Alexial woke up groggy in a strange room surrounded by strange scents. Her ears perked as she listened to the strange sounds. The man that had saved her wasn't around. Getting up she stretched her muscles. Her wounds that he couldn't heal were already gone. She shook herself bodily. Her long ears flicked back and forth. Moving forward she dug her claws into the wood of the door and worked it open. Once she had it open wide enough to allow her to exit she squeezed through the door and looked around. Raising her head up the place smelled of earth and cedar. This base was underground she knew that for sure. The scent of rock and upturned earth was evident of that. Carefully she stalked forward. She had to get out of there. Her paws didn't make any sound as she padded swiftly through the halls. She stopped when the sound of footsteps echoed down the semi-dark corridors. There wasn't anywhere for her to hide if discovered. Along the way she'd learned to do a couple of her jutsu while in her tiger form, but indoors using them would result in a dangerous situation that she didn't want to have to dig people out of. The steps drew closer she got down in a crouch and started growling. Her hackles were raised to show anyone that she was ready to do battle. A woman with long silver hair and dark blue eyes stared down at her in confusion.

"Hello," the girl said softly. "How did you get in here?"

Alex growled at her. Before anything else happened a body with a blonde mop of hair wrapped his arms around the tiger. She rolled her eyes but allowed him to hug her. She was a snow tiger princess and yet here she'd been reduced to a hugging companion for an idiot blonde that happened to save her life.

"Deidara who's your new friend?"

"This is Snowy. She was being attacked by Snow ANBU and I saved her."

"And you brought her here? Leader won't like this."

"He doesn't have to know. Please, I wanna keep her, yeah."

Koori moved forward to touch Alexial's coat. Due to the fact that Deidara had her in a head lock that he called a hug Alexial could help but let the girl touch her fur. Briefly for a moment Alexial wondered why someone with such a gentle soul was here among the scent of blood and death.

"Her furs as soft as a baby's fur."

Alex wanted to roll her eyes at that comment it wasn't the first time she'd gotten nor would it be the last time. All demons that had a beast form their fur tended to stay silky throughout most of their lives. Deidara was stroking her fur too. Alexial felt like a huge kitten with the way they were treating her. She wasn't a pet but until it was necessary they would assume she was a ninja pet.

"Koori could you watch her awhile why I go out and do something really quick?"

She nodded her head and directed Alexial to come into her room. Alexial entered and looked around the woman's room. It was simplistic in a way except for the few plants that were there. Shaking her head she laid down in the corner and her mind wandered back to the Land of Snow. Her heart ached for her teammates and sensei. They were the only ones that knew what she was an accepted her for it. Sometimes during missions they curl up around her and use her as a pillow not that she minded when she was in her tiger form. It helped when they couldn't build a fire to avoid detection. Her demon body put out a lot of heat not to mention the thick layers of fur on her body. Sighing softly she remembered one year at Christmas time what her partners had gotten her.

Flashback

Alexial sighed softly. They were heading towards some of the upper country of Snow for patrol duty. It was nearing Christmas and yet they were out on patrol. She'd brought her gifts for her teammates with her. They weren't very big so they fit in her bag. Normally at Christmas time she was home alone while they were with their families. She didn't fault them for not wanting to bring her home to meet their family. The villagers were already wary of her and she didn't want to ostracize her teammates for her sake.

"Hey Alex what are you thinking about?" she heard Seiya ask.

"Just thinking about how close we are…"

"Close to what?" Takai asked softly.

The three of them paused as the sound of snow shifting up ahead. Alex scented the air. The boys looked at her watching and waiting for her insight on what was coming. A grin spread across her features. She gestured for quiet. They watched as a white elk paced into the clearing. It tossed its head as the elk saw them. There was laughter dancing in its sapphire colored eyes. The guys watched in awe as the elk bowed gracefully before them.

"Alexial what's going on?"

"You know how I'm a youkai from the Youkai Village Hidden in the Snow right?"

They nodded. "We're close to the village where I grew up for the first couple of years of my life. This is a Snow Elk Sentry."

The elk tilted his head to the side as it observed the trio. She growled something to the elk before looking at her teammates. It nodded his head and bounded off.

"Does this mean we can visit your home?" Seiya asked softly.

"Sorry guys but humans can't enter a youkai realm. I wish I could take you but I was banished so I can't go back there. I think the both of you would like it there."

"Why would you be banished?"

"I'll tell you that story some other time. We should be moving along."

"Could that white elk speak like you do when you're in fuzz ball mode?" Takai asked suddenly.

"If he chose too then yes he could. Come on let's get going. We'll need to set up camp before the sun sets."

She pushed forward with her two teammates until they found a cave out of the way. Walked in the cave and looked around making sure that there wasn't any threat. The other two were looking for wood for a fire and hopefully something fresh. The Elk would be off limits because once you kill a youkai they revert to their humanoid forms. The scent of blood made her look up. Seiya came back bearing at least four good sized rabbits. Takai and two of his shadow clones were carrying loads of wood. Before too long they had a fire going and the rabbits were cooking on a spit. Finally once the rabbits were cooked and they'd eaten Alexial smiled at her teammates.

"Well guy's it's getting close to Christmas…"

The looked up at her in confusion. "I know this is random but I brought your presents with me."

"Alexial you didn't have to do that," Seiya said softly.

She shrugged and went to her bag and pulled out the two small packages. Seiya got his first and it was a new kunai pouch bearing the symbol of the Land of Snow, but below that was a white snow flake. He smiled and nodded his thanks to her. Takai received An Idiot's Guide to cooking while on the trail. Both ninja's snickered at Takai's expense. Takai could master just about any snow and ice jutsu but the fine art of cooking was beyond his comprehension. He didn't think it was too funny.

"That wasn't funny Alexial."

"I thought it was. You need to improve your cooking. Carrying around those instant ramen cups makes me a bit sick. Maybe if you learn to cook then maybe I wouldn't have to come back to camp smelling like blood."

"Okay since you're being so mean I can hold your gift from me."

"If you insist."

She threw another package at him. He caught it easily. It was a few small bottles of his favorite weapon oils. He gaped at her. She loved her teammates like family and she'd do anything to make them happy. Before she could turn her attention away Takai was digging through his bag and threw a big package at her. She caught it. Curiously she opened it. It was a huge blanket from her guess. It was made of a soft material. One side had baby blue and white snowflake and on the other side was a baby blue snowflake against white. Both snowflakes were outlined with silver.

"Thanks Kai."

"You see when we can't use a fire I figured a blanket that big will be able to fit you and the two of us underneath it so we don't freeze our asses off."

Alexial threw her head back and laughed at the antics of her teammate. To put the blanket to the test she shifted into her beast form and laid down. Takai was back to back with her and Seiya curled up with his back to her front. The three of them stayed warm long after the fire died out.

End flashback

Alexial was brought from her musings by the thick stench of blood and death. A man walked past where she was. His silver hair was slicked back. A shiver went through her and she knew this man wasn't someone to be messed with. His partner made her shiver too. There was something about the pair that set her on edge. It didn't help that they smelled like fresh blood. She wondered if they killed an innocent. She wasn't one to scoff at killing but merciless killings of innocents made her sick. The two of them passed her by without a glance in her direction.

The scent of salt water and fish graced her nose next making her snort. A man that stood really tall walked in. He had a huge sword strapped to his back and the weapon like most reeked of blood. He reminded her of a shark with those huge pointy teeth. His aura wasn't like the last two for that Alexial was thankful. There was something about him that made her relax a little bit. The man that followed him made her pause. His bloody red eyes caught hers for a moment before following the blue man. Something about that man seemed sad. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not but that man carried a lot of heart ache.

"Are you all right?" Koori asked softly.

Alex nodded her head. She looked at the hall where the four had disappeared down.

"The first two were Hidan the guy with the silver hair and Kakuzu was the guy with the face mask. Then Kisame the big blue guy and Itachi after that."

She rose gracefully and was about ready to stalk forward to investigate, but Koori stopped her by grabbing a hand full of her neck ruff. "Don't follow them are you insane?" she hissed.

Alex rolled her eyes at the woman. A growl of frustration escaped her lips. She was a skilled stalker in her old village due to her demonic nature. Shrugging her shoulders Alexial laid her head back down and tried to sleep some more. Sometime later she was awakened by soft hands on her neck ruff. Blinking sleepily she stared up into Deidara's deep blue eyes.

"Come on Snowy," he whispered softly.

Carefully she rose and stretched herself. A soft laugh escaped his lips as she stretched. He lead her back to his room. Deidara had her sit down on the floor. Tilting her head to the side she stared at him curiously. This man seemed strange to her. He left with a short promise to return. Shaking her head she looked around his room some more. There was a small what looked to be a work table covered with various shaped objects. Getting up she moved towards the table and put her front paws up on the stool and scented the items. The scent of clay and explosives made her snort and move away from the items. Going back to where he told her to stay she waited impatiently for the idiot blonde to return. He came back and knelt down in front of her.

"Snowy since you're my companion now I thought I'd give you something for Christmas, yeah."

Alexial wondered what he was talking about. He pulled something from inside his cloak and with quick work tied a bandana around her neck. Deidara backed up and grinned at her stupidly. She got up and stood in front of a full length mirror. A sigh of annoyance escaped her lips again. It was a black bandanna that bore the red clouds on it. Around the outside was a line of red. Alexial moved away from the mirror and lay down in the farthest corner from his bed. The blonde frowned at her actions but smiled anyway. He had a feeling they'd form a good friendship once she got used to him.