Pastries and Prejudice

It was me and this world and a broken dream
I was blaming myself
for all that was going wrong…
||__{~v~}__||

'No way...' a pink-haired female thought in disbelief, her bright green eyes gaping at the building that stood before her. 'No freakin' way!'

She looked down at the address then back up to the neighboring street signs. To her dismay, it matched perfectly. There was nothing that could offer enough evidence to prove she was in the wrong place.

'I thought I was upset that Naruto got me a job at a maid cafe... but a café owned by him? Unbelievable!'

She just felt degraded just by standing near such a place. Naruto must have thought Sakura was desperate for a job!

Was she really? Now that she looked at it, her wallet was pitifully empty. All cash that found its way towards her was set aside for the rent and food... which scarcely graced her rickety, old table in amounts she liked.

There was barely enough cash she could set aside for medical school. How was she going to become a great doctor without any schooling or a degree?

The pink-haired female sighed, forlorn over the distressing thought. 'How did Naruto even talk me into coming here anyway?'

||__{~v~}__||

Just two whole days ago, Sakura sat in her small apartment, poring over a long, tedious list of work ads.

"Ah, Sakura-chan! I bring food!" A noisy Uzumaki shouted, barging through her door with a bulging brown bag.

"Oi, baka! Do you know how to knock?" Sakura chastised, crossing off yet another ad from the extensive list.

The blonde teased in a melodic voice, "Ooh... Someone's a little cranky today! Is it that time of month already?"

"Shut up!" She shouted irately, her emerald green orbs fixated on the page of ads. "Plant-sitter? Psh. No thank you..."

Such a curious statement intrigued Naruto, scrutinizing the pink-haired girl curiously. With the paper bag still in hand, the blonde emerged by her shoulder, peering over to gaze at the sheet. "No. You're looking for a job again? What happened to your last one?"

Sakura replied without any embellishment, "The people there are a bunch of morons. Making me fold all those clothes... If I wanted to do that, I would have signed up at a Laundromat. At least I could fold and wash my own laundry while I’m at it without anyone noticing…"

"Sakura, what do you expect? You were a salesperson at one of those clothing stores. I believe folding clothes was part of the job description."

Sakura grumbled incoherently under her breath in response. Naruto did catch little snippets, centering around how if the customers mess up the pile, they should have the decency to clean up after themselves then make the employees do all the work.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sakura inquired, crossing out yet another ad. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

"What did I say when I came in? I BRING FOOD!" he said slowly, speaking to her as if she
was only five.

"Don’t talk to me like I'm the idiot, you blonde-haired buffoon! Do you think I can't even pay for my own food?"

"Actually... Yes, I do," Naruto replied quietly, his bright orbs beginning to dull with concern. "Your last job didn't pay that well, and it amazed me that you could salvage enough to buy yourself a proper meal and pay the rent."

"Well, don't worry. I'll find a job," Sakura assured him, quickly crossing off another ad.
‘There’s no way I’m volunteering my body for science…’

"Oh, no. Don’t you dare tell me not to worry! With the way you're going, you're never going to find a job. Then you'll be out on the streets – homeless and starving," he said sternly.

The pink-haired female scoffed. "You're over exaggerating things. If I did end up selling my apartment, I would figure out what I'd do."

"Oh? What would you do?" His bright blue eyes glimmered with challenge as he continued, "Ino is still going to be away with Shikamaru for who knows how much longer, and I don't have enough room to let you stay in my apartment."

Sakura insisted that she would get by somehow, turning her attention back to the waning job list.

The blonde scrutinized his pink-haired friend, considering something in his mind. "Listen... What would you say if I could get you a job somewhere?"

Sakura froze in her place, mulling over his words in her mind. She raised her green orbs towards his cheerful electric blues. “What? You actually have connections some place?”

“Yeah!” Naruto exclaimed cheerfully. “I could get you a job where I work!”

A tiny crinkle of disgust wrinkled her delicate nose, furrowing her thin, pink brows. “But… didn’t you tell me you work at a maid café?”

“…Don’t give me that look, Sakura. If you don’t get a job, how are you going to pay for medical school?”

Sakura visibly winced, troubled by that reminder. This time, the pink Haruno did not offer a reply, simply allowing her gaze to fall downcast.

“So what do you say, Sakura? Willing to give my suggestion a whirl?” Naruto said. “You don’t have to do everything by yourself, you know. You can accept some help once in awhile!”

Sakura’s gaze fell downcast. She knew she had always been wary about asking for help. She preferred relying on herself. It would make her unbelievably guilty anyway if she could not repay them if she accepted help.

Her deep set of emeralds faced his sapphires, gazing at her unwaveringly and patiently. Moments passed by in meditative silence.

Finally, someone capitulated.

“Alright, Naruto. I guess I’ll give it a shot,” Sakura submitted with a defeated shrug of her shoulders.

His orbs suddenly grew alight, glittering happily. “Yay! Sakura-chan, you won’t be disappointed!”

“I better not be. I suppose I should give you some credit since you were able to talk about work without chattering about that one girl you like so much.”

A nervous blush crept up Naruto’s cheeks, a sheepish smile curling his lips. “Yeah. Ah, Sakura-chan! She’s really pretty! I just wish I had an idea if she likes me or not…”

“God! Why don’t you just tell this Hinata chick how you feel already!” Sakura said. “Maybe if you finally do, then I won’t have to listen to your lovesick rambling anymore.”

“I am not lovesick!” Naruto cried defensively, his wistful grin contorting to a pout. “You know, it’s not that easy. I’m lucky if I can start a conversation with her. Whenever I try to say hello, she suddenly says she’s overloaded with work or something and runs off. What do I do?”

As Naruto exhaled a troubled sigh, Sakura began consoling him with a soothing pat on his shoulders. Sakura felt terrible about giving advice to the blonde male, especially since her love life was just as nonexistent. She never had much luck with boys. No one seemed to catch her attention. She did have this one crush a long time ago…

Sakura shook her head of such thoughts.

The male species was not her true concern. Getting enough cash for medical school and becoming a doctor was far more important. Finding a boyfriend was the least of her worries. If she wanted to get more info on this job prospect, Sakura had to say something to snap Naruto out of his melancholy state.

She sighed, remembering how she was the only one he could go for advice on that sort of subject. Ino was more adept in that topic, but she and Naruto simply despised each other. Shikamaru thought the subject was much too troublesome and refused to comment.

With a sharp inhalation of air, Sakura said the first thing that came to mind. “Are you sure she was too busy? She just wasn’t trying to find an excuse to avoid you?”
Instantly affronted, Naruto said, “Sakura, how could you say that? She’s not trying to avoid me!”

“I’m just going through all the possibilities. It’s feasible since you have such an annoying attitude.”

Releasing a loud harrumph, the offended whiskered male grumbled quietly under his breath, “Should have known better then to speak to you about stuff like this…”

Sakura chuckled. “Hey, I’m only kidding! Now is there any important info you want to talk to me about?”

“Eh? Like that?” Naruto asked.

“Like… what the boss is like! You never even said who owns the place. Actually… other then that girl, you don’t talk much about work at all. I never even seen you in action.”

“Uh… you’ll see when you start working there! It’s a surprise!” Naruto said, quickly dashing away into her kitchen. “Hungry?”

“Um, sure?” she said, perplexed by his evasiveness over the subject. Was it really that bad?

‘Guess I’m going to find out sooner or later…’

“So what’d you bring to eat?”

“Instant ramen in a cup!” Naruto gleefully proclaimed, dumping dozens of cups on her small counter.

‘I should have known… Him and his ramen obsession.’

“Yo, which one do you want?” He asked, scrutinizing each tiny label curiously.

“Whatever you’re having I guess…” Sakura said with a defeated sigh, completely unable to understand why he adored it so.

Naruto nodded his head, arguing with himself whether to consume miso ramen or his new love, beef ramen.

||__{~v~}__||

‘I guess now I understand why he never said anything,’ Sakura deliberated bitterly in her mind. ‘That baka… wait until I give him a piece of my mind…’

But what more could the Haruno do? She was already there. It would be a waste of time if she left and never bothered to look at the place.

‘Better then nothing… Sakura, this is for medical school. You need this job.’

With a shrug of her shoulders, she stepped forward and walked through the door.

A world unlike anything she had ever seen emerged before her, bombarding her with a delicate onslaught of sweets.

Soft, velvety red curtains were open wide, allowing ribbons of golden light to flood into the café. Tiny round tables were packed with chatting customers, indulging a tiny platter of miscellaneous sweets. The employees darted in great speeds across the room, dexterously balancing several plates in their hands.

Only one employee dashed towards her.

“SAKURA-CHAN!” Naruto appeared out of nowhere, hugging the disgruntled female in a quick embrace. “I’m so happy you came! I was sure you would leave before you walked through the door.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Sakura said, anger straining against her relatively calm voice. “Naruto, you had to work here of all places?!”

“Hey, this is not a good time to yell at me. You have to meet my boss,” Naruto said hastily, pushing the irate Haruno away with him.

‘It’s not like I never met the teme before…’ Sakura mused bitterly, allowing her blonde friend to push her passed into the doorway.

“Hey, boss dude! This is the girl I was telling you about!” Naruto announced, gently shoving Sakura in front of him. She simply tensed, frozen in her place. She watched in nervous anticipation as the man’s gaze lazily drifted upwards, locking onto her green orbs.

They both froze. Sakura felt all air rush out of her lungs.

Uchiha Sasuke…