Chapter Text
The school bell is still echoing down the corridors when the teacher passes along each row; the gray‑haired man places on every child’s desk a thick cream envelope sealed with a blood‑red wax seal. The paper feels heavy and coarse, as if trying to protect a secret too weighty for children's hands.
"I remind you that it is forbidden to check your classmate’s result; look only at your own envelope. You are, however, free to share your result verbally. Don't forget to have your letters signed by your legal guardians," the teacher's voice is loud and tries to drown out the children's excited chatter.
Hinata lowers her eyes to hers. The pale late‑morning light slips through the window and catches the sequence of numbers written on the envelope; she recognizes her ID, HH012612, traced in black ink in a strict, impersonal hand. She keeps her hands between her thighs so she won't tremble, while nervousness dries her throat. Around her, laughter bursts out, nervous. Some children can't wait for permission and are already tearing the flap open, their clumsy movements producing a chorus of sharp rustlings
"Open! Open!" a classmate whispers, her warm breath against Hinata's ear.
Hinata nods absentmindedly. The paper is rough, almost cutting. She feels her heart pounding too fast, as if it wants to burst out of her chest. Like a little bird in a cage beating for its freedom, striking the bars that hold it captive. She already knows what the letter contains: the result of their classification. Alpha, Beta, or... the other.
At the back of the room, a blond boy lets out a loud sigh.
"Nooo, I'm Beta, what bad luck, I wanted to be an Alpha, and you Sasuke what does your letter say? Oh wow you're Alpha Sasuke! Alpha!"
"Naruto what did I tell you earlier?" Professor Kakashi sighs.
The boy in question simply slips the letter back into the envelope with an annoyed air and Hinata can't help smiling as she watches her neighbor fidget in his seat. Naruto was a very noisy child but the young girl liked that about him. He was almost her perfect opposite; where Hinata was shy and reserved, Naruto was not afraid to be blunt and say what he thought, even negative things. The other pupils applaud the result of the ebony‑haired boy, some whistle, others shrink a little in their chairs. Being Alpha means shining, it promises you an important place in a society where gender does most of the work.
Further away, an anxious girl timidly raises her paper.
"Beta..." she says, with a relieved smile.
The laughter quiets. Beta is ordinary, neutral. It isn't frightening, it doesn't provoke envy. It's being invisible, but safe.
Hinata inhales. Her fingers tremble as she slips a nail under the flap and tears the envelope. The sound seems deafening to her, barely covered by the others' exclamations. The paper slides under her fingers like a sheet of ice, and the smell of printed ink rises to her nose.
She unfolds slowly the page that covers the result, the characters imprint immediately in her mind, as sharp as blades.
Status: Omega.
The world tilts for an instant. Her ears ring, yet she still hears the laughter, the shouts, the congratulations bursting around her, but everything seems distant, muffled, as if she has dived under water. Her letter seems to tilt, the letters twist before her eyes, a lump in the back of her throat almost stops her from breathing.
Omega.
The word sears her eyes, but she fights with all her strength not to cry.
Omega.
Rare, fragile, desirable, shameful.
Omega.
She already knows the whispers that surround that status. People say Omegas are only a few in each generation, that families prefer to keep their existence quiet, sometimes even... get rid of them. Because an Omega attracts desire, would bring bad luck and the ancestors' disappointment on their family, creates discord around them, can make an Alpha—otherwise superior to everyone—bend, becomes an object of exchange for power, for money that Alphas want to possess, control, imprison.
Her fingers clench on the paper as nausea overwhelms her, to the point of crushing the letter. A cold heat runs through her. She wants to stand up, scream, run away and dig a hole in the ground to hide in until she dies, but her body stays frozen. She thinks of her father, a respected Alpha, of her deceased mother, of her sister, her cousin, all Alphas, not a single Omega in the Hyûga line. In this proud lineage, she will be the stain.
"Hinata, are you okay? So what are you?" asks a voice beside her, cheerful and innocent.
The girl shoots her eyes up abruptly. Her classmate’s pupils shine with impatience. Around them, others begin to lean in, curious. She feels the pressure rise like an invisible vise around her throat. Her throat dry, she forces a smile.
Her fingers slip discreetly beneath the desk, bringing the paper back against her thighs.
"Beta," she whispers.
Her classmate laughs, relieved.
"Me too! We'll both be normal!"
Hinata nods without speaking. She quickly refolds the sheet; she glimpses additional documents in the envelope, but she doesn't bother to look at them and slips the letter back inside, clutching everything so hard her nails cut into the flesh of her palm.
She already knows: no one must ever find out.
Not far from her, a pair of deep, impenetrable eyes, coal‑black, watched her slip the paper beneath the desk in silence. Sasuke had his chin resting on the palm of his hand, his elbow planted on his desk in a falsely relaxed pose. His gaze, however, had naturally lifted to the short‑haired girl, whose hair was a night‑blue so intense it looked almost unreal under the classroom’s pale neon lights.
She had not applauded, unlike the vast majority of the other students who had cheered; she did not flush when their eyes met as the other girls did; she did not offer him the disguised compliments some overly admiring teachers gave.
To her, Sasuke was an ordinary child.
Sasuke was anything but ordinary. He was an Alpha.
There was no doubt in his mind that she must be one too, which explained her indifference; he had not heard the conversation she had with her neighbor so he did not know her status for certain, but in his memory her family comprised Alphas, so there was no reason she would be anything else, right?
Beside him, Naruto gave him a gentle shake on the shoulder, bringing him back to reality and reminding him they had to go to lunch and hurry because it was ramen day in the school canteen. No sooner had the teacher dismissed them than Naruto was already dragging his friend out of the classroom.
Hinata wasn't hungry; in front of her bowl of ramen cooling, she searched for the best way to tell her father, and she reached a grim certainty: there was no chance he would accept her status. Could he banish her from the clan? She was only in elementary school, but knowing the chief of the family's coldness and harshness, she knew anything was possible. Would he entrust Hinata to distant relatives? Hide her somewhere?
She startles when a woman beside her sets a heavy basket of dirty dishes on the table.
"Aren't you eating, kid? You don't like it, do you? Don't be picky, look at Naruto over there, that's his fourth bowl! You have to eat if you want to be as strong as me," she says, showing Hinata her thick, surprisingly muscular arms for a cafeteria worker.
"I'm sorry... I don't feel very well, actually, can I go to the infirmary?"
"Yes, yes of course, do you want me to come with you? Do you want me to carry you?"
Too embarrassed to accept help, Hinata instead offers a timid smile and promises she'll be careful. Tray in hand, she moves away from the tumult of her classmates, all absorbed in loud conversations and bursts of laughter around the canteen tables. She pushes through the swinging doors and takes a deep breath to try to ease the knot in her chest. No matter how she tries to calm herself, nothing helps. The very thought of confronting her father churns her stomach and tightens her throat. Each step toward the infirmary feels like an approach to an inevitable judgment. In her mind she already imagines his piercing, impassive gaze fixed on her with icy severity, judging her, his voice filled with coldness announcing her punishment with surgical precision, as if it were a duty rather than a pain. On her way to the infirmary she passes by her classroom again and is surprised to see someone already back.
She recognized that jet‑black hair, that straight, noble posture, that immaculate uniform; it was Sasuke Uchiha. At first she was tempted to keep walking and avoid making eye contact. Strangely, the boy made her uneasy; unlike his friend Naruto, Sasuke always seemed elsewhere, lost in thought, and even when he looked at you, you were not truly there.
Then she noticed he was standing beside her desk, holding a letter in his hand; she recognized the way the paper had been torn open and crumpled.
It was her letter.
She rushed into the classroom, the door banging against the wall. Sasuke turned toward her, clearly surprised. Hinata tried to speak but the words stuck in her throat and only strangled sounds escaped. Still she moved closer to Sasuke and held out her hand, asking for her letter.
"Uchiha‑san, I… I'd like my letter back… please."
Again Hinata's heart seemed ready to burst in her chest and, without meaning to, the hand she had extended trembled uncontrollably. She felt shivers run down her back and gooseflesh rise on her arms.
He studied her for a few seconds with his dark eyes, his expression detached, almost confused by his own emotions, yet shining with an unreadable glint. Then he turned the paper between his fingers, stroking it with his thumb as if savoring the fragile power it held, and at last offered the envelope to her with the tips of his fingers. As she snatched it back, both relieved and elated, the boy's hand did not let go of his side of the envelope. Hinata watched him, puzzled by his action; finally he addressed her in a monotone voice:
"It was on the floor when I came into the classroom. I just picked it up, but you should be careful with your things; it would be a shame if someone with ill intent saw your status result…"
Hinata stopped breathing. The words seemed simple, logical. But his tone... too calm, too measured. Not an ounce of innocence in his eyes. Rather a cold curiosity, a dangerous interest. She then felt his thumb brush hers, as a lover might a beloved, but she withdrew her finger; Sasuke’s touch was cold and it immediately made her stomach twist.
"Professor Kakashi said we are not allowed to look at other classmates' results... You are not allowed... This... It's personal."
His black eyes narrowed.
"You’re reacting as if I’d discovered something... serious."
Hinata felt sweat bead at the nape of her neck. She looked away.
"You’re imagining things."
A silence stretched. Sasuke pretended to hesitate. Then he moved closer to her and caught her off guard:
"—Maybe," he murmured, tilting his head, his lips almost brushing her ear. "Or maybe I just guess... that you’re hiding something no one must know."
She pushed him away by reflex, the letter stretched between them serving as the link Hinata wished to break as quickly as possible.
He finally let the paper slip from his fingers, and Hinata pulled it immediately to her chest as if it were her last defense; her heart was still pounding wildly, and she tried to steady her emotions now that she had recovered the most important secret of her short life. She smoothed the envelope under her fingers and took deep breaths to calm herself. With trembling, fragile hands she tried in vain to open her bag and tuck her secret away where curious hands and eyes could not reach it.
Sasuke kept watching his frail classmate, struggling to hide his composure; he watched her fumble with her bag, a barely perceptible smile at his lips.
"You look nervous. It's only a status result; given your family you must be an Alpha like them, right?"
Hinata went pale. Her heart hammered so loudly she was convinced he could hear it.
She stammered,"Y-yes... Nothing important..."
Sasuke tilted his head, his smile fading into an icy seriousness. His eyes fixed on her as if he could see through her lies.
"Then why are you trembling?"
Hinata stepped back, breath short, the letter clutched in her small hands. Unable to answer, unable to explain, she forced herself to look away and hurried for the exit; she had to get away from Sasuke, she wanted to get away from Sasuke, her whole body screamed to flee and the bird in her chest thrashed like a little demon.
As she passed through the door, Sasuke’s voice caught up with her, both soft and sharp:
“You should be more careful, Hinata. Secrets… they always end up being found out. But you have my word that I will keep yours to myself, at least as long as I deem it interesting to stay silent.”
She clutched the letter to her chest so hard she felt her nails sink into the paper. Her heart shouted that he knew. That he had read it or guessed it. She left the room, crushed by his words, leaving Sasuke alone.
Night had settled over the city now, drowning the towers in a veil of shadows and artificial lights. The city never slept, nor did the Uchiha family. Sasuke returned home by the back way, crossing the dark alley where only a blinking neon light illuminated oily puddles. The large family house rose up, silent and austere, almost outside of time, hidden behind a high wrought‑iron gate. Inside, it resembled a sanctuary: dark walls, thick carpets, taut silence.
Sasuke took off his shoes in the vestibule, his jaw still clenched. He clenched his fists, remembering the doe‑like eyes of the Hyûga, tearful and frozen. It was impossible to drive from his mind.
She had pushed him away, fled. And he had let her.
It was not like him.
A short, bitter laugh escaped him. He had not read the letter; he had not lied when he said he had merely picked it up from the floor. He would have placed it on her desk if she had not arrived at that moment. In truth he had not needed to read the letter to understand that Hinata was without a doubt an Omega... Everything in her reactions shouted it aloud.
An Omega... Appearing weak, trembling like prey. But she had had the strength to push him away. They were still too young for their pheromones to come into play, and they still had years before any of that would activate. But even without that, facing him she had fought.
A part of him, primitive, boiled with rage: how dare she push him away? Another, darker and more intimate, already felt a dangerous fever arise in his veins.
Sasuke climbed the steps of the wide staircase leading to the first floor, his muffled footsteps barely echoing on the old wood. Family portraits stared down at him from the walls: generations of Uchiha, cold, impassive, relentless. A dynasty built on blood, fear, and supremacy.
He opened the door to the private salon. The room lay in semi‑darkness, only the flame of an incense burner burned in a corner, giving off a metallic scent.
Seated in a low armchair, legs crossed, Itachi waited for him. His elder brother, a svelte silhouette with delicate features and eyes of such deep black they seemed to probe every corner of the soul. His mere presence filled the room with a silence heavier than any words.
"You’re home late," Itachi observed in a soft voice, without raising his tone.
Sasuke tensed slightly. He had not expected to find him here.
"I lingered a bit after school; I was thinking about a lot of things."
Itachi tilted his head, as if he could detect the implications behind his younger brother.
"A lot of things? What kind of things?"
"That’s none of your business," Sasuke replied.
"Well, well, well — what could my little brother have found that’s important enough not to tell beloved big brother? Could it be something that would get Father to notice you?"
Sasuke looked away, annoyed. He could not bear the way Itachi read him like an open book. But denial would be useless.
"I found someone," he finally admitted. "I think she’s an Omega."
Itachi’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold interest.
"An Omega?"
"Yes, incredible, isn’t it? She comes from an Alpha family," Sasuke said almost in a whisper, as if he dared not break the tension. "She immediately hid her nature, but I guessed it. She’s ashamed."
A heavy silence stretched. Then Itachi rose slowly in his chair. His eyes gleamed with a calculating light.
"A rare aberration... An Omega born of Alpha blood..."
Sasuke nodded.
"Do you realize what that means? A unique potential! If I mark her, if I chain her to me... The heirs born from that would be... Imagine the clan’s prestige! Even more powerful Dominant Alphas, untamable, clever... Father’s dream."
Their father’s name rose in the room like an invisible shadow. Fugaku Uchiha. Relentless patriarch, cold strategist, who dreamed of strengthening the family’s empire by any means. The mention seemed to steady Itachi, who sat back down in his low chair.
"Is she interested in you?" he asked his younger brother, visibly excited.
Sasuke made a face and clenched his fists, the memory of Hinata’s wide, doe‑like eyes returning to him.
"She pushed me away."
"Pushed you away?"
"I—I tried to seduce her like I’ve seen in films," Sasuke spat, shame and anger mixed in his voice. "But she just pushed me away. If I had my pheromones she wouldn’t have been able to do anything."
Silence. Then a low, almost amused chuckle escaped Itachi.
"That makes her even more interesting."
Sasuke shot him a glare.
"She’s mine. Don’t even think about it."
Itachi tilted his head, as if to provoke him.
"Is that your desire speaking... or your instinct?"
Sasuke drew a deep breath, his dark eyes burning with a new fever.
"Both."
Itachi did not answer immediately. He looked at him for a long time, then resumed in a neutral voice:
"Then be careful. A forced bond can be broken. But an obsession... it always ends up destroying the one who feeds it."
Sasuke felt a shiver run down his neck. His brother’s words were both a warning and a prophecy. But in his mind one image persisted: Hinata, trembling, eyes wide, clutching that letter as if her life depended on it.
He smiled, a dark, strained smile:
"It doesn’t matter; the more she pushes me away, the more I will come back to her. I will mark her. She will become mine."
Itachi said nothing. But in the shadow his eyes gleamed with a strange light, as if he already saw the chains closing not only around the poor Omega who had the misfortune of catching his younger brother’s attention, but around Sasuke himself. He understood that that day he had lost him for good.
The door slid shut silently behind her, and Hinata dropped her bag in the entryway. The house was plunged in semi-darkness. Not a sound. As always. Her sister Hanabi must still be at the dojo, and her father was never home before the deep night. She inhaled deeply. The hallway air felt heavier than usual, as if it clung to her skin.
She climbed the stairs on tiptoe, clutching the skirt with both hands to steady their trembling. Her legs felt foreign, as if they no longer belonged to her. Each step echoed painfully inside her, a reminder of what had happened or what might have happened.
In her room she closed the door carefully, as if any noise might draw attention. Then she collapsed against the wood, forehead resting on the cold surface. Her heart was still racing.
She shut her eyes. Immediately the images returned.
Her hand on the letter. His thumb against hers. His lips near her ear. His ebony eyes decoding her, reading her like an open book.
Hinata bit her lip until it bled to chase the vision away, but the wound only added to the confusion. She tasted metal in her mouth, a grotesque echo of what had occurred.
She shook her head and crossed the room, nearly stumbling. Her trembling fingers pushed back the curtains and let the moon flood the room with milky light. Her reflection appeared in the glass: pale, hair undone, eyes widened by a light she had never seen in herself. A light of fear.
She put a hand to the nape of her neck, now her greatest vulnerability. Her skin was warm and soft. For a brief instant she imagined Sasuke biting that spot. She felt disgust, terror. What terrified her most, however, was the shiver that had run through her the instant she pictured it, as if a buried part of her had answered that imagined bite.
She refused it.
She sat down on her bed, burying her face in her hands.
"Why... why me?" she murmured in a broken voice.
She shivered as the day’s memories came back in waves. Their confrontation in the classroom. His burning look when he discovered the letter. And that ambiguous phrase, uttered low, almost caressingly: "You should be more careful, Hinata. Secrets... they always end up being found out." He had not threatened. He had not lied either. He had merely insinuated, leaving that poisonous doubt to gnaw at her.
She fell back, staring at the ceiling. The room suddenly felt too narrow, oppressive. Every corner seemed to shelter a ghost of Sasuke and his hand on the letter. She ripped off her uniform with a sudden gesture, threw it to the floor like a burden, and put on her pajamas before burrowing under her thick blanket. Hinata rolled onto her side, clutching the pillow like a shield. A tear slid from the corner of her eye, not of pure fear but of a mixture she dared not analyze.
Her father’s voice echoed in her memory, hard as a blade: "A Hyûga never bows. You were born into an Alpha family, Hinata. You will be one too."
A nervous laugh shook her throat. What irony. The same day she discovered her true status, an Alpha had already noticed her. As if her weakness had been tattooed on her forehead. Now she felt imprisoned. Not by a bite. Not yet. But by something crueller and more animal that she felt lurking deep inside her.
She sat up abruptly, picked up her skirt, and took the letter from her pocket. It was still there. Crumpled but intact. She traced the folds with her fingertips. Her secret words. She had been careless and left it poorly stashed in her locker. She had dropped it. And he had picked it up.
She bit her lip.
Had he read it? He claimed he had not. But how could she believe him? He seemed to know; he could not have guessed on his own. A tremor ran through her. Panic rose.
Hinata set the letter on her bedside table and pulled the covers over herself after climbing into bed, burying herself in the shadow. Her eyes stayed open for a long time, staring into nothing. Each time she tried to reassure herself, she could hear his voice again; she could see his ebony eyes measuring her. That encounter haunted all her senses.
The moon slid slowly behind the rooftops.
She understood with a cold shiver that this night would be the first of many sleepless nights.
Hello,
Thank you for reading the first chapter of my fanfiction. It was already posted on another site, but one of my readers suggested it would be a good idea to post the story here as well, so here I am.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Some passages will definitely be NSFW, but this will be indicated at the beginning of each chapter.
Comments are appreciated.