Chapter 6: Calling

During the rest of the day, Naruto kept making frequent trips into the forest to bring back food. Shikamaru ate most of it, leaving Naruto to make more trips. Naruto didn't have to be told. He wanted to go into the forest to find food. He claimed it was fun. Sometimes he would be gone only a few minutes. Sometimes, he was gone for an hour. This trip he was taking at the moment had been lasting two hours.

With the day just about gone, they knew they would have to spend another night at this site and travel in the morning.

"We're losing time," Ino complained. "Where the hell is he?"

Sakura stood facing the forest and called in a loud voice, "Naruto! Get your butt back here now! I mean it!" There was no answer. She couldn't find head nor tail of him and hadn't been able to for the past two hours. He couldn't be lost, could he? Any real ninja wouldn't make such a mistake, but Naruto? He wasn't like most ninja. Sometimes, she had doubts he was even a ninja. Maybe in name only. If there was something a ninja wouldn't fail at, it was almost certain that he would.

"Any sign of him?" asked Ino.

She shook her head. "No. Maybe one of us should go out there and look for him."

Ino put her hands on her hips. "I can't believe we lost a whole day because of your idiot teammate. We should have left hours ago and now it's going to be dark soon. A whole day, wasted."

"At least he brought back food for your teammate who you didn't feed."

"Why is he my responsibility?"

"Lady Tsunade assigned us to be on this mission because these are our teammates."

"Well, look who went and lost hers in the woods. At least I know where mine is." She pointed into the building where Shikamaru slept curled in a ball on the floor. "See? Lazy-ass, sleeping the day away."

"Hey, guys!" Naruto had returned with even more food. His clothes were soaking wet and he was covered in dirt and mud. His sleeve was torn slightly and he had a small cut on his cheek. On his back was a net which he got out of his bag before he left on his last trip, and in that net were fish. At least a dozen. His pockets were also stuffed with more nuts and berries and in his right hand was a single apple. "Check it out. Neat, huh? What do you think? This enough food?"

The girls didn't respond. They were too stunned by his latest catch.

He took it as a complement. He carried his catch over to the hut and threw it all onto the floor beside Shikamaru who woke with a start. He looked down at the fish and sniffed them. Most of them were small but Naruto had managed to catch two big ones. Shikamaru was looking forward to eating those.

"Shino! Where are you? I brought you guys back dinner!" He emptied his pockets onto the floor, adding to the pile of nuts and berries he brought back earlier. "Hey, you guys want to start frying these fish up? I'm starving."

The fish were fried and everyone had a nice dinner. Shikamaru had his fish cut up for him to make it easier to eat. Naruto ate through half of the fish he brought back before he was satisfied. The nuts and berries were set aside for the next day. They had to get moving.

It was too late to travel now. Once the fire was put out, the team was plunged into darkness. Shikamaru went back inside to sleep and the others unrolled their sleeping bags. Naruto pulled his close to the door so he could see the sky. He was tired from running around all day but didn't want to sleep. He wanted to go back into the forest. He had made a kind of game out of foraging. He was eager to go back and collect more food.

It wasn't just about the food. It was everything. He wanted to explore the forest and everything in it. On his last journey, he found several holes which left him wondering what was inside or where they led. There were tall trees with thick trunks he wanted to climb. There was an embankment he wanted to explore too. He wanted to find out where it led. He was also curious about what lay beyond the thickly packed trees on the far end of the hill. They were growing so closely together that he couldn't see around them. That was as far as he had gone today. He wanted to go back there and see what was on the other side.

Tonight he would be dreaming about it.

Plagued by dreams for what lay beyond the trees, Naruto woke before anyone else. Even before the sun had risen. The horizon was a pale blue color while the rest of the sly remained dark. Dawn would break in the next half hour or so. He couldn't wait for that. Naruto was too restless. He didn't want to sleep anymore. He couldn't. He was so full of energy. He wanted to go back into the forest. He couldn't wait. He had to know what was beyond those trees.

He slipped out from his sleeping bag and crawled to the door and watched the sky. It was quiet. Not a bird was singing. The forest was still and calm. He longed to enter the forest. It was silently calling him.

Unable to stay put for another minute, Naruto jumped over the steps and landed in the dirt on all fours. He straightened up and went into the forest.

The grass was still damp with dew. Not a creature was stirring. Naruto never felt lonely. Not even for a minute. He hurried down the path he had found yesterday and followed it to the end. Another path and a second. He took the one on the left. This one was more narrow but it didn't bother him. It widened in the middle and he could see every tree gathered around the forest, stretching their limbs to the sky. This was taking too long and he had so much energy. He started to run. His footsteps quickened and pounded as fast as his beating heart. Faster and faster. He never realized he was this fast before. He was running faster than he ever could. It was so easy to maneuver around trees and over bushes. His jumping skills had improved. He made a game out of it, trying to see how far and how high he could jump, trying not to touch a single leaf on any of the bushes he passed. A simple but fun game.

At last he came to the thick trees at the end of the path. He stood in front of them, staring. There was no way around them as far as he could see. So he had to go over. He climbed up the side of the trunk from the one in the middle and onto one of its branches. He climbed up the branches like a ladder. Through the leaves, he could see the other side. He crawled to the end of the branch and jumped down, landing on the roots.

What a wondrous sight. He was on top of a hill looking over miles of treetops and valleys. Between the trees, he could see the river he had found snaking its way deeper into the woods. More hills, stretching for miles on the other side of the scene before him. It was like something out of a painting. He looked down. It was a sheer drop from where he stood into the forest below. If he jumped, it would be difficult to find his way back.

But that just meant more exploring. The thought of which made him smile from ear to ear. He jumped.

Sakura checked his sleeping bag. "He's gone."

"Damn it." Ino looked outside to see if he was behind the building. "Nothing here either. He is gone."

Shino sat on the steps, shaking his head. He was afraid something like this would happen. Shikamaru stood beside him outside. There was no point in offering any words of comfort. No one could understand him anyway.

"That's it." Sakura threw up her hands in defeat. "We have to go looking for him."

"I can send my bugs out to find him. No sense searching blindly." Shino knew if they all went looking for Naruto, either they would split up, thus taking more time, or Naruto would return while everyone else was gone. He might then go out to look for them and they might return and they would keep missing each other. Besides, they didn't know where to start looking. The forest stretched on for miles in all directions. Plus, they didn't know how long he had been gone. If he left a few minutes ago, it shouldn't take very long to locate him, but if he had been gone for hours he could be anywhere by now.

Just as they were getting ready to start searching, they heard a voice coming from the forest.

"Hey! Hey, guys! Hey!"

"Naruto!" Sakura was getting ready to pound him. "Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea how worried-"

Naruto came out of the forest with a big smile on his face. "Hey, guy! Guys! Guess what? You'll never believe what I found."

Sakura stopped yelling, thinking he had discovered the Susumu clan. "What is it?"

"I brought you guys something. Look what I brought back." Naruto pulled a chicken out from behind his back and held it up by its legs, showing it off. "You like it? Great, huh?"

Ino and Shino gathered around with Sakura, staring at the chicken. "Is that... a chicken?"

"Uh-huh!" Naruto never looked more proud. "How long do you think it will take to cook up? It's a good one. I bet it's juicy."

"Where the hell did you get that?" Ino asked. "How do you find that in the forest?"

Naruto happily explained. It was a few miles away, I think. Hard to judge. Anyway, I found it behind this fence and just grabbed it."

"Behind a fence?" Shino. Eyed the chicken up and down. It was still twitching. It was missing some feathers and couldn't make a sound. Even if they released it, it was as good as dead.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded. "I saw it from between some trees, just walking around in there, so I snatched it up." He turned to Sakura, holding it up with pride. "You like it?"

"Naruto, you stole it. This chicken isn't yours."

"It is now. I caught it. See?" He waved it back and forth in the air.

"Naruto, that chicken belongs to somebody. You took it from their property."

"Then they shouldn't have left it out."

"It was behind a fence, you nimrod!"

Naruto frowned. "I thought you'd like it."

"We can't eat that, Naruto."

He rolled his eyes with a groan. "First it's mice, now it's chicken. I thought you liked chicken. That's why I brought it back."

Shino didn't say a word, listening to Naruto carefully. He saw nothing wrong with taking this chicken from a fenced in area. This was getting worse by the day.

"We can't take it back now," said Ino. "It's practically dead. We might as well keep it."

Sakura turned around to speak with her. Naruto didn't stick around to listen. He carried the chicken over to the hut and tossed it at Shikamaru's feet. "Hey, check out what I caught. How do you want it cooked?"

As soon as the chicken hit the ground, its wings flapped and fluttered, sending more feathers into the air as it flopped like a fish out of water. This made Shikamaru rear up on his hind legs and backed into the hut, bellowing. The girls saw this and came rushing over.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru?"

He kicked the air, bellowing loudly. "Get it away! Get it away! Help!"

"Calm down, you idiot!" Naruto picked up the chicken and tossed it into the building, out of sight. "There, it's gone. See?"

Shikamaru lowered himself, panting.

"Look who's the real chicken," Naruto teased.

"That thing freaking startled me!" Shikamaru yelled. "I didn't know what it was or what it was doing. I got spooked, that's all."

"Is he ok, Naruto?" Ino asked.

"Yeah. He just... got a little chicken!" He started laughing.

Shikamaru bucked his head, trying to jab Naruto with his antlers.

"Hey, watch it! I'm just teasing. How was I supposed to know you'd get scared by a chicken?"

Shino stood nearby, watching the whole thing. "This is worse than I thought."

While the chicken was busy cooking, Shino held an emergency meeting with the girls in the building. They had to discuss Naruto and Shikamaru's worsening condition.

"Have you two noticed a change in Naruto and Shikamaru's behavior recently?" Shino asked them.

"You mean aside from Naruto being dumber than usual?" Ino muttered. She glanced at the boy eagerly watching the chicken roast over the orange and yellow flames.

"This has nothing to do with his intellect. I'm talking about how he's acting. Haven't you noticed it?"

The girls' body language told him that he was the only one who took notice.

"I've been observing them over the past couple of days and I've noticed some subtle changes in their behavior."

"You mean like how Naruto keeps bringing back dead things or close to dead?" said Sakura.

"Exactly. It's been getting worse. It all started with the mice. We asked Naruto to go find his own food and gather up what he could. He brought back mice."

"I know. How weird and gross is that?" asked Ino.

"Not for a fox." Shino lowered his voice. "Foxes eat mice. They hunt for them in the woods."

Now they were beginning to see why Shino was so worried.

He went on. "At first, we thought Naruto's transformation had plateaued because physically he hasn't changed since that morning and those were small changes. I think the change is happening inside of him. I think he's starting to act more like a fox because his animal instincts are taking over. He's doing the things foxes normally do."

"You're sure about this?"

"Positive."

"How bad is it? Do you think he's going to become a fox on the inside?" Sakura asked.

"He might. I noticed some human parts of him are starting to get weaker."

"How can you tell?"

"When you two complained about the chicken he brought back... Do you remember how he reacted?" Shino didn't wait for them to answer. "Normally, Naruto would have never taken something from behind a fence. He would know that was someone's property. But to a fox, it's free grabs. His response was no different from how a fox would think. Naruto failed to see what he had done wrong. He saw a chicken out in the open and grabbed it. Even with the mice. That was the start of it I think. At least, he's asking us to cook it. Soon that might change."

"How do you mean?"

"I saw those mice he brought back. They had teethmarks in them. Naruto caught some of them in his mouth. I'm sure these are warning signs. Soon, he may start to eat things raw. On the plus side, foxes eat both meat and plant life. We might be able to curb his eating habits and stall his desire for meat for a little while."

"Wait a second." Ino suddenly looked worried. "You don't think... Do foxes eat deer?"

That was a good question.

"Not usually," said Shino. "I came across it in a book I read years ago. Foxes are generally too small to hunt down and kill deer so they usually aren't known for eating them. However, they have been seen eating carrion. Sometimes, those are deer. But they're already dead so it doesn't count."

Ino breathed a sigh of relief.

"However..." Shino leaned closer. "I'm concerned about the seal, just like Tsunade. I'm starting to think things a fox normally wouldn't do, Naruto might."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know how the nine-tailed fox is. What if Naruto is influenced by it? What if Naruto becomes more aggressive because of the fox inside of him? If that's the case, he might try to go after animals a fox normally wouldn't hunt. Including deer."

Sakura and Ino looked at the deer snoozing in the next room, oblivious to their conversation.

"He might try to eat Shikamaru? But... but they're friends."

"If Naruto's instincts kick in and take over, he might not feel that way anymore. With this transformation and the seal... Naruto might lose control of himself." Shino sighed. "Shikamaru might be in a similar way."

"How do you mean?"

"He's getting spooked very easily. I've been noticing that, too. Yelling his name, tossing something at him. You've seen how he jumps. Deer are known to be skittish animals. A ninja wouldn't be startled that easily. Have you seen Shikamaru get spooked like that?"

Ino shook her head. Shikamaru always kept his cool, even in the middle of a huge battle. He always prided himself on being the number one at running away, but that was only because he wanted to avoid fights out of laziness. Not because he was afraid.

Things were changing in the two of them and only Shino had taken notice of it. No doubt things were only going to get worse.

"What should we do?" asked Sakura. "It's not like we can stop it, since it's the spell that's causing it. But is there any way for us to slow it down?"

"First off..." Shino gestured outside at the boy by the fire. "Keep him away from the forest. We should make sure he doesn't go in there again. Avoiding a fox's natural habitat might be the best way he can slow his instincts. At least for a little while. Plus, he's going in there alone. As long as he's around humans, the human part of him should remain dominate."

"Got it."

"Right now, that's the best we can do for them. Keep them surrounded by humans so they remain as human as possible on the inside. Do not let them go off alone. And do not let Naruto back into the forest. Certainly not by himself."

"Guys!" Naruto waved a drumstick in the air, already digging into the chicken. "It's done cooking! I was right, it is juicy. Want some?"

After everyone finished the chicken, they got ready to head out. Everything was packed up and accounted for. They went through one final check to make sure they had everything they needed. By the time they finished and turned around, they all noticed Naruto heading back into the forest by himself.

"Naruto, wait!" Ino ran ahead to stop him. She blocked his path with her body. "Where are you going?"

"Into the woods."

"Why?"

"I figured we might as well get some more food while we're here. You know how much Shikamaru has to eat now."

Ino had to stop him. "No, don't go in there."

"Why not?" Naruto looked confused.

"Because... Uh..." Ino had to think of a good reason without telling him the truth. "Because... Because we already have so much food. You gathered up a lot already. We don't need anymore. Besides, we don't have the time. We should really get going."

"Don't worry. I'm fast. I can be back in no time." Naruto tried to walk around her but Ino stepped in front of him again.

"No, no. It's ok. We have plenty. And we've already lost a day. We're behind schedule. We need to leave now."

That seemed to be enough to convince him. "Alright." He shrugged and went to walk beside Sakura. Ino breathed a sigh of relief.

Once on the road, their pace started to pick up little by little. For most of the journey, few spoke. They never quickened their pace more than a brisk walk for fear that Shikamaru would fall behind. They also wanted to make sure Naruto didn't get out of sight. He was walking ahead of everyone else while Shikamaru walked at the rear.

"I still say we'll get there faster if we run," Naruto called back.

"We can't risk the group splitting up."

"We're not gonna split up," Naruto sighed.

"Some may get too far ahead and then we'll be spread out. Let's remember that Shikamaru is a deer. What if there are hunters nearby? We can't risk him getting caught in a trap or end up on someone's dinner table."

Shikamaru's ears perked up at Shino's comment. He was already worried about something like that happening to him. Now that Shino was thinking it, he found himself just as worried with no reassurance.

For the next several miles, they walked saying very little. Naruto changed positions every few minutes, wandering behind the group with Shikamaru, walking between the other members of the group, along side the group and then back to the front. He was very restless.

Then something caught his attention. He stood perfectly still in the middle of the road. The others saw this and stopped. Thinking it may have been a threat he was sensing, Shino stayed alert and reached for a weapon. Naruto's ears shifted back and forth, following a sound so tiny no one could hear it. His pointed ears tracked the sound to the location directly in front of them and remained still.

Something moved from a bush to the road. A squirrel. It stopped in their path and stayed still. Naruto watched it with his eyes. It was like a staring contest. Suddenly, Naruto bent his legs and pounced. The squirrel bolted, heading for the tree. Naruto's hand came down just beside it, not quick enough. He chased it up the tree and started to follow.

"Naruto!"

Sakura's sharp cry stopped him halfway up the tree and he slowly slid back down. "What?"

"Leave it alone! It's cute."

"Yeah," agreed Ino. "Don't kill it."

Naruto stepped onto the path and cocked his head. "I wasn't going to kill it. I was just playing around. It's fun to chase things."

The girls exchanged looks.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Let's keep going." Sakura walked beside Naruto, hoping he wouldn't chase after something else as long as she was so close to him.

A few minutes later, there was more excitement when Shikamaru suddenly reared up and ran in a full circle to the front of the group, huffing loudly. Only Naruto could understand what he was saying.

"He says something touched his leg." Naruto looked back and saw a snake slithering across the road into the grass. "Aw, you big baby. I didn't know you were afraid of snakes."

"I'm not!" Shikamaru barked. "It startled me, that's all."

"You get startled easily." Naruto turned around and started making hissing sounds and ran his finger up Shikamaru's spine.

"Stop that!"

"Why? Are you scared, big baby deer?"

"Stop making fun of me. Like you've never been taken by surprised before."

Naruto kept hissing.

"I said, knock it off!" Shikamaru kicked out at him with his hoof.

"Watch it, deer-boy. You almost hit my tail."

"Fine by me. I'll step on it next if you keep tormenting me."

"I'm not tormenting you. Sheesh! Lighten up, you big baby."

This was exactly what Shino was talking about. Now Sakura and Ino were noticing it, too. Shikamaru normally wasn't that easily frightened. Naruto was normally playful and loved pulling pranks when he was younger, but he never chased a squirrel up a tree before. Even when he did stupid things, it wasn't the same as what they were seeing now.

"Why are you guys looking at us like that?" Naruto had noticed the stares the girls were giving them.

Though they never agreed to keep this from them, the rest of the group was reluctant to tell them what was going on. How would they react? Was it the right thing to do?

Sakura decided to be the one to let them in on the truth. "Uh, Naruto, Shikamaru... have you guys noticed how you've been acting lately?"

"Acting?" Naruto titled his head. "What do you mean?"

"You bringing back dead animals and things like that?"

He shrugged. "So? I did that when we first started to go on missions. You built the fire and we ate the fish I caught with my Shadow Clones."

Shikamaru grumbled at the mention of his clones.

"Oh, are you going to be like that forever? I said I was sorry!"

"Naruto, focus." Sakura got his attention back. "Shino has a theory that this spell you're under... that it may effect more than just your bodies."

"Such as?"

"Your minds, dumbass," said Ino.

Naruto's ears twitched. "Our minds? What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's worried that you might start acting like the animal you're turning into. You know, turn into animals on the inside."

Naruto shook his head. "No, I know what I'm doing. It's not like I'm spacing out or anything. I know what I'm doing. And I know I'm a human. I don't think I'm a fox at all. I'm a human."

"We never said that you're going to think you're a fox, Naruto. Just that you'll get the instincts of one."

"Animal instincts?"

Shikamaru lowered his head and started saying something for Naruto to translate. They waited until he was finished, wondering if he had come up with an idea.

Naruto faced the group. "Shikamaru says that must be why he's acting so skittish because he normally isn't. Even in the middle of a huge battle. And he also says that must be why I like chasing things. Then he asked if there's anything we can do to slow it down since he thinks it's an effect of the spell so we probably can't stop it from happening."

"The best solution," said Shino, "is to get you two fixed up as soon as possible. Once you're cured, everything should be back to the way it was before."

Shikamaru nodded his head while Naruto was still thinking about what was brought to their attention. "I guess so. But I never noticed anything wrong. I just thought I wanted to chase things because it's fun, not because it's something a fox would want to do."

"That's the thing about instincts, Naruto," said Ino. "It's in your nature so you don't think twice about it. You just do it because it comes naturally. That's why you didn't notice you were doing it."

"Ok, fine. Then we'll just have to get a move on and get those guys to fix this."

"We all want to solve this, Naruto, but we can't throw caution to the wind. We have to plan and make sure everything's in order," said Shino. "We're concerned about both of you. You especially, Naruto. Unlike Shikamaru, you have the Nine-tailed fox sealed inside you. We don't know what that might do. Lady Tsunade was concerned about the same thing. For you, it's more pressing."

"Yeah, I get that. You guys told me already. That's why I said we should run. We'll get their faster."

"Naruto, what about Shikamaru?" said Ino. "What if there are hunters nearby and they spot him? We can't risk him getting killed. We can't move too fast and risk him being left behind. As long as we stay in a group, no one is likely to try anything. If there's distance between us and he's spotted, he's at risk. See what I'm saying?"

Naruto folded his arms. "Yeah, I guess," he lied. He only partly understood what she was saying and got a mental picture in his head. Hunters never tried anything if there were humans close by. He figured that's what she was talking about.

"Then how do we get there faster if..." Shikamaru paused, realizing he was talking and no one could understand him. "Psst! Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah." He was getting pretty tired of parroting everything Shikamaru told him. "He asked how we can get there faster? Are there shortcuts?"

Shino pulled out a map from his bag. "I was going over this before we left the hut." He pointed. "I believe this is the village they were talking about. It's the only one around for miles and it's the closest one to the other village we came from. If we stay on this path, we should get there in about a day or so."

"I thought we were supposed to get there in two days. Wouldn't that be three?" Naruto asked. "I mean, weren't we supposed to be there tomorrow or something?"

"Let's not forget we wasted one day at the hut in the woods. We lost some time so it will take longer."

Naruto pouted.

Shino looked back at the map. He had noticed this but decided to keep it to himself. There was a faster way to the village but it was through a dense forest with no road. They decided it was for the best that both Naruto and Shikamaru avoid going into the wilderness as much as possible. They were still in the woods, but the paths they were on were wide and safe. They had to keep those two from being in the forest as much as possible. Too much nature wasn't good. It could make their animal instincts stronger.

Naruto looked at the map and pointed. "What about here? See? It cuts right through where we need to go, shaving the time in half. We'll get there tomorrow for sure if we take this short cut into the forest."

This was exactly what Shino was trying to avoid. It may take them less time, but their exposure to nature would be constant and there would be nothing to remind them of civilization. It wasn't worth the risk.

"No, I think we should stay on the path."

"What?!" Naruto couldn't believe it. "But why? That'll take even more time. It makes more sense to cut through here so we'll make it in a day instead of two."

"I think it's a bad idea to cut through the woods like that," said Shino, trying not to worry Naruto with the real reason for doing this. "It might be difficult for Shikamaru to move through this dense forest. And there might be animals. Dangerous ones. Like bears and things. It'll be safer and easier on the path. We're taking the path."

"But the shortcut-"

"Naruto, forget about the shortcut. We're not taking it."

Naruto pinned his ears back. "That doesn't make any sense at all. We're trying to make up for lost time but you're taking on the longer route. We're not saving time, we're wasting it. There's a perfectly good shortcut through the forest."

"I said we're not taking it."

"If this is about Shikamaru, then I'll go. I made it through the forest before no problem when I was getting food and stuff. It'll be easy for me."

"No," Shino said forcefully. "You are not going alone."

"Then Sakura will come with me."

"We're staying together. No one splits from the group. We stay on this path together. That's final."

"Why do-"

"Naruto, he's the leader of the group so do what he says and zip it!" Sakura yelled.

At her loud frightening tone, Naruto's ears lowered and he slumped submissively. "O... ok..." He walked behind her, staying quiet and low.

She didn't mean to startle him but that's what happened. "No... Naruto, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." She never apologized for yelling at him, even when he didn't deserve it. However, seeing him with those puppy eyes and submissive posture made her feel terrible for raising her voice. Her gentle tone seemed to work and Naruto no longer looked upset.

Shikamaru noticed Naruto's behavior and frowned. Was this how he looked when he was frightened? They had to change back as soon as possible. Things were only going to get worse if they didn't.

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