Mikoto hummed to herself as she washed fresh, tiny tomatoes from the garden. Behind her, her beautiful, tiny Sasuke sat in his highchair, crowing to himself occasionally, as he waited to be fed. Mikoto smiled. It was a good day: Itachi was doing exceptional in all his classes at the Academy. Fugaku was relaxing in their garden, seemingly content about the status of the clan today. Plus-

"Ta da!" She presented the small bowl of fresh tomatoes, still warm from the sun, to her youngest son. Sasuke waved his arms jerkily. He, like most ninja children, was developing motor control rapidly. But extreme emotions could sometimes cause him to forget that. Apparently the sight of his mother bearing a plate of bright red food was one such case. His leg kicked out and he gurgled to himself.

"These are tomatoes, Sasuke. To-may-toes." She cooed. Fugaku sniffed when she spoke to her sons in such a voice, like she never saw him whispering to their babies late at night. Sasuke looked up at her with his little face serious and jerked his fist towards the tomatoes. "Yes, they are. Yes, they are."

He grabbed one in his chubby little hand, contemplating it like it held the answers to the universe.

His eyes were unfanthomly dark, like all their clan. One day, she knew, he would lose something or someone precious to him and the red blood line limit would grow out of the love turned to despair. But she prayed that day was a long day out. She prayed her son wou-

The tomato popped out of his grip and hit the floor with a small thunk.

Red bloomed in Sasuke's eyes, dotted with the distinctive Sharingan commas. A muscle in Mikoto's temple twitched.

"Huh," she thought. "Earlier than Itachi."

A/N: the first thought I had after it was explained that the Sharingan activates after a loss. Because if anyone would be upset about losing food, it would be Sasuke.