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 YamanashiOchinashiIminashi (for nine different chapters, which was lovely), unneeded, v, SunaoTsuji, lividangel, smauigirl, prettypurpletiger (twice), cynaga, satterb, sadie237, Prism0467 and disembodiedvoiceofthedying who reviewed after chapter 78 was posted.

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-nine: Guilt

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Inryoku believed that giving themselves over to Uchiha was the best option. Unfortunately that did not stop him being unbearably anxious. It did not help that En-chan was a gibbering wreck.

He wished he could tell En-chan that Shikamaru would be there but Shikamaru had warned them that a meeting was out of the question.

Perhaps they were walking towards their execution; they had planned the kidnapping of Sasuke Uchiha’s children. He took a deep breath. There were worse thoughts, like what Orochimaru would do if he caught them.

At least Sasuke Uchiha would not hurt the baby.


Konan looked very fine; elegant and proud in spite of her huge belly. Hana hovered protectively.


They opened the airlock. A voice told them to walk down the gangplank, across the dock and through the open doorway. Inside was a small room. On a surface at the side there were four boxes.

“Please put all you weapons, even your knives, in these boxes. You may lock the box and keep the key.” The voice told them.

“Old fashioned spacer manners,” Konan acknowledged. “A box each, Zetsu-san. Perhaps I detect Shikamaru-san’s influence?”

They took the boxes to the left. Inryoku put his knife into the right-hand box while En-chan used the other. They locked the boxes and hung the keys around their neck.

“We are going to separate you now,” the voice warned.

Inryoku saw Hana tense.

“You will be interviewed in pairs,” the voice continued. “Zetsu-san, please exit the room first.”

A door slid open.

They walked along a corridor. At the far end were three doors, one of which was open. He crossed the threshold and it closed behind him.

It was a room; a cell? There was a bed, a table, two chairs and a cubicle with a head, a sink and a shower.

On the table was a Go set. Beside it were four pots of stones: black, white, pink and purple.

He could feel En-chan’s hope in their body.

“Don’t, En-chan,” he whispered. “It doesn’t mean we are going to see him. It’s just his way of trying to make us feel better.”

They sat down at the table and turned the Go board. En-chan reached across and took the pot of white stones. Inryoku slid the black stones to their usual position.

They began to play.

---

Kakashi had Neji, Shikamaru and Shino with him in the control room of the security module. He and Neji concentrated on the feed from the cameras and microphones while Shikamaru and Shino analysed the output from the scanners built into the corridor walls. None of the data they collected as the prisoners moved from their ship to their cells raised any flags.

He had not expected Konan to be so heavily pregnant.

“I think she is close to giving birth,” Shino told them.

Kakashi did not want to hear that. “You sure?” he asked.

“No,” Shino replied, “but the women in my family usually choose pregnancy over gestators and I would have Rin-san check her over as soon as possible.”

“We designed this module to cater for wounded enemies. I would be happier if Rin-san had examined her,” Neji admitted.

“They have surrendered themselves,” Shikamaru pointed out.

Kakashi scowled at him. He did not need Shikamaru to remind him that they had a duty of care to their prisoners.


The security module included a basic infirmary that Rin had augmented on the outward journey so that she could manage pregnancy complications or even a birth. Kakashi decided to hand Konan over to Rin and Dan immediately, with the proviso that Kisame should be present to watch Hana.

Gai and Kunugi had already gone over their ship looking for traps and bombs. Izumo and Inari were starting the detailed inspection.

Kakashi sent Shino and Shikamaru to work on the computer systems.


Neji was studying Zetsu. Kakashi was watching Zetsu with half his eye on Neji. He was highly sceptical about Shikamaru’s assertion that Zetsu was two people in one body.

Usually Neji would speak after about ten minutes; occasionally he took a little longer. This time he was still silent after thirty.

Kakashi’s patience finally ran out. “Well?” he asked.

Neji frowned very slightly. “There are two personalities. Whether it is two people, or a single personality that has split, or a delusion, I do not know. For all intents and purposes, there are two people in that room. I believe that Shika’s approach may be best and that we should treat them as twin brothers who only have one body.”

Kakashi decided to accept that Zetsu believed he was two people. “One or two, that else can you tell me?”

“They are both very vulnerable,” Neji replied. “If treated with kindness and respect they will be grateful. Threaten them and they will withdraw. It is possible that they will even lash out.” He paused. “We need to judge whether their friendship with Shika could outweigh their gratitude, possibly even their loyalty, to Pein.”

“I can just see it,” Kakashi grumbled. “We let Shikamaru go in there, Zetsu kills him and we realise that all three of them are mindprinted clones and Pein is laughing himself silly.”

Neji sighed. “The scans showed nothing out of the ordinary. None of them have mindnets. Rin-san says that Konan is genuinely pregnant and on the edge of giving birth. There were no clones of Zetsu on the stolen ship. Epigenetics means that clones of hybrids do not develop identically, look at Naruto and the kits, so the likelihood that they have a Hana clone is extremely small. Does anything about Zetsu suggest to you that he is a lethal assassin?”

“No,” Kakashi admitted. “Maybe I should be there when they meet.”

“We would learn a great deal more if Shika went in alone,” Neji argued. “Kakashi-san, the room is rigged with knock-out gas.”

“A lot can happen in ten to twenty seconds,” Kakashi countered.

Neji turned his attention back to the monitors. “It is up to you, Kakashi-san. I have made my recommendation.”

Secretly, Kakashi liked it when Neji stood up to him. He reached for the intercom. “This is Kakashi. Shika-san, please come to the security suite.”


Shikamaru did not argue for a moment about giving his knife to Neji for safekeeping. Kakashi sighed; he was querying Shikamaru’s ability to handle himself in hand-to-hand combat and Shikamaru did not even see it as an affront. Despite all his efforts over so many standards, there were some subtleties of spacer conduct that had nowhere to sit in a typed-seven genius brain.

“Be careful,” he ordered.

Shikamaru nodded but he was not really paying attention.

“Shika,” Neji chided.

“It will be fine,” Shikamaru insisted. “I will give the signal if I think there is the least thing out of place. I promise.”


Kakashi watched and he studied Neji watching. You did not have to be an expert on behaviour to see the sheer delight on Zetsu’s face as Shikamaru entered.

They started a crazy three-way conversation before clearing the Go board and starting a new game using the purple and pink pieces.

“Well?” Kakashi asked after ten minutes of watching.

Neji turned to him and gave a ghost of a smile. “I am uncertain about his loyalty to Pein, but he worships Shika.”

Kakashi had to agree. Zetsu looked like two little boys who had just been given the best present in known space.

---

Inryoku turned their head first when the door slid open. Then En-chan’s delight and excitement flooded their body.

“Shikamaru-san!” En-chan squealed.

Shikamaru gave one of the smiles that Inryoku liked so much. “En-san, In-san,” he acknowledged.

“Shika-san,” Inryoku replied. “How is Haru-chan?”

“Ha-chan is fine,” Shikamaru replied. “He was very happy to see his parents and he has settled back in with his siblings. So Konan-san is going to have a baby?”

“Pein-san’s baby,” En-chan clarified.

“Who else’s would it be?” Inryoku queried, shocked that En-chan would even suggest such a thing.

“Well, if she had a sperm sample, she might have preferred Yahiko’s. She loved him first,” En-chan pointed out.

“Don’t be silly, En-chan,” Inryoku scolded. “Of course the baby is Pein-sama’s. Pein-sama and Konan-sama love each other very much.”

“Pein-san, Konan-san,” En-chan reminded him.

Inryoku scowled but En-chan was right. Their situation was different now. “Pein-san and Konan-san love each other very much,” he muttered.

“Pein-san is probably dead,” En-chan said.

Inryoku flinched but at least En-chan sounded regretful.

“Is that true, In-san?” Shikamaru asked.

“Yes,” Inryoku admitted. “Losing the uploader isn’t something Orochimaru would forgive. Pein-san decided to pretend that we were dead and face him alone.”

Shikamaru frowned. “Orochimaru has that much power over Pein? It never seemed that way.”

“You are thinking about the print and the reprint,” En-chan explained. “We are talking about the original.”

“Orochimaru wants to live forever. He comes out of stasis, uploads from the current print, makes another and then goes back into stasis for another two decades,” Inryoku added.

“Sometimes he stays awake long enough to see to something himself,” En-chan added. “Like recruiting Pein. Or punishing him for not doing what he was meant to do.”

“Losing the uploader,” Shikamaru checked.

En-chan laughed. “Or changing the Akatsuki from an organisation focused on protecting Orochimaru’s interests into a campaign to alter the future of humanity,” he suggested.

“En-chan!” Inryoku complained.

“It’s true,” En-chan insisted. “I think Pein planned for there to be a little accident during Orochimaru’s next upload. No Orochimaru, no Orochimaru prints and he would have been free to do what he likes with the Akatsuki. No uploader meant no accident and him left explaining why he tangled with Uchiha, offended Klennethon Darrent and ended up in such a mess.”

“There may be some truth in what En-chan says,” Inryoku admitted. “It explains why Pein-san sent Konan-san and the baby to Uchiha.”

“Orochimaru is the enemy of Uchiha,” Shikamaru agreed. He smiled again. “Do you want to play Go? It would mean interrupting your current game.”

As if they would hesitate for a moment; the black and white stones were returned to their pots. Shikamaru took purple, as always, and they took pink.


Once they were settled into the rhythm of the game, Shikamaru restarted the conversation.

“In-san, En-san, I need to know where the two of you stand. I need to know how committed you are to Pein-san and Konan-san and the Akatsuki.”

“I was never committed,” En-chan insisted. “For me it was always a business arrangement. Pein-san provided us with a safe place to live and treated us well. We paid him back for doing his thinking for him, which worked fine until he decided that we weren’t good enough and he wanted you.”

Inryoku did not want Shikamaru thinking they resented him. “It wasn’t your fault, Shika-san,” he clarified.

“I never said it was,” En-chan complained. “I was saying that Pein-san got greedy, like he did about wanting the Akatsuki for himself.”

“What about you, In-san?” Shikamaru asked. “Where do you stand with regards Pein-san and the Akatsuki?”

Inryoku appreciated that Shikamaru had headed off an argument between him and En-chan; they had never agreed about Pein. “He set me free,” he replied. “He told me that I had no obligation to him or to the Akatsuki. He asked me, as a personal favour, to make sure that Konan-san and the baby found somewhere safe. Not that I wouldn’t have done that anyway.”

“I’d have done that,” En-chan added. “It’s a baby.”

“No commitment to obey Konan-san?” Shikamaru checked. “No loyalty to the Akatsuki?”

Inryoku thought about it. “If I was certain Konan-san was safe, I would be free,” he decided. “En-chan was never committed in the way I was.”

“We know Uchiha can’t afford to have us wandering around,” En-chan volunteered. “We know too much.”

“And we understand if Uchiha-sama wants to punish us because of what we did,” Inryoku added. “Even if he decides to kill us.”

“We know he won’t hurt the baby,” En-chan assured Shikamaru.

“And, maybe, he won’t blame Hana because she had nothing to do with the kidnapping,” Inryoku suggested, hopefully.

“And she did save Haru-chan’s life,” En-chan reminded them.

“I will speak with Sasuke-sama but I cannot promise you anything,” Shikamaru replied. “Shall we just play Go for a while?”

Inryoku nodded and En-chan agreed. Shikamaru placed a stone and En-chan settled down to decide the implications of its placement.

Konan and the baby were with a medico, they knew that Haru was safe and they were with Shikamaru playing Go.

For Inryoku was the first good day for a long time.

---

Sasuke finished reviewing the reports that had arrived via the chain of minigates that the Maple had laid on its outward journey. It had been three days since the rendezvous. Nothing had been found on or in the ship. So far, the prisoners had behaved impeccably. The baby had already been born; Rin said that he was healthy but that Konan would have benefited from more prenatal care.

Decisions had to be made before the Maple arrived in Tarrsade and it was his responsibility to make them.

He wished he had Pein. There was no doubt in Sasuke’s mind about Pein’s guilt. To what extent did he blame Konan and Zetsu for their leader’s decisions? He only had a tenuous grasp as to the degree of their involvement.

Even if they were involved, did that justify him killing them? The Akatsuki had deliberately sedated Neji, Shino and Anko rather than killing them. The kits had been frightened and endangered, but they had returned safely. Haru had been injured but Shikamaru insisted that it had been accidental. Shikamaru and Haru had been treated well.

Zetsu had actively assisted their escape.

Confirmation that Pein was dead would help; it would reduce the chance that Konan or Zetsu might break any conditions Sasuke decided to impose on them.

And what did he do about Hana? Hana was a servant; she had been regarded as a possession, as less than human. She had risked her life to save Haru. She had let Shika and Haru go. If he decided that Konan was guilty what did he do about her? Shika said she was like Kiba; Sasuke had no doubt that she would try to kill him if he threatened Konan or the baby.

For now, he put thought of the baby aside; if it came to it, he and Naruto would raise the child.

Back to Zetsu; even Kakashi thought that killing Zetsu was a waste. Releasing him was out of the question; the man, or men, knew enough about Uchiha to work out a plan to kidnap Shika.

He sighed; he was no closer to making his decision. He needed to talk the situation through.


Naruto was in his office. He had that pink, tousled look that spoke of training followed by a quick shower. Teruko and Takara were sitting on their blanket playing. Sasuke looked around for Tsuneo and saw him under the table, heading towards a corner.

“Teme?” he queried, looking up from the tablet he had been reading.

“You busy?” Sasuke asked, trying to decide if he should clear a chair.

Naruto blue eyes regarded him and his whiskers twitched.

“Silly question,” Sasuke admitted. “Could you spare the time to discuss something with me? Perhaps after you have finished what you are doing?” He studied Naruto with more attention. “You all right, dobe?”

“Yes,” Naruto assured him. “I wish Shi-chan was here. There are some things I would like to discuss with him.”

“What about I make us some tea, I listen to you and then you listen to me?” Sasuke suggested. He looked around the room, taking in the mess that Naruto insisted was his filing system.

Naruto smiled. “That would be nice,” he admitted and moved a few of the piles so that Sasuke had somewhere to sit.


Sasuke had to admit that he had not realised how much Naruto was doing. He had known that Naruto read HDL reports but he did not know the extent that Yugito and Roshi consulted with him before taking major strategic decisions.

“We need more medicos and paramedics who understand hybrids,” Naruto told him. “We are going to set up a school in Haven. Kotohime-san will lead it and two medicos from Mercy Station want to work with her. When the compound is finished, could we have a branch here? Rin-san could give lectures and workshops.”

“Rin would like that,” Sasuke agreed. “It’s a really good idea, dobe. You should discuss it with her when she gets back.”

“Good,” Naruto acknowledged and moved on. “The new branch of the HDL on Level 4 is trying to help the hybrids who live in the sublevels. They get abused and exploited and robbed,” he complained. “It’s not as if the hybrids want to live there. They aren’t welcome in any of the other levels. A few ex-spacer hybrids manage to fit into Levels 3 and 4, but not many.”

Sasuke had always been told that no one bothered to clean up the sublevels because, if they did, the riffraff might take it into their heads to live where they weren’t welcome. He flushed, embarrassed that, when younger, he had so readily accepted that people like Naruto were lumped in with the criminals.

“I want to talk to Shi-chan about it,” Naruto continued. “It’s his kind of problem. Like the labourers being exploited.”

“We solved that by insisting that Wasabi Engineering recruit from agencies,” Sasuke checked.

Naruto gave him a look. It was a bit like one of Iruka-sensei’s looks. “Shi-chan created the agencies, teme. That’s why we had to have interim arrangements.”

Sasuke had not known; presumably Shika had thought it too small a matter to mention. “I do care, dobe, but it’s so easy to only think of Uchiha,” he explained.

Naruto smiled. “That’s your job, teme. Enough about what’s worrying me. What’s worrying you?”


Sasuke summarised Kakashi’s and Neji’s reports. Naruto listened carefully. Sasuke noted the points at which his whiskers twitched or drooped. There was a short silence when Sasuke finished speaking. He waited.

“Hana is not to blame,” Naruto began. “She had nothing to do with the kidnapping. She saved Haru’s life. She let them escape when she could have stopped them.”

“Agreed,” Sasuke acknowledged.

“And the baby’s blameless,” Naruto added.

“Of course,” Sasuke agreed.

“So option one is to give Hana the baby, give them new identities and enough credit to live on and then find them a nice town on a good planet,” Naruto suggested.

Sasuke had not thought in such practical terms. “Kill Konan and Zetsu?” he queried.

Naruto considered. “If you think they are to blame for kidnapping Shi-chan and the children, yes,” he replied.

It was an option, which was a start. “Pein sent Konan to me, dobe,” he admitted. “He trusted his partner and child to me.”

The whiskers twitched again. “He could be manipulating you, teme,” Naruto reminded him. “Stick to the main point. Are Konan and Zetsu to blame for kidnapping Shi-chan and the children?” he repeated.

Sasuke considered. “No,” he decided. “They did things that Pein asked them to do because they were obliged to him and he was their leader. They implemented his orders in a manner than avoided deaths. They treated Shika and Haru well.”

“Good,” Naruto replied, encouragingly. “Question two, do we have any other evidence that Zetsu or Konan should be killed? Have they killed people who did not deserve to die? Have they tortured people?”

Sasuke considered. “Not that we know of,” he admitted.

“Then we don’t have to kill them,” Naruto suggested. “Question three, is letting Konan and Zetsu go an option? Perhaps dumping them on that planet with Hana and the baby?”

Such straightforward, step-by-step decision making was surprisingly liberating. “No, we cannot let Zetsu go. He is too dangerous. We need to know he isn’t working for someone else. Maybe yes for Konan, but it is difficult to know without questioning her more closely, which we can’t do because she’s just given birth.”

Naruto smiled at him. “Then you are done, teme. Long term confinement for Zetsu, you just need to work out the details. Short term confinement for Konan, Hana and the baby with the possible option of settling two or all three of them somewhere later. Turn the security issues over to Itachi and get Kakashi and Shi-chan to check what he suggests.”

Sasuke’s mind went immediately to the possible complications but he was quickly distracted by Naruto standing up, retrieving Tsuneo and handing him over.

“We deserve the rest of the morning off,” Naruto told him, scooping up Teruko, Takara and the bag of baby supplies.

“It’s almost time for the midmeal,” Sasuke observed.

“Almost,” agreed Naruto, pushing Sasuke gently towards the door.

Sasuke suddenly knew exactly what Naruto had in mind. “Dobe, there isn’t time,” he objected.

A firm hand steered him along the corridor. Sasuke marvelled that Naruto could hold two babies, a bag and still have a hand free to plant in the small of his back.

“That’s what quick quickies are about,” Naruto reminded him.

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