"Do you smell that?" Asks Shisui.

Sakura pauses from the notes she's writing on her laptop to quirk a brow at him.

"It smells like," He leans over and sniffs her. "Dirty pussy."

"It's your breath." She says without missing a beat. "I didn't know how to tell you."

"I walked right into that one," He says.

She goes back to typing her notes. "As you usually do."

He stretches, making a point of taking up most of the couch.

Sakura kicks his knee off the cushion when he starts to encroach on her space. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I was going to do Itachi but you told me I had to wait until his heat passed."

"Always a gentleman," She says.

"Did you want to go to the Social Center?" He asks.

Sakura is thrown for a loop at the sudden change in topic. "It depends on whether Itachi thinks he's up for it or not." They'd struggled through his heat but, thankfully, made it with minimal arguing. Itachi's been a bit off, however that's expected from a heat that went mostly untreated.

As if he'd been summoned, he comes around the corner, still towling his hair off.

"Aye," Says the dark haired alpha. "Wanna do some socializing?"

The omega looks at him. Looks at Sakura.

Then walks back down the hall.

"I'm going to assume you're getting ready to go." Calls Shisui.

"I hate to break it to you," Says Sakura, returning to her work, fingers typing a mile a minute, "But I don't see him as a gregarious person."

"Considering you tried to convince him a doll was an actual infant, I wonder if you see him as a person at all."

"We can do this all day," Replies the pink haired alpha. "Or you can gather up Itachi's travel bag while I finish this and we can leave."

Disgruntled, Shisui stands and disappears down the hall.

Sakura cracks a smirk when she hears the scuffling after a few minutes. Saving her work and sending it to her Shishou as the other alpha comes back in, collar and muzzle in hand. "How the hell did you get these on him?"

"Itachi." Calls Sakura. "Come here."

Something shifts in one of the back rooms and Sakura stands, taking the items from his hands with a sigh.

Shisui follows her as she steps into her bedroom. He isn't under the bed or in the closet. She heaves another sigh but it's more gusty than the last. "Damn it, Shisui. You tipped him off."

"I thought he was used to this stuff."

"He doesn't even wear clothes. How the fuck would he be used to restrictive gear?"

The next room is the bathroom and if she's lucky, he hasn't moved from his hiding spot. She checks in the tub and the cabinets under the sink. She's surprised when she opens the towel cabinet on a whim and finds the omega.

"How the fuck did he get up there..."

"How does he do anything?" Asks Sakura. "I win, Itachi. Now you have to come down here and put on your gear so I can take you in public."

He stares. And, at first, Sakura thinks he's just being a dick. It takes a long moment for her to realize. "You're stuck, aren't you?"

He becomes very interested in the ceiling.

Shisui's laughter fills the bathroom as Sakura stands there, trying to figure out how to get him from the tight space positioned just above her eye level.

"I guess it's all you, Shisui."

He steps over, reaching in and the pink haired alpha moves back to give him space, watching in amusement as they can't seem to figure it out.

The older Uchiha hisses and yanks his hand back. "Don't bite me, you dick."

"Hey, wait." Says Sakura. She tries to hand him the collar. "Put that on him while he's trapped in there."

"I think not," Says Shisui. "I like having all of my fingers."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Another five minutes of swearing and struggling finds Itachi out of the towel cupboard. Sakura clips the collar and muzzle on with minimal effort.

She's grateful he's already clothed.

xXx

"Oh! Hey, Sakura." Says the attendant as the pink haired woman comes to the front desk. "Is that a new omega?"

"Haku got paired, finally," She replies as she pays the entry fee.

"Aww," She says. "He was so cute and sweet."

"He was a good omega," Sakura agrees. "Anything new I need to fill out?"

The attendant shakes her head. "You're good. Have fun~" And the gate opens.

Shisui stays behind to chat her up as Sakura unclips the leash from Itachi's collar. They don't need it, but it's a mandatory precaution. He gives her a look and the pink haired alpha snorts. "The collar stays on. Go."

The Social Center is chaotic with omega of varying ages and states of undress. Sakura joins Hinata and Ino at a table as they watch Kin and Kankurou play a card game.

Itachi drifts after her. Slowly. She thinks he's probably over stimulated already.

Neji comes back from the obstacle course set up for older omega and stands beside Itachi.

He, too, is muzzled. Sakura has never seen the Hyuuga's aggression but she thinks it must be fairly intense for him to destroy dolls simply because he can.

Kin looks up at Itachi and is quick to approach him. Ino stops Kankurou from looking at her cards while she's away from the table.

The Uchiha raises his hand incrementally slow before softly tapping her forehead and moving to stand behind Sakura.

"No no." Says the pink haired alpha. "Go do something else. There's a hundred activities to do here."

"You win, Kankurou." Says Kin. Her hand gently tangles with Itachi's and he looks to Sakura for help.

She waves at him. "Bye boy."

"Come on," Says the brunette. "Let me show you around."

Young omega are gleefully screaming as they run around the giant playground. They come across a few who have paired off in a hidden area or a dark corner. Some of them are even encouraged by their alpha and Itachi is starting to find himself queasy.

"Itachi?" Asks Kin. "Are you okay?"

He lets go of her hand. Numbly sitting on one of the soft, cool mats and closing his eyes.

When he opens them, he's in a bed between a pair of alpha. His lungs are empty and there's a thin film of sweat over his skin. He tries to creep as softly away from them as he can. Surprising himself when one of the alpha grabs his wrist and he screams. They immediately let go and he's falling. The carpet is rough on his skin when he hits it. Working himself under the bed.

The padding is cold in a comforting way against him and he lies there for a minute.

The padding....

Itachi belatedly realizes it's the futon Sakura laid there for him. That he is home. Shisui's vermillion gaze comes into view as he hangs over the bed. They just stare at each other. He puts one hand on the ground as he slides a little further off the mattress to offer his free hand at a snail's pace. He knows full well he could get bitten.

Instead, the omega's hand extends to meet him halfway and he's trembling so hard their fingers brush but that's all he's able to do. The air fills his lungs again and he realizes he's been hyperventilating. Gasping for breath.

The lamp comes on and Sakura sits cross-legged beside the bed, leaning down to peer at him. "Hey," She says, breaking the silence. "What happened?"

Itachi just shakes his head.

Sakura lies flat, scooting under the bed next to him and he makes space for her. She wraps him in a tight hug and he's enfolded in the smell of cherry blossoms and summer rain. "You're safe." She says.

He shivers and Sakura runs her fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry," She continues. "I thought it would be good for you to get out and spend time with others."

He presses his face into the crook of her neck and tries to calm down.

It isn't her fault. None of them could have anticipated he'd react that way.

"You fainted," Says Shisui. "I found Kin trying to drag you back to us."

"She's pretty strong," Says Sakura. "You're heavy as fuck when you go dead weight."

Itachi rolls over and the pink haired alpha spoons him, rubbing his stomach like she did that night after they battled it out. "Are you hungry? You woke up briefly to vomit."

He presses more firmly against her. It explains why his teeth feel so gritty and his tongue is somehow wrong in his mouth.

He feels compelled to close his eyes again as the adrenaline fades away. He's weak and still shakey.

xXx

The next time he wakes, he's still being spooned by Sakura. Shisui is sleeping next to them but has been pushed off the futon. He's using his arm to support his head. Dark eyes crack open and the older man finagles closer to kiss him long and slow.

He likes the attention. He does. But he's starting to feel claustrophobic. He tries not to be too much when he gently pushes Shisui off of him and wriggles out from underneath the bed.

"Damn," Says Shisui. "Guess I'll just make out with Sakura. At least she appreciates me."

"Touch me and lose your nuts." He hears Sakura say as he leaves the room, entering the hall and walking to the kitchen. He lets himself drop into a chair as he waits for the coffee to percolate.

He pours himself a cup but his heart stops when he sees a long, dark hair in his mug.

Then he takes a breath and reminds himself that the hair, while unhygienic, is his own.

The Uchiha turns, precariously sloshing the coffee yet somehow miraculously not losing any when he finds Sakura is sitting at the table. He'd been so disoriented, he hadn't noticed her entry.

"Itachi, it's three am."

He isn't in the mood for coffee anymore anyway. Placing it in the microwave, he moves to the living room.

"Where the hell are you going?" Asks Sakura as he pulls on a jacket and a pair of Shisui's sweatpants that had been left on the couch.

"I'll be back," Itachi replies before firmly shutting the door. He has no direction in mind. He's just restless.

He paces through Konoha, giving pause at the glimpse of his brother sitting with his peers on the roof of a civilian shop. Sasuke's silhouette is stark against the moon and while Itachi had seen him before he was moved to Sakura's, he still can't fathom how grown his baby brother looks.

He picks up the smell of another omega nearby. A feeling he can't quite define curls in his stomach. Itachi decides to move on and not bother his brother.

He briefly stops at a fountain in the center of a small park and watches the water as it moves from one ledge to another. Contemplating how it's caught in a constant cycle and the gentle noise that lulls his mind in a pleasant way.

The smell of the omega suddenly becomes sharp and Itachi realizes they're standing on the other side of the fountain. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes." Itachi says, unable take his eyes off them. There's a creeping dread of what might happen if he does.

The Uchiha cannot tell if this omega is male or female. But he knows they smell wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Itachi," The omega breathes. "I've looked for you."

"Itachi-nii?" Says Sasuke.

Itachi turns to look at his brother. He turns back to the other omega but they're gone.

"Itachi." His little brother says again. "What are you doing out here?