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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
- 46
- 47
- 48
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to SidonieStarr, satterb, Dragonbetty, Procrastination_is_key, telynaayuri, Aflyingmonkey, melissen, disembodiedvoiceofthedying for reviewing after chapter 46 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.

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Part 6: Counterattack
47: Reunion

Haru woke because Kuuya and Kazuki were flicking each other with towels; leaping and dodging each other’s attempts. For one sleepy moment he thought he was back in the nursery but then he remembered that they were on the Renaissance.
“He’s awake,” Ka-chan announced.
“About time,” Kuu-chan replied.
Haru rolled out of his bunk before they could get any ideas about stripping off his bedcovers. He managed to make it into the head with only a couple of flicks to his butt.
All the kits were expert towel-flickers; the corners barely brushed his skin.
“You’re back,” he observed through the closed door.
Kuuya laughed. “No, genius, it was a holoimage flicking your butt.”
Haru knew he wasn’t at his brightest when he had just woken up.
“We got back about midnight,” Kazuki told him. “You were asleep.”

Kuuya, Kazuki and Ran had gone with To-chan to return Kichi and Tatsu to the Gama. To-chan had been able to go because Kakashi-san could stay with Papa.
A small part of Haru had wanted to go with them. The rest was content to stay on the Renaissance with Shi-chan and Papa. He had seen enough crocodiles, snakes and snapping fish to last him for a while.
“How did it go?” he asked. They had been gone two days and three nights.
“Well,” Kuu-chan answered. “To-chan persuaded Gama-sama to let Riki-san back into the tribe. Given that Kichi and Tatsu wouldn’t let go of him, there wasn’t really another option but Gama-sama held out for ages.”
“That’s why it took so long,” Ka-chan added. “To-chan decided we needed to reunite Kichi and Tatsu with Riki-san first, so we went and picked up Dan-san and Riki-san.”
Haru wouldn’t have liked being the one to tell Dan-san about Rin-san; there was still no sign of her or Akemi or the Orochimaru print.

He finished in the head, opened the door and made a dash for the shower while the kits peppered his back, butt and thighs with flicks.
“Where’s Ran?” he asked as he shut the shower cubicle door.
“I win,” Kazuki declared.
“Win what?” Haru asked.
“I bet Kuu-chan that you would ask about Ran before your array,” Ka-chan replied. “Haku-san is busy so Iruka-san is making breakfast. Ran is helping him.”
Itachi-san and Kisame-san had arrived the day before; Haru hoped that Haku-san’s ‘busy’ was going well.

He did want to ask about his array but he was a bit cross with Kuuya for thinking he would put it before Ran, so he didn’t. Instead he washed, rinsed and started to dry himself.
“What’s been happening?” Kuuya asked, raising his voice over the noise of the blowers.
“T2 surrendered to the Electron. The Ninken is accepting the surrender of the minky fighters one by one. The Maple has jumped out and back bringing the Silver Leaf. Papa says that they will be here by this evening.”
“Good,” Kuuya acknowledged. “We’re going to breakfast. Don’t be late.”

Dried and dressed, Haru headed for the galley. Iruka-sensei was cooking, Ran was helping him. Kuuya and Kazuki where sitting at the table, whiskers up and sniffing the air.
The kits were like To-chan; they loved Iruka-sensei’s breakfasts.
Iruka-sensei summoned Haru over for a quick hug before telling him to sit down. Ran smiled and Haru smiled back.
“Do you want cooked breakfast, Haru-kun?” Iruka-sensei asked.
It smelled nice but Haru knew that it would sit in his stomach all morning. “No thank you, Iruka-sensei.”
“Serve yourself then,” he replied and signalled towards the containers of dried fruits, grains, nuts and yoghurt on the side.

Haru was filling a bowl when To-chan walked in.
“I thought I smelled breakfast.” He went to Iruka-sensei and gave him a hug and a kiss. “That will do for me.” He twitched his whiskers at Kuuya and Kazuki. “You two won’t mind having yoghurt, will you?”
The look on Ka-chan and Kuu-chan’s faces was priceless. Haru sniggered. It was good to see Kuuya and Kazuki getting teased rather than being the teasers.
Iruka-sensei rapped To-chan’s knuckles with his spoon. “The three of you can share this and I will cook up a second batch.”

To-chan gave Haru a quick hug and a kiss before sitting down. Haru quickly finished serving himself and went to sit beside him before someone else could take the place.
There was no conversation until To-chan, Kuu-chan and Ka-chan had demolished their first serving. To-chan finished first, He sat back in his chair with a small purr of contentment.
“That was lovely, Iruka-sensei,” he acknowledged before focusing on Haru. “Your Papa tells me that you are going to organise a thorough search of the entire system.”
Haru perked up. He had known that Shi-chan had suggested it so that he could look for Sai, but he had not known that Papa had agreed.
“We need to check that the Akatsuki haven’t left us any surprises,” Kuuya suggested.
“And learn more about how they operate,” Kazuki added.
Iruka-sensei brought over the pan and topped up To-chan’s and the kits’ plates. “You can look through the wreckage of the Oak. Perhaps, if you are lucky, you will find precious things that people will miss.”
“Like Papa’s biwa,” Ka-chan suggested immediately.

To-chan smiled at Kazuki and Haru wished he had thought of that. He began thinking of the different aspects of the search; they would need probes, ships, instruments, detectors and room to store everything they managed to salvage. The space he needed could be a problem. The Renaissance was far too small and he could not see the Maple staying in the system for long.
Ka-chan was calling him. “...Ha-chan! It’s no good To-chan, he’s light minutes away.”
Haru flushed. “Sorry, To-chan.”
“I was saying that I had something for you,” To-chan repeated. He got up, left the room for a moment and was carrying a snakeskin bag when he returned. He placed it on the table close to Haru.

All thought of eating vanished as Haru took out his data crystal array. There were a few new stains to the leather case but otherwise it looked fine.
Seeing it reminded him of Sai. He hadn’t told Ka-chan or Ran; they still thought that Sai was with Su-chan.
Telling them would mean he would have to talk about the possibility that Sai was dead.
“Ha-chan?” To-chan queried.
Haru realised that To-chan had expected him to be happy about the array. “Do you think the Maple will get here today?” he asked.

The distraction worked; To-chan was thinking about being reunited with the triplets and the rest of the big litter.
“They should be here by mid afternoon. Have you decided who is going to sleep where?” he asked.
Kuuya nodded. “Ya-chan and Yo-chan get Kichi and Tatsu’s room. Hoshi and Yuki get the other small room. The rest of us share. One or more of us will sleep in with Ya-chan until Yo-chan is detanked.”
To-chan twitched his whiskers. “Isn’t that room a bit small for seven? It’s snug for the four of you.”
Haru couldn’t agree more.
“We’ll find a cubbyhole for Ran,” Iruka-sensei volunteered. “There must be somewhere.”
Haru didn’t want that but he looked towards Ran and caught the tail-end of a small, grateful smile. It made him feel bad; he shouldn’t have been thinking that he wanted to share with Ran, he should be realising that Ran, as an empath, wouldn’t cope squeezed in with six other people.
“When will Yo-chan be detanked?” Kazuki asked.
“We are making absolutely sure we have all the drugs out of his system,” To-chan answered. “It will be soon, though. Shi-chan has already adapted one of the spare controllers. Maybe tomorrow, if Shizune-san is available."
Rin-san had always looked after their health; it would be weird to have Shizune-san doing it instead.

By ones and twos the others left until there was only Haru and Ran. Ran finished tidying up and made himself up a bowl of yoghurt, dried fruit and grains before sitting down.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I thought you’d be happy to get your array back but seeing it made you sad.”
Haru took a deep breath and began explaining about Sai. He knew he wasn’t being very clear and that Ran didn’t understand about ablative armour or blast patterns. Even so, as usual, Ran followed the sense of what he was saying.
“Sai tricked Shika-san into letting him do something necessary but incredibly dangerous,” he summarised when Haru stopped talking. “Now he is lost and may be dead.”
Haru could not bring himself to admit it in words but he nodded.
“Well, at least he doesn’t need oxygen or food or water. How long do you have before his power cell runs out?”
“Standards provided it isn’t damaged,” Haru replied. “Shi-chan persuaded Papa that we ought to search the whole system so I could look for him.”
“If Shika-san believes Sai is real, won’t Sasuke-sama?” Ran asked. “Maybe you should tell him about Sai.”
“No,” Haru answered at once, almost without thinking. “It isn’t as dangerous for Shi-chan because Centre would never mindwipe a typed-seven genius.”
He could see that Ran wasn’t convinced.
Shi-chan thinks we should keep it a secret,” Haru added.
Thankfully Ran accepted that.

It was a busy day. There were fittings to move, lockers to find, beds to make up and Haru was on watch for part of the morning. It was afternoon before he managed to check his array; Shi-chan helped him run a full diagnostic.
While they worked they talked about the search for Sai and about Shi-chan’s plans to hunt down the Akatsuki.
“It looks fine,” Shi-chan acknowledged as they inspected the results.
“This is Inryoku.”
They both jumped; the intercoms on the Renaissance didn’t click like the Uchiha version.
“The shuttle is docking.”
On its first trip the shuttle from the Maple was bringing Kiba-san, the triplets, Sumiko and the pods containing Mai and Shou.
“I must go,” Shi-chan said. “Are you coming?”
Haru hesitated.
“I am sure Kiba would be delighted if you were there,” Shi-chan encouraged.

The shuttle bay was crowded. Papa and To-chan were there for the triplets. Kuuya and Kazuki, like Haru, had come to greet Kiba-san. Kisame-san was there with a hover platform to pick up the pods.
To everyone’s surprise, the first person down the gangplank was Yasushi. Haru guessed he hadn’t wanted to wait until the second shuttle trip to see Yoshimi.
Kisame-san left with the pods, To-chan and Papa carried the triplets away, Kuuya took Yasushi to the infirmary to visit Yoshimi and Su-chan led Shi-chan off to their rooms.
Kazuki and Haru were left with Kiba-san.

Kiba-san put them side by side and crouched down in front of them. Haru knew that he was studying them, looking for the least suggestion that they had been mistreated.
“We’re fine,” Kazuki insisted.
“You are fine,” Kiba-san agreed. “We hybrids are tough.” He put out a hand and stroked Haru’s upper arm. “Ha-chan?”
Haru found himself blinking back tears. He remembered how had felt when the Orochimaru print had been humiliating Rin-san and threatening Kazuki or Ran. Then his mind was full of how scared he was that Sai had sacrificed himself to save them.
Kiba-san wrapped him in a tight, warm hug. “You are safe now, Haru-chan,” he whispered.
Haru decided that a bit of clinging would not go amiss.
“We fought crocodiles,” Kazuki was saying. “There were snakes and fish with teeth. I got to use a laser rifle and Ha-chan saved us all by making a grenade for me to throw.”
Kiba-san’s hug tightened slightly.
“That wasn’t the bad bit,” Haru confided. “That bit was kind of fun.”
Kiba-san pushed him a little way away so that they could make eye contact. “I lived in an Orochimaru print’s household for standards. I know what he is like.”
“Haku-san and Rin-san put themselves between him and us. He hurt them,” Haru admitted.
Ka-chan gave a small whimper of agreement.
Kiba-san pulled them both in for another hug. “We protect each other. It is who we are.”

By the time they had helped Kiba-san take his stuff to his room, the shuttle was docking again. They hurried back to the bay to find Kuuya already there.
“Ya-chan is sitting with Yo-chan,” he told them. “We’ll go and get him later.”
Kazuki flicked his ears and Haru nodded. Then the shuttle door opened and the other five members of the big litter were bearing down on them.
Next thing Haru knew Ryuu had lifted him up and was spinning him about. He was dizzy by the time Ry-chan put him down and moved onto Kazuki.
He found himself face to face with Hikaru.
“Ha-chan,” Hikaru acknowledged.
“Hi-chan,” Haru replied and then was gathered into a hug by Keizo.

Next they all went to the infirmary to have what Hoshi called a proper reunion. Yasushi was sitting close to the tank with his hand pressed against the side. Kazuki went up close and peered through the green gel.
“I think I can see a whisker growing back,” he announced, which won him a small smile from Ya-chan.
Then it was back to their rooms to argue about beds and lockers before the evemeal.

Haru sat on his bed while the newcomers unpacked. Looking at Ran’s bed and seeing Hikaru sitting there felt wrong.
“So what do you think will be happening, Ha-chan?” Hoshi asked from the doorway.
“Shi-chan thinks we have enough information to hunt down the Akatsuki,” Haru replied.
“What about us?” Hikaru asked. “Do you think Papa will send us home to Tarrasade?”
Haru didn’t but he was not sure why. It was tied up with Izuna-sama but Papa and To-chan and Shi-chan were careful not to talk about it in front of him. “There’s lots to do here,” he suggested.
“I want to help hunt down the Akatsuki,” Keizo admitted.
“That isn’t going to happen, Kei-chan,” Hoshi pointed out. “Having us captured is going to make Papa and To-chan even less likely to allow it.”

Haru thought about what Haku-san and Rin-san had gone through to protect them. “Maybe they are right,” he heard himself say.
The others were looking at him.
“Well I’m not scared,” Hikaru declared. “I don’t want to hide somewhere safe while others put themselves in danger.”
Haru hadn’t meant it that way.
Kazuki was on his feet. “Don’t you dare paint Ha-chan as some kind of coward. He did just fine. He saved us from the crocs and he got us off the Sakura before it blew up. What were you doing?”
Ryuu was up and growling.
“Stop it!” Kuuya yelled.
There was silence.
“We are not going back to bickering about nothing,” Kuuya insisted. “We were lucky this time. We aren’t sure how long it’ll take Yo-chan to recover but at least we all made it. Ha-chan, explain why it’s better for us to accept that Papa and To-chan aren’t going to let us go anywhere dangerous.”
Haru wished he had kept his mouth shut but he knew he had to try. “While we are young, the others will do anything to protect us.” He tried to stop his voice shaking but knew he was not succeeding. “Like Haku-san and Rin-san with the Orochimaru print.”
He took a deep breath and managed to get his voice under control. “We need to be older and stronger and tougher, so we can protect others rather than them protecting us. For some of us that may mean a couple of standards of hard work.” He pointed at Ryuu and Kuuya. “For others it may take a bit longer.” He gestured towards Hikaru. “And maybe I have to accept that, for me, it will never happen and that what counts is not putting other people in situations where they will suffer or even die to protect me.”
And suddenly his mind was full of Sai and what he had done.
He automatically looked towards where Ran should be but Hikaru was there instead with that sneer on his face.

Haru could not be there. He had to be alone. He heard voices behind him, some arguing and some calling him, so he started to run.
He wished he knew where Ran was.
He slowed when he reached the long viewing gallery, intending to look out at the stars.
“Go away!”
It was Sumiko. She was alone and she had been crying. Haru guessed that Shi-chan had told her about Sai. He decided to leave her alone and went up the other end to sit on one of the benches.
Klenn-san must have really liked looking at the stars; there were viewports all over the Renaissance.
There was a sound and the bench dipped very slightly. “I shouldn’t have told him,” a small voice said from beside him.
Haru turned his head.
“If I hadn’t told Nii-san, Sai would be safe.”
It was true. Sai couldn’t have got onto the Linden without Shi-chan’s cooperation. Haru thought about pointing out that Sai had saved them from the Orochimaru print but decided not to. He was pretty sure Su-chan would prefer to have him dead and Sai alive.
“How did Sai get on with Shi-chan?” he asked instead.
Su-chan blinked at him, distracted from her misery by the unexpected question. For a moment he wondered if she wouldn’t answer, but she did.
“Really well. It was nice. Once Neji moved out I had projectors in my room and Nii-san used to tell us bedtime stories.” She considered. “Sai likes him lots and he knew Sai was real as soon as he met him.”
Haru noticed that Su-chan talked about Sai as if he was still alive. “I’m going to look for him.”
“I know,” she conceded. “Nii-san told me. Nii-san thinks he’s dead. He didn’t say so, but I can tell.”
“I won’t believe that unless I find the vaporised atoms from his data crystals,” Haru insisted.
Sumiko studied him for a moment and then nodded. “Good. I shall expect you to keep me posted about the search.”
For once her high-handedness didn’t annoy him. “Yes, Su-sama,” he replied.
She looked confused for a moment and then flushed. “You’re teasing me. You don’t do that.”
“Maybe I’m going to start.”
She scowled at him. “No. You’re Haru. You don’t tease people.”

They sat side-by-side, looking out at the stars. Haru was thinking about Sai trapped like he had been trapped in Shi-chan’s array in the storage cupboard. Would it be worse this time because he was used to so much more freedom?
Or maybe he was really dead; completely and irretrievably gone.
He pulled himself up short. He would not think like that.
Su-chan poked his arm.
“What?” he asked.
She indicated the other end of the viewing deck. Standing there, looking at him, was Hikaru.

Haru didn’t want to speak to him. Maybe if he ignored him, Hikaru would go away.
“I am going back to my room,” Sumiko announced, standing up. “Nii-san will be worried about me.”
He watched her walk away, which gave him an excuse for not looking in Hikaru’s direction. Even if Hi-chan was there to speak with him, it would because Hoshi had shamed him into doing so.
Soft footsteps and then the bench dipped.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you are a coward,” Hi-chan began.
Haru wasn’t feeling generous. “I don’t care what you think. Stay away from me, grow up and try not to get Ry-chan killed protecting you when you do something reckless. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll like each other more as adults than we do now.”
Hikaru paled. “I’m just trying to be nice.”
“That’s the problem. You have to try. So do I. Best we settle for civil. Nice is probably a step too far.”
Hikaru stood up. “If that’s how you want it.”
Haru felt a belated pang of guilt, but he had gone too far to turn back. “Yes, it’s how I want it.”

He kept his eyes fixed on the stars as Hikaru walked away. Part of him wanted to run after Hi-chan and apologise. The rest would not let him. He did not know if it was Uchiha pride or habit; he had always been at his most stubborn when Hikaru was concerned.
Then he was alone with his thoughts, which weren’t the best company.

He had just decided that he would go and find Ran when the bench dipped for the third time. He had no warning, so it had to be a hybrid or Itachi-san.
It was To-chan. His eyes were sad and his whiskers drooped a little. Haru felt awful, knowing he was the cause of it.
“Hi-chan came to speak with you because I asked him.”
Haru’s gut twisted. He had been so sure it had been Hoshi’s doing.
“You will always be able to do this, Haru-chan. You will always be able to speak a truth that should be left silent.”
Haru remembered all those standards ago when he had told Hi-chan that Teruko and Takara were To-chan’s genetic children while Hikaru was not. At least this time he had done nothing more than acknowledge his and Hikaru’s dislike of each other. Then he remembered what he had said about Hikaru getting Ry-chan killed and flushed.
“And Hikaru-chan will always say things that are partly fuelled by his own insecurities, without thought of how they will sound to others.”
“It’s not what he says,” Haru complained. “It’s the way he looks at me.”
To-chan smiled. “It’s not directed at you, Ha-chan. It’s his resting expression.”
Haru had never thought of that. “Do I look like that?” he asked.
“No, you look as if you are half a galaxy away. Ha-chan, I shall say to you what I said to Hi-chan. It would mean a great deal to me if the two of you would try to get on.”
“I don’t think he’ll talk to me after what I said,” Haru admitted.
“We’ll see. Will you stay here until I get back?”
Haru nodded.

To-chan was only gone a few minutes and when he returned he had Hikaru with him. He gestured that Hi-chan should sit down on the bench.
“Good,” To-chan acknowledged. “I want you to start by listing all the things you have in common, taking it in turns. You first, Ha-chan.”
Haru cast about what to pick; he wanted it to do this right for To-chan. He touched the crest at his breast and then the crest at Hikaru’s; despite the long hair and imitation spacer clothes, it was still there.
“We are Uchiha.”
Hikaru frowned and Haru tensed. He made himself relax. It probably wasn’t Hi-chan thinking that he picked something dumb. It was probably just Hi-chan thinking.
Hikaru touched Haru’s crest and then his own. “We are new Uchiha.”
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