Budding Limbs

Waking up on that last day had been something he’d dreaded. He woke up sore and exhausted, but most importantly, he’d woken up to the quiet breaths of a sleeping Naruto.

Easing his way out of the alpha’s hold- he’d forgotten just how clingy the blonde was in his sleep, had been too easy, given his extensive training. But at the same time, it had been so hard to pull away.

Sasuke had gotten dressed slowly, almost hoping that in the time he took to clothe himself, Naruto would wake up so that he could say goodbye. Another part of himself urged him to leave quickly, because the last time Sasuke had tried to say goodbye, it had ended in a soul crushing fight where he’d won, but they’d both lost.

Leaving without blue eyes watching him was the kinder option, even if it felt wrong to do.
From an outside perspective, maybe someone would think that Sasuke was acting strangely, being too considerate, too kind where Naruto was concerned. After all, Sasuke did make a point to be as cold, arrogant, and detached as possible. But what other people would never know, was that Sasuke truly only acted that way to make his life bearable.

Once, he’d been the kid who wanted to play games with the other kids in his clan. He’d been the child to help his mother with the dishes, and to go above and beyond trying to please his father. He’d been the kid that had toys, and hated getting his hair brushed, that laughed and danced around, trying to cheer up his cousin Shisui, even though no one would ever tell him why the older was sad to begin with.

After… after the massacre, Sasuke couldn’t let himself be that person anymore. He couldn’t expend that extra energy, everything had to go towards his goal of avenging his clan. If he had never eavesdropped on that meeting in the hokage tower that day, if he had stayed in the village, Sasuke knew himself well enough to know that he would eventually have given up his goal for a new one, one that involved team seven and the omega squad, and getting a pet dog just to annoy Kiba.

Sasuke needed this revenge, his future would forever lay tied to the past if he didn’t kill Itachi.

That was why he allowed himself to act as a shell, willful and cold, eerily intelligent and scarily detached. Annoyed by conversation, and pleased by efficiency, bratty to those who wasted his time. He needed to be the part, he needed his name to garner respect and fear, just the same way Itachi’s did. It was the only way he could get the respect he needed to execute his plans perfectly.

That was why he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t say goodbye, for fear of acting on the weak spot in his heart that was reserved for Naruto. If he allowed himself to be weak, then he would just be proving Itachi right. Sasuke would be just some useless omega that couldn't do anything, let alone take down one of the most dangerous shinobi to ever exist.

He loved Naruto, but he didn’t hate himself enough to not accomplish his purpose.

In record time, Sasuke had packed up most of his belongings, minus his nesting materials. Those would have to be replaced at a later time. The only thing he’d managed to re-seal in his sealing scroll was the jacket Naruto had given him. It was the only thing he truly cared about, anyway. Maybe it was childish, maybe it was just out of sheer stubbornness, but he didn’t want to part with the item. It reminded him of happier times, of easier times.

As he strapped his sword in place, he cast a long look around the cave. He’d need to find a new place to spend his heats. This location was compromised, and the Uchiha didn’t want to chance another accidental meet up.

Sasuke decided that on the journey back to the hideout, he would need to make a quick stop somewhere and shower properly. He could mask his scent, sure, but everyone he came in contact with would be able to smell…other.. things on him.

He cast one last look at Naruto’s still form. The alpha was still dead to the world, lightly snoring away. Hopefully, he would understand why Sasuke left first. If he didn’t, then, it was Sasuke’s cross to bear.

One of the many that already plagued him, that is.

~~~

Orochimaru noticed the slight difference in his scent when he arrived back at the hideout a few days later. The snake sanin had noted that the scent bond smelled more cohesive than before, but Sasuke shrugged it off, saying it was probably due to his body maturing and being mating age.

His teacher and Kabuto had shared a look before dismissing it as well. Neither of them were omegas, at least, not anymore, in Orochimaru’s case, and they couldn’t tell when Sasuke lied, especially since the teen was so blunt and honest in his curt responses, so they had no reason to delve deeper.

If they did decide to delve deeper, well, how would they be able to prove anything had actually happened? Sasuke, even in his heat addled daze had made sure to carefully redirect Naruto’s mouth from his neck once the alpha’s fangs had come out. He had no mating mark, thank whatever higher power there was in the universe, so he had no proof, even if one of the other’s tried to theorize what had happened.

Sasuke couldn’t say he regretted giving in to the blonde’s… physical affections. It would throw a slight wrench in his plans, no doubt, but once he killed Itachi, he was free to return to the leaf and begin the life that was owed to him. Hopefully, that life would include the Uzumaki. That dream- the idea of coming back to Naruto was the only prize he would allow for himself after he succeeded in avenging his clan.

Late at night, alone in whatever hideout they had traveled to, Sasuke would allow himself to dream of blonde hair and scarred cheeks, but only at night. The daytime was reserved strictly for business and his more imminent goal- killing the man who murdered his clan.

Still, he couldn’t quite ignore the throbbing sting of his scent bond. His body knew he’d been in contact with the other half of the bond, and had only ramped up its annoying tendencies ever since. It was becoming more tedious than the damn curse mark at this point.

Whatever, if he could deal with the agonizing venom of the curse mark for multiple years, then a stressed scent bond would be child’s play for him.

Training commenced later that day, and Kabuto had never been one to hold back on criticisms. Sasuke personally wanted to claw the grey haired man’s eyes out and fashion them into a victory necklace, but refrained, mostly because of his own pride. He couldn’t let on that either Kabuto or Orochimaru had ever succeeded in getting a rise out of him. Besides, he was balancing on a delicate line between being a student and being a pet.

Sasuke couldn’t mess up, especially with his goal being so much closer to being achieved. ( Not when he had a Naruto to hopefully, and eventually reunite with.)

He wouldn’t let himself end up drugged and imprisoned to be studied like what had happened with Suigetsu, nor would he allow himself to become a lap dog like that annoying Karin. He had to appear to be both to Orochimaru, while also simultaneously keeping up with his own agenda, so that when the time was right, he could kill his teacher and then hunt down Itachi.

~~~

“Are we there yeeetttttt?” Whined the blonde as he trudged behind his teacher. The sun had decided to be particularly cruel that afternoon, and Naruto would be lying if he said he was only seconds away from stripping down to his underwear to escape the sticky feeling of his sweaty jumpsuit material.

“I don’t know, why don’t you go ask that omega of yours.” The white haired man bit back sharply.

.. yeah, okay that stung a bit. But, then again, he kinda deserved it.

Was it stupid to spend Sasuke’s heat with him, ultimately sending him into a rut as well? Yes. Was it stupid for him to not try and capture the omega after his heat had ended and he knew he could pick up the other’s scent trail? Also yes. But did he regret any of it? Hell no.

It wasn’t a smart move at all, but Naruto hadn’t always been the most intelligent person, and he was a downright fool when it came to matters involving Sasuke.

Three days ago, when he’d woken up alone, he’d expected it. Hell, he’d be stupid to think anything else could have possibly happened after Sasuke’s heat had been over. As soon as they’d spent that first night together, he knew how it would end.

Letting Sasuke go was necessary, but in doing so, Naruto’s resolve to bring Sasuke back had only strengthened.

Naruto refrained from saying anything further. His sensei was still more than a little irritated with him, so he would do his best to not anger the older alpha any further until he’d cooled down after a while.

At least he was going to get to see Gaara soon, if the stupid journey would ever end, that is.

Seriously, they had to be going in circles or something! They’d been walking through the desert for hours now, and no hidden village of the sand was anywhere near his line of sight.

“The first thing we are doing when we get to Suna is having you checked out at their hospital, and I don’t want to hear a single word about it.” Jiraiya decided.

Great. The one time he’d ever witnessed the old perv being serious was also the one time it was directed at Naruto himself!

The blonde rubbed at the place where his scent bond was located absentmindedly. The memory of perfectly symmetrical teeth grazing the area ever so slightly brought a dopey smile to his face. He didn’t even try to hide it, and why would he?

Sasuke still wanted him.

~~~

Dinner was always a strange daily ritual for the three. Kabuto, who seemingly enjoyed being Orochimaru’s butler just a little too much, always appeared at the long table with food at nine o’clock sharp, not a second before or after. It struck Sasuke as odd, mostly because the hideout did not possess a kitchen. The omega did not want to know how the food came to be, not after witnessing Orochimaru’s experiments with how to liquify objects to turn them into drinking water in case he were ever stranded anywhere.

That.. admittedly, had been a confusing day.

Kabuto placed the various dishes on the stone table and took his seat to the left of the snake sanin. Orochimaru’s beady eyes glinted with intrigue as he stared at the Uchiha without interruption. At first, when he’d still been a thirteen year old kid, betrayed by his village, the constant eerie gaze had angered him even more. Now, he felt indifferent.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and smirked before sparing a look in the older man’s direction, instantly giving himself away.

Ah, so Orochimaru had requested that Kabuto put a new toxin into the food so that they could test Sasuke’s immunity. The pair did that often, and so often in fact, that Sasuke had come to assume it had occurred nearly every evening in the hideout without question.

The omega took a bite with a roll of his eyes, and purposefully took a long while to chew. Kabuto and Orochimaru, clearly invested in the up and down motion of his jaw, hadn’t even begun to eat their own meals. They both just watched him, analyzing him like he was one of Orochimaru’s lab rats locked away in the lowest levels of the hideout that Sasuke had never cared to see for himself.

Well, the comparison was only partially true. He was supposed to be a lab rat, but unfortunately for the two sitting across from him, the Uchiha had different plans.

Sasuke swallowed, and felt nothing but the mundane sensation of chewed up food making its way to his stomach. He paused to give it a moment just in case, but then smirked to himself. His immunity was proving itself to be nearly perfect.

Orochimaru nodded his head once, as if agreeing with Sasuke’s silent observation, before asking the dreaded question the sanin asked every two months, rain or shine.

“Your heat was nothing out of the ordinary, I take it?”

Kabuto was smart. He didn’t look up from the food in front of him. Sasuke had a history of being prickly when asked personal questions relating to his status as an omega. The first few months he had spent with Orochimaru, just over three years ago, had been filled with constant tests and training exercises to make sure Sasuke was trained to be as un-omega as possible. Only his heats remained regular, everything else, such as the need for physical contact and sensitivity to threatening scents, had been trained out of him.

Needless to say, it had helped that he’d joined Orochimaru two years before his body had officially matured so that rewiring his instincts wasn’t as excruciating as the endeavor could have been.

The omega in question unleashed his best, most threatening glare in response. The pair engaged in a silent battle of wills, before finally, Orochimaru nagged out “Come now, Sasuke, you may as well discuss this now, otherwise I will be forced to get my information in other ways.”

The mischievous glint in his snake like eyes would be unsettling if Sasuke weren’t so familiar with the look. He’d witnessed many negotiations and deals end with favoring the sanin solely because Orochimaru had flashed his slitted eyes wickedly at whomever the man was dealing with.

It was a good skill to have, though Sasuke felt that mind games were a waste of time when he could just shock them into doing his bidding with one of his impressive displays of power.

Finally tired of the staring, Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Yes, everything was fine.”

Everything had been more than fine because of his chance encounter with a certain blonde, but if he let on that anyone had ‘used’ the omega’s ‘perfect’ body, Orichimaru would surely take away the Uchiha’s privileges and keep him in confinement. The scent bond alone had brought on a rather stupid looking tantrum from his mentor, a shared heat would be cause for slight panic on Sasuke’s part if found out.

He’d been stupid and reckless, and he could not afford to let mistakes made during his heats affect his regular life. He had a goal, a purpose, and he would not allow his status as an omega cheat him out of his rightful revenge.

With a dramatic wave of his hand, Orochimaru sighed in mock exasperation, “Oh Kabuto, I should have known that Sasuke wouldn’t be so forthcoming.”

Kabuto took it as a sign that the tension was gone from the atmosphere and adjusted his glasses, “Yes, Lord Orochimaru, he does make it a habit, doesn’t he?”

Sasuke hated several things. He hated Itachi. He hated unnecessary killing. He hated sweet foods and annoying girls.

But currently, he hated Kabuto with the greatest amount of ire he could summon. The white haired idiot was nothing but a lackey and an irritating one at that. He constantly tried to weasel his way between Sasuke and Orochimaru to make the sanin choose Kabuto as his favorite student. If the Uchiha cared, he’d be willing to bet that Kabuto had a crush on the man.

Dinner went on in silence, save for the slight thud their cups made when they were placed back on top of the table.

Sasuke pretended not to notice Kabuto’s suspicious glances towards him.

~~~

“Sakuraaaa” Ino whined as the pink haired alpha continued to ignore her. She turned a page in her book instead, causing the other girl to huff in mock annoyance.

All week, the kunoichi had been studying the medical research done on reconstructing chakra points, and today was the day that she was finally going to put that knowledge to the test under the hokage’s careful supervision.

Unfortunately, the operation happened to coincide with what Ino had deemed ‘girl’s day’ for the month, and the Yamanaka was not being a good sport about it.

“Why can’t I sit this one out?” Sakura asked after a moment of letting her friend sulk.

That was still taking a little longer to get used to. After Naruto had left, and Sakura had been left without a team, Ino and Rock Lee had adopted her into their own friendship circles. At first, still embarrassed over how much of an alpha pig she’d been towards Sasuke, she’d kept Ino at an arm's length out of guilt. But, somewhere around the first year, Ino had quite literally knocked down her door, which Sakura’s mother was very startled to discover, and dragged her to the lake, where they’d aired all their grievances with one another.

What had started in a blood bath had ended in tearful apologies and promises of a brighter future as friends.

Not long after, the ‘girl’s days’ started, earning Ino the title of Konoha’s unofficial official club organizer, what with her already having organized the monthly meetings with the “omega squad”, as she’d dubbed it.

It was nice hanging out with the girls from their year. Tenten had proved to be a really enthusiastic friend who was always more than prepared to go along with whatever crazy hijinks the girls got up to. Hinata, someone who Sakura had written off as awkward and too nice to really get to know her before when they were genin, had managed to come out of her shell a bit more, and taught Sakura what it meant to be gentle but firm in her own disposition.

It was something she’d carried over into her medic training that had vastly improved her abilities.

“Because we’re going to help Tenten pick out what to wear when she asks Neji out on a date!” Ino cried dramatically as she threw an arm over her face theatrically.

“I still think it’s a bad idea. Have you met Neji? Something tells me that he wouldn’t want to go tree climbing as a first date.” Sakura huffed as she adjusted her seated position.

Ino gasped dramatically, “Sakura Haruno! How dare you! That is peak romance!”

The alpha raised a brow at her friend, “Oh, so you’d like to go tree climbing as a first date?”

The blonde girl blushed and tilted her head down, causing her bangs to cover half of her face, “Well- no- But Tenten was really proud of her idea, okay! We should be supportive.”

“I am being supportive, by staying out of it.”

“Oh come on Sakura! What happened to the hopeless romantic girl you used to be?”

Sakura shot her a deadpan look and crossed her arms.

Ino had the decency to look embarrassed, “Oh.. yeah, heh- sorry about that.”

~~~

“Gaara!” Shouted his friend as he burst into his office.

Gaara had been in the middle of going over the expense report for building a new food storage facility to replace the one that had been destroyed in a sand storm two weeks ago. He’d had a sneaking suspicion that someone had sabotaged the silo and used the sandstorm as a cover story, but he had no proof, and as the Kazekage, couldn’t go randomly accusing anyone based on hunches.

Luckily, Naruto was here, and loved diving head first with no tactical reasoning. Maybe he could get his friend to sniff around and see if he found anything that would be useful to the red head.

“Naruto.” he hummed, happy to see his friend again.

Behind him entered his mentor- Master Jiraiya, one of the three legendary sanin.

He looked about how Gaara would expect. He was old and towered over the other occupants in the office, and although he had crows feet at the corners of his eyes implying he smiled often, the man was not smiling at all.

“Master Jiraiya.” Gaara inclined his head in a polite greeting. He could be friendly and spend time with Naruto later, right now, he had to act as though he was the epitome of diplomacy.

“Lord Kazekage.” Master Jiraiya bowed slightly as a show of respect, “Thank you for having us.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Gaara insisted, “citizens of the Hidden Leaf Village are always welcome within these borders.”

Naruto, never one for formalities, leaned over the large desk to stage whisper, “If this old guy seems grumpy, it’s because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, if you know what I mean.”

If Gaara were the expressive type, he may have laughed as Jiraiya struggled with his student's immaturity.

That was one of the qualities he could appreciate of Naruto’s. He never paid much attention to useless, study social conventions.

“You’ve traveled a long way, I’m sure you’re both sick of each other. Would you like to be escorted to your room?” Gaara directed his question to the sanin, giving the alpha an easy out.

The white haired man nodded politely, “If you don’t mind, please. I’m sure you and Naruto have a lot of catching up to do." The look that Jiraiya shot Naruto, who looked away and began whistling suspiciously was not lost on Gaara.

Something had happened between the two, probably a spat that would resolve itself, so Gaara made note to try and put a little bit of distance between the two for a few days.

“Akio.” Gaara summoned the guard that was standing to the left of the office entryway.

The man stepped forward, bowing deeply with his hands perfectly flat against his sides, startling Naruto who hadn’t even noticed Akio’s presence in the room.

“Would you please escort Master Jiraiya to the guest quarters in the kazekage manor? Third floor- Kankuro will be there for any assistance required.”

His guard turned on his heel, not bothering to wait for Jiraiya to follow him before he was already out of the door. Gaara liked Akio, he was efficient and dependable, but sometimes he could be a bit… too eager to follow orders.

Once Jiraiya took his leave, Naruto rounded the desk and surprised Gaara with a hug.

“Oof,” he wheezed, not having foreseen the sudden show of friendship.

Naruto released him with a smile that reminded him of the last time they’d seen each other. Maybe the Uzumaki had grown up, but that childish grin hadn’t.

“There seemed to be some tension between the two of you.” Gaara stated, breaking the pleasant atmosphere and getting right to the point.

Naruto chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah… about that… I think there’s something I should tell you.”

~~~

Hinata frowned as she watched her father train with her younger sister.

She wasn’t jealous- not at all. In fact, a part of her was happy for her sister getting to spend time
with their father. Hinata hadn’t ever gotten to revel in that feeling, so she was glad that Hanabi would be able to. It was a special bond that children were supposed to have with their parents, and Hinata could only hope that Hanabi would get to feel that connection too.

Hinata hadn’t felt the bond between a parent and child since her mother had died.

Instead of being permitted to join the two, she was sidelined as a punishment for running away. Her older cousin Neji had been assigned to monitor her, but it didn’t take a byakugan to see how much he hated his mandated task. He was a busy person, torn between being her babysitter, her trainer, his own personal trainer, his duties to his team, and what Hinata suspected to be his budding relationship with Tenten. She felt guilty for being the cause of his stress lately.

Life felt… lonely.

She’d been temporarily placed on leave from her duties as a shinobi. Lady Tsunade had been the one to personally tell her, and although Hinata couldn’t prove it, she had a feeling that her father had forced the hokage’s hand on the decision.

She wouldn’t be surprised if he had. After all, he’d been the one who had pressured the third hokage into placing Kurenai as her jonin instructor.

“Lady Hinata.” Neji greeted her from behind as he made to sit next to her.

Once upon a time, she would have feared his presence just like she did her father’s, but now she welcomed it. The two had grown close after he was assigned to train her. At first, they’d walked on eggshells around each other, but that had changed after a late night of exhausted breaths, sore fists, and a few muttered apologies in her family’s practice room, long after everyone in the Hyuuga district had gone to bed.

“Hello.” She smiled at him, “When do you leave for your mission?”

He shrugged nonchalantly, or- well, as nonchalant as Neji could get. “Sometime this evening.”

She nodded, allowing the pair to fall into a somewhat comfortable silence. Hinata tried to ignore the tinge of jealousy that stabbed at her heart. It seemed as though everyone but her got to live their lives. It didn’t feel fair.

“I believe I can convince your father to allow you back into the field if you would like.” her cousin whispered softly.

She glanced around the training area to make sure that there was no one that would over hear them. Hanabi and her father were too engrossed in their mock battle to pay any attention to she and Neji, and no one else seemed to be spectating today other than the two chunin.

“I-” she cast her eyes downward, shifting her face to peer down at her hands that were clasped primly- properly- in her lap, “I would like that.”

She could feel his small smile at her response. Neji was in a tough position similar to her own, although vastly different at the same time. Maybe… maybe she wasn’t quite alone after all.

Neji stood up to take his leave, but before he walked away, he leaned down and whispered something in her ear that both puzzled and riddled her with anxiousness.

“When I get back, meet me here at an hour past midnight. Tell no one.”

~~~

It had been exactly two weeks since his run in with Naruto, and to say Sasuke was having a rough time would be an understatement.

Orochimaru had amped up his training- although that was something that the omega was actually pleased about. Kabuto had taken it upon himself to be the hideout’s official paranoid idiot, meaning that Sasuke had to be working overtime to cover his tracks. Not that he made it a habit of leaving trails behind for his ulterior motives.

Slowly, but surely, Sasuke had formed quite an extensive list of all of Orochimaru’s hideouts, their layouts, and what groups of prisoners were held within them. He’d even begun to take note of Orochimaru’s health cycles. For around three days every four months, the sanin would be indisposed with some form of incurable sickness. Dizzy spells, nausea, bone rattling coughs and wheezes, and numbness were the symptoms that Sasuke had managed to figure out so far, but he had a feeling that he hadn’t even scratched the surface of what was really going on.

At first, Sasuke had assumed that it was a side effect of the body transfer jutsu, but upon further analysis, he’d come to the conclusion that it had to be some other illness that plagued Orochimaru. He just wasn’t sure what.

“Sasuke! Focus!” Kabuto yelled from the other end of the room with his grating and irritating voice. Sasuke had half a mind to stab the man in the eyes with his own glasses.

“I am focused. It’s not my fault that you’re not challenging enough for me to pay attention.” He snapped. Lately, he’d been quicker to anger than usual, but he’d chalked it up to the stressed scent bond and left over feelings from his shareed heat making him a bit… emotional.

Sasuke watched with a scary amount of vindictive glee as Kabuto’s eyes narrowed. It couldn’t be considered mean if it was directed at Kabuto, right? The man was nearly less human than Orochimaru at this point.

The alpha pinched the bridge of his nose, “You little-”. His shoulders tensed, and Sasuke braced himself for another sparring round to begin.

In a second, Kabuto closed the distance between them, going straight for one of Sasuke’s chakra points. Too bad for him though, because Sasuke was already in the process of vaulting himself into the air and flipping over to land behind the white haired man.

The omega sheathed his sword, wanting to best Kabuto with nothing but his hands and wit, just to embarrass the older man further.

A long while ago, Orochimaru had advised him against provoking Kabuto, as emasculated alphas were some of the worst people to exist, but Sasuke had learned long ago how to manipulate angry and thoughtless alphas.

It was how he’d managed to complete so many successful missions for Orochimaru without even having to so much as raise a fist in an unspoken promise of violence.

One day, he secretly hoped to use all that he’d learned against Jiraiya, if only to prove the toad sage wrong and show that Sasuke wasn’t just some useless omega that happened to be tied to Naruto and weighed him down.

He would prove how formidable he was in his own right, with his own skills and his own autonomy.

Kabuto caught his wrist, stopping Sasuke from performing a hand seal. The Uchiha kicked the alpha in his stomach, sending him flying a few feet back, giving him enough time to perform a chidori.

As the chakra surged into the palm of his hand, Sasuke began to feel dizzy, but he waved it off in favor of charging at his opponent.

Kabuto was ready for him, ducking under Sasuke’s arm just in time, causing the ball of furious chakra lightning to crash into a training room pillar instead. The room shook ever so slightly, but it wasn’t a load bearing pillar, so Sasuke ignored it.

Worst comes to worst, Orochimaru would just instruct one of his followers to repair the pillar.

Sasuke whipped his head around, only to be met with Kabuto’s annoying face, smirking as he latched his stupid, filthy hand onto Sauske’s scent bond and dug his fingers into it.

“Ah-” Sasuke half groaned half growled, overwhelmed with the painful, white hot sting that coated his body.

“Gotcha!” Kabuto chuckled petulantly.

Sasuke couldn’t bring himself to respond, not while he was battling the crashing wave of nausea that threatened to make him projectile vomit where he crouched.

Anger surged within him too. How dare Kabuto touch the bond! How dare an alpha that wasn’t Sasuke’s-

Rage and disgust was what allowed him to subtly sneak a kunai from one of his billowing sleeves and stab the alpha in the foot.

“AH-” the alpha cried as he released Sasuke’s scent bond in order to stagger away and grasp at his injury. Sasuke would have smiled if he weren’t on the verge of a horrific migraine.

Their impromptu fight had distracted them so furiously that they hadn’t even noticed Orochimaru leaning against the entryway, watching them with a hungry look that Sasuke refused to interpret.
The omega raised a hand to put pressure on his bleeding bond, and silently cursed stupid Kabuto. He wanted a nest and he wanted oranges, but he could not and would not allow himself either of those comforts.

“Honestly, boys, and I thought having Anko as a student had been a handful.” Orochimaru teased with the disturbing grace of a reptile.

Sasuke’s dizziness turned to lightheadedness as the scent bond went into overdrive trying to regulate itself. Everyone knew that scent bonds were more fragile than mating bonds, and for Kabuto to play such a cheap trick-

“What am I going to do with you two, hmm?” Orochimaru flicked his long black hair away from his face as he cascaded over to where his students were licking their wounds.

Sasuke vomited in response.

~~~

Naruto doubled over, suddenly breathless and in pain, effectively halting the meeting.

“Naruto?” Gaara called out his name from the other end of the table.

They’d been in the middle of discussing a plan to infiltrate and dissolve the strongest anti-kazekage group in Suna when his scent bond lit itself on fire. It was worse than the normal sting, so much worse that Naruto could feel his knees in his teeth and his lungs felt as though they were vibrating.

Kankuro, if Naruto had to guess who was speaking, suggested that maybe he needed to go to the infirmary, but Naruto waved him off.

This meeting was important, he could… he could deal with whatever was going on with the bond for a little while. He needed to for Gaara’s sake.

“I’m fine, just- what were we talking about?” he managed to say without wincing in pain or sounding as fault as he really felt.

“Naruto, are you sure-”

Temari cut off whatever Kankuro was about to say, “If he says he’s fine, then he’s fine. We’re trying to stop a complete political power grab here, so lets get back to business.”

“Temari.” Gaara warned, crossing his arms at her in slight dismay.
She rolled her eyes, but did seem to be a bit apologetic as she apologized, “Sorry, Naruto. But I won’t apologize for wanting to hurry this along. We need to act fast.”

And suddenly, they were back to talking shop. The conversation did wonders in helping to distract the Uzumaki from the hellish sensation that was radiating from his shoulder region.

What had caused the bond to feel that way? He’d been doing everything that he normally did- well, besides helping the kazekage and his siblings defeat a small, but strong rebellion that had been blooming in the sand village from the moment Gaara had taken office. He didn’t typically do that, after all.

What- what if it hadn’t been caused by something on Naruto’s end? What if it had been caused by something going on with Sasuke?

“Naruto, are you listening?” His friend asked calmly. It was a far cry from the teachers at the academy used to yell that same question at him, and the blonde welcomed the stark contrast.

“Yeah- I uh, I was just trying to think of something that might help.” he lied.

Gaara spared him a look that for most people, would seem like he was trying to stare into the depths of Naruto’s soul to reap his innermost secrets, but not to Naruto. No, Naruto had extensive practice in deciphering nearly impossible to read facial expressions thanks to a certain Uchiha.

Gaara was just worried.

“Well, if you can think of something, then I’m all ears because these two numbskulls aren’t listening to me at all.” Temari remarked, although her tone was more sarcastic and tired than spiteful.

It had come to no surprise to find that she was the oldest sibling. She exuded both the protective streak and the no nonsense fondness that he would have assumed older siblings acted like. Naruto wouldn’t know for sure, of course. He never had a family.

“We can’t just round them up and execute them in the center of the village for everyone to see, Temari!” Kankuro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

He’d done that a lot throughout the meeting, so much so that Naruto was surprised that his face paint hadn’t smudged.

“Well what do we do then? Just shake their hands, offer them dinner and warm hugs and make peace?!” she snapped, “You can’t make peace with jackasses!”

Naruto began to massage his scent bond, hoping to alleviate some of the queasiness he was feeling by applying a small amount of pressure to the area.

“So scaring them will fix the problem? There will be repercussions!”

Temari smirked and crossed her arms, “There won’t be if they’re all dead.”

Gaara didn’t even have to clear his throat to gain their attention. All he had to do was fold both of his pale hands together on top of the stone table and patiently gaze at both of his older siblings, waiting for them to notice his firm attention and stop arguing.

Naruto had a feeling that Iruka had pulled that same trick on him and Konohamaru a time or two.

“What if we do both?” Naruto suggested, not quite realizing the way that would sound out loud.

When everyone’s heads snapped in his direction, he chuckled nervously, “Heh, okay maybe not what you’re thinking. But what if we stage a “execution” with a bunch of chakra puppets to lure out the real rebels. Once we’ve got a good enough eye on who is who, the three of us-” Naruto gestured to himself, Kankuro, and Temari, “go undercover, and start spreading rumors so that the different anti-Gaara groups turn on each other. They’ll end up doing the work for us.”

“That-”Temari started.

“-is a good idea.” Gaara finished for her.

“Wait, really? I was just shooting a dart in the dark here.” Naruto backtracked.

“No, no it could work,” Kankuro thought out loud, “Scaring the general public into submission would temporarily stop new factions from forming long enough for us to dissolve the original ones with actual social sway.”

Gaara rubbed at his chin in thought, looking years beyond his real age. “We have discussed a plan similar to this before… although we did not follow through due to other matters needing more immediate attention at the time.”

The four looked at each other in silent agreement, before Gaara made the official statement, “So we are in agreement. Nothing leaves this room. No one outside of the four people standing here today will be included in these plans, and each of you will report back to me daily once you have been dispersed to the mission.”

Temari smirked and Kankuro nodded, cracking his knuckles as if to show that he was ready to bust some criminal organizations. All Naruto could do was give a thumbs up, as his head began to feel a bit dizzy because of the pained bond.
Seriously, what was happening with the scent bond?

~~~

“Awe, come on Lady Tsunade! What are you- a chicken?” Anko teased from the other side of the card table.

The legendary sanin was famous for her terrible gambling habits and her weak will to stop herself from joining a poker game, so of course, Anko had to use that to her advantage.

The blonde omega face palmed before she sighed, “Anko, I am not going to bet on allowing you to go on a reconnaissance mission to locate Orochimaru. I said no, that is my final answer.”

Anko smirked, not one to be told no. She waved the cards in the hokage’s face, making sure to let the healer get a good whiff of those magic little slips of sturdy paper.

“Are you sureeee about thaaattt?” She taunted, knowing she’d weakened the sanin’s will when she began to shuffle the cards, making extra sure to make a show of the act.

Tsunade’s hand twitched at her side, obviously wanting to reach out and grab the cards of doom.

“I-Oh fine, damn it! But I’m going to win, so it doesn’t even matter!” the hokage exclaimed, throwing all rhyme and reason out of the window as she downed her bottle of sake in one swig.

If what Shizune had told her was true last night, as they’d been skipping rocks at the lake, Lady Tsunade was an abysmal card player.

Anko was so going to win.

~~~

Sasuke winced as the gauze made contact with his chest.

He’d been confined to his room for a few days, as was Kabuto, as a punishment for the incident that had occurred earlier in the week.

Apparently, their fight had been vicious enough that he hadn’t even noticed a cut across his chest until hours later, warranting the Uchiha’s current task of redressing the wound.

Stupid Kabuto.

His scent bond didn’t feel any worse than it had that day, though. After he’d vomited and blacked out, he’d woken up in his room with a fierce looking Orochimaru staring over him. He remembered feeling confined, in his sleepy daze, until he’d realized that it was just because Orochimaru had tucked him in. Orochimaru… was odd like that sometimes.

The sanin had assured him that Kabuto was getting the same punishment that he had, although with the way Orochimaru’s voice had turned to iron, Sasuke had a feeling that Kabuto’s punishment was a bit stricter than his was.

It brought him a sense of comfort, at the very least, to know that Orochimaru was on his side. It shouldn’t have, obviously, because that would mean he’d begun to identify with his captors, and Sasuke was not in the mood to add a mild amount of stockholm syndrome to his long list of problems that needed his attention.

The Uchiha sighed as he continued to gingerly wrap the wound. He had no idea why this one cut was so sore, he’d been cut and stabbed and a whole slew of other things countless times before. Maybe it was more intense because he was still sensitive from the scent bond fiasco.

Stupid Kabuto.

Sasuke wondered, briefly, if Naruto had felt anything wrong with the bond when the fight had occurred. It was a pointless thought, though. It wasn’t like Sasuke could send him a letter and ask.

He wondered what Naruto was up to. The blonde had mentioned something about going to visit his friend Gaara, although the Uzumaki hadn’t been forthcoming on the details as to why, and Sasuke hadn’t cared to ask.

Gaara was an interesting person to Sasuke. When they’d fought, the older omega had seemed nearly unhinged with insanity, but after Naruto had literally beaten some sense into him, he’d seemed almost like… a lonelier, more calm and damaged version of Naruto. He’d chalked it up to probably being a jinchuriki thing.

One thing was for sure, Naruto sure had taken a liking to the sand ninja. Apparently, they were close enough that they regularly exchanged letters and even had inside jokes relating to their unique experiences as jinchuriki.

Jealousy panged in his chest at the thought of Naruto going to spend time with an omega that the alpha had talked so excitedly about. It didn’t make sense. Sasuke had been the one to push Naruto away, who was he to get upset over who the alpha decided to spend his time with in Sasuke’s absence?

Still, the image of Naruto throwing an arm over the red head’s shoulder because the Uzumaki was the touchy kind of friendly struck a nerve.

A knock at his door interrupted his unhappy musings, and not a moment later, Orochimaru was entering the room, casting an analytical gaze around Sasuke’s bedroom.

He was probably looking for signs of Sasuke’s caste rearing it’s annoying head again. Sasuke rolled his eyes, he hadn’t built a nest outside of a heat in literal years, and he’d kept his room intentionally impersonal. Not a sheet was out of place, not a shirt was unfolded. His weaponry was placed dutifully in the small closet, and the adjoining bathroom merely held a bar of soap, some towels, toothpaste and a toothbrush.

It was perfectly unlived in, just the way the sanin preferred.

“Come now, Sasuke, don’t tell me the cut is still bothering you?” the snake eyed man grinned.

He had the grin of a crocodile, but Sasuke paid it no mind as he bit his tongue when his mentor took a seat on his bed. It was a test, obviously, to see if Sasuke would be annoyed by the action, but again, Sasuke refrained from giving the sanin a reaction.

An Uchiha didn’t play games, they were above them. (Although secretly, Sasuke wanted to stab Orochimaru for making himself comfortable in Sasuke’s room.)

“Unlike you, I’ve only got one body. I’d like to prevent any scarring, if you don’t mind.” The omega snarked dryly as he tapered off the gauze.

Talking with Orochimaru was a slippery slope, but the Uchiha had found that if he stayed steadfast and didn’t stray from the arrogant and cold persona that played up his haughty youth, Orochimaru would find his jabs more funny than insulting.

Even if Sasuke had truly meant to be insulting.

“How interesting, I never thought you would have a vain streak in you.” The snake laughed, taunting him with his eyes. Sasuke wouldn’t give in though, he wasn’t easily swayed into dick measuring contests.

“Well, now you know.” Sasuke responded coolly, turning to face his mentor before continuing, “Why are you here?”.

Orochimaru gestured with his hand nonchalantly, “Oh, I just decided to check up on one of my star pupils. It isn’t every day when I have to ground both you and Kabuto.”

Sasuke smirked, finally finding a way in, “So you missed me. How sweet.”. He made sure to add in just a hint of playfulness to his otherwise deadpan tone.

Orochimaru gazed at him for a moment, before slowly shifting his eyes to rest on the area where his scent bond proudly- frustratingly- displayed itself.
“You know, in light of your little scuffle with Kabuto, I’m surprised you haven’t asked me to remove the scent bond.”

Sasuke tensed up at even the mere suggestion.

“My answer is still the same.”

Orochimaru’s eyes twinkled, clearly he was enjoying this. “What if someone takes advantage of it in the field, hmm? It does pose quite the risk, you know.”

Sasuke obviously fucking knew. If it weren’t for his immense skill level and Kakashi having taught him how to mask his scent, he would have been a goner since day one. Kabuto had taken advantage of that, and Sasuke would never allow him to do it again.

“I’m aware of the risk.”

“Then why not let me fix it for you? Surely, at having been scent bonded from such a young age, it doesn’t carry any emotional significance.”

It carried more emotional significance than Sasuke would ever admit to. So much so, that on some level, it scared him.

His mentor was still eyeing him. Orochimaru’s reptilian irises were feasting on Sasuke, like he was a specimen in one of his labs that needed the finest of details categorized into one of the many research journals that the hideout housed in the off limits library. It was a strikingly obvious visual of the fact that, while Sasuke was allowed to walk around freely, at the end of the day, Sasuke was a lab rat, just like the man in room 217, three levels below them.

His only freedom was the bond, and even it was a prison of its own.

“I don’t want to waste time with a surgery when I could be spending that time training.” He lied through his perfectly symmetrical teeth.

He remembered what Tsunade had said about the removal surgery. It could cause irreparable damage to one or both of the people that shared the scent bond. It could end in death or the bond would be interrupted and therefore destroy the person’s scent all together. Without a scent, the person would never be able to partake in mating customs.

Sasuke didn’t care about any of those things for himself. He couldn’t let himself, not when he had no idea if he would live or die during his looming fight with Itachi. But, he did care about what happened to Naruto.

How would it be fair of Sasuke to make such a weighty decision without the blonde?

Sasuke ignored the voice in his head that told him he already had when he’d left the leaf village.

“Hm,” Orochimaru hummed, “I suppose that is true.”

Sasuke waited, because there was always a catch with Orochimaru. Always.

“I could always locate the alpha and kill them for you instead, if you’d like.”

Over Sasuke’s dead body.

~~~

Tsunade slammed her hand down on the table, effectively snapping it half and sending cards and splinters of wood flying everywhere. Anko didn’t pay her outburst any mind though, she was too busy cackling gleefully like a madwoman.

Although, to be fair, Anko really was a madwoman.

“I demand a rematch!” the blonde omega cried into the air.

How could she possibly have lost? She’d even made sure to break out her bottles of ‘good luck’ sake just to be extra sure!

“Nuh-uh! I won fair and square, lady! No take backsies!” the jonin wagged her finger in the Senju’s face. Anko stuck her tongue out too, just for good measure- not that Tsunade could really pay attention to the childish antics, as the room had begun to spin.

Damn. Maybe she should stop gambling while battling an alcohol addiction.

“Anko, I forbid you from going on a wild goose chase to find Orochimaru!” Tsunade hiccuped with all the authority she could muster as she tried to keep her hed from spinning.

Anko gasped dramatically, “Why, Lady Tsunade! What kind of hokage doesn’t keep her word!?”

“The kind that doesn’t want her subordinates to start an all out war!”

“Oh please, I didn’t even mean to do that the first time! I can’t be blamed for another village’s backwater cultural traditions being desecrated!”

“Anko, you snuck into their leader’s personal quarters and threatened his cat with a blowtorch!”

“That cat was a bitch and you know it!” Anko stomped her foot.

Truth be told, the cat was a bitch. It hissed at everyone, and Tsunade had desperately tried to keep herself from smacking the stupid thing when it began to pee on the ground next to her shoes. Needless to say, the negotiations hadn’t gone… well.

The two women glared at each other, locked in a stalemate, before at the same time, a lightbulb went off in their heads.

“SHIZUNE!” they screeched in perfect synchronization.

Her apprentice would be able to sort this heathen out.

~~~

The plan had gone smoothly so far.

Temari had gone ahead and gone undercover two days before, just to test the waters and alleviate any suspicions of three new people joining the faction’s cause. Kankuro had decided to be one of the middle men for Naruto and Temari, gathering the information they’d managed to extract and reporting it back to Gaara before he too, infiltrated the organization.

Getting in had been a breeze since he’d been given a makeover to look as ‘un’ Naruto as possible. To hide his sunny blonde hair, Kankuro had dyed his hair red- a common hair color of the sand village. He’d been given patches that were the exact same shade as his skin to hide the scars on his face, and just for the sake of having a bit of fun, he’d managed to snatch an eye patch to wear.

No one would ever suspect him. Not when he looked like a cool pirate dude.

“Name?” The alpha with a clipboard asked him at the entrance.

Name? Crap- what was the fake name he’d given them yesterday?

“Uh- My name is…” he trailed off, totally blowing his cool pirate persona.

“Well? I haven’t got all day, what’s your name?” The grumpy man demanded.

“Iruka Hatake!” he yelped out, finally remembering the name.

Was it weird that he used two of his sensei’s names for a codename? Probably. Did Naruto also think it was super funny? Yes. Was it also the only way he had a chance in hell of remembering his fake name? Also yes.

The alpha, a tall, burly man with more beard stubble than hair follicles on his head, harumphed and looked down at his clipboard to look for the name. Once he found it, he checked the name off on the list and allowed Naruto to enter.

Great. Now all he had to do was schmooze around a bit and work his way into eavesdropping what the higher ups were planning during this meeting.

The alpha eventually found himself locked in a conversation with a few of the higher standing members or the organization. They were all alphas, as were most of these rebels. It wasn’t surprising, given the more traditional roles that were a staple to the Suna’s culture. Most omegas were either at home with their children, or were doing smaller, menial tasks around the village like washing clothes and other things.

When other villages had begun to become more open minded, somewhere around the third hokage’s first term in office, the sand village had held on to the old ways. It was, unfortunately, something that Gaara was diligently trying to fix, but obviously, it wasn’t a popular sentiment.

“Well, I for one don’t think that any jinchuriki should be allowed to become kazakage. You all saw how Gaara was- he was nothing more than an animal. Do we really want something so… feral as a leader?” The brown haired woman scoffed next to him.

Naruto tensed, feeling slighted by the commentary, but shrugged it off. He needed a level head, and sticking up for himself and his friend were not an option right now. Even if he really wanted to give these losers a piece of his mind.

The blonde guy standing across from the Uzumaki nodded vigorously in agreement. Naruto had come to learn that this man was the ringleader. He had a giant scar reaching from his shoulder to his forehead, and Naruto kind of hoped that it had hurt. No one could blame him though, right?

“What about you, newbie?” the brunette woman turned to him, catching him off gaurd.

“Huh?” Naruto spluttered.

“What do you think about jinchuriki?”

Naruto thought they were better than some damned mindless animals, that was for sure! They didn’t even know the half of what being a jinchuriki entailed. If they did, they wouldn’t have even thought to question Gaara.

He couldn’t say that, though. He needed to keep up the ruse.

“I think…I think they should put him in a cage, like the animal he is.”

It felt like a betrayal. The words burned his tongue and soured his heart. He didn’t mean it, not in the slightest. Far from it, actually. It was these people that belonged in cages, not Gaara. Gaara was too good for them.

But still, it felt like he’d committed a cardinal sin, saying that about his friend. Gaara didn’t deserve any more punishment for being a jinchuriki than Naruto did, and neither of them deserved punishment at all!

It wasn’t like they’d signed up to have demons stored within them! The situation felt so hopelessly unfair. He’d need to apologize to Gaara later. Even if what he’d said had been a lie, he’d still said it. He’d still fed into the cycle of senseless hatred.

“That’s what I said!” cheered the other male alpha to his left. This one, whose name Naruto had been told but didn’t care to remember, stood out among the rest of the room’s occupants. He had white, almost blue hair, and shark-like teeth, but the markings on his skin were all sand village. Probably someone born to a migrant family that had hailed from the land of waves and ended up all the way in the sand village.

The meeting ended not long after that. Naruto had managed to get some intel, although not much had been relevant to Gaara’s cause, so he hoped Temari had been able to pick up on something worthwhile. Honestly, he was amazed that she hadn’t managed to kill anyone yet.

….yet.

Jiraiya was already in his room by the time he’d managed to shower and rid himself of his disguise. Of course, the eye patch was safely stowed away in his jacket pocket.

He and his sensei hadn’t really talked much since they’d arrived in Suna. The toad sage was still a little irritated with him, and Naruto understood why. It came from a place of fear.

Jiraiya’s life had been ruined by love, as had his two teammates. His student, the fourth hokage, had died because he’d been protecting his wife. To Jiraiya, romance was something that did more harm than good, and for him to see the bond that Sasuke and he shared… well, it was bound to make the guy uneasy.

Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that some crazy supervillain group was apparently after Naruto, and to have Naruto disappear off the face of the earth for a few days with no explanation had sent the old man into a panic.

Naruto’s fist was knocking on the door to Jiraiya’s room before he’d even realized he’d made it half way down the hallway to do so. Part of him wanted to run away and hide, but that was mainly what the little kid inside of him would have done.

Naruto wasn’t a kid anymore. He was sixteen- going to be seventeen in a few months. He could have an adult discussion with his temporary guardian. Definitely. Totally.

The door opened to reveal the toad sage- already in his pajamas. Naruto had gotten them for the old perv a year ago as a joke. They were bright orange, the bestest color in the world, and knitted with small frogs all over it. Jiraiya had hated it, but still wore the outfit whenever he could.

It was… nice to know that the sage was willing to humor him. It almost felt like something a grandfather would do. Not that he saw the pervy sage as a grandfather or anything… nope. Nuh-uh. It was strictly a business relationship.

“What do you want, kid?”

He felt the blush that forced its way onto his face, but he was too busy awkwardly spluttering to really pay it any mind.

“Can we talk?”

The old alpha gazed at him with a fond sort of suspicion, before he stepped away from the door, and allowed Naruto to enter.

~~~

Two weeks later, Orochimaru had finally relieved him of his ‘time out’ and had sent him on a mission to retrieve some stolen equipment of his.

Sasuke hadn’t been feeling well due to the strained scent bond, and had only nodded in silent agreement as Orochimaru had given him the details of the mission. Overall, it was quite simple.

Find the guy who took the equipment, get the equipment back, and bring the thief to Orochimaru. The sanin had told Sasuke to eliminate the thief, but Sasuke was stubborn, and only wished to kill one man, so he would simply leave the thief in Orochimaru’s hands.

The scent bond had been acting up again, although this time it was unlike how it had been the day of his fight with Kabuto. It was almost like a warning signal, but for what, Sasuke didn’t know.

He’d been ignoring it for the most part, largely due to the fact that he was helpless against the strained bond, in favor of keeping a close eye of his surroundings as he walked through the bustling streets of one of the more infamously dangerous cities in the land of waves.

For two days now, he’d been sensing an odd chakra signature nearby, but when he focused on it to try and get a precise feel for it, the chakra signature would always vanish.

It was probably another one of Orochimaru’s enemies tailing him, so he’d kept his guard up, just to be sure.

Sasuke had been to this town once before, only four months after he’d joined up with Orochimaru. Kabuto had needed to stock up on some type of illegal herbs that were sold here, and Orochimaru had thought it would be fun to make a bonding trip out of it.

It had not been a fun trip.

Still, it had given Sasuke the chance to get the lay of the land and establish a few connections, which he could be thankful for. All he needed to do was to check back with a few reliable sources to see if they’d come across any suspiciously advanced equipment in the midnight marketplace lately so that he could begin to start searching for any possible trails the thief left behind.

Any thief worth his salt would know to come here to get rid of the stolen goods to make some fast, and hefty, cash.

The old woman who’d helped him before, when Orochimaru had decided to go see what the … human market… had to offer and Kabuto had been obsessively rifling through whatever medical ingredients he could get his hands on and had left Sasuke to his own devices, had owned a shop that specialized in selling ninja weapons that were scavenged from the bodies of dead shinobi that were killed in action.

It was a tiny bit morbid, although Sasuke had honestly seen so many morbid things in his lifetime that it didn’t even phase him anymore, but he could respect the business model. It was profitable, as those types of serious weapons were hard to come by for the average person, and it also had a somewhat endless supply of inventory. After all, there would always be dead shinobi.

If there was one place he would think to go to get some information, it would be her shop.

Luckily, the store wasn’t much farther away. The omega ignored the looks that several of the shady passersby shot him as he continued his silent trek. Unlike everyone else in the area, Sasuke did not travel with a cloak to disguise himself. He needed to serve as a reminder for Orochimaru to all the other participants in the ninja world’s underground activities: Do not bite the hand that feeds.

He needed to strike fear and awe into the hearts of those who he came across. It was expected of him, the last Uchiha. Even though he wasn’t the last one, not yet anyway, he had a reputation to build.

The Uchiha exhaled a quiet breath as he found himself at the store front he’d been looking for. With purpose, he opened the door and eased himself inside like he owned the place, making careful note of all the people who were watching him from the street.

“My, my, look what the cat dragged in.” a woman’s voice drawled from the back of the store.

Sasuke turned to walk in the direction that the voice had come from, but ended up stopping in his tracks when the woman, Ms. Namura, came to meet him instead.

“Ms. Namura.” he greeted her, bowing slightly in a show of respect that he knew the old woman would love.

She laughed, entertained, “Sasuke, my boy, look how much you’ve grown!”

She was the only person he would allow to grab his cheeks and pinch them. She was also the only person that he would allow to address him so informally.

“Is you-know-who- with you?” She asked as she headed behind the counter to wipe her hands off on the cloth that resided there. The old woman had probably been dusting in the back when he’d entered.

“No, I’m here alone.”

“Alone? A pretty omega like you, traveling all this way alone? Oh, you young people these days. Always setting yourselves up for trouble.” She scolded him.

Ms. Namura was an omega, like him, but unlike the majority of omegas of her generation, she’d started a business instead of starting a family. He could respect that, especially considering that it was nearly impossible for omega led businesses to stay afloat and she’d managed to not only start a career, but flourish in it as well.

“What can I say? Company annoys me.” He responded, shrugging carelessly, although remaining stiff and regal.

The old woman sighed, and eyed him skeptically, “Did he send you?”

Her emphasis on the word he and refusal to actually say Orochimaru’s name was amusing. She didn’t care for the sanin, nor his infamous title. He clearly unsettled her, but not in the way most would assume. No, she’d lived long enough to spot a wolf in sheep’s clothing very well and Orochimaru was far more dangerous than he let on.

There was a reason so few tales of Orochimaru’s escapades were commonly known.

“Yes. I’m looking for some equipment, very rare, very expensive.”

“How expensive are we talking?” she inquired, all of her elderly cheer gone as she sunk into a cool headed and direct business persona.

“The kind that almost sounds fictional.” Sasuke responded cryptically.

He could trust her, sure, but at the end of the day, she was also a business woman that specialized in reselling stolen items of value. He wasn’t going to give her any details that she could use to try and find the stolen items herself and turn a profit with them.
“Well, I haven’t seen anything quite like that hit my counters in quite some time. Should I keep an ear out for you just in case?”

Sasuke glanced behind her, taking note of the collection of senbon that were proudly displayed on the wall. Phantom pains littered his body at the memory of his fight with Haku that had left the omega with countless tiny, nearly invisible scars where the senbon had sunken into his flesh.

Darkly, he wondered if those very weapons had also been scavenged from the scene after team seven had already taken their leave.

“No.” he answered, turning to leave the store, “Thank you.” he muttered after some deliberation. As he exited the building with a mental note to stop there on his way back after completing the mission, he sensed the odd chakra form again.

Someone was clearly tailing him, but who? And why? Whoever was following him was in for a rude awakening, that was for sure.

He rounded the corner, allowing himself to disappear into the shadowy alley way to regroup and adjust his plan.

Sasuke didn’t even make it halfway down the grimy walkway before something slammed into him from behind. He fell, not prepared for the sudden weight.

“Uchiha!” a man’s voice growled as Sasuke grabbed at his head, annoyed at the turn of events as he checked for any wounds to his skull. His instincts were going haywire, but that didn’t make any sense. He’d been in this situation, and even worse ones than this, many times before.

Sasuke rose to his knees, turning to face the offending alpha with disdain, “What?” he snapped. He didn’t have the time, nor the patience to be dealing with some overzealous lowlife. His skin prickled at the sensation of the atmosphere surrounding the two feeling thicker all of a sudden.

“You don’t remember me?!” the enraged alpha yelled in his face, causing small droplets of spit to land on his porcelain skin.

The omega held back a grimace- it never did any good to show emotions to these types of people. He was just glad he’d had the foresight to carefully wrap and cover his scent bond and had taken extra care to mask his scent even better than he normally cared to.

He didn’t need the drama that came with his opponents discovering his designation.

“Should I?” Sasuke responded, feigning boredom as he analyzed the man for any potential weak spots.

His sword was still attached to his hip, but he didn’t want to draw a weapon, not this deep into the illegal town. Openly brandished weapons tended to start all out brawls between the antsy criminals and exciteably enraged lowlifes that resided here. He couldn’t risk drawing too much attention to himself- word would spread, and the thief that stole from Orochimaru would be alerted of Sasuke rooting around for information.

Sasuke would need to deal with this guy in the least flashy way possible.

“You’re a fucking monster!” The alpha cried out, his voice bouncing off of the walls of the alley and creating an echo effect of all the dark whispers that Sasuke had running around in his mind.

Sasuke may have done some monstrous things, but he was no monster. No, Sasuke was doing all of this to defeat a monster.

The alpha moved forward to punch him, and that was when Sasuke took his opportunity to dive out of the way and place a well aimed kick at the back of the man’s knees. The offending idiot stumbled, giving Sasuke enough time to get the upper hand.

“Give up and go home. You don’t want to make me angry.” Sasuke commanded with an air of practiced boredom. He kept his hand hovering ever so slightly near the hilt of his sword, though, to give the illusion of a swift and painful threat.

In truth, he was already a little angry, but having a hotheaded persona was much less fear inducing than one of crisp neutrality.

“What, you don’t think I didn’t come prepared?” The man smirked.

It took Sasuke one second too late to notice why the air felt so odd to him. This guy, whoever he was, was slowly siphoning away Sasuke’s chakra without the Uchiha even performing a single jutsu. Such a skill… it was rarer than rare.

Sasuke remembered him now. Or, rather, he remembered another man, younger in appearance, but with the same jaw and hair color. This was likely the relative of Orochimaru’s last pet experiment. Sasuke hadn’t been able to ever get a name, he never was. Orochimaru’s excitement at finding such a unique and strong ability had driven the sanin into overdrive, and he’d been too enthralled in his specimen to realize he’d killed him until hours later.

Sasuke hadn’t gone back to the laboratory since, haunted by what he’d seen there.

The omega dove forward with a newfound purpose. If his chakra was being drained, then he’d have to rely on taijutsu.

His eyes narrowed as he dove forward. The alpha caught his punch, but didn’t expect him to use his leverage to throw the man into the wall behind them. Sasuke didn’t give him time to recover, either, he went straight in for another attack.

He felt faint the longer his chakra continued to drain, but the stupid alpha was still going strong, even if he was clearly nowhere nearly as trained as Sasuke was. His opponent kneed Sasuke in the stomach, pushing the omega away from him to get enough room to retaliate.

The man’s smirk was what clued Sasuke in to the fact that there was something up his sleeve. Three new chakra signatures entering the alleyway from the rooftops was what clued him in to the fact that the guy had friends.

Feeling weak and overwhelmed with the lack of room to move to fight, his instincts began to nauseate him. His scent bond being messed with a few weeks ago had thrown his inner omega bullshit all out of whack, and he was still trying to manage the after effects of Kabuto’s underhanded tactics.

He changed his stance to accommodate for new foe. Having his back to the wall wasn’t the greatest way to win a fight, as getting cornered was a serious issue, but he had few other options at the moment.

When two of the men attacked, he dodged the first one and used his right leg to push the man into the second one. They fell over like drunken toddlers, leaving the third newcomer to throw a hefty punch that would never land, as Sasuke flipped over his shoulder and let the man’s fist sink into the bricked wall. The crunch of shattered bones drew a smirk to Sasuke’s face.

In no time, the three fumbling idiots were knocked unconscious, and all that was left standing was his original opponent.

“I will offer this only once,” Sasuke directed towards the man, “leave now, and you won’t suffer the same fate as they will.”

Maybe it was a generosity that he didn’t need to offer. Maybe Sasuke felt bad about what had happened to this guy’s brother. Maybe he just really didn’t have it in him to fight anymore when he felt this weak and chakraless. Who could say for sure.

The man took his time answering, which annoyed the omega who was trying hard not to sway where he stood as dizziness began to cloud his mind.

In the end, though, the alpha nodded, and left the scene with a cowardly quickness.

Sasuke, now alone save for the bodies of the other unconscious men, staggered forward before collapsing. That skill the man had was a dangerous one, no wonder Orochimaru had been so fascinated by it. So much chakra being drained in such a short time frame had been known to kill people before, and Sasuke knew he was lucky to be escaping the encounter with just some nauseating vertigo.

His eyelids became heavy, as opposed to the almost weightless feeling the rest of his body was experiencing.

As his eyes began to blur and close, he sensed the odd chakra signature that had been tailing him the last few days. The omega drew in a sharp breath, his chest hitching erratically as he realized what he’d been sensing.

The strange chakra signature wasn’t an enemy tailing him, not at all. The omega reached a shaky hand down to his stomach in shock. The chakra signature was coming from himself- it had been hidden beneath his own powerful chakra levels all this time.

The sound of a woman shouting in the distance did nothing to distract him from his hazy discovery.

He…he was pregnant.