Disclaimer: Ok, do we really have to say this? … Fine, Naruto or Fruits Basket is not ours. Though it is a bit pointless to say it, since we wouldn't be writing fanfiction about them if it really was through. So nyah.

A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, people! Well, this chapter is mostly talking and explaining what's going on… but the plot thickens (you: -gasp- )

Things we won't be doing:

We won't be doing any of those… silly Mpreg-stories xD sorry, we just don't like it o.o

Maa…we won't be putting in random Japanese words. We know them, but we won't put them in- I usually find them rather annoying when reading. Honourifics are different though, I think that they are more necessary than for instance: 'Ah, gomen nasai, Naruto", like that.

No Mary Sues. There may be some other characters, but they won't be playing a significant part or anything like that… at least, not parts where they get together with a main character or anything like that O.o…

There will be no other gay couples than SasuNaru and KakaIru. Mir and I both are crazy fangirls when it comes to SasuNaru and KakaIru (she likes S/N, I like K/I xD), so we decided to put these in. However, we won't do any other gay couples, as… well, we just can't imagine every guy in Konoha being gay xD


We hope you'll enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 2- About Naked Guys and Secret Scrolls

"What are you looking at, idiot?" the rat asked, looking bored. He had already realised the fact that they had turned into animals, but knew he couldn't do anything about it- he didn't need to panic. It was better to just stay calm and figure a way to change back to their original forms.

Naruto had been staring at the rat sitting on Sakura, before the voice interrupted him. It seemed to come from behind the small animal, so he looked behind it, next to it, and even under it, but there was nothing. Only the tiny rat.

"I'm here, idiot."

This time, it really seemed to come out of the rat, but…

"Oh, no! You nasty rat! You ate Sasuke, didn't you? Oh well. I don't care. It was just Sasuke anyway," Naruto stated, though he couldn't deny noticing something strangely familiar about the rat- especially the expression on its face. It looked as bored and cool as Sasuke's. It really made him hate the tiny animal even more.

"It is me, you idiot! Sasuke. You know?"

A complete silence fell on the area as Naruto tried to comprehend the fact that it was Sasuke, before bursting into complete laughter.

"Hahahaha! You really… HAHAHA, Sakura-chan, do you see how he's looking? Saku- SAKURA!"

Sakura had just fainted. And then, when Naruto wanted to grab her and shake her head, he noticed he had paws instead of hands. And he had a tail. And real whiskers.

Again a scream could be heard at Ichiruka's.

"Naruto, calm down for a bit," the black dog said calmly. "No need to panic, we don't want you passing out as well." At that moment, they heard Sakura moaning softly as she was regaining her consciousness, still slightly dizzy from fainting a few moments before. Naruto jumped from her body and eyed the dog with great suspicion.

"And you are…" he said, questioning him. The dog rolled its one bright, blue eye and the other red one. Naruto thought the eyes looked familiar and the scar it had by its eye as well. Well, as you all know, Naruto wasn't the brightest person around. "Oh, oh, I know!" He said happily. "You're Kakashi-sensei, right?"

"Kakashi-sensei, what the hell is going on?" Sasuke said, starting to feel a little agitated. He decided to simply ignore Naruto's stupid comments and focus on what had happened to them. He looked at Sakura, who had been starting to stare at the strange animals and it looked as though she was about to start poking them to see if they were real. She was really trying to comprehend what was going on and she started to put two and two together- one, there were now three animals instead of her two team mates and sensei. Two, they could talk. Three, they addressed each other with very familiar names. But that can't be, she thought to herself, looking rather worried at the others.

"W-what's going on?" She finally managed to ask, turning to the black dog who obviously was her sensei.

Well, as you might have guessed- Kakashi had already started to think about what could have caused this. Then he was distracted by a rather interesting looking, and smelling, tree that stood not too far away from him. Resisting the urge to go there and… err… do his business, he instead focused on what was happening. For one, they had all turned into animals (oh yes, you definitely can see that he's a genius). Secondly, it had all started when they bumped into each other- no, when they bumped into Sakura.

He looked at Naruto and Sasuke- a cat and a rat, now fighting each other because Sasuke had called the other bo- err, cat, an idiot once again. He himself became a dog. Three animals of the Zodiac, but… that can't be and yet it all seems like-

His thoughts were interrupted as they changed back to their original forms.

"Ah, finally we're back to normal!" Naruto said happily as he saw that he had hands again, instead of paws and stretched. However, he didn't see the look of utter terror Sakura had on her face (though I have to add that she kept staring at Sasuke)- they were completely naked. Well, except for Kakashi who had immediately put his mask back on the moment they changed back. But that was the only thing he was wearing. "Uh-oh," Naruto said. "Sasuke, I know it will be difficult, but don't watch me! I'm going to put my clothes on," he said, while covering his…manhood with his hands. Sasuke scowled at the other, while quickly pulling on his boxers and his pants so he could get rid of the dangerous look Sakura wore- the look of someone who was about to jump him.

"Shut up, idiot! Do you really think I want to see you naked?" He said, irritated, before turning away from the blonde boy, who was now sticking his tongue out. But Kakashi's keen eye caught something that he hadn't expected and grinned at himself- Sasuke was actually blushing slightly at the comment.

After everybody had dressed themselves, they decided that it was time to pay the Hokage a little visit- though Kakashi felt rather concerned. Well, he could only speculate as to what was going on, but he practically had all the evidence.

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"I swear, Hokage-sama! I- I mean, they j-just… They vanished, and like, suddenly, three animals appeared!"

"So, Sakura… You said that you fell, right? Before they vanished?"

"Yes."

"Could it be… You fell too hard on your head?"

"Tsunade-sama, are you insinuating that I'm imagining things?"

"...Yes." The three males watched amusedly as Sakura heatedly argued with her tutor, not bothering to interfere. Not even to tell the Hokage that Sakura was actually right. When Sakura continued, Tsunade interrupted her to ask their opinion. The boys looked at each other before Naruto sighed and uncrossed his arms.

"Tsunade-baba, she's right, you know," he said, raising his index finger thoughtfully. Sasuke didn't even seem interested in the whole conversation- so far, all they had talked about was the story about how they had changed into animals and when it all began. It was obvious that it was because they had bumped into Sakura, but it wasn't because they had touched her. Kakashi had felt her head to see if she had fallen hard when she fainted and he, when he did so, hadn't changed into an animal- so it must've been merely because of the impact. The pink haired girl nodded in relief.

"Well, then. I guess I have to believe you guys," the Godaime said, eyeing them thoughtfully and also with great curiosity. "Would you please leave Kakashi-sensei and I alone for a bit- I need to talk to him." The three nodded, though they were quite annoyed because of the fact they couldn't hear what she had to say.

"Any thoughts on this?" The Hokage asked finally, after the others had left. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, well, I only have one theory," he said, looking rather serious. "I don't know if you've ever heard of the secret Juunishi-scroll?" Tsunade shook her head silently. "Well, it's a forbidden one, as you might have guessed. If one has it, he can place a curse on thirteen others and himself-"

"Why would someone want to place a curse on himself?" Tsunade interrupted him immediately.

"I'm getting to that," Kakashi said cheerfully, before continuing, "In order for the scroll to work, one must write the names of fourteen humans in his own blood- he may write his own name on it as well, but it isn't a requirement. Names are not enough, however, he must also picture their faces in order for it to work. That's not the complicated part though- the handseals are very hard to perform, or so I've heard. Not many can perform it, so I can only guess that the person, if they have used the scroll, is a very talented ninja."

"Yes, but what does it do?" She asked him- how the hell did this guy know about it, when she didn't? "And how the hell do you know about this forbidden scroll when I don't know about it?" She said.

"The fourth told me about it once," he replied. "Anyway, you know that old story, right? Of the twelve Zodiacs and the Cat?" Tsunade nodded slowly, seeing where he was going to. "Okay, well, when one writes down the names on the scroll, those people will turn into one of the twelve Juunishi or the Cat, but only when he or she is hugged by the opposite sex," he continued.

"Wait- you three were hugging Sakura at the same time?" Tsunade said suspiciously, which silenced Kakashi for a moment.

"Th-that's besides the point, Hokage-sama," he said, coughing slightly and wanting to get back to the point of their conversation.

"Okay, so what about the fourteenth name then- you said that there were fourteen names needed," Tsunade questioned him.

"Yes. As you know, the animals in the story have a special bond with God. So, the first name that should be written on the scroll would be the one who would be the 'God' of the cursed people." Tsunade was silent for a moment. Perhaps it was because she was in shock that such a scroll even existed.

"So you are saying, that you guys are now connected with the person who cursed you?" She inquired, looking rather amazed.

"Yes, that's a good way to put it," Kakashi replied. "The fourth also told me that the people who are cursed, slowly start to long for their 'God' and they need to see him- eventually they will turn into his servants and they would have to remain by his side forever, or else they will always be restless and long for him. It's a slow process, but nonetheless very dangerous to the ones that are cursed."

"But what about Sakura, she didn't turn into an animal when she was hugged by you?" Kakashi shrugged.

"Nope, she remained a human. Besides that, the people who are cursed can hug each other freely, even if they are a man or woman," Kakashi ran a hand through is silver hair, while Tsunade looked frustrated at this news. All the evidence was there- the changing, the animals in which they changed… so it must be that someone had cursed them. Now the only question that remained unanswered was; who did it?

As though he had heard her thinking, Kakashi said, "We can only guess who did it and it should be hard to figure out- seeing the person can do it from far away. We have several clues though- for one, the person responsible is an excellent ninja, dare I say, even better than I am?" Tsunade snorted slightly at his comment. "The man or woman knows his or her way around Konoha and also knows the inhabitants- because you must know the names and faces of the people you curse. I suggest you look into the files of all the S-ranked criminals first, preferably the ones that came from Konoha-village." Tsunade nodded in agreement- the first name that had popped into her head was Orochimaru's. Sadistic bastard, she thought to herself. It would be just like him to do a stunt like this. "I don't think it's Orochimaru-" Tsunade blinked "- After all, he can't use his hands to perform seals and, even though Kabuto is a good ninja, excellent even, I don't think he could do such complicated ones. No, it must be someone even more skilful than him," he finally concluded. Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"And what do we do in the meantime?" Kakashi scratched his head thoughtfully. They first needed information, but until that time they couldn't really do anything about it.

"I don't know if it's true, because the fourth wasn't sure about it either," Kakashi started. "But he said that whenever people change too often, the curse becomes stronger and the longing to be with 'God' would be unbearable even faster. And, considering the fact that Sasuke has to put up with girls chasing him all day, it wouldn't look too good for him," Kakashi paused briefly. "And there are, of course, the chances that we bump into someone on the street and change. Those chances are very high- and that wouldn't be good. Besides that, we would also freak people out. I don't think they like the idea of someone turning into an animal- I mean, you know how they respond whenever Naruto is around." Tsunade gritted her teeth- the man was absolutely right, but how was she supposed to solve this? "And we also need to find the rest who have been cursed- I suggest we try looking for them in Konoha or perhaps wait for them to change and to report it? It shouldn't be too long…" Kakashi said doubtfully.

"Yes, we should wait for that to happen. In the mean time, I think you, Sasuke and Naruto should stay out of the village for now. We can't take the risk that you guys change, so it will have to be this way. There's an old house not very far from the northern gate- I think it would be best if you and your students reside there for now. Just train for now and don't leave for any missions, unless they're D-ranked and nearby. I want to keep you updated about the situation," she said.

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In the meantime…

"You know, Sasuke-kun, you looked cute as a rat," Sakura giggled, trying to catch the black-haired boy's attention yet again. Sasuke merely grunted in reply- he didn't like being called 'cute'.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto jumped up immediately. He wanted some attention as well- after all, cats were cute too, right? "What about me? Huh? Didn't you think I looked hugable as a cat?"

"Moron!" She yelled and punched him on the head. "No, I didn't think you were cute," she then said firmly, swooning as Sasuke looked at her with dark eyes. She didn't see, however, that he was looking rather annoyed. Or perhaps she didn't want to see it.

"You," he started, walking towards Sakura, who was waiting anxiously for him to… do whatever he was going to do. It didn't really matter to her- he was standing so close now, she could feel the warmth radiating from his body and hear his steady breath and could see his black eyes gazing down at her. "Stop hitting him, it's annoying," he then said, looking rather disgusted with her. He turned away, leaving a confused and slightly hurt girl behind him. Before she could even say anything, the door to the Hokage's office opened and their sensei walked out, looking rather worried.

"Yo," he said, raising the usual two fingers as a greeting, before explaining the whole story about the scroll to them. Yes, it was best to simply tell them- they needed to know what was going on or else they would just run into trouble. And when he said 'they' he meant a certain blonde boy- it would be so much like Naruto to just go ahead and hug a girl randomly just to change. And Kakashi couldn't have that.

Sasuke on the other hand, didn't like physical contact that much, so Kakashi wasn't too worried about him…Well, he wasn't too worried about him, but he was more concerned about those horrid girls. But still, he was the Rat and therefore a very special case. He didn't know how fast the process of turning into the little slave of 'God' would go with him.

It had been known that the Rat obviously had some special connection with God in the story, because he had arrived first on the banquet- that's why the chances were that Sasuke would turn around faster than anyone else- even if he didn't hug anyone.

Naruto was obviously the cat- the outcast, if you will. Yes, it was rather sad, especially after seeing the look on the young boy's face as he told them the story of the twelve animals- again he was beaten by Sasuke with something. It was rather hard to watch.

"-So, Tsunade-sama has decided to put us into an old house not too far from the village. We can't risk running into some girl," Kakashi finally said, grinning as he saw the small blush on Sasuke's cheeks- he was obviously thinking about those rabid girls that were all too glad to have some physical contact with Prince Sasuke.

"What?" Naruto groaned, looking frustrated. He wasn't keen on giving up his comfortable apartment that easily. "I have to stay with him-" he pointed towards Sasuke "- in one house? I don't think I'll survive that," Naruto finally stated, causing the other boy to nod in agreement.

"Me neither, I don't think I could live with that idiot," said Sasuke, smirking slightly as the young boy jumped up.

"Don't call me an idiot, bastard!" He yelled and pointed his finger at him accusingly. Kakashi merely sighed at the two fighting boys… and then that sigh turned into a soft chuckle- and then that soft chuckle turned into a mischievous grin.

"Would you guys please stop? You look like a married couple," he said the last two words rather clearly, so they could hear him well. Instantly, the room silenced and the two boys started to blush heavily as they both mumbled something incomprehensible (it sounded like 'crazy pervert', but alas, we can't be certain). "Besides that, you are going to have to live with each other for now- until everything is back to normal and we find a way to fix things. Tsunade-sama is currently going over the files of S-ranked criminals, so it shouldn't be too long before we can begin our hunt," he continued. Sasuke looked interested now.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you think that-" he was cut off in the middle of his sentence.

"Yes, your brother might have something to do with it…" he said, nodding. "But it's not certain- it wouldn't surprise me though." Sasuke's look changed immediately… he looked excited about the prospect of actually going after his brother.

"Kakashi-sensei, will we train near your new house then?" Sakura asked hesitantly. She had been rather hopeful to also be invited to live in their house- mainly because of a certain black-haired boy- but to her dismay, she wasn't. Well, she could still visit him everyday- that was a plus.

"Yup, every morning, same time." Naruto grunted.

"You mean two hours later than the same time," Naruto said accusingly. The other two nodded. Kakashi merely scratched his head guiltily.

"Ah yes, but now you guys can make sure I'll be there on time!" He said cheerfully, noticing how the boys exchanged looks which clearly said 'we're going to give him hell' and chuckled softly.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention something," the two boys glared at him. "You'll be sleeping in the same room."

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A/N: Well, there it is! I hope you've enjoyed Noodles Basket and hit the little review button on your way out, please! Gawd, we sound like authors in desperate need for reviews. Because we are