Chapter 16: Sai

Shino insisted that they keep their distance from Naruto and Shikamaru as long as they're in this state. Naruto had attacked Shino, not knowing it was a clone, which meant that he thought he was attacking the real one. If he was willing to do that, what else would he do? It was too dangerous. It was impossible to know what they were thinking now. He knew they couldn't be left on their own but they couldn't get too close. Shino used his bugs to keep track of where they were going and made sure to stay out of sight and downwind of them so they wouldn't catch a scent. It was hard to do, but this is what ninja were trained for.

"Oh, my God!"

"What?" Sakura stopped. Ino was looking into the forest with a horrified expression. "What?"

Ino ran off the road and into the woods. They followed her through bushes and tall grass and weeds to a brown mound on the ground. Ino stood over the mound, close to tears. "He killed him!" she shrieked. "He killed Shikamaru!"

It was a dead deer. It's throat had been torn out and it had a hole in its chest. The ground was stained with blood and flies were starting to buzz around the body.

Had Naruto really done this? Had he killed Shikamaru? This was why Shino didn't want them getting too close. Naruto had become extremely violent. He must have taken it out on the only one nearby.

"Wait, Ino," said Sakura. "Look. This deer has eight prongs. Shikamaru had six. This couldn't be him."

Ino sniffled, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to overflow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. See? It's bigger than him, too. I think this is a wild deer. This can't be Shikamaru."

Ino still had her doubts but her tears had vanished. "You're sure? Really sure?"

"I'm positive. It's not him."

Shino agreed after having a conversation with a few of his bugs. "Shikamaru is still on the move with Naruto. This is just a normal deer."

Ino was so relieved, she nearly fell to the ground. "Oh, good..." Then her face turned to anger. "Give me a heart attacked, why don't you?!"

They went back on the trail, still thinking about the dead deer. Everyone of them had immediately thought Naruto had done it. They all thought he had killed Shikamaru. That was their first thought. What an awful thought at that. Now they all felt ashamed for thinking such a thing. Still, there was that fear. If Naruto had been willing to attack Shino, why not Shikamaru?

There was rustling coming from off the trail. Could that be them?

Sakura was too impulsive to wait. She ran from the trail and into the woods. "Naruto? Is that you?"

The rustling stopped. "Sakura?"

She stopped, too. That wasn't Naruto's voice.

"What are you doing out here?" came Sai's voice. "Are you on a mission with Naruto?"

That's right. Sai had left the village on a mission. They couldn't find him when Naruto and Shikamaru had started their transformation. They had no idea what animal Sai would turn into.

When Shikamaru changed, no one other than Naruto could understand him. If Sakura could understand Sai's voice, did this mean he wasn't as far along as Shikamaru and was more like Naruto?

"Sai, come out where I can see you. We have to talk." She prepared for the worst. He could have been a harmless bird or a large bear.

The rustling resumed when Sai stepped out from the weeds and cattails. Sakura stared at him in surprise. He was human. Not a thing about him had changed. He looked the same way he always did. No fur or feathers or scales or anything.

Shino and Ino had caught up and shared in Sakura's surprise.

Sai looked at all three of them and cocked his head. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You..." said Sakura. "You're not an animal."

Sai blinked. "Do you mean that literally or is that a slang term I'm unfamiliar with?"

"Sai, did you change at all after you left the village?"

"I have no idea what you mean. What's going on?"

He had no idea. He didn't know what had happened.

"Are you just coming back from your mission?"

"Yes," he said. "I just finished a little while ago and I'm heading back. Why? Did the Hokage send back-up? It wasn't needed. The other ninja I came with went ahead. I said I would catch up. We did fine on our own."

"No, we're..." Sakura looked at Ino. How was she supposed to word this?"

"Sai, did you happen to see Naruto or Shikamaru before leaving the village? Did you notice anything different about them?"

"No. I haven't seen them since they left the restaurant. Why? Are they in trouble?"

"Sai, did you notice anything different about yourself in the last few days? Did you grown fur or anything?"

Sai cocked his head again. "Fur? Why would I..?"

"So nothing strange happened to you at all?"

"No, nothing. What's this about?"

Nothing had happened to Sai at all. He didn't even know anything was going on.

"I don't get it," said Sakura to Ino. "Why isn't he an animal, too? Why did it only happen to Naruto and Shikamaru?"

"I have no idea. It doesn't make sense." Ino tried to figure out this puzzle. "Why? What makes him so different from them? Since he doesn't know what's going on, then he didn't just change and then change back. He was never an animal."

"But the other two were. Why?"

"Do you think he did something different from them?"

"No idea."

Sai looked from girl to girl, then said, "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

They explained what had happened to Naruto and Shikamaru and told Sai everything they knew so far and what they were doing.

"So you didn't do anything different than what they did?"

"No. If breaking the rules gets you cursed, I don't know why I'm not like them. I broke the rules, too. I did everything they did."

"You think Sai's immune to curses or something?"

"I don't think that's it."

Shino took over from there. "Did you happen to pass by a deer and a fox on your way? Or a humanoid fox?"

Sai shook his head. "No. I haven't been looking either."

Did Naruto and Shikamaru stray off the path? No, Shino's bugs would have followed them no matter where they went. They must have just missed each other.

"Did you need help looking for them?" Sai asked.

"No. This is our mission. You go back to the village if that's where you're heading. We can handle this. Go on your way and don't worry about it."

Sai nodded in understanding. "Alright. Good luck." Sai was off again, running through the trees to catch up with his partner. As he got further away, he began to wonder about Naruto's condition. He was curious above all else. Yet, he had to admit a small amount of concern was beginning to seep into his heart.

If Naruto was turning into a fox like they said, would he be alright? What of the Nine-tails dwelling within his body? Would that be unleashed as well?

He wasn't certain why he was feeling a bit worried or if this was even worry he was feeling. Yet he was feeling concerned. He wanted his friend to be alright.

Things had been going from bad to worse after that for the two cursed boys. Naruto kept his distance from Shikamaru for the next hour, frightened of what he might do and not realize he was doing it. He was reluctant to talk about the incident with the deer, as well. About the kill and the events leading up to it.

With all honesty, Naruto could not remember what he had done to get on that deer's bad side. He remembered chasing after the bear and the next thing he knew, he was face-to-face with a deer who was itching for a fight. Was that buck protecting its territory or its young? Perhaps a mate? Was it in self-defense? Had Naruto attacked it first? He could not remember.

"Shikamaru..."

"Yeah?"

"What about in your fight? With the deer, I mean."

"What about it?"

"That noise you were making. Why were you doing that?"

Shikamaru was puzzled. "What noise?"

"You were making this weird honking sound when you were fighting that deer. Like a bellow." Naruto tried to imitate it, but did a poor job.

"I don't remember doing that. I remember fighting it for the most part but I don't remember making such a noise."

"It was weird. I thought you were doing it on purpose."

"Why would you think that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Because usually I can understand you. But when you did that, I couldn't figure out if you were trying to say something or if you were just making a sound."

"Like when you make that weird noise? That gekker?"

"I still have no idea what a gekker is, but I guess."

Shikamaru had a bad feeling that soon those sounds would be the only thing they can make. Maybe soon they would not be able to understand each other.

They both tried their best to remain as human as possible, but things were becoming much harder for them. Neither one wanted to be indoors and they tried to avoid humans. Anything human about them, even mannerisms, were starting to disappear. Naruto no longer missed his bed and now found sleeping on the ground much more comfortable. He even came to think of his old village as a prison. He never wanted to see those gates again. He didn't want to be sealed inside, or trapped. He didn't want to be around people. He didn't care about convenience anymore, either. Now he enjoyed going to gather his own food. He had even stopped bringing things back for Shikamaru to eat and now only hunted for himself. It wasn't something he was doing on purpose.

That was what troubled Shikamaru.

Everything they enjoyed as humans was disappearing. They were becoming more like animals by the minute.

"Ah!" Naruto dropped to the ground.

"What's the matter?" Shikamaru stood over him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I... I just lost my balance." Naruto tried to stand up but it was very difficult. His legs wobbled as he struggled to stand. He was shorter. He tried to take a step and fell again. "What the hell is this?"

Naruto sat on the ground and rolled up his pant legs. His legs had changed. They no longer looked human. They were canine. Furry legs, much shorter than his human ones which made his feet look even bigger.

"Naruto... Your legs..."

"I know. I have fox legs now. It's not just my feet anymore." Naruto tried to laugh it off to ease the tension. "Heheheh... On the plus side, my paw pads are really cool to touch. Want to feel them?"

Shikamaru frowned. "I can't feel anything with my hooves." He held them up to show how hard they were. "Naruto, this is..."

"I know what you're going to say. It's fine." Naruto tried to stand up again. It was getting easier. His legs wobbled, taking one step and then another. "See? I've got the hang of it. Just fi- ahh!" Naruto fell face-first into the dirt. "I'm fine. Don't help me up."

Shikamaru's ears twitched, picking up a sound. He suddenly darted into the woods, leaving Naruto all alone.

"What the hell, Shikamaru?!" Naruto tried to followed after him but couldn't run with these legs. Using all fours, he bolted into the woods and hid himself behind a shrub.

Human voices. They sounded young. Like children. Naruto shut his eyes tight and waited for them to leave. After a few minutes, the voices went away and the forest was silent again.

Naruto poked his head out to make sure they were gone. "Shikamaru? You there?"

His deer friend came back from up the hill. "Sorry."

"Why did you run off like that and leave me all alone?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. I just did it."

"But why?"

"I don't know why."

Naruto sighed. He knew Shikamaru knew why and wasn't telling him. "If those were children... then a village must be close by. Let's keep going down this path, ok?"

Please review!