Sakura woke up very comfortably, pressed against a gigantic body that was as hard as steel. She sighed and unthinkingly pressed closer, burying her face into the pleasant warmth surrounding her. It snuffled and flexed against her, which alerted her to the fact that it was a person in her bed.

She inhaled… It was Kisame. And, upon cracking her eyes open the slightest, she realized that her bedroom was totally dark and only the barest of lights could be discerned dancing along the furniture. She tilted her head up. Kisame was still asleep, unaware that she'd woken. Hmm… He must've sneaked into her bed after she'd fallen asleep, still very embarrassed about the Kakuzu and Hidan fiasco in the former's bedroom.

It had been… eye opening, to say the least. Over the course of her limited experience with males, Sakura had never been in the presence of one while he-well-ahem… She could barely even think it to herself. Even the memory of Kakuzu pressing into her hip was enough to set her face ablaze. And while she knew what it was like to enjoy affection - the casual hug, or a cuddle from a pet - the touch of a fully grown man was a different thing altogether, something that shot lightning from her torso down into her gut. It felt too… intimate? Vulnerable? Or perhaps she liked it too much and was used to denying herself the things that she wanted?

Whatever it was, the men around her held a weapon that was far more dangerous to her than any jutsu, making Sakura feel very out of her element and - dare she say it - desiring of what these men had to offer. Add to that her own logical misgivings towards growing too close to these alphas and it made for a very bizarre knot of sexual tension in the pit of her stomach.

How did one deal with a fully grown man? They wanted so much, and the things that their eyes demanded from her were both thrilling and terrifying. What if she tried and they laughed at her? She still felt very much like a little girl, almost like something that alphas of their ages should still be play-wrestling with, not tussling in a bedroom. If she so much as placed a hand on them she expected it to break off into a cloud of ash.

Well… She had an unconscious one right in front of her now… And it wasn't like he wouldn't want her to touch him anyways, so…

With wide and hesitant eyes Sakura placed a hand over Kisame's heart, pausing to feel its drumbeat. It was pleasant, so much that she leaned forwards and pressed her ear against it to listen, her eyes drooping in relaxation. She breathed in his scent, all sea breeze over something undeniably male that made her hands smooth up over his shoulders, assessing and enjoying their width.

She stretched against him in the darkness and ran gentle fingertips down Kisame's bare bicep, gingerly exploring the skin and muscle. It was nothing like checking a patient at the hospital, all cold and businesslike. This was warm and personal. This was a body that she wanted to touch.

Sakura's nose trailed along his neck and the steady, drowsy pulse, giving in to instinct for just a moment and allowing herself to fully scent this alpha as he had her, letting herself appraise him as a potential mate. There was no harm, no danger of giving out too much invitation in this moment. She could take her time and use all of her instinct to simply enjoy the firm sensation of his body under her hands. It wasn't that of a child to be sure, totally matured and in its prime - ready to kill, defend territory, to fuck-

Like those hypnagogic, stream of consciousness thoughts, Sakura neither followed nor attacked that train of thought. It would do her no good right now, only fluster or break up the beautiful feeling of letting herself be an omega for a moment. She could be embarrassed later. In fact, she was sure that she would.

Her instincts were difficult to interpret around her alphas, Sakura thought. On the one hand they were utterly, destructively dangerous and made her body want to bolt away in any and all directions. But on the other, she wanted to poke and prod and test them, to make them pounce in the same way that she feared they would.

Would this get any easier?

That thought also slipped away into the back of her mind as she ran her lips against Kisame's adam's apple, delighting in the way he unconsciously pushed into the touch instead of tensing - clearly she was not an enemy, not considered a threat to him on any level. And while she knew that she could certainly do him a great deal of physical damage, she didn't think that was what his subconscious was thinking at all. Rather, he must consider her something close, something that was supposed to be draped across his body while it was at its most vulnerable.

And wasn't that telling of his true intentions?

When Sakura's mouth opened against his skin and a curious tongue emerged to taste, Kisame's arm surrounded her and tugged her closer, her head resting comfortably in the crook of his neck. She abandoned her efforts and relaxed against him.

If anyone were to say that she was purring, she would deny it.

It was later the next day when Sakura was chatting casually with the mass-murdering, s-rank criminals Itachi and Kisame that Sakura had her first real scare since arriving.

The front door of the building led down a long hallway, through a door and into the kitchen. Between the counters and appliances stood a table, sturdy enough to handle large men leaning and thumping fists on it every day. A window allowed golden evening light into the room.

She sipped at a cup of green tea, idly listening in as Kisame shared his bar-related exploits with Itachi, who had an uncanny ability to "hm" or "ah" in all the right moments. She swore he could've done it in his sleep.

"And then the guy's hand started to bruise up all blue-"

"Ah."

"-and then his girlfriend actually picked up one of the kegs-"

"Hm…"

"-and after that his buddies all took off and he just dropped the money right there."

"Ah… I see."

As Kisame finished the tale with a grin and leaned back with a satisfied stretch, Sakura caught Itachi's glance. His face was smooth, impassive, but the corner of his mouth barely twitched. She covered a laugh by coughing.

A faint change in the room's scent captured Sakura's attention. Her brows lowered. It was like… earth… and something altogether unpleasant, like sour wine, and she immediately hated it. Two people approaching, but who?

Her eyes flickered uneasily between the two alphas beside her, who seemed unperturbed, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling ruffled. It didn't matter that Itachi and Kisame weren't reacting, two unfamiliar alphas were coming closer by the second and Sakura wanted at least one of them gone already - dear god, who could possibly smell so horrible to her?

Sakura stood as though to refill her teacup just in time to have Kisame between her and the door when it opened, and two excitable alphas burst into the room with scents going haywire.

First came- holy shit - the blond haired man responsible for kidnapping the Kazekage! And while Sakura had her own misgivings about being anywhere near him the terrible scent was emanating from the man behind him.

He wore a bright orange mask. His voice was high pitched and childish. He skipped like a young girl. But Sakura wanted him out. She didn't know why, but just being near him, being able to smell him made everything omega in her want to be away from him. And for this to be in her mind when the Kazekage's kidnapper and Itachi Uchiha were in the room, the latter giving her no unease, meant that something was terribly off about him.

They both froze on the opposite side of the room. Bright cerulean eyes burned into her from under a blond fringe.

"It's true." He breathed. "I thought it had to be some stupid lie, but dammit Uchiha, your little termite was beside himself."

"You saw Sasuke?" Itachi asked offhandedly, as though it didn't matter to him in the least.

Sakura stiffened as the scents of the new alphas reached across the room towards her as though they could grasp a hold of her, forcing her to experience them.

The blond man - What was his name again? She could've sworn she knew it… - let out a short burst of laugh. "The brat tried to kill me, demanding to know what horrors I inflicted on his teammate."

"You walked away from a fight? You?" Kisame chuckled. "Unusual."

"Well, I could hardly waste the time when I thought there was a damn omega here." The blond said seductively, aiming the sentence at Sakura.

To his utter bafflement, her emerald glare was rooted to the other man. She didn't even spare him a glance.

"That is Deidara and Tobi." Kisame said.

He appeared unaware of her growing distress, but Itachi was now watching her carefully. She could only imagine how worried she smelled right now.

Sakura spoke up. "Why are they here?"

"I live here, yeah!"

Sakura ignored him. "Itachi, I know you don't expect me to allow them to bite me."

Well, the one in particular. He was still bouncing in place as though he hadn't noticed her ire. Itachi stood and approached her. His eyes implored her not to feel at odds, but hers were averted. He stopped right before her and murmured to her, too quietly to be overheard.

"I won't share. I know that I won't. But without all of your bonds fully consummated, your biology still allows you to add more alphas. And until then, until you have that nuclear group solidified, others will still pursue you."

She paled, but he continued. "You don't have to let anyone bite you now. But for this time, you will be stuck evading them. I can help you, but I am not always here."

Sakura said loudly, eyes having never left Tobi, "He will not bite me."

Kisame looked confused. "Huh? Do you know him or something?"

"No, and I don't want to. Ever."

Deidara guffawed at the alpha's expense as Tobi bounded towards Sakura. She angled herself to keep Itachi between them, loathe to come into any sort of contact with him.

"Aw, but omega-chan, Tobi is a good boy and a good alpha! You will want him! He can cook and will rub your feet all the time!"

"No!" She barked, surprising the others with its intensity. "You will not!"

"Really?" He whined, leaning around an icy still Itachi, who stared at Sakura.

"Really! Stay away from me!"

"Can you make me?" He asked, and he suddenly wasn't cute anymore. It was alpha and something that the others were clearly unused to, judging by their expressions of bemusement. Itachi himself was not so interested, still seemingly counting every eyelash on Sakura's face.

Sakura was not amused at all. In face, this was a nightmare, and nothing had ever been less funny. She clenched her hands into fists. "I swear to god, you had better stay away from me. I will punch a hole through your face and if you ever try to get your rotten teeth on me, no one will find your corpse."

In less than a blink, Tobi was around Itachi and stalking towards her, every muscle screaming of danger, and she was backing away. And although she couldn't see his face, Sakura could hear that this alpha was growling at her, and it was the kind of growl that indicated a real problem.

Sakura had never been growled at in her entire life. Perhaps it was because the subconscious still recognizes an omega, but it was something that she had never experienced and never wanted to again. It hit her like a slap, burning its painful way through her nervous system to her brain and heart, choking her up and seizing every last one of her muscles in a full body bind.

Alpha's didn't growl at omegas. It just wasn't done. Instinct urged them to smell, to touch, to mate - but never to actually attack, and the fact that this one was doing so proved that there was something genuinely wrong with this man.

He stood right in front of her almost close enough to touch and at the rumbling her shoulders instinctively drew up, her chin lowering as though to avoid looking at him, or even to protect her neck.

At the noise Kisame instantly shot up from his chair and shoved his way between them, his bulk totally blocking out her view of Tobi. He was drawn up to full height and more enraged than she had ever seen him before, and the room smelled like a full-out war zone.

"You will never," Kisame snarled, "and I mean never, growl at her."

Sakura couldn't see Itachi but she could see Deidara, whose face was frozen in offense at an alpha who dared to growl at an omega in front of her mates.

Tobi didn't say a word, but the growling had stopped.

Itachi slowly came to her side again and he had never looked scarier. His face could have been carved from stone, an unrelentingly frowning mouth totally frozen. But his eyes… they had glinted red, as though only the force of his will were currently keeping his sharingan leashed. He was pissed, and simply stood beside her, their shoulders touching.

And god help her, Sakura dashed from the room, instincts yelling for her to get out of there. But she didn't want to go to her room - too open, too exposed, where someone could find her too easily - so she did the next best thing.

She crawled into Kisame's closet, stealing his blanket and wrapping herself into a tight fortress of fabric. She said no word some time later, when Itachi squeezed in beside her, but offered no protest when he managed to determinedly wriggle into her cocoon. He didn't speak, but was just there, pressed in tightly beside her in a safe, dark place, and every now and then shifted against her - almost as a reminder of his presence.

Sakura ended up falling asleep there, swaddled into a blanket and wrapped around her alpha.