Half Brother

A Misconception

Sarutobi Hiruzen was having a good day. His advisors hadn't come to his office to berate him for his most recent decisions, the civilian council resolved their differences after only one hour of meaningless shouting, Naruto hadn't pranked anyone; it felt like he would have time to go home early and spend time with his toddler grandson before his bedtime.

He happily signed a barely legible mission report written by one of his shinobi, when Hound entered his office through the window carrying Naruto. Behind him the other two members of his team came in carrying Fugaku's younger son and a pink haired girl.

Hiruzen set down his pen and lit his pipe, berating himself for counting his eggs before they hatched.

"What did you do, Naruto?" All three children were covered in scrapes and minor cuts, and Naruto did sport a guilty look on his face.

"Nothing." He yelled. "I just went to a training ground to get some training."

Behind him Hound cleared his throat meaningfully.

"Hokage-sama, if I may." The pink haired girl began. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I and Sasuke-kun went into the Forest of Death with Naruto-kun to activate his Sharingan because he wanted proof that he was an Uchiha."

The Hokage blinked and that.

"That's ridiculous. You're not an Uchiha, Naruto."

Even as Naruto's face fell at that, Sakura protested. "But he is Hokage-sama. He activated his Sharingan, so did Sasuke-kum. Only Naruto's looks a bit different, like a cat's eyes rather than a wheel, but that could be because of his Uzumaki parent."

Naruto looked surprised at that, while Sasuke nodded, looking a bit wide eyed. It was painful to watch hope bloom in the blonde's face.

Hiruzen wanted to hit his head. He knew allowing Shisui to be Naruto's gaurdian would come back and bite him in the ass one day.

He had made the mistake of dismissing the matter from his mind after the decision had shown positive results of decreasing the tensions between the Uchiha and the village; with the Uchiha being honoured that one of their own was trusted to take care of the jinchuriki and the civilians believing that the Uchiha wouldn't have been trusted with Naruto if they were really responsible for the attack seven years ago. It was an unexpected benifit he had not foreseen when signed the gaurdianship papers.

Naruto using the Kyuubi's chakra and his classmates mistaking it for a Sharingan, however, was not something he could have thought of in his wildest dreams.

For a moment he toyed with the idea to keep letting them believe it before dismissing it. It would soon become obvious that Naruto doesn't have the Uchiha doijutsu, when he won't be able to use any of its abilities.

"Naruto-kun doesn't have the Sharingan. His eyes turning red was due to something he inherited from his mother, who was not an Uchiha." He gravelly informed the children. "This is an S rank secret and you aren't allowed to speak of it to anyone. Do you understand?"

All three of the children nodded rapidly.

"Jiji. Could you telling me about my mother?" Naruto asked, looking subdued. Getting his hopes up and having them fall had taken a toll on the boy's usual demeanor.

"Not now, Naruto-kun. Perhaps when you are a chunnin." He promised, knowing that the day was far away.

Naruto, instead of being discouraged, looked determined. "Just you wait, old man. I'll be a chunnin in no time. And then I'll be Hokage. You just keep that seat warm for me."

While Sakura and Sasuke looked shocked at the lack of respect Naruto showed him, Hiruzen just chuckled.