Chapter 11: Changes

Far off, the landscape darkened under lowering clouds. It would rain soon.

Naruto and Shikamaru decided to leave the town behind them and wander to the next one. Neither wanted to go back. Now that he thought about it, Shikamaru wasn't so sure that was the right decision. Weren't they supposed to go to that village to find out some information about the wife of the Susumu clan? Instead, he followed his gut and left the village and never looked back. This felt right.

A few drops of rain trickled down from above. Shikamaru felt safe under the umbrella of leaves overhead. It started to rain harder, darkening the dirt road. It was a lovely smell and it put him at least. Even the rain running down his back was soothing. Raindrops splashed down Naruto's neck and he shivered, pulling his collar up. The grass swayed as the rain pattered against the slender blades.

They trudged along the wet dirt road under the canopy of trees. "We should find some shelter," Naruto was saying. There was nowhere to go. The town was six hours behind them and it was getting later and later. It would be nightfall in a matter of minutes. Spotting something off the road, Naruto left the trail and went behind the trees. "I think it's a cave we can rest in."

By the time Shikamaru caught up, they both realized it was not a cave but a small impression in the side of a hill, covered by the roots of a tree still reaching for land which had fallen away. "It's good enough," Shikamaru told him. "It's like being under a cliff. It'll give us some cover, at least."

They huddled together against the hill under the tree roots. Large raindrops came from the roots over their heads. The constant trickling and rustling calmed Shikamaru and he no longer felt anxious. A gust of wind came from the woods and struck him from the side, ruffling his hair. He started to lower his head and felt a push back.

"Your antlers are hitting me in the head," Naruto said.

"Sorry." He didn't have good control over where they went.

There was nothing but the drumming of rain and the murmur of leaves. They were too tired to speak and far too tired to walk another step. They just wanted to rest.

"Shikamaru?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I use you as a pillow?"

"Sure."

Naruto crawled in front of Shikamaru and sat down, leaning back into his stomach. "You're warm."

"So are you." Naruto's tail was so soft and warm, like a fluffy pillow. He liked it. Then Naruto moved his tail and wrapped it around himself, curling up.

Shikamaru's head started to bob. He started to lower his head to the ground and his muzzle landed on Naruto's lap. He didn't bother moving it. Naruto made a better pillow than the ground.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hm?"

"I hope Sakura and the others are doing alright."

"I'm sure they're fine."

"I don't mean that. I mean I hope they're not too worried about us. We did run off without telling them. I don't want Sakura to be pissed."

"Having second thoughts about leaving without a word?"

"No." Naruto closed his eyes. "We made much better time using that shortcut. We beat them to the village and everything."

"Figured we'd make better time going alone, huh?"

"No," said Naruto softly. "I'm not alone. I have you with me."

Shikamaru smiled. "Thanks for... Never mind." Thanks for sticking by me, he wanted to say.

The ground was still wet come morning and everything still smelled damp. It was warm. Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked around. The sunlight was hidden behind the tree trunks. Naruto was still asleep on his body, curled into a ball. Shikamaru couldn't wait around for him and started to get up. Naruto slowly slid off his body and onto the ground. He didn't stir.

Hungry, Shikamaru started searching for something to eat. A little stream ran dark and twisting beside the bank near the hill. He bent down for a drink. Nice and cool. He lifted his head and looked around slowly, taking everything in. Primrose blossoms gaped lazily in the morning light, barely visible. The air was filled with the smell of pine and dew. The wood lay quietly, wrapped in sleep. Such a lazy morning made Shikamaru want to go back to sleep.

He walked a short distance and lowered his head over a patch of particularly green grass. He started eating. It really wasn't too bad. Before he knew it, he was grazing. A breeze rustled the grass and he raised his head to welcome it. It felt so good on his face and neck.

"What a peaceful morning." He lowered his head and started grazing again.

This wasn't so bad. Normally, he would wake up to the sound of his mother pounding on the other side of his door and barking orders for him to get up. He would hear his parents argue about something before he left the house and then Shikamaru would get whatever was left over. Most of the time his father would sit there quietly and having it go in one ear and out the other. Sometimes he would argue back.

Even while he ate, Shikamaru would have to hear his mother's constant nagging. It was such a pain. The first thing when he got up in the morning and the last thing he would hear at night. Even coming home from a long and difficult mission. She would bark orders at him. Clean this up, move that there, take those here, do as you're told, don't roll your eyes, finish your dinner. It was endless and so very annoying.

Waking up in nature with birds chirping and the fresh fragrance of blooming flowers and rain was a welcomed change. It was so peaceful. So beautiful. It was a much gentler way to wake him up. Much better than his mother's yelling or his alarm clock. He could eat as he pleased and didn't have to worry about manners or have someone yelling at him.

"Mm. This grass is so juicy. The rain really helped." It tasted pretty good.

Shikamaru ate his breakfast, perfectly content. This was a great way to start his day. As the sun rose, the land grew brighter and his mood brightened with it. The sky was a deep blue with hardly any clouds. Those that hovered were white and fluffy, like cotton balls. The air was sweet. The leaves sparkled in the sun. The birds twittered and sang as if joyously commenting on the weather.

"Shikamaru?"

He looked up. Naruto was stumbling towards him, rubbing his eyes. He still looked half asleep. His furry tail matched his bedhead.

"You wandered off without telling me. What are you doing all the way over here?"

"Uh... I was looking for something to eat."

"Oh." Naruto yawned. "Are we going to keep going to the next town or somewhere?"

"Sure, if you want." Shikamaru trotted over and he and Naruto walked side by side back to the road. Naruto still wasn't fully awake and kept stumbling.

"Can I ride on your back?" he asked.

"I..." Shikamaru sighed. "Alright. Fine." He stopped and allowed Naruto to climb aboard. Naruto sat on his back and rode him like a horse. Shikamaru started walking again.

"You're not a comfy to ride as I thought you'd be." Naruto flattened himself against Shikamaru's back and tried to go back to sleep.

Shikamaru carried him for the next hour. Then his ears started twitching. Something was buzzing around his head. He flicked his ear, trying to shoo it away. It moved onto Naruto and buzzed around his head. He waved it away, moaning sleepily. It was relentless and kept flying around his head. He swatted at it. The bug landed on his cheek and Naruto squished it with his hand, slapping himself in the face at the same time.

"Ow!" He was wide awake now. He wiped his hand off on his pants and looked over Shikamaru's antlers. "Where are we now?"

"I have no idea. Still on the road."

Naruto hopped down and started walking on his own. "I'm starving. I hope we're near a town or something."

He went hungry for the next hour and now he was complaining loudly about his growling stomach and hunger pains. Finally, unable to take it anymore, he went searching for some food.

"Back in a minute."

Twenty minutes later, Naruto returned with some mice and a handful of wood. Shikamaru watched him try to build a fire to cook his catch. It took him a while to do with everything still damp from the rain. Once the fire was going, Naruto started to roast the mice. The fire started to die down and he was too hungry to stoke it. He wanted to eat and heating up the fire again would take too long. He let the fire go out and started to eat the mice. Shikamaru grimaced as he ate. Some of the mice still had blood in them and red started to ooze down Naruto's chin.

"That was a good snack." Naruto licked his hands clean and kicked the no longer smoking wood into a puddle. "Let's get going again. Maybe we can find something else to eat."

It was a shame there were no fruit-bearing trees around. Shikamaru could really go for a nice crisp apple.

Naruto's nose twitched. His ears flicked. "Is that a stream?" He wandered off the path and into the woods. Shikamaru followed after him. Sure enough there was a stream running through the woods, twisting around trees and disappearing in the tall grass. "I bet I can catch us some fish."

Naruto, without taking off his backpack, went over to the water and looked down. So far, nothing. Then a small fish floated into sight. It would hardly make a meal for anyone, but if there was one fish there must have been more swimming around. Naruto wasn't going to let this one slip away, no matter how small. He straddled the rocks and leaned forward. As fast as he could, he slapped at the water with his hand, trying to scoop the fish out. He missed and it swam away.

"Wouldn't it be easier with a fishing rod?" asked Shikamaru.

"Don't have one."

Naruto stepped to the next rock and crouched over the water. He perched on the rock in the middle of the stream and waited for another one to come into view. Shikamaru stood beside the water, watching him. Soon, he grew bored and started to graze again. He no longer had to think about it. It came naturally to him.

Finally there was another fish. Naruto balanced himself on the rock and leaned in. He felt his backpack sliding up his back and onto his neck. It was making him a little too top-heavy. He grabbed onto another rock with his left hand, balancing himself. There was the fish. This one was bigger. Balancing on his toes and his left hand, he reached down quickly.

Something was wrong. Something didn't feel right. His foot slipped and he fell into the water.

Shikamaru heard the splash and looked up. Naruto was gone. He must have fallen in. No problem. Naruto could just stand up. The stream wasn't too deep.

When Naruto didn't surface, Shikamaru grew concerned. "Naruto?" He approached the stream. "Naruto?"

He wasn't there. Shikamaru looked across the stream to the other bank. He wasn't there either so he hadn't climbed out. He looked further down the stream and saw Naruto being carried away by the current.

"Naruto?" Shikamaru ran alongside the stream. Was Naruto just swimming? He wasn't moving. Something wasn't right. When Shikamaru came closer, he saw Naruto floating face-down in the water. "Naruto!"

What was he going to do? He didn't know if he could swim in this deer form. If he went into the water, would he be carried away, too? He couldn't just leave Naruto like this to drown. How was he going to get him out? He didn't have any hands to grab him with and he couldn't carry him.

He was getting further away. Shikamaru had to act quickly. Going on an impulse, Shikamaru jumped into the water. The cool water went up to his stomach, his four legs submerged. He reached forward with his head and grabbed Naruto with his teeth. He dragged Naruto to the shore and flipped him over. "Naruto!"

Naruto's lower lip was turning blue. He wasn't breathing.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru kept calling him. What was he supposed to do? Was Naruto done for? He got him out of the water, but now what?

His logical brain started working again and gave him an idea: CPR. How in the world was he supposed to perform CPR without any hands? Even their faces were shaped differently now. He wouldn't be able to breathe air into Naruto's lungs like this. He wouldn't be able to pinch his nose shut either. He could stomp on his chest and hope the compressions forced the water out of his lungs. Just how strong were his legs? Would he hurt him? Would he make things worse? Would his hooves break his ribs?

All he could do was bend over Naruto and call his name over and over again while he debated. He was running out of time. "Naruto! Naruto!" Using one hoof, he pressed down on Naruto's stomach. "Naruto! Come on, Naruto!" He pressed down again. "Please, Naruto!" Again. "Naruto, you can't leave me like this. You weren't going to leave me, remember? Wake up! Please, Naruto! Naruto! Get up, Naruto! Naruto!"

He pressed again and again. He pressed harder each time but nothing was happening.

"Naruto!"

He spat water in his face. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he started coughing. Shikamaru removed his hoof and Naruto rolled onto his side, hacking and spitting up water.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru had never been so relieved. He was alive.

After he stopped coughing, Naruto looked around, water dripping from his blond hair. "What happened?"

"You nearly drowned."

Naruto looked back at the stream. "I... Did you save me?"

"Yeah. I dragged you out. Are you ok? I was so worried."

"Yeah. Thanks for that."

Shikamaru calmed down, knowing Naruto was going to be alright.

"I slipped." Naruto looked back. "I lost my balance. Something didn't feel right when I was standing on that rock."

"Was it slippery?"

"No, that wasn't it. I felt something strange." Naruto started to stand up and quickly lost his balance again.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto sat in the grass, confused. "I don't know."

"You're still shaky from nearly drowning."

"Maybe that's it." Naruto tried to stand again. Something still didn't feel right. His toes kept touching the dirt and something was pinching his feet. He sat in the grass. "I think it's my shoes."

Naruto lifted his foot to take a look. His eyes widened in surprise.

His feet had grown. They were too big for his shoes now. His toes were sticking out over the sole and his nails had become clawed.

"Fox feet," Shikamaru murmured. "You have paws."

Naruto tried to stand again. He couldn't walk two steps without stumbling. His toes touched the grass with every step. This was very uncomfortable. The edge of his shoe's opening kept pressing into the arch of his foot. When they finally made it back to the road, Naruto couldn't stand it any longer and sat down in the dirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking these damn things off. They hurt like hell." Naruto had to really pull to get them off. He was basically wearing shoes three sizes too small for his feet. He yanked them off his feet and groaned with relief. "Ah..! That's much better." He set his shoes aside under a tree. "I'll just walk like this."

"Barefoot?"

"I can't wear those anymore. They're way too small for my feet now." Naruto tried standing. It felt strange, too. Standing with his feet flat on the ground felt very strange. He tried walking and that just felt even stranger.

Shikamaru watched him walk and knew Naruto was still feeling uncomfortable. He looked like he was trying to walk in flippers.

Frustrated, Naruto growled and threw his hands into the air. "How the hell am I supposed to walk like this?"

"Try walking on your toes," Shikamaru suggested.

Naruto gave it a try. He raised himself up on his toes. Now he was a couple inches taller. He tried walking. "Oh, yeah, this is much better." He barely noticed the tiny stones in the dirt road as he walked. The soft dirt, still moist from the rain, felt good on his bare feet.

"You good?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, this works."

Naruto had gone a couple of days without any new transformations so he was about due for another. Shikamaru was surprised it took him this long.

This is going get worse before it gets better, isn't it?

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