Naruto
The day before the exams were set to finish the sudden matches, Naruto was in a bit of a conundrum that he felt compelled to go to Iruka for.
“You’ve been on dates, right Iruka sensei?” he asks his adoptive father who nods in response from his spot at the table as he goes over their finances, “Yeah, I have. I may be an omega Chunin but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a love life, Naruto.”
“Well, it’s just, I’ve never really seen you go on dates much in the past.”
There is a reason for this: that menace, Kakashi Hatake.
Ever since he made Chunin, he managed to capture the eye of the copy nin. Though this came at a steep price he simply was not prepared to pay.
“Hello, you must be Umino Iruka, the only omega to ever make Chunin in the history of our village.”
Iruka was getting ready to go on a mission as a Chunin—his third one ever, in fact—at the time. He had been assigned to work with someone of higher rank, but he had been told he was going to be working with a fellow Chunin, not someone from the ANBU black ops. Which is why this made no sense to him whatsoever.
“I am.”
The strange, silver haired man circled him once before facing him again, his mask hiding the smirk and approving glow in his eyes Iruka knows is there the moment he says it: “You have a nice ass. Mind if we go out sometime, Iruka?”
The backhanding had been so severe he caused a crack to appear in the mask, his growl harsh on the man, “I may not know who you are—”
“Kakashi Hatake. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Or why you showed up four hours late to our meet up spot I was supposed to have with a fellow Chunin, but no in hell am I tolerating your deviant behavior around me! Keep it in your pants alpha or else I’ll make you keep it there.”
“You know, I wouldn’t mind that, actually…” the damned pervert had then gotten closer to him, with his hand placed on his left hip, “What do you say I get this Chunin removed from your mission and come with you instead? We could have all the fun in the world with you keeping it in my pants for me.”
This led into Iruka punching him so hard in the stomach it actually left him gasping for air. The omega Chunin was stern in his stance, his hostile pheromones filling the air when releasing his fist from the alpha’s stomach, “Do that to me again and I will kill you, alpha. Now if you don’t mind, I have a mission to be going on with a fellow Chunin—”
“Actually...I took his spot because I wanted to see what you were like. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to be good on this mission—”
He kicks him in the groin for good measure, warning him, “You better be on your best behavior, alpha. I don’t give a damn about what you like or not. I want to get this done without any drama, got it?”
He nods, gasping out a choked, “Yes.”
“Good, now let’s go. The less time I spend with you the better.”
The mission with him did go by smoothly, but the alpha wouldn’t stop talking and talking which led into Iruka deciding from there on out to keep doing all that he could to become a teacher at the academy. At least there he wouldn’t have to deal with Kakashi Hatake.
When he did become a teacher, he was beyond happy for it. He was free from Kakashi and he never had to do a mission with him again. It didn’t stop him from sending him letters when he was on a mission or from visiting him when he was on lunch break from to time. Though on those times he was coming around in smaller doses and was somehow more tolerable in those smaller doses.
Hell, he even apologized for the way he acted when they first met, admitting, “I’m sorry for what I did when we first met. I shouldn’t have said what I did and I never should have touched you in that inappropriate manner. I know it sounds strange, but I only did it because I was hoping you were open to having sex with me again after the one night stand we had a while back—”
“Wait, we what?”
Iruka had a hard time believing he ever met this jerk, let alone slept with him in a one night stand.
“Don’t you remember? We were both pretty wasted, sitting at the same bar in some cheap ramen shop, ranting about our bad day, then one thing led to another and we were making out before heading to a hotel to share a night of hot passion together.”
The sad thing is, Iruka didn’t remember it until Kakashi had taken off his ANBU mask around him for the first time ever. When he did see his face, he immediately remembered everything.
Kakashi’s pheromones had always smelled familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint down where they came from. When he did, he was more than shocked to learn the alpha he had the best sex ever with was…this guy.
Iruka isn’t some virgin wallflower. He is experienced sexually as he is romantically. He knows what he likes, what he doesn’t like, and what he absolutely will never do in the bedroom or a relationship. Sexual compatibility is a big issue for him since so many of the people he dated in the past were nice enough, but in the bedroom they would become insecure jerks he wanted nothing to do with afterwards.
He’s not disgusted with the idea that he had sex with a random alpha at a bar—he had thought Kakashi to be funny, charming, and a great listener back then. He would have dated him if he didn’t run out so early the next morning, leaving Iruka with a note stating he was needed on a mission as opposed to him explaining that to him to his face.
(He’s not opposed to one night stands either—in his eyes, omegas should be as free to have as much sex as they please when they’re not mated if the alphas and betas can have the same exact freedom without any slut shaming.)
“…You didn’t remember me? I thought my voice would have been enough.” Kakashi sounds disappointed by this as he keeps his mask off while staring at him in the eyes, but it did nothing to ease Iruka’s outrage.
Iruka isn’t mad that they had sex. No, he’s mad about something else entirely, “You really couldn’t approach me and talk to me like a normal human being when we saw each other again? Do you view me so lowly that you wouldn’t even leave your name on the note you left me or tried to contact me after that night? I have been dating so many alpha men trying to find you when all of this time, you could have done the bare minimum and gotten in contact with me using the resources you’ve got!”
“I mean…I know I should have, but my work got in the way of my personal life. Look, I can make it up to you. Let’s have a proper date between us and go from there—”
“Like I ever will allow that to happen!” Iruka is getting so frustrated with him because he doesn’t seem to get it, “You had your chance to have a date with me—you said you would take me out on one the morning after we had sex, remember? Or did you forget like you conveniently forgot to tell me who you were when we met again after being separated for so long?”
“I know I did things the wrong way, but I figured if I was forward with you like I was when we first met at the bar then you would remember me like I remembered you when I first smelt your scent in the air and saw your face when it made news you became a Chunin.”
Okay, so neither one had asked the other their name after that one night, and Iruka can tell Kakashi is clearly kicking himself as much as he is kicking himself for not doing the same thing. While it is nice that he remembered his scent, he did have to ask, “Why couldn’t you have taken off your mask when we saw each other again? We may not have known each other’s names then, but you didn’t have to circle me, grab my hip, or speak to me in the way you did. All you really had to do was show me your face without saying or doing any of what you did and I would’ve remembered you.”
“To be fair, the whole circling you thing was to take your scent in and as an emergency form of jogging my memory of you if I could remember you by body or face if I couldn’t by scent. As for the mask, I was still in the ANBU black ops and I was on the job, so I couldn’t take it off around you out of nowhere without better reason than trying to jog your memory of our one hot together. Though I was wrong in what I said and I shouldn’t have disrupted your mission with the Chunin alpha to satisfy my own need for a chance to spend time with you again. Can’t we start over and try to date now while we can?”
Despite Kakashi’s explanation, Iruka couldn’t bring himself to do it. The revelation Kakashi had given him opened fresh wounds that had never healed…in the end, despite his explanations, he couldn’t get over it like he could if he ever did meet the mystery stranger from the bar in person, “I’m afraid I can’t, Kakashi. You see, I have a date tonight anyway and I’m not going to blow them off for someone who couldn’t leave their name on the note they left me with after promising me a date in the first place.”
“You have a date tonight? With who?”
“None of your business. You had your chance and you blew it. Now, if you excuse me, I should get back to my class.”
Telling Kakashi he had a date that one time was the worst mistake he had ever made. Underneath mask of calm, there was a storm brewing inside of the alpha that eventually ended with him stalking Iruka on his date, paying the beta off to end the date and ghosting him when he was using the restroom. This later led into Kakashi ruining his other dates in other ways: whether it be third wheeling it so badly to the point where the alpha or beta would never dream of going on a second date with him, interrogating them to the point of mental exhaustion behind Iruka’s back, or simply scaring them off from dating him before the date even got to happen…he did a lot over the years to sabotage Iruka’s dates.
Iruka only learned how he did it by Might Guy telling him the truth one time when he was ranting about his lacking love life ever since Kakashi barged into his life and tried to be on friendly terms with him, “That’s the mistake you’re making right there: Kakashi is a jealous type despite his cool attitude. By telling him you’re going on a date whenever he asks if you have plans or if you want to go on a date with him, you’re setting yourself up for failure. He will only keep sabotaging your dates if you keep telling him you have one.”
“Wait…he’s been sabotaging all of my dates ever since we got on better speaking terms? Even when I rejected him the first time and my date wound up ditching me and ignoring me completely afterwards?”
Might Guy nods, leaving Iruka angered at Kakashi’s behavior.
Here he had thought they could at least be acquaintances or some sort of friend…looks like that won’t ever happen.
“Sitting here at the ramen shop being angry at Kakashi won’t do you any good. You wanna go train with me instead? I bet I can show you some things you could use at the academy.” the alpha in green offers and it makes him smile at the man; at first, when he took a seat beside him in the ramen shop at random, he had thought he was going to be a creep. Instead, Might Guy is a kind hearted person who gave him honest advice on how to handle Kakashi despite telling him they are rivals and friends earlier in the conversation.
“Okay, I wouldn’t mind seeing your moves.” Iruka said to him before heading out of there, committing himself to making his love life as Kakashi proof as possible from there on out.
No way is he letting that man in his heart or life so easily ever again! Not after the way he blew it the first time around and not when he has someone like Might Guy around to get to know better!
“I may not have, but that’s another story for another day.” he switches the subject because he finds this interesting, “You never said anything about wanting to date anyone before. Mind telling me why you want to know about dating now when you never asked me about it in the past?”
Naruto sits in the chair across the table from him, answering him with another question, “I want to know because I’ll have to when I become hokage and there is an alpha I’m interested in, but I don’t know how to get them to like me. How does someone do that anyway? Do you know how to get an alpha to like you?”
Iruka grins, thinking it is Sasuke Naruto is talking about, though he doesn’t say this out loud, wanting to learn more about this alpha before hearing it’s Sasuke from him, “Naruto, you cannot make a person like you. All you can do is be yourself; if they accept you for who you are, then they are worth your time. If not, then it’s time to move on to someone who is.”
“No, I don’t mean forcing them to like me! I mean, like, you know, seduction or something, not anything like that! I’m not trying to be Neji here!”
Iruka gives him a glance above the paper he is writing on, “Seduction? Aren’t you a bit young for that?”
Naruto shoots him a glance back, “Aren’t you supposed to be helping me here? All I want is to get a date with this guy and you’re not helping me at all.”
“I cannot help you if I do not know who this person is.”
“Oh, fine! I’ll tell you.” Naruto clears his throat, his whole demeanor very serious for the very out of nowhere answer Iruka didn’t see coming, “I want to date Shikamaru, but I don’t know how to get that lazy bastard to agree to go on a date with me.”
Shikamaru…he wants to…date Shikamaru and not Sasuke?
What is going on here? Has he lost all taste in one night? Why would he want to date Shikamaru?
He knows he’s not a bad kid and he comes from a great clan who are very progressive on omega rights…but still! He really thought Naruto would have gone for Sasuke instead—the poor alpha has been so obvious in his feelings to him for years, why would he choose to break his heart now with this attempt at getting a date with Shikamaru?
His jaw must be slacken because Naruto is already huffing, “It’s not a bad thing, Iruka sensei. He’d be perfect for me to mate someday when I’m hokage—he’ll be a lazy, spineless doormat who will worship the ground I walk upon. What else could I want in a mate than that? Oh and his clan has excellent views on omegas too, so that’s another plus for me!”
Oh Naruto…Sasuke would have been that very same doormat if you asked him to be…
His adopted son gives him sad puppy dog eyes then, pleading with his hands folded in front of him, “Please, please sensei, teach me how to seduce this lazy dream alpha of mine. It will come in handy when I become hokage someday, don’t you think?”
The thing is, Iruka cannot figure out where this sudden interest in Shikamaru is coming from. Naruto has openly crushed on alphas and betas in the past: Sakura was one of the first crushes he had, though he also had one on an older beta boy who was a bit too creepy towards him in a way that made Iruka intervene before it went any further. Every time he had a crush, he would always tell him all about it with wide eyes full of joy and a smile large enough to fill the sky.
So it’s incredibly surprising for him to discover this out of nowhere interest in Shikamaru, “He could, but since when did you start liking Shikamaru?”
“Ever since Ino told me all about how his clan takes omega rights seriously and treats them well.”
“When has that ever mattered to you? I’ve been telling you need to look at how a person’s clan treats and views omega’s rights seriously before considering dating them. You always said I was being too picky…what changed?”
Naruto looks down at the table, his confession spoken in a soft voice with his once folded hands covering his face, “I guess what changed was seeing how Neji treated Lee at the exams and learning that his clan thought it was okay to treat omegas like he treated him. It really scared me, Iruka sensei. I mean, there are people who are raised to think that way about omegas and even after meeting omegas, being on the same teams as them…they still choose to hold onto those beliefs no matter what. It scared me a lot, but then Ino told me about what Shikamaru and his clan are like towards omegas…then I thought ‘why not try to date and mate him someday when I’m hokage’. I know it sounds dumb of me to care now, but I have to if I want a good mate instead of Neji one.”
…Looks like Lee’s situation really shook Naruto to his core on so many things. It clearly bothered him far more than he would say, and while it’s tragic to see his adoptive son being so bothered, he knows that in the end, this was all for the best.
Naruto is starting to take sexism seriously, he’s learning how to protect himself against sexist alphas and betas as well as predatory ones from Kakashi and himself, he’s also learning to look for more than just looks when choosing a potential mate for himself. He’s really starting to grow more as a person despite being witness to something so horrible.
He’s proud of him for leaving his old naïve views behind, but he really doesn’t think this is a good idea…how Sasuke will take it has yet to be seen…though if history is right, he will take it as poorly as he did with Naruto openly crushing on Sakura.
It’s why all he can do is give him the best advice he can: “You want to date Shikamaru, right? Well, you can’t do that if he doesn’t like you and Naruto, you cannot force a person to like you no matter how hard you try. All I can tell is that seduction doesn’t work in real life; what you have to do is tell Shikamaru you like him and ask him if he wants to go out with you sometime. If he says ‘no’ then you have to accept it and move on. All I can tell is to be brave, honest, and open when doing this. Don’t be too flashy, loud, or extreme; someone like Shikamaru wouldn’t care for that.”
Naruto sighs and gets out of the chair before heading over to the door, “Alright sensei, I see your point…I’ll be back. I have to do something important today and when I get back, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.”
He’s not going to press him for more answers. He knows Naruto must have a lot on his mind; he’s tried asking Sakura out several times only to be rejected repeatedly and the older beta boy almost did date him until he intervened…so he can only imagine what’s on his mind as he makes a real effort to actually ask out someone after what all he saw happen to Lee at the exams.
Here’s to hoping he succeeds, but if he fails…Iruka will be there with an offer to go to Ichiraku Ramen to get some comfort food. Knowing Shikamaru, Naruto will be needing it…