Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Every girl wants to be loved and be in love. Every girl's dream is to find someone who would give her a fairy tale she would never forget; every girl including our heroine for this story until an incident happened that stopped her from dreaming those dreams.
Tenten was just an average girl from an average family. Her father was a soldier while her mother was just an elementary teacher from a low-paying school. Their salary wasn't much but it was okay because just by seeing her family happy, it was enough. She, as a sweet little girl, always dreamed of meeting a man like her father; a sweet, responsible, loyal and most loving father and husband to them. But her dreams stopped when her father died from an ambush. Tenten was seventeen that time when her father died while her younger brother was just eight years old. Her mother was devastated and Tenten tried her best to stand up for the family.
Tenten realized that life was not easy. She stopped going to school and helped her mother work for their daily needs. Right now, Tenten was working at a café from 8 o'clock in the morning to 8 o'clock in the evening. Twelve hours of work only gives her half the salary of her mother but it was enough for them to survive.
Monday Morning
It was early Monday morning and the café was packed with customers needing a coffee. Tenten was busy taking orders from customer to customer with a smile on her face. She was dying inside but thinking of her family, she forgets all these pain.
"Hey! I've been waiting for my coffee for like an hour already! I'm late for work!" A blonde woman said harshly to Tenten. The latter wanted to wring the lady's precious neck at the moment. She's only been waiting for ten minutes! It's not like the coffee will poof out of nowhere and land on her table once she makes an order. But Tenten, trying to keep her job, smiled at the lady.
"We're very sorry, Ma'am. I'm going to follow up your order." She said as politely as she could.
"Well, you better hurry!" The lady hissed at her. Tenten bowed her head and hurried back to the kitchen.
"Is table 19's order ready yet? She's already complaining, chief." She said while frowning. The cook, also the owner of the café, shook his head in amusement but nonetheless gave her the order.
"Tell her I said sorry, Tenten. Something came up and I neglected her order." The old man said. Tenten smiled at him and nodded. She went back outside and gave the lady her order. She bowed again and said sorry while the lady only ignored her and mocked the café. But to Tenten's relief, the lady went away with her order.
"That was one nasty bitch." One of her co-worker said. Tenten frowned at her friend's comment.
"Ino, you shouldn't be making comments like that. It will be bad for the café's reputation." She scolded.
"Yeah, I know." She said grumpily and went to one of the customer's table. It was a good thing that there were fewer customers that time.
Tenten shook her head and was about to go back to the kitchen when the door of the café swung open. She sighed inwardly and gave her best fake smile to whoever the next customer will be.
"Good morning, sir! Welcome to the Sweet Café!" She said a little bit cheerful than she expected; not bothering to look at the customer.
"Hn." She heard him say. She opened her eyes and her jaw literally fall to the ground. She was staring at the most beautiful white orbs she has ever seen. It was more beautiful than those expensive pearls she would see in one of those jewelry shops. She must be dreaming! The customer was… was… was beautiful! He was beautiful!
Tenten felt her cheeks reddened when the customer raised an eyebrow at her before walking to a vacant table. She followed him with her eyes and sighed dreamily. Wow. Just wow.
She was snapped back to reality by Ino who slapped her shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" She hissed. Ino only grinned at her and gazed at the customer.
"He's a hot one, don't you agree?" Ino teased and gave her a little nudge on the side causing Tenten to yelp in surprise. Everyone in the café stared at them. Everyone except the white orbs guy stared.
"Ino!" She hissed but the said girl was already flirting with one of the customers.
She sighed in irritation and was about to go back to the kitchen when the white eyed orbs raised his hand; signaling that he was ready to order. Tenten quickly grabbed her note and pen and quickly walked towards the guy. She greeted him politely; trying not to blush when the man stared at her with blank expression.
"May I take your order, sir?" She said trying to hide her shaking hands. She was nervous. She was never nervous when talking to a customer before but this was different.
"Black coffee." He said. Tenten was surprised with by the cold tone of his.
"W-would that be all, sir?" She asked and mentally cursed herself for stuttering. It's a good thing the man didn't notice it or just simply ignored her.
She quickly walked over to the counter and gave the order.
"So, how did it go?" A pink haired girl around her age said behind the counter.
"How did it go with what, Sakura?" Tenten asked; the said girl giggled.
"Don't play dumbed, Tenten. You can be a liar but you will never be dumb." Sakura pointed out. One thing she hates about her friend is that she can make you tell her the truth with magical words.
"He's creepy; really creepy." She said and glanced back at the guy near the window. He was writing something in his notebook.
He was so focus on what he was doing that he didn't notice Tenten was staring at him. He looks like an angel with sun beaming on his face and his luscious hair.
"Hey, Tenten it's time to sing on stage!" an old man said near the counter. He always loved to hear Tenten's singing and maybe so was the customers there for they looked up with eager eyes. She always sings when there were fewer customers in the café. The owner of the café pays her a double whenever she sings.
She grinned at the man before walking to the small stage. Everyone stared at her; everyone except the man with white orbs stared.
When she started singing, the guy stared but with blank expression. She caught his gazed but when she saw that he was looking, she averted her gaze to the ground. A blush surely was creeping out of her face.
Slowly, she looked up to the guy but saw that he was shaking his head and went back to writing. She suddenly felt disappointed that the guy was not even impressed by her.
Finishing her song with a bow, she went back to the counter as the customer applauded.
"What's with the grim face?" Sakura asked with worried expression. "Did you eat something that upset your stomach?"
Sakura wants to be a doctor but because her family doesn't have enough money to pay for her school, she settled as a cashier. Ino, her other friend, works her at the café to pay for her apartment rent which is so expensive that even Tenten could not even look at it with straight face.
"No I didn't eat anything." She muttered and Ino laughed.
"I know what her problem is." Ino teased; Sakura raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"Shut up, Ino." Tenten hissed but Sakura wanted to hear it.
"It's because the guy was not impressed by Tenten's singing and that stung our dear little friend's pride." She said in a sing-song tone and laughed. Sakura chuckled but patted Tenten on the head.
"Maybe he's not really into singing." Sakura comforted Tenten and Ino snorted.
"That's a nice way of saying 'He's not into Tenten', Sakura." Ino scolded.
Tenten glared to the both of them but smiled when she saw them laughing. She sat on a bar stool in front of Sakura since the café wasn't that crowded. Once in a while, she would stare at the guy near the window but she would avert her gaze quickly whenever he would glance up as if sensing that she was looking.
"Tenten, that guy over there needs his bill." The owner said pointing to where the guy with white orbs; Tenten nodded her head and walked over the guy.
"Here are your bills, sir." She said politely. The guy nodded and grabbed a few paper bills and handed it to her. "Uh, sir, this is too much for a coffee." But the guy was already out of the door. She glanced back at the counter and saw Tomoyo-san, the owner, nodded to the door. Tenten quickly went out of the café to find the guy but he was nowhere out of sight already.
She went back to the café with a confused expression.
"Consider it a tip, Ten." Tomoyo-san said with amusement.
"One hundred dollar tip, really?" Tenten said sarcastically.
Tuesday Morning
It was the same routine. She would get orders and deliver them, sing in front of the stage when the customers suggested it but what she didn't expect was the guy from yesterday walking inside the café.
Tenten was behind the counter that time and Sakura was the one who took care of the customer. She calmed herself down and smiled at the customer sitting on the bar stool. He was again writing something on his notebook.
"Hey, what's up, Tenten! Is Ino in?" A brown-haired boy with canine-like teeth said as he came in the café.
"Hey, Kiba; Ino is actually busy preparing an order to a family customer but she'll be with you in a minute." Tenten said with a smile. Kiba sat on a stool with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course I'm fine." He said with a smile but Tenten could see past through it.
"Kiba, we've been friends since we're just kids. I know that something is bothering you, so what's up?" Tenten said seriously. Kiba sighed and grabbed his face.
"I have a major problem!" He started and stared at around with uneasiness.
"I'm listening, what is it?" She prodded.
"You see, our anniversary is today and…"
"You forgot?" Sakura cut him off from behind. Kiba frowned and crossed his arms on his chest.
"I was going to say that I was not prepared." Kiba complained but Sakura giggled it off.
"Yeah, right. Why don't you just give her flowers and chocolates? You know that Ino would be happy with just that." Tenten suggested.
"Yeah, but I wanted to make it different this year." Kiba complained.
"Baka, if you wanted to make it different you should have prepared it last week." Tenten said and Kiba huffed earning a laugh from Sakura. "Okay, just take her out tonight, have a romantic walk at the park, treat her a romantic dinner and please, never forget to say 'Happy Anniversary'" Tenten suggested. Sakura nodded at her suggestion.
"Great, thanks guys! Tell Ino I never came here nor asked for your suggestions okay? I'm off, ja!' Kiba said and ran out of the café just in time when Ino to walk back in.
"Hey, what did I miss?" She asked; Sakura quickly walked to a customer while Tenten started wiping plates leaving Ino with a confused expression.
It was nearly noon when the guy raised his hand; asking for the bill. Tenten, being the only who was not busy at the moment, walked over to the guy. Heart pounding from her ribcage, she gave the bill.
The guy fishes out his wallet handed her few paper bills. This time, Tenten quickly overcome her surprised.
"Sir, this is too much for a coffee." She said before the man could stand up from his seat. The latter regarded her with a cold expression but Tenten didn't back down and stared at the man in front of her. A silent challenge sparked between; the first to look away lose but to her surprise it was the guy who looks away with a smirk. But he surprises her more with what he said.
"What I gave wasn't even enough; someone with a beautiful voice like you should have more." He said and with that he exited the café.
Tenten stood frozen from the ground as she watched the man walked out. A blush has crept on her face and her heart was pounding very fast.
She heaved a deep breath and walked back to the counter. It's a good thing that Ino and Sakura were too busy to notice her. Instead of pocketing the tip, she put it in a box where 'Donation for Cancer Kids' was written over.
Wednesday Morning
It was same routine as yesterday. The guy would walked in, ordering a black coffee while he write something from his notebook then would looked up when Tenten would sing in front of the stage with a blank expression.
But Tenten knows deep inside that he wanted to hear her sing. So when he asked for the bill and gave her few paper bills, she didn't complain thus smiled back at him. She put the tip again inside the donation box.
Saturday Morning
With the helped of Hinata, her friend, Tenten learned his name. It was Neji Hyuga, the older cousin of Hinata, her best friend. It really was a small world. One time, when Hinata visited the shop, she was surprised to find her cousin sitting to his usual spot drinking coffee. When Neji saw that Hinata was walking towards him, he put down his notebook and regarded his cousin with a soft smile that Tenten melted. She has never seen him smile before and when he did smile, the whole room lit up.
At first, Tenten thought that Hinata was his girlfriend but Hinata said that it was a false thought. Tenten didn't know why she felt relieved that time.
Then again, he asked for his bill and Tenten walked over to him with a smile. Neji gave her a few paper bills again and walked out. Hinata follows after hugging Tenten and the other girls.
She again put the tip inside the donation box.
Monday Morning
She sat eagerly behind the counter. She couldn't wait for Neji to show up. Ino even suggested doing her hair but Tenten shooed her off.
"Oh come on, Tenten, why don't you just admit that you like him?" Sakura said; Tenten blushed and frowned.
"Because I don't like him, okay?" Tenten denied but deep down she knows that she did not like him. It was love already. Tenten never felt anything like this before. She had few boyfriends in the past before but no one has ever made her feel like this; like she was floating on cloud nine.
"Deny all you want, Tennie. Even our regular customer knows that you like him, right guys?" Ino said and pointed to a group of teenager who giggled and nodded.
"Oh shut it." Tenten grumbled.
"He looks decent enough." Kiba said as he put an arm on Ino's shoulder.
"He's way more decent." Sakura said as she put the orders of their other friends' table.
"Neji-nii-san is very nice, Tenten-chan." Hinata said while snuggling up to Naruto, her boyfriend and their idiotic friend.
"I know him since we were kids and even though he's cold and harsh, he's nice! Dattebayo!" Naruto said which earned a giggle from Hinata.
"He's an ass, though." Sasuke, Sakura's boyfriend and their other cold friend, said.
"Yeah, he's like you." Tenten commented which earned a smirk from the Uchiha. Sasuke, Kiba and she were best friends since kindergarten.
"Okay guys, just shut up and eat. Whatever you guys say, I'm still sure that I don't like him." Tenten said before returning back to work.
Morning Noon
Tenten felt as if she'd working all day; and it's not because the café was packed with customer but because a certain Hyuga never came.
"Cheer up, Ten. I'm sure he'll come by." Sakura said with a worried expression but the said girl just smiled at her.
"Hey Tenten, aren't you going to sing yet?" An old man said. Tenten nodded and headed to the stage and started to sing. Deep down, she didn't feel like singing at all. All she wanted to do was to lie down on her bed.
Tuesday Noon
Still no sign of Neji and Tenten was beginning to worry. She asked Hinata if something was wrong with Neji but Hinata said that he was doing fine.
Wednesday Noon
Again, no sign of the Hyuga and Tenten started working with a broken heart. She thought that maybe he'll show up this time but he didn't.
Thursday Afternoon
Tenten asked the owner if she could just work inside the kitchen. Knowing that Tenten was brokenhearted, Tomoyo-san agreed.
Again, the Hyuga didn't show up.
That's when Tenten realized that maybe he's really not interested.
Saturday Morning
Tenten was behind the counter when the door swung open. Not bothering to know who it was, she continued to wipe the plates with a clean cloth.
She was surprised when an envelope was put in front of her. She glanced to know who it was and to her surprise it was Neji, walking to his usual table.
She put the plate down and opened the envelope with shaking hands.
Inside the envelope was big paper, the size of book, folded neatly. She unfolded it and gasped at what she saw. It was a beautiful sketch of her, smiling while holding a mike. It looks so real.
Below the sketch was his name and signature. He drew this to her.
She saw that there another note inside the envelope but this time it was small.
With neat hand writing it said "Your smile light up the room and you don't even notice it. You voice is the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. It was like an angel singing. Come by my table if you don't think this letter is weird. –Neji Hyuga"
She bit her lip as blush crept on her cheeks. She glanced up at him and saw him smiling at her. Ino and Sakura seeing the whole thing pushed Tenten towards him.
Tenten smiled at him and sat in front of him; trying not to burst in tears.
"Hi…" She said shyly which earned a smirk from the Hyuga.
"My name is Neji Hyuga." He said and extended his hands. Tenten accepted it and when their hands touch, she felt something spark.
"My name is Tenten and your letter was not weird. I find it sweet." The Hyuga chuckled and that started something. Everyone in the café stared at them. Others whoop with joy and clapped others on the back.
Hinata was clutching Naruto's arm; Sasuke was hugging Sakura by the waist; Kiba put an arm around Ino as they watched their friends get together, finally.
Author's Note: Stay tuned for Neji's POV! Thanks for reading by the way. I hope you like it. Review what you think, guys.
~LeeYumLevi