A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

"Are you really sure that's it over?" Lloyd asks me, with a perceptive look.

"What are you talking about? Of course it is," I reply certainly, gripping the kunai knife harder in my hand.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that," he proclaims bluntly.

"What the…?" I gasp surprisingly, as a kunai is held closely to my throat as well. I look behind me to see a triumphant looking Lloyd standing there.

"But... but... how did you?" I stammer at a loss for words, staring at him with broaden eyes.

"Hmph. You might want to take a closer look at the person you have your kunai held to," he tells me, with an industrious smirk. I do as he says, and glance over at the Lloyd positioned in front of me. My eyes widen even more, as it's body then starts to dissipate into the same foggy substance that Lloyd had cast earlier.

He notices my astonished expression, and with a positive smile says, "That's right. He was just a clone all along. After I cast that fog concealment justu... I made a clone of myself out of it. I then used my clone to cast that fire jutsu, while my real self hid in the trees... waiting for you to come out and take the bait. And it worked too. So looks like it's over for you."

"Yeah... looks like it is," I regrettably agree, putting the kunai back into your weapon pouch. '

"He undoubtedly is strong and possesses talent. Maybe I was wrong for what I said about him.'

Flashback

"Yeah, me too! Even though I didn't really have to. I mean, I'm already a natural at being a ninja!" Lloyd says matter-of-factly.

"Humph. Yeah, right Lloyd. I bet you don't even know the basic meaning of being a Leaf shinobi," I say, my arms crossed.

"I do too! Just you wait! I'm gonna' past this exam with flying colors! Then I'll become a great ninja!" he exclaims boastly.

"Yeah, we'll see about that. Just don't let it fill up your head too much... don't want you to get too disappointed," I state.

End Flashback

"Hmm? Hey, Kimina? You okay?" Lloyd asks me, noticing that I was staring at him admiringly.

I shake me head back and forth twice. "No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about what I said to you... back at the Academy on the day of the graduation exam," I tell him in a discouraging tone.

"Oh, yeah. But what of it?" he questions, remembering the incident.

"I guess I was wrong about what I said. I believe that you do know what it means to be a shinobi," I say honestly.

"See... I told you that I did, didn't I?" he replies boastly. He smiles that big cocky grin of his.

I roll my eyes. " But you still need to work on your personality. A little too full of yourself... if you ask me," I say to him, with a small giggle after wards.

"I don't see what's so funny about that. Anyway, your really not that bad yourself," he says honestly.

"Thanks. But there are still a lot of things that I have to learn and work on. But..." I trail off, looking up at the sky.

"But what?" Lloyd asks, clearly wanting to know the answer.

"Nothing. It's nothing. We should be getting on home now. It's getting pretty late... and we need our strength for tomorrow's mission," I say, looking at Lloyd's immodest expression.

"Yeah, your right. We have to come prepared. Whatever it is we need to give it our all!" he exclaims, pumping his fist in the air.

"Right! Well, I'll see you then," I turn away from him walk away towards home.

"Yeah... see you," Lloyd says back, walking away in the opposite direction.

~~*~~

I walk out into my squad's training area, yawning tiredly from the lack of sleep that I recieved the previous night. Gazing around my surroundings, I spot a silhouette standing in the middle of the grounds. I slowly walk over to them, not fully aware of who it might be.

"Rakuyo," I say, getting a full glimpse of my teammate. He turns around towards me, and smiles pleasantly.

"Hello Kimina. Umm... you look tired this morning," he notices, gazing at your exhausted expression.

"Yeah, you could say that I am. I guess I didn't get much sleep last night, because I was a little worried about today's mission," I reply with a faint smile. I was sort of stunned as well; that was the most Rakuyo has ever said to me. Rakuyo doesn't smile back at me, but merely looks away from my eyes. I gasp silently, as I notice again the hurt and sadness in his expression as he looked away from me.

"Hey, Kimina! You ready for today?" my other teammate, Lloyd, walks up and asks me.

"Umm... yeah. I am," I answer softly, waking up from my thoughts.

Poof...

"Hello, everybody! Looks like were all here!" Naria sensei exclaims, as she appears in a white cloud of smoke in front of us all.

"Yeah, yeah... were all here. Now tell us what were supposed to be doing on this mission," Lloyd says, a bit tersely. His expression betrayed his words; his face was elated.

"Your assignment is very simple, really. All you have to do is fight me," she says calmly.

'What? We have to fight her?' I say to myself, positively stunned at the thought.

"Wait. Is that all we have to do? Is just fight you?" Lloyd asks, a little confused. “Hmph. This is gonna’ be easy.”

"Yep. That's it. You three must fight me head on. If you succeed on this assignment, then all of you will pass the test and go on to become well-trained shinobi. But if you do not succeed and fail... then you all will be sent back to the Academy," she says clearly.

"Sent back to the Academy?" I repeat, slightly alarmed.

"That's right,” she says simply. She crosses her arms, apparently waiting for our decision. Well, of course we were going to go through with it!

"There has to be a catch in this, right?" Lloyd inquires in a lazy tone.

"No catch. All you have to do is fight me. You may use any jutsu, weapons, or any tactics or techniques that you can think of," she replies to him, gesturing with her hands to her own weapon pouch.

"Pfft. Alright. This is going to be easy," Lloyd says boastly.

"Oh really? You really shouldn't get so cocky. Not knowing what the enemy's ability is on the field on battle, could lead to your downfall," she tells him, disappearing into thin air.

"Where... where did she go?" I ask, a little panicked. I look around the surroundings, not picking up any trace of her. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Rakuyo and Lloyd were doing the same. Out of nowhere, Naria instantly reappears in front of Lloyd, and punches him dead in his stomach. Blood spurts from his mouth, and he flies backwards into the cold hard ground.

"Lloyd!" I scream worryingly. I watch as he sits up on his knees, clutching his stomach and coughing up excess blood from the massive punch.

"And to think that... I was holding back on that hit," Naria says, gazing pathetically at him.
Lloyd stands up hesitantly on his feet, glaring with loath in his eyes back at our sensei. "This is why you should never underestimate your opponent! It will lead only to the position that you are in now! If this was a real fight... then you would be dead already!"

'Man, she is so different when she’s in battle. How in the world are we going to be able to win here? She’s powerful,' I think hopelessly, looking from Lloyd to Naria sensei.

"Hmph. I don't care what you say. I'm going to win here. No matter what!" Lloyd shouts confidently.

"Hmph. Well then... prove to me what real shinobi you all are. Show me what real power you all possess, and what a true ninja does in the face of calamity!" she says, an encouraging smile planted on her face. She then looks around at all of your now determined expressions, and loudly yells, "Now... begin!"