I do not own Naruto, nor do I own Pokémon.

Ditto

Over the next few months, nothing especially eventful happened to dog-Ditto, though he does enjoy the recent peacefulness. The routine would repeat itself; Ditto would wait outside the Academy for Big Blue and Jerkface, and the trio would train together after classes. The two Academy students took some time to warm up to him, but it happened. They slowly became, dare he say, akin to close friends, but maybe it's just because dogs were too trusting. Maybe.

From what he saw, adults and children weren't very fond of his two newly acquired friends. There was a blatant disrespect against them, with insults and a few distasteful look thrown at them, though most would just shy away from the two. Why it is that way, Ditto didn't quite understand. It's not like if Big Blue was that– okay, maybe his looks were a bit intimidating, but why be so scornful about it? And there was also Zabuza, the kid who was a few years younger than Big Blue. Was it the aura (What the hell is with it? Never mind that Lucario's and psychic types are the only ones supposed to sense auras) of uneasiness radiating off of him (I might just start calling it miasma. Seriously, it sometimes become really suffocating)? Or was it just that he was naturally scary-looking, topped with his almost non-existent social skills?

Oh well.

The most he could do right now would be to cheer them up during training.

Speaking of training…

Ditto got accustomed to this body rather quickly, now being able to dodge incoming projectiles (as long as they weren't thrown in masses) and being able to recognize and follow many scents (To be fair, I have already had experience in those fields in similar bodies. Also, I can locate who farted in a classroom).

Big Blue usually had classes from morning until afternoon (Never really bothered to learn the exact time, it doesn't matter that much as long as we're able to meet up every day around the same time), so dog-Ditto would either wander around the village or try to improve his tracking skills.

Lately, he was getting bored with exploring the village. He has mapped and memorized most of Kiri's layout, with the occasional spots he missed (Not my fault if those dog-haters were there. I could try to run past them, but I'd rather not risk it). The library wouldn't let animals in, so that's one less thing he could do (Again, rather not risk dropping my disguise and get caught).

Tracking could be fun, as long as there was something interesting to track. Which, outside of training with the boys, did not come up often. So that's another thing off the list.

This leads us back to the present, with dog-Ditto amusing himself with a new exercise he discovered. He would stand still in one spot, and pump chakra (At least I think it's chakra. Still not sure how that stuff works) towards his feet, then to the ground. Like that, he would be able to feel every being in contact with the ground, save for inanimate objects. He would entertain himself endlessly, feeling the walking pattern of certain people, discerning if they were walking, running, skipping, etc. He would sense from the cat rummaging through the waste to the shinobi walking across the streets. Every single one felt different, although some were quite similar. Maybe they're related through blood? He would also sometime wonder if it would be considered as a breach of privacy.

(At least I'm not actively stalking them, right? Right.)

He has been able to extend his range to a dozen meters maximum in radius, but is still practising to expand his limit. Not much progress there, though. Maybe he was doing something wrong?

Talking about sensing, dog-Ditto's tail was already wagging in anticipation, feeling a massive pattern approaching the Assembly Field (I know, I give bad corny names, NO NEED TO RUB IT IN MY FACE), the clearing where they would always train after classes. Big Blue's presence was quite distinctive; it was immense, despite him still being a kid, it could easily drown out the ones surrounding him (Do you get it? Drown? Water release and Kisame? – What? – *Sigh*).

Big Blue and Jerkface… they're pretty nice. Even if they're rough at times and their training methods are a little dubious (At least they now know it's not a good idea to strap a bunch of senbon on a dog), they've become two individuals Ditto came to befriend. Or maybe it was just because he was a dog. Who know? (Arceus probably does.)

Should he reveal to them who he was? It could go awfully badly. Then again… Kisame and Zabuza are friends. And friends are supposed to trust each other. Yeah, he believes he could do this. But what w–

"Oh hey, Fuzzball," Big Blue came walking in, cutting off his train of thoughts, "class finished early for us, so the kid will be joining us later."

'I guess it'll have to wait for later. Distraction time!'

Kisame

The Fuzzball (Kisame decided to nickname the pup) was spacing out a lot more than usual, Kisame remarked. They (still hasn't checked for the gender, and he felt bad for calling his partner an 'it') would react slower than usual, sometimes staring at nothing in particular. Was there something on their mind? Can dogs even think the same way humans do? Can they even have complicated thoughts? Maybe he'll ask shishou later, if he remembers.

Maybe the pup's hungry. Kisame hadn't fed them since yesterday morning, so that could be the cause.

Since the kid still wasn't here, he couldn't do much part from a few chakra exercises, weapon throwing (still preferred sword over anything) or training the dog. After going through a few stretches and a few katas, Kisame decided to check how much slower the Fuzzball was compared to any other days. Choosing a fairly easy exercise, one that they normally would have no trouble with, he took out a shuriken and threw it so it lodged into a tree not too far away. He turned towards the pup to see if they would go after his shuriken.

The pup wasn't even facing the right way.

Breathing out a sigh, he raised his voice. "Oi! Fuzzball," at their name, the dog only turned their head (where was the ball of energy he was used to see?), "retrieve!"

The Fuzzball blinked a few times, before skittering, more sluggishly that normal, to go fetch the shuriken embedded in the tree trunk. Just as they came back carrying Kisame's shuriken, Zabuza decided to make himself known by stepping in the field, jabbing his bokken into the ground.

"Right. We won't be able to spar for too long today, I have to catch up on some training I missed with Fuguki-shishou."

As per usual, they both readied themselves soundlessly, and the Fuzzball trotted to the sidelines to watch the battle.

A spar sounded pretty good now to get those dog-related questions out of his head.

Ditto

Just as Big Blue said, their daily training ended a bit more early than normally. That didn't matter much for Ditto, as he spent his time spacing out and pondering about his little dilemma.

'Well… we're kinda like friends now, right? And friends should be able to trust each other without the fear of having him divulge a secret.'

He looked at the two Academy students, sprawled across the ground and panting heavily.

'Yeah, Ditto thought to himself, I'm going to do this.'

After a few moments, they both stood up (Nice synchronization!) and Jerkface slowly walked away, probably back home, while Big Blue headed towards Ditto.

"Fuzzball! So it'll just be like always; I'll stay here for a while, and you'll go back. We'll meet up in the house, okay?"

To Big Blue's question, dog-Ditto barked once and returned home (Home… such a lovely word, don't you think?), just as usual. And just as usual, the big guy would come to the field after Ditto and Jerkface would leave it. Dog-Ditto didn't need to turn around and see the guy to notice him; he got accustomed to the slight melon scent (Such an intimidating person, smelling like fruits!) he would emanate.

Dog-Ditto would take the back roads, trying to be inconspicuous and all. After all, he can't take on the roofs, and he quickly rejected the idea of taking the main street. Last time he did, he got harassed by a few children (Man, that was not cool at all).

Arriving at the destination a few minutes later, Ditto entered the house through a trapdoor (Made specially for me! Big Blue's such a nice guy) from the back.

There, he just lay on the ground, contemplating on how he could break the news of what he was. Should he just straight up tell him? Did he even remember how to speak Japanese?

'I hope I do. After all, wasn't it the first human language I learned? It would be embarrassing if I did forget.'

As Ditto was still deep in his thoughts, the front door opened and an exhausted Big Blue came walking in. (Did he come earlier than normal, or was it just me losing track of time?)

"Fuzzba ‑"

"Actually, I also go by another name," Ditto blurted out, not having thought too much about how he was going to aboard his issue.

"You can talk?"

Ditto just nodded slowly, not having much else to say at the moment.

"I think I'll just deal with this tomorrow." With that, Big Blue shuffled to his room, and closed the door.

'Well, that certainly was one way to deal with it.'

I'm really sorry I couldn't get this chapter out sooner. I had some matters to attend to, so I didn't have enough time to finish this. Again, terribly sorry for the delay!

That being said, chapter 5 is now out, and Ditto is now (partially) unmasked!

And I decided to reply to the scarce reviews this story has!

annieleileileei: Thanks! I try with the 'good work' part, but I'm not doing so great with the 'keep up'... Hehe.

Guest: I try to do my best!

Reviews are always appreciated.