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It was late at night and Kakashi had just left the university when it started to pour. He immediately put his leather backpack to his head to cover the rain and ran towards the first establishment he saw. Suddenly, the soft essence of hazel and unmistakably coffee beans aroma seeped into his nostrils. He took a deep breath and penetrated what appeared to be a coffee shop.
He noticed that this shop had recently opened near his university. He saw it this morning but passed by since he was late for class. Kakashi took his wet coat off and put it aside to avoid soaking the rest of his things. Then he sat by the window; a cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt after a long day.
When he was about to scan the menu by QR code he felt an uncomfortable itch in his eyes and nose.
“Achoo!” He sneezed, covering his face with the inner of his elbow.
Kakashi lifted his gaze from his arm and looked around when, suddenly, a black cat wearing a collar with a pendant, which had the name "Neka" written on it was in front of him staring at Kakashi with his big green eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the cat and shooed him away. Why the heck was a cat in a cafeteria? Unless…
His eyes widened in fear, looking around the place, and noticing several hairballs looking directly at him. Furthermore, the place was furnished with a lot of things for cats. There was a huge cat tree decorating the entrance (Kakashi was surprised that he hadn't noticed it, tbh). Also, there were a lot of cat toys splattered all over the wooden floor, not to mention the wooden cat sculptures that decorated the entire shop.
He was in a Cat Café!
He didn’t realize it in his haste to escape the rain. He immediately took his things to take refuge in another place that didn’t have cats. Those damn balls of fur always gave him a horrible allergy.
He was about to leave his seat when a soft voice stopped him.
“Welcome to The Wooden Cat Café! My apologies for the delay”, a brunette appeared. “Today the café is a little crowded…” He gave Kakashi an apologetic smile.
Kakashi looked up and felt his face heat up, and he didn't hear the rest. Right in front of him was the most gorgeous man that he had ever seen in his life. He was a tall man. He had messy short brown hair and big brown eyes that made him look like a cat. He was wearing a white polo shirt followed by a green apron with a small print of a coffee cup with a cat's tail just on the left side of his chest. However, what most caught his attention was those strong arms and solid shoulders.
Kakashi returned to the present when he realized that the man was still talking to him.
“And that’s today’s menu. What would you like to order?” the man asked, getting his notebook and pen ready.
Kakashi hadn't heard anything the man had said, so he managed.
“What do you recommend to order?”
“Oh. Well, today we put on sale a new dessert. It's my new recipe. It is a small brownie based on walnuts and hazelnuts.” The man scratched his nape shyly. Cute. “Oh, and you could accompany it with a Catpuccino”, added.
“Hmm, It sounds great,” Kakashi said thoughtfully. “If it's your recipe I'm sure it will be delicious… umm”
“Tenzo.” The brunette finished the sentence.
“Tenzo… Nice name. It suits you” Kakashi winked at him.
The brunette immediately blushed and tried to cover his face with his note while writing the order.
“I-I will be right back with your order” The brunette practically ran to the kitchen.
Kakashi saw him disappear among the people and smiled to himself. Maybe coming wasn't all bad.
Suddenly a cat climbed on his legs.
“No, no wai- Achoo!”
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“We have an order for table #7.” Yamato tore the paper of his notebook and gave it to Sasuke, one of the cooks.
Sasuke was a student who worked part-time at the cafeteria along with three other students.
“Where’s Naruto?” Yamato looked around the kitchen looking for the unruly blonde.
“He's probably in the pantry finishing up the food,” Sasuke said boringly while preparing the order. He was trying to draw a cat in the coffee, that was Sai’s skill, but today was his day off, so that task fell to Sasuke.
All of sudden a sound came from the pantry and followed by this, Naruto was running out of the room followed by a furious pink-haired girl.
“You idiot! Stop eating all the ingredients!”
“I-I’m so sorry Sakura-chan!”
Sakura was about to kick Naruto when Yamato separated them.
“Stop! You will give a bad image to the café if the people see the cooks and waiters fighting with each other” The brunette scolded them.
“Sorry, Yamato-taichou!” They both apologized.
Naruto’s guilty look changed into a curious one.
“Yamato-taichou, why is your face red?” He inquired curiously, tilting his head.
“Eh?” Yamato automatically remembered his previous encounter. “T-that’s nothing. get back to work!” and left the kitchen, leaving two teenagers confused and the other didn't even care.
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Kakashi saw the brunette approaching him with his order. He leaned both elbows on the table and gave the man a lazy smile.
“Thank you, Tenzo ~ ”
The man blushed, “I hope you like it”
Kakashi grabbed the little brownie and took it to his mouth tasting the first mouthful. He opened his eyes in surprise, he thought he wouldn't like it since he wasn't a big fan of sweets, but the nuts helped to reduce the sugar of the dessert. Then, he grabbed the cup and looked at the drawing of what appeared to be a cat. He took a sip and hummed happily.
“So,” The brunette intervened nervously. “What do you think?”
Kakashi finished swallowing the bite, savoring the texture. “This is delicious!” Smiled at the server.
Yamato breathed a sigh of relief and felt his shoulders relax noticeably. “I’m glad you liked it” Chuckled shyly.
Suddenly, a gray cat rubbed on Yamato's calf. Yamato grabbed the animal and hug her.
“This is Lulu. She’s a little shy” Yamato brought the cat closer to Kakashi.
Kakashi distanced surreptitiously, holding back the urge to sneeze.
“Oh! no, no! I'm allergic”
Yamato tilted his head in confusion. “So what are you doing in a cat cafe?”
Before Kakashi could reply a girl shouted from the kitchen.
“Yamato-taichou! We’re about to close.”
Yamato put the cat down and nodded toward the pink-haired girl.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Yamato, “I thought your name was Tenzo”
Yamato looked at him confused and then gave him an awkward laugh. “It’s a long story.”
Kakashi shrugged “So, what hours does the cafe open?” He asked feigning disinterest.
“Oh. It is open from 7 a.m.”
Kakashi nodded and stood up “Well, I'm going. See you soon Tenzo” He squeezed him on the shoulder and walked out the door. Leaving a completely blushing Yamato smiling at nothing.
In the distance, a small sneeze was heard.
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Yamato was hanging the apron on a hanger when Naruto talked.
“So... Who was that? Yamato-taichou.”
“What are you talking about?” Yamato turned to Naruto, looking confused.
“The man you were talking to. Was he your boyfriend?!”
Yamato choked “W-what? No! What made you think that? He was just another customer” He denied, shaking his hands in the air.
“For a customer, you seemed too nervous,” Sakura said taking part in the talk.
Suddenly, Sakura connected the dots and smirked to herself.
“Awww, Yamato-taichou has a crush!”
“Ugh! Yamato-taichou. You're too old to have a crush.” Naruto joined in the mockery making a disgusting face.
“Hey! I’m not old!” he defended himself. “And I don’t have a crush!” Said exasperated. “Why don’t you follow Sasuke's example and go home? Brats!” Yamato shooed them away.
Naruto and Sakura left the shop, laughing with each other.
Yamato smiled to himself and watched the students head home.
He grabbed the keys and locked the establishment and headed home too.
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The next few weeks were the same. Kakashi visited the cafeteria every day at exactly 7 am, just before entering his classes. had a little coffee. He flirted for a while with the cute waiter and left.
Today was no exception. It was a sunny Friday, and Kakashi was leaving his last class and heading to the café. He now always wore a mask that covered his nose to reduce his allergies.
He took a seat at his usual place by the window and saw a disturbed Yamato by the antics of the teenagers in the kitchen.
An unfriendly dark-haired boy approached Kakashi to take his order.
“Oh! Sasuke. How are your studies?” Kakashi waved at the boy.
Since Kakashi frequented the cafe almost every day, he already knew the teenagers who drove the brunette crazy.
“Hmph, fine. What do you want to order?” asked coldly.
“Maaa Sasuke, you are always so kind,” Kakashi said ironically. “If you keep treating customers like this, you'll scare them all and Tenzo will be mad~”
The teen just snorted “What do you want to order?” He repeated.
“Mmm let’s see,” pensive humming. “Today I fancy a Meowcchiato” Kakashi smirked.
“Okay”
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“Your boyfriend’s here. He wants a Meowcchiato” Sasuke entered the kitchen and handed Yamato the order.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Yamato yelled. Then he looked at Sai “Sai, you got this. I'm tired of the horrible drawings of Naruto.”
“Hey!” The blonde complained from the back of the kitchen.
Sai started to prepare the coffee and draw a little cat in the middle. Sai's latte art was what customers liked the most, but when he was on his days off Naruto replaced him. Nevertheless, Naruto's drawings didn’t compare to Sai's.
“The coffee is ready, Yamato-taichou” Sai said when he finished.
“All right. Lemme take it to Kakashi.”
…
Yamato left the kitchen and saw Kakashi trying to get away from a three-color cat.
The brunette smirked and approached them. Left the coffee on the table and took the cat away from Kakashi, “She’s a little clingy.” He gave the silver-haired a narrow-eyed smile.
“Yeah, I noti- Achoo!”
Yamato laughed “Take” and handed him a handkerchief.
“Thank you,” Kakashi took it and wiped his teary eyes. Kakashi sipped his coffee and looked at Yamato “I've been wanting to ask you something for weeks” He avoided Yamato's gaze.
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“Shhhh! Naruto shut up! I can’t hear them” Sakura shoved an elbow into the blonde ribcage.
Naruto groaned and curled over his abdomen.
The four students were leaning behind the kitchen wall trying to hear the talk of the two adults. Even Sasuke was there.
“Sasuke is a gossip inside” Naruto mocked.
“Shut up idiot,” Sasuke muttered angrily.
“Who are you calling an idiot? Idiot”
The two teenagers began to fight with each other. Sakura tried to separate them and Sai just looked at the scene that was taking place in front of him.
...
Kakashi and Yamato watched the scene from their seats with a large drop of sweat running down his temples.
“Ehem, and as I was saying” Kakashi spoke again “I was wondering if you would like to go out tonight.”
“L-like a date?” Yamato inquired timidly.
“Uhm, yeah a date” Kakashi blushed looking everywhere except Yamato's gaze.
“It seems perfect!” Yamato smirked.
“Ok, I'll pick you up when your shift is over” Kakashi winked at the brunette and kissed his cheek before leaving the cafeteria.
Yamato was about to stand up when four teenagers floored him bombarding him with questions.
“Yamato-taichou tell us everything!” Naruto yelled excitedly.
“What time is the date? What will you wear?” Sakura asked one question after another.
“It was time” Sasuke muttered under his breath.
“Congratulations on your future new relationship, Yamato-taichou.” Sai said.
“Thank you guys” Yamato replied moved “Now get back to work!”
~~~BONUS SCENE~~
“Oh c’mon. It’s clear that it is a cat!” Naruto protested, pointing at the drawing he had made in the coffee.
“I'm sure that if you give that to a customer they will sue you for sexual harassment,” Sasuke said looking at the drawing.
Naruto frowned and when he saw Sai walking near them, the blonde took him by the arm.
"Sai!" Naruto called out to him, "Since you do know about art. Tell me what you think about this latte art."
Sai looked down at the coffee.
After several minutes he looked back at Naruto giving him a bewildered look.
“Why did you draw a penis?”