Prologue- The Suna- Konoha Exchange Project.
Long ago, a peace treaty had existed between the countries of Wind and Fire, and the villages Suna and Konoha had been allies. In honor of the anniversary of that alliance, the governments had introduced an exchange project. Students from Suna could go to Konoha for a few months, and the other way round.
Temari was one of the smartest in her class, and she could speak foreign languages with almost no accent. Those were the most important reasons why she was chosen to go to Konoha. She had been excited when she had first heard about it, but now that she was actually going, she wasn't so sure anymore. She had gotten a letter from the girl she would be staying with, and she seemed very nice, but pink hair? The people in Suna were quite old-fashioned in those things, and Temari wasn't sure what to think of it. Would all the people there be so strange?
"Do you have everything?" Kankuro asked. "Passport, food?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," she answered. "I only have to get into the airplane and then I'm off."
Although it was only early spring, it was hot and sweaty in the airport. Many people were hurrying to their planes and yelling things in strange languages. Temari was carrying two suitcases and a bag, all of them quite heavy.
"I hope the weather is better in Konoha," she said to her brother.
Kankuro sighed. "Probably. Man, I wish I could go. I heard the girls are gorgeous there!"
"As if that's the most important thing," Temari said. "It's a great change for my study!"
"But you'll meet other people there, right? Then why not have some fun?"
"It's only for a few months. I'm not planning on falling head over heels in love and then get a long-distance relationship."
Her brother shrugged. "Well then, let's go! Your plane is leaving in twenty minutes."
He gestured another boy to come, who was looking at the display of a wine shop.
"You're too young for that, Gaara. Let's wave our sister good-bye."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming already," Gaara said, with one last, longing look at the bottles. "You know Temari, in Konoha you're allowed to drink! The age limit is lower there."
Temari sighed. "The only things you two care about are alcohol and women! I'm glad I'm leaving!"
But when they said their goodbyes, she cried a little anyway. Four months was a long time, and who knew if the Konoha people would be nice to her?
When the airplane finally set off, she played with her hair and stared out of the small window, to the home she left behind. There was no going back now…
AN: This story was inspired by the second ending of Naruto: Shippuuden, and many high-school-AU fanfics. I'm trying to write something unique, but I'm not sure whether I'll succeed…
It starts with an exchange program; Temari comes to Konoha to study there. The languages are different, Konohan is English and Sunan is… English with some Spanish words. I can't speak Spanish at all, so please forgive my mistakes. It just seemed to fit for Suna.
Of course, there are pairings (inevitable when writing about high school), the main one being ShikaTema. I'm starting with the ones that are currently "canon": one-sided NaruHina and one-sided SasuEveryone-minus-Hinata, but I'm planning on making some romance happening beside ShikaTema. You'll see!
Edit: I was told to drop the Spanish, so I did. I guess it was indeed quite annoying, as an anonymous reviewer stated.