Naruto
When the attack happened, Sasuke was left shaken by two distinct instincts: one of pure outrage at the fact his opponent had the nerve to run away when he was nearing his chance to win and one of instantaneous panic.
Naruto—where is he? Is he okay? Are there any evil alphas or betas by him who would dare to try to mark him now that he’s most likely in a vulnerable state somewhere in the stands?
“Sasuke, go after Gaara!” he heard Kakashi’s order, and yet his first instinct was to respond with a worried, “Where’s Naruto? I’m not leaving without knowing he’s safe!”
Kakashi groaned because really, now is not the time to be obsessing over Naruto’s safety and secondly, as a ninja, he will have to learn a lesson he himself had to back when he first met Iruka: “Naruto will be fine! He’s a ninja, not a damsel in distress! Now, go stop Gaara before he can do something that could get Naruto killed!”
It is with a heavy heart that he leaves Naruto behind, warning Kakashi sensei, “If anything happens to him, I won’t forgive you, sensei and I will kill those responsible for hurting him.”
He meant every word he said and his sensei knew better than to argue over the matter. As such, he let Sasuke leave the arena to chase after Gaara while he, Guy, and the others who were quick enough to break through the enemy’s attempt at sedation fought off the ninja who were there to kill.
Naruto remembers a few things before waking up in the stadium: Sasuke’s battle with Gaara starting, watching him use the Chidori along with Lee’s moves, Lee’s wide eyes when he noticed it—and Naruto feeling the need to tell him, “Whoa, look! He’s using your moves!”
“But…why? I’m an omega, wouldn’t that embarrass him?”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an omega or not! Sasuke doesn’t care about that stuff and he never will, especially not when I become hokage. What matters to him is how powerful you are as a ninja, not what gender you are. Not all alphas and betas are like your family, you know.”
Lee had appeared to be happy to this, and yet, despite this, he was the lone person in their part of the stands cheering, “He may be doing well now, but you’ve got this, Gaara! You can win, I know you can!”
It stunned him—he didn’t expect him to be so bold as to cheer for a foreign alpha in front of so many alphas and betas who would definitely talk about it afterwards in settings where his clan would discover this. He had thought Lee would be too afraid to do such a thing so boldly, and yet here he was, cheering for Gaara with reckless abandon so much so to the point that when Gaara did cry out in pain, he was genuinely concerned, “Gaara? Is everything alright? Naruto, please, is there any way at all I can do something—anything to help him? I’ve never heard him scream like this before…I’ve never seen him like this in all of the times we’ve seen each other, something is wrong, I know it.”
Ino had to grab his arm to stop him from doing something stupid, warning him, “Lee, if you interfere now, you could get him disqualified from his own match!”
“Who cares about that? Gaara isn’t in a good place right now and he needs someone to help him before something bad can happen that’s out of his control! Do you really want another incident like the one that happened at my first fight against him?”
“We all don’t want that, but you cannot go out there, it could get dangerous for you and make him never want to see you again.”
“It’s not like he will ever see me again! Ino, don’t try to stop me from helping—”
It was then that Guy sensei stepped in by hitting a pressure point in his neck, making the omega pass out. Ino was about to thank him, as was Naruto since he didn’t believe he could have stopped Lee himself even with her help, but then everything black for some reason or another…and now, he’s being woken up by Sakura.
“Naruto, get up! We’re under attack!”
Immediately, he was up, looking around and asking the question of, “Where’s Sasuke? Why didn’t my stupid teme wake me?”
“He went after Gaara after the attack started.”
“What! Nuh uh, no way in hell is he leaving me like this!”
She glanced at him in concern as he began to eye up a moment to get to the nearest exit, “I’m gonna go after him! If he thinks he can leave me like that, then he has another thing coming!”
His teammate rolled her eyes, “You can go ahead and do that then. I’m staying here to get Ino to safety.”
Naruto looked at her incredulously then, his eyes wide at what she said, “You can’t leave me to go after Sasuke alone!”
“You can find someone else if you don’t want to go alone!”
“Who else would go with me? Unless if you want me to bring Lee and Ino along, then fine, but those are the only ones I feel safe with if you’re not gonna go.”
She smacks him upside the head, “Idiot! Like I’d let Ino go out and get herself killed or kidnapped or who knows what they’d do to her! You know Lee can’t go along either, he’s too attached to Gaara from what Ino told me.”
He was about to argue with her when she gave him an exasperated response of, “You know as well as I do that while he is powerful his attachment to Gaara will prevent him from being able to go into battle with a clear head. Can you really not think of anyone else?”
“All I can think of is you…maybe Shikamaru too, but that’s only because I know he wouldn’t be the type to hold me back going off what I know about him.”
Sakura truly did not want to go after Sasuke.
If she’s allowed to be honest here, she’d much rather get Ino to safety than chase after Sasuke. Just because she’s done all that she can on her end to put the past behind them does not mean she’s willing to revolve her life around him. She’s free to have other goals, other desires, other motivations for her actions outside of Sasuke. Why bother wasting her time on him when she wouldn’t need to?
That being said…Sasuke and her will be back on bad terms again if she dares let Naruto go without her. Knowing him, he’ll be all jealous if he shows up with another alpha or beta by his side and he’d blame her for letting it happen, thus leading into another fight between them that may not get resolved this time around.
It with all of the reluctance in the world that she agrees to his idea, “Fine, I’ll go with you, but I better get back in time to get Ino out of here.”
“You will! Now all we need to do is find Shikamaru.”
Thanks to Guy sensei’s having been in earshot of their conversation, he was able to give them an enthusiastic tip, “Looking for Shikamaru, huh? Well, look no further than over there!” with a finger pointing in the direction where he was passed out, they were able to get him in time.
Before Sakura could wake him, Kakashi sensei did inform them of something, “You’re going after Sasuke, aren’t you?”
“Well duh, I am! No way in hell am I leaving that stupid teme all by himself!”
Kakashi didn’t want Naruto doing this alone and he could tell by her annoyed expression that Sakura didn’t want to go either. However, he also knew Naruto well enough that even if he did try to stop him, he would go out on his own anyway and get himself hurt, killed, or forcibly mated to someone, leaving Sasuke in a position to do something really stupid ending in his demise.
Because he cannot have this happening, he does nothing to stop him, “Fine, but you guys are taking Pakkun with you.”
Naruto didn’t mind though it did nothing to ease his anxiety, “Come on, we have to get Shikamaru up right now or else we’ll be too late to save my teme!”
Pakkun, when in front of Shikamaru frowned and instantly seethed, “Hey, he’s not under some spell or jutsu…he’s actually sleeping!”
Both of them were not shocked by this in the slightest. What they were shocked by was Pakkun’s reaction to get him awake: slapping his face with his paw so hard that he may have almost left a bruise on him, “Huh, wha? Why did you guys wake me?”
“We woke you because we’re under attack and that Gaara guy lured my Sasuke out to his possible demise. Now, you’re gonna come with us to save him whether you like it or not.”
Shikamaru scoffed, “Why should I come? We don’t know each other that well.”
“You’re coming because you’re the only other alpha or beta ninja I feel comfortable going with since Sakura won’t let me bring Ino along and Lee can’t come because of his feelings for Gaara.” Naruto was at the point of hissing when grabbing his shirt, “We’re leaving now, whether you want to or not.”
“Great, what a drag…” he mutters underneath his breath yet stopping himself from going any further when faced with the hardened glare from the omega still gripping his shirt.
Shikamaru doesn’t fully understand what’s going on still, but he has a feeling if he doesn’t do anything to help now while he can, their entire village will be lost.
Naruto had been pins and needles the entire time they made their way to where Sasuke was located.
In his opinion, they took far too long to leave the stadium. Now he feels as though it will take them forever to arrive to where his teme is, something which he cannot hide from Sakura and Shikamaru as they make their way through the woods, “Can’t we go any faster? I could lose my teme over this!”
“Naruto, we can’t afford to rush this! We don’t know what traps may lie ahead of us from the enemy or if their reinforcements will be located near the area they are setting to do battle in. All we can do is keep an eye out for potential enemies for now and do our best to either avoid them or defeat them quickly in battle so we can make it to Sasuke’s side in time.” Shikamaru tries to reason with him in order to calm Naruto down and make him think critically for one moment.
Of course, this goes over his head and Pakkun is left to finish Shikamaru’s attempt for him, “He has a point, Naruto. You cannot stress yourself out—what matters most right now is getting to Sasuke and saving him from whatever it is Gaara has planned for him. If you want to be able to defeat Gaara, then you have to go in with a clear head without letting your emotions getting the best of you.”
Naruto is trying his best to do just that…it’s easier said than done.
He cannot stop thinking about Sasuke getting hurt, about Sasuke getting killed—if Sasuke ever did get hurt or died on him, he doesn’t know what he would do—that stupid, stupid teme! How dare he leave him like this? How dare he make him worry over him!
No matter, they’re getting closer to him…at least, he thinks they are. They better be because like hell is Naruto going to be waiting forever to get to his teme when he could endangered.
It may seem obsessive to think so hard on Sasuke. It probably is, however, if he doesn’t think about him then he’ll be stuck worrying over Iruka sensei.
He knows his sensei is strong, he has nothing but full confidence in his abilities, but at the same time, he’s worried over him. He worries about his sensei because he knows that he has those kids he is teaching today and while he knows there is a protocol in place in case if something like this happens, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t worry about his adoptive father’s safety any less than he does Sasuke’s.
Sasuke is the one he is talking about the most, but only because he’d be really breaking down if he had to dare vocalize his concern for his sensei right now.
It’s strange: many would not think he’d care so much about Iruka sensei since they’re not related by blood, but to Naruto, he is the best form of family he could ever have. He took him in, he accepted despite what happened to his parents, and he loves him as though he were his own. They may not see eye to eye all the time, but they are always there for each other through thick and thin. Because of this loyalty and bond he has with him, he would love to see if he’s okay, but he has to have confidence in his abilities for now and focus on saving Sasuke if he wants to remain sane through all of this.
He doesn’t know why this attack happened or what could have provoked it. All he knows is Lee will be hurting when this is all over…
Lee…he frowns, his fist clenching by his side when he thinks about his friend and whatever feelings it is he has for Gaara.
He doesn’t know what is going on with him, but he cannot help to think he wouldn’t be acting so strangely, or having to speak to Neji at all on his parents’ request, if Gaara had never had the meltdown he did during their first battle (if one could even call it that since no fighting actually did happen between them).
He wonders if they knew about Gaara and whatever it is Lee has for or with him. He wonders if this is why Lee has been acting weird for so long—are they trying to force him to mate Neji so he won’t ever mate Gaara or are they trying to get him to mate Neji for some other nefarious reason? He’s not sure, but he’s positive they wouldn’t be pulling anything on him at all if the Chunin exams had not been put on hiatus thanks to Gaara’s actions.
To think, Lee actually cheered for this guy—he cannot imagine the pain he’ll be in when he realizes Gaara was a part of this mission to destroy their home.
He may not want to be there when he does discover this. It doesn’t mean he won’t be and it certainly does not mean he will not give Gaara a piece of his mind when this is all over.
Sasuke, when alone in the forest with Gaara, is quick to remember his suspicious encounter with the redhead alpha. It makes him wonder, “Why do all of this? Aren’t you worried over Lee?”
The alpha doesn’t flinch at the mention of his name, yet his sand starts to form spiraling tendrils in his silence.
Sasuke presses onward, asking him further, “I saw how you interacted with him when you two fought after the hiatus was up. I may not have said anything to you, but I did see how you two spoke to each other afterwards. I don’t know your exact relationship with him, but if he is someone important to you, why do this? Why not end whatever issue it is you have with me at the arena when you had the chance to?”
“…He doesn’t matter in this.” he growls, his voice starting to sound uneven in pitch, “What matters is that we get to settle this once and for all, Sasuke Uchiha!”
The Uchiha alpha doesn’t really understand why he is so hellbent on battling him—all he ever got that one time he saw him during training was the comment about them having the same eyes—but he doesn’t care. If this alpha is going to be a threat to Naruto, then he will deal with him accordingly.
“If he doesn’t matter, then why does your sand react like that when I say Lee’s name?”
“Stop bringing Lee up, you’re going to make him angrier! Just battle him now and get it over with, mentioning that omega will have devastating consequences for everyone when he’s in this state!” Temari warned, having seen the signs herself and coming to the conclusion that if Sasuke doesn’t stop bringing Lee up, it will end badly for him.
If her and Kankuro are correct about Gaara having a crush on Lee, then bringing him up now when he’s in the midst of a breakdown like this will only make it that much worse for everyone around him.
Before Sasuke could ask her more, Gaara strikes out at his own sister, the tail of sand knocking her away with ease, “Shut up…just shut up! I don’t want to hear his name being spoken by anyone here, not even you!”
It’s enough to make the message loud and clear. If he’s willing to strike out at his own sister over Lee’s name being brought up, then it’d be for the best if he didn’t bother with that at all.
He readies himself for another Chidori—despite the fact there may be a chance he may not be able to use another one so soon after his initial usage of it in the arena—more than ready to get rid of this alpha who dared to launch an attack on the village his Naruto will one day be hokage of. The same alpha who will cause great harm to one of his Naruto’s friends when this is all over and he’s won against him.
Yes, he will win against him. Because like hell he will lose to this alpha, not now, not when he has Naruto to protect and save.