The Barista
[Ongoing, BoruSara, AU College Years] Boruto promised himself he would visit the coffee shop every day of his life until he gets the courage to tell Sarada how he feels. Or dies, whichever comes first.
Chapter 1
Boruto was lost. He was lost, angry, hungry and wet. Terribly wet.
He pushed his damp hair off his glaring blue eyes and continued his fast pace towards… well, nowhere. He didn't exactly know where he was, all he knew was that he left class about ten minutes ago and ignored the promise of rain on the deep grey sky. His phone had given him no warning of this bullshit weather. By the time it started raining he was too proud to turn back, until he eventually was too wet to continue. Now he was simply looking for shelter.
Boruto spotted a coffee shop at the corner of his eye and ran there, quickly closing the door behind him and removing his drenched navy bomber jacket. His jeans were sticking to him, his white jumper was weighing twice the normal.
He groaned and squished his way to the front till. The place looked quiet; old fashioned yet modern… he guessed it was one of those cool new hipster coffee shops that seemed to be popping up everywhere nowdays.
"Good afternoon," a soft voice called to him.
Boruto turned around and prepared to order a warm bath as a joke until his eyes landed on the dark haired girl looking at him. The ridiculously beautiful barista looked as bored as anyone could get, hand over the buttons and set to take his order.
"What will you be drinking today?" She asked, not even a hint of a smile on her lips; her dark red, full lips.
'Stop staring at her lips, idiot,' he warned himself.
"Uh…," came the very intelligent response from the blond, "what do you have?"
The girl stared at him, her cold gaze changed to a tone of slight concern, "coffee. This is a coffee shop."
Boruto was not listening. He was taking in all these breath taking details - the dark eyes behind her glasses, the light skin, the black hair tied up in a high ponytail, her slim body. Seriously, how is it legally allowed to look this good in black jeans, black shirt and a silly tiny apron?
"Right. Coffee." He repeated with a nod.
The girl nodded back slowly, "any specific kind?"
Her gaze was a mix of genuine concern and deep irritation, which most likely explained her impatient taping on the table as the blond tried to wiz through the many types of coffee written in the board behind her.
He had no idea what he was looking at. Boruto glanced back to the barista every now and then, trying to contain the blush that was creeping up on him. It was quite new for him how hard it was to concentrate while a goddess stares and waits to take your order.
"Expresso." He tried to sound confident; he heard that name before, he was sure of it.
The girl nodded and then said something while he was busy trying to find a name badge on her. She did not have one - Wasn't that a mandatory thing?
When he didn't say anything, the girl simply pointed at the card machine. He nodded and paid his debt. Since he did not move to make space for the costumer behind him, the girl signaled slightly with her head.
"Oh, sorry," the lady behind him smiled as he moved over to the side to await his coffee and continue his creepy staring of this new found beauty.
"Expresso," another girl's voice called out. She had purple hair and a name band: Sumire. Good to see some people still wear those.
"Thank you, Sumire," he read. The girl blushed and Boruto smirked, it was good to get control back.
He took the ridiculously small cup of coffee from the counter and tried to not glare at it as he walked to a random table. How is this miniature so expensive?
Boruto put his stuff down on the chair next to him and sipped his drink distractedly.
"Fuck!" he hissed, slightly louder than expected. He gave an apologetic smile to the guy on the closest table to him that was currently mouthing 'language' in his general direction.
What the hell was that vile drink? Oh, yeah, coffee. He forgot how much he didn't like coffee.
"Mr. Weirdo is back," Sarada warned her colleague.
The other girl blushed, "I think he looks very nice."
Sarada resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "I bet he thinks the same of you, considering how many times he's returned to the shop."
Boruto wouldn't say he had returned there that many times. It was just conveniently placed (if you didn't consider the fact he had to walk ten minutes and pass about 30 other coffee shops on the way there), cozy and it employed the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. See? Convenient. Although it was becoming expensive to visit a coffee shop five times a week - seven on the week he had to go only to find out she didn't work weekends.
The blond walked to the till and waved at the girls with a smile. Sarada elbowed Sumire, "don't leave your pretty boy waiting."
The purple haired girl eagerly walked to the till.
Sarada studied their interaction. It was impressive how her friend was so easily swayed by a blue-eyed blond boy with a soft smile and a six pack - she was absolutely sure he had a six pack. She could almost bet he was one of those college idiots with a paid sport scholarship. Ugh, jocks.
Another client arrived so pretty-boy had to move over and wait for his coffee that Sarada was currently preparing all while trying very hard not to add some extra water to it or some other poor effort at sabotage.
"So," he started, "don't like the front till much, do you?"
She spared him a glance, then continued to prepare his coffee distractedly, "I don't mind it but-"
"She doesn't deal very well with unrequited advances and flirting," Wasabi interrupted, bringing some extra clean mugs over. She smiled at Boruto and he did the same; he liked Wasabi, she was the one to tell him Sarada's name (that he still had not dared to use).
Sarada smiled at her, "because you are my one and only."
"I know that, babe." Wasabi winked at her. Boruto looked as horrified as he had ever been. Trust him to fall for a lesbian.
"Are you guys a couple?" He blurted out. They both laughed in his face. It just kept getting better.
"Not for lack of trying," Wasabi pointed out.
"I'm getting closer each day to giving up men and just becoming a new-found lesbian." Boruto was not quite sure that was directed at him, but he was convinced Sarada eyed him up and down during that sentence.
"You should have taken up my offer before Namida came along."
Sarada said something Boruto could not quite make out and walked away, giving the cup of coffee to Wasabi who handed it over to him.
"Does she like girls? What did all of that mean?" He whispered to Wasabi, she ruffled his hair.
"It means you better hurry up, blondie," she winked again, "before someone else snatches her."
Boruto was currently very entertained. It was one of those rare days that Sarada would take the till and shut down the approaches of a surprising number of new comers.
Wasabi was preparing his coffee when a guy was playing with Sarada, moving his hand back and forward before should grab the money he was paying. The girl glared, he dropped his money next to her a quickly walked away.
Boruto and Wasabi chuckled. At this point you have to think only a unique type of moron would dare to mess with Sarada.
Another guy came in and smiled from the door at her. She rolled her eyes and came over to take Boruto's coffee from Wasabi's hand, "please take over before I murder someone."
The guy was still staring. Boruto was glaring daggers at him as he distractedly accepted the coffee, "thank you, Sarada."
Shit. He turned around as quickly as he could, praying she would not notice.
"How do you know my name?" Who was he kidding? Of course she would notice.
Boruto took a deep breath and forced himself to turn around and look at her, a sheepish smile on his face. She did not look impressed.
"I- I asked."
Sarada crossed her arms over her chest, "who?"
"I asked your colleagues. It's rude to see someone everyday and not know their names." He half mumbled, looking anywhere but at her.
She turned around and said nothing.
"My name is Uzumaki Boruto, anyway… uh- I think it's only fair I tell you my name too."
She straightened her glasses, "Sarada Uchiha," she stated, walking away from the conversation.
The Uzumaki was cheering inside his mind.
"What is this guy up to?" Sarada wondered aloud as she watched Sumire drop about the hundredth hint about being single to the blond creep.
Two months had past since he dropped in the shop, the drench mess that he was, and from then onwards he visited every day of the week in the afternoon. He had his randomly chosen coffee that he almost always seemed to flinch while drinking, stayed for about an hour while going through a book or his computer, and then would make his way out with a wave and an eager 'see you tomorrow'.
It was making Sarada more curious each day.
She had discussed her concerns with Wasabi but she just laughed at her and patted her back with some sort of snarky remark about college guys. There was no point discussing it with Sumire.
Today, she decided to investigate. It was a slow day anyway and as soon as Sumire went back in to sort some deliveries, Sarada took the chance to sit next to this Boruto guy.
"May I sit?" She asked bluntly. The guy looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Uh, sure." She sat in front of him with an intriguing look. "What's your deal?" She started, "you come here every day and every day Sumire drops hints she's single and you do nothing."
The blond blinked at her, "Sumire?"
Her head tilted slightly, "she's the reason you come here, right?"
"I- no." He stopped to think about what she said, "you think she likes me?"
Sarada hesitated, maybe she had given too much information. It was too late now, "I thought you knew. Why do you come here every day if you don't have a crush on her?"
"Uh- I like the coffee?" He tried.
Sarada frowned at him, "yes, and I work here because I've always dreamed of being a barista."
"What do you dream of becoming?" He asked kindly. Sarada tried to hide her surprise at the unexpected question.
"I'm studying law. It doesn't come cheap."
"Law?" He grinned excitedly, "what year are you in?"
What is it with this guy? "That's not what we were talking about-"
"I'm doing mechanical engineering." He told her excitedly, "maybe we've never seen each other in college 'cause we have such distant buildings."
"Yes, well," she stopped, "mechanical engineering? And you are doing well?"
He nodded with pride. She blinked, maybe he wasn't as much of an idiot as she thought.
"You thought I'd be doing something else?"
"Yeah, something easier." Sarada was nothing if not honest.
The guy laughed, "well, I'm not just all good looks."
She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a hint of a smile, "yes, you are confidence and arrogance as well."
"And about 5% coffee by now." He cheered and drank.
"This still doesn't answer my question."
"What? You don't believe I'm trying to stay awake for my engineering study with an extra expensive coffee a day?"
"No. I really don't."
Boruto smiled softly at her. He looked kind of nice like that, a soft look and an oxford shirt folded to his elbows- wait, what?
Sarada stopped her own thoughts before they could go any further than that.
"I am really just an engineering student that lives in a dorm, spends most of his time with his friends, plays basketball and rarely studies. I happened to find this coffee shop where I can be alone and at peace for an hour a day." He leaned back in his chair, "that is pretty much all there is to it." Well, he did say pretty much so that he could leave room for innocence once she realized the real reason.
Sarada studied his expression for a second but said nothing. After a while she sighed, "I guess you are too loud to be a serial killer, anyway."
He laughed, putting his hands up, "I swear I am not a serial killer."
For the first time ever, Sarada smiled at him. A real smile that made his mind melt and his heart rush.
He cleared his throat, fighting to regain his composure, "so… Sumire has a crush on me, uh?"
Sarada rolled her eyes at him and threw a paper napkin in his face. She stood as he laughed at her exasperation, "you better pretend you don't know before she dies of embarrassment."
He put his hand to his heart, "Me? I know nothing. I'm just a coffee admirer slash serial killer that comes in sometimes."
To be continued...
