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 Midnight Essence, Kat saama, lividangel, smauigirl, V-anon, Nemo-Hime, richon, Halskr, Prism0467, kanazerosukenaru, cynaga; sadie237, v and satterb who reviewed chapter 70. I would like to emphasise how much every review means to me and how important they are in motivating me to keep on writing this story.

I have started a forum topic:
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/page__pid__227866#entry227866
for any readers who wish to discuss aspects of the story. This week I have written a bit about the Ranmaru character, which also answers lividangel’s question about what Ranmaru remembers.

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). This chapter does contain a small amount of Naruto and Sasuke action.

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Chapter seventy-one: Terms

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Sasuke scowled at Kakashi.

“You asked,” Kakashi reminded him.

It was true. Sasuke had said, “Is there anything else?” at the end of their strategy meeting, as he always did. He had not expected Kakashi to say so bluntly that many of the crew were fed up with their nomadic and isolated way of living.

Sasuke forced himself to be objective. He had been annoyed rather than surprised; that suggested that Kakashi was correct. If he was honest with himself, perhaps he had been avoiding the issue.

He sighed. He needed an unbiased opinion.

“Your assessment, Neji-san?” he asked.

Neji considered. “There are some people who are unaccustomed to spacing for long periods of time, for example Yoshino-san and C-san. Some crew members specifically miss Tarrasade because it was their home, like Kurenai-san. Then there are those who would like to go somewhere, almost anywhere, where they could see other places and faces. They would like to visit markets, or see sites, walk on a planet or go clubbing. That probably includes most of the crew to a greater or lesser extent.”

Sasuke could see the truth in that. Now that they had Shika and Haru back they would plan routes with specific way stations. Perhaps they should consider a visit to Tarrasade. He was about to suggest it but Shikamaru spoke first.

“Is there going to be a headquarters for Uchiha?” he queried. “Or are we going to keep new Uchiha small enough to be run by us from wherever we happen to be? The headquarters do not have to be in Tarrasade.”

Uchiha had always been in Tarrasade; Sasuke baulked at the thought of the headquarters being elsewhere.

“Will new Uchiha have an image beyond you and Naruto?” Kakashi added. “Is it a corporation as well as a family?”

Sasuke scowled at the pair of them but, again, his annoyance was more at himself than them. “Fine,” he admitted, “It is time for a review.”

“At least we are no longer limited by credit,” Shikamaru pointed out.

“What about a ten standards plan?” Kakashi proposed. “That will include thinking about the children when they are old enough to space with other crews as trainees.”

Sasuke’s mind froze. His children catting for crews?

“Perhaps it would be wise to plan ahead, Sasuke-sama,” Neji suggested gently.

---

Three days later Sasuke was wishing he had never agreed. Each facet of Uchiha they considered was like opening a box packed with compressed springs. Every person he spoke to was doing a fair imitation of Shikamaru; packed with ideas and suggestions.

In this morning’s meeting they had decided to list the barriers that held them back. Kakashi had chosen to use Iruka’s technique and had written each identified barrier on a small, white card.

The cards were now arranged on the table. Sasuke scowled at the ones that referred to him or Naruto. True, there was one that referred to Kakashi, Kakashi uses only a small fraction of his ability, and two for Shikamaru, Shikamaru is far too secretive and Shikamaru must say no to doing things that other crew members could do. However, Sasuke suspected that both Kakashi and Shikamaru coped better with criticism than he did.

He sighed and reached for a card. He uncapped his pen and wrote, Sasuke can be negative about criticism and is too defensive about Uchiha.

Shikamaru flashed him a smile. “I think that should be two cards rather than one, Sasuke-sama,” he pointed out.

Kakashi was studying him. Sasuke neatly scored through the second part and filled in a new card for it. He then placed them beside the others that referred to him: Sasuke only delegates effectively to a few people he trusts, Sasuke is too cautious (most of the time) and Sasuke’s judgement is suspect when his overprotective instincts go into overdrive.

At least there wasn’t a card mentioning his temper; he took some comfort in that.

He leaned forward to sort the cards into a large group, referring to crew members, and a smaller number describing other limiting factors: Security is effective in only a few contexts; Poor expertise in business, finance and administration; Improver of limited use because it is in the Dart; Lack of structure (with the exception of the affiliated crews); No system for recruitment; No corporate image; No long-term plan.

He sighed. They were the same issues they had discussed again and again; this time he was determined to resolve some of them.

“We have made significant progress over the last seven standards, Sasuke-sama,” Neji assured him. “Uchiha is now financially secure, the minigate communication network is a triumph and we have over seven hundred affiliated crews. More importantly, you have thirteen wonderful children; you are no longer the Last Uchiha.”

“Thank you, Neji-san,” Kakashi commented dryly. “Shika-san and I have spent days getting him to the point where he will agree to make the necessary changes and you have to reassure him that everything is fine.”

Sasuke almost smiled. “Thank you for the support, Neji-san. I think you have made your point, Kakashi-sensei.”

“Good,” Kakashi replied. He tapped two of the cards. “I suggest you start with these, otherwise we will get nowhere.”

Sasuke knew which cards Kakashi was touching without looking: Naruto thinks of Uchiha as a family and Naruto does not like being in Tarrasade.

---

Triplets were much easier to transport than nonuplets. Now he was comfortable taking them out of the den, Naruto was often out and about with them.

This morning he had taken them training. They had been happy in their basket while he went through his routine. Then Sumaru offered to activate his symbiote for a spar and, as always, the news spread faster than light through the other fighters. Even Dan had turned up, which was good because Naruto trusted him to make sure the others handled the babies properly; they never could resist picking them up.

Naruto found sparring with Sumaru exhilarating. It was more challenging than fighting Hamaki, Terai and Fu or even Kisame. Sumaru was working on extending the time he could fight with his symbiote activated before his muscles went into cramp. That meant he was sometimes moving slowly enough for Naruto to catch him.

They continued until Sumaru was hit by the first cramp. Naruto watched sympathetically while Gai worked on the uncooperative muscle, thanked Sumaru for the spar and then jogged over to the audience to retrieve the babies from those who were holding them.


He always showered in their own bathroom when he had the babies with him. Today he would soak in the bath as well; Sumaru always managed to land many blows. He started the bath heating, wedged the basket where he would be able to reach it and then went to wash under the shower.

He had just slid into the deliciously hot water when he heard Sasuke enter their room. That was unexpected; Sasuke always spent the whole morning working. Naruto called softly, hoping to attract his attention without disturbing the babies.

He was successful. Sasuke sat on the edge of the bath to kiss him.

“Been sparring, dobe?” he asked.

“Sumaru,” Naruto answered. “Join me?” he suggested.

Sasuke looked wary. “We need to talk, dobe.”

Naruto was not sure if he liked the sound of that. He twitched his whiskers. “We can talk in the bath, teme,” he insisted, knowing, as Sasuke knew, that being together in the bath usually meant fucking rather than talking.


Sasuke went back into their bedroom to undress, which emphasised his determination to talk. Naruto watched him walk back towards the bath. Whatever Sasuke intended, Naruto fancied a quickie.

“The review,” Sasuke began as he slowly sank into the water.

All thoughts of a quickie vanished. Naruto was happy living as they were, wandering through space and raising their litters. But he knew that was not Uchiha. Uchiha was about building something that was strong and flexible enough to last generations. Uchiha was the family business.

“We are going back to Tarrasade,” Naruto guessed.

Sasuke, already flushed from the heat of the water, coloured further. “We need to establish a headquarters, dobe, and it is the most logical choice. Neji says we can desensitise them to having us out in public. We’ll have to work on it, but we can do it.”

Naruto was pleased that Sasuke was acknowledging how much he hated being trapped in the household. He was less sure that Sasuke would persist with Neji’s strategy when they were being hounded by the media and mobbed by crowds.

“I understand,” he replied and saw Sasuke wince at his tone.

“We are thinking about developing the whole compound,” Sasuke told him. “That will act as a buffer and give us more space. Maybe we could include something like Shika’s level. We could definitely have running routes.”

Naruto’s mind boggled; the whole compound? There was masses of it; there were whole space stations that were smaller. “All of it? Just for us?” he queried. The running routes were a good idea through.

“No, not just for us,” Sasuke admitted. “Naruto, we have to start employing people. Uchiha cannot rebuild a firm foundation without it.”

Naruto resisted the urge to get out of the bath and walk away. “Servants,” he stated.

“No, not servants. Employees. People with their own families who we will treat with respect and pay a decent salary. Not in the household. In the offices, as security and as maintenance. We will be exemplary employers, Naruto, I promise.”

That was interesting. As patron of the HDL Naruto had read report after report about initiatives to persuade employers to improve the rights of the hybrids who worked for them. “Exemplary?” he queried. “I want to be in the group that decides what ‘exemplary’ will mean.”

Sasuke blinked at him. “Group?” he queried.

“The committee, or working party, or whatever you are going to call it. Employees will need proper contracts and there will need to be mechanisms for protecting their rights.”

Sasuke scowled at him. “Uchiha will not mistreat its employees.”

“That’s not a sound attitude, teme,” Naruto argued. “It is a paternalistic model that only works if the employer is more interested in their employees’ well-being than profits. That is true of you but it may not be true of some manager ten systems away, or of someone two or three generations in the future. Think about it, Sasuke, being the best employer in known space would be worthy of the new Uchiha.”

Sasuke’s scowl melted away. Then he surged across the bath, sending a wave of water over the side. Naruto found himself being thoroughly kissed.

“I love you dobe,” Sasuke told him. “You are incredible.”

“Yes to Uchiha being the best employer in known space?” Naruto checked.

“Yes, Uchiha will try to be the best employer in known space,” he replied.

Naruto responded by pulling Sasuke closer for another kiss. Their lips were about to touch when Tsuneo wailed. Naruto leaned over to check him, leaving Sasuke kissing air. All three babies were awake. They and the basket were wet.

“The water hit them, teme,” he informed Sasuke.

Sasuke leaned over. “Sorry, I didn’t think. If we dropped the temperature a bit, do you think they would like to come in?”

It was something they had learnt when the children had been babies. All babies could swim, but purebred babies were much more buoyant.


Naruto stripped the triplets and put them on a towel while Sasuke went to put the basket under the blowers to dry out and adjusted the temperature of the water. Tsuneo continued to wail but his parents and sisters ignored it.

He stopped once he was in the water. Naruto checked that the Takara and Teruko were safe with their Papa and then concentrated on Tsuneo, who was happily bobbing about, even going under the water. Naruto had checked with Rin, who told him that babies were born being able to swim underwater; it was something to do with remembering being in the amniotic fluid.

“He likes being able to move,” Sasuke observed. “I think he finds being stuck in one place boring.”

Naruto wondered if Sasuke was right; Tsuneo did kick and wave a lot. Perhaps he would have preferred being a hybrid; even at this early age the kits has been able to roll and even crawl while Tsu-chan would have to wait another two or three divs before he would even be able to sit up. Naruto stopped him hitting his head on the side of the bath. Maybe more sessions in the bath would be a good idea.

“I think Teru-chan has had enough,” Sasuke informed him. “I’ll take these two and get them dried off and dressed.


Naruto considered staying in the bath but that would mean missing out on watching Sasuke with Teruko and Takara. He wrapped Tsuneo in a towel, started the cleaning cycle for the bath, sorted out the bathroom and carried Tsuneo into the bedroom. Sasuke was in the nursery with Teruko and Takara on a towel spread on the platform. Naruto sat in the rocking chair with Tsuneo and watched him expertly diaper and dress them.

It was the little gestures and looks that made it so special; a tickle to a tummy or a baby’s happy gurgle.


Naruto was deeply grateful that Sasuke had prioritised having children over developing Uchiha. He thought back to the first time Sasuke had talked about babies and smiled. His initial reaction had been shock; it had never occurred to him to think about children. He had Sasuke, which was more than enough for him, and then there had been the bonus of the rest of the crew; his family.

Now he lived this wonderful, complicated life. He had discovered that having children and raising them was amazing.
He twitched his whiskers. He knew that Sasuke had to tackle the huge task of re-establishing Uchiha. They had made progress, they had the affiliated crews and enough credit, but new Uchiha was still more a dream than a reality.

Returning to Tarrasade would not be so bad; he would make it work.


Sasuke was putting Teruko and Takara into the basket, so Naruto put Tsuneo in their place on the towel for Sasuke to dress. Then he worried Sasuke’s neck while Sasuke was concentrating on getting their wriggling son into a diaper and a sleepsuit.

“Dobe!” Sasuke complained.

“Quickie,” Naruto whispered into his ear.

Sasuke flushed. “It is almost time for the midmeal. The children or Kiba could come in at any moment.”

“A quick quickie,” Naruto persisted. “In the bedroom. The babies can watch.”

“Naruto!” Sasuke complained. “The babies do not watch. They are too young.” He put Tsuneo in the basket with his sisters.

Naruto realised that he would have to resort to underhand tactics. He pulled away and prepared his best disappointed look for when he knew Sasuke would turn towards him.


Within seconds the basket was safe in a corner of the bedroom and the two of them were naked. Naruto had thought that he might have to give Little Sasuke some extra attention but he was standing tall. For a quick quickie they always followed the same pattern; towel on the bed, Naruto on the towel preparing his hole and Sasuke smoothing lube over his erection. Within less than a minute Naruto felt Sasuke’s length sliding into him.

He purred. It felt so good. At that moment all he wanted was for Sasuke to fuck him senseless.

“No you don’t,” Sasuke murmured. He closed his lubed hand around Naruto’s erection and began stroking.

Naruto was pulled back from the boundary between his usual self and fluffy-soft-Naruto. He nipped Sasuke’s neck encouragingly.

Sasuke thrust and pumped. Naruto was stretched between the two switching points and then lifted up, higher and higher, until he peaked.

His orgasm blew away every trace of tension. As a bonus, he managed to reorder his senses in time to see Sasuke climax; that wonderful moment when he completely let go.

“That was nice,” he announced as Sasuke slumped forward onto his chest.

Sasuke tried scowling but it did not work when he was so relaxed. “Nice?” he queried.

Naruto kissed him. “Just what I needed. Thank you.” He stood up, taking Sasuke with him. “Shower,” he insisted. “Or we will be late for the midday meal.”


They arrived in the galley just before the children. Kiba gave them a look as he entered that said, “I have been run ragged by the children all morning and now I discover that the two of you have spent it fucking.”

“The babies are in the nursery,” Naruto told him. “Why don’t we swap now and you eat later, with Choza-san?”

Kiba nodded. “That may be for the best, Naruto-san,” he admitted. “I can feel some growling coming on.” He went over and gave Choza a hug. “I’ll be back when the children have gone,” he told him.

Choza smiled. “I look forward to it,” he replied.

“Children,” Kiba acknowledged.

“Kiba-san,” they chorused.


They were in a lively mood. Even having their Papa at the head of the table did not persuade them to behave at their best. Kazuki was even more hyperactive than usual. Yo-chan and Ya-chan had obviously had an argument. Haru was off in some dream world. Ryuu was miserable, which meant that Hikaru had been mean to him; at least Hi-chan was looking guilty. Hoshi and Yuki were up to something; usually such conspiracies had few consequences but occasionally they came up with a doozy. At least Kuuya and Keizo seemed their normal selves; totally concentrated, at least for the moment, on their food.

“Fork not fingers, Ke-chan,” Naruto reminded him. “Kuu-chan, try not to gobble. Ka-chan, why don’t you move and sit next to your Papa?”

Kazuki was distracted from his dislike of sitting at the table by the prospect of extra attention from Sasuke. Naruto thanked Sasuke in advance with a glance.

“Oto-chan?” Hoshi asked.

She was definitely up to something; saying ‘Oto-chan’ rather than ‘To-chan’ was a dead giveaway.

“Yes, Hoshi-chan?” he replied.

“Why do we have to wear uniforms all the time? The rest of the crew don’t.”

Naruto suddenly knew the main reason for Kiba’s poor mood. He imagined all ten of them having their own clothes and shuddered.

“May I answer?” Sasuke requested.

Naruto nodded, grateful for any help.

“Truth is, Ho-chan, that it would be a lot more work for Kiba-san and your To-chan if you all had different clothes. They already have to work very hard looking after you all.”

Hoshi’s face fell, Yuki’s whiskers drooped and Naruto felt like the meanest of parents. If it had not been for Kiba he would have been tempted to agree that they could have at least one outfit that they chose for themselves.

Then he imagined what Yuki would have chosen and was even more grateful for Sasuke’s intervention.

---

Sasuke stayed at the table when Naruto took the children to the playroom. Being in the galley around midday was one of the ways he made himself accessible to crew members. There was also a good chance Kakashi would be there; Sasuke was looking forward to telling him that Naruto had agreed to both Tarrasade and employees.

Akemi brought over a tea tray and set it down in front of him; it was one of Akemi’s duties to help Choza during the midmeal.

“Thank you, Akemi-kun,” he acknowledged.

The youngster flushed but managed a bow and a muttered, “Sasuke-sama,” before escaping back to the other side of the galley. Sasuke poured a cup of tea and waited for it to cool enough to drink.

People came and went; the midmeal was a highly informal affair. Some ate at the table while others picked up baskets of food or ingredients to cook in one of the small galleys.

Shikamaru and Neji arrived. Shino was not with them, which meant he was eating with Anko in the small galley off Ibiki’s crew room. They served themselves with soup, grabbed one of the baskets of bread and sat down close to him at the table.

“How did you get on talking to Na-chan?” Shikamaru asked.

“It is sorted,” Sasuke replied. “He’s accepted that we are going back to Tarrasade and that Uchiha will have employees.”

Shikamaru looking at him in disbelief and was on the edge of saying something when Kakashi and Iruka entered.

“Naruto is fine about going back to Tarrasade and having employees,” Shikamaru announced before Sasuke could put his teacup down.

Iruka gestured Kakashi to a seat and went to fetch soup.

“Assuming that he was coherent when he agreed, what did you promise him?” Kakashi asked.

Sasuke flushed slightly at the oblique reference to their sex life. “That new Uchiha would try to be the best employer in known space. With proper contracts and rights and... ...stuff,” he trailed off, realising he had no idea what he had agreed to do.

Kakashi stared at him. Then he shook his head and laughed. “Only Naruto,” he declared. He raised his bowl of soup like a cup. “To the further Naruto-isation of Uchiha.”

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