Naruto
“Naruto, I did not mean it that way! All I wanted was to have dinner with you.”
“Yeah right, teme! I know better than to trust you!” Naruto snarls, “Anyone who can reject ramen like that is not to be trusted in my book!”
Poor Sasuke; he’s got it bad for Naruto and has ever since he first saw the blonde as a small child before his clan was massacred. He wouldn’t deny that back then he had blushed at the first sight of the lively omega and he may be felt his heart skip a few beats, but he definitely fell hard for him at first sight.
He remembers his brother back then grinning ever so slyly as he forewarned him, “It must be an Uchiha thing to be attracted to loud, blonde, difficult omegas… Be prepared Sasuke, I can tell you from experience this won’t be easy.”
The only difference was Itachi had a crush on Deidara Yamanaka—the omega notoriously known in the village as the ‘worst omega ever’ and ‘unmateable’ for his take no bullshit from alphas behavior and attitude.
In comparison, Sasuke has a crush on Naruto. Naruto doesn’t hate his guts like he remembers Deidara hating Itachi’s, he doesn’t hate all alphas in general like he remembers Deidara doing, he’s not argumentative towards alphas like Deidara was, he’s never bluntly rejected him more than ten times in a row like Deidara did to Itachi, and he doesn’t know he has a crush on him like Deidara did with Itachi.
The sad thing is, Sasuke has been trying to make his feelings for Naruto known in the best ways he knew how. He kept other alphas and betas who showed any interest at all in Naruto away from him through fear, intimidation, and at times physical violence. He did all that he could to get his attention on him even if it meant picking fights with him or being the best in their class so he wouldn’t ever focus on anyone else but himself or besting Sakura at every chance he got during missions and yet Naruto still couldn’t see it!
Even now, the night before the Chunin exams begin, he had tried to get him out on a date with him by asking him out to a barbeque place for dinner…and what did the beautiful dumbass do?
He actually got mad over it right away, “Hey, I thought we were going out to get some ramen!”
“You always have ramen, dobe. It can’t kill you to try something new that could be better.”
“Are you saying ramen’s not as good as barbecue?”
“I’d rather have barbecue right now than another bowl of ramen for a whole month.”
Hence why Naruto is upset with him right now.
He shouldn’t have worded it that way, but ever since he took up buying him lunch as a way to begin the long Uchiha courting process, all he has been buying and eating with him is ramen. Who can blame him for wanting something new, let alone getting sick of ramen after a while?
Oh well…none of it matters now. Naruto is mad and he knows he won’t drop it if he keeps this up. It’s best to walk away for now to give him the time to cool off.
Of course, leave it to a certain someone to make a comment on his situation in all of his arrogant glory, “Looks like your plan to be aloof like Itachi has failed spectacularly.”
Sasuke glares his sensei down, not caring that the older alpha could very damned well kick his ass at any moment here, “I’m not following his plan.”
“Well you could’ve had me fooled… You do remember doing all that he did with Deidara got him nowhere with him, right?”
Sasuke remembers all of the ways he failed to impress Deidara and man, was it many. Itachi quite literally never quit on Deidara even though he made it clear he hated his guts and wanted nothing to do with him. Hell, he went as far as to say, on regular occasion, “If you were to die tomorrow, I wouldn’t cry for you, un!”
In the end when Deidara did go missing after Itachi left the village, he couldn’t deny believing Ino when she said Itachi had to force him to go along through kidnapping, threatening, or manipulation because there was no way he could ever conceive the idea of that omega ever liking his brother enough to leave the village with him.
“I remember that very well…he used to make clay sculpture bombs to try to kill him every single day. What does that have to do with me and Naruto?”
Kakashi is casual when advising him to, “Just tell him that you like him and want to date or court him—whichever you Uchihas do. I’m sure he would be open to it if you were able to properly explain yourself.”
Sasuke furrows his brow at him, giving him a judgmental stare, “How has that worked with Iruka sensei over the years?”
“…It’s better than what you’re doing now.”
In other words, he’s gotten nowhere.
Thought it wouldn’t kill to do that, but…it’s Naruto and Sasuke knows he won’t take it well and he’ll be stuck explaining himself for an hour afterwards if he does confess like Kakashi wants him to.
“Maybe you’re right, but Naruto is not like Iruka sensei. I have to be careful when coming forward to him about this.”
“Just don’t take too long or else someone could come along and sweep him off of his feet.”
Sasuke bites back his laugh to this, not telling Kakashi as he leaves him behind to head home that he would never allow anyone to ever get close enough to Naruto to sweep him off of his feet before he can confess to him.
While this was happening, Naruto was marching back home, annoyed with Sasuke and mad at his insult to ramen. At least Iruka sensei will give him all of the ramen he wants when he gets home!
Unlike Ino who can rant and rave about sexism against omegas from alphas and betas all day long, Naruto cannot say he ever has experienced any of the sexism she talks about. He cannot say any alpha and beta has ever treated him worse than any omega did. If of anything, he has a harder time understanding where Ino is coming from with the sexism talk because to him…it feels like old news, ancient history as opposed to a common problem omegas face every day.
He has befriended alphas, betas, and omegas alike during his missions. He doesn’t believe alphas and betas would ever treat an omega differently or say half of the things Ino told him she’s had said to her. He sometimes wonder if she heard those things because she was rude to the person speaking or something like that. He knows Deidara was never the nicest to alphas and betas—and then wondered why they spoke down to him in return. In Naruto’s eyes, it’s pretty clear that if you treat a person poorly, they will respond in kind.
Of course, he would never say to Ino’s face. She is the only other omega Genin from the academy and she was the one who said it back when they first met in Iruka sensei’s class “The life of a Shinobi is hard for an unmated omega like you and me. We’ve got to stick together if we want to survive this together, Naruto.”
He’d rather stick together in a show of solidarity than be on her bad side. He remembers Deidara’s outbursts against any alpha or beta who’d piss him off and he knows Ino could be just as capable of doing the same thing if pushed too far going off of the way he’s seen her snap at Sakura over the years.
That being said, he is shocked more omegas aren’t becoming ninjas, but then again…the only omega ninja he’s seen so far is Iruka sensei. Other than him, he’s never seen another one before and as such, he’s feeling more motivated to become the first omega hokage ever than what he did when he was younger.
When he does get home, he is greeted with the smell of ramen in the air and Iruka sensei’s warm call of, “Welcome home, Naruto! Dinner’s ready whenever you want to eat.”
“I’ll eat now, sensei!” Naruto called back as he happily made his way in the home of his sensei who took him in shortly after he entered the academy.
He’s forever grateful to Iruka because the man took him in and became the parent he never had growing up. It also helped that he always knew how to cheer him up after a long, tedious or bad day: a big bowl of ramen.
At the dinner table, he begins to eat the ramen, but it’s not without Iruka asking, “I was getting worried about you for a while there…where were you, Naruto? You’re never home this late, especially on a ramen night.”
Naruto sighs after slurping down his noodles, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come home this late, honest. That stupid teme asked me to have dinner with him after months of him having lunch with me and eating ramen just fine—only for him to complain about ramen and try to take me to barbecue! He knows I like to celebrate special events with special ramen, the damned teme!”
Iruka pauses, pointing out to him before he can get some more noodles, “It sounds like Sasuke was being considerate this entire time and wanted to do something special with you before the Chunin exams started.”
Naruto huffs to this, not seeing what all he could be talking about, “Yeah right…”
“No, Naruto think about it: he didn’t have to eat lunch with you for months when you were in a bitter competition with him to best him in everything he did, he didn’t have to pay for those lunches either, and he certainly did not have to train with you this entire time on his free time either. It sounds like Sasuke wanted to do something special with you—something new that he likes—and you just took it all the wrong way by being incredibly inconsiderate of him.”
Iruka sensei knows enough about Naruto’s rants by now to know that ‘teme’ and anything ‘teme’ related is always a reference to Sasuke. The fact this is true is enough to make Naruto feel a bit dumb at times, but right now, with everything he just said, he feels like a jerk, “…Now you’re making me feel bad for ditching that teme.”
His adopted parent shrugs, “I’m not doing this on purpose. I’m just an outsider giving you an outsider perspective.”
He groans and sets his chopsticks, “Alright, I guess it can’t kill me to eat something other than ramen for once…but it doesn’t mean I will like it.”
“You never know, you could come to like it somewhat if you gave it a try.”
“Maybe.”
Naruto wonders, “Is it worth it to go out and try to find him? I mean, what if he’s home by now? Should I go to his home and apologize so we can eat the barbecue together like he wanted?”
Iruka sensei shoots this down as a possibility because, “No, Naruto. You were already out way past curfew and I don’t want you to be going out again so soon. If you want to apologize to Sasuke, you can do it tomorrow before or after the first part of the Chunin exams are over. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with spending time with me at home before your big day tomorrow.”
The young omega grins; the idea that he will become a Chunin soon has him extremely excited and to know he could become the second ever omega Chunin alongside Ino is something that has him bursting at the seams with positive energy not seen in a while now, “Right, nothing wrong with that at all! So, are you gonna tell me anything about the Chunin exams?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you and you shouldn’t be trying to weasel answers out of me.” Iruka sensei scolds him gently while he eats some more of the takeout ramen from the glass bowl “Are you sure you’re really ready for this? The Chunin exams are no joke, especially for an omega.”
He frowns to this, finding that last part to be a bit strange to say, “Why would it be any harder for an omega? We’re no different from alphas and betas. Why would it be harder for us?”
The older omega sighs, his eyes meeting his own in a bit of hesitation, “Naruto, I know Ino can be brash and difficult at times for alphas and betas to get along with, but…she has a point when she brings up the sexism issues omegas in the ninja world face. As the only omega ninja in the entire village, I’ve been told more than once that I need to step down and focus on getting a mate and pups by many alphas and betas of all ages. It’s something you will definitely hear from these alphas and betas from not only Konoha but also other villages who are far more sexist than we are.”
“Are you sure about that? Because having been to another village in the past, I didn’t encounter anything like that once. I honestly think you’re overblowing this stuff out of proportion—maybe back in the day people were sexist, but they’re not now.”
“Naruto, sexism is a cultural and societal problem that won’t go away overnight. You may have had good luck now, but that doesn’t mean it will last from here on out. You will meet sexist alphas and betas who are of a younger age someday and you will have to deal with them in real life as often as I have done in the past.”
“Uh-huh…I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Iruka says nothing else to this, knowing by now he won’t get anywhere with the stubborn blonde.
Naruto constantly hears this from his sensei and yet he has no reason to believe it. As such, he doesn’t and he won’t until he experiences it for himself someday.
There’s a knock on the door something after they finish eating their meal. Naruto answers it and is not all shocked to find he is seeing his other sensei yet again at his place, “Hello Kakashi sensei. Why are you here? Did your oven really explode again?”
Naruto doesn’t know why Kakashi always visit his home at nights whenever they have a mission in Konoha that doesn’t require them to spend the night elsewhere. He always says it’s because of his oven exploding, his food being expired, his refrigerator dying, or of a self proclaimed ‘nonexistent cooking skills’ he claims to possess (though Naruto knows this is a lie having been on missions with him in the past).
Maybe he really does have bad luck with kitchens and food in general…
“No, my oven did not explode this time around, but I am all out of food and I am rather hungry—is there any chance I could come in and get something to eat?”
“Couldn’t you go to a restaurant for that?”
“I could, but why spend the money?” Kakashi muses before Iruka approaches the door and meets the silver haired alpha’s gaze, “Ah, hello Iruka, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Why are you here?” Iruka asks him bluntly, his face showing his annoyance quite well in Naruto’s eyes, “If your oven really did explode again for the fifth time this month—”
He waves his hand, his excuse rather glib given the situation he was interrupting, “No, not at all. You see, I am all out of food and I am rather hungry—”
“Can’t you go to a restaurant for that?”
“I could but why waste the money?”
“You have more money than me, Kakashi. There’s no need to be that cheap.”
Despite his huff, Kakashi didn’t back off once, “Why do that when all I really want is good company with good food to share with my favorite person in the village?”
Iruka has a comeback for this too, “We both know that’s a lie, so if you please, I am trying to spend time with Naruto before the exams tomorrow—”
“Oh the exams? Why don’t I come in and give Naruto some helpful hints that could protect him from anyone predatory there? Surely that wouldn’t be a bad thing to do, right Iruka?”
Iruka appeared to consider this, but not without coming up with his own rejection, “I would let you in for that, but seeing as how you were the one who pushed for him to enter the Chunin exams when I wasn’t comfortable with it…I don’t believe there’s any reason for me to want you around now. Goodbye, Kakashi. Enjoy your takeout and have a nice evening alone.”
He slams the door shut on him and with a released breath, is able to offer to Naruto, “Do you want to maybe shoot off some fireworks to celebrate your accomplishment? I figure that would be a fun way for us to spend some time together and do something exciting at the same time.”
Naruto does like the idea, in fact, he thinks it’s the most thing ever, “Ah, yeah! Fireworks sound awesome! Let’s go shoot them off, Iruka sensei!”
Before he could go get them, he was stopped by the voice of the ninja he had thought he gotten rid of for the night, “Fireworks? My, how dangerous. Are you sure you wouldn’t want someone else there to celebrate this momentous occasion? Such as…his current sensei?”
Iruka exhales and before he can really chew Kakashi out for breaking into their home, Naruto pleads with him, “Please, Iruka sensei, can’t he come along too? I’d love it if Kakashi were there to celebrate with us.”
Not being able to say ‘no’ to him at times—and Naruto knows which times to pull the puppy dog eyes—he gives in on this one moment to his request, “Alright, Kakashi can come. Only if he agrees to pay for our dango and other treats.”
“Sure, fine by me.” Kakashi agrees without missing a beat, “So, while we’re on the topic of celebration…how about we—”
“Focus on Naruto’s accomplishments as a Genin for tonight? Sure, I think that’d be great.”
Naruto isn’t sure what’s going on between them…but whatever it is…it must be related to ninja work somehow in a way he isn’t seeing just yet.
He doesn’t ask questions about it tonight, though. Not when he is having a fun night of celebration and good food with his two favorite ninjas in the world.