Naruto stormed around the courtyard, kicking at loose pebbles until his toes ached. Only when his breathing slowed did he finally drag himself toward his dorm to unpack.
He chose the back stairs, each step a punishment he welcomed. By the third flight, sweat beaded along his hairline, but the physical strain helped neutralize the electric humiliation still crackling through him.
By the time he reached the third floor, his pulse had steadied, but only just. The Beta dorm was a squat brick building, the kind designed more for fire safety than dignity. Hallways radiated antiseptic: floor wax, air freshener, some persistent undertone of microwaved cheese. He clutched his key like a talisman and squinted at the door numbers. B327. Move-in had been last week, but Iruka and Kakashi handled the logistics while he finished up at his summer job, so he'd never actually stepped foot in the place. His stuff—such as it was—should have been delivered, unless someone had "helped themselves."
At the threshold, he hesitated. Maybe the roommate was already in there. Some Beta lifer. Some tech major with opinions about Wi-Fi routers and an anime collection that would choke a library. If only. Naruto braced himself, worked the key, and swung the door inward.
There were two beds: one stripped and empty, the other already strewn with black and gray. Two identical desks faced each other from opposite walls, one pristine and the other cluttered with textbooks and a sleek laptop. A narrow door—presumably leading to their shared bathroom—stood ajar, releasing a wisp of steam into the cramped space. Twin wardrobes with scratched doors flanked the entrance, one closed tight, the other hanging open to reveal a row of dark, expensive clothes. A figure stood with his back to the door, meticulously stacking books into precise towers on the built-in shelf above his claimed desk.
Naruto recognized that back, that hair, that uniform. "No fucking way," he breathed. His stomach dropped like an elevator with cut cables. 'You've gotta be kidding me,' he thought, imagining whatever cosmic deity was in charge of his personal hell sitting up there with a bowl of popcorn, cackling. 'What's next? Locusts? Boils? Just strike me with lightning and get it over with!'.
The figure stiffened, shoulders squaring beneath the crisp black fabric of his uniform, then turned with deliberate slowness. Sasuke Uchiha stared back, arms crossed over his chest like iron bars, jaw clenched tight enough to crack walnuts. His obsidian eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, mouth set in a thin line that twisted slightly at one corner with a mixture of disbelief and instant contempt. The air between them seemed to crackle with static electricity.
"You," Sasuke said, like a curse. "Are you following me?"
Naruto's brain stuttered. "What? No! This is—" He groped for the room assignment sheet in his folder, hands starting to shake. "I live here."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed to obsidian slits, his pale face hardening like marble under fluorescent light. "Sure. You just happened to be assigned to the one room on campus that's already mine." His long fingers swept through the air, indicating his territory—the perfectly made bed with its charcoal comforter, the leather-bound books arranged by height on the shelf, the meticulously organized case of black-labeled energy drinks standing like soldiers beside the humming mini-fridge. "You're the stalker type. I can smell the desperation."
Naruto's face lit up so hot he thought his skull might pop. "You're delusional," he snapped. "I didn't even know— They assign these randomly, okay? I'm not—" He jammed the paper at Sasuke like it was a shield, but the tremor in his hand made it look less credible.
Sasuke didn't bother to read it. His eyes flicked to the door number, then back to Naruto's face with a dismissive once-over that said everything about bloodlines and hierarchies without a single word spoken. "This is a Beta dorm," he finally stated, as if that single fact rendered Naruto's presence impossible, illegal, and personally offensive.
Naruto scoffed, his nostrils flaring. "Well, I'm a Beta," he declared, jabbing a thumb at his own chest, "and this is my room." His eyes narrowed to slits as he took in Sasuke's crisp uniform and the subtle but unmistakable Alpha musk that seemed to cling to every surface the other boy had touched. "You are an Alpha," he continued, the words dripping with accusation as he gestured broadly at the door, "what are you doing here?"
Sasuke's nostrils flared slightly. "You're lying." His eyes traced a deliberate path from Naruto's face down to his feet, then back up again, lingering at his neck. "They keep Omegas in separate buildings entirely. With security." He tilted his head, voice dropping lower. "Alphas might overflow into Beta housing, but Omegas? Never."
Naruto's stomach dropped to his knees. His mouth went dry, and he swallowed hard, feeling the click in his throat. "Maybe get your nose checked," he said, voice pitching slightly higher than normal. "I am a beta." He backed up until his shoulders hit the doorframe, feet planted wide as if bracing for impact. His fingers found the suppressant tin in his pocket, pressing it against his thigh where Sasuke couldn't see. "Look, I'll talk to the desk. We'll get this sorted. I'll trade with someone else, whatever."
Sasuke glared, then snatched his own orientation packet from the desk and leafed through it with military precision. "I'll be the one requesting the transfer," he said, not looking up. "If word gets out I'm sharing a room with—"
"With what?" Naruto challenged. He could feel his blood start to thrum again. He hated how easy it was to rise to this bait, how the old foster home instincts—get big, get loud, win—surged up on command.
Sasuke's lip curled. "With a stalker. Or an Omega in Beta drag."
Naruto's throat closed up, a hot flush creeping from his collar to his hairline. "I'm not an Omega." The words came out wooden, rehearsed—the same lie he'd practiced in the mirror every morning since Tsunade had handed him with the first tin of suppressants. His fingers twitched toward his pocket, then jerked away. "Or a stalker," he added, the words tumbling out too quickly as sweat beaded at his temples. Shit. Was it that obvious already?
Sasuke's eyes narrowed to black slits, his jaw muscle twitching beneath pale skin. His gaze flicked from the tin to Naruto's hands, lingering there like he was memorizing evidence, before crawling back up to Naruto's face with the slow deliberation of someone cataloging an enemy's weaknesses. "Doesn't matter," he said, voice dropping to a low growl that seemed to vibrate the air between them. "You're not staying here."
They stood five feet apart, the cramped dorm room suddenly feeling like a cage too small for both of them. Naruto's fingers curled into fists at his sides, his shoulders hunching forward like a street dog ready to lunge.
"Fine," Naruto spat, deliberately knocking Sasuke's perfectly arranged suitcase with his knee as he passed. "We'll go now. Get the damn RA. You can whine to them about your sensitive Alpha pride."
Sasuke shrugged on his blazer—again, not bothering to button it—and slid his phone into his pocket. "Good. The sooner this is over, the better." He opened the door with an aggressive twist, gesturing for Naruto to go first, like he didn't want to risk getting shanked from behind.
Naruto exited, pulse in his throat. Sasuke followed, keeping a deliberate six feet between them even in the narrow corridor. If anything, the gap just made the tension worse, like a live wire stretched to breaking.
They tromped down the stairs without a word. At the lobby, two Betas and a lone Omega in a puffer jacket watched them pass, then immediately started whispering. Naruto wanted to believe it was about the weather, or the cheap smell of the paint, but he knew better. He kept his eyes locked forward.
He was not going to be the first one to break.
He was not going to be the one who gave in.
And he was absolutely not going to let Sasuke Uchiha win, even if it killed him.
-
The administration building smelled like whiteboard cleaner and old batteries. Every surface shone with the kind of forced cleanliness that only made the grime more obvious—scuffs on the linoleum, ink stains ghosted into the counter, the heavy air of bureaucracy asphyxiating even the bravest freshman.
Naruto and Sasuke stalked into the lobby together, neither acknowledging the other's existence. They walked in parallel, arms rigid at their sides, both refusing to yield the centerline. When the corridor constricted—thanks to a cluster of Betas arguing over course overload forms—they were forced shoulder to shoulder. Naruto could feel the heat radiating off Sasuke, the prickling tension in the air like the charge before a storm.
The queue at the housing desk was only three deep, but every second ticked by like a century. Ahead, a frazzled Beta argued about roommate allergies while an Omega in oversized sweats scrolled aimlessly on their phone.
When their turn came, they moved as one, stepping to the counter in perfect but accidental unison.
The Beta behind the desk didn't look up right away. Her hair was pulled back so tight it seemed to lift the corners of her eyes into sharp points, giving her face a feline intensity that matched her sand-colored blazer. Four silver studs lined her left ear, glinting under the fluorescent lights. The nameplate read, "Temari. Housing Specialist,". Her long fingers with short, practical nails clicked rhythmically on the keyboard.
"Next," she said, voice a perfect blend of customer service and existential resignation.
Sasuke pounced first. "There's been an error. I've been assigned to Beta dorms."
Temari's expression didn't flicker. "Name?"
"Uchiha. Sasuke." He spelled it, unnecessarily. His voice was ice, his posture iron.
Naruto tried to wedge himself in. "I've been put with an Alpha. There's gotta be a mistake."
She fixed him with a glance, dry and unsympathetic. "Name?"
"Uzumaki. Naruto." His own name sounded faintly ridiculous in this context.
She typed. Click, click, click. "Both of you are in B327. Is that correct?"
"Yes," they answered, nearly overlapping. Sasuke scowled at Naruto as if he'd committed a crime by answering at the same time.
Temari sighed, exhaling the world's tiniest sliver of empathy. "Mr. Uchiha, you submitted your application after the priority deadline. At that time, all available Alpha dorm rooms had been filled. You were waitlisted for transfer but assigned to a Beta double as a provisional measure."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed to slits. "This is unacceptable."
Temari's hands hovered over the keyboard, ready for any escalation. "We can promise to relocate you to the Alpha building next semester, provided a spot opens up. Until then, you'll have to remain in your assigned room."
Sasuke opened his mouth to object, but Naruto beat him to it. "What about me? I'm not supposed to room with an Alpha, right?" He glanced at Sasuke, then at Temari. "Isn't there some… I don't know, policy?"
She shook her head, mechanical. "You're listed as a Beta on your application. There is no conflict. If you have an allergy or medical accommodation, please submit a request to the Wellness Office."
Naruto deflated. "I just—never mind."
Sasuke's jaw flexed so hard Naruto thought it might shatter. "There must be someone else. I'm not sharing a room with—" He cut himself off, but the contempt filled in the blank.
Temari's eyes flicked between them, the corners of her mouth tightening into a line thin as a paper cut. "I can add both your names to the reassignment waitlist," she said, each word clipped short. "But don't get your hopes up. With enrollment at capacity, you're looking at winter break, minimum."
She said it like she was reading from the weather forecast.
Naruto stared at the desk's laminate, worn thin where countless students had drummed anxious fingers and scraped class rings against it. Something constricted in his chest, making each breath shorter than the last. The fluorescent lights seemed to pulse, brightening then dimming at the edges of his vision. His fingers found the counter's lip, gripping until his knuckles blanched white. "You're telling me there's no way out?" The question hung in the air, the final syllable fracturing like thin ice. "We're trapped together?"
Temari nodded, bored but not unkind. "Unless you wish to initiate a formal grievance, in which case you'll need to fill out this—" she produced a triplicate form from under the desk— "and schedule a review with the Residential Life Coordinator. Next appointment is in three weeks."
Sasuke's nostrils flared, but he took the form anyway. "Fine," he said, not looking at Naruto. "We'll survive until then."
The office had filled behind them. A group of juniors in matching sorority sweatshirts debated parking appeals. A Beta boy, thin as a stalk of celery, clutched a brown envelope and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Even the Omega seemed to have finished their business and wandered off, replaced by a new arrival.
To Temari, they were just another set of problems, already resolved. She typed one last note, then looked past them and called, "Next."
Sasuke walked away without waiting. Naruto followed, feeling like the world's least-wanted appendage. As soon as they hit the hallway, Sasuke spun to face him.
"I don't want any trouble," Sasuke said, the words scraped raw. "Just stay out of my way."
Naruto wanted to laugh, or maybe punch a wall. "That's all I ever wanted. I'll keep to my side, you keep to yours."
They glared at each other, both unwilling to blink first. After a moment, Sasuke stalked off toward the stairs. Naruto lingered, knuckles white against the strap of his backpack.
His skin crawled with the sensation of being trapped, like an animal caught in a too-small cage. So much for his clean slate at Konaha Elite. The universe had other plans—same old rigged game, just with fancier desks and higher stakes.
Naruto let out a breath that seemed to carry half his courage with it. Then, jaw clenched tight enough to crack walnuts, he headed back to B327, where Sasuke Uchiha waited like a landmine disguised as a roommate.