Green Tea: This is a light-hearted one-shot that came to me in Physics class, and well. It's for Valentine's Day, but it's fall, so whatever. It's early. Really early. Or late. Very late.As always, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. However the plot of this story is mine.
Hand-made Chocolates
Valentine's Day was approaching fast in Konoha.
Frosty white flakes of snow fell lightly upon the pink and red decorations hung on store roofs in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. It seemed like almost every store had some sort of Valentine's Day special. The Yamanaka floral shop sold red and pink roses at a special discount price, and chocolate sections seemed to spring out of nowhere in grocery stores.
Although, some preferred to make chocolate the traditional way… by hand.
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Sakura fingered the packages of cocoa powder, looking for that illusive bag of unsweetened cocoa powder, Ino and Hinata in tow, holding the shopping basket that was already filled to the brim with bottles of vanilla, cinnamon and other such ingredients.
"Come on Sakura, forget it. They don't stock unsweetened cocoa powder in this shop. Just use the sweetened kind that we already have. I mean, Naruto and Shikamaru have no problem withregular chocolate…"
Ino complained, retying her hair in her usual sweeping ponytail.
Sakura fumed and turned her face away from the shelf to reply.
"NO. No. and NO! Sasuke-kun doesn'tlike regular chocolate. Wehave to get theunsweetened cocoa powder, so I can add less sugar myself!
Huffing, she turned back again.
"I know this shop has it!" she pointed to the tags labeling the empty shelves, "but it seems like every brand is out of stock!"
What she didn't know was that a massive hoard of fan-girls sporting "IHeart Sasuke" badges bought out the store's entire stock of unsweetened cocoa powder, all with the same idea in their head as the pink-haired kunoichi.
Hinata joined in helping Sakura search the shelf as Ino wandered off to the cosmetics section.
"A-ano… S-sakura-chan… Is this it…?" Hinata held up a bright red bag.
Sakura's eyes lit up with glee.
"Yes! Hinata, you are awesome! Come on, let's grab Ino-pig and get out of here!"
The white-eyed girl smiled shyly and followed Sakura to the checkout counter.
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Gai was not stupid. As much as people liked to believe it, he was not. He was not oblivious. Nor was he daft.
Quite the contrary, actually, he noticed many things. Things that people normal DIDN'T notice.
For example, like the way Tenten never turned down an opportunity to spar with Neji.
Or the way she always was the first one at his side when he received so much as a scratch.
And also that fact that Neji never seemed to mind her presence. Or the fact that he was always beside her in missions.
He noticed this, and a lot more.
So he finally decided to take action, by calling the weapons mistress over after a long day of training in the snow.
"Tenten," He began. "I'm sure you know about the big holiday coming up next week, am I correct?"
Tenten's face contorted into a image of confusion. "What?"
Gai almost face-vaulted. Didn't all girls know about this?
"Valentine's Day."
The kunoichi's mouth formed a little "o".
"It's next week? Wow… So that's why there were so many decorations."
The jounin sweat-dropped. Tenten really was a... different... sort of girl.
"Well, yes, it is next week. And as you know, my little butterfly, St. Valentine's Day was designed to… bring people together."
He finished lamely.
Tenten wiped a speck of dirt off her favorite red-handled kunai.
"And…?"
"Well… it's normally demonstrated through the giving of a gift. Chocolate, flowers, heart-shaped objects…"
She stared at him levelly. "I don't need a summary of the holiday, Gai-sensei. What is it?"
Gai's eyes brimmed with tears. Oh his little buttercup had no idea at all! Ah! The unfulfilled potencial of youth!
A deep, sarcastic voice interrupted the conversation.
"What he's trying to say, is that you shouldn't pass a chance like this. Once it's gone it's gone. If you don't grab it, then it's not going to come back."
"KAKASHI! HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT MY CONVERSATION WITH MY BUTTERCUP!"
Tenten turned to see the masked Jounin perched on a overhanging branch, infamous orange book tucked neatly in his pocket.
"Well, it didn't look like you were getting anywhere with all that bumbling, so I thought I'd help out."
"THAT'S IT! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A STARING CONTEST, RIGHT HERE! THE LOSER HAS TO WALK 200 LAPS AROUND THIS TRAINING FIELD ON THEIR HANDS!"
"As you wish."
Tenten scurried off as the two Jounins began face off, feeling rather awkward.
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"Omigod, so then I told Shikamaru that he could shove a stick up his a-"
"HEY! It's Tenten! Tenten! Over here!"
Sakura waved over the bobbling heads of the crowd in the market, trying to get the kunoichi's attention.
Tenten saw Sakura, Hinata and Ino calling for her from under a pink-trimmed shop entrance and ran over, smiling brightly.
"Hey, you guys! What… is all…. That?"
She sweat-dropped at the large grocery bags each girl was carrying.
"Silly Tenten! It's ingredients for making chocolate!" Ino replied and then giggled along with Sakura.
"Making chocolate? But why? I mean, you can just buy it-"
"NEVER! If you give any chocolate on Valentine's Day it HAS to be HANDMADE. It's the only true way of expressing love and devotion. It has to be special!" Sakura blushed a rosy pink after finishing her little speech.
The four stood in silence for a little bit, watching the people scurrying about, trying to get out of the cold frosty air.
"A-ano… I-it's a b-bit cold right now… D-do you want to go home?" Hinata stammered, her teeth chattering ever so slightly.
Sakura brushed a little bit of snow off her bright pink hair. "Sure! Let's head to my place, I'll fix some hot chocolate and we can make our chocolate! Tenten, you should come along too! You're not busy… right?"
"Ah, no, in fact, I'm not that busy today, so I'll come along. Anything to get out of this cold."
With that, the four girls set off towards Sakura's new apartment, giggling and joking as snowflakes drifted gracefully from the sky.
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"WHAT?" Ino sputtered, spitting hot chocolate all over Sakura's new plush couch, earning her a hard glare from the pink-haired girl.
Hinata squeaked and ran off to get some napkins.
"What do you mean, you're not giving chocolate to anyone? That's… that's… that's…" Ino was at a loss for words.
"so depressing!" Sakura finished for her, mopping up the soppy mess with a paper towel.
"Well, it's not like I've ever given anyone chocolates in my whole life, so I don't see what the big deal is… I mean, it's just a bag of candies… right?" Tenten hesitated to go on, as she saw Ino's face pale.
The blonde looked about ready to faint.
"never… Given…. Chocolates… Whole life?… Just… Bag… Candies…" She stuttered incomprehensibly.
Tenten quickly tried to cover up her mistake.
"Well, it doesn't matter, I've got no one to give them to anyways. By the way, who are you giving chocolates to?"
Sakura smiled dreamily. "Sasuke-kun, of course!"
Ino huffed rather dramatically. "Well, I'm giving mine to Shikamaru, I mean, he IS my boyfriend after all. I don't even see why I'm doing this. He wouldn't even get jealous if I gave them to someone like Sasuke instead."
"You stay away from MY man!"
"What, Sakura? Getting scared…? I can see why, seeing as how I'm by far prettier than you- ACK!"
Sakura shoved her, causing her to fall neatly off the couch.
Tenten ignored the two as they continued to bicker and turned to Hinata.
"What about you, Hinata?"
The shy girl blushed and began to poke her fingers together.
"I… I… I mean… t-the chocolates… I- I'm… W-well… g-giving… t-them … t-to…"
Tenten pried a little further.
"Who?"
Hinata covered her bright red face with her hands in embarrassment.
"N-n-a-na-naa-naru-naruto… k-k-..kun…"
The browned haired girl smiled to herself. She expected as much. And she was also pretty sure that the Kyuubi boy would accept the chocolates too. Too cute!
"Tenten-chan… A-ano…"
"Yes, Hinata?"
She swore she saw a smirktraceover Hinata's lips.
"W-why… w-why d-don't you give chocolates to N-neji…ni-san…?"
Tenten's face turned pink. This girl was sharp, as innocent as she looked.
She glanced at the other two girls, who were still caught up in their bickering, and then looked at her hands, which were clenched tightly in her lap.
"Well… knowing… your cousin… he's not all that social… and he probably doesn't even know what Valentine's Day is. And yeah… and that's why… He wouldn't accept them anyways… You know?"
It was Hinata's turn to smile knowingly.
"W-well… y-you n-never k-know… I-I mean… I-I'm giving chocolates to N-na-na-na-ruto-kun… So… so… you… should try it too!"
The older girl seemed to ponder this for a moment and then smiled.
"You're right, maybe I should try. Just once, maybe."
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"TENTEN! ACK! How many times do I HAVE TO TELL YOU? THAT'S SALT! NOT SUGAR!"
Tenten grimaced as she took a bite of her third batch of ruined chocolates.
The flavor was disgustingly salty and chocolately. Ugh.
She glanced enviously at the other two kunoichis sitting in the living room, enjoying their cocoa.
Not only had Ino and Hinata finished their batches of chocolates successfully, they finished wrapping and decorating them as well.
Why did she have to be the one stuck with Miss-Satan-Cook-Master-Mother-Person?
Sakura readjusted the frill on her apron and smacked the mixing bowl with her rolling-pin-slash-baton-slash-stick.
"AGAIN!"
Tenten winced and quickly set to pouring out a cup of cocoa powder, keeping a wary eye on the jars of salt and sugar.
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After another two hours of hard toil and effort, Sakura took a bite of the chocolate and made a weird, pained face.
This was cue for Tenten to try a piece as well. She hesitantly took a little bite. It was horrible... But better than her previous attempts. Ah well, it'll have to do.
Apparently Sakura was losing her patience, for she already stripped off the apron and was preparing to wrap her own chocolates.
The failed-cook threw away the piece of chocolate she was holding and nodded. It sucked, but it would have to do. She was getting sick of this, anyways. If Neji didn't like it... well... tough.
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Sasuke awoke next morning, feeling extra crappy, extra moody and extra... PMS-ish.
Of course, this was all understandable if your whole family was slaughtered by your big brother when you were five, but something about today gave him an extra-bitter taste in his mouth.
Oh. Of course. It WAS Valentine's Day after all.
He opened his front door and was not surprised to see a mountain of chocolate and candy on his doorstep.
It wasn't that he was egotistical, it's just that this same thing happened every year. And it was no exception that he would do the same thing every year as well. And so, without further ado, he dumped the entire stash of pink and red chocolate in the trash, where most of it belonged, anyways.
One year's experience taught him that fan-girl cooking left much to be desired.
When he came back to his front door, he saw one package pinned to the top of his door frame. Apparently, the owner of this package was wise enough not to dump her chocolate on his doorstep, like everyone else, but made sure that he would see it, that it would stand out from all the others.
And it did stand out, very much. Instead of being wrapped in pink and red paper and contained in heart-shape boxes, it was simply a rectangular package, neatly wrapped in blue paper. A note was stuck to it.
After unpinning the box from the door frame, he read the note:
I know you never accept them, but you know, I keep trying. I thought I might try something different this year. And plus, even if you don't accept them, at least you could eat the chocolate. You're too skinny. -Sakura
He blinked. This was odd. This note did not ooze with admiration and declarations of love. This was actually withstandable.
He walked back inside his house and placed the box on a nearby table, maybe he'd eat them later... if he had time.
What he didn't know was that Tenten helped Sakura with her note this year... and the planning. The older girl had FAR more experience in dealing with unemotional bastards.
Sakura giggled from her nearby hiding spot as she saw her beloved Sasuke-kun take HER chocolates into his house. She skipped home blissfully, causing passerbys to wonder if she was high.
She was high on love.
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Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Ino's delivery of chocolates was significantly less... enjoyable.
"SHIIKAAAMAAARUUUU! GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS DOWN HERE!"
Ino called, from the porch of Shikamaru's home. The neighbors nearby quickly shut their windows, scowling at the platinum-haired girl who dared to disturb their peaceful slumber. Ino's efforts did not go unrewarded, however.
She was quickly greeted by the sound of thudding footsteps. Shikamaru quickly opened the door and ushered Ino into the warm house.
He looked extremely unkempt in his wrinkled pajamas and bed-head, and scowled.
"Ino, why on earth are you wearing a SKIRT in winter? You could freeze to death!"
Ino was slightly taken back by his thoughtfulness.
But she'd die before she let him know that she dressed up just to impress him.
She changed the subject.
"You were down here pretty quickly today; Finally decided to get your lazy ass up before eleven?" She retorted, unwrapping her snow-covered scarf.
Shikamaru turned away quickly, muttering something about freezing. The blond couldn't believe her ears. Was he saying what she THOUGHT he was saying?
She smirked behind his back.
"What? I can't hear you. Speak up."
Shikamaru finally turned around, face slightly flushed.
"I said, I came down here sooner, because otherwise you'd probably freeze to death out there."
Ino was beginning to regret her harsh words.
"Oh." She replied dully.
The spiky-haired boy rolled his eyes.
"Well, if you have nothing to do but wake people up at ungodly hours, I think I'm going back to sleep."
Ino panicked. Was he mad at her?
"Matte!" (Wait!)
She quickly dug in her pockets for the box of chocolates and handed it to him.
"Here, I made these for you."
Apparently, the Chuunin never received chocolates before in his whole life, so he stood there, staring at the box, unsure of what to say.
Ino solved this by tackling him with a hug, causing both of them to fall back onto the carpeted floor.
"It's ok, you don't have to say anything."
He smiled and leaned into the embrace.
"Thanks."
It was just then that Shikamaru's parents decided to come down to see what the fuss was about. They were a little more than surprised upon seeing Shikamaru and his girlfriend sprawled on the floor, in a most... suggestive manner.
"No, I can explain-"
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Through the eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, the perfect life would be a life filled with beating Sasuke to a pulp and ramen. Yes, lots of ramen. And currently, he was fulfilling THAT part of his utopia.
The chef of Ichiraku Ramen, Toshi, shook his head in disbelief at the amount of Ramen the boy had eaten.
Even though Naruto came to Ichiraku frequently, he never failed to finish less than eleven bowls. Unbelievable.
Today, Naruto was working on his thirteenth. He slurped up the last bit of warm soup and raised his head from the bowl, driblets of noodle decorating his cheeks comically.
"Another beef ramen, please!"
Toshi shook his head again, before setting to work. Truly unbelievable. Really. Who needed customers when you had Naruto?
Naruto sat on the worn wooden stool and wiped his face with a napkin, waiting gleefully for his next bowl.
"N-naruto... -kun?"
The Kyuubi boy smiled, recognizing the distinct, shy voice. He turned around in his stool and grinned.
"Hinata-chan! Ohayo!"
Hinata fidgeted, holding her hands behind her back.
"O-ohayo..."
Naruto, as daft to emotionas he was, could sense something that something was wrong.
"What is it, Hinata-chan?"
Hinata blushed and looked at the ground, scuffling her feet.
"Ano..."
"Eh?"
Finally, when he thought the poor girl could blush no redder, the girl surprised him by whipping out a red box from behind her back.
Except, unfortunately, she shoved the chocolates forward with such force, and at such an angle, that she slapped the blonde-haired boy from his stool, causing him to fall unceremoniously onto the ground, face-first.
The Hyuuga heiress was absolutely mortified. She wanted to dig a ditch and just bury herself. Right now. She didn't turn red, she turned white.
"G-g-g-g-gomen! I didn't mean to! I swear! I really do! I'm so sorry!"
Naruto got up and brushed himself off, grinning carefreely.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. What was that red box thing?"
Hinata handed the box of chocolates to Naruto, keeping her eyes focused on a pebble by her shoe.
"Eh, what's this?"
Naruto lifted the lid of the red box and peeked inside.
Three rows of neatly molded and arranged chocolates grinned back at him.
"Ano... A-ano... It's... It's... V-v-valentine's Day... today... and well... Ano..."
Naruto grinned and popped a swirl-shaped chocolate in his mouth.
"Thanks, Hinata-chan! You're the best -dattebayo!"
Then he surprised the poor girl by giving her a huge hug.
"N-naruto-kun!"
Hinata blushed a bright red, but smiled.
Naruto, in turn, decided to treat the girl to ramen.
And the two spent a happy morning, chatting merrily over a bowl of ramen.
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"Neji."
The white-eyed boy turned around. He would regret that later on.
"Mn?..."
Tenten stared at a spot above his shoulder, determined not to make eye contact with him. Then, she tossed a small paper box to him.
"There. Take it."
Neji was extremely confused.
"What?"
The brown-haired girl rolled her eyes, but still didn't make eye contact with him.
"Ah, dammit, just open the damn box already."
Neji raised an eyebrow at her choice of language, but said nothing. He pulled the lid off the box.
There was silence.
And more silence.
And more silence.
Tenten toyed with a kunai in her holster dangerously, fingering the steel tip.
"Well?..."
Neji gulped.
"Uhmm."
"WELL?"
The chocolates... Could you call them that? Well, the... black, barely brown thingswere clumsily wrapped in red paper, and resembled burnt chunks of coal... There was no way in hell that they were actually edible. Flammable, but not... edible.
Tenten's voice was beginning to take on a slightly murderous edge.
"Neji..."
The Hyuuga wisely decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
"Uhmm... Thank you... Tenten... You know what... I-just-forgot-that-I-have-to-meet-with-Hiashi-sama-today-so-I'll-be-going-"
"OH NO YOU WON'T!"
Before you could say 'Neji's screwed', Tenten had him by the collar and was glaring at him lethally.
"Well, Neji, don't you like my chocolates?" She asked him in a sweet voice. A very sweet voice. A scary voice. A dangerous voice.
A bead of sweat rolled down Neji's forehead.
"They're chocolates?" Tenten glared at him. "I mean, uhm, yes, of course I like them."
Tenten smirked evilly.
"Then why don't you try one, my dear?"
Neji opened the box and stared at the little heaps of chocolate-turned-coal. He could imagine his tombstone now. Died by Valentine's Day Chocolate. Ah, excellent.
Tenten would be disappointed that he wasn't around for White Day.
"Well, Neji, pick one, they all look so good don't they?"
Neji hesistantly picked out the brownest one he could find. There wasn't much of a selection, they were all black, more or less.
He closed his eyes and popped it in his mouth.
It was horrible. Disgusting. Only the fear of Tenten's wrath gave him enough willpower to swallow. The sheer thought of that hunk of charcoal entering his body was enough to make him gag.
He finally opened his eyes and smiled weakly.
"Delicious?"
Tenten smirked.
"Then why don't you have another one?"
Neji paled considerably.
"That's ok Tenten... Maybe I'll save the enjoyment for later-"
"HYUUGA NEJI, YOU EAT THAT WHOLE BOX RIGHT NOW, OR I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"
Oh dear.
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Green Tea: I'm actually pretty pleased with how this turned out. Please review!