Naruto fanfiction: Fox and Deer

After returning home from a failed mission, Shikamaru and Naruto realize they've been turned into animals. But how and why? Whose fault is it and why did they fail the mission in the first place?

Naruto and its characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a fanfiction. I make no profit. This was just written for fun.

Chapter 1: Bad Feelings

It wasn't the lunch they were expecting. Once Naruto, Shikamaru and Sai returned from their mission, their friends got together to have a celebratory lunch for a job well done. Unfortunately, it was planned a little too prematurely. They had assumed the group would return victorious but that was not the case. Naruto's team had failed their mission and the lunch passed with most of them sulking. Naruto and Shikamaru kept throwing glares at each other during their meal. Sai merely watched without a word. He seemed disappointed about failing a mission but he wasn't taking it nearly as bad as the other two.

"So..." Sakura took her chances and asked a question. "What exactly happened on your mission?"

"Ask him!" Naruto and Shikamaru had together. Their eyes locked for a moment then they turned away from each other.

Sakura knew she wasn't going to get any further than that. "Ok, then."

"Oh, buck up, you two," said Ino. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Shikamaru stabbed at his food with his chopsticks. "If he would learn to just listen for once in his life..."

"Hey, I did listen!" Naruto snapped. "You didn't listen to me!"

"I was appointed team leader! You do as I say!"

"And I say I had no choice!"

"You always have a choice, Naruto! You made the wrong one!"

"I did not!"

"We failed the mission because of you! Because you never listen and always do what you want! That's why we failed!"

"It is not my fault!"

"Yes, it is!"

The others watched them pass words back and forth across the table until finally Shikamaru stood up and walked away.

"Forget it," he said. "I'm not hungry."

Naruto snorted and turned away. "Emotional much?"

"I just don't feel like talking right now, ok? I'm out of here." Shikamaru turned and left the restaurant. Choji stood up and followed after him, but not before stuffing his face with the last bits of food on his plate.

Naruto sighed, his face softening slightly as he watched Shikamaru leave his sight. "It wasn't my fault..."

"Just let him blow off steam, ok, Naruto?" said Sakura. "He's pissed off. He's going to say things he normally wouldn't say."

"I didn't know he would get so pissed, though."

"Shikamaru did give us orders and you did disobey them," said Sai.

"I know but I had a good reason for it! I still say it wasn't my fault."

"What exactly happened anyway?" Sakura asked again. She was dying to know.

Sai answered this time and gave them some good information. "While on the mission, we were forbidden to use Jutsu of any kind. Ninja are forbidden on the land we went to. Even after we were told this and after Shikamaru made us swear not to use any of our ninja skills, Naruto used the Shadow Clone Jutsu and blew our cover. That is how we failed the mission."

"I see."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I'm with Shikamaru on this one. It sounds like it's all your fault, Naruto."

"I had no choice! I had to do it. There was no other way."

"Wasn't there something else you could have done?"

Naruto shook his head. "You guys weren't there. It wasn't my fault. I did what I had to do." Naruto could feel everyone staring at him and couldn't bear it anymore. "Sorry, guys. I've got to go." He stood up and left the table.

After a failed mission, it was perfectly understandable why no one would be the mood to celebrate. Or be in any good mood in general. Naruto hated failing a mission but this one was different. Shikamaru seemed to be really pissed off and put the whole blame on him alone. Naruto was convinced it wasn't his fault. He felt he had done everything right. It was a bad combination which only led to everyone feeling much worse.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto hadn't noticed him until he heard his name. Kiba was waving at him, Akamaru in toe. "Hey, what's up, Kiba?"

"Nothing much. So you're back from your mission. How'd it go?"

Naruto lowered his head. "We, uh... failed."

"Aw, man. Sorry to hear that. Is everything ok?"

"Not really. Shikamaru's pissed off at me and says it's all my fault. I didn't do anything wrong, though."

"Ah, give him space. He'll come around. He probably just wants to sulk for a while."

A low rumbling sound caught Naruto's ear. At first he thought it was thunder, but the skies were clear. Then he realized it was Akamaru. He was growling. Naruto looked to his left, then to his right, then behind. No one was there. Akamaru was growling at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Why are you growling at me?"

Naruto reached out with his hand and Akamaru snapped at it and barked loudly. Naruto pulled his hand back just in time.

"Hey!"

Kiba turned to his dog. "Hey, buddy, what'd you do that for?"

Akamaru kept growling, showing his teeth the more Naruto looked at him.

"What's up with him, Kiba?"

"Don't know. He's always been fine with you. This is a first."

Akamaru backed up behind Kiba, growling low. He tugged on Kiba's jacket with his teeth, trying to convey a message to him.

"I don't get why he's so upset. He must be sensing something."

"I just ate some meat. Could that be it?"

"Nah. This is different."

When Naruto tried to approach, Akamaru barked. Naruto backed away. "Maybe I should keep my distance from him for a while."

"Yeah, maybe. Sorry about that." Kiba patted Akamaru's head. "Come on, what's wrong with you, boy? What's gotten into you?"

Not wanting to upset Akamaru further, Naruto said good-bye where he was and walked off. "Jeez. Is everyone pissed at me today? What did I do?"

Down the street, Choji was prying his friend for information. Shikamaru started ranting at once, letting all his frustrations come flooding out.

"He deliberately disobeyed me. I told him not to do it and he did it anyway! It's his fault we failed the mission. I don't understand why he couldn't go one day, one day, without using Jutsu. And of all the ones to use, it had to be his most famous one. That stupid Shadow Clone Jutsu... He couldn't not use it. Just once."

Choji patted Shikamaru's back. "I know, I know. He screwed up. But don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? I mean, I never see you get this mad."

Shikamaru sighed. "I'm just pissed. After the Sasuke thing, I promised myself I would never fail another mission." He sighed again. "Plus... I mean, I told him. I told him! He doesn't listen. And he uses that Jutsu way too much. Maybe he did it out of habit, I don't know. But because of him we failed."

"It's Naruto's bad. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"You weren't there, Choji. You didn't hear the things they said to me. As the team leader, I had to take responsibility for it. Everything he did was on me." Shikamaru lowered his head. "And we started a big mess because of it. Not only that, but we're no longer welcome on their land because of this. A lot of things got started because of this. If only Naruto didn't use that move, that one move... we could have avoided all of this. Things are a real mess now over there. And it's all his fault."

"Jeez..." Choji didn't know what to say. He wanted to know what had happened but he was afraid of prying too much, especially when Shikamaru was already upset.

"Don't worry about it," said Shikamaru. "I just need some time to get over it. That's all. It only just happened so I'm going to be angry for a while."

"Well, vent to me if you want."

Shikamaru grinned, feeling a little better. Having a friend nearby always helped cheer him up on a bad day.

Shikamaru's stomach started to gurgle and Choji looked down. "You didn't eat much. You want to head back and finish your meal? A full stomach should help you feel better."

"I guess so." Shikamaru didn't really want to go back if Naruto was going to be there. He was still upset with him. It would take some time. Even if he was ready to let this slide, it wouldn't be easy with Naruto insisting that he had done nothing wrong. It was always harder to make amends to someone who felt everything was on the other person and they were the ones who were wronged. The last thing he wanted was to go back to the restaurant and have Naruto smugly look at him and ask if he was ready to stop being a baby and admit that he was the one in the wrong. The very idea made Shikamaru's stomach turn.

It really did. His stomach was in knots. Shikamaru hunched over, grabbing his stomach.

"Are you ok?" Choji asked.

"My stomach..!" Shikamaru stuck his head between his knees and tried breathing slowly in and out. "I feel sick."

Choji crouched beside him, rubbing his back. "What should I do? Should I get something?"

"No, it's fine. Don't." He started to feel dizzy. His whole body was heating up. "I'm not too far from my house. I'll just lie down in bed or something."

"Need me to walk you there?"

"No, I can make it on my own. I don't want you to catch what I have." Shikamaru struggled to his feet and started to walk towards his house. Choji followed him until he was halfway there then left him on his own.

The walk back to his house was a blur. He felt lightheaded and dizzy. Even his legs were starting to go numb. It felt like he was trying to walk a straight line on a trampoline. Occasionally he would stumble but he never fell. Finally he made it to his door and went inside, leaning against the wall with his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, is that you?" His mother's voice sounded like he was hearing it from under water. She came into the hallway and started scolding him. He didn't make out what she was saying. Most of the time he treated her voice like white noise. However, he did manage to hear her voice make a sudden shift in tone. "Are you alright?"

"I'm ok, mom."

She put a hand to his forehead. "Baby, you're burning up." He knew it must have been bad. She only called him baby when she was very concerned and her mother instincts kicked in. "Poor thing. What did you do? Did you catch something on your mission?"

He felt his stomach lurch and he pressed his lips tightly together to keep from vomiting. He felt like he was hanging upside-down. "I don't feel well. I just want to lie down."

"Ok. If you're going to be sick, aim for the bucket. I'm not cleaning your mess, sick or not."

"Yeah, yeah, ok." Shikamaru dragged himself to his bedroom and closed the door. His room was the same as when he left it. There really wasn't much in it. The only thing he cared about was right in front of him: a bed. He staggered over to it and and collapsed. Only his torso made it onto the bed. His legs were still on the floor. With great effort, he managed to pulled himself up onto the mattress. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

The pain in his stomach stretched to the rest of his body. His stomach was suffering from terrible cramps which were now in his lower stomach, his chest and his shoulders. The pain went to his back next and soon every inch of his body was overflowing with pain. He felt like someone had his insides in a vice. Was this food poisoning? No, he barely touched his food and they ate there all the time. Choji ate the same thing he did, only more of it, and he seemed perfectly fine. Maybe he did catch something on the mission.

Shikamaru hung his head over the side of his bed and started heaving. They were just dry heaves. He had never felt like this before. His head was throbbing. He shut his eyes tightly and prayed for it all to end soon. He hoped this was something he could sleep off.

Meanwhile, Naruto was back home muttering to himself. "It's not like I meant for this to happen. It was a dumb rule anyway. I mean, if they can't have anybody using Jutsu then why ask for a ninja's help? It doesn't make any sense. And they were clearly overreacting. Hey, I helped out a lot on that mission. If anything. He owes me for doing what I did. There is no way in hell this whole mess is my fault."

He kicked a pile of empty ramen containers over with his foot and watched them scatter.

"If he wasn't in such a bad mood... What am I saying? I said I was sorry. What more does he want? There's only so many times I can say it and still mean it. I saved lives doing what I did. And he gets pissed at me? How is that fair? That's the last time I do the right thing if this is how he's going to react. Forget it."

His stomach started to gurgle but he ignored it. He was too busy ranting to notice.

"I said I was sorry. That should be good enough for him. I don't get why he's so mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong. It's not my fault. Hey, if he wants to be a jerk about it, let him. Not my problem. I didn't know he'd react like this. What a... Ow!"

Naruto hunched over, grabbing his stomach. He supported himself on the table with his other hand. His stomach was in knots and rumbling. He felt like he was going to be sick. He tried walking but his legs weren't working properly. After just a few wobbly steps, he toppled over and sat on the floor of his kitchen hanging his head low.

"I was fine a second ago. What's wrong with me?"

His head was swimming. He felt dizzy and nauseous. His head started to throbbing. He had to lie down. The longer he was upright, the worse it became. He literally crawled to his bedroom and dragged himself into bed. He pulled himself up on his bed sheets and rolled onto the mattress. Even in bed, the felling didn't get better. It got worse. He rolled back and forth on the bed, trying to get relief.

"Why is this happening? Why do I feel this way? What's going on?"

Soon Naruto managed to get some relief when he finally passed out on the bed. He hoped this was something he could just sleep off. Hopefully when he woke up, everything would be better.

Let's see where this heads.

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