Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Milk Tea and Cookies
Summary: Years ago, they had torn their broken hearts from them, losing themselves in time and memories. Now they meet again with stronger souls and shattered hearts.
Chapter 1: Banished
"I've had enough from the four of you! Do you realise how much trouble you're in right now? Going off and killing S-ranked criminals isn't something you are supposed to be worrying about on your own mission! It was dangerous and irresponsible. You are hereby dismissed from you ANBU duties until further notice!"
"But-"
"No buts! You will learn how to take responsibility for your actions. I am sending you to the Village of Grass to help with the teaching at the academy there. There are to be no objections, acceptations or complaints. You are not to return unless I say so. Now get out!"
Four pairs of feet scurried out of the office.
"Was it really wise to send them to the Village of Grass? They are living there very peacefully right now, and seeing them again just might reopen their wounds."
"As I said before, they need to take responsibility for their actions…" the blonde woman turned in her chair to look at the four retreating figures.
"Obaa-chan has no right to treat the future hokage like this!" Naruto said.
"Dobe, you may be the future hokage, but she's the current one." Sasuke replied calmly. Naruto just glared.
"We'll meet by the gate at ten tonight, agreed?" asked Shikamaru. There was a round of nods before all four disappeared.
At 10 that night…
"Where's the dobe?" one figure asked.
"Hn." another answered.
"Late as usual, how troublesome." The last replied.
"I'm here!" an arriving figure whispered/yelled.
Three black silhouettes quickly hushed him.
"Now let's go." said one figure. All four headed out the gates of Konoha, and eastward towards the small Village of Grass.
In the Village of Grass…
"Can I have a cup of coffee with one honey and a sugar please?" a young woman asked.
"Make it two." her male companion said.
"Sure! Two coffees with honey and a sugar coming right up!" a cheerful waitress answered. Her warm brown eyes seem to smile and her long brown hair flowed all the way down her back. Her waitress uniform had a low u-cut neck with a small light blue bow at the front. The blue sleeves puffed up and the skirt was mid-thigh. The light blue sash ended with a big bow at the back, and the short blue apron that went below it covered the revealing skirt. The apron was a pretty blue with a white stripe near the end. She also had a pair of white angel wings attached to her back. She turned and disappeared behind a pair of double doors.
Another waitress was taking another table's orders. Her pink hair was down to her mid-back and when she smile, pearly white teeth shown behind pale pink lips. Her uniform was the same as the first waitress's except that hers was pink. Among all the pink, her emerald eyes sparkled.
"Can I get two coffees please?" the brown haired girl asked a navy haired girl once she was in the kitchen. The navy haired girl had on the regular waitress uniform without the wings. Her wings were hung up on a hook next to the doors. The girl's uniform was a light green color. Her pale white eyes stood out among her other facial features. Long navy hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She quietly discussed the café's business with the brown haired girl until they head a loud yell from the back.
"I did it! It's done!" A blonde stepped out from the back carrying a tray. The aroma of freshly baked cookies surrounded the small kitchen. The brown haired waitress just chuckled lightly before taking the two coffees and leaving. The navy haired girl headed over to the blonde and took a cookie from the tray. She bit a little bit off before she held up two thumbs.
"They're really good!" she said, as she finished the cookie. The blonde beamed.
"They should be. She spent a lot of time figuring out how to make these cookies." said a voice from the back. An elderly lady in an apron stepped out and smiled. The blonde just beamed more. "We should stop complimenting her or else she's going to fly." The old lady said afterwards. The blonde pouted. Her purple waitress uniform was covered in flour and you could see her wings hung up with her jacket by the backdoor. Her blue eyes stayed lit even as she pouted, and her blonde hair was in a low ponytail; strands of it came loose and got covered in flour.
"I need a batch of oatmeal cookies NOW!" the pink haired girl screamed from behind the double doors. The navy haired girl quickly got a box and put twelve oatmeal cookies into it. Before she left the kitchen, she put on her wings and left the blonde with some instructions.
"We need more oatmeal cookies. Bake some please?"
"We're on it!" the blonde replied, looking at the elderly lady beside her. She was already in the back, getting the dough from the cupboard. The blonde put down the tray of triple chocolate chip cookies before running into the back to join the old lady.
Two days go by…
Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Shikamaru arrived at the gate of the small Village of Grass at about noon the third day after they had left the Village of Konoha. After getting approval from the gate guards, they went on ahead to find a place to stay. Eventually, the four boys found an inexpensive and cozy inn. Timeless inn had everything they needed for a long term stay. An elderly lady was behind the couter of timeless inn when the four boys entered. She smiled and asked how many rooms they wanted. The told her two and she gave them the only two rooms that were side by side. After the four boys left their belongings in their new room, they went down to take a look at the new academy. Along the way, Naruto kept complaining about being hungry so the four stopped at the inn's small café: Timeless Café.
Timeless Café was a beautifully decorated little café. The theme of the week was the heavens. The whole café had been decorated to resemble what heaven would look like. The two blonde waitresses had on matching waitress uniforms and a pair of angel wings had been attached to the back. One of the blonde waitresses sat them at a small table for four and winked at Sasuke. He ignored her and she just handed them the menu. Naruto was disappointed that there was no ramen on the menu but the café did have a variety of drinks and snacks. The blonde waitress came back to take their orders, this time, trying to make a move on Neji. Neji simply ordered his coffee and ignored her. The waitress pouted, took down all their orders and then headed through the double doors that led to the kitchen.
The girls came back with all their orders. Neji had ordered a coffee. Sasuke had a milk tea. Shikamaru had a hot chocolate and Naruto had ordered a cookie. The waitress gave him his cookie in a plastic bag and then gave him another separate box of cookies he had ordered along with his cookie. Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru just looked at him.
"What? It's for later!" Naruto defended himself.
Shikamaru stared at the hot chocolate before taking a sip. It tasted exactly like the hot chocolate Ino made it for him. That's why he loves hot chocolate so much. It reminded him of her…
Flashback…when they were eight…
"Shika-kun! Wanna try the hot chocolate I made myself?" an eight year old Ino asked. The boy opened one eye before closing it.
"No."
"Aw…come on! I want you to tell me if it's good or not!"
"No."
"FINE! I'll just get someone else to try it!" and shouted as she stomped off angrily.
Fast forward to when they're twelve…
It was snowing lightly and in the distance, you could see four figures walking towards a small coffee shop. Their names were Ino, Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru. They always went to the coffee shop at least once a week. This week, they were going for the hot chocolate.
Once they got their orders, they all sat down and started to drink. "This is delicious!" Naruto said, taking another big gulp.
"Still not as great as Ino's homemade hot chocolate though." Sakura said. Ino nodded.
"What do you think of it Shika-kun?" Ino asked.
"Troublesome…" Shikamaru replied, but in his heart, he already knew whose's would be better.
Fast forward when they're fourteen…
"How are you feeling Shika-kun?" Ino asked coming into his room. Shikamaru had been sick the past week and could not get out of bed. She looked to find him sitting up and looking at the ceiling.
"I want to go watch the clouds…" he muttered.
"Aren't you glad I'm here in any way?" Ino asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Troublesome…"
"Well excuse me!" Ino said as she walked out of the door and slammed it. Shikamaru sighed before going back to sleep. When he woke up again, it was four in the afternoon. He realised that he was thirsty and reached over to where his cup should've been. Instead, he felt his thermal bag there. He opened it and inside, there was hot chocolate in a thermal bottle. With it was a note:
Shika-kun
Drink this quickly and get well. We need your lazy ass up here to train by tomorrow.
Ino
P.S: you know you love my hot chocolate!
End flashback…
Shikamaru just smiled sadly again before taking another sip.
Sasuke was staring at his milk tea. It had too much milk and not enough tea. Sakura always made the perfect milk tea. It was always the perfect blend. Sakura…
Flashback…
Sasuke was at the training grounds. He had already been training since three in the morning. Why? Because he couldn't sleep. He drank some water before resuming his training. Just then, he sensed an all too familiar presence.
"Hi Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, holding a bottle of something light brown. Sasuke thought it was hot chocolate because the girl always went with the blond, the idiot and the Nara to this coffee shop. When they invited him, he said no. What was the point of going anyways? Sakura caught him looking at her bottle.
"Would you like some Sasuke-kun?" she asked politely.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted.
"But it's milk tea! Everyone loves milk tea!" the girl said enthusiastically. Sasuke had no idea what milk tea was. Silence engulfed the training grounds. Suddenly, Sakura came to an understanding.
"Sasuke…do you even know what milk tea is?" she asked eyeing him.
"HN." She shook her head. Then she shoved the bottle to him.
"Here. Have this bottle. I make it myself so I have enough to go around. I'll just run home a grab another bottle. Maybe one for Naruto too. Be back in five!"Sakura said, as she ran off in the direction she came in. Sasuke stared curiously at the bottle before opening it and taking a small sip. What he tasted amazed him.
So from that day on, Sakura knew to bring a bottle of milk tea for Sasuke every Tuesday. Because Tuesday is the day Sasuke started to like milk tea. Too be more exact…her milk tea (he wouldn't drink the store brought milk tea).
End flashback…
Sasuke just closed his eyes and drank the milk tea, memories of the emerald-eyed beauty washing over him.
Neji had his eyes closed, while he drank his coffee. Coffee always reminded him of the one thing that he didn't want to think about…
Flashback…
Neji waited for Tenten to show up. It was usually the other way around. But not today. Today, she had the great Neji waiting for her. Neji didn't see her but he could sense her in the distance, racing over here at an alarming rate.
"Sorry Neji-kun. I had to go get some coffee first because I couldn't sleep last night and I don't want to fall asleep later. Would you like one too? I got one for you." She put a small cup in his hands. Neji looked at it and saw this black liquid in it. He sniffed it. It didn't seem to appealing. He was about to put it in his mouth when Tenten stopped him.
"Neji, you're supposed to put cream and sugar in it first." she said as she handed him two packages of sugar and several small cream-in-a-container (a/n: I LOVE those things!!!). Neji poured in the cream and sugar and watched as the black liquid turned a light brown color. He took a sip and it wasn't bad at all. It was rich and there was a very addicting scent to it.
From that day on, Neji always waited for Tenten. He allowed her to be a little late because he knew she was getting him coffee.
End flashback…
Neji opened his eyes and sighed. He turned to glare at Naruto for stuffing himself with the cookie in an indecent way. Naruto looked like he was actually thinking for a moment.
Cookies always reminded Naruto of the cookie at his doorstep everyday. One morning, Naruto had woken up and when he stepped outside for the paper, he found along with it, a brown bag. In the brown bag, there was a cookie. A chocolate chip cookie to be exact. Naruto, being the person he is, immediately took a bite out of the cookie not bothering to check for poison or anything. It was delicious. He headed back in with the paper in one hand and a bitten cookie in another. Every morning after that, he had found another cookie beside his paper. Even on Sundays, when there was no paper delivered to his doorstep, there was still the cookie. It was not always chocolate chip. There were ones with nuts, white chocolate, m and m's, and even Oreo bits!
Suddenly, one day, the cookies stopped coming. He waited for a few days and when it was inevitable that there were no more cookies, he gave up. But a part of him had always wanted to find the person who made the cookies. It always felt right for the person to give him the cookies. He didn't realise it back then, but he had lost something that was much more precious. And it wasn't the cookies.
The four boys soon left the coffee shop and headed straight down the street to where the new academy stood. They heard the store's welcome bell tinkle behind them but didn't bother to look at who it was. They were here to do a job, and they would do a good job. Then they could leave and never come back, because the innocent coffee shop had just brought up some of their most painful memories.