Author's Note: Laptops are featured in the canon Naruto manga by series end. As are phones. Movies are also featured in the anime. Keep in mind that the most I am doing is speeding up the technological timeline slightly in this following section.
Moon Healing and Vintage Book Talks
Chapter One: Two Announcements, Their Repercussions
Gaara passed through a back alley that moonlit Suna evening, dark and shadowy, silent footsteps carefully tracing the trail through the sand, down the stone pathway, past the adobe and stone buildings in rounded shapes to his left, past the fencing on his right. The sands shifted softly in a slight evening breeze around him. In his final year of Academy level tutoring, Gaara was near silent and preferred the back streets where no one was.
He got less glares, less fear that way. He only passed through the main thoroughfares when he was in a killing mood.
Suddenly, he felt his sand make a shield behind him and he stiffened, his eyes widening. That meant… someone was attacking.
Another assassination attempt from Father.
He whirled around only to see a dark-haired male ninja in grey uniform try to retreat after the senbon he had thrown sunk themselves into the swirling sand wall guarding Gaara. Gaara felt fury rise up and choke him. Fury… mixed with anticipation.
Another chance to watch the light leave human eyes. Another chance to prove his existence.
With a slow, cruel smile, he threw out his hand and the sand enclosed around the ninja, lifting him into the air in preparation for a Sand Coffin. The man was struggling fruitlessly. He looked around and his eyes widened.
"No! No, get away!" he barked in distraught alarm.
Talking to a fellow ninja attacker, no doubt. Gaara closed his hand around the ninja's form… and a half-dome of sand came up to guard his deadly serious face as blood rained.
Then he heard a gasp and a sob… and the sand slowly lowered.
A little girl was standing there, sobbing, tears running down her face. "Daddy…?" she whispered, looking at the bloody remains thrown to the ground of what had been her father. She looked up at Gaara…
Not with angry or afraid eyes. But with big, accusing ones. For a moment, he saw the trauma of his own killing of Yashamaru all those years ago reflected in her face, and he saw what he had become.
And Gaara wasn't supposed to be human. This wasn't supposed to affect him.
But deep down, something inside him… snapped.
Rasa, Gaara's father, lay back against his pillow in sober pondering. He was on a raised platform, on a cushion, dressed in Kazekage robes, hidden from all who served him behind several screens. It was a useful facade… it kept up an illusion of god-like untouchability.
Rasa's children, of course, were subject to the same rigor as everyone else.
But this time it was Rasa's children who were the problem.
Baki, a solemn, dark-skinned, muscular man, deadly loyal with a deep voice and one of his top advisors, knelt on the lower level behind the screen before him. Rasa could see the shadow of his figure through the screen, every bodily movement always distinct in case of sudden attack.
"… Gaara still hasn't left his quarters?" Rasa confirmed seriously at last.
"No. He saw the attacker's daughter, and…" Baki sounded bewildered at the reaction. "It should not have affected him," Rasa heard Baki say softly. "He is not human."
Rasa didn't bother to correct him. To do so would have been counterproductive to Rasa's ultimate purpose.
"I want a full report, Baki. What is going on with him?"
"He… his sand is swirling madly around his quarters, but no one can get in. He has locked all his doors. We think he may be causing the sandstorm that has been raging in Suna for days. People hear strange sounds, even sobbing, behind the door. He hasn't eaten. We know he hasn't slept.
"Everyone who tries to come in, he injures… but no one has been killed, that's what's odd. It is unusual for Gaara, in the state he is in. But the point is… no one can get close.
"His siblings are… worried," Baki added cautiously, as if worried himself as to how Rasa would react to this piece of information.
Instead, Rasa sighed. "I had thought… that constantly attacking him would make him strong enough to handle being our perfect weapon. Perhaps I… miscalculated.
"Perhaps my story has become correct. Maybe he cannot be the perfect weapon, after all."
"You really want him killed this time?!" said Baki in surprised alarm.
"No," said Rasa irritably, absently, as if this should be obvious. "He is my son.
"So what to do…
"What if we sent him to another village? Fresh start? As a junior ambassador to whoever is already in charge of that village?"
"The obvious option would be Konoha, our biggest close ally…" said Baki cautiously. He sounded surprised. Rasa couldn't see his face. One of the only things he didn't like about the screen.
"Yes… Kind-hearted Konoha… What a sentimental fool I am when it comes to my children," Rasa mused, not entirely understanding the irony of his own words.
Then his next words rang out sharply, the old Kazekage returning:
"Get Konoha on the phone. I want to talk to the Third Hokage, and then the current adult Konoha ambassador. Now.
"And tell Gaara from outside his door… tell him no one there will be told anything about him," Rasa decided at last, frowning, troubled. "Maybe that will get him to come out."
The words pierced through Gaara's door and his mind haze. Temari's voice. She sounded desperately upset.
"Gaara, you're going to another village!"
Gaara paused… and all the sand in his quarters paused around him. He was curled up on the floor, clutching at his chest.
"Wh… what?" he said in a hoarse, shaky voice.
"You're going to become junior ambassador in Konoha village, alongside our senior ambassador, and you're going to become a ninja there instead. No one will know anything about you, Father has confirmed. You… no one will try to kill you, and you won't have to kill anyone."
There were actually tears in Temari's voice.
Gaara's mind spun. "He is sending… his failed experiment… away," he whispered, his eyes widening. "Too much liability, but too hard and expensive to kill…"
Another village. No one would know anything about him. No one would try to kill him. He wouldn't have to kill anyone.
He might never see this hateful place again.
"Look, you - you gotta come out, man." Kankurou sounded actually worried. "You're making a trip to Konoha. You have to eat something."
Suddenness pierced through Gaara's mind like a kunai throw. He was going somewhere. He had a trip. He stood jerkily.
"Alright, I'm… I'm coming," he said, his mind still… spinning.
He was coming. He was coming. To a place he had never been before.
A place he had always scathingly been told was full of greenery, and kind. Nothing like harsh, strict desert Suna.
What… would this even be like? Those people, they would really know… nothing, of his inhumanity?
Gaara stood in front of the Hokage's massive office desk. This Kage, a little old wizened man in robes with a wood pipe, sat at a simple desk set before windows and looked him straight in the eye. Beyond and below were the white spires and swirling shapes and colors of Konoha… and the greenery. Greenery everywhere. Cool, clear forest air.
Gaara's gourd of sand was strapped to his back. The senior Suna ambassador stood beside him.
"I have been told you are used to tutoring…" the Third Hokage mused. "Here, you will go into our senior, final-year Konoha Ninja Academy class instead. When the time comes, you will be added on as an extra to one select three-person Konoha Genin team."
"Understood," said Gaara coldly, standing stiff and looking straight ahead.
The Suna ambassador looked unsurprised, but the Third Hokage seemed weirdly… concerned.
"Gaara. I am your leader now," he said. Gaara held back his contempt. But then: "And I will treat you like one of my highly valued ninja. I worry about you. I do hope you will… level out. Connect with others."
Gaara frowned in bewilderment.
Yes. Konoha was indeed a strange place.
Gaara stood beside Umino Iruka, a cheerful young man with a brown ponytail, who had yet again treated him with bizarre kindness. Gaara now faced his new… classmates, he supposed, who were all in tiered rows in the Academy lecture hall before him.
"This is our new student Gaara, of the Kara clan, a transfer to Konoha," said Iruka with absurd pleasantness. Konoha cared greatly for clan names. He supposed he was Kara Gaara now. "He is our new junior Suna village ambassador, an assistant to the senior. The Kazekage's youngest son, given to our village to become a Konoha ninja. I hope you will all treat him with respect."
"Ha! No one ever treats me with respect!" Uzumaki Naruto, class clown extraordinaire, shouted loudly from his seat. Gaara's eyes narrowed… but he pushed back the old desire to attack.
That little girl's face still stood stark and clear, surprisingly disturbing, in his mind.
"That's because you're an idiot," said Haruno Sakura, bossy and brainy, with crippling bluntness from beside him. Naruto's face lit up in indignant protest.
"Hey, don't be like that, Sakura-chan…!"
But Uchiha Sasuke had snorted quietly, scathing and dark and silent, dour and handsome, and Sakura turned around to him beaming eagerly on her other side. Yamanaka Ino, popular and crafty, immediately pushed herself in between Sakura and Sasuke from the seat above.
"I'm funnier than Forehead Girl," Ino declared.
"Shut up, Ino-pig!" Sakura shrieked.
Sasuke was now not the only one who looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. Gaara in his own stoical, hard to read, loner way seemed similarly skeptical.
Naruto was watching Sakura, frowning and longing. Hyuuga Hinata, a wallflower unnoticed by everyone, fiddled with her fingers and stared after Naruto with timid shyness and almost equal longing.
"Gaara, please take your seat, because we have one another announcement to make," said Iruka politely.
Gaara walked slowly and quietly to a seat in the back and top of the lecture hall, setting his gourd down beside him.
"Our next guest… is a new Konoha Jounin her own right, a full adult." Iruka smiled mischievously. "Please welcome… genjutsu specialist Yuuhi Kurenai!"
All the girls gasped and looked on in envious awe as the woman walked in. At first glance, Yuuhi Kurenai seemed everything a kunoichi was supposed to be: tall, glamorous, and curvy, sensual in a wrap dress with long thick curls of black hair, gleaming red lips, and brilliant, striking, dangerous crimson eyes. She had a low, smoky voice and when she stopped in front of the class and spoke, her smile was kind but her eyes were serious and watchful.
"Hello, everyone," she said. "Some of you have seen me before. I used to teach part time here back when I was a Chuunin, and my father is Academy headmaster."
"You do illusions?!" said Inuzuka Kiba eagerly, loud and brash with his barking dog fighting partner beside him.
"That I do," said Kurenai, nodding and smiling. "I am a brand new Jounin level kunoichi, and to celebrate, I thought I would do something very particular. Iruka, do I have the floor?"
"You do," said Iruka, nodding, standing back and smiling. "I heard the idea and I thought it was fantastic. It's a wonderful opportunity."
"So." Kurenai clasped her hands together and smiled before them. "This particular offering is for the women in the class. Women are noticeably lesser in the Konoha forces, and are especially absent in the higher ranks.
"I have decided that must change.
"Therefore, each of you will come into the counseling office for a single mentor session with me. If you'd like, I can then mentor you further, but only one session is required. I will try to help you and make the case to make you a stronger kunoichi, and a more well rounded individual outside of issues like romance.
"I want more women to be like me. The meetings will take place over the course of the following week, and for budding kunoichi. Please let me help you.
"Thank you."
She gave a slight bow and stepped back. A buzz of excited chatter suddenly erupted in the classroom. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata all looked… surprised, awed, and curious.
Ino had her meeting with Kurenai first. She sat down across from Kurenai in the counseling office. Nothing was between them; they sat in two chairs, facing each other.
"You're going to tell me to give up romance, aren't you?" said Ino, tossing her ponytail of platinum blonde hair in an all knowing sort of way.
"Oh, no, Ino," said Kurenai steadily, surprising her. "I will tell each girl in turn: who you like romantically is your business. Just because a woman is in love, that does not make her weak.
"My point is that you should also have an outside life not defined by romance and strong shinobi skills. So that is what we will be working on.
"I will make this even easier on you. I will help you find a way to channel your interests through the virtual world so important to people of your age group. More than that, I will help you do that channeling in a creative way. I personally find creativity to be important.
"So - a creative, virtual hobby that showcases your interests. And stronger shinobi skills.
"What are your current shinobi skills, Ino?"
"Well… I'm learning the Yamanaka body hostage takeover through mind…" Ino said slowly, and then winced.
"That is it? And how useful would that be in battle, compared to something like long distance body control, long distance mind reading, and long distance mind attack or manipulation?"
"Not… very…" Ino admitted sheepishly, ducking her head.
"This is your hint. An attractive kunoichi is a strong one. You could do better, I think, in training with your father, could you not, Ino?"
For once, Yamanaka Ino had nothing to say. She looked a little ashamed of herself.
"I… don't have any excuse. My father does want to help me. I'm not untalented. I don't even need you for training," she admitted at last. "I guess… I guess I just always found popularity and boys to be more… important."
Kurenai was unreadable for a moment. "Understandable," she said at last. "But remember: you are a ninja first. Now tell me. What is your favorite hobby?"
"Shopping," said Ino, perking up.
"You like fashion."
"Yes!"
Kurenai smirked. "So to go with your growing crafty, mind manipulation Yamanaka battle skills… what about fashion blogging?"
Ino slowly… perked up in interest.
Sakura came next.
Kurenai gave her the same beginning talk, and then their thoughts turned to what Sakura could do better. Sakura looked curious, thoughtful.
"I don't have any family shinobi abilities," was the first thing she said. "I'm a rookie in the truest sense. That's why I'm not stronger."
"Well, what are you good at?" said Kurenai intently, interested. "Best Academy scores, for example."
"I'm the top of my class in intellect grades," said Sakura proudly. "And… oh! Also, I have insanely high scores in chakra control."
Kurenai paused.
"Have you considered…. genjutsu? What I do?"
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.
"Genjutsu uses finely honed chakra to manipulate the opponent's cerebral nervous system, and give them detailed, intelligent images, sounds, and sensations that are not in fact real. The genjutsu user then usually attacks from elsewhere while their opponent is distracted and purposefully fighting something unreal, either before or after exhausting the opponent with the genjutsu illusion."
"That… sounds awesome," Sakura admitted, frankly impressed.
Kurenai nodded and smirked. "If you are willing to be trained by me… I can personally help you with that."
Sakura gasped and brightened, delighted. She nodded so fast her head looked like it was about to bob off. "Okay!" she said eagerly.
All she'd needed was for someone to give her a training chance, all along.
"Now, let's turn to your hobbies," said Kurenai. "What are you deeply interested in?"
"Well, I like puzzles… but there's no real way to make that a creative, virtual hobby…" said Sakura slowly, finger to her lips. Kurenai seemed to silently agree. "I like… books, ideas…"
"That's a good one! You like books. Do you also like the political and philosophical ideas behind the books?" said Kurenai immediately.
"Yes!" said Sakura, smiling with certainty.
"Book and political blogger. Definitely for you. Does that sound good?"
"It does," Sakura admitted.
"Okay. Then next. I asked Ino this same thing: Do you want to be public or anonymous? She chose public."
"Oh… that sounds like Ino, but I'm not Ino," Sakura admitted, in a moment of vulnerable genuineness looking down and smiling a little sadly. "I'd… like to be anonymous."
She looked up firmly, nodding once.
"Alright," said Kurenai. "Anonymous book and political blogger it is."
Hinata's meeting was last, and she sat down timidly across from Kurenai. She was given the same spiel, but her expression was painfully downcast and she did not seem as comforted as Ino and Sakura had been.
"What's wrong?" said Kurenai, frowning.
"It's just…" Hinata looked down, fiddled with her hands, and whispered. "I've been trying to train in my clan abilities for years… I'm just very weak… Too kind, not fierce enough…
"And… I feel too shy to really do anything creative online."
"Let me see," said Kurenai, sympathetic and assessing. "The Hyuuga specialize in all seeing X ray Byakugan eyes and the Gentle Fist, a graceful taijutsu style involving soft and deadly touches to vital areas with highly controlled chakra bursts. Yes?"
Hinata nodded timidly. "C… Correct."
"Then your problem… is psychological." Kurenai nodded. "I can help you with that, too!"
Hinata straightened in surprise.
"One of my specializations is psychology." Kurenai smiled mischievously. "Once I have decided to personally tutor you, I can train you in how to be a fiercer, more confident, more skilled, and deadlier opponent.
"It is all in the mind, Hinata. As a psychology expert, do you trust me? To help you without turning you into a monster? I promise, it is possible."
Hinata paused… and then nodded slowly, eyes wide, surprised, and awed.
"Very good," said Kurenai, straightening. "You will be impressing that skeptical family of yours in no time."
Hinata looked skeptical of this herself, but she had agreed and she chose to say nothing.
"So - what are your interests?"
"Crafting," said Hinata softly, becoming more comfortable at last with Kurenai. She looked curious. "Flower pressing, making herbal remedies…"
"So you like herbs and little crafty activities. And you strike me as a very soft-spoken, healing person. It is a good thing," she said, smiling, when Hinata began to look downcast. "Not a bad one. Self acceptance is the first step on the road to true strength.
"Have you considered a particular kind of healing - an ASMR channel?"
Hinata paused, considering. "Could I be… anonymous?" she asked at last, tentatively.
"Certainly. Just never show your face to the camera. Show your hands doing something instead, for example," said Kurenai, smiling kindly. "It is perfect for you - healing, calming, and soft spoken. What do you think?"
"… I think," said Hinata at last frankly, "that if you could both help me with that, and help me to be a stronger Hyuuga kunoichi… that would be a great feat indeed."
Kurenai smirked. "I like a challenge. Let's try it," she said playfully.
And so, even as the girls' stronger ninja training began, the websites went up.
Hinata's was Soft Moon ASMR. The website channel aesthetic was filled with gentle, imaginative Neverland and Alice in Wonderland themes, fanciful pictures in soft and gentle pastel colors.
She was anonymous, as promised.
Sakura's book and political blog was Vintage Girl Talks. It was in classy black and white colors and lettering with little bits of princess and natural flairs.
No one would know who either girl was.
Hinata started making videos. Sakura started blogging. Meanwhile, they had both begun ninja training separately… with Kurenai.
On different days, each girl stood nervous and determined across a training field from Kurenai.
"Let's begin," said Kurenai to each separate girl, looking deadly precise, eyes narrowed.
Gaara sat in the back of the class, wary. He talked to no one, remaining a stoical and hard-faced loner. He didn't trust anyone, and wasn't sure what to make of this new Konoha kindness.
But without his goal of killing people anymore, he felt lost. He was suddenly immersed in an entirely foreign culture, a kind and accepting but also economical one, in a foreign landscape filled with trees, with no family with all the good and bad that entailed, and he had no idea what to do about it.
He kept his head down and aced his Academy work, but he had never been in a normal classroom full of people who didn't care about him before, being used to tutoring, and deep down he felt like he was swimming.
And everything else about the Academy remained surprisingly predictable and unchanged. Naruto was the class clown. Sakura was the bossy brainiac. Sasuke was the dour and silent, handsome one. Hinata was the shy wallflower. Ino was the crafty popular girl.
Ino and Sakura liked Sasuke. Naruto liked Sakura. Much more secretly, Hinata liked Naruto. Sasuke, determined to be alone, refused to like anyone.
It would take a while, for the differences to begin to show themselves. And interestingly?
The first differences didn't exactly start in the classroom.
Sasuke couldn't sleep one night.
He tossed and turned, but it was one of those nights. Not a night of normal insomnia - Sasuke didn't have those. No, this was a night when the empty, echoing silence of the Uchiha Compound ate away at him, when in the shadows and darkness around his pallet he was consumed by the ghosts of horrific images and memories.
His brother had his bloody sword lifted above their parents' bodies in front of him.
Sasuke growled in frustration and turned away with a thump on his bed, trying to get that damn image out of his head. He had to sleep right now! He had school tomorrow!
Finally, he sighed and gave it up as a bad job, opening his laptop. Not sure what to type, finally he Googled, "Insomnia Remedies."
A list of ASMR videos popped up. He clicked through some… and it took a few contemptuous tries. He didn't connect with any of the videos that appeared first. He was about to give this up, too, assuming it was just another dumb fad -
He clicked on one last video link.
It was a girl, someone who went by the moniker of Soft Moon - the channel being a Neverland and Alice in Wonderland sort of affair full of fanciful images and pastel colors. She never showed her face - which was interesting all in its own right. She seemed young, like him, but all he saw were a pair of pale, graceful hands. He couldn't even recognize her voice. He'd already realized that ASMR voices and regular speaking voices were sometimes totally different.
"Flower arrangement," the soft, soothing voice began, "is often thought to be a female art, but in olden times some of the best at arts like flower arrangement and tea ceremony were in fact male. So tonight, I will be teaching anyone of both sexes more about the ancient art of arranging flowers…"
And her soothing, soft voice took him through the basics, and he watched her graceful, soft, pale hands move… And slowly… he fell into a mesmerized state…
The video ended and he looked up, taking a deep breath. He was… weirdly calm. And the specters were gone. All he was left in was a dark, empty nighttime bedroom.
He felt much more ready to sleep, and decided this warranted a rare foray into communication. With genuine gratefulness, he typed in the comment box, "I don't usually watch these sorts of things, and I don't usually comment on videos, but this was superb." He paused, then added: "I was caught up in memories and nightmares tonight, and this really helped me. Thank you."
He clicked Send.
To his surprise, he got a response. She must be up, too, after having finished editing and posted the video.
"You're welcome! :) It makes me glad I could help, so you have given me a great gift too. Thank you."
He smiled a little, feeling unusually warm. This girl… she seemed nice. Whoever she was. Unusually kind. Used to abrasive personalities and strict expectations, he found this, too, to be oddly soothing.
Feeling bold, he opened a private messaging communication with her. "Are you a Genin? You seem my age."
A little to his surprise, she responded. Her channel seemed fairly new. Perhaps that was why. Or perhaps she was just… open to communicating. "I'm in my final Academy year. Are you a Genin?"
"No. Final Academy year as well."
She seemed to take him in stride. It probably helped that she had no idea who he was and couldn't see his face. So she wasn't fawning all over him.
"Well, I don't know what nightmares brought you to my channel, but thank you for your kind words. You are a boy?"
"How did you know?"
"Well, you are anonymous but you carry lots of videos of male punk rockers. So either you are a boy, or you have several celebrity crushes."
Sasuke snorted despite himself and smirked. "Yeah, I'm a guy. As for the nightmares… I was remembering my family dying."
"I am sorry. So young." Oddly enough, she seemed sorry.
He felt weirdly like he wanted to talk about it. "I guess you get this a lot. People who come to you telling you their problems. It must get annoying."
"Not as often as you might think, so far. And I don't mind. I like feeling like I can help people."
"Why the interest in helping?"
"Well… I am from a very strict clan. Harsh expectations. I am very kind and not a natural talent, at least not compared to my sister. So I always feel like everyone is a little disappointed in me. I feel inferior, weak. But I have come to value my kindness lately. And I like helping people. When I help people… I don't feel so useless."
Sasuke was a little taken aback by the honesty.
"Kindness isn't weakness. It's perfect for lots of different parts of being a ninja, from team cohesion to healing abilities. No offense, but your clan sounds dumb."
"… Thank you. :) I am trying to get stronger!"
"So am I. I guess I had a childhood background similar to yours. Big clan. Always feeling weak, inferior, like a disappointment. Always being shown up by my brother. Then my brother killed our clan and went rogue. Missing nin. I was so blinded by envy and admiration, I hadn't noticed him becoming unstable from all the pressure of having to be perfect. So now I have to get stronger - to defeat him, and avenge my clan."
He regretted sending the message immediately after sending it, and so added, "Sorry. Probably too much information. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."
"No, not at all!" she messaged back quickly. Then: "… That sounds very hard. To be always trying to best someone invisible, who you always remember as being better than you at everything."
No one had ever put it to him that way. He had a weird lump in his throat. What a bizarre place to find a connection. "… I guess. I don't know, I try not to think about how 'hard' it is or isn't too much."
"I might have to take that advice." Then: "I think you'd make for a good ANBU agent."
Sasuke paused - and surprised himself by smiling a little. "You don't even know me."
"But I know people. I have a good feeling about people."
Sasuke's smile widened despite himself. "Thank you. Sorry about all the serious stuff. So you noticed my music?"
"I'll talk ASMR, crafty arts, and herbs if you talk punk rock music."
He paused for a split second. "… Deal."
Maybe sleep could wait till another night after all. There was a strangely intimate new connection to be had.
He had a whole beginning channel's worth of videos to get through anyway.
Gaara never slept. He couldn't - the demon he was surprised his father had given up made sure of that.
But one night he was alone in his room in Suna ambassador quarters, and he was on his computer. He never slept, and so he always had to find other ways to occupy his time.
Tonight, he had a specific mission. He was looking up Konoha viewpoints to read about. He was still trying to find his way around this bizarre, neutral, kind new place.
He found a blog - Vintage Girl Talks - a classic, chic black and white lettering sort of affair with princess and natural aesthetic elements. He clicked through some posts, most of them concerning Konoha literature and politics… and he started reading.
After a certain point, he realized on an intellectual level he had a certain respect for this girl. She was intelligent. She was very different from him - much more idealistic - but as he slowly began to see Konoha through her eyes, he realized that was kind of the point.
Whoever this girl was, she was somewhere in Konoha - and opinionated, emotional, sensitive, brilliant, forward, and idealistic, from humble clan beginnings, she was a Konoha girl through and through. He realized after a while that she also had to be at least a training ninja.
He was surprised when he saw a brand-new post suddenly pop up on her website screen. She was awake, like him. He read through the latest post - and then made an oddly tentative, thoughtful comment:
"I have been dealing more with Konoha for diplomatic reasons, and this blog helped me see things in more perspective. So thank you. Keep it up."
He had already made an anonymous account and followed the blog.
She replied almost immediately: "Thank you! That's perfect for this, I'm glad I could help! Anything in particular stick out to you? Go ahead and message me if you'd like."
He paused at the invitation - shrugged and opened a message box. More than anyone else in Konoha, she truly didn't know who he was. Why not?
"I was particularly interested by your portrayal of Konoha culture through fiction. I like a lot of what might be called darker movies - gritty crime, horror - I'm one of those guys, which I guess could be considered a stereotype. Anyway, there are some Konoha movies I now have to look through. You're a ninja, right?"
"Oh, I could talk for hours about book to movie adaptations! In any case, yes, I'm in my final year of Academy training - in Konoha, obviously. I'm studying genjutsu."
… Genjutsu.
"I'm in the same year. Illusions. One of the only types of abilities that has a chance at besting mine. Fooling someone into putting all their ammunition into thinking they're attacking something they're actually not. Impressive. How good are you?"
"Starting out. You're pretty confident in your abilities."
"My abilities are one of the only things I'm good for."
"… That sounds concerning. Explain?"
Well. That was forward and honest.
How did he explain this without giving away who he was?
"My father tried to kill me continuously from a young age, all the while training me furiously in shinobi abilities. I am from a big family. So I was simply always becoming stronger. I have only recently gotten out from under the thumb of my family."
"So in diplomatic situations… you feel a little lost." She seemed surprisingly understanding and sympathetic.
"To put it mildly," he wrote dryly. "I used to kill anyone who hurt me, without thinking. I gave that up, too… when I realized one night I didn't want to be hurting people in the same way they'd hurt me. Now I don't know what to do."
He realized what he'd sent and added sharply: "My apologies. This was inappropriate and too much information."
"No, no, don't be sorry at all! To try to change yourself like that under those kinds of circumstances… I think that's really admirable."
"You are definitely a Konoha ninja. Thank you, but you are treating me like I'm human."
"I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary."
She had never met him, but this still made him feel oddly… warm. "That is… considerate and thoughtful of you, I must admit."
"Thanks. I'm trying hard, because I haven't had any experiences anywhere near yours. My parents are always fighting, and I was bullied as a little girl, but that is nothing compared to what you've gone through."
The thought of this girl being bullied made him feel oddly angry. "You should never put up with someone who treats you badly. And don't belittle your experiences."
Then, his next message "I was bullied too. The isolating kind."
"It's lonely, isn't it?"
He swallowed back a sharp breath of surprising emotion. "… Yeah. It is."
"I was saved by someone who became my first friend. We had a big fight since and we don't get along anymore, but I guess I'm still grateful to her…. Huh. Thanks. You made me realize something about myself as well."
"… You are welcome." He was surprised. "Human self discoveries are not something I'm usually good at helping with."
"Maybe with your new resolutions you're improving!"
"…. Maybe." He remained skeptical. Or maybe she was just a kind person.
To his surprise, she sent him a laughing face. Then she added mischievously, "So… about those book to movie adaptations… how good are you in debate?"
He smirked at the screen, a little amused despite himself. "Bring it on."
And so a rousing debate began.
The next day, four people never revealed it, but each of them was wondering about one other. Gaara was still thinking about Vintage Girl. Sasuke was still thinking about Soft Moon.
Hinata was still thinking about the boy she had talked to last night. He was trying hard despite facing impossible odds, not unlike Naruto, but she could connect more to this boy and some of his experiences the way she never could have with Naruto's. They had talked kindly. Each valued something they didn't have in the other. He had supported her even in the face of her clan, seemingly without fear though they had never met. He could even understand what it was like… feeling ignored, dark, silent.
Sakura was still thinking about the boy she had talked to last night. Intelligent, deadpan humorous, and dark but trying to reform, he had a lot of the things she prized most. That he was from a huge clan and seemed very confident in his ninja abilities did not help her constant thoughts at all. But surprisingly, unlike Sasuke, he seemed to value her opinions and had validated her own experiences - even though they were not like his. He could understand being a bully victim, her greatest secret. And he was a surprisingly good communicator and an excellent debater. His mind was active, lively, and razor sharp.
The first boy was not Naruto. The second boy was not Sasuke.
But in each case, in some ways they seemed more intoxicating than Sakura and Hinata's actual, real-life crushes. The problem was… each of the four assumed they had never met.
And so everyone went back into the normal Academy classroom dynamic and acted like nothing had happened.
But as Sakura and Hinata sat down at their desks that morning… each girl found a slip of paper folded inside there. On the paper - was Kurenai's next training meeting at an empty training field with them.
Kurenai seemed deeply invested in both girls getting stronger.
And so Sasuke said little to Hinata in real life - and Sakura said little to Gaara. Their connection, for the time being, remained virtual and anonymous.