During the whole day the Alpha couldn't get the fox out of his mind. He didn't dare mention it to Itachi out of fear that he'd make him take the night off, and thankfully Kakashi didn't say anything. So he carried on till nightfall with the azure orbs burning in his thoughts.
He didn't quite get why the fox would run away because he must have felt something! It's safe to say that the pack leader was still at odds on the whole thing.
Sasuke and his patrol party were on their last round for the night. It had been a quiet normal first mating day. The moon light only helped their already impressive night vision as they circled their sleeping grounds.
When they returned to their den the Alpha and his squad caught a glimpse of something in the shadows before a frightened scream ringed out. He looked to his patrolling group already awaiting his orders.
"Go check on the pack."
With that they took off without hesitation and moved silently.
He himself tracked the figure they'd saw. He sniffed the ground for the intruders scent and picked up on a very familiar Tsuyoi like fragrance. Anger built up, fueling his speed as he tracked the owner down through the shadowy moonlit darkness. The scent led far, far out from the den into the border of the enemies' territory. He stopped abruptly when he heard a scuffle of growls of pain and then a dying howl.
The Alpha went under the radar and backtracked the noise to the strange scene.
His fox was there in the middle of a dim lighted grove with his paw on top of a clearly now dead younger wolfs neck.
Sasuke stayed in the shadows of the trees not wanting to believe what he was witnessing. Forgetting completely about the scent he watched the fox lean down to sniff the dead wolf for reasons he didn't know of.
'No… he just-' the Alpha faltered in mid thought while stepping back onto that twig that always seems to be there when needed to give away someone's position.
The quick fox looked up from the dead animal upon hearing the annoying sound and started to sniff the air.
Sasuke let out a subtle regretful growl for he had to do his duty. He pounced from the shadows onto his star-crossed mate bringing him to ground like earlier when they met.
The canine squirmed then gagged for air as the Alpha increased pressure on his neck. He only backed off slightly when he felt his heart sink at seeing his mysterious creature in pain.
"Stay down." The raven ordered harshly anyway. He had to keep his image despite his feelings for the one he had pinned.
The trapped canine snapped his jaws at the wolf causing him to retaliate and do the same. They both were ready to kill each other yet there was a delay...
"Uncle Sasuke what are you doing?" came a familiar little voice to the Alpha.
An itty bitty wolf in his child stage with silver darkened fur and onyx orbs came fumbling out from the bushes next to the two.
Sasuke's jaw dropped in confusion at why his nephew was there.
"Katski! What are you doing here?! It's not safe!" The Alpha raged at the little one thinking he'd come wondering out in the middle of the night.
Little Katski stepped back with his ears down in fear.
"Wow, aren't you great with kids?" the fox spoke up with sarcasm in his sly assertive voice.
"Silence fox!" He snapped at the creature beneath him whom just bared its fangs at him in defiance.
"His name is Naruto!" Katski beamed when he got the courage to speak in front of his enraged uncle/Alpha.
Naruto grinned that foxy grin up at the wolf who seemed a bit lost.
"How do you know this?" He asked his nephew with a gentle tone this time.
"He told me after he saved me from the Tsuyoi wolf!" Katski announced happily with his ears popped back up and his tail springing to life as well.
The Alpha looked over at the dead wolf upon hearing this news.
"So will you get off me now birdbrain or fur in your case?" Naruto grumbled at the wolf still above him.
The Alpha backed down off the fox and over to the deceased canine. While sniffing its corpse he picked up the certain Tsuyoi scent that he'd found a while ago.
'This Tsuyoi was at least in his teen age…Why was he out here alone?' Sasuke wondered as he looked over the wasted life.
Naruto must have cracked his neck because there was no blood on the wolf anywhere. He also looked very familiar, but he just couldn't pin out who it was yet.
His thoughts were interrupted when the fox passed by in front of him, taking over his thoughts when his curvy tail swished over his snout. When the devious creature did this the Alpha picked up the heavenly aroma he'd found in the evening.
"He was going to kill him. I couldn't allow it." Naruto explained when he stopped beside Katski and placed a paw on the curious child's tail to stop him from wondering off.
"I thank you." the Alpha exhaled with relief in his voice that his mate wasn't an enemy.
"No need to wolfy. Just keep better watch of your younglings." Naruto leaned down and lifted his paw up off the child's tail. He then gently picked up the little wolf by the scruff of his neck and returned him to Sasuke.
He had no choice but to take hold of his nephew.
Katski just wiggled around to get down.
"I'm not a youngling! I'm almost a full two seasons old!" Katski defended his pride with conviction in his child-like vocals.
Naruto chuckled softly at the little thing before nuzzling its exposed belly with his muzzle making the child laugh and push its small paws on the fox's nose.
Sasuke smiled inside at this, imagining his own pups with fox….
"Still a youngling little one. Be safe…both of you." With that he retracted from the befuddled two.
The Alpha tried to mumble something to the fox but Naruto had already vanished back into the darkness once more.
"I'm guessing we can't tell father huh?" Katski asked with curiosity ringing in his voice.
The older wolf nodded with a chortle and headed home with his nephew.
Once safely back at the den they were greeted by a worried Itachi and his other four pups. Kakashi had left to go look for his son some time ago so he wasn't there to see his child return.
"Thank Kyuubi your both alright!" Itachi sighed at ease with an appreciative smile.
The Alpha released the little wolf so it could run over to its father and siblings. He watched them nuzzle, lick and sniff the boy lovingly welcoming him back home.
The father was checking over his offspring for bruises and such while his siblings just wanted to know if he was scared or if the wolf that took him died a horrible death.
Oh they were delightful children.
Sasuke shook his head and looked over to the right. There he saw a pair of taunting sapphire in the bushes. He walked towards the watching pair blindly until it vanished within the hedge.
"Sasuke where are you going? Did you get the wolf that took Katski? Are you okay?" Itachi threw question after question with worry in his voice while he headed over to check on him next.
"I'm fine Itachi really, and kind of…Look I'll be right back okay?" The Alpha ran off into the bushes without waiting for a reply.
The older brother watched his kin leave unexpectedly. He wanted to chase after him but he had to stay with his litter since his own mate hadn't made it back yet.
"Father, Katski's biting Otsu again!" bellowed Ibuki, the only female of the litter.
Itachi sighed and walked back over to separate the two little balls of fur.
Sasuke searched within the bushes once he was at the spot where he'd saw the fox. He sniffed around, letting his snout go over the leaves to pick up Naruto's scent. It led him away from the den and back into the forest to the clearing where he'd met the canine last time.
There the scent broke and he couldn't pick it up again anywhere else. He tried and tried again, sniffing the air for hints.
"Why do you follow me wolf?"
He knew that was his mates voice but he couldn't see him anywhere.
"Because we…we zinged. I know it sounds silly, but in my world that's a big thin-"
"We what? Zing?" Naruto interrupted, finding himself laughing at the word when he stepped out into the moonlight.
Sasuke didn't know whether to laugh with or be infuriated.
"Yes, it's a certain connection that you get with someone that means you're their mate." The Alpha explained as he took notice of the look on the fox's face change from amused to disbelief.
"Mate? We are not mates! What is Zing anyway?" the fox demanded to know with practiced blithe in his voice.
"Zing is when you meet that special someone and your eyes lock on each other. You feel this strange feeling in your heart that ties you to that person like sealing a bond over a life time." The Alpha started to realize how weird it sounded.
"All that through a stare? Sounds stupid to me." Naruto mocked while he looked over the embarrassed wolf. 'He isn't that bad looking. A little charming perhaps but he is a wolf. Oh well…' he thought to himself with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Really? Then how do you find a mate?" Sasuke asked the fox seeing as though he didn't look convinced.
"Well mister wolf we have a test. If one really wants to prove his love for his mate he must fight and defeat their father." The fox sounded overly proud about this. His high was shot down by the sarcastic look from the raven.
"Really?" Sasuke snickered and tried not to laugh at the other's barbaric ways.
Naruto glared at the wolf before regaining his composure.
"Hmph...It's a cuss allot better than going cross eyed." He taunted while circling the wolf.
"I think it's better than old age brute force methods." The Alpha retaliated with a smirk.
"Watch it wolf! It's an honor to even have the challenge accepted!" The fox snapped at the other canine whom just growled playfully back.
"My name is Sasuke."
Naruto halted in front of the wolf with a name and gave him a not so impressed expression.
"And? You're still a wolf."
"And you're still a fox? Shall I just call you my kitsune then?" Sasuke teased without thinking.
He blushed through raised flaming fur and bared his teeth growling at the alpha as his ears flattened back.
"Did I strike a nerve?" The raven teased even more getting what he wanted.
The fox tackled him to the somewhat grassy earth this time, pinning him down.
"Watch it wolf! I won't hesitate to rip your throat out."
"Do it then." The pleased wolf leaned up and licked the right side of the fox's muzzle.
Naruto staggered and jumped back to wipe at his cheek with the side of his paw.
Sasuke got up smiling and walked over to his flustered mate. He sat on his hind legs and let his tail sway in a rhythm.
"Are you alright love?" The Alpha asked with his protective dominant side kicking in. He hunched over slightly to sniff the other only to see him back away.
"We are not mates!" He hissed out this time feeling the heat on his face not go away at all therefore making his statement sort of invalid.
"Even if we aren't…don't tell me you don't feel something…" Sasuke lowered his guard and stepped towards the peculiarly frightened fox.
"I...I...I'm not supposed to…You ar-"
"Not supposed to what?" The alpha frowned and wondered if he already had a set mate.
"I can't lo-" The fox stopped midway in confession when he heard a noise come from afar.
Sasuke picked up on this as well and looked towards it out of instinct. When he turned back the fox was of course gone again.
"….Naruto?" Sasuke called out with concern in his voice while searching the area.
"Your friends are coming. I have to go…"
The Alpha turned around in surprise to see the fox with a distant bittersweet look on his face.
"How come I lose your scent at times?" He asked for he really didn't understand how he could have it one moment then loose it out of thin air.
"Sorry wolfy but that's a secret. Goodbye..." He said with mysterious downcast cerulean.
"Well can we meet again please? Maybe here...tomorrow?"
"Hm... Sure, but at sunrise not a second later. If you are late then you'll never see me again." Naruto flicked his tongue against the right side of the wolf's muzzle and took off.
Sasuke blinked in shock and mumbled, "I won't." He stared at the spot his mate once stood for what seemed like hours.
"Why are you back here again!? And who were you talking to?" came the voice of Kakashi once again. He emerged from a bush growth along with the rest of the patrol.
"No reason, let's go! Katski is safe back at the den." The Alpha assured his friends, using his nephew as a distraction against his brother-in-law.
Kakashi lit up with relief upon hearing the news. He didn't bother to question the pack leader too much on who he was talking to anymore when they headed back home.
Everyone returned to their respected dens while Sasuke didn't vacate to his empty one. Kakashi and Itachi had offered him to stay with them for the night and he accepted. He knew he'd be up all night thinking about tomorrow so he needed the kids to tire him out.
"Hey Uncle Sasuke are you sleep? Did you see Naruto again? Uncle Sasukeee?" Katski bugged and whispered countless questions to his uncle while getting comfortable on the Alphas head. The rest of his siblings had decided to sleep with their parents while he pestered his uncle.
"I'm trying to sleep….youngling." Sasuke gave the small hint with a smirk and closed eyes. His nephew giggled tiredly and curled up with content.