Naruto
The day of the Naruto’s fight against Neji, he was feeling nervous when he first woke up in the morning. He didn’t know if he had gotten good enough to defeat Neji yet, and not having Sasuke to talk to or see this past month wasn’t easy on him. As much as Sasuke has annoyed him in the past, he does wish he were here to speak to about this because Sakura’s been no help thanks to her thinking she has a shot with Ino, Ino only encourages him which doesn’t exactly help him on this end either, and Lee has been the only one so far understood his predicament…yet…he seems distant somehow.
Naruto doesn’t know what’s going on, but there’s something up with Lee. He can see it in his eyes, there’s something bothering him, and whenever Neji’s name gets brought up, he tenses visibly for a brief moment.
He doesn’t know what’s going on there, and while he does want to help his fellow omega, worrying over him does nothing to ease his own anxiety about facing Neji.
Luckily for him, Iruka notices right away when something is bothering him, “Naruto, you aren’t dressed yet…is something wrong? Are you feeling ill?”
He shook his head, placing his head on his hand as he sits down at the table, “No, I guess—I mean, I wish Sasuke were here right now so I could talk to him.”
“About what?”
Iruka may be making him breakfast right now but that doesn’t mean he cannot help his son, “Ah, well…it’s just…that Neji guy… Lee told me he’s really strong and I’ve seen it for myself. I’ve seen him attack Hinata and almost kill her, I’ve seen how horrible he is to Lee too and I guess…I’m a bit, you know…”
He won’t say it out loud, though it doesn’t matter. Iruka already knows and he’s already to help him out through this, “You’re nervous, huh? Well, don’t be.”
Naruto blinks in shock as he lifts head off of his hand, “You’re nervous because Neji is powerful and he’s obviously the prodigy child of his clan. I think you keep forgetting that you’re powerful too and Neji should be having reason to fear you far more than you do him. I know you Nartuo; you are going to give this everything you got and you’re going to win. So don’t be nervous going into this and go into it with the attitude of someone who’s going to win. If you really can’t, then focus on what it is about Neji that angers you, on why it is you want to defeat him so badly.”
“You think I’m powerful, Iruka?”
He nods, facing the young omega with a smile on his face, “I know you are. You’ve survived through a lot in your time as Genin and I know you will use all that you’ve learned since then to win. You will win this; you have to stop scaring yourself, that’s all.”
Before he knows it, Naruto is getting out of his chair and hugging him tightly, muttering against his waist, “Thanks, sensei. I’ll be sure to beat him and make you proud.”
“You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get back from the exams.” he sighs when running a hand through his hair, “I couldn’t get out of work today like I had planned. I’m sorry, Naruto.”
“No, that’s okay! That just makes me wanna win more than ever before!” he looks down to see the young omega giving him an expression of fierce determination, “I know word will spread around the village very quickly like Lee’s situation did and when I do defeat him, I want you to hear that an omega kicked an alpha’s butt at the Chunin exams!”
He grinned, ruffling his hair as he did so, “I’ll keep my ears wide open for the news! Now, let’s get you some breakfast. You can’t fight Neji on an empty stomach.”
“You got that right! Sasuke would kill me if I did something so stupid!”
Iruka dished up his scrambled eggs with rice while asking, “You seem to be caring quite a bit about what Sasuke thinks…did something go on for that to happen?”
Naruto shrugged as he grabbed the plate from Iruka after it was served, “Not really. Ever since I learned about his feelings for me, I guess all the things he used to do that annoyed me, don’t anymore because I know it was all coming from the same place you come from when you tell me to eat more than ramen, or to brush my teeth every day. It will be nice to see him again and have him giving me some crap about something. At least then it will feel like he missed me too, you know?”
“If he doesn’t give you crap about anything, that doesn’t mean he didn’t miss you. He probably missed you a lot when he was gone.”
“I know he had to have missed me too… I also know if he doesn’t give me crap it doesn’t mean he didn’t miss me, but if he did have something to give me crap about, it’d make me feel a bit better because then I’d know he cares enough to notice things about me.”
Iruka won’t argue. Young love is often irrational and he won’t get in the way of Naruto missing Sasuke like this. He finds it to be sweet and cute in its own way.
As they begin their meal, Naruto is feeling better because he knows his adoptive father is confident in his abilities and on the bonus side, he will get to see Sasuke today. What could be better than that?
He grins as he thinks about the Uchiha alpha seeing him again, his brow furrowed as he chides him, “Didn’t you bother to get enough sleep? How about eating, did you have something other than ramen today? Oh great, you look like crap—did something happen? Is there an alpha I will have to hurt? Why do you call your current sensei ‘pervy sage’? Did he touch you? Do I have to kill him in his sleep now or something? He better not have touched you, Naruto!”
It’s enough to make him feel butterflies in his chest as he thinks about what all he will say when they do see each other again.
Iruka doesn’t mind seeing Naruto daydreaming about what he mostly likely thinks is Sasuke. He likes Sasuke for Naruto and thinks nothing but the best of the young alpha who has managed to win over his son’s heart.
“If he doesn’t give you any flack about anything, don’t worry or stress about it. I’m sure he’ll show his care and affection in other ways you may find more pleasing than being lectured or fussed over by him.”
“Ugh, sensei no! The fussing makes me feel special!” Naruto protests abruptly with his chopsticks on the table.
“I’m sure it does, but I’m saying he may find ways to make you feel special without the fussing that you may like better than that.”
“What could be better than that?”
“Him kissing you, Naruto. He could show he missed you by kissing you.”
Watching Naruto go as red as a tomato was worth it, especially when he stammered out a small, “Oh…ah…I see.”
Iruka chuckles, wanting to go easy on him for now, “Look, it’s no big deal. If he kisses you or not, if he fusses over you or not—it doesn’t matter. All that matters is he will show you he missed you in his own way. Sasuke can be subtle when he wants to be, but I believe he knows better than to do that now after all of the hassle it took for him to get you to like him as much as you do.”
“I would hope he doesn’t get all subtle—I can’t read him when he does that and I will be mad if he chooses to be subtle instead of fussing over me on the spot! He won’t get any kisses out of me ever again if he doesn’t start fussing me when he first lays on me!”
It’s so odd, Iruka thinks, how Naruto finds this aspect of Sasuke’s behavior towards to be him to be so desirable whereas Deidara—when given similar treatment from Itachi—hated it with every fiber of his being.
Oh well, it’s Naruto’s choice to like Sasuke as is. He won’t stop him from being fond of the aspects of him that he finds to be strange to be fond of.
When Naruto left his apartment, he was stunned by the sight of Ino and Lee greeting him, “Hey Naruto, do you mind if we walk with you to the stadium?”
He could never reject Ino’s offer, not when he feels so happy to have the support of his friends, “Not at all! Come on, let’s get going!”
As they walk out of the apartment, Naruto asks Ino, “Where’s Sakura? I thought you and her were all lovey-dovey now after that kiss.”
“She said she’s gonna meet us up there at the stadium and we’re not lovey-dovey now! That kiss was out of gratitude, nothing more, nothing less.” Ino insists with a light pink blush to her cheeks that both omegas take note of, “Anyway, enough about me, what about you? Aren’t you excited to be getting the chance to become the second ever omega Chunin today?”
“I am, actually, and I know I’ll beat that snooty alpha without trying!” he proclaims, with his attention now on how silent Lee is being, “Hey bushy brow, is everything okay? You’re not being as loud as you usually are. Are you nervous about Neji for me?”
He had gone to Lee about his anxieties in facing Neji twice and he was met with the usually upbeat, optimistic omega tensing at the mention of Neji’s name with a forced happy reply of, “I know you’re scared Naruto and I would be too if I were in your shoes. Just know that no matter how strong Neji is, a hard working ninja like you can defeat him.”
He couldn’t really believe it then when he seemed to be so down. Today was not any different, actually, “No, not at all! I was wondering if we will have a chance to see him or not before the exams.”
Naruto and Ino both find this to be odd, Ino especially, “Why would you want to see him after everything he’s done? According to my dad, you and Gaara obviously like each other. Why not see him instead?”
They both can tell that Lee seems to be down about something relating to Neji yet he’s not really talking about it, though bringing up Gaara does bring a shine of joy to his eyes, “N-No, your father must be mistaken. Gaara doesn’t like me and I don’t know if I like him or not. Besides, Gaara wouldn’t want to be bothered with me before the exams. I wouldn’t want to annoy him or anything.”
Naruto shoots down this idea as well, “I really don’t think he’d turn down the chance to see you, Lee. Going off of everything I’ve heard and seen, it seems like he would want to see you or at least he wouldn’t mind it. Why would you want to see Neji anyway? Did he do something to you that we should know about?”
“He didn’t, really, none of this is his fault! I’ve just been wanting to speak to him for a while now over something pretty personal.”
Ino and Naruto don’t like the sounds of this.
“I don’t feel comfortable talking about it with anyone. Can we please not make a big deal out of it? I want to cheer for you, Naruto, and watch as you defeat Neji for all omegas out there who want to become Chunins. I don’t want this happy event to be ruined by my personal issues.”
“Okay, we won’t talk about it then.” Ino speaks up before Naruto could press him further on the subject, “How does it feel to get a chance to be the second ever omega Chunin in the village? I bet it must be exhilarating.”
“It feels great, like I’m making Iruka sensei really proud of me and carrying on his legacy!” Naruto tries to be upbeat for Lee’s sake, but it doesn’t stop him from boiling in anger on the inside at the idea of the omega being bothered by something Neji did to him.
He almost feels compelled to try to get the answers he desires out of him, but he knows that would be a mean thing to do to him and Iruka sensei wouldn’t be happy if he did that. So he will back off from his curiosity for now and try to remain as positive as possible for his sake.
Ino is wistful when admitting, “I wish I could be getting the chance to become a Chunin. I want nothing more than to be the first ever omega kunoichi and get my brother back…you’re so lucky, Naruto. You get to have the chance we didn’t get, so you better not lose, okay?”
“Oh trust me, I won’t lose to that jerk.”
He didn’t say it just for himself, Ino, Hinata, or Iruka sensei, but for Lee as well.
His friend deserves better than what he’s receiving so far in his life. He certainly deserves a better teammate than someone like Neji, who clearly had no respect for him whatsoever to ever leave a mark on his hand like that in the first place.
Neji…the same guy who stole his chance to become a Chunin today, the same one who tried to mate him using underhanded, disgusting tactics! The same guy who left him afraid of Sasuke because of his actions towards his friend.
No, he’s going to win and he’s going to make him regret he ever hurt anyone in the manner he did.
When they arrive at the stadium, Lee appears more downtrodden than ever before at the very sight of the building yet he forces himself in there somehow. Ino and Naruto are very concerned for him, enough to where they allow him to go in ahead of them to talk for a little bit about this.
“He’s not acting right.” Ino immediately says to him in a whisper, “Did something happen to him after he and Gaara had that talk at my family’s flower shop?”
“I don’t know, the last times I saw this last month, he didn’t seem like himself. He wasn’t his usual happy go lucky self; he seemed scared and sad at the sad time.” Naruto then pauses, asking her, “Wait, he spoke to Gaara at your family’s flower shop? When?”
“A month ago. I don’t know what all exactly was said because I got home too late to see it happen after I went to the hot spring with Sakura. All I know is my dad told he thinks they have crushes on each other but are too oblivious to see it.”
“Did he say if he was sad then or not?”
“He didn’t say anything about him being sad, only that he and Gaara seem oblivious to each other’s feelings.”
Naruto’s frown deepens as he wonders, “Whatever is bothering him seems to be something bad…should we tell somebody about this? I know Iruka sensei says it’s always best to go to an adult whenever one of your friends is acting strangely or if you think there’s something wrong.”
Ino wasn’t completely against it, but, “I think we should… Knowing Lee he wouldn’t be the type to talk about it with Neji around. Remember how bad it was at the sudden matches of the exam the first time around? He was so willing to keep Neji’s mark on him a secret that he didn’t tell Guy sensei or anyone else until it was too late.”
“Right…” that only left Naruto feeling incredibly stumped as to what he should do to help his friend. He doesn’t want him to be forcibly mated to Neji or anything, yet he has a feeling Ino could be right on this one. Even if they did tell Guy sensei, there’s a chance he wouldn’t say anything to protect Neji because of how he was raised in his clan.
It’s a low move, but he’s willing to go through with it if it means he will keep his friend safe, “Ino, don’t get mad at me for saying this, but I think we should spy on Lee and Neji when they do see each other.”
“Naruto, that’s wrong! We can’t betray Lee’s trust like that!”
“What other choice do we have? We don’t know what’s going on with him and he seems to be really upset right now. It’s like what you said: there’s a chance he won’t come clean with anything bothering him if we do tell an adult about this. He won’t even tell us what’s going on and we’re omegas just like him—we should be the ones he trusts the most out of everyone else, but he’s giving us the cold shoulder on this problem too! You know this means something serious is going on and we will have to step up to stop it for his sake, even if it means listening in on him.”
She didn’t want to, yet she knew Naruto was right about this, “Alright, we’ll spy on him when he goes sees Neji. After that, we will do all that we can to help him.”
Naruto nods, heading into the stadium as Ino calls out to him, “Good luck, Naruto! Win for omegas everywhere!”
“You know I will!” he calls back to her as he heads out to the stadium with nothing but pure will power driving out the anxiety within himself as he heads into the battle area to stand beside the other people taking the exams today.
He looks around and sees Sasuke isn’t here, which causes him to have instantaneous concern because it’s not like Sasuke to not show up for something as important as this.
He does all that he can to defend him, though in the back of his mind, he cannot stop worrying over Lee and his predicament with Neji at the same time.
He doesn’t know if Neji will use whatever is bothering Lee against him in this battle. He cannot say he sees him as being above doing such a thing if he could do whatever it is he did to ruin Lee’s chance of making it to the Chunin exams.