Chapter Text
Chapter Notes
Warning—
Explanation: a carrier is someone who can get pregnant and in my fic has menstrual cycle.
Anatomy explanation: They bleed from their anus which has two distinct ducts—one leading to the reproductive parts and the other for usual outlet of waste.
Basically omega without omegaverse😌😉. Its a popular trope...don't ask me why.
Naruto attacked before the signal. He always did.
“Still can’t wait, huh?” Sasuke’s voice came easily, not even breathless as he stepped aside.
Naruto’s fist cut through empty air.
“Like you need it,” Naruto shot back, already turning, already coming again. “You’d just stand there and brood anyway.”
“I don’t brood.”
“You literally stand there and stare at people.”
Sasuke caught his wrist this time, grip firm and controlled, twisting just enough to throw Naruto off balance.
“You’re doing it again,” Sasuke said.
Naruto yanked his arm back. “Doing what?”
“Thinking speed will fix your mistakes.”
Naruto clicked his tongue. “And thinking too much is working out great for you?”
Sasuke didn’t react. He never did. That was the annoying part. They circled each other again, feet shifting against the loose dirt. The training ground was deep inside the forest, quiet and cut off from the rest of the village. Naruto could almost feel ANBU watching him from somewhere out of sight if he concentrated.
Naruto moved first. Again. This time faster. Better. He dropped lower, forcing Sasuke to adjust, not just step aside but actually move. There. That was it.
Naruto grinned. “Got you”
His vision dipped.
Just for a second. Like the world tilted slightly out of place.
His step faltered.
Sasuke saw it.
Naruto recovered immediately, covering it with a sharper swing and a louder breath as if nothing had happened.
“Don’t slow down,” Sasuke said.
Naruto scowled. “I’m not.”
“You hesitated.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
Naruto lunged again, harder this time, like he could erase it by force. “Stop talking like you’ve already won!”
Sasuke didn’t step away this time. He met him head-on.
Their arms collided, chakra flaring just enough to be felt. Naruto pushed forward, putting all his weight into it. For a moment, they held each other there, equal.
Then Sasuke moved smoothly and with control and Naruto lost his balance.
He hit the ground with a sharp exhale.
For a second, neither of them moved.
“…lucky,” Naruto muttered, staring up at the sky.
“It wasn’t luck.”
Naruto sat up immediately. “You always say that.”
“Because it’s always true.”
Naruto glared. “You’re so annoying.”
“And you’re predictable.”
Naruto pushed himself to his feet, brushing dirt off with more force than needed. “Yeah? Then why haven’t you beaten me properly yet?”
“I just did.”
“That doesn’t count.”
Sasuke’s expression didn’t change, but there was something there. Faint. Almost amused.
“Then what would count?”
Naruto opened his mouth and paused.
That same strange feeling twisted low in his stomach again. Not pain. Not even discomfort. Just… wrong. Like something inside him wasn’t lining up properly.
It faded too quickly.
Naruto straightened, forcing it down before it could settle.
“Next round,” he said. “No holding back.”
“I wasn’t holding back.”
“Liar.”
Sasuke watched him more closely now. Years of training together had made Naruto’s movements familiar to him, predictable in their own chaotic way.
This wasn’t that.
“What?” Naruto snapped.
“…You’re off.”
Naruto’s irritation flared instantly. “I just knocked you back two steps.”
“You lost your footing.”
“That was on purpose.”
“It wasn’t.”
Naruto stepped closer. "Are you keeping track now?”
“I always do.”
Naruto frowned slightly before looking away. Something felt wrong and he didn’t like that he couldn’t explain it. He had come here ready to beat Sasuke.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “You think too much.”
“And you don’t think enough.”
“Works fine for me.”
“Until it doesn’t.”
Naruto’s jaw tightened.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Naruto scoffed, rolling his shoulders. “You talk like some old man.”
“And you fight like a child.”
Naruto grinned, sharp and challenging. “Then what does that say about you? Losing to me all the time?”
Sasuke didn’t answer.
He simply stepped back into position.
Ready.
Always ready.
“…Again,” Naruto said.
Sasuke nodded once.
---
At the edge of the training ground, Minato stood watching.
He had come back from the Hokage Tower to find Naruto not at home. He hadn’t needed to ask where he would be.
His gaze followed the two of them as they moved again, fast and relentless, each trying to push the other back.
Naruto was stronger and faster than last week, but something wasn’t right.
A delay where there shouldn’t be one. A break in rhythm that didn’t belong. It was almost invisible. Minato’s expression didn’t change, but his focus sharpened.
Naruto laughed, loud and careless, already moving again as nothing could touch him.
Like nothing ever did.
Minato didn’t smile.
He had been in charge of the village, made choices that changed its future, and kept things together when they could have easily fallen apart.
None of it unsettled him the way this did.
Naruto was reckless.
And that worried him more than anything.
Naruto rushed forward again before Sasuke could say anything else, frustration pushing his movements faster, sharper, like if he didn’t stop he wouldn’t have to think.
Sasuke adjusted, reading him easily now.
Too easily.
Their strikes met again, quick and controlled, but Naruto pushed harder than needed, forcing the pace, forcing the space between them to close.
“Still rushing,” Sasuke said quietly.
“Still talking,” Naruto shot back.
Their arms locked for a second, chakra flickering faintly between them, neither giving way.
Naruto pushed and his strength slipped. Just for a second and it was enough. Sasuke shifted and Naruto stumbled back again, foot dragging slightly against the dirt before he caught himself.
This time he felt it. Clearer.
That same wrong pull inside him, heavier now, like his body wasn’t keeping up with what he wanted it to do.
Naruto frowned, just for a moment.Then he straightened immediately, irritation covering it up.
“Again.”
“No.”
The word cut cleanly through the space between them.
Naruto froze.
Slowly, he turned.
Minato stood there now, closer than before. He must have moved without them noticing, his presence quiet but absolute in a way that made everything else feel… smaller.
Naruto frowned. “I said I’m not done.”
“And I said you are.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know.”
That answer came too quickly.Too easily.
Naruto’s irritation sharpened. “Then why are you?"
“Because I’m telling you to stop.”
There was no change in Minato’s tone. That was the problem. If he had sounded angry, Naruto could’ve pushed back. If he had sounded worried, Naruto could’ve brushed it off. But this was final.
Naruto clenched his jaw, looking away for a second before forcing a shrug. “It was just training.”
“And it’s over.”
Naruto exhaled sharply through his nose. “You always do this.”
Minato didn’t respond immediately. His gaze stayed on Naruto, steady, watching too closely. Naruto hated that.
“…do what?” Minato asked.
Naruto gestured vaguely, frustration building again. “This. Acting like I’m going to break if I train for a little longer.”
Minato’s expression didn’t change. But something in his eyes did.
“You’re not going to break,” he said calmly.
Naruto blinked.
“Then what’s the problem?”
A pause.
“That’s enough for today,” Minato said instead.
Naruto stared at him for a second, searching for something, an explanation, an argument, anything he could push against. But there was nothing.
Just that same calm, controlled wall.
Naruto clicked his tongue, looking away again. “…fine.”
The word came out quieter than before. The tension didn’t leave, but it shifted.
Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, shoulders tight, already turning away before he could say anything else.
He hated ending things like this. Hated that it always ended like this.
Sasuke stepped forward then, breaking the silence that had settled.
“Hokage-sama.”
The shift was immediate. Minato’s attention moved, the sharpness easing just slightly as he acknowledged him.
“Sasuke.”
Sasuke stood straight, composed as always, but his gaze flickered briefly toward Naruto before returning to Minato.
“You fought well,” Minato said.
It wasn’t empty praise.
Sasuke inclined his head. “I still have a long way to go.”
Minato hummed softly, then reached out without hesitation, resting his hand against Sasuke’s head, fingers brushing lightly through his hair in a familiar gesture.
Sasuke stilled. Not surprised. Just quiet and accepting. Naruto saw it. Of course he did.
Something in his chest tightened quickly and sharply, gone just as fast as it came.
“Tch.”
He looked away before either of them could notice. Minato’s hand dropped back to his side as his attention returned to Naruto.
“Let’s go.”
Naruto didn’t argue this time.
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, already walking ahead.
But his steps were slower than usual and not as steady.
Minato followed a step behind. Close enough to reach him if needed. Far enough not to make it obvious. His gaze didn’t leave Naruto. He had seen it clearly now. The delay and the imbalance.
Naruto's body wasn't acting the way it should have.
It had started earlier than he would have liked.
Behind them, Sasuke remained where he was, watching until they disappeared into the trees.
His expression didn’t change. But his eyes lingered slightly longer than necessary. Naruto had been unsure. Not like before. Nothing like what he had seen in all the years they had trained together.
Sasuke looked down at the ground where Naruto had fallen. The dirt was still uneven under his feet.
“…off,” he muttered quietly to himself.
The forest settled down again but something had changed and they all knew it.