Naruto left the trees behind and entered a large field with a house situated roughly center in it. The house was not the one Jiraiya had claimed and he wondered where he had ended up now. Naruto also wondered who would be waiting for him there. As he stood at the edge of the forest looking at the house he noticed a figure sit up from the ground. That person stretched and slowly stood up. Naruto was just close enough to recognize that person as Shikamaru.
Then Naruto realized why Shikamaru had gotten up, for someone else was walking up to the house. Naruto's eyes went wide; he would recognize that figure from any distance. "Sasuke," he whispered. Before another moment could pass Naruto started running towards them as fast as possible. Sasuke was unchanged from when he left Konoha but Naruto didn't give himself time to think about that. As Shikamaru and Sasuke met their voices drifted to Naruto.
"A message from the Hokage to her pupil to come see her," Sasuke said.
"A message for the pupil of the Hokage to come see her," Shikamaru responded.
"No, a message from the Hokage to her pupil to come see her," Sasuke restated.
"That's what I said. A message for the pupil of the Hokage to come see her," Shikamaru retorted.
Sasuke sighed, "good enough."
Naruto had reached them now but didn't stop running. He went to tackle Sasuke but touched nothing but air. Naruto somersaulted a short distance. He would have sworn he heard "dope" whispered on the wind. Naruto let out a frustrated cry, "Sasuke!"
Naruto sat where he was for a few minutes trying to figure out what happened. "It wasn't really Sasuke there. It was just my memory of him, like the Third. If it was really Sasuke he wouldn't still be the same as he was three years ago. He'd be taller, have more muscles, different clothes. This place is just taunting me with the images of people I've known."
Naruto got up and dusted himself off. He went over to where Shikamaru was laying next to the door. Inside he could hear yells, crashes, and bangs. "What's going on in there?" he asked Shikamaru.
"Just the normal stuff."
"And that would be?"
"Couldn't tell you. I stay outside watching the clouds."
"I see," Naruto said and knocked on the door. There was no response so he tried again.
"That won't do you any good," Shikamaru told him.
"Why?"
"Because I'm out here, so there's no one inside to open the door for you."
"But I hear people in there. It sounds like Ino and Sakura yelling at each other."
"Yes, but they're too wrapped up in each other to notice a knock on the door."
At that moment something crashed and broke against the other side of the door. "I thought they were friends?"
"They are; this is how they express it. Women are so troublesome."
"So are you going to let me in?"
"Why? You're already at the door, just do it yourself."
Naruto resisted the urge to yell at Shikamaru for being lazy. He found that the door was not locked and let himself in. Sakura's back was to the door and she was facing Ino. They each had a stack of plates next to them and judging from the floor they were throwing those plates at each other.
"Forehead girl!" Ino threw a plate.
Sakura ducked and grabbed her own plate. "Ino-pig!"
Naruto could hear crying from somewhere and decided to cautiously see what was going on. He moved into the middle of the room. "Uh, hey, what's the matter?"
Four eyes suddenly drilled into him. "Not that it's any of your business, but we are trying to determine who is prettier. Perhaps you can be the tie-breaker, Shikamaru refuses."
The eyes burned death into him and Naruto frantically searched for a way to avoid pissing off either woman. It was then he saw where the crying was coming from. Sakura held a baby in one arm. "You, you have a child?!"
"What?" Sakura looked down. "Oh, we found him wandering in the woods and decided to bring him home." She turned to Ino. "I'm getting tired, would you take him for a while now?"
"Of course, take a minute to relax before you go see Tsunade." Ino and Sakura began giggling as they exchanged the baby. "You know, I think you're just as pretty as me."
"Thank you, I agree. I wonder what I would look like with blond hair." Sakura replied.
"We can try it out later if you want."
They smiled at one another and Naruto was suddenly very grateful to not actually be a girl. They were crazy. He couldn't wait to get back to normal.
"I need to get going, I'll see you later," Sakura said.
The baby Ino was holding had never stopped crying. She paced around the room cooing at him but the crying just got worse. Ino paused in front of Naruto. "Here, why don't you hold him for a while?" she said and placed the baby in a flustered Naruto's arms.
Naruto couldn't remember ever being around a baby before let alone try to sooth one. He looked down at the infant and was shocked by who he saw. "What? Why is Choji a baby?"
He heard the door shut and Ino said "maybe you should take him back to the forest. He doesn't seem to like being here with us."
Naruto had to resist the desire to say "gee, I wonder why." He thought it very odd that a baby would be alright in the forest. He went to question this and noticed Sakura was gone; that had been why he heard the door a moment ago. Naruto rushed to the door and yanked it open but Sakura was not in sight. "Damn, she could have taken me to see Tsunade," Naruto grumbled. Ino wasn't paying any attention to him so he left.
Shikamaru averted his eyes from the clouds to Naruto. "You're taking it back to the forest?"
"I guess so. Isn't that bad?"
"No, you'll see. You don't seem as troublesome as most other women for some reason." With that Shikamaru focused back on the clouds.
"Thank you, I think," Naruto replied. He assumed that might be the closest he got to anyone knowing he was really a guy. He saw a path in the forest and headed for it. As Naruto entered the forest baby Choji's cries changed into grunting noises. Naruto was startled when he looked down and saw he was holding a small pig.
"Huh? I would have thought you'd become a butterfly and Ino would change into a pig." Choji started squirming. "Strange, I guess it's because you eat like a pig. Well, here you go, dig up some nice roots." Naruto shook his head as he set Choji down. "For a place that makes no sense, this place really makes no sense." He continued down the path.
