Iteration

‘Iteration’ is part of the space saga that began with ‘In the cold of space you find the heat of suns’ and continues in ‘Tales in Tarrasade’. There is also a one-shot ‘Silver Leaf Tales: Tying the knot’.

Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta. For this story he has also been my muse, suggesting a number of the ideas that have evolved to create this arc.

Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to richon, angelj232000, Prism0467, Dorkchic, Aflyingmonkey123, YamanashiOchinashiIminashi, unneeded, sadie237, satterb and Sidoniestarr who reviewed chapter 110.

It is wonderful to hear from readers, whether in a review or an email. My email address is mannahpierce@ntlworld.com.

Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.

This is posted in the Naruto/Sasuke section because it is part of a Naru/Sasu/Naru space saga. However, it does feature many other pairings (and a few threesomes). Apologies to those hoping for Sasuke/Naruto or Naruto/Sasuke action in every chapter.

Just to clarify the time measurements...

• One standard year, usually called one standard, is approximately the same as one of our years except for the fact that someone decided to do some rounding up at some point so a ‘standard’ is 350 days, so a standard is only 96% of a year
  
• One standard day is the same as one of our days (i.e. 1440 minutes)
  
• A minute is one of our minutes - second is one of our second
  
• Hours are not used
  
• There are ten divs in a standard
  
• Each standard day is 1502.5 minutes long and the extra 85 minutes are added between one standard and the next
  

---

Chapter one hundred and eleven: Privileged

---

Shikamaru and Neji had decided to take Sumiko to the docking bay to see the Maple off. Not only was it a good educational opportunity but Shikamaru hoped that spending extra time with Sumiko in the morning would compensate for him being busy that afternoon and evening.

There was a meeting of the Jizenkai trustees in the afternoon; the plan was to present their scheme to make Sublevel C safe enough for the orphanage. In the evening, hopefully after Sumiko was asleep, he and Neji were due to dine with Klenn and Garner Parrad at the restaurant.

“Why Inari there?” she demanded, waving a hand at where Inari stood at the top of the gangplank to welcome his crew aboard.

Shikamaru lifted her up so she could see better. “Inari is captain for this mission,” he explained. “He has to look after the ship and the crew. He is greeting each person who is going on the mission and is going to be part of his crew.”

Neji gave a slight sigh from where he stood beside them. Shikamaru realised that not only had he failed to correct Sumiko for not using an honorific with Inari’s name but he had mirrored her lapse. It was so hard to remember such things when there was a question to answer.

“Why En-san and In-san crying?” she asked.

“I think it’s En-san,” Shikamaru replied. “Tatsuji-san is going. En-san is going to miss him. They are close.”

There was another hitch in Neji’s breathing. Shikamaru was wondering what he had done wrong when the follow-up question arrived and he realised that mentioning closeness had been unwise.

“How close?” Sumiko queried. “En-san and Tatsuji-san sleep in the same bed?”

From what Shikamaru had been told, there wasn’t a lot of sleeping. “Sometimes,” he answered, trying to keep it as neutral as possible.

“Not married?” Sumiko checked.

Darrendan had marriage. Ma and Pa had been married; it was expected of couples who applied for a licence to have a child. “No, not married,” Shikamaru agreed.

“Not rings-and-forever?” Sumiko asked next.

“No, not rings-and-forever.” Shikamaru’s interest was piqued. “Who are rings-and-forever, Su-chan?”

“Sasuke-sama and Naruto-san,” Sumiko told him with confidence.

Shikamaru guessed that there had been a discussion among the children.

“Not rings?” Sumiko continued.

“No, En-san and Tatsuji-san have not given each other a ring,” Shikamaru confirmed.

“Just zontal prancing,” Sumiko suggested.

It took a moment for Shikamaru to make the connection. Then he remembered that his Pa had always called fucking ‘horizontal dancing’. Neji was looking at him quizzically.

“Yes, Su-chan, they do that,” he confirmed.

Sumiko considered for a moment. “What In-san do? In-san join in?” she asked.

Shikamaru decided it was time for underhand tactics. “Look Su-chan, there’s Tayuya-san.”


Thankfully it worked and Sumiko was distracted. She craned her neck and Shikamaru helped by lifting her higher.

“Tayuya-san pretty,” she informed him. “Want hair like Tayuya-san.”

Sumiko’s hair was like his, boring brown, only with a little more wave. He was about to explain that she could dye her hair when she was older but Neji got there first.

“You have very pretty hair,” Neji told her. “Every colour of ribbon looks good in brown hair.”

Today Sumiko had her hair in two high bunches; Shikamaru’s hairdressing skills had improved dramatically over the last two divs. Each bunch was tied with two large bows, one green and one brown, and she was wearing an outfit that he actually liked; leggings with green and brown hoops, a short sleeved tunic in the same green and a pair of the leather pumps Kiba made for the children.


Yesterday Sumiko and Neji had gone through her closet, removing the clothes that she had outgrown or no longer wanted. He had eavesdropped on their conversation, during which Neji had tried to introduce the concept of having an individual style.

Shikamaru did not know yet how much of it Sumiko had understood but there had been a satisfactory amount of frilly, flowery or pink garments in the pile to be relegated to the communal closet.

“Do you remember who is going on the mission, Su-chan?” Neji asked.

“Inari-san, Tayuya-san, Tatsuji-san,” Sumiko started with confidence. Then she had to start to think. She looked about for some clues. “Gai-san,” she added, spotting him with a duffle bag. She struggled to remember who else was going and finally gave up. “Others.”

“Shizune-san and Tenten-san,” Neji reminded her. “Shizune-san is medico for the mission. Tenten-san, Gai-san and Tatsuji-san are security. Inari-san is captain and Tayuya-san is...” he paused and looked at her expectantly.

“Tayuya-san is pilot,” she told him. “Want to be pilot like Tayuya-san.”

“We could build simulators for the playroom,” Shikamaru heard himself say. “Adaptive, child-sized versions.”

Neji just looked at him.

“It is a sensible idea,” he argued. “They spend a lot of time learning other skills for adulthood. Some of them might enjoy it.”

“Nii-san...” Sumiko drawled; a sure sign that she had realised he was not paying her attention.

“Yes Su-chan?” he replied.

“Are you a pilot?” she asked.

“No, Su-chan, I am not a pilot,” he answered.

“Are you a medico?”

Shikamaru could see that this could be very drawn out. “No, Su-chan. Ne-chan and I are advisors. We help Sasuke-sama make decisions.”

“Sasuke-sama is Uchiha-sama,” Sumiko informed them.

“That’s right,” Shikamaru agreed. “Look, Su-chan, Tenten-san and Shizune-san are going in. Why don’t you wave to wish them a good journey?”


They would soon have to clear the dock so that it could be depressurised. Shikamaru managed to persuade Sumiko that Neji should take her to the playroom while he ‘looked after’ En-san.

“He’ll be fine,” In-san assured him as they walked from the dock to the laboratories. “He’s never had anyone to miss before. In a way it’s nice.”

“It is not nice,” complained En-san.

“You can record messages to send to him,” Shikamaru suggested.

En-san sniffed. “That’s a good idea. Thank you for suggesting it, Shika-san.”

“Just don’t expect messages back. He hardly speaks a word so he isn’t going to be comfortable recording a message,” In-san pointed out.

“You could write him a letter and send an image of it,” Shikamaru countered. “Then he might write back.”

In-san acknowledged the possibility with wave of their right hand while En-san smiled. “Tatsuji writes poems for us,” he confided.

Shikamaru noticed that En-san had said ‘for us’ and that In-san had not corrected him. Perhaps the relationship was more of a threesome than the gossip suggested.

“Haiku,” In-san clarified.

Three line, seventeen syllable poems seemed very appropriate for the untalkative fighter. “He must think a great deal of you to do that,” Shika-san suggested.

“We think very highly of him,” In-san admitted. “He is very kind and gentle.”

“And sexy,” En-san added.


Shikamaru resisted asking for details; En-san would be delighted to give them but In-san might be uncomfortable. “Why don’t we talk about your ideas for a parallel security system?”

“It would also generate power,” En-san volunteered.

“To outsiders, it would look as if it were only a power generation system,” In-san explained. “We would be the only people to know it had a dual purpose.”

“Just a system of detectors,” Shikamaru checked. “Not a weapon.” He could not forget that the killer plants that attacked Haru did not have an off switch.

“It is up to Uchiha what is built,” In-san replied. “Do you want to see the designs for the first prototypes?”


They looked over the designs together. Shikamaru knew almost nothing about plant-based systems so he found himself having to think hard, which was refreshing.

“We should show these to Kotetsu,” he suggested. “He may be able to suggest improvements to the ship or station interfaces. Then, later, we should show them to Izumo. He is talented at simplifying things so they can be made more easily.”

“We like Kotetsu,” En-san told him. “Is Izumo nice?”

“Izumo is used to Kotetsu,” Shikamaru reminded them. “That makes him better at dealing with people like you and me.”

They both smiled at him; Shikamaru realised that they liked being thought of one of a group of people rather than unique.


They chatted for a while before Shikamaru realised that it was only En-san that was talking.

“You all right, Inryoku-san?” he asked.

“I was thinking about Deidara,” In-san admitted. “Will someone interrogate him before he is killed?”

Shikamaru was not sure. “It is difficult to interrogate someone if you aren’t willing to make any concessions. Sasuke-sama does not approve of torture. Do you think he would have any useful information?”

“Deidara might have something on Orochimaru,” In-san suggested. “But probably not. Have you made any progress finding him?”

Shikamaru’s mind was filled with the irritatingly contradictory information that had come from the allied crews and his Tennyos.

“Because I was thinking,” In-san continued, “that he has probably gone back into stasis by now and you are chasing clones.”

It confirmed Shikamaru’s most probable deduction. “Would the clones know where Orochimaru goes into stasis?”

In-san frowned. “I would not arrange it like that,” he suggested.

Shikamaru sighed; nor would he. He could think of numerous ways of ensuring that Orochimaru himself never knew the location of the stasis site and yet could access it. For a start, the site could be mobile.

“They could have printed many clones and sent them out as decoys,” En-san pointed out. “Imagine what twenty-four Orochimarus would do.”

Shikamaru remembered what the Orochimaru print had done to Itachi and shuddered.


They discussed the designs some more before he had to leave for his meeting with Naruto, Sasuke and Neji; it was the final review of the plans for Sublevel C before they presented the plans to the Jizenkai trustees that afternoon.

Shikamaru wondered if Naruto had decided if he was going to attend the presentation. If he did, it was a near certainty that the media would get images of him in his buggy. If he didn’t, there was a good chance that the trustees would get cold feet as soon as they appreciated the scale of the project.

Neji, Sasuke and Naruto were already there and Neji had activated the projector. The three dimensional model of Tarrasade dominated the room. Shikamaru examined the changes they were proposing.


They wanted ordinary people, people like Udon, to be safe both in Sublevel C and when travelling to and from Sublevel C. After thinking about it for some time, Shikamaru had decided that it was impossible to make the current transport routes safe; there were too many vested interests.

So they wanted to build an alternative. Shikamaru was proposing a new shaft running the length of the Hub with its own ladders and elevators. The shafts would be loaded with monitoring systems and manned by security personnel; they were calling it the Jizenkai Security Service or JSS.

Parts of Sublevel C would also be secured and patrolled by the JSS. They were, in this initial phase, the hospice, the orphanage, a new dock and corridors leading from the base of the new shaft to both. Both hospice and orphanage were in parts of Sublevel C that had previously been abandoned. No Scavenger areas were affected.

It was a fine plan; Shikamaru was proud of it.


Planning was easy. Implementing would be harder. Firstly they had to persuade the Jizenkai trustees that the project was not over ambitious. Then they had to make it attractive to the Committee. Finally they would need to sell the idea to enough of Tarrasade’s numerous interest groups.


The proposal was that it would be funded and built by Jizenkai in return for a lease that had no time limit but strict operating conditions. If the operating conditions were broken, the lease would be voided and control would pass to the Committee.

“I anticipate one major problem,” Sasuke stated.

Shikamaru’s heart fell; it was very late to be identifying problems that could be described as major.

“I think the Committee will insist on knowing where the credit is coming from,” Sasuke informed them. “Saying it is from Jizenkai will not be good enough, they will want to know who donated it. The truth is that Shika is donating it and that will be unacceptable to them because of Shika’s link to Uchiha. We can lie, say it is Chaaruzu-san, but if that deceit is uncovered then the Committee might say that the terms of the lease are invalid.”

There was silence. Shikamaru had not thought that the Committee would care who had donated the necessary credit. Then again, his grasp of Tarrasade politics was limited; it all seemed so petty.

Naruto’s whiskers twitched. “Ask Klennethon Darrent to donate the funds,” he proposed, “on condition that they call it after him. They’ll believe that. Shi-chan can pay him back.”

Shikamaru blinked. The thought of asking Klenn to be the front man for one of his schemes made him squirm. Klenn was obsessed with privacy.

“Good idea,” Sasuke agreed. “We could add an art gallery and concert hall at the bottom, below Sublevel C. That would make it even more believable that Klennethon Darrent was funding it.”

“It might work,” Neji acknowledged. “Everyone knows that Klennethon Darrent is phenomenally rich and, unlike Chaaruzu-san, he is undisputedly real.”

All three of them were looking at him.

“It would be best if you persuaded him before this afternoon’s meeting,” Naruto added.

With that time-scale, Shikamaru would have to ask outright by live video link. Klenn might say yes, he might say no or he might stipulate conditions. Shikamaru’s imagination went into overdrive suggesting what those conditions might be.

“It isn’t as if you are asking him for credit,” Sasuke argued. “Can anyone think of another solution?”

They couldn’t.

“He can always say no,” Naruto reminded him.


A horribly short time afterwards he was alone in Iruka’s office on one end of a live link waiting to see if Klenn was available at the other. He was. Shikamaru almost wished he wasn’t.

“Shika,” he acknowledged. “I hope this isn’t you calling off our meeting this evening.”

Shikamaru had been looking forward to telling Klenn all about their plans for Sublevel C during whatever game they chose to play after dinner. Instead he had to do it now, under circumstances he would have liked to avoid.

“No, Neji and I still intend to be there,” he assured him. There was no good way of doing it. “We need a favour,” he admitted.

He explained, making it absolutely clear that they only needed Klenn to pretend to donate the funds, not to actually do it. Klenn listened.

Finally he stuttered to a stop. Klenn did not look happy.

“Shika, do you think I would want to take credit for a donation I did not make?”

Shikamaru had not thought of that. He felt himself flushing. “I haven’t had time to think,” he admitted. “The presentation to the trustees is this afternoon and Na-chan only thought of asking you this morning.”

Klenn’s expression lightened, which was good. “What if I agreed to do it for a kiss?” he asked.

Shikamaru panicked. It was one of the crazy scenarios that had been bouncing around his head. He broke the link and sat there, staring at the place where Klenn’s image had been. His heart was pounding in his chest.


They were friends. Klenn had not made a pass at him since that night in the garden on Elessen. Why had he imagined Klenn asking for sexual favours? Worse, why had Klenn mentioned a kiss?

What would Sasuke do if he found out? Order him to end the friendship? What about Neji? Did imagining Klenn asking for a kiss, or more, constitute infidelity?

His palms began to sweat. He would never cope with Sumiko without Neji.

Thinking like that made it even worse. Neji was his lover. Surely he stayed with Neji because he loved him, not because of Sumiko?


The intercom clicked. “Shino here. Shika-san, do you want me to re-establish the link?”

Shikamaru could not find the intercom button on Iruka’s desk. He went over to the intercom near the door. “Shikamaru here. No thank you, Shino-san.”

He was already at the door so he went through it.

Where was he going? He did not know. He knew he did not want to speak to anyone.

Had he damaged his friendship with Klenn? He had asked Klenn for help that he had known Klenn would not want to give. He had mucked up asking. He had broken the link. He had refused to talk when Klenn had called him back.

Sexual undertones or not, the friendship was important to him. There were so many things that only Klenn understood.


He yearned for his birch wood but that was on the Oak and Sasuke would throw a fit if he went to the park without an escort before it was properly secured.

He went to the laboratory instead. He pulled on his control gloves, put in his earpieces and donned his goggles. He would lose himself in the data streams.

Sometimes they still felt like home.


He did not know how long he had been there when he felt fingers stroking his arm. He knew it was Naruto. Shikamaru wished he had taken a sed because then he would be so deeply asleep that he would have an excuse for ignoring it. He reluctantly lifted his goggles.

Naruto’s glorious blue eyes were studying him. His whiskers were drooping. Shikamaru did not need to be an expert to read his lips.

“I am sorry,” he was saying.

Shikamaru removed his earpieces.

“We pushed you into doing something you did not want to do,” Naruto acknowledged. His fingers continued to stroke Shikamaru’s arm. Despite everything, it was soothing.

“I shouldn’t have asked him,” Shikamaru confirmed.

Naruto smiled. “It is all sorted.”

Shikamaru was confused. He had ruined his friendship with Klenn. How could that be sorted?

“Klennethon Darrent is going to give Jizenkai a big enough donation to cover building the shaft,” Naruto explained. “Jizenkai, you, will fund the development in Sublevel C and the running costs of the JSS. Darrent-san will also propose the building of the art gallery and concert hall, which he will fund directly. Better still, he and Neji are going to see the trustees this afternoon. That’s why I’m here rather than Neji. Neji is with him, preparing.”

Shikamaru was struggling to catch up. “Neji went over to Klenn’s apartment?” he asked; he knew that Klenn had an apartment in Prime.

“No, Klennethon Darrent is here,” Naruto informed him. “He must have been on his way within minutes of you refusing to reconnect the call. Not that Sasuke will agree to him seeing you. He said that he had upset you. Sasuke’s not at all happy about that.”

Shikamaru tried to think through their conversation. It was difficult to remember the details; he had been so flustered and uncomfortable. Had Klenn asked him for a kiss? No, Klenn had asked him what he would do if he asked for a kiss.

Perhaps Klenn had been teasing him. Maybe it had been a joke. Even if not, he could pretend it was.

“I upset myself,” he insisted. “You know how I am lately.”

Naruto frowned slightly. His whiskers twitched. “Good luck persuading Sasuke of that.”


It was difficult, but Shikamaru managed it. By the time Neji was back from meeting with the trustees, Shikamaru had convinced Sasuke that he and Neji should keep their dinner appointment.

Neji described how bowled over the trustees had been to meet Klennethon Darrent; they had accepted the proposal wholesale.


He went in to give Sumiko a kiss before they left.

“Nii-san pretty,” she observed.

He had on one of his Hunundau store outfits. “Thank you, Su-chan. Now, do you promise to be good for Choza-san?” he asked. Choza had offered to babysit and it had seemed a better option than a sleepover.

“Fill Nii-san’s closet with these clothes,” she suggested, tugging his jacket.

“It’s a bit fancy for every day,” Shikamaru argued. “Su-chan, promise me you will be good for Choza-san.”

She scowled at him. “Sumiko try,” she conceded.

He knew he would have to settle for that.


He found himself reluctant to exit the shuttle and enter the private dining room. Once he had done so he began to relax. The view was so amazing and everything about the room was so right.

Klenn said nothing about their earlier conversation. They traded mind teasers during the meal and looked at a new puzzle Klenn had found over coffee. Then they settled to a game of Shogi while Garner Parrad and Neji played cards.

“I misjudged it,” Klenn said finally as he moved a piece. “I apologise. I promise it will not happen again.”

Shikamaru felt himself flush again. “I overreacted,” he admitted as he made his move. “I also apologise.”

“Friends,” Klenn proposed.

“Friends,” Shikamaru confirmed and the last of the tension drained away.

---

Klennethon Darrent pretended to be concentrating on the board when he was actually studying Shika. He would lose the game because of it but it was only Shogi.

Unlike what he had risked losing earlier in the day.

He had asked his question and received his answer. Shika was as vulnerable to a pass as he had been eight standards ago; perhaps even more so. However, he would bolt at the slightest suggestion of introducing a sexual aspect into their friendship.


He was annoyed at himself for underestimating Neji. Neji had been there when Shikamaru had shown him around the park, excitedly pointing out each tree and talking about the birds they intended to introduce.

Neji was a Hyuga. He had seen and noted every hint of teasing; every minute nudge Klennethon Darrent had been using to explore Shika’s feelings for him. He had been able describe each one during the few minutes of frank discussion that had occurred before they began preparing for the presentation.

“You think the worse thing I can do is tell Shika that you have been seducing him,” Neji had told him. “It isn’t. Shika would forgive you. I could tell Sasuke-sama and Naruto-san. You would never see Shika again. You would be lucky if Sasuke-sama did not forbid Shika from corresponding with you.”

He had known it was not an empty threat. Neji could and would do it.

“I don’t want to do that,” Neji had continued. “I realise that you had to try. It is the way you are built. You are driven to possess. It is astonishing that you have held off for so long. Also, I acknowledge that Shika needs you. But he needs you as a friend, not as a lover. I am the lover he needs. I am supportive and undemanding. I know both how much and how little I am to him. I understand that it is an honour and a privilege. If the time comes for me to step aside I shall know it. It is not now. You would damage him badly, Darrent-san. You know this.”

Klennethon Darrent had accepted the reprimand. He had deserved it.

He had tried to make up for his selfishness by charming the trustees into accepting the proposal. It had been easy.


He studied the young man opposite him. If he had been a century younger he would not have been able to resist. He wasn’t. He had a trail of ruined relationships behind him. He was dying. Shika deserved better.

They were friends.

It was an honour and a privilege.

---