Author's Note: So I've finally jumped on the OC SI bandwagon. Although Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine (it's really good, you should check it out if you haven't already) was what got me first reading OC Self-Inserts, I was actually inspired to write this by all the other amazing SI fanfiction out there. Including but not limited to: Catch Your Breath by Lang Noi, Three Tails by insertxcoolxnamexhere, Decaying Bluebells by Darkpetal16, and Iryo-nin Kasa by Vaengir.

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Chapter 1

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Hitoshi Uchiha was not a happy man. His wife was giving birth, and he was not happy. The baby wasn't supposed to be due for another two months! Hitoshi didn't need to be a medic to know that premature births were a tricky business. There was a very high chance that the baby would not survive.

Occasionally, even the mother's life could be called into question.

Hitoshi dearly loved his wife, and would very much prefer her intact at the end of this birthing business. Judging by the screams echoing down the hall, their noise only slightly muffled by the door separating the birthing chamber from the rest of the room, even that idea seemed too much to hope for.

Hitoshi was interrupted from his (frantic) pacing by a steady hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Hitoshi," Fugaku said evenly. "Why don't you sit down for a while. You've been at it for hours."

Hitoshi shrugged Fugaku's arm off to resume his pacing. "I can't calm down, Fugaku. Kimiyo's in there, and judging by her screams, I doubt she's having much fun. I should be in there, helping her get through that, but," and here some of Hitoshi's well-known sarcasm seemed to seep through, "apparently there's 'no nonmedics allowed.'"

Fugaku ignored his cousin's sardonic tone, knowing it was his way of dealing with stressful situations. And the delivery of a child definitely qualified as a stressful situation. Thank Kami that when Mikoto had Itachi, it wasn't nearly half as bad as this.

"Kimiyo is a strong woman," Fugaku said. "You should have faith in her, and the baby. Both of them will pull through."

Hitoshi stopped mid-step, his eyes pinning Fugaku with a desperation Fugaku wasn't entirely sure he felt comfortable with being on the receiving end of. "You swear it?" Hitoshi whispered.

Sometimes Fugaku wondered who was really the older one in their relationship, him or his cousin. "I strongly believe it."

Before Hitoshi could wrestle a more satisfactory answer from his younger relative, the door to the birthing chamber suddenly opened, a red-faced midwife stumbling out. In an instant, Hitoshi was at her side.

"How is she?" he inquired urgently.

"Her condition is stable. You can go in to see her now," the midwife answered wearily.

Hitoshi didn't even wait for the woman to finish speaking before he slipped past her into the room. Almost immediately, his ears registered the sounds of a baby crying nearby. His eyes were drawn, however, to the figure lying on the hospital bed. Her face was a little too pale for his liking, but all of Hitoshi's worries seemed to melt away upon seeing his wife.

A few medics remained in the room, some checking her vitals, others scribbling furiously away on clipboards. Their tones were hushed, urgent. But Hitoshi hardly paid them any mind as he made his way over to his wife's side. Tenderly, he stroked her cheek.

Kimiyo's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Hitoshi?" she murmured tiredly. "Is that you?"

"How are you feeling, my love?" Hitoshi asked gently.

Kimiyo managed a smile. "I've been better," she joked half-heartedly. But her eyes seemed to brighten. "Have you seen our daughter yet?"

"Daughter?" Hitoshi echoed bemusedly.

Kimiyo couldn't have looked more smug than she did at that moment. "Yes, daughter," she stressed. "You lost your bet, Hitoshi. Better fess up when we get home."

Hitoshi inwardly shook his head. It was just like Kimiyo to think about the bet they'd made on the gender of the baby right after giving birth. Then again, he mused fondly. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the approach of a medic. She looked uncharacteristically tense, her gaze darting back and forth between Hitoshi and his wife, as if hating herself for intruding on the couple's happiness but resigned to the fact that it had to be done.

A feeling of dread seemed to curl up in the pit of Hitoshi's stomach.

"Uchiha-san," she began nervously, "your daughter—"

"Is she ali-alright?" Hitoshi quickly corrected himself.

The medic looked grave. "She's alive, but only under extraordinary circumstances. To be frank, Uchiha-san, no infant would have been able to survive being born so prematurely. The natural chakra present in the air would have been too much for the baby's underdeveloped chakra coils. Your daughter, however, already seems to have developed chakra coils, or at least of the spiritual portion." Here she paused, as if hoping Hitoshi would be able to offer an explanation of this unprecedented new development.

Hitoshi, however, was just as lost as the medic was, perhaps even more so. In all his life, he'd never known of a baby, Uchiha or otherwise, with completely developed chakra coils (even if it was of the spiritual portion) before coming out of the womb.

"Perhaps...perhaps our kekkei genkai had something to do with it?" Hitoshi offered up weakly. Although he'd never heard of a baby being able to activate the sharingan before. Besides, you would need fully developed chakra coils for that.

The medic didn't look convinced, but seemed to accept it as the most rational explanation for now. Adopting a more cheerful tone to her voice, she asked, "Would you two like to meet your daughter now?"

As Kimiyo eagerly accepted the offer, Hitoshi made a valiant effort to push his doubts and worries aside for now. Despite the troubling news the medic had brought, Hitoshi couldn't help but smile. His daughter! Shisui would be excited to have a younger sibling to play with. And although Hitoshi wasn't the best at understanding girls, for his daughter's sake, he would try his best. Oh, and of course, frightening away potential suitors when she got older. That went without being said.

"What are you smiling so goofily about?" Kimiyo teased, snapping her husband out of his thoughts. Hitoshi grinned sheepishly. "Just thinking of the future."

Kimiyo's gaze seemed to soften. "The future," she repeated softly, as if testing the words on her tongue. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I just hope our daughter's chakra abnormality won't negatively affect her life."

Hitoshi grasped both of his wife's hands warmly in his own. "It won't," he promised, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

Just then, the medic from earlier returned, this time with a small bundle in her arms. Gently, she placed her precious cargo into Kimiyo's waiting arms before moving back to give the couple some space.

As Hitoshi leaned forward eagerly to gaze at his daughter, he was struck by how tiny she was. There was no way Shisui was that small when he was born.

Once he got over his initial shock of seeing what a premature baby looked like, however, the second thought that struck him was that his daughter had the curliest, thickest mop of black hair he had ever seen. In fact, Hitoshi thought wistfully, it almost reminded him of his father.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Kimiyo cooed, awe and love apparent in her voice as she gazed at their daughter. And in that moment, Hitoshi knew he was the happiest man alive.

"Kagami," Hitoshi said softly.

"What?" Kimiyo said absentmindedly, preoccupied with fussing over their newborn daughter.

"Let's name her Kagami," Hitoshi said, a little louder this time. He met Kimiyo's inquisitive look with his own steady gaze. "After my father."

Kimiyo smiled. "It's a beautiful name," she agreed.

Yes, Hitoshi was happy. But alas, it seemed as if the saying "all good things must come to an end" had some truth to it after all.

For when their daughter opened her eyes, they were not the deep coal black that was the trademark of the Uchiha clan.

Her eyes were a milky gray.

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Darkness. Suffocating, encompassing darkness on all sides. I'd never been claustrophobic, but in that moment, I wanted to be anywhere but here. It was wet, too. Wet and dark.

Why am I here? I asked myself. Suddenly, I was struck with a chilling thought. Who am I? I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything.

Just then, there was a squeezing sensation. I was moving. Squirming, I flailed my limbs in an attempt to orient myself. Which way was up? Which way was down?

With an unpleasant shock, I realized I was upside down. And falling. Panicking, I squirmed harder. All that seemed to accomplish, however, was making me fall faster. I had the most disagreeable sensation of my head being squished.

Suddenly, everything was cold. Too cold. I change my mind. I want to go back to that stuffy place. It was freezing here.

It wasn't long before a bigger problem became apparent, however. I couldn't breathe. Again, I panicked, opening my mouth and—

It was as if a dam had broken. I bawled, screaming my terror and pain out for the world to hear. What the heck? Why am I crying?

But with my (embarrassing) crying came an indescribable bliss. I could finally breath. Ahh, fresh oxygen. How I've missed you.

My need for air satisfied, I'm pleased to say that I calmed down...slightly. I was still cold. But that problem was soon remedied when someone wrapped a blanket around me, toweling me off and keeping me warm in the process.

Sighing, I snuggled contentedly into it. Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all...

I barely held back a gasp when I suddenly felt myself lifted and carried. What was going on? Why do I feel so...small (for lack of a better word)? I still couldn't see, so I was left to rely entirely on my ears.

There was another sense, too, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was a little like seeing but not really. If I had to describe it, it was a lot like the after-images you get behind your eyelids after staring at a bright light for too long. Except it didn't seem limited to my sense of vision. I could almost feel it, taste it. The person carrying me appeared as a fuzzy blue image, but I could also detect the sharp smell of blood and antiseptic (not a very promising combination).

Suddenly, I was set down on something, and a large...I think hand was pressed to my stomach. I felt something foreign, strange, and most definitely unpleasant (it had that characteristic sense of blood and antiseptic) thing enter my body. Needless to say, I didn't take to it well.

Actually, that would be an understatement. I screamed, flailed around, and started crying again. Whatever this place was, I was absolutely convinced it was trying to kill me. With my luck, I'd probably been abducted by aliens, who were now performing strange and invasive experiments on me...on second thought, that was probably exactly what had happened! They'd wiped me of my memories and were now going to torture and kill me.

I always get the worst luck, don't I?

The person quickly removed his or her hand, and the painful sensation decreased. His or her blue image seemed to buzz erratically, as if troubled. But at this point, I could care less. For all I knew, he or she could be an alien.

Thankfully, the alien quickly left after that (at least, I think so; I couldn't detect him or her anymore), and I tried to regain some sense of calm. I still didn't know where I was, but at least I'd worked out some explanation of how I got here. Luckily, it seemed the aliens hadn't wiped out every memory, as I could still remember something about calling the police if one was in danger. The moment I bust out of here, I'm calling the police.

So engrossed I was in my plan for escape that I completely missed the alien's return. It's anxiety seemed to have lessened just slightly, which didn't bode well for me.

The next thing I knew, I was being picked up and carried again. I attempted to struggle feebly, but when the alien simply tightened its hold on me, I was forced to conclude that for now, I was too weak to fight back. (And small...I still have to figure that part out). We seemed to enter another room, this one with a lot of aliens in it. I could detect a lot of fuzzy blue images just like that of the alien holding me, except they each felt and smelled different. The sudden influx of sensory details made my head spin.

I was brought over to two of them, one of whom smelled like blood. A lot of it. The other smelled like ash and water...if that made any sense. Both of their images buzzed animatedly, as if anxious, yet excited.

The alien carrying me suddenly held me out, like I was an offering, to the one who smelled like blood. Oh hell no. I wasn't going to get sacrificed to some bloodthirsty alien, was I?

To my surprise, the alien simply cradled me in its arms, cooing softly at me. In spite of myself, I visibly relaxed as I felt its love and adoration wash over me. If I didn't know better, I would say that it was almost acting like my mother...

I nearly choked. That was a possibility I had not considered. I was a baby? And the child of an alien? My luck just got worse and worse, didn't it? At least these aliens seemed nice. Maybe I could get away with pretending I was their alien baby or something.

The one who smelled like ash and water (I'm assuming he was my father) leaned closer, as if to look at me. Oh yeah, that reminded me. I could just open my eyes to see what was going on, couldn't I? With that stroke of genius, I forced my heavy, uncertain baby eyes open.

Nothing. It was still dark. What was going on? Why couldn't I see anything?

Despite the fact that nothing had happened (for me), my...erm...parents seemed surprised and even dismayed. Oops. Had I angered them somehow? I resisted the urge to tremble. Had my cover been blown?

I strained my ears to listen to what they were saying. Although I could sort of sense their emotions, I didn't know what their voices actually sounded like. To my frustration, however, I couldn't make out a word they were saying. It was like they were speaking in a completely different language. Which, in retrospect, I suppose they were.

Suddenly, the fuzzy blue image of my father (it felt weird to think of him as that, since I could vaguely recall I once had another father, sometime, somewhere) began to agitate, its edges becoming even more fuzzy and jagged. The next thing I knew, I was out like a light.

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Author's Note: I looked it up, and Kagami is actually a girl's name. Or at least a unisex name. In case any of you were curious, it means "mirror."