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Obito's day started out like any other day.
He woke up in his lonesome bed feeling tired and exhausted, always mourning the emptiness of his room. He would drag himself to the shower while yawning at least a hundred times on the way. Turning on the shower to get it nice and warm, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair before climbing in to bathe his body.
Despite contrary beliefs, Obito really enjoyed grooming himself. Every omega enjoys grooming whether it be by themselves or with someone else. But Obito can't let anyone know that he's an omega. Why?
Well, it's complicated.
Obito isn't exactly an omega. He is a "false" omega/a male born with omega hormones instead of alpha hormones.
They say that one in two-million people are born a false breed, so his "condition" was extremely rare and nearly unheard of. Most people consider the thought of false alphas or omegas as folklore or myth, and that was mostly because the majority of false breeds are executed before they reach maturity. Appreciation towards false breeds is basically nonexistent. Why? There are several reasons.
Whether it be a female born an alpha, or a male born an omega, false breeds are cursed to be infertile, and that makes them useless when it comes to reproduction. The laws of the alpha/omega world were strict. Alphas are meant to be strong, independent, emotionally collected and reliable. An infertile male born with omega hormones was considered useless, weak, dependent, emotionally unstable, unnecessary, and unreliable. Real female omegas are the ones who need protection, care, catering, and strength provided to them by real male alphas. Anything else was considered "wrong".
It wasn't just false omegas and alphas that were frowned upon either. Any infertile relationship was against the law such as an alpha mating an alpha or an omega mating an omega. All mating relationships were required to have one male alpha and one female omega.
It was simply the way of life.
Obito's been dealing with this harsh reality since the moment he was born.
A year after he was born, his very own parents abandoned him and ran away. His grandmother, understanding the severity of the situation, moved him away from the Uchiha clan and into a remote part of the village, and raised him with love and caution. While she didn't mind him being an omega, she still taught him the rules and the truth behind surviving as a false breed.
Every day, Obito showered twice, and washed his bedding and clothes once to help prevent any personal scent build up. He applied scent blockers to his neck and wrists, and he wore copus amounts of cologne to help hide any of his own natural scent. Every morning and night, he preformed a jutsu on himself that acted like a thin, invisible barrier for his body, covering his skin in a layer of his own chakra to help keep his scent or hormones from being detected.
The goal he aimed for was to pretend to be an average, normal beta, and it worked pretty well. Not even sensory type shinobi had picked up on his thirteen year long secret.
It was a cruel, terrifying, lonely life for anyone to have to live.
Obito lived in fear every day. Constantly he was overrun by paranoia and concern. If he got caught, then he would either be imprisoned for the rest of his life, or he would be executed immediately. Like all omegas, he had wants, desires and cravings. He wanted to be pampered, groomed and spoiled. He wanted an alpha to bring him gifts, rub their scent on him, accept him, and cherish him. He wanted acceptance, understanding and... Love.
Obito wanted love.
But who- in a world where false breeds are so deeply despised- would ever love a false omega such as himself?
Most of the time, Obito tried to stay positive. He told himself that, once he became hokage, he would change the laws of this unfair world. He would create a foundation where infertile relationships of all kinds were legal and accepted. False breeds would never have to live in fear ever again because, with him as the hokage, they could live in freedom and prosper. He would make it happen.
That faith and idealism is what kept Obito's head up through all the loneliness and fear. He fully believed that, as long as he kept working hard to achieve his goal, then one day he might actually change the world for all alphas and omegas.
He could do it.
...
Later that evening, Obito met his team: Rin Nohara. Kakashi Hatake. And Minato Namikaze.
It filled Obito with comfort and reassurance being on the same team as Rin, but did he really have to be paired up with Bakashi? Two seconds in and the grumpy little alpha was already at his throat, spouting nothing but rules and regulations. Ugh. This was gonna be a long few years...
After their introductions, Minato gathered everyone up and explained. "As some of you may know, it is crucial that all alphas in a team apply their scent to any and all omegas that are part of that same team. This will help our bond as comrades grow stronger, and it will also add a layer of protection for our omega. Rin, would you step up please?"
Obito sweat a bit in nervousness as he watched Rin happily walk up to their alpha captain. Jealously gnawed at him like a fly on a flesh-wound. He wasn't mad at Rin in any sense, but he did yearn to be her sometimes. Seeing an omega free, pampered and happy made him ache for the same sensation. He had never been groomed, not even by his own grandmother- she feared touching him less his scent get on her and get them into possible trouble.
"We'll do this everyday from here on out," Minato said while sitting down on a large rock.
Rin sat on his lap and leaned her head back, obviously used to being scented by her own family members and friends. Her eyes closed in content as the blonde alpha gently rubbed his wrist along her neck. Scenting was a very common, very platonic tradition between alphas and omegas. Typically scents are exchanged via wrists and neck to formulate fellowship and trust. When an alpha and omega wanted to exchange scents in a romantic sense, then they would rub their canines against each other's wrists, therefore marking them.
Once Minato was done scenting her, Rin reached up and gently tapped her wrist against his neck, shy but thankful. When she was done putting her scent on him, Minato called Kakashi over.
Kakashi was far more straightforward with his scenting, standing like a brick wall in front of Rin and lifting out his wrist to brush her neck a couple times on either side. She did the same in return, her hand trembling and her face red.
While they exchanged their scents, Minato looked in his direction. "Obito."
Obito tensed, worried that his secret had been caught.
"I know it's not traditional for betas to scent each other, but if you're interested, I don't mind putting my scent on you." He offered.
As much as every fiber in Obito's body screamed at him to say "yes" and experience his first ever friendly grooming session, he resisted out of fear. Minato was one of the strongest, fiercest, most intelligent alphas in the entire village. If he found out that he was a false omega...
Obito shuddered, his heart aching in dejection. Reaching up to awkwardly rub the back of his head, Obito stuttered, "Oh-uh, n-no thanks, ha. That's-uh... That's not really my thing, I... Thanks anyway, sensei."
"No problem." Minato smiled as if it were no big deal. "Any time you change your mind, just speak the word."
"Right. Thanks." Obito gulped and looked away just in time to see Rin finishing up scenting Kakashi.
They would all follow this same routine for the rest of their days as a team, and Obito would have to sit back and watch each and every single time.
He really wished the world wasn't so against him.
...
Months passed and Obito had done a good job at keeping his secret and his emotions thoroughly hidden.
On his way to meet up with his team, he would offer extra help to the elderly or other people in need, postponing their missions and giving his team time to scent each other. He tried to avoid seeing his team pamper one another; it was just too heartbreaking for him to handle. He hated feeling so alone, so abandoned and left out. He tried keeping himself from witnessing it- from witnessing all the shows of care, affection and protection that he yearned every second of every day to experience himself. The loneliness... It was like necrosis but inside his heart.
He still kept his head up, though. Every day was just one step closer to becoming the hokage, and when he did, this nightmare would be over with. Obito had done a splendid job keeping his second gender hidden. So far the entire team remained completely oblivious to his secrecy and lying. He was safe.
Until he made a mistake one day...
Obito learned to balance himself on water from a very, very young age. See, water exposure is the one big thing that could get him caught- for if he fell into any liquid substance, it would wash away his scent blockers and expose his real scent. Humidity was a damning condition. If he got wet, any alphas or omegas could sense him for dozens of acres.
Today was a day he did not anticipate. It was a complete and utter accident. He hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, and he had gotten clumsy.
An enemy attack and some paper bombs are what caused it. Obito had been jumping backwards through trees to avoid the attacks. He hadn't been paying attention to the terrain behind him, and soon he ran out of trees to jump on. Believing that he would land on solid ground, Obito, instead, fell toe to head in a deep river.
The dread sunk in faster than the water in his nose. He garbled and swam up for air. He broke through the surface of the water with a gasp, his goggles sliding off and floating down the river. He cried out and dove to catch them. In the background, he heard his team yelling his name. His scent blockers were peeling off like a bandaid in a soapy bath.
Oh no.
With no other choice, Obito took in a deep breath, grabbed his goggles and dove back underneath the surface of the water. He needed to get far away. The river was fast and deep, and he was a good swimmer, so he took advantage of the current and let it carry him away. The water hid his scent and would hopefully continue to do so until he was out of range of his team mates.
A ways up the river, Team Minato finished wiping out and sealing most of the enemies.
"Where did Obito go?" Rin asked worriedly.
Kakashi, the observant one, answered in a frustrated tone, "He dropped his goggles in the river. I think he's chasing after them, that idiot."
"We still have two enemies we need to locate. Rin, you stay with me. Kakashi, follow Obito and make sure he's alright." Minato ordered.
"Sensei, with all due respect, Obito allowed himself to stray from the mission. Whatever happens to him is his own fault. Our focus should remain on the mission." Kakashi argued.
Minato was rather firm with his response. "I'm the captain and I make the rules, and right now I am ordering you to find your team mate and bring him back so that we can finish the mission without any displacement or casualties. Do I make myself clear, Kakashi?"
Irritated, Kakashi got into position to take off into the trees. "Yes, sensei."
Kakashi sped off into the trees that lined the bank of the river. He could feel his tongue swelling with a huge lecture. Obito was always doing such reckless, impulsive crap, and right during some of the most important moments of their missions. Kakashi was tired of it. He was tired of Minato always giving him passes. Shinobi were supposed to be better than this clumsy behavior.
Minato may be soft on him, but Kakashi wasn't. As soon as he found Obito, he was going to give him the biggest ear-full he could manage to give. He was angry. His patience was gone. No longer was he going to tolerate this ridiculous, low-level, reckless behavior of Obitos.
It was time to put an end to this.
About five miles into his venture and no detection of Obito's scent, Kakashi began to wonder if the idiot actually drowned. Surely not, right? The river was strong, yeah, but it wasn't as if it were a raging flood. Plus, Obito had some pretty decent chakra control, so if he fell into the water literally nothing could stop him from climbing right back out. Don't tell him he was still searching for his goggles...
With some of his anger ebbing away into something more like dread and suspicion, Kakashi slowed down when he suddenly picked up on a strange scent. It was unlike anything he had ever smelt before, and it had him halting in his tracks.
Pausing, Kakashi sniffed the air. Being an alpha with dog-like senses, his olfactory receptors were off the charts. He had a sense of smell that was almost as strong as the Inuzuka clans. He could tell precisely where enemies were standing within a two mile radius. He could even put a name to scents without even looking.
Whatever Kakashi was smelling at the moment, it was both familiar and unfamiliar. What he was smelling 'was' Obito, but different- as if Obito's entire scent had changed. There was something potent about it, and strong- stronger than any beta Kakashi had ever smelt before. It was a thick, hazy scent, and it made Kakashi's mouth salivate, and he shook his head roughly in utter bafflement. What was going on?
Kakashi had experienced this feeling before around omegas who were in heat. Their scents would expand, become stronger and more potent, humidifying the atmosphere with their sweet, tangy fragrance. It was meant to come off as enticing and alluring to alphas, but Kakashi had never really been that affected by such scents.
'This', however?
Whatever this scent was, it definitely had an affect on Kakashi, and he didn't understand why. For one of the first times in the young alpha's life, he was completely lost, and he couldn't understand what was going on. What was this sweet, addictive scent? Why did it smell both like Obito and completely different from him at the same time? Where was Obito and what was he doing?
After a few minutes of being puzzled, Kakashi shook himself out of it and continued on down the bank. If his nose was correct and not having a fever dream, he would be meeting Obito soon.
About a mile and a half away is when he finally spotted him.
Obito seemed to be relatively fine. He was standing on the bank, soaking wet. His goggles and shoes laid by his feet as he wrung out his jacket and shook his head in a lousy attempt to dry himself off.
Kakashi watched thoroughly, his mouth still producing what he considered to be an annoying amount of saliva. That unique scent had only gotten stronger the closer he had gotten to Obito, and he had yet to figure out why or what it was. Any ideas that came to mind, Kakashi immediately buried because-no. No, no no. There was just no way.
There was no way that Obito was an omega.
Creeping closer, Kakashi remained stealthy and hidden, his finger snaking up to pull his mask down. The smell got three times stronger causing him to gasp in disbelief. There was no mistaking it. That sweet fragrance was that of an omega, and, considering the fact that it was intertwined with Obito's natural scent meant that...
Down on the bank, Obito jumped around, clearly alerted by something.
Kakashi flinched and ducked down as if he wasn't hidden enough, and he watched. His eyes were wide and his heart felt like it was pounding a million beats per second. He was flabbergasted by the rush of emotions he was feeling at the moment. He was 'overwhelmed'. Usually he was able to keep his emotions contained and buried, but right now he was slipping and he couldn't stop. Maybe it was just the fact that he was currently experiencing one of the rarest, most notorious phenomenons in human history. Like seeing the Sage of Six Paths.
It seemed as if Obito was sensing someone's presence. Kakashi knew that it had to be him because there was no one else around. No beta had that strong of sense of smell.
A few seconds of searching, and Obito turned around and began to weave unknown hand signs. Kakashi tried calculating what kind of jutsu it could be, but he was at too awkward of an angle to figure it out. Was it a jutsu?
Around ten seconds after Obito finished weaving the hand signs, the sweet, unique fragrance in the air disappeared faster than smoke on a windy day.
Kakashi jostled. The scent was gone? How? What kind of jutsu was that? Why was Obito using it on himself? What exactly was he?
"I know what you're gonna say, Bakashi," Obito shouted without actually spotting him- as if he knew he was there... by scent. "How dare I jeopardize the mission by jumping into the river for a stupid pair of goggles. I should be ashamed. I'm a disgrace to the shinobi world!"
As Obito continued to mock him, Kakashi fought to collect himself. He jumped out of the trees and hollered back, "Just hurry up so we can get back to the mission."
It was all he really had the mindset to say. His earlier rants and lectures were dead to him now. He couldn't voice them even if he wanted to. At this point, he just wanted to get back to Team Minato and finish the fight; it would distract him from his newfound, deep thoughts.
"I'm coming. Just give me a minute," Obito shouted.
Kakashi didn't respond. He didn't know how to.
For once, Kakashi just stayed silent.
...
A few weeks later.
Kakashi didn't speak of the river incident. Not once. He never brought it up in general conversation, he never asked questions, and he never lectured Obito about that day. He simply agreed that Obito dropped his goggles in the river and wasted time to retrieve them. Easy as that. Not a big deal.
Except... It was a big deal.
While Kakashi wanted to believe that he had been tired and having demented hallucinations that day, his gut stated that it wasn't that simple. He may have discovered one of the biggest, most notorious breeds of omega known to mating kind. The only problem is that Kakashi couldn't really confirm whether or not this synopsis was true. Yeah, he was almost ninety-percent certain he knew what he saw/smelt that day, but just in case he really was having demented hallucinations...
"Summoning jutsu." Kakashi was standing just outside of Obito's house. For what he declared were "personal reasons", he stayed behind at the village while the rest of Team Minato went on a week long mission. He had his own mission to accomplish.
In front of Kakashi, Pakkun appeared. "Hey boss. What's up?"
Kakashi got straight to the point. "Do you know anything about this type of barrier jutsu?"
What Kakashi was referring to was Obito's entire house. For some reason, it was surrounded by a thin barrier- one that Kakashi was too afraid to get through. His plan had been to scope out Obito's personal habitat- yes, he wanted to break into Obito's home- and see if he could confirm if his suspicions were true by locating evidence, but the barrier surrounding the house prevented him from going any further.
"Hm, one sec, let me check." Pakkun wandered over to the front door and sniffed around.
Kakashi waited. On the outside, he might seem as calm as a Buddha, but on the inside? On the inside, Kakashi was rattling with nerves of excitement, and it irritated him. He hated the fact that he couldn't fight whatever emotions were pouring into him right now. It was inappropriate and unacceptable. He passed up going on an important mission just to try and appeal a tiny bit of that burning curiosity that he didn't have the will to suppress. He felt so unprofessional it wasn't funny.
But Kakashi did feel as though he had a reasonable explanation for why he was doing this. If his theory was true, then that would mean that he knew a secret so serious that it literally put Obito's life in his hands. It was a secret that came straight from myth and folklore. "The stuff of nightmares" some might say.
Kakashi knew how strict the laws were in the alpha/omega world. Infertile relationships were illegal. And false alphas and omegas were required to be executed on the spot.
If Obito was a false omega, then...
"It's a grade-A sensory type barrier jutsu," Pakkun explained. "It's designed to keep shinobi from smelling what's behind it."
"A sensory barrier?" Kakashi repeated while looking up at the building.
Obito's grandmother went out with a friend. He couldn't risk permanently destroying the barrier, and he certainly couldn't risk leaving his own scent behind. Even if he did manage to get inside the house, there was too much being put at risk. There had to be another way.
"If we took the barrier down, can we put it back up?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, yeah, I suppose. But why? Why do you wanna know what's behind this barrier?" Pakkun stood up, his tail wagging in curiosity. "Is it an enemy?"
"No." Kakashi searched around for a vent of some sort. "He's not an enemy- at least not to me. Here-"
Pakkun followed Kakashi and jumped onto the roof with him.
Kneeling down in front of a vent sticking out of the roof, Kakashi looked to Pakkun and said, "Teach me the signs."
Pakkun did as told and instructed his master on which hand-signs to weave. Kakashi soon realized that they were the exact same signs he had witnessed Obito weaving at the river. So, he had used the barrier jutsu on himself? That's why the scent disappeared.
Releasing the barrier, Kakashi quickly knelt down and sniffed the vent.
"Uhh, boss? What're you doing?" Pakkun frowned a bit in confusion. "You're lookin' kinda ridiculous right now, you know that?"
"I'm trying to confirm something." Kakashi did have a keen sense of smell, but right now all he could detect was dust, smoke and food debris from the stove. When he failed, he pointed to the vent. "Smell this. Tell me if you sense the presence of an omega."
"An omega, you say?" Pakkun got on his back paws and stood up to smell the vent. "Hm... Yeah, it smells like... It smells like two of them live here. Two omegas and a male, I think? I don't know, it's kinda hard to tell with this vent being so clogged. Whoever lives here really outta get it cleaned- hold on."
Pakkun paused his sniffing, his ears perking in a brief moment of disbelief. "A male does live here, but his scent corresponds with one of the two omegas scent, like he's... Boss, is this why you brought me here?"
Kakashi stood up straight and said firmly. "Yes. As my subordinate, you are to keep quiet about this. Do not let anyone else know. This stays between you and me. Understood?"
"You got it, boss." Pakkun bowed his chin obediently. "Gotta admit, though, I can't believe I actually got to smell one in real life. I thought they were made up."
"So did I." Kakashi went to replace the barrier.
"What do you plan on doing with him?" Pakkun couldn't help but to ask.
Kakashi tilted his head. "I'm not sure yet."
"Well, you have my word. I won't tell anyone, but, if you don't mind, keep me posted. I wanna see where this goes." Pakkun requested before dismissing himself. "See ya."
Kakashi was left standing alone on the roof of the house- the very house that belonged to a false omega- a false omega who happened to be on his team.
It was unreal. With all the precautions Obito took, it was understandable how he managed to avoid being caught for so long, but it was also sad. Kakashi knew why Obito hid himself so strongly.
If the wrong person found out about him, then Obito would be publicly humiliated and executed.
Looking towards the sky, Kakashi wondered what all Obito must be feeling. Omegas thrive off of attention whether it be from an alpha or another omega. They make a living off of being pampered and groomed and praised. When omegas experience their monthly heat, they're withdrawn from fights and are given any luxury they needed to get to feeling better. Kakashi had never seen Obito get pampered, groomed or spoiled. He had never seen Obito withdraw from a mission. This did explain the Uchiha's unpredictable mood swings, and all the times he had gotten sick and weak during missions. To think he went on missions while he was in heat...
Kakashi's fists shook at his sides.
What should he do?