Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series in any way *Sniffles*.
Wolf Moon Ch.1
Fog began to weave its way through the lush valley turning the valley into shades of pastel colors promising that the pitch black color of night was not far from coming. The valley was a place of beauty and the villagers were in love with what they considered was their slice of paradise. The valley consisted of a mountain range that lay at the back end of the valley and was its furthest most northern border and from here it was that the cold winds came from some arctic planes and brought in the Winter the snow and ice, and in the Fall and Spring the rains that kept the valley lush and colorful. The mountain range framed a large meadow to the right of a small, narrow, and very uneven dirt road, and to the left of this same road there was a lake hidden by bushes, tall grasses, and trees. The lake was large enough for the fishermen of the village to cast out their rowboats to fish in, large enough for the villagers to swim in during the hot days of summer, and large enough for the villagers to skate and sled on during the winter months. The meadow was encircled by trees that grew thicker as it merged into the woods and these woods in turn ran up and through the passes of the mountain range at its lower elevations. Not many people except the hunters, wood gatherers, and mushroom and berry pickers ventured into the forest as the pathway became narrower, darker, and steeper as it maneuvered its way up into the passes of the mountain range becoming past the tree line only wide enough for a mountain goat to travel on. The people hardly ventured past the tree line as the terrain was most inhospitable to both man and beast. The meadow was a favorite spot for the villagers to have picnics and for the children to play their large games during the day, but come late afternoon when the mountain range cast shadows upon the meadow and the darkness and coldness radiating from the woods emerged upon the meadow causing a sudden chill in the air, this was enough to break up any party and send the merrymakers home quickly.
The sun had just descended from its place in the sky, giving way to the moon which now hung in the sky like a luminous pearl, and the fog was weaving its magic into the meadow and upon the lake. The fog muted the sounds of the forest, meadow and lake, and everything had a peaceful stillness to it. Suddenly the peaceful quiet of the dusk was interrupted by a door being quietly and cautiously opened and closed. Out of the cottage stepped a young woman who hastily drew her cloak tighter against her body to ward off the evening chill. A feeling of excitement began to stir in the pit of her stomach as the young woman's leaf green eyes glanced towards the new moon as it was being cradled in the arms of the old. Perfect there will be just enough light, 18 year old Temari Sabaku thought to herself. Temari clutched the basket on her arm tightly against her body as she stole one more glance behind her to ensure that the house was still quiet as her brothers should not have been home from their knightly training sessions yet. Once satisfied that she was in the clear Temari quickly yet cautiously snuck off her family's property and began walking towards the small narrow dirt road that led its way towards the forest.
As she drew nearer to the forest path Temari heard a familiar voice ring through the darkness "And where do you think you're going?" turning, Temari gazed upon one of her childhood friends Nara Shikamaru
"Out…" Temari replied with a smirk
"Really now I couldn't tell." Shikamaru countered with an equally smug expression on his face. Just as Temari was about to come back with a no doubt witty response she heard footsteps and another familiar voice reached her ears.
"Wolf hunting I see." Sasuke said pointing to the basket looped onto Temari's arm.
"Oh you guys know me so well." Temari said smiling at her other friend.
"So I take it Gaara and Kankuro don't know that you're out." Sasuke replied with a sense of smugness
"Are you kidding? If either of my brothers knew what I am about to do and or have been doing they wouldn't just have a cow, they would have a whole damn barn as well." Temari replied causing Shikamaru and Sasuke to chuckle slightly for everyone in the village knew just how overprotective Temari's brothers were of her. These two boys considered themselves lucky that they had been, sort of, accepted as friends by her brothers. This meant they got the less hostile version of a silent look of promised pain that would be thrown upon them should they ever do anything that the two brothers didn't like with regards to Temari.
"So what are you guys doing out?" Temari asked her friends
"It's my first night of century duty." Sasuke replied with a bored and pained expression and although he was trying to hide it, Shikamaru and Temari saw right through his feigned expression for the two of them knew how excited Sasuke was to be given this honor so early in his knighthood apprenticeship. Then again with Sir Kakashi as his master the two friends knew that Kakashi would happily give his students more of his responsibilities so that he could have more free time to read his Icha Icha Paradise books. But to be fair Kakashi's students were always at the top of the class because of it, which in turn irritated Sir Gai, Kakashi's friend/rival to no end. Temari then turned her attention to Shikamaru once more.
"And you?" Temari asked
"Mom wanted me to check the horses, make sure the shop was locked, and then check in with Sir Asuma to make sure he didn't need me for anything. But knowing Asuma he is pretty much on top of everything and won't need me. This in turn makes this whole thing extremely troublesome." Shikamaru replied with a slight irritation that was laced through his bored tone causing Temari to chuckle.
"Well I don't want to miss them so I better go." Temari said as she glanced towards the illuminated forest before her.
"Ah yes little red riding hood, your wolves await your return. Don't want to keep them waiting now do we?" Sasuke said teasingly to which Temari playfully stuck her tongue out at him in response to one of his nicknames for her.
Temari had always worn a red cape for as long as she could remember, but part of the reason why she adored them so much was that her mother had made them for her before she died during a riding accident. Wearing the red capes somehow made her feel closer to her mom since she didn't have much else from her mother to remember her by. Temari's father was killed in battle when she was 10 years old leaving her two older brothers and an elderly neighbor who insisted that Temari call her Nana to take care of her. Her brothers were the only blood relatives she had left.
"Be careful." her friends said in unison.
"Am I not always?" Temari asked teasingly.
"That is completely debatable." Shikamaru teasingly countered which earned him a hard punch to the arm.
"Oi, woman what the hell? Just go to your precious wolves already." Shikamaru groaned as he felt a bruise starting to form on his arm.
"On my way cry baby." Temari replied chuckling and with a wink and a quick wave goodbye she turned on her heals and started walking down the path into the forest.
The forest floor was brilliantly lit by the moon's radiant glow that managed to filter through the thin veiled fog in the forest, as Temari cautiously made her way deeper into the forest. Ever since she was a little girl Temari had always been fascinated with wolves, their howls were sweet music to her ears. To the other villagers the wolves howl was only a sign of potential trouble and for some something that should be feared and hunted. When she was younger Temari and her mom would sneak out of the house careful not to disturb the other sleeping inhabitants of the house and go to the lake by the edge of the forest and listen to the wolves howl sweetly to the moon. There in her mother's arms sitting by the lake taking in the wolves' sweet melodies Temari had never felt safer. As Temari began to mature and grow she and her mother would venture deeper into the forest, and find safe places to observe the wolf packs. On her 8th birthday Temari received a sketch pad from her mother and Temari began taking it with her on their wolf seeking expeditions. Even after her mother had passed away Temari just couldn't give up the wolves, for some reason they seemed to help fill a piece of her that she felt she had lost when her mother was cruelly ripped away from her. Each wolf and wolf pack that she had observed over time with and without her mother was different in many ways yet also the same and this somehow always amused Temari to no end.
However, very recently a new wolf pack had gained the turf, and this pack was a unique one indeed. They were all slightly bigger than the average wolf pack, and way more majestic. For the past two nights Temari had been unable to tear her eyes away from them long enough to sketch them, which amused Temari's friends to no end. But tonight would be different she was more determined than ever. Having finally reached her destination Temari found one of her favorite wolf watching trees and with some difficulty managed to climb up onto her favorite branch. After getting comfortable and making sure that her riding pants and her cape were not ripped Temari heard the thundering of paws hitting the forest floor. In spite of herself Temari smiled as she quickly withdrew her sketch pad and drawing utensil. Finally they came bounding into sight, in this pack Temari had catalogued that at the moment there were about 9 wolves, and each very unique in their own ways. The way they interacted with each other seemed almost humanly. As her eyes roamed over the pack once more she found that her breath hitched as her favorite wolf came bounding into sight. This wolf was sleek, and muscular with inky black fur, and the most mesmerizing eyes she had ever seen. His eyes were what had caught her attention to his magnificent form … the eyes were a devilish mixture of black and red. Yes, this was definitely the first thing that had caught her attention when she first saw this wolf. For even within his own pack he was the only one as far as she could tell that had them.
A/N: Hi Everyone! ^-^ This is my third fanfic and my second Naruto fanfic. I hope you guys like this chapter! This is a pairing that I had just stumbled upon recently and found it interesting. I have not read the series up to Shippuden yet so if anything is out of the norm I apologize in advance. If any characters are and or seem OOC and this displeases you again I apologize. Reviews are encouraged and greatly appreciated, but please no flames! Thank you for taking the time to read this!
-Midnight Oracle