To Sakura Haruno

It is my fault. I was in a hurry when I wrote the letter and I forgot to write my name. I am sorry and don't worry, it will not happen again.

I want to tell Sakura something interesting. There is a red tattoo on my forehead with the word "love". I think Sakura's colleagues would think I have the weirdest forehead, not you. So don't worry about it. I am sure Sakura's forehead is all right.

If I was there, I would play with you from dawn to dusk. I could teach you how to build the greatest sandcastle in the world. I know a trick. I can show it to you if you promise not to tell anyone.

I consulted and compared the data I found in the geography books my father gave me. He has got books from all villages. There are 20 degrees more in Suna than in Konoha. I think Sakura can't come here in summer. She would melt like an ice-cream.

Sakura is funny. We wear long cotton robes that cover our neck, arms and legs to protect us from the heat. My brother even wears a very thin hat. I can send Sakura a piece of fabric. What is her favorite color?

I have never heard of this flower before. To be honest, I am not good with flowers because I am a boy, but if Sakura likes it, then it must be very beautiful. Sakura also has a flower's name, right? I wonder what it looks like. We don't have cherry trees in Suna. Maybe Sakura's father is allergic and that is why he can't have flowers in the house?

Thank you for writing back and I can't wait to receive Sakura's reply to this letter. I would appreciate if Sakura would tell me more about herself because I don't know what to ask.

From Gaara

Gaara put the letter in the envelope after he folded it in 3 and went to the post office alone. After Yashamaru's death, Gaara realized adults have too many facets so they can't be trusted, unlike this girl, Sakura. She came from a neighboring village and she has never seen him, so she couldn't possibly want anything from him. She'd have nothing to gain from talking to him except a new friend. Sakura said kids pick up on her. Is it possible that they already have something in common? Even if just a little? Of course, hope was as thin as the spider web, but it was there. He was walking alone on the street when round transparent pearls trickled on his cheeks only to fall onto the sand and leave a string of dark brown pearls on the beautiful golden sand behind Gaara's little feet. He made up his mind to read everything about Konoha when he will get home. He couldn't risk having his dad find out he sends letters to Konoha, so Gaara wrote the post office address on the envelope instead of his own. When Sakura's letter will arrive to Suna, the post office will keep it until Gaara will go there in person to pick it up.

*In Konoha*

A letter needed 4 to 5 days to reach its destination between the 2 countries. These days drained so slowly. Sakura had nothing out of the ordinary that she could do. Nobody played with her without yanking her hair or laughing at her, so she spent more time at home imagining what she could write to her new friend in Suna.

Is it too soon to ask about his/her appearance? I wonder what he/she likes. What does he/she eat? I don't think apples grow in the desert. I could send some. No, they will turn to jam. I wish he/she was here. It is so boring to sit all day and do nothing. I bet he/she has a lot of friends, unlike me. I wish Ino was here. It was so fun to play with her. I never should have said I like Sasuke. I wonder what Sasuke it doing now.

Before the mailman even reached the door to her house, little Sakura jumped off the windowsill, crawled under the table and opened the door wide with a thump. The mailman was scared and dropped all the letters he had in his hand.

"Excuse me. Let me help you."

"You gave me quite the scare. I dropped my heart on the floor."

"I am sorry."

Little Sakura bent to pick up all the letters before handing them to the man with blue uniform. She looked at him with her big beautiful jade eyes and waited for him to give her the letter she expected. She almost snatched it out of his hands before shutting the door in his face. The man was speechless. Before he could even register what happened, Sakura opened the door again and yelled "Thank you!" before she went back into the house again. The mailman heard her shout in joy and he scratched the back of his head before he left the house with a smile on his face.

Sakura carefully opened the envelope. Her new friend drew Suna's emblem on the letter and Konoha's emblem on the envelope with crayons. It was so pretty. Sakura romped and twirled around her room with the letter to her chest. The first thing she looked at was the name written on the bottom of the envelope, Gaara. So it is a boy. I wonder if he is good-looking.

She carefully read every line and she was very happy that her new friend wanted to give her gifts from Suna. All of her friends would die on envy.

Sakura picked up one of the sheets of paper her mother bought for her. It was paper that smelled like strawberries. She took a ribbon between her fingers and glued it on the top-left corner of the page before she started writing with a blue pen. She stopped from time to time to chew on her pen while thinking of what to write.

To Gaara-kun

It is so cool that your parents let you have tattoos. I think your tattoo has a beautiful meaning, I like it. I think it matches your name.

I am very curious to know Gaara-kun's trick. Gaara-kun, I made a promise a while ago and I broke it. I am afraid to promise Gaara-kun that I will not tell anyone because I like talking and sometimes secrets just slip my mouth. I wouldn't want Gaara-kun to be upset with me, although I would really like to know this trick.

Waa, Gaara-kun is amazing. You have so many books. I wish I had from where to read about Suna. It is too hot for me. I know I am not made of ice-cream. I hurt myself once and I tasted the blood out of curiosity. It didn't taste like ice-cream at all.

My favorite color is pink. What is yours? Gaara-kun is a boy, so it must be a dark color: navy blue, black or even brown. I don't like black at all because it is a morbid color.

Gaara-kun is very smart. My name means cherry flower. I will put one in the envelope together with this letter. It's the same color as my hair. Now that you know this, you cannot say you don't like pink. By the way, what is Gaara-kun's hair color? What about his eyes? My eyes are green. Dad says I have cat like eyes. Does Gaara-kun like cats?

Gaara-kun, my dad won't let me keep that flower in the house because it is poisonous. If you keep it in water, the water will fill with poison and it hurts your stomach if you drink it. That's why it grows alone, without any other flowers around. I will rip a lily-of-the-valley and send it to you together with the cherry tree flower. I also want to send to something I drew myself. I am sorry, Gaara-kun. I don't know what to give to a boy. If you were a girl, things would have been easy. You would have enjoyed the flowers I gave you and we would have talked about the boys we like and how to do our hair. I think Gaara-kun feels the same. Maybe it would have been easier for you to talk to a boy about football or whatever boys like talking about. I don't know.

Anyway, you should know that I like talking to you. I hope you don't think I am annoying, like Sasuke-kun.

Gaara-kun asked me to tell more about myself, so here it is. I like reading and I like black cats. Ironic, isn't it? I like drawing. If I had a picture of Gaara-kun, I could draw him, too. I like playing games, but my mom and dad are always at work. I ask them to play with me when they come home, but they always refuse, saying they are too tired. But don't worry, Gaara-kun. I thought of a solution. I arrange the pawns on the board and wait for them to come home. When they see the game is already set on the table, they don't say no anymore and we play together. It is so fun.

Gaara-kun said something about a brother. I think Gaara-kun plays with him all the time. I wish I had a brother or sister. We could play unremittingly. How many brothers does Gaara-kun have?

I can't wait to receive another letter. Write to me soon.

From Sakura

*In Suna*

Little Gaara trained on the empty field. He wanted to practice his sand abilities more so he wouldn't hurt anyone accidentally. His father could make jewels out of his gold sand, but could Gaara do the same? He saddened at this thought. Who would ever want a jewel made of glass?

Later, he was at home, in his room, looking out the window. Too bad Konoha wasn't close enough to see it from the window. Gaara had his teddy bear in his arms while he looked at the waves of sand that swallowed one another. He imagined shapes that moved, telling a story. It was the same as Shikamaru watching the clouds, only Gaara didn't know this.

Gaara couldn't possibly be happier when he took the letter from the post office except if his mother would come back to life to hug him. Each letter pushed away the pain in his heart little by little. Sakura couldn't even imagine how much her letters helped this lonely soul. He felt like the only straight boy in a twisted world. While everyone pushed his to the side, there was one person able to appreciate this rough diamond.

He opened the envelope in his room and found 2 flowers inside: a pink one and a white one that looked like a small bell. The latter was placed on a very thin branch with many other likewise flowers. Then he saw a drawing with a lot of blue and green. He turned and flipped the drawing on all sides, but he couldn't tell what the drawing was supposed to be. It could be a mountain or a waterfall or maybe the sky full of clouds. This Sakura was an artist, no doubt about it. He read the letter thoroughly and he was so happy to see the "kun" suffix added to his name. He was tired to always hear "Gaara-sama". He desperately wanted someone to talk to like they are equals. He laughed when he read the lines. Everything she wrote was so interesting and new to him. Waa...

To Sakura-chan

Sakura-chan's guise is truly amazing. I have never heard of someone with pink hair before. I think it is very beautiful. I have got red hair and turquoise eyes.

I appreciate Sakura-chan's honesty. I will show Sakura-chan the trick when we meet. I hope to meet you someday.

Sakura-chan is not only honest, but she is smart, too. I will send her one of my favorite story books. Can Sakura-chan read Kanji? If so, I can send her more difficult books about Suna, just like she said she wished. Please don't worry about the fact that I am a boy and Sakura-chan is a girl. It is not important. I am happy with anything Sakura-chan wants to send me from Konoha and I am happy to talk about anything Sakura-chan likes.

I don't have a favorite color, but if I take at look in my closet, all of my clothes are brown. I think it is safe to say brown is my favorite color, then.

Sakura-chan's father is very smart. All cats have green eyes. Sakura doesn't like black, but she likes black cats. It is a little bizarre. I wonder why. I have never had pets, but if I were to chose one, that would be the scorpion. I like it because it is small, black and lethal. I saw a mother scorpion carrying its babies on her back. They were red and transparent.

Thank you for all the amazing gifts. I admit I didn't know anything about this lily-of-the-valley that you mentioned. Have you ever drunk its water?

Sakura-chan is very smart to find a way to convince her parents to play with her. Congratulations! If I possessed Sakura-chan's ingenuity maybe I would know how to convince the others to play with me, too.

I have a brother, Kankurou and a sister, Temari. Kankurou has got brown hair and brown eyes, while Temari has got fair hair and green eyes. They are both older than me. Unfortunately, dad doesn't let them play with me. My brother tried sneaking into my room to play with me, but my dad caught him and beat him. Never mind. Maybe dad will change his mind when we grow up.

I don't know who this Sasuke is, but I can tell you he is definitely wrong. Sakura-chan is not annoying at all. Quite the opposite, Sakura-chan is very interesting. Please tell me more about your village and yourself. I don't mean military information, don't worry.

I can't wait to read anything Sakura-chan thinks is interesting.

From Gaara

Gaara was ashamed to send a photo of himself first, so he pretended he didn't read the line where she indirectly asked him to let her see his face. This time he went to the post office with a box. He put the letter and the book inside it before sealing it.

When the cacti will bloom, I am going to rip a flower and send it to her.