Back to the past, Believe it!

It cost me an arm and a leg

Naruto gasped for air as he fell to the ground with a thud. He looked around, but Sasuke was no where to be seen. The land might be different, but the areas should be the same. "Does the Shikkatsu forest even change?" Naruto thought with a frown. "Indeed it does." Naruto looked up to see the giant slug above him. Katsuyu was right, after the seal she had gotten smaller.

"Have you seen Tsunade yet?" Katsuyu's body bowed as she responded, "No, she didn't summon me much during this time." Naruto nodded, he knew Tsunade had abandoned being a ninja as well as a medic after her lover died, not that he remembered his name.

"Then I'm guessing it will be up to us to find her?" Naruto asked, he knew finding Tsunade was going to be a chore, especially trying to convince her to help their cause.

"You don't have to worry too much about Tsuande at the given moment dear." Naruto looked at the slug questionably, "We need arms, if we want to do anything without suspicion."

Katsuyu nodded, "I am aware, these arms, you aren't looking for movement?" Naruto shrugged before sitting down on a nearby rock. "Just enough to throw a simple kunai, for Sasukes sake anyway." Katsuyu looked to the side at the mention of the Uchiha.

"You both have your contracts here, but neither are truly set." Naruto frowned, "Does being old mean you always talk in riddles?" Katsuyu made no effort to reply to the jab, "You are contracted to the forest itself, not the summons here." She bowed to get closer to Naruto's face, "That means you should not rely on the summons here."

Naruto gulped slightly, the slug was certainly intimidating.

"I'll be able to provide with fake arms." She finally replied with a sigh. She was used to humans like Sakura and Tsunade, even Shizune. But now she's almost exclusively stuck with the loud Asura reincarnation.

Her body quivered as slime came out in thicker concentrations. Naruto didn't know whether to be disgusted or intrigued but, either way he wanted to know what she was doing.

Katsuyu separated into several different bodies, a few approached Naruto, a few others went deeper into the forest. "After this..." she trailed off as several of her bodies talked at once, "Do not return until you have made a genuine summoning contract." Naruto nodded, his eyes hazed as the smell of an odd gas took over him.

He trusted Katsuyu, just as Tsuande trusted her. So he'll honor her request, she's doing them a rather large favor anyway.

Shikamaru looked at the front of his house with a frown. His father wasn't home, luckily for him. But it was late, he was muddy and covered in scratches and dirt. His mother, who he felt in the living room, would not like this.

The waves of worry that radiated off of her didn't make him feel any better either.

Shikamaru, realizing he would just have to face the consequences, opened the door. His mother didn't run to him, but she looked at the door as Shikamaru stood in the doorway.

"Where were you?" She finally asked, her expression was serious, stern, but after suddenly being able to feel emotions, he can tell she was just worried. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be out as late as I was." Her mother bit her lip before standing up. She made her way over to her son cautiously.

"You had chakra depletion earlier... you didn't even wake up." Shikamaru nodded, he knew at some point it was going to be brought up, honestly the reason why his father didn't mention it, was because his mother was going to. She looked at her sons face, most likely expecting an answer to what happened. But Shikamaru didn't respond, he diverted his eyes from his mothers face.

"The blonde boy, took my hair tie. I had to get it back." He finally responded. She looked taken aback by the sudden change in subject and her eyebrows furrowed in response. "The blonde boy...?" Shikamaru nodded, "He runs a lot faster than I do, longer too." He said as he scratched the back of his head. When he didn't receive a reply, he looked back at his mothers face.