…I really don't know where this came from. I hope at least a few people enjoy it.
Rated T: some foul language, a lot of sexual innuendo (but it's pretty hidden, so it won't greatly offend anyone, I don't think).
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor omegaverse.
By the time they began attending school, most kids knew what their second-nature was. Most kids also had parents. Naruto didn't have either luxury.
It's true, orphanage he spend his childhood in did annual second-gender examinations, but Naruto made sure that he was "missing" every time the doctor visited.
Call him crazy, but he didn't like a stranger shoving their fingers in places that would get them called a pedophile in any other situation.
At the time, he didn't see what was wrong with just stealing his own file and filling out the second gender as "beta". After all, most orphans were betas with the rarer alpha or omega.
Naruto also didn't really care about whatever his second gender was, as long as it wasn't an omega. All he wanted was to become a ninja. As long as he could do that (and eventually become Hokage) he was okay with whatever his second nature ended up being.
But not an omega; they got put into the Okiya and he did not want to go there.
In a world filled with disgusting idiots who couldn't control their primal urges, it was essential to educate young children in sex. Being a shinobi heightened the risk of possible rape or violation. Therefore, It was in everyone's best interest that all children attending the shinobi academy be made aware of the ins-and-outs of alpha/beta/omega dynamics as soon as possible.
It was a difficult and controversial lesson to learn at such a young age, but one that would help them more than hurt them in the long run.
Third year students were the ones to get the official "talk" from a chunin instructor. That year in particular, Iruka happened draw the short straw and found himself explaining mating rituals to a bunch of nine-year-olds.
(He was almost positive that Mizuki somehow cheated in their coin toss. No matter, he would be the bigger person and accept his fate).
"As most of you know," he began, "each of us has a second gender; Alpha, Beta, or Omega." He picked up a piece of chalk and drew the three Greek symbols on the board for a visual:
A B Ω
A few kids who had been dozing off perked their heads up at the change in subject. It was true, everyone knew about second genders aka natures, but they didn't know why their ninja teacher felt the need to bring it up.
An excited chatter permeated the room at the new topic. Never before had they found the topic important enough to discuss with their peers until Iruka brought it up. Unsurprisingly, the pink-haired Haruno girl began arguing with the blond Yamanaka about what nature their "precious Sasuke-kun" was.
The chunin's eyebrow twitched as he yelled for silence. Once the room was quiet, he cleared his throat irritably and continued, "As I was saying, there was three different natures. I myself am a Beta." He taped the "B" for emphasis.
He figured it would be best to start out with the innocent stuff. "Alphas," he tapped the A, "are the most dominant and protective of all natures. Because of this trait, they are often ideal for leading teams. Betas," he tapped the B, "are like the second-in-command. They can be dominant if the situation calls for it-"
A cheeky blond interrupted, "Like when you yell at me?"
A vein visibly throbbed in Iruka's neck. "Naruto," his voice was strained, "please save any questions for after lecture."
He only got a snicker in response.
Iruka spend a few seconds starring down the prankster to insure he wouldn't speak again. He tapped the B a little more harshly than before, "Betas can take on leadership roles when needed, but they are generally most comfortable following orders. Last but not least are omegas," he tapped the Ω. "Omegas are generally submissive to both Alphas and Betas. They almost always avoid any position of command, feeling more comfortable when someone is telling them what to do.
"Of course, we are all a little bit different and are not defined by our natures. It's important not to judge someone's character solely on their second gender.
"As a shinobi, underestimating any opponent any reason could potentially lead to your death. Just because you're an alpha and your opponent is a beta doesn't mean you'd automatically best them in a fair fight."
He paused to let the information sink in when a timid girl with short dark hair, Hyuuga Hinata, raised her hand. "A-ano, Iruka Sensei," she began nervously, "h-how come there aren't any o-omega shinobi?"
"Omegas aren't allowed to be shinobi," Sakura rattled automatically.
Rather than berate her, Iruka agreed. "That's right," she beamed under the praise, "omega are restricted from entering the academy. Likewise, they're forbidden from taking the genin test."
At multiple questions of "why", Iruka signed, and resigned himself to finally getting to the part of the lesson he had been dreading: mating.
Mizuki, knowing where the conversation was heading, held up a crate full of bananas very unhelpfully. Iruka glared at his partner and mouthed, "I hate you."
The next hour was the quietest Iruka had ever seen his students. There were no whispers, or note-passing, or any other forms of communication the children usually partook in. The only sign that they were still alive was the growing looks of horror dawning on each and every one of their faces as the lecture progressed and got more...graphic.
Iruka remained as professional as possible, but it wasn't exactly easy when the mere mention of kissing was scandalous to nine-year-olds.
Despite his lecture only being an hour long, it seemed like years before he finally finished with, "...which, to answer your question Hinata, is why Omegas aren't allowed to become shinobi."
The room grew so quiet that one could have heard a mouse turd drop.
After a second of silence, the only thing that could be heard was Mizuki's softly snickering, eating a banana.
Mizuki, Iruka thought, sometimes, I hate your freaking guts.
Trying to break the tension, Iruka clapped his hands together and said, "Ohhhhhh-kay, it's a little early but since you've just gotten through a really hard lesson-"
A cough sounded from Mizuki, "and wet", another cough.
"-you guys can go out a little early for lunch."
The students instantly made a beeline for the door, but Iruka knew from personal experience that none of them really planned on eating.
Th other chunin instructor started laughing like his diaphragm was having explosive seizures. "You're going to get so much crap from the civilian parents!"
Turning to his partner Iruka hissed, "I hope you choke on that banana."
The least traumatized of the class was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The orphanage he lived in was, ironically, located in a hanamachi [1], right next to an Okiya [2].
Due to unintentionally listening into conversations he really shouldn't have heard and seeing things he really shouldn't have seen, he learned that any and all omegas put into the orphanage were sold to the Okiya and raised to become geisha [3]. That is, if they were pretty enough. If they weren't, they worked there.
Naruto had seen a few of the young omega workers disappear, but he didn't really know where they went.
It was something all the young orphans were semi-aware of, but knew better than to open their fat mouths and ask about it. Only certain individuals with either a lot of connections or money even knew about it. The existence of the hanamachi and Okiya was a very closely guarded secret, one no shinobi knew about in fear that the Hokage get wind of their deal with the orphanage.
Iruka's lecture clarified everything for Naruto. Slowly, he put together a few of the pieces about what he had grown up with seeing and what he had learned that day.
Being an omega, the unusually pensive blond thought, really sucks. They have to live their whole lives doing nasty things for stupid people...and they don't even get the chance to become ninja because of how they were born! I guess it makes sense why, but that doesn't make it fair...
All of a sudden, it hit him that he really didn't know for sure what his second nature was. He shrugged it off, figuring since he wasn't submissive or particularly aggressive he must be a beta.
It was the night of Naruto's 10th birthday in which his life took a permanent turn for the worse.
Between the ages of nine and twelve was when one usually presented their second gender, despite there being ways for a doctor to determine said thing long before they presented.
Naruto's birthday just-so-happened to be on the day the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi. A festival was held on that fateful day, one Naruto was never allowed to attend because everyone seemed to hate him for no-good-flipping-reason.
That's when it happened.
The orphanage was completely empty, as well as the whole hanamachi (with the exception of Naruto and few young omega workers in the Okiya).
Naruto was lounging on another kid's bunk, eating their chocolate (he had such an intense craving for it that he couldn't hold himself back when he remembered Yuki's secret stash) and re-reading manga, when he felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach.
He shifted side to side, thinking that maybe he got indigestion from drinking expired milk again. When it got worse, he quickly shoved the manga and chocolate back where he found it and made a beeline for the bathroom.
There was an intense burning sensation down in his unmentionables as a strange liquid substance began to flow from said place.
The boy gasped, falling to the cold bathroom floor. He wanted-he needed-
An intense feeling of shame filled his mind at what his thoughts were turning into. It made him feel gross and disgusting, but God, it hurt. Not to mention burn. It burned a lot.
His thoughts flashed back to the lesson on natures in class. Specifically the parts about an omega in heat.
No...His overwhelming feeling of dread momentarily overpowered everything else.
I can't...there's no way that I can be an omega! Omegas aren't exactly common and guys are rare! I-I can't-ahh!
He curled into a fetal position on the floor, unable to form any more coherent thought.
A few minutes-hours, Naruto didn't know—later, the sound of quick footsteps grew louder and louder. Someone was coming, but he wasn't exactly in any position to get up and run away. Even his condition allowed it, his smell would give away his condition anyway.
"Oh my god," someone said, rushing to his side. It was another omega-Naruto could tell because of her smell.
"Who-" he rasped, but the girl, who couldn't be more than fourteen, shushed him.
"You poor thing," she took him into her arms. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
She carried him out of the orphanage and into the Okiya. Despite his current state and frame of mind, he knew that as a newly discovered omega, that was the very last place he wanted to be. He struggled in her grip and cried, "No, no, no! I don't want to be-I won't-a geisha!"
She tried soothing him, but it was all for naught.
"'M gonna be h'kage! Not a-n-sex toy!"
She had no clue what in the world the poor kid was rattling on about, but she knew better than to upset an omega in it's first heat. "That's right," she said, "you're going to be Hokage."
"Yeah...n'Gesh…"
"No geisha for you."
He grew limp in her arms, and she realized that he fell asleep.
Well, the girl thought, that certainly makes things easier.
She didn't know anything about the boy who had apparently gone into his first heat, other than most elders told her to avoid him. Since he was an orphan, she figured it had something to do with who his parents were. They shouldn't punish a kid for what his death parents did. That's just wrong.
Getting miss-classed was very rare, but it did happen. That was the only reason she could thing of as to why he wasn't already in the Okiya. The kid had very unusual, exotic looks and was male to boot; there was no way such a commodity wouldn't have been snatched by Oka-san [4].
Besides, Oka-san never let a single Omega from the orphanage go, no matter what they looked like.
She burst through the doors of the Okiya, immediately calling attention the other two omega who had stayed behind. "Megumi, Trista," she called out to them, "this is the kid we smelled in the orphanage. Looks like it's his first heat, just as you suspected."
Trista was a slightly older omega in her mid-teens. Oka-san never thought her pretty enough to become a geisha, but kept Trista around anyway. It was most likely due to the fact that she was the epitome of the perfect omega.
Attentive,
Trisha shot the younger girl an ugly scowl. "You actually went to pick up that little freak? What the hell were you thinking?!"
sweet,
"Oh come on," the girl pleaded, "you can't just leave someone alone on their first heat when they don't even know what's going on!"
"Don't pull that kind of bull-shit with me," the elder snarled. "Even if I cared about a little nobody-orphan, I wouldn't just bring them in in to be discovered by Oka-san. You're going to get us all in trouble!"
and submissive.
The youngest girl present, Megumi, timidly spoke up, "I think Lyra-chan is right." She was referring to the girl who brought in Naruto. "No one will be back until tomorrow morning, including Oka-san. We might as well help him."
"Help him my ass. The only one we'd be helping is some rich geezer get a new little fuck-buddy."
Yes indeed, Trista was the perfect omega...
...when Oka-san was looking.
Megumi flinched under the other omega's harsh words.
"Ah, Trist," Lyra, the girl holding Naruto, complained, "don't be like that. We can find a way to clear him and his stink out by tomorrow morning. But it's just not fair to leave an omega going through his first heat alone."
Both Megumi and Lyra teamed up to give Trista the unbeatable, invincible, puppy-dog eyes.
Trista looked at the two younger omegas, then at the unconscious boy who reeked of heat-pheromones, and back to the female omegas. Heaving a great big sigh, she gave in. "You two know me too well. Fine, let's bring him back to our room."
-:-
Naruto woke up on the softest bed he'd ever been on in his life. He took a deep breath, immediately smelling something really, really good. He turned on his side, opened his eyes to find a giant white pillow to be the source of the glorious smell.
He hugged it closer, closing his eyes, and letting himself relax a little as he was surrounded by the best scent he had ever smelled. He felt an extremely intense and compelling desire to-
"Woah kid, that's only a pillow. A pillow pumped with alpha pheromones, but still a life-less piece of cloth and cotton. Don't start dry-humping it, or anything like that."
And just like that, his whole body became tense and alert once more. His eyes shot open, and he took in his surroundings.
There were two identical twin beds on either side of him, a night-stands separating each bed. The room was painted a light, calming lavender. There were two sliding screen doors on opposite sides of the room, one most likely leading to the rest of the building, and the other to a bathroom.
Aside from a few decorations and other miscellaneous items strewn around it, the room was mostly bare.
Naruto's eyes flicked to the form sitting at the root of the bed he was in. She had a simple teal dress on and shiny auburn hair pulled back into a sloppy bun. He opened his mouth to ask her who she was and where he was, but all that came out was a dry sounding croak.
"Here," she handed him a glass of water that had been on one of the night-stands. With shaking hands, he grasped the cup and drank as fast as he could.
After it all was gone he set it back down and asked, "Where am I, and who are you?" His voice was raspy, but at least he could speak.
Giving him a wry smile, she said, "My name is Trista, and you're in the Okiya. You've been out for almost an hour. That's pretty lucky, kid."
The sliding screen door to their right slid open, revealing two more female omegas. One was shorter than the other and had dark brown hair, while the taller had light.
"He's awake!" Said the taller one. She rushed to his side and gripped his arm. "My name's Lyra, I'm the one who found you and brought you here. The quiet one's Megumi," she motioned to the dark-haired girl behind her who offered a timid wave, "and you've already met Trista. Boy, it sure is a good thing you decided not to go to the festival..."
The other two nodded along.
Naruto felt really tied and sore. If he was right and he was going through his first heat, then he had a whole week of absolute torture left. "So..am I really..?"
"Yup," Trista popped the "p" at the end, "you've just presented as an alpha's pie. Your dead parents must be so proud."
Lyra swatted the elder's arm irritably. "Trista, you're freaking him out! Can you at least try to be nice for once?"
The two began bickering back and forth as Megami tried to calm them both down. By the looks of it, arguing was a standard for the omegas.
Naruto had stopped crying long ago. He pledged to himself that he was done pitying himself and would become strong. But because being in heat made an omega irrationally emotional, he found that he had tears pouring down his face for the first time in four years.
The other omegas immediately went silent when they noticed the crying boy.
"Hey," Megumi spoke to him for the first time, "it's okay. First heats are pretty tough, but you'll get used to it." She patted his back with a sympathetic expression on her face.
"It's not just that," the blond wailed. "I was going to become a shinobi. I was going to be Hokage!" He threw his hands in the air. "But now, since I'm a stupid omega, I'm not even going to be allowed to go to the academy. It's not fair, and it's all because of my stupid nature."
Though he couldn't stop the flow of tears, he refused to give into sobbing. Instead, he fisted his hands and shook in anger.
Megumi and Lyra both shared a concern glance, but Trista only scoffed. "Yeah? Tough luck, kid. I'm sure there's been a hundred other omegas who weren't even allowed to enter the academy. Be thankful you even got a few years there, you brat."
Lyra was about to reprimand her, but Naruto beat her to it. "Shut up," he glowered at the older girl, "My whole life, everyone's told me that I'll never be good enough to become a ninja. That I was just a giant screw-up. That I'll never amount to anything in my life because I was an idiot orphan nobody that no one loved.
"I was going to prove them all wrong. I was going to become Hokage, so that one day, everyone who ignored me and looked down on me would finally respect me as a person. But now..."
He slumped and stared at his hands, a few tears falling into them. "...I can't even go back to the academy because I'll be sniffed out. No one will ever see me now as anything but a worthless baby machine." His voice grew so quiet that it became hard to pick out what he was even saying.
"I think...I think that's even worst than what they called me before."
He looked so defeated that he might as well be offering himself to the shinigami itself.
Megumi wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. Lyra blinked heavily in an attempt to prevent herself from breaking down right then and there.
Trista only looked infuriated. The boy whose name she didn't even know reminded her far too much of what she had been like. And now look at me, she thought spitefully, I'm nothing more than a common whore who keeps herself from being sold off by kissing ass.
This kid isn't going to turn out like me.
Raising her hand slowly, she slapped the small boy across the face. It wasn't too hard, but it was enough to result in a loud smack!
"You stop it," she commanded. "I know you're in your first heat, but if you want to be a shinobi, you can't let that be an excuse to start bawling like a constipated midget."
"Why constipated midget of all things?"
"Because of how Megumi starts crying whenever she's bloated and can't use the can."
"I do not! And I'm not a midget!"
He ignored their arguing and looked at Trista with shinning blue eyes. "But...how can I do that when I can't go to the academy?"
"Easy." She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a smug look. "They can't turn you away for being an omega if they don't even know you're an omega."
"Huh?"
Both Lyra's and Megumi's eyes grew wide as they realized what their superior was getting at. "Trista-chan," Megumi started, "you can't do that! It's illegal?"
"Wait, what? What's illegal? What are you guys talking about?" Naruto frantically looked back and forth between the two omegas.
"Can it," Trista snapped. "If you haven't noticed, our whole lives are illegal. We work in a glorified whore-house, for god's sake. This is nothing, and it's for a good cause."
"Can someone please tell me what's going on?"
"Yes!" Lyra pumped her fist in the air. "Trist, oh man, I really love you right now! I feel like a fairy godmother or something."
"I know I'm awesome."
"What are you guys talking about?!"
"You," Trista pointed to Naruto with a wide smirk on her face, "are going to be a ninja, and I'm going to give you these," she took out a little bottle of pills from her dress pocket and rattled them in his face, "so that you can do it. Together, we're going to show Konoha that orphaned-nobody-omegas aren't useless!"
Naruto would have responded, maybe even have thanked her, but at that moment his heat decided to return from its hour-and-a-half vacation.
-:-
If Naruto had been anything but a well-intentioned orphan who had no one in his life to love him, Iruka would have been thankful for his unexpected week of absence.
But Naruto was a well-intentioned orphan who had no one in his life to love him, so Iruka was worried about his unexpected week of absence.
He knew that because of a certain...house guest...inside of the boy that there was no way he could get sick. Naruto did slack off, but he wanted to become a ninja so badly that he wouldn't ditch for a week strait, or at all.
In Iruka's panicked mind, that only left one option:
Something bad happened to Naruto.
After a weeks' worth of absences, Iruka found himself arguing with a sassy secretary as to why it was of the utmost importance that he had a meeting with the Hokage that instant.
Their argument was interrupted by none other than the Hokage himself. "Let him in, Yasko-chan. If Iruka-san says it's important, than it's important."
The secretary huffed and went back to filing paperwork.
"Now," the Hokage asked once they were alone (with the exception of a couple ANBU), "what seems to be the matter?"
"It's Naruto, Hokage-sama," he got strait to the point. "The last I saw him was in class, the day of his birthday. I'm worried that something has happened to him, due to his special, ah, condition."
He did his best to remain calm and professional, but anyone with eyes could see how upset the chunin was.
To his surprise, the Hokage sat back in his seat and gave him a wide, lazy grin. "Your concern is noted, but unnecessary. Naruto was just here early today, requesting to move into his own apartment. Normally, he wouldn't have been allowed to do so until he became a genin and with that, a legal adult. However, given the apparent...treatment he had been receiving at the orphanage, I thought I could make an exception just this once."
Iruka blinked. His mouth opened and closed, making him look like an empty pez-dispenser. Finally, he found the words, "Are you saying that he missed school because...?"
He left the question open-ended, but even an idiot could see what he was really asking. The smile fell off of Sarutobi's face as he answered with a grave nod, "I'm afraid so. Let's just say that boy really looked like he had been through the ringer when he came to my office."
"Hokage-same," Iruka was back to business, "would it be too intrusive of me to perhaps ask for Naruto's address? I just think that maybe he could use some cheering up right about now."
A smile slip back on the old man's face. Instead of answering, he grabbed a pen and paper, jotting down said address and giving the slip to Iruka.
The chunin bowed and made for the door.
-:-
Naruto had never felt more tired in his life. Going through his first heat had truly been worse than all of the assassination attempts he went through when he was little combined.
To make it even worse, he spend the last week hidden under Megumi's bed with a pillow that smelled like alpha pheromones to keep him somewhat calm. Periodically one of the three girls snuck him food, but he didn't exactly want to eat often.
At night, if he was ever lucid, Trista or Lyra would explain the plan to him:
He would tell the Hokage that he was being abused, (which wasn't untrue)-
"Wait, so you're telling me that it's not normal to be locked in a closet for a day without food as punishment?"
"No, Naruto, that's considered child abuse."
"Huh. How about that."
-ask if he could live in his own apartment (they were seventy-five percent sure the Hokage would say yes), and one of the girls would supply him with suppressants for as long as needed. No one would be none the wiser.
Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey.
And to think, he thought to himself, that I would have had to go through that four times a year if Trista hadn't given me heat-and-sent suppressers...never before have I been so thankful for a pill!
Unfortunately, they weren't miracle workers. He had to allow himself at least one heat a year, or else his system would take considerable damage. That meant that in a couple years' time he would have to plan all his missions around one week a year where he would go into heat.
But at least I'll be prepared.
His new apartment was tiny with one room, a small bathroom, closet, and a very small cooking area.
The bed was built into the wall, which he pulled down when he needed to sleep. It basically took up the whole room, so he kept it inside the wall most of the time.
The bathroom, which was right next to the closet, was small and simple. A 3-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with a washrag was in the bathtub that he "borrowed" from his orphanage. He only had two towels, so he had to be sure to keep them off the floor and clean. There was an orange toothbrush and a tube of mint toothpaste resting on the sink.
(Extra toiled paper was stored under the sink).
He had exactly four shirts, two pairs of pants, six pairs of underwear, one set of pajamas, and one pair of sandals. They fit quite nicely in his closet, leaving more than plenty of room. A pair of well-loved bright green goggles rested by his shoes.
Naruto scratched his head when he thought about them. Where did I get those anyway?
There was an orange sweatshirt he managed to snag a couple years ago from a donations box, but unfortunately, it was getting a bit too small.
I'll need to remember to get another jacket for winter.
The kitchen was downright minuscule. A full-grown adult would find themselves barely even able to stand inside it. On one side there was a stove with an oven, and on the other there was a sink with a mini-fridge next to it. Above the stove, there was two cabinets that could be used to store food and dishes.
Naruto hid his suppressers inside the oven, since he knew that he would never use it and that wasn't exactly where someone would expect the pills to be. (He had to be at least a little cautions; he doubted he'd ever be searched, but he didn't was someone to come in and accidentally find them).
Yes, his apartment was small, but he liked it that way. It was his. He didn't have to share his breathing space with twelve other kids, and he didn't have to fight other kids daily for food.
I think I'm just going to go to sleep now, he thought, moving towards the lever that he used to pull down his bead. I know it's early, but since I just got through my first heat, I'll need all the sleep I can get if I want to go to school tomorrow.
He paused in his actions when he heard a knock sounding from the door. Setting his arm back down, he furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who it could be.
Opening the door revealed none other than his shinobi teacher, Iruka. On any other day, Naruto would literally jumped (in surprise, not happiness) at seeing the chunin at his door. But Naruto was still more than wiped out from his heat, so the only thing he could muster was raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Iruka-sensei," he was too tired to be too disrespectful, "what are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"
"Ah, hi Naruto," the beta rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "I was worried when you didn't show up to school for a week strait. I went to Hokage-same to report your absence, to which he said you were ill, and you have just moved here."
Iruka's story was full of holes, but that was due to him not wanted to bring up the abuse Naruto suffered at the orphanage. He didn't have years' worth of experience in dealing with children, but he knew better than to bring up a potentially tabooed topic.
Naruto blinked owlishly at the man.
"I wanted to make sure you were doing okay myself," he clarified.
If anything, that made Naruto even more confused. Forgetting that Iruka had just said he was told Naruto was ill, the boy said, "Yeah, I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"
"I was told you weren't feeling well."
"Oh."
I don't think Hokage-sama told me everything, Iruka thought. It's as if he's completely oblivious to his poor treatment. Maybe it wasn't Naruto himself who had reported it? If not him, than who...?
His eyes focused back on Naruto's small form. There were dark circles under his large eyes, and his skin looked clammy and almost pale. (That was saying something; Naruto was born with a healthy-bronze-tan skin color. He had never in his life looked pale before).
To top it off, Naruto looked thinner than usual; his cheeks were even slightly sunken in. If that wasn't a red flag, Iruka didn't know what was.
"Iruka-sensei," Naruto pulled the chunin out of his own thoughts, "I'm really tired right now and was about to go to sleep. I'll be at school tomorrow, though, s'you can yell at m'then." The last few words got distorted because he yawned.
The blond did look like he was about to fall over. Already, he was swaying where he stood. Not knowing what else to do, Iruka bid the boy farewell, and began walking home.
Iruka had more questions after his conversation with Naruto than he had before. The boy was obviously not himself; he was way too lethargic and sick looked to have been "just okay". What happened this last week in the orphanage to make him look that way? How exactly was he being abused?
Despite his curiosity, Iruka knew better than to pry. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the poor kid off with his misplaced questions.
I'll just keep an eye on him for now and make sure he's taking care of himself. Tomorrow, I'll offer to take him out for ramen, or something. You can't really go wrong with ramen.
[1] Hanamachi, aka "flower towns". This is where the Okiya's are located in.
[2] Okiya: Houses where geishas live.
[3] Geisha: basically, a very-high-class Japanese prostitute.
[4] Oka-san: okay, you guys probably already know this translates to "mother", but the Oka-san basically runs the Okiya and is in charge of all the geishas.
Review prompt: Where do you guys want to see this headed? I've only got a few things planned, such as this will likely be a SasuNaru later on, so I'm open to suggestions.
I appreciate constrictive criticism, but unless I did something to highly offend someone (in which I'd want you to tell me so that I don't do it again) please, no flames.