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, Dreamfool, SunaoTsuji, Dark Catalest, satterb, unneeded, Anon, blugirlami21, Midnight Essence, angelj232000, sadie237, Prism0467, cynaga, Dorkchic, richon and disembodiedvoiceofthedying who reviewed after chapter 94 was posted.

Your support is very much appreciated.

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 ninety-five: Sleepover

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Shikamaru rubbed his face with his hand. He knew he was struggling. Prioritising speed over certainty was new territory. His strategy for capturing Orochimaru and Deidara was based on getting data from many different places as quickly as possible. It took advantage of their seven hundred and forty-three crews and their handful of other allies. It utilised the mini-gate network, their ability to hack the data transfer relays and the little-known fact that Shikamaru controlled the Stellar Exchange.

It also required obscene amounts of credit, far more than Uchiha could afford. Most of that was paying the Stellar Exchange for light speed communication services, so Shikamaru was funding it. If asked, he would say that the credit would flow back to him.

Which was not precisely true; a fraction of it would return to his various accounts. He expected capturing Orochimaru and Deidara to make a sizeable dent in his fortune, as had eliminating the Snuffers. It would be worth it. He might have to sell a few planets in the short term and actually make some effort to acquire credit over the next few standards.


Sasuke had recorded one general message for the allied crews. It included a request for help and the basic instructions. It offered compensation for taking crews away from their usual trading. It outlined what were and what were not acceptable risks and behaviours.

It was utterly crucial to Shikamaru that no innocents died or had their lives ruined. He hoped that Sasuke’s instructions would limit excessive zeal and the collateral damage that might result.

Shikamaru had added in detail for certain crews in specific locations. In eight cases, where the mission was particularly important, Sasuke had recorded a personalised message.

Developing the software for the data analysis had been the real challenge. Each snippet of information had to be weighted for probable accuracy before it was added into the calculation. Creating the cross checking procedures had taken Shikamaru seven days and he still was not happy with them.


Based on the outcomes of the primary analysis, Tennyos One, Two and Four would be sent on specific missions. As the situation developed they might allocate additional missions to selected allied crews, hire agents or even send out the Maple. If required, he would ask Klenn for help.

“Perhaps you should get more sleep, Shikamaru-san.”

Shikamaru jumped. It was, of course, Itachi. Shikamaru had forgotten that he was there, which was embarrassing. He now remembered that he had been in the middle of explaining how the strategy worked when he had been distracted by the thought of a possible improvement.

A darker, slimmer version of Sasuke’s hand claimed his cup. The fingernails were painted black. Shikamaru decided that Sasuke would never paint his nails. Another part of his mind immediately began proposing exceptions. Sasuke would paint his nails if he was dressed as a woman, or another disguise, or for a joke.

“Sleep would be more likely with a lower input of caffeine,” Itachi observed.

Shikamaru felt a blush bloom across his skin.

“Maybe I should have a word with Neji-san,” Itachi suggested.

“No!” Shikamaru exclaimed. Neji was stretched to his limits. He was exhausted most evenings. Shikamaru had taken advantage of that to hide how hard and how long he had been working.

If Neji found out he would be very, very cross.

Itachi leaned closer and peered into his eyes. It was all Shikamaru could do not to shrink back.

“Have you been taking stims, Shikamaru-san?” he asked.

Neji was going to be very, very, very cross. Shikamaru imagined the lectures. Worse, Neji would insist on monitoring him more closely, which he did not have the time or energy to do.

“Please don’t tell Neji,” Shikamaru pleaded.

Itachi smiled.

Shikamaru shivered; he could not help it. “Please,” he whispered.

“You will cut down on the caffeine,” Itachi informed him. “As soon as possible, you will go to your room, take an anti-stim and sleep.”

Shikamaru nodded; ‘possible’ had many interpretations.

Itachi frowned. “This will happen within a day, or I will not hesitate to tell Neji-san. I shall also make sure that Iruka-san is informed. And Sasuke-sama.”

Shikamaru abruptly stopped thinking of ways out; Itachi certainly knew how to raise the stakes.

“Is there anything preventing you going to your room and taking an anti-stim now?” Itachi asked.

“I am meant to be explaining to you how the strategy works,” Shikamaru insisted.

“I believe I have the essence of it,” Itachi replied. “There is data collection based on our unique avenues of communication as well as conventional methods. It is linked to an intelligence analysis system that you have built to mirror the way you think and is therefore beyond my capacity to understand. You will use the outcomes of the analysis to direct the attention of skilled operatives. More work needs to be done on the tactical response to a sighting of Orochimaru or Deidara but I could work on that while you were sleeping.”

Shikamaru was impressed. Maybe working with Itachi was not so bad.

Or maybe it was; Itachi was looking at him in that way again.

“What if you found somewhere to sleep where Neji-san was unlikely to come across you?” Itachi suggested. “I could promise to rouse you with a wake-up shot at a specific time or if something happened that truly required your attention.”

It was tempting. He needed to help with bath time and bedtime. “You must actually promise,” he insisted.

“I promise to wake you at the specified time,” Itachi said.

Itachi’s voice was solemn but there was a glint in his eye. Shikamaru sighed. He was tired. The stim made it difficult to run parallel thoughts. He was not as productive as he would be if he rested.

He agreed.

---

There were things that only To-chan or Kiba-san would spot; Haru had expected to get away with those. He had not expected to get away with stuff that Biwako-san usually noticed. Since the bombing, Biwako-san was always too busy or too tired.

When Kiba-san or To-chan was there, Haru only had his ‘clean’ tablet in his satchel. With Biwako-san he usually carried two, the ‘clean’ one to show her and the one that had all the extras he had added. Now he could leave the ‘clean’ tablet in his bunk. That left space for his tool kit.

Haru wanted his own network. He wouldn’t connect it to the data streams because of his promise to Papa. He would settle for a local network with some scavenged processors and his own data crystal array.

Of course the data crystal array wasn’t strictly his. It would be the one that Shi-chan had stopped using and put it into storage.

Haru intended to adopt it.


Hoshi had asked what he was doing. He told her about the network and the processors. He left out the data crystal array. She had decided that it was like his tablet but bigger and left him to it.

He had not mentioned the data crystals because linking to it meant leaving the crew room. Hoshi would not sit by and let him do that.

Step one had been getting Ran unpodded. Step two was getting into Ran’s room.


Haru knew that Ran was never going to invite him into his room. He would have to be direct. He asked. Ran looked at him. Haru was sure he was on the edge of saying no.

“Please?” he added.

Ran frowned. “Why?” he queried.

Haru took a deep breath. “I want to do something without the adults seeing me.”

Ran’s eyes lit up. “What?”

He explained. Ran listened.

“Go places together,” Ran checked.

Haru had not thought of Ran coming with him. He would adapt. “Yes,” he replied.

Ran nodded.

“You will need to ask Iruka-san if I can visit you in your room,” Haru explained.

“I will ask,” Ran confirmed. “I will not say why.”

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Ran did not like the idea of Haru in his room. He did like the idea of exploring. Haru’s hope swung it. Haru wanted it so much.

He decided to ask Kashi-san. Even if Ir-chan didn’t have legs and was stuck on a stand, he would ask lots of questions.

Kashi-san’s one eye winked twice. Ran had to guess what Kashi-san was feeling, because he did not risk getting close. He knew that two winks meant he was confused.

“A sleepover?” he queried.

“Sleepover,” Ran confirmed.

“You want Haru to sleep in your room?” he checked.

“Yes,” Ran replied.

“I shall have to ask Sasuke-sama,” Kashi-san decided, “because he is Haru’s Papa.”

Ran guessed that meant yes.


Ran arrived in the playroom and sat in his usual place. Haru was beside him at once. His eyes were shining. Ran could feel his excitement.

“Well?” he asked.

“Kashi-san said yes,” Ran confirmed.

Haru smiled. “Papa already said yes.”

“Yes to what?” Kazuki asked.

Ran jumped. Kazuki moved so fast and so silently. “Haru is sleeping in my room tonight,” Ran told him.

Kazuki’s tail went between his legs, his ears flattened and his whiskers drooped. Ran could feel as well as see his misery.

He turned to Haru. “We ask again, for Kazuki,” he stated.

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Haru almost said no. He wanted the network so much. He was so pleased about his plan. He knew that including Kazuki made it more likely they would be found out.

Then it clicked. Kazuki was more important than the network. He should not need Ran to tell him that. He hugged Kazuki and smiled a thank you to Ran.

“We will ask Papa and Kakashi-san,” he agreed.


To Haru’s surprise, Papa and Kakashi-san thought that saying yes to one meant they had to say yes to two. Haru wondered if they would realise their mistake if two became three and so on until they reached ten.

Konohamaru talked with Ran. They decided that Haru and Kazuki would sleep on a mattress on the floor. That evening, after their meal, Konohamaru made the mattress up just outside Ran’s room while Haru and Kazuki collected what they would need from the nursery.

Kazuki would have been happy taking nothing but he followed Haru’s example. They made a pile of pyjamas, toothcleaner and clothes for the next day.

Haru looked at his maroon plushie. He left it on his pillow. He could manage one night without it.

Next time he looked back his plushie was on the pile.

“Yuki will get upset,” Kazuki explained.

Haru flushed. He had not thought of that. He imagined the plushie sitting on his bunk for half a standard; reminding the others that he was kidnapped.

Hoshi found them a basket. She watched them filling it.

Haru waited for her to tell them to be good, but she didn’t.


Papa gave him and Kazuki a hug before pushing the mattress through the open doorway into Ran’s room, being careful not to cross the threshold.

Haru watched his Papa disappear as the door closed.

Kazuki, Ran and Haru pulled the mattress into the centre of the room. Once that was done, Kazuki raced about the room sniffing each corner. Haru studied Ran, hoping he had not expected Kazuki to behave differently just because he was a guest.

Ran seemed fine. He went to sit on his bed so Haru sat down on the mattress. Finally Kazuki finished checking out the room and sat beside Haru on the mattress.

“What next?” he asked, expectantly.

Haru took a deep breath and explained why they were there. Kazuki froze. His ears were pricked, his whiskers forward and his eyes circular.

“An adventure?” he checked.

“Yes,” Haru confirmed.

Kazuki smiled. “I’ll be lookout.”

It was a good idea; Kazuki’s senses were much more acute than Haru’s or Ran’s.


Unlike on the Oak, most of the openings to the ducts were at floor level. Haru had asked Shi-chan about it and he had said it was because the people who had designed the household wanted to look at pictures rather than grilles. Haru was glad that the people had been so fussy because it made putting in his network much easier.

Ran already had one of duct covers altered so that it came off and went back on easily.

Haru checked his satchel, Ran slung a bag across his chest and they were off. They each wriggled through the small opening and then swarmed along the duct.

At some point the duct would lead to the void beneath the floor. Haru just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

It was dark. Haru was not sure what he thought about the dark.


He had studied plans of the household and how it fitted into the Uchiha section of Level 1. The level had service shafts running up-down at regular intervals. These linked to shallow horizonal voids above and below three layers of accommodation, like the thick icing between the layers of one of Choza-san’s cakes.

They lived in the middle layer. Haru’s plan was to go down to the void, across to the laboratory and up through the service hatch he had seen in the floor there. He knew that the data crystal array was in one of the store rooms. Once they were there he would have to work out how to run a cable from the array into the void and back to the crew room and nursery.

Swarming though the duct was more difficult than Haru had expected. Kazuki was so far ahead of him that Haru could no longer hear him. Haru was grateful that Ran, who was behind him, did not complain how slow he was; Hikaru would have.

Wiggling around a bend he would have fallen head first into the void if Ran had not caught his ankles.

Kazuki dashed over and helped him down.

The void was dimly lit; Haru realised that down here it was always station night.


While Haru rested, Ran and Kazuki scouted the void. Kazuki could tell exactly where they were, the locations of the adults above and whether they were sleeping.

The laboratory was empty.


Once they had climbed up through the service hatch, Haru came into his own. He gleaned the tools and materials he needed for the network and opened the store room where the abandoned array was stored.

It was at the back; behind and under lots of junk. It did not look like it had been moved since Shi-chan had first put it there, which was good.

The only real challenge was deciding where to run the cable. Ran peered around one of the piles to where Haru was crouched.

“That duct?” Ran suggested, pointing to the wall. “Kazuki check it out?”

Haru considered and nodded. Ran removed the cover and Haru worked the end of the network cable through the grille. He turned to Kazuki. “Three pulls means you have reached the void,” he suggested.

Kazuki nodded, tying the cable around his waist.


Within minutes there were three sharp tugs on the cable and Kazuki started pulling the network cable through. Haru hurried to connect the other end to the array. Ran made sure he had some slack when the cable pulled tight and then replaced the duct cover.

Haru replaced the things he no longer needed while Ran kept watch. He had almost finished when Kazuki popped his head up through the open service hatch.

“Hurry,” he whispered. “Kakashi-san.”


Ran lowered Haru down and then put the cover halfway across the hatch before jumping down. Kazuki sprang onto his shoulders and moved the cover into place.

They sat perfectly still. Haru willed himself to breath normally. They could hear footsteps above them.

“Shika-kun?” Kakashi-san called. “Shino-san?”

More footsteps and they heard the door to the laboratory close.


Then it was across the void in the direction of the crew room and the nursery, trailing the network cable behind them.

“Connect it all up tonight?” Ran asked once they were under the playroom.

Haru imagined swarming along the ducts to the playroom and nursery. He was not sure if he could do it.

Ran turned to Kazuki. “We put cable in ducts for Haru to connect later,” he suggested.

Kazuki wagged his tail and nodded.

“Make junction,” Ran told him, handing him the cable.


Haru described where he wanted the cable to Kazuki who tied it around his waist. He and Ran went to the opening to the duct that was most likely to run to the playroom. Haru watched Ran boost Kazuki up.

He was back in a surprisingly short time. Haru realised how much he had slowed them down.

Then they did the same for the nursery, running cable through the duct and fastening it to the back of a convenient grille.


Haru pulled the three cables together and was about to splice them into a connector when Ran stopped him. “Third cable to my room,” he suggested.

It was a good idea; luckily the connector could take up to six cables. Haru spliced together the four ends, they attached the connector to the roof of the void and then they set off for the duct to Ran’s room. Once they were below the opening, Kazuki tied the network cable around one of his ankles.

First Ran climbed onto Haru’s shoulders and wriggled in. Next, between them, Ran and Kazuki managed to pull and push Haru into the duct. Finally Kazuki jumped, caught the edge and pulled himself up.

Haru had a sudden image of how strong and fast Kazuki was going to be as an adult; scarily fast and amazingly strong.

They started swarming along the duct. It seemed endless. Haru was beyond tired.


Finally they wriggled through the opening into Ran’s room, Haru could not stop trembling. He did not know why. Kazuki began grooming him and Ran wrapped a blanket around them both.

“Showers in the morning,” Ran warned. “Too dirty.”

Haru realised that the three of them were filthy. If To-chan or Kiba-san were awake, there would be no way they could get clean enough for him not to smell it. If Haku-san was awake or Iruka-san mobile, they would query the state of their clothes or the bedcovers.

But To-chan, Kiba-san and Haku-san were tanked and Iruka-san was stuck in his recovery room.

Haru had stopped shivering. He cuddled close to Kazuki under the blanket. His last thought before sleep was that they had made an awesome team.

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Sasuke’s first thought as he woke was that it was day 14 of 105. The second was that his surroundings were unfamiliar and that there were a number of small bodies with him in the rather narrow bed.

There had been one night’s grace; Yuki had slept through the night after they were unpodded. Then the nightmares had started.

Sasuke had followed Biwako’s advice the first time. He had gone to Yuki, given him a cuddle and settled him back down. He had to do it twice. The second time most of the children were awake by the time he got there.

The night of day 12 had been worse. He had gone to and from the nursery five times. On the sixth trip he had fallen asleep in the rocking chair with Yuki in his lap.

Yesterday morning he had put a cot in one of the small side rooms off the nursery so that he could respond more quickly. In the middle of the night he had woken up with Yuki curled up against the backs of his legs.

Sasuke had carried him back to his bunk only for him to have another nightmare and start howling. That woke all the children except Haru and Kazuki, who were sleeping in Ran’s room.

He had given up and allowed Yuki to sleep with him. By morning, somehow, Keizo and Kuuya had wriggled in as well.

Sasuke sighed. He knew that Yasushi and Yoshimi were sleeping in the same bunk. He shut his eyes and revised Kiba’s lectures about why the kits had to be forced to sleep separately.

As for Haru and Kazuki sleeping in Ran’s room, he did not know what he thought of that. He had agreed because it seemed like an important step in the right direction for Ran, but perhaps Kazuki and Haru’s absence had contributed to Yuki’s poor night.

Sasuke had known that looking after the children was not easy, but he had never expected it to be so hard.


Somehow he got them all up, washed, dressed and into the kitchen by the usual time. Haru and Kazuki were, to his surprise, already there. They were freshly showered and neatly dressed; he was impressed.

True, Haru looked like he was about to fall asleep but the rest of the litter did not look much better.


Biwako studied them as they filed into the playroom.

“Snug,” she ordered.

Sasuke watched as they took off their shoes and climbed onto the bed.

“Will you be joining them, Sasuke-sama?” she asked.

It was tempting. “No, Biwako-san,” he replied before turning and trudging towards his office.


He was almost there when he decided that tea would not suffice and he needed coffee. He turned back towards the crew room and the kitchen.

Iruka-sensei’s door was open.

He went closer and lurked in the opening. Shino had rigged up various devices so that Iruka could do things for himself. At the moment he was reading his tablet, which was held in a stand at a comfortable height and angle.

“Sasu-kun,” he acknowledged.

“Iruka-sensei,” Sasuke responded, stepping over the threshold.

Iruka looked at him. Then he pushed the stand to one side and pressed a button so that the doors closed behind him. “Come and sit down,” he said. It was as much an order as a suggestion.

Sasuke reluctantly sat down in the chair that had been placed for visitors.

Iruka was studying him and Sasuke did not feel that he would stand up well to such scrutiny.

“Do you remember Naruto insisting on hugging Neji while Shika-kun was away?” Iruka asked.

Sasuke relaxed one notch. “Yes,” he admitted and did not pull away when Iruka put out a hand and combed his hair back from his face.

“You are trying to fulfil three people’s roles,” Iruka reminded him. “Yours, Naruto’s and Kiba’s. It is bound to be hard. You are going to struggle. You can only do your best.”

“Perhaps Kakashi-sensei was right,” Sasuke admitted. “He said that I should have left the children podded.”

Iruka smiled at him. “Did he say that? He told me that he understood why you were unpodding them and that he thought it was probably the right decision.”

That made Sasuke feel much better. “He did?”

“He did,” Iruka assured him. He pulled the tablet within reach. “I have a treat for you,” he said.

A picture of a group of dog-human hybrids appeared on the screen. Sasuke leaned forward to see it better. There were eight of them, of greatly varying sizes but each standing tall and proud. They each were wearing a blue bandana with a plaque bearing the Uchiha symbol.

“The crew of the Ninken,” Sasuke guessed.

“Tayuya took it,” Iruka told him.

Sasuke decided that Iruka was correct. It was a treat. The allied crews had been Sasuke’s own idea, based on his wish to expand Uchiha without losing the family aspect of the crew that Naruto valued so highly. Hearing about the Ninken’s crew had been encouraging and having an image to go with Inari’s account was nice.

A very strange sound began filling the room.

Sasuke decided that it was singing, just a rather doggy version. The accompanying howling did not help.

Then he focused on the words.

He had never realised that laughing until you cried could be such wonderful therapy.

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