Naruto slammed the dorm bathroom door behind him and twisted the lock. The fluorescent bulb overhead cast everything in a jaundiced glow that made the white tiles look diseased. He pressed his palms against the wall and let his head fall forward with a dull thud. When he finally looked up, the cheap mirror distorted his reflection—his blond hair melted into the sallow light, while the flush across his cheeks and the darkening mark along his jaw remained unmistakable despite the warped glass. His t-shirt clung to his skin, damp patches spreading beneath his arms and down his chest.
He stood there for a while, chest rising and falling in uneven bursts. The room smelled of bleach and ammonia and old pipes, but beneath it all was his own scent—cloying, animal, a chemical scar that would never be wiped off. Naruto stripped out of his shirt, peeling it away from skin that still crawled. He stepped into the shower and turned the water all the way to hot, waiting for steam to swallow the room before stepping inside.
The heat was a shock at first, then a punishment. He scrubbed at his neck, his armpits, his inner thighs, anywhere Sasuke's hands had touched or nearly touched, anywhere he could still feel the echo of fingers and breath. The soap was astringent, almost gritty, and he used it in handfuls, scrubbing until his skin stung and the water went slick with foam. He thought about using bleach, just for a second, before shaking the idea off and punching the tile hard enough to leave a dull ache in his knuckles.
He stayed in the spray long after the hot water ran out. The cold was merciless, but it did what heat couldn't: numbed everything, at least for a few minutes. His backpack sat in the corner—he could grab it, slip out the bathroom window, disappear before Sasuke even realized. But Kurama would still be out there somewhere, maybe waiting, maybe hurt. His brother's face flickered behind his closed eyes, fading with each icy droplet. When his teeth finally chattered too hard to bite back, he killed the water and stumbled out, grabbing the rough towel from the wall and wrapping it around his waist, his decision made.
He didn't look in the mirror again. He dried off, pulling on a fresh t-shirt and boxers with fingers that wouldn't stop shaking, then stood with his back against the door for a full minute before forcing himself to leave.
Sasuke was waiting.
He sat on the edge of his bed, elbows on knees, hands steepled in front of his mouth. The Alpha's eyes tracked Naruto the second the dorm room door opened, a silent, predatory focus. The air between them was crisp, empty of the heat from before, but dense with something even more dangerous.
Naruto tried to glide past, each step a negotiation between his need to escape and his terror of drawing attention. His heartbeat hammered in his throat as he calculated the five steps to his bed, the seven seconds it would take to disappear beneath his covers.
"We need to talk."
Sasuke's voice sliced through his plans. Naruto froze mid-step, his stomach plummeting as if he'd missed a stair in the dark. The towel twisted in his fist, his knuckles bleaching white. "About what?" he managed, aiming for casual indifference while his mind screamed run run run. The words emerged strangled, betraying him completely.
Sasuke's lips curled into something that might have been a smile on anyone else. "Don't play stupid. You know exactly what." His fingers flexed against his knees, betraying the war between instinct and reason that raged beneath his composed exterior.
Naruto's bravado collapsed, replaced by a cold spike of panic that clawed up his spine and squeezed his lungs. He glanced at his desk, at the window, at the clock ticking overhead—calculating escape routes, measuring distances, counting seconds. "If you're going to report me," he said, keeping his voice low while his heart hammered against his ribs, "just do it. Don't make me sit here and beg."
Sasuke didn't rise, but he leaned forward, every inch of his body angled for attack. The Alpha in him demanded submission, punishment, exposure—yet something deeper held him back, a reluctant fascination he couldn't name and didn't want to acknowledge. "Why shouldn't I?"
Naruto chewed the inside of his cheek, tasting blood again. "Because I'm not hurting anyone," he said, voice cracking between defiance and desperation. His next words came out softer, almost pleading. "Because I didn't ask for this." He looked away, then back at Sasuke, something vulnerable flickering beneath the anger in his eyes. "Because—" He stopped, the words stuck in his throat, his hands shaking so hard he had to ball them at his sides.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, the black of his pupils nearly swallowing the iris. His jaw tightened, then relaxed, as if fighting some internal battle. "Not good enough."
Naruto's anger flared, hot and brittle, even as his chest tightened with fear. "What do you want from me?" he snapped, voice rising then falling in the same breath. "I'm not some... some monster." He swallowed hard, hating how his next words sounded like a confession. "I'm just trying to get by, same as everyone else. If you can't stand the sight of me, fine, but don't pretend like you're better."
Sasuke's mouth twitched, but he didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he sat back, hands splayed across his knees, the rigid line of his shoulders softening almost imperceptibly. Something shifted behind his eyes—not quite sympathy, but the sharp edge of his suspicion dulled. "Start talking," he said, voice lower than before. "The truth. No more lies."
The words hung between them, not quite an ultimatum anymore. Naruto looked down, focusing on the floor, the blanket, anything but the unexpected patience in those eyes.
He dug his nails into his palms, grounding himself. "I'm registered Beta. That's what the tests said when I was a kid." He opened his mouth to continue, then closed it, his jaw working as he stared at a point just past Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke leaned forward slightly, his breathing gone quiet, eyes never leaving Naruto's face. "But—" Naruto's voice cracked. He swallowed hard, torn between the relief of confession and the terror of exposure. "It was wrong. The doctors missed it. Recessive genes or something." His fingers twisted together, then apart. "I didn't even know until… until the first time it happened. Part of me still doesn't believe it's real."
Naruto didn't look up, couldn't. "My foster family—they helped me hide. Tsunade got me suppressants and fake paperwork. I thought I could handle it. Hide until I finished school, find my brother, and then—" He shook his head. "It was supposed to be simple."
Sasuke's eyes flickered. "Your brother."
Sasuke waited, face a mask of chilly expectation. Naruto hadn't meant to bring up Kurama, not like this, but the dam had broken. He wrapped his arms tighter around his torso, squeezing as if he could compress the story into something smaller, more easily endured.
"He disappeared last year." The words escaped with a force that betrayed their weight. "Nobody really noticed. They said he dropped out, or ran away, but that's not—" Naruto bit back the rest, remembering the way Kurama's last message had simply trailed off, as if mid-sentence, as if someone had yanked him out of the world mid-word. "He was the only family I had left. We had plans to be a family again," Shame, bitter and metallic, filled his mouth. "I thought maybe I'd find him here. Or answers. Or…"
Naruto swallowed hard. "His last class was with Orochimaru—Advanced Biochemistry. He stopped showing up right after that." Naruto's fingers dug into his own arms. "I don't have proof. Just this feeling in my gut when I saw the professor's name. The way Kurama's handwriting changed in his last letter, like he was scared. I know that man has something to do with it."
That name changed the temperature of the room. Sasuke sat bolt upright, the muscles in his jaw clenching hard enough to show bone. "Orochimaru," he repeated, voice flat and cold.
Naruto finally looked up, surprised by the intensity in Sasuke's face. "You know him?"
Sasuke's fists curled white-knuckled against his knees. "Everyone knows him. He's the best liar in the whole damn school."
A silence followed, thick with unspoken history. Naruto's chest constricted, the familiar ache spreading like a bruise beneath his ribs. His voice cracked when he finally spoke. "I haven't heard from Kurama in seven months and six days. I used to get letters every week." He swallowed hard, blinking rapidly. "I just need to find him. That's it. I'd walk through fire. I'd let them lock me up afterward if I had to. If you want to turn me in, fine. But don't pretend it's because you're a hero."
Sasuke's gaze flicked away for the first time, toward the window, the brittle blue light of early evening painting stripes across his face. For a second, the Alpha looked almost tired.
When he finally spoke, the words came slow and careful. "You're an idiot," he said, but there was no heat behind it. "If you get caught, it's not just you they'll come after." His fingers tightened on his knee. "They'll want to know who knew. Who helped. Who kept quiet." The muscle in his jaw jumped. "We'd both be finished."
Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it. A dozen defiant responses died on his tongue. He wanted to argue, to tell Sasuke he was wrong, that he could handle this alone—but the truth of those words settled like a stone in his stomach. He swallowed hard and looked away.
Sasuke was silent for a long time, thinking. His hand rose, unconsciously touching the side of his neck where the scent glands pulsed just under the skin. Naruto watched the movement, hyperaware, a nervous flutter in his gut.
Finally, Sasuke spoke. "What exactly did your brother say about Orochimaru?"
Naruto blinked, replaying the memory. "He said Orochimaru was weird." His fingers traced invisible patterns on his knee. "Like, he'd corner Kurama after class, ask all these personal questions. About our family history, our parents, even our blood type." He swallowed, throat clicking dry. "Kurama said the guy would lean in too close, like he was... I don't know, smelling him or something. That's it. That's all I have."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "And you just waltzed in here like some amateur detective? What's your brilliant plan—get caught and interrogated? Because that's exactly what's going to happen."
Naruto's face burned hot, but his eyes flashed with sudden anger. "What was I supposed to do? Wait at home? My brother is missing. Nobody's looking for him—nobody but me." His voice cracked. "We're foster kids. The system lost track of him months ago and filed it away. If I don't find him, nobody will." He stared down at his trembling hands, knuckles white against his thighs.
Sasuke shifted on the bed, his weight rocking back and forth as if he couldn't quite settle. His gaze flickered between Naruto's face and the wall behind him. "Let's get one thing straight," he said, voice catching before hardening again. "If anyone else finds out, you're screwed. If Orochimaru gets wind, you're—" He stopped, swallowed. "You have no idea what you've walked into."
Naruto leaned forward, hands gripping his knees. "So why haven't you reported me?" he asked, softer than he meant to.
Sasuke's fingers twitched toward Naruto, then curled into a fist against his thigh. "Because I hate Orochimaru more than—" He looked away, jaw working. "No. That's not—" He exhaled sharply. "I don't know why. I should have. I still might."
Naruto finally looked away, eyes fixed on the cinderblock wall, wondering if he should count the cracks or just count down the hours until the next disaster. Sasuke didn't move at first, his posture rigid, head bowed, face hidden by the loose fall of black hair. When he finally moved, it was all angles—up, pacing from bed to desk, then back again, each step making the floorboards creak in the hush.
With every circuit, Sasuke's shadow stretched longer across the room, slicing through the weak moonlight that leaked in around the blinds. Naruto watched, keeping his breathing shallow, not daring to speak.
Sasuke stopped suddenly, whirled, and pinned Naruto with a look. "I won't turn you in," he said, voice low and sharp as broken glass. "But it's not free."
Naruto's shoulders dropped an inch before his stomach twisted again. A reprieve—but with strings attached. His mouth went dry as relief and dread battled for dominance. "What do you want?"
Sasuke's eyes glinted, unreadable. "Two things. Non-negotiable." He took a step closer, the space between their beds suddenly feeling much too small. "First—you include me in your search for Kurama. No secrets, no going off alone. If you want to find him, you do it my way."
Naruto's throat tightened. His fingers curled into the bedsheets, knuckles whitening. Help—actual help—but from Sasuke Uchiha? The same Alpha who'd nearly reported him minutes ago? He swallowed hard, relief and wariness battling in his chest as he looked up. "Why? You don't even know him."
Sasuke's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. "I have my own reasons. You'll just have to trust me." He turned away, stalking to the window and staring out as if the answer was written on the dark grass below.
Naruto let it sit for a beat, then nodded, slow. "Fine. What's the second?"
Sasuke hesitated. When he spoke again, the words came out stiffer, like they'd been rehearsed and hated in equal measure. "You don't go to anyone else for help. Not with the heats. Only me."
Naruto's mouth dropped open. His pulse quickened, a strange flutter rising from his stomach to his chest. The room suddenly felt too warm, too small. "You want me to—what? Just… let you handle it?" His voice emerged higher than he intended, betraying him.
The Alpha's back stiffened, a line of muscle visible even through the fabric of his shirt. "If anyone else finds out what you are, they'll register you. Monitor you. Your search ends, and so does any chance you had at freedom. This is the only way you keep your cover." He turned, his face a mask of composure, but Naruto couldn't look away, couldn't ignore the electric current running beneath his skin or the treacherous part of him that whispered: yes.
Naruto pushed himself upright, sitting cross-legged on his bed, fingers picking nervously at a loose thread on his sleeve. "So I'm just supposed to...what, treat you like my handler?" His voice wavered between defiance and something closer to fear, but his pulse quickened traitorously beneath his skin.
Sasuke's lips pressed thin. "Call it whatever you want. You do it, or you're on your own."
"But what if—" Naruto started, then stopped. His mouth went dry as he tried to form coherent objections while fighting the warm flutter in his stomach. "I mean, there's gotta be another way. It's just—it's weird, right?" He couldn't meet Sasuke's eyes, afraid the Alpha might see the conflicted heat rising in his face.
Naruto's fingers stilled on the thread. He sighed, shoulders dropping in surrender that felt oddly like relief. "Okay. Fine. But you're not the boss of me. If I say stop, you stop. Got it?"
Sasuke's jaw ticked, but he nodded. "Agreed."
They stared each other down, neither willing to break eye contact first. The air between them thickened, charged with something beyond their words. When they both reached across the narrow space between their beds, Naruto's breath caught as Sasuke's fingers brushed his palm. The contact sent a jolt up his arm.
Their handshake lingered a beat too long. Naruto felt Sasuke's thumb slide almost imperceptibly across his wrist before they broke apart, both retreating too quickly.