Learn some more about Sakura's past this chapter.
Naruto strolled out of the bathroom having just dried himself off after his shower, and then walked into their cavernous wardrobe to get dressed for a training session with Lee. When they left Oceanus, he had helped Tenten move all the simulator equipment to one of the spare rooms on Deck 3, and while he had cleared the conference room of furniture, she had hooked up the equipment for him. She had excitedly explained that she was going to connect the pulse generator to the powerful communication relay on the Invictus, and promised him that it would work flawlessly.
Swimming with Hinata had been fun, and the anal pounding he'd given her for winning the race they'd agreed to had really worked the tension from finding out he'd been marked for death out of his system. He'd put up a brave front for the Pack, but the truth was the idea of a person specifically set on killing him weirded him the fuck out. What kind of life was he living? The life of a young Uzu, apparently.
*We love you, good luck,* came the universal response from his Pack, his crew, his family. Naruto felt his heart fill until it felt ready to burst. He walked along the corridor then descended one floor in the red glow of the grav-tube, before stepping out onto Deck 3. This deck mainly consisted of conference and training rooms, but with their tiny crew, there had been no reason to use any of the space here except for Shikamaru's Mainframe. His new sparring room was set up in the first room on the left, and he walked inside and then powered up the simulator, before striding over to collect his Odachi from the rack.
After two solid weeks of intensive training, the weapon felt comfortable and familiar in his hands, and he smiled as he looked down at it. The padded floor suddenly blurred and shifted below him, changing as the holo-simulation reconstructed the dojo where he had been decapitated and dismembered countless times. Lee blinked into view with his hand on his sheathed Katana, and he grunted wordlessly in greeting.
Naruto smiled wryly, nodding at his mentor, and then walked across the polished wooden floor of the dojo, in preparation for their first duel of the session.
The rest of the crew continued their pursuits while Naruto got himself repeatedly killed in the name of education. Hinata floated in the pool, happily content with a full belly. Sasuke continued his research into the research vessel Cora and it's final mission with Uzumaki Kushina as a crewmember. At her own console, Hana was repeatedly frustrated as she ran into Ultra-level clearance requests as she tried to milk the last information out of the Dragon March orders for the last three months. Tenten happily roughed out the perfect design for the maintenance bots with Shikamaru's help before putting the finishing touches on all the Armors. Fu, Gaara, and Sakura were occupied in the Medical Bay, Sakura having taken blood from Gaara but not Fu since, as it turns out, she didn't have any. After that and a skin sample, she'd had them do full-body scans and then go through a series of exercises to determine their physical limits.
They finished what they were doing in time for lunch, and enjoyed a nice meal. They were about to go back to them or find something new to do, when Shikamaru buzzed in. "Sorry to spoil your day, but we've picked up a recent pirate attack on the long-range scanners."
Naruto sat up like a wolf getting a scent. "Describe the attack," he ordered even as the crew raced for the anti-grav tube.
"Luxury passenger liner, the Excelsior, crippled engines, zero life signs. Either they're all killed or they've been kidnapped. But there's little biological matter so my bet is kidnapped," Shikamaru said through the speakers, keeping up with them as they moved.
The Pack settled into their stations and looked up at the Tactical Map. The Excelsior sat broken and alone in space, looking very expensive. Unfortunately, none of that money had gone towards any weapons.
Naruto settled into Alpha mode. "Sasuke, pull up reports of pirate attacks in the area. Hana, scan nearby star systems for a good base. I want to know their location within the next 15 minutes!"
"Yes, Commodore," they replied helpfully. They both went about their tasks, Shikamaru helping from time to time. In just five minutes with the AI's assistance, they had their answer. "Eta Tauri. It has a gas mining facility, ironically owned by the same company as Momochi's base," Sasuke reported, being up the System Map. It was a bright blue-white star, surrounded by a couple bare planetoids and four gas giants, one of which was highlighted.
"I've just been researching the facility, and it was hit by an asteroid and badly damaged, that's why it was abandoned. From the logs of the incident it was deemed structurally unstable, and they couldn't drain the fuel tanks before it was decommissioned," Hana reported.
Naruto frowned with annoyance, and growled, "Is there any chance we could catch them before they return to their base? If we can interdict them ourselves, it will keep the civilians from any added danger."
Hana shook her head as she regretfully informed him, "It's extremely unlikely. The attack must have happened several hours ago at least, or we would have been in range of the distress beacon. It's possible the liner didn't activate one, but that seems highly implausible, and it's much more likely that the pirates probably turned it off when they captured the ship."
"If that's the case, we'll sneak into the facility to take control of it, and prevent the pirates from rigging or setting off any explosives," he said decisively.
The Invictus raced through the systems on their rescue detour, the powerful Tachyon Drive covering the vast distances in record time. A short while later they dropped out of hyperwarp in the Eta Tauri system, and Tenten immediately powered down most of the ship's systems, massively reducing the energy profile of the Assault Cruiser. The passive sensors did their work, and the Tactical Map began to fill with additional information, updating the map with some minimal details on the ships in the area.
"I'm only picking up what looks like one ship by the gas mining station," Tenten informed them. "The transponder is turned off though, so I'm not sure what kind of vessel it is."
"The passenger liner wasn't hit that hard, mostly by laser cannon blasts," Hana said appraisingly. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's a small band using a decommissioned Destroyer or Frigate."
Naruto considered their plan of attack. "I want Hinata, Fu, and Sakura with me. Hinata is our best shot and psychic, Fu can use her tiger form to intimidate, and Sakura can perform first-aid on any injured hostages. Sasuke, Hana, Tenten, and Gaara, you stay out here. If they catch us, you can bluff them into surrendering, but hopefully that happens after we secure the passengers. Ready, run out!"
The selected girls followed him into the Briefing Room, which now had double the equipping frames. Tenten had been quite industrious during their Oceanus vacation. They all had noticed the air quality was all but superior to even Jericho's with the new Oxygen filters. Anyway, all three locations for the equipping frames could now equip at least half of the Pack. Naruto got into his Uzu Armor, noting there were new icons on the eye-tracking HUD screen, which he presumed were for the miniaturized Shield Generator and retrothruster. He turned to the girls in their Thrall Armor and noticed a new addition. Over their left breast was a holographic wolf's head, with the fur the color of the respective girl's fur and eyes matching as well. He looked down at his own breast and saw his own wolf's head, arranged the same as his dress uniform and with his colors.
*Tenten? Any reason for the identifiers? We could already tell each other apart with Telepathy,* Naruto asked his Chief Engineer.
*Yeah, but no one else could. We're 'heroes' now, we need to be easily recognized even when we're in uniform in order to inspire the masses or terrify our enemies. I only left out Fu because wearing armor would stop her from shapeshifting,* Tenten replied.
Naruto shrugged and grabbed a Laser Railgun from the rack. *Tell me about the Shield Generator? Is it permeable or do I have to turn it off to shoot?*
*You really think I'd make something that hard to use? It's one-way, trust me. You can blast and shoot bullets and bolts to your heart's content, but none will be hitting you unless you run out of juice,* she thought smugly.
Naruto grinned and gave her a mental kiss. *Brilliant work as always, babe. See you when we're done massacring pirates.*
Naruto and the girls made for the anti-grav tube, making for Deck 9 and the Raptor. Fu led them, still dressed in clothes, into the gunship and up the anti-grav tube to the Cockpit. She got in the Pilot's Chair and then flew them out of the Docking Bay and towards the Rastan-Cooper gas mining facility.
*It'll take us about 10 minutes to get there,* Fu told them, even Sakura using standard Telepathy. Despite spending two weeks with the girl, they had yet to feel the point when they could Astral Bond with her. It was standard procedure to switch to Telepathy in a combat situation, both for speed and because it couldn't be traced by conventional sensors.
*You all be safe," Sasuke told the Pack mind.
The ten minutes to approach the gas mining facility seemed to take an eternity, and it loomed larger as they stared at it through the Cockpit canopy. It was a dark rusty red, with a cylindrical body and five long arms sticking out from the top. There should have been eight in total, but three had been sheared off in the impact with the asteroid, which had left a huge rent down the side of the facility.
They saw what looked to be a battered old Konoha Federation Frigate that was docked on one side of the facility, proving Hana's guess to be correct. Fu didn't need to be told to dock on the opposite side of the gas mining station, and they soon sidled up to one of the docking arms, before clamping themselves securely in place.
Naruto turned to face Sakura, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. *You okay? Feeling nervous?* he asked her considerately.
She paused and then nodded hesitantly as she looked up at him.
*We'll look after you, don't be scared,* he told her soothingly. *Just stick with me and follow my instructions. I'll be communicating directly with you via Telepathy. If you need to ask me anything, just think it and I'll hear,*
Sakura stood up straighter and nodded much more firmly this time. *I won't let you down,* she told him in a determined voice.
*I know, you're a good girl,* he told her affectionately, before he glanced at Fu and Hinata. *Alright, let's move out.*
They went down the anti-grav tube and then through to the cargo compartment at the back of the Raptor which contained the airlocks. Fu had docked on the port side of the gunship, so they approached that airlock cautiously. Once Hinata had hit the button that made the outer airlock door spiral open, Naruto removed the chrome decryption device from a compartment on his belt and then attached it to the door. It hummed happily to itself for a moment before the station airlock unlocked with a dull sounding thunk, then the two doors creaked loudly as they ground open. A rush of fetid air swirled through the doorway, and Fu wrinkled her nose with distaste.
She stepped away from them a little way, back into the room, and stripped off her top and dropped her trousers, then began to shimmer as she changed her shape. An instant later she reappeared in her jade tiger form, and she padded past them and through into the station. She sniffed the air, her powerful muzzle lifted high, and then began to stalk forward.
*There's men approaching,* She reported to them. *Only a couple I think, probably to investigate the noise from the door.*
Naruto darted out of the airlock behind Fu, followed by Hinata and Sakura. The facility was in a terrible state of disrepair, with pipes venting steam into the corridor, broken overhead lighting, and floor panelling removed in various sections where maintenance had been started and then abandoned. They all heard the sound of men talking before they saw any signs of the incoming pirates.
"Ugh, why do we even need anyone on guard duty," one of the grumbled. "I could be getting laid right now."
"Tell me about it," the second one snarled. "I've never had me any high class pussy before, and now it'll be sloppy seconds at best."
Naruto clenched his jaw with anger, and he could feel the fury coming off the girls over their telepathic connection.
*We better try and grab a prisoner if we can. We're going to need some information fast if we're going to have any chance of protecting those women,* Naruto told them.
*I'm on it,* Fu told him immediately, and Naruto watched the huge tiger prowl forward rapidly, not making a sound.
She disappeared from sight for a few seconds, and there was the sound of a muffled scream, then frantic cries for mercy. Naruto darted forward to catch up, and saw that Fu had cornered one of the men, who had dropped to his knees in terror, flinging his hands up in the air in surrender. The other man's decapitated head lolled on the floor, a horrified expression frozen on his face.
Naruto strode up to the man and pointed his gun in his face. "Start talking now, or either I'll start shooting bits off you, or I'll let the tiger take her time with you. Where are the women prisoners?"
"On the n-n-next level down," the terrified man stammered.
"And the rest of the passengers, where are they?" Naruto snarled.
"Locked up on this level, being guarded by a handful of the men," the pirate replied fearfully.
Naruto tightened his grip on his weapon as he stared at the loathsome man. "Have you rigged this place with booby traps or any kind of explosive triggers?" he said in a no-nonsense voice.
The pirate shook his head quickly as he stared up at Naruto. "We only moved in here a couple of weeks ago, and none of the crew are explosives experts. The Captain said something about an insurance policy though..."
"OK, you're coming up with us. Sakura, watch him. If he tries anything suspicious or attempts to warn his friends, you can kill him," Naruto said forebodingly, and then nodded to Fu who darted away down the corridor.
Naruto jogged along after the Nymph, with Hinata at his side, as they tried to keep up with the dark green tiger, whilst making as little noise as possible.
"Move it arsehole," Sakura growled at the pirate, and the man stood up warily.
He put his hands on his head, and then walked several paces in front of her while she kept her weapon trained on him. They eventually caught up with the others who were paused to strike out of the darkness. They were on an upper gantry overlooking a gloomy circular room, in the middle of which was a table where four surly men sat around playing cards.
"I can't believe we got picked for fucking guard duty," one of them whined, in what seemed like a common grievance amongst those pirates stuck on this level.
His one-eyed compatriot nodded as he stared at his guards. "These useless dicks aren't going anywhere, they're locked up tight," he grumbled. "This is a bullshit waste of time."
"Did you see those bitches we pulled off that liner," an overweight pirate leered. "I'm gonna have me some fun when the Cap'n finally lets us have a go."
The fourth man was about to speak when Naruto gave the signal to strike, and Fu leapt off the gantry, dropping twenty feet to the ground and letting out a terrifying snarl, revealing her razor sharp fangs.
"Freeze or you're dead!" Naruto called out to the pirates as they scrambled back in fear from the enormous green tiger, the fat man falling off his chair in his haste.
The four men looked up frantically at the sound of his voice, suddenly spotting Naruto and Hinata pointing lethal looking rifles at them. They warily raised their hands, being careful not to do anything that might give the tiger, or the white armored soldiers, any reason to attack.
Naruto and Hinata walked carefully down the ramp from the gantry, keeping their weapons trained on the pirates. When Naruto reached them, he moved from man to man, stripping them of any obvious handguns or rifles.
"Any concealed weapons on the table. If we find them later, I'll kill you," he said in a voice that promised instant enactment of his threat.
The one-eyed man reluctantly pulled a small pistol gingerly from his belt, hidden behind his back, while the fat man slowly uncovered a vicious looking knife from his boot and added it to the growing pile of weapons.
"Good, now back up over there," Naruto said, waving them off with his weapon.
Fu had been prowling around the room, and she scratched at one of the sealed doors.
"The rest of the passengers are in there," Hinata translated for her.
Naruto turned to Hinata and nodded. "I'll take Fu and save the women. Lock up these pirates in one of the rooms, and free the other passengers," he ordered.
He could feel Hinata's reluctance to leave his side, but she nodded her agreement.
"Which way to the level down?" Naruto snarled at the first pirate they had taken prisoner, who Sakura had brought down to join them.
The man pointed down a corridor on the other side of the dimly lit curved room. "Down there, then look for a gantry like this one with a ramp down to the next level," he answered quickly, then put his hand back on top of his head.
*We'll be back as soon as we can,* Naruto thought to the girls, and he sprinted down the corridor, following Fu's lashing tail.
Hinata kept a wary eye on the pirates in the middle of the room, and then carefully opened one of the sealed doors. The room inside was empty and featureless, and after a cautious look inside, she determined there was no way out of it.
"Alright, all of you in there," she told the pirates, indicating the room with a nod of her head.
The five pirates glowered at her with annoyance, now realising they were being guarded by two women, and feeling braver now that the terrifying beast had left the room. They shot her sullen looks as they walked past, and she could almost feel the hate and contempt pouring off them. When the last one was safely inside, she sealed the door behind them and spun the locking wheel on the metal door, locking them in.
"What a complete bunch of arseholes," she said to Sakura, shaking her head in disgust.
They walked over to the next door, the one that Fu had indicated, and carefully spun the identical locking mechanism, which unsealed the door. Hinata tugged at the rust stiffened portal, and it open grudgingly with an unhappy squeal. Dozens of scared faces peered back at them from the dimly lit room, and as Hinata yanked the door wide open, they saw there must have been at least fifty men in the room.
"Don't be afraid. We're here to rescue you," she called out to them in a clear voice. "Are any of you injured?"
A man in a ripped pseudo-naval uniform staggered forward. "Oh thank God you're here!" he said, his voice sounding desperate.
As he moved into the slightly brighter lighting from the circular room behind them, they could see that he had received a beating from the pirates, and his face was blackened with bruises, and bloodied with several cuts and gashes. Sakura slung her railgun over a shoulder, and then pulled the medical kit from her back as she walked over to him, and helped him to sit so that she could tend to his wounds.
"My name's Hyuuga Hinata, I'm the Executive Officer on the Invictus," Hinata informed him, as she squatted by his side. "Who are you?"
"I'm Bragan Merick. I was First Officer on the Excelsior, and I guess I'm in charge, as these bastards beat the Captain to death," he said in a quavering voice.
"You're safe now," Hinata told him in a soothing voice. "Just take it slowly and tell me what happened."
Merick slumped back against the wall, and stared up at the ceiling as Sakura began to clean the cuts on his face.
"We got yanked out of hyperwarp, and then the pirates started shooting at us. This part of Konoha space is supposed to be totally safe!" he exclaimed, still shocked. "How could the K-Fed Navy have let them set up like this?!"
"As I understand it, they're funneling most of their forces to the Dragon March. Their patrols must be starting to suffer for it," Hinata reasoned. "Now what happend after the pirates attacked?"
"When the pirates shot out our engines, they boarded us. We had a small security contingent aboard the Excelsior, but they were so outnumbered they stood no chance. When the Captain refused to turn off the distress beacon, the pirates..." he faltered as he struggled to continue.
"It's okay, I get the idea," Hinata told him comfortingly. "How many of you are there?"
One of the other men in the crowd of faces that were staring at them stepped forward. "There's sixty three of us here, nearly all men, some of the older women and nearly a dozen children. The pirates took the others," he said pointedly, leaving little doubt who he was referring to.
Sakura immediately glanced around the room, and suddenly realised there were a number of kids staring at her with wide frightened eyes. She pulled the helmet from her head, and smiled at them reassuringly.
"It's okay, we're here to keep you safe," she said gently.
A little girl, probably aged about six or seven in her estimation looked around one of the men and stared at her with big blue eyes. "They took my mummy. Are you going to bring her back?" she asked in a scared voice.
Sakura stared at her in shock, as her mind flashed back to those dreadful events ten years ago...
"Daddy, when will mummy be back?" she asked her father curiously, looking up at him where he sat behind the heavy desk in his study. "She was supposed to be home hours ago."
Her father had a funny look on his face, one she had never seen before. He looked angry and worried at the same time. "Not now Sakura," he said waving her away dismissively. "Go and play with the Nanny, I'm speaking to someone about your mother at the moment."
Sakura snapped back to the present, and stared off into the distance, as those feelings of fear and helplessness threatened to overwhelm her once more.
Hinata glanced at her, frowning at the sudden surge of negative emotions she was picking up from Sakura.
*Are you ok?* she thought to the pinkette, who turned and nodded to her distractedly.
Fu had slowed slightly as they darted down the gantry, letting Naruto keep up with her. As they descended to the next level down, they could hear the dreadful sounds of women sobbing and crying coming from up ahead, as well as the raucous sounds of braying laughter from a large group of men.
Naruto hurried along the corridor, desperate to try and stop what he feared had already started, as he and Fu closed in on the sounds. The pirates hadn't bothered to post any guards, and he was able to approach the room and glance inside without alerting any of them.
There were at least fifteen pirates in here, with around twice that number of women in various stages of undress. The pirates were laughing and drinking as they bartered with each other for who got to have each of the women first, and a young, mid-teen girl was currently the center of their attention.
"Strip! Strip! Strip!" they yelled and howled at her, as she stood quaking in terror before them.
As Naruto pulled back before he was spotted, he noticed a couple of female bodies lying sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood, and he shook his head sadly, realizing they would soon be beyond his help.
*Fu, I'm going to use Psychic Sleep. I want you to nick their necks or hearts while they're down. Scum like this don't deserve to live,* Naruto thought, calmly sentencing over a dozen men to die.
*I'll do it, Naruto,* she thought to him.
Naruto focused and held out his hand, sending out a wave of psionic energy. As if the pirates all suffered from narcolepsy, they stopped shouting and collapsed to the ground, dead to the world.
The women paused, unsure how to react to this development. When Naruto and Fu in tiger form walked in, quite a few screamed.
"Calm down! We're here to rescue you! I'm Commodore Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto called out firmly. "Get dressed, I'm taking you back to my ship. Don't worry about the tiger, she's fully trained," he added, seeing many of them eyeing Fu terrified as she casually decapitated the fallen pirates.
Naruto rushed over to the bodies and saw there were in fact three. One had torn clothes but all three had been shot at point-blank range. He was aware of movement behind him, and a striking blonde in her late thirties came forward to stand at his side. Her face was filled with sadness as she stood next to him, and looked down at the trio of murdered women.
"I think the pirates used them as an example to intimidate the rest of us. They were going to rape the first one, and when her friends tried to help her, they shot all three of them," she said mournfully.
"How long ago were they shot?" Naruto asked, the seconds ticking down in his head.
The blonde looked at him in confusion. "Less than five minutes ago. What difference does that make?"
"It takes four minutes for the brain to die after losing oxygen or blood," Naruto said, reaching deep into his reserves. Short of Future Sight, this might be the biggest effort he'd ever made with his powers. His Pack sensed his intentions and fed him energy without hesitation. Naruto held his hands over the three women and, with a visible shimmer, send Psychic Healing into their bodies.
For a solid minute, Naruto fed psionic energy into the near-corpses. For a second he thought he was too late, and then all three's bullet wounds sealed and they sat up, their blood-soaked clothes making them appear the victims of terrible wounds, which technically they had been.
The women of the Excelsior gaped at Naruto and the three seemingly resurrected women.
"Did… did I just die?" The woman who'd almost been raped asked.
"No, no, just came really, REALLY close. Death I can't cure. Everything else though, I can manage in a pinch," Naruto said lightly, trying to hide his exhaustion.
"Who… what are you?" the blonde whose daughter he'd saved asked him, the whites of her eyes clearly visible.
Naruto took off his helmet so they could see his face, and more importantly his ears. "Like I said, I'm Commodore Uzumaki Naruto. I'm not human, let's leave it at that," he said with his most charming grin.
"The Alpha," one of the women whispered, Naruto couldn't tell who. Some of the women reacted to the name, presumably those that saw the broadcast.
Naruto stood up. "Just follow behind me, I'll lead you back to safety," he told them, and then put his helmet back on again and strode out the door. The women hesitantly followed after him, regarding him with either fear, gratitude, or awe. It didn't take long to go back up to the next level now that they weren't trying to be stealthy, and Naruto nodded to Hinata with relief when he saw her waiting for them.
"We killed them all before we got anything out of them. The Captain and his 'insurance policy' might still be in play. We need to get everyone onto the Raptor and back to the Invictus as soon as possible. Then we can just blow this place to bits and be done with it," Naruto told his XO, noting she seemed tired just like him. Reviving those three women had really taken a toll on them all.
Sakura came out of the makeshift prison after cleaning First Officer Bragan's wounds. She was nearly bowled over as the men followed behind her and the women behind Naruto and Fu rushed towards them. Sakura smiled as she saw them kissing and hugging each other. The girl who'd spoken to her ran up to a woman with bloodstained clothes. "Mummy!" she cried out in joy, getting swept up into the woman's arms and kissed all over her face. The girl's father wasn't far behind his child, wrapping the both of them in a tight hug. "Mummy's hurt! Daddy, kiss it better!" the little girl said imperiously, clearly a spoiled sweet princess.
"It's okay, Carla, the nice man already made Mummy better," the woman said. She waved a hand at Naruto, and the girl's eyes tracked him. Even past the opaque surface of the helmet, the child seemed to catch Naruto's eyes.
"Thanks for helping my Mummy! May I pet your kitty?" the girl asked innocently.
There was a brief moment of peace as all the children brave enough to do so gave Fu a quick scratch, to her rumbling delight. Then they led the almost 90 people back to the Raptor. It was a super-tight squeeze, having to cram people even into the Power Core room (which thankfully had radiation shielding) and into the cabin behind the Cockpit, but the crew of the Invictus managed. Making sure no kids were in the Cockpit, Fu shapeshifted back into her Nymph form. The passengers of the Excelsior gasped at seeing the deadly predator turn into a beautiful nude woman, but Fu paid them no mind.
Fu disengaged the clamps locking them in place to the docking collar, and they drifted clear of the station with the use of retrothrusters. She powered up the Raptor's engines, and they roared away from the gas mining facility, as she plotted a course back to the safety of the Invictus. The Assault Cruiser was now waiting for them within weapon range of the Frigate, covering the pirate vessel in case it tried to escape.
As soon as they were safely in the Docking Bay, Naruto commanded Hana *Kill the Frigate and blow the base.*
There was a brief shudder as the Mass Drivers went off, and then Hana replied *Done,* nonchalantly. *Shikamaru already has Deck 4 ready to receive the guests from the Excelsior. As soon as Hinata gets up here, we can plot a course to the nearest Konoha Federation spaceport.*
*Port Cadmus, 64.37 parsecs away. Might as well let Shikamaru plot it, we don't need to bother with warp tunneling when we're this close,* Hinata replied. *He's probably learned my technique anyway by this point.*
Naruto nodded, and turned to Sakura, who had a distant look on her face hidden by the helmet by not by Telepathy. *Don't think I didn't notice that surge of despair earlier or how you kept staring at that little girl's family. Something about their situation reminded you about your past. Are you willing to talk about it?*
Sakura grit her teeth before sighing. *It had to come out at some point, let's just wait until we get these people to safety, okay?*
Naruto nodded, then took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. Fu put on the clothes she'd discarded earlier, to the visible regret of some of the men in the Cockpit with them. "Hey, folks. Let's go down the red tube and out the ship."
After the crew had all gotten the Raptor emptied out, Naruto addressed the gathered survivors of the Excelsior attack. "We've landed on my ship, the Invictus. I'll take you up to the guest quarters, and get you settled in, until we can return you to the safety of the nearest Konoha Federation outpost," he told them in a clear voice.
*Three hours,* Hinata informed him, pre-empting the question he was about to ask her.
"It will take us approximately three hours to reach Port Cadmus, but for now, you can have a hot meal, and there's plenty of beds if some of you want to rest," he told them considerately.
One of the older men stepped forward and nodded to John, his face filled with gratitude as he said, "Thank you Commodore Blake, for everything you've done for us."
The little girl, Clara, raised her hand. "Where's the kitty?" she asked.
Fu grinned at the little kitten maternally. "I'm the kitty. I'm like a werewolf, I can turn into a tiger when I want to," she told the young one.
While the children and some of the adults gawped at that, Naruto turned to the man. He hadn't recalled introducing himself to the male passengers.
"I recognized the Wolves of the Konoha Federation from the KFNN report, and the emblem on your chest confirmed it," the man said with a wry smile. "When I saw your interview, I dismissed the stories of heroism as some fabrication for propaganda purposes. Somewhat ironic, considering you'd be rescuing me only a week later."
Naruto returned the man's smile, and nodded in acknowledgement, before addressing the crowd once again, "If you'd care to follow me, I'll lead you to the hot meals and beds I promised."
Naruto and the girls led the passengers to the central section of Deck 9, and found the rest of his Pack waiting to help. Naruto and the Invictus crew guided the passengers up the anti-grav tube to Deck 4, and Naruto saw the cleaning robots, clearly under the command of Shikamaru, finishing up fitting fresh sheets in each room. Hinata alone went up to the Command Deck, to check that Shikamaru had gotten the course right. Naruto and the crew guided the families and singletons into their own rooms, until everyone was stowed away. Given this Deck had been designed for 300 Marines, less than a hundred civilians was simple enough. Naruto and Sakura went up to the Briefing Room to unequip their armor, and waved at Hinata as she maintained a presence on the Bridge alongside a hologram of Shikamaru.
When Naruto took a survey of who was hungry and got a massive show of hands, Naruto rolled up his sleeves and, with the help of his trained crew, made a large-scale stew that fed all of them with enough left for seconds. They all told jokes and gave smiles to put the civilians at ease, Gaara proving a surprising hit with the children after Fu.
The three hours flew by, until Hinata contacted them by Telepathy to let them know that they had arrived at Port Cadmus, and had been granted docking clearance. When she had landed the Invictus in the designated docking bay, she joined them on Deck Four, to help get the civilians disembarked. Naruto went ahead of them to open up the Docking Bay doors, making it easier for everyone to exit the ship, rather than expecting everyone to queue up to walk through the airlock.
There were a group of Konoha Federation medics and soldiers waiting to look after the passengers, having been fully briefed about the nature of their arrival by Hinata. Naruto felt a strong sense of déjà vu, recalling a very similar scene on Port Heracles, as he nodded his greeting to the young officer in command of the Port Cadmus detachment.
They all turned to watch the passengers begin to disembark. The civilians smiled at him and the crew in gratitude, with Hana and Hinata bringing up the rear of the stream of people. He recognised the blonde woman who had spoken to him back at the gas mining facility, and he realized with regret that he didn't even know her name. She whispered something to her daughter who was walking along beside her, and the young woman looked his way, her pretty face lighting up with a grateful smile. They waved him goodbye, and he watched them leave, hoping that the girl wouldn't be traumatised by the events she had suffered through.
His attention was drawn back to the remaining passengers when a haggard looking man in his early thirties approached them. He was carrying a young girl in his arms, who was currently fast asleep, and he walked towards them tentatively. His wife, still in blood-stained clothes, was beside him.
"Thank you for saving us." he said to Naruto and the Pack earnestly before turning to Naruto in particular. "And you sir… I can't believe it, and I don't care. You saved my wife's life. I can never repay you."
"I didn't do it for a reward. You can pay me back by living good lives and raising your daughter well," Naruto said simply, overwhelmed by their gratitude. He watched them go, the wife turning to give him one last disbelieving, grateful look.
Naruto watched the rest of the civilians go before walking up to the leader of the Port Cadmus soldiers.
"First Lieutenant Crawford Darren, Sir. It's an honor to meet you, Commodore," the man said respectfully, looking at him from under his peaked hat.
A quick glance at the man's epaulets let Naruto confirm his rank. "We were happy to assist, Lieutenant," he said in an even tone. "We eliminated the pirates, but I'll arrange for coordinates of their base, and the wreck of the Excelsior to be sent to you."
"Thank you, Sir," the young officer replied gratefully and saluted.
Naruto nodded and then turned to walk back into his ship, closing up the huge hull doors into the Docking Bay behind him.
*I'll set us on a course for Oto Space again, and then meet you in our bedroom,* Hinata said to him, her voice echoing in his mind.
*Thanks, honey,* he replied gratefully as he strode inside the Invictus.
The whole crew went up to Deck 2, having heard Hinata's order, and soon they were all arranged on the bed around Sakura, the center of attention. The pinkette bit her lip. "I don't know where to start," she said hesitantly.
"Would you like to be topped off, first? I know I feel better when I have a full belly of Naruto's cum," Hinata offered.
Sakura took the offer, and after a quick blowjob was wrapped in Naruto's arms, looking like she was set to pop any day now. She had a dopey grin on her face, the result of the psychic feedback of the blowjob. The crew all slipped out of their clothes given they'd cum in their pants, and cuddled in closer to Sakura, who sleepily got out of her own clothes. Once they were all naked and touching Sakura in some way, she started.
"I was eight when it happened. We lived on New Eden in the Procyon system, and I had grown up on our family estate there. My mother had gone on a shopping trip to the capital, Avalon, which was just a short flight away from our home. She was protected by bodyguards of course, but on the way home, the hover-limo was ambushed, the guards killed, and she was kidnapped," the brunette said as she let out a heavy sigh.
"She'd been targeted because they knew exactly who she was married to, and everyone knows how wealthy my father is. They demanded twenty million credits for her safe release, probably figuring it was such a drop in the ocean for him, he would pay up without a second thought. They had no idea what an arrogant and stubborn man the 'great' Haruno Henry would turn out to be though," she said, bristling with anger.
Tenten looked at her sympathetically, and took her hand, squeezing it gently as she said, "He didn't pay up I take it?"
Sakura shook her head sadly. "I heard him speaking to the police detective who had been investigating a spate of high profile kidnappings on New Eden, and he urged my father to pay. I didn't understand what they were talking about at the time, but when my father refused to give in to their demands, I soon found out the hard way," she replied bitterly.
Naruto leaned over to one side so that he could see her face. "Did they catch the kidnappers?" he asked her gently.
The pinkette frowned in anger, shaking her head. "It was bad enough that she was taken away from me like that, but to know that the people responsible were never brought to justice makes it even worse. They should have paid for what they did to my mother," she said in a furious voice.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but when we can spare some time, do you think we could look into my mother's kidnapping? I feel bad dragging you all into it, but you have resources and skills that are way beyond me acting on my own," she requested tentatively.
Naruto nodded firmly and smiled at her. "We'll start right away," he replied, before glancing at Hinata. "Change course for the Procyon System, please."
"We will make them pay," Sasuke vowed.
Tenten darted over to hug her friend. "Those fuckers are dead men walking!" she swore vehemently.
Fu stroked Sakura's leg and said in a deadly voice, "We'll hunt down everyone responsible and help you avenge your mother."
Hana nodded at Hinata as the pair of them moved to get up off the bed. "I'll start investigating the old cases, see if there's any connections tying them together, and look for clues," the Lieutenant said, looking thoughtful.
"I can search for remnants to aid in the case," Gaara volunteered.
Sakura held her up hands and said loudly, "Wait a moment... please!"
They all paused and turned to look at her, and she smiled at them all affectionately. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, truly, but we don't have to drop everything immediately. We're nearly at the Oto border, and New Eden is right in the Core Worlds. If it's alright with you, we can stop there and investigate my mother's murder on our way to Iwa Space. That's on the way, right?" she asked, looking at Hinata for confirmation.
The bluenette girl sat back down on the bed. "Yes, you're correct. A course from here to the Iwa Republic would take us past the Core Worlds," she agreed, with a smile.
The girls all settled down again and nodded their agreement with the plan.
Sakura stared at them all, a lump welling up in her throat. "Thank you all, it means so much to see how passionately you all want to help me," she said with a gulp.
Naruto hugged her tightly. "Of course, we'd do anything for you. You're part of the family now," he said sincerely.
The Pack all agreed and moved in for a group hug with Rachel in the middle. She sighed blissfully as they gathered around her, feeling loved and supported. They all eventually separated and she smiled at them gratefully.
"You guys are so awesome. Thanks again for reminding me what a wonderful decision I made joining you," she said passionately.
Hinata frowned at her playfully. "Are you after another group hug?" she asked, as her face lit up with a mischievous grin.
They had dinner afterwards, settling on Sakura's mother's pasta dish again to honor the fallen woman. Sakura babbled about all the fascinating things she'd learned from studying their DNA. Turns out that Fu and Gaara showed signs that, past the hybrid Uzu genes, they had definitely started out as Uzu created species. She explained that when she looked at the DNA strands, she could see Orochimaru's 'fingerprints' all over them, but the Uzu sections had Naruto's 'fingerprints'. Whereas Konoha DNA showed no tampering at all. If Orochimaru had indeed made the Konoha as Gaara insisted, then he'd done so with a completely virgin template, perhaps a copy of another species somewhere else in the galaxy.
When they absorbed this fascinating information, they were all tired from a long day. They all bid Shikamaru good night and made for a shower and bed. Of course, their libidos got the better of them and they ended up having an orgy, coming together in new and unique combinations they hadn't explored yet before collapsing into bed, a lucky one filled with Naruto's release.
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