Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Kakashi shouldn’t be surprised. Naruto was blankfaced at the explanation of what chakra was — the entire foundation of all life, and critical to comprehension of, well, everything related to being a shinobi — so him not knowing there was an entire spectre of gender related to one's development was arguably more reasonable to not know. But just because he shouldn’t be surprised, didn’t mean he wasn’t.

Not for the first time, he feels the fruits of frustration bearing in his chest at the Third. Exactly what part of Naruto’s childhood isolation could be skewed into protection? What was the point, if he was going about life irrespective of the world to a negligent degree? 

Naruto, nursing a swollen bump on his head from Sakura’s fist a moment ago, grumbles and squints accusatorily at his two other teammates, frowning. “Why is this so important, anyway? He just said we won’t know for another year!?” Naruto complains. Sakura glares at him.

“No, Naruto!” Sakura exclaims. “Most people present when they’re 14. We can present anytime between 13 to 16 years old. So we could be presenting soon!” She chirps, looking eagerly back at Kakashi. “Right, sensei?” She asks, and of course, Kakashi knows she knows she’s right — she was the top Kunoichi for a reason — but Kakashi can’t help but fondly smile and ruffle her hair. Sakura's greatest strength was her interest in knowledge, and there was always room to encourage that passion.

“Very good, Sakura,” Kakashi says, and Sakura beams. He peeks at the ever-quiet third member of their team. Sasuke’s expression is carefully blank. He’s avoiding eye-contact with him, eyebrow twitching — and Kakashi suddenly realizes, with no small amount of shock: he likely knows very little on the subject as well. Sex ed wasn’t… an in-depth endeavor in the Academy. They were children, after all, and most parents liked to have a say in what their child learns about such things. But Sasuke was nowhere near the age where that kind of a talk would take place when his family passed. Kakashi expected the boy to learn on his own; as he seemed to with everything else, and he reckons with the unfairness of such an assumption. It wasn’t Sasuke’s responsibility to pick up after himself when his parents died. He shouldn’t have to.

Kakashi sighs, looks up and imagines shaking some sense into the Third, and returns his attention back to the three little monsters. “I think there’s no harm in having a little lesson,” he says, cheerful despite the vague discomfort at having to explain what should have been common knowledge for them at this point. 

Sakura sniffs, clearly annoyed. “Maa, maa Sakura-chan,” Kakashi says, “It’s always good to have a refresher, right?” 

She seems abated by this, relaxing into her position on the soft soil. A ray of sunlight pierces through the greenery above their heads, lighting the children up in flickers of gold and yellow. They all peer inquisitively at him. Kakashi shifts his arm which is slung over a wooden crutch, gesturing his hand with as much energy as he can muster with the throbbing pain of his injuries, preparing to launch into another lengthy explanation.

“As you all know, there are two sexes one can be born with: female and male. But, there are also three secondary genders that are developed later in life, at the same time that puberty occurs. These are known as alpha, beta, and omega.” Kakashi explains, gauging their reactions. Sasuke shifts in his position, his mouth set and brow still creased. 

Interesting.

“What’s the difference?” Naruto asks, eyes narrowed and shifting impatiently.

“I was just about to explain.” Kakashi says. “Betas are the easiest to start with, and probably the most common: if you are a beta, there will be no change in your current development. As you grow, you will live life as you have been, including the changes in puberty that everyone experiences—getting taller, voice changing, and the like.” He hesitates, “Alphas and omegas, however, will develop scent glands. The growth of these glands is called presentation, or presenting; as in the name, it is the moment you can be identified as an alpha or omega. Scent glands develop at the neck,” he points at the junction of his neck and shoulder, “The inside of your wrists,” he rolls up the sleeve of his right hand, gesturing to a subtle ridge at his pulse which he’s rather sure they can’t see from their position, “And in the groin area.” He deigns not to elaborate, returning his arms back to the handles of his crutches.

At this, Naruto looks abundantly disturbed. “Glands?” Naruto repeats, nose wrinkled. “What does that mean? Like a lump?” He shudders, clearly disgusted.

Sakura seems perturbed as well. “Kakashi-sensei, I know that we… may develop those… er, glands, but it sounds like it’s painful…” She trails off. “I tried to read about it in the library but there wasn’t anything in detail about how it feels, just that it happens.” She admits.

It makes sense to Kakashi: most civilians were betas, and he wouldn’t be surprised if her parents were no exception. He supposes the whole thing does sound uncomfortable without personally knowing how it feels.

“That’s likely because it doesn't feel like anything in particular,” Kakashi says. “Other than some increased sensitivity in the area, which will taper off over time, it’s perfectly painless.” At their dubious expressions, Kakashi sighs. “Maa… this may help to know, but I myself am an alpha.”

Naruto and Sakura perk up at that, looking closely at him as if they could suddenly see the differences in him now that they knew. Even Sasuke seems more interested now, eyeing his now-concealed wrist with increasing curiosity.

“Can we see it?” Naruto asks. Sakura hits him on the head.

“Naruto! That is private!” She scolds, but her eyes betray her: also narrowing at his gloved hands.

Kakashi sighs again, and pictures shaking the Third until he was a spinning top. “This is a little unusual, but…” Kakashi shrugs, “It should do no harm to show you.” Kakashi presses his crutch on his right side into his elbow, and pushes up his sleeve, leaning forward.

Eagerly, Sakura and Naruto lean in, while Sasuke’s eyes narrow at Kakashi’s movements, his head tilting slightly forward. 

Removing his fingerless glove with his left hand, Kakashi bares his wrist to the three children, leaning forward. Other than a gentle patch of raised skin, the area was unblemished and hardly different from the rest of his skin. You really wouldn’t notice it was there unless you knew to look for it.

“I don’t see anything!” Naruto huffs. Sakura gives Naruto a side-eye, but then gives Kakashi a haughty look.

Kakashi chuckles. “Well, really, you guys naturally have other glands in your body that are shaped like this. Press your fingers in the junction between you neck and your jaw, above your pulse point.” Kakashi gestures to the region on himself with his pointer and middle finger, readjusting his gloves over his wrist. “These are your lymph nodes. You can only feel them from the outside, and only see them on someone else if you’re really looking.”

Naruto frowns, squinting, as he presses his fingers to his neck; but once he feels the bulb, he breaks into a grin and starts nodding sagely. Sakura in particular is very fascinated, going between feeling her lymph nodes to peeking at Sasuke’s neck not-very-surreptiously trying to estimate if she can see his. 

Sasuke lilts his head just so, and the tall collar of his shirt covers his neck from her view. He seems disproportionately annoyed at the situation; Kakashi’s starting to speculate the gender topic is a sore one. Sakura blushes, retreating. 

Kakashi clears his throat. 

“Moreover, the importance of the scent glands isn’t how they look… it’s what the glands do.” Kakashi explains. “Alphas and omegas have a unique sense of smell that a beta does not. Everyone smells different, but it should be immediately obvious to one if another is an alpha or omega. More impressive than that, a scent can reveal strong emotions in someone, such as anger, disgust, and desire.” Kakashi says. “These qualities are useful to ninja, because they reveal intent… but only to a certain point: some highly skilled nin are capable of controlling their emotions on a deeper level, leaving no indication in their scent.” Kakashi pauses. 

“But if that’s the boring part, what’s the cool part?” Naruto excitedly bursts, eyes shining and leaning forward. “Do you get stronger if you’re an alpha like you, Sensei?” He asks. Sakura casts him an irritated look.

At this, Sasuke stares at Kakashi. There’s a weight to it that abruptly makes Kakashi feel like he’s going to be judged very critically based on his response.

“...No, not particularly.” Kakashi starts. “Alphas and omegas have different predispositions due to the nature of the gender, but it wouldn’t make someone any more or less strong.” Kakashi says, flickering his eyes to Sasuke. Sasuke’s looking at the trees now with a carefully feigned disinterest that puzzles Kakashi. 

“Predispositions?” Naruto asks. “Whaddaya mean?” He’s got a twisted up look of confusion on his face, drawing Kakashi back to the conversation.

Kakashi hesitates, deciding how to approach this delicately. “Well, I’m sure as you know—” Hopefully, Kakashi adds in his mind, “—women can carry children, and men can produce children. It’s not fair to say all women and men act the same, but some could argue that women are more inclined to motherly traits, like high emotional intelligence and being more gentle. Similarly, men would be inclined to fatherly traits, like being a protector or head-of-household—but let me be clear. These are generalizations only to be taken at face value. There are incredibly powerful women and men who are ninjas, just like alphas and omegas. What one's gender is says nothing of a ninja’s abilities or behavior.” Kakashi smiles. “In fact, the Second was an omega himself.”

Naruto nods along rapidly, but it’s clear he’s only partially paying attention. “Yeah, yeah, but what does having children have to do with omegas and alphas?” He asks. Sakura looks aghast at this question. 

And here comes the part Kakashi was avoiding, “Well, just like I said before, the same goes for alphas and omegas. All omegas can carry children, including men, and all alphas can produce children, including women.”

“WHA-AAT?!” Naruto exclaims. Sakura looks at him, visibly annoyed.

“You’ve never heard of a pregnant man before, Naruto?” Sakura asks. “Think about it! How do you think Ino was born when she’s got two dads?!” 

Naruto falls silent at this, then starts rocking back and forth, shivering. “Weird… so weird…”

Sakura hits him on the head. “You’re being super offensive!” She yells. 

“No! I don’t think it’s weird that…” Naruto trails off. “So I could get pregnant?” He pales considerably. “Sasuke could?!”

Sasuke looks a bit sick at this. He levels Naruto with a withering glare. “Shut up, usuratonkachi.” He hisses.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Sakura says. “Sasuke’s obviously going to be an alpha, duh!” She sighs wistfully with a smile, which abruptly drops. “But I’ll probably just be a beta…” She grumbles, visibly frustrated. Clearly, she’d created a vision in her mind of herself and Sasuke as an omega-alpha match. Sasuke gives her an equally annoyed look. 

“Naruto,” Kakashi sighs. “It’s perfectly normal and natural for anyone who is an omega to go through a pregnancy if that is what they desire. So yes—if you were to present as an omega in the next few years, and sometime in the future want to start a family, you absolutely could carry the child.” He shrugs. “You could also, as a male, produce the child. That is a unique aspect for both alpha women and omega men.” 

“But how?!” Naruto says, hands twisted in his hair, face ablaze and panicked. “I don’t have the… thingy for that.” 

Sasuke stiffens, as if realizing the exact same thing himself.

Kakashi sighs. At the very least, it relievingly became clear that this was what disturbed Naruto, rather than some misplaced bias against who ought or ought not get pregnant. Unfortunately, this is the doubly worse part he was avoiding. Maybe he could dangle the Third off a bridge, just to see if it would rewire the clearly declining connections in his brain that lead Kakashi into this situation. 

“Well…” Kakashi begins, putting on a brave face for his despicable, torturous, evil team. Perhaps this would be helpful, on the off chance that Sasuke or Naruto presented as omegas, or Sakura as an alpha. Crazier things have happened. “To start, I should explain that all alphas experience a rut twice a year, and all omegas go through heat four times a year.” He already wants to die. He didn’t sign up for this when he became a Jonin instructor, he was supposed to be giving them a lesson on chakra, a perfectly innocent inoffensive subject for impressionable preteens. 

Kakashi swallows down his dismay. “A… rut is a period of roughly four to six days where an alpha has a strong desire to reproduce.” Clinical words, clinical words. “For male alphas, this includes the formation of a knot over the duration of the rut.” The copy of Icha Icha: Alpha Tactics tucked into his kunai holster burns into his thigh, like a brand of shame. “But no other biological changes. For a female alpha, the first rut involves the development of…” Maybe he can pass out again if he thinks about it hard enough. Possibly, he could leave the rest of this to Tazuna: the old man should pay his due for involving them in such a dangerous situation.

“Of what?!” Naruto exclaims. 

Kakashi feels sweat run down his forehead. “Of an external sex organ for penetration, located at the top of her vulva.” Clinical words, clinical words. “Which will become available to her when needed.” Kakashi shuts his eyes. He doesn’t know how much more creative he can get. “An omega…” he mumbles and swears under his breath, “G-Goes through heat, which causes them to feel a strong desire to be impregnated…” he steadfastly ignores the warble in his voice. “All omegas self-lubricate to, aid, the process… and male omegas develop a uterus which is connected to their, ahem, available region for the duration of their heat.” It’s the best he can do.

Sakura levels him with an unimpressed look. Kakashi avoids eye-contact with all of them.

“Available region?” Naruto echoes, bewildered.

“Your anal canal!” Sakura exclaims.

“Oh,” Naruto squeaks. 

Sasuke coughs in rapid succession, his ears red.

Kakashi sighs for the nth time, tucking his crutch into his armpit so he can press a hand to the bridge of his nose. “There’s more to it, but yeah… That’s the gist of it.” He looks to the sky. “You can figure out the rest on your own. You’re ninja. Do some recon.” Turning around, Kakashi throws a hand in dismissal as he walks away. 

“Now — go on, get to tree climbing. I want you two to reach the top of the tree by midnight.” He turns over his shoulder, and waves Sakura to him.

“Sakura, you should go protect Tazuna at the bridge for the rest of the day… you’re the only one who’s mastered the technique, after all.”

Sakura beams at him, smugly turning back at the boys before lacing her hands behind her back and turning to him. “Thank you Sensei!” She cheers, jogging up to him, enthusiastically waving goodbye to the two seated boys still reeling with the library of new knowledge. 

꩜

“Ne, Sasuke,” Naruto says, leaning in conspiratorally. “What d’you think you’re going to present as?”

Sasuke glares at him. “Don’t be an idiot.” He scoffs. He sits up, dusting off debris from his previous attempts at the tree. He thumbs open the flap of his holster, hooks his finger through the hole of his kunai and spins it until he palms the handle dramatically. 

“Haaah~?” Naruto goads, popping to his feet and rolling on his heels, approaching Sasuke eagerly. “So, you never thought of it?”

“...No,” Sasuke says.

“Not even about—” Naruto asks, closing in on him, “—being an omega?” He’s grinning, standing right beside him, hand cupped over his mouth in a parody of a whisper.

Sasuke jolts, glowering at Naruto mercilessly. “You didn’t even know secondary genders existed until 5 minutes ago,” he bites. “Why don’t you spend your time usefully instead of asking me idiotic questions?” As if to punctuate this point, he starts off in a run, making it a few feet on the tree and scoring with his kunai just above his last run before he falters, flipping backwards and landing gracefully on his feet.

Naruto scoffs, grumbling under his breath before unsheathing his own kunai, refocusing on his own attempts at the tree.

3 hours later, chests heaving, they lay collapsed by the foot of their own trees, taking a break in the nonstop rush of training. 

“Sasuke,” Naruto pants, rubbing the sweat off his forehead, hitai-ate and zip-up long discarded.

“What.” Sasuke forces between shuddering breaths of air. His bangs, wet, are stuck to his similarly bare forehead.

“What d’you think you’re gonna smell like?” Naruto asks as he catches his breath, then reddens as he realizes he inadvertently admitted to thinking Sasuke would be an alpha.

 “I mean- what you would smell like if you were… y’know.” Naruto lamely remedies.

“How am I supposed to know? Usuratonkachi.” Sasuke responds, muttering something under his breath. A beat. “What do you think I’m gonna smell like?” 

“What?!” Naruto erupts, jolting where he’s laying. “Why would I think about that?”

“You just asked me.” Sasuke reminds him. 

“I-,” Naruto starts, flustered, “I meant I was thinking about what I’m gonna smell like, which is something really awesome.” Sasuke is silent. At the lack of reaction, Naruto adds, "... But you’d be something gross, like spoiled milk.” He lamely decides, nose wrinkled.

Sasuke extends him a long, pitying look that leaves no room to imagine how unimpressed he was at that summation. Naruto shrinks under his gaze, laughing nervously.

Sasuke slowly rises to his feet, mouth twitching. “You spend a lot of time thinking about me, huh?” He smirks. “Seems like you’d be the omega.” Not waiting for a response, he turns away, legs crouched in preparation to run back up the tree.

Naruto’s face flushes. “I don’t spe— what the hell?!” He buries his feet into the ground, leaping forward and ignoring the stumble in his step as he gains his footing. “Even if I was an omega, I’d be the first Hokage to be one, dattebayo!”

“Kakashi just told us the Second was an omega.” Sasuke replies, starting at the tree. Sasuke’s much farther than him, Naruto realizes with horror, as Sasuke scores a mark above his previous. At least halfway to the top… and Naruto’s still several feet behind Sasuke. 

Motivation reignited, Naruto shuts his eyes, steeling himself. There’s no way he’s letting that asshole beat him. He concentrates on his chakra flow, recalling Sakura’s advice. Focus… let just a little chakra out… balance it…

There! Just as he feels what is the right amount of energy exerted to the soles of his feet, he hears something at his left.

“Naruto?” Sasuke calls.

Naruto’s eyebrow twitches. Shooting his eyes open, he glares at Sasuke, who is stalwartly avoiding eye-contact.

“Teme! I can’t concentrate!” He yells.

Sasuke’s eyes flicker to him before returning to the ground. “...What did Sakura tell you, earlier?” He asks, voice pitched awkwardly.

Naruto’s mouth drops open. Glee fills his stomach; the bastard needs his advice? Really? 

He’s eager to withhold it; then, he remembers their earlier conversation about secondary genders. They have ‘predispositions.’ So, in the spirit of dissuading Sasuke’s theory about Naruto’s potential to be an omega, he channels a more alpha-like attitude. Kakashi-sensei did say they were caretaker types, right? All the more reason to help the little guy, rather than lord it over him. Naruto can act the mature alpha-type, thank you very much.

Naruto sniffs. “I’ll help you out, since you’re asking for help, and all…” He crows, shrugging. This breaks Sasuke’s stare-down with the soil, his head spinning to scowl at Naruto. Naruto generously ignores this. “Sakura-chan said that I can’t concentrate if I’m stressed out, so I should relax and focus on my chakra. That way, I can feel how much or how little chakra to center at my feet. So, I’ve been breathing slowly to relax before I focus… and then I try to walk up the tree when I’m ready.”

Sasuke hesitates, then nods imperceptibly. “Thanks,” he mutters, nose dusted with pink.

Naruto grins. “Anytime!” He chirps. 

Renewed vigor, Naruto returns to his ministrations at the tree. The seeds are planted now. He just needs to keep at it; he’ll show that teme he’s no omega.

Fantasies of alpha power and such in mind, Naruto stays out training until the sky bleeds to black.

꩜

Naruto wakes up the next morning to a pretty girl sitting over him, face backlit by the warm morning sun, her eyes kind. Her hands lift from where they were on his shoulders, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

“You’ll catch a cold sleeping on the ground out here,” she says, head tilting.

“...Hunh?” Naruto grunts, sitting up. Naruto foggily recalls Kakashi saying the same thing last night. She moves back to give him space, still smiling pleasantly. Her mouth is pink and glossy. Naruto stares at her, confused and still groggy with sleep.

“...Who are you?” Naruto asks, yawning.

Not long after, Naruto spends the morning chatting peacefully with his new friend, Haku, as he helps her gather medicinal herbs from the forest floor. He pricks his finger on a pointy plant where one herb sits, a fennel Haku called it, and winces, putting his finger in his mouth.

“What’s going on that’s made you get up this early to pick these?” Naruto asks, looking skeptically at the drop of blood beading on his pointer. “I mean — y’know it’s dangerous around here? And you’re a girl.” 

“Is that so?” Haku echoes, amusement in her eyes. “Dangerous enough that you were sleeping alone…”

Naruto sputters for a moment, realizing the circle he talked himself into. “Well… that’s not the point!” 

“Either way,” Haku laughs, “You’re wrong. I’m a boy.”

Naruto jolts, looking at Haku in shock. “Really?!” He exclaims. “But, you’re so pretty!” He says, disbelieving. 

Haku blinks.  “You still haven’t presented, right?”

Naruto shakes his head in the negative.

“Ah… I’m an omega,” Haku says. 

Naruto blinks away his shock. Well… Omega’s were girly, right? So it made sense. He looks at Haku more consideringly; this person… Well, he could get pregnant, like a girl. And he looked like one. It made sense.

“It’s hard being one, where I’m from. It’s not like the Leaf.” Haku glances at Naruto’s headband. “I figured that I wouldn’t be valuable anymore.” Haku hums, gently plucking another fennel plant leaf. “But… someone very close to me — my precious person — told me it only made me more special.” He looks wistful.

Naruto tilts his head. “Precious person… like a special someone?” He teases.

Haku’s expression clears into surprise. “What makes you say that?” He asks, hands folded in his lap. 

“So I’m right!” Naruto exclaims.

“No. You’re not.” Haku frowns. “My feelings are not romantic. You can care about someone without wanting them, can’t you?”

Naruto blushes. “Well, yeah!” He hesitates, mullish. “You made it sound different, though!.” Of this, Naruto was sure. ‘Precious person’ had a connotation to it, like a singular intimate person! Not to mention, he just learned about secondary genders, so it was on his mind. Sakura-chan told him more about it during yesterday’s dinner. Most omegas were dating one alpha who was super special to them, since they were marked and mated and all. Naruto’s eyes flicker curiously to Haku’s collarbone. No mark.

Haku smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Because I’m an omega, I have to be dependent on an alpha, huh?”

Naruto’s face reddens more. Was he really that obvious? He scoffs, turning his attention to the flowery herbs. He pricks his finger on one of the thorns again. Naruto looks at the bead of blood, the wound misting as it closes up.

“I didn’t say that.” Naruto says, after a moment of quiet. The thorn must have been poisonous, because his stomach is turning uncomfortably.

Haku hums.

A bird sings its song in the distance. A rustle in the bushes. The quiet rush from the river not far from here.

“Do you have any precious people?” Haku asks. 

Naruto shoots his gaze over to Haku, brain whirring to catch up with the question.

Iruka-sensei is precious to him. Oh, he thinks. That kind of person is precious, too, in a way that’s not colored by gender. He feels a pierce of guilt as he watches Haku carefully pluck the plant from its root.

“Yeah, I do.” Naruto says, softer. 

Haku smiles. “You get it now, huh?” 

꩜

By the fifth day of training, Naruto’s stamina feels endless despite his physical exhaustion. He knows he can keep going, can feel the slough of energy muddied in his core, drained but not empty. Distantly, he’s amazed at the speed with which Sakura completed the training; despite all his efforts, it’s as if the tree is growing taller relative to his progress. Every inch further burns more; the last few feet to the top feel enormous. 

Looking over at his teammate, he relishes in the fact that he’s not alone in his tapering progression. Sasuke pants at the foot of his tree, slouching while glaring at his kunai like it was the source of all his problems. As if sensing Naruto’s gaze, Sasuke straightens, looking at Naruto as he flings the offending kunai, piercing the center of a deep sandal-shaped gouge where he exerted too much chakra; much earlier in their training ministrations. 

Naruto feels his face warm unreasonably, as if he was caught doing something he shouldn’t. He clears his throat, speaking with impulse.

“Needta refill your water?” Naruto nods to their empty canisters. He asks this unthinkingly, but as the words tumble out he realizes that it’s a practical suggestion: his mouth feels incredibly dry and his stomach is restless.

Sasuke looks at him. His panting slows, and he wordlessly walks to their canisters, pouring the rest of his own bottle into his open mouth. Naruto stares at the line of water that drips from the corner of Sasuke’s lip to his chin. 

“Sure,” Sasuke noncommittally says, scooping up Naruto’s bottle and walking up to him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Naruto blinks, looking away, tongue feeling heavy. He takes the canister from Sasuke’s grip. Their hands brush. 

At the stream east of their marked trees, Sasuke bends over, dunking his bottle into the running water. Naruto drinks from his own refilled canister, watching him curiously.

Sasuke pours the bottle onto his head. The water gushes over his hair, clinging to each strand and dripping onto his forehead. He sighs, eyes shut as he runs his hand through the damp strands, tilting his head up toward the sinking sun. Naruto licks some residual water from his lips, lowering the canister from his mouth. 

Sasuke’s hair is dyed burnt orange in the warm sunset glow. 

“It’s dinnertime by now.” Sasuke says, startling Naruto. He drops his hand to his side, opens his eyes to glance at Naruto. “Sakura’s probably looking for us.”

Naruto blinks.

Just as Sasuke says this, Naruto hears a distant shout behind them. 

“Naruto! Sasuke-kun!” Sakura yells. 

“Over here!” Naruto shouts back, scrambling. He quickly refills the canister to replace the amount he drank, jogging back to the clearing where they were training. He can hear Sasuke following behind him. 

Sakura’s waiting with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot. When she sees Naruto and Sasuke, she lights up, waving her arms high above her head, beaming.

꩜

For dinner, Tsunami makes a large portion of food, a special thank you to the ninjas who have been overseeing Tazuna’s protection. They make it just in time to beat the weather; outside, rain thuds against the window. 

Tazuna’s face is flushed with alcohol and glee, crowing about how rainy days are the best weather for enjoying seafood. Natto, piles of rice, and a large seared fish are spread across the table. Sasuke eyes the natto skeptically. He takes a portion of everything else, filling his plate, natto conspicuously untouched.

“Are you one of those people who can’t eat natto?!” Naruto asks, incredulous. 

Sakura looks dubious, hesitantly serving herself a portion of natto. “Sasuke doesn’t like sweet things,” she says, matter-of-fact. “Natto isn’t sweet.”

Sasuke’s ears are red. He looks away from both of them. “I don’t like natto or sweet things,” he mumbles, stuffing a fried egg into his mouth. 

Naruto laughs, elated. “Seriously?!” He says, looking at the natto. An idea forms in his mind. He smiles mischievously. “Y’know, I heard omegas don’t like natto…” He says, taking a pointed bite of the offensive food. The table quiets, but Naruto pays no mind.

“That’s ridiculous.” Sasuke says, but he seems faintly panicked. He stares at the natto with a vague fear.

“It’s true! You really might be one!” Naruto exclaims, then sighs dramatically, shrugging.  “Well, it can’t be helped if-” 

“Maa, Naruto,” Kakashi interrupts. “You’re making it sound like being an omega is a bad thing.” 

Naruto looks at him, then notices that Tazuna’s family has grown silent, avoiding his gaze. He reddens.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing!” he amends, waving his hands. “I just… don’t want to be one.” He says, awkwardly. 

Inari pushes up from his seat, head ducked. He gives Naruto a nasty look, eyes shadowed, and rushes away from the table, thundering up the stairs. Naruto hears a door slam shut. 

“Eh?” Naruto flounders for a moment, looking to the rest of the table for help. Sakura’s frowning at him and Sasuke’s eyes linger at the stairs. Tazuna coughs gruffly.

Tsunami picks at her food, looking away. “His dad was an omega,” she says, soft. She sits up as well, walking toward the kitchen. At the doorway, she hesitates. “He was a good man.” She states, her back to them. She disappears from view.

“Maa, Naruto…” Kakashi-sensei says, sighing. He’s giving Naruto a look of pure disappointment. “You should apologize.”

Naruto feels his face heat with embarrassment. “How was I supposed to know…” he grumbles, shovelling more food into his mouth. “Where is he, anyway?!” 

Tazuna sighs. “He’s dead.”

Naruto drops his chopsticks to his plate, looking at Tazuna in shock.

Uncharacteristically solemn, Tazuna steeples his fingers, eyes trained on the back wall. A photograph of Tsunami, Inari, and a middle-aged man is framed, hung on the wall — slanted, as though recently touched.

“His name was Kaiza,” Tazuna starts, quiet. “He was an omega — but he never let that stop him from being strong. People didn’t take him seriously, called him weak. Said he was trying to deny his real nature… the culture around here’s not with the times, like in the Leaf.” He shrugs. “It could be worse, ‘course, but shit ain’t sweet if you’re an omega. Especially male omegas.”

He looks specifically to Naruto at this. Naruto buries his head in his arms, face reddening. He thinks of Haku. Tazuna clears his throat and continues.

“But… Kaiza kept putting himself in harm's way for the sake of other villagers.” His eyes soften. “He was exactly the hero this town needed. When Inari was younger, Kaiza rescued him from drowning: and even though they weren’t blood-related, since then, they became as close as any real father and son. Couldn’t see one of ‘em without the other.” Tazuna looks at the staircase, eyes distant. “It started to scare Inari, Kaiza takin’ risks and all that. There was a problem with our dams during a really nasty storm. Was about to flood half the village. Kaiza swam up the bank and locked the canal. Inari was shittin’ himself terrified!” Tazuna laughs gruffly. “But it worked out just fine for him… and Kaiza saved everyone. People started takin’ him seriously after that! Everybody called him a hero.” 

Naruto smiles, chest lightening at the words. 

Tazuna’s face drops. “Until, Gato came to town…” he trails off, quiet.

“What happened?” Sakura asks, voice warbly. Kakashi looks uncharacteristically solemn. Sasuke’s face is stoic, but Naruto can see the tension in his frame.

“In front of the entire city…” Tazuna starts, eyes shadowed. “Gato had Kaiza put to death!” His voice darkens terribly.

Naruto’s stomach drops. He can hear Sakura gasp, but he’s focused on Tazuna’s words, the room tunnelling down to just Tazuna and him.

“Gato called him all sorts of terrible things. A freak of nature, an unruly omega bitch. Said he should know his place, that omegas should be pretty whores at home ‘stead of working and fighting like Kaiza.” Tazuna doesn’t look at Naruto, but he feels the words like they’re directed at him, stabbing him in the chest.

Everyone else suddenly feels looming and large and Naruto shrinks into his seat. His palms and face are sweaty, his stomach flipping. He feels awful. He never thought his jokes would be perpetuating this kind of thinking; be similar to Gato. He flinches when Tazuna speaks.

“He said to right a wrong in the world, Kaiza had to die. Inari was clawing and spitting,” Tazuna swallows, voice wet. “I had to hold him back. Stop him from killin’ himself too.” He inhales, pauses to take a drink from his glass of beer. “Ever since then, Inari has changed… and Tsunami… Everyone in the city’s changed, too.” Tazuna takes a longer drink. “Sure you musta noticed Kakashi, the omegas hardly leave the house. It’s too dangerous.”

The room is quiet. The only sound is the rain slowing to a faint sprinkle, and then nothing. Naruto’s leg shakes, restless. He peers over to see Sasuke; Sasuke’s expression is stormy, his cheeks blistering red as if they were hit with a cold wind. His stomach twists. All the teasing about Sasuke being an omega suddenly seems so childish and bigoted. He feels so stupid.

Naruto pushes himself up from his seat, his empty plate rattling from the force. Sasuke looks at him from the corner of his eye.

“I need some air,” Naruto says under his breath, walking to the door.

꩜

Kakashi joins him an hour later at the patio, sitting wordlessly beside him. At night, the cicadas buzzing are the background hum of nature, a quiet symphony with accompaniment by the faint chirping of crickets and the gentle coos of an owl. It’s a clear night in the Land of the Water; the sky riddled with stars he wouldn’t get a good look at with the city lights in Konoha. Naruto leans back against the wooden foundation of the home, watching the sky with half-lidded eyes, his legs trailing back and forth on the dewy grass. It’s a full moon. Tomorrow night it will be waning. His throat feels thick.

“Naruto,” Kakashi-sensei murmurs, breaking the silence. He lays his crutch in his lap. He only needs one now. “How are you doing?” He asks.

Naruto’s eyes flicker to Kakashi before returning to the night sky. It’s the same color as Sasuke’s hair, Naruto realizes. Almost black, but with a cold undertone. He inhales, and he can smell the leftover rain from the evening shower. He thinks of Kaiza.

“I messed up,” Naruto admits through clenched teeth. 

Kakashi hums. “You didn’t want to be an omega?” He asks, curiously. “I thought I made it pretty clear that there’s nothing wrong with being one.” He says.

Naruto shrugs. “Thought it’d be funny,” he mumbles. “There’s nothing wrong with it, I know that, but I figured it’s cooler being an alpha… Since they don’t…” 

“Don’t get pregnant?” Kakashi finishes, eyebrow raised. 

Naruto looks at him, nose dusted pink. “Well, yeah, from their butt! That’s silly.” He says, then sobers up, looking down. “I mean, it’s not — I know that’s not bad or anything. Jus’ thought it was funny. But now I don’t.” 

Kakashi speaks carefully. “Like I said before… just because they can doesn’t mean they will. Or have to. It’s a natural bodily change… I’m sure you’ve just been surprised by everything since you didn’t learn about it before, and now you’re learning everything all at once.” He sighs, adjusting the crutch in his lap. He looks at the sky thoughtfully. “Actually, your Academy teacher Iruka-san is an omega himself.” 

Naruto jerks up, looking at Kakashi in amazement. “Iruka-sensei?!” He echoes.

Kakashi nods, smiling with one visible eye. “Mhm. I’m sure you know by now, that these Secondary genders mean very little in the grand scheme of things. They say nothing about the person who is one or the other.” He shrugs. “It’s really just biology.” 

Naruto nods, swallowing. “It makes me so angry, what Gato did to Kaiza. I don’t want to even imagine thinking like that evil bastard.” Naruto bites, voice sharp with venom. “Being an omega is amazing. I think actually… It’s more powerful being an omega. You have to fight to get the same respect that alphas do, right? So you become ten times stronger and better than any of the alphas, who get anything they want without trying.”

Kakashi blinks, looking surprised. “Very good assessment, Naruto.” Kakashi ruffles Naruto’s hair. “You’re growing more everyday.”

Naruto smiles at the praise, blunting the weight of his thick guilt. He still feels bad. He knows he messed up by speaking without thinking — the teasing went a little too far. He just thought Sasuke’s reactions were really funny, he didn’t spare a thought about how other people would feel hearing his jokes.

Naruto’s got a knack for being impulsive, it’s put him in trouble plenty of times; but he’s never hurt someone's feelings who didn’t already deserve it. Tsunami-nii and Inari sure didn’t.

꩜

By the 7th day of training, Naruto thinks he can hear the rushing flow of chakra in his body. It’s like guiding his own breathing at this point; his feet like glue where his chakra sits, responding to the chakra thrumming through the tree and singing back to him. He lounges on a thick branch near the end of the tree, tired but eager; because this level of progress makes it indispensably obvious that he will reach the goalpost by the end of the day, if not sooner.

He’s still struck by the intimacy of his morning interaction with Sasuke; a sinking feeling in his stomach shaken with unease and a vague sense of disgust. 

He recognizes part of it is the burgeoning guilt at his teasing to the boy; he knows, logically, saying sorry will absolve him from the feeling. But that cheapens the gesture: if he says sorry just to feel better, and doesn’t really mean it, what’s the point? 

Naruto peers over at Sasuke, who is progressing rapidly as well. Kakashi eventually admitted that Sasuke and him had chakra reserves that, quote, “are monstrous for their age.” It soothes the embarrassment he feels at Sakura’s quick adoption of the skill, who in comparison wielded much less. But it’s a moot point if he doesn’t gather the control to use his chakra wildly… all of his efforts in jutsu were wasteful and weakened his potential given his inability to wrangle the amount.

Sasuke rubs sweat off his forehead with his slouchy sleeves, muttering under his breath. Naruto feels his face heat up again. Vaguely, he wants to dissolve in a puddle.

Just say sorry.

But he doesn’t want to.

꩜

At the Academy, Sasuke was just as much a heartthrob to the tittering girls as he was to the overeager boys, always approaching the attention with an irritating amount of nonchalance. Naruto resented the cultish celebrity status Sasuke had from his peers, the crushes and attention and yearning looks he got from everyone else. 

Most of all, it was annoying because despite all the gawking and fawning, none of them really cared about Sasuke: and Sasuke didn’t seem to mind it, didn’t encourage the advances into a real connection.

Sasuke was always by himself, which both frustrated and comforted Naruto. Naruto wasn’t alone in his gnawing loneliness, he shared it with another; but this bizarre kinship wasn’t reciprocated by the distant boy. As they grew up, Naruto’s resentment only built more; at the other children, who had families and friends and hands reaching for them in kindness rather than scorn, but also at Sasuke, who received the endless praise and attention that Naruto craved, but who didn’t care at all to get it. It was envy, tempered with longing, which Naruto could only express as a ball of confusing anger at the other.

When they sparred in lessons, he never held his hand. “It’s ninja tradition,” Iruka-sensei said, chidingly. Neither of them tried to.

On their last day of school, when Naruto faceplanted his lips against Sasuke’s, he felt disgust at the situation. Disgust which was rooted in a burgeoning humiliation that this was the first expression of closeness between them, nonconsensual and played as a gag to the chortling of his classmates, spat out and rubbed off. He hated Sasuke. Hated that he made him feel inadequate, hated that he never tried to be his friend and hated himself for never trying either.

Yet, being on the same team as Sasuke, it became quickly evident to Naruto that he didn’t hate him. That he truly never did; in fact, in a lot of ways, Naruto really liked him. He was effortlessly cool, intelligent in all the ways Naruto wasn’t, observant and quick-witted. Moreover, his visage of meanness was exactly just that: a visage, which was broken the moment that Naruto was tied to a post after the bell test and Sasuke held up chopsticks stuffed with rice and meat, ready to feed him despite all his posturing.

It’s easier to ignore it, to keep pretending that it’s all meaningless and there’s nothing there, to keep butting heads and safely staying just at the outskirts of friendship, threading the line with each back and forth quip and shared look.

By the time they trudge to Tazuna’s home, faces flushed red as they lean heavily on each other, chests heaving but grinning in spite of their exhaustion, Naruto finally tests the word in his head: friends. 

꩜

Naruto’s late. He slept in, and then he was derailed by the mercenaries threatening Inari. 

The entire interaction was dampened by the memory of his own earlier bigotry. Inari was grateful, Tsunami even moreso: but there was a flavor of knowledge that, well, they were thanking someone who had desecrated the memory of a loved one. The guilt for his actions is like ash on his tongue.

Now, he’s running at his fastest speed — feet thundering against the body of the bridge, the metal base shuddering and squealing. He can hear the distant sounds of battle; a shout from Sakura, the thunderclap of ninjutsu clashing. The thick and cloying mist sends him back to seeing Zabuza the first time, to navigating blindly with Sasuke while they worked together, feet shifting in tandem as they risked their lives to free Kakashi from the water prison.

He thinks there is some unsubtle irony in travelling south to the Land of the Waves and how quickly things went south. Naruto inhales through his nose, leaping into a mangrove on the periphery of the battle, eyes squinting to make out a semblance of what’s happening. He belatedly considers that if anyone would be visible in this mist, it would be him, with his bright orange jumpsuit; but it shouldn’t matter since he’s going to make his debut soon.

At one end of the bridge is a glass structure that impossibly imposes itself in the air, suspended with what could only be chakra. It’s a jutsu Naruto doesn’t recognize, but that doesn’t scare him. He can tell that’s where Sasuke is; on the other end is Kakashi who’s many feet ahead of Sakura and Tazuna, immersed in a battle with Zabuza. This side is almost entirely obscured by the mist; he can just barely parse out their figures within the white cloudy air.  

Naruto’s eyes are trained on the reflective glass walls. The battle there is comparatively quieter to the weighty words exchanged between Zabuza and Kakashi (it's seems like their voices have been projected to obscure their locations), but the quiet is broken in an instant- he hears Sasuke cry out in pain, and his concentration sharpens. The glass looms more ominously now, and his stomach twists. 

In his peripheral vision, he sees Sakura move just as Naruto prepares to launch a shuriken– she throws a kunai with deadly accuracy at the body of one of the mirrors. There, the hunter-nin from the end of their first battle is exposed, confirming their earlier theory of his collusion with Zabuza. Naruto feels vaguely betrayed just as an opening is created: distracted by catching the kunai Sakura threw, the hunter-nin is blindsided by Naruto’s shuriken, which spins and clips the hunter-nin in the mask.

Naruto throws himself into the center of the battlefield, disguising his entrance with a cloud of smoke. 

He always knows how to make an entrance. Unpredictable, Kakashi had called him. It’s this impulsivity that sends him into the center of a fight he’s severely underestimated, flanked by mirrors all around him, and Sasuke heaving at his side. 

Not for the first time during this mission, Naruto laments not thinking things through, as a senbon stabs through one of his clones and needles into the meat of his thigh. It’s aimed with precision; the muscle in his leg gives out, and he kneels to the ground, groaning in pain. At the same time, 5 more fly out and pierce him in the back. He winces, peering anxiously at Sasuke.

Sasuke’s not faring any better: he was here before Naruto, after all, and had taken the bulk of the damage so far. Some of his blood has already dried, coagulated and hard in the grooves of his arms, some fresher wounds dripping mockingly to the ground. With wonder, Naruto looks at Sasuke’s eyes and sees they’re red. The same red of Kakashi’s Sharingan, glowing and tomoe spinning lazily around his pupil. 

“That idiot…” Sasuke says, under his breath. He’s looking at the hunter-nin, but the words sound too gentle to be about the enemy… 

Naruto’s vision gets spotty, and he collapses, arms failing to hold him up any longer.

When he blinks himself awake, he sees the hunter-nin crumpled on the ground, face shadowed as he trembles. 

Excited, Naruto’s heart clenches.

“Seriously, Naruto… No matter how many times I warn you, you keep getting in my way…” Sasuke says.

“Sasuke!” Naruto exclaims, looking up at him. “You…”

His blood runs cold.

There’s a dark red pool splattered underneath Sasuke, growing in size from the freely bleeding wounds in his neck, wounds from the staggering amount of senbon piercing him. All around his neck, like a cruel necklace of torment, metal, red, metal, red. No person should have that many stab wounds. It’s disturbing. It’s wrong. He can see the blood on Sasuke’s cheeks from the needles that grazed him, see the red spilling from his mouth in a perversely dark parallel to the water he drank at the training grounds, running down his mouth, dripping down his chin. This time, he doesn’t wipe it from his lips. He opens his mouth instead.

“Get that lame expression off your stupid face… idiot!” Sasuke looks at him from his position in front of him, minutely tilting his head towards him. It must have been too painful to turn and face him, Naruto realizes, and it’s like the air’s been punched out of him at the thought. Sasuke’s insults have no weight to them, a weak attempt at normalcy in what is so inescapably abnormal. It feels almost affectionate. It’s brutalizing.

“Wh-why…” Naruto's heart hammers in his chest. He feels like he’s not looking at something real, that this is a genjutsu, because it can’t be real. 

He had only just yesterday admitted to himself that Sasuke was his friend. 

Why? Why now? Why didn’t he get a chance to tell Sasuke how he felt? Say sorry for his needling jokes? Why didn’t Naruto say something sooner, at the Academy, when he knew the only one who understood his loneliness was so close to him, an arms length away from molding their suffering into something manageable, a burden shared instead of solitary.

How could Sasuke do this for Naruto? Why waste his life for him?

“Hnh…” Sasuke scoffs, his lips barely upturned, and it's so quintessentially Sasuke that Naruto’s heart breaks, because he can’t hide behind the denial of the truth of the situation. He can only watch in stuttering frames as his brain catches up to reality, his blood rushing in his ears. 

“I used to hate you, y’know?” Sasuke says, without any of the punch his words should have, weak and soft and shaking. He coughs, his body trembles. Naruto reaches out a hand to him, heart breaking.

And it’s an echo of Naruto’s own thoughts the night before; used to hate, because now there’s something warm and precious between them, and Naruto cares so deeply, he realizes, for Sasuke. Naruto wants to scream. How could that bastard waste his life and die for him?

“Why did you…?!” Naruto cries out, weakly. “You shouldn’t die for me!” His voice breaks, cracking wetly. “Why did you interfere…?!” 

“How should I know…?” Sasuke says. His voice is much weaker now. In shallow breaths he says, “My body just… moved on its own… usuratonkachi!” 

 Sasuke collapses. The words take the last of his energy, and he lays in Naruto’s arms, eyes half lidded and hand limp at his side. Naruto cradles his face like it’s something precious.

“I swore I wouldn’t die… Until I killed my brother…” he’s quiet, looking at Naruto, seeing him in a way that he doesn’t think anyone’s ever seen him before. His eyes are so dark, soft and tender around the edges. Naruto’s sure he’s never been looked at with this much sincerity, this much understanding. 

“That’s what I decided, but you… Don’t you dare die, Naruto.” 

He takes one last shuddering breath. 

Sasuke’s eyes fall shut. He’s not breathing. His face is pale, empty of life, stained red with blood.

Naruto’s vision blurs. The world tilts and he can hardly understand what’s happening as he sets Sasuke gently to the ground. His hand lingers over Sasuke’s, squeezing it; but there’s no warmth, no steady beat of a pulse, just the cold limp hand of his former teammate.

His throat is thick, it’s impossible for him to swallow, or breathe. He distantly watches wet droplets fall from his face onto Sasuke’s, registers them as tears.

“He struck one blow at me… and without shrinking away, he sacrificed himself for you!” The hunter-nin says. 

Naruto’s heart thunders in his chest.

He can’t tear his eyes away from Sasuke.

Sasuke’s dead.

The admission claws at him, feels like a poison has infected him and made him sick with a bottomless pit of emotions. He feels Sasuke’s death like the loss of a limb, like a part of him has been cleaved away, leaving him bereft and cold. 

“He was a shinobi of utmost respect… In order to protect someone he cared about, he threw himself headlong in what he full well knew was a trap.” He hears the hunter-nin say.

He dimly registers that the hunter-nin has stood up, hears him shuffle and approach the mirrors surrounding them, reflecting endlessly the loss of Sasuke’s life back to him.

I used to hate you, y’know?

An admission of caring by all rights. You aren’t ambivalent to someone you jump in front of a knife for, to someone you plead with to live. Naruto wonders if it would have changed things, this brute-forced confession, faced with the conditions that allowed for their words to come out unbidden. But it can’t. Not like this.

“I care about you too, Sasuke…” Naruto says quietly, hands trembling as he brushes a hair from Sasuke’s face. 

Sasuke lays cold and silent.

“Is this the first time a comrade of yours has died? Such is a ninja’s path.” 

“Shut up.” Naruto hears himself say.

I used to hate you, y’know?

He reels back, clenches the hand that was on Sasuke’s face. It doesn’t matter if he tells Sasuke how he feels now.

Sasuke’s dead.

Naruto’s vision splinters.

The rage is blistering and sudden, and it sickens him and fills him with a vicious caustic power. It floods him, overwhelming and animalistic, singing in his veins like liquid fire. With terrifying clarity, he says, “You’re going to pay for this.”

Naruto looks at the nin, his eyes shadowed and hands trembling around Sasuke’s corpse.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Naruto thunders, his voice hoarse and acute with fury. 

Naruto stands. He flexes his hands, feels his wounds closing up, the senbon littering his back flying out unforgivingly. He looks at the nin, eyes cloudy with tears and rabid with anger.

In a split second, he’s in front of the mirror the hunter-nin escaped into, slamming his fist through the glass. It shatters under his fist.

The nin is gone, but Naruto moves, knowing that he’s about to descend on him from above. Naruto dodges, grabbing him by the arm as he tries to pass Naruto into another mirror. The hunter-nin tries to pull away from his grip, but it’s useless. 

Naruto screams, fist cocked back and he punches the murderer in the face; his body flies through a wall of mirrors, rolling and thudding along the bridge. 

The mirrors shatter around him, but Naruto’s gone, already following the nin’s body, fist ready to deal the finishing blow.

The hunter-nin’s standing. His mask slides off his face, cracked from Naruto’s impact.

Naruto stops.

꩜

In the end, Naruto couldn’t kill Haku. 

By the time the battle comes to a close, Naruto’s standing a sea of dead bodies: the litany of mercenaries Zabuza killed in his last moments, Haku, Zabuza… and Sasuke. 

He feels a bitter curl of apathy in his chest.

It wasn’t fair.

“Sasuke…!” Sakura says, in the distance, and the world bleeds into color.

He’s moving before he’s processing that he’s doing it, running to Sasuke and Sakura at the far end of the bridge. Sasuke’s blearily blinking, halfway sat up, Sakura looking at him in a mix of astonishment and awe. The snow falls gently around them, melting when it touches the ground. It’s bright against Sasuke’s bloodstained lips, cold but soft, like him. 

“Sasuke…” Naruto says, and his eyes well up, overwhelmed. He collapses next to Sasuke, on the opposite side of Sakura, and wraps his hands around Sasuke’s. “Thank god you’re okay…” he murmurs, barely containing the tremor in his voice.

Sasuke's eyes focus onto Naruto.

“What happened?” Sasuke asks. His voice is scratchy; but it makes the tension bleed out of Naruto just hearing it. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Naruto exclaims, nodding his head. “Haku… the hunter-nin… he died.” He says, more quietly. “He… was a good kid. He died saving Zabuza’s life.” 

Sasuke’s eyes widen and he nods minutely. Sakura bites her lip, face creased with sadness and worry. 

Naruto turns to look at Zabuza and Haku, laying next to each other, kissed by the falling snow. 

“It’s a long story…” Naruto says. He shoots to attention, dropping Sasuke’s hand. “Wait, you need to see a doctor first! I’m getting Kakashi-sensei!”

Naruto bolts back across the bridge to Tazuna and Kakashi, tugging on Kakashi’s sleeve. Tazuna waves at him but lingers behind, attending to Inari and chatting with the other villagers who came to help. 

Naruto ignores the charred blood caked on Kakashi’s hand, dug underneath his fingernails, but it sticks on Naruto’s mind. Chidori, Kakashi had said, and Naruto heard the chirping of thousands of birds, an electric pulse of light, and Haku impaled by Sensei’s arm. 

Naruto babbles to Kakashi about what happened, that Sasuke’s okay and just woke up. The talking helps distract Naruto from it all, and maybe Kakashi a little bit too. Kakashi nods along; it’s clear the battle has exhausted him, his shoulders slumped as he walks with Naruto.

“So, since you said last time that it takes a while for someone to get better from, uh, the near-death state that Haku did, will it take Sasuke a week like Zabuza? Can he walk by himself safely? You know how he is…” Naruto’s rambling slows when he nears Sasuke and Sakura. 

Something must have happened in the short moment he was away, because Sasuke’s not looking at Sakura, expression stony, and Sakura’s face is red and teary. She looks devastated.

“Hey, Sasuke, what did you do?!” Naruto scowls. “You’re barely awake and you’re already making Sakura-chan cry!”

“Shut up.” Sasuke says. It’s cold, and mean. Naruto feels frustration curl in his stomach, suppressing the habitual urge to snark back. Whatever happened must have pissed him off a lot, for him to revert to his acidic behavior. 

Sasuke looks at a senbon on his arm, and fiercely rips it out, barely wincing.

“Sasuke!” Naruto yells, anger rising. Kakashi makes a disapproving noise next to him, kneeling near Sasuke, while Sakura presses backwards, startled, her face still flushed and eyes shiny. “Be careful! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Naruto looks at the bloody senbon with visible concern. Red beads to the surface of Sasuke’s wound, but thankfully doesn’t spill out. 

“Why aren’t you hurt at all?” Sasuke shrewdly looks at him, one eyebrow raised. “Sakura said I’ve only been down for 30 minutes. All your wounds are gone. When did you take out the senbon?” Sakura flinches at her name and curls into herself, but Naruto can barely spare a thought for her.

The distraction works. His accusatory tone cuts fiercely, because it’s the exact thing he doesn’t want to talk about. The fox. His heart slams in his chest, and his face feels hot, a prickling of embarrassment and terror at his darkest secret put under a microscope by the last person he wants to know.

“Uh, I-” Naruto stammers, at a loss for words.

“The Uzumaki clan has a history of healing abilities,” Kakashi-sensei cuts in smoothly. “You might’ve inherited that from them, Naruto.”

“Clan?” Naruto and Sasuke say at the same time. Even Sakura is broken from her reverie, looking at Kakashi in surprise, blinking her tears away.

“Maa…” Kakashi rubs the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with them. “First, I’ll get a medic for Sasuke.” He finally says. “Don’t. Move.” He looks threateningly down at them, looking deliberately at Sasuke, then smiles and flees the scene. 

Naruto glances back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura pitifully stands up, wandering to the bridge railing and overlooking the waves as they crash into one another.

Sasuke doesn’t spare her a glance. He’s visibly lost in thought, face settling into a downward tilt of a frown that Naruto has grown familiar with. 

Naruto’s itching to ask them what happened. Sakura seemed much too down, and Sasuke too angry for it to be one of their usual exchanges. He fumbles for a moment at what to say — is it too soon? He’s been trying to be more careful with his words since the incident with Tazuna’s family. But before he can even think of how to broach the subject, Kakashi stalks into their view, reminding Naruto of his clan. 

He’s with a young woman, her hair braided into a plait and hands gloved, holding a medical kit.

“Sorry,” she starts, crouching next to Sasuke and setting down her things. “I’m just a nurse, but this isn’t a large town, our only 2 doctors are busy…” 

The nurse is delicately removing the senbon out of Sasuke’s body, who’s doing a remarkable poker face. Naruto can tell when it starts getting to him, his jaw tensing and his brow creasing, ever so slightly.

Sasuke is avoiding eye contact with Naruto. Naruto sighs through his nose, and zeroes his attention to Kakashi. He’s got his nose in Icha Icha: Alpha Tactics; wherever he grabbed it from, and when, Naruto is at a loss; he’s clearly using it as a shield from the environment. It vexes Naruto instantly.

“Well?” Naruto asks, impatiently. “I mean… I have a clan? I didn’t know that.” 

Sasuke lifts his neck to scrutinize Kakashi, then winces when the nurse tsks and holds his head steady. “Don’t move, I’m getting to your neck,” she mumbles, replacing her gloves and pouring antiseptic onto a thin towelette. 

Kakashi smiles, and folds the book shut, bookmarking his page. “I should have known you weren’t aware… the Uzumakis were once a very large and powerful clan, native to the Land of Whirlpools.” 

Sakura must have overheard, because her interest is piqued and she wanders closer to them, nervously chewing her lip. She must have come to a decision because her expression hardens and she stands to the right of Naruto, keeping a respectful distance from Sasuke but determined to show her attention to the conversation.

“Were?” Naruto echoes, disappointed. He falls to a seat on the ground, breath leaving him. He doesn’t know what he expected. He knew logically there wasn’t anyone left. He had no family. But part of him still hoped there was more, that he just hadn’t met yet or knew of. 

“I’m sorry, Naruto,” Kakashi says, and it really sounds like he means it. “There’s not much I know about them… see, there are very few records about the Land of Whirlpools or their shinobi village, Uzushiogakure.” His gaze grows distant. “What I know is that the Uzumaki were famous for their bright red hair… and that they were masters of sealing.”

Naruto hand ghosts over his stomach. He wonders… but it was the Fourth Hokage who sealed the fox in him: not an Uzumaki. 

“Why are there no records?” Sakura asks. Naruto’s eyes shoot over to her, and as he processes her words he feels antsy. 

“Yeah, Sensei, why aren’t there?” Naruto echoes, shifting where he’s seated. He runs his hands nervously over his pants, glances at Sasuke, whose jaw is clenched and hands fisted until his knuckles look white. The neck area must be quite painful.

“Maa…” Kakashi says. Naruto returns his attention to him. He looks quite guilty. “I really don’t know much, like I said… But Uzushiogakure, and the entirety of the Land of Whirlpools… All the people…” Kakashi looks seriously at them. “Everything was eradicated." 

Naruto’s stomach drops. He freezes. “Everything…?” He echoes.

Sasuke startles, looking at Kakashi with wide eyes. The nurse tentatively draws her hands back, apparently deciding that he was allowed his moment of shock.

Sakura’s lip quivers. “Oh, that’s horrible…!” She exclaims, shaking her head.

In an uncharacteristic moment for her, she drops down, throwing her arms around Naruto, hugging him tightly. “I’m so sorry, Naruto!” She exclaims. She’s crying, Naruto realizes, wetness hitting his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Sakura-chan,” Naruto pats her on the back. He thinks he hears Sasuke scoff. “Why are you the one crying?” He nervously laughs, trying to bring levity to the situation.

Sakura sniffs, pulling away from him, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. 

“Today’s just been a lot,” she mumbles, tucking her chin into her knees.

“Yeah, I can agree with that.” The nurse dryly says, taping a square piece of gauze on Sasuke’s cheek. She stands. “You should be okay to walk short distances, but don’t strain yourself too much.” She looks warningly at Sasuke. “I live a few docks away from Tazuna… if you need anything, ask him and he’ll show you where I am. But you need to rest to recover.”

She turns her attention to Kakashi, then bizarrely blushes, looking away. “Hatake-san…” She says, demurely. She tucks a strand that fell loose from her braid behind her ear, tilting her head and showing the length of her neck. “Keep these kids out of trouble.” Her eyes flicker to Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, then back to Kakashi. Her blush darkens. “And thank you… all of you saved the village.” 

“Ah... thank you for your help,” Kakashi says sincerely, then swiftly ignores her to give his attention to the children. “Let’s go back to Tazuna’s. We ought to stay until the bridge finishes, anyway, just to be sure he’s safe.” 

Naruto, who was watching the entirety of the interaction in astonishment, throws a hand accusingly at Kakashi. “You’re flirting in the middle of our mission!” He shouts, getting to his feet.

The nurse looks at Naruto in horror, in the midst of packing her things. She shoves the rest of her supplies into her bag and darts away, face bright red.

“Naruto…” Kakashi palms his face.

“You need to learn some tact!” Sakura chides Naruto, some of her vigor returning at the disastrous interaction.

“Hn,” Sasuke says. He nurses his bandaged cheek. 

꩜

Sasuke clearly loathes being bedridden. By the third day inside, he’s shut down, staring out the window and picking at his bandages. Naruto’s chattering off in the room with him; he’s sent multiple clones to tend to the bridge, helping with the building process. He feels like it’s important that it’s the real Naruto sitting with Sasuke, not a clone. They’ve been taking turns- him and Sakura - with Sasuke, in part to keep him entertained and partially so as to make sure he doesn’t strain himself and sneak out without their knowledge. Not that it seems like he’s really capable of much: he tried to go on a walk secretly the first day and collapsed, to his great embarrassment.

Kakashi-sensei explained that the senbon piercing Sasuke induced a temporary death state by targeting acupuncture and gate points that suppressed his chakra, breathing, and heartbeat to a minuscule level: something that would be imperceptible unless you were looking for it, and even then you’d need to have an aptitude in sensory skills. It was a truly impressive amount of precision Haku used for Sasuke to be able to survive with no complications. 

The only caveat was the lengthy recovery period. Which seemed much longer now that Naruto sat bored in the room to spend it with Sasuke. 

Ever since Sasuke came back from the dead he’s been in a moody state. Naruto can’t place exactly why- if anything it must be a multitude of factors… his injuries themselves, the conversation with Sakura, his slow recovery, seeing everyone else being active… Naruto only hopes that Sasuke isn’t regretting risking his life for Naruto. They haven’t acknowledged the incident since, Naruto patently dodging the subject and talking about other asinine things. Sasuke hardly speaks himself, but Naruto can surmise he doesn’t want to mention it either.

“It was really awkward,” Naruto rambles, “Because, of course now I know better, but I accidentally told Haku that I thought him and Zabuza were mated, and obviously I didn’t know it was Zabuza I was talking about at the time. It just sucked, since…” His heart thuds in his chest.

Sasuke looks at him from the corner of his eye. He slows where he’s sharpening his kunai; he’s been at it for an hour now, and Naruto is vaguely terrified of how dangerous the blade must be now.

“Well, since Haku already had such a hard time about being an omega. And being a male one especially.” Naruto finished. 

A quiet falls in the room.

The ghoul is there; his guilt, persistent and prodding him for all of his teasing to Sasuke. The guilt that he was no bystander to the exact forces that made Haku’s life difficult, that killed Kaiza. The guilt that he didn’t even try to say sorry before Sasuke nearly died for him. 

The ground looms in front of him, wide and empty. Sasuke’s blanket shifts, his hand moving to set the kunai aside.

“Naruto.” Sasuke says.

Naruto looks at him. He always kind of has the same expression on his face, but something in his eyes feels fierce.

“What?” Naruto asks, mouth dry.

“What exactly did Haku experience in Kirigakure?” Sasuke asks.

“Oh,” Naruto says. His stomach turns. “He was…” He looks down. “They hurt him. For having a kekkai genkai. He was starving to death when Zabuza found him.” 

“Did he present when he was there?” Sasuke asks.

“No, he presented after they left together.” Naruto shrugs. “I don’t really know all the details, but Haku made it sound like life is pretty terrible there if you’re an omega.”

Sasuke nods, then returns to sharpening his kunai. Given that this is the first time Sasuke has said more than 2 words to him over the span of the day, Naruto scrambles to find something to capture his attention. And then he thinks; in the spirit of asking questions, which they were now apparently doing, Naruto will broach the subject he’s been most curious about.

“Ano, Sasuke…” He tries to approach the subject tactfully, but ultimately gives up. “After you woke up… What did Sakura say to you on the bridge?” 

Sasuke pauses.

“She’s annoying.” Sasuke says.

“Haa?!” Naruto bites. “Sakura-chan’s not annoying!” He protests in her honor.

Sasuke shoots him a look of contempt. “Why don’t you ask her what she said? Unless you already did… and I’m sure she refused to tell you.” Sasuke says.

Naruto scratches the back of his neck, faltering in his incoming retort. The thing was, he had asked Sakura what happened, and all she did was blush and tell him to drop it.

“I told you what Sakura said about the tree walking exercise…” Naruto feebly offers.

“Oh really?” Sasuke cocks an eyebrow, glaring mutinously at Naruto. “How kind of you to help me.” He spits. 

Sasuke gathers up his kunai, shoving them into his weapons pouch. He storms out of the room without a glance at Naruto.

“Where are you going?!” 

Sasuke doesn’t deign him with a response; just the firm click of the bathroom door opening and shutting, and the sound of running water. Naruto sighs. 

How did things go downhill so quickly?

꩜

Sasuke’s mostly healed by the 5th day. Or at least, healed enough to keep up with them at the bridge. 

The days blur together — occupied by unsaid words and meaningful looks — and Naruto genuinely believes he’s learned a thing or two about bridge building by the time it’s completed. Mostly, that the odds of him falling into the ocean are significantly increased if he doesn’t wear a harness.

Saying goodbye to Inari and Tsunami is hard. 

Him and Inari were in a limbo of tense cordiality in the days coming to the end of their stay; the bridge nearly finished.

Inari was grappling with perpendicular beliefs; thinking Naruto’s ‘really cool’ for helping save the village, and an equal part annoyed that he spoke negatively about omegas.

If someone insulted Iruka’s identity, he supposes it would make him extremely angry; but now Naruto carries anger like a pesky nuisance rather than the marked simmering rage of his early childhood. For Inari, he must feel much of the same that Naruto once felt; anger at the world, and at everyone who colluded with those forces of the world that made everything worse. 

Naruto still tells them with all sincerity before he leaves — “I’m very sorry. Kaiza was a hero.”

Inari’s eyes might be shiny when he hugs Naruto goodbye, but neither of them acknowledge it. And Naruto’s vision might be blurring too, anyway. 

They walk the bridge. Eventually, there aren’t even any mangroves around them, just the misty air and the smell of salt until they arrive back onto the Land of Fire.

At a civilian pace, it took them around a week to get to the Land of the Waves. On the way back, they’re cutting the time in half, making significant progress during daylight; mostly slowed by the inconvenience of necessary evils — sleeping. 

One of the nights they camp out, Naruto is restless. They forgo a tent since the weather is nice, snuggled up in sleeping bags and only illuminated by the stars and dim moonlight. It’s a waxing crescent. 

Naruto inhales the air; crisp and clear with the warmth of a summer night, like stretching out into a world-borne blanket.

Sasuke’s keeping watch for the first 2 hours. It’s good to be hypervigilant as a shinobi. There’s always the risk of someone targeting them simply for being from Konoha, if not some relative to the Gato Company taking out revenge over lost revenue. They’ll take shifts, and Naruto is next after Sasuke; but Naruto is beginning to doubt he’ll catch a wink of sleep before it’s his turn.

Naruto shifts back and forth in his sleeping bag for the next 20 minutes, ultimately giving up and sneaking over to Sasuke. 

“I can’t sleep.” Naruto whispers, curling up next to him. 

Sasuke glances at him, and returns to watching the treeline. As expected, it’s undisturbed. 

Sasuke looks effervescent at night. His hair blends into the sky like he’s made of forest and starlight, and the moon reflects the faintest glow on his pale skin. He’s sitting on a blue cushion, his hitai-ate set aside with his things, and his neck exposed without the Uchiha turtleneck on. Looking up at the trees, it’s more noticeable: the length of his neck, the skin pale and smooth, tarnished only by the healing punctures of the senbon, angry pink dots surrounding his throat. Naruto swallows.

Sasuke’s hand suddenly covers the wounds, and Naruto’s eyes quickly shoot up to meet Sasuke’s, who is looking at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry,” Naruto whispers, suddenly uncomfortable. He’s not sure what he’s apologizing for: looking at the wounds, or being the reason why they’re there?

“...It’s fine.” Sasuke responds, just as quietly. He removes his hand and returns back to looking at the trees. 

They sit in silence together, joined only by the sounds of nature at night. 

“...Why can’t you sleep?” Sasuke eventually murmurs, still looking at the trees. 

Naruto looks at him in surprise, then schools his expression. “I dunno,” he whispers. “I think… I had a lot of fun being with everyone…” Naruto shrugs. “I’m kinda disappointed I’ll be back to sleeping alone, really soon.” He admits softly, feeling vulnerable. 

Sasuke glances at Naruto from the corner of his eye. He says nothing, but he shifts a little closer to Naruto. Their pinkies touch. 

꩜

They arrived in Konoha on July 3rd, weeks later than the initial mission description suggested. Kakashi already feels a growing headache at the amount of debriefing he will have to do. At the very least, he can put off submitting his written report as long as he pleases (realistically, a week until Iruka-san will break down his door with righteous fury and a brutal right hook). 

The Hokage’s office debrief goes about as well as you’d expect.

“Well… There were some complications,” Kakashi hedges, in response to the Third’s inquisitive look at their much-longer completion time.

“I see that.” The Third’s eyes linger on Naruto, who’s looking a bit agitated. He’d been cut off by Kakashi when he started babbling about Gato and fighting a “really cool super strong ninja with a giant sword,” mostly so Kakashi could at least attempt to save face.

“Go on,” The Third gestures with his hand, as if to open the floor. He inhales and exhales a winding trail of smoke, the tip of his pipe glowing orange.

Iruka, who is sitting by the Hokage’s desk straightening papers, glares impetuously at Kakashi. He wonders if he’s imagining the killing intent infused in the look, or if the terror inspired by Iruka’s anger is just that great.

Kakashi goes on to explain in as few words as possible the undulating conditions of the mission; the ambush of the Chunin-level ninjas on the route to the Land of the Waves, the explanation of Gato Corp. by Tazuna, the first and second encounters with Zabuza and Haku. He chooses his words carefully when describing Naruto’s defeat of Haku, describing it as a “usage of inherited techniques,” which makes Iruka’s eyes widen and dart to Naruto with shielded concern; the Hokage steeples his hands thoughtfully.

Overall, the escalation of the mission from C-Rank to B-Rank and eventually to A-Rank at the advent of Zabuza went considerably well. Importantly, nobody died, and they fulfilled the mission's parameters.

By the time Kakashi and his tired (save Naruto) genin leave the office, Iruka has already begun drafting a letter on behalf of Konoha to the Land of the Waves discussing a mission rank-increase plan. Kakashi forlornly looks at the stack of documents in his hand, which varied from the three separate reports to submit, a missing-nin bounty registration, and an injury catalogue for medical records. Kakashi’s eye twitches as he seals the papers and his payment into a scroll, pocketing it into his weapons pouch. Out of sight, out of mind.

“Bye sensei!” Sakura and Naruto exclaim, a much thinner stack of papers but equally full envelopes of cash in their hands. Sasuke says nothing as he walks beside them.

“D’you wanna hang out after this, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura shyly asks.

“No.” 

“I’m free Sakura-chan! Wanna get ramen?!”

“No way, Naruto!”

They disappear around the corner of the hallway, descending the stairs. Kakashi sighs, turning the opposite way and opening the window to leap to the Jounin Standby Station. He can dodge Iruka for a while here. He lands on the open windowsill, examining the scene.

Lounging on the large red sofa are Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko, pointing at a piece of paper, and a couple feet away lingering near the mini fridge are Genma and Gai. Gai is gesticulating wildly with his arms, holding up a mysterious green drink, his teeth shining as lustrously as his hair. 

“Genma-san, there are— KAKASHI! My eternal rival!” Gai explodes, in an instant standing in front of him. Kakashi barely touches the floor before Gai lifts Kakashi‘s arms and inspects his hands critically, rubbing his chin. “You’ve been gone so long! You didn’t get any injuries, did you?”

Genma rubs the back of his head, teasing his senbon in his mouth. “How was it?” He asks, sidling up to them.

Kakashi lets Gai investigate him without complaint. “I just had to do a debrief, I can tell you about it later.” Kakashi says, fully intending to not tell them about it later. “What were you in the middle of talking about?” Gai seems satisfied, because he releases his legs, mouth stretched into a winning smile. 

“I’m so glad you asked! I was just imparting to Genma the benefits of training by drinking—“

“Kakashi,”  Anko purrs and in a split second appears at his arm, face split in a wicked grin. “Kurenai-chan and I were placing bets on what the cute little Genin will be presenting as…”

Kakashi blinks at her. Kurenai sighs. 

“Hey, I was part of the bet too.” Asuma protests, but doesn’t leave his spot on the couch. 

“It wasn’t betting.” Kurenai corrects, crossing her arms. Kakashi makes note of her proximity to Asuma. “I was just… speculating what the odds of our teams’ presentations would be.”

“We were betting.” Anko states, not turning to Kurenai. 

Gai laughs heartily. “One of mine has already presented this year!” He exclaims, apparently recovered from Anko’s abrupt interruption.

“Really?” Genma asks.

“Who was it?” Kurenai presses, clearly unable to resist her own curiosity at the answer. Anko smirks smugly at this, and Kurenai blanches.

“Neji-san!” Gai thumbs his nose. “Just last week he presented as an alpha!”

“The Hyuuga prodigy?” Anko says, nose wrinkling. “Ugh, how boring! We all could have predicted that.” She gives Kakashi a side-eye.

“But you, Kakashi…” Anko’s mouth twists evilly. “Your team is quite interesting, isn’t it? The Uchiha and the little Uzumaki runt…” She flutters her eyes innocently, puffing up her lower lip. “Surely you have an idea of what you think they’ll be?” She gestures to a sheet of paper Asuma is writing on, which Kurenai is conspicuously avoiding looking at.

“2000 Ryo on the Yamanaka heir as an alpha?” Genma dubiously reads aloud, leaning over to see the betting sheet. “Really, Anko?”

Anko shrugs. “I’m an ambitious woman.” 

Gai nods sagely. “I see… It would be a larger payout, given it’s less common for women to present as alphas…” Gai laughs. “Good choice, Anko!”

“Yeah, but, both her parents are omegas…” Genma says, his senbon twisting in his mouth. 

“Shit, really? Take my bet off, Asuma.” Anko crouches down, already scribbling it out before Asuma can say anything. 

“Oi,” Asuma protests, but ultimately sighs and lets Anko do what she wants. “I was hoping she wouldn’t figure that out, Genma…” he gives Genma a cross look.

Genma shrugs, clearly uncaring. 

“Well, I still think there will be a surprise this year.” Anko proclaims. “Something unexpected. Maybe the civilian girlie as an alpha.” She peers inquisitively at Kakashi, as if he would somehow see the future and know if that was the case.

Kakashi looks at the sheet himself, finding that they all put money on Uchiha Sasuke as an alpha. Under Uzumaki Naruto, a mix of alpha and beta. Consideringly, he rubs his chin.

“Actually… put me down for Naruto as an omega.” He says.

“Really?!” Anko asks, eagerly. “Put me down for that too!” She scribbles her name from where she had Uzumaki Naruto under alpha, then shoves the sheet back into Asuma’s hands, dropping the pen on him as well.

Asuma shuts his eyes as if trying to block out the world. “Sure. Fine. For how much…?” He asks, painstakingly writing down their new bets.

“4000 Ryo.” Kakashi smiles. 

Kurenai whistles, apparently getting over her pretense of being uninterested. She leans forward, looking eagerly at the sheet as Asuma pens in 4000. 

“Exciting!” She says, clearly pleased. At this angle, Kakashi can smell her more clearly, and is unsurprised that her scent is mingled with Asuma’s (and is that a hint of Anko…? Huh.)

Genma settles into the sofa on Kakashi’s side, distantly eyeing the sheet. “Why do you think so, Kakashi?” He asks, looking up at him.

Kakashi sighs and finally sits down, everyone’s attention trained on him. “Just a feeling.” He shrugs.

“BAH! So hip and cool!” Gai gives him a thumbs up, his teeth sparkling. “You have marvelous intuition, Kakashi! However, as your rival, I will have to bet against that!” Gai launches into a series of stretches, as if the betting process involved physical labor. “I’ll do the opposite of young Kakashi, Asuma-san!”

Anko looks a bit like she’s sucked on a lemon, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of still copying Kakashi’s investment before saying, “I’ll do 4000 ryo too.” Her eyes narrow impudently at Kakashi. “You better not fail me, Kakashi!”

The door slams open, and to Kakashi’s horror, Iruka is at the scene of the crime. He stares daggers at Kakashi.

“YOU!” He shouts, marching forward.

“Gotta go, guys!” Kakashi smiles, jumping and crouching in the window. “I’ll put Sasuke for alpha and Sakura for beta, 2000 ryo each.” He quickly whispers to Asuma, before dropping out of the building.

“An A-RANK MISSION FOR GENIN?!” Iruka screams, his voice echoing out of the room and into the streetside Kakashi is dashing through. 

Kakashi breaks out into a fierce sweat, completely unrelated to him running.