My morning started like any other day. The soft rays of the morning sunshine shone through my room, peeking through little by little forcing me to raise myself out of bed. My sweet little cockatiel loved to lend a hand in waking me up too, by beginning to chirp her morning song. I stretched my limbs and heard a few satisfactory cracks and pops relishing the peace and quiet of this sleepy place I called home.
My name is Selene (as you could probably guess my parents had a real soft spot for Greek mythology,) I was currently living in the Land of Waves, but I was born and raised in Iwagakure a village thousands of miles away from this tucked-away seaside town. When I was still residing there with my parents, they were highly respected shinobi with a presence that made them know beyond our village limits. My parents both were close advisors for the Tsuchikage and had extensive knowledge of the internal political affairs of the village...The image of my parents came to mind as I found myself pulling and brushing through the knots in my long dark hair.
My mother was tall with fair skin who had an incredibly contagious smile that added to her warm, friendly personality. Her hair was long, silky, and black which I was lucky enough to inherit from her. My dad on the other hand was also quite tall and shared the same hair color that framed his deeper tan skin, which I happened to inherit from him. They always stood so proud and strong together everywhere they went, I guess you could call them a power couple...
I began to shake my head lightly and pulled myself up from the edge of the bed. I slowly made my way over to my work desk and once again being awestruck by the pastel colors of the sunrise glistening off the seaside. I got closer to the desk and began to glaze over my family photo feeling a pang of nostalgia looking at those classic Rocky Mountains when suddenly I heard a loud knock on my door.
"Selene! Hey, are you up already?!" called out a familiar voice. I just chuckled to myself and went over to open the door. My employee and best friend Layla stood there holding the frame of my door, she had a small feminine frame with sun-kissed skin framed by bright red curls. She was ready in her work uniform, just black shorts, and a shirt with her apron when she scanned me up and down reminding me that I was still in my PJ's.
"I know what that look says, and I just slept in a little late! Let me get ready and in the meantime let's have coffee too." Layla just smiled and made her way over to my kitchen and began what was almost a daily routine for us. Layla didn't live far from my house just a couple of blocks down and always made sure I was ready to get the day started. She was one of the first people I met when I first moved here and decided to take a chance and open a little bar that this place so desperately needed.
I was beginning to apply some light makeup in the mirror as I began to take in the intoxicating aromas of freshly brewed coffee. "Ah yes, the elixir of life," I thought to myself and I could see Layla bringing over a mug to me. "You know, I have no idea how you can always wake up so late with this bird chirping at all hours of the day!"
She wasn't wrong my cockatiel knew how to chirp up a storm, but I just really enjoyed being in my cozy bed even if I was technically awake. Like I mentioned, I loved the alone time I was able to have whenever I could. We took our time drinking our coffee and continued to joke around with one another, but never feeling rushed because despite Layla noting that I slept in a lot, she always came over early enough for us to enjoy our mornings before work.
Eventually, I was ready to go and pulled up my boots as Layla and I made our way another few blocks over to my bar. Usually, around this time a lot of people around here were still working, but we would go over early to get our food prepped and begin to get ready for our after-work crowd. I focused on the crunch of the seashell gravel under our feet as the bar came into view, it was small, but I was proud of it.
I unlocked the front door and we both got into our routine doing a second wipe down of the place, bringing down the chairs, and heading to the kitchen to start food prep. The sound of my knife against the cutting board entwined with the aromas of chopped peppers were taking me home once again. I'm a super sensory person, and these aromas always reminded me of the street food back home, which consisted of dried spices and peppers. The food around here was a lot milder and mostly seafood based, despite my big move from Iwa, I longed for the familiar gastronomy, smells, scenery, and friends. I made it work by doing a fusion of both cooking styles which proved to be well received by the folks around here.
I never had imagined my life would be anywhere close to where I am now. I always expected my life to lead down the traditional shinobi path, one where I would follow in the footsteps of my family or even aim higher to the position of Tsuchikage...but those days were behind me despite the path being so crystal clear back then. My hands kept busy as I could still make out the face in my head of the Tsuchikage Onoki, our leader, my sensei, and practically a grandfather to me.
My parents being his most trusted advisors, came to grow close ties with him and I loved to poke his buttons, often making jokes on his height and the fact he was getting old. He always got riled up, but we both knew it was in good jest. Onoki loved my parents as if they were his own even extending those feelings out to me. I loved the time we spent together and even began to become good friends with his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. Once I was old enough to become a shinobi, I also became close to my teammates Akatsuchi and Deidara. Even though it had only been about five years since I last saw any of them, little things here and there would remind me of them. That's why despite the distance, I was determined to bring a little piece of home.
Time passed by, and I could see the sun begin to lower which meant our peak rush hour was coming. I came out to the front and saw Layla and a few of my other bartenders begin to work the beer taps and punch in food orders. My regulars began to shuffle in as the sun began to setting. The typical crowd here consisted of fishermen, construction workers, and shinobi who were often passing through on missions. The smell of spicy meats and beer filled the air as I found my groove bouncing from serving, pouring, and chatting up with my favorites.
I won't lie to you, it is hard work, but honest work that keeps me able to live a peaceful comfortable life I've sought after for years. The biggest perk is that I am my boss and able to have more freedom as opposed to working for someone else. To add on, this place makes people happy and gave them something to look forward to after work and on weekends. It helped me get acquainted with the locals and make new friends. I was thankful for that.
A few more hours passed by, and the night started setting and the sweet humid ocean air started driving everyone back to their homes. Day in, day out was for the most part the same for these people, early to rise, grind, and repeat. Once and awhile we would have to kick out the town drunk, or I would have to butt in on a customer being a little too "friendly" with my female employees.
Fortunately, tonight did not look like one of those special nights, and my crew and I began to close. It had been such a busy night, I thought I would treat myself to a nice cold beer. I jumped over the bar and grabbed a glass and began to pour as I noticed the front door creak open and a cloaked gentleman made his way over to the end of the bar.
Layla and I eyed each other, telepathically trying to decide who would break the news that we were closing to this guy. As always, I won, and Layla shot daggers at me as she turned around with a new smile on her face. The classic customer service move.
I took a sip from my beer as I chuckled and watched her approach the guy.
"Heyyyy, I want to let you know that we are on our last call. Let me know if there's anything I can get you" She said confidently. The last-minute stranger looked up at her and says "Yeah, that's fine, I'm passing through and was feeling thirsty" as he points towards the beer taps. Layla makes an expression I couldn't read and looks at him for a minute and just shrugs as she grabs him a tall pint glass and pours whatever is behind her.
Layla starts to stare at me again, and I know that's my call to take over and help her out. He seems calm, so I have no problem relieving her being no stranger to last-minute stragglers. I swing my hips feeling relaxed from the beer as I bring over some homemade chips to my last customer. I still can't make out his face from the cloak, but he seems like he would be around my age. "Hello, stranger! What brings you into town?" I felt no need to be hostile.
I watch this guy gently bring down his beer from his lips and continue to look forward. A moment of silence passed, and he looks over at me as I notice his bright blue eyes. "I would hope you wouldn't consider me a stranger," He says as he pulls back his hood letting his long blonde hair begin cascading down his back. My eyes immediately widened as I recognized his face.
"Deidara?!" I couldn't help myself and said his name a little too loud. He laughed "Yeah, it's me. I never expected to see you around a place like this." His speech inflections and wide grin brought me back to reality. I could not believe I was pouring beer for my old best friend, Deidara.
During this commotion, I could feel Layla watching out of pure nosiness from behind, I didn't pay her attention.
"So, what brings you out here?" we both asked at the same time. Immediately I felt the biggest smile creep up on my face the moment I realized we both said the same thing. I laughed and jumped over the bar to pull up a stool next to him.
"I never thought I would see you again, Dei" I said softly taking a drink of my beer as he took a swig of his too. "I too thought the same. Do you work here?"
"I do work here, actually I own this bar. I opened a few years ago when I first moved here." Deidara looked surprised but continued to smile at my words. "That's so cool, I never thought you would open up something like this." I gave him a puzzled look in response.
"No nothing like that! I'm just surprised is all" His face looked sympathetic but honest. I guess he remembered how sensitive I could be.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to come off super sensitive or anything. It's just a touchy subject for me. I never saw myself leaving the village either, but here I am" I put my face in my hands and looked towards the taps reminding me to start closing up.
"Don't worry about it, Sel...I guess you could say I'm still processing the fact we've found each other again" He replied with a soft smile, his words making my face warm up a little as I looked back at him.
At that moment, I could feel Layla's eyes burning holes in the back of my head hearing those words. I KNEW she was dying to come out and ask me a million questions about Deidara, but that would have to wait. I just couldn't help myself from smiling and laughing so brightly, I think the few beers didn't help either, but I was so happy to be reunited.
"Hey, uh, Deidara, so I'm about to close up the bar and once I finish a few things would you like to come over for a few drinks, maybe a late dinner, and catch up?" I asked nervously.
"Honestly that sounds awesome, I would love that" He seemed excited and so was I.
I started picking up all the bar stools, and eventually pulled Layla out from her secret spot in the back where she was being nosy.
"Layla, I knew you were listening to us the whole time," I told her as I rolled my eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll come out and clean up" she blushed and laughed a little while poking her head out to look at Deidara.
"Okay, I'm super nosy, but that guy? He's really good looking, how do you know him?" She practically had heart eyes looking out at him. Typical Layla.
"He's an old friend from my old village, I think he's passing through for work"
"Wow, that's pretty cool, I hope he sticks around for a while especially since you were laughing and smiling like a schoolgirl!" I blushed hard at her words.
"We're friends, Layla!" and with that, I stormed out the double doors hearing her devious laughter as they swung back and forth. I just blocked her silly thoughts out of my head and made my way back to wrap up the closing. I couldn't believe my best friend was back and held in excitement to catch up after all these years.
-This is the end of the first chapter, please let me know any feedback! I have half the story written down, but will continue if anyone likes the story so far. Thank you 😄❤-T :) -