A pact of Foliage

“Hey Sasuke,” his pink haired teammate’s voice crooned from beside him after she elbowed some woman out of her way next to him at the produce stall.

The Uchiha didn’t bother looking up at her in acknowledgement, too busy analyzing the vegetables to care. It didn’t deter her though, if anything, he was starting to learn, his silent ways only encouraged talkative people to talk. Naruto, Ino, Kiba for some reason, and obviously Sakura were all repeat offenders of that phenomenon.

After another beat, she continued cheerily, “Anyway, I was wondering if you’d wanna get some lunch before our training session together?”

Sasuke grabbed an apple and added it to his basket before turning to her. “H-”

Naruto interrupted him before he could answer her, as he flew around the corner with an arm full of ramen cups, with an excited shout about some new ramen flavor he’d been dying to try. The idiot was going to die by sixteen with his terrible eating habits.

“Oh, Naruto.” Sakura’s voice was disappointed, but Sasuke ignored her again in favor of adding two more apples to his basket. “Hey Sakura! Are you grocery shopping today too?” the blonde grinned at her as he threw an arm over Sasuke’s shoulder.

He could feel her eyes on him, probably shocked at the showing of affection, because if there was one thing everyone knew about Sasuke, it was that he would rather claw his eyes out with blunt scissors than indulge in human contact.

“Oh, no, I was just passing through when I saw Sasuke, so I figured I’d say hi.” her voice was back to its regular, sugary cheer. It was a bit ironic how sweet Sakura tried to be when her scent had such a spicy, cinnamon like fragrance. Ino had made a joke referencing the paradox before during one of the two’s countless arguments, and the idea had stuck with the Uchiha ever since. It was very annoying.

With a sigh, the omega turned to the excited alpha and abandoned the shiny red fruits of the stall in favor of talking with his teammates so that he could hopefully sooner, rather than later, get back to his shopping. “Sakura was just asking if we could get lunch before I go train with her” he said with a shrug.

“Oh, cool! Sakura, if you want some snacks that are easy to make before training, you should get some ramen cups! They’re great for all of your daily ninja needs!” The blonde alpha recited proudly, as if he’d been the one to invent the damn things.

“No.” Sasuke spoke before Sakura could, “Between your ramen addiction and Kakashi’s porn addiction, we do not need another addict on the team. Ramen is a gateway drug.” He added, not giving into those large blue eyes and the pouty look Naruto shot him.

“Yeah, and uh, besides, if I start getting ramen, that means there’s less ramen for you.” the pink haired girl suggested, playing Naruto like a fiddle as he recoiled at the very idea of not being able to single handedly own almost all of Konoha’s stock of those treacherous ramen cups.

Sensing that the alpha was going to do something drastic, like demand they go buy more ramen cups instead of the sensible rice and tomatoes that were next on Sasuke’s shopping list, Sasuke turned to Sakura decidedly, “Fine.”

She looked lost, but Naruto jumped in to explain “He said yes to the lunch thing.”

Should he be concerned at how well Naruto knew him? Probably, but Ino had said that boyfriends were supposed to, so he shrugged it off and ignored the weird, gooey feeling in his stomach. Maybe he was coming down with a cold?

Sakura screeched happily, and flashed him a smile, although it didn’t reach her eyes like Naruto’s did.

“Awesome, let’s go to that new place near the ninja tools store before we meet up tomorrow!” she suggested.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and allowed Naruto to pull him towards a new stall selling random nick nacks and away from Sakura.

~~~

Naruto Uzumaki, the leaf village’s greatest shinobi, the mostest awesomest guy ever, and the reigning champ in the Ichiraku ramen eating competition for five consecutive years now… was bored.

Sakura’s stupid training session with Sasuke had been okay, or whatever, at first, but then it dawned on him after he went to Sasuke’s apartment to see if he wanted to go play pranks on Shikamaru, that Sasuke would be busy.

Sasuke being busy meant that Naruto didn’t have anyone to entertain him.

Meaning Naruto had to amuse himself for once.

Naruto was not amused.

At first, he’d tried to help Ino out at the flower shop, but the place had been basically empty so there wasn't much for him to do there. Although, he really had put up a try before giving up. Really, he had. It was just that Ino didn’t like it when he tried to hold one half of the floral scissors while she held the other half and cut the stems.

For some reason, that had irritated her.

His next attempt to hang out with someone had been Hinata, mainly because he’d run into her when he was on his way to the academy to go beg Iruka sensei to buy him some ramen after his class was over for the day.

She’d been startled for some reason when he shouted after her and ran to catch up to her. Ino had mentioned that since Hinata had begun training with Neji, the omega squad hadn’t seen very much of her, so he wanted to catch up with her and see if she wanted to hang out.

He didn’t know that him asking her to go catch frogs at the lake would cause her to faint. It wasn’t his fault. Honestly.

Hinata was just.. weird like that for some reason.

Hours later, the blonde had found himself with Kiba, playing with the Inuzuka dogs while the other genin took them on their daily walk around the village. Naruto liked being around the dogs. Their fur was soft, and when they pounced on him, it felt like getting a hug from a warm blanket, or a weirdly fuzzy Sasuke.

“So why aren’t you off causing another ninja war with Sasuke?” Kiba asked from where he was perched on the ground. He’d stopped the horde of canines to readjust one of the younger dog’s collars, as she’d been pushing at it with one of her front paws for the last few minutes.

“Oh,” Naruto’s face fell and his brows furrowed in jealousy, “Sakura and Sasuke went to get lunch together before heading to go train.”

The brunette alpha spared him a glance, before standing up and dusting off his jacket. “I thought you and Sasuke were a thing?”

The Uzumaki stomped his foot indignantly, “Of course we are, dog breath! What makes you think we aren’t?!”

Kiba rolled his eyes at him, and Akamaru yipped at the blonde like he was the dumbest guy ever.

“I mean, I don’t know of too many alphas that would let their omegas go on a date with someone else.” Kiba hummed nonchalantly, knowing exactly how to rile the blonde up.

“Wha- Sasuke isn’t my omega! He’s my-”

“Your what?” Kiba instigated, finding a certain joy in pushing Naruto’s buttons.

“My.. teammate..” he finished lamely.

Was Kiba right? Sasuke definitely wasn’t the type of guy that would care enough to cheat. Hell, Sasuke barely cared about most things outside of nagging him to chew with his mouth closed, training, tomatoes, and dogs. Surely, this was all just a misunderstanding.

Sasuke- Sasuke liked him. He wouldn’t decide to date Sakura if he was already dating Naruto.

That dumb old voice in his head that sounded a lot like the kids from the academy all smushed together reminded the blonde of all the other people he’d thought cared about him too, though.

Akamaru barked and pawed at his orange pant leg. “Never mind Kiba, I think I know what I’m gonna do today” he mumbled, not noticing Kiba’s perplexed look as he turned to walk away.

“Uh- okay, have fun man!” The other alpha waved him off absentmindedly as three of the puppies broke off from the herd.

If Sakura was going on a date with Sasuke, Naruto was going to get to the bottom of it. One way or another.

~~~

Shino enjoyed damp places.

Typically, they were dark and had just the right amount of humidity in the air that his bugs liked. Currently, he was searching for a rather rebellious beetle that had escaped her habitat in the leafy underbrush of the forest surrounding the village.

Of course, he wasn’t alone in his search. His fellow clansmen were out and about scouting the terrain as well, though Shino had made a point to wander farther away from them. He preferred to be alone while he quested for insects, their hums and buzzes sounded much more at ease that way.

What Shino did not particularly enjoy was being tackled from above by none other than his fellow genin, Naruto Uzumaki.

The crash to the ground didn’t hurt, he’d had far worse by much heavier opponents, but the blonde did catch him off guard. “Naruto-” Aburame groaned as he adjusted his sunglasses to perch perfectly along the bridge of his nose.

“Hey Shino!” Naruto grinned, showing off his oddly sharp canines as he scratched the back of his neck, “You’re a hard guy to find, you know that?” he added after he hopped up like he hadn’t just sneak attacked Shino and fallen from about forty-three feet in the air.

Shino huffed after he stood up, careful to not step on the ladybug that had settled on a leaf near his foot. “Is my assistance required for something?” he asked, still a bit surprised at Naruto’s crash-landing introduction.

The younger alpha’s face turned serious as he started nudging a twig on the ground with his foot, “You’re good at spying, right?”

Was Naruto given a mission that needed team spots filled?

“I can’t take all the credit; my insects are quite helpful for recognizance missions as well.”

A few stray flies flew out of his shirt as he spoke, and Naruto, used to them by now, didn’t stare.

“Would you be interested in joining a team I’m putting together? It’s supposed to be super duper, top secret levels of stealth!” he shouted, causing Shino to wince at the volume.

How on earth Naruto would fit into a stealth team, Shino didn’t know, but he was simply honored to have been thought of at all by one of his peers.

“I’ll be glad to lend my services.” The Aburame smiled faintly. Naruto clapped him on the back gleefully, causing a few of his beetles to buzz around and match the loud alpha’s energy. Beetles, in Shino’s opinion, were a very excitable species.

Only, a thought struck him then. The last time Naruto had gone around rounding up people to join a team, Kiba had run to him crying about how traumatizing wedding planning could be and that Sasuke was going to kill them all.

“.. This is an official mission, right?”

~~~

“No.”

“Aww, come on Shikamaruuuu!” his idiot friend whined, effectively ruining the genius’s relaxation time with his annoying outburst.

“I’m not getting involved in whatever weird plans you’ve got set up. I’m allergic to bad decisions, and you are full of them.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t wanna get up!”

Shikamaru would be lying if he denied the claim, so he ignored it.

The brunette sighed and sat up, groaning as a few of his joints popped in the process.

Naruto’s gremlin face had appeared out of nowhere during Shikamaru’s lazy, day off, relaxing routine of cloud watching. He’d been staring at the large tufts of white shifting around the sea of blue, when all of a sudden, there was Naruto, with his bright head of hair nearly blinding him as it shined in the sunlight. Gone was Shikamaru’s tranquil peace. Naruto’s chaotic whirlwind having taken its place instead.

“Say I do help out, and we go, and we try and catch Sasuke in the act of cheating on you, which, I gotta say, is insane because that guy has two emotions, hating everyone and not hating you, what do I get out of it?” he yawned and continued stretching like a three hundred year old cat.

Naruto paused for a second and scratched his head. “.. a muffin basket?”

Sheesh, that guy.

“If I do this, which again, is pointless because Kiba’s a loudmouth dumbass, I want a favor, one that I can cash in whenever I want, for whatever I want.”

Naruto didn’t even think it over before agreeing. The fool.

~~~

Hinata waved goodbye to Choji as she made her way out of the seamstress’s shop, somewhat tired after a few hours of helping Choji pick out a suitable present for Ino’s birthday that was coming up. They’d gone through tons of items before Choji had finally settled on a nice purple scarf with matching mittens. When Hinata had asked, a bit intrigued because Ino didn’t usually like having more than the bare minimum on when it came to clothing, her fellow omega had said it was for that same reason that he’d finally chosen the scarf and mittens. Winter was coming up soon, and she was always cold because she never had warm clothing.

Hinata wished she had thoughtful teammates and friends like that. Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru had been practically raised together, and were more like siblings than friends. Hinata had Kiba, a rough around the edges, stereotypical alpha, and Shino, who had his own problems to deal with.

Maybe it was that edge of loneliness that never truly went away that caused her to grow such an attachment to Naruto. When he’d stopped those boys from picking on her all those years ago, he had been the first person to look out for her out of nothing but kindness, and ever since, she’d always held a special place for him in her heart.

That was why she agreed easily to join the team Naruto was putting together, even if she had no idea what it was for. All she knew was that she was supposed to meet him, Shino, and Shikamaru at the ninja tools shop two streets over in about five minutes.

~~~

The alleyway beside the Ninja tools shop was empty of any loiterers and was therefore the perfect space for the four of them to meet up and spy on Sasuke and Sakura. Shino was already there, somehow having beaten the Uzumaki there even though it was his own idea, which only proved how right he’d been in choosing to ask Shino to join.

“Hey Shino!” he grinned and waved at the other alpha.

Luckily, the streets were busy, so his cover wasn’t blown.

Hinata and Shikamaru arrived at the same time a few minutes later, probably having met up along the way because they were coming from the same direction.

“Alright,” Naruto clapped his hands together in a poor attempt at displaying authority, “As you all know, we’re here to get some answers to a problem of mine.”

He was interrupted by Hinata’s shyly raised hand and Shikamaru’s sigh as the brown haired alpha leaned against the wall next to him in exasperation. “Uh- Naruto? Wh-what problem are you having if you don’t mind me asking?” the omega asked timidly, fidgeting with her jacket sleeve as she did so.

“Oh, yeah, about that.. You guys know how I’m dating Sasuke?”

The three nodded.

“Well, uh, Kiba said that Sakura was on a date with Sasuke, and it’s at that restaurant over there,” he pointed at the outdoor cafe across the street, where several couples could be seen laughing together and eating.

“B-but Sasuke wouldn’t ever cheat on you! He really likes you!” she defended. Naruto wanted to believe her, and a part of him did, but still, how could he be sure? Besides, Sakura knew that he and Sasuke were boyfriends, why would she ask him on a date if they hadn’t teamed up to play a really long and thought-out prank on him? He needed answers, and with the help of his friends, he was about to get them.

Shikamaru shrugged at him, and turned his head towards the sky, and Shino remained cloaked in the shadows, as silent as ever. Surely, they would say something too if there was really nothing to worry about, so their quietness had to prove that Naruto should indeed be worried.

“That’s what we’re here to find out!” he responded with fake cheer.

“Anyways, the plan is to get Shino to use his bugs to get a closer eye on the situation and report back, maybe even pick up some of their conversation, Hinata, you should use your byakugan to spot their movements and see if they get all close and stuff.”

The two nodded, though Hinata still looked apprehensive.

“And me?” Shikamaru asked.

“I dunno, you’re smart so I figured you’d figure something out.” Naruto shrugged, not noticing the curses Shikamaru was muttering under his breath.

“Any question?” he grinned.

“Just one, why is Sakura holding Sasuke’s hand?” Shino asked, pointing across the street and drawing their attention to where Sasuke and Sakura now stood, waiting to be seated.

Naruto growled, Hinata gasped, and Shikamaru eyed Naruto’s reddening irises.

~~~

“Isn’t my hand soft, Sasuke?” Sakura asked as they arrived at the designated lunch location, slipping her hand in his as she spoke. He wanted to pull away, but her firm grip and his lack of knowledge on social rules kept his hand trapped in her, admittedly and weirdly, smooth hand.

“Hnn.”

The attendant came and ushered them to one of the tables near the assorted potted plants and shrubbery. It was outside seating only, which relieved him because he could kill time by admiring the plants instead of paying attention to Sakura.

Once the menus were handed to them, Sasuke began browsing the list of various foods as Sakura kept smiling at him weirdly. “See anything you like, Sasuke?” she batted her eyelashes and leaned forward. She probably had dust in her eyes.

“Dumplings.” he murmured, grimacing slightly when he noticed the desert options. Honestly, who needed sugar so early in the day? A tiny voice inside his head offered up Naruto’s name fondly.

“Oh, yeah.. Ooh look! They’ve got dango!” she chirped, turning the menu around to point at where the sugary treat was located. “We should get some!”

He shrugged, indifferent. If she wanted some, why bother arguing.

“Isn’t this great? We should hang out more often.” Sakura said after a lull in conversation as they waited for the waitress to come over and take their orders.

“That’s what training is for.”

“Right..”

The day that their teams had been assigned, back at the academy, he’d sworn that Naruto was the worst thing to happen to the team. Now, as he was sitting through painful small talk with Sakura, he realized that team seven wouldn’t have survived without the blonde. Sasuke wouldn’t have at the very least, not with Kakashi’s consistent refusal to arrive on time to train them or Sakura’s knack for grating on his nerves.

The waitress brought out their food in a timely fashion, but the constant buzzing of bugs around their table had Sasuke only partially able to enjoy his dumplings. He may be a ninja and used to much worse conditions, but who really liked the idea of insects around the food they were about to consume?

“So,” Sakura cleared her throat after swallowing some of her food, “have you and Naruto made any progress with the whole ‘severing the bond’ thing?” she asked casually, a bit too casually for it to be meant as a casual question, but then again, they were in public, and the topic was still very much a hush hush situation. The last thing they needed was for someone to overhear them.

“More or less.” he responded. He felt heat rising to his cheeks, but he willed the personal embarrassment away. He and Naruto still hadn’t told Kakashi, Tsunade, or that pervert Jiraiya about their decision to wait a year before going through with anything, and the decision felt too personal to tell anyone that didn’t particularly need to know.

It felt like an unspoken promise to one another, and Sasuke was the king of the phrase ‘some things are better left unsaid.’.

“Well, I hope you guys can make some good progress soon, you’ll smell much better without that annoying orange odor slinging to you.”

He could blame the scent bond for the split second where he wanted to rip her throat out at the implication that not only his scent was bad, but Naruto’s as well. ….Not that he cared, or anything though…

Taking his silence for agreement, Sakura reached over to clasp one of her dainty, un-ninja-like hands on his shoulder pityingly. He didn’t know what was worse, Sakura’s friendliness, or those pesky bugs zooming around.

~~~

“Her hand is on his shoulder.” Hinata informed the group dutifully from where she was crouched dangerously on top of a pile of boxes to get the best possible look at the two. Shikamaru was using his shadow possession to make sure she didn’t fall, but that didn’t stop Naruto from smacking his shoulder in shock. “See?! That’s as good as kissing in Sasuke language!!” the blonde alpha exclaimed.

She may not know Sasuke as well as Naruto, but even she knew he was overreacting. Still, it was odd that Sasuke was allowing anyone to touch him, especially in public. The last time she’d witnessed that, poor Choji had been the offender, and Sasuke had proceeded to stomp on his chip bag in retaliation. Ino’s omega squad bonding trip had gone off the rails after that, and the older omegan girl had not been pleased. Hinata had just been happy to be invited again, so she’d just let the scene unfold, even if she’d cringed every time Sasuke’s foot slammed itself down onto the innocent chip bag.

“We cannot be sure that this means anything. Why? Because we do not know what is being said.” Shino admitted from where he was concentrating on his connection to his intel gathering insects he’d sent.

“Then tell your bugs to hurry uppp!” Naruto whined.

She honestly couldn’t believe that even after her last discussion with Sakura from when Sasuke had been in the hospital, Sakura hadn’t heeded her advice and begun to try and move on. It was hard for herself, she wouldn’t lie and say it was easy to ignore Naruto’s smiles or endearingly stubborn ways, but Hinata respected her friend’s wills to love whomever they wanted, even if the person she’d loved hadn’t loved her back. Sakura was their teammate! How could she not try and respect that?

Poor Naruto and Sasuke.

“Dragon flies have the capacity to reach speeds of up to thirty-five miles per hour. They are hurrying.” Shino defended. She often admired how strong willed and appreciative he was over the world’s tiniest creatures, even if the occasional stray spider started crawling on her while they were on missions together.

The omega shuddered at the memory of tiny legs dancing along her cheek as she kept watch in a tree.

A loud buzz and tiny speck sailing through the air stole her attention away from the scene of Sasuke and Sakura sitting closely together and eating.

“Speak of the devil..” Shikamaru groaned as the dragonfly crawled inside Shino’s hood. There was a pause, and then Shino was speaking.

“They seem to be discussing getting rid of the scent bond, Naruto.”

“Okay.. Okay new plan! Shino, you’re going undercover! We need to know word for word what’s happening! Hinata, Shikamaru, we’re going to hide behind that bush,” Naruto hastily pointed towards a large bush about five feet tall that was conveniently only a few feet away from Sasuke and Sakura’s table, “for a better vantage point, got it!?”

Everyone nodded, this time uncertain over whether or not Naruto’s paranoia was valid, and dispersed.

~~~

Sakura’s hand seemed to have glued itself to his forearm, and no dumplings were worth him having to weave his arm out of her hold. He wished they were training right now.

“And then they fell in love! Isn’t that romantic Sasuke?” she pulled her hand back to clap excitedly.

He had no idea what she was talking about, so he shrugged, and poked at his remaining dumpling in boredom. His nonexistent social battery had drained itself once more, and he was ready to leave.

The same dragonfly from earlier circled around their table again, and something began tugging at the back of his mind. He pushed the inkling aside, however, when Sakura addressed him again.

“Don’t you think it’s so sweet when teammates fall for each other?” Sakura held a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes and that silly smile she always had when she was talking to him for some reason.

His mind went to Naruto, even though he refused to say he loved the blonde moron. It was nice, being able to train together and have each other’s backs on missions and have an honest trust between them. They were like well oiled cogs in a clock, working smoothly and swiftly with one another for a common goal.

Was this Sakura’s weird way of trying to get him to talk about his relationship with Naruto, like how Ino and Choji did? Ino at least was direct about it, while Choji was the opposite, in his apologetically curious way. If so, it was very tedious.

Were all friendships this annoying with communication? If so, he was glad he didn’t have very many.

Sakura continued to talk, and Sasuke continued to eat his lunch. A man in a trench coat and sunglasses got seated at the table next to theirs, and his very large, very odd looking mustache distracted the Uchiha from Sakura’s questions about his preferred nesting habits.

Sasuke almost thanked the man for distracting him, because teammate or not, Sakura’s questions were getting personal, and Sasuke didn’t do personal.

The buzzing sound, which had miraculously disappeared earlier, was back, and even louder than before.

“Is there anything you’d like to talk about, Sasuke?” Sakura’s candy-sweet voice swam in his ears like sloth-like eels. He didn’t like most candies, as their sugary taste annoyed him.

“No.” he responded, only half paying attention as he was too busy focusing on finding where that annoying buzzing sound was coming from.

She didn’t seem too perturbed though, because already it seemed as though Sakura was gearing up for yet another annoying question.

“You know, you never told me what you see in Naruto.” the pink haired alpha began, this time tactfully avoiding his sharpening eye contact in favor of poking at the food dish in front of her.

Great, leave it to her to make everything about his love life.

“Naruto is Naruto.” he decided, with an air of finality. The omega was beginning to spot a pattern for the bugs. First, he realized that they were flying to and from the large bush near their table, and second, he noticed that the bugs were in a continuous loop between the previously mentioned bush and the man with the odd mustache that had sat next to them.

An Aburame clan member? Odd, usually the famed clan only- Shino!

Sasuke’s train of thought derailed as he watched the man push his sunglasses up higher on his nose, exactly like Shino would. He looked at the man suspiciously, but then turned his attention onto the bush where his bugs had spent the past few minutes traveling to. It was oddly still. Even the bushes on either side of it had slight ruffles of wind flow through the small branches every once and a while.

He got up, ignoring Sakura’s surprised shout of his name, and walked towards the bush, which had begun to rustle furiously, with an odd sense of determination.

The omega gracefully flipped over the bush, landing elegantly with his arms crossed and everything, as the shocked screams of none other than Hinata Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Naruto Uzumaki filled the air.

“Explain. Now.” he demanded pointedly, although it was more directed at Naruto than the other two.

Was this supposed to be one of his boyfri- Naruto’s pranks? The moron.

“I knew I should’ve taken a nap instead.” Shikamaru groaned.

~~~

Sasuke had been eerily silent after Naruto had finished telling him why they’d been spying on them in the first place. Shikamaru didn’t really blame him, the guy probably wanted to yell at them, but Sakura had been screaming and throwing a fit for the last ten minutes, hardly giving the guy any time to interrupt her.

“How dare you try and sabotage our lunch! See Sasuke? Naruto is such a pest!” the pink haired girl screeched as she jabbed a finger in Naruto’s direction. Sasuke opened his mouth to respond, though Shikamaru didn’t know if he was going to defend himself from Naruto’s accusations, or Naruto from Sakura’s accusations. Sheesh, what a mess.

“Give it a rest, Sakura.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes in annoyance at her antics.

The pink haired alpha hissed as she turned her cold attention to the lazy genin and crossed her arms over her chest cockily. “Or what? You’ll hit me?” she laughed snidely when she zeroed in on his clenched fist at his side. .

“No, I’ll just tell everyone how you have been the one sending Sasuke’s fan club after him so that they would push him right into your arms.” he responded coolly, shrugging as he placed his hands in his pockets to mock her by pretending that she wasn’t worth the energy of getting mad. Behind him, Hinata’s breath hitched, and he heard the distinctly quiet, rumbling roar of Naruto’s pissed off growl. Sasuke was a much harder card to read, however.

“Wha- no I haven’t! That’s a lie!” she cried. Her face was the epitome of desperation as she took a step in Sasuke’s direction, although she quickly jumped back when Shino’s beloved swarm of beetles blocked her path.

“Oh really? I won’t lie, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for. But you got too bold too fast. You think I wouldn’t eventually pick up on the pattern? That day we were at the baths relaxing, who would have known Sasuke’s whereabouts that wasn’t there at the pool with us? You.”

Sakura looked sick, but Shikamaru continued.

“Who was it that bumped into Sasuke at the market a few weeks ago, right before those girls swarmed him? You.”

Shockingly, it was Hinata who growled next, although it was much softer than an alpha’s threatening tone, her voice held that same determined power behind it. As the only other omega there besides Sasuke right then, she knew just how awful being swarmed by a horde of strange alphas really was, he wagered.

Shikamaru stepped forward, and got close to Sakura’s face, and for once, he could see the genuine fear in her bright green eyes.

“You were planning something else, but seeing Naruto and Sasuke together at that ‘happy your brother didn’t melt your brain’ party made you reevaluate things, didn’t it? So, you fell back on your backup plan, which was making Sasuke come to you after you orchestrated something to split him and Naruto up. What better way to split them up than tricking Sasuke into a date with you, and making absolutely sure Naruto found out about it? Pair that with the stress that little fan club of yours has been putting on everyone, and voila, you’ve got what you wanted all along.” Shikamaru deduced.

“I told you to leave them alone. You didn’t listen.” he said darkly.

“Fine!” she cried, pushing away from the other alpha and addressing everyone else, “So what, huh? How would you all feel if the person you loved didn’t love you back?!”

Hinata spoke up, then, smoothly, and without her usual stutter, “If the person I loved didn’t love me back, I would be happy for them finding it with someone else.” Not for the first time, Shikamaru felt pity for the omega. He didn’t need a fancy byakugan to see that she’d had her heart broken by a guy who never even knew he had it.

Angrily, Sakura glared at them all, before releasing a frustrated yell and stomping off, leaving the stench of bitter cinnamon and angry alpha behind her.

~~~

“And then what happened?” Rock Lee asked her patiently.

“I came here.” Sakura replied emptily.

The older alpha sighed, causing her to hang her head in partial shame and partial embarrassment. She closed her eyes and let herself feel comforted by his uniquely iron scent.

She didn’t know why she cared about his opinion more than the other’s. Maybe it had something to do with how he’d saved her in the chunin exams.

“I won’t lie to you, Sakura, you messed up pretty badly.” he commented after a moment of gathering his thoughts. Gone were his enthusiastic grin and his energetic finger tapping. Instead, a look of dismay had marred itself onto his face, and she hated it.

“Yeah..” she supplied weakly. She cast her eyes downward, towards the floor, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes anymore.

“You just don’t know what it’s like, okay? To have the person you’ve been in love with fall for someone else!” She defended meekly.

She felt like an idiot immediately after the words escaped her lips. Of course he would know, because she had done the exact same thing to him. He inhaled sharply, and his scent became a bit sharper, but he didn’t say what she knew he was thinking. Even when she’d royally screwed up and hit rock bottom, he was always so patient with her.

She didn’t deserve his friendship.

“Why did you deceive our friends?” he asked gently instead.

He wasn’t yelling, in fact, this was probably the only time he wasn’t being loud enough to shatter the glass windows in the room, and that thought alone was enough to have tears cascade down her cheeks once more.

“I don’t know- I just- I spent so long going through the motions, right? I had a plan, go to the academy, become a ninja, eventually settle down, but settle down with Sasuke because that was what made sense.” she muttered pitifully, still refusing to meet his eyes.

“Life isn’t something you can plan when you’re five years old. If it was, I’d be a jonin right now, not stuck in a hospital room while my body heals from being destroyed in the chunin exams.”

“But- there’s so much pressure, you know? It’s like, as soon as I presented as an alpha, my parents finally accepted me wanting to be a ninja, and then Sasuke presented, and they just expected us to eventually get together down the line? But then Naruto and Sasuke got so close and- I don’t know, I didn’t want to disappoint them, and I felt betrayed because I’d had such a huge crush on him before, and Naruto just swooped in and didn’t put in any effort to get Sasuke to notice him!”

Rock Lee considered her for a moment, before delving deeper into the issue. “Sakura, you and I weren’t raised in a ninja clan, they have a much less traditional upbringing style than what our families have. You’re an alpha, so everyone expects you to go the traditional route, but you don’t have to. You’re not part of that world anymore, and you need to find a balance in between them.”

“But how do I do that?” she threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

“The same way I did, with trial and error and giving apologies when they’re due.” He responded firmly.

She looked up at him then and knew what she had to do.

~~~

Sasuke had allowed Naruto to take him back to the blonde’s apartment after the fiasco that had happened earlier. They’d fought, but then they’d made up too.

He was still upset though, that instead of directly nipping the problem in the bud, Naruto had believed Kiba of all people’s teasing. His boyfriend was more gullible than he’d initially thought, which both irritated and amused the Uchiha.

They were curled up in the nest that the idiot alpha had miraculously managed to not destroy after Sasuke had last built one for him- those nesting etiquette lessons with Iruka had actually been paying off. It was one of those rare occasions where he was so truly pissed off that Naruto was doing anything in his power to make it up to him, so Sasuke was naturally giving him a run for his money.

He’d manhandled the alpha into one of Sasuke’s secretly favorite cuddling positions. The one where his ear was right next to the blonde’s chest so that he could feel his heartbeat. If anyone asked, it was his favorite because the beating of the Uzumaki’s heart was loud enough to partially drown out Naruto’s loud, and usually endless, talking.

The real reason was because fresh out of a nightmare, or memory honestly, Sasuke liked waking up and being confronted with the confirmation that someone he was close to was alive. Even if it was just the one person, it was typically enough to calm his nerves for a few moments.

The omega had also demanded that more of Naruto’s clothes be added to the nest as punishment. The fabrics may have been an eyesore, but Naruto loved them, and most importantly, he loved wearing them in public. However, nests were sacred, and the alpha couldn’t undo anything Sasuke placed there without having hell to pay afterwards.

It was a small win in the ever long battle that was Naruto’s fashion sense.

“I’m sorry for second guessing you.” the alpha whispered softly as he released a wave of refreshing summertime oranges into the air, knowing that it would soothe the stinging of Sasuke’s scent bond.

They’d figured out a week ago during one of their arguments over ninja tools that scenting each other helped ease the burden of the scent bonds, though both of them were too embarrassed to tell Kakashi or Tsunade about their newfound knowledge.

The Uchiha had almost been lulled to sleep by the rhythmic beating of the alpha’s strong heart, when there was a timid but noticeable knock at the apartment’s door.

“Ughh!” Naruto whined, causing vibrations in his chest which tickled Sasuke’s cheek slightly.

Sasuke propped himself up, suddenly back to his sour mood, but allowed the other to get up and see who was at the door.

His mood grew even worse when the door opened, and he heard Sakura’s voice on the other end.

“I know I’m the last person you want to see right now.. but after I ran off, I went to visit Rock Lee, and he made me see that I’ve been a fool and worse, a terrible friend. I was wondering if I could apologize?” her voice carried throughout the apartment.

Naruto didn’t say anything, and though from where he was seated, he could tell by the alpha’s body language that he was waiting for Sasuke’s approval before letting her in.

The omega quietly exited their- Naruto’s nest and shut the bedroom door behind him as he made his way towards where the two alphas stood. He didn’t want Sakura to see such an intimate and personal thing, especially not right now.

“Let her in.” he sighed monotonously.

Naruto opened the door and stepped aside, allowing Sakura to enter the apartment.