&disclaimer applied&

& c a f e (the s e q u e l) &

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dedicated to~ Tip Of The Top Hat (XD);

setting~ Valentine's (month and a half after the first part)

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In a well-light, spacious coffee shop, a large amount of coffee- drinkers reside in their booths, enjoying the fairly quiet atmosphere-

"YO, SASUKE! YOU'RE HERE!"

for a season, at least.

"SASUKE, SAKURA-CHAN! OVER HERE!" Naruto screamed, arms failing as if he was drowning.

A deaf blind person could've found him solely by the vibrations in the floor.

Sakura giggled at Naruto's typical behavior, while she and Sasuke both made their way to the back.

"H-Hello Sakura, good afternoon S-Sasuke-san," said Hinata, who was looking quite red at the moment, thanks to Naruto's arm draped over her shoulders.

"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH! YOU'RE THE LAST HERE! SHOULDN'T YOU BE ON TIM-".

He was cut off by an extremely –ahem- gentle whack on the head, compliments of the very generous Sasuke.

"Shut up, loser."

"WHO YOU CALLING A LOSER, PRICK!"

"Dead last."

"YOU NO-GOOD-"

Distracted by Sakura's arm flying in front of his face, Naruto momentarily forgot his lame comeback, and Sakura jumped on the opportunity to speak up, "Hey, look! Is Ichiraku's having a sale?"

Naruto had stood up before she had even finished her sentence, chest out, nostrils flaring.

"WHAT?! A SALE?!"

A second later, all that was left of Naruto was a trail of dust leading to Ichiraku's.

"I-I should probably go check on him," offered Hinata.

Sakura laughed a little awkwardly. "Sorry, Hinata, it was all I could think of at the time," she said while waving goodbye to her friend.

"Hello, what would you like today?"

A little startled at not having seen anyone come up, Sakura looked up and recognized those two familiar buns piled up on top of the waitresses' head.

"Tenten! I didn't know you worked here!"

She shrugged, "I wasn't getting enough hours working for the Weapon's Department at the Police Station. So I work part time here, too."

"Well, I'm glad you found an extra job, but it must stink to have to work on Valentine's."

"Pfft, like Neji's a closet romantic," she said with more sarcasm than necessary.

"Uh, guess not."

"It doesn't matter; he's good at making it up to me. Besides, what did Sasuke get you?" she teased.

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand under the table before she answered, "The usual. You know, typical Valentine's stuff."

TenTen gave a small laugh but spoke up suddenly, "I think someone's about to bore holes in the back of my head. I'd better get your order now; I have a sinking suspicion that I'm definitely being glared at by the group of waitresses who, uh, really wanted to wait on your table."

"Oh, well, I'll have coffee with one cream, one raw sugar."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke.

"Black."

"Alright, your coffee will be ready in a few minutes. Bye Sakura."

"Bye Tenten."

Sakura watched Tenten walk off while thinking about what she said Sasuke had gotten her for Valentine's Day.

Truthfully, Sasuke was on a business trip for a week and wasn't supposed to get back until tomorrow.

She had woken up this morning with Sasuke sleeping on her couch surrounded by fifty dozen roses, each with three white roses inside.

(She'd never tell him, but he had the cutest expression on his face when she woke him up.)

And she didn't tell Tenten because Sasuke wasn't big on public displays of affection.

Sakura also knew that Sasuke was fully aware that she didn't need him to buy her nice things, but he had a problem with talking about "his feelings", so he found other ways to convey what he wanted.

Even now, he didn't talk much. Sometimes, when he was dead tired, he'd go to her house anyway. He wouldn't say anything; he would sit on her couch with her, half asleep, just being with her.

She actually thought that he was pretty romantic (in his own anti-social, non-talkative way, of course).

Sakura's train of thought broke when she heard a customer talk (loudly) about how it was weird that the Station Café popped up out of nowhere as a major chain of coffee shops.

She knowingly looked at Sasuke.

Shrug.

"What?" still not admitting to it.

She laughed, "And I'm sure Naruto enjoyed winning that 'ramen sweepstakes' prize for a year-long supply of ramen that no one had ever heard of and that he hadn't signed up for, too, Sasuke."

Grunt.

He heard her laughing at him again.

Sasuke turned to glare at her, but his eyes were automatically drawn to her smile.

It was bright and happy.

And maybe that was why he so easily accepted her. She was feisty and amusing, but she soothed him.

She'd share her laughs and smiles with him, and she quickly became a part of his life.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he lightly squeezed her hand.

She smelt like spring; and he had waited so long for spring.

He kissed her hair, and thought how she had brought that smile to his life,

And he loved her for it.

Please review,

~dances.'