Iteration

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

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

Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to Kat Saama, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, Dorkchic, Gingitsune, pisces, satterb, SidonieStarr, richon, lonelylulaby, lividangel, Prism0467, v, sadie237, xxShadowheartxx and unneeded who reviewed chapter 64.

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

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

---

Chapter sixty-five: Reunited

---

They waited on this side of the door for the signal. Sasuke checked his pocket again for Shikamaru’s ring. As soon as the docking bay was pressurised, the blue light would come on and they could open the door.

The kits were bounding up and down and yelping; Kazuki was almost beside himself with excitement. Even Ryuu could not suppress the occasional bark. Sasuke risked a sideways glance at Kiba, who had given up insisting on an acceptable level of behaviour. He had his arms folded and was pretending to scowl.

It did not help that Naruto was poised at the door like a sprinter about to start a race.

The light went blue, the door was open and Naruto was gone. The children streamed through in his wake.

By the time Sasuke stepped through Naruto was on the Dart’s gangplank. He watched Haru being plucked from the airlock as the outer door opened.

---

Haru had insisted that he wanted to walk down the gangplank rather than being carried. They stood in the airlock waiting for the light to go blue so that Shi-chan could open the door.

Familiar hands and arms had hold of him before the door was half open. Haru was lifted, hugged, kissed and carried down the gangplank.

He no longer minded. His To-chan was holding him as if he would never let him go.

His To-chan was the best, even better than Shi-chan, even better than Papa. Haru put his arms around his neck and hugged him back.

Then Kazuki was there; he had climbed up To-chan’s back. He sniffed Haru and licked his cheek. Haru could hear the others yelping and calling. The kits were leaping up and down. Ryuu was barking.

To-chan gave in and sat down on the deck. The rest of the litter swarmed over them, touching, nuzzling, sniffing or licking. Even Hikaru was in the pile and Haru unwound an arm from his To-chan to hug him and then Hoshi because neither of them was into the nuzzling, sniffing or licking.

His Papa was reaching for him and To-chan only hesitated for a moment before passing Haru to him. Haru wrapped his legs around his Papa’s waist and his arms around his neck, like he would do with Shi-chan. His Papa hugged him tight.

“We missed you so much, Haru-chan. I love you. We all love you.”

“I love you too, Papa,” Haru assured him.

“I had better give you back to your To-chan,” his Papa observed.

Haru judged his To-chan’s hungry eyes. “Maybe that would be for the best,” he agreed.

---

Shikamaru was exhausted. There had been the emotional turmoil of greeting everyone and then the critical task of being there during Haru’s bath time and bedtime. Warning Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba about Haru’s physical condition and them seeing the scars were two very different things. At least the children had been interested rather than repulsed.

He had been proud of Haru’s response. Instead of telling them about the killer plants, which would have made it sound exciting, he said, “I did something really stupid and it hurt loads.”

Shikamaru had told them their favourite story. He would have to think of a new part for the end, to include the babies. Then he had made sure that he gave Haru a particularly tight hug and a kiss as the four of them had made the rounds, tucking the children in.

“They tried to make it exactly the same but it isn’t,” Haru had whispered.

Shikamaru had known that he meant the new nursery. “Don’t mention it,” he had whispered back. “It might upset them.”

“I won’t,” Haru had assured him. “I promise. Love you.”

Shikamaru had been surprised. Haru did not usually initiate declarations of affection. “Love you too, Haru-chan,” he had replied.


Now he was in his place at the table, sharing the evening meal with his family. He might fall asleep with his face in his food, but it would be worth it. He caught sight of his rings and found himself staring at them; the simple silver one on his heart finger and the duty ring he valued so much. He remembered Sasuke greeting him in the docking bay; the brief but close hug followed by him sliding the ring onto his finger.

“Shika-san?” someone asked.

“It is no good expecting a response,” Neji answered for him. “He is too tired to process what you are saying.”

“Wanted to be here,” he insisted. “Need to be here,” he added.

“We understand, Shika-kun,” Iruka replied. “Naruto can carry you to bed when you fall asleep.”


Shikamaru guessed that was what had happened because he woke in his bed with Neji beside him. The fact that Neji was still in bed was strange, because Neji always got up long before him. It was also dark.

There was someone climbing up on his side of the bed.

“Shi-chan?” a small voice queried. “I woke up.”

Shikamaru blinked his eyes to wake himself. This was bad. Not only was Haru not sleeping but he had not gone to Naruto or to Kiba. Instead he had opened doors that were meant to be childproof, climbed down a spiral staircase in the dark and made his way across the crew room. Amazingly, neither Kiba nor Naruto had heard him.

He and Neji always slept naked; he did not know where his pyjama pants were.

“Shi-chan?” Haru asked, his voice quavering.


Neji woke up and switched on the light. He smiled at Haru.

“You must excuse Shika, Haru-chan, you know what a sleepyhead he is,” he said, poking Shikamaru in the ribs.

Shikamaru pulled himself together. “Sorry, Ha-chan. I was fast asleep.”

Neji managed to slide from under the cover and into his pyjama pants in one, smooth, elegant move. He found Shikamaru a pair and then walked around the bed to distract Haru while he put them on.

Shikamaru sat on the side of the bed and lifted Haru into his lap.

“We’ll have to get you back to the nursery,” Shikamaru told him. “If your To-chan realises your bunk is empty he will throw a fit.”

Haru looked like he would cry. “I want to stay with you,” he declared. “And Neji-san,” he added, which was obviously a lie.

“I’ll take you back,” Shikamaru told him. “I promise to stay with you until you are asleep.”

“What if I wake up again?” Haru asked.

“Haru, you are anxious about being home and fitting in. It is normal. Think about it. You belong with your litter, in the nursery. Who’s the best, Haru?”

Haru blinked back tears. “To-chan,” he whispered.

“And where does your To-chan want you to be at night?”

“In the nursery,” he admitted.

“Good,” Shikamaru replied, he picked Haru up and stood. “Let’s go.”


They only got as far as the shared area of the crew room, where they encountered a wild-eyed Naruto. Shikamaru scrambled about for something to say but Haru saved the day by smiling and holding out his arms. Naruto took him and started towards the nursery. Shikamaru waved and Haru waved back. He hoped that Haru did not mind that he had broken his promise to stay with him until he was asleep.

“You had better stop doing that,” Neji told him when he returned to the room.

“What?” Shikamaru asked; it could be one of so many things.

“Asking who is the best,” Neji specified. “The day he says you instead of Naruto you will be in so much trouble.”

Shikamaru gaped at him. How could Neji think that was even a possibility?

“Shika, he’s much closer to you than before. It is obvious. You are going to have to be very careful over the next few divs,” Neji warned him.

Shikamaru’s heart sank.

---

Naruto sat on the floor, stroking Haru’s hair and listening to his breathing. Once he was convinced that he was deeply asleep he crept out of the nursery and slid soundlessly down the pole.

Haru had gone to Shikamaru.


Naruto was less careful when entering their bedroom and sitting on the bed. Sasuke sat up and blinked at him owlishly.

“Dobe?” he queried.

“Haru was out of his bunk. Shi-chan brought him back,” Naruto summarised.

Given that it was the middle of ship’s night, Sasuke was surprisingly quick on the uptake. He wrapped Naruto in a hug.

“He’s home, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Maybe he isn’t exactly the same. Maybe he’s too thin and has scars and can’t sleep without Shika, but he’s home.”

In Naruto’s imagination Haru and Shikamaru would come home and it would be exactly as before.

“What are you thinking, dobe?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook himself. “That Haru might want to be with Shi-chan more than he wants to be with us,” he admitted.

“And?” Sasuke pushed.

Haru was safe. Sasuke was right. They were lucky. It could have been standards. Haru could have come home a stranger, or never come home at all.

“We will talk to Haru and work it out,” he decided. He tried to think clearly. “We are one family. There is no ‘with Shi-chan’ or ‘with us’.”

Sasuke hugged him. “I am proud of you, dobe.”


The next morning started normally. He was sitting with Iruka and Haku at the table in the galley. The children started to arrive for their breakfast. Naruto tried not to wonder where Haru was. He was bound to be last; he liked sleeping, he had been up in the middle of the night and he would be tired after yesterday.

Then he was up and running before his mind had registered the squeal of surprise and pain.


There was the smell of blood. Haru was sitting on the ground at the base of the pole. Naruto watched as he brought his hand from the back of his head and stared at the red fluid against the white skin.

Then Kiba was checking him out. He told Naruto to stay with him and went to get the first aid kit. Sasuke arrived, dressed only in sleep shorts.

Some of the children were crying. Not Haru; he just sat there. Naruto crouched down beside him.

“I am fine,” Haru assured him. “It doesn’t hurt that much. Rin-san will make it better.”

It was not a normal reaction. The children were rarely hurt. They were always shocked when it happened. This was more like an adult’s reaction; someone who was accustomed to pain.

Then Shikamaru arrived and Haru reached for him.


Naruto was glad he and Sasuke had talked. It helped. He caught the jealousy and crushed it before it could bloom. Instead he watched them; Shikamaru and Haru.

They were two of the people he loved most.

He had thirteen children. Shi-chan had one son.

He could share Haru with Shi-chan. It was not a new decision. He had made it over five standards before, when Shikamaru had stayed away from the nursery because he could not bear to be just another crewmate to Haru.


Kiba, the first aid kit and Rin arrived. Rin checked Haru over, frowning at the scars, took a dressing from Kiba and pressed it to the back of Haru’s head.

“We need to take him to the infirmary,” she told them.

Haru had his arms and legs around Shikamaru’s neck and waist. Shi-chan looked at Naruto as if he did not know what to do.

Naruto stood up and offered him a hand. “Let’s go,” he said.


They were soon in the infirmary. Rin had given Haru something for the pain and anaesthetised his scalp. She was sure that there was no damage to the skull and was closing the wound. She had told them to keep him talking so that she could listen and Naruto could watch for any signs of concussion.

“I wanted to slide down the pole like the others,” Haru explained from his perch on the treatment couch.

“Haru!” Shikamaru scolded before Naruto could respond.

Haru looked guilty. “I know,” he admitted. “It was like last time. I didn’t think. I could have, but I didn’t.”

Naruto stroked his leg. “The others had lots of practice, with two adults there, before they slid down the pole on their own.”

Haru opened his mouth and shut it again.

“Haru-chan?” Naruto queried.

Haru looked stubborn; Naruto knew that look.

“Hikaru said something,” he guessed.

“He said he did it first go,” Haru confessed and then looked sheepish. “He was boasting. I didn’t think of that.”

Naruto pictured Hikaru’s horror when Haru had taken him at his word and launched himself down the hole. By now Kiba would have found out what had happened. He could imagine the talk Sasuke was having with Hikaru.


“It isn’t at all serious,” Rin announced. “Scalp wounds always bleed a lot.” She came around to the front. “Why don’t we pop you into the dia-doc for a bit? It would accelerate the healing and I could check you over.”

Haru scowled at her. “No thank you, Rin-san. I just got here. I don’t want to spend days in a tank.”

“What about a single diagnostic cycle?” Shikamaru suggested. “You’d be out by the midday meal.”

Haru looked at Rin with suspicion. “You promise?”

She glanced at Naruto, who nodded his assent. “I promise, Haru-chan. Now off with those clothes and I’ll give you something to make you sleep.”

“Will it take away the scars?” Haru asked.

“Not a diagnostic cycle,” Rin replied. “We can get rid of the scars later. We could use small limpet regens.”

“Neat,” Haru acknowledged, “but I want to keep one, like To-chan kept the scar where Kazu-chan bit him.”

“If you want to,” Naruto agreed. “Now, off with those clothes.”


Naruto held him while Rin gave him the hypo and he fell asleep. Then he lifted him into the tank.

“What happened?” he asked Shikamaru. “The scars,” he clarified.

Rin finished setting the cycle. “I need to hear this too,” she told them. “I’ll make coffee. Do you want tea, Naruto-san?”


They listened. Rin asked many specific questions while Naruto realised that Haru being hurt had been the turning point. Shikamaru had begun to give Pein what he wanted so that he could be with Haru and look after him. He had also made the decision that they had to escape.

It had been the moment when Shikamaru had started behaving like Haru’s parent. Haru had needed a parent very badly and Shikamaru had stepped up.

He hugged Shi-chan. Shikamaru looked at him in surprise.

“Thank you,” Naruto told him. “Thank you for being a father to him. Thank you for bringing him home.”

---

Sasuke took a few deep breaths. He would not be angry at Hikaru. A father should not lose his temper with his son. Once he was calm enough, he spoke.

“Tell me what you should have done, Hikaru,” he instructed.

Hikaru looked surprised. He considered. “Told Ha-chan he needed training to use the pole,” he decided. He thought again. “Told him we had training,” he added.

“Exactly. That would have been what a leader would have done. It was what a brother who cared would have done. I am very disappointed in you, Hikaru-chan.”

Hikaru flushed. “I am sorry, Papa,” he said.

Sasuke hugged him. “I forgive you. Hopefully Haru and your To-chan will forgive you too.”


He took Hikaru to the playroom to join the others and then walked to the infirmary to check on Haru. Rin and Naruto both assured him that Haru was fine. Naruto seemed less defensive about Shikamaru’s close involvement, which was good.

He studied Haru in the tank. It hurt. His child should not be in a tank. He should not be so thin, nor cut and scarred. His anger threatened to boil again. This time it was directed at Pein and the Akatsuki.

“Shika-san, perhaps this would be a good time for us to talk,” he suggested.

“The two of you should eat breakfast,” Naruto reminded them. “Ask Choza to make you up a tray. Shi-chan has already had coffee on an empty stomach.”


On the way to his office, via the galley, Sasuke thought about the report Shikamaru had sent him. It had touched on many things; some in detail but others about which Shikamaru had hesitated and then suggested that it would be better done face-to-face.

They were finally settled in the comfortable chairs at the end of Sasuke’s office. Shikamaru looked up at the image of him with Haru.

“You can file that in the memory now,” he suggested.

Sasuke changed it to the image of Naruto with the children. “We will sort out a new portrait when the babies are decanted.”

Shikamaru lifted a questioning eyebrow.

“They were put into stasis with only ten days to go, when we started making the multiple jumps,” Sasuke told him. “Naruto and I will discuss when to bring them out. It won’t be long. Naruto needs them to be close and with their hearts beating.”

“I am glad we made it in time,” Shikamaru admitted.

Sasuke was too; there would have been a shadow over the babies’ birth. He refused to think about it. Haru and Shikamaru were home; it was finally over. They would take steps to make sure that nothing like it ever happened again.

“You will never go anywhere ever again without proper security,” Sasuke insisted. “Neither will any of the children. It is irrelevant how safe it seems. We have learned the lesson.”

For once Shikamaru did not argue.


Sasuke took a deep breath and turned his mind to the report Shikamaru had sent him. The Akatsuki and Pein could wait until Kakashi and Neji were present. There were two issues Sasuke needed to discuss with Shikamaru alone.

“Tell me about these sixty foetuses and the child,” he ordered. “Sixty foetuses, Shika?” he complained.

“I almost did not mention them to you,” Shikamaru admitted.

Sasuke resisted the urge to throttle him. “Shika, we have discussed this. You must tell me the big stuff. How can sixty foetuses not be big stuff?”

“I can make provision for them,” Shikamaru replied. “I can found a trust and recruit the right people. They would find families, allocate funds and monitor the children’s welfare. There is no need to involve Uchiha.”

“But you decided to tell me,” Sasuke reminded him.

“Yes. Kabuto must have told Pein about the symbiote, because the sixty foetuses are cloned from stem cells taken from sixty different inhabitants of Sumaru’s home planet.”

Sasuke shuddered at the implications. Mindprinted clones infected with the symbiote; battalions of super-warriors. He made himself concentrate on the foetuses and their welfare. “They are young enough for the sensory deprivation not to have affected them?” Sasuke queried.

“Yes,” Shikamaru replied. “And I put them into stasis as soon as I could. The question is, does Uchiha wish to raise them, given their potential, or should I continue with my original plan?”

Sasuke was not sure. “They are in safe storage?” he asked.

“On their way there,” Shikamaru confirmed.

“I shall think on it,” Sasuke decided. He would need to think it through. He would talk to Naruto. He put the issue to one side for now. “The child,” he stated.


Shikamaru sat a little straighter. Sasuke saw his jaw set and his gaze intensify. Shikamaru might be flexible about the sixty foetuses but he would fight for the child.

“Tell me why I should take a feral child into our family, particularly one whose presence will cause Konohamaru pain,” Sasuke challenged.

Shikamaru paused and then spoke slowly, obviously picking his words carefully. “The Ranmaru at Pein’s base, he was our Ranmaru. He had all his memories. He knew us. He cared for Haru. He still loved Kono-kun. But he was a reprint, a clone printed from a mindprinted clone. That means those memories will only last a standard, possibly two, maybe three. Then they will fade away leaving the empty clone.

“He could have asked to come with us, Sasuke. How could I have said no? He didn’t ask, because he would not cause Konohamaru that pain. He did ask me to ask you to take in the child. So I am asking.”

Sasuke watched, frozen in disbelief, as Shikamaru stood, knelt and kowtowed before him.


He was out of his chair and dragging Shikamaru to his feet and into a hug. Shikamaru should never kowtow to him. It was incredibly and utterly wrong.

Suddenly he was distracted by the memory of Konohamaru, in his uniform, making the formal request for mercy on Ranmaru’s behalf.

Then, belatedly, he realised that he had been hugging Shikamaru for a significant amount of time and that Shikamaru had not pulled away.

Sasuke took a deep breath, moved his hands to Shikamaru’s shoulders and pushed him gently but firmly to arms’ length. He steeled himself for what he knew he would see; that vulnerability that always cut him to the core. Anticipation did not help; he was still impaled by those bottomless brown eyes.

“We missed you, Shika,” he said, which was true and acceptable but horribly inadequate. “I will take the child,” he added.

“Thank you, Sasuke-sama,” Shikamaru whispered in reply.

---