In the cold of space you find the heat of suns

Thank you for the reviews. They inspire me to continue the story.

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

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

71. Gaara

Gaara and Temari stood in docking bay four of the Oak. The airlock of Kankuro’s ship, the Puppet Master, opened and he led his men down the steps. They bowed to Gaara.

Before they straightened, Mukade and Yura were dead, their necks broken. Gaara stood over the bodies.

“Traitors,” he said simply.

The other four warriors managed not to cower. Kankuro merely looked at his brother; he was never surprised when Gaara killed.


“There are four aspects to the plan,” Temari began once they were gathered in the meeting room. “First, we establish the new gates, which contain light-speed communications relays. Second, we take over communications and issue ultimatums. Third, we lead an uprising in major population centres while the Sunagakure hit specific targets. Fourth, we destroy any slaver ships that have not run. The Uchiha are responsible for the first step and will assist with the fourth.”

Baki, Kankuro’s second in command, turned to his superior. “There will be a new network of gates that we will control?” he checked.

“That is Temari-san’s plan,” Gaara told him. “She has discovered the Lost Planet. This treasure has allowed us to buy the gates that will lead us to freedom.”

Shikamaru and the others sworn to Uchiha stayed silent. They had agreed that this was the best course. Temari would take full credit for the plan.

Kankuro had reluctantly agreed because he wished to minimise public knowledge of Uchiha’s role; Temari was known to be a prominent member of the Sunagakure and it was believable that the plan was hers.

He did not know that Gaara intended to step aside for Temari to become leader, which would be easier once she had been cast as the saviour of her people. Resistance to a female leader would be diminished.

It seemed to be working. Even Baki, a confirmed misogynist, was treating her with newfound respect.


Having the Dart made the tricky task of delivering the gates and the gaters easier. The small ship was powerful so had no problems towing two of the gaters’ factories and the Snow Willow. One factory and the Snow Willow were deposited one the nearside of the hole and then the Dart jumped and loosed the second factory. With one ship on either side of the hole, the gaters and their factories were protected.

With the Dart assigned to the least accessible hole, the Oak could deliver factories and guarding ships to the other five. With six holes they required twelve guarding ships; Uchiha were providing eight and the Sunagakure the other four.

They broke the Sakura into her three components: the Sakura herself, the Cherry and the Blossom. The Cherry was essentially Sasuke’s escape pod. It consisted of its own drive, Naruto’s gun turret, a tiny control room and very limited accommodation. In an extreme emergency, Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru and Neji would flee using the Cherry.

The Blossom was tiny, fast, manoeuvrable and bristled with weaponry. It was the Uchiha final line of defence, in extremis it would be a kamikaze craft, and Hamaki, Terai and Fu were fiercely proud that they had been chosen to man it.

The other three Uchiha ships were the Lancet, the Spear and the Silver Leaf. The Sunagakure ships were the Puppet Master, the Gourd and two others that would be captained by Baki and by Isago, another of the warriors who had been briefed on the Oak.


Shikamaru believed that they could establish all the gates within two standard days, long before the slavers had a chance of realising what was happening. The gaters had been stunned by the concept; gating a new network usually took standards. However, they had taken the contract and appeared to understand the consequences of reneging, helped by the knowledge that there was an armed spaceship within range of each of their factories.

The next trick was to make sure each ship was in the best position. The Gourd and the Silver Leaf had to be able to make it to Kaze I as quickly as possible once the network was established. The Puppet Master had to be delayed, but not by an obvious or significant amount.


Three days later the Kaze system was free of the slavers.

Establishing the network of gates had proceeded without a hitch. The slavers had remained in ignorance; the first they had known was when Shikamaru’s worms had infested the communication systems across the entire Kaze system, handing control to the Sunagakure. The same message was everywhere: this was the dawn of new future; the new network of gates had opened the doors of their prison; the slavers had one day to leave before they were killed; Temari-sama was the heroine of what she hoped would be a bloodless uprising.

The slavers fled, the collaborators were slaughtered and the celebrations erupted.


Prominent citizens, the Sunagakure and the elite warriors gathered in the Great Hall in Suna. Gaara stood on the platform, the area around him empty despite the hall being crowded. He wore the ceremonial robes he hated.

“This is the dawn of a new future,” he announced.

There was cheering. That was nice. Usually anything he said was met by terrified silence.

“And for this new future you need a new leader.”

The cheering died away.

“A leader who understands how to build and to nurture.”

There was puzzled silence.

“Not a leader who terrifies you into submission. Not a warlord. I and my brother and our father and grandfather before us fought the slavers. We failed.

“Where we failed, Temari-sama has succeeded.

“She will lead you into a new and better future.”

He walked towards where Temari stood as the public face of the Sunagakure. The people around her moved away. Gaara put out his hand. Temari looked at him in surprise but rested her hand on his and walked back to the centre of the platform. He slid out of the ceremonial robes and draped them about Temari’s shoulders. He then knelt before her.

“I Gaara, son of Karura, abdicate as leader of Kaze, in favour of my eldest sibling, Temari. I pledge my allegiance to her and offer her my services as her champion.”

He then went and stood behind and to the side of her.


They waited.


Kankuro was very still. Gaara was suddenly anxious. He had considered two alternatives; either Kankuro would challenge for leadership or he would pledge allegiance. They had not discussed the consequences of him doing nothing, or walking away, or leading a mass attack on his siblings.

Finally he moved forward. To Gaara’s relief he knelt in front of Temari.

“I Kankuro, son of Karura, pledge my allegiance to my elder sister, Termai-sama. I offer my services as her champion.”

He took up his position on the other side of Temari.

A new era had begun.


“What will you do?” Kankuro asked when the three siblings were finally alone.

“I would like to leave,” Gaara admitted. “Naruto-san had shown me that it is possible for a berserker hybrid to do more than survive while trying not to kill.” He looked at his brother. “Will you stand in my place at Temari’s side? Will you release me from the remainder of my commitments?”

Kankuro held his gaze for the first time since they were children together. “It will also be better for me if you go,” he concurred. “I stand fully behind my pledge to Temari-sama. I will be her warlord. It will suit us both.”

Gaara nodded. “Thank you, Kankuro-san.”

Kankuro hesitated before answering. “It is little in return for the life you have led for us, Gaara-kun,” he admitted.


Gaara stepped out of the Gourd. He was not surprised to see Naruto waiting for him in the docking bay. He was suddenly convinced that Naruto was intending to hug him and Gaara really did not want to pass out so soon after his arrival.

“Please keep your distance, Naruto-san,” he requested.

Naruto settled for one of his fabulous smiles.

Gaara felt a surge of something, then the familiar sequence of confusion, fear, anger and darkness.


He was propped up against a wall when he woke. Naruto was crouched a suitable distance away.

“I came to offer my assistance in hunting and killing Kabuto,” Gaara informed him, “but I may be of limited use to you like this.”

Naruto’s whiskers twitched. “Your help is welcome. There are days when there is much to do and days when I feel helpless.” He considered. “May I talk to you?”

Gaara blinked. No one had ever wished to talk to him. “I am your friend, Naruto-san,” he answered. “I believe friends listen and talk.”

Naruto smiled at him. This time Gaara’s reaction was less acute and he managed to stop at the confusion stage. What did Naruto make him feel when he smiled? Was it happiness?

“I have set aside a guest apartment for you,” Naruto told him, “I know you may not be able to use it yet, but I thought you could get used to the idea. I got Shikamaru and Shino to make it so you could drop the temperature in the bedroom if you wanted to hibernate. Would you like to see it?”


Gaara could see that Naruto had thought a lot about the apartment. There were no hard surfaces or edges; even the floor coverings were thick, so that he would not hurt himself when he passed out. The colours were very subdued and there was no decoration. It would be a good next step when Gaara was ready to leave his ship.

“Is Sasuke-sama all right with me staying?” Gaara asked when they had settled onto chairs in the main room of the apartment.

“You are my friend,” Naruto answered as if that explained everything.

Which perhaps it did; if there was one thing Gaara did not doubt, it was how much Sasuke Uchiha loved his Naruto.


“I blamed Sasuke for Kabuto raiding the infirmary,” Naruto told Gaara. “So now I can’t talk to him about it, because it makes him feel bad.”

Gaara considered what Naruto had said. “Was it his fault?” he asked.

Naruto frowned. “Mostly,” he decided. “He wants me to live longer than I will and he wants me to age slowly, like a purebred on age retard. That’s why Rin contacted Kabuto.”

“So in a way it is your fault,” Gaara suggested.

Naruto’s frown deepened into a scowl.

“If you were not as you are, he would not love you so much and he wouldn’t make stupid decisions because he can’t bear the thought of losing you,” Gaara explained.

“That’s a silly way of looking at it,” Naruto complained.

“No more than you not understanding why he can’t bear the thought of having to live most of his life without you,” Gaara argued. “It won’t be you suffering. You’ll be dead.”

Naruto stared at him. Slowly he started to laugh.

Then Gaara found himself laughing and passed out from the shock.


“I asked Rin,” Naruto told him some time after he had regained consciousness. “She says he could have already cloned me because there were stem cells in the tissue bank.”

Gaara shuddered. He had looked at the copy of Amachi’s log that his father had insisted he leave in the archives. “I was one from five hundred,” he admitted. “Amachi, the scientist, he only implanted me. The rest died or were terminated.”

“Babies that don’t work,” Naruto whispered. “I didn’t want babies that do not work. We chose Sasuke’s babies, little Uchihas, who will work and live a long time because they are purebred.” He looked at Gaara. “Would you like to see our babies?”

Gaara guessed that this was not an offer you declined if you were Naruto’s friend.


There weren’t many people in the crew room, which was good, but the crew room was very different from anything Gaara had experienced before, which was stressful. He was introduced to a man called Iruka, who was obviously important to Naruto. Gaara did not say much but tried to be polite. He suspected that Naruto had told Iruka about him because Iruka kept his distance and was very calm.

The room smelt very strongly of Naruto, Sasuke and fucking. Gaara stopped himself imagining what it would be like to have a mate and a den. Naruto led him through an opening and into what he called the nursery. There were three gestators on a platform.

Naruto projected images of each developing baby in turn. Gaara used up his meagre supply of appropriate phrases and resorted to noises of acknowledgement. Naruto was too proud and happy to mind.


Then they went to sit in the galley. Gaara suspected this was a family ritual. Naruto asked if he would like tea and Gaara decided to risk it. Iruka made it for them but then insisted he was busy and left them alone.

“We have about thirty minutes before they all start arriving for the midday meal,” Naruto warned him.

Gaara took an exploratory sip of the tea. It was hot and the taste was not too strong. “Tell me about the search for Kabuto,” he suggested.


They had made astounding progress; Gaara was in awe of Shikamaru’s abilities. They were now on their way to the Jewel system in the far fringe with the intention of investigating whether Kabuto had been there recently or, possibly, was there.

“What will you do if he is there?” Gaara asked.

Naruto shrugged. “I do not know,” he admitted. “We need more information.”

Gaara considered. “Does he know of your link to me?” he asked.

“No,” Naruto replied. “I don’t think so.”

“You bring that to Shikamaru’s attention,” Gaara suggested. “Maybe he can think of a way of using it.”


Gaara went back to his ship before the crewmembers began arriving for their midday meal. He ate some food, thinking that the tea had tasted more interesting than the bland rations he allowed himself. He then found a towel, sat in his chair, pushed down his pants and masturbated.

Sleeping was the best thing his controller allowed him to do. Masturbating was the second best thing. Whilst he still always passed out, there had been three occasions when he had managed to climax just before losing control. Gaara was determined to increase that tally.

This time he thought about Naruto and Sasuke’s den. He was in a den of his own with his mate. The mate’s face was unclear, but Gaara was fine with that for now. He tried imagining a female mate but the thought of a male mate was more exciting. He imagined the hand on his penis being his mate’s rather than his own.

Four!

Confusion, fear, anger and darkness.

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