AN: Hey, all! I hope you're enjoying the story! :D

Strawberry Daiquiri

Chapter Two; Jazz and the Blues

Tenten yawned and rubbed her eyes. She'd just finished with what seemed like the longest shift of her life. Not to mention that Lee and Gai had just had to come in and make life that much more interesting. She loved her exuberant chief and his just-as-energetic protégée, but sometimes they were a little over the top.

Looking down, the police officer realized her hat was still in her hands. Certainly must've been a long day so far, she thought wryly. She didn't even take the hat out of her car when making arrests. Although she did have her reasons for that, certainly; it truly was an ugly hat.

"Woah, that's a cool hat! Can I try it on?" Clearly, her opinion was not shared by the blonde idiot who'd just accosted her.

She turned her head to face Naruto. "Absolutely not," she said, pulling it away from his groping hands. He probably had lice. Or maybe stupidity was contagious. No, no, she reasoned, then she would've caught it from Lee or Gai. Either way, there was no way Tenten was going to let the trombonist steal her hat. However ugly it may be.

Seeing she wasn't going to relinquish it without at least a decent fight, Naruto began to pout. "Please? Come on, I'll give it back." Still, Tenten held it as far away from him as possible. "Is this because I hit on you yesterday? Because if it is, I'm really sorry. It's kinda a habit for me to flirt with all the dolls I see. It's all my second trombone teacher's fault. Really."

"No, it's not that," she told him, raising an eyebrow. "Why in the world is it your teacher's fault that you're desperate?" Tenten questioned.

"Hey! I'm not desperate. It's a habit. And it's because he's the world's biggest pervert ever. You'd probably hate him," Naruto laughed. "But it'd be so funny if I got the two of you in the same room. Although maybe not. You're kinda like his sheba (1). Except you haven't shown any violent tendencies. Yet. You don't normally punch people through walls, right?" he asked, his blue eyes widening in worry.

Tenten's eyes narrowed slightly as she thought. "Wait, what did you say your teacher's name was?" she queried.

"Huh? Well, his real name's Jiraiya. How come?"

"Tsunade's lover?" Tenten half-gasped. "She's my idol. About fifteen years ago she became the first female police officer, and I've heard she's really really good at what she does. I'd love to meet her some day."

Naruto chuckled. "What? The old lady? But she's crazy. And you know about her and her booze, right?"

Almost immediately, Tenten's eyes narrowed into a full-blown glare, her posture becoming far less friendly. "Everyone has their vices," she retorted, her tone clipped.

"Then why does she get to have hers when the people at Ichiraku's can't have theirs?" he parlayed.

The brunette shook her head. "It's not like that. She gave up alcohol when Prohibition came into law."

He just scrutinized her and then grinned widely. "Well, anyway. We're here!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide like an artist presenting his magnum opus. Ichiraku's was right in front of them.

"Wait, I never even told you I was coming here," Tenten began, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion and slight surprise.

Grinning widely, Naruto put his hands on his hips proudly. "It's cause I'm way smarter than anyone says-Ow!" Suddenly, he was gone from Tenten's line of vision. She glanced down to see him sprawled on the ground.

"I see," she replied dryly as the blonde man jumped up and brushed himself off. Maybe Naruto wasn't as smart as they came. He was perceptive, though, with a natural ease with others that Tenten knew she'd never have. It wasn't only her; she'd seen glimpses the day before when he had made everyone else at ease at one point or another.

She must have been staring off for a moment too long. Naruto grabbed her hand and dragged her through the double-doors. "Come on, don't just stand there! Shikamaru's gonna yell at me for being late!"

Huffing, Tenten reclaimed her hand from him, frowning deeply. She didn't want him to think he could dare to touch her in such a familiar manner. Still, she followed after him, countering his short, springy steps with her long, measured strides.

As they reached the table, Temari grinned in an almost-predatory manner. "Finally!" she said. "Shikamaru was just saying that he'd be willing to sing right as soon as you got here. Isn't that right, Shikamaru?" the woman nearly growled. "Oh, hello there, wet blanket," she added dryly as she noticed Tenten, who bridled at the comment but didn't reply.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, troublesome woman. I'm going." Still, he made no move to move from his seat. "You're a pain in the ass, Naruto," he said as the blonde attempted to carry on a conversation with a blushing Hinata and bounce towards the stage at the same time. "What even took you so long?"

Before Naruto had a chance to reply, though, Temari shoved Shikamaru out of his seat. "Never mind what took him so long! Go up and sing already, and stop complaining."

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Women,' but before either Temari or Tenten could protest he was on stage, standing in front of a microphone. For one so lazy, it seemed he could move quickly enough when the situation called for it. As the crowd cheered and Tenten took a seat, he asked the band to start up a song Tenten had never even heard of.

A few bars before he even began to sing, Tenten recognized it as a blues piece. Shikamaru had a good voice for the blues, she thought offhandedly as he made his lackadaisical entrance into the music. The music suited him perfectly. It was slower, seemingly lacking the vitality of the more modern jazz pieces. His drawl echoed through the room, and Tenten smiled slightly. Sure, he was good at other music, but Shikamaru was made to sing the blues.

Her eyes shifted to Naruto, who seemed to be holding back, his trombone muted and his body language far less energetic. If Shikamaru was best suited for the blues, then Naruto was jazz personified. Louder and boisterous, Naruto was the more modern, easier-to-dance-to music that had stemmed from the blues.

"What do you think?" came a voice from her right side. Her attention pulled away from the music, Tenten shifted slightly to face who she recalled as Neji.

"He's amazing," she admitted, then paused. "They're amazing," she corrected.

Neji gave her a puzzled smile. "You're not going to lie about it?" he asked her. "It doesn't serve your purpose to say that Shikamaru's good, much less the entire band," he pointed out reasonably. "Besides, you don't seem the type to be friendly with people like them... people like us."

She only shrugged. "What reason is there to lie?" she asked. "They're good; you know it and I know it. Even if I don't seem like I'd be friendly with them, I don't think I should tell lies about how good they are at their professions. Anyway, they're good enough people, I suppose." Tenten folded her arms grudgingly. "Naruto and I had some time to talk together on our way here. How do you know them, anyway?"

Neji frowned thoughtfully. "Well, Temari works with Hinata–my cousin–and a few months ago, she told us about Ichiraku's. Since then, she's made it a daily habit to drag myself and Hinata along on her trips here. Naruto was curious about us because we came so often, so when he wasn't playing, he started to come to our table. And... Shikamaru just followed along," he said, to which Tenten nodded. It made enough sense. After all, it seemed like they were here every day. While that was natural for Shikamaru and Naruto, it would have been a curiosity for the rest of them.

"Where do Temari and Hinata work?" Tenten queried, slightly impressed. Not many women took jobs. Although, she decided as she glanced over at the clothing and jewelry each woman wore, such items weren't free. "And where do you work?" she wondered. He was well-dressed, also. Were all of them so rich? Tenten couldn't help but be slightly jealous. Police officers weren't paid exceptionally well; females in the trade were paid even less than their male counterparts.

"Temari is a secretary for a small company, and Hinata is a bookkeeper for that same company. As for myself, I work as a lawyer."

Tenten had to force herself not to gape. She had a few professions in mind, but a lawyer was not one of them. "That's fairly impressive. But it's quite a few years of school, correct? So you're, what, 28 or so?" she asked him curiously.

He actually glared at Tenten, which almost made her laugh. "I'm 24, actually," he corrected. "I finished all of my schooling at 23."

This time, Tenten couldn't keep her jaw from dropping. "What are you, some kind of genius or something?" she asked him, incredulous. Either he'd only spent five years in college when the requirement was seven years, or he'd graduated high school quite early.

Neji chuckled quietly. "If you'd like to call me that, sure. I simply graduated high school a year early, and I finished law school a year early, as well," he informed her.

Leaning back in her chair, Tenten drummed her fingers against the table. She was quite impressed. Law school was rumored to be very difficult. But for some reason, he seemed uncomfortable talking about his accomplishments. He spoke clearly enough, but he looked to the side, as if it was something he didn't want to reveal. She almost smirked; he wasn't the type to need others to applaud his merits, that was for certain. "Do you like it? Being a lawyer, that is?" Tenten wondered aloud.

"It has its good points. It has its bad points, too, but what job doesn't? I'm just pleased I have a job that pays well and is enjoyable enough." He leaned forward slightly. "What about you?" he asked. She looked up curiously, unsure exactly what he was asking. "Do you like your job?"

"Absolutely," she told him, not even hesitating a fraction of a second. To her, there was no question in that. "I mean, sometimes it's tiring, and there are some low points, but it's what I've always wanted to do. I love it," Tenten said. She met Neji's interested gaze and raised an eyebrow. "But what's it matter to you? I mean, I thought you were under the impression that being a female police officer was... ah, 'ludicrous enough,'" she quoted.

Neji placed his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his hand. "I thought about that, actually. Maybe it's not. I suppose if you're so dedicated to this town, and if you can take care of yourself, being a female police officer isn't as ridiculous as I'd first thought."

At this, Tenten absolutely beamed. He was nice, she'd decided. Maybe her first impression of him had been wrong. He could be nice when he wanted to be, and he wasn't a complete misogynistic pig. Maybe he had sight chauvinistic tendencies, but clearly he was smart enough to overcome them.

Not to mention he was handsome, especially sitting like that and smiling at her, his lips just turned up a little bit at the corners, set in his strong jaw beneath soft, lavender eyes...

No, she told herself firmly. She couldn't be thinking like that, even if it was true. Even if he was nice and attractive, she couldn't pay attention to any of that. She was on one side, and he was on the other. They both had their parts to play, and falling in love wasn't written in the music. This wasn't a blues-inspired love song; it was just another jazz song about two strangers in a speakeasy. Still, she nodded at him and told him, "thanks." Because it was a nice thing to say. And even better if he meant it.

Before anything more could be said, though, the song Shikamaru was singing ended, and Naruto swung his trombone down. Within a few moments, the two were at the table, Naruto chattering loudly to Hinata already. Tenten couldn't help but smile ruefully at how clueless he seemed, just blathering on as Hinata seemed to try to impersonate a tomato. She'd thought him perceptive. Maybe she was wrong on that, judging how he acted around a girl who obviously didn't have enough spine to ask him out.

"How did you like it?" a voice cut in through her thoughts.

Tenten faced Shikamaru and sighed, deciding there was no use not submitting to the facts. "You sing really well, and the band's good." A small half-smile on her face, Tenten looked at Shikamaru. "The blues suit you, you know."

Shikamaru snorted. "That's what Temari keeps telling me, but I always thought it was just an excuse to get me to start singing already, since she's so impatient all of the time," he said as he turned to Temari and smirked.

The blonde woman just rolled her eyes and looked at Tenten. "What do you know about music, anyway? I have my doubts that you're the type to listen to it, exactly," she snapped.

Tenten scowled. "I wasn't aware you knew everything about me and my life," she retorted calmly. "Besides, I've been involved in classical music for a long time. I still play, actually. Which is closer than you've probably ever been to music, I'd wager."

"Oh, please," Temari scoffed. "Classical music. That hardly counts as anything. It's so boring, and it's only for old, stuffy, rich people."

Glancing at Temari, Tenten only just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. "What, do you think jazz spawned itself out of nothing? Classical music was there first! It's pretty much the basis of every modern type of music that you love so much." She could feel her temper rising.

Before Temari could reply, though, Naruto's voice cut through their conversation. "And then, I–BAM! punched him across the face, and–woah!" Ichiraku's chairs clearly weren't meant to be leaned back in, much as Naruto had been tilting on the back two legs of his. The ominous creaking and cracking had been drowned out by his enthusiastic narrative, and finally the abused chair gave way underneath him. "Ow!" he roared as he tumbled to the ground with a crash.

Temari snorted, Neji chuckled, Shikamaru shook his head and smiled and Hinata began to giggle helplessly. Tenten couldn't help but hide a grin of her own behind her hand. "Do you need a hand... a hand up?" Hinata said brokenly, her quiet giggles breaking through her words.

"No need!" Naruto said as he jumped up from the wreckage. "Everything is Jake(2), Hinata! You don't need to be worried about me," he said in a gracious tone, and Hinata blushed and looked away.

"Never admit you cared," Temari snickered as Naruto looked down at the wreckage of his chair, frowning.

"What happened?" two voices asked. Naruto looked up, surprised, into the eyes of the other speaker: Ichiraku. "Huh? I'm not sure. I was just tilting back. It's not my fault that your chairs are cheap," he defended as Hinata bit her lip to keep more giggles at bay.

Ichiraku stood akimbo and looked down his nose at the blonde male. "Why is it that you're responsible for all of the damage in my poor restaurant?" he demanded. "I've had customers fatter than you who had no problems keeping their chairs in one piece. Do you have money on you?" he demanded.

"Only enough for my drinks..." Naruto began reluctantly.

"Go wash dishes."

"WHAT?" Naruto cried out, his eyes wide and helpless. Seeing Ichiraku wasn't budging from his conviction, he turned desperately to the rest of the table. "Guys! Help me out! I don't wanna go wash dishes!" he exclaimed as everyone around the table pointedly looked away from him. He pouted churlishly. "Fine. Fine, be that way. This is bushwa(3)." And so Naruto headed off to the kitchen, looking quite disappointed.

Shikamaru was the first to chuckle. Then no one could stop them. All six were laughing and trying to control themselves. Tenten was the first to get into some semblance of gravity. "What was he even going on about, Hinata?" she wondered aloud.

"Apparently one of his friends or his rivals or something from school. Uh, they sort of, got in a fight. He was... describing it," she said, smiling ruefully.

Temari rolled her eyes. "Describing it? More like acting it out. Hey, hey, Hinata," she said, a conspirational glint suddenly appearing in her eyes. "You should go in and wash dishes with him. I mean, you could always say Ichiraku sent you to make sure he doesn't break anything." Hinata smiled thoughtfully, seeming to like the idea. Neji, however, was scowling Oh, don't give me that look, Hyuuga," she snapped, as Neji was then looking as if he'd been forced to swallow a rather large lemon whole.

Hinata grinned and made her way to the kitchen, while Tenten tried not to snort. The whole thing was getting slightly ridiculous to her, and the way that Temari insisted in implicating herself annoyed her even more.

"Anyway, Tenten, was it?" Ichiraku asked politely. Tenten turned her attention to him and nodded. "Good to see you today. How are you liking things? Except for Naruto, of course, but I really can't help him."

"Who can?" Temari interjected carelessly.

Tenten smiled guardedly. "Are you trying to make me make a decision two weeks and six days early, Mr. Ichiraku?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair. Her fingers drummed carelessly on the top of the table.

Ichiraku grinned. "I'd never dream of it," he told her, his tone slick. Tenten raised her eyebrows but didn't pursue the issue any further. "Anyhow. Have you at least been enjoying the music and the company?" he asked her.

"The music, definitely. You have talented musicians. As for the company, well, I've been enjoying some of it," she said, her gaze level on Ichiraku even as she heard Temari make a disparaging noise behind her.

The owner of the bar gave a knowing smile. "You're finding Mr. Hyuuga more pleasant to talk to than Miss Temari over here, correct?"

Tenten tried not to flail too much, although she knew from the burning feeling in her face her cheeks were beginning to redden. "I-uh, what makes you say that?" she demanded, rather flustered. Neji pretended not to notice her reaction, but Shikamaru smirked and Temari grinned ferally.

"Neji's easier conversation than our Temari, of course," Ichiraku chuckled. "Or at least he learned how to be polite. That was a lesson that Miss Temari missed out on," he said, successfully swinging the attention to Temari, who scowled. "Anyway, I'd better be back in my kitchen. If Naruto's broken anything else I'll cast a kitten(4). Nice to see you again, Miss–no, Officer Tenten. Come in again soon," he said, waving over his shoulder as he made his way towards the kitchen.

A few moments after he had disappeared through the still-swinging doors, Tenten stood up, as well. "I suppose I should be gone, as well, she said. Shikamaru lifted a hand in a lazy farewell nod and Temari graced her with a curt nod.

"Tenten?" came Neji's voice, clear and maybe a bit hesitant. "You seemed somewhat different, I suppose, today," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Maybe a bit..." he began, but he stopped himself. 'A bit nicer' probably wouldn't have been the best thing to say, anyway, he decided, and it was better to say nothing than something stupid. "Have a good day, at any rate."

"Yeah, you too," Tenten replied, her eyebrows knit in bafflement as she stood up and grabbed her ugly hat off of the table. What a odd fella, she thought as she made her way out of the door. Nice? Yes. Handsome? Sadly, yes. But he was also somewhat unpredictable, and somehow he kept throwing her off-kilter.

This whole thing was going to be a lot harder than she had first expected, she thought sullenly as she placed one of her hands on her hips. She'd forgotten. She'd completely forgotten what she had gone to the bar for in the first place. Tenten felt a dull pang of shame. How could she keep the town good for her mother if she couldn't even focus?

In the beginning, she hadn't thought Ichiraku's was going to be a challenge, but she was starting to get worried.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) Girlfriend or lover

2) OK, as in 'everything is fine'

3) Euphemism for bullshit.

4) Throw a fit.