Chapter 13: Finding Food

Now that it was late afternoon, Naruto was feeling very hungry. Shikamaru had snacked on grass so he was pretty well off. After the field, there were a few trees but the woods had ended. Still no fruit-bearing trees.

Then they came to a garden with vegetables standing in neat rows behind a small wooden fence. The fence didn't seemed to be meant for keeping things out but rather for decoration. Naruto could easily climb through and Shikamaru jumped over it with ease. He didn't even have to take a running start. Tall sunflowers stood along the wooden fence, making the garden look cheerful and welcoming. Just two steps in were their prize: a massive maze of corn.

"Oh, sweet!" Naruto couldn't wait.

Shikamaru followed him cautiously. Once he was hidden behind the tall rows of corn, he felt safe and relaxed.

Naruto walked up and down the rows of corn. It was a mystery. He couldn't tell which ones were ready to harvest and which ones were not. He stared at each plant for several seconds, examining. Then he started grabbing. "That itches..!" He spread the stalks, bending them back like bamboo and tried to reach ones further back. His tail swished from side to side. "Got one!" He pulled himself out, clutching an ear of corn in his hand. His ears perked and he gave it a sniff.

"Is it good?"

Naruto started to peel back the green leaves as if it were a banana. It was a pain to shuck corn. By the time he was done, he had a small pile of green at his feet. He lifted the corn to his face and took a bite. Tiny pieces of corn clung to his cheeks as he pulled away. "It would be a lot better boiled."

He handed Shikamaru his ear of corn and went back to get more. Shikamaru didn't mind eating off the same one Naruto just had his teeth on. At least he didn't have to shuck it himself. Naruto came back with three more, sat down and started peeling back the green and the little yellow hairs.

They moved on to other plants next. Cucumber, eggplants, soybeans, kidney beans, tomatoes. There was so much to eat. Normally Naruto didn't eat anything green, but hunger had changed his mind and became less picky. The eggplants pricked his fingers when he tried to pull them off. No matter how much he tugged, he could not pick the kidney beans. He gave up and wandered to something else. The tomatoes were easy. He ate through half of one before moving on to another plant. Shikamaru helped himself to the tomatoes, finding them easy to get to. When he smelled fresh dirt, he looked up to find Naruto digging in the next row. Naruto dug up some potatoes and started eating them. He went to another row and dug up some carrots. They were so crunchy. Shikamaru ate whatever Naruto left. Part of him thought that Naruto was digging them up for him. This way he had a variety.

"Maybe we should take some of these on the road with us. What do you think?"

"Wouldn't they be hard to carry?"

"I'll put them in my bag."

Shikamaru bent over a carrot and crunched down on it. It tasted good. For now, they should eat their fill and come back later when they were hungry again. No sense in rushing off so quickly.

He paused, sensing something. His ears rotated. He lifted his head and spotted something that made him freeze.

A dog was watching them from the next row of the garden.

"Naruto..."

"Hm?" He stopped eating and came over. "It's just a dog."

Shikamaru didn't like it. Those teeth scared him. Did dogs eat deer? He wanted to run away. "Naruto..."

The dog came closer and Shikamaru flinched.

"I'll handle this." Naruto stepped forward. "Shoo, shoo."

The dog pinned its ears back and growled.

Shikamaru hid behind Naruto, still wanting to run while trying to convince himself to stay.

"I said, shoo!"

The dog growled at Naruto.

"Go on." Naruto pointed behind the dog. "Go. Shoo."

The dog growled again and came closer. It barked loudly at him, telling Naruto to leave at once.

Just then, Naruto bent down on all fours, arched his back, pinned his ears and snarled, showing his fangs. "Grr..! Rah, rah!" He hissed loudly and made a bizarre guttural sound.

Shikamaru couldn't see his face, but whatever face he was making was enough to frighten the dog off. Yelping, it turned tail and ran back the way it came.

Naruto stood up with a satisfied grin. "Ha! Showed him." Naruto went back to eating.

A minute later, a voice came from the rows of corn. "Who's out there? Who's in my field?"

Shikamaru froze and stood alert. "Naruto..."

The farmer came into view carrying a hoe. "A deer, eh? I thought I got rid of you all. Scat! Scat!"

Shikamaru remained forzen.

Naruto stood up. "What now?"

The farmer looked at Naruto and took a step back. "What the hell are you? Some sort of deformed kid or a demon?"

"I'm a human!" Naruto answered him firmly.

"Then you're bright enough to understand when I say get the hell out of my field!"

"I'm hungry."

"Then find your own food but don't take mine."

"Hey, I found this food."

"In my yard."

"I don't see your name on it."

"Get lost!" The farmer shook his tool and Shikamaru backed away, frightened.

"Hey! You're scaring my friend!"

"Take your pet deer and get out of my field! Shoo, you damn brat!"

Naruto growled back, showing his teeth.

The farmer gave Naruto a hard look. "You don't seem very human to me."

"Well, I am." Naruto calmed slightly. "We'll leave in just a second. Let us finish eating first."

As Naruto started to reach for a fallen potato, the farmer struck Naruto hard on the hand with his hoe.

"I said get!"

"Ow! That hurt, you old geezer!"

"Get lost and don't you ever let me catch you near my field again! You hear me?"

Naruto pinned his ears back and lashed his tail.

"Don't make me tell you again. Get off my land now!"

Naruto started making that odd sound again. A strange vocalization in his throat. Now Shikamaru knew what it was. He was gekkering.

"Naruto, let's get out of here!"

Naruto stood his ground, challenging the farmer.

"Grrraugh!"

"Get!" The farmer struck Naruto hard with his hoe, nailing him on the shoulder.

That really hurt. Now Naruto was a little fearful. He backed away. When the farmer advanced, both Naruto and Shikamaru ran for it.

Shikamaru ran swiftly over the next few rows and around the rest. Naruto was a little slower. Part of him still wanted to fight this guy and the other part was telling him to run. Shikamaru looked back to check on him. "Naruto! Move it! We have to-"

Not watching where he was going, Shikamaru ran right into a grape vine. In fact, he was tangled. He pulled himself backwards but something had a hold of him. Now he saw what it was. It was a wooden cage the vines were using to cling as they grew. His antlers were stuck in the openings of the grape net and tangled in the vines. He shook his head. He started to tear down the wooden net. He could hear the wood splitting and cracking. He was still stuck. It wouldn't give.

"Naruto! Naruto, help me! I'm stuck!"

Naruto turned away from the farmer to see what Shikamaru was yelling about. That's when he saw something coming towards him from the barn. Another farmer. This one was slightly younger, but he was a man. Maybe he was this farmer's brother. Shikamaru started kicking his hooves and bucking his head, trying to free himself. The second farmer had something in his hands and it looked dangerous.

Shikamaru felt something hit him on the back, near his thigh. He turned his head and saw a second farmer, clubbing him with a shovel. He wasn't trying to help get him free. He was trying to hurt him. "Stop it! Ow! Stop!"

This farmer must have heard the first yelling in the field and came out to help. When he saw the deer tearing apart their grape vines, he came with a weapon to stop it. To him, Shikamaru was just a dumb deer. Maybe he intended to beat him to death and get dinner at the same time. Maybe he was trying to scare him off by beating him, though Naruto couldn't see the sense in that.

Whatever this man's intentions were, it was clear that he intended to hurt Shikamaru which Naruto wasn't about to let happen. He sprinted to the second farmer and tried to take the shovel away from him. "Leave him alone!" The farmer shoved him back and knocked him to the ground. He struck Shikamaru again, who was pleading for him to stop.

Naruto saw in his eyes such pain and fear. Shikamaru thought he was going to die here. He was going to be beaten to death and no one other than Naruto would be able to hear him pleading for his life. He was trapped and no matter how much he begged, this man would not stop beating him.

This was his friend. This horrible man was beating his friend to death.

Overcome with rage, Naruto got back to his feet, all four of them, and ran back to stop the farmer. Still on all fours, Naruto bit the farmer's leg, drawing blood. The farmer screamed and turned away from the deer to beat Naruto. He took one hit to the leg which only made him bite down harder. A second hit struck him in the back. Naruto released his leg, stood on his hind legs, grabbed the shovel and broke it over his knee. He tossed the two halves aside and tackled the man to the ground. He sank his teeth into the farmer's shoulder and started clawing at his face. The first farmer struck Naruto in the shoulder with his hoe and Naruto rolled off.

Shikamaru pulled with all his might and freed himself from the wooden net. A few vines were still wrapped around his antlers but at least he could run. He called for Naruto and started to run away. "Come on!"

Naruto watched him run and tried to follow. He was hit again by the hoe as he tried to leave. He slashed the farmer across the face and bolted. On all fours, he ran after Shikamaru. Shikamaru scaled the fence and through the grass on the other side. He lept over a pile of wood and toward the trees. Naruto scrambled over the fence. Across the grass and stumbled over the wood pile. He quickly got up and continued running. He saw Shikamaru's tail right in front of him. Then he was gone, disappearing into the woods. Something hit him on the shoulder and he toppled over. When he looked back he saw the farmers chasing after them. They were throwing stones. Naruto scrambled up and ran to the right, away from where Shikamaru had gone. Partly because he wanted to throw them off his trail. Partly because he panicked. He went straight for the cranberry thicket.

The long slender branches twisted, tangled into one another. There was an opening. A small tunnel. He could easily make it. He dove for the tunnel. His head made it in but not the rest of him. He was stuck on something. The branches were tangled in his backpack. He quickly slipped it off his back and scurried into the tunnel, leaving his backpack behind at the opening.

The tunnel twisted and weaved through dark foliage. There was a heavy smell of wood and dirt in the tunnel. He saw a faint light at the end of the tunnel and bounded towards it. He crawled out the other side into the forest. He was alone, but at least he was safe. He shook himself and stood on two legs. His backpack helped him maintain his balance now that his feet had changed. Without it, he was a little uneasy. He held out his tail which seemed to help. He started walking, hoping to catch up to Shikamaru, wherever he went.

Underneath an oak tree was a deer, panting heavily. He had run quite a distance. Much further than Naruto had. He greeted Shikamaru with a smile. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Shikamaru looked Naruto up and down. "What about you? You're bleeding."

"I am?" Naruto licked his lips and tasted copper. Blood. "Oh. That's the other guy's. It bit him a couple times."

"Oh. Thanks for back there, by the way."

"No problem."

Shikamaru was silent, then asked softly, "Why did you do it like that?"

"Do what like what?"

"You bit the guy and pushed him down. And scratched him."

"Yeah. And?"

Shikamaru looked serious. "Why didn't you use jutsu?"

Naruto's ears flicked. "Huh?"

"You have both hands. You can make hand signs. I can't. But you can. So why didn't you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. It never occurred to me."

"But it's second nature to you. Your clones... you whip them out for everything. All the time. This time, you never thought to use it."

"Hey, isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place?" Naruto put his hands on his hips.

Shikamaru didn't know how to respond to that.

Naruto looked away. "I just never thought to use it. That's all. I guess... I didn't feel like it."

"Feel or remember?"

Naruto looked up. "Huh? What's that mean?"

Shikamaru looked worried again. "There were so many times you could have used your clones and you didn't. So many times you could have used another jutsu. Not only that... but, even your weapons."

"Hey, I used it when you were caught in those ropes at the other town."

"Yes, but since then you haven't. Not even to fish. You used your hands. Maybe you didn't have a fishing rod, but I know you have knives and things. You're using your weapons and ninja arts less and less. I was wondering... if... I was just wondering if you're starting to... forget how to use them."

"What? No way. I still know how to use them."

"Then do one right now."

Naruto stood still. "Right now?"

"Yes. Do it."

Naruto paused. He looked at the ground. To his left. Then right. "Ok. I'll do it." He held up his hands and froze. "Um..."

"You don't know how anymore, do you?"

Naruto shook his head. "No! It's just that..." Naruto looked down at the ground. "Building up chakra... I'm not really sure how to do that anymore. I'm not really sure what I'm doing right now."

He knew it. He had a sinking feeling that Naruto was slowly losing his ability. He thought it was odd for him to go so long without any additional transformations. Something was bound to go. If something physical did not go, then it had to be something else. As it turned out, it was his ninja arts. For so long, Naruto never even noticed that he was missing anything. Not using jutsu was natural. As far as he knew, nothing was amiss. There was a reason why he never though to use a jutsu and now they knew why.

Neither spoke a word after that and stood like statues.

"Maybe we should go," Shikamaru suggested.

"Yeah." Naruto kept his head down.

For the first time in a long while, he felt as if something was missing. He wasn't whole anymore. He felt as if he was losing something very important to him. He didn't notice it until Shikamaru brought it up.

What else was he missing?

Things are getting much worse.

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