An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Summary: Communication is interrupted and a certain Hatake is not happy about it.

"Daddy, can you send this out?" Kokoro asked Kakashi. He spotted the letter in her hand and sighed before he grabbed it and placed it in a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"I'll get someone to send this out if you can correctly show me your katas," he bargained. Kokoro pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't want to practice her katas. She was tired of training. She'd rather read a book on the history of Konoha or play with her friends at the park or write another letter to Gaara. Besides, she was only five years old! She didn't need to practice so early! She wouldn't be a genin until she was twelve, so she had plenty of time to hone her skills and become a great shinobi.

"Gaara is waiting for my response," she said. "I don't have time to show you my katas. You have to go now."

"I'm sure Gaara can wait another hour or two," Kakashi deadpanned.

"But I don't want to do them," Kokoro complained dramatically. Kakashi sighed and shook his head at her antics. He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered something under his breath that she was able to make out due to her slightly enhanced Hatake hearing.

"Why couldn't I have gotten a daughter who knew how to listen?"

Kokoro balled up her hands and frowned at the ground with her head hung low. She didn't want to disappoint him. Ultimately, she complied with his request. She knew she had to practice her form and her skills if she was going to be as great of a shinobi as her dad, but she didn't want to right then. She wanted to go inside and wait on Gaara's next letter. She also didn't want to disappoint her father. She couldn't, not with the way the villagers whispered about them. With a bit of reluctance, she got in the first stance and went through the motions. Her body had gotten used to the combination of movements about a week ago, but sometimes when she was distracted, it skipped a step, messing up the almost fluid sequence. She was distracted. So, instead of punching forward, she thrust her fist downward and continued to lift her knee. Kakashi immediately stopped her and enlightened her of her mistake before making her start over. She cursed, which was followed by a smack to the head. She glared at her dad and rubbed the spot on her head.

"No cussing," he said sternly. She muttered under her breath and started her routine over again. She focused on her movements as frustration hung over her head in a cloud, causing her movements to become jerkier. Luckily, she made it through the whole thing without messing up. She was ordered to do it again and again and again until it seemed her katas were perfect. Kakashi was satisfied, so he told her to do it one more time before they could take a break and send the letter out. Kokoro perked up at that and enthusiastically started her katas over. Unfortunately, with the mention of her letter to Gaara, her mind clouded and she messed up. She winced when she noticed her mistake and nervously giggled when she caught the dull expression on her dad's face.

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Gaara,

I miss you, too! I asked my dad when I can come visit you and he said he doesn't know. He always says that when he's too lazy to figure out the answer for me. Everyone says he's such a smart person, but if he doesn't know all the answers to all my questions, how smart is he really? He's been training me in taijutsu and he says I'm really good at it, so I guess he has to be pretty smart.

I saw a teddy bear at the store yesterday! I was gonna buy it just in case you need an extra one, but my dad said I wasn't allowed because I spent all of my allowances on dango. Oh, I never asked you what you named your new bear! Name it something cool! My birthday was a couple of days ago, so now I'm five! I didn't get a birthday party cause my dad was on a mission and I didn't want to celebrate my birthday without him, but we had cake and he gave me a present when he got back. He got me a blue bow for my hair and a new kunai set. He said my hair was getting too long to have it out all the time.