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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
- 67
- 68
- 69
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to SunaoTsuji, melissen, disembodiedvoiceofthedying, satterb and sadie237 for reviewing after chapter 67 was posted.
Readers’ feedback, support, comments and especially reviews mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.

disembodiedvoiceofthedying asked if I was going to get back to twice a week posting. I wish I could say yes but, at the moment, it is all I can manage to get one chapter out a week.

Leader
Part 7: Vendetta
68: Interrogation Part One

It had taken over two divs but they were almost ready. Everyone and everything they needed was on the Elm. The next step was persuading Sasori to cooperate.
Convincing Sasuke that Shikamaru needed to see Sasori face-to-face had been difficult and nothing could persuade Kakashi to allow his ship into one of the Elm’s docking bays.
In the end Shikamaru had given Sasori an impressive lump of credit and numerous assurances for a rendezvous in an ungated, obscure system. They had sent a shuttle to fetch him from his ship, which would remain at what Kakashi considered a safe distance.
Kakashi himself insisted on being present at the meeting, which was in the security suite.

Sasori looked older; he had obviously ceased the hormone arrest and allowed his body to complete adolescence.
“Shikamaru-san,” he acknowledged.
“Sasori-san,” Shikamaru responded. “This is Kakashi-san.”
Kakashi deigned to offer the smallest of bows and Sasori responded in kind.

He and Sasori sat down but Kakashi insisted on standing behind Shikamaru’s chair.
“We would like to employ you, Sasori-san,” Shikamaru began.
Sasori studied him. “I have retired, Shikamaru-san.”
“Not as an assassin. Not even as a spy, although a certain amount of subterfuge would be required.”
“There is nothing you could offer me that I require,” Sasori replied. “The credit you paid me to attend this meeting will meet my needs for many standards.”
“We could refrain from giving you over to Gaara-san,” Kakashi pointed out.
Shikamaru sighed. “Please, Kakashi-san.”
Sasori seemed unfazed. “The wonderful thing about the new Uchiha is that Sasuke Uchiha is an honourable man. I have his personal assurance that I am safe and that Gaara-san will not be informed of my whereabouts.”
“I have something to offer that I believe you will want,” Shikamaru told him.
Sasori hesitated and then nodded.
“All I have on re-establishing memory in those whose capacity to remember has been compromised. Everything Klennethon Darrent had. Everything Centre has. Plus the means to implement any treatments you decide upon.”
Hope burned momentarily in Sasori’s eyes before being extinguished by cynicism. “That could be nothing.”
“Yes, but it is not,” Shikamaru assured him. He pushed a tablet across the low table between them. “A sample.”

Sasori reached for the tablet and studied the contents. They waited. He finished reading and placed the tablet back on the table.
“It could be lies,” he pointed out.
“You can trust me, Sasori-san,” Shikamaru reminded him.
Sasori’s lips quirked in a brief smile. “You almost threw me down a pit.”
“You attacked me from behind,” Shikamaru countered.
“How is Haru-chan?”
“Well.”
“And the individuals you took from the ship?”
“The foetuses that were young enough to be unaffected by the sensory deprivation have been adopted.”
“What about the child? The original Ranmaru?”
Shikamaru looked up at Kakashi.
“He is my son,” Kakashi replied. “We are very proud of him.”
Sasori considered before giving his answer. “What do you wish me to do?”

They held the first briefing the next day. Shikamaru studied each person in turn. Kiba was obviously uncomfortable. Enerugi was intrigued. Inryoku was far away in his thoughts. Kotohime looked eager. Konan was regarding Sasori with something Shikamaru suspected was hatred. Neji had no expression at all. Sasuke was irritated; Shikamaru could tell from the way his nostrils kept flaring.
Naruto, like Kakashi, had refused to sit down; they both kept their eyes trained on Sasori.
Sasori seemed impervious to the hostility around him. “It is good to see you again, Konan-san.”
Konan did not reply.

Sasuke welcomed everyone and thanked them for agreeing to participate before explaining the purpose of the meeting.
“We have a Kabuto and an Orochimaru. They were in stasis when we found them and are still unconscious. Scans and other tests suggest that they are originals but we have not excluded the possibility that they are clones without mindnets.
“Firstly we need to confirm that they are the originals. Secondly, I understand that there was another founding member of the Akatsuki. An individual who, like Orochimaru, has spent hundreds of standards in stasis. We wish to know the identity of this individual.
“Shikamaru-san has suggested unpodding them into an illusion in which their reactions may give us the information we need.” He nodded to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru took a deep breath. “I have arranged use of the ship that Sasori and I stole from Pein. The scenario we are intending to use is that the stasis unit malfunctioned and sent out a signal requesting pick-up. As none of the designated ships responded the signal was relayed to other Akatsuki craft and finally to that ship.
“We hope this will be believable enough to convince at least Kabuto. Sasori-san will bring him out of stasis and play Sasori-type mind games with him in the hope of extracting useful information. We will monitor all conversations from the Elm.
“Next steps will depend on the way in which Kabuto reacts. Any comments?”

There was a silence that Konan broke.
“Kabuto is obsessed by Orochimaru. Part of that obsession is a pathological level of loyalty. He knows that nothing he could do would stop Uchiha killing Orochimaru, but Sasori is another matter. It is a clever plan, Shikamaru-san.”
Inryoku raised his hand. “Orochimaru is unlikely to believe that a signal from the stasis unit would ever be relayed to Pein’s ship. Kabuto might but I recommend that Sasori avoid going into any detail.”
“He is unlikely to remember Sasori,” Konan reminded them. “We...” She gestured to include most of those around the table. “...interacted with the Orochimaru print who died on Jewel and then with the reprint that received those memories. We know that upload from the reprint was late and that the memories had begun to deteriorate. Given that the uploader was on the ship that Sasori stole, it is possible that no upload occurred.”
“Are the uploader and the mindprinter still on the ship?” Kotohime asked.
“The crucial parts are missing,” Shikamaru confirmed.
“If necessary, I will say that I sold them,” Sasori declared. “Along with all the clones.”
“Orochimaru might just kill you and take the ship,” Kiba warned.
Sasori shrugged. “I may have retired but I still have my skills.”
“We have knock out gas canisters installed,” Shikamaru assured them. “Along with the cameras and the microphones.” He did not mention that any attempt to take control of the ship would fail.

Another day and they were ready. The Elm was in the Skyburrow system, close to one of the suboptimal holes. On the other side of the hole was Pein’s ship. A minigate ensured real-time communication with a barely perceptible delay.
Shikamaru had set up one of the meeting rooms for the observers. There were seventy-two camera and microphone assemblies on the Akatsuki ship. The output of each was processed and stored locally. They had capacity for thirty real-time feeds to the Elm, each of which fed into one of the bank of small displays that formed part of a workstation in one corner of the room.
Any of the feeds could be sent to one of the five main projectors. If a feed was being projected, the associated audio was available as a choice via observers’ earpieces.

This first time Shikamaru was at the workstation and Neji had the only direct link to Sasori’s earpiece. Those who had known Kabuto was present: Kiba, Kotohime, Konan, Inryoku and Enerugi. Kakashi lurked at the back; Shikamaru suspected that he was more interested in the observers than the observed.

One of the feeds showed a side ward in the infirmary with Kabuto unconscious on a treatment bed. Shikamaru displayed it on the main projector.
It looked like he was naked under the thin cover, which was not as Neji had instructed. The sleep clothes were folded neatly on a small table some way from the bed.
They watched as the door to the room opened and Sasori entered. He was formally dressed in jacket and boots; a sure sign that he was fully armed.
It would also give him a psychological advantage, given that Kabuto was naked.
“Administer the wake-up shot, withdraw and lock the door,” Neji directed.
“Less talking,” Sasori replied. “It’s distracting.”
Perhaps only Shikamaru could have detected Neji’s frown of annoyance, but it was definitely there.

Sasori pressed the hypospray to Kabuto’s neck and then retired to a chair close to the doorway. After some time Kabuto sat up.
He focused on Sasori, looked around the room and then studied his hands. Shikamaru imagined him trying to work out how long he had been podded.
It would not be obvious; they had washed his body and trimmed his hair and nails.
“Where is Orochimaru-sama?” he demanded.
“You expected him to be with you?” Sasori asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kabuto slumped slightly.
“He is ready to believe that Orochimaru was not with him,” Neji observed. “Interesting.”
Shikamaru noted that Neji had already given up on Sasori following the script they had discussed.

Wrapping the thin cover around him, Kabuto swung his legs around so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Shikamaru did not miss the way Sasori leered; he might as well as said that he had already seen what Kabuto had to offer.
Kabuto flushed slightly. “How did I get here?”
“A signal came through on one of the Akatsuki channels. I decided to follow it up and found a stasis unit. You were in it.”
“Hidden?”
“No, just dumped in a shipping lane.”
Kabuto was too still; the word ‘dumped’ had obviously hit a nerve. “This is Pein’s ship? The one you stole?”
Sasori nodded. “There aren’t many Akatsuki ships left. Perhaps none. Uchiha leaves this ship alone.”
“You were excluded from the vendetta. You betrayed us,” Kabuto accused.

Sasori stood up, walked over to the table, picked up the clothes and threw them onto the bed.
“Don’t blame me. Pein just had to have the typed-seven. Orochimaru just had to have a Bara hybrid. The Akatsuki and Uchiha had co-existed for centuries and could have for centuries more.”
Kabuto did not take the bait but perhaps a seed had been planted. On the other hand, it was possible that Kabuto knew nothing about the founding of the Akatsuki.
“Get some sleep,” Sasori ordered. “Once you are rested we will talk again.”

He left, locking the door behind him. They watched as Kabuto dressed in the sleep clothes, curled up on the bed and pulled the cover over him.
“Very clever,” Kotohime observed. “He is already convinced that Orochimaru abandoned him. It will make him vulnerable to a predator like Sasori.”
“Sasori cannot be trusted,” Konan pointed out. “He is already ignoring Neji-san’s instructions.”
Shikamaru had no intention of trusting him.
“We have nothing to lose,” Neji replied. “I think we already have enough information to confirm that this is the original Kabuto.” He paused and then continued. “Sasori’s approach may have more chance of success than what we have planned.”
“What do you think he is going to do?” Kiba asked.
“It’s obvious,” Kotohime answered. “Sasori’s going to seduce him and then tell him that Orochimaru was with him.” She smiled. “This is going to be such fun.”

Shikamaru told himself he should not feel guilty. Most of their problems had started when Kabuto had taken advantage of their hospitality to steal the tissue bank.
Without Kabuto’s raid there would be no kits, no Kiba and no Ryuu; probably no kidnapping, no bombing and no Su-chan in his life. Would Sai even exist?
He recognised the signs and forced himself to stop; hindsight had never been kind to him.

Kotohime left the room with Inryoku and Enerugi; Kakashi followed. Kiba was watching Kabuto sleep. Shikamaru checked the feeds. Sasori was in what had been Konan’s cabin. Watching for a few minutes confirmed that he was planning a seduction.
At least Shikamaru hoped that was what it was; seduction implied at least some measure of consent.
His eyes went to Konan. How would she react? She and Pein could have shared that bed.

He set the alarm in his wrist chronometer to sound if Sasori unlocked Kabuto’s door and went over to speak with her.
“It was really good of you to come,” he began.
She studied him. “What is worrying you, Shika-san?”
Her question caught Neji’s attention.
Shikamaru went for the direct approach. “It was thoughtless of me not to remember that you used to travel on that ship.”
She knew immediately. “He’s using my cabin.”
“Yes,” Shikamaru admitted.

Konan sighed. “Like most spacers, I always kept the things that truly mattered with me. Even so, I would prefer not to observe.”
“We will understand if you do not wish to contribute further,” Neji assured her. “Please do not think that your journey from Tarrasade has been wasted. Your insights have been extremely helpful.”
“I am happy to be consulted about specifics,” she assured him. “As for coming here, Nagato-chan is thoroughly enjoying his visit with Tsuneo-chan. It was also good to speak with Sasuke-sama face-to-face.”
Shikamaru knew that Sasuke had told her about Pein’s last moments.
“It will be good when we all can be together again,” Konan added.
“You, Hana-san and Nagato-chan could stay in Skyburrow,” Shikamaru suggested.
“No. It would be unfair to Haku-san,” Konan replied. “We help each other with the children and I assist him in his task of not completely alienating Izuna-sama.” She stood up. “I must go now. Naruto-san himself is piloting the shuttle that will take me back to Skyburrow.
Shikamaru perked up. “Na-chan is here?”

Naruto was in the galley talking to Iruka, who had chosen to be on the Elm with Kakashi.
“You didn’t tell me you were going to be here,” Shikamaru accused, sitting down next to him.
“I thought you would be busy with this being the first day. How is it going?”
“Sasori’s enjoying doing exactly what he had planned, which proves to be completely different to what Neji told him to do.”
Naruto’s whiskers twitched. “Will it work?”
“Maybe. It looks like Kabuto is the genuine article, which is a good start.” He grimaced. “It could take a long time.”
“More than a div?”
Shikamaru had been thinking in terms of days rather than divs. “No,” he admitted.

Iruka poured him a cup of tea and refreshed Naruto’s. “Shika-kun is thinking that he has not warned Sumiko-chan and Haru-kun that he will be away for so long.”
Naruto smiled. “We’re only a shuttle trip away. They can visit you. Perhaps you can visit them. Do you have to watch live?”
“Probably not. Not while it is just Sasori and Kabuto.”
“Then you and Neji should work out a rota,” Iruka advised. “Perhaps you could manage to speak to Sumiko-chan once or twice a day.”

So started one of the more bizarre phases of Shikamaru’s life. He was used to having many different places in his head, but not having to switch between so many different roles within each day.
He was accustomed to his complex virtual life. He was the Wizard of the data streams, monitoring flow around known space and tapping into new sources using the new Sai-type code. He was Chaaruzu-san, directing his Tennyos. He was currently thirty-four different virtual people playing key roles in a variety of organisations. Two hundred and seventy-three other virtual identities were ticking over; active enough to be brought seamlessly into play.
It was the complexity of his day-to-day life on the Elm that was new. He was the voyeur observing Sasori convince Kabuto that Orochimaru had abandoned him and catching him on the rebound. He was the person Kakashi held responsible for ‘this farce’. He was Sumiko’s Nii-san, tied to an afternoon update on her daily life and an evening story shared with Sai. He was Neji’s lover, exploring their new relationship whilst away from Su-chan’s disapproval. He was Haru’s Shi-chan, Na-chan’s best friend, Iruka’s Shika-kun, and Sasuke’s advisor. He was Sai’s... ...something; Shikamaru was not sure what. Crewmate? Friend? Brother? Parent?
Then there were Kotohime.

Kotohime was enjoying herself. She was delighted with Isaribi’s progress. She relished watching Sasori manipulate Kabuto. She teased Neji and deliberately irritated Kakashi.
She liked Shikamaru. As well as imitating conversations, which he had to admit were often exhilarating, she had made it blatantly clear that she was interested in fucking him.
Shikamaru had no intention of fucking her. She was attractive but she wasn’t crew and he had Neji. Also, he couldn’t forget just how big and scary Han was.
Neji responded by wanting to assert his prior claim but holding back because he felt he had no right to do so, which Shikamaru found rather endearing.

It was a day much like the seven that had gone before. Shikamaru dragged himself out of what was technically Neji’s bed, through the shower, into clothes and to the galley. There Iruka forced him to converse, hinted that Kakashi was in a foul mood, reminded him that Naruto was coming over for a visit, gave him an summary of Kiba’s latest report on Sumiko’s behaviour and allowed him one cup of coffee provided he ate.

Kotohime was waiting for him in the meeting room, which was new; like him, Kotohime was not a morning person.
“Good morning, Shikamaru-san,” she announced brightly.
“Kotohime-san,” he acknowledged.
“I brought us some coffee,” she told him, gesturing towards a flask and two cups. She opened the flask and poured the thick, fragrant liquid.
It smelled fantastic; ten times better than the brew Iruka had made.
“It is a weakness of mine,” she confessed. “There is supplier in Haven who takes advantage of me. He knows I will pay far too much for the best beans roasted just right.”
“Thank you.” He took a sip; it tasted amazing.
“I thought that I could help you look through yesterday’s recordings,” she suggested.

Shikamaru knew why she was offering. Sasori had Kabuto convinced that Orochimaru had abandoned him and would be in stasis for a least a decade, probably considerably longer. It had left Kabuto hurt and vulnerable, susceptible to Sasori’s arsenal. Each day they had edged closer to Sasori risking a pass.
“A small bag of those coffee beans on Sasori fucking him last night,” Kotohime proposed.
“And if I lost?” Shikamaru asked.
Kotohime leered at him. “A grope of that delectable arse of yours?”
Shikamaru found himself sympathising with Kabuto; Kotohime might not be as subtle as Sasori but she was equally determined. “The odds would be against me, Kotohime-san.” He took another sip of the coffee and then powered up the interface and displays. “We are only interested in information, Kotohime-san, so only recordings where Kabuto speaks trigger the selection programme.”
She pulled up a chair. “I’m sure there’ll be pillow talk.”

Unfortunately Kabuto made a lot of noise when he was being fucked. Shikamaru found himself wondering if he was the same with Orochimaru or whether it was because Sasori was surprisingly aggressive.
“He’s marking him in places that Orochimaru cannot possibly fail to miss,” Kotohime pointed out. “I wonder if Sasori will tell him or let Orochimaru walk in on him,” she mused.

It turned out to be the former. Sasori waited until Kabuto was thoroughly fucked and just beginning to think about what he had done.
Sasori left the bed and pulled on some clothes. Kabuto watched him owlishly; Shikamaru wondered how much he could see without his eyeglasses.
“That was every bit as good as I thought it would be,” Sasori assured him. “I understand what Orochimaru sees in you.”
Kabuto blinked at him. Shikamaru wondered if he was alerted by Sasori suddenly referring to Orochimaru in the present tense.
“I lied,” Sasori continued, heading towards the door. “He was with you in the stasis unit. He did keep his promise to take you with him.”

There was a split moment before it sank in. Sasori hovered close to the door, ready to beat a hasty retreat.
“He’s here? On this ship?” Kabuto asked.
“Maybe,” Sasori replied. “Or maybe I already gave him to Uchiha. It’s quite a bounty they are offering. Or maybe I’m still making my mind up.”
To Shikamaru’s surprise Kabuto smiled. “Thank you for picking us up. Why don’t you come back to bed so I can thank you again properly?”
Sasori pretended to be considering Kabuto’s offer and then shook his head. “No, because you’ll kill me so you can search the ship.”
Kabuto’s smile vanished. “You two-faced, lying, self-serving louse.”
“And there I was thinking you rather liked me. All those pretty noises you were making.”
Kabuto surged from the bed but Sasori was through the door and had it locked before he could make it across the room.

Shikamaru watched, his gut twisting, as Kabuto sunk to the floor and started to cry. Was this really less reprehensible than torture?
- 67
- 68
- 69
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