Budding Limbs

Naruto felt like a terrible person.

When he found out the news about Asuma’s death, he didn’t feel sorrow for the man. He didn’t feel concern or worry for Ino or Shikamaru or Choji, who had dearly loved their sensei. He didn’t even pity Kurenai. Instead, he felt a wretched sorry of heartbreak for little Konohamaru, who wasn’t so little anymore but in so many ways still was.

He’d left the training field behind. He’d left Kakashi sensei behind, despite the fact that he should have been a good student and comforted his teacher upon the news of one of his close friend’s deaths. Captain Yamato had tried to stop him, tried calling out to him, but it fell upon deaf ears as the blonde alpha had hurried away.

Everything in him was screaming out to go find Konohamaru.

They hadn’t seen each other for about two weeks- Naruto had been too busy trying to gain control over the nine tails while juggling missions, and the youngest Sarutobi had been training harder than ever before so that he “could beat lazy old Naruto and go get Sasuke back himself”.

A pained smile ghosted his lips as he rushed along the pathway back to the more populated regions of the village. All Konohamaru had ever wanted was stability in a familial sense, and just like Naruto, he never was able to manage it.

His parents were gone, always away and never home. Old man hokage had died at Orochimaru’s hands. Sasuke, who Naruto knew Konohamaru thought of as a cool older brother- if a little troubled- had abandoned the village and renounced his fealty to Konoha. Now, his uncle was gone.

Konohomaru must be feeling so incredibly alone right now.

Naruto knew a thing or two about that awful feeling, and he’d do everything to make sure Konohamaru wouldn’t be burdened with it.

The main street of Konoha was bustling with villagers. Some scowled at him once they recognized him as the village pest all grown up, others moved out of his way like he carried an infectious disease.

The alpha would be lying to himself if he didn’t sometimes miss the anonymity of traveling with Master Jiraiya. People in other hidden villages or towns looked at him with respect or at the very least curiosity. Here, well, the only way he’d gain respect was by becoming the hokage.

And he was far from reaching that goal.

He peered up at the clock that hung prominently on the side of one of the businesses, only to find that it was five in the afternoon. The academy would have been out two hours prior.

Where could he find Konohamaru?

He wouldn’t be at his own home- that was for sure.

Naruto had an inkling to go by Iruka sensei’s place to check for Konohamaru, but the omega was doing overtime at the academy every day that week, and on his travels, Naruto had learned that it was rude for alphas to enter omega’s spaces without their knowledge or permission.

Learning that had been a hard pull to swallow- mainly because he had a lack of personal space awareness, but also because he could recall many times from his childhood where he’d done exactly that. No one had taken him aside to explain why what he was doing was wrong, and so he’d just assumed that people had a problem with him, not what he’d been doing.

How Sasuke or Ino hadn’t minded him showing up at random parts of the day at their houses unannounced, he didn’t know. Sasuke had been bristly at first, but Sasuke was always bristly, how should Naruto have known?

The Uzumaki adjusted the straps on his headband as he thought. He’d need a new one soon- his current one was getting pretty worn out. The faded blue of the headband told of stories and adventures long passed. He was very fond of the thing, but like many things, eventually, old would be replaced with the new.

Maybe he’d go for a more serious tone next time. A dark grey or black, perhaps.

It was as he looked at the metallic symbol of the leaf village that the idea of where to look for Konohamaru came to him.

Hastily, he turned on his heels and made a beeline to his apartment. Konohamaru always showed up at his place at random times, whether it be because his parents were on another mission and he had no one to make him dinner or because he was bored and wanting to train ‘like his cool older bro Naruto’.

If Konohamaru didn’t want to be found and wanted to work through things, he’d go there.

The Uzumaki’s feet carried him faster than his heart was beating as he dashed up the winding stairs of his apartment building and fished for his rusty keys in his pocket. He really needed to get them replaced, but the hardware shop keeper didn’t really like him much, so he was at the mercy of his landlord to get them replaced.

As soon as the door was thrown open, a brick wall of sad-lonely-devastated-hurt pup scent slammed into his body, making him pause to get his protective instincts in check before they reacted and caused some serious issues.

The anxious need to both ransack his apartment to find where Konohamaru had made himself at home was at war with his rational side that knew he needed to calm down to provide any sort of comfort to the grieving child.

He took a moment to blink and clear his head before proceeding with caution, following the scent trail to his bedroom, where it was strongest. Konohamaru had probably tried to find comfort among his frog themed pillows and blue blankets- the very blankets that Sasuke had gifted him years ago, when the omega had taught him about the art of nesting.

Sasuke had refused to incorporate the color orange into the color scheme, even though at the time, Naruto had argued incessantly. Now, the blonde regretted it. All of the petty arguments and squabbling. If only he’d known what would have happened, he would have spent every second of every day making sure that Sasuke felt comfortable enough to stay for him. With him.

His bedroom door was wide open, and for once, he was happy that he’d spent his off day cleaning, because the shaking lump on his bed was easy to find in the now spotless room.

“Konohamaru?” He spoke gently, half to let the pup know of his presence and half out of a deep, aching fondness for the little boy he’d come to view as a younger brother.

“Unc-”Konohamaru shifted Naruto’s pillow away from his face, revealing a damp spot of snot and tears decorating the fabric and fixed his large, tear addled eyes on Naruto, “Uncle Asuma is-”

The alpha was on the bed in a flash, gathering Konohamaru into his arms and letting the pup bury his face into the shoulder of his older ‘brother’.

“I know.” Naruto whispered.

“He-He’s gone! An-And my grandfather is gone! And I tried to get in contact with mom and dad but they’re out on a mission again and-and I’m alone!” The pup wailed in despair.

The alpha shifted them to where they were wrapped in blankets and huddled close. Once he had made sure that Konohamaru was comfortable, he began to subtly stop masking his scent- his true scent, the one that had been irreversibly mingled with Sasuke’s. It was a cheap trick, but it had seemed to at least provide the pup with a sense of security.

Had Sasuke been right? Naruto couldn’t help but consider it as he shouldered Konohamaru’s burdened cries and tiny, shaking sobs. He’d spent so long trying to point out the similarities in losing a family and never having one that he’d ignored the glaring, harsh differences.
It was with that quiet, somber realization that Naruto began to speak the words that he should have spoken to Sasuke.

“You’re not alone- you’ll never be alone. Not now, not ever. Not on my watch.” Naruto soothed, ruffling Konohamaru’s hair sadly.

Like that had been the magic key to calming him down, a big breath left Konohamaru’s lips, deflating the tension in his body and giving way to an exhausted shell.

Konohamaru needed a family. He needed people to look after him and care for him- he needed to be supported and loved and to stop being followed by a cloud of death.

Naruto knew what Konohamaru needed, because for all of Naruto’s life, he too, had been a lonely and abandoned pup, constantly grieving the loss of loved ones. The only difference was that Konohamaru could fade faces to mourn, voices that he would never hear again- memories to fade with time.

Naruto made a swift decision as he rubbed the last Sarutobi’s back.

In the coming months, he would get the necessary paperwork together and would officially start a pack of his own, inviting Konohamaru along with Sakura to join it with him. It broke his heart to not be starting one with Sasuke, but he couldn’t go on watching Konohamaru being so alone and Sakura being so overworked without the support she needed.

A pack wouldn’t bring Asuma back, nor would it fill the hole Sasuke’s absence had left, but it was a damn good place to start.

~~~

Tsunade clasped her hands in front of her face as she listened to the elders seated around her. It was, unfortunately, time for the monthly review in which the old coots pretended to be important and stuck their liver spotted noses into the affairs of the hokage.

‘A necessary overview’ they’d labeled it. Tsunade much preferred to call it “her monthly reminder to look into research on dementia.” because clearly, Danzo was showing symptoms. That was the only way to logically explain why he was going on another tirade about the nine tailed fox.

“For the last time, Danzo. We are not putting Naruto under surveillance. He is a citizen of Konoha, and we do not treat our citizens as prisoners.” She snapped, her headache finally getting the better of her.

The old codger leaned his weight forward and onto his cane. His scowl deepened, which honestly shocked Tsunade because the omega hadn’t thought it was possible for his scowl to get even more prominent.

“I didn’t think an omega of your stature to be so blind.” he turned up his nose at her, “That boy is not just any ordinary citizen of the leaf village. He houses the nine tails- the very demon that razed this village to the ground not even twenty years ago.”

Tsunade huffed through her nose and crossed her arms, “Sixteen. It’s been sixteen years. You should know- it’s the anniversary of the one day that gave you relevance again, Danzo”

Koharu, the annoyingly traditional alpha woman, shot a stern look Tsunade’s way and cleared her throat in warning.

“Tsunade, how dare you speak to your elders in this way! What would your grandfather say?!” She chided.

The hokage hummed and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost noon. Good. The bars in the market district would be opening soon.

“I believe he would say something along the lines of ‘using the ideologies of the dead to influence the living is not a wise decision’.”

The meeting was an abject failure to say the least. Danzo was as obsessed with power and corruption as ever, and had set his sights on Naruto for the time being. She had always hated him and his slimy ways- she never understood what Hiruzen had seen in the man.

But, then again, people probably wondered what she and Jiraiya had seen in Orochimaru.

The last dredges of their meeting had the old omega wishing that Jiraiya had taken her place as hokage instead. He’d always been much better with people. Her? She needed to be tipsy to even maybe agree to give orders and confer with the council.

It was as the other two elders had already taken their leave that Danzo approached her desk with his aura of unpleasantness. Tsunade had already rummaged around in her desk drawers for a pen to begin doing some paperwork to appear as though she was a stone faced leader with strict schedules.

In reality, she was just a woman doing busy work until she could go drown her woes in a tavern while Shizune pestered her to get back to the office.

He stood there, gazing down at her seated form for a long moment. Tsunade refused to look up from what she was doing. In a battle of wills, she would never lose to Danzo. Never.

Finally, he cleared his throat, imagining all the ways he could spite her perceived insolence, no doubt. “Your grandfather knew to put the village’s safety above all else. It is a shame that you do not have such opinions.”

It was a shallow jab, an obvious one that rolled right off of Tsunade’s back. Danzo was a master manipulator, she would give him that. But, unfortunately, his tactics were old. He threw his weight around and took jabs masked as elderly disappointment to both stroke his own ego as well as deflate someone else’s.

He hadn’t ever gone up against her, a lousy drunk with more skeletons in her closet than pairs of shoes. She had no ego to defame, and she had the will of fire burning in her veins.

The gaze she leveled him with was one of her lineage, of utter power and resilience. “If you have Naruto put under surveillance against my orders, I will have your head for treason against your hokage. I’m not playing the compromise game that Lord Third played with you. My word is law, and if you disobey…” she trailed off threateningly.

Danzo stared at her as if she was the greatest evil in the world, and to him, maybe that was the case.

“-You will find Konoha’s safety to be the least of your concerns.”

Tsunade knew true evil. She knew what a real threat was. Naruto was no threat, and she had a deep suspicion that the nine tailed fox would pose no threat in the future as well. If Danzo went against her orders to stand down, she would fix the growing seeds of a divided government that her beloved sensei had failed to correct. The very seeds that Minato had not gotten the chance to resolve all those years ago.

She would not be the hokage who allowed Danzo or anyone else to get in the way of Konoha’s future. It was time to let the past go, in more ways than one.

~~~

Ino was twirling a strand of her long blonde hair around her pointer finger in boredom as her friends chattered away.

Choji was already eyeing Kiba’s hands, ready to defend his plate from any stray hands if need be. Ino wasn’t sure if it was a trait specific only to Choji or if it were a learned habit from his clan, but she thought it was safe to say that no one at the table was going to take anything from his plate.

The last person who’d even joked about it had nearly lost a finger. Shikamaru had tried to warn her, but Tenten hadn’t heard him in time.

“Why is he always late?” Sakura groaned as she rested her chin on her hand. Rock Lee patted her shoulder from where he was sat beside her, and offered her a refill on her cup of water.

The Yamanaka thought they were sweet together. Where Rock Lee was bold, Sakura was calm. Where Rock Lee was patient, Sakura was stubborn. They fit in a unique way that no one had seen coming. She was glad for her best friend. Sakura deserved a little romance. Her life was stressful enough without the loneliness of the single life weighing her down.

Her gaze flickered over to where Shikamaru was discussing vegetation patterns with Shino with a boring sense of passion that she could only describe as nerd talk. It was as energetic as she’d seen Shikamaru in weeks. Ever since the funeral, he’d been quiet.

She was mourning, they all were, but Shikamaru had undoubtedly lost more than a teacher that day. It was like he’d lost his sense of direction, and in its place, anger had taken form.

Ino had thrown herself into her omega rights activism and invested her energy into her family’s flower garden to keep her mind off of Asuma’s death, but Shikamaru’s tired, empty voice was a constant in the back of her mind.

Choji would talk to him in hushed tones and offer to play shogi, but she could tell that her fellow omega was becoming drained. The two had a bond that she knew she wasn’t particularly a part of- they’d all grown up together, but Choji and Shimakaru had been best friends since their early academy days. They’d literally grown together. For Choji to have been that tired…Shikamaru had to have been in a worse shape than he’d been letting on to her.

If she didn’t love him like a brother, she would have smacked him on the shoulder and called him an idiot for not opening up to her. Especially when her clan harbored many different techniques to alleviate burdens of the soul.

“Aw come on Sakura, give the guy a break. It’s not like he has to be on time, we’re just hanging out.” Kiba laughed as he cracked his knuckles.

“Speaking of being late, where’s Hinata? I thought she’d be at this sort of thing-” Tenten asked absentmindedly. Behind her, the bell attached to the door of the restaurant rang and they all craned their necks to see if Naruto had finally appeared, only to find that it was just a customer leaving.

Ino didn’t miss the way Sakura’s eye twitched in irritation, nor did she miss the way Neji and Kiba stiffened. Shino adjusted his glasses, which was odd because he’d done so not even a minute ago. Something was up, but until she had further information, Ino decided that it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Neji cleared his throat and crossed his arms, “Lady Hinata is training.”.

Speaking of, Hinata had been ‘training’ an awful lot lately. Ino hadn’t even seen a glimpse of the shy omega since she’d delivered flowers to Asuma’s shrine last Tuesday and they’d bumped into one another.

Ino supported omega shinobi training to kick butt as the next enlightened person, but to have isolated herself this much from everyone for something as simple as a training regiment? It was beyond unhealthy, and she was almost surprised that Sakura hadn;t commented on that fact already.

“Anyway, how’s that Sand village alpha, Shikamaru- what was her name?” Kiba changed the subject.

Ino and Choji shared a wince. Temari had been a very sore subject as of late. Ino didn’t know what had gone on between the two, and even when he prompted Shikamaru with questions, Choji didn’t either. All they knew was that Shikamaru was no longer Temari’s personal chaperone when she was in the village for her duties as the Suna-Konoha relations ambassador.

Shikamaru played it off well enough, though it wasn’t hard to scent the air and find the slightly bitter scent of charred copper tinting the air. Kiba’s nose wrinkled and Sakura took a long sip of her drink. Was she dehydrated? She’d been drinking a lot of water today.

Ino made a mental note to see if she’d been keeping her own health recommendations for herself later. Now that Sakura was picking up more missions and shifts at the hospital to save up for living by herself, the omega was trying to keep a closer eye on the stubborn girl.

Whatever Shikamaru was about to say was cut off by the waiter dropping off more plates of meat to barbecue and Rock Lee swiftly launching himself across the table to get some of it before Choji and Kiba laid claim to the new morsels.

Neji looked on in polite boredom. His posture was impeccable still- even though they were just hanging out. His back had to hurt from how straight he was sitting- even Shino had let loose and put one of his elbows on the table for crying out loud!

When they were younger, Ino had thought Neji was kind of cute in the same way she’d thought Sasuke was. Very devil may care, rugged perfectionism with an astoundingly good set of cheekbones. Of course, then they’d all presented and Ino had somewhat lost interest in dating in general.

Too much work was to be done before she’d ever allow herself to step foot into the romance scene again. She wasn’t attracted to fellow omegas, so that had obviously fizzled out her little crush on Sasuke, and the closer she’d gotten with Hinata, the more Ino refused to ever even spare a glance at an alpha from the Hyuuga clan.

No, Ino wouldn’t let herself date until she was sure that her position as future clan head was firmly cemented and respected among the general population of the village and her ambition of becoming the head of Konoha’s interrogation task force was achieved. That way, she knew that no alpha would interfere with her career.

“Sakura! I have secured lunch for the both of us! Please, honor me by accepting the first bite of this youthful bounty!” Rock Lee stood up from his seat and proudly clenched his fist to his chest as he shouted. Beside him, Sakura’s cheeks reddened.

“SHHH!” The table hissed when they noticed the other patrons looking at them like they’d personally offended them. Maybe they had in a way- there were several older customers near them, and Sakura and Rock Lee were very obviously a same dynamic couple.

Screw them, she thought as she winked at Rock Lee, who was in the process of lovingly piling various things onto Sakura’s plate. All the while, Sakura was sneakily placing the insane amounts of food onto Rock Lee’s own plate. Ino smiled as she watched the two of them.

Gosh, they both deserved each other.

As their table quieted down and everyone in the barbeque joint went back to their own business, the group of friends began to eat and catch up on what had been going on in their lives.

Shino was conducting research on a certain strain of flies that he believed to be mutated that were imported from the eastern borders of the Land of Fire. Tenten was currently on a quest to track down a famed and beyond rare weapon that was said to be able to cut through entire forests with even the smallest of swings.

Being so passionate about nature, Ino wasn’t exactly happy at the example Tenten had provided, and in fact had been so lost in thought regarding the topic that she didn’t notice Naruto’s arrival until he was throwing an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey Ino, how’s it going?!” he laughed way too close to her ear, startling her.

The two of them had gotten close before he’d left the village. With her clan’s affinity for the mental plane, she’d offered him solace and advice while he healed with the hospital after Sasuke’s kidnapping. Now, years after Naruto’s own departure from the village, they’d begun to hang out again.

Who would have thought that troublemaker Naruto Uzumaki would have such a talent for gardening?

She shrugged off his arm with a laugh of her own. Sparing a glance across the table, she witnessed Sakura’s hotheaded outburst at his nonchalance. Billboard brow’s forehead could get red really quick when she was mad, Ino had noticed.

“You’re an hour late!” Sakura huffed. Kiba made a sound that sounded very much like a poorly concealed laugh at Naruto being in the dog house, and Shikamaru just crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

It was just like old times, back when they were genin. The atmosphere felt…nice. Of course, it wasn’t the same without Hinata there, and Sasuke’s absence loomed overhead in a metaphorical storm cloud wherever Naruto went.

Naruto stiffened before hastily relaxing his body again.

Was something wrong? Had something bad happened that had impacted his tardiness in some way?

“Yeah well, old lady Tsunade told me to play nice with you-know who, so I….invited him.”

Never before had the Yamanaka heard Naruto speak in such a resigned tone. She was willing to bet the entire revenue of the flower shop’s tulip sale from last week that he was talking about their secret new teammate. Well, secret for most people- not for her. The first thing Sakura had done after their first practice as a trio was to show up on Ino’s doorstep and complain about the new addition.

Apparently, the guy was a real piece of work. Sakura’s exact words were “Imagine if Sasuke and Neji from our genin year had a child, and that child was also made of pure, emotionless evil.”. Even entertaining the idea of some sick and twisted Neji-Sasuke mix had given her a headache, so she’d had an inkling about how much Sakura- and definitely Naruto- disliked him.

Choji quirked his head to the side, not accounting for his wild brown hair falling into his face, and got a few strands caught in his eye. “Ah-ugh, that’s annoying.” he pushed the stray hairs away from his face before continuing, “Anyway, who’re we talking about?”

“His name is-” Naruto was cut off with an eerie voice interjecting.

“Sai.”

Heads turned, eyes gleamed with curiosity around the table. The barbeque was momentarily forgotten in favor of chopsticks clattering to the table top. Rock Lee choked on his drink.

The newcomer- Sai- was the spitting image of Sasuke.

Ino cast a glance over to Sakura, whose green eyes were already looking in the omega’s direction. The pink haired alpha nodded subtly, likely guessing Ino’s train of thought.

What had Lady Tsunade been thinking?!

She inhaled deeply- but covertly- to get a read on the neutrally faced man, only to be met with the blatant scent of freshly inked sandalwood. Unmistakably, an alpha scent. She hid her wince by adjusting her bangs. That must have stung Naruto and Sakura deeply.

It would have stung Sasuke- if he were here. To be replaced with a nearly identical copy of oneself- with one of the main differences being the replacement having the ‘superior’ dynamic…

It was every omega shinobi’s worst nightmare.

Anger welled in her stomach on Sasuke’s behalf, but also, maybe, just a glimmer of pity for the new alpha. It wasn’t his fault that he reminded them all of their lost friend.

Judging from the mixed reactions from their friends, she wasn’t quite alone in feeling that way. Although Choji, Shino, and Sakura were really the only ones to appear so openly offended for the memory of Sasuke, Ino knew that Shikamaru and Kiba harbored a lot of resentment for the wayward omega. Shikamaru hadn’t forgiven Sasuke’s betrayal of Naruto. Kiba, on the other hand, was still beyond angry at the Uchiha for having nearly caused Akamaru to die.

Rock Lee’s team always tried to stay neutral, though Tenten didn’t quite understand what had gone down and Neji had always had a very tight tension with Sasuke. Bad blood between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga spilling over, Ino had wagered.

Secretly, though, Ino had her own suspicions that Rock Lee respected Sasuke in fighting abilities only, and chose neutrality in order to support both his girlfriend and his other friends at the same time.

“Hello Sai. I am Rock Lee. I am pleased to meet you on this joyous occasion!” Rock Lee boomed with a determined gleam in his eyes. Once he set his mind to something, such as making a newcomer feel welcomed, he was definitely going to deliver.

“Hello, ugly.” Sai smiled and waved at the older alpha.

The table went silent. Naruto sank down into the empty chair beside Shino, head in his hands. Sakura’s chopsticks broke in her fist. Rock Lee’s smile shifted to a carefully muted line.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ino spotted Shino frowning in dismay and Kiba scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Her own heart sank, knowing how insecure Rock Lee was about his looks. Sakura had told her in confidence multiple times that she worried about how he perceived himself.

“Sai. Sit down and keep your mouth shut. If I hear you call him that again, I’ll pound you into next week.” Sakura threatened. Burnt cinnamon stank up the air, Sakura’s angry pheromones on a proud display. Sai, who still hadn’t stopped smiling his plastic smile, sat down like nothing was wrong. He was across from Naruto, directly next to Ino.

They all waited with bated breaths as the group of friends watched Sai open his mouth, presumably to apologize for his rude behavior.

“My apologies for arriving late, Naruto was being chased by a chicken.”

Naruto spluttered. “Wha- Sai you didn’t have to tell them that!”

Shikamaru muttered under his breath, “Good grief.” before going about his business and eating his food. Choji still seemed unsure, but shrugged, as if the moment of tension had never happened to begin with.

Ino didn’t quite know what to make of Sai.

He had no social awareness, that much was apparent, but not in the usual ways that say Naruto or Rock Lee had. Or, even in the exact opposite spectrum like Shino or Sasuke. His behavior wasn’t out of a blatant disregard for social customs or a lack of having been informed of them.

It was like.. It was like he didn’t even view himself as a part of their society. Like a phantom almost.

He was strange, she decided as she watched him calmly ignore Sakura’s heated glare and Choji’s violent stabbing motion directed towards Kiba’s left hand- which had been subtly inching closer to the platter of food in front of them. Where these things would normally draw the interest of others, Sai simply sat there, blind to the liveliness of the table.

Neji was the one brave enough- or, well, bored enough- to address Sai next. “Sai. I don’t recognize you from the academy- what were you doing before you were assigned to team seven?”

Sakura and Naruto shared a look of curiosity between themselves, like they didn’t know either, and turned to the pale alpha in question.

Sai’s eyes were still upturned in his ghostly facade of joy, but his words were anything but uplifting, “That is none of your concern, Neji Hyuuga. Though, I have read that it is important to share personal information, so I will offer this: I find it embarrassing that you lost to Naruto in the chunin exams three years ago.”

Ino inhaled sharply as the rest of the table sat there, stunned. Sai smiled that same smile and calmly continued to eat his food. Neji’s eyebrows narrowed as his milky Hyuuga eyes began to crease at the corners.

Sensing the drastic events that were about to occur, Naruto jumped up, “Hey, whaddaya know! I forgot to go do a thing- Sai! Come help!”

He yanked Sai away from the table, leaving the rest of them to wonder what the hell had just happened.

Kiba, ever the intelligent creature, voiced what the group of friends was thinking, “What the fuck was that-”

Ino didn’t pay the continuing conversation any mind. She was much too busy staring after Naruto and Sai’s hastily retreating backs. Something was wrong with Sai, she could feel it, the only question was what.

~~~

“Man, Kakashi sensei, why don’t you ever come on missions with us anymore?” Naruto groaned as Kakashi adjusted his vest.

Sakura snorted from beside them as she hefted one of the larger boxes onto the empty counter top. “He’s probably sick of your whining.” she teased.

The blonde stuck his tongue out at her, and not for the first time, Kakashi was hit with an overwhelming sense of care for his two students. When he’d first been approached by Sakura, who’d bashfully asked him to help her move into her new apartment, he’d been struck just by how fast they were growing up right before his eyes.

Of course he’d had to say yes- even if he typically would rather be caught dead than doing random good deeds that could be misconstrued as him giving a damn about something. Her large green eyes and hesitant tone, like she’d been expecting him to say no, may as well have sealed the deal with super glue.

He knew she’d been going through a rough patch lately. Gai had been the one to tell him, of all people, because apparently, Rock Lee trusted his sensei with details of his personal life and had divulged some of the information regarding Sakura’s quickly burning bridge with her parents.

Kakashi wasn’t at all jealous that Gai knew more about Sakura’s private life than he did. Nope, not at all. Not even a little. Zero, absolutely zero.

“Lady Tsunade has me working on other things for the time being.” He commented as he pulled a pillow out of one of Sakura’s neatly marked boxes. Naruto was sitting with his legs folded on the floor trying to figure out how to put together the desk. Kakashi noticed that the instructions were upside down, but figured he’d let Naruto figure it out on his own.

“What could be more important than me and Sakura?!” the young alpha remarked before yelping. Kakashi rolled his eyes fondly once he realized that Naruto had just gotten a splinter in his thumb.

Sakura huffed lightly as she went to bend over and check his wounds. “You big baby, I’ve seen you fall from fifty feet in the air, land on a rock, and only get a mild back ache. Don’t tell me that you actually got hurt by a tiny little piece of wood.”

Kakashi snorted and adjusted his mask to hide the small smile that had forced its way onto his face against his will. Okay, maybe there was some will there, but still!

“Wait til I tell Captain Yamato about this! All of his wood style jutsu training- for nothing!” The young girl shook her head in mock dismay, although Naruto didn’t seem to catch on.

“No! Please! I’ll do anythi-”

Kakashi hummed and stalked over with the grace of a cat that knew all eyes were on him, “Anything?”

Naruto gulped, eyes widening as he realized the can of worms he’d just opened. Kakashi did smile then- widely, the kind of smile that made his eyes upturn into little half moons. It was refreshing, being with his students.

“No wait- I didn’t mean it like that! Sakura help!” he begged to no avail.

Kakashi tapped his pointer finger against his chin in mock thought, “How about Sakura and I don’t rat you out to Yamato, if you give my ninja hounds a bath.”

Kakashi typically paid someone from the Inuzuka clan to do it, but after the last incident they’d refused to do it anymore. Kakashi himself had completely given up on the task when the dogs had staged a mutiny once he’d switched to a new brand of soap for bath time.

It was heavier duty, something that was supposed to get the scents associated with battle out of their fur, but his hounds had taken a disliking to being completely scentless after their baths. There was a claw mark that would never fully be able to be buffed out of the bathroom wall in his apartment. Never.

The landlord would not be pleased, and that was the only reason why Kakashi kept living in the tiny little two room apartment. He may be known as the copy ninja, but even he was scared of damage fees being tacked on to breaking the lease and having to pay up.

Sakura grinned mischievously as she pushed her bangs out of her face. She was the only person he could think of whose hair didn’t stand up in the front- aside from Gai and Rock Lee, the kings of flat hair.

“I think you should take the deal, Naruto. Who knows, Captain Yamato might give you extra training when he hears about it.” The smile in her voice was palpable.
Naruto hopped up and put his hands on his hips, “I’m not scared of any training!”. He paused before gulping, demeanor doing a complete 180 flip, “...I am scared of Kakashi sensei’s dogs though..”

With good reason. They were a circus, if a circus was also a dumpster fire that smelled like sewer. Kakashi loved his ninja hounds dearly, but having eight dogs meant that they accumulated a smell… very quickly. Akino especially- even Pakkun said so.

“Mah,” Kakashi waved his hand carelessly as he leaned against the back of Sakura’s newly purchased yellow couch, “Who knows, Yamato might make you train with Sai for more efficient results.”

Was it wrong to steer Naruto into choosing what Kakashi wanted him to with the very fictional and not at all likely scenario of having to deal with Sai, who Naruto seemed to be having a blood feud with? Possibly, but Kakashi was a man of grey hair and even greyer morals.

Naruto froze immediately, ‘I’ll wash your dogs! I’ll even trim their fur!”

Kakashi and Sakura shared a knowing, fond look before they all eventually went back to their respective tasks.

The masked man had just finished placing all of Sakura’s cooking utensils into the cupboards when Naruto spoke up again, this time with a much more grave tone.

“I was thinking, ya know..”

Sakura snorted from somewhere behind Kakashi, “Already off to a bad start, I see.”

“Asuma’s death got me thinking…Konohamaru’s kinda all alone now.”

Kakashi ignored the deep pang in his chest that he’d had almost a lifetime of avoiding addressing at the mention of his friend’s death. The room somehow felt much, much smaller yet so much bigger than just a few moments ago.

“I’m putting in the paper work in a few days, but I wanted to formally ask the both of you if you would join my pack.”

If Sakura was shocked, Kakashi couldn’t tell. His back was still facing his students as he processed the news. His knuckles whitened in their grip on the counter top.

A pack…Kakashi hadn’t thought of being part of a pack in sixteen years.

Minato and Kushina had given him the offer after he’d presented and he’d put off accepting after Obito’s death, reeling from the loss even still. Then Rin had died, and Kushina had gotten pregnant. Kakashi’s soulmate was ripped away from him. Right as Kakashi had been on the way to his sensei’s house to finally accept the four year old offer, Kushina had gone into labor and then…Well, it was no secret what had happened next.

Was the universe pulling some sick joke again?

Sakura was the one to speak up for the both of them after Kakashi’s silence became apparent, “I know you know how big of a step this is. Can we have some time to think this over?”

Had Kakashi mentioned that he loved Sakura? No? Well he did. She was always saying what was needed whenever Kakashi himself floundered. He was definitely going to get her a house warming present.

“Oh yeah, of course! I don’t wanna pressure you guys! Even if you say no, we’ll always be family!” Naruto reassured openly, like the words he’d just spoken weren’t ties to an anchor that had been keeping Kakashi tethered in place for years now.

Family. Naruto viewed them as a family.

Kakashi cleared his throat and said that he appreciated the offer while he turned on his heal to face them. That seemed to break the spell that had fallen over the trio, Sakura righted herself and then got to work arranging the living room- giving Naruto a wide berth of room to put the desk together. Kakashi picked up one of the neatly labeled boxes that said ‘blankets’ and took it to her bedroom to put them away.

“Naruto, the directions are upside down!” he heard Sakura’s voice in the next room over as he began to fold and put away her blankets. She had beyond perfect handwriting, but her folding skills were in desperate need of some tutoring.

The sounds of two young, energetic alphas wrestling sounded off of the hallway walls. Laughter accompanied the thuds and scrapes, followed by a few playful jabs here and there.

Kakashi had missed this- so much so, that he actually began to give Naruto’s offer some thought.

~~~

Iruka, for better or worse, had been adopted into Kakashi’s other friend group whether he liked it or not. Might Gai, Anko, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai had made quite the group of vibrant individuals.

Anko and Gai especially.

But now, as he sat at their usual table in the back of the tavern, he couldn’t find even a trace of the once chaotic energy that he’d come to appreciate. Other customers in the bar were drinking and carrying on very personal conversations at wildly loud octaves, but silence hung over their table like a rotted tree branch right before it fell to the ground.

It was just him, Anko, and Gai. Kakashi was late- again, but was on his way. Kurenai’s chair was empty- the same as what would have been Asuma’s.

His heart ached for his friends who’d known Asuma much more closely. His heart bled for Kurenai and little Konohamaru Sarutobi, who’d idolized his cool uncle who smoked like a chimney and had infinite amounts of wisdom that could have only been gained from a reckless and wild youth.

Last night had been a long one- one that left the omega bone tired and emotionally drained, but it had been necessary. Naruto had stopped by with Konohamaru in tow, which wasn’t unusual for either boy, but usually there were no snotty noses and red rimmed eyes.

Naruto had been the one to explain that it had been a rough night and that they’d wanted some company, while Konohamaru had immediately climbed Iruka like a tree and latched onto the omega in an oddly strong gripped hug for an eleven year old. Konohamaru hadn’t been doing well with Asuma’s death- that much was beyond obvious.

His parents were still on their mission, and even Tsunade hadn’t been able to reach them. Iruka himself had only ever met them once, in passing, and it had been the second day of Konohamaru’s training at the academy. He remembered only because the couple had seemed so void of any parental care for the boy as they handed in the youngest Sarutobi’s required medical records.

In a sick but justified sort of way, Iruka hoped they stayed away. Every time they came and left again, Konohamaru’s grades plummeted. He regressed into playing Naruto level pranks and lashing out at other students. The boy deserved better, much better.

Selfishly, sometimes Iruka thought of adopting Konohamaru. He should have with Naruto, but by the time the idea had crossed his mind, Naruto had been out of the village with Jiraiya.

“He’s late again.” Iruka sighed and crossed his arms.

Anko had ordered a round of shots for the table, but each glass remained full. It was a very serious mood indeed if even Anko was refraining from getting black out drunk.

“Have faith, Iruka. If I know Kakashi, and I believe I do as it is very important to know one’s ultimate rival very well, he’ll show up when he’s ready.” Gai half smiled.

Time ticked on as the bubble of silence continued to isolate the three friends from the rest of the merriment happening around them. Iruka had picked up on Anko’s very foul mood from the way the tips of her ears were tinged red. She was the only person he knew of that had her ears turn red when upset, and he wasn’t sure many others had even noticed the trait at all.

“So, Gai, how are your students doi-”

“Yo.” Kakashi’s absurdly calm voice interrupted Iruka as he sat down.

He sat in his usual seat, next to Anko and across from Gai. It made the emptiness of the remaining chairs feel even more painful.

“Nice of you to show up, twinkle toes.” Anko’s gruff voice teased.

Kakashi ignored the jab in favor of taking several of the shots of soju all at once.

“What’d I miss?”

“Nothing.” Iruka sighed, glad he didn’t have to teach at the academy today. His heat was coming up, so he was on his meticulously scheduled medical leave. He hoped that when he got back to work, his students would have improved on their chakra signature studies. This year he had a rather rambunctious and ready to fight group of students. Unfortunately, that meant that they tended to fall behind on their studies.

Their glum mood grew even glummer as Kakashi remained his natural self. His book that he always carried around was peeking out of his pants pocket, catching Iruka’s attention due to the stark contrast of the bright orange cover against the neutral black of his pants.

Kakashi, unlike Iruka, who had decided to teach and so rarely step outside of the village on a mission, unlike Gai, who’d never lost a single person or a single challenge in his life until Asuma, had lost everything. Many, many times before.

First his father, then his teammates. Then his soulmate and his sensei. His station as an anbu had been replaced by being demoted to jonin. One of his students had run away and been poached by an enemy of the leaf village, and the other had skipped town for three years.

Kakashi knew loneliness more than he knew himself, and he very well knew what Kurenai was feeling right now- he’d gone through it barely even a decade ago.

Their table was still, but something in the air was abuzz with energy. It was like an invisible hum dancing along the airwaves. It took him a moment, but he was able to eventually place that the odd sensation was coming from Anko.

Sparing a glance around the table to see if the others had noticed- which they hadn’t- Iruka began to discreetly inspect her. He was a master of that sort of thing. He had to be, otherwise his students would get away with murder, which, in some cases, he wasn’t exaggerating.

Her elbows were on the table, and her hair was wild. Her coat was clean, but at all out of place. In fact, nothing was out of place about her at all. People only looked one hundred percent normal when there was something wrong.

Before he could ask her what was wrong, she cut him off.

“Kurenai thinks she’s pregnant.” Anko burst, her shoulders tensing from having waited so long to share the information with the rest of them.

Iruka sat there, stunned. Even Gai was quiet for a change.

“She thinks, or she knows?” Kakashi questioned, leaning forward gravely.

For the first time in quite possibly her entire life, Anko looked timid. It was almost as if her reply would force the scenario into fruition.

“She knows.” She whispered.

“We need to go to her- see what she needs!” Gai demanded, already standing from his chair.

Kakashi’s arm shot out lightning fast to yank their friend back into his seat. “What she needs is her mate.” he stated with an eerie warning underneath his tone, one that the rest of the table had picked up on very, very quickly.

That was one thing that had always puzzled him about Kakashi. Any time there was a mention of pregnancy, he freaked out. Not in the typical way, of course, because Kakashi was not a typical person. He’d been like that for years.

Iruka had a theory that it had something to do with his troubling past as an anbu, but he would never, ever, pull at that thread.

“What do we do, then?” Iruka spoke up softly. He was the calm in the storm in their little group of senseis, after all.

“We give her space, obviously. She’ll process it and then when she’s ready to share, she will.” Kakashi declared. His one visible eye flashed with something that Iruka didn’t know quite how to place.

“Do.. do you think that Asuma knew?” Gai questioned heartbreakingly.

And just like that, the elephant in the room grew about thirteen sizes.

There was no way Asuma could have known. He never would have allowed himself to be part of an s class missing nin related mission if that were the case. The stakes were just too high. Hell, Kurenai probably would have genjutsued everyone into believing he’d gone just to keep him home and out of trouble.

“No.” Anko responded faintly with none of her usual charismatic bite.

“He would have been so happy.” Gai offered up wetly.

That much was true. Asuma would have been over the moon.

“Until he figured out he’d have to give up smoking.” Anko half smiled. Her joke landed, allowing them all to share a small chuckle amongst themselves.

Iruka could picture it now. Asuma trying and failing to hide his cartons of cigarettes from Kurenai, lecturing him and getting Shizune to back her up on the health risks. Kurenai taking a leave of absence from active duty and Asuma stressing about diapers and doctor’s appointments and how to ‘not be like my old man’.

A tiny baby with Kurenai’s eyes but Asuma’s hair, with Konohamaru Sarutobi running around the village, decreeing that he was ‘the world’s awesomest cousin’, all while Kurenai and Asuma were pushing the baby in a stroller behind him.

“He would have been such a good dad.” Kakashi muttered with a far away look on his face.

“Yeah,” Anko agreed, equally as lost in thought, “he would have.”

~~~

Naruto felt like it had been months since he’d last been standing in front of Tsunade’s desk in the hokage office, getting the news that they’d be getting a new team member.

In reality, it had only been three weeks.

Sakura was standing beside him, her hands clutched together tightly in front of her. Anxiety was rolling off of her in waves, and for once, Naruto felt the exact same way.

Kakashi was there too- he’d been there when the two friends had arrived. The masked man was leaning casually against the bookshelf, bored expression as usual. Now that Naruto was older, and had learned to read people just a little better, he could make out a small glimmer of apprehension in the older shinobi’s eye as well.

Sai and Captain Yamato were not present.

The omega hokage sighed as she eyed each and every one of them standing before her. She looked troubled, more troubled than she’d ever seen her. Her desk was devoid of soju bottles and was prim and proper for once.

She looked tired. Her lemony scent was calm, though, despite her appearance.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard the rumors yet,” She paused, swallowing harshly, “but intel has proven to be correct, Anko delivered it herself. We finally have word on Sasuke’s location.”

The air felt like it had been punished out of his lungs. Sakura let out a noise beside him, but it sounded foggy against his eardrums.

Sasuke. They knew where Sasuke was. After all this time, Naruto could breathe again with a little less uncertainty. He’d always known that Sasuke was alive, yes, but not knowing if he’d been okay for so long had messed with his brain in ways he still wasn’t completely aware of.

The alpha had been in emotional agony for so long, that now, after he finally had confirmation that his dreams of Sasuke being back home in his arms were finally on the cusp of being actualized, the world seemed lighter, and so, so much brighter. It was as though the universe had shifted on its axis again, and there was once more a place where he fit again into the grand scheme of things- like a wayward puzzle piece that had been trying to find where it belonged for far too long.

The words were tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop himself, “I can bring him home?”

The innocent question, the blatant hope and wounded love in his tone made Tsunade look away from him.

Such a vulnerable whisper would have had older generations scolding him for being ‘too soft for an alpha’ if he’d still been traveling around with the Pervy Sage, but he wasn’t in various lands. He was here, in the village hidden in the leaves. He was home, standing in a room filled with people who loved and understood him.

Naruto couldn’t have cared less about being so openly, hopelessly struck by the news and what it meant in comparison to his designation. Dynamics were all bullshit anyway. Sasuke had been the one to teach him that.

Now it was time for Naruto to in turn teach Sasuke the error of his ways and bring his love back to him.

Kakashi cleared his throat, though Naruto had known the older man for long enough to know that the slight twitch in his fingers was a sign of his own emotional state, “When do we leave?”

At that, Tsunade’s lemony scent wilted with regret, “Kakashi…I’m sorry, but we need you here. There’s arguably an even more important mission that only you can complete. I tried to figure out a compromise, but time is a nonnegotiable force, I’m afraid.”

“What do you mean there’s a more important mission?! Nothing is more important than getting Sasuke back!” Naruto pointed out.

“To us, that’s true. But Lady Tsunade has an entire village to oversee, Naruto. If she says I’m needed elsewhere, then I’m needed elsewhere. This is a line of thought you should plan on adopting, if you ever want to achieve your goal of becoming hokage.” Kakashi explained evenly.

Sakura’s eyes lit up before Naruto could apologize for being out of line and pleaded with their hokage, “Please don’t tell us you’re sending-”

Tsunade cut his teammate off, “I’ll be sending the two of you along with Sai and Captain Yamato.”

Sakura hung her head, “I thought as much..”

“NO! Can’t we bring someone like Hinata or Shino? All Sai will do is rile Sasuke up- we need to bring people that will make him actually want to come back home!” Naruto begged.

Sai had a way with words in the sense that whenever he opened his mouth, he could clear out entire rooms full of people in an instant. Sasuke was as infatuating as he was easily infuriated, if Sai managed to get to him before Naruto did- well, Naruto could basically kiss his chances of bringing the omega home goodbye.

Hell, Sai’s very presence could probably get even Orochimaru to go on a rampage. That was how divisive the emotionless alpha was.

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, “No. Sai is a shinobi with exceptional skills and an almost perfect track record when it comes to mission completions. Captain Yamato is one of the only shinobi this village has that is capable of both leading a team and going up against Orochimaru. They are vital to that brat’s retrieval.”

Normally, Naruto might have felt properly chastised, but this was no normal occasion. The alpha would leave no stone unturned when it came to Sasuke, and the others in the room were very much aware.

“So..” Sakura spoke up again, “Where do we go from here?”

~~~

“Itachi?” Deidara knocked on the alpha’s door.

He was supposed to be on the opposite side of town getting ready to leave with Tobi on their next mission, but something in him had told him that he needed to see Itachi before he left. If anyone were to ask him about where he’d gone, he’d lie and say he’d just wandered off to gain some artistic inspiration.

Was it worry that had led him here? Morbid curiosity to see how the quiet man had been doing since their strained breakup- if that was even what one would call it? A tiny glimmer of the feelings he’d tried and failed to diminish rearing their ugly, heart eyed heads again?

The omega didn’t hear any footsteps on the other side of the door, but he could feel Itachi’s presence on the other side all the same. Itachi was a creature of silence, yet his aura was more loud and powerful than anyone Deidara had ever known.

He huffed and crossed his arms, “Well? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to let me in?”

The door was open before he’d even breathed, revealing the familiar cool stare of his fellow Akatsuki member.

“Deidara…I thought you’d be gone by now.” The older man stepped aside to let him into the hotel room.

Deidara had no idea where Kisame was. Usually, the sword bearer was at least in the general vicinity of Itachi’s, but Deidara hadn’t felt his chakra signature in the inn at all. Perhaps he was out terrorizing children with his sharp teeth and animalistic eyes again. Kisame did always enjoy scaring children.

Deidara eased by Itachi with the smooth kind of grace that he typically didn’t enjoy showcasing. It was much more exciting to be explosive and loud and disheveled. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and maybe Deidara was still angry at Itachi for the way things had ended, just a little. Maybe he wanted to flaunt just what Itachi was missing, even if deep down Deidara knew that this was the way that things had to be. The way they needed to be.

“I didn’t know when I’d see you next.” Deidara’s unspoken ‘I wanted to say goodbye’ hung in the air.

Itachi, for all he was patient, closed the door behind them as Deidara stubbornly wasted time looking around the place.

They’d had fun once, the explosive, young kind of fun that Deidara so lovingly enjoyed. There once was a time where Itachi would genjutsu the guards at sacred temples filled with works of art, just so Deidara could gaze upon the relics and appreciate the pioneers of art that had passed long before their time.

Deidara had once used his hand-mouths to scare long lines of people into getting out of line so that he and Itachi didn’t have to wait to purchase sugary treats that the alpha always pretended that he didn’t like. Pft, as if Deidara was blind enough to not know that Itachi had a major sweet tooth.

“Why are you here?” Itachi asked. His low voice pitched up at the end of the question, his best attempt at sounding gentle instead of powerful and bored.

Maybe it was the thickness that began to stew in the air, maybe it was the glare blinding him from the window, irritating him momentarily, but he sighed and turned around, now facing the older, “I don’t know.”

It was a blatant lie, but so much of his life these days were blatant lies. ‘Yes’ he ‘loved’ having Tobi as a new partner. ‘No’ he did ‘not’ want to quit the Akatsuki. ‘No’ he was not ‘offended’ that Kakuzu had insulted omegas as a whole for the ninth time in as many breaths. ‘No’ he hadn’t noticed Itachi’s clear health decline, nor was he ‘worried’ about him.

“That’s not true.” Itachi breathed, though he didn’t push. He never pushed Deidara.

It had shocked him, in the beginning of whatever they had been, just how gentle Itachi was as a person. He wasn’t one for arguing, nor unnecessary shows of violence. He was calm, but never dull, and his mind was like a thousand beehives all at once, buzzing with a genius sort of intellect that should have been impossible.

It was so incredibly surprising that this was the same man that had annihilated his entire clan in one night. Deidara had often wondered if there was something more to that night, something that only Itachi and the ghosts of those long deceased could know but had never had the courage to ask the alpha about outright. Some things…some things were better left untouched.

“Yeah.” Deidara agreed as he flopped down onto the neatly made bed.

“Kisame will be gone for a while.”

Oh? Maybe he had gone to terrorize children then.

“I’m not going to see you again, am I?” Deidara asked suddenly, his voice strained as he stared up at the ceiling. His throat was dry with a sizeable lump, but the words had toppled out regardless.

With Itachi out of his line of vision, Deidara couldn’t make out what the alpha was doing, but he did hear the familiar rustle of clothing fabric. He didn’t have to shift his head to look, because not long after he heard the movement, Itachi laid down on the bed beside him, head turned to the ceiling, just like the omega beside him.

“No, I don’t think so.” Itachi responded evenly.

Deidara knew it, really he did, but fuck if hearing the foreboding cloud that hung over his head for months now being spoken into existence didn’t hurt.

“We could run away.” the blonde suggested, a doomed sentence laced with hope that would be shot down before it could even fully land.

“There’s no stopping fate.”

“There is if you’re determined enough.”

“You’ll die young.” Itachi muttered with that same tone of voice that everyone around Deidara always said it in.

The thought never truly bugged Deidara- it never truly felt like a warning sign. Because wasn’t it a known fact that all great artists met early ends? He would be honored to follow in their footsteps.

Deidara huffed wetly all the same, “So will you.”

Silence hung in the air. Everyone in the Akatsuki knew of Itachi’s illness, but ignored it, some in hope that he would live long enough for the organization to have succeeded in their plans, some in blatant refusal to get to know their coworkers. To Deidara, it had been a hard truth to grapple with.

Itachi shifted the conversation away from himself again- as he always did.

“You never wanted to be a part of the Akatsuki. You just wanted to sculpt in solitude.”

He knew that Itachi wanted something different for him- that he had for a long while now. Itachi did bad things, but he wasn’t bad.

“What’s art to me when there is no muse?”

There was a pause. Such a long pause, before Itachi carried on with their back and forth. Deidara turned his head to face him for the first time since the conversation had begun.

“You’re not meant for this.”

Maybe that was true. Maybe Itachi was right- he was so rarely wrong, but still, the Uchiha had a way of surprising Deidara with his effortless correctness occasionally.

“Yeah, but it’s too late now.”

It was. Itachi had been the one to force Deidara’s hand into agreeing to join the Akatsuki in the first place- a fact that the blonde knew weighed heavily on Itachi’s mind, along with all the countless other secrets and sins that Deidara knew he had no right to knowing about.

He could have lived his life as a wayward omega, causing chaos and creating masterpiece after masterpiece. He never would have had to put up with a giant cult of alphas who always stunk up the room when they disagreed on things as small as when they thought it would rain next. He never would have had to listen to Sasori’s long rants about how much he despised the Sand Village, nor would he have been subjected to hours and hours of babysitting Tobi when everyone else got to do important things.

But, he also never would have met Itachi.

“Deidara-”

“Don’t. Just-” Deidara inhaled softly as he noticed the chipped paint on the alpha’s fingernail, “just exist here with me. Nothing’s outside this room, it’s just you and me here, together.”

Itachi remained silent, he was good at that. The omega himself was never very good at staying quiet. The juxtaposition of their personalities was not lost on him.

Itachi shifted to save him and laid on his side. He looked as tired as ever, but his eyes still held a light in them. It was the very same light that Itachi had once told him shone for nothing other than Deidara under the pale moonlight of a shallow winter’s night.

“For what it’s worth,” Deidara didn’t know why he was speaking, but the words felt much too important to never say, “I could have loved you.”

It was then that Itachi smiled. His eyes upturned, showcasing his long eyelashes, as Deidara bore witness to the most radiantly mournful smile he thought he would ever have the luck of being graced with.

“I could have loved you too-” Itachi was cut off by Deidara surging forward and kissing him.

If this was goodbye, if this was them giving in to the paths that destiny had chosen for them, then Deidara was going to make it count.

What once was, could no longer be. Deidara knew it, Itachi lived and breathed it. But still, just for a while longer, the pair rekindled the spark between them once more. Because, even the lost love and torn and pained goodbyes were worth saying. Even if the farewells were spoken in soft kisses against scarred flesh as two bodies reunited for the last time.

What once was, could no longer be.