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 Aflyingmonkey123, SunaoTsuji, Kat Saama, Tati, richon, prettypurpletiger, satterb, lonelylulaby, Prism0467, sadie237, blugirlami21, lividangel and unneeded who reviewed after chapter 71.

I have started a forum topic is any reader wants to ask questions or discuss aspects of the story
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/page__pid__227866#entry227866

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 seventy-two: Persuasion

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They jumped into the Tarrasade system via a conventional, ungated hole. The hole was eight light minutes from the station; it would take the Oak almost three days to accelerate, coast, decelerate and dock.

Within twenty minutes they were inundated with messages and their arrival was all over the media.

Sasuke sat in the galley with anyone else who was interested, watching the output from the media channels; Shino had the nine most popular simultaneously displayed. It was clear that each one had days of material ready to air; some of them even had images of Naruto’s latest visit to Haven.

“Your statement should be reaching them just about...,” Shikamaru was watching his chronometer, “...now.”

Every station switched to a different library image of Sasuke and began broadcasting his words at slightly different times.

“Pick one,” Sasuke directed, with a sigh.

Shino selected one that was just starting.

“This is Sasuke Uchiha. Thank you for your warm welcome and your good wishes. My family has lived in Tarrasade for generations and Uchiha has had its headquarters here for even longer. The time has come for us to decide if Tarrasade is a place where we can raise our children. We hope that it is and we do not have to look for a home elsewhere.”

It was, as Neji had predicted, like tossing a flare into a box of explosives. Each channel rushed to find a unique angle. Experts of every imaginable type, from economists to psychics, were asked their opinion.

“If we have it right they will have calmed down in three days’ time,” Neji observed.

---

Naruto refused to view or even discuss the media’s reaction. Either Neji’s strategy would work or they would have to reconsider their plans.

He had agreed to a limited number of interviews but they were far enough in the future that he felt comfortable ignoring them.

More urgent was the move from the Oak to the household. Their accommodation on the Oak had evolved, leaving the household in Tarrasade behind. Naruto and Kiba were compiling a list of alterations they would need to make.

“The playroom is more urgent,” Naruto decided. “The babies can sleep in with me and Sasuke. The children can have the existing nursery.”

Kiba shook his head. “I don’t think Ryuu, Hoshi or Hikaru will fit into the bunks,” he replied. “They were a bit of a tight fit before we built the new nursery on the Oak.”

Hoshi or Haru had always been the tallest. Haru not being included in Kiba’s list reminded Naruto of how little he had grown while abducted.

“Can’t we live on the Oak while we sort out the household?” Kiba asked.

It was a sensible idea. They would raise it with Iruka.

---

Iruka had anticipated problems but the way Ran was looking at him, as if Iruka was taking away the most important thing in his world, was heartrending.

“Not have My Room?” he queried.

Iruka could hear the capital letters.

“Have another room, in the household on Tarrasade,” Kakashi suggested. “Your room and your other room,” he added.

Ran thought about it. “No,” he decided. He stood up, turned his back on them and walked out, leaving them sitting at the galley table.

Iruka’s hand went to Kakashi’s arm, stopping him following.

“Kiba has a point, you know,” Kakashi said once they had watched Ran vanish into his room and slide the door closed behind him. “Ran cannot have his own way all the time. Some people would think you are spoiling him.”

Iruka had known it was coming. He wanted Kakashi involved with raising Ran, so he had to expect them to have differences in opinion about how to do it. “I am building trust,” Iruka insisted. “Kashi, he doesn’t understand any of it. It isn’t like Tayuya, who was being wilful.” He could see that Kakashi was unconvinced. “We will need to be creative,” he added.

They would have discussed it for longer, perhaps even argued, but Naruto chose that moment to enter the galley and smile. It was a full-watt Naruto smile; the type that drove every thought from your head and ensured your full attention.

“Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei,” he acknowledged. “There is something I would like to discuss with you.”


Iruka jumped at the chance to delay the transfer from the Oak to the household. The longer they had and the more gradual the process, the more opportunities he would have to develop Ran’s attitude.

“It is not that simple,” Kakashi told them. “Mooring a ship as large as the Oak at a private dock creates a security issue for the station. It obscures lines of sight and causes problems for the gunners. The rules are that we have to be in and out as quickly as possible.”

Iruka watched Naruto’s whiskers twitch. He waited, hoping that Naruto wanted the delay as much as he did.

“Perhaps we could anchor at a distance,” Naruto suggested. “We could use the Sakura as a shuttle.”

There was a pause. Naruto waited. Iruka held his breath.

“That or we could moor at one of the freighter docks. Either way, will have to be vigilant with watches in the control room,” Kakashi warned. “I shall talk to Asuma. I will try to get him to agree to up to ten days,” he decided.

Naruto considered. “We can sort out the nursery and the playroom within ten days of docking,” he agreed.

Iruka breathed a sigh of relief. He had ten extra days’ grace.

---

With Iruka busy overseeing the transfer from the Oak to the household, Konohamaru had been asked to help persuade Ran that having a room of his own was what counted, rather than the specific room he was occupying on the Oak. Their agreed strategy was to persuade Ran to relate to other members of the crew, so that when they moved to the household Ran would want to go with them.

Today, with them due to anchor off Tarrasade the next day, Konohamaru and Ran were heading for the playroom. Konohamaru had cleared it with Sasuke, Kiba and Naruto. He had selected a time when Misora and Keitaro were having a lesson with Grandma Biwako in one of the side rooms.

“What do you do if you get scared, Ran-chan?” he checked as they approached the outer door.

“I ask to leave. Then I use my bracelet to find the way back to My Room,” Ran answered.

Konohamaru smiled at him.

Perhaps, one day, Ran would smile back.


He felt Ran’s hand steal into his as they entered. Konohamaru held it but made sure his grip was not too tight. There was no sign of the younger children; the schedule had them in the gym with Kakashi.

“This is where the children play and learn,” Konohamaru told him. “We call it the playroom. There is one here, on the Oak, and one in the household in Tarrasade.”

It was part of the plan to emphasis and re-emphasise that everything on the Oak was mirrored in the household.

“It is pretty,” Ran whispered but held his hand a little tighter.

“We are going into one of the side rooms,” Konohamaru continued; Iruka believed that telling Ran what was going to happen helped him stay calm. “It’s where Misora-chan and Keitaro-chan learn things with Biwako-san. Do you remember who they are?”

“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,” Ran recited in a surprisingly accurate imitation of the message that Misora had recorded into her picture. “Mis-or-a gave me the top,” he added.

“Do you remember what Keitaro-chan gave you?” Konohamaru asked.

Ran considered. “No.”

Konohamaru sighed. He hoped the morning would not be too much of a disaster.

---

Ran clung to Konohamaru’s hand. He wanted to run back to his room but he also wanted to meet the other children. There had been other children running from the child catcher but they had always been too slow or too trusting. Here there wasn’t a child catcher. Here he could have what Konohamaru and Iruka called ‘friends’.

Konohamaru had asked who he wanted to meet first. He had picked Misora. Misora had given him the top. She did not have pointy teeth or whiskers.

The door was open. Ran could see Misora and Keitaro sitting at a table. Biwako-san, Konohamaru’s Mommy’s Mommy, stood up and called them in.

“Kono-kun, Ran-chan, how pleasant,” she said. “Come in. Sit down.”

“Oba-chan,” Konohamaru answered. “Misora-chan, Keitaro-chan.”

‘Oba-chan’ was a special name that Konohamaru used because Biwako-san was his Mommy’s Mommy. Ran was beginning to understand special names. Kakashi-san called Iruka-san ‘Ir-chan’. Iruka-san called Kakashi-san ‘Kashi’.

“Kono-san, Ran-chan,” Misora and Keitaro said together.

There was silence. Ran realised that it was his turn. “Bi-wa-ko-san, Mis-or-a-chan, Kei-tar-o-chan,” he answered in a loud voice that came out as a whisper.

Konohamaru was pleased with him; Ran could feel it. Biwako-san was smiling. Keitaro gave a small smile.

Misora scowled at him. Ran tried not to cower. Why was she scowling at him? Had he done something wrong?

“Thank you for the top, Mis-or-a-chan,” he tried, hoping to appease her.

“You are welcome,” she replied but they were words without meaning. “It was pretty but playing with a top is boring,” she added.

Ran relaxed a little. She had meant the bit about the top. Maybe she just scowled at lot.


Konohamaru took the chair one away from Misora and pulled out the chair between them for Ran. Ran would have been happier on the other side of Konohamaru but he slipped into the chair. He was too close to Misora. She might touch him. Only she didn’t, so he started to relax.

Biwako-san was talking about Tarrasade. Ran ignored it. Arriving at Tarrasade meant leaving his room. Instead he watched Misora and Keitaro.

Misora wanted Biwako-san and Konohamaru to pay her attention. She was making faces and speaking too loud.

It did not work so she tried Ran instead. Ran did not like that. He wanted people to overlook him.

Keitaro was quiet; Ran preferred quiet.


Then Misora kicked him under the table; only it was more of a poke than a kick. Her bare toe touched the skin of his calf.

He jumped but the link had been made. Pulling away made it weaker but did not break it. He was about to run away, back to his room, when he realised it was fine. She did not feel nice, like Konohamaru, but it was not horrid.

Misora felt sharp, like a lemon.

“Misora!” Biwako-san scolded. “Leave Ran alone. Touching anyone without permission is wrong. You have to be even more careful with Ran, because he is an empath.”

An em-path?

“Someone who can see inside,” Konohamaru explained. “The proper word for it is empath.”

There was a word for it?

He could feel Misora’s guilt.

“It was fine,” he told her. “You surprised me.”

“Sorry,” she replied.

He knew she was sorry for surprising him but not for touching him.

“Kono-kun, why don’t you take Ran-chan and find a toy he might like?” Biwako-san suggested.


Ran was disappointed. Misora was not so bad; she felt sharp but not horrid. He thought Keitaro might be nice.


He took Konohamaru’s hand and went out through the doorway. The children were everywhere and he could see the dog-man, Kiba-san. He pressed close to Konohamaru.

“Are you joining us, Ran-chan?” Kiba-san asked. “That is good. Perhaps you would like to play with Yuki-chan and Hoshi-chan?”

Two of the children looked up. One was a girl. She had dark hair and was not much smaller than Ran. Ran remembered her from the pictures. Her name was Hoshi. The other was, Ran thought, a boy. He was smaller and he had yellow hair and whiskers. He was Yuki.

They both had the bright blue eyes that told Ran that Naruto-san was their Mommy. Hoshi looked nice. Yuki did not seem like a dog, even though he had whiskers.

“Please play with us, Ran-chan,” he asked.

Konohamaru nodded encouragingly. He let go of Ran’s hand and went to sit a little way away. Ran hesitated, but then he knelt down with Yuki and Hoshi.


Ran found himself in a very different world. Yuki talked about things that weren’t there. Hoshi replied as if they were real. It was very confusing.

Another child came and sat near him but not too close. It was the boy who looked like Hoshi.

“I’m Haru,” he said. “They are playing make-believe. You make things up in your head. It’s like acting out a story.”

Ran understood bits of that. When he was cold and hungry and sad, Ran had thought of being a real child and living in a house with Mommy. He guessed that was what Haru called ‘make-believe’.

He watched Yuki and Hoshi playing. Sometimes they talked for themselves. Other times they talked for the toys. Hoshi asked him to join in but he shook his head.

Haru just sat close but not too close. Ran thought he might like Haru.


Someone was watching him. Ran always knew. It made the back of his neck prickle. He looked around and saw that he, or maybe Haru, had Kiba-san’s full attention.

“Kiba-san does not trust me to behave myself,” Haru told him. “But he thinks I will be nice to you.”

So Kiba-san was watching Haru. Why didn’t Kiba-san trust Haru? Ran was about to ask when suddenly, shockingly, there was someone between him and Haru. He was too close; far too close. Ran was scared enough to be still but not terrified enough to run.

“Ka-chan!” Haru objected. “You aren’t meant to touch Ran-chan. Remember?”

The boy with the silvery ears and tail rubbed against him and sniffed him. “No,” he replied. He gave a little growl and showed his teeth.

Ran remained frozen. They were skin to skin only it was skin to fur. He wasn’t a dog; Ran could feel that he was a boy. He felt strange but clean and fresh. Not horrid; he did not feel horrid.

“Ka-chan!” Haru repeated. “You are frightening him.”

The boy’s ears went flat against his head. He slunk around to the other side of Haru. “I am sorry, Ran-chan,” he whimpered.

Ran pulled himself together. He had not felt horrid. He was a boy, not a dog. “I am scared of dogs,” he whispered.

The boy’s ears perked up again. “I’m not a dog-human hybrid. I’m a fox-human hybrid. Are you scared of foxes?” he asked.

“No,” Ran answered warily. He had never seen a fox. He wasn’t sure what a fox was.

“Good,” the boy replied.

“This is Kazuki,” Haru told him.

Kazuki; the boy in the picture who had given him the blue ball.

“Thank you for the blue ball,” Ran whispered.

Kazuki smiled at him. It made Ran feel good. “It’s a good ball,” Kazuki told him. “It bounces high.”


There was movement; something blocking part of the light. Ran looked up automatically. It was Kiba-san with Konohamaru beside him.

“Have you had enough, Ran-chan?” Konohamaru asked. “Would you like to go back to your room?”

Ran looked at Kazuki and Haru. He looked at Yuki and Hoshi, who were still playing make-believe. He had been touched by two people and it had not been horrid. Maybe touching children would always be fine. Maybe children never felt horrid.

“No,” he replied.

---

Iruka knew that Konohamaru would find him and tell him when Ran’s visit to the playroom was over. It was almost time for the midday meal and there was no sign of him.

He sighed. Despite promising himself he would not do so, he abandoned the many tasks requiring his attention and went to find him.

He did not need to go far. Ran was sitting at the galley table with the children, between Haru and Kazuki. Naruto was at the head of the table, Kiba midway on one side and Konohamaru on the other. Konohamaru caught his eye and gave a small shrug to illustrate his incomprehension.

“Join us, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto suggested, gesturing to the empty chair at the other end of the table.


Iruka sank down onto the chair. Choza put a bowl of soup in front of him and Iruka only just remembered to thank him. He spooned the soup into his mouth mechanically.

It had never occurred to him that Ran would accept the other children so easily. Nothing he had read, nor anything C or Biwako had said, had even hinted that it was a possibility. The close call in the woods had reinforced his conviction that Ran needed to be integrated gradually.

Now he was sitting between Haru and Kazuki, surrounded by the rest of Naruto’s litter. True, he was still very quiet, with huge, solemn eyes, but he was in a room with, Iruka paused to count them, sixteen other people.

And when Naruto took the children back to the playroom, Ran chose to go with them, even though Konohamaru was on duty and could not accompany him.


Iruka stayed at the table sipping tea. Kiba went through to the nursery to check the babies before returning and sitting down. Akemi brought another cup and Iruka filled it for him.

“Being with younger children is less threatening for him than being with adults or adolescents or even with older children,” Kiba suggested.

Iruka pulled himself together. “I expect you are right, Kiba-san,” he acknowledged.

“It is because you have made him feel so much more secure that he is willing to take these steps, Iruka-san,” Kiba added.

“It kind of you to say so, Kiba-san,” Iruka answered.

Perhaps Kiba would have said more but at that moment Tsuneo’s unmistakable wail issued forth from the speaker and Kiba left to investigate.

Iruka took the opportunity to escape to his office and bury himself in his work.


He did not know how long Kakashi had been standing in the doorway when he looked up and saw him there.

“I missed you at the midmeal,” Kakashi told him.

“I ate with the children,” Iruka admitted. “I should have told you, I apologise.”

Kakashi glided across the room and sat on the edge of his desk. “No need. Choza told me. He also told me that Ran’s visit to the playroom was a great success.”

Iruka concentrated on what was good for Ran and smiled. “Yes, isn’t it wonderful?”

Kakashi plucked the pen from his hand. “Yes, it is. You and I are going to go there to see it for ourselves.”

“We are?” Iruka queried.

“We are,” Kakashi confirmed. “Ir-chan, I know you do not want to force yourself on him, but you if you aren’t there he can’t choose to come to you.”

Iruka tidied his papers and closed down his tablet. He doubted that Ran would choose to come to him. He made sure that he spent time with him every morning and every afternoon yet Ran had never hinted, even with body language, that he wanted Iruka to touch him. “Let’s go then,” he replied.


The playroom was unusually quiet when they arrived. Iruka soon saw the reason; there were eleven small pairs of shoes alongside Naruto’s large ones outside the snug.

He stared at Ran’s shoes in the line. He did not know why he was surprised. Lady knew what Naruto felt like to an empath; his smile alone was like bathing in sunlight.

“Ir-chan?” Kakashi whispered.

“It is fine,” Iruka insisted. “It would be wrong to disturb them. We will come back another time.”

It should not hurt; Iruka knew that. He was being selfish. All that mattered was that Ran was happy.

---

Ran was between Haru and Kazuki on the bed. He had tried touching Haru; testing his idea that children never felt horrid. Haru did not feel horrid. He felt full of different flavours, like one of Choza-san’s stews.

Kazuki had dragged him into the ‘snug’ and onto the bed. The bed was full of children, all wanting to be with Naruto-san.

Ran had thought about running away but being on the bed made him feel good.

It was almost like being with Mommy. It was warm and Ran could feel how much the children loved their Mommy and how much their Mommy loved them.

But the longer he stayed the sadder he got. Naruto-san wasn’t his Mommy. He wasn’t Naruto-san’s child. He remembered loving his Mommy and his Mommy loving him.

This wasn’t as good as the memory, but the memory hurt.

He wanted to be in his room, where he was safe.


He wriggled out from between Kazuki and Haru. As soon as he moved he could feel Naruto-san watching him.

“I’m going to My Room,” Ran whispered and held up his bracelet to remind Naruto-san that he knew the way.

Naruto-san’s whiskers twitched and then he nodded.


Once Ran was out of the snug he felt cold and alone; he wanted to be in His Room very badly.

Movement; he froze. It was Iruka-san and Kakashi-san. They were at the far side of the playroom, near the doorway.

Kakashi-san saw him and called, “Ran-chan.” Iruka-san turned and smiled at him.

It was a nice smile. Ran decided not to run to his room just yet.


They started to walk towards him. “We came to see how you were doing,” Kakashi told him. “We thought you were asleep in the snug so we weren’t going to disturb you.”

Ran understood some of that. He had not been asleep but some of the others were; Haru was.

Iruka-san was not saying anything. He smiled again but this smile was different. He walked past Ran and picked up his shoes.

He was sad. Ran recognised sad.

“Why are you sad?” he asked.

Iruka shook his head. Ran looked to Kakashi-san, “Why is Ir-uk-a-san sad?”

“You need a parent,” Kakashi-san told him. “Iruka hoped you would pick him. He thinks you are going to pick Naruto.”

“Kashi!” Iruka-san scolded.

Kakashi-san shrugged. “You said we had to explain things.”


Ran struggled to understand. It was important to understand why Iruka-san was sad. “What is a ‘par-ent’?” he asked.

“Like a mother or a father,” Kakashi-san explained.

“A Mommy,” Ran checked.

Kakashi-san smiled. “Yes, a Mommy.”

“My Mommy went away,” Ran admitted, blinking back tears.

Iruka-san knelt so that their heads were about level. “I know, Ran-chan.”

Ran did not know what to think. He thought about what Kakashi-san had said. “You want to be my Mommy?” he asked Iruka-san.

“I would never try...” Iruka-san begun but stopped because Kakashi-san started coughing very loudly. Once Kakashi-san stopped, Iruka-san looked straight at him.

“Yes, Ran. I want to be your Mommy.”

Ran wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if Iruka-san felt horrid, or not horrid, or nice. He didn’t know if he wanted a new Mommy.

But Iruka-san wanted to be his Mommy. That was more than a toy or tasty food or even his own room.

“I’ll think about it,” he promised.

Iruka smiled at him and this time it reached his eyes. “Thank you, Ran-chan,” he replied.

---

They walked back to the crew room with Ran between them. Iruka noticed that Ran was walking closer to him than usual. Once they were there, Ran vanished into his room.

Kakashi turned to him as soon as the door slid shut. “I can’t believe you almost blew that,” he said, shaking his head.

Iruka felt himself flush. “I didn’t...” he began and stopped himself. Kakashi was right. Ran would have only been confused if he had said that he wasn’t trying to replace the mother Ran had lost. “Thank you for stopping me,” he admitted.

“Mommy Iruka,” Kakashi suggested and pulled him close for a hug.

---