The Mission

Sasuke didn’t know Naruto had left for the longest time. That is, until he stopped by Iruka’s place to give Naruto something he had forgotten to gift him when they were on their date. He had gotten to the apartment and when he did, he was stunned upon overhearing his future mate’s dad speak to their sensei, “Itachi was in the village today? When did that happen! I remember his scent being very strong and distinct!” 

“I believe he may have been using something to make it less powerful overall. Had it not been diluted, I could have found him earlier before Ino and Hinata did.”

With bated breath, he listened closely—his mind stuck on a certain thought he’d never thought he’d have to entertain, “Do you really believe Naruto had to leave the village with Jiraiya—the pervy sage as he calls him? Was the threat of Itachi trying to take him really that severe?” 

Sasuke’s blood went cold to this and yet Kakashi was being a bit too casual about this, “We cannot run the risk of another Deidara situation happening. We need to do what we can to prevent Naruto from being kidnapped and winding up in his position or worse.” 

He doesn’t want to think on the possibility of Itachi taking Naruto away from him for the sole sake of mating him. He doesn’t want to believe there’s ever a good reason to be on edge of one of his worst nightmares coming true. 

Without hearing another word of their conversation, he heads on out as quickly as he can without either of them noticing. He knows if they discover he had listened in, they would be trying to stop him from finding Naruto. He’s only so lucky his mate has a scent he has had burned in the foremost part of his mind: otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to track him down. 

With fear and hatred fueling the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Sasuke made his way out of the way village as quickly as possible, following Naruto’s scent the moment he was out of it. 

Itachi stole Deidara when he left the village. That was something Sasuke couldn’t prevent and he genuinely feels some guilt for not being quick enough to save the one victim of his brothers who has suffered the most over the years. 

Knowing he wasn’t above taking Deidara by force always had him in fear of such a thing happening to Naruto since he wasn’t too different from the first omega he stole: loud, stubborn, blonde, blue eyed, and nowhere near the quiet/obedient archetype most alphas (and betas as well for that matter) are said to desire. 

(Yes, he knows very damn well how messed up it is to be so heavily interested in the same type of omega as his brother is. It won’t be enough to make him ever not want Naruto: he knows he has wanted him way longer than Itachi ever wanted Deidara. It only makes sense for him to believe his brother may have ripped off on him this time around.) 

No matter. He won’t allow him to steal Naruto from him. He won’t fail him like he did with Deidara. Itachi will never steal anyone again as long as he’s alive, that much he can vow to himself for Naruto’s sake!

Naruto, for his part, was done with the traveling when they came to some town with far too many vices for the pervy sage to get into. He would have been fine going to another town instead, yet he was stuck here, in this hotel room, while the old pervert was out on a date. 

He’s currently in the room they got for the night, wishing Sasuke was here to keep him company because he’s just so bored now and no matter what he tries, his mind keeps going back to their date today. He really had a great time with Sasuke, which he wasn’t really expecting—okay, he was expecting to have a good time, but he didn’t think it’d be as wonderful as it was. Dating the Uchiha felt easy, comfortable, and right somehow, like he had found a puzzle to something he didn’t know was missing within himself.

Things may not have started smoothly—what, with the Itachi and Deidara talk—but it overall ended up being a really nice time filled with Sasuke taking him to some of his favorite places he liked to go to alone and a kiss turned that into something more…something he wouldn’t mind exploring more of when they’re both old enough to have ruts and heats they could enjoy with the other.

He blushes thinking about it. Though the blush dies the moment he hears a knock on his door.

Thinking it was the pervy sage (seriously, who else could it have been), he answered it without a second thought, “About time you got back—”

He paused at the sight of him, the one he remembers pursuing Deidara so hard that it has Sasuke convinced he kidnapped him, “I…Itachi?”

“Naruto, it’s been a while hasn’t it? It’s a shame we never got to speak back when I was in the village and Sasuke was longing after you.” his presence alone made Naruto freeze with the effect becoming worse as he realizes he is staring in the same eyes of the man Sasuke had plenty of reason to believe had kidnapped Deidara, “Come, let’s have a talk now and get better acquainted before something bad happens to someone innocent.”

…He’s here to take him…is this what Deidara felt when in his presence? When he finally realized his interaction with Itachi was not a simple daily annoyance anymore?

“Y-You…you’re gonna take me away, aren’t you? Just like you did with Deidara…” was all he could muster as it became all too real.

He hadn’t really felt a fear like this before. Even in his past instances where he’d been up against someone powerful, he never felt something that left him chilled to his bone because he can admit that it’s scary to think an alpha like him would go out of his way to follow him like this—him specifically, an omega who resembles Deidara in certain enough ways that it makes this seem as though the young man is trying to build himself a harem of loud, blonde, blue eyed stubborn omegas.

“Who’s to say I want to do anything to you at all? All I want is a simple chat with you.”

His grip on the door is tightening as he begins to slowly force it fully open, leaving Naruto in a state he hadn’t ever been in before: instinctual control.

He’s heard of this numerous times from Iruka, but he never took it seriously nor did he ever really listen to him on it—something he’s cursing himself for now. All he knows is, whenever an older, powerful shinobi like Itachi flares up a pheromone usually used to seduce an fully grown omega in their heat, it can cause an omega who’s not yet had their first heat (like himself) go into a state where his base omega instincts take control, leaving him without any option to better protect himself.

Fighting against the complete loss of control he’s slowly coming to experience, he fights back with a shaken, “No, I-I know better than to trust you—I know better than to trust anyone who could kidnap an omega from their own home after massacring their clan… I don’t believe you…I won’t—”

“Kidnap Deidara?” Itachi pauses with someone behind him chuckling, remarking then, “Another one from Konoha who thinks this, huh? I’m starting to think there was something so severely wrong you that no one can believe you’d get any omega to agree to be your mate—let alone someone said to be the most beautiful omega of the village like Deidara.”

There’s a glare thrown at this person’s direction for a very brief moment before the young man glances back to Naruto, “I don’t know where you received such nonsensical ideas from, but no, I did not kidnap Deidara. Deidara and I are mated now in a consensual mating.”

“T-Then…why…why me? Why come to me? Are you trying to build a harem of loud, stubborn, blue eyed blondes like Deidara because he secretly hates you and you know it?”

The one who chuckled before let out a laugh to this and he could tell by the intense scent in the air that he made him mad, “No, I have no such plan in mind. Deidara and I are happily mated in a consensual mating with no secret hatred of myself anywhere within him. To add onto this, why would I want a harem of lesser Deidaras when I already have the original as mine?”

Naruto was frozen regardless of this, his instincts starting to take control like some sort of defense mechanism ingrained into him by his omega nature. The alpha leaned forward, his hand reaching for him, “Now, leave the room and come with me to have a little chat before I am forced to use my alpha voice on you.”

…He means business then. Oh god, he really must want a harem despite what he said!

Alpha voice is usually only used by alphas who want to force an omega into submission by triggering an instinctual submission out of them that, much like he is experiencing now, is a defense mechanism to prevent them from being killed.

Just when he felt himself about to fully lose himself to the part of his omega nature he never believed he’d ever have to contend with, he heard a deep growl, one that saved him in that moment, “Naruto, get away from him now!”

Sasuke. His teme, his first date—the one who wants to mate him one day, “S-Sasuke?”

“Don’t worry, I’m here now, and I promise you, I won’t let you down.” he reassures him from his spot down the hallway, Chidori ready to use on the one who had stolen Deidara after massacring their clan, “You couldn’t be happy with just Deidara, could you? You had to come here and steal Naruto too after everything—like massacring our clan wasn’t enough, you just had to come back and take Naruto like he’s some possession…”

He gets in position, leaning ever so slightly forward, “I didn’t get to save Deidara after you said you’d take him away whether he wanted to go with you or not—but I will not fail Naruto!”

His partner pauses and asks, “Did you really say that to him? …I’m starting to think your mating relationship isn’t all you claim it to be.”

Itachi doesn’t respond. No, he simply maneuvers his way out of Sasuke’s attack, breaking his wrist in the process, and pins him against the wall at the end of the hallway they are in, leaving Naruto to gasp in the background with a horrified, “Sasuke!” at the action.

His eyes are hard on Sasuke, making his outrage and irritation clearer when he does speak to him, “I have no perverted intentions with your Naruto; why would I? I do have the most beautiful omega in the village as my mate now. All are rust compared to such a diamond and I’m not one to settle. If you are going to hate me, at least have it be for a reason based in reality as opposed to whatever fantasy it is you have worked in your mind.”

Sasuke was about to retort to this when Itachi went further yet, “Though perhaps you need the fantasy—because if you ask me, Sasuke, your hatred of me is not strong enough and if there is anyone who stands a chance of killing me, it’d be Ino Yamanaka long before you; her hatred of me is the strongest I have ever felt from anyone. At the rate you’re going, you will never be able to defeat me.”

Naruto was about to rush in despite his body feeling like lead and the final pieces of control he had over his body fading, “L-Leave him a-alone!”

His partner approached him, speaking to him in his alpha voice, “Shut up, omega.”

Immediately, Naruto lost all control over himself, his mind going blank and vision going black as he heard the faint voice of the pervy sage in the distance.

When it’s all over, Naruto is awake with the pervy sage by his side in their room, “What’s going on?” he sat up instantly when remembering, “Sasuke! What happened to Sasuke, is he alright? What about his brother and that other guy—are they still around?”

“Easy, Naruto! You’ve gotta calm down now, everything’s okay.” Jiraiya cautions him with a wary eye on his person, “Now, the fight ended right when I showed up and tried to stop Itachi along with his partner. I almost had them caught, but the bastards got away from me… Anyway, Guy showed up to take down Itachi after following Sasuke here, but he was too late to the fight. Sasuke’s heading back to Konoha for now where he’ll be safe.”

Naruto didn’t feel any better after learning this and it seemed Jiraiya could tell, “I know going through a fully grown alpha using alpha voice on you when you haven’t had a heat yet had to be the scariest thing ever—”

“I don’t really care about.” he admits from his spot on the bed, “I only care about helping Sasuke heal from whatever it is his evil brother did to him, but with the way the village is now, I don’t know if anyone will be able to.”

The older man crossed his arms against his chest, huffing as he realized, “You really didn’t listen to me on our way here then…lemme guess, too busy thinking about this Sasuke, huh? Omega kids and their alphas…” when Naruto looks at him strangely, he stops with the rant and gets to the point, “I was asked to be the hokage after the old man passed and I didn’t really wanna do it, so I turned down the offer. Now we’re out here not only to train you to become stronger with a new move that could surpass the Chidori, but get to Tsunade to—”

“I’m not in that now, not when Sasuke’s hurt!” Naruto snaps, “Tell me—do you think this Tsunade will be able to save Sasuke or not?”

He’s amazed for a good reason, “…You really care about this alpha, don’t you?”

“You’re damn right I do! Now tell me if she can save him or not!”

The older man nods with a confident smile on his face, “I know she definitely can! Trust me when I say it kid, she’s the best of the best.”

Naruto truly hopes she is…his Sasuke got hurt because of him and his own dumbassery for not listening to Iruka when he should’ve. If he cannot help him to recover from what was done, then he’s just as bad as Itachi for causing him such grief in the first place.

In an attempt to snap Naruto out of whatever funk he is in, Jiraiya is quick to give him some handy info, “Ya know, if she becomes the next hokage, there’s a damn good chance a lot of the more backwards laws surrounding omega rights will be changed to be closer to something Deidara Yamanaka would approve of.”

“…You know about Deidara?”

“Impossible for me to not know of him, actually. The guy’s got an interesting record, that’s for sure.”

He thinks then of Lee—his friend with the horribly conservative clan who abuses the currently laws to keep him under their oppressive thumb with no hope of escape.

When he thinks of him and his clan, he wants to kick himself for not thinking of him far sooner than he did. However, he doesn’t allow himself to wallow in self-pity; instead, he chooses to answer with a, “You sure about that? I don’t even know what gender this person is. How do I know she’ll care about omega rights?”

“She’s a beta and trust me when I say it, she’s particularly pro omega rights—far more so than the average beta is. If there’s someone you want to be hokage to fix the problems with the laws now, it’s her.”

If she really can fix the problems now, then there’s no need to waste their time any longer: not when Sasuke can get cured and Lee can finally have the freedom he deserves, “Let’s go get her then! Ow!” he yelps at the end, his body burning when he sat up too quickly.

“Lay down, kid! Your body’s still recovering from the stress you put it under by trying to resist the natural instincts you have in the way you did.” he watches him closely for a minute, deciding afterwards, “We’ll leave in an hour or so to go find her. Just know that it won’t be easy and you will be expected to train at the same time, okay?”

“Right!” Naruto said with a certain fire burning within himself at the prospect of getting a hokage who can not only save Sasuke, but Lee as well.

Ino had learned everything Inoichi had in the meeting today about Deidara and his only plea for his daughter was a sorrowfully spoken, “Ino, I know you and Deidara were close, but it’s not worth getting yourself killed trying to find him. Please, wait until you’re at least a Chunin to try to bring your brother back. You’re not strong enough to save him now from Itachi; you need more time to train if you want to save him. For now, at least, give yourself the time to grow and learn in order to save him…and should anything relating to him come up again, get myself or any other Chunin or Jounin involved right away. Don’t be stupid like you were today; be smart and get a skilled ninja involved with this to lead a proper investigation to bring him home.” 

She knows she told him she would do that from now on, but when she finds a sculpture of a moonflower—a sculpture which, upon further inspection, had been made by the same sort of clay Deidara had always used in the past—on her window sill, she throws all promise and caution to the wind, believing this may be the only way she can receive enough evidence to prove her hunch correct: that Deidara had left by force.

Cracking it open without any care for the actual sculpture (Deidara would be so proud of her for doing this, wouldn’t he?), she finds a letter from her long lost brother.

Ino, how have you been?

I hope you’ve been good over the years in that hellish village. I don’t know why you’re still there or why you’d ever want to defend it…but I won’t judge you for it. You have your reasons, as does everyone else who fights for a place that bad to omegas despite being one themselves. I don’t have much time to pull this off, so please be precise about it and come alone at the exact time and place not a minute too late: come by the border of the village at midnight next Saturday. I have something important to tell you about the night I left and this is the best chance I’ve got to do that without any distractions. Don’t tell anyone about this, especially not mom. I don’t want anyone to be endangered from seeing me again. I hope you’ll come, but if you don’t want to, then I can understand. Hope to see you then—Deidara

Holding the letter firm in her hands, she rereads it six times over before hiding it and the moonflower remnants in a spot her family will never find them as a feeling of overwhelming happiness takes over her at the chance to meet her brother again.

This could be the best shot she has to bring him back without endangering herself or him. She has to take it now or else she'll hate herself forever for not striking when the opportunity was given to her.