Lee
It is not easy to believe it at first, which is why Neji is deadpanned when looking at Lee and giving him what is equivalent to a look of incredulity, though it would be hard for anyone to tell what all the usually stoic Hyuuga was thinking from expression alone, “There is no way you are one.”
Lee frowns, finding it annoying that his own teammate doesn’t believe him, “I am, though! My scent glands are on my neck; I am an omega. See? You can smell it on me!”
Neji did just that, not expecting anything other than sweat—but what he did find was interesting: a strong scent of evergreen and cotton met him, causing the omega in front of him to grin, “I told you I am an omega, Neji. Just because I am one doesn’t mean I can’t become a ninja too.”
Somewhere at this moment, Tenten was rushing over through the woods after finding a note from her teammate telling her of his plan to tell Neji the truth today. Needless to say, she knew it was a bad idea for many reasons—telling him something so important before the Chunin exams was essentially career suicide. There’s no way Neji would ever accept his being an omega and even if the alpha did, he’d never accept Lee as an equal after this!
What the hell was he thinking?
She has to get over there before things can go from bad to worse—except, she was far too late for that.
Neji already reacted, but not in a way either of them had seen coming. Rock Lee had thought he would have heard a lecture about how he can’t change his fate of being barefoot and pregnant someday, Tenten had believed he would have pulled some strings to get Lee out of the ninja field, and Guy? Well, he was the one who gave Lee the confidence he needed to tell Neji the truth because ‘keeping secrets from a teammate is the worst thing a person can do in a team’. He had thought Neji would appreciate it if Lee told him about it at their usual training location on a day they were supposed to have off from that.
Lee did just that, inviting Neji over through a simple “Hey, do you want to meet me here tomorrow at noon? I know we have a day off, but I need to tell you something important alone that you need to hear before the Chunin exams start.”
Then he had thought things were going to over well when Neji gave him a casual, “I see nothing wrong with that. Whatever it is you need to tell me alone, I am more than willing to learn because for all I know, it could make you a liability during the exams.”
He didn’t argue with him then, but now that Neji knew the truth of it, he figured he would have heard it from him.
Instead, what he got was something else entirely: Neji’s byakugan was activated and he quickly hit a point on the back of his hand.
Lee was left to watch in horror as a lavender mark appeared on the back of his bare hand (he had them unbandaged to show Neji he wasn't looking for a fight or to train), one that bore the Hyuuga name on it in what has to be the most beautiful kanji he’s ever seen and yet, all it did was horrify the omega who tried to hide it with his confusion, “Neji, what is this? Why is my hand marred with the Hyuuga clan’s name on it?”
“It isn’t marred at all—you’re an omega I am going to mate someday, Lee.”
Now imagine how shocked he was to hear this especially since he had never thought Neji would want him as a mate, let alone a friend, “You want to mate me? Since when!”
Neji was cool about it all when explaining himself to the omega, “Ever since our first month of training together and I thought it was a shame that someone with as perfect hips and flexibility as you would be a beta with scent glands on your left wrist. I won’t deny that you hid it very well—your scent isn’t the usual omega one, that much I can admit, and it did throw me off for the longest time.”
He grabbed the hand with his mark on it, giving Lee the hard truth he needed to hear, “Now that I know you are an omega, I intend to make you mine. You’re resilient, flexible, and have the best hip shape for birthing pups. It’s clear that I’d be a fool to not mate you as soon as possible, but I know you’d fight me on it. If not you, then either Tenten or Guy sensei would have my head for trying to court you. Since I cannot follow family tradition with you, I have to use an alternate tradition.”
His thumb runs over the mark, right as Tenten arrives, she too learns at the same time as Lee what the mark means, “This mark is a symbol of the fate you cannot escape—should you ever fight me with your all during the Chunin exams or at any moment in time and lose, your chakra will surrender to mine in this mark and your scent gland will have my mark on it until the day either I or we both pass away together.”
Lee—not being one to give up—was resilient in his optimism, “And if I do beat you then I will be free of this mark, correct?”
“Yes, you will be, but let’s face it Lee: you will never beat me. Your fate as an omega with that mark on your hand is sealed as such. You will become my omega whether you want to or not. Fate cannot be changed, nor can it ever be escaped.” he does inform him before taking his leave, “That being said, I will not baby you at the Chunin exams, nor will I go easy on you during training. Just because you are meant to be my mate doesn’t mean you will obtain all of the benefits immediately. You are still a ninja for now, but when you lose to me, you will be a Hyuuga omega and things will change from there on out. Until that day, don’t do anything stupid that gets you killed, okay?”
Tenten felt so devastated and outraged for Lee that she was going to give Neji a piece of her mind on the spot. That is, until Lee stood there strong and resilient as ever, “I’m glad I’m allowed the chance to be your equal for now, Neji. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if you ever tried to baby me or treat me as though I am helpless. Just know that my fate isn’t sealed or inescapable” with all of the strength within himself at that moment, he smiles at everything that just happened to him, “I will beat you and your mark won’t appear on my skin. That much I can promise you.”
…It was just so Lee to react in such a way that she almost laughed at her own thought of having to comfort a hurt, devastated, crying omega. Of course he wouldn’t take it the worst way possible! It’s Lee, the guy would be the type to use this as a motivation to one day beat Neji in combat!
Neji had to stop himself from laughing at the absurdity of such a claim, but it didn’t stop him from taking Lee’s marked hand into a hold in his own, his eyes full of the same determination and confidence Lee had at the moment, “Very well then, you can live on in your own delusional wonderland, I won’t stop you from it. It doesn’t mean I can’t have a taste of what to expect when I inevitably win.”
He then did something that had Tenten jumping down from the tree branch in shock and disgust at what he did.
Neji took Lee’s first kiss without his consent.
That alone was enough to make her see red, “Neji! I don’t care if you’ve got a weird, creepy crush on Lee or not, it doesn’t excuse you from acting like a jerk to him and stealing his first kiss like that after what you just pulled on him!”
The alpha didn’t budge when the other alpha held her ground against him, “Lee is going to be my mate someday. I don’t understand the problem you have with that—but what can I expect from someone who probably knew the truth of his condition and kept it a secret from me anyway? Hypocrisy is a bad look on anyone, even you, Tenten.”
She frowned and with her balled up fist, was ready to punch him, “I didn’t tell you about it because I was afraid you’d try to pull some strings to get him to stop being a ninja because of your dumb sexist takes on things. It was all for the best for Lee and his dreams.”
“What of mine, though? Didn’t it ever hit you that I stared at his hips and awed in his flexibility and scent because I was attracted to him? Why am I supposed to set my attraction to Lee aside because people who were too incompetent to notice those little things have an issue with it?”
“How was I supposed to know your creepy comments were anything that remotely suggested you had a crush on him? Honestly Neji, you’re a jerk and I don’t know what you did to Lee, but you better remove that mark from his hand before I break your hand.”
Neji rolled his eyes and the other alpha was about to strike until he said it: “I cannot remove it. It’s a mark given to an omega a Hyuuga desires to mate without courting. This mark is meant for omegas who either won’t or can’t accept a courting. While the main branch forbade this, my branch didn’t, so I’m in line with what would my clan would accept in this situation. Since I had to use my byakugan and attach it to a specific chakra point on the back of his hand while infusing it with my chakra, there is no way for me to reverse it. The curse seal is already on there and it can only go away after Lee inevitably loses to me in battle after giving it everything he’s got.”
She was about to hit him and start a war on Lee’s behalf until Lee stopped her, “Tenten, it’s alright. I understand fully what has to happen and sure, he did take my first kiss and used a curse on me to try to make me his, but I don’t care. All that does is give me the motivation I need to work harder so I can give it my all, my very best, when we do fight for real.”
His smile never fades, his confidence never wavers, as he meet Neji’s gaze, “My fate is not sealed or inescapable. I will fight you at my very and I will win, Neji.”
The alpha has a small laugh at this because he cannot believe he’s being so dense about everything, “Believe whatever you wish, it won’t stop me from being the victor here. I only hope you’re ready for the life of being a Hyuuga omega.”
Lee doesn’t budge in his optimism, which Tenten finds both admirable and rather stupid.
Neji is an alpha with a creepy crush on him—he won’t give in that easily and he will do whatever it takes to beat Lee so he can have him for himself.
(Okay, Tenten thinks the crush is creepy. She didn’t really care for the way she had to remember in a new light all of the times she saw Neji watching Lee demonstrate his flexibility during training, nor did she ever want to think of the way he glared at the shape of his hips when he thought no one was looking. The idea that he did all of the above out of attraction to Lee is enough to send a chill down her spine if she thinks on it too long.)
That aside, Lee is just as confident himself and he’s resilient (she feels dirty even using that word for him now thanks to Neji) to whatever it is life throws at him…so maybe she’s overreacting to this. Maybe she’s reading this all wrong and she has no room to worry.
Lee himself doesn’t appear to be bothered by it at all. If of anything, he’s acting as though this is a normal competition between them which is shocking to her. Any other omega in his position would have been screaming, panicking, fighting him, frowning or crying at the very least and yet…Lee isn’t doing any of the above. All he’s done is stay upbeat, positive, and optimistic.
Tenten can respect the omega in this moment because he’s shown that he can handle horrible news and a horrible situation without flinching, a sign of a true shinobi with a bright future ahead of him…as long as Neji doesn’t ruin it for him.
“I’m not ready for that life and I never will be. I will become a ninja and if I have to finally defeat you to do that, then I will.”
Neji walks away from this in an incredibly casual manner, not caring that Lee is confident or positive or optimistic in the slightest bit. This mark was meant to keep away any and all alphas and betas from Lee. He knows Lee won’t ever beat him in battle; his victory is assured in his eyes. What isn’t secured is the fact that others could be after him without the Hyuuga alpha knowing of it and that is why he had to mark him with the seal that he did.
Tenten will probably tell Guy sensei and he will most likely get a scolding for it, but knowing Lee…he’s too good natured to ever be actually mad at him, let alone annoyed with him over this situation. If of anything, he genuinely will use it as motivation to try to best him in battle no matter how futile his attempts are.
Neji will let him have that. After all, he will be mating him soon and he’d rather start their mating off on a good foot with Lee as opposed to a bad one.
When alone, Tenten couldn’t believe how assured and confident he was on this matter, “Lee, are you sure you don’t want to go to someone in Neji’s clan to get this removed? I’m sure someone would be willing to if you asked—”
“I don’t want that, Tenten.” Lee insisted, his conviction strong, “I am going to beat natural genius with my hard work and one day, Neji will come to regret ever trying to mate me like this.”
She’s not sure what to do here…Lee is so confident that he can win against Neji someday and she’s not positive he can.
Neji is an amazing martial artist. Lee is too, but now that he knows Lee is an omega…who knows what sort of tricks he would use to win in battle? She knows he wants to mate Lee, but she’s not certain how long he has wanted this and whether or not this is an obsession of his that will result in Lee being in a miserable relationship with someone who wants an idealized version of him as opposed to the person he actually is.
She wants to go to Guy sensei and yet, Lee doesn’t seem to think this is necessary going off of what he has to say now, “I know you’re thinking about it, but please don’t tell Guy sensei. I don’t want him to get mad at Neji or at me for not wanting to get this removed. I know it may be a bad thing to keep it, but someday, I am going to defeat Neji in battle giving it my all and this mark is simply a motivator to keep me focused on my goal.”
She really wishes he didn’t view it like this because it makes it sound so positive when she knows it’s anything but, “You shouldn’t keep a secret from Guy sensei like that! Besides, what if you take that bandage off of your arm? Won’t he see it then? Won’t he know what Neji did and be mad at you for lying to him?”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I don’t want Neji to get in trouble because if he gets in trouble, it will be my fault too because I didn’t react fast enough to stop him from leaving this mark on me. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t want Neji to get in trouble—if he does, then I can’t fight him and beat him and I’ll get in trouble too for not being fast enough to stop him.”
“What? That’s not your fault at all!” she protests, trying to get the omega to see what anyone else could in this situation, “Neji shouldn’t have reacted like that and he had no right to pull the stunt he did! You cannot blame yourself for something he did to you!”
“I can because I’ve been working so hard to beat him that I cannot help but be angry at myself for not being fast enough to stop him!” he’s sad when admitting, “I feel like a complete idiot for not being able to stop him…it is my fault too, Tenten. I should have been able to read his intentions and movements like a true Shinobi, but instead I failed and now I have this mark on me because of that failure.”
She doesn’t see it this way, but she knows it doesn’t matter. If Lee feels this way about it himself, then nothing she says contrary to this will ever be enough to convince him otherwise.
He wraps his hand back up, feeling so stupid for ever falling into Neji’s trap so easily and for being so confident as to show up unbandaged to their training area for once in his lifetime, “Thank you for the support—really, I am grateful for it but this is my mistake to correct and no one else’s.”
Tenten frowns as Lee goes over to his usual spot to train, not letting this get to him at all when anyone else would have been breaking down over it.