To avoid any confusion, and possible reporting, I have 2 accounts on fanfiction because I have a lot of ideas and didn't want to load up one account with fanfictions that I wouldn't be able to finish (even though I suck at updating anymore, but I'm making a serious effort to get better). My other account is FlowerVine67. The reason for this A/N is if anybody has read "Flower in a Sandstorm", this is a rewrite of that fanfiction. I deleted the old story on that account and decided to put it on this account because I wanted to rewrite it and was too lazy to delete and update those chapters, this seemed easier to me.
Memories of a Friend: Chapter 1
The village of Sunagakure became livelier when the afternoon sun started to make its way down to the horizon. The heat of noon was starting to cool down in the desert village and the residents came out of their homes to begin their daily chores and errands for the day. Children ran rampant together, playing ninja around the old sandstone buildings. I watched them from a market stall, one hand holding onto a basket of dried fruits while the other hand held my aunts hand. They all looked so happy playing together, it made me kind of jealous because I wanted to play too.
I tugged on my aunt's hand to get her attention. She smiled down at me, strands of her dark brown hair fell out of her pins and framed her face.
"Auntie, can I go play with the other kids?" I asked.
She glanced past me to the group of children playing on the other side of the marketplace. I could see her pondering to herself about whether to let me out of her sight or not. She looked back at me with a sigh, but before she could answer my question, I dawned my famous puppy dog eyes. No one could ever say no to these baby greens. One moment of hesitation was all I needed from her.
"Pretty please?" I said, with emphasis on the "please".
She shook her head and sighed before smiling at me. Hook, line, and sinker! My aunt, mute from an accident when she was young, let go of my hand and shooed me away. Before I ran off to join the other kids, she grabbed my shoulder to get my attention. She tapped her wrist, with a stern face, her way of telling me to be home before dark. I nodded my head, and ran to the group of kids. They had already finished their previous game of ninja, and were resorting the teams for the next round. I approached them with a polite and eager wave.
"Hey guys!" I said, "Can I play too?"
The group giggled and mumbled to themselves. A brown haired boy came up to me with his hands on his hips.
"And what makes you think you're good enough to play with us?" He scoffed.
With no fear, I crossed my arms and stood on my toes to get in his face.
"I'll have you know that I'm the best player in my village." I said matter of factly.
"And where's that at?"
"The Leaf Village! Everybody wants me on their team."
A blonde boy from the back stepped forward.
"The sand village has different rules than your crummy leaf village. You wouldn't last two seconds playing with us."
"You wanna bet, blondie?"
"Maybe I do, Konoha!"
"Ryu, just put her on our team. I wouldn't mind kicking your butt again."
The blond boy, Ryu, glared at the girl in the group her spoke up. He looked back and forth from her to me before rolling his eyes and walking away.
"Fine!" He yelled, "But when she starts crying because she lost, it's not gonna be my fault!"
"Same goes for you, blondie!"
I smirked at the back of his head as the teams were finished getting sorted. There was no way I was going to lose to him…even if I did lie out my teeth about being the best player in Konoha. The truth was that I had never once played ninja back at home. None of the boys would ever let me play, and the girls were always more interested in picking flowers or gawking at Sasuke Uchiha.
"Ok is everybody ready?" Ryu asked, "Konoha? You need some more time?"
Too late to back out now.
"You worry more about yourself and less about me, blondie."
"It's your funeral. Alright, let's go!"
From a swing set in the nearby park, a young red headed boy watched the group play together. He came to this spot every day, hoping to be included in the fun, but they all ignored him. He hugged his bear to his chest and frowned. They let that other girl join in their fun without a care in the world. Why wasn't he ever allowed to pay with them? They always ran away whenever he approached them, but they welcomed her with smiles and laughs. Gaara couldn't understand it. What made him so different? Why were they scared of him and never let him join their games of ninja and tag?
Why?
The new girl hid behind a wall of sandstone, her short brown pigtails showing from the top of it. The boy, Ryu, ran right past her without ever seeing her hair over the wall. She tackled him from behind and shoved his face into the sand. All the kids laughed and regrouped, the game was over. Gaara stared in envy as they all laughed with each other and talked with the new girl like they have been friends since birth. A sharp pain tore at the back of his eyes. He held onto his head in silent agony until the pain went away. When he looked back to the group, they were all walking away, those smiles still on their faces.
With a heavy heart, and a frown, Gaara got off the swing and started his long walk back home. If he would have stolen another glance at the group of kids, he would have saw the new girl had noticed him, and watched as he dragged his bear along the sand covered streets. All he had to do was turn around and see her, but he didn't. He just kept walking.
Today was a new day, bright and cloudless skies greeted me as I closed the door to my aunt's house behind me. The kids from yesterday invited me to hang out with them again today. I had learned almost all of their names during our game of ninja yesterday. None of them had even guessed it was my first time ever playing. As I walked through the market street to get to the park, I held a paper lunch bag to my chest. My aunt made a special lunch for all of us to eat, in case we get hungry. I saw Ryu first, his blonde hair almost blinding me as the sunlight reflected off of it. He was talking to the girl who let me join her team yesterday.
"Nina!" I yelled out.
The group looked at me waving at them, and smiled as I joined the group. Nina hugged me like she hadn't seen me in ages. She reminded me of my best friend, Ino, back home, except her hair was black and she had tan skin.
"What took you so long?" she scolded me, "We've been waiting for like…ever!"
I held the paper bag out to her.
"My auntie made sandwiches for us today."
Nina took the bag from my hand and inspected the contents inside. With a smirk, she set the bag on the ledge she was sitting on, and hopped to her feet.
"Ok, you're off the hook this time! Now let's play!"
"What are we playing?" I asked as they ran past me, into the park.
Quick reflexes made me hit the ground as a ball flew past my face. I glared at Ryu as he stood over me and smirked.
"We're playing ball today." He said, "Think you can keep up, Konoha?"
Ball. Now this was a game I was good at. I picked the ball up and dribbled it on my knees before kicking it passed Ryu to Nina.
"I could do this all day, blondie."
As the game went on for a couple of hours, the score read 7-7. Ryu tried hard to keep the ball away from me, but I was too quick for him; perks of being short. I sprinted circles around him, sometimes teasing him with the ball before I passed it to Nina. I kept up beside her, while Ryu, and one of his players, tried to block my path. Nina passed the ball back to me to score the winning point, but someone jumped between me and the ball, and kicked it out of our field limit, towards the swing sets. Everybody went silent as the ball came to a slow, rolling, stop by the poles, but nobody went to retrieve it. I glanced at all of them as they stood in fear, almost like they had seen a ghost.
What's the matter with them?
It was clear, nobody was going to go get the ball, so I volunteered myself to bring it back. I jogged past them all without a care.
"Don't worry guys, I got it!"
"No wait!"
"Don't go over there!"
All of a sudden, they came back to life. I ignored their calls for me to come back, and continued my jog to the swing set. I picked up the ball and saw a slight movement from the corner of my eye. Looking over, I was greeted by a boy with a mess of red hair, staring at me from the swing. He held a ratty looking bear to his chest like it was a life-line. His skin was pale and he had dark circles around his opal eyes, like he had never gotten a good night's sleep before. He looked at me with sad, fearful, eyes. Like I was going to hurt him. I set the ball down and stepped in front of him.
"Hey, you're the boy from yesterday, right?" I asked.
He put his head down and hugged his bear tighter to himself. I tilted my head to get down to see his face and get his attention.
"What's your name?" He gave no answer, "If I tell you my name, will you tell me yours?"
He slowly nodded his head, but still didn't talk to me.
"My name is Sanako Hayashi. I'm from the Leaf Village." I said proudly, "Now it's your turn. What's your name?"
"Uh…uh…"
He mumbled so quietly that I could barely hear what he had said. I moved closer to his face so I could hear him better, which made his cheeks turn a soft shade of pink.
"Can you say that again?" I asked, "Louder this time, so I can hear you."
"Gaara…m-my name is Gaara."
"Gaara? Hm..why are you sitting all alone, Gaara?"
"Uh…" He hesitated and glanced at the kids behind me. I looked over my shoulder at them as well. They were all standing right where I had left them, gawking in fear. What were they so afraid of? I looked back at Gaara, who had put his head back down like a scolded child. Were they afraid of him? No, no it couldn't be him. He was just a kid, the same age as us. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Come play with us." I smiled innocently at him, "You can be on my team."
His eyes glistened with tears, like this was the first time anyone had ever invited him to play a game before. Not even a second had passed before the light had disappeared from his eyes, replaced with that same sadness as earlier.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." He said solemnly.
I stood up straight and put my hands on my hips.
"Nonsense!" I exclaimed, "It's a perfect idea because I'm the one who came up with it!"
There was no shift in his mood. My face contorted into a pout as I tried to think up an idea to cheer him up.
"Wait right here, don't go anywhere." I said, "I'll be right back."
I hurried back to Nina and the others. If I couldn't get Gaara to come to them, I'll just get them to come to Gaara! They looked shocked as I approached them.
"Hey guys, let's move the game to the swings. I found us an extra player." I said, "Nina, I was thinking he could be on our team and I could help him to-"
"Are you crazy, Konoha?!" Ryu yelled, "Letting him play is the worst idea I've heard all day!"
I was taken back by his outburst. The others nodded their heads in agreement.
"What?" I asked, "Why? He's just a kid."
"He's dangerous, Sanako." Nina muttered to me, "He's very very dangerous."
I pointed over my shoulder to Gaara, who sat still as a statue on the swing set.
"Him?" I asked in disbelief, "No way."
"Yes way, you dolt!" Ryu yelled.
"Listen, we don't expect you to understand, since you're not from around here, but he's a monster." Nina whispered.
I rolled my eyes at them.
"You guys are so dramatic!" I yelled in frustration, "Is the Sand village full of a bunch of cowards who are afraid of a little boy on a swing set? Seriously? Just let him play with us!"
My outburst struck a nerve in the group. They gave me dirty looks, scoffed, and walked away from me. Even Nina walked away with them, her eyes full of anger and disappointment.
"You know," she said, "I actually thought you were cool, but if you wanna get yourself killed, be my guest. Just leave us out of it, ok?"
With that said, they abandoned the park without a second glance back. I glared at their backs as they left, and stuck my tongue out. Cowards, all of them. Afraid of a little boy for no reason at all. With a huff, I started walking back towards Gaara. He looked so sad, sitting there with his little bear. I had to find a way to cheer him up.
"I'm sorry." He said, "It's all my fault."
"Ahh…who needs them anyways, huh? They're obviously not cool enough to hang out with the two most awesomest people in this whole village!"
I grabbed his hand and pulled him off the swing.
"Come on, we'll have our own fun!"
I picked up the ball and dribbled it on my knees. Gaara watched in awe as I showed off my skills. I caught the ball and held it out to him.
"Wanna try it?" I asked.
Gaara, shyly, took the ball out of my hands.
"I don't think I'll be any good at this." He said.
"Well nobody is a master their first time." I giggled, "It takes practice, and a super awesome teacher like me!"
"Ok..if you say so."
"Great!" I threw my fist into the air. "Now, this is what you do. Don't try to dribble it on both knees first. Start with one and figure out the rhythm. It also helps to count so you can get the timing right. Go on, try it."
His first attempt was awkward. He brought his knee up too fast and didn't give the ball enough time to come down, thus missing, and knocking the ball away with his shin. His face turned pink and he looked at the ground.
"No no! That was good!" I reassured him, "You have the right idea, but your technique needs more work."
I ran to retrieve the ball, failing to notice a rock sticking out of the ground. My toes collided with it, and I started falling to the ground. In an instant, a bed of sand appeared and caught me. I froze, in shock, as it carried me back to Gaara and set me on my feet, before falling back to the ground. I looked to Gaara and back to the ground, taking multiple double takes.
"Woah!" I exclaimed, "Did you see-did you see that?! That was amazing!"
I dug through the sand, as if I'd be able to find the exact grains that stopped my fall, repeating over and over how amazing the experience was. Gaara stood next to me, shuffling his feet. I stood in front of him and waved my arms in excitement.
"That was awesome! What was that?!"
Gaara shyly looked away from me.
"It was me.." He said, "I did that."
My jaw dropped.
"That was you?" I asked.
He nodded his head.
"Can you do it again?"
Gaara looked at me with wide eyes.
"Again?" He asked.
"Yeah! Do it again!"
"You're not afraid?"
He sounded surprised at my excitement.
"Why would I be afraid? That was the coolest thing ever!"
"Because…the others are afraid of me."
They were afraid of him for being able to move sand? That seemed rather ridiculous to me. They were surrounded by sand every day, why be afraid of it? It's not like it's going to hurt them. I grabbed Gaara's shoulders and lightly shook him.
"Do you know just how many sandcastles you could build?" I let go of him with a gasp. "No no no! I have a better idea! Let's build a giant sandcastle!"
Gaara's eyes sparkled and he smiled. Finally! I excitedly jumped and clapped my hands. We moved to the center of the park, where no obstacles could get in the way, and began laying out the ground work for our giant sandcastle. Gaara got really detailed with the planning, everything had to be structured safely and precisely, that way there was no risk of it falling down on us while we were inside. We stayed there all day, making sure everything would be perfect before we began the building process.
"I should be going home now," I said, "my auntie will be upset if I'm out too late."
"Oh..ok." Gaara said sadly.
"Don't be sad." I poked his head up to face me, "We'll meet back here tomorrow and start building our awesome sandcastle. Deal?"
"Deal!" Gaara smiled.
I smiled back at him and turned to head home.