Five: Winter

Shikamaru lay on his belly as he slept in the sun light. It was cold since winter was fast approaching. It had only been the day before that he had been accepted into Uzumaki Pack by Naruto the alpha. He realized that since Temari was beta she had to set up patrols for the pack. A light blonde wolf with one bang walked up to him as he slept. She prodded him with her paw. Shikamaru woke up and opened his eyes to a pair of large blue ones.

"Gak!" yelped Shikamaru as he jumped back and hit the back of his head on a tree. The blonde she-wolf giggled. She also had a little purple on her fur.

"Hello Shikamaru," she said rather playfully. Shikamaru looked at the she-wolf. She was very beautiful in his opinion. "I'm Ino Yamanaka."

"N-Nice to meet you," said Shikamaru rather flustered. Ino walked past him and as she did so she waved her tail in Shikamaru's face. She sat down beside Shikamaru. "S-S-So you're from the Yamanaka Pack?"

"Yes, I am," said Ino as she combed through her fluffy tail with her paw. "So I hear you're from the Nara Pack?" Shikamaru nodded.

"So, Ino who's your mate?" asked Shikamaru trying to start a real conversation. Ino looked around as if she was searching.

"Oh, he's not here right now. His name is Choji Akimichi," said Ino suddenly distant. She stood up. "I have to go bye Shika." Ino ran off probably in search of her mate. Shikamaru lay on his belly again and placed his head on his paws. He slowly closed his eyes. A few seconds later he felt another paw prod him in the side.

"What do you want In-," Shikamaru was interrupted when he opened his eyes to see Temari staring him right in the face. Shikamaru stared into Temari's eyes. She looked exhausted by the looks of it. He looked away immediately. He could never hold a female's gaze for long.

"What were you about to say?" asked Temari as she sat down beside him.

"Um, this she-wolf came up to me today and she started flirting with me. She has a mate though," Shikamaru said as he looked back at Temari. He flinched as he saw anger in Temari's eyes.

"What was her name?" asked Temari in a gruff voice.

"Um, Ino…Ino was her name," Shikamaru answered quietly afraid he'd upset the strong she-wolf. Temari slammed her paw on the ground.

"That good for nothing!" she barked. Shikamaru had moved a few inches away from her. "She's always trying to make an alliance with the Nara Pack." Shikamaru looked down at his paws. Was he really that important? "What's the matter?" asked Temari as she looked up at him.

"Oh, nothing," said Shikamaru as he looked around him. This was a peaceful place to live in. He suddenly wondered if he deserves this.

"Hey, Shika?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Why did you leave the Nara Pack?" asked Temari as she leaned lightly on Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked up at the bright sky and sighed.

"My family is the survivors of the Nara Pack. We used to live in a meadow where it would always be peaceful and quiet. We could laze about all we wanted. I was young back then and still living with my parents. I would play with my friends. One day the beta of our pack reported gunshots, but my father was stupid and ignored it. The next day the morning patrol never came back. The hunters entered our territory with their dogs.

There were too many and we had to flee. My father took half the pack towards the mountains and my mother and I took the rest toward the forest. We never heard from him again. I left the pack when I was old enough and set out to increase the family tree." Shikamaru rested his head on his paws as he finished his short story. Temari looked at Shikamaru sadly. She lay on her belly and placed her head on top of Shikamaru's neck.

"I promise I'll have some good kids for you Shika," whispered Temari in Shikamaru's ear. The two wolves soon fell asleep.

Naruto was lying in the den with Hinata. Naruto was fully awake listening to Hinata's labored breathing. Naruto looked at his mate who was half asleep.

"Hinata is it almost time?" asked Naruto as he licked the top Hinata's head. Hinata nodded as she began to breathe through her mouth. Naruto walked out of the den to fetch Sakura the medical wolf of the pack. Temari emerged out of her den with Shikamaru behind her. Shikamaru shook out his fur.

"Can you have a smaller den?" asked Shikamaru. Temari snorted irritably.

"Get used to it being beta comes cheap," said Temari stretching. Shikamaru shook his head.

"That was the worse mating procedure in the world," grumbled Shikamaru as he stretched one leg. Temari looked at the he-wolf with a flushed face.

"Sorry I usually do better!" she barked harshly. Shikamaru grunted in defeat. He could never argue long with Temari. Naruto was pacing outside his den so the two wolves came to investigate. "What's the matter Naruto?" asked Temari. Naruto began to scrape the ground anxiously. He walked over to a tree and began to slam his head into it.

Shikamaru immediately ran over and pulled Naruto away from the tree.

Shikamaru stared him in the eyes. "Naruto! What is going on?!" barked Shikamaru loudly. Naruto regained focus and stared Shikamaru in the eyes.

"Hinata is having her pups," he managed to choke out. Temari looked at Shikamaru with worry.

"Why don't you just sit down and relax. No matter what happens we'll be here to support our alpha," growled Shikamaru. Naruto nodded and agreed to sit down with the two wolves. After a few long hours Sakura walked out of the den. Naruto walked up to her.

"How did it go?" asked Naruto his tail twitching anxiously. Sakura sighed.

"Two pups didn't make it, but one is still alive. You can go see your daughter," said Sakura happily. She nodded to Shikamaru and Temari as she passed. Shikamaru looked after Sakura as she walked into her den.

"Does Sakura have a mate?" Shikamaru asked Temari. Temari nodded.

"He left her one day without explanation after she had his pups," said Temari sadly. Shikamaru wondered where that wolf was now. Naruto walked out the den looking proud. Shikamaru wished he could be as proud and strong as Naruto. But it didn't look like Temari would be bearing his children yet. Temari walked up to Naruto.

"Should I organize the afternoon patrol?" asked Temari. Naruto nodded. Shikamaru followed after Temari as she looked for patrols.

"Could I be on a patrol?" asked Shikamaru. Temari nodded and they looked for two other wolves to join them on the patrol. They ended up choosing Ino and Lee for their patrol. Lee was a green wolf with bandages on his forelegs. As they walked through the forest Lee asked Shikamaru a million questions.

"Do you have any siblings? Are you a spy? Why did Naruto accept you so quickly? Are you really that strong? Are you worthy enough to be called a Nara? What's your motive?" Lee asked.

"Will you please shut your trap?! We are on the border of the Akatsuki. Do you want us to get caught?" growled Shikamaru quietly to Lee. Temari growled warningly at them. The patrol had stopped. The wolves crouched in the bushes as they heard an Akatsuki patrol pass them by. The wolves had strange black collars dotted with red clouds. They could have easily been mistaken by humans as regular hunting dogs.

As soon as the patrol disappeared the wolves crept out of the bushes and headed back towards the pack. Shikamaru walked beside Temari.

"Temari what is the Akatsuki?" asked Shikamaru. "I only know little about it."

"The Akatsuki is a band of wolves bent on taking over the forest and enslaving humans and wolves. In other words the Akatsuki want to make the forest theirs," growled Temari darkly. Shikamaru growled angrily.

"When will there be peace?" sighed Shikamaru to himself. Temari and her patrol entered the pack camp. Shikamaru spotted a pup in the clearing. The spitting image of Naruto playing with two other pups. Hinata watched over them in the shade of her den while suckling her new pup. Shikamaru saw Neji leaving his den.

"Hello Neji. Where are you going at this time?" asked Temari. Neji looked back towards his den.

"I'm fetching food for Tenten-Chan. She's not feeling well," admitted Neji as he walked past us.

"I wonder if you'll be like that if I become expectant," said Temari eyeing Shikamaru curiously. Shikamaru noticed her staring at him.

"W-Well I would help you in every way I can," said Shikamaru rather timidly. The patrol began to disperse as Shikamaru and Temari walked toward Hinata.

"Back from the patrol?" asked Hinata. Temari and Shikamaru nodded in unison. Temari looked at the young wolf pup with yearning.

Did Temari really want to have pups to support my pack?

"What is her name?" asked Temari rather interested. Hinata licked the pup. The pup's fur was a light blue like her mother's and she had yellow orange hair like Naruto's.

"Her name is Ai," replied Hinata tiredly. Shikamaru could see how drained Hinata was.

"Let's go Temari and let Hinata rest," said Shikamaru as he nudged Temari. The two wolves made it back to their den. As they lay close together in their den Temari thought hard about what she was committing.

"Are you awake Shika?" asked Temari quietly as night fell outside. Shikamaru opened one eye.

"What is it?" asked Shikamaru as he shifted in the den. Temari could hear their breathing inside the warm burrow.

"I've been thinking. I want to bear your children so Nara Pack can live on," said Temari once again as she moved closer to Shikamaru. Shikamaru sighed.

"We've already gone through the mating process. We're just going to have to wait," said Shikamaru sleepily. Temari sighed as she closed her eyes. Shikamaru looked at the sad she-wolf next to him. "I'm sorry."

Temari looked at Shikamaru appreciatively. "It's not your fault. I just…never mind," said Temari as she laid her head on Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru just let it drop and fell asleep.

SHIKA POV

"Shika!" barked Temari in my ear. "Shika wake up!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Temari crouched in front of me. She was right in front of my face. It was rigidly cold as a breeze swept by. Clouds of fog seeped out of Temari's mouth as she breathed softly.

"What's going on?" I said as I fully awakened. It looked white outside. Clouds of fog puffed out of my mouth as well. Temari beckoned me to follow her outside. I slipped out of the den. The clearing was covered in a white sheet of snow. Snow still lightly fell from the sky. "Winter has already started?"

"Yep," said Temari looking up at the sky.

"Just what we need right now," I said as I sighed. Temari pushed me with her paw.

"Don't worry about it! At least we don't have to worry about bears," said Temari truthfully. I looked at her skeptically.

"What about the Akatsuki?" I asked. She paused for a minute.

"Oh, I forgot about them."

"Of course you did." We walked through paw deep snow towards the leader's den. I looked inside the burrow. I could only smell Hinata and Naruto's daughter, but Naruto wasn't in the den with her. "Naruto seems to be out."

"Why don't you lead the patrol today?" asked Temari. I blinked.

"What? You want me to choose?" I asked skeptical again. Temari stared at her mate and grinned.

"Can't handle the job of a beta?" asked Temari mockingly. I growled frustrated as I walked off.

"Fine, I'll be back," I replied as I looked for some wolves to join me on the patrol. Neji was obviously preoccupied. I saw Gaara on the other side of the clearing. I padded over to him.

"Hey Gaara, would like to go on a patrol with me?" I asked. Gaara immediately sat up.

"Sure, it has been a little boring around here," admitted Gaara. Shikamaru managed to gather up Choji Ino's mate and Kiba another brown wolf along with his pet Akamaru. The patrol walked through the forest examining the border.

"Argh, I hate the snow," growled Choji as he walked awkwardly in the snow. Gaara's tail was wagging all the while.

"Really, I think snow is fun. It sure is better than that dry sand," said Gaara as he licked a bit of snow. Kiba growled happily.

"Where I was born there was a lot of snow," bragged Kiba. I turned to him.

"So you're used to this kind of weather, huh?" I asked as I sniffed the air. What was this weird scent? Suddenly I felt something slam into me and knock me to the ground. On top of me was a gray wolf with circular glasses. "Who the heck are you? Get off of me! Are you one of the Akatsuki?!" I struggled under the gray wolf.

"The Akatsuki?" laughed the wolf. "I am Kabuto right hand to Orochimaru. You are intruding on our land."

I was frantically trying to get from under Kabuto. "Shut up!" I yelled as I grabbed onto his neck and flipped him off me. Akamaru and Choji pinned him to the ground.

"What should we do with him Shikamaru?" asked Choji. I stood up and glared at the wolf.

"Maybe we should just kill him," growled Kiba. Kabuto began to struggle more.

"If you kill me Orochimaru will avenge me!" barked Kabuto. I barked sharply at him.

"I won't kill you, but tell your master that this is our land and if I catch you here again…I will kill you. Let him go," I ordered Choji and Akamaru. Kabuto was released and he ran off.

"Coward," growled Gaara disgusted with Kabuto. I turned back.

"Let's go. We better report this to Naruto," I said as the others followed me back to the pack.