Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: I decided to give Sasunaru month a try in English this year, so here you have it. This is a collection of individual and mostly unrelated drabbles. Both Sasunaru and Narusasu tropes will be included and each chapter will have its own warnings, as well as a tag to specify if it's SN or NS.

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Prompt #7: Living together and by my side (NS)

Warnings: Omegaverse, Alpha Naruto, Omega Sasuke, mentions of courting rituals, Modern AU.

I'm not quite sure if this meets today's prompts (cuz this time I chose the two of them), but I hope you enjoy it.

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Naruto had always been quite messy since he was a child, so when he'd called Iruka and asked to come over to help him out with something, his old teacher wasn't expecting to find his apartment so… so… clean and organized.

His chin almost dropped to the floor at seeing how neat everything was.

"... Should I worry about this?" Iruka asked offhandedly, but kind of baffled at the same time.

"Don't be mean, sensei," Naruto pouted. "What do you think?"

"Well… I'm impressed. Everything's clean and tidy, completely the opposite as it usually is."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," the blond made a face.

"If you say so… Why is your smell so strong here, anyway?"

"It's my room," Naruto said as if it was obvious.

"I know, but it stinks way more than usual. You should open a window to clear it up."

"No, it's fine like this," Naruto refuted, but his cheeks tinted a light pink that made Iruka wonder.

He inspected the blond intently for a couple of seconds, then his eyes drifted to the bedroom, all well put together, and there was also the heavy alpha scent lingering in the air… Iruka connected the dots almost instantly.

"You're making a den."

"Huh?"

"Your room's spotless, there's nothing out of place, everything reeks of you, and you're asking my opinion on it. You're making a den," the older one said matter-of-factly.

The blond alpha felt all his blood rushing to his cheeks.

The same way omegas created their own nests for a variety of reasons, alphas often made dens. Or, at least, that was the name they still called it from centuries ago, when their ancestors used to live in the wild. Now, a den was simply a room. However, since alphas were generally very territorial, it was an extremely private place. Only family or really close people were allowed to enter a den.

And now Naruto seemed to be obsessed with his being decently tidy enough, and he'd even added some details so it would look more interesting, and that only meant he was going to present his den to his intended mate. And it didn't take a genius to guess who was in the blond's mind in this case, considering there was only one person Naruto had his eyes set on.

"Don't say it like that, sounds weird, y'know."

"You're thinking of asking Sasuke to come and check it out?"

The blond scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed, earning a fond smile from his old teacher.

When an alpha presented a den to a prospective mate, which was usually an omega, but also applied to betas and even other alphas in a few cases, it was a clear signal that the alpha wanted to officially court the other person. If said person expressed they liked it, they were accepting the courting. If not, then it was a clear rejection.

"You think he'll like it?" Naruto asked dubiously, which only made Iruka grow even fonder for him.

"You've got nothing to worry about, trust me."

Naruto spent the rest of the day finishing inspecting his room thoroughly. He wanted it to be perfect, there could be nothing out of place. If he messed this up, he wouldn't ever forgive himself.

He thought about buying a couple more decorative cushions, or maybe blankets. Yeah, blankets would be good. Sasuke would surely like it more if there was enough stuff to make a nest, right? But maybe he was thinking too far ahead, he didn't want him to get the wrong idea. Sasuke would probably never speak to him again if he implied something he didn't mean to.

The blond sighed, deciding to take a break. He padded out of his room and into the living room, plopping down on the sofa. He eyed the wall clock, marking three o'clock in the afternoon. He'd invited Sasuke over for dinner, so they would meet in an Italian restaurant at five, because eating Italian food was romantic, right? It was obviously a date, even if they hadn't used that word before.

Sasuke and him had known each other since high school. They couldn't stand each other at the beginning. They were like water and oil, always arguing about something and even throwing punches at each other from time to time. Slowly but surely, and against anyone's wildest guess, they became friends. Naruto didn't take long to realize his thoughts were drawn to Sasuke the majority of the time, and soon he was using every excuse to spend time with him and be by his side. Soon enough, he was yearning for more than what the raven was offering him at the moment.

By the time Naruto had finally realized, he was completely and irrevocably in love with Sasuke. He didn't know if Sasuke felt the same, though, so after some months debating with himself about what to do, he decided to start acting on his feelings slowly. Just baby steps. He began doing things like sending him a good morning and good night text every day, or bringing him his favorite coffee to the college campus every morning, or waiting for him after class ended… Then, he started asking him to hang out more often. Naruto never referred to their meetings as dates, but always insisted to pay and for them to do more stuff together. After the third time, though, Sasuke started demanding him to stop, insisting it made no sense for Naruto to pay every single time when they had always split costs whenever they went out. This triggered a lot of discussions and arguing between them, but at the end, Naruto ended up being the most stubborn one.

He wondered if Sasuke had already taken notice of whatever the blond was trying to do. And well, if he hadn't yet, today there would be no doubt about it. Once Naruto presented him his den, that would be it. Sasuke would have to know Naruto wanted them to stop being just friends and become… something more.

Naruto just hoped it didn't end in an utter disaster.

"So? What'cha think?"

Naruto was staring at Sasuke, trying to hide the little anxious tic of his leg, as the omega's eyes roamed over his bedroom. Naruto hoped he was doing a good job of appearing calm because, in reality, he was dying of nerves.

"I honestly thought your room would be even more disastrous than the mess of a locker you had in high school."

Naruto's face went blank. That wasn't the answer he was looking for.

He kept silent, waiting for the omega to say something else. There was a knot in his throat and the Uchiha was still saying nothing. If Sasuke told him he liked the room, then he would be given Naruto his permission to court him and become a couple and, hopefully, have a mating bond one day.

Naruto tried with all his might to control the incessant beating of his heart against his ribs, but the nerves he was feeling might actually kill him. And then, he saw Sasuke shrugging.

"It's not bad," the raven said, his gaze still inspecting the room.

Naruto's heart almost stopped altogether. It's not bad, he'd said. What the hell did that mean? Did he like it? Or didn't he? Should Naruto rearrange something?

"So… You like it?" Naruto dared to ask.

"I guess I do."

Naruto almost beamed at that.

Sasuke wasn't directly looking at him, but averted his gaze, pretending to keep studying Naruto's room, in a kind of bashful way – Sasuke was shy! – and his cheeks pinked almost unnoticeable.

"But you're thinking too far ahead, dumbass. We aren't even dating yet."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked confused.

Well, yeah. Wasn't that exactly the point? They weren't dating yet, and that's why Naruto made a den! So they would start officially dating.

"I'm saying I appreciate it, but I'm not… moving in with you just yet."

"Wha- No! I'm not asking you to move in with me!" Naruto denied hotly, cheeks burning red.

"Then you just… Cleaned your room to make a point or something?" Sasuke asked, arching an eyebrow. And he now seemed even more confused than Naruto was.

"No, I-! Argh!" now the alpha was starting to get a bit frustrated. "I just wanted you to go out with me? Officially? Like a couple?"

Sasuke's eyes went wide and he looked surprised for a second, and then he smacked his hand on his forehead with a defeated groan.

"You absolute idiot! That's not what dens are for!"

"Wait, they're not?"

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his eyes. He loved Naruto, he really did, but how could one person be so ridiculously clueless.

"C'mon, let's watch a movie or something," the omega proposed. He wasn't mentally prepared to have this conversation right now. Let him drown in his own humiliation, before his brother or anyone else got to hear about this.

Naruto didn't complain, but followed him to the living room and waited for Sasuke to pick a movie. He didn't quite understand what just happened. Were they dating now or not?

They didn't really speak to each other for a couple of hours, enraptured as they were with the movie, but when it ended and it was time for Sasuke to leave, he leaned in to kiss Naruto on the cheek before saying: "Thanks for tonight. Next time, I'll take you out on a date."

When Naruto finally got time to react to the surprise of the sudden kiss and opened his mouth to say something, Sasuke was already walking away, waving with one hand.

"I'm paying!" was all Naruto managed to shout.

"Like hell you are!"

"Wait, so presenting a den is actually a direct proposal to mate and live together?!" Naruto screamed scandalized.

Iruka just took a sip of his coffee, sighing internally.

"Why did nobody tell me that before? Why didn't you warn me, Iruka-sensei?"

"I honestly thought you and Sasuke had already been dating for years, it just made sense to me for you to propose," the older one said, wondering how this had escaped his knowledge. Naruto and Sasuke were always together, they went out a lot, and Naruto had been so in love with him since forever that them being boyfriends was the only logical conclusion.

"Oh, man. I totally made a fool of myself there," the blond whined.

It was okay, though, Iruka thought. As long as they were together, it would be all okay.

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A/N: This one got way out of hand hahaha I had it on my drafts for SO LONG, and it's finally seeing the light of day.

I'll edit this one and post it as a separate one-shot later. I want to add some things to it. So you can consider this a draft or a preview of sorts.