In the cold of space you find the heat of suns
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
91
Views:
3,798
Reviews:
636
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
91
Views:
3,798
Reviews:
636
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Disclaimer:
This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.
Gifts and givers
Thank you for the reviews. They inspire me to continue this story.
This is the third update of this week. If you check for updates weekly, you may like to make sure you have read them all.
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.
89. Gifts and givers
They had decided to hold the gift-giving in the kitchen rather than the hall. The table was fully extended. Choza, the cats and Sumaru were hard at work preparing platters of tasties.
Iruka sat at the table. Usually he would have left Choza in charge but Tsunade had sent Moegi to assist and Iruka had feared that Tayuya would scratch her eyes out. As it transpired, Moegi was in much greater danger from Konohamaru than Tayuya; Moegi made no secret of her attraction to Inari.
Iruka watched Konohamaru staking his claim, Moegi flirting and Inari managing the situation with considerable grace.
Tayuya delivered another platter and smiled at him. He beckoned her over and pushed a lock of hair from her eyes. He knew that she was terrified that everything would change when the babies were decanted. Iruka did not blame her. It had been bad enough when it was triplets; they had to be insane to be raising nine infants simultaneously.
“I’ll organise the baskets,” Tayuya told him and distributed the nine baskets along one of the side counters to receive the children’s presents. Eight had white ribbons, three of which were named. One had a pale green ribbon marked ‘Hoshi’. Tayuya had insisted on doing it that way in case people had decided to give different presents for the girl or for Kazuki, because he had a tail. “I wish they all had names,” Tayuya confided.
Iruka agreed, but he knew that Naruto wanted to wait so he said nothing.
Kiba was happy. The gift-giving was going well. There had been a crisis at the beginning when Gaara had passed out, but he was now sitting some way down the kitchen, supplied with food, drink and information by Lee and occasional others. The baskets were filling with small toys and other items while larger ones, to be shared, stood along the counter.
It felt right. Kiba knew it was something to do with pack. It did not matter that many of the gifts were of little use or even inappropriate.
In a day’s time the crazy adventure of raising kits and babies as one mixed litter would begin. It would include dressing kits in sleep suits and expecting babies to suckle from one of nine teats.
It was Naruto’s dream that Sasuke was determined to make real.
And Kiba was going to help them.
Konohamaru stopped himself manoeuvring to be between Moegi and Inari. It was not Moegi. It was what she represented; Inari preferred women to men.
Maybe it had been better when they were just friends.
He watched Naruto opening the gift from the four of them; the three cats and Sumaru. It was a large basket of things for the bathroom. Naruto’s gaze sought each of them out in turn. He smiled and thanked them.
Konohamaru sighed. Surely he would not find Naruto so gorgeous if he loved Inari.
He wondered if the kits would be like him in character as well as looks.
Maybe, in sixteen standards’ time, one of them would allow Konohamaru to love him.
Shikamaru watched Naruto’s apprehension change to delight as he realised that the mobile played fox-friendly tunes.
He moved away from the table, using the excuse of topping up his cup. He walked along the row of baskets and paused between two named Hikaru and Haru. Only Sasuke and Rin knew which of the babies had Shikamaru’s chromosomes. Shikamaru wondered if it would be obvious. He doubted it; part of being a full blood Uchiha was looking like an Uchiha.
He was glad that Haru or Hikaru would have many brothers and a sister. Shikamaru had been an only child. On his home planet people saved first for age retard and second for a licence to raise a child.
In Shikamaru’s family, children had been as rare as they were precious.
Jiraiya slipped the ragdoll into the basket with the green ribbon.
Neji found himself comparing this day to the one before the birth of his sister.
They had been hiding in a hovel on a backwater planet. His mother had gone into labour. His grandmother had been out, working long hours to buy food. There had been no one to go to, no help to be had.
The terrified boy had thought his mother and the baby were dying. He had blamed himself. He had wanted the baby gone. He had wanted to go home.
Then his grandmother had arrived and, as always, made it better.
He thought of Hinata; of what she had said to him and to Shikamaru.
She reminded him of their grandmother.
Haku watched Naruto open the box of sleepsuits. There were twenty-seven of them, three for each baby.
He, Kisame and Itachi had sneaked into the old household, looking for a machine that Itachi remembered, one that embroidered the Uchiha crest onto clothes.
It was now safely installed in the closet. Haku had used it to embroider Uchiha crests on each of the sleepsuits, a small one on the breast and a larger one on the back.
Naruto was holding up the smallest sleepsuit, showing Sasuke the hole for Kazuki’s tail.
Secretly, Haku knew a great deal about babies. You did when your mother popped them out once a standard because she was brainwashed, like all the other women in the colony, into thinking it was her religious duty. Haku was the third eldest in a family where the seven oldest children were boys; his mother’s desperation had outweighed their society’s insistence on gender-specific behaviour.
Haku had been well suited to his role of substitute daughter.
Then the slavers had arrived.
The colony had grown a wonderful crop of children and adolescents for them to harvest.
Gaara sat at the other end of the kitchen watching Naruto’s family; Kiba’s pack.
He sighed. Kimimaro was not coming back. According to Dan, with whom Gaara sometimes conversed, Kimimaro had been a ‘crush’. A ‘crush’ was someone you were attracted to but who did not reciprocate your feelings. People who felt ‘crushes’ were usually younger than Gaara but Gaara’s isolation had made him a ‘late developer’.
Perhaps, as Dan had suggested, it was too early for Gaara to be looking for a mate. Dan said that as a ‘late developer’ Gaara required more time. He had advised Gaara to make more friends.
Kiba was his littermate. Naruto and Lee were his friends. Kisame and Dan were acquaintances with whom he had occasional friendly conversations.
Gaara studied Kiba’s pack. He was making a list of people with whom to make friends.
Kisame was utterly content. He had Itachi and Haku. He had rediscovered friendships that he had thought lost forever. He was accepted as a member of Sasuke and Naruto’s strange extended family. Every day was a good day.
Inari was relieved that Konohamaru had settled. Kono-kun was watching Naruto. It was as if the familiar sensation of wanting Naruto steadied him.
It had been a challenging morning. Inari was thankful that he did not find Moegi attractive. If he had, he would have probably responded to her flirting and the situation would have escalated out of control.
He sighed. Once they were alone Konohamaru would insist on analysing every twist and turn of the day. They would end up fighting or fucking, Inari could not predict which.
He preferred friendship to either.
Shino exchanged satisfied glances with Izumo when Sasuke opened the envelope and read out their promise to build the children a garden.
He put his arm around Anko’s waist and gave her a small hug. One day, not soon, it would be them sitting at the table opening presents the day before their child was born.
He had been sure enough to take her home. His family had accepted her; some of them, including his mother and father, liked her. Anko now had a better idea of who Shino was and why.
He checked his pocket for his great grandfather’s love ring to his great grandmother.
Perhaps tonight.
Anko thanked the Lady for gestators. Otherwise she could see a bloated abdomen, huge tits and much pain in her future. Staying with Shino would mean children; she had known that even before she had gone to Dar and met his family.
At least he would not hesitate to be the main carer. And they would take the civilised approach: few children, as singletons, well separated.
Nine: Sasuke and Naruto were utterly crazy. Even with Kiba, Iruka and the rest of the crew to assist, it was madness.
She had gone with Tenten, Shizune and Suzume to the market. They had been looking for a present for the babies or for Naruto. Anko had found herself looking at rings.
True, Shino might wait another decade before deciding the time was right to give her a love ring. There was a very good chance he would wait until he and Izumo had finished the garden.
Whenever, she would be ready.
Izumo squeezed Kotetsu’s hand. In under two divs it would be the day before Ayame’s birth.
One day he would find a way of thanking Inari. Without Inari, Sasuke-sama would never have known what to offer them and Izumo’s caution would have triumphed. They would still be living in the poky little apartment on Wave IV trying to save enough credit to buy an egg and arguing about adopting.
Life sworn to Uchiha was vastly better. They had a lovely apartment on the Oak and their apartment here in the household would be as nice once Izumo had spent more time on it. They had plans to renovate and reopen the Uchiha private dock and establish a small shipyard. Shino was keen to help him with the garden.
Kotetsu was happy and that made Izumo happy.
They were having a baby.
Kotetsu was visualising the minigate automatic alignment system he had designed and was now building for Shikamaru. It would mean that the minigates would position themselves across the hole and there would be no need for them to be installed by Gaters.
His hand was being squeezed. Izumo wanted his attention. He tidied away his thoughts, turned to his lover and smiled.
Izumo was looking at the little garments Haku had made for Naruto’s babies. Kotetsu knew he was thinking of Ayame.
Thinking about Ayame was better than thinking about minigate alignment systems. It was even better than thinking about drives.
He squeezed back.
Choza was pleased. Every time anyone popped a tasty in his or her mouth and enjoyed it he felt a small burst of pride. Being Cook was the best.
If Sasuke-sama had wanted him to continue as a fighter, Choza would have done so. Even though it was so hard for him to maintain the necessary level of fitness. Even though he hated hitting people. If that had been what Sasuke-sama had wanted, Choza would have done it.
Instead Sasuke-sama had given him the best job in known space. He was cooking for people he cared about. He got to spend a goodly portion of each day in the kitchen or the galley, at the centre of the family.
Then he saw Inoichi smirking at him. Choza’s euphoria dissolved into anxiety. He took the nearest tasty and popped it into his mouth.
Haku was busy with Itachi and Kisame. He made time for Tatsuji and Kunugi because they were so needy but Inoichi was on short rations.
So Choza should not have been surprised when Inoichi had turned up in his room wanting a fuck.
He reached for another tasty.
Inoichi and Choza did not work. They had never worked. They had tried it often enough that Choza knew that it had no chance of working.
Of course that depended on one’s definition of work. Inoichi had got his fuck. Maybe, for Inoichi, that was enough.
Choza ate two tasties in quick succession and sighed.
Asuma hugged Kurenai and Keitaro as Akemi and Misora dragged their present in from the fighters’ crew room. Naruto was on his feet immediately so that he could sit in the rocking chair and pronounce it perfect.
Then it was back to watching Choza gobbling the leftover tasties. It was a very bad sign. Choza had been happy since Sasuke had made him Cook. On a day like this Asuma would have expected him to be in his own personal version of heaven.
Experience made him look to Inoichi.
Yes, that smug contentment was compatible with having fucked your friend with a complete disregard for that friend’s feelings.
Asuma sighed. They had not been around this circle for a long time. It was not one he had any wish to revisit. The urge to hit Inoichi was very strong.
Not that it would do any good.
His eye drifted to Kiba. Asuma found himself thinking of the number of times he had come across Kiba sitting in the kitchen while Choza cooked.
It was a thought.
Kakashi relished Naruto’s delight as he opened each gift and the look on Sasuke’s face as he watched his lover.
He thought about the gift he and Iruka had arranged for them. Even thinking about it was worth the effort that had gone into keeping the secret.
Tayuya watched Moegi out of the corner of her eye. She might not want Inari but that did not mean that a girl from another crew could have him. At least Kono-kun seemed to have recovered; he had stopped hovering around Inari and was making puppy-eyes at Naruto instead.
She understood Konohamaru better now. Tayuya had not been able to get Itachi-san out of her head. She had fantasised about them being together, of him professing his undying love for her and even of them having children together. It had been very un-Tayuya-like and she was glad that it was over.
She checked that Iruka-sensei’s attention was elsewhere and kicked Sumaru. He kicked back. Neither of them kicked hard.
Sumaru was studying Lee when Tayuya kicked him. He kicked back out of habit, then resumed his observation.
He was not comfortable with Lee and Kimimaro being hosts for the symbiote. They did not understand the traditions. They did not follow the rituals. They had not proved themselves worthy.
He would have been happier if they had died but he understood that Rin-san had been obliged to save them.
Now Kimimaro had gone and Lee was still here. Sumaru was not sure which was worse.
Lee did not look like a warrior. However, appearances were irrelevant. Sumaru would give Lee a chance. He would teach Lee about the traditions and the rituals.
He would give him the opportunity to prove himself worthy.
Lee was excited at being invited to the gift-giving.
He had no idea of what it would be like, no idea what would be expected of him and no idea what to bring. Such details did not worry Lee. He approached every day, every opportunity, full of hope and with an open mind.
Gaara had been worried about what gifts to bring, so Lee suggested that he ask Kiba. Kiba had considered and then suggested crockery and cutlery suitable for very small children.
Lee had helped Gaara choose nine decorated bowls and a matching spoon for each. Gaara had insisted on saying that they were from Lee as well as him.
It was nice of him, particularly as Lee had no credit to buy gifts.
Lee tried to like everyone. Some people, like Kimimaro and Jirobo, made that difficult. The crew of the Oak and Gaara made it easy.
One day he would pay them back for everything they were doing for him.
Ibiki had been relieved to be informed about the gift-giving rather than invited. It had confirmed that Iruka still saw him as crew, even if he was spacing with others.
He missed them. They had changed. Sasuke had grown even more into his role as leader. Naruto’s complexity, which had always been well hidden, was showing on the surface as he struggled to be warrior, lover and parent. Shikamaru’s relationship with Neji appeared more balanced.
Iruka was the same. Kakashi appeared to fit into his role as Sasuke’s second but occasionally gave the impression he was uncomfortable within it. Konohamaru was at that stage when he was trying to work out who he was.
Rin was happy with Dan.
Haku was Haku. Ibiki was delighted by his decision that this Itachi was not that Itachi. It was a perfectly Haku solution to an intractable problem.
Shino had Anko; they had something he and Suzume did not.
Maybe it was time to come home.
Itachi had struggled to think of an appropriate gift. He knew that it should reflect Sasuke’s determination to see all nine babies as his children.
He had selected the display frame because there had been one on Mikoto-san’s desk. It had shown a different image of Sasuke for every day of the div. The frame he had chosen had nine windows rather than one.
Then he had decided to buy a second one, for Naruto.
After he had opened Itachi’s gift, Sasuke left his position at Naruto’s side, came over and hugged him.
Uchihas did not hug. Even Sasuke, new Uchiha, did not hug unless the person being hugged was Naruto.
Itachi barely managed to recover enough to hug back.
He knew what the hug meant. Even though he was no longer Uchiha, despite the horrific acts he had done, Sasuke still saw and claimed him as his brother.
They sat side by side on the bed in their room surrounded by gifts. Spread out on Naruto’s thigh was one of the sleepsuits Haku had made for Kazuki.
They both looked at it. It looked very small against Naruto’s thigh.
Tomorrow it would contain a kit.
“I have a gift for you,” Sasuke announced and pulled a box from under the bed.
Naruto was torn between delight at being given another present and guilt. “I haven’t got you one,” he admitted.
Sasuke kissed him gently on the lips. “I have you, what other gift could I possibly need?” he replied.
Naruto opened the box and lifted out what looked like a vest with many baggy pockets on the front. At the centre front of each pocket was a hole.
“The company that makes the automated feeder produce these bags with teats for when you have to handfeed an...” Sasuke began only to have all the breath squeezed out of him by Naruto’s hug.
Then they turned to the task of finding places for all the gifts. They settled on a position for the rocking chair in the nursery. Sasuke rode Naruto’s shoulders to hang the mobile from the ceiling. The sleepsuits were divided into three piles and placed on a shelf next to the diapers. The equipment, like the anklets and the scanner, were stored in drawers.
They hung each of the baskets, as planned, from hooks on the wall and filled the toy chest beneath.
Back in their room they sorted the remainder of the gifts. Sasuke made a small pile, including the display frame, to take to his office. Naruto looked about the room, undecided where his should go.
His gaze halted on the picture of them together. Naruto had decided that, on balance, he was glad that the artist had made it. The picture of Sasuke was beautiful and, as Sasuke had pointed out, Klennethon Darrent had given them the original; it was on their wall rather than his.
Meanwhile Sasuke sorted through the large basket that the cats and Sumaru had given them. He picked out the things that would work in their shower and then arranged the others on the shelf beside the door where they could be picked up on the way to the bathroom.
He picked up the things for the shower and asked Naruto to open the door.
Naruto slid open the door and yelped. Sasuke dropped what he had been carrying. Instead of their shower there was a bathroom.
Naruto bounced inside and grabbed the small, white card. “It’s from Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei,” he announced. He rushed over and looked into the bath. “It’s already full and heated.” He looked about. “Look, a shower. And blowers. And it’s all waterproof.” He pointed at the drain in the middle of the floor and then at the ceiling and the walls. “We can make as much mess as we want.”
Sasuke’s overwhelming reaction was relief; there would be no more worrying about either getting stuck on Naruto’s knot or having him go so fluffy-soft that it was impossible to get him to walk.
It was a wonderful gift.
This is the third update of this week. If you check for updates weekly, you may like to make sure you have read them all.
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.
89. Gifts and givers
They had decided to hold the gift-giving in the kitchen rather than the hall. The table was fully extended. Choza, the cats and Sumaru were hard at work preparing platters of tasties.
Iruka sat at the table. Usually he would have left Choza in charge but Tsunade had sent Moegi to assist and Iruka had feared that Tayuya would scratch her eyes out. As it transpired, Moegi was in much greater danger from Konohamaru than Tayuya; Moegi made no secret of her attraction to Inari.
Iruka watched Konohamaru staking his claim, Moegi flirting and Inari managing the situation with considerable grace.
Tayuya delivered another platter and smiled at him. He beckoned her over and pushed a lock of hair from her eyes. He knew that she was terrified that everything would change when the babies were decanted. Iruka did not blame her. It had been bad enough when it was triplets; they had to be insane to be raising nine infants simultaneously.
“I’ll organise the baskets,” Tayuya told him and distributed the nine baskets along one of the side counters to receive the children’s presents. Eight had white ribbons, three of which were named. One had a pale green ribbon marked ‘Hoshi’. Tayuya had insisted on doing it that way in case people had decided to give different presents for the girl or for Kazuki, because he had a tail. “I wish they all had names,” Tayuya confided.
Iruka agreed, but he knew that Naruto wanted to wait so he said nothing.
Kiba was happy. The gift-giving was going well. There had been a crisis at the beginning when Gaara had passed out, but he was now sitting some way down the kitchen, supplied with food, drink and information by Lee and occasional others. The baskets were filling with small toys and other items while larger ones, to be shared, stood along the counter.
It felt right. Kiba knew it was something to do with pack. It did not matter that many of the gifts were of little use or even inappropriate.
In a day’s time the crazy adventure of raising kits and babies as one mixed litter would begin. It would include dressing kits in sleep suits and expecting babies to suckle from one of nine teats.
It was Naruto’s dream that Sasuke was determined to make real.
And Kiba was going to help them.
Konohamaru stopped himself manoeuvring to be between Moegi and Inari. It was not Moegi. It was what she represented; Inari preferred women to men.
Maybe it had been better when they were just friends.
He watched Naruto opening the gift from the four of them; the three cats and Sumaru. It was a large basket of things for the bathroom. Naruto’s gaze sought each of them out in turn. He smiled and thanked them.
Konohamaru sighed. Surely he would not find Naruto so gorgeous if he loved Inari.
He wondered if the kits would be like him in character as well as looks.
Maybe, in sixteen standards’ time, one of them would allow Konohamaru to love him.
Shikamaru watched Naruto’s apprehension change to delight as he realised that the mobile played fox-friendly tunes.
He moved away from the table, using the excuse of topping up his cup. He walked along the row of baskets and paused between two named Hikaru and Haru. Only Sasuke and Rin knew which of the babies had Shikamaru’s chromosomes. Shikamaru wondered if it would be obvious. He doubted it; part of being a full blood Uchiha was looking like an Uchiha.
He was glad that Haru or Hikaru would have many brothers and a sister. Shikamaru had been an only child. On his home planet people saved first for age retard and second for a licence to raise a child.
In Shikamaru’s family, children had been as rare as they were precious.
Jiraiya slipped the ragdoll into the basket with the green ribbon.
Neji found himself comparing this day to the one before the birth of his sister.
They had been hiding in a hovel on a backwater planet. His mother had gone into labour. His grandmother had been out, working long hours to buy food. There had been no one to go to, no help to be had.
The terrified boy had thought his mother and the baby were dying. He had blamed himself. He had wanted the baby gone. He had wanted to go home.
Then his grandmother had arrived and, as always, made it better.
He thought of Hinata; of what she had said to him and to Shikamaru.
She reminded him of their grandmother.
Haku watched Naruto open the box of sleepsuits. There were twenty-seven of them, three for each baby.
He, Kisame and Itachi had sneaked into the old household, looking for a machine that Itachi remembered, one that embroidered the Uchiha crest onto clothes.
It was now safely installed in the closet. Haku had used it to embroider Uchiha crests on each of the sleepsuits, a small one on the breast and a larger one on the back.
Naruto was holding up the smallest sleepsuit, showing Sasuke the hole for Kazuki’s tail.
Secretly, Haku knew a great deal about babies. You did when your mother popped them out once a standard because she was brainwashed, like all the other women in the colony, into thinking it was her religious duty. Haku was the third eldest in a family where the seven oldest children were boys; his mother’s desperation had outweighed their society’s insistence on gender-specific behaviour.
Haku had been well suited to his role of substitute daughter.
Then the slavers had arrived.
The colony had grown a wonderful crop of children and adolescents for them to harvest.
Gaara sat at the other end of the kitchen watching Naruto’s family; Kiba’s pack.
He sighed. Kimimaro was not coming back. According to Dan, with whom Gaara sometimes conversed, Kimimaro had been a ‘crush’. A ‘crush’ was someone you were attracted to but who did not reciprocate your feelings. People who felt ‘crushes’ were usually younger than Gaara but Gaara’s isolation had made him a ‘late developer’.
Perhaps, as Dan had suggested, it was too early for Gaara to be looking for a mate. Dan said that as a ‘late developer’ Gaara required more time. He had advised Gaara to make more friends.
Kiba was his littermate. Naruto and Lee were his friends. Kisame and Dan were acquaintances with whom he had occasional friendly conversations.
Gaara studied Kiba’s pack. He was making a list of people with whom to make friends.
Kisame was utterly content. He had Itachi and Haku. He had rediscovered friendships that he had thought lost forever. He was accepted as a member of Sasuke and Naruto’s strange extended family. Every day was a good day.
Inari was relieved that Konohamaru had settled. Kono-kun was watching Naruto. It was as if the familiar sensation of wanting Naruto steadied him.
It had been a challenging morning. Inari was thankful that he did not find Moegi attractive. If he had, he would have probably responded to her flirting and the situation would have escalated out of control.
He sighed. Once they were alone Konohamaru would insist on analysing every twist and turn of the day. They would end up fighting or fucking, Inari could not predict which.
He preferred friendship to either.
Shino exchanged satisfied glances with Izumo when Sasuke opened the envelope and read out their promise to build the children a garden.
He put his arm around Anko’s waist and gave her a small hug. One day, not soon, it would be them sitting at the table opening presents the day before their child was born.
He had been sure enough to take her home. His family had accepted her; some of them, including his mother and father, liked her. Anko now had a better idea of who Shino was and why.
He checked his pocket for his great grandfather’s love ring to his great grandmother.
Perhaps tonight.
Anko thanked the Lady for gestators. Otherwise she could see a bloated abdomen, huge tits and much pain in her future. Staying with Shino would mean children; she had known that even before she had gone to Dar and met his family.
At least he would not hesitate to be the main carer. And they would take the civilised approach: few children, as singletons, well separated.
Nine: Sasuke and Naruto were utterly crazy. Even with Kiba, Iruka and the rest of the crew to assist, it was madness.
She had gone with Tenten, Shizune and Suzume to the market. They had been looking for a present for the babies or for Naruto. Anko had found herself looking at rings.
True, Shino might wait another decade before deciding the time was right to give her a love ring. There was a very good chance he would wait until he and Izumo had finished the garden.
Whenever, she would be ready.
Izumo squeezed Kotetsu’s hand. In under two divs it would be the day before Ayame’s birth.
One day he would find a way of thanking Inari. Without Inari, Sasuke-sama would never have known what to offer them and Izumo’s caution would have triumphed. They would still be living in the poky little apartment on Wave IV trying to save enough credit to buy an egg and arguing about adopting.
Life sworn to Uchiha was vastly better. They had a lovely apartment on the Oak and their apartment here in the household would be as nice once Izumo had spent more time on it. They had plans to renovate and reopen the Uchiha private dock and establish a small shipyard. Shino was keen to help him with the garden.
Kotetsu was happy and that made Izumo happy.
They were having a baby.
Kotetsu was visualising the minigate automatic alignment system he had designed and was now building for Shikamaru. It would mean that the minigates would position themselves across the hole and there would be no need for them to be installed by Gaters.
His hand was being squeezed. Izumo wanted his attention. He tidied away his thoughts, turned to his lover and smiled.
Izumo was looking at the little garments Haku had made for Naruto’s babies. Kotetsu knew he was thinking of Ayame.
Thinking about Ayame was better than thinking about minigate alignment systems. It was even better than thinking about drives.
He squeezed back.
Choza was pleased. Every time anyone popped a tasty in his or her mouth and enjoyed it he felt a small burst of pride. Being Cook was the best.
If Sasuke-sama had wanted him to continue as a fighter, Choza would have done so. Even though it was so hard for him to maintain the necessary level of fitness. Even though he hated hitting people. If that had been what Sasuke-sama had wanted, Choza would have done it.
Instead Sasuke-sama had given him the best job in known space. He was cooking for people he cared about. He got to spend a goodly portion of each day in the kitchen or the galley, at the centre of the family.
Then he saw Inoichi smirking at him. Choza’s euphoria dissolved into anxiety. He took the nearest tasty and popped it into his mouth.
Haku was busy with Itachi and Kisame. He made time for Tatsuji and Kunugi because they were so needy but Inoichi was on short rations.
So Choza should not have been surprised when Inoichi had turned up in his room wanting a fuck.
He reached for another tasty.
Inoichi and Choza did not work. They had never worked. They had tried it often enough that Choza knew that it had no chance of working.
Of course that depended on one’s definition of work. Inoichi had got his fuck. Maybe, for Inoichi, that was enough.
Choza ate two tasties in quick succession and sighed.
Asuma hugged Kurenai and Keitaro as Akemi and Misora dragged their present in from the fighters’ crew room. Naruto was on his feet immediately so that he could sit in the rocking chair and pronounce it perfect.
Then it was back to watching Choza gobbling the leftover tasties. It was a very bad sign. Choza had been happy since Sasuke had made him Cook. On a day like this Asuma would have expected him to be in his own personal version of heaven.
Experience made him look to Inoichi.
Yes, that smug contentment was compatible with having fucked your friend with a complete disregard for that friend’s feelings.
Asuma sighed. They had not been around this circle for a long time. It was not one he had any wish to revisit. The urge to hit Inoichi was very strong.
Not that it would do any good.
His eye drifted to Kiba. Asuma found himself thinking of the number of times he had come across Kiba sitting in the kitchen while Choza cooked.
It was a thought.
Kakashi relished Naruto’s delight as he opened each gift and the look on Sasuke’s face as he watched his lover.
He thought about the gift he and Iruka had arranged for them. Even thinking about it was worth the effort that had gone into keeping the secret.
Tayuya watched Moegi out of the corner of her eye. She might not want Inari but that did not mean that a girl from another crew could have him. At least Kono-kun seemed to have recovered; he had stopped hovering around Inari and was making puppy-eyes at Naruto instead.
She understood Konohamaru better now. Tayuya had not been able to get Itachi-san out of her head. She had fantasised about them being together, of him professing his undying love for her and even of them having children together. It had been very un-Tayuya-like and she was glad that it was over.
She checked that Iruka-sensei’s attention was elsewhere and kicked Sumaru. He kicked back. Neither of them kicked hard.
Sumaru was studying Lee when Tayuya kicked him. He kicked back out of habit, then resumed his observation.
He was not comfortable with Lee and Kimimaro being hosts for the symbiote. They did not understand the traditions. They did not follow the rituals. They had not proved themselves worthy.
He would have been happier if they had died but he understood that Rin-san had been obliged to save them.
Now Kimimaro had gone and Lee was still here. Sumaru was not sure which was worse.
Lee did not look like a warrior. However, appearances were irrelevant. Sumaru would give Lee a chance. He would teach Lee about the traditions and the rituals.
He would give him the opportunity to prove himself worthy.
Lee was excited at being invited to the gift-giving.
He had no idea of what it would be like, no idea what would be expected of him and no idea what to bring. Such details did not worry Lee. He approached every day, every opportunity, full of hope and with an open mind.
Gaara had been worried about what gifts to bring, so Lee suggested that he ask Kiba. Kiba had considered and then suggested crockery and cutlery suitable for very small children.
Lee had helped Gaara choose nine decorated bowls and a matching spoon for each. Gaara had insisted on saying that they were from Lee as well as him.
It was nice of him, particularly as Lee had no credit to buy gifts.
Lee tried to like everyone. Some people, like Kimimaro and Jirobo, made that difficult. The crew of the Oak and Gaara made it easy.
One day he would pay them back for everything they were doing for him.
Ibiki had been relieved to be informed about the gift-giving rather than invited. It had confirmed that Iruka still saw him as crew, even if he was spacing with others.
He missed them. They had changed. Sasuke had grown even more into his role as leader. Naruto’s complexity, which had always been well hidden, was showing on the surface as he struggled to be warrior, lover and parent. Shikamaru’s relationship with Neji appeared more balanced.
Iruka was the same. Kakashi appeared to fit into his role as Sasuke’s second but occasionally gave the impression he was uncomfortable within it. Konohamaru was at that stage when he was trying to work out who he was.
Rin was happy with Dan.
Haku was Haku. Ibiki was delighted by his decision that this Itachi was not that Itachi. It was a perfectly Haku solution to an intractable problem.
Shino had Anko; they had something he and Suzume did not.
Maybe it was time to come home.
Itachi had struggled to think of an appropriate gift. He knew that it should reflect Sasuke’s determination to see all nine babies as his children.
He had selected the display frame because there had been one on Mikoto-san’s desk. It had shown a different image of Sasuke for every day of the div. The frame he had chosen had nine windows rather than one.
Then he had decided to buy a second one, for Naruto.
After he had opened Itachi’s gift, Sasuke left his position at Naruto’s side, came over and hugged him.
Uchihas did not hug. Even Sasuke, new Uchiha, did not hug unless the person being hugged was Naruto.
Itachi barely managed to recover enough to hug back.
He knew what the hug meant. Even though he was no longer Uchiha, despite the horrific acts he had done, Sasuke still saw and claimed him as his brother.
They sat side by side on the bed in their room surrounded by gifts. Spread out on Naruto’s thigh was one of the sleepsuits Haku had made for Kazuki.
They both looked at it. It looked very small against Naruto’s thigh.
Tomorrow it would contain a kit.
“I have a gift for you,” Sasuke announced and pulled a box from under the bed.
Naruto was torn between delight at being given another present and guilt. “I haven’t got you one,” he admitted.
Sasuke kissed him gently on the lips. “I have you, what other gift could I possibly need?” he replied.
Naruto opened the box and lifted out what looked like a vest with many baggy pockets on the front. At the centre front of each pocket was a hole.
“The company that makes the automated feeder produce these bags with teats for when you have to handfeed an...” Sasuke began only to have all the breath squeezed out of him by Naruto’s hug.
Then they turned to the task of finding places for all the gifts. They settled on a position for the rocking chair in the nursery. Sasuke rode Naruto’s shoulders to hang the mobile from the ceiling. The sleepsuits were divided into three piles and placed on a shelf next to the diapers. The equipment, like the anklets and the scanner, were stored in drawers.
They hung each of the baskets, as planned, from hooks on the wall and filled the toy chest beneath.
Back in their room they sorted the remainder of the gifts. Sasuke made a small pile, including the display frame, to take to his office. Naruto looked about the room, undecided where his should go.
His gaze halted on the picture of them together. Naruto had decided that, on balance, he was glad that the artist had made it. The picture of Sasuke was beautiful and, as Sasuke had pointed out, Klennethon Darrent had given them the original; it was on their wall rather than his.
Meanwhile Sasuke sorted through the large basket that the cats and Sumaru had given them. He picked out the things that would work in their shower and then arranged the others on the shelf beside the door where they could be picked up on the way to the bathroom.
He picked up the things for the shower and asked Naruto to open the door.
Naruto slid open the door and yelped. Sasuke dropped what he had been carrying. Instead of their shower there was a bathroom.
Naruto bounced inside and grabbed the small, white card. “It’s from Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei,” he announced. He rushed over and looked into the bath. “It’s already full and heated.” He looked about. “Look, a shower. And blowers. And it’s all waterproof.” He pointed at the drain in the middle of the floor and then at the ceiling and the walls. “We can make as much mess as we want.”
Sasuke’s overwhelming reaction was relief; there would be no more worrying about either getting stuck on Naruto’s knot or having him go so fluffy-soft that it was impossible to get him to walk.
It was a wonderful gift.