Iteration
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Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,710
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.
Misunderstandings
‘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 lividangel, Nemo-Hime, v, prettypurpletiger, Moonmoore, richon, V-Anon, sadie237, satterb, Prism0467 and unneeded who reviewed chapter 68.
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-nine: Misunderstandings
Iruka studied the small body in the tank. He had not expected the child to be so thin, or scarred, or to have a twisted arm. They had not even bothered to clean him, or to sort out his matted hair.
“They had him for eighteen standards and never put him right?” he queried.
Rin scowled. “Confirmation they never intended him to be anything other than a supply a of stem cells and memories,” she suggested. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” she assured him. “Even the arm is an easy mend. It’ll give me a chance to do some surgery and then the nanobots will speed up the healing. Do you want to get rid of the scars?”
Iruka considered. Many of the crew had scars they had chosen to keep; even Haru. “No. None of them are that bad and he can make the decision for himself. Sort out his arm and make him healthy. How long will that take?”
Rin considered. “Ten days if I operate on the arm today. That will mean taking him out of the tank. Do you want to be here to help clean him up and decide what to do with his hair?”
Iruka nodded.
He brought Kakashi with him, so that he would know what condition the child had been in. He could see Kakashi taking in every scar and callus.
“He had an impressive range of parasites,” Rin informed them. A few of them even came through stasis with him but most are dead.”
“Has he been sexually active?” Kakashi asked.
Iruka had not thought of that. He remembered how young Naruto had been when he first swapped fucking for food.
“No sign of it,” Rin told them. “Shika-san said that the database entry described him as extremely vicious. Apparently he bites. There was human blood, not his, under his fingernails so he scratches as well. You might like to think about how you intend to handle the situation when you wake him. Are you sure he can talk? Or even understand speech?”
Iruka knew nothing. He stood motionless, finally appreciating the magnitude of the task he was taking on. Then he felt the comforting squeeze of a hand around his own. Kakashi was studying him, judging his reaction. Iruka managed a small smile.
“We can do this,” Kakashi insisted. “Problem solving is an Uchiha speciality.”
Ran woke. He lay still, motionless, eyes closed, reaching out with his senses. It was another strange place. There were no people close. He was lying on something soft. There was a faint buzzing. The air smelled odd.
Last time had been very, very bad. He had been in the dark, unable to move. Sharp things had burrowed through his scalp and then his head had burst with pain.
This was better. There was no pain. He felt good. He wasn’t hungry or thirsty. Nothing itched. His arm did not hurt.
He risked opening his eyes, but just a little. The light wasn’t right. There were lots of colours.
He was covered with something that was very soft.
Ran had a few memories of Before. Before was a bed covered by softness. Before was Mommy.
He opened his eyes fully. He was on a bed in a room. Was there a way out? There were two doors; one open and one closed. There were no windows. There was an opening high up in one wall but it was covered with a grill.
What was in the corner?
Ran knew about toys. There were toys in shop windows. Real children, who lived in houses, had toys.
He waited a long time. Finally, he crept off the bed, intending to investigate.
The first shock was that moving did not hurt. His legs did not ache. He stopped and checked his body. His arm worked. It hadn’t worked right since he had fallen on it badly.
His hands looked odd. They were very clean. The nails were neat rather than ragged and broken.
As he looked down something fell forward onto his face. He felt it. It was his hair but it was smooth. He could pull his fingers through it.
He had nice clothes on. They were clean and had no holes.
Who had the child catcher sold him to?
He looked through the open doorway. It was a very small room with no other door. There were lots of shiny surfaces.
His eyes went back to the corner, to the toys.
Maybe, just maybe...
No, he couldn’t let himself think that.
He stood frozen. He wanted to touch the toys but toys were dangerous. Toys could mean traps.
Only the child catcher had already caught him. The worst had happened.
He moved closer. There was a top. He had seen children playing with a top, so he knew what you did with it. He had even found one once, in a bin, but it didn’t spin right.
His fingers had closed on it before he decided to touch it. That happened sometimes.
It spun. It was lovely. The pattern on it made rings when it moved and the pattern again when it stopped.
After three goes he put it back so no one would know he had touched it.
There were small pictures on the walls. One caught his attention. It showed a boy with bright blue eyes but he had whiskers and furry, pointed ears. Ran leaned closer.
The picture moved. It spoke. Ran jumped back and dived under the bed.
Nothing else happened. After a while Ran peered out. It was just a moving picture, like an advert, but with speaking.
He returned to the picture and reached out towards it. He started moving and talking again. He had pointed teeth like a dog. Ran did not like dogs.
“My name’s Kazuki. I live here. I gave you the blue ball.”
Ran looked over at the toys. There was a blue ball.
All the pictures on that wall showed children. Ran studied them. Most had blue eyes. Many of them had whiskers. One other had furry ears. He put his finger close to that one.
“I live here. My name’s Ryuu. I gave you the wolf plushie ‘cos I’m part wolf.”
Ran did not know what a wolf was. He studied the toys. There was a brown fluffy thing with a tail, whiskers and ears that stuck up. Was a wolf a type of dog?
He started looking for the child who had given him the top. It was one of the ones without blue eyes; a girl with dark hair. She did not have whiskers or pointed teeth. He played the message again.
“My name is Misora. I live here. My mum is Kurenai and my dad is Asuma. My brothers are Akemi and Keitaro. I decided to give you the top because it is pretty.”
“My name is Ran,” he whispered.
Iruka had been in his office when his earpiece buzzed and Shino summoned him to the monitoring room they had set up. The child was awake.
He took his seat. Shino, Rin and Neji were already there. Kakashi arrived next, then Shikamaru. It had been Shino’s idea that the six of them should wear radios; that way whoever was on watch could summon the others easily.
Iruka smiled. Kakashi had decided to approach the problem like a mission. There had been strategy meetings. Shikamaru had come up with a variety of ideas, some of which had seemed less crazy once they had been thought through. They had decided to implement a handful of them.
Best, Shikamaru had information about the child’s home planet. It was isolated but it had a moderate technology level. Other than their draconian attitude to unlicensed breeding, it seemed an ordinary Far Fringe planet. The local language was standard. The child had been captured in a city that had a spaceport.
They waited. Despite the telemetry, Iruka began to doubt that the child was awake. He could not imagine a boy managing to stay so still for so long.
When he finally moved it was in the direction of the toys, which was unexpected given what Five and Chamu had told them. He looked towards Neji, who shrugged.
“We have too little information to know what it means, Iruka-san,” he suggested.
“Everything is working well,” Rin assured him. “We are getting excellent data about his brain function.”
Iruka had not been sure about gluing the network of tiny sensors to his scalp. Rin had insisted that he would not notice because he was accustomed to parasites living in his hair.
He had not even been sure about spying on him with cameras and microphones, but Kakashi had pointed out that they needed more information.
They watched him spin the top once, twice and then for a third time before turning his attention to the pictures.
Kakashi chuckled when he ran away and hid from Kazuki’s voice. Iruka did not think it funny; his gut clenched to see him so fearful of such a small threat.
But he soon came out. He started testing the pictures and stopped when he found the one of the person who had given him the top.
“Yes!” hissed Shikamaru. “He understands speech.”
“Hush,” Neji ordered.
“He spoke,” Kakashi insisted. “Play it back. Turn up the volume.”
Shino did as he was told and they heard his voice for the first time.
“My name is Ran.”
Iruka’s heart beat faster. His name was Ran; not Ranmaru but Ran.
They watched for a while longer. Then Shikamaru and Neji excused themselves. Shino decided to turn the equipment to automatic and followed them. Rin stayed, pouring over the data. Iruka’s hand stole into Kakashi’s.
They watched Ran working out how to use the head using the pictorial instructions Shikamaru had affixed to the wall. He also studied the ones for the shower and the sink.
The door to the room opened. Iruka looked over, expecting to see Neji or Shikamaru, but it was Konohamaru. Iruka controlled his anxiety and made himself smile.
“Have a seat,” Kakashi suggested, pointing to the one Neji had vacated.
Konohamaru’s eyes were riveted to the screen but he sank into the indicated chair.
“He calls himself Ran,” Iruka informed him, keen to establish the boy as different from Ranmaru.
Konohamaru gave one small nod of acknowledgement. He watched. After about ten minutes he stood up and left. Kakashi waited until he was out of earshot.
“I’ll get Inari to check up on him,” he said, standing up.
Iruka agreed that would be best and watched Kakashi leave.
Next Dan arrived to retrieve Rin. He waited, arms crossed, until she had checked that all the settings were as she wanted them.
“Will you be all right on your own, Iruka-san?” Dan asked.
Iruka nodded. “Kakashi will be back soon,” he assured him.
Only he was not; perhaps he was having trouble finding Inari. Iruka sat in the room alone and thought about Ran. Like Naruto, someone must have raised him before he had begun living on the streets; Iruka knew enough about child development to know that children did not spontaneously develop language.
He looked up. The screen displayed an image from each of the six cameras. Ran was in none of them.
Iruka panicked. Was there a part of the room that the cameras did not cover? He did not think so.
He must be under the bed.
He moved to Shino’s seat, intending to review the last five minutes. Finally he managed to find the relevant menu. He peered at the six small images in Shino’s monitor. His heart sank.
He wasn’t under the bed. Ran had gone out the ventilation duct above the sink.
Iruka activated his radio.
“Iruka here. Ran has escaped. I repeat, Ran has escaped into the ventilation system.”
The room was nice but it was not safe. It was safer to be somewhere Ran chose for himself. Outside was better than inside.
He could reach the high up opening in the small room by climbing. To his surprise the cover pulled off. It had holes big enough for his fingers. He could hold it from the inside and pull it into place behind him.
He moved quickly now that his legs and arm worked better. He scuttled down the tunnel.
He kept sniffing the air, but it never smelled of outside. None of the light he saw was daylight.
After a long time he had to take a rest. How big was this building?
Noises; something was following him. It was quick. He speeded up but it was closer. Ran remembered the dog and whimpered. He had only got away by hitting the dog with a stick.
There weren’t any sticks. He had to think. There was a junction ahead. It went up and down as well as side to side.
People and dogs looked up last; Ran climbed the ladder and waited.
When a white furry head poked out Ran kicked it as hard as he could and then kicked it again. Then he was swarming up the ladder.
There was no movement behind him. At the next junction he risked a quick look down. It wasn’t a dog, it was a person. He was half in and half out of the tunnel, with his head hanging down the shaft.
Ran chose one of the tunnels and kept moving.
Sasuke had decided to leave the child to Iruka. He and Kakashi had appeared to have it under control. He had been mildly amused that Kakashi was treating it like a mission; going as far as holding strategy meetings and including Shikamaru and Neji.
It was no longer even remotely amusing; Kamatari was tanked and they had a feral child loose in the ship.
Sasuke had made sure he was there when Dan and Naruto had brought an unconscious Kamatari out of the service ducts. He walked with them and the stretcher to the infirmary.
“Will Kama-kun make a full recovery, Rin-san?” he asked.
“Yes. He was lucky,” Rin told him. “He did not fall down the shaft, the child was not wearing boots and there is a limit to how hard a child of eight standards can kick. This means he is not dead, which otherwise he very easily could be.”
Sasuke thanked the Lady. He turned to Naruto. “Are you going back to the crew room?” he asked.
“I could. I am taking the children to Shi-chan’s level. Kiba is looking after the babies. Is there something you want me to do?”
“Yes. Please could you find Kakashi-san and ask him to join me in my office. Now,” Sasuke replied.
Kakashi was with Iruka, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino and Asuma planning how to retrieve Ran when Naruto arrived.
“How is Kamatari?” Iruka asked.
“Lucky not to be dead,” Naruto answered. “Apparently he was kicked twice in the head. Hard. Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke wants you in his office. He is cross.”
Kakashi did not delay. Naruto was the only person who ever described Sasuke as cross. It could mean anything from mildly irritable to barely hanging onto his temper.
He was definitely at the upper end of that range.
“I can’t decide what was more stupid,” he ranted as soon as Kakashi was in the chair across the desk from him. “Not checking that he couldn’t get out of the room or allowing Kamatari to go after him. I know which was more dangerous. How could you not consider an attack? You of all people? We were warned that he could be vicious.”
Kakashi did not argue. It was irrelevant that Kamatari had entered the ducting without consulting anyone or that Iruka had yelled repeated warnings about not approaching the child. Kamatari was a trainee, he should not have been placed in such a dangerous situation. They should have ordered him back rather than yelling warnings. As for the duct cover, that was entirely his responsibility.
“I apologise, Sasuke-sama. I was incompetent,” he replied.
That shocked Sasuke into a calmer state of mind. “You underestimated him,” he suggested. “What is the plan?”
“To use gas. We are working out the logistics.”
Ran had been crawling for a long, long time. He could not find a way out. The building was huge. No matter where he went there were no windows and no daylight.
Then he heard it; the sound of leaves moving in the breeze.
He was outside. He had to be outside. There were trees.
Only he wasn’t. There wasn’t any sky. It was a huge room, big enough for trees; lots of trees.
He decided it was an improvement. Outside was better than inside, so a huge room was better than a narrow tunnel.
It was nice. The trees were pretty. It smelt better than the tunnels or even the room.
Then he heard it, a laugh. He looked toward it and saw a flash of bright blue eyes and a silvery tail.
Kakashi sighed. Sasuke wanted to hear that they had caught Ran, not that they could not find him.
“He’s not in the ducting, nor in service tunnels or shafts, nor in any of the unoccupied levels of the ship,” he summarised.
Asuma nodded. “That’s what the scan says. There’s no chance of using gas without evacuating section by section.”
It was worse than that; Kakashi was surprised that Asuma had not seen it.
“He is in an occupied level,” he clarified. “But we don’t know which one. Someone who just kicked Kamatari in the head and almost killed him could be in a crew room or an apartment where there are children.”
Asuma paled.
Kakashi went over to the intercom and pressed the button.
“This is Kakashi. Ran, the feral child we are adopting, is loose. If you see him please do not approach him. He is frightened and he will attack you. Move away from him and report the sighting. To be safe, make sure the children do not approach him. It would be useful if everyone could report their location.”
Iruka gave him a shaky smile, thanking him for choosing his words so well.
The intercom clicked.
“This is Kiba. I am in the nursery. The triplets are with me. The children are on Shika-san’s level with Naruto-san. The intercom does not work there. Either we sound the alarm or someone needs to go down there.”
Kakashi swore but before he could react there was another click.
“This is Sasuke. I am already on my way.”
Naruto resolutely put thoughts of the babies from his mind. He was here to spend an afternoon with the children. He had invited Shikamaru, Inari, Tayuya and Konohamaru but Shi-chan was now busy looking for Ran.
He had come to see Haru during the children’s midday meal to explain, which was nice.
Naruto thought of Kamatari in the tank. As vicious as the attack had been, Naruto did not blame Ran. He must have been terrified to have someone as fast as Kamatari chasing him through the ducting.
Naruto leaned back and watched the children playing. Tayuya was splashing in the paddling pool with Hoshi, Haru and Yuki. Hikaru was discussing building his wall with Inari. The other five kits and Ryuu were playing hide and seek in the woods. Konohamaru was on the grass near the woods, acting as home.
He scented the breeze, picking out each child he could not see. He had asked Shi-chan to change the direction of the breeze so that he could sit just here, in his favourite place, and check on them.
Ryuu, Kono-kun, Kazuki; he froze. There was a stranger. Then he was on his feet and running, ignoring Tayuya’s shouted query behind him.
It had to be Ran.
Ran who had kicked Kamatari in the head so hard that it had almost killed him.
He was in the woods with the children.
Ran spotted another of the children and then another. They were darting from tree to tree watching him.
He told himself it was fine. They were children. They had names. They talked. They had given him toys. Yes, they had whiskers and sharp teeth. Yes, two of them had tails and ears. But that did not make them dogs. They were children.
Whichever direction he looked in there was a small face looking out from behind a tree.
Were they following him?
He moved. They followed. They were closing in.
Ran was beginning to panic. He had to get away. What if it was all a trick? What if they weren’t children? What if they were a special type of dog?
They had him surrounded. He had to break the ring.
He rushed the closest child. He squealed in fright and ran away. That was good because it left a gap for Ran to run through.
Then, behind him, he heard a growl.
It was the most terrifying sound Ran had ever heard. It wasn’t one of the children. Only a big animal could growl like that.
He ran, as fast as he could, faster than he had ever run before. It was big, it was growling and it was closing on him.
He was at the edge of the woods. Beyond was grass. He knew that he shouldn’t run into the open, but there wasn’t a choice. He was running too fast to change direction.
His legs ached. His chest was going to burst. He was terrified he would trip and fall.
Someone was running towards him. He didn’t have whiskers and pointed teeth. He wasn’t growling. His face was open and friendly. He was crouching down with open arms.
And Ran did something he had never done; he went towards someone.
Strong arms were around him, holding him, lifting him, protecting him. Ran froze at the shock of being touched. He hated being touched. When he was touched he could feel what was inside them and it made him feel sick.
Not this time. He felt warm and protected and... ...safe.
“Naruto-san!” the man holding him yelled. “Think!”
The growling stopped. The monster came to a halt. Ran didn’t want to look. He buried his head in the nice man’s shoulder.
A hand stroked his hair.
“You are safe now, Ran,” the man told him. “Naruto-san thought you might hurt his children. Here they come, Naruto. They look just fine.”
Ran risked a quick look. Running out of the trees were the children. They looked nothing like dogs, and the tall man gathering them to him was beautiful, not a monster at all.
When Sasuke entered Shika’s level Tayuya was close to the doors with Hoshi, Haru, Hikaru and Yuki. She was anxious.
“Naruto-san ran into the woods, Sasuke-sama,” she told him. “The other children were in there playing hide and seek. Inari is trying to find out what is happening.”
Sasuke’s gut clenched. What if Ran had found his way to this level? What if Naruto perceived him as a threat to the children? Worse, what if he was a threat to the children?
“Stay with Tayuya-san,” he told the four children, then walked up the rise to get a better view.
Konohamaru was close to the woods. Inari was midway between them. Then the child broke cover, running as if a monster was after him, his face contorted with fear.
Naruto was chasing him. An angry, growling, terrifying Naruto. The only times Sasuke had seen him like it was in that split second between him turning berserk and his controller felling him.
The controller had not cut in because he was not berserk. He had lost his temper, like all those standards ago with Shikamaru.
When he had almost ripped Shika’s throat out.
Sasuke watched. Konohamaru was running towards the child, intent on saving him. Sasuke felt sick. It would be terrible if Naruto hurt the child but it would be unbearable if he hurt Kono-kun.
Inari was running. Sasuke ran after him.
Then it was over. Naruto had chased the child into Konohamaru’s arms. Konohamaru had faced down Naruto. Naruto had regained control.
The rest of the children were running from the woods towards their To-chan. Sasuke legs felt suddenly boneless as he imagined what they might have seen if Konohamaru had not stopped it.
No, Naruto would have stopped himself, like he had with Shika.
He joined them. Ran was clinging to Konohamaru as if he would never let go. Inari was watching Konohamaru with the boy. Naruto was looking sheepish. The children were milling about.
“Kono-kun says he’s called Ran, Papa,” Kuuya told him.
“To-chan chased him,” Yoshimi announced.
“You scared him, To-chan,” Kazuki told Naruto reproachfully.
Naruto picked him up. “I was wrong to scare Ran. I thought he had hurt Keizo.”
“I’m fine,” Keizo insisted. “He rushed at me and yelled to chase me away.”
“We were stalking him,” Ryuu added, as if it was the most normal of activities.
Sasuke checked Yasushi, who had not said anything. He was sniffing Ran’s leg.
“Don’t sniff people until you know them well enough to ask, Ya-chan,” Sasuke told him.
“Yes, Papa,” Yasushi replied, backing away.
Iruka flinched as Kakashi’s hands touched his shoulders. It had been a long, difficult day. At least everyone was now settled and they had retreated to their room.
“Ir-chan,” Kakashi murmured.
Iruka tried to relax, which became easier as Kakashi kneaded his tense muscles.
“Ran has agreed to stay in his room. Kamatari will be fine,” Kakashi reminded him.
“It wasn’t a good start,” Iruka replied miserably. “Kamatari’s tanked. I am worried about Konohamaru. And Naruto lost his temper. He never loses his temper.”
“Naruto was already under strain,” Kakashi reminded him. “He had left the babies. He had seen what Ran did to Kamatari. As for Konohamaru, he will be part of Ran’s life as he grows up. It is unavoidable.”
“And we learned a lot about Ran,” Iruka added, “especially how important it is to explain everything to him carefully”.
At that moment, as if on cue, there was a soft but building howl from Naruto and Sasuke’s room.
Iruka jumped up, spilling Kakashi’s hands from his shoulders. “I never thought of explaining that!”
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 lividangel, Nemo-Hime, v, prettypurpletiger, Moonmoore, richon, V-Anon, sadie237, satterb, Prism0467 and unneeded who reviewed chapter 68.
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-nine: Misunderstandings
Iruka studied the small body in the tank. He had not expected the child to be so thin, or scarred, or to have a twisted arm. They had not even bothered to clean him, or to sort out his matted hair.
“They had him for eighteen standards and never put him right?” he queried.
Rin scowled. “Confirmation they never intended him to be anything other than a supply a of stem cells and memories,” she suggested. “It’s not as bad as it looks,” she assured him. “Even the arm is an easy mend. It’ll give me a chance to do some surgery and then the nanobots will speed up the healing. Do you want to get rid of the scars?”
Iruka considered. Many of the crew had scars they had chosen to keep; even Haru. “No. None of them are that bad and he can make the decision for himself. Sort out his arm and make him healthy. How long will that take?”
Rin considered. “Ten days if I operate on the arm today. That will mean taking him out of the tank. Do you want to be here to help clean him up and decide what to do with his hair?”
Iruka nodded.
He brought Kakashi with him, so that he would know what condition the child had been in. He could see Kakashi taking in every scar and callus.
“He had an impressive range of parasites,” Rin informed them. A few of them even came through stasis with him but most are dead.”
“Has he been sexually active?” Kakashi asked.
Iruka had not thought of that. He remembered how young Naruto had been when he first swapped fucking for food.
“No sign of it,” Rin told them. “Shika-san said that the database entry described him as extremely vicious. Apparently he bites. There was human blood, not his, under his fingernails so he scratches as well. You might like to think about how you intend to handle the situation when you wake him. Are you sure he can talk? Or even understand speech?”
Iruka knew nothing. He stood motionless, finally appreciating the magnitude of the task he was taking on. Then he felt the comforting squeeze of a hand around his own. Kakashi was studying him, judging his reaction. Iruka managed a small smile.
“We can do this,” Kakashi insisted. “Problem solving is an Uchiha speciality.”
Ran woke. He lay still, motionless, eyes closed, reaching out with his senses. It was another strange place. There were no people close. He was lying on something soft. There was a faint buzzing. The air smelled odd.
Last time had been very, very bad. He had been in the dark, unable to move. Sharp things had burrowed through his scalp and then his head had burst with pain.
This was better. There was no pain. He felt good. He wasn’t hungry or thirsty. Nothing itched. His arm did not hurt.
He risked opening his eyes, but just a little. The light wasn’t right. There were lots of colours.
He was covered with something that was very soft.
Ran had a few memories of Before. Before was a bed covered by softness. Before was Mommy.
He opened his eyes fully. He was on a bed in a room. Was there a way out? There were two doors; one open and one closed. There were no windows. There was an opening high up in one wall but it was covered with a grill.
What was in the corner?
Ran knew about toys. There were toys in shop windows. Real children, who lived in houses, had toys.
He waited a long time. Finally, he crept off the bed, intending to investigate.
The first shock was that moving did not hurt. His legs did not ache. He stopped and checked his body. His arm worked. It hadn’t worked right since he had fallen on it badly.
His hands looked odd. They were very clean. The nails were neat rather than ragged and broken.
As he looked down something fell forward onto his face. He felt it. It was his hair but it was smooth. He could pull his fingers through it.
He had nice clothes on. They were clean and had no holes.
Who had the child catcher sold him to?
He looked through the open doorway. It was a very small room with no other door. There were lots of shiny surfaces.
His eyes went back to the corner, to the toys.
Maybe, just maybe...
No, he couldn’t let himself think that.
He stood frozen. He wanted to touch the toys but toys were dangerous. Toys could mean traps.
Only the child catcher had already caught him. The worst had happened.
He moved closer. There was a top. He had seen children playing with a top, so he knew what you did with it. He had even found one once, in a bin, but it didn’t spin right.
His fingers had closed on it before he decided to touch it. That happened sometimes.
It spun. It was lovely. The pattern on it made rings when it moved and the pattern again when it stopped.
After three goes he put it back so no one would know he had touched it.
There were small pictures on the walls. One caught his attention. It showed a boy with bright blue eyes but he had whiskers and furry, pointed ears. Ran leaned closer.
The picture moved. It spoke. Ran jumped back and dived under the bed.
Nothing else happened. After a while Ran peered out. It was just a moving picture, like an advert, but with speaking.
He returned to the picture and reached out towards it. He started moving and talking again. He had pointed teeth like a dog. Ran did not like dogs.
“My name’s Kazuki. I live here. I gave you the blue ball.”
Ran looked over at the toys. There was a blue ball.
All the pictures on that wall showed children. Ran studied them. Most had blue eyes. Many of them had whiskers. One other had furry ears. He put his finger close to that one.
“I live here. My name’s Ryuu. I gave you the wolf plushie ‘cos I’m part wolf.”
Ran did not know what a wolf was. He studied the toys. There was a brown fluffy thing with a tail, whiskers and ears that stuck up. Was a wolf a type of dog?
He started looking for the child who had given him the top. It was one of the ones without blue eyes; a girl with dark hair. She did not have whiskers or pointed teeth. He played the message again.
“My name is Misora. I live here. My mum is Kurenai and my dad is Asuma. My brothers are Akemi and Keitaro. I decided to give you the top because it is pretty.”
“My name is Ran,” he whispered.
Iruka had been in his office when his earpiece buzzed and Shino summoned him to the monitoring room they had set up. The child was awake.
He took his seat. Shino, Rin and Neji were already there. Kakashi arrived next, then Shikamaru. It had been Shino’s idea that the six of them should wear radios; that way whoever was on watch could summon the others easily.
Iruka smiled. Kakashi had decided to approach the problem like a mission. There had been strategy meetings. Shikamaru had come up with a variety of ideas, some of which had seemed less crazy once they had been thought through. They had decided to implement a handful of them.
Best, Shikamaru had information about the child’s home planet. It was isolated but it had a moderate technology level. Other than their draconian attitude to unlicensed breeding, it seemed an ordinary Far Fringe planet. The local language was standard. The child had been captured in a city that had a spaceport.
They waited. Despite the telemetry, Iruka began to doubt that the child was awake. He could not imagine a boy managing to stay so still for so long.
When he finally moved it was in the direction of the toys, which was unexpected given what Five and Chamu had told them. He looked towards Neji, who shrugged.
“We have too little information to know what it means, Iruka-san,” he suggested.
“Everything is working well,” Rin assured him. “We are getting excellent data about his brain function.”
Iruka had not been sure about gluing the network of tiny sensors to his scalp. Rin had insisted that he would not notice because he was accustomed to parasites living in his hair.
He had not even been sure about spying on him with cameras and microphones, but Kakashi had pointed out that they needed more information.
They watched him spin the top once, twice and then for a third time before turning his attention to the pictures.
Kakashi chuckled when he ran away and hid from Kazuki’s voice. Iruka did not think it funny; his gut clenched to see him so fearful of such a small threat.
But he soon came out. He started testing the pictures and stopped when he found the one of the person who had given him the top.
“Yes!” hissed Shikamaru. “He understands speech.”
“Hush,” Neji ordered.
“He spoke,” Kakashi insisted. “Play it back. Turn up the volume.”
Shino did as he was told and they heard his voice for the first time.
“My name is Ran.”
Iruka’s heart beat faster. His name was Ran; not Ranmaru but Ran.
They watched for a while longer. Then Shikamaru and Neji excused themselves. Shino decided to turn the equipment to automatic and followed them. Rin stayed, pouring over the data. Iruka’s hand stole into Kakashi’s.
They watched Ran working out how to use the head using the pictorial instructions Shikamaru had affixed to the wall. He also studied the ones for the shower and the sink.
The door to the room opened. Iruka looked over, expecting to see Neji or Shikamaru, but it was Konohamaru. Iruka controlled his anxiety and made himself smile.
“Have a seat,” Kakashi suggested, pointing to the one Neji had vacated.
Konohamaru’s eyes were riveted to the screen but he sank into the indicated chair.
“He calls himself Ran,” Iruka informed him, keen to establish the boy as different from Ranmaru.
Konohamaru gave one small nod of acknowledgement. He watched. After about ten minutes he stood up and left. Kakashi waited until he was out of earshot.
“I’ll get Inari to check up on him,” he said, standing up.
Iruka agreed that would be best and watched Kakashi leave.
Next Dan arrived to retrieve Rin. He waited, arms crossed, until she had checked that all the settings were as she wanted them.
“Will you be all right on your own, Iruka-san?” Dan asked.
Iruka nodded. “Kakashi will be back soon,” he assured him.
Only he was not; perhaps he was having trouble finding Inari. Iruka sat in the room alone and thought about Ran. Like Naruto, someone must have raised him before he had begun living on the streets; Iruka knew enough about child development to know that children did not spontaneously develop language.
He looked up. The screen displayed an image from each of the six cameras. Ran was in none of them.
Iruka panicked. Was there a part of the room that the cameras did not cover? He did not think so.
He must be under the bed.
He moved to Shino’s seat, intending to review the last five minutes. Finally he managed to find the relevant menu. He peered at the six small images in Shino’s monitor. His heart sank.
He wasn’t under the bed. Ran had gone out the ventilation duct above the sink.
Iruka activated his radio.
“Iruka here. Ran has escaped. I repeat, Ran has escaped into the ventilation system.”
The room was nice but it was not safe. It was safer to be somewhere Ran chose for himself. Outside was better than inside.
He could reach the high up opening in the small room by climbing. To his surprise the cover pulled off. It had holes big enough for his fingers. He could hold it from the inside and pull it into place behind him.
He moved quickly now that his legs and arm worked better. He scuttled down the tunnel.
He kept sniffing the air, but it never smelled of outside. None of the light he saw was daylight.
After a long time he had to take a rest. How big was this building?
Noises; something was following him. It was quick. He speeded up but it was closer. Ran remembered the dog and whimpered. He had only got away by hitting the dog with a stick.
There weren’t any sticks. He had to think. There was a junction ahead. It went up and down as well as side to side.
People and dogs looked up last; Ran climbed the ladder and waited.
When a white furry head poked out Ran kicked it as hard as he could and then kicked it again. Then he was swarming up the ladder.
There was no movement behind him. At the next junction he risked a quick look down. It wasn’t a dog, it was a person. He was half in and half out of the tunnel, with his head hanging down the shaft.
Ran chose one of the tunnels and kept moving.
Sasuke had decided to leave the child to Iruka. He and Kakashi had appeared to have it under control. He had been mildly amused that Kakashi was treating it like a mission; going as far as holding strategy meetings and including Shikamaru and Neji.
It was no longer even remotely amusing; Kamatari was tanked and they had a feral child loose in the ship.
Sasuke had made sure he was there when Dan and Naruto had brought an unconscious Kamatari out of the service ducts. He walked with them and the stretcher to the infirmary.
“Will Kama-kun make a full recovery, Rin-san?” he asked.
“Yes. He was lucky,” Rin told him. “He did not fall down the shaft, the child was not wearing boots and there is a limit to how hard a child of eight standards can kick. This means he is not dead, which otherwise he very easily could be.”
Sasuke thanked the Lady. He turned to Naruto. “Are you going back to the crew room?” he asked.
“I could. I am taking the children to Shi-chan’s level. Kiba is looking after the babies. Is there something you want me to do?”
“Yes. Please could you find Kakashi-san and ask him to join me in my office. Now,” Sasuke replied.
Kakashi was with Iruka, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino and Asuma planning how to retrieve Ran when Naruto arrived.
“How is Kamatari?” Iruka asked.
“Lucky not to be dead,” Naruto answered. “Apparently he was kicked twice in the head. Hard. Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke wants you in his office. He is cross.”
Kakashi did not delay. Naruto was the only person who ever described Sasuke as cross. It could mean anything from mildly irritable to barely hanging onto his temper.
He was definitely at the upper end of that range.
“I can’t decide what was more stupid,” he ranted as soon as Kakashi was in the chair across the desk from him. “Not checking that he couldn’t get out of the room or allowing Kamatari to go after him. I know which was more dangerous. How could you not consider an attack? You of all people? We were warned that he could be vicious.”
Kakashi did not argue. It was irrelevant that Kamatari had entered the ducting without consulting anyone or that Iruka had yelled repeated warnings about not approaching the child. Kamatari was a trainee, he should not have been placed in such a dangerous situation. They should have ordered him back rather than yelling warnings. As for the duct cover, that was entirely his responsibility.
“I apologise, Sasuke-sama. I was incompetent,” he replied.
That shocked Sasuke into a calmer state of mind. “You underestimated him,” he suggested. “What is the plan?”
“To use gas. We are working out the logistics.”
Ran had been crawling for a long, long time. He could not find a way out. The building was huge. No matter where he went there were no windows and no daylight.
Then he heard it; the sound of leaves moving in the breeze.
He was outside. He had to be outside. There were trees.
Only he wasn’t. There wasn’t any sky. It was a huge room, big enough for trees; lots of trees.
He decided it was an improvement. Outside was better than inside, so a huge room was better than a narrow tunnel.
It was nice. The trees were pretty. It smelt better than the tunnels or even the room.
Then he heard it, a laugh. He looked toward it and saw a flash of bright blue eyes and a silvery tail.
Kakashi sighed. Sasuke wanted to hear that they had caught Ran, not that they could not find him.
“He’s not in the ducting, nor in service tunnels or shafts, nor in any of the unoccupied levels of the ship,” he summarised.
Asuma nodded. “That’s what the scan says. There’s no chance of using gas without evacuating section by section.”
It was worse than that; Kakashi was surprised that Asuma had not seen it.
“He is in an occupied level,” he clarified. “But we don’t know which one. Someone who just kicked Kamatari in the head and almost killed him could be in a crew room or an apartment where there are children.”
Asuma paled.
Kakashi went over to the intercom and pressed the button.
“This is Kakashi. Ran, the feral child we are adopting, is loose. If you see him please do not approach him. He is frightened and he will attack you. Move away from him and report the sighting. To be safe, make sure the children do not approach him. It would be useful if everyone could report their location.”
Iruka gave him a shaky smile, thanking him for choosing his words so well.
The intercom clicked.
“This is Kiba. I am in the nursery. The triplets are with me. The children are on Shika-san’s level with Naruto-san. The intercom does not work there. Either we sound the alarm or someone needs to go down there.”
Kakashi swore but before he could react there was another click.
“This is Sasuke. I am already on my way.”
Naruto resolutely put thoughts of the babies from his mind. He was here to spend an afternoon with the children. He had invited Shikamaru, Inari, Tayuya and Konohamaru but Shi-chan was now busy looking for Ran.
He had come to see Haru during the children’s midday meal to explain, which was nice.
Naruto thought of Kamatari in the tank. As vicious as the attack had been, Naruto did not blame Ran. He must have been terrified to have someone as fast as Kamatari chasing him through the ducting.
Naruto leaned back and watched the children playing. Tayuya was splashing in the paddling pool with Hoshi, Haru and Yuki. Hikaru was discussing building his wall with Inari. The other five kits and Ryuu were playing hide and seek in the woods. Konohamaru was on the grass near the woods, acting as home.
He scented the breeze, picking out each child he could not see. He had asked Shi-chan to change the direction of the breeze so that he could sit just here, in his favourite place, and check on them.
Ryuu, Kono-kun, Kazuki; he froze. There was a stranger. Then he was on his feet and running, ignoring Tayuya’s shouted query behind him.
It had to be Ran.
Ran who had kicked Kamatari in the head so hard that it had almost killed him.
He was in the woods with the children.
Ran spotted another of the children and then another. They were darting from tree to tree watching him.
He told himself it was fine. They were children. They had names. They talked. They had given him toys. Yes, they had whiskers and sharp teeth. Yes, two of them had tails and ears. But that did not make them dogs. They were children.
Whichever direction he looked in there was a small face looking out from behind a tree.
Were they following him?
He moved. They followed. They were closing in.
Ran was beginning to panic. He had to get away. What if it was all a trick? What if they weren’t children? What if they were a special type of dog?
They had him surrounded. He had to break the ring.
He rushed the closest child. He squealed in fright and ran away. That was good because it left a gap for Ran to run through.
Then, behind him, he heard a growl.
It was the most terrifying sound Ran had ever heard. It wasn’t one of the children. Only a big animal could growl like that.
He ran, as fast as he could, faster than he had ever run before. It was big, it was growling and it was closing on him.
He was at the edge of the woods. Beyond was grass. He knew that he shouldn’t run into the open, but there wasn’t a choice. He was running too fast to change direction.
His legs ached. His chest was going to burst. He was terrified he would trip and fall.
Someone was running towards him. He didn’t have whiskers and pointed teeth. He wasn’t growling. His face was open and friendly. He was crouching down with open arms.
And Ran did something he had never done; he went towards someone.
Strong arms were around him, holding him, lifting him, protecting him. Ran froze at the shock of being touched. He hated being touched. When he was touched he could feel what was inside them and it made him feel sick.
Not this time. He felt warm and protected and... ...safe.
“Naruto-san!” the man holding him yelled. “Think!”
The growling stopped. The monster came to a halt. Ran didn’t want to look. He buried his head in the nice man’s shoulder.
A hand stroked his hair.
“You are safe now, Ran,” the man told him. “Naruto-san thought you might hurt his children. Here they come, Naruto. They look just fine.”
Ran risked a quick look. Running out of the trees were the children. They looked nothing like dogs, and the tall man gathering them to him was beautiful, not a monster at all.
When Sasuke entered Shika’s level Tayuya was close to the doors with Hoshi, Haru, Hikaru and Yuki. She was anxious.
“Naruto-san ran into the woods, Sasuke-sama,” she told him. “The other children were in there playing hide and seek. Inari is trying to find out what is happening.”
Sasuke’s gut clenched. What if Ran had found his way to this level? What if Naruto perceived him as a threat to the children? Worse, what if he was a threat to the children?
“Stay with Tayuya-san,” he told the four children, then walked up the rise to get a better view.
Konohamaru was close to the woods. Inari was midway between them. Then the child broke cover, running as if a monster was after him, his face contorted with fear.
Naruto was chasing him. An angry, growling, terrifying Naruto. The only times Sasuke had seen him like it was in that split second between him turning berserk and his controller felling him.
The controller had not cut in because he was not berserk. He had lost his temper, like all those standards ago with Shikamaru.
When he had almost ripped Shika’s throat out.
Sasuke watched. Konohamaru was running towards the child, intent on saving him. Sasuke felt sick. It would be terrible if Naruto hurt the child but it would be unbearable if he hurt Kono-kun.
Inari was running. Sasuke ran after him.
Then it was over. Naruto had chased the child into Konohamaru’s arms. Konohamaru had faced down Naruto. Naruto had regained control.
The rest of the children were running from the woods towards their To-chan. Sasuke legs felt suddenly boneless as he imagined what they might have seen if Konohamaru had not stopped it.
No, Naruto would have stopped himself, like he had with Shika.
He joined them. Ran was clinging to Konohamaru as if he would never let go. Inari was watching Konohamaru with the boy. Naruto was looking sheepish. The children were milling about.
“Kono-kun says he’s called Ran, Papa,” Kuuya told him.
“To-chan chased him,” Yoshimi announced.
“You scared him, To-chan,” Kazuki told Naruto reproachfully.
Naruto picked him up. “I was wrong to scare Ran. I thought he had hurt Keizo.”
“I’m fine,” Keizo insisted. “He rushed at me and yelled to chase me away.”
“We were stalking him,” Ryuu added, as if it was the most normal of activities.
Sasuke checked Yasushi, who had not said anything. He was sniffing Ran’s leg.
“Don’t sniff people until you know them well enough to ask, Ya-chan,” Sasuke told him.
“Yes, Papa,” Yasushi replied, backing away.
Iruka flinched as Kakashi’s hands touched his shoulders. It had been a long, difficult day. At least everyone was now settled and they had retreated to their room.
“Ir-chan,” Kakashi murmured.
Iruka tried to relax, which became easier as Kakashi kneaded his tense muscles.
“Ran has agreed to stay in his room. Kamatari will be fine,” Kakashi reminded him.
“It wasn’t a good start,” Iruka replied miserably. “Kamatari’s tanked. I am worried about Konohamaru. And Naruto lost his temper. He never loses his temper.”
“Naruto was already under strain,” Kakashi reminded him. “He had left the babies. He had seen what Ran did to Kamatari. As for Konohamaru, he will be part of Ran’s life as he grows up. It is unavoidable.”
“And we learned a lot about Ran,” Iruka added, “especially how important it is to explain everything to him carefully”.
At that moment, as if on cue, there was a soft but building howl from Naruto and Sasuke’s room.
Iruka jumped up, spilling Kakashi’s hands from his shoulders. “I never thought of explaining that!”