Snapdragons
Flowers bloomed wherever she went, they tendrilled and danced over her skin. Sometimes they'd peak out just beneath the collar of the oversized sweaters she seemed to adore, sometimes if she was very focused on something, they'd sprout from the top of her head in brilliant blues, yellows and pinks. Sometimes she'd drop petals, on her writing desk where she tirelessly took note of every bit of information Iruka provided the class. Sometimes the tiniest, purple and blue petals would slip through her eyes with her fat, glossy tears, and sometimes when her face was bright red with anger, the flora that seemed to sprout on her body would burst in brilliant reds and oranges, like the angry fires within were escaping into the material world.
He wondered if she was some kind of fae, someone capable of constantly blooming life on their skin couldn't be human. Her brightly colored hair and forest green eyes only fed into his suspicions, as if her human body was rebelling its condition, as if it were trying to transform itself into the beautiful greenery she tirelessly produced.
When she was in the room and a slight breeze swirled through the open classroom window, he could close his eyes and find himself in a spring field, where wildflowers painted the earth and grew uninhibited.
His sharp senses only added to his perpetual agony, and the hives within his blood constantly seemed to urge him toward her, humming with such ferocity he found himself out of breath more often than not, unable to speak the words that danced behind his lips. He seemed to attract more honey bees these days, he was no fool, he knew why.
The yellow and black-clad insects slid through the inky black spikes of his hair and hummed noisily in her presence. Though he focused no better when she was in his proximity, with or without his buzzing comrades.
He wondered often if she was aware of the flowers that delicately bloomed around her, as she seemingly paid no mind to their presence, no matter how brilliant the bloom. Her head was always down, nose scrunched lightly as she scribbled away, lost in her own world. Today, a small cluster of baby’s-breath formed a wreath around her head.
When the summer arrived, a new insect had sought him out, wasps.
They had been assigned teams, he with others from some of the remaining clans of the village, and she with the village troublemaker and the class heartthrob. The wasps came to him as he noticed the way the girl began blooming bright red flowers whenever she looked at the other boy.
Perhaps he should have approached her, on the days he noticed more petals seeping from her eyes, or on days she'd stumbled through the classroom doors before a test, looking tense and exhausted. Perhaps he should have at least said hello, just to see if he could make a single flower bloom. He would have been satisfied with that, he told himself.
Time passed and the girl became a distant memory in his mind, he had to focus on his own teammates, on his future. Yet, the honeybees remained, almost as loyal and dependable as his own hive.
“Naruto, stop scratching at it!” Sakura hissed, smacking at the blonde boy's hands as he whined loudly. She blotted the scratches on his face with an alcohol pad, lamenting her position as team-mom. Kakashi certainly wasn’t going to take up the torch, the old dog.
Naruto’s fuzzy, bright-orange ears flicked with every swipe of the pad and as she tried without avail to get him to sit still long enough for her to properly clean his wounds, Kakashi began humming loudly from the distance, signaling that they should continue their pursuit of the house cat they'd been commissioned to find.
“If you wouldn't have scared him off, we would all be home by now.” Sasuke scowled, small flecks of electricity dancing over his exposed skin as he cast a dark glance to Naruto from over his shoulder.
Sakura did her best to hold back the sigh that threatened to escape her lips. She should have been home hours ago and her stomach was in knots. She tried not to imagine the delicious dinner waiting for her at home, probably cold by now, as she tucked the first aid kit back into her bag.
“Shut up, teme. Nobody asked for your opinion!” Naruto hissed, baring his sharp canines to the older boy.
Sakura groaned, not looking forward to the rest of the evening. Once again, they'd be out all night trying to complete a simple task. Her parents were going to have an absolute meltdown if she came home at almost dusk again.
“He's not too far, is he?” Sasuke questioned Kakashi, arms crossed over his chest as he stared daggers at his teammates. Sakura found it funny that he was acting like they were incompitant when she hadn’t seen him having more success or the mission would already be over.
The silver haired man hummed and sniffed deeply at the air before rubbing his mask-clad chin in thought.
“Maybe forty meters, it seems to be dining on a lovely mouse dinner at the moment.” The older man smiled, eyes downcast in his favorite chapter of Icha-Icha paradise as he rested his back comfortably against a mossy tree, clearly unsympathetic to his team.
“That's it?” Sasuke snorted, shoving past the three as the electric that pulsed across his form began cackling with ferocity, “Fine. I'll do it myself.”
“Come on, Sasuke.” Sakura whined, tucking her bangs behind her ear as she dusted off some grass from the front of her red dress, “The cat will hear you the second you get near it, let me help.”
Seeming to calm himself, the lightning bubbled away in a silent fizzle, to which he raised his arms, “There, see? Better. I can do it myself. You guys are too noisy.” He hissed, disappearing into the thick forestry.
Sakura sighed, crossing her arms over her chest to stare helplessly at her sensei, who raised his hands in defense. Clearly he was unaware that Sakura needed to be home and that she had taken her scent-blockers but they only offered twelve hour protection and she was nearing her last hour and she needed to get HOME, but she was still able to point the blame on the only adult available who had failed to even try to get Naruto and Sasuke to act mature for five seconds so they could get the stupid cat.
“Hey, I told you three that it was a skittish cat at least ten times.” He sighed, neither interested or disinterested in the situation at hand.
“Let him catch the stupid thing, it'll smell Kakashi and me anyway.” Naruto waved, plopping back on the lush grass with a smile, “It's so nice out today, too nice to be catching a stupid cat.”
Sakura stomped her foot right beside the blondes head, feeling feathery petals begin to dust over her shoulders as she groaned in frustration, “Come on, Naruto. We wouldn't still be looking for it if you would have been able to pinpoint the scent!”
“Maa, you don't understand Sakura-chan, there's so many other smells going on here. Do you know how many animals live in this forest?” He sighed, “It's an alpha thing, I guess.” not noticing how her eyes turned to slits as she stormed off toward the village, snapdragons sprouting wherever she stepped, only to wither and disappear as she lifted her foot to step again.
“You know she's a beta, Naruto. You should be more careful about what you say.” Kakashi tsk’d, face still buried in his book.
“I would never make Sakura-chan feel bad about that!” Naruto choked, eyes locked on the place Sakura was once standing, “It's just that she doesn't understand how strong my sense of smell is.” He sighed, scratching behind the triangular ear poking out of his spiky blond hair.
“Oh? Of course not.” Kakashi mused, wondering how anyone as dense as Naruto could float in water.
“I'm back, where's Sakura?” Sasuke hummed, brown tabby cat in tow, nose wrinkled in distaste at the scent of the clearly distressed feline.
“Naruto upset her.” Kakashi sighed, snapping his book shut with a sigh as he lifted the cat- crate from the ground, helping Sasuke hoist the hefty feline inside. It put up quite a fight, but the three remembered the demanding noblewoman who’d commissioned them to retrieve her prized feline and none of them could particularly blame the poor beast.
“I did not.” Naruto growled, ears perking up as he pushed off the ground, fists balled at his side as a low growl rumbled the young alpha’s chest.
Sasuke simply snorted and shook his head as Kakashi shrugged dismissively, tucking the crate under his arm and moving towards the path to the village. Naruto would have to figure this one out himself.
“What did I do?” Naruto grumbled to himself, following at a distance behind his teammates, he wondered if he should stop by Ichiraku’s before going home, but dismissed it quickly, his mom would probably kill him if he skipped out on her cooking again, and man did she have a temper.
X X X
She awkwardly fumbled through the village streets, she could feel the soggy tears dampening her eyes as she went, though she wiped them away to the best of her abilities. The last thing she needed was to come home teary-eyed and late. Her parents didn’t take her seriously enough without the tears.
She was the oldest on her team, Naruto the youngest. Naruto, son of the fourth Hokage and the youngest person in almost a hundred years to emerge an alpha, Sasuke Uchiha, almost all main branch Uchiha were born alphas, and he was coming up to the age where his traits were becoming obvious.
Then there was her, fourteen, unscented, and with her odd… affliction. It was no surprise her teammates would treat her with the fragility of her namesake. They probably didn’t even intend to, they thought she was a beta and in a natural hierarchy, they presumed her to be less than, it’s just the way their instincts reacted to her, with her lack of scent signaling a particularly weak beta at that.
And of course it was no surprise when they had all just assumed she was a beta, but she knew she was capable and she'd be damned if those old traditions would stop her from trying to prove that you didn’t have to be an alpha to be powerful. Though it wasn’t easy to prove your worth when you’re stacked up against an Uchiha and the Hokage’s son.
“Hey, do you smell something?”
“Yeah, it's weird… just barely, what is it?”
“Hey, what's that smell?”
“Where's it coming from?”
A spike of fear pulled her from her thoughts and into a nearby alley. She nervously stole a glance at her pocket watch. The scent blocker was definitely wearing off by now, it was a stroke of luck that she’d run off when she did because otherwise… she tried to suppress the shiver that threatened to make it’s way up her spine at the thought.
She quickly shifted through the alley, doing her best to calm her rapid breathing but the anxiety at the thought of being found had easily overtaken her thoughts and it was going to take more than a few breathing exercises to console herself.
Though she was alone, she felt an eerie dread building like she was just around the corner from a predator, those bunny rabbit nerves had sent her heart into violent palpitations and she was bracing herself against the cool stone wall behind her. She shuffled through the mouth of the alley onto a less densely populated street. She was lucky that her family lived in the civilian sect of the village, where only the odd beta dwelled. A beta would be able to catch her scent, but it was unlikely to drive them into a frenzy and nearly all alpha’s would be near the heart of the village so she could rest somewhat easy, by the time she got home only a lingering trace of her scent would remain.
She wasn't far from her home, but she needed to avoid the busier streets. Taking a more secluded route would tac another fifteen minutes onto her trip but she was sure she could make it home unnoticed if she went this way. She just needed to settle her nerves, keep her profile low and stay downwind.
Why was her scent so strong today? Could it be heat? She was sure she’d planned ahead for it but it’s possible it came a few days earlier than the last. Perhaps that was why she’d been feeling so sluggish and sensitive. Maybe that’s why Naruto’s comment had set her off so bad, but it could be a blessing in disguise if her suspicions turned out to be true.
She scuttled quickly and quietly through the streets, careful not to meet the eyes of the ever rare citizen calmly making their own commutes home. She kept reminding herself that she should be safe in this side of town. Everything should be alright as long as she kept away from the people around her and didn’t make too much of a fuss. She should be fine, she would be fine.
As she rounded the last corner before her street, eyes apparently too focused on an elderly shopkeep, she found herself suddenly thrown down to the ground, landing hard on her bottom and wrists reverberating with the impact they caught as she found her vision enveloped in black and beige, a mysterious and barely audible humming seemingly spilling from his person she’d managed to collide with in her haste.
He had a strange scent about him, it reminded her of ceremonial spices and earth, the kind of deep red earth you find at burial sights. She felt a deep dread as she scent swallowed up all of her senses and her lips parted softly in surprise, lungs now drowning in the distinctly male scent.
And as she craned her neck to see his face all she managed to catch were sharp, white canines descending down on her. Inky blackness swallowed her vision as an unbearably painful sting shot through her veins, a throbbing on her bare shoulder sending a painful spike down the entirety of her arm.