This chapter was so much fun to write! I really hope you all enjoy it. After this, the plot will begin moving forward again :)
Shoutout to anyone who saw this coming. (I don't have time to check all the reviews and pull out the names. :'( Sorry.)
Chapter 22
Sakura was in a haze for many days. She couldn't believe that a wonderful man like Kakashi would want to date her. She would often stop what she was doing to think about him, her, them. The matter of his past would also pull her away, making her picture a younger, more fragile Kakashi, attacked and watching his mother die all in one night.
And her mother wondered why she was so space-y.
"I'm fine, Mother, just a lot on my mind," she would tell her.
"If you say so, but I know my daughter," Mebuki would say.
"Stop it, you don't know me at all."
"That hurts, Sakura."
From there they would fight about something being or not being wrong with Sakura, about how bad of a mother Mebuki was. Nothing was ever solved. Mebuki still didn't know what was wrong with Sakura, and Sakura just ended up angry. One more thing to stew over.
"Hello, anyone home?"
Sakura jerked up at the voice. A customer was staring at her with a scowl, clearly having waited many minutes for her to pay attention to him. There were two more people behind him, one also looking annoyed and another too busy with their cell phone.
"I'm so sorry. What would you like, sir?"
She went back to make his coffee, and Moegi came behind the counter. She had been cleaning tables. "Come on, Space Cadet. You've been like this all week, and I'm starting to look better than you."
That scared Sakura. There was no way she'd ever let herself be worse than careful, irritable, young Moegi. She was an adult, for crying out loud, one with a college degree. If she couldn't manage a few hours in a coffee shop being more pleasant than the high schooler, then she didn't deserve the job.
The angry customer got his coffee, and she quickly served three more people. She was nearly panting by the end, and Moegi was only smirking harder. She would have told her off, but the door chimed again.
It was Kakashi. Sakura flushed, unsure of how to act around him. They had exchanged a few texts but haven't seen each other since he asked her to be his. That meant he was her boyfriend, yet she had no idea how to act around him. She supposed that would happen when you've never had one before…
"We need to talk." There was a sharp edge to his voice that made her nervous.
"What is it?"
Moegi was still standing by, and Gai had come out of the back office when he heard his best friend.
"You're fired."
Any redness on her cheeks left as her face turned to a sheet of white. She opened her mouth twice, gaping like a fish, but no words came out. Moegi started cackling behind her, clearly enjoying the show.
"My friend, there must be a mistake!" Gai exclaimed.
"No mistake," Kakashi said, his voice now sounding flippant. "Sakura is fired, effective immediately."
She felt numb. She pulled off her apron, handed it to Gai, and grabbed her purse from underneath the counter. The process took longer than it should have, and Kakashi was already out the door and walking down the street. She ran after him.
He was walking towards her apartment, which made her seeth. He better not have the audacity to hang-out with me after firing me, she thought. But he kept walking, past her apartment. She debated whether or not to follow him, deciding she deserved an answer.
"Kakashi, stop!" she yelled.
He did, but he didn't look at her. By the time she caught-up to him, he was walking to the door of the nearest store. He put a key in the hole and unlocked it.
She knew the place. He had taken her there before to paint.
"Are you going to come in?" He was looking back at her, an amused look on his face.
When she stepped inside, she dropped her purse. "Kakashi, what is…"
When they had painted, the room was completely bare. Now it was completely full of bookshelves, the very ones she had picked at the furniture store. She had completely forgotten about them. Directly to the right of the door was a curved desk, and off to the left she could see a little nook with couches and a hot drink station.
"What is this place?"
"Cherry Tree Books." He shrugged as if it was obvious what the place was and why they were there.
"A bookstore?"
"Yes, Cherry Tree Books is a bookstore."
"And it's yours?"
"Yes, that's why I bought the furniture, painted the place, and have the key."
"How did—"
"The owner of the bookstore down the street contacted me weeks ago, letting me know he was going to close-down. He asked if I wanted to buy the building. My father actually did—"
"Is that what the business meeting was about?" The night she was getting drunk at Ino's house, he was selling the old bookstore.
"Yes, my father was meeting with someone who wants to rent it. I was there because I initially found the property."
"And you decided to open your own bookstore, since the other one left?"
"I knew how much having a bookstore close by meant to you."
He walked up to her and pulled her to his chest, hugging her tightly. He set his chin on top of her head, humming. She let him stay like that for a minute, then pushed him away, remembering she was mad at him. He had just fired her, and now he was being cuddly!
"I'm going home." She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist.
"I hear you're looking for a job. I happen to be needing a manager for my new—"
She jumped into his arms, yanked his scarf off, and kissed him. He stumped a little but managed to catch her. She was surprised too, surprised that she could go from so angry to so, so happy in a matter of seconds.
"Don't you ever trick me again."
He smiled at her, proud of himself. "You can yell at me later. For now, my new manager needs to buy books. I have the wholesale website up in the back—"
Sakura was running to the back faster than he had ever seen her run before, and he smiled. She already had such a tight grip on his heart, but he didn't mind. He would give that woman the world if she let him.
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