Chapter 8
Summary:
More fluff before it gets a little more dark and angsty!
I don't want to give away too much, but if you are easily triggered, it may be best to stay away. It's really not very much, but I just wanted to have a warning.
I will be sure to put a brief summary of what happened in the beginning of the next chapter so you can keep up if you need to skip this one!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"I still can't believe Doctor Proper over here landed himself a stripper" Kiba laughed out at the bar.
They had all stayed past closing, each of them used to late nights and enjoying their conversation too much to leave after last call.
"I was starting to believe all of the nurses that thought you were gay until you went on a two week whoring spree with all of them" Sakura laughed out, definitely more than just tipsy at this point.
She had joined them after her shift ended around eleven, and her and Ino hadn't been off of each other for more than a few seconds since.
Naruto caught the sudden stiffness in Sasuke's posture and rubbed circles into his ankles that were resting in his lap to assure him that he was his.
Naruto was drunk, very drunk, but not drunk enough to miss the subtle ques of his mate.
Kiba and Ino were like men on a mission with how many shots they shoved his way. Ino said that if she couldn't celebrate Sasuke's retirement with Sasuke himself, that Naruto was responsible for taking on the liver damage and Kiba just liked to get his friends beligerantly drunk so that he wasn't the only one nursing a hangover the next day.
"They all thought I was gay?" Naruto asked, surprising himself with his lack of slurring.
He purposely brushed over the sexcapade comment in hopes that Sakura wouldn't bring it up again. It didn't seem like a big deal to anyone with liquor coursing through their system, but Sasuke did not fall into that category at the moment.
"Well yeah, aren't you? You literally had every unmated omega and beta in that hospital throwing themselves at you and you never did anything about it. Shit, I'm sure there was some that were mated that wanted a crack at you. That, and now you're with Sasuke" she said after a hiccup.
Everyone let out a laugh, minus Sasuke. If you didn't know Naruto all that well before, he could see why people might think that. He was rather particular with his partners and never liked to just sleep around. At least, he hadn't until he was going out of his mind because the person that held his mark and carried his child seemed to want nothing to do with him.
"I'm not gay. I just so happen to love Sasuke. It wasn't expected, he literally fell into my lap" he said with a shrug, but being sure to squeeze Sasuke's ankles so that he would stop glaring at the floor.
Sasuke looked up and melted when he saw Naruto's beautiful blue eyes looking at him with nothing but adoration.
What have I allowed this idiot to do to me?
"You seem pretty gay to me" Sasuke said dryly, needing to show himself that he was still very much the bitch that he was known for being.
Naruto just gaped at Sasuke, because what the hell!? They obviously all knew that they had sex, but there was a reason that Kiba always teased him about being 'Doctor Proper'. He was fairly modest about discussing his sex life.
Everyone erupted into a drunken fit of laughter at Naruto's expense while Sasuke just snickered and gave Naruto the most unconvincing apologetic look that he'd ever seen.
"So is it true what they say about prime alphas?" Sakura asked with a devilish grin, knowing that Naruto was mortified.
"Don't answer that" Naruto practically begged. His face was almost as red as it was after three rounds in the bedroom and Sasuke was tempted to take pity on the poor bastard.
But only tempted.
Sasuke nodded proudly and held his hands a sizeable distance apart right before Naruto reached forward and lightly swatted his hands down.
Sakura and Ino were just cracking up as Neji and Kiba made sounds of disgust, really not needing to know that much about their friend.
"We were right, Temari! He is hung like a horse!" Ino shouted out behind her towards where Shikamaru and Temari had disappeared to.
When Naruto heard a disembodied shout of "I knew it!" come from the direction of the dressing rooms, he just wished that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.
There was another round of laughter before Sasuke stepped in to offer a distraction so that Naruto wouldn't pass out from how warm his face looked.
"She is going to make him her bitch. Sure your man can handle her?" Sasuke asked Kiba and Neji.
"Good, that's the only way he'll ever get off his ass and do anything" Neji chuckled.
He was tired of always eating off of paper plates whenever they went to Shika's house because the fucker was too lazy to wash a damn dish.
"Alright, just don't come crying to us when he is completely whipped" Ino said as she pulled Sakura into her side.
Sasuke took in the sight around him and smiled.
Before he had met Naruto the only people he could stand were Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Haku, Temari, his mother, and sometimes his brother and cousin. Because of Naruto he could add six more people to that very short list, and soon enough there would be seven.
He had deluded himself into thinking that he hadn't been lonely, but having experienced this, he knew that he had been very lonely.
But not anymore.
-
"How exactly are you planning to get him up your stairs!?" Ino asked as she witnessed Kiba, Neji, and Shikamaru struggling to drag Naruto to Sasuke's car.
"Come on, aren't alphas supposed to be big and strong?" Sasuke teased from where he was leaned against his car.
"He's like two hundred and fifty pounds of dead weight right now" Shikamaru grunted as he actually put in some effort.
"Well you guys are the ones who got him like this, so I can't say I'm all that sorry" Sasuke said with a smirk as he crossed his arms.
"Ino is just as much to blame!" Kiba complained as he struggled to keep his grip on Naruto's left side.
"Never send a man to do a woman's job" she tutted playfully as she walked up from beside Sasuke.
"Go and help them up top, and for God's sake stop letting his head just hang!" She said as she shooed Neji away from Naruto's legs and took his place.
She lifted Naruto's muscular and ridiculously long legs with laughable ease and started walking backwards towards the passenger side of Sasuke's coupe.
All three of the male alphas just looked dumbstruck as the task became much less difficult as they stuffed the large blonde in the car.
"And with heels on" she said as she checked her nails to make sure none had chipped, looking like she hadn't even broken a sweat.
All three of the men looked rather embarrassed at having been upshowed so mercilessly as Sasuke, Ino, Sakura, and Temari laughed.
"Thank you for getting him trashed" Sasuke said dryly as he got into the driver's seat.
"Anytime!" Kiba yelled back as the three women all gave Sasuke a goodbye kiss on his cheek through the open window.
Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's idiotic, but admitably entertaining friend before pulling out onto the road to head home.
-
"Sasuke, where the hell is your mate?" Sakura asked as he was finishing up a drink for a customer.
This had become their new normal. Almost everyday after work Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, and Naruto would stop by the club to chat for at least a little while.
Neji cut out early when Hinata was working, not wanting to scar himself by having to see his cousin at a strip club.
The club had gotten even more busy lately, so the double bar was open all the time, not just on the weekends. Sasuke had started tending bar with Temari and Ino a few weeks ago to keep up with the crowd.
"How should I know, you probably see him more than I do" Sasuke said with a shrug from down the bar as he began working on another drink.
"I thought he said he was cutting out early since he wasn't scheduled in the OR this afternoon?" She asked Neji.
"He did. Pretty sure he left with your brother, Sasuke" Neji answered.
Sasuke wouldn't let himself get worried over the fact that he hadn't heard from Naruto in a little over three hours, but he definitely wouldn't say that he was at ease. The fact that he was with Itachi just made it worse.
He wouldn't kill the idiot, would he?
The only time Naruto didn't call or text him was when he was in surgery, and he did say that he would meet everyone at the club once he finished something up, whatever the hell that meant.
He was almost twenty weeks pregnant, and as his pregnancy progressed, he wanted to be around Naruto more and more. His Uchiha pride made this rather difficult for him to convey, but luckily Naruto was just as bad and was always all over Sasuke.
He was finally sporting a small baby bump and wanted nothing more than for his mate by his side when people would realize that he was pregnant.
He went to check his phone to see if Naruto had responded to him when he noticed that his keys were no longer next to his phone on the counter.
"Hey Temari, have you seen my keys?" He asked as he began patting his pockets incase he had picked them up and just forgotten about it.
"I think Ino grabbed them thinking they were hers" she responded from down the bar, Shikamaru just staring at her with what could only be described as heart eyes.
How cute.
He grimaced a little at how soft he had become. A few months ago he would have rolled his eyes, but now he was internally cooing.
Damn you, Uzumaki!
"Ino drives a Cadilac, why the hell would she think my keys were hers?" He asked, only receiving a shrug in response.
He walked down to where Ino was at the other side of the bar.
"Why did you take my keys?" He asked as he held his hand out for her to give them back.
He didn't know what the hell she was up to, but the overly innocent look that she shot his way when she said "I don't know what you're talking about" told him that it couldn't be good.
Ino up to something was never a good thing for Sasuke.
"Where are my keys, Ino?" He gritted out.
"I would assume in your car" she teased as she whisked herself away back to the customers crowding her section of the bar.
Why the fuck would they be in my car when im not driv- Oh fuck!
He knew Ino well enough to guess that she was just messing with him, but just to be sure, he ran out to the back parking lot to check on his car.
He ignored all of the hellos from the dancers as he made his way through the dressing rooms to the back door.
He threw it open he saw no sign of his beloved Mercedes that he had left in the spot right outside of the door.
He tossed his head back and groaned before storming back into the front of the building.
When he finally got back to the bar he glared at Ino.
"Alright, where is it?" He asked.
"Where is what, love?" She asked innocently.
"My fucking car" he answered, quickly losing his patience. He was not fond of pranks or surprises.
"Oh that, yeah I don't know" she said with a smirk before turning around and tending to the customers once again.
He grit his teeth and went back to where he left his phone to dial Naruto, but the blonde walked in before he could press the green button to send the call.
Itachi was trailing in behind him, looking amusingly uncomfortable, and Naruto looked smug. That was a look that Sasuke rarely ever saw on his mate's face outside of the bedroom. Now he was really on edge.
"You took my car, didn't you?" Sasuke deadpanned as his mate and his brother approached their coworkers at the bar.
"Sorry about that. I asked Ino to snag these for me" he said as he fished the keys out of his pocket and dropped them into Sasuke's waiting hand.
"And why exactly did you need my car?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Its a surprise" Naruto answered as he leaned over the bartop and gave Sasuke a peck on the lips.
"I hate suprises" Sasuke grumbled as Naruto sat down next to Sakura.
"Well, let's hope that this is different" Naruto said as he held out his hand for Sasuke to take.
When Sasuke just stared at it, Naruto raised his eyebrows and huffed.
Sasuke knew he was safe from whatever Naruto was up to so long as he stayed behind the bar. With their group of friends becoming increasingly more comfortable at the club, Ino has had to yell at the health care workers for going behind the bar during business hours a few times, mostly Kiba.
"Ino, he's being difficult" he whined.
"Let me and Temari finish up with these customers and we'll be right there" she said.
Naruto nodded and sat back down with a smirk like he had somehow won something.
"What the hell did you do?" Sasuke asked again.
"I told you, its a suprise" he said.
"A surprise that you needed my brother for?"
"Wouldn't be a surprise anymore if you would've just followed me" Naruto said with his signature toothy grin as he rested his elbow on the bartop and put his chin in his hand.
Sasuke just huffed and eyed the blonde skeptically.
He really hated surprises.
He was just about to give in when he felt a shove at his shoulders.
"Move that cute little ass of yours" Ino said as her and Temari guided him out from behind the bar.
Sasuke was reminded of when he was younger and he would be about to start on a chore, but his mother would remind him to do the chore and all of a sudden he would refuse to do said task.
Now that he was being forced out, he decided to be a bit of a brat and dug his heels down as much as possible to resist the forced exit.
"What're you, a child?" Naruto asked with a laugh at the sight of Sasuke pouting with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Tell me what the hell is going on" Sasuke said, surprisingly without stomping his foot to complete the picture.
"You could've made this easy" Naruto said with a fond smile as he nodded at Itachi, apparently signaling him to grab Sasuke's legs as Naruto hooked his arms under Sasuke's. They lifted him like a ragdoll and started back towards the front door.
Sasuke stopped fighting to avoid any further embarrassment and was finally set down when the front door to the club was opened by Ino.
Sasuke realigned his clothes and grumbled under his breath as their small group of friends filed out of the building to join them.
"No fucking way! I've been your friend for years, man! Where's mine!?" Kiba shouted out.
Sasuke saw the impressed look on Neji's face and the wide eyes on Sakura, wondering what the hell their deal was.
He finally turned around and saw that they were just in the parking lot.
He saw two SUVs parked like assholes, damn near blocking the entrance, but then he saw that one of them had a ridiculously oversized black bow on it.
Sasuke raised his brow and studied the vehicles a little more closely.
There was a white GMC that was massive, parked right next to a black Escalade.
It didn't take a genius to figure it out.
Sasuke turned around to see Naruto holding out a key fob with the Cadilac logo on it, smiling so wide that his eyes were almost forced closed.
Naruto had expected Sasuke to be somewhat reserved, never being one for showing a lot of emotion, but what he didn't expect was for the omega to seem mad.
"You traded in my car?" He grit out.
As impractical as he knew it would be with a baby, he still loved his car. It was his first big purchase that he made one hundred percent on his own. He had every right to decide when he got rid of it.
Naruto's eyes went wide.
"What? No! I-I just picked it up and took it to your apartment so that you could drive this home. I bought them. I know how much you like your Mercedes" Naruto answered as he nervously waved the fob at Sasuke.
Of course the fucker wouldn't need to do a trade in to buy a luxury SUV. I really should ask to see his damn account balance!
Sasuke relaxed a bit, still skeptical at accepting such an austentatious gift.
Ah, fuck it. I'm gonna have to push out his kid.
Sasuke took the fob and clicked the button for it to unlock, seeing the headlights flash as the 'click' was heard.
Sasuke opened the door and was fairly impressed with Naruto's selection. The interior was all black and it was all very pretty, something Sasuke would have even chosen for himself.
"Holy shit, Sasuke. If you don't marry him, I will" Ino said as she ran her fingers over the leather of the passenger seat.
He hadn't even noticed his friends had opened the other doors and were also inspecting the car.
Sasuke felt his cheeks warm at the the thought of marrying Naruto.
He literally never thought he'd ever get married, but then again, he never saw himself having children either. Yet here he was, almost five months pregnant.
"Well isn't that adorable. She's already got her own little setup back here" Temari squealed from the back seat, pulling Sasuke out of his thoughts.
Sasuke walked around to the back to see what she was talking about, and at first he thought that she had been referring to the screens on the back of the head rests for movies. He quickly realized that she was not focused on the screens.
Behind the passenger seat was a black carseat with pink accents and a mirror on the headrest so that Sasuke would have a view of his daughter while driving.
Sasuke felt a warmth creeping up to his face. Naruto had really went out and bought him the perfect car and thought about everything, even down to the mounted toy hanging from the carseat's handle.
"Holy shit, Sasuke! You could fit like twenty bodies back here!" Kiba yelled as he shot his head up from behind the seats as he inspected the back, effectively killing Sasuke's brief, sappy moment.
"Then it'd be wise of you to not piss me off" he deadpanned before walking over to where Naruto and Itachi were still standing by the door.
"You don't want to go and see my new toy?" Sasuke asked Itachi as he gestured to his new car and his friends that were inspecting both cars in awe.
"Who do you think drove it here?" He asked with an amused smirk.
"And what's the verdict?" Sasuke asked.
"I just might want one now" he answered.
Sasuke just nodded, knowing that his brother was critical of everything. If it managed to get Itachi's stamp of approval, Sasuke was sure he would be quite happy with it.
He turned towards his mate, noticing that his smile wasn't quite as big as it had been when they first came outside.
He could sense his alphas nervousness, wanting nothing more than to sooth him.
Itachi took the hint and stepped over towards the Escalade, going straight to where Ino was, seeing as how she was the only one that he really knew.
"So do you like it?" Naruto asked, still on edge from Sasuke's initial reaction.
"I do. Its amazing, thank you" Sasuke answered as he stood on the tips of his toes to wrap his arms around Naruto's neck.
Naruto instantly relaxed and leaned down for a chaste kiss that Sasuke tried to deepen before Naruto pulled away.
"You're absolutely sure? I can take it back if you don't like it and you can choose something else. I just wanted to surprise you. I picked this model out a week ago, and it just got in today, so I took Itachi with me to get his opinion" Naruto rambled.
"Naruto, I love it. Trust me, if I didn't like it, I would definitely tell you" Sasuke said as he tilted his head up for another kiss.
He got the slightly deeper kiss that he had originally wanted and briefly pulled away to whisper, "Think the back is big enough for you to fuck me in?"
He physically felt Naruto shiver and smirked at how easy it was to rile the alpha up.
"Don't do that while your brother is twenty feet away from us" Naruto groaned.
"Fine. I guess we'll just have to find out another time" Sasuke teased.
Naruto just shot him a look that read 'have mercy'.
"I'm just glad it isn't a bright orange minivan" Sasuke said with a snicker, giving up on teasing the helpless alpha.
"I thought about it, but I remembered you threatening bodily harm if I ever suggested a van" Naruto replied as he took another set of keys out of his pocket.
"Want to go see mine?" He asked like an eager little kid.
Sasuke fondly rolled his eyes as he started walking towards the white Yukon.
"Mine is prettier" Sasuke said proudly as he got into the passenger seat while Naruto climbed into the driver's.
Its not that Naruto's car wasn't nice, it just wasn't particularly Sasuke's taste. The seats were tan leather, and the dash was that tortoise shell type of design.
"Everything about you is prettier" Naruto said as he gave Sasuke a sappy look.
Sasuke groaned at the fact that he wasn't disgusted by it.
"How much are these payments?" Sasuke asked as he took in the leather interior and all of the buttons that lined the dash.
There was no way that these cars weren't brand new, and they definitely weren't the base models either. While he and Naruto were far from finically strained, Sasuke was still good with money. He very much doubted that they would be paying any less than one thousand a month for the next few years.
"There aren't any" Naruto answered simply, like he didn't just imply that he had paid close to two hundred grand for the cars like it was nothing.
Sasuke's family was absolutely loaded, and even they were more careful than that usually.
"How much fucking money do you make!?" Sasuke asked, irritated at not really knowing.
Its not like it really mattered all that much, but Naruto always avoided it anytime the question came up, even though Sasuke had told him what he made.
Sasuke was beginning to think he was a drug kingpin or something. There was just no way a doctor as young as Naruto could be this wealthy when he didn't come from money.
"Enough" Naruto said with a shrug and a smile.
Naruto wasn't one to boast, and he normally wasn't so extravagant when it came to gifts for his past girlfriends, but he couldn't resist the urge to spoil his omega.
Naruto was about to open his mouth to respond, probably with another infuriatingly vague answer when Ino's voice was heard at the back window.
"He has one too! How cute!" Ino said as she swung the door open, not caring that she could've been ruining a moment.
"Seeing cute shit like this just makes me want my neice here now!" She said as she saw the eyesore that was the bright orange car seat in the backseat of Naruto's new car.
"You mean my neice" Itachi said as he stood behind her.
Sasuke let out a chuckle.
Itachi and Ino got on just fine, but she was one of the few people outside of their family that he actually threw jabs at as a joke. Maybe it was because they were both impossibly bullheaded.
"Back off, alpha Sasuke" she teased as she pointed a manicured finger at Itachi's chest.
Sasuke saw his brother's scowl and had to hold back a laugh. Ino always called him that when she wanted to get under his skin, seeing as how the two brothers looked fairly alike.
Itachi just wasn't used to being compared to anyone, it was always Sasuke being compared to the golden boy of the Uchihas, so it always irked Itachi a little, but Sasuke loved it.
"Calm down, you can fight over her when she is actually here" Sasuke said as he stepped out of the car, Naruto following.
"Come on, 'Tachi. Let's go back inside. Haku started working here again" Sasuke said as he grabbed his brother's arm, winking and started dragging him back into the building before he could think of an excuse to leave.
-
"Hey babe, one of your old regulars is at the bar asking about you" Ino said as she walked into the back office where Sasuke was typing up the schedules the girls had set for themselves for next week.
"Which one?" Sasuke asked.
He was just over five months pregnant, and most of his former customers knew he was pregnant by now. Hell any customer in here could guess; he was absolutely drenched in the scent of pregnancy.
"The creepy snake one that always asks you to run off with him" she answered with a visible shudder for good measure.
Oh fucking great.
"Orochimaru" was all Sasuke answered, sounding just as enthused as he felt.
Orochimaru was an alpha that used to be here every night that Sasuke worked, always getting private dances. It got to the point where Sasuke had to limit him to three a night.
The guy was obsessed with him and always tried to get handsy and asked to take Sasuke to a room.
The only reason Sasuke tolerated the creep was because he tipped very well.
When he had mentioned that he would be gone for a few months on business, Sasuke was more than relieved, and Naruto just so happened to walk in a week later.
"I can just tell him you quit" she offered, remembering how weird the guy got around Sasuke.
"Nah, I'll go tell him I don't dance anymore, I'm sure he can smell me from out there and knows I'm here. Besides, if he sees that I'm pregnant, maybe he'll stop coming in. He always gives Hinata the creeps because he won't shut up about her eyes" Sasuke said with a sigh as he pushed himself up.
He pulled his shirt a little tighter around his stomach, making sure that his growing bump was visible.
Sasuke made his way to the bar and spotted the long black hair of the skeevy alpha.
"My ears were burning" he said, only with half the charm he would've used back when he was dancing. He wanted it clear that he was not interested in a prolonged conversation.
Sasuke saw the alpha straighten up and turn around slowly, looking rather angry when he locked his eyes on his favorite exotic dancer.
He had smelled the familiar, yet different, scent as soon as Sasuke had approached him. He was not happy.
"So I leave for a measly five months and you go and find another alpha?" he said, trying to mask his anger with a teasing tone and failing.
Sasuke didn't like the reptile insuating that Orochimaru was ever anything close to his alpha in the first place.
"Seems so" was all Sasuke said as he leaned on the bar next to the alpha.
"How... unfortunate. Let's just hope he keeps a better eye on his toys than I did" Orochimaru said in an ominous tone as he eyed Sasuke up and down and licked his lips with a disgustingly long tongue.
Sasuke felt his eye twitch in irritation. He was no ones toy.
Orochimaru stretched out his arm and rested his hand on Sasuke's hip, briefly dragging his cold fingers over Sasuke's protruding stomach.
He went rigid and smacked the hand away.
The last thing he wanted was some creep touching his pregnant stomach.
He put his hands on the bar and leaned into the alpha's personal space, showing him that he was not even close to intimidated.
He was about to make a snide remark about his alpha when Ino stepped in.
"Beat it" was all she said as she sent off alpha waves so strong that a few of the dancers around the main floor flinched.
She would never tell Sasuke, but Naruto had asked her to keep an eye on Sasuke while he was at work. Its not that he didn't have faith in Sasuke's abilities to handle himself, he just didn't trust most other alphas. He didn't want to take any chances with his mate and unborn daughter.
There were just some things an alpha couldn't help, and the urge to protect their family was one of them.
Orochimaru always gave Ino the creeps, so she just wanted him away from her friend as soon humanly possible.
"Excuse me? Is that any way to speak to a customer?" He said as he leered at Sasuke like he was some kind of meal.
"No, but you are no longer a customer. From now on you won't be welcome here. Goodbye" she said in an aggressive tone, practically growling at the man.
She knew that if Naruto were here, Orochimaru would probably be missing a hand right about now.
"Very well, its not like my prize is up for grabs... At the moment" he said while looking at Sasuke. He had a smirk on his face that made Sasuke's skin crawl.
Ino stepped in front of the omega and made eye contact with Kisame, signaling for him to intervene.
As the large bouncer began making his way over, Orochimaru stood, looking surprisingly composed for a man who was in the process of being eighty sixed.
"No need for your goon. I'll be going" he said as he stepped around Ino.
On his way past them he made sure to whisper, "I'll be seeing you, Sasuke" loud enough for both Ino and Sasuke to hear.
Sasuke and Ino both stiffened.
Sasuke had never told the alpha his name.
-
Sasuke had been a little unnerved at Orochimaru knowing his name, but he just brushed it off as best he could and tried to get on with his day.
Maybe the guy knows of my family. Lots of people know of the Uchihas. Maybe he guessed based off of the fact that I look just like mother?
He was once again in the office trying to focus on next weeks drink order, but he was anxious and just wanted to get home to where Naruto probably was.
He had been on call for the last three days and as hard as it was for both of them, he had stayed in the on call rooms at the hospital. Sasuke hoped that he was able to finish up before nine like he'd planned.
He huffed and ran his fingers through his hair, realizing that he would be of little to no use right now.
He had gone three days without sex, and while that might not seem like too long to most people, it was a long time for Naruto and Sasuke.
He made sure that he had his phone, wallet, and keys before heading to the bar.
"I'm gonna head out for the night" he said to Ino.
"You alright?" Ino asked skeptically.
She had picked up on the anxious quality to Sasuke's scent since she had bounced the snake like alpha.
"Yeah, I just want dick" Sasuke deadpaned, hoping that she would buy the half truth.
"Alright" she said, dragging the word out to show that she didn't believe him, but wouldn't press him any further.
"Ino told us about the guy from earlier. You want one of us to walk you to your car, Sasuke?" Kiba asked from beside Shikamaru at the bar.
"Down boy, I don't need a guard dog" he teased. "But thank you, Kiba" he tacked on as he pressed a kiss to his and Shikamaru's cheeks before heading to the back parking lot.
He was about to hoist himself up into his Escalade when someone lightly tugged at his wrist, causing him to step back down.
The familiar feeling of his skin crawling and the acrid scent invading his nose told Sasuke exactly who it was.
"I wouldn't do that" was all Sasuke warned as he snatched his wrist out of the ice cold grip, not even turning to look at the man.
"Don't be like that. I must admit that I found you far more appealing before you got knocked up, but that doesn't mean I'm completely deterred" Orochimaru whispered into his ear as he crowded the omega's back.
"You really think this is wise?" Sasuke gritted out, his hand instinctively coming up to rest on his stomach.
Had this happened before Sasuke was pregnant, he would have hit the alpha the second he dared to touch him, but now he had to be even more weary of retaliation.
"I was just curious as to what alpha managed to snag you up when I've been trying for almost two years" he replied, almost innocently.
Sasuke set his jaw, getting more uncomfortable each second.
He really hoped that him being prime meant that his scent of distress would be strong enough to reach his friends inside the club.
Sasuke had still yet to turn around, refusing to let the alpha see the worry in his usually blank eyes.
"Ever considered that I'm just not interested?" Sasuke answered.
He stiffened even more when he felt the alpha start to trail his fingers along his neck.
"So firey. Bet you didn't even let him mark you" he whispered right against Sasuke's ear.
With how strong the scent of his pregnancy was, it was overpowering the smell of him being mated.
"Well would you look at that" Orochimaru said in mock surprise when his fingers had gotten down to the collar of Sasuke's shirt and he pulled on it to reveal Naruto's mark.
Sasuke was shaking at this point. He couldn't tell if it was out of fear or anger.
Sasuke snapped and threw his elbow backwards, feeling it connect with impressive force for an omega. He immediately made a move to get back inside the club, but apparently the alpha had been stronger than he appeared.
He recovered almost instantly and had Sasuke's chest fully pressed against his car before the omega could entirely process what had happened.
"If you want to be with whoever it is, there is really only one thing that can be done. This should take care of that" Orochimaru sneered as he roughly yanked the neck of Sasuke's shirt to the side and clamped his teeth down right on top of Naruto's mark.
Sasuke instantly felt a burning pain radiating through his body and shrieked. He felt nauseous, his body trying to reject the forced mark.
"What the fuck!?" Sasuke heard a deep voice yell.
He heard shouting and scuffling, but his head was being split open by the headache that started to hit him so suddenly. His ears were ringing and his eyes were having a hard time focusing.
He could hear some grunts, and felt himself being grabbed as he sagged against his car, barely registering Ino's scent as she frantically screamed for him to respond.
He felt his head softly fall back against an arm before his vision was completely blurred.
-
"Hey Shika, I thought you were off until Wednesday?" Naruto asked, confused to see his friend back at the hospital after he had just finished his mandatory on call rotation for the ER yesterday.
Naruto was so tired that it took him a few moments to realize that Shikamaru wasn't in his coat or scrubs, and the clothes that he was wearing had some blood smeared on them.
The blonde looked up and saw the worried look on his friend's face and instantly paled.
He had been in surgery for the last three hours, but he had gotten really antsy about an hour ago. He just had a sinking feeling in his gut and all he wanted to do was get home to Sasuke.
He had been on his way to his office to grab his bag when he ran into Shikamaru.
He had a bad feeling.
"What happened to you?" Naruto asked when Shikamaru just stood there, not really knowing how to mention it to Naruto without giving him into cardiac arrest.
"There was an incident at the club tonight" was Shikamaru's annoyingly vague response.
"Is Sasuke alright?" Naruto asked, already feeling his heart rate rise.
"We think so. We had to bring him in so that Itachi could check" he said, trying his best to ease his friend's panic, but he didn't really have any answers other than 'he is currently alive'.
"The baby? Is the baby okay? Where is he!?" Naruto asked, starting on his way back to the emergency room.
"Naruto, hold on. Itachi asked me to come make sure that you didn't leave yet. He still needs a minute to make sure Sasuke and the baby are okay" Shikamaru said as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder to try and make him still.
"What happened!?" Naruto growled out as he turned to face Shikamaru.
The spiky haired doctor couldn't deny that he was scared right now. He had never seen Naruto mad, and he was fuming at that moment, demanding answers with an alpha tone that would make even the strongest of alphas comply.
"Some guy, one of Sasuke's old customers, cornered him in the back parking lot when he was leaving. He- he marked him. We could smell the fear in his scent and caught him right as he did it. Kiba and Ino beat the shit out of him while Sakura and I took Sasuke in. Kiba is talking to the cops with Ino and Temari right now, but they'll be here when they're done" he explained.
Naruto was feeling a mixture of so many things that it felt impossible to identify anything specific, minus rage. He knew he felt that.
"Where is Sasuke?" Naruto asked again, a frantic plea.
"Itachi said to wait for him in his office and that he'd be there as soon as possible" Shikamaru answered.
Naruto nodded and knew how it had to be. As a surgeon he has had to tell countless family members that no matter how worried they were, that they needed to back off and let him do his job for the sake of the patient.
That was what he needed to do, and he hated it.
"Can you, uh, come with? You were there and I'm sure I'll have more questions and so will Itachi" Naruto asked nervously.
He genuinely did have more questions, probably hundreds that Shikamaru had no way of answering, but he just didn't want to be alone.
Shikamaru is someone that Naruto would consider his closest friend, and if he was about to receive the news of his nightmares, he didn't think he could possibly do it alone.
"Yeah, man. Of course" Shikamaru said as he gripped Naruto's shoulder again before they started towards Irachi's office together.
-
They had only been in the office for ten, fifteen minutes tops, but it literally felt like hours.
Naruto had been pacing as Shikamaru sat in one of the chairs and bounced his leg anxiously.
If Naruto wasn't two seconds away from going on a rampage he would have been touched by the fact that his disinterested friend cared enough for him and Sasuke to actually be worried.
Their heads snapped up when they heard the doorknob turn.
Itachi walked in with his normal, passive face.
That's a good thing, right!? He would have to be upset if something really bad happened! Or maybe he just doesn't ever show emotion!? Fuck, fuck, FU-
"He and the baby are okay" Itachi said as soon as he saw how frantic Naruto looked.
Naruto let out a loud sigh of relief and made his way to the door.
"Thank God. Which room is he in?" He asked.
"Hold on. I said they're okay, and they are as far as I can tell for now, but there are things you need to be made aware of" Itachi said as he threw himself down into the chair behind his desk.
"Ita-" Naruto started to growl out as a warning to not keep him from his mate.
"Naruto, sit down. Going in there now could just make things worse for you, Sasuke, and your daughter" Itachi said in a stern but smooth tone.
Naruto reluctantly complied, sitting in the chair next to Shikamaru with a huff.
"What is going on?" He growled.
Itachi would not have taken such disrespect lightly under normal circumstances, but he understood why Naruto was acting like a prick.
"We confirmed that he was marked. Right on top of yours, Naruto" Itachi started.
He raised a warning brow at Naruto when he noticed his knuckles going white from clenching his fists.
"You need to stay as calm as possible for Sasuke's sake" he said as a warning.
When Naruto took a few calming breaths and nodded, showing that he would try, Itachi continued.
"He may have marked Sasuke, but you are his mate and his body knows this, so his body is trying to reject the mark. He is doing okay at the moment, but that is because he had to be sedated shortly after he was brought in. Rejecting a mark is going to take a toll on him. As if his omega hormones weren't everywhere before, they will be even worse now".
Naruto felt an aching in his chest at the thought of his mate in distress.
"He may be different" Itachi said gently.
"Different how?" Naruto asked.
"Well, things like this don't happen often, but when they have, it isn't uncommon for the omega to be... agitated" Itachi tried to explain gently.
"Sasuke is always agitated" Naruto responded dumbly.
Itachi let out a somber huff in agreement.
"It'll probably be worse. I called Shisui since he specializes in the biology behind omegas and alphas, and he said that Sasuke's omega will basically be ashamed. His instincts will be too strong for even him to ignore, and they will want to push you away until the forced mark is completely gone. His omega basically doesn't want his alpha to experience the pain of being reminded" Itachi said.
"But that's ridiculous, why the hell would Sasuke be ashamed when it wasn't consensual. There is no way he'd push me away" Naruto said weakly.
If Naruto was being honest with himself, all Sasuke had done for most of their relationship was push him away. Naruto was scared.
"I'm not saying that it is rational, it is just his omega's way of trying to protect you. Alphas are territorial by nature, and being around someone carrying another alpha's mark, consensual or not, has never been easy for an alpha" Itachi responded.
He had thought the exact same as Naruto when he spoke with his cousin, but Shisui broke it down and it made sense.
This was one time where baser instincts just reigned supreme.
"How long will it take?" Naruto grit out, trying to will away the tears he felt welling up in his eyes at the thought of Sasuke wanting nothing to do with him, even if it was temporary.
"Thats where it gets tricky. With Sasuke being prime, his body could reject it and heal much quicker than usual. With you being prime, your mark could overpower the forced one and make it heal faster. That, or his prime instincts could make it much worse out of fear for your prime instincts. Prime alphas and prime omega mating is practically unheard of, so there are no cases of this ever happening to go off of" Itachi said, trying to not sound as hopeless as he felt.
He took a deep breath. The last thing that Naruto needed was for Itachi to freak out too.
"Sasuke doesn't just have his baser omega instincts to worry about though, he is also pregnant. Him being pregnant with your child will cause turmoil with his omega. One part of it will want to cling to you, the other push you as far away as possible. I honestly don't know how it will go" Itachi said with a defeated sigh.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with that!? Every single cenario is a contradiction!" Naruto groaned out, running his hands roughly through his hair out of frustration.
"I know, and I'm sorry that I don't have more solid answers for you. The best that you can do right now is just listen to Sasuke. If he wants you to leave him alone, then you have to leave him alone. If the very next day he wants to be with you, then be with him. Just follow his lead. You need to try and make this as easy as possible on him. I will be monitoring him frequently to ensure that he and the baby are okay. He will also start to see Shisui on a regular basis to check on the progress of the mark and to make sure that Sasuke is doing alright as an omega" Itachi finished with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.
It was an insane amount of information to take in after three days on call. His brain was absolutely fried.
Maybe if there would have been at least one straight forward answer in there he wouldn't feel so useless right now.
"Sakura filled me in on what she could. Do you have anymore information, Dr. Nara?" Itachi asked.
"Not really. Ino told us about the guy freaking Sasuke out earlier, so Kiba offered to walk him to his car, but he said that he was fine. Ino was the one to pick up Sasuke's scent. I had to pull Kiba off of the guy before he killed him. I'm sorry, Naruto" Shikamru said, feeling guilty that they had all been so close while this happened to his best friend's mate.
"Its not your fault" Naruto sighed.
He felt like the world's shittiest alpha for letting this happen. He knew that the only one to blame was the asshole who did it, but his inner alpha kept nagging him with the persistent stream of 'this would have never happened if I had been there'.
"Well, I'm sure the police will want to speak with Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke at some point. Would you like to try and see him before they get here and start asking questions?" Itachi asked, sounding like he didn't think it was the absolute best idea right now.
With there being no guarantee of anything, he figured it was worth a shot. It might be exactly what Sasuke needed.
Naruto nodded wildly. He didn't think he would give a shit about Sasuke not wanting to be around him right now so long as he was able to see that he was okay with his own eyes.
He should've known that was a complete crock of shit.
-
"Remember, he went through pretty much the most traumatic thing possible for an omega, just treat him as normally as possible" Itachi said as he had his hand on the doorknob to the room.
"I got it. I think I know a thing or two about bedside manner at this point" Naruto spit out.
He was getting irritated at all of the delays. He needed to see his mate.
Itachi clearly didn't buy Naruto's confidence, but he opened the door nonetheless.
Itachi walked in first to check on the results of the monitor strapped to Sasuke's stomach.
When Naruto walked in Sasuke instantly perked up, well he tried to. His body still felt heavy from the sedative they'd had to administer when he began screaming for Naruto.
Sasuke tried to breath in his mate's comforting scent, but realized that it didn't seem as familiar as before.
It was no longer the only scent besides his own that clung to him, it didn't feel like a part of him anymore.
Sasuke could smell the fairly well masked bitterness to it.
He's angry. Of course he's angry!
Naruto tried his best to smile at the slight eagerness he'd seen in Sasuke when he stepped through the door, but couldn't help the flicker of a grimace when he smelled the other alpha's scent trying to fight his own.
Naruto's eyes widened when he saw that Sasuke had caught it.
Sasuke instantly turned his head away and refused to look anywhere but the wall.
Fuck!
Sasuke felt like the biggest disappointment of a mate. He felt tainted.
"Hey, hey. Look at me, I'm here. I'm so sorry Sasuke. I'm so sorry I wasn't there" Naruto said as he rushed over to the bed and tried to place his hand on Sasuke's.
Naruto was pretty sure he physically felt his heart break when Sasuke snatched his hand away, completely ignoring the pain from jostling the IV.
"I'm fine" Sasuke grit out.
He should have known. His father had been trying to make him feel like he was damaged goods, just because he was a stripper, since he'd found out.
He had gone most of his life without caring what others thought of him. If you don't care they can't hurt you was always his mindset.
But the idiotic blonde just had to go and make him care.
He knew it was more than just their bond.
Sasuke felt nothing but anger and hatred towards Orochimaru, and they were technically partially bonded at the moment.
If he didn't actually love Naruto, his bond wouldn't have effected him like it had in the beginning.
Naruto was angry that he had been marked, and he couldn't help but feel that he was upset with him.
His walls were back up.
"Sasu-" Naruto had started to plead, but he didn't get more than one syllable out before he was cut off.
"I told you I'm fine. Its not like I'm a stranger to being marked without my permission" Sasuke snapped out.
He was glad he wasn't facing Naruto at that moment. His own eyes went wide at the nasty remark. He felt like he was running on autopilot, his omega doing whatever it could to push Naruto away so he didn't have to suffer like Sasuke was.
Sasuke felt tears welling up in his eyes at the distressed scent that was seeping out of Naruto in strong waves.
"You don't mean that, Sasuke" Naruto said. It sounded more like a question or a plea.
"Don't tell me what I mean. I'm an omega, not an idiot. Just leave" Sasuke demanded.
"I just want to make sure you're okay. I'll give you however much space you need. Just please look at me, Sasuke" Naruto said.
Sasuke took a deep breath a willed himself to look up at his alpha, his inner omega screaming at him that it was a bad idea.
Should have fucking listened.
Naruto looked like he was a few seconds away from crying. His bright smile was nowhere to be seen and his lively blue eyes seemed so much duller than Sasuke knew them to be.
He was in so much pain and Sasuke felt like it was all his fault.
"I'm fine. If you want to give me space then do it. Go and get your things from my house and just leave me alone" Sasuke said, sounding far more convincing than he felt.
He was so angry and torn. His omega was sabotaging the best thing that had ever happened to him and he couldn't do anything about it. He had never been this out of control.
Naruto sucked in a sharp breath and heard the door clicking shut as Itachi left the room.
"Please tell me you don't mean that" Naruto whispered as a few tears fell from those usually overly cheery eyes.
It looked so foreign to see tears on such a happy man's face, it made Sasuke want to take it all back, but his omega wouldn't let him.
"Leave" was all Sasuke said, turning away again and bringing his hand up to his abused scent gland in an attempt to hide the unwelcomed scent clinging to it.
Naruto gathered himself as much as he could, fighting the urge to stay harder than he ever had to fight anything before.
He stood, even if he felt like his legs would tremble and give out the second he got up, and trudged over to the door.
"I love you, Sasuke" he said in a tone that could only be described as desperate.
I love you too, you idiot!
Sasuke wanted to scream the words, but couldn't force himself to move.
All he heard was that dammed click.
Notes:
So I originally had the forced marking as an element for a different A/B/O story in my drafts, but I tweaked it a little to have it fit in here.
Please let me know what you think of the new direction, seeing as how I wasn't expecting it go here.
I always love suggestions!(:
As always, thank you so much for reading!(: