Chapter Text
"You can't be serious!"
“Oh, I am. Very".
Tsunade looked at him with rebuke and obvious annoyance, especially at the abrupt way he had interrupted. Sasuke had never been a very respectful person for authority figures, it was his little revenge against his father, but he always knew what line he shouldn't cross. A line that at that moment he felt ready to climb over.
“I'm one of your best jonin, you can't suspend me!” Sasuke insisted.
"Luckily it's not wartime, then," the Hokage commented sarcastically.
"You have no reason to do it," he tried then, even though he knew otherwise.
In fact, the woman snorted, took a file and threw it in the center of the desk.
“These are all the complaints and reports raised against you this past month alone.”
Sasuke didn't comment, realizing that the bundle of papers was quite bulky. At that moment it seemed to him that the paintings of past Hokage hanging on the walls of the oval Office were glaring at him.
"On your last mission," the Alpha began, pointing her index finger at a page. "You attacked your teammate."
"He was about to sabotage the mission, I had to stop him" he justified himself coldly.
“You bit him,” she pointed out. Then, seeing that Sasuke didn't reply, she continued: "He wasn't sabotaging the mission, he had noticed a civilian child in his opponent's zone of influence and wanted to remove him."
“The enemy would have discovered our location.”
"Too bad you got caught for your hustle and bustle," Tsunade replied mercilessly. She turned the page and pointed to a new paragraph. “Your mission to Kiri. During the overnight stop you hit Sai repeatedly until you left visible marks on his face.”
Sasuke clenched his fists. "It was his watch shift and he didn't wake up!"
“The spy mission with Jiraiya. You chakra electrified a civilian who had vital information about Ame."
“He was behaving inappropriately,” he growled in disgust at the memory of that slovenly man.
“Obviously, he is Jiraiya's acquaintance. But because of you we lost vital information” she repeated forcefully. “And I could go on, but I'd say it's clear you need a break. You are aggressive, Sasuke, and the fact that you have come to bite and scratch means that your nature is out of control."
His jaw became a taut line visible as his muscles contracted. It was the standard reaction whenever his arcane nature was brought up in any speech.
"I'm fine," Sasuke said dryly.
"Of course. When was the last time you had a heat?”
He remained silent, giving an answer would have been an all too explicit admission of guilt.
"Eighteen months," Tsunade replied calmly, after a few seconds of tense silence. "Sakura gave me your medical records," she added, pulling some sheets out of the file and then handing them to him.
Traitor, Sasuke thought angrily, not expecting his packmate to abandon him like that. He looked at the papers, but he couldn't get anything out of them. They were a series of medical terms and abbreviations that could mean anything, with nice tables filled with colorful numbers and graphs.
"Sasuke, this isn't good for you."
On a biological level, it was normal for a human being's heat cycle to last for a month, in Omegas it appeared as heat, in Alphas as rut and in Beta women as menstruation. Scientific progress at the time of Nidaime, however, had allowed the invention of some special pills - commonly called suppressants - which allowed the heat cycle to be regulated at will in the Alphas and Omegas. It was usually recommended that an Alpha have a rut at least every five months, while an Omega a heat every three months. Sasuke, however, had decided to risk taking his suppressants longer and longer, ignoring the necessary breaks to allow the heat to manifest. He usually only stopped when he started having painful cramps and a constant feeling of nausea. He had been fine for eighteen months, so he didn't see why that was a problem.
"I'm fine," Sasuke said indeed, eager to get away from that conversation as soon as possible.
"No, Sasuke, the opposite is evident," Tsunade insisted, pointing at the paper she still held in her hand.
He didn't want to admit that he didn't understand anything that was written, so he remained silent. The made Godaime sigh, and she began to illustrate:
“Suppressants are an external intervention in an organism which, in your case, is already perfectly balanced and able to function on its own; it would have no need for external interventions to regularize itself”.
Sasuke winced, obviously there was nothing wrong with him. The next words of the Alpha ruthlessly destroyed this conviction.
“You have unbalanced your body, suppressants are medicines that shouldn't be joked about and should never be taken lightly, without careful analysis. Then yours body is undergoing tremendous stress to both accept this unwanted external intervention and remain stable at the same time. Some hormones are produced in larger quantities, others in smaller quantities, you can see it in the table”.
Ah, so those numbers were pointing to that.
“And obviously that has an immediate effect with your attitude and mood, you can see it in the graphs. The constant suppression of your heat awakens a primordial hormone, which was activated in ancient times in times of difficulty, for example when there was a lack of food and the energies of the Omega were all concentrated on survival. The cycle was then automatically suppressed until the danger passed. Good." Her hazel eyes narrowed as she straightened her posture and looked at him coldly. Tsunade, for some reason, was always scary when she sat like that on the Hokage's desk. “This hormone has activated a constant sense of danger in you, not having heat for so long has made your body believe it is not safe and for this reason your instinct aims first of all to defend itself. In your particular case, it translates into aggression. You will continue to attack the people around you and annoy you until you are subconsciously convinced that you are not safe.”
Sasuke couldn't argue with that, he wasn't a doctor and because of Sakura's presence in his pack he never even needed to learn anything more than the basics of first aid; he didn't have the competence to contradict her.
"How much time?" he asked defeated, lowering the papers on the desk. His gaze fell on the liquor sideboard, the glass doors highlighting Godaime's diverse collection, and he found himself thinking about how much this conversation deserved at least a glass.
“It depends on how quickly your body can recover. Probably one to two years."
Sasuke's eyes widened and suddenly went pale, he almost felt the desire to sit down, but apart from the sofa on the sides of the room - too far away - there weren't any seats in front of the wooden desk.
“Two years,” he croaked, unable to rationalize it.
Two years without being a shinobi? It was atrocious, there was nothing else he could do other than being a ninja, from the age of six he had trained only for that, it was his essence.
For once, everything he thought had to be visible on his face and Tsunade softened her gaze, aware of how destructive news like that could be.
"There is another solution that could speed things up and keep you active, but…" she added quickly and firmly seeing Sasuke's reaction, "you won't like it."
The boy frowned, anything would be better than sitting idle for two years, there was nothing he could like less.
"You'll have to find yourself an Alpha."
…
All right, as not said.
“Are you saying I have to bond with an Alpha?” Sasuke asked incredulously, indignant and one step away from activating the sharingan and burning down that office.
"You don't necessarily have to bond yourself," the Hokage replied calmly, not at all impressed by the fiery gaze. She pulled out a parchment with yellowed edges, the effigy of the Nidaime to close it. “There is a rule that can be used in our favor, even if it is now a bit obsolete. It was conceived at the founding of Konoha, when suppressants were just being invented and the first Omegas were starting to join the ninja forces." She opened the parchment, unrolling it on the table. “The long-term effects of suppressants were not yet known, much had not yet been clarified about dosages and that there was not an equal standard for everyone. Your case at the time, in different variations, was very common.” Sasuke winced hearing this. “So it was decided that in the event that an Omega was compromised by drugs, it was necessary to place them alongside an Alpha who would take care of them”.
“These are rules from fifty years ago, when nothing was known. Now…"
“Now” Tsunade interrupted him, “we know that indeed an Alpha always has a calming effect on the Omega, if the Omega trusts the Alpha of course. Sasuke,” she called seeing his attempt to protest, “this is not a question of rational reactions, but of instinct”. She forcefully underlined the last word, tapping her index finger on the desk top. “Your arcane nature is unstable, it feels in constant danger and alone. If you work alongside an Alpha you trust, if you let them use their pheromones on you, on your home, on your nest and you let them take care of you, then these instinctive sensations would disappear faster and your body would react more natural. Not to mention that in this way, next to them, you will be calm enough to be able to be rational and continue the missions ".
“As long as they come with me,” he said between his teeth.
"Exactly".
Sasuke looked at the scrolls, nausea mounting had been in his throat since he rejected the very idea. Basically he should have had someone to babysit him, who was always there with him and attended to his needs. He immediately thought about how his father would have reacted to the discovery and felt bad. He didn't need someone to cook for him, pamper him and make him feel safe; he didn't want to have someone's pheromones in his nest, on him. It was an invasion of privacy, Konoha law recognized it as such, how could he accept something like this?
“So how long would my suspension be?”
“Here again it depends on how much you get in tune with the Alpha. But you will certainly be fully reinstated within a year... And remember that you will still be able to take part in missions on national territory as long as you are accompanied by them, of any rank".
“Even the S?”
“If the Alpha can handle them, yes.” Tsunade remained silent for a few seconds, observing the conflicted and doubtful expression on his young face. “You can choose the Alpha, among those you already know”.
This was no consolation. Sasuke was only familiar with two Alphas, if you didn't count his father, but the last thing he wanted was to ask him for help, and the cold relationship they had couldn't even be called confidence.
Sakura was a good option, she was a member of his pack, she didn't give him too much trouble and was already well placed in his life. If this problem had arisen just two months ago he wouldn't have even thought about it, but considering the latest developments Sasuke doubted that Hinata would like to know that her Alpha was filling another Omega's nest with pheromones.
Kakashi would have been another possible candidate, he was his pack leader and was forced to bear his pheromones on his skin since he was a genin and sensei rubbed his wrists on his forehead, to let everyone know that this was his puppy and that if they did something to him then they would have to deal with the infamous Copy-Ninja. But Kakashi wasn't just his brother's mate, they were true mates, and he didn't feel like asking such a thing. Also because Itachi would have come to know about it, he would have told their mother, that she would have told their father and… No, it was the last one who had to come to know that his nature had gotten him into trouble.
Neji, Ino and Kiba remained. He didn't like the smell of the first one and the mere thought of smelling it in his house, on his clothes, turned his stomach; the other two… he couldn't have lasted five minutes without wanting to kill them.
He sighed. “I have no one to ask. The ones I trust are already committed,” he summed up.
Tsunade nodded frowning, even though it was clear she had already expected such an answer, looking for another solution.
“I will select some Alphas from my ANBUs and you, based on the pheromones, will be able to choose whoever suits you best”.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, the proposal didn't reassure him at all.
“Strangers,” he growled, already defensive at the thought of having some stranger hanging around in his surroundings, in his safe place. Stereotypes aside, it was not uncommon for Omegas to be even more territorial than Alphas.
Tsunade knew that, so she didn't comment on that point and she just stared at him, waiting for him to come to a conclusion on his own.
“You have some time to think about it,” she reassured him.
Sasuke laughed contemptuously. "I don't need it, I don't accept it."
“So I will have to proceed with the standard suspension?”
"No!"
Godaime took a deep breath, a sign that even her patience was reaching its limit.
"You have to choose one of two options, Sasuke."
“I could leave,” he threatened, but he had no effect. Tsunade limited herself to raising her hazel eyes, muttering a few prayers to the kami to offer her the necessary strength.
“Original options. Orochimaru has been captured, who would you go to this time?”
Sasukee responded with a growl, lightning chakra crackling against his skin and soon after, two shadows appeared behind the Hokage's chair in defense of the woman. Tsunade raised a hand, gesturing for the ANBU to go back into hiding.
“Let's make a bet. How long do you think it will take for Itachi to find you and bring you back this time? One day?"
Sasuke closed his eyes, trying not to give in to the taunt. With the new information in his possession, he wondered if even that instinct that drove him to fight and bite the Godaime at her throat was not the result of his hormonal problems. He wasn't thirteen anymore, he knew that leaving the Village or attacking a Kage weren't sensible options, and yet…
He clenched his fists and turned around, reached the door with no one stopping him, neither Tsunade nor the ANBU behind her. Only when he put his hand on knob did the woman's voice reach him.
"You have time to think about it."
Fuck it, he thought as he slammed the door behind him.
**
Sasuke's anger was so evident that it opened a passage in the crowd, people dodged wrinkling their noses at the annoying smell emitted, a signal that no one was to approach the Omega at that moment.
He just wanted to go home and forget that humiliating conversation, that base blackmail passed off as a choice.
He didn't take the road that led to the Uchiha district and slipped into a side street, towards the suburbs. He hadn't lived with the rest of the Clan since he was thirteen and tried to leave the Village. It was during the Chūnin Exam period, Orochimaru attacked Konoha and killed the Sandaime; in the general confusion Sasuke had well thought of following the Sannin, hoping he would take him as an apprentice to teach him true power. A pity that Itachi and his cousin Obito had gone after Sasuke as soon as they realized he was missing. They had fought and defeated Orochimaru, bringing him back to Konoha where there were far more important things to manage than his pathetic attempt at betrayal and so he had avoided any punishment. His father, however, had disowned him and Sasuke had taken the opportunity to leave home.
After all, the main reason for his abandonment of Konoha had been Fugaku, with whom Sasuke had always had a difficult relationship. Deep down he knew that the reason why he struggled to relate so much with others and especially with himself was because of that complicated relationship.
When Sasuke was a child he had tried for years to impress him in some way, but invariably he was always in the background to his older brother. He had deluded himself that he could finally have his affections when he was eight years old and Itachi had just presented as Omega. In another family this would not have proved a problem, but the Uchiha were one of the few clans that were still very traditional, with old-fashioned ideas. They couldn't prevent the Omegas from becoming shinobi, it would have gone against Konoha's laws, but they could prevent them from reaching high positions within the Clan.
Itachi could not inherit the role of clan chief.
Sasuke was still convinced that the reason for the bitter discrepancy that had arisen between his father and older brother was this; in fact they had returned to go in love and agree only when it was discovered that Itachi had found his true mates, therefore he had an assured partner and that partner was Hatake Kakashi. The union between the two would allow the only sharingan outside the Clan to return to the hands of the Uchiha, so it was excellent news. Despite this, Sasuke had genuinely believed that he could surpass Itachi for once by presenting himself as Alpha. In that case, his father should have recognized his existence, would have made him the heir of the clan and… finally would have loved him.
But in his past life Sasuke must have done something awful, or his karma was inexplicable.
At twelve he had presented himself not as an Alpha, but as an Omega. The second in the family.
In that moment he had seen all his hopes of overcoming Itachi, of finally being recognized by his father, vanish. There was no way he could do it, his only chance had gone to waste. The belief had been confirmed in the months following the presentation, nothing had changed and, on the contrary, Fugaku had started looking at him annoyed.
It had been too painful to bear.
So the solution had seemed clear to him: if Sasuke couldn't be the way his father wanted, then Sasuke would be quite the opposite.
His constant intake of suppressants stemmed from this. Fugaku was against the controlled heat cycle, which lowered the fertility of the Omegas, so Sasuke had tried to have as little heat as possible. Of course, a part of him did everything to suppress the characteristics of his nature because the delusion of not revealing himself as an Alpha still burned, but he had everything under control.
That's right, Tsunade was wrong and there was nothing wrong with him.
"Sasuke?"
He fell out of thoughts of him, returning his focus to his surroundings. He had passed the city center, around him there were mainly civilian houses and a few passers-by, a few more streets and he would have arrived at his condominium. In front of him, however, was Sakura and it could not be a coincidence. Shinobi rarely passed through that neighborhood, if she was there it was because she was going to his house, looking for him.
Sakura frowned green eyes, broad brow furrowed. She brushed aside some pink strands that had fallen in front of her gaze and tilted her face.
“Hey, are you okay? You have a face…”
He looked at her without answering, remembering that if he was in that situation it was because she had given Tsunade her medical records.
Seeing that Sasuke didn't answer, the girl continued.
“Kakashi-sensei said that…”
He didn't care to know what Kakashi had said, he didn't even want to talk to her at the time. Without giving Sakura a chance to continue he interrupted her, taking care to slam his shoulder into her to pass her.
"Hey!" she protested, staggering backwards. "What do you have?!"
“Traitor,” he growled at her, then resumed walking almost running.
Sakura looked at him in shock, but then she had to figure out what he meant, she kicked the ground and raised a fist.
“Health is important! Damn you, shannaro!”
He didn't answer her, too furious to articulate anything but another growl.
By the time he got to his apartment, his anger hadn't abated in the slightest. Tsunade's ultimatum was serious and Sasuke didn't know how to get around it without having to give up something.
Two years without being a ninja, without being able to participate in missions, without having a purpose… he couldn't even think about it without going crazy, his whole existence would have collapsed. Sasuke supported himself on mission money, if he didn't want to ask his parents for help he would have to find a civilian job, but he wasn't good at anything other than being a shinobi. A new job would have stolen time from his training, he would have weakened and even once he returned to the field he would have had to make up for two years of inactivity. It wasn't a break he could afford.
But could he accept a stranger into his living space?
Sasuke looked around his apartment, trying to imagine another figure moving between those rooms. He had chosen a small and essential house, the living room and the kitchen were in a single space, he had no television and no sofa, there was only the armchair where he went to sit down when he wanted to read one of the books on display in his library, the shelves full and tidy. The kitchen table was small, round, with only one chair nearby. The bathroom was equally essential and there was space in the room only for her single bed and his nest. His apartment was made to measure for one person, without even the possibility of any guests, perfectly in line with Sasuke's character. He had never bought it with the thought that an Alpha could stop within those walls.
He had always wanted to prove that he didn't need an Alpha to be a good Omega, he wouldn't act like his brother and he wouldn't seek his father's approval of him with an Alpha. Even then he didn't need them to feel good.
Just the thought of it made the blood rush to his head and before he knew it, Sasuke slammed his fist too hard on the tabletop, releasing his electrical chakra and breaking the wood which cracked and fractured into countless splinters. Its legs didn't take the blow and collapsed too, the table disassembled destroyed on the floor as if it had been knocked down by a tornado.
"Shit," Sasuke croaked, some splinters had lodged in his arm, some had opened up cuts.
He fell to the floor himself, as if that punch had destroyed him a little too. He looked at the remains of the table, there was no way to put it back together, he would have to buy a new one. How he should have bought the bedside table destroyed last time, the torn blankets and the shattered bathroom mirror from the last punch…
Sasuke sighed, the dull pain in his arm filling his head, as if that were the main problem to solve. As if he had to hide, find a safe place to heal the wound.
As if enemies could be everywhere to attack him.
Tsunade was right.
**
She perceived his arrival as if it were a ghost and gave a slight start, dropping the papers on the floor. Tsunade ignored them, focusing instead on the open window. Perched on the balcony was an ANBU. A grinning fox mask, decorated with red paint, hid his face, but the blond hair was too distinctive for him to hide his identity in any way. Not to mention that there was only one kitsune in the entire ANBU.
“Doors exist, you know that?” sighed the Hokage going to the desk. "At least nod next time."
"I didn't mean to scare you, sorry," replied the young voice, slightly muffled by the ceramic mask.
Tsunade shook her head, aware that that bad habit had been passed on by Kakashi and there would be no way to break it.
"Come in, I have a possible mission for you."
Silent and elegant, the boy entered the oval room and grabbed the file she handed. His whole body tensed as he began to read.
"Itachi-senpai's brother?" he asked, growing more uneasy the more he read. “I didn't think that ANBU would handle this as well…”
"Normally no one deals with this," sighed Tsunade. "But it's an exceptional case, Sasuke is an elite jōnin and I can't afford to keep him inactive" she admitted.
Kitsune handed the file back and Tsunade was almost tempted to tell him to take off his mask, just so she could see from his expression how he was taking the news. But she wanted the situation to remain professional, to be treated as a real mission, so she had to act as if it were a normal situation.
"What should I do?" Kitsune asked hesitantly, after a few seconds of heavy silence.
“For now, it's enough for you to give me a piece of cloth full of your pheromones. If Sasuke chooses you, then you will be temporarily relieved of your duties with the Ro team and spend time with him."
“Will I have to watch him?” he asked a little more confident, probably hoping to move on familiar ground.
Tsunade was almost sorry to have to contradict him. “No, more than that. You will have to support him both on mission and in his daily activities, make sure that his needs are met, that he lives in a calm environment and that he is well. You will have to comfort him, above all. On sexual matters… he will depend on him, the mission does not require it ”.
At least that last clarification seemed to have reassured him a little, even if the pose of his body remained tense, conflicted.
“Baa-chan…” he muttered, thus throwing off any attempts to keep it formal. “I don't know if I can. They look like things…” he trailed off, swallowing. “No one taught me,” he concluded in a very small voice.
Tsunade sighed softly and leaned back in her high chair, her gaze inevitably falling on the Yondaime painting, then moving on to that of the old master. His image, as it often did when she thought about what Sandaime had don, made her jaw twitch.
If she had known at the time, if Jiraiya had told her… she certainly wouldn't have spent years in different casinos getting drunk.
“These are not things you learn, it's instinct. It will come naturally to you,” she said after a few seconds. “And among the ANBUs I called, I believe you are the one who can most succeed in this mission.”
Kitsune jerked his head up. "For real?" he asked in a surprised tone that unmatched the grin in his mask.
Tsunade nodded and then got up from the desk, passing it to be at the young man's height. It was amazing how much he had grown since she first saw him, now he was even an inch taller than her.
"Really, I hope Sasuke chooses you for his sake." She took off his mask, being careful not to be abrupt, and collided with a pair of very blue eyes, full of hope and uncertainty. “Besides, you two met as puppies.”
Naruto blinked, gripping his own mask.
“Um, yeah…but that was years ago, before…” he looked away. "He won't even remember me."
"That might surprise you," Tsunade glossed over. She placed a comforting hand on his bare shoulder, the one where the ANBU tattoo stood out. “You have to accept the mission only if you feel like it, you don't have to. As always".
Naruto was looking at the file left on the desk, his expression conflicted and his lips slightly pursed in a pout.
“By when do I have to give you the piece of cloth?”
“At least by tomorrow,” she replied, hoping he didn't notice how relieved her voice was. Tsunade really meant what she told him and much preferred imagining Sasuke with him, rather than with any other ANBU.
The boy put his mask back on. "That is fine. It's not like he's going to choose me, right?"
Tsunade nodded, even though she hoped for that.
**
Sasuke felt nervous, alone in the Hokage's office. He knew there were ANBU hiding somewhere, but they were so subtle that it only made him more anxious. Sitting on the green sofa he turned the piece of cloth over in his hands, judging by the shape and material it must have been ripped from a scarf.
Going back to Tsunade to give in to the blackmail had been humiliating, but during the night he had to admit that Godaime was right and that a solution was needed. Equally embarrassing was realizing that Tsunade must have foreseen his surrender, because she had made him find ready-made swatches of fabric impregnated with the candidates' pheromones.
Sasuke returned to his scarf, the only fabric of those exposed to have an intriguing scent. Intriguing, he found the word to be the perfect description. It was unusual compared to any other smell he had smelled, it didn't have earthy, grassy or fiery tones as was typical of the inhabitants of that area, on the contrary it seemed to have been immersed in the sea. But it wasn't the nauseating smell of fish that came from their fish shop, it was just the scent of the open ocean, of the sea breeze that he had only smelled on the coast. As if a stormy sea was only a few steps away. On top of all that, he could also sense an almost sweeter undertone clashing with the salty one, as if he were smelling a ripe pumpkin. The combination was strange, it reminded him both of a mad run on the surface of the sea on a mission, in total freedom, and of the warmth of the blankets in his childhood home, when he was sick and his mother prepared pumpkin soups that warmed his sick little body .
It was that contrast that convinced Sasuke, it made those pheromones unique and they made all the others vanish. The choice had been very fast for this reason, so much so that Tsunade had to repeat several times to him if he was sure, at least until he snapped annoyed. She had then gone out to go get that ANBU and there he was, sitting on the couch waiting for the Alpha to babysit for him he didn't even know how long.
Annoyed by that thought, Sasuke brought the scarf up to his nose and took a deep breath. Immediately the idea didn't seem so bad to him anymore, he really wanted to understand who a similar perfume belonged to, if he had already met it before if he would remember it. He closed his eyes and, without checking it, let out a satisfied growl. As soon as he realized that, his lids fluttered and he jumped to his feet, looking around as if to make sure there really weren't any witnesses to his little Omega moment. Luckily there were only the paintings of previous Hokage looking at him with judgment.
Sasuke snorted in disbelief at himself and embarrassed by the reaction caused by that one little sniff. He had to control himself, he certainly wasn't the type to show his neck at the first good-smelling Alpha he met on the street.
The door to the office opened while he was still in the center of the room and he gasped as if he'd been caught in the middle of a trespass, instantly feeling like an idiot. Tsunade looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I told you to wait sitting down".
Sasuke pursed his lips, preventing himself from giving a rude answer. He rather focused on the figure of her behind her, dressed in the standard Konoha jōnin uniform.
He frowned, that Alpha had something familiar, but he couldn't have met him before or he would have recognized his pheromones, not to mention that he had a very particular appearance. His hair was blond and the only clan with hair that light were the Yamanaka, but his skin was much darker than the members of that clan. Not to mention the blue eyes, vivid and brilliant, so beautiful that it would be impossible to forget them. Then his gaze fell to his round cheeks, noting parallel marks like cuts, and everything fell back to his place.
"Naruto?!" he recognized him widening his eyes.
This was the last thing he expected.
The old classmate from the Academy made an equally surprised face, then became embarrassed and scratched the back of his neck, looking away.
"You remember me, 'tebayo," he muttered.
If Sasuke hadn't recognized him sooner, he would have at that moment hearing that exclamation. He turned to Tsunade, as if she could give him some explanation, but she seemed too busy gathering paperwork, so he turned back to Naruto. Sasuke looked at him from his toes to his hair, trying to make sense of what was in front of him.
“I thought you were dead,” he said then, the question implicit.
Naruto gasped to hear it, but what else did he expect to hear? The last time he'd seen him was when he was nine, then he hadn't come to class again, hadn't taken exams, had never seen him around Konoha and… How could he be an ANBU if he hadn't even been enrolled in the chūnin?
"Where were you gone?” he insisted feeling even a little angry.
Naruto at the Academy was an idiot, an incompetent who couldn't even tie his shoes and now he was an Alpha and an ANBU! And all of this had happened without him knowing anything about it.
“Um, well…” Naruto fidgeted, looking anxiously at the Hokage.
“It's confidential,” Tsunade said deadpan.
"Yes, confidential, sorry," Naruto repeated, more relieved than sorry.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, only more determined to find out what was underneath. Even if it was secretive, he would have had everything told, he wasn't going to let a thing like that pass. Judging by the reaction it must have been something important and he wanted to know it.
“So, what do you say?” Tsunade brought him back to reality, resting her chin on her crossed fingers. "Can it work?"
That's right, Sasuke returned his focus to why he was there in the first place. He didn't know how to react to the fact that the mysterious Alpha was Naruto, whom he never expected to see again, but he kept clutching that piece of cloth as if his life depended on it. He didn't smell the pheromones well, maybe because the office was full of Tsunade's smell, but from what little he got it was obvious that that was his perfume and a part of him just wanted to get out of there to be able to smell better. Sasuke was embarrassing, he had never had such a need; usually the smell of others just bothered him.
Given the situation, he figured it was a good sign. At least he wouldn't mind having it in your house.
"It can," he confirmed impassively.
“Naruto?” She turned to the other boy.
He nodded with a shrug. "It's okay, 'tebayo."
Sasuke felt a little offended, because he was sure he was more than okay.
Tsunade pushed the paperwork she had been handling until a second ago towards him.
“Then, we can proceed. Read and, if you agree, sign".