Shisui laid on the ground beside Itachi, after gracefully admitting defeat to him in their spar. He turned his head to see Itachi looking at him with a contemplative expression, chewing his lower lip.

Shisui removed his gaze from Itachi's lips with considerable effort and raised an eyebrow at him. In response, Itachi moved his head closer and leaned on for a kiss and Shisui's head automatically compiled. His lips were just about to touch Itachi's when a terrible thought struck him.

"We could be half brothers." he blurted out.

"What." Itachi deadpanned.

"I'm sorry. I really like you, Itachi. But I don't know who my father is. Kaa-chan never told me and she and Fugaku-sama were close. It might be possible that we are half Brothers, and I don't know what to..."

"Shisui. Just shut up. Father wouldn't have..." Itachi interrupted him. Then taking a deep breath, he continued. "Just go to the hospital. Get a paternity test. And come and see me when you get the results. After, not before. Understood?" he said, decidedly pissed off, although he sounded polite. But Itachi was always polite, no matter how he felt and Shisui knew him well enough to decipher his moods.

Shisui just nodded and shunshined to the ANBU section of the hospital, where he reluctantly submitted his blood. He knew he could easily have found out about his father from simple paternity test but always avoided it. He had wanted to live under the delusion that the Yondaime was his father. He was on the same genin team as Shisui's mother and they were good friends. And as a speed based Shinobi, the Yondaime was Shisui's idol. He didn't want to be disappointed by whoever was his father, as he knew it was impossible for anyone to beat the Yondaime.

Shisui paced in the hallway while waiting for the results. Soon enough, Owl was handing him an envelope, which he promptly tore to look at his father's name.

The paper dropped out of his hands as he saw it.

"Is this a joke?" he asked, faintly.

"No. Its not an error either. I redid the test three times." Owl replied. "This information will be classified, of course, unless you wish to tell anyone."

Shisui nodded dumbly, before picking up the paper, which proudly displayed the results of his paternity test.

Test Subject : Uchiha Shisui

Maternal DNA: Uchiha Kiyomi

Paternal DNA: Namikaze Minato

Itachi walked over to cliff overseeing the Naka river, from where he had felt Shisui's chakra. He was sitting there with his feet dangling.

"So, am I your half brother?" he asked, knowing full well that he wasn't. He didn't understand how Shisui could believe something so ridiculous.

Shisui didn't answer but passed him a paper, presumably the results of his paternity test. Itachi unfolded it to that Shisui's father was none other than Namikaze Minato. His thoughts immediately went to the boisterous child he frequently gaurded as ANBU Karasu.

"Naruto-kun." he murmured.

"Oh shit. I didn't even think about him. Itachi, I have a little brother." Shisui exclaimed, standing up and facing Itachi. "What kind of brother I am? I forgot about him."

"It's understandable. You had quite a bit of a shock." Itachi allowed. He knew that despite all of Shisui's fantasies of the Yondaime being his father, he had never taken the theory seriously, and had believed his mother when she had told him that the Yondaime would never cheat on his wife.

Turned out Uchiha Kiyomi was a true Shinobi till the end, using the art of misdirection with such skill. Uzumaki Kushina was not Namikaze-san's wife around the time Shisui would have been conceived, was she?

Shisui was apparently too excited to have family after so long, despite its origin.

"He lives alone, doesn't he? Do you think he'll like living with me? I'll have to clean up, of course..."

As much as he hated bursting Shisui's bubble, Itachi interrupted him, "You'll never get his custody Shisui. Especially not with the rumors of the coup." The definite proof of the coup that Itachi was personally supplying to the Sandaime, but Shisui didn't need to know that.

Shisui deflated at that. "There has to be a way. He's my family, Itachi, and he's all alone." Just like I was, was not said but heavily implied. He gained a contemplative expression. "What if I left the clan?"

Itachi was careful to not let his hurt show, but Shisui knew him better than anyone else. "Don't look like that, Itachi. I know you don't have a high opinion of clan, either. Besides if I left maybe they'd reconsider or atleast delay the coup. They are considering me a centerpiece in most of their plans."

Shisui was not leaving him, Itachi told himself, he was just leaving the clan. Besides, Naruto-kun needed him. It had somehow leaked among the populace that he would be joining the ninja academy soon and the scorn against him had increase multiple folds. Itachi did what he could for him, but it wasn't enough. He needed a family, that Shisui was ready to give.

Shisui was also right about the effects of his leaving on the coup plans. If nothing else, it would give the Hokage some time to come up to solution.

He hesitantly nodded.

Shisui gave him a beaming smile. "Thanks, Itachi. Love you." he casually said, giving him a quick peck on the lips and leaving with a shunshin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, wanted to bang his head against the table. One of his capable jonin, Uchiha Shisui had just presented him with a request to gain Naruto's custody and a blood test proving him to be the son of Namikaze Minato.

Even without the Uchiha coup in motion, this would be a political nightmare. With the Uchiha coup...he shuddered to think of the repercussions.

However, he couldn't think of any reasons to give the boy for the refusal of his request. He was a loyal Konoha ninja and was firmly against the coup. He wasn't in any obvious way related to Minato, despite being his son (How could Hiruzen have not seen that before?), so he couldn't give the reason he had given Jiraiya and Kakashi. He was even ready to leave his clan, so the generic excuse of jinchiruchi not being adopted by a clan, was rendered mute.

Hiruzen knew that he could refuse the boy without giving any reason and he would have to accept it, but strangely he didn't want to do so. Because now that he knew, he could see bits of Minato in the boy. With the determination in his eyes, his cheerful smiles and the Will of Fire in his heart, he had Minato's traits, if not his coloring.

Secondly, he was tired of denying Minato's second son the love of family, again and again. The various clan heads, Jiraiya, Kakashi, all had been denied and little Naruto-kun had grown up alone and unloved in the village that hated him.

Hiruzen lit his pipe and smoked his tobacco for a few minutes, contemplating at what to do. He looked at the young ninja's face, at his hopeful expression, the same expression Naruto would have worn if he had known about this, and Hiruzen felt his resolve crumble. They were family. They deserved to be together.

He had always played the safe game, with signing the treaty with Iwa to end the war, sacrificing Hizashi to avoid the war with Kumo; perhaps it was time he took some risks.

He beckoned Shisui to bring his form closer, and when he did so, Hiruzen signed it, to the surprise of the young ninja.

"You are appointed his guardian, but no one can know of your relation, not even him. As far as the village is concerned, I appointed you as his caretaker." he warned.

Shisui nodded enthusiastically, then abruptly stopped. "Hokage-sama, I've kinda already told Itachi." he admitted sheepishly.

The Hokage sighed. "Very well, tell him to not spread it any further. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Arigatou." he left with a seal less shunshin.

Hiruzen looked at the face of his successor at the Hokage mountain and hoped that this act would grant him atleast some measure of forgiveness.

Naruto was making instant ramen for himself, when someone knocked on his apartment door. Thinking it to be that idiot landlord, he prepared himself to shout at him that it wasn't the time for rent yet, dattebayo, but was surprised to see a teenager with a headband, grinning at him, as he opened the door.

"Who are you?" he asked, warily, because he didn't have good experience with people knocking on his door, unless it was jiji.

The suspicion did nothing to dampen the ninja's enthusiasm as he replied, "My name is Uchiha Shisui. We'll be living together from now on. Hokage-sama's order."

So jiji had found another caretaker for him, and this one would be living with him. Naruto hesitantly glanced around his apartment. It wasn't exactly the most spacious and one. Still, this one showed more enthusiasm than all the other caretakers combined. The least Naruto could do was show some hospitality.

"All right. You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Seeing that there was no way that the taller teenager could comfortably fit on the couch, this was the only option. "Would you like some cup ramen?" he remembered to ask. It was his last packet, but Naruto didn't have many people who would smile at him.

Shisui looked at him oddly, with a soft gaze. "That's very kind of you, Naruto-kun. But my apartment is a lot bigger, we should get you moved there."

Naruto turned to look at him suspiciously. "All right. What do you want? Nobody is that nice to me, you're overdoing it."

Shisui's eyes turned red at that and it looked like he was physically restraining himself from violence. Naruto, who had learned about self preservation early on, took an instinctive step back.

That seemed to get Shisui out of his state and he looked apologetically at Naruto, his eyes back to black. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just angry at those... It's our first meeting and I'm already screwing this up, ain't I?" he put his hand on his forehead. "I always thought that it was easy when Itachi did it."

"It's all right." Naruto tried to comfort him. "The other caretakers were a lot worse than you."

Judging by his frown, that didn't comfort him at all. "I'm not just your caretaker, Naruto. I'm your guardian. Look." he showed Naruto a paper which had a lot of kanji which he didn't understand. "This has Sandaime-sama's signature saying so. We're family now."

"Family?" Naruto asked, hopefully.

Shisui knelt down in front of him and gave him a soft smile. "Hai. I don't really have a lot of experience with it, but I'll try my best if you give me a chance." He opened his arms like Naruto had seen many parents doing before giving them a hug.

Naruto, for once, let go of all his wariness and suspicions, and dove in for the hug, which was returned by Shisui.

Naruto was not crying. There was just something in his eye.