Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

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
- 32
- 33
- 34
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to melissen, Procrastination_is_key, eunmook, Aflyingmonkey, sadie237, Slynx, disembodiedvoiceofthedying and cynaga for reviewing after chapter 32 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.

Leader
Part 4: Parry
33: Intimidation

Haru stared at the display. His mouth dried. His gut twisted. He could feel his nails digging into his palms.
The image was so wrong that it was hard to believe it was true.
Yoshimi was kneeling submissively at the side of the Orochimaru print’s chair. He was facing the camera but his head was bowed. His hands were resting on his knees.
Orochimaru was fondling his hair, which wasn’t the right colour. Yo-chan’s fur was less golden than that.
“Look up for the camera,” Orochimaru ordered.

Yoshimi reluctantly raised his head. His cheeks were pink and Haru realised he was embarrassed or maybe ashamed. He looked different.
All twelve of his whiskers had gone. Their absence and the golden hair made him look like Keizo.
His eyes looked so sad.

Both Kazuki and Kuuya were growling.

Dan-san moved towards the display. He and Kazuki had struck a deal after the antenna had been installed; they could watch and listen to Itachi-san’s duels with the Orochimaru print provided they did not argue if Dan-san or Haku-san turned off the display or the speakers.
Kazuki snapped at him, warning him away from the switch.
“Kazu-kun!” Dan-san chided but for once Ka-chan did not back down. Haru knew that Dan-san would have to physically subdue him.

Haru’s attention went back to the screen, gathering as much detail as he could before Dan-san got past Ka-chan and switched it off. Yo-chan had a new collar. It was wider; for show as well as function. Haru had no doubt that it contained a controller; Yoshimi was a berserker like To-chan.
On it was written ‘Orochimaru’s little bitch’.
“He’s twelve, you perverted, sick excuse for a human,” Itachi-san roared.
Haru knew Papa would have reacted differently. Papa would have been incoherent with rage. He would have been like when Haru had smashed his tablet against Papa’s desk but a hundred times worse.
Only the Orochimaru print didn’t know that. He was satisfied by the reaction he had evoked. He tightened his grip on Yoshimi’s hair and tilted his head back so that Yo-chan was facing him.
“Perfect,” Orochimaru pronounced.

The screen went blank; Haku-san had got to the switch while Kazuki was watching Dan-san. Ka-chan turned on him.
Haku-san held up a finger. “Don’t you dare growl or snap at me, Kazuki Uchiha.”
Ka-chan backed down and his ears dipped. “I am sorry, Haku-san.” He turned to Dan-san. “I apologise, Dan-san.”
“Apology accepted, Kazuki-kun, but we go back to you youngsters not watching or listening to Orochimaru.”
“You would have told us,” Kuuya checked, his voice little more than a whisper. “You wouldn’t have kept it from us.”
Haku-san looked directly into Kuu-chan’s eyes. “I promise I would tell you. We want to protect you from that monster’s mind games, not to keep you from knowing the facts.”
“I thought Yo-chan was on the ship that jumped through the hole,” Ran murmured.
“We all assumed that,” Dan-san admitted.
Haru remembered the dyed fur and missing whiskers; Orochimaru must consider Keizo the most attractive. The print had sent Keizo to the original Orochimaru but kept Yoshimi because Yoshimi, like Keizo, didn’t have fangs. Then he had made Yoshimi look like Keizo.
“What if Yasushi went through the hole?” Kuuya whispered.
Haru’s gut twisted anew. Yoshimi and Yasushi were never apart. Even Kiba-san had given up trying to make them independent of each other.
Then again, if Yasushi had gone through the hole Papa and To-chan might have rescued him by now.
“The freak pulled out his whiskers,” Kazuki growled.
Haru was worried about worse things than whiskers; he was imagining Yoshimi bonded to the Orochimaru print.

He was still worrying about it as he lay wide-awake in his bed that afternoon. They slept in the afternoon to cope with the double-length days and, usually, Haru had no problem doing so.
This time was different.
He could hear the others sleeping; the growly edge when Ka-chan inhaled and the quieter sounds made by Kuuya and Ran.
Haru wasn’t surprised that they could sleep when he could not. Kazuki and Kuuya had been out with the gatherers for most of the morning; they had only just returned in time for Orochimaru and Itachi-san’s exchange.
As for Ran, Haru knew that he found being bombarded by the toad hybrids’ emotions exhausting.

What was happening to Yoshimi? How much of what they had seen had been for show? He recalled Yo-chan’s face. Was he embarrassed because of the collar and sad because he was missing Yasushi? Or was he ashamed and wretched because Orochimaru had already stolen what should be special between people who loved each other?
Haru didn’t want to think about it. He tried focusing on Ka-chan’s breathing; that usually sent him to sleep. Instead he found himself listening to the drips; splat, splat, spl-splat, splat, spl-spl-splat, splat.
He got up; once he started analysing the patterns it was hopeless.

He pulled on a pair of shorts, crept out of the sleeping alcove and made his way to the room that Gamariki had set aside for him to work in.
On the table sat the receiver/recorder, which was now connected to the antenna that ran up to the surface. Haru stared at the recorder, briefly considering defying Dan-san and playing the rest of the exchange between Orochimaru and Itachi-san.
No, they had promised; an Uchiha did not break promises.

Against the walls were boards on which he could write; they only had six power cells with them so Haru was conserving energy. They had solar cells, but Dan-san had decided leaving them on the surface increased the risk of detection.
Haru was thinking about building a dynamo; Kazuki and Kuuya were so desperate for physical activity that they would be happy to turn it. Finding the components would be a challenge. They couldn’t go back to the ship; the Akatsuki had been there. Haru knew because the transmissions from the cameras and from the Lancet were jammed.
He wondered if the Lancet was still in one piece; she would self-destruct if someone tried to board her without the correct security codes.

His eyes went to the board showing what he had learned about monitoring the enemy’s radio traffic. The signals were scrambled, but Haru had written a programme to decrypt them.
The Akatsuki had yet to work out that there were sentient inhabitants. Most of the radio traffic had been about swamps, crocodiles, snakes and minkies misbehaving or getting eaten.
“Haru-kun.”
He jumped and turned. It was Haku-san. His hair was down and he was wearing a snakeskin sarong.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Haru admitted.
“I can see that. Do you want to come to the kitchen and have a hot drink?”
Gamariki would be in or near the kitchen. Haru imagined being cuddled and petted. “I’ll go back to bed,” he volunteered.
“And lie there awake,” Haku-san pointed out. He sat down on one of the stools and gestured towards another.
Haru moved reluctantly towards it and perched on the edge.
“What do you know about your otosan’s childhood?” Haku-san asked. “Naruto-san’s childhood,” he clarified.
Haru’s mind began whirling. Why was Haku-san asking that? “He grew up feral, like Ran. He spent some time in an orphanage but didn’t like it, so he ran away and joined a ship’s crew.”
“Not the Silver Leaf,” Haku-san prompted.
“No. Another ship,” Haru agreed. He thought about it. To-chan had always been vague about the details but Haru had picked a fragment here and a hint there. “There was more than one ship.”
“Yes,” Haku-san agreed. “And what do you know about traditional spacer crews, Haru-kun?”
Haru felt himself flush. “He would be the cat.” Why was Haku-san getting him to think about To-chan being a cat?
Then the pieces fell into place. “He never bonded to anyone before Papa.”
Haku-san smiled.
Haru felt much, much better. Even if Orochimaru forced himself on Yoshimi, even if Yo-chan didn’t have any choice but to submit, it didn’t mean Yo-chan would bond to that monster.
“Thank you, Haku-san.”
“You are welcome, Haru-kun. Now, are you sure you do not want that drink?”
“No thank you, Haku-san. I will go back to bed.”

He tried to creep back into his sleeping alcove without waking the others but two pairs of bright blue eyes were watching him as he approached.
Kazuki gave a tiny interrogative yelp and Kuuya sat up.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Haru whispered. “Don’t wake Ran.”
“He’s fast asleep,” Kuuya observed. He shifted towards the back of his sleeping alcove. “Room in here for two little ones.”
“Less of the little,” Kazuki growled but neither he nor Haru needed a second invitation. The three of them packed into the alcove. Haru wriggled in between his brothers; it was damp and they were sweaty but he did not care.
“What did Haku-san say to you?” Kuu-chan asked.
Haru wasn’t surprised; the kits’ hearing was amazing.
“He got me to remember that To-chan had catted on more than one crew, so I would worry less about Yo-chan.”
Kazuki growled and Kuuya went still. “Weird thought,” he admitted. “To-chan fucking someone other than Papa.”
Haru gave a squeak of protest. “Don’t!” he objected.
“You brought it up,” Kuuya reminded him.
“I didn’t say ‘fucking’,” Haru pointed out.
Ka-chan gave a small snort. “You’re so prissy sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Kuu-chan queried.
“I’m not,” Haru objected. “I’m just...”
“Romantic,” Kazuki supplied. “Hand-holding and kisses.”
Haru felt himself blushing.
Kuuya chuckled and patted his head. “No wonder Gamariki thinks you’re such a cutie. Who’s first on your list, Ka-chan?”
“List?” Haru queried.
“People we want to fuck when Papa gives us the go-ahead,” Kuuya explained.
Kazuki tickled Haru’s ribs. “List. It’s not like you don’t have one, Ha-chan. Ran. Five.”
Kuuya chuckled. “Five?”
Haru knew he was tomato-red. “Ka-chan!”
“Five is playing the long game. He is planning a threesome with Ran and Haru,” Kazuki explained.
Kuuya growled. “Only if he proves to be as good as Kakashi-san thinks he’ll be. Spill it, Kazu-chan.”
Kazuki sighed. “What’s there to say? There are hardly any women in the crew and all of them are attached.”
“Except Misora and Shizune,” Kuuya reminded him.
“Misora isn’t going to let me fuck her. Kamatari perhaps, but not me. As for Shizune, she’s not interested in men.”
It was true and all three of them knew it.
“It has to be a woman?” Haru asked.
“Breasts,” Kazuki stated, as if that explained everything. “What about you, Kuu-chan?”
“Not fussy,” Kuu-chan admitted.
“Who do you fancy most?” Ka-chan pressed.
Kuuya sighed. “You’ll laugh,” he warned. “Haku-san.”
“Ew!” Haru could not help it.
“I bet he’s an amazing fuck,” Ka-chan admitted.
“Eeewww!” Haru really, really didn’t want to think about that but suddenly he was remembering Haku-san with his hair down and how low the snakeskin sarong has been riding on his hips.
Which brought his thoughts back to their conversation and Yoshimi. Suddenly it felt wrong that they were gossiping when Yo-chan was been pawed, or worse, by a monster.
Kuuya hugged him. “We’re thinking about him too.”
“Brooding on it won’t help,” Kazuki added. “Not getting caught so that Itachi-san can concentrate on Yo-chan helps.”
“Getting some sleep would help,” Ran added from the other side of the room. “If the three of you would shut up.”
“Yes, Ran-san,” Kazuki replied. “Anything you say, Ran-san.”
Haru poked him in the ribs. “Ran’s right. Shut up or Haku-san will hear and we’ll get a lecture.”
“Or extra chores,” Kuuya added.

After that they settled down. Kuuya didn’t seem to mind them staying, so Haru drifted off to sleep sandwiched between his brothers.
Next thing he knew, Kuuya and Kazuki were gone and Ran was shaking him awake.
“We’re packing up and moving out.”
Haru blinked at him. “Where to? Now?”
Ran looked close to tears. “The Akatsuki have found one of the other tribes. They killed ten of them and told them that any tribe found sheltering us would be eliminated. That tribe told the others, like Orochimaru wanted. Gama-sama’s told Dan-san that we have to go. Gamariki tried arguing that we should be able to stay until morning but Gama-sama isn’t willing to take the risk.”
None of the Gama went out at night. Night was when the crocodiles and the snakes were at their most active.
Haru’s mind was full of what he needed to do. Top priority was packing all the electronics into waterproof containers.
“We are only going to be able to take what we can carry,” Ran added. “Dan-san is hoping that Gama-sama will agree to dump the rest where we can find it rather than sinking it in deep water.”
Haru’s gut churned. The priority would have to be weapons and medical supplies. Ran was in shorts rather than his survival suit, so Haru dragged on a pair and followed Ran into the shared area.
Gamariki froze when he saw him. The huge violet eyes blinked once and then again. He then uttered a huge croak and was beside him.
Haru had just decided that Gamariki had jumped when he was swept up and carried out of the burrow into the late afternoon gloom.

Gamariki moved using a series of hops, skips and jumps and it was proving to be a remarkably quick way of covering the ground. Haru could hear Dan-san shouting. Over Gamariki’s shoulder he could see Kazuki in pursuit.
“Where are we going, Gamariki-san?” he asked.
Gamariki replied but it was all croaks and Haru did not understand.

A short time outside and they entered another burrow. There were huge hunters like Gamabunta at the entrance but Gamariki yelled at them and they stood aside.
This burrow was much bigger and less cosy; as if people worked there rather than lived there.
They were leaping along a high, wide corridor. At the end were two hunters that Haru did recognise; Gamaken and Gamahiro.
There was little doubt that they could have stopped Gamariki if they had tried, only they didn’t.

In the chamber beyond was the biggest person Haru had ever seen. He was twice the size of Kisame-san, half again as big as Gamabunta.
Haru swallowed; it had to be Gama-sama. He was sitting cross-legged, which was good because if he had been standing he would have been even scarier. He had orange skin and blue markings.

Gama-sama roared his displeasure at Gamariki. It was loud. It echoed off the walls. Haru could feel it vibrating every fibre of his body.
Gamariki did not answer. Instead he placed Haru on his feet about twelve paces from Gama-sama and backed away.
Haru looked up at the huge man. This was not a time to show fear. He stood up straight and stuck his chin out. “My name is Haru Uchiha. It is an honour to meet you, Gama-sama.”
There was no second roar. Gama-sama was studying him. It could be worse. Haru began to think about what to do next.
Then a silver blur went past him and took up a fighting stance between him and the massive toad hybrid. Kazuki’s fur was bristling and his teeth were bared. He was growling.
Haru shut his eyes and imagined Kazuki’s body crushed in a giant hand or slamming against the wall of the chamber.
Another sound; equally loud but not so intimidating. Haru risked opening an eye.
Gama-sama was laughing.
“Be polite, Ka-chan,” Haru hissed.
Kazuki considered. Haru could see him deciding that if Gama-sama was laughing, he was unlikely to attack. He stood next to Haru and bowed.
“I am Kazuki Uchiha,” he announced.
Gama-sama stopped laughing and spoke in the ‘old way’. “I who his name gave up am. He who the tribe leads. I must my people protect. Akatsuki without provocation kill. You must go.” He paused, looking at Haru. “You can until morning stay.”
Haru took a deep breath. “Thank you, Gama-sama.”
Huge yellow eyes blinked at him. “I shall you remember, Haru Uchiha and Kazuki Uchiha.”

Gamahiro walked them back to the youngster’s burrow. Haru wondered about Gamariki. How much trouble was he in?
“What’s the point of being remembered once we’re a crocodile’s snack?” Kazuki grumbled.
Haru glanced up at Gamahiro. “Gama-sama is doing what he thinks is best for his clan, like Papa would.”
Kazuki snorted. “Appeasement will never work against Orochimaru.”

Gamariki’s intervention had won them a long, local night. By the time dawn was approaching, they were rested, fed, packed and clad in their suits. They had maps that Haru had annotated using the data stored in his array. Everything they could not carry was going to be hidden at designated points chosen by Gamahiro, Gamaken and Gamabunta.
Kichi and Tatsu had helped them pack and were now standing, miserably, waiting to say goodbye. Haru was wondered where Gamariki was when he appeared. His colourful skin was covered in a hooded snakeskin suit. On his back was a pack, a huge knife and a spear.
“I with you come,” he announced. “I you guide.”
Kichi and Tatsu broke out into a flurry of croaks. Tatsu looked as if he was going to cry. Gamariki gave them both a hug and kissed the tops of their heads.
“Gamariki,” Dan-san began.
“Not Gamariki,” Gamariki corrected him. “Not Gama. Just Riki.”
Whatever that meant, it was significant, because both Kichi and Tatsu started to cry. Tatsu ran to Gamariki and clasped him about the waist, burying his head in his chest.
“Riki-san,” Dan-san started again. “We cannot accept your kind offer.”
Gamariki, Riki, looked at him. “Done. No back go.” He pushed Tatsu away gently, crouched down and spoke to him and to Kichi in their everyday language.
Haru did not have to understand to follow it. Be good. Look after your little brother. I am proud of you. Never forget that I love you. All the things Kiba-san would have said to them in the same situation.
Or maybe what To-chan would have said; Haru wasn’t sure if Gamariki was their guardian or their parent.
Had Gama-sama thrown him out of the tribe because he had argued? Was this the price of their extra night?

Then they were off. Riki-san was on point with Kazuki. Dan-san and Kuuya were the rearguard. Between were Haru, Ran and Haku-san.
They emerged from the burrow into the morning mist. Around them were what Haru had come to recognise as the tribe’s fields and gardens.
Riki-san headed towards the sunrise, towards the wilderness. The others followed.
Haru found himself hesitating. Ran turned back and smiled at him.
He smiled back and began walking.
- 32
- 33
- 34
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Leader