Hey my dear readers! Not much to say here other than to hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :)
Xxx Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, but instead to the great Masashi Kishimoto xxX
Per usual, Hinata was already at the shop, helping the others with the customers and other jobs. While Naruto was working the counter, Hinata and Karin were walking around the store, checking up on anyone that might need some help or were just fixing wrinkled clothes. Kushina was somewhere upstairs doing her taxes or something related to that kind of paperwork. However, neither Gaara nor Sasori had showed up to work yet, which was starting to get to a certain two Uzumaki.
"You know, I find it so funny how those two think that they can just show up whenever they want!" Karin snaps as she walks over to her cousin, whom was just resting his elbow atop the counter.
Rolling his sapphire eyes, Naruto smirks at her. "Oh please, you know that you'd come in late everyday if mom didn't pick you up everyday."
Karin snarls at the blonde and sends a sharp glare his way. "Who's side are you on anyway?!"
Naruto chuckles at the short tempered girl before turning his gaze onto his indigo haired friend, whom was busy talking with some random customer. He watches with a smile as she laughs and picks out different articles of clothing to show off to the customer.
"I'm on my own side, Kar." He finally replies, returning his gaze back to her, looking her up and down. "And while my side can agree with you when it comes to the newbies, it can't agree with your taste in fashion."
She scoffs at him and looks down at herself. "Now what the hell is wrong with what I'm wearing!?"
"It's too revealing. It doesn't suit you."
"It is not too revealing!" She snaps and points. "You're just looking too hard, you perv!"
Naruto rolls his eyes once more at her before landing on her revealed midsection. "If I can see your under-boob, then there's a problem."
With eyes now wide, Karin instantly moves to cover herself from her asshole of a cousin.
"UGH!" She cries out, sending glares of death towards the cheekily smirking teen.
She then stomps away from the counter just as the customer that Hinata was previously chatting with comes up to Naruto with arms full of clothes. Naruto puts on his whiskered game face.
"Well dang!" He jokes as he stares at the pile of clothes that was put on the counter. "Is that all that you're buying?"
The woman laughs. "Heh-heh. Well, to be honest, I was only going to buy two pairs of shirts since my daughters birthday is coming up, but that young lady over there showed me a bargain that I just couldn't refuse." She smiles and both she and Naruto look back towards the bluenette, whom was now listening to a ranting Karin.
"Now my daughter will have six full outfits to wear, and I will still have enough money left over to buy her this thing that she's really been wanting." The woman continues, bringing her attention back to the blonde.
"That's amazing." Naruto beams as he begins to scan the clothes and take off the tags. He then places the items in bags for the woman to carry. "I'm sure that your daughter will be very happy on her birthday."
"I hope so." The woman responds with a small smile as she digs through her purse for her wallet.
Once all of the clothes have been scanned and bagged, Naruto does his thing on the register, the total amount coming up to almost eighty something dollars. The blonde's eyes pop.
This is a bargain?!
"Um..." He hums, trying to find the right thing to say. "Do... Do you have a coupon?.."
With a soft smile, the woman places a ten dollar bill on the counter, making Naruto question her actions. "As a matter of fact, I do." And then next to the ten, the woman piles on a ton of folded coupons that would literally bring the woman's total down to a ten.
"Damn.." Naruto mumbles as he begins to unfold each of the coupons. He then looks up at the woman with a raised brow. "How did you get all of these?"
"That was the bargain that the young lady gave me." The woman replies. "At first, I declined her offer, but she said that as long as my daughter was happy on her birthday, everything would be fine. So in the end, she gave me all of her coupons in exchange for giving my little girl the best birthday ever."
"Wow." Naruto states in awe. He then laughs to himself. "That's Hinata for you."
He then starts to scan each of the coupons until the final total comes out to a perfect ten dollars. Taking the ten from the counter, Naruto places it into the register and then hands the woman her bags. Waving a goodbye to her, he wishes her daughter a happy birthday before relaxing once more. Just as the sound of the door bell rings, Hinata is standing right beside the blonde. He looks to her.
"You better hope the mom doesn't chew your ear off for what you just did." He jokes, placing his arm around the blushing girl's shoulder.
She shrugs. "Sure I might get scolded for losing some major money, but at least we managed to make another customer leave happy, right?" The blonde chuckles.
"I guess you're right." Both start to laugh with one another, while Karin scoffs at their buddy-buddy-ness.
Suddenly the sound of the bell sounds twice and the group look towards the entrance. Karin sneers at the redheaded duo.
"Took ya long enough!" She shouts, placing her hands on her hips. "I should go and auntie Kushina so that you two can get your asses handed to ya!"
"Tch." Sasori sucks his teeth at the girl, waving her off as he walks towards the counter. Gaara merely dismisses the girl with a shrug of his shoulders as he follows his frenemy.
Suddenly, both boys are stopped by the sound of a meek voice.
"H-Hold on!" Hinata shouts, removing herself from under Naruto's arm and rushing up the stairs, everyone's eyes on her.
Gaara turns to look at Naruto. "What's her deal?"
Naruto smirks and rest himself on the counter. "She got you two something. They might be cold now since you came in late, but I bet that she'll heat them up for you."
"What'd she get us?" Sasori asks, but just as the question left his lips, Hinata comes racing down the steps again with two Styrofoam cups in her hands.
Now standing in front of the two, she holds out the cups for them to take. Neither move.
"I-I kept them ne-near the heater to k-keep them somewhat warm, but if they're not h-hot enough, I'll go heat them up." She rambles on, bringing her arms to her sides since the boys didn't grab the cups.
"What is it?" Sasori asks after a few seconds of silence pass.
"Oh! Um.. I di-didn't know what you guys l-liked, so I just got h-hot chocolate for the both of you." She smiles sweetly as a bead of nervous sweat drips down the side of her cheek. "I hope you don't m-mind."
The bluenette puts her arms out again only to have the boys stare at her for a few seconds longer, causing everyone in the room to shift uncomfortably. Luckily for them, no customers were in the store at the moment, so Kushina wouldn't have to worry about losing any. However, she may start having to worry about losing Hinata.
After about thirty seconds of Gaara and Sasori just boring their eyes into a fidgeting Hinata, Karin has finally had enough of the awkwardness.
"Just take the damn things!" She snaps irritably, stomping her foot. The boys turn their eyes on her. She then motions towards Hinata, whom was taking in deep breaths at the moment. "It's just hot chocolate! It's not like she's trying to poison you, for crying out loud!"
"Seriously guys." Naruto pipes in. "She payed for those with her own money. The least you could do is try a sip or something nice."
Both redheads bring their gazes back to Hinata after listening to the Uzumaki. One last time, Hinata holds out her hands in hopes that the boys will accept her offer. If they don't, then she is seriously going to reconsider the other offer that she had written on the cups; not that she wasn't already reconsidering her proposal. If they were being this difficult when it comes to just taking some measly hot chocolate, she can only imagine how they'd be if they were to accept her request.
"I like black coffee." Sasori states after moments of silence, unintentionally causing Hinata to jump in surprise.
"I like green tea." Gaara states almost immediately after his frenemy, causing Hinata to look back and forth between the two of them.
She then nearly jolts in surprise once more as both boys grab the cups from her hands and take small sips. With flames coming to her cheeks, the smaller girl stares up at the two as they drink from their cups in small sips. A small smile was creeping on her face when the two of them look down on her with blank faces. Noticing that they were staring at her, she blinks her eyes rapidly as the flush in her cheeks grows darker.
Hinata claps her hands in front of her and motions for the boys to turn their cups around. "I wrote so-something on the cups f-for you."
Both Sasori and Gaara curiously turn the cups only to find something written in black sharpie.
Will You Go Out With Me? :)
There was a long pause of silence throughout the room as Gaara and Sasori's widen in shock. What the fuck did she just ask them? Last time they heard, the chick had a boyfriend. What the hell happened to him?!
Both redheads look at each other and then look at was written on the others cup. Same thing. What the actual fuck!
Gaara was the first to bring his questioning glare onto the smiling girl. The Uzumaki raise a brow in question at the sudden change in attitude.
"What the heck just happened?" Karin whispers to her cousin as she makes her way towards him.
"I don't know. What she write?" Naruto responds, leaning in close to the redhead, who hums in reply.
Meanwhile, Gaara shoves the Styrofoam back in Hinata's face, pointing at the words that she had written. Hinata jerks her head back as her eyes refocus on the cup. She didn't understand. What did she do now?
"Explain. Now." The tatted redhead practically growls out, making Hinata flinch from the harshness in his voice.
"Uh..."
"What are you trying to pull?" Sasori questions, taking a step closer towards her, pointing a finger at what she wrote.
Hinata's eyes widen with confusion. "I-I'm not trying to pull anything!" She defends, holding her hands up.
"Then what is the meaning of this?" Gaara continues to interrogate the poor girl, stepping closer just like Sasori had.
"Get to talking." Sasori presses.
Blinking her eyes nervously and swallowing the lump in her throat, Hinata starts to twirl her thumbs around.
"I.. um.. I-I just w-wanted to know i-if you two would l-like to go with m-me to-to... um... to this... um... café th-that I really like?" She swallows another lump as she watches at the two intimidating start to simmer down. "It's j-just so that I c-could get to know y-you guys better... since you.. are working.. here now.."
Taking quick notice of the easing in their once tense shoulders, she knew that she had them relaxed once more. She has no idea why they became so angry in the first place, but whatever the reason was, she was just glad that they seemed more agreeable now. Or so she thought.
"If that's the case, I'll pass." Gaara cancels taking another sip of the hot chocolate.
"Same here." Sasori agrees, looking down at a crushed Hinata. His hazel eyes soften at the dismissed sadness in her eyes. He frowns. "I'm gonna be busy."
Despite the crushed feeling in her heart, Hinata wasn't about to give up on these two bad boys. If she could get Naruto's best friend, Sasuke, to open up to her, then gosh darn it, she was going to get these two to at least give her the benefit of the doubt. For crying out loud, they were so different when they saved her a few days back! They were sweet. Plus, she just got them to tell her what they like to drink. If that wasn't a start, she doesn't know what is.
Gathering up all of her courage, she looks up at the dismissive rebels. "B-But I haven't even told you the date yet..." She mumbles, mentally cursing herself for not sounding more affirmative like she wanted.
"Just give it up, Hinata." Karin says to the poor girl. She flips her red hair out of her face as she plants her bottom on top of the counter. "These two are idiots and jerks. They don't wanna do anything unless it's smoking or drinking."
"You're one to talk." Naruto mutters under his breath, only to earn him a whack on the back of the head.
"Asshole."
"Bitch."
"We-Well... that doesn't matter to me.." Hinata states confidently, earning her the eyes off all the teens in the room. "That's t-the whole point of me asking t-them out to t-the café. I want to get t-to know them."
"What's the date?" Sasori surprising asks, earning him a questioning glare from Gaara, and shocking stares from the other three. "Hurry up before I change my mind."
"Oh! It's.. uh.. next week." Hinata beams, gladdened by the fact that she got one of them to accept so far. "Any day ne-next week should be good. Any day that is good for you is great for me!"
Hinata was ecstatic! At first, she thought that Sasori would be the tougher nut to crack, but it turns out that he was the easiest. Now, if she could just get the other one to join them, that would make her day!
"How about Tuesday? Nothing ever goes down on a Tuesday." Sasori asks after checking his cell's calender.
Clasping her hands together, Hinata replies. "Tuesday's great! Plus, the café is never really that busy on Tuesdays anyway." Sasori nods and Hinata looks to Gaara, who seemed to have been glaring at her the entire time that she and his frenemy were making plans.
"So what about you, Gaara-san? Is Tuesday good for you?"
His aquamarine eyes harden. "Didn't you hear me say that I'll pass the first time?" He hisses, taking one final sip of the hot chocolate before roughly handing the cup back to her.
"The attitude wasn't necessary, man." Sasori defends calmly, taking a sip of the drink.
"This whole date shit isn't necessary either, but you're still going through with it." Gaara snaps back, turning towards the front door. With a wave of his hand, he walks off towards the door. "Tell Kushina that I'm taking my break early."
"But you just got here!" Karin shouts to the redhead, but he had already walked out of the shop by the time that her voice reached him. She scoffs. "What was his deal?"
"Gaara's just moody. Let it go." Sasori answers walking into the back room and flicking on the switch.
"What? Does that mean that he's on his period or something?" Naruto jokes, looking up at Karin. She just shrugs in reply and goes behind the counter.
"My turn to work the counter. You go refold some clothes."
"Whatever."
As Naruto moved from behind the counter, he took notice of how his friend was just standing in the middle of the store, staring at the door that Gaara had just left from. Shaking his head, he walks up to her. He frowns at the slight jump that she gave as soon as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Like Sasori just said; Gaara's just moody. He'll probably be in a better mood when he comes back from his break. Okay?"
Hinata looks up at the whiskered blonde and smiles a sad smile and nods reluctantly. "Okay. Let me just go throw this away. I'll come back and help right after."
With a nod of his head, both went off into different directions as he went to go fold clothes and she went to throw out the cup. She shakes it. It's half full. She thinks with a sigh. Soon, she reaches the trash can, and just as she throws out the cup, she feels herself being pulled into the back room.
Letting out a gasp in shock, she quickly turns around to only release a breath when she realizes that the culprit was Sasori. Before she could even open her mouth, he cuts her off.
"Something happened with Gaara's family last night, so he's going to be crabby today." He whispers, leaving Hinata speechless. Why was he telling her this? "So just know that it's not you that he's mad at. He's even being a prick to me, so just leave him be for a while, okay?"
A a curt nod was all that she could manage before he grabbed her by both of her arms and looked into her pearl eyes. "You can't tell the others this, got it? They'd bother him as soon as he comes back in."
And with another curt nod, Sasori pushes Hinata back out into the open and goes back to working on printing shirts. Feeling slightly flustered, Hinata pats down her shirt before going over to a waiting Naruto.
I know, I know, this looks like some filler chapter with a crappy ending, but I'm just here to tell you that it is. In all honesty, I just needed to put out some good excuse so that I can get this story moving! Haha! Despite this story being now six chapters long, the whole time period has been only over a span of four days?! o.O Yeah, I need to get a move on. So to put it short, the next chapter is going to be a time skipped chapter onto the next week.
Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and staying with me on this. It means so much to me. If you'd like, please review, follow, and/or favor this story and/or any of my other works. The support is the thing that drives my guilt that drives me to keep updating. Speaking of which, I had just recently uploaded a new chapter to my crossover fic, Long Drabbles. Thanks again and have a great day or great night!
(P.S: I still want to see The Last: Naruto the Movie! I've only seen the whole thing on YouTube and you all should know how those bootleg versions of it are. -_- So yeah, I need to see my precious people fall in love on the big screen! Wah!)