Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything or anyone in this story with the exception of Tomoko, her family, and the concept of the Nagareboshi Cafe. The song for this chapter is Theishter-Anime on Piano's cover of Red Like Roses from RWBY. For the Pokémon Center theme also mentioned in this, I would point you towards Hypochondriac Piano's cover of the theme, since I found it to be the most soothing and complementary to the theme of Nagareboshi Cafe. Please enjoy!

Note: There is a bit of emotional angst in here courtesy of reincarnation keeping the teenage emotions around. So if you don't like it, proceed with caution.

Chapter 5: Red Like Roses

It was around the middle of the year, a couple days after I had played God Knows for Minato-san, when I finally realized the gravity of my situation. A 5 year old civilian girl was actively serving ninja in a cafe during a time leading up to the Third Great Shinobi War. Playing piano to boot.

Was I doing enough?

Now, you're probably thinking that's a really weird question to ask yourself. But back in my old life, I watched Naruto. Not as much as some of my other friends who were really into the series, but I knew enough to basically figure out the first dominoes that fell leading to the events of Naruto's life. And a part of me knew that my first customer being Minato, Naruto's father and the future Fourth Hokage, wasn't just coincidence.

But what was I supposed to do? I don't have the ability to sense chakra - hell, I don't even know if I can use it in the first place!

And I already know that a ninja life is not worth it for me personally.

Killing and acting essentially like a tool was not what I had in mind when restarting my life from scratch.

But seeing the show and the manga really made me worried.

I had yet to know anybody involved in the whole plot shenanigans aside from Minato-san, but I knew that by meeting him, the others would soon follow. And even as a casual fan, a part of me knew that I didn't want them to have that sort of pain.

Minato-san, Kushina-san, Obito, Rin, Kakashi...

Would I be able to help them avoid the many misfortunes the original canon had? Even if I wasn't a ninja? Even if all I could do was sit by the sidelines and provide (at best) therapy with music?

It was these thoughts in mind that for the first time in a few years (not counting my baby tantrums) that I actively cried one night. I didn't even mean to cry in the first place, but yet the tears kept coming out in the most ugly way possible. Attempting to stifle the noise with the sleeves of my pajamas didn't work either, as the sobs just kept coming out.

"…Tomoko-chan?"

I sniffled. "…M-Mommy?" Immediately, gentle hands pulled me into a warm embrace, the sound of Mom's heartbeat beginning to reach my ears. Fingers soothingly ran through my hair, brushing out any light tangles in the strands. It reminded me of my old mom.

"Tomoko-chan, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Despite Mom's kind voice, tears kept coming out as I continued to sniffle.

"M-Mommy…" My heart constricted onto itself. "A-Am I doing enough to help you?"

To my surprise, Mom instantly pulled away to look at me in the eye, bright cerulean orbs lit with worry and sympathy. "Why are you asking that, Tomoko-chan? You're doing more than enough to help Mommy and Daddy."

"B-But…" More sniffling on my part. "I-It doesn't feel like that, Mommy. People still are sad when coming in."

Even as a 5 year old girl, my teenage mind knew better. I'd seen the sullen, sometimes depressed faces of customers, a majority being ninja, coming in after a long day. Even when playing the piano, the smiles they would give me were so sad…

Minato-san himself wasn't exempt from this, not saying a word except a soft 'Thank you' after my performance a few days ago.

Recognition showed in Mom's familiar blue eyes before she smiled softly, a tint of sadness in it. "Neh, Tomoko-chan," a hand gently wiped at my red eyes and cheeks, taking any stray tears with it. "Why do you think Mommy wanted to start this cafe with Daddy?"

Through the blurry vision caused by the waterfall of tears, I blinked slowly. "…To make people happy?"

Mom smiled again, lightly shaking her head. "That's one reason, but that wasn't what I was exactly thinking when I got together with your father, Tomoko-chan."

Huh?

Mom shifted a little to let me sit fully in her lap, tucking my head under her chin while still brushing through my hair with a hand. "You see, Daddy used to be a ninja too. Like Minato-san and the other customers we have. But even back then, Mommy could tell that he didn't like it. If anything, Daddy just wanted to be himself and not have to hurt anyone anymore."

"...So then, what did you do, Mommy?" One thought was left unsaid as the snot and tears started to dry up at this point.

How did Daddy retire and start living with you when most ninja never retire and only do so if they're dead?

I looked up at her, squirming a little in her lap.

Mom simply sighed, her chest rumbling a little from her deep exhale. "It's a long story, little one, but Mommy was somehow able to convince Daddy and Lord Hokage to let Daddy rest." My eyes bulged at the thought of it.

Mommy — standing up to the Professor and Third Hokage?!

Apparently Mom noticed my shocked expression and chuckled softly, pulling me closer to herself in a warm embrace. "Mommy still can't believe it either, you know? Daddy was a full-time ninja, and yet Lord Hokage knew he had to go and let him go. What the Academy and a lot of ninja don't tell you is that the life of a shinobi is hard, Tomoko-chan." Mom's voice softened considerably, tone very similar to those days when she would sing to me during my toddler tantrums. "It was a lot harder being a civilian and loving a person like Daddy. That's why Nagareboshi Cafe is here in the first place." Her hand gently gestured to the inside of our home, her gaze at one point landing on the grand piano. "Nagareboshi is here to make the lives of ninja and civilians a bit more bearable. Even if you're not a shinobi, you will face conflict and strife at some point in your life. We provide comfort and a helping hand when people need it." To my surprise, Mom looked down at me and gently flicked my nose.

Ow. "So, don't think you're not doing enough Tomoko-chan. Your piano is a lot more heavenly than you think, ok?"

I blinked quickly, looking into Mom's eyes for a moment. Even though the speech was a bit sugar-coated and cheesy, I could tell she was being completely serious. For once, I decided not to think on it too much and just smiled clumsily, eyes wet a little. "Ok."

I'll trust you.

My second customer turned out to be Kushina Uzumaki.

Considering that my first was her blond boyfriend, I wasn't that surprised. It actually started out like any other day, where I played the Pokemon Center theme just to warm up and wake everyone up in the morning. The cafe then went onto its usual business, with Mom ushering in new customers and Dad handling the bar. Hired help ranging from fellow neighbors to kind adults and teenagers ran around the place serving food.

I'll probably go into the hired help's story another time.

But it was around noon when I had just finished a small solo of Aerith's theme from Final Fantasy that I saw them. Initially, I had only noticed the tufts of spiky blond hair signifying the appearance of the Yellow Flash in the doorway, but then all I saw was red.

"OHMYGOSH, YOU'RE SO CUTE!" A large tackle-hug accompanied the happy shout, and amidst the lack of air I was apparently getting, I couldn't help but notice my feet dangling from the ground, missing the pedals of the grand piano, and my arms being surprisingly limp.

"...Uh, Kushina-san, you're choking my daughter." Mom deadpanned.

Stars…? Immediately, I was dropped back onto the ground in somewhat of a tired heap as a loud gasp sounded. Why me? And Leo said I hugged too tightly...

"I-I'm sorry, Hikari-chan! I-I didn't know it was your daughter playing the piano!"

"Oh really?" Mom sounded really monotone just now. "Shouldn't the black hair be obvious?"

"GACK!" Amidst all the noise, I was still trying to regain my bearings as a warm hand pressed against my back, rubbing it soothingly.

"Are you okay, Tomoko-chan?" The new voice made me blink slowly and look up at the speaker.

"…You remembered my name?"

Minato-san had a sheepish expression on his face, clumsy smile complementing it while he lifted me up by the torso to place me back onto the piano bench. "Why wouldn't I? Your parents really talked fondly about you, and I really loved the song you played for me the last time I was here."

Lub-dub, lub-dub. A small blush crossed my face.

So, he really did remember?

Despite my awe-filled gaze, Minato-san continued to babble a little. "But then I realized that I didn't give you my name yet and kindaleftKushinabehindandshereallywantedtoseeyouandgetoneofyoursongs,so-"

"—Minato," Dad's here! "Deep breaths, man, and one word at a time. You're confusing my little girl." I was too surprised to properly retort back at him.

Hey! I may be 5 here, but I'm still 18 inside! Outwardly, I just smiled sheepishly. Then again, I don't want to pour reincarnation BS down their ears.

For once, the Yellow Flash looked really troubled before coughing into his fist and straightening himself. Gently grabbing Kushina by the hand, he sat her into the unoccupied chair next to me before smiling. "I was wondering if you could take my girlfriend's request for a song, Tomoko-chan."

I didn't even hesitate on the big smile I sent the two back.

"Of course! One small concert for you, coming up right now!"

The following music piece really did remind me of what I was doing. Even though it was originally a piece introducing a red-hooded girl dancing in rose petals fighting monsters of the dark, it showed me that I didn't have to be a ninja. Based on Minato and Kushina-san's beaming grins at each other, I knew what I wanted to do.

I could still be myself, playing the piano as much as I want, and could still help people.

Hopefully that would be enough.