A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

The fog dissipates almost immediately.

Shocked gasps echo from almost everyone's lips.

"No, Sasuke..." Sakura whispers.

"Holy..." Ino begins.

"Shit," Shikamaru finishes.

Blood puddles were splattered everywhere. Shuriken and kunai were stabbed into the floor and also into Lloyd's back. He was lying face down, with his left arm sprawled in a sickening position. Blood covered almost every inch of him.

My heart almost stopped.

Lloyd was still alive, his eyelids fluttering up and down, but he was in deep, obvious pain.

Naria sensei sighs. "This battle is sadly over with."

Hayate concludes Naria sensei's words. Lloyd had lost this match.

So, why was Sasuke still walking towards Lloyd with a kunai in his hand?

Without thinking, I leap down onto the floor.

"What is going on?" Lee asks, leaning more over the rail.

I take out a knife of my own and hurl it at Sasuke's. It hits its target and both knives fly into the air. Sasuke glances at me as I run up towards him. He swings his leg out at me when I get closer. I duck out of the way barely just in time.

As I push myself up, I pull my fist back for a punch, but he was gone. He appears behind me before I could even sense him coming, and I was nowhere quick enough to get away. I grit my teeth as he quickly takes a fistful of my hair and presses a kunai to my neck with his other hand.

I then feel a tremble go through Sasuke's body, and his hand holding my hair loosens and he falls to the floor.

I turn around and see Kakashi standing behind Sasuke's unconscious body. He wasn't looking back at me, but down at Sasuke, his eye set hard.

Two medical ninjas scurry by, carrying a gurney.

"Wait," I tell them before they could carry Lloyd away.

"I'm sorry, miss. But this boy needs immediate medical attention," he starts explaining to me.

"I know," I respond. "I got it." They don't back off though.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I knell beside Lloyd and place my hands on his wounded backside.

Both of the med-shinobi's step back as the green chakra flows so effortlessly from my hands over his body. Murmurs verbalize from the mouths of the onlookers, most of them still shocked and confused.

His blood evaporates into thin air and the bones in his left arm mend themselves together.

'This healing technique is very different from hers,' the Hokage perceives, 'This is...' His eyes widen in realization.

"Could she always do this?" Shikamaru asks.

"What the hell is this girl?" Kankuro questions.

Kurenai ponders. 'So, she can also heal others? With no effort at all as well.'

"Kimina...?" Hinata whispers.

"This is...remarkable..." Lee says, awe-struck.

'Byakugan!' Neji stares at the green chakra with his new sight once more. 'This is weird. What the hell is this?'

Lloyd's eyes open as I heal the last of his bodily injuries. The healing chakra disappears and he sits up, his features totally unreadable.

"Lloyd..." I say.

Kakashi bends to pick up Sasuke's body, and Lloyd's eyes dart in their direction.

"I..." His voice is hoarse. "I lost, didn't I?" He sounded so different, so without hope.

I didn't say anything; I couldn't say anything, but he got his answer though through my uneasy expression.

He stands to his feet, and I do the same.

"Lloyd... are you--"

He cuts me off. "I gotta go, Kimina."

"Go where?" I ask, but he was already walking towards the exit.

I begin to follow him, but a hand on my shoulder stops me. It was Naria sensei.

She shakes her head. "Just let him go, Kimina. He needs time to himself."

I shrug off her hand. "No can do, sensei. I already let one of my teammates walk off without knowing what was going on with him. I'm not about to let the same happen with both teammates."

I turn back around just in time to see Lloyd walk out the door and I hurry after him.

Naria sensei doesn't stop me.