A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Lloyd was bandaged from his neck all the way down to his feet. His left arm was in a cast, and both his legs were resting upward in slings that were attached to the two skinny metal bars at the end of the hospital bed. His hair was matted with blood and drooped slightly over his closed eyelids. A tube was inserted into the inside of his arm and on the other side of it was a bag of clean fluid that hung beside him. His mouth and nose was hooked up to a respirator. The rest of his face that you could see was white as death, but his heartbeat thumped clearly on the heart monitor, very slowly but clearly, and my own heart jumped for joy because of it.

The nurse had told us, before she left us all alone, was that Lloyd was in a much more stable condition than he was in when they had brought him in with. At this, Naria sensei had asked if we could meet the genin that helped him, but the nurse only shook her head and said that they left for a mission and quickly changed the subject back.

I wondered if Naria sensei and Rakuyo noticed the frightened tone in her voice when she said that, or was it just me? I throw the thought aside though when the nurse continues on about Lloyd.

She finishes telling us that his body was cooperating well with the medicines and healing procedures they had performed on him and that if it kept up, he would hopefully have all his strength and health back. After that, the nurse considerately took her leave.

I was satisfied with that, but I wanted to quicken his recover by using my healing power, but Naria sensei had ordered me against it. She told me we didn’t know what sorts of ailments they gave him or techniques they used on him, and we definitely didn’t know a lot about my newfound ability, so there was a chance that my help probably wouldn’t aid him but it could hurt him. That definitely was not a risk I was willing to take. He was recovering very well for the moment and that helped ease my thoughts more on the situation.

The sun was setting on the western horizon, and the darkening of the sky cast an eerie glow in the room. Naria sensei was leaning against the wall beside the long rectangular window, her arms crossed and her eyes focused on the floor. Rakuyo was sitting in a tan leather chair in the corner of the room, nearest the door. I had pulled a stool up beside Lloyd’s bed, and I hadn’t moved anywhere else since we arrived. Even though my stomach hurting from famine, and I could barely keep my eyes open, and my back was killing me because I had nothing to lean against, I didn’t move or complain.

As if reading my mind, Naria sensei walks up behind me. “We should go and get a motel room and a bite to eat. Lloyd will be fine. We’ll come back in the morning.”

I wanted to protest, but my stomach betrayed me and growled ravenously. She was right. After all, we couldn’t stay here overnight. There wasn’t enough room in this cramped space, and the hospital staff couldn’t provide us with extra bedding.

So, with a sigh, Rakuyo and I follow Naria sensei from the room.

~~*~~

After we had paid for a room, we headed to the ramen bar the motel employer had suggested, right in the heart of the village. The area was bustling with people, but not the kind of crowds I was accustomed to at the Leaf village. There were drunks and bar hoppers everywhere you looked, and a fight here and there broke out between people.

Gratefully, we made it to the ramen bar. We were seated immediately and ordered our food. After the waitress took our menus, I leaned my head against the booth, enjoying the tranquil mood of the restaurant. Not soon after, our waitress returns with our meals and sets them down in front of us with a happy smile.

“Let my know if there’s anything else you need,” she says kindly. Naria sensei thanks her in reply and we dig in to the delicious-looking noodles.

It didn’t take long for me to devour the ramen down. In about three minutes the bowl sat empty in front of me. I smiled appreciatively. Man, did I feel better. A few minute’s later, Naria sensei and Rakuyo were finished as well.

The three of us sit in silence, all looking in different directions. The quiet setting gave me a lot of time to mull things over in my mind, about everything that happened earlier that day. It seemed like a faraway dream now, but then my thoughts would lead to Lloyd lying in the hospital and I knew that all of it was dead real. But there was this one question that kept popping up. I didn’t want to really ask it, since Lloyd was now found and okay, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“Why didn’t you tell us about the Brothers of Treachery before they showed themselves?” I question Naria sensei, my eyes staring intently at her. She looks up and me, and I see something in her expression that I couldn’t place. “You knew they were following us when we got to Kombawa. But you kept it to yourself.”

“You remember me telling you guys that I came here once before? Well, a couple times before.” Rakuyo and I nod. “Well, the first time I came here it was several years back. I was your age and with my own genin squad and jounin sensei, and we were on a mission similar to this one. But on the way those same brothers stopped us also. We fought them, but our sensei was killed during the battle and my teammates and I barely escaped.”

“Really? That’s horrible.” The memory of my father then envelops my mind. “My dad was killed on a journey like this too. I didn’t know what happened to him or how he died, and I didn’t want to know. But my mom told me that he sacrificed his life in order to save the others on his team.”

Naria sensei lowers her head. “I know,” she mutters softly. I smile weakly, of course everyone knew; especially a jounin like her. I just didn’t know how real and true she had meant those two words, until she opened her mouth and said, “My sensei, the one who gave up his life to protect us against those five brothers… was your father, Kimina…”