A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

On the rest of the way to the Sand village there was nothing but silence. While we were being escorted to the Kazekage, no one still said anything.

I ignore the unsettling quiet and keep my attention on the small gusts of sand that was blowing around me. I stretch my arm out in front of me, feeling the sand graze over my skin. I couldn’t help but be amazed at it; the sand swirled around my figure but it didn’t stick to me or irritate me. It was like the sand had a life all in it’s own, and that was probably very true.

We follow our guide into a two-story building, but we took so many twists and turns, up and down stairs, I think that the two-story outer structure was just a ruse. We finally make it to a long rectangular room. In the middle of the room hung a black see-through curtain from the ceiling all the way to the floor, separating the room into two halves.

On the other side of the cloth were three figures; one in the middle and the other two sat diagonally behind him. I knew immediately that the one who sat closest to us was the Kazekage, because he was wearing the same hat as our own Hokage, except it was blue.

Naria sensei walks in a couple more steps and kneels down on one of the four white cushions placed in front of us. Rakuyo and I follow and it down on either side of her. I glance over at the vacated pillow beside me, and my fingers brush against my weapon holster where I had put Lloyd’s headband.

Naria sensei hands over the letter to he Kazekage and they exchange a few words, but I was oblivious to what they were saying. My hand was still brushing against my holster absent-mindedly.

“So, I see you have lost one of your teammates?” My head snaps up at the Kazekage’s words.

Naria sensei nods her head. “Yes, Lord Kazekage.”

I see one of the Kazekage’s two guards lean in from behind him and whisper something in his ear. The Kazekage nodded briefly.

The guard then turns to us and the words that came out of his mouth sent my heart racing. “It seems that earlier today, one of our genin squads came across the body of a young boy who was bring swept away in the river down below Rigura’s cliff.” A hopeful smile spreads across my face. It was Lloyd; he was talking about Lloyd! It had to be!

“Does this location sound familiar to you?” the guard asks Naria sensei calmly.

“Yes, that was the exact place,” she answers, her tone propitious. She was thinking the same thing I was and that only heightened my optimistic mood.

The guard nods impassively. “He is the same age as your other two students and we have reason to believe that he is indeed a Leaf ninja. Our genin retrieved him and brought him back here. He is admitted in our hospital and is in critical condition.”

“Can we go and see him?” I blurt out quickly, already halfway up on my feet, ready to go. It was Lloyd; he could be alive and I couldn’t stay sitting here a moment longer.

The Kazekage answers me. “Yes, you may. Zoru will take you to the infirmary.” At his words, the escort who walked us here appears in the doorway.

“Thank you very much, Lord Kazekage,” Naria sensei acknowledges politely while bowing her head. Rakuyo and I promptly do the same before following Zoru out of the room.

My whole body was practically trembling by the time we arrived at the hospital. Naria sensei checked us in at the front desk, and a nurse with short red hair leads us to the back of the hospital and stops at the last door on the left.

Naria sensei, Rakuyo, and I all glance at each other before the nurse opens the door. We walk in and I couldn’t help but burst into tears.