will provide notes on what has changed for readers who are reading the new material. This scene with Naruto has been mostly redone, with very little from the original NaruSaku scene left. A very big change in this version of the story is the name of Sakura's coffee shop. Originally named: The Lounge, I decided it was too boring, so it has been renamed Cornerstone Coffee.

Anbu-chan