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 or sent an email and particular thanks to meow-ku, the horseman of death, SidonieStarr, Moonmoore, sadie237 and cynaga who reviewed chapter 48.

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 who are expecting Naruto/Sasuke or Sasuke/Naruto every chapter.

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Chapter forty-nine: Decisions

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Neji found the notion of looking after Shikamaru, Haru and Kazuki a little worrying. It was hard enough to ensure that Shikamaru did not get into trouble when it came to anything physical or practical.

He told himself that it was only for part of a day.

They were keeping it simple. Tenten would drop them off and pick them up. If the children wanted to go home early Neji would radio Gai, who was coordinating transport for the day. In the unlikely case that there was a serious injury, Rin and Dan would be dispatched in a dedicated flyer.

They were returning to the same place that he and Shikamaru had visited last time.


Within ten minutes of the flyer leaving them Neji had begun to relax. Haru found everything interesting, from the shape of the mountains to the blades of grass. Kazuki loved being outside but never went more than twenty paces away from them.

Neji unpacked the self-assembling tent and pegged it down. Inside he placed the chest of provisions while Kazuki told him not to leave it open because it would attract animals.

“Do you think we will see any animals, Neji-san?” he asked.

“Maybe some birds,” Neji suggested. “And some butterflies. And maybe a rabbit.”

“To-chan made me promise not to chase the rabbits,” Kazuki informed him. “So did Kiba-san. Why do they think I will want to chase the rabbits?”

Neji made a show of thinking about it. “I am not sure, Kazu-chan. Maybe because they both want to chase rabbits.”

Kazuki found that hilarious. After he had finished laughing he rushed over to tell Haru.


Once Shikamaru had finished introducing Haru to cloud-watching they went for a walk and stopped at a small stream. Neji and Shikamaru sat side by side watching two small boys finding every aspect of the flowing water fascinating.

“This is probably it for the morning,” Neji observed.

Shikamaru found a grass stem to chew and leaned back. “That’s fine by me,” he admitted.


After a considerable amount of time watching, splashing and paddling, they began walking back to the tent for their picnic. The sky was an incredible shade of blue, the air smelt amazing and the grassy slopes around them were covered with tiny flowers; it was idyllic.

Then Neji noticed the expression on Kazuki’s face and the way his ears were twitching.

“Kazu-chan?” he asked.

“It’s flyers, but they don’t sound right,” Kazuki told him.

For a split second Neji did not think anything of it. Then a cold, icy dread spread across his skin. He activated his radio.

All he heard was white noise; radio communications were being blocked.

He had stopped walking. Shikamaru, a little way ahead, had turned to face him. Neji watched realisation dawn on Shika’s face. His eyes went very briefly distant and then came back.

“The most likely target is me,” he stated. “You take the children and you head for the nearest cover.”

Neji looked about. It was horribly open. Any cover would be down the slope. He looked and saw some bushes that had grown where the land was more broken.

“Go with Neji,” Shikamaru was telling Haru and Kazuki. “Do what he says and stay quiet.”

Neji crouched down. “Get on my back, Haru. Kazuki, I know you can run as fast as I can. We are heading for those rocks and bushes there. Start running. Now!”

Kazuki shot off. Shikamaru was already running in the direction of the tent. Neji warned Haru to hold tight and set off down the slope.

He could hear the flyers now. The sound started as a faint droning and then grew. Kazuki’s foxy hearing had given them extra minutes; perhaps even longer because Neji would have assumed that it was one of theirs.

Kazuki dived behind a large rock when Neji was only two-thirds of the way there. He sped up. Their only chance was to never be in line of sight.

He slid down the slope into the bushes just as the first of five flyers came over the horizon. Three began landing manoeuvres. He pulled the children to him, one under each arm, and laid flat on his front.

“This isn’t a drill, is it Neji-san,” Haru stated and Kazuki growled.

“No, it is not,” Neji confirmed. “You must be still and silent,” he whispered.


His radio crackled into life. Hope surged but was immediately dashed by a strange, harsh voice.

“We have your children. Every flyer contains a child. Every ship contains a child. None of us will hesitate to die. Fire on us or attempt to board us and we will kill a child. Do what we say and a child will be returned to you.”

Neji fear deepened to dread; how big was this move against them? Suddenly the malfunctioning of the cameras and other detectors, which Shino had been so certain was due to sunspot activity, was significant. They had at least five flyers and a ship. They could simulate sunspots. Worst of all, they had discovered the location of this planet, a feat which Shika had considered so improbable that it had not even registered as a risk.

Did they really have any of the children? With the crew spread across the planet and no radio communication it was impossible to know.

Perhaps Shika was wrong; maybe he was not the target. Maybe it was Sasuke. Neji doubted that even Kakashi could stop Sasuke sacrificing himself to save his children.


The three flyers were disgorging fighters; many from each. They were shouting.

“Can you hear what they are saying?” Neji whispered to Kazuki.

Kazuki lifted his head and angled his ears. His whiskers twitched. Neji watched as his small face twisted in confusion.

“Any words at all, Kazu-chan,” he encouraged.

“Target?” he suggested. “Airy? Second? Pry?”

“Primary target and secondary target?” Neji whispered.

Kazuki considered. “Secondary targets,” he decided.

So they were after Shikamaru or Sasuke and the children. Neji’s gut clenched; by taking the children the kidnappers were defending against a battle.

His arms tightened around Haru and Kazuki. There was no way he could defend them against over thirty fighters.


Some of the fighters had disappeared up the slope. The others spread out and stood still; none came in their direction.

After a short time they came back with Shikamaru. From the way he was moving Neji could tell his hands were bound behind his back. They manhandled him into a flyer, a handful of men jumped in behind him and the rest moved back while it took off.

Neji hoped; he could not help it. He begged Lady Luck that the other fighters would embark on the other two flyers that, somehow, they would decide that Shikamaru had been alone.

There were more shouted orders. Kazuki turned his face towards Neji.

“What’s infry red, Neji-san?” he whispered.

Hope evaporated; if the kidnappers were using infra-red scanners or goggles there was no way they could miss them.


Various possibilities raced through his mind. None of them were better than lying still with the children held close to him. Neither fighting nor running would work. Abandoning the children was unthinkable.

He imagined Uchiha fighters arriving in time to prevent the children being taken, but he knew it would not happen.


They began walking down the slope towards them. Kazuki whimpered. Neji tightened his hold of him, partly to comfort but also to make sure he did not panic and run.

“They are going to find us,” Neji told them. “We will do what they say. You will be good and stay safe until your Papa and your To-chan come to save you. Do you understand?”

Kazuki gave a small growl that Neji hoped was agreement.

“Yes, Neji-san,” Haru replied.


They were soon surrounded. The fighters were wearing helmets and goggles. They were carrying weapons that Neji did not recognise.

“Stand up,” one of them, the shortest, ordered.

Neji lifted the boys to their feet and then stood. Haru was plastered to his right side and Kazuki to his left.

“By the Lady, it has fox ears,” one of them exclaimed.

“And a tail,” said another.

“It isn’t human,” muttered a third.

“Shut up,” snapped the one who had spoken first. “Human or not, the Uchiha thinks of it as his child so it is useful.”

“What about him, the Hyuga?” asked another.

The short one raised his weapon. “No adult hostages,” he stated.


Neji stood tall. Perhaps it was better to die than to have to explain to Sasuke that he had allowed them to take Shika and two of his sons. Before he had pledged himself to Sasuke, his life had not been worth living.

It had been a wonderful six standards; death was a small price to pay.

The weapon fired. Something hit his shoulder. He looked down and saw, to his surprise, a dart. It did not hurt. Instead numbness was spreading from his shoulder. It accelerated through his body. He realised that he was looking at the sky rather than the man standing in front of him; he was falling backwards.

He felt the impact but there was no pain.

Haru threw himself on Neji’s chest and was lifted away. Neji could hear him screaming. A flash of silver-blond and Kazuki was on the man holding Haru, biting his arm. The man roared with pain and dropped Haru before throwing Kazuki aside.

Neji wished he could turn his head but he was paralysed. He could hear Kazuki snarling and growling.

“Don’t hurt him!” Haru yelled.

“Control it,” the short one ordered.

“Ka-chan, stop!” Haru shouted. “Neji-san said we were to obey them.”

The growling stopped. There were sounds that Neji hoped were Kazuki going to Haru and Haru holding him.


The short one stepped forward and looked down at him. “You should be grateful that The Leader believes human life to be sacred,” he stated.

Then they were leaving. Neji listened to them walking away. Then there was the sound of the flyers taking off and the fading drone of them leaving.

It was almost silent. He could hear the birds. The sky was so blue.

Neji watched the clouds and wept.

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One moment Sasuke and Naruto were teasing each other, building towards another fuck. The next they were sprinting across the island to where they had landed the Dart.

All it had taken was for the sound emulating from the radio to change; the reassuring soft bleep of the carrier signal had morphed into the ugly noise of interference.

Sasuke signalled Naruto to go ahead and prepare the Dart for lift. He accelerated away. Sasuke thanked the Lady that they had been short of flyers. He and Naruto had decided to take the Dart, landing it on the pad that had been built during their first vacation.

Without radio contact it was difficult to decide what to do. As he ran, Sasuke reviewed where the children were and with whom. Haru and Kazuki were with Shikamaru and Neji. Hoshi and Yuki were with Kisame, Itachi and Haku. Hikaru and Ryuu were with Inari, Konohamaru, Tayuya and Sumaru. Kuuya and Keizo were with Kiba and Choza. Yoshimi and Yasushi were with Shino and Anko.

Neji and Shikamaru or Shino and Anko offered the least protection but Shikamaru was a target in his own right.

Naruto had the Dart ready to lift. Sasuke swarmed up the ladder and slammed the airlock doors shut behind him. Naruto was counting down as Sasuke threw himself into the pilot’s chair and tightened the straps.

He just had time to activate his overhead display before the g force from the acceleration hit him but there was nothing but static from any of the detectors. He managed to move his fingers across the controls, selecting a course to the mountain foothills Shikamaru had chosen.

Naruto made a noise that Sasuke interpreted as agreement.


The Dart was capable of sub-orbital planetary travel although not ideally designed for it. Once the acceleration phase was over they would be in free-fall until re-entry into the atmosphere; it would be too much strain on the artificial gravity system to use it.

Sasuke released his arms but stayed strapped to his chair; Naruto was much more skilled in zero-gravity.

“Eight minutes until re-entry,” Sasuke told him.

Naruto pushed off from his chair, heading for the hatch down. “Can you detect anything?” he asked.

Sasuke checked again. “No. The so-called sunspot is back,” he replied.

Naruto’s response was a growl. Then he was gone to assemble what he would need to be a one-person arsenal when they landed. Within four minutes he was back, suited. Sasuke watched him activate the ship’s weapons before unfolding the optical system from its housing; deprived of the targeting systems Naruto would aim and shoot by eye.

“You will drop the shutters as soon as possible?” Naruto asked.

They would need the heat shield during re-entry. “I promise,” Sasuke replied.


Then, unexpectedly, the static ceased. Sasuke checked that they were recording all incoming data. His fingers flew over the controls. He needed to obtain as much information as possible.

The voice was harsh. “We have your children. Every flyer contains a child. Every ship contains a child. None of us will hesitate to die. Fire on us or attempt to board us and we will kill a child. Do what we say and a child will be returned to you.”

Sasuke slumped. He could not help it. His mind was full of what they had done to Ranmaru.

“Teme!” Naruto shouted.

He forced himself to focus on the overhead display but the static was back.

“They are bluffing,” Naruto insisted. “It is only seventeen minutes since they began blocking our radio communications. It isn’t enough time for them to kidnap the children. They are bluffing to counter the threat of this ship.”

Sasuke began analysing the sixteen seconds’ of data they had obtained while receiving the kidnapper’s threat. “It’s long enough if they were already on the ground,” he argued.

They were lucky in that the mountain range of which Shikamaru was so fond was visible from their position. He selected and filtered the data.

There had been five hostile flyers at Shikamaru’s location; three of them had been landing. He could not speak; there was a huge lump in his throat. Instead he relayed the summary to Naruto’s display.

“I can disable the flyers,” Naruto insisted. “Perhaps Neji and Shikamaru will evade capture long enough for us to reach them.”

It was less than two minutes before they had to commit to re-entry. Sasuke focused and reviewed the data for the other two sites that had been visible.

There had been two flyers at each site. At one, where Hoshi and Yuki were with Kisame, Itachi and Haku, the flyers had been on the ground. At the other, where Yoshimi and Yasushi were with Shino and Anko, they had been taking off.

“They have Yo-chan and Ya-chan,” Sasuke decided.

“You do not know that,” Naruto argued. “They may not have been there. They may have decided to go home early. Shino and Anko may have found somewhere to hide.”

“And they may not. I am not willing to take the risk,” Sasuke told him.

“Sasuke, you can’t,” Naruto complained. “They are monsters. You do not negotiate with monsters.”

“This monster knows me too well,” Sasuke admitted.

He aborted the preparations for re-entry, took a deep breath and set their colours to parley.

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