In the cold of space you find the heat of suns

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I am very grateful for the reviews. They mean a great deal to me.

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Author’s note

OK, I decided that it was time for a Naruto and Sasuke ‘lemon’ before Kabuto arrives and…

…well, you will have to wait and see what Kabuto does.

Some readers may have realised by now that I have rules for sex scenes (which I may break in the future but I have kept to so far).

1. The only sex scenes I describe in detail are with Naruto and Sasuke because this is, technically, a Naruto/Sasuke story.
2. The sex scene has to fit naturally into the story
3. The two of them have to stay in character
4. Each one must be substantially different, which is a challenge!

I struggle with sex scenes and action sequences – practicing both is one of my reasons for writing fanfac.

I did some research about the noises foxes make and discovered that foxes do actually purr. It has never been recorded in the wild, but happens when domesticated foxes are cuddled.

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

Spacer crews travel the Far Borders and the Fringe of occupied space, trading. Spacing is an ancient and honourable profession carved out by millenniums. Most spacers start out as fourteen-year-old boys seeking a future. Few survive a decade spacing.


64. Calm


The meeting to discuss the Kaze mission had gone well. They had decided to aim for the first date and had gone over every facet of the plan, allocating tasks and running simulations. Once no one could think of anything to add, they had decided to sleep on it and meet again the next day.

Naruto was keen to take Gaara to meet Kisame, which offered Sasuke the opportunity he needed to speak with Shikamaru. He waited. Naruto left with Gaara. Tsunade and her crewmembers left to move their things from the ship to the guest crew room. Kakashi vanished to tell Iruka about Ibiki’s new role. Only Shikamaru and Neji were left and Sasuke decided that having Neji there was no bad thing.

“This scientist, Kabuto,” Sasuke began. “Naruto has agreed to see him, but he is not happy about it.”

Shikamaru considered. “It’ll bring out the scientist in Rin,” he warned. “She’ll forget about being a medico. Naruto will end up being treated like specimen.”

“I recommend that you insist on always being there when he is with them, Sasuke-sama,” Neji added.

Sasuke had not thought of going that far but added it to his plan.

“And make sure this Kabuto has been seen by Neji and has impressed me and Rin before you let him anywhere near Na-chan,” Shikamaru insisted.

It was good to know that they were so protective of Naruto. Between them they decided on a plan for Kabuto’s visit that Sasuke would present as a fait accompli to Rin.


Kisame watched as Naruto laid Gaara on a convenient surface to recover consciousness for the second time.

“I understand his sister’s concern,” Kisame commented. “Fainting at the least stimulus is hardly compatible with the terrifying leader who slaughters those who irritate him.”

Naruto decided not to argue the difference between being knocked out by the controller and fainting. He had thought that Shikamaru might have Gaara’s controller set wrongly, but the rage on Gaara’s face just before he collapsed had confirmed that he had been berserk.

“He has been avoiding stimulation to prevent an emotional response since he was a child?” Kisame asked.

Naruto nodded.

“Then perhaps it is lack of experience. Being with us here, where he can risk interacting with others, may be what he needs,” the sharkman suggested.

“He can’t stay,” Naruto replied sorrowfully. “He has to prepare to lead the attack on the slavers.”

Kisame chuckled. “Without his controller, I assume.”

Naruto could not help but smile at the image of Gaara passing out every few minutes as he tried to lead an attack. He watched as Kisame put out a hand and stroked Gaara’s smooth cheek.

“He is… …compelling,” the sharkman admitted. “Strange enough not to be purebred but with no visible characteristics of his animal genes. I am obviously shark. You have your whiskers and teeth and there is the texture of your hair. He is?”

“Tanuki,” Naruto supplied. “Another canine, like the fox and the wolf. The dark rings around his eyes and his ability to hibernate are species characteristics.” He risked fingering Gaara’s hair. “This does not feel human,” he observed.

At that moment Gaara’s eyes opened. Confusion gave way to fear and then rage before he lapsed again into unconsciousness.

“Perhaps we were a little close,” Kisame said with a smile.


Inviting everyone to the evening meal had been a good idea, but meals in the dining hall had a tendency to take on a life of their own. Sasuke had been forced into the role of host, the meal took twice as long as usual and then there had to be singing and dancing. Sasuke was glad that Gaara had declined to attend, otherwise it would have been impossible to persuade Naruto to leave.

Naruto was finishing his second spell of dancing. Sasuke packed up his lute and stood up. It was not as if they would be first to leave; Asuma and Kurenai had left after the meal, followed closely by Izumo and Kotetsu and then Shikamaru and Neji. He caught Naruto’s hand and Iruka’s eye. Iruka nodded his agreement.

“We can’t sneak off, teme,” Naruto objected. “They need you to play.”

“They’ve got Tayuya and Tenten,” Sasuke countered. “Bathroom,” he whispered.

Naruto flushed and stopped objecting.


Sasuke stowed his lute and found everything they would need while Naruto checked the babies. They then headed for the bathroom.

It was occupied.

“I booked it!” Sasuke hissed, looking like he was ready to break down the door.

Naruto pulled him away. “We are late. They probably thought we weren’t coming.”

It had to be Shikamaru and Neji; they were the only ones who had left the dining hall before them. Sasuke had no doubt whose idea it had been; Shikamaru would pay. “One of the other bathrooms?” Sasuke suggested.

Naruto’s smile was forced and his eyes looked anxious. “If you want to,” he agreed.

Sasuke felt bad; using one of the other bathrooms risked exposing fluffy-soft-Naruto as they returned to their room. He pulled Naruto to him for a hug. “I am sorry, sweetheart,” he assured him. “I wasn’t thinking. Let’s go back to our room.”

Naruto looked grateful, which made Sasuke feel even worse.


After that nothing went right. They showered together, Naruto gave him the seventh kiss and Sasuke tried to recreate their success in the shower on the Silver Leaf. Only this time the shower was too small, Naruto too tense and Sasuke too eager. Naruto’s small whimper of pain as Sasuke tried to enter him led to Sasuke aborting the attempt and an argument about what to do next. Sasuke’s objective of cuddling fluffy-soft-Naruto was depressingly remote.

Then Naruto apologised for not agreeing to use one of the other bathrooms and Sasuke woke up to the fact that he was being an egocentric, insensitive bastard. He gathered Naruto to him and hugged him.

“I love you, dobe. You have nothing to apologise for. You know how I am, I hate it when I don’t get things right. Getting the fucking right has always been my job and I’ve made a mess of it this time. Maybe we should just skip to your bit. We both always enjoy that.”

Naruto rewarded him with a smile. “No, I will do your bit instead,” he said.

Sasuke waited, slightly worried what Naruto might mean.

“I will decide what we are going to do,” Naruto explained.

Sasuke watched as Naruto opened the door of the shower and then the door between the shower and their bedroom. He found towels and placed them on the floor outside the shower. He then sat on the bed.

“You will put a show on for me in the shower,” he told Sasuke. “I expect it to be a very good show, to make up for all the times you are a teme. I will give you a score out of ten every few minutes. If you can score enough tens I will let you fuck me.”

This was new; Sasuke wondered if Naruto had been talking sex-stuff with Shikamaru. “How many tens is enough?” he asked.

Naruto made a dismissive gesture. “I have yet to decide,” he admitted.

“What if the show is so good that you want to fuck me?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto’s eyes lit up. He gave a smile that displayed his fangs. “That is a possibility,” he admitted. “I can think of shows that would make me want to be fucked and shows that would make me want to fuck you. Can you?”

The question had Sasuke’s mind working overtime.

“One out of ten,” Naruto announced. “This is a very boring show.”

Sasuke scowled at him but headed for the shower.


He had performed for Naruto before, watching him masturbate was one Naruto’s favourite parts of fucking in the bathroom, but the idea of being scored was disconcerting and the notion of two types of shows had left him indecisive. He glanced at Naruto who was looking back. Sasuke realised that he had better start quickly or he risked another ‘one’.

He turned on the shower and started an erotic dance under the spray. He stretched and curved different parts of his body in turn. He then filled his palms with cleanser and began washing his body with his hands. He used his long, elegant fingers to draw Naruto’s attention to the muscles of his legs, to his nipples, to his neck, to the slight curve of his hip and to his taut buttocks.

“Five,” Naruto told him.

Sasuke smiled. He had barely started, so half marks was fine. Now he had to work out how to get a ten without sparking Naruto’s foxy response. That would be difficult if Naruto was fully relaxed and submerged in warm water, never mind when he was alert, decisive and looking distinctly feral.

If he was going to get his fluffy-soft-Naruto he was going to have to try something different.

It was time to focus on possessing Naruto rather than appealing to him.

Sasuke stopped and faced the bed. He stood still, his arms by his sides. He ignored the spray hitting his shoulder and back. He fixed his gaze on those glorious blue eyes. He remembered what it felt like to fuck Naruto; the delicious noises he made, the way he moved and flexed to help Sasuke hit his button, the dazed look to his eyes, the rhythm of his breathing and the velvety warmth beyond his hole.

Sasuke was rock hard at the mere thought of it.

Naruto’s gaze dropped for a moment. He flushed. When he met Sasuke’s eyes again it was different. He looked like he did when he gave Sasuke the seventh kiss. Sasuke wanted him more.

“Eight,” Naruto breathed.

Sasuke remained motionless. He continued to look into Naruto’s eyes. Sasuke imagined him in the nursery, naked, on the platform, curled around one of the gestators.

“Nine.”

Sasuke saw himself beside him, behind him, inside him, fucking him slowly, steeped in their love for each other and for their children.

“Ten.”

Sasuke closed the faucet. He grabbed the bottle of lube and squeezed a plentiful supply on his erection, spreading it with the palm and fingers of his other hand.

Naruto held out his arms. “Ten, teme. I need you.”


Seven strides brought him to the bed. He knelt between Naruto’s legs, caught the backs of his knees in the crook of his arms, rolled him onto his upper back and entered him, smothering Naruto’s whimper with a kiss. Then he whispered words of comfort in his ear and nuzzled his neck while Naruto adapted to his thickness.

A tap on his arm; Naruto’s signal for a change in position. Sasuke released Naruto’s legs, first the left and then the right. The long limbs wrapped about Sasuke, pulling him closer and deeper. Sasuke groaned. Naruto hands moved over the parts of Sasuke they could reach: his back, his shoulders and his neck. He buried his fingers in Sasuke’s hair.

Sasuke shifted his weight to his left arm, freeing the right to caress. He ran his hand from the silky fur of Naruto’s rump, up the curve of his side and across his left shoulder to the underside of his chin, where he gently tickled the skin with his fingertips. Naruto put his head back, his whiskers curved forward and his eyes half closed in contentment.

Then Sasuke’s hand moved between them, down past Naruto’s nipple and across his belly. Fingertip’s brushed across Naruto’s balls before a hand wrapped about his prick. A few gentle strokes and Sasuke felt it grow and harden into the familiar slender curve.

Sasuke kissed him, thrusting his tongue past the edges of Naruto’s incisors and the smooth sides of his fangs to the warm, wet sweetness beyond.

He had to stop to breathe. Naruto licked his neck, nibbled his earlobe and whispered, “Now.”

Sasuke made a few exploratory thrusts while Naruto flexed and shifted. On the third thrust a delicious sound from Naruto confirmed that Sasuke had hit his button. He settled to his task of overloading Naruto’s mind with pleasure and releasing fluffy-soft-Naruto.


He was too quickly close to the edge. He clung on, his determination to continue fuelled by the sounds Naruto was making, the look in his eyes, the flush to his skin and the fluttery edge to his breathing.

But the longer he denied it, the more powerful it became. He could not hold it. It broke loose and crashed through him, washing away every trace of control, blasting his body and then his mind with pleasure.


Naruto had never seen Sasuke more beautiful.


Then it passed and Naruto caught him as he fell.


He was briefly aware of being collapsed on Naruto before he was flipped over onto his back. Sasuke felt his softening erection being squeezed and teased. Somehow, amazingly, was still buried in Naruto’s arse. Naruto was above him, gorgeous beyond belief. Sasuke’s flagging erection stiffened. Naruto smiled in delight. He started to rock and twist.

Sasuke let Naruto continue until he was completely hard. Then he rolled him over and fucked him senseless.


It was only a short distance. Sasuke was stronger than he looked and Naruto, despite his great strength, was not heavily built. Sasuke gently placed fluffy-soft-Naruto on the platform among the gestators and the pillows. Naruto moved to curl around the nearest gestator. Sasuke slid into position behind him and snuggled close. He stroked Naruto and felt him purr. There was no need for more fucking. This was better than fucking.

This was everything Sasuke could ever imagine wanting.

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