A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Every team was lined up in rows, all side by side. Our team was positioned between Kiba's and Shikamaru's . Lloyd was first in our line, followed by me, and Rakuyo was last.

I glance back at him. He has still yet to tell us what Izumo had discussed with him. What had happened? The sadness was still in his eyes.

Before us, situated all in a half circle were the jounin and and chunin of the Leaf village, and also the Hokage who was standing in front of them all.

I smile when I see Naria sensei standing next to Kakashi sensei. She catches my eye, and instead of smiling back, she frowns.

Anko then clears her throat. "I will like to congratulate you all on making it this far."

"Hey, glad to see you guys made it." Kiba grins, flashing his sharp teeth.

"Yeah. I heard your team got to come to the Tower right on the first day." Sarcastic jealously was all in my tone.

Kiba grins and laughs. "Yep, we sure did! We're just that good. Right, you guys?"

"Uh...right," Hinata agrees shyly.

I suppress a laugh and roll my eyes at Kiba. There was just no getting past his cockiness. No wonder him and Lloyd were good friends.

They start talking about something between each other, but I don't pay attention because I feel a pair of eyes on me. I wish I hadn't returned his gaze, but I do. Gaara was staring at me, his eyes narrowed and his watch spiteful.

Guy sensei chuckles. "Well, Kakashi, looks like your team made it all the way just fine. I didn't think they would come so far like my team..." His eyes twinkle.

Kakashi sighs and turns to Naria, ignoring Guy's proud rantings. "How are you?" he asks.

She answers back, serious. "Relieved, but anxious."

"Anxious of what?"

"Everything," she replies, regarding him nonchalantly.

Kakashi decides to leave it at that. He observes her team, and a thought crosses his mind. Her team didn't have any marks or scrapes on them at all. It was like they came through this last exam all untouched. But how was that possible?

"All of the nine rookies are here," Lloyd says.

"Yeah, can you believe it?" I reply. I catch Sakura staring at me, her features dumbfounded. I figure out immediately that she was noticing that the long cut on the side of my face was gone. She looks away when our eyes meet.

"Hey, pay attention, you little maggots to Lord Hokage about your third exam!" Anko orders promptly.

The Hokage nods towards Anko. "I'm going to to tell you the purpose of these exams."

'True purpose,' I repeat mentally.

He continues. "These exams are the representation of the battles between allied nations." He goes on and on about our neighboring villages and the history we had with them. "Part of these exams are selecting shinobi who are worthy of becoming chunin. These exams are also a place where shinobi carry the weight of their nation's on their backs."

He tells us that in this exam many leaders will be attending as guests. "This exam is a chance to let every nation display the strength of their shinobi, and the nation itself."

Gaara glares. "These details are superficial, just get on with it. I can handle anything you throw at me."

"Very well then, now let me tell you what you will be doing in this third exam," he utters.

A man then appears before the Hokage in a cloud of smoke. "Lord Hokage, before you do, allow me, Hayate Gekkou, to say something first." The Hokage nods acknowledgment. The man turns towards us, coughing. "There is something that I would like to say to all of you before the third exam." He coughs again. "Um, we have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on."

Low mutters go around the huge room.

"What do you mean a preliminary?" Shikamaru asks beside me.

"Why can't we just move on to the next exam?" Kiba barks (not literally though).

"The first and second exams might have been too easy, and we never expected for so many of you to still be here. According to the rule book, a preliminary can be held at any time to eliminate candidates," he explains.

Sakura mumbles something worryingly, but I don't hear it.

"But all of you do not have to take part in this. If any of you are not in top physical condition, now is the time for you to leave. The preliminaries will begin immediately."

"Aw, seriously? But we just got finished surviving the last exam!" Ino whines.

Hinata twiddles her fingers nervously.

"Ha! There's no way I'm quitting!" Naruto pronounces.

"I've come too far to quit now," Lee states.

"Oh yeah, the winner will be determined by one on one combat, sudden death. So, if you don't feel up to it, then raise your hand," Hayate continues.

'Does he really think that anyone is going to back out now?' Sasuke thinks to himself.

I shake my head, smirking. 'No. I'm ready for anything, and so is my team.'

I notice a strange movement in the corner of my eye. It was Sasuke, grabbing a hold of his neck. It was his mark again. The pain seemed to be coming sooner and sooner. I see Sakura reaching out a tentative hand towards him.

Lloyd then turns his head to me. "Can they just get on with it? No one is going to quit..." I begin to say something back to him, when his expression stops me. He was looking past me, his eyes wide and mouth open.

I start to rotate around, and while I do I see that Kabuto's hand was raised. But why were the rookies gaping behind me?

I fully turn around and my heart skips a beat and my own mouth drops open.

"Whoa..." Kiba mumbles.

Rakuyo's hand was raised. His face was held down, and he was trembling slightly.

"Ra-Rakuyo? What...what are you doing?" I stammer, completely puzzled.

"I'm sorry...Kimina...Lloyd." He looks up at us, his eyes brimmed with tears.

"But why? Your up for this, Rakuyo," Lloyd tells him, utterly baffled like I was.

"It's not that, Lloyd. I would...have left awhile ago if I didn't think that three to a squad was still needed this far. But since I'm being given a chance to leave without a cost to you two, then I have to go. I'm sorry..."

"I's because of what Izumo said to you, isn't it? What did he say?" I practically yell. Rakuyo simply doesn't answer.

I shake my head back and forth. This could not be happening. Rakuyo couldn't leave.

'I was wondering when he was going to raise his hand. And looks like Kimina and Lloyd don't even know why yet,' Naria sadly contemplates.

Hayate clears his throat and coughs some more. He flips through his some pages on his clipboard. "Kabuto Yakashi...Rakuyo Sesetsu. Alright, you two may go."

Rakuyo nods and turns to leave.

"Rakuyo, wait!" I yell after him. But he doesn't. "What's going on?!" I shout louder. Lloyd grabs my arm and pulls me against him.

"Oh, wow," I barely hear Sasuke mutter.

I turn to him, my eyes glaring, and growl in my throat. "What the hell did you just say?" He purposefully averts my gaze. "I hope I get paired with you in this preliminary, so I can kick your ass for real!"

Everyone was staring at me I know, but I didn't care at that moment. My teammate had just left, and I didn't know why.

"She sure is feisty, huh?" Asuma whispers to Kurenai.

Lloyd leans over and whispers in my ear. "Kimina, I'm just as worried as you are about Rakuyo, but there's nothing we can do about it now." I calm down, but only a little, against him.

"Whoa, remind me to stay on your good side," Kiba says seriously.

"Kimina...it's going to be okay," Hinata says with a honest expression.

I sigh and smile at her, and mouth thanks, while turning facing the front.

"Allow the boy to continue. However, at the first sign of his mark getting out of control, then you will step in and stop it," the Hokage instructs Anko.

Anko opens her mouth to protest, but pulls back and reluctantly nods.

"Alright then, does anyone else want to quit?" Hayate asks again in the silence.

A lot of mumbling goes around again.

"Alright then, we'll begin the preliminaries. It will contain one on one individual combat, at full battle intensity. There are twenty two of you left, meaning there will be eleven battles. The winners will advance to the next exam. As for rules, there are none. You will fight until one of you dies or is too incapacitated and can no longer battle. Now, it's time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you."

A panel opens up in the top left corner of the room.

Hayate coughs. "The names of each opponent is picked at random. Before each match, the names will be displayed behind me. There is nothing more to say, so let's begin."

The panel turns on and names flashes above and below the vs. sigh at hyper speed. After a few seconds the panel stops my eyes widen at the names of the two first candidates.

I was first.

And I was going against...