Letters we wrote

Letter 16

Sasuke brushed his forehead with his forearm to remove some of the sweat from it. He had been helping the construction of an apartment complex the whole morning. He was now at Yugakure, helping its workers to rebuild the parts of the village that were destroyed during the war. Workers from Yugakure, Shimogakure and even Kumogakure were helping. And although Suna or Konoha didn't have workers in, he could recognize the symbols of the villages in lots of boxes with supplies and food.

"Boy" the chief of the place they were rebuilding came in suddenly. "Take a rest, we're having lunch" he said with a smile as he gave him a bento box and a huge water bottle.

"Thanks" he bowed before taking them. He sat on a chair he had nearby and started eating.

It felt good to do all this hard work, although he had started to make peace with himself, knowing he was capable of helping others like this was reassuring. Even the looks he got from some of the Kumogakure workers were not affecting him that much. He thought they must have been mostly curious.

"Excuse me?" a soft voice approached. He looked up. A boy, maybe 11 or 12 years old, from Kumogakure was a few meters from him. "I-is it o-okay if I join you?" he asked, he looked nervous for some reason.

"Sure" he shrugged.

A smile drew on his face as he approached and sat down in front of him.

"I-I'm Kai" he said.

"Sasuke" he replied. A bit weirded out by the approach.

"Yeah, I kno-know who you are" he said with an incredibly nervous smile, you could even see his lower lip trembling. He shook his head real quick, probably to calm himself down. "I was just wondering wha-what a war hero like you is doing here"

Sasuke scoffed. "Not a war hero, kid" he said with a smile.

"Yes, you are! You defeated Kaguya, didn't you?" he said with a little more courage.

Sasuke looked to the ground. The kid had a good point. "I've heard all about you and Uzumaki Naruto!" he said with a big smile. Sasuke looked up with a short smile, the enthusiasm of this kid was moving. "Right now I'm training to be a shinobi, and I'd love to be one like you!" he said with sparkling eyes. "Strong, cool and brave!" he said punching the air in front of him with each word. Sasuke had to cover his mouth to repress a chuckle. "My dad says that I won't need to be that strong, but you never know!" he punched the air again. "How can I become strong like you?" he asked.

Sasuke smiled, thought about it a little, he was not going to go about preaching on the way he got to where he was, to how he got all that power. But he knew of a way that definitely works.

"So, this is a lesson I wish I had payed attention to when I was your age." he whispered, the kid leaned closer. "Don't do it alone" the kid's smile faded, tilting his head. "The more you care about your friends, your comrades, your family, the stronger you'll be." he explained with a smile. The kid's eyes sparkled again as a smile started to appear again. "Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" he did a quick salute.

"Kai!" a deep loud voice called. The kid turned his forehead creased, a tall well-built man walked over to them. "I'm sorry, is he bothering you?" he asked Sasuke.

"No, I wasn't!" the kid pouted.

Sasuke chuckled. "No, sir, he wasn't"

"See?" he crossed his arms.

"Well, we have to go either way" the man said to the kid, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine" the kid sighed.