A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

"Oh, come on! This is some bull!" Naruto yells impatiently.

"Naruto, calm down," Sakura says in a hushed whisper.

"None of us haven't even been picked yet, Sakura," Naruto retorts. "I want to have my turn!"

His voice echoes around the room.

The panel starts going.

Shikamaru sighs restlessly.

It stops.

Sakura Haruno
vs.
Ino Yamanaka

I had no idea how this battle was going to turn out. Both of these girls had the same level of resentment towards each other, and they both had the same strive to win this match.

They both take to the floor.

They share a few hurtful words and the battle initiates.

They exchange kicks and punches, neither landing hits on the other.

Sakura jumps into the air and throws a few shuriken at Ino, but Ino moves out of the way. Ino rushes Sakura as she lands and soccer punches her in her face.

Sakura keeps to her feet, and anger flashes across her features.

They stand apart from each other, and just stare at one another, no words exchanged. A lot of mental reminiscing was going on though, I could see it in their eyes.

A lot of time passes, and I do mean a lot of time. Sakura and Ino were still going at it, both hunched over, breathing heavily.

Then Ino manages to transfer her soul into Sakura using her Mind Transfer jutsu. Ino's body slumps to the ground, her soul now in Sakura.

Sakura begins to raise her hand to forfeit.

"No, Sakura!" Naruto shouts. "Don't do it! You're come too far to lose now!"

Neji shakes his head, and Sasuke just smirks.

Amazingly, Ino is forced back into her body, and Sakura takes back control. She smiles up at Naruto, and he smiles back.

I surprisingly feel a pang of jealously. "This battle isn't going to last much longer," I say, diverting myself from my unexpected feeling.

"Yeah," Lloyd says, his tone bored and hopeful at the same time.

Sakura and Ino charge, their hands held back for one last final blow. They strike each other both in the others jaw, and fly backwards, unconscious. Blood splashes the floor where they land.

The match is donned as a tie, because either opponent was unable to continue.

Kakashi sensei and Asuma sensei appear on the floor and carry their student back up to the railing.

The panel begins flashing again, not caring about the still two oblivious, and bruised genin.

Shikamaru Nara
vs.
Kin Tsuchi

"Seriously, I have to go up against a girl?" Shikamaru complains.

Him and the last Sound ninja walk down onto the floor.

"Begin!" Hayate commands.

Kin throws a couple of needles at Shikamaru, but he easily dodges them.

The needles hit the wall, and the little bells on them clang together.

Shikamaru gets distracted by the bells. He notices something about them. "Threads? Oh, no!"

Kin throws more needles under while his back was turned, and they hit him in the arm, missing his chest.

Kin pull on the bells and they clang together again. Shikamaru's shoulders stiffen and he sways from side to side.

'The bells are affecting his mind' I observe.

But Shikamaru was already a step ahead. He always was.

He had activated his Shadow Possession jutsu without Kin'a knowing, using the shadow that her thread had cast.

To everyone's surprise, Shikamaru reaches into his weapon pouch and pulls out a shuriken, meaning that Kin does the same thing.

He poises to throw it. Kin mimics his movements.

"Your crazy!" she yells.

"Let's see if your right," he replies calmly.

He flings the weapon. Kin tosses the weapon.

I tense up.

Shikamaru ducks to dodge the sharp tool. Kin does the same, but unlike Shikamaru, she was much closer to the wall and as she goes back, she bangs her head against it.

She is knocked unconscious.

Hayate clears his throat. "Shikamaru Nara is the winner of the eighth match."

I sigh in relief.

"Yay, Shikamaru!" Ino screams happily. Her and Sakura had woken up at the same time, right after Shikamaru's match began.

"So, who's all left?" Lloyd asks.

"You, Naruto..." I look around the room. "Sasuke, Gaara, Kiba...and Lee."

"All good choices for me," Lloyd says, matter-of-fact.

I, personally, didn't think so. Either Lloyd would be paired against my best friend, his best friend, my hated enemy, or a cold heartless demon. I didn't know Lee's ability very well yet.

The panel begins flashing names in quick succession.

"Come on!" I've been waiting long enough!" Naruto shouts.

"Yeah, let's go!" Kiba hollers. Akamaru barks twice.

It stops, and two more competitors are decided.

Lloyd and I glance at each other.