1
Iruka was a mother hen, so he’d been told by an overzealous Anko and a very drunk, very jovial Asuma.
He also could be a bit of a nag, as proven by his overwhelming need to tell Kakashi that he needed to eat more and talk to gravestones less.
What he wasn’t, was someone who enjoyed seeing his students cry. How he got through teaching the class with Sasuke Uchiha in it, he will never know, because every single one of those girls would sob when the boy so much as brushed his hair away from his face. Well, minus Hinata Hyuuga, she seemed to be the only one that hadn’t been head over heels for the prodigy. That’s why she was his favorite student. She didn’t cause trouble, she did her work, and she didn’t cry.
Which was why the instructor wished that it was her standing in the middle of his home on his single day off of the week, and not a blubbering, snot nosed and disheveled blue eyed orphan. It hurt his heart, seeing those baby blues so shimmery with tears.
Naruto was a good kid, whoever or whatever made him cry like this was going to pay.
“I-Iruka Sensei-” Naruto whined, before throwing himself at the omega, knowing Iruka would catch him after them having done this many, many times before.
His old student’s sobs wracked his body and Iruka could feel the poor boy’s hands shaking as he hugged him.
“Naruto, what’s wrong, hmm? I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.” The man cooed, brushing some of the tangled blonde hair out of the thirteen year old’s face before picking him up and carrying him to Iruka’s nest.
Iruka had felt sick to his stomach when Naruto had so plainly confessed that he’d never been in a nest before Sasuke had let him into his. So, naturally, Iruka had demanded Naruto come over in the evenings for a bedtime story- although he referred to it as “brain training” so Naruto would actually show up, as a ruse to let the boy cuddle up into the warm, coziness of a nest.
Teaching him proper nest etiquette had been.. something. But, after some time and patience, Naruto had gotten used to nests, and Iruka counted it as a win.
Iruka gently placed the crying boy down in the sea of blankets and pillows, before scooting in beside him and pulling the boy to his chest to comfort him.
“I ki-kissed Sasuke!” The Uzumaki cried, and Iruka had to ignore the fact that Naruto had just blown his nose on the man’s favorite blanket.
Shouldn’t he feel more surprised at the confession? Probably, but after teaching those two for about five years, Iruka was only shocked it hadn’t happened sooner. Or, well, sooner on purpose, he should say, because the man had never seen so many accidental kisses in his life.
The only two people who had that kind of terrible luck were Kakashi and Gai, and that was such an unholy sight that Anko carried around a vial of bleach just in case, to bleach her eyes if she happened upon it again.
“And that is.. bad?” he questioned, internally cringing at the awkward tone he hadn’t meant to let loose. It wasn’t every day his student came crying to him about finally getting together with his obvious soulmate, so give him a break.
“No! It was good and that’s why it’s bad!” the blonde boy wailed.
.. was that a joke? Had Kakashi finally decided to get him back for leaking the whereabouts of his living quarters to Naruto, and this was his plan? To make him deal with a horrifically confused and emotional Naruto?!
“Okay, ehrm- would you care to elaborate?” Iruka asked, uncertain on how to help the boy with his troubles.
Naruto wiped his nose with his finger and then grabbed hold of Iruka’s shirt with the same, slimy hand, and the man tried not to wince in disgust. Sheesh, he really needed to work on getting Naruto house broken.
“It’d obvious, Iruka sensei!”’ the genin wailed, “Sasuke’s fangirls are gonna kill me! And-and pervy sage said kissing is for adults! I can’t be an adult because I don’t even understand how to pay taxes! Do-do I just hand Granny Tsunade my frog wallet and call it even?!”
… was it wrong if Iruka wanted to laugh? Possibly. But no one would blame him for it, right?
“Naruto, dear, sweet, innocent Naruto, kissing Sasuke does not mean you have to start paying taxes.” Truly, it was difficult to refrain from cackling like he wanted to, but years of being an academy instructor had taught him how to hold in his laughter with an iron grip on his stomach.
That got the jinchuriki’s tears to slow.
“Then what does it mean?” innocent blue eyes looked up at him expectantly, and oh no, one wrong word, and Naruto was going to try and propose to Sasuke, Iruka just knew it.
“Well, uh, kissing Sasuke means that you- uhm, like him.”
A look of confusion graced the blonde’s face, and Iruka’s heart sank. “So, I should kiss everyone that I like?”
Dear gods no.
“NO!- uh,” Iruka cleared his throat to try and dislodge some of the horror from his mind, “You wouldn’t kiss just anyone. Kisses are for people you both like and have romantic feelings for.”
Please, let Naruto understand, because if he didn’t, Iruka was going to jump ship and move villages.
“Oh, so I should ask Sasuke to marry me!”
Iruka sighed and got up from the nest, “I’ll brew some tea.”
This.. was going to be a long night.
~~~
Konohamaru prided himself on his spy skills. He was the stealthiest eight year old in the entire leaf village. His recognizance missions were always perfect, not even having a single slip up. Well, minus the time that scary lady with the pink hair that always hung around Naruto caught him sneaking around.
That’s why he was so shocked when Sasuke Uchiha had discovered him hiding behind the potted plants on his balcony. Clearly, it was a testament to how skilled Sasuke was, and not because of Konohamaru's excited giggles.
Clearly.
“What do you want?” The Uchiha barked out gruffly. The older male stood there, waiting for the pup to leave his hiding place with a raised eyebrow.
“I- uh-” What did he want?
“You- uh you don’t smell warm anymore.” The pup stated instead, a little downtrodden. If there had been a pebble on the perfectly clean balcony, he would’ve kicked it with his foot. Instead, he just tugged his bright blue scarf up a little higher and crossed his arms to make himself look cool and unbothered.
Sasuke stared down at the kid with a mix of amusement, pity, and shock. The pup had sought him out, for his scent alone, for who even knew why, and had hidden behind one of Sasuke’s decorative ferns to get a whiff of the Uchiha’s scent.
He reminded him of Naruto a little. Maybe a bit less stupid and ugly cried way less, but still, the innocent unawareness was there, and Sasuke’s cold heart melted just a hair.
Sasuke turned around, and the muffled whimper Konohamaru let out had him stopping in his tracks. He couldn’t leave him out here. It was early and the pup was obviously lonely, why else would he seek out Sasuke of all people?
“Come on.” He groaned, this time prepared for when the eight year old pounced on his back. “Are your legs broken?” Sasuke teased, although it may have been hard for the pup to understand because Sasuke’s voice didn’t change tones when he said it.
“Nope! I’m just too cute and helpless to have to walk.'' Konohamaru whined mischievously. Sasuke could feel the aura of a spoiled child radiating off of the boy on his back but didn’t respond.
He would have corrected it, but the man that had spoiled him was dead, and the pup was in for a rude awakening every night when he went to bed alone, packless, and waiting for parents to come that likely wouldn’t.
Sasuke understood.
The omega sat the kid down, unceremoniously, at the dining table and began to rummage around in his kitchen. Once he found what he was looking for, he began to cook.
“Whatcha doing?” the Sarutobi asked, childish perplexion winning out over the kid’s need to stick his tongue out and pretend to vomit at the sight of the bowl of tomatoes Sasuke kept located on his dining table.
“Cooking.”
“Why?”
“Breakfast has to get made somehow.”
“Can I help?”
Sasuke thought about it.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“But whyyyyy?”
“Because I said so.” Sasuke snapped. It was a good thing the pup had a helmet on, because it would come in handy for when he launched Konohamaru out of his window.
Silence filled his apartment, save for the quiet rumbling of the pup’s hungry stomach.
Sasuke finished up and grabbed a single plate from one of the cupboards, plating the onigiri and filling a cup with water. He placed both items down in front of the boy, before sitting adjacent to him, fixing Konohamaru an expectant look, silently telling him to eat.
“How come you’re not eating?” The pup asked, having refrained from eating the meal, in spite of how loud his stomach rumbling was.
“I already ate.”
“Then why’d you make me breakfast?!”
Sasuke shrugged, suddenly embarrassed, “You smelled hungry on the balcony.”
A usually overlooked skill that omegas typically had was being able to smell what was wrong with pups almost immediately within contact. That was why the phrase “It takes a village” had so much truth to it, because unlike alphas, who usually only had a connection to their kid, omegas had that with every pup, and therefore kept the village’s children well cared for.
“Oh- Thanks!” the other exclaimed, before devouring the food. He chewed with his mouth open and didn’t appear to know how to tell when his mouth was too full to fit in anymore food. It was a horrendous sight, and a part of Sasuke loved it.
He hated it.
“Thi-ates-tho-ood!” The boy spoke with his mouth full, and it was only due to his extensive experience with eating meals with Naruto that Sasuke was able to understand that he’d actually said, ‘This is so good.’.
“Thanks.”
Silence filled the room again, and Sasuke wondered what to do with the kid now that he’d been fed. He could send him on his way, hell that’s probably what he was supposed to do, but that option didn’t feel right, and Sasuke always trusted his instincts.
Konohamaru was sniffing at the air again, as he paused to take a drink of water, and Sasuke remembered that while he himself had been masking his scent, his apartment was full of it.
Sasuke quietly handed him a napkin to wipe his mouth with and glanced around his apartment. There wasn’t much he could entertain the pup with, save for a few scrolls on jutsu he could make him study. Besides, Sasuke had training to do, he couldn’t just babysit Naruto’s supposed student all day.
The omega sighed, he would have to make the kid leave.
Honestly, Sasuke doesn’t know what happened next, it was all a blur. One minute, he was walking to his door to let Konohamaru out of his apartment, and then the next, the two were sitting in his nest, with the eight year old happily cuddled between blankets that smelled of lightning and faintly of oranges that grew in the summertime.
It was awkward only to him, it seemed, because Konohamaru was happily rubbing his chubby cheek against the soft fabrics. Sasuke was trapped. He couldn’t leave because in the eyes of a pup, being left alone in an omega’s nest would be total abandonment, but he also couldn’t kick Konohamaru out for similar reasons.
Damn it. He’d gone and accidentally adopted a child that wasn’t even an orphan.
~~~
“Hey Ino, what’s up?” Naruto whistled as he entered the Yamanaka’s flower shop.
He needed to get flowers to give to Sasuke and he knew she was just the person to help him figure out what kind to get. He was a bit behind schedule, mainly because Iruka sensei started crying and pleading with Naruto to not do anything stupid about his feelings for Sasuke, which personally was offensive, because how on earth could Naruto, of all people, make a stupid decision?
“Oh, not much, just tending to these water lily clippings, do you need something?” the blonde girl asked distractedly, too busy at the counter with the plant clippings to look up at her fellow genin.
“Oh yeah actually, uh, I need to buy flowers for uh, someone, and I was wondering if you could help me pick them out..?”
“Shut up!” she squealed, quickly abandoning whatever she was doing at the counter to catapult over it and jump in front of him, grabbing his shoulders tightly to shake him in excitement. “You have a girlfriend?!” she squealed again, flashing him a smile that was so blinding, it almost hurt his eyes.
“Uh, no well, you see, they’re uh- for a boy.”
His correction didn’t faze her at all, as Ino had already walked away to demonstrate the ‘romantic’ flower section of the store. “Oh, well that doesn’t really matter, I just kinda thought you and Hin-never mind!”
“Wait what, me and who?” he asked, scratching his head in confusion as he did so. Did he have a girlfriend already and he just didn’t know? If that were the case, he’d need to track whoever this “Hin” person was and break the news to her that he liked Sasuke instead.
“Oh, nothing, that’s not important,” Ino deflected as she crouched down to tug a very large vase up from the floor. The vase was almost as big as him, and the flowers within it smelled horrifically.
“Uh- Ino, no offense but those flowers stink!”
Naruto could feel his allergies kicking in, and those were a nightmare. Seriously, he had such bad luck that whenever he was sick, all of the pharmacies in Konoha were suddenly out of stock with the medications he needed. The blonde boy shivered, he could not get another bout of allergies kick started.
Ino placed her hands on her hips and blew out a puff of air, causing her really long section of bangs to get caught in the slight breeze, and furrowed her brows in thought.
“How about you tell me a little about this mystery person, and I’ll just find you something with a special meaning?” she offered as Naruto continued to awkwardly stare at her.
Describe Sasuke. That would be easy. He sunburned all the time, he liked dogs even though he says he doesn’t, but Naruto still caught him playing fetch with the village strays sometimes. Sasuke’s eyes were Naruto’s favorite thing to see, and he wasn’t talking about the sharingan. Sasuke was stubborn and always matched the Uzumaki’s pace, usually even out doing him. Sasuke never looked down on him.
“Uh, well, they smell good?” Surely, Ino would understand everything he meant to say from that. It was obvious, right?
Her eye twitched, but she looked around the room anyway.
“Hmm, okay, well how about these?” She asked, hoisting up a bucket of white flowers with purple lines on the ends of the petals. “They symbolize gratitude.”
They were pretty, and the meaning was okay, but Naruto didn’t think they screamed “flowers for Sasuke Uchiha” so he shook his head no.
After Ino’s third attempt to find him the perfect flower arrangement, she began to ask questions. Questions Naruto couldn’t answer, because well, if word got out, Sasuke wouldn’t just murder him, he’d obliterate him.
“So what’s he like?”
“Uh, he’s a ninja.”
“Ooo, what team is he on? Who is it? What do you love about him?!”
Naruto needed to be sly with it. Finally, Kakashi sensei’s lessons on espionage would be put to use.
“He’s on a really strong team, and it’s just someone from a well known clan, I like that he’s quiet and knows everything.” The blonde couldn’t stop the blush from tinting his whisker marked cheeks.
Ino was shocked. Absolutely shocked. Naruto had a crush.. on Shikamaru?!
It made sense, she guessed, considering Naruto was always trying to gain Shikamaru’s approval. Still, it was such a shocking twist.
But what about Sasuke? Their scent bond hadn’t even been severed yet and Naruto was already chasing after someone else!
Hastily, she stood up, not caring that she’d just knocked over some flowers, “Uh- Naruto, I’m sorry but I just remembered I have a uh- birthday party to go to! Yeah, a birthday! So I’ll- I’ll see you around!”
Ino had to get the hell out of there and figure out what to do with the new information.
~~~
An hour had passed and Konohamaru had managed to lay himself on Sasuke’s chest like a weighted blanket.
Sasuke was torn. On one hand, the omega side of him enjoyed the closeness, but on the other, he hated every second of it.
Also, the pup could give Naruto a run for his money in the annoying department.
“Hey Sasuke, are you in love with Naruto?”
Sasuke’s eye twitched. It had been like this for an hour, one personal question after the other. First, Konohamaru had asked him if he sewed the Uchiha crest on all of his shirts himself, then that had led to him begging the Uchiha to sew a crest on Konohamaru’s scarf.
The kid had no boundaries, that much was clear.
“No.” Flashes of the kiss welled up in his mind, but he willed them away. Now was not the time to hash out his conflicting feelings with an eight year old.
“But what nooot?” he whined, puffing out his cheeks as he did so.
“Why do you care?” Sasuke had a headache, and its name was Konohamaru.
“Because you smell good! And Naruto stinks, so you can make him smell good too!”
… that was a rather unusual reason, although, in the eyes of a child, Sasuke could see why that would be a valid reason. Pups were notorious for being sensitive to smells.
Sasuke was thankful his body temperature was usually pretty cold, otherwise the warmth radiating from the octopus- gripped Konohamaru would have begun to make him sweat. The only thing making the situation somewhat bearable was the fact that his nest was beginning to smell less lonely.
“If I loved everyone who you thought stank, my love life would be very confusing.” The omega poked Konohamaru’s arm teasingly. The situation felt foreign to him, almost like if he were in a drug induced coma and he were hallucinating, but not in a bad way.
Interacting with the Sarutobi pup felt easier than with Sasuke’s peers.
“But you guys wouldn’t be lonely.” Konohamaru whined in response, looking Sasuke dead in the eyes with the most sincere, honest expression that an eight year old could possess.
The Uchiha stopped, taken aback by the bluntness, and really paid attention to the boy. He’d been hungry when he’d shown up earlier, and his grandfather had died barely two weeks ago, yet his parents had not been seen with him in public in at least a year.
Ino and Choji had been the ones to divulge that last piece of information during another one of their “Omega Genin Activist” club meetings, as the Yamanaka had so proudly named it. Sasuke hated the title, it felt cheesy and awkward. He would have much preferred to ignore his status until absolutely necessary otherwise. Choji hadn’t been a fan either, as he often made remarks about Ino having them storm the hokage tower in protest of most genin omegas getting stuck as healers for their teams.
Sasuke couldn’t picture himself as a healer. Nor could he picture Ino or Choji as one. Hinata, maybe, she had a genuine care for people that would make a good medic, but the Hyuuga had something to prove to the world, not unlike Sasuke, it would be wasted potential for her to end up taking care of others for the rest of her life. It wouldn’t be fair.
As Sasuke blinked at the boy sprawled out on top of him, who had been clumsily trying to cuddle, he decided that many things weren’t fair.
“What makes you say that?” The Uchiha inquired with faux obliviousness. He had a sneaking suspicion that the boy was projecting but couldn’t be sure. Children were random like that. Sasuke knew he certainly had been, at that age.
“Cuz Naruto doesn’t have a family and the villagers treat you the same way they treat me. It’s lonely.” Konohamaru buried his face in Sasuke’s shirt sleepily, and the omega feared he would be stuck there all day.
“And how do they treat you?” Anger started to sting his veins, and the curse mark began to hum to life in the back of his mind.
“They all expect me to be something, even the villagers my age, and they never play with me because they’re scared of offending my grandfather, but he’s dead now and they still won’t play with me! It’s all “Honorable grandson” that or “Honorable grandson this” but no one knows who Konohamaru is.” the pup ranted shakily, and not a moment later, Sasuke felt fresh tears dampening his shirt.
He awkwardly placed a hand on the eight year old’s back, hoping that it came off as soothing as what he’d witnessed parents do when their children became fussy at the market.
Sasuke.. understood. Not that he was upset that other children hadn’t played with him, Sasuke couldn’t care less about having had playmates as a child, but the expectations were something he was exceedingly familiar with.
The academy, the elders, the villagers, even his classmates had had criteria in their minds that the last Uchiha had to meet and surpass. Not that Sasuke had struggled to exceed expectations, but on occasion, he did feel a bit trapped.
At least people had steered clear of him with one of his glares, Konohamaru had too much baby fat to make that work for him.
“So train.” The Uchiha advised, pausing to make sure Konohamaru was listening before continuing, “Train and become the best ninja of your year, and make them know your name.”
If those same words had been echoed to a seven year old boy with gauze taped to his cheeks, and dried tear tracks down his soot and dirt covered face after yet another pathetic attempt at a fireball jutsu, well.
No one would ever know but him.
~~~
Naruto left the flower shop with an aura of confusion. Ino had been acting weird, but then again, he thought most people acted weird. Maybe he’d crossed some sort of boundary earlier?
He hadn’t sniffed her, not after Kiba had taken him aside to explain that smelling people was rude, and he hadn’t spit on his hand before shaking hands with her either! Maybe she had allergies from those smelly flowers too?
The Uzumaki kicked a pebble with his foot and turned down an alleyway to gather his thoughts away from the prying eyes of the old gossipy ladies that watched him like a hawk when he was in public.
If Ino wasn’t there to help him figure out what flowers to give Sasuke, then what else should he do instead?
Kakashi sensei’s book popped up in his mind, and a lightbulb went off.
He’d already given Sasuke his jacket, like the book said to do, and they had scented each other, and they’d kissed already, so besides giving Sasuke flowers, the most logical next step was to propose and get married like the characters in the story.
If they got married, they wouldn’t need to get rid of their scent bond anymore! And Sasuke wouldn’t go join Kiba’s team either! And then they could take down Orochimaru and Itachi together as a team!
Genius. Naruto was a genius.
The blonde glanced up at the sky and took note of the sun’s position. It was about noon, he had just about eight hours to make arrangements.
The blonde gasped and smacked his forehead in frustration.
What was he going to do about a ring?
~~~
Sasuke had finally been freed of Konohamaru’s presence when Choji had come to inform him that Ino had declared that she couldn’t be bothered by anyone for at least a week due to a drama induced mental break.
Honestly, Sasuke had seen Ino feast on the theatrics of a divorcing couple arguing over who got custody of their pet plants like a shark in bloody waters before, so while he should feel some ounce of surprise, he was not very shocked about it.
Sasuke hadn’t missed the questioning look the Akimichi had shot him after he’d opened the door with Konohamaru glued to his leg, but he’d done what he does best and ignored it.
Now that he was free of babysitting, he could resume his plan for the day: internally panicking because he had allowed himself to kiss Naruto back and he hadn’t regretted it. At all.
The worst part about it all was that he couldn’t even blame it on having a concussion because they were ninja, they lived in a constant state of being concussed.
Sasuke debated on whether or not he should resume his solo training for the day. Kakashi had given them the week off with no explanation, so he was pretty much on his own again. Of course, it would be just his luck that the one person on the planet that could mentor him in the ways of the sharingan would be the single most inconsistent sensei that could possibly exist.
He was beginning to grow just a tiny bit bitter at the arrangement.
In the end, he decided to go for a walk to clear his mind. Now wasn’t the time to let himself get confused, especially about Naruto, not when he had a legendary sanin and Itachi as enemies.
How was he supposed to feel?
He lived his life by a set of rules and goals he’d set for himself, and Naruto hadn’t been in those plans. But, after he got his revenge, Sasuke needed a future, and more and more, the alpha had managed to momentarily get him to let go of the past. He wanted whatever kind of bond Naruto was willing to give him.
A friendship, a relationship, even just a teamship would do, as long as Sasuke could have him in some way. But, on the flip side, Sasuke needed and wanted revenge just as badly.
What if he died from wounds he’d sustained while defeating Itachi? He couldn’t lead Naruto on just for him to die young and leave the Uzumaki alone. Sasuke knew Sakura was their friend, but he didn’t know if he could trust her to check up on him, nor would it be right to require her to.
Naruto made Sasuke feel whole in ways he hadn’t felt since before the massacre, but if he chose Naruto over vengeance, Sasuke wouldn’t just lose his purpose, he’d lose himself.
But if he chose vengeance over Naruto, there was no guarantee that Naruto would be there waiting for him after he succeeded.
~~~
Rings, Naruto was beginning to realize, were not his forte.
He’d broken off the circular part of one of his kunai knives because that was the only ring like thing he could find on short notice but had no idea what to do to make it look fancy.
He couldn’t dent it to make a design, because he didn’t want it to not fit on Sasuke’s finger, but he also was nervous about carving something into it because Naruto was known for being a very poor artist.
The alpha threw himself onto his disheveled bed in frustration.
He would have to stick something onto the ring, but what?
All he had were little frog carvings and the little beads on his necklace that he’d won from old lady Tsunade. She would skin him alive if she found out he’d dismantled the necklace.
Naruto rolled over to face the ceiling, lost in thought.
The ring wasn’t even the biggest issue. Kakashi sensei’s book had said that weddings were really big parties with lots of flowers and guests and food.
How could he pull together an event that big when he was the only one setting it up? He couldn’t get Sasuke to help him, because Kakashi sensei’s book had told him to make it all a surprise, so he was on his own.
The Uzumaki considered asking Iruka sensei to help him briefly, before remembering the man’s confusing social etiquette lectures. Naruto did not want to put up with those dumb rules while planning a wedding.
An idea popped into his head as he cracked his knuckles- which were still aching slightly from his last fight with Sasuke, and the alpha grinned mischievously.
All of his problems were about to be solved.
~~~
Sasuke was on the bridge overlooking the lake lost in thought. He hadn’t really paid attention to where he’d been going but wasn’t surprised when his feet planted themselves there of all places.
It was one of his favorite spots in the entire village. When he’d been younger, he’d come here to try and play with the fish that swam in the cool waters, although his father had put a stop to that when Sasuke had made a scene. His mother had merely smiled and helped him dry off.
Now, it was where team seven congregated before missions, which the Uchiha had also come to be fond of.
“Careful.” came a familiar voice from beside him. “You were about to rest your arm on a Paraponera Clavata ant. They are known for their paralysis inducing bites.” Shino informed as he gently maneuvered the ant to the ground.
Sasuke wasn’t going to question the sudden appearance of the Aburame. The quiet alpha was known for sneaking up on people, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Uchiha wasn’t sure.
“Thanks.” he offered in lieu of any small talk. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Shino, actually it was quite the contrary, Sasuke just didn’t have much to say to the genin.
“Something is troubling you.” Shino stated, leaning on the railing and mirroring Sasuke.
Sasuke wanted to laugh. When was the last time he had laughed? Was he even physically capable of it at this point?
Instead of saying anything, Sasuke shot him a questioning look, and Shino explained “We sat next to each other in the academy. I notice things.”
Shino may as well have been a fly on the wall, Sasuke was aware, but he still didn’t enjoy hearing someone essentially tell him that they could figure him out. It left the omega feeling open for the world to see, but he desperately wanted to remain cloaked in shadow.
“So what if there is?”
“It may be beneficial to discuss it with a friend. Why? Because friends often are able to advise you when you feel conflicted.”
Sasuke didn’t miss the insinuation that Shino saw them as friends. Maybe a few weeks ago, Sasuke would have had the same feeling. Now, he didn’t know if he could afford to, not with Itachi and Orochimaru having their eyes on him.
“I’m torn. I have feelings for someone, but I don’t know if I can let myself act on them.”
Sasuke was surprised at himself. He hadn’t planned on actually taking the bait and talking, but then again, Shino occasionally had that effect on people.
The alpha pushed his glasses back into their correct place, a habit Sasuke had noticed the other had after only six hours into his first day at the academy. Even after nearly six years, the alpha still hadn’t dropped the habit.
“You are unsure because of what happened in the chunin exams, and with your older brother.”
Sasuke inhaled subtly, yet deeply, to force his body to remain calm at the mention of Itachi, and nodded. Standing as close as he was to the Aburame, Sasuke was able to catch a whiff of his scent, which because of all of the bugs at the other genin’s disposal, was usually quite unclear.
Leaves. Shino smelled like leaves. Sasuke didn’t know why it took him by surprise, but it did.
“Am I correct in my observations that the person you have feelings for is Naruto?”
Sasuke bristled on reflex. Shino turned to stare at him for a moment, and nodded to himself, seemingly pleased with whatever answer he took from Sasuke’s body language.
“It is my understanding, then, that when the time comes to face your demons, you will not want to face them alone.”
“I would rather face them alone, than let someone else get injured because of me.” Sasuke didn’t mean to let his voice sound like a haunted child, with far too many skeletons to fit inside a closet, but it did, and he knew Shino had noticed.
“In my experience, being alone is a burden worse than any injury could inflict.”
Sasuke turned to him then, surprised for what felt like the thousandth time during their interaction. Sasuke had always reveled in being alone. He coated himself in loneliness like an inky blanket that tattooed itself on his skin in invisible ink, he’d just always assumed that Shino held similar preferences.
He hadn’t ever considered that.. Shino was lonely.
“Thanks, Shino.”
Shino shrugged, and shoved his hands back into his jacket pockets, and Sasuke didn’t miss the bug that had begun to crawl on the Aburame’s neck. Sasuke could understand why someone with that particular clan trait would feel lonely or even isolated. After all, he couldn’t remember very many of their old classmates being particularly fond of all the wayward insects that sought Shino out.
A vague memory of an old woman making fun of his mother’s “creepish stalker” eyes as she held Sasuke on her hip resurfaced in his mind. It was hazy, and confusing, and obviously a broken piece of a memory from a toddler’s mind.
Maybe Shino could relate to him more than Sasuke had originally assumed.
The two stood in silence, watching the lake and enjoying the breeze flowing through their hair and not long after, the two parted ways.
As Shino turned to walk away, a bright orange butterfly landed on Sasuke’s hand, and the Uchiha smiled.
Sasuke speculated that maybe Shino was his friend after all.
~~~
“What do you mean you can’t attach the rock to the ring! Your name has ‘rock’ in it, shouldn’t you be good with that stuff?!” Naruto exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air in frustration.
He’d gone to visit Rock Lee at the hospital, and so far, the visit had been a bust.
“Naruto, I do not know if you know this, but names do not convey a certain skill set one may possess.” Rock Lee corrected passionately, curling a fist in the air to help accent his seriousness.
Great! Now what was he supposed to do to put the ring together?!
Naruto’s brows furrowed as he leaned back in his chair, and contemplatively scented the air. “Was Sakura just here? Her scent is really strong.” he commented. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Sakura since Sasuke’s party. Guilt welled in the pit of his stomach.
He hadn’t meant to ignore her, it’s just that he had a wedding to plan, a willfully rebellious Sasuke to look after, and training with Master Jiraiya to keep himself busy with.
Still, he felt like a bad friend.
“Oh,” the injured genin breathed, and if Naruto didn’t know any better, he’d have said that Rock Lee was blushing, “Sakura has been keeping me company.”
“Oh gee, that’s nice of her!” Naruto smiled. She must have been spending a lot of time there, because her cinnamony scent was causing his nose to itch.
The two talked for a little while longer, with Naruto updating the older alpha on the shenanigans Kakashi sensei and Gai sensei were getting up to around the village, and Rock Lee asking about Naruto’s training process. A nurse walked in and cut their visit short, as she had a few tests she needed to run on old lady Tsunade’s orders, and Naruto bid his friend goodbye.
The Uzumaki walked down the bustling hospital hallway, and smiled fondly at the room that Sasuke had spent his first heat in. It felt like so long ago, when in reality, it had only been around four months, but if Naruto could go back and relive it again, he wouldn’t.
He fumbled with the rock and the ring in his pocket, how could he want to go back when the future held so much more for him?
~~~
Choji had just finished ordering for the table when Naruto decided to speak up.
“You may be wondering why I’ve called you all here today.” The Uzumaki’s voice boomed over the loud atmosphere of the barbeque restaurant.
Choji, Kiba, and Tenten were staring at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. Although, Kiba wasn’t really paying that close attention, as he was busy scratching Akamaru behind the ears.
“I had an idea. An idea to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if we could create something more. To see if we could work together when we needed to, to fight the battles that others never could.”
“Alright!,” Kiba cheered, letting his sharp canines glint in the restaurant's lighting in excitement. Tenten looked enthralled and honored to be part of Naruto’s team, yet Choji looked unsure.
“Why us? Wouldn’t it make sense for some of the others to be here too?” the Akimichi inquired. Choji may have been a bit of a glutton, but he was smarter than most people gave him credit for.
“Wait a second, why are we the only ones you picked for this ‘idea’ you had?” Kiba spoke up.
“Well, for the mission I’m about to give you guys, I needed your particular set of skills. Tenten is a weapons master, Kiba, you have the keenest nose of your clan, and your tracking skills would come in handy. Choji, your expansion jutsu would bring us the muscles we would need for the job.”
Naruto paused and scratched his head awkwardly when Akamaru whined at him, “Oh yeah.. and Akamaru will be our.. uh.. mascot!”. The dog wagged his tail happily and Kiba had to try and keep the puppy from lunging onto the table to lick Naruto’s face.
“Okay, that makes sense. But why are you giving us a mission instead of Lady Tsunade?” Tenten asked after she finished sipping her drink.
Before he could answer, their food arrived, and they all paused to begin cooking their meal. Choji, unsurprisingly, nearly took Kiba’s finger off when he got too close to the omega’s food. It was only Tenten’s quick thinking with her chopsticks that kept Kiba’s thumb from being severed.
“As I was saying, I’m giving you a special ops, top secret, off the books mission. It requires stealth, creativity, teamwork, and-” the three genin were hanging off of his every word, “decorating skills.”
That last one seemed to snap them out of their intrigue. “Decorating skills?!” Tenten exclaimed as she patted Kiba’s back, who had begun choking on his food in surprise.
“Yes. Decorating skills.”
“Naruto,” Kiba growled lightly, although it was a little hoarse from all of the coughing, he’d been doing a moment ago, “Why do we need decorating skills.”
Choji didn’t seem to care one way or another, and Naruto was thankful for that. Tenten wouldn’t be hard to sway, but Kiba? Kiba was going to fight him tooth and nail every step of the way. Unless, that is, Naruto bribed Akamaru with some more ‘Sasuke’ time. If Akamaru was on board, then Kiba would obviously follow.
“Oh, we’re planning my wedding.” The Uzumaki shrugged nonchalantly.
“YOUR WEDDING?!”
~~~
Sakura was just about to leave the training field when she ran into Shikamaru.
“Oh, hey Shikamaru, what’s up?” Sakura smiled, chest heaving slightly from over exertion as she finished putting away her kunai knives.
The other alpha shrugged, indifferent as always, as he moved to stand a few feet in front of her.
His body language was calm, and a bit lazy, but his eyes were analytical. She tried to get a feel for what he was up to by scenting the air, but his coppery scent was just as calm.
“Is everything okay?” She continued to smile, knowing it would unnerve him a bit. She used that technique a lot on Naruto in their earlier genin days to get him to do what she wanted, but over time the idiot had grown accustomed to it.
“You could say that.” the Nara whistled. His eyes never left hers, and she felt like unsuspecting prey, right before a predator pounced from the tall weeds behind her. What was Shikamaru up to?
“Well, if that’s all, I’m just gonna head back home-” She tried to push past him as she feigned an innocent goodbye, but he grabbed hold of her elbow before she could. Up close, the coppery scent that everyone associated with the genius alpha had turned smoky, as if his scent had become a warning of looming danger.
“Hey! What’s the big idea-”
“Cut the crap, Sakura. I know you’re up to something. I don’t know exactly what, or why, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re planning something. You gave yourself away at Sasuke’s ‘we’re glad you’re not a brain zombie anymore’ party.”
How had he- she’d been so careful!
Judging by the smirk he gave her; he’d recognized her shock for more than what it was at face value. “A word of advice. Stop while you’re ahead. Because those teammates of yours? They are the future of this village. You can’t even begin to understand what you’re trying to mess with, so back off. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.”
It was Sakura’s turn to glare at him, “Are you threatening me?” she growled slowly, deliberately. He chuckled bitterly, and leaned in closer, his eyes never losing their analytical aura.
“If you think that was a threat, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Shikamaru released her arm and took a step back.
Sakura was free to go, the message was clear in the way Shikamaru slouched his shoulders, contradicting how seconds before, his stance had been as solid as stone, and just as menacing.
The pink haired girl made a point to adjust her outfit and toss her newly cut hair over her shoulder, as if she couldn’t care less about Shikamaru’s presence. Then, she turned, and walked away.
If Shikamaru was on to her, then she would need to take a different approach to making Sasuke hers.
~~~
Akamaru was licking a recently fainted Tenten as Kiba stood frozen in shock. Choji’s jaw was nearly on the table, and the meat he’d put on the barbeque to cook had begun to sizzle and burn.
“Yep! My wedding. Now, onto more important things, Choji, do you think the cake should be really sweet? Or ramen flavored? OOH! Can it be ramen themed?!”
The two not unconscious members of his decorating team continued to stare at him like he’d grown a second head, and Naruto for the life of him couldn’t figure out why.
The omega made a strangled sound as he continued to stare at Naruto wide eyed.
“Aw, c’mon Choji! Don’t be like that! It’s just my wedding, how serious can it be?!”
Tenten began to stir on the ground and Akamaru yipped happily, much to the displeasure of the store’s other patrons. “Guys, you will not believe the dream I just had-” she cut herself off when she noticed their surroundings, Choji’s frozen horror, Kiba’s loss for words, and Naruto’s heroic stance from where he’d jumped on their table.
“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She deadpanned, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head.
“Nope!” Naruto cheered, jumping down from his pose on the table, to sit on the ground in front of her.
She looked unsure, “Naruto, how are you getting married? When did you even propose to-Who did you even propose to?!”
The Uzumaki paused. Sasuke was a private person, he doubted he would want tons of people knowing that they were going to get married before Sasuke knew.
“Uh- well you see, I haven’t.. yet.”
“YOU HAVEN’T PROPOSED YET?!?”
That seemed to startle the other two out of their frozen shock. Choji leapt to get the burned food off of the grill, and Kiba started coughing, his nose overwhelmed by the scent of burned meat.
“Kiba, do you need some water?” Naruto ignored Tenten’s exclamation and instead turned to the Inuzuka. The brunette alpha coughed out what sounded like a yes, and Naruto went running to get a waitress.
“So.. uh, this is probably just another one of Naruto’s pranks, right?” Choji asked, staring forlornly at the sullied meal.
“Oh yeah, definitely!” Kiba coughed, grinning mischievously at the omega.
Tenten was still new to the other genin, she had no idea what was happening, so she sat quietly and studied the two boys curiously.
“If it’s a prank, then I think we should help him. Whoever the joke is being played on might be worth the effort!” Tenten assessed after a moment.
The three shared a look but couldn’t say anything because Naruto was heading back to their table with a small barrel of water being juggled dangerously in his arms. If they alerted the blonde alpha to their own scheme, the hilarious pay off may not have been worth it.
“That’s a lot of water, Naru-” Tenten was cut off by Naruto dumping the entire barrel onto Kiba, dousing the brunette entirely. The scent of wet dog filled the air, and the surrounding patrons began to complain loudly.
“Naruto! You idiot!” Kiba growled, shaking himself off like a dog. Akamaru seemed to find humor in Kiba’s struggles, because the puppy huffed and began licking at one of the puddles of water that now decorated the ground.
“What?! You said you wanted water!”
“To drink! Did you think I needed a bath?!”
Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but Kiba stopped him, “Don’t answer that. It was rhetorical” he growled as he rang out his jacket.
~~~
Kakashi wasn’t shocked to find Iruka sitting on his couch at two in the afternoon. The omega had a scarily accurate talent for seeking Kakashi out, and at this point, Kakashi had given up on keeping his home’s location a secret from the teacher.
“Kakashi.. we need to talk.”
Oh joy. The Hatake just loved it when people broke into his home to lecture him.
The jonin sighed and took off his green vest, draping it over the lone chair at his dining table.
“Our worst fears have come true.” The urgency in Iruka’s eyes was brutal, and his words struck complete and utter terror into his heart. “No-” the grey haired man gasped.
Iruka nodded solemnly. “Yes, Naruto and Sasuke.. they.. kissed.” the omega shuddered in horror as the words left his mouth, and he clenched his eyes together tightly.
“No! It’s too soon!” Kakashi was comfortable enough with his masculinity to admit that he wailed but wailing couldn't even begin to describe the strangled, pained sound that left his throat.
“That’s not all.. I think Naruto is going to propose to Sasuke..”
….
In what could only later be recalled as a fit of blind insanity inducing disbelief and rage, Kakashi began to cackle maniacally. His whole body shook, wracked with sob like huffs of laughter and uncontrollable spasms.
“Uh.. Kakashi?”
He couldn’t help it. Laughter was the only way he could deal with the oncoming near apocalyptic event that was a jinchuriki falling in love with the last Uchiha, both of whom were emotionally stunted and thought beating each other up was flirting.
He never should’ve left the anbu. At least there he could kill his problems. As a sensei, he could only watch from a distance and hope for the best.
Kakashi wheezed.
“Iruka, listen closely,” he said after he’d calmed down a bit, “I need you to help me convince Lady Tsunade to put us on a week long mission. B rank preferably. We’ll complete the mission and fake our deaths. Then, we run away together and go live as refugees in Suna.”
Kakashi would be lying if he said he hadn’t had this escape plan waiting in the back of his mind for whenever his two pupils realized their feelings for one another. Every night, he was haunted by nightmares of his students causing an all out ninja war over who forgot their anniversary or something else just as absurd and extreme.
“Kakashi we can’t just abandon the village, and my students! Think of my students!” Iruka cried, in his stress, a few hairs had slipped from his hair tie and had fallen into his face, making him look just as anxious and tense as Kakashi felt.
“Think of my students and the devastation they’ll cause!” the jonin snapped. Really, he shouldn’t be scared of two genin. He shouldn’t.
But oh, how he was.
Iruka seemed to come to his senses, “Kakashi, we don’t need to fake our deaths. We just need to be away from the village long enough to let their destructive tendencies die down a bit.”
“Iruka! They’re child soldiers! Their destructive tendencies will never die down!”
“Okay, breathe, let's both calm down and figure this out.” Iruka tried to soothe. It didn’t really work, as Kakashi was still in his unhinged panic mode.
“Iruka, our best bet is to leave!”
“We can’t just leave them to figure things out on their own! What if they’re scared and confused?” The teacher whined, trying to appeal to Kakashi’s softer side.
Too bad Kakashi had locked away his gentler feelings in a cage deep within his traumatized and abyss-like mind many years ago.
Still, looking at Iruka’s puppy dog eyes stirred something within his proudly cold and withered heart.
Kakashi sighed, “Fine. What do you propose we do?”
~~~
Choji had to hand it to him, Naruto had picked a weirdly good team to put together a wedding.
The location hadn’t been difficult to figure out, because Naruto had been dead set on the venue being at the large lake on the outskirts of Konoha’s borders. Choji thought it was a bit of an odd spot, but if Naruto was going for a secluded feel, then he guessed he could see why it was the final choice.
Tenten had put her talent for kunai throwing to use and attached the ends of string that would hold the miniature lanterns to their handles and embedded them high among the trees. Choji’s task had been to use his partial expansion jutsu to put together the heavy equipment, such as the poles that would hold up the floral arrangement that would serve as the altar. Kiba and Akamaru had been put to work sniffing out wildflowers and arranging them onto the poles that Choji put up.
What had Naruto done? Supervise of course.
“Hey, uh, does anyone have any glue?” speak of the devil.
“Why do you need glue, Naruto?” Choji asked, turning to where the blonde alpha was sitting on the grass, knees folded, and face contorted in concentration.
“To build the ring!”
..This prank of his was getting to be weirdly detailed..
Choji walked closer, and upon further inspection, he cringed. The loop part was obviously broken off of a kunai handle, and the ‘diamond’ part was just some rock Naruto had probably fished out of the lake.
“Why are you using some old, black rock?”
Naruto frowned and snatched the rock away from Choji’s hand, “It’s not just some dumb old rock! It’s perfect and blue-black and it's majestic and awesome!” he pouted childishly.
“Wait a second! Is that the rock you found at the lake a few weeks ago? When you were chasing Ino around with that frog?” If the rock had some sort of value.. then Choji couldn’t picture Naruto using it for something as silly as a prank.
.. which would mean that-
Naruto was serious. It wasn’t a prank.
“Yep!” the Uzumaki chirped.
White hot panic began to course through Choji’s veins. He needed to get the others and get out of there! Immediately!
Whatever insane, poorly thought out agenda Naruto had come up with was about to happen and Choji knew, he knew that they did not want to be caught in the middle of it.
The omega turned to call out to Tenten and whistle for Kiba and Akamaru but was interrupted by an angry shout.
“NARUTOOO!”
Shikamaru came stomping up, face red and exerted. Choji knew for a fact that when Shikamaru was mad and then had to exert himself, he only got angrier.
“Hey Shikamaru, calm dow-”
His best friend cut him off with a look and leveled his eyes on Naruto instead. Choji rarely saw the alpha like that. Only when kids had picked on Choji for being fat when they were kids, or his mom had given him another tongue lashing for being lazy. What could Naruto have done to cause such ire to be directed at him from the calmest guy in the village?
“Why did you tell Ino that you were madly in love with me?!”
If Choji had just drunk something, he would’ve spit it out of his mouth. Kiba came running through the trees, clearly eagerly anticipating a prank reveal that wasn’t actually a prank.
“Oh man! This is too good!” The Inuzuka laughed, holding his stomach as he doubled over in joy. Tenten was playing it smart and had perched herself onto one of the numerous tree branches near the scene, taking it all in with the delight of a drama starved teenage girl.
Choji thought Ino and Tenten would get along well.
Naruto was spluttering, dumfounded, and if his eyes could have bulged out of his skull, they would have. “Ew! That’s the grossest thing I’ve ever heard! Why would I like you?! I obviously like Sa-”
Naruto cut himself off, as if caught in a lie that no one had accused him of.
“-kura?” he finished lamely.
Anyone with common sense and a taste for romance would know that Naruto had begun to say Sasuke’s name, but after looking around at the others, Shikamaru had been the only one that looked like he’d caught on to the slip up.
Why those two didn’t just get together, Choji would never know.
“Then why would you tell Ino that! She’s got it in her head that I’ve been keeping things from her and she’s a total drag when you keep good gossip from her!”
The good news was that Shikamaru had deflated a little, even though the genius’s coppery scent was still tinged with annoyance.
“All I wanted were some flowers! She’s the one that kept asking me questions!”
The bad news was that Naruto was an idiot.
“Sheesh, I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t know you were dumb enough to tell someone the wrong name for who your crush is!” the lazy boy snapped and rolled his eyes.
Choji didn’t blame him. Naruto did tend to.. make things more difficult than they needed to be, completely unaware that he’d done so.
“Hah! THE JOKE’S ON YOU BECAUSE I NEVER SAID SASUKE’S NAME-”
Naruto froze as soon as he realized what he’d said and slapped a hand over his mouth.
Choji froze, but for a completely different reason.
Standing right behind the blonde was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.
~~~
“SCATTER!” shouted the world’s most annoying Inuzuka, as he, that girl Tenten from the chunin exams, and Shikamaru and Choji ran from the clearing like they were being chased by a monster. Even Akamaru had bolted.
Sasuke’s talk with Shino earlier had led the Uchiha on another walk to gather his thoughts, which had led him to the outskirts of the village, where he’d witnessed the complete and total dumbassery of his teammate.
“Naruto.” Sasuke spoke, raising a suspicious eyebrow and body as still as the faces on the hokage mountain.
The alpha in question was shaking in horror.
“What’s this I hear about you being in love with Shikamaru?” Sasuke knew that the Uzumaki had no such feelings for the other alpha, but Sasuke wanted to watch him squirm.
“No! Sasuke please, you have to believe me! I love you not that know it all!” The blonde dropped to his knees to plead his case, and Sasuke tried to not cringe at the usage of that word.
Did Naruto even know what it meant to truly love someone? Had he ever received it?
Sasuke sighed and narrowed his eyes when a glint coming from the Uzumaki’s palm caught his eye.
“What’s in your hand, moron.” Sasuke cursed himself for how fond the nickname sounded. Gone were the days when it had held any sort of malice, he was afraid.
“Oh!” Naruto exclaimed, clearly having been reminded of something he’d forgotten. He clenched his hand tighter and prevented Sasuke from seeing the shiny object even further. Instead, the blonde adjusted his crouched position to where he was on one knee, looking up at Sasuke with an eerie sort of sincerity slathered on his face.
“Sasuke Uchiha, will you marry me?”
Naruto outstretched his right hand to brandish a ring, or rather, parts of an attempt at a ring. The thing that had caught his attention was the rock that Naruto had found at the lake, back before even the chunin exams, when Sasuke had only just presented.
The inky blue black shade of the rock was as alluring as ever and paired with the deep iron color of what Sasuke could only guess was a broken off ring part of a kunai knife, it looked beautiful.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Sasuke exclaimed.
He looked around, and saw the flowers, and the lights, and the sunset’s shades reflected in the lake’s calm waters, and he was astounded at the lengths of insanity Naruto would go to.
“You have to say yes! Kakashi sensei’s book told me to!”
The desperation in those refreshingly blue eyes gave him a disturbing sense of deja vu. Curse that stupid porn book of Kakashi’s and the misguided lessons it had taught the idiot alpha!
“Naruto, you don’t just propose to someone because you kissed them!”
“Why would a book lie to me, Sasuke! Everyone is always telling me how much books are supposed to teach you things, why would it tell me the wrong stuff!” Naruto stomped his foot and threw his hands in the air petulantly.
“It’s a porn novel! Not a textbook!”
“Well how was I supposed to know!”
“You’d know if you had even one brain cell in that big empty head of yours!”
Naruto lost his cool and flung the rock into the grass as he lunged at Sasuke. Easily, the omega maneuvered himself out of the way, but Naruto grabbed him from behind, dragging the Uchiha to the ground with him.
They wrestled for a moment, fighting each other but not really, until Sasuke rolled them over and he took his place on top, holding the blonde down until they both calmed down.
Their chests rose and fell asynchronously as they stared wordlessly into each other’s eyes. The air around them felt alive with some sort of electric field that gravitated between them. Adrenaline was still humming in his chest, but Sasuke wasn’t sure if it was from the wrestling match or something else, something heavier and lighter at the same time.
Sasuke breathed through his nose, and inhaled what had become his favorite scent, oranges and sunshine. He simultaneously wanted to shove his nose into the blonde’s neck and push away until he was at least three hundred feet away from the captivating scent.
From the looks of it, Naruto was having the same dilemma.
Should he feel touched that Naruto was willing to jump into something as serious and life altering as marriage with Sasuke on nothing other than a misguided whim? Or should he be angry that the Uzumaki thought that Sasuke could be tethered to someone with so little thought put into it?
“I can hear you thinking.” Naruto stated with just enough rasp in his voice to make Sasuke almost forget what he’d been thinking about in the first place.
Sasuke grew very aware of his body, at that moment. His hands were on the alpha’s chest, and his waist burned at the place where Naruto’s hands had fallen to rest at. Naruto’s shining blue eyes were dancing across Sasuke’s face, like they were both trying to search him for underlying motives and to simply memorize the way Sasuke looked.
“Hn, so at least you know what thinking looks like.” he countered, not missing the way the alpha grinned challengingly up at him. There were bits of grass sticking out of his disheveled blonde locks, and Sasuke, ever the neat freak, moved to pull a few of the weeds out of the alpha’s hair.
“Hmph,” Naruto huffed, “I don’t know why you got upset! I kissed you, so I had to propose!”
Sasuke retracted his hands from where they were combing for weeds or small twigs in the alpha’s hair and eyed him for a moment, before leaning down and doing something he didn’t know if he would later regret.
Sasuke kissed him.
It was short and sweet and inexperienced because they both were each other’s first kiss, both on purpose and accidentally, and somehow, it felt right that Sasuke had never kissed anyone else. When Sasuke loved, he always knew it would be just the one person. …Not that he loved Naruto or anything, pft, that would be crazy.
When he pulled away, his arms were tingling, and Naruto’s sharp canines were on full display as he smiled a blindingly happy grin at the omega.
“There,” Sasuke looked away to try and hide the blush that was no doubt coloring his cheeks, “I kissed you, so I’m the one that chooses when to propose.”
Sasuke moved to get off of Naruto, but the Uzumaki pulled him down, and the Uchiha let him.
“Watch the stars with me?” the other whined playfully, and Sasuke couldn’t refuse him. Not when the idiot had spent an entire day trying to throw a wedding because a porn book told him to, and he was too naive to understand why that wasn’t okay.
Sasuke knew that Naruto tried to show he cared in his own way, and as annoying as it could sometimes be, he appreciated it regardless.
Although, as he stared up at the sky, lying close to Naruto and feeling the warmth from the other radiating against his cold skin, he couldn’t help but wonder.
Where did this leave them?