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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
- 97
- 98
- 99
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to Phoenixwolf, eunmook, satterb, aflyinmonkey, melissen and sadie237 for reviewing after chapter 97 was posted. Readers’ feedback, support and comments mean a great deal to me. Feedback keeps me writing.
Every review is treasured and helps motivate me to write.

Leader
Part 10: Endgame
98: Reconsider

Haru stared at Inari-san.
“You are sending me home?” he checked. He had thought that he was doing better. The work with Kotetsu-san was going well. He had handled himself well on the trip to the planet; he knew that Kono-san had given him a favourable report.
He was even getting on with Hi-chan.
“Yes. It is not my choice; I would have preferred you to stay here. It is Sasuke-sama’s orders. He wants you in Tarrasade to work with Shikamaru-san.”
Haru wondered if there had been another ‘hiding under his desk and refusing to think’ episode. He hoped not. “Will it just be me?” Would they separate him from Ran? They might; Tayuya-san would suggest it would do him good and Papa might agree with her if To-chan wasn’t there to argue against it.
Inari-san smiled at him. “Not exactly. Rin-san thinks she will soon have a treatment for those hybrids who were infected by the virus, so we will be sending Kazuki and Ryuu and Ryuka. Your father asked Akemi-san if he would like to accompany the Orochimaru print but he has decided not to.”
Haru’s heart started pound. Was Inari-san teasing him or was he building up to telling him that Ran was staying in Skyburrow?
“Sasuke-sama asked me to decide whether Ran-kun should accompany you...”
This was it; he was going and Ran was staying.
“...and I decided to leave the decision to Ran.”
It was a huge relief. Haru knew he was smiling.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Inari-san observed. “There isn’t the slightest doubt in your mind what his answer was. Now, onto the matter of the journey. Gai-san is planning on taking the same route back, which is the quickest but involves many jumps per day. Do you wish to be podded?”
“Ran should be podded,” Haru answered. “He gets queasy when we jump. If Gai-san needs me, jumps don’t bother me. Is it the Dart?”
Inari-san nodded.
Haru remembered being on the Dart; she was tiny. “If Gai-san decides I would be in the way, I’ll understand.”

Shikamaru was squirming. It was bad enough to have Haku looking at him as if he were crazy without Itachi joining in.
“You want us to find anything in the storerooms that dates from the founding of Uchiha?” Itachi checked.
“Yes,” Shikamaru admitted. “Especially if it is likely to have the user’s genetic material on it. You know. Skin cells, hair follicles, blood, semen...” he trailed off. Itachi’s eyes had narrowed dangerously. Shikamaru did not want a re-run of what had happened with Sasuke. Especially not with Itachi. Itachi might not remember being homicidal but that did not change the fact that he had been.
“There are doubts about Izuna-sama’s identity?” he demanded.
“What?” Haku queried in something close to a shriek. Not that Shikamaru would dare describe it as such.
He really should have asked Sasuke to brief them first or at least waited until Neji could be with him. “The Orochimaru print has hinted at the possibility,” he admitted. He decided to try Neji’s line. “It is most likely just Orochimaru’s strategy for disrupting Uchiha. However, Sasuke-sama has asked me to look for additional evidence.”
“Beyond the samples in the tissue bank?” Itachi asked.
Shikamaru shifted in his chair. “The scenario we are testing assumes the tissue bank has been compromised. Which doesn’t seem likely,” he added quickly.
Itachi leaned back in his chair. “So what are you proposing to do?”
“Sequence any genetic material we find and see where it takes us,” Shikamaru replied. “At the very least it will let us cross check what is in the tissue bank.”
“What about checking more of the samples?” Haku asked. “Like those from Izuna Uchiha’s children and grandchildren?”
“We’ll be doing that,” Shikamaru agreed.
Haku sighed. “Itachi and I will plan and schedule a thorough search of the storerooms.” He stood up. “I apologise, Shikamaru-san, but I have another meeting scheduled.”
Shikamaru watched him leave. Itachi did not move, which was worrying.
“May I ask what you think, Shika-san?” Itachi asked as soon as Haku was out of earshot.
The truth was that Shikamaru did not know yet. He had been convinced that the man in the pod was Izuna Uchiha. “The highest possibility by far is that he is Izuna Uchiha and Orochimaru is lying,” he replied.
Itachi raised an eyebrow.
“But Sasuke-sama has asked me to consider other scenarios. If he is not Izuna Uchiha, someone tampered with the tissue bank.” He took a deep breath. “Kakashi-san has suggested I focus on how Orochimaru might know that Izuna-sama is not Izuna Uchiha. They do have one thing in common.”
Itachi caught on immediately. “They have both spent a great deal of time in stasis. They could be long-term associates.”
“Very long-term,” Shikamaru agreed. “A pre-existing agreement would explain...” He trailed off. If Izuna-sama was Izuna Uchiha it was unacceptable to someone who was not full-blood Uchiha to speculate about his conduct. Suggesting that he had passed information to the Akatsuki was tantamount to accusing him of behaving dishonourably, even if such contact had ceased when the vendetta was declared.
A nod from Itachi confirmed that he was following Shikamaru’s line of thought. “Another consideration,” Itachi proposed. “He knows far more about the founding of Uchiha than an outsider could. He was either there or he had learned from people who were there.”
“All the physical evidence is consistent with him being in stasis for close to a thousand standards,” Shikamaru stated, as much to remind himself as Itachi. Various thoughts intersected, each time generating more lines of enquiry. Adding Orochimaru into the mix had made the problem much more complex.
“Shika-san? Shika-san?”
Shikamaru flushed, wondering how long Itachi had been calling him. “Itachi-san,” he acknowledged.
“I shall leave you to think, but I wished to remind you that it is unlikely that we will learn anything useful from the Orochimaru print. He will doubtless wish to bargain for his life and that is not something that Sasuke-sama has to give.”
“I understand that, Itachi-san,” Shikamaru replied but it was a useful reminder that the Orochimaru print’s life was Haku’s and a warning that Haku had no intention of relinquishing his claim to it.

Sasuke was shocked.
“You want my knife?”
Kisame smiled at him. “Only for a short time. By appointment? Perhaps overnight?”
“But why?”
“It was said to be owned by Izuna Uchiha.”
Sasuke sighed. “Please don’t mention it to Kakashi, because he picked this knife to give me, but I know it could not have been. Izuna Uchiha was lost. His knife would have been lost with him.”
“There was no knife in the pod with Izuna-sama,” Kisame pointed out. “Itachi thinks we should test your knife.”
Sasuke was certain it was a waste of time but he had left the decisions of what to test to Shika and he had delegated it to Itachi. “Tonight?”
Kisame nodded. “The DNA harvesting nanobots should be ready by then.”
“I hope no one has bothered Rin-san over this. She has more urgent things to worry about.”
“We have worked through Dan,” Kisame assured him. “He arranged for Shika-san to have access to the nanobot synthesiser at a time when it was not being used.” He paused before continuing. “I am sure that Rin can return your Beloved to you, as she did mine to me.”
Sasuke was touched. “Thank you, Kisame-san,” he replied.
Once Kisame had gone, Sasuke found himself sitting at his desk doing nothing. He could not get the issue of Izuna-sama’s identity out of his head. That morning Takara had asked him if To-chan was worse and Sasuke knew it was because he had not been focusing on them properly. He had given the three of them a long, tight hug and assured them that Rin-san was already testing a treatment that should work.
Naruto would not put up with him obsessing like this. He would say a few choice words, backed up by eyes and whiskers, before fucking him senseless.
As he sighed his desk pinged.
At first he could not work out what it was; there was no incoming message and he did not have any appointments scheduled. Then he realised that Shikamaru had gone ahead and programmed his desk to ping when Sabu was in the park.
Within ten minutes he was walking towards their private half of the park with his biwa across his back and Sumaru beside him. Sasuke was proud of himself; Naruto would approve of such impulsive behaviour.
“Sasuke-sama?” Sumaru queried.
“Yes, Sumaru-san?”
“It would be safer if I went into the public part of the park and located Sabu-san.”
“Yes, but that is not what we are going to do.”
Sumaru hesitated before answering. “I understand, Sasuke-sama.”
Sasuke doubted he did, but that did not matter. They made their way through the security gates into the public area and headed towards the sound of the music. Sabu was sitting on his blue minstrel’s cloak, which he had spread on the grass. Around him, at a respectful distance, people had gathered to listen.
Within a few minutes, Sasuke wished he had come in disguise. He had not done so because he had felt it would be less respectful. He had not considered that his presence would draw people’s attention away from the music. There was even a murmur of speculation where there should be nothing other than appreciative silence.
He would leave at the end of the next song. There was no other option.
Only Sabu left instead. He stood up, donned his cloak and slung his lute over his back. Sasuke stood with the rest of the impromptu audience and applauded.
Then the minstrel was walking directly towards him. Sabu slowed and stopped about four paces from them.
Sasuke bowed. “Sabu-san.”
“Uchiha-sama,” Sabu acknowledged. “You wish to speak with me?”
“Yes,” Sasuke replied. He glanced at the onlookers. “Would you do me the honour of being my guest in the private section of the park?”
Sabu nodded.
Sasuke shortened his stride and walked more slowly to match his pace to that of the old man. Out of nowhere came the thought that Naruto must do that every time they walked together.
Sabu looked from tree to tree. “Your fix-it man is impressive,” he remarked. “I wondered why I had been sent the pass.”
It took Sasuke a moment to catch on. Then he could not resist a small smile. Shikamaru was, indeed, an awesome fix-it man.
“You could have just sent me a message. I would have come.”
“I wanted to come to you,” Sasuke admitted. “I wish to learn from you.”
“I do not teach,” Sabu stated.
It was a disappointment. They stopped as Sumaru tackled the security gates.
“But perhaps we would both learn something if we spent time together,” Sabu continued.
Sasuke’s spirits lifted.
They settled in a cluster of Shikamaru’s birches.
“That will be all, Sumaru-san,” Sasuke told him.
Sumaru hesitated but then bowed. “Sasuke-sama,” he acknowledged and left.
“Play me something,” Sabu suggested.
Sasuke unslung the case from his back and took out his biwa. What should he play? Not a classical piece; that would not make Sabu want to spend time with him. Instead he shut his eyes and pretended to be playing to the triplets at bedtime.
When he finished and opened his eyes Sabu nodded. “What were you thinking of?” he asked.
“My children,” Sasuke admitted.
“The music speaks for you. This is good. Tell me about your lute.”
“It is a biwa.” Sasuke hesitated and then said it. “It was my mother’s.”
“It has a fabulous tone but I am about songs, not tunes. However this is not a problem, because I know that you can speak through song. I was in the square when you sang to your people.”
Sasuke felt himself flush slightly. “That was only a lullaby.”
“When you sang it, it became more than a lullaby.” The old man moved to stand.
Sasuke was on his feet at once, offering a hand.
Sabu took it and pulled himself up. “You must take after your mother.”
“You knew my father?” Sasuke asked before he could stop himself.
“I was travelling with a crew who had inadvertently offended him. Uchiha boarded the ship. He personally killed each one of them. I assume that he left me alive to tell the tale.”
Sasuke doubted that. Even Fugaku Uchiha would hesitate to kill a minstrel.
As they approached the security gates, Sasuke realised that he did not know the day’s settlings. Before he could use the hardwired intercom to contact whoever was a watch, the inner gate clicked open.
“Your fix-it man,” Sabu observed.
“My fix-it man,” Sasuke agreed. He bowed. “Sabu-sensei.”
For a moment he thought that Sabu would object to being addressed as teacher but then the old man bowed in return. “Sasuke-sama.”

Madara had forgotten that Yukie Fujikaze was even more attractive in person than on video. It was partly the way she sounded: the slight gasp as she inhaled before she spoke; the way her silk blouse whispered every time she moved; the studied musicality of her voice. The rest of it was her smell; a fabulous combination of expensive perfume, grooming products and woman.
He wanted to fuck her so badly that it was difficult to concentrate on what she was saying.
It was definitely time for a visit to Tokeisou.
“Izuna-sama?” she queried.
As he had no idea what she had been saying so he decided to ignore it. “I have decided that you should cover the launch of the expedition but that your involvement will end when the flagship jumps away from Tarrasade.”
From her expression, his proposal obviously fell short of her request. However, the speed of her recovery indicated that she was happy to settle for what he was offering.
“I assure you, Izuna-sama, that the resulting documentary will reflect the splendour of your undertaking.”
Madara liked the sound of that.
“Regular videoed interviews will be required,” she told him. “We cannot have too much material of you talking about your plans.”
“See Kimimaro-san about arranging appointments,” he replied.
“Perhaps we could talk through some of the preliminaries now?” she asked, leaning forward in a way that drew his attention to her breasts.
He dragged his eyes away only to have them drawn to her lips. “Not today,” he replied. He had to get her out of his office before he said or did something he would regret. He stood up and gestured towards the door.
She began to comply but took her time. Madara regretted getting up rather than summoning Kimimaro to escort her out.
“It is such good news from the clinic in Sublevel C,” she said as she stood up.
Madara almost sat back down again but stopped himself.
“The word is that they are testing a treatment that is designed to cure those who are infected. Isn’t that amazing? So close on the heels of developing the vaccination. Chief Medico Rin is such a remarkable scientist. Do you know if she has been working with Kotohime Fuma?”
He managed not to grit his teeth. “Yes, it is excellent news, Yukie-san,” he replied, stepping towards the door to emphasise that she should be leaving.
At last the woman began walking. “I did wonder if that news was linked to the departure of the Dart.”
Madara had not even known that the Dart had left. It was probably irrelevant but the small hairs on the back of his neck were bristling.
“Or to Sasuke-sama’s unexpected appearance in the public half of the park this morning,” the woman continued.
He had been about to cut her off but the last thing he need was Sasuke doing things the media found interesting. “Was he alone?”
“He had Sumaru-san with him.”
For a moment he thought he would have to ask her what they had been doing.
“He listened to the minstrel Sabu and then invited him into the private section of the park.”
Part of Madara wanted to dismiss it but hearing Sasuke sing to the allied crews had taught him that there was more to it than that. He pulled himself together. “I am sure you understand my reluctance to discuss Uchiha business, Yukie-san.”
She smiled at him. “I understand, Izuna-sama.”
He wished she would not smile at him like that; luckily Kimimaro appeared in the doorway. “Kimimaro-san will see you out.”
Once she had gone he sank back into his chair. The news that a cure was imminent was not welcome. He had been hoping that the hybrids would remain in stasis until after he left. The media might have limited interest in a brooding Sasuke, even one that met minstrels in the park, but they had an insatiable appetite for Sasuke Uchiha and his Naruto.
Also the younger fox-human hybrids, particularly the so-called heir, attracted a great deal of attention.
As for the Dart, it would make sense if her mission was to retrieve the podded canine-human hybrids so that they could receive treatment.
At least he could think now that the woman had left. He sighed. She knew more about what was happening in Uchiha than he did.

Haru wished he had said he wanted to be podded. The Dart was so small and Gai-san was so big. It was nothing to do with size, it was about impact. Gai-san managed to fill the entire ship. It was impossible to get away from him.
Thinking about it, Haru already knew about the size thing, Yuki could easily fill a room. So could Haku-san. It didn’t matter that they were small.
It did not help that Gai-san was incredibly enthusiastic about having Haru with him. He seemed to believe it was a privilege, which felt wrong. Every time Haru did something a trainee should, like cleaning the shared areas or preparing a meal, Gai-san would stare at him and then thank him.
Then Gai-san started to mention Papa and Haru realised that it was nothing to do with him. Or rather it was, but only because he was Papa’s son.
During the evemeal, which Haru had cooked and served, Gai-san started to tell him about being invited to a midday meal with Mikoto-san and Papa when Papa had been little.
It was fascinating. Haru wished Ran was there because Ran would have picked up on all the not-said bits that Haru realised were there but struggled to interpret. Like hints about how bad the elite fighters’ lives had been under Fugaku-sama. Like the sadness in Gai-san’s eyes when he talked about comrades that were long dead. Like how he shuddered when he skipped over the way Fugaku-sama had treated Itachi-san and Kakashi-san.
Haru remembered what Asuma-san had told him; that Fugaku-sama had been a monster and that Itachi-san had been justified in killing him. From bits other people had said, Haru was pretty sure that his grandfather had beaten Itachi-san and maybe done other bad stuff to him as well. Not that it was easy to think about a father doing bad stuff like that to his son.
He hadn’t known about Kakashi-san.
That night, when he was in his tiny sleeping cabin, Haru realised that Papa was the most important person in Gai-san’s life, even more important that Tenten-san, his lover, or his comrades, or Lee-san and Sumaru-san, who had been his pupils.
It was a truly scary thought because Gai-san was so not the most important person in Papa’s life. Not that Papa did not feel responsible for Gai-san and care for him, he did, but there were To-chan, and all them, and Shi-chan, and Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-san, and definitely Itachi-san, Kisame-san and Haku-san, and probably Neji-san.
And Gai-san was fine with that. Haru suspected that Gai-san would be fine with even less attention and affection than Papa gave him.
Did all the old Uchiha elite fighters feel that way? Haru went through them one by one. Maybe not Dan-san; he definitely loved Rin-san and Aiko-chan more than Papa. Maybe not Asuma-san, who had loved Kurenai-san so much.
And Kisame-san adored Itachi-san almost as much as To-chan loved Papa.
But the others? Was that why Hamaki-san, Terai-san and Fu-san often got it so wrong with Naomi? How did Iruka-sensei feel about Kakashi-san putting Papa before him? Was that why Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-san had never had a child other than Ran?
He wished Ran was there to talk to about it. Only he wasn’t. Like on this ship so long ago, Ran was podded.
Haru had a few memories of that journey. He remembered sitting in Shi-chan’s lap and recording a message for Papa and To-chan.
Thinking about it made him feel better about going home; he wanted to be there for Shi-chan like Shi-chan had been there for him.
- 97
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- 99
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