Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish I do, but I don't.
My first Naruto fic. This was inspired by the Shippuden ending: Nagareboshi.
Chapter One- First Meetings
It was your typical, warm, sunny day in the village of Suna. Villagers went about their business and shinobis guarded the walls of their beloved village. Inside the Suna Ninja School, a Chuunin teacher had just finished teaching her students the Kage Bunshin No Justsu. The class was still young so their doppelgangers weren't as good as the Genin level, but not bad for beginners. When the last student managed to create another rather weak-looking clone, she decided that it was time to move on to a different lesson.
"That was alright Hiro," Minako Manabe told her student, gently. She prodded him back to his seat. "Keep practicing and you'll get it. Now, why don't we-"
A hand flew in the air.
"Yes Tomoyo?" she called to another student, a young girl with purple hair in pigtails.
"Minako-sensei, you haven't told us yet how Kazekage-sama proposed to you," Tomoyo piped in her cute little voice.
A small blush found its way to Mina's cheeks. Her chocolate-brown eyes flashed to the sparkling ring on her finger. "Well, that's hardly part of our lessons-"
"Sensei, what was your love story like?" another student, Megumi, asked.
"Kids-"
"My brother said you were the reason why Kazekage-sama is the way he is now," a young boy, Dai, announced. "How did that happen?"
"Well, I-"
"Please tell us!" some students chorused.
Mina shook her head at her students. "My personal life is hardly something to be discussed in class."
"But there's only ten minutes left of class," Tomoyo said. "Please, sensei?"
The class flashed her pouty, pleading faces. Mina bit her lip. One thing about teaching children, their cuteness gets to you.
"It's a very long story."
"We don't mind!"
Sighing dejectedly, the eighteen-year old Chuunin settled herself on the edge of her desk.
"Tell you what, if you all do well on your lessons every day, I'll tell you our story bit by it until it's finished. However, you must be able to perform the jutsus I teach you really well, not perfect it, but at least get close. I'll determine when that's possible. Do we have a deal?"
"Yeah!" the class cheered.
Mina chuckled. "Alright. Since you did so well on your first try on the Kage Bunshin, I'll tell you a little bit of my love story with the Kazekage."
Megumi raised her hand. "Can you start with when you first met? How did you meet Kazekage-sama?"
Their sensei smiled softly, remembering that time. "Well, it all started with a shooting star."
Her class tilted their heads to the side. "A shooting star?"
"Hai. A shooting star…"
Eleven Years Ago…
"There! That's the last box!"
A young, sixteen year old girl wiped the sweat from her brow and placed her hands on her hips. She stared around the bare, future living room. Boxes full of belongings occupied the space. Smiling widely, her eyes found her younger sister, a seven year old girl with dark hair and brown eyes, clutching a small rag doll in her arms.
"Well, Mina-chan? What do you think of our new home?" the teenager asked, happily.
The little girl did not smile. Instead, she stared sadly at her older sister, holding her doll closer. "Why did we have to leave home, nee-chan?"
Kari's happy demeanor disappeared and she sighed. She walked up to Mina and kneeled on the floor to her height. She placed two hands on the child's shoulders. "I've already told you, little sister. There were too many bitter memories back home. I don't want you to grow up surrounded by the past. Now that Otou-san and Okaa-san are gone, there's just the two of us left." She pulled the little girl into her arms. "And I promise you Mina, we're going to have a better life here, much better than the life that awaited us if we stayed in the Mist village." She pulled away and wiped the tears that had formed on her little sister's eyes. "Now, why don't you help me unpack these? We can go shopping for the other things we need tomorrow."
Mina forced a smile. "Hai, nee-chan!"
That night, after Kari had put her to bed and turned off the lights, Mina sat up and took her doll, Yuki. She tiptoed quietly to the window next to her bed, opened it, and cautiously climbed out into the small roof. For a while, the young girl just sat there, staring at the dark skies filled with hundreds of little lights. She liked this spot. It had a marvelous view of the village as well as the night sky. Maybe she'll make this her spot. Besides, when she first saw this roof, she knew that she wanted the room that would allow her to get into it. And good thing Kari-nee let her.
Mina sighed, sadly. She missed the Mist village. She missed her house above the little Music schoolroom. Her mother was from the Sound Village but after marrying a Mist Village shinobi, she moved into the Mist village. However, she couldn't live without her music, so she set up a small music school for children who didn't want to become ninjas. Attached to the music school was an instrument shop. The only shinobi in their family was Mina's father and Kari was in training, but for some reason, her older sister did not feel that the shinobi life was her desired life. She preferred her mother's quiet life with music. It was Mina who dreamt of the shinobi life, but their father did not believe her capable. When Mina was born, she was born with weak lungs; too much exertion would cause her to run out of breath. It was hard for her to play with other children because any time, she would feel her chest constrict, unable to fill her lungs with air. Because of this, their father never expected too much from her. To him, Mina was weak and vulnerable, always the one who should be protected.
When their father died during a mission last winter, their mother wilted away. She refused to teach her music so Kari abandoned her Genin status and taught music in their mother's stead. Mina wanted to go to ninja school but like their father, their mother believed her to be incapable of becoming a shinobi because of her condition. Kari begged her little sister to abide by their mother's wishes; her condition might worsen if she finds out that Mina was in ninja school. But not a few months after, their mother died as well. There were too many bitter memories in the Mist village. So Kari decided that the only way for her and her little sister to move on from the grief was to move away. She decided on Suna because it was different from the Mist. So, she sold the school and the shop, packed their belongings, and moved to the Sand village. And here they were.
Mina looked down at her doll and constant companion. "Yuki-chan, I hope everything's going to be alright. I hope nee-chan will be alright too. I know she's still sad and I am too." She breathed the cool night air. "But I have to brave. I have to be just like Otou-san, a brave shinobi. Well… Future shinobi." Smiling, she held her doll up in front of her. "If I can't be a Mist nin, I'll be a Sand nin! That's a promise, Yuki-chan!"
The doll simply smiled up at her. The little girl held her closely and stared up at the sky. "Otou-san, Okaa-san, even if you didn't want me to be a ninja, I'll still do it! I'll exceed your expectations! I'll make you proud of me!"
A streak of light caught her eye. "Look Yuki-chan! A shooting star!" Excitedly, she closed her eyes. "I wish that Suna will become my home. I wish that I'll become a great kunoichi. And… I wish that I'll have a friend."
Smiling widely, Mina continued to watch the night sky.
At the same moment, a small, seven-year old boy with fiery red hair and dark circles under his teal-blue eyes, sat on the roof of his house, clutching a brown teddy-bear. He looked up at the sky, sadly.
I want a friend, he thought. He caught sight of the shooting star. His Uncle Yashamaru said that shooting stars could grant wishes. Maybe he should give it a try.
"I wish… I wish for a friend…"
A couple of days later, after walking home from the grocery store, children playing in the park caught Mina's attention. She paused to watch them, longingly. She didn't have a friend yet and she was getting really lonely. Noticing the look on her little sister's face, Kari prodded her on the back.
"Go on," she said, smiling. "I'll pick you up before sundown."
The little girl's eyes shined. "Really?"
Kari nodded. "Go on, make friends and have fun. Okay?"
Mina squeezed her sister's legs. "Arigatou, onee-chan!"
With Yuki under her arm, Mina skipped happily towards the playing children. "Konnichiwa minna-san! I'm Minako Manabe, it's nice to meet you!"
"Konnichiwa! Wanna play with us?"
"Hai!"
The once lonely little girl finally had friends. She happily played tag with them, made sand castles, and kicked ball. She was having so much fun! And despite the heavy exercise underneath the heat, she didn't lose her breath.
She kicked the bright blue ball and it landed by the swings. "I'll get it!"
She ran towards the swings, but stopped when she saw a boy holding a teddy bear pick it up, tentatively. She was struck speechless with interest. His hair… it was so… different… and pretty. And his eyes were a pretty blue too but how come he has black circles around them? He looked like… He looked like a cute little panda! The boy saw her and looked terrified. So, she smiled at him.
"Hello," she greeted.
He looked startled. "Y-You're… talking to me?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" She tilted her head to the side.
"B-Because… aren't you afraid of me?"
"Why would I be afraid of you?"
He didn't reply, simply looked at her. She gestured to the ball. "Would you like to play with us?"
He looked taken aback. "R-Really?"
Mina beamed at him. "Yeah!"
But no sooner had she said it when several voices screamed, "Mina-chan! No! Stay away from him!"
"Eh?" Mina turned to the other children in astonishment. "What do you mean?"
One of the boys grabbed her arm and began to pull her away. "He's dangerous!"
"Dangerous? He seems nice to me!"
The red-haired boy began to look sadly and longingly at her. What were these other children talking about? He seems really nice and he looked really lonely. He needed a friend.
Using all of her seven-year old strength, Mina pulled her arm away. "No, I'm playing with him! You're all mean!"
And to the other children's surprise, she ran up to the red-haired kid and took the ball from his hands.
"Hey, that's my ball!" one of the girls screamed.
Mina tossed the ball back to them. "You can have your ball back! The two of us are fine without it!"
They all frowned at her.
"Whatever, people from the Mist village are weird," one of the boys said.
Mina felt her blood boil in anger. How dare they insult her home? But before she could do anything, like tackle them to the ground, they all turned on their heels and ran away to the other side of the playground. Crossing her arms, she turned to the red-haired boy.
"Hmph! We don't need them! We can play by ourselves!" she said, taking his hand and pulling him towards the sandbox.
The boy didn't say anything, just stared at her. Noticing this, Mina stopped in her tracks. "What is it? What's wrong?"
In a soft voice, he said, "You want to play with me?"
"Yeah!"
"Why?"
"Why not?"
He didn't reply so Mina just beamed at him. "I'm Minako Manabe! And this is Yuki-chan!" She showed him her doll. "It's nice to meet you!"
Slowly, the boy smiled. "I'm Gaara. And this is Teddy-chan."
"It's nice to meet you Gaa-chan! Teddy-chan! Let's play!"
The rest of the afternoon, the two children played in the sandbox. Mina was amazed that he could control sand so expertly at such a young age. She could barely do a simple ninjutsu yet but Kari promised to enroll her in Suna's Ninja Academy. When the sun was about to set, Kari arrived to take her home. Mina introduced her to her new friend.
When Kari smiled at the young boy and shook his hand, Gaara looked stunned, as if no one had ever talked to him before.
"Can we play again tomorrow Gaa-chan?" Mina asked.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah!"
Gaara smiled. "Yeah!"
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then!"
And with that, Mina waved good-bye to her new friend.
After they left, a long-haired man arrived at the playground. He called to the little boy and Gaara ran to his side, smiling widely.
"Yashamaru, I made a new friend today!"
His uncle's eyes opened wide. "Really?"
"Yeah! She's really nice! She said she wants to play with me again tomorrow!"
"Well, that's good then Gaara. I'm happy for you."
Present Day…
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Mina's students groaned as they prepared to leave. The Chuunin giggled lightly.
"Time to go. Have a nice day everyone!"
"Will you tell us more tomorrow, sensei?"
"If you do well with your Kage Bunshin No Jutsus, then yes. So you better study your scrolls!"
"Hai, sensei. Mata ashita!"
"Mata ashita, minna-san!"