Coffee Beans
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Just the plot of this fanfiction, thank you very much.
A/N: I…don't know why Naruto has a sister. He just does. Also, yes, Shizune is a little OOC, but aren't they all? Sai is just too far gone though, I'm not sure I can forgive myself for that…rhou is the currency Kakuzu mentions somewhere down the line, let's assume it has high standing.
Summary: Oh no, you're thinking, not another Naruto high school story…and what can I promise that's different? Not a whole lot, except some badly named beverages. KibaNaru.
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Naruto was a happy man. Well, boy really. At fifteen years old and sophomore status in high school, he hardly qualified as a man.
But happy he was. Just a month ago, his crush of five years, Hyuuga Hinata had started to go out with him his grades and mood were on the upswing, his parents had just increased his allowance, the Spring Fling was fast approaching, and Naruto had a date.
Life was good. Naruto was feeling hot.
Little did our blond bombshell know of the bomb life was about to lob at him…
The trouble began when Naruto found himself longing to take Hinata to Pomodoro's, a fancy Italian place he couldn't really afford with just his allowance. One day, when he accompanied his sister to the local Barnes and Nobles', and abandoned he to the books in favor of the Starbucks in the store, Naruto noticed that one of the football jocks from school, Kiba, was serving his frappuchino.
"Hey," he said in surprise. Kiba was a junior for who just about everyone in the school with pheromones went gaga for. He was a gothic bisexual, the awfully stereotypical type who favored leather pants over denim and was handed detentions on a regular basis.
"Sup, dude," Kiba nodded. It was inconceivable that the It Boy of Ayame High knew Uzumaki Naruto, lowly sophomore, but he seemed to recognize the blond.
"So," Naruto continued, "You work here, huh?"
"No, I just wear the apron and serve up smoothies for free 'cause its my life's dream," the cinnamon haired boy said in all seriousness. Naruto chuckled uncertainly.
"But if you're looking for a job, there's an opening," the older boy continued.
"Nah, I don't—"
"The perks are awesome," Kiba continued as though he hadn't heard, "You can take a break every two hours, something to drink every three hours, and free gift cards anytime…"
"Well, that's great, but I really don't—"
"Oh, and the salary's fifteen rhou an hour…"
"What?" Naruto stared. That was amazing! He could probably take Hinata out every day with that kind of money!
"Yeah. So you want the job?"
"Hell yes!"
"Great, you start now," Kiba said, throwing the smaller boy his apron. The blond caught it with a frown.
"What about you?"
"Oh, I'll get another when I come back…from my…ah, break!" with a million watt grin, Kiba slid smoothly over the end counter.
"Hold it mister. Where in Lucifer's name do you think you're going?" a female's voice demanded. Kiba flinched and stopped in the act of winking at a gaggle of pre-teen girls.
Naruto turned to face a slim, black haired woman with startlingly brown eyes standing in front of the door labeled 'Staff Only'. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she was glaring daggers at a certain boy with red face markings.
"You turn your cute little tush and march straight back here," she commanded. Scowling, Kiba turned and complied. As he passed Naruto, he blew him a kiss, and the younger boy felt something flip in his stomach. The woman watched Kiba go in, and then turned to Naruto.
"Who the heck are you, and why are you behind my counter?" she questioned. Her hands had relocated to her hips, and the boy could see the tag on her black button up that read "Shizune, Manager". He gulped and spilled his story. She cut him off when he got to the part about him accepting the job.
"Tough cookies kid. Kiba there is in no position to be offering anyone a job. He vandalized our front windows last week and the court ordered him to 200 hours of work here in repayment. But smack my ass and call me an apple if he'll take it lying down. Always conning kids into taking his apron, the twerp is," Shizune sighed.
"So there's not an opening after all?" Naruto asked wistfully. He'd already gotten all hyped about getting a job here. Shizune considered it.
"Well, there is, but minimum wage."
"Sure, I'll take it," Naruto smiled.
"Ok," she said, "Since you're already acquainted, Kiba can train you."
It took Naruto about three days before he figured out that Shizune, who was in her final year at Soka University, was really rather fond of Kiba.
It took him much less time to figure out that said boy was a little too friendly with heterosexual guys.
"Hey baby doll," he grinned at Naruto, smacking his butt, "How's my protégée?'
"Whoa!" Naruto said, "Back up. Did you just slap my ass?"
"Ummmm yeah, and whoops!" Kiba pulled an encore, "I just did it again." With a laugh that was not unfriendly enough for Naruto to get mad about, he proceeded to explain how to tell low fat, non fat, and full fat milk apart when the labels weren't legible.
At the end of the day, Naruto wasn't quite sure what made a latte different from a frappe, but he felt that Kiba needed to be pretty sure of one thing.
As they locked up under Shizune's watchful eye, Naruto muttered confidentially to Kiba, "Hey, um, I hope you know…I mean you probably do but just to make sure…y'know, just so you know…"
"Spit it out kid, I got places to go, people to do," Kiba said, shrugging on his jacket. Naruto frowned. "Don't you mean things to do?"
"Nope."
"Okay…well, erm, y'know, I mean, there's….I'm…not gay. Or bi."
Kiba blinked. "Your point being…?"
"Um…don't try to goose me anymore?"
"That had nothing to do with whether you're gay or not," Kiba informed him, walking into the darkness.
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I can't believe I'm actually writing one of these horrors…what next? A ramen/Naruto/Sasuke fic? Oh well. I like this story, I think its cute. But you know, that's my opinion. Share yours! –hint hint, review!-