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Sakura Haruno was a fairy tale believer.
And a firm one too.
And like any other fairy tale believer, she believed in happy endings, dream come true-s and the cliché ‘guy always gets the girl’. She believed in badly written love stories, vampire romance and that a guy who would voluntarily die for his girl is romantic. She believed in frog princes, ’12 o’clock kisses’ and fairy godmothers. And she ultimately believed in true love, ‘the one’ and sex after marriage.
And of course, all of those facts above basically conclude that she’s a Disney girl.
She has watched every single Disney movies there is. You name it.
From the lying long-nosed doll to the guy who falls love with a mermaid.
Yup, she watched them all.
She cried when Mufasa died, and she gasped when the crystal shoe fell off. She did a ballroom dance with a pillow in her room once, accompanied by the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. She shrieked when Tarzan wore his human father’s suit, screaming how hot he is. She knew from the very beginning that Flynn Rider is going to fall in love with Rapunzel. And she shed her tears in the end of Brave.
And Sakura was never a gamer, but she played all of the Kingdom Hearts series just because Disney’s characters are in there. In every single platform too.
She liked to imagine that she was one of the princesses, dancing in a gigantic ballroom, alone with her oh-so-very-charming prince, having the time of their lives. Or sitting in a throne, helping the villagers with their problems, and try helping them solving it like a good queen she would someday be.
But sadly that’s not what she’s experiencing right now. Instead, she was greeted with countless amounts of customers, queuing in a super long line waiting for their coffee, a fuel to start their day. And that’s when she knew that today isn’t going to get better.
But hey, no good story starts with ‘once upon a time’.
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“Once Upon a Coffee Shop”
By Elguardiuz
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‘Once upon a time,’ Sakura chanted in her head, ‘there lived a beautiful princess in a beautiful kingdom filled with people with beautiful personalities. But then, the beautiful princess was magically turned into an ordinary girl who isn’t a princess and is banished to a less-beautiful kingdom filled with people with even less-beautiful personality. She is forced to work in a café while studying to be a doctor because economy said so. And then one day she thought to herself, maybe she should rot here as well.’ Sakura thought as she finished with a groan.
She has always thought that a café was a really good place to make money. ‘I mean who doesn’t drink coffee nowadays, right?’ She thought to herself. ‘Coffee should be considered as one of the 4 main substances that supports a human being, next to Skittles, Oreo and Whip Cream.’
The café, as usual, is full of customers, who are desperate for their daily dose of caffeine. And she used to think that applying for a job at a coffee shop to help her parents to pay for her college tuition was one of the best ideas she ever has. And now she regretted it.
Standing behind the counter while faking a smile at everyone who never returns your smile can be a pain. Especially if you did it every morning for the last 10 months. Yup, a total pain.
Yeah sure she could eye on every single male hottie that walks by to pay for their drinks without having to be looked suspiciously. And sure the pay’s pretty well, and the co-workers are very friendly. But doing the very same thing for 10 moths makes it lose its spark, and something that does not have sparks, or glitters, or shiny things, from Sakura’s opinion, is boring.
The manager was always a guy who is always full of smiles, not like the fake one she has always give, but the real one, the happy one, the one that makes you feel a hundred –no, thousand times better about yourself. It’s like he has found what he’s destined to do, to make coffee, to make people feel delighted. And he sure as hell did a splendid job doing it. I mean all he ever did is that he’ll walk around, smile, greet old lady Chiyo, smile some more and greet even more people, and maybe Old Lady Chiyo, who practically lived here.
Yeah, Manager Minato was never one to not smile. He’s like the friendliest 40-year-olds with a male reproduction system she has ever met, well aside of her own father of course. Well anyway, it was noon, and she was (still) standing behind the counter because today’s Sunday. And she has to work till evening today. Which sucks. So she decided to pester her co-worker.
“Holy crap Shikamaru, I am sooo bored.”
“Why did you take this job then?” He asked lazily in the middle of his yawn, not even glanced at me.
“Well for the money, duh.” I replied.
Shikamaru Nara was one of her favorite person in the world. He’s smart, dryly humorous and masters the art of sarcasm and sleeping. A great company too. He’s a barista, those guys who wrote your name in the cup. Yup, that’s him.
He has this dislike (cough –constant fear –cough) towards women, and claimed to hate blonds. And yet all of the girls he dated, including the current, were blonds. Yeah, his dating life was pretty much active and alive.
Not like Sakura’s.
She hasn’t dated anyone since high school.
Which was 2 years ago.
It’s not like she didn’t want a boyfriend. And it’s certainly not because she has played for another team. It’s just that between eating, sleeping, pursuing a medical degree, working and converting oxygen to carbon dioxide for the plants (because she’s such a good person, like honestly she should get a noble for environment care or something), she didn’t have any time for a steady relationship.
And she would probably never will.
At least that’s what she thought before she met him.
Him. Mr. Caramel Macchiato. (She and Shikamaru named him that after his favorite drink, which is what he orders every time he’s in the café. Which is every day.)
Mr. Caramel was a guy with black hair which was styled to devise the laws of gravity. He was really pale, with this strong jaw line.
In short, he was hawt.
Hawt, as in Hawt. With capital H. Hawt.
The second he walked to the coffee shop for the first time, she instantly knew that he was the one. She knew that the feeling she felt wasn’t the same like the dumb old crush she felt when she was with her old boyfriends, but a real one. The ones that made her feel tingly and …warm.
She did her research the very second Mr. Caramel exited the café.
She found out from Naruto, the manager’s son, that Mr. Caramel’s name’s Sasuke Uchiha. He’s a year older than her. He has an equally Hawt older brother. And he works in a big-ass company, the Uchiha Corp.
“It’s Caramel again.” Shikamaru whispered to her.
“I know! How do I look?”
“Horrid.”
“Good enough for me!” Sakura said to him, while trying to put on the sincerest smile she had since morning. She had planned to get to know him better, not by the stalker-ish way, but like the civilized, eye-to-eye conversation way. Sakura has planned everything in her mind, they will talk, fall in love, have 2 kids, watch Disney for the rest of their lives and run hand in hand into the sunset.
So the moment Caramel’s ready to order, she had everything planned.
“H-hello. Name my is Sakura Café, I mean Konoha Cafe, or K-Caf, or KonoCaf. Let’s run into the sunset together.”
‘Earth,’ Sakura thought to herself, ‘you could swallow me whole now. I’m ready’
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Her hair was pink.
That was the first thought he had when he first met a girl who was supposed to be a cashier in the café, his best friend’s dad manage.
He guessed that she’s probably at the same age as he is, or a year younger.
And he could tell that she’s a Disney girl.
Her whole appearance basically screams Disney.
He hated fairy tales.
It’s just so full of fakeness and lies to deceive small children that happy ever after-s do exist, that a kiss could bring back the supposed to be dead. It’s so full of false hope.
And false hope annoyed him.
Hope annoyed him.
Because, according to Sasuke, hope means expecting something.
And expectations often lead to disappointment.
And Sasuke Uchiha has been disappointed way too many times to learn that he shouldn’t expect anything.
Back to the girl, Sasuke’s surprised of himself that he hasn’t noticed this girl and her unique traits. And he didn’t know if it’s dyed or not. And he hated not knowing, it’s like you’re locked up in a dark room alone without any source of light.
“Is your hair dyed?” He asked bluntly, ignoring the cashier’s invitation.
Her smile immediately turned into a snarl.
“No! For the last time people my hair is natural!” She screamed, throwing her hands up in the air, gaining everyone’s attention. “Why is it that people always asked me that, I mean is a girl with a pink’s hair that weird!? “
“NO!” She answered before he or anyone could say a word.
“Asking a pink-haired whether his or her hair is dyed is a crime of racism! And I don’t care even if you’re my true love, I won’t forget this!” She said, her finger pointed at him.
And that’s when he knew thing are about to get interesting.
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Sasuke Uchiha was a realist.
And a stubborn one too.
And like any other realist, he didn’t believe in luck, accidents, fortune cookies and destiny.
He has always thought that he made his own future. And that his future can only be made by him.
And he had always thought that fairy tales are dumb, shallow and most importantly, unrealistic.
Like, why would a shoe that was supposed to fit perfectly fell off?
See? Stupid.
It’s like people were actually trying to feed small children lies.
But he didn’t hate society just because of all they feed children with.
He just always hated them. Like, they asked you to be who you truly are, but judged you anyway.
IT’S RIDICULOUS!
Society’s annoying. People are annoying.
Just, annoying.
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It has been one day, three hours, fifteen minutes and forty seven seconds since the incident.
And she purposely took the day off for this date slash apology lunch for embarrassing him (and herself) in front of everyone in the café. And she didn’t take any classes too.
And that led to the current scene, where they are both seated in a fancy restaurant in the middle of the day.
Not talking.
With this pregnant silence.
Waiting for someone in the background to whisper a high-pitched and stretched ‘awkward’.
Seeing this, Sakura brought up her oh-so-famous statement that would totally catch a fire of million conversations.
“I like Disney.”
“I hate Disney.” He replied monotonously.
She gasped.
“The plot is too shallow, the storyline is too predictable. The twist is awful and boring. The characters are only divided into three categories, good, bad but are going to be good, and awfully mean. And the fact that there’s always a happy ending has really gotten under my skin.” He said, again in a monotone.
“…you have sinned.” She replied.
“It’s true, my mother made me watch a lot of Disney. Hated it ever since.”
“How could you not like Disney!? It’s basically a place full of wonder!” She shrieked. Throwing her hands up in frustration.
“It’s stupid.” He replied.
“IT IS SOO NOT!”
“It’s stupid, I mean, how come no one taught Snow White stranger-danger?”
“Well maybe she was so frustrated that her one true love was taken so that’s why she took the apple from the witch! She didn’t even know it was the witch!”
“Sakura, even a blind old hag with a massive case of diarrhea, living in a broken down house knows it’s the witch.”
“Ugghhhh we are sooo watching Snow White tomorrow!”
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They started meeting the regularly the next day.
They met in the library, or in McDonalds, or in a fancy French restaurant with menus she couldn’t even spell, in the park, or in the coffee shop.
They could talk for hours and hours about absolutely everything (okay, maybe not everything, but hey at least they talked about how much of a disappointment Planes was, that got to be something) and it’s not awkward at all! (Well okay she did most of the talking, but at least he grunted in response …occasionally)
She didn’t know what the perfect character to describe him is.
Because she could actually name characters that would fit her friends.
For example.
Shikamaru would totally be Donald Duck. Cause he’s lazy and all that. And she had always said to him “WOULDN’T IT BE HILARIOUS TO HEAR YOU SPEAKING IN DUCK!?” in which he replied with a curt “No.”
Naruto would be Dash. All hyper and reckless, but somehow funny and encouraging.
Ino would be Violet. Enough said.
But she still has troubles identifying what character he would fit in.
She first thought that he was The Frog Prince, a guy who had everything, yet had nothing. But then she realized that he has practically everything he ever needs. A loving mother, stern father, a caring brother, amazing looks, a good job and amazing looks (hey, some things are worth repeating alright!?).
And then she thought that he was The Beast, a misunderstood, often feared by people, who deep inside just wanted to be loved for who he is. And then she realized that he has a whole fan base dedicated to him.
And after that, she thought he was Pongo from 101 Dalmatians, a stern, fierce, loyal but encouraging leader with a cool, calm and collected demeanor, who would run through fire to save those he care about. She thought this was perfect until she took a look at an annoyed Sasuke glaring at a crying baby boy and said ‘No.’ to herself.
And then, when she was about to give up, a revelation struck her, and she realized that he is supposed to be Kenai from Brother Bear. A good guy deep inside who sometimes got clouded with jealousy.
Yeah, she gotta settle with him being Kenai until Disney release a new movie with a broody, moody, arrogant, hot, Disney-hating jackass.
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“Hey Sasuke, if I was one of the Disney princesses, who do you think I would be?”
He stared at her for a full minute from the seat he’s sitting across the café’s table. It was her day off that day, and she wanted to at least sip on the products she sold every day.
“I think you would be Belle.” He said, sipping on his Caramel Macchiato.
“Why?”
“Because she’s the only princess I like.” he said, “Her character is actually vibrant and refreshing, and not just some stupid girls with good hearts who waits for someone to rescue her, she creates her very own destiny, she teaches children how stand up for themselves, and to not judge anything by its cover.” He continued, in a monotone.
“So basically you just complimented me!?”
“Yeah sort of.”
“I feel loved”
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It’s been three years, four months, twenty two days, forty seven minutes and thirty seconds since the incident.
That meant they have been dating for two years.
They had lots of kissing in the rain-s(Sakura’s requests), cuddling near the fire (again, Sakura’s requests) and lots movie-watching (Mostly The Beauty and The Beast, until Sasuke said “Ugh goddamit can we watch Die Hard instead!?”, that they finally watch Pinocchio.)
And even though he hated Disney,
She won’t have him any other way.