Connection
Author's Notes: Naruto and its character are owned by Masashi Kishimoto-san
Naruto was a child detested. Gaara was a child feared. When a young Gaara was brought to Konoha for a visit, the two met, and they realize that they share more of a bond with than anyone else.
The story of a lonely young Naruto and a lonely young Gaara who met each other.
He was alone.
In actuality, he was surrounded with children. He was among the crowd in the park. He was among the back of the crowd, to be exact. Uzumaki Naruto had never been the popular child among his age. No one had ever approached him with right reasons. That was how they were taught.
Today was different. The small crowd had consisted of groups of children looking upwards. None of the gathered members had acknowledged him one bit as he too, stared above.
The little park near the Konoha Academy had always been full of children playing. There was a building besides the park with a high fencing tipped with wires. However, despite the height of the fence, there were always a few balls that children managed to lose beyond the fence. It was days like this when several workers of the building came around and help throw the balls over to the other side.
Uzumaki Naruto was there. It was, like most of the others' reasons were, because his ball was on the other side. He was also curious to see what the commotion was, almost as much as he wanted the ball back. It had once been an old soccer ball of the Academy teacher of his. The ball had little spots of dusts on it. Scratch marks and peeling paint decorated the ball. Nevertheless, it was a gift given from Umino Iruka. It was one of Naruto's first gifts that he received from kindness and not charity.
One by one, balls of different sizes were dropped over the fence to the gleeful children in the playground. The blond boy watched, staring at the space above the fencing. Play balls of different sizes and colors rained in the playground. Yet none belonged to him.
The small crowd died away slowly. Groups of children gathered their own balls and resume playing in the other side of the park. Slowly, everyone began to move away. And slowly, the rain of balls dies down.
The lone fox boy waited and clung onto hope. In spite of the fact the he was the only one left, he waited hopefully for his ball to come down. A small tennis ball descended to the ground besides him, but Naruto did little in reaction and continue to stare at the sky before him.
Faintly, a man's voice could be heard from the other side "I think that's all of them. Is there any more kids?"
"I'll check." Came the reply of a different voice. Naruto heard the sound of ladder being pushed onto the fence before a set of climbing steps came closer. A man's head suddenly appeared over the wire part of the fence. The worker noticed the single boy standing over the fence.
The boy had unruly blond hair and azure eyes. There were three lines on each side of his cheek, almost like an animal's scratch mark. Wait…three scratch marks? The worker narrowed his eyes to confirm. Yes, it is. Seeing the boy still reminded him of the time when he was forced to hide. No doubt about it. It was the Kyuubi vessel.
The worker climbed down the fence. Naruto tilt his head, hoping that Iruka's old soccer ball is still somewhere over the fence. Suddenly, the first man's spoke from the other side to his companion, "Hey, I found another ball."
There was a creaking from the other side that sounds very similar to a ladder being pulled off the wall. The second man gave no reply while the first man continued, "It's over by the corner, it's a…soccer ball I think? Looks dirty –Hey, bring back the ladder, we still need to throw this ball over! Kento, do you hear me? I said there–"
"There are no more kids!" the second man snapped sharply.
Naruto flinched.
There was a brief pause before the first man spoke again, "Still, we must as well throw it over anyway, there's no use keeping it here, after all–"
"There are no – more – kids!" It came more as a shout.
"That…okay, we can still throw it over. It's just a soccer ball, nothing to –Hey!" There was a rough squeaking sound as if the ball was jerked right out of the man's hands. Following that was a swoosh sound of the ball being flung then a hard bang on the fence, making a small vibration.
"Kento! W-what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing! There…there is no one there, all right? Leave the ball alone. There is no one there. At least, no one there that's worth being counted."
Thus end the conversation of the two workers. The blond-haired child tensed and stood still, his eyes were still fixed on the wire part of the fence. The squealing sound of the door's hinges was heard before a blunt thump of the door closing. Still, the boy did not move.
Minutes passed, yet Naruto remain still. A small part of him trembled. He wasn't sure what to feel. It was only a soccer ball, really, a very old one at that. He didn't even play with it that much, before it was stuck beyond the fence, he usually keep it in a corner of his room anyway.
The edges of his lip drew downward unwillingly. Hot liquid blurred his vision. His fingers began to twitch.
It was nothing. Really!
The burning of his eyes finally made him blink. Salty tears made a path down his cheek. Slowly, Naruto's shoulders began tremble as well as the rest of his upper body. Sounds of small croaks were made painfully in his throat.
There's nothing worth crying for!
He felt his body getting weak. His legs seemed to have lost all energies. They collapsed below him, putting him on the same level as the leftover balls. His hanging head finally dropped from the sky to the dirt ground below him.
Why?
The child pulled his legs to his chest, not bothering to lift his head at all. His arms involuntarily moved onto his knees and served as a pillow for his head.
Then why am I crying?
The once small croaks in his throats became sobbing. He was alone, so it was okay to cry. No one would notice. No one would care. So it was okay.
There is no one thereNaruto could feel his tears dripping on his shirt. It felt warm and wet. His breath felt overly heated and was nearly suffocating him from the lack of fresh air. Yet he didn't dare to remove his head from hiding. At least there, he can't see anyone.
More minutes passed, nothing happened. The fox child was still wrapped up as a human ball, softly crying to himself.
Behind him, a pair of small feet in black ninja sandals halted to a stop.
The sky was once blue with fluffy white clouds in the earlier part of the day. Now it was becoming more orange as the angle of the sun's rays changed. In the light orange sky, a few purple-tinted clouds floated slowly across. A wasp of sand glittered gold in the sun for a moment before the wind blew it away.
Uzumaki Naruto, who felt the small tapping of the sand, lifted his head up just a bit so only his eyes were outside. The blue orbs caught a glimpse of gold, and thus lifted the whole head up to follow the golden sand.
Sand continued to pass the setting in small amounts, getting more each time until they merge together. The sand grouped together and slowly floated to the other side of the fence, going beyond and disappearing.
Naruto had now pulled himself out of the wrapped-up position. He blinked his tears away, staring at the place where the sand had disappeared. Where was it going?
A moment later, they reappeared. However, this time they hold an old ball. The sand had formed into a small bowl to cradle the worn-out ball delicately. Naruto followed the bowl of sand as it cut through the sky steadily and descended down to the awaiting palms of another boy.
The sand drifted away slowly when the boy caught the ball. His messy red hair reflected a bit of gold because of the sunlight. His green eyes were traced with dark linings. He stared at the ball hard, as if uncertain of the next step.
Naruto, who watched the boy with amazement, was speechless. He had forgotten that his eyes are still red from crying and that he still had the trail of tears going down his cheeks, passing the three slash marks.
The boy took a glance at him and back to the ball. He continued to same action for a while before both boys started off simultaneously, "U-um…!"
Both boys started. Naruto blinked in surprise while the other boy looked away hesitantly. Quickly, he turned back again and opened his mouth as if to blurt something out. However, he closed it again and took a deep breath.
"U-um…here." The redheaded boy walked a few unsteady steps over, stopping at a safe distance. His action resembled one going close to an injured animal. He bent down and rolled to soccer ball to Naruto's direction and immediately retreated.
The blond boy stared at Iruka's old ball on the ground a few feet away from him. He reached for it and turn back to the redhead boy. He felt awkward, "T-thank–"
"U-um…ah…um…" The sand boy fidgeted nervously, searching for the right words to use. He looked up with a nervous smile, as if afraid to scare Naruto away.
"Well…um…bye!" He said quickly, backing up a few steps. He looked at Naruto once more and smiled uncertainly before turning around and running out of the park. By the fences, he turned back again. He looked almost surprised that Naruto did not move. Again, he turned back and continued to run away.
Leaving Naruto in wonder.