Chapter One: Welcome to The Leaf

A/N: I do not own Naruto.

Sakura blew a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her face as she pushed the till drawer shut, arching her back to work out the kinks that had formed in her spine. It was the end of the lunch rush and the cafe had dimmed to busy, but not bursting full of people as it had been moments before. Kakashi, the silver haired and lazy demeanoured resident barista, finished off pouring the milk for the last latte with a flourish, a perfect rosette sitting on top of the foam. The customer who had ordered the coffee smiled a little at the art, before destroying it cheerfully by pouring in some sugar, stirring the drink, and tottering off carefully back to their table. Kakashi clucked his tongue almost inaudibly, but Sakura's sharp ears caught the sound and a smirk appeared on her lips. Despite the general attitude of 'not giving a damn' that Kakashi exuded, he took pride in his latte art and liked to show off all the various designs that he could do. They were normally restricted to hearts and rosettes for customers, however if properly motivated Sakura knew he could make butterflies, kangaroos, swans, dragons and on one particularly memorable occasion an elephant. Such intricacies were normally reserved for staff coffees, slow days and children. Kakashi hated the sound of children crying, or any noise in general, and art generally enthralled the child enough to not start screeching and consequently disturbing the peace in the cafe that Kakashi so militantly enforced.

"Ne, Kakashi…?" began Sakura in her patented puppy dog tone. Kakashi's back stiffened slightly. Such a tone was only used when Sakura wanted him to do something, which meant that it would be even longer before he could slink into his dark corner behind the coffee machine and once again lose himself in the delights of his Icha Icha book.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" asked Kakashi sweetly, already melting into his usual lurking spot now that the coffee machine was clean and organised.

"Would you mind awfully if I took my break now?" Kakashi sighed. Of all the favours that Sakura asked of him, covering her break was the most loathsome. It meant that he had to have full interaction with any customer coming in, something he tended to avoid as much as possible, as well as dealing with Sasuke and Naruto (the cafe's kitchen staff, polar opposites of each other and it was surprising that the two had managed to refrain from blowing the cafe up during one of their many, many arguments) and making sure that the tables remained clean. There was hardly any time to read his beloved book.

That being said, once Sakura had had her break, he could justifiably have his.

Which meant an entire thirty minutes of guaranteed, uninterrupted, Icha Icha reading time.

Kakashi heaved a huge, put upon sigh, but nodded slowly. "I guess so. Have a good break, Sakura-chan," he said, slouching his way out of his hiding spot and into the centre of the counter behind the till. Sakura beamed, grabbed a plate from the stack, scooped some salad onto it and picked up a fork.

"See you in thirty minutes," she said cheerily, before skipping into the kitchen with her lunch. Naruto looked up from the huge pile of onions he was chopping, pausing his angry tirade about… something to Sasuke.

"Hi Sakura-chan! Break?" he asked, wiping away a few tears caused by the vegetables.

"Yep," replied Sakura, hopping on top of one of the low fridges and starting to pick at the couscous on her plate.

"Awesome. Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, aren't there some new people starting today?" Naruto asked excitedly, resuming his chopping. Sakura shrugged and swallowed her mouthful.

"I think Tsunade-sama mentioned something about new staff." Naruto gave a triumphant shout and energetically waved his knife around.

"Hah! I told you teme that they were starting today." Sasuke, the more taciturn of the two, rolled his eyes.

"Idiot. They aren't starting today, they start tomorrow. And stop waving that knife around," he said quietly, not pausing in his whisking.

"But Sakura-chan said-"

"I said that there were new staff. I didn't know when they started. Anyway, if they were, then Tsunade-sama would be here," she pointed out, swinging her legs.

The swing doors to the kitchen opened again and Konohamaru, the kitchen porter and youngest member of staff, came through, already unravelling the long red scarf from around his neck.

"Hi guys," he called out in a slightly muffled voice, and he disappeared into the small cupboard that served as their locker room for a few minutes before re-emerging, the scarf swapped for a black apron.

"Hello Konohamaru-kun," said Sakura, taking a swig of water from her water bottle left on the shelf in the kitchen. The teen beamed at her before taking up his position at the dishwasher, pulling on a pair of gloves and started to make a dent in the pile of dishes.

"I'm still partly right," said Naruto, breaking the brief silence that had fallen in the kitchen and returning to the earlier argument.

"Sure," said Sakura in a placating manner, whilst Sasuke's hand reached across the workstation and hit him over the head with lightning speed. Sakura ate the last of her couscous, passed the plate to Konohamaru and left the kitchen before a full scale fight could break out between the two chefs.

Sakura looked up as Tsunade, one of the co-owners of The Leaf, came up the stairs from the office, high heels clacking on the wooden steps. It was unusual for Tsunade to interfere much when they were opening up the shop; if she was in at all, she preferred to stay in the office sleeping off her hangover until lunchtime, when she would emerge, down a single espresso as if it was sake, and help at the counter until the lunch rush was over and she could disappear again. The fact that she was upstairs now meant that some sort of announcement was to be made, and Sakura put the small pots of flowers she had been carrying to the tables on the counter, knocking on the kitchen door to alert Sasuke and Naruto.

"Morning everyone," she said in her usual grim tone, the one that was reserved for morning meetings and cashing up and making orders, although she tended to pass those tasks onto either Sakura, Kakashi or Sasuke. "Today we have two newbies joining us; Kakashi, I believe you've worked with Yamato before? Yes? Well he'll be on the front with you and Sakura. Sai will be in the kitchen, but don't put him on dishes all day, Konohamaru needs something to do. I'll stop by this afternoon to see how they're doing. Is there anything you need to tell me?"

"Yeah, Sasuke-teme-"

"Anything important?" interrupted Tsunade, ignoring Naruto's outburst. "No? Good. Kakashi, coffee."

A few moments later a small cup slid across the counter to Tsunade, who knocked it back in one before setting the cup down again and exiting the cafe.

"Anyone else?" drawled Kakashi, hands hovering over the handles for the portafilters. There were a chorus of 'yeses' from the various staff members and one by one the hot drinks appeared on the counter; cappuccino for Sakura, americano for Sasuke, hot chocolate for Naruto (who had been forbidden from drinking any coffee, at all, ever, including decaf (the placebo effect was just as strong as an actual effect for Naruto) after it was discovered that feeding the blonde caffeine was a recipe for disaster) and a flat white for Kakashi. The drinks were snatched up and the cafe was silent as the four sipped cautiously at the hot liquid, before they all dispersed from the counter and continued setting up.

All too soon the cafe was open and customers started to trickle in, and by nine Sakura's eyebrow was twitching as yet another customer asked them what selection of teas they had.

"English Breakfast, Earl Grey, green, chamomile, mango and strawberry, peppermint, rooibos, blackcurrant and vanilla, rose and lavender, lemongrass and ginger, elderflower and lemon-"

"I'll just take breakfast tea," said the flustered customer, and Sakura nodded, putting the order through the till and preparing the drink with practised ease.

"I don't understand why they can't read the sign," she grumbled once the customer had left. "It would save me having to repeat the list every minute of every day."

"Hm, it's a mystery," replied Kakashi, raising an eyebrow and turning a page of his book.

"I was reciting that list in my dream last night, it's ridiculous."

"Is that so?"

"You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Nope," answered Kakashi, peering over the top of his book long enough to give Sakura his least sincere smile.

Sakura grumbled her reply under her breath, turning back to the front as the door once again opened. She straightened a little as a pale young man entered the shop, his hair as dark as Sasuke's and face just as impassive. A small part of Sakura found him attractive in a sort of misunderstood poet type way. She brutally shoved those feelings aside; that had gotten her into trouble in the past before, and anyway, her heart was already set on Sasuke and she could only manage one crush at a time.

Still.

It couldn't hurt to look. Plus, next time Ino-pig came into the cafe, Sakura could introduce them and maybe Ino-pig would back off of Sasuke.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?" asked Sakura politely, flashing him her brightest smile. Kakashi paused in his reading; sometimes watching Sakura interact with customers brought far more entertainment than Icha Icha could.

"My name is Sai," replied the man, pasting on the worst fake smile that either Kakashi or Sakura had seen in their combined years of working in a cafe. "I believe I am to start working here?"

"Uh… oh yes, Tsunade-sama mentioned you earlier. Um, you'll be in the kitchen so I'll take you through," said Sakura, flustered by the neutral tone Sai had spoken to her in. Kakashi returned to his book, attention already waning now that it was clear that Sai was not a customer. Sakura led Sai around the counter and through the swing doors into the kitchen, where Naruto broke his concentration from the sandwiches enough for a cursory nod in Sakura's direction and Sasuke ignored them completely.

"Hey guys, this is Sai," Sakura introduced. "Sai, this is Naruto and Sasuke, you'll be working in the kitchen with them today. See that door there? That leads to the lockers, just hang up your stuff and grab an apron and then these two will set you to work." Sai nodded and disappeared, returning a few moments later with a white apron that, coupled with his pale complexion, made him look like a ghost. He waited patiently behind the counter in the kitchen for Sasuke to finish what he was currently making, and although he remained completely expressionless his entire demeanour screamed disapproval and derision. Sakura sidled out of the room, and Sasuke finally paused in the sandwich making operation to address Sai.

"Can I help you?" he asked acidly, knife paused over an enormous head of lettuce. Sai gave another of his fake smiles.

"I was told that you would be in charge of me today. I am simply waiting for instructions," he replied placidly, and Sasuke's knife flashed as it came down on the iceberg in front of him.

"Hm. Well, start with the tomatoes then. You need to slice them fairly thickly, like this. You can find a chopping board and a knife over there," Sasuke said, gesturing with a nod to the kitchen equipment and sweeping the tomato he had demonstrated with to one side.

"Of course," Sai murmured with a slight bow, and he set to work, humming as he did so. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks, Naruto's eyebrow quirking up slightly as the humming got louder. Sasuke merely clenched his jaw in response and the two got back to work.

The clock ticked by at an agonisingly slow pace, and Naruto felt his back crack in several places as he stretched. He chanced a glare at Sai, who was now peeling carrots and had not stopped humming the most irritating tune he could think of since he had started working that morning. The general aura of doom that was coming from Sasuke indicated that the other cook was also highly unamused, and for the preservation of the kitchen Naruto decided to engage Sai in a conversation.

"So, Sai, where're you from?" Naruto asked jovially, pausing in his work and leaning against his workstation.

"Konoha," was the simple reply.

"Oh, okay. How long have you been working in kitchens?"

"A long time."

"How do you like The Leaf?" Sai shrugged, breaking his commitment to short, unhelpful answers.

"It's okay. The work is straightforward and with little room for creativity, and the people… well."

"'Well' what?" growled Naruto, his eyebrow twitching.

"They seem to reflect the work they do," said Sai, giving yet another infuriating fake smile. The kitchen fell still and silent, the sounds of chopping ceasing and the dishwasher pausing in the rumbling washing of the dishes as Sasuke, Naruto and Konohamaru all turned to look at Sai. The atmosphere was suffocating, and yet the insincere smile had yet to fall from Sai's face. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" he asked, finally dropping the expression. Sasuke's eyes glittered dangerously

Sakura jumped as a loud bang echoed from the kitchen, causing her to drop a customer's change all over the counter. She glanced over at the door to the kitchen and then at Kakashi, who had looked up from his book.

"Should…" she began, but Kakashi nodded his head towards the counter, eyes already drifting back to his page. Blushing, Sakura returned her attention to the customer, handing over the sandwiches that she had been holding in her hand and smiling apologetically. Once the customer had headed off back to their table, Sakura was about to head to the kitchen when the door burst open and Sasuke glowered in the doorway, an aura of doom surrounding him, one hand holding the door open and the other holding Sai by the back of his shirt.

"He is counter staff now," he said tersely, all but throwing Sai at them and stalking back into the kitchen. Kakashi and Sakura exchanged another confused look, before looking to Sai, who smiled at Sakura.

"Hello Ugly," he said casually, with a little wave.

"Oh hell no," growled Sakura, stomping into the kitchen and up to Sasuke. "That… person, is kitchen staff. That is what Tsunade-sama said, and that is how it is going to stay. Do NOT palm him off onto me and Kakashi."

"But Sakura-chan, he called us uninspiring," whined Naruto. Sakura turned to him, eyes blazing.

"Then take it up with Tsunade-sama, but don't dump him on us. Anyway, we already have our own new staff person to teach."

"Sakura, his social skills are not suitable for the kitchen," said Sasuke coolly, whilst Konohamaru nodded emphatically from his position at the sink.

"Teme, you're hardly one to talk about social skills," chortled Naruto.

"Oh, and you're suddenly expert on social niceties and manners?" hissed Sasuke.

"Hey, I'm still better than y- ow! Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out, bending downwards as Sakura pinched his ear between her thumb and finger. The smirk that appeared on Sasuke was promptly wiped out as he, too, was subjected to the same treatment.

"Enough bickering. You take Sai, we have the other one. That is how it works, okay?" She tightened her grip as Sasuke and Naruto started to protest. "Okay?!"

"Okay okay, fine, whatever you say Sakura-chan," acquiesced Naruto, and Sakura promptly let the two go and headed back to the counter. "Hey, Sakura-chan, one more thing," added Naruto. Sakura paused and turned her head to look at him. "Wanna go on a date later?" asked Naruto, smiling at her. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"No," she said flatly, and went through the door just as Sasuke hit his co-worker on the head, the sound of Naruto's indignant squawks following her as she left.

"Good news Sai, you're back in the kitchen," said Sakura sweetly, all but pushing Sai through the swing doors. There was a cough from behind her and she turned to see someone standing awkwardly at the gap in the counter that allowed Sakura (because it was never Kakashi) to squeeze through and clear the tables.

"Hi, I'm Yamato, I'm the new counter employee?" he said tentatively. Sakura smiled warmly.

"Hi, my name's Sakura and that's-" she was interrupted as Yamato's eyes went wide slightly.

"Kakashi-sempai?" he asked, and Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Hello Ten-"

"Yamato," corrected the new employee, as Kakashi's eyes drifted back down to the Icha Icha volume he was holding.

"Is that so?" he murmured, turning a page and shutting down any further potential conversation. Sakura coughed self-consciously.

"Um, so you're with us then. There's a cupboard in the kitchen where you can hang your jacket and grab an apron; the lunch rush is about to start so it will probably be best if you go on the floor and clear some tables- Konohamaru-kun will show you where to put everything when you take it back to the kitchen. Later this afternoon I can show you how the till works and Kakashi will probably show you the coffee machine." Kakashi looked up as Sakura mentioned his name, and Sakura smiled sweetly at him until he returned to his book. "So when you've put your stuff away, take the tray under the counter over there and a cloth and just gather up all the empty cups and dishes from the tables to take to the kitchen to be cleaned. Once everything is clear and it's a bit quieter, I'll show you some of the counter responsibilities."

"Okay, thank you," said Yamato. He looked at Kakashi for a moment, before ducking through the swing doors. As they swung shut, Kakashi suddenly put his book down and approached the coffee machine, hands fiddling with the cloths that had been placed underneath the tray on the counter.

"Um… Kakashi?" asked Sakura, confused. "Are you okay?" It was unusual for Kakashi to not have his nose stuck in his book unless there was either a customer or Sakura had stolen it and hidden it from him.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you're acting pretty strange."

"Sakura?"

"Yes?" Sakura studied him, Kakashi fixing her with an uncharacteristically sharp expression, before he blinked and turned back to the coffee machine.

"Customer," was all he said, and Sakura turned to greet the customer that had just approached the customer, pushing down the sigh that threatened to escape as quickly a queue built up.

Later, after the lunch rush had started to diminish, a cappuccino was slid towards her with both cinnamon and chocolate sprinkled across the froth. Sakura smiled at the coffee, and when she glanced back at Kakashi, he had already slunk back to his corner.

The atmosphere in the kitchen was suffocating. Sasuke, Naruto and Konohamaru, who normally whiled away the hours in the afternoon by constantly bickering with the occasional lapse into physical violence by Sasuke when he had used up his day's quota of words, were united as a trio for perhaps the first time since the cafe had opened. All three of them were glaring at their new colleague, who had ended up on the other side of the kitchen and Naruto's usual work station, the hyperactive blonde having quickly made Sasuke share with him. The abnormal silence was broken only by the comings and goings of Yamato, who was quickly proving to be fairly efficient (even though Naruto insisted, in whispers to Sasuke, that his eyes were 'creepy looking').

Eventually the clock ticked over to five, when the cafe closed, and the chefs were tasked with clearing and cleaning their work stations. Once it was finished and Konohamaru was attacking the remaining dishes with a grim sort of intensity, Sasuke turned to Sai.

"You are free to go."

"Goodbye," said Sai, taking off his apron and disappearing into the cupboard. He remerged a few moments later and disappeared from the kitchen just as Sakura entered, carrying the till so that she could go into the office to cash up.

"What a weird guy," she said, watching as the doors swung shut. Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"He's downright rude," replied Naruto bluntly, eyes narrowing in distaste.

"As if you're one to talk," muttered Sasuke.

"At least this afternoon was quiet in the kitchen," murmured Sakura thoughtfully, heading down the narrow corridor that lead to the the store rooms and office. Naruto and Sasuke followed her, settling down at one of the two small tables so they could make the orders for the next day.

"How was the other guy? The one with the creepy eyes?" asked Naruto, handing the list of vegetables needed for the next day to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes and squinted at the almost illegible handwriting.

"He doesn't have creepy eyes," protested Sakura, counting out the day's takings. "They're just… unusual."

"They're creepy," reiterated Naruto.

"Idiot. They're normal. What does this even say?" interrupted Sasuke, pointing at one of the items on the list. Naruto glanced at it.

"Tomatos. Obviously."

"No, not obviously. A three year old has better handwriting than you."

"Well excuse me that I don't have perfect calligraphy."

"I'm not asking for calligraphy. I'm asking for legibility."

"Hey, that's perfectly legible! Sakura, you can read this right?" Naruto waved the scrap of paper in front of Sakura's face.

"Naruto, no one could read that. Not even Kakashi could."

"What couldn't I read?" asked Kakashi, entering the office with his own list of needed supplies, as Naruto sat back in his seat, pouting.

"Naruto's handwriting. Seriously, dobe, what even is this?" asked Sasuke, pausing at yet another item.

"Courgette."

"That isn't even how you spell 'courgette'," commented Kakashi, leaning over Sasuke to look at the word. Naruto humphed and folded his arms, and Sakura bit back her giggles.

"So, the general consensus on the new staff is that Sai is weird and rude and Yamato has unusual eyes? He's a good worker, other than that," replied Sakura.

"I suppose that would be an accurate summary," considered Kakashi, leaning over Sasuke to point out the items that the front of house needed from the website, either ignoring or simply oblivious to the discomfort the close physical proximity was causing Sasuke.

"Did Tsunade-baa chan ever come at lunch?" asked Naruto, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. Sakura shook her head.

"She'll probably see us tomorrow though. Anyway, I think she'll want to keep them. As long as people work hard, she doesn't mind too much about their personalities," replied Sakura.

"After all, she hired you," said Sasuke acerbically.

"Hey! My personality is much better than yours," retorted Naruto. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but didn't look away from the screen of the laptop. The four lulled into comfortable silence, and soon their various tasks were finished and they were outside locking up the door.

"Drink anyone?" asked Sakura, winding her scarf around her neck to hold off the chill.

"No thank you. There is a little old lady who requires my assistance to help her across the road," said Kakashi, and he disappeared without a further comment. Sakura shook her head and looked at the other two.

"No," said Sasuke flatly. "Naruto, we have to pay the rent today." Naruto groaned.

"I hate that guy," he complained to Sakura as the three headed to their bus stop.

"Landlord or Sasuke?" asked Sakura.

"Both," was the reply, and Sakura giggled, before stepping forward as her bus approach.

"See you both tomorrow," she called, before stepping on to the bus and heading to her home.

A/N: I really shouldn't be writing another story. Really, really shouldn't, yet here I am….

In my defence, I have been writing this (both in my head and on my laptop) for over a year and I have lots of ideas for it.

Also, I work in a cafe, hence the number of (fairly, I guess) technical terms; if you want any definitions/clarifications let me know, and I'll be happy to explain them to you :) Also, with the teas, most of those were ones we used to sell, and there were thirteen in total that I had managed to memorise.

Also I really hate the formatting system on this site...

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next up: Everyone starts to get used to Sai, and there is a somewhat shady competition involving coffee between The Leaf and a rival cafe, with the future of the cafe's survival at stake… just what has Naruto got Kakashi into?

Please Review!