Four: Accepted
An orange wolf sat on a large boulder. This wolf had orange, yellow, black fur and a little red on his muzzle. He was the Alpha of Uzumaki Pack. He shook his head as a blue wolf sat down beside him.
"What is it Naruto?" asked the blue she-wolf. Naruto looked out into the meadow.
"I am worried for Gaara. Maybe it was wrong of me to let him lead the patrol," said Naruto looking even more worried. The blue she-wolf nuzzled her mate.
"Nonsense Naruto, you did the right thing. Gaara was ready," she said as she looked out as well.
"I guess you are right Hinata. But it hasn't been long since that incident. The humans…they sealed a monster inside of Gaara when he was young. He can't even sleep with Shukaku in his body…," Naruto shook his head once more. "They were so young and I couldn't stop them."
"Naruto it isn't your fault," said Hinata looking into her mates eyes. Naruto was about to reply when he heard a wolf bark from behind them. Naruto turned around to see a pink and red wolf trot up to them.
"What is it Sakura?" asked Naruto. Sakura's tail wagged excitedly. Naruto could tell from her eyes that this was probably good news.
"The patrol has come back! Gaara has also returned with Temari and her mate," said Sakura. Naruto began to feel a little better until he heard the word mate.
"A mate? There shall be no knew males until I have accepted them," barked Naruto as his fur fluffed out. Hinata hurried up to Naruto.
"Naruto, calm down," whined Hinata cautiously. Naruto's fur flattened out as he walked forward. Sakura and Hinata trailed behind him looking at each other worriedly.
. . .
"You've finally come back Temari I was worried. In fact I was searching everywhere for you," growled a brown, pink, and green she-wolf and at the end of her tail were two buns. A brown and cream he-wolf shook his head.
"No, you were asleep on the patrol with Gaara. You couldn't care less Tenten," growled the he-wolf amusingly. Tenten growled irritably.
"You're my mate you should respect me Neji!" barked Tenten as she bared her teeth. Neji shook his head dismissively.
"Be careful. Don't want to be too ruff on them," said Neji softly as he nuzzled Tenten. Temari blinked a few times trying to get what Neji said.
"Tenten, you're…pregnant?" asked Temari surprised. Tenten blushed as her tail twitched.
"Well um, yeah…," said Tenten bashfully.
"We noticed she's been acting moody lately so we assumed she was carrying a heavy load," growled Gaara as he snickered. Tenten hit him in the back of the head with her paw.
"Shut up! That isn't funny!" barked Tenten. Shikamaru sighed at the wolves' friendly behavior. Suddenly Shikamaru heard a loud howl. All the wolves looked up and sat on their haunches. Shikamaru sat down as well. An orange wolf stood at the top of a large boulder and by his side was a blue-she wolf.
They must be the alpha male and the alpha female. Shikamaru looked up at the strong alphas. The alpha looked to his mate and she nodded hesitantly. He stepped to the edge of the boulder.
"Welcome all wolves! May I ask that Temari and her mate step up," barked the wolf. Temari beckoned Shikamaru with her tail to follow as she got up. He reluctantly followed her to the clearing in front of the boulder. They sat at the foot of the boulder. "Your name male?" asked the wolf.
"Shikamaru Nara," Shikamaru growled boldly. The alpha looked to his mate and she stepped forward.
"Temari, do you know who this wolf is?" asked Hinata suddenly being braver than she was her whole life. Temari looked at Shikamaru then back at the she-wolf and nodded. The pack muttered in confusion. Suddenly a voice barked.
"Alpha who is this male?!" barked a green wolf with bandages on his forelegs. The alpha looked among his pack.
"This is Shikamaru Nara son of Alpha Shikaku Nara," the alpha barked loudly. The wolves of the pack let out growls of astonishment. Shikamaru looked at his paws nervously his fur bristling. "The Nara is the strongest wolves in the forest." Shikamaru was suddenly uncomfortable with all eyes on him.
"I'm guessing you have picked up you father's technique?" asked the alpha. Shikamaru looked up at the alpha and replied.
"Y-Yes sir," said Shikamaru as he scraped the ground with his paw. He'd never been so popular.
"Then, I have enough reason to let this wolf into my pack," howled the alpha. Temari grinned at Shikamaru.
"See I told you there would be no trouble," said Temari happily. All the wolves howled in honor of their new member. At last Shikamaru had been accepted into the Uzumaki pack.