I don't, for the life of me, (despite it's newfound irony) want to relive, again, the experience of being born... You know how a woman will cart around about twelve pounds of fat for about nine months? Try being the fat in that woman...

You're confined to a tiny, purely dark space with absolutely nothing but your mind as entertainment. In a way, as I recall that painfully boring float in liquid darkness, I am almost certain that that particular discovery had been the beginning of my complete mental breakdown.

As an intelligent individual, living in my.. previous body; I had come to the understanding that I had, or still have, severe mental instability, and illness... What's worse is that I had to quit my medication, cold turkey.. I couldn't exactly tug on the umbilical cord and ask for my anti-depressants and what-not, now could I..? No.. I couldn't.. I can barely move, even now, as I lie in this tiny, cramped hell.. THAT was an awful way to begin my new life...

I remember actually being born, as it was a very.. interesting.. experience..

I remember being jostled, and the liquid of my prison draining slowly, before disappearing. I remember everything becoming eerily still, before it started. The walls of my cell began to shake, like it was dry-heaving, a really big, ridiculously cold pair of hands wrap around my tiny, freezing body, and pull me out of what felt like warm jello...

Gross-.. but- whatever..

I felt a sharp sting on my ass, and with all of the mental, emotional and physical drama, I don't think anyone can blame me that I busted out crying.

It was bright, it was loud, and I was exhausted...

Just before I had completely passed out, I was wrapped in something warm, and set into a pair of arms, the only legible word breaking into the last wisps of my conscious being a name..

My new name, I guessed...

"Machasaki Tsukino..."

Oh, great...


Kana Machasaki held her newborn baby girl in her arms with worry and fatigue. She had been crying nonstop for an hour now, and had woken up most of the girls in the servants' house. They were all awake now, the younger ones being quicker to try and console the "miracle baby", as the medical ninja had put it. During the birthing process, Kana had had to have multiple medics called for the sole purpose of keeping herself, and her baby, alive. At sixteen, she was a new mother; and completely unprepared.

"She is still fussing, is she?"

The room stilled instantly, the only sound being sharp, surprised intakes of air, and the still-wailing girl, unaware that the lady of the house had just stepped through the bedroom door. At her side, the head servant girl was glaring in near embarrassment at the group, still clad in night frocks and slippers.

The lady of the house was dressed similarly, but had her long, raven hair swept behind her shoulders, spilling in soft wisps past her back. Her arms held a bundle, a baby boy, no older than seven months, peaking out with a tiny, pale thumb in his mouth. Another child, this one around five years, was standing at her side, a single hand fisted into his mother's skirt. His face was near emotionless, but the curiosity and awe showed through his pretty onyx eyes.

Kana clutched her daughter to her chest in fear, bright blue eyes staring in surprise at the woman watching so lovingly toward her daughter. With a gulp, she nodded, her daughter's wails only increasing at the tighter hold she had given her.

Uchiha Mikoto studied the child a moment longer, smiled slightly, and stepped further inside, handing the head servant girl her own bundle, before looking down to Itachi. The little boy looked up into her eyes in confusion, seemingly having to tear his eyes away from the anomaly in the arms of a servant across the room. Seeing his attention, she chuckled, petting his hair as she leaned into his ear.

"Do you want to see the baby?" she murmured quietly, "I'm sure they wouldn't mind a little help.. You are very good with Sasuke."

The child was silent for a minute, his dark eyes finding the tiny baby as it began to thrash, revealing from the soft white cloth, tiny pale fists, and messy black hair.

Mikoto gave her son a light push, and he stepped forward on his own, approaching the teenage mother as if she were a wounded animal.

Kana watched as he took small, unsure steps toward her, stopping just far enough away that he was arms length from her waist. Hesitantly, she shifted her bawling child into her hands, lowly bending down, and locking eyes with the boy.

Itachi felt the bundle weigh into his arms like a sack of flour. Her eyes were clamped shut, he noted, and she was wailing shrilly, with her fists covering her eyes. HE shifted into a sitting position on the floor, his legs folded into a basket to hold the baby, an his arms moving to cradle her back.

The baby faltered in her cries at the shift, and he caught the first glimpse of her eyes. Without thought, his hand cupped her cheek, ringing her face closer to his own in curiosity. The little girl sputtered for a moment, before abruptly stopping, the room watching on in silent awe when her eyes snapped open, and she stared, wide-eyed, at the boy's face not six inches from her own.

It was silent...

Not a sound..

Oh shit... she thought gravely, her wide golden eyes blazing in surprise and speculation, the eerily familiar face oh so close to hers giving her a painfully sharp slap of reality. Dear mother of kami-sama-.. what the hell is he doing here..?

"What is her name?" Itachi asked suddenly, looking briefly up to the babe's mother, before returning his eyes to her own. Something about her eyes captivated him. They were too deep for a child.. They looked at him with a sort of.. what was it.. understanding..?

Natasha held her tongue in indecision, half tempted to bust out crying, just to see what he would do. The other, more persuasive part, of her mind, begged for a much more.. enjoyable.. approach..

Itachi tilted his head as her eyes seemed to darken, and her hands flashed forward, grabbing onto his shirt like a vice, and her face pressing firmly into his collar with a tiny whimper. Damn tiny body!- she cursed mentally, smelling the Uchiha heir's soft, earthy musk, He smells too good though.. It might be worth the physical exhaustion..

With a heavy sigh, she drifted back into her deep oblivion, not even denting the strength of the grasp she held on his shirt.

"..So cute.." Mikoto squealed quietly, several of the other girls having joined in with soft, similar sounds of adoration. The clan heir merely glanced at them, before looking back to the now-silent child, brushing wisps of black hair from her eyes with a sort of tenderness one would reserve for silks.

"When she grows up, may she play with Sasuke and I?" he asked suddenly, the multitude of eyes snapping to the girls mother in excitement. Kana swallowed back the embarrassment of their stares, and nodded at the child, an uneasy smile ion her petal pink lips, "I don't mind, Uchiha-sama.. I appreciate you wanting to spend time with my daughter.." He nodded in thanks, and turned back to the snoozing child, running the tips of his fingers softly through her hair.