Hi everyone! I am so sorry I've taken soooo long to update! I recently started college and the workload is immense! But don't you worry, I'm not giving up on this story and I'll find the way to balance the work and my time to write. Once again I thank you all for staying with this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review and tell me what you think :) I love to hear your opinions. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Tomorrow Can Be Good

Sakura's footsteps echoed through the halls as she jogged to fall in step with Ten-ten, who appeared to be unaware of her previous absence. As she took her place beside the brunette, she caught on to her excited thoughts about "finally getting a job somewhere she wouldn't mind spending her time". Before the pink haired girl could say anything, they instinctively turned to look in front of them at the sound of approaching footfalls. A few feet away, Sasuke and Choji were walking their way, one absorbed in his music and the other happily munching on some contents they couldn't see clearly. Said boy stopped in mid chew when his brown eyes caught Sakura's. Ten-ten noticed the way a blush crept to his stuffed cheeks, how he swallowed, hard, and nervously glanced from Sasuke to his bag, to Sakura, to her, and to the floor. "the hell?"

Sakura flashes them a smile in greeting and they all stop for a moment, facing each other. After calming his nerves, Choji directs his dark eyes at Sakura, and looked down when she made eye contact. "Err…I just wanted to…um..." he started, not more than a little, soft voice. They instinctively leaned in, trying to hear his voice. When he glanced up, he saw Sakura's curious eyes and looked away once more. He swiftly bowed down, startling everyone with his sudden speed. "THANKS FOR SAVING ME FROM HER!" he shouted and quickly straightened up and kept walking briskly, leaving Sasuke behind.

Sakura turned to see his retreating form and smiled a little at this, feeling a little flattered for his actions, before Sasuke's smooth voice broke the silence. In a somewhat arrogant and somewhat annoyed voice, he scoffed and said "I wouldn't call it saving when you get your ass kicked by a tray" and before they could say anything to annoy him further, Sasuke walked around them and calmly headed in the same direction as Choji.

He soon caught up to the still blushing boy when he found him leaning against a locker, breathing heavily and beef jerky bag tightly clutched against his chest. For a moment, the sight reminded Sasuke of a deer caught in headlights; all wide eyed and jumpy, as he was startled from his thoughts when he leaned in the locker beside him. "Still not good talking to girls, I see" the black haired teen said, teasing smirk painted on his lips. Choji could only nod, and managed to speak between gasps "Yeah….I don't know how you manage to do it, Sasuke" said boy scoffed at this "It's quite easy, just don't talk to any of them altogether" he said as he straightened up and walked to a door Choji didn't even notice; the principal's office. Choji took a deep breath and calmed as best as he could before he followed Sasuke inside.

"Well! Let's get this started!" the sound of tile hit a wooden surface echoed through the empty coffee shop. Sakura's emerald eyes shined with excitement as she placed a coffee mug before Ten-ten and sat across from her in the booth at the back of the of the shop, beside the hall that lead to the restrooms and upstairs. Ten-ten lost count of how many times she shifted nervously waiting for Sakura to come. As soon as they exited the school, walked to the coffee shop and entered, the rosette directed her to the almost isolated booth and claimed to go make some coffee for them. It felt like forever, and the numerous clings and clangs and shuffles emanating from the kitchen only made her more anxious. This was it. She, at age 15, was finally going to get her first job interview. The sudden feeling of dread sank in when she assessed the situation and realized she had been with her –hopefully—future boss the whole day. "Stupid Ten-ten! How could you forget!? Stupid! Stupid" she muttered as she hit herself in the forehead. 'What if she had been testing her all day?' 'What if she didn't like her?' 'What if getting in trouble cost her the chance to work here?' Those questions kept swimming around her head until the sound of the mug shook her from her thoughts and increasing pessimism.

She held the mug between her tan hands and concentrated on looking at the steam rising from the pretty jade green cup. She didn't dare look up at Sakura, and when she noticed, she cleared her throat and leaned back in her chair. "You know, if this is supposed to be an interview, the least you could do is look at me, Tennie" she said with what Ten-ten noticed was a carefree, happy tone. Her chocolate brown eyes looked up and were greeted by an equally carefree smile. "I can tell you're nervous, but you shouldn't worry! I'm gonna ask simple questions, promise!"

The brunette visibly relaxed back into her chair, her shoulders lowering from their previously tense form. "So! For starters, since I'm curious, why do you want to work here?" she asked. "Well, to put it bluntly, I need the money. Plus, I love coffee, so I figured it wouldn't be so bad if I worked somewhere I enjoyed. I guess the days wouldn't be so slow." "I see" she said as she scribbled something in a little yellow pad Ten-ten had failed to notice before. "Have you worked in this kind of job before?" "No, but I'm good at making coffee and baking" "Good to know. –Scribbles- What hours would you be willing to work?" "Uh, every day after school and Saturdays I'm available. Though I wouldn't mind coming in on Sundays if I have to." The sound of the pen being dragged across paper seemed to drown the silence as Sakura didn't ask anything else for a while. Her green eyes looked up from her notes and flashed Ten-ten a smile. "Well, as I've told you before, I already like you! And you're hired!" she chuckled at Ten-ten's confused face "Wait, that's it?" "Yup. I only did this interview to please you. I had seen you the moment you came in, resume in hand and everything. Tehehe" Seeing her open her mouth, probably to protest or make some snarky remark, Sakura raised her hand, indicating she wasn't done talking.

"So I'm just going to give you a basic idea of how this is gonna go. Since we both have school, your schedule will be from 5pm to 8:30pm from Mondays to Thursdays, Fridays will be from 5pm to 7:30pm. Saturdays you'll be working from 8am to 9pm and Sundays are free unless I call you. Every Monday to Thursday, you'll serve as a barista, and Saturdays you'll help me bake I the early morning and shift between barista and pastries. Sound good?" Ten-ten could only gape at her and stutter a "Sounds great". Sakura smiled once again and said "Good. Now hurry and drink your coffee, I find it offensive you've only stared at it since I gave it to you. Also, since this is a small shop, we're short on staff. Don't be too surprised if I call you on a Sunday or ask you to stay a little longer; sometimes it gets busy around here at the most inconvenient time" "I don't mind lending a hand, really. Whenever I need to stay, I won't complain." "I'm glad to hear that, Tennie. Now-"she said as she glanced at the clock "it's already 6. I'll pack you some goods for you and your family and send you home, okay?" With that, she got up and walked back to the counter. Ten-ten watched Sakura swiftly move from side to side through the glass counter and pick up various croissants, bagels, donuts and muffins and stuff them into a straw basket she pulled from under the counter. She tied a pretty forest green bow on the top of the basket and brought it back to the table. "Here" she said "I hope your mom likes these kinds of things" "Thank you, she does" taking the basket, she saw the name of the coffee shop in bright yellow letters embroidered into the green ribbon.

"By the way…"

"Hmm?" Ten-ten directed her eyes to the yellow pad sitting in the table. "What did you write about me?" "About you? Nothing! I was doodling" she said as she showed her an awkward picture of her looking at the coffee mug. "I can't help but feel a little pissed that you drew me so ugly".

"Mom I'm home!" She called as she pushed open the old wooden door. She slid inside and wiped her hand on her jeans to get rid of the paint scabs that stuck to her palm. She made a mental note to buy some paint with her first paycheck. She silently walked to the living room to find her mother sprawled on the couch, still holding the television remote in her hand. "Must've fallen asleep waiting for me" she thought as she saw the television on and the table set for dinner. She walked to her and gently shook her awake.

Equally brown eyes met hers drowsily, as her mother raised to sit on the faded yellow couch. She pushed her messy locks from her eyes and looked at her daughter, giving her a tired smile and deciding not to comment on her daughter's bruised cheek. "Hola dear. Where were you?" "Sorry for being late mama, but I've got great news!" her eyes sparkled with curiosity hidden behind the weariness. "I got a job today, Ma. Now before you say anything" she said as her mother got ready to protest "I promise I won't strain myself, and I'll keep up my studies. This job's just to help us get by a little better." She took her mother's hand and kissed it lovingly, directing slightly pleading eyes to her mother "I swear." She could only sigh and give in; she could never deny her anything when she looked at her like that. "You are definitely your father's daughter Ten-ten. Alright, I won't say anything as long you keep your promise"

Ten-ten's grin splayed across her face as she wrapped her hands around her mother. She silenced the seemingly endless 'thank you' from her daughter by saying "now shut up and go reheat dinner. Because I bet a million dollars I don't have that whatever you're carrying in that basket isn't healthy." "Oh mother, you know me too well. But! This time, it's a gift from my new boss, who I actually made friends with! And..." And so Ten-ten left for the kitchen and reheated dinner, all the while telling her mother how she met Sakura and how her day went, sadly she had to explain the fight that bruised her face a little. She was thankful her mother was very understanding when it came to fights at school; for she had been picked on a lot by other kids when she was growing up. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the back of the yellow sofa and drifted off with the sound of her daughter's voice.

Sakura hummed a happy tune as she polished the milkshake glasses with a bright green dishtowel. It'd been a while since her newest employee left the shop, and judging by the darkness outside, she could guess it could be around 9pm now. She reached for the last of the glasses and started polishing it on the outside as she fell silent. "I wonder what will happen tomorrow. I wonder what they'll have us do, and for how long. I wonder who our professor will be, and what the classes will be like. I wonder if we'll all get along if we get to work together. –sigh—I wonder so many things sometimes." She thought as she recalled the events that occurred during the day. She met Ten-ten, then Naruto, and then officially met Sasuke; and then she met Ino in the most unpleasant way. That meeting led them all into a fight and trouble with the principal; and somehow now they were all supposed to do community service as a way to repay the school for broken property and angering the principal.

On the bright side, she got a new employee to help her around with the shop, and hopefully she'll adapt quickly and things will go smoothly. Sakura smiled as she finished polishing the milkshake glass and placed them in the cupboard next to the rest. "Yeah, I shouldn't be too down about it. It's a chance to do something new, after all. I shouldn't be nervous." She walked to the stairs and turned off the lights after wiping the counter and tables clean. She gave one last look at the now dark coffee shop before heading upstairs to her apartment.

"Tomorrow can be good if I want it to be".

Well, this is the end of chapter 9. I'm sorry if it seemed short, but I promise the next chapter will make up for it. I still hope you enjoyed this chapter and review, I want to know: was it kind of slow? was it boring? did you like it? what are you expecting from this story? etc. etc. X) please let me know! And again, thank you for reading and take care! Until next time!

-Aiiro Hart