Iteration
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,670
Reviews:
1203
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,670
Reviews:
1203
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.
Setback
I deleted a review and posted this early to apologise. Luckily the reviewer, jackie, saw my message. Thank you.
‘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’.
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 who are expecting Naruto/Sasuke or Sasuke/Naruto every chapter.
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
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 who have left a review. I truly appreciate them (even if I deleted one by mistake). Thanks to jackie, Nivell, the horseman of death, v, meow-ku, unneeded and disembodiedvoiceofthedying for leaving reviews for chapter 31.
Chapter thirty-two: Setback
Inari had been meeting, greeting, reassuring and directing evacuees for what seemed like forever. It had even gone on throughout the fighting in the spacer quarter. He had been desperate to be one of those closing their helmets for battle or, failing that, at least to listen intently to the radio exchanges. Instead he had been meeting, greeting, reassuring and directing.
He had found himself suppressing a pang of jealousy when Sasuke-sama had put Konohamaru in command of a squad.
“You are very good at this, Inari-san,” Shibito told him when there was a lull. “Particularly for someone so young.”
Inari was not sure how to respond. He settled for politeness, as he so often did. “Thank you, Shibito-san.”
Then unexpectedly, a click announced that his earpiece had been activated by an incoming message. “Inari, Tayuya, Shizune, this is Sasuke. The borders between the residential sector and the spacer quarter have been closed. Do not send any more hybrids through because there is nowhere for them to go. Tell the locals that we will try to resume the evacuation tomorrow and ask them to relay that message to would-be evacuees.
“The following is a direct order. You are to make your way to the upper levels of the residential sector and to the private dock where the Silver Leaf is moored. You are to go now. You will meet on Inari’s level, at the place we defined in the briefing as meeting point 6 and then proceed together.
“Acknowledge please.”
Shizune just beat him to it. “This is Shizune. On my way to meeting point 6.”
Inari was impressed at her unquestioning response. “This is Inari. I will fill Shibito-san in and be on my way.”
There was silence. Inari’s heart beat faster. Where was Tayuya?
“Tayuya here. I am on my way. One of the locals is guiding me.”
The hybrids who had been helping them promised to stay and talk to those they would have to turn away. Inari shared what little information he had with Shibito on their way to the junction that Shikamaru had defined as meeting point 6. Once they were there, Inari insisted that Shibito go ahead.
“Best you are not seen with us anyway,” he suggested.
“True,” Shibito admitted and started along the corridor towards the doorway that separated the uppermost of the lower levels from the lowest of the upper.
Inari watched him go. Shibito had just stepped across the threshold when a light above the doorway started flashing. He turned back and gestured frantically to Inari.
“It’s closing,” Shibito called. “You can make it. Run!”
Inari did not even move. He shook his head and Shibito nodded.
There was no way Inari was leaving without Tayuya.
Tayuya had to focus as she jogged behind her hybrid guide, who was both quick and knew where he was going.
Her earpiece clicked. “Inari here. They just closed the door to the lower levels.”
She almost stumbled and came to a halt. Her guide stopped some way ahead and looked back to her questioningly.
“This is Shikamaru. Seal your helmets. I repeat, seal your helmets.”
“That is an order,” Sasuke added.
She raised and closed her helmet, feeling bad about doing so because of the puzzled expression on her guide’s face.
Then he keeled over. As did all the other people in the corridor.
All Tayuya could hear was her own breathing. All she could feel was the beat of her heart.
“Tayuya?”
She was so pleased to hear his voice. “Inari?”
“Inari reporting, Sasuke-sama,” he added.
It was a timely reminder that the channel was shared. “Tayuya reporting, Sasuke-sama.”
“Shizune reporting, Sasuke-sama. The people around me are unconscious. The one I am observing is breathing and has a pulse, at least for now.”
After a short discussion, they decided to rendezvous at the assembly point. Shizune said that Kotohime and Denka had a plan to deal with any interruption in the air supply.
Tayuya was closest to the junction from which the corridor led to the assembly point. She waited.
Shizune reached it next. She smiled and walked on. Tayuya flushed, embarrassed that Shizune not only knew she was waiting for Inari but realised that she wanted to be alone with him.
She could not hear his footsteps because of her helmet, but she fancied she felt them through the floor. Then, finally, he rounded the corner.
She did not go to him, she had more pride than that. Instead she waited for him to join her. They said nothing, but as they walked along the corridor his hand sought hers and she did not pull away.
Sasuke relaxed one notch each time one of his three people reported; Inari, Tayuya and then Shizune. They were, at least temporarily, safe. He agreed with their plan to go to the assembly point but Shikamaru was uncharacteristically silent.
“Shika-san?” he queried.
“This is Neji,” Neji’s voice sounded strained. “Shika pulled off his earpiece and microphone and left the room. Shall I go after him?”
Sasuke’s gut clenched. “Yes please, Neji. I understand why he is upset but I need him back. Kakashi-sensei, are you there?”
“I am here, Sasuke-sama. Neji has followed Shikamaru. You say you understand why he walked out?”
“Can you switch us to the private channel?” Sasuke asked.
There was a short silence at the other end.
“Our conversation is private,” Kakashi informed him.
“He wanted to take control of the doors and the air pumps,” Sasuke admitted. “I said no.”
“You have principles,” Kakashi acknowledged. “That is a good thing. He could have made it look like a malfunction.”
Sasuke stiffened. “I know that. Principles are principles, Kakashi-san. They are essential, not cosmetic. They are not discarded when they become inconvenient.” He knew he sounded pompous. He knew he would hate himself if Shizune, Tayuya and Inari died. He knew he would have nightmares if thousands of hybrids he could have rescued perished.
To his surprise Kakashi chuckled. “And I wondered if you had your father’s steel,” he observed.
Sasuke did not wish to be compared to his father.
“I am switching back to the shared channel,” Kakashi told him and Sasuke wondered why until he heard Shikamaru’s voice.
“I apologise, Sasuke-sama. Sakura-san is still in contact with the couriers. I will ask her to find out what is happening in the upper levels. Once Inari, Tayuya and Shizune have assessed the situation at the assembly point we can begin coming up with an alternative plan.”
“Thank you, Shikamaru-san. I apologise for putting you under such pressure. Neji, are the three of you eating and are you limiting the amount of coffee Shika-san and Kakashi-sensei are drinking?”
“Iruka-san is looking after us,” Neji replied. “I may suggest that he joins us for the rest of the afternoon. I also suggest that you have someone with you, perhaps Naruto or Asuma-san?”
Sasuke flinched at the thought of telling Naruto that they had been forced to abort the evacuation and that they had crew members cut off and in danger.
“I shall do that, Neji-san,” he replied.
Sickler and Chamu happened to be on the better of the two sides when the emergency shutters came down across the duct. Sickler was still for a moment, staring at the blank surface of the shutter, his heart racing. The ducting wove between what residents thought of as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’. It was a fluke that they were in a part that served the upper levels.
“Can we still get to the meeting point?” Chamu asked.
They had been telling groups to go to one of the maintenance tunnels in the spacer quarter.
Sickler thought so. He nodded.
“Good,” Chamu observed. He scowled at Sickler. “There are two more groups whose territories are on this side,” he stated.
Most of the feral groups lived in the ducts and tunnels that served the upper levels; it was easier to scrounge there.
“Now,” Chamu ordered.
Sickler set off. He would need to alter the route he had planned and report to Naruto-san but he could do both on the move.
Shibito was not surprised that Inari had refused to run for the closing doorway; he was a fine young man who would not wish to abandon his crewmates and he obviously had feelings for the young woman, Tayuya.
So it had come, the purge. He cursed the Kaiju, who had planted the bombs that had handed power to Kurotsuchi. He was pleased that thousands of the hybrids were safe. He wondered how Kurotsuchi planned to kill the remaining hybrids without hurting the tens of thousands of purebreds who lived in the lower levels.
He jumped as the public address system came to life. One of the people he was passing muttered, “I wish she would shut up,” and Shibito guessed that it must have been operating earlier in the day, just not in the lower levels.
“This is your mayor, Kurotsuchi. In the interests of public safety, traffic between the lower and the upper levels has been restricted. This is to assist the security forces in their bid to bring the terrorists to justice.
“In an emergency such as this our security personnel need augmenting. We will be deputising all young, purebred men between eighteen and twenty-five standards. If you are within this age range you are required to report to the nearest of the following locations.”
She started naming locations. One of them was the market place outside the bar that used to be his. Shibito began walking in that direction.
Most of the couriers Angela-san, or Sakura-san as they called her, had hired were still in the bar when Shibito arrived; apparently they were hired until curfew. One of the dispatchers, both of whom were well over the twenty-five standard upper limit Kurotsuchi had specified, pulled out a chair for him as soon as he entered.
“Most of them are under twenty-five. They should report, yes?” he checked.
“Unless they want to get arrested,” Shibito confirmed. He looked at the fancy, compact radio. “Are you still in contact with them?”
The man nodded. “And with Sakura-san,” he admitted. He took off his combined earpiece and microphone and handed it to Shibito. “Channel one is the couriers. Channel two is Sakura-san.”
Shibito switched to channel two. “This is Shibito. May I speak with Sakura-san?”
Naruto was back from visiting the spurs and had checked that Kamatari was coping with the group in the guest crew room. While Naruto could see that Iruka-sensei, or Haku, or even Ibiki would struggle to accept the children’s priorities and standards, he had told Kamatari to be tolerant and concentrate on keeping them safe and contented.
He was on his way to check on Sasuke when Sickler’s voice sounded from his earpiece.
“Naruto-san?”
“I am here, Sickler-kun,” Naruto answered.
“They have divided the lower from the upper levels, even the services, Chamu and I were on the upper side. They have also closed the main corridors between the spacer quarter and the upper levels. We have spoken to three groups and we are looking for two more. Chamu thinks that the other two groups will be on the other side of the shutters.”
Naruto speeded up. Did Sasuke know that the lower levels had been cut off?
“Are you sure that you and Chamu can get back?” Naruto asked.
“I think so,” Sickler answered. “We don’t think they have divided the services between the spacer quarter and the upper levels.”
“If there is a problem, come back to me. If necessary, I shall come and get you,” Naruto promised.
“Thank you, Naruto-san.” Sickler sounded relieved.
“Look after Chamu,” Naruto added.
“I think it’s the other way around,” Sickler admitted and then there was the small click of an earpiece being deactivated.
Naruto arrived at Sasuke’s office to find him calling Itachi, Kisame, Dan, Gai, Ibiki and Anko in from the field, leaving Tenten and Tatsuji to supervise one spur and Konohamaru and Kunugi the other.
“They have shut all traffic between the residential sector and the spacer quarter and they have sealed and gassed the lower levels,” Sasuke told him.
Naruto imagined Sickler and Chamu gassed. Then he imagined all the remaining hybrids gassed. Then he imagined Inari, Tayuya, and Shizune gassed. He felt sick.
“What type of gas?” he whispered.
Sasuke looked guilty for not being gentler and Naruto felt bad for making him think that way; he had to be strong for Sasuke, not needy.
“We aren’t sure yet,” Sasuke admitted. Inari, Tayuya and Shizune are still in the lower levels but they closed their helmets and are unaffected. Have you heard from Sickler and the feral lad?”
“Chamu,” Naruto reminded him. “Yes. They were in the service tunnels for the upper levels. They think they can bring all but two of the groups in. Those two are trapped in the lower levels.”
“The sooner they are in the Oak the better,” Sasuke observed. “We are going to have a debriefing now followed by a strategy meeting. I need you there for the debriefing, even if we decide that you can only attend the strategy meeting over a link.”
Naruto wanted to be there for both; he wanted to be there for Sasuke.
Denka had tried telling Shizune-san that she would be better off staying with them, but she had been determined to follow Uchiha-sama’s orders. He had watched her leave, hoping that she would be quick to close her helmet if Kurotsuchi went to the next stage and released the soporific via the air conditioning.
Sure enough, the sensors they had set up tripped the alarms only minutes after she left. Key personnel were masked and active immediately. Within five minutes they were isolated and their air was being purified by the scrubbers on the shuttles.
He was not surprised when Hina told him that the camera they had rigged in one of the corridors showed Shizune-san beyond the sealed door, or that Inari-san and Tayuya soon joined her there.
Denka looked at the speaker attached to the communication equipment that Itachi-san had installed. Sure enough, it clicked and then crackled.
“Denka-san? This is Inari. We are guessing that the closed door is a good sign.”
“Denka here. Yes, Inari-san. We anticipated this situation. Unfortunately, we do not have air locks for you to use to join us.”
“That is fine. We are just glad you are well. We have our suits and therefore time to consider possible solutions. We are in contact with our crew as, of course, you can be via the communication equipment we left you. We must report in now so I must terminate our conversation for now.”
“Of course, Inari-san,” Denka replied. Then the speaker clicked and the crackle ceased. Denka sighed. Inari-san was such a pleasant young man and Tonton had actually liked Shizune-san; he had never known her to be more than polite to any purebred other than Shibito-san. He hoped that they and Tayuya-san would find a way to safety.
Han had seen those around him fall unconscious but he was unaffected during the time it took him to pull out and don his gas mask. Perhaps the difference was because of his huge size or maybe due to his dolphin genes. He went about unpacking and applying the gas masks that the others been carrying. As he suspected, the airborne drug proved to be a soporific rather than a poison. Slowly each of them recovered consciousness.
Over the next thirty minutes they implemented his plan. The rest of the fighters were woken. Groups of Kaiju fighters, linked by runners, settled at each of the entrances to the lower levels. When the death squads entered, they would be waiting.
Only Han was no longer sure who would be in the death squads. Uchiha had, amazingly, wiped out the AHB. Reports had spread faster than a bad smell through the lower levels. Ordinary spacers had fought extraordinarily well under the leadership of Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto, rather than the pet Han had assumed him to be, was a phenomenal warrior; Han had seen some low quality video that a reporter had obtained by hiding in one of the air conditioning ducts. Perhaps worst, one of the elite purebred fighters of Old Uchiha had sacrificed his life to stop a vehicle of AHB killers from slaughtering a crowd of hybrid evacuees.
The effect of these stories was worrying. By mid morning Han had been convinced that only, at most, half the hybrids would take up Uchiha’s offer of evacuation. That changed, dramatically, once news of the battle broke. Most of the remaining hybrids had been packing when Kurotsuchi had closed the boundary between the spacer quarter and the residential sector.
Han was glad that the evacuation had been stopped. Now they were back to the familiar, with Kurotsuchi on one side and him on the other.
Only the death squads never arrived. The doors never opened. The people, hybrid and purebred, started to wake.
Han was confused.
Then there came the ominous cessation of sound.
She had shut off the air pumps. There would be no fresh oxygen. Worse, there would be no removal of carbon dioxide.
Was Kurotsuchi willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of purebreds? Han was impressed.
Unexpectedly, the silence was filled by a voice coming through ancient, badly maintained speakers.
“This is your mayor, Kurotsuchi, addressing the residents in the lower levels. There has been a malfunction of the air purification system. It has been necessary to switch it off to prevent the dissipation of the noxious substance that caused your temporary loss of consciousness. However we have a plan for combating this emergency. Make your way to the upper levels. You will be given air, food and somewhere to sleep while we resolve the situation. Do not panic. The air you have will last until tomorrow morning. We will have all residents safely into the upper levels by then.”
Han roared his fury and kicked the wall. The woman was too clever. The hybrids would either stay in the lower levels and suffocate, or they would try to leave with the purebreds and be filtered out.
Only he would not allow the purebreds to leave. The Kaiju who had been waiting for the death squads would prevent it.
With tens of thousands of purebreds as hostages, he would test Kurotsuchi’s resolution.
‘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’.
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 who are expecting Naruto/Sasuke or Sasuke/Naruto every chapter.
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
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 who have left a review. I truly appreciate them (even if I deleted one by mistake). Thanks to jackie, Nivell, the horseman of death, v, meow-ku, unneeded and disembodiedvoiceofthedying for leaving reviews for chapter 31.
Chapter thirty-two: Setback
Inari had been meeting, greeting, reassuring and directing evacuees for what seemed like forever. It had even gone on throughout the fighting in the spacer quarter. He had been desperate to be one of those closing their helmets for battle or, failing that, at least to listen intently to the radio exchanges. Instead he had been meeting, greeting, reassuring and directing.
He had found himself suppressing a pang of jealousy when Sasuke-sama had put Konohamaru in command of a squad.
“You are very good at this, Inari-san,” Shibito told him when there was a lull. “Particularly for someone so young.”
Inari was not sure how to respond. He settled for politeness, as he so often did. “Thank you, Shibito-san.”
Then unexpectedly, a click announced that his earpiece had been activated by an incoming message. “Inari, Tayuya, Shizune, this is Sasuke. The borders between the residential sector and the spacer quarter have been closed. Do not send any more hybrids through because there is nowhere for them to go. Tell the locals that we will try to resume the evacuation tomorrow and ask them to relay that message to would-be evacuees.
“The following is a direct order. You are to make your way to the upper levels of the residential sector and to the private dock where the Silver Leaf is moored. You are to go now. You will meet on Inari’s level, at the place we defined in the briefing as meeting point 6 and then proceed together.
“Acknowledge please.”
Shizune just beat him to it. “This is Shizune. On my way to meeting point 6.”
Inari was impressed at her unquestioning response. “This is Inari. I will fill Shibito-san in and be on my way.”
There was silence. Inari’s heart beat faster. Where was Tayuya?
“Tayuya here. I am on my way. One of the locals is guiding me.”
The hybrids who had been helping them promised to stay and talk to those they would have to turn away. Inari shared what little information he had with Shibito on their way to the junction that Shikamaru had defined as meeting point 6. Once they were there, Inari insisted that Shibito go ahead.
“Best you are not seen with us anyway,” he suggested.
“True,” Shibito admitted and started along the corridor towards the doorway that separated the uppermost of the lower levels from the lowest of the upper.
Inari watched him go. Shibito had just stepped across the threshold when a light above the doorway started flashing. He turned back and gestured frantically to Inari.
“It’s closing,” Shibito called. “You can make it. Run!”
Inari did not even move. He shook his head and Shibito nodded.
There was no way Inari was leaving without Tayuya.
Tayuya had to focus as she jogged behind her hybrid guide, who was both quick and knew where he was going.
Her earpiece clicked. “Inari here. They just closed the door to the lower levels.”
She almost stumbled and came to a halt. Her guide stopped some way ahead and looked back to her questioningly.
“This is Shikamaru. Seal your helmets. I repeat, seal your helmets.”
“That is an order,” Sasuke added.
She raised and closed her helmet, feeling bad about doing so because of the puzzled expression on her guide’s face.
Then he keeled over. As did all the other people in the corridor.
All Tayuya could hear was her own breathing. All she could feel was the beat of her heart.
“Tayuya?”
She was so pleased to hear his voice. “Inari?”
“Inari reporting, Sasuke-sama,” he added.
It was a timely reminder that the channel was shared. “Tayuya reporting, Sasuke-sama.”
“Shizune reporting, Sasuke-sama. The people around me are unconscious. The one I am observing is breathing and has a pulse, at least for now.”
After a short discussion, they decided to rendezvous at the assembly point. Shizune said that Kotohime and Denka had a plan to deal with any interruption in the air supply.
Tayuya was closest to the junction from which the corridor led to the assembly point. She waited.
Shizune reached it next. She smiled and walked on. Tayuya flushed, embarrassed that Shizune not only knew she was waiting for Inari but realised that she wanted to be alone with him.
She could not hear his footsteps because of her helmet, but she fancied she felt them through the floor. Then, finally, he rounded the corner.
She did not go to him, she had more pride than that. Instead she waited for him to join her. They said nothing, but as they walked along the corridor his hand sought hers and she did not pull away.
Sasuke relaxed one notch each time one of his three people reported; Inari, Tayuya and then Shizune. They were, at least temporarily, safe. He agreed with their plan to go to the assembly point but Shikamaru was uncharacteristically silent.
“Shika-san?” he queried.
“This is Neji,” Neji’s voice sounded strained. “Shika pulled off his earpiece and microphone and left the room. Shall I go after him?”
Sasuke’s gut clenched. “Yes please, Neji. I understand why he is upset but I need him back. Kakashi-sensei, are you there?”
“I am here, Sasuke-sama. Neji has followed Shikamaru. You say you understand why he walked out?”
“Can you switch us to the private channel?” Sasuke asked.
There was a short silence at the other end.
“Our conversation is private,” Kakashi informed him.
“He wanted to take control of the doors and the air pumps,” Sasuke admitted. “I said no.”
“You have principles,” Kakashi acknowledged. “That is a good thing. He could have made it look like a malfunction.”
Sasuke stiffened. “I know that. Principles are principles, Kakashi-san. They are essential, not cosmetic. They are not discarded when they become inconvenient.” He knew he sounded pompous. He knew he would hate himself if Shizune, Tayuya and Inari died. He knew he would have nightmares if thousands of hybrids he could have rescued perished.
To his surprise Kakashi chuckled. “And I wondered if you had your father’s steel,” he observed.
Sasuke did not wish to be compared to his father.
“I am switching back to the shared channel,” Kakashi told him and Sasuke wondered why until he heard Shikamaru’s voice.
“I apologise, Sasuke-sama. Sakura-san is still in contact with the couriers. I will ask her to find out what is happening in the upper levels. Once Inari, Tayuya and Shizune have assessed the situation at the assembly point we can begin coming up with an alternative plan.”
“Thank you, Shikamaru-san. I apologise for putting you under such pressure. Neji, are the three of you eating and are you limiting the amount of coffee Shika-san and Kakashi-sensei are drinking?”
“Iruka-san is looking after us,” Neji replied. “I may suggest that he joins us for the rest of the afternoon. I also suggest that you have someone with you, perhaps Naruto or Asuma-san?”
Sasuke flinched at the thought of telling Naruto that they had been forced to abort the evacuation and that they had crew members cut off and in danger.
“I shall do that, Neji-san,” he replied.
Sickler and Chamu happened to be on the better of the two sides when the emergency shutters came down across the duct. Sickler was still for a moment, staring at the blank surface of the shutter, his heart racing. The ducting wove between what residents thought of as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’. It was a fluke that they were in a part that served the upper levels.
“Can we still get to the meeting point?” Chamu asked.
They had been telling groups to go to one of the maintenance tunnels in the spacer quarter.
Sickler thought so. He nodded.
“Good,” Chamu observed. He scowled at Sickler. “There are two more groups whose territories are on this side,” he stated.
Most of the feral groups lived in the ducts and tunnels that served the upper levels; it was easier to scrounge there.
“Now,” Chamu ordered.
Sickler set off. He would need to alter the route he had planned and report to Naruto-san but he could do both on the move.
Shibito was not surprised that Inari had refused to run for the closing doorway; he was a fine young man who would not wish to abandon his crewmates and he obviously had feelings for the young woman, Tayuya.
So it had come, the purge. He cursed the Kaiju, who had planted the bombs that had handed power to Kurotsuchi. He was pleased that thousands of the hybrids were safe. He wondered how Kurotsuchi planned to kill the remaining hybrids without hurting the tens of thousands of purebreds who lived in the lower levels.
He jumped as the public address system came to life. One of the people he was passing muttered, “I wish she would shut up,” and Shibito guessed that it must have been operating earlier in the day, just not in the lower levels.
“This is your mayor, Kurotsuchi. In the interests of public safety, traffic between the lower and the upper levels has been restricted. This is to assist the security forces in their bid to bring the terrorists to justice.
“In an emergency such as this our security personnel need augmenting. We will be deputising all young, purebred men between eighteen and twenty-five standards. If you are within this age range you are required to report to the nearest of the following locations.”
She started naming locations. One of them was the market place outside the bar that used to be his. Shibito began walking in that direction.
Most of the couriers Angela-san, or Sakura-san as they called her, had hired were still in the bar when Shibito arrived; apparently they were hired until curfew. One of the dispatchers, both of whom were well over the twenty-five standard upper limit Kurotsuchi had specified, pulled out a chair for him as soon as he entered.
“Most of them are under twenty-five. They should report, yes?” he checked.
“Unless they want to get arrested,” Shibito confirmed. He looked at the fancy, compact radio. “Are you still in contact with them?”
The man nodded. “And with Sakura-san,” he admitted. He took off his combined earpiece and microphone and handed it to Shibito. “Channel one is the couriers. Channel two is Sakura-san.”
Shibito switched to channel two. “This is Shibito. May I speak with Sakura-san?”
Naruto was back from visiting the spurs and had checked that Kamatari was coping with the group in the guest crew room. While Naruto could see that Iruka-sensei, or Haku, or even Ibiki would struggle to accept the children’s priorities and standards, he had told Kamatari to be tolerant and concentrate on keeping them safe and contented.
He was on his way to check on Sasuke when Sickler’s voice sounded from his earpiece.
“Naruto-san?”
“I am here, Sickler-kun,” Naruto answered.
“They have divided the lower from the upper levels, even the services, Chamu and I were on the upper side. They have also closed the main corridors between the spacer quarter and the upper levels. We have spoken to three groups and we are looking for two more. Chamu thinks that the other two groups will be on the other side of the shutters.”
Naruto speeded up. Did Sasuke know that the lower levels had been cut off?
“Are you sure that you and Chamu can get back?” Naruto asked.
“I think so,” Sickler answered. “We don’t think they have divided the services between the spacer quarter and the upper levels.”
“If there is a problem, come back to me. If necessary, I shall come and get you,” Naruto promised.
“Thank you, Naruto-san.” Sickler sounded relieved.
“Look after Chamu,” Naruto added.
“I think it’s the other way around,” Sickler admitted and then there was the small click of an earpiece being deactivated.
Naruto arrived at Sasuke’s office to find him calling Itachi, Kisame, Dan, Gai, Ibiki and Anko in from the field, leaving Tenten and Tatsuji to supervise one spur and Konohamaru and Kunugi the other.
“They have shut all traffic between the residential sector and the spacer quarter and they have sealed and gassed the lower levels,” Sasuke told him.
Naruto imagined Sickler and Chamu gassed. Then he imagined all the remaining hybrids gassed. Then he imagined Inari, Tayuya, and Shizune gassed. He felt sick.
“What type of gas?” he whispered.
Sasuke looked guilty for not being gentler and Naruto felt bad for making him think that way; he had to be strong for Sasuke, not needy.
“We aren’t sure yet,” Sasuke admitted. Inari, Tayuya and Shizune are still in the lower levels but they closed their helmets and are unaffected. Have you heard from Sickler and the feral lad?”
“Chamu,” Naruto reminded him. “Yes. They were in the service tunnels for the upper levels. They think they can bring all but two of the groups in. Those two are trapped in the lower levels.”
“The sooner they are in the Oak the better,” Sasuke observed. “We are going to have a debriefing now followed by a strategy meeting. I need you there for the debriefing, even if we decide that you can only attend the strategy meeting over a link.”
Naruto wanted to be there for both; he wanted to be there for Sasuke.
Denka had tried telling Shizune-san that she would be better off staying with them, but she had been determined to follow Uchiha-sama’s orders. He had watched her leave, hoping that she would be quick to close her helmet if Kurotsuchi went to the next stage and released the soporific via the air conditioning.
Sure enough, the sensors they had set up tripped the alarms only minutes after she left. Key personnel were masked and active immediately. Within five minutes they were isolated and their air was being purified by the scrubbers on the shuttles.
He was not surprised when Hina told him that the camera they had rigged in one of the corridors showed Shizune-san beyond the sealed door, or that Inari-san and Tayuya soon joined her there.
Denka looked at the speaker attached to the communication equipment that Itachi-san had installed. Sure enough, it clicked and then crackled.
“Denka-san? This is Inari. We are guessing that the closed door is a good sign.”
“Denka here. Yes, Inari-san. We anticipated this situation. Unfortunately, we do not have air locks for you to use to join us.”
“That is fine. We are just glad you are well. We have our suits and therefore time to consider possible solutions. We are in contact with our crew as, of course, you can be via the communication equipment we left you. We must report in now so I must terminate our conversation for now.”
“Of course, Inari-san,” Denka replied. Then the speaker clicked and the crackle ceased. Denka sighed. Inari-san was such a pleasant young man and Tonton had actually liked Shizune-san; he had never known her to be more than polite to any purebred other than Shibito-san. He hoped that they and Tayuya-san would find a way to safety.
Han had seen those around him fall unconscious but he was unaffected during the time it took him to pull out and don his gas mask. Perhaps the difference was because of his huge size or maybe due to his dolphin genes. He went about unpacking and applying the gas masks that the others been carrying. As he suspected, the airborne drug proved to be a soporific rather than a poison. Slowly each of them recovered consciousness.
Over the next thirty minutes they implemented his plan. The rest of the fighters were woken. Groups of Kaiju fighters, linked by runners, settled at each of the entrances to the lower levels. When the death squads entered, they would be waiting.
Only Han was no longer sure who would be in the death squads. Uchiha had, amazingly, wiped out the AHB. Reports had spread faster than a bad smell through the lower levels. Ordinary spacers had fought extraordinarily well under the leadership of Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto, rather than the pet Han had assumed him to be, was a phenomenal warrior; Han had seen some low quality video that a reporter had obtained by hiding in one of the air conditioning ducts. Perhaps worst, one of the elite purebred fighters of Old Uchiha had sacrificed his life to stop a vehicle of AHB killers from slaughtering a crowd of hybrid evacuees.
The effect of these stories was worrying. By mid morning Han had been convinced that only, at most, half the hybrids would take up Uchiha’s offer of evacuation. That changed, dramatically, once news of the battle broke. Most of the remaining hybrids had been packing when Kurotsuchi had closed the boundary between the spacer quarter and the residential sector.
Han was glad that the evacuation had been stopped. Now they were back to the familiar, with Kurotsuchi on one side and him on the other.
Only the death squads never arrived. The doors never opened. The people, hybrid and purebred, started to wake.
Han was confused.
Then there came the ominous cessation of sound.
She had shut off the air pumps. There would be no fresh oxygen. Worse, there would be no removal of carbon dioxide.
Was Kurotsuchi willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of purebreds? Han was impressed.
Unexpectedly, the silence was filled by a voice coming through ancient, badly maintained speakers.
“This is your mayor, Kurotsuchi, addressing the residents in the lower levels. There has been a malfunction of the air purification system. It has been necessary to switch it off to prevent the dissipation of the noxious substance that caused your temporary loss of consciousness. However we have a plan for combating this emergency. Make your way to the upper levels. You will be given air, food and somewhere to sleep while we resolve the situation. Do not panic. The air you have will last until tomorrow morning. We will have all residents safely into the upper levels by then.”
Han roared his fury and kicked the wall. The woman was too clever. The hybrids would either stay in the lower levels and suffocate, or they would try to leave with the purebreds and be filtered out.
Only he would not allow the purebreds to leave. The Kaiju who had been waiting for the death squads would prevent it.
With tens of thousands of purebreds as hostages, he would test Kurotsuchi’s resolution.