CRIMSON

000

PROLOGUE

posted: 5/4/2017

She couldn't understand what was happening to her. One moment, a steel knife was piercing her through her chest. Next thing she knows she's suddenly being squeezed through something. She was scared, cold, and filled with grief. She didn't have a chance to say goodbye to her family or see her little niece being born and all she could see was that damn knife stabbing her and killing her. It didn't help that she could feel large hands grabbing her body.

A nurse gripped the child in her arms, wrapping her tightly in the blanket. The baby had slightly tanned skin with a mess of dark red hair on her head and chubby cheeks. The nurse lightly pushed the infant's hair back as she let out a loud agonized cry. The nurse watched as the child slowly opened her eyes, revealing bright crimson eyes with a tomoe in each eye.

A man with dark brown hair and strict eyes sat at a wooden desk. A frown was plastered on his face as a nurse came running into his study. She was out of breath and had a fearful expression on her face.

"Uchiha-sama! The child she-" The nurse panted out desperately. "She awakened the sharingan!"

He couldn't understand why this was so urgent. Plenty of children activated their sharingan at a young age. His brows furrowed in thought. Why was she freaking out so greatly about something as simple as this… Unless. "Which child?"

"T-The half blood!"

Fugaku froze, his eyes widening in shock. He clenched his fist tightly. It wasn't possible. The child was just born. It hadn't made memories to be able to go through any of the necessaries to unlock the sharingan.

"Are you sure?" Fugaku's voice pierced the tense air. The nurse gave him a tight quick nod. "Very well. Please alert the council for me to go to the conference room at once."

"Of course, U-Uchiha-sama!"

After the nurse left the room, Fugaku stood up and grabbed his coat. He slid the black coat on as it carried the Uchiha crest on the back. He walked out of his study and was stopped by a woman with a worried expression.

She had long black hair with slight bangs falling over her face and soft onyx eyes. She was wearing a purple dress and was holding a three month old child in her arms. The child was a little boy with dark hair that was a shade lighter than his mothers with wide dark eyes.

"What's going on Fugaku?" She asked, her eyes wide with worry.

Fugaku looked at her for a moment and let out a stressed sigh. "I'll tell you when I get back, Mikoto. Take care of Itachi."

A group of four people sat around a large table. The only people that attended this meeting was the highest of the council. Two men and two females.

Hiro Uchiha was an older man with dark gray hair that was put into a loose bun. He had squinty eyes and skinny lips that were surrounded by wrinkles. He was wearing a long sleeve blue shirt accompanied by a pair of black loose pants that stopped around his ankles. He was the first out of the group to speak up. "Why did you call this meeting so urgently. Its unlike you to do this without early warning, Uchiha-sama."

Fugaku looked at the elder dourly. "I assure you, Hiro-san. It was for good reason."

"And just what is this reason?" A woman in her mid forties spoke up with a distasteful look. Naori Uchiha had short black hair that had little gray streaks and her hair stopped at the middle of her shoulder. She had a slightly chubby face with an arched nose and a wide mouth. She wore a gray shirt with a matching skirt. "I had to stop a training session with my grandchild because of this meeting."

"I apologize for the inconvenience to you all, but this is a matter we have to discuss as soon as possible." Fugaku spoke up. "Do you all know the age of the youngest who had opened their sharingan?"

"Hm?" The other woman, Emiko Uchiha, hummed. She was in her late twenties and was definitely the beauty of the group. She had long black hair that curled lightly at the bottoms and it reached to the end of her hips. She had long dark lashes that framed her shining black eyes and porcelain skin. She had a skinny face with a small nose and heart shaped lips. She wore a floor length black dress that had a red feather design scattered around her waist and bottom of the dress, on the back and breast of the dress had the Uchiha crest. "Why are you suddenly asking this, Uchiha-sama?"

"Please just answer the question." Fugaku stated, face blank.

"Age four." Emiko responded, her voice was smooth yet it held a certain tightness to it. "A young Uchiha boy was taken by an enemy shinobi during the second shinobi war. The boy held hope that someone would soon save him, only to find his wishes unfulfilled. The kidnappers begin to prod and poke at the boy. They wanted his eyes in hopes of unlocking the sharingan and finding the secrets behind the Dojutsu. As they tried to remove the child's eyes, he had awakened his sharingan. He, by himself, had managed to kill all three kidnappers in a short amount of time and brought back some information on the enemy shinobi, giving the leaf an advantage in the war."

They all sat in silence for a moment before Hiro looked towards Fugaku. "Why did you wish to know?"

"Because that child is no longer the youngest to awaken the sharingan." He announced as he watched the elders reactions.

"What?!" Nori exclaimed bug eyed as she gripped her skirt tightly.

"Uchiha-sama, have you been hiding a little prodigy from us?" Emiko drawled while hiding her shock.

Fugaku waited for a moment before continuing. "You all know of the half blood, correct?"

"Yeah." Hiro's face twisted in a deep scowl. "What does it have to do with anything."

"I'm getting to it." Fugaku replied. "The child was born a few moments ago..." There was a heavy pause before he continued. "With the sharingan active."

"That's not possible!" Hiro exclaimed with a shake of his head, his squinty eyes wide with shock.

"How is that? Her mother couldn't even awaken her sharingan and the father wasn't even an Uchiha." Emiko said as she looked at Fugaku with questioning eyes.

"I'm not sure how it's possible either, but it is." Fugaku said. "But now we need to figure out what to do with the girl."

"I suggest we put the child to training as soon as possible." Nori spoke up.

Emiko hummed in agreement. "Yes, the girl will most likely be considered a prodigy, especially if we train her well."

"You want the little half blood to represent the Uchiha, when she isn't even a full blooded Uchiha. Her mother was hardly even an Uchiha because she didn't have a sharingan." Hiro spat jeeringly.

"I'd watch your tone, Hiro-san." Emiko warned with a glare. Her tone was mocking and daring.

"You're just mad that somebody talked lowly about your innocent sister." Hiro sneered towards Emiko. "If anything, we should be thankful that the little half blood caused her to die giving birth."

Just as Emiko was about to stand, Fugaku's voice boomed loudly around them. "Enough!"

"You are both adults. I suggest you act like it in front of Uchiha-sama." Nori scolded. "We need to figure out who shall raise the child."

Emiko and Hiro stayed silent, not knowing who to suggest. Emiko was the aunt of the child, making her a better option. But, she had a fallout with her sister before she had given birth. Meaning, he didn't know how that would affect the relationship between the child and her. But she was the only one that didn't have plenty of responsibilities as the rest.

Hiro wasn't close to an option. He was old and set in his ways. He hated that mother of the child and hated the child even more.

Nori was taking care of her two grandchildren because her son had passed along with the mother of her grandchildren, causing her to be the one to take care of them.

Fugaku couldn't because he was the clan head and had a family of his own to take care of.

"Emiko-chan," Fugaku called, causing the woman to straighten up at the sound of her name. "You will be the one to take care of the child and raise her as your own. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, Uchiha-sama."

When she woke up she found herself in a new area. She didn't exactly know how she knew it was different. It felt different. The person holding her felt different from the first one. Sure, she was hardly in any state of mind to completely remember but she could still tell. This person had a calm and elegant feeling as they held her.

She probably shouldn't be thinking about things such as that considering her situation. It helped sooth her mind though, distract her from the thoughts of her murder and the fact that she suddenly was reborn into another life.

Was she even reborn? Or did she just happened to steal someone else's life? She didn't want to think about that.

She knew she wasn't in her home country though, maybe even world? She couldn't tell yet, mainly due to the fact that she couldn't see but she'll see in a few months or so once her baby body starts growing up some. It didn't help that she couldn't really get a grasp on the language. It sounded like someone was speaking Japanese, but she couldn't really tell.

After a few months or so, she had her vision and was crawling. She also learned that her new name was Chieko, meaning wise child. Irony was a pain in the ass, that's for sure.

Once she got her vision she realized her caretaker was indeed a female. She knew it wasn't her mother though because the woman kept calling herself Emiko, obviously because she didn't want her to call her mother. But if she wasn't her mother, then who was? What about her father? Did something happen to him? She had no idea.

She hasn't once left the house since she was born though. The only person she had met this whole time was Emiko.

She also began to understand the language, she didn't speak though. She didn't want to go through the embarrassment of saying something wrong, though it really shouldn't be that bad considering she's a baby but she didn't want to hurt her adult pride and can you blame her though. She's already having her ass wiped which is embarrassing , She could tell Emiko was getting nervous that she wasn't speaking.

"Read!" She shouted with a giggle as she crawled towards Emiko. Emiko gave her a soft smile as she lifted her onto her lap. She gave the girl a small pat on the head.

"I'm glad you've finally spoke. You've had me worried." Emiko said to Chieko. Emiko knew the girl could understand her. She could tell by the way the child would look at her with this knowing look in her eyes. She just couldn't understand why she wouldn't speak. It was as if she was holding back. She ignored that feeling and began to read, giving Chieko what she wanted.

At first, she truly hated the child but she didn't show it. This child was the reason her and her sister had a fight. This child was the reason her sister had gotten sick. This child was the reason her sister had died. This child killed her sister. And she hated it.

Her sister was the only thing she had because her parents passed when they were young. So, she did her best making sure her little sister was taken care of.

Her child was beautiful and looked so much like her. Every time Emiko looked at her, she felt like her chest was aching. The only thing that the child's looks differed from her mother's was the red hair. But she had her nose, her eyes, and those long curled lashes. God, she looked so much like her that it hurt.

After a few months of taking care of the child, teaching her to crawl, and reading to her. She slowly begun to care for the child. She understood why her sister fight so hard to make sure she was born.

Later that night when Chieko was asleep, she found herself at a grave. Her sister's grave to be exact. She sat down in front of the large stone with a sigh.

"Hello, sister." She mumbled out softly. "Your daughter is beautiful. She's smart, too smart. I'm afraid the clan might use her badly, but the only thing I can do for her is make sure she is strong enough to endure it. She's going to be fine, though. She is your daughter after all. I will make sure to take care of her and try to keep her out of trouble. It seems like trouble has been with her since the day she was born. Since the day she awakened those eyes. She doesn't know about them, and she won't until she's old enough to train."

Emiko traced the name carved on the stone as she spoke. "Your daughter has a long adventure coming soon, I can feel it. I'll make sure she gets to follow the path she wants, I promise you that, Naomi."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of crimson, excuse any mistakes I may have made. this is my first time writing with . this chapter is unedited.