The scent of summer filled the blonde's nostrils as he entered his shabby apartment. The team had just gotten back from the mission with the bridge builder and he was exhausted. His legs ached and the numerous scrapes and bruises stung as they healed, though most had already healed before they'd even reached Konoha's gates. His sensei had been intrigued by his fast-healing abilities, but the blonde had never thought anything of them. Just like his cheek marks, it had simply always been there.
Maybe that's why Sasuke was in the hospital, and he wasn't. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that the omega had presented at the same time his sharingan had been activated. That had to take a toll, right?
The alpha collapsed on his unmade bed. He hated to admit it, but he was worried about the jerk. From what he'd heard from Ino and Choji, it was excruciating while presenting as an omega. Unlike just being sensitive to scents and a bit aggressive like when alphas presented, male omega's organs began to shift, and reproductive organs began to grow.
Choji, Naruto recalled, had actually lost his appetite when recalling his own experience. Ino had complained about feeling her hips expanding, but her biggest complaints were about the fear she'd felt.
Ino had presented while training with her teammates, and due to being in a stressful and unfamiliar environment, her senses went into overdrive and accidentally put herself under a genjutsu. Before she could hurt herself, or the others, Shikamaru had used his shadow possession jutsu to keep her in place so that one of them could go get someone from her clan to take her home.
Back then, Naruto had felt bad for Shikamaru. Imagine, being stuck in a squad with not one, but two omegas? No wonder the sarcastic alpha thought missions were a drag. But now? Guilt panged in his chest.
In the past he'd been so quick to think of omegas as catty and frustrating, but Sasuke had blown that right out of the window.
He'd thrown himself in front of the alpha without a single hesitation when Haku had attacked. Clearly, the Uchiha had been in agony even before the needles had embedded themselves in his body. Yet, to everyone's surprise, he soldiered on until he couldn't anymore.
Naruto was an idiot for ever having doubted omegas.
Being home and in bed while Sasuke suffered in the Konoha hospital brought an ashy taste to his mouth, he realized as he watched the clouds move in the sky outside of his window.
Was he scared? The alpha had a hard time picturing a sacred Sasuke, but still the thought plagued him. Sasuke, if conscious, would definitely be out for blood if the particularly scary nurses weren't on duty when he arrived. He'd been beyond restless when Kakashi had been helping the newly presented omega back to the village. But had that been omega Sasuke behavior or just Sasuke behavior?
The alpha stared at his arms- the same arms that had cradled the omega to keep him from collapsing to the ground while alone against Haku. Kakashi sensei had told him and Sakura not to visit Sasuke for a few days, to let him come to terms with recent events, but a quick little visit wouldn't hurt anything, would it? Just to see how he was doing?
Naruto pretended that he wasn't going to break his sensei's rule just to alleviate himself of his own guilt as he hopped off of his bed and headed for the door.
"What could go wrong?" he muttered to himself as he bounded down the stairwell.
As it turns out, many things could go wrong.
The first sign that he should've turned back was the unholy horde of girls screeching like banshees outside of the hospital's entrance. Naruto's nose told him that the crowd was overwhelmingly alpha and it irritated him. Of course, Sasuke's fangirl army would've found out about the situation. Those girls would've made better anbu than Kakashi had back in the day, or so he'd heard.
The blonde swallowed a growl as he shoved his way through the mass of obsessed teens- some of which were holding up signs with various things scribbled on them like "I can help you restart your clan." and "Our babies would be lethal.".
In the hallway nurses were zooming around, probably trying to relocate some of the patients so that their rest wasn't disturbed by the sea of screams outside. No one paid any attention to him, which made it disturbingly easy to find Sasuke's room.
He paused as his hand grasped the doorknob.
The wing the room was in had been nearly devoid of people, save for one traumatized looking nurse and a medic ninja furiously writing something on a chart.
Why weren't there more people? Had they been neglecting Sasuke's medical care like how they routinely neglected Naruto's? What if Sasuke needed medicine or bandages? The nurses never gave Naruto medicine of bandages. A cold look of fury crossed his face before it leveled into determination.
If no one was gonna take care of the bastard, then he would.
That, perhaps, was the second mistake he made.
As soon as the door swung open a wall of the omega's scent attacked him. The room smelled like thunderous lightning and soft flames. It was familiar yet oh so intriguingly new. The scent alone would've stopped him in his tracks if it weren't for the figure that launched itself off of the hospital bed and into the corner, kunai knife at the ready.
"Hey, it's just me bastard!" the blonde shouted, throwing his hands up in a submissive gesture. It wasn't his usual indignant yell, this one was softer, more reassuring than he'd intended.
He clambered away from the door, pushing it closed with his foot as he did so, to get a better look at the Uchiha.
To say Sasuke's appearance was startling would be an understatement. His hair that always managed to look neat, no matter how spikey the raven hair managed to be, was disheveled. His arms and legs were covered in bandages, which relieved Naruto to have proof that the medical staff hadn't been neglecting his teammate. But his eyes-his eyes were red and teary. The alpha almost missed the bastard's usually cold, endlessly black eyes.
The omega was glaring, the blonde noticed, sharingan eyes boring into piercing sky blue ones. Naruto's hands were still raised in surrender, distantly remembering something Kiba had said about remaining calm around wounded animals.
"I'm just checking on you." he offered, making sure to keep his voice steady.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, then widened. The blonde didn't have time to question it as he was swiftly yanked into the corner behind the irritated omega. The kunai he'd been brandishing flew through the air and embedded itself in the shoulder of a nameless girl who'd been trying to climb in the window. She fell with a screech but the alpha didn't have it in him to feel concern for her, not when she'd been trying to corner Sasuke by sneaking into his hospital room, presumably while he was indisposed.
To say Naruto was amazed would be an understatement. He hadn't even noticed the trespasser, yet Sasuke in his disheveled, pained state had, and not only had he protected himself, but he'd also protected Naruto.
"Sasuke.." he trailed, words suddenly escaping him.
He knew Sasuke wouldn't respond verbally to him; he rarely did. But the way his head tilted just slightly towards Naruto, signaling he'd acknowledged the blonde, spoke volumes louder than anything the raven haired boy could've spoken.
"Are you okay?" tumbled out of his mouth before he could really think about it. Of course he wasn't okay, he was going through organ rearranging processes and had nearly died less than a day ago. That couldn't be farther from okay if it tried.
The other's eyes deactivated and he was once again met with those, oddly comforting, ironclad eyes.
The next, and possibly biggest mistake Naruto made was letting his rival bury his face in his neck, right where his scent glands were. He was taken by surprise for all of three seconds before he relaxed. The feeling of Sasuke's fine nose edging around one of the most sensitive parts of his body tickled yet electrified his nerves.
Calm rivers and tangy summer began to permeate the room, mingling with the aroma of soft flames and electric thunder. The combination of their two scents were arguably better than the individuals and made the alpha's brain foggy.
After a few more minutes of Sasuke nosing at his neck, the omega raised his head and blinked his eyes in clarity. "Naruto..", blue eyes snapped up to meet the omega's gaze, and he watched as slowly Sasuke's face hardened, back to it's usual state of existence, "-you shouldn't have come."
How could his teammate say that? Clearly, he needed someone here to look after him if a bunch of crazy girls were trying to storm the hospital to get at him.
"Whaddaya mean, bastard! I just came to check on you!" He huffed, crossing his arms and pouting.
Sasuke's eyes turned menacing for a second before allowing his body to relax. Instead of offering a response, or thanking the blonde, he simply turned his back to the alpha and headed back to the bed.
"Hey wait a second, I'm talking to you Sasuke!"
The Uchiha's response came in the form of annoyedly yanking the sheets from the hospital bed and throwing them at the Uzumaki.
Pausing for a moment to decide if he wanted the pillows or not and deciding to grab them, Sasuke began tucking them into the corner where the pair had previously stood.
Naruto froze and watched confusion as the omega shifted the sheets around in a pattern that the alpha suspected not even Kakashi sensei would be able to figure out. When the bedding was deemed sufficient, Sasuke gazed at the other expectantly.
What did he want? Was the alpha supposed to do something? Naruto wished he'd paid more attention to Choji and Ino.
With every passing second, the raven haired boy's irritation grew. It was obvious in his scent, the comforting fire smell grew smokey, tinged with bitter storm cloud. At least he'd retained some of his more frustrating personality traits, like impatience.
Before his visit, Naruto didn't even know electricity or clouds had a smell, but it had quickly become his favorite. He almost wished he had Kiba's nose so that he could smell it even more intensely. The quickly growing ashy undertones made his heart itch. His body moved of its own accord and no matter how much he would later regret it, Naruto was happy to commit the fourth mistake.
Entering Sasuke's nest.
Nests held intricate meanings. More obvious uses for them would be to comfort small children or give birth in them, but they were also commonly used for pack bonding and providing safe places for wounded or scared omegas.
Having never been in a nest before, Naruto had no idea what to do. He sat there, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and sniffing the air a bit too noisily. It reminded Sasuke of the toddlers that stumbled around the village clumsily exploring with their noses.
"Idiot" the omega rolled his eyes and pulled the blonde to lean next to him. If Sasuke were a bit kinder, he would feel a bit sad for his rival as he witnessed the alpha's complete befuddlement, however, in the moment all he felt was the familiar itch of irritation clawing at him.
He needed something but didn't know what. He squinted around the room, eyes carefully taking note of his surroundings to try and get an idea of what he was missing but found nothing.
There were still a few kunai knives lodged in the back of the door from when he'd forced the nurses out of his room earlier. They had lingered in the room far too long for his liking and had not been emotionally sound enough to wait for them to take the hint and vanish from his sight.
The window was open still and some of the stronger scents from his unhinged fanbase wafted in from outside. It made his stomach churn even worse than it already had been.
Naruto, having noticed the other's already narrowed eyes narrow even further at the window, felt perplexed. Why was the glass missing from the window?
"Hey, isn't there supposed to be an actual window in the window?" he asked.
"Hnn." came the ever so enlightening response. Pft, unhelpful bastard.
What Naruto had missed only two and a half hours before his arrival, was his teammate's failed attempts at escaping via said window. He'd managed to shatter the glass and get a leg out of the open space before the scents of the crowd forced him back into the room. It sent the omega into an even more aggressive state, and the nurses had tried to subdue him.
Obviously, they'd failed.
The pale boy's nose kept twitching angrily and his bandaged hand brought itself to apply pressure to his stomach. Naruto didn't pay much attention, as he was too busy looking back and forth between the distressed omega and the window.
It took about a minute of head turning for him to figure out that Sasuke felt threatened by the strange alphas and their persistent scents. Pleased with his detective skills, he ripped off his signature jacket and tossed it at Sasuke's head. If Sasuke had been okay with Naruto's scent enough to do what he'd done earlier, then that probably meant he didn't hate his scent!
"Here, try that, Sasuke!"
The other boy would've glared at the small alpha if his brain could focus on anything other than the comforting smell emanating from Naruto's jacket and the oddness of the boy.
The blonde grinned impishly down at him and not for the first time, Sasuke was thankful for his presence.
Seeing his rival's face cozied into his bright orange jacket made a weird, warm feeling bubble up in his chest. Was that what everyone meant when they talked about how pack bonds felt? Now that Sasuke had presented, he could establish pack bonds with people. Had he just chosen Naruto to be his pack mate?
Before he could ask Sasuke himself, a pale, bandaged arm darted forward and yanked him down. The blonde fell in a jumble, grumbling about violent Uchiha bastards, but froze once more when the pale arm continued to hold onto him. "Uh, Sasuke..?"
The look Sasuke gave him was intense, more intense than his usual dead glare, "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you.".
Naruto gulped and laughed awkwardly, but forced himself to relax into the nest. It wasn't a hard task, especially not when the mingling of rtheir scents being so thick in the air made his head foggy and pleasant. He stayed quiet, knowing that Sasuke really would kill him if he ever mentioned this to anyone. Not that he would have. Naruto had a reputation to uphold as Sasuke Uchiha's number one rival. He couldn't let people know that they'd...shared a nest.
What happened next was something that not even the all powerful ramen gods could have foreseen.
Sasuke, the bastard that always called him a dumbass and refused to acknowledge him as his rival, latched onto the unaware and fumbling Naruto and.. cuddled up to his side.
Maybe Kakashi sensei had been right to warn him and Sakura to stay away.
Sasuke wasn't himself right now and Naruto suspected that his rival would be embarrassed at his actions later. Suddenly the blonde felt guilty for seeing his teammate this way. The Uchiha hated being vulnerable, and he liked it even less when someone was there to witness it.
As he gazed at his friend in silent wonder, he felt the rising need to fend off those girls downstairs. It wasn't right that they treated him like a piece of meat. He was a person with feelings and boundaries, which Naruto himself didn't even understand, but he respected them regardless.
Though, if he moved right now he'd surely accidentally wake the other up from his light slumber. The clock on the adjacent wall ticked as Naruto laid there, half alert, half asleep. The crown downstairs smelled quieter, leading the blonde to believe they'd begun to disperse and go home. That tid bit of knowledge made a smile break out on his face once more. Maybe they'd be all gone by the time Sasuke woke up so that Naruto could leave and go get some ramen.
His stomach had been growling for half an hour now.
The sleeping omega drew his attention once more as he shivered. With no one around to witness him do it, he cuddled closer to his rival to keep him warm. It was exciting and new and nice and soft. The alpha wondered if this was what packmates usually felt when they huddled together.
Was that why Sasuke always had a chip on his shoulder? He missed his family's warmth?
Maybe that was why he always wanted to fight, thought the blonde. It was the only physical contact he could get without sounding needy or weird, like how that quiet girl Hinata came across as whenever she accidentally bumped into Naruto at the market.
Hinata bumped into him at the market a lot.
A quiet sigh escaped the pale boy's lips and he unconsciously nestled his face into Naruto's scent glands. For some reason, he felt his cheeks heat up. Maybe he was embarrassed for Sasuke? No, that didn't sound right.
He'd have to ask Sakura about it later. Her cheeks got red around the Uchiha too, after all. He wondered if it was some weird jutsu Sasuke had learned. Was he poisoning the air around him so no one got close and that's the reason their faces got red when they were around him?
Pff, that bastard.
Still, despite his theory, Naruto couldn't be mad at the sleeping boy.
It was amazing that the Uchiha was this deep in slumber. The blonde had never seen him truly rest, even on their overnight missions, because he slept so lightly. Once, Sakura, who had been on watch at the time, sighed and Sasuke had jumped up with Kunai in his hands, ready to attack an imaginary threat.
Naruto had teased him for it later until the other had roundhouse kicked him away from a tree branch he was about to hit his head on. He still thinks a roundhouse kick had been a bit unnecessary, but he got the message to leave the Uchiha alone regardless.
With Sasuke's nose rubbing against the alpha's scent gland, it was hard to stay awake. His head was fuzzy and lethargic, and he could only think about the relaxing scent of electricity emanating from the sleeping boy.
If anyone asked him about it later, he'd blame his last mistake on his exhaustion from having just gotten back on the mission. If he asked himself about it when he was alone, he wouldn't be so sure.
~~~
Seeing his two students curled up in a ragged hospital room with kunai knives sticking out of various things was moderately amusing to Kakashi. Seeing his alpha protégée molded protectively onto his omega protégée's injured form was infuriating.
Of course, Naruto would go to Sasuke, those two were two halves of the same reckless, stupid soul. Really, the grey-haired man should've seen it coming.
As soon as the Uchiha's presentation began, he should have had the team retreat.
His scent had been too strong for too long in the little alpha's nostrils.
Sigh, having a genin squad was getting tiring.
Stepping closer provided the jonin with some interesting information. Both of the little gremlins, while still too young to provide each other with claiming bites, had formed a scent bond.
Scent bonds were rare, as they had been put out of use ages ago due to ninja societies preferring to go straight from courting to mating. It had been fairly common for those in the scent bonding stage to be targeted on missions. Claiming an enemy who was only scent bonded had been a popular form of torture before the third hokage began to advise against it.
Lord fourth's sensei, Jirayah, had been scent bonded, but his future mate had been captured by the enemy and was claimed shortly before being killed. There had been no body to retrieve. The Sanin had been crushed, naturally, but even worse, his own scent became so slight that eventually it vanished entirely.
Scent bonds were said to be even more powerful than mating bonds, because while mated pairs could lose one mate and live, scent bonds took both scents to the grave if a problem occurred in the mating process.
A twinge of frustration welled up within him. Of course these idiots would manage to make everyone's lives harder. He'd need to be more vigilant from now on.
One wrong, hormone induced decision could lead them to further problems. Like the hokage getting involved. Or Sakura finding out and screeching everyone's ears off.
Sheesh, that girl could yell.
"Wake up brats." He shoved Naruto but was a bit kinder to Sasuke and only pulled him away from the blonde imp. Naruto woke with a yell, while Sasuke, embarrassed at being tangled up so close with his rival, punched the boy and leapt as far away as he could from the alpha in disgust.
Feigning disgust when it came to the troublemaker was something Sasuke did often. It was also something that Kakashi never failed to remind Sasuke of. Okay, maybe having a genin squad wasn't that terrible. At least he got to tease and embarrass three twelve-year-olds. Who didn't love that?
"Kakashi sensei, I can explai-" Naruto jolted upwards and lost balance, falling onto Sasuke.
"Get away from me you loser!" Sasuke kicked his teammate away from him.
"That's not what you said last night!" Naruto yanked his jacket away and proudly hoisted it into the air, gloating at the enraged omega.
"I didn't say anything last night!" Sasuke's sharingan eyes activated, instantly shutting down any rebuttal the other would have.
Sigh, Kakashi was not paid enough to deal with squabbling twelve-year-olds.
"Okay you two, go home and rest. Preferably not with each other." Sasuke glowered up at Kakashi, but the jonin couldn't bring himself to care. Naruto spluttered indignantly as he stubbornly yanked his jacket sleeve onto his arm.
"Meet me at the training fields in three hours. Do not bring Sakura. I have something to discuss with you."
And with that, Kakashi was gone, having left through the window from which he came. He sighed again, realizing that at some point, he was going to have to fill out paperwork on the situation.
This is why he was never having kids.
Notes: