Dwindling Inferno

It was only the chakra pooled into the soles of her feet that kept her from slipping on the jagged marble slabs of Orochimaru’s destroyed hideout. Yamato’s mission report had been very detailed, Tsunade realized as she continued to take in her surroundings. She found that the longer she looked, she was able to match certain areas of the rubble with the actions the alpha had written in his report.

Deep gashes in the center of the crater that looked like claw marks from a giant being caught her eye. Jiraiya was further down the wall of rubble, crouched down with a blank scroll in front of him inspecting the marks.

“Are you seriously about to start writing down details about the destruction left behind when there is a pregnant omega and unborn pup we need to be rescuing?” Tsunade barked. Her voice echoed off of the jagged pieces of stone that were once considered to be part of a hallway.

“Are you really yelling at me when we should be keeping a low profile?” The old moron fired back.

Touche, but still! Jiraiya could hem and haw about the nine tails stuff later!

The wind howled inside the crater. The echoed whistles bounced off of the rubble. It would have been disorienting, if not eerie, if Tsunade hadn’t lived through far worse. Still, she didn’t like being out in the open like this, in the middle of a battlefield of a fight long passed.

“Jiraiya.” She spoke. Her tone said what her mouth wouldn’t.

He got the message and raised his hands in a placating manner. If she didn’t know him so well, she would have been irritated with his antics.

Tendrils of her pale blonde bangs stuck to her temple under the sun’s glare. She and Jiraiya both had forgone their headbands once they’d neared the location of the ruined hideout. Neither of them wanted any remainder of Orochimaru’s spies in the nearby towns to be tipped off by their Leaf Village shinobi attire.

She sure was missing that headband right about now though. Sweaty hair was one of her biggest pet peeves.

“Should we-” Jiraiya began to ask, right as she opened her mouth to say “I think we should-”

Tsunade looked at him and he looked at her. It was like it always had been, back in the day. Both of them stumbling over the exact same conclusions at the same time.

The air shifted as they steeled themselves for what they might find. Orochimaru was disturbingly intelligent. He wouldn’t risk moving a heavily pregnant omega to another hideout. It would draw too much attention and potentially risk the health of his captives.

Plus, snakes always hid in plain sight, so it was highly likely that the monster had actually decided to stay and hide among the rubble of the hideout Naruto had destroyed.

They needed to be exceptionally cautious as they moved throughout the layer. There could be traps at every turn or any number of Orochimaru’s pet project freaks of nature lying in wait for someone to come knocking.

She looked to Jiraiya, who nodded at her in turn. He made the first move towards the jagged opening that led into the bowels of the hideout. The system of tunnels was dark compared to the brightness of the day behind them.

Pebbles of broken tile crunched under her sandals, but the sensation stopped after a few more steps. Luckily, the damage and debris from the battle hadn’t reached too far into the cavernous system.

Jiraiya went in front of her as they continued further in. They obviously had no idea where they were going, but at some point, they had to find something. This malevolent labyrinth had to lead them somewhere.

The large, gaping hole that they’d used as their entrance smelled greatly of lightning. Scraps of cloth that resembled what would be materials used for a bed stood out in the corridor’s floor. Recalling Sai’s part of the report, he’d entered Sasuke Uchiha’s personal room and the explosion technique had been cast from there.

She would have liked to signal to Jiraiya that they should stop and sift through what was left of the omega’s room. Maybe there would have been clues about his condition. Any prescription bottles hinting at any illnesses relating to the pregnancy, perhaps.

But, the medical knowledge could wait, and so she didn’t. If Naruto’s theory was true, Orochimaru wouldn’t have known about the pregnancy, and Sasuke wouldn’t have dared to try his luck by having medicines lying around. He was far too reserved and paranoid for that, she remembered.

They continued their trek in growing horror. The pair came to a door at some point and Jiraiya had gone in while Tsunade had stayed as the lookout. He had walked out of the room with a look of warning on his face as he shook his head, telling her silently that she shouldn’t look inside.

She had several guesses as to what he’d seen that caused that haunted, nauseated grimace. Orochimaru had always been brilliant. He’d used his deep intrigue of medical jutsu that every omega shinobi used to be required to learn and combined it with his immense talents for war.

Gruesome, bloody experiments with clinical precision and cruel, calculated intent were the outcome. She had no doubt that in these hideouts of his, it was a far worse and far more dubious operation than anything he’d conducted in the village.

Small sounds echoed off of the narrow walls around them as the two made their way down yet another corridor. Cold, leaking sounds like a loosened pipe was near caught her attention. Other sounds, like the hollowness of the hideout getting a surge of wind swimming through the stagnant air through the gaping hole in the Nader ground cave system, sent an eerie feeling creeping along her bones.

“Jiraiya.” She whispered so quietly that it was barely discernible from the sound of the wind current rippling through the otherwise dead air.

He swung his body around to face her as if he’d been reacting to a painful burn. His expression was serious in a frantic way, like he was worried something had hurt her while his back was to her.

Which made little sense, seeing as this was hardly something new to either of them. Maybe this Orochimaru business ate at him more than she’d originally guessed.

Her heart panged for her friend in sympathy.

“Do you hear that?” She whispered, gesturing to her ear for emphasis.

He paused after making sure for himself that she was fine. Jiraiya tilted his head to listen, and then his eyes widened in recognition.

“Wherever that leak is coming from, that means part of the hideout was damaged further inward. A second fight- maybe more recent!” She explained, doing her best to keep her voice low among the silence of the tunnel system.

Something had gone down deep into the bowls of Orochimaru’s lair that wasn’t linked to the chaos outside. If they found the source, maybe they could get a clue on what had happened to Sasuke.

The two shared a look, confirming that they were on the same page. Tsunade took the lead and Jiraiya had no complaints. She had the better sense of hearing, after all. They turned left, and then right, and then continued straight for several minutes. With each step, the sound grew louder and louder.

The drip, drip, drips haunted the hallways. If her hunch was right, then the blonde omega needed to brace herself for what she might find, and what that might mean for Naruto.

It would be the early afternoon back in Konoha. The rambunctious teen would be just waking up right about now. He’d probably found a way out of helping Shizune with the paperwork in the Hokage’s office by now and set his sights on either training, or sneaking away from the village to come find Sasuke himself.

Despite their surroundings, Tsunade smiled to herself. That boy. He was so politically powerful and had no idea. There were very few people, after all, who could get two of the legendary sanin to track down their lover. There were even fewer people who had not one, but two kage wrapped around their thumbs.

Often, the old omega had wondered if Naruto would ever get over his infatuation with Sasuke Uchiha and set his sights on Gaara of the Sand instead. The two had very much in common, after all. Both were jinchuriki, both had pained childhoods of a similar nature, and both had goals to become kage. Gaara surely seemed smitten with Naruto, at least. Though she had to admit, it was very difficult to discern the kazekage’s true feelings on pretty much everything.

Not that Tsunade found herself ever particularly rooting for anyone in Naruto’s love life. No, she simply wanted him to find whoever would bring him true happiness and would stay by his side. His heart, or fate, or both had chosen Sasuke, and so here she and Jiraiya were, trying to bring back the one thing that would truly make Naruto begin to live again.

If they succeeded, which there was no way they wouldn’t, those two had a long road ahead of them. She pitied them in a way. Years ago, when she, Kakashi, and Jiraiya had tried to play gods and separate their scent bond, they’d ended up driving the poor boy away. Tsunade may be old, but she knew the chakra presence of a troubled genin when she felt it. She’d known that Sasuke had been spying in on their last meeting. She’d wanted him to know what was coming for him in a twisted sense of protectiveness between fellow omegas.

She hadn’t intended for it to back him into a corner and force him to flee the village. Tsunade hadn’t foreseen it as the final push Sasuke needed to join Orochimaru.

Irreparable damage had been caused by her attempt at warning him. Naruto and Sasuke alike would never be the same. Their bond would never be the same. And now, there was a baby thrown into the mix.

Tsunade just hoped that history wouldn’t repeat itself, and that finally, someone would find happiness within the shinobi world.

Jiraiya grabbed her forearm, stopping her mid-step. She twisted her head around in silent question, but he was already angling his chin up, gesturing towards the area in front of them.

There, coming from just around the corner, was the faintest hue of light cast across the darkly tiled ground. It came from the same direction from where the sound of the leaking pipe was the loudest as well.

Tsunade let her chakra flow into her fists to brace herself for any potential foes they might come across. She cast a meaningful glance to Jiraiya, silently willing him to steel himself as well.

They inched closer to the corner. Jiraiya began to form a hand sign while she checked for any chakra signatures within the immediate area. There were none to be found.

In a flurry of movement, the pair whirled around the corner. It all happened so fast that Tsunade’s brain took a moment to catch up with her as the harsh lighting that flooded from the ajar doorway blinded her.

Jiraiya made a noise beside her. If his scent hadn’t been stolen by his own broken scent bond decades ago, she might have been able to catch a whiff of his own horror.

There, lying in a singed heap on the ground, was Orochimaru in his snake form. His slithery gigantic body was grotesquely splayed in a heap among broken furniture pieces and pools of his own blood. The sight didn’t fit someone of Orochimaru’s regal aura.

His head was severed from the rest of his body in an ugly, angry way. It had to have been done with a clean, sharp blade, because there were no signs of the two parts of Orochimaru’s corpse being hacked or sawed at. It had to have been done by a skilled swordsman.

She didn’t realize her hand had come up to her mouth in shock until her words came out muffled, “Jiraiya- whoever did this-”

“-It was Sasuke. Had to be.” The alpha bent low to the ground to point at something.

Tsunade got closer, though the stench of blood, even dried as it was, nauseated her. Her skin was pricked with a dreadful, anxious feeling that she knew far too intimately. But, now wasn’t the time for her aversion to blood to make its appearance once more. Naruto’s little baby was at stake here.

She knelt beside him, eyes following to where the old man was pointing. Some scales were an ashy black with wild, almost electric patterns spanning them.

“Where have you seen this pattern before?” He asked her rhetorically.

Tsunade ignored the discoloration and focused solely on the design. Then, a lightbulb went off in her mind.

“-Naruto-”.
Nearly four years ago, when Sasuke had made his escape and the two had fought their ultimate fight, Sasuke had struck Naruto with a chidori. Because of the boy’s rapid healing abilities, the chidori hadn’t left very much damage behind except for a small amount of scarring on his chest. But, before the wound had healed and the blonde had been discharged from Tsunade’s care at the hospital, the old woman distinctly recalled a similar wild pattern that had decorated Naruto’s skin like a painful tattoo.

“Sasuke did this. He killed Orochimaru.” Jiraiya breathed out.

All Tsunade could wonder in nauseous fear was where was Sasuke now?

~~~

Somehow, amid the chaos of the crowd of baffled Hyuuga, Neji had found himself yanked into the clan head’s home. Once the door was firmly slammed behind them- ‘them’ being Hiashi, who was gripping Hinata’s arm in a way that could not be comfortable, a very quiet Hanabi, and three of the clan elders.

Hiashi locked his eerie gaze with Neji, whose mind still hasn’t fully come to terms with what had just happened in the span of three minutes.

The room filled with the stench of angry alpha, noticeably making Hinata, the only omega in the room, flinch.

“Did you force her to name you?” Hiashi’s question was more of a command with the way it boomed and echoed off of the entryway walls.

In an instant, with a speed that only a Hyuuga could exhibit, Hiashi’s fist was clenched into his nephew’s shirt. The older man didn’t stop moving until Neji’s back made a resolute thud against the traditionally crafted wall.

“Father-“ Hanabi tried, but one of the elders silenced her.

“Did you force her to name you?” Hiashi repeated. His scowl continued to harden, and for the first time, Neji understood why others outside of their clan were so afraid of the byakugan.

That familiar hatred for his clan welled up from a place he’d thought long gone inside of his mind. Once again, he was suffering because of the decisions of someone from the main branch family.

But his bitterness only lasted a second, because Hinata was standing just within Neji’s line of sight over Hiashi’s shoulder, looking angry for the first time that the young alpha could ever recall.

It wasn’t anger for herself or the situation, but rather, a rage for her father’s mistrust of her cousin.

“He did no such thing!” Hinata cried with her purple eyebrows furrowed in porcelain dismay.

“A Hyuuga omega does not interfere between two alphas-“ one of the elders tried to reprimand, but Hanabi was having no disrespect aimed towards her elder sister.

“And a Hyuuga clan elder’s rank is below that of the heir to the clan, which, until we can get this sorted, is Hinata.” The fourteen-year-old glared.

Neji looked into his uncle’s eyes sincerely, “I assure you that I share your surprise.”

Hiashi’s enraged scent was still burning their lungs, but he let go of Neji’s shirt at the very least.

He whirled on Hinata next. The clan head grabbed both of her arms, just above her elbows, and shook her furiously. “Why must you do this? Why must you always be the problem child! The weak first born-”

Hinata’s eyes closed, and along with them, Neji’s heart.

“-the disappointing status as an omega-”

Hanabi’s breath hitched, whether with rage or despair, the genius was unsure.

“-the useless shinobi, too scared to harm, too hesitant to defend!”

Hinata opened her eyes. Neji searched his cousin’s milky irises for something, anything, to let him know what she was thinking, but all he found was steel instead. Contrary to popular belief, beneath that shy demeanor, was actually a stubborn young woman, with thoughts and feelings much deeper and profound than most gave her credit for. Only, this serious version of the young woman was trapped beneath layers and layers of years' worth of Hyuuga training that she could not unlearn so easily.

She broke her father’s white knuckled grip and backed away, getting a decent distance between the father and daughter.

“I have started from humble beginnings father, this is true. But, like someone that I admire very much, my ninja way is to never give up- and I will not accept defeat so easily. Should that be from my sister over who shall lead the Hyuuga clan, my father who has never known pride in his eldest daughter, nor anyone else who shall find themselves deciding my destiny for me.”

Hiashi, a put together man with years of experience that marred his impenetrable face, sighed.

“You have won the fight, Hinata. You cannot shirk your hard-won duties to your cousin. He is part of the branch family- he is cursed to submit, not to lead.”

Yes. The cursed brand that would never fade from Neji’s skin. The white-hot mark of Hyuuga hypocrisy and lies. It prevented him from many things, yes, the talented alpha was aware. But he never thought that he would even have the chance to entertain the idea of getting to change the way of the Hyuuga from the clan heir’s position, and now that the opportunity was right in front of him, he couldn't help the sort of desperate longing that this would be resolved to his and Hinata’s benefit.

“My father died in your place.” Neji found himself saying. “He was a member of the branch family. If he had not, and you’d died on your rightful, deserved night to maintain the peace between nations, who would have led the Hyuuga clan in your stead? Hinata was three years old, Hanabi not yet born.”

Hiashi turned to Neji with a calculating look. Just past his uncle, the young alpha could see Hinata subtly rubbing the part of her arm that Hiashi had grabbed so roughly. Something ugly and feral reacted to the sight within Neji’s being. Despite his outwardly calm and apathetic demeanor, he was still a young, hotblooded alpha who did not enjoy any threats to those closest to him.

“That is not a question worth asking, Neji.” He commented irritably.

“I think it is, father.” Hanabi spoke up once more. Her stance was teeming with thinly veiled aggression, despite the dirt on her clothes and her left cheek from her fight just moments ago with Hinata. His youngest cousin’s youth defined her in that moment, as she stared down her father in defiance of his treatment of Hinata and Neji.

Hiashi turned away from all of them to share an aggrieved look with the counselors.

Outside, Neji could hear the ferocious roar of the surprised Hyuuga who’d yet to dissipate after witnessing Hinata’s shocking speech. In all honesty, the noise jarred him. Never before had the Hyuuga clan had such a disturbance within the compound.

Hinata had caused that. The irony failed to be lost on the elder. Shy Hinata, as she was known amongst their clan, could never have dreamed of causing such an uproar. Except that she had, and that she did.

Maybe she would have made a good clan heir after all, he realized belatedly. Had this quality been a newfound discovery for Hinata herself? Or was she still unaware she possessed the skill?

“Hinata,” Hiashi spoke again, though this time with a hint of emotion slithering underneath his words, “-do you know what this would mean?”

He watched as his cousin bowed her head. “Yes, father.”

In truth, Neji was not quite sure himself. There were some things that were kept away from the branch family.

“Go to your room, Hanabi.” His uncle commanded suddenly. He twisted to address the freshly presented alpha, though his stern disappointment for Hinata’s actions did not bleed into his words.

The young alpha girl gave a protest that was short lived, as it was interrupted by Hinata turning her head ever so slightly to flash her little sister a sweet smile. “Go, Hanabi, it’s okay.”

It was so quiet that someone could hear a ghost blink as the room’s occupants watched the young girl go.

“You will be stripped of your birthright.” Hiashi listed first.

Hinata hummed, not unmindfully, “It would not be the first time, sir.”

Neji tried to hide his proud smirk by lowering his chin, but once he’d gotten his facial muscles under control, he looked back up to find one of the elders glaring at him with utter distaste. The alpha took no offense, if anything, the feeling was deeply mutual.

“You would be stripped of the Hyuuga name and cast out, you would have nothing- you would be nothing.” Hiashi persisted. It was hard for Neji to determine if this was his way of scaring her into rescinding her choice to make Neji the heir, or if it was the stern man’s own way of pleading with his child to not walk such a painful road.

Neji watched his cousin feeling suddenly like an intruder watching something so personal flash across her face. The dull roar of the chaos outside continued to add to the tension, and the many convoluted scents of anger and confusion were beginning to give him a headache. He could only imagine how Hinata must be faring, as omega were known for having very keen senses of smell.

Still, she was not deterred from defending her choice. “Father,” she smiled sadly, a far away look in her eyes, “If Hanabi had won the fight, I would have had nothing anyway. At least this way, I have a choice. I can live my banishment with pride, knowing the alternative was to become a servant to a clan that would never serve me.”

Neji’s own voice surprised him, “Hinata-”. He clearly startled the room. His watchful silence must have made them forget he was there. All but Hinata, that is, who turned to gift him a meaningful smile.

He was cut off from what was about to blurt out of his mouth however, by the lead elder. “You have forgotten, Hiashi, the most important rule of dealing with clan defectors. You must take her eyes. We cannot allow the byakugan to be utilized by non-clan members. It would give rival clans the wrong impression.”

“No!” Neji boomed. His legs moved of their own accord until they were firmly planted in front of his cousin. He used his body to shield her from the elder instinctually, even though the wrinkled old man had not moved from his position near the bookcase. His heart thudded in his chest almost painfully. Frantically, various techniques and styles ran through his mind.

He could use them. He was the genius of the clan. He possessed a natural skill that had not been seen for generations. He could- he could keep her safe. He would protect her-

Rustling fabric caught him off guard. The small sound tickled irritatingly in his inner ear due to the proximity of how close the small sound was. In front of the young alpha, his uncle’s face adopted a look of muted horror.

Neji whirled around to find Hinata’s body folded against the wooden floorboards in the deepest, most respectful bow one could muster. He too, looked on, horrified, at the sight.

The omega’s dark hair had fallen messily over her shoulders and pooled around her like an inky prison. She looked small. Smaller than Neji had seen her in a very long time.

“Neji is the strongest in the clan.” Hinata’s voice came out muffled, but she persisted, “He is fair and wise. Strict and determined as well. He has ambitions to bring the Hyuuga clan into a new era. He knows how to listen and how to speak up. He is strong, not just in strength but in spirit. There is no one better to become the clan heir. If I must give up my eyes, then so be it. Father, please, I wish to be banished from the clan.”

Neji had always wanted to lead the Hyuuga clan, even if it meant coming to power by any means necessary in his younger, more sinister days. But, as his cousin’s words pounded in his ears, he knew in his heart that he didn’t ever want it to come to this. As a genin, still so rife with hatred and bitterness, he’d still never entertained an idea so twisted as this.

Neji had wanted to become a leader, but not like this.

~~~

“Do you ever get tired of learning things through your clones? That has to drain so much energy.” Sakura hummed as she passed him a canister of water.

He’d been training since before the Sun had come up, and Sakura had wandered up to where Naruto was training a few hours after he’d gotten there.

They used to train together, but her shifts at the hospital and Naruto’s even more severe training regiment had meant that they trained together for far shorter times than ever before.

He unscrewed the lid and gulped down probably half of the bottle in his desperate thirst.

“Not really, it’s worth it because all of their practice and knowledge poofs right back to me when they’re done.” He wiped the few stray beads of water from his lip with the back of his hand.

Ever since he’d found that paper on the fourth hokage’s special transportation technique, he’d been doing his best to perfect the jut no su. If anyone were to ask the blonde alpha why he was so determined to learn it, he wouldn’t have much of an answer for them in all honesty. It was just a gut feeling that told him he needed to learn it for some reason.

On the technical side, the jutsu itself was fairly simple. He had to establish the markers where he wanted them to be, and then impart a small fraction of his chakra into them to “tether” him to their location once he entered the dimensional void that allowed him to travel between the distances at record speeds.

Doing so, on the other hand, was much trickier. Especially if more than one marker was involved. The void he entered made it very difficult to ‘see’ which marker was which, and the blonde often got mixed up.

That was why he’d gotten the clones involved to speed up the learning process.

The two packmates sighed contently, both comfortable enough with each other to not feel the need to fill the silence. Sai, who’d decided to crouch on the tree branch above them to draw the sky, swung his legs back and forth in the air pleasantly.

Naruto smiled to himself. Sai had come a long way from the asshole he had been when they’d first met.

“Naruto,” speak of the devil and he would appear, Sai’s voice called down to his friend, “It is astounding that it only takes thirty clones to teach you something. I would have thought it would be fifty.”

Never mind. Sai was still an asshole. But in a nice way. A tolerable way.

Sakura snorted and muttered under her breath. “Try sixty!”

Never mind, both of his friends were assholes. Total lost causes.

“Aw whaddaya mean?! I’m smart too ya know!” He grouched and crossed his arms.

They bickered as a group for a few more minutes- Sakura even went as far as to punching the tree trunk the two had been leaning against to shake Sai off of his bird-like perch on the branch above them.

It was nice. Being together like this. Since becoming a pack, the new Team Seven had tried to hang out together more, but they were also very busy people, so it was hard sometimes.

But when they were together, it was nice. Even if Sai still hadn’t gotten the hang of figuring out the difference between teasing and outright bullying.

The alpha sighed and rested the back of his head against the cool bark of the shaded tree for a moment. He let himself feel his surroundings- the rustling of the leaves, the smell of the soil.

Tranquility flooded through him, grounding him.

And then, he sat back up with a stretch. “Okay, okay, I guess I better get back to training.”

It was around midday, so he figured he could reasonably get another five hours in on the training grounds before he had to call it quits for the day. Already he could feel the knowledge of his clone’s training outcomes helping him better understand and manipulate the jutsu.

He was up and lightly jogging towards the center of the field not a moment later. He summoned ten clones as his lazy run came to a stop. They poofed up all around him, some in the middle of stretching, others were fastening their headbands in place. All of them were ready to hopefully perfect the jutsu by nightfall.

“Alright guys, you know what to do!” the alpha shouted to his other versions with determination. They all responded in various choruses of agreement- all except one, who sneezed.

Naruto felt around in his pouch for the special kunai and pulled it out on muscle memory alone. The weight of it had been odd at first, as the seal and wrappings added more mass to the handle than a standard kunai possessed, but he had been quick to adjust to the new design.

He held it tightly in his dominant hand and tried to focus on harnessing his chakra. The sounds of the world began to cut in and out, like there were cotton balls shoved in his ears. Confused, he tried to look around to see what was going on, but his body seemingly stopped responding in a white-hot sort of way. It was like his muscles were clenching all at once, under some sort of puppeting jutsu.

Pins and needles pricked all over his body. A searing, stinging wave of pain radiated from his scent bond, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

The kunai dropped to the ground with a dull, grassy thud, but Naruto could barely control his breathing, let alone stop the tool from falling with his unresponsive hand.

“-ruto? Naruto-“ he could hear Sakura’s voice, but everything felt like it was under water.

The bond flared again, this time with indescribable pain that he knew didn’t belong to himself, but his mind was having a hard time connecting what exactly was happening.

“Sai! Quick, he’s- seizure- help me get-“ Sakura’s voice faded in and out in confusing snippets.

He felt trapped, like he couldn’t force his lungs to breathe as his body writhed. Everything was a fast blur. Something rolled him onto his side- he hadn’t even noticed he’d fallen. Then there were hands on him, picking him up despite his unwilling spasming.

Then there was darkness.

~~~

Kakashi breathed a sigh through his nose as he placed the small bundle of flowers down on the regal marble slab. It had been a long while since he’d come to pay his respects at the Uchiha memorial.

Somehow it was easier to stand over the memorial stones of Obito and Rin than it was to look at the names that were on the Uchiha memorial. Or, rather, the names that were left off. The absence of three names sliced through his heart with more cutting anguish than even the graves of Minato sensei and Kushina did.

The moon hung in the air as though it were forced there by an invisible noose as the eerie, pale light lit up the engraved names of Uchiha long gone in front of the jonin’s visible eye. Not a single star was visible in the sky tonight. Nor any clouds, for that matter. No, it was just the grey fog that wrapped around the village like a blanket of mournful promise that kept him company.

Kakashi used to come here more often. At least, before he’d taken Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura on as his pupils. Some of the names he’d remembered. Like Obito’s grandmother’s name that was sandwiched between the name of the lieutenant from the Uchiha task force and the name of that girl Itachi had held in high regard. Others, many others, he had no idea about.

Could some of these names have been the names of all the passersby he so commonly walked past when he would walk Obito back home after a mission? Could they have been classmates that Kakashi had never cared to talk to when he’d still been learning at the academy? People he’d taken missions from as a genin to sweep their homes or clean their gutters?

As long as he continued to memorize the names of these strangers, a small, small part of himself was bitter at the absence of one singular name.

Shishui Uchiha’s name was absent from any and all mourning ceremonies that the village had ever devoted to the Uchiha clan. He was buried in a pitiful grave, as were all of the shinobi who committed suicide. Shisui was buried just across from Kakashi’s own father.

They’d been close. Shisui had been the one to take pity on Kakashi all those years ago in the wake of Obito’s passing. He’d taken him aside and taught him how to use the sharingan. The wild haired alpha had personally taken it upon himself to sway Fugaku Uchiha into allowing Kakashi to keep Obito’s eye.

That had only been the start of their history together, and it had haunted Kakashi more than anything else in his entire life. There had been funerals for Obito and Rin and village wide mourning periods for Lord fourth and his wife, along with all the others who had died in the nine tails attack. Even his father, the great White Fang of the Leaf had at least been discussed minimally after his death.

Shisui? For such a prodigy of whom had the potential for village wide peace within just two inky eyes? There had been nothing. No tears, no funeral service. Just a burial.

It had stuck with Kakashi. The emptiness of it all.

And that was likely why he found himself still tending to the Uchiha memorial. Well, that and because it was the clan of his deceased soulmate, after all.

A familiar chakra presence in the distance stole the grey haired omega’s attention away from the memorial. What was Naruto doing out here in the dead of night? The kid was usually dead to the world by now.

The chakra started to appear brighter, letting the jonin know that Naruto was likely heading in his direction. But why?

Careful, lonely steps tapped along the stone walkway as the blonde got closer. From the way the sound rang sluggishly through the air, Kakashi determined that Naruto must be in a somber mood. His pace was far too lethargic to be tied to a good mood.

The masked man looked up to the moon as if it would have any answers. Unfortunately, it simply stared blankly down at him in response. How rude.

“Kakashi sensei? What are you doing up?” He heard his student ask from behind him, clearly a little startled to see someone awake at this time of night.

Kakashi exhaled through his nose. “I could ask you the same.”

He heard the slight sound of rustling fabric and knew that Naruto was shrugging his shoulders. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Kakashi pouted the ground beside him. Upon seeing that he was being beckoned to join his sensei, Naruto quietly lowered himself to the ground.

It was quiet between the two for some time until Naruto spoke up again. “I thought Sasuke was the only one who came here.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw Naruto start to fiddle with a few blades of grass. The nonchalant action did little to cover up the slight waiver of his bottom lip.

Kakashi looked to the moon for guidance, once again, and was left completely bereft of any help. It was almost as if the moon was not a sentient being that could fix his problems for him.

Oh well…

“How has your training been with Lord Fourth’s jutsu?” Kakashi asked in favor of giving the boy any real response to his question.

To say it had surprised Kakashi to learn that Naruto had taken an interest in Minato’s signature jutsu would be an understatement.

It had startled him at first to see his student performing the jutsu his sensei has honed so dearly. Truly, Naruto had looked so much like his father on that training field. His bright blonde hair had flickered in and out of existence as the boy had tried his hand at teleporting that Kakashi had nearly felt a tear in his eye.

Naruto was growing up and teaching himself the jutsu that his father should have gotten to teach him. And the sad part was that Naruto had no idea of the significance.

Naruto brightened considerably beside him. “It’s going great! I think I’m really close to mastering it!”

The young alpha’s smile was blinding under the cloak of the night. Perhaps that was why Kakashi couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. Yes. That was why. Definitely.

“I heard you had another seizure.” He commented.

He’d been away on a mission at the time, and Sai had taken it upon himself to fill him in on all the happenings among the pack when he’d gotten back. It hadn’t just been by word of mouth, no. Sai had written it all down, even added a few rough sketches of moments that were hard to elaborate on with words, and delivered all of the information with the monotonous tone of someone giving a speech about the properties of dirt. Which, in other words, had been so boring that Kakashi had thought he’d died and gone straight to hell.

The straight faced alpha took being part of a pack much more seriously than anyone Kakashi had ever known. It was as disturbing as it was touching, in a way.

Naruto swallowed thickly, “Yeah.”

He knew his student didn’t want to talk about it, but the last time a student of his didn’t want to discuss something, he ran off and joined Orochimaru. Kakashi was tired of history repeating itself. The cycle of personal misery had to end at some point, and just maybe, it should start with Naruto.

“How are you holding up?” The omega asked.

It was a good question. One that allowed the ball to be in Naruto’s court on how he wished to answer. The boy could opt for the easy way out and take his mentor’s question to mean that he was asking about the aftermath of the seizure. Or, he could take it to mean that Kakashi was asking about how Naruto was dealing with the fact that he was going to be a father at seventeen years old with no idea where the mother or the pup was, especially now that the link between Sasuke and Naruto had strained itself again, giving the blonde yet another seizure.

Naruto pulled his knees to his chest and rested his crossed arms atop his bent knees. He slumped his head down onto his folded arms in defeat. It struck Kakashi then, just how dull Naruto’s blue eyes looked at that moment. The lifeless, murky blue was a far cry from the usual bright and energetic cerulean gleam.

“I think…”, the young alpha trailed off with a thick voice despite the small tremor to his lip, “I think I’m scared, Kakashi sensei.”.

His voice started out somewhat strong, and then fizzled to a desperate whisper. As if Naruto’s throat had grabbed onto the confession and almost refused to allow it to escape his mouth and to be birthed aloud into audible words.

Kakashi didn’t bother entertaining the idea of asking why his packmate might be feeling so uncertain. Fatherhood was a terrifying thing in the best of circumstances, but for such a young person? For a shinobi who could only offer the financial stability of a genin’s salary and would be away for long periods of time? That was asking for trouble- and that was without taking into consideration the fact that Naruto had never been a part of a family to begin with and would likely have no idea about raising a pup.

He also still had to worry about the Akatsuki and Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya being able to save Sasuke and the pup from Orochimaru.

And, for the cherry on top of the ever growing shit cake that was Naruto’s life, even when Sasuke was brought home, he was still a missing nin. There would be a trial, where every bit of Sasuke and Naruto’s private lives would be aired out for all to see and gossip about.

“I would be worried if you weren’t.” Kakashi commented instead of bothering with stereotypical preachings of sympathy.

That at least got a short, dark chuckle out of the lad.

“I think I’m angry, too.”

There was a pause before Naruto continued to flood the atmosphere of the Uchiha memorial with his deepest, most confidential musings.

“I’m angry at Captain Yamato for not taking Sasuke with us when we had the chance. I’m angry at you for not being on the mission instead because the Kakashi sensei I know would never leave one of his students behind. I’m angry at Granny Tsunade and Pervy Sage for never listening to me when it comes to getting Sasuke back. I know how to talk to him, if I had just been sent alone, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. Sasuke would be here, and that bad feeling in my chest would be gone, and everything could be right again. But no, I’m here and they’re out there.”

He raised his head suddenly, like he’d just had a revelation, and turned to look Kakashi dead in the eye with a pleading, desperate look, “Even if they do find him and get rid of Orochimaru– Sasuke’s gonna be hurt and scared and vulnerable because of the baby. He won’t go with them if I’m not there to show him it’s okay to trust them. He’s- Sasuke’s gonna need me and I won’t be there-”

He cut himself off and inhaled a large breath before exhaling slowly, taking his time to compose himself. It was a technique Kakashi had witnessed Iruka utilize countless times with Anko. The chunin must have taught it to Naruto once the young alpha’s panic attacks had started up after Sasuke had left the village.

Somewhere in the distance, crickets began to sound. Naruto didn’t continue his train of thought when he started to vent again.

‘I’m angry at myself too. If I’d just been stronger. If I’d been able to control the stupid nine tails…I could have saved them both. I may as well have given Sasuke right back to Orochimaru on a silver platter, with our pup dished up as the desert.”

That self loathing guilt had been a trait that unfortunately, he’d picked up from Kakashi himself somewhere along the way. Dread filled the grey haired man. It had never been his intent for any of his pup-students!- to adopt his own self depreciative tendencies.

“And-” this time, the tears finally freed themselves from the oppressive confines of Naruto’s tear ducts and sent themselves somberly running down the boy’s scarred, blotchy cheeks. “I think the person I’m angry at the most is Sasuke. And that terrifies me. The second he found out, he should have come to me! He’s Orochimaru’s apprentice, there’s no way he wouldn’t have been given enough freedom to create an easy enough escape plan! He put our baby in danger by staying with that-that freak and now look! He’s gonna give birth as a lab rat if he hasn’t already. Why didn’t he come to me for help? Does-does he not think I’m good enough to be our pup’s father?”

“Hold on there Naruto. I don’t think Sasuke thinks that at all. Contrary to popular belief, omegas don’t accept just anyone into their nests during their heats. It has to be someone they feel secure with, with some sort of bond. Sasuke wanted you, he accepted you. He’s not the type to change his mind so flippantly. He wouldn’t reject you like that.”

Naruto scoffed, “He did once already, remember? I’ve got the chidori scar on my chest to prove it.”

And Kakashi was suddenly reminded of why it was usually Iruka who tried to cheer Naruto up. He couldn’t just run away from it now, though. Not when he was Naruto’s pack ‘alpha’. Not when Minato and Kushina weren’t there to guide their son.

It was high time Kakashi stepped up. However, he wouldn’t quite be himself if he didn’t curse whatever gods that had made it happen.

“Naruto, have you ever heard of soulmates?”

The sudden subject change seemed to startle the boy out of some of the funk he was in. Naruto was always too eager to learn and please like that. Kakashi would wager it had everything to do with his isolation as a child.

“Yeah! They’re really good friends that-”

Kakashi chuckled, though it wasn’t quite a laugh inspired by anything humorous. Tsunade had forbidden him from telling Naruto anything about his odd bond with Sasuke, obviously out of some misguided need to protect the young Uzumaki, but Kakashi had had enough. Most of the problem wouldn’t even exist if they hadn’t spent years trying to save Sasuke and Naruto from themselves.

Was there even anything to save the two fools from in the first place? Or were they just less easily controlled by the state if they chose each other over their duties as shinobi?

Quiet thoughts like those plagued his mind far more often these days.

“No, not like in those books Sakura reads. Soulmates are very rare, incredibly so, but they're also equally very real.”

Naruto looked at him. Even amid the darkened cloak of the night, he could see the red rimmed eyes and sharp eyebrows furrowed together in a silent question.

Kakashi steeled himself. One of his quietest, most cherished secrets that even Gai didn’t know about was about to be uttered into existence.

“I would know. I have a soulmate.” Kakashi’s smile that graced his lips behind his mask was a bittersweet one. His facial muscles contorted into a look of love and pain, grief and joy. He could feel them painting the story of his misery, and was grateful for the mask he wore. Some things were better hidden from the world.

The visible grief woven into a fleshy tapestry made of his own skin held tight over his skull and muscles would probably not be as uplifting to Naruto as Kakashi hoped his tale would be.

“Had.” Kakashi corrected himself after realizing his slip, even after all these years.

“What.. happened?” Naruto asked after finding his voice again.

Kakashi shrugged and turned his attention to the memorial stone in front of them, where each and every fallen Uchiha, save for two, were listed in a terribly clinical fashion.

“My father was the White Fang of the Leaf- a hero from the war, someone even more powerful than the three sanin. He died when I was around five years old. I met my soulmate shortly after. It was brief, just a passing interaction really, but there was a pull we both couldn’t deny.”

Short and sweet. That was the best way to get his point across without reliving those carefully hidden memories.

He cleared his throat before continuing, “He had a lot of weight on his shoulders and I did too. He was a couple years older than I was, but we had a lot in common. Both geniuses from important, tragic clans. Both carrying our own issues just behind our eyes. The only difference was that he coped better than I ever could have hoped to. I got older, joined the anbu. He wanted to get mated, but I was still too clouded by my grief to entertain the idea. I pushed him away, I felt pressured. And then he died too, and the worst part was that if I hadn’t pushed him away, it could have been avoided.”

Kakashi looked to the Uchiha memorial once more, “So much could have been avoided.”

They sat in silence under the tight grip of Kakashi’s confession.

“Why did you tell me all of that, Kakashi sensei?” Naruto asked in a small voice.

“Because I’ve watched you and Sasuke for longer than either of you would have ever realized. And, I think it’s high time someone informed you of what your bond with Sasuke truly is.”

He paused to wait and see if what he was getting at would sink in for the blonde, but the young alpha just looked as confused as ever.

“You and Sasuke- you’re soulmates. It’s nearly impossible to form an accidental scent bond, especially for two barely presented teenagers. It’s even more unlikely for the scent bond to not have snapped and broken away by now, despite the distance. You feel when Sasuke is in pain, despite there being no mating bond between you. With no alpha to provide their scent and pheromones, most omegas would have had miscarriages. But not Sasuke- he’d due to give birth any day now, if he hasn’t already. It’s fate doing all of that. Pushing and pulling you together and apart.”

Naruto made a noise in the back of his throat like he wanted desperately to believe what Kakashi was telling him, but had been fooled by pointless hope before.

“But, how can we be soulmates if it’s so rare?”

Kakashi shrugged, “It’s funny you should ask. There is only one clan to have ever existed whose populace was composed solely of soul pairs: The Uchiha. It was thought to be tied to their jutsu. The Uchiha clan always felt so much deeper than any other because it was what gave their special abilities their powers. It only made sense to the powers above, apparently, that the Uchiha could only truly mate once for life. Though, there were occasionally outliers. In fact, since the founding of the Leaf Village, there was only ever one person born to the Uchiha clan who was not granted a soulmate by the fates, and his name was Itachi Uchiha.”

It was a rather tragic fact that Kakashi could vaguely remember Fugaku Uchiha being mortified by. Kakashi wasn’t part of the clan, only barely associated through his own soulmate, so he had no idea how the clan was able to tell when someone had the potential for a soul bond.

To save face, Fugaku had banned the clan from discussing soulmates all together. Any information that Sasuke should have rightfully learned on the topic as a pup was kept from him as well. The wayward omega likely had no idea that soul bonds were an important secret that would later, unfortunately, die with them. Kakashi had often wondered if Itachi had intended as much when plotting the massacre.

It was almost comical, in a dark, twisted sort of way. Sasuke was going after the man who’d killed his clan. But his clan’s demise was likely the only reason why Sasuke would have been able to pursue his soulmate. Fugaku would have never allowed his omega second born to get involved with the nine tailed jinchuriki. Especially not when his alpha first born had been insulted by the fates to be without a soulmate.

Naruto was an idiot, but even he was starting to see the puzzle pieces of Kakashi’s droning snapping into place. “You’re trying to warn me about something.” The young alpha surmised.

Kakashi almost snapped his fingers like it was just a regular day at training and Naruto had just gotten the hang of a certain technique. “Correct.”

Naruto picked at a blade of grass that was sprouted near his ankle. The weeds were particularly thick here. No one tried to maintain the Uchiha monument outside of the bare minimum upkeep provided by the random genin assigned to the task.

The monument had been ethereal when Sasuke was still sneaking out every Thursday night to show proper care to the Uchiha resting place.

“Sasuke is like I was. Pushing you away because of his own personal demons. It wasn’t fair to my mate, and it isn’t fair to you.”

Naruto put an empathetic hand on the older man’s shoulder, “I don’t think he blamed you, you know?”

“Do you blame Sasuke?”.

Naruto looked to the stars. He looked young, so young. Sometimes it was hard for the adults in Naruto’s life to take a step back and remember that Naruto was only seventeen, not even having been an alpha for a full decade of his life. Or a shinobi, for that matter.

“No. I know he has his reasons. Sasuke’s never been the kind of guy who does things to be mean or spiteful. Some communication would have been nice, though. Like a letter or something saying “Hey, we’re about to be teen parents with no healthy way to raise a kid!” would have been nice, is all.”

Kakashi snorted, “Can you ever actually picture those words coming from Sasuke?”

Naruto chuckled fondly, “No. He’d probably write something like ‘Our bloodlines have merged.’ and not elaborate.”

They talked back and forth for a bit more before deciding to let the Uchiha clan memorial continue its peaceful, lonesome stature. Kakashi stretched as he stood, appreciating the popping sensation releasing the pressure in his lower back. Naruto yawned loudly, sounding almost like an owl.

Before they could go their separate ways and go rest comfortably in their homes for the night, Kakashi stopped the blonde with a pale hand on his jacketed elbow.

“Before you go, there is something I feel I should say.”

He paused to collect his thoughts, and then delivered what would be his most important words of the evening in an even tone. “If there is anything that I have learned from my own tragic tale, it’s that there is only ever one certainty in life, and that is that it will end in death. What happens until then is not written in stone anymore so than a wind current is tied to the tree limbs. If these thoughts and feelings are plaguing you, then when Sasuke comes back, you need to address them and not let them fester. I’ve watched you put Sasuke before yourself for nearly a decade now. I believe it might be time for Sasuke to return the favor now.”

He paused to catch his breath before continuing, “After all, lost time is truly the only wound that will never heal. Don’t set yourself or Sasuke up for that by ignoring your own needs.”

And with that, he turned away and shuffled his hands into his pockets with a heavy mind.

He did not make it four steps down the mossy pathway before arms were wrapping around his front. He could feel Naruto’s face pressed into his back, ultimately softening Kakashi’s cold heart just a little bit further.

“Thank you, sensei.”

Naruto shouldn’t have thanked him. Kakashi was undeserving of praise when he was barely able to offer his students the bare minimum. He wasn’t like Gai or Iruka.

Kakashi didn’t voice that, though. Instead, for just a moment, he allowed himself to take a small amount of joy in the embrace of his packmate. It was a selfish wish, but he hoped that history would not repeat itself. He wished with everything he could muster that Naruto and Sasuke would break the cycle of broken hearts and live happily.

~~~

Jiraiya was no fool. He knew that whatever they’d be walking into with Orochimaru’s lair wasn’t going to be exactly ideal. But to find their old teammate dead in a giant, rotting heap…that was a lot to process. Even harder to process was the fact that Naruto had apparently fallen in love with the world’s most stubborn and violent omega on the planet.

To be so close to giving birth and managing to take down a legendary sanin? That took more than guts and power- it took insanity.

Tsunade had been quiet on their trek to Jiraiya’s next location to look for any clues. Not a mournful kind of quiet, but just…quiet. The inevitable, resigned sort that was neither sad nor happy.

Jiraiya had always seen Orochimaru as a sort of rival in the beginning. Then they’d become friends, then old war buddies. And, well, then enemies.

But Tsunade and Orochimaru had held different bonds than Jiraiya had possessed with the dead man- arguably even deeper ones. They’d been the only two omegas to graduate from the academy. The first two. The two omegas had paved the way for omegan rights in the Hidden Leaf Village, and not just on the shinobi side of things.

They truly had been the closest thing to siblings that either of the two had had after the war. And then, it had all fallen apart. Orochimaru had been sent on that fateful mission while Tsunade had still mourned the loss of Dan. He and Jiraiya had split up, an old tactic that had never failed them before. But it had that day, because Orochimaru had gone into an unexpected heat. By the time Jiraiya had found him, he’d been raped and scent bonded against his will by the enemy.

Tsunade had to be the one to try the experimental surgery to remove the bond. Orochimaru had originally died by her hands. The surgery hadn’t been perfected then. It had been Kabuto with Orochimaru’s twisted knowledge that had brought the omega back to life.

That had been the night Orochimaru had left the village, never to return except to murder their sensei and hunt the Uchiha boy for sport. By the time Orochimaru had died, he hadn’t even been an omega anymore. He was something else- something twisted and unnatural.

Tsunade had been the one to suggest searching the hideout for any files or information before they left. She’d been the one to find his notebook detailing his transformation into a third, new dynamic. He called them betas. Jiraiya called them confused.

Apparently, some had sought the criminal out. They’d sought freedom from their overly strong instincts. A small few had even come to him claiming to have presented ‘wrong’ and begged the man to fix them. Some were taken just after presentation for further ‘research’ purposes. Some had lived, others had died.

They’d found the journal in the lab where Sasuke had to have been kept. The two had been able to piece together a few things from there. Orochimaru was weak, judging from the medicines and other concoctions Kabuto had been preparing. Sasuke had been the ideal next body for Orochimaru to steal. Only, the omega was revealed to be pregnant.

Kabuto’s notes had neatly detailed their plans to speed up the pregnancy, though no further notes gave any information to whether or not they had gone through with it.

There had been photographic evidence as well to detail Sasuke’s ‘gift of future sharingan users’, as Kabuto had labeled it. Tsunade hadn’t let Jiraiya look, so he could only guess to how indecent and intrusive the photographs were.

“If Kabuto is alive out there somehow, I’ll find him and kill him myself.” She’d declared, enraged on Sasuke’s behalf.

Jiraiya had been the one to spot the seal on the wall. It was of clever work that required immense power to perform. The seal had been a culmination of a few basic ones that every genin was taught about before they graduated the academy, only with a few alterations to make it quite the powerful seal indeed. Essentially, it was how they’d kept Sasuke docile and powerless by stealing his chakra as it replenished itself within his body.

How Sasuke had escaped captivity was up in the air, especially with that seal in place. He shouldn’t have been able to use any of the techniques he so clearly had on Orochimaru, either. But somehow he was, and that made the fugitive omega far more dangerous than either living sanin had once thought him to be.

“Here, we should stop in here for a bit.” He put a hand on her shoulder as he directed her towards the shady looking bar he’d been looking for.

There were a few bums and other nefarious looking people meandering about, but Jiraiya paid them no mind.

“Shouldn’t we keep moving? We need to see if we can find a trail-” She argued, but Jiraiya shushed her before her voice could escalate and get them noticed.

“We’re in the most notorious black-market village there is. If there is a trail to follow, we’ll get information here first.” He whispered into the shell of her ear.

He did his best to keep his eyes low and his shoulders strong. Over the years, it had become the default way to present himself in places like that. Everyone avoided eye contact, for fear of being recognized or worse, remembered. But, a weak or stiff posture would invite the rowdier ruffians to mess with a person who appeared to be easy prey.

Tsunade scoffed sarcastically under her breath, “That guy sure looks like he’s having a good time.”.

He followed her line of sight and saw the pitifully comical sight of a large man wobbling around on unsteady feet. Both of his eyes were bruised and swollen, and in one of his hands, an opened bottle of sake sloshed around as he waved his arms whimsically in the air.

“I wouldn’t make fun if I were you, Princess. You get to looking like that around your twelfth bottle of sake or so. Well, minus the eyes.”, he teased despite their circumstances.

She shoved his arm, but she didn’t bother hiding her halfhearted smile.

Dust coated the doorknob of the rundown establishment, but the place wasn’t quite dirty. No, just subjected to the elements of what was essentially no man’s land.

Jiraiya wiped the particles onto the side of his pant leg after holding the door open for Tsunade. The inside of the place was roughly what Jiraiya remembered it to be. It still had the same alpha woman behind the bar. She smelled like cigarettes and sported three large scars running across her face and down her neck.

The tables were the same, but someone had rearranged them into a different array than when the alpha had been there last. The new set up had more tables clustered closer to the entrance than the back. Probably so that the bartender could keep an easier eye on the patrons.

“I remember you.” The bartender’s voice was scratchy. Jiraiya himself had only ever seen her talk a handful of times. It must have been rough with disuse.

Jiraiya shrugged flippantly, falling into his dimwitted persona far too easily, “You know me, I can’t ever stay away from fun for too long. Say, is the bathhouse open at this time of day?”

She glowered a long-suffering glare, and then turned her attention to Tsunade. She sniffed the air, scenting the blonde’s very clear lemony omega scent, and then rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what this moron told you, but you look mighty young to be hanging around the likes of this greasy bastard.”

Tsunade laughed. He watched as she threw her head back as the melodious sound filtered through the air.

It was a sight for sore eyes after what they’d encountered not even a day before.

“Hey, come on! It’s not like that-”,he tried to clear up the clear misunderstanding, but Tsunade giggled away.

“After the stunt you pulled last time, I don’t want to hear it.” The bartender snipped. She wiped at the counter with a renewed aggression.

Finally, Tsunade said something. “No, he’s telling the truth. It’s not like that. I’m somewhat of a business partner of his. We’re just traveling together.”

The bartender looked at them for a long moment before shrugging and muttering something under her breath. She jutted her chin out at a table with two chairs near a secluded part of the bar, and the two went to take their seats.

“Old man.” Tsunade whispered at him.

“Old hag.” He responded, though there was no real heat behind it. Their bickering brought a small form of normalcy to the situation that both of them tried to cling to.

“So,” Tsunade began after they had made themselves comfortable in their seats, “What’d you do to piss her off?”.

Her honey eyes glanced over his shoulder in the direction of where he assumed the bartender was standing. He felt his body sag in embarrassment.

“That’s a story for another time- but it was a misunderstanding! A big misunderstanding, I swear!” He waved his right hand in the air, as if that would help prove his innocence.

Tsunade’s upturned eyebrow showed that it did not prove anything to her except that her old friend was a bit of a moron.

“He’s gone.” Jiraiya found himself saying.

He didn’t know if he meant Orochimaru or Sasuke. Maybe both, maybe not. The old alpha wondered what Sarutobi sensei would say if he were here. He’d probably take a puff from his pipe and stroke his beard in somber thought. Next, he’d probably talk about the tragedy of Orochimaru, his fallen student, and turn it into a lesson. Then he’d use that lesson to rally Tsunade and Jiraiya’s spirits and motivation to finding where Sasuke was now. Something about not letting the past repeat itself and all that.

When Tsunade had asked him to come with her to find Sasuke, he’d agreed without a second thought. Only, he didn’t share her compassion for the boy. He’d agreed to go because he felt a sense of duty to Minato and Naruto. Kakashi too. In a way, a very real way, the future of the shinobi world rested on finding Sasuke.

Naruto was on the verge of giving up because of his prolonged absence, and if Naruto gave up, then the world would have lost its savior.

Tsunade nodded her head solemnly while her eyes shifted to the direction of the bar. She was probably wishing she had a drink in her hands right about now. Hell, Jiraiya felt like he needed one himself.

A few more patrons filtered into the bar over the span of an hour while the two sat in utter silence, mulling over the very poor information they had at their disposal. Tsunade had just come back from the bathroom when a few rowdy looking missing nin sat down at the table next to theirs.

Their slashed headbands glinted under the ceiling’s dingy lighting. One of them, a woman with bright green hair, seemed to be the ringleader of sorts. She was the one who’d wasted no time in splaying a map across their table and plotting down various points, while the other four talked or sloshed their drinks around in their glasses.

“Aw come on, Hoshiko, would you relax already? You said we’d take a breather, and then we’d go shake down this old Namura hag!” The buff guy with the red scarf whined.

The woman, Hoshiko, didn’t look up from her map. “The bounty on Uchiha’s head is huge. My sources tell me that Namura is our best bet of finding him, we can’t screw this up. Apparently, Orochimaru used to take him to Namura’s shop to get special weapons. Top grade stuff- the type that nations would go to war over. If we screw this up, then we’re saying goodbye to millions.”

The scrawny guy who looked like he could use a warm meal and a bunch of nausea medicine coughed. “Yeah, but isn’t Sasuke an omega? Namura is too- she’s known for helping pity case omegas disappear, she wouldn’t just tell a bunch of strangers about an omega acquaintance of hers.”.

The second, and only other girl, adjusted her glasses. “That’s true, but luckily, Namura hated Orochimaru, and likely Sasuke by association. Omegas can be pretty territorial, I doubt the woman would have formed any sort of attachment to the guy.”

It was overhearing those scoundrels that had Tsunade and himself standing in front of one of the more well kept buildings in the black market village. The place was located in the center of it all, while proudly displaying a sign detailing rare and valuable equipment for purchase in the window.

As soon as Tsunade had returned from the bathroom, Jiraiya had forced them to leave and find this Namura woman’s shop. Beating the young missing nin to her shop was key for a successful interrogation.

Jiraiya opened the door for his partner, both of them winced when the tiny bell attached to the top of the door gave a horrible little jingle.

“Riku, if you’re back again to pester me about the kusarigama with the fire blade you can go ahead and leave! I won’t sell it for anything less than-” an old woman’s voice caterwauled from somewhere deeper into the shop.

“Excuse me, but my friend and I were looking for some help?” Tsunade called back politely.

Jiraiya looked around as he followed Tsunade’s lead to the front counter. There were several rows of weapons throughout the store, each lined up meticulously and glinting under the ceiling lights. The establishment had dark, worn wood embellishments, with not a visible speck of dirt or footprints on the floors. Clearly, the owner took great care with the place.

Jiraiya leaned on the counter, watching as the owner of the voice moved away from one of the corner aisles with a dusting rag in her hands to hobble behind the counter and assist them.

“Oh, some fresh meat. From the looks of it, you don’t seem to be the type to get your hands dirty in a town like this.” The old woman raised her eyebrow skeptically. She crossed her old, liver spotted arms.

“Well, you see, we actually were sent here by an old friend to ask about a woman named Namura. Do you know where we could find her?” Tsunade asked sweetly, throwing on some of her natural charm.

The old woman looked back and forth between the two before she sighed and uncrossed her arms. She instead leaned her hands along the counter in a no nonsense way, like she was already getting a headache from them being here.

“I’m Ms. Namura. Who sent you? Why?” Her tone was monotonous at best, a far cry from the old woman that was shouting about prices to whomever ‘Riku’ was just moments before.

Jiraiya decided to put on his own charm and cut in, not wanting the intel gathering to fall solely onto Tsunade’s shoulders. “Well, we were actually sent to try and track down Sasuke Uchiha. Someone’s been looking for him with no avail. We heard you might know a thing or two about where he is, so here we are.” He grinned, flashing his pearly white teeth at her.

The old woman bristled uncomfortably for a crucial half second before forcing her demeanor to relax. “The only thing I know about Sasuke Uchiha is that he was Orochimaru’s apprentice and killed him. And good riddance I say to that, Orochimaru was a monster.”

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed beside him, “But not Sasuke?”

Ms. Namura, if she was surprised by Tsunade’s question, didn’t show it. “Do you call the hero a monster for killing the monster? No. You call him the hero.”

Jiraiya pushed further, “So you do know him, then.”

He noticed her knuckles turning white against the countertop. “In passing, I might have seen him around here once or twice. Orochimaru usually sent him on errands here.”

She knew something. She was hiding things from them- but why? What would her reasoning be? Had he paid her off? Or was there another factor at play here?

Tsunade softened, probably trying to come at this conversation from a different approach. “Please, if you have any information- any at all- we would greatly appreciate it. The person looking for him is very worried for his safety.”

Ms. Namura looked between them again. Her eyeballs shifted back and forth, back and forth, before ultimately leaving Jiraiya with a heavy glare as she turned her face to solely address Tsunade. “You’ll have to excuse me if I roll my eyes at that. Rumor has it Sasuke’s an omega, you know as well as I do that there is no ‘safety’ for us, young lady. Especially not the powerful type like him. I don’t know anything, and even if I did, it’d cost you a pretty penny. You best be getting out of my store now, before I call one of my helpers from the back to make you leave.”

They’d come so far. Namura clearly knew something- something big at that, from the way she was posturing so quickly into their questioning. But, they also couldn’t just force her to give up anything she knew. This was unclaimed soil, not a single of the shinobi territories laid claim to it. They couldn’t use any political sway that they would have to force her hand.

Once again, they were at a dead end.

~~~

Naruto tried to stop himself from hurling into the nearest trash can, but some things were just simply impossible, even for him.

“Why did you even decide to take this mission if you can’t handle a simple diaper change? It’s not like the pay is good- it’s only a D rank.” Ino laughed as he lost his ramen into the wastebasket.

When Choji had backed out of taking on the mission to help out at the local orphanage with Ino, Naruto had jumped in to help. The mission was meant for fresh out of the academy genin to practice teamwork, but because the chunin exams were nearing, helping out at the orphanage was pretty low on the pole for most genin squads. So, Ino and Choji had decided to take it on in their spare time, only, Choji had come down with a terrible bout of food poisoning.

Despite the very, very low pay, Naruto had jumped at the chance to fill the male omega’s spot so that he could learn a thing or two about kids. Anything he’d already known had been because of Sasuke explaining the basics whenever Konohamaru would tag along with them back when he was still a pup.

And Konohamaru had been far older than a baby back then.

“Because-” he glanced over to her again, and consequently saw the scene of the crime again, and gagged, “I have a very good reason, okay!”

It was getting harder and harder to keep the secret of his and Sasuke’s baby from the rest of their friends. Naruto was pretty sure Shikamaru was already starting to put a few things together, and that just made the Uzumaki even more antsy. Shikamaru had been the one to figure out the scent bond, and that secret had been under lock and key with only five people knowing about it. There was no way the genius wouldn’t figure it out.

She eyed him suspiciously. “Oh yeah? What is it then? Hmmmm?” The omega cocked her head and crossed her arms sassily.

Annnnddd, okay maybe he was a little stupid for saying that. Just a little.

“I-what? I don’t know what you mean-” he tried to back track, but the blonde girl was having none of it.

“No, no, I think you do.” She sing-songed teasingly.

Naruto decided to be smart and change the subject. “How can you be so calm when you’re literally handling- THAT-”

The baby they were taking care of had needed a diaper change. That was simple enough, right? Wrong. The poop was green. Green! And watery and gross and Naruto was pretty sure that it was the worst, most horrific nightmare of a scene he’d ever witnessed. The smell alone had him nearly gagging again.

How was Ino not passing out? Or losing her lunch like Naruto was?

“Well,” She turned her attention to the pup and poked his stomach, “it’s not as terrible as you make it out to be. Think of it this way, it’s better that it comes out down here than back up through his mouth, trust me.” She turned her attention to the clearly upset pup, “Isn’t that right little guy? Hmmm? Is your tummy hurting still? Don’t worry, big stinky Naruto will make it better.”

Naruto’s eyes widened in fear, “Wait- Ino-no-”

He threw his hands up to shield himself like she was throwing a ball of fire at his body, and not just waggling her eyebrows at him in mischief.

She feigned ignorance to his plight, “You’ll be fine. Here, be happy I’m kind enough to put a clean diaper on him so that you don’t have to.”

Naruto was relieved that the other babies had been moved downstairs already by other caretakers, and there was only one baby left for the two shinobi to manage. More than one dirty diaper might have had Naruto rushed to the hospital after quite literally puking his guts up.

She finished fastening the diaper onto the little guy and threw the used, or more accurately ‘destroyed’, diaper into the wastebasket. Then, she buttoned the pup’s onesie back in place and hoisted him into her arms, but held him away from herself, signaling for the alpha to take him instead.

Feeling a little less queasy now that the horrible sight of the kid’s apocalyptic diaper was gone, he stood up and took him into his arms. Naruto fumbled for a moment, not quite used to the weight of something so small and fussy.

He could feel Ino’s eyes on him, watching for any signs that something would go awry. He didn’t raise his head to meet her gaze, though. He was far too transfixed on the pup.

Barely there wisps of pale blue hair adorned the little guy’s head. His cheeks were still bright red and clammy from his crying at having his diaper changed. Naruto’s nose wasn’t as keen as an omega’s would be when it came to the pup’s scent, but even he could pick up on the undertones of discomfort that laced the boy’s milky scent.

“Here, you should hold him like this.” Ino suggested. She maneuvered the Uzumaki’s hand to rest on the pup’s back and shifted his arm to a more natural position. After her ministrations were over with, the pup was comfortably rested against Naruto’s chest, with his face cradled softly into the juncture of where Naruto’s neck and shoulder met.

Instincts were a funny thing, because as soon as the pup was settled, Naruto was trying to hold himself back from scenting the poor thing. The boy wasn’t Naruto’s, and besides, the orphanage had strict rules against volunteers putting anything resembling a ‘claim’ on the pups there. It could hinder any possible adoptions, they reasoned.

Ino chuckled lightly from where she was folding some laundry. “You feel it too, huh?”

He glanced at her, “Yeah? What is that–that feeling?”

It was like a weird pull in his chest, but one without a connection to any emotion he’d ever really felt before. He wasn’t sure if he liked the feeling or not, it was just there, similar to how the need to breathe was. It didn’t adhere to any conscious thought.

Ino sighed and placed some of the folded laundry into a drawer that had been ajar nearby. “It’s evolutionary. Something our bodies had designed hundreds of years ago to ensure the survival of our young.”

He shifted the baby in his hold and looked at her, trying to process what she was saying.

“Basically,” she amended after likely sensing his attempt at contemplation, “Before societies formed and people lived primarily in packs, these protective, almost sixth sense traits developed to ensure survival. Alphas have more of an eye for danger and have more physical instincts as a result of having traditionally been the ‘pack providers’ for hundreds of thousands of years. Omegas adapted more mental instincts, often relating to safety of the pack. However, both dynamics have one thing in common, even still to this day. Their brains are kind of hardwired to protect and love pups, even if they aren't their own.”

Now, that phrase Naruto had heard before made sense. It did take a village.

“But why?” He asked dumbly. It wasn’t every day that someone took the time to explain things to him that should have been taught to him when he was very young. He’d always just been expected to know things like everyone else.

“Well,” she shrugged, “Pups can’t really take care of themselves, can they? They can’t feed themselves or change their own diapers or bathe themselves. They aren’t even born with teeth or knowing how to walk. So, someone has to take care of them- but, back then, what if something happened to the pup’s parents or pack?”

Naruto filled in the rest of her sentence, feeling a mild sense of pain at the idea of a little baby being all alone in the world, “They’d be alone.”

“Exactly! But, if another person came along and found the baby, their instincts would compel them to take it in and care for it, making sure it survived!” She clapped her hands like she’d just finished reading a story with a happy ending.

His mind whirled with the new information. If everyone was supposedly hardwired to want to take in orphaned children, why did orphanages exist? Why didn’t families just come forward and adopt them?

If adults were supposed to care for and protect pups…why had no one ever protected him?

Naruto didn’t even know the name of the baby he was holding, but already he knew he would go to war for the snuggly little guy. How was it possible that Naruto felt this way, but not a single person had ever done the same when the alpha himself was that small?

He’d been denied entry to the very orphanage he was standing in right then before he’d even grown a single tooth in his mouth. The third hokage had to assign a rotating guard of anbu to make sure he was fed and clean and alive, but no one had ever held him or scented him. Or spoken to him, or played with him either, for that matter.

“What,” he dared to ask, “What happens if no one adopts him?”.

He used his chin to point down to the little guy in his hold. The baby had taken it upon himself to start gnawing on the necklace Naruto had gotten from Grandma Tsunade. The jinchuriki breathed out a small, airy laugh and tried to pry the chain out of the baby’s chubby fist, but was met with an angry, warbled little half-shout.

For fear of upsetting the kid, Naruto decided to just share the necklace with him for the time being.

Ino, who had moved on to collecting dirty bedding from the many cribs into a basket for washing, paused and put her hand on her hip in thought. “Well, kids who grow up without any packs or families become warped. They’ve been known to have attachment issues or behavioral problems. Some even develop learning disabilities.”

She paused and pushed her bangs out of her face, “-But that would never happen. No one would leave an innocent little pup to fend for themselves all alone in the world!”

The air turned. Even the orphan Naruto was watching, seemingly sensed it and batted at his shoulder in uncertainty. Ino, for as confident and well-meaning as she usually was, eyed him hesitantly.

Pity flashed in her pale blue eyes, but Naruto was used to those looks from his friends. Pitiful gazes didn’t upset him nearly as much as they upset Sasuke back in the day when the subject of healthy upbringings ever came up. Pity was better than hateful stares and violent gazes of contempt. The blonde had learned that the hard way a long, long time ago.

“I mean-” She tried to amend, but he just waved her off and pretended to be unaffected.

He could tell she hadn’t meant to accidentally insult him. Ino couldn’t really help the facts more than he could, after all. But, it wasn’t exactly pleasant to be reminded of his shortcomings that weren’t even technically his fault.

Instead of commenting, he forced himself to laugh. “Well, let's hope this little dude gets a family really soon! We wouldn’t want him to have trouble with math or anything, right?”

Naruto could tell that both the omega and himself were having small recollections back to the academy where he failed every test, despite him trying his absolute best. There had been a stint where Iruka sensei had thought he’d needed glasses, and that his poor reading comprehension was due to faulty vision, but after a trial run with them and a visit to the Leaf village’s meanest and also only optometrist, they’d learned that Naruto really was just that dumb.

Ino didn’t laugh at his joke. Even the baby was unamused. But, thankfully, one of the women who ran the orphanage poked her head into the nursery door and informed them that lunch would be ready soon, and that they needed help wrangling some of the other children up from the playground outside.

~~~

Hinata dusted her hands off on the bottom of her apron as she watched the pot on the stove come to a comfortable simmer. She’d finally gotten all of the sliced vegetables added to the pot, and now all she had to do was wait for the food to cook.

With a quiet, content sigh, she untied her apron and hung it up on the hook near the kitchen entrance.

When Kiba had designed the home, he really had thought of everything. The lacy curtains, the tall bookshelves with a classic, dark staining. Even the couch, colored a soft lavender and crafted with a sturdy, yet comfortable fabric, denoted just how much thought the wild alpha had put into this house- no, this home.

Ever since she’d been excommunicated from the Hyuuga clan, she’d been so busy with moving in that she hadn’t properly been able to come up with something to gift Kiba in return. She knew everything there was to know about him, they had been teammates for years now, and classmates even before that, but still, a sound idea eluded her.

Supposedly, there were whispers of Kiba being in love with a girl that he could not have. Perhaps, she could find this girl and help figure out a way to solve the issue for Kiba to show him how much she appreciated and valued him. Though, the omega had heard that this mysterious girl was very shy, so it might be difficult to find her.

But! For Kiba, one of her dearest people, she would take to the challenge like a fish to water!

As she exited the kitchen, making a point to keep an ear out for the food on the stove, she went to stand in the center of the living room. Despite the decor being so thoughtfully tailored to things she liked, she couldn’t help but feel hollow as she looked around the room.

She hadn’t been allowed to take very much of her belongings with her when she’d left the Hyuuga. Only whatever she’d been able to pack into her two duffel bags and whatever ninja gear she possessed had been allowed to leave with her. Hinata had made it out with only a few pictures of her family- mostly of her and Hanabi, and only one with their mother, a few books she’d enjoyed reading, and a fraction of her nesting materials.

Hanabi had argued with anyone who’d dared to appear the day Hinata had moved out of their home. She’d bared her teeth in a way that Hinata was sure would be terrifying one day, but the young girl had only managed to look like a newly presented pup trying to act tough. Their father hadn’t bid Hinata any sort of farewell. He’d only scolded Hanabi and told her that those outside of the Hyuuga clan did not deserve their leniency.

It still struck Hinata, every now and then, that she was no longer considered a Hyuuga by name.

She had the genetics. She had the eyes that were still being discussed in the courts of Konoha whether or not she should be allowed to still possess, but she had no family name.

She had no clan.

For the first time in her life, she was completely free of everything, and she had no idea what to do with it.

For days now, she’d tried to think back to any hobbies she might have enjoyed when she was younger, to try and rekindle her interest to fill her time, but she’d come up blank. Since she could walk, she’d trained with her father from sunup, 'til sundown. Then, she’d entered the academy, and Hanabi had been born, both two occurrences that took up any free time she might have had outside of her father’s training regimen.

Hinata sighed to herself and took a polite seat on the lavender shaded couch. She didn’t slouch nor lean her elbow on the armrest. The girl sat prim and proper, even with no one there to enforce such strict social rules on the art of sitting modestly.

She stared off into space, bored but too kind to even herself to admit it. Perhaps she could dip into some of her savings and purchase a television? The Hyuuga clan was far too traditional to allow such devices into their district, but once, at a sleepover, Ino had taught Hinata all about tv. The trashy romance ones, to be specific.

Or, maybe, she could get a pet to keep her company. Kiba and Akamaru had such a close bond with never a dull moment between the two. Even Shino always had such fun with his insects. Just the other day, she’d caught the reserved alpha playing hide and go seek with a beetle.

Yes! A pet would be a good idea.

Just then, as she was smiling to herself, a respectful round of knocking sounded against the front door. Hinata startled out of her delicately seated position and glanced at the clock on the wall. Her dinner guests were early!

Perhaps she would have been put out at the early hour, especially when the food was still simmering away on the stove, but her boredom would be quenched for longer this way!

“Oh! Coming!” She beamed. She made her way to the door and whirled it open with a pleasant smile.

Her elation didn’t even allow her eyes to protect themselves with a squint as the sunset’s ferociously vivacious light smacked her in the face. It was only for a moment, because Shino stepped into her line of sight, so very used to providing shade to his much shorter teammate that he likely didn’t even do it on purpose anymore. His body just moved on its own accord.

“Shino! You’re early! Come in, come in!” She moved away from the doorway and tucked herself just behind the edge of the door to allow him enough room to enter her cozy abode.

Shino didn’t move though. “Hello Hinata. I am early, yes, because you see, I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. Why? Because the invitation stated to arrive at ‘around’ six o’clock. This would mean either before or after six, but not directly at six. I did not wish to be late, so I came before six-”

Her talkative companion was cut off by a sharp ‘whoop’ sound being yelled from the side, just past her line of sight. She knew that voice, though, so she only smiled wider.

“Come on Shino, you’re really not gonna lecture Hinata on the invitations to her first party thrown all by herself, are you? She’s still getting the hang of it!” Kiba laughed, finally meandering into her line of sight.

He threw his arm around Shino’s neck in his signature boyishly wild style. Shino places his hands in his jacket pockets, clearly too used to the action to be bothered by the closeness in any way.

Both of them were dressed for the occasion. Shino was in one of his more formal hoodies, and Kiba had shown up in a plain white shirt underneath his signature leather jacket. Their hair had clearly been brushed through, even as wild as both of the brunette’s locks were.

The omega beamed at her two alpha teammates.

“Please! Come in! I’m glad to see you both!” Her cheek muscles almost hurt from how large her smile was.

“What’s got you all smiley, hmm, Hinata?” The Inuzuka asked as he and Shino took their shoes off and placed them respectfully by the door.

“Oh!” She faltered shyly. She hadn’t realized her joy was that obvious, “It’s nothing!”.

It was far from nothing to the polite girl. Her loneliness would be cured for a few hours! Laughter and familiar, comforting scents would fill her home!

Home. She still couldn’t believe that she had a home, a safe place, all to herself. For herself. All because of Kiba’s thoughtfulness.

Truly, she wanted to find a way to make it up to him. He’d done so much for her-they all had. Ino and Sakura had rallied behind her when she’d needed help stocking up on home essentials at the market. Choji and Shino had gone with her to the Konoha records office to change her name. Shikamaru had talked her through homeownership paperwork, while Kiba, Rock Lee, and Naruto had helped her move in.

Her friends had all come together to support her in her time of need, and she couldn’t be more grateful.

“Hinata?” Shino’s voice snapped her out of her overwhelmed musings.

“Hm? Yes Shino?”.

“Are you aware that it is unwise to leave food cooking on an open flame while unattended?”

She snapped her head in the direction of where he was pointing. In her excitement for some company, she hadn’t even realized that she was supposed to be checking on the food.

“Oh dear!” she exclaimed as she raced to the stove.

For a few frazzled moments, her eyes searched the dish for any signs of burning or other unsavory elements but found none. She picked the stirring spoon off of the neatly organized countertop beside her to stir the pot.

By her calculations, the soup only needed a few more minutes to simmer anyway, so she lowered the heat and went to check on the isobeyaki cakes in the fridge. She’d made them for dessert with Shino in mind.

Once everything was to her liking, she exited the kitchen to find her teammates having made themselves at home on her living room furniture.

“Whatever you’re cooking in there sure smells good, Hinata!” Kiba smiled, showing off his sharp teeth.

“So,” Shino spoke up, “Who else can we expect for dinner?”.

“Oh, just the two of you, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Kurenai sensei.” She busied herself by fluffing up one of the pillows she’d placed on the far end of the sofa. If Shino and Kiba were here, then the others would surely be arriving soon.

Kiba whistled, “I hope you made enough food for Choji. He’s been eating his feelings lately.”

Everyone in the room cringed. Poor Choji had finally given in to his mother’s match making, only for the blind date to show up, take one look at Choji, insult his weight, and then leave. Shikamaru had been the one to get the information out of her fellow omega after two weeks of the Akimichi crying into bags of potato chips. Even Ino, his fellow pack omega, had failed to cheer him up.

“I wish Shikamaru had confronted that guy. Why do I feel this way? Because Choji’s weight is tied to his jutsu. He would be an ineffective shinobi if his appearance was conventional by social standards for omegas. Choji did not deserve that.” Shino ranted hotly.

Hinata had to admit that it was an issue the omega club, back when Sasuke was still in the village, had worried over. Ino was skinny and an average height with big blue eyes and pretty legs. Hinata was short and delicate in appearance, with, she would only ever admit in embarrassment, a rather large uh…chest size. Sasuke had alluring eyes, and a stoic, dark beauty that paired overwhelmingly well with his strong, but lithe build. Every single one of them fit well into both the categories for civilian omega beauty standards, as well as the standards set for omega by shinobi criteria. All of them, that is, except for Choji.

“Don’t worry! I made braised burdock root, since I know that’s one of his comfort foods! I was hoping this dinner would brighten his spirits a little!” She smiled in sympathy for their absent friend.

Shino excused himself to the bathroom before the topic could delve any deeper into Choji’s body image issues. Sometimes, it was easy for everyone to forget that Shino too, had his own self-image issues to overcome. His outward appearance was relatively normal, but on the inside, he was a living host to countless chakra infused insects.

That left just her and Kiba alone in the room.

The omega inhaled deeply. The room smelled largely of her own scent, lavender, but underneath were the wisps of her teammate’s scents beginning to meld together in a cozy sort of way. Shino’s scent of dry leaves provided a calm middle ground between Hinata’s soft, but strong floral scent and Kiba’s earthy moss.

“Would you like to help me in the kitchen, Kiba?” She asked sweetly.

She could feel his warm gaze on her, and something about the muted heat behind his eyes was a comforting presence on her shoulders.

He brought the palm of his hand to the tip of his chin and turned his neck to pop it as he agreed.

They both washed their hands in the sink and dried their hands on the pretty kitchen towels Hinata had picked out at the shops the other day. Then, Kiba took his jacket off and leaned it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Hinata, despite being mostly used to muscular alphas because of her job as a shinobi, still had to fight the blush that threatened to paint itself across her cheeks once she caught sight of his tan arms.

She looked away and pretended to busy herself as he clapped his hands, “So, what’re we doing?”.

She pointed to one of the top cupboards and instructed him to gather a few of the serving bowls from the harder to reach shelves. “We’re going to plate the food now that the last dish is done.” Hinata hummed.

The omega maneuvered the pot of noppe to the edge of the burners to make it easier to pour into the large serving bowl Kiba had fished off of the topmost shelf with an unfair height advantage making the task innately easy for him.

“Careful, don’t burn yourself!” he worried over her. The alpha quickly sat the serving dish down on the countertop to grab the still steaming pot from her hands.

She wasn’t so lucky hiding her blush the second time around, but thankfully, the doorbell ringing gave her an excuse to escape the kitchen. She took a deep breath to collect herself, and then moved towards the door with an air of excitement to her step.

Tonight was going to be so fun.

~~~

After two weeks of going on what was becoming increasingly obvious to be a wild goose chase, Tsunade had found herself sharing a room with Jiraiya in a rundown inn not far from Kumo.

Rain had started pouring about an hour after they’d checked in for the night. The soft pattering of the storm outside brought the old omega a false sense of tranquility.

Muted sounds of items being moved around and the gentle thuds of things being placed on a countertop came from the bathroom where Jiraiya was getting ready for bed. She smiled to herself. He’d always been a little on the loud side when it came to simple things like placing a soap bar back into its holder or uncapping a tube of toothpaste. It was somehow pleasant to know that all these years later, he was still the same reckless boy underneath the tired eyes and the permanent frown lines.

Who might he have grown up to be, if his lover had not been murdered in their youth? Perhaps the same, or perhaps those eyes would gleam with a little less resignation and just a little more hope.

She could remember a time when Jiraiya had been freshly presented as an alpha, and instead of using it to be a knothead, he’d used his new found social standing to preach about hope and peace and enlightenment.

As the years had stretched on, and war had called upon them all, he’d discussed his ideals less and less. Those few years of watching over those three orphans had done him well back then. They’d unintentionally given him a new energy to put into his cause. But then he’d eventually returned to the leaf and fallen in love with an omega girl from an opposing village, and not even Sarutobi sensei had been able to keep him from wandering the world after her death.

How much time had both she and he wasted on their pain and grief? If they’d returned sooner, nursed their wounds faster, perhaps Sarutobi sensei might have been able to draw upon the wisdom of his students in his governing of the village.

Maybe Danzo would not have been able to gather so much power. Maybe Minato and Kushina would still be alive to raise their son. Perhaps even the tensions with the Uchiha clan would have been avoided.

Maybe Jiraiya would have never turned into the man who had tried to sever Naruto and Sasuke’s scent bond after seeing what it had done to Orochimaru.

And yet still, he was her greatest friend. Her equal in every way.

“Whatcha thinkin about, Princess?”.

His smooth, rumbling and casual tone startled her. She hadn’t noticed the bathroom door opening to reveal a freshly clean Jiraiya. His hair was not yet pushed back into its usual ponytail, so long, wild strands of stark white hair fell over his shoulders in lively waves.

He appeared younger without that sealing scroll strapped to his back.

She looked away and ignored the heat that rose to her cheeks, “Just reminiscing.”

Jiraiya smiled at her, “Your face doesn’t show it, but you’ve lived quite the life, huh?”

She shifted over on the bed and allowed him to sit. That was something they’d both silently agreed to not mention- the one bed in the room. To keep as low profile as possible, they’d pretended to be a mated couple when securing their sleeping arrangements at the front desk.

The ruse had been almost too easy. Jiraiya had grabbed her hand in a well acted sort of reverence, and Tsunade had melted into his shoulder like it was hers to lean on for all eternity. They’d both smiled at the young man running the desk like there wasn’t a thought in their heads other than simply resting for the night and the comfort of the other that he’d had no choice but give them a room instead of questioning Jiraiya’s lack of a scent and Tsunade’s very obvious lack of a mated scent.

And so, there the two were.

“I suppose you could say that.” Tsunade shrugged.

She picked up her brush from the nightstand and began to brush any tangles out of her hair so that she could braid it for sleep. Her hair had gotten much longer than she used to keep it, she realized. It was almost the length of one of her outstretched arms.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Jiraiya spoke up as she attacked a tangle near the ends of her hair.

Tsunade sighed, and she could tell that her lemony scent stank up the room with despair, “I know.”

“Your cover story for keeping Danzo off our trail only allowed you a week or three. The sand village can’t keep up your cover story for visiting Gaara much longer. I should continue ahead, who knows what’s been going on in the village without you there to knock some sense into everyone.”

“No, we’re not splitting up.” She shook her head in resolution.

Thunder boomed outside, rattling the windowpanes.

“Tsunade-” Whatever Jiraiya was about to say was cut off by a whooshing sound as a messenger toad appeared before them.

“Jiraiya! Jiraiya! An urgent message from-” The small toad croaked anxiously, cutting himself off.

It must have been one of the younger toads, because Tsunade didn’t recognize his purple markings. The pair watched in surprise as the toad hopped up onto the bedding and thrust the letter into Jiraiya’s hand.

“Okay, okay, it’s urgent I get it.” Jiraiya muttered as he tore the letter open.

Tsunade shifted and abandoned her hairbrush on the pillow next to her so that she could lean over his shoulder to look at what was hastily scribbled down. Only, to her frustration, it was all written in a code that she was unfamiliar with.

Sensing her frustration, Jiraiya summarized the contents aloud for her. “I have an informant that’s Akatsuki adjacent. He says that the Akatsuki member known as Deidara has been killed by Sasuke Uchiha.”

Tsunade couldn’t hold in her horrified gasp. She’d been going over the math in her head for days now. To have killed Orochimaru while pregnant was one thing, it probably came down to the overly protective instincts of an extremely powerful omega shinobi. To not only hunt down an Akatsuki member, but to kill them as well?

Sasuke had to have already had the baby. Or lost it in his struggle with Orochimaru, and was taking it out on his older brother’s organization. There was no other way. To give birth on the road, alone, and have no time to heal before going off to murder Akatsuki members? It was insane. An impossible feat of the body and his chakra.

Sasuke must have lost the baby then. It was the only logical conclusion.

From the look Jiraiya spared her, he must have been having the same thoughts. They’d been too late to Orochimaru’s hideout. Naruto’s baby-no, their baby, was gone.

“What else does it say?” she shifted her head down to look at her lap, startled by the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

She’d seen it- the love Naruto had for that baby, despite the circumstances around it. How were they going to tell him?

Jiraiya cleared his throat, but his voice still held a hint of mourning as he finished explaining, “It says that he’s making his way towards where Itachi Uchiha is located. It is presumed that they will have their ultimate showdown soon. The rest of the Akatsuki are scattered. There’s Tobi, who we know nothing about, and Kisame Hoshigaki, who is probably not far away from where Itachi is hiding. If there are any others at this point, we have no information on them.”

Jiraiya paused. “Wait- it says that the leader of the Akatsuki is hiding in the Hidden Rain village, plotting the organization’s final move.”

That changed a lot of things.

“We have to get back to the village. We need to tell Naruto about-”

Jiraiya brushed some of her loose hair away from her face. “You go back to the village. Tell him, get the proper measures in place. I’ll go check out the Rain village.”.

She wanted to argue. She wanted to come up with a way where they achieved both tasks but lost no time either, but Tsunade knew as well as anyone would that it would be a fruitless endeavor.

So, instead, she moved her hand to grab his in a tight, comforting hold.

~~~

Naruto entered his apartment with the ghost of a chuckle dying on his lips after he waved goodbye to Sakura and Rock Lee. They’d happened to meet up while Naruto was in the middle of grocery shopping and had kept him company on the walk back to his home.

However, the alpha stopped short as soon as he was inside. The bags of food dropped to the ground under gravity’s reliable pull as he yanked his body into his preferred fighting stance.

Something was off. Someone had been in his apartment while he’d been gone.

Instantly the hairs on the back of his neck stood proudly against his skin. A cool, familiar feeling kunai that never left the pouch fastened to his pant leg was in his hand before he’d even fully processed that he might need one.

It was more than muscle memory at this point.

With how alarmed his instincts were, he ruled out the possibility of it being anyone he knew. Tsunade had ordered an anbu detail to watch over him while she was gone, but they were told to keep their distance. None of the well trained, almost invisible shinobi would risk their cover being blown by encroaching on such a territorial alpha’s space.

An enemy. It had to be. Someone from a past mission with a grudge, perhaps? Or an Akatsuki member, coming to do what Itachi Uchiha and his shark toothed partner had failed to do four years ago.

“Alright, cut it out, who’s there!” He called out to the seemingly empty unit.

Nothing moved nor twitched, nor hummed or startled. The only movement that his suspiciously narrowed eyes caught was the faint shifting of the leaves from one of his potted plants that lined the windowsill.

Light caught the leaves at odd angles from the sunlight outside, causing unique shadows and shapes to loom on the walls. He must have spilled some water from the watering can when he’d been caring for his plants before he left, because there was a noticeable amount of water pooled around the floor underneath the windowsill.

He closed his eyes to feel for any chakra presences beside his own but came up with nothing other than the usual ones of the fellow shinobi that lived in his apartment building. Whoever this was had a knack for hiding themselves.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and shut the door behind him with his foot. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the old woman who lived next door wouldn’t complain to their landlord about the noise that was about to come from his apartment. He couldn’t take another complaint on his apartment unit. He was risking homelessness as it was already.

“I won’t ask again!” he thundered, listening intently for any sounds of footsteps or creaks in the floorboards.

His apartment was small. The living room and kitchen area shared a space. His bedroom was attached to the bathroom, so there were really only two other possible areas for the intruder to be in.

He eased forward and readied himself to summon a few clones if he needed to. The alpha held his breath as he nudged the door to his bedroom open with his foot. It creaked as it swung open slowly. He peeked inside, calculating what he saw to see if there was anything amiss.

It was a difficult task, all things considered, seeing as his room was in a perpetual state of disaster. His pillows were still scattered on his unmade bed. Clothes still littered the floor in a familiar enough way that Naruto deemed them undisturbed. The only thing that he knew for certain was not in the place where he’d left it was the photo of the original Team Seven that he kept on his nightstand.

Naruto was man enough to admit that he looked at the picture every night before he went to bed. On the lonelier nights, he’d trace the lines of Sasuke’s face absentmindedly as he thought about him.

It was that very routine of picking the picture frame up and then setting it back down that let him know that the angle was off. It was facing straight forward, as if someone standing and facing the nightstand had picked it up to give it a look and sat it back down at a straight angle.

He stepped further into the room, but small pinprick sensations running up his spine told him that something was off. He turned swiftly to the doorway, only to find a strange alpha with a purple shirt and white-blue hair eyeing him distastefully.

Naruto would have planted his feet correctly upon landing, if only his right foot hadn’t gotten caught in the dirty laundry on the ground. He yelped as he lost his footing and fell on his butt with a painful thud.

The intruder watched him sharply. “Wow, Sasuke was right. You are a total loser.”

Sasuke. This man knew Sasuke. Why was he here? Had Sasuke sent him? Had this guy escaped Orochimaru too and been forced to leave Sasuke behind?

“How do you know Sasuke?” Naruto demanded as desperately as a man who begged for water in the middle of a desert.

Tsunade and Pervy Sage’s updates had been so scarce lately. If this man had any information on Sasuke-

The nameless alpha leaned against the doorframe like he wasn’t dangling Naruto’s heart over a cliff. He shrugged and looked at his fingernails nonchalantly. It pissed Naruto off.

“I could ask you the same question. What are you, an old teammate?” The alpha asked, nodding his head in the direction of the picture frame sarcastically.

Naruto was on his feet in an instant. “Hey, I’m asking the questions here-”

The alpha snorted, “Yeah and you’re doing a great job, too. I think the Konoha interrogation unit better recruit you.".

“If you’re friends with him-”.

“You know,” The arrogant asshole interrupted, “I had a deadbeat dad. He was dumb, and any time he actually did come home he made the place look like a hurricane had passed through because of how messy he was. He ended up just making even more work for my mom.”

The alpha stopped leaning against the doorframe to stalk closer to where Naruto was having a hard time from stopping himself from lunging at the guy. Where did this guy get off trying to preach at Naruto about things that didn’t matter to him?

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?! If you have any information on Sasuke- tell me so I can go save him from Orochimaru!”

The alpha laughed. Naruto’s face hurt from the scowl that was carved into his face.

“I’ve been watching you for a while.” The stranger admitted, “-And I’ve decided that I don’t like you. But, seeing as Sasuke’s wish is my command, here we are.”

So Sasuke had definitely sent this jerk then.

“If you’re not gonna help me bring him back home, why are you here?” Naruto’s fists shook at his sides.

“You don’t get it, do you? Sasuke saved himself, because you wimps in the Hidden Leaf weren’t going to do it. He killed Orochimaru the same day he went into labor. He birthed his pup alone and instead of resting, he went back and freed the rest of us all across Orochimaru’s hideouts.”

The information was a tornado in his mind, swirling around and giving him a headache of pain and concern. Sasuke had broken free and defeated Orochimaru? And-and Naruto hadn’t been there to support him or their pup for the birth. Wait. The pup-

Had his fight with Orochimaru hurt their baby, and that was why Sasuke hadn’t returned to the Leaf? Had-what if-

What if he lost the baby? And he was staying away because it hurt too much? What if Sasuke was scared of how Naruto would react?

The alpha’s voice was small when he gained the courage to ask. “The baby- was the baby okay?”

And maybe it was the way this other guy’s eyes searched Naruto’s and didn’t find what they were looking for. Maybe it was the humble, tired and aching way the blonde’s shoulders were set. Hell, it could have even been the hair of a tremor to his words that both men ignored.

Whatever it was, it made the guy ease up just a little.

“That’s actually why he sent me.”

Dread. An instant, desolate feeling that Naruto was so accustomed to, but paled in comparison to the unnamable feeling of such miserable grief that clouded every faucet of Naruto’s very being.

He stood there, frozen. The other man shifted and moved, but Naruto’s vision was blurry with tears that were threatening to spill. Sasuke couldn’t bear to come break the news to Naruto, so he’d sent some annoying lackey to do the job. A punishment. For not being there- for not being able to fix it this time.

All that preaching about never giving up, and for the first time in his life, Naruto felt like a fraud.

“Here.” The man said, and Naruto in his turmoiled frustration wondered why the man was still there. He’d delivered the news; his job was done.

But then there was something- a scent. It was soft and sweet like milk. But, it was the hint of something underneath that layer that had Naruto’s nostrils flaring. Electric rain drops and an even fainter tone of refreshing citrus. His and Sasuke’s scents mixed together in their softest forms.

The blonde blinked and everything snapped into place at once. His ears heard sound on a detailed level that he hadn’t thought quite possible as he zeroed in on the small, almost nonexistent sound of a yawn that was far too soft to come from either of the alphas in the room. His tears faded away to clear his vision, and then his eyeballs were glued to the bundle of familiar cloth in the guy’s arms.

For once in his life, Naruto was too stunned to speak. Relief washed over him. His heart thudded with chance- with hope. The dread dissipated, making room for nothing but amazement and unbridled love.

He knew it. His heart and his mind finally agreed on one thing and one thing only- that this was his baby. His pup. His child that he’d so desperately dreamed about ever since he’d known of its existence. There Naruto’s baby was, just three steps away.

Without even thinking about it, he was lifting his arms to receive the precious delivery. Instead of a blanket, the baby was wrapped in his old jacket- the one he’d given Sasuke years ago after their day at the lake. It had to be the one he’d seen Sasuke use in his pitiful attempt at a nest in the cave.

Sasuke cared. Sasuke loved him. He loved him and he wanted their baby to be familiar with his scent.

Tears sprang in his eyes, but for an entirely different reason than mere seconds prior.

One of his tan fingers nudged the beautiful orange fabric out of the way to uncover the infant’s face. A small gasp broke free of Naruto’s lips. One each of two pale, chubby cheeks, were three identical little scars. The baby had wild and thick tufts of hair and when the alpha petted it, he could have sworn it was the softest, most fine texture he would ever feel in his life.

And then the baby opened her eyes and Naruto’s heart stopped. Long lashes sheltered round, sky blue eyes from the harsh natural light flooding in through Naruto’s bedroom windows.

She must have sensed who Naruto was, because her little nose twitched and her eyes stared up at him unblinkingly, like she was just as fascinated with him as he was with her.

“What’s,” he choked out as he dared to cuddle her closer to himself, “What’s her name?”.

It had to be something beautiful and laced with meaning. Sasuke surely would have managed to find the perfect name for their child. Something effortless yet classy and in a league of its own.

The man shrugged carelessly, “Dunno. Sasuke wanted you to name him. I call him Otter though.”

Naruto blanched. “She’s a he?! And-Otter?! After an animal-”.

“I don’t have to justify anything to some deadbeat. But yes, it’s a boy. I told Sasuke he needs to put a note on him or something, but he wouldn’t listen.” The alpha scoffed and crossed his arms. His tone was harsh, but the guy’s eyes couldn’t hide the soft emotion swimming in his purple irises as he eyed Naruto’s baby.

The large sword on his back caught Naruto’s eye. It was overwhelmingly large, with odd indentions and grooves on the handle. A twinge of familiarity rose within his mind. He’d seen that blade before. But where?

And then it hit him.

“Where did you get that sword?”

Naruto kept his voice soft enough to not disturb the little miracle in his arms, but still managed to throw in a hint of a warning.

“What’s it to you?”

Naruto didn’t like the weighted feeling seeing that sword again gave him. It should have been buried with Zabuza. He and Sasuke both had scars from that blade, and not just the physical kind. Having the knowledge that his infant son had apparently been babysat by a new Swordsman of the Mist didn’t help that uneasy feeling either.

Naruto didn’t respond. Instead, he ignored the unwanted presence to tickle the baby’s pudgy little stomach. Instantly, innocent laugher flowed throughout the shabby room in such a delightful way that Naruto decided he had found the best sound to exist across every universe.

The new parent watched as the baby’s face contorted with easy joy. How the marks on his cheeks that were identical to Naruto’s crinkled to accommodate the dimples that made their presence known. His pale complexion turned a rosy hue as the infant’s arms and legs spasmed in uncontrollable fits of amusement.

It was as Naruto gazed down at his son, that he asked the dreaded question. “He’s going after Itachi, isn’t he?”

The alpha gave him a look that told Naruto all he needed to know. It made sense, of course. Why wouldn’t Sasuke be going after his brother? It was all the omega had dreamed about for as long as Naruto had known him.

But, maybe a part of the alpha had hoped that with their baby, Sasuke would have found a new goal. One that didn’t end in blood lust and revenge.

He shifted his son around to fish one of the special kunai out of his pocket and handed it to the man. “Can you give this to him, at least? For good luck?”.

If he couldn’t be with him, then at least he would try and show his support and loyalty to the Uchiha from afar with a gift.

The man took it, and then seemed to remember something.

“Sasuke sent this too. It’s a sealing scroll filled with a bunch of baby stuff.” He paused to eye the bedroom in a judgmental way that had Naruto’s skin prickling with irritation, “From the looks of it, you’ll need it.”

He sat the scroll down on top of the lone shelf and then turned to leave. Naruto kept his eyes on him just in case there was any funny business, but his attention was mostly on his son, who seemed to realize that his previous traveling companion was about to leave.

The baby’s face turned, as though just realizing the guy was still there, and reached for him, a small whine leaving the tiny, slobbery mouth. The white haired man chuckled, displaying his pointed teeth once more. He crouched down, slowly reaching to the baby to give Naruto plenty of time to register that he wasn’t a threat, and tickled him on his fat little stomach.

The minuscule giggle his son let out made him want to growl and shove the other away. It wasn’t fair that this criminal alpha had gotten to build a bond with his son before the blonde could. It didn't matter in the end though, because he had his dad now, after all. Naruto’s strong scent had probably sated the pup into a sense of safety and comfort after at least a few days without Sasuke’s scent to make him feel protected.Still, Naruto followed him to the front door. He watched as the wiry alpha turned the doorknob lazily.

“Hey!” Naruto called out, startling himself and the pup in his arms as he awkwardly bounced the infant to soothe him, “What’s your name?”

The man halted by the front door, but didn’t turn around. “Suigetsu.”

“Suigetsu.”, Naruto breathed out quietly.

“Thank you, Suigetsu, for taking care of them.”

“Oh,” the criminal exclaimed as an afterthought, turning slightly to call over his shoulder, “-by the way, he’s awakened his sharingan.” The man, now known as Suigetsu, was gone before Naruto could even process the information. One moment he was there, and then the next, he'd exited Naruto’s home, and the baby’s life in one final step.

The baby started to fuss as soon as the door was shut, leaving Naruto with only one question on his mind.

Just what the hell was he supposed to do now?