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 SunaoTsuji, Lixx, V-anon. Dark Catalest, Kat Saama, smauigirl, richon, satterb, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, Aflyingmonkey123, blugirlami21, v, sadie237 (twice, thanks), cynaga, YamanashiOchinashiIminashi, Midnight Essence, Prism0467 and unneeded who reviewed after I posted chapter 88.

Reviews are very important to me; they encourage me to keep writing.

I know that some readers like to know how I make big decisions, for example which characters end up injured or are killed. If you are one of those, I have posted in the forum at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/

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 eighty-nine: Shadows

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The explosion had pushed Kakashi into the emotionless, focused state that surviving Fugaku-kyou had required. He had moved towards the suit locker and opened it by the time the alarms started.

He hated being that person again, that Kakashi from so long ago, but at times like these it was useful.

Fugaku-kyou had always seen Kakashi as a leader and demanded sharp, incisive thinking. Had that been the first impact or the second? Was it a natural phenomenon or an attack? If it was an attack, was it a missile or a bomb?

Most importantly, was Sasuke safe? Kakashi had insisted that neither Sasuke’s office nor the small meeting room were near the skin of the station. Was he still in the small meeting room, or his office, or elsewhere?

Within his mind there was a disconnect between old-Uchiha-Kakashi and Kakashi. Kakashi had additional questions. He queried the location of Iruka’s meeting and whether someone in the playroom had restrained Ran before he could run.


There was another explosion as he was fastening his suit. Was someone intent on destroying the station? Or was the target specifically Uchiha? Who had the audacity and the resources to even attempt such a thing?

He checked the oxygen sensor on his upper arm; it was in the blue so he left the visor of his helmet open. He then activated the suit's radio receiver and jogged to the control room. On the way he passed Gai and Terai, also suited, running towards the docking bay. The siren had stopped, leaving only the red light flashing from the top corner of each room and the ceiling of every corridor. As expected, the voice of the watch commander came over the intercom. It was Asuma, which meant that he had been close enough to take over and send Gai to launch the Sakura.

The station was not under attack but the wall of the Uchiha compound had been breached; that implied bombs.

Kakashi ignored the request to report by intercom or radio; he would be in the control room long before people finished reporting. He held his breath. Convention suggested that Sasuke would report first.

Not that Sasuke was one for convention; had his blatant disregard of social conventions led to this?


Sasuke’s voice; Kakashi exhaled. He was in the playroom, which was also well away from the surface. Shikamaru was with him, which was a bonus.

Kakashi noted that Sasuke had listed Ran with the other children, which meant that, somehow, they had kept control of him when the alarms started. He began listening for news of Iruka. It did not come.

He met Asuma’s eye as he entered the control room; neither Kurenai nor Iruka were accounted for. Kakashi slid into the second seat and began collecting the information that was available.

Konan and Zetsu had reported in. If there had to be a missile or a bomb, why not them? Why Ir-chan?


Old-Uchiha-Kakashi concentrated on correlating the data. There were no ships. The station gunners had seen nothing. The missile detection systems were silent. It was looking like two, no three, bombs. Were there more?

There were two breaches, a large one centred over Shikaku and Yoshino’s apartment and a smaller one in the unoccupied section of the household. It looked like Kunugi was gone, he had been visiting C-san, and Jiraiya, who had been in his apartment with Tsunade.


Kakashi would sacrifice half the crew to have Iruka alive; anyone other than Sasuke. He hoped, prayed and begged Lady Luck that Iruka had not been in one of the outer rooms.


The third bomb appeared to have detonated on the outside of the dock damaging the doors but not breaching the surface. Would they be able to open the docking bay? They couldn’t risk blowing it open; the damaged outer surface might be fragile.

“This is Neji.”

Old-Uchiha-Kakashi was relieved; a Hyuga who was personally loyal to Sasuke would be, like Shikamaru, impossible to replace. Kakashi wished it was someone who had been with Iruka.

He was in the unoccupied section of the household, specifically corridor section B62. Kakashi zoomed in on the schematic; there were two rooms between the corridor and the skin of the station. For the air pressure in the corridor to be dropping either a safety system had failed, which was unlikely, or there was damage to the inner walls.

Neji was venting section B62 in order to gain access to B63. Old-Uchiha-Kakashi wanted to order him away; he was too precious to risk in a section where structural integrity had been compromised. Kakashi knew that such an order was highly unlikely to be obeyed.

He ordered the information he had and sent it to Asuma’s console. The big man’s face drained of colour but he pulled himself together and broadcast a summary for the crew.

Kakashi imagined Shikamaru hearing that his parents were unlikely to have survived. At least he was with Sasuke.


Asuma had barely finished speaking when there was a burst of static from their suit radios.

“This is Choza. Outside the station. I have a casualty. Losing air. Seconds count. Which airlock?”

So there were at least two survivors from Iruka’s meeting. Strangely, old-Uchiha-Kakashi did not choose Naruto as the most important survivor in the group, but Kiba instead. Kakashi desperately wanted it to be his Ir-chan.

Choza’s voice had been odd; strained as well as breathless. Kakashi deduced that he had used his implant and was suffering the after-effects.

Dan responded. He and Rin were on their way to airlock 4-32. Kakashi watched Asuma’s fingers stabbing at the interface, inputting the codes needed to isolate the section through which Rin and Dan were running and to vent the air so that he could open both inside and outside doors of the airlock.

“This is Rin. Choza, it would help to know the identity of the casualty and any information about the injuries.”

Kakashi held his breath.

“This is Choza. It is Naruto.”

Deep inside, Kakashi moaned; it was not Iruka.

He fell back on old-Uchiha-Kakashi’s focus. Naruto’s suit was sliced open and could not reseal. Choza had connected his air supply to Naruto’s, creating a situation where neither of them had sufficient air to reach the airlock. Old-Uchiha-Kakashi strongly disapproved. Choza should have disconnected his air supply from Naruto’s suit as soon as he realised the extent of the leak. It was a better decision to stay conscious. This way Choza would lose consciousness and miss the station.

Choza had always been too emotional; it hampered his judgement.

“Choza here. Kakashi, Iruka was suited.”

Gullible, kind, generous Choza; Kakashi activated his radio transmitter.

“Kakashi here. We hear you Cho-chan. Don’t talk now. Conserve your air.”

“Asuma here. Gai, can the Sakura assist? I repeat, can the Sakura assist?”

“Gai here. We cannot launch due to damage to the dock.”


They waited. Choza and Naruto were running out of air and they were probably going to miss the airlock but there was nothing he or Asuma could do to prevent it.

Kakashi pondered why his Uchiha-trained mind had selected Kiba over Naruto. Naruto was central to Sasuke’s well-being while Kiba, however effective, was merely the nursemaid. At some point old-Uchiha-Kakashi had stopped categorising Naruto as an asset, perhaps even decided that he was a liability. When? When Sasuke had served Udon tea? When he had taken in the Akatsuki renegades? Before that? When Sasuke had decided to lead the defence of the spacer quarter at the Warren? When Sumaru had grown up and become an alternative bodyguard?

Inside, Kakashi rejoiced that Iruka had survived long enough to get into a suit.


He resolved to concentrate on the present. Several indicator lights on his console were blinking. The indicator for airlock 4-32 was red, confirming that Asuma had got both doors open. The one for the airlock closest to the docking bay was yellow, showing that it was in use.

Maybe, just maybe, some of the fighters would make it outside in time to stop Choza and Naruto running out of air or missing the station.


If Iruka was suited, why couldn’t he detect a beacon?


Another light flashing; a transmission on another frequency. Kakashi tuned a secondary receiver to the incoming frequency. It was one of the USF team leaders, yammering about a short woman with orange hair who was definitely Uchiha and insisted on breaking the rules.

Kakashi realised that it was Moegi bringing medicos from the school. He told the man to shut up, develop some common sense and let them through.


“This is Hamaki. We have Choza and Naruto. Both are unconscious but their air supply is re-established.”

Old-Uchiha-Kakashi actually regretted missing an opportunity to dispose of Naruto while the rest of Kakashi recoiled in horror at the thought. Was he going crazy? Was Fugaku-kyou going to destroy him after all? What would happen if Iruka was dead? Would this harsh, uncompromising, old Uchiha version come to dominate?

It was ten minutes since the first alarms sounded. There appeared to be no more bombs. Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji were uninjured. The five full-blood Uchiha children were podded and safe. It was time for old-Uchiha-Kakashi to be put back in his cage but he refused to go.


Gradually news filtered in. Izumo was unconscious and injured in the workshop. Neji had located unidentified casualties in B64.

Kakashi was desperate that one of them would be Iruka. Kakashi glanced at Asuma; maybe one of them would be Kurenai. Then Neji named them; Haku and Kiba. Not Iruka. Not Kurenai.


There was the sound of approaching footsteps and Choza was in the doorway. He looked terrible. His face sagged with pain and his suit was covered in blood. There were tears running down his face.

He was looking at Asuma, not him. Kakashi knew what that meant. He made himself watch his oldest friend as he was told that the love of his life was not returning.

“I am sorry, Asuma,” Choza croaked. “There were six of us in the room. When the skin went only Naruto, Iruka and I were far enough into our suits. Kurenai, Ibiki and Suzume weren’t quick enough, even though Naruto gave them their suits first. We had only seconds and we would not have had those if Naruto had not reacted so quickly. I am so sorry.”

Asuma paled but buried any other reaction. “Thank you for telling me yourself, Cho-chan. I appreciate it. You should be in the infirmary. Has Dan given you a pain shot yet?”

Choza nodded.

“You should get Dan to check you over and then worry about Kiba. Do you know how he is?”

“No,” Choza admitted. “You know me, I don’t like infirmaries. They said he was stable. They’ve even managed to stabilise Naruto.” His face crumpled. “He’s in a bad way.”

Kakashi finally moved. He guided Choza from the room.

“Go to the infirmary. That’s an order. If one of the medicos gives you the all-clear, you could go to the kitchen and get some food going.”

“Infirmary, all-clear, kitchen,” Choza repeated and then looked at him with the saddest of eyes. “Is it true that we’ve lost Kunugi and Jiraiya?” he whispered.

There was no point in any ifs or maybes; Kakashi nodded.

“Only ten of us left now,” Choza observed. “Ten and Itachi-san.” Then he stood a little straighter. “And Sasuke-sama of course.”

Kakashi did not know what to say. He squeezed Choza’s arm through the bloodstained suit.


He watched Choza heading down the corridor in the correct direction before turning back into the room. Asuma was the picture of professionalism.

“I could take over,” Kakashi suggested.

Asuma did not look at him. “No,” he answered and began another series of checks.

They sat in silence. Gai was coordinating the search for Iruka, or his body. Even if he was alive, the chance of finding him in time without a beacon was low.


Then, with the clock at eighteen minutes, Konohamaru careered into the control room.

“Sasuke suggested trying to remotely activate Iruka-sensei’s beacon,” he gasped, sitting at the communications console and activating the broadcast functions.

It was a good idea but Kakashi did not think it could be done.

“Shikamaru here. Kono-kun, I have sent the necessary information to the main communications console.”

Konohamaru was looking at Asuma, his hand poised over a switch.

“Go for it, Konohamaru-san,” Asuma ordered.


Kakashi watched; numb. The signal Shikamaru was suggesting could interfere with ship and station systems so they sent all ships within range a warning and, in the first instance, only transmitted in directions that would miss the station.

“Yes!” Konohamaru declared less than a minute after the signal was first sent. He activated the radio transmitter. “Konohamaru here. We have a signal from a beacon travelling away from the station. Medicos with support have been dispatched.” He then turned to Asuma. “I was working with Itachi-san on a strategy for checking the surface for more explosives, Asuma-san. We are going to use remote controlled crawlers. Should I stay here or return to that?”

Asuma looked at Kakashi, who nodded his agreement; there was nothing happening that required someone on the communications console.

“You go, Konohamaru-san,” Asuma instructed. “Good work.”


There was little to do once Konohamaru left. Body parts had been retrieved; everyone but Iruka was accounted for. The casualty count was nine dead, four injured and one missing. Time would tell if Iruka was among the dead or the injured.


Someone, Kakashi recognised Sasuke’s footsteps, was walking towards the door. Then he was there, wonderfully safe, water to slake Uchiha-Kakashi’s thirst.

“Kakashi-san, please would you take command so that I could have a word with Asuma-san?” he asked.

Kakashi watched as Asuma reluctantly stood and moved so that Kakashi could replace him at the command console. Asuma obeyed Sasuke’s gesture and sat in the chair Kakashi had vacated.

“I am so sorry about Kurenai, Asuma-san,” Sasuke said. “Biwako-san chose not to pod Misora and Keitaro. They are in the playroom guarding the children. Perhaps you and Akemi could go there to be with them?”

Kakashi had forgotten Asuma’s children. How could he have done that?

“Is that an order, Sasuke-sama?” Asuma asked.

Sasuke glanced at him. He was asking Kakashi’s advice. Should he insist? Kakashi considered. Yes, if Asuma was thinking straight he would choose to be with his children; Kurenai’s children. He gave the slightest of nods.

“Yes, Asuma-san,” Sasuke replied. “Find Akemi and be with him, Misora and Keitaro.”

Asuma stood, bowed and left.

He looked old.


That left him and Sasuke alone. Kakashi found himself feeling guilty for old-Uchiha-Kakashi’s thoughts. Naruto meant the world to Sasuke; Kakashi knew that. Naruto was his light.

The type of light that kept old Uchiha in the shadows where it belonged. Light that Iruka had brought to Kakashi’s life.

If he spoke of Naruto, Sasuke would bring up Iruka. Kakashi did not want to talk about Iruka. He wanted to cling to his silent hope.

“Who is with Shikamaru?” he asked; it was the only distraction he could think of.

“Neji,” Sasuke replied. “He knows about Shikaku and Yoshino.”

He moved to sit down. Kakashi knew why; Sasuke wanted to support him while he waited for news of Iruka. He could not face that; he did not deserve such consideration.

“No. You should be out there being seen, not in here,” he insisted; more excuses.

“Kakashi-sensei...” Sasuke began.

Kakashi could not bear it. Being called sensei reminded him of the two of them as adolescents; Naruto as a bright ball of unrealised potential and Sasuke a pale shadow of what he was now.

How could he have contemplated removing Naruto from Sasuke’s life?

“Not now, Sasuke. Please, not now. Send Konohamaru to take the second seat.” Then he remembered that Konohamaru was busy helping Itachi. “Or anyone else available and suitable.”

Kakashi knew Sasuke was hurt. He saw it in his face as he turned away. Belatedly, he realised that Sasuke had wanted company.

He thought of calling him back, but he didn’t. He did not want to think about his guilt. He did not want to talk about Naruto or Iruka or of those they had lost.

He watched the man he had agreed to live for, the newborn baby who had been put into his arms, walk away.


He waited; alone.


“Gai here. We have him. He’s alive but unconscious. We are on our way in.”

Kakashi slumped; he could not help it and it did not matter because there was no one to see it.

“Kakashi-san,” Neji said from the doorway.

Kakashi sat up straight; trust Neji to catch him. Shikamaru was with him. He was far too pale.

“Could you allow us to take over in here?” Neji asked. “We would call you if there were any developments.”

“You could be there when they bring Iruka-sensei in,” Shikamaru added. Then his eyes deepened in that way only Shikamaru’s could. “You could stop Sasuke Sasuke-sama-ing before he breaks down in front of someone he shouldn’t.”

And, suddenly, everything clicked back into place. Old-Uchiha-Kakashi was gone. He stood up.

“Don’t fiddle with anything,” he warned Shikamaru. “Neji is in charge. I’ll get one of the regular watch commanders to take over as soon as possible.”

“I will watch him, Kakashi-san,” Neji assured him and Kakashi knew that he was referring to more than making sure that Shikamaru did not change the settings.

“I know you will, Neji-san,” he replied.


He needed to find Sasuke. It was difficult until he started asking, whereupon people would point through a doorway or down a corridor with a look on their faces that reinforced what Shikamaru had said.

He found him on his way to speak with Itachi about progress they had made checking for more bombs. Kakashi increased his pace to catch up and Sasuke, realising that someone was behind him, halted.

Kakashi stopped some five paces from him. “They’ve found Iruka,” he said because that was the easiest way to start.

Sasuke managed a smile, although it was not very convincing. “I know. They will be coming in soon,” he responded.

“I’m going to the infirmary,” Kakashi told him. “Would you walk with me?”

Sasuke hesitated; Kakashi guessed that was the one place he had been avoiding. “Very well,” he agreed.


They walked side-by-side in silence. When they arrived at the infirmary it was busy but calm. Kamatari, of all people, was on meet and greet.

“The medicos recognise me,” he explained, “because I am often in the plaza with Kono-san.”

Kamatari also had kind eyes in an open face; Kakashi decided he was a good person to look at when you were worrying about a loved one.

“There is a team waiting at the airlock for Iruka-sensei,” he explained. “They already have him tanked, so probably they will bring him directly here. Rin-san and the most experienced of the other medicos will run a full diagnostic in the examination room.” He gestured towards a door. “Once any immediate treatment had been administered, he will be transferred to a side room. Naruto-san is in a side room, Sasuke-sama. Would you like me to show you?”

“In a minute,” Sasuke replied. “How are the others?”

“Izumo-san, Kiba-san and Haku-san are all stable and are in side rooms. I do not have any other information,” Kamatari answered.

Kakashi doubted that, but Kamatari would be following the instructions Dan or Rin had given him.

“I’ll wait through here until you decide you are ready to see Naruto-san,” Kamatari said and withdrew through one of the doors.

“He can be surprisingly insightful,” Sasuke observed. He sighed. “It’s probably based on how we smell. We never learn to control that like we do our voices, our expressions and our body language.”

Kakashi understood that he was thinking about Naruto; there was no need for Sasuke to use his name. “Sasu-kun,” he whispered.

Sasuke’s eyes were suddenly huge and vulnerable. “Kakashi-sensei?”

Having started, Kakashi did not know what words to use. Rather than hurt Sasuke again, he put his arms around the younger man and held him. Sasuke hugged back. Their suits made it a rather unsatisfactory embrace but it would do.

Neither of them said anything, which Kakashi thought was probably for the best.


Then they went through the door to where Kamatari was waiting. He led the way to one of the side rooms.


Naruto was suspended in the tank, floating in the green medigel. If you ignored his back, he looked unharmed. Kakashi checked that Sasuke’s attention was riveted to Naruto’s face and got into a position where he could see at least some of the damage. It was bad. Kakashi guessed that it involved at least one kidney, maybe both, a lung and, worst, his spine.

All that could be mended, provided Naruto’s hybrid nature did not hinder the regeneration.

The crucial question, as it was for all those exposed to space, was whether his brain had been oxygen-deprived for longer than the nanobots could compensate for.

At least Naruto had nanobots; they had Rin to thank for that.


Someone at the door; Kamatari.

“They are arriving with Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-san. Rin-san asked me to tell you that he is injured but that there is no evidence of oxygen deprivation.”

Rin knew him and what would worry him. “Thank you, Kama-kun.”

“She says that she is available to speak to you about his injuries as soon as you wish,” Kamatari added.

That was strange. It implied that the diagnosis had been very swift. Kakashi’s mind went into overdrive.

Iruka had lost a limb, or limbs; it was the only pattern of injuries that fit. It would not be lethal because, between them, the suits and the nanobots would create a seal. It had not worked with Naruto because of the shrapnel.

Regrowing a limb took time but for a medico as skilled as Rin, with their facilities and Iruka’s nanobots, it was routine.

“You go,” Sasuke suggested.

“Come with me,” Kakashi suggested on impulse, not wanting to leave Sasuke alone. “We can ask her about both of them.”


Rin scowled to see them together. Kakaski knew that she liked dealing with relatives in a specific way. First she would speak to the person named in the patient’s medical record. Then she would prepare a written report for Sasuke. He could see her accepting that, with Sasuke there, she had no choice but to do it the way he wished.

She looked tired. It was Dan who gestured towards seats and offered leave or to make tea. They were not wearing suits; Kakashi guessed that it was difficult to treat people while wearing one.

Sasuke was looking at him, silently asking him if he minded Dan being there. As if he would; he was more comfortable with Dan than Rin. He nodded.

“Please stay, Dan-san,” Sasuke replied. “Tea would be good. Kakashi-san and I are here to support each other,” he added, for Rin’s benefit.


They listened. Iruka had lost both lower legs. The left was gone just above the ankle and the right just below the knee. They were standard spacer’s injuries but treatment was complicated by there being two rather than one.

“Three days prep time in the tank before we can move onto surgery and supergens,” Rin told him. “Once that is underway, he can be conscious for at least part of each day. One of the medicos I consulted with this morning directed me to a study that shows that patients should interact with their normal lives as much as possible. Dan and I have been discussing whether we can set up a treatment room for Iruka-san in the crew room.”

Kakashi wished he could meet the medico and thank him or her. Rin had never been good at considering individuals as people as well as patients; he thought back to her and Naruto fighting over the location of the gestators.

“That would be very much appreciated, Rin-san,” Kakashi confirmed. “How long until he has two fully functional legs?”

“Four divs regeneration and then at least a div and a half of physiotherapy,” Rin told him. “No quicker. I will not rush it.”

Kakashi did not care how long it took. He still had his Ir-chan. It was a bonus that he would be able to talk with him and help care for him as he recovered.

“Naruto-san’s treatment is, as always, tricky,” Rin continued.

Sasuke froze mid-sip and placed his teacup on the table. “Will he make a full recovery?” he asked.

Rin hesitated. Kakashi watched all the colour drain from Sasuke’s face. He wanted to strangle her. Did she mean to torture him?

“His brain is uninjured,” she began. “The brain protection nanobots functioned perfectly.”

A little of Sasuke’s colour returned.

“Even if there were problems with the regeneration, we could compensate with implants,” she added. “We can certainly make him fully functional.”

“There may be a problem with the regeneration?” Sasuke queried.

Even Dan was looking like he was going to hit her. “Rin-chan,” he hinted.

“Naruto-san is a hybrid, so there may be epigenetic variation during regeneration,” she reminded them. “Like you see between the kits. That may cause problems. However, he is a Bara hybrid, so epigenetic variation is less than in most hybrids. Also, there are the restrictions that Naruto-san himself has imposed on the treatment options.”

“What restrictions? When did he make them?” Sasuke demanded. His colour, and more, had returned. Kakashi could see that he was on the edge of losing his temper.

“He made them after we retrieved the foetuses from Kabuto. No options that require growing a clone for spare parts, even if the brain of the clone is prevented from developing,” she told him. “No transplants from any of the kits, even if they were old enough to give informed consent.” Rin’s survival instincts belatedly cut in. “Not that I would ever consider using the kits,” she added hastily, “but growing a clone would have speeded things up and given us another option to implants if the regeneration goes badly.”

Sasuke settled. “How long? If the regeneration goes without a hitch, how long?”

“A minimum of three divs and it is debatable if we could control the pain if we allowed him to be conscious for any of that time.”

Kakashi could see that Sasuke had decided to concentrate on the simplest of the scenarios; that Naruto would regenerate perfectly.

“Thank you, Rin-san. I know that Naruto is in the best of hands,” he acknowledged. “What about Kiba? I am asking as Uchiha-sama given that he is Guardian,” he added, countering Rin’s reluctance to tell him before speaking with whoever Kiba had nominated, presumably Choza.

“Kiba-san’s nanobots had to move into phase two of brain function protection,” she admitted.

Kakashi knew what that meant; the nanobots had scavenged oxygen from the rest of his body to keep his brain cells alive. He wondered about Haku.

“Luckily an oxygen supply was established before phase three,” Rin continued. “There is considerable systemic damage but his brain is intact. The prisoner Hana has agreed to contribute cells and tissues should we need them, which may make the regeneration less problematic.”

“Like using cells from a clone or the kits could make Naruto’s regeneration less problematic,” Sasuke suggested.

Yes,” Rin agreed, “but Naruto-san’s instructions are very clear.”

“What about Haku?” Kakashi asked.

Rin looked stubborn.

“Better or worse than Kiba?” he pushed.

“Better,” she conceded.

“How long will Kiba be tanked?” Sasuke asked.

“If the treatment and regeneration go well, about one div,” Rin replied.


Kakashi began thinking it through. They would have a div to get over the worst. They could mourn their dead, repair the household and track down the perpetrators. After a div, Iruka would be in the treatment room in the crew room, Haku would have recovered and Kiba would come out of the tank. Then they might consider depodding the older children. The babies, perhaps all the children, would stay in stasis until Naruto was fully functional.

It was bad; he understood that. They had all lost colleagues, friends and loved ones. Asuma and the children had lost Kurenai. Shikamaru and Sumiko had lost their parents. Even so, it could have been worse.

New Uchiha would heal, compensate, regenerate and move on.

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