The first chapter is now edited!- Less grammatical errors.

Odd idea popped in my head as I was watching Fruits Basket. I've only seen a few eppies and read some of the manga. It's the first time I've ever written a Naruto fic.

Naruto based on the anime Fruits Basket!

Sorry if some of the characters are a bit OCC.

Some side notes for everyone: I'm Asian, so sorry to say I had to change the Chinese zodiac myth a bit. The CAT is supposed to be the outcast in the myth, well... the FOX is replacing the Cat. Naruto turns into the FOX when he is under stress or is hugged by the opposite sex.

Yes I have changed Hinata's last name back to Hyuuga instead of Hyuga.

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The Animal House

Chapter One

"K.F.C. : Kakashi freakin' chicken"

It might have been odd to see a black- blue haired girl crawl out of a purple tent, in the middle of November. But it had been Hinata Hyuuga's new 'home' for the past four days. It might not have been the best sleeping arrangement, yet she was proud for setting up the tent all by herself. She would find a solution to her problem sooner or later.

Another day, she thought peering up to the grey sky.

Hinata quickly ran her fingers though her cropped black hair; there wasn't any time for her to comb it. Feeling a sneeze coming she grabbed a Kleenex from her bag and ach-oo!

It had rained last night and sleeping in a tent wasn't the best shelter against Mother Nature, so it couldn't be helped that she was feeling a bit sick.

Hinata walked through the dense forest. She observed certain plants and the bark of trees, carefully maneuvering through the foliage. Five minutes later, the grass was more barren to reveal a path. Walking, she passed the grand home. Hinata had seen the house for the past four days when she was cutting through the 'lawn' to get to school. She always wondered who would live so remotely, and by themselves.

Admiring the ancient house, her pearly eyes glanced at something glinting in the weak sun. On the front porch, something caught her eye. Curious, she waded through the thick bushes and tall grass to see the object. Hinata climbed the porch.

'It's so cute', she thought. A knife was laid beside twelve craved figurines of the creatures of the Chinese Zodiac. Hinata carefully kneeled down to inspect the objects. The rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the rooster, the dog, the pig, and the monkey. They were so tiny and so chibi! But another animal was missing, an instead was the...

"Yo," a deep voice cheerily greeted her.

Hinata slowly looked up, blushing sheepishly. She was caught trespassing on someone else's property.

The man wore a mask that covered his right eye, his mouth and his nose. All that was revealed of his face was his left dark brown eye. From what Hinata could make out, he was young; most likely in his mid twenties and he had gravity-defying silver spiky hair. He was dressed in what appeared to be army fatigues and wore a white shirt.

"So, I assume you like my pieces of art?" he drawled.

"Err... yes, they're pretty." Quickly standing up to her feet, she bowed. "I'm so so so so so sorry! Please forgive me for my rudeness. I-I-I noiiiitticed a-"

She winced. She hated when she stuttered so much.

"Hey I don't mind. I'm Kakashi Hatake," he casually said, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Well, I'm Hinata Hyuuga. Nii-cee to meet you." She had the instinct to bow or curtsey to him. Her father taught her to respect her elders. But he wasn't here right now, and Kakashi didn't seem like a formal person. Relaxing a bit, she asked him, "How come you didn't carve the Cat?"

"The cat?" Kakashi asked, raising his brow. "Oh, you mean from the fable of the Chinese zodiac... You know, some people say that it wasn't the cat that was tricked by the devious rat. It was the fox who didn't make it to the banquet. He was too much of a trickster so he was banned."

"The fox?" Hinata asked, her eyebrows scrunched. Okay, she was naïve but Kakashi had to be joking. She had never heard of this version of the myth before from her mother or from anyone else.

"Yep." He nodded. Hinata couldn't be sure if he was teasing her or not.

"Okay." Hinata said sounding doubtful. Unexpectedly, the front door was flung open by someone who looked very familiar. He stepped out frowning at her.

"Who the hell?"

"Sasuke, aren't you grumpy this morning. Play nice to Hinata."

Hinata stood there like an idiot, mouth wide open. "Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sasuke attended the same private school that Hinata went to. He was popular and adored by most of the female population (and also some of the males at the school). His dark good looks even got him his own personal fan club. Basically being in his class for most of middle school and in her homeroom classes, she never tried to talk to him and he ignored her like everyone else did... So she was shocked to see him there, two feet away from her. It wasn't that she had a crush on him; there was something about him that was untouchable. And that made him a bit scary to herShe preferred to be around people that didn't make her so uncomfortable, like her friends.

He shot her a glare. "No, I'm the bogeyman," he said, sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Hyuuga?"

"I sort of live nearby and I saw Mr. Kakashi's cute little carvings," she defensively said. Sasuke's presence screamed 'leave me the hell alone' and she felt agitated around him.

"Really?" Kakashi asked, looking around. "I didn't know I had neighbors. Don't call me Mister. It makes me feel so old."

Hinata gave a nervous laugh. Desperate to change the subject, she glanced at the expensive diamond watch strapped to her wrist. "Oh wow, look at the time. I have to get to school before I'm late. It was nice meeting you Mr. Kakashi."

"Yeah, I got school." Sasuke mumbled. They were about to both leave.

"Wait, you two. Sasuke goes to the same school as Hinata. Walk together. There are weirdos lurking in the forest," Kakashi suggested. There seemed to be a mischievous glint in his eye that wasn't covered.

"Hn."

"Nooo... that's ok!"

Kakashi and Sasuke turned to glance at her surprised. She blushed, wildly waving her hands. "I'm sure you have to get to school and don't have time to walk with someone as slow as me."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "We're going the same way anyways."

"Umm... Ok then. Hmmm... Bye Mr. Kakashi!"

"Bye Miss Hinata! Sasuke, don't forget about the special guest coming later this afternoon."

"I won't." he mumbled.

It felt like an eternity before Hinata and Sasuke made it to school. She sighed, relieved to see the school building. It had been twenty slow torturous minutes for her. It was awkward, and nothing came to her mind for small talk to relieve the uncomfortable silence .She opened her mouth a few times to try to say something. Hinata didn't say anything to Sasuke. And he didn't say anything to her either.

She had been unsure how to pace herself. He had slowly strolled, while Hinata had the impulse to sprint to school since the bell was going to ring soon. She had never been late and she was proud of her perfect attendance.

At the front of the school stood many of Sasuke's fan girls/stalkers waiting for Sasuke. Despite being in the same homeroom, Hinata just couldn't wait anymore.

"Ok bye!" then she hurried to make it to school on time. She rushed past the girls and ran inside the building.

Hinata mentally cheered herself that she made it to school in record time, thirty seconds before the bell rang. Huffing and puffing, her cheeks were pinks from the running. She grinned and waved to her best friend Tenten and Shino, before seating herself beside her friends.

Tenten gave Hinata an odd look, waving. She overheard the Sasuke stalkers waiting by the windows that the 'great Sasuke' was seen walking with Hinata of all people. She must have heard wrong. Tenten should have known better than to listen to idiotic gossip. No way would Hinata be able to walk with him; she would have most likely fainted from the stress.

Shino Aburame was seated in the desk beside her, and greeted Hinata with a nod of his head. The bug lover wasn't much of a talker.

"I can't believe that you were almost late, Hinata." Tenten teased her.

Hinata's cheeks were still pink, "Yee-ahh, there was a ...slight detour when I was walking to school."

She noticed the grey eyed girl looked paler than usual. And her cough sounded nasty. Concerned for her friend, she asked her," You okay?"

"Of course. It was raining last night and I didn't wear an extra sweater to sleep in."

"Alright... Feel better. Take lots of meds."

Tenten's sixth sense told her that Hinata was lying about something. But she wasn't going to push information from the poor girl. Hinata would eventually tell her best friend the problem. There was also something going on between Neji and Hinata. This morning, when Tenten came early to school for sparring practice, Neji was there in the gym already. He asked her about how Hinata was going. Neji never asked about her.

One day she'll ask Hinata for the truth between them.

Sasuke waited for Hinata Hyuuga to come out of her last period class. Through some causal questioning, he found out she had some sewing class last period.

He ignored the other students giving him curious glances as they passed him. He was getting impatient. 'What the hell was the girl doing?' Sasuke peered into the class room. The girl was chatting with the teacher. What was wrong with her... who would in their right mind talk with the teacher?

He stood by the chalkboard, silently waiting to be acknowledged by the two.

The teacher was the first the notice him. "Oy. Sasuke is it? Were you waiting for someone?"

"Sasuke!" the Hyuuga girlexclaimed surprised.

"Waiting for you."

"Ok..." there was this credulous expression on her face.

"Walking together." he slowly said, hoping she would get it. He wanted to leave early today.

"Ohh. Well bye Ms. Shizure." Hinata waved to her and walked with Sasuke out of the classroom.

Walking her to her locker, she finally opened her timid mouth to speak. "It's very nice of you to walk with me, its fine. I can manage to get home myself."

"Like I said before. We're going the same direction. It's convenient for us to walk together."

He rolled his onyx eyes. He simply didn't understand why the hell she kept excusing herself to try to get away from him. There wasn't anything wrong with him. Most girls he knew had a crush on him and would faint if he asked to walk with them. Sasuke thought he had the female mind figured out.

Their hike this morning was both pleasant and a bit awkward.

Hyuuga didn't pester him with questions about himself or even try to flirt with him; then again, he didn't expect that sort of behavior from such a shy and quiet girl like her.

The silence had been refreshing. Sasuke wasn't much of a conversationalist so he didn't bother small talking to her. He did get a vibe that she had wanted to speak to him. He wasn't in a hurry to get to school on time. Who cared if he was late?

Until today he had never quite noticed that she was in most of the same classes as him.

As such a genius as himself, he was a blind idiot. It was at lunch when he recalled what the girl had said about her home being nearby, did he realize something: Hinata Hyuuga was related to Neji Hyuuga, cousins to be exact. It couldn't be true that she lived near by. Sasuke had been to the Hyuuga compound for several Saturday practices. And the Hyuuga home was miles away from where Kakashi lived.

Sasuke wanted to question her but it didn't seem like she would give him a straight answer. He kept his mouth wisely shut. Nearing the residence he politely asked. "Where do you live?"

Hesitating for a moment, Hyuuga opened her mouth of speak.

"Yo." Kakashi said, suddenly coming out of the house. Sasuke shot the older man an irritated look. Kakashi chose to ignore him.

Hinata said a quick goodbye and left scurrying away.

"Sasuke, there's no food and I'm starving!" Kakashi whined.

"So why didn't you get food? You're home all day." Sasuke pointed out, gritting his teeth. 'For gods sake.' The man was twenty five or something. Old enough. He should have been able to fend for himself.

"I was waiting for you to come home. So you could pay for the meal."

Sasuke raised a brow. What could he expect, it was typical Kakashi behavior.

Without another word, he went inside the house to put his bag away and change out of his stupid uniform. Walking in the house, he noticed what a mess it was. There were wrappers and pieces of paper littering the hallways and a faint smell was coming from the kitchen. A nasty, unidentifiable smell. It was the reason why he tried to avoid the kitchen as much as he could, entering only when it was absolutely necessary. His own room had a mini-fridge, so he wouldn't starve.

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"Why don't you clean up? The house looks like crap."

Kakashi and he walked in silence, going east of where the house was located. The Konoha Academy was in the southern direction. The Ramen shop was east and the food there tasted way better than the other shops in this woodsy area.

"I think we could use a maid."

"You're the slob." He retorted.

Sasuke liked his privacy and he liked living in the woods with his 'uncle Kakashi,' where there were no annoying fan girls to find him. He didn't want some stranger intruding in his room and touching his personal things.

"Why don't we go to K.F.C.?" Sasuke asked snidely.

"It's not nice to eat chicken."

Sasuke stopped moving when his attention was reverted by a bright purple tent pitched by the river. Who was the moron who was camping here, in November? Kakashi noticed the tent as well and halted his movement. A girl came out of the tent. 'The Hyuuga girl?'

She froze as Kakashi and Sasuke stared. "Hi." she weakly said. Sasuke emotionlessly raised a brow, waiting for her to explain. Meanwhile Kakashi was laughing his ass off.

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She coughed a few times before she spoke. He observed that she appeared a bit paler than her usual creamy complexion.

"You guys must be wondering w-what I-I'm doing c-camping in the forest, huh?"

The three of them were seated in Kakashi's study, the cleanest room after Sasuke's own bedroom. . She was visibly uncomfortable, squirming by their attention towards her. The walls of the study were covered with posters of half naked girls and a bookshelf was reserved for Kakashi's 'great literature' or pornographic novels as Sasuke liked to call them

"So Hinata, why are you camping on Hatake lands?" Kakashi questioned her once he stopped with the annoying laugh and he had calmed down. He chuckled softly, giving her a relaxed warm smile though his mask.

"Your land? I am so so so so sorry! Again! I –I –I didn't know." She apologized . It looked like she was being to have a panic attack or something. The girl's stuttering seemed to get worse. It was being to irritate Sasuke. "I didn't have any where else to go!"

She lowered her head; her bangs covered her pearl eyes. Hinata blabbed on. "My father and I ... had a disagreement (cough cough) and he kicked me out... out of the house while I decided I wasn't... (cough cough) wasn't going back."

The house was eerily silent as she just stopped talking. Hinata's breathing was heavily labored. But before she could continue, she collapsed.

Hinata woke up lying on a futon with a damp wash cloth on her forehead and a blanket curled around her. She sprang up on shaky legs. This wasn't her tent and she wasn't in her room. So where the hell was she?

"Hey you're awake. Feeling better?" Kakashi asked, arriving by the door to the study. Sasuke stood by him. There was an expression on his face which she couldn't decipher.

"Yes. Thank you so much but I should get going. I need to re-pitch my tent some where... else." She said trailing off and gave them a gracious smile. Her head was still a bit warm and her throat was getting sore. She moved to pass Sasuke but he didn't budge.

"Stay." He ordered her.

"Huh?" was she hearing things? He stared into her eyes.

"Kakashi and I talked about you while you were sleeping. There's an extra room upstairs. That will be your room."

Hinata broke eye contact. She wasn't able to stand his unnerving eyes. "A-rre you serious? I-I-I just cannot accept your offer, it's too much! You don't even know me." Nervously she played with her fingers, a habit she had sometimes. She was touched by their generous offer, but she couldn't impose on them, and she didn't know them too well.

"No worries. We'll pay you for your lovely services."

Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat. Did Kakashi mean what he was just hinting at?

"I'm glad that the house will finally be clean. The kitchen has some weird black thing growing in the fridge..."

'Oh okay! I get it!'' She smiled brightly at them. Maybe she wouldn't regret her decision of leaving the Hyuuga compound. She was beginning to get worried if Neji, her older cousin somehow found out about this... all the implications it would hold for her if her father knew about her living arrangements. Hinata shook her head. The reason she left was so that she could have her own freedom and make her own decisions, good or bad. No one, except herself, was going to decide on her destiny. She was going to follow her own path.

"I'll stay, for only a little while. On the condition that you don't pay me. I have to earn my own keep here. You can make me leave any time, its fine with me."

"Glad you finally decided. I was waiting for you to shut up." Sasuke said shoving his hands deep into his pockets of his baggy jeans. Hinata ignored his offensive words. She didn't notice until now that Sasuke had changed out if his uniform. He looked... different without the uniform, A nice different. Through looks weren't everything. Could she actually stand living with that guy?

"Great. You can start cleaning as soon as you're done moving in." Kakashi told her.

A door was slammed shut and it sounded like a window had broken. "HELLO? I 'M HERE!" a voice bellowed loudly. It sounded like it was coming from the foyer.

"Noo," Sasuke groaned, "it's the moron."

"I forgot to lock the front door. Naruto's late" Kakashi commented. He left the two of them in the study to go greet the guest.

"You better meet the annoying freak now and get it over with." Sasuke said and went ahead without waiting for her.

Hinata cautiously traveled through garbage to the foyer. Although Kakashi's house wasn't as grand as the Hyuuga mansion was, she was sure she could get lost if she wasn't attentive.

Beside Kakashi, there stood a tall, messy blonde teenager wearing an orange jacket. A large dirty canvas bag was thrown by his feet. His surreal blue orbs seem to illuminate in the dim lighting. His wide grin was infectious as he looked at her. She shyly smiled back at him, hoping she wasn't blushing. No one was this open with her within a few seconds of meeting her.

Then the teenager turned his attention to Sasuke. He crouched low, getting into a defensive position that Hinata recognized from watching Neji practice martial arts. The sleeve of his jacket slipped down and a silver band bracelet was wrapped around his wrist. It was beautiful, but a little feminine for a guy though.

"Miss me Sasuke? I'm ready for a rematch! You must have cheated somehow the last time."

"Not now. You're late and loud, dobe. We have another guest staying here as well, Hinata. The loser has to stay here as well." Sasuke sneered.

The blonde refocused his attention on Hinata. He extended his hand to her sheepishly, "Oops, my bad. Sorry, if I was being rude. I'm Naruto! Hinata, right?"

"Yye-" then Hinata slipped on a sock and she slammed into Naruto. She closed her eyes, waiting for impact, but hen her eyes reopened as she felt something warm and fuzzy in her hands. She was hugging a little fox. What the ...?

Starting to panic with the adorable foreign fox in her hands, she turned to Kakashi and Sasuke, waiting for one of them to say it was a practical joke or something. They both simply stared in horror.

"I turned him into a fox." She said stupidly and in disbelief.

But in her inane clumsiness, she slipped on something wet and her arms flailed, one hand nearly strangling the poor fox, and landed on both Sasuke and Kakash., In a P O O F of lavender smoke... they changed in animals.

A tiger and a rooster to be exact.

Their clothes littered the already messy floor.

Shocked, she fainted.

Opening her eyes, she discovered a rooster, a tiger and a fox, peering down on her.

"Wow Hinata, you recovered fast. ARE YOU OK?" the fox asked.

'The fox is talking to me. Okay... I must have whacked my head hard when I blacked out. Really hard.'

"A FOX IS TALKING TO ME. No Mr. Fox, I don't think I'm okay."

"Hinata it's us." The tiger spoke. The Tiger sounded just like Sasuke's brooding voice.

"We didn't tell you this before; since we thought it would never actually happen. We change into animals of the Chinese Zodiac when a person of the opposite sex-- females in our case--hugs us, or when we are under a lot of stress," the Kakashi the rooster explained. Hinata was half shocked and amazed about this piece of information. People could actually turn into animals!

"We're born cursed -- a part of the 'Family'. We change back into our human selves in a while." Sasuke elaborated a bit. She saw Sasuke exchange glances with Kakashi.

Hinata examined each creature carefully. Her eyes lingered on the fox/ Naruto. He was walking around and his tail swished the ground. What Kakashi had said was true than, the fox wasn't some stupid thing to tease Hinata. A part of her was shattered that the cat wasn't part of the zodiac, since it was her favorite creature out of all of them, but the fox was cool too. It would just take some time getting used to, after nearly seventeen years of hearing the tales of the cat and the other zodiac members.

She secretly smiled sadly at him.

"You won't tell anyone about us right?" Naruto eagerly asked her. Her heart melted looking at such a cute little fox.

"Of course not! I swear I won't."

Unexpectedly, there was another P O O F!

In a cloud of smoke, the three animals switched back into human males. Naked males.

"Ahhh!" she shrieked covering her eyes, embarrassed.

"I forgot to warn you that the time varies when we change back." Kakashi told her.

Her eyes were still closed and she felt the heat from her beet-red face. Some rustling and thumping could be heard.

She had never seen anyone naked. Not even partially naked, like still wearing pants but bare-chested. Only once did she disgustingly see her grandfather sunbathing when she had been younger. Her father had even forbidden her from going to the beach or going to the local YMCA, since the Hyuugas had their own Olympics sized swimming pool.

"Sorry, you can look now." Kakashi told her. She looked up to see three fully dressed males.

"I didn't see anything! I swear!" Hinata squeaked. Her face was still warm.

"It doesn't matter if you saw anything. I have a great body, there's nothing to hide. Peek anytime you want Hinata." Kakashi bragged and winked.

"Umm.." Hinata said blankly. She was uncertain if he was joking or not, there was no way she would ever do anything like that. She really didn't see anything ... well nothing lower!

"You pervert!" Naruto shouted.

"You perv. What great physique do you have? You barely do anything." Sasuke said sneering.

Hinata gave them all a half smile. 'Yeah, it's going to be interesting living here. I just hope I don't regret it'.

She was sleeping under the same roof with a perverted rooster, an intimidating tiger and a loud fox. The animal house.

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If u have ever watched Fruits Basket, the story is roughly based on the anime, but since there will never be cross dressers and many of the characters have vastly different personalities, the concept is the same but the plot will be entirely different. Does that make sense?

The story might seem a little awkward...

The next chappies will definitely be shorter. I just wanted to introduce a few of the main characters and get the story rolling.

I might change the title later on... anyone got a better title? Guess the characters of the other animals of the zodiac are going to appear!

Review and later : )