A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

'Concentrate...concentrate.' I let out a sigh and hold out my right hand. I feel my chakra (my normal chakra) stir within me, and I direct it to my hand. It glows blue with my chakra and I close my eyes and concentrate harder.

Beads of sweat roll down my face, but nothing changes. I stop and lower my arm, sighing in frustration. "Ugh...it's the same thing over and over!"

"You have the concept right though. You are centering your chakra into your hand, and now you just have to..."

"Focus it all into one spot on my finger, instead of my whole hand," I finish for her. "This is harder than I thought it would be." The green chakra stirs within me and my strength returns. I hold out my hand again. "Okay, here we go." I close my eyes and barely make out what Naria sensei said next.

"I thought the same thing too, Kimina..."

She rolls her eyes and drops her hand down. "I'm getting nowhere with this."

"Yeah, I'll say," Reo retorts tauntingly. Naria glares at him behind him.

Kazuki sensei steps up to Naria and puts a hand on her shoulder. "With a justu like this, it is going to take time."

"Yeah, I know, but still...it's been two weeks and I haven't gotten anywhere. This is really hard."

He takes his hand away and just smiles. "You just have to keep trying, Naria, and never give up on it. And I know you can do it, hence the reason I'm teaching it to you... and not Reo."

Reo crosses his arms. "Oh, come on, sensei...that's not fair."

Kazuki sensei chuckles.

"It's true though," Haru pipes in. "He'll probably manage to blow himself up." He laughs at his own joke.

"Hey, Haru, knock it out before I come over there and do it myself," Reo threatens.

"Why don't you both just shut-up?" Naria growls.

"Alright, alright, you three." Kazuki sensei sighs. "I don't know how we even made it this far, with you three always butting heads."

Reo playfully salutes their sensei. "We're the three hot heads, right? I mean, we have to keep up our image." Him and sensei laughs.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm still trying to learn this new jutsu here!" she tells Kazuki sensei.

"Right. Sorry, Naria. Let's try it again."

I exhale new strength, and hold out my hand to try once more. I vaguely notice Naria sensei sitting up in the tree, smiling down at me.

I then hear a bird's cry in the distance, but I shut it out and clear my mind.

That is, until Naria sensei calls my name.

I open my eyes and look at her standing next to me. She was looking up, and I follow her gaze to a brown bird flying in a small circle overhead.

My eyebrows go up. "That's..."

"I guess the Hokage wants to see the both of us." She turns around. "Let's go."

~~*~~

"First off, I would really like to congratulate you on your win in the preliminaries, Kimina. It was a good match, and I'm very proud to see how much you've grown in these past years."

I bow my head. "Thank you very much, Lord Hokage."

He smiles. But now it was time to get straight to the point.

"Now, the real reason I got you two here today is because of something that occurred in that match."

I was confused for a few seconds, but I realize where this is heading to.

"It's about this healing power I have, right?" I ask.

"Yes, it is. This is a very remarkable kind of power you have acquired, Kimina. To be able to heal anyone completely at anytime without any restraint on the healer is astounding, very unheard of as well. How did you even come across it?"

I glance at Naria sensei involuntarily. I look back at the Third sitting behind his desk, watching me intently.

I had no other choice, but to divulge everything I knew and was told. Everything about Yuuna Zakuro, and the curse passed onto my family because of my great grandma.

When I was finished speaking, he gets up and faces the row of windows looking out at the village. "Yuuna Zakuro was an exceptional healing ninja who lived in a small village on the outskirts of the Hidden Stone. It was the time during the Third Great War, when her village was ravaged and destroyed. She became crazed with vengeance, and sought out her won revenge, which resulted in many villages and their people to become no more."

"All by herself?" I asked, my eyes wide.

The Hokage turns around to face us, and nods. "She had exceptional power and was becoming a huge threat. It was then that your great grandmother and her team was sent was sent to find and assassinate her. Both of her partners were eliminated though, but not until after they weakened Yuuna's strength. She finished Yuuna off herself and returned to the village, bit I could tell that there was something different about her. Sometime after that, she resigned her position as a Leaf shinobi. I could tell something was troubling her, but she wouldn't talk about it. Many months later, she committed suicide."

I try to keep my expression impassive; try to hide the fear and surprise.

The Third continues. "I heard about your daring rescue that happened a few days ago. Many of the villagers were very surprised about your unremitting power."

"Yeah, I remember that all too well. But I can't really worry about that. I just need to focus on this healing power and just help others whenever I can," I state infallibly.

"Very well. Now, I would just like to speak with you alone, Kimina. You may go, Naria."

She bows her head. "Yes, Lord Hokage." She turns and walks out the door, closing it behind her.

He then walks up to me with a kind smile and puts a steady hand on my shoulder. "How are you, Kimina? How are you feeling?"

My eyes widen. "I'm... fine," I lie. And I know that he could tell.

"Anko has told me about your encounter with Orochimaru."

'Anko...' I avert my gaze. "Um, yeah, it was with Sasuke."

The Hokage shakes his head. "He has already put his mark on the Uchiha, and he also wants your healing chakra. This is very worrisome, especially since we do not know what he is truly planning. But we have this entire village on more security and under more guards for extra precautionary measures. But, please, just be careful, Kimina. Especially with one of the Brothers of Treachery, Yasu, also has his eyes on you."

I lower my head. "Yes, sir."