The company's offices were a permanently busy hive. People rushing in and out of the doors that would constantly slam against the hard rims holding them in place. Naruto was one of those people rushing out after a call. There was no time to explain his hurry to his coworkers, that and his reason, he simply said he had a doctors appointment he was going to be late to. They bought it, teasing him about being irresponsible with his tasks when they all knew he was an exceptional worker.

In the short year and a half Naruto had worked with Taka & Hebi Ind., he had shown time and time again that he was a hardy and determined proletariat, quickly assuming the HR managerial position he worked so hard for within months. And no one honestly could complain. While working in an office is stressful and extremely competitive, Naruto thrived with his position. He wasn't liked at first and even seen as annoying, but since joining HR he had been trying to talk with everyone and find their strengths and weaknesses in their own positions, and documenting the things he would find. He quickly became a beloved member of the HR department, and soon a manager pridefully going out of his way to help anyone and everyone he would meet.

But today was different.

Tsunade finally sent a greenlight to him on their usual meetup, which she had been delaying for a week at that point. Thankfully, the few additional suppressants Naruto had stored away as a 'just in case' had finally come in handy, but yesterday he shot up the last one. As a pure omega hiding with the identity of a weak beta, he could afford no slip ups. Sadly in the world he was stuck in, omegas were to never enter working premises as they were to raise families and stay watching those said families. Most never even got an education, luckily though, Naruto's stepfather Iruka knew from the moment he had brought him into his life, he couldn't let Naruto end up like the high majority of omega. This meant for the rest of Naruto's already shortened life he would have to inject himself with suppressants stronger than most, because he didn't want a life locked up inside with nothing to do but foster his own children.

The excuse used worked and he rushed already panting as he left the large glass doors that separated the world from the office hive, he rushed down the concrete bleak streets, crossing here and there just to hurry up his excused time. He'd still have to stay overtime just to get back the hours he'd have missed but that barely even bothered him, what did though, was the fact that no taxis were paying him any mind and passing him by. When one finally did stop by, he jumped in and almost barked out the address of the hospital, his fear of missing a day of suppressants slowly eating him from the inside-out.

He paid the taxi driver and speed walked into the hospital, taking all the right turns into a more secluded and quiet section of the hospital. Finally, he walked up to a sliding door with 'Tsunade Senju' written boldly on an insertable paper. His ragged breathing slowed after a minute of him staring straight ahead, bracing up though, he finally opened it. Inside was a drab room big enough only for two, and waiting at a cluttered desk looking down was Tsunade. At the scrape of an old door though, she turned.

Tired marks were under her eyes, showing she wasn't lying about the sudden business of her schedule. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, greeting her with a small smile. He couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Naruto, can we need to talk about this." even though she sounded stern, he knew she would give in and give him his suppressants. She worried for him, like family should, but sometimes she ignored the reason he went through all the trouble. He tried to be calm, and straighten his furrowed brows.

"Tsunade..." when he finally looked her way her face was sour with regret. Guilt panged through his chest in intervals, he couldn't suddenly drop his job just to become an omega, this was for his sanity.

"I know, I've lectured you thousands of times about suppressants, but maybe-" she cut herself seeing his anger bubble up again. "Just go and mate with someone, if they don't claim mark you-you'd-you'd." she paused and looked away.

A silence fell between them once again, she finally rose to her feet with anger clear in her actions. She swiftly opened a cabinet, moved a stool to reach higher, and shuffled the items around before finally pulling something out from the very back of the cabinet. Finally, she stepped off the small stool and paused looking down, her left hand was holding an over zealous amount of empty syringes. They stood still.

"I feel bad for you, I really do." Tsunade sounded broken, her voice breaking time and time again in a single sentence. There was nothing Naruto could say to console her, and nothing she could say to convince him to change his otherwise awful lifestyle. "A friend," she turned to look at Naruto with a now straight face. "just passed from suppressant side effects. So forgive me for being more emotional than usual."

After a curt nod he accepted the syringe packets into his hand and shoved them into his letterman bag that now felt heavier than before. She turned again this time to another cabinet. Naruto busied himself looking at the 'suppressant dangers' posters he'd seen oh so many times. This time, instead of reading the words that were engraved in his memory from the repetition of this sort of meeting, he looked to his feet. Finally when the shuffling was quieted he looked to Tsunade seeing her already holding a clipboard with the usual papers.

"Any symptoms, and don't lie." Naruto shook his head a bit more than necessary then looked back to the floor again. "I said don't lie." Tsunade's voice was stern once more, but she had seen that guilt filled anxious face on Naruto before, ignoring it she thought it was an off-day for the boy before hours later he was in the ER.

Sighing Naruto finally looked up. "I've been getting migraines and a lot of cramps." she sighed too, looking glum but not saying anything. The air was thick with a tension that could be recognized to some as discomfort, but they both knew it was simply part of the monthly meetings. "That's normal and you know it, so what else is it."

This time the silence was discomfort. Naruto rubbed his arm while keeping his eyes glued to the floor. He coughed then sighed then rubbed his arm once more all the while Tsunade stared at him with eyes of a hawk. "I fainted two days ago." barely above a whisper the words were mouthed.

"WHAT-I knew this was a bad idea, all of this!" Tsunade's infamous temper flared at the words of the omega in front of her, and while her fist collided with the desk to exasperate her words. Naruto didn't even flinch. "Look what you're doing to yourself! You're going to die before 40! I've told you-"

"Yes, you have! But would you rather I sit in some alphas house without hobbies with kids around while I rot inside?!" it was Naruto's turn to yell, though after both he and Tsunade paused. He looked down while she hopped to her feet, passed him and looked out both ways into the dead-silent hall. She turned back and slammed the door behind her.

"While you rot inside, I commit a felony punishable with at least 20 years-HAH, you'd be dead before I'd be let out!" While both she and him knew the last bit was too harsh she still stood her ground as Naruto pushed back the tears he knew he couldn't show her. "This has to stop, in fact, I'm ending this." before she could continue Naruto swiftly hit the ground with his knees.

"NO! God, ok, I'm sorry for yelling! I-I" the tears that were damned off finally broke loose with sobs raking through the rest of the smaller man's body. Tsunade couldn't help but stare incredulously at what she knew she caused. But she wouldn't back down. Iruka, the boy's stepfather had had a long discussion with her after Shizune had died from complications, and she easily agreed it was time to end this burning train heading for a ledge. Naruto was a ticking time bomb, his first heat readily waiting to burst out of the omega. Since he was 12 he had been taking the pills, since 21 the injections. Everyone in the loop knew why, but would never corner Naruto about it. He had finally reached his goal of working in an office with other people, and so quickly had he been promoted. When visiting it was all he would talk about, and knowing this it took a long time for the small group of who Naruto considered family-to decide when to stop these charades.

"Naruto-" she paused, heaving a sigh she had been holding back. "I can't do that. I'll give you one more restock-" hearing the words syllable by syllable, Naruto leaped up gripping the slightly larger than him alpha's hands and thanking her as if it was his mantra. "BUT-" as if a reaction to a burn, his hands dropped and so did the joyous expression stuck to his features. "This is the last time."

They stood silently for another moment, her back turning towards him as she grabbed a box with glass clinking hushed by a thin cardboard layer between each ampule filled almost to the brim with the suppressants Naruto begged for. No more eye contact was shared after the small dispute that had more words unsaid than said. He took the box and silently left without turning back once knowing Tsunade's expression by heart from the other times he built up the courage to look. The wind picked up while he was there, and the sky darkened with clouds. The weight sunk on Naruto making his steps heavy and thoughtless, his mind in another world of its own. Before he realized it, he was in the middle of the city, lost.

After finally finding a cab to take him back, more than three hours had passed. And he could've taken leave for the day, but being alone wouldn't lighten the young man's mood. The heavy doors slammed as they always did when someone entered the company's premises, the elevator made the same screeches it did for anyone who dared it to open its doors, the floor made the same creaks it did for everyone, yet Naruto just didn't feel like his old self from mere hours ago. His attention was completely stuck to the words Tsunade had said, even though they were a repetition this time he felt the weight he'd ignored before. Shizune was a good friend of Tsunade's who, just like Naruto, gave up her second sex to become a nurse. It worked for her for years, until of course the complications. He'd heard her mention them from time to time but mostly thought she was over doing her doses, or maybe she'd just been ill with a cold. Obviously not, the news were crushing Naruto's mind, he couldn't even-

"Naruto, my man!" Kiba, another office worker, slung his arm over Naruto's shoulder leaning in only to lean out. "Christ, did ya breakup with some omeg-oh wait no alpha too. What's that about?" of course he can smell the faintest scent. Naruto tried to still his thumping heart so he wouldn't have his scent slip out anymore. He tried to put a smile on his whiskered face, realizing though soon, that more than one person from HR was there.

"I, um-my parents had an argument." Kiba produced a long 'oh' while a pinkette, Sakura, commented on hoping a divorce wouldn't happen. The small group of seven chatted, as Naruto stood aside and watched everything feeling heavier by the minute. He didn't even have the power to disagree with anything thrown out, right or wrong. After minutes, he noticed another department worker with jet black hair gelled back into a spiky tail, he was watching Naruto's every move with calculation. Can he smell me?

Naruto excused himself and practically ran to the restroom, stepped into a stall and began to shuffle through his bag, his hands shaking coarsely he took out an ampule and it swiftly slipped from his relatively small digits only to make a quiet smash, spilling out onto the visibly cold tiles. Naruto cursed then finally noticed a tapping of footsteps, though it was too late for notices. The same guy with the black hair opened the unlocked stall and stared down at Naruto. In milliseconds the box of ampules was in his letterman bag and his foot was gently crushing the ampule dejected on the floor, so the other man could no matter what not see the letter printed onto the small glass vial.

They stared heatedly while Naruto thought of every excuse in the book to cover his tail. Of all things, he hadn't expected this. "Naruto, right?" although a simple question, it took the said male more than one beat to give a slow nod, his eyes wide as a deer caught in headlights. The dark haired man grimaced at the shaking of Naruto's hands, clearly distraught with his discovery.

"No matter how bad your situation is, you didn't have to turn to such measures." this though, stopped Naruto's thoughts. "It adds up though; cheerful all the time, skinny, eat a lot, and sleep at random times with notes that are as scattered as your thoughts." Naruto almost smiled at the man in front of him, clearly misreading his actions and behaviors, he held onto himself and looked down mostly though to hide this beaming that was about to come through.

"I'm going to have to report you." that beaming shifted immediately. "NO! I mean, no!" yell-whispering to the gelled man, "I think this is a misread situation," as Naruto once again straightened himself to get through the conversation. "It looks very wrong-hah-I realize that, but those aren't-hah-um, mine." the man though, shook his head with an abysmal expression. Naruto finally realized there was no way from the said report, this was another HR for crying out loud.

"Fine." Naruto pushed past the taller man. "Since you, um…" he turned to look at the man, his eyes asking for help. "Shikamaru."

"Right, Shikamaru." he turned around once again facing his back towards the now named stranger. "Go ahead, report me all you want, but drug tests will only show negative." there was a smirk on the blond's facade, he knew best that if those tests were done, that he'd show as a pure omega which would defeat the whole purpose of taking those wretched suppressants. Shikamaru nodded, his expression not changing once more except for the upset that showed for a moment what could only have been a minute ago. Before Naruto could leave the restroom he heard the stranger with a name pipe up again; "It's for your own good."

The blond's head snapped back to the man who was leaned up against the wall looking into a sterling lighter. His heart sped up again realizing the man wasn't as dumb as he seemed and didn't misread a single thing. "Calm down, your scent will show." Naruto stepped back, to no avail though, his back hitting the wall he thought was so far away. His breathing was harsh again; just like when he was running, this time it was sharper, heavier, suffocating.

Seeing the young omega hyperventilating and filling the room with the heavy scent of panic, Shikamaru himself was beginning to panic. He was going to talk to the clearly younger man, ask him where he got the suppressants since an omega could not get them alone legally, especially that amount and of that concentration. He might not have reported him, but now it was nothing but a requirement.

Shikamaru rushed to the doubled over young man and began to dig through his letterman. He found a thin cardboard box, opened it and retrieved a small ampule filled to the brim. Breaking off the glass tip, he found a plastic bag full of sterile syringe packs, set up the tip and sucked half of the clear fluid into the plastic vial. Just to be sure of everything he poured the rest of the ampule into the closest sink, and put the empty vial in his pocket instead of throwing it in the trash can. He grabbed the wrist of the heavily breathing smaller man and dragged him to the stall he was in previously. Setting him on the bowl and gently rolling up the sleeves while his teeth held onto the syringe, after tapping it and ridding it of any air bubbles he put the sharp needle into the blond's upper arm and slowly injected the fluid until it was empty. Working quickly he shoved the now packed used syringe into the letterman, and reached up to open the small windows near the ceiling, hoping to air-out the heavy scent of an omega.

Minutes passed and the scent was passing and Naruto was breathing normally again, but was completely silent. Shikamaru leaned his weight on the stall's wall, and both kept completely still. There wasn't anything to speak of between the two; Shikamaru now knew Naruto's deepest, darkest secret. Somehow Shikamaru controlled himself through the episode, even though he himself was an alpha. But after finally looking somewhere other than the tile pattern littering the floor, Naruto noticed bloody bite marks on the taller man's hands.

"Sorry." it was carelessness that brought the two into the place they were stuck in until the suppressants covered the last marks of an omegan scent, and the window wefted out the last of the already heavy air. The taller man looked down at the head-hanging boy, it even shocked him to see the usually energetic and competitive young man slouched and unkempt. There was clearly a humanity to the reason the young omega had been taking suppressants, and his guess was to get out and be allowed to walk the streets calmly without asking for the permission to do so from an alpha or beta. The lowest of the low in society. No matter how strong your omegan genes were, you were still dirt to the working class, and knowing how the system worked, he was honestly surprised the blond even had an education let alone an office job in the most anti-omegan company.

"Troublesome. Wait the last of the scent out, I'm gonna head out, you can in about…" Shikamaru looked to his watch then sniffed the air, effectively scenting the small room. "Yeah, 10 minutes should be enough." he nodded as he shifted to unlock the stall only being stopped by a small 'thank you'. He would still report Naruto, but as a drug misconduct case, which wouldn't raise too many brows with his personality and the use of a reason that his personal life may be suffering too. As long as the blond refuses the drug test, he'd be laid off and sent with a poor report to follow, Shikamaru felt guilt for his decision, but it was better than revealing the fact that Naruto was an omega, and by his scent a pure one too; that would be a whole wreck of issues including felonies of identity fraud as the tip of the ice-berg.

Shikamaru sighed and stalked off to go fill out the report. Naruto on the other hand would have been losing his mind, but with the suppressants his scent isn't open meaning neither are his emotions; he felt empty after this whole ordeal, cold and still inside and out. Half an hour later, he finally made his way to the HR department to finish the hours of work he had missed. One by one his coworkers left with their shifts ending, Naruto though, sat on until the sun began to roll over the horizon and left a golden glow through the empty offices. With another hour to go, he was surprised to see another person approaching him with a single paper in her hand. Her face was soft as she handed the paper to the clearly shocked younger man. The letter was hand-written. It was summoning him to his boss. Which meant he had to go to the executive director.

The man known to all as Sasuke Uchiha.