Iteration

I cannot correct using the online text editor because I lose all the formatting. Gingitsune spotted an error and the only way I could sort it was to delete the chapter and then repost. Apologies if this was inconvenient for any readers.

Please see the author’s notes at the end of this chapter

‘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 V-Anon, lividangel, xxShadowheartxx, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, Midnight Essence, DONNITA, blugirlami21, richon, Prism0467, sadie237, cynaga, Dorkchic, smauigirl, kanazerosukenaru, prettypurpletiger, lonelylulaby and Gingitsune who reviewed after chapter 65 was posted. Some readers have left long and detailed reviews this week that I have very much enjoyed reading.

kyuubi1010 has drawn me a wonderful picture of Shikamaru and Haru when they were kidnapped by Pein see http://kyuubi1010.deviantart.com/art/Shika-and-Haru-200597237 . You must go and see it, so copy and paste the link into your browser.

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.

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Chapter sixty-six: Family

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After Shikamaru had left his office, Sasuke went to his desk, uncapped his pen and began a list. Most urgent was taking the babies out of stasis and spending time with Naruto and their children. The memory of Naruto in the mourning nest was far too vivid. Nothing was more important than his family.

He had moved onto considering strategic priorities when he paused. What if Konohamaru heard about reprint Ranmaru or child Ranmaru from another source? Haru had spent three divs with reprint Ranmaru; he was certain to mention it. Sasuke added Konohamaru to the list, directly below Naruto and the children. Then he recapped his pen and placed the sheet in a drawer.

His finger hovered over the intercom button before he changed his mind; some things were better done without announcing them to the whole crew.


Inari was working with Izumo on a drive.

“Sasuke-sama,” Izumo acknowledged as Sasuke entered the shop.

Inari had been facing away from the doorway. He jumped up and turned. “Sasuke-sama,” he echoed, bowing.

“Izumo-san, Inari-san,” Sasuke replied. “Izumo-san, may I speak with Inari-san?” Sasuke asked and waited for Izumo’s nod before continuing. “I am sorry to pull you away from your work, Inari-san, but it is a confidential and urgent matter. Perhaps you could clean up and come directly to my office?”


He just had enough time to return to his office and prepare a tea tray before Inari arrived; he must have run to have washed away the grime and arrived so quickly.

“I did not want to summon you over the intercom,” Sasuke explained, gesturing Inari to a seat. He poured the boiling water onto the leaves, replaced the lid and carried the tray to the low table between the chairs. He sat down and went directly to the point. “The matter I wish to discuss with you is linked to Shika-san’s return. It concerns Kono-kun.”

Inari’s expression was grave. “Is it something to do with the Akatsuki taking Ranmaru’s head?”

Sasuke belatedly wondered what Konohamaru thought about the missing head. Had he been hoping that Ranmaru had been kept alive and given a new body?

“Yes, it is about Ranmaru,” he confirmed and then paused. He had to be careful what he said to Inari. “We knew that the Akatsuki had a least one clone of Ranmaru, the one they took the replacement head from,” he began.

Inari nodded.

Sasuke took a deep breath. “There were others. They transferred some of the memories from the head to two other clones. They interrogated one to find out what they needed to abduct Shikamaru and the children. Another looked after Haru when he was at the Akatsuki base. Apparently the transferred memories do not last. They are temporary. Despite taking his head, they did not, could not, resurrect our Ranmaru. They merely managed to access his memories. Ranmaru died that day in Tarrasade.”

Inari sighed. “Kono-kun says that he knows Ranmaru is dead but says it too often. It will be good for him to have confirmation.”


Sasuke poured them both tea. The urge to leave it there and to insist that the child was raised in some distant sector of the Far Fringe was very great.

He did not have that option; Shikamaru had promised reprint Ranmaru and he had promised Shika.

“I wish it were that simple, Inari-san,” he admitted.

Inari paused on the edge of sipping his tea and replaced the cup on its saucer. “Sasuke-sama?” he queried.


Sasuke carefully explained about Pein raising clones from the feral child’s stem cells. He deliberately omitted the part about them being sensory deprived. He allowed Inari to believe, as he intended Konohamaru to believe, that their Ranmaru had been raised by Konan but given some memories from the feral child and from the clone raised in the orphanage.

“Pein kept the feral child in stasis,” he concluded. “As a source of stem cells and memories.”

He saw realisation dawn in Inari’s eyes

“Shika-san brought back the child,” Inari whispered. “That’s who was in the other pod.”

So much for keeping the second pod a secret; Sasuke was glad he had decided to deal with the situation quickly.

Inari considered. “Is he is much younger? Is he still feral, Sasuke-sama?”

“He is about eight standards,” Sasuke admitted, “and, yes, he is feral.”

“Naruto and the kits are clones of each other. Kono-kun thinks of them as individuals. “It will be fine,” Inari insisted.


Sasuke waited for Inari to bring Konohamaru. He hoped Inari was correct about Kono-kun’s response.

They sat opposite each other; close enough that Sasuke could take Konohamaru’s hands if necessary. Inari sat on Konohamaru’s left. Sasuke took a deep breath.

“Shika-san brought confirmation that Ranmaru died in the market in Tarrasade,” he began.

Konohamaru sagged slightly but nodded. It was hard to tell if he was disappointed or relieved.

“But Pein does have a way of transferring memories from one brain to another,” Sasuke continued. “He managed to get some of Ranmaru’s memories temporarily transferred to clones.”

“Temporarily?” Konohamaru whispered.

“Yes,” Sasuke insisted. “The memories don’t last long.”

“What happened to the clones?” Konohamaru asked.

“I don’t know,” Sasuke admitted. “They aren’t Ranmaru, Kono-kun. They just had some of his memories for a short time.”

“I understand that,” Konohamaru replied, “but I would have liked to know they were safe. Pein doesn’t treat clones well.”

Sasuke refrained from promising to ask Shikamaru. He pressed on. “Kono-kun, your Ranmaru was raised by Konan. He was given some memories from the original feral child and some from the clone who had lived in the orphanage.”

Konohamaru paused before speaking, as if the information was taking time to sink in. “He wasn’t the original feral child?”

“No, Pein kept the original feral child in stasis,” Sasuke replied. “We do know where the child is, Kono-kun. Shika-san found him.”

“He is safe?” Konohamaru queried.

“He is safe,” Sasuke confirmed. “He is here, in stasis.”

“That’s good, Sasuke,” Konohamaru suggested. “He will be safe with us.”

“Yes, it is good,” Sasuke agreed.

Konohamaru was silent. Sasuke and Inari waited. Then Konohamaru stood up.

“I will go to my room for a bit,” he said.

“I’ll walk with you,” Inari insisted and Konohamaru did not argue.


Sasuke saw them out, closed the door and sat at his desk. After a few minutes, he took out his list and placed a small cross next to Konohamaru’s name. Perhaps he should have told Konohamaru that his Ranmaru had been a print and that reprint Ranmaru had all their Ranmaru’s memories. However, on reflection, he was certain he had done what was best for Konohamaru. He was sure that Ranmaru would have approved.

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Naruto listened to Rin interpreting the dia-doc readouts. Other than the scars on his skin, Haru had long-term damage inside that the nanobots had not put right. Rin was confident that it could be sorted out, which was good.

“Can it be done without tanking him?” Naruto asked. He looked at Haru’s thin little body suspended in the green gel. “He needs to be with the litter.”

“We can use nanobots and limpet regens for the scars,” Rin assured him. She looked at him. “It must have been close, Naruto-san.”

Naruto suppressed a growl. Rin would be uncomfortable if he growled. He thought back to what Shikamaru had told them. Haru would be dead if Hana, the hybrid who was loyal to Konan, had not risked her life to save him. He would be dead if it had not been for his nanobots.

Haru was not dead; he was home.


There were a hundred minutes until the children’s midday meal when Haru regained consciousness. Naruto decided to that they should spend the time together. He would give Haru a bath to rid him of the gel, which smelled.

Haru did not appear to be in a rush to join the rest of the litter in the playroom. He was happy to be carried, bathed, dried and cuddled. He chatted incessantly. Naruto listened. He learned about the people he had met: the Zetsus, Hana and the copy of Ranmaru. He began imagining the large, mostly empty, house with its gardens full of flowers. He held Haru close when Haru told him about the killer plants, about his terror and pain, and then the strangeness of being sick.

Haru might look like Sasuke but he talked like Shikamaru.

“You have not told me about Shi-chan,” Naruto suggested once Haru appeared to have run out of things to tell him.

Haru gave him a blue version of one of Shikamaru’s penetrating looks.

“No,” he admitted, cautiously.

So Haru had noticed the tension between them. Naruto picked his next words carefully. “I think that Shi-chan did a wonderful job of looking after you,” he stated.

Haru even smelled relieved. He launched into another wave of chatter about the games they had played, how he had helped Shikamaru build a data crystal array and how weird it was when Shi-chan behaved like Iruka-sensei towards Sasori.

Naruto listened. With every word he understood a little better why distancing Haru from Shi-chan would be wrong and cruel as well as unnecessary and selfish.

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Haru was more than happy to spend the rest of the morning with his To-chan; it was almost worth falling off the pole and being tanked. He wanted to tell his To-chan everything, but ran out of things to say. He decided that it did not matter. Sitting on his To-chan’s lap and being groomed made him feel warm and safe.

“Let’s go into the galley and wait for the others,” To-chan suggested.

Haru agreed; he could not sit on his To-chan’s lap forever.


Haku-san was in the galley. With him were three babies of different sizes sitting in high chairs. Haru prepared himself to respond appropriately to Haku’s greeting, only to be swept off his feet by Choza, hugged and deposited in one of the children’s chairs.

“We all missed you, Haru-chan,” Choza told him. “Now you are home we must fatten you up.”

Haru smiled at him. “Yes, please, Choza-san.” He decided to be brave. “Haku-san,” he acknowledged with a small, polite bow.

Haku spooned food into the smallest baby’s mouth, wiped up a spill and still looked perfect. “Haru-chan,” he replied. “It is good to see you home and safe. This is Shou-chan,” he added, gesturing towards the youngest. “You have met Mai and Naomi.”

Haru bowed again. “It is a pleasure, Mai-chan, Naomi-chan and Shou-chan,” he said carefully. Mai looked like Haku. Naomi was chubby; Haru tried to see Hamaki, Terai or Fu in her but failed. As for Shou, Haru had not known that babies came that chunky.

He was saved from further conversation by his To-chan.

“They are coming,” he warned and took his place at the head of the table.


Kazuki sat on one side of him and Hoshi the other. The others all took their places. Finally Kiba-san arrived and took the adult’s chair between Ryuu and Kuuya.

Haru had forgotten how fast they all ate. He had barely started when Kazuki was finished and wriggling in his chair. Haru speeded up; he knew that Kiba-san would not give permission for Kazuki to leave the table until everyone had finished their first plate of food.

His To-chan frowned at him and twitched his whiskers.

“Slow down, Haru-chan,” he instructed. “You should eat carefully after being in the tank. Kiba-san, should I take those who have finished to the playroom?”

Kiba-san studied Haru and the food that remained on his plate. “That may be for the best, Naruto-san. Perhaps Hikaru-chan should stay to keep Haru-chan company?”

Haru did not miss the look between Hikaru and his To-chan.

“I agree, Kiba-san. We will see you later, Haru-chan, Hikaru-chan.”

Kazuki gave him an apologetic little glance for leaving and Haru stole a quick stroke to his tail to confirm that he understood.


Once the others had gone Haru ate, Hikaru said nothing and Kiba-san waited. Haru thought about starting the conversation but decided not to.

Fu-san came in to fetch Naomi. Haku left with Mai and Shou.

“Sorry,” Hikaru said suddenly.

Haru shrugged. “I jumped down the hole. You didn’t make me,” he pointed out.

Hikaru bit his lip. “We had training,” he admitted. “I should have told you.”

Kiba-san gave a tiny growl.

“I didn’t do it first time,” Hikaru added.

Haru shrugged again. “Fine,” he replied.

“Haru-chan,” Kiba-san warned.

Haru deliberately took a large mouthful of food so that he would have to chew and swallow before he could speak.

“I accept your apology,” he recited, finally.

Choza-san came over and took Kiba’s plate. “You get on, Kiba-san,” he suggested. “I can supervise the boys.”

Kiba looked at him and Haru thought, for a moment, that he would refuse, but then he stood up.

“Please excuse me, Haru-chan, Hikaru-chan.”

“Kiba-san,” they chorused.


Haru knew better than to say anything until he was sure that Kiba-san was out of earshot. He could see Hikaru doing the same. Choza-san brought over a plate of sweet tasties, including Haru’s and Hikaru’s favourites, placed it on the table and retreated to the other end of the galley.

Hikaru scowled at him.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Haru insisted.

“Papa said it was,” Hikaru countered. “He said I was a bad leader and a bad brother.”

Haru was sure that his Papa hadn’t said that. “You aren’t my leader,” he pointed out.

Hikaru’s scowl deepened.

Haru tried again. “Brothers aren’t bad or good, they’re just brothers.” The words weren’t coming out very well. “I missed you.”

“You did?” Hikaru queried.

Haru tried not to be cross. “Yes.”

Hikaru reached for a tasty and then pushed the plate towards Haru; they ate tasties and looked at each other.


Choza-san suggested that they walked to the playroom alone, which Kiba-san would have never done. Hikaru bumped him, shoulder to shoulder, and then Haru bumped him back.

“Who did you miss most?” Hikaru asked.

“To-chan,” Haru replied.

Hikaru nodded, agreeing with Haru’s choice. “Race!” he declared and started running.

Haru ran after him. He knew he had no chance of winning or even catching up, but it didn’t matter. At least he had someone to chase.

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Sasuke settled into an afternoon of discussing strategy with Kakashi, Neji and Shikamaru. It felt like sliding into an favourite pair of boots after wearing a newer pair that did not quite fit.

Despite having only just arrived, being woken in the middle of the night and spending the morning in the infirmary with Haru, Shikamaru was on excellent form. He had used his days on the Dart to good effect. As well as catching up on his communications, he was almost certain he had located the first base where they had been held.

They made four decisions. They would leave Sasori to Klennethon Darrent. They would send crews to check if Pein had destroyed the bases where Shikamaru and Haru had been held. They would search for the other bases given what Shikamaru knew about the two he had seen. They would try to track Pein.

“Has Rin worked out a way of testing people to see if they have one of Pein’s mindnets?” Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke’s gut twisted. Was Shikamaru suggesting that Pein had put such a net into Haru’s brain, or Shikamaru’s? “Can he put one into a fully developed brain?” he asked.

Shikamaru looked puzzled for a moment and then laughed. “I never thought of that. I don’t think so, I think only the clones he grows have them, but I will ask Rin to check me and Haru. No, I was thinking that it would be good to be able to detect Pein’s clones in the future.”

“Did he take stem cells from you and Haru?” Kakashi asked.

“Yes,” Shikamaru admitted. “There was a stem cell bank on the ship. I destroyed all the samples. It seemed the most responsible thing to so. I kept a copy of the database. There was no evidence he had started cloning us.” He paused. “He may have a back-up tissue bank somewhere.”

Sasuke shuddered at the thought of it. “Please liaise with Rin about creating a detector, Shika-san,” he instructed. “Is there any other business?” he asked, intending to bring the meeting to a close.

Shikamaru shifted in his chair. “I have two matters that I would like to raise,” he admitted.

Sasuke braced himself.

“Firstly, I would like put on record that Haru and I were treated well by Pein. What happened to Haru was an accident. It happened because they did not understand children. In addition, we owe Hana and I think we probably owe the Zetsus. Hana definitely let us go when she could have stopped us and, in retrospect, I think the Zetsus let the ship leave. I know that I did not take down the security systems so they must have.”

“Why?” Kakashi challenged.

“Hana gave me her reason,” Shikamaru replied. “She told me to take Haru back to his To-chan. She already knew about Naruto. She had asked me about him. As for the Zetsus, I consider them friends. I just wish we could have met under different circumstances. Also, again, they adored Haru.”

Sasuke struggled with the concept of two people in one body. It was typical of Shikamaru that he accepted it without reservation.

“I shall remember that we owe Hana and the Zetsus,” he conceded. Pein was entirely another matter. “What was your second point, Shika-san?”

“It is a request,” Shikamaru told them. “I would like the opportunity to thank Klenn in person for his assistance. There is no rush.”

Sasuke was not sure; Klennethon Darrent was far too fond of Shika for his liking. “I will keep that in mind, Shika-san,” he replied.


That evening Sasuke made sure he was with the children for their bath time and bedtime. Instead of a story, he performed a slightly sanitised version of one of the great spacer ballads with the children and Naruto joining in for the chorus. Shikamaru and Kiba chose merely to listen.

Kiba made his rounds first while Shikamaru talked with Haru. After they had left, Naruto worked his way around the nursery one way and Sasuke the other. Each child received a kiss and a few words from each of them.

Sasuke slid down the pole first. Naruto followed, dropping into Sasuke’s embrace. After a kiss, Sasuke drew him into the deserted babies’ nursery.

“Tomorrow we wake the triplets,” Sasuke insisted. “And get back to preparing for coping with the children and the babies at the same time.”

Naruto hesitated. “We could wait a bit longer,” he suggested.

Sasuke remembered fluffy-soft-Naruto in the mourning nest. “No, we need the babies to complete our family. It isn’t right that they are missing.”


So next morning Rin brought the babies out of stasis and Naruto reinstalled the gestators in the nursery. Then, after the midmeal, they had a family meeting in the playroom.

“Tsuneo, Takara and Teruko will be born soon,” Sasuke reminded the children. “I thought we would start by talking about what tiny babies need.”

The discussion went well and they quickly moved on to what their new day would look like. Sasuke watched as it slowly sunk in that Naruto and Kiba would be spending a lot of time with the triplets while they were small.

“Will To-chan have any time for us?” Keizo asked suddenly.

Sasuke saw Naruto’s whiskers droop.

“I will always have time for you, Kei-chan,” Naruto insisted. “For each of you.”

Sasuke looked at the daily schedule they had laid out over the table. “Let’s look for a time when your To-chan can be with you while someone else looks after the babies.”

They settled on Naruto being in the playroom with them for a part of each afternoon and being there for bath time and bedtime. Then Sasuke made a neat copy of the new daily schedule for the wall while Naruto helped the children make their presents for the gift-giving.

“Why do you want the babies?” Yoshimi asked Sasuke.

Sasuke saw Naruto’s whiskers twitch. The other children were listening. He stopped writing and lifted Yoshimi onto his lap.

“We love you all so much that we wanted to have more children so that we could love them too,” he answered.

Yoshimi looked at him. His whiskers twitched like his To-chan’s. “So you could love them?” he checked.

Sasuke hugged and kissed him. “So we could love them. Like we love you. We hope you will like having little sisters and a little brother.”

“Yuki will like them,” Yoshimi informed him. “Yu-chan likes babies.” He considered. “Yu-chan is like Haku-san only nicer.”


Yuki looked over and smiled, not at all worried at being cast as the one who liked babies and was like Haku. Sasuke had an image of a smaller, slighter version of Naruto dressed in one of Haku’s kimonos. Sasuke would be fending men off with a stick. That was if Naruto did not beat them to a pulp first.

“Papa?” asked Yoshimi.

“Just thinking, Yo-chan,” Sasuke replied.

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Author’s note

OK, I am going to address a few of things that have come up in reviews.

In this story the way that one character sees something is not always the way another character sees it. This is because I write from a shifting point of view. Different characters can see the same situation in different ways. They can draw different conclusions. What they worry about is coloured by their personal insecurities.

I know the plot is complicated. Doors are left open. There are greys as well as black and white. The characters have many different potentials.

Bottom line is that Sasuke loves Naruto; Naruto is his light. The question is, does Naruto illuminate Sasuke’s darkness or has he permanently banished the shadows?

Long-term, who knows what will happen? 15-17 standards is a long time. Spacing is dangerous. As Naruto would say, it is quality of the living that matters, not its length.

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