A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Dosu laughs in the complete silence. "It is over."

"Oh, no," Tenten sighs.

Lee looks horrified. "This cannot be..."

"She...she can't be..." Ino sputters.

Shikamaru shakes his head. "No..."

Naruto grits his teeth, infuriating rage boiling in his eyes. He puts his right foot on top of the railing, ready to jump at the Sound ninja.

"Naruto, don't," Kakashi warns him.

"But, Kakashi sensei, I..." Naruto stops himself short and reluctantly places his foot back down. His anger was seething up inside him, slowly turning into sadness.

'Oh, Naruto.' Sakura looks at him from behind, watching his body tremble, as tears form in her eyes.

Sasuke stands still, staring at Kimina's inanimate form, not knowing what to say.

Hinata quivers uncontrollably, not able to look at the horrible scene before her.

"What a shame," Temari says, unfazed. Kankuro shrugs, and Gaara simply says nothing.

The Hokage looks below him at the grotesque display, his features remorseful.

Anko's eyes were wide, and she stammers at a loss for words.

Dosu takes a couple steps back from Kimina. "It is over, proctor," he repeats.

Hayate falters. 'I was too late in stopping this outcome.' He begins to walk towards the body.

"Wait!" I yell at him. "Don't stop this battle yet!"

Everyone mutters about what I was talking about.

"Lloyd," Naria sensei says lowly.

I ignore her. "Do not stop this fight yet! It's not over!" At least, I just hope it wasn't.

"What in the world is he talking about?" Kurenai asks to no one in particular.

Kiba hears her though and looks back at her. Akamaru whines pitifully in his jacket, and Kiba pats him on the head soothingly. "Yeah, I know, boy."

Kiba's P.O.V.

Flashback

"Akamaru! Akamaru! Where you go, boy?" I yell for him.

Where could he have gone to? I turned my back on him for a split second, and then he wasn't there anymore.

I march through the trees, looking high and low for him. He was close too; I could smell him.

I walk out of the trees and into a clearing and see Akamaru lying down on his side next to someone. A girl. Her back was to me, her long dark hair blowing in the wind.

"Kimina," I call her name. Akamaru sits up at the sound of my voice, and Kimina turns towards me, her smile as sweet as ever.

"Oh, hey, Kiba," she replies. She rubs her fingers behind Akamaru's ear, and he cocks his head towards her in bliss.

I walk up to them. "Hey, buddy, why did run off like that? I've been looking for you everywhere."

The puppy lays down and hides his face between his paws.

Kimina giggles. "Yeah, I was wondering what he was doing all by himself."

"Well, we have to go, boy. We have some more training to finish," I state. Akamaru whines and hops up into Kimina's lap in defiance.

"It seems he doesn't want to go," she says, rubbing her hand down his furry back. He barks, agreeing with what she said.

I sigh and decide to sit down beside her. "Alright, Akamaru. You win this time, but we'll only stay for a few more minutes more." Akamaru barks once, happily.

We were situated on top of an incline, overlooking downtown Konaha. I pick at the grass under me and roll it between my fingers.

"So, what kind of training do you and Akamaru do?" she asks me curiously.

"Just stuff that makes us stronger as a team together," I reply. I smile cockily. "But we really don't need to cause were strong enough already!" She rolls her eyes and smiles.

"So...what are you doing up here, anyway?" I ask her. The sun was high in the sky, shining brilliantly.

"I come up here often. I don't know. It's just really peaceful up here and a really pretty view," she answers earnestly. " She breathes in the fresh air, and sighs heavily. "I mean, it is, isn't it?"

I look at her from the corner of my eye. What was with her that was so different from everyone else?

Akamaru breaks me out of my reverie when he hops out of Kimina's lap and chases after a yellow butterfly fluttering past.

Kimina stands to her feet and giggles. "Akamaru, come back!"

Akamaru runs behind us after the crazed bug, and when he gets back closer to us, he jumps into Kimina's arms without warning.

"Whoa!" Kimina screams as she tumbles backwards with Akamaru in her grasp.

I stand to my feet and watch her roll down the hill, stopping upright on her back and Akamaru on top of her, licking her face excitedly and in apology.

She laughs out loud, trying to tell Akamaru to stop kissing her. I would have helped her out, but I was too busy laughing myself.

End Flashback

End Kiba's P.O.V.

Shikamaru shakes his head back and forth. This could not be happening.

Shikamaru's P.O.V.

Flashback

"Hey, doesn't that one look like a cat?" I ask, pointing upwards to the sky.

She turns her head in the direction of the cloud I was referring to. "Hmm? Um, not really," she answers, her eyes squinting.

"What are you talking about, Kimina? Sure it does. I mean, look at the cloud directly behind it. It's the cat's tail," I explain to her.

She stares at it for a few more seconds. She sighs. "I just can't see that one."

We were both lying down on the tall grass in a clearing, cloud watching. Both my arms were behind my head, and she was laying next to me, both her hands entwined over her chest.

"See, you can't just look at the cloud. You have to see the image you want to see in the cloud and picture it through your mind's eye." Man, did I sound like a nerd just then.

She laughs at me, and then gasps. "Now, look at that one! That one looks like a cat."

I spot the cloud she was talking about, just coming over the clearing. I could picture the ears of a cat on it, but, "It looks more like a sheep to me."

She laughs again. "A sheep?"

I hear rustling in the trees behind us. I sit up and look towards the noise.

Chouji emerges from the line of trees, with four ice cream cones in his hands.

"Hey, Chouji," I greet him.

"Hey, you guys. Look what I've brought!" he announces happily.

He sits down on the other side of Kimina and hands her a strawberry ice cream cone.

"Aw, thanks, Chouji. This was really nice of you," she says politely, taking a hold of the cone.

"Yeah, thanks, buddy," I say, reaching my hand out.

But Chouji just continues sitting there, not looking at me, and begins devousing one of the vanilla cones.

"Hey, Chouji!" I yell at him, confused.

He grins mischievously at me. "Ha! I'm just kidding with you, Shikamaru. Here!" He hands me a cone. Him and Kimina both laugh at my expression.

I roll my eyes at them comically. "Glad your both amused. But thanks for this, Chouji."

"Yeah, no problem. It was...my treat," he says in between bites. He was done with one of the two cones before he even finished his sentence.

I shake my head, smiling, and turn my attention back to Kimina. "Now, where were we?" I ask, looking up at the sky.

End Flashback

End Shikamaru's P.O.V

Sakura crosses her arms over her chest and grabs both of her arms. She looks sorrowful at the spectacle under her.