Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Leader	By : mannahpierce Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 2189 -:- 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
- 5
- 6
- 7
Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to disembodiedvoiceofthedying, unneeded, sadie237, liby318, eunmook, angelj232000, melissen, GreenEyedCat and cynaga for reviewing after chapter 5 was posted. Feedback keeps me writing!
Deepest apologies but I deleted one of the reviews by accident. What happened is that the cursor dwells for a second over the ‘delete’ button and, next thing the review has irretrievably gone! I think it was cynaga’s. I am so sorry. It really upsets me when it happens because each review is so special to me.

Leader
Part 1: The pod
6: Haven

Shikamaru had found a new place to sit and think. It was on the viewing deck that faced Haven. If he moved one of the benches he could sit right against the transparent wall of the ship. It was a bit like being out among the stars.
He was proud of Haven. He considered it one of his greatest achievements.

It had taken standards of searching to find such a perfect system with exactly the right number of holes. Once gated, two of the holes linked it into a major trading route from the Inner to the Mid Fringe.
The station had been built between those two holes.
There were another two conventional holes further out in the system. They could be gated later but, for now, they could be used by ships with Mulligan drives. Importantly, they were the two holes people assumed Uchiha used.
The Oak, the Maple and the Dart actually used holes that could only be accessed by ships with improvers.

He wondered if improvers would ever be put into gates, like Mulligan drive technology. Was that one of the options Klenn had asked Garner to consider?

His attention went back to Haven’s elegant, curved spokes. When he had discovered Nova Tech it had consisted of two youngsters with a great idea getting nowhere. They had almost given up on their dream because no one would lend them enough credit to make it a reality.
They had needed a factory ship with a Mulligan drive. Shikamaru had provided one. In return he, or rather one of his identities, became a partner in the new company.
Once they were a company with a ship worth petacredits, Nova Tech had no problem attracting investors and finding contracts.

But the most important step in founding Haven had been persuading Sasuke to agree that building a space station was the obvious solution to finding a home for the hybrids from the Warren.
Shikamaru smiled. Now when he suggested building a space station, Sasuke barely turned a hair. Uchiha had part ownership of twenty-six.
He, in various guises, was a major shareholder in two hundred and seventeen.

He found himself remembering the day he had told Sasuke that Uchiha was broke. It seemed a lifetime ago rather than only twelve standards. The payment Klenn had given them for the ‘tasteful porno’ had been enough for Shikamaru to begin rebuilding Uchiha’s finances. Now Uchiha was as rich as its reputation suggested.

Shikamaru himself was so wealthy that the numbers had ceased to have meaning.

Integrating the information Klenn had left him had opened up thousands of opportunities. He had initiated hundreds of new projects. As usual, most of them were targeted at developing new technology or helping the oppressed.
Managing revolutions was particularly tricky. Starting them was easy, but without care they would end up in a bloodbath or with the people he had set out to help ending up worse off.
Shikamaru’s version of a revolution was designed not to look like one without a century’s hindsight: an invention here; a decision made there; a contribution to one politician rather than another; improved transport; an employer choosing to improve workers’ rights.

Breaking the back of an oppressive dictatorship’s power was much easier. Usually all that took were a few gates in the right places.
And upgrading gates so that they included a light speed data relay both improved the flow of information and made it much more difficult for pirates to operate.

“Shika?”
Shikamaru jumped. He had been deep in his mind, turning over thoughts like his mother had turned over the soil in her garden on Darrenden.
It was only Neji. He smiled. “Ne-chan.”

Neji slid in beside him. Shikamaru leaned back against Neji’s chest. Strong arms wrapped around him. Warm lips kissed his neck.
“Looking at your baby,” Neji suggested.
Shikamaru felt himself colour. “People lead a better life there,” he explained. “And it’s beautiful.”
“True,” Neji conceded. “The Dart has docked with the Electron,” he added. “They have transferred the pod.”
Shikamaru was up and moving.
“Shika!” Neji complained.
“You shouldn’t have told me if you wanted to cuddle,” Shikamaru pointed out. “With the mini-gate string in place I can watch Itachi carrying out the tests.”

The reality proved disappointing. He managed to get confirmation of most of his deductions but little new information. The pod did indeed date from the first century of Uchiha, over a thousand years before.
There was someone inside. The display suggested that he or she was alive. The mass difference between the occupied and an unoccupied pod of the same design suggested it was an adult.
Shikamaru was particularly proud of managing to find out the mass of that particular model of survival pod; he had searched the records of three hundred and ninety-five museums.

The issue was, as Kakashi had pointed out, that they did not know how long the occupant had been in stasis. Shikamaru itched to ask Itachi to connect to the pod’s processor.
He resisted. Not that Itachi would do it. Sasuke had given a direct order. Fiddling with the controls might cause the pod to fail.
It would be opened in the Oak’s infirmary, where Rin would be available to respond to the occupant’s needs.

He brought Sasuke, Kakashi and Neji up to date at the next strategy meeting.
“I have a new faster route for the Dart to use,” he concluded. “It will bring forward their arrival by six days. They would be here in three days time.”
Kakashi took a sip of his tea. “It makes more sense for them to travel back along their route retrieving the mini-gates,” he suggested. “Then they could follow our route here or wherever we are by then.”
Shikamaru’s mind processed the calculation. Instead of bringing forward their arrival by five days, Kakashi’s proposal would delay it by nine. His heart fell.
“How many mini-gates would we have to leave out there if they used the new route?” Sasuke asked him.
“Four,” Shikamaru admitted.
“Are they in useful locations?” Sasuke asked.
Shikamaru had to think about that. “Two are. The third could be retrieved relatively easily. The fourth would require a specific mission to collect it.”
Sasuke considered. “It would be a low risk mission along an isolated route,” he observed.
Shikamaru perked up. It would be an ideal mission for some of the big litter when they were trainees.
“Are we short of mini-gates?” Sasuke asked.
“No,” Neji replied.
“Send Itachi and Kisame the new route,” Sasuke ordered. “Do you need to do that now?”
“No. First jump is in common,” Shikamaru assured him.
“How much extra mapping did you have to do to find this new route?” Kakashi asked.
Shikamaru felt himself flushing. “Quite a bit,” he admitted. “Mapping is always useful,” he argued.
“How long did it take you?” Kakashi pushed.
Shikamaru knew he was bright red. He hated reminding Kakashi about his peculiar abilities. “No time. I’ve worked out how to parallel think while I am doing it.”
Kakashi was staring at him with that look Shikamaru hated; the one that asked, ‘What are you?’
He stared at the table and considered the plastic from which it was made. It helped him not think about how Kakashi saw him.
“That’s useful,” Sasuke acknowledged. “Don’t do it all the time, Shika. I am sure that it tires you out more than you realise.” His voice was a little deeper and slightly richer than usual.
Shikamaru’s gaze left the table. Sasuke was looking directly at him. The message was there for him to read, ‘Nothing about you scares me. I accept you for what you are.’
It was one of the things that made Sasuke special.

“Let’s move on,” Sasuke continued. “Naruto’s live video conference with the youngsters on the station went well. It was an excellent idea. Thank you, Neji.”
“It only puts off the inevitable, Sasuke-sama,” Neji warned. “In the end, he is going to insist on visiting the station and walking the corridors. We might as well start planning for it.”
“I could forbid it,” Sasuke argued.
Shikamaru just looked at him; all three of them did.
Sasuke sighed. “You’re right. When and how?”

They soon had a plan that took advantage of the Dart’s earlier arrival; Kisame was the best choice to accompany Naruto onto the station.

They moved on to discussing the next day’s ceremony on the station; the one to mark the transfer of the shares from Uchiha to the citizens. The plan was to use the Sakura as a shuttle and board the station as close to the venue as possible.
Sickler had promised that only invited guests would be allowed into the secured area; other residents would be encouraged to gather in their neighbourhoods and watch the ceremony on large video screens.
They reviewed the timetable of events and made a few small changes.
“You’ll think about it?” Kakashi asked Shikamaru. “In case we’ve missed something?”
Shikamaru nodded.
Then the meeting was over and Sasuke was off to eat his midday meal with the triplets.

Shikamaru was about to follow Neji out of the room when Kakashi spoke.
“Shika-kun?”
Shikamaru stopped but gestured that Neji should continue. “One of us better be there when Su-chan finishes her session,” he pointed out.
Neji hesitated but complied.
Once they were alone, Kakashi apologised, “I thought you had been mapping rather than sleeping. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard.”
Shikamaru shrugged. He hadn’t minded Kakashi pushing. It had been that look.
“I upset you,” Kakashi observed. “But I have a feeling I don’t know why.”
“It doesn’t bother you that Naruto is so fast or so strong,” he said before he had made the decision to speak. Committed he pushed on. “It hurts when what I can do repels you,” he admitted. “I wish you could accept it.”
“Sometimes you still shock me,” Kakashi admitted. “You are so good at the camouflage. I forget what you are and what you can do.”
“I am here because of you,” Shikamaru reminded him.
“You are here because of me,” Kakashi agreed. “My typed-seven genius who would recreate Uchiha. Which you have done magnificently.”
Shikamaru felt himself going red again, but this time he did not mind.
“I have a suggestion,” Kakashi added. “Teach Haru what you can about mapping links. Sasuke managed to master bits of it. Haru should be even better. Perhaps he will be able to bridge the gap between what the route finder does and what you do.”
Shikamaru doubted that Haru could think like him but maybe he could improve on the route finder. Haru was already a better programmer than him. It was the thinking in patterns thing.

His mind kept turning over the idea while he ate the midday meal with Sumiko and Neji. Sumiko had enjoyed her morning. Iruka had put them in pairs to build a tower and she had worked with Mai. They had been given the least suitable materials but had still built the highest tower.
Shikamaru admired the vid of the tower and thought about how to teach Haru about finding holes.
“What are you going to be doing this afternoon, Su-chan?” Neji asked.
“We have gym,” Sumiko grumbled. “Then I’m going to play with Sai,” she added and smiled. “I have lots of simulator time saved up and Iruka-sensei has agreed.”
Shikamaru liked to see her smile. “You have fun, Su-chan,” he encouraged.

With Sumiko occupied, it was the ideal time to work with Haru.
“You want Haru for the whole afternoon?” Iruka queried. “He would have to be released from his duty.”
Shikamaru thought about it. “I think we’ll need the time.”
Iruka considered and nodded. “It’s only cleaning. He can make it up. I confess I am worried about him. Ran has told him that he’s going to take early promotion to trainee.”
Shikamaru had not known that.

Despite having been thinking about it since Kakashi had made the suggestion, Shikamaru had no idea where to begin. He had never had any success explaining it to anyone else. Even Klenn had glazed over and admitted defeat.
His half of the office was still being remodelled, so they started in Haru’s usual bay in the playroom.
“Mapping links between holes?” Haru queried.
At least he sounded interested. “Yes. We have the best database ever showing the locations of sub-optimal holes in known space.” Shikamaru began and then paused, thinking.
“But it’s useless if you can’t work out which hole links with which across subspace,” Haru volunteered.
“Exactly,” Shikamaru agreed. “So the conventional way is to jump through the hole, take astronomical measurements and work out where you are. There are a number of possibilities....” he indicated that Haru should list them.
Haru began counting them off on his fingers. “One, you recognise the system and you’ve found a new route. Two, you find a system but no one has been there before, so you’ve expanded known space. Three, you aren’t in a system, which is unlikely but happens. Four, you are really unlucky and something destroys your ship before you find out where you are.”
“It’s slow and it’s boring and it’s dangerous,” Shikamaru added. “It is much better to work out which holes were linked without going through one of them.”
“Which is what you can do,” Haru stated with confidence.
“Which is what I can do,” Shikamaru agreed. “Only I’m not sure how so I can’t explain it to someone else.”
“Papa worked out how to do the last step,” Haru pointed out. “He can pick out the one real link from a hundred suggested links. Now the route finder does what Papa did.”
It sounded so easy and straightforward when Haru talked about it.
“We need to work out how you come up with the potential links,” Haru told him. “Then we can expand the route finder programme to do that too.”
Shikamaru had not expected Haru to take the initiative.
“It has to be about comparing data sets.” Haru insisted and frowned. “You probably use other data, not just from the two systems that may be linked. What about looking at the systems that are linked to those two systems? Is that a sensible starting point?”
Shikamaru shook his head. “Klenn tried that.”
Haru did not seem dissuaded. If anything, he was encouraged that his starting point was the same as Klenn’s. “Klenn-sensei probably exhausted that possibility,” he suggested.
“He went as far as incorporating data from systems up to five jumps away from the suggested link.”
“In a matched pair analysis?” Haru checked.
“Yes.”
“Then either you are seeing patterns in the data that no one else sees or you are using other data without realising it,” Haru insisted. “Have you got Klenn-sensei’s five system level matched pair analysis?”
Shikamaru nodded. So much for teaching Haru; instead he had become Haru’s latest puzzle to solve. “Yes, but you may need more processing power than you have,” he warned.
“The processors Klenn-sensei built into my data array’s interface are awesome,” Haru reminded him. “But I’ll ask if it’s a problem. There is something else I need you to do.”
Shikamaru waited.
“Look for potential links while in a simulator so what you do can be recorded. There may be a clue, maybe in the way you interact with the data.”
It was an interesting idea; even the slightest hint might be enough to point them in the correct direction.

Shikamaru spent the rest of the afternoon in a simulator scanning the data for potential linked holes.

Next day was all about the ceremony on the station. Shikamaru settled into his chair in the control room of the Oak. Neji was already at his console.
Shikamaru’s hands automatically checked the setting of each control. He activated the projectors, one of which was already relaying images from the assembly room where the ceremony would be held.
The guests were already gathering. Kotohime, Denka and Hina had arrived. Roshi and Yugito were there to represent the HDL. Tonton was standing next to Ebisu and Chamu.
Sickler, as Leading Citizen, was greeting people as they arrived.
Then, suddenly, the scale of everything changed as Han came through the door.
He was alone. Shikamaru glanced across at Neji but saw none of the tiny clues that would indicate that he was concerned.

Han acknowledge Sickler’s greeting and moved towards Kotohime’s group. Shikamaru saw Denka and Hina melt away. Kotohime merely looked up at Han and smiled.
He did not smile back but he did stay there, at Kotohime’s side.

Shikamaru had reviewed Kakashi’s plan and found nothing amiss. The only potential problem was that they were spread rather thinly. They would have parties on the Oak, the Sakura and in Haven. Itachi and Kisame were still on the Dart.
Maybe they had left too many people in Tarrasade.

The plan trusted in the Oak’s new inbuilt defences; the web of tubing across its surface that Inryoku had designed. To outside eyes it looked like a photosynthetic energy harvesting device.
It was, but it was also a remarkably sensitive sensor net and, although Shikamaru hoped it was never needed, a weapon.

Of those left on the Oak, only he and Neji were on duty. That left everyone else free to gather in the playroom and watch a live projection of the ceremony.
Tatsuji, Hamaki, Terai and Fu would stay on the Sakara throughout. They were the first line of defence if there was an attack from outside the station.
Kakashi, Sumaru and Dan were accompanying Sasuke and Naruto onto the station. Five was with them but as a citizen of Haven rather than a potential trainee.

The general opinion was that Five made the grade. Like the rest of the crew, Shikamaru trusted Kakashi’s judgement. Misora and Keitaro obviously liked him. He watched a lot and said little, which was wise as a newcomer.
The canine-human hybrid members of the crew were slowly getting used to the way he smelled.
He was very pretty. Shikamaru had caught himself wondering what it would be like to stroke that gorgeous, silky fur and if he was thinking it so was everyone else other than Naruto.
Shikamaru suspected that anyone trying it without permission would end up in the infirmary. Five had retractable claws instead of fingernails.

Everything went completely to plan. Sasuke did a great job of the speech. Naruto went around afterwards speaking to the invited citizens, leaving a trail of shiny-eyed, besotted hybrids in his wake. Shikamaru saw even Han smile.
“Good?” he checked with Neji.
“Very good,” Neji confirmed.

The rest of the crew and Five were soon back on the Oak. Shikamaru and Neji handed over to Terai and Tatsuji, who were on watch.

Once released, they went to the playroom, where Sumiko gave them a blow by blow account of the ceremony. Shikamaru relaxed into it, enjoying experiencing everything again through Sumiko’s unique point of view.
As Sumiko wound down he saw Haru glancing at him from his position beside Ran; waiting for him to become available.

“I think I’ve got something,” Haru announced without preamble.
Shikamaru was lost for a moment. Then he realised that Haru was talking about finding potential links. “Already?” he queried. It was less than a day. He and Klenn had battled with the problem for almost a decade. They had never reached the point of ‘having something’.
Maybe Haru meant a new approach rather than a solution.
“Come see,” Haru suggested. “We’ll use the simulators. It’s easier to show someone else that way.”

Haru started explaining what he had done. He had begun by going back to the raw data.
The data Klenn had used had been scrubbed, removing the background noise. Instead of using a standard algorithm, Haru had scrubbed each data set separately, using the characteristics of that particular system.
Shikamaru could see the value in that. The data would be richer. Smaller perturbations would be preserved.
He had then used a battery of mathematical operations to extract tiny inconsistencies in the data and looked for patterns within those inconsistencies.
Shikamaru did not recognise two-thirds of the functions.

He had run sixty-four versions of Klenn’s matched pair analysis, each using the improved data but based on a different combination of operations.
Shikamaru wondered how he had decided on some combinations but not others. Was it his knowledge of mathematics? Or insights into how a typed-seven mind operated?

Then the results came up. Shikamaru’s whole mind froze. One of the combinations had worked. It had generated all the potential links Shikamaru had identified plus some more.
“You did it,” he whispered.
“Yes,” Haru agreed. “You don’t even have to go to five levels. You get the same results with three. Can we test it out on some other data?”
“Soon,” Shikamaru promised. He still wasn’t over the shock. One day? Haru had done it in one day?
“Please,” Haru asked. “I want to tell Papa but I want to make sure it works first.”

Shikamaru made the necessary connections and called up the data he had used over the last div.
“This is the raw data?” Haru checked.
“Yes,” Shikamaru confirmed.

Once the data had been loaded it took less than a minute; forty-seven seconds to be precise. Out came the list of potential links; Shikamaru recognised most of them. Then they put them into the route finder.
That took a longer, because they were using standard processors, but within five minutes they had a list of the routes that Shikamaru had found plus one other.
Haru gave a whoop of joy that could be heard for real as well as through the simulator interface. He vanished from the simulation.
He was dancing about the simulator room in his underpants by the time Shikamaru had disengaged and climbed out of his simulator. There was an audience gathering in the doorway.
Shikamaru went over to the intercom.
“Shikamaru here. Haru has something very important to tell his Papa.” He released the switch and turned to Haru. “Clothes,” he reminded Haru as he pulled on his pants and pushed his feet into his sandals.
Haru had his top and pants on and was pulling on his shoes by the time Sasuke answered. “This is Sasuke. I am in my office. Should Haru’s To-chan be here?”
Shikamaru looked at Haru who nodded. “You too, Shi-chan,” he insisted.
“Shikamaru here. Yes please. We are on our way.”

Sasuke and Naruto were still wearing their uniforms.
“We did it, Papa!” Haru announced as soon as they were through the door.
“Haru did it,” Shikamaru clarified.
“Did what, sweetie?” Naruto asked and even Sasuke looked blank.
Shikamaru realised that they did not know what Haru had been trying to do, which was hardly surprising since he had only been working on it for a day.
“He’s come up with a swift, accurate and working method for getting from raw data to new hole-to-hole links,” Shikamaru explained. He wanted Naruto to understand. “You no longer need me to do it,” he added.

Sasuke reacted perfectly. He was out of his chair and gathering Haru into a congratulatory embrace. “That’s amazing, Ha-chan. Well done. It will make a huge difference to the way we operate. How long did it take you? You must show me.”
“It took him less than a day,” Shikamaru informed them.
Even Sasuke was shocked but luckily Haru was too close to him to see it.
“Is this as amazing as I am thinking it is?” Naruto mouthed.
Shikamaru widened his eyes and nodded vigorously.
Naruto plucked Haru from Sasuke’s slackening grasp for a second hug.

“I used all the work Klenn-sensei had done,” Haru explained once the four of them were sitting down.
“Klenn and I had worked on it for a decade and got nowhere,” Shikamaru clarified.
“I have the awesome processors Klenn-sensei gave me,” Haru added.
“It requires mathematical operations I have never encountered,” Shikamaru added. He was determined that Haru would not make light of it; it was an incredible piece of work. Sasuke needed to understand how incredible.
Haru flushed. “I like mathematics,” he admitted.
“We know you do Haru-chan,” Naruto acknowledged. “But there is a big difference between being good at mathematics and applying exactly the right bit in a new situation.”
Shikamaru smiled; trust Na-chan to understand the essence of it. “Haru also went back to the raw data. A real engineer’s solution.”
Haru flushed. “Izumo-san always says to do that when you’re stuck.”
Sasuke looked Haru directly in the eyes. “I am always proud of you, Haru, but this is an amazing achievement. It will change how we operate. It will make crews using improvers safer.”
It would radically change the topology of known space, but Shikamaru doubted that mattered to Haru as much as keeping the crew safe and making his Papa proud.

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