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comment from Guest:

:Did you repost this? I'm glad to see it back.

Anyway, I'm glad this fic isn't going to let Naruto off the hook. In my opinion, Naruto perpetuating the same system that victimized him and Sasuke as children is the biggest betrayal of their friendship he could have possibly done. And it's not just his friendship with Sasuke, but Naruto is also betraying his own self by becoming the thing that hurt him as a child.

For ABO, this fic has a few new concepts that I like. For example, Sasuke sort of becoming insensitive to smells because of trauma, which makes a lot of sense. I mean, you can lose your sense of smell for various reasons, so why not? Also, whole villages that tend toward one dynamic or another. That's another interesting concept. If most of Suna is omega, does that mean omegas are pairing with other omegas? (Same question for primarily alpha villages.)

Response: Yeah I did repost it a few times. I'm still getting used to coding settings so I had some trouble uploading it but I think I got it now! And thanks I'm glad you find it interesting! Majority one dynamic villages usually just pair with whoever they like. Obviously alphas want omegas and vice versa, but the whole village loyalty thing that each ninja nation has going on sort of keeps them bonding to the people in their villages. So omegas in Suna mate with other omegas in Suna and compensate for lack of pheromones and knots with other things since alphas don't really end up in the Sand village at all. I hope that helps!

I'm also disappointed by Naruto and how he turned out. Like what a tragedy lol.


"Message from Gaara." He says, handing Naruto the scroll. He stays by the window, eyes averted from the blue of the Hokage's eyes. He strides into Naruto's office unannounced as he usually does, still reluctant to even be in the building to begin with. He hated this place almost as much as his own "house". Once upon a time the murder of his family was decided here.

Seeing Naruto behind that desk should have been reassuring, but Sasuke knows better now. He was no longer fooled by the blond's words. Years of experience taught him that words only went so far, and that no one was as strong as they claimed to be.

That promises made by bright eyed boys in valleys of stone and water only held so much weight. The real world set in soon enough.

Naruto looks tired, but he sits up when Sasuke enters. His hair is a mess and his clothing is wrinkled, his Hokage cloak thrown across the small couch on the other side of the office.

Another day sleeping in the office, then. The Uchiha could tell. He would ask, but he doesn't want to hear about Naruto's home life. He couldn't care less.

He doesn't want to hear Naruto gripe about how he couldn't go home to his wife last night. He didn't want to see the disappointed look on Naruto's face when he mourned over not having seen the Hyuga woman or his children for a day or two. He doesn't want to hear about the missed family dinners or anything else.

After a while it got easier to just not ask than to have to listen to Naruto ramble about his family. Talking to Naruto was always complicated - Sasuke always felt like Naruto brought up every emotion in him - but it was even more infinitely complicated now that he felt so disconnected from everything. Including Naruto.

Sasuke doesn't know how or when it happened, but a rift formed between them. But the worst part was that it was like only Sasuke saw it.

At one point, Naruto was the most important person to him. The only who meant more than anyone else, but after the war...something happened. Maybe Naruto changed. Maybe Sasuke couldn't recognize him anymore.

Maybe it was a rift between Sasuke and everyone - everything - else. What right did he have to hold such a strange resentment for the blond for just living the life he wanted? It wasn't Naruto's fault that he was trapped in this life.

Well, it may be. Just a little. He did force him to open his eyes and keep on living when they were laying half conscious in that valley all those years ago. Sasuke had been ready to take his own life and call it quits, but...

The man gives him an annoyed yet fond look, "Hello to you too. Geez, Sasuke."

The Uchiha shrugs, "He's feeling traces of Kaguya's chakra in the desert."

Naruto doesn't comment further on Sasuke's lack of greeting. He may not really fully understand Sasuke anymore, but he at least knew that the man wasn't up for small talk. Hardly ever was. Never had been.

Naruto scans the contents of the scroll, "He remembers how it feels enough to sense it? Even though he was in the infinite Tsukuyomi? And it's been years ?" Naruto raises an eyebrow, "Damn."

"Hn."

Sasuke had thought the same thing. How did Gaara even remember Kaguya's chakra signature? Only a small handful of people were present for that.

"Always surprising me, Gaara." Naruto murmurs to himself with a small smile, before he looks up from the scroll and at Sasuke, "Do you mind checking it out? I don't think anyone else could handle it, and I'll send a clone if you need backup until I can catch up. This is pretty serious."

Sasuke nodded.

"Sorry, I know you probably wanted to rest, but ah - well, yanno, it's Gaara so…"

"I'll leave now." Sasuke nods, liking that idea just fine. The desert was preferable to Konoha. Sasuke was just happy he wouldn't be forced to stay and speak to people he had no desire to interact with.

Suna always managed to take priority over other villages when it came to Naruto. It was no secret that if Iwa or some other village were in danger or Gaara needed assistance with so much as paperwork, the Kazekage took priority to the Hokage.

No one was surprised, and no one begrudged Naruto for his preference. It was hardly ever a problem, really. Gaara rarely needed Naruto's help, so it didn't come up often. Naruto still kept a close eye on Suna - and his friend - all the same, willing and ready to jump in and offer assistance should anything arise whether Gaara called for help or not.

Yeah, the Hokage's favoritism for Sunagakure and its leader were obvious.

Almost as obvious as the Hokage's preference for the Uchiha.

Sasuke leaves before he can twist himself up in knots thinking about it.


The same little boy from the market was surrounded by toys and stuffed animals on a small, colorful rug in the Kazekage's office. He has little model animals and trucks that he's clearly thrown aside in favor of a plush bear, and the small cloud of sand that hovers nearby is hard to miss. The grains are black, like iron. Sasuke's never seen it before, and he takes a moment to observe the substance before concluding that Gaara had various methods for watching this child, and it was probably for protection, much like the Kazekage's own sand.

The child doesn't bother to look up when he enters, curiously tugging at the bear's bowtie and giving it a puzzled look. He tilts his head, observing the plush for a second, before simply hugging the toy to himself, content.

Gaara is doing paperwork at his desk, and every few moments his eyes glance at the child, making sure he's doing alright. Sasuke takes off his sword at the door, bracing it against the wall. He never brought weapons around Sarada, and this child was clearly close to Gaara in some way, so he figured he'd extend the same courtesy. The boy couldn't be more than five years of age.

He wonders if the ANBU of the Sand village were expecting him. They didn't stop him from walking right into the Kazekage mansion and into Gaara's office - they simply stepped aside at the door and let him through without a thought.

"Message from Naruto." He says, putting the scroll on the desk, taking a step back and glancing at the redhead, who dutifully nods to him in greeting and opens the scroll.

The boy looks up from the stuffed bear he plays with, looking at Sasuke curiously.

"He says that if you feel anything in the desert again, don't hesitate to call one of us." Sasuke says, handing him the accompanying letter. It was how Naruto chose to send his more personal messages to his fellow Kage, namely Gaara. Scrolls were for official business.

Letters were for pleading with your friends to keep themselves out of danger. Apparently.

Gaara blinks at him but takes the paper, looking faintly affronted, "I can handle it. That's not necessary."

Sasuke gives him a level look, "It's what he said. He'd like to know."

"I'll handle it." Gaara says simply, unravelling the scroll, "If anything ever arrived in Suna it would be far too late to call anyone anyway."

"Naruto was adamant." Sasuke says.

It's true. Naruto would rather deal with the threat himself instead of having Gaara possibly put in danger and out of his depth.

Sasuke knew that was Naruto's real issue here. He was... protective of a handful of people, and the Kazekage is definitely one of them.

"I'm sure he was,'' Gaara says. It sounds non-committal and more casual than Sasuke knows Naruto would like, especially when talking about Gaara's safety.

Sasuke knew that wasn't any sort of agreement from the Kazekage, though. Gaara hasn't agreed not to fight, should he cross paths with whoever was scattering that chakra around. Naruto wouldn't be happy about that.

Gaara stands after a moment, placing the scroll on the desk and brushing past Sasuke to pick up the young child, holding him close for a moment.

"It's time for bed, Shinki. Uncle Kankuro is going to tuck you in, alright?" He tells the child, and Sasuke watches in surprise as Gaara goes from blank to warm in an instant when dealing with the boy.

Shinki hugs Gaara and pouts, "Can't you?"

"I'll be along shortly. I just need to speak to someone about something important first." Gaara says, and right on time, Kankuro opens the door and peeks inside.

His face is free of makeup for once (and Sasuke might have forgotten that Gaara's brother didn't have his face paint pretty much grafted onto his face, seeing as he's seen the man maybe three times in his entire life) and he smiles at his brother before his expression becomes one of muted confusion upon seeing Sasuke of all people in the room with them as well.

Gaara doesn't address his brother's confusion though, he just gently puts the boy in Kankuro's arms and nods at them both.

"Thank you, Kankuro. I'll see you in a bit, Shinki. Be good."

The puppeteer looks between Gaara and Sasuke (who stands there frozen and a bit unsure what to do) and adjusts the boy before turning to leave, "C'mon buddy. Let's get you all ready for bed."

Then they're gone and Gaara's looking at him again, picking up the scroll and moving to stand behind his desk.

"I can't promise that I won't engage an enemy in my desert, but if Naruto is so eager to help, I'll inform him that his continued support of Sunagakure is quite enough." Gaara says, "I wouldn't be a Kage worth anything if I allowed someone else to defend my people in my place."

"He won't accept that." Sasuke says, eyes on the toys the child left on the floor.

"He's going to have to." Gaara says simply, penning a response, "He cannot solve everyone's problems."

Sasuke doesn't know what to say to that. He just knows he agrees.

"How did you enjoy the book?"

Sasuke looks up and blinks at the Kazekage, who gives him a quizzical look. It takes him a second to realize that the man means the book he lent him a few weeks ago. Right. Sasuke actually finished it that week, and then reread it. Some part of him wanted to see what Gaara saw, and he wondered why he liked it so much. It was a well written piece, he just wondered what drew the Kazekage to it.

It also occurs to him that this is Gaara's way of changing the subject.

Sasuke takes the volume from his pack, "It was interesting, but clearly written by someone who was quite unhinged."

Gaara managed a small smile as he finished up his response to Naruto, looking over the scroll, "I agree. The subject matter was enough to keep me entertained though."

"Likewise." Sasuke says. He wants to ask a million questions. He wants to ask who that little boy was. He wants to ask Gaara why he likes that particular story so much.

Sasuke keeps quiet.