Author's note: Something incredibly random that popped up in my head. Have this while I work on the other updates. Hope it isn't too awful.

Warnings: Kushina's pov; canon divergent right after Naruto's birth; A/B/O dynamics; pre-slash; Danzo being an arsehole off screen; nesting

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

I hope you'll like it!

Playing Favourites

Mikoto greeted them with a warm smile when she opened the door. "Hello there. Naruto-kun, Sasuke is in his room. He isn't feeling too well, so don't play too rough, okay?"

"I know, mum told me," Naruto chirped and practically skipped past her, going straight up the stairs to Sasuke's room.

"Thank you for letting Naruto-kun come over." Mikoto's smile turned even warmer as she gestured for Kushina to come in as well. "Sasuke deals well with being sick, but his brother has gone on a mission that'll take several days at least."

"And he misses his brother," Kushina finished knowingly.

"Hm," Mikoto hummed in agreement and turned around, walking to the kitchen. "I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if he was feeling well. It's just a combination of being sick and missing his brother that makes him miserable now."

"I get it," Kushina said, following her friend. She normally didn't care about being sick, but the few times she had happened to become sick right when Minato had left for a mission hadn't been fun. She could understand how Sasuke felt now, especially when knowing how close he was to his older brother.

Two cups of steaming coffee were already waiting on the table, because Mikoto was just that good at estimating when Kushina would show up.

"You're still being bothered by that division of the ANBU?" Kushina questioned when they both sat down, cradling their mug.

Mikoto shook her head, brushing her long black hair over her shoulders. "Not since Minato closed down the division. I still need to thank him for that."

"Mah, it's fine," Kushina said dismissively. "Trust me, it was to our benefit as well that that particular division disappeared," she added darkly.

ANBU normally listened to the Hokage, but this particular division had been under the leadership of Danzo, one of the foulest people Kushina had had the misfortune of meeting. He had kept a relatively low profile up until the night Kushina had given birth to Naruto and the Kyuubi had been released. She and Minato had managed to seal the majority of Kyuubi inside their son while locking up the remaining part in Minato. Kushina had been too weakened from childbirth and the subsequent Bijuu extraction that she had only been able to assist in the sealing part. Trying to lock Kyuubi back up inside her would have been too risky in her physical state back then.

She had never wanted her own son to be the next Jinchuuriki, let alone when he had still been a helpless baby, but they hadn't had much choice. It was either trying to seal Kyuubi in their son or risk the entire village being destroyed by the ferocious being. The aftermath had left both her and Minato out of commission for several months. Minato had been kept in a coma while Kushina had been slow – too slow! – to recover; her Uzumaki heritage the only reason why she had even been able to remain awake instead of comatose. She had been lucky, the anxious doctors had informed her, to be still alive after all that but she hadn't felt very lucky when she hadn't even been able to hold her own baby for nearly a month.

With Minato out of commission, the Third Hokage had taken over momentarily – and with him Danzo. Danzo had taken advantage of Minato's absence to not only put the blame of Kyuubi's extraction on the Uchiha, but to use that as an excuse to push them to the outskirts of the village on top of restraining their movements by putting them under surveillance. Kushina had never seen Minato so furious as the day he was fully coherent again and realised what had been happening while he had been out. She couldn't blame him; if it had been up to her she would have gladly shown Danzo what exactly her clan could do with their enormous chakra reserves.

Minato had decided on playing the long game, however, wanting to find out just how far Danzo's disgusting influence actually reached. It was not until two weeks ago that Minato had finally managed to not only disband the ANBU division but also strip Danzo of all his powers and lock him behind bars. Minato had already given the Uchiha back their land two years prior, but dismantling that ANBU division had taken much longer.

Especially when they had found out that Danzo had also been spying on them. When they had discovered that particular nasty bit of news, it had been for the best that Kushina was no longer in possession of the Kyuubi, because she would have gladly let him out to fuck up Danzo.

"How are you doing?" Mikoto asked, sipping carefully from her coffee.

"I'm fine," Kushina answered before sighing, rubbing her thumb across the rim of her mug. "I ended up getting pissed off at idiots again," she admitted reluctantly.

Mikoto smiled sympathetically. "They're still ones not accepting Naruto-kun?" If there was somebody who would understand how it felt to not be accepted, it would be a member of the Uchiha.

"No, it's lessened, of course, mainly because the majority of them are pussies who are too afraid to take it up with me and Minato," Kushina scoffed before frowning. "But there are still ones who think they're tough for taking out their anger on a kid and it's fucking disgusting. I don't want him to grow up thinking he has to be ashamed of who he is."

"With you and Minato as his parents, how could he ever think that?" Mikoto reassured her.

It was a valiant attempt and it was true that she and Minato doted on their son – how could they not? – but that didn't make it hurt less to see some of the villagers scorning Naruto for something that wasn't even his fault. He had literally not even been an hour old when the Kyuubi had broken free and had attacked the village! It was thanks to Naruto's amazing resilience that the Kyuubi hadn't had the chance to break out again, but were those ungrateful sons of bitches relieved about that?

"Kushina?" Mikoto asked concerned at the uncharacteristic silence of her friend.

"I don't think he has made even one nest yet," Kushina admitted quietly.

A look of comprehension crossed Mikoto's face and she pursed her lips slightly, leaning back in her chair. To anyone else, the mention of a lack of nest would sound trivial, but at nine years old most Omega would have already made some clumsy attempts to create a nest for themselves, perhaps even one big enough to have a friend or family member join them. A nest, no matter how sober or clumsy made, was a sign of a comfortable and happy Omega.

Kushina could still remember her own first nest, which she had created out of soft towels and the favourite dress of her mother. She'd been a little over six years old, she recalled, and ridiculously proud of her messy nest. Her own current nest was a mixture of Minato's clothes, some soft blankets and an equally soft, downy pillow Mikoto had gifted her a year ago. Naruto, while as happy as can be, had yet to make a nest however. It was perhaps nonsensical to worry about something like that, but she couldn't help but feel a bit anxious with every year that passed by without Naruto making a nest for himself. She knew he didn't fake being happy, but maybe the scorn of some of the villagers were getting to him in some way after all?

Maybe she should have completely beaten the shit out of those bastards, let's see if they had the gall to spit on her son ever again then!

"Give him a bit more time," Mikoto said soothingly.

Kushina sighed loudly and flicked her eyes up to the ceiling before running her hands through her hair, removing a knot from it rather roughly. "I know, but I'm not blind or stupid; I know Naruto isn't that popular in his class. Pretty sure his only friend is Sasuke-kun." She was thoughtful for a moment before adding, "And maybe that Nara kid too. I don't think all the kids in his class are arseholes, but several of them do take after their fucked up parents."

"Naruto-kun seems pretty happy like that, though," Mikoto commented, resting her hand loosely around her mug. "Sasuke would have mentioned something if Naruto-kun was really unhappy."

Kushina looked at her uncertainly. "You really think so?"

"Trust me, my son has the eyes of a hawk when it comes to your son," Mikoto said dryly. "Even if he wouldn't have told me, he would have mentioned something to Itachi."

And Itachi wouldn't have just stood by idly with that information. The older boy treated Naruto just like another little brother, which delighted Naruto to no end.

"I guess I am worrying about nothing," Kushina acquiesced reluctantly.

"You're a mother," Mikoto smiled softly. "It's natural to worry about our kids."

They switched over to more light-hearted subjects after that, discussing their latest missions and organising a new get together with their families. Minato might be busy as a Hokage, but he would always make time for his family and his friends; Kushina was certain he wouldn't mind leaving the paperwork be for one afternoon.

A couple of hours had already passed, with afternoon slowly creeping into sunset, when Kushina realised something was off.

She blinked and looked at the clock, but that only confirmed the passage of time. "Naruto never came down for sweets," she commented bemused.

"Ah, that's right," Mikoto realised startled and chuckled. "Perhaps he doesn't want to come across as rude by eating sweets while Sasuke is unwell?"

"Maybe, though he has to have smelt those biscuits by now," Kushina said, referring to the chocolate biscuits Mikoto had retrieved from the oven an hour ago.

Their heavenly scent had filled the kitchen instantly and already there were three missing from the tray, courtesy of Kushina. Knowing her son's sweet tooth, it was quite surprising that he hadn't shown up yet, even if it was to quickly scarf one down before going back upstairs.

"They could have got too caught up in their game," Mikoto suggested. "Sasuke wasn't really in the mood to stay in bed and rest after all." That last one was added in a very exasperated tone.

Kushina grinned. "He's a tough boy."

"Yes, well, tough boy or not, there's nothing wrong with resting while being ill," Mikoto insisted.

"I'll go see what they are up to," Kushina announced and rose up from her chair. "It's nearly time for us to leave anyways; I still need to decide what to prepare for dinner."

Walking out of the kitchen, she became aware of one peculiar thing straight away: it was silent. She could appreciate peace and quiet, but if there was one thing the two boys could not be, it was quiet. Either because they argued or because they became too caught up in whatever game they were playing, there was at least always some level of noise emitting from them, even from the usually quiet Sasuke. The fact that it was silent now made Kushina somewhat suspicious. What could those two be up to that they needed to be silent for it?

She went up the stairs silently, not wanting to announce her presence too early so that she could catch them in whatever act they were doing. The door to Sasuke's room was ajar, which made it easy to push it open and peek inside.

What she saw had her smothering her shocked gasp immediately.

Sasuke had always had a neat and orderly room even for his young age, but now his bed was quite messy, devoid of its pillows and its blankets. Those items in question could be found on the floor in front of the bed, forming a shapeless heap. With the pillows pushed together and the blankets draped over them, Kushina couldn't help but think the heap resembled a mini mountain.

And on top of that mini mountain were her son and Sasuke, curled up together, fast asleep. Sasuke had one small arm resting over Naruto's shoulder while Naruto was clinging to his dark blue shirt; his face almost entirely smashed into Sasuke's shoulder.

It was quite the adorable sight, blond hair clashing with black, and Kushina was overjoyed to realise that her son had just created his very first nest! It wasn't that big, of course, but it was large enough to fit the two boys together and she clasped her hands tightly together in lieu of squealing aloud.

She was incredibly tempted to retreat and leave them be, but unfortunately she and Naruto really did have to go home now. Still, this was major! Naruto had made his first nest!

On her tiptoes she approached the nest and carefully touched Naruto's shoulder, right above Sasuke's hand. "Naruto, honey, wake up," she whispered, trying not to disturb Sasuke.

The dark haired boy had a cherry red nose and he sounded stuffy every time he exhaled; his face slightly flushed. He could obviously use the rest, the poor boy.

Blue eyes opened slowly and Naruto blinked up at her sleepily. "Mum?" he murmured, voice thick with sleep.

"Hm, it's time to go home," she whispered and smiled, unable to resist tweaking his nose lightly. She chuckled quietly when he wrinkled his nose. "I see you made a nest for the first time."

"The first time?" he repeated confused and turned his head, taking in the heap they were lying on. "No, I've made a nest before, when Sasuke was feeling sick. It makes him feel better."

Oh.

Well … Wasn't that quite interesting? So Naruto had been making nests already – just not where Kushina could see it. Clearly he was comfortable enough around his best friend, which was good! It was great to see the two boys so at ease with each other.

Taking a split decision, Kushina leant forwards and kissed Naruto's forehead. "You know what, sweetheart? I'll ask your aunt if you can stay the night, hm? That way you and Sasuke-kun can rest more and Sasuke-kun can start feeling better."

As energetic as Naruto usually was, so sleepy and pliable was he now. Instead of protesting that he had rested enough, he simply yawned and buried his face back into Sasuke's shirt, muttering a muffled, "Okay, thanks, mum."

He was already out like a light before Kushina was even back at the door, making her snort in amusement. Sasuke stirred for a moment, but didn't even wake up when Kushina left the room again.

So Naruto had been making nests for Sasuke this whole time already, huh? Well, she supposed it was easy to guess who his favourite person was!

Stifling a giggle, she went back downstairs to talk to her friend about the impromptu sleepover. Guess she didn't need to worry about Naruto that much after all.

The End

AN2: I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this. Quite random, but well, have it anyways! Hoping to update more this weekend.

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.