Naruto
Sasuke, even now when entering the tower, is amazed that Sakura ever helped him at all.
Ever since they were assigned to the same team, he can admit he wasn’t exactly the best person ever to her. He has openly and subtly antagonized her just for being the one Naruto had a crush on matter how much she rejects him for Ino. It sounds stupid—it is stupid because he knows she wants to mate Ino and she’s never been subtle about it—but it didn’t stop that Uchiha bitterness from being unleashed on her whenever he saw Naruto staring at her with hearts in his eyes.
In return, she hasn’t done anything to ever help him get with Naruto, so why is she doing it now? Why did she tell him that obvious lie about the hug a few days ago?
Hell, why is she actually choosing to keep his mark a secret in the first place? She has never been one to respect his wishes in the past which is only draws further questions in his mind.
He would have asked her sooner, but Naruto has a habit of intruding in on his conversations with her and he couldn’t leave Naruto alone with that annoying bastard Kabuto hanging around them for as long as he did.
Her motivation to be genuinely civil towards him is really strange to him but seeing as how they won’t have a chance to speak just yet, he will have to wait to ask her about it.
Hell, he couldn’t even focus when Iruka sensei appeared…okay, he could, but only because Naruto was extremely happy to see his adoptive father, “Iruka sensei! See, I made it! Look, I’m gonna become a Chunin and then it’s only one more step towards becoming hokage!”
“I know and I am very proud of you, Naruto.” Iruka smiled at his adopted son, feeling nothing but pride as well as worry. Some of the other Genin that passed are incredibly difficult opponents to take on in the third part of the exam…he wouldn’t want Naruto to get caught up with them.
He knows he shouldn’t be so fearful over Naruto’s safety and yet he knows all too well what alphas and betas have done in the past to those few omegas who tried to become Chunin before he did: they marked them in battle, thus cutting them out of the shinobi life for good.
It’s a horribly sexist law that the Third Hokage is currently trying to change, but there is a law which states that if an omega is to be a shinobi, then they must not be mated to anyone for the fear that should the mate turn out to be a spy or worse yet a traitor to the village, then they will be able to the instinctual bond between mates to manipulate the Konoha omega against their nation.
That being said, there is a twist to this law that does allow mating, but it’s very cruel: in order for an omega to become hokage, then they must be mated to an alpha or beta Jounin from the village or a leader from an allied village.
Iruka has told Naruto of these laws in the past and his son has always stood defiant in his desires nonetheless, “Who cares if I have to be mated to be hokage? I’m not gonna let that stop me! If I have to be mated, then fine, I’ll be mated and I’ll still be a more kickass hokage than the alphas and betas before me!”
He always worries over Naruto being around so many alphas and betas—he only got lucky to escape the attempted mating an alpha tried to do to him when he took the exam. He can only hope Naruto is able to escape such a fate like he was—however, knowing Naruto as well as he does, he has too much trust in alphas and betas seeing him as an equal that he wouldn’t think they’d do such things to him nowadays, which is why he was so against him taking these exams in the first place.
While he explains the riddle and what it meant, he cannot keep his thoughts or gaze away from Naruto for long.
All he wants is for his son to be safe and he’s not sure he will be if he stays here like this…
At the end of his speech, he tells his lively, boisterous son, “Naruto, remember what I told you about my time in the Chunin exams: alphas and betas will try to forcibly mate omegas to take them out of the competition and it’s still seen as a valid way to do so now. Please, don’t be so reckless around them. Keep your guard up for me, okay?”
His son blinks before laughing loudly, “Man, you worry way too much! Don’t worry, sensei, I’ll be just fine! Besides, no alphas or betas have ever liked me like that, so there’s nothing to worry about!”
Sakura is staring in pure amazement at his obliviousness while Sasuke is slowly dying on the inside from the statement that was said, leaving Iruka to pity the poor young man…if he could have Naruto mated to anyone, it would be Sasuke: he’s a good kid and he has kept away so many creeps from Naruto that he feels almost indebted to him—that and he knows he would treat Naruto right in a mating.
“Oh Naruto…” he sighs, knowing better than to bother since he won’t believe him anyway.
In Naruto’s eyes, Iruka sensei is making a big deal out of nothing. He has never had anyone crushing on him before, so why would they do so now? Also, those were old times when Iruka sensei first took the exam—there’s no way things haven’t changed at all ever since his time!
Maybe in the past sexism was a problem, but it’s not anymore. Alphas and betas see omegas as equals now. He really wishes his sensei wouldn’t be so paranoid in the manner he is. It makes him almost sound like Ino at times and no alpha outside of Sakura likes Ino.
As they entered the room where the other Genins were, Naruto had to work hard to contain the excitement that somehow managed to slip out of him anyway, “Ino, Lee! You two both made it! I knew I wasn’t going to be the only omega becoming a Chunin!”
With the Third Hokage’s glare strong on him, Naruto silenced himself and got into a single file line along with everyone else. It didn’t stop him from flashing a thumbs up sign to his fellow omegas, who returned it quickly before turning their attention back to the hokage.
It doesn’t stop Naruto from feeling incredibly giddy the entire time. Knowing he made it this far, knowing his fellow omega Genin did as well—it’s enough to make his heart swell in a pride he didn’t think he could feel until now. It was then that he noticed a scent in the air…like…it was one of subtle distress, but he couldn’t place who was the one giving it off.
Maybe it was one the betas? The scent did make him think of a beta, but he could be wrong about that since bushy brows has a scent typically found in more betas than omegas—
Oh…wait…it could be him.
What if he knows what happened to the guy who tried to mark him by force? What if he feels incredibly guilty about that?
As shinobi, killing an opponent is going to happen whether they want it to or not. The life of a shinobi can be very killed or be killed at times, as harsh as it sounds. Naruto knows this, but he also knows that not everyone is fine with something like that. He can only imagine his fellow omega could be that way.
He smells it a bit more and finds that it smells like…burnt cotton.
Yep, so it’s definitely Lee’s scent (he is the only one he knows of that has a scent with a cotton undertone to it), but what has him upset? Did something else happen Sakura didn’t tell him about? Is he okay? Is there really an alpha or beta out there who would bully and assault him for being an omega in the Chunin exams like Iruka sensei warned him of?
No, that’s not possible! Alphas and betas see each other as equals nowadays. Sexism is a problem of the past and it has nothing to do with the problems omegas face today, he’s sure of it.
Knowing that Kabuto wouldn’t be in this was saddening for him to see, but it was okay. At least it meant that he would be able to watch Sasuke fight while catching up with Ino and Lee.
“Hey, bushy brows, Ino! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he greets them with an excited wave from their viewing area.
Ino grins at him, giving him a wave right back, “It’s been way too long! You didn’t run into any piggish alphas, right?”
“Nope, not at all.” Naruto admits with ease, his eyes on Lee, who seemed to be not all there at the moment now that he sees him up close like this, “Did you run into alphas or betas bullying you for being an omega or something, Lee? You don’t look like you’re fully present with us.”
“Oh, no! It’s…it’s really not that at all.” Lee informs them before leaning into whisper to them, “I can’t tell you guys with Guy sensei here. Can we speak over there about it?”
Naruto sees the direction he is pointing in is at the opposite end of the viewing area, far away from their teammates as well as anyone who could be listening in.
He doesn’t know what happened. All he knows is it must have been severe for Lee to want to talk it about as far away from his own sensei—who he knows he admires and respects deeply—as possible.
“Okay, we can do that.”
Lee immediately appeared relieved, but it wasn’t long lived. Instantly, he went back to putting up a front as they walked over to the other end of the viewing area. Once there, Lee exhales, speaking in a low voice, he appears to be somehow more distressed than he was earlier: “Naruto, there’s something I need to tell you and all I want is for you to promise me you won’t tell anyone or explode at Neji.”
“Why would I explode at Neji?”
His fellow omega meets his eyes with a tired glaze to them, and with the grim expression on Ino’s face, Naruto knows this won’t be good, “Naruto, before the Chunin exams…Neji, he left this mark on my hand when I came out to him as an omega.”
He unwrapped his hand and showed the mark from Neji, making Naruto feel sick to his stomach as he realizes that this mark is one from the Hyuuga clan, “He has never viewed omegas highly and I thought if I trained hard enough, when I came out to him as an omega, he’d see me as his equal but he left me with this mark instead. This mark will kill anyone who tries to mark me by force or rape me. It will also make those who show any romantic interest in me die from a long, slow painful death caused by an incurable illness.”
“What the—that’s so messed up! Who the hell does that to a person!” Naruto nearly shouted until Ino covered his mouth, “Shh, don’t be so loud about it! Lee doesn’t want anyone to know outside of us!”
Lee looks down, muttering pure defeat as his scent becomes a stronger note of burnt cotton, “Neji, I guess.”
“There has to be a way to get rid of it, right?” Naruto is convinced there has to be a way to do this because there’s no way such a mark wouldn’t have a cure—
“There is, but it’s pretty straightforward: I have to fight Neji with everything I’ve got, when I’m at my very best. If I win, then the mark will go away. If I lose, then the mark will fade, and I’ll be left with a mark from Neji on my neck.”
It’s so sick—just everything about this is sick!
Everything about it, it makes his stomach churn out of pure disgust and horror that this would ever be allowed to happen in today’s world!
Here he had thought the days of any alpha or beta pulling such a stunt was long behind them all. Hearing this, it has him seeing red as he seethes at the idea of that Neji guy ever doing such a thing to someone as nice as Lee.
“Lee, you have to tell somebody about this! You can’t just let him away with pulling this crap!” Naruto fights him on this because he wants nothing more than to see that Neji guy lose everything for what he did to Lee.
“No, I can’t!” Lee insists, his eyes full of fear at the idea of anyone knowing, “Naruto, please, don’t do this. Don’t tell anyone no matter what—if you do, either nothing will happen to him and my clan will force me to mate him or he’ll be kicked out of my team and I’ll never get the chance to defeat him in battle!”
“Why would that matter to you?”
“Because Neji is the most powerful Genin around. If I can beat his natural genius with my hard work and taijutsu alone, then I’ll be succeeding in my ninja way while proving everyone wrong about me.”
Naruto can understand this, but at the same time…it feels so wrong to let Neji get off the hook in the way he is.
Though he does wonder, “What do you mean by your clan would force you to mate him anyway? How do you even know they’d do that?”
Lee is rather quiet when saying this part—in fact, he can say this is the quietest Lee has ever been in general, “My clan is poor and conservative—the only reason why I was allowed to become a shinobi is because they thought it’d be the best way for me to get a good mate. Ever since they found out about Neji being on my team, they have been pressuring me to mate him. If Neji was about to get in trouble for any reason at all, he could go to my parents to ask for their permission to mate me and they’d be okay with him mating me because the Hyuuga clan is very wealthy and prestigious, something my clan desperately wants for themselves.”
All of this is as shocking as it is inhumane.
Iruka sensei would never do such a thing to him—he’d be the type to tell Neji off and make him leave him alone if he did that to him. He wouldn’t be so impressed by wealth and prestige like Lee’s clan are. To be so impressed by this that they would actually sacrifice Lee like that to get some of it is just so revolting and unthinkable for him that he’s having a hard time digesting this all—
“Naruto, you have to calm down.” Ino’s voice cuts in as she releases her calming pheromones in the air, “We don’t want them to suspect there’s anything wrong here or else people will connect the dots on it being possibly tied to Lee.”
Right…right…he cannot be freaking out right now, not when he knows the omega across from him will be needing his support should he have to fight this Neji guy today.
“Right…so, which one is Neji again? I’m sorry, but I kinda forgot what he looked like.”
Lee points to the alpha with the long dark brown hair, pale eyes, and unbelievably smug look on his face, “That’s Neji right there. Ever since I came here, I’ve been wandering the halls of the tower to spend as much time away from him as possible.”
“Did he do something else to you? Do I have to kill him?” Naruto begins with a fist meeting his palm, “Go on and tell me, I’ll get rid of him for you!”
“No, he didn’t do anything that bad lately!” he tries to calm his fellow omega down, “All he’s done is kiss me to shut me up when we speak and he’s tried to get me to share his first rut with him in order to learn about what the mark did, but it’s okay because Ino told me everything anyway and—”
“That pig!” the blonde omega snapped (Iruka sensei did tell him all about ruts, heats, and sex a while back, so he knows what it means when Lee brings up the word 'rut' as well as what Neji was trying to do), heading over to the Hyuuga’s side, “I am gonna punch him so hard for you he’ll regret ever looking at you at all!”
“Wait, Naruto!” Lee rushed over to try to stop him, but Ino was the one who held Lee back, “Ino, let me go! I have to stop him!”
She openly scoffed to this, making Naruto feeling emboldened in his actions, “If you ask me, he needs a punch to the face. He has no right to treat you like this and the fact you are ignoring your own feelings to satisfy a goal in life is awful as is. Let Naruto do this for everyone here who disapproves of what he did to you.”
Naruto marched over to the Hyuuga alpha, his anger hardly hidden, “Take this, bastard!”
He tried to punch him, but the Hyuuga caught his hand without turning around to face him or giving him any of his attention, “Silence omega, an alpha is trying to watch the battle.”
Naruto’s teeth were grinding together, his glare on him strong, “What did you just say to me?”
“You heard me, omega. Show some respect to your superior before interrupting something they are doing.”
Naruto was about to hurt him when he was cut off by Might Guy, “Neji, that’s no way to speak to any omega and you know it!”
The Jounin’s eyes met his own as he attempted to clean up the mess caused by his student, “I’m so sorry about that. Neji comes from a very strict, traditional family and I’m afraid he’s kept some of those old, sexist views from them. Next time, though, if you want to punch him, try to wait for a chance in battle. There he will be forced to at least look in your direction as an equal.”
“…Ah, yeah, sure—sorry sir.” Naruto retracts his fist and is about to head back to where Ino and Lee are at, when Guy asks out of nowhere, “Naruto…if something is bothering Lee, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
Naruto wants to say ‘yes’ but in this moment, he doesn’t feel confident saying it. All he can do is tell him, “I would if he wanted me to.”
“Well, something is bothering Lee and I’d like to know before he has to fight anyone. Having such a weight on his mind could screw him over in a match and cause him to lose if we’re not careful.” he places a hand on Naruto’s shoulder, asking him in a lowered tone void of the energy he usually speaks with, “What is bothering Lee, Naruto? Is there any chance you can tell me?”
Naruto shakes his head, doing his best to keep Lee’s feelings in mind here, “I can’t say. All I can do is try to get him to tell you.”
He knows it’s not a good enough answer, but it’s all he can tell him for now without disrespecting Lee’s wishes.