Alpha

It was a cold windy day in Suna, just like any other. From anyone’s perspective, today would seem like a completely average day; the fourth kazekage still had the same spiteful look on his face, the old council men were still bitching, and the small red-haired child still had the same broken look on his face. However, today was a very special day for a man named Rasa, as he would be bringing his five-year-old son to the doctor so he could identify his second gender.

Second gender are biological trait that decides what role you will play in society… well, it used to. Although alphas have always been the most dominate second gender that has controlled any form of power, their scarcity has lead to betas needing to be involved in government as well. As the years passed and civilizations formed, alphas stopped killing one another as much and their population grew. The betas, scared that their power will be taken away, enforced equality laws that make alphas and betas equal in government. However there was a third and final second gender… omega. Throughout history, omega’s roles have not changed; they are to stay with the children or in the kitchen. They’d be useless anywhere else.

Rasa walked with his nose in the air, several strides ahead of his young child. The small redhead was out of breath and running to catch up to his father. Rasa’s scowled at the stupid idea of a second gender for his son. His “son” was not something that was human, and it was clear to him that he would take after the beast, Shukaku, and become an alpha. Regardless, it was mandatory to do for any child in Suna and it was also an excuse to get out of a dreaded meeting.

Rasa pushed the door open and walked into the foyer. He brushed the sand from his clothes and walked towards the main desk where the clerk looked alert and shocked.

“K- Kazekage-sama! How may I help you today? Do you have an appointment? If not we ca-”

“Yes I have an appointment. With Dr. Ishi,” Rasa replied, interrupting the nervous employee.

“O-okay! I’ll go get him right away!” the woman replied, and scuffled away. Rasa sighed and turned towards the jinjuriki who was talking nervously with a bright face. The other child nodded and had at his words with a big smile, just like the Cheshire Cat. Rasa angrely went toward his child, only hearing a few enthusiastic words.

“... after the rain comes and then all the cacti will come and you can see the-” the child’s words were interrupted by a gasp and his father’s grasp on his collar. The fourth kazekage pulled the child towards the waiting doctor who looked shocked at the encounter.

“Kazekage-sama! Right this way!” the doctor said with fake enthusiasm, his face showing his uncomfortable nervousness. Rasa followed the man with the same grip on his child’s coller, dragging him down the hallway covered in pictures of dinosaurs and butterflies. Rasa released the child once they arrived in the room, where he sat down in the plush spinny chair with a sigh. The redhead rubbed his sore neck and looked at the doctor, who was contemplating telling the kazekage to get out of his chair. Wisely, the doctor chose to live and pulled over a green plastic chair and took a seat.

“Now,” Dr. Ishi said with a sigh, “What’s your name kiddo?”

The red haired child looked at the man with wide eyes. “I-I’m Gaara,” the child replied hesitantly, as if he was not sure if the man was really talking to him.

“Okay Gaara well this will hopefully be quick and easy. All we need to do is put this patch on you neck and let you smell some things and then you can go home, okay?”

“Y-yes,” Gaara replied softly still in shock.

The doctor smiled in response and put on a pair of white rubber gloves. He reached into a jar on his desk and grabbed a circular patch around the size of Gaara’s hand.

“I’m going to need you to remove the clothing you have covering your neck, okay?”

Gaara nodded in response and pulled his sweater off his shoulder. The doctor pulled the plastic off the patch and placed it over a small lump the child had on the base of his neck, called a scent gland.

“We’ll just leave this over the scent gland for a few minutes and then run it through a machine. We’ll be able to tell your second gender, or dynamic, by the scent and pheromones that you leave on the patch”.

A growl was heard from the corner of the room. Rasa scowled down at his child.

“This is a waste of my time. I already know he’s an alpha. He takes after that fucking tanuki,” Rasa spit out.

The doctor looked at his in shock, surprised not only by his language but by his hateful attitude towards the child.

“I- I understand Kazekage-sama but it is standard protocol to check every child for their dynamic, even if it is evident by the child’s behavior”.

“Protocol my ass. That one doesn’t count as a human under Suna’s laws, he counts as a weapon,” Rasa argued, ignoring the fact that he chose to make this appointment.

The doctor looked at him in surprise. “I’m sorry sir bu-” The man was interrupted by the sound of the timer.

“Okay Gaara let me take that patch now, okay?” Gaara nodded and the man slowly peeled the patch off and left the room as quickly as he could. Gaara squirmed under the glare his father was sending him. He re-adjusted his collar and let his eyes stay glued to a certain tile on the floor. The time passed slowly in the silent room. The awkward tension made it hard for Gaara to breathe, and he begged for the kind doctor to come back. Gaara strained his ears to hear soft slow footsteps getting closer to the room.

As the door opened Gaara had to do a double-take. At first he believed that this was a different doctor; his skin was several shades lighter, almost a green color. His skin looked shiny and sweaty, and his eyebrows were brought so close together in concern it almost looked like they were touching. The man’s shaky hands held a manila folder filled with documents. The man threw himself into his chair and set the folder on the counter. The man wiped sweat from his forehead and put his head into his hands.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Rasa demanded, getting over the initial shock of seeing the doctor in such a bad condition.

The doctor glanced up at the man with fear in his eyes. Gaara looked back and forth between the two. Anxiety grew in the child’s chest as the doctor grew a shade more pale.

“WELL! Speak! What the fuck is going on!”

“He’s an omega”.

Silence took over the room. The doctor’s head returned to his hands and Gaara looked over at his father. Rasa maintained the same expression for a few seconds. It lied somewhere in between anger and confusion. Rasa grit his teeth and glanced over to look at his child with hate in his eyes. Slowly, he started to laugh.

“Is that why you can’t handle the Shukaku! IS THAT WHY YOU AREN’T STRONG ENOUGH? BECAUSE YOU’RE A BITCH?” Rasa shouted, slowly growing hysterical.
Gaara felt tears well up. He didn’t know what was going on. He had head his father call him an “alpha”. He had never heard anything called omega. Gaara felt his sand rustle around his body in defence as his father’s laughs got louder and louder. Gaara backed into a corner and his body started to shake. The doctor made his escape a few seconds before, and Gaara wished he could leave as well.

As Rasa’s laughter died down, Gaara took the few steps towards the door and closed it on the way out. He walked slowly, almost in a daze, down the decorated hallway. He glanced into one of the rooms and found the kind doctor staring a hole into the wall. Gaara walked towards the man and asked the man as clearly as he could manage:

“What’s an omega?”

The man jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to look at the child. The doctor stood up slowly and walked past Gaara to shut the door then led the child to the little red plastic chair. Dr Ishi sat down in the black plush chair and heaved out a long sigh.

“An omega is one of the three dynamics: Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Omegas are considered to be the weakest as all omegas, including male omegas, produce children. It is also the hardest dynamic to have. Betas don’t have to worry about anything, other than menstruation, but only for woman. Alphas have to deal with ruts, which cause them to lose control of their body and seek out an omega to claim. Omegas, however, have heats. These are week long periods that occur a few times per year. How frequently differs from omega to omega. During these hearts, you are incapable from doing anything but producing pheromones, which calls for alphas to come help you. You also experience extreme cramping and pain and produce something called slick, a slimy clear substance. If this happens to you anytime soon, it is completely normal. It’s just part of your dynamic. Heat are the only time when an omega can get pregnant, but they can be triggered by things and don’t always follow a pattern. It’s a tough dynamic to have,” the doctor informed him, looking at the child with a sympathetic look.

Gaara looked down, thinking deeply. “B- but why was Father so angry?”

The doctor squirmed as a response. “Ummm… Not everyone likes to have children who are omegas. They believe that they won’t ever achieve anything due to their weakness,” the doctor stated. He glanced and saw the child’s concerned face. “B- but that’s not something you should be worried about! You can overcome your dynamic!”

Gaara smiled at the doctor’s encouraging words. “How can you stop your heats from happening?” he asked curiously.

“Well… you can get extremely strong suppressants, but I don’t recommend those. I recommend using the suppressants you can get from the drugstore that can dull your heat, but won’t stop it. This will keep you healthy for later in life. The real ‘cure’ to heats is getting a mate to knot you, but you’re far too young for that. When you get knotted you have the chance of getting impregnated unless you’re on a special medication, so remember that for later in life”

“What’s a knot”

“Ummm, well I’ll tell you when you’re a bit older. How about you come in and ask when you’re… 13, okay?”

“Okay!” Gaara smiled at the man.

“Bye, Gaara!”

“Bye!” the child replied, happy to have such a informative and pleasant conversation. Gaara slipped out of the office and ran home to tell his uncle, Yashamaru, all about the very strange day.