At first he couldn't stand the grinning blond boy. Sasuke just couldn't understand what in the world Naruto seemed to be so happy about all the time. They lived in a crowded orphanage ran by nuns that just couldn't find it in their hearts to refuse to take in orphans no matter how scarce their resources were. There were days when all they had to eat was a piece of bread and watered-down milk. Naruto wasn't the brightest bulb and he often got made fun of by the other kids. But instead of getting mad or cry he would just smile brightly and go on with his day like nothing had happened.
Sasuke, who had lost all faith in humanity, kept to himself and his death glares and sharp tongue kept everyone away from him. That is everyone but the stupid blond who loved to parade around the orphanage telling everyone that he was going to be president of the country when he grew up.
Naruto kept at it until he chipped off some of the ice around the scowling child. Slowly he wormed his way into Sasuke's heart and they became friends. Although it was hard to tell since both of them were too proud to admit it and were at each other's throat all the time. They met Sakura when they were both twelve. She was the daughter of one of the women who volunteered at the orphanage. Sakura was just as energetic and loud as Naruto and rather bossy, so when she decided that she wanted to make the two boys her playmates they had no choice but to comply.
From then on Sasuke always got dragged into whatever activities the two loudmouths planned. And so they were inseparable all throughout grade school and high school, but since nothing lasts forever Sakura and Naruto ended up falling in love. Without meaning to, they left Sasuke, who had no other friends or family, behind. Seeing his two friends so happy together sometimes made Sasuke wonder what it would feel like to have a special someone by his side.
Sasuke shook his head as if to clear his mind of his previous thoughts and his eyes landed on the garbage bag sitting next to him on the bench. His curiosity got the best of him and he reached into the bag to pull out the letter Gaara had thrown out. He was rather curious to know what a girl who had refused to sleep with Gaara would tell him on a letter. He smoothed out the piece of crumpled paper and started reading.
He was no graphologist but he could tell that whoever wrote this letter was a very shy person. The small characters written with the utmost care were a clear indication of that. Sasuke was almost sure that the letter he was now holding was the fruit of a few drafts. The letter was nothing spectacular, just the girl thanking Gaara for some flowers and apologizing for not being able to see him off when he left. It seemed that the dad was rather strict.
Sasuke didn't know how he got so engrossed in such a short and simple letter. Maybe it was the innocence and sincerity evident in every word or maybe it was just that this letter was very different from the ones he received from his fan girls. Those letters bordered on blatant sexual harassment. Sasuke had stopped opening them since the fan girls had taken to including very suggestive pictures of themselves and revealing undergarments with their letters.
When Sasuke retired to his tent he found himself once again staring at the crumpled letter that he had "unintentionally" slipped in his pocket. He decided that writing a reply to the moron would rid him of thoughts of the letter that now laid at the bottom of his trashcan. After writing back to Naruto he went to bed and tried to sleep, but the stupid letter kept haunting his thoughts. With a groan he threw his blanket aside and got up from the narrow and rather uncomfortable bed.
"Damn it all to hell," he mumbled as he sat down in front of the small table that served as his desk and took pen to paper once again.