A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Tears stream down my cheeks; the pain was excruciating. The kunai was pierced deep within my chest, blood pooling all down my front. The demon had countered my attack and then spun me around, and with my own kunai he had struck me.

Orochimaru chuckles in my ear, and I shudder automatically. “What a silly girl. Did you really think that I would let you get past me?” His grip tightens on both my arms, and I wince and gasp for air.

“Kimina!” Sakura screams my name.

“Now, let us go.” Orochimaru starts to sink down into the tree again, me along with him.

“Ki…mi…na,” Sasuke mumbles between pants.

The last thing I heard and saw before blackness took over was Orochimaru’s laugh, and Naruto still hanging unconscious.

~*~

Naria had picked up on his presence again. She raced through the trees of her team’s training area, his chakra thickening in the cool night air. She comes to a stop, her right hand resting on a tree.

She glances around. “I thought I heard something.” A chuckle responds to her statement.

“Come on out, Yasu.”

“Gladly.”

Naria spins around, but Yasu grabs a hold of her fist in mid-punch.

“Now, Naria, I don’t want to fight. Not now, anyway. I just wanted to talk.” He lets go of her hand.

“How the hell are you alive? You were dead. I saw your body crushed under all those boulders!”

“You can say that in a twist of fates, my life was given back to me.”

“By who?”

He sneers. “Now that really isn’t important, now is it? I’m back from the dead, and now I am going to exact my revenge.”

Naria narrows her eyes and makes a hand sign. Yasu moves in a blinding move and pins her to a tree. His long purple hair falls around her face like a veil.

“Haven’t you gotten it already? My revenge isn’t against you, but against your students. Especially the boy who killed me, and that beauty with the healing power.”

Naria tenses. “I’ll kill you before you can even lay a finger on them!”

He chuckles. “I don’t think so. This will be the last time we meet, I’m afraid.”

“You are not going into the Forest of Death!”

“No, I’m not. Actually, there is a more perfect opportunity to attack those kids.” He throws his head back in laughter.

Naria grits her teeth and swings her leg around. Yasu merely jumps back and disappears.

Naria steps out from under the tree. “Come on back out, Yasu!” His presence dissipates. “Damn it!”

She then twirls around, hearing the leaves rustle. “Kakashi…”

~*~

We stood under the moonlight, his hands still grasped around my arms, in a different part of the Forest.

“I can see that you have a lot of potential in you, but you need the right person to unlock it. I can help you, especially with your healing power. It’s an extraordinary curse, and Naria cannot hope to aid you in controlling it.” My eyes widen a bit. How did he even know Naria was trying to help me?

But I can…

I felt the green chakra stir inside me, and then all of a sudden I didn’t feel it anymore. Then I did, and the next moment I didn’t. I tried to summon the green chakra to heal my wound, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even access it. Orochimaru chuckles, and I realized he was the one that was doing this!

My vision was getting hazy, and I could barely breath anymore. No. I had to get away from him. I moved my arms a little, but it was useless, my whole body felt numb.

He leans in closer. “I have chosen Sasuke, and I can favor you as well. I know deep down you liked fighting beside him.” I feel Orochimaru’s warm breath on my neck, his mouth opened wide.

“No…I…had to fight alongside that…bastard. I was…protecting Sakura and…Naruto…”

“You are very stubborn, aren’t you? Who are you trying to tell that to? Yourself?” The tips of his sharp teeth graze my skin. “But if that is the case, why did you risk your life for him?”

You bastard! What did you do to him?

“Stop!” A voice yells.

Orochimaru pulls back, and Anko jumps down in front of us.

“Kimina! What did you do to her, you bastard! Let her go!” Anko shouts at the demon angrily.

“I didn’t do anything to her, Anko dear. I know how much this child means to you.” He smiles hungrily, and then inclines back over me. “I’ll be in touch. Take care.”

He lets go of my arms and in a blur takes a hold of Anko.

I didn’t have the strength to catch myself; I didn’t even have the energy to scream. My body just tumbled over the edge of the tree branch, and I fell.

And I keep falling and falling until the darkness of the night consumes me…