Opportunity
Shikamaru entered his favorite bakery with a cling of the chimes.
"Good morning, Shikamaru!" a chubby man at the counter greeted, "How's it going?"
Shikamaru nodded while sitting down at a small colorful table. This was Choji's father's shop.
If he was going to get a job he might as well work somewhere he liked. He was also going to put it off until the last minute. He smirked, "Victory for me, mother…"
Choji sat down at the delicately tiled mosaic table across Shikamaru.
"So what are you here for?" Choji inquired with a chubby smile similar to his father's, "Being lazy as usual?"
"Sadly, no…" Shikamaru sighed, "I have to get a job.
Choji was breathless…because he was laughing so hard. "You- Get- a- j-job?" he choked in between laughs.
Shikamaru didn't look amused. He shook his head as a figure glided across his peripheral vision. His attention swerved to the shadow and his eyes fell on a girl about their age. He remembered her now, she was a shinobi from the Land of Mist. Her older sister was on the Leaf Shinobi Anbu Black- Ops, so she had moved here with her two brothers' and sister. She had fought in the Chunin Exams against with a group of Stone shinobi. She had been a powerful enemy and in the end she had defeated her opponent breathing hard, her mental state exposed. His gaze followed her as she went behind the curtain leading to an 'employees only' area.
"Hey…" Shikamaru glanced at a laughing Choji, Shikamaru slapped him upside the head, "Choji!"
"Huh?" he said swiping the tears of laughter from his face.
"She works here?" he jerked his pineapple- shaped hairstyle at the smiling waitress.
"Duh!" Choji raised his eyebrows up and down rapidly, "Oo-la-la Shikamaru! You layin' eyes on my cousin?"
Shikamaru blushed and looked away, "Cousin? " he muttered.
"Yeah," Choji explained, "I passed out before I could see her battle. A few days after I was let out of the hospital, I bumped into her on my way to Dad's bakery. We became quick friends and that's when she told me that my dad was her uncle and she was going to work for him."
"Oh." Shikamaru tilted his chin up in thought, "What does she do?"
"She bakes and waits tables, and when there are more waiters and waitresses she creates these tables."
"She made these tables?" Shikamaru's pupil's widened as he stared at the intricacy of the mosaic tiles. Each tile had it's own little design that played into a larger picture. This table smelled of hickory.
Choji nodded, obviously proud of his beautiful cousin, "And sings on Saturday nights, the voice of an Angel…" he shook his head at the thought.
The girl slid a coffee on a newly weds couple's table and congratulated them. She then made her way to the table Shikamaru and Choji were sitting at.
"Hey Choji!" the girl smiled, "Shikamaru."
"How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously.
"Choji talks about you a lot…" she trailed off.
"Or..." Choji whispered as Shikamaru sipped the coffee that Choji's cousin had just handed him. "Or she's a stalker…"
Shikamaru spurted his special mix of coffee and spit all over Choji is sort of a projectile- fashion.
She hit him in the arm playfully and glided away once again.
"You're such a drag Choji…."
