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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
- 37
- 38
- 39
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to melissen, Dawn, sadie237, Aflyingmonkey, v and disembodiedvoiceofthedying for reviewing after chapter 37 was posted.
I am deeply grateful for those readers who review or send emails, particularly those who do so regularly.
I am really struggling with this story. It isn’t the plot; I know what is going to happen. It is the writing process. For the first time in two and a half years I considered having a sabbatical from it. Only I won’t because I know that if I stop I shall never finish it.
So, at this time, every iota of feedback really counts: every hit; every rating; every review. I need to know that there are readers out there who want the rest of it. Think of it being like helping to pull that wagon over the highest, rockiest part of the pass.

Leader
Part 5: Regroup
38: Impotent

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and stretched. Reviewing the plan was not going to change reality.
They had retrieved the Silver Leaf, jumped back, picked up the Dart and then rendezvoused with Tennyo One’s ship. Since then it had been a matter of sitting, watching and waiting.
Waiting in case the hole should open.
Waiting for the Renaissance, which had jumped into the system yesterday and would reach them tomorrow.
Waiting for Tennyo Six to find out if the second hole could be jumped.
Waiting thirteen more days until, hopefully, the Maple could jump into the system and initiate a rescue.
He thought of Yoshimi with the Orochimaru print and felt sick.
He hoped Kuuya, Kazuki and Haru were safe hiding on the planet.

Beyond the door to his office, the ship was a hive of activity. Yuki was keeping everyone busy in the gaps between drills, duties and training. There was no time for brooding; even the kits and Ryuu were physically exhausted by the time their heads hit their pillows.
Hoshi was beside him within seconds of him emerging from his office.
“Papa?”
“Yes, Ho-chan?”
“We have been talking...”
Sasuke braced himself. Those words usually meant something he would prefer not to contemplate.
“...and we think we should name the ship.”
It seemed harmless. He nodded and Hoshi smiled, which was nice.
“We have a shortlist of four names; Cedar, Elm, Hawthorn and Linden.”
“Excellent,” Sasuke acknowledged.
“We want you to choose one.”
“Ask your To-chan,” he suggested.
“To-chan said that you should do it, Papa.”
Sasuke did not miss the gentle reproach. He considered. “The Linden,” he decided.
“Yu-chan was wondering when we would hold the naming ceremony.”
He sighed; you couldn’t name a ship without a ceremony. “After the Renaissance arrives.”
“Thank you, Papa.”
“You are welcome, Ho-chan. Do you know where I can find your To-chan?”
“I think he is in the gym, Papa.”

Sasuke managed to get to the ladder without being intercepted for a second time. He checked that the way was clear and slid down.
They had converted the storage hold next to hydroponics into a gym. Sasuke peered around the doorway, hoping that Naruto was alone.
He was. Sasuke watched for a few moments, appreciating the way Naruto’s muscles moved under the glistening, golden skin. Then he went in and sat on a packing case that had been left to provide a platform.
It reminded him of being on the Silver Leaf; of the day he had decided that he wanted Naruto to fuck him.

Naruto finished his series of moves, draped a towel around his neck and came over. He stood between Sasuke’s knees and leaned in for a kiss.
“You’re all sweaty,” Sasuke objected.
Naruto smiled and pulled him closer.
“Dobe!” he complained as sweat soaked through his shirt to his skin.
Naruto nuzzled his neck. “You smell good.”
This packing case was lower than the one on the Silver Leaf. Naruto growled as their covered cocks rubbed over each other.
It was the perfect height. “Tell me you have your thingy,” Sasuke whispered.
Naruto pulled away and looked at him. “Teme, why would I carry my thingy when I was going to train? You came to find me. You should have brought the thingy.”
He was right and Sasuke knew it. “I didn’t think,” he admitted. He sighed. “We’ll never get all the way up the ladder without being stopped by Hoshi or Yuki.”
“Or Gai,” Naruto agreed. “Old fashioned quickie?”
Sasuke was more in the mood to be fucked than fuck but it would have to do. “Door,” he hinted.

Naruto kissed him before pulling away and heading for the door. Sasuke looked about the room for something to stand on; his legs were much shorter than Naruto’s.
Then the intercom clicked.
“This is Inari. The minigate has established a jump field. Code Blue. This is not a drill. I repeat. Code Blue. This is not a drill.”

All thought of fucking vanished. This was it. The hole was open. Should they jump? Would the bombs still be there? Could they trick the Orochimaru print into thinking that it was still an Akatsuki ship?

Naruto was gone before Sasuke was off the packing case. By the time he reached the bottom of the ladder, Naruto was stepping off the top.
“This is Inari. We have confirmation that our communication has been transmitted. We have received communications from the other system.”
Sasuke concentrated on climbing the ladder. Above him he could see Ryuu and Keizo standing aside to give him right of way. As he passed each level he heard or saw people getting into their suits or moving towards their stations.

He stepped off the ladder, entered his office, activated the projector and depressed the intercom.
“This is Sasuke. Relay any decoded sections of the incoming communications to my office and copy the encoded communication to Shika-san on the Renaissance.”
“This is Hikaru. Communications are being relayed as they are decoded. The first one is short and from Itachi-san. The raw encoded transmission has been sent to Shikamaru-san.”

Itachi’s message was more urgent than getting into this suit. It was audio-only and went straight to the point.
“Do not attempt to jump the hole. I repeat, do not attempt to jump the hole.”
On balance, it was a relief. Sasuke sighed, paused the message and went to the intercom. “This is Sasuke. Stand down. We will not be jumping the hole. I repeat. Stand down and return to normal duties. Naruto, please could you join me in my office? Hikaru, can you confirm that nothing in the communication was flagged as requiring a response?”
“This is Hikaru. There are no response flags.”

He restarted the message.
“This is day twenty-eight.”
Itachi would be counting from the attack on the Oak, so this part of the message had been updated only two days before.
“The Akatsuki have built a jump field disruptor close to the hole. They also have the remaining bombs in case the disruptor fails. If someone jumps through, they will explode the bombs.
“We are taking advantage of t-t-temporary damage to the disruptor to transmit this message.”
The uncharacteristic stutter alerted Sasuke to the fact that the damage had been planned and deliberate. Itachi was being very careful about what he said; as if he was worried about the enemy deciphering the message.
Sasuke hoped it was just Itachi being obsessive about security.

“521, 796, 374, 109 and 725 are, at the time of this recording, operating as a resistance force.”
He stopped the message. Itachi had coded the names and the coding would depend on the date the recording had been made.
A few minutes’ work with one of Shikamaru’s programmes replaced all the numbers with the appropriate names.

Naruto arrived before he could continue. Sasuke started the message at the beginning. He watched Naruto listening; noticing how his whiskers twitched at Itachi’s stutter.
“Itachi, Kisame, Hamaki, Terai and Fu are, at the time of this recording, operating as a resistance force.”
“He used code numbers?” Naruto queried, alerted by the discontinuities in Itachi’s speech patterns.
Sasuke nodded. He knew what they were both thinking. Why was Itachi being so cautious?
“Yoshimi and Akemi are definitely with the Orochimaru print, who is residing in space on the Sakura.
“I am uncertain as to the whereabouts of Hoshi, Yuki, Keizo, Yasushi, Gai and Rin. They were captured by the Akatsuki and were either on the Akatsuki mothership that jumped out of the system or they are with the Orochimaru print.
“Kuuya, Kazuki, Haru, Ran, Haku and Dan made it down to the surface of the outer of the habitable planets. However, based on the Akatsuki radio traffic, we believe that Haru, Ran, Haku and Kazuki have been captured by Akatsuki forces on the planet and taken to the Sakura.”
Sasuke flinched and he saw Naruto’s whiskers droop.
Haru’s capture also explained Itachi’s caution; given time and resources, Haru would be able to build a software simulation of their hardware encoders. He also understood Shikamaru’s techniques for hiding transmissions with the background radiation.
Itachi was continuing. “We have no information about Kuuya or Dan.
“The most unexpected news is that the outer habitable planet is inhabited. There is a population of toad-human hybrids. Presumably they were left by someone farming the planet illegally.
“Other reports follow.”

At any other time, the toad hybrids would have been interesting. Now all he could think about were Haru, Kazuki and Yoshimi in the hands of that monster. Not to mention Ran; Sasuke imagined being able to feel the homicidal sadist’s emotions and shuddered.
Naruto drew him into an embrace, nuzzling his hair and making small foxy sounds of comfort.
“He has had Yo-chan for thirty days,” Sasuke whispered. “It is thirteen more days until the Maple can get there.”
The arms around him tightened. They stayed there for a while, holding each other, not saying what Sasuke knew they both were thinking.
Even the Maple’s arrival would not ensure their children’s safe rescue. Orochimaru would not hesitate to use their children as a shield or, worse, a weapon.

Shikamaru was struggling to adapt to his new situation. He had thought that breaking up with Neji would be like when Neji had been kidnapped only without the worry.
It wasn’t. Every time he and Neji met he had to remember not to touch, nor stand too close, nor make a comment that only a lover would make, nor give any of the signals that he wanted Neji to fuck him.
Which he did; very badly.
He oscillated between knowing he had done the right thing and desperately wishing he hadn’t.

Receiving Itachi’s communication gave him a fresh excuse to hide in the simulator.
It only took Sai seconds to decode the message and spread the components across the field of view. Shikamaru’s gaze went to Itachi’s main message and he activated the audio.
What he heard felt like a kick in the balls; Haru had been captured by the Orochimaru print.

Shikamaru’s mind filled with starbursts of thought and warring emotions: guilt that he cared more for Haru than Yoshimi or Kazuki; fear of what Orochimaru would do; frustration that the Maple could not get there for thirteen days; anger.
This time he did not wall the emotions away; he allowed them to roam his mind, disrupting his thoughts but fuelling his determination.

There had to be something useful they could do during the next thirteen days. He opened a channel to Sasuke. As he waited for a response, he searched through Itachi’s communications to see if there was any information about how they had damaged the disruptor.
There wasn’t; Itachi had been careful to give the impression that the damage had been accidental.

Sasuke’s image appeared in the simulation. He blinked owlishly; a sure sign that he and Naruto had been cuddling.
“Is the minigate still open?” Shikamaru demanded.
“Yes,” Sasuke confirmed; now that the two ships were in the same system the delay was barely perceptible.
“I need another communication window in five days’ time. Do I have your permission to send a request through to Itachi?”
He could see Sasuke debating whether to ask his reasons. Shikamaru wanted to yell at him that each second’s delay risked the Akatsuki realising what was happening and disrupting the field.
“The request will be hidden in the same way as the message we have just sent?”
“Of course.”
Send it,” Sasuke decided.
A quick command and it was on its way.
“Shika?” Sasuke queried.
“Not sure yet,” Shikamaru admitted. “It will give us confirmation that the second hole can be jumped.”
“But more than that.”
“Perhaps. Tomorrow, when we can talk face-to-face.”
Sasuke nodded. “Tomorrow.”
Shikamaru broke the connection, freeing Sasuke to go back to Naruto.

Five days; what could he come up with within five days? He began the task of working through every iota of information; integrating it into his models.
The first thing that came to mind was that the prisoners were on the Sakura. There had to be an advantage to be had from their in-depth knowledge of the spacecraft and its systems.
“Shikamaru-san?”
“Yes, Sai-kun?”
“Will Haru and Ran and Kazuki die?”
Hearing the words made that possibility all too real. “They will not be any use to the Orochimaru print once they are dead,” he insisted, as much to convince himself as Sai.
“Is this Orochimaru the Orochimaru who killed Sumiko’s Ma and Sumiko’s Pa?”
“It might as well be, Sai-kun. All the Orochimaru prints are like the original Orochimaru. They look like him, think like him, act like him and have all his memories up to the time the mindprint was made.”
There was a pause. “The imprinted clones are not the same as each other. The imprinted clones are very different from the original Orochimaru.”
Shikamaru was only listening with half an ear; there had to be something they could do from this side of the hole.
Sai was continuing. “The clones were gestated in a sensory deprivation environment. The clones have a mindnet. The clones have experienced the mindprinting process.”

Shikamaru’s mind froze and then exploded. The clones each had a mindnet; a mindnet that he and Rin had investigated extensively when they had thought Ranmaru’s brain contained a killnet.
“Shikamaru-san?”
“We will investigate the mindnet,” Shikamaru decided. “I was thinking about whether we could get a bomb through the hole.”
There was another pause. “A ship with a Mulligan drive would have to be sacrificed,” Sai replied. “The minigate connection would be lost. Anyone in the space at the other side of the hole or on the ship would die.” There was a third pause. “Overloading a Mulligan drive would produce a very big explosion.”
It was an interesting thought. Shikamaru was pretty sure that no one had ever considered using a drive that was worth more than five gates or ten good planets as a bomb.

He felt a little better. Three ideas were a great deal better than none.
“Are you going to think in the special way you do?” Sai asked.
“Special way?” Shikamaru queried.
“Like you did when you were looking for the links between holes.”
Shikamaru was intrigued. “So you helped Haru develop the route finder?”
“Haru had the ideas. I did the processing. I am very fast.”
“You are wondrously fast,” Shikamaru confirmed. “So what is special about the way I think when I am looking for links between holes?”
“You make jumps in your reasoning that I cannot follow. I do not understand your logic.”
That was interesting. “I don’t know what I do,” Shikamaru admitted. “It just happens. Sai-kun, I must go and tell the others the news. I shall come back later to talk through our ideas.”
“May I have access to all the information you have on the mindnet?”

Shikamaru spent a few minutes pulling all the relevant data from his array for Sai. Then, reluctantly, he climbed out of the simulator, dressed and went to find Kiba.
He hated being the one to tell Kiba that Kazuki and Haru had joined Yoshimi in Orochimaru’s hands.
Neji was next.
“I am so sorry, Shika,” he responded in his softest, deepest, most concerned voice.
Shikamaru’s gaze dropped and his head dipped before he could stop himself. In response, Neji’s hand went to his back automatically; stroking him.
He should step away. Instead he leaned into the touch and, sure enough, Neji took him in his arms and held him.

A small voice in Shikamaru’s mind reminded him that they were crewmates. Crewmates comforted each other. Crewmates fucked.
It was enough. He tipped his head back and Neji kissed him.

Within a minute they were in Neji’s room; naked. Another two and he was on his back holding up his knees while Neji prepped him.
The lube was beside the bed. Shikamaru wondered who Neji fantasised about as he masturbated; him or Hinata.
Then Neji was sinking into him and it felt so good to be filled.

“Thank you,” he whispered into Neji’s ear once they were both spent.
Neji’s arms tightened around him. “Shika?”
“Friends,” Shikamaru stated.
The hug loosened. “Friends,” Neji agreed.

The Renaissance was too large to fit into any of the Linden’s docking bays, so transfers between the two had to be done via shuttles.
They had discovered that the top of bay four could be closed off and pressurised, creating a shuttle dock. Sasuke, Naruto and the six children were packed into the small area outside the airlock that led to it.
Hikaru had set the controls so that they could have both doors open at the same time; the plan was that the children would invade and greet Kiba as soon as the shuttle bay was pressurised.

As soon as the indicator light was blue Ryuu had the doors open and they were off. Kiba must have been almost as quick with the shuttle’s airlock because he was down the gangplank before Yasushi reached the edge of the dock.
The sight of the two of them hugging lifted Sasuke’s spirits; perhaps Kiba could help Ya-chan in ways that he and Naruto could not.
“Shi-chan,” Naruto observed and was gone from his place at Sasuke’s side.

Shikamaru’s presence was unexpected; Sasuke guessed he had volunteered to pilot the shuttle. He watched him and Naruto talking. Whatever Shikamaru was saying, Naruto did not like it.
The children were dragging Kiba away to look over the ship. Sasuke waited until they had gone and moved closer to the foot of the gangplank.
Naruto and Shikamaru took the hint and walked towards him.

Naruto said nothing, merely twitched his whiskers and looked at Shikamaru. Shikamaru flushed and held up his left hand.
There was no love ring on his heart finger.
Sasuke did not understand. Had Shika and Neji argued?
“Shi-chan has something to ask you,” Naruto said ominously. Whatever the request was; Naruto disapproved of it.
“Sasuke-sama, please grant Neji’s request when he asks you for permission to pursue a sexual relationship with Hinata-san.”
The break was because of Hinata? Sasuke suddenly remembered being on Chanx and Neji’s reaction to the female character he had played.
“I shall listen to his request with an open mind,” he promised.
Shikamaru looked anxious.
“I shall also keep in mind that you support it,” he added.
“Thank you, Sasuke-sama.”
Naruto gave a small growl to emphasise that he did not concur.
“You, Na-chan and Kiba should discuss whether the Renaissance would be suitable for accommodation for the triplets,” Shikamaru suggested.
Naruto’s eyes lit up and Sasuke suppressed a smile at Shikamaru’s blatant, yet highly successful, distraction.

That afternoon Sasuke had a strategy meeting with Shikamaru and Neji. Sasuke had wondered if they would behave any differently towards each other but if it had not been for the absence of their love rings and Shikamaru’s announcement, Sasuke would have never guessed anything was amiss.
They discussed three ideas: exploiting their in-depth knowledge of the Sakura, finding a way to disrupt the mindnet in the Orochimaru print’s brain and converting one of the ships into a massive bomb.
“We will only use the bomb idea if the second hole cannot be jumped or the Maple’s rescue attempt fails,” Sasuke decided. “Concentrate on the other two ideas with the aim of getting useful information to Itachi if he manages to re-open the hole in five days’ time.”
“How long was the minigate operational, Sasuke-sama?” Neji asked.
“Forty-six minutes,” Sasuke replied. “We cannot be sure but I imagine Itachi caused some minor damage to the disruptor and it took that long for them to diagnose the fault and mend it. Shika, all three of these ideas require Itachi to reopen the hole. That may not be possible.”
Shikamaru’s shoulders slumped. “I know. If this hole cannot be reopened and the second hole cannot be jumped, we are back to the start.” He pulled himself together. “I have feelers everywhere looking for scans of systems that haven’t been added to our database. I am constantly looking for the system on the other side of the third hole.”

Sasuke knew he should not criticise. Shikamaru had already achieved so much; they had moved from hopeless to having a plan that had a realistic possibility of working. “We will remain positive. Hopefully Itachi will manage to arrange a window of communication in four days’ time. You will send him information that gives him a better chance against the Orochimaru print and we will learn that the second hole can be jumped. What next?”
“I, or rather Chaaruzu-san, will be sending Tennyo One to collect various supplies we might need if we go ahead with the bomb,” Shikamaru told them. “I would also like us to interrogate the nekos and the minkies who were on this ship. I would like to do that within the next four days in case it reveals anything that can be of use to Itachi-san. I would like to use Kiba as well as Neji.”
“Good idea,” Sasuke agreed, thinking of old-old-red-eight. “Make sure that you keep the minkies and the nekos separate.” He considered. “Kiba knows some of the older minkies but I think Naruto might have more effect on the nekos. Is there anything else?”
“The leak, Sasuke-sama,” Neji reminded them.

Sasuke frowned. Why had it been Neji who bought that up and not Shikamaru?
“I cannot see that there is much to be gained from discussing that at this time,” Shikamaru pointed out. “Asuma is aware of the situation. No sensitive information is being routed through Tarrasade. We can deal with that once this situation is resolved.”
“We are going to ignore a leak that leads directly to the Akatsuki?” Neji asked, incredulously.
Suddenly the friction between the two of them was all too obvious. Sasuke moved to intercept before the situation could deteriorate. “Shika has a point; we need to focus on rescuing our people.” He took a deep breath. Naruto was correct, he was the only person who could say it; both Shikamaru and Neji were sworn to Uchiha. “Once we have our people back, we will resolve that issue. No one will be above suspicion.”
“No one, Sasuke-sama?” Neji checked.
“No one,” Sasuke confirmed.
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