In the cold of space you find the heat of suns

Thank you for the reviews. They have inspired me to continue this story.

Unless I have second thoughts, I will be posting a run of five chapters over the next week or ten days. That will take to story to a point when a time skip is necessary (or a time skip and then a jump) if I am to move the story on.

Assuming readers want it to keep going!

Warning: this chaper contains a lemon.

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

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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.


87. The nursery

Naruto sat half-listening to Gaara. Gaara was asking, for the umpteenth time, whether Naruto thought Kimimaro had meant what he had said when Gaara had declared his devotion and pleaded with him to stay. It was all that Naruto could do not to say what he thought; that they were well rid of the hybrid-hating bigot and that Gaara was worse that Tayuya had been over Itachi.

Lee did not help. He was too kind. His answers to Gaara’s questions fed Gaara’s delusion of hope. True there was a possibility that Kimimaro would change his mind, realise that he was in love and return, but that possibility was so vanishingly small that admitting that it even existed was unwise.


Naruto’s attention wandered and ended up where it always did, on the kits and the nursery. In his mind he played and replayed the latest meeting in Iruka’s office.

Despite Naruto’s objections, Kiba had aired the issue of dividing the new nursery and caring for the kits and the babies separately. Worse, Kiba had done it in front of Iruka and Kurenai who had been all too willing to listen to his talk of different rates of development and feral tendencies and teeth.

Now the kits were seen as a threat to the babies. Naruto had not wanted that. He had really, really not wanted that.


The conversation between Gaara and Lee went back to the beginning and restarted for the third time.

Naruto snapped. He did not even take his leave, he just stood up and left.


He went to the infirmary, where he found Rin pouring over her latest piece of equipment. He told her to make arrangements to put the kits into stasis.

She did not respond. She stood and stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open.

Naruto chose to take silence as assent. He went to the room where the kits’ gestators had been plumbed in. He did not think of it as the kits’ nursery. The kits’ nursery was on the Oak, like the babies’ nursery was on the Oak.

Kiba was not about. Kiba would be with Iruka and Kurenai, preparing a nursery that had three cribs for the babies and an automated feeder for the kits.

He systematically put the kits’ gestators into their shells. He almost set the shells for stasis, but hesitated, uncertain if Rin would have to wake them again before transferring them to long term storage. He changed his mind and left them conscious.

He retreated into the room where the babies were, locked all the doors and pressed the switch on the intercom.

“Rin-san, the kits are in their shells,” he announced. “Please pick them up and transfer them to stasis as soon as possible.”

He hoped she would be quick. He did not want the kits to be unhappy like the babies had been when their gestators had been put into shells.

Then he sank down onto the floor and wept.


Shikamaru did not know which was worse, the words coming out of the speakers or Sasuke’s reaction to them.

They had been working almost every minute of every day; Sasuke was determined to make as much progress as possible before the babies and the kits were born. Three different holoprojections hung above them. The table was covered with charts, cards, tablets and consoles.

He had been in full flow. Now he was silent and motionless. Shikamaru watched his face, even his lips, drain of colour. His pen fell from his hand and clattered onto the table.

“Sasu-kun,” Kakashi said, moving towards him.

Only he was gone, out the door, running.


Shikamaru was last there, even Neji beat him. Kiba and Sasuke were in the kits’ nursery. Kiba was telling Sasuke that the kits were fine. Sasuke had discovered that the door between the nurseries were locked and was coming out to investigate the others. Kakashi had already tried the one from the shared area of the crew room. He shook his head and Sasuke vanished into his and Naruto’s room to try the remaining door.

They could hear Sasuke pleading, then demanding, then begging that Naruto open the door.


Iruka was gently suggesting that everyone disperse and give Sasuke some space. Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to make his way back to the meeting room; someone would need to tidy up.

“Not you, Shika-kun,” Iruka said. “You may be needed.”

Neji touched his arm. “I will sort out the meeting room and come back here when I have finished,” he promised.


Sasuke was having no success persuading Naruto to open the door so Iruka assembled everyone who might have some insight, including those who had been around Naruto most recently and those who knew him best.

They drank tea and got nowhere.

Shikamaru decided it was time to start thinking. He would assume that Naruto had made a rational decision about the kits. “Why did Naruto suddenly decide he couldn’t raise the kits and the babies at the same time?” he asked.

Iruka coloured, Kurenai looked down and Kiba made a noise something like a grumble.

Kakashi scowled at them. “Out with it,” he demanded.


Ten minutes later they had a hypothesis of what was happening in Naruto’s head. Shikamaru crept into Sasuke and Naruto’s room. Sasuke was sitting on the floor with his back to the door to the nursery. He looked at Shikamaru with mute despair.

Shikamaru handed him the two cards.

Sasuke read the first and looked at him in incomprehension. Shikamaru mouthed at him, “Try it.”

“Naruto, sweetheart, we’ll forget the new nursery. Tiny babies and kits don’t need a big room with lots of equipment.” Sasuke started improvising. “How long do you think it would take you to build a den in there? What would you need? We could go to the market together and look around.”

Shikamaru signalled that he should look at the second card. Sasuke read it and scowled. Shikamaru could see that he was angry. He took a deep breath.

“As for this nonsense about the kits being a danger to the babies, it is just that, nonsense. They need to be raised together, so they understand each other. They will be littermates. One litter. Eight brothers and their sister. Like we are one family, hybrid and purebred together. Like you and me.”

There was the sound of the locking mechanism being activated. Sasuke handed the cards to Shikamaru, who scuttled away.


Kiba had crept away from the others when Shikamaru had taken the cards to Sasuke. He sat in the kits’ nursery, looking at the shells, wondering what would happen. Would Naruto stick to his decision and put the kits into stasis? If he did, would Sasuke throw Kiba out? Even if they decided to proceed with the decanting, would Sasuke want Kiba to stay? It was definitely his fault that Naruto was so upset.

The door between the nurseries unlocked and started to open. Kiba was on his feet and moving towards his room.

“Kiba-san, please wait,” Sasuke-sama said to him.

Kiba reluctantly stopped and turned. He knew they were both there. He could smell them and hear them. He could not bring himself to look at them.

“We want to thank you,” Sasuke-sama continued, “for everything you have done for us. For looking after the kits since they were conceived. For helping us rescue them from Orochimaru and Kabuto. Especially for saving Kazuki.”

Kiba’s heart thudded. They were going to tell him to leave. Where would he go? What would he do? His eyes went to the nearest of the shells. He had never been as close to any of the hybrids he had raised. He did not know if he could bear to be parted from them.

“Kiba?” Naruto queried.

“Please let me stay,” Kiba hear himself say. “I will be obedient. I will do only what I am told.”

Naruto whimpered.

“Kiba-san, looked at me,” Sasuke ordered.

Kiba obeyed. Sasuke-sama did not look angry.

“You are one of our family,” Sasuke told him. “Rough or smooth, easy or hard, you are stuck with us for the rest of your life. Now you and Naruto are going to get the kits out of their shells and spend as much time as you need making sure they are settled. Then Naruto is going to bring you to my office and the three of us are going to have tea and talk about how we ended up in this mess.”


Sasuke squeezed Naruto’s hand. He had planned on staying with Naruto while he deshelled the gestators but it was obvious that Kiba was in almost as bad a state as Naruto had been. Naruto gave a small smile of agreement so Sasuke kissed him and left.

Next he checked the kitchen and discovered, as he had expected, that Iruka was there. Kurenai was still with him.

“I apologise, Iruka-sensei, Kurenai-san,” Sasuke told them. “I have been ignoring my responsibilities as a partner and a parent. If I had been paying a fraction of the proper attention I would have realised that Naruto was unhappy.”

He took a deep breath. “Kiba-san is mistaken in thinking the kits will be a danger to the babies. That will only happen if we raise them apart. If we raise them together they will accept each other. There may be a few nips, Haru may pull Kazuki’s tail, but we will teach them not to hurt each other. There will be no more talk of separating them. I apologise if this means reversing some of the work that has been done on the nursery.”

Iruka smiled. “Sasu-kun, we are not experts on raising a large mixed litter, so we are bound to make mistakes. Kurenai-san and I were discussing what a relief it would be to put the large nursery on hold until have a better idea what is required. The idea of a small nursery for when they are tiny is very practical.”

“We can collect together everything we have so far for the care of small infants,” Kurenai suggested. “Naruto can look it over and decide if any of it would be of use to him. For example, he will need the milk synthesiser.”

“Thank you,” Sasuke acknowledged. He bowed. “Please excuse me, I must go to my office now. Naruto and Kiba are meeting me there.”


When he arrived at the office he set the display frame to the picture of Naruto, placed a tablet on the low table between the chairs and prepared the tea tray. Then he worked at the desk until they arrived.


“Kiba-san,” he acknowledged as soon as they arrived. “I have something to show you.” He gestured at the pin board on which Keitaro’s painting was displayed. “I have this ready for their offerings, and these shelves for when they make things.”

He pulled what looked like a large book from a row of nine on one of the shelves. “I looked through all the products they sell to wide-eyed new parents; there are a lot. I chose these.”

He opened the book and showed it to Kiba. “There is a small tablet, and blank pages and a display frame.” He pressed the edge of the display frame and one of the latest holovids of Kazuki appeared; one that clearly showed his tail and his foxy ears. He closed the book and turned it, so that Kiba could read Kazuki’s name on the spine. “Luckily they realise that people are going to buy the album before they have a name, so there is a gadget for adding the names later.” He gestured at the other eight books. Three were named, the others were blank. He replaced the book on the shelf. “Our litter of nine. My eight sons and my one daughter.”


Kiba studied the row of nine albums. He then looked down the office to the picture of Naruto on the wall. He turned his attention back to Sasuke-sama and examined his expression. He really did think of Naruto as his life partner. In his mind the kits were his children. He truly did believe that hybrids and purebreds were of equal value; he was more convinced of it than even Naruto.

“They will be lovely once they are filled, Sasuke-sama,” he observed.

Sasuke smiled at him. Kiba had only ever seen Sasuke-sama smile at Naruto. He felt privileged.

“Yes, they will be,” Sasuke agreed. “Please sit down, have some tea and the three of us will talk.”


As Sasuke had expected, most of the damage had already been resolved. The new nursery would be abandoned. Starting the next morning, Kiba and Naruto would work out a scheme for a single, smaller nursery within the crew room. Babies and kits, as far as possible, would be treated the same. Kiba would no longer only care for the kits, he would also help look after the babies.


They lingered in the office after Kiba had left. Naruto sat in Sasuke’s lap, his long legs draped over the arm of the chair and his chin resting on Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” he whispered, his breath and his whiskers tickling Sasuke’s neck and ear.

“Too little, too late,” Sasuke replied. “I have been ignoring you, sweetheart. I am sorry.”

“You have been busy,” Naruto insisted.

“You and the children must come first. I shall delegate more. The Therapist from Centre is due the day after tomorrow. Hopefully he will give Itachi the all clear. I am also going to talk to Tsunade. We need Jiraiya back full time; his experience is invaluable.” Sasuke sighed. “There I go again, talking about Uchiha when I should be concentrating on you.”

Naruto sat up and looked at him. “We are both trying to make sure things will work when the children are born. It is not our fault that there is too little time.”

Sasuke was about to insist on taking the blame when there was a loud knock on the door. Naruto slid off his lap and went to open it. It was Kakashi.

“You two,” he announced, “are coming with me.”


They went through the household and into the guest quarters. Kakashi stopped outside one of the apartments and opened the door.

“No coming back until tomorrow,” he told them. “No worrying about babies or kits or nurseries or contracts or projects or missions. If any of us get the slightest hint you have been worrying we will take it as a personal affront.” He gave Sasuke a small push to start him moving over the threshold. He then looked at Naruto. “I hope you are not having any thoughts about arguing. I can always send for Kisame.”

Naruto smiled. “I would not dream of it, Kakashi-sensei,” he replied and stepped inside.

Kakashi closed the door behind them.


The apartment consisted of a bedroom, a bathroom, a sitting room and a small kitchen. A display frame showing the picture of Naruto was on the wall of the sitting room. In the centre of the room was a low table set for dining with a note from Iruka explaining that the food was in the kitchen. Sasuke’s biwa was on a side table.

Someone had raided their room. Naruto’s favourite cover was on the bed. On the table by the bed was bottle of lube, towels and a card with one word, ‘Enjoy’, in Shikamaru’s handwriting.

The picture that Klennethon Darrent had given them was on the wall.


Naruto closed on Sasuke from behind, hugged him and nuzzled his hair. “I love it when you look like that,” he admitted.

Sasuke looked at the picture and flushed. Did he really look like that? He felt rather than heard a small growl in Naruto’s chest. Usually it was the signal for Sasuke to pull away so that Naruto had a chance to calm down.

Instead he pushed back against Naruto’s body.

The growl intensified. Naruto nuzzled the side of his neck. Lips, teeth and tongue played across his pulse point and then down, under the edge of his shirt and onto his shoulder.

Sasuke turned within Naruto’s arms. He kissed the side of Naruto’s neck, marvelling, as always, at his smell and the texture of his skin. Then he brought his lips to Naruto’s ear.

“Fuck me, Naruto,” he whispered.


They were instantly in Naruto’s world, moving at Naruto’s speed. Sasuke was on the bed. He was naked. Naruto was beside the bed, also naked.

Naruto threw his head back and howled; once, twice and then a third time.

That was more than the usual amount of howling. Sasuke looked up at him with consternation.

Naruto looked at him and then howled again.

Sasuke was stunned. He had thought growling-possessive-Naruto incapable of moderating his behaviour. He had been wrong all this time. Of course Naruto did not lose control: he only used a fraction of his massive strength; he slowed his movements enough for Sasuke’s mind to process what was happening; now he was howling to vent some of his urgency to possess.

Naruto continued to howl.

Sasuke leapt to action. He folded back the bedcover, spread out a towel, moved the lube so that it would be within easy reach and made himself comfortable on the bed.

Naruto jumped, landed on all fours over him and then knelt between Sasuke’s legs. He dipped down and licked Sasuke from his hipbone, across the ticklish hollow below his ribs and up to his chest before fastening on a nipple.

Sasuke relished each small radiating jolt of pleasure as Naruto nibbled and sucked first one nipple and then the other before moving on to his neck.

He closed his eyes, ran his hands over the velvet skin of Naruto’s back and buried his nose in the silken sunshine of his fur.

Meanwhile Naruto’s fingertips were ghosting up the inside of his thigh and across his hole. A hand claimed his prick and Naruto growled his appreciation at finding him already erect.


Then mouth and hands and fur and skin were gone. Sasuke whimpered at the loss and opened his eyes.

Naruto was kneeling up holding his hands out.

Sasuke grabbed the lube and squirted a generous amount into Naruto’s palms.


Then mouth and hands and fur and skin were back. Naruto’s curved, slender prick was against his erection. Naruto had his left hand wrapped around them both, stroking. His right hand snaked under Sasuke’s left knee, lifting his leg and Sasuke felt lube-covered fingers at his hole. Naruto’s mouth continued its assault on his neck.

Sasuke rode a wave of sensation: lips and teeth at his neck; the tickle of Naruto’s whiskers; the huff of breath in his ear; Naruto’s skin moving across his body; the delight of Naruto’s erection against his own; the feel of his fur; a long finger breaching his hole and knowing exactly where to go; his smell of his Beloved.

Change: Naruto’s lips kissed his own and the finger was withdrawn to be replaced by the tip of Naruto’s erection.

Sasuke forgot to kiss back. Naruto never fucked him face to face. Sometime Sasuke rode him, but only until Naruto took over. Sasuke had accepted it as part of Naruto’s foxiness.

Naruto smiled as he pushed in.

Sasuke understood. This was the purpose of all the howling. Naruto wanted to watch Sasuke’s face as he fucked him.


Then Naruto’s prick began changing shape, brushed over his prostate and Sasuke stopped thinking.


Naruto had wanted this ever since he had seen the picture; to see Sasuke’s face as he fucked him, to watch him climax with Naruto’s prick inside him.

He fought the urge to flip Sasuke about and take him as a mate should be taken. This was better. Seeing Sasuke’s face was better.

Watching him come was best.

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