Just This Once

Chapter 4

Thirty-five days, ten hours and fifty-six minutes, that's how long it's been since Sasuke had last seen the blond omega. Not that he was counting. Sort of like the delicately folded note tucked away in his wallet, he only had that because he'd simply forgotten to throw it away. And those dreams? Pure coincidence. So what if he's constantly dreaming of the blond omega writhing under him, begging for him to breed him, mark him, claim him as his? It was all simple body chemistry. He was an alpha who had slept with a total of one omega until recently, it was only his body's natural reaction to crave the only other omega it wasn't repulsed by.

If he really wanted, all it would take is a simple request and he could get all Naruto's information, but he wouldn't because that would mean admitting something that simply wasn't true. At least that's what he kept telling himself every time the itch to find the omega presented itself.

Sasuke let out a heavy sigh as he tried to bury his thoughts down deep, he really had to focus. They had finally started making leeway on finding a way to cut the cost of manufacturing their suppressants. Blockers were starting to look promising, but the suppressants were still a way off. The volume of pheromones used to create suppressants was what hindered their lab. If they could find a way to concentrate the pheromones while making the lowered dosage more potent it would change everything. They had their lab techs working overtime trying to figure out a way to do just that, but even the head of research and development wasn't very optimistic that they'd get the task done this year, let alone in the next five.

The head of research and development was a tall, busty blond alpha named Tsunade Senju, she was the genius mind behind the concept of ingestible suppressants. Blockers had already been around a while but when she proposed a way to create something like a vitamin that would not only block scent like blockers did, but block even the potent pheromones created before the start of heats and ruts, everyone thought she'd lost her mind. The ridicule and skepticism seemed to drive her even harder and when she came back with a test batch that not only did exactly what she'd claimed it would do but also acted as birth control, everyone was fighting over her. In the end it was Uchiha Inc that she signed a contract with and ever since then she's been helping them develop cutting-edge products.

The problem with anything cutting edge was they didn't come cheap. There were numerous dead ends and inevitable failures. Their losses were insurmountable, but it was what progress looked like. To be successful you need to be able to mitigate risks while simultaneously being willing to take a hit. It was a delicate line to balance, but a corporation like Uchiha Inc was more than happy to do so with the right incentives.

Tsunade had never let them down, so when she had requested more funding to aid in their progress, the request had been approved by Itachi himself. Aside from trying to find a way to improve their suppressants, she had come up with a groundbreaking idea to improve blockers. It wasn't exactly what they had in mind, but after she had presented her case, it was a no-brainer.

Both blockers and suppressants had been specifically designed to cater to one's secondary gender, but she had proposed creating a product that blocked all pheromones without needing to be secondary gender specific. With intel she'd received from a friend at Konoha General, she was almost positive she could make it work. Tsunade still needed to confirm everything she'd heard with her own eyes, but if what she was told was indeed correct, she was certain she was on her way to improved blockers and hopefully the suppressors would soon follow. Tsunade just hoped she'd be able to convince this individual they'd be invaluable to her research.

Even though Tsunade had received approval directly from Itachi, there was still paperwork that needed to be filled and filed. As Sasuke signed off on her request, he couldn't help but feel hopeful that this was what she needed. With any luck this would help contribute to not only better blockers for all but hopefully her cracking the long awaited suppressant formula.