A/N: Hello, ducklings. Not a lot to say this time around other than that this chapter is a little dry. A lot of the dialogue I really wanted to go down just didn't fit. Hopefully, that doesn't make the chapter unbearable. Anyway, enjoy.

14: Spackling the Cracks

It had been a busy two weeks for Itachi since the announcement of his innocence and return. He'd met with the Uchiha fealty clans and went about resolving their immediate concerns, made some initial arrangements for both his and Sasuke's arranged marriages, and finally made plans about what to do with the Uchiha district. The former Akatsuki member hadn't expected to move through his responsibilities as a clan head so seamlessly. He had sat in on countless Uchiha council meetings and been privy to many of the choices his father had to make as clan head, including the original haggling of the marriage treaty. As a result of that and other factors, the raven believed that he had no desire to suffer through the politics of leading a clan. Fate had other ideas it seemed and left two very large obstacles in the way of his otherwise smooth transition of becoming leader of the Uchiha; Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke was still being confined in I and T. Tsunade had told Itachi that his younger brother's actions had violated the terms of his probation and that she'd keep the genin jailed for at least another two weeks, but that Itachi was more than welcomed to visit the former Orochimaru apprentice. The older Uchiha did just that and had expected his brother to rail insults and questions at him. He was more than ready to listen to and answer anything that Sasuke could throw his way. He felt he owed the younger sharingan user that, but instead the former Akatsuki member was completely ignored. Itachi wished that he had been more hurt by Sasuke failing to acknowledge him. Instead, the bulk of his hurt feelings were reserved for his elusive fiancé.

From the moment Naruto volunteered to take Sasuke away to I and T and every moment since, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki had done a bang up job of avoiding Itachi. It reminded the raven of the extensive games of hide and seek he'd played with the blond before the massacre. He'd always enjoyed those times because of the delight it brought the lonely child, but Naruto wasn't a neglected child looking for attention any more. Now he was a strong shinobi who was throwing a tantrum about everything that was the marriage treaty. Itachi assumed that the ramen lover also had issues with being presented as the Namikaze heir, but that wasn't an excuse for the blond's behavior in the raven's mind either. Everyone had to do things they didn't necessarily enjoy. It was part of life unfortunately and actually things could be so much worse.

"I understand where you're coming from, Itachi-san, but you're just going to have be patient with Naruto-kun," Hinata said when he brought his concerns to her.

If there was anything that made the situation somewhat tolerable, it was Hinata. In the two weeks since the announcement, Itachi had gotten to know his future sister in law fairly well. The man ordinarily wouldn't have been so quick to get chummy with the girl, but something about her reminded him of his mother. It might have been the Hyuuga's quiet strength, the grace she generally seemed to exude, or her strong sense of duty (1). Whatever it was, he found being around the girl pleasant, even as she defended Naruto's antics.

"Once he understands that you're not the enemy in all of this, he'll come around. I promise."

"I hope you're right, Hinata-san," Itachi replied simply.

0-0-0-0-0

Sakura was miserable as she looked at the diamond ring that Sasuke had given her. How could it be that after finally getting everything that she had ever dreamed of, it was being ripped away from her? Emerald green eyes filled with tears once again. All that work, all that time, and now she couldn't even relish it because Sasuke was locked up and engaged to be married to Hinata. She held the ring to her heart praying that she'd wake up from this horrible nightmare. At that moment, Ino walked into the apartment and looked over at her sniffling friend. The blonde rolled her eyes as she moved into the kitchen. Munching on an apple, the Yamanaka made her way back into the living room. She foolishly hoped that the pink haired girl wasn't still boo hoo-ing. No such luck.

"It's been two weeks now," the blue eyed girl said as she sat on the arm of the couch. "You have got to stop whimpering like a kicked puppy."

"You'd feel the same way if Sai were to suddenly be torn away from you unfairly!" Sakura wailed.

Ino shook her head. A small part of the mind jutsu user felt sorry for the cherry blossom. Despite not knowing why the pinkette continued to harbor feelings for Sasuke, she understood how it felt to see someone you loved slip right through your fingers to someone else. The anger, the hurt, the longing all tugging at your heart as you want nothing more than to sit in a corner and cry. She'd experienced all that first hand. A greater part of her, however, didn't feel anything for her roommate's situation. She probably would have if Sakura had gone about things in a less underhanded manner, but that was far from the case.

"There's a reason no one has jumped to console you, forehead," Ino pointed out as she walked to her room.

The pinkette grunted at her roommate's lack of compassion and looked back at her ring (2).

0-0-0-0-0

Naruto sat in one of his "fox holes" meditating. He needed to calm his nerves now more than ever as Tsunade would finally make it known that he was the son of the legendary Fourth Hokage today. He inwardly sneered at how revered his father was now. He still looked up to the man in many regards but this whole marriage treaty had him endlessly peeved with The Yellow Flash. So many loose ends his father had left for others to set right. Minato hadn't exactly cleared up everything he could have even when he had the chance to see his son face to face (3). Sure, it was great to know that both his parents had loved him and that the man had the utmost faith that his son could control the fox as well as, if not better than his mother had, but a heads up would have been nice as well.

"A heads up wouldn't have made any difference. It's not as though he stayed current with all the happenings of Konoha since his death or that he had any plans of dying without preparing you for this in the first place."

The blond didn't have a comeback for that. The nine tails was right on both counts. Both Minato and Kushina had shared that they wished they could have raised him and showed him the love he had always longed for from both parents, but they operated under what they thought was best in the heat of the moment. The demon continued her point in the ramen lover's silence.

"I, of all entities in the world, will never have a problem with your anger, kit. You know that I feed off of your most powerful emotions, negative and positive, but I would encourage you to think about the real reason for all your anger and if it's being directed to the right person or people."

Naruto took the demon's words to heart as he mentally crossed his dad off of his shit list. Tsunade was second on his list. Who was she to make the decision that the treaty needed to see the light of day again and to sew him up in a marriage with Itachi of all people, but then the woman's words from that night two weeks ago resurfaced.

"You'll choose no one."

"If you ever wanted an example of how blind Sakura made you, Hinata is a brilliant example. She's not the only one either. You made it abundantly clear that it was Sakura or nothing."

"You've been attracted to and have pursued ONE female since the academy."

Those words hurt. A lot actually. The slug summoner was right though. There had been plenty of time for the jinchuuriki to find someone else to fawn over. Plenty of girls who wanted him for the right reasons even. Sakura agreeing to be in a relationship with him was nothing more than a "If it'll shut you up." type of situation. Thinking about it more, Tsunade had seen several moments where Sakura had taken advantage of him and had verbally or physically punished him needlessly (4). Each time the Godaime witnessed these things, she had told the Uzumaki to stand up for himself and leave the unnecessarily harsh pinkette for anyone who would have treated him so much better. He simply laughed the woman off, happy to be with his dream girl. The Senju could have easily thrown those times in his face if she really wanted to rake him through the coals but she hadn't. Instead, she made measured statements showing that she was willing to be the bad guy for however long since it was now in her power to make sure he ended up in a better situation. Strike two.

Next up was Itachi. The blond was sure the new Uchiha clan head had prior knowledge of the treaty, but of course he couldn't prove that. He'd also read enough of the treaty to know that it had a thorough grandfather clause that allowed for the treaty to be carried out with or without Itachi signing off on it. His personal feelings on Itachi weren't a valid enough reason to be mad at the sharingan user either. Sure, the raven annoyed him because of his unstated interest in him, but the blond hadn't exactly been as open as he could have been with his house guest either. After all he was currently avoiding the man like the plague. Naruto couldn't even hold Itachi's actions as an Akatsuki member against him. He understood what completing a mission meant and how far he'd go to accomplish said mission. If anything, he found the former missing nin's commitment to his mission admirable. That looked like strike three.

The Uzumaki sighed as he stood up and dusted himself off. The options that were left weren't worth mentioning. Naruto simply resolved that he needed to find better way to work through his hurt feelings and make the most of what was in front of him (5). He sighed again as he slowly made his way back to the Namikaze estate to get ready for tonight's council meeting.

0-0-0-0-0

Tsunade stared quietly at Akiko and Akihiro, two siblings that claimed to be related to Kushina and Naruto. The two had apparently slipped into the village rather easily and made their way to the Hokage Tower unnoticed until they had tried to push their way into her office. The slug summoner quickly ended the skirmish and then allowed the two siblings to speak their piece. It was definitely interesting hearing that Kushina was their aunt and Naruto their cousin. To her knowledge Kushina hadn't had any siblings, but with Uzushiogakure dissolving the way it did, it was more than possible that these two were very well related to the former Kyuubi jinchuuriki, the current jailor of the fox demon, and very distantly to herself.

"I'll need a DNA sample from both of you," the Senju said finally.

"A DNA sample!? What for?!" Akiko responded still riled up.

"In order to prove what we're saying," Akihiko responded for the hokage.

"Your brother is correct. I'd like to gather the evidence necessary to prove that what you say is true. It's not exactly enough that the leader of Kusagakure has verbally released each of you from the service of Kusa or that you allege that you are indeed Uzumaki (6). With sufficient evidence, I will be more than happy to allow to the two of you to complete the mission you were given by your father. "

Akiko crossed her arms in annoyance. She understood why any village leader would be skeptical of them, but she didn't like the idea that her and her brother's integrity was being questioned. If anything, the woman should work on beefing up the security to the village. There was no reason why she and Akihiro should have been able to waltz into Konoha like they owned the damn place. She was about to say as much when her brother spoke.

"I understand your position, Hokage-sama. Until you have the proof you need, what will we do?

"I'll have the two of you stay in an ANBU safe house. All your needs will be provided for while there and you will be kept under supervision by my assistant. I ask that you do not make any attempts to contact Naruto until we have confirmed your identities and gotten further confirmation from Kusa that you have been discharged from their ranks properly. As soon as that is out of the way, you'll be allowed to make contact with Naruto and you will be awarded formal Konoha citizenship with the option of joining the ninja ranks if you so choose," Tsunade replied.

"My sister and I will comply," grey eyed Uzumaki once again stopped his sister from protesting. "What kind of sample do you need?"

"I'll have my assistant collect mouth swabs from both of you once you leave here. You wouldn't happen have to have a sample of your father's DNA as well would you?"

Akihiko pulled a small vial of blood from one of his cargo pants pockets and held it out to the hokage. Akiko was appalled to say the least.

'When the hell did he take dad's blood? Why the hell does he have it readily available?' the pixie like girl screamed out in her mind.

"Please give the vial to my assistant as she collects the DNA samples from each of you. Once she's collected everything, she'll escort you to the safe house. I'll be sure that the DNA testing takes priority in our labs so we have answers as soon as possible," Tsunade said as she made her way to the door.

She opened the door of her office and immediately gave Shizune her orders in regards to the two Uzumaki siblings. The dark haired woman nodded and guided the newcomers to the hospital. The two followed silently.

# Explanations

(1) Do I have hard on for Hinata? Yeah, but I kinda have a hard on for all the girls of Naruto that aren't Sakura.

(2) I'm more excited than I should be about the next few chapters where Sakura is involved especially because it means I'm finally getting to the point where I left off in the original. About damn time right?

(3) Remember that this story gets to the Pein Arc and switches up. So Naruto still meets Minato at the same time. Things like when he meets Kushina do change to fit this story.

(4) If you ever wanted to know any of the reasons why I don't really like Sakura, number one has to be because I feel like she's unnecessarily abusive to Naruto. It's gotten better over time, but that's not enough for me to forgive her for it. (7)

(5) Now there is only one person left on the wah-mbulance, but she's not getting off until like five chapters later. Forgive me.

(6) All the DNA testing that is possible is interesting. I did some research and just yeah. It's kinda mind blowing, but I've always found DNA and DNA testing interesting.

(7) So apparently I hold grudges against fictional people. Don't judge me.