He's staring at the little stick resting on the table like it might bite him.

"Itachi?" Asks Sakura, hand coming to gently rest on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

"I can't do this," He says. "I'm not going to do this."

"Okay." She replies. "Shisui and I aren't going to make you. I'll go down and get you something for it in the morning, okay?"

He nods. "Thank you. I just," His voice quivers when he says, "I can't do this again."

This is when Shisui comes in the door, Izumi behind him. "I'm telling you we should go for it."

"No, Pear." He says as he hangs his jacket. "There's too many variables. Too many things that could go wrong."

"Shisui, you aren't listening." She insists. "It's literally upon us right now and if we don't take hold of it, it'll take hold of us."

"Hi, Izumi," Says Sakura as she hides the pregnancy test under the table. "How was the meeting?"

Shisui doesn't seem to have noticed when he approaches to press his lips against Sakura's forehead and brush his lips against Itachi's.

Izumi's expression is unreadable when she looks at Shisui. The bigger alpha just glares. They shift stances, moving their body weight from one foot to the other, arms crossing and heads tilting. Their communication is a code Sakura hasn't yet learned.

"You know the only reason we didn't go to war last time was because Itachi got snatched." Says Izumi as if Sakura hadn't spoken. "And they knew we were going to win so they enlisted him before that."

"I'm done talking about it, Izumi," He says. "We aren't going to war and that's that."

The brunette sneers. "What's crazy is that you seem to think that with everything going on, you're the new Clan Head."

Shisui tenses, holding his breath for a moment. "No," He says at last. "What I think is that the Uchiha are going to have an awfully hard time without me."

"So that's it then?" Asks Izumi. "You're just going to stay here with your new pussy pet while your family dies-"

"Enough!" Yells Shisui, voice like thunder. Itachi tangles his fingers with Sakura's.

It smells like ozone and the hair of the Godaime's apprentice stands on end. She isn't sure if it's coming from Izumi or Shisui. Maybe it's a mix of both.

Softly, sharingan spinning like a pinwheel in a storm, Izumi says. "You're a coward, Shisui."

Stepping around the table, the older Uchiha says, "Come over here and say that to my fucking face."

Deidara comes around the corner then turns right back around and vanishes down the hall with a, "Noping out of that, un."

Izumi doesn't even hesitate when she steps into Shisui's space, looking up at him and cocking her head, eyes gleaming with defiance. "What are you going to do about it, coward?"

There's a low hum that starts between them and it quickly becomes suffocating.

Itachi stands, hands slapping down on the table for maximum effect. "I'm pregnant!'

They jolt, hair frizzing out like they've been rubbed down with a balloon, and turn towards the omega.

"Get the fuck out, Izumi," Says Shisui. "We'll settle this later."

She shoves him, dodges his backhand, and slams the door on her way out.

He's strung tight when he comes back to the table to stiffly sit across from Itachi. "You're sure?"

Sakura mutely tosses the pregnancy test on the wooden surface, afraid to say anything that might touch him off with the smaller Uchiha in the room. It clatters and slides to the curly haired alpha. He picks it up with a delicate hold, eyes flicking back and forth over the stick.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He's still volatile, so Sakura isn't going to tell him what decision Itachi has made until he's wound down some. She can't parse his thoughts anyway.

Slowly he stands, setting the positive test down. She can tell his lack of a response is giving the omega anxiety, but Itachi is waiting for something. He still smells like ozone as he moves around the table -- To Itachi's side.

The omega's breath has started to pick up but he tries to hide it. Sakura is about to yell at Shisui for scaring him when he wraps the younger man into a hug, pulling Itachi's head against his chest.

This breaks the younger Uchiha's façade. He grips Shisui's shirt, breath becoming hitched. But even while he comforts Itachi, the bigger alpha is still giving out death vibes.

"Uh," Says Sakura. "Does everybody in the compound call me a Pussy Pet, or just her?"

"I'm discreet," Is all he says.

This tells Sakura very little about who knows what, but she decides she'll wait until later as he is not in the mood for anything except cuddling Itachi and blowing off steam with her -- Whatever that might look like.

Over the last few months, he'd opened up minutely to her. Shown her, in increments, the darkened corners of his mind.

She feels like she's still at the surface of the water, looking into a deep ocean trench.

Itachi has only seen the beach. He's careful not to let the omega too close to his deep spots. To the younger Uchiha, he tries hard to be warm, and safe, and tender.

They've kept it a secret from him due to his history. A wordless agreement not to say or do anything that would send the omega back to his time in captivity.

It made letting off steam trickier, but all the more satisfying when they could finally get to it.

Deidara creeps into the kitchen, pressing himself against the counter as far away from them as he can get while he sidles to the fridge.

"Dei," Says Shisui.

The blonde freezes, fingers wrapped around the handle. "I just want a fuckin sandwich, un."

"Don't bother. We're going out for onigiri."

Deidara's bright blue eyes narrow in an expression Sakura has seen plenty of times. "And bakudan?"

With an eye roll, Shisui says, "And bakudan."

The blonde wastes no time skittering back to his room. Itachi pulls away. "We're going out? Why?"

Shisui doesn't reply, ghosting down the hallway and leaving the scent of a coming lightning storm in his wake.

"Are you going to tell him or should I?" Asks Itachi.

"I'll tell him tonight," Says Sakura. "Hopefully, he'll be more amiable after he showers."

Itachi's expression says he heavily doubts it.

xXx

The omega are happily munching on their onigiri. Shisui is still tense but Sakura can see his shoulders gradually becoming lax. It must have been a big fight -- Shisui rarely stayed pissed for very long.

She sits next to Deidara, on the outside of the booth and across from Shisui. Itachi sits next to Shisui, across from Deidara. Without looking at the bigger alpha, her foot knocks against his but he doesn't so much acknowledge her playful gesture.

"Do you want to go to the Social Center tomorrow?" He asks the omega.

Deidara's eyes ping back and forth between Itachi and Sakura. She realizes he'd been eavesdropping on their earlier conversation. "Uh," He says. She expects him to out them before she can tell Shisui herself. "I'm close to a heat so I don't think it's a good idea, un."

The Uchiha tilts his head, perplexed. "Really? You don't smell like it."

"Wanna see my pussy, un?" Deidara snarks. "I know when I'm close and I don't need an alpha to tell me my business."

"Ah," Says Shisui. "I'm so glad you get to suffer through your heats with minimal assistance."

"That's enough, you two," Says Sakura.

Sakura offers to split the tab but Shisui tells her not to worry about it.

When they get home, he makes a beeline for the tub. Sakura gives him a few minutes to relax before she joins him.

He hangs his right leg over the lip of the basin to make space for her. They still have to do a little finagling before they're both comfortable.

The water is searing and she almost immediately starts to sweat from its intensity. Steam rolls off his leg that's out of the tub.

She glances back and his eyes are closed, rubs her palms against his thighs but he doesn't so much as twitch. She wishes she could read him the way the other Uchiha seemed to.

Wishes there was a class for their language.

Even Itachi has started to pick it up again. When he and Shisui start their nonverbal communication, it leaves Sakura almost totally in the dark.

His hands come to her waist, thumbs pressing into and rubbing small circles against the knots of her muscle. "What is it?" His voice is soft, as if he can tell she's upset.

"Itachi doesn't want to keep it," She says.

His hands still, fingers twitching as he grows tense again. Sakura can physically hear the anger in his breath when he breathes in and she cuts him off before he can speak. "If you let him abort it," She says. "I will bear your offspring."

"It isn't as though I can or would make him have it," Says Shisui. "That would be fucked up."

"He'll be doing it tomorrow," She says. "Deidara didn't want us to argue with you when you were already upset."

"I knew that little bastard was a whole two weeks from his heat."

Sakura turns to look at him. She can see in his face that he's disappointed. His gaze searches between her left and right eye as his fingers start to circle again. "Did you mean what you said about having my young?"

She shivers at the intensity of his dark eyes. Swallows. And he seems to interpret it as a negative because his head leans back against the tub, gaze to the ceiling. "I'm not worried about it." He says. His arms go behind his head to support it.

His feelings are really hurt, she realizes. The water sloshes as she turns around fully to face him. "I meant it."

His hand fans in her direction as if to take her words out of the air. "Sakura, it's really fine-"

"But I want to wait a year or two because I'm not ready yet."

He cracks open a single eye before closing it again. "That's fair."

She can tell he doesn't believe her.