Shadow shook her head fondly as she gently shook Naruto to wake him. He grumbled a moment, but eventually his eyes cracked open to peer at her.

"Yes, Mama?" he yawned, reaching up a hand to rub at an eye.

"It's time for us to head home." She stated, gently shaking Sun-Dance and Moon-Fang awake before reaching over them to nudge the two boys she didn't know.

Sun stretched herself out, first her front paws then her back paws, effectively pushing into Sasuke's leg and waking the dark-haired boy who had curled away from Shadow's hand.

"Wha?" he looked around sleepily, if not a bit confused, before stretching his arms over his head. He pushed Sun's tail away and stood, leaning backwards to pop his spine.

Moon had stretched in much the same way as Sun, but he hadn't pushed or hit Kiba at all, so the brunet just fell over at Shadow's nudging and curled around a tree root, still asleep. Naruto stood up, rubbing the back of his neck with another yawn.

"Mama?"

"Yes, Sunshine?"

"This is my new friend, Sasuke." He introduced, waving a hand in the boy's direction. He turned to him, waving this time in his mother's direction. "Sasuke, this is my Mommy."

"It's nice to meet you." Shadow extended a hand towards the boy, not missing the wince at the blonde calling her mommy. Sasuke stared at her hand awkwardly a moment before hesitantly taking it, giving the appendage a quick shake before releasing his grasp and letting his hand fall to his side; all without saying anything to Shadow, though he did nod once in response.

Sasuke turned to Naruto and gave him a small smile. "I should be getting home."

"Okay." Naruto smiled back, walking over to give his friend a quick hug. "Bye Sasuke. We should play again soon."

Sasuke stared wide-eyed a moment before clearing his throat. "Yeah."

He stood there for another minute or so to study the blonde, before nodding. He turned around and walked in the direction of home, nearly sprinting when he saw the gaggle of girls entering the field not too far away.

"Kiba, wake up!" Sun grumbled, shaking said boy with her front paws. The boy still had the ball and was currently cuddling it in his arms as well as the root. "Kiba!"

Shadow's brow rose at her daughter breaking her rule, but let it slide when the boy seemed unfazed by her talking, pushing her paws away and snuggling further into his cuddle-root instead. Sun continued to bark his name and shove/claw at him with her paws, but he wouldn't budge. He didn't wake until Moon trotted over and shoved his wet nose into the crook of the boy's shoulder and neck.

"Ack!" Kiba instantly jumped up, releasing his root and reaching for the side of his neck with both hands, the ball rolling away with his movement. "What 'cha do that for?!"

Sun instantly took the opportunity to jump over the boy and dive for the ball, not giving him the chance to grab it again. She happily bounded over to Shadow and dropped the ball into her mother's pack when Shadow lowered it for her.

Kiba stood with a stretch and scratched his lower back absently with one hand as he brushed the dirt from his rear with the other.

"Kiba?"

"Hmm?"

"This is our mom." Naruto started with Shadow this round of introductions, and happily waved in her direction like before.

"Mama, this is Kiba, another new friend."

"Nice to meet you." Shadow extended her hand again. Kiba didn't hesitate and grabbed her hand happily, shaking it firmly. He hadn't noticed the blonde saying 'our' instead of 'my'.

"Nice to meet you too." He took back his hand and shoved both into his pockets. "Welp! Best be getting' home. I'll see you around, Naruto." He beamed turning towards the opposite direction Sasuke had left. He waved over his shoulder as he shouted, "Bye Sun, bye Moon!"

"Bye!" the two replied, tails waging as they watched him leave. Naruto waved after him in extra excitement to make up for the fact his siblings couldn't wave as well.

Shadow smiled at them before clearing her throat.

"Alright you three, let's go home."

"Yay!" Sun and Moon dashed ahead a bit, but Naruto still seemed rather sleepy now that all the excitement had died down. Shadow shook her head fondly. She released her henge, her pack shifting on her back to accommodate the change, and she laid herself down beside the blonde, lightly nudging him with a shoulder.

"Come on, Sunshine, up you go."

"M'kay." Naruto yawned once again as he climbed his way onto her back, squeezing his hands under her pack so he could dig them into the soft fur at her scruff as he laid himself over her back with his head pillowed on top of it. Shadow raised her tail in practiced ease to lay it over his body, both keeping him from the sun and keeping him steady so he wouldn't fall.

Sun and Moon had stopped at the edge of the field to wait, falling in step on either side of Shadow when she approached. The three of them made their way towards the Main Gate. Even though the East Gate would've put them closer to home, the Main Gate was closer to the training field they were in, thus, exiting through the Main Gate, they would spend less time in the village and could jump through the trees without being stared at.

They quickly trotted between the buildings and down the main road. Most of the people still milling about this or that stall didn't pay them any mind and those that did only saw three wolves, not even noticing the blonde curled on the larger one's back. Shadow breathed yet another sigh of relief as they exited the village, but the relief quickly turned back into the uneasiness of earlier and that made her frown.

She huffed irritably as she carefully jumped onto a nearby branch, waiting a moment for her pups to follow, before leaping to the next tree and for home.

However, if she had led her pups to the East Gate, they would've ran into the very worried chipmunk twins, Kon and Fent, instead of zooming behind them as the two entered the East Gate. The twins would've been able to warn them of the intruders, but they got to the village too late.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Tekuru snapped for the third time. The four of them had landed just ten feet away from, and downwind of, their targeted den. Settling within the thick bushes between two trees. They'd been waiting for some time; the humans having expected to see the inhabitants of their target immediately after settling into their hiding place, and been none too pleased when told they weren't there.

"I'm positive that's the den." Meiriki snarled back. "It's not our fault they decided to go for a hunt right before we arrived."

"Can you tell how long they've been gone?" Midoshi demanded, crossing his arms.

"We could, if we weren' so far away." Moari huffed, unaffected, as he shifted his weight. "Bein' downwind doesn' make our noses any better."

"What use is having wolves if they're worthless?" Tekuru challenged.

Meiriki would've snarled, and most likely place her fangs over the man's neck so she could bite down as hard as she could, but she didn't. Instead, she stilled. Her ears swiveled this way and that as they caught the sounds of claws scraping against wood. Moari heard it as well. He crouched down into a ready position, peering through the bushes to the den's opening.

Tekuru, not liking being ignored by the wolves, went to smack Meiriki over the head, but was stopped when Midoshi smacked him in the chest with his arm, pointing towards the den and the three wolves leaping into the clearing in front of it. The humans frowned behind their masks.

"I thought your scouts said three mutts?" Midoshi hissed.

"They weren' wrong, bastard." Moari snapped back. "Look."

Sure enough, the largest wolf had laid down, her tail moving out of the way to let the human child slide from her back.

"They never said anything about a human child." Tekuru snapped.

"Well, you just assumed they meant wolf pups and didn't ask them to clarify." Meiriki growled. "You asked how many pups and they said three. They did their job." She rose just slightly from the bush and edged her way forward. "Now, are you just going to keep complaining, or can we get on with the mission?"

The wolves didn't wait for an answer. They leapt away from the humans and quietly climbed their way through the trees and ever closer to Shadow and her pups.

Shadow had waited until she was sure Naruto was fully awake and wouldn't fall over, before moving towards the den to put her pack away. Her uneasy feeling had skyrocketed as she entered their clearing, so she just dropped the pack on the other side of the large log before settling herself next to the blonde boy. He instantly curled himself into her fur, no longer sleepy, but comforted by the soft strands and Shadow's body heat.

Sun and Moon were sniffing around the clearing, eagerly trying to identify the different animals that had passed through while they were away.

"Mama! I can smell a deer!" Sun exclaimed happily, her tail wagging proudly.

"That's good Sun. Was it a buck or a doe?" Shadow inquired. Sun couldn't quite decipher scents like that just yet, but it was a great learning experience, especially when Shadow could smell the deer's scent herself and knew it had been not one deer, but a doe with her faun.

Sun crouched closer to the scent, her snout scrunching in concentration as she continued to sniff the leaf that held it.

"Uh… I think it was… um…a doe?" she asked, tilting her head at her mother.

"Not quite pup. You're only half righ'. It's actu'lly a faun an' 'is Ma."

Sun's ears flattened against her skull and her tail swished to in between her legs. That wasn't her Mama's voice, her Mama's snout hadn't even moved to answer yet. She turned and looked up slowly, whimpering at the black and very large wolf standing in front of her.

Moon had been standing a few feet away, examining a fallen branch. His hackles rose, ears flattening as well, growling deep in his throat at the intruding male as he stepped in front of his sister. He started nudging her back towards Shadow who now stood alert, herself growling as she nudged Naruto towards the den from where he stood behind her.

"Now, there's no need to be growlin' pup, I ain't gonna hurt 'cha." The wolf seemed to have tried to say so in a calming way, but it came out feral, ending with a soft growl instead. He took a step towards the two, halting when Shadow's growl grew louder and deeper.

"You stay away from them!" She snarled, leaping from Naruto and landing between the male and her pups. Her right paw lashed out and would've slashed him across his left eye if he hadn't leaned back. "Moon, get you sister in the den."

Moon-Fang quietly nodded before nudging Sun-Dance towards the log and the safety of the den. Naruto had climbed inside just after Shadow had leapt and helped his siblings inside when they got there.

"Don' worry Mama wolf, we'll take good care o' your pups." The black furred male taunted, the edges of his snout turning up into a smirk.

Shadow growled, lowering herself to the ground and leapt for the wolf's throat. She nearly had his jugular within her fangs when another barreled into her side. Her jaws snapped shut painfully as she collided with a tree, a throbbing ache pulsing from her side. It took her a moment to get her paws back under her, and when she finally did, she immediately leapt backwards , avoiding the claws digging into the bark where her head had been.

Shadow took no time in twisting around on her front paws and kicking the smaller, brown wolf squarely in the head with her back paws. The unknown female landed a few feet away with a heavy thud and a dazed tilt to her head. Shadow didn't notice. She wasn't given the second it would've taken to do so.

The male wolf had leapt at her while her back was turned. His fangs clamped tightly into the skin at her scruff and sunk in deep, blood gushing from the bite and staining his jowls red. His claws dug painfully into her shoulder blades, slashing downwards and leaving large gashes into the skin of her back. His greater weight knocked her down, pushing the breath from her lungs, but that didn't stop her, just halted her movements a moment.

In that split second it took to move his front paws back up for another slash, Shadow kicked out with her back paws, knocking his back paws out from under him. This knocked him off balance and it didn't take much force to rip his fangs from her neck. She reeled back and snapped at his neck with her own fangs. She was aiming for the softer skin at the front, but he moved forward a bit, her fangs clamping into his shoulder instead.

She didn't keep her hold very long, instantly releasing him and slashing his left front leg with her claws before leaping back in time for the other female to barrel into his side. they both collided with a tree and Shadow dashed to stand protectively in front of her den and her whimpering pups within.

Her pups were in danger, her sides were dripping with blood, and she was certain there is at least one other in the cover of the trees. Shadow snarled at the two she could see as they got to their feet. Her hackles raised, tail thrashing angrily behind her.

"Mama…" it was just a whimper, barely loud enough to even be a word, but Shadow could hear it and she knew it was her human pup. She glanced behind her for the briefest second. Naruto was peering over the log, frightened tears trailing down his too pale cheeks leaving tracks over his whiskers, and his blue eyes opened wide in terror.

It was the briefest of glances, but it was long enough for the unseen enemy to hurl a barrage of kunai at Shadow, the blades lodging firmly into the sides of her neck, her shoulders and legs, and into the sides of her chest.

"Mama!" Naruto screamed as her body hit the ground.

Author's Note

Well, um…cliffhanger?

There you have the confrontation with the intruders and Shadow. Um… I hope it turned out okay and hopefully it will be resolved next chapter? I'm not sure; it might run away from me, but we'll see.

To the Guest who left a review last chapter – I hope to have much more Sasuke and Naruto scenes in the future and I hope to hear from you again. :D

See you all next chapter!

TTFN

Taric