Author's note: My head's fuzzy from two days of classes, so I decided to work on this, seeing as my other updates actually require my brain to be fully functional and less overwhelmed, for a lack of a better word. I'll be back to working on my other updates this weekend, however, so hopefully I'll be able to update at least one of my other stories as well!

This is a sequel to Longing, so you might want to read the previous oneshots in this series first before reading this one in order to familiarise yourself with the setting.

Warnings: Naruto's pov; canon verse; A/B/O dynamics; Omega Naruto; established slash; awkward talks are had

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like this!


Craving

"Thank you for helping us out, we really appreciate it," Shikamaru said, inclining his head.

"It was nothing," Gaara riposted calmly. "Konoha and Suna are allies, naturally we would aid you in apprehending that gang."

"Do you think you can take them with you?" Temari inquired with a slight frown. "If you need extra hands, we can send some of our own with you."

"Not necessary," Sakura reassured her and cracked the knuckles of her right fist. "I've given them something that will keep them asleep until we're back in Konoha."

"We'll take our leave now," Shikamaru announced and turned around while Sakura was already making her way out of the door.

"Naruto," Gaara said unexpectedly, halting the three Konoha shinobi, "you mind staying a bit longer? I need to ask you something."

Naruto blinked and stopped pulling at his collar. "All right," he said bemused.

He normally didn't mind chatting with Gaara, because he loved catching up with his friend, but right now he honestly wanted to be anywhere else but here. He didn't know where exactly this "better" place would be, but he just knew that he couldn't stay here for much longer. He'd been feeling antsy ever since they had caught the last member of that gang and the feeling had only grown worse with the time spent in the Kazekage's office. The fact that he couldn't even discern why he was feeling antsy only made him feel even worse.

It wasn't the typical antsy feeling he experienced every month when he felt he needed to redo his nest. This went way beyond it, making him feel hot under the collar; his layers of clothes no longer comfortable but too restrictive. Odd fuzziness was starting to cloud his mind as well; he was starting to worry he was coming down with something. It shouldn't be possible, considering Kurama made it near impossible for him to become ill, but this was how he imagined being sick must feel like. He planned to go straight home once they were back at Konoha; he would hand in his own report tomorrow or so, once his head stopped feeling like it was stuffed with cotton.

"You two can go on; he won't be long," Gaara dismissed the other two.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, while Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows; his dark eyes quickly flitting between Naruto and Gaara. They both left after a short pause, leaving Naruto with Gaara and Temari.

"So, what do you want to ask?" Naruto questioned and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he was just feeling too hot or whether it was the office which was suddenly heating up. It hadn't been that hot outside, though, but maybe Gaara had installed stronger heaters in preparation for the winter? Did Suna even get harsh winters?

It was only when he noticed Gaara looking at him expectingly while Temari stared at him with a lifted eyebrow that he realised Gaara had already asked his question. He flushed and cleared his throat embarrassedly.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"Are you feeling okay, Naruto?" Gaara repeated; his green eyes alight with worry and something else Naruto couldn't really discern.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Naruto forced himself to grin carefree.

Kurama snorted derisively, his massive head resting on his front paws. Naruto decidedly ignored him.

"You've been staring into space ever since you entered the office," Temari stated flatly. "You haven't said a single word either, which frankly is a major shock considering you usually love to run your mouth."

"Temari," Gaara said warningly, throwing her a look, which made her roll her eyes and cross her arms.

"Just saying it like it is," she muttered.

"I – guess I'm a bit under the weather," Naruto admitted awkwardly and scratched the bridge of his nose. "Feels like I have a cold, but without the gross snot and things like that."

Gaara's eyes narrowed and he leant forwards slightly, his nose twitching as he none too subtly sniffed the air. Green eyes widened a notch; something suspiciously like alarm flashing through it.

"Naruto, could it be that … that you're close to being in heat?" the red haired man asked haltingly, looking slightly uncomfortable for the first time since they started talking.

The blond man stared at him, completely befuddled. Well, he was feeling quite hot, he wasn't going to lie, but feeling hot and being in heat sounded like two different things, no? Although being fairly certain that there was a difference didn't exactly tell him what being in heat meant. Judging by the looks on the Suna siblings' faces, however, a heat didn't seem like a good thing?

"What's a heat?" he asked mystified, giving up in the end when further information wasn't given immediately.

This time Gaara's eyes widened visibly and Temari's mouth opened in a small 'o'-shape before something close to glee crossed her face and she clapped her hands together.

"Well, I leave you to explain that to your friend, Gaara," she said cheerfully and practically flounced out of the room, ignoring her brother's almost panicked hiss of "No, wait, Temari!"

"So … is it something embarrassing?" Naruto asked uncertainly, though if it was, why had Gaara asked about it then?

"No, it's not. I just think that - " Gaara cut himself off and shook his head. "Never mind, it's fine. I'll explain it. You want to sit down?"

His legs were starting to feel a bit wobbly for some reason, but something kept him rooted in place, absolutely refusing to let him take even one step forwards. He shook his head instead, remaining awkwardly in place in the middle of the office.

"So, I take it you have been … You probably – work on your … bed nearly every month, right?" Gaara started, looking anywhere but at Naruto.

He had never sounded so uncomfortable before and if Naruto's head wasn't feeling both so heavy and fuzzy at the same time, he would be seriously worrying about his friend. As it was, he could only stare at him in puzzlement.

"You mean, a nest? Yeah, I got days when I have to rework the bed," Naruto confirmed. Those days had grown decidedly less annoying now that he and Sasuke had a place of their own and an actual decent bed, but even so, he could still be found fussing around with the blankets and the pillows every month. Most of the time he just adjusted the corners or added new pieces to their nest; the urgency of all those years before was almost completely gone now.

Well, except for today. There was that odd sense of urgency lingering in the pit of his belly, but he was confused to realise that he didn't necessarily want to mess around with the nest again. If anything, he just wanted to curl up and disappear for a while.

"Okay." Gaara nodded and took a deep breath. "Did someone ever – tell you what being an Omega exactly … entails?"

"Hm, well, no?" Naruto shrugged half-heartedly and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I mean, the old hag had to tell me why I was getting pissed off at my bed every month and the bastard figured out my nesting habits before I even realised what I was doing, so …"

"Right." Gaara nodded again, but he sounded strangely feebly when he spoke next, nothing of his self-assured, even tone left. "Well, once Omega pass the age of eighteen at one point they will start experiencing … heats a couple of times a year. Alpha start experiencing ruts instead."

"Okay, but what does that mean? What does a heat do?"

Naruto was completely baffled to see Gaara's face erupting in a bright red colour, his features turning the same colour as his hair. Kurama, meanwhile, was laughing his arse off for reasons unknown to its Jinchuuriki and with the fox being in such an odd mood, Naruto was very reluctant to enter their shared mental space and demand what the hell was wrong with him.

"A heat basically means that … you will want to … sleep together with your mate," Gaara replied very haltingly. If he grew any redder, he might actually start producing steam, which was quite worrisome.

"But Sasuke and I already sleep together every night he's not away and I never feel like this then," Naruto said frankly.

They had been living in the cottage for nearly seven months now and Naruto could say with absolute certainty that today was the first time he felt so unbalanced.

"Not literally sleeping," Gaara said and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking resolutely down at his desk. "I mean, when you're experiencing a heat, you will want to have … sex with your mate. More so than usual and it'll be much more … intense."

Blue eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "I WILL WHAT?"


He wasn't a stranger to having sex with Sasuke. They hadn't exactly stayed chaste for long after they officially got together and they didn't exactly restrict themselves to only doing it once a month either.

So no, the prospect of having sex with Sasuke didn't scare or worry him at all. It was the whole 'you basically will lose your mind and everything will feel a hundred times more intense' part that had him turning as red as Gaara's hair. No wonder the Kazekage had been so uncomfortable to discuss this with Naruto – who the hell wanted to discuss something as intimate as a heat and a rut with their friend? And why the hell did he always have to find out important information like this through other people?! For once he just wanted to be knowledgeable about his own body, was that too much to ask for?

For someone about to enter their heat, your brain is way too active, Kurama commented lazily.

"Just shut up for now," Naruto told him tersely, not in the mood to deal with the fox demon's bullshit at the moment.

"I'd still recommend that you contact Uchiha," Gaara insisted even as he opened the door to the room he had offered to Naruto.

With his hormones slowly growing more out of whack – "It's a way to … urge your mate on to – sleep with you," – Gaara had deemed it too unsafe for Naruto to make the trip back to Konoha. Naruto had protested, insisting he wasn't weak, but the way he had stumbled, only kept upright by Gaara's sand, had destroyed any argument he could come up with.

"I know you're not weak, Naruto," Gaara had said firmly. "But with your heat fast approaching, it really isn't a good idea to be caught unawares outside."

Not even the reminder that Sakura and Shikamaru would be there with him – "You want Uchiha to absolutely freak out when he smells them on you, be my guest, but I would assume you would want to keep your friends in one piece," – had been able to persuade Gaara. The Kazekage had ended up inviting him to spend his heat in one of the most secure rooms in the tower.

"I don't want to trouble him with this," Naruto insisted and warily shuffled into the room.

It wasn't something extravagant as he had feared, but the sheets on the bed still looked quite expensive and there was a chest standing right behind the bed of which the content Naruto wasn't ready to contemplate yet.

"You're mates," Gaara pointed out; a slight hint of exasperation audible in his voice. "He'll want nothing more than to be contacted about this, trust me."

"He's chasing a lead; he doesn't want to be bothered now, I know that," Naruto said stubbornly and eyed the bed.

There was a whole bunch of new blankets and pillows piled up to the left wall and he debated whether he had enough energy stored in him to haul them all to the bed and try to make a nest out of them.

"You would feel a lot better if he's here," Gaara commented; his lips pursed. His sand was swaying around his ankles, showing off the agitation he refused to display openly.

"I'll be fine, I can take care of myself," Naruto said dismissively, before turning a bright red when he realised how that comment might be taken. He hastily waved his hands around, shooing Gaara out of the room. "Thank you for the room, I'll pay you back!"

"No need to pay me back," Gaara sighed, but left the room; the 'click' of the door locking up resounding through the space.

With Gaara's sand completely covering the door there was no way anybody would be able to enter, leaving Naruto completely on his own.

The room was quite impersonal, something that only served to make him feel even more agitated, but he had to make the best of what he had. Now that he know experiencing heats would be a common thing for him in the future, he could try to start planning around those moments, so that he wouldn't be caught unaware again like today.

But that was a plan for the future. Now all he could do was try to make a new nest, one which would be comfortable enough to spend the next hours, if not the next couple of days, in. He couldn't help but grimace when he picked up the first blanket and was obviously only met with a neutral scent instead of the spicy Alpha one of Sasuke.

You're an idiot, Kurama informed him casually as Naruto puttered around the room, forcing his feet to take one step at a time, dragging the blankets to the bed.

He was already starting to feel hotter, as if simply carrying blankets was putting too much stress on him already, draining his energy. Eugh, if he was this exhausted already from just trying to make a nest, how the hell would sex be able to feel intense then? He wanted nothing more than to drop down on the bed and curl up, but the lack of a decent nest still forced him to remain upright and drag even more blankets and pillows to the bed.

"Didn't I tell you I don't want to talk to you right now?" he muttered distractedly, shoving at a light purple blanket so that it crumpled in the right corner of the bed.

You're going to be miserable as hell if you don't call that Uchiha brat back, Kurama said; his eyes gleaming. Spending heats alone is ill-advised.

Naruto squinted at him. "I thought you didn't like Sasuke?"

Both the bastard and Kurama had in fact been quite vocal about how very much they did not like each other. Sometimes Naruto felt like a damn referee, making sure neither his boyfriend nor his inner demon fox tried to maim each other. He still had no idea who would emerge as a victor then in that case.

I don't, Kurama said lightly. He can rot in hell with the rest of his damned clan for all I care, but he is your mate. He needs to know about his. If you don't do it for yourself, then do it for me, because I don't want to deal with your whiny arse when the heat reaches its pitch. And aren't you all about helping others, brat?

"Oh, don't worry, I won't offend your sensibilities," Naruto snarked back. "I'm not going to bother Sasuke with this, end of story, geez!"

Kurama shrugged and closed his eyes. Keep your refusal in mind when you inevitably start regretting your idiocy, he drawled.

"Dick," Naruto muttered darkly and escaped from their shared space.

He could do this just fine on his own! He didn't need Sasuke to help him with this, god damn it!


He needed Sasuke.

No ifs or buts about it, he needed his Alpha with him. The burning sensation which had crept up a while ago was only growing worse instead of abating like Naruto had hoped. Not even pressing one cool pillow after the next against his face did anything to cool him down. He had already stripped down to just his underwear; sweat turning his skin uncomfortably slick in certain places and clammy in others.

His ears rang with a weird persistent buzzing noise and the cotton feeling in his head had only increased, leaving him to stare dazed up at the ceiling, mourning the fact that he was all alone. Fuck, he should have called for Sasuke, why hadn't he done that? Sasuke would know how to make him feel better, the bastard always knew how to do that, it wouldn't be any different this time.

But Sasuke wasn't here, would be away for the gods knew how long still, and Naruto was left to work through his first heat on his own, feeling miserable as hell.

If Kurama had some choice words to say about his lamenting, Naruto was too distracted, too dazed to take notice of it.

All he could do was roll around in his half-finished nest, chasing after the coolness of the blankets while trying to ignore the throbbing in his nether regions. Perhaps if he ignored it long enough, it would go away on its own. He could take matters in own hands, of course – literally in this case – but that only reminded him of the fact that Sasuke wasn't here with him. Any spark of pleasure that might have been gained from taking care of himself was completely extinguished every time he recalled that the Alpha was missing.

Which was approximately every five seconds.

Why had Gaara even listened to him when he told him not to contact Sasuke?! The Kazekage had only just finished explaining what a heat was, who had considered Naruto capable enough of making such huge decisions on his own? Shouldn't it have been obvious that he had had no idea what the hell he had been saying when he refused to contact Sasuke?

With a groan he rolled onto his back, lying star fished in the poorly constructed nest. Even his nest was a mess, how could anyone expect him to be able to take care of …

The door opened.

Pupils shrank when blue eyes landed on the person looming in the doorway.

Alpha. Mate. Sasuke.

The End


AN2: Now before you curse me out for ending it at this point, I have a good reason for that. One, it's because I have the perfect title in mind for the next part (if you're interested in the next part that is) and two, I need your input, guys! Instinct and Craving were written in Naruto's pov, while Urge and Longing were in Sasuke's pov. So my question for you guys is: which pov would you prefer the next part (Completion) to be in? Sasuke's or Naruto's? I can write either of them, but this time I leave it up to you guys :) So if you're interested in an extra part, please let me know which pov you prefer!

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.