In the cold of space you find the heat of suns

Warning: The views, standards, mores and morals of the different groups in this story, including those of ‘spacers’, are not those of our world. They are the product of a fictional future history. Many of the behaviours they consider acceptable we do not; some of them are wrong by my definition in that they are damaging to one or more of the individuals involved and/or suggest that one individual has more intrinsic value than another. In this story, ‘spacers’ consider youths of fourteen capable of giving informed consent and they consider a job description that includes providing sexual favours to others, including much older people, to be normal and acceptable.

2. Seeking a substitute

Tsunade was thankful for Kakashi’s warning. She had been shocked that Iruka had made the meeting formal, so The Brat had to be present, but realised that the boy had to know. Better this way than Genma yelling at him in the crew room.

“We understand that the terms of the contract of hiring means that we cannot swap him or voluntarily yield him to another crew.” Iruka was saying,

Tsunade would not have thought it possible in one so pale, but the boy had blanched at Iruka’s words. Iruka saw it: Tsunade watched him bite his lip before continuing.

“And, despite his considerable skills, we cannot promote him. Although Sasuke is a remarkable fighter for his age and build he could not, as yet, protect himself from the challenges that would result.”

Tsunade watched the boy staring at a point on the floor. The last crew that had challenged the Silver Leaf for him had put forward a knife-fighter as champion. The Silver Leaf had chosen Iruka. Tsunade had watched the boy rather than the battle, the realisation dawning in his eyes that Iruka may die. Iruka had slashed the man’s throat, but was cut on the arm. He was still wearing one of the portable regens.

“So Sasuke must remain with us, as cat, but only Jiraiya finds sexual interactions with him pleasurable. This is a source of tension for the crew. We wish the Captain to help us resolve this issue.”

She was ready. “You can recruit a second cat,” she told them.

There was silence. “Two cats,” Genma checked.

Tsunade nodded, “This has happened twice before in the crew history. Understand that it is a solution to a specific problem rather than a precedent.”

“Stay,” she ordered the boy once the meeting had ended. She settled into her chair and watched him preparing her drink. He was upset. She could tell by the way he moved. He placed the drink on the surface to her right. “Foot massage,” she told him.

He was an excellent masseur. Perhaps Jiraiya was correct and it was best to treat him like an android. If one did not expect emotions, then the lack of them was rather peaceful. On the other hand, if Kakashi was correct the boy represented a source of unpredictable risk.

“Most cats have few useful skills,” she told him. “Cats like you, trained for space, they are rare. You will help train him. This will go some way to make up for your inadequacies.” She watched the elegant pale hands moving across her skin. “Is there something you wish to say?” she asked, hoping that this time, perhaps, he would initiate a conversation.

“No, Captain,” he replied.

“Two cats.” Shikamaru kept repeating. Kakashi knew he was thinking about how few chores he would have to do. The lad was irredeemably lazy. He caught Iruka’s eyes and they smiled. Shikamaru had no idea that a normal cat, a non-Sasuke cat, created more work than they accomplished.

Genma was at the console, reviewing their next three drops as potential sources of a cat. He grimaced, “We’re a long way into the Fringe.”

“That does not mean we will not find anyone.” Iruka reassured him. “Just that we will need better eyes.”

“But isn’t it best to recruit from planets with a spacer tradition?” Shikamaru asked.

“Not always.” Kakashi replied, his eye sweeping appreciatively across his lover’s body and watching Iruka flush in response.

“I was from the far Fringe.” Iruka admitted.

Kakashi remembered the skinny, nondescript, brown boy and Jiraiya insisting that they needed glue rather than yet another component. At the time Kakashi had dismissed what he said as more of his usual nonsense. Now he knew better. Iruka had turned a dysfunctional group into a family.

“I apologise, Iruka-sensei,” Shikamaru was saying.

Iruka placed a hand on the young man’s arm. “I was not insulted, Shi-chan. You could not know what I had not told you.”

When Kakashi thought about it, Iruka never spoke about his childhood with anyone other than him. He studied the other two. Genma and Ibiki were as surprised as Shikamaru, although they were trying to hide it. Neither of them had been crew when Iruka had been recruited. They were buy-ins. Genma had been with them three standards, Ibiki five.

“We will rely on your intuition, Iruka.” Ibiki stated.

Iruka gave a sad smile. “It did not aid us with Sasuke,” he admitted.

Kakashi’s felt Ibiki’s gaze on him. “You should not blame yourself for that,” the scarred man insisted. “The boy has many excellent characteristics. None of us…” Kakashi could almost hear ‘even Kakashi’ “…raised any objections.”

Five planets and two divisions later they were still looking. Shikamaru had started servicing Genma, which was a relief to everyone; sexual frustration shortened the boatswain’s already limited fuse. There was no longer the pretence that Sasuke spent personal time with anyone other than Jiraiya and the Captain. The atmosphere in the crew room had improved. Even Genma was beginning to appreciate what the boy could do rather than what he could not.

They were preparing for drop. As cat, Sasuke prepared the crew room under Iruka’s supervision. Iruka watched him stow each item in its designated place then move the couches into their drop positions; faultless, as always.

“Minunderville is a dangerous place,” he began and watched Sasuke’s attitude change from neutral to attentive. “What do you know of it?”

“Little. It is the primary space station for this sector. Experts consider it the fifth most important trading station in the inner Fringe. It has a reputation for violence. This is probably because it chooses to accept false credentials from pirate ships masquerading as spacers.” To Iruka’s surprise the boy looked away. “You should consider leaving me on the ship. The possibility of challenge is high.”

“And what would it do to the Silver Leaf’s reputation if others realised that we had left our cat on the ship?” Iruka asked.

The way the boy was holding his body altered slightly. It was the change Iruka was beginning to associate with his stubbornness. “Shikamaru was your cat,” he suggested.

“Shikamaru has his knife now.” Iruka reminded him and the boy froze.

“I apologise, Iruka-sensei. I request that you do not inform Shikamaru-san of my thoughtless and stupid remark.”

Iruka wanted to ruffle the boy’s hair and decided to risk it. The boy stopped himself shying away and submitted. “I accept your apology, Sasuke. You are young. Making mistakes is part of being a cat. Go to the Captain and assist with her preparations for drop.”

Even so, Iruka was careful how he dressed the boy, avoiding anything eye-catching. He saw Ibiki watching them. “It may help a little,” he suggested.

“Perhaps a little,” Ibiki conceded. “Sasuke, you need to move smoothly and do nothing to attract attention.”

The boy nodded. “I understand, Ibiki-sensei.”

The scarred man was pleased to be given the title, Iruka could tell. “Sasuke, go ask the Captain if there is anything she needs you to do before we head out. He watched the boy vanish into the corridor. “You like him,” he said to Ibiki with a smile.

Ibiki did not bother to scowl. “He has a quality,” he admitted. Iruka wondered if he was about to say more, but the big man turned back to preparing his weapons.

Kakashi, who had been perched on a top bunk observing Iruka interacting with Sasuke, waited until Iruka was fetching something from storage.

“Thank you, Ibiki,” he said in a voice pitched to reach only the scarred man’s ears.

“It was not the time,” the big man growled, “but such a time cannot be delayed much longer.”

The floor vibrated with the footfalls of thousands. The corridors were filled with tight groups that moved past each other without touching. Moving as a unit, utilitarian and compact, they passed a fight without pausing, stepping over the rivulets of blood.

They did not even make it to the unit they had rented as a base. The crew stepped into their path and issued the challenge.

“For the cat,” their spokesman stated, as if such a clarification was necessary. Kakashi’s stomach dropped. He spared a glance at Tsunade’s face and saw confirmation. They knew. They were here for the specific task of acquiring Sasuke Uchiha. That meant that they had a knife-fighter who was better than Iruka. He slipped a finger under his eye patch.

Iruka missed Kakashi activating his eye, he was too busy observing their knife-fighter, but nothing could make him miss Kakashi’s reaction to the implant making its connections. A stranger may have missed it, not his lover, not Iruka. Kakashi was expecting to fight and thought the situation required him to perform at his peak, despite the price.

The other crew were shocked when Silver Leaf put forward Kakashi as their champion. Tsunade could taste her relief. They were less informed than she had feared. Perhaps they were merely mercenaries, instructed to acquire Sasuke without knowing who he was. They had expected Iruka to fight and put forward their knife-fighter as planned. Kakashi slaughtered the man within seconds. It was always like that, inhumanly fast, leaving those who watched wondering what they had seen.

The other crew gathered up the body and tossed another onto the bloodstained floor before walking away. Tsunade stared at it. There had been no negotiation, no agreement of reparations. That meant Silver Leaf acquired the losing crew’s cat. He was undersized, grubby and unconscious. Ibiki caught her eye and she gave the slightest of nods. He scooped the boy up and they headed back to the ship. Deals would be compromised, but Kakashi would need to be home when the aftershock hit him.