Destiny of the Cursed

Chapter 2: The Chuunin Exams

After Katana treated them all for lunch, (leaving her wallet empty) they went to the place where Kakashi was going to meet them. However… After 2 painfully boring hours, he still wasn't there.

"Argh! This is so unfair!" shrieked Sakura. "Yeah, yeah!" agreed Naruto, "He always makes us wait this long!"

Katana sighed. ""He's coming real soon, I promise." Like on cue, a familiar greeting echoed in the air. "Morning!" Naruto and Sakura whirled around and screamed at the same time. "You're late again!" Sasuke only rolled his eyes.

Their sensei rubbed the back of his head. "I got lost on—" Katana cut him off. "We know, we know, the road of life. Don't you have any better excuses?" Kakashi faked to be hurt. "Kat-chan, so mean", he said then turned serious, "This may sound sudden but I nominated all four of you for the Chuunin Selection Exams." There was a sudden silence followed by a series of raised voices.

"You what?"

"What did you..?"

"You think that makes up for what you did?"

"…Hn…"

Kakashi blinked twice. "What?" he asked, acting all innocent. Then he handed over some application forms to each. Naruto took one look at it and tackled Kakashi. "I love you, Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted.

"Okay, okay, just let go of me." He stated. "This is just a nomination. Whether to take the exam or not is your choice. Those who would like to take the exams, pass the application form at room 301 by 4 p.m. tomorrow." He started to walk away when he suddenly remembered something. "You guys are the only four-man team. Even if one backs out… the other three can still take the exam." With a poof, he vanished. All of them looked at each other. "No one's… gonna back out.. right?" Katana asked hesitantly. She knew if one would back out, no one's taking the exam, no matter what Kakashi says. The two boys nodded. All eyes turned to Sakura. ""Well… Sakura?" she inquired. The pink-haired girl's head snapped up to meet their waiting faces. "Ah, of course I won't back out." She said with a smile. "Yes!" Naruto cheered.

As they walked, Katana saw that smile fade.

The next day…

There was a large crowd gathered around room 301. Everyone was murmuring amongst themselves as two mean-looking genins blocked the door.

"Please, let us in!" begged a girl, whose hair was in two buns. As she went near them, the taller of the two, hit her in the face. With a "thump", she landed on the ground. She glared at him. He smirked in return. "We're only being kind. The Chuunin Exam isn't this easy. We've failed them 3 times straight. So, how do you think you weaklings can pass this?" he challenged. Team 7 saw the whole scene and walked towards them. "I agree", Sasuke said with a smirk of his own,"but you will let us in and release that genjutsu." He ordered. "Hm, so you noticed." Said the other one. They released the genjutsu. "I bet you won't notice this!" He said, as he landed a kick on Sasuke. The Uchiha, on the other hand, prepared to deliver a kick as well. Katana saw this and sprinted towards them, planning to break them apart. When she was almost there, something green and hard bumped into her and sent her flying on the other side. She landed and on her feet and sidestepped to regain her balance. Glancing back at Sasuke, she saw a boy clad in a green jumpsuit with thick eyebrows and really round eyes holding both Sasuke's foot and his opponent's. He let them go and sighed.

"Lee", said the previous bun-haired girl who was with their other teammate, "I thought we agreed that we won't attract attention to ourselves?" she reminded him but he ignored her. Instead he walked towards Sakura. "H-hey." He greeted. Sakura turned to him. "I'm Rock Lee. You must be Sakura, right?" Sakura nodded, still confused onto where he was leading. He put on a blinding smile (quite literally) and did a thumbs-up. "Let's go out together. I'll protect you till I die!" he promised. Katana raised her eyebrows in surprise of his bold statement. Sakura, however, did not look amused. "No way. You're lame." She pointed out. Lee's heart shattered in the background. Naruto snickered. Katana frowned. "Poor guy… Sakura only has her eyes on Sasuke." She muttered to herself. She approached them, glaring at Naruto on her way. He stopped laughing. Katana tapped Lee's shoulder. "Hey", she said with a warm smile, "I'm Katana Hatake. You?" As soon as Lee's eyes landed on her face, he blushed. "Ah, I'm Rock Lee!" he energetically exclaimed. Katana giggled. He sure recovers fast. She thought. "Well, Lee, it's nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Sakura. So I guess we'll see you around?"

"A-ah, h-hai! Of course!" he said. Sakura dragged Naruto and Sasuke away. Katana began to follow them. Again she smiled softly, "You're a nice guy, Lee." She said and caught up with her team.

"Why do you have to do that?" asked Sakura. Katana looked at her. "Do what?" she asked. "You know, be nice. Act as if you're interested in him. I don't get it." She said. Katana flashed a grin at her friend. "That's because I am interested in him. He was nice and he seemed like a great friend." She answered. Sakura sighed. "I really don't get your ways." Katana merely chuckled.

"Guy with dark eyes… I am Rock Lee." The four of them looked back, startled. "Agh, you again!" shrieked Sakura. "Lee… what are you doing here?" asked Katana. He answered neither of the girls, only gave Katana a wink and blew Sakura a kiss. Sakura went "eeww!" and dodged it. He turned to Sasuke. "Fight me!" he challenged. Sasuke smirked. "This will be fun." He said and charged.

Katana, Sakura and Naruto still can't believe what happened earlier. Sasuke was beaten up by Lee, and then they met his sensei, who was an older version of him. Now here, Kakashi-sensei told them that if one would back out, all of the members can't take the test. Katana's eye twitched. She had a feeling it would be like that. "Anyway, enter that room and make me proud!" said Kakashi cheerfully. They smiled and nodded. Naruto entered first, followed by Sakura then Sasuke. Before Katana can step inside, Kakashi pulled her back. "Tou-san!" she protested. He sighed. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked. She looked up with pleading eyes. "Yes!"

Kakashi looked doubtful. "But what if you get hurt?" he asked. "I'll be fine." She reassured. "Tou-san, I'm not the same helpless kid you found on the roadside. I am now your daughter who is more than ready to fight and defend her village!" she declared. He stared at her and his eyes soften. "Okay. Be careful. I know you can do it."

"I won't let you down!" Those were the last words he heard from her as she disappeared behind the doors.

"Woah!" Katana was shocked. So many people in just one room. Genins from Leaf, Sand, Sound, Mist, Rock… they were all there!

"INO-PIG!"

"FOREHEAD!"

Katana groaned. Seeing the Rookie 9 huddled in a corner, she went towards them. "Hey guys!" she greeted. "Hi Katana-chan! I didn't know you'd be here." greeted back Kiba, slightly blushing. "What's with the nice attitude, Kiba? Just now you were saying you'd beat us all!" said Naruto, making the others laugh. "Why you!" Kiba hissed at him and they began to chase each other. "Looks like all of us are gonna take the test. It just makes it more troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru.

"You guys should be more quiet." An older voice reprimanded. He was older than the others, his clothes were violet and he had silver hair. "And you are?" asked Ino coldly. "I'm Kabuto." The guy said. "I have something to share with you rookies." He took out something he called "nin-info cards" and they gathered around him. Only Katana didn't join them. She studied the guy's face intently. He sure looks suspicious…

"Show me Rock Lee and Gaara no Sabaku." Hearing those names, Katana snapped out of her thoughts. She threw herself on Sasuke's back and peeked. "Wait! Lemme see!" she said childishly. "Ow, get off!" Sasuke complained. She paid no attention.

"Rock Lee. He's a year older. 20 D-rank and 12 C-rank missions. His sensei is Gai. Teammates: Hyuuga Neji and TenTen."

"Gaara of the Desert. 8 C-rank and a B-rank mission. He returned from all of them without a scratch."

"What?" all of them chorused. "Hah, don't be so surprised. This test... isn't something you can joke about." Kabuto walked away.

"I-it makes y-you l-lose co-confid-dence d-doesn't it?" Hinata stuttered out. Katana looked down at the floor. No scratches, huh? I wonder…

"I AM UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Oh shit…

"AND I WON'T LOSE TO ANY OF YOU BASTA—" Katana had her hand clamped on the noisy boy's mouth, shushing him completely. "Are you damn insane?" she hissed out. She then realized that everyone was looking at them, mostly glaring. Even Sakura was glaring.

"Ehehe, sorry everyone!" Katana apologized, embarrassed. "Please ignore him! He's quite stupid!" she laughed out nervously. Sakura marched towards them. As soon as she was in front of them, Katana let go of Naruto and muttered, "He's all yours." Eyes still followed Katana when she walked away from them. She glanced at the crowd and her eyes met someone's eyes. Pupil-less, aquamarine eyes. No doubt, it was from Gaara. She blushed. Why was he staring at her like that?

After a few moments, the examiner of the first test finally showed up with a big explosion. Introducing himself as Morino Ibiki, he immediately laid down rules such as no killing, no fighting and no violence. When we were all sitting down, he said,"This is a written test. We will now hand out the papers." Katana looked back at Naruto. Yepp, he's sweating…she thought in defeat. Basically, they will all have 10 points to start with. Every time they answer incorrectly, they lose a point. And every time they are caught cheating, they will lose 2 points. Katana raised an eyebrow. So you are allowed to cheat, but not allowed to get caught… It's not only the points they count… It's the skill of getting information secretly and silently as a ninja. She observed.

"Furthermore…" said the examiner, "those who do not answer any questions correctly will fail along with his teammates."

Katana, Sakura and Sasuke began to panic. Naruto sweated even more. All of them thought the same thing. "WE'RE DOOMED!"

The test was very easy for Katana and Sakura. Sasuke somehow found a way to know answers to the difficult questions. 13 groups were already eliminated. The remaining ones were now waiting for the last question. "Now…" bellowed the examiner, "we will begin the tenth question."

Everyone was all ears. "I'd like to add some more rules, of course." Said the examiner. "These are rules of desperation. First, choose whether to take it or not." Choose? Why is he making us choose?

"If you choose not to take it… You fail!" stated. A murmur rose from the crowd. "Of course, we'll take it!" He raised his hand and everyone fell silent. He continued speaking, "If you take it… and answer incorrectly, then you will lose your right to take the chuunin exam again!" They were all shocked. "What kind of a rule is that?" someone shouted. "Last year they were allowed to repeat!" screamed another one. He smirked. "Well, you guys were unlucky, weren't you? This year, it's my rules." Katana thought it was unfair. "Those who aren't confident enough, can choose not to take it… and try next year." He had a menacing smile plastered on his face. "Now all those who won't take it, raise your hand." Slowly, some ninjas took the bait. They began raising their hands and quitted. Naruto… why are you still not raising? If we fail in here… then you can't have your dream come true! Katana slowly decided to raise a shaky hand. She glanced at Sakura… She was doing the same thing! Katana smiled and looked at Naruto. Her eyes widened. WHAT?

He was raising his hand! Both Sakura and Katana's hand stopped mid-air. Then something unexpected happened. "Don't dare underestimate me! I won't run!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He slammed down his hand, hard. His teammates smiled. "I will ask you again… This is your last chance to quit." He said. Katana stood up with him. "We won't." she answered with a confident smile.

The examiner's creepy grin was replaced by a soft smile. "Then, to the remaining people in here… I congratulate you on passing the first test!" he declared. It was surprising, but at least it was pleasant. Everybody cheered.

A loud "CRASH!" and shattering ceased those happy sounds. "Mitarashi Anko, Second examiner. Everyone follow me!"

End Chapter