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, SunaoTsuji, agelj232000, richon, Midnight Essence, unneeded, SidonieStarr, sadie237, Prism0467, cynaga, Dorkchic and disembodiedvoiceofthedying who reviewed after chapter 95 was posted.

Receiving reviews helps me continue writing.

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-six: Moegi-san

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Moegi knew it was a fluke that she had become a member of Uchiha. She had been in a certain place at a certain time; cat on the Silver Leaf when Tsunade had finally yielded to Sasuke-sama’s request to join.

She had told herself that cats were often acquired rather than chosen. Konohamaru was only there because he was Sasuke-sama’s foster brother. Sumaru’s mother had begged Sasuke-sama to take him when she was dying. Tayuya may have been Tsunade’s and Iruka-san’s favourite but the crew had loathed her when she had first joined.

Such logic had not helped. She knew that Iruka-san thought she was inadequate and that the other senior members of the crew agreed with him. She resented their opinion of her.

Then Kamatari had joined the crew and, slowly, he had teased and jollied her into changing her point of view. She was inadequate. The sooner she accepted that and did something about it the better.

Unfortunately she had many standards of moping, sulking and underachievement to make up for. When she looked back on much of her behaviour as an adolescent, she cringed.


She had gone to C-san and asked for help. C-san had advised her to find something she enjoyed doing and work at it. She had chosen becoming a medico. Shizune had encouraged and mentored her. She had begun doing her other duties as efficiently as she could.

C-san had also suggested she stopped throwing herself at men who did not want her. He had not said it like that, he was too kind, but Moegi had understood what he meant.

Inari had chosen Tayuya. Sumaru had prioritised becoming the perfect Knife. Konohamaru had, and then had lost, Ranmaru.

She was fuck-buddies with Kamatari and that was fine because they both knew exactly what it was and what it wasn’t.


It had worked. The medicos, even Rin-san, approved of her. She gained acceptance from the other members of the crew, even Iruka-san. A few of them, like Konohamaru, were beginning to see her as she was now rather than as she was three standards before.

Kamatari had probably helped with that. He had this skill. He would make a joke here or a comment there and suddenly you saw things differently.

Then the bombing happened and, in the space of twelve minutes, everything had changed. She had stepped up. She had helped save lives. Sasuke-sama had commended her. For the first time, her crew mates had respect for her.

If only the price had not been so high. Nine people dead; four of them her crew mates from the Silver Leaf.

C-san was gone; like many of the crew, Moegi felt his loss.


Moegi had done her best to help mitigate the aftermath. She and Kamatari worked flat out. She did her duties in the infirmary. He did his as Konohamaru’s assistant and bodyguard. They both volunteered to help in the kitchen, with the cleaning and with the laundry.

Anything but the children; Moegi did not have a clue how to handle children. She could help supervise Akemi but that was as far as it went.


It was the sixteenth day after the bombing. Breakfast was finally over. Choza was up and sitting at the table. Akemi had arrived and was replacing the cleaned crockery in the cupboards. Kamatari was sweeping the floor.

She took off her apron, judged the state of it and placed it in the basket to go to the laundry. The basket was almost full so she took it to the laundry next to the closet and loaded it into a clothes-cleaner.

Neji-san was in the closet, folding and sorting clothes. She watched him for a moment; fascinated by the perfectly folded garments.

Was this an opportunity to mention Udon? She felt badly about having offered him medical treatment but not following it through.

“Neji-san?” she began.

He turned to her. His hands continued to fold. “Moegi-san,” he acknowledged.

She tried not to blush. Before the bombing everyone had called her Moegi-kun. “May I ask your advice about something?” she continued.

He placed the neat, square shirt on the shelf and did not pick up another. “I would be honoured,” he told her.

“I have been thinking about Udon-san,” she admitted. “The reason I was in the plaza that day was to run a diagnostic on him. We had said we would give him some basic medical treatment. The diagnostic confirmed he needs some.” She took a deep breath. “Although some treatment could be administered at the medico school it would be quicker and much more effective to use the facilities in the infirmary.”

He was studying her with his strange, pale eyes. “I shall discuss it with Sasuke-sama,” he replied. “You were correct to bring the subject up. Udon-san is important to us but it is a sensitive time to bring an outsider into the household.


She arrived in the infirmary just in time for her ten-day review meeting with Rin-san. Normally she would not have cut it so fine and, if she had, Rin would have made a comment. Not this time; even Rin was aware of how hard everyone was working.

It was their first such meeting since the bombing. Rin went over the medical decisions she had made during the crisis and commended her. Moegi felt herself flush bright red. Rin-san rarely said anything positive about anyone, even Dan-san.

The praise gave her confidence to mention Udon and the treatment he needed. Rin-san confirmed that she was welcome to use the infirmary facilities provided she had Sasuke-sama’s permission.


Once the meeting was over she started her morning’s duties in the infirmary. She checked the equipment she was responsible for and ran maintenance routines on three of the machines. She practiced two medical procedures using the simulator. She checked the three occupied tanks and only just managed to avoid Sasuke-sama bringing the big litter to visit Naruto-san and Kiba-san.

She went back and re-checked the tanks once they had gone but found nothing amiss. Apparently even Haru-chan kept his meddling little fingers off a tank.


Moegi tried to time her midday meal for after the children had come and gone. When she arrived Akemi was cleaning up the debris and Kamatari was helping Choza refresh the table. When she offered to help he pointed to one of the chairs.

“Sit,” he ordered.

She smiled her thanks at him and took her usual place.

Konohamaru had obviously eaten with the children and was enjoying a leisurely desert. Kakashi-san entered, collected Iruka-san’s tray and left. Gai, Sumaru, Tatsuji and Kisame arrived, followed closely by Itachi, Neji and Shikamaru.

Sitting two of the midday meal was in full swing by the time Inari and Tayuya joined them at the young end of the table.

“Moegi-san?” Neji-san interjected into a lull.

She flushed slightly and looked toward him. The others were all looking at her. “Yes, Neji-san?” she asked.

“Sasuke-sama says that you can proceed with Udon-san as soon as is convenient. He suggests that Kamatari-kun may be the appropriate person to provide security.”

“Thank you, Neji-san,” she acknowledged.


“What’s this, Moegi-kun?” Tayuya asked as soon as Neji was busy listening to Shikamaru. “You getting together with Udon-san?”

Moegi realised what Tayuya meant and her flush deepened. “It’s not...” she began.

“I think Moegi can do better than a Scavenger,” Konohamaru commented.

Suddenly all thought of denial went out of Moegi’s mind. She rounded on Konohamaru. “There is nothing wrong with Udon-san. He is a kind, brave and gentle man who puts others needs before his own. He is working on our behalf and doing an excellent job of it. He even managed to help turn media opinion in our favour when most other people would have taken advantage of the situation for personal gain.”

There was a horrible silence around the table. Moegi wished she had not spoken or, if she had, not so loudly. She could see that Kamatari was about to say something to defuse the tension when an unexpected voice came from the other end of the table.

“You tell him, Moegi-san,” Shikamaru-san encouraged.

The others laughed but it was fond rather than nasty. She risked glancing at Konohamaru. He was staring at his bowl.

Inari nudged him. “You were being a bit of a snob, Kono-chan.”

He looked up and smiled. “I guess I was. Sorry, Moegi-kun. You are right, Udon-san is one of the good people.”

Moegi nodded and concentrated on her food, trying to pretend she did not see Tayuya studying her with a speculative expression.

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For Udon it was still one step forward, almost one step back. The tourists did not help. He wished he had not spoken to Yukie-san. Now people kept turning up wanting to see what life was like in Sublevel C.

The Scavengers were not tolerant of Outsiders. There had been some incidents.

He had only seen Angela-san once since the day of the bombing. It had been a short visit to check that he was all right after Yukie-san had told everyone about him. She had apologised for not visiting more often and said that she had been very busy.

She had suggested asking the tourists for a contribution to Songen. Udon was still thinking about that.


So it was nice to find Angela-san, Ishidate, Karenbana and Kongo waiting for him when he finished his rounds. He was less sure what he thought about being away from Sublevel C for two whole days and one night just to get rid of his allergies.

Angela-san looked at him. “You have responsibilities, Udon-san. You would find it easier to fulfil them if you were healthy. Moegi-san was most insistent that it is necessary.”

Udon felt himself flush. He did not know if seeing Moegi again was a good or a bad thing.

He was a little surprised to hear himself agreeing.


It was only when they reached Level 1 that Udon realised that they were not going to the medico school in the plaza. He had started heading towards the big doors when Angela-san had called him back.

“This way,” she told him, pointing towards another corridor.

He looked at her.

“We are going to the Uchiha Household,” Angela-san explained. “Uchiha-sama’s home. Moegi-san has arranged for you to be treated in their infirmary.”


This corridor was different; much older. Udon had always associated being old with being decrepit, like Sublevel C, but this was beautifully maintained.

There was a change each time they passed through a checkpoint. The fittings became more unusual with many materials he had never seen before. The decoration made the walls glow with deep, rich colours. Finally they came to an amazing pair of doors that had the Uchiha symbol worked into the decoration.

“Uchiha has been here a long time,” Angela-san told him. “Maybe as long as the Scavengers have been in Sublevel C.”


Moegi-san and Kamatari-san were there to greet them. Any hopes he had entertained about not being in love with Moegi vanished as soon as he saw her. His pulse quickened and his mouth dried. His rod twitched and he had to think about his aunt to make it behave.

Angela-san and Moegi-san were talking. Udon realised that Angela-san was not staying with him even for a short time. She laid her hand briefly on his arm.

“Uchiha will see you back to Sublevel C,” she told him and then she was gone.


As they walked towards the infirmary the decor became somehow less heavy. Udon thought about it and decided that it was because this part had been fitted to live in rather than to impress visitors.

The infirmary was incredibly clean and filled with shiny equipment. Moegi-san took him into a side room and began explaining what she was planning to do to him. She could make amazing pictures of his body that had depth as well as height and width.

He heard himself saying yes to everything, even having his eyeballs changed. He took the thin, flat tablet with his thumb in the right place. Words appeared on the screen for him to read.

He hesitated for the first time. “I will be back in Sublevel C by tomorrow night?” he checked.

“If all goes to plan,” Moegi-san replied.

“No, I have to be back by tomorrow night,” he told her. “Two days is already too long. The care assistants can only cope with simple day-to-day things. You have to promise to have me back, even if the treatment is not finished.”

She looked directly at him. It made him feel strange. “I promise, Udon-san,” she said.

He read the words and the tablet recorded his consent.

---

Moegi followed the medico school guidelines and did not ask Udon to undress before knocking him out. He lay unconscious on the treatment bed looking far too skinny and incredibly vulnerable. She found herself surprisingly reluctant to take away his clothes; it felt as if she was stripping away his dignity.

“You want help getting him into the tank?” Kamatari asked.

Moegi was grateful for the offer. Not only did Kamatari have enough strength to make the task easy, but it would be less personal with the two of them. She nodded. “Thanks, Kama-kun.”

She took off his eyeglasses, folded them and placed them carefully in a tray.

“He admires you,” Kamatari told her as he unbuttoned Udon’s shirt.

Moegi flushed. “What makes you think that?”

Kamatari grinned. “Are you sure you want me to answer that?”

She wasn’t; it would be something about the way Udon’s smell changed when he looked at her. Moegi could only just about cope with the idea that Udon ‘admired’ her. “No,” she admitted.

“Was Kono-kun right? Doesn’t a Scavenger have a chance with you?” Kamatari asked.

“It’s not that!” she objected. She studied Udon. He was not handsome or even good looking, but being with Kamatari had taught her that it was about personality rather than perfection. “What would be the point? I’m sworn to Uchiha and he’s not going to agree to leave his people in Sublevel C.”

Kamatari shrugged. “You purebreds live a long time. Who knows what the future will bring?”

Moegi was reminded of Kamatari’s short lifespan and of their dead crewmates whose futures had been stolen. She shivered.

“Moe-chan?” Kamatari queried.

“I am fine,” she assured him. She watched the thin, frail body being exposed. “By the Lady, Kama-chan, doesn’t he eat?”

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When Udon woke he was on a bed with his upper body and head raised. He was wearing what his uncle would have called a nightshirt. He could see all his clothes and belongings neatly stowed in a small trolley that had been placed where he would see it.

It was a different room to the one he had gone to sleep in.

There was drying gel in his hair and on his skin. It was itchy.

Moegi arrived in the open doorway. “How do you feel, Udon-san?” she asked.

“Good,” he admitted, which he realised was true. “Itchy.”

“That’s the tank gel. Would you like to have a shower and get dressed?” She gave him a small smile of reassurance. “Just so you know, there are no cameras or other monitoring equipment in the recovery rooms.”

Then she was gone and the door had slid shut behind her.


The shower was really nice, better than the one in the apartment where he had been questioned. He was generous with the cleanser, determined to get rid of all the gel.

He did feel good. All the small aches had gone. He took a deep breath and neither coughed nor sneezed.

The cleaner smelled good. He grimaced. He suspected that Sublevel C was going to be a shock to his new-found sense of smell.

There were blowers rather than towels. He could even read the instructions without his eyeglasses.

He felt a bit giddy.


Moegi looked worried when he opened the door to his room to announce he was dressed.

“Did the treatment go as expected?” he asked.

She gave him one of her small, reassuring smiles. This time it went straight to his rod. He thought of his aunt. It did not work immediately so he thought of his aunt naked; that always worked.

“Yes, absolutely,” she told him. “In fact it is earlier than expected. Sasuke-sama had suggested that you stay for the midday meal before we take you back to Sublevel C.”

Udon was about to say that was not necessary.

“With Sasuke-sama, suggestions are often not really suggestions,” she warned him. “They are more like orders that you can challenge.”

She looked directly at him and he momentarily forgot about his aunt.

“Udon-san, it is very rare for Sasuke-sama to suggest that an outsider be invited to eat with us in the crew room,” she added.

He quickly imagined his aunt dancing naked. He bowed. “I am honoured to accept, Moegi-san.”


They walked down corridors, around corners and through doors. At one point Moegi slowed.

“I am not sure if the children have finished in the kitchen,” she admitted.

At that moment a small, silvery-haired hybrid child dashed out of a doorway. He looked at Udon with Naruto-san’s startlingly blue eyes, froze for a moment and then dashed back inside.

Then a small crowd of children appeared with Sasuke-sama, who gave a small bow.

“It is good to see you again, Udon-san,” he acknowledged. “Children?” he prompted.

They all stood straight and bowed. “It is an honour to meet you, Udon-san,” they chorused.

Udon bowed in return, uncertain what to say. By the time he straightened the children were off down the corridor, being herded by Sasuke-sama.

Three of them looked like him.

“Are those Sasuke-sama and Naruto-san’s children?” he asked.

Moegi made a small noise that suggested she was less than fond of them. “The older ones. They also have three toddlers.”


They entered a huge room that contained an enormous table. They were greeted by a big man with an eye patch who boomed a greeting and gestured towards the table with a ladle.

Udon only worried about meeting so many strangers until he tasted his first mouthful of food.

It was delicious. Udon did not know if it was the food itself or having had his sense of smell restored. Maybe it was both. Whatever, he was suddenly far more interested in eating than he had ever been before. He settled for stopping chewing and bowing whenever he was introduced to someone.


At the end of the meal the cook, Choza-san, gestured towards an enormous backpack that was sitting on one of the counters.

“You need feeding up, Udon-san. I have put a few supplies together for you.”

Udon imagined carrying the backpack. He would have to try.

Choza laughed. “Do not worry, Udon-san. Kisame is one of those accompanying you back to Sublevel C.”

Kisame was the sharkman. He was certainly big enough to carry the backpack. Udon bowed. “Thank you, Choza-san,” he replied.


Kisame and Itachi, a man who looked very like Sasuke-sama, accompanied him back to Sublevel C. Kisame-san hefted and carried the backpack as if it were empty.

They were careful to measure their pace so that he could keep up. It was very strange to be limited by what his muscles could accomplish rather than the capacity of his lungs.


Once he was home, he stared at the huge backpack. He had been correct, Sublevel C smelled. He told himself that there weren’t bad smells and good smells, just smells, but that was difficult when those coming from the backpack made his mouth water.

He looked around his small, shabby room and sighed. In many ways it had been easier when this had been all he knew. All that had mattered was having a place away from his aunt. Tasty food had been the occasional berry from the plants he had managed to grow.

Now he had experienced showers, blowers, comfortable chairs, mouth-watering food and Moegi-san.

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