Lee
After his recollection to Chouji, the young beta was left speechless for a brief moment…his main reaction being, “Wow Shikamaru, Deidara actually said he’d date you? Now that’s amazing! You should be really proud of yourself for that accomplishment.”
He shook his head, a hand coming up to his forehead when muttering in disbelief to what he’s hearing, “He only meant it if I were older and even then, I still wouldn’t date that ticking time bomb if you paid me. I’d be too afraid of him snapping at me to ever be happy with him. Being with him would be hell on me more than anything else.”
“Whatever, you’re totally crazy for not going for Deidara. If Ino ever does bring him back, at least you know you’ll have the most beautiful omega around wanting to be yours.”
He shivers at the idea of having to date Deidara should she ever actually succeed in bringing him back, shaking his head after it passes through him, “Even if she did, I still wouldn’t date him. I’d rather be alone than date that guy.”
Chouji scoffed, eating a few more chips all the while, “I think you’re turning down a really good offer there. An omega like Deidara comes once in a lifetime and I don’t think you’ll find anyone as beautiful as that wanting to date you for a long time.”
Shikamaru will let him think what he wants. It won’t ever change the fact that should Ino ever pull off the miraculous event of actually getting Deidara back and proving his innocence, he would refuse to date him if he ever asked.
The following day, the exams were allowed to resume.
Lee was finally recovered enough to fight and Gaara had a feeling Shukaku was going to plot something new this time around. He didn’t know what it was, but he had a feeling it would be something interesting.
He didn’t get to speak to Lee before this match either. He’s not been able to speak to him ever since he removed his mark from his hand mainly because of the kazekage’s insistence that he stay away from him for now.
His father has been more upset and on edge lately for reasons he doesn’t grasp, but he figures it will be all fine when he finally gets to the third round. Then they can commence their mission and his father will finally stop being so stressed and anxious.
It doesn’t stop him from noticing Lee’s current behavior…he doesn’t seem as stressed as he was the last time, yet it does nothing to stop the Hyuuga alpha from glaring a hole into his very being.
Gaara doesn’t care. In his eyes, this is nothing more than the other alpha being petty for no reason. With that being noted, he turned his eyes back to the omega who was chatting with his fellow omegas, wondering what all they could be talking about.
“No way, you actually went on a date with Sasuke?” Lee gasped dramatically, finding it so hard to believe Naruto would want to date him, “I thought you wanted to date Shikamaru!”
“I did, but Shikamaru told me Sasuke liked me and he confirmed it, so we went out on a date.”
Ino is burning on the inside over this because, “Naruto, you can do so much better than him…he’s an Uchiha! The one from the same clan as the monster who stole my brother from me! How can you feel the least bit safe dating him when you have Shikamaru as an option? How about Kiba, did you even bother to consider Kiba or did Sasuke use some sort Uchiha seduction pheromone on you?”
Naruto frowned, growling slightly as he defended his decision, “No, I would have to change myself so much to make something work with Shikamaru and Kiba? I’m not attracted to him! Besides, I told Sasuke I’d give him a fair shot and I am. I’ll have you know it’s going great so far—he took me out to get some ramen and then afterwards, he promised me that when we’re mated I’ll get all the ramen I want when I’m hokage. What can be better than that?”
Lee had to pause to take this all in, wondering something different from Ino’s question of, “He’s okay with you being hokage? Are you sure he’s not saying this to spend a heat with you?”
“If he wanted to do that, all he would have to do is promise me the best homemade ramen ever and a good time.” Naruto states point blank and it’s met with Ino hissing, “Have higher standards for yourself! You’re a beautiful omega with everything going for you, don’t sell yourself short like that over ramen!”
“Ramen is my life and you know it!”
“You can do better than what you’re settling for!”
“Not when the promise of endless ramen is involved!”
The banter is a bit strange, but it’s enough to take his mind off of the situation that could unwind after the fight today if he’s not lucky, “Wait, Naruto, did you spend your entire first date in a ramen shop?”
The blondes quit fighting for a moment for Naruto to answer: “So what if we did? We had the best conversations there and I was freakishly hungry. Being in a nice environment like that with the best food on the planet made it a lot easier for me to feel comfortable enough on something that could’ve been pretty scary in any other setting. He did take me back to my place and we got to talk with Iruka sensei before he left. It was great, I really had a fun time.”
Ino looks at Lee, giving him some valuable information about Naruto he should know, “Naruto loves ramen more than life itself. Do not insult ramen ever if you want to live to see another day.”
He makes sure to remember this fact, yet it does nothing to stop Naruto from looking at him in concern as all joy leaves his face and demeanor, “Is everything okay with Neji? Has he been acting weird to you lately?”
“No, he hasn’t! He’s been avoiding me ever since Gaara removed his mark from my hand.” Lee doesn’t want to burden them and yet he knows if he does nothing to get this off of his chest now it will be a distraction in battle, “I have a lot on my mind now. None of it is Neji related, but it’s more to do with my clan.”
Both omegas freeze to this, with their friend explaining, “Guy sensei did all that he could to keep them in the dark about what Neji did to my hand, but Hiashi Hyuuga contacted them behind his back about it. Now they know about the mark on my hand from Neji and they sent me a letter today, letting me know they are going to be speaking to me about it when I am done with my battle at the exams.”
They take a moment of silence to take the news in before Ino hugs Lee, “Oh Lee, I am so sorry.”
Naruto hugs him next, holding him a bit tighter than Ino is now, “They’re not gonna make you mate that guy, right?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to make me mate Neji…all I can do is promise I will stand firm in my decision to remain single around them when they try to pressure me into it.”
As they hold him, Neji and Sasuke were close enough to them to overhear what they were saying. Sasuke glances over at Neji, finding it off putting by how unbothered he is by Lee’s melancholy. If Naruto had been acting like Lee is right now, Sasuke would be doing everything to make things better.
Why is Neji being so cold to Lee’s distraught?
“You like Rock Lee, don’t you? Why aren’t you doing more to comfort him?”
Neji’s answer left a bad taste in his mouth, leaving him to begin to understand why Naruto was left deeply disturbed by his actions enough to where he was afraid he’d act like him, “Lee’s an omega; an omega’s fate is to be mated to a strong alpha. Fate doesn’t change for anyone, not even Lee. All I did was make my move to ensure he’d be mated to me someday and it’s all coming to fruition. He’s resilient, he will get over it when the mating happens.”
He didn’t think talk like this was around much anymore…
As an alpha, he has heard his fair share of sexist rantings, but they were always countered by other alphas calling out the sexism. Then again, the sexist rantings he had heard in the past were all mild in comparison to this…he didn’t know it was possible for one person to be so indifferent to the omega they wish to mate until now, “Doesn’t he want to be a ninja? Wouldn’t it upset him to give up everything to be your mate?”
“Why would that matter? As an omega, he had no reason to ever become a ninja in the first place. The risks for omegas on the battlefield are too great and I’d rather not have my future mate endanger his life to chase some pipedream that may not ever come true.”
Sasuke could not believe he was serious about this. The look on his face and the apathy in his eyes led him to realize he was being completely serious about everything he said.
He may have made comments doubting Naruto’s dream in the past, but he did all of that to get his attention back onto him. He never meant a word of what he said, but Neji not only means what he says, he’s confident in it…which makes it all so much worse.
He promised Naruto he’d either keep Neji away from them or keep him in check this time around so things won’t get so tense. He didn’t think it’d be needed at first, believing Naruto to be exaggerating this a little bit—until he heard him talk about Lee in the way he did.
Maybe it’s because he was raised differently from Neji on how to view omegas, but this is a lot for him to take in.
“I’m amazed you’re fine with the omega you’re interested in proceeding onto the final rounds of the exam. Aren’t you Uchihas the territorial type? Wouldn’t him being in the final rounds of the exam be something to keep you up at night with worry? Do you not care about his safety or are you laissez faire about that as well?”
“I do care about his safety, but I also have confidence in his ability to protect himself. Naruto is strong. If there’s anyone here who deserves to proceed to the next round, it’s him.”
Sasuke said something then he shouldn’t have yet couldn’t stop himself from vocalizing to the Hyuuga alpha, “I know it sounds strange to you, but I’m trying to be a good alpha, not a bad alpha like you are to Lee.”
Neji’s attention was fully on him now, his side glare sharp and his words painfully acidic in response to the accusation, “Funny thing for someone from a devastated clan to say. If it weren’t for how liberal your clan’s ways towards omegas were, their numbers wouldn’t have been low before the massacre and they wouldn’t have failed so miserably at mating fertile, flexible omegas. My clan mates young, has pups young, and we mate only the best omegas around to keep our bloodline strong. If following my clan’s superior traditions makes me a ‘bad alpha’ then so be it. I’d rather be a bad alpha than be the result of a failure like the good one you are.”
Sasuke was about to strike and Neji already had the perfect retaliation in place when Might Guy got between them the moment a battle was about to break out.
“Stop it!” the alpha in green growled at them with bared teeth, “You two know the rules—no fighting here, only those scheduled to fight are allowed to fight and they can only fight on the battlefield when it’s their turn to.”
Neji stands down with a small huff and Sasuke is left looking foolishly aggressive because of it, leading him to not care for the alpha one bit.
“Neji, I don’t know what nearing your first rut is making you think but being so reckless as to say those awful things, knowing it will end in a fight between you two is something you should know better than to do.” the dark haired man doesn’t hold back when criticizing him either, “I don’t know if you told Hiashi to inform Lee’s clan about the mark or not, but just know if you did, I will make you regret it. No one takes that boy’s future away from him, not even you. Try to remember that one better moving forward.”
He looks over his shoulder to face Sasuke, a smile making its way to his lips when he goes a different route with him, “Sasuke, keep doin’ a great job! You stood up so beautifully for your omega, I can see why Iruka was always okay with you dating Naruto. You are a fine young alpha—a good alpha too on top of that—and I know you will have a bright future ahead of you where Naruto is your mate.”
At first, he found Might Guy to be strange. Now that he has a glimpse of what sort of person he actually is he can say he has some respect for him.
“Now, come on, alphas! Let’s watch this match together, shall we?” Guy announces suddenly when grabbing both of their wrists and leading them away from the omegas, “Being by omegas when you two have been fighting will only make them feel uncomfortable. Your strong, youthful pheromones will get to them eventually and we do want this to be a better time for everyone watching this battle, don’t we?”
Neji doesn’t comment and neither does Sasuke as they’re led away from the omegas to watch this match with Guy and Kakashi on the far end of the stands.
Neither alpha cares for the other, making this incredibly tense for the adult alphas, but it’s better to have an awkward atmosphere than Neji and Sasuke trying to kill each other.
As this was happening, Lee was released from his hug by his friends and he grinned brightly as he got on the railing, “Thanks you guys…don’t worry, I’ll win this, and this year will be the year two omegas become Chunin!”
“You better make it, Lee. We’re all cheering for you.” Ino smiles though it is a bit shaky after learning what all she did.
Naruto manages to give him a thumbs up sign with his stronger smile, “You’ll win this, bushy brow! I know you will; if you can beat Sasuke in your first match against him then you can do this too! I’ll see you in the next round. I can’t wait to be the other omega by your side in it.”
“I can’t wait for that either, Naruto. I’ll see you there when I do make it!” Lee jumps off of the rail after this is said, more than ready to fight Gaara in the fight he feels he deprived them both of by not handling things properly with him.
When he sees Gaara again, he doesn’t feel scared or threatened by him. He doesn’t know why, but he is excited to see him again after so long of not seeing him, “Hi, Gaara. Do you remember the rules of the mark Neji left on me?”
“I do, why do you care if I do or not? Is it because you truly don’t want me to die the way others have from this mark?”
“That is the reason why! I don’t want you to die like that—no one deserves to die that way, not even the worst criminal.”
The redhead alpha cannot stop himself from being caught so off guard by the omega every time he hears this from him. He knows Lee means it, he knows he’s sincere, but he doesn’t get why it makes his jinchuuriki want to mate him in his stead.
There’s something about this omega that gets underneath his skin and he doesn’t know if he should read this as a good thing or not. All he can do is admit that he’s not repulsed or annoyed by his presence. Other than this, he’s not sure what to make of his feelings concerning the omega in front of him.
“I see…you’re as wonderfully naïve as ever. Telling me of the advantage you have—it’s rather unbecoming of shinobi, don’t you think?”
“It may be, but I’d rather win by my own merit than Neji’s doing.”
Right, the Hyuuga alpha, the one who cannot stop glaring at him even now.
He doesn’t care about what he thinks or does. All he cares about is figuring this omega out since he never had anyone try to save his life from a horrible death before. He’s had people trying to kill him, but never has he had anyone trying to save him. While he doesn’t know what it is about this omega that gets underneath his skin, he is ready to sort it out in battle before he gets any more flack from his father for not doing enough to advance their mission to the next step.
He deadpans in his response, not budging from his spot as sand flows freely from his gourd, “You’re a strange one, I’ll give you that. I can appreciate what you did by telling me about this mark—you’ve saved my life and I cannot ever forget that. Just to let you know, I’m not going to complain no matter how little sense this makes to me.”
Lee grins enthusiastically, “Great! I cannot wait to give you the fair fight you deserve, Gaara.”
“…Whatever.”
It’s all Gaara could think to say. The omega is a strange one he needs to win against quickly if he doesn’t want to jeopardize the mission all over again.