In the village of Konoha, a mass celebration was being held. Delegates from an opposing village from the Third Shinobi War, Kumo, had sent a delegation to sign a peace treaty to end hostilities between the two rivals. Part of this entourage was a small three-year-old girl with fair skin, bright blue eyes, and bright blonde hair that was shoulder length cut into an asymmetrical bob cut and an aloof expression on her face. Her name was Samui.

Samui was bored. She had recently been part of a parade that welcomed her father and the others from Kumo for something important. She didn't know what it was. Now here she stood in front of the Hokage in her new grey kimono and grey shinobi sandals bored beyond measure. Her brother Atsui was lucky. He got to stay in Kumo with their mother because he was "to jittery" she heard her parent say.

She had to agree to that. Her brother often had a problem staying cool. She was hoping that she could go to a nearby park or something. She didn't want to be part of the no doubt boring meeting that her father and the Hokage were going to have. As if reading her mind her father spoke, "Pardon me Lord Hokage." Receiving acknowledgement from the man, Samui's father continued. "Is there a park nearby that one of my escorts may take my daughter to retreat to? I think it would be better for her not to listen to us discuss topics she may find boring." The Hokage seemed to ponder the idea.

After a minute he spoke, "Yes, there is a park close by here. Lord Hashirama made it so he could spend time with his children during his time in office. It is a few blocks north of the tower, past the academy. It is marked by several oak trees making the sign, it is difficult to miss.

Her father bowed respectfully to the elderly leader "Thank you Lord Hokage." Her father turned to her, "Well Samui? Would you like would you like to play at the park while daddy is in this meeting?" Samui gave a cool response before one of the Kumo ninja escorted her to the park.

As Samui and her escort exited the Hokage tower the first thing she took note of was the difference in weather between the two villages. 'The weather in Konoha was definitely warmer here than in Kumo' thought Samui. Back in Kumo, the wind chill and high elevation made the usual temperature of the village rather cool. Here the village felt warm, as if Samui was wrapped in a blanket while sitting at a kotatsu.

The architecture was also very different. From what Samui could see, most of the buildings were either stone or wood. Back in Kumo most of the buildings were that of stone. Most of the buildings were of a blocky design with many of the roofs having flat tops and guard rails. She was unsure of why they would design their buildings like that. The streets were rather wide, allowing for people to walk comfortably down the dirt like roads. There was also a healthy amount of powerlines from what she could see.

As she walked, she failed to notice that her and her escort had arrived at the park without the Chunin speaking up. "Samui, we have arrived." Samui turned her attention to the park through the sign before her. The first thing she noticed was the large grass field with scattered trees. There was also a sand pit as well as a playground that many of the kids seemed to be playing in. The playground has a slide set and a jungle gym from what she could see.

She and her escorting Chunin walked past the sign and made their way to the playground. As Samui looked around she saw a young boy with sun kissed spiky haired blonde and a tan complexion wearing a tan shirt with a red spiral on the front and long green sleeves, green cargo shorts and blue shinobi sandals. He was watching the other kids play from under the shade of a nearby tree with his knees in his chest and his arms wrapped around them. When he turned away from the other kids, his head perked up as he noticed her and her escort. He jumped to his feet and jogged over to them. Her Chunin escort went on guard. despite his age, it pays to be cautious when in a ninja village.

Naruto was depressed. Once again, he tried to play with the other children in the park but they rejected him. "I'm sorry but my mommy said not to play with you."

"My daddy said you were a bad boy." These the same excuses he heard every time he tried to play. Not wanting to look at a scene he would never be part of, he turned his head away. He saw something unexpected. He saw a young girl with bright blonde hair in a grey kimono he had never seen before with a ninja with a dark complexion in some outfit he had never ever seen entering the park. Taking a chance, he leapt to his feet, hoping today he would make a friend.

Samui was surprised when the blonde boy ran over to her. "Hello" he said happily, "Would you like to play together?" Samui was surprised. She didn't think anyone would ask her to play together when she arrived but was happy she would have someone to play with. With a soft smile and a nod, the Konoha blonde all but shouted "Yay! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! What's your name?"

"I'm Samui Mori" she said politely. "What would you like to play?" Naruto shrugged, "I don't know." Here he gained a sad look in his eyes "I've never had a friend before."

Samui frowned at the statement. "That's not cool." Naruto thought she was referring to him before she spoke again. "Well, how about we go play on the slide?" Naruto was excited. He never played on the slide with anyone and was eager to get started. "That sounds like fun! Let's go!" cheered Naruto, as he ran off to the slide. Eager to play, Samui followed after her new friend all the while her Chunin escort followed at a sedate pace.

J was surprised by the name. A blonde Uzumaki was not something that was heard of as it was known that all clan members had vibrant red hair. Too bad he wasn't a sensor. The other telltale sign of an Uzumaki was their abnormally large chakra reserves.

As the two children reached the slide, the other children gained fearful looks and made their way back to their parents. "Hey Naruto, do you know why they left?" Naruto shook his head. "No. A lot of people give me a lot of weird looks and whisper while looking at me but I don't know why" he said as his mood dropped. Not wanting her new friend to be sad, Samui pushed him to the stairs of the slide. "You should go up first! It's really fun!" she told him. Seeing they were moving to a different topic Naruto eagerly climbed the ladder of the slide with a big smile.

J had overheard the conversation between the two kids. He made sure he was in a position to quickly respond if they were in danger from their own antics or if someone was going to pull something. Afterall, just because they are signing a peace treaty with Konoha doesn't mean everyone agrees with it. As he overheard the boy's explanation of how people looked at him, he drew some parallels to how the Raikage's brother, B, was treated in his younger years. It was too similar to be a coincidence but all he had was conjecture.

Naruto was really enjoying himself as he and Samui took turns on the slide. It was fun. For the first time in his young life, he was playing with another kid. He was so caught up in the moment he stayed put on the slide for too long. "Naruto! Look out!" called Samui. Naruto turned in his seat only to see Samui coming down the slide. The two blondes crashed to the ground at the end of the slide in a heap. Though it was an annoying thing to happen, Naruto started to laugh causing Samui to do the same.

Many of the parents looked on at the scene with shock and concern. The little girl didn't know the danger she was in by being around the blonde boy. To protect the ignorant girl from being around the dangerous boy, one of the mothers walked over to the playing blondes. "Excuse me little girl" said the woman, getting both children's attention. "Do you know how dangerous this boy is? Haven't your parents warned you to stay away from him?" she asked kindly to Samui. Naruto hung his head in sadness. He didn't like it when the adults were like this to him, it always made him feel like he didn't belong. Samui on the other hand was confused. If he was a threat than J wouldn't let him play with her so he was clearly not a threat. "He doesn't look um … dangerous … ma'am" Samui responded cooly despite her pause. "Well he may not seem like it but it is better if you play with the other children" she said as she grabbed Samui by the wrist to take her away.

As soon as she grabbed Samui, J intervened. He had taken notice immediately when the woman moved towards the kids and made sure to pay attention to what would be said. J acted quickly, getting Samui out of the woman's grip and putting both kids behind him as he stared the woman down. The woman was in turn shocked by the action. No one had intervened on the boy's behalf before. The woman was about to retort until she took in the man's appearance, more specifically the hitai-ate he wore on his forehead. It was clearly a Kumo hitai-ate as was his uniform. With a slight cough into her hand, the woman bid the three a good day and left.

Naruto was once again in shock. Another person had stood up for him. Today was turning out to be a great day. J turned to the two children, "Are you okay?" he asked. The two nodded though Naruto added "Yeah. Thank you" he said. J nodded at the thanks. He was then struck with an idea. "Hey, would you two like to play on the swings?" Samui nodded with a small smile while Naruto had stars in his eyes as he nodded vigorously. "Alright, let's go" he said as he led the two towards the swings. Naruto was the first to jump on one of the vacant seats while Samui took up the one right next to him.

J first pushed Samui and then Naruto. Naruto was once again filled with joy. He was having fun going up and down while he was around two other people who didn't fear him.

Sadly, the day came to a close rather quickly for the children. When the day was called to a close both were rather sad. "Umm do you think we can meet up and play tomorrow?" asked Naruto. He was greatly hoping he could see his friend again but didn't want to hold his breath. Samui for her part was sad and nervous about telling him. "I don't think so. I know I have to leave soon. My dad and I were just visiting. Now that his work is done we have to go home."

Naruto was about to cry. Seeing this Samui wrapped her new friend in a tight hug which Naruto returned. The two were about to cry at losing a friend. That is until J suggested an idea. "Why don't you two write letters to each other as pen pals?" The two looked up to him with confusion. "What is that?" asked Samui. J smiled at the two as he explained, "A pen pal are friends who write letters to each other to keep in touch. And you can write about anything. From the food you eat to the type of day you have had or anything else you can think of."

To the children, this sounded like a good idea. If they could keep their new friend then that would be amazing. "What do you say Samui? Would you like to be pen pals?" asked an excited Naruto. Samui nodded excitedly. "Mhm yeah" she replied. Naruto let out a cry of happiness.

The two children turned their attention back to J. Naruto asked "So what do we need to be pen pals?"

"Well the first thing you will need are each other's addresses" explained J. Both kids looked a little nervous, with Samui looking at the ground as Naruto looked to the side. "Don't worry Samui I know your address." Samui looked relieved while Naruto continued to look nervous. "Um Mr., I don't know my address" said Naruto quietly. J gave smile as he spoke. "That's alright. If at least one of you has the others address you can write to the other. From there the other can get the others address so you can write to the other" explained J. Naruto gave a loud cry of exultation. "Yay! You hear that Samui?! We can still be friends even if we are far apart!" Samui nodded happily and gave a small joyful smile.

Despite the fact the sun had fallen and night now claimed the sky Naruto was too excited to sleep. He had finally made his first friend and even though she had to leave it didn't mean that they couldn't talk. Of course, he has to wait a while before he can hear from her but they promised to always write each other so they will never forget about one another no matter how far apart they are. That night Naruto slept with a large smile on his face.

It was a few days after Samui had left and Naruto was at his favorite restaurant, a quaint little ramen stall called Ichiraku Ramen. As Naruto was waiting for his ramen to be served, he was writing his first letter to his friend. Ayame looked over the counter, curious as to what Naruto was doing. "What are you doing Naruto?" Naruto looked up and gave a megawatt smile. "I'm writing my friend Samui! She lives in Kumo! She's my pen pal!" he explained happily. "Oh?" she responded curiously. It was soon replaced with a bright smile of her own, "Well that's great Naruto! I'm happy you have a friend."

"Wait" she said suddenly. "Hold on. Did you say she?" she asked with her question being met by a furious nod from the blonde. Here she got a devious look in her eyes. "Oh Naruto you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend" she teased. Naruto started to panic. "What!? Ayame! She's not my girlfriend! I mean she is my friend and she is a girl but … agh! It's so confusing!" ranted the young blonde. Ayame giggled at his plight. "It's okay Naruto" she reassured as she reached across the counter and rubbed his head.

Ayami was happy to see her little buddy smiling so cheerfully. However, Naruto seemed a little sheepish after her teasing. "Um but I'm running out of things to write about." Ayame smile as she came out from behind the counter to help Naruto write his letter to his friend.

When Ayame got off work she escorted Naruto to the postal service. As they walked in the person manning the counter looked through his incredibly thick and bushy unibrow to see the duo at the door as the bell above chimed signaling their entry into the establishment. The man was rather tall, towering over the duo. He was bald with a bushy mustache that cover both his upper and lower lips. He was wearing a pale blue-collar shirt with brown lacks and simple loafers. He gave a grunt as he stood from the chair he was sitting behind the counter.

Naruto looked at the large and imposing man that manned the postal service and felt intimidated. He was also scared that he would be kicked out as it has happened before in several locations. Naruto held the letter close to his chest as he seemed to curl in on himself. Soon Ayame placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her. Ayame gave him a gentle smile of encouragement. Naruto slightly uncurled himself and approached the counter with Ayame close behind him.

When they reached the counter, the man talked in a gruff and ruff voice. "Hello how can I help you?" Naruto still appeared nervous despite Ayame's presence. Seeing as how Naruto wasn't going to speak, Ayame chose to speak on his behalf. "Hello. Yes, we would like to send out a letter." As she said this, she placed a hand on the small of Naruto's back, urging him to present the letter. Hesitantly, Naruto held out the letter with both hands, praying that he wouldn't be turned away or his letter destroyed.

The man took the envelope and read the address. He set the letter on the counter, crushing little Naruto's hopes. Suddenly there was a loud thump. Naruto looked to the counter only to see a large, leatherbound book. Naruto was curious as to what was going on as the man began running his fingers across the pages as he continued to flip through the book. Soon enough his finger stopped on a single line before typing something into his mechanical cash register before a chime went off and some numbers appeared on the customer display. "That'll be 150 ryo" he said. Despite his gruff voice, the clerk seemed to hold no ill will towards Naruto.

Seeing that the transaction was going better than many other stores he had been in, Naruto pulled out his money bag and handed over the money with a bright smile. The man took the money and typed some more on his cash register before handing Naruto a receipt of purchase. "Be aware that it will take a few months for your letter to arrive." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Thank you for your business please come again" the man said with a small bow of his head. Ayame returned the bow Naruto following suite as soon as he saw Ayame doing so. She returned the sentiment on behalf of Naruto, who was as red as a tomato out of embarrassment of not giving a bow of thanks. Soon the pair left waving back at the clerk.

When they exited the postal service Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you Ayame! You were a big help" said Naruto. Ayame gave the boy a soft smile. "It was nothing Naruto. But see I told you it was not that scary" she said with a teasing tone. Naruto pouted cutely as he puffed his cheeks out. "Hey! That's not nice Ayame!" protested the blonde.

Naruto slept nervously that night, praying incessantly that this letter would arrive with no issue and that Samui would reply.

In The Hidden Kumo, a blonde girl was waiting patently for a letter to arrive. As she waited, a small boy of the same age with a permanent side grin on his face began teasing said girl. "Hehehe still waiting on a letter Samui?" asked the boy. Samui's eyes turned toward the boy before looking away again and answering him. "Yes Atsui" she replied stoically.

Samui was wearing a gray shirt black skirt over white leggings that ended at her ankles. She was wearing black shinobi sandals along with a red ascot. Her brother Atsui was wearing black shirt with complimenting vambraces. He was wearing blue bellbottom pants with frayed ends along with black shinobi sandals. He has blonde hair and blue eyes like his sister however his is cut in a standard bob cut with his bangs curving to the left side of his face and is a few shades darker. He has a more squared jaw line while barely being a shade darker in complexion.

"He's never going to write you ya know" Atsui said with a shrug. "No matter how much you two had fun together he's never going to write you" he said in an attempt to get his sister to show some emotion like she did when she talked about her friend from the Konoha. Truth be told, Atsui was a little jealous. For the longest time he had tried to get his sister to stop being so "cool" as she put it. But try as he might he just couldn't succeed. Now so kid from a different village succeeds where he had failed, he just couldn't help but feel jealous.

Sadly, right as he said that a mail courier arrives. "Are you Samui?" he asks. Samui nods her head in affirmation at the question. Atsui looks a little pale at the implication. "I have a letter for you all the way from Konoha" the courier says cheerfully. "From someone named Naruto. I bet he's a good friend." A small smile appears on Samui's face as she nods happily. The courier hands Samui the letter before departing, waving as he does so.

Samui turned toward her brother Atsui, her stoic expression back in place as she shows the face of the letter to him. Atsui could only look on, hunched over in surprise as his expression was that of pure shock. "What was that, that he wouldn't write?" she asked coldly. So coldly Atsui shifted to one foot as he had his hands up in a poor imitation of a defensive stance. Samui walked past him and towards her room, her desire to read her letter overpowering her desire to glare her brother into the ground.

When she was sure her room was properly barricaded, Samui opened her letter and began to read it.

Dear Samui,

Hey! It's Naruto! This is my first letter. Like ever so I'm kind of nervous. Well I figured I'd start with something cool that happened after you left. There was a festival held that was over some paper signed recently. It was really fun, there were all these stands with games and food! I got to go with Ayame. Oh you didn't get to meet her when you were in the Leaf. That's okay maybe you can meet her when you come back. Well we went to some of the stalls. Some were really mean. They said I couldn't play because I was bad. Well Ayame got mad when they said that and they fell over from how scary she was. Well not to me. After she talked to them they let me play!

I like to think of her as an older sister even if she is older than me by a few years. I mean she always looks after me and helps me when I have a bad day and always makes sure I smile. She sometimes even helps me get free ramen from her dad who makes the best ramen ever!

Oh yeah! She works at this ramen stand with her dad called Ichiraku. You should totally try it when you come back, I'll even take you as my treat!

Umm … sorry I'm having a hard time thinking of what to write about.

Oh Ayame is going to help me! She told me to tell you about my favorite color. Well it's orange! I don't know why though. Maybe because its so bright? Well what's yours? I also like ramen! Maybe because Ichiraku is so fun to be at? But its fun to eat. I mean it tastes so good! I think it's the best thing ever! The only bad thing is Ayame tells me to eat more vegetables! Yuck! She even puts a plate of them next to each bowl of ramen and says I cant have another unless I finish them! She says so it's so I can be big and strong when I get older but I think she doesn't want to eat them so she gives them to me.

She told me to ask your favorite food. What's your favorite food Samui? Whatever it is I'm sure it's really good! Um … Ayame told me to stop writing that she's telling me to do stuff. Um … It's been sunny for a while now. Oh! There was a cool lady I bumped into a while ago. She was a single piece of clothing that was like short and a shirt as one under this really big coat! She had this really mean man yelling at her. She just smiled at him before she threw this really big snake at him! It was so cool.

Well Ayame is telling me that I should stop here. I can't wait for your letter!

Naruto Uzumaki

Samui smiled at the letter. Sometimes she was giggling and at others she was frowning. She remembered that lady that tried to pull her away and she frowned, though smiled again when she read that someone stood up for her friend.

She got out her own sheet of paper and began to write her own letter.

Dear Naruto,

The festival sounded like fun! My time was boring. The trip from the Konoha to the Kumo was boring. My dad calls it un … un … uneevntfull. But the really big hills were pretty. Much prettier than the ones near home. But they are taller. Like so tall they touch the clouds which is were I live!

Sometimes on the way home we got to see these really pretty flowers sometimes. They were purple and blue and orange and green. I got to pick some thanks to dad. I will ask if I can send you one.

Dad said I can! He even helped me put it in a necklace so it will last forever! He said its in a seal at the bottom of the page. He said that Ayame can get it for you. Ayame sound cool. I want to meet your sister. She's probably better than my brother. He can be so uncool.

After we left the flowers we needed to cross a lot of bridges when got to the mountains. That's what my dad says they are. Oh he is helping me with my letter. He also says thank you for being my friend and that he wants to meet you the next them we go to the Konoha.

Hey! If I meet Ayame you can meet my dad! Sorry my brother was being uncool. Can you believe he said you would not be my penpal? Yeah he is dumb. Like this guy who talks to my dad. My dad says he is strong but I don't know how. He makes these dumb rimes and hand waves when he does. I mean he looks strong but how can he be so dumb but be strong?

My favorited food? Oyaki is really cool! If you haven't had it, its really chewy with a lot of vegetables to I grow to be big, strong, and beautiful! At least that's what dad says about vegetables. I think is being like Ayame. He even tells my brother the same thing. Unlike my dumb brother I eat my vegetables because I want to be big, strong and beautiful when I grow up!

It was great to get your letter and I can't wait for your next one!

Samui Mori