She's taken a day off, deciding to relax and work on her hobbies.

Sakura doesn't worry that she hasn't seen her omega since breakfast but thinks it may be prudent to check on him.

The pink haired woman's surprised when he's in her bed, panting. Her alpha instincts urge her closer. "Itachi?"

His eyes are half-lidded. Long, nimble fingers are tangled in her sheets. His shoulder length, inky hair is messy in a way that reminds her of a ju-on.

His heat.

She'd forgotten.

Feeling guilty that he wanted to be close to her without coming to her, she says. "Are you in pain?"

He shakes his head.

He's already nude and Sakura is relieved that Step One is out of the way. She slides her fingertips up his ankle to his knee to get his attention as he'd begun to drift back to his daze. "How can I help?"

He shakes his head again and Sakura frowns. The omega before him had readily received her assistance. Insisted on it.

She supposes the least she can do is keep him company while he suffers. There's a knock at her door but Sakura ignores it as she rubs the Uchiha's stomach, chest, and hips. Takes extra care to avoid his twitching, weeping arousal.

Someone taps at her window and she growls. "This better be important."

Much to her annoyance, it's Uchiha Shisui. "No," She says as she tries to shut the window on him.

His fingers catch on the seal, keeping it from closing. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Says Sakura. "But he's not feeling well, today."

"It's his heat, isn't it?"

"Please leave," Says Sakura, frustrations becoming evident as Itachi pants harshly behind her.

"Are you serious right now, Haruno-san?" Shisui asks between clenched teeth.

"A-alpha." Calls a breathless, hoarse voice behind her. She isn't sure if he's calling for Shisui or herself.

She turns, coming back to him and thinks about socking the older alpha in the face when she hears the window pane slide up. "I'm here."

Itachi reaches for her and she undresses, carefully lying on top of him. She props herself up on her elbows but her lower body rests between his bent legs. His skin is like the metal of a hot furnace when they come in contact and the breath is knocked from her lungs.

Shisui groans and reclines beside them on her left. His fingers gently take Itachi by the chin and turn his face for a kiss, prompting a gasp from the omega. If Sakura weren't so pissed at the presence of the other alpha, she would have been impressed with his muscular physique.

The fingers of the omega's left hand wrap around Sakura's bicep and squeeze. She sits up a little bit to make sure he's okay with Shisui's persistence. Her body blocks the other alpha from touching Itachi and she swats his roaming hands away.

He breaks from Itachi to growl at the Godaime's apprentice and she returns one of her own before leaning over and nipping at Shisui's shoulder.

"Back off, Sakura."

"You back off, dickhead." Says the female alpha. "Or did you forget this is my house and my omega?"

He bristles but Sakura holds his gaze. Itachi slides out from underneath the alpha and inches to the right, away from them both before dropping off the edge of the bed.

She shifts to sit up and Shisui mirrors her. Her bedroom door creaks open as Itachi leaves. It occurs to her that her hormone blockers have kept her from having the same reaction as the older alpha, but her mind is still clouded by the scent cloying her nose and dusted over her bedsheets.

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Part of her is totally confident she should fight Shisui to the death.

The other part is screaming that the front door has opened and shut. "Shisui," She says.

"Already on it," He says as he pulls his shirt over his head and retraces his route out the window.

It takes all of five seconds for her clothes to be gathered and replaced. She follows his scent.

"Sasuke warned you," Says Shisui.

"Oh, because you totally didn't try to fuck him and fight me while he escaped."

Shisui opens his mouth before snapping it shut, raising his shoulders in a shrug. "I guess I saw the opportunity to make him mine. Didn't realize you gave a fuck who he bonded with as long as it wasn't you."

"Are the Clan Heads going to be pissed about that?" Asks Sakura.

"Don't care," He says. "It's their fault he got snatched in the first place."

"He's about to get snatched again if we don't find him right fucking now," Says the pink haired woman.

They spot him bolting through a crowd, attracting every alpha in a mile radius. They catch up as he reaches the edge of the forest and Shisui gets tackled by a big, heavily scarred man.

Sakura kicks the legs out from a tall, willowy man, managing to get ahead just enough to grab Itachi around the waist and pick him up in time for a red headed woman to body slam her against a nearby tree.

Shisui's fist catches the woman in the jaw, throwing her back before she can gain purchase on the smaller Uchiha. "Sakura. Fucking get him already!"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" She shouts back as her fingers enclose around Itachi's wrist. Only to let go again so she can dodge his roundhouse kick and push up as his leg comes down, knocking him off balance and into the grass.

"Dicking around. That's what!"

Sakura rolls her eyes as she hefts Itachi Uchiha over her shoulder for the second time in a week. Watching Shisui get knocked back into a tree trunk by the redheaded woman.

"Go." He says. "I'll cover you."

When the three finally get in the door, she drops him on the carpet and Shisui leans heavily against the wood. He's bruised, bloody, and panting. "You little asshole."

"Leave him," She says as she flops onto the couch.

"Easy for you to say," Quips Shisui. "I just took on half the goddamn village."

"And you won." Says Sakura. "Look at you~!"

Itachi is still panting. Still flushed from his heat. But both of them are exhausted.

"Can we tie him up?" Asks Shisui.

"He'll get out of it." She says.

"How long is he going to be like this?"

"About a week."

"Do you," Shisui pauses, searching for the right words. "Do you want to trade off?"

She shakes her head. "He can't consent and has made it clear he doesn't want us to help him."

"The only thing he's made clear to me is that he likes watching us struggle to keep him from being gan-" His gaze meets Itachi's. "Don't look at me like that."

His eyes are wide when he stands on shakey legs and approaches the dark haired alpha.

"Worn out, huh?" Asks Shisui as he wraps an arm around Itachi's middle. The omega's knees give out but he's held steady by the bigger man. His head drops against Shisui's chest.

He tests his balance and Itachi's weight before picking him up and carrying him to Sakura. She can't hide her surprise as he lies them both on the futon and pulls her down on the other side by her shirt. The omega's eyes close as Shisui strokes his right hand over Itachi's side. His left arm props up his head.

"I'm going to assume you want to be here for Itachi's heat?" Asks Sakura.

Shisui's gaze flicks up to her. "The Clan is going to notice I'm gone."

Itachi shifts and Sakura nuzzles where she's marked him. His head tilts back to bare his throat, fingers tangling in her hair as he pulls her closer. "They don't know he's in heat."

"It's only a matter of time before word about his stunt gets out."

"You're helping me because he's more than I bargained for."

"That isn't fair to your abilities."

Sakura pulls away. Jade meets onyx and her head tilts. "Did you just... Acknowledge me?"

"Don't get used to it."

She laughs even as Itachi pulls her back to him.

"How is he acting like he never left?" Asks Shisui. "It's like he was never hurt."

"Don't rush it. Sometimes the effects take weeks to really make themselves known. I'm just trying to build a foundation for when the real work begins."

"This is going to take months then?"

"Shisui, his healing is going to take years. It's my job to get it started and help him through the worst."

"So what do we expect?"

"PTSD symptoms. He's probably numb at this point. Guilt, shame, and blaming of one's self will likely start to flare up when his heat passes."

Shisui frowns. His lashes lower as he sinks into thought.

Itachi pushes more firmly against Shisui, wrapping a leg around Sakura's and pulling it between his. Her toes brush Shisui's shin but he doesn't move.

"So this is the only span of time he'll be like this?"

"Possibly," Says Sakura. "But if you want him that bad, you'll take him where he's at and let him get better on his own time."

"Is this why you don't want me to help him? Because the aftermath hasn't set in yet and you think it'll make it worse?"

"He also told me not to when I offered."

Shisui lets out a long, slow sigh. "I don't know how you don't go crazy."

"Hormone blockers," She says. "That's the only way. And even I'm going to have moments where I slip. It isn't fool proof."

The dark haired alpha wraps his arm around the smaller Uchiha's waist. He shares breath with Sakura as he runs his lips over Itachi's neck.

"Be careful. If you keep that up, I'm going to think you want me," Sakura jokes.

"Oh yeah," He says with an eye roll. "I totally fantasize every night about it."

"Can I watch?" Asks Itachi.

They look at him, then each other. His eyes are still closed, breathing as though he were asleep. If she hadn't felt his voice against her cheek, she would have thought she imagined it.

"And you call me a pervert," Mutters Shisui