Of course I don't own Naruto
Chapter 1
Rasa was eagerly waiting for his guests at his mansion. It was a rare occasion that all of his children needed to be present as well, after all this dinner was only half professional. He made his children dress up formally though, ordered Gaara to leave his teddy in the room, and as it was expected, he told them to behave well.
The guests he was waiting for, were a special family, who had an interesting story, as well as an interesting and long travel behind them, 5 years to be exact. His fingers were already iching to read the long awaited report scroll, from that secretive country.
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Gaara didn't like formal dinners, he just wanted to be with his uncle, but Yashamaru got assigned a small mission two days ago.
He remembered that in the few times he needed to participate in these sort of events, the guests were always looking at him, like he is a monster. He saw how his siblings were shooting glances at him, and then rapidly looking away with the same scared expression. His feelings of abandonment and loneliness started to surface, it already began when his uncle went away for the mission, but he could avoid other people by just staying in his room, which tonight was not an option.
"Ohh finally! Welcome! Welcome Kizashi!" heard he the voice of his father, which sounded more cheerful and happy than ever before. The Kazekage went further to great his guests, a couple who had big smiles on their faces.
"Rasa! How long have it been?" came further the man with a hair color similar to his father, only leaning more into the pink side, His hair was also shaped like a flower.
Gaara's gaze traveled to the arriving woman, she had short dark blonde hair, and wore a white figure hugging dress, which stroke the redheaded boy as something foreign. When his eyes traveled down on that dress to see the clan symbol, he saw a small pink something behind the woman. His first thought was, that it was a a kind of weapon to attack him, but when he focused he saw little hands clutching the woman's dress. Gaara was taken a back when a little head appeared under that pink, with eyes he couldn't describe.
The littler girl looked up at the woman and said something that Gaara could not make sense off.
"Mama, tamen shi shei?"
"Ahya, xiaoying, tamen shi women de pengyou."
Gaara saw the little girl look at him more curiously, and then she did something, that until now only one person did for him, she smiled, shyly and waved at his direction. Not knowing what to do, he awkwardly waved back.
Sakura was sitting in her chair, picking her food. This was not really what she was used to, she continued to miss the special dishes she grew up with, and still didn't understand why they came here.
Her parents told her the complicated story, that they were originally from here, and were there for a mission, but she didn't want to believe. Her parents language, culture, food and family linked them to that land, and she saw how happy they were there.
Her mom scolded her when she expressed these thoughts on their long journey. It took them more than 6 months to arrive, and Sakura cried every night missing her friends, the ayis who always gave her the street foods they were making, the shushus who told her incredible stories about creatures she didn't know existed. Like the white snake who fell in love with a human, the fox spirits, the butterfly lovers, and her favourite one, the jian bird. Although the shushu always said that the jian bird's story is not as interesting as the other stories, she was still drawn to it, and requested that many times.
She missed all of this, and decided many moons ago, that when she grows up, in one way or another, she will return.
Sakura looked over at the table, she still couldn't understand this language they were speaking, it sounded nothing like her thoughts in her head. Her dad and the other grown up man were talking and laughing, with her mom joining them a few times. The brunette and blonde kids only talked with each other, although more quietly, with some laughs between them too. The only other person at the table who was not speaking was the little red haired boy, he was also looking down at his plate, like her. A sprinkle of hope came to her, thinking that maybe he doesn't understand what they say either, and maybe he could understand her.
She stood up, and walked over to him, not realizing the shocked looks she got from some of the people at the table. She stopped next to him, and asked
"Ni jiao shi shen me? Wo shi xiaoying." she smiled brightly at him.
After his surprised expression did not change, and did not answer, she grew tense, feeling embarrassed she misjudged him.
"Xiaoying, ta bu shuo putonghua." she heard her mother's clarification, which she already could guess, while feeling her face getting more warm. But before she could turn away and run to her mom to hide, she heard his voice for the first time.
"Umm...I'm sorry...what did she say?" he asked while looking at her mom, and she felt reassured when she saw him blushing too.
"She wanted to know your name, she is Xiaoying." smiled her mother from the other side of the table.
"Xiaoying." he said it turning at her. His pronunciation left something to be desired, but she still felt touched he tried to call her on her original name, not on her translated version. "Gaara" he said while pointing at himself. Sakura understood that it's his name, and tried to say it.
"Gaara" it rolled down from her tongue a bit hard, not knowing if she stressed the right syllable. This was the first word she learned from this new language.
Gaara felt something warm building up in his little chest, from the way this girl was looking at him and said his name. He had a crazy thought, that she could be his friend.
"Ahh, but Kizashi, don't you want for the people to learn her name in nihongo?" said his father, while with his palm pointing at Xiaoying.
"Gomen, gomen" scratched the other man his head "Her name is Sakura, in translation." Gaara looked over at her again, seeing the small pouting of her lips, and her cheeks puffing up.
"You know that it will be better for her, to learn the language quickly and to assimilate."
"I know, gomen gomen" laughed the other man.
"We were hoping she would pick up some on the road, but she was stubborn." said the blonde woman. "From tomorrow she will start her learning."
Gaara looked at her again, and saw the pouting disappear, and instead, she had drops of tears in her eyes. Gaara didn't know what to do, she wanted to see her smile again, but didn't speak her language to be able to sooth her. He only knew one word.
"Xiaoying" he whispered to her, and saw that this had an effect. Her eyes turned bigger, and a small blush appeared on her face. It was not a smile like Gaara hoped for, but it still made him happy, with a strange feeling on his stomach and chest.
_
The next day, Gaara was having lunch with his uncle and told him about Xiaoying and asked why are they here, not that he minded. The girl was the first person who was the same age as him, who didn't seem scared of him, and maybe wanted to be friends.
"Ohh, the Chunye clan? Well their story is a bit long, and I don't know every detail."
"Please" he begged his uncle with his fingers laced together.
"Okay okay" Yashamaru smiled sweetly "The Chunye were a family that migrated here around when the Fire country was build. They come from a far away land, from the west. Their country has a long history."
"As long as ours?"
"Longer, much longer. Our culture, almost everything comes from there."
"I thought that it comes from Fire country!"
"Our ninja system comes from there, but our food, writing, clothing, gods and even parts of the language comes from there."
"How? How do we not talk about it if it's that important?"
"That country was the center of the world at one point, but then it lost it's power, and people grew poor. The Chunye came here in seek for a better life and settled."
"You met yesterday the last three members of the clan, your father sent them away to that country for a report, and potential business." that part did not interest Gaara, he wanted to learn more about this far away land and about Xiaoying.
"What made that country poor?" he asked, with big eyes full of anticipation.
"I'm not sure, I only heard a story, saying a bird flew across the sky, and the land was burning." this made Gaara shiver, and an anger build up in him.
"How could father send them to a dangerous place like that?" he shouted, which shocked his uncle, since he was generally calm, acting like this only when Shukaku "They are alright, Gaara" his uncle hold his wrist in a soothing way "A fire can not last for over hundreds of years, ask this little girl about her home."
"She doesn't speak our language." he said, still being angry. Yashamaru was glad, that it seemed Shukaku has no connection to his behaviour.
"Do you want to learn her language?" asked his uncle in such a casual way, as if to ask, does he want to try grilled snake.
"Can I?" he smiled brightly, forgetting about his previous wrath.
"Don't tell your father, okay?" he nodded eagerly, after all, his father didn't approve of many things he liked to do. "We have a few scrolls about it, but I warn you, it's a hard language to learn."
"I want to know what she says!" he said so eagerly, that his uncle just shook his head, thinking how this little girl sparked such a high hope in his nephew.
Sakura was playing in the sand, at least that's what her parents thought, she on the other hand just was angry and destroyed every sand castle she build.
Her tutor didn't speak Putonghua at all, she only grew frustrated, thinking everyone around them wants her to forget about her home. And when she got back, she saw that her mom was not even wearing her normal white dress, but something resembling what the woman wore here. And on top of it all, her parents had the genius idea, to stop speaking to her in Putonghua, and instead speak in this language. She was so angry, and just run out of the house, screaming at them.
The sand took all her weak punches, and was warm, she actually liked sand, just didn't like what it came with. Her tutor even refused to call her by her name, saying she is Haruno Sakura. They not only took her home away, but her name as well.
She was so angry, she didn't realize there was someone approaching her, although a bit shyly.
"Xiaoying" came the voice of the little boy from yesterday. As soon as she heard, her rampage on the castles stopped, or evaporated. Someone was finally calling her by her name, calling out the real her. She turned to him, not fully knowing what she was expecting to see.
He had a small, old scroll in his hands, opened up, and a shy grin on his lips.
"Wo shi Gaara" she thought she misheard him, he couldn't be speaking her language when yesterday he was not able to.
She walked next to him, and looked at the scroll. It had small characters, and next to them pinyin to explain the pronunciation. And further down more and more characters, and their meanings.
Sakura felt tears coming to her eyes, and covered her mouth to hide away the whimper in her voice.
He was trying to learn Putonghua!
Rasa was looking out of his window, with a screw on his face. He didn't like that in the past year, Gaara made a friend, but he couldn't stop it. He told Kizashi many times that he is dangerous, that what a monster he is, but his friend just lightly waved it away, saying something along the lines of "they are just kids, I always see them just playing, don't worry".
Rasa thought that a simple "don't worry" wasn't enough to calm down his worries, after all, that girl was the sole survivor of her clan, and she had her blood, her blood...he wasn't even that sure himself about the major power that was in it, but he knew he could not risk it anymore. He could not risk his uncontrollable son accidentally killing her.
But Gaara grew attached to her.
He was thinking what to do exactly, but as always, had no usable idea.
He sighted and turned back to his paperwork, then couldn't believe his own eyes, the answer to his problem was laying there, in one of those papers, in front of him all this time. How did he not see it before?
A grin spread on his face, and already started to plan.
"Sakura" she heard her dad in the living room. She gave up long ago to get angry when they called her Sakura, she just shrugged it off and went to her dad.
When she walked into the living room, she saw both of her parents, with a serious expressions, which made her grew tense.
"Sakura, the Kazekage assigned a new mission to us." she didn't even fight with them anymore, she just accepted that they will speak this language to her, yet now she missed Putonghua more than she could remember, when they talked Nihongo, they had less emotion in their voice.
"What mission?" she still had an accent, and she tried really hard to sound authentic, but in front of her parents, she tried less, to hide it, as if to remind them, about their past, that they were so eager to forget.
"The Kazekage sends us in a undercover mission to Konohagakure."
"Konohagakure? Fire country?" she already had panic in her voice "For how long?"
"Time could be anywhere between 10-20 years."
Sakura's mouth fell open. There was no way, they go away for that long! She didn't even live on this world for 10 years, how could they go away for a mission? How could they leave behind everything again? Gaara...
Rasa and his children were at the west gate, sending off the Haruno family. They already received their documents, as well as a new name, they were settled, and could even bring him some useful information from a rivaling country. They got new clothes as well, symbolizing their Fire country origin.
He still couldn't believe he came up with a plan as perfect as this.
He looked at his youngest son, at the monster, and saw that he was calm, calmer than he expected, no expression telling him his thoughts, which unsettled him.
He took his gaze to the little girl, she was a few cm taller than when they arrived, hair freshly cut, reaching her collarbone. Her expression was also unreadable, like his son's. He expected at least some cries.
"Well, Rasa, maybe the next time we see each other, we have to pretend to not know you, so sorry in advance." smiled his long time friend, while they shook hands. Then they both shifted their attention at their stoic children, who were locking their eyes, expecting something from them.
"Sakura, take care." was the only thing the little red haired boy said, and she just nodded. Then Rasa saw something in her eyes, and she throw herself at him in a big hug.
It wasn't the hug that any of them expected, it was short, missing cries and screams, but it had a small flowing whisper in it, that no one could possibly understand besides Gaara.
When they parted, they waved at each other again, and Rasa was more or less satisfied with this turn of events. It will be easier for them to break off of each other like this.
He was so satisfied, he missed how both kids put their hands in their right pockets, squeezing something in there, their secret of many secrets they had. Their promise that they will see each other again.