Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favored! A lot of you had great suggestions that I will seriously consider! (Keep them coming, I like suggestions). A few (most) of you kind of predicted how this chapter was going to go, but not entirely… ;)
To answer a couple questions:
What is homosexuality?
So, basically, a female beta is able to mate with an alpha, and a male beta is able to mate with an omega. They just aren't very compatible, because they often can't fulfill each other's needs, and it's hard to conceive. (Not impossible, obviously, since Sasuke and Itachi exist). Any other paring (two omegas, two alphas, a female beta and an omega or a male beta and an alpha) would be this universe's version of homosexual, because they can't produce offspring. You "aren't supposed" to be sexually attracted to someone you can't have kids with, after all. (That being said, omegas and alphas really shouldn't be attracted to betas because of smell—but betas don't have a sense of smell, so it's much more normal for them to be attracted to an alpha or omega. Therefore, from a beta's point of view, it wouldn't be homosexual for a female beta to be attracted to a male omega, or a male beta attracted to a female alpha—society just view it that way. Complicated, I know, but it's just what makes sense).
Itachi and Sakura?
Haven't decided if they'll be paired with someone or who they would be paired with, so keep suggestions coming! I often like what the people like.
Disclaimer: nuff said.
Sasuke didn't know what Naruto's problem was.
First, the idiot makes a show out of forgetting nothing. Then, once Sasuke managed to get him out the gates, Naruto acted like Sasuke dragged him to the Shinigami's house warming party.
What was his deal? Sure, Sasuke knew that his teammate was nothing more than false bravo and idiocy wrapped in an ugly blend of orange and yellow, but his current behavior went beyond that. One thing Sasuke thought Naruto wasn't was a coward. And yet, there was no other way to describe his behavior.
It was only a c-rank. Chances of combat were slim. Injury? Even slimmer. There was no reason for someone as stupid and brash as Naruto to act so uneasy.
An annoying suspicion that something else was bothering his teammate nagged at the back of his mind.
Whatever, Sasuke shoved the thought out of his head. It's not my problem if the dobe wants to work himself up over nothing.
It wasn't until two chunin-level ninja jumped out of a conspicuous puddle that Sasuke knew he wasn't on an ordinary c-rank. He cursed himself for not recognizing how out of place that puddle was before those chunin attacked.
He was supposed to better than that. Aside from Kakashi, he was the alpha of team seven. There was usually only one alpha per genin team for a reason. Alphas naturally took charge, while betas were content to be their subordinates. (Most of the time). This set up helped genin learn how to function in a squad.
Now Sasuke, a voice that sounded like Itachi chided in Sasuke's mind, it's true that alphas typically make the best leaders. However, that doesn't mean they're the best at everything, nor does anyone expect them to be.
The voice was right. Itachi was the best and brightest shinobi Konoha had seen in generations, yet he was an omega. Skill and intellect had nothing to do with nature.
"Tazuna," Kakashi addressed the bridge builder after the attack, "mind telling us why two chunin-level nin were after you?"
That's when the man fessed up. He told the Konoha shinobi about the state of his people, the purpose of the bridge, and what a businessman named "Gato" had to do with it all. His reasons for with the information he did were understandable, but that didn't change the fact that it was illegal to lie about the danger risk of a mission when requesting the aid of ninja.
It's illegal because you just might get saddled with shinobi who aren't up to the task. Like three genin fresh out of the academy on their first c-rank.
This is just terrific, Sasuke thought sarcastically.
"While I'm very sorry about your village, there is nothing I can do." As always, Kakashi was very professional. There wasn't a hint of emotion on his face. (Not that masking one's emotions is particularly hard when he had nearly his entire face covered). "You lied about the mission parameters. My students are just genin. They are nowhere near being ready to fight missing-nin."
Before the bridge builder could respond, Naruto impulsively jumped to his feet and proclaimed, "We can't abandon him! When we took this mission, we swore we'd protect Tazuna with our lives! We can't just go back on our word!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammate's dramatics. I guess nothing's wrong with him after all.
"Naruto's right!"
The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow, mildly surprised. Oh? Sakura's actually agreeing with him? That's interesting.
The beta swallowed nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the sudden attention. "I just think that it wouldn't be fair to leave Tazuna-san when we can help him."
All at once, Sasuke found three-and-a-half pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly. The green pair was nervous, sickeningly eager to please and afraid of conflict. The blue pair was hard and challenging, just daring him to disagree. The brown pair was half pleading, half wary, since he didn't want to get his hopes up.
The last was not a pair, but a single eye. It regarded him interest and, unlike the other eyes, it didn't pressure him to form an opinion. Rather, it benignly observing what he would do.
"Well, Sasuke?" Kakashi drawled. "What do you think we should do?"
He was the alpha of his team. It was only logical that he be the one to decide their course of action. Sakura and Naruto seemed to really want to help Tazuna-san, but Kakashi was right—they were out of their element.
The answer was obvious. "We should help Tazuna-san."
A breath of relief escaped Sakura's mouth. She was terrified Sasuke would think her a fool.
Naruto pumped his fist in the air with a grin. "Yes! I knew there had to be at least some sort of human being in you, teme!"
The Uchiha only scoffed irritably and took a bite of his rations bar. Naruto couldn't have been more wrong. The real reason he had agreed was not out of peer pressure, nor out of the goodness of his heart. It was because Kakashi had insinuated that he wouldn't be able to handle it.
He was an Uchiha alpha. He'd be damned if he couldn't handle it.
Ah-ah, you foolish alpha, the Itachi-sounding conscience whispered, remember me? I'm not an alpha, am I? And no one would have even questioned my involvement in an S-ranked mission when I was your age…
Sasuke swallowed down the bite of the ration bar. He both loved and loathed his brother.
Tent assignments were as expected. Sakura and Tazuna both got their own tents, while Sasuke had to share with Naruto.
Naruto cried in protest when he heard. "Why can't I share a tent with Sakura-chan?!"
Sakura's face screwed up in distaste. "Because I'm a girl and you're a boy!"
"So?!"
"We're both betas!"
"Oh. Right."
"You're so perverted!"
"No I'm not! I just don't want to share a tent with that bastard!"
Naruto jutted his thumb in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke, for his part, glared back. The feeling's mutual.
"Naruto, I know you and Sasuke don't particularly get along, but you're going to have learn to share a tent with him." Kakashi was aloof as always, but it was clear he didn't want to deal with any more arguing.
The blonde's lips formed a pout as his foot found a stray rock to kick. He mumbled something incoherently under his breath that Sasuke didn't care to make out.
In the tent, Naruto stayed as far away from Sasuke as he possibly could, acting just as jittery as he did when they departed Konoha.
The next morning, Sasuke awoke to the smell of something very strange.
It was a smell he had never smelled before. His groggy senses couldn't quite make out. As soon as the scent fully reached his nose, he instantly sprang upright and sprinted out of the tent.
There was the sound of a page turn. "Ah, good morning Sasuke."
Sasuke only coughed in response. Dear Kami, what was the putrid scent?! "Kakashi…sensei…" he managed to choke out, "what is that smell?"
Another turn of a page. "The strong one coming from your tent? I believe Naruto provoked a skunk last night during his watch and got himself sprayed. It would be best to stay away from him for the next few days."
His eye twitched. Of all the stupid, moronic, idiotic things that imbecile has done…
"Good morning~"
…getting himself sprayed by a stupid skunk is… "The stupidest thing you could possibly do!"
Naruto blinked at his enraged tent-mate. "Uh, come again?"
"Fire style: Grand Fireball jutsu!"
The skunk-sprayed genin barely had enough time to dive to his right in order to avoid the red inferno hurtling towards him. "Ah!" he yelped, "Sasuke-teme, what the hell?!"
But Sasuke was incensed. "I am not traveling with a skunk-scented dobe!"
"It's not my fault I was sprayed!" Naruto stood and gave the alpha a glare. "It was like, a ninja skunk! It snuck up on me, and before I knew it, I got a face full of its butt!"
"What's all the—dear Kami, kid, did you bathe in vomit or something?" All the fighting had roused Tazuna. The poor man had a death grip on his nose. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if he accidently ripped it off. Tazuna eyed the blond with disgust.
"Naruto got sprayed by a skunk on his watch last night." Sasuke was starting to think Kakashi was enjoying the situation.
When Sakura finally woke from her beauty sleep, she looked like she wanted to hurl Naruto. But with her hands otherwise occupied with holding her nose, and the fact that no one wanted to be anywhere near the blond in his current state, she resigned herself to shooting him nasty looks.
Surprisingly, Naruto didn't seem put out by the negative attention. Usually he would he in the back of the group, sulking. That wasn't the case. On the contrary, he seemed quite pleased with himself.
That led Sasuke to believe that the dobe had gotten himself sprayed on purpose just to spite them all. Why he thought getting himself sprayed by a skunk was a good way to spite them, Sasuke didn't know.
The day only got worse from there on out. A missing nin named Zabuza, aka Demon of the Mist, attempted to assassinate Tazuna. He smelled like a beta, but he could have just been an alpha using scent suppressants. Missing nins almost always masked their scent.
It was a very good thing team seven were the ones to receive the mission to wave and not some other genin team. Kakashi was the strongest of the rookie nine jonin senseis. Even so, Zabuza proved to be a challenge for the infamous copy-cat nin. Any other jonin sensei wouldn't have stood a chance.
Kakashi's copy-cat techniques made Sasuke more than a little suspicious. The eye that he kept covered was a sharingan—a dojutsu that was exclusive to the Uchiha clan.
How did a Hatake get his hands on one?
It was obvious the eye was an implant. His uncovered eye was completely normal, and there was a scar that stretched from his eye brow down to his cheek bone, over the sharingan eye. That meant his sharingan couldn't be explained by some sort of blood relation to the Uchiha.
Ultimately, Zabuza was "killed" by a young tracker nin from mist and Kakashi collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
That made Sasuke anxious. Not because his Sensei had been injured, he knew the jonin was fine, but because he couldn't ask why Kakashi, a Hatake, was in possession of the sharingan.
Sakura was the most perturbed by the turn of events. For once, Sasuke found her fretfulness perfectly logical. They were genin, fresh out of the academy, and already faced an A-class missing nin. If this Gato person was desperate enough to hire the infamous "Demon of the Mist" to try and stop Tazuna from building the bridge, what other lengths would he go to?
The threat of death they had been warned about their whole lives had never before seemed so imminent.
Tazuna's home was small and quaint.
He had a daughter named Tsunami and a young grandson named Inari. Tsunami was pleasant, but Inari was a bit annoying. He constantly sulked and pitied himself. Of course, his behavior was understandable; his father figure had just died due to Gato's men, and his whole country was slowly starving to death.
Sasuke could relate a little. His father, along with many of his clan, had also been murdered.
At least Inari knows how his pseudo father died, Sasuke found himself thinking bitterly. I don't even know who killed my real family. Both mother and aniki tell me it was probably a hate crime, but there's just too many holes in that…Father wouldn't have fallen to some petty hate crime. He was too strong. The Uchiha were too strong.
Mikoto and Itachi alike claimed the Uchiha massacre was, aside from guesswork, as much a mystery to them as it was to him. Though he was inclined to believe his family, sometimes Sasuke wondered. If they truly had no clue who had done it and why, then why didn't they look for answers?
Didn't his mother care that her own husband, along with many other of her loved ones, was murdered in cold blood? Didn't Itachi demand justice, just as Sasuke himself did?
"Let the dead sleep," The omega had told his younger sibling upon being pestered. "Nothing we do can will bring father back. Justice will come—you just have to be patient."
Sasuke was sick of being patient. He wanted answers. He, as the only alpha in his family, had a right to know what happened that night.
"Shut up."
Sasuke found himself pulled out of his dark thoughts by Naruto's husky voice. It took him a moment to realize the blond wasn't addressing him, but Inari.
"You don't have a right to be angry. All you do is mope about and pity yourself. It makes me sick."
Sakura could be seen chewing on the corner of her lip nervously. The scene Naruto was making was unnerving her. Of course it would; she was a proper girl, and despised displeasing her hosts. "Naruto," she said anxiously, "he's only eight. Just leave—"
But the smelly blond abruptly stood, cutting her off in mid-sentence. (Tsunami took it upon herself to light a lot of scented candles). He stormed outside before anyone else had the chance to reprimand him.
The words were aimed at Inari, but Sasuke couldn't help but think that, in some sick twisted way, Naruto's mini-rant was meant for him.
"I'm so sorry about Naruto!" Sakura promptly started kissing the butt of their hosts. "I don't know what's gotten into him. Sasuke and I will be sure to remind him to be respectful, right Sasuke-kun?"
But Sasuke was lost in his own world, thinking about his own problems. That, and he already learned to tune out the annoying pink-haired beta whenever she decided to speak.
Naruto was actually right for once. It was time that he finally take matters into his own hands. Once he got home, he would corner Itachi and demand the answers that he has been denied for the past five years. He wouldn't let Itachi or Mikoto blow him off any longer.
For the first time in years, Sasuke slept soundly.
The next day, Kakashi thought it was time to finally begin training his genin. (Lazy jonin…) Luckily, Naruto no longer smelled like the wrong end of a skunk, making him much more tolerable to work with. Their sensei taught them a useful chakra control exercise called tree walking. (Pretty self-explanatory).
Sakura, surprisingly, immediately picked it up. Sasuke was a bit put out that the seemingly useless beta had mastered the technique before him. Nonetheless, it served as a motivator that helped him to focus his energy into learning the exercise as quickly as he could.
He swore that, before the end of the day, he would master the technique.
And do it better than Sakura.
Naruto, for all his goofy-ness, seemed just as determined as Sasuke. The blond was just a lot louder about it.
"Just watch teme," the "beta" had proudly declared, "I'll master tree walking in half the time it'll take you to!"
Normally, Sasuke refrained from responding and encouraging such childish rebukes. He had been taught better than to feed into attention-whores. But something about Naruto just…irked Sasuke. He knew he had nothing to prove to the blond—their academy rankings and spars were more than enough to attest to Sasuke's superiority.
Yet, that didn't stop Sasuke from feeling the need to stoop to the dobe's level and participate in his ridiculous one-sided rivalry. Naruto was the equivalent to an annoying, stubborn tick whose head remained buried in your skin no matter how many times you ripped its body off.
Maybe that's what a friend is.
So instead of ignoring the blonde's taunts, Sasuke sent him a smug smirk. "You wish, dobe."
Oh, how Fugaku would have rebuked Sasuke's indulgence in the deluded competition. The thought made the feeling of shame rip through his body. He should stop and find another tree, far away from Naruto. He needed to isolate himself so that he could truly focus.
It's okay to allow yourself to have fun, Sasuke's Itachi-sounding conscience spoke up once more. There isn't anything wrong with enjoying a light-hearted rivalry with your teammate.
The painful knots in his gut loosened up some. Yes, he reassured himself, I'm still training, so there isn't anything wrong with having…fun…while I do it.
Another voice, vaguely reminiscent to his father, whispered that Itachi was an omega, so what was good for Itachi wasn't necessarily good for Sasuke, an alpha.
That voice used to be a lot louder and surer of itself. As the years went by, the voice grew ever fainter, and became only an echo of what it used to be. Meanwhile, Itachi's voice and teachings began to grow stronger.
Still, the voice reminiscent of father had been there first, and had firmly rooted itself among Sasuke's core beliefs. It would never completely disappear, no matter how much Itachi's voice began to override it.
An hour or so after Kakashi and Sakura left, things began to get weird.
Sasuke had just gotten a good three-fourths up the tree without falling, his highest yet. He allowed himself to don a satisfied smirk (but never smile—he wouldn't allow himself to lose that much composure) and turned to see just how far Naruto was.
He looked just in time to see the blond in question do something rather stupid. Naruto's grip on his kunai was faulty for some reason. (If Sasuke didn't know him any better, he'd say the "beta" was actually tired. But that was impossible, the idiot was too stupid to feel rational things like fatigue). The kunai slipped out of his hand, falling and impaling his stomach.
Since there was no intended force behind it, the kunai would have left nothing more than a scratch. Sasuke hadn't expected Naruto to even acknowledge it.
Sasuke also didn't expect Naruto's body to evaporate in a small cloud of smoke at being hit with the kunai.
The kunai fell to the ground by itself, no orange-clad ninja in sight.
He blinked at the lonesome kunai, too stunned for words. He knew that Naruto had mastery over the Kage Bushin (thanks to his abnormally large chakra reserves), but he didn't know a clone could be kept "alive" for so long, or take so many hits.
What was perhaps the biggest blow was that Sasuke hadn't even noticed. Had Naruto been nothing more than a shadow clone that whole time? He frowned at the thought. That's not possible. The dobe has large chakra reserves, but they can't be that large. Even if he did manage to sustain a clone for that long, how come it didn't dispel when it fell?
That left only one other option. Somewhere down the line, Naruto must have performed a substitution jutsu without Sasuke noticing. Also highly unlikely. I definitely would have noticed that, since I was making sure Naruto's marks never surpassed mine. He's not secretive either, so it would be very out of character if he suddenly decided that he wanted some alone time, without sensei or I knowing.
He looked around himself for any sighs of the blond, but didn't spot any. Despite himself, a small sense of worry settled itself at the bottom of Sasuke's stomach. He didn't like the feeling—it was uncomfortable and unfamiliar.
It's probably nothing, he though. Naruto probably just needed to go to the bathroom, and didn't want me to think he was giving up. He snorted. Yes, that was exactly something Naruto would do. I better go find him, though. It's getting dark, and by now the dobe's probably lost. Typical.
Since there were no signs of where Naruto could've gone, Sasuke chose a direction away from Tazuna's home and began running in search of his teammate. Sure, he was tired from the exercise, but running never exerted him too much. The sooner he found Naruto, the better.
It didn't take long before the scent of an unfamiliar omega penetrated his nose. It took him a bit off guard. Omegas didn't generally travel alone, much less alone in the woods just before nightfall. He'd be lying if he said it didn't merit his curiosity.
Don't get him wrong; Sasuke wasn't a crazy alpha who felt the need to mate every omega he smelled. Those alphas were less common than most thought, and that behavior was generally frowned upon. (At least it was in Konoha). Shinobi were supposed to be in complete control of themselves. Along with that, all alpha shinobi were supposed to be able to control themselves if an enticing omega happen to come within range.
The key word in that sentence: supposed. Kami knew there were always those that manage to slip through the cracks.
The Uchiha prided themselves on control. Alphas who lost control were shunned by the family and regarded as weak. Sasuke was also a little too young (and too sexually uninterested) to feel desire at the scent of an omega. Combine the two, and there was no conflict of interest.
That being said, it was nothing more than curiosity that drew him a little closer to wherever the omega scent was coming from. It was a good smell—sweet, like flowers or a nectarine.
It was only when he decided to listen to old proverbs (Curiosity killed the chameleon!), and look for Naruto once more when he spotted bright orange in the direction of the omega scent. Confused, he vaguely wondered what in the world Naruto was doing with an omega.
He crept closer to the blond, not even thinking of alerting his teammate of his presence. Naruto was definitely alone. In fact, the scent seemed to be coming directly from him.
Why does Naruto smell like an omega? The scent was far too strong and fresh to be anything that rubbed off on the supposed beta. No explanation Sasuke's brain came up with could make any sense of what he was seeing and smelling.
There was only one thing left to do.
"Naruto."
The other genin jumped, wildly spinning around to face his teammate. "What the hell! Where do you get off sneaking up on your own teammates?!"
Sasuke didn't respond to the insult. His eyes were narrowed at his teammate, which he know knew to be the sole source of the honeyed scent. "Naruto, why do you smell like an omega?" He believed that a direct and blunt approach was the only way to handle the situation. (Of course he was wrong, but he didn't know that).
The beta's—beta? omega? what?!—boy's eyes widened to the point where they seemed to take up over half of his face. His mouth fell a few centimeters, gaping open. (He resembled a goldfish, what with his orange jump suite, open mouth and big eyes). When Naruto's gaze fell to his hands and a curse tumbled out of his mouth, the situation began to make horrible, horrible sense.
"You're an omega." His black eyes bore into Naruto's blue ones. It wasn't a question, but an accusation.
"It's not what it looks like—"
Sasuke cut him off, "It's exactly what it looks like."
The young alpha wasn't a "genius" like their former Nara classmate, nor did have a mind as sharp as his female teammate. Even so, he wasn't stupid. He was actually quite smart, and could put three and eight together when it suited him.
The sight was scarily familiar to him. What Naruto held in his hand was six identical white pills, just like the ones Itachi used to take. Unpleasant memories of Itachi, sick and bedridden, flashed back in his mind. Everything made sickening sense.
In a fit of anger, Sasuke snatched the pills from Naruto before the blond could even register that the other had moved. "Oi, teme—"
"Do you know what these could do to you?" Sasuke's voice was quiet, but his tone was as cold as ice.
Naruto, once more that night, was stunned into silence.
But it wasn't a rhetorical question. Sasuke's voice rose, just the slightest, in volume. "Do you know the risks of taking these things?!"
Finally snapping out of his shock, Naruto narrowed his eyes and Sasuke. His fists clenched and he all but growled, "I know exactly what I'm doing. Now give them back, teme!" He made a desperate grab out at Sasuke's hands, but it was no use. Sasuke was simply faster, and Naruto wasn't the type to analyze a given situation and rationally think of a solution.
Sasuke easily dodged all attempts Naruto made to get back his pills with silence. The alpha's apparent impassiveness only served to further irritate the blond. For several minutes, the two danced back and forth, exchanging clever banter, such as:
"Give it back!"
"No."
"I'm serious!"
"So am I."
"Sasuke stop it!"
"Hn. No."
Once the give-and-take became too ridiculous to bear, Naruto let out a noise that was somewhere between a cry of frustration and a growl.
"What. Is. Your. PROBLEM!" The blond yelled staring his teammate right in the eye. He had a wild look in his eyes that was almost disturbing. If Sasuke didn't know any better, he would have thought that there were hues of red appearing in his teammate's eyes.
Before he had too much time to ponder Naruto's facial expression, the omega continued, "Aren't you too good to be concerned with someone else's problems, Mr. Protégé Uchiha?" Unlike Naruto's previous taunts, which were said out of heated anger, this one was said maliciously. "This isn't any of your business, so just give me back my damn pills and forget you saw anything."
Sasuke's face contorted into a deep frown. The viciousness in the other boy's tone took him back. He had expected the other to be angry (like he always was, when it came to Sasuke), but he hadn't expected the outright malice. "I know enough to know that these are illegal, and rightly so. Taking these over an extended period of time can leave you unfertile, or kill you."
"You're an idiot," Naruto rolled his eyes. "That's only if you don't take them the right way." His eyes narrowed in on the Uchiha, "But I wouldn't expect an alpha to know that."
But I wouldn't expect an alpha to know that.
Alpha.
The word stung Sasuke as if he was being physically branded. Never before had the nature he'd been so proud of ever been used against him. "It doesn't matter if I'm an alpha or not." A lump rose in his throat. He wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from finding out that his teammate took the same poison that all but crippled his brother.
He could still remember the night that marked the steadily decline on the Uchiha family. His father had gotten a message from Falcon, one of Itachi's ANBU teammates, saying that his son was in the hospital. Fugaku left immediately. Mikoto quickly followed with Sasuke in tow.
They left him in the waiting room, giving him the excuse that Itachi was very tired and needed his rest. Sasuke wasn't stupid—he knew something was very wrong. So, he snuck into his brother's hospital room while Fugaku argued loudly with a doctor and Mikoto stoically stood at his side, hands trembling, not looking anywhere in particular.
Sasuke saw Itachi at that moment. The omega had a long tube inserted in his arm (IV drip). He was so thin. His skin was so pale it looked grey. An insect-like mask covered the bottom half of his face—Sasuke later learned was to help him breath.
It was the most horrific thing the seven-year-old had ever seen. His strong, infallible aniki was reduced to nothing more than an invalid. Itachi was the strongest person he knew. What happened to him? What had put him in such a feeble state?
When blood began to seep quickly from underneath Itachi's hospital gown, Sasuke couldn't help himself from crying out in both distress and fear.
The room was instantly filled with adults in white and blue—the medics.
Everything else that night was a blur. He couldn't even remember if he'd been punished or not for going into Itachi's hospital room that night.
After that, Itachi wasn't allowed to be a ninja anymore. He wasn't allowed to do much of anything. The omega damaged his body beyond repair—not just from the pills, but from continuing to push his body past his limits once the suppressants truly began to affect him.
"—suke, you're really freaking me out!"
The images of Itachi on death's doorstep were replaced by the "weirded-out" face of his teammate. "It's nothing," Sasuke blinked harshly. He looked at the hand that held the pills—it was fisted so tightly that he could feel his fingernails digging into his palm.
Those pills—those tiny, white, harmless looking orbs, were what ultimately injured his brother far greater than any other ninja did. They were what nearly took his brother away from him, and Naruto had the gall to tell him he didn't understand. That he was an idiot alpha.
Naruto gave him a look that stated he clearly didn't believe him but didn't care enough to pry the truth out of him. "Yeah, whatever. You've got issues. Now, give me back my pills!"
"You know what? Fine," Sasuke hissed. He thrusted the innocent looking capsules back into the eager hands of the omega. "If you want to kill yourself, be my guest. It's not like you can hide it forever, and even if you could, your own stupidity would get you killed first. Whichever way, I'll get a better replacement teammate."
He couldn't remember the last time he said so much in a single breath, much less to someone he really had no care for.
As he walked back to Tazuna's house, he tried to tell himself that he really didn't care what ended up happened to the dobe. It wasn't any of his business if the fool wanted to die a slow and painful death. He really tried, but he couldn't shake the sick feeling he got every time he pictured Naruto in that hospital instead of Itachi, slowly bleeding out.
-:-
Sasuke knew he wasn't going to make it out of the fight unscathed. The other boy he was fighting, Haku, had an ice kekkai genkai. On top of that, he was natural protégé. (Nowhere near the caliber Itachi was, but still a protégé nonetheless).
He was fast—too fast for Sasuke to keep track of. He even unlocked his sharingan, but it didn't seem to make enough of a difference.
Sakura was of no help, not that Sasuke ever expected her to be. She was "guarding the client", or at least keeping an eye on him. Kakashi was battling Zabuza, so there was no way he could assist Sasuke without forgoing the mission.
Haku had him trapped in some sort of ice mirror jutsu when the number-one-predictable-orange-ninja decided to join the fight. Naruto the omega had come to the alpha's aide.
Sasuke hadn't looked at, much less spoken to, his teammate since their confrontation in the woods. That being said, he was surprised Naruto so readily jumped in the face of danger to help him. He shouldn't have been—shinobi were trained to put all personal feelings aside for the mission.
But…Naruto had never been the type to put any kind of feeling aside for any reason.
Sasuke didn't have time to be ponder about Naruto's actions. He was in the middle of a fight against a dangerous opponent. For whatever reason, he was glad Naruto came to help him, even if he was just a dobe.
Haku's mask ended up falling, revealing a very beautiful, feminine face. Sasuke momentarily stopped his fighting, wondering if his opponent was a girl or a boy. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight.
"It's you!" He pointed at the boy—er, girl—it. He pointed at it. "You're the omega I met in the forest!"
He's an omega? Sasuke didn't even have it in him to be surprised anymore. Itachi was the best fighter he ever knew, and yet he was an omega. It wasn't exactly out-of-this-world for Naruto or this ice-protégé he was fighting to be one either.
"I am," Haku agreed. "I see the suppressants I gave you served you well."
For the next few minutes they spoke about being omegas and protecting precious people, and other crap Sasuke didn't particularly care about. He thought it was odd, that Haku momentarily stopped attacking, but he wasn't complaining. It gave him time to recuperate a bit and strategize.
When the needles came flying at Naruto, aimed to kill, Sasuke stopped thinking. He stopped strategizing ways to out-wit or out-run Haku. He just…moved.
If ever asked later on, Sasuke couldn't say why he did what he did. The closest he could come to an explanation was that his body acted on its own. Like a reflex.
What Sasuke would never say is that he got that same feeling of panic he had when he saw Itachi lying in that hospital bed. The image of Naruto lying cold on the ground, bleeding, and full of needles flashed before his eyes. Without a second thought or hesitation, Sasuke ran in the line of fire, taking the hit (hits).
In all rationality, it was a dumb thing to do. After all, Naruto wasn't as skilled as Sasuke when it came to fighting. What would stop Haku from killing Naruto once Sasuke was out of the way? If anything, Naruto was even more likely to die.
But the alpha was tired after fighting for so long, and Naruto was fresh to the fight. For some reason, the omega also had crazy stamina. There was a decent chance he could make it out alive.
Naruto looked at the stuck alpha with horror written all over his face. "Sasuke…" it was all but a whisper, "why did you…I don't understand…"
"Dobe," the alpha grounded out and winced in pain. "Like I know. My body just…moved on its own." He was beginning to go numb. That wasn't a good sign. He looked into his teammate's eyes, and had the fleeting thought that he should say more. Maybe something cliché, like about achieving dreams or something. Or he could offer him something useful, like advice to stay alive.
However, his mouth couldn't seem to form the words. Or any words, really. Sometimes, his voice seemed to detach from his mind, and it felt like there was no possible way he could talk or even communicate.
What a way to go, Sasuke bitterly thought. I'm dying, yet I still can't say what I want to. Typical…
"Teme!" Naruto was yelling at him. That wasn't anything new—the dobe always did that. "You jerk—you always have to go ruining everything, don't you?! That's such a shitty response! Don't you go dying on me, Sasuke!"
He wanted to respond—but his mouth and vocal chords refused to work properly. So, he opted to stare at Naruto's face, angry and torn with a confused grief, until he blacked out.
His last coherent thought was, Are Naruto's eyes red?
-:-
When Sasuke woke to see Sakura's face, he knew he was alive.
Sure, when most people have an experience where they think they died, they assume they're in some sort of after-line when they wake. Sasuke knew that Sakura was still alive, and in no afterlife would her face he the first he'd want to see.
Cruel, perhaps, but true.
On the trip back to Konoha, Sasuke could tell Naruto wanted to speak to him but was afraid to. It was uncharacteristic of him, but not unexpected. He was afraid Sasuke would give away his secret if prompted. It was only too understandable.
Sasuke himself had no desire to discuss any of it. More than anything, he'd prefer to just forget the whole fiasco. He didn't know why he "sacrificed" himself for Naruto. He didn't even like him.
After they made their missions reports to the Hokage, they were allowed to go home. Sakura reluctantly left, but not before shooting Sasuke a few worried glances. Naruto, interestingly enough, left with Kakashi. Sasuke was the last to file out—his brother was waiting for him at the foot of the Hokage tower.
Despite the cool expression he constantly maintained, Sasuke knew Itachi was a bleeding heart. The older omega didn't exactly act like the typical omega, even still, he was the most caring beings Sasuke ever met. When he caught sight of Sasuke's bandages, the young alpha knew his brother well enough to see the carefully concealed concern flash in his eyes.
"Sasuke," the elder addressed, "your mission was much longer than expected."
"Hn."
He nodded. Sure enough, when they got home, Itachi began fussing over him like some mother hen. He ordered Sasuke to sit, and immediately began looking over his brother's injuries.
He quirked an eyebrow. "Senbon needles?"
It was at that moment in time in which their mother decided to come home from her shopping trip, only to hear that fateful question.
If she hadn't been a trained kunoichi, she would have dropped her bags in horror. As it was, her lips thinned, and her hands trembled for just a spit second. After setting her bags down, she made a point to check over his injuries herself, demanding to know everything that happened on the mission.
"Well," she said once she was positive he was alright, "it could have been worse. Good thing…" Her eyes drifted away for a moment, "…good thing Hatake Kakashi is your Sensei." She stood and began putting the groceries away. All the while, she retained that far-away look in her eyes.
The two brothers shared a glance—it wasn't like their mother to act to distant.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke nearly jumped at hearing his teammate's name come from his mother's lips.
Mikoto looked conflicted—pained, even. Sasuke couldn't recall a single instance he had seen that expression on her face. Sure, she was a loving and kind mother, but she was not pushover. Before she was a mother, she was a ninja. While she was forced to retire due to the Uchiha tradition, she always maintained the professional façade of a shinobi of Konoha.
Since Fugaku had passed, she returned to active duty as a jonin. She didn't go on missions too much because of Sasuke, but when she did, Itachi was there to watch over his brother. Between the two of them, the young alpha was never left alone.
"That's who your other teammate is, right?" She turned to look Sasuke in the eyes, "Uzumaki?"
Confused, Sasuke nodded.
"You should invite him over sometime," she suggested. "I can't imagine that he enjoys living by himself."
"We're not exactly friends," Sasuke blurted. Which was odd—usually he was so careful to not say anything he didn't think over first.
Itachi looked at his brother with raised eyebrows. It was rare that Sasuke ever offered any information unprompted. He was such a quiet kid.
"Either way, you are his teammate. It would be a good idea to spend some time with him, get to know him. He sounds like he'd…make a great friend if you gave him the chance." She gave her youngest son a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. It made him wonder if she knew something about Naruto that he didn't, but he didn't dwell on that thought. Instead, he went into his room to sleep until dinner was ready.
-:-
Konoha chunin exams.
Kakashi thought that it would be a good idea to enter team seven.
It wasn't that Sasuke didn't want to become chunin—he did. Itachi was nearly an ANBU captain when he was Sasuke's age, which made Sasuke want the promotion even more. However, he'd have to be blind and deaf to not see the fact that his team wasn't exactly a…team.
Sakura was smart, sure, but she was useless in any sort of confrontation. Naruto…was interesting. While he seemed, for all intents and purposes, a screw-up, he could certainly turn the tides of any fight. It wasn't due to skill by any means—he was just unpredictable. His main downfall was that he didn't listen. To anything. Not even battle strategies. He just charged in head first.
Sasuke considered himself to be the only one on team seven who was dependable. He always fought his best, which was considerable compared to the average genin. If Sakura and Naruto possessed even an ounce of the consistency and skill he did, then he needn't worry. But they didn't.
He plopped himself down at a familiar dock he used to spend his free time at when he was a young academy student. He hadn't visited it since he father passed, though he didn't know why. It was a great place to be alone with his thoughts.
He didn't think he got enough time alone.
"Oi, teme!"
Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe if I pretend that I don't hear him, he'll go away.
"I'm talking to you!"
The alpha showed no indication that he heard Naruto.
He heard the tell-tale whoosh of an object hurling toward him. On instinct, he turned and grabbed it before it could strike his head. He regarded the item with disbelief. "A sandal?" he scoffed. "Really? You threw your shoe at my head?"
Sure enough, one of Naruto's feet was bare.
Why does my teammate have to be Konoha's resident imbecile?
Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. " 's not my fault you won't look at someone when they're talking to you."
"Silly me," Sasuke drawled. "What do you want?"
The omega squirmed under the alpha's patronizing stare. His right hand scratched the back of his disheveled mane, while his left was shoved so deeply in an orange pocket that Sasuke was surprised the fabric wasn't ripping. Naruto's expression wasn't friendly, but, for once, it also wasn't blatantly hostile.
"Look, te—Uchiha,"
Said "Uchiha" quirked an eyebrow. Oh? He thought, is he actually attempting to be cordial? He must want something from me. How pathetic.
"I—well, what I wanted—see, back at wave when—ugh." Without waiting for an invitation, Naruto walked over to Sasuke and plopped himself down beside the alpha.
Sasuke resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose in distaste, but couldn't stop his eye from twitching in irritation. He unconsciously moved a few inches away from the blond, who was committing a serious invasion of Sasuke's personal space.
For the first time since he threw the sandal (which was still in Sasuke's hand), Naruto looked his teammate in the eyes. "Why'd you save me at wave?"
His answer was automatic: "I didn't save you at wave, dobe. The senbon wouldn't have actually killed you."
"But you didn't know that at the time."
"I made an error in judgment, then."
Naruto groaned and flopped onto his back. Sasuke kept his gaze fixed on the water, so he didn't see the blonde's expression. He wanted him to leave. The pier was his private place—no one ever went there, save himself. It had been his refuge from the outside world, only to be occasionally broken by Naruto.
He supposed Naruto's presence wasn't as bad as another's would be. Naruto had always been intrusive and lacked understanding of personal boundaries. Over time, Sasuke ended up getting used to it, thus finding himself becoming more responsive to the omega than he was to anyone else. It wasn't because he liked Naruto or anything like that, but because Naruto just wouldn't let anyone ignore him for long.
It was tiresome being a teammate to someone like that.
Naruto mumbled something under his breath. He then looked back at Sasuke and said, "Look, I'm only curious, that's all. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't think you had to 'save' me or anything because I'm an omega."
It was weird to hear him refer to his true nature so casually. "It wasn't because of your nature," the alpha drawled. He stubbornly kept his gaze focused on the fish swimming beneath the surface of the lake. He wasn't being indignant. In all honestly, he couldn't bring himself to look at Naruto. Already, his heart beat seemed to be accelerating, and he was having a hard time keeping his hands steady. He gripped the edge of the pier tightly so that the blond couldn't tell. To make it worse, his throat was already starting to close itself off from access.
This always happened when Sasuke was being forced to say something he didn't want to say, or didn't know how to say. It's one of the reasons he fought so much with Naruto—punching him in the face was much easier than giving him a straight answer.
"It was…because…my. Body. Just…moved."
"What kind of lame excuse is that?"
Naruto was such a moron. By that point, Sasuke's throat had completely closed up. He couldn't respond to the dobe even if he wanted to. Over his shoulder, he shot the omega a glare. To his surprise, the other boy didn't look irritated or irate. He looked confused.
"I guess it doesn't matter." Naruto sat up again. He put his arms behind his head, stretching. "Anyway, I just wanted to know if you wanted to make a truce for the chunin exams. I mean, from what I've heard, we're going to have to work together as a team. I'll listen to you as long as you don't try to ignore me and Sakura-chan and do everything by yourself. And don't say you wouldn't have done that, because you always do that!"
On the outside, the alpha scoffed. On the inside, he was very surprised at Naruto's proposition. It seemed pretty unlike him. "Okay."
"I don't like you either, but—wait." Naruto cut himself off to blink at Sasuke owlishly.
He really has big eyes, the alpha thought. Never before had be noticed how…effeminate Naruto's features were. It was probably because the omega was always screaming at him or something else. No, effeminate's the wrong word. He looks…pretty?
"Did you say 'okay'?"
"Hn."
Naruto's face wrinkled in distaste and annoyance. And, Sasuke thought, he's back to looking like a feral child. Like Kiba.
"That's not an answer, teme!"
"Yes, I said 'okay'!" Their exchange was quickly becoming old.
Naruto smiled. "Cool. And don't tell anyone about my nature, or I won't listen to you and make you fail the chunin exams!" His cheeky grin remained intact.
"Wasn't planning on it." Like he said, it was none of his business.
He held out his hand, "Can I have my sandal back now?"
Sasuke looked at the sandal, then at Naruto, and back at the sandal. Without much thought towards his actions, he threw the sandal into the lake. Naruto gasped comically and dove into the water in search of his sandal. (If Sasuke had known that was Naruto's only pair of shoes he would've…actually, it wouldn't have made a difference).
It took Naruto a good five minutes to finally retrieve his sandal. When he did, he glared at the alpha. "What is your problem?! I come to offer you a truce and you throw my shoe in the lake!"
Sasuke shrugged. "My body moved on its own." With that, he spun on his heel and walked away.
Naruto called out, "That's not an answer, teme!"
But Sasuke pretended not to hear him.
A/N:
Please follow, favorite, and review! Any questions, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.
Review prompt: What do you think of Sasuke's characterization? He's not exactly an easy character, and I tried to do his original design justice along with how the backstory I created for him shaped him. OR, what kinds of music do you like? Do you play an instrument or sing? (It's actually really fun to read your guy's response to the random questions!)