"Greetings, howlers!" Orochimaru shouted from across the grassy clearing. His family stood behind him, mixed within the underbrush. They were just as confused as the wolves were at that moment. When he'd told them they were going to pay the brutes a visit, they didn't didn't think he was serious about it. He promised them nothing would happen, but the wolves were positioning themselves in a way that might signal otherwise.

"What are you doing here?" The Uchiha Alpha couldn't help the irritation that stuck out in his voice upon asking such a simple question, nor did he regret it. Seeing the white foxes on his turf brought on nothing but loathing in not just him but in every wolf present, plus a single red fox. Soon his mate took to his side, equally vexed but calm outside. They both had a gut feeling that Orochimaru wouldn't pull something so foolish as this without a plan in motion. Whatever that plan was, Naruto didn't want to stick around to find out.

"Sasuke, we should leave. " He found that that came out as more of a plea than a suggestion.

Orochimaru's slits ventured over to the little traitor after hearing such poorly uttered words. "Naruto?! My, my you've grown into quite the runaway! Are you still a little sultress as well?"

"Bite me, you putrid snake!" Naruto snapped, stifling back a snarl.

"And catch whatever disease you could of picked up from your repulsive procreation with them? No, thank you."

"I repeat, what are you doing here?" Sasuke spoke up before his mate could retort.

The fox backed down momentarily before he acted on his impulses to tear the white serpent to shreds.

"Well we were scouting out the area of course. You see, we lost two other traitors but you can have them since you're housing." He simpered, stretching out his front paws and yawning casually.

Suddenly a snow pelt fox sprouted out from the far left of the two groups, running out into the middle of the clearing to it's rightful side. She then eased to a stop near her new leader and whispered something that made his ears twitch. The wolves, being riled by this, decided to show it by growling unsynced.

"Oh relax, howlers. She's my scout." With a nod from the Seeker, she departed back into the crowd of her family.

"Scout all you want. You can't have our land without a fight."

"Very true, Uchiha. I can't have your land without some conflict right now. Later would be a much more promising date though. As for the now, the land is worthless to me. I trust you to take care of it for me. But judging by how you left no guards behind at your home, I won't put too much faith in you."

Sasuke kept emotion vacant off his face though he was panicking inside. He looked around, seeing nearly every adult out there on the field. With the Tsuyoi Alpha on his left, he calmly said, "Tobi."

"Tobi has it!" The swirly wolf then gathered a large group and headed back to camp with haste.

"There was no need to do that Uchiha. We don't plan on attacking today or at any sooner date from today." Orochimaru's tailed swished back and forth in a careless manner as he had spoken those very words.

"Liar." Naruto let the snarl out this time.

"I suppose you would know when I'm lying, Naruto? From teacher to former student? "

"Enough! What do you want?!" Sasuke barked, his voice echoing. The puppy games with his mate were getting tiresomely old by this point.

"Major improvement on your vocals, Uchiha," Seeker complemented, intrigued only briefly before continuing with, "I want a truce."

"Bullshit," Senbei uttered what most of the wolves were thinking.

"Senbei?" He cocked his head slightly to the left, slits zooming in on the rough image of the late Tsuyoi Alpha. "You're still alive? That's...unfortunate. I was sure the bears had gotten you."

"That was you!" Senbei bared his fangs, growling loud enough to feel the vibration in himself. His fur prickled and his body tensed as he inched forward only to be cut off by the raven wolf.

"Not now!" Sasuke matched the others volume instinctively. He held his ground in a defensive pose more than aggressive to get the point across that this wasn't the time.

"He sent those beasts after me and my son!"

"Your son?!" He unconsciously shifted to an aggressive posture in an instant.

"You know what I meant!"

"Trouble in paradise?" Orochimaru chuckled in actual amusement. "Should I come back another time?"

"No. We'll talk about this later." He replied, making sure Senbei understood they were indeed going to have a discussion. His attention then returned back to the white fox after the larger wolf huffed and puffed his way back to the group. "Why do you want a truce all of a sudden?"

"For future purposes. You stay on your side and we stay on ours."

"To what date?" Sasuke asked, walking back to his mate and catching the fleeting smirk on the Seeker's face that stirred up a storm of worry in the pit of his stomach.

"Till winter."

Confusion ignited first through the wolf clans. It was then followed by fear which of course leads to anger. Their voices filled the air to the brim with outrage. Winter was no problem for the wolves on the mountain. The fact their enemy would be that season's theme, is a major problem. Their eyesight is keen, but their foe was still new to them entirely.

"I take it foxes don't hibernate?" The raven whispered over the angry crowd to the red fox, half joking and half hoping that he was wrong.

"Really, Sasuke?" Naruto scoffed, glancing up at the wolf. "I hope you don't."

"Didn't hurt to ask." He mumbled, sighing afterwards.

"Do we have a deal?! Or do you all not know what winter is?!" Orochimaru shouted, tickling only himself. To him, it was mostly satisfying to watch the wolves freak out. His family on the other hand, all wanted to leave for one key reason.

Sasuke's ears perked up at the snide comment. He then chuckled sarcastically, stepping out from his pack and on to the center. They silenced in different sections once they saw this single break in rank. The wolf's fox quickly followed, puzzled by the other's sudden actions.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto asked in a hushed tone, worried that his mate must've lost his temper.

"Meeting him halfway." He kept going, voice leveled unlike the red canine. He was more focused on the trespassers, noticing their numbers for the first time.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"So we are in an agreement then?" The Seeker beamed, hearing his old students outburst. He then flicked his tail for one of his pack members to follow him down.

Sasuke nodded, stopping to allow the white fox to make his small trek over. He then tended to his mate's whining against his decision and said, "What choice do we have?"

"Fight them if you're so determined to stay!" Naruto urged quietly, "Look at how many of you there are to them!"

"And you're not bothered by that? Where's Sarutobi and Jiraiya? Or were there always this few? " The raven grumbled lowly, glimpsing around at the uninhabited areas around the deceivingly small white canine group.

"Oh…" Naruto swallowed hard, adjusting closer to his mate. He looked around as well, pondering on where the rest of the family was. There wasn't much to think on since he was sure the wolf was right. The others had to be somewhere.

"Till winter it is?" Orochimaru surprised the two that were peering everywhere but at him.

"Why winter?" Sasuke focused back, saying, "I see no other reason than a tactical advantage for you."

"You can continue to see whatever you want, Uchiha." Orochimaru cooed, leaning a little too close to the wolf. "But do you believe it?"

Naruto swiftly slipped in between them and gnashed his jaws at his former teacher that was overstepping major boundaries. "I believe you'll be 'seeking' your eyes if you try that again."

He chortled at this, calmly stepping back. "Amazing... It's a shame Jiraiya isn't here to see how tamed you are now. "

"What?" The fox blinked, caught off by such an empty statement.

The raven joined in the conversation, wanting to get back on topic though he appreciated his mates defensive lash out. "So I'm right? You plan on attacking us come winter."

Orochimaru slowly switched his gaze to the Uchiha Alpha, visage deadpan. "That's your theory? A winter attack when food is scarce for both of us now confined to territories? I almost thought you were clever for a minute."

"You haven't said I'm wrong so I beg to differ."

Naruto searched the family of snowy canines during the two's share of witts. He was beginning to fear the worst. It was becoming more and more suspicious as Sarutobi and Jiraiya failed to showed up, especially the Supreme one himself.

"Where are they?" He found himself speaking up during their conversation he'd toned out of.

Seeker ignored the prodding red fox and kept his eyes locked on the raven. "Do we have a truce or not?"

"What?! Hold on-"

"For what, Naruto?" Sasuke waited impatiently. He'd gotten all he needed to know by now and saw no need to further the conversation.

Naruto looked away, thinking critically. He knew explaining it to the wolf wouldn't make sense, and the snake likely wouldn't answer if he asked him. An idea popped into his head some seconds later. He acted on it, setting his sights on the other white fox that had followed Orochimaru down. "Where is Sarutobi?"

"He has-"

"Don't answer that,"said Orochimaru in a relaxed abrupt fashion.

"Why?! You did something to him didn't you?!"

"The conspiracy theories here are high!" The Seeker laughed an unpleasant cackle. "I'll tell you what, since you care so much for some reason, I'll answer one question with the utmost truth."

Sasuke watched his mate on the verge of exploding and thus decided then what was most important though he didn't like it one bit. "Okay-"

"Ah, but Naruto can't be here." He through in that little hitch that didn't sit well with the canine outed.

"That's not fair!"

"Calm down, wolf pet! I'm sending my tag along back as well."

"That's hardly fair still!"

"Do you want to know or not, Naruto?" Sasuke groaned, anxious to get this over with.

"I do, but-!"

"Then give us a minute. I have what I need to know so I promise I'll ask him about them."

Naruto bit back, head low. Inside he wrestled with himself over whether he wanted to know bad enough to leave his mate alone to whisper with the serpent. The truth would help the situation a lot more than the wolf knew. At the same time it could be a waste of time. Eventually a sigh slipped out and he nodded curtly before departing. As he left, the other white fox marched on back to his side as well.

When they were out of earshot, Orochimaru muttered jeeringly, "And here I thought he cared about you. I can't imagine how it must feel knowing he's willing to risk battle secrets for simple whereabouts for ones that want you all dead."

"Where are they, Seeker?" Sasuke held the other's gaze, keeping a straight face. He could see clearly through the other's mind games now, but that last statement got to him a little.

"Is that what you really want to know?" He grinned slyly, tail swishing around playfully.

"You hadn't planned on answering anything else or you wouldn't have sent him away."

"Clever wolf."

"Where are they?"

"Still so rude though. No thank you? I rarely compliment howlers."

"I obviously don't do familiarities well with enemies." The raven rolled his eyes, tail flicking only once.

"To bad. As for the Supreme one and the Sage, you should have no problem. Dead enemies don't care too much how you speak to them." He then licked his right paw casually.

"I'm going to assume you had something to do with that."

"Say please and I'll give you a hint."

Sasuke just stared at the deranged canine and decided he considered Toby and Senbei more sane. "...Truce it is. I'll be seeing you come winter."

"Oh fine. Truce!" Orochimaru shouted for all to hear, trotting slowly around the wolf once. "So how do we seal this? Sniff? Spit? Bite?"

The Uchiha Alpha simply sidestepped when the fox got to close again for comfort. "We just say truce actually. No form of any contact needed."

"Hm, fair enough. Till winter, Uchiha." He dipped his head, swiftly turning away afterwards.

"Till winter." Sasuke left with no gesture given, not seeing the point.

They returned to their respected packs on either side, turning back to spot each other only when they'd reached their group. The white foxes were the first to go when their leader flicked his tail in an odd slanted 'S' formation. All of the wolves watched their enemy disappear back into the underbrush. Deciding to play it safe before returning back to den, the Uchiha Alpha had four groups of scouts cover the area to make sure their foes had left. He took a few more seconds to explain to the remaining ones of his plan to tell all about the truce when everyone returned. It was a fair move to save himself from having to repeat later.

One the way back to den area, he and his mate shared some words ahead of the group.

"So what did he say?" Naruto asked, head low again but ears up and listening.

Sasuke couldn't ignore the twinge in his chest from hearing that question. Of all the things to ask about at a time like this, he didn't want to hear that. "Are you serious?"

"Yes? I'm your mate for crying out loud. I should know about the truce now not later."

"What?" He had heard correctly. He just wanted to hear it again.

"The truce? Or naw?" That was priority one in the fox's list of things to know. He didn't get why his mate looked so relieved about that.

The raven chuckled and nodded. "Their territory starts at the river fall that's drops into ours. From there they have all the land back up to the Tsuyoi territory."

"River fall?" Naruto teased the word choice. "You mean waterfall, wolfy? I didn't know there was one up there."

"Me either. I don't believe there is one."

"Then what about our territory?"

Sasuke nodded to the back where they'd come from. "From the clearing to the den."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yes-"

"That's nothing! We're practically box-"

"Keep your voice down!" He strongly advised, not wanting to start an uproar before they even made it home.

"Why should he?" Senbei caught up to the two, barging in the middle.

"Not now, Senbei."

"I'm going to assume you messed up again, Uchiha. "

"Say's the brute that nearly started a war!"

"Say's the one fox that started it all."

Sasuke would've stopped their bickering, but if it kept his mate focused on something else then so be it. He endured their contest for the loudest muzzle in all the mountain till they reached the den area. Once there, he crowned his mate the winner.

"Naruto, congratulations. "

The fox paused in mid argument, curious about the other's announcement. "What?"

"Nothing. Senbei, if you don't mind I'd like to have a word with you and Tobi. Could you go get him?" He received a lazy nod from the larger canine before it took off.

"Hey, you're going to start now? Sasuke?" When Naruto didn't get a response, he opened his muzzle to ask again but was cut off by a sudden lick on the snout from the wolf.

"Go check on the boy's for me." He left his mate to over think that whole moment like he knew he would, giving him time to take care of a few things.

Author's Note: About the days Saboru spent there, I realised I had went back and literally counted them as days without thinking logically that it can't possibly work like that. I also found some other things that didn't flow right. A rewrite is extremely needed but I can't right now, lol. I have to finish this up and then fix it on the sidelines.