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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
- 98
- 99
- 100
Thank you to my beta and muse, Small Fox. This story grew from a plot idea he gave me.
Also thanks to satterb, melissen and sadie237 for reviewing after chapter 98 was posted.
Readers’ feedback, support and comments mean a great deal to me.

I am afraid inspiration is thin on the ground at the moment. Chapter 100 is not written. I hope to have something to post next Saturday.
All encouragement very gratefully received.

Leader
Part 10: Endgame
99: Enquiries

Sasuke was convinced that something important was eluding him. It had started as vague uneasiness and hardened day by day. Unable to pin down the cause he called an extended strategy meeting, going as far as insisting that Rin attend.
She walked in precisely on time; even Shikamaru was in his place. If looks were lasers, Sasuke would have been fried.
At least he was ready for it and managed not to flinch.
Once she was seated he began.
“I would like to start by thanking everyone for reorganising their commitments to be here and repay you by making a swift start. Rin-san?”
She spared him a quick nod of acknowledgment. “As you know, the experimental treatment we trialled on the dog-human hybrid was a success. We were intending on treating a few hybrids at a time but Yugito-san has pointed out that many of the podded hybrids have families and jobs. Every day they are in stasis brings them and their families closer to destitution. Although the HDL can support them, it is much better to get them back on their feet as quickly as possible.
“So we have been working with personnel from the clinic in Sublevel C and the Medico School. We have devised a treatment schedule that makes the best use of the tanks we have. We are prioritising hybrids who have dependents and then those with jobs.” She looked at Sasuke. “I realise that Uchiha has already spared Moegi-san to work full time in the clinic in Sublevel C but I was wondering if it would be possible for Uchiha to contribute more personnel.”
“I see no reason why not in principle,” Sasuke replied. “Please liaise with Iruka-san and Haku-san.”
Rin nodded. “We commenced Hana-san’s treatment as soon as we had carried out diagnostic testing on the dog-human hybrid and confirmed that the virus had gone from his system. It is going as planned.
“That is the end of my report, Sasuke-sama.”
It sounded promising. It looked like they were ahead of the schedule Rin had outlined. Sasuke hoped so. The sooner Naruto was in and out of the tank the better.
Neji was looking at him in the way he did when trying to communicate something without words. Sasuke realised that Rin’s eyes were fixed on him.
“Excellent work, Rin-san. Does anyone have any questions?”
No one did. “As much I would like you to stay for the whole strategy meeting, Rin-san...”
Her eyes narrowed.
“...I realise now busy you are. Thank you for attending and giving your report in person.”
Once she had gone, Sasuke turned to the next person on his list.
“Itachi-san?”
“There are now two separate aspects of managing the Izuna-sama situation,” he began. “We have been focused on Izuna-sama’s expedition leaving as soon as possible. Shika-san has had a number of ideas to expedite the venture and Ino-san has been extremely successful at persuading Izuna-sama to adopt them.
“This means he could be gone within a div.”
A handful of days ago, Sasuke would have been delighted.
“There is also the second issue.” Itachi paused and looked to Sasuke, who took a deep breath and chose his words carefully.
“For the duration of this meeting I, as your clan leader, order all those in this room to fully discuss the issue of the identity of the person we know as Izuna Uchiha. The details of this discussion are to be kept confidential.”
“Thank you, Sasuke-sama,” Itachi acknowledged. “There may or may not be a question about Izuna-sama’s identity. If there is, it is better we raise it now than after he has one-third of Uchiha’s wealth.”
What followed was no-holds-barred discussion about what they should do. Neji was firm in his position that they should let Izuna go, imposter or not. Iruka obviously agreed with him but did not say so; instead he argued for being absolutely sure before they accused Izuna and precipitated a confrontation. Kakashi, Asuma and Itachi were adamant that the possibility that he was an imposter had to be excluded.
Shikamaru said nothing.
Finally everyone paused for breath at the same moment.
“Shika-san?” Sasuke queried.
Shikamaru rubbed his hand over his face in a gesture that rang alarm bells in Sasuke’s head. He glanced over at Iruka, who was, as Sasuke had anticipated, studying Shikamaru with anxious eyes.
“So far we have no evidence that Izuna-sama is not Izuna Uchiha...”
Maybe Neji was right and planting the doubt was merely Orochimaru’s revenge.
“...but we also have no additional confirmatory evidence that he is.” He rubbed his face again. “We wanted to get gene sequences for Izuna Uchiha’s children and grandchildren but all those samples in the tissue bank are degraded. Not one contains a complete genome we can sequence.”
That was irritating. Sasuke was about to reassure Shikamaru that it could not be helped but Kakashi spoke first.
“But Izuna Uchiha’s samples, both the one Shizune tested and the backup, were fine?” he queried.
There was silence as what Kakashi was implying sank in. No wonder Shikamaru was upset. What were the chances that all the samples from the first three generations had degraded with the sole exception of those from Izuna Uchiha?
“We are collecting genetic material from other sources,” Shikamaru continued. “Haku-san had been brilliant at cross referencing objects in the storeroom to the household records. Also there are some short strands in the degraded samples. When Haru arrives, I am hoping that he will work out a way of finding patterns that will give us enough information about Izuna Uchiha’s genome to be able to compare it to Izuna-sama’s. He’s much better at finding patterns than I am.”
Hearing Shikamaru talking about his limitations did not help. By the Lady, Sasuke needed Naruto right now; he and Shikamaru both did.
Asuma spoke next. “What do we do if we cannot acquire enough information about Izuna Uchiha’s genome? Let it go?”
Sasuke knew he could not do that. He was about to say so but Neji answered first.
“We can listen to what the print has to say.”
There was more silence. Sasuke knew they were all imagining the indignity of bargaining with the Orochimaru print. Not that they could trust what he told them; that was one of their problems.
“Looking back,” Neji continued, “I question why Izuna-sama chose the moment of Orochimaru’s execution to distance himself from us.”
“He was expecting Orochimaru to denounce him,” Kakashi growled.
“In retrospect, that does seem likely,” Neji agreed.
A small part of Sasuke wished he had listened. The rest knew that refusing to negotiate with Orochimaru had been the right decision.
Then Itachi said it. “We could tell Izuna-sama that we have the print and see what he does.”

Madara was pleased. It had been a good day. Yukie Fujikaze had suggested that they video him briefing some of the people who would be with him on the Hawk. It had turned out that eight of them were in Tarrasade already; seven young men and a truly gorgeous young woman.
The briefing had been this afternoon and Madara had enjoyed it thoroughly. The young woman had looked at him as if she was utterly convinced that she could awake Izuna Uchiha’s heterosexual tendencies, however latent.
It was a scenario he was looking forward to exploring once they were well away from Yukie Fujikaze and all the other reporters.
He was still thinking about it when he entered his apartment, so much so that it took him a moment to realise that there was someone inside. He tensed, ready for combat, only to hear the silken rustle of Haku’s kimono.
Madara knew that Haku cleaned his apartment; Haku had made it quite clear that it was a privilege that would not be delegated to a less senior member of the crew. However the task was usually completed while Madara was at his office in headquarters.
Haku saw him, stopped what he was doing and bowed. “My apologies, Izuna-sama. I confess to be running late.”
He did not sound his usual self. Madara looked more closely. He looked like he might have been crying. “I am honoured that you should see to my needs, Haku-san, whenever that might be.”
“That is kind of you, Izuna-sama.” He turned slightly, obviously intending to go back to cleaning.
“Leave it, Haku-san. You keep the apartment so immaculate; one day’s dust will be undetectable. Why don’t you make us some tea?”
Haku hesitated but then nodded. “If you wish, Izuna-sama.”
He had to cajole Haku to sit with him but he managed it. Then he cast about for a way of beginning the conversation. In the end he decided on the children; children always worked.
“I hope Mai-chan and Shou-chan are doing well.”
Haku managed a rather wan smile. “Very well, Izuna-sama. Thank you for asking. They have been very well behaved, which is their way of helping given that Kiba-san and Naruto-san are unavailable to help care for them.” A small sign escaped him. “Not having Hana-san, Yukie-kun or Ran-kun available does not help. At least Ran-kun will be here soon.”
Madara seized the opportunity to find out why the Dart had been dispatched. “So is Ran-kun arriving soon on the Dart?” he asked, knowing that Haku would correct him if he were wrong.
Haku sipped from his tea cup and then replaced it on the table. “Yes, along with Kazuki-kun, Ryuu-kun and Ryuka-kun so that they can be treated for the virus. Haru-kun also.” His eyes hardened and his lips narrowed. “Also the Orochimaru print that the Gama had.”
Madara managed to stop himself freezing. He had thought all the prints were dead.
Haku was continuing. “We have no idea how many Orochimaru prints were made, so it is unsurprising that one will emerge from time to time.” His voice shook very slightly. “It is just that this particular print...” He trailed off. “I am being silly.” He forced a smile. “Sasuke-sama has generously said that I can kill this one.”
The thought of Haku wielding the knife made Madara hard. One of his problems with Tokeisou was that the whore lacked Haku’s edge. “Do you think you will get him as far as the killing square, Haku-san? I thought that all the Orochimaru prints suicide when captured.”
Haku sniffed. “Not this one. This one had the audacity to demand to speak to Sasuke-sama.”
Madara’s gut twisted, forcing bile up his gullet. “And he is permitting that?”
“He has yet to make the decision but the print’s pod will be brought to the household rather than being opened on the Dart and the print being taken directly to the killing square.” Haku smiled and this time it looked genuine. “I do not mind where I kill him, only that I do so.” He finished his tea, “I should continue my cleaning, Izuna-sama.”
He would not be persuaded out of it, so Madara retreated to his study, which had already been cleaned. From there he only had to endure the occasional rustle.
He poured himself a whisky but sat at his desk cradling the cup in his hand rather than drinking it. He did not know what was more distracting, Haku’s presence or the thought of that Orochimaru print having him day after day. Madara knew how Orochimaru treated those he fucked; Haku’s small body would have...
He clenched his fist, digging his fingernails into his palm and resisting his urge to draw his knife. He had to stop thinking about Haku and concentrate on the danger the print represented.
If only he could get to the pod before the print was roused.
“I shall be going now, Izuna-sama,” Haku announced through the doorway.
Madara almost jumped. “Very well, Haku-san. Thank you again for your endeavours on my behalf.”
Haku smiled. “It is my pleasure, Izuna-sama.”
Once Haku had gone, Madara started to think. There were things about Level 1 that no one else knew: like the message chute from his old apartment; like the ladder from Level 1 to Level 6. Unfortunately, the entrance to the latter was in apartment outside the Uchiha compound.
He wondered who owned that apartment now; doubtless someone with no idea of what it contained.
There were not many choices open to him. His mind went back to the hollow strut along which the message shuttle had run. If he could throw the whole household into disarray by precipitating an emergency, he or Kimimaro might be able to get to the pod.
He tried to do the calculations in his head but it was beyond him. He opened his desk and found a sheet of rice paper.
Rice paper could be destroyed without leaving a trace of what had been written on it.

Shikamaru didn’t go to greet the Dart. He knew that Iruka and Kakashi would be there for Ran and Sasuke for Haru.
If Naruto had been around he would probably have dragged him along but he wasn’t and Shikamaru had no intention of standing in Na-chan’s place as Haru’s parent.
His eyes went to the chronometer. The Dart would be arriving right now. Maybe Haru would drop by sometime that afternoon.
Then the announcer sounded, Neji opened the door and Shikamaru was tackled by a fast-moving Haru.
“You weren’t at the docking bay,” he accused.
Shikamaru hugged him. “I didn’t...” he trailed off, uncertain what to say.
Haru gave him a surprisingly knowing look. “Without To-chan about you think too much.” He looked across at Neji. “Neji-san, you should have told him not to be silly.”
“I shall remember that for next time, Haru-kun,” Neji replied. “It is good to see you.”
“You too, Neji-san.”
“Where’s Ran?” Shikamaru asked.
“Being fussed over by Iruka-sensei. He was podded for the journey and is still a bit woozy.” Haru smiled. “I understand from Papa you have a job for me.”
Shikamaru glanced over at Neji. “Maybe we should go into your work room? That way we won’t disturb Neji.”
Neji waved them away. “Good idea. I watered your plant, Haru-kun.”
Haru grimaced. “Thanks, Neji-san.”
Shikamaru knew Haru had ‘forgotten’ the plant in the hope it would die of neglect. “If you had taken it you could have left it in Skyburrow,” he pointed out as they walked through the connecting door. “There wouldn’t have been the space to bring it home.”
“I didn’t think I would be coming back so soon,” Haru admitted, “and certainly not on the Dart.”
Once the doors were closed Sai could join them. As Shikamaru had suspected, Haru already had a good grasp of the problem from what Sai had told him.
Sai started displaying the information they had accumulated so far. Shikamaru stared at the endless sequences of As, Ts, Gs and Cs.
“We won’t get anywhere if we look at it like this,” Haru said immediately. “How many genomes are we trying to reconstruct?”
Shikamaru was about to reply four; Izuna Uchiha and his three children.
“One,” Sai replied. “That of Izuna Uchiha.”
“Exactly. Everything else is secondary, tertiary or quaternary data. Let’s have a chromosomal map that we can view at multiple levels from karyotype down to DNA sequence.”
There was a pause and then a human karyotype appeared.
“Thanks Sai. Start by blanking out all the sequences that are common across many humans. How much does that get rid of?”
“Over 99.9%,” Sai replied.
“Good. Now we will mark the different sections of the remaining DNA. Blue for nine-tenths certain of the sequence, gold for three-fifths, amber for three-tenths and red for under three-tenths.”
The diagram was overpoweringly red. If there was any amber or gold, it was not visible at this resolution. Shikamaru sighed; 90% was probably over ambitious. He almost said something but decided not to; it was Haru’s problem to solve
Haru glanced at him. “If we can’t give a definite answer, Papa will let Izuna-sama leave?” he checked.
Shikamaru nodded.
“Then we keep the top threshold good and high,” Haru decided. “Anyway, we don’t need the whole genome. All we need are sequences that we know for certain that Izuna Uchiha had. As soon as Izuna-sama doesn’t have one of those, he isn’t Izuna Uchiha. Do we know who Izuna Uchiha’s children’s other genetic parents were?”
“It is not certain,” Shikamaru admitted.
“I shall try to confirm by cross referencing information I have,” Sai volunteered.
“Good,” Haru confirmed. “The more of their chromosomes we can eliminate because they came from the other parent the better.” He smiled. “Sai and I will start working back from the genomes of later generations. The information is easier to obtain, but harder to apply. We’ll probably have to do some mathematics.”
Shikamaru suddenly felt a great deal happier. Haru and Sai could do this, just like they had been able to formalise the way he found routes. If they couldn’t reconstruct enough of Izuna Uchiha’s genome, no one could.
“It is good to have you home, Haru,” he murmured.
Haru turned to him and smiled. “Sai and I have this covered. You can help Papa with other stuff. Maybe we can have a game of Go this evening.”
Shikamaru smiled. “That would be fun,” he admitted.

Haru and Ran arriving was exciting enough that Tsuneo had completely forgotten about being good. In a way Sasuke was pleased to see it; Tsu-chan managing to behave well for more than two days in a row was completely out of character. On the other hand, having him, Nagato and Shou racing around the playroom with Teruko, Takara and Mai in furious pursuit was something he could have done without.
It reminded him of trying to look after the big litter.
Suddenly Mai and Shou stopped, quickly followed by the others.
Sasuke knew it was nothing to do with him and, given the expressions on the children’s faces, he was not surprised to see Haku when he turned around.
“Sasuke-sama,” Haku acknowledged. “Would you like me to look after the children until the evening meal?”
“That would be appreciated, Haku-san,” he admitted. “Perhaps this current game was a little boisterous for the playroom,” he added, not wanting to get Mai or Shou into trouble when it was Tsuneo who had started it by kidnapping one of Mai’s dolls.
“It would seem so, Sasuke-sama,” Haku confirmed. “Perhaps a more calming activity would be advisable to finish up the afternoon.”
As he crept away, Sasuke tried to avoid the accusing blue eyes; Tsuneo detested embroidery.
He headed towards the crew room, still deciding if he should go to his office or take advantage of the unanticipated free time to clean his and Naruto’s rooms.
He was not sure if he could face the latter; it was something that he and Naruto usually did together.
To his surprise, Shikamaru was sitting on one of the couches in the crew room. Sasuke joined him. “I thought you were with Haru.”
“I was but he’s already got stuck into the problem and he sent me away,” Shikamaru admitted. He smiled. “We’re going to play Go after the evening meal.”
“That’s nice.” Sasuke had never got into Go; Shogi but not Go. “You think Haru is all right working on the problem on his own?”
“It’s essentially data analysis and mathematics,” Shikamaru replied. “When it comes to those, he leaves me at the starting line.”
It was a truly scary thought, made more so by the notion that whatever genes Haru had not inherited from Shika, he had got from him.
Maybe it was a case of nurture rather than nature; Shikamaru had played mathematical games with Haru from before he could talk, which had been ridiculously early.
“Any news about Na-chan?” Shikamaru asked, his tone wistful.
Sasuke was used to Shikamaru changing the subject; it was a consequence of thinking in parallel. “Yes, Rin decided that there was no reason to treat Kiba first. All the hybrids they have treated are recovering and Hana’s procedure went perfectly. Both Kiba and Naruto went into the tank this morning.”
“So five days,” Shikamaru observed.
“Five days,” Sasuke agreed. “Starting tomorrow.”
They sat quietly for a moment. Sasuke knew that Shikamaru missed Naruto, possibly almost as much as he did.
Shikamaru broke the silence first. “Has Izuna-sama responded to what Haku told him?”
“Ino-san has not reported anything,” Sasuke admitted. As far as they could tell, the last two days had been the usual round of photo opportunities and media interviews. “He did go to the brothel, but he usually does that after talking face-to-face with Haku.”
“He had his clandestine meeting with you at the brothel,” Shikamaru pointed out. “Maybe we should have tried to recruit that Tokeisou guy.”
Sasuke almost said that was unacceptable but stopped himself.
Shikamaru sighed in way that said, “He’s your enemy, Sasuke,” but without words.
Sasuke shrugged, which meant, “He still could be Izuna Uchiha.”
Later that night, when the whole household shook and the alarms began blaring, Sasuke regretted being so honourable.
- 98
- 99
- 100
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