Ai Hoshino was exhausted. Who would have thought that dancing and singing could be so tiring? If she had known that being an idol would be like this, she would never have signed with Ichino.
What was his name again? She was really bad at remembering names, something that always seemed to annoy her manager.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, causing her entire coat to do the same. She considered answering, knowing that Ichido would be furious with her for disappearing after the concert. The man cared too much about her well-being.
Now she just craved something sweet to eat. She only hoped her "disguise" would make her unrecognizable to the public. Today's concert had drained her sugar levels quite a bit. Finding a café would be like child's play; the stage wasn't far from the center of Tokyo. What would complicate things was finding one that wasn't too crowded at this time of day.
She continued walking through the bustling streets of Tokyo. Some fans she could recognize by their faces were passing by, commenting on the concert they had just attended. She would be lying if she said she didn't get nervous; it would be pretty bad if any of them recognized her. She couldn't escape the hordes of fans that would gather around her.
Her train of thought stopped when a bright orange building caught her attention. It was too eye-catching not to stare.
"Kurama no Kakurega (Kurama's Hideout)," Ai read the sign hanging in the center of the store. It seemed she wasn't the only one who saw the sign. A few people were sitting at the tables inside, laughing and chatting.
It looked like a nice place to hang out. There were no fans in sight, or at least no one who seemed like one. Most were just passing by. They were probably heading home to display the concert memories in their showcases.
Ai smiled beneath the sunglasses she stole from Ichigo. He must also be mad about the theft, she suddenly realized. Before she knew it, she was approaching the colorful orange store.
Upon entering, she felt a comforting warmth, a warmth she had never felt before, along with the scent of baked goods. It was like entering a new world full of colors and rainbows. No one was at the counter. Ai approached the counter. You knew a place was good when you craved something just by entering. The different desserts under the counter caught her attention the most; being out of reach made them even more desirable.
She leaned down slightly to get a better look at the different products that were tempting her.
"Oh, a new customer!"
A male voice caught her attention. She looked down to see a young blond-haired, blue-eyed boy with three marks on his cheeks waving from behind the counter. He wore an unbuttoned white shirt at the neck and black pants, along with a small orange apron to complete the look. He seemed to be around her age (about 14 years old). Possibly here after school.
Ai quickly straightened up; that did surprise her.
"See anything you like?" the boy tilted his head, a playful smile appearing on his face.
"Everything looks delicious, I don't know what to choose! I think I'll keep looking! Hehehe!" Ai pretended to laugh to hide her embarrassment, something she always did in such situations.
"In that case, take this," the blond boy handed her a small menu with some basic food and drink items.
Ai took the menu with a slight nod of gratitude and began looking at the different desserts and drinks the place had to offer, nothing out of the ordinary.
"I want this and this!"
"A strawberry cake and a chocolate milkshake coming up!" The boy noted the order in his notebook. "You can take a seat; your order will be ready in a moment."
"Oh, thanks…!" Ai stared at the blond boy, not knowing how to address him.
The boy noticed this and just smiled.
"You can call me Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki at your service!" The boy grinned. "And you?"
He placed his hands on the counter, looking at the woman in front of him.
"Pleasure to meet you, Naruto! You can call me Ai!" The woman smiled brightly while flashing the peace sign, just as she would in one of her many concerts.
A smile also formed on the man's face.
"Nice to meet you, Ai-chan! Your order will be out in a moment! Please have a seat!"
Ai took the seat closest to the window, enjoying eating in the fading sunlight, even though it was already getting dark.
Naruto spun around and entered through the door behind him.
"Sasuke, teme! We've got an order!"
Naruto ripped a note from his notebook and handed it to the black-haired boy.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, you damn dobe!"
The young man yelled angrily, his smooth black hair framing his face. They wore almost identical outfits, except for the apron, which turned black.
"You're the one who started with 'dobe' in the first place!"
"I called you that because you wouldn't stop calling me 'teme' at the orphanage!" The vein on Uchiha's forehead was becoming more pronounced.
He took the note with some force.
"Here, it doesn't matter who started it. What matters is that you have the maturity to let things go."
Sasuke resorted to a snort. Naruto got on his nerves like no one else; he didn't know why they were still friends.
Maybe it was because they were raised in the same orphanage. Maybe it was because they escaped that hell together, or maybe it was because they were both raised by the same man when no one else would… Whatever it was, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke would be friends until one of them died.
"Don't you think it's time to switch shifts? I'm getting tired of being in the kitchen."
Sasuke wiped off some sweat; the stove was raising the room's temperature.
"Do I need to remind you what happened last time you handled the counter?" Naruto crossed his arms.
"It wasn't entirely my fault that the mother and son ran away," Sasuke grumbled at the memory.
"You asked the kid if he wanted to see some candy in the back room. I don't understand how that can't be entirely your fault," Naruto laughed.
Sasuke grunted, annoyed with his friend. He threw the tray with the ready-made cake and milkshake toward Naruto.
"Better shut up and deliver the order before the customer gets mad!"
Sasuke pushed his friend, tray and all, towards the exit.
"Oh, come on, Sasuke! I enjoy teasing you! Don't you want to keep chatting!"
"No, you should focus on your work; Jiraiya-san will be mad if he sees us slacking off."
Naruto sighed as his friend turned his back.
"Sourpuss."
If Sasuke heard, he didn't show it.
He straightened up and went back to his waiter duties. There were still orders to deliver; the café had a relatively basic day.
"Sorry for the delay, Ai-chan! My partner is grumpier than usual today!"
The woman laughed lightly.
"Here's your order, a strawberry cake with a chocolate milkshake!" Naruto lowered everything from his tray. "And some lemon desserts, compliments of the house. We're in our first week of opening; it's a pleasure to have you as a customer. We hope you become a regular."
Naruto made a slight bow, along with his typical smile. Something his mentor, Jiraiya, told him to do to charm female customers, although he still didn't understand how that would work.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun!"
Uzumaki just nodded before heading back to the back room. Sasuke would need help with the desserts; he wasn't as skilled as Naruto when it came to preparing food.
Ai, on the other hand, just stared at the baked goods for a while; the smell was intoxicating, but she was pretty sure there was no alcohol in it.
She slowly brought the spoon to her mouth, eager to know what kind of flavor it had.
If the smell alone could captivate her, the taste should be a thousand times better.
She wasn't wrong. The first spoonful transported her to another world.
Her mouth went straight to the straw of her chocolate milkshake. If the cake took you out of this world, combined with the milkshake, they created a blend that was unmatched.
They were at the exact sweetness point. Not too sugary to get overwhelmed with a few spoonfuls. But the mix didn't lack sugar either.
She wondered if Ichigo and Miyako would like it as much as she did. Maybe if she brings them some dessert, they wouldn't be so tough on her.
This was really good; she would come here every time after a concert. I wouldn't mind escaping Ichigo just to keep coming.
I look for another spoonful of cake to bring to her mouth, but found nothing. She continued searching the plate for any remaining bits of cake she could eat. But nothing.
Lowering her gaze, she realized she had polished off the cake in no time.
Her milkshake was also empty. She wondered if the portions were too small or if she was just too hungry. Perhaps a bit of both.
"I see you really enjoyed my dishes! You finished in record time!" Naruto chuckled lightly. "I only went back for a minute; I didn't think you could finish faster than that."
Ai's table was within his line of sight. He emerged from the back room just as Ai was taking the last bites into her mouth, and it was a sight.
"You know, if I had stuck a finger in while you were eating, you probably would have bitten it off with the whole hand."
Ai blushed at Naruto's words, though she tried to play it off.
"Perverted Naruto! Did you want to eat from the same plate? How perverted of you!" Ai shook her head.
"That's not what I meant." A slight blush formed on Naruto's face.
"Did you bake the cake, Naruto?" Ai asked.
Naruto happily nodded.
"That's right! I have a knack for desserts and meals! Although Sasuke and I split the work fifty-fifty!"
"Is this Sasuke your coworker?"
Naruto simply nodded happily.
"He's a nice guy once you take the time to get to know him, although he can have a stick up his ass sometimes. Jiraiya always teases him to man the counter, but he stopped insisting when a mother and her son ran out."
"I'm not sure I believe that story; no one can be that bad at talking to people."
"Well, believe it! That Teme scared off many customers! I have more stories like that, dattebayo!"
"Dattebayo?" Ai looked at the blonde with confusion. "I've never heard that word before. Is it some kind of obscenity?"
"No, it's just a verbal tic I have. Sasuke says it's annoying." Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"I found it cute. I think you should tell that Sasuke guy to loosen up."
Naruto burst into laughter, hitting the table a few times, trying to calm his laughter so his partner wouldn't hear.
"He already did. I'm not someone who cries easily. You need more than that if you want to bring down the great Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto approached Ai's table, lifting everything he had previously brought with a tray in hand.
"Maybe I'll come here after every concert; a dessert would be nice after a long day of work." Ai stretched her body.
The accumulated stress was disappearing, and she was sure the desserts had something to do with it.
"Oh, you must be the girl from the poster. The one who had a concert today on the avenue stage. My café is a place where you can relax away from cameras, so feel free to unwind, I won't say anything."
Ai opened her eyes in surprise. She hadn't realized she mentioned her idol job. She relaxed when she heard Naruto's words.
"Thanks, fans can be quite intense. Places like this are greatly appreciated."
Naruto simply nodded. He still had work to do as the other diners finished. He turned to continue his tasks.
"Wait, Naruto," the boy turned to look at the young woman.
"Could you pack three more orders to go? My manager must be mad at me for sneaking out, maybe your food could calm his anger."
Naruto just nodded. With his hands occupied, he couldn't take the order, but he would remember it.
"One for your manager and the other two for you, am I right? Seems like he really likes my cooking."
"How could he not? You have a golden touch. You should get yourself a girlfriend."
Naruto enjoyed teasing people, but Ai was the only girl who could give it back.
The boy blushed, more out of embarrassment than anything else.
The purple-haired girl smiled. That was the first time she met him, and after that, our relationship only grew.
She gently caressed her 7-month-pregnant belly.
"In the end, he did get a girlfriend, and I was lucky to be the one. That Hinata still doesn't know. Your father is too dense to notice something like that. I can't wait to see his expression when he holds you in his arms."
She spoke to herself in the solitude of her bed.
"Ichigo keeps asking about your father; maybe I'll tell him when you're born. I wouldn't want your father to be killed before meeting you. Though I doubt I'll tell him anytime soon. I don't know how to feel about it; I'm happy to have you in my belly, but I don't know if I can love you. I didn't even tell your father those words."
Ai looked at the ceiling. Sleeping became harder with a belly to take care of.
"He says not to bother him, and he doesn't lie… Unlike me. I really want to tell him, but in the end, those words might be lies. I don't think I can keep dating him if that happens. He deserves someone who can return all the love he's willing to give. That's what attracted me in the first place; I don't know if it can be called love."
The pregnant woman looked to her side; her phone had just vibrated.
"How are you, Ai-chan? Everything's going well with our baby. No complications on your end. Sorry for not being there; I can still talk to Ichigo. I'd love to see you." Ai read the message on her phone, a phone that Ichigo didn't know she had.
"Don't worry so much; I'm getting used to pregnancy. We'll talk to Ichigo when we're in the last weeks. I wouldn't want him to kill you before meeting his son. I think he's eager to meet you; he's kicking a lot."
A smiling polar bear sticker was the last thing she sent.
Ai looked at the text chat with a smile; even in messages, you could feel the love Naruto had for her.
"Naruto, I love you," Ai typed in the chat's input bar.
She hesitated for a moment; her hands trembled. Sweat dripped down her forehead as she worked up the nerve.
She sighed before erasing the typed text. She threw her phone to the side, where it originally was.
I can't even say it in a simple text message.
"With Naruto, I learned to feel loved. But it's harder for me to learn to love in both ways. Loving and being loved, something no one taught me. Naruto was the only one who truly loved me, but I don't know if I can give it back… I'm afraid that if I don't tell him, he'll eventually leave me. I don't know if I'm afraid of losing him or losing all the love he gives me…"
Ai caressed her belly again; the baby's kicks were getting stronger.
"Maybe I only got pregnant to not lose him… Maybe I only got pregnant to not lose the love he gives me… And that's what scares me the most.
After all, Ai Hoshino is the brightest star in the sky. But a star can't shine on its own.
End of the chapter.
As always, leave your star, it's appreciated and all that.
This will be a one-shot, but if I see a lot of support, maybe I'll make it a series of about 10 chapters or more. Who knows.
If you're left with questions, Naruto and all his characters are just normal humans.
Without further ado… Leave your star.
