Ignited Citrus

He’s out of breath and his body is on fire. Sleep deprivation from days of over practicing and aching knees from pushing himself to run faster than he ever has in his life were beginning to take their toll on his body- his legs especially.

The palms of his hands are still burned slightly from his stubborn attempts at perfecting the chidori technique, but it doesn’t stop him from slamming the door to yet another inn entrance open.

The old man behind the desk looks at him like he’s insane, and Sasuke can hardly blame him. He’s red faced and he knows his eyes have a crazed look in them and outside of hidden villages, omegas usually do not run around by themselves- especially with the brutal pace he had been setting.

“I’m looking for a blonde alpha boy, around my age and height, he’s with an old man.” the words tumble out with ease, as he’d already been to seven other inns before this one. The old man isn’t finished saying that they’re not there as he turns on his heel and continues his brutal pace to the next inn.

The omega wasn’t sure if his uneven breaths were from the exertion or his fear.

Itachi was back. He’d slipped through the gates of Konoha, injured Kakashi, and left to go after Naruto.

Did Itachi hate him so much that he would get rid of any family Sasuke formed? What had Sasuke ever done to him to deserve this?

Images of the last encounter he had with his brother made him nauseous, but he forced the bile down so that he wouldn’t be slowed down. He could only imagine the horrible things Itachi would do to the innocent, fumbling alpha.

He would break him, just like Itachi had broken him.

~~~
The man looks like Sasuke. He’s got the same fine nose and deep, looming eyes, but it isn’t a comforting feature on him. Sasuke had mentioned a brother, before, back when they’d fought Zabuza on the bridge.

Could this really be Itachi?

If-if he was here, then was he looking for Sasuke?

Naruto wanted to move, wanted to fight but he was frozen in his place. It was like he was paralyzed and he could tell Itachi knew just how panicked he was.

He hated every second of it and he hated that he was looking at someone who looked so similar to his friend with such hatred. It felt like a betrayal, even though he knew that Sasuke would understand.

He was glad that Sasuke wasn’t here. For once, he was relieved that Jiraiya sensei was unpredictable at best, so he hadn’t had time to tell anyone where they were going when they’d set off on their journey.

The guy with gills on his face says something about the nine tails, but his ears are foggy. They’re both alphas, and the sword guy smells like rain at a funeral. Itachi’s scent is bloody and ashy.

Their scents are strong, trying to force him to submit but he can’t, something in the pit of his stomach won’t let him.

~~~
He smells him before he sees him. Relief washed over him like the water from one of Ino’s watering cans poured over the freshly bloomed flowers in her family’s store.

Naruto was okay- for now. He detected traces of fear, but another strong whiff of the claustrophobic air tells him that there were worse things Naruto could be right now other than scared.

Itachi didn’t usually leave victims behind to be scared. Sasuke knew that all too well.

He rounds the corner in record time and his body freezes.

Those eyes.

They’d been so warm and fond and patient once, and now they struck such genuine terror and rage within him that he felt almost insane. His big brother, whom he’d lived the first eight years of his life idolizing, was staring at him with the same intent to harm that he’d used on his opponents.

Sasuke hated those red, crazed eyes.

He’d used them on their family. On that annoying girl Izumi, that Sasuke had hated originally, but now would give anything to hear her offer him disgusting candy. On Uncle and Aunty who taught Sasuke how to whistle and snap his fingers together while Itachi encouraged him.

On Father, who Sasuke had been so sure was indestructible. On Mother, who always whispered quiet words but loved loudly.

Itachi had killed their family and now he was after Naruto.

His new family.

He didn’t feel the chidori’s lightning licking his fingers, nor did he really remember performing the jutsu. All he knows is that he’s running towards the monster that possesses his brother’s face with the intent to kill and blue lightning is throwing odd shadows on the hallway walls.

Sasuke wanted him to hurt, like they had, like he had. He wants him to writhe and squirm and gasp for air that will never quite fill his lungs. He wants his big brother to hold him and tell him everything will be alright and that it was just a bad dream. He wants Naruto to not be standing there, watching him lose his grip on his sanity. He wants to not feel so achingly tired every second of every day because his longing is so deep and never ending that he just wants everything to stop.

He wants to prove to himself once and for all that his life is worth something, that Itachi was wrong, that he was a worthy opponent.

It’s white hot pain in his wrist that stops him, not even half a second after his chidori is halted by Itachi’s iron grip and fizzled out into nothing. The pain forces his senses to go into overdrive and suddenly he can’t breathe. His throat is clogged and he’s caught between a pained shout and a wheezy, hacking cough.

He’s an alpha.

He should’ve known, the omega thought bitterly, of course the famed prodigy of the Uchiha would be an alpha.

The old man, Jiraiya, has shown up in the split second it’s taken Sasuke to adjust to his revelations, another unfamiliar alpha but he won’t let himself recoil from the foreign, threatening scents. He won’t give his brother even more reason to look down on him.

He’s a shinobi, he’s a prodigy in his own right, he’s an omega. He will not submit.

His mouth is moving, growling something, but his mind is calm. It’s the same feeling he gets right before a fight, where all you can focus on is your surroundings and everything that lies ahead of you.

Itachi throws him back like it’s nothing, like he’s still just an eight year old trying to train with his older brother. Sasuke doesn’t let himself look over the criminal’s shoulder because he’s ashamed of the knowledge that Naruto is watching him lose so heavily.

Itachi is fast. He doesn’t give him room to breathe before he’s being kicked again, a harsh elbow coming down on his neck as blood spills from his mouth. The pain doesn’t hurt the omega, the humiliation does.

Nothing has changed. He isn’t strong enough. Itachi will win.

And once again, Sasuke will lose everything.

~~~
The sword that had cut through his chakra was slammed down in front of him. “Don’t move, kid. It would be rude to interrupt them, wouldn’t it?” The shark guy half growls half laughs as he speaks.

Naruto knows what rude is.

It’s Kakashi sensei being late to practice. It’s Ino and Sakura calling each other names. It’s the teachers that ignored his pleas for help, or the whispering students from other classes whose words are sharper than kunai knives.

Rude is not wanting to help your friend. It’s not jumping head first into a fight to save someone important to you. Rude is not protecting Sasuke with his life.

The warmth of Jiraiya’s hand weighs on his shoulder. Naruto knows its a silent message to not rush forward, to let the brothers have their fight.

His fist is shaking and he so desperately wants to smash it into Itachi’s face.

He can’t because this is Sasuke’s fight, not his. If he took this from Sasuke, the omega would never forgive him.
~~~
His body aches as it collides face first with the inn’s wooden flooring.

He’s always had terrible luck, and the universe must surely be laughing at him because his head is angled towards their spectators. Itachi’s partner is eyeing him in a way that makes his skin crawl and the alpha that must be Jiraiya is unreadable. The fight must have looked even more disgraceful than it felt because Naruto looks angry.

It makes sense that Naruto would be angry. Sasuke has always made a show of being better. If he can’t beat his brother, achieving his ultimate goal, then his entire rivalry with Naruto holds no grounds.

Naruto must have just realized how weak and useless he is and that hurt more than anything his brother has done to him. But still, the scent bond soothes its sting when the pair lock eyes and he’s calm again. Tears pool in his eyes and he lets them blur his vision so that at the very least, he can’t see Naruto’s face watching him continue to be utterly useless.

He blinks and wishes he could push his hair out of his face so that he could just focus on the comfortingly hideous orange in his peripheral vision but Itachi has other plans.

His back thuds against the wall but he can’t focus on that when Itachi’s hand is around his throat.

Sasuke’s brain short circuits and he has to try harder than he ever has before to keep an iron cage around the omega part of him that is whining at him to beg the others for help. Itachi’s thumb is pressed painfully to his scent gland and he can’t mask his scent any longer.

He clenches his jaw and prepares for the worst.

He’d never been great at reading Itachi’s facial expressions before, but he’s infuriatingly familiar with the look of amusement that coats the alpha’s face when the omega hisses in despair.

A white hot burning scent of a fearful omega in distress permeates the air and Sasuke holds in a sob. It’s the last bit of his dignity he could protect and now it was gone. Everyone in the inn, and probably the town, could smell him. He feels shame course through his veins. His nature was his, and no one had the right to force it on display. Nausea wells up in his throat but he pushes it down with what will power he has left. Everyone may be able to smell his fear, but he won't let them see just how vulnerable he feels.

It's over. There is no winning, not when he’s just lost control of the one thing that makes him weak.

He lets his head hang because he can’t look up and see the evil, mocking glint that is surely plastered on Itachi’s face. The floor looks interesting. It has scratches and marks that come with age and Sasuke wonders if he will get to live as long as the floor.

~~~
The scent bond burns so deeply that his knees buckle, and the blonde nearly collapses, but Jiraiya steadies him. The shark guy eyes him suspiciously but doesn’t say anything, probably too busy trying to block out Sasuke’s scent that’s clouding the air.

Naruto isn’t sure if his scent feels so strong because of the scent bond or if the others can smell it just as much, but his breathing turns shallow and his fists clench and unclench hastily, like he’ll do something rash. Which he does want to.

Sasuke is dangling and limp and in so much pain.

The blonde can smell all of the layers of pain and he tastes blood on his tongue as he forces himself to refrain from letting out the bone chilling growl he’s only ever let out once before.

“Naruto, calm down. You aren’t helping him by making things worse.” The low voice sounds from behind him and for the first time, Naruto wants to fight his teacher and win so that he can go help Sasuke.

He didn’t notice his fingernails sharpening into claws or the orange chakra start to pool out of his body and surround him in a whirling airy cage.

All he could pay attention to was the single tear pooling in an empty ebony eye that crashed to the ground. All he could feel were the tiny vibrations of Sasuke’s swallowed cry and the pressure of their scent bond. All he could taste was the blood drawn from sharp fangs he hadn’t noticed before that pooled like water in his mouth. All he could smell was Sasuke.

All of the despair and suffering and anguish that coated the normally strong, sharp scent of captivating electricity made him flare his nostrils. His breathing was heavy but not as heavy as his heart.

Sasuke was strong, the strongest. To see him be used as nothing but a punching bag by the alpha that had ruined his life made Naruto feel sick. Why wasn’t pervy sage jumping in? It stopped being an honorable fight when Itachi had messed with Sasuke’s scent glands.

He may not be the most well informed on social cues and what is and isn’t appropriate, but the Uzumaki knew just how serious it was when someone touched a scent gland without consent. Sasuke didn’t deserve this.

He needed to stop it.

Now.

~~~
“Interesting.” Itachi turned back to face Sasuke, clearly having noticed just how intertwined the enraged blonde’s scent was with his. He smirked and the tomoe began to spin.

“You’re weak.” his brother stated calmly, as if it was a simple observation and not Sasuke’s worst fear. “You don’t have enough hatred.” he began to lean down, “And you know something?”
Sasuke tried to recoil and get away but it was futile. One wrong move and the nail of his brother’s thumb would shred his scent gland.

“You never will.”

He’s eight years old again, being told to let his hate and rage fester and grow. He’s nine years old again, waking up from a nightmare before remembering it wasn’t a bad dream, it was a memory. He’s ten and eleven all at once, angry at himself for working so hard and still coming up short at the academy. He knows it's on the tip of the teacher’s tongues, how Itachi’s record remained unbeaten. He’s twelve and holding back tears as he sneaks into the Uchiha compound in the dead of night, wanting to remind himself of what he’d lost because since becoming a genin, he can feel himself straying from his path of revenge and he needs to be reminded.

He’s thirteen and still too weak to save his closest people from the man who completely and irrevocably wrecked him five years ago.

He’s thirteen and for the first time in such a long time, he feels scared because he knows what comes next.

He knows that when he inevitably locks eyes with Itachi, he will be thrust into that dark spinning world with red skies and redder eyes.

He forces his eyelids shut anyway, because maybe somewhere within him, there’s still some fight left. He’s shaking and the continued pressure on his scent gland is making him light headed with nausea.

He hears Naruto’s voice call out to him and it shocks him out of his daze, inadvertently making him open his eyes and falling victim to Itachi’s genjutsu.

It’s darker than he remembers.

~~~
He’s never heard Sasuke’s voice so raw and hurt. The scream the omega lets out settles itself in Naruto’s ears and he thinks it’s all he will ever hear for the rest of his life.
“Jiraiya do something!”

“Awe, isn’t that heart warming? Using tsukuyomi on his own brother.” Itachi’s partner says, brandishing his sword with a menacing look in his eyes, daring Naruto and Jiraiya to move.

He springs into action, dodging the huge sword and runs like he never has before towards the two brothers. He can tell that the shark guy moves to follow him but Jiraiya shouts at him to stay still.

The walls turn pink and spongy and Sasuke fades into the weird fleshy substance and away from Itachi’s grip.

What’s going on? What is this stuff?

“-Toad mouth trap.” Jiraiya sensei finishes speaking from behind him.

Oh, a jutsu.

Naruto doesn’t like this at all. The fleshy bounce of the substance below his feet burns slightly, as though it’s acidic. He forces himself to stay calm when his sensei tells him to and ignores the weird feeling of the ground in favor of watching their attackers flee.

There’s a crash and even though the jutsu is inescapable, they escape. The master and student round the corner hastily but the assailants are gone. There’s black flames and Naruto wants to touch them, but he stops when Jiraiya shouts at him to stop. Regular flames weren’t supposed to burn like that, the toad sage says after he seals them away.

He runs to Sasuke when his body finally surfaces to catch him before he falls. He smells tortured and his eyes are open but unseeing and it’s scary.

What did Itachi do to him?

A kunai knife sails through the air and then Gai sensei is there but he doesn’t care because Sasuke isn’t responding when the blonde nudges him. HIs eyes are open but he’s unblinking and he’s boneless.

He gathers the omega into his arms and cradles his body close, gently easing the Uchiha’s nose to his scent gland in hopes of waking him up from whatever trance he’s in.

Jiraiya sensei is telling Gai sensei what’s wrong with the boy in his arms and worry bubbles up in his chest. He’s careful to gently hold Sasuke’s broken arm and he rubs his face against Sasuke’s uncovered cheek but the silence in response is eerie.

“Sasuke’s gonna be alright, isn’t he?” he asks brokenly, and while he’s used to seeing pitying looks thrown his way, the kind of pity Jiraiya sensei’s eyes watch him with is different. It’s like a knowing pity and Naruto wonders why the old man doesn’t have a scent or a mate at his age.

The sage crosses his arms and looks away, “He’ll heal physically, but I’m worried about the mental damage Itachi’s jutsu will leave behind.”

Gai sensei cuts in before Naruto can, “But hasn’t Itachi already done this to Sasuke? On the night of the massacre? Surely if he can overcome it once, he can again.” and he knows it’s meant to be positive, but the words feel like poison in his mouth and even worse in his ears.

He remembers seeing a distant look in the newly orphaned boy’s eyes the next day at the academy, but he’s assumed it was grief not... whatever aftereffects these were. The Uzumaki feels guilty now, for having been excited that someone in his class would finally understand him.

Gai goes to check on the civilians in the other parts of the inn and Jiraiya slides down beside him, leaning his back against the wall to mirror the Uzumaki.

“Careful kid, you’ll make the scent bond worse.” he says as Naruto continues to rub his scent onto his friend in hopes of comforting him. White hot terror floods his body at the implication that he shouldn’t be holding the ailing boy so close to himself.

“But-but he’s my friend.” The “please don’t make me let him go.” is left unsaid.

Jiraiya sensei chuckled at him, “Is that what was going through your head when you two got yourselves into this mess?”

Naruto looks down, careful to not jostle Sasuke. He can feel his ears burn red, “No, I uh- thought we were forming a pack bond.”

He knows now that it was stupid but at the time no one had ever explained how all that stuff works to him.

The old man looks over at him with shocked amusement, “Wha- Kid did no one ever tell you that they’re formed on your wrist?”

“No-” a whimper from Sasuke cuts him off right as Gai appears.

“Okay, I should get Sasuke back to the medic nins.” He holds out his arms, beckoning Naruto to hand over his teammate.

The blonde can’t really stop the growl he emits as he speaks, “No! I’ll take him back.”

He flashes his eyes at Jiraiya when Gai looks to the other adult as well, silently begging the man to let him take Sasuke home.

“Let him go, Naruto, we need to go find Tsunade so that she can help Sasuke.”

He knows that their mission is important for the village, since she’s the next hokage, and he is aware that yes, the quicker they find the lady, the quicker they can get rid of their bond, but he feels like he’ll die if he doesn’t keep holding onto his friend.

After some back and forth, he reluctantly lets Gai sensei tenderly hold the omega but not without fussing and making sure Sasuke is in the most comfortable position possible. Wordlessly, right before Gai sensei is about to set out, he unzips his jacket and wraps it around the Uchiha. It had comforted him in the past, so hopefully it would comfort him now.

Please be okay, he thinks as he watches the jonin go.

He can’t lose Sasuke, not like this.
~~~
It’s been days in this hellscape. He’s trapped in the Uchiha compound on the night of the massacre, and he’s watched every single clan member fall victim to his brother’s blade. He knows it isn’t real, but the splashes of blood across his cheeks feel so real that it begins to make his skin itch.

Sometimes he watches them die in silence. Sometimes all he sees is the red of Itachi’s sharingan and hears the horrified screams of their soon to be corpses. Sometimes his consciousness is swapped with the mind of the victims, feeling what they felt.

It’s hell and he deserves it for being this weak.

Sometimes Itachi appears to taunt him. Tsukuyomi Itachi likes to belittle his status as an omega. It’s a shame, he’ll say, that even his biology will never let him get strong enough to face him.
He says graphic things that make Sasuke red with shame and anger but it’s when he mentions the scent bond that Sasuke truly breaks down.

“How can you be a powerful shinobi when all you’ve done is tie yourself to an alpha and get beaten by your sworn enemy?”

Sasuke wants to run because he’s figuring out that the insecure voice inside his head sounds an awful lot like Itachi.

The red skies continue to burn his lungs and he’s cried all the tears he can, but he knows he’ll cry even more when the killing begins again.
~~~
She’s sitting by Rock Lee’s bed reading him a story when Gai arrives with a somber look on his face. “Sakura,” he starts, frowning “un-youthfully” as Lee would say, “come with me.”

She knows it’s meant to be a gentle suggestion from the way his thick, rectangular eyebrows shift, but it’s a statement all the same. What could possibly be wrong now?

She throws Rock Lee’s unconscious body another glance before getting up and placing her book on the bedside table. It was a children’s story that most children knew, but it reminded her of him and she wanted to do something nice for the boy who had jumped in to save her when she couldn’t even save herself.

They walk in silence, mostly because she’s too worried about what could have happened to make the usually radiant jonin so solemn. Could it be news about Rock Lee’s condition that he didn’t feel comfortable sharing with her while the genin lay injured in a hospital bed?

Or- had- had there been a training accident with Sasuke and Kakashi sensei? Or Naruto?

Gai halts in front of one of the more secluded hospital rooms and hesitates to speak before sighing, “Sakura, what I’m about to tell you is top secret alright? It can’t leave this room.”
She nods, throat too closed up in anxiousness to speak. He looks at her for a moment before turning his face to the ground, “Sasuke was attacked by his brother, Itachi, and while he is relatively fine physically, one of the Uchiha clan’s cruelest jutsu was performed on him, and now he is in what I can only describe as a mental cage. It’s a genjutsu of the highest rank, and we’re waiting on the retrieval of one of the legendary sannin to fix him.”

He looks at her again and she knows she looks pitiful but her world has just collapsed around her.

Her Sasuke is injured and will probably suffer from some kind of mental instability, and she can’t even help him. She’s no medic nin, she’s not even good enough at her genjutsu resistance to even try and see if it would work for Sasuke’s situation. Gai steps away from the door and she asks, brokenly, “Is he in there?”

It’s obvious that he is but she still needs the verbal confirmation to make it feel real. The jonin says yes and it still doesn’t feel real. Sasuke is so strong, how could he fall victim to something like that?

She cracks open the door and for some reason, she smells Naruto. Had they told him before her? But when the door swings open fully, all she sees is the broken and bruised form of the Uchiha. Gai notices her confusion but doesn’t say anything.

Maybe he’s confused too?

“Naruto was with him when it happened.” Oh, so that’s why the other alpha’s scent clung to Sasuke. It’d wear off soon then.

“Why isn’t he here now?” She sits on the edge of Sasuke’s bed and holds his hand. She’s got tears forming in her eyes but she’s honestly tired of crying over her teammates. It seems like that’s all she does, and after the Chunin exams, she wants to at least try and act like she’s a shinobi, not a cry baby like that Neji guy had called her.

She wondered how such a rude bitter person could be teammates with someone as kind and energetic as Lee but the team formations weren’t actually their decisions. The Hokage chose weird line ups for genin squads.

Gai shuffles his feet, “He went with Master Jiraiya to search for Lady Tsunade so that she can heal Sasuke.”

She sees him glance at the doorway, and she knows he’s thinking about his student. “Don’t worry,” she says reassuringly, “The doctors said he’s stable. Go see him, I’m sure he’d appreciate it.” Usually she’d laugh at how he nearly ran from the room but right now a stone had settled in her gut and she knew she wouldn’t be finding the humor in many things for the oncoming days.

He’s paler than usual, nearly translucent, and she can see the map of veins spreading out under the skin of his wrist.

As happy as she is at finally finding out what Sasuke smells like after his presentation, she wishes it were when he was conscious and choosing to do so. He was a private person, she’d come to learn after years at the academy together, and she could only imagine his frustration and awkwardness when he woke up to realize that his scent wasn’t masked when he was asleep.

Asleep or whatever he was right now...
~~~
He’s in the body of his younger self and he feels even more powerless than he already did in this endless nightmare.

He’s watched his mother die seven hundred and sixteen times now, and every time the smiling corpse forces his knees to give out and he collapses onto the blood soaked floorboards of his parent’s bedroom.

The blood pools from her body and chases him, following his every footstep while Itachi laughs at him and taunts the weak little omega who isn’t strong enough to save his family.

He can feel the hatred taking seed inside of his head, it’s stronger this time around, more focused and cruel.

He hates and he burns and he seethes.

It’s when he watches his uncle and auntie get slaughtered, like nothing more than cattle Itachi’s voice adds, he makes a promise to himself.

He will turn the world into ashes if it means he avenges his clan. Even if it means forsaking a future he thought he could have. His goal will lie in the past.

The sky is the exact shade of the sharingan now, and his body begins to fall endlessly into a dark void of screams and fear.

He will achieve his goal.

~~~
It takes a night and the better part of a day for the rest of their genin friends to hear about Sasuke’s hospitalization.

Ino is the first to arrive with flowers in tow, after having refreshed the lilac, she’d supplied Rock Lee’s room with.

She places a lively looking vase filled with puffy looking flowers on the table next to the bed and takes a seat next to Sakura. A nurse had been kind and brought in chairs the previous evening. The omega tosses her hair over her shoulder and eyes the unconscious boy with an unreadable expression before Sakura interrupts her. “What kind are those?” she asks, pointing a finger at the vase.

“Oh, they’re peonies, they symbolize good health.”

Sakura nods and thanks her on Sasuke’s behalf.

“Choji and Shikamaru should be here in a minute. The nurse wouldn’t let Choji bring his snacks in so he’s finishing them outside.” The two girls share a chuckle before Ino turns serious, “Sakura, you should go home and get some rest. Your mother is asking after you.”

It’s the tone she remembered so clearly from their academy days when they’d still been close. The lilt of her voice would come off caring but there was an underlying hint of scolding underneath that wasn’t noticed until later.

“Just tell her I’m on a mission, Ino-pig,” She knows it’s wrong, but she can’t stop her mouth from letting the childish insult loose from her tongue. She’s tired and worried and angry and beside herself with concern and she’s tired of everyone telling her to take a step back when she can take the pressure.

She didn’t realize that she’d said the last part out loud, but Ino’s arms are wrapped around her in a hug and Sakura can’t force herself to lean away from it. “Oh Sakura, I didn’t mean it like that. We aren’t just worried for Sasuke ya know, we’re worried about you too.”

Sakura is sitting in her teammate’s hospital room crying because she can’t handle it even when she says she can and she feels like a burden.

Maybe she does need a break. “Yeah,” she sniffles, “okay, yeah I’ll go home in a little while.”
Ino nods at her encouragingly like a parent nods approvingly at a baby babbling incoherently.

They stay quiet and Sakura is secretly thankful for the company. Seeing him like this is so... It feels wrong. It is wrong.

The door swings open and Shikamaru and Choji step in, awkwardly sensing the heavy atmosphere.

“Ah, geez, dontcha think Sasuke wouldn’t want us in here, Ino?” the genius grumbles as he leans against the wall, bored already. Choji looks worried and it’s odd for Sakura to see him serious for once. The furrowed brows and slight frown don’t belong on his face.

They chat idly, Choji regales them with the story of when the “omega club”, as Shikamaru calls it, went to Choji’s house to learn how to cook the famed Akimichi special dessert recipe, mostly because he had been hungry and Hinata had become addicted to the treat after Choji brought her some after training.

Sakura was surprised to learn that Sasuke had been spending time with them. He was secretive and generally did not enjoy being social, so it didn’t really make sense that he would have agreed to it. Maybe she didn’t know Sasuke as well as she thought.

“Don’t forget about the part where it blew up in Sasuke’s face!” Ino cackled, holding her stomach as she laughed. Shikamaru is smirking even though he’s still pretending to be bored and Sakura gets the fleeting suspicion that he might not be as cool headed as he lets on.

They keep telling stories and they paint the injured boy in a different light than what she’s so used to seeing him in. Ino talks about his honesty and shy attempts at being social, Choji mentions Sasuke’s weird gift for subtle kindness and blunt personality.

Sakura had never seen him as anything but perfect, but hearing Ino and Choji talk about him made him sound.. less godly than the Sasuke in her head was. It didn’t make sense but she was willing to figure it out if everyone was patient with her.

There’s a petite knock on the door and they all know it’s Hinata. She enters with watery eyes and hands clasped against her chest. Kiba and Shino follow behind her and the room begins to get a little cramped, but it isn’t uncomfortable.

“H-how is he?” the timid girl asks as Shikamaru steps aside to let her have room to sit. They give her the run down and she nods in determination, “He’ll pull through! I know it!”. It’s oddly similar to the stubborn tone that Naruto has when he says “Believe it!” but it’s not annoying like when he says it.

Kiba’s been oddly silent but his nostrils are flared and even Shino is giving him an odd look after Hinata and Ino’s exchange. He looks unsure and kind of shocked and the others are starting to pick up on it too.

“Uhm, guys?”, he asks and the alarm in his eyes is growing by the millisecond, “Why does Sasuke smell like a mated omega?”. “What? All he smells like is Naruto?” Sakura cries in shock. Shikamaru’s face goes carefully void and Choji’s jaw is on the floor. All of their heads whip around to the unconscious omega, noses straining trying to pick apart Sasuke’s scent like Kiba had done effortlessly. “What does he smell like usually?” Ino breathes out.

No one knows. He’d masked his scent almost since the day he’d presented and even before he’d begun to mask it, he’d wash himself void of his natural scent.

Kiba looks thoughtful and Akamaru barks from inside the Inuzuka’s jacket pocket.

“What do you mean, ‘mated’? Does he have a mark?” the genin says to the pup, who wriggles in the jacket pocket in response.

They really should check but every single one of them hesitates. If Sasuke finds out that they went snooping.. Sakura shuddered at the thought.

“I-I’ll do it.” Hinata squeaks, her face is red and she looks faint, but she’s the least likely person to be murdered by Sasuke so they let her peal back the bandages and take a peak at his ascent gland.

She breathes out a sigh of relief and shakes her head no, and they all relax slightly. “That’s a relief” Choji mutters, his fingers are twitching and Sakura can tell that he's itching for a snack to stress eat.

“That still doesn’t explain why he smells like he is.” Kiba trails off. “Should we go get the nurses?” Ino asks in alarm, “They’ll know what’s wrong!”

Shino turns to leave, already sending bugs out to scout for an idle medic nin but Shikamaru is suddenly in the doorway, arm outstretched to stop him from leaving.

“Shikamaru wha-” Choji gets cut off when the genius sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.

What did he have to be frustrated about? Sasuke was the one with a weird scent issue right now!

“Calm down. It’s not what you think it is.” he grumbles, before pausing to think about something that Sakura can’t guess.

“Well, if you know then spit it out already!” the blonde omega screeches from beside her, clearly over the Nara’s dramatic pauses already. He gives her a pointed look while Kiba still sniffed the air in bewilderment beside them, mumbling every now and again to Akamaru.

“Well maybe I would if you’d let me!” Shikamaru snaps before looking at the ceiling and continuing, this time much calmer. “When Sasuke presented, he and Naruto accidentally formed a scent bond and they’ve been trying to get it severed. It’s part of the reason why one of the legendary sannin showed up.”

It’s so quiet that Hinata’s shocked gasp sounds like a scream. The shy omega wobbles visibly and Kiba leaps behind her to catch her as she faints.

Shino and Shikamaru are watching Sakura with analytical eyes and she wants to crawl into a hole and die. How could they keep this from her? She was their teammate and their friend and they couldn’t even be bothered enough to tell her this life changing secret? Did Kakashi sensei know? Why did they choose to tell Shikamaru instead of her? He didn’t even seem to care one way or another, wouldn’t they want someone to know that would take the situation seriously?

Ino sensed her rising anger and chose to verbalize what the pink haired alpha was thinking.
“Shikamaru! How could you know and not tell me! I thought we were friends!”

He looks more annoyed than sheepish. Shino is fanning a still unconscious Hinata while Kiba and Akamaru communicate animatedly and Choji is uncharacteristically quiet.

“I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t my place to tell! They didn’t even tell me, I figured it out okay?” He throws his hands up in the air as he and Ino begin a screaming match.

The arguing and the barking are getting louder by the second. and the buzz of the bugs zooming around the room and the beeping of Sasuke’s heart monitor are beginning to overwhelm Sakura but what sets her off is the scent of orange wrapped around a lightning bolt.

It’s their scent and her stomach rolls.

“Sakura, are you alright?” She hears Shino ask but her tongue is heavy and she doesn’t respond. She gets up hastily and knocks her chair down in the process. Her legs are moving and her head is spinning with this betrayal.

Shikamaru steps aside and she runs. She’s pretty sure she knocks into someone but she can’t stick around long enough to help them up.

She can’t be here anymore.
~~~
They’re all shocked at the pink haired alpha’s departure. “I should go after her.” Ino says but her voice is hollow and she stays rooted to her chair. Why would she when she had had a crush on the Uchiha for just as long, if not longer than Sakura?

“Sheesh, I know it’s serious but I didn’t think she’d have a meltdown over it.” the lazy alpha says as he helps himself to the now empty seat Sakura had toppled over in her haste. He crosses his arms over his chest lethargically and turns his analytical gaze to the rest of the room’s inhabitants.

Hinata has come to and has a confused expression on her face but Shikamaru doubts anyone will fill her in right now. Shino is recalling his bugs but is otherwise unreadable because of his sunglasses and giant jacket collar blocking the bottom half of his face.

“So-so N-Naruto and Sasuke are?..” The timid girl trails off and the remaining alphas in the room are uncomfortable. Who wouldn’t be when the girl that’s had a crush on your friend forever finds out that she’s out of the running for their heart for the foreseeable future? What do you even say to that?

Sheesh, what a mess.

Choji saves them all from answering by coughing loudly, “So did no one else see that coming?”

His best friend’s words must have lit a fire under Ino’s butt because she leaves not a second sooner than the words have just left Choji’s mouth. “Maybe wrong timing for that, Choj.” the genius groans.

Great, now they’re going to get to deal with an emotional Ino. Girls are weird like that and Shikamaru can’t be bothered to understand the intricacies behind their dramatic antics.

Hinata seems to be taking it well. She’s the only one that is still standing by Sasuke’s bed, even though her face is still red. For some reason Kiba is still behind her, arms carefully by his sides in case he needs to catch her again. Despite her red face, she was looking as pale as the injured Uchiha.

From what he can tell by Shino and Kiba’s nonchalance, Hinata faints a lot. At least Ino wasn’t troublesome like that. She just gossiped and bossed them around and screeched at them like a banshee. He sighed, girls are a different breed of complicated.
~~~
They’re on their way back to the leaf village with the old hag in tow when she finally asks about why he has a scent bond.

He’s been teased enough by Jiraiya already to know that he should only tell the basics. With one quick look to the toad sage, who seems gleefully mischievous about potentially hearing the tale again, Naruto takes a deep breath.
“So we were fighting Zabuza and then Sasuke sacrificed himself for me but like he presented and also Haku was there and Haku was a boy but really looked like a girl, which was really confusing but also I got a bridge named after me and Sasuke awaken his sharingan and-” SMACK!

Tsunade had whacked him! “Hey! What’s the big idea you old hag! I was telling the story!”

The blonde woman looks like she’s wishing she had a bottle of sake in her hand as she grits out “I don’t care about a mission, I want to know why you’re bonded at like seven years old.”

She has a way of saying everything like she’s scolding him even when he’s doing nothing wrong. She’s like the grandmother he probably would have had if he’d had a family and he’s clenched his jaw in irritation in the last few days than he thinks he has in his entire life.

“I was getting to that granny!” Shizune intervenes before Tsunade can chase him down the dirt path. For an old lady, she sure can move when she wants to.

“As I was saying,” Naruto makes a point of grinning at her tauntingly while Jiraiya shakes his head fondly, “Sasuke presented as an omega when we were on this really tense mission and when we got back to the village, Kakashi sensei told me and Sakura to leave Sasuke alone while he was in the hospital.”

He pauses to collect his thoughts but Tsunade fills in the blank for him, “You went to see him anyway, is that right?” The Uzumaki can feel his ears burning as he nods in shame. He knew it had been stupid of him to go when Kakashi sensei had explicitly told them not to, but the worry in the pit of his stomach that no one could take care of his injured friend as well as him had forced him to act irrationally.

She must get his confirmation from the look on his face because the next thing he knows, he’s being swatted at again. “You idiot! You do realize that if you were older and had done that, it would have been a crime right?!”

Shizune makes a faint, distressed sound and Jiraiya starts to whistle, not daring to stick up for the blonde against Tsunade’s wrath.

He didn’t know it was illegal. He didn’t know anything because no one ever told him anything. If he asked questions they laughed at him and when he pretended to know things, such as why the heck it was rude to smell people in public, he became even more lost and confused.

“No! Okay! I didn’t know why it was such a big deal because I don’t have a family to tell me that stuff and they didn’t exactly explain it at the academy! I’ve been alone my entire life with no one to guide me! I didn’t even know what a nest was until Sasuke made one three months ago!”

The hag has the decency to look ashamed of her outburst but Naruto doesn’t care. What had happened with Sasuke was an accident and nobody that knew about the scent bond ever believed him.

Was it really such a crime to want to take care of his teammate when he was vulnerable?

“Okay guys, let’s cool it. No one meant any harm, so why don’t you finish telling us how it happened, kid.” His new sensei was weirdly good at trying to smooth things over with people. It probably had something to do with his long history of being a creepy perv conducting “research” now that Naruto thought about it..

“As I was saying,” he started again for the second time in less than three minutes, “I went to go check on him because I got worried and he was acting really weird, well weirder than usual anyways, and he was really aggressive and Sasuke has like a lot of fangirls and gossip spreads like wildfire so like, they all were at the hospital trying to get to him and he stabbed one girl, which she so deserved, and he kinda latched onto me and didn’t let me go so I was kinda stuck. We uh..”

Naruto was embarrassed to admit the next part but Jiraiya was all too eager to hear the rest of the story. “He kinda um.. Scented each other.. Like.. a lot and we fell asleep like that so.. Yeah..”

He can feel the blood rushing to his face and he kicks a pebble in the road to distract himself from the, amused in Jiraiya’s case, shocked stares of his travel companions. The gambling fiend’s eye twitches as she asks “What on earth did you think you were doing? Surely you knew it was” she gestures a hand in the air awkwardly, “intimate.”

He’s sheepish because he knows they’re going to laugh. Kakashi sensei sure had a nice, long cackle at his and Sasuke’s expenses when he explained to them what they’d done.

“... I thought we were making a pack bond?” he trailed helplessly, speeding up his pace so that he could hopefully avoid another smack from the alcoholic.

Jiraiya’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Kid- you-” he can’t finish wherever he is about to say because he bursts into a loud, hearty chuckling laugh that would shake the earth if it were any louder.

“Uhm, Naruto?” Shizune squeaks out, “Pack bonds are established by-” She gets cut off by Jiraiya. “Pack bonds are formed at the wrist you knucklehead!”

Sasuke had been very clear on that when they’d gone back to their senses. He’d been clear on a lot of other things too, like how if he told anyone that the Uchiha had stuck to him like an octopus, he’d remove his fingers one by one and set his stash of ramen on fire- which was arguably worse than having his fingers removed.
“So what are you going to do about the bond?” Tsunade speaks up, all business. Her eyes are boring into him and he instantly feels bad for any of her past patients because while doctors were scary enough, she was terrifying.

“Uh, well you see-” Jiraiya interrupts again and the blonde is starting to believe that he’s doing it on purpose just to mess with him.

“Kakashi said that they couldn’t locate any information on how to sever it without medical involvement, so we were hoping that you would be able to perform the surgery.”

He thinks it’s weird how Tsunade’s facial expression softens at the mention of Kakashi sensei, but they’re discussing something literally life or death so he chalks it up to fondness for fellow comrades.

The future hokage and her disciple share a serious, heavy look before the old woman sighs. Her lips are pursed in thought and even Jiraiya has a serious look on his face. “Jiraiya you know I don’t do that anymore. Not after-” her eyes clasp together tightly, clearly pained at a memory from long ago.

Shizune squeezes her teacher’s shoulder in what should have been a comforting manner, but the blonde woman pushes her hand away.

“Please grandma Tsunade, we don’t have any other options.” Naruto hopes his voice is pitiful enough to convince her but it’s not likely. She’s obviously as stubborn as he is and that’s arguably more infuriating than anything else about her.

“No Naruto.” she half shouts sternly before she whirls around to face Jiraiya. She jabs a finger to his chest and he lets her with a stony, unreadable expression on his face. “And you! You should know better than to ask me that! Especially after what happened last time!”

Jiraiya emits a growl and it honestly scares him. He’d never seen the sage so.. angry before, but Tsunade didn’t even flinch. She had to be the coolest, most stubborn omega Naruto would ever meet. Well, besides Sasuke that is.

The atmosphere is tense and ripe with the angry scent of lemon and for the first time, Naruto notices the lack of scent emitting from his sensei. That didn’t make any sense because for an alpha as powerful; as Jiraiya, even if he were really, reaallyyy good at masking his scent, there would still be something.

He’d have to ask him about it later, after Tsunade had healed Sasuke and they managed to convince her to perform the operation.

~~~
Sasuke can’t breathe. The air has turned into thick, black, syrupy tar and it’s in his lungs and he can’t breathe. Itachi is standing over him, toying with his blade and all the omega can do is panic.

His parent’s cold, dead arms are wrapped around him in a tight grip that’s reminiscent of a rope and all he can do is stare up at Itachi’s looming form as he chokes on the tar in his throat. Itachi tuts, in mock pity, and his eyes are maliciously sympathetic as he crouches down to be eye level with Sasuke’s trembling body.

“You know, maybe it’s a good thing the clan is dead. After all, they only let the strongest omegas continue to be shinobi after presenting and you’re much too weak.”

He grins then and Sasuke had never seen him smile in that way and he never wants to see it again. “Honestly, you’re just one wasted potential after another, aren’t you, Sasuke?”

The omega in question tries to ignore the taunts because he knows Itachi wants a reaction. He can’t focus on anything specifically, it’s all just one hellish daze.

In the blink of an eye, but Sasuke knows it is actually far longer because time works differently here, Itachi is gone, the bloody arms constricting him like snakes turn to ash and fall to the ground. He can breathe but he’s falling and no matter how hard he yells, he can’t make a sound.

This time, his fall isn’t endless. He hits the inky ground hard and it squeezes what little air he’s managed to obtain from his lungs. Footsteps echo around him and they come from every direction so he has no idea how to prepare or even where to look. All he can do is wrap his arms tightly around himself and let his tears flow freely. He’s still in his powerless, weak eight year old body.

He can’t really see what figure approaches him, the fat, rolling tears that have hijacked his face again make his vision too bleary to tell. The light doesn’t help him, as the sky is its usual acidic blood red, and the shadows it casts are larger and deeper than any shadow caused by a sun.

There’s a hand on his shoulder and his neck burns. The red light of the blood moon casts an orange glow on blonde hair and Sasuke’s blood runs cold. Itachi wouldn’t- how did he-

His eyes trailed up the form in front of him slowly, too scared to meet the eyes of the person he was almost certain he would find, but unable to move away while the hand was sternly placed on his shoulder.

He never thought he would be terrified to see him but he was. Naruto was grinning down at him, with an evil twist to the wide smile Sasuke had come to appreciate. His eyes weren’t the same and Sasuke hurts when he sees red in place of blue.

The omega cries out as Naruto tightens his grip and he thinks he hears a slight snap where the alpha’s fingers rest on his collarbone. His nerves are electric and the sting of hurt shoots through his body, making him shudder with nauseating tendrils of pain.

“STOP! ITACHI PLEASE! NOT HIM!” he begs as Naruto’s fingers move to where his glands are. The omega part of his brain is screaming at him to relax, that he should let his alpha do with him as he pleases, but Naruto isn’t his. Even if he was, Sasuke was much too proud to let that happen.

He wants to fight and run and scream and claw at the hand at his neck, but he’s paralyzed. He doesn’t know if it’s from his own fear and shock or because Itachi wants him to be as helpless as he feels.

The red eyed alpha bends down to where he’s level with his ear and begins to tell the omega all of the thoughts that have plagued Sasuke’s mind since presenting. He starts to struggle against invisible bindings and not-Naruto laughs.

“You think you can escape? You’re an Uchiha that’s trapped in a genjutsu. Clearly, your genes must have been defective.” Sasuke clenches his jaw to keep himself from screaming at the alpha. He’s learned that if he fights back, in any way, it only gets worse.

“Are you even worthy of the Uchiha name?”

Two more figures step out of the red shadows and he doesn’t have to look to know it’s more versions of Naruto. They begin to swarm him in droves, taunting him all the while, and it feels like they’ve been at it for days before there’s a change.

Sasuke has sobbed and raged and hurt and it won’t end.

But then Itachi is there, and he carries a sword that Sasuke still has nightmares about, and the omega is free of his invisible confines. The genin collapses from his kneeling position, dazed with dried tear tracks on his cheeks. Itachi ominously crouches next to him.

“Sasuke, you know what you have to do to make them stop, don’t you?”

Sasuke turns wild eyes to take in the crowd of sadistic Narutos who haven’t stopped their hateful barrage of verbal assaults. He-he can’t do what he knows the older Uchiha wants him to.

The sword is in his hands but Sasuke doesn’t remember picking it up, nor does he remember getting so much red fluid on the blade. He realizes he’s standing and Itachi watches him shake like a feeble child.

Air stings his lungs and he registers the coppery, gory scent that he’s all too familiar with and he can’t look down because he knows what he’ll see and it’s wrong.

He doesn’t get a choice, however, because he never gets a choice. Itachi forces his head down when he spots the look of pained defiance flutter across his face.

All of the clones are mutilated and broken and butchered but their faces are grinning up at him, eyes as red as the pools of blood spreading beneath their bodies.

“You couldn’t save your own family, what makes you think you can save us?” they parrot, one after the other in a sing-song that gets in his ears and Sasuke knows he will never unhear it.

One last Naruto remains, and the sword moves of its own accord, dragging Sasuke’s arm along with it because he can’t let go.

He’s sobbing, loudly. His throat is clenching and unclenching and his chest is rising and falling too erratically. “Stop.” he chokes out, ignoring the rawness of his voice. “Itachi, please. I’ll- I’ll do anything just please don’t make me-”

His begging is cut short when the blade sinks into the blonde alpha like nothing. He doesn’t say anything, he just grins up at Sasuke with trusting eyes and Sasuke hates.

“That’s it, little brother, let your hatred flow.”
~~~
Shikamaru sighs as he folds his arms over his chest, completely and utterly bored. The nurses have told him that Sakura hasn’t set foot in Sasuke’s hospital room since the discovery and he can only think about how terrible team seven’s bond is.

Sakura’s loyalty is conditional, Sasuke’s loyalty is on his terms, and Naruto seems to glue himself to whoever doesn’t want him dead. What was the hokage thinking?

Ino had forced him to be the one to look after the comatose omega as payback for dropping the bombshell on them all and upsetting Sakura. There were a lot of things the alpha disliked doing, like moving swiftly and doing laundry with his mom, but he could safely say that there was nothing he detested more than having to stare blankly at nothing, waiting for Sasuke to wake up.

It had been like this for two days and already he wanted to gouge out his own eyes. Choji and Hinata were the only ones that showed up consistently anymore. It made sense, Kiba and Sasuke had a poor relationship at best and Naruto beating the crap out of the other alpha for no reason hadn’t helped things much. Shikamaru couldn’t remember ever seeing Shino and Sasuke even speak to one another, and Ino was helping her family rebuild their home.

Sakura.. well, was being a girl about things, so he didn’t expect her to be showing up any time soon.

He almost felt bad for the guy. If it weren’t for Ino’s stubbornness wearing him down, he wouldn’t be here, and Choji visited more for Shikamaru than he did for the omega. Hinata was a rare occurrence because outside of missions, the Hyuuga clan kept a tight leash on the omega heiress.

Sasuke was alone.

It became increasingly obvious as the clock on the wall continued to tick and the rush of the hospital could be heard inside the room, yet, inside remained silent.

Sure, it was kinda obvious that the omega was an orphan. Shoot, Shikamaru would be surprised if the whole world didn’t know the famous tale by now. But, wasn’t Naruto an orphan too?

Shikamaru knew without a doubt that if Naruto was in Sasuke’s place, this room would be filled to the brim with people.

Lord third’s grandson, that pipsqueak Konohomaru, teams seven, eight, and ten would be frequent visitors. Their old sensei from the academy, Iruka, would basically be living in the place until Naruto was better.

Outside of Naruto, and maybe Kakashi and the girls, no one would go out of their way like that for Sasuke, not the way families would.

Him being a complete asshole didn’t help either. Sasuke is prideful and arrogant, with skills that nine times out of ten would back him up on that at least, but the worst thing about him is his complete lack of care and respect for other people. It makes Shikamaru uneasy, because his older brother had so little care and respect for people that he slaughtered their entire clan. The genius alpha did not want to figure out just how similar he and Itachi Uchiha were in that regard.

Shikamaru couldn’t say that Naruto was his best friend, or even one of his closest friends, but he cared about the fumbling, brain dead idiot, and he absolutely despised the fact that the blonde was so obviously head over heels for Sasuke.

It was all just one big disaster waiting to happen and he thinks it’s a drag how no one else can see that.

He shifts in his chair and looks out of the carefully reinforced window. He’d asked one of the nurses why it was like that and she told him that when Sasuke was in the hospital the last time, when he’d presented, he’d smashed the glass and threatened several hospital staff with kunai knives.

How troublesome.

He doesn’t get to stare at the clouds through the window, however, because almost immediately Hinata enters with snacks and flowers Ino had sent her with. He didn’t get why she sent flowers every day, Sasuke had only been out of it for four days, the original flowers weren’t even dead yet. Plus, it wasn’t like he was awake to appreciate the kind gesture.

Not that a bastard like that would.

“Hi, Shikamaru.” The girl’s soft voice cuts through the silence like a knife and it amuses him because it just goes to show just how quiet it is.

“Hey,” he shrugs, inclining his head gratefully when she hands him a bag of chips, “Thanks.”

She blushes in response, then looks sadly towards Sasuke’s unresponsive body. It’s as if she feels bad for being happy when her old schoolmate is lying injured in the same room.

“How is he?” she asks timidly, for some reason Shikamaru can’t fathom because it’s not like he’s going to bite her head off for asking about their comrade.

“Same as usual.” he says lazily in between bites of chips. The package looked an awful lot like Choji’s favorite spicy brand that had been out of stock for a week now.

Shikamaru would need to burn the evidence, or he’d be facing one pissed off Akimichi.

“Why do you keep coming anyway? No one’s taking attendance.”
“We-well, I could say the same for you.” touché.

Her hands rush up to her mouth in shock, like she’s just said something world endingly offensive, and Shikamaru can’t help but feel a twinge of pity for her because, while a rare occurrence, Hyuuga omegas were heavily sheltered and disciplined. It’s not a surprise how rare they are, given the harsh circumstances surrounding that eerily reserved clan.

He chuckles faintly to let her know that she hasn’t done anything wrong and pushes one of the chairs in front of her for her to sit.

He’d thought that was the end of the conversation, but a few moments later to gather her thoughts, Hinata speaks up again.

“Sasuke is my friend a-and it’s not fair that Naruto isn’t here.” Her voice is honest and her words are simple, but they’re strong and her lilac gaze is unwavering. With a quick assessment of the air, the driven scent of vanilla and lavender tells him that there’s not a sliver of doubt in her.

“Crazy, never would’ve thought that the leaf village’s meanest omega would be the nicest omega’s friend.” Her cheeks turn red again. Does she just have too much blood in her face or something? Why is she always so red?

“Sasuke isn’t bad.” her phrasing is innocent, yet blunt, and it reminds him of Choji when they were little kids.

“Oh yeah?”

She nods her head insistently and she crosses her legs. “He is really kind when you get to know him, and I think he’s lonely but is scared to make friends.”

Well, that was certainly an.. alternate take on the guy’s personality.

As an afterthought, when she sees Shikamaru turning her words over in his mind with careful consideration, she adds, “The world was mean to him, so he’s mean to the world.”

Now it all makes sense. She felt like she had something in common with the omega, and Shikamaru couldn’t deny that. They both came from prestigious clans, both were omegas, quiet, somewhat isolated, and both gravitated towards Naruto.

Hinata could have been Sasuke, and Sasuke could have been Hinata, and that makes Shikamaru think.

She’s wiser than people give her credit for and he tells her as much. She looks like she’s either about to deny it or thank him for the compliment- which really isn’t a compliment because it’s just an observation, but whatever-, but the door swinging open abruptly cuts her off.

“Lady Hinata. What would your father say if he found out you were alone with an alpha without an escort?” Her older cousin they’d met in the chunin exams, Neji, scolds. Sheesh, he sure didn’t waste time being an asshole.

His eyes, even though they’re identical to hers thanks to the Hyuuga bloodline trait, are malicious and if Shikamaru didn’t know any better, he’d say the older alpha enjoyed seeing the way Hinata’s face crumbled. Neji must have just gotten done visiting his teammate a few doors down.

What’s more, her calming, subtle lavender fragrance is completely diminished by Neji’s bitter polish scent, which is a clear sign of her submission, however hesitant it may have been.

Neji rolls his eyes, and Shikamaru watches him. He gives off the same vibe that Sasuke does, although Sasuke’s general aura is nowhere near as obviously angry and bitter as the older Hyuuga’s.

Hinata turns to her friend with a deeply troubled smile and says “Goodbye, Shikamaru, it was nice talking to you.”

He nods instead of responding verbally because he knows Neji would be the kind of guy to take anything the wrong way on purpose. Hinata didn’t need any more grief than she already got from her clan, and Shikamaru didn’t want any part in making the girl more miserable than she already was.

Too bad her cousin didn’t have the same thoughts on the subject.

Warily, Shikamaru watched them go.
~~~
The injured boy could tell something was wrong with Sakura the moment she entered his hospital room. Her newly shortened hair didn’t have its usual shine and she smelled as though she were deeply troubled but had covered it up with the scent of freshly baked cookies- a common perfume that female alphas used.

Rock Lee stiffened as she took a seat next to his bed, desperately trying to sit in a disciplined, respectful way that she would hopefully appreciate. “Sakura, what is the matter?” he made sure to catch her gaze as he spoke so that she could see his sincerity.

She gave him a smile in return, bouncing her head to the side and closing her eyes in a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her mouth. “Oh nothing, Lee, my teammates are just being- well, them. How are you feeling?”

That was suspicious. How could Sasuke give her trouble when he was unconscious? And hadn’t she mentioned that Naruto was away from the village two days ago? Something didn’t sit right with the genin.

What had happened within the last twenty four hours to make her so obviously frustrated and upset? “I am doing better than I was before you arrived, my beautiful Sakura, and I will be even better than I was then as you continue to visit me!”

She chuckled then and he was relieved to hear it. To him, her laugh was effortlessly melodic, an aphrodisiac for his wounded pride. The nurses kept telling him that the medicines they continued to give him were healing his injuries, but he would bet doing three hundred laps around the village on his hands that it was really Sakura’s presence that did the trick.

There was something about her that just felt comforting.

“Sakura, I can tell that something is not right. I respect that you do not wish to tell me, but please, do not let it hinder your youthful spirit!”

If he could raise a fist in the air to display his unwavering determination, he would, but alas, he was almost completely in a body cast. “Thank you Lee, that means a lot.”

They sat there for a moment, appreciating each other’s presence. One of the nurses had come in earlier and opened a window so that the air flow would rid the room of dejected iron. His scent was uncommon in the leaf village, and many had theorized that he had an ancestor that had come from the sand village years ago, which he supposed that made his loss in the chunin exams even more bitter than it already was.

His scent didn’t go with many, and it was as striking as his physical features. Many girls had told him as much, but he didn’t really let it get to him anymore. He had something to prove, and wasting time on unproductive emotions such as insecurity was not a good idea. However, when he’d stumbled upon team seven trying to sign up for the exams, and he’d noticed that Sakura hadn’t flinched away from his scent, he’d been giddy.

Even Ten-Ten and Neji, despite their best efforts, found it hard to adjust to his heavy, airy iron fragrance. It was like a breath of fresh air to see Sakura not even blink at him that he’d had to profess his love for her on the spot. Rock Lee did not like to do anything that was understated in any way.

It just made sense to him, why do something at all if it didn’t have all of his energy put into it?

Sakura was kind as well. She had witnessed his devastating defeat and instead of treating him shamefully, she offered him friendship and care, and he’d even heard her scolding others in the hospital wing when they’d been disrespectful to his situation.

She was brave like that, and even though she did not return his affections, she never wavered in her respect for him.

Sakura was a good friend.

That’s why Rock Lee decided that he would get to the bottom of whatever it was that was disturbing her and he would solve it for her. It would be his form of a thank you for taking care of him.