19th January
Hello Gaara!
By now (and that’s very obvious, since you are reading this), you must have noticed this piece of paper and the small gift right next to it, so you must know which day it is. It must be quite a surprise to you, because we never did this before, but maybe once you’ve finished you’ll understand, hehe (Temari’s Note: Kankurou, don’t add that stupid thing to the letter!).
Well, there is a lot of things we have been wanting to tell you for a long time now, but you must know that SOME PEOPLE (Kankurou’s Note: I’m talking about Temari, by the way) think it would be somewhat inappropriate to say them to you face to face, so the next best alternative was to write them down. With that said, be prepared for a long list of slightly embarrassing but hopefully loveable facts, because it’ll surely make us happy to let you know them.
We’re not going to lie to you: we were cowards when we were younger. We know that you probably want to stay away from THAT area, but we need to clear some things out for good before we can carry on (Temari’s Note: For once, your brother spoke wisely) (Kankurou’s Note: Hey!). We clearly saw that you were possibly the sweetest kid in the village (and we really mean it, you never pouted or screamed or cried like the others) and we let the fact of you having a demon inside you keep us (no, BREAK us) apart right from the very first second, when it was our breaking apart that made you being a host to said demon dangerous. Even then, we could have done something. We could have at least tried to reach out to you and show you that you still could count on us, but we were so feeble in our attempts, so stupid that we would only give you more proof that we were afraid and uneasy. Worst than being coward people we were coward and terrible siblings, and even though nothing will change that now, we want you to know that that reality eats us alive every day, and we want to apologize for all the sadness we’ve put you through.
But we were fortunate enough to cross paths with that Uzumaki boy (Kankurou’s Note: Come on, Temari… His name is Naruto!) and he did lack the cowardice that flooded us (Temari’s Note: That, or he was just a plain idiot), and he somehow turned you into something new. No, that is not right. He didn’t transform anything in you, he just brought back the part of you that we had been ignoring for a long time, when all we could see was Shukaku’s eyes through yours. Yes, Naruto (Temari’s Note: Happy now, Kankurou?) reached out for the real you and found it, brought it to the light so that everyone could see it and grow fond of it (Kankurou’s Note: Wow, how poetic, Temari…). All things considered, we are extremely thankful for that, because now we know how much we missed without the real you in our lives.
So, it’s clear that we are sorry for the past, and thankful to the brat for showing up (Temari’s Note: Kankurou! Follow your own orders!), but he is not the only reason (he’s just one of them) why you deserve this letter. Sure he started something wonderful in you, but you’re the only responsible for how wonderful it really is.
We remember clearly how you spent an entire month inside your own room, completely alone and locked with just enough food to sustain a sparrow, using all you had, all the strength, the will power, the teachings Naruto gave you, everything to suppress the influence Shukaku had in you, to control its hunger for blood, to make you finally able to control your own powers, to be able to use them for good (it still makes us smile to put that word and you in the same sentence!), just because you wanted to protect and help the people that mattered instead of hurting them. We were surely worried sick, but, for the first time in forever, we believed in you, we knew that you would do it (Kankurou’s Note: Me more than Temari, she was still more worried than anything, hehe), we were sure that there was no way that monster could have a stronger mind than your beautiful one. And you really did it! You were all beat up, of course, but you won. And that should be enough for everyone to be convinced.
But, of course, it never is. The other villagers wouldn’t want you with them, they were still scared, they still didn’t believe you could handle Shukaku. But you weren’t ready (or motivated in the least) to give up, you were so determined to change what your life had been so far, you were so keen on getting the acknowledgement you deserved that their denial only gave you more strength to fight, and that is the thing that makes us most proud of you (Temari’s Note: Yes, baby bwother…). We hope you saw us as a constant support back then, because it was all we wanted to be.
We would love to say we helped you a lot to achieve all you have today, but when we look back at all we made you suffer, it seems we will never be able to do enough. Luckily, you succeeded in changing your life for the best and became our Fifth Kazekage and all your actions (even the ones that led to your early death) showed a boy, no, a man, of the best ones you could ever dream to find, to the world. (Kankurou’s Note: I am even inclined to believe that the whole “dying thing” only made you stronger, since Naruto was there and happy with all you did and you could see that everyone supported you now…)
And what do we have now? The city is happy, something that we never remember from before. The people are happy, something that NO ONE ALIVE remembers from before. People are no longer afraid and the city is thriving, the relationship with the Leaf Village has never been better and all of it is possible because we have not only a wonderful leader and a fierce defender but a wonderful human being as our Kazekage. The Third Kazekage himself would be proud of you, let alone us! :) (Temari’s Note: Okay, the smile looks cute there this time...)
So, because we have all the reasons to say it with pride, we say all this to you and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GAARA!!! today. In 17 years of life you have accomplished more than many could dream of in their entire lives, and we sure hope it remains this way!
Loads of love (Kankurou’s Note: Now, now, take it easy, Temari, don’t go just dumping ‘loads of love’ on the letter like that!) from your brother and sister,
Kankurou and Temari
PS: We hope you like the other gift. It was just us two writing the letter, but Baki-sensei and your Uzumaki friend also contributed to the other present. It was something Naruto himself chose… Oh, and he said he would come over today, so we can have a small celebration together.
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Story notes: Hello readers! Once again, this is a oneshot I wrote for a contest at dA, for Gaara's birthday (which was on the 19th January).
Happy Birthday to him! And enjoy this small letter!
Chapter end notes: That's it :D
The other present was a big bowl of ramen with salted tongue and gizzard.
Hope you liked it!