Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

This is the last thing I want to be doing on a lovely, summer night…

She tucked an onyx strand of hair behind her ear, and sighed dejectedly as she removed multiple personalized mugs of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and the like from multiple circular tables lined against a huge, spotless window. The sign "Taste of France Café" reflected on the slight puddle outside on the cobblestone road; she figured a neighbor dumped their dishwashing water in the street again. She shrugged her shoulders, wiped any invisible crumbs off the tables, and collected her barista tray before wandering inside the small coffee-shop.

As she returned to her boring perch behind the cash register, a large group of high school seniors busted through the entrance, hooting and hollering. Her pale eyes gleamed as she eavesdropped.

"First game of the season goes to us!"

"Those sharks have nothing on us!"

"That last play was nearly perfect—"

"—yeah, if Naruto hadn't gotten cocky and fumbled the ball."

"HEY! It was an accident, and our team picked it up anyways!"

She giggled softly as his loud rebuttal, but felt sad all over again due to her missing the first football game of her final year of high school. Her forefingers twiddled with her nametag, which read Hinata, while the athletes formed a jagged line in front of her. Her mouth routinely smiled as a common greeting, "Hello. What can I get for you?"

The first pair of students in line was the powerhouse couple, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. He is the school's first-string quarterback on the football team and is one of the most intelligent academically in their school—in other words, a prodigy. His eyes matched his hair, both being obsidian in color. His pinky finger on his left hand was intertwined with a pink-lemonade haired girl's pinky on her right hand. She is, and has constantly been, listed as number one in their class ranking, and she volunteers triweekly at the local hospital and free clinics. Although Sakura, named after the flower her tendrils are similar to, seemed to be in a heated debate with another girl while platinum blonde hair, she grinned at Hinata, "Hi, Hina! How is your night?"

"It's going as good as it can be. How was the game?" the dark-haired girl responded.

"Great! We just triumphed over the Mist Village High Sharks!" Sakura exclaimed while her emerald eyes scanned the contents of the café food cases and beverage menus. She continued, "I think I will have a slice of the cinnamon coffee cake. Sasuke, what do you want?"

"Black coffee will suffice."

Hinata nodded, her fingers tapping away on the register's pad, and coming up with their total. Sasuke flipped through his wallet, tossed a ten dollar bill on the countertop, and instructed her to keep the change.

She silently thanked the young man, slipping the change into her tip jar. Since she was flying solo for this night, like many others, scrambled to prepare and ring up those accompanying the dynamic duo. Thie orders were relatively simple, until the final customer stepped up to her. The next time she looked up, her pearly eyes met a pair of bright cerulean ones; her next breath hitched in her throat, and she was sure this is what death felt like. His wolfish smile forced a light blush to surface, and a childish problem to arise once more: "H-hi. What c-can I get for you?"

"Hmmmm, do you sell miso ramen here?" His voice sounded extremely hopeful, and extremely obnoxious in sense of pitch. He should really be on the cheer team with that voice.

"I-I don't think many cafés c-carry ramen. Sorry," she answered as she looked at her hands.

"Ah, that's okay! Give me a moment…" he paused to tap his chin in thought. His piercing eyes gazed past her to explore his choices behind the glass case. "I will take the double chocolate chip muffin with tea! What kind of tea is your favorite?"

"Well, I p-prefer the 'f-full leaf Chai t-tea.'"

"Two orders of that then! Just so you have something to keep you going when I leave," he winked at her. She nearly passed out.

"Your total is $7.43, Naruto."

"Hey! You know my name. That's pretty cool—I feel like a famous person," he chuckled as he searched his pockets for a correct amount of change. "Wait, you're in three of my classes, right? Yes, of course you are!" His arm extended over the counter, and their fingertips brushed as she pulled her hand away with the money and coins. A gasp escaped her lips. Naruto gave her a perplexed look before a light bulb went off in his head.

"Did I shock you? Sorry about that!" he smiled sheepishly and threw his arms behind his head. Hinata's smile was hidden by the downward tilting of her head. She slid the glass case open and retrieved his muffin from the white plate with gloved fingers and laid it on a napkin with the café's logo on it. As she mixed his and her tea, he busied himself by studying her graceful movements, which reminded him of his teammate's agility on the field.

That teammate, Hyuuga Neji, was secretly peering at the two of them from a distance.

Her eyes, pale and creamy, acted like a magical sphere that could predict a person's future and rip out a person's soul; this was one of the inherited genes of the Hyuuga family. These eyes contrasted greatly with her straight bangs that contained straight texture, and were straight black. Her ivory, unblemished skin seemed to glitter with the fluorescence of overhead lights. The café uniform consists of neon tangerine t-shirt, powder blue jeans, and a black apron thrown atop; the top hugged her unknown curves perfectly. It shocked Naruto. Her personality was reserved, gentle, yet popping at the seams—she was splitting from her skin, only to reveal her true, boisterous self.

It was easy to say Hinata was beautiful in a way no one else had captured his attention before.

He hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her in a while, not since they lived in the same neighborhood when they were children. They were never close, but they used to be somewhat of friends, which is more than he can say for conditions now. Because of obvious personality differences, only a handful of people chatted with the midnight-haired mistress regularly—Neji and Sakura. The two females began their friendship the beginning of sophomore year.

I wonder how he sees me… If he does at all, Hinata thought as she stared at Naruto, who was clearly in another dimension mentally. He had been gaping at her, or in her general direction, since she filled their tea cups.

"N-naruto? Here's your muffin and t-tea."

He shook his head, her melodious voice breaking his train of thought. "Oh, thank you. Drink up!" he replied cheerfully, lightly tapping his tea container with hers. Her heart pounded as he gave her a quick grin before turning away and bouncing over to his herd of friends.

Neji finally turned away, one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

It was a solid hour before the crowd evacuated the café, and an estimate of three hours before Hinata would be allowed to leave. The graveyard shift was the worst, and left her with limited options of social connections, such as coffee-addicted students cramming for the SAT. Even though the money was adequate and the environment was pleasant, it wasn't enough for her; she often felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and sorrow. Those feelings were old acquaintances.

Since tomorrow is my day off, I suppose I could catch up with Sakura. Or I could go to the gym with Tenten. Or do anything that does not involve sitting here.

She shifted the plate of leftover goodies in her hand as she reached to flick the switch to "OFF" for the café signs outside, glanced around to make sure everything was orderly, and exited. She placed the golden key in the door, turned it in a circle, and slipped it in her pea-coat pocket. When spinning on her heel, she nearly rammed into another person—wait, who is lurking the streets this late? Shakily, she brought her eyes several inches up to see…

A young girl she had never seen before.

"You scared me! Can I help you?" she asked, bending down and exhaling the breath she thought was going to be her last.

"Every time you work this late, you bring us food. I thought I could help," she answered softly, her R's sounding more like W's. Hinata tilted her head slightly, and offered a kind smile along with a bag of granola and berries. "Thank you!" the girl beamed.

The pair looked for people sleeping on park benches or lying against a tree stump to give the food to. Hinata figured it was a better way than dumping whatever cake slices, fruity muffins, or sandwiches were left after the day was finished. Once they were all out, the girl hugged Hinata's leg and disappeared into the trees' shadows.

Alone again, she sighed.

The full moon provided enough light, with the street lamps' help, to find her way home. She had been working at the café for a year now, but only was coerced to switch shifts with the normal graveyard workers three times. In order to remain less paranoid—who knows what, or who, is hiding around each corner—she began humming her favorite tune. For a second, she believed there was a second person humming as she headed home, but she did not investigate her surroundings because she didn't want to psyche herself out.

"I know that song! I like that song," a voice boomed.

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin. She craned her neck slowly to see the owner of the voice. "My God. You scared me, Naruto. Why didn't you just say 'hey, Hinata, I'm stalking you'?" she half-shouted.

His eyebrows knitted themselves together before he began laughing wildly. "Whoa! I totally didn't mean to freak you out. My bad. Can you forgive me?"

He is so cute. Stop looking at me with those gorgeous eyes. I can't think, she thought. Her energy was completely drained, however, and she simply nodded before continuing on her way. She was almost at the Hyuuga Compound.

"So, this is where you guys moved to, huh? That's cool," he paused, "Not many people live where we used to. It's like a ghost town now. I feel pretty lonesome now…"

Hinata stopped in her tracks—she understood that emotion all too well. She understood him, and it was like she didn't even have to know him. She faced him now, her eyes in a building's shadow, but as bright as the moon's powdery light. "It's not t-that great on this side of town. It's f-further from the meadow," she commented.

"That's where I run every morning! It reminds me of playing tag with you and Neji and the others."

"Neji always w-won. He seemed to have the all-seeing-eye trick down."

"He did! I still think he cheated, though." Silence engulfed the air after a few chuckles and giggles between the two. His blue eyes appeared like the sea's waves crashing against the sandy beach and retreating into the same routine. He spoke again. "Hinata, I know we haven't gotten to… uh, talk much in recent years… But maybe we can go out sometime?"

Heat swarmed her cheeks, but thank goodness she was shielded by nighttime. "Okay. I'd l-like that."

He's loud. He's daring. He's handsome. He's everything I'm not, so, there is a chance this could work. What if I don't screw this opportunity up like my father always implies? Go for it. He's perfect, she discussed with herself inwardly.

Naruto was suddenly closer to her, their figures consumed by the building's overcast. He put his finger on her chin, adjusting her skull in order for their eyes to meet. He smiled; not a usual, teeth-baring one, but a soft, specialized look just for her. He noted her nearly inaudible intake of air, and aimed to reassure her with his following words:

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kiss you. I just wanted to say that you're my cup of tea, Hinata."

This is a rewrite, and hopefully it was to your liking! Leave a tip in the jar (or a review on the story) if you're into that. (: