For those who don't know yet, I'll be hosting a week-long event here on my blog to celebrate Minato Namikaze, starting October 4th and ending on the most important day of his life, October 10th (as Minato's own sensei said: "the true measure of a shinobi is not how they live, but what they do before dying" 🔥🔥🔥)
Are you gonna join me in creating content for our beloved Fourth Hokage?
Check the prompts below!
And here is the MASTERPOST with all the info you might need!!
For the almost quarter million words I wrote for Uchiha MC, I can't even explain to you how good it feels to finally get the little "C" and the "24/24" on a story I've worked on for nearly four years 💕And on Sakura's birthday no less!
Papercraft commission of Frieren! I love this series, so I was extra excited to make this piece. ^_^
Since I had free choice of what spell to depict, I picked the Vollzanbel/black hole spell from the big magic fight in episode 25, because I thought it would look especially rad made out of shimmery holographic paper. Plus, I also got to make flying rocks! Bursts of fiery light! Lots of drama!! And, my favorite part - I got to go super, wildly detailed with Frieren's hair!
Under the Skin | An Itachi x Sakura Omegaverse AU
Chapter Two (Previous Chapter)
Every five years Konoha hosts an inter-village pairing event— where all the villages in the Land of Fire, and some beyond, are invited to bring any eligible alphas, omegas, and betas to the village in hopes of finding a mate.
A week passed by in a blur, every day spent by Naruto's side and filled with exploration, the reunion of old faces, and more fun than the Valley had ever given her.
Sakura had gotten used to the shinobi of Tanigakure, who preferred to keep to themselves, small cliques of jonin and chunin who never made space for her among their ranks. Even after the Daimyō had taken her under her wing and Sakura had thought she would finally, finally be welcomed, the ninja had continued their quiet campaign of shunning. She could hear their barely hidden whispers when she passed, their derision when she was enlisted beside them in missions, the reports of her monstrous strength and omega status passed between them like a shameful secret.
But here....
Here she felt more at home than she ever had in her true home.
There was no one to glare at her as they passed each other on the street, no one who whisper about her behind hands or point at her when her back was turned. Omega wasn’t the dirty word it seemed to be in Tanigakure.
She was even able to spar with the yellow haired ninja at the official Konoha training grounds, spending the better part of the day rolling around in the dirt with him unobserved. Although when news of the Hokage’s son sparring with a foreign kunoichi spread, a small group of ninja gathered to watch, and slowly but surely the cheers for Naruto had dwindled and those for Sakura had risen, spearheaded by Ino, who had set up for a picnic for herself under a tree beside them and was using her non-chopstick holding hand to pump the air.
Sakura loved sparring with Naruto. She knew she never had to hold anything back with him, never had to temper her strength so as to not frighten off the man or overpower the alpha. Besides with her shishou or Shizune-san, it was one of the few times she could go all out.
By the time the match had ended both alpha and omega were covered in sweat and dirt and scratches, both having been thoroughly knocked down and lifted back up, until the last point out of five was awarded to Sakura, for knocking Naruto flat on his ass with a flying drop kick.
"That was amazing!" gushed a girl named Tenten, who broke off from the spectators and rushed over to take hold of Sakura's gloved hands, smiling brightly as the pink haired omega dabbed at her sweat mottled brow with a towel. The girl was an omega too, if Sakura's nose was correct, though it was harder to detect scent with so many people around. "Will you teach me that one move? I've never seen anything like it." Her dark eyes were wide and almost starstruck, watching Sakura gaily.
Sakura marveled at her, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder and see if there was someone behind her being spoken to. "Oh I-"
"And the way you made him think he had you cornered and then BAM! Swept his leg out from under him. Wow, just wow." Tenten continued, doing an excited impression of Sakura's leg sweep.
"Well what do you expect from the student of Tsunade?" Ino said proudly, tossing Sakura a bottle of water from her picnic blanket.
At that a ripple passed over the small crowd of ninja and Sakura's face grew stricken. Why did Ino have to say that? Now it would be just like it was at home. Tenten would leave, she wouldn't want Sakura to show her anything anymore, she'd look back at her over her shoulder with barely hidden disgust and word would spread and even before the mixer the whole Leaf would probably-
"Sakura-chan, you're amazing!" said Tenten, and the omega girl beside her agreed with a fervent nod.
The girl had long navy hair, falling in wisps down her back like water, and her eyes were a curious pale hue Sakura recognized as a dōjutsu her shishou had once told her about, the Byakugan. "My father said that Tsunade-hime never takes students. You must really be amazing, Sakura-chan." she said. “You must know medican ninjutsu as well, how impressive!”
"She is!" agreed Naruto before she could reply, slinging an arm around her shoulders and rubbing his knuckles on her head teasingly. "She's the best at taijutsu, you should see her on missions. She could knock out an entire team with one finger."
"You should train with Lee sometime, Sakura-chan! He would love to practice with someone as good as you. I'm afraid he never gets a good workout in against me." Tenten said, scratching her neck self-deprecatingly.
All the praise had made Sakura go red and soft as a tomato, though her scent betrayed she was as proud outside as she felt inside. Her omega plumed, not only at the compliments they rained down upon her but at the way the other omegas had not only acknowledged her, but accepted her as one of them.
It was more than she could have ever hoped for.
The hours ticked by like minutes in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, until before Sakura knew it all the villages had reached the city and the mixer was in less than two hours, even though it felt like only a day had passed.
Ino readied herself at the vanity, brushing her hair with an opalescent brush, already half dressed, her lips tight as she looking in the mirror back at Sakura, who sat mutely in her nest, wrapped in a towel and staring off into the distance.
"It's okay, forehead." the blonde omega promised, eyes brimming with worry. "I'll be right there with you, okay? You don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to. If any alpha tries anything, I'll knock 'em out for you."
Sakura smiled weakly at that. Despite her lack of formal training, somehow she really did believe that Ino could knock out an alpha, if just by sheet will.
"Let's just do one thing at a time, kay?" Ino continued. "All you have to do is brush your hair. You can do that right? Unless of course you like looking like you just blew in via cyclone."
"I know what you're doing." Sakura said tartly, but nevertheless she got up and made her way back to the vanity, sitting with her back to Ino and letting the omega comb through her hair. She very much didn't want to look like she blew in in a cyclone, thank you very much. Especially not if the alpha she has scented at the gates would be in attendance…
She pushed the thought away, feeling her chest heat merely at the thought of his heavenly scent, and Ino, to her credit, said nothing.
They got ready as slowly as Sakura needed, though she felt guilty for halting their progression when Ino was nearly vibrating with excitement. The Yamanaka had always enjoyed meeting new people, especially alphas, and she had had such a positive experience in Konoha already that she could only imagine the alpha mixer would be much of the same.
She finished brushing Sakura’s hair, slipping a red headband behind her ears to keep her bangs from falling into her face, as the girl hated, though she teasingly adjusted the hair to disguise her “ten ton forehead.”
Next she did Sakura’s makeup, much more skilled than the pink haired girl, though Sakura made her promise not to put too much on. It always ended up getting in her eyes and making her tear up, and she was mortified at the idea of meeting an alpha she liked with lipstick smudged on her teeth. They settled for a light, natural look, only a bit of shimmer and gloss to accentuate her natural features and when she was done Ino looked completely satisfied, hands on her hips as she announced, “Well I’d fuck you.”
Sakura slapped at her playfully, the teasingly slowly bringing her out of her shell inch by inch, and she made Ino turn so she could tie her hair back in a long, graceful ponytail, letting the ends of her blonde hair tickle at her lower back.
They pulled their outfits from the closet, painstakingly looking each other up and down after they got dressed, careful to make sure not a hair was out of place nor an item askew.
“Perfect.” they said in unison, looking over each other one last time before emerging from the room to their parents.
The two sets of parents took up the next half an hour of their time, re-primping, re-polishing, re-adjusting until Naruto was at their door and all three were nearly late to the mixer.
The courting event was a lively affair, and it seemed the entire village wanted to take part. By the time Sakura and Ino's fathers walked them to the door of the large hall where the mixer was taking place, there were already two dozen alpha chaperones outside looking equal parts nervous and excited at the idea of their ward finding a partner. Sakura laughed to herself, knowing that as soon they went inside Inoichi and Kizashi would only add to the throng of nervous parents.
Kizashi scented Sakura lightly, a gesture meant to bring comfort more than anything, and squeezed her hand lightly. "Don't be nervous, blossom." he said, fixing her with a crooked smile. "Your mother and I will be with you no matter what happens in there. If you find ten alphas or none, remember that no matter what, the only choice that matters is yours."
Sakura smiled and embraced her dad for long moment, before taking the hand Ino offered and allowing herself to be pulled away and into the belly of the beast.
The perfume of pheromones was heady as she stepped into the building, a bouquet of alpha and omega scents so thick it was nearly palpable. They weren’t late by any means, but already Sakura noticed some couples had paired up, clinging to each other in the long entryway that opened up to the mouth of the hall. Was it always that fast? Would it be that fast for her?
The pink haired omega clung tighter to Ino, letting herself be pulled in tow as she took in the scene before her, Naruto confident as he guided them into the room. It was a shinobi instinct to search for every possible means of danger, but the niggling sense of danger twisting at her belly had little to do with her kunoichi training and more to do with being in a room with so many alphas. She did her best not to let the fear show on her face, swallowing her doubt and hoping her distressed scent could be masked beneath all the others.
She passed several faces that had become familiar over the week. The sandy haired boy with the red streaks on his cheeks waved at her as they passed, happily letting her pet the small dog he had smuggled in inside his suit jacket. Next to him was his silent teammate, who gave only a terse nod as he had done before.
Another few feet away Hinata was with another girl that looked just like a petite copy of her, the two of them standing with their heads together, both their scents and their body language proving Sakura wasn’t alone in her discomfort. The two omegas embraced as they passed each other, Sakura squeezing her hands affectionately in a silent gesture of support.
Sakura greeted everyone she came across with polite bows and smiles before shuffling off, but Naruto was happy to stop and chat with everyone ad nauseam, seeming so completely at ease that Sakura wondered what kind of ungodly situation might finally make him lose his cool. It was definitely something she hoped she never came across.
Ino returned a moment later with a trio of drinks for them, barley tea a welcome cool to Sakura’s heated lips and she took a long drink to keep herself occupied, eyes wandering.
At the other end of the room Itachi Uchiha's eyes were crimson as they scanned the room, his sharingan blaring to life every few moments as he catalogued each new face it came across. It was unconscious habit, born from being enclosed with so many people, especially so many unfamiliar faces from lands outside of Konoha.
He had to read each face to prepare against possible attack, to prepare an escape route for he and his jun should a contingency plan be needed. At least that's what he tried to tell himself, and Shisui for that matter, though his cousin didn’t believe the weak sentiment any more than he himself did— both knowing well enough that he sought out one face in particular.
"Found her yet?" Shisui asked, for the third time, merely chuckling even as Itachi punched him for the third time. Shisui took another pull from his drink, "I don’t think I've never seen an omega draw your attention like that before."
Itachi said nothing, but the man wasn't wrong. No omega had ever captured his attention like she had. Not even at the meetings the clan elders had organized after enlisting the help of the main family to cherry pick a series of omegas that would suit his exact tastes, all in hopes that he would begin to reproduce immediately and further the clan bloodline.
Itachi had never had any interest in the omegas his clan presented, or the ones he came across in his daily life in Konoha, and had just began to think that perhaps there was something wrong with him, something that prevented him from finding an omega that called to him. That his father had been wrong when he said one day his alpha instincts would guide him down the right path. That his mother who had brushed her knuckles so affectionately across his cheek and promised that he would find the right love for him was wrong.
He had just discussed with Shisui the possibility of accepting his clan’s suggested omega as his own, despite his best friend’s clear upset. The curly haired Uchiha had been staunchly against the idea, spending the next three days breaking him down systematically through persistence, overt hostility, and sheer annoyance until Itachi had finally succumbed and promised that he would attend the courting event Konoha was hosting.
It had been just that morning that Itachi had finally agreed to let his father submit his name to the event as an eligible alpha, and he had been walking home, choosing to take the long way back from the military police headquarters so he could meet Sasuke at the village gates, having missed his younger brother deeply after he had been called away for a weeks long mission.
He had just greeted his brother with as affectionate a hug as the young Uchiha would allow when the world seemed to shift, the air perfumed by a scent both unfamiliar and utterly bewitching. His eyes had fluttered closed unconsciously at the mouthwatering scent, his body turning blindly towards it, and while it had only been a moments pause, both Shisui and Sasuke had instantly picked up on the alpha’s trepidation.
Her scent had thoroughly captivated him in a way he had been unable to hide, unable to bounce back from. The heady scent had settled in his nose, in his head, in his cock, overcoming him even from more than a mile away. It had rendered him speechless, unable to do much more than stare after her and think abstractly of his father’s words as he watched the bright haired omega react to his own scent. Itachi Uchiha, one of the strongest shinobi of the Leaf, the pride of the Uchiha, a man of rigorous, unflinching patience and restraint, had been unable to stop himself from taking a step towards her.
He hadn’t even realized he was moving until Shisui had clapped a hand down on his shoulder and woken him from his trance.
From her scent he had been able to tell she was an unmated omega, and from her bright pink hair he knew she was not a Konohagakure native, deducing she was likely participating in the village’s exchange and was hopeful she would be in attendance at the mixer.
Itachi knew he had to find her, had to know if his instincts were telling him the truth, if his alpha was leading him down the right path.
The meeting hall where once weekly town halls and shinobi seminars took place had been remade into a den of romance and conversation. Paper lanterns dangled from the roof, intertwined with fairy lights and glowing candles that bathed the whole room in a soft golden light. Half a hundred tables had been set up, circled by chairs and decorated with linen tablecloths and floral centerpieces, each seat carrying a matching place setting where one could set their plate.
The younger Uchiha had been here before, having been roped into helping the Uchiha and Uzumaki matriarchs set up for the event, after Kushina had taken one look at the sparse decorations in the dark hall and declared that it would be impossible to find a match here. She and Mikoto had transformed the space, and Itachi couldn't help but wonder if his mother was putting so much effort into the mixer since he had said he would be in attendance, the first time he had ever conveyed such interest to his family.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a flash of color that cut through warm darkness of the hall. His sharingan activated in a flash, searching through the crowd to see exactly what he had been hoping for: his brother's friend, in a typically loud orange and black outfit, had appeared on the outskirts of the dance floor, his arms looped around two familiar looking women.
Itachi swallowed the growl that threatened to spill from his lips at the sight of Naruto’s arm around his omega. The omega, he corrected internally, the growl that had spilled from his lips just loud enough for Shisui to hear and nudge him in the side, ribbing him gently as he following his gaze.
The pink haired girl had appeared, walking arm in arm with the Hokage's son, looking somewhat nervous, the same way she had at the Village gates. She didn't seem to notice the way every eye in the room had turned towards her, the others alphas seemingly as enthralled as he, as the small group made their way towards an empty table. Even his uncle Obito, a chaperone for the event, happily mated and with another pup on the way, gave her a curious once over as she passed.
Shisui shifted, instantly reading the change in his cousin’s demeanor, his eyes having no trouble at all in passing the pink haired girl in favor of lingering on the blonde omega to Naruto’s left.
Both Uchiha swallowed hard, both trying, and failing, to force down the lumps in their throats at the sight before them. “Shall we-“ Shisui suggested, gesturing toward the table the trio now occupied, and before Itachi could voice his assent verbally Shisui no Shunshin was already moving, crossing the space in a single breath.
Up close the girl was even more beautiful, wearing simple heels and a pair of cropped white pants, the fabric tight around her curvaceous hips and, as she turned around, Itachi could see just a hint of the round, muscular ass that was well hidden by the back of the long red qipao. The fabric floated graciously down around her knees, curving around her body as though expertly tailored to accentuate the natural curves and plains of her lissom body, parted most enticingly at the front to reveal a sliver of her toned stomach beneath.
He could practically hear the alpha inside him howling at the sight, a beast long depraved now exerting himself at every measure, and Itachi clapped his jaw shut before his alpha could be tempted to do the same thing.
“Are these seats taken?” Shisui asked, approaching the table with a warm smile.
The pink haired girl was sitting next to an empty chair, and Shisui had been smart to hurry and claim it, for Itachi could see several other alphas circling the table like sharks on the hunt for chum, the unabashed hunger in their eyes just as predatory.
The girl shook her head and Itachi could’ve kissed Shisui when his cousin gestured for him to take the seat, opting instead to sit next to the blonde omega who was eyeing him appraisingly behind her long bangs. Itachi could almost laugh, watching the way the girl looked ready to devour the alpha, instead of the other way around, and he could see the hazy look in Shisui’s eye that proved how little he minded.
Itachi sat down, setting his drink down on the table with a neat napkin beneath. “Good evening.” he greeted the entire table politely, but he cared only for one voice to return it.
“Itachi-oniisan.” Naruto greeted happily, reaching over the pink haired girl to greet him amiably. “It’s great to see you!”
“You as well.” returned Itachi, shaking the boy’s hand and ignoring how he had to lean over the omega slightly to do it. “Your parents have done a wonderful job with the hall.”
Naruto grinned, reaching back to scratch at the back of his head. His eyes were frantic, searching the faces in the crowd as though seeking someone out, and when he turned back to them he looked embarrassed at having been caught. “My mother said it was all Mikoto-kaasan’s idea!” he said.
Itachi nodded, not commenting on his embarrassment and noting to tell his mother of her great success when he returned home that night. She and Kushina had come up an agreement to stay home for the night to give their sons a modicum of privacy at the mixer, both women knowing the other would find it impossible not to meddle. The hall really did look nice.
Sakura knocked her knee into Naruto’s beneath the table and the blonde alpha jumped, suddenly remembering himself. Itachi wondered if he was searching for Sasuke just as he had for the pink haired omega, feeling an unconscious kinship with the boy. “Ah, sorry!” Naruto laughed nervously at having been caught off guard. “Itachi-niichan, this is my good friend Haruno Sakura. Sakura this is Uchiha Itachi, and his cousin Uchiha Shisui.” he said, turning to the other side to introduce Ino and Shisui.
“A beautiful name.” Itachi murmured, and her cheeks flushed until her ears were as pink as her hair.
“Thank you, Uchiha-san.” she said, her voice as pretty as the flower of her namesake.
He was sitting close enough to feel the warmth rising off her body in waves, to smell the way her piqued scent betrayed her nervousness even as her open body language drew him in closer.
"Itachi." He corrected gently, unable to help the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth, the tension renting the air abating slightly as she returned the smile.
Itachi gratefully accepted the hand Sakura offered, trying not to look thunderstruck at the electricity that passed tacitly between them. He leaned forward, brushing his lips politely against her knuckles, nearly trembling with the determination it took to not gulp down the scent that wafted over him. The scent glands at her wrist were working overtime, pumping out her scent at an overwhelming volume, and right beneath his nose.
He breathed her in, feeling the scent fill out every one of his senses, and he was sure she could feel the pleasure pheromones coming off him in waves, before moving back, afraid what might happen if he held her hand for even a moment longer.
Silence stretched between them.
Itachi berated himself silently as he looked over her shoulder where his cousin had seated himself on the other side of Naruto. Shisui had promised to jump in wherever he was needed and help tamp down any awkwardness that passed between Itachi and the pink omega, the curly haired Uchiha heir having always had a special skill as of conversation. What Itachi hadn't foreseen, perhaps foolishly, was the way his cousin seemed as throughly captured by Sakura's fellow omega as Itachi was by Sakura, and was unable to assist in any way with his conversation.
“Are you from Konoha?” Sakura initiated, hiding the way her hands shook by pushing them under the table. Itachi breathed out the breath he had been holding, happy she felt comfortable enough to broach the conversation.
Itachi nodded. His scent was calm, even, draping over her shoulders like a physical being that reached out to embrace her. “Yes, I was born about twenty minutes from here. And you? I haven’t seen you around before,” he said, clenching his hand into a fist to keep from reaching out and brushing back a strand of pink hair that fell into her face. “Surely I would have remembered.”
The words made her cheeks go pink as she shook her head, the soft laugh that spilled from her bright and pretty. “Ino and I are from the Village in the Valleys. We’ve come to Konoha for the mating event at the behest of your Hokage.”
Itachi knew the Village well. Since it was a favorite of the Hokage’s family he had spent many days of his Anbu protection duty within its walls when the Hokage went to visit. “It’s a beautiful village. I’ve never seen so many flowers before.”
Her eyes brightened. “Do you like flowers?”
He nodded, “I do. There are plenty in the garden outside my home, where I like to read.”
“Do you have a favorite?”
His lips tilted, seeing an opportunity align so perfectly that he couldn’t resist caving to his alpha for a moment. “Cherry blossoms.”
Her face flushed, the sweet smell of her scent growing only deeper, more floral, more sweet. He purred softly, watching the shiver that ran through her at the sound. It was just as his father had once told him it would be, it pleased him to please her.
Sakura watched him closely, her eyes flickering over his face as though trying to memorize it, until she could call up the memory of every strand of raven hair, every beauty mark, every scar that spilled down his skin like constellations.
He was unbearably pretty and handsome in the same measure, his long black hair and alabaster skin, the confidence of his posture and the ease of his smile. Above all, his scent was enticing on a level deeper than she had ever felt. Even Ino, the closest person to her in the world, had never smelled so clear, so strong, had never seemed able to pin her in place with scent alone.
He was the very first alpha she had met in Konoha, yet he was the only one she held any interest in. It was like she only had eyes for him, not even noticing the way several other alphas had gravitated toward their table, awaiting a break in the conversation to jump in, perhaps only not doing do out of respect, or fear, of him.
The small bag the Uchiha had hurriedly shoved into his pocket when dressing for the event suddenly seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and no matter how he shifted in his seat did its discomfort lessen. He had rehearsed the interaction half a dozen times, but still the words felt unfamiliar on his tongue as he leaned closer to her, “Sakura-chan, I brought you something.”
Her eyes widened as she stared up at him, the idea that he had noticed her, had thought of her filling her with pleasure she had never felt before, and her scent sweetened considerably under his nose.
He slipped the wrapped bag from his pocket and laid it gently across her offered palm, not missing the way their fingers brushed together almost lovingly.
“Open it.” Itachi urged, after she took a long moment to admire its decoration.
The shop owner had been surprised to see Itachi, even more so after she had asked if the item was a gift and received the Uchiha heir’s offhanded mention of the mating event. She had spent several long minutes wrapping the item with deliberate care, taking time to pick her finest wrapping paper and fold each edge with precision, her expert hand affixing the satin bow on top and affixing it with the crimson wax of the Uchiha clan seal from her desk. The woman had admired her work happily, the knowing look in her eye as she passed the parcel back to Itachi showing she knew just what the item was for.
Sakura lingered on the package, carefully tracing the wax etched Uchiwa symbol with the pads of her fingers before tearing gently into the paper and sliding out the box. She opened it slowly, her lips parting as she looked inside and her cheeks flushed in pleasure, allowing Itachi to exhale the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
She lifted the creamy bar of soap in her hands and brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply. “It’s wonderful.” she proclaimed, smiling as the notes of spring lavender and honeysuckle filled her senses.
Itachi had bought the gift the day before, having offered to join Mikoto and Kushina on their weekly outing to the marketplace. His mother, whose many bags he had carried, had, to her credit, said nothing as they walked and Itachi hesitated outside the door of a small apothecary, tacitly allowing Itachi to break away from their party and enter the shop— though he was sure the two women had plenty to say once he was out of earshot.
He had spent an extraordinarily long time choosing a gift, presented with so many options that he was unsure of what to choose, his head spinning at the sight of so many perfumed shampoos, fragrance oils, and scented soaps. Vaguely he regretted not inviting the older omegas to join him, thinking absently to the gifts his father had presented his mother with the many times he had returned home from missions to other villages, or trips to the outposts of Konoha. Returning to the counter, Itachi had spotted a small sunflower shaped soap in the center of the display, amaranthine in color and streaks with flecks of lavender.
It had been a lucky coincidence that the girl named after them was so fond of flowers, since Itachi had taken a shot in the dark to choose such an overtly floral scent, having debated for a long time between the lavender soap and another, more austere variant.
But she looked happy, cradling the soap in her palms like it was something precious, and that was all that mattered.
“Thank you, Itachi-san.” she breathed, and it was like a whisper, as though they were words only for him and no one else, as though despite the overpopulated hall chock full of alphas and omegas, it was only them.
He swallowed hard, feeling heat pool at his lower belly, the pleasure of her scent like pinpricks coming down all over his skin, and he couldn’t suppress a low growl that she matched with a purr of her own. It was heaven. It was bliss.
Naruto plopped back in his seat forcefully, the scrape of iron legs against the floor popping the bubble of privacy that had engulfed them, and Sakura’s eyes fluttered as she looked back at her friends.
Ino was holding Shisui’s hand in her own, palm facing up as she traced the lines and divots in his skin, their heads close together as she read his palm and relayed to him his fortune. At the other end of the table Tenten was sitting with who Sakura initially thought to be Hinata-chan, but realized with a jolt of surprise that it was an alpha instead, though he bore the same long hair and pale eyes as she. Naruto had rejoined them after leaving in search of food, though Sakura was sure he had been seeking out a meal of a different kind, and wondered if the tousled hair boy was in attendance at the mixer tonight. From the flushed look of Naruto’s tanned cheeks and the glassiness of his eyes, she could assume he was indeed.
“What is it you do in your village?” Itachi asked, bringing her back to earth with the question. He felt a surge of possessiveness he had never felt before. It was like he didn’t want anyone else to speak to her, to even look at her, wanting nothing less than to give them a clear path towards joining their conversation.
The omega sipped at her drink nervously, her shoulders the same pink hue as the hair that tumbled over them. Itachi wondered if it was a touchy subject, perhaps Tanigakure was more traditional and did not allow omegas to join the workforce.
“I’m—“ Sakura began. Her heart hammered in her chest like the insistent beat of a drum, and she could barely think with the way Itachi’s scent clouded her thoughts, swirling with disjointed thoughts and haunting memories that suddenly sprung forth.
The sound of her aunt's voice when she had found out Sakura would be joining the Academy, whispering to her that, No alpha is going to want a shinobi omega. Her mother’s words of caution when she first started coming home from training with cuts and bruises, you’ll scare off a good alpha. Her grandmother shaking her head every time Sakura left the village for a mission.
What should she say? What could she say?
Clearly a man like this would want an omega that needed his protection, that would be doted on and nested with and would produce pups without the distraction of training or missions. He'd want someone that didn't spend half their time at the hospital, or come home stinking of blood.
He’d never want an omega like her. No one would.
“I-“ Sakura started again, but her voice was weaker this time, and her jade eyes swam.
The calm of the air was split suddenly by a crash just behind her, and before Ino could blink Sakura was on her feet, fingers reaching automatically to the ever present kunai at her thigh holster, in the surprise of the moment not remembering she was in her civilian clothes.
She moved quickly, nearly as quickly as Itachi, who had jumped to his feet at the first sound, a hand flying out protectively towards Sakura, who he realized too late was no longer there. In her place fell one of the tea cups, hot tea splashing across her seat and his bare forearm, making the alpha grimace and pull the limb back to nurse it against his chest.
The waiter apologized profusely, and Shisui was offering napkins, Naruto calling out in surprise but several eyes had fallen to Sakura instead. The other alphas and omegas that had joined their table eyed her in appraisal, apprehension, the couples that moved together at the edge of the dance floor looking around to identify the source of the commotion.
Itachi’s eyes rose to Sakura, brows drawn in question, only drawing tighter at the sight of tears in her eyes. Had she been burned after all?
It was clear her secret was out. No civilian could react with the practiced grace of a trained ninja, let alone a kunoichi that had spent years training under the tutelage of the village's Daimyō, a renowned iryo-nin and close friend of Konoha's Hokage.
“I’m sorry.” Sakura choked out, turning on her heel and fleeing the room. She could hear several voices calling after her, but it didn’t matter now.
She had been a fool to think this would ever work.
The courting event took place in a large twin story hall, the balcony replete with several strings of glowing fairy lights and the soft aural of music, and a few couples had retired outside for more privacy, so enthralled by each other that they didn’t even react as Sakura vaulted over the balcony’s railing and down to the first floor, landing in a practiced crouch. Luckily the hall was at the edge of a clearing and the omega was thankful for the bounty of trees. She took solace in their proximity, having always held a fondness for nature after having grown up in the valleys of Tanigakure and the bounty of the Yamanaka flower shop.
She drew chakra into the soles of her feet and climbed the tree easily, sinking down against the trunk and drawing her knees to her chest so she could bury her face in her arms.
Konoha was supposed to be a fresh start, a place where nobody could recognize her as Tsunade's pupil and be fearful of her monstrous strength, where nobody could distrust her moods, or worse, shun her severely enough to make Sakura contemplate whether she truly did exist in the same plain as them. They weren’t supposed to know that she was a rotten omega, at least not this soon.
She jolted at the sudden presence of another chakra signature and again reached for her thigh holster, thinking bitterly that it would be only fitting for her to be caught unaware like this. A failure of an omega and a failure of a ninja.
She looked up through bleary eyes, ready to shift into a fighting stance in a moment if needed, but was shocked to find Itachi standing before her. Her jaw dropped, green eyes wide and startled, the bar of soap she held still cradled in her palm like an injured bird.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you.” he said, his voice soft as he lifted his hands in an innocent gesture. She didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded. “May I join you?”
“Yes.” she whispered, her voice shaky as she relaxed slightly back against the trunk of the tree.
He came forward to sit against the wide trunk, far enough away to respect her privacy, but close enough that she could feel the warmth rolling off his skin and be enveloped in the warm bouquet of his scent. His scent was strong, sweet and spiced and palpable, a vortex of warmth and comfort that threatened to undo her.
She noticed was still nursing his arm, and she could see a long thin splotch of red across his skin as it rested against his dark tunic.
Biting down on her lip, hating herself for causing the injury and just as much for revealing another of her secrets so soon, she turned towards him. “May I?” she asked, gesturing for his arm.
Silently he assented, laying his arm against her outstretched palm, watching intently as she pressed her eyes closed and began to work.
He watched in awe as her chakra formed visibly in a pale blue aura, pressing to his skin as soft as the wind blew through the leaves and across his cheeks. Her chakra was like a cool breeze across his heated skin, as pleasant as a cold bath on a sweltering day or a cold cup of sake on parched lips, drawing from her palm down onto his skin. In an instant the pain was gone, her brow furrowing deeper as her chakra faltered for a moment, and Itachi watched with close attention as she let out a short gasp.
His last mission had gone to shit after an enemy ninja ambush, and the majority of his team had been littered with senbon during the battle, which were later found to be poison tipped. The toxin had slowed their movements, and Yugao, smaller than the rest and hit with nearly double the senbon had been nearly paralyzed from the potent toxin, moving too slow to block a blow from an enemy ninja. As their Captain Itachi had stepped in instantly, shifting their positions so that the incoming blade had punched into his shoulder instead of going through her chest. He was thankful for the quickness of his movement, for losing Yugao would have been not only a great loss to Konoha, but the great loss of a friend as well.
Despite the days having passed quickly since the wound had been inflicted, his back was slow to heal, the toxin and the depth of the wound working together to slow the healing process. Even the doctors at Konoha Hospital had been able to do little, merely offering a poultice that was to be placed on it three times a day to promote healing.
But here he was, sitting on the branch of a tree with a foreign omega, feeling the skin twisting itself back together, knitting closed so quickly and painlessly that it was as if it had never been broken in the first place, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the woman’s obvious skill.
Sakura rocked back on her heels, the soft cerulean light at her palms extinguishing when there was nothing in him left to heal, and he could almost see the way she retreated back into herself, sinking back against the tree in sullen silence.
Her beautiful eyes swam, and he forced the hand at his side into his pocket to stop it from reaching out and brushing away the tears in her eyes. His alpha wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and pull her against him until she had no more tears to cry, to protect her, to shield her from whoever had taught her that being a shinobi was something shameful.
“That was…” Itachi began, choosing his words carefully. Sakura cringed internally, waiting for a blow that never came. “Incredible.”
She whipped her head around, having expected him to beat a hasty retreat and never darken her metaphorical doorway again, perhaps to scoff, to lapse back into silence, maybe even laughter was due. She was shocked when he drew her attention back to him and she found nothing but mirth on his face, even a soft smile pulling at his lips.
“I’ve never seen something so amazing.” The alpha let out a low purr, clearly pleased, and his scent rippled in the air, heady, thick, and so sweet that Sakura imagined she could taste it if she tried. “Even the healers in my clan weren't able to help.”
“It’s no problem.” Sakura said stiffly. When was the last time an alpha besides Naruto had complimented her like this?
Her cheeks were pink, flushed with happiness at having pleased the alpha, and her inner omega preened, wanting more praise.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, back there.” he said, gesturing over his shoulder to the hall they had abandoned. “I saw the tray falling and thought you were going to get burned.”
“No I-“ she began, turning her body towards him completely, opening herself up to his and not missing the way his jaw clenched as he inhaled her sweet scent.
She wasn’t afraid of him, he had to know that. In fact, she felt oddly at ease around him in a way she hadn’t felt since meeting a young Naruto had poked his head out from under his mom’s skirt, the first alpha she had ever known that didn’t treat her as something strange, something other.
“I just didn’t want an alpha like you to see what I am…” Sakura continued.
“What are you?” he pressed gently.
“A ninja.” She tilted her head questioningly, like it was the most obvious in the world.
Itachi nodded slowly, considering. A beat passed between them before he spoke again, “I knew you were a kunoichi the first time I saw you.”
Sakura gaped at him, gesturing between them weakly, her eyes on the bar of soap. “But you still…”
“Still courted you?” he asked, and she nodded. “I did. Even at the gate I knew there was something special about you, something that called to me. I’d like to continue courting you." Then he added, teasingly, "That is, if you don’t run away again.”
His voice was a low rumble, and he wasn't sure if she knew she was unconsciously leaning towards him, so close together now that he couldn't resist reaching out for her. His hand pressed over hers, palm dwarfing hers in size, and the alpha inside him howled at the sight, at the thought of how her small body would fit against his in a multitude of positions.
“Will you?” Itachi asked, his dark eyes burning as he purred low and deep.
Her head felt muzzy, though its lightness had little to do with the exertion of her chakra and more to do with his scent undulating through her head. her blood rushed in her ears, her head and heart pounding in equal measure, like every part of her body starved for him.
“Will I what?” the pink haired shinobi asked, her expression dazed.
Her scent had spiked, coating the back of his throat like the reminisce of some fine sake, the spices of her fragrance dancing along his taste buds and causing a prickling warmth to spread through him. He could smell her, feel her, taste her, letting the alpha he so often denied bathe in her scent, relish in it, like rosehip and vanilla pods, warm spiced plum wine and sweet fruits and the fine pressed lavender oil his mother often brought home from the markets of Konoha.
“Will you run away again?”
"No." She breathed, exhaling long and deep, and Itachi knew she was just as overcome as him.
“Sakura!” A voice broke through the small bubble of privacy that had formed around them, shattering the moment where Sakura thought Itachi might kiss her, where she hoped Itachi might kiss her.
She recognized the voice as Naruto, and, knowing it was bad form to be alone with an unmated alpha, she called back to him, squeezing Itachi’s hand one last time before breaking apart from him, no matter how loud her inner omega howled for more.
The dark alpha stopped her with a hand on hers, pulling her against him. “Will you go on a date with me?” he asked, the weight of her body against his as delicious as silk on bare skin. “An official match.”
Sakura felt warmth flood her belly, as though she had downed a cup of her shishou’s hot sake. “Yes.” she agreed, fixing him with one last lingering look before retreating back to Naruto’s side, letting he and Ino comfort her, though in truth it was Itachi’s words that had helped her.
She looked back over her shoulder, watching the way the alpha blended into the leaves near indistinguishable from the rest of the tree. She could feel his eyes on her, watching as she allowed her friends to pull her back into the hall of the courting event.
By the time she returned home Sakura felt like she was walking on air, having secured a date with the most intriguing alpha she had ever met. She didn’t dare tell her father, for her time alone with Itachi was highly frowned upon, but when he asked if she had met any interesting alphas she let herself smile at the memory.
She shed her clothes and took a quick bath to clean off the scents of so many alphas and omegas, regretting that she wasn’t able to separate Itachi’s scent from the bunch and languish in it for longer. By the time she crawled into the nest she shared with Ino, it wasn’t long before she was asleep, dreaming of long haired alphas and dark haired pups.
It wasn’t uncommon when a couple was first mated to have unpredictable heats and ruts. In fact it was actually quite common, as their bodies became accustomed to the new scents and pheromones of their newly mated partner.
Sakura knew this— Sage she had diagnosed it at the hospital half a hundred times when patients came in with sudden onset fever and unexplained flu-like symptoms.
Yet, when her own heat had suddenly begun to bubble up, initially manifesting itself in a low, simmering heat that coiled in her lower belly and a barely controlled rage laser focused on Sai, whose hastily drawn caricature had deemed to go out of its way to emphasize the size of her forehead and lack of size in her chest.
While Sakura had laughed uproariously at the previous caricature the svelte artist had presented, of Kakashi-sensei with buck teeth beneath his mask and a tangled nest of silver hair that had become home to a few baby chicks, she had not found her own portrait funny. The dark haired shinobi had barely been able to dodge her fist as it crashed through the ground and nearly caused an earthquake, the smugness of his smirk as he danced away only further irritating her.
Naruto had managed to calm her down, if only just barely, and Sakura had marched home after their training, muttering curses upon Sai under her breath. The words slutty little waist sprung forth easily, and somehow Naruto managed not to snicker too loudly at that, therefore narrowly avoiding his pink haired teammates ire as she threw a dirty look over her shoulder.
It was hot, unusual for Konoha at this time of year, and by the time Sakura had made it back to the Uchiha compound her collar was slick with sweat and her qipao was clinging to her lower back uncomfortably.
The kunoichi managed to slip through the compound, narrowly avoiding many of the people she would normally stop to speak to. Even Izuna, whom she had come to regard in as close a confidence as if he were her own brother, recognizing his chakra signature at the koi pond he was so fond of and narrowly managing to skirt around him by smothering her own chakra down to embers.
She was quick to retire to the Head house she had been living in for the past nine months. She slipped inside without trouble, the seals at the door recognizing her chakra and allowing her entry to the Uchiha clan head's prized home with a simple press of her palm.
Sakura sighed in relief as she sank against the back of the wooden door, calling out a greeting to the empty house.
She was at once enveloped in the enchanting smell of her alpha, of woodsmoke and flame and something so uniquely Madara that she could recognize it anywhere— despite the fact that he was away on a mission for the Hokage and had not come home for nearly six days now.
She missed him more than she would have ever thought, finding their bed much too large without his imposing frame in it and their home much less warm without his ruckus laughter bouncing off the walls or his petty arguments with Izuna to entertain her.
He would be home soon enough, especially since the mission was mere recognizance instead of anything actually dangerous. Not that she thought Madara Uchiha couldn't hold his own in a fight, he was a kage level shinobi after all, but still...As an iryo-nin and a wife it was only natural that she would worry after him.
The pink haired woman sighed as she dismissed the servants for the night with a polite bow. She undressed, moving to the bathroom to take a much needed bath, desperate to wash the sweat and dirt and aggravation off her body after such a long day.
If she had been feeling better she would have invited Izuna over for tea, or maybe even Shisui, who always managed to cheer her up with his boisterousness, so like Naruto that it made her laugh and sigh in equal measure. Itachi too had become an unexpected confidant for the pink haired omega, his temperament, intelligence, and kindness making him a perfect sounding board for her problems at the hospital.
But for now, all she wanted was to crawl into their her bed and sleep and sleep and sleep until her husband returned and properly took her up in his arms.
While that had certainly been the plan, life always did seem to find a way to surprise her.
Especially when she awoke long after midnight to find she had been set ablaze by her own heat, pink faced and swimming in her sweaty nightclothes, a hand delving down between her thighs before she had even awakened fully.
Pleasure bled in from the periphery, but she still felt heavy with unsatisfied desire, the warmth in her belly building to an uncomfortable level. It felt like she had swallowed hot coals and each passing minute was only stoking their fire, leaving her sweating and aggravated in a way she never would have been if her alpha had been beside her in bed where he belonged.
She pressed her eyes shut in aggravation, scrunching up her face as her fingers slid against her folds before delving further, unable to reach the same depth her alpha could.
With only a candle to bath the room in golden light she might as well have been the last person on earth. Even still, she couldn’t help the words that slipped from her lips, unprompted. "Madara..." she breathed, her voice dissipating in the air like early morning fog.
Sakura sensed him only a fraction of a second before he made himself known, slipping into the chamber with a silent, lethal grace befitting a shinobi of his stature. The seals hadn't warned her, but of course they wouldn't, this was his house as much as hers, and he belonged here. Belonged with her.
Her heart surged into her throat with excitement.
His scent was heavenly, the ravenous omega buried within instantly awash with it, the sylvan pine and cederwood and oiled leather so purely Madara that she could recognize him by scent alone.
Sakura sat up to greet him, excited, her face lighting up in a smile, before suddenly becoming very aware of the fact that the room smelled almost oppressively of her aroused scent and that she had so obviously been pleasuring herself.
And fuck, she wasn’t even embarrassed— she didn’t even stop, her fingers tracing over her aching nub intently.
All he needed to do was take a few steps and-
Madara’s eyes glowed crimson in the darkness, tomoe spinning as they slid over every inch of her from beneath the blankets she had tossed aside.
“Don’t stop on my account.” The dark haired alpha said, the smirk on his face half wild as he took in her concupiscent appearance. He crossed his arms over his chest lazily, leaning back against his desk and gesturing for her to continue what she had started.
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His sharingan and his nose informed him that her heat had yet to take over her completely, and from the blissed out expression of pleasure on her face she was in no pain. It would certainly be safe to indulge in a quick little show.
Her fingers snuck back down between her legs, taking an experimental lap around her folds, the pleasure suddenly magnified by the burning gaze Madara Uchiha fixed her with.
His pink omega flushed scarlet, but the bob of her throat and the twitch of her lips gave away her secret, that her heat had long ago interrupted any self-consciousness that might have prevented her from doing just that.
He hadn’t expected her to roll onto her belly, hadn't expected the way she pushed herself up on her elbows to more easily slip a hand between her parted thighs, so deep in the throes of heat and pleasure that self-consciousness seemed beyond her, even as she sank down onto her stomach and spread her legs as wide as they could go.
Madara swallowed hard at the sight before him. Her round, perfect ass had lifted in the air, trembling slightly as she touched herself, as though begging to be marked by his teeth, by his hands, by his cock. Whether purposeful or not she had presented to him in a way that set his teeth on edge, the alpha inside him howling like an unfettered beast.
He ached to mark her all over again, to sink his teeth into any flesh he could reach and mark her as his his his.
Madara's heart hammered against the cage of his chest, so loud he was sure she could hear it too, and the long haired alpha couldn’t resist sneaking a small step closer, standing beside the bed they shared and trying not to salivate at the sight before him.
She smelled so sweet, an herbaceous mix of flowers and sweets with an edge of isopropyl alcohol from her work at the hospital, swirling to create a mix he could recognize even if they stood at opposite ends of the Earth.
Her slender fingers worked at her folds, slick coating the small digits generously, enough to make them shimmer in the low light, the silvery moonlight that slid in through the curtain windows bathing her in its glow. Madara salivated at the sight, desperate to push her hands away and dive face first into her core so he could devour every inch of her from bottom to top.
His cock had been hard since the first note of her scent had crossed his nose the second he stepped up on the engawa, tenting the fabric of his trousers and creating an obvious wet spot where pearls of precum had almost instantly began to bead.
It had been far too long since Madara had seen her, had been inside of her, and even though he knew he had been an awful chore for his teammates to be around on his surveillance mission, but he couldn't bring himself to care. And besides, if Tobirama ever got himself a woman, the white haired man would understand his pain.
The burly alpha palmed himself absently, the friction pleasurable but doing little to relieve the hollow ache that grew by the second. Even a fool would be able to tell that she had triggered his rut, and the urges bubbling up inside him would soon take over, rendering him useless to anyone other than his wife and anything outside of their nest.
He resolved to send a note to Izuna before he lost full hold of his senses, scrawling a short message on the scroll he pulled from his sleeve without ever tearing his eyes from the beautiful woman before him, sending the message off with his summons.
That way nobody would be fool enough to disturb them unless there was an all out war breaking out in Konoha, or suffer his wrath— as that bastard Hashirama had brought upon himself their previous heat.
The long haired man had ignored Izuna's multiple warning and Tobirama's concern over the riotous flaring of chakra behind the door of the Head's house and had let himself in, calling out to Madara that he was needed. Seconds later Madara had all but blasted his best friend out through the wall, for which he had later earned Sakura's ire at the damage to their house. But she couldn't be too mad at him, not for long anyway, and they had barely made it back to their bedroom before setting loose upon each other again and dissolving into a mess of tongue and teeth and desperate, grasping hands.
Sakura moaned, half muffled by the pillow she had buried her face into, and he realized with a sick sort of satisfaction that it was his, that she must have been scenting his pillow during his absence.
Tearing his eyes away from the soft skin of her thighs and the wet pink of her center he noticed for the first time she had formed a rudimentary nest of sorts, as though it had been done in a hurry, and Madara imagined that it had.
He could see his favorite haori stuffed between his pillow and hers, a few of his high collared shirts, a sash, a few undershirts, and he thought he could even spot one of his vambraces half hidden beneath a layer of blankets. He practically preened, satisfied beyond measure that his omega found his scent so pleasing. Though, of course, it was only natural that they both preferred it straight from the source.
Pink hair floated around her shoulders and across her brow like a halo. Even gasping and sweat stained and panting she was angelic, the sounds of her moaning bringing him closer to heaven by the second. He was so hard his cock ached, but he ignored it completely, unable to tear his focus from her for even the moment needed to bring a hand down to palm himself.
Madara watched her fingers work, rubbing languid circles against glistening folds, the slick between her fingers forming into gossamer strands that pulled taut with every movement. The alpha swallowed hard at the sight, remembering her taste and craving it all the more.
“Dara…“ Sakura moaned softly, sinking further onto her belly, her legs spreading wider. He could see her clenching against nothing, his toes curling against the tatami with the effort it took not to throw himself onto the futon and drive himself into her.
“Sage it’s-“ she choked out. Between the way her face was pressed into the pillow and her pleasure drunk state her voice was slightly slurred. “Feels so good!”
“As I can see, my love.” Madara murmured, his voice tight. He could taste her arousal on the air, sitting on his tongue in a bouquet of sweet, heady perfume.
But he refused to take even a half step closer.
He was a ninja after all, a clan head, the strongest alpha of the Uchiha and one of the most powerful shinobi the Leaf had to offer. He could resist temptation, could restrain himself from sinking to his most base desires— no matter how greatly they tempted him.
Suddenly Sakura couldn’t stand it anymore, not seeing her alpha’s face, and in a moment she had flopped onto her back, letting her knees fall apart to reveal the sight of her alpha between them. He was still too far for her liking, forcing himself to stay on the other side of the room, but at least now they could look upon each other, speak without words as their eyes made contact.
“Dara.” she breathed and the pet name she alone could use had never sounded as sweet as it did when dripping from her tongue like honey. He felt himself being swayed, even before he heard her next words, which sent a shock of pleasure and a twist of hot satisfaction through him like a burst of his katon, “Please, Dara...Please, alpha.”
Begrudgingly Sakura pulled her hands from between her legs in order to reach for him, the desperation in her jade eyes finally moving him— literally. Him, Madara, the Devil of the Uchiha, the shadow hokage of the Leaf, succumbed to her without question, as he so often did, and he crossed the room in the space of a breath and fell into her arms, allowing himself to be enveloped in her iron grip.
Sakura preened, relishing in the kissed he lavished down upon every inch of her face as he sank between her parted legs and wrapped his arms around her.
She was so beautiful, had always been so beautiful— the two Sakuras that existed simultaneously in his mind, the sweet loving wife and the fierce, tempestuous fighter both capturing his heart in equal measure.
He had fallen in love with her at first sight, from the moment he had seen the way she blasted through one of Hashirama’s great oaks with nothing but a flick of two fingers, and every moment since his love had only grown, until she was as close to his heart as his brothers.
The pink haired omega ground against him, sweat slick skin sliding against his clothed form, desperate for contact in any way she could get it. Before he could stop her she was nearly up on her heels as she sought the friction of his body, her hips chasing his as he rose to paw at his clothes.
They struggled for a moment with his loose haori, the bunched fabric caught between their bodies and twin pairs of grasping hands, and with a loud growl and a resounding tear, the battle worn robe was discarded at their feet in pieces, her attentions no longer focused on adding to the nest she had built around them. He was more than thankful he had undone his armor before joining her in the bedroom, for the thought of suffocating in the armor now would have aggravated him beyond belief.
Her hands clung at his shoulders, fingers digging into his flesh hard enough to draw blood, and the way he moaned at the feeling would have been pitiful if either of them had even heard it.
No, they had more important things on their mind at the moment, particularly how to sate their rapidly growing starvation.
Sakura’s breath hitched at the feel of him against her, slim hands sliding over his shoulders and down his muscular back, following the natural curve of his defined body down to the firm ass she had so long ago grown fond of, urging his undulating hips against her desperate center.
It was agony, having him so close without being seated yet inside her, and she intended to remedy such a travesty at once.
Her fingers worked at the laces of his jonin blues clumsily, the warmth that slowly uncoiled in his belly reminding him of a serpent poised to strike as she forced them down around his thighs, just barely enough to release his aching cock. Her hand was small and far softer than his had ever been as she stroked him, smearing the precum that beaded at the tip along the shaft and making him tremble in pleasure.
His eyes blinked closed, the dark haired alpha caught between two worlds, wanting nothing more than to tip headlong into pleasure and wanting to memorize every inch of her face, catalogue every expression she made.
“Sakura…” he hissed, feeling the way she squeezed at him, her other hand at his chest to tease gently at his nipples in a way that always greatly satisfied, and embarrassed, him.
The bite at his neck throbbed in time with his heartbeat, still resoundingly fresh after having been mated for less than a year, and from the look of desperate arousal on her face he could only posit she felt the same.
She trapped a nipple between her thumb and forefinger and tugged, nearly making him collapse against her, her other hand relentless as it worked along his cock.
The room was hot. Had it always been that hot? And when had he started sweating so profusely?
Even though the Uchiha ran hot it was nearly December and the cold circling the compound should have been enough to stave off any perspiration.
Logically he knew that her heat must have triggered his rut, but now his mind was too focused on the way her wrist was twisting and her fingernails were scraping.
Before Sakura Madara could never have predicted such serene acquiescence to the idea, had once hated the inconvenience brought on by such an unstable period of oppressive pheromones and biological need brought on by his rut.
But since they had become a mated pair he was no longer irritated by it. Instead the dark haired alpha found that he actively looked forward to the long hours he spent in her nest.
When their bodies were locked together, arms and legs and souls entwined, his head laggard as it laid upon her chest, allowing him to fall asleep to the sound of her calm heartbeat as her fingers traced leisurely along his back or combed through his long hair.
When he was away from her for too long and he had only his memories to entertain him he longed for the days they spent together, when there was nothing to do but curl together, nothing to say but pleasure beleaguered sighs of each others names. Even now, the memory of her tugging at his knot threatened to undo him before he had even made it inside her, the sight of her pink folds making him ache to sink between them.
“Sakura.” he breathed her name like a prayer, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek tenderly.
The pink haired woman smiled at him hazily, her eyes so bright a green he wanted to swim in them, though he was promptly distracted from the thought as she took hold of his hand and cradled her cheek against the callused palm.
Madara’s sharingan spun to life as he studied the sight before him, the way her eyes blinked closed as she nuzzled against his palm, brushing her lips against the flesh and besotting it with sleepy kisses.
He should not be so lucky, all the death and grief he had caused in his life should not have allowed him the pleasure being at her side brought him. He should never have courted her, should not have allowed himself even the delight of looking upon her with his war tired eyes. But he would allow himself the indulgence, just this once he would allow himself to think of himself as more than a weapon of the Leaf. If it meant being in her arms he would give anything.
His trousers joined the rapidly growing heap on the floor, leaving him naked as his nameday and, perhaps more importantly, naked as his omega.
“Dara-“ she choked out.
Her hands quavered as she reached for him, throwing him off balance as she pulled him into her arms and he fell flush against her, the elite shinobi so overcome by the swirling storm of pheromones in the bedroom that his reaction speed had become more than a little clumsy.
“Sorry-” Sakura breathed out, but it was neither in his nature nor his heart to be angry with her, especially not when he had landed face first upon her breast.
His mouth silenced whatever sentiment she might have expressed, taking a pert pink nipple between his lips and sucking firmly. She jumped at the sudden pleasure, her back arching off the futon, successful in bringing her only closer to his tongue.
“Sage!” she exclaimed, as one of his free hands slipped between her thighs and slid along her wet center. She sighed dreamily, feeling the way her pleasure had once again began to climb, creeping towards the orgasm she knew would not satisfy her— not yet.
Madara wanted to taste her, laving his tongue across his fingers as he pulled them free of her core, the pair moaning in sync at the sight, her at the sight of his slick fingers and him at their taste. He wanted to slide down the bed and wrap her thighs around his shoulders as his mouth went to work for the next two hours at least.
But he knew neither of them were at a place to take pleasure from such an act, sunk far too deep into their own biological urges that nothing but fucking could cure them.
“Omega…” he breathed, gathering her up in his arms and guiding her supine body into a position she would find more pleasurable, tucking a pillow gently beneath her hips as he knew she liked. “My sweet cherry blossom.”
She grinned at the words, her lips pressing to the meat of his thumb as she kissed him lovingly, chills wracking through his body as her tongue laved across his skin.
Her other hand had fisted into his hair, fingers tangling through the long strands and pulling just hard enough to tip his head back, and with his neck exposed she dove in face-first, like a wolf about to devour its prey. The love bites she left made him moan sinfully, his well muscled belly trembling as he sucked in a shaky breath.
Her eyes followed the movement, hooded and nearly snakelike in their overt desire. His inner alpha plumed at the sight of her, breathless and heaving and desperate for him, lying on her back in his bed like Amaterasu come down from the sun to bless humanity, and it was all he could do not to drum on his chest like an ape.
He sank against her, gracing every inch of her beautiful face with kisses before sinking back fully against her mouth, feeling the way her tongue slid against his as it pinned him in a hot, wet vice.
It felt as though he had somehow consumed an aphrodisiac, like the time Sakura and Tobirama had attempted a new concoction for a chakra enhancement pill that had ended with she and Madara fucking for six hours straight. The potion had obviously been abandoned, and Hashirama was quick to claim pure happenstance as the reason why another crimson haired Senju pup had been born nine months later.
Of course Madara wasn’t complaining, then or now, for any time that was spent in Sakura’s loving embrace was time spent well. Even if the iryo-nin’s usual tight control over her chakra tended to waver when she was too deep in pleasure, the grip of her arms and legs becoming tight enough to bruise, nearly enough to snap bone. Madara never really minded, he could take anything she could give him. If she broke a bone or two during her heat, he doubted he’d even notice.
His hands shook as he reached for his aching cock and guided it to her folds, moaning at the feel of her slick flesh against his. His vision nearly whited out as the tip eased inside of her, as though his brain was physically unable to remember how utterly, incomprehensibly divine it felt to be inside of her. It was like every time made it suddenly their first time all over again, like every time they were together he could suddenly remember what it felt like to be whole again, to be complete— his soul, his body, his mind.
“Dara!” Sakura exclaimed, throwing her head back in pleasure.
He grinned, half mad, using a free hand to drape her legs up over his hips, the angle tipping her hips backwards just enough so that as he seated himself inside her fully, his cock nudged at the part of her that always seemed to bring about her peak the fastest.
There was nothing better than feeling her come undone around him, come undone with him.
Perhaps even better than his own orgasm was the ability to feel hers. To watch her face fall into placidity as she tipped headlong into the chasm of pleasure, to feel the way she clung to him, her arms and legs wound around him in a smothering embrace he couldn’t get enough of, to hear the soft gasps and little breathy moans that spilled from her lips like warm honey. It was intoxicating, it was mesmerizing, it was addicting.
Her cheeks burned beneath his lips as he pressed a thousand kisses to her face, wet, sloppy kisses that missed the mark of her mouth and fell upon any inch of her salty skin he could manage. Even now, sweaty and flushed and breathing heavy, she was as beautiful as ever, and her taste was just as sweet and aromatic, an apt fragrance for the gorgeous omega’s floral namesake.
“I love you.” he breathed, his free hand sliding down to the small of her back, responding to the bow in her back and further accentuating the angle. He received a long, low moan for his efforts, and Sakura clung to him, the muscles in her belly and arms flexing tantalizingly as she lifting herself into his arms. Their positions changed easily, her legs straddling his hips until he and his woman sat pressed chest to chest, her hips undulating as she rode his cock so beautifully.
“I love you.” returned Sakura, as she smiled at him, blinding and beautiful and so bright that it might have lit up the room better than any candle.
Her arms wrapped around him, clutching him tight to her and nuzzling insistently at his neck, a spot as weak to her attack as his nipples. Her tongue worked at the indentations her teeth had once made, licking at the claiming mark with her curious tongue and sage it took all he had not to come right then and there.
“Alpha-“ she breathed, tipping her head back as she allowed him to take control of the pace she had set. She rode him unabashedly, like he was a wild horse she intended to tame, and by the time her orgasm took hold of her, the scratch marks upon his back had tripled in depth and number. “It’s- Fuck, I can almost feel you in my throat.”
The words had his toes curling, the cant of his hips suddenly strong enough to nearly jerk her off his lap if not for their arms wound protectively around each other.
He was glad to have activated the sound dampening seals upon their bedroom wall when he had entered, having correctly predicted that their night would end here.
Before their marriage Madara had little need for privacy seals, but after the night of their wedding when he had awoken to a house full of red faced servants and a devilishly smug Izuna, the Uchiha clan head had been quick to seek out Mito Uzumaki and her seal mastery.
The dark haired alpha held her as she rode out her peak, moaning so prettily against his ear. Another minute passed in ecstasy, until her eyes blinked open once more and the moans she offered him were no longer edged with such strong desperation.
Despite her obvious strength she tired more easily during her heats, more easily distracted by pain and need, but the Uchiha was more than happy to pick up the slack where it was needed.
A large hand slid down to the small of her back while the other wrapped around her shoulders, holding her to him firmly. It felt so good to be inside of her, to be against her, something he couldn’t get enough of.
A minute could have passed or an hour, Madara wasn’t sure, so overcome was he by the swirl of desire and pleasure coursing through him. Before long he could feel his peak begin to settle in his bones, the eruption beginning to build behind his navel as the heat in his chest slowly stoked into a billowing flame.
“Sakura-“ he managed to choke out.
Barely reigned in lust danced in his eyes, bleeding into the red of the sharingan that had activated during so great a pleasure. He didn’t mind the waste of chakra, not when it meant he could memorize every inch of her pleasure stricken face, the undulation of her sated body, the way she keened and whined and called out for him, a veritable goldmine of memory to recall later.
“Please, alpha.” Sakura panted, having already recognized the tint of desperation coloring his voice. She pulled one of his large palms to her belly, his fingers following the curves of her skin as she pressed insistently. Her eyes were wide, bleary, and she stuttered as she spoke, as though unable to properly orate her desires, a feeling he understood well.
“Please, I need-“ she begged.
“Anything, sakura.” he whispered the same promise he had on the day of their claiming. He’d give her everything, anything. She was his and he was hers, and nothing could ever come between them. Nothing ever would ever come between them.
His knot caught with one last rough buck of his hips as his orgasm slammed through him, filling her with a hot wetness that had her clenching wildly around him for a third and final time. Her nails raked down his back with enough blind strength to draw s few thin ribbons of blood and he hissed at the frisson of pleasure-pain that filled him, swirling through every inch of his body from toe to head, and it was all he could do not to collapse on top of her and become mute for the next quarter hour.
They came down slowly, panting like beasts and looking just as wild. Sakura clutched a hand to his back, at the base of his neck where her thumb could stroke lovingly at the mark her teeth had made. She sighed happily, extricating herself from the wild mane of hair that fell down his back and had somehow ended up in both her eyes and mouth.
She couldn’t complain, she loved every inch of it. Loved brushing it after he bathed, loved giggling with Izuna when she secretly braided it after he and Hashirama got too drunk and he, lightweight that he was, passed out at the table.
Now, she ran her fingers through it absently as he did hers sometimes, and he could only sigh in pleasure. It was as she would one day to the children they would bear, to the family that would grow right under their noses to fill Konoha with wild little shinobi with red eyes, pink hair, and tremendous strength.
“I love you.” he whispered, his voice muffled by the way his lips pressed to her dewy skin. He thanked the great Sage every day for her presence at his side. No matter how different they were, he a weapon of the Uchiha and she a healing light of shinobi, he a sword and she a shield. He could feel his voice get a bit wobbly as his eyes misted, unable to resist repeating the words as he peppered her skin with kiss after kiss, but if Sakura noticed she said nothing, and wasn’t that just exactly the kind of woman she was.
Madara lifted his head to smile at her, a look that had become much more common since she had begun to stand at his side, and the grin she returned was blinding, all jade eyes and white teeth and love bright as sunlight.
“I love you, Dara.” she returned, as easily as if the words were the most natural thing in the world.
But he supposed, silently thanking the Sage again, they truly had become so.
