Italics are Vicky's thoughts and songs, bold are Flames's thoughts, announcing singers and demonic talking, underlined are Naruto's thoughts, information, letters, bold underlined are Kaze's thoughts and all 3 are Vicky reading people's minds.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Bartender (anime/manga), any songs used and etc.
HOWEVER I DO OWN FLAMES, WHO IS MY EMAIL RANTER AND VICKY, MY DREAM CHARACTER! other names I got bored and thought of other names.
Prologue
It was August 7th, 12 years after the Kyuubi attack when Naruto was making his way around a civilian village. It was at time like these when he wanted to get away from life. He walked aimlessly in the streets until a sign seem to glow on a heavy looking door. He looked to see a sign on a door saying 'Eden Hall'. He heard of the place from the civilians and knew it was a bar. The door was so secluded anyone who was in a rush would have passed it without knowing. Naruto didn't think he wanted to go in but something drew him in so he went and opened the door. Once inside it looked like any regular bar until his eyes spotted how well arranged it was and the sight of an ice sculpture of a cup surrounded by plants. "Welcome." Naruto heard and looked behind the counter to see the bartender. The bartender was a girl with long black hair with red highlights tied into a high ponytail and had the shorter pieces of hair coming down from the side to frame her face (the front is like Itachi's hair style). She was wearing the usual bartender uniform. She had sapphire blue eyes, like his own and sported a smile on her face.
"Ah… What's that?" Naruto asked as he indicated to the ice sculpture in the see-through glass freezer.
"An ice sculpture in the shape of the Glass of Eden Hall. 'Eden Hall', it is a legend told in the north of England. Outside the Elemental countries. One night, fairies who were having a banquet… were surprised by the sudden appearance of a human… and all ran away at once. At that moment, one glass was left behind with the words, "If you break this wine glass, it's farewell to the happiness of Eden Hall." And we are honored to recreate in ice and name this bar after what has, since then, been treasured as the Luck of Eden Hall." The girl bartender said.
"A legend of a glass that mustn't be broken, huh?" Naruto asked as the girl nodded. So she's the person called the Glass of the Goddess? She seems very young…
"Is your visit today thanks to someone's introduction?" The girl asked.
"Introduction? Do I need to have an introduction?" Naruto asked, slightly afraid of if the answer was 'yes' he would be kicked out.
"No, that is not at all the case. If I have offended you, please forgive me." The girl said.
"You might say that, but don't you actually choose your customers and throw out the ones you don't like? That door is so heavy to regular civilians, it's like it's rejecting customers." Naruto said as he turned his head to the door.
"A bar, after all, is a hideout. It means a gang's hiding place. Because it is a hiding place, the bar's door is heavy. And the name plate is small and unnoticeable, as if to ward off passers on the street. In exchange, once you enter inside, you can forget the world outside. Then you can forget your status and age, and face your true self. That is all because of that heavy door." The girl answered, explaining everything to Naruto.
"Is that how it is… so? You're the bartender rumored to remember orders from years ago or so said the villagers?" Naruto asked
"Yes… that sort of thing has happened, but it is just one part of a bartender' job." The girl answered honestly.
"Isn't your job just to make drinks according to recipes and serve them?" Naruto asked. "It must be relaxing to get paid just for that. A Shinobi is always sent to do missions that could end their life at any moment. Kids dreams of exiting moments like those however when they get sent onto one, they probably loose their life or be traumatized by the death of someone." Naruto said as he started recalling his first C-rank mission that turned A-rank when Haku died.
"That is true… however some people already experienced those before and go out to avenge others." The girl said, reminding Naruto of Sasuke. Naruto then let everyone out on how the villagers back in Konoha treated him and what he over heard his team saying behind his back.
-Flashback-
Naruto was happy and just finished exploring the village that was in the rice country. He was heading back to his team. He saw them at a restaurant, talking seriously. "Kakashi-sensei, why do we have to wait for Naruto-no-baka to start eating? He's so annoying, why does he have to be on our team?" Sakura asked as Naruto's eye widened as he ease-dropped. "He's a good for nothing selfish brat who can't grow up. Right, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as Naruto had tears in his eyes.
"Sakura, even if you say that it won't actually away from his ears it won't change his skills and attitude." Sasuke said. Naruto assumed Sasuke was agreeing with Sakura.
"Sasuke's right, Sakura. All we can do is hope he matures. But you're right about having to wait for him to eat." Kakashi said as they began eating while Naruto ran away with tears in his eyes.
-End of Flashback-
Naruto had just told the bartender his story. Mysteriously, before I realized it, I had told that whole unpleasant memory to this girl whom I just met. "If you do not mind, I would like to treat you to a drink to apologize." The girl said as Naruto assumed she meant by asking about that memory.
"O-Okay… demo, why are you treating me so nicely?" Naruto asked in a confused tone of voice.
"Because… I just realized my Otouto is not dead, like everyone else has told me back in Konoha. I too, was a ninja of Konohagakure. Anyway, if there is a cocktail you like…" The girl said as she turned her head towards the shelves of bottles behind her.
"A-Ano… I never drank before. You see… I'm underage and-…" Naruto said a little embarrassed.
"Don't worry… people don't usually care as long as you have a forehead protector and your ID to prove you're a Shinobi. They usually say "Old enough to kill; old enough to drink"." The girl said.
"O-Okay then… can you give me something that can help me forget my stress? I don't care if it is strong or not." Naruto said as the girl nodded.
"As you wish." The girl said as she bowed and took a bottle of Champagne and Suze. She skillfully mixed the 2 into a cup and slid it in front of Naruto. "Please forgive the wait. An Etude." The girl said as Naruto looked hesitantly at the cocktail before him. He tried it and the nostalgic flavor made him forget the stress of the day.
"It is… delicious. By the way… you said earlier that you realized that your Otouto isn't dead? If you're from Konohagakure shouldn't you know what I have inside of me?" Naruto asked, afraid that the delicious drink was poisoned.
"Hai, I do know what's inside you however… you're not the only Jinchuuriki that holds a great burden. I hold Kyuubi Kaze's elder brother in me, Kyuubi Flames. My Otouto isn't dead because he is right in front of me." The girl answered as Naruto looked around to see he was still the only person other than her in the bar.
"I-I'm your O-Otouto?" Naruto asked as the girl nodded.
"I would have taken you away if I knew you were still alive however they probably put you into a Chakra enforced room for criminals and erased your memory of me and of your childhood before the age of 3." The girl answered as Naruto took another gulp of Etude. "If they found out I was still alive and knew about you being alive then they'd use you to lure me back to the village and become an Anbu captain again." The girl said as her eyes all of a sudden widened and looked towards the door.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as he finished his drink and got up.
"Other customers are coming. You better leave this bar now from the back. If they found out you were here, they'd probably try to take you away." The girl said.
"B-But I don't know your name yet." Naruto said as the girl hurried him off to the back with a Chakra string for him to have around his wrist.
"Your memory will tell you along with Kaze-san. Just take this Chakra string and cut it off once you get to the place you stay." The girl said as Naruto ran away to the room he was sharing with Kakashi and Sasuke. The girl quickly cleaned the cup and started drying it with a cloth when 10 people walked into Bar Eden Hall. "Welcome…" The girl said as she looked up to see the Akatsuki in all their glory. All the members sat down at the counter. The majority of them wanted Sake while 3 didn't want any. Those 3 were Akasuna no Sasori (is actually a human under a puppet shell), Iwa no Deidara and Uchiha Itachi. They seemed depressed and the other Akatsuki members couldn't cheer them up. The girl bartender knew exactly what was wrong but didn't say anything about it.
"Come on, cheer up. It isn't normal to have Deidara-san so depressed. Neither with Sasori-san or Itachi-san!" Tobi said as the 3 let out sighs and ordered.
"I feel like getting drunk tonight… get us something strong and refreshing." Sasori said as the girl looked up and nodded.
"As you wish." She said before taking out 3 wine glasses. She then put each of the tops on a pile of salt to have the top of the glasses covered with salt. Everyone stared in awe as they watched the young bartender shake the mixed ingredient and pour them into glasses to have a cloudy white liquid.
"3 Margaritas." The girl said as she slid the glasses before the 3 members.
"We usually stick with Sake, so we don't know much about cocktails other than the fact that this village is the only village to have them in the Elemental Countries, un. However we will drink it, un." Deidara said as all 3 of them picked up their glasses and took a sip. Their eyes widened and took the glasses away from their mouths. The rest of the Akatsuki members were watching to see how the drinks tasted. "This is delicious."
"Arigato… There is a story behind 'Margarita' would you like to hear it?" The girl asked.
"Yes please, Yoru-san." Tobi said respectfully as the girl nodded.
"'Margarita' is a woman's name. The Margarita was born in1949 at the All American Cocktail Contest. The one who presented it was John Durlesser, a bartender at the Los Angeles restaurant, Tail O' The Cock. He carried a past in which, when he was young, he had gone hunting with his girlfriend who was hit by a stray bullet and died." The girl let the information sink in. "The cocktail's name, Margarita, was taken from his girlfriend who had died 23 years earlier. He probably never could forget his girlfriend who died. But the feeling of regret that one bartender held onto for years… gave birth to a single cocktail. Thinking of it that way, perhaps his regret-filled past was not completely meaningless." The girl explained as Konan had tears in her eyes.
"That's a beautiful story." Konan sobbed into Pein's shoulder.
"Yes. And in memory of his girlfriend, who was a Mexican, he retained Mexican-ness in the cocktail." The girl explained.
"What about this is 'Mexican'?" Itachi asked for the first time he was there.
"It's strong, but would you like to try it?" The girl asked as everyone seemed confused. "You place salt here and hold a lime. Then you pinch a shot glass of tequila between your fingertips. Then you bite the lime, lick the salt and drink the tequila. This is called Mexican Style, and the cocktail which publicized it is the Margarita. The Mexican style is not a very elegant style for drinking in a bar… but would you like to try it?" The girl asked.
"No, I'll refrain. We need some half sober people to look direct the members back to where they came from." Itachi said.
"So this cocktail is somewhat like a glass of regret, un. Demo, how do you know we regret something, un?" Deidara asked as the girl smiled a little.
"Your hands. Observing a customer's hands is a bartender's job. Happy hands, unhappy hands, angry hands, joyful hands, deceiving hands, accusing hands and hands that wipe away tears. Hands reveal all sorts of emotions." The girl simply answered.
"Tomorrow is our fiancé's birthday however she has been missing for years. We regret not telling her how we felt. Her name was Namikaze Uzumaki Vicky. Her Anbu name was Flames." Sasori said as he finished his Margarita.
"To keep peace between clans and villages, her father arranged her to marry 3 heirs, un." Deidara answered.
"However, when the village told her that her Otouto was killed, she just went missing." Itachi said as the girl went into a standing while thinking pose.
"Namikaze Uzumaki Vicky… I know her." The bartender said, making everyone look up. "She changed her name a lot. Her name now is Flames Hoshi and she changed her gender into a male. She will be in town tomorrow performing songs and dances during the day at the outdoor stage." The girl said as Deidara, Itachi and Sasori were shocked and thanked the girl.
Please R&R.