Chapter 1

Hokage Tower: Meeting Room

Sarutobi looked with a sigh at the empty seats of the several clan heads that had decided upon skipping this "optional" meeting he had devised. It was going to be a discussion between him and the clans without being overviewed by the council since it was the only way he, and the clans, felt secure when speaking of Naruto anymore.

Even with the optional header and the right amount of assurance that the council should handle tonight's festivities, despite how much he dreaded them, Danzo insisted he should be here. It made Hiruzen sick that he had allowed the more blood-hungry civilians to put together their damnable, "Fox-hunt." to keep the bastard from interfering.

At least, it ended with the most reasonable clans coming in the end. In order of arrival, there was, Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuuga, Tsume Inazuka, along with her combat partner Kuromaru, Shibi Aburame, with his son Shino standing in the background. Finally, Shikaku Nara, with his wife Yoshino, behind him with a glare while the man relaxed in his chair with his feet kicked up onto the desk.

They had initially planned to get started immediately; however, the last person they were waiting on was someone no-one could expect to be late. Fugaku Uchiha, who was supposed to be accompanied by his elder son, Itachi, who'd recently gained the rank of an ANBU Captain.

Hiruzen could only wonder what could be holding up the prideful police chief, then again; it could just be to spite him. "Even for you, who argues against my reluctance to conflict with the council actively, this is strange. Even Shikaku arrived before you; it must be quite...!?

"HIRUZEN!" A chill ran down the spines of Shino and Yoshino while the Clan Heads looked surprised when the door to the meeting room flung open, revealing an enraged Fugaku. Kuromaru whimpered with Tsume hearing him utter, "That ain't good," as Fugaku seemingly broke the usual Uchiha standard of calm and collected.

He stormed into the room with Itachi swiftly following suit, revealing his temperament to be far more in control than his father, only the rapidly spinning tomoe in his Sharingan showing his fury. Hiashi decided to intervene, asking, "What has happened, Uchiha, you seem uncharacteristically unwound?"

"What has happened Hiashi is none of your concern for the moment, "Fugaku slammed his palms onto the table, roaring at the Third Hokage, "So spit out you damned geezer!" Hiruzen visibly flinched at that while the Clan Heads were just wide-eyed, no greeting, no negotiations just pure yelling and, they'de only just started this meeting looked like it would go ha, swimmingly, Hiruzen scowled while Fugaku continued, "How long has this madness been allowed to happen under our noses? How many times has he been under such violent threats!?"

The Third paled, he knew what it was now, and honestly, he hitched a breath. Fugaku, one way another, had found out about Naruto's current condition concerning situations outside of the usual public eye and was right livid about it. Of course, this situation had to come up on the technically secret meeting going over Naruto's true heritage, oh what a web he's been caught in.

Swallowing some spit, he responded to Fugaku honestly, with a resigned tone which furthered the feeling of confusion in the room, " The entire four years Fugaku, ever since his disposition became a part of public knowledge."

"F...four years?" Fugaku whispered the words on his lips, testing if his mind could comprehend what that could mean for the young boy, before snarling out, "Why was I never informed of this?! I am the head of the police. It's my duty to protect people in this village from violence, especially such horrid cruelty as what had been done to him!?"

He didn't care for whatever political crap he was sure Sarutobi would counter with; he looked over his shoulder to Itachi asking, "Son as an ANBU agent, is it true? Has this madness been happening for that long?"

"Yes," Itachi answered smoothly, though only his father and, those of the Aburame, would notice a small hitch to his voice, a sign of his guilt. In his mind, Itachi looked at himself as partly responsible, he had helped apprehend attackers, but besides that, he was nothing silent watcher. Forced to endure the pain of seeing a child of a similar age to his brother, scrape and crawl in a personal hell.

He then decided to add on, "I would also like to mention, while I have dealt with assassins and, warded off mobs, it's never become this...aberrant." Fugaku nodded while Tsume mused over everything said and slowly pieced together in her mind.

"Four years ago, attacked continuously and he? No, it couldn't be?" Suddenly the innocent and smiling face of a blue-eyed and blonde spiky-haired stray flashed into her mind. Giggling happily while having the time of his life, playing with her pups and, resting in the grass with them once tired.

A quick look shot at Kuromaru revealed he was thinking a similar thing, she whispered in a worried tone, "Shit...Naruto, it couldn't be right?" Turning her eyes to Fugaku, she gave him a low growl while asking, "Where the fuck is my stra...err Naruto, you damn Uchiha."

"Currently he is receiving care at the hands of my wife and, several on-site medical-nin staying in the Uchiha Estate," Fugaku crossed his arms while answering, seemingly he had gathered enough sense to return to his usual demeanor, "Knowing the skills of the Uchiha's medics and, the "help." given to him by the fox, he'll recover in a couple of days."

He then added, "I believe my wife will at least have him announced bedridden for a week afterward." He heard a few snickers at that; even the mighty "Wicked Eye" Fugaku was at the mercy of his beloved Mikoto.

"Naruto? You mean the Nine-tails Jinchuriki correct?" Shibi asked and, Tsume gave him a nod before replying, "Yeah, my pups Kiba and Hana are good friends with the little stray and, the dogs took to him nicely as well." She gave a small smile while remembering how the dogs happily introduced the small, loud boy to their equally excitable puppies.

Shino remained quiet if only in shock to find out quite the revelation about the boy he'd spent time bug hunting with not even a month ago. Not just was the blonde getting attacked, but was related to the Nine-tailed Fox in someway? He'd ask his father for the details later for sure.

"So, what how bad was the attack on the kid?" Shikaku asked with a little bit of wonder to his voice. Fugaku gave a low growl before replying, "It wasn't something as simple as an attack; it was a blatant murder attempt and, gruesome one at that." That's when he recounted what had happened before they arrived.

A street away from Uchiha Compound 20 minutes ago

Fugaku left his estate in good spirits while accompanied by both Itachi and, Shisui who he was bringing along to get him acquainted with the other clans' leaders. He was also going to make a point of being a little late for once, offer it up as a small test for their current Hokage.

"This madness can't continue Sarutobi, Danzo's fingers press deeper every day, and he drag's that mindless corpse of a council around on a tight leash." He had no problem with Hiruzen; personally, it was just the old coot needed to find his backbone before the civilian council, and, more problematically, Danzo wretched control from him.

After walking several minutes in peace, something surprising occurred. Itachi flinched for just a moment and, then his gaze tightened while bolting off ahead of the two others. With a single nod, both Shisui and Fugaku followed after him, the former moving far faster with his excellent use of the flicker technique.

When Fugaku arrived at the scene, he was shocked silent; he came upon Itachi and Shisui apprehending a mob of men and women. It was apparent there weren't just civilians; there were also shinobi and Kunoichi mixed in their ranks, all of them shaking in dead silence. Looking to his son, he saw why there were in the personal nightmare made Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan based Genjutsu Tsukuyomi.

"What the?" he muttered just in front of his son's feet was the bloodied and battered mess that he was guessing to be a child. Looking closer, he could tell through his ripped clothing that this was the Jinchuuriki, which through letter and word of mouth was living a vastly dull and lonely life. Social issues aside, that meant, at the very least, he shouldn't have to have his first meeting with the four-year-old be when he's bleeding to death a few blocks from his doorstep.

His sudden anger at potentially being fed false information grew dramatically when after looking over the child, he noticed something. Besides having signs of being stabbed, sliced, and cut one of these primming and prideful child murderers had decided to cut the boy's right eye out sloppily.

"Calm yourself, Fugaku," he grumbled to himself before looking at Shisui, telling him, "Shisui, you're the fastest here take, the boy to the compound and tell Mikoto to do everything she can to save him." His eyes narrowed slightly before adding on something cryptically while looking at Naruto's empty socket, "and make sure to remind her about our recent loss."

He nodded in understanding and quickly wrapped the raw and tortured Naruto in his arms before shunshining away. Fugaku then turned to Itachi saying with a strained tone, "Take these child beaters directly to Ibiki and Anko, I know those two will have no problems giving them "special" sessions. I will remain here and await your return" He'd seen the usually frigid interrogator lighten up ever so slightly while spending time with the blonde and the snake mistress, so he knew the mob was facing a fate worse than death.

"Of course, if I don't get a handle on myself, our dear lord Third will be the one facing the worst of it." The clan head scowled at himself; it was just infuriating that this had happened. He damn well didn't know the father but, he was least related to Konoha's Red Hot Habanero, otherwise Kushina, his wife's best friend. That alone was a significant insult to him and, the security of the village, he thought as he stormed off when Itachi returned," This will end Sautobi but, I'll be damned if the council has a word in this decision."

End of Flashback - Return to Meeting Room - Present Time

There was a deathly silence hanging around the meeting room, Tsume herself had slumped into her seat, biting her lip she did her best not to cry at the news. Part of her was blaming herself for the incident, the moment she saw the little stray blonde sunshine, she should have acted on instinct instead of rational thinking.

"You couldn't have seen this coming Tsume; not even I smelt anything wrong with him beside the fox's lingering smell." Kuromaru did his best to reassure his dearest battle partner, the attack's description most likely to be in his nightmares for a small moment, " In any case, are we done waiting around or are you going wait till the house of cards has come to fold?"

Those words made Tsume snap out of her mindless blaming before coming to a stand and giving Fugaku a bold look, "Oy Fugaku Kuromaru, and I will be waiting at your place for your wife to get done treating his wounds." His expression hardened if asking what she meant, she responded with, "I've known the cute little twerp for a long while and, I've been on the bench about adopting him. This whole mess was just the push I need."

"That won't be possible, and I made sure Shisui, along with my wife, would understand discreetly to move forward with the needed preparations for Naruto's adoption." That left Tsume speechless while Shikaku's beloved wife decided to open her mouth, asking in concern, "But he doesn't have the Sharingan, and even beyond that the council would never agree to such a thing, I mean I've been pushing to take him in for over a month now!"

Shikaku raised an eyebrow, asking, "Wait what? Haa..," he put a hand on his forehead, " You know just...just forget it troublesome woman.."

"Oh come off it, you know that Shikamaru likes having cute little Naru around the little joy gets him to move around a little more." She then put a big smile on that made Shikaku shudder in fear, "Besides having Naruto as a little brother could keep that motivation rising."

Several people wanted to discount her immediately, knowing it was Shikaku's child but refrained. Then Shibi decided to offer up something saying, "It seems that even without the council, we are more or less left at an impasse." Fugaku snickered at that statement.

"Oh please, in my story, I already gave you enough to know exactly how I plan to adopt Naruto without restriction," Fugaku said with a slight huffiness, annoyed that they would assume he wouldn't have a plan.

Hiruzen asked him, "Then do tell how you plan to get such a thing done, I will warn you death threats and power abuse while commendable, won't go without a strong notice."

"Simple in the story I mentioned our most recent loss, one Mayoi Uchiha, Mikoto's younger sister by five years she died on a mission and, we have yet to dispose of her eyes." He gained a smirk, "After giving him Mayoi's right eye in replacement, we can consider this whole ordeal a clan related matter. All we need is a forged note claiming the Fourth forced her into a vow of silence and that he was born a bastard."

That got looks of confusion from most of the clan heads, besides one Shibi Aburame. He didn't want to be bothered by explaining, though, and looked toward's his son.

Shino offered up his voice in explanation, meekly saying, " Then your ploy is to make Naruto out as an unofficial Uchiha otherwise, an illegitimate child? Say that the Fourth used him as a sacrifice unwillingly and that Mayoi-san was sworn into silence forcefully with the Uchiha initially none the wiser about what had transpired. After her demise, you conveniently find a note on her body that reveals this information. " He took a moment of silence before continuing, "Afterward, the council would have no say in anything happening with Naruto, considering he is an Uchiha meaning his adoption and protection would fall to Fugaku's judgment."

Another passing of silence, this one though stirred embarrassment and fear in Shino's heart, he let out a nervous sigh, though when Fugaku surprised him with his response. He chuckled before replying, "Exactly so, you're quick on the uptake expected of an Aburame, especially Shibi's son."

Shino was happy his collar and shades hid his face, covering the blush creeping on his cheeks from having one of the most influential people in Konoha compliment him. Tsume though snarled telling Fugaku, "Well, Sharingan or not; he's been to my home a couple of times and, I've grown to care about the little pup like he's one of my own. He may not be able to learn our ability to speak to dogs but, he's pretty good understanding the dogs without it anyways. All in all, I'm not giving up on taking him into my home."

"Were not backing down either!" Yoshino barked out with Shikaku sighing in annoyance as she continued, "You want him to be happy but, both of your families will push taxing amounts of expectations on the poor boy whether you have high expectations of him or not." It was one of the few arguments that she could appropriately make when it came to the Nara.

Shikaku decided to add on to his wife's annoyance, "Yeah, if he joins the Nara, he definitely won't have to worry about being forced into the shinobi life." He stretched slightly before continuing, "I'll have no problems with him living a civilian life with little to no expectations of major success at all."

"We don't want him to become a slouch!" Tsume and Fugaku roared in unison; it seemed they could agree on that at least. Hiruzen sighed. It looked like things were going nowhere fast and would probably never get to the actual reason why he had gathered them.

Hizashi then coughed before looking at the arguing clan heads, "While it is okay for you to bicker to the bitter end about who should take care of the poor boy," His gaze then turned to the Third asking, "but why were these events even allowed to escalate to such a point in the first place?"

"Because the Council woul..." Hiruzen started to explain his reasoning only to be cut off by Fugaku growling out, " The council wouldn't need to have been involved, as today proves we can meet without them."

Tsume nodded with Yoshino agreeing as Shikaku scowling at how his wife persisted in involving herself in the meeting. Hiruzen tried his best to refute with, "Look there is far more to it than that, us deciding this alone could be seen as an extensive abuse of power and, considering how much I pull for the boy's protection it might leave us a step from Civil War."

"That's only because you've lost your spine in your old age Sarutobi," Fugaku snarled back, following up with, "Minato would have never allowed such a thing to happen to the boy."

Hiruzen choked on his breath for a moment before offering one last excuse, "What of Iwa?" that got several looks and, Hisashi was the one to respond, "Why would Iwa care about our Jinchuuriki? They have their own, or is there something more you have yet to tell us?"

"Consider how bad things would get if they caught word that Konoha's yellow flash's legacy lived in the container of the nine-tailed bijuu." Shibi said that getting looks of shock and the Third could only stutter out, "H...how?"

Shibi replied, "I had a small run-in with the child some time ago, my partners reacted similarly to when they were around the Fourth. Besides, one look at his face, and the similarities are uncanny."

"I see, well, yes, Naruto is the son of the Yondaime." Once more, silence had come over the meeting room. Sarutobi thought thing before saying, "Alright, I will allow the adoption of one Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze."

Before anyone could say anything, Hiruzen continued saying, "However this will be a joint adoption between the clans, any members that didn't show are considered to have opted out of the adoption, if any others wish to opt out, do so now."

"The Abarume clan would like to opt-out of adopting him then, even disregarding that he doesn't have out Gekkai Genkai, the presence the Nine-Tails could have undesirable effects on our insects," Shibi announced.

After a few moments of discussion between Hiashi and Hizashi, Hisashi said, "With disappointment, both branches of the Hyuuga family will have to opt of adopting Naruto," Hizashi then followed up with, "However the idea of having him join our family through marriage is up for consideration."

"That can be discussed at a "much" later date," Hiruzen said before recounting, "As such, Naruto will then be adopted into the Uchiha, Inazuka, and Nara clans, correct?" Two clans heads nodded in agreement, Shikaku's wife nodding as well while the Nara head himself shrugged.

Fugaku then turned to leave saying, "Well, I'm going to head back to check on the child, I think there aren't any complaints if he stays at the Uchiha compound until a proper schedule is put into place?"

Several nods followed and, he left with a smirk thinking, "I may have to share the boy for now; however, if he were to gain a preference for my family, I'm sure a full adoption could come to pass." With that in mind, he decided to save the plan his wife thought up to deceive the council for the foreseeable future.

Chapter 1 end

Author's notes - AU

Somethings to note -

No Uchiha Coup

I plan on Naruto being taught by a different Jonin

Motherly Fem Kyuubi

He is friends with T and I department