"Wha...what did you just say?"

The question wasn't as unexpected as the sudden lapse back into rationality. Uzumaki Naruto stared across the battlefield, said battlefield being the surface of the river which the two combatants stood upon thanks to their manipulation of chakra, and nodded his head firmly.

"You heard me, I want to help you...so kill me."

Uchiha Sasuke still couldn't believe the words coming from the blonde's mouth. He had of somewhat expected a battle that, due to those involved, might have led to the death of either shinobi. What he did not expect was for his brother in-all-but blood to simply resign himself to death like this, and not because he was giving up, so the young Uchiha's Sharingan could advance to a higher level, all in the hopes that he would finally be able to kill his older brother.

The murderer of the Uchiha clan, Konoha's youngest ANBU captain, "a prodigy, the likes not seen since the Yondaime Hokage", Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke shook his head and glared into the calm eyes of his soon-to-be-ex-teammate.

"Idiot! Even after all this time you can't simply go out with some honor! You think you're better than me! You think I need you to just lay down and die! You think I want to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan like my brother did? By killing the helpless! Who do you take me for!" The Uchiha screamed, his eyes growing moist despite the rage that was threatening to take him over once more. The Heaven Seal glowed ominously on the dark-haired teen's neck and familiar black marks began to spread across Sasuke's skin again.

Naruto shook his head with a smile "I know who you are Sasuke, I know you're stronger than me, that you're better than me, better than Itachi. You have a dream to fulfill...your 'goal' remember? Of course you do, it's all you ever think about. What do I have, Sasuke? We both know the truth, everything that Konoha has kept hidden from me...yet I can't just turn my back on the village like you can. I'd die protecting it...but family comes first. Right? That's one of the first things you taught me. 'Family before all else'."

The blonde winced a bit as the Kyuubi's chakra seaped out along his body and focused on the wounds he had gained over the course of the battle that had been had by the two "brothers".

He looked over Sasuke's form and saw that the Uchiha seemed to be on his last leg, far from Naruto's soon-to-be pristine physical appearance. As he thought of what to do next his mind soon strayed away and led him to first memories, of his adoption, of his new family.

(Flashback. Naruto is age 4)

The orphanage had never been a happy place for the young blonde. Naruto had learned very early on that nearly all the adults he ever came in contact seemed to ignore him. The majority of the villagers would pretend that he wasn't there, others however would give Naruto such an ugly look that it truly scared the young boy. He wouldn't learn to much later on that the look had a name; hatred.

Naruto, like any other child his age that was the victim of negative mental stimuli, found himself reacting in the only way that made sense...namely by pranking any and everyone that he even thought looked at him wrong. Sometimes he would feel a bit guilty whenever an innocent by-stander would get caught up in his pranks and the guilt would stay with him for a very long time until he met Sabaku no Gaara. It was after that meeting that Naruto realized that pranking was probably the kindest way he could've lashed out and the villagers should've actually thanked him.

On this day Naruto had once again found himself secluded on the third floor, locked inside a room by himself. It was 'Adoption Day', the day of the week where adults would come and pick out a child to take home with them. Naruto had been just as eager as any of the other children to be lucky enough to be adopted but those hopes were dashed very fast and very soon by the matron of the orphanage.

'Who could ever want a thing like you?' The matron had said in such a calm and confident voice. She could've been comparing his being adopted to a scorpion being chosen over a dog as a pet.

So, from then on, Naruto would be locked up into the last room on the third floor. To make sure he 'didn't cause trouble' and to keep him out of sight is what he was told and had gleaned off the other children who had heard the matron talking about it with one of the staff. While some of the other orphans didn't like Naruto, many of them were quite afraid of his pranks and would rather stay on his good side than end up as a victim once again.

The young blonde had realized the day wasn't normal when a loud commotion could be heard from down the hall only ten minutes after "Adoption Day" officially began. He could hear the matron's familiar footsteps haltingly moving towards his current room and he could just barely make out the footsteps of two others...no three!

"Are they tip-toeing? I can barely hear them" He questioned aloud.

"They are not Uzumaki-kun.' Naruto's head snapped towards the window and his eyes widened at the sight of an older boy simply leaning against the still-closed window as if it was perfectly natural. 'They are current or former shinobi, to walk silently is a habit which all shinobi are proficient at. The fact that you are still able to hear them however...is truly interesting."

Naruto gulped. "Who are you? How did you get in here?' As Naruto began to ask questions his initial fear quickly melted away and his excitement rose. 'Did you use ninja-magic to walk through the window? Or maybe you teleported in here! I've seen those white-face guys do that sometimes! They'll all be there and then they're gone! Whoa! Can you teach me? Huh! Can you can you can you can you?" He pleaded, by now having moved off the bed and was practically on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him.

Before the visibly taken-back teen could say a word the door opened wide revealing an older man and woman, both with dark hair and eyes like the teen by the window, there was also a much older man who had gray hair but the same dark eyes as the others. Behind the three was the matron who was looking worriedly between the small group and Naruto.

"Itachi-kun, I see you have found our family's newest addition" The dark-haired woman spoke, a small smile on her face as she looked down at the young boy before her.

The man at her side sniffed disdainfully as he looked around the room "At least he had a proper room, I had been hearing rumors but hadn't had the time to investigate..."

Naruto blinked at the statement and, much like any child who did not know the meaning of tact, simply blurted out "This isn't my room mister quiet-feet, I don't really have one unless you count the attic but I'd rather just stay outside at night than up there, it's too cramped!"

The matron paled rapidly as, even as a civilian, she felt the room become decidedly colder.

"Naruto-kun' The still-smiling woman spoke as she lowered herself to her knees and began gesturing to herself and the others with her ' My name is Uchiha Mikoto, this is my husband Uchiha Fugaku he's the head of the Uchiha Police Force within the village as well as the Head of the Uchiha Clan. To my right is Uchiha Kuno, he is one of the clan's elders as well as Fugaku's father. You have already met my oldest son Itachi. We are here to adopt you, would you like to come downstairs with me to see the paperwork that is going to give you a family?" Throughout the introduction the woman's smile never wavered but Naruto couldn't help the frown that crossed his features.

The young blonde suddenly moved forward and tapped Mikoto on the nose, completely oblivious to the way Fugaku had positioned his arm to easily be swung in order to cave-in the boy's head if the clan head deemed it necessary. Nor did he notice the older Uchiha subtly reach into the sleeve of his haori and grasp the hidden kunai he kept there. Itachi noticed these things but he had not moved an inch.

Mikoto blinked in surprise at the young boy who had taken two steps back with a cheeky grin on his face and couldn't help but ask such a familiar question

"What did you do that for?"

Naruto reached his hand up behind him and rubbed the back of his head "Ah, well, when you were talking it looked like you were trying not to make an ugly face, so I tapped you on the nose!" He finished as if his words were perfectly logical.

'Kushina used to do that same thing, though her words were slightly more...profane' Mikoto stifled a giggle and slowly stood, holding a hand out to the young boy.

"You take after your mother quite a bit Naruto-kun' At the look of absolute shock, Mikoto quickly added ' Yes, I knew your mother. If you come with me, I will be more than happy to tell you all about her"

That was all Naruto needed to hear as he took Mikoto's hand and all but dragged her out of the room, leaving a very pale matron alone with three highly dangerous shinobi. Fugaku sighed as closed the door.

"My son, I want you to think of this as a training exercise. There are ways of making a civilian talk without leaving a physical mark, allow me to demonstrate..."

It was several hours later that Naruto found himself walking in a subdued manner through the street of the Uchiha Compound between his new parents Mikoto and Fugaku. The elder, Kuno, had taken his leave of the group almost as soon as they entered the compound and Itachi had left after the departed the orphanage.

Of course, none of this was what was on Naruto's mind, no, what he was thinking about was all the new-found knowledge on his mother; Uzumaki Kushina. Mikoto had first described his mother to him then had quickly moved on to the numerous "adventures" the to women had had together.

Naruto blinked away his thoughts when he found himself suddenly inside a well-furnished home, he was also suddenly aware of a young boy about his own age staring back at him blankly.

"Sasuke-kun, this is Naruto-kun. Your new brother. Naruto, this is Sasuke, my youngest son." Mikoto stood back and watched next to her husband as the two boys seemed to suddenly hit off after the short introduction. The Uchiha matriarch smiled at the sight, she knew that just like her and Kushina, their sons would grow up to be the best of friends and that they would always be there for each other.

'Yes, this family is now complete and I can begin to repay my debt to Kushina for allowing her only son to live as he did for this long. Nothing can break us apart now, this family will only become stronger, I can feel it.' The woman's thoughts continued on as she watched the two boys who were now trying to see who had the better headlock technique and had fallen to the floor and were rolling around despite Fugaku moving forward and telling them to stop...which they ignored.

Mikoto smile widened and she didn't bother to stop herself from giggling, which turned to full blown laughter when Fugaku turned to her in indignation, neither adult nor the boys noticed Itachi looking on from the doorway before turning towards his room and walking away.

I kinda rushed through this towards the end and I know the detail is lacking in many part. The basic plot is that Mikoto had stumbled across Naruto in the village and upon learning his name instantly knew whose son he was. Remembering her deceased friend and the thoughts they used to have about their children growing up as friends all comes crashing back. She instantly goes to her husband and convinces him to adopt the boy.

Now, the reasons that they were allowed to adopt Naruto. The council hasn't been shown to be against Naruto in canon, so they wont be all gung-ho about screwing him over at every turn. Let us all just assume that everyone single person on the council knows Naruto's heritage, while they might not want to take in the boy themselves they aren't going to stop anyone else from doing so unless it would be detrimental to Naruto's growth. Contrariwise, while they aren't against Naruto, they aren't going to stop others from doing what they secretly might want to do themselves, i.e. make his life a mental hell.

Hiruzen agrees to the request for adoption because of the rising tension in the Uchiha clan, perhaps by showing such a degree of trust and faith in the clan by allowing them to adopt the jinchuuriki, perhaps the bigger-picture might be affected for the better.

Did I leave anything out?