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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
- 12
- 13
- 14
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to richon, unneeded, maliya, Kyle, eunmook, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, lonelylulaby (twice), GreenEyedCat, SidonieStarr, sadie237, melissen and cynaga for reviewing after chapter 12 was posted. Readers’ feedback, support and comments mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.

Leader
Part 2: Preparations
13: Plans

Iruka-sensei fixed Haru with a stern look as he took his place between Kazuki and Hoshi. For a split moment Haru thought he must be late; he had been so sure he was early.
“Two questions at the most, Haru-chan,” Iruka-sensei warned him. “That’s one question and a follow up or two separate questions.”
Haru was relieved that he had not done anything wrong. “I understand, Iruka-sensei.”
Iruka-sensei turned to the others. “No questions about Madara,” he reminded them.
There was a ragged response but Haru’s attention had gone to Ran and Five, who had just walked through the door.
Hoshi nudged Yuki. They and Ayame moved along two places, which meant that Ran would sit next to Haru and one of them could sit next to Five.
Haru wasn’t surprised that it was Yuki. Hoshi and Ayame had started to lose interest now it looked like Five was male-only.

Then Izuna-sama came in with Papa and they all stood up.

He looked very like Papa, even more so than Itachi-san.
They all bowed. “Izuna-sama,” they chorused.
He gave a nod. “Children. Trainees.” He then bowed a little lower. “Iruka-san, thank you for asking me to speak.”
Iruka bowed in return. “Izuna-sama.”

The talk was a bit boring but Izuna-sama had a nice voice. At the end Hoshi asked her question, followed by Hikaru. Then Iruka-sensei called on Yuki.
Yuki stood up and bowed. “Izuna-sama. What is the biggest difference you have noticed so far between now and then?” he asked.
“Thank you, Yuki-chan. What an interesting question. I think control technology. You have processors, like little computers, in so many things.” He smiled. “Even the head has one. In my day there was one computer in each ship. It was in the control room and it was used for specific calculations, like jumps. Otherwise everything was controlled directly by human, rather than through programmed processors.”
Haru knew that integrating processors into machines other than computers had been considered dangerous; a step too close to artificial intelligence.
Kazuki was next. He asked about the Uchiha uniform.
Izuna-sama smiled. “We didn’t have one, Kazuki-chan. Just the badge, which was like your crest now.”
The rest of the questions were also about everyday life. Haru was beginning to wish he had asked his question at the start, like Hoshi and Hikaru.
Iruka-sensei kept looking at him. In the end he raised his hand.
“Haru-chan,” Izuna-sama acknowledged.
He stood, bowed, and made his request. “Please could you tell us about what Tarrasade was like then, Izuna-sama?”

It was like listening to a completely different person. Izuna-sama obviously loved Tarrasade. He talked about how hard it had been to gather together enough resources to develop the Uchiha compound as part of the new Level 1 and how proud he had been of the result.
“Are you looking forward to going home, Izuna-sama?” Ayame asked.
“Yes and no, Ayame-chan,” Izuna-sama admitted. “My heart says it is my home but my head tells me it has been expanded and rebuilt. It may not feel like home at all.”
Haru imagined what Izuna-sama was feeling and felt sad for him.
Maybe Iruka-sensei was thinking the same because he wound up the session, Hoshi delivered a nice speech thanking Izuna-sama, they all clapped politely and he left with Papa.

“He’s just a person,” Kazuki mourned when he and Haru were in their usual alcove. “Like Itachi-san but a bit taller.” He flicked his ears and twitched his whiskers. “He was boring.”
“Not about Tarrasade,” Haru pointed out.
Kazuki gave him a look. “That was this much...” He held up finger and thumb a small distance apart. “...less boring.”
Haru knew that Ka-chan’s expectations had been ridiculously high; when they had been little he had always wanted to be Izuna Uchiha in the games they played. He was casting about for a way of comforting him, or at least distracting him, when Iruka-sensei put his head around the corner.
“Sasuke-sama and Naruto-san are coming down to speak with you all before the midday meal. It will be in the seminar room.”
All thought of Izuna-sama vanished. Iruka-sensei always said ‘your Papa’ and ‘your To-chan’. What was going on?

Whatever it was, it was serious because Kiba-san and Iruka-sensei were there too. Haru’s heart sped up and his stomach started to knot.
Finally everyone was sitting down and Papa began.
“All ten of you are the same calendar age but the truth is that you are growing up at different rates. First I thought about keeping you all here, in the playroom, until you turned fourteen, but that would not be fair. Then I thought about letting the more mature of you move on but splitting up the litter didn’t feel right.”
Papa looked at To-chan, who looked back and nodded.
“We’ve decided to allow you to be pre-trainees once you are twelve,” Papa told them. “We’re not quite sure what pre-trainees do yet but it will mean spending your days with the crew rather than here in the playroom. Like the trainees, Iruka-sensei will oversee your activities, which will be a mixture of duties, training and studying. To help us sort out how it is going to work we will be talking to each of you.”
It sounded good to Haru; he might get to spend more time with Ran. He glanced about. The others looked happy and excited.
“We wanted to tell you all together before talking to each of you over the next few days,” Papa concluded. “Now off you go. Haru-chan, is there anything you need to do before the midmeal?”
“No Papa,” Haru admitted. The knot in his stomach came back. Why him? Was this his interview about what he wanted? He would have liked more time to think about it.

They walked side-by-side towards Papa’s office. They discussed what Izuna-sama had said but Haru recognised that it was small talk.
Instead of going into Papa’s office they stopped in front of the door to Neji-san and Shi-chan’s. Papa pressed the door announcer. There was a pause and then Neji-san’s voice.
“This is a recorded message from Neji. I am not in the office. Shika-san is and won’t mind if you go in.”
Haru guessed that Shi-chan was in the data streams.
They went in. Shikamaru was in his chair wearing goggles, earpieces and a control wire glove on his left hand.
“How do you get his attention?” Papa asked.
Haru pulled a small portable interface from his pocket, connected wirelessly to Shi-chan’s system and activated an avatar. Within a few seconds Shi-chan sent him an acknowledgement.
Haru pocketed the interface. “It’ll take him a couple of minutes to come out,” he warned.
Papa nodded.

As soon as he took his goggles off Shi-chan coloured. He pulled out his earpieces. “I apologise, Sasuke-sama, I did not realise that you were also waiting.”
“It is fine Shika-san; I did not suggest to Haru that he should tell you. I want you to show Haru the systems we are going to establish. I think he should be one of the first people to know, because we couldn’t have done it without his modification to the route finder.”
Shi-chan nodded and made a few sweeps with his left hand to activate the projectors. “Grab seats,” he suggested.

Haru wished Papa would not keep mentioning the route finder; he still felt guilty taking all the credit for it.
Then he saw the string of four systems linked by five gates. Two of the systems had planets and three of the eight planets had a standardised ecology. Was Uchiha going to own and develop that? If so, he no longer cared how he had got the route finder to work, only that it did.
“The planets were almost worthless while they were at the end of a thirty or forty long string of jumps,” Shi-chan began.
Haru knew that. Ten jumps was the maximum. If the route was going to be gated, five or less was realistic; gates were too expensive.
“We had Space Hoppers’ data about thousands of systems that were too far out to be worth developing,” Shi-chan continued. “It was always possible that some of the excellent systems could be accessed by better routes but it would have taken me decades to find even a fraction of them. Your modification to the route finder meant we analysed all the data within a few days. After that it was a matter of selecting the best for gating.”
“We have bought the planets and ordered the gates,” Papa told him. “Show him the others, Shika-san.”
Haru blinked; others?
Shi-chan brought up two other, shorter, strings, both of which had planets.
“We own these too?” Haru asked.
“All the planets,” Papa confirmed. “The gates are ordered. It’s a huge breakthrough for us, Ha-chan, and you played a big part in making it happen.”
Haru was imagining what was involved in developing a system from scratch.
“We’ll leave Shika-san to go back into the data streams,” Papa said.
“Use Neji’s door,” Shi-chan suggested.

Haru would have liked to spend more time studying the three strings but Shi-chan had already deactivated the projectors. Papa led the way through the doorway and gestured towards one of the comfortable chairs. Papa sat opposite him.
“Haru, what is Uchiha’s greatest asset?”
Even with eighteen new planets in gated systems there was only one answer to that. “Shi-chan,” he replied without hesitation.
“Exactly. Although every member of Uchiha is unique and valuable, he is the only one of us who is utterly irreplaceable. That influences my decisions where he is concerned. I have to minimise the risk of losing him or that someone else will take him.” He smiled. “I confess I rarely let him leave the protection of the Oak or the household.”
Haru knew that. Shi-chan grumbled about it but Haru did not think he minded that much. He had the data streams and there were all those places in his mind.
“What is Uchiha’s second greatest asset?” Papa asked.
Haru’s mind immediately went to the new planets before skidding to a stop. Papa was suggesting that it was him. Suddenly the consequences of taking credit for what Sai had done were back and they were huge.
“Me?” he checked, hoping he was wrong.
His Papa smiled at him and nodded.
“But I’m nothing like Shi-chan,” Haru objected. “He does it all in his head and I use computers.”
“It’s not the computers that make the difference, Haru, it’s you,” Papa insisted. “Your problem solving skills are phenomenal. You’ve been doing it since you were tiny. How old were you when you thought of spraying Lee with pheromones so that he could get close to Gaara after he was tortured? Three?”
Haru had no memory of doing that, just as he had no memory putting Nakama into Shi-chan’s crystal data array.
“All I am saying, Haru, is that there may be times when I allow your brothers and sister to be exposed to greater risk than you. When that happens, it won’t be because I am your father. As your father I love all of you and want to keep each of you safe. It will be as Uchiha-sama, because, typed-genius or not, you solve problems other people, even Shika-san, cannot.”
“The route finder was a combination of Shi-chan, Klenn-sensei and me,” Haru pointed out, adding ‘and Sai’ in his head.
Papa was frowning at him. “Shika-san can solve problems working with you that he cannot solve without you. Agreed?”
Haru could live with that. “Yes.”
“And you would enjoy being in Shika-san’s research and development team with Inryoku-san, Enerugi-san, Kotetsu-san and Rin-san?”
Haru wasn’t sure if Rin-san would be happy to see him there. “Yes, Papa.” He imagined it. “It would be awesome.” He pulled himself back to the present. “I would like to visit some planets and space stations.”
“When the risk can be managed to make it acceptable,” Papa conceded. “You know, Haru, I do not think Shika-san enjoys leading the research and development team.”
That was one way of looking at it. Haru would have said that no one actually led the research and development team. If there was a problem to solve or a project to work on they got on with it but there was almost no overall structure to the process unless Izumo-san was involved. If the problem was urgent, Shi-chan took everything the others could give him in the time available and came up with a solution by thinking about it.
“He wouldn’t mind if someone else took on that role,” Papa hinted.
Haru imagined Rin-san’s expression if he tried to tell her what to do. “Maybe when I grow up?” he suggested.
“Maybe when you become a full member of the crew in about five standards’ time.”
Five standards' time was reassuringly far away. “Maybe,” he agreed.
Papa stood up. “We had better move, or we will be late for the midmeal.”

The others were chattering about what might or might not be possible as pre-trainees; Papa’s announcement had completely trumped Izuna-sama’s talk. Haru half-listened to what they were saying. He was also thinking about what Papa had said. Did he want to do what Papa was suggesting? Did he have a choice?
He was still thinking about in the playroom that afternoon. He went to the alcove that he usually shared with Kazuki. It was empty; Ka-chan was off doing something active. He sat, stared at the wall, and tried to work out why it felt so weird.
“Haru?”
He suddenly realised that Hoshi was trying to get his attention. She had been standing in his field of view and he had not even registered her presence.
“At last,” she observed. “What did Papa want? Was it about what you are going to do as a pre-trainee?”
“Yes and no,” Haru decided. “Shi-chan has been using the route finder and they told me about that.” He did not mention the three strings of planets; Papa would want to tell everyone about that. “Then we went into his office and...” He paused wondering whether he could put what he was thinking into words. “He told me that my future was being like Shi-chan, but with a team.”
Hoshi blinked at him. “He didn’t ask you?”
Haru thought about it. “He asked me what I thought about it,” he replied. He wished he knew what he did think; with each passing minute he was less sure. “It’s for the good of Uchiha. My choices have to be restricted because of my problem solving skills.”
Hoshi nodded. “It was inevitable once you made the route finder work.”
Haru wished it had been so clear to him; all he had been doing was solving a problem for Shi-chan.
“You could always not swear to Uchiha,” Hoshi suggested.
“No I can’t,” he snapped. “Even if I was willing to disappoint Papa like that, Ran is already sworn.”
“You and Ran might not end up together,” Hoshi reminded him.
When he had woken up that morning it had all been so simple: Ran was sworn; he would swear; they would spend their lives together; it was what he wanted.
So why had what Papa said made a difference?
“Ran is my best friend. It doesn’t matter if we aren’t lovers. We can be like Shi-chan and To-chan.”
“It would be nothing like To-chan and Shi-chan,” Hoshi argued. “To-chan is bonded to Papa. He didn’t choose Papa over Shika-san. It just is, like gravity. Ran would be choosing someone over you. You would hate that. Look what you were like when you thought Five might take him away from you.”
Haru didn’t want to think about that. “This isn’t about me and Ran. It’s about what Papa said.”
There was an uneasy silence between them.
“I’m scared he’ll push me into being a professional musician,” Hoshi admitted.
Haru suddenly realised that the conversation wasn’t only about him, it was also about Hoshi. “You don’t want that?”
“I love music,” Hoshi admitted, “but I love Uchiha more.”
Haru found himself smiling. “Just say that to him, Ho-chan.”
She smiled back. “Do you think so? Won’t he be disappointed?”
“How could he be?” Haru assured her.
“Thanks, Haru.”
“Anytime.”
She started to walk away but then turned back. “I think spending your life solving problems with Shika-san would suit you just fine, Ha-chan. You would have so much fun.”
He watched her walk way. She was right. It was like he had said to Papa; working with Shi-chan and the others would be awesome. Given a free choice, that was probably what he would have chosen.
So why did he feel like this?

He hadn’t got much further by the evening and the four of them were gathered in Ran’s room.
“Haru’s been off in his head since he had his talk with Papa,” Kazuki told Ran.
“I do not understand,” Sai complained.
“He’s been distracted,” Kazuki clarified.
Ran was looking at him.
“Papa has decided that all ten of us will become something they are calling pre-trainees when we are twelve,” Haru explained.
“Which is great,” Kazuki insisted, “because being in the playroom is boring.”
“Which is great,” Haru agreed. “Anyway, he said he wanted to talk with each of us and he started with me.” He took a deep breath. “He said that I was an asset, like Shi-chan, and that restricted what I could be allowed to do.”
“And you don’t think you are an asset like Shika-san,” Ran observed, “because Sai helped you sort out the route finder but Sasuke-sama and Shika-san believe you did it on your own.”
Haru immediately felt better. That was exactly it. It wasn’t the future Papa had picked out for him, or that Papa had not consulted him, or that he wouldn’t have the freedom that Ka-chan and others might have. It was that Papa thought he could do things that he couldn’t.
“I only speeded things up,” Sai stated. “All the decisions were Haru’s.”
“But it was you that made the difference,” Haru insisted. “If you had been working with Klenn-sensei, he would have solved the problem.”
“I think that is unlikely,” Sai replied. “The individual called Klennethon Darrent worked on the problem for at least a decade, probably much longer as the device called an improver was fully developed fifteen standards ago. As I merely speeded the process up, I propose that computational speed was not the limiting factor.”
“I can’t see that any of the decisions I made were particularly special,” Haru argued.
“I disagree,” Sai stated. “After analysing the process, I have concluded that your unique contribution was the novel application of three different branches of pure mathematics. I have found no evidence that these branches of mathematics have been applied to any real-world situations other than by you. This is, by definition, a typed-five genius behaviour.”
“But...” Haru objected.
“Stop it!” Ka-chan ordered. “If Sai says it was genius level behaviour, why can’t you accept it? He isn’t saying it to make you feel better. He hasn’t got a clue about that kind of stuff.”
Haru had to concede that Kazuki had a point there. “Papa still thinks I did it on my own,” he objected.
“Then tell him about Sai,” Ran challenged.
“I can’t!” Haru replied. “You know that.”
“Then you have to live with it,” Kazuki told him. “Even without Sai, Papa would’ve been giving you the same talk. Genius, blah, blah, blah. Can’t risk losing you, blah, blah, blah. Work with Shika-san, blah, blah, blah. Which, I would like to point out, has been your favourite way to spend your time since... ...since forever.”
“I agree,” Ran added quickly.
“Me too,” Sai contributed, “if I understand the use of ‘blah’ and accept that Kazuki is using ‘forever’ in a colloquial manner.”
Haru didn’t know if he felt picked on, or comforted, or both.
“Do you want a cuddle?” Ran asked.

Haru nodded and crawled across the bed to where Ran was sitting with his back against the wall. He burrowed under Ran’s arm and laid his head on his chest. Ran held him and stroked his hair.
He listened to Ran’s heartbeat and Ka-chan deciding what he was going to tell Papa during their talk.
Perhaps he should have mentioned some things other than wanting to visit planets and space stations.
Maybe he should make a list.

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