Destiny of the Cursed

Chapter 14: Another Mission, Another Man

The desert's scorching heat started as tiny slivers of the sun peaked from behind the dunes. Team Kakashi successfully completed the mission and the sand siblings were biding them goodbye.

"See ya…" said Kankuro coolly. "Yeah!" replied Naruto. He and Gaara stared at each other. "I guess you shake hands when parting ways, but I'm not really good at that kind of…" he ranted on, but sand raised his hand and allowed him to clamp Gaara's. They shook hands and Naruto laughed. He stepped back and allowed Katana to say her goodbye. Facing Temari, Katana received a sisterly hug. She bumped fists with Kankuro. Now, turning to Gaara, a faint blush appeared. Gaara's pale face reddened a bit as well. With everyone watching them, they didn't know how to say goodbye to each other. Another handshake? Thought Gaara.

A pat on the back? Asked Katana to herself.

…A hug? They both thought.

Naruto was getting impatient with them both being so hesitant. He ran behind Katana and pushed her towards Gaara. "Yatta!" he cheered. Katana collapsed on Gaara and both fell on the ground. Katana's lips descended on his gently. Both stared at each other, wide-eyed. Kakashi looked like he was about to faint. The girls went 'aww'. Katana pulled away, red as a tomato. "S…Sayonara…" breathed out Gaara, still in shock with what happened. Katana chuckled in an embarrassed way and got off him. Once they were both standing, she bowed at the three. "Sayonara." She said and turned back, eyes ablaze. "Na…ru…TOOO!" she hissed out. Naruto gulped before sprinting away from the pissed-off sword wielder.

They reached Konoha after 3 days and were able to relax a bit. After a week, Tsunade summoned them once again to discuss a sensitive topic.

"It might be a trap." Said Tsunade. Sakura and Katana listened intently. "With Orochimaru as bait, the Akatsuki might be waiting for you." Sakura spoke first. "If it is a trap, then we'll just fight." She offered. Tsunade interrupted her. "You should know that Kakashi is still resting in the hospital and he will stay there for another week."

"Tsunade-sama!" said Shizune. "Even if you send Sakura or Katana, leave Naruto-kun out." All of them looked at her. "Shizune, like you, Sakura is one of the few shinobi that I trust. So I will send them, Team Kakashi on the mission." She explained. "Then, wouldn't it be okay if my team went?" Shizune asked her master. Tsunade shook her head. "No, it won't be the same." She looked at Shizune. "All three of them, Katana, Sakura and Naruto… they are desperately trying to bring Sasuke back." Sakura and Katana's gazes lowered. "Their determination is what would make the mission a success." Shizune nodded. "Understood. But about Naruto-kun…" she began. "Now that you heard all of it, what's your decision Naruto?" asked Tsunade, looking above. The girls followed Tsunade's eyes.
There stood Naruto on the roof, looking as determined as ever. "I'll go looking for members right away!" he answered. He back flipped and jumped off the railings. Tsunade smiled humorously. "Always rushing…I haven't even finished talking yet…" she murmured. She turned to them again. "I will find substitutes for Kakashi and Sasuke." She told Katana and Sakura. They saluted. "Hai, Tsunade-sama!" Then they were dismissed.

Katana parted ways with Sakura to find Naruto. "That doofus got overexcited again." She muttered. She found him on a street, talking to a green hooded guy. "Hey, Naruto!" she called and jumped beside him. "Who are you talking to?" She stared at the guy, who even wore shades to hide his eyes. Naruto explained. "I was walking and then this guy greeted me, and even called me Naruto. But I don't remember who he is!" he exclaimed. Katana's eyes widened. "That's Shino, baka!" she said and thumped him the head. Shino nodded. "Thank you for the acknowledgement, Katana-san." The Aburame said. Naruto's eyes widened. "S-Shino? Well, how would you expect a comrade to know you if you keep hiding your face like that?" he excused.

Katana sighed. "Shino! You're early!" someone shouted from behind. They whirled around. A boy riding a huge white dog looked at them.

"Kiba?" asked Naruto. "Ah, Naruto!" said Kiba with a smile. He turned to Katana. "Well, well, who's the pretty lady over here?" he asked with a smirk. Katana laughed. "Kiba, it's me." She said. "It's me, Katana." Kiba paled. "Oh shit." He raised his hands in front. "Ka-Katana-chan, I'm really, really, really sorry, okay?" he apologized. She just laughed again and waved the earlier comment off.

"That dog…" said Naruto. "That couldn't be…" continued Katana, pointing at the big animal. "What'cha mean? That's Akamaru, obviously." Said Kiba. Katana gaped. "That's Akamaru?"

"He's gotten big!" added Naruto. Kiba looked confused. "Really? I haven't noticed at all." He reasoned. Katana sweat dropped. "But Kiba, he used to be on your head…" she told him. A gasp was heard. Naruto looked back. Someone was hiding on the corner. He dashed there. "Ah, Hinata-chan! What are hiding here for?" Katana heard him say. Then suddenly, a girl's body fell on Naruto. "Hinata-chan! Why did you faint? Did I do something wrong?" the panicked Naruto asked nervously, supporting her body. Kiba scratched his head. "Why d'you always faint when you see Naruto?" he asked aloud, though he knew she couldn't answer him right now. Shino grumbled. "You recognized Hinata right away as well…Naruto." Katana simply face palmed.

Continuing on their way, Naruto and Katana met Shikamaru and Chouji. They were happily chatting when something attacked them. It was a beast made of ink. They were easily defeated but where they came from was what they wanted to be answered. The Nara genius quickly found the person behind this. The guy was very pale, and his black shirt wasn't long enough to cover his stomach. He had onyx black eyes and a classic haircut. He had a paint brush on his hand. They didn't know him, but he wore a Konoha headband. Using the brush he had, he drew something on a scroll and flicked it. Those monsters jumped out of the paper. "Run, Naruto!" Katana ordered immediately. With Naruto being a jinchuuriki, Katana's first instinct was to protect the said blonde. Naruto wasted no time and ran ahead. The boy's drawings chased him. Shikamaru took care of those using his shadow bind.

Naruto made a grab for the pale boy. Kunai and brush clashed together. "So, do you even have something down there to prove your manliness?" asked the boy rudely.

Katana jumped on the roof where the two guys were. She placed the dangerously sharp blade on his neck. "Who are you?" she asked with her voice barely above a whisper. He had this annoying, fake smile on his face. "I'm from the Root Division ANBU." He answered. Katana gritted her teeth. "That wasn't what I asked!" she shouted and the clash broke. Naruto and she jumped away. "We'll meet again, Naruto-kun." Said the boy before disappearing. Strange guy… Katana thought before jumping down.

After a few moments of walking, they finally met Sakura, along with their new team leader named Yamato and the previous pale boy who fought them. Katana drew her sword at the sight of him. "Whoa, whoa, easy there." Yamato stated. "Um, from now on, I'll take Kakashi-senpai's place while he's resting." Katana lowered the weapon. Their squad leader seemed nice enough. "Gomen." She bowed slightly. The pale boy bowed to Naruto and Katana. "I'm sorry for my earlier actions. I wanted to test your strength." Katana shook it off and Naruto took the apology. The boy faked a smile again. "I didn't know how to handle guy without balls like you."

Naruto lunged for his neck, if not for Katana and Sakura preventing him. "Naruto, calm down!" scolded Sakura. Then she turned to the boy. "That wasn't a nice thing to say." She frowned.

He smiled sickly at her. "I really like moody crones like you." He said and Sakura went on a rampage. It was a good thing Yamato held her still in place. Katana gritted her teeth in frustration. "I don't know what your problem is, but quit insulting people you barely know." She told him and braced herself for anything hurtful he might say. He blinked at her. "I thought tomboys like you don't care about insults." A vein popped out of her forehead and as much as she wanted to beat the living daylights out of him, she restricted herself. Not only to lessen the burden of their captain but also because they were wasting the time they're supposed to use to search for Sasuke.

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Call me any name as you wish, but please leave my comrades alone." Needless to say, Yamato was stunned with her attitude. He smiled. "You're the girl brought up by Kakashi-senpai correct?" he asked. Katana was taken aback a bit. She nodded. "It's nice to know he rubbed off his good attributes on you." She smiled. "Arigatou." He turned to the others with a disappointed look. "Please try to get used to each other's company. Introduce yourselves."

"Uzumaki Naruto." Grumbled the blond.

"Haruno Sakura." Said the girl, while glaring at the pale guy.

"My name is Sai." Said he.

"Yotsuki Katana." She introduced.

After they all knew each other, Captain Yamato explained the plan. "We can gain valuable information that can formulate a plan on how to assassinate Orochimaru and bring Sasuke back. So stay focused!" he reminded them. "We will assemble in the gates in 1 hour." They nodded.

The original members of Team Kakashi walked alongside of each other. "I can't stand that asshole Sai." Naruto complained like a little boy. "Why did he have to take Sasuke's place?" Sakura smiled. "Don't you think he's a bit like Sasuke? The face, the attitude…" Katana smiled and silently agreed with Sakura. Naruto remained stubborn. "Sasuke's way cooler than him!" Sakura giggled. "Yeah. He's better than Sai."

Team Yamato left the village, with a little problem. Everyone hated Sai. On their way, Naruto kept on glaring at him. Sai noticed this. "Please stop staring at me. Don't make me hit you." Katana turned to the two boys. "Everything you say pisses me off!" yelled Naruto, shaking a fist at him. "I don't have anything against you. I just act that way." Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sai. "Aha! So you do have malice! And why the hell are you even here? You just upset people!" Katana rubbed her temple. She was getting a headache from all the noise. Yamato reprimanded them. "I thought Kakashi-san already taught you cooperation? What is with you?" demanded Yamato.

Naruto pointed at Sai again. "Because HE is NOT a part of Team Kakashi!" he ground out angrily. "The real member of this team was Sasuke!" Katana felt pity for Naruto. They all missed him. But Sasuke's runaway affected Naruto and Sakura the most. "I'll never consider him as a team member!" Naruto ended his complaint with a huff. Sai smiled at him. "It's good to know you think of me that way." Naruto and Sakura were shocked. Katana expected something bad to come out of his mouth and prayed to Kami that he would keep it to himself. If the three of them heard it, there's no guarantee Sai would live for another day.

"I wouldn't want to be compared to that weakling clone Orochimaru made. He only cared for power and left Konoha alone in search of Orochimaru." Something snapped inside Katana. "You bastard…" growled Naruto. Both he and Sakura wanted to attack the guy, but Katana held a firm hand. She had a smile on her face. "We do lack teamwork. And we do need to work on it more." She took a step towards Sai. "Sai, we judged you without even knowing you well. Naruto…he's just upset about Sasuke. Please forgive us." Sakura and Naruto looked betrayed.

Yamato sighed. "At least one of them was responsible." He mumbled under his breath. "Think nothing of it." Said Sai. Katana smiled again. "That's good." She did a quick flick of her wrist. Something sparked for a second and Sai was hurled to the other side. Bruises started to form on his body. Yamato was shocked. So were Katana's two friends. "That… you don't have to forgive…" hissed Katana. "I warned you…to leave my friends out. Say something bad again…." She glared coldly before turning her back. "Consider yourself dead." Sai chuckled and wiped the blood of his cheek. "That fake smile… you fooled me. I'll remember that next time. Smiles…whether fake or not, are the best way to get out of trouble."

"Shichuu-tou no jutsu!" said Yamato. A wooden prison sprung up from the ground so suddenly. "If you guys won't stop arguing, I'll have to throw you inside the cage." Sighed the exasperated leader. Sai was emotionless, Naruto was scared, Sakura was amazed and for Katana, the threat didn't really work. It's not like she'll do it again. She just had a moment of anger back there, that's all. "Here's my proposition", said Yamato, "You can stay inside the cage for a day to work out your differences or… we can go to a hotel with hot springs. What's your pick?" Everyone was silent. Yamato continued. "I could be friendly and nice and all…" his face turned ghoulish. "But I have no problem ruling with fear either." They all looked at each other and came to an agreement.

Hot springs…

As Katana let herself succumb to the relaxing warmth of the pool, she mind wandered off, as usual. I wonder… how is he? She thought, a certain redhead running on her mind. I hope he's adjusting well… He became a great guy through the years pasted… A small smile appeared in her face.

"Stop talking about penises!" a loud voice that could only be Naruto's was heard from the other side of the hot springs. Katana blushed furiously. Dammit Naruto! She cursed mentally while the other girls laughed. Getting out of the hot spring she dried herself and wrapped a towel around her body. She got dressed and flung herself on the soft mattress.

She twisted and turned on the bed. Then she sat up and hugged her knees against her body. Sasuke… how are you now…? Do you even still…remember us?

The next day…

"IF YOU WANT A FIGHT, I'M GAME!" That loud noise could've woken up a hibernating octopus down below the depths of the sea. In this case, it woke up a hibernating, deadly sword mistress. Katana fell from her bed, shocked by that outburst and landed on her butt. She winced and sighed sleepily. "Who would shout at this wonderfully early hour?" she whined out. A bulb lighted inside her head. She grimaced. "Naruto…" She decided to let it go partly because she didn't want to get him hurt and partly because she was still drowsy. Getting up, she fixed herself and went outside.

Sai and Sakura were talking to each other. Naruto was shouting. Yamato was hiding behind a tree, observing how they get along. Katana sweat dropped. It was just like in the old days. They started to travel.

Flashback:

"Shut your trap…dobe." Sasuke would sneer whenever Naruto ranted and complained about the lack of rest, lack of food, lack of this and lack of that.

In return, Naruto would always scream and overreact. "AHH! What did you just say, TEME?" Young Katana released an exasperated sigh. "Would the two of you qui—"

"Naruto-baka! Let go of Sasuke!" Sakura, the loyal Sasuke-fan girl, punched Naruto on the face. Katana blinked twice at the scene before her. Her brain pounded hard on her skull. They were causing her a terrible headache. She wanted to go wild and bloody murder them. "Annoying nitwits…" she muttered under her breath. It was their first real B rank mission. Escorting an oji-san to Whale country became a fight-off- one-of-the-seven-swordsmen-of-the-mist mission. Kakashi-sensei was kind of sick too. Thus, she handled everything and made sure her teammates were cooperating well.

Looking back at them, she could answer that question with a hard 'no'. It's not that she hated them; it's just that they caused too much trouble and not even for one freakin' time could they get along! She covered her ears as Sakura shrieked. "Katana-chan~!" Naruto wailed. "Help me out, will you!" That did it. Katana's temper burst. "IF ANYONE OF YOU UTTER ANOTHER DAMN WORD, I'M GONNA BLOODY BEAT YOU UP, UNDERSTAND?" she couldn't help but yell. Rage got out of her system fast. She calmed down eventually, but she noticed that they were staring at her, as pale as ghosts. The threat even worked on Sasuke as well!

She chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head. "G-Gomen, gomen… I was panicking, I couldn't help myself." Sasuke's eye twitched, Sakura sighed in relief… Naruto… fainted in fear.

End Flashback

"Here's fine." Yamato stated and Katana snapped out from her thoughts. How long was she out? It was already night and they went a far way ahead. Yamato did a hand seal and a 2-story building shot up from the ground. "Let's camp here." He turned and smiled at them. They stared at him. "Um, I wouldn't call this 'camping' though…" laughed Sakura sheepishly. They rested there for the night, no clue on what would happen the next day…

End Chapter