Chapter 1

I hadn't really expected to die, at least not in the mundane, boring way that I did. Sure, I was a civilian in a civilian centered world, where all that mattered was my relative comfort, but I thought I would become more than a simpering teenager, one that obsessed far too easily, and was just as easily distracted.

After I decided to join the Army when I got out of high school, I thought I would at least live long enough to see some awesome places, or at least get through basic and become stronger and more confident. But that wasn't what happened at all.

I simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had very little reason to be. I had been walking to the store on a nice sunny day, and some random stranger shouldn't have been driving, but was. That was the last thing that registered in my mind. Then I was gone.

Well, not really gone, but I suppose I lost consciousness for some amount of time, because by the time I did realize I was dead, I didn't feel much of anything. I figured hey, if I wasn't going to hell, don't know how I scored that, then I could sit in this eternity of nothing. I thought that until I realized I could actually feel something, but I wasn't really sure what it was.

It was warm and comforting, and since nothing hurt when I felt it, I figured I shouldn't be too horribly alarmed. So I resigned myself to waiting, and while yes it did seem like an eternity, there were notable changes as time passed. It seemed as if I could actually move my body, but I knew it shouldn't be the body I had before. Which led me to the conclusion that life hated me, and I was going to be born as an infant. If I got lucky, and wasn't a raccoon or something.

Alas, I noticed one other change that led me to believe I was human, and that I had a sibling. I could hear human speech, muffled and not really making sense, as well as some other warm presence that certainly wasn't the one around me that I was used to, or the one I realized was inside myself.

Since I knew all of this, I mean, I guess I had long enough to figure the situation out, when I started to feel the world around me rock and squirm uncomfortably, and I found myself being pushed and suddenly very much not warm and comforted, I knew I was being born and refused to allow myself to scream and cry like I knew babies did. Instead I must have made gurgling sounds, rather embarrassing for a nineteen year old teenager, but the contented sighs around me seemed relieved that I was fine.

My vision was blurry, and I had a very hard time staying awake, but I was able to ascertain that the language spoken from a white blob with odd green things at the end of its appendages, was speaking either Japanese or Chinese. I only knew that because I knew they said shonen, which meant boy, but I couldn't recall if that was the same in Chinese.

Until I saw my mother, I thought everything was fine, because once I was near her face, my unfocused eyes could actually register her face, the crease of worry between her eyebrows, and then the initial recognition kicked in.

Surely she was just born in Japan, there had to be many women who could happen to look like the human version of an anime character. RIght?

I had been wrong. In so, so many ways. The woman I recognized was indeed, Mikoto Uchiha. After I was born, well, after my twin freaking Sasuke Uchiha, was born, we were wrapped in blankets and fed. I noticed, rather oddly, there had only been one person to help bring us into the world, and that person had left. We seemed to be home, because we were taken to a bedroom down the hall and laid in beds, and then left.

I knew we were safe, and most likely, and it felt strange to say it, but my new mother was a trained ninja, or had been, and was likely hungry and tired after bringing us into the world. She did shortly return however, but my newborn body was very exhausted, and by that time I was drifting off to sleep.

As I fell asleep, I realized my covers were a pale green, a color I actually liked quite a bit, but well, I had been a girl before. I expected either purple or pink, no matter how much I despised the color, but I got mint green. I suspected that I could still be a girl, technically, but it all seemed very odd.

My body was ill suited to figuring the situation out at this point, so I was resigned to being dressed in the standard Uchiha navy blue.

After what seemed to be several weeks living primarily with our new mother, the man that I already despised decided to grace us with his appearance. I had been trying to learn basic speech, I knew very basic Japanese words from my old life, but this body couldn't speak very well.

When he entered the room, I actually made sure to freeze. My mother seemed to do the same thing as he looked at me, and when his gaze shifted to my twin, her gaze relaxed. Something was definitely up. I still hadn't had a chance to look at my body, I was an infant and had to let my body do incapable for now. When Fugaku, no Father, walked over to me to pick me up, I had to force myself to at least try and act like a child. I attempted to reach out and touch his face while he held be, but he grimaced and set me back down. I was relieved to finally be away from his scrutiny.

He seemed much more happy when he looked at Sasuke and he did nothing, simply stared. Right, Uchiha generally didn't express excess emotion. Well, I wasn't going to act to his conventions very well now would I?

After that, we spent much less time in our cribs and were able to play with each other and the toys we were given. Oddly enough, our teething toys were gummy shuriken and kunai, and the blocks we played with had hiragana on them, and the letters that I supposed were associated with them.

I was grateful to have Sasuke as a sibling, because I wasn't alone. And I helped him learn things as soon as I could figure it out. Motor functions were the hardest to learn, but I made an amazing discovery when Mother left to go do something. Sasuke wouldn't recall me looking down my own diaper, but when I did, I was shocked. I had indeed been born a girl, but from what I could tell, I was supposed to act like a boy. Until Mother talked to me about it, I figured it had to do with Father, who I barely even saw. By this time we were only a couple of months old, and neither Sasuke or I had managed to really talk at all. We could kind of communicate with each other, which I was so okay with because I wasn't alone. Sure, I was officially a member of a clan that would be reduced to four members in about six years, I could still have a family until then. I didn't get that in my old life, and while it was still sick that I would lose this one, it was something.

By the time we were both crawling we finally met Itachi, and I couldn't help the happy gurgling sound that erupted when he walked in. He actually seemed shocked to see a two and a half month infant jumping up and running across the room to him. So I could actually stand, that was news to me. I didn't want to try it until I knew Sasuke-kun could, I mean, he would get hurt and cry and that wouldn't be good. He did try to get up, and he managed a couple of steps before he fell. Itachi didn't stay long, but he was there long enough for me to know his chakra.

Soon after that, Mother took us both to visit the woman I knew to be Kushina, but otherwise scared the utter crap out of me. I knew she had the nine-tails in her, but she was really quite intense to meet. At least she had to split her attention three ways, or I would probably have passed out.

That was something odd I had noticed, chakra wasn't really easy for me to feel quite yet. It was likely that was due to her young age, but after a couple of weeks when a sudden death like chakra was permeating the air, I could notice it much easier. The Uchiha clan had their own evacuation plans, naturally, no reason to let them deal with normal villagers, and it didn't seem like the attack was all that long when you were curled up frozen against your mother for an entire night.

After that, time seemed to go even faster. Talking was something that came gradually, Sasuke-kun learned it slightly slower that I did. The Kyuubi attack terrified me to be honest, and I knew that I needed to step up the game. Although I could walk, it was tiring and I mostly crawled around until Sasuke-kun started to walk more. I could associate basic hiragana to their letters thanks to the toy blocks, and Mother seemed content to read to me and Sasuke-kun when one of us cried from nightmares of the attack. It really had been traumatizing, mostly for me at least. It wasn't something I would ever forget.

When we had our first birthday, we could both walk, and speak very vague sentences. I could understand most of what out parents said, but Father was still very distance and seemed very mean. That was when I decided I could try to play with my chakra, some at least, and I discovered it really wasn't that easy to focus on. I was aware of it when I thought about it, but I didn't like to. I remembered the Kyuubi too well, and I knew I had to get over it. I couldn't get away with much besides making my hands glow, but it was progress.

At the same time. Mother decided to make us start exercising and stretching. The Uchiha style of taijutsu seemed straightforward to me, and I found myself catching onto it rather quickly, and I didn't realize how that could ever be a bad thing. Until I saw how far ahead of my slightly younger brother I was, then I realized I was doing too well.

It seemed odd to me that Mother never mentioned that fact that well, I was a girl. I had long since ditched the diapers, basically as soon as I could walk, I mean being changed by my mother was embarrassing.

"Kaa-chan?" Even as I said it, I realized I didn't even know my own name. Mother and Father referred to Sasuke a lot, and Itachi, but I was kind of just there. Because I was girl and it seemed like I was pretending to be something I wasn't. I didn't mind getting to wear pants, but Mother always looked sad when she laid out my clothing, like she would rather it be pink and purple dresses, anything besides the standard knee length pants and t-shirts with the Uchiha fan.

"Yes dear?" Her eyes were distant as she said it, and thats when it hit me. I really shouldn't exist, and it was like everyone else knew it.

I tried to think about what I was going to say, but I found myself suddenly unable to even do that. I knew there must be some sort of reason for how I was being treated, but I couldn't figure it out yet. "I-is there a reason I'm not treated like Sasuke-kun and Itachi-nii-san?"

Mother had been doing dishes, and she very abruptly put the plate she was working on in the sink. She was frowning, and I could tell my question hit a nerve. She dried her hands off and took mine in hers, and led me to my bedroom where Sasuke-kun was napping. She leaned down to look me in the eyes before she answered.

"You are perfect Mirai, but your father wants to live in denial right now. You are different from your brothers, but right now you need to pretend, okay? When you join the Academy, I'll make sure you are with the people you belong with. It isn't- it isn't right what hes doing to you, but I can't stop him. But I'll try. Okay?" She had a sad but also determined look in her eyes as she said it.

"Yes Kaa-chan, I can pretend. I'm good at that." I gave her a close eyed smile, and the topic wasn't breached between us after that.