Space for A Generation: Chapter One
Hatake Kakashi could only sigh in disgust as he read through his team's new assignment. It was a low level search and rescue authorized with the highest priority. With a few finger flicks he was able to message his two genins, Sasuke and Sakura to meet at their ship the next morning.
He continued to run his eyes over the sparse details they'd been given as he prepared a quick dinner. An employee of an outer station had returned to his home planet on extended leave. That leave had since expired without communication, and the station commander was worried that his employee had been unlawfully detained due to his social status on that planet. Kakashi scoffed at the bland phrasing. Neither names nor images had been sent; only a request to arrive at Red Wave Space Station as soon as possible. The fifth Hokage of the Fire Alliance had undersigned this mission as a personal favor. He was quite sure that the details would prove very interesting as soon as he was able to peek underneath whatever cover the station commander and Godaime Hokage had chosen for this mission. Underneath the underneath he would find out the truth and most likely suffer from knowing it as always.
(ooo)
They were three days out on their way to Red Wave when the first unexpected interruption occurred. Kakashi had been forced to put his book aside and assist Sakura in guiding their near boltless bucket in to a full stop before they ran through a suspicious looking transport ship that began hailing them.
"They just showed up out of nowhere, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura had cried out as they both flicked switches and shut down the already dying twin engines. "One second we were in clear space, the next they were right in front of us! Sasuke was the one who charted the course and I double checked it! We're not even in the shipping lanes…"
Kakashi chuckled softly and hushed his student after verifying that they were now dead in the water. "Look at the emblem, Sakura-chan. That's a Fire Alliance transport. It seems we've been tracked down, and hopefully it was for a good purpose as we're now adrift." He stared at the sparking control panel he was still sitting at. Within seconds a crackling voice began questioning through the com unit.
"Unit Seven," a calm voice yelled out over the tiny speakers. "You left something kinda important back at home. Are you even able to answer me in that worthless piece of shit you're flying around in?"
"Asuma," Kakashi acknowledged his long-time friend. "I've got two more chapters left of Icha Icha 3. Will we be hooked up by then?"
"Even sooner if you read slow over the good parts, Kakashi. My genins are sending out the leads right now."
"That's good," Kakashi replied with a hidden smile as he noticed a barely blushing light come to life above his head. "Because our emergency life support just turned on." Sakura was already out of her restraints and going to wake Sasuke so he only heard her squeak and wasn't able to see her face turn ghastly colors in fear. He was also able to hear Asuma curse very fluently in several languages as he began ordering his own team around.
Under Asuma's orders they were quickly linked up to the transport with a tubular walkway. Sakura and Sasuke began working to pack up what little belongings they had brought along on the mission while Kakashi went to go inspect his present.
"Wasn't I supposed to get one of these earlier," he mumbled as the bay lights turned on and unit seven's new ship was unveiled. The strong lights glistened over sharp points and streamlined features.
"She is a beauty," Asuma agreed as they both stared in wonder at the new ship. "It was all sweetness and flowers when my unit was assigned our new lady. Big though she may be, she flies truer than anything I've ever piloted before. Best of all, my lady came with no strings attached." Kakashi looked at him suspiciously. "Yours does."
"Strings."
"A mechanic. He's good if you can get over his parentage and his personality." Asuma nodded over to a small control board set into the wall and the figure that stood at it. "Tell me what you see there."
A few seconds glance was all Kakashi needed to know what Asuma was grinning over. In all the years of space exploration only a few sentient races had been found and among those even fewer were humanoid in appearance. Among those few there had only been one race whose genetic makeup made breeding with a human capable. The Bijans were that one humanoid race and both their physical and emotional characteristics were easily noticed. Unfortunately their tempers and odd cravings were even better known than the fluffy tails and animal like ears of a full blood. The pure human groups used Bijan half breeds as examples to fire up riots and revolutions on freshly contacted colony planets that hadn't been part of any Alliances for centuries.
The one standing before him was definitely a full-blood. The brightly colored hair and softly swishing tail with its darkened tip were dead giveaways. A Bijan half-breed could still have the ears, but none had been found that also had a tail.
"He comes with the ship," Asuma explained. "The little guy knows that thing inside and out better than any of our guys could even figure. They found it and him adrift several years ago. He was woken from a faulty cryostasis with no memories other than the ship, but he tunes that little bird to perfect harmony."
"Ahh," Kakashi sighed. "He comes with the ship. I recall hearing something about a found ship with a frozen Bijan kit on board, but that was more than several years ago."
Asuma shrugged. "It might have been longer ago than I thought, but he's awake now and keeping your engines warm. Even for her having been docked for the years she was, your beauty is still top of the line. Kurenai thought she might have been a pirated custom job."
"That makes sense," Kakashi agreed. "I recall the ship had no papers or identification, not even a home port listed in its databanks." He paused. "So, Kurenai liked my new ship?"
"Everyone who's seen my ship has liked it," a bright voice interrupted. The petite Bijan had stepped up and was now looking crossly at both of them. "She's a four seater with room for up to two passengers if they share a berth. Not so much cargo space, but more if you're not carrying the extra bloods that you can."
Kakashi stared down at the boy with his one exposed eye and tried not to smile at the scowl that was returned. "What's her weight?"
The boy spat out specs and percentages nearly as fluently as the most experienced ship architect Kakashi had ever known. It impressed the Jounin and he wondered if the kid could do the same for other ships so he questioned him on it.
"Why would I need to know about any others," the slit pupiled eyes thinned. "She can blow them all out of the water, it doesn't matter if they're hot off the docks or not. The modifications your Hokage allowed me to finish are s-tech enough to keep everyone guessing."
"Aaa… I see," Kakashi sighed. "That means I shouldn't get this one blown up."
"What," the boy squawked. "You're not going to do anything to her if you're planning on breaking her. I didn't spend the past few years getting her back just to lose her again! She's mine, and I won't let you hurt her."
Asuma laughed. "Your reputation for coming home bruised and half-dead has finally caught up with you, Kakashi. Naruto," he began explaining in a calming voice. "The reason Kakashi was given command of your beauty is because of the level of assignments he's sent out on. They're normally the most dangerous and your bird will allow him to complete them without the bruises. You shouldn't worry too much."
The Bijan, now named Naruto in Kakashi's mind was not calmed by the words. "Just because it will keep him safe doesn't mean he'll keep her safe." He turned to begin berating Kakashi again and stopped at what he saw. The tall, silver haired man had begun ignoring him and Asuma to step over and touch a pane of hardened material painted in fiery red. The way the man almost caressed the ship made the boy pause. "I'll teach you all about her," he grumbled. "If you know what she can and can't do then you won't misuse her, but I'll be with watching if you do," he ended in a threat.
Kakashi turned to smile at his new genin. "It seems we'll be a team of four then," he said with a nod in the other genin's direction. Sasuke and Sakura were now standing nearby looking at both the ship and then their new teammate. Asuma's three genins stood behind them.
"Kinda nice, huh Sakura," Ino said with an elbow nudge. "I already checked out the bunks and made sure you had fresh sheets. I even made sure you had some plants in your room."
Sakura nodded disinterestedly as her eyes remained fixed on the Bijan. She'd seen a few half-breeds before, but a full blood was rarely seen off their planet or away from their ships. She then looked once more at unit seven's new conveyance and sighed as her jumbled mind put it together. "Bijans are possessive of their ships and rarely leave them even when docked. He'll most likely be a hands-off teammate during the missions."
Sasuke grunted in agreement and moved closer. His eyes kept straying to the slowly waving tail of the nearby boy. He'd seen more than his fair share of non-humans in his life, but the only full blood Bijans he'd seen had been restrained in a prison cell. From his position he could see the boy's facial features better as the blond stared at Kakashi with mixed feelings evident on his face.
Three rough looking scars on each cheek accentuated some remaining baby fat on the boy, and a quick and wide smile given when Kakashi started praising the ship showed sharp incisors. His hair was unusually spiky, but still looked more fur like than human hair did. The color was also unusual for what Sasuke knew of Bijans. The boy had a single color coat instead of the normal striped or spots, almost a solid blond except for some variegated tints around his ears and his tail tip which faded into deep red.
A low growl interrupted his musings and brought his gaze upwards to get caught in feral looking blue eyes. "Problems?!" The Bijan snapped and snarled as Sasuke stayed quiet.
"Ah, we should all introduce ourselves," Kakashi chuckled. "Sakura, why don't you start?"
Sakura moved closer to Sasuke and attempted to give a friendly smile to the blond boy who was still scowling fiercely at her teammate. "Haruno Sakura," she introduced herself. "Genin class hunter of the Konoha Alliance under Kakashi-sensei." She felt a bit of relief as the angry blue eyes slid over her quickly and went back to Sasuke. Even though she knew it was his way of dismissing her as non-threatening, she had no problem with not drawing a Bijan's attention.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Genin."
"And I'm Hatake Kakashi, your new Captain." Kakashi clapped a hand on the short boy's shoulder. "So, what should we know about you; any likes, dislikes, cravings for the blood of dark haired human boys?" The tall Captain could already see the problems developing between the two adolescents.
The Bijan lifted his chin and stepped back from Sasuke while flicking his tail around. "Uzumaki Naruto," he said once he was facing Kakashi. "This is my ship, Kyuubi. We like people who treat Kyuubi properly. We don't like people who don't."
Kakashi could only offer a hidden grin in reply.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Cheers to a first chapter, just building and character introduction with a nod to the top layer of the storyline. You might see some odd terms and words throughout, and I will most likely continue in that vein. I can only say that I don't plan on explaining every single little term and will leave some things up to both your imagination and/or your assumptions. I.E. s-tech and bloods…
I'm not sure if Iruka will show up in the next chapter or not, but he should definitely be around soon so hopefully my storyline will be interesting enough to keep some of you around until the pr0n starts, yes?
Hehe… yeah.. I have no idea if I gonna include a lemon or not… shrug maybe…
OH! If you'd like, please reread the prolgue as some important phrasing changes have been made, minor words, but important in teh scheme of things.