A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Lloyd jumps into the air, and throws a kunai knife directly at me. I fling the kunai in my hand at his, canceling them both out. Lloyd lands and flips backwards, getting some fair distance between the two of us. I breathe out heavily. We’ve been going back and forth for a while now; someone had to give sooner or later.

I then make a hand sign and yell out, "Shadow clone jutsu!" Nine exact copies of myself appear around me, each with equally determined expressions.

"Hmph. So, what do you plan to do now?" Lloyd asks me mockingly.

"You'll see," I reply boastly, each of my clones charging at him. Lloyd stands his ground, ready for any assualt. He takes out a kunai knive and stabs three of the nine clones easily. He stands upon his hands, and kicks the fourth and fifth one into the air, making them disappear out of sight. I stand back and observe the whole ordeal with relentless eyes. Lloyd then turns his back on me, trying to finish off the last of your clones.

'There!' I exclaim, seeing an opening for me to attack.

"Huh?" Lloyd says, sensing my presence coming up behind him. He tries to dodge me, but is too slow to react in time. I punch him right in the face, sending him flying into the ground in the opposite direction.

"Looks like I got you," I braggingly pronounce, with the last remainder of my clones disappearing. "Hmm? What the...?" I gasp out, staring at the small log that took Lloyd's place on the ground.

"A substitution!" I scream out in shock. I turn around, but only to be sent soaring backwards by a well-armed punch from Lloyd.

"Looks like I'm the one who's got you," Lloyd states pretentiously. I sit up on your knees, and wipe the blood dripping down the side of my mouth, and look at Lloyd with a sense of unsettlement. I push myself up, and lean against the tree behind me.

'I underestimated him. He's got more skill that I had thought. Even though he said no holding back... he did on that last hit. I doubt I'll be able to win here. But I won’t give up that easily,' I close my eyes, trying to catch some of my breathe.

Naria's P.O.V

I walk down the main road in the heart of the village, smiling at the crowds of people around me. I then glance behind me, sensing a familiar presence. "Hmm? What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see how you were doing," he tells me with a sigh.

"I'm doing fine. What about you?" I also ask him.

"Can't complain, I guess," he answers lazily. "So, how was your team? Squad nine, isn't it?".

"Yes, it is. Kimina Fujimaru, Lloyd Yukohama, and Rakuyo Sesetsu. They seem to be very promising, I'll admit. But there appears to be some bad relations between two of the three," I clearly state.

"And who might that be?" he inquires interestingly.

"Lloyd Yukohama... and Rakuyo Sesetsu," I say simply, saying the last name more slowly.

"Rakuyo Sesetsu?" --he begins-- "isn't that the boy who's...?"

"Yep. He's the one. I was kind of surprised myself when he said his name," I interrupt with a sigh. "So... what about your team?"

"My team? Well... it consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha," Kakashi answers, gazing up at the sky.

"Hmm. So I see that the last remaining Uchiha is part of your team that you have to mentor. That should be very interesting.” Even though I knew Kakashi could very well handle it.

"Yeah, probably. But I can already tell that this squad will need a lot of training and discipline. That is... if they pass their excercise tomorrow. Naruto and Sasuke seem to already have a frictioned relationship between the both of them, just like the two of yours," Kakashi explains, with a straight face.

"Yes... my team as well. Tomorrow may be the beginning of their future or the end of their dreams.” I remember those same words were said to me some time ago, and I shudder involuntarily.

"Yeah, your right. You know, you really have grown up," Kakashi compliments me.

"Why, thank you. It's all been thanks to the Third Hokage... and also to the Fourth as well," I say, remembering the times the Fourth and I trained together in the forest.

"But don't forget... you still are young. And you must remember the responsibilities that come with directing and teaching a squad that you are the sensei for," he explains clearly.

"Yes, I understand. And I won't let you down. I promise," I reply with a sincere smile. Hopefully I could keep this promise.

End of Naria's P.O.V

"Fire style: Fire Ball justu!" I yell out, blowing out a gust of fire at Lloyd. He jumps into the air, and only gets burned slightly on his pants leg. He cringes a bit from the pain, but ignores it and makes a hand sign.

'Hmph. Time to try out my new jutsu,' he thinks with a smirk. "Ninja Art: Fog Concealment jutsu!"

At that moment, a fog-like substance begins to circulate around me; enabling me from seeing. 'What type of jutsu is this? And how is Lloyd able to summon something like this? This Yukohama clan certainly is something to look out for,' I think, coughing a little from the fog intake. 'I can't see a thing. And this fog is starting to get to me. I need to get out of here now! If I'm not mistaken... I think I am about thirteen paces away from the tree behind me.'

I begin to walk backwards; in my mind counting how many steps I had taken. "11, 12... 13!" I continue, with my back hitting against the trunk of the tree. I leap upon the lowest branch, and climb higher and higher; until I was on top of the foggy element. I look down below at my surroundings, trying to see if I could spot out where Lloyd may be. But it was nearly impossible to see anything down below me.

"Fire style: Fire Ball jutsu!" I hear my opponent scream. I then see an orange color forming in the fog. My eyes widen as that orange light turns into a massive amount of fire coming right towards me. With no time to react, the fire consumes my entire body.

Lloyd's P.O.V

I hear a faint scream, and sigh out tiredly. I smile to myself, and look to the side of me where a proud looking Kimina was standing. She puts a kunai knive to my throat and smirks victoriously.

End of Lloyd's P.O.V

"Looks like it's over," I state with a dignified expression, as the fog slowly clears away. “And I really can’t believe you were really going to fry me.”

"Don’t worry… that fire attack was nearly great enough to kill you, let alone do any real damage,” Lloyd says, with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Still I wouldn’t be saying anything in this position.”

“Hmph.” The smirk was still on his face.

“What the…?” I gasp.