Disclaimer - I do not own anything about Naruto and nore do I receive any money or kickbacks from writing this.
Well this is a hell of a lot later than I wanted it to be... but between getting sick, loosing 4 months worth of data and having to reconstruct it using other peoples data, my work piling up and having most o my team away for a week meaning I have had to pick up the slack (since I'm only an assistant that has been hard), I have barely had any time to myself so I can write, but here it is I hope it's okay.
Please note that I have barely been able to proof read this chapter... again no time... it may also be an extra week or two before the next chapter... Sorry in advance...
Anyway On Wards!
As they walked into the hospital Deidara explained as best he could what they had pieced together and what they thought happened right up to Naruto's disappearance.
"Do you have any actual proof that this Alpha is Menma's father?" she growled after quietly listening to his story, because that's all it was….. A story.
"Why don't you meet him and decide for yourself if he's related to Menma." Deidara whispered as they stopped outside a hospital room several floors up.
Hesitantly Kushina placed her hand on the handle, slowly turning it and opening the door. On the other side the privacy curtain was drawn, blocking anyone from seeing any further into the room.
Tentatively she stepped in and around the curtain as the door clicked shut softly behind her. In the bed was a young raven haired male - almost a splitting image of Menma - hooked up to many machines - even without scenting him he screamed Alpha in an almost primal way. As she let her eyes drift over him she saw that the blanket covering him was connected to a pump that seemed to be pumping liquid nitrogen into it at a fast rate.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked as she walked closer.
"Sasuke is currently in something similar to a drug induced coma or what could also be considered as being under heavy sedation, because he's dying." came an unfamiliar voice as the door that she never heard open, closed again. Turning, Kushina saw a pink haired woman clad in a doctor's coat step around the curtain. "My name is Dr. Haruno Sakura, I may be a Beta, but I'm a leading expert in Alpha's." she bowed.
Kushina bowed back as the doctor came forward and began to check over her patient.
"What's he dieing from?" the redhead asked as she tentatively walked forward and watched the Alpha raven stir, his teeth beginning to chatter and eyes started to creak open.
Before they could open fully, Dr. Haruno - as quick as a flash - adjusted the fluids in his IV and he quickly went quiet again. "He's got the worst case of 'Bond Mate Fever' - BMF for short - I've ever seen. But to my knowledge Sasuke is unmated, right?" she asked, looking over at Deidara. After receiving a curt nod from him she continued. "The symptomes he's exhibiting are normally seen in Alpha's that have been separated from their bonded mate for extended periods of time or after their mate has passed, but since Sasuke technically has no bonded mate it's a very curious situation."
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand why I'm here and what this has to do with my son." Kushina interjected, looking over at Deidara.
"Allow me to demonstrate." the Beta Doctor said, gaining her attention again as she began to walk towards the door, "If you'll follow me please."
Hesitantly Kushina followed, Deidara falling into step beside her. He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they walked down a few halls and into an airlock room. "Thank you for coming." he whispered.
"This is our Alpha Rut coma ward." she explained, "In here we keep all our Alpha patients that have gone into Rut." she pressed a button and the small airlocked room locked and began to pressurize. "Just so you know, no one in this room can actually hurt you."
Kushina looked at her curiously before stepping into the room as the doors opened. The first thing she noticed was how quiet the room was. The only sounds were those of the machine's soft beeps and ventilators breathing for their patients.
The further in she went the more sounds she began to hear. At first it was just a rustle of sheets here and there, then soft growls started to fill her ears. All around her the Alpha's began to react to her Omega presence and with that she began to feel hot as their Rut pheromones started to weigh down on her - although her body no longer reacted to other Alpha's, it didn't mean she couldn't feel the pressure of it when she was surrounded by so many of them in the middle of their cycle.
"These are normal reactions by Alpha's to an Omega's presence, while in their cycle," Dr. Haruno said as she checked over some of them before walking over to the one Alpha in the room that wasn't reacting at all. "And this is the reaction of a 'Soul Mated' Alpha."
"But I thought Alpha's reacted to all Omega's regardless if they were mated or not." Kushina said offhandedly as she gazed down at the elderly Alpha.
"For the most part, this is true." nodded the pink haired Doctor. "Unlike Omega's that once mated will only react to their mate's scent or other Omega's in heat, Alpha's will continue to react to an Omega even when mated, like the ones you see around you." she gestured to the writhing unconscious forms around them.
"But why isn't he reacting?" She pointed to the patient in front of her, noticing the same blanket on him that was on Sasuke.
"After many years of research into unexplained Rut and Heat induced deaths, the medical field has begun to understand that there are in fact two types of matings in the world. One is of a normal mating between the two sub genders." Dr. Haruno gestured around her to some of the patients, before turning and smiling sadly down at the old man in front of her as she took his hand gently in hers. "And the other is of a 'Soul Mated' pair. Unlike normal mates this pair will die without the other."
"He's lost his mate?" Kushina choked.
Dr. Haruno nodded. "To have a Soul Mate means you will never react to another, and to lose them means to lose yourself. His mate passed away a couple of months ago from a heart attack." she said solemnly, "After her passing he fell into a coma from loneliness. All we can do now is make him comfortable as his Rut slowly takes him." at his pained expression she lent over and adjusted his dose till his face went slack again.
"What do you mean?" the red head whispered as she took his other hand and stroked it.
"Without his Soul Mate to quell his Rut the temperature caused by his cycle will continue to rise, till it causes multi organ failure and he dies." she choked at the end.
"How much longer does he have?"
In that moment Kushina's heart clenched as alarms around them began to sing their high pitched wail and the heart monitor connected to the man below her flat lined. Her breath then caught in her lungs unable to let her draw in any air as she gazed down at the elderly Alpha, a soft smile on his laxed face.
Then the doors to the room burst open, several nurses running in and pushing her out of the way as they went to work.
Dr. Haruno gently touched her, breaking her from her trance as she guided her out of the room. "His time is up, he's gone." she whispered as they made their way back to Sasuke's room.
Once there Kushina gazed at the unconscious raven Alpha. 'Was this his fate too?' she questioned herself as her eyes began to sting from unshed tears. With a sniffle she turned to Deidara, "What do you want from me?" she whimpered, her hands coming up to cover her eyes.
"It's not what I want from you, but your son." Deidara answered with melancholy.
"I don't understand, what does any of this have to do with my son? They're not mates!" She growled, baring her teeth at him as her arms fell to her sides and her hands clenched into fists.
Sighing, Dr. Haruno stepped between the two. "I'll put it simply for you." she turned to face the now raging Omega. "We believe your son and Sasuke have formed an incomplete Soul bond and it's that bond that will kill both of them."
"What!? No, that can't be right…. My son is fine." Kushina growled again.
"For now," the Beta nodded, "As you know Alpha's have a Rut once a year, while Omega's have to endure a Heat that lasts three to five days every three months unless…."
"I am an Omega!" Kushina cut her off with a growl, "I don't need a biology lesson in my own sub gender."
Sighing deeply the pink haired Beta continued. "Unless a pregnancy occurs. During and after this time the Omega will not have a Heat for up to a year after the child is born."
"Again, I don't need a biology lesson, just get to your point!"
"Fine," Dr. Haruno huffed. "Let me be blunt with you, when his next Heat finally comes - because I have been informed that he has had a child - and it will come, everything will change. With every Heat without his 'mate' he will get sicker and sicker, till his Heat consumes him, just like the Rut did to that Alpha, just like it's doing to him." she pointed at the unconscious Alpha.
"But…. he's fine." she whimpered, swallowing hard.
"By my estimate you don't have much time left before his Heat's start up again, and when it does, I give him six to nine months before it consumes him. Sasuke doesn't have that long. I give him two, three days max before he dies, and without him…. Your son will die."
"NO!" Kushina screamed, "You have no proof of this! My baby is fine, he's…. He's fine." she trailed off in a whimper, choking on her own breath. "He… he reacted to me… so he can't be Naruto's Soul Mate…."
"Naruto is made of you and your mate," Deidara said gently as he touched Kushina's shoulders, "This means part of your scent is his scent. He was reacting to the part of you that made him."
Her breath caught in her throat again as she bowed her head, "I don't want to believe this!" she shook her head, "I can't believe this…. My baby can't die…. If he does, he'll…. He'll leave Menma all alone…." she sobbed.
"Then help us so we can help you." he whispered.
"But you have no proof." she sobbed again as the first of her tears made their way down her cheeks.
"Pass me the bags containing Naruto's clothes."
Her breath stuttered as she picked up the bags containing the clothes and clutched them to her chest.
"Allow me to show you something." Dr. Haruno said as she pulled out a vial from her pocket. "Can you tell me what this smell is?" she opened the vial and passed it under their noses.
Instantly both of them covered their noses with their hands and scrunched up their faces as a flush began to creep up their necks. "Heat." they both hissed, straight away feeling the effect.
"Right," she nodded, "This is the Heat Pheromone that all Omega's produce." she said as she walked over to Sasuke and placed the vial directly under his nose. After a few calm, unaffected breaths from him she pulled the vial away, capped it and placed it back in her pocket. "As you can see, he doesn't react to Omega Heat Pheromones at all." she put her hand out for the bags in Kushina's hands.
Clutching them tighter to her chest, Kushina shook her head. "Nn.. No…" she murmured, the last shred of her denial refusing to let her believe.
"Please?" Deidara begged as he gently touched her hands gripping the bags.
Slowly she relinquished them, allowing Deidara to pass them over to the Doctor. Opening the first bag containing Menma's clothes just a fraction, she placed it near the Alpha's nose, allowing him to breathe in the scent.
It took barely a moment before his hands and face started to twitch, reacting to the scent.
Pulling the bag away and resealing it, Dr. Haruno looked back at the Omega pair.
Kushina's gaze was fixated on the raven as she watched him begin to quieten again with the absence of the smell.
"Please remember that he's currently heavily sedated."
Nodding the pair continued to gaze at the Alpha as he fell back into a completely peaceful state.
With a deep sigh the pink haired Beta continued. "As you can see, Sasuke reacts to his offspring since they share scents, but when I introduce his mates…." she opened the bag again just a faction, but it was enough for the Alpha to smell at a distance, because before she could even bring it close to his face, his eyes shot open, revealing enraged Alpha red as his hand flew up and grabbed the Doctor's wrist, retching her onto the bed so he could bring the bag and its contents closer to his face.
As she tried to pull her wrist away, his grip on her tightened, claws growing and piercing into her flesh as a rumbling growl vibrated through his chest, "Mine!".
Kushina was petrified, unable to move even a single muscle as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her. She didn't want to acknowledge it, didn't want to admit it…. Because admitting it meant that this Alpha was tied to her baby and if she did, it meant Naruto was in as much danger of dying as this Alpha before her.
With the red headed Omega frozen to the spot, it was up to the blond Omega to save the Doctor. Launching into action he quickly tore the bag open, throwing the garment onto Sasuke's face. This distracted him enough to release the Beta woman and allow her to quickly up his dose to max.
When the drug finally hit his blood stream the Alpha went limp, fingers still desperately gripping the shirt even in his unconscious state.
"Is this enough proof for you?" Dr. Haruno panted as she began to quickly wrap her wrist with a bandage.
"No, no, no, no..." Kushina began to whimper as she shook her head, tears flowing freely down her face. "I don't want my baby to die, I don't want my baby to die!" she screamed.
"Then help us save them." came a new, commanding voice.
Turning, Kushina saw an older version of the raven in the bed staring back at her.
"How?" she whispered.
Comments, Favorites and Follows are more than welcome!
Things are about to get full on... Can you tell?
Again, Sorry in advance... It may be an extra week or two before then next chapter is up.
Well, until next time.