A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

We were surrounded by Rain ninja, all wearing dark suits, each of their eyes wrapped around with bandages.

"What is this, Kabuto?" Sakura asks him bewildered, still staring at the mud-dripping figure.

Kabuto gazes around us. "It's genjutsu. All of these clones are."

"He's right. The real ones are just hiding about somewhere," Sasuke divulges knowingly.

"If that's true, then they just plan to have these clones, or whatever these things are, fight us instead of coming out themselves. What cowards," Lloyd states, smirking.

"Yeah, but there are so many of them," Sakura mumbles. Well, there went some of her confidence.

"Humph. I don't care how many there are! Their all gonna' get creamed!" Naruto shouts enthusiastically.

"No, Naruto! Don't fight them! You'll only be wasting your strength if you do!" Kabuto tells him simply. "All we can do is stand our ground against them."

"Well, that's no fun!" Naruto counters.

"Look, its all we can do," Kabuto retorts.

The doppelganger turns the double headed kunai in his hand, and Naruto notices. He smiles and charges out at the Rain shinobi confidently. The ninja throws his weapon and Naruto jumps out of its way.

"Heads up back there!" he yells over his shoulder, and punches the Rain shinobi dead in his face, sending mud flying everywhere.

The knife that was thrown whips through the air, right towards Sasuke. I expected him to jump out of the way, but a flicker of pain crosses his features and he freezes up automatically. I get ready to jump in front of him, but Lloyd beats me to it, and he deflects the knife with one of his own.

Sakura runs up to Sasuke. "Sasuke, you okay?" She starts to reach for him, but he brushes her off and straightens his shoulders.

"Well, these clones may not be real, but their weapons sure are," Lloyd says aloud, staring at the double headed kunai that landed a few feet away.

"Yeah, that's for sure," I concede.

"Ha! These clones aren't nothing!" Naruto ascents, standing proudly in the muck of the defeated ninja. "We can take them easily!" He makes a hand sign, and I smirk. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Several of himself poof into sight, and they all scatter out. Kabuto smiles and shakes his head.

I make the same hand sign. "Well, I guess we have no choice but to fight now. Shadow clone jutsu!" My clones appear into view around me, and we all go and battle by Naruto's side.

"Alright then, let's do it," Lloyd says to Rakuyo.

"Come on, Sakura," Sasuke tells her.

She nods her head. "Right."

They all jump into the brawl, and it looked like we were going to win, but every time we defeated one, more and more came in its place.

I didn't know how long we were fighting, but I knew it was hours, because the sky was starting to brighten with the morning sun.

"This is a complete waste!" Lloyd shouts, breathing heavily. He was exhausted; we all were. "This isn't getting anywhere!"

He was right too. There was just as many clones as there were when we first started. I sigh. This genjutsu was no joke.

The last of Naruto's clones gets hit and disappears out of sight. "Damn...it," he breathes out. He bumps into me as he backs up from the surrounding Rain ninja.

I look to the other side of me at bothy Rakuyo and Lloyd, and then look back at Naruto and see Sakura, Sasuke, and Kabuto all right beside him. I glance behind us at the massive tree trunk. We were cornered. We were cornered with little strength to fight back.

Ha, they wish. I feel the green chakra start to stir in me, and I get ready to resotre my energy, so I could burn all these clones to ashes. But at that moment, they all disappear, and three Rain shinobi walk out from behind them.

So, they finally decided to show themselves. They each had on pale yellow jumpsuits and equally determined, malicious sneers.

The middle one with the high, pointed, spiky hair chuckles. "Now since we've crushed their spirits, all that's left is their bodies."

Naruto and I smirk, and Sasuke, Sakura, Kabuto, Lloyd and Rakuyo all poof into smoke, revealing Naruto's team and Kabuto being his clones and my team being my doubles.

The Rain shinobi all stare with their mouths hanging open, each in complete disbelief.

"Worked like a charm you two," Sasuke calls out from behind our astounded foes. Sakura stands behind him and Kabuto, Lloyd, and Rakuyo come out and show themselves as well.

"What...what...?" the Rain ninja stammers at a loss for words.

"To answer your stupid question, the both of them made clones of each of us, and while our doubles were taking all the beatings, we were sitting and waiting comfortably for you cowards to show yourselves," Lloyd explains, his arms crosses and his expression cocky.

Naruto smiles weakly, and I fall backwards on my butt with a heavy, tired sigh.

"Alright, you guys, take a break. We got it from here," Sasuke tells us, starting to move in on the enemy. But he stops short when Naruto rushes out and soccer punches all three Rain ninja's in their faces.

"You really think I'm gonna' just sit back and let you do all the fighting and have all the fun?" Naruto asks with a confident expression.

Everyone takes on a surprised look, including me.

'Whoa. How could he even move a muscle after all that chakra he used?' I think to myself. I was exhausted, and I knew he was too, but he still managed to keep up a fight. I smile beside myself. He really had grown so much in his strength, but then again, I always thought of him as strong.

While everyone was staring at Naruto, the Rain ninja's regained their composure and each made hand signs. I narrow my eyes at them, watching their next move carefully. "Ninja Art: Fog Plane justu." Many copies of themselves appear in the center of the clearing, and this time they were real clones, from what I could tell.

Kabuto looks around at them. "Watch out, Naruto! This time it isn't genjutsu!"

"Yeah, I kind of figured that." Naruto punches the first clone near him, and his fist just goes through its body. "I'll just have to keep bashing these guys until I find the real ones!"

"Don't waste your time, Naruto! The real ones could be hiding somewhere!" Sasuke warns. I watch him make a hand sign, but he freezes up and cries out in pain. I grip the dirt underneath my nails as he falls to his knees, gripping his neck. It was the mark that bastard Orochimaru put on him. Sakura drops to his side.

Naruto quickly glances at Sasuke, and that was all the opening the enemy needed.

My eyes widen. Get up, I command my legs. After that, everything that followed happened in seconds. The green chakra stirs in me and my energy restores. I shoot up quickly and run out to Naruto and put myself between him and the other ninja.

The kunai he held to strike Naruto pierces my back instead, and tears deep into my flesh.

"Kimina!"