Iteration
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Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
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Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,676
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.
Justice
‘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, especially Disembodiedvoiceofthedying, v, The Horseman of Death, meow-ku, Prism0467, sadie237, richon and Moonmore who reviewed chapter 37. I value every one and they help me keep writing.
Chapter thirty-eight: Justice
Sumashi checked his appearance and opened the outer door of his apartment. His ‘bodyguard’ was immediately outside. Each of the mayor’s advisors had been assigned one; ostensively for their protection but, in reality, to make sure they did not speak to anyone of whom Kurotsuchi disapproved or, worse, make a dash for the spacer quarter.
For the first time in his life Sumashi was glad that he had not found anyone to share his life with; he had seen the haunted looks on the faces of the advisors who had partners and children.
Had it really only been only three days since they had reopened the doors to the lower levels?
There was more ‘Ebisu is innocent’ graffiti, including a new cartoon showing the now familiar skinny figure with a blank face on which the word ‘you’ was written. Two workers were scrubbing it off the metal wall but they were working from the feet up and not being particularly quick about it.
He, like many other prominent residents, had received a tape purporting to show the murder of which Ebisu had been accused. It showed thugs, career criminals, killing the trio from station security and dragging them into Ebisu’s apartment. He had not mentioned the tape to Kurotsuchi but he was sure she knew of it.
He was shown directly into Kurotsuchi’s office. She was wearing an even more expensive suit and a pair of shoes that probably represented Sumashi’s income for a div. Given that the Hunundau store had been destroyed in the bombing, Sumashi did not like to think about where she was getting them.
“The trial has been moved forward,” she told him without preamble. “It will start tomorrow.”
Sumashi quashed a shudder. Those poor people; they did not have a chance.
“We will start with this Ebisu. You will prosecute,” she told him.
He almost did not react fast enough, but dealing with Kurotsuchi day after day had sharpened his wits.
“Very well,” he agreed. “Who will defend?” he asked.
“Defend?” she queried.
“No point having a trial if you aren’t going to do it properly,” he reminded her. “That means a defence and a judge.”
“I have a judge,” she told him with a smile. “Taiseki. He has a granddaughter of whom he is particularly fond.”
Sumashi started suggesting defence lawyers, each less controllable than the last.
She cut him off. “Maybe you should defend. Kakko can prosecute. He always wants to win.”
Kakko was the public prosecutor. He was ruthless, but he operated within the rules. Sumashi could use that.
“If you are sure,” Sumashi demurred as if it had not been his idea in the first place. “It might look better,” he agreed, making sure he did not sound too enthusiastic. He had to ask. “What about the hybrids?” he queried.
“You do not try animals,” Kurotsuchi sneered. “They will be put down before the purebreds are executed. It will increase the impact.”
So much for a fair trial; Kurotsuchi was already planning the execution.
Sickler had asked Shino-san to provide him with a feed from the local media channels. He watched and listened via a tablet in his room.
That morning they announced a trial. They showed five people; Ebisu was one. He was going to be tried first and they concentrated on him.
He was charged with murdering members of the station security, being an active supporter of the Kaiju and not controlling his hybrid. They showed the picture of Sickler from his permit and said that he was a member of the Kaiju. Then they interviewed some ‘experts’. One talked about the corrupting influence of ‘inappropriate’ relationships between purebreds and hybrids. The other showed example after example of apparently innocuous individuals who had been shown to be mass murders.
Then they said that ‘subversive elements’ had fabricated video that blamed the murders on ‘upstanding residents’ with no links to terrorists. They showed the video with the faces of the murderers blurred. Then three ‘experts’ showed all the ways you could tell that the images were not genuine.
By the time they finished Sickler was convinced that the evidence he had risked his life to retrieve was useless.
Sickler had been encouraged by what Shikamaru-san had done. Even the thought of a trial had made him feel positive, because he knew the tape showed that Ebisu was innocent.
This was not the right way to go about a trial. The media should be neutral. They were not meant to tell lies. They were not supposed to have ‘experts’ saying that Ebisu had to be guilty because he had raised Sickler since he was a kit and looked harmless. They should not trash the evidence.
He tried to eat the breakfast Haku-san had put in front of him; Ebisu had taught him that it was polite to clear his plate when someone else had made the food for you.
Haku slipped into the chair beside him. “What’s wrong, Sickler-kun?” he asked gently.
Sickler turned the tablet towards him and played the news programme he had stored in the memory.
Haku’s lips thinned and his eyes hardened as watched and listened.
“Perhaps I should ask to talk to Sasuke-sama,” Sickler suggested.
“No,” Haku retorted. “She is not playing fair. Sasuke-sama has to obey the rules. Obeying the rules has got your Ebisu-san where he is. We tell Shikamaru and maybe Jiraiya. They will come up with a way to do something that cannot be traced back to Uchiha.”
Sickler was a little shocked but the longer he spent with Haku-san the greater respect Sickler had for his creative approach to problem solving; the way he manipulated Chamu and the other alphas was amazing.
Ebisu was tall and skinny, like the graffiti had suggested. He sat very properly at the table, almost as if he was not covered in bruises and weighed down by chains.
“Ebisu-san, I am your defence lawyer, Sumashi,” he introduced himself.
Ebisu tried to stand but the chains were too short. He settled for a small bow. “I am honoured, Sumashi-san. I only expected the duty lawyer.”
Sumashi flinched.
Ebisu sighed. “I know it looks bad. Those poor men’s bodies were found in my apartment. But I did not kill them. I did move Sickler to the spacer quarter, I am guilty of that, but I am innocent of the rest. At least Sickler is safe.”
“Maybe we can establish an alibi?” Sumashi suggested. “Not Sickler I am afraid. Even if a hybrid could give evidence, it would not be safe for him to do so. It would have to be purebreds.”
Sumashi had never felt worse as he walked away from the prison. He had given Ebisu the impression a fair trial was possible, when it was not. Even if he presented enough evidence to clear Ebisu, Judge Taiseki would find him guilty to avoid something appalling happening to his seven year old granddaughter.
He made his way to his favourite bar. The ‘bodyguard’ followed. Sumashi ordered a bottle of whisky; if he was too drunk to walk the ‘bodyguard’ could do something useful and carry him.
“Sumashi,” a deep voice said and a large man sat opposite him.
Sumashi blinked. It was Kakko.
“Kakko-san,” he acknowledged. “Have a whisky.”
Kakko took possession of the bottle but did not pour from it. “This case...” he began.
Normally Sumashi would have stopped him. It was against the rules for the prosecution and the defence to speak about the case. Instead he raised his glass in salute. “Justice is blind.”
“Not blind enough,” Kakko muttered. “We play it straight, Sumashi.”
“Might as well,” Sumashi admitted. “She’ll kill me sooner or later. Might as well be something worth dying for.” He drained his glass.
Kakko poured a conservative measure of whisky into their glasses. He raised his. “To Justice. May she be blind,” he announced.
“To Justice,” Sumashi echoed.
Sakura hoped she had not been too silly with Sasuke-sama. She had found herself so giddy that it was hard to recall much except what he had looked like and the timbre of his voice. She remembered him thanking her for her assistance and saying that she had been courageous. The fact that he openly declared his love for Naruto-san and carried pictures of his children over his heart made her feel better about having carried a torch for him for so long. Maybe, one day, she would find a man like that.
Not that there was any rush.
Her latest orders from Chaaruzu-san told her to take instructions from a man called Boselee, one of Chaaruzu-san’s deep cover operatives. She would not meet him but he was close enough for real time conversations; Sakura thought he was probably in the Warren.
Chaaruzu-san wanted the trial of the purebred accused of being Kaiju sympathisers to be real rather than a show. He wanted any innocent purebreds cleared. He wanted the blameless hybrids released. Boselee needed Sakura’s assistance in achieving these goals.
Boselee communicated through written words that appeared on a screen. The first question he asked her was what she thought of Sumashi.
Sickler felt bad about not explaining himself to Naruto-san. Naruto-san had been so kind to him and his blue eyes were filled with such honest concern.
“I very much appreciate what you have done for me and being allowed to stay as a crew guest,” Sickler told him. “But I must leave, at least for a little while.”
“You are not going to do anything stupid?” Naruto-san asked him. “Ebisu-san would not want you to do anything stupid.”
Sickler suppressed the urge to explain their plan. Haku-san had been very clear. Telling Naruto-san was a bad idea. At best it would mean that he was keeping secrets from Sasuke-sama. At worse Naruto-san would stop him.
“I shall not do anything stupid,” he promised. It would be risky and dangerous but not stupid. Stupid would be allowing Ebisu to die.
Naruto-san’s whiskers twitched. “I am expecting you to come back to us, Sickler-san,” he insisted.
Sickler nodded. “I understand, Naruto-san.”
Taiseki had always told himself that he would leave his work at the door of his apartment. Once he was inside it was about him and Natsumi. It had been that way ever since his wayward spacer son had turned up at his door with a baby and Taiseki would not change a moment of it.
This evening that was hard. Tomorrow he would pronounce an innocent man guilty. From now on each time he looked at his beloved granddaughter he would see that skinny, earnest, hardworking, naive, gullible, slightly pompous, honest man who had done nothing wrong other than protect someone he cared for.
As he would protect Natsumi.
“Jiji!” Natsumi squealed, running down the corridor towards him.
He swept her up and held her tight. She submitted for a moment and then wriggled to be put down. She took his hand and pulled him toward her room.
He started at the flyer. What was a flyer doing in his granddaughter’s room? Was it part of the threat to Natsumi’s safety?
“It talks,” she said, picking it up and thrusting it towards him.
“Taiseki-sama,” the flyer said in a tinny voice. “Please could you put in the larger of the two earpieces?”
A compartment on the flyer’s dorsal side slid open. Inside were a larger and a smaller earpiece.
Taiseki had to take a decision. He could assume it was a trick and call the security services or he could play along.
He picked up both earpieces and put the larger in his ear.
“Thank you, Taiseki-sama,” a warm female voice said. “My name is Sakura. I want to get Natsumi-chan to a place of safety where Kurotsuchi cannot use her against you every time she wants to compel your obedience.”
Sakura calmed herself. Convincing Taiseki had been a challenge. She was glad she had thought about having Shibito as back up. It was only after she had patched him into their conversation that Taiseki had softened enough to listen properly. Taiseki had known who Shibito was; everyone seemed to know the bartender. Shibito had talked to him about Ume and the difficult decision to send her to the hydroponics factory for her own safety.
She switched channels. “We are on, Sickler,” she told him.
Sickler had been waiting in the service ducts that served the spacer quarter. From there he had guided the flyer to Taiseki’s apartment. It had been decided that he would only go into the resident sector if Taiseki agreed to the plan; otherwise it was not worth the risk.
It took him over thirty minutes to get to the ventilation duct that served the apartment. Through the grill he could see Taiseki waiting. He was tense yet trying to relax to be in keeping with the pretence that this was all a game.
The little girl was ready. Sickler was relieved to see what she was wearing; the child must have a liking of dangerous games to have pads for elbows and knees as well as a helmet. On her back was a small backpack.
He undid the ventilation grid. Taiseki and Natsumi looked up. Natsumi’s smile was genuine. Taiseki’s was forced.
Sickler watched as Taiseki gave her one last hug and a kiss, then stepped up on the chair and lifted Natsumi up. Sickler smiled at her and twitched his nose; children liked that. She giggled.
“I am Sickler. I am here to guide you,” he explained. Then he had a sudden thought. There had been a craze for skateboarding about a standard ago. It would explain the protective gear. “Do you have a skateboard?” he asked.
It took Taiseki only a minute to find it. He passed it up.
“You look after her,” he growled in a low voice.
Sickler looked directly into the man’s eyes. “If anything happens to her it will because my death did not prevent it, Taiseki-sama,” he answered.
Taiseki considered for a moment and then nodded. “Have fun, Natsumi-chan,” he called softly.
“I will, Jiji,” she replied, her eyes shining.
Towing her where it was possible helped a great deal; it meant she could conserve her small reserves of strength for the places where she had to wriggle on her belly or climb or cling to Sickler’s back. It was also good that she could talk to her grandfather; Sickler carried one transmitter and there was another in the flyer back in the apartment.
Once they were across the boundary into the spacer quarter Sickler could relax a little. It also meant that he did not have to keep shushing Natsumi, who obviously liked laughing and talking a great deal.
Finally they were there. Sakura was there, at the entrance to the duct.
Natsumi seemed much taken by her pink hair.
Taiseki had relaxed a little as he had listened to the conversation between Natsumi and the little hybrid. He shook his head. According to Kurotsuchi, he had handed his granddaughter to one of the masterminds of the Kaiju.
Being a judge meant reading people’s characters. He could trust Sickler. Shibito, whom he respected, trusted Sakura.
He could not trust Kurotsuchi. Even if he condemned Ebisu and the other four purebreds, Natsumi would not be safe.
“Jiji!” Natsumi squealed through his earpiece. “Sakura-san is pretty like a princess. She has pink hair and green eyes.”
“Pink hair?” he queried, being careful to sound impressed. “That’s amazing, Natsumi-chan. You make sure you are good.”
“I will be, Jiji. I promise.”
He waited until she was in Sakura’s ship; tucked up in bed and asleep. Then he put the earpiece in the flyer and watched it scuttle away.
Everyone in the courtroom stood. Sumashi glanced across at Ebisu. Did he realise that, despite the evidence presented being overwhelmingly in his favour, he was about to be condemned to death?
Taiseki entered. Once he was seated everyone but Sumashi and Ebisu followed his example.
“I have reached a judgement,” Taiseki announced. “Firstly, on the charge of allowing a hybrid of whom he had ownership to reside other than at the address given on the hybrid’s permit. The hybrid was not residing in the residential sector and therefore he was not residing at another address. He had left the residential sector. The charge is therefore dismissed.
“Secondly, on the charge of being a sympathiser or supporter of the Kaiju. There is no evidence to support this accusation. The accusation is unfounded and therefore dismissed.
“Thirdly, the charge of murdering three men. The evidence against the accused is that the bodies of the murdered men were found in his apartment. However there is evidence that the men had been killed outside the apartment and then moved inside. The door of the apartment had been forced. There is video that shows the killers being other men. At the most likely time of the killings there are witnesses who saw the accused in the spacer quarter. The balance of the evidence is in the accused’s favour. He is therefore found innocent of the charge of murder.
“You are free to go, Ebisu-san.”
Sumashi found himself gawping and shut his mouth with a snap. He had played it straight, Kakko had played it straight and, astonishingly, Taiseki had played it straight.
Kurotsuchi was going to be furious.
Ebisu smiled at him. He bowed. “Thank you, Sumashi-san,” he said.
Sumashi had no idea what would happen next. He walked at Ebisu’s side through the outer door of the court into the intersection beyond. It was filled with people. They cheered as soon as Ebisu appeared.
Ebisu looked confused. When a microphone was thrust under his nose he just stared at it, apparently oblivious of the reporter’s question.
The reporter tried Sumashi instead. “Are you surprised at the outcome, Sumashi-san?” he asked.
Sumashi pulled himself together. “Justice was done. I hope the Warren will always be a place where justice is done. Every resident deserves that.”
He could see members of the station security. They were carrying laser rifles. They were looking at the crowd, confused. One of them, probably a remnant of Kurotsuchi’s AHB, unshouldered his rifle as if to ready it.
Sumashi’s blood ran cold. Was he going to shoot Ebisu, or Taiseki, or Sumashi himself, or into the crowd?
He never found out because the members of station security on either side of the rifleman reacted first. One punched him and the other took his rifle.
Ebisu was being lifted up by people in the crowd and carried around like a trophy. Sumashi was thinking that it made Ebisu an unmissable target when he himself was also lifted up by the cheering crowd.
Then, thankfully, they were rescued by station security before the crowd could make a really bad decision, for example carrying them to the mayor’s office. He recognised the man who had punched the rifleman.
“What next, Sumashi-san?” he asked.
“Find some trustworthy men to escort Ebisu-san to the gate to the spacer quarter,” he ordered. “Get the guards on it to open the door and let him through.”
The man looked at him. “Are you sure, Sumashi-san? This crowd would rally around Ebisu-san.”
Sumashi had no intention of using Ebisu. “They will have to make do with me,” he said. “Ebisu-san has been through enough. We need to get him somewhere safe.”
The man glanced over to where the rifleman had been and he nodded. “Understood, Sumashi-san.”
Ebisu had been grateful to have been escorted to the spacer quarter. Part of the crowd had followed him. At the boundary he had turned around and waved and they had cheered.
It was confusing but rather nice. Ebisu had never been the type of person whom anyone cheered.
He walked to the hostel. Occasionally someone he passed would congratulate him on his release. He would bow slightly and thank them. It was the polite thing to do.
He was grateful to be in the small room crammed full of his belongings.
Sickler’s things had gone. He did not know if that was a good or a bad thing.
His ribs hurt. He lay down on the narrow bunk that managed to be too hard yet still sag. He was too tired to care.
A small hand on his arm; he knew that touch. When he opened his eyes there was Sickler’s familiar face. He was crying.
Sickler had not wept in front of Ebisu for standards, not since he was half-grown. Ebisu watched him dry his eyes on his sleeve.
“I thought they would kill you,” he admitted.
“But I was innocent,” Ebisu insisted.
Sickler smiled.
Sickler insisted that they go to Uchiha-sama’s ship, the Oak. Apparently that was where Sickler was staying. He overrode Ebisu’s insistence that he was fine in the hostel.
Ebisu was not used to Sickler being assertive. It was odd. If Ebisu had not been so tired he might have told him off for being impolite. Instead he watched as Sickler packed him a bag and slung it over his shoulder.
The ship was huge. Ebisu had never seen anything like it. Inside it was more luxurious than a Hunundau store or a top quality hotel, the insides of which Ebisu had only ever seen in his professional capacity; rats were no respecters of wealth.
The person who greeted him was introduced by Sickler as Haku-san, one of the Uchiha queens. Ebisu was slightly shocked that the beautiful woman was actually a man but soon forgot that small detail; Haku was exquisitely polite in a way that soothed Ebisu’s tattered nerves.
He was shown to a lovely room. He decided on a shower first. When he emerged he discovered that someone, presumably Haku, had unpacked his bag and folded back the covers on the bed. On a small table next to a chair was a tea tray with a small, self-heating kettle.
Ebisu boiled the water and poured it onto the leaves. The tea was perfect. Each small biscuit from the plate was delicious. On the tray there was a note saying that he should feel free to stay in his room and rest or to come out and socialise.
He decided to sleep. The bed was just right, not too hard and not too soft. The covers were whisper soft against his skin. The pillow yielded the perfect amount as he laid down his head.
It was bliss.
Ebisu slept.
Author’s note
A while ago Prism0467 asked how I selected Inoichi to be the character who died. I wanted to make the point that the risk they were taking was real. Having decided that, I decided that it should be one of the Old Uchiha fighters because that is the life they lead; like all soldiers they have accepted that the day might come when they have to give up their life. Of course, an Uchiha fighter would usually only give his life for Uchiha, so to have one decide to give his life for strangers, hybrids, made it particularly significant.
Then I wanted it to be a character I had written about, one that the readers saw as a person rather than an occasional name. That eliminated Tatsuji and Kunugi. It could not be Hamaki, Terai or Fu because they were on the Sakura, likewise Asuma because he was captaining the Oak. So it was Choza, Inoichi, Gai or Dan. I chose Inoichi because he had been painted as the most selfish, which gave the act of self-sacrifice more impact. Also, I could tell it from Choza and Dan’s points of view and I had written from their points of view before.
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, especially Disembodiedvoiceofthedying, v, The Horseman of Death, meow-ku, Prism0467, sadie237, richon and Moonmore who reviewed chapter 37. I value every one and they help me keep writing.
Chapter thirty-eight: Justice
Sumashi checked his appearance and opened the outer door of his apartment. His ‘bodyguard’ was immediately outside. Each of the mayor’s advisors had been assigned one; ostensively for their protection but, in reality, to make sure they did not speak to anyone of whom Kurotsuchi disapproved or, worse, make a dash for the spacer quarter.
For the first time in his life Sumashi was glad that he had not found anyone to share his life with; he had seen the haunted looks on the faces of the advisors who had partners and children.
Had it really only been only three days since they had reopened the doors to the lower levels?
There was more ‘Ebisu is innocent’ graffiti, including a new cartoon showing the now familiar skinny figure with a blank face on which the word ‘you’ was written. Two workers were scrubbing it off the metal wall but they were working from the feet up and not being particularly quick about it.
He, like many other prominent residents, had received a tape purporting to show the murder of which Ebisu had been accused. It showed thugs, career criminals, killing the trio from station security and dragging them into Ebisu’s apartment. He had not mentioned the tape to Kurotsuchi but he was sure she knew of it.
He was shown directly into Kurotsuchi’s office. She was wearing an even more expensive suit and a pair of shoes that probably represented Sumashi’s income for a div. Given that the Hunundau store had been destroyed in the bombing, Sumashi did not like to think about where she was getting them.
“The trial has been moved forward,” she told him without preamble. “It will start tomorrow.”
Sumashi quashed a shudder. Those poor people; they did not have a chance.
“We will start with this Ebisu. You will prosecute,” she told him.
He almost did not react fast enough, but dealing with Kurotsuchi day after day had sharpened his wits.
“Very well,” he agreed. “Who will defend?” he asked.
“Defend?” she queried.
“No point having a trial if you aren’t going to do it properly,” he reminded her. “That means a defence and a judge.”
“I have a judge,” she told him with a smile. “Taiseki. He has a granddaughter of whom he is particularly fond.”
Sumashi started suggesting defence lawyers, each less controllable than the last.
She cut him off. “Maybe you should defend. Kakko can prosecute. He always wants to win.”
Kakko was the public prosecutor. He was ruthless, but he operated within the rules. Sumashi could use that.
“If you are sure,” Sumashi demurred as if it had not been his idea in the first place. “It might look better,” he agreed, making sure he did not sound too enthusiastic. He had to ask. “What about the hybrids?” he queried.
“You do not try animals,” Kurotsuchi sneered. “They will be put down before the purebreds are executed. It will increase the impact.”
So much for a fair trial; Kurotsuchi was already planning the execution.
Sickler had asked Shino-san to provide him with a feed from the local media channels. He watched and listened via a tablet in his room.
That morning they announced a trial. They showed five people; Ebisu was one. He was going to be tried first and they concentrated on him.
He was charged with murdering members of the station security, being an active supporter of the Kaiju and not controlling his hybrid. They showed the picture of Sickler from his permit and said that he was a member of the Kaiju. Then they interviewed some ‘experts’. One talked about the corrupting influence of ‘inappropriate’ relationships between purebreds and hybrids. The other showed example after example of apparently innocuous individuals who had been shown to be mass murders.
Then they said that ‘subversive elements’ had fabricated video that blamed the murders on ‘upstanding residents’ with no links to terrorists. They showed the video with the faces of the murderers blurred. Then three ‘experts’ showed all the ways you could tell that the images were not genuine.
By the time they finished Sickler was convinced that the evidence he had risked his life to retrieve was useless.
Sickler had been encouraged by what Shikamaru-san had done. Even the thought of a trial had made him feel positive, because he knew the tape showed that Ebisu was innocent.
This was not the right way to go about a trial. The media should be neutral. They were not meant to tell lies. They were not supposed to have ‘experts’ saying that Ebisu had to be guilty because he had raised Sickler since he was a kit and looked harmless. They should not trash the evidence.
He tried to eat the breakfast Haku-san had put in front of him; Ebisu had taught him that it was polite to clear his plate when someone else had made the food for you.
Haku slipped into the chair beside him. “What’s wrong, Sickler-kun?” he asked gently.
Sickler turned the tablet towards him and played the news programme he had stored in the memory.
Haku’s lips thinned and his eyes hardened as watched and listened.
“Perhaps I should ask to talk to Sasuke-sama,” Sickler suggested.
“No,” Haku retorted. “She is not playing fair. Sasuke-sama has to obey the rules. Obeying the rules has got your Ebisu-san where he is. We tell Shikamaru and maybe Jiraiya. They will come up with a way to do something that cannot be traced back to Uchiha.”
Sickler was a little shocked but the longer he spent with Haku-san the greater respect Sickler had for his creative approach to problem solving; the way he manipulated Chamu and the other alphas was amazing.
Ebisu was tall and skinny, like the graffiti had suggested. He sat very properly at the table, almost as if he was not covered in bruises and weighed down by chains.
“Ebisu-san, I am your defence lawyer, Sumashi,” he introduced himself.
Ebisu tried to stand but the chains were too short. He settled for a small bow. “I am honoured, Sumashi-san. I only expected the duty lawyer.”
Sumashi flinched.
Ebisu sighed. “I know it looks bad. Those poor men’s bodies were found in my apartment. But I did not kill them. I did move Sickler to the spacer quarter, I am guilty of that, but I am innocent of the rest. At least Sickler is safe.”
“Maybe we can establish an alibi?” Sumashi suggested. “Not Sickler I am afraid. Even if a hybrid could give evidence, it would not be safe for him to do so. It would have to be purebreds.”
Sumashi had never felt worse as he walked away from the prison. He had given Ebisu the impression a fair trial was possible, when it was not. Even if he presented enough evidence to clear Ebisu, Judge Taiseki would find him guilty to avoid something appalling happening to his seven year old granddaughter.
He made his way to his favourite bar. The ‘bodyguard’ followed. Sumashi ordered a bottle of whisky; if he was too drunk to walk the ‘bodyguard’ could do something useful and carry him.
“Sumashi,” a deep voice said and a large man sat opposite him.
Sumashi blinked. It was Kakko.
“Kakko-san,” he acknowledged. “Have a whisky.”
Kakko took possession of the bottle but did not pour from it. “This case...” he began.
Normally Sumashi would have stopped him. It was against the rules for the prosecution and the defence to speak about the case. Instead he raised his glass in salute. “Justice is blind.”
“Not blind enough,” Kakko muttered. “We play it straight, Sumashi.”
“Might as well,” Sumashi admitted. “She’ll kill me sooner or later. Might as well be something worth dying for.” He drained his glass.
Kakko poured a conservative measure of whisky into their glasses. He raised his. “To Justice. May she be blind,” he announced.
“To Justice,” Sumashi echoed.
Sakura hoped she had not been too silly with Sasuke-sama. She had found herself so giddy that it was hard to recall much except what he had looked like and the timbre of his voice. She remembered him thanking her for her assistance and saying that she had been courageous. The fact that he openly declared his love for Naruto-san and carried pictures of his children over his heart made her feel better about having carried a torch for him for so long. Maybe, one day, she would find a man like that.
Not that there was any rush.
Her latest orders from Chaaruzu-san told her to take instructions from a man called Boselee, one of Chaaruzu-san’s deep cover operatives. She would not meet him but he was close enough for real time conversations; Sakura thought he was probably in the Warren.
Chaaruzu-san wanted the trial of the purebred accused of being Kaiju sympathisers to be real rather than a show. He wanted any innocent purebreds cleared. He wanted the blameless hybrids released. Boselee needed Sakura’s assistance in achieving these goals.
Boselee communicated through written words that appeared on a screen. The first question he asked her was what she thought of Sumashi.
Sickler felt bad about not explaining himself to Naruto-san. Naruto-san had been so kind to him and his blue eyes were filled with such honest concern.
“I very much appreciate what you have done for me and being allowed to stay as a crew guest,” Sickler told him. “But I must leave, at least for a little while.”
“You are not going to do anything stupid?” Naruto-san asked him. “Ebisu-san would not want you to do anything stupid.”
Sickler suppressed the urge to explain their plan. Haku-san had been very clear. Telling Naruto-san was a bad idea. At best it would mean that he was keeping secrets from Sasuke-sama. At worse Naruto-san would stop him.
“I shall not do anything stupid,” he promised. It would be risky and dangerous but not stupid. Stupid would be allowing Ebisu to die.
Naruto-san’s whiskers twitched. “I am expecting you to come back to us, Sickler-san,” he insisted.
Sickler nodded. “I understand, Naruto-san.”
Taiseki had always told himself that he would leave his work at the door of his apartment. Once he was inside it was about him and Natsumi. It had been that way ever since his wayward spacer son had turned up at his door with a baby and Taiseki would not change a moment of it.
This evening that was hard. Tomorrow he would pronounce an innocent man guilty. From now on each time he looked at his beloved granddaughter he would see that skinny, earnest, hardworking, naive, gullible, slightly pompous, honest man who had done nothing wrong other than protect someone he cared for.
As he would protect Natsumi.
“Jiji!” Natsumi squealed, running down the corridor towards him.
He swept her up and held her tight. She submitted for a moment and then wriggled to be put down. She took his hand and pulled him toward her room.
He started at the flyer. What was a flyer doing in his granddaughter’s room? Was it part of the threat to Natsumi’s safety?
“It talks,” she said, picking it up and thrusting it towards him.
“Taiseki-sama,” the flyer said in a tinny voice. “Please could you put in the larger of the two earpieces?”
A compartment on the flyer’s dorsal side slid open. Inside were a larger and a smaller earpiece.
Taiseki had to take a decision. He could assume it was a trick and call the security services or he could play along.
He picked up both earpieces and put the larger in his ear.
“Thank you, Taiseki-sama,” a warm female voice said. “My name is Sakura. I want to get Natsumi-chan to a place of safety where Kurotsuchi cannot use her against you every time she wants to compel your obedience.”
Sakura calmed herself. Convincing Taiseki had been a challenge. She was glad she had thought about having Shibito as back up. It was only after she had patched him into their conversation that Taiseki had softened enough to listen properly. Taiseki had known who Shibito was; everyone seemed to know the bartender. Shibito had talked to him about Ume and the difficult decision to send her to the hydroponics factory for her own safety.
She switched channels. “We are on, Sickler,” she told him.
Sickler had been waiting in the service ducts that served the spacer quarter. From there he had guided the flyer to Taiseki’s apartment. It had been decided that he would only go into the resident sector if Taiseki agreed to the plan; otherwise it was not worth the risk.
It took him over thirty minutes to get to the ventilation duct that served the apartment. Through the grill he could see Taiseki waiting. He was tense yet trying to relax to be in keeping with the pretence that this was all a game.
The little girl was ready. Sickler was relieved to see what she was wearing; the child must have a liking of dangerous games to have pads for elbows and knees as well as a helmet. On her back was a small backpack.
He undid the ventilation grid. Taiseki and Natsumi looked up. Natsumi’s smile was genuine. Taiseki’s was forced.
Sickler watched as Taiseki gave her one last hug and a kiss, then stepped up on the chair and lifted Natsumi up. Sickler smiled at her and twitched his nose; children liked that. She giggled.
“I am Sickler. I am here to guide you,” he explained. Then he had a sudden thought. There had been a craze for skateboarding about a standard ago. It would explain the protective gear. “Do you have a skateboard?” he asked.
It took Taiseki only a minute to find it. He passed it up.
“You look after her,” he growled in a low voice.
Sickler looked directly into the man’s eyes. “If anything happens to her it will because my death did not prevent it, Taiseki-sama,” he answered.
Taiseki considered for a moment and then nodded. “Have fun, Natsumi-chan,” he called softly.
“I will, Jiji,” she replied, her eyes shining.
Towing her where it was possible helped a great deal; it meant she could conserve her small reserves of strength for the places where she had to wriggle on her belly or climb or cling to Sickler’s back. It was also good that she could talk to her grandfather; Sickler carried one transmitter and there was another in the flyer back in the apartment.
Once they were across the boundary into the spacer quarter Sickler could relax a little. It also meant that he did not have to keep shushing Natsumi, who obviously liked laughing and talking a great deal.
Finally they were there. Sakura was there, at the entrance to the duct.
Natsumi seemed much taken by her pink hair.
Taiseki had relaxed a little as he had listened to the conversation between Natsumi and the little hybrid. He shook his head. According to Kurotsuchi, he had handed his granddaughter to one of the masterminds of the Kaiju.
Being a judge meant reading people’s characters. He could trust Sickler. Shibito, whom he respected, trusted Sakura.
He could not trust Kurotsuchi. Even if he condemned Ebisu and the other four purebreds, Natsumi would not be safe.
“Jiji!” Natsumi squealed through his earpiece. “Sakura-san is pretty like a princess. She has pink hair and green eyes.”
“Pink hair?” he queried, being careful to sound impressed. “That’s amazing, Natsumi-chan. You make sure you are good.”
“I will be, Jiji. I promise.”
He waited until she was in Sakura’s ship; tucked up in bed and asleep. Then he put the earpiece in the flyer and watched it scuttle away.
Everyone in the courtroom stood. Sumashi glanced across at Ebisu. Did he realise that, despite the evidence presented being overwhelmingly in his favour, he was about to be condemned to death?
Taiseki entered. Once he was seated everyone but Sumashi and Ebisu followed his example.
“I have reached a judgement,” Taiseki announced. “Firstly, on the charge of allowing a hybrid of whom he had ownership to reside other than at the address given on the hybrid’s permit. The hybrid was not residing in the residential sector and therefore he was not residing at another address. He had left the residential sector. The charge is therefore dismissed.
“Secondly, on the charge of being a sympathiser or supporter of the Kaiju. There is no evidence to support this accusation. The accusation is unfounded and therefore dismissed.
“Thirdly, the charge of murdering three men. The evidence against the accused is that the bodies of the murdered men were found in his apartment. However there is evidence that the men had been killed outside the apartment and then moved inside. The door of the apartment had been forced. There is video that shows the killers being other men. At the most likely time of the killings there are witnesses who saw the accused in the spacer quarter. The balance of the evidence is in the accused’s favour. He is therefore found innocent of the charge of murder.
“You are free to go, Ebisu-san.”
Sumashi found himself gawping and shut his mouth with a snap. He had played it straight, Kakko had played it straight and, astonishingly, Taiseki had played it straight.
Kurotsuchi was going to be furious.
Ebisu smiled at him. He bowed. “Thank you, Sumashi-san,” he said.
Sumashi had no idea what would happen next. He walked at Ebisu’s side through the outer door of the court into the intersection beyond. It was filled with people. They cheered as soon as Ebisu appeared.
Ebisu looked confused. When a microphone was thrust under his nose he just stared at it, apparently oblivious of the reporter’s question.
The reporter tried Sumashi instead. “Are you surprised at the outcome, Sumashi-san?” he asked.
Sumashi pulled himself together. “Justice was done. I hope the Warren will always be a place where justice is done. Every resident deserves that.”
He could see members of the station security. They were carrying laser rifles. They were looking at the crowd, confused. One of them, probably a remnant of Kurotsuchi’s AHB, unshouldered his rifle as if to ready it.
Sumashi’s blood ran cold. Was he going to shoot Ebisu, or Taiseki, or Sumashi himself, or into the crowd?
He never found out because the members of station security on either side of the rifleman reacted first. One punched him and the other took his rifle.
Ebisu was being lifted up by people in the crowd and carried around like a trophy. Sumashi was thinking that it made Ebisu an unmissable target when he himself was also lifted up by the cheering crowd.
Then, thankfully, they were rescued by station security before the crowd could make a really bad decision, for example carrying them to the mayor’s office. He recognised the man who had punched the rifleman.
“What next, Sumashi-san?” he asked.
“Find some trustworthy men to escort Ebisu-san to the gate to the spacer quarter,” he ordered. “Get the guards on it to open the door and let him through.”
The man looked at him. “Are you sure, Sumashi-san? This crowd would rally around Ebisu-san.”
Sumashi had no intention of using Ebisu. “They will have to make do with me,” he said. “Ebisu-san has been through enough. We need to get him somewhere safe.”
The man glanced over to where the rifleman had been and he nodded. “Understood, Sumashi-san.”
Ebisu had been grateful to have been escorted to the spacer quarter. Part of the crowd had followed him. At the boundary he had turned around and waved and they had cheered.
It was confusing but rather nice. Ebisu had never been the type of person whom anyone cheered.
He walked to the hostel. Occasionally someone he passed would congratulate him on his release. He would bow slightly and thank them. It was the polite thing to do.
He was grateful to be in the small room crammed full of his belongings.
Sickler’s things had gone. He did not know if that was a good or a bad thing.
His ribs hurt. He lay down on the narrow bunk that managed to be too hard yet still sag. He was too tired to care.
A small hand on his arm; he knew that touch. When he opened his eyes there was Sickler’s familiar face. He was crying.
Sickler had not wept in front of Ebisu for standards, not since he was half-grown. Ebisu watched him dry his eyes on his sleeve.
“I thought they would kill you,” he admitted.
“But I was innocent,” Ebisu insisted.
Sickler smiled.
Sickler insisted that they go to Uchiha-sama’s ship, the Oak. Apparently that was where Sickler was staying. He overrode Ebisu’s insistence that he was fine in the hostel.
Ebisu was not used to Sickler being assertive. It was odd. If Ebisu had not been so tired he might have told him off for being impolite. Instead he watched as Sickler packed him a bag and slung it over his shoulder.
The ship was huge. Ebisu had never seen anything like it. Inside it was more luxurious than a Hunundau store or a top quality hotel, the insides of which Ebisu had only ever seen in his professional capacity; rats were no respecters of wealth.
The person who greeted him was introduced by Sickler as Haku-san, one of the Uchiha queens. Ebisu was slightly shocked that the beautiful woman was actually a man but soon forgot that small detail; Haku was exquisitely polite in a way that soothed Ebisu’s tattered nerves.
He was shown to a lovely room. He decided on a shower first. When he emerged he discovered that someone, presumably Haku, had unpacked his bag and folded back the covers on the bed. On a small table next to a chair was a tea tray with a small, self-heating kettle.
Ebisu boiled the water and poured it onto the leaves. The tea was perfect. Each small biscuit from the plate was delicious. On the tray there was a note saying that he should feel free to stay in his room and rest or to come out and socialise.
He decided to sleep. The bed was just right, not too hard and not too soft. The covers were whisper soft against his skin. The pillow yielded the perfect amount as he laid down his head.
It was bliss.
Ebisu slept.
Author’s note
A while ago Prism0467 asked how I selected Inoichi to be the character who died. I wanted to make the point that the risk they were taking was real. Having decided that, I decided that it should be one of the Old Uchiha fighters because that is the life they lead; like all soldiers they have accepted that the day might come when they have to give up their life. Of course, an Uchiha fighter would usually only give his life for Uchiha, so to have one decide to give his life for strangers, hybrids, made it particularly significant.
Then I wanted it to be a character I had written about, one that the readers saw as a person rather than an occasional name. That eliminated Tatsuji and Kunugi. It could not be Hamaki, Terai or Fu because they were on the Sakura, likewise Asuma because he was captaining the Oak. So it was Choza, Inoichi, Gai or Dan. I chose Inoichi because he had been painted as the most selfish, which gave the act of self-sacrifice more impact. Also, I could tell it from Choza and Dan’s points of view and I had written from their points of view before.