Little Monster [An alternate storyline]

Disgusting

Kiba, while very confident in himself and his dog, was cocky and careless. Haku took advantage of that and won the fight by knocking Akamaru out first and then making a very angry Kiba into a very angry porcupine. Eventually, Haku knocked him out without even using his ice release. Medics carried Kiba off and the next match began.

The next fight was between a chubby boy from the Akimichi clan and a man named Misumi Tsurugi. Misumi had no super recognizable skills and was literally flattened when Choji rolled over him.

Shino and Temari's fight was boring, his swarm could never get close because Temari was constantly sending out gusts of wind. Shino surrendered for the sake of his swarm.

Tenten fought hard against Kankuro, but was defeated when Kankuro managed to poison her. Medics took her away and Kankuro was pronounced the winner.

The two Hyuuga's were pit against each other, and while Hinata fought long and hard, she was beaten until she could no longer stand. Neji was brutal, but he did win.

Frenemies Ino and Sakura faced off next, managing to fight and still have a conversation. By the end of the fight, they both had cut their hair and punched each other at the same time, leading to a double K.O.

The very last fight of the prelims was between Rock Lee and Gaara, both of which were determined to win. Despite Lee not being able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, he fought hard, managing to crack through Gaara's sand defence before having his arm and leg crushed. Medics took him away and Gaara was the victor.

All of the genin that won were then told to pull a number from a box, making the matchups by number.

Azumi pulled a 4, Sasuke pulled a 5, Naruto pulled a 1, Choji pulled a 3, Kana pulled a 4, Temari pulled a 2, Haku pulled a 3, Neji pulled a 1, Gaara pulled a 5, and Kankuro pulled a 2.

That made the match-ups and order of the fights.

1. Naruto vs. Neji

2. Temari vs. Kankuro

3. Choji vs. Haku

4. Kana vs. Azumi

5. Sasuke vs. Gaara

"The finals will be held one month from now," Hayate announced. "So go train or relax, I don't care really. Just be there a month from now at noon."

Hayate then vanished.

Azumi sighed, giving Haku a pat on the back and smiling tiredly at Kana.

"Well, I guess someone will be taking me to see the Hokage soon." Azumi huffed. "So I'll meet you guys back at the Hotel."

"See you later then." Kana smiled, slinging an arm over Haku's shoulders.

"See you later." Haku nodded.

Azumi placed a hand on her hip, staring pointedly at the ANBU with a tiger mask approached her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Azumi groaned, trudging over to the ANBU.

Azumi grabbed his hand before it reached her shoulder.

"If you're teleporting us there, give me a warning," She huffed. "It makes me sick."

The ANBU nodded. "I'm going to teleport us now."

"Thanks for the warning." Azumi chirped before being whisked away.

~~~~~

Naruto scuffed the heel of his sandal on the ground as he walked, a small, tightly wrapped package clutched in his hand, and fresh white bandages wrapped around his right eye. After his meeting with the Hokage, Naruto was assigned a doctor who was sworn to secrecy. He examined Naruto and learned all about how his body now worked. His right leg dragged just a little as he walked, still recovering, along with the right side of his chest. Basically, underneath all his clothes he was a mummy.

To top all of that off, his doctor didn't even know if he would ever regain use of his right eye, and if he did he would need surgery or possibly even a new eye.

"Hey! Naruto!"

At his name being called, he turned around, meeting eyes with Choji, who also had Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino with him.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Naruto chuckled, attempting to keep his attitude cheerful and hiding the package behind his back.

"We were going to go get some food together, you in?" Kiba asked, his little dog yipping in agreement.

"Sorry, but I have a lot of training to do and stuff." Naruto declined.

"Alright, maybe another time then." Choji chirped.

"Yeah, another time." Naruto winced.

"T-train hard N-naruto-kun." Hinata smiled.

Naruto smiled softly at Hinata. "Thanks, I will."

They quickly parted ways and Naruto sped home, his mind racing with thoughts now that the topic of food had been brought up. He eyes the package with a hungry look, taking notice of how wonderful it smelled.

He rushed home and slammed the door behind him, walking straight into his kitchen.

"How do I store something like... This?" He asked himself, not wanting to remind himself of what was in the package. "The fridge?"

He made his way to the fridge, swinging it open and peering at what was inside. The fridge was barren, with a bit of milk that was probably spoiled by now and a package of meat he would add to ramen. He placed the package on the bottom shelf, his hand gravitating to the package of ham.

He stared longingly at the meat, then placing the package down on the counter and making his way to the pantry. He pulled out a cup of instant ramen and began the monotonous task of making instant ramen. He heated water on the stove, cut up the ham, added the water, waited for a painful three minutes, grabbed his chopsticks and sat down.

The cup steamed before him, just waiting to be devoured. Naruto snapped his chopsticks apart, bringing them to the cup much slower than usual. It didn't smell like he was used to it smelling, even though he made it the same way he always did. 

He spun a few noodles around his chopsticks, bringing them to his mouth and blowing on the hot noodles a few times. He then slurped them up, grinding the noodles with his teeth. The taste was like getting a mouthful of dirt, and the noodles were slimy and sour. But still, he swallowed the mouthful, his whole body shivering.

A teardrop hit the table and Naruto resisted the urge to vomit.

"It's disgusting." He choked. "Absolutely fucking disgusting."

~~~~~

"I don't mean to be rude," Azumi began, seated in a chair across from the most powerful man in Konoha. "But what business do you have with me, a genin, a genin from Amegakure specifically."

"It's your last name, Rokusho," He replied. "I need you to tell me if you know anything about a man named Aoi Rokusho."

"Know him?" Azumi huffed. "He's my dad, what does he have to do with Konoha?"

"No one in the village has heard from him since he went missing years ago." The Hokage sighed. "And when he vanished, so did a certain item we had in our vault."

"Look, my dad rarely ever talks about anything he's done in the past, so try all you want, but I won't be much help." Azumi shrugged. "Get one of your mind walkers to take a look and they'll find nothing."

"That won't be necessary," He hummed. "I believe you, you can go do whatever you like."

"Then I'll be taking my leave," Azumi said as she stood up, dipping her head. "Goodbye."

She promptly left the office with a heavy sigh.

"This whole thing is proving to be a pain in the ass." Azumi grumbled.

Oh, how right she was.

A/N

Sorry about lack of updates, but school will be starting back up soon and I have a lot to prepare for. On a different note, this marks the 51st chapter of this book! I don't know if I'll have a second book yet, but I probably will, so I'm excited about that!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!