Budding Limbs

Sasuke was still reeling from his decision when he made it back to the hideout with Orochimaru’s precious equipment in tow.

He’d bid Ms. Namura goodbye shortly after making his choice and went on his way. Of course, she was still a business woman, so he’d had to buy her silence and promised to return when he’d had a few more things figured out. The old woman had offered him a place to stay with her, should he need it, mainly due to her hatred of Orochimaru, but also because ‘Us omegas need to stick together.’

Hearing her say that had caused the painful memory of his last encounter with the omega genin of the leaf village, specifically Ino, who had always been preaching about equality and unfair disadvantages omegas faced, to push its way to the forefront of his mind.

Maybe it was the symptoms of his…condition…starting already, but thinking about the old ‘omega squad’ hurt his stony heart. Back then, he hadn’t ever let on that he’d considered Ino, Choji, and Hinata his friends, and a part of him- however small he forced it to be- regretted it deeply.

But, there was no going back. He’d made his choice.

The omega looked down at his stomach, and recognized the double meaning of that thought.

There was no going back indeed.

Along his journey back to Orochimaru, Sasuke had at least started to form a plan. Once he began to show, which would hopefully be a few months down the line, he would use a very miniscule but powerful genjutsu to hide the bodily change from Kabuto and Orochimaru. It would be relatively easy with his sharingan, and over time, he’d come to learn that neither the sanin nor his lackey were able to figure out that they were caught in a sharingan-based genjutsu until Sasuke released it.

It wasn’t the best plan, not by a thousand miles, but it would do. Eventually, when his next heat should have come, he could still excuse himself under the guise of the cycle and take the opportunity to get his ducks in a row. A few days would be more than enough time to stock up on necessary supplies and check back with Ms. Namura.

Sasuke would need to expedite his plans of betraying Orochimaru if he was going to make everything work. He wasn’t strong enough yet, though. He would need to train more diligently than ever before.

Training exercises that Orochimaru usually assigned him weren’t truly a threat. Sasuke was good enough at what he did that he wouldn’t have to worry about being bested by his opponents, or worry about keeping up the genjutsu for that matter. Sure, it would be taxing, but nothing Sasuke was unable to handle.

The omega held his breath as he entered Orochimaru’s throne room. Why the sanin had a throne room in every single one of his hideouts, Sasuke didn’t know, nor did he care to. Lavishness and self importance weren’t really his style, so he simply turned a mildly disgusted blind eye to it.

All he had to do was act as he usually did. The…thing’s… chakra would be virtually invisible underneath Sasuke’s own nearly bottomless reserves. Orochimaru wouldn’t notice the miniscule difference because he wouldn’t be looking for it.

“Sasuke.” his teacher greeted slyly, like the sanin was playing with each individual letter of his name as the syllables rolled off of his tongue.

Sasuke unfastened the large pack of equipment, letting it fall to the ground with a semi heavy thud. He looked up, unblinkingly into the older man’s eyes to give the impression of boredom.

A bored face was a simple, yet effective way to not allow anyone to figure out his next move. He’d picked it up from Kakashi, although after his defection from Konoha, the name left a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth.

Instead of greeting his sensei, he quirked a perfectly shaped eyebrow as if to ask, ‘Am I free to go?’.

The human snake smiled greedily and leaned back in his elaborate chair, “Ah, yes. I knew you would bring my precious possessions back to me. The thief gave you no trouble, I take it?”

Sasuke shrugged, “Barely put up a fight.”

“Good,” the sanin checked his nails, “take the equipment to Kabuto in the East wing. I have business to attend to.”

Business to attend to typically meant Orochimaru was feeling unwell again and he needed an excuse to save face.

Sasuke picked the pack back up and wordlessly left the room.

Kabuto.

He was someone that the omega would need to watch out for. Orochimaru gave Sasuke the benefit of the doubt much more than Kabuto did. If the alpha figured out anything was up with the Uchiha, it would be only a matter of time before their mentor was alerted and Orochimaru began to poke and prod at the omega. Sasuke cringed, because he knew that the poking and prodding wouldn’t just be metaphorical.

As he turned the corner, Sasuke allowed himself to think of what to do about Naruto. Right now, obviously, there was nothing to be done. But eventually, when Sasuke had a better grasp on the situation, he would need to add Naruto into his plans. Sasuke wouldn’t be under Orochimaru’s thumb forever- or for much longer, as a matter of fact.

The only things on his horizons would be the ‘it’ problem, and defeating Itachi. If he defeated Orochimaru, and took a few months in hiding to prepare for the birth, then he could track Naruto down with the infant in tow. They could play house for a little while, until Sasuke had completely recovered. Then, he could go after Itachi.

But, a tiny voice in his head murmured, what if meeting up with Naruto caused rumor to spread and word got back to Itachi? He’d murdered children before, why wouldn’t he come after Sasuke’s? Especially since he was part of an organization that were hunting jinchuriki, and Naruto would be easily manipulated into giving himself up if it meant protecting his family.

Naruto’s family. Naruto was going to have the family he’d always wanted, and he didn’t even know. Sasuke was going to be part of a family again.

Sasuke arrived at the designated drop off zone right as that confusingly warm thought hit him.

Kabuto had left the door open, knowing no one ever came to this side of the hideout. If they did, well, it wasn’t guaranteed that they would make it out of there in one, living, peace.

Sasuke didn’t bother knocking. As petty as it was, he liked sneaking up on the white haired idiot. It gave him a sense of superiority to startle the alpha- almost like it was a small show of dominance in skill.

He dropped the bag, letting the sharp clang echo off of the chamber walls. Kabuto, who’d had his back to the entryway, startled, dropping whatever had been in his hands against the cold slab of the metal table in front of him.

“Sasuke.” Kabuto bit out in irritation as he turned around swiftly to shoot him a heated glare.

Sasuke just looked at him blankly before turning around and exiting. With no orders given to him, and no training scheduled for later in the day, he was free to return to his room.

Of course, he would need to check his bedroom for any signs of entry from when he’d been away. His things had a habit of being rifled through when he wasn’t present. Sasuke suspected Orochimaru’s curiosity coupled with Kabuto’s seething paranoia got the best of them when he was off on solo missions.

The joke was on them though, because Sasuke was no fool. Anything he had that held even a remote sense of personal importance to himself was sealed away in a sealing scroll that never left his person.

He couldn’t take the chance of Orochimaru discovering the other half of the Uchiha’s scent bond, and now, more than ever, Sasuke needed to be cautious. He was playing a dangerous game, and one slip up, one wrong move, would cost him in a way that he hadn’t even experienced when he was eight years old.

~~~

“You’re here.” Her cousin’s voice almost sounded surprised by her punctuality.

“It would be rude to keep you waiting.” she responded with a tight smile.

Hinata had never been known to disobey, especially not when Neji had asked something of her, like meeting him in secret at the Hyuuga clan’s training area in the dead of night.

He gave her a once over, and the younger couldn’t help but to avoid his gaze. She’d come a long way, but eye contact still made her just a tad bit shy, which was ironic, considering her status as a Hyuuga.

Neji nodded silently, and gestured with his hand to follow him. Without a word, the two shinobi made their way out of the darkened compound, making careful note not to draw any attention to themselves by stepping on creaky floorboards as they crept out of the main family’s home.

Neji had been invited to live with them after the death of his father, which had initially caused some unrest, but Hinata had been too young to remember very much of it. All she’d known was that to keep the peace, her father had appointed Neji as her personal chaperone to give reason to a member of the branch family living with the head of the Hyuuga clan, and Neji had been watching over her ever since.

She remembered asking him to play one day, a week after Hanabi had taken her first steps, and they’d played hide and seek. Neji had gotten in trouble for letting her out of his sight, and after that, Hinata hadn’t asked to play anymore.

The pair ended up at the tree line near the lake that Konoha housed just before the border wall of the village. She knew better than to question Neji, as after he’d stopped seeing her as an obstacle to overcome, he’d been nothing but reliable and kind to her, but Hinata couldn’t help but grow anxious the further they walked into the forest.

What if he was under orders to get rid of her so that Hanabi could take the position of future clan head with ease?

The omega shook her head at herself. No. Neji wouldn’t betray her like that, let alone kill her.

Neji, who’d been walking in front of her the entire time out of habit because Hinata didn’t like walking in front of others- it felt rude somehow, remained quiet. He seemed relaxed, at least, indicating that maybe Hinata should keep calm as well. That was easier said than done when she had more questions than answers, however.

The farther they walked into the trees, the more a slight yellow glow began to appear in front of them. It definitely wasn’t the moonlight, as the sky was filled with clouds and not even a single star was visible above, much less the moon. She almost tripped on a tree root, but had caught herself at the last minute. Just where was Neji taking her?

“Uh-Nej-” She began to whisper, reaching for her older cousin’s sleeve, but he interrupted her.

“We’re here.” He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. She gave him a questioning look, but he only smiled encouragingly as he gestured for her to walk ahead of him.

With a nervous breath, she stepped forward and pushed the tree limbs that were blocking her vision out of her way.

“K-Kiba? Shino?” she stuttered in surprise as her large eyes landed on the Inuzuka, who was leaning against a large tree trunk, looking cool like he always did. Meanwhile, Shino was seated on a rock, and even in the dead of night, his sunglasses were still firmly planted on his face.

The odd glow that Hinata had noticed was coming from a large jar of fireflies, probably thanks to Shino. The use of fireflies for light was odd, but then, if they’d used fire, their meeting could be tracked by scent and sight much easier if Hinata and Neji had been followed or were discovered as missing.

They hadn’t been, though, as far as Hinata could tell.

“What is this? What are you all doing here?” She asked, clasping her hands together to give her hands something to do while her mind reeled.

Kiba uncrossed his arms. Hinata knew he didn’t like to be in one position for long, so it wasn’t unusual to see him shifting around every few minutes. She remembered him getting in trouble for it when they were still students at the academy, but Hinata had always thought it was just a fun little quirk of his.

Shino answered her dutifully, never one to let someone go uninformed. One day, he would probably make an excellent teacher. “It was brought to our attention that you have been barred from participating on missions because of your father’s wishes.”

Kiba turned his eyes onto her with his piercing gaze. He knew. He knew everything. Kiba had been the one to find her that night, when she’d poorly attempted to run away.

Neji was the one who clued her in, “In light of recent events, we decided to gather and discuss what your options are.”

He meant Hanabi’s presentation. Because Hanabi had presented as an alpha, Hinata was an omega but also the first born and would have to prove herself by winning a duel with Hanabi for leadership. If Hinata failed, she would be married off to someone in the branch family, and ultimately, demoted. She would be unable to continue her career as a shinobi, as the Hyuuga did not permit omegas of lower status to join the village’s ranks as a ninja. If she succeeded, and won the fight, Hanabi would still be considered as part of the main family instead of becoming part of the branch family, due to her status as an alpha.

Neji knew the clan politics as intimately as Hinata did, just for different reasons. It was said, in the past, long before the main and branch families had split, that the alpha of the strongest skill with the byakugan would be elected the leader of the clan. Neji, going by the original methods, would be the rightful heir.

Instead, he was sequestered away in the branch family, cursed with a seal that should not have been his burden to bear, and tasked with watching over the current heir, an omega who was nowhere close to being a prodigy.

“We already know what my options are.” she stated glumly.

“No, we know what options your clan has given you! But there’s more to life than just doing your family’s bidding!” Kiba interjected passionately. He didn’t yell- he never yelled at her. Even when they were in the heat of a fight on a mission and tensions were high, he never raised his voice at her.

She looked down, uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on her. “What.. what do you have in mind?”

The three shared a look between them. “You could put in a formal request with the hokage to take you off of leave and get back in the field.” Kiba muttered.

Shino adjusted his glasses, “Did you know that ant colonies are high in number, with each ant carrying out a designated task? Why is this important? Because like ants, the Hyuuga clan rely on a strict system of hierarchy that does not allow deviation. You, Hinata, are a deviation.”

She began to nervously fiddle with her hands, a nervous habit she’d picked up shortly after joining the ninja academy.

Kiba elbowed Shino in the shoulder, “Come on man, don’t scare her before we’ve even gotten her to hear us out.”

“What your teammates are trying to say, Lady Hinata, is that you will not be permitted to live your life as you please moving forward. Either you will win the duel, and resume being the heir to the clan, or you will lose, and be demoted, a scenario that comes with more limitations with freedoms.” Neji delegated. The older Hyuuga did not have to elaborate on what he meant, as the curse seal that resided on his forehead, carefully and methodically hidden away from prying eyes, did that for him.

Neji would have made a great leader.

He really had a talent for those kinds of things. Hinata never had, and Hanabi was too hot headed to be all that great at it either. If he weren’t cursed with that seal…

She shifted her head down to face the ground, irrationally scared that somehow, someone would have known what she was thinking and would punish her for it.

“What are you trying to say?” her soft voice carried on the slight breeze.

“They’re trying to say that I plan on throwing the match.” the familiar and striking voice of her younger sister startled the omega.

She turned, shocked to see Hanabi of all people sneaking out of the shadowy blanket of the forest around them and into the soft glowy light of the clearing.

“Hanabi, what are you-”

“Sorry I’m late guys, I was giving the clan gate guards a run for their money.” her younger sister grinned like a proud fox, mischief dancing in her eyes. Hinata had seen that look before, on the jonin friend of Kurenai sensei’s- Anko.

Sensing Hinata’s growing discomfort, Neji cleared his throat, “Lady Hinata, the clan’s council may want a duel, but Hanabi wants no part in it- and we know you don’t either.”

“Yeah, those old badgers have another thing coming if they think I want your position as the future head of the clan.” Hanabi remarked, crossing her arms and looking every bit the rebellious young alpha she would no doubt grow into.

If Hanabi didn’t want to become the head of the clan, then that meant Hinata would be forced to take the position. Ice cascaded down her spine at the realization that she had no choice in the matter, not if Hanabi didn’t want the responsibilities of being a leader.

But, she asked herself, did Hinata even want to lead? She hadn’t even wanted to become a shinobi, not originally.

“If that’s what you want, Hanabi, then that’s what we’ll do… We’ll throw the match.” Hinata smiled. It was the smile she’d learned, the one where her lips arched up in a show of perfect symmetry and her cheeks didn’t quite make her eyes crinkle. It was the epitome of refined politeness, everything that was expected of her.

Kiba interjected, knowing her too well for her own good, “What do you want?- not what everyone else wants you to do.”

“I want what will make everyone else happy.” she answered dutifully, trying hard to not make it sound rehearsed. It had been instilled in her from a young age to put everyone else first. It was simply what was expected of her.

Shino was the one to question her next, “But what will make you happy?”

And that was the thing about growing up a people pleaser, Hinata had never learned how to please herself.

~~~

Orochimaru watched as his two apprentices continued their mock-battle. Kabuto, unsurprisingly, had gone for Sasuke’s chakra points, but Sasuke, ever the prodigy, had evaded the alpha’s hits with ease.

The fight was artful, skilled in ways that Orochimaru had only dreamed of when he’d first taken on students back at the Leaf Village. Ah, yes, Anko.

He hadn’t thought about her for some time. She’d been a failure concerning his earlier omega-based dynamic experiments, but she’d been a great success as the first test subject to successfully live after being implanted with the curse mark.

The sanin wondered, idly, if she’d ever managed to live a somewhat normal life after his experiment on her scent glands had gone awry. Likely not, as most societies were structured around the importance of scents, and especially omegan ones. It really was a shame that her once sugary sweet scent had turned into a pungent, acidic poison on the senses.

A failure, that was what she’d been.

Sasuke, on the other hand, oh, he was a success in every way but one. That pesky scent bond that the little Uchiha didn’t ever acknowledge, much less divulge information about, had been known to keep Orochimaru up at night.

Forming scent bonds had been outlawed immediately after Orochimaru had left the village. It was one of the few useful things Sarutobi had ever done while in office. It did not make sense that a 13 year old orphan, forty years after his own defection, would be part of a scent bonded pair.

Who could the other half be?

Going off of the information he’d gathered while monitoring Sasuke to target during the chunin exams had proven to be fruitless. The pink haired girl- an alpha- that had been part of Sasuke’s genin squad had stuck very closely to the boy, from what he recalled. Perhaps it was her- although it was unlikely. Even then, Sasuke had very obviously held little care for her.

The jinchuriki, Naruto, was another contender. He was strong, as most Uzumaki were, and Sasuke was clearly a moth to flame when it came to power. That was also an unlikely option, because jinchuriki were heavily monitored people. On the rare occasion that they were permitted to have mates, it was a top secret, and enduring process with lots of legal and political issues to be resolved before the mating.

There was no way that Naruto, a child, would have been able to go through those lengths to form a bond with Sasuke. Besides, the way Sasuke’s beautiful eyes solidified in deliciously cold contempt whenever Orochimaru strategically mentioned the Uzumaki told the sanin all he needed to know.

In front of him, Sasuke jumped, missing Kabuto’s attack by a millimeter. Kabuto turned, catching the Uchiha’s foot and pulling, though Sasuke was quick to counter attack by using a very small, incremental concentration of his chidori jutsu to shock the alpha backwards a few feet.

Soon, Orochimaru could nearly taste how close it was in the air, Sasuke’s body would be at peak condition to perform the body transfer jutsu. The silly little omega, he had no idea just what he’d signed up for when Orochimaru had convinced him to leave the safety of Konoha and come live in a- only semi literal- snake’s den.

The only drawback would be the scent bond. He could sever it, sure, after the transfer jutsu, but knowing who possessed the other half of the bond would make it remarkably easier. Or, if it was someone important, he could use that knowledge to his advantage, should the need arise.

He sighed, closing his slitted eyes for a moment, before clapping his hands together once. His two students stopped what they were doing immediately, being the well trained pets that they were.

“I believe we should take a break from your taijutsu practice. There is a jutsu I would like you,” Orochimaru gestured in Sasuke’s direction, who was ever so slightly hunched over, “-to learn.”

Kabuto adjusted his glasses and began to retie the bandages over his arms. Sasuke, intrigued by the potential to master a new jutsu, perked up a bit, though he still seemed to be in one of his moods. There was only one thing worse than having a teenager under his care, and that was having an omega teenager under his care. So moody, that group was.

Orochimaru was glad to be rid of his old dynamic and all its tedious qualities.

“What’s it called?”

Orochimaru grinned, eating up the boy’s desire for power up so deliciously, “Kirin.”

~~~

“Gai sensei?” Rock Lee asked the older man as they sat down to take a break from training and enjoy the sunset. They’d just gotten done doing four thousand pushups, and were going to start a light exercise of only twelve hundred lunges after their break to wind down for the afternoon.

“Hmm, yes Lee?”

The young alpha glazed around, making sure Tenten hadn’t come back from retrieving all of her weapons that had fallen in various locations around the training area. He knew Neji was off doing his own thing and wouldn’t show himself again until their break was over.

Once he’d made sure the coast was clear, he leaned forward and whispered with the utmost sincerity, “Sensei, how do I ask someone out on a date?”

Might Gai startled, and choked on the water he’d been sipping from, but quickly rightened himself. He flashed his perfect smile at his student, to signal that he was okay and had recovered from the small burst of coughing.

“Well, that’s a good question. In my experience, you have to make sure to include the power of youth in how you do it.”

Rock Lee tilted his head to the side in confusion, letting his bangs tickle at his eyelashes. Maybe Tenten was right, he did need to trim his bangs.

“But how do I do that?” he pressed further.

Rock Lee, for as boisterous and confident in his own abilities as he was, he secretly very shy when it came to matters of the heart. He was only somewhat confident around Sakura, the absolute goddess herself, due to the fact that the pink haired woman brought out a side of him that he hadn’t even known existed.

“I suppose you could challenge her to a swimming contest..” his sensei suggested, “There’s nothing more romantic than the thrill of competition with the person you love.”

That was a great idea! Nothing showed respect and trust more than engaging in a healthy round of competitive sports!

“Thank you, Gai sensei, you’re the best!” Rock Lee smiled brightly, clenching his fist in the air to show how serious he was.

His sensei winked at him, “I’m always happy to help my students.”.

The older man patted him on the back, and Rock Lee bit down a smile. His sensei truly was amazing, always offering Rock Lee advice and helping him train to be one of the best shinobi the leaf village had ever seen.

His impeccable fashion sense and genius when it came to social awareness was why Rock Lee followed up with another question, “Uhm.. Gai sensei, what should I wear?”

“Hmm,” The older alpha rubbed at his youthful chin in thought, “Lets see… From what I can tell, women like it when men make a statement with their clothes. It shows confidence.”

Might Gai gestured to his own glorious outfit and continued after a pause, “My favorite saying always goes ‘If their eyes don’t hurt while in the presence of your outfit’s eternal youth, there aren’t enough colors.”.

Rock Lee nodded earnestly, “Yes… I see..”

But what should he wear, then? He had a bright yellow tuxedo with blue stripes on the blazer. Swimming in a tuxedo would be uncomfortable… but for Sakura, he would brave all the discomfort in the world a hundred-no, a million times over.

Then, he also had a pair of nice, pink shorts. Sakura’s favorite color was pink- maybe he should wear the shorts and pair his one hundred percent mature and not at all ugly electric green leg warmers with them. Ooh! And a white t-shirt to really make the legwarmers pop.

He opened his mouth to ask Gai what his opinion on the two outfits was, but he was interrupted by Tenten sneaking up on them, dropping an arm full of weapons, and screeching, “Under no circumstances are you asking Sakura out on a date in ugly clothes, Lee!”

“Yes, I agree Tenten, that is why I will be wearing my green leg warmers and pink short-”

She cut him off, “NO! Just-no!”

The brown haired alpha looked at their sensei pleadingly, but Rock Lee didn’t have any idea why. Gai sensei was the one who’d bought him the green leg warmers, because they were ‘snazzy looking and the epitome of the power of youth!’, surely he was of the same opinion as Rock Lee?

Sure enough, his sensei agreed. “Tenten, I believe you should leave this matter to those of us with a sense of fashion- no offense, but your outfits are always…matching…” Gai said with polite disgust.

It was true, poor Tenten was cursed with having no sense of style. Matching outfits? No bright colors? Where was the dazzle? Where was the neon?

Tenten sighed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes as she did so, “You two are two sides of the same coin…”.

They both beamed proudly, happy with the compliment. Why Tenten was shaking her head, Rock Lee didn’t know.

“Look, I’m telling you, I hang out with Sakura all the time- I know what she would prefer.”

That sparked his interest. “Oh? Tell me, Tenten! What should I wear to ask her out on a date?” He exclaimed dutifully. This was proving to be more challenging than he’d initially thought it would be, and Rock Lee was always up for a challenge.

“Oh no,” she admonished as she wagged her finger at him, “I know that look on your face- you’re gonna go way overboard and scare her off! Sakura likes sleek and cool- bright green and leg warmers aren’t cool.”

Gai sensei gasped, affronted, “You take that back right now, Tenten!”

“I’m sorry Gai sensei, but it’s the truth.”

Tenten sat down before addressing him again, “If you want to impress her, you should play hard to get- girls love that. Wear something with a more…down to earth color scheme, part your hair the way you used to when you were younger- it framed your face quite well.”

She hummed in thought, giving Rock Lee the chance to reflect on what she’d said. He didn’t like parting his hair anymore, his forehead felt naked without the curtain of black covering it up. But, if Sakura would like it, then he would do it for her.

He’d do anything for her- had done a lot of things for her already, like walking her home after her night shifts at the hospital had ended, and listening to her vent about another argument with her mother. He’d packed them picnic baskets and surprised her with lunch after their individual training sessions had finished for the day.

None of that even came close to what he had in mind if she said yes and agreed to be his girlfriend. He’d told her that he loved her, and he’d meant it, and would spend every day of his life proving it to her.

~~~

Training for the last two weeks had been nothing short of brutal, just the way Sasuke liked it. He’d mastered kirin in less than half the time his mentor had thought he would. He’d had to- he was on an expedited schedule now, thanks to the growing life form he was harboring in his stomach.

He’d gotten back from training and had proceeded to get in the shower, not bothering to let Kabuto or Orochimaru know what his plans for the rest of the day were. It wouldn’t matter, as they would see him again by the time he was expected to be at dinner.

The omega ran his fingers through his inky hair as the water rinsed out the copious amounts of soap he’d lathered it with. The hot water burned his skin pleasantly, and Sasuke was able to let himself relax.

Well, relax as much as he could allow himself to.

The soothing steam of the shower had helped to alleviate some of his nausea. It would appear as though the curse of queasiness had finally struck him. He’d managed to not vomit in front of Kabuto or Orochimaru, though, so at least he had that going for him.

Even if he felt like hell warmed over.

During practice, he would have dizzy spells when he’d never had an issue with them before, and it would have been worrying for an unskilled shinobi. To Sasuke, however, they were nothing more than a mildly concerning irritant.

He couldn’t allow his performance to suffer, because then, Orochimaru and Kabuto would know something was up.

Once the soap was gone from his hair, he turned his attention to the dirt and grime that hadn’t already been washed away by the stream of water pelting his skin. Mechanically, with not a single thought, he scrubbed his body from head to toe. Perhaps it was a bit overkill to wash his body three times in one shower, but Sasuke was nothing if not a stickler for pristine hygiene.

Maybe it was the solitude, or maybe it was because this was the one location that Sasuke didn’t have to worry about being spied on, but his thoughts drifted to Naruto, as they so often did after the shared heat.

What was he doing, right about now? Training? Eating? Napping?

Was he still with stupid Gaara in stupid Suna?

Sasuke cursed under his breath at the petty thought. Naruto was allowed to visit his friends. Sasuke had no claim on the alpha. But, still, he couldn’t help the frown that formed at the idea of Naruto spending his time with an omega other than Sasuke during his free time.

Maybe his irrational jealousy was due to the scent bond influencing his opinion where the alpha was concerned. Or, equally likely, the curse mark’s treacherous whispers were taking their toll on his mind again.

Sasuke didn’t want to acknowledge the third, much more likely explanation. He wasn’t ready to. Not yet. He’d chosen to keep it, yes, but he hadn’t chosen everything that came with it.

The mirror was fogged when he stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off. Dutifully, he wiped the mirror, to see his reflection while he fixed his hair.

His stomach grumbled embarrassingly, and he was glad no one was around to hear it. Sasuke Uchiha’s stomach did not growl.

He sat the hairbrush down on the countertop before he sighed and rested his fists on either side of the sink. How was he supposed to be pregnant? He knew how, obviously, but- He’d never been around someone in this situation. There was no one he could ask, no books he could sneak in and read while everyone else was asleep.

Sasuke knew the basics. He knew that he was supposed to puke his guts up for a while, and his hard-earned abs would get kicked to the curb as his stomach grew, and then eventually a-thing- would shoot out of him and it would hurt like hell, but what about all the other things?

Was he supposed to change his diet? How much exercise was too much- or not enough? Why in the ever-loving fuck did his chest still hurt? When was that supposed to go away?

Curiosity got the best of him, and with a shaky breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, he peered at his uncovered body in the mirror. It had been around two and a half months since he’d spent his heat with Naruto, one month and a half since he’d discovered the life they’d accidentally created.

In two and a half months, his body had already begun to show signs of change. The muscles on his stomach were less defined- although to a non-Uchiha eye, his stomach looked the way it had for years. His chest, which he now kept firmly wrapped in ninja-grade bandages to avoid any extra discomfort while training, was ever so slightly more pronounced than he recognized it being from before.

Those were the only physical changes he could note, and even though they were technically very miniscule, to Sasuke, it felt like he was looking at the body of a stranger. Soon, he would be showing and past the point of being able to pretend like nothing had changed.

His life was changing in an irreversible way again.

First the massacre, then the scent bond, then the curse mark. But, this was the first time his life was changing and it was completely his decision.

He was glad for the privacy of his bathroom, because the realization that this was the first true choice he’d ever gotten to make on his own had his lip quivering in a very emotional, and not at all Sasuke-like way.

Hesitantly, as if the action would break whatever spell had fallen over him, Sasuke eased a pale hand to touch at his stomach- an action he hadn’t partaken in since the discovery. If he pressed with his senses, he could feel the tiny bud of chakra pooling there. It was a gentle, soft feeling. One that made his heart both stutter and freeze.

He was going to have a baby.

A tiny, little, breathing human. Ten small fingers, ten tiny toes. A small little toothless mouth, two chubby cheeks.

Naruto.

Sasuke was going to have a baby and the other father had no idea.

Suddenly wishing he hadn’t acknowledged the pregnancy in a significant way for the first time after that thought entered his mind, Sasuke hurried to get dressed and leave the scathing reflection of the traitorous mirror behind.

Dinner would be soon, and Orochimaru did not appreciate tardiness. With a small breath, Sasuke forced himself to relax. What he’d seen in the mirror had shown him that it would only be a matter of time before he began to show in obvious ways. He needed to genjutsu Kabuto and Orochimaru, and it had to be when their guards were completely down, and in the most subtle ways.

He’d had a cousin, once, named Shisui.

Shisui had been an anbu member, and had always been hanging around Kakashi for some reason. Well, when he wasn’t hanging around Itachi. Shisui had been the strongest member of their clan, he’d even put Itachi to shame.

Shisui’s sharingan had been powerful, artistic in one of the most manipulative and deadly ways. His genjutsus were said to be nearly perfect, with no true way out for his opponents. The Yamanaka clan refused to associate with him, due to his sharingan overpowering even their strongest mental jutsus.

Sasuke wished Shisui were still alive so he could ask him some questions about how to perfect a genjutsu technique. Outside of a lone scroll he’d managed to save before the hokage had ordered all sacred texts of the Uchiha confiscated following the massacre for evidence and ‘preservation’, and what Orochimaru had in his journals, Sasuke’s kekkei genkai was almost a complete mystery to him.

Kakashi had been helpful, in the beginning, but there were levels and nuances to the sharingan that someone with a transplanted eye just couldn’t master.

Once he killed Itachi, Sasuke made a promise to himself to figure out all the secrets to the sharingan, so that when the time came, his child would not have to feel so lost when it came to his visual gifts.

Sasuke looked down at his stomach again. Naruto needed to know.

The omega sat down at his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen. As soon as he put the pen to paper, he stopped. The white of the paper glared up at him, demanding he fill the empty void with the dark ink of words. But, the words wouldn’t come.

What did he say? How did he say it?

This was one of the few times where Sasuke had to be emotionally competent, and as always, he was going to fall short.

How did he even begin? “Hey, remember that time we fucked in a literal forest? Anyway, surprise, you’re going to be a dad.” was a terrible way to break the news, but it was the only thing that was coming to mind.
Well, that and “You’d better not be training with Gaara, that’s our thing.”, but that was mainly out of hormone induced jealousy. (At least, that’s what he told himself.)

Sasuke looked up at the clock on the wall and closed his eyes. He had three minutes to be in the dining room for dinner. The omega got up, relieved to have an excuse to not start the letter just yet, and ran a hand through his now semi-dry hair.

Tonight, at dinner, he was going to genjutsu Orochimaru and Kabuto.
~~~

Shikamaru could count on one hand the number of times he’d attended a wedding. He could count on no hand the amount of times he’d enjoyed it. Still, seeing his sensei finally tying the knot with Kurenai had brought an embarrassing layer of moisture to his eyes. Ino, the queen of not letting him get away with anything, had called out the misty eyed alpha as soon as the ceremony had been over.

Choji, who’d been sitting next to them, hadn’t paid their bickering any mind, as he was too busy sobbing into a handkerchief about how happy he was for Asuma. At first, Shikamaru had thought something was wrong with the omega, but then he’d seen slightly envious glimmer in Choji’s eyes, and he’d known what the issue was.

For as long as Choji had existed, everyone- minus a few select individuals- had told the Akimichi that he was too ugly or fat to have romance in his life. Over the years, the omega had come to accept that things like weddings or anniversaries and dates were for pretty skinny people. Of course, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji’s mother had argued with him and told him that he was worth love and more, but Choji’s insecurities ran deep. Much deeper than he let on.

Still, Choji was still genuinely happy for Asuma and Kurenai. Shikamaru would need to check in on him later, though. Just to make sure that the omega wasn’t going to fall into one of his ‘moods’ again.

The after party was about what anyone would expect it to be, if that expectation was pure, unbridled chaos.

The first sign that things would probably be not going so smoothly was Konohamaru, Asuma’s nephew that had a love for mischief that rivaled Naruto’s but with the brains to actually pull off his hijinks, had decided to pull a prank on the bride and groom by ‘misplacing’ their rings.

The kid had barely gotten to his targets, his uncle and now aunt, before their old academy instructor, Iruka, had reprimanded him.

“Aw come on, Iruka sensei! It’ll be funny!” the unpresented pup had cried petulantly.

“Not on my watch, Mister!” the older omega had scolded before pulling the kid to sit at a table in time out, where Konohamaru had been pouting ever since.

The second sign that the after party was going to be exceptionally memorable, was giving the jonin instructors alcohol.

Shikamaru had watched in interest from his secluded spot in the corner as Might Gai had staggered over to Kakashi and challenged him to a dance competition. The not nearly as drunk Hatake had tried to decline, but a drunk Gai was an oddly persuasive Gai.

Personally, Shikamaru didn’t know if he was in hell or trapped in a very vivid, very confusing dream as he watched Kakashi glide into doing the splits at the same time Gai twirled on a singular, muscular toe before backflipping.

One thing was for sure, watching Sakura desperately try to dissuade Rock Lee from joining the dance battle was entertaining. Rock Lee, the lean, green, dancing machine had shimmied away from her desperate grasp and into the fray of dancing senseis.

“Lee! Come back here- no! Stop wriggling-” She called out desperately. The poor girl looked torn between embarrassment and ashamed horror as everyone bore witness to Rock Lee picking Gai up and spinning him around in the air.

“-Please, it’s undignified!” she tried to reason. At least where the older alpha was concerned, there was no dignity to begin with. Not with that haircut.

Eventually, the pink haired girl gave up her attempts to save Rock Lee from embarrassing himself, and went to fix her hair in the bathroom. Ino had run to join her, and Shikamaru would never understand why girls liked to hang out in bathrooms so much. Shino had suggested that they performed rituals in there, once, and Kiba had suggested that they held fighting tournaments in the bathrooms to elect the dominant female.

Shikamaru thought Kiba was a dumbass.

“Shikamaru! Quick, you gotta hide me!”

Speak of the devil…

The genius turned to the other alpha, only to see Kiba scrambling over to him. What on earth could have Kiba acting like a wild anim-oh wait, he basically was one.

“What’s got you all riled up?” Shikamaru asked in dry amusement.

Kiba panted, wide eyed, before he lunged to hide behind the lazy boy’s back.

“Hinata is looking for me!” the Inuzuka stage whispered directly next to Shikamaru’s ear- which was super gross. Leave it to Kiba to not be aware of boundaries.

“Why woul-”

“SHH! You’ll give away my hiding spot!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re doing that all on your own.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, not unkindly.

It was odd that Kiba would be running from Hinata. Usually he ran towards the Hyuuga, although, in true Kiba fashion, he’d usually trip over himself and eat dirt. Normally, seeing something like that happen multiple times would make the humor wear off, but no. Seeing Kiba faceplant into the ground as he tried to get Hinata’s attention was priceless every time.

How Hinata hadn’t noticed Kiba’s affections for her yet, Shikamaru didn’t know. If Kiba had a tail, it would be wagging every time the two were in the same room together. Which, obviously, made this situation much weirder. Kiba not biting at the chance to hang out with Hinata made absolutely no sense.

That is, until Shikamaru saw her.

Hinata was making her way through the crowd of happy wedding goers, craning her neck looking for someone. Obviously, in light of recent events, that person was Kiba. Her bangs that usually hid as much of her face as she could make them were swept to the side, perfectly framing her face and emphasizing her large, doe eyes. Instead of her preferred clothing style, frumpy and baggy, she was in a somewhat form fitting dress.

Ino had mentioned something about dress shopping with Sakura and Hinata, but he hadn’t expected Ino to actually convince the shy omega to get a dress that would… show her off.

Shikamaru looked away, suddenly feeling very awkward at having caught a glimpse of Hinata’s…chest… as she lent down to listen to whatever a small child was trying to tell her.
Contrary to popular assumption that shy little Hinata was a late bloomer and that was why she wore the clothes that she did…she’d certainly… grown into herself.

The genius could understand why Kiba was hiding now.

“Dude, she’s way out of your league.” Shikamaru whistled, shoving a hand into his pants pocket casually. Behind him, he could feel Kiba stomp his foot on the ground.

“Don’t you think I know that!” he cried, though not too loudly so as not to blow his cover.

Well, at least Kiba was self aware.

“Shikamaru!” Ino’s voice cut through the crowd as she excitedly made her way over to him.

Huh, guess she and Sakura were done hanging out in the bathroom. How troublesome.

The blonde omega huffed once she reached Shikamaru. From what he could tell, she was irritated with one of the sleeves on her dress, and had been fidgeting with it the entire evening.

Girls and their clothes, what a drag.

“Guess what I heard!” she exclaimed, before noticing Kiba trying to make himself as small as possible so that he wasn’t seen, “Kiba, what are you doing back there?”

“Uh..” Kiba spluttered, trying to come up with an answer, “Looking for…gold?”
Ah geez, what an idiot. Kiba was just as bad as Naruto sometimes.

“He lost something and he’s looking for it.” Shikamaru lied. Although, the more he thought about it, what he’d said wasn’t really a lie. Kiba had clearly lost any sense that he’d previously had. Not that it’d been much to begin with.

Ino shrugged, taking the lie for truth, before the excited spark in her eyes was back and she was gushing about something she’d heard in the bathroom. “You’ll never guess what happened! Rock Lee professed his undying love for Sakura!”

Shikamaru wouldn’t have even cared to guess, to be honest. Don’t get him wrong, he’d become sort-of friends with Sakura, and he saw Rock Lee as one of his slightly closer friends, but he couldn’t have given less of a damn about their love lives if he’d tried.

The last time he’d gotten involved with someone’s love life, a crazy omega had ended up joining Orochimaru and Naruto had gone off the deep end until Master Jiriaya had taken him on his travels.
Whatever his friends did in their free time was none, absolutely none, of his business.

“Isn’t this exciting?! How romanti-” Ino interrupted her own gossip session when someone caught her eye, “-Oh hey, Hinata! Come over here- I’ve got news!”

Kiba jerked and let out a very manly (not at all manly) yelp when Ino called her fellow omega over. “I think I’m gonna faint.” he whispered.

“Yeah, and I’m gonna hurl.”Shikamaru quipped.

Hinata was there in record speeds, and up close, Shikamaru could see that she’d even put on makeup. Kiba was so screwed.

“Hello Ino, have you seen-Kiba? What are you doing back there?” The shorter girl asked, her soft voice laced both with surprise and relief to finally having found her person of interest.

“Hi-Hinata-hey wh-what’s up?” the Inuzuka tried to play off the fact that he’d been hiding from her the entire time, and behind Shikamaru of all things too. His voice betrayed him, and Hinata’s eyebrows knit together in concern.

Shikamaru was a smart man, he knew when to jump ship when necessary. Now, was one of those times.

The alpha moved out of the way, right as HInata stepped closer to brush her hand against Kiba’s forehead, checking for his temperature. Unfortunately, from the way Kiba had been crouched behind Shikamaru, and the height that Hinata’s heels gave her, the action placed Kiba’s face almost directly in front of her cleavage.

“Kiba, are you feeling okay?” the shy girl asked innocently, not realizing the predicament the Inuzuka was in. Kiba's face was beet red, and he looked kind of dizzy.

“Maybe he needs some air, Hinata.” Ino suggested.

Shikamaru hid his smirk. Yeah, air was what Kiba needed. Sure.

Kiba looked between them all frantically, before promptly fainting on the spot.

Later, after he’d helped Hinata and Ino get Kiba seated at a table with an ice pack strapped to his head, the Nara found himself on the back porch of the building the reception was being held in, away from the hubbub.

The door opened, interrupting his peace.

“Great, what now Ino-”

“Thought I’d find you out here, kid.” Asuma smiled as he closed the door behind him.

Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away, “Yeah, so?”

His sensei ruffled his hair before lighting a cigarette. Ah, so that explained what Asuma was doing out here.

“So, I missed you in there. Everyone else is having the time of their lives, and here you are moping.”

Shikamaru frowned petulantly, “I’m not moping- everyone’s excitement is just kind of a drag.”

Asuma let out a puff of smoke as he chuckled, “Everything’s a drag to you.”

The young alpha watched the older take another drag of his cigarette as he leaned against the wall. “Hand me one of those, will ya?”

Asuma gave him a look, “I think maybe you should stick to cloud watching instead of taking up smoking. I also think, you should come back inside and join the party.”

“I dunno, the clouds are looking really-”

“It’s midnight. There are no clouds.”

Shikamaru chuckled to himself, “No, I suppose there aren’t”. After a beat of comfortable silence between them, the genius added, “Hey, Asuma?”

Asuma gave him his attention.

“I’m happy for you. You and Kurenei- not a lot of people in our line of work get that chance.”

His sensei’s eyes raked over his face, before the man scratched at his stubble and sighed fondly at him, “Thanks, Shikamaru. I think you’ll get your chance somewhere down the line too.”

Shikamaru laughed pessimistically and crossed his arms, looking away and up at the few sparse stars that glittered in the sky. “Yea, fat chance of that happening. Dating’s not really my style.”

Asuma hummed knowingly before responding. “Yeah, I’m sure that girl from the sand village would be happy to know that.” He snorted.

The scent of cigarette smoke made the lazy alpha crinkle his nose, but he was used to it by now. “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking abou-”

The door burst open, revealing none other than Genma, who looked eerily calm for his rushed exit.

“Hey, Asuma, you might wanna get back in there. Anko’s drunk and crying on Kurenai.”

Asuma quickly stomped out his cigarette, “Oh god, Anko’s a handful when she isn’t drinking- thanks for letting me know, man.”

Shikamaru yawned and decided he’d go see what all the fuss was about. With a nod to Genma, he followed after Asuma.

Turns out, not even Anko crying on Kurenai, blubbering about how cute she and Asuma were as a couple could cause a scene at the already outrageously chaotic wedding reception.

“I mean it, Kurenai- You guys are so cute it makes me wanna vomit-wait, no, that’s the alcohol.” the omega hiccuped emotionally.

Not a second later, a small, wet sound of a substance hitting the floor was heard, and Shikamaru marched himself right back outside. No way was he dealing with that mess.

~~~

Kakashi had just finished dusting Rin’s grave when thunder began to rumble in the sky. It was fitting, for the tone of his day, but he hated for anything other than warm sunshine to fall upon her grave stone. She deserved only the best weather.

The Yamanaka flower shop had had a nice selection of flowers to choose from this week, but Kakashi had decided to go with a more classic arrangement of flowers, despite Ino Yamanaka’s excited recommendations of freshly bloomed gladiolus plants and geraniums.

He placed the delicate orchids onto the marker with care. They’d been her favorite- he remembered her talking about starting a small garden with all kinds of orchids only days before she’d- he’d-

The copy ninja closed his eyes and exhaled.

Obito’s grave was next to hers, so he turned his attention to the fallen alpha’s gravemarker instead. Obito hadn’t ever been one for flowers because of his allergies, but he’d tried to keep it a secret from Rin, who’d loved them. She’d always wondered why he always had sneezing fits when he brought her another shotty bouquet of random wild flowers he’d found on the way to team practices.

Kakashi had thought he was an idiot then, but now he couldn’t help but miss the idiocracy of his former teammate. Obito always knew how to live life in a way Kakashi was always afraid to.

That fear had cost him his new family, just like his old one.

He adjusted his sitting position until he was in a respectful crouch, and took a breath before speaking, “I’m sorry, it’s been a while. Life’s been…busy these days. Things have changed.”

He cleared his throat, ashamed that he was the reason they weren’t there to experience the changes for themselves.

“Asuma and Kurenei got married yesterday. Who would have known, right? It’s not like they’ve obviously been in love since we were all students at teh ninja academy or anything..” he joked, even though he knew he would get no chuckles in response.

“It was a nice ceremony. Gai cried. Asuma cried. Everyone was crying- well, except Anko. She was too drunk to cry.”

He looked away, towards the treeline, where the birds were no longer chirping because of the storm clouds rolling in. His lack of sleep from the last few days must have been getting to him, because he could have sworn he’d seen an orange mask peering back at him from the trees.

Kakashi blinked, and it was gone. He chuckled to himself, he must really be losing his touch.

“Rin, you would have loved it. All the flowers and the decorations…Even you, Obito,” he addressed the other grave marker, “Though, knowing you, you’d have been late and missed the ceremony all together.”

The Hatake turned his face to the darkening sky and sighed.

Maybe, if they’d lived, they would have found love like Kurenei and Asuma had. Rin was so kind, so thoughtful, she would have deserved a happy ending like that. Obito, well, he grew on people fast, and knew how to make a person laugh. He would’ve been the kind of guy that was all too happy to settle down with someone and leave the life of a shinobi behind.

Blinking away a stubborn tear, he changed the subject.

“I got another letter from Naruto. He’s off causing trouble again, although this time, he’s the kazekage’s problem. He reminds me a lot of you, Obito, although this kid has even less common sense than you did. You…" he trailed off emotionally, “You would have loved him.”

In another life, Minato sensei and Kushina were alive and well, Minato probably stressed over paperwork in the hokage office, and Kushina probably chasing after Naruto with a rolling pin for forgetting to clean his room. In that life, Rin and Obito had become jonin, and gotten students of their own.

In another life, his father was a retired old man who told stories of his youthful adventures to anyone who would listen, and Kakashi’s perfectly healthy and not at all dead soulmate would humor the old man, because it was the polite thing to do.

In another life, Kakashi hadn’t ruined everything.

~~~

It was late in the night by the time Naruto and Gaara’s older siblings had gotten back from their respective undercover jobs. Gaara had waited up, and apparently Jiraiya was writing in his room.

It had been odd, at first, to not have his sensei involved with their plans, but the Kazekage needed people he could trust, and while Naruto trusted Jiraiya, Gaara was in too much of a bind to let anyone that wasn’t his innermost circle in on what they were doing. Jiraiya had understood, and had even laughed about ‘finally getting a vacation from the smelly brat’ which, naturally, Naruto stuck his tongue out at in retaliation.

The four found themselves surrounding the dining table, although they were too wound up to eat much or anything. Even Naruto, a proud human garbage disposal, had only pushed his meal around on his plate.

“You were right, Gaara, they did sabotage the main food storage silo. These stupid fools don’t even know how badly they’ve put the village in jeopardy with that damned fire!” Temari huffed.

Naruto wasn’t aware that there even had been a fire.

Gaara nodded, as calm as ever. The blonde had come to figure out that the more neutral the omega seemed to be, the more upset he actually was.

If the sand village had a food storage, especially right before the summertime and the droughts began, they were going to be in bad shape by the time the fall came around.

“The irrigation system is in the process of being updated, and our science department is working round the clock to figure out how to expedite the growing cycles of our underground farming systems.” The omega sighed, uncrossing his arms to rest them against the table top.

Kankuro and Temari shared a look, “That still means that there will be a food shortage for at least four months at the tail end of spring.” Kankuro warned.

“What he means to say is, the villagers will blame you for the lack of food.” Temari

“Huh? Why would they blame Gaara if he wasn’t the one who set the fire?” Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

He wasn’t much for politics, he just saw something that needed fixing, and he fixed it. Maybe he needed to learn more about the behind the scenes stuff from Tsunade when he returned to the leaf village so that he would be a good hokage. Well, when he eventually achieved his dream years down the line, that is.

“Hungry people are irrational people. If there’s something to point their blame towards, the rebels will use that to shift the blame to Gaara. It’s easier for people to blame a figurehead than look into the real issue and find a solution.” Kankuro explained quickly once he saw that Temari had opened her mouth to speak.

Whatever she’d been about to say was probably going to be not as nice as what Kankuro had said.

“Correct,” Gaara interjected, “but I will deal with it. These are the issues that come with being Kazekage, I knew that when I agreed to take the position. A leader needs to be someone that can flourish, even in the face of adversity.”

Naruto had a feeling that Gaara had said that more for his benefit than for either of the sand siblings’.

“Speaking of those cowards stirring everyone up, Kankuro discovered some news on their organization’s next step.” Temari’s brows were pinched and her voice was firm. If it wasn’t for the scent blocking patches that the sand village was known for, he had a feeling that the room would be full of angry alpha stink right now.

Kankuro cleared his throat, looking green with disgust, “They apparently have an inside man in the kazekage building..”

Naruto leaned forward in curiosity, but Gaara steeled himself, preparing for the worst. Temari crossed her arms and looked away. Kankuro looked up to meet Gaara’s gaze head on.

“...somehow, they got a hold of your heat schedule and plan to abduct you on your next heat. I found out by eavesdropping on one of their ‘leader’s meetings.”

The silence that fell over the room was thick. He was shocked. How could someone go so low as to take advantage of someone during one of their cycles? Even the barbaric hidden mist village had an honor code that forbade that from happening.

“I see.” Gaara muttered. His face was unreadable- more so than usual.

“It’s not fair, damn it!” Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Temari shot him an approving look, which would have surprised him if he weren’t so riled up right now.

“No,” Gaara sighed, sounding as tired as an old man, but looking exactly like his young age, “It isn’t.”

It was wrong, oh so wrong, but Naruto couldn’t help but think of Sasuke. Of what could happen to him during a cycle without someone there to watch over him, if even Gaara, the kazekage of his own village, wasn’t safe from those who would take advantage.

Gaara had his siblings- and Naruto- to secure his safety, but what about Sasuke? Sasuke was alone with Orochimaru and Kabuto breathing down his neck at every turn. His instincts were telling him to go to Sasuke and keep him safe, but Naruto’s mind was telling him that he was needed here, in Suna, and that he’d made a promise to help a friend in need.

Even if that friend’s predicament reminded him too much of Sasuke for Naruto’s comfort.

He wanted to storm into the rebel group’s headquarters and start knocking heads together. He needed to feel the crack of something underneath his knuckles. How dare they- how dare anyone use an omega’s heat against them!

The Uzumaki remembered how sensitive to things like scents and temperatures Sasuke had been, and how the Uchiha had refused to leave the perceived safety of his nest. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened if it weren’t Naruto who had found the wayward omega. If he did, that dark, ugly energy sealed away within himself would be unleashed, and Naruto didn’t know if that thought scared him or not.

How could someone want to inflict such a despicable show of insulting hatred?

These rebels didn’t even make sense, outside of their prejudice. Gaara, from what Jiraiya had told him, was one of the best kazekage the village’d had in decades, and he’d only been kazekage for about a year and a half.

He was innovative and fair. He’d started up a uniform training program so that shinobi wer more uniform and less likely to die on missions. He’d even begun to implement new farming techniques for crying out loud! There was absolutely no reason to hate Gaara as their leader.

But still, they punished him like some criminal, when Gaara’s only crime was being an omega in power.

Naruto wanted to round up every single one of the rebels and let Temari have at them.

“So what do we do?” Naruto asked, uncertainty taking over from his internal anger on his friend’s behalf.

“We let them.” Gaara decided.

Instantly, Temari and Naruto stood up from their chairs so fast that the furniture pieces fell over. Kankuro choked on air in surprise, while Temari’s voice rose, “Under no circumstances are we allowing you to-”

Naruto interrupted her, “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

Gaara looked carefully bored, though a small tendril of his sand began to sneak out of his gourd and slither around the pale boy’s arm in an almost comforting motion. He paused, letting both of the blondes screech in protest, before continuing.

“My sand will protect me. I’m untouchable- always have been.”

This time, it was Kankuro who began to yell, “That doesn’t mean you have to pose as some-some damsel in distress! There are other ways to-”

“No, I am not a damsel in distress. I am the kazekage of this village, and I will not allow this to go on any longer. We have the information, we can plan. They don’t know that we know their next move. We can use that to their advantage.”

Temari, shockingly, was the one to calm down a little enough to ask, “What do you have in mind?”

Gaara inclined his head in her direction in silent thanks for her semi-willingness to listen. “Allow them to try to abduct me, but once we’re outside, I fight them off. Drawing attention from the other villagers would make rumors of me defeating them spread.”

Kankuro’s eyes lit up, “You want to use their own prejudices against them.”

Gaara nodded, “Exactly. What better way to nip a rebellion in the bud than by embarrassing it’s leaders?”

Temari snapped her fingers, “The followers would turn on them, and then any organization they had would be thrown out of the window.”

“They would do the dirty work for us.” Kankura added thoughtfully.

The change in atmosphere was beyond bizarre to Naruto, “Hello?! Are we just going to ignore the fact that Gaara- your little brother- is literally going to let himself be live bait?!” he exclaimed.

He had no idea how they could even give the idea genuine contemplation. If anyone ever suggested doing that to Sasuke, Naruto would- he’d-

A red hot rumbling sounded deep within his mind.

“Naruto, this could work.” Kankuro tried, but Temari’s protective streak for Gaara overshadowed whatever the other alpha was going to say, “Are you second guessing my brother? Huh? Is it because he’s an omega and you think he can’t handle himself-”

“Temari..” Gaara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. If Naruto listened harder, he could make out the red head’s quiet mutterings of ‘being constantly stuck around bullheaded alphas’.

She refrained from grilling Naruto any further, although that was also probably due to Kankuro yanking her elbow down and forcing her to sit back in her chair.

Gaara turned his perceptive eyes onto Naruto and addressed him, “As my friend, I need you to trust me. Have I not earned that at the very least?”

Naruto spluttered, “No-I-of course you have!”

Gaara smiled, “Good, then the matter is settled.”

“Wait a second, that’s not- what about-demons-and-”

Kankuro said what Naruto, obviously, didn’t have the capacity to eloquently say, “Naruto brings up a good point.”. The brunette began to tinker with a small apparatus that no one in the room had noticed he’d begun to build.

“You understood that?” Temari remarked slyly.

“I know when I go through ruts, it’s really hard to keep a lid on the nine tails. Should we be worried about Shukaku making an appearance? Especially since you know, there will be a threat present?” Naruto asked.

Gaara closed his eyes in contemplation, “Shukaku sleeps while I go through my heats. I don’t allow him to wake up.”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Managing to control his tailed beast like that- especially during a time when his focus would be split- was impossible, from what Naruto knew.

Maybe, when all this was over, he should try and learn a thing or two from Gaara.

“So… it’s settled then?”

“It is.” Gaara confirmed.

~~~

Kisame couldn’t say he enjoyed the bi weekly Akatsuki meetings. In fact, he could go so far as to say he hated them. Sure, Sasori, Konan, and Itachi weren’t relatively pains in his ass, but damn were Deidara, Tobi, and Hidan annoying.

He kind of wanted to feed them to his sword, but Samehada was a refined weapon, she had standards.

“Awe come on you guys! I’m the only one without a partner! It’s unfairrrrrr” Tobi, the sniveling little runt of an alpha, whined. He’d been pleading with the others for ten minutes to let him join their teams. Naturally, everyone had declined.

“Please? What if I bake you guys muffins? Then can I get a partner?”

Itachi stifled a cough beside him, stealing his attention away from glaring at Tobi. Lately, the Uchiha’s illness had gotten worse, and Kisame had taken to covering for the twenty-two year old when the disease was kicking his ass.

The great, mighty Itachi Uchiha, brought down by an inescapable sickness. How insulting.

“Can we get on with the meeting? Some of us have money to be making!” Kakuzu snapped.

Murmurs of annoyed agreement went around the room, and Pain sighed, “Very well then. Enough, Tobi.”

Tobi, the masked fool, crossed his arms and plopped himself down on the ground to pout like a child. Kisame didn’t like children. They annoyed him.

Deidara brightened up, and looked to Sasori- who nodded confirmation about whatever it was that the blonde omega was going to say, and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. Not that he had to try hard to get Itachi’s attention- the kid’s eyes were always on Deidara.

What a lost cause that was, though. Itachi pined from afar, and Deidara pranced around screaming about making art all day long- when he wasn’t blowing things up, that is. They’d had a hush hush romance for a while, but nothing had come from it. That was a good thing where Kisame was concerned, because Deidara was the type to die young, and Itachi had his own internal clock ticking away.

Once, after a particularly bloody mission, Itachi had whispered to him of his first love, a girl named Izumi, and how he’d killed her, just like the rest of his clan. Kisame had known what he was getting into when he’d joined the ranks of the Akatsuki, but hearing that story…hearing the calm, neutral tone of Itachi’s unwavering voice…Kisame had slept with one eye open that night, that was for sure.

But, that was then, years ago. Kisame had come to see his partner in crime- literally- as a friend. Now, he’d come to understand the younger alpha a bit better, even if he was still almost entirely a mystery. He knew that Deidara was bad news, and he didn’t want Itachi anywhere near him when he inevitably blew up. Literally.

“Sasori and I have gotten word from a source in Suna that their jinchuriki, Gaara, is facing several threats of a coup. People are unhappy with having an omega as a kazekage.” Deidara explained, pleased with himself. The smile on his face was a bit ironic, considering that there had been hesitation on letting Deidara join because he was an omega.

“Elaborate.” Konan directed after sharing a look with Pain.

Deidara brushed his long bangs away from his face and hummed, “It would be easy to take advantage of the unrest and capture the jinchuriki.”

Sasori cut in, “We could wait until it comes to a boiling point and make our move. No one would have their eyes on us if they were all fighting each other, and we could be in and out before anyone realized that the kazekage was taken.”

Pain turned his purple gaze to the puppet master, “You would wish this to be your mission?” he asked.

Sasori upturned his chin, “I was a shinobi of the village hidden in the sand, I know the layout and I know all of its secrets. It would be foolish to not send me.”

“We will talk.” Was their leader’s response.

The tone of the meeting shifted after that, when Pain gestured for Kakuzu to move forward. The creepy greedy bastard did so with an air of exasperation. Knowing Kakuzu, he was probably annoyed at the fact that he was here talking to people instead of happily counting his money in a dark cave somewhere.

“Kakuzu, it’s come to our attention that the five tailed demon has resurfaced and is now located in Iwagakure waiting to be sealed away. You and Hidan are to go there immediately and capture it by any means necessary.”

Kakuzu harrumphed and ignored Hidan’s attempt at giving his partner a fust bump. Kakuzu was not the kind of man to fist bump.

“Itachi, Kisame, have you been keeping up with the whereabouts of the nine tailed jinchuriki?” Konan asked as she looked up from her notes. She, more as a joke than anything else, had designated herself the official records keeper for the organization. Everyone else, she’d decided, had terrible penmanship.

Kisame spoke up, knowing that Itachi was having a difficult time trying not to hack up a lung right then and there, “He’s still traveling with Jiraiya, the legendary sanin. We have decided to keep our distance for now.”

“The both of you faced him before, when you were first assigned to abduct the nine tails, didn’t you?” Sasori asked. His dead, doll-like eyes gleamed with a cruel touch of malice, and Kisame wanted to stab him.

Sasori knew what he was doing by taking that dig at him and Itachi.

“That’s right. Do you have any other questions, you glorified block of wood?”

Sasori chuckled mockingly, “Big words from someone with a brain the size of a fish.”

Kisame growled, stepping forward and swinging Samehada down and off of where she’d previously rested against his shoulder.

The tension rippled through the air, only spurred on by Tobi’s gleeful shout, “If Kisame kills Sasori does that mean I can be Deidara’s partner?!”

“SHUT UP TOBI!” everyone groaned, even Konan.

“Enough.” Itachi’s voice instantly had everyone straightening themselves. He may have been one of the youngest members, seconded only by Deidara and Tobi, but the way he could command a room with nothing more than a patient word was admirable.

“It seems as though you’ve forgotten, Sasori, that Orochimaru, another legendary sanin, used to be part of our ranks. I was able to defeat him easily, so rest assured, Kisame and I are not afraid of Jiraiya, the toad sage.” Itachi informed briskly.

His normally pale skin was even ghostlier than usual, and his hands held a slight tremor, but his words may as well have been solid iron, because they were absolute.

“Speaking of Orochimaru,” Pain changed the subject, “I hear he has groomed your younger brother well. I’ve been told that he has quite the potential.”

If Kisame hadn’t been nearly glued to Itachi’s hip for the better part of three years, he wouldn’t have noticed the way the younger alpha’s pupils shifted to a barely there hint of red.

Interesting. Very interesting.

“If you’re looking for another to join the Akatsuki, I wouldn’t recommend Sasuke, if that’s what you’re thinking. He holds no particular gifts of the Uchiha, and unfortunately, is an omega as well. Very feeble minded if Orochimaru was able to get his hands on him.” Itachi replied coolly.

Deidara scoffed from where he was standing, burned by Itachi’s insinuation about Sasuke’s dynamic.

“An omega? Hm, what a shame.” Pain tilted his head.

Deidara, the lone omega in the organization, scoffed a second time, but this time in response to Pain’s insult.

Itachi’s eyes were normal again, but his hands held no tremors. Odd, Kisame noted, Itachi was putting on a brave face, but for what?

“Damn, you really have no love for your little brother, do you, Itachi?” Hidan snickered.

“Why would I?” Itachi bit back.

“OOh! OOh! If we make Sasuke join, can he be my partner?” Tobi jumped up excitedly.

“SHUT UP, TOBI!” everyone groaned.