Endless Obstacles

a/n – I don't own ff or the characters..square does..i wish I do..but I own a laptop though..

CHAPTER 1

Tifa finished arranging the final glass and wiped off the droplets of water from the counter. "At last," Tifa sighed as she locked the front door.

Tifa had been working in the bar for as long as she could remember. The owner used to be a tycoon but as the Shinra Company fell, he went bankrupt and that left her as the only person who managed the bar on her own.

If it's not because she has nowhere to go, she might've leave this place. Tifa tried that once but was caught while wondering around Midgar. She was nearly paralyzed for two weeks after the owner taught her some lessons. That incident always made her think twice about leaving this place again.

He wasn't abusive but if she slacked off, his hands and legs will do the talking. After working under him for three years, she thought that her body was starting to get used to it. Sometimes he would treat her nicer but most of the time he treated her like a slave.

"Tifa!" his rough voice called Tifa, breaking into her thoughts. She rushed to the door to open it. He looked as angry as he usually does. "Get me today's sale," he ordered and she went to take all the money she made from today's sale. He looked at her angrily.

"I said ALL!" he yelled. Tifa swallowed back. "T…That's everything…" she uttered slowly.

Business was not doing well in the slumps now that most of the citizens had migrated to Edge, which was conquered by the AVALANCHE. They were the one who overthrew Shinra and now, they were the masters in the underworld.

However, they appeared clean from the outside. They helped the citizens to get more jobs as delivery men under the Strife Company. "Stupid!" he said as he slapped her across her face and she fell back from the impact.

Tifa held her cheek and felt some blood coming out from her mouth. "What good can you bring me? Nothing! You're useless!" he added and hit her again. She groaned as it really hurt her. "I'm…sorry…" she tried to hold back her tears.

"Hey, old man!" another rough voice interrupted him as he was about to kick Tifa. She looked up and saw a muscular man with three other people behind him.

"I'm here to collect the rent," he said casually as he entered the bar and sat on one of the stools.

The boss looked a little worried. Tifa got up upon my feet slowly. "The barmaid?" he said as he saw Tifa. She went to the kitchen and washed her face.

Those people were from the AVALANCHE. They were the only one who the boss was afraid off. Tifa heard them talking at the front and she heard the man laughed out loud.

Then, there was a crash. Tifa rushed to the front and saw her boss was being pinned down by the man with the gun arm. "Don't joke around with me!" he hissed as he pointed his gun at the boss' head.

"No, don't shoot! That's really all I have!" he pleaded. The three other men just looked at the scene silently. "You're lucky we let you live till now. But now, you can't even pay us back the favour? Then, you're no good to us!" the man added between clenched teeth. Why is he so angry with the boss?

"No! You can take anything you want that I have here!" the boss tried to talk the man out from killing him. "You don't really have anything worth it old man!" the dark man said as he pressed the gun to my boss' head.

"No, don't kill him!" Tifa ran towards him. All eyes were set on her. "Yeah! You can take her with you! Sell her to get the money!" my boss said and Tifa almost passed out.

How could he? She thought of him as someone who helped me when she was lost that was why she ran to help him but he… The dark man released the boss and went towards Tifa's direction and stopped a few feet away from her.

He eyed her and she thought she saw something like confusion in his eyes but it was just in a split second. "Take her!" he ordered his men and they held her and cuff her hands.

They pushed her to walk and as they're were about to leave the bar, she heard the dark man kicked the boss for one last time. Tifa looked back at the boss who was in pain. As the dark man passed her, he said, "I've save you from a living hell right?"

Tifa was sent into a huge building and she just follows the dark man's lead. Everyone was too busy to notice that her hands were cuffed and most of them were men.

She saw an inscription on one of the walls written "Strife Delivery Services." So this is the headquarters for the Strife Company. "Barret! You're back! And you brought someone along!" a high pitch scream almost gave everyone a heart attack.

"Yuffie, I still can hear you well!" the dark man said as he turned to a direction. A petit girl was running towards him and stopped just before she crashed on him.

"Who's this? You've found someone to work here? A girl at last! I thought I might be the only girl here!" She totally ignored that man's annoyance.

"No Yuffie, I'm sending her to Cloud," the dark man said as he began walking again. Yuffie made an annoyed face and walked beside Tifa.

"Where are you from? Where did you meet Barret? And why are your hands cuffed? Did you do anything wrong? And why are your face swollen?" Tifa was shot with her questions and she didn't know what should be answered first.

"Yuffie, shut up!" Barret said as they entered an elevator. "It's none of your business if I want to talk to a girl! This place is swarming with males!" Yuffie replied back.

"Just be quiet!" Barret snapped back. "Barret, Yuffie! Mind your voices," a cool voice interrupted them as they walked out from the elevator. "Vincent! Hiya!" Yuffie greeted the man.

"Is Cloud in?" Barret asked and the man named Vincent nodded. Then, all of them entered a huge door that led to an enormous and well-decorated room.

"Hey, spiky-head!" Barret greeted and the man with the blonde spikes turned as he turned off his hand phone.

"What did you done to that Shinra tycoon just now?" spiky-head asked without waiting. "I collected the rent as always but he couldn't pay for it. And he pay using this," Barret said as he stepped aside to unblock Tifa.

She looked up and saw the spiky-head. There was a long pause and she felt awkward as she was being watched by a stranger.

"Let her work here!" Yuffie broke the silence and almost made Tifa had a heart attack- again. Then, the males in the room had this telepathy talk and the spiky-head decided, "She'll work at my house."

Yuffie almost cried out in protest and the spiky-head said, "And it's final." She shut her agape mouth and just looked away in irritation.

"And Yuffie," the blonde added. "Release her hands and treat her wounds. People might think I abused her if she went home with me in that condition," he continued.

Yuffie just held Tifa's hands and led her out from the room. "He thinks he's the boss?! He makes me really pissed!" Yuffie grunted. "People might think I abused her if she went home with me," Yuffie imitated the blonde and Tifa smiled for the first time since the last time she could remember.

"Why do you want her to work at your house?" Vincent asked. "The delivery job is for man not woman. Even if I want to hire her as a secretary, this place contains too much secret to let a woman work here," Cloud said in deep thinking.

"And Yuffie?" Vincent asked again. "I can trust her with my life," Cloud replied and turned to the window.