Chapter Text
*In Suna*
Each child was seated at his own desk. In the first row, there was a child with red hair and cloudy blue eyes, dressed in coffee-colored clothes. His neck was protected by a scarf in the same color as his robe. Wind blew hard in Suna. It carried small shiny particles of sand with lightning speed. Nobody was seated near the boy. The class had just begun and the teacher entered the class with a stack of paper in his hand. He placed a sheet of paper on each desk, but he was careful to keep some distance from the red-haired child in the front row. A bustle began in the class among the children. One of them turned his paper into an airplane when the teacher smacked him over the head. Paper was of great importance and it was considered a luxury to afford keeping large quantities of it at home due to the school's location: The Village hidden in the Sand, where trees were very rare.
Gaara, the little red-haired boy, stared at his white paper which didn't have any word written on it. The emptiness of the paper reminded Gaara of the emptiness in his heart.
The teacher cleared his throat to signal for the kids to shut up and pulled Gaara out of his thoughts.
"Today we will do something different. We will write letters to some potential friends from a neighboring country."
Gaara heard voices whisper around him.
"What? I already have enough friends."
"I don't want to revolve my mind with a stranger."
"Do we have to?"
Maybe to the rest of the class, that exercise wasn't important, but to Gaara it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He didn't have any friends because all of his classmates already knew what was sealed inside of him. Plus, his father never allowed him to talk to anyone, not even his brother or sister. A friend. Gaara thought. Somebody from another village couldn't possibly know these things about him, so his new friend had no reason to be afraid.
Meanwhile, the teacher wrote a sketch of the letter on the blackboard.
"Start by writing down your address, so your new friends know where to send their letters. If you are not home too often, you can write the school's address."
That's better. I don't want my dad to find out.
"The contents of the letter are up to you. No bad words allowed and you mustn't include details about our shinobi or strategy about how we defend our nation. Aside from that, you can write anything you want. End the letter by signing your name and hand it over to me."
Gaara caught one of hope's legs right before it tried to leave him for good. He took a hold of the pen and started writing.
To my new friend
I would like to play together. I imagine it would be very fun. That's if you don't already have enough friends and you don't wish to bother with making a new one. Which games do you like?
From your new friend.
He folded the letter after he double-checked the address of the school and handed it over to the teacher when he started collecting all letters among the desks.
"Enough! Quiet!" the teacher yelled.
Gaara couldn't be quiet in his heart. He didn't sign his name on the paper because he was afraid his new friend would find out that he is a Jinchuriki. I can't wait to receive a letter.
*In Konoha*
There was an ongoing fight with milk buns in the class. Each child ripped chunks of milk buns and threw them in the air, trying to hit another colleague. The teacher wasn't there yet. A girl with pink hair and green eyes entered the class. Stress and worry crept over her because she was afraid she was going to be hit by the flying bread. Her fear came from the fact that her classmates considered her the weak link because she always cried over the smallest things, her face became incredibly red when she was embarrassed and she had an unusually big forehead.
A crust of bread crumbs formed on the floor and Sakura tried to step on it to get to her desk faster, but a malevolent boy made her trip over his bent foot while another one yanked her hair. She started to cry, but luckily for her, the teacher entered the class right then and the boys let her be. She got up on her feet and sat down at her desk. The kids shut up and silence settled in the room. Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and listened to Iruka-sensei.
"As you know, today is the day we receive the letters from Suna. Each of you will get one. I will place them on your desks."
"That's so cool! I wonder what it is like in there."
"I wish my new friend is a handsome boy."
"I wish my new friend wrote a lot."
"I hope he didn't use complicated words. I can't read kanji yet."
Many voices whispered in class, but Sakura was silent. She secretly hoped to have a friend who wouldn't laugh at her.
"Be careful not to rip the paper when you open the envelope. After you read the letter, think about what you can write back. Don't forget to write your name and address. I don't want to see any bad words. Is that clear, Kiba?"
Kiba laughed nervously. Naruto pointed at him with his index finger and started laughing hard.
"Naruto, you'd better shut your big mouth and start writing." The teacher scolded the blonde boy.
Naruto swallowed his voice and buried his head in the paper on his desk.
Sakura smiled before she opened her envelope. She read the letter and thought: it must be so interesting and fashionable to have a friend who lives in another country. She picked up her pen and started writing.
To my new friend
I am sorry, but I don't know your name. I think you forgot to write it.
I'd like to play together, too. The kids here don't really play with me. They always laugh at my big forehead. By the way, are you a boy or a girl? I like playing in the sand box. It's the only game I can play by myself, although I would love to play with you. I haven't been able to make a pretty sandcastle before. All of my tries ended up in big piles of dirt. I think you are an expert in sandcastles because you live in the desert. How many degrees are there right now? I think it must be very hot. When I feel hot, I take off my sweater. But Konoha's heat can't compare to the desert. If you were to do like me, you'd be naked. But you can't because the sun would burn your shoulders. So, what do you wear?
Do you have any flowers? I love flowers. My favorite flower is lily-of-the-valley, but my dad won't let me keep it in the house.
Write to me soon. I can't wait to read your letter.
From Sakura Haruno
Sakura drew small flowers around her name with a pink pen before handing the letter to Iruka-sensei.
*In Suna*
A week later, the teacher gave the letters to the kids. Gaara's feet dangled forward and backward on the chair. He was anxious to read the letter from a new friend. I wonder if there is a letter for me, too. What am I saying? Of course there is. I wonder what he wrote to me.
He almost ripped the paper when he opened the envelope in a hurry. The small pink flowers at the bottom of the letter caught his attention and his little finger traced his new friend's name. Gaara's eyes shone brightly. His new friend was a girl, no doubt about it. He felt a little ashamed because his friend wrote a lot more than him, but he would make up for it in the next letter. Gaara thought it would have been better if his new friend was a boy because they could have played with the ball had they ever met in person, like all boys in his class. At least this was what Gaara knew boys play together. He had never played with them before. They all avoided him. What can I play with a girl? He was curious. What could he play with a girl?
Several voices whispered in the class:
"I can't believe he received a letter, too."
"I am sure he will run away from Gaara when he finds out who he is."
Gaara didn't hear them because he was trying very hard not to cry of happiness. Somebody genuinely wanted to talk to him. Even if it was a girl, somebody wanted to be his friend. A soothing silence nestled in his heart and words started flowing from his pen like never before.
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