Alright! Onto Chapter 2!

And glad to know you guys like it so far, thank you so much for reviews! They truly motivate me to write!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto Shippuden or it's characters blah blah blah. On with it!

Thinking
"Talking"
'Shakimaru thinking/talking'

Dog Days
Chapter Two

"So do you think you can cure him, sis?" Kiba asked anxiously, arms crossed, as he stood in the doorway of his sister's bedroom; a small room with a large bed in the centre by the window where Hana was examining Shikamaru, a night table beside it, a dark brown dresser on the other side of the bed, a matching medium-sized chest that contained her medical supplies for emergencies, and a small closet containing her clothing by her bedroom door. The walls were pale blue and the floor was covered by a gray carpet.

Hana sighed and straightened up, and gave an irritable Shikamaru a pat on the head before picking him up gently and lifting him off of her tall bed and placing him on the carpet, where he sneezed and padded over to the corner where he yawned and went to sleep.

"Honestly Kiba, I have no idea what you did to that poor boy. I took a blood sample and his cells are more canine than human. More than ours are in fact. What was that jutsu of yours supposed to accomplish anyways?" Hana demanded with a bemused expression as she packed up her emergency veterinary kit, her eyebrow raised, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"Oh. Well it was suppose to turn me into a dog ... I wanted to see what it was like to be a dog." Kiba said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

Hana's eyebrow rose up her forehead if possible, even further. "And in battle, how is that jutsu supposed to help? Are you going to chew on their ankles in the form of a tiny little puppy?" Hana inquired, gesturing to the dozing Shikamaru. "Especially if you can't even turn back into a human."

Kiba scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, it was supposed to be just for enjoyment. Like Naruto and his 'Sexy Jutsu'."

"Except that Naruto's jutsu is – pathetically – useful in battle, if he has some perverted ninjas fighting him." Hana shot back, not missing a beat.

Kiba scowled, and opened his mouth to retort before he looked at Shikamaru, stuck as a dog because of his stupid faulty jutsu. He closed it and his expression softened in guilt; a rare emotion Kiba ever felt.

He sighed. "I guess you're right Hana. Well what am I supposed to do with him in the meantime?"

Hana thought for a moment before responding. "Even though I can't exactly pinpoint where your jutsu went wrong, I think Shikamaru Nara will revert back to his human form in a few days, maybe weeks' time. So in the meantime, I suppose we have three options." The elder sister of Kiba showed her younger sibling her index finger. "One, we return him back to his family and you take whatever anger or punishment they throw at you." Hana showed him a second finger. "Two, we keep him here and try to figure out how to reverse your idiotic jutsu, and take care of him." A third finger. "Three, we go to Lady Shizune and beg for her help."

Kiba nodded.

"However, if we do choice number one or two, we're going to have to come up with a lie about where your friend disappeared to. This may require me explaining the situation to Tsunade-sama, and requesting her to lie for us. The chances of that are 50/50, so don't get your hopes up. Got it?"

"Yeah." Kiba said, nodding once, eager to atone for his mistake.

"Good, now go buy some more dog food; we don't have any suitable for a puppy. Oh, and take Shikamaru with you." Hana added, as she placed her veterinary equipment and went to leave her bedroom.

"Alright! Hey, Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass up in outta here!" Kiba exclaimed, regaining some of his vigour.

'Did you have to yell?' Shikamaru grumbled, opening one eye to look at the young Inuzuka 'What a drag. Even as a dog I have to go out and walk around. How troublesome.' With a series of discontent growls, Shikamaru got up on all fours and toddled over to Kiba, who scooped him up in one arm and dashed down the stairs all too fast for Shikamaru.

'Well,' he thought dully as his stomach churned, and Kiba called Akamaru over to the open front door, mounting him. 'At least this saves me the trouble of walking.' Suddenly, Akamaru jolted forwards, Kiba holding onto Akamaru's mane of fur with one hand, his other arm occupied by a weary and dizzy Shikamaru.

After what seemed like days of terrible dizziness, Shikamaru realised Akamaru had ceased his running, and the three of them had finally arrived in the centre of Konoha. The stores and streets were all buzzing with people as usual. Kiba scanned the crowd for any familiar faces, not exactly wanting to attract attention to the little 'puppy' in his arms. The Inuzuka dismounted his dog and raised Shikamaru closer to his face, and began to whisper to him:

"Okay, Shikamaru, I'm going to put you in my jacket-" Kiba began, lifting Shikamaru closer to his partially unzipped jacket.

'What?' Shikamaru yelped, and began to thrash, catching Kiba by surprise and knocking him in the eye as he jumped out of his arms, causing Akamaru to frown and whip around, his head knocking Kiba in the stomach, unbalancing him and causing him to trip over his feet and fall on his back, Shikamaru tumbling out of his grip and a few feet away.

"Ugh, god dammit Shikam-" Kiba froze as he rubbed the back of his head, cracking an eye open when he noticed a good handful of the people passing by were giving him odd looks. Damn, I almost said 'Shikamaru'! If anyone heard that they'd either think I'm gay and named a puppy after Nara, or that I've lost it!

Shaking his head and standing up to dust himself off, a familiar voice said, "Hey, Inuzuka! You kinda ... dropped your dog." Kiba turned around to see Konohamaru, the grandson of the Third Hokage and who looked much more mature than the last time Kiba had laid eyes on him, was holding Shikamaru awkwardly by the scruff of his neck, Shikamaru looking extremely irritable.

"Oh, hah hah, right, thanks kid." Kiba said, reaching for Shikamaru before he hesitated, gulping as he saw the dirty look the terrier was giving him. Nara may not be all that frightening as a human when he glares at you, but as a dog ... Kiba paused and retracted his hands, making Konohamoru frown.

"What?" the boy frowned, seeing Kiba's change of mind.

"Actually squirt, could you look after my mutt for five minutes tops? I gotta go into some stores real quick but I don't think it'd be ... smart to bring in," Kiba thought for a moment. What should he say Nara's dog name was? Realising he was hesitating too long, Kiba quickly finished his sentence. "Shika."

'Shika?' The shadow-nin thought exasperatedly, narrowing his eyes at the brown haired boy. 'That has to be the worst name for a dog ever. And it's so similar to my own name too. Kiba you dunce!'

""Shika"?" Konohamaru repeated with a frown. "That sounds like Shikamaru Nara's name. Hey, speaking of that lazy-ass, where'd he disappear to? I hear Lady Tsunade is freaking out trying to find him! It's pretty damn funny actually. She's loosin' her head!"

"Why?" Kiba asked, gulping.

'Crap! It's the Chuunin exams she's getting angry over!' Shikamaru thought, shaking his head and glaring knives at Kiba. 'When I get back to normal, I'm doomed.'

"I dunno. I think it's 'cause of the Chuunin exams. I'm not too sure though, I'm a Genin so I wouldn't really know." Konohamaru shrugged. "But the guy's got it coming to him. I mean, all he does is laze around and sleep and play Shoji. I bet he makes his team mates do all the work for him, and that's why they're the crumbiest team of Konoha 12." Konohamaru added.

An infuriated growl rose up in Shikamaru's throat. 'This brat can insult me, but never my team! I should bite some new holes into him ...'

Seeing the deathly expression on Shikamaru's face, Kiba wondered if he should leave him here with the Genin. But, he did make him fall in front of the crowd when he was trying to do the dog-boy a favour ... Oh well, payback's a bitch. Kiba thought with an inward shrug. Though he did worry for Konohamaru ...

"Really? And no not really, Nara's a great guy. Anyways, I gotta go. I'll be back in a few!" Kiba shouted, already a good distance away as he waved back at the forced babysitter and the dog, Akamaru running after him.

Once Kiba was out of sight, leaving Konohamaru no choice but to look after the mutt, the young Genin walked over to an empty bench beside the Ramen shop, where Uzumaki Naruto could usually be found. Konohamaru sighed at the thought of his role model. It had been nearly three years without his rival causing havoc in the city, and Konohamaru was way over due for a battle with him. Shikamaru huffed as he was set down on the bench (it was more like dropped, and oh Kami did it hurt his little puppy body).

As Konohamaru day dreamed, Shikamaru fixed him with an angry glare, to which the younger boy paid no attention to. People passing by gave them strange looks as the 'Honourable Grandson of The Third Hokage' stare dreamily at the legs of people passing by, completely zoned out, and at the tiny little dog who was no bigger than a kunai, staring hatefully at him.

'I should rip him a new one right now ... but that'd be too troublesome.' Shikamaru sighed and was just about to turn away when the Naruto-double snapped out of his trance and glared at him heatedly.

"What do you want?" he snapped, head in his hands as he supported his head.

Shikamaru merely blinked at the boy.

"Stupid dog ... where's Kiba?" Konohamaru grumbled, looking around.

'It wouldn't hurt to bite him just a little ...' Shikamaru thought, tilting his head a little as he watched the boy fidget with his dark green cape. Shikamaru, quickly getting bored of this, yawned and curled up into a ball, deciding to rest his eyes.

"Heh, you're just like that lazy-ass Nara, aren't you, Shika?" Konohamaru asked, tsk-ing.

Shikamaru's eye twitched. He didn't care if the boy insulted him and called him names – hell, he'd been called worse before – but there was just something about him that irked him to the bone.

"Jeez, if I had a ninja like Nara on my team, I'd beg Lady Tsunade to revoke my ninja permit (A/N: I don't know what to call that really ...) in a heartbeat."

Shikamaru snapped, whipping around and jumping for the Genin's hand, sinking his tiny, yet sharp little fangs into it, easily and quickly drawing blood.

Konohamaru jumped up from the bench in surprise, and began waving his hand about like crazy, passerby-ers giving a large berth of space to the two.

"Wh-what the hell, Shika?" Konohamaru yelped, trying to get the terrier off. Shikamaru merely tightened his grip on the boy's hand. "Get off!" Finally Konohamaru grabbed Shikamaru by the scruff of his neck and yanked him off, Shikamaru finally letting go.

Konohamaru glared at the mutt and completely forgot he was supposed to be watching him for Kiba. Looking around at the crowd, he spotted a familiar woman with spiky blonde hair in four different ponytails and sharp teal eyes. She gave off a vicious/fierce aura, and Konohamaru recognised her from the time when Naruto was getting beaten up by Sakura, and in Naruto's year's Chuunin Exams. She wore a short-sleeved black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side and a revealing neckline. Around her waist was a red sash, on her hands black gloves and a black Sand Village forehead protector on her forehead, just like Kiba and Naruto did. The woman's name was Temari, sister to the young Kazekage.

Running over, his hand still freely bleeding, Konohamaru dashed over to her and shoved Shikamaru in her face.

Teal orbs stared, startled, into dark brown ones, both wide-eyed.

'Troublesome woman?' Shikamaru practically yelped in his mind, the only sound escaping his throat a whine.

Temari quickly recovered and scowled, roughly pushing the hand that held the small terrier puppy in her face to the side to reveal a both familiar and unfamiliar kid.

"Do I know you?" Temari asked with a raised eyebrow, her right hand on her hip.

"Kinda. Listen, can you take this mutt away from me?" Konohamaru demanded briskly, shoving it in her face again.

Temari had to admit, it was actually pretty cute. But she didn't voice her thoughts as heavy annoyance bubbled up in her. Once more, (this time much more roughly so that it was more like a punch) Temari knocked the boy's hand out of her face, making him nearly drop the dog.

"Listen kid," Temari snarled, drawing herself up to her full height, successfully intimidating the annoying brat, who cowered a little, but stood his ground. "I don't want a mangy little pooch running around in my apartment while I carry out my stupid duties for the Chuunin Exams here, let alone having one shoved in my face. Now tell me who you are before I lose my patience."

"I-I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, grandson of the Third Hokage!"

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Oh. You're that little brat that was with Naruto the first time me and my brothers met him, aren't you? You were cowering in a corner with your little friends."

Konohamaru glowered at the older woman. "I'm not a brat!" he shouted, his voice breaking terribly.

Shikamaru's ears perked up. 'Puberty. That's why I got irritable whenever he spoke! Whoops, I bit him for no reason then.'

Temari grunted, her ears ringing from the sound.

"Ugh, do yourself a favor and don't yell, brat. The sound of your voice makes my ears bleed."

"Then take this stupid Shika away from me!" Konohamaru shouted making Shikamaru take all the strength he had not to turn around and bite the living day lights out of his currently vulnerable arm.

Before Temari could even open her mouth, Konohamaru smashed Shikamaru into her chest face first, weakly shouting, "Take it!" before dashing away into the crowd.

Red in the face from both anger and for some unknown reason embarrassment, Temari grabbed the dog before it could fall with both hands, pulling it away from her breasts at arm's length looking it over. It was an extremely small dog, maybe the size of her sandal, with chocolate brown fur, with a beige muzzle, and cute black eyes, not to mention a cute little brown nose.

It doesn't look that bad ... Temari thought, tilting her head at the hassled looking dog.

'Wh-what just happened? M-my face w-was in-' Shikamaru's eyes went to her chest, where the neckline of her kimono showed a modest yet slightly generous amount of her breasts. Shikamaru shut his eyes and tossed his head to the side, ashamed of himself. 'N-no! Don't look there! You're not a pervert and that's Temari! You both hate each other!'

"... I guess I could keep you for the meantime." Temari said hesitantly, bringing the dog closer to her chest.

'No! Not again!' Shikamaru groaned, struggling in her surprisingly hard but gentle grip.

Thankfully for Shikamaru, Temari brought him up to her face, so that they were eye-level, and he felt her teal eyes seem to burn into his black ones. He stiffened, suddenly aware of just how close he was (even if he was a tiny little terrier) and felt as if she was seeing into his soul. For a moment, he wondered if she could tell that he wasn't Shika the Glen Imaal Terrier but Shikamaru Nara the lazy shadow ninja.

"So you're name's Shika, huh?" she murmured, remembering her conversation with the mid-puberty-staged brat. "You're kind of cute ... in a sense." She quickly covered up, wondering why she felt as if her guard should be up around a puppy. Temari adjusted her hold on the small dog, so that her arms were crossed and he was comfortably nestled in them, though he was still conscious of his back being awkwardly close to her chest area. Other than that, his paws were slightly hanging off of her forearm, and his head was nestled into the crook of her arm.

'This is a lot better than how Kiba carries me.' Shikamaru allowed himself to think before he dozed off, and Temari set off towards her apartment.

Meanwhile, Kiba had his arms filled with puppy kibble and new dog bowls, when he realised he couldn't see Konohamaru and Shikamaru anywhere in sight.

Oh no! He thought, and almost dropped the supplies before he dashed around the area, the Genin and the dog nowhere to be found.

"Shit!" he growled, before mounting Akamaru and sprinting back to the Inuzuka residence. What in the world was he to do now?

This chapter is twice as long as the first, I hope you enjoyed it! Were the characters OOC? And for future reference, I'm going to ask that question a lot, as I tend to hate stories when the characters are OOC, so obviously I don't want mine to be.

R&R? Flames, positive remarks, spelling mistakes being pointed out, anything is accepted!

Oh, and updates probably won't be regular as you would know if you read my other two ongoing stories. Sometimes I just have 0% of inspirtation, and a hard case of writers block. And the fact that I'm rather similair to Shikamaru says a lot too.