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Leader	By : mannahpierce Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 2163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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.

Chapter List
- 102
- 103
- 104
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to eunmook, Rose Moon, SunaoTsuji, Moonmoore, sadie237 and melissen for reviewing after chapter 102 was posted. Readers’ feedback, support and comments mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.
Hits are nice. Ratings are welcome. Reviews encourage and inspire.

Five... four... three... two... one....
I have decided to go back to twice weekly postings for these, the last five, chapters. So, if you are reading this as it was posted, that is today (Saturday 7 September 2013) and then Wednesday 11 September and so on until Saturday 21 September.

Leader
Part 10: Endgame
103: Preparations

Sasuke woke early the next day. To his surprise he had slept well. With no triplets to care for, he was soon showered, dressed and in the kitchen. Even so, Iruka and Haku were there before him; he assumed that they had also decided that it was wise to be visible and available.
There was a brief, extremely polite, verbal tussle between Iruka and Haku over who should make his breakfast. In the end Iruka made him toast and Haku prepared tea.
He would have preferred coffee but had more sense than to say so.

Hoshi and Ayame were next. They stood there for a moment, nonplussed that three of the most senior members of the crew were in the kitchen so early. Then they got on with their duties, placing a selection of foods on the counter and cooking Sumaru’s breakfast.
Seeing the pan full of food reminded Sasuke of Naruto, Ryuu and the kits. Only three days until Naruto was beside him again; even the problem of Izuna, or Madara, paled into insignificance next to that.
Sumaru appeared just as his food was ready; Sasuke guessed he really was that predictable.
“Sasuke-sama, Iruka-san, Haku-san,” he acknowledged. He sat down, Hoshi tipped out the contents of the pan and Ayame delivered the plate to the table. “Thank you, Hoshi-kun, Ayame-kun.”
However, instead of eating he stared at his food. Sasuke was on the verge of asking him if anything was wrong when he spoke.
“Sasuke-sama, I would like to make a request.”
“Please do, Sumaru-san.”
“May I go with Ino-san to Uchiha headquarters this morning? I realise that it is probably unnecessary but...” he trailed off.
Ino could look after herself but Sasuke understood Sumaru’s concern. “Certainly, Sumaru-san.”
“Of course, I would be available if you should have need of me,” Sumaru added hastily.
Sasuke had no intention of leaving the household. “I do not anticipate doing so, Sumaru-san. It is a good idea for you to accompany Ino-san.”
“Thank you, Sasuke-sama,” Sumaru replied and dug into the pile of food on his plate.
It was strange to sit there while members of the crew came and went. People who rarely ate breakfast in the main kitchen, like Shino and Anko, chose to make an appearance. Sasuke decided that they, like him, wanted to make a gesture of mutual support.
Anko completely ignored Iruka’s disapproving look and made coffee, which, even if it was on the bitter side, Sasuke appreciated.
When the early birds were long gone and those who rose at a reasonable time were finishing, the latecomers began appearing. Ran and Haru were first. They looked tired and Sasuke worried that both were doing too much; Ran working in the clinic in Sublevel C and Haru under pressure to provide evidence of Izuna’s true identity.
He decided not to interrogate Haru about his progress. Instead Sasuke left him to eat his breakfast at the other end of the table, surrounded by other youngsters.
Next was Kakashi, who most mornings had a coffee delivered by Iruka on his way to his office. He sat down at the table, investigated the pot that Anko had made, wrinkled his nose and looked hopefully at Iruka.
Iruka had opened his mouth to retort when he was distracted by Shikamaru entering and making a beeline for the coffeemaker. Kakashi smiled and Iruka sighed.
Sasuke was happy to accept a second cup, particularly as Shikamaru favoured a smooth, richer roast. Neji, who had followed Shikamaru in, made a fresh pot of tea.
“What next?” Kakashi asked as soon as Ran and Haru left.
Sasuke checked. The only other people present were Iruka, Shikamaru, Haku and Neji.
Iruka went first. “If the media start speculating about Izuna Uchiha’s identity, they will be all over us. It will be impossible to have personnel at the clinic in Sublevel C and difficult to complete the repairs. If possible, we need to put even more resources into those two activities while we can. Everyone we can spare will be working in the clinic today and tomorrow, including Ran and Five-kun. Even Konan-san and Hana-san have volunteered. Luckily, we have managed to locate some more tanks so Moegi-san will be able to treat more hybrids at a time. I have asked Kisame-san to arrange their relocation to Sublevel C.”
“Itachi-san will be assisting him with that,” Haku added. He smiled. “It still is not easy to get people to agree to enter Sublevel C but somehow the two of them never have problems managing it.”
Sasuke could imagine. The purebreds would fall over themselves to do as Itachi suggested, while Kisame could recruit the roughest hybrids; those who regarded going into Sublevel C as the least of their problems.
“Asuma and I are going to lead the teams finishing up the repairs,” Kakashi added. “Even with Ayame along to tell us what to so, it won’t be the best work, I am sure Izumo-san will throw a fit when he gets back, but it will be done. I’ll take Hamaki, Terai and Fu. Asuma will have Gai and Choza. We expect to be ready for Shino-san and Keitaro to join us this afternoon to do the electrics.”
Terai and Fu hated doing what they considered menial work and Hamaki was not much better. In a way Sasuke understood; for so long their status as elite fighters had been the only thing that made their lives bearable. Having a trainee, a female one at that, telling them what to do would make matters worse.
Asuma and Kakashi joining in would elevate the importance of the task and ensure that they did as Ayame directed. Including Choza emphasised the urgency; not even the cook could be spared.
That was their commitments at the clinic and the repairs dealt with.
“And the other situation?” Sasuke asked.
“We have found a box of possessions that appear to have belonged to Madara Uchiha,” Haku informed them. “Rin-san has agreed to harvest DNA from them this morning, leaving Haru-kun free to work on analysing the data.”
That sounded promising. He looked to Shikamaru. “What about Yukie Fujikaze?”
Shikamaru grimaced. “I think I have managed to get her to think beyond breaking the story. I hope so. I sent her, via one of my identities, my archive of Uchiha-related songs. I’m hoping that will keep her busy for a day or so. I have also suggested that Sakura and Ino go out and about this afternoon. We need to get a better grasp of people’s, particularly spacers’, attitudes towards Izuna Uchiha and some direct observation would help.”
“Yukie-san will break the story,” Neji added. “It is just a matter of when. We need to be ready to react.”
Sasuke thought about it. “If she breaks it soon, which we don’t think she will, we will say that we are shocked and are working to exclude the possibility, which we are certain Izuna Uchiha would wish us to do.” He looked from one person to the next. There were no dissenters and a few nods. “Good.”
Then, taking his coffee with him, Sasuke headed for his office. After a few steps he realised that Neji was following him.
“Neji-san?”
“Sasuke-sama. I was thinking. With the wireless systems down, perhaps we should hardwire a video recorder and microphone set-up in your office. That way we would be ready to record an interview should it prove necessary.”
Sasuke had been thinking about a simple, written press release. “If you think that would be wise.”
“I do,” Neji confirmed. “It will have to be this morning because Shino-san will be busy with the repairs this afternoon.”
Shino brought Keitaro. They had a tablet with them that showed all the hardwired networks. Seeing all the socket-covers open reminded Sasuke of when he was a child; his father had point-blank refused to use wireless networks.
As he watched them work, he had a sudden thought. Perhaps he should develop his own understanding of people’s attitudes to Izuna and his expedition. “Could you set me up with a hardwire link to the media channels?”
Shino frowned and consulted the diagram. “I think so, Boss. I could piggyback you onto the incident room. That’s still set up and we were going to leave it that way for the time being.”
“That will be excellent. Thank you, Shino-san.”
By the time they left Sasuke could access all the main media channels via the projector over his desk.

Madara was pleased. The print was dead. It would appear that Shikamaru believed that the bombs had been planted via the strut. The launch of the Hawk was on schedule.
Later today he had an interview with Yukie Fujikaze; more material for the documentary.
As he exercised, showered, dressed and breakfasted, he was anticipating another excellent day.
Then, halfway to his office, he met Kimimaro coming in the opposite direction. He looked agitated and did not manage even a bow before speaking.
“He’s there with Ino-chan.”
“Good morning Kimimaro-san,” Madara replied.
Kimimaro pulled himself together to manage a sketchy bow. “Uchiha-sama.”
“Who is with Ino-chan?” Madara winced as he heard the diminutive from his own lips; now Kimimaro had him doing it.
“Him. Sumaru.”
Madara sighed. “It is Uchiha headquarters. Sumaru-san has a perfect right to be there.”
“The men say he and Ino-chan and Sakura-chan are a threesome. They heard it from members of the USF, who heard it from Terai-san.”
Madara did not want to know that. Unfortunately, it was now going to be extremely difficult to forget. “You know that I do not approve of gossip.”
Kimimaro’s expression was a fascinating mixture of kicked-puppy and outrage. Madara felt slightly guilty; he encouraged Kimimaro to gossip with the men because it was a source of information.
“I did not mean you, Kimimaro-san. I know that you do not gossip. You merely listen because it is your duty.”
Kimimaro perked up. “Perhaps he will be gone when we get there.”
He was not. Worse, Madara found himself sharing Kimimaro’s dislike of Sumaru’s presence, which was strange. Usually Sumaru was completely dispassionate and utterly professional. In all the time Madara had known him, Sumaru had only made one exception and that was Kimimaro, whom he openly despised.
Today there was something different in the way Sumaru was looking at him. It was as if he suddenly cared and not in a good way.
It reminded Madara of the way his brother’s men had looked at him once they began to suspect him.
Was Sumaru in Ino’s office because he now regarded Izuna Uchiha as a threat? Could the bombing not have been as convincing as had thought?
It was not a good thought. Madara sat in his office, resisting his desire for whisky and drinking the mediocre tea Kimimaro had made him.
The intercom on his desk flashed. It was Kimimaro. “Yukie-chan for you, Uchiha-sama.”
“Put her through please, Kimimaro-san.” He paused until he heard the change in the carrier wave. “Yukie-san.”
“Izuna-sama,” she acknowledged. “I was wondering if you would consider a change of venue for our session this afternoon? I have been looking through the material we have and so much of it was recorded in your office. I have been scouting out other possibilities. The easiest would be the park, because the USF cover that.”
Offhand, Madara could not remember if Ino was going to be in her office this afternoon or not. If she was, Sumaru would probably still be about and going to the park would get Kimimaro away from him. “That is an interesting idea, Yukie-san. One worth trying. I shall see you there this afternoon.”

Sasuke was soon absorbed in the media coverage. They were obsessed with Izuna Uchiha and the expedition. What he could not decide was whether that was because Izuna continually fed them with material or because they found the current Izuna as attractive as the original.
There were some comments that suggested it was the former rather than the latter.
At least they seemed to have forgotten about him and Izuna being in competition for the clan leadership. In fact, they appeared to have forgotten about him and Naruto altogether.
Which he had always thought would be a good thing. Now he was not so sure. If it came down to him saying that Izuna was Madara would they believe him? Would they side with Izuna?
He sighed, turned off the projector and recorded some simple, polite replies for those who had sent messages of concern when they had heard about the bombs.
The explosions had not even made the headlines. Apparently the reporters had been uninterested enough to accept Neji’s description of them as ‘localised fluctuations in pressure’ for which a cause had yet to be confirmed.
Once he had sent the final message, to Chikara-san and Fuku-san, it was time for the midday meal.
As he walked to the kitchen he realised how empty the corridors felt. It was not just that there were so few people about, it was the silence. Usually, if you listened, you could hear the children playing or the youngsters larking around.
He would unpod the triplets tomorrow.
Then, the next day, Naruto would be ready to leave the tank.
Hoshi was at the table eating. Bread, cheese and fruit had been laid out on the table. Compared to a normal day it was a meagre display.
“Ho-chan,” he acknowledged.
She smiled at him. “Papa,” she replied. “The repair team decided to eat down there rather than wasting time cleaning up. I took them some baskets.”
That explained the amount of food. Sasuke sat down. There was a bowl of small, sweet tomatoes; the ones Konan grew especially for him. He was about to reach for one when Haru appeared in one of the doorways.
Sasuke knew immediately that something was wrong; the only time Haru managed to look like Shikamaru was when he was tense and anxious.
“Do you need me, Ha-chan?” he asked.
Haru nodded. “I tried your office.”
Food would have to wait.
They walked back to his office together. Sasuke noticed that Haru did not start talking.
“Have you told Shika-san?” he asked.
Haru shook his head.
As soon as they were inside with the door shut it was as if someone had flipped a switch.
“It’s a perfect match and I thought, it’s him, but then I thought what if Grandfather was lying and he did give Itachi-san Izuna Uchiha’s knife, or he muddled them up and your knife just had your genome and bits from other full blood Uchiha males so I couldn’t use that to decide.”
Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder. “Slow down, Ha-chan. Take a deep breath. Start from the beginning and go slowly.”
He listened carefully. Much of it was new to him. He had not known that his father had given Madara Uchiha’s knife to Itachi and he had not known that Haru was testing that knife.
Izuna’s DNA matched that from the hilt of the knife. Izuna was probably Madara. Sasuke’s heart beat faster and, deep down, he felt his rage building. However, Haru was right. The knife could have been Izuna Uchiha’s.
“Haku-san has found other items that are said to belong to Madara Uchiha,” he pointed out, keeping his voice measured and calm. “Rin-san has harvested DNA from them and is sequencing it. You can compare those sequences with the ones you analysed today.”
Haru nodded and relaxed a little. “We can’t afford to get it wrong.”
“Indeed we cannot, Haru-kun.”
“I still wish we had a sample of Izuna Uchiha’s genetic material,” Haru admitted with a sigh. “It would make everything so much simpler. I don’t understand why we can find Madara’s stuff and not his.”
Sasuke guided him to the comfortable chairs, gestured that he should sit down and sat opposite him.
“Madara was a murdering, deceitful traitor,” he began. “Most of his belongings would have been destroyed but a few were thrown into a box. That box was sealed and put at the back of a storeroom. Every object belonging to Izuna Uchiha has been treasured. People have wanted to own them or even just hold them.”
Haru nodded. “I can see that. What we need is something that wasn’t with Izuna Uchiha’s other stuff. Like his baby booties that have been in his mother’s lockbox. Something like that.”
Sasuke smiled. He did not know if it was the thought of Izuna Uchiha wearing booties or that Haru would think of them. “I think we would still have the same problem, Ha-chan, because Madara’s booties would be right there beside them.”
“I guess so,” Haru admitted. “We would need someone who was close to Izuna but not to Madara.”
Then it dawned on Sasuke. His genetic material must be all over Naruto’s stuff and vice versa. Izuna Uchiha’s genetic material would be all over his lover’s belongings.
The box where he had found the ring for Shikamaru. He thought back. Yes, there had been other things in that box.
He jumped to his feet. “You go to Rin-san and tell her to get ready to harvest and sequence some more DNA.”
He did not run; if anyone spotted him running they would be alarmed. He walked quickly, hoping with every step that Haku had not reorganised the storerooms to the extent that he could not find what he was seeking.
It was there; exactly where he had left it. He did not open it; it was bad enough that he had opened it once. Thinking back he could remember fingering many of the items inside.
He would have to tell Haru so his genome could be excluded.
Rin was ready to start when he arrived.
“Haru-kun is going to assist me,” she said firmly. “Do you know how many items there are?”
Sasuke could not remember. “Less than ten,” he decided. “Haru-chan has not had his midday meal yet.”
Haru opened his mouth to speak but Rin got there first. “He can have a meal bar and some water before we start. I keep both in my office.”
Then she turned to Haru and smiled.
To Haru’s credit he smiled back rather than fainting from shock.
Back in his office, Sasuke change the display frame to show the image of Naruto walking away and made himself some tea. He was beginning to see how things could work out. Yukie Fujikaze would raise the subject of Izuna’s identity. She would present her evidence; the linguistic analysis. Then they could step in, admit that the samples in the Uchiha tissue bank might have been planted and explain how they had decided to look for objects in the storerooms to test.
Madara’s crimes were well documented. Even if they had not been, Madara was officially dead, which meant that he could not challenge for the leadership. If he challenged, whoever was acting as Sasuke bodyguard at the time would kill him.
Sasuke hoped it would be Naruto.
Kimimaro might be a problem. It would depend on whether he felt betrayed or continued to be loyal.
His desk issued a soft ping. Sasuke took his tea with him and went to investigate. It was the programme Shikamaru had installed the one that told him that Sabu-san was in the park. He checked; it had been sending an alert every twenty minutes since shortly after noon.
He sighed. Maybe when things calmed down he would be able to spend some time with Sabu-san. He would enjoy that.
Now that he was at his desk he had no excuse not to work. He decided to check the media before making a dent in the mountain of correspondence that had built up since he had been caring for the triplets.
Nothing had changed; the stories they were running were the same as those he had viewed that morning. He picked the most reliable channel and muted the sound. Then he began on the first of fifty-six requests for his attention that Neji had decided should be forwarded to him. Sasuke opened the first. It was from someone looking for her uncle, who she believed had been given to Uchiha as a baby.
Sasuke did not know what he would do if he ever got an enquiry that he could link to one of the surviving elite fighters. In this case, like all those he had dealt with before it, he handwrote a letter saying that her uncle would have grown up without knowledge of his birth family, had served Uchiha with honour and had died doing his duty.
An electronic scan of the letter would be sent through the Stellar Exchange while the physical letter would find its way, via various allied crews, to the appropriate planet.
As he signed the letter he glanced up to check the media channel’s broadcast. What he saw immediately captured his full attention. It was showing the park and the images included Sabu-san, Izuna, Yukie Fujikaze and Kimimaro.
Izuna, or Madara, was furious. Sasuke knew that expression. He had seen it often enough on his father’s face. He switched on the sound.
An announcer was speaking, “...live images from the public park in the Uchiha section of Level 1. Yukie Fujikaze, known for covering the Uchiha clan, has just accused Izuna Uchiha of being an imposter. I repeat, Yukie Fujikaze has just accused Izuna Uchiha...”
Sasuke punched the intercom button.
“This is Sasuke. Sumaru-san, I need you at the door between our side and the public side of the park now. Neji-san, Shikamaru-san, you need to be monitoring the media channels. Whoever is on duty, send as many USF personnel as you can to the park and tell the elite fighters to drop what they are doing and do the same.”
As he spoke he studied the screen. Yukie Fujikaze looked smug. He shook his head. She had probably thought that making the accusation in a public place, on camera, would limit Madara’s reaction.
She did not know it yet but she had released a monster.
- 102
- 103
- 104
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Leader