Naruto 1. Prologue

**Author's note:** I have read a lot of stories where the Massacre simply didn't happen. Sometimes, I wonder why they didn't happen. Other times I wonder if perhaps the world shouldn't have been significantly changed. Some days more, I wonder if it wouldn't have perhaps not changed at all, and I decided to think about it. This is my attempt at a concept I fell in love with some time ago, and the ways it will change everything. I sincerely hope I do not disappoint any readers I might collect on this journey. Do know that I have several plans, and none of them revolve around pairings, so, for now, we'll simply call this a story about Itachi.

**Act of Mercy: Prologue**

He'd tried.

Everything that had happened in these last weeks had driven home that his efforts were not enough without drastic measures, and it made him absolutely sick to realize that his best friend died because his family was unwilling to bend. Unwilling to bend, unwilling to take any hands offered in friendship. Simply _unwilling_ on a scale so large that it meant that he was quickly losing what chances he had to fix this, and would have to resort to taking an offer from someone that revolted him on the deepest of levels.

He was very afraid he would have to take Madara's hand if he couldn't _stop_ this.

And thus came the moment of desperation when he got the order and three days to prepare, a black scroll that was very simple and precise. A scroll that said that he was to destroy everyone. There was no exception made for the handful of clan children. There was nothing that said there could be clemency for those who did not know. It was simply an order to kill. An order that said that he was to destroy them all, and he knew, with utter conviction, that if he did not do this, they would find another, and any chance, any chance at _all_ would be lost to him.

There was simply not enough time.

Instead of waiting, of planning, first he had to risk.

That was how he found himself before the Hokage in the dead of the night, the old man watching him as he stepped away from the window he'd come in through. It was unusual for the Hokage to have visitors unannounced at this hour, but he was known, and thus not interfered with. He was ANBU and ANBU tended to trust ANBU. He was, on some level, thankful that he was loyal, and thus the trust was warranted. On another level, he dearly wanted to do something about that lack of vigilance.

Still, that was not the purpose of this visit, and he forced his mind to unpleasant things. Instead of meeting the Sandaime's eyes, he looked to the ground, bowing his head as he settled to his knees and lifted the scroll, offering it to his Hokage as he began to speak, voice very soft as he desperately hoped that this would do, well, anything.

"I understand that things have come too far to fix with the clan, and I accept that something must be done. But... Hokage-sama, while I can do this, can I not... can we not at the very least save those who are youngest? The children surely cannot know. There are not a great many but at least... at least them."

He did not look up, but he listened, the silence broken only by the crisp sound of unrolling paper for several long moments. When finally the older man spoke, he sounded very tired, and Itachi knew that he would not like the answer. "If you feel you cannot do this, surely we can find another."

There was no hesitation for that. No, he knew that could not happen. That _must_ not happen. "No, Hokage-sama, I will accept my task as I know it was given to me as the one best suited to carry it out. It is simply... Hokage-sama can I spare no one? Even just... even just one?"

He knew his voice hadn't cracked, though it had come terribly close, but still he must have given something away, for the older man moved over to him, resting a wrinkled hand on his hair. "What would you have me do? If you were in my position, what would you have as a solution?"

He didn't lift his head, but the urges to relax and tense were both there, both instinctive, and driven by entirely different motivations. It made him hesitate. "I would try to save as many as I could while dealing with the problem Hokage-sama. I am aware that those causing the worst of the problems cannot perhaps be quelled, and that you have tried, but the entire clan is not at fault for those causing the difficulties."

"And you are correct that this would be ideal. I am not, however, in a position where this is a viable solution."

"I am aware of that Hokage-sama. They... we are both aware that the clan feels slighted by the last few years." If anything, Itachi's tone grew more hushed, and he had the horrible feeling he would simply have to _do_ and hope for the best.

He did not expect the Hokage's tone to turn... considering. "Yes, they do feel slighted. And you, you want nothing more than what is best for Konoha, no matter how much it hurts you."

"I live to serve my home Hokage-sama." The murmur was soft, barely audible, but was utterly sincere. He would always be loyal to Konoha, no matter what he might be forced to do for it.

"You want a chance to save part of your clan." He heard the older man move away, and he had a moment to wonder what he could be doing. "The fact you came to me however... this was inspired because of your brother, if I'm not mistaken?"

The silence felt deafening, and he swallowed thickly before answering. "Not only him, but... yes. He is my brother and I do not think I would be able to kill him, no matter what my orders are."

"Very well Itachi." The sound of his name was enough to get him to look at the man, whose eyes were speculative, watchful. "I will give you a chance. If you cannot find out how to deal with the situation given this chance, then I will have to insist the orders be completed. Does that sound agreeable to you?"

He felt his own eyes widen in shock, but he gave a sharp bob of his head to show he heard and understood. "Yes. Yes, Hokage-sama. Whatever I must do I shall."

This time, when the weathered hand rested atop his head, he saw it, and there was no missing the almost sorrowful smile on the old man's face. "Then go home Itachi. Go home, and in the morning we shall see if your announcement will be enough to give your family pause."

He would have nodded, but he did not wish to seem as though he was rejecting the reassurance offered in the touch. "And what will my announcement be?"

"Ah, we cannot forget that detail, can we? I hereby name you my successor, Itachi Uchiha, for the title of Hokage."

For a moment, Itachi didn't even breathe. "Hokage?"

"Yes, Hokage." The sad smile brightened slightly, and a nod was given to him before the man finally stepped away from him. "You are young, but you know how to lead and you take care of your men. Once you are trained enough, should things not become enough to enact the orders, you shall be Hokage. Do you find this solution... fair?"

There was a sharp nod, and the young teen bowed his head again, voice little more than a relieved whisper. "I shall do all in my power to live up to your hopes Hokage-sama."

"Go home Itachi. This is a heavy burden you're choosing, but no less heavy than the one you're seeking to avoid. Go home and sleep, and we will talk again soon."

"As you say. Sleep well Hokage-sama."

There was only a second more of stillness, then the boy was gone, and the old man curled his fingers tightly around the scroll that had brought the youth to him this evening.

"You as well Itachi. I hope that this will be enough. I hope it most sincerely."


	2. Chapter 1

**Act of Mercy: Chapter one**

The walls feel thin, between his heart and his mind. It's an agonizing, terrible sensation, because now is not a time he can spare for feelings. Now he must think, and plan, and take delicate care to not let everything come tumbling down in a nightmare of pain that he most fears might become a reality.

This makes sleeping hard, so infinitely, terribly, hard that night, and he feels ragged and worn when morning comes to him, when the first test of this odd, precarious plan is set to start. While the ache may be deep, his mind remains sharp and primed, and that is all that matters.

His mother is, as she always is, far too quiet. Long has he thought her a bitter passenger in the household that he once called his home, and even on a morning like this there are no smiles for him, merely a terse nod in which it's clear she wishes she dare say or do more. He will, however, content himself in knowing that his baby brother will bring a smile to her face, and thus he shall not expect more.

Father is harder and easier at once. He wants perfection. He wants the best. He wants it all. And he wants it now. That is the way of the Uchiha, and he is naught if not the ultimate perfection of that terrible ideal. There are times when he knows, in his heart, that the accusations of his family being nothing but glorified thieves is not at all wrong, especially on mornings like this, where he sits stern and tall, hungry like he simply can't get enough when he already has so_ very_ much.

Last into the room is Sasuke, his dear beloved otouto, still prone to childishly rubbing at his eyes with his whole hand even if it makes their father frown, and already in the academy. He's the only one who ever has real smiles in this house, though his natural exuberance and happiness has, as he's gotten older, been slowly wrung from him in the bitterest of ways. His father approves of nothing, after all. His mother defends nothing and that leaves it to him to give soothing words when he is simply in a place where he _can't_. He can't do anything like that for his sibling and his announcement will only make the distance further. He hopes he will be forgiven for going further and further beyond his reach, but it is for his own good.

He must remember that every step is for Sasuke, and the village, before it is for anything else. That will comfort him, because it must, and it _will_ be enough to soothe frazzled nerves and his aching heart.

Thus begins the morning, with terse nods and too brief smiles as they all are given their food by his mother, and it is only when he deems them fed enough that he finally speaks, voice soft to break the heavy silence.

"I have an announcement."

The reactions are immediate, and his father straightens, his brother is curious, but his mother, she was the curiosity as she was... _thoughtful_. Father, however, was the one to speak. "Yes, Itachi?"

"I was called into a private meeting with the Hokage last night." There was no missing the worried glance his mother shot his brother, and he smiled, the barest, faintest version of the expression, but it was still enough to still her sudden worry. He did not smile anymore, and that he did now was unusual. "I would like to consider what I was told to be good news."

Fugaku was not so patient with his child, and had no care for the smiles of boys that had not been behaving. "Well? Clearly the meeting was about something you can share with your immediate family."

Confused by the undercurrent of hostility in the air, the youngest in the room looked to the one he trusted best for the resolution. Him. Nodding to himself and glad that this stress even existed, he picked his words with care, pushing his plate away so he could rest his hands on the table. "It is. In fact, he encouraged me to share as soon as I got home, but you were already asleep by the time the meeting adjourned."

"And?" Again, with the curtness, but this time it seemed that the man was actually turning... curious. Good.

Hesitating with true nerves, Itachi finally dipped his head and let out a slow breath. "I have been chosen for something very special."

When the expectant silence got to be too much for him, it was Sasuke who broke it. "Aniki? What is it? Is it a mission? If it's a mission how come you can tell us?"

_Too close otouto._ He shook the thought away, then answered the question. "Not exactly. I have been appointed as the Sandaime's successor to office." Seeing the not quite catching look on his brother's face even as he heard the sharp gasp from his mother, he leaned forward, refusing to look at his parents as he explained. "That means that, given a little time, I'll be Hokage."

The pure admiration in his brother's face was almost enough to stop the unease from his father's stony silence, and it was only a moment more before he felt his mother's arms around his shoulders in the first hug she'd dared give him in years. It was jarring enough to earn her his undivided stare, eyes wide as he took in her soft murmuring. The words were far more chilling than the tone, but told him enough. He knew the other two couldn't hear her, and there is no lip reading when ones face is hidden in another's hair.

"I knew you were pulling away from us for a reason child, and I'm so very very proud of you for finding this way. Now I can help you, so keep being a good boy Itachi. Keep being a good, peaceful boy."

He schooled himself as quickly as possible, but it still wasn't fast enough, and he hoped that his father thought it was because he'd been touched and not because of what his mother had _said_. Her words told him far more than he had ever dreamed of her knowing, and that alone made him wonder how much he'd slipped in the last year that she could _see._ When his gaze finally lit on his father once more, he was speculative, eyes hard with the edge of an opportunist. He intended to use this, as he used everything, and Itachi was relieved to know the bait at least gave the man pause.

And, of course, there was no ignoring the pure childish glee that was Sasuke, the boy darting around the table to throw himself into his brother's lap for a hug of his own. "Aniki's the best _ever_."

Unlike his mother's hug, Sasuke's was no shock to him, and he let him hold on only until their father's disapproval became heavy, nudging him away. "Well, you can certainly tell people that, if you like otouto. Right now even! You need to leave for the academy, don't you?"

A glance at the clock was enough for the boy's eyes to go wide, and then the child was sprinting for the door. "Bye Aniki!"

When the door slammed behind the boy is when his father finally decided to make his opinion known, clearly having waited for his youngest son to be out of the way before even considering speaking about business. "That was... foolish. The council should be pleased over this development, and might even be persuaded to hold their plans until you are in office, but you should have told me in private before speaking in front of your brother. The child has no sense of discretion."

Itachi rose from the table, gathering his plate to stick in the sink. "I did what I felt was best Father."

He heard the man's reply, of course, but he ignored it, instead closing the door to the kitchen behind him with a soft click as he left.

There would be enough fighting over this later.

* * *

**Note:** Aniki- Older brother  
Otouto- Younger brother


	3. Chapter 2

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Two**

The week that followed stretched his nerves almost to the point of snapping, yet, somehow, everything came out as he'd hoped.

In a way, that frightened him, because he'd learned long ago that nothing came along that well without there being a steep price tag attached to it. Sometimes to the point that he'd wished that he'd never had anything go well in the first place.

The day after the announcement was the meeting, another reconvention of the clan council to pick at final details for their precious coup, and he told them, the suspicious bastards that they were, where he had gotten himself. In a way, he was very glad to finally have a way to silence them. They had, after all, driven him to places they knew nothing about, and they deserved every heart stopping shock he could possibly come up with.

For now, his announcement would simply have to do.

"Elders, senior members." He had been waved to the front, and he could tell that the others were confused. Had he not been on rocky terms with everyone in the days since Shisui's death? It confused them.

"Young Uchiha. Do you come with news?" It was the older of the women in the group who spoke, clearly wondering what he could have found out since their last meeting the day before yesterday. He could practically hear the wheels turning in her mind as to what he could possibly have to say. It was very likely that the only thing that would occur to them was that they might have been found out.

If only she knew. "I do. However, I do not believe it the sort of news that you are expecting. I was called to speak to the Hokage last evening and he has given me most interesting news." Lie, utter and complete lie.

They believed him. "And what news is this?"

Dipping his head so that they could see nothing in his eyes, he made sure that they saw nothing more than his superior facade. It was better they not learn to read him. "I have been told that I am to be the next Hokage as soon as the Sandaime is satisfied that I have enough training to take the post."

The silence was sudden and intense, but brief. They immediately moved on to whispers, then furious discussion, leaving him kneeling in the ground and ignored. This was expected, of course, but it was still several minutes of nerve pricking stillness before anyone thought to address him directly again. He was sure that in a way it had been intended as an insult.

"We hear and understand what you say Young Uchiha, and we thank you for informing us so promptly. You are certain this is no ploy?"

He stared up toward where the others were sitting, and nodded once. "This is no ploy. He did not declare it would be immediate, but he said it would not be long."

There was a lull, then another of the elders spoke, the man leaning forward as he regarded the teen. "We have much in motion that would be disrupted by this Young Uchiha. There is no doubt at all that this is truth?"

"None, Esteemed Elder. Word is already spreading through the village of this choice." He'd made sure of it. Sasuke was nothing if not proud of his Aniki. He didn't like having to use him that way, but it was for his own safety.

There was another, longer pause, a brief back and forth of murmuring. "You are aware that there is much we will have to do to reset our plans."

"I am aware and shall do my part to aid in any way I can. May I be so bold as to ask if the council has made a decision on my new status?"

This time, there was no hesitation, and the other woman of the elder group spoke up instead. "We shall take the possibility into account. While you were not within our first choices for the post, you are still a prodigy, and you _are_ still a devoted Uchiha of this clan. Tend to your affairs boy and we will tend to ours. The plans can wait until it becomes clear which way the wind is blowing. Dismissed."

That meant they wanted to talk without him present, and he did not linger. Lingering was asking for trouble he could not afford, so he bowed low and backed out of the room, closing the door carefully behind him.

He immediately hurried off to contact Him.

He could not afford for the one who claimed the name Madara to come. He could not risk it. So he sent him a note via summons and _hoped_.

'Your assistance is not currently required after all. The situation has changed and shall be attended to. Your offer was most generous however and you are thanked for it.'

Simple, unsigned, and that was all it needed to be.

He would know who it was from.

Still, in the days that followed, he was uneasy, on alert, and it wasn't until the end of the week neared that he finally allowed his nerves to calm. The meeting day, the day things should have gone terribly, had gone by without event. The days immediately following were much the same, and he allowed himself some hope that perhaps the man would leave everyone alone after all.

He doubted it strongly, but the man did not come. That was enough, for now, though he stayed on guard, aware of events around him even as the Sandaime finally took him in hand and started to ply him with the promised training.

He paid attention to the council, he watched for Him, and he guarded his brother's well being in a delicate balance.

Somehow, he knew that the lack of a reply note had been deliberate.

After all, the man loved his mind games.


	4. Chapter 3

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Three**

Though the days that immediately followed his announcement had given him hope, the weeks that followed them taught him that optimism was a trap and he was a fool to believe that anything would ever go smoothly. Yes, his clan was not dead. Yes, they had taken on a wait and see approach. Yes, he was rapidly learning all the administrative laws and such he would need when he stepped into his new position. And yes, the council of elders had been stifled for the time being.

Unfortunately, his hopes where Madara were concerned had been more foolish than any others. He knew, without even a hint of reservation, that the man had been in contact with some of those in his clan. He knew, with sinking certainty, that there was a dark reason for some of the cautious, hard looks that a few of the older Uchiha had started to give him. He _knew_, with horrifying finality, that he could not risk leaving his family _whole_. But what he found out that drove these facts home had nothing to do with Madara at all, and that made it all so much _worse_.

It was about three months from the day he'd been given the original orders that he realized that everything was going to go wrong, no matter how hard he tried to handle the situation peacefully. On that day, he had realized that his choices were no longer to save everyone or to lose his clan. No, the delineation was harsher, now. He had to choose who _needed_ to die and who he should save, and if he missed even one who should not, could not, live, then the rest would suffer for it.

The morning had not been exceptional. It had not been overly hot or cold, and the clouds overhead had promised that their intended rainstorm was still hours away. It was a morning when he was free of visiting the tower, and thus, he'd been out on a walk when he heard the words that led to some of the most painful realizations of his life.

It had been his father he heard first. "-and I've found some seals on the papers in his room."

The other voice was one of the older cousins, someone from his father's side of the family who his mother had never liked, and who he had never once been left alone with, no matter how desperately his mother might have needed a sitter. "And they've never been your strong suit eh? Cheer up Fugaku, you're in an enviable position here. Come on, he's going to be the next Hokage!"

"Daichi, that's not the problem. The problem is that I can't just trust my boy to do as he's told. I was worried about that even before his appointment, and his secretiveness has only become worse since he told us. He is drifting away from the clan, cousin, and I am afraid that drastic measures might need to be taken for the betterment of the family."

"Now, don't be like that, the child has been obedient all this time, why would it change now? You have excellent boys. If anything, he listens better than the little one does. Though, I _could_ do something about that, if you wanted."

There was a pause, and Itachi stepped so he could see what their expressions were without being seen himself. The look that his father was giving the other man chilled him, and he couldn't help but wonder why. "I'd rather you not bring Sasuke into this. He's not one of your toys, and if we have to act, the _clan_ will need him."

"Now now, you know that she-dragon you married hasn't ever let me near the brats so don't go looking at me like that. I _do_ know how to keep to myself, thank you. What I was saying is that you probably won't need to go _that_ far." The man flashed his father a placating smile, then _laughed_, as though the implications were all a big joke. "You just need to have a nice _talk_ with the kid, that's all. I'm sure he'll realize what and who he's supposed to be loyal to."

One last hard look followed the laughter, and then his father seemed to let it go. "You weren't there when he was confronted about Shisui. He was... I have never seen the boy so utterly disrespectful in my life. I fear if he becomes Hokage he will turn on us all, and the things I have been hearing..."

The return commentary was much softer, almost... persuasive. Something about it made Itachi shudder inwardly, and he just barely caught himself from retreating away from the talk. No, he needed to hear all of it. "That doesn't mean you should think of death as the first option little cousin. Surely him just... _disappearing _would get the same effect."

"Damn it, Daichi, I got you off this topic years ago, why the hell are you bringing it up now?" The return hiss was annoyed, his father turned to face his companion fully. He honestly couldn't recall ever having heard his father curse before. "If, and this is an _if_, even if it's becoming depressingly possible, we need to get rid of the boy, he will _not_ go to you. Find a plaything somewhere outside my immediate family and don't bring up the topic again! No, if it happens, it will be staged so that the coup can proceed more naturally, and not in any other way, which means he _will_ be intact."

Itachi wouldn't, _couldn't_, stay after his father practically spelled out the situation between the two, and he backed carefully away so there was no risk of them detecting him. There was no ignoring the implications. So many implications.

Where before, he had been working on the strict guidelines of those who were aware of the coup and those who were not, this... this was not at all the same. If it had just been his prospective death under discussion, it might have hurt him, but he could have taken care of it without things getting worse. He could have kept up the uneasy truce that had sprung up between the family and the village until he could have settled out the disputes properly.

This though... somehow he'd never thought that his father, the _Chief of Police_, would be the sort of man to look away from something like this. He'd never once thought that the man wasn't a good man, just misguided and perhaps a bit too greedy. He'd always thought he had the best of intentions, and now, no matter what else could possibly happen, his father had revealed himself to be more concerned with reputation than protection.

Daichi was a first cousin of Father's, a close cousin, but that was no excuse for turning a blind eye to him. How long had his father known? Who _else_ knew?

That thought was enough to drive him towards home, towards his mother. She had said, on that night weeks ago, that she could, would, help him now, but he had been wary to ask her assistance. The situation had been delicate, and thus, he had kept it to himself. Now, he needed to know. Was she aware? Was that why she'd been so defensive about a man his father was so close to? How many more terrible secrets had the clan let fester because of an overblown need to band together against outside forces? How much rot was there _really_ there to clean away?

Pushing open the door his family home, he took a deep breath, then called out, raising his voice a little as he toed off his sandals. "Mother?"

Perhaps it was the fact that he'd called for her, or perhaps it was something in his voice, but the woman appeared almost instantly, and when she did, there was concern on her face. "Itachi? What is it?"

He made sure that the door was closed all the way and that they were entirely alone before his spoke, voice going very soft as he met her eyes. "I overheard Father and Daichi talking today."

She went still for a moment, letting him know that she understood it was significant, perhaps even why, and he stepped up out of the doorway to where she was standing. "Come into the kitchen and tell me. I'll dig out the almond cookies for you."

He nodded once and let silence wrap around them as he settled at the kitchen table, watching her collect cookies and his favorite brew of tea. She set them out on the table before sitting in the chair nearest to him, Sasuke's seat, and turned in it to look at him straight on. He didn't know how to begin, and thus, looked away for a moment as he composed himself, picking up one of the cookies to nibble as he thought.

His mother was patient, however, she also seemed to understand the problem that was leading to his extended silence. "What part of what they said upset you most Itachi?"

"Mother... what does Daichi want with me and my brother?" Perhaps he'd been wrong. Perhaps he had misunderstood. Perhaps his father -was- a good man and these things had not been allowed.

Her eyes closed as a pained look crossed her face, but when she opened them, she was resolved. "If I had thought I could get away with it, I would have killed that man years ago. Unfortunately, there's never been any proof that he's ever done anything wrong." It was a murmur, and she reached out, carefully taking his free hand in hers and making sure he was looking directly at her. "What did they say?"

"It was... more what father said. He told him to go find a plaything somewhere else." He took a deep breath, for once hoping that he'd misunderstood _everything_, though he knew it wasn't true, especially not with what she'd just said. "What did he _mean_ mother?"

Her entire body seemed to still when he said that, and her eyes went hard and cold. "Your father is the one who said it? It wasn't just Daichi making inappropriate comments?"

Wary, he gave a slow nod.

"I see. Itachi, there has been a rumor for a very long time that Daichi was interested in... less than appropriate romantic partners. Your father always assured me that they were just rumors." He could honestly say, at that moment, that he'd never seen his mother be more frightening. It reminded him that, once, she had been a very good kunoichi. "And even though I didn't fully trust the situation, I was under the impression that he really _did_ believe them to be just rumors and had looked into it accordingly."

He hesitated, but her protective, icy rage was real, and he felt, for perhaps the first time in a year, as though he could actually say something to his mother without it coming back and hurting him later. "It's not all he said. It... came up... because of what Father was saying about me."

The cookie, at this point, had been set back on the table and forgotten, which was good, because she took his other hand a moment later. The sensation of having his hands confined made him incredibly uneasy, but the fact that her anger wasn't directed at him was also... calming. "What else?"

Still, her anger, even though he knew it wasn't directed at him, further softened his voice, making him feel like a child for the first time in a very long time. "...Father has been through my things and was musing on if he'd have to have me killed."

Everything about her froze then, and her expression slowly turned into a comforting, but somewhat sharp, smile. He couldn't think of a single instance in which this smile had ever been directed at him. "Itachi, you know you're my child no matter how far away from me you get, don't you?" He gave her a single nod, unable and unwilling to respond verbally. "Good. Then you must understand that your father just crossed some lines that I will never _ever_ forgive. You came to me because you needed me, haven't you?"

"Yes. I... can't let such things go on, if they're true. I didn't think that anyone in the clan was like _that_."

"Good. I'm glad you have that kind of faith in people still, even with all I know you've seen." Freeing one of his hands, she reached up and touched his cheek. "I'll start finding out who knew about this, because if your father knew, _other_ people knew as well. We'll work together."

He hesitated at the unfamiliar touch for a beat, then let the warmth of it ease his nerves, leaning in against her palm. "I... I can't let them get back to the coup either."

"I know. I'll help with that too. We'll take care of it. All of it, and you won't be by yourself anymore."

"Mother..."

"Not anymore." Her tone was firm, and she gently took her hands back, turning her body to pour the tea, adding the requisite sugar to her son's cup and nudging more cookies at him. "Now eat, I know it will settle your nerves, and that needs to happen before anything else does."

"Thank you."

She stilled mid-motion, then just shook her head. "No, child, you should never ever need to thank me for doing what every mother should."

After that, they were quiet, but for once it didn't feel like there was so much distance between them.


	5. Chapter 4

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Four**

Some would say that after his discovery everything started to come together. Itachi would have to respectfully, and with great intensity, disagree.

After the day when he overheard his father and Daichi talking, everything seemed to slowly get worse and worse. Daichi had _parties_. They were small, but the members were regular, as was the timing. People _knew_. It made his heart ache and he couldn't understand it, understand why anyone wanted to hurt another person that way, let alone someone young and helpless. The last party had been mere days before what he had overheard, and mother's delicate questioning had revealed that the next was set several months away.

That, at least, meant that they had time. Never enough, but more than if the next was set to be soon. They could not, _he_ could not stand the thought of allowing something like that to continue. They all had to be found. Every person in this corrupt little network had to be found and dealt with.

Even as they delved deeper to find who had been ignoring such terrible things, Itachi steadily unearthed who would be happier with him dead and gone than as Hokage. A depressingly large portion of the family seemed to be in this category. It wasn't even half the family, no, bit it was enough, the reasons ranging wildly from one person to another. One had declared that he knew what Itachi was going to do to them. Another that he was more Senju than Uchiha. Still another that he was poison for the clan.

The hostility was new, sharp, and worrying, and as the weeks slipped past, the lines came into clearer and clearer focus. Mother acquired a collection of people she knew she could trust, and that in turn _he_ could trust, even as they ferreted out those who had to die. How it was to happen he did not know, because he did not desire to utterly destroy the reputation of the clan as well as cripple it. And this would cripple it, because so very many of those who needed to die were Police force or active shinobi. There were others of able age or ability, but they were not the ones going out and being the face of the clan.

It was understandable, then, that as the weight grew heavier and the scope of what he had to bear increased, that he started to falter. At home, he had mother, and sometimes the presence of his brother to soothe his nerves. Outside, however, he had been put on less and less ANBU missions, so that was no longer an escape. He hadn't realized he treated it as though it was until he was weaned from it, and there was sharp irony that the loss of those missions made him practically eager for the paperwork when it was finally offered to him.

Hiruzen had been rather stunned by his enthusiasm the first time he'd invited the teenager to help him sort out the mountain of paperwork he constantly had. That Itachi didn't seem at all reluctant to tackle it had been utterly disorienting even as it had been welcome, and the older man had set about teaching the youth how to sort and determine functionality for any papers that crossed his desk. Thus, after such an excellent showing, it was worrying the day that Itachi barely prodded the papers, and asked no questions at all.

The Hokage hadn't let that go on for even an hour before deciding that it must be addressed, and he had shifted in his chair, looking at the boy with direct, contemplative eyes. "Itachi-kun, what's wrong?"

"Hiruzen-sama... Do you ever regret knowing things?" His voice was quiet, and Itachi finally looked over at him, eyes dark and exhausted.

"Sometimes. There are often times when there is no recourse but to know things you would rather not know. Is there something you wish to tell me about?"

There was hesitance in the boy's demeanor, softening his voice, but he still spoke. "I've found out things I wish I never had about my family in these last months. I do not know what to do to deal with those responsible for the things I have discovered."

"What sort of things Itachi-kun?" This, clearly, wasn't simply concern over the coup. The boy had never been happy about it, but this was a different kind of strain.

"I... Are we fully private Hiruzen-sama?"

The older man went quiet, then gave a signal to his ANBU before enabling a seal to make the room more secure. "We are now."

Nodding a little, Itachi let out a breath and clasped his hands together in his lap. "At least a third of the clan is going to have to die, and half of those aren't even involved directly in the conspiracy."

"...Itachi-kun, you can be honest with me. I have given you power over this situation, and I will not take it back if you tell me the details that are worrying you so."

The quiet words got a weak laugh, and Itachi stared down at his hands, slumping. "I got into my father's private files this morning. After all this is over most of the Police force will have to be replaced."

"We were already aware this might be an issue when you started handling the details. What did you find?"

"Simply things I shouldn't have found Hiruzen-sama." He gave a single sharp shake of his head. "I truly have no desire to speak of it. I simply am having difficulties figuring out how to... to deal with the problem without missing any of the trouble causers."

He stared at the top of the boy's head for a moment. His successor, and already with such heavy burdens when the title isn't even officially his yet. "Please be aware that I will help you in any way I possibly can Itachi-kun. You can even borrow my ANBU if you need them when the time comes."

That got an immediate shake of the teen's head, though he gave the older man a ghost of a smile. "Thank you, but I cannot do that. If I were to do so, the clan would have an utterly destroyed reputation. I simply... needed to assure myself that my options were not so limited as I had first perceived. Knowing that I have access to ANBU is reassuring, if it comes to that, however... I can do this without such means. I must and I shall, and it will be taken care of."

He nodded at that, sensing that the conversation was being drawn to a close, and he was, if not pleased, then satisfied with the result. Clearly the boy needed to speak to someone in full, but it appeared that, today, that person would not be himself. He would have to content himself with the fact that the boy was sitting straighter, and seemed prepared to return to work with his normal level of enthusiasm instead, as he knew that forcing the issue would do no good.

It might, perhaps, even be for the best to let the boy struggle with this alone. He needed to find his feet, and find those he was willing to trust and lean on fully that were not able to take the choices from him. A Hokage bore the weight of the village, and ultimately the blame and praise that would follow any choice made, so allowing the boy to handle the clan affairs would be a taste of that. It was harsh, and some would call it cruel, but he needed to be sure that the boy, being so very _young,_ would be able to make these choices as they were brought before him.

It was a hard lesson to teach, but it was one that the child had to learn before he felt it safe to step away and let him lead. And he would lead, because Itachi was that sort of person. He took responsibility for those around him, and took care of those under his command. He was a wonderful leader, in small doses, and in many ways, allowing the boy this task alone was a test.

He was generous and responsible, but was he ruthless?

So he would be cruel to the child and use the Uchiha clan as a test, because if the boy could take care of something with people so dear to him, Hiruzen would have no doubts that the boy could weather any other storms. For now, however, he would teach him. He would make sure that he knew the laws, that he knew who was going to try to go around him, and that he _knew_ the way being a Hokage worked, because he had faith the child would pass this test just as he had every other. The boy would be strong, and he would move forward through his hardship.

And that was, ultimately, what Konoha needed.

Peace never lasted forever, and he was old. Konoha would get a young, strong leader, and the village would grow stronger.

So no, there was no guilt. There was no room for it.

He just hoped that Itachi learned that lesson as well.


	6. Chapter 5

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Five**

The plan was painfully simple, harsh, uncompromising, and much of it had been his mother's design. Itachi did not know if the brutality stemmed from protective vengeance or well concealed bloodthirstiness, but he did know that her plan would go the farthest to conceal the negative repercussions of those who might have been part of nothing more than coup planning.

It was not, after all, the same between them and those who were utterly rotten. Those who wanted the coup wanted more, but the others... the others were what would doom those around them on this day, and careful planning meant that they would save who they could.

In this way, the truly innocent would get their chance to be free and safe...

But no plan survives contact with the enemy, as every shinobi knows, and this time was no exception.

It all started in the early morning, before his brother had woken for the day, and before the sun had even considered rising. It was a year from the day when everyone had been scheduled to die, and the irony of the date staying so close ate at him with a sense of heaviness that he was loathe to blame on fate.

On this day, they would move. It was not simply he and his mother, as it had been the first few months. No, now there were other parents, those who were on the outskirts of the clan, only claimed as Uchiha so that the other clans couldn't have them. There were retired shinobi as well, and those adults who had never developed the sharingan at all. In all, those aware of the situation were but perhaps two dozen, but it was still many more than he by himself.

Thus it was that at barely past four in the morning, he joined his mother on the porch, meeting her eyes in silence as she handed him an onigiri to hold him over until a real breakfast could be had. It was followed with a sharp smile that seemed to be intended to reassure, and a moment later the woman started off across the yard, a dark shadow in the predawn fade.

He was quick to follow. There was no need to speak, and neither did as they headed for the meeting place where they knew the elder council was going to convene that evening. The plans meant that every person had to do their part, and it had to be flawless. He and his mother would take care of their objectives, and the others of their group would filter out with their own.

There would be some personal vengeance today too, as when the targets had been distributed there had been some disturbing silences among some of the younger outskirt shinobi that later resolved themselves into changes of assignments into their hands. He could not begrudge them, and thankfully those people were not alone.

As for he and his mother, they were not going after people. Not yet, at least, and they came to the council hall, checking the area before slipping inside to start with their primary project. Explosive tags.

Why explosive tags? Because they were effective and easily hidden, that's why. It was simple, this part of the plan. They would layer explosive tags in places people would not check, making sure that they could be set off at a distance with a fuse note tied into the entire matrix. It would be brutal, when it was set off, but the goal was to be effective and flashy, not subtle. Not this time.

This time they would make a spectacle, they would use the police force as its own cover for those within it who lost their lives, and they would make everything about this explainable.

And thus was the mistake. They'd planted their tags and moved on to the police station, tucking files here and there to be found in the aftermath of the explosions when it was likely that those surviving of the Police Force would get involved, and the ANBU might even step in to check over everything for signs of foul play. If all went well, that would be no concern, but it was better to cover their bases than to let them run unchecked.

The only ones at the station at that early hour were those in the know, a scarce three people who had always been trapped into the terrible shifts, even if their skills warranted better. They would benefit greatly from this, but that wasn't why they were involved. No, they were involved because they had not known, and were outraged at the things that they had discovered.

Just the sort of people they needed on their side.

The hours that followed fell into more familiar patterns, with Mikoto staying home and Itachi going off to the tower. Still, his nerves made him restless even as he carefully picked over file after file, the oppressive weight of things to come pressing determinably down on him until finally, the Hokage reached out to stop him from his thoughts.

"What troubles you?"

There was a long moment of silence, and the fourteen year old studied his Hokage, the man who was giving him the chance to do this, and, in a way, a chance to let him bloody his hands in a way where none could ever be blamed but himself. It was harsher on his mind than the orders of a year before, and harder, but somehow felt better. It did not make him happy, but it was never meant to. "Tonight is the night."

"Is there anything you need?"

"No. There is nothing. However... there will be explosions and deaths." It was said very softly, and their eyes met.

"I trust that all loose ends will be accounted for?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. There will be no messes left to be cleaned."

They each studied the other for a long moment then, and the older man looked away first, back to the papers. "You may go for the day Itachi."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

He didn't go straight home from the tower. Instead, Itachi went to the Academy, lingering to watch the children in their practice instead of going to where the crushing weight of things about to happen would try to eat him.

It didn't surprise him that he was noticed. What did surprise him was _who_, because he could not recall anyone having told him about this particular chunin's assignment. Still, if it had been in recent months, it was no shock it had slipped past his awareness, as absolutely everything revolved around the clan for him in recent days, but it did not please him. He had thought he was keeping better track of those he knew outside the clan than this, most especially as this man now had access to his brother. That told him he wasn't keeping all that good track of who his brother was around these days either. Not good.

"Itachi. Somehow, I didn't expect to see you at this hour." The words were softly spoken, the brown haired man keeping his eyes fixed on the passel of children instead of looking at the person he was talking to, leaning on the tree that was shielding him from view. "You haven't been by since I was made a teacher at the start of term."

"It wasn't intentional. I've been busy."

There was a moment of silence, and the man finally shifted over to look at him, brown eyes searching as they examined him. "You make me worry about you when you fall out of contact for months at a time."

"You don't outrank me anymore so you don't need to worry about my welfare now."

There was a soft laugh, and the older of the two looked back to the students. "Don't be silly Tachi-chan, I'll always worry about my little genin teammate."

That got a noise that was half scoff, half snort, though the words that followed were less strained than his first responses, which he realized now had been rather terse. "Being in line to be Hokage out ranks a chunin Iruka."

"Does it? I never would have noticed." There was a smile in the words, though the taller of the two had his face turned from him again so it couldn't be seen. "Go home, eat a sandwich. You look half starved."

"I do not."

"You do. Go. I need to go inside with the hellions anyway."

"...Of course. Soon then."

Iruka glanced back at him as he moved away from the tree. "Whenever you have time. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

Itachi watched him go, then, before finally turning to head home. All he would get to do once he got there would be to wait. Wait for the time of the meeting, wait for everything to be discovered. Wait for things to go _wrong_.

Because they would. Though somehow, after everything, Itachi was the only one that seemed to think so.

* * *

**Note:** I had fully intended to continue to the end of the day when I started this chapter, but I fear the muses simply refused to let me do it all at once. Until next time then! Oh yes, those of you without logins for me to reply to. Thank you for the reviews.


	7. Chapter 6

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Six**

That night was one that would catch on his nightmares for a very long time, ripping and tugging at his sleep in the most exhausting dance of his life. So many little things came to the fore, details that changed his perceptions of his world in rather irreparable ways. One such thing was the way he viewed his mother. Another was the distance he realized he'd need to make between he and his brother for his brother to be _safe_ with a sibling like him. The most striking, in that they should have _realized_, was that even the strongest of victims was still a victim and one should never ever forget it.

That was what they hadn't taken into account. One of those victims couldn't wait anymore and set off their tags early. Not all of the targets were at their set destinations. Some people weren't home and had empty buildings. Some were in transit. Worse, the meeting of those to go to the council hall wasn't fully convened, and it was a _disaster_. It left everyone scrabbling, him knowing that they had to do damage control even as his mother met his eyes in a signal to _move_. That they had to act _now_ because they would lose the chance entirely if they didn't.

It was as he saw his mother rush out of the house to find Sasuke that he comprehended how big this disaster could be. His brother wasn't home. No, on tonight of all night the boy was out in the compound somewhere. He fleetingly hoped he was practicing with his kunai in Itachi's field well away from the commotion but there was no way to know. They didn't have a trace on his sibling, and the early damage had left prior planning halfway into shambles.

For all the nerves of the day, it was still _too soon_, and he doubted he was the only one cursing at the amount of damage control that needed to be done.

None of this stopped his reaction time as he rushed to his room to activate the blood seal on his personal storage, pulling the keyed exploding tag out. Everyone wouldn't be there, but there was no more time to wait. If they did, people would be outside and the chance would be lost entirely. Asking inwardly for forgiveness in the face of any more mistakes, he set off the tags with a sharp jolt of chakra, hearing it as part of a chain beyond the walls of his home. Clearly he was only the fastest, others having realized that one explosion meant that they needed to do them _all._

Pocketing the spent seal, he ducked out the window, collecting his blade from its resting place on the way out. There were people that _had_ to be taken care of, and he had to be ready for them if they weren't where they were supposed to be. Plain blade marks could be attributed to the widest array of people in the chaos, and that was the tactic he had chosen for handling it. Still, thinking it didn't prepare him for seeing it, people moving with purpose toward the sites of the explosions even as some seemed to try to creep away in the chaos.

Those were the people he chased, setting genjutsu over them to drive them toward the the others, towards the destruction, making sure that they were the people he needed to handle before he did, doing his best to only leave clean death in his wake. He was, after all, an ANBU trained shadow and he made sure to use that ability, getting lost amongst the smoke and his relatives, carefully picking off the terrible and those too dangerous to leave alive.

Through all this though, he fretted, worried over his sibling, worried that they would miss someone which would in turn bring it back on them, worried that they would lose innocents in the cross fighting as it spilled out of the initially expected areas. So many things crossed his mind...

It all paled when he found his mother. The worry in him faded into a soft, intense moment of horror as he paused, seeing who she was fighting. Everyone around them was dead. Some of those people had been part of their little group and the marks they bore were from his _mother's_ weapon. It almost ripped the air from his lungs when he realized it, but he still flit to the ground. They were in a battle, and he couldn't afford to startle them into attacking him if he failed to conceal himself from their senses.

His presence, however, split his father's focus into a fatal error, his sharingan red eyes going wide as his mother got under his guard to run him through, not hesitating for even a second to use the opening to her advantage. She didn't look remorseful. She didn't look guilty. She only looked determined. Like a true kunoichi, hard and fierce under layers of silk, she did what she felt needed done.

Her voice was much the same, so soft and so very cold. "You should never have threatened the children Fugaku. I would have followed you forever if you hadn't done that." Then she twisted the blade, jerking back as the man attempted to take her with him, clearly realizing that he wasn't going to make it and striking out his strength before it could leave him entirely.

Itachi couldn't rip his gaze away from them, frozen as they fought, the battle taking an eternity more that was, in reality, only a few seconds. He was relieved that he hadn't killed his father. He was. But... he wasn't sure that this wasn't worse, being the _reason_ for it even when it wasn't by his own hand.

In the end, his mother prevailed, slightly injured but the clear victor. It seemed that, even while dying, his father wouldn't take a killing blow against his wife. "Itachi, you should go."

"Mother?" The word was hoarse, choked, and he looked to her, sucking in a sharp breath as he noticed the change of her eyes, the curving star. "Mother you..."

"He was my husband. I will miss him. You should go Itachi, I will find any stragglers, but you need to go tend to Sasuke."

It was enough. He let himself be jerked out of his horror as his priorities let him refocus, his back straightening. "What happened?"

"Nothing, yet, but we want to keep it that way, don't we? He's out cold in his favorite training spot, I put a genjutsu on him. Get him and take him home."

Choked at the idea of _everything_ that had just occurred, he gave a small, jerky nod, trying not to think of what he might _find_ if someone else had discovered his brother first.

"Go."

Itachi went, and, for once, his imagination was worse than reality.

Sasuke was fine, even if everything else wasn't.

* * *

**Note: **This chapter fought me to the very end, but I hope it's satisfactory all the same.


	8. Chapter 7

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Seven**

He wasn't sure who named the event that marked the change of the clan, but he did know that a few days after the killings, the whispers were no longer 'rebels,' 'criminals,' and 'heroes'. No, the whispers lumped themselves down to a solitary title, harsh and frighteningly accurate.

The Purge.

His first thought on hearing the name was that somehow, his group's part of the events had gotten out to the rest of the clan. Had that been the truth however, it would have been an unmitigated disaster, as it was doubtful that everyone left in the clan would have understood. No, worse, it would have brought them back to the point they'd tried to escape in the first place, diverting secret rebellions and torrid plots.

After a day, when nothing happened and there was no outcry, he started to ask why that name. Why Purge. Why not something else, something less telling. The answers he received varied, but ultimately all came down to the same thing. There were very bad people who died. There were people no one liked that died. There were people that were disturbing who died. In essence, many undesirables died, even if there were many who had been beloved who had died as well. They were considered either heroes or victims, those beloved dead, and neither Itachi nor his mother tried to disabuse them.

The reason for this was simple. Not everyone who died that night was an adult, and as grieving clan members dug up bodies from rubble or looked to the forest along one edge of the compound, the sadness in the air became worse. They needed something to celebrate, because the funerary fires still hadn't been put out, leaving a tang in the air that Itachi dearly wished he wasn't so familiar with.

On good days, the scent merely stopped him from touching any meat his mother might prepare. On bad days, he couldn't eat at all, and he was sure he'd never again wish to touch red meat if he could avoid it.

The Hokage had given him his space since that night. He knew that the time would come, sooner or later, that he would have to talk to the man directly, but for now he worked through the ANBU that were sent to help him. The Lizard mask of Iyashi had let him be reassured the wounded were in trusted hands, and he'd left the man to coordinate the non-ANBU medics that had been roaming the compound to deal with the many injuries. Some were Uchiha, most were not. It was a sad truth that many in the clan simply had no desire to be healers, and at this time it worked against them.

Iyashi was not the only one from his team to end up in the compound over those rough days. The familiar blue hair and cat mask told him Yugao was watching the walls for anyone that had a grudge and wanted to use the chaos to complete it. Hayate was helping her, but was more often seen going from rooftop to rooftop, quietly deflecting and directing the other ANBU in the village to handle things that the Police force was simply in no shape to currently, and Itachi had the sense that the Mouse masked man was rather enjoying being able to do so much. Sometimes, he'd worried about that with the man's health problems, so it was a relief. Still, it was Tokuma that was being most impressive, the Dragonfly mask proving to have been chosen wisely as the man flit here and there, relaying messages and dealing with the politics of the situation where outside communication was required.

Itachi, with absolute truth, loved his team.

They were not the only ones that he saw, as after those first few days, the Hokage apparently decided to check on him in another way. True, the man had been getting the information through Dragonfly about the clan, but none of that had been personal, and it was understandable that the man might worry about the state of mind of his chosen successor. For this task, the man sent along Itachi's sensei, and it was no great surprise to anyone when Itachi's mother invited him inside for tea. It might have been more of a surprise to any observer that he only accepted on the condition of the tea being strawberry.

The two had settled in to talk over their respective cups of tea fairly quickly, only quieting when they heard movement from the direction in which the two youngest in the house had been sleeping. The man had, after all, arrived painfully early, so he'd expected the wait, but it still made him smile slightly as he took in Itachi's tousled state when the teen finally emerged.

He would firmly claim this to be Sasuke's fault, as the younger child had taken to crawling into his brother's bed since their father had died, and Itachi had had a rather difficult time untangling him so that he could investigate the presence in their sitting room. It would have been made much simpler if he'd had any desire to wake the child. Still, he ran his fingers through his hair as he nodded to the pair at the table.

"Ibiki-sensei. Mother."

"Itachi." There was a moment of stillness, then the man sighed, nudging out a chair in a mute entreaty for the boy to join them. His mother rose without needing to be asked and went to attend to something in the kitchen, only pausing to kiss her son's forehead on her way by. "How are you holding up?"

Itachi took the mute invitation rather stiffly. "It's been... difficult."

The hesitance in the boy's voice made the man sigh, and he caught the chair leg to reel the boy in closer. "Kid, anything you tell me I won't tell anyone else. You're all set to be the Hokage, so once Sarutobi-sama decides to go through with that, you'll be the only one I answer to. Until then, he's the only one you have to worry about me telling anything to."

There was a moment of eye contact before the teen leaned his elbows on the table with a nod, resting his face in his hands. "Thank you Sensei." The words were muffled, and he slumped. "I'll tell you more, later, but not here, okay? I'll visit your office in T&I in a couple days and we can hash everything out."

The older male sighed, then reached over and rested his hand on the boy's head. "Do that. I want to check you over and make sure you're fit to continue with your duties, even if you are turning into a paperwork-nin."

There was no missing the tiny smile that touched Itachi's lips as he looked sideways at the man. "But I thought you liked paperwork-nin."

"I find paperwork-nin almost as frightening as library-nin and you know that perfectly well." The exchange let the man relax though. If his student could still smile, then he didn't need to worry too hard. Still, the fact that the boy felt he needed to talk to him meant he would do his level best to make sure he had the time for the kid to do just that. Hokage to be or not, he was still just a fourteen year old boy, and it would be cruel to leave him without a confidant.

"Yes, I am aware." He paused, remembering something he'd discovered the morning before the bloodshed. "Sensei when did Iruka start at the academy?"

"Just at the start of the semester." Ibiki ruffled the long hair a little, messing up the barely tamed strands before he took his hand back. "Don't feel bad you didn't notice, you've been busy since he stopped being your teammate."

"That doesn't immediately excuse the inattention." Itachi shifted position, looking at him as he lifted his head to rest his chin in his hand instead.

"I guess it doesn't, but he's Iruka. He'll forgive you if he hasn't already. Especially after all this." He indicated the compound with a quick wave of his hand, then picked up his cup to sip at the pink tea within. "You need to not feel guilty for things you don't need to Itachi. I've never really approved of the habit, but with you in line to become Hokage you have to learn how to deal with it better."

Itachi paused to think about it, and his mother took the lull of voices to move over, giving her son a fresh cup before picking up her own to take it back to the kitchen. It caused a moment of blinking from the drowsy youth, and the teen finally tried to answer his sensei's worries. "I know. This... situation I think is meant to teach me that lesson."

Ibiki nodded, understanding what the boy meant. "Very likely. Sarutobi-sama can be like that sometimes."

"He is Hokage."

"So he is. Sooner or later, that will be you."

"...So it will." The murmur was soft, and Itachi turned his attention to his own cup of tea, contemplative.

Nothing more was said after that, but the silence didn't turn suffocating. Instead, the youth relaxed for the first time in weeks, reassured that he still had his teammates, new and old, at his side to help him in his future endeavors.


	9. Chapter 8

**Act Of Mercy: Chapter Eight**

It seemed, after that talk with his sensei, that time suddenly seemed to speed up drastically, slipping by with barely captured moments in direct inverse to how the months before had dragged until hours had seemed like weeks. No, now everything seemed to fly and there was simply never enough time. More paperwork was leveled on him. His opinions were asked more and more frequently by the Hokage. Appointments were deferred to him until one day Hiruzen-sama had simply looked at him and smiled.

That was the first day he'd walked out of the office and left Itachi entirely alone with everything. The paperwork, the meetings, the mission distribution. He had almost frozen under the sudden pressure, but it hadn't held. After all, just because the older man wasn't in the room with him didn't mean he was incapable or unprepared. He'd been slowly shifted into this for months. Still, that was the day he gave his first mission to someone that was above a C-rank without the input of the current Hokage, and he dearly hoped that he had not chosen wrongly.

Thankfully, the results of that day led to no deaths among any of his people. It did, however, start a trend, as slowly, Hiruzen-sama spent less and less time in his office, until it reached the point where some days he didn't even come in, merely leaving a note on the desk in elegant scrawl.

One such note had led to an avalanche of paperwork that he truly hadn't anticipated being buried under, but in a way had been a very good thing. The note had merely been the simple instruction to pick his ANBU. This had led to a marathon of reading that took days as he went over every shinobi file he could get his hands on, even going so far as to examine genin files once he'd worked his way down the ranks. When asked later why he'd needed to even do this, the Sandaime had explained that every Hokage did not keep the same ANBU around them. Yes, some ANBU rolled from Hokage to Hokage, but others were only there for this Hokage or that, and felt they would be better served outside the elites when it came time to change. By the same card, as some felt they needed to leave, others felt more keenly that they needed to serve.

In Itachi's case, there were some that were highly protective of him who had worked with him in the three years that the boy had still been a fully active ANBU, while there were a few, though only a small few, who knew they were too resentful to want to protect the boy full time once the Hokage-ship properly changed hands. Still, even for those he did not consider as options for ANBU, it was good to have a better concept of what each of his people was capable of.

It also brought to him that he simply did not know the people he was going to lead as well as he might like, due to the various isolating factors that he'd dealt with since he was a child in the Academy. Due to this, he promptly set Tokuma, Iruka, and his Sensei to evaluating the opinions that people in various levels of the ranks currently held for him, and their viability for dealing with him on a regular basis for the positions he knew he'd need filled. These positions were not just among ANBU, as even a set secretary he trusted was something he'd likely need to find on his own.

Tokuma was sent along to the clans, the Hyuuga being in the best position for such an endeavor due to the way he tended to handle people. He could be quirky, but he didn't make a bad diplomat when asked, and he already had friends at various levels among even the more scattered small clans around the village. Iruka was in charge of making the rounds of those his rank and under, thus resulting the largest pool of people given that he seemed intent on counting even those in the Academy classes among his number. Then again, Iruka also had the easiest time of it at the start due to the fact he had already been positioned perfectly to pick up rumors, so a few more questions wouldn't be amiss.

It was Ibiki-sensei who really had the hardest job though. He was the one dealing with the jounin, jounin who were used to being able to defer to someone with either considerable years of experience behind them or a heavy reputation that meant that there was no doubting the faith by which they could trust their Hokage. In essence, they were both the easiest and hardest to win over, and as the months dragged out, he realized that he was _glad_ this was the case.

It meant that once he had a victory with them, they would not take it back, and while they would perhaps not be thrilled with him, they would ultimately bow to his choices. It was, after all, a situation he had encountered before, when making his way up the ranks of ANBU. No one was chosen to lead in ANBU if it was not believed that they could, but that didn't mean anyone was thrilled to have someone barely looking at their teens controlling their lives for the duration of a mission, even less so when it was a group of near strangers who hadn't actually seen said teen in action personally and only had rumor to rely upon.

Thus was what was happening now, with rumors carefully trickling through the ranks, and Itachi's three sets of eyes and ears making sure that he got the full picture of exactly what those rumors were doing when he found himself stuck in the office a bit too long to look for himself. It was a good system, and was slowly expanding as each of the men branched out their own careful networks of people who would, with sometimes no prompting, drop by to leave a note for Itachi themselves. Still, nothing in this really prepared him for the day the Sandaime decided he really _was_ tired of the paperwork, and thus had no intention of doing it any more.

It was a nice morning, just over a year after the Purge, and he had been staring with fixed attention at a motion that the civilian quarter was, for some reason, attempting to push through so they would get a say in the goings on of the village. Simply put, this would never happen. Ever. Konoha was a Shinobi village, and thus it would remain, no matter how badly the civilians wanted to declare that something of theirs was more desperately needed than anything Shinobi related. It was this proposal he was attempting to figure out the source of, so that he could inform them personally not to try again, that the Sandaime drew him away from as his elder slipped into the room for the first time in over a week.

The man wasn't in his formal robes, instead wearing perhaps the most casual thing that Itachi had seen him wear outside his own home, and he found himself staring when was finally spoken to. "I believe, Itachi, that it's time to properly name you Hokage."

There were many things he could have said, after that declaration, but somehow, he never really expected himself to use the words he actually spoke. "Then I believe, Hiruzen-sama, that you owe me a hat."

It made his Hokage smile, and he knew, then, that even if unintended, the words were exactly what the man had been hoping to hear.

* * *

**Notes: **Thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews you've been leaving me. I know I don't reply to nearly enough of them, so I wanted to do a quick thank you to everyone who has thus far given me feedback of any kind. And for those of you worried this might be the end, it isn't, I do, after all, intend to catch up to later down the timeline. We just have to get there first.


	10. Chapter 9: Interlude

**Act Of Mercy: Chapter Nine-Interlude**

She was a mother, but somewhere along the way, she'd failed her child. She'd seen it with absolute clarity on the morning that her eldest, her beautiful, gentle eldest, had practically thrown his announcement of the Hokage's choice in his father's face over the breakfast table. It had been a shock, the sudden glint of almost desperate hope that had flashed in her boy's eyes before he'd concealed it under other, more expected emotions. She knew his father hadn't seen it. The man had never seen what he didn't want to see, and much as she loved him once, she knew he had many failings.

But then, so did she. Had she not, after all, closed her eyes to the slow steady falter in her son as he had felt more and more trapped by what her husband's plans were doing? She knew she'd had other options and had not taken them. She had not wanted to admit where her Itachi's choice would lay if he was forced. She had known, and she had been accepting of the consequences that lay in her silence, but it had not been _fair_. What fairness was there in accepting that your choices would drive your child to desperation of any kind?

She was paying for it now, and truthfully, she felt that the unintentional punishment was deserved. She was fully aware her eldest still loved her. She also knew that she frightened him now, that he had seen something in her on the night of the killings that he had not expected to see, and had not wanted to. That, along with the careful distance forged over _years_, had left her as something he felt he had to handle carefully. No matter how many months they had spent together now in furtive planning, it had not been enough to span such a chasm. It hurt, but she had let this happen, and her child had grown into a man without her hands guiding him.

She wished she could say otherwise. She couldn't. She had let go of her eldest too many years before, letting the world rip his precious ideals to shreds as he tried so very hard to hold them together. She hadn't helped him. She remembered the days when she turned her attention from him before he'd become a genin, leaving him to his father as a choice. He'd always been a watchful child, and those little abandonments did not go unseen by his far too knowing eyes. Even at five, he'd understood what it meant when his mother would pretend that she hadn't seen him looking back at her as his father tugged him out the door.

He forgave her for that. He'd see, and it would hurt him, but he never _blamed_ her. Somehow that made everything worse on reflection, that he was so willing to forgive her her transgressions, no matter what they were. A subtle pretension that she hadn't seen a hopeful gaze? Moving to another room as he tried to come tell her something? Cutting him off before he could get started on saying something that had made him smile? All of these were things he forgave her for, but with each little rejection came the slow careful build of the shield he lived behind now.

At first it had killed her to do it, to encourage that coldness, but he was the heir. Fugaku had loved his children. No matter what could be said for the man, he had always loved his children, and he had loved her. Unfortunately, that love was harsh at times, and Itachi had never quite managed to be on the better side of it. When he was very small, he was too quiet. When he had discovered his cousin Obito, he had been too loud. After that same cousin died the child was once again too quiet, and this time her husband had not tolerated it. He'd harried the boy, and she knew it even at the time, but she'd been too tired then, heavy with her Sasuke and in no shape to do anything but sleep and hope her little one would eventually remember how to smile.

Instead, her Itachi had closed down further, fumbling his way into learning precision with a kunai as no child so small should ever need to, especially not a child who would flee the kitchen at the first sight of a dead animal about to be prepared for dinner. But he had done it anyway. He would vanish for hours on end, and finally her husband had gotten frustrated with his frequent excursions and had followed him, discovering what he was up to. After that he'd started the intense lessons with her silent little boy, poking and prodding him along to try to force a fire affinity where one didn't appear to be. Watching him at it had been enough to get her to test him one morning, and she'd found that the boy had inherited her primary affinity. Wind. Oddly, to her mind at least, in the years that followed, she never once saw him use a wind jutsu. There had been times when she had wondered if he'd decided that would be cheating. Still, he did learn the fire jutsu his father wanted him to after several horrible failures, proceeding into it with the single minded determination that ran in the family.

It was a very quiet few months, between Obito's death and Sasuke's birth, and she had grown thoroughly sick of it by the time she'd finally had her baby. She'd been miserable, because she'd been certain that _this_ would somehow seal her eldest into silence forever. After all, it was losing someone dear that had caused it, was it not? She didn't dare hope he would open up again. He surprised her though. It was only after Sasuke was around that the child had started to speak again, murmuring secrets to the baby when he was sure that no one could hear him. It had become a game even, with the child silencing himself the second he detected someone near him, which, sadly, was too often before anything could actually be _heard_ of what he'd been saying.

It only stopped once they'd put him in the Academy. The terrible Academy which let him move through so very swiftly, dumping him into his genin team practically before she had fully grasped that he was already in school and out from under her watchful eyes. Still, by then she'd already started to truly let go of him, and he had not asked her one of his sweet fanciful questions in over a year at that point. She still remembered them, even now, when he was leaving her home entirely for the apartments of the Hokage near the tower.

She remembered him asking if butterflies were a way of sending messages. She remembered him sneaking around to the side of the couch and asking her if crows were better than ravens. Her answers had been yes to both, but such questions had been neatly tucked away from her, and she would never get them back. He'd grown up and away, accepting her subtle rejections and pulling from her until when he really _needed_ her, he thought that such a thing would no longer be allowed.

No. That wasn't true. By then, he knew that it was not an option, because he no longer trusted her as his font of wisdom and the one from whom all help should be sought. Those days had long passed, and she had been the one to do it, until finally, it had come to that morning with his desperate hope and his delicate lies. She knew her boy was a beautiful liar, but sometimes, a mother just _knew_. She hadn't let it pass, of course. He'd given her an opening, and she was a shinobi. You exploited an opening to your benefit, and in her case, she'd immediately tipped her hand. Yes, she'd seen, and knew, and had not acted.

It had been months before he took her up on it though, and she was ashamed to know how happy she had been to see him so horribly shaken by what he'd heard from his father. Yes, she'd been furious at the content of the conversation. Beyond furious even, she'd been utterly murderous, but she had also felt a thrill of happiness. Her baby had come to _her_ for help, finally. Not even her fumbling with him as a child was enough to drive him away from her when he most desperately needed to be a child searching for comfort, and the happiness that had inspired would forever be a source of guilty pleasure.

Now, it was once again back to that cautious untrusting distance, and it was an unfortunate thing that she could not make him unsee the cause. She truly hadn't wanted him there for that, but the chance, once passed, would never come again, so she had simply carried on. Now, her husband was dead, and her eldest child was just a bit frightened of her in a way he never had been before. It wasn't a fear for his life. It was a fear for his trust. Such a delicate thing, her son's trust.

She hated to think of how he would react if he ever had cause to lose his faith in Sasuke. Her ten year old was, she was sure, the only anchor that her eldest had for now. Soon, he would settle into his new robes and hat, and he would find a way that would anchor him into the very bedrock of the village, but for now, even though he was Hokage, he was still her cautious child, untrusting of everyone and so sure the world lay on his shoulders.

She just wished there was still a chance that he would believe her if she told him it didn't.

Unfortunately, she really did know better, and the following years would have made a liar of her anyway.


	11. Chapter 10

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Ten**

His morning had started so well. Admittedly, he could say that about a lot of days, but this one had been exceptionally nice. The weather was clear and sunny, while not overly warm, and there was a nice breeze coming through his window. He'd left it open for obvious reasons, knowing far too well the tendency of his shinobi for trying to come through the 'alternative door' as he'd heard some call it, and since the weather was nice enough, he was willing to accommodate.

He could admit to the intense temptation to lock his actual door someday to make _everyone_ have to come in through the window, but he knew that, somehow, such a prank would backfire on him. Still, it was something he would keep in mind for a day when he hadn't only been Hokage for a handful of months. After all, though many claimed it wasn't so, he _did_ have a healthy sense of humor. Unfortunately, that sense of humor didn't quite cover what he was currently witnessing in his office. Now, he _wanted_ to find the situation hilarious, but all he really ended up having the urge to do was beat his head on his desk.

The reason? The little blond bane of peaceful paperwork had finally realized that he wasn't the only one dropping by to visit the new Hokage, and had, for some unknown reason, decided to rub the fact he'd been doing it longer in his otouto's face. Suffice to say that the situation had devolved quickly, and thus brought Itachi to his current predicament. Trying to figure out how to shut the boys up. They were, after all, nearly eleven, so this was just ridiculous.

Especially given how they were both steadily getting louder at this point. "_And_ you have no right at all to tell _me_ to leave 'cause I totally have seniority in this room over you, so there."

"He's _my_ brother, you _moron_, so don't you go acting like you have more of a right to be here than I do! I've known him my whole life, you're just the kid who busts in all the time because he thinks he'll be Hokage!" Sasuke scowled at the blond, narrowing his eyes as he shifted in place, leaning in toward the smaller boy in what he thought was a threatening manner. In Itachi's opinion, he needed to work on it.

"Oh yeah? Well then why would everyone just _let_ me come up here still if he didn't give the okay? Have you thought about _that_ any Sas-u-ke?" The younger boy drew out the name in a clear taunt and lifted both his eyebrows, smug. "Bet you haven't. Ha! In fact, bet the zombie never even told you I've been coming up here since _way_ before he got made Hokage, huh?"

"My Aniki has better things to talk about that _you_ dobe, so don't even _try_ to make it sound like you're important or something. And don't you call him a zombie! He may not be expressive to the point of looking stupid like you, but it's not like he's dead, which zombies _are_ since you obviously never made that connection on your _own_."

Excellent, and now they were getting into a debate on if he was a shambling corpse or not. This argument was just getting more and more flattering. In fact, Naruto clearly felt that it hadn't been flattering enough. "Oh please, any baby who ever watched a horror flick knows _that_ teme, where have _you_ been? Seriously, the hat stealer totally looks like a zombie! He clearly never sleeps, and I've never once caught him eating, and he looks half dead."

"He does so sleep! And he looks just fine! Maybe he was just tired of _you bothering him_!" And that comment tipped the boys from loud to yelling. Clearly, Sasuke needed to be thanked.

"Oh yeah? Well maybe he's so happy to see me all the time cause he needs a break from the crazy avalanche of paperwork. Heh, I probably see him more often than _you_ do now, so I'd totally know better than you." Naruto's drop in volume was appreciated, but a bit surprising, and Itachi wasn't the only one caught off guard by the change.

"And what's that supposed to mean? Just because he moved out doesn't mean I never see him!"

"Please. I come up here like, every other day and I haven't seen you _once_. Heh, maybe _I_ should call him nii-san instead of _you_."

And... he was clearly going to have to intervene if he was reading Sasuke correctly, he did _not_ wish his office to have any fire damage, nor items broken through taijutsu. "He's _my_ Aniki, and just because you got the idea in your head that you have some kind of claim on him, does _not_ mean you do."

Naruto gave him a mischievous grin, then shrugged, backing up a couple steps from the enraged youth advancing on him. "Ohhh possessive. Zombie-nii sounds good to me. In fact, I think it's perfect! Thanks for the suggestion teme, it's way better than what I've been using."

"Don't call him that!"

When Sasuke lunged a moment later, Itachi was not ashamed to admit that he was grateful that Naruto fled. Out the door that is. Away from his office.

Still, even if he could have done without the shouting, it was good to see that Sasuke wasn't taking his having moved out _too_ badly.

At least, not if what he could hear echoing through the tower was any indication.


	12. Chapter 11

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Eleven**

Visiting the Academy was something that every Hokage did at some point. It wasn't a case of grand standing, or a tradition built on the desire to get future shinobi to view their Hokage with awe. No, the tradition had far more practical reasons. Get your future shinobi to know who you are. Give them a person worth fighting for. Make sure that _you_ know who _they_ are. Thus, while the initial reason looked like ego stroking, it was something that had sound reasoning behind it and a military application.

He was finding reasons to fear the practice though.

After all, outside the Academy he had learned how to dodge anything that seemed too much like an adoring fan. Here, he was putting himself in their path. It seemed, to him, as though it was an act of masochism. He liked children, he did, but he would be very relieved when he got to his brother's class. They should be calmer than the younger students, right?

That thought carried him through the day, really, and since he'd decided he wanted to spend a bit more time with his brother's class due to the heavy political leanings of all the clan heirs, he even stopped in on the one older class that was due to graduate at the end of term. They, thankfully, bore out his hypothesis that older was calmer, and it was with a relaxed mind that he approached his brother's, and former teammate's, class.

Upon opening the door he wondered if he had stepped into the wrong place.

Iruka was, with all the stern command that Itachi had learned to appreciate as a seven year old, bearing down on a trio of boys to one side of the room as Naruto, and this was far from shocking, was being hauled along by his collar behind the man. Across the room and toward the back, away from the windows the boys seemed to have snuck into, was his brother, who was being seemingly assaulted by a pair of girls that he _knew_ the boy wasn't dating. One of them even looked to be a Yamanaka, which, all on its own, made him feel sorry for his sibling.

Still, his presence _was_ noted by those not involved in the chaos, and a rash of whispers rippled out across the room, bringing quiet along behind them.

Well. It was quiet until Naruto looked over to see what the commotion was about. "Zombie-nii! Hey hey, did you come to visit me and the teme?"

The reaction was instantaneous and, he will admit, somewhat hilarious. Iruka spun in place, eyes wide and startled, with a "Hokage-sama!" at the same time Sasuke practically leaped over his desk to escape his paramours with an utterly relieved cry of "Aniki!"

Clearly, his brother had beem desperately praying for a rescue, as the boy skidded to a stop right in front of him, staring up at him with slowly growing perplexity. "...Wait, why are you here?"

If anything, the three boys that Iruka had been lecturing looked more chagrinned, using the man's inattention to try to escape to their seats. "He's here because he told me he was going to talk to you all today. Which is why I am _most unhappy_ with you four for skipping the morning session! You could have missed him entirely!"

As the other three wilted slightly, Naruto just rolled his eyes. "Big deal, it's not like I don't see him all the time. Zombie-nii and me don't need to be introduced."

For once, it wasn't Sasuke who rebuked him. "Don't call him that!" A thump on the head followed as the boy's collar was released. "Respect the Hokage! Now go sit down. Sasuke, you too."

Itachi shook his head, giving Iruka a highly amused look for the fact that _he_ of all people was trying to enforce respect for his title. Perhaps he simply meant in public? Repressing his urge to laugh, he looked over all the students. "It's fine Iruka-san, I came to see everyone in their natural habitat, so to speak, not to give a lecture. After all, they should know that discipline is part of being a good shinobi by now, and that the life they're stepping into isn't always going to be fun nor glorious. There is nothing I can tell them that you haven't already, and it would hold no more importance simply because I was the one saying it."

There was a moment of silence in the wake of his words before whispers broke out with renewed fervor around the room. He took the opportunity to let his eyes drift back down to his sibling, who he was surprised to note looked decidedly torn between the options of retreating to his seat and hiding behind him. A quick glance told him the cause of his distress, as the two girls from earlier had, after a quick few glances between each other and the brothers, decided to come over to where the siblings were standing.

The pink haired girl reached them first, giving a quick half bow to him before looking speculatively from one to the other. "Hokage-sama! My name is Haruno Sakura and I am very honored that you came to talk to us today."

The way his brother tensed promised him that this would be amusing. "It's a pleasure, I assure you."

The blond joined them a beat later with a nod to him and a swift 'Hokage-sama' before she turned on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, you didn't have to jump out of your seat like that you know, I could have gotten up."

Sakura leaned to the side with a whisper that was perhaps a bit too loud to actually be intended to be secretive. "Ino-pig! Don't just ignore the Hokage!"

Ino's tone was at about the same level, and she peeked sideways at the Hokage in question. "Shut it forehead, I'm talking to Sasuke-kun. I didn't ignore the Hokage anyway, I greeted him first."

"You didn't introduce yourself!"

"He probably knows who I am without me needing to!"

Both girls halted their arguing to watch, one amused, the other confused, as Sasuke took this chance to edge around behind his sibling. The blond was the one who resumed the argument.

"Now look what you did!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Itachi turned the girls out for a moment, turning his head to look back at his sibling with highly amused eyes. "Why did you never mention this little problem of yours?"

"Oh please, what was I going to say? 'Aniki, help, there's a couple girls at the Academy who want my babies'? Yeah, that would have seemed _real_ mature." Sasuke, at least, kept his tone low enough that the girls couldn't actually hear him, unlike their former 'whispering'.

"Well, no, but I would have found it quite amusing and would have attempted to help you find a method to placate them anyway." Itachi gave his brother a small smile as the boy simply gave him a petulant glare. Too easy.

He looked back to the girls as they finally hit proper speaking levels again, and it was the pink haired girl who had caught his attention. "You know what? This is stupid. If you want Sasuke-kun you can _have_ him! His brother is smarter, cuter, and far more polite _anyway_!"

This got a round of blinks from all three of the people nearby. Ino was the first to respond. "Hold on a second, so you give up? Official concession here?"

"No, I've just decided to move on to bigger and better things Ino-pig. I'm sure that you and Sasuke-kun will make a great couple." The girl crossed her arms, clearly standing firm about her choice.

There was a beat of silence before the blond made a high pitch noise of glee that sent a shiver of sympathetic dread down his spine. Poor Sasuke. "You're missing out Forehead, you know you don't have a chance with the _Hokage_, but hey, if you wanna use it as a cover for giving up, I'm not going to stop you." She glanced to him. "Nice meeting you Hokage-sama!" With that, she darted around him and after his fleeing brother. Clearly his sibling had seen what this development meant for him and was less than thrilled to face the results. "Sasuke-kun! I have great news for you!"

Slowly, with much reluctance, he looked back to the pink haired girl that was looking at him with a distinct blush on her face. "You... heard that whole thing didn't you?" When he nodded, she ducked her head. "Crap. Um. Can you just pretend you didn't?"

Amused that she'd even made the request, he tilted his head to the side. "And why would I do that?"

"Uh, um, because I insulted Sasuke and haven't actually gotten to know you pretty much at all?"

"You're right, you did, and you haven't. However, I'll be kind and only notice that you apparently decided you like me and ignore the entire 'trading up' part of it, shall I?"

When the girl squeaked and fled in mortification, Itachi couldn't hold back a soft laugh. Yes, this wasn't the calm he was anticipating, but that was fine. It was still a good ending to a rather stressful day.


	13. Chapter 12

**Act of Mercy: Chapter Twelve**

Teams. It was amazing how difficult that word was right at this moment.

His brother was finally going to be a genin.

Yes, that was it, and it left him with options. A lot of options.

Unfortunately, none of them involved the woman who was currently standing in front of him, determination written in every line of her body. Why? Because she was _here_. Unlike every other prospective jounin-sensei he'd seen today, _she_ had contacted _him_ instead of it being the other way around. While there was nothing inherently wrong with this, her approach had left him with a whole different set of worries than simple eagerness.

Thus, Kurenai Yuuhi was not going to be getting a genin team this season. Now he just had to make the hopeful new jounin in front of him_ understand. _

"So you're specifically requesting that Hinata Hyuuga be placed with you as her jounin-sensei." When the woman nodded, he returned the gesture, folding his fingers on his desk as he held her gaze. "Why?"

There was a long pause as the woman clearly struggled with her phrasing, each word leaving her with utmost care. The answer those careful words spelled out was far from pleasing to hear however, no matter how thoughtfully phrased. "Hinata is a shy girl who is going to need a gentle hand to progress. She has difficulties..."

Itachi just barely repressed the urge to sigh as the woman trailed off at his shaking head. She looked understandably worried when he showed no signs of wishing to agree with her reasoning. "You wish to protect her?"

"Well, I'll admit that's part of the reason, but it's not all of it. She's delicate and can use a woman's touch as well. She lost her mother young you see, so she doesn't get a great deal of that at home."

If anything, Itachi was even less understanding when he heard _that_. The woman was brilliant with genjutsu, and they had even had the occasional conversation over just that topic, but somehow the woman wasn't grasping this particular situation with her usual finesse. "Have you even given thought as to who would be suited for being her teammates?" Her hesitance this time was met with an unimpressed look. "I thought as much. You're simply too close to the situation for this to be acceptable to me. You wish to protect the girl at the expense of her possible growth. If you wish to have students after this, I will open the next class to you, but for now, I must deny your request to be a jounin sensei."

"But Hokage-sama I-"

"My answer is final Kurenai-san. I am not forbidding you from speaking to the girl or imparting your knowledge to her, but you will not be her jounin-sensei."

There was a long stretch of strained silence before the woman finally bowed stiffly to him and turned to leave. "Thank you for your time Hokage-sama."

He closed his eyes and nodded once. "Of course, Kurenai-san. My door is always open to my shinobi."

The sharp sound of the door being closed too hard was expected, and he sighed, putting his face in his hands. He sincerely hoped that Mariko appreciated the team he was about to dump on her because otherwise he suspected a very _long_ grudge from Kurenai over this.

That was, of course, only the first dispute of the day. As much as Kurenai had wanted her team, Asuma had wanted to get his changed. The jounin had put forth the paperwork, true, but the man seemed dead set on nit picking who he'd been offered. The debate had been less than joyous.

"So you're telling me that I'm not going to get the _whole_ team, just two out of three? Look at their parents, they're practically legends! They could pass down a lot to their kids. Are you sure this is the best idea?"

This was the third variation of this question he'd been asked in the last fifteen minutes, and he finally gave the older male a rather irritated look. "Asuma-san, did you, or did you not, put in for a team this season?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But you thought you would get to choose a team that would require minimal work?"

"No! No, but... why? Ino and Shikamaru, yes, I can see it, but why the Aburame kid? What could he possibly have to offer the other two that wouldn't be better suited to another team?"

Thankfully, the man seemed to be settling into the idea at long last, so Itachi made sure his answer would bridge the gap of transition. "It is very unkind of you to say that Asuma-san. Shino-san shows a great deal of promise. His family's hive nature would be a great boon to his team as both a strong defense, and as a possible aid to Shikamaru-san's particular branch of jutsu. The team will not perhaps be geared in the same way as the trio you were hoping for, but they will still do well with the proper guidance."

While not fully convinced, the man seemed willing to stop arguing at least and gave a gusty sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. He dropped his gaze back to the younger man with a nod before speaking. "Well, looks like I'm gonna have my work cut out for me then. Hokage-sama."

"Asuma-san."

Even if that conversation hadn't been as intense as the argument earlier in the day, he was still glad to see the younger Sarutobi leave. The man had been _relentless_. Still, the day was nearly over and he'd taken care of almost the entire list.

That just left one sensei to be.

Kakashi.

It was, truthfully, the meeting he'd been looking forward to, especially given that the man had put in to be Naruto's sensei over a year before. He had even finally gone so far as to slip out of ANBU to make sure he could actually afford to pass a team this time.

Unlike Kurenai however, Kakashi was unlikely to, and very honestly probably incapable of, coddling a team. They would grow. The only problem here was making sure that the man actually _taught_ his students anything.

He turned his chair as he heard the sound of the window, noting that he'd timed everyone perfectly if the man was arriving just when he needed him to, and he repressed the urge to smile. That would give the game away.

"Kakashi-san."

"Hokage-sama. So, word's out that the latest Academy students are ready to turn into the next batch of genin. You ready for me to flunk another group for you?"

"Actually, this class is going to have Naruto graduating. As a certainty. I insisted that the passing jutsu be henge for his class this time after hearing about the consistent use of bunshin the previous two years." When he noted he had the man's attention, he tilted his head in mock question. "You _did_ want Naruto on your team, didn't you? I can still rearrange the teams if that's not the case."

The immediate reaction was a hand waving through the air. "Maa, don't be like that Hokage-kun, I'd love to have Naruto on my team!"

Itachi just gave him a long stare, then sighed. "Yes, I'm sure you would. You'll also have my brother and Sakura Haruno on your team. If you pass them I'll have to insist that you teach Naruto Kage Bunshin at some point." When the demand got a disgruntled look, he leaned forward. "But that's acceptable if you really want to be their sensei, isn't it?"

Clearly sensing a trap, the jounin gave him a very long stare before turning it into a bright eye smile. "Of course, Hokage-sama! When am I supposed to meet them?"

"Tomorrow at two."

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the man was headed back out the window with a chirp of 'Hokage-sama!' left in his wake.

The man deserved all his future headaches. Every last one of them.

Yes, he was quite satisfied with his choices, no matter how badly some of them had been received.

After all, what mattered most was what was best for the genin.

And as Hokage, it was his place to ensure that the teams would help the genin grow.

Now he just had to sort out the modified curriculum that Iruka and he had been working out for the majority of the last three months before the new school season.

Excellent.


End file.
