I have Notepad now so yay! Anyway Notepad's not the best system for editing so you may see more errors in my writing. Sorry for the wait! Enjoy! Yay some of the story is Naruto's POV! :D

Chapter 11: An Alliance

Naruto POV

I lay next to Hinata staring outside of the den. There was the quiet murmurs of my pack outside. Shikamaru's news particularly worried me. What if the Akatsuki were planning an attack? How can we stop them?I thought for a long moment about what I should tell the pack. I stood up lightly so I wouldn't disturb Hinata'ssleep. As I padded outside I could hear the pups playing with Gaara as usual.

"Shikamaru's back!" barked Kiba. I twitched my ears as I heard Shikamaru enter the clearing with Neji's pups, but there were two other pairs of paws following him. Two brown she wolves entered with Shikamaru. They smelled of the scent Temariand Gaara had when I'd first found them.

"Wow! The pack is so big!" yipped one of the she wolves. I walked over to meet them.

"Shikamaru, who are these wolves?" asked Kiba staring at the newcomers. Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak, but Kaori jumped in front of him.

"They're from Suna Pack like Temari and Gaara!" Kaori barked loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Who are they?" I jumped as Gaara barked aloud next to me. The two she wolves stared at Gaara for a long time.

"Matsuri, that's..."

"Gaara!" barked the she wolf who I guessed was Matsuri.

"Matsuri? I thought you were dead...," said Gaara. Matsuri was wagging her tail furiously.

"Ahem," I made my presence known among my pack. Shikamaru pricked his ears.

"Um, this is Matsuri and Sari. They are some of the survivors of Suna Pack," he growled. "They want to help us."

"Help us with what?" barked Neji over hearing.

"The Akatsuki are planning something," I growled darkly. I looked at the two she wolves. "Come to my den, you too Shikamaru." The tree wolves followed me into my den. I suddenly realized Hinata was waiting quietly for me wide awake. "Were you awake long?"

Hinata shook her head. "So, you're from Temari's pack?"

Both she wolves nodded. I sat down beside Hinata.

"How do you intend to help us you two?" I growled questionably. Matsuri, Sari and Shikamaru got comfortable. Sari opened her mouth to speak, but Matsuri interrupted her.

"We want to form an alliance with you and our new pack," replied Matsuri. I twitched my ears, interested.

"Go on."

"If we work together our pack can help you when you get ready to attack," added Sari. I looked to Hinata for advice. She nodded at me once again.

"Alright, but I must meet with your alpha and beta to make sure they know what is going on," I growled approvingly.

"I can go get our alpha!" barked Sari energetically. Matsuri exchanged a worried look with Shikamaru.

"You can't go Sari...It will be hard for you with your paralyzed leg," growled Matsuri worriedly.

"I'll go with her," reassured Shikamaru.

"I want you to take Sasuke with you," I growled. I noticed Shikamaru grimace at his name. "He hasn't been out lately and I'd like for him to get familiar with the pack." Shikamaru nodded.

"Come on Sari. We have to go." Shikamaru slowly stood. Sari and Matsuri followed him out. Hinata brushed her tail across my flank.

"Don't worry Naruto. I'm sure they'll make it safely," assured Hinata. I sighed heavily.

"I hope you're right Hinata..."

Shika POV

Matsuri volunteered to check on Temari for me while she was staying. Sari and I went to find Sasuke. I eventually found him sitting near Sakura'sden watching Gaara play with the pups.

"Hey, Sasuke!" I barked. He lifted his head.

"What do you want?" he asked dully as if seeing me was a let down to his day.

"I came to tell you that you're coming with Sari and I to form an alliance with her pack," I explained our situation as quick as possible. By the change in his expression I believed he was interested.

"Why?"

"Because the Akatsuki are planning to take over Uzumaki pack. It was Naruto's order for you to join us."

"Naruto's order? Fine, I'll go," said Sasuke standing up. I was about to question Sasuke, but I decided to let it go.

He changes his mind too easily when it comes to Naruto.

We met up with Sari and we set off. Sasuke looked curiously at Sari as she limped beside me.

Sasuke got closer to me and whispered into my ear, "Is she fit for the trip? How far are we going?"

"Don't worry she's pretty strong," I growled to Sasuke. "How far are we going?"

"All the way across that land over there," barked Sari pointing towards the Akatsuki border.

"Uh, all the way over there?" I said uncertainly.

"Where exactly is your pack?" asked Sasuke. Sari looked across the border.

"My pack lives in the forest that's next to the mountains," replied Sari. Sasuke and I looked at each other.

"But, that's in territory that we've never explored before," growled Sasuke. "It will be impossible for us to go across Akatsuki territory without being spotted."

"Huh? That's their territory? Then we'll just have to sneak through unseen," barked Sari sounding the least bit worried.

"Are you crazy?!" I barked aloud. "They'd find us as soon as we cross the border!"

"Maybe she's right. We'd have to go unseen," replied Sasuke. "I have an idea."

"Really?" I blinked. It wasn't often that Sasuke had an idea so I went along with it.

"They've already seen your face Nara and they already know about me," informed Sasuke. "So we'll have to mask our scent and fur."

"How?"

Sasuke scraped the ground. "Dirt."

___________________________________Time Passed____________________________________

I sneezed as we crept through Akatsuki territory.

"Shh!" growled Sasuke quietly. His fur was a mix of brown and black now from rolling in the dirt while I was completely brown. Sari didn't need to mask her appearance, but she hid her scent anyway. We stopped at a tall tree.

"God, this place reeks of hunters and the Akatsuki," I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" asked Sasuke ignoring my complaints. Sari sniffed the air for a moment.

"Erm...I think so...," she replied uncertainly. I scratched the ground unpatiently.

"You think?!"

"Shut up you idiot! Do you want the Akatsuki to find us?" snarled Sasuke. Sari continued padding quietly, but then stopped abruptly to sniff the air.

"What do you smell? Is it an Akatsuki wolf?" I asked anxiously. Sasuke was sniffing the air too.

"Its water," growled Sasuke to me. At this moment I could smell and hear running water. Sari suddenly broke into a run and we followed. Sari stopped at the edge of a cliff. We all looked down into a gorge where a river surged. Sari's gaze was locked on the other side of the river.

"That's where my pack lives," barked Sari. I looked down at the rushing water and then stared at Sari.

"The waters too rough here. Why don't we go down river?" I asked. Sari shook her head.

"That would take too long. It'd be dark by the time we reach a safe place," Sari growled.

"I wouldn't sleep easy spending the night on Akatsuki territory," admitted Sasuke.

"Even if we cross now it'd still be dark by the time we reached my pack's territory," Sari corrected him.

"So either way we're spending the night in Akatsuki territory?" I asked disappointingly. Sari sat on her haunches.

"I'm afraid you're right," growled Sasuke. "We might as well find a good shelter."

___________________________Uzumaki Pack_________________________________________

Naruto POV

I sat on top of my rocky den as I watched the pack chatting with each other. I felt uneasy as I watched Matsuri catching up with Gaara. What if Nara and the others never came back? I shook my head. They will come back. I lay my head on my paws. Suddenly I heard tiny paws scraping on the rock I was sitting on.

"Daddy!" cried a familiar voice. I saw my daughter, Ai, racing towards me. She jumped on my back. "Hi!"

"Hello Ai," I replied dimly. She peered over me.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" Ai whined laying her head on mine. I sighed.

"I sent a few wolves out to make friends with another pack. I don't know how long they'll be gone or what could happen to them...," I growled as my worries suddenly built up again.

"Don't be sad Daddy! They'll come back!" yipped Ai energetically. I stayed silent as I thought. "Maybe this will make you feel better!" Ai started to tickle me with her paws.

"Ha,ha,ha! Hey stop! Ai don't do that!" I barked loudly as I turned over. Ai continued to tickle me.

"No, not until you're happy again!"

"Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha! Okay, okay! I'm happy now!" I laughed hysterically. Ai finally stopped tickling me. I nuzzled my daughter playfully. "Thank you Ai. I feel a lot better now."

"Daddy are there bad wolves?" asked Ai sitting on her haunches staring at me.

"Well the Akatsuki are bad wolves. Some of them aren't even wolves at all," I growled. Ai took a glance at the entrance to the clearing.

"They aren't going to come here are they?" she asked worriedly. I pulled Ai closer to me with my tail.

"No, but if they do your big brother and I will protect you," I growled fiercely. "I won't let them lay a claw on you or my pack."

"Really Daddy?" I nodded to Ai. She suddenly stood. "Well, when I'm bigger I'll be able to fight too!"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" I asked playfully. Ai turned to me.

"Yeah! Believe it!" she barked happily. Suddenly my worries vanished for a brief second. I was forgetting how strong Uzumaki pack was. There was no need to worry about Shikamaru and the others. Suddenly Ai tackled me and started play biting me. I lightly batted Ai off of me. She crawled on my back and found a good grip. I spun around trying get her off.

"Hey! Get off of my back," I barked playfully as I turned my head to grab Ai. Suddenly I heard another set of paws coming towards us.

"Ai!" called Keiji, Ai's brother. "We're playing tag! Wanna join?"

"You bet! Bye Daddy!" said Ai as she jumped off of my back. Before she left to play she licked my nose. "Stay happy! Or I'll have to come back and tickle you!" With that in her mind she ran to play. I sighed.

"If there is a battle I just hope the pups aren't involved..." I gazed up at the sky as the day drew to a close.

Shika POV

We created a bushy shelter next to the river. It wasn't exactly the best place to sleep considering it was out in the open. It was my turn to keep watch while Sasuke and Sari slept. Sleep was nagging at my mind as I struggled to stay awake. It was pitch black dark tonight with the moon covered by the clouds. So I had to rely on my hearing and smelling. Even I wasn't used to seeing through darkness like this. I yawned as I lay down on my belly.

Suddenly I heard a twig snap. My ears twitched. What was that? I ignored the noise. Probably a rabbit... Then I heard the sound of running paws. I stood abruptly realizing those paw steps were too heavy to be a rabbit's. A loud yelp erupted from behind me.

"Sari!" I barked. It was very faint, but I could see a dog had Sari pinned to the ground. He was a blonde dog with floppy ears. It was Deidara from before!

"What are you doing here?!" snarled Deidara. "You'll pay the price for-." Deidara was cut off as Sasuke threw him off of Sari.

"Nara! Where are you?!" barked Sasuke. I ran over to them.

"I'm right here!"

"I smell Akatsuki wolves! There are many of them!" he howled.

"What?!" Something black tackled me roughly before Sasuke could answer me. It was the pure black wolf, Itachi. His red eyes glared at me through the darkness.

"Itachi!" barked Sasuke.

"Hello, little brother," growled Itachi. I kicked Itachi off of me, but then I was attacked by another wolf. I lunged for the wolf but I caught air.

"Too fast for you Nara?" asked another voice I've never heard. I whipped around to lunge, but the wolf raked his claws across my shoulder. "Too slow!"

"Kisame, don't play with your enemies!" snapped another wolf. I felt a sharp pain in my back leg as the wolf who I thought was Kisame threw me to the ground. I could hear Sasuke struggling with the other wolves. I thrashed wildly trying to stand on my feet again. I soon spotted Sari scratching the fur off of another wolf.

"You're mine Nara!" howled Itachi as he crashed into me. Before Itachi could pin me again I flipped him over and pinned him near the edge of the river. He didn't seem surprised that I'd caught on to his tricks. He suddenly smirked and disappeared under me.

"Wha-?!" Suddenly the ground gave way under my paws. I crashed into the dark, cold water.

That's it for now! Like I always say don't be afraid to speak out! If you want the next POV to be from whatever character just let me know! Bye!! I'm watching you...through your reviews...B3