Dwindling Inferno

“The Great Naruto bridge, huh?” Suigetsu placed his hand on his hip as he admired the craftsmanship of the bridge they were about to cross.

It was a mighty work of wood and steel. Large, carefully painted wooden pillars held up the grand and almost too detailed ceiling. Golden shingles lined themselves symmetrically across the top, with only the nameplate to interrupt the grand pattern.

Beside him, Sasuke remained quiet as he too, stared up at the bridge’s name.

“What a weird thing to call a bridge, right, Sasuke?” Suigetsu chuckled and elbowed the omega in the arm lightly. The baby gurgled and kicked his legs out, like he was in on the humor too.

Instead of Sasuke responding, like the normal human approach to communication, the omega let the seagulls squawking in the distance be his reply instead.

Really, it was a perfect day minus Sasuke’s iciness. The sun was out and shone warmly on Suigetsu’s regrettably pale skin. All that time in Orochimaru’s lab had siphoned any and all melanin from his skin. It was one of the many drawbacks of being one of Orochimaru’s test subjects. Suigetsu wouldn’t even recommend it for his worst enemy. Or that crazy girl Karin, and that was saying something.

The saltiness of the sea clung to the breeze in a way that Suigetsu had missed. It had been a long time since he’d been to the beach. He’d have to find a way into tricking Sasuke into letting them stop and kill some time at the shore before they left.

But first, Suigetsu had something else on his mind.

“Did Master Zabuza put up a good fight at least?” He asked.

He’d barely known the aloof alpha, he’d only just presented himself when they’d met, but still, Zabuza was a comrade of his. One that had worked with Suigetsu’s older brother, both of which were part of the seven swordsmen of the mist. By default, the sharp toothed alpha wanted an honorable end for his predecessor.

He turned to look at Sasuke, but the omega had a distant look in his eyes. He’d had that gleam in those dark irises since Suigetsu had read the name of the bridge aloud, but upon Suigetsu’s question, Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed together.

Even the baby seemed to pick up on Sasuke’s odd behavior.

“Sasuke?” he tried again.

The omega seemed to snap himself out of whatever he had been thinking about.

“Let’s go.” Sasuke didn’t give him time to argue before he was walking forward at a brisk pace, not bothering to see if Suigetsu was following after him.

Just what did this bridge mean to him?

“Hey wait!” The alpha called after him to no avail.

Them finding that the sword was missing did not help Sasuke’s mood- if anything, it only made him walk faster.

By the time Sasuke had finally slowed down and stopped to allow the alpha to catch up to him, they’d arrived at a humble looking hut by the southernmost part of the town. The hut was so close to the shoreline that the waves were almost deafening. In fact, the hut was only accessible by a small, creaky platform that extended from the last bits of land and out and over the beginnings of the deep blue body of water below them.

They’d appeared at the right time apparently, because a young man was just exiting the door when Sasuke cleared his throat.

The local startled so badly that he accidentally dropped his keys. Then, miraculously, his eyes went wide in disbelief, “Sasuke?!”.

“Inari.” Sasuke responded. If Suigetsu had to guess, that was as good of a greeting as this Inari guy was gonna get.

How did this random local boy with shaggy brown hair and patches on his pants know Sasuke Uchiha?

Suigetsu rubbed his chin in thought. They both knew each other. Inari seemed surprised to see Sasuke. They clearly had a history.

Was this the baby’s father?

Suigetsu was about to ask, but Inari cut him off.

“A baby?! You had a baby! Congratulations- is she anyone’s I know?”

Well, Suigetsu thought, there went that idea.

“He,” Sasuke emphasized, “-is mine.”

The omega said it with such an air of finality that Inari, who’d seemed like a disgusting ball of sunshine and rainbows, sobered up. Suigetsu pretended to not see, but Inari’s eyes widened after sneaking a closer glance.

Inari knew something. There was no denying the spark of familiarity that had set ablaze in the young alpha’s eyes. Was it the eyes? Or the cheek marks? Perhaps it was the way the baby’s skin tanned under the sun, while Sasuke’s stayed pale and miserable?

Whatever had been the clue that tipped off Inari, it didn’t matter. Because there was a connection now.

“Who’s this guy? And are Sakura and Naruto here too?” Inari asked, craning his neck around the two standing in front of him to see if there were anyone else behind them.

There was that name again, Naruto. Sasuke knew who the bridge had been named after? The way it was named had sounded like this Naruto person had died, but Inari’s question implied that the guy was alive.

“No, they’re not. Is Tazuna here?” Sasuke redirected the conversation quickly, like he didn’t want to open that closet full of skeletons.

Tazuna… why was that name familiar to Suigetsu? That’s right! He was the bridge builder that Master Zabuza had been sent to assassinate four years ago!

“Sorry, he’s in the Land of Lightning working on a contract- he won’t be back until the winter. What do you need? Maybe I can help instead?” Inari asked with wide eyes.

If that kid didn’t absolutely stink with the pheromones of a newly presented alpha, Suigetsu would have thought that maybe he was an omega, just based off of his doe eyes alone.

Suigetsu’s stomach rumbled then, and the alpha allowed his hunger to do the talking for him, “Maybe we can pool information together over some lunch?”

Sasuke and Inari looked at him then shared a quick glance between each other. Ultimately, they agreed, and that was how Suigetsu happily found himself enjoying a fourth helping of yogurt in what Inari had called ‘the best restaurant for miles’.

He hadn’t mentioned, though, that it was also the only restaurant for miles.

The three had gotten a table near the back, facing the entrance. Inari had suggested a table closer to the entryway of the restaurant, but Suigetsu and Sasuke both had disagreed. Their shinobi instincts wanted them to have the tactical advantage at all times, even in a simple location like a dessert place.

Suigetsu was happily downing his yogurt that Sasuke had so graciously offered to buy after the alpha had whined at him non stop for exactly seven minutes. Sasuke Uchiha, what a philanthropist.

Meanwhile, Inari filled them in on where the sword might be located.

“About a year or so ago, Tenzen Daikoku took it. He came to challenge Zabuza for the sword, but when he found that Zabuza had been killed in battle, he took it and left.”

Suigetsu glanced at Sasuke, who Inari had chosen to sit next to in the booth, and was amused at what he saw. Sasuke had the pointed and calculated look of a model shinobi on his face, but the baby had grabbed hold of the omega’s dark hair and was yanking on it with a dedicated sort of glee.

“Uh Sasuke, you need some help there?” Suigetsu grinned toothily.

Man, that kid was starting to really grow on him.

Sasuke simply glared, but the spiteful look was turned instead to some hulking guy a few tables away scooting his chair away from his table so loudly that the legs of the chair scraped against the wooden floor.

“Real classy.” Inari muttered under his breath, and Suigetsu decided that he liked the runt.

He just wondered what his connection was to Sasuke, is all. And who were these Sakura and Naruto guys? Friends of Sasuke’s? Or old teammates? Sasuke had seemed real worked up at the bridge when he’d seen the name. It had to be that they were his old teammates.

The three went back to their discussion, Sasuke asking a question here and there, Suigetsu correcting Inari’s pronunciation of Zabuza’s sword’s name, Kubikiribocho, etcetera.

Only, right when Sasuke had gotten the baby to take a nap, that asshole guy from earlier waltzed up to their table like he owned the place and placed his giant hand on their table. The alpha’s audacity had Suigetsu placing his spoon down on the table, his yogurt forgotten.

“Hey there, pretty.” The alpha who stank of alcohol and damp sand attempted to say suavely, but he slurred too much for it to sound like anything other than drunken flirting.

Sasuke said nothing, he just glared up at the stranger.

Suigetsu was very familiar with that tactic. Anytime Sasuke didn’t want to unsheathe his sword, he used something as equally lethal: his stone cold, emotionless stare. He’d seen people wet themselves while under the Uchiha’s ire, even without Sasuke using his sharingan.

Inari sat there, frozen in second hand embarrassment.

The newcomer didn’t at all pick up on the negative aura that had woven itself around the booth, and even went so far as to actually sniffing the air around Sasuke.

“You smell like a million bucks.” The drunken asshole winked.

Sure, Sasuke was super attractive or whatever, but to invade his privacy by trying to catch his scent? That was going too far.

“Hey man, you’re barking up the wrong tree here-” Suigetsu tried to intervene, but Sasuke had it covered.

“And you smell like shit, what’s your point?” The omega snapped.

That really pissed the guy off. The aggression in his body language started rolling off in waves. He curled his hand that had been pressed onto their table into a fist and slammed it down. In doing so, he startled the baby awake. The table had bounced under the force, sending Suigetsu’s empty yogurt dishes clattering and rolling around on the wooden surface. His spoon fell to the ground, which really sucked because he wasn’t even done with his fourth one yet.

Inari jumped in his seat amid the angry, frustrated cries of Sasuke’s kid, neither appreciating the loud noise. Suigetsu spared a measuring gaze around at the other patrons and found that all of them were pointedly ignoring the scene.

Staff that had earlier been so quick to come to their table to try and appease Sasuke’s needs and coo at the baby were now pretending to be deaf and not hear the commotion. Never in Suigetsu’s life had he been more relieved that he was an alpha than in that moment. He didn’t have to put up with bullshit like this at all.

Sasuke looked down at the wailing, fussy pup, angry over being woken so suddenly that his little face was blotchy and red as big, fat tears rolled down his cheeks. When he looked back up, even Suiegetsu gulped in fear, though the alpha had nothing to be scared of.

In a flash, Suigetsu’s arms were full of a crying baby and Sasuke was standing fiercely on the table with his heel dug into the man’s hand. The omega’s sword was drawn, pointed ever so closely to the alpha’s jugular.

“If you dare to show your face to me again, I will have you beg me for the sweet release of death.” Sasuke’s tone was chilling.

Realistically, Suigetsu knew that Sasuke wouldn’t actually murder the guy. But, knowing and imagining were two very different things. He could just picture the cold, disinterested eyes of the omega as blood splattered across his porcelain skin, adding a jarring element to his beauty. He could almost hear the sound of this annoying guy’s large, bulky body hitting the ground with a dull, fleshy thud.

The alpha shivered. For someone who was used to violent deaths and horrifying murders, even Suigetsu felt a little squeamish at the idea. If Sasuke ever wanted to, he would make an amazing mass murderer.

Everyone in the building was completely disturbed by the scene of Sasuke displaying not even a sixteenth of the domineering and striking power he held that oozed into his aura. Well, everyone except for the baby, whose tears had dried and instead, the little guy was staring up at his mother with awe swimming in those big blue eyes as boisterous giggles toppled out of his mouth.

Huh, so the sight of power made the kid happy. Maybe he took after Sasuke more than Suigetsu had first realized.

The offensive alpha spluttered something, but it only made Sasuke’s wicked smirk grow impressively more sinister. In Suigetsu’s arms, the baby clapped his hands together.

“That goes for anyone in this room as well!” Sasuke snapped before making a show of brandishing his sword and sheathing it once more all in one fluid, graceful motion.

He shifted his foot and allowed the embarrassed, drunken buffoon to run out of the building in fear. Everyone watched him go with silent mortification. Then, like nothing had happened, business started to go back to normal.

It would have struck Suigetsu as odd if he hadn’t known the tumultuous and crime ridden past of this seaside town.

“Wow, Sasuke’s as cool as he was back then too.” Inari whispered in awe.

Well, wasn’t that the truth.

~~~

Suigetsu had to admit, Sasuke was growing on him. Sure, the guy was still kind of a pain, but he was also kind of a good person underneath all that brooding and angst.

Plus, the longer Suigetsu went along with the omega, the more he got to play with the cutest little pup in the world.

“Stop.” Sasuke sighed from beside him, but the sharp toothed alpha ignored him.

He’d managed to swindle Sasuke into letting him hold the baby for a while, but that had developed into Suigetsu shifting his arms into water and then solidifying them a couple seconds later in a twisted, but adorable, game of ‘catch’ with the little guy.

“Nah, I’m not gonna spoil his fun just because his mom’s a party pooper!” Suigetsu laughed.

The baby, as if somehow understanding what Suigetsu had said, squalled with glee as the alpha shifted his arms to water again and the infant went soaring into the air for a split second before Suigetsu caught him with resolidified hands.

He could feel Sasuke’s glare like he could feel a bag of bricks being bashed against his skull, but Suigetsu ignored the prissy omega in favor of talking at the pup.

“You’re a little dare devil, aren’t you? Oh, yes you are- taking to ol’ Uncle Suigetsu’s water like a fish.”

He tickled the chubby baby’s stomach and was rewarded with bright and merry fits of unrestrained giggles. Suigetsu pretended to think for a moment, and he just knew that Sasuke was getting more riled up by the minute, before he continued to talk to the baby again, “Hmmm, actually no, I don’t see any gills on you.”

The swordsman tickled the baby’s pale neck to emphasize his point.

“You do have some thick hair on that little head of yours though-I know! You’re like a little otter in the water!”

That was when possibly one of the greatest fits of genius the universe would ever bestow upon Suigetsu clicked. The stars aligned and the clouds cleared in the sky. Birds began to sing triumphant songs of his mental prowess.

“That’s it! Otter! I’m gonna call you Otter, how do you like the sound of that little guy?”

The baby-now so geniusly dubbed ‘Otter’ by Suigetsu beamed and shoved his tiny fist in his slobbery mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Suigetsu hummed gleefully.

“My child will not be called Otter.” Sasuke snipped pointedly.

The sun was beating down on them extra harshly today, so Suigetsu couldn’t fully make out the exact frown that no doubt occupied the pale boy’s face, but he bet it was quite the frown indeed.

The alpha rolled his eyes, “Well, come on Sasuke. I can’t keep calling him ‘Sasuke Jr.’ forever, you need to name him already!”

Even though the omega typically masked his scent, for a split second, Suigetsu thought he almost smelled the ferociously mournful tinge of lightning in the air. It had an undercurrent of rotten oranges underneath it, piquing Suigetsu’s curiosity for the millionth time since crossing that Naruto bridge a while ago.

The alpha couldn’t get over the face Sasuke had made once they’d heard the name. It meant something to him, that much was obvious, but what?

“I can’t.” was Sasuke’s emotionally aloof reply.

“Can’t or won’t? Is it because you have trouble coming up with names? I’ll help you if that’s the reason-”

“It’s not that.” Sasuke cut him off with increasing levels of irritation painting his tone.

Suigetsu shifted Otter around so that the alpha was holding him securely with one arm and used his freed up hand to latch on to Sasuke’s elbow. It was a bold choice, one that could have ended in Suigetsu getting his arm chopped off, but he took a chance.

“Then what is it?” he asked honestly.

Sasuke’s personal life was like thirty levels above being called ‘just a secret’. All Suigetsu knew was that Sasuke had a scent bond, the baby was wrapped up in a blue and orange jacket that was clearly not Sasuke’s, and that the omega was currently alone. It was time the alpha got at least a few answers, even if just so that he knew how to handle Sasuke’s moods better.

Sasuke, to his credit, didn’t attack Suigetsu for deigning to touch him. But, he did bristle like a cornered stray cat. All in all, not the worst reaction he’d ever gotten from the Uchiha.

“I don’t have to tell you.” Sasuke replied. He shifted his cold gaze away and pretended to focus heavily on their surroundings. There wasn’t much to look at, though, because they were in the middle of a desert, so it was just sand, rocks, and sunlight for miles.

“You don’t have to, but you can.” Suigetsu prodded.

He probably even should, given the fact that at some point, Sasuke was going to very clearly snap under the pressure of carrying everything alone, and it was more than likely that Suigetsu was going to have to step up and be the one to help the guy fix it, since whatever lazy alpha that Sasuke shared that scent bond with was nowhere to be found.

Silence, except for the baby blowing spit bubbles, danced between the two companions for a long stretch until Sasuke sighed. “I won’t leave his father out of naming him.”

Oh.

Suigetsu knew, rationally, that sure, Sasuke had to care about at least something. Statistically speaking, of course. But he had no idea that Sasuke actually loved this secret deadbeat alpha enough to wait to name their pup. The Sasuke that Suigetsu knew was all about making decisions and rational efficiency.

None of this emotionally driven omega stuff.

Well, yeah okay, Sasuke was an omega. Logically, Suigetsu knew that he had to just be very, very good at hiding those more emotional tendencies, but come on! He’d never even seen the guy build a nest for his pup for the entire time they’d been on the road together, for crying out loud! And, from the most basic of knowledge about dynamics, even a brain dead moron would know how important nests are for omegas bonding with their children!

The alpha hadn’t expected the answer to be so…simple. So disturbingly human.

“Where is that guy, anyway?” Suigetsu prodded again.

Partially, he was genuinely curious, and partially, he wanted to rip that guy a new one for letting his omega go traipsing around the world in hostile territory immediately after giving birth.

“Gone.” Was all Sasuke answered with as he ripped Otter from the alpha’s grasp and cradled the baby close to his chest.

He knew instantly that he’d asked too much too fast, but that didn’t matter, because Suigetsu was slowly beginning to connect a few dots.

Sasuke was a hard guy to get to know even on an acquaintance level. So, whoever Otter’s father was would have to be someone Sasuke had known for a long time. Way longer than the Uchiha had been in Orochimaru’s care.

So, that left only one real solution: the kid’s alpha parent was someone from Konohagakure.

But, the timing was all wrong. Otter would have to be a toddler for Sasuke and the mystery alpha to have had any..relations.. Before Sasuke had left the village. And besides, Sasuke would have realistically only been around thirteen years old too before he’d defected.

Which meant sometime in the last year, Sasuke would have run into the alpha again at some point by sheer luck- or misfortune, depending on the way a person looked at the situation. Sasuke wasn’t the kind of omega for a one night stand, that much Suigetsu knew.

Then how had Otter happened?

Maybe the alpha had taken advantage of him out of anger at Sasuke’s betrayal of their village? But that didn’t quite make sense because Sasuke was in a league of his own when it came to power. No way some random alpha could get the jump on Sasuke and do.. That..

Unless- Sasuke was power hungry. He loved strength and incredible feats of jutsu. It wouldn’t make sense for him to have a twisted love affair with some weak shinobi. If the alpha was as strong as Sasuke, then it would be a reasonable conclusion.

Even so, a gut feeling that twisted its way from the pit of his stomach all the way up to his brain told the sharp toothed male that Sasuke couldn’t have been taken advantage of in that way. He was too dedicated to reserving bits of his child for his alpha parent. That meant that the guy hadn’t hurt or betrayed Sasuke, so what could it be?

“Hey, Sasuke.” Suigetsu got his attention again.

“Hnn.”

Oh, so Sasuke wasn’t as irritated as he’d initially thought. Huh, maybe the guy was growing people skills after all.

“What’s Otter’s other parent like?”

“His name is not Otter.”

Suigetsu sighed. Why did Sasuke have to be so difficult?

He decided to drop it for now after catching sight of one of Sasuke’s more hostile side glances.

Hours later after the two had fallen into comfortable- or moderately tense, if Suigetsu were honest- silence, they found a formation of rocks that would make a decent makeshift camp for the night. The alpha yawned and stretched once they officially decided to stop for the night.

For someone whose body was like eighty percent water, the desert really took it out of him.

He leaned his sword against the sandy stone wall of the half-cave and decided to help Sasuke set up a few things. As shinobi, both were used to surviving the harsh elements of nature with little, if any, necessities, but with a baby accompanying them, they had to take certain measures to ensure the pup’s safety.

Sasuke shifted Otter into Suigetsu’s empty hands so that he could crouch down and perform a sound barrier sealing jutsu. That way, if Otter woke up crying in the middle of the night, any predatory wildlife in the area wouldn’t be tipped off to the easy prey. The same could be said for any humans that might be in the general area too. Suigetsu wasn’t picking up on any chakra signatures, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be any shinobi nearby that were able to completely hide their chakra signatures from others.

Sasuke wouldn’t take any chances, and Suigetsu didn’t blame him.

“Here, I’ll take care of the fire.” the swordsman offered once Sasuke had completed his task.

He waited for the omega to open up his sealing scroll and pull out a few necessities like blankets and a water canteen, along with two cup ramens. Sasuke made a disgusted face when he pulled the two ramens out, but sat them down regardless next to one of the decently flat rocks that surrounded them in their makeshift camp.

Suigetsu gave Sasuke some privacy while he breastfed Otter to go explore the area for anything that could be considered mildly flammable. He bent low to the ground in his search, finding it a tiny bit difficult to see now that the sky was darkening so quickly. In the distance, coyotes howled, adding to the weird and wild atmosphere.

Suigetsu and Sasuke were both shinobi from completely different terrains. Sasuke was an expert in more luscious and lively biomes, and Suigetsu was used to nothing but water and mist, with small islands and coastal villages. The desert was..oddly devoid, yet thrumming with life at the same time.

No wonder Orochimaru had sent Karin to look after his hideout here. That girl was as crazy and overbearing as the desert sun.

~~~

“I’ll get you, you stupid pig, Suigetsu!” Karin shouted as she leapt over where Sasuke was calmly rocking the baby- HIS baby- on the lounge chair to get closer to Suigetsu so she could rip his face off.

“Get away from me you crazy bat!” that idiotic, egotistical, loser Suigetsu shrieked.

He threw his hands up to shield his face from her wrath and particularly sharp nails, but it was no use against her unbridled rage.

How on earth had Suigetsu beat her to winning Sasuke’s affections?!?! And HOw on EarTH had he managed to knock the beautiful, majestic, super cool and hot Uchiha up before she could even so much as ask Sasuke out on a date!

“How dare you steal Sasuke from me! Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to not knot the first warm body you see-never mind, of course not, you’re from the Hidden Mist village! All they know how to do is be mindless breeders down there-”

Suigetsu let out a scoff and shoved her off of himself. By the time she’d recovered from being unbalanced, Suigetsu already had his sword aimed in her direction.

“Now, now, I’m far from a patriot, but don’t you think you can get away with insulting my village, Karin. You don’t have any room to talk, you know. You weren’t even special enough to ever belong to a hidden village. And, hey, wait a second-”

Suigetsu stopped and thought for a moment. Pft, that figured, Suigetsu was as dumb as a bag of rocks. The drooling fool had probably forgotten what he’d even been talking about to begin with.

The red haired omega tried very hard to ignore the adorable sight of Sasuke scenting his pup from the corner of her eye. His perfect, fine nose that was crafted by the gods nudged itself every so gently against his baby’s chubby little cheek. And oh- now beautiful the baby was too.

As soon as she’d seen those pale little hands and the rosy cheeks she’d been a goner. And that royally sucked because anything related to Sasuke was going to be perfect just by association, but SUIGETSU?!?!! Anything related to that waste of space alpha was sure to be a bonafide screw up!

“Did you attack me because you think-” Suigetsu paused again before erupting into a roar of laughter. His body shook with wave after wave of cackles, but his sword never wavered from where it was lethally shoved in her face.

Karin had no choice but to spit on it as a show of defiance.

The baby giggled along, though, and oh Karin didn’t know whether she wanted to strangle Suigetsu or go tickle the pup’s chubby little stomach.

“Enough.” Sasuke finally spoke up. Oh, how she’d missed his calm and cool tone. It sent a shiver down her body with how confident and aloof it was.

She turned her nose up at Suigetsu to instead focus on whatever Sasuke was about to say. Silently, the betrayed omega ignored the tears that had welled up behind her glasses when the baby latched on to Sasuke’s finger. That should have been hers and Sasuke’s pup, not his and Suigetsu’s!

“Suigetsu is part of the team I’m assembling, Karin, not the child’s father and certainly not my lover.”

He said it with such regal disgust that it had to be true. Well, that certainly changed things. Maybe she still had a shot after all!

Suigetsu let out an indignant huff behind her, “Did you really have to say it like that- what’s wrong with me, huh?”

She whirled around, not minding the wild tendrils of bright red hair that caught in her face in the process. She jabbed a finger in his direction and only half shouted, out of respect for the baby that was currently slobbering all over Sasuke’s majestically sculpted pointer finger, “Do you really have to ask that Suigetsu?! You smell like seaweed!”

He scoffed, but lowered his sword. The bright angry scratch marks on his face from her nails stood out like a sore thumb. “Yeah no, I trained with a guy who smelled like seaweed, and I can tell you you’re barking up the wrong tree with that one. That’s not exactly a scent that makes it easy to forget, Ms.-I-smell-like-rotting-cotton!”

She went to try and slap him for the childish insult, but he turned himself into his water form, so all she could really do was stomp on the puddle version of himself and hope that he could feel it.

“Enough!” Sasuke scolded again, although this time, he seemed truly annoyed.

Karin felt a small wave of embarrassment break through the dam that she kept most of her normal, human feelings locked inside. Especially since she probably looked like a child jumping into water puddles angrily.

“Suigetsu, transform! Karin, stop attacking Suigetsu!”

Suddenly, the water underneath her sandals materialized into the white haired alpha. The sudden switch up unbalanced her, causing her to go crashing to the floor with a shriek.

“I was hoping that would happen.” Suigetsu smiled down at her smugly. He offered her a hand to help her up, but when she almost took it, he yanked his hand back and went to go coo at the baby.

The nerve.

Karin ignored Suigetsu’s existence for the next half hour in favor of barraging Sasuke with questions now that her mind was going into over time.

“Where’s his father?”

“Away.”

“How old is he?”

“Three months.”

“Did Orochimaru have a hand in it?”

“No.”

The questions went on and on until she’d goaded him into finally telling her the full story.

“I hid the pregnancy from Orochimaru, I had an escape attempt, it went south, he imprisoned me. I freed myself, subdued Kabuto, and then killed Orochimaru while in labor. Two weeks after my son’s birth, I retrieved Suigetsu.”

Maybe calling it the ‘full’ story was a bit much, but it was the most she’d ever seen him speak in one sitting, so she’d take it.

Suigetsu, on the other hand, was baffled. It didn’t seem like Sasuke had enlightened the idiot about the events previous to the two joining forces.

“What do you mean you killed Orochimaru while in labor?!?! Are you insane?! You’re insane! You have to be- that’s-that’s-” Suigetsu cried out. He looked a few seconds away from pulling his hair out.

Sasuke merely shrugged.

Oh, he was just the coolest-

“Karin, you've got a weird look on your face.” Sasuke noted.

She had to stall! Quick! She needed to think of anything-anything-

“Uh- Well, I was just thinking about where the baby’s other father is.” She shrugged to try and play off what she’d actually been thinking about.

Suigetsu winced.

Sasuke’s eyes turned cold, but not the sexy cold way they usually were.

“He is away.”

The silence was deafening, and maybe that was why Karin waffled into trying to get Sasuke to mate with her so that the baby wouldn’t come from a broken home.

“-and we could be a happy family of three, Sasuke. Wouldn’t you agree?” She hummed, batting her eyes prettily.

Suigetsu looked mortified, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.

Sasuke sighed and passed his child to the alpha. Then, the dark haired omega stood to his full height.

“You remind me of a girl I used to know-”

Karin squealed in joy. That could only be a good thing, right? Although who was this other girl and why did she know her Sasuke?!?! Karin would need to track her down and end her-

“-she was annoying.”

Annndddd reality never had been her friend, had it?

She crossed her arms pettily and rudely responded, “I’ll join your team, but you better be nicer to me Sasuke! I mean it! And Suigetsu! Stop being a mouth breather! It’s gross!”

She had to regain her dignity after that swift and unchallenged defeat, after all. She adjusted her glasses and stormed out of the lounge to go grab a few of her things. On the way out, she overheard a small fragment of what the other two were saying.

“Aw Sasuke why’d you have to say that? Now she’s gonna be pissy for the rest of the day-”

“Hnn.”

~~~

“I’m still not sure that this is a good idea.” Suigetsu sighed.

Sasuke had decided that Karin was right. Suigetsu did whine a lot.

“Pft, if you’re going to chicken out, do it now. The northern hideout is nothing like any of the hideouts we were located at. You’ll be eaten alive, and I don’t mean metaphorically.” Karin snarked.

His two companions continued to bicker as the harsh afternoon sun bore down on them. They were traveling through the desert, and had luckily come across a few rock formations to provide some shade while Sasuke fed the baby.

Suigetsu had grown accustomed to the fact that yes, Sasuke fed his child the natural way, pretty quickly. Karin however, was taking a longer time to accept it. It almost made the pale omega self conscious, but he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha’s didn’t feel self conscious. It was even written in their genetic code.

Sasuke suspected that Suigetsu had picked up on Karin’s odd behavior that always seemed to occur when Sasuke fed the pup, so he’d started amping up his whining to distract the red haired omega from gawking and ranting about ‘the cuteness’.

Which was what had brought them to their current conversation.

“Sasuke, I know you planned this already and everything, but Juugo’s on another level. He’s not like me or Karin, who can be reasoned with eventually. Orochimaru had us fight each other once- Juugo’s insane. His powers drove him to madness. Are you sure you want someone like that around Otter?” Suigetsu asked with a layer of seriousness that Sasuke had found to be rare from the alpha.

Sasuke adjusted the baby slightly and made sure that he was comfortable before answering. “We need Juugo.”

Suigetsu continued on, though, “Sasuke-this is child endangerment!”

Sasuke looked at him then and only then. His son’s weight in his arms was the only reason he was choosing the more peaceful approach to this team, and that meant occasionally biting his tongue and actually pretending to take their thoughts into consideration.

This, however, was not one of those times.

“Being alive in this world is child endangerment enough.” The omega muttered darkly.

He decided that enough time had been wasted. The baby could just finish his meal on the road, and then, as a not at all petty punishment for insubordination, Suigetsu would get to be on diaper duty for the rest of the day.

They started up their journey with an icy flow of energy between them. Or, rather, the iciness was coming directly from Sasuke, and Suigetsu was awkward about it, while Karin hopped along trying not to coo at the baby feeding.

Karin had odd hang ups.

“Sasuke, maybe Suigetsu is on to something. The hideout-it's dangerous. Think about Otter-” The other omega whispered to him. She’d hastened her pace to keep in step with him, leaving their alpha companion to bring up the rear.

Sasuke was tired of explaining himself. He was right, he always was. If he chose Juugo, it was for a good reason, and Karin and Suigetsu needed to understand that and trust in Sasuke’s plan. He knew a part of Suigetsu thought that the Uchiha was crazy for doing all of this. He knew Karin thought she had some sort of odd sway with him.

But at the end of the day, he had a goal and going to the northern hideout and retrieving Juugo would help him to achieve that goal. Suigetsu and Karin knew that he was after Itachi Uchiha, but there seemed to be a disconnect between them knowing there was bad blood between Sasuke and his older brother, and understanding that because of that, the baby was in just as much danger as Sasuke-even more, since Sasuke wasn’t a defenseless pup.

“To imply that I have not taken my son’s safety into account is irresponsible, Karin. I’d assumed you would understand.” Sasuke muttered, feeling his mood plummeting as flashes of red eyes and limp bodies began to replay in his mind.

She dropped the subject and slowed her walking to match the speed of Suigetsu’s. Good. Sasuke didn’t want or need company. He could walk alone. The universe knew he’d been walking this path alone for years now.

~~~

“Sasuke-” the red head shouted as the pale one stepped forward to block Juugo’s path.

Juugo’s mind was a cloud of violent rage at being set free. His cage-his cage was where he belonged.

“I’ll kill you!” He shouted, blindly allowing the black markings on his skin to morph into his partial transformation.

The dark haired one jumped back swiftly, but Juugo pounced forward all the same.

“I’m not here to fight you, I’m here to talk to you.” The other calmly stated, but it fell on deaf ears as the beta swung again, this time colliding with the hallway wall and causing the chamber to shake.

“Sasuke! Watch out- Otter-“ the red haired one screamed.

Her voice was annoying. Maybe Juugo would kill her first so that his ears would stop ringing.

“I want you to come with me. You don’t belong here.” The male omega started up again, making a point to dodge any of Juugo’s attacks.

“You don’t understand! I have to be here! Without him I can never leave this place!” Juugo thundered back, punching the omega in the face.

Before he could land another blow, the wall behind them shook and exploded, causing the red headed woman to hack and cough as the dust cleared.

It didn’t bother Juugo. He was no stranger to destruction.

Through the hole in the wall stepped an alpha-a familiar one. Yes, yes, Juugo had fought him once, a year ago. The beta still remembered how the alpha’s bones shifted and cracked under his hands.

“Woah, now, I see I’m late to the party.” The alpha drawled.

Juugi roared and charged for him instead, wanting-no, needing to finish what he’d started months ago.

The alpha had a sword now, a big one. It would be fun to break in two.

The beta used his brute force to attack, but the alpha turned himself to water, making himself unable to feel any injury from Juugo’s mighty blow.

“Suigetsu, enough.” The male omega commanded.

Yes, that was that alpha’s name. Juugo remembered now.

“Aw, come on Sasuke, that’s no fair!” Suigetsu whined, but did as he was told.

Sasuke… Sasuke. That was what the red haired woman had called the male omega.

Sasuke… that was one of Orochimaru’s pupils- Kimimaro’s replacement.

Suigetsu swung his sword, but Juugo knocked it away.

“Stop it, both of you.” Sasuke didn’t bother to raise his voice.

“You know, I hardly think that we’re gonna get through to him with anything other than force!” Suigetsu called over his shoulder, narrowly missing Juugo’s kick.

One minute, the enraged beta was landing a blow to Suigetsu’s side, and the next, he was wrapped up in a deathlike grip by a giant white snake.

He blinked his eyes and saw that Suigetsu was in the same position he was in, and Sasuke was standing between them. There was a lump on Sasuke’s back, like a bundle of cloth was tied there.

“Do you both want me to kill you?” The omega asked darkly.

Juugo could scent the murderous intent on the omega, it smelled like stifling electricity and overwhelming citrus. What an odd scent. Maybe Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru for help related to his dynamic as well.

He froze, and in that moment, his rage subsided as if it had never even been there to begin with.

He looked at the three people in front of him and shrieked. His cage- he couldn’t be out of his cage!

He scrambled back into his confinement, slamming the door behind him. He could hear what the others were saying, but he ignored them. It was for his own good- for everyone’s own good. He had to stay locked up so that he didn’t kill again.

His chest tightened as he fought for oxygen to slither into his lungs. On reflex, he hugged his knees to his chest to help with the hyperventilating. Kimimaro had been the one to show him what to do when he panicked like this.

Kimimaro. He would never be able to leave this place without Kimimaro.

A wail that didn’t belong to himself echoed throughout the crumbled and battered hallway outside of the door, short circuiting his mind.

Was that a baby?

~~~

His instincts had yet to settle down, even though the birth had been nearly three months ago, and the Uchiha found himself constantly alert for any potential dangers or threats to his pup- including, but not limited to, the game that his new teammates had developed. Karin called it “bonding”, but Sasuke called it a pain in his ass.

They would find a way to distract him- whether it be with Suigetsu whining and complaining about having to walk, or Karin shrieking and startling everyone when they stopped for breaks after she went off on her own in the woods. Then, while Sasuke as team leader was trying to resolve these issues, Jugo would slip the baby out of Sasuke’s hands, the sneaky bastard.

It was hell trying to get his baby back into his own hands after that, and usually would not be permitted to hold his child again until the evening, after a full day of travel. Jugo had said that they did it for Sasuke’s own well being and needing a break from constant baby care, but Sasuke disagreed. Having his child under his personal supervision made him feel better.

The closeness, the new pup smell, the ability to know what his son needed before he even began to whine- that made Sasuke feel much, much more relieved about everything. He’d never tell the others that, of course. He needed to maintain his image of the cold and powerful leader that he was. Well, besides those few moments where he had to coo at his child so that the baby would be distracted long enough for the omega to change his diaper. Those moments were admittedly… not very cold hearted.

“It’s my turn, Suigetsu!” Karin shouted, hours later, after they’d left their campsite under the shelter of the moon, and stomped her foot.

Beside him, Suigetsu just chuckled as he continued to play peek-a-boo with Sasuke’s son.

Suigetsu and Karin were definitely brats when it came to who got to hold the baby. Suigetsu would always refuse to share the infant, and Karin would always demand that she get to have as much “mini-Sasuke” time as possible.

It was exhausting.

“Enough.” Sasuke bit out, still miffed that his teammates had virtually stolen his baby from him while Sasuke was cleaning his sword earlier. It had been hours since he’d gotten to subtly pet his baby’s fat little cheeks or feel him nuzzle his tiny nose into Sasuke’s scent bond and doze off into another nap. Hours.

His baby loved drifting off to sleep at the juncture between Sasuke’s neck and shoulder, and it was no surprise as to why. It was where summery oranges mixed with electrifying lightning to create one of the best scent mixtures Sasuke would ever discover in his lifetime.

Of course, Sasuke may have been a little biased, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, was it?

His pup probably felt safe with those scents surrounding him, especially since he couldn’t get the scent of his alpha parent anywhere else. Suigetsu, much to Sasuke’s displeasure, had been right. Pups that grew up without the scents of their parents grew up warped and stunted.

Naruto, for example, had been one of those pups, and he’d grown up with a very obvious behavioral problem and learning disability. Nothing had been there to nurture him, and an emotional anxiety had formed in the absence.

The thought soured Sasuke’s mood and had his hands itching to retrieve his baby.

Before Karin could reach out and take the delighted infant in her arms, Sasuke used his lightning fast reflexes to yank his son away from Suigetsu instead. It took only a second for his worries to quieten as soon as his son’s small weight was against his chest once more, but it felt like the longest second of Sasuke’s life.

“Awww come on, that's not fair!” Suigetsu and Karin both whined.

Sasuke glared at them as he nuzzled his son’s head with his cheek, “He’s mine.”

Juugo, to his credit, had decided to dissuade Suigetsu and Karin from sneaking the baby out of his arms again as he tended the fire. The beta had taken it upon himself to prepare the food Suigetsu had hunted down when they’d set up camp.

Excruciatingly, everyone had refused to let Sasuke lift a finger after he’d placed the protective seals and barriers around their set up. He had a suspicion it was because his teammates were becoming protective over him, and he desperately needed to find a way to nip it in the bud.

Sasuke was a stone cold shinobi. Heartless. Emotionless. There was nothing in his heart, only vengeance and-

The baby yawned and Sasuke couldn’t help but coo at his sleepy boy, interrupting his train of thoughts. The pup had definitely had a long day, being passed around the group of travelers like a toy. It was a lot of work being that adorable, Sasuke knew from experience.

He scented the baby to help him drift further into sleep before he adjusted the blanket he’d been wrapped in. To Sasuke’s dismay, Karin had been poking at the old orange jacket that Naruto had gifted him years ago, asking questions on why the pup had been wrapped in it instead of a normal blanket. Suigetsu had tried his best to interrupt her questions, mostly because Sasuke had instilled a certain blood curdling fear in the alpha after he’d asked about the jacket once before, but Karin was stubborn.

He’d had no choice but to store the jacket away in his storage scroll to avoid any more questioning. Too much honesty, and Sasuke would have to confront some very hard truths himself.

“Here, you should eat.” Juugo whispered gently, respectful of the baby’s dozing state.

The beta leaned forward to hand Sasuke some of the meal that the rest of them had divided up. He’d been so entranced by his slumbering pup that he hadn’t even noticed that dinner had finished cooking.

The omega nodded his head in thanks and accepted the meal. First, before eating like everyone else was though, he adjusted the pup to lay more comfortably beside himself on a bundle of cloth so that Sasuke wouldn’t disturb him while he slept.

When his son was still only a few weeks old, he’d managed to both hold him and eat at the same time. But, as the weeks turned into months, his little boy had begun to get bigger and more coordinated in his energetic attempts to grab at whatever the Uchiha held in his hands.

However, once he’d made sure that the pup was fine and would stay comfortably cushioned on the hard earth that the rest of them had to deal with, Sasuke noticed something that irked him.

He looked around at his fellow teammates. Karin was sitting as far away from Suigetsu as possible with the glare of the crackling fire in her glasses as she delicately picked at her food. Suigetsu was sipping loudly on his water canteen, not even bothering to pretend that he wasn’t happy that Karin was nowhere near him. Juugo, the largest yet warmest of them all, peacefully chewed on his food, simply happy to have company.

In spite of the rather mundane dinner routine going on around him, he couldn’t help but notice with his eagle eyes that whoever had portioned the food out had given the omega much more food than was his fair share. In fact, on closer inspection, he noticed that everyone had much smaller portions.

What were they getting at? Were they trying to give him special treatment? Their leader- Sasuke Uchiha, deserter of the Leaf Village, slayer of the legendary sanin Orochimaru, was being given…pity?

Pity was not something that anyone should dare associate with him! Fear, envy, awe, sure, all of those were fine, but pity?! Sasuke Uchiha did not need anyone’s pity, and certainly not from this rag tag group of-

Okay that was mean, but still!

“What is this?” His cold tone was harsh against the comforting glow of the atmosphere.

He made sure that his eyes pierced into each and every member of Taka’s eyes. Karin shrank back, Suigetsu gulped and turned his head to avoid his gaze, and Juugo, unsurprisingly, remained steadfast and calmly pleasant against Sasuke’s momentary ire.

“See Suigetsu, I told you he’d notice!”

Sasuke watched unblinkingly as the red haired omega waved her fist at Suigetsu. Oh? So they’d been conspiring against him collectively?

The silence from the Uchiha stretched on, and the darkness of the night seemed even deeper the longer the omega allowed himself to be so visibly hostile. Even Juugo looked visibly on edge, and despite his deeply blood thirsty alter ego, the facial expression the beta was making looked foreign after these past few weeks of relatively peaceful glances and pleasant smiles.

“Well, what else were we supposed to do, Karin?! You weren’t exactly very helpful in the ideas department when we discussed it!” Suigetsu snapped.

“So,” Sasuke made sure his voice was as devoid and sinister as his own nightmares once he interrupted their petty squabbling, “You’ve been plotting against me?”

A mutiny, after all this time. Had they all secretly been against a postpartum omega taking the charge all along? Why try and ‘baby’ him now, of all times?!

His neutral mood, along with the little appetite he’d had for weeks now, disappeared at the thought. If they couldn’t tell by now, then surely his scent was growing thick with betrayal. It was so thick in the air that even his pup’s little eyebrows had furrowed themselves together in his sleep.

“Sasuke- it’s not like that- we’ve just been-” Juugo tried to subdue Sasuke’s foul reaction, but Suigetsu cut him off.

The sharp toothed alpha waved his hand lazily in the air as he spoke, “Look, Sasuke, you’ve been starving yourself, and the kicker is, you haven’t even noticed.”

Sasuke startled. No he hadn’t. He’d eaten with Suigetsu in the desert, and then again when Karin had demanded he eat an apple she so ‘devotedly’ picked for him. Of course, those incidents were days apart, but he was sure he’d eaten between them too.

“Every time we take a break to eat, you’re busy tending to Otter and his needs. Breastfeeding him, changing his diaper, calming him down from his crying fits, getting him to sleep- all of that happens and you forget that you need to take care of yourself too.” Juugo explained with every bit of sincerity that he could probably manage flooding through his eyes.

“Yeah! You’re making sure that Otter’s getting fed, but you’re ignoring that his food comes from you- your body is trying to care for two people, but it needs enough nutrients to keep you healthy too!” Karin ranted.

Sasuke stared at them blankly for a moment, taking in everything they’d said. The baby stirred beside him, so he sat his plate down in favor of picking up his child and soothing him so that the boy wouldn’t wake.

“See? It’s that right there- that’s what we’re talking about! There’s four of us, you don’t have to take on the burden alone!” Suigetsu exclaimed, pointing at the mother and pup as if they’d just proven him to be the biggest genius in the world.

“He’s mine, and therefore my responsibility.” the accused omega icily replied, looking at them all and daring them to challenge his declaration.

“And no one is trying to take him from you, Sasuke, but something’s gotta give. You can’t fight Itachi and win if this is how you’re treating yourself.” Suigetsu responded with more care than Sasuke had ever seen him give about anything.

The fire was starting to dwindle a bit, but Karin pushed another log into the fire, bringing it new life.

Bringing up Itachi was a low blow, but a comment that Sasuke needed to hear. He could recognize that, even if he didn’t necessarily enjoy being told how to take care of himself like a child.

The omega spared a glance down at the food that they’d prepared for him of their own accord. It lay abandoned on the ground, while his pup slept peacefully in his arms. The accidental metaphor of self sacrifice was not lost on him.

“Sasuke, you don’t have to do it all alone, all of the time. You went through the pregnancy alone, you gave birth to Otter all alone, you killed Orochimaru all alone, hell, you freed yourself and then me all alone. Actually, the only thing you weren’t alone for was making Otter, and if I ever find that deadbeat alpha, I might just get Juugo to help me kill him. You’re gonna snap one day, and you’re not the type to just half ass something, even a mental break down. We’re here and we want to help, but you gotta let us.” Suigetsu never broke eye contact as he said his peace.

Sasuke looked to the others and caught Juugo nodding along to what Suigetsu had said, and even found Karin looking frustrated with herself for actually agreeing with someone she despised so much.

“What if…what if we become a pack?” Karin whispered.

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Not once did she glance around at the others, no. The red haired omega kept her eyes straight ahead, latched onto the bright tendrils of the flames.

A pack…Sasuke hadn’t ever even considered one. A pack had meant another bond that he would need to protect from Itachi’s malevolence, so he’d never let himself think of starting one back when he’d lived in Konoha. And, while under Orochimaru’s care, that had clearly never been an option.

Now, his train of thought paused, now it was different.

Over the time he’d traveled with Suigetsu, Sasuke had come to think of him as his right hand, his closest thing to a friend he’d had in a very long time. It had gotten to the point that when the omega thought of the future, after he’d defeated Itachi, he’d almost felt tinges of sadness at the idea of parting with the swordsman. In some ways, he reminded the Uchiha of Naruto.

Karin had proven her loyalty and insane dedication numerous times. She’d been the one to provide Sasuke with any lacking information he’d had on infant care. Not to mention how resourceful she was.

Juugo held everything together in a way that Sasuke couldn’t. He provided steadfast support and comfort, while also probably being the team’s second greatest protector. He was lonely-lonely in a way that Karin was too. Both of them wanted somewhere to fit in.

Still, a pack gave Sasuke pause.

It would greatly benefit the baby’s development if they followed through. His instincts would boil back down to a simmer when it came to Sasuke letting one of the others hold him. Plus, the baby would become accustomed to more scents and see them as protective. It wouldn’t be on the same level as what the pup would view his own parent’s scents, but it would be strong enough that should something happen to Sasuke during his fight with Itachi, the baby would be able to register the loss much better.

“A pack.” He said, not giving them any indication of what he was thinking.

It was best to play the field and see what the others were thinking before he embarrassed himself by agreeing too quickly.

“I think that may be a good idea. I mean, we all care about each other, and we’re already sort of doing things a pack would traditionally, right? Protecting each other, surviving together-you know. All that’s really missing is that mental link.” Juugo hummed.

The spikey haired beta looked off into the distance. His clothes were still tattered from his prison, but Sasuke and Karin had managed to sew two cloaks together to make one big enough that it would cover him comfortably.

Karin had been surprised that Sasuke knew how to sew, which Sasuke thought was odd, because he’d been sewing Uchiha clan symbols onto the backs of all of his clothes for years.

“But, you’re a beta- do you even know if the pack bond would even take for you?” Karin piped up.

Sasuke knew her history. He’d made a point to memorize all of their files in Orohcimaru’s personal library of personnel information when he was still in the early stages of his team planning. Karin’s story had made her a prime candidate.

Two Uzumaki clan members, one her mother, and one Karin herself, separated from the rest of the Whirlpool survivors and sold into slavery. Used for their abilities- abused for their abilities.

The kind of horrors Karin had been subjected to at such a young age meant that to those who treated her well, she would have nothing but undying loyalty. Sure, her abilities pertaining to chakra were imperative to Sasuke’s quest, but it was her personality itself that had sold him on the idea.

Her loyalty in a lot of ways reminded him of Naruto, and that was why despite their rocky start together, what with her embarrassing crush on him and all, he had no doubts about starting a pack with her.

It was also how he knew to read between the lines and to understand that Karin’s logical questioning was her agreement to join a pack, in a way. She replaced her normal human interactions with that of an efficient subordinate, thinking only of the logistics on how to make it work.

Sasuke could respect that.

Juugo, on the other hand, was all feelings. It was where his powers lay, it was how he’d made the decision to have Orochimaru perform the dynamic removal surgery to make himself a beta. Where Karin reasoned, Juugo felt.

“In truth, I don’t know if it will.” The beta sighed. The look on his face was one of frustrated remorse, like he was telling himself that if he’d just waited a little bit longer to move forward with the surgery, the three of them would have broken him out instead.

“Come on, Juugo. Don’t go blaming yourself.” Suigetsu hummed. Sasuke glanced up at the alpha from where he sat across the fire. It cast a strange glow across his face, making his teeth look sharper than they typically did.

“How did you-” Juugo cut himself off, surprised.

“Traveling so closely allows us to pick up on each other’s traits and habits.” Sasuke responded.

Sasuke looked down as his pup whined in his sleep. The sounds of owls in the distance and the crackling of the campfire would have lulled the omega into an almost serene mood on any other night. Sasuke sat up even straighter, so as not to jar the baby but to get a better look at his pup. His little fist was clenching and unclenching, and his mouth was making a small ‘o’ as his drool cascaded out of the crevice of his lips.

It was almost disturbing how much the baby resembled Naruto. When the alpha had used to sneak in and sleep in Sasuke’s apartment to keep watch over him after Orochimaru had attacked the village, Sasuke would often wake up to the sight of the blonde drooling on one of the omega’s favored pillows, rubbing his scarred cheek along the soft blue material of the pillow case.

It would have been nice to start the pack with Naruto included. Sasuke had no idea how pack merging or even admitting others to an established pack bond usually worked, but if it were to help their baby, then surely Naruto wouldn’t be upset at being left out of this part of Sasuke’s life.

It was necessary. A painful necessity, but one nonetheless.

“I’m willing to try, even if the results are not what we would hope them to be.” the beta decided with an air of optimism.

The omega envied Juugo in that regard. He and Suigetsu both were able to just hope for the best and have it somehow work out in their favor, but Sasuke and Karin were the complete opposite end of the spectrum.

Now it was just Suigetsu left.

“A pack might give us a few legal troubles. Me and Sasuke are the only two from hidden villages.” Suigetsu rubbed at his chin as he thought about it.

Juugo hummed like he hadn’t thought of that, “What do you mean?”

“Suigetsu and I are shinobi from different hidden villages. It would, from a reasonable point of view, create a conflict of interest. Certain information may or may not be shared between us that our respective villages prefer to keep within their borders.” The dark haired omega explained.

Not only was it unheard of for shinobis of opposing villages to form pack bonds, but it was also career suicide. Now, Sasuke didn’t really care what happened after he killed Itachi by way of his life as a shinobi, but Suigetsu had a very clear goal to collect all of the seven swords of the mist and restart the Seven Ninja Swordsman. A pack causing a breach between political alliances might hinder that.

“You’re talking like you’re actually considering this, Sasuke.” Suigetsu joked.

“I am.” Sasuke replied, letting himself actually chuckle when Suigetsu choked on his water in response.

“I have only one condition, though.” He added after Suigetsu stopped choking, “If I die in battle against Itachi, take Otter to Konoha and find Kakashi, the copy nin. He will know what to do.”

Karin gasped, overcome with emotion over finally hearing Sasuke call his son by his nickname. Suigetsu nodded solemnly, but Juugo’s fists tightened, like the very idea of Sasuke’s demise was enough to shatter the small mental peace he’d found and make him go insane with the need to murder again.

Later that night, as Sasuke lay curled around his pup with a full stomach in what felt like months, he admired the new mark on his wrist that he now shared with three other people.

This was the bond Naruto had been trying to achieve so long ago back when Sasuke had just presented. How glad, the omega was in hindsight, that Naruto had created the scent bond instead.

~~~

“Aweee, and who is this cute little girl?” The omega woman asked, hand coming up to where his son was in an attempt to pet his chubby cheek.

Sasuke fought hard to keep the snarl out of his tone as he stepped back and slapped her hand away, “He’s mine.”

“Uh, Sasuke she wasn’t being mean-” Suigetsu tried to soothe the situation, but Karin, whose overzealous nature Sasuke didn’t usually agree with, stepped in.

“Don’t you touch him! Otter’s got more potential in his tiny little pinkie finger than you could ever dream of! You’re not worthy of touching him-” The red haired omega began to spiral.

Sasuke had been glad when her odd crush on himself seemed to die down a bit, but had been surprised when Karin had taken all of that obsessively supportive energy and put it into being ‘the best aunt that Otter will ever have’.

“Karin, maybe you should calm down-” Juugo tried and failed to get her to see reason.

Good. Sasuke didn’t care. Some strange woman had just tried to touch his pup.

Karin hissed as the woman became increasingly weary.

“Heh, I’m sorry about my friends.. they’re a little sensitive when it comes to the pup, I’m sure you understand.” Suigetsu turned on his charm but Sasuke didn’t see the appeal.

He was too busy scenting his child and keeping the boy’s chubby little face away from that awful woman’s grasp.

She smelled of daffodils and Sasuke’s sensitive Uchiha nose had always hated floral scents. How dare that woman try and stink up his baby.

“I’ll claw you to shreds and sew a blanket out of your skin in victory!” Karin shouted.

Juugo’s hulking form did wonders for separating the two agitated omegas from the stranger while Suigetsu tried to make amends.

Maybe it was the chaos that had forced Sasuke’s guard down. Maybe it was his instincts getting the better of him. Or, maybe, it was his son’s small hiccuping little cries, unsettled by the strange woman’s approach but with no real way to voice it that had done them in.

Either way, enemy shinobi had gotten the drop on them in the chaos.

“You’re all a bunch of freaks!” The woman shouted angrily before making a beeline away from them.

Once the woman was away, the foreign chakra signatures made their fast approach.

“Brace yourselves!” The omega snapped, unsheathing his sword with one hand and shielding the baby with his other.

Karin whirled to stand by Sasuke’s side should he need her to take the baby from him. Suigetsu’s sword was out so quickly the omega almost missed it. Even Juugo’s eyes had turned into something more in line with his demonic form.

Sasuke almost felt bad for whoever had dared to think they could attack his pack.

~~~

Suigetsu groaned.

Of course Karin’s screaming would have tipped their foes off to their location.

Three men with giant muscles leapt down from their hiding spots in front of the group with their swords and justus ready.

How Karin and Sasuke hadn’t noticed their chakra forms, Suigetsu didn’t know, but he also didn’t really care. He’d been itching to shed some blood for a while now.

Traveling with Sasuke and the others was cool and all, but the omega’s rule about no killing had put Suigetsu on edge.

Unlike Sasuke, the alpha hadn’t been traumatized by death from a young age. Instead, he’d grown up in the Mist Village, where death was thought of as little as blinking was.

Needless to say, they came from two very different cultural backgrounds.

But, as Suigetsu cracked his knuckles and snuck his hand around the handle of his blade, he thought that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke would let him get his hands a little dirty. It didn’t count as murder if it was self defense, right?

“Who are you?” Sasuke demanded, sounding entirely bored like he hadn’t just been about to bite some woman’s head off for trying to touch his pup.

The omega seemed to give the three guys a once over and smirked.

Well, if Sasuke was smirking, then that meant either one of two things. Either he was amused by someone lesser than him in terms of skills and abilities challenging him, or he was feeling particularly mischievous, and was going to enjoy beating these guys to a pulp.

Either way, Suigetsu’s sword was going to be bathed in red, that much was clear.

“Careful, we don’t know what they’re capable of.” Juugo breathed out responsibly from where he was standing behind the alpha.

Suigetsu realized that he and Sasuke, the two heaviest hitters of the pack, were in front, shielding Karin and Juugo from the potential brunt of these bozo’s assault.

Only, Otter was currently occupying part of Sasuke’s attention, so most of the fighting would probably fall on Suigetsu’s shoulders.

“There’s a bounty on your head. Me and my colleagues decided that we wanted to cash it in.” The guy who seemed to be the leader responded to Sasuke’s prior question. It was rather vague in Suigetsu’s opinion. Except for Karin, they were all wanted criminals in some way or another.

“Did he point at me or Juugo?” Suigetsu whispered to the inky haired omega beside him.

Sasuke never took his eyes off of their opponents, though he did respond with “Does it matter?”

In hindsight, sure, it didn’t really matter all that much. But, see, Suigetsu’s curiosity was one of the many personality quirks of his that really fed into that bloodlust. He’d save the ‘head guy’ for whoever was the actual target to defeat, and go after the other guys with a vengeance instead. However, if they were after Suigetsu, well, no one would be able to fault him for toying with his food first, would they?

“No, you’re right, I guess it doesn’t.” Suigetsu shrugged, almost tasting the death that was about to linger in the air. If he licked his lips, none of his packmates commented.

“Sasuke, maybe you should give Otter to Karin.” The alpha suggested as the two groups continued their standoff.

Their surroundings had become like a ghost town. Gone were the delighted cries of pups as they were out and about with their families. The food stalls had closed down the moment Sasuke’s sword was drawn, the shutters and signs having made a dull but hasty cacophony of background noise.

Sasuke rolled his eyes,but Suigetsu didn’t miss the light hint of a playful smirk, “Do you ever shut up?”

Otter, the amazing little guy, chose that moment to blow a spit bubble and clap his chubby little hands together. For a second, everyone was silent as they looked down at the baby. Suigetsu spared their opponents a glance and even found that they, too, were put off by the baby on their makeshift battlefield.

It gave Suigetsu an idea.

“Hey, Sasuke, wouldn’t it be pretty embarrassing to get your butt kicked by an omega with a baby in his arms?” The alpha joked loudly.

If these guys were true mercenaries, then there had to be some kind of honor code that they went by. If the pack could create a sense of false security by making their opponents think that they weren’t taking the mercenaries seriously, then they would strike without taking the necessary precautions, giving Suigetsu an easy ‘in’ to make quick work of them.

“I dunno,” The dark haired omega shrugged, playing along with that arrogant yet demure tone of his, “I know I’d feel pretty embarrassed.”

“Hey! Suigetsu! Are you implying that it wouldn’t be an absolute honor to be beaten by Sasuke?! How dare you-” Karin started to grumble from behind them.

Sasuke shifted and stabbed his sword into the ground to free his hands. Without looking away from the enemies in front of them, the omega began to readjust the sling that Otter had been comfortable in so that it was tied to his back, not his front. That way, it freed up the omega’s range of movement and allowed him to keep Otter out of most forms of close range attacks by literally using Sasuke’s body as a shield.

And just like that, as soon as the sword was solidly sunk into the dusty earth, the first opponent surged forward, thinking that they’d let their guards down to banter and take care of the pup. Of course the guys wouldn’t bother to think that maybe, Sasuke and Suigetsu had been luring them into a false sense of security. The tiny one on the left seemed like he was the only one with brains in the entire operation, and even still, that wasn’t saying very much.

Suigetsu intercepted the man’s jutsu with ease, having been on the lookout for any sly tricks. The clash of his sword against the compounded chakra made an odd, almost crackling sound, and man, had Suigetsu missed the adrenaline of battle coursing through his body.

The white haired alpha waited patiently as his opponent jumped back and out of close range. Sharp teeth that he knew for a fact to be glinting a bright, terrifying white in the sunlight caught into a horrible grin. Suigetsu loved nothing more than toying with his enemies.

Sasuke defended himself from one of the other offending alphas, while Juugo covered Sasuke’s back from any sneak attacks. If there was one person in the world that was more protective over Otter than Sasuke, it would be Juugo.

The alpha who had jumped back to get a better assessment of the situation spent a second too long looking at the baby tied to Sasuke’s back. It was hard to miss, mostly because the wide eyed infant was taking in the fight with absolute glee. Otter actually clapped his little hands together when Sasuke kicked his opponent in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The dull eyed alpha glared as he wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, dirtying his bulky shirt sleeve, “You can come easily, or we can do this the hard way.”

Suigetsu couldn’t help the dark chuckle that caught in the air. He turned his neck and gestured his head in Juugo’s direction, addressing the much larger beta, “Why do they always say that? Do bad guys only have one line to use?”

Juugo paused before shyly responding, “Uh, Suigetsu, I think we’re technically the bad guys in this scenario-”

Sasuke angrily chimed in, cutting off whatever the bashful man was about to finish, “I don’t care either way! They’re slowing us down and are ruining my pup’s nap schedule!”

Karin swooned disgustingly. Suigetsu had seen a lot of dark, gruesome stuff, but nothing could ever quite prepare him for the sight of Karin flirtatiously fiddling with her glasses with hearts in her eyes. Of all the people Orochimaru had tried to ‘fix’ over the years, why couldn’t it have been Karin?!?

“Ugh,” she gasped theatrically, “Isn’t Sasuke so adorable when he’s protective over his pup!?! I could die from the cuteness!”

Suigetsu gritted his teeth, “Yeah, so why don’t you?”

“That isn’t very nice, Suigetsu-” Juugo warned, but Karin cut him off with a ferocious battle cry.

The beta was in the middle of blocking a kick from a shadow clone, so he was only half paying attention to Karin and Suigetsu’s squabbling.

Otter, the best little guy in the whole world, blew a spit bubble at her while Sasuke fended off the third opponent. In all honesty, Suigetsu’s own alpha instincts were subtly going wild with irritation at letting a pack pup be so close to danger, but rationally, he knew that Sasuke would never let even a single scratch near his baby.

“I’ll get you for that you stupid fool, Suigetsu!” The red head shouted before lunging at him.

She didn’t even give him a chance to dodge her before she was on him, scratching at his skin and pulling at his hair.

“What are you doing you crazy bit- Ow! Damn it- Why don’t you ever cut your nails?!” the alpha shrieked, trying and failing to get her off of him.

Beside them, Sasuke ignored them in favor of helping Juugo actually fend off the mercenaries.

“Uh, boss?” Suigetsu overheard one of them call out to the other, “I thought we were supposed to be fighting them- why are they fighting each other?”

The question seemed to startle the other mercenaries so badly that they actually paused to stare at Suigetsu and Karin grappling on the ground like the two packmates had grown extra limbs.

Sasuke took the chance to use their distracted states against them and flipped himself into the air, using one hand to jab in between the tiny guy’s shoulder blades with a smaller version of the chidori, and then swooping low to the ground to kick at the other guy’s legs and knock him off balance. Then, once the guy was on the ground and groaning, Sasuke flipped his sword, using the handle to smack into the alpha’s temple to effectively knock him out.

Juugo matched his pace and took care of the last one, Otter giggling happily all the while.

“Uh, Sasuke- your pup is showing some really concerning behavior-” Suigetsu shouted, prying one of Karin’s man-hands off of his shoulder. Her nails had drawn blood, but so had he when he’d punched her in the face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke shrug, like the little guy being entertained by violence at such a young age wasn’t mild cause for alarm.

“Don’t think you can try and change the subject!” Karin whispered in his ear threateningly. If cold blooded, insane murder had a direct sound, it would have been her voice.

“Please- help you guys! She’s crazy!” Suigetsu shrieked, trying to claw his way free of Karin’s unhinged attacks.

Sasuke and Juugo ignored his pleas for help in favor of cooing at Otter. The nerve.

~~~

Sasuke ignored Suigetsu’s complaining about his feet hurting as he led the group down the abandoned street. Their run in with the mercenaries two days ago had sparked Sasuke’s increased desire to gather supplies, and there was no better location to gather what they needed than one of the last running munitions stores that the Uchiha had favored back in the day.

Many of Sasuke’s weapons he’d used back in his genin days had been specially imported from this store, though the Hiruzen Sarutobi had tried to advise against a young Sasuke’s stubborn demands and to pick something from Konoha instead.

Back then, the omega had made a point to try and keep what Uchiha traditions alive that he could, and getting weapons from this store was one of them.

Uninterrupted furls of wind billowed and whistled around them. Old, rotten wood creaked and groaned from undisclosed locations amid the empty, worn buildings that lined their pathway.

If, perhaps, Sasuke were unfamiliar with this place, he might have acknowledged the slightly foreboding aura that coated the atmosphere like a thick syrup. But, Sasuke was familiar with it, and so he trudged ahead, leading the charge, and pretended to not hold his son ever so slightly closer to his chest.

“Bah!” The baby cried out, giggling when the sound he’d made echoed off of the nearby busted storefronts.

“See? Even Otter thinks this is creepy!” Suigetsu huffed, eyeing their surroundings as if a ghost would jump out at them from behind a half rotted door at any moment.

Karin kicked a small rock in the walkway out of frustration, “Would you quit your whining, Suigetsu?! You complain more than Otter does!”

“Karin, he can’t even talk-”

“Really, Juugo? You’re taking his side?!!” her bright red hair whirled angrily in the air as she twisted her neck to glare at the tall beta.

Juugo, for the most part, seemed unbothered by Karin’s disturbing display of flexibility in the neck region.

“Karin. Enough.” Sasuke did his best to keep the exasperation from his tone, but his son’s wriggling in his sling was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. The omega had made the group stop to take a small break so that he could change the baby’s diaper mere minutes ago, so the boy couldn’t be uncomfortable from a full diaper. Not to mention he’d been fed not even an hour ago.

So, naturally, Sasuke had to assume that Karin’s yelling and overly rambunctious scent were upsetting the pup. Karin had as little control over her scent as the baby had over his drooling. As soon as she was irritated on even the most microscopic of levels, her typically neutral scent of dyed cotton turned thick and itchy in the air.

“Shh.” Sasuke murmured quietly so that only the baby would hear. The omega bounced him lightly, though the movement was somewhat awkward because of the sling.

“Yeah, Karin, no wonder Otter doesn’t like you, what with all the yelling you do.” Suigetsu yawned.

Whatever the red haired omega was going to retort with was cut off when the baby yawned adorably.

“He’s clearly tired of both of your bullshit, now be quiet!” Sasuke remarked. He swiftly turned around and began leading them down the pathway, his back facing them. From their perspective, the action would imply that he was annoyed. But, in truth, Sasuke just wanted to lean down and kiss the top of his son’s head with no prying eyes.

He rubbed the little one’s back in soothing motions to try and lull him into a nap, but with the way the pup had been fussing lately, Sasuke had a hunch that he’d be too stubborn to allow himself to be put to sleep.

Honestly, where did his child even get that stubborn streak from? It's not like both of his parents are known for being particularly stubborn-actually, never mind. Sasuke was great at gaslighting others, but he couldn’t lie to himself.

The omega sighed and stopped primply on his heels. “This is it.” His voice left no room for uncertainty.

“I gotta say, this is one sketchy looking place- are you sure you wanna take Otter in there?” Suigetsu came to stand at his side and gestured distastefully at the dark and dusty entryway that Sasuke had come to stand in front of.

The alpha shifted his sword as if he expected enemies to come crawling out of the dark tunnel, and if Sasuke didn’t know any better, he’d say that Suigetsu was feeling protective.

If he was, it was sorely misplaced.

“Let’s go.” the leader responded. The baby cooed in interest at hearing his mother’s voice reverberate through his chest and against the boy’s tiny ear drum.

In a way, Sasuke was glad he was getting to share this munitions store with his son now too. It carried on the tradition that Sasuke’s parents had passed down to him, and their parents before him. It was common, no, expected for Uchiha pups to be presented to Granny Cat, the ancient old woman who ran the store. She would collect the Uchiha pup’s fingerprint onto a scroll, and perform a small sealing jutsu so that the pup would be added to the Uchiha clan’s trade agreement with her as well.

His son’s fingerprint would be placed on the tapestry alongside countless other Uchiha fingerprints, and Sasuke’s heart almost couldn’t bear the emotional significance of that small notion.

“A hide out in the middle of a ghost town, that’s actually pretty smart.” Suigetsu hummed from somewhere behind the omega.

Karin humphed and Sasuke could just picture her crossing her arms and turning her nose up in annoyance, “I know the locations of all of Orochimaru’s hideouts, and this wasn’t one of them!”

“Maybe he kept a few secrets from even you, Karin.” Juugo wondered aloud.

“This isn’t Orochimaru’s. It’s a munitions store the Uchiha clan had a contract with. We’ll get the supplies here.” Sasuke cut in before the three could get too carried away with themselves.

Honestly, some days Sasuke didn’t know whether his three month old was better behaved than his teammates.

The group continued their walk, and Sasuke took extra care to nudge his son’s tiny little nose into his scent gland so that he wouldn’t inhale so much dust from the underused tunnel.

“This place is like a maze, I bet it’s easy to get lost in here.” Suigetsu, ever the loudmouth jested.

Sasuke could remember thinking something similar when he’d first been brought here, just after he’d learned to walk. His father’s back had seemed so wide and sure as he’d led the way, and his mother’s hand had been so warm and soft in his own. If the omega concentrated hard enough, he could roughly make out a much younger Itachi crouching down to pet a cat.

“Yeah, and it’s so stuffy that it’s almost hard to breathe.” Karin murmured as she sniffled.

Well, the omega’s nose was incredibly sensitive after all. Sasuke couldn’t fault her for it.

“I’m sorry you feel that way!” Meowed a familiar feline voice.

Ah, so Denka and Hina had found them then.

“It’s been a long time, Denka, Hina.” He tipped his head respectfully.

“Ah! Why is that cat talking?!” Karin shrieked. She jumped away and hid behind Suigetsu, forcing him to be her human shield.

“Is that you, Sasuke? My! How you’ve grown!” Hina meowed. She was grooming the front of her paw, and if the omega remembered correctly, Hina had always prided herself on having a very shiny coat.

“Why is that human talking?” Denka quipped at the same time that Hina had spoken. He stalked over to Karin, who yanked on Suigetsu’s hair to try and force him to defend her from the harmless ninja pet.

“Quit it Denka! If they’re here, it’s probably for good reason. Tell us, what can we do for you Sasuke?” Hina purred, coming up to Sasuke’s leg to rub her furry cheek against his calf.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. They were low on medicine and needed to stock up on things for battle. Juugo and Karin didn’t have any real weaponry, and Suigetsu’s sword could be easily taken from him in a fight. Backup tools would certainly come in handy.

Juugo yanked Karin’s hand out of Suigetsu’s hair off to the side as Sasuke spoke up. “We need supplies for battle, weapons, medicines, for example.”

Sasuke paused and looked down at his child, who’d entertained himself by gnawing on the fabric of Sasuke’s shirt. He certainly had to take after Naruto, because no Uchiha child had ever done something so uncool.

“-and maybe a few other things.” The omega added. The baby was running low on diapers after all- plus Juugo needed clothes that didn’t scream ‘I was locked up for years in Orochimaru’s most notorious hideout’.

Denka sniffed the air, then craned his neck upwards. “Sasuke boy, what’s that I smell? It’s almost as if-”

Hina cut him off with a shocked hiss, “You have a pup!”

Perhaps Sasuke was getting tired of explaining this to people. Perhaps he would never be tired of getting to show off his precious little thing. Either way, in the moment, Sasuke’s will to communicate had dropped significantly, as he had never been one to enjoy repeating himself, so he let Suigetsu take the reins.

“Yeah, it’s a long story, but the little guy’s nap time is pretty soon, so why don’t we speed things up a little? Otter’s got some lungs on him, and your ears are even more sensitive than mine. You do not want to hear one of his fits.”

Denka and Hina shared a look and meowed in agreement. To reward them after such a long time of not visiting, Sasuke reached into his pocket and tossed them the treats he’d packed for them in the early hours of the morning.

“Catnip, my favorite!” Hina purred, taking the bottle of catnip between her jaws and scampered off to lead the way. Denka sighed at her antics and followed close behind her.

“Come on, you’ll get lost if you don’t keep the pace.” Sasuke instructed his team before following the felines himself. In his sling, the baby stopped gumming on the fabric of Sasuke’s- now damp- shirt to instead point clumsily at the others.

“Ba!” the baby yelled, like he was mimicking his mother’s orders.

“Oh great, there’s two of them.” Suigetsu groaned, rubbing at his scalp from where Karin had nearly balded him a few moments prior.

“I know, isn’t it amazing?!” Karin sighed dreamily. It was dark in the tunnel, so her glasses didn’t hold the glare that they usually did.

Juugo, like the silent support the man always was, walked firmly between the two so that Sasuke wouldn’t have to worry about them trying to claw each other’s eyes out.

“Ba!” His son shouted again, pointing more aggressively the second time around. Sasuke hid his amused smirk in his son’s hair.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, Otter. We’re coming.” Suigetsu cooed.

The light of the shop blinded them when they arrived a few minutes later. It was a stark contrast to the darkness of the tunnel, especially since Granny Cat had always decorated with vivacious objects like neon pink tapestries and sunshine yellow throw pillows.

Her granddaughter, also her assistant, had ushered them into Granny Cat’s private hosting room before their eyes had even had time to adjust to the different lighting. The private room was smaller, with slightly less offensive color schemes, but the cat related decor was multiplied to an even higher degree.

Balls of yarn as small as the palm of Sasuke’s hand and as large as Juugo’s chest were littered around the room. Feline themed wall clocks ticked away and paw printed tea cups sat primly on the display case to the left.

The Uchiha trade agreement scroll hung proudly on the wall behind where Granny Cat herself was seated. Some of the inked fingerprints were large and faded near the top from when the agreement had been first introduced. Near the bottom, where there was significantly more space, Sasuke found his own fingerprint from long ago. It sat closest to the lonely bubble of empty space that had been intended for the following generation of Uchiha to mark themselves. An entire generation that had been killed before they’d even had the chance to be formed.

Denka nudged his heel from behind, stopping the omega from delving further into his thoughts.

“Sit, sit.” The old woman demanded. The smoke from her pipe billowed from her mouth, making her look like a cat eared dragon for a split second. All around her, a horde of cats of various sizes and colors meowed for attention.

Sasuke did as he was told and sat across from her cross legged on the ground. He tried not to eye the startling amount of cat hair on the rug beneath them, and kept the baby safely out of reach from any cats that strayed over to circle him with curiosity.

“So, what Hina has told me is true. A new generation of Uchiha has been created.” She hummed out after giving him a once over.

She snapped her fingers and her granddaughter scurried around to look for something, probably ink.

“Yes.” He agreed, accepting the tea she offered him, though he only took a shallow sip. From what he vaguely remembered, last time he’d been here, there had been stray strands of cat fur in his mother’s tea cup. He did not want to see if that would hold true for his own cup as well.

The baby shuffled in his sling, sniffling and sneezing at the heavy musk of cat related scents that cloyed in the air. Sasuke couldn’t blame him, as his own sense of smell was incredibly sensitive as well, but the omega tried to cover for the pup so as not to offend the old woman.

“My apologies, he’s only used to the open air.” he amended, watching as the attendants whisked his teammates away. One male omega was even trying to show Karin new frames for her glasses.

“Nonsense,” she inhaled from her pipe once more before exhaling with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes, “You were much too young to recall, but you were the same way. Two sensitive little Uchiha noses, only nearly two decades apart. Inherited from Mikoto, I think. Your mother always had very keen senses, that girl. A shame, a shame indeed what happened my boy.”

A wave of melancholy washed over her wrinkled face, but it was gone in an instant when the vial of ceremonial ink was placed before her.

“Usually, we wait until pups are a little older for this, but, I think enough time has passed since the last time to wait any longer. Forgive an old woman’s giddiness, won’t you, my boy?”

Sasuke felt the same as her. He was itching for his son to join one of the few traditions he could offer him.

“Of course.” He agreed.

“Ahh, yes, yes, I believe you know what happens next, Sasuke?” She hummed thoughtfully.

She stood on creaky bones, and Sasuke followed suit. It seemed that the others in the room, attendants and Taka alike, stilled to watch. The attendants, with varying levels of excitement, but his teammates had an air of confusion swirling around them.

Sasuke had felt it too personal of a thing to share with his team. But that was fine, they would likely figure it out anyways.

The omega followed the old woman to where the tapestry hung proudly. Sasuke took the baby out of the sling, and almost preened at the gasp the woman’s granddaughter let out at how adorable his son was.

“An Uchiha with blue eyes?!” Granny Cat chuckled, “Well, I’ve lived long enough to see everything now.”

His son’s eyes were wide as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. At three months old, he was still far too young to actually grasp most concepts, but that didn’t mean his baby hadn’t inherited a stubborn streak that would allow him to try and try until his little heart’s content.

She opened the lid of the ink and held it out respectfully in Sasuke’s direction, “Press the finger to the scroll for two minutes, and the seal shall take hold.”

Sasuke glanced at her, then the tapestry, and then down at his son. Obviously, this moment meant more to him than it did the drooling baby, but still, it felt nice to share this with his pup. Maybe that was why, when Sasuke blinked and opened his eyes, his irises shone with the red of the sharingan. He wanted to remember this moment for always.

The omega dipped his son's pointer finger into the ink and did as Granny Cat had instructed. A small puff of chakra emanated from the scroll after the two minute mark, and the old woman informed him that the seal had accepted his son’s mark.

“Does he have a name?” she stage whispered.

Of course Suigetsu would have beaten Sasuke to the punch, “We call him Otter!”

If Sasuke weren’t too cool for it, he would have groaned. “His name is not Otter!”

“Then what is it, hmmm?” Suigetsu taunted.

Sasuke blinked, realizing he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His cheeks began to heat up, but that only served to add to his embarrassment.

“Otter Uchiha it is then!” Granny Cat thundered joyously, not noticing Sasuke’s embarrassment.

And just like that, the moment was gone.

The omega watched as his packmates were outfitted with various supplies by Granny Cat’s attendants, bouncing the baby lightly in his arms to try and lull him into a calmer state. So many new things had happened today, overwhelming the pup with energy and excitement.

“You know, it’s a shame.” The old woman spoke up after a long moment.

Sasuke turned to her, arching an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

“You both were such little things once. And now, you must fight each other to the death. A shame, a shame. There was a time when the Uchiha clan’s fate rested on many shoulders. Now, I fear, it rests on yours and yours alone.”

~~~

Karin sighed and leaned back against the cushioned chair that had been provided in the room at the inn they’d secured for themselves. After their fight with the mercenaries, despite there being no real injuries between the newly formed pack, they’d wanted to have a secure point of operations for a few days after making the pit stop at that weird old cat lady’s munitions shop.

Plus, Sasuke had been worried that Otter was developing a tan, and for the sake of keeping the pup as close to Sasuke’s mini-me as possible, had decided that springing for a hotel would help prevent Otter from any skin discoloration.

Karin thought it was weird, mainly because she’d decided to focus all of her energy into being the most supportive aunt she could be, but she couldn’t help but wonder if Sasuke was just projecting his worries about Itachi Uchiha onto caring for his baby.

It was no secret that omegas tended to sequester away their young when they were caught in deep turmoil. And, she figured, killing your brother who’d murdered your entire family would definitely be stirring up some troubling thoughts the closer they got to finding Itachi.

Suigetsu yawned a few feet away and clapped his hand on Juugo’s broad back. “So, Juugo, you wanna go experience this town’s nightlife later?”

Karin rolled her eyes. Leave it to Suigetsu to always try and waste time with finding fun and excitement instead of sticking to the plan. Not that Sasuke had given them a plan to particularly follow outside of “Don’t draw attention to yourselves.” once they’d checked into the hotel.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not quite sure how people would react to my…new dynamic.” The beta sighed glumly.

Since living life outside of his voluntary cage, they’d all noticed him having a slightly difficult time adjusting. When people in the towns they passed through had gotten close enough to notice his lack of a scent, they’d given him confused, nearly disgusted looks.

Even Otter had noticed that Juugo was unable to properly scent him. The baby always reached for him and tried to nuzzle a scent gland that simply wasn’t there any longer. The pack always carried a small air of sadness for a few hours after that would happen, mainly out of concern and pity for Juugo.

Suigetsu had wondered aloud to the two omegas one night after Juugo and the pup had fallen asleep, theorizing that orochimaru had forced the dynamic change onto Juugo like he’d tried with Sasuke, but Karin herself had been the one to debunk it.

Juugo had struggled with being an alpha for top long for his request to Orochimaru to remove his dynamic to be anything other than sincere. In fact, Karin had been one of the heads of research that the late sanin had utilized for the task of creating the surgical methods that would provide the best possible results.

Juugo’s successful surgical trial had been the thing to inspire Orochimaru to conduct the procedure on himself.

“It doesn’t matter what people think.” Suigetsu sighed, though his stupid eyes were sincere.

The water faucet in the bathroom turned off sharply. Karin could see Sasuke drying his hands from the way the door was cracked. Otter was laid on the counter in a fresh set of clothes and newly cleaned hair.

Karin could only imagine the relief that her fellow omega felt at having a proper place to clean his pup. Not that a speck of dirt had ever come in contact with the baby to begin with. No, Sasuke was meticulous when it came to caring for his son.

She allowed herself to stretch her legs out comfortably, subtly pleased with the homey feel to their room.

Since establishing the pack bond, Karin’s instincts had been begging her to start up a pack nest. However, that had been more than impossible with the group’s nomadic lifestyle. Besides, she wasn’t the only omega in the group. It wouldn’t be right of her to build one without Sasuke’s help.

Only, despite being an omega, and a recently postpartum one at that, Sasuke actually displayed no real omegan tendencies outside of the normal protectiveness of a new parent.

He didn’t go out of his way to bond with people or build nests. He didn’t scent anyone other than his pup. He didn’t even stand or dress the way most male omegas did.

Orochimaru had done a number on him, that much was clear.

“Sasuke! Hurry up, we’re getting bored in here!” Suigetsu called out.

A few moments later, Sasuke stalked into the room, perching himself on the edge of the bed to allow Otter some space to play. The baby loved playing with a stuffed orange fox that Karin hadn’t ever seen Sasuke buy, and it was a nightmare trying to keep the thing clean while on the road.

“Word has it that Deidara, a missing nin from Iwagakure that is known for some sort of explosion jutsu, is closest to Itachi outside of his traveling companion, Kisame Hoshigaki. If we track him down, we should be able to get an idea of where Itachi is with less chance of Itachi noticing.” Sasuke spoke with ease, like he’d given it a lot of thought.

Karin hummed to herself. Going after Deidara would be a much better option than thwarting unwanted attention by going after Itachi’s direct partner. She looked around to gauge the other’s feelings, and found that neither of the other men seemed to disagree with the information Sasuke had provided.

Sasuke had seemed to do the same. “Any questions?”

Suigetsu raised his hand. “What are you shoving that cloth in his mouth for?”

The alpha gestured to the damp rag in Sasuke’s hand that he’d been using to wipe at Otter’s gums.

Sasuke’s eye twitched. “…about the plan.”

Karin, however, didn’t want to follow Sasuke’s example of being perfect and instead decided to do what she did best: give Suigetsu shit.

“You idiot, Sasuke’s just cleaning Otter’s mouth!”

Suigetsu gestured with his hands, “But he doesn’t have teeth?!”

Juugo decided to hop into the mix, saving both the omegas the tiring task of explaining yet another common sense topic to the alpha. “His gums still need to be cleaned.”

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, “Can we please get back to the important conversation at hand?”

The air in the room had turned light and teasing, so it came as no shock to Karin when Suigetsu began to playfully tease Sasuke.

“Oh wow, some parent you are, not thinking your kid’s dental health is an important conversation!”

Even Karin couldn’t help the small chuckle when Sasuke’s eye twitched again.

“Okay, Okay, let’s stop teasing him. Sasuke, what were you saying?” Juugo playing peacemaker was not at all a surprise.

Suigetsu shot Sasuke finger guns, but Sasuke ignored him.

Deep down, Karin would have bet her entire chakra pool that Sasuke had secretly appreciated the light humor.

“As I was saying, going after Deidara is our best bet, and luckily, I have intel that he’d been hanging around the border between Konoha and Suna-“

Karin tuned out the plan in favor of watching Sasuke talk. He looked so confident and prepared as he walked them through the next phase of the plan. And still, somehow he managed to be completely aware of when Otter rolled too close to the edge of the bed, or when he pulled too harshly on the ear of his fox toy.

Sasuke was amazing, truly one of a kind. She was lucky to be part of the same pack he was in-

“Karin, are you paying attention?” Sasuke reprimanded, cutting her thoughts short.

She startled. Her back ached from the way she immediately fixed her posture and leaned away from Sasuke’s pointed gaze.

“Wha-uh, yes! Of course!” She lied, shooting Suigetsu and Juugo glares when they snickered to themselves.

“Good, then we should all turn in soon. We need to be up early in the morning to intercept Deidara.”

And there went Karin’s plan to stay up late and watch Sasuke and the baby cuddle in their sleep. Darn. She’d been looking forward to that.