Little Monster [An alternate storyline]

Pass or Fail

Time was crucial at this point. Only a few hours remained and they still had to make it to the tower in one piece.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked, kicking the Oto shinobi one last time, making him whine in pain.

"I'll go get him." Kana volunteered, wanting to help him through all this.

She stalked into the bushes, following Naruto's scent, which led her to the river where the blonde sat. He stared into the water, his feet soaking in the water. Kana walked up to him and sat beside him, crossing her legs.

"Hey, Naruto," She greeted. "How are you holding up."

"I think I'm fine," He replied, then wincing. "But also not fine."

He looked at Kana, his eye was still red.

"And I don't know how to turn this off." He added.

"Just try to not think of it, think of your original eye colour." She suggested. "Are you hungry?"

Naruto placed a hand over his stomach and frowned. "No..."

"Good, then it'll be much easier to control yourself." Kana smiled. "Now shut your eyes and think about your original eye colour; focus on that."

Naruto did what she instructed and soon opened his eyes, revealing a familiar blue.

"You got it in one go!" Kana cheered.

"Yeah..." Naruto chucked.

"Now let's head back, we have an exam to finish." Kana grinned.

Naruto grinned back. "Yeah!"

~~~~~

Naruto and Kana returned to camp and helped everyone get ready to go. Both teams had the scrolls they needed to pass and one extra heaven scroll, and all they had to do was make it to the tower in the next three hours.

"We need to leave now," Azumi called out to the group. "If we run at full speed and take short breaks we should make it in time. If you start to get left behind yell, someone can make a clone and carry them."

"Is everyone ready to go?" Kana asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Great," Azumi said. "Let's go."

~~~~~

They came up with a quick formation to travel in, a triangle that had Naruto in the middle, Kaneki upfront, Kana and Sasuke at the sides, and Haku, Sakura and Azumi bringing up the rear. It was a simple formation that kept front line fighters and people with minor sensing or tracking capabilities at the front to warn the group of danger. The people in the middle were supposed to support the first line of attack and defend the long-range fighters. So far everything was going well, they faced no interruptions and were making excellent time; they'd reach the tower in no time.

"Most of the teams left are probably waiting near the tower to ambush teams making their way to the tower!" Kaneki called back. "I'm just warning you all because there are several scents scattered up ahead!"

"We should avoid them!" Azumi yelled forward. "Worst case scenario we toss the extra scroll at them and move on! We don't have much time! Also, pulse your chakra, someone is trying to catch us in a genjutsu!"

"Aw fuck!" Naruto exclaimed. "I hate genjutsu!"

The genjutsu faded to reveal that they were indeed getting nowhere. The tower was no closer and they were circling a tree.

"I barely noticed," Kana said, her eyes narrowed. "Genjutsu doesn't affect me, but I don't notice it."

"Same." Kaneki said.