Sasuke couldn't believe how tired he'd become towards the end of his mission as they finally approached last stretch of road leading up towards the village gates. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was beeline straight for the compound even though he knew that he needed to report back to the hokage with his team first.
Despite how much smoother this mission had run in comparison to the missions he normally took on with team 7, he still found he missed the obnoxious blonde and the constant bickering of his teammates but he had to show his father he can lead on any team as the hokage had recently been assigning him to different teams for some reason.
He'd make sure to ask when he'd be back with team 7 though - it'd been almost 3 months since he'd had a mission with them. He also wondered if the rest of team 7 missed him at all as he had been somewhat disappointed when none of Naruto's regular screaming fits had occurred as they usually do when the team was split up for any length of time as he'd done so many times in the past.
Maybe they didn't need him on the team anymore? Or is going to be promoted soon? Too many variables really. The point is that he had thought team 7 would have kicked up a stink by now over the prolonged separation as they had done in the past. Except this time they hadn't and he couldn't even recall the last time he'd seen Naruto or Sakura.
Sakura was now spending more of her time working under Tsunade in the hospital or getting at the training grounds where the two would spend hours trying to hit each other with trees and boulders etc.
Naruto was out of village training with his godfather Jiraiya although how much of it was training vs 'research' was anyone's guess. However despite these recent developments, he knew they had still been taking missions without him until as recently as 2 weeks ago so he was a little hurt that they hadn't made the usual overtures about the team getting split.
Maybe he would have to be the one to kick up a stink for once. He'd try to talk to the hokage when they deliver the mission report. If he was feeling up to it. He really was feeling quite tired.
It was a boring routine courier mission and only took a few days as they ferried the documents to the daimyo and back. Maybe it was the different dynamic of this team? Sometimes the boring missions can be the most tiring what with the lack of adrenaline and explosions. At least that's what he tells himself. Anything to make it through these boring missions that had been eating into his training time.
Team 7 was made up of entirely alphas which made it ideal for flashy combat missions and such whereas for some reason the hokage and the mission desk had him on a team with 2 other omegas with a beta jounin. When he asked the chuunin at the mission desk why he needed to sub on these missions, he was told 'Hokage-Sama feels that they need an alpha with them just in case'.
A small voice in the back of Sasuke's mind thought this especially odd considering he'd only presented just under a year ago which still made him a rather new alpha from a Shinobi standpoint. Despite this, he shrugged it off and let his ego take it as a compliment.
Technically whilst he has presented as an alpha, he wouldn't be classified as an alpha capable of leading beta/omega teams(or any teams really) until he'd had his first full rut cycle which normally didn't take place for a year or two after initial presentation. Sure, he had a knot now (which he hoped would grow a bit more as he thought it seemed a bit smaller than Naruto's even though he's older and he refuses to come second to that usuratonkachi in anything) and he'd experienced a few 'false ruts' just after he'd presented, however his first rut would be cementing of his status as an Alpha in the eyes of the Shinobi.
When he mentioned the change in his roster and the unusual reasoning for it despite his lack of official Shinobi Alpha Status in passing to his brother and father during dinner about 6 weeks ago, he'd been expecting his father to brush it off or find the change at the very least to be intriguing/suspicious, however his father had an excited look in his eye and praised Sasuke for what must be all his hard work and dedication paying off to receive such recognition from the hokage like this.
Finding his father's reaction a little unusual Sasuke looked over to Itachi and found the same excited look of approval and pride directed at him followed by more words of praise and encouragement. With a light blush dusting his cheeks, Sasuke school's his face back to his usual mask of indifference before offering a signature 'hn' in agreement before returning to his meal while his father engaged in conversation with Itachi once more regarding clan matters which Sasuke still wasn't included in despite his new status as an alpha.
Even though he wasn't allowed into clan meetings yet (which were only attended for alphas and betas), his father had warmed up to him significantly once he had presented. Something still seemed a bit odd about it though. He remembers how both his father and mother reacted with excitement when Itachi presented and gifted him a new katana and a ceremonial clan kimono to be worn by the clan heir.
He recalls his mother whispering to him that one day he'd get his own kimono just like Itachi's when he presented. He wishes his mother had lived long enough to see it despite how he thought his own kimono seemed a bit less grand (and dare he say it - feminine?).
Unfortunately only the clan heir receives a katana though. Despite his slight disappointment with his somewhat feminine looking kimono, he still very much enjoyed the small ceremony thrown for him by his brother and father - it was the first time since his mother passed that he'd received a hug from his father.
Since then his father had become much more affectionate with him - giving him hugs on occasion and he could have sworn that he'd caught him trying to scent him several months ago - almost like how he used to scent his mother when he'd catch them embracing in the kitchen or various other rooms around the house which he found a little odd at first. It's the sort of behaviour he expects from Itachi - his Aniki has always been affectionate with him but he wasn't used to his father acting like that.
Perhaps sensing his youngest son's suspicion, he's backed off a little but has been trying to show his efforts in other ways - like insisting he make breakfast for him every morning. They've recently begun teaching Sasuke how to cook and even showed him where their mother kept all their favourite recipes.
In fact whenever Sasuke cooked a dish for them that was particularly delicious his father would ruffle his hair affectionately. He even recalls when he earned a 'good job Sasuke,' from his father which had him blushing bright red and trying to wiggle out of an unexpected hug as his Aniki looked on with an amused yet devious expression of his own.
They'd initially received a great deal of help from several of the clan omegas after Mikoto's passing as Sasuke was only 8 at the time and still at the academy. As his brother and father got the hang of things the help gradually stopped once Sasuke finally presented.
Things seemed to fall into a rhythm for a while until around 3 months after he presented which was when they had thrown him a presentation ceremony - rather than a public one like Itachi's - they chose to have private ceremony supposedly to honour his mother as well as knowing that Sasuke's never been big on crowds - he actually would have loved to have big public ceremony for once especially considering he'd presented as an alpha but he loved his mother so much that he was only too happy to do this if it made his father more comfortable.
He didn't even invite his team mates. It was just the 3 of them, something which he did admittedly enjoy as until then it was rare for him to have the undivided attention of his father as well as his brother.
It wasn't until after the ceremony that fugaku began preparing Sasuke's breakfast every day and for some reason, since then, there had also been a never ending supply of onigiri kept in the fridge - not quite the same as his mothers as these ones did taste a little too salty at the start but he'd grown to enjoy these ones almost as much - if not more and had even begun packing them as snacks for his missions.
Sasuke knew Itachi loved onigiri just as much as he did but whenever he offered him one, his brother would get an odd look on his face - like he'd smelled something he didn't like - before smirking at him and poking him on forehead with his signature 'maybe next time Sasuke.'
It was odd though that despite Sasuke now cooking dinner most night since his change in mission schedule meant he was home a lot more often, no matter how busy, his father insisted on making him breakfast and if for some reason, he had to leave the village, his brother was there to make it instead - often presenting him with his favourites dishes before hugging him and watching him eat with a look of fascination and excitement that Sasuke almost found a little creepy if he had to be honest.
Either way, whether his father or brother made his breakfast, it was always delicious to the point that he felt like his own cooking didn't measure up and he often felt like there was something missing - he'd even on few occasions asked his father, as recently as last week, if he could make him something for dinner because he said it would taste better than his own cooking.
For some reason whenever this happened, his father would give him one of his rare full smiles, ruffle his hair and then make his way into the kitchen before reappearing around 30 minutes later with something mouth watering - last week it was omurice with some of the most delicious sauce he'd ever had - very similar in taste to his father's onigiri which he'd come to enjoy - his mouth waters just thinking about it and hopes that maybe if he asks nicely when he gets home, that maybe his father will make him something for dinner while he snacks on some of those onigiri.
However as they began to approach the village his mind kept replaying an odd encounter they'd had when they stopped at an Inn for the night when he'd been approached by an alpha that had mistaken him for an omega. Even though his suppressants help take the edge off his scent, they don't mask your dynamic entirely and it's almost impossible for someone to mistake an alpha scent like that.
Maybe his suppressant patches weren't working properly or something as he was told that if anything, his scent should be starting to get stronger. Maybe all these aches and tiredness meant he was about to have his first rut?
He considers this and finds himself feeling a bit of pride in his heart at the thought of finally reaching another important milestone. However he still has a nagging feeling that maybe something is wrong. Fatigue and muscle aches are not the normal precursors to a rut - he knows this after experiencing several 'false ruts' after he presented. They typically occurred once a month or so and lasted a day or two until your body was ready for the real thing.
He recalls the embarrassment at being caught off guard the first time he had one about a month after he presented and the humiliation of Naruto catching him near a training ground, growling and panting as he tried to resist the urge to relieve his aching cock which felt like it was going to explode if he didn't find some relief.
Shrugging off the memory, he thinks back to a doctor's appointment he had about 9 months after he presented. He remembers finding it comforting/easing his concerns at the time, but now finds it a bit unsettling.
He finds it odd only because it was just supposed to be a routine physical/checkup required for all Shinobi except this time for some reason, his exam was performed by Tsunade - the head of the hospital, renowned med-nin and one of the legendary Sannin.
Routine physical exams are well below her rank in his opinion which he decided to point out before she began the examination.
'You have nothing to worry about Sasuke-kun,' the busty blonde alpha chuckles at him.
'It's perfectly normal for me to step in on occasion to examine our more promising Shinobi.' She continues as she ushers him over to the changing area for him to disrobe.
'Especially if those Shinobi also happen to be the children of a clan head.' She adds as though she was trying to butter him up or something before leaving him to undress and don the papery thin medical gown. Sasuke has since checked with a few of the other clan kids and discovered that perhaps it wasn't quite that normal - she hadn't performed any of their exams unless you counted Naruto (Sasuke didn't).
For the most part the exam seemed fairly Routine - she checked his reflexes, took his temperature, measured his height/weight, completed a scan of his chakra network before moving to run a quick inspection of his Sharingan and his optic chakra pathways which is normally the end of the exam.
In this case though, it apparently wasn't which became clear as he waited for her to dismiss him as she finished noting down her findings. At this point she then began to ask some questions more specific to his presentation and his false ruts. He'd been so caught off guard and found himself blushing profusely - he had no desire to discuss how often he like to jerk off with the busty blonde Sannin!
Sensing his embarrassment and likely desire to begin crafting an escape from such an awkward situation, she explained that all recently presented Shinobi are asked these questions so they can be sure that they're settling into their new dynamics.
Settling down but still blushing - his cheeks almost as red as a tomato, he answers each of her questions which responses that seemed to be as expected until he was asked about his false ruts. All seemed ok until she asked about his last one and when it had occurred. She seemed particularly interested in this answer and her brows shot up momentarily before quickly schooling her expression when he mentioned that his last one was around 3 months ago.
He'd been having them around once a month until about 6-7 months after he presented but hadn't really noticed that they'd stopped. He hadn't even thought anything was wrong until he saw her reaction.
She was quick to reassure him that it wasn't anything to be alarmed about and that it's perfectly normal for 'false ruts' to be a little irregular and that they normally resume on their own or it could indicate he's body is preparing for the real thing.
Having no reason to doubt her, he gave his usual curt nod with an accompanied 'hn' before quickly redressing and hightailing out of there as fast as humanly possible.
Thinking back on it now, he couldn't shake the feeling that something really was wrong. It's now been almost 6 months since his last false rut and so if his fatigue accompanied by all these these aches and pains weren't indicative of an impeding rut then maybe he did need to go to the doctor.
As they reached the village gates and had begun the sign in process, he felt an ache deep in his bones as well as some creeping nausea settling in the pit of his stomach but pushed on and made it to hokage tower to deliver the mission report - aside from the Beta Jounin, the rest of his team were permitted to head home given that the omegas were scheduled to begin their preheat in the next few days. It was odd that he didn't pick up on the scent of an omega in preheat like he usually would but he'd put that down to his unusual exhaustion and assumed they'd been wearing extra scent blockers or something or maybe it was because he hasn't been feeling great himself.
Once the report was delivered to the hokage, the beta jounin was promptly dismissed as Sasuke waited to be granted his own leave. However the hokage asked him to sit for a moment as apparently he had something he needed to discuss with him.
Having now taken a seat and accepted a cup of tea offered by an assistant that seemed to come out of nowhere before disappearing once more - he sips on the unusually sweet tea which he prays will help settle his stomach as his body seems to ache even more, he's even starting to feel a bit warm. However he tries to shake it off - it wouldn't do for the hokage to see him in such a state if he could help it.
'Sasuke I can't say how pleased we've been with you taking on these missions the last few months. Did you enjoy the change of pace?' The hokage asks.
Feeling a little flushed he simply nods with his signature 'hn'.
'I'm glad to hear it Sasuke, I know you've probably missed being on team 7 as they have missed you but they seem to have adjusted to having Sai there in your place - so much so that it might become a more permanent placement,' The hokage continues on excitedly having perhaps not considered that Sasuke had only thought this so to be a temporary adjustment.
At hearing this Sasuke frowns with little alarm bells beginning to go off in the back of his mind and goes to reach for his alpha to unexpectedly find it unresponsive - no possessive growls of ownership or anything that he'd typically get when thinking about other Shinobi taking his place on team 7.
Knowing he can't kick up a fuss in front of the hokage he tempers his concern and takes another sip from his tea in an attempt to hide his emotions as the hokage continues.
'The report here notes you seemed to fit in perfectly and the jounin said your hormones and scent was almost non-existent which helped your teammates a lot.' Praises the hokage.
Sasuke could feel a slight blush begin to colour his cheeks as he took in the praise heaped upon him by the hokage - another unusual response that he'd normally be able to hide - he must be coming down with something. He had to be.
'Thank you lord fourth. That means a lot coming from someone like yourself - my father probably won't be pleased though - he only likes the Uchiha alphas to take the typical assignments but I hope he appreciates my efforts regardless. When will I be back to my normal team 7 mission roster? I was under the impression that this change in my roster was only temporary?' He asks.
The hokage suddenly has a bit of an uncomfortable look on his face now, almost bordering on pity. The alarm bells are back.
'Ahhh yes, that's what I wanted to discuss with you actually,' he responds chuckling awkwardly as he reaches to scratch his neck a little. Sasuke can definitely see where Naruto gets a bit of his awkwardness from.
Sasuke can now feel sweat beginning to form on his brow and squirms a little in his seat trying to get comfortable but can't seem to manage for some reason. While he thinks the tea might have helped with his nausea, it's done nothing for the fever brewing just below the surface which seems to spreading throughout his body completely unchecked at this point. Either the hokage hasn't noticed yet or is ignoring it to avoid Sasuke any embarrassment. Why won't he just dismiss him for the day!?
'You see Sasuke your clan has put in a request that you be removed from the ninja ranks indefinitely as they need you to assist with an important clan matter your father brought to me a few months ago. It's why we've had you taking on less onerous missions of late'.
At this, Sasuke looks completely confused - why would he be removed from the ninja ranks? Even if his clan had intended for him to be transferred into the police force, the village requires that you be kept within the Shinobi ranks.
His mind is beginning become a little foggy now and his limbs are becoming heavy now. When had he begun to pant? Is it usually this hot in minato's office? When did minato put his hand around him and why is it so close to his butt?
'I don't understand. What's happening to me? Why is-' he stumbles over his words which have begun to slur and registers the sound of a tea cup shattering which he'd suddenly dropped as he tries to stand before stumbling into minato's arms.
'Shhhhh there we go now. Just relax Sasuke - let go. Your clan has a new role for you to fill and you're absolutely perfect for it. Sleep for now. It will all make sense soon.' Coos the hokage as he releases his dominant alpha pheromones to calm the trembling boy in his arms.
Despite the alarm bells still ringing in the back of his mind through the thick fog and overwhelming heat, he can't help but be taken under by the drugs which he now realises had been added to his tea.
He can't help but look into minato's deep blue eyes with a look of confusion and fear as he finally goes limp having lost control of his body. Just as he feels the darkness take him he could have sworn he could see his brother and father approaching from he peripheral vision which calms him a little thinking that they're here to help him. With that thought he lets go and feels the darkness close in around him - his trust in his brother unwavering.