After a year, Itachi was old enough to enrol into the academy, something he did not hide his excitement for. He was even more ecstatic that we would walk to and from the academy everyday back to the same house where I now lived, Mikoto and Fugaka becoming my legal guardians after the death of my parents in the Kyuubi attack. Almost immediately Itachi was showing signs of a higher proficiency than any other student at the academy, even more so than the children in my class as ten year olds.
Ordinarily it would be another two years before any of us graduated, but I had overheard some of the teachers suggesting that Itachi be allowed to take his graduation exam early. This was only two months after his entrance. Due to his high level skills, Itachi became the target of a lot of bullying, though of course none of the other students could actually hurt him, they resorted mostly to verbal torment. Izumi often came to Itachi's defence, yelling back at the other children until they left.
Personally, to me it seemed that Itachi did not appear to be bothered by their taunting and bullying, so I saw no reason to become so upset on his behalf. Some of Izumi's actions baffled me sometimes, and it was only a little while later that I realised why. I had been waiting for Itachi outside of the academy when Izumi came running up to me at full speed, only just stopping in time before colliding with me. "Is it true?" I gave her a blank stare. "Don't say nothing! Is it true that you and Itachi-kun have been betrothed since childhood to one another?"
"Yes." Being blunt and honest about it, I did not understand why Izumi suddenly became very visibly upset with the information. She had asked for it, so why react when given the truth? It wasn't as if it meant anything, and the both of us had the final say on whether or not we wanted to get married when we were both older, but neither of us cared about the formality of our connection. We had known one another since he was born and I was a close member of their family. That was all.
"Well, I'm not going to lose to you! You'll see Miyuki-chan, Itachi-kun is going to acknowledge me one day, then I'm going to be Itachi-kun's girlfriend and then his wife!" She declared, pointing at me rather passionately whilst I just blinked at her.
"I wish you luck, Izumi." I responded naturally, thinking it an appropriate response, however Izumi seemed to only become angrier at my monotonous response.
"You're not taking this seriously, I'm not kidding around here! If you want to keep Itachi-kun, you will have to fight me for him. From this moment on, we're rivals!"
"But I do not wish to fight you, Izumi. Fighting means someone will be hurt." More bewildered than ever, I just stared at Izumi as she gave a fervent speech about how we were now rivals and that I had better work hard in order to be deserving of Itachi as she was going to work even harder to become the person who will stand by his side. Before I could respond, Izumi rushed off as fast as she could a few moments before Itachi arrived.
"Was that Izumi?"
"Hm." Choosing to simply put the previous conversation behind me, I walked with Itachi back home as he told me all about his day and what he had learned, also asking if I would train with him later. I listened attentively but very rarely actually responding to him, walking beside him until we were home and I immediately took off my shoes and made my way into the kitchen in order to help Mikoto with dinner preparation.
"Ah, Itachi, Miyuki, welcome home." She smiled at the both of us, Sasuke gurgling from his swing cot where Itachi immediately went and picked him up. "Did you both have a good day at the academy?"
"I have a rival." I murmured softly, picking up a knife and beginning to cut up the vegetables. Mikoto was surprised, blinking at me before laughing and asking me what their name was. Itachi had already taken Sasuke out into the garden, so I answered Mikoto's questions with short, usually one word answers. Having known me since I was a baby, Mikoto was very used to my docile nature and filled in the silences with animated chatter whilst the two of us cooked.
Fugaka was very rarely home for dinner, but we always made enough so that he would have something to eat by the time he got home, even if it was after the three of us children had gone to sleep. I had my own room in the new Uchiha compound, where the entire Uchiha clan had been moved to the outskirts of the village following the attack. It meant that it took a while for us to get to the academy, but I liked it because it was quieter and had a lot more scenery than the centre of the village did.
My parents' house had only been partially damaged that night, so I had been able to pack up almost everything that belonged to us. Photos, clothes, valuables, even the secret stash of savings tucked under one of the floorboards which my mother saved each month. She had told me that she planned to use it to buy my wedding necessities when I grew up, but now it was tucked away in a new safe place left to gather dust. I didn't want to touch it, let alone all the rest of my parents' belongings. They were left in boxes, sealed up and put away and untouched for an entire year.
I carried my grief as a small scar upon my heart, concealing it from the world by retreating further back into myself, opening up only to Itachi and his family. I was grateful to them, as they had wordlessly agreed to take me in even though they could have very well left me to someone else. In fact, they had insisted upon becoming my guardians, wanting me to be with people I knew well rather than complete strangers.
Mikoto had especially made every effort in order to welcome me into her home, making my favourite foods and wanting me to be completely comfortable in this new environment. Although she was not my mother, she was fast becoming a maternal figure that I relied upon without her really knowing just how much I did so. She would sit and brush through my hair some evenings and meticulously smooth it out into fine ribbons of silk before then weaving it into a pretty style, telling me how much she had wanted a daughter of her own and thanked me of allowing her to practice brushing someone else's hair.
It was always the little things, but they always built up into something much larger. I knew for a fact it was because of Mikoto, and especially Itachi, that I was able to eventually recover from the pain of losing my parents, and now I was strong enough to bear that pain on my own two shoulders. "Yuki! Yuki!" Hearing my pet name, I turned and looked down at my feet where Sasuke was clinging onto my leg, having crawled all the way over to me. "Yuki! Up!"
"Sasuke really likes having a big sister, it seems like you three were all meant to be lifelong friends." Mikoto laughed lightly as I naturally picked Sasuke up and placed him upon my hip whereby he began to play and pull at my hair.
"Wait until I tell Sasuke when he's older that your name was his very first word." Itachi agreed, smiling as he came to the kitchen counter as well to observe his little brother and myself. I remember when Sasuke had first garbled my name, humming the first part then practically shouting the rest, announcing to the world that he had learned human speech. Everyone else had been overjoyed and excited, quickly moving to try and get him to say other words, but he adamantly remained on Yuki for at least a few weeks afterward.
Once dinner was prepared we all sat down to eat, Sasuke being placed between myself and Itachi and the two of us took turns helping him to eat his own food, having progressed from milk to soft stuffs. I always enjoyed this part of the day. It felt warm and homely, like nothing was wrong with the world outside of our doors. Being so far away from the main village, we Uchiha mostly kept to ourselves, however I knew very well that close eyes were being kept on myself.
After the incident, the ninja at the office tower had come forwards giving a description of a white haired girl with the Sharingan to the Hokage, informing him that I had raised the emergency alarm before the Kyuubi had even attacked, drawing attention to me. Almost immediately it became known that my Sharingan was fully developed into the Mangekyo Sharingan, meaning that the Hokage placed me under observation for a long while until Fugaka eventually assured the Council that I was not a threat and simply a rare speciality within the Uchiha clan.
Of course, my blood links to Madara Uchiha were kept very secret as to not further draw suspicion, and although the Hokage attempted to get me to tell him how I knew that Kyuubi had been coming, I simply told him that I felt something strange in the air. My abilities were also kept completely secret within the clan, but I knew that the Hokage was suspicious and sooner or later, I might end up accidentally revealing what I could do.
The Hokage was perfectly nice, but I did not like the rest of the Council and wanted to stay far away from them. I purposefully maintained the illusion of normalcy, purposefully scoring as average in the academy so that some of the interest in me was lost. Being the youngest Uchiha to ever activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, my training within the Uchiha clan was the main focus of the clan elders. Every morning and evening I would spend time training under the highest ranked Uchiha ninja, developing my skills and I would quietly do everything they asked without question.
Some evenings I would come home to Mikoto covered in scrapes and bruises which she would tenderly and diligently clean and treat, though on more than one occasion I had heard her rather insistently informing her husband that they were pushing me too hard. One time, Itachi had woken up in the night and walked in on Mikoto treating a rather large gash to my back, causing him to drop the glass he had intended to fill with water. Although Mikoto had hurried him out, I had caught him staring with nothing but pure horror at the lines and bruises covering my body.
Itachi had always been gentle before, but after that night, he seemed to take even more care as not to be too firm or playful around me. He always carried any bags for me and watched me for any sign of fatigue each and every day. It was nice to be in a place with two boys who were something like siblings to me, especially ones who cared so much for my wellbeing, it was something that had taken a little while to adjust to. "Yuki, you're daydreaming again." Itachi told me with mirth, poking me gently in the cheek with his chopsticks. "You still have food in your mouth."
"Itachi, it's rude to poke people, especially at the dinner table." Mikoto tittered, shaking her head at her eldest son as I blinked then continued to chew my food where I had gone off into my own little world. Mikoto and Itachi made most of the conversation until we had all finished, whereby Itachi cleaned up and I prepared to go to my evening training. Mikoto and Itachi walked me to the door, the former carrying Sasuke and when I got to the end of the path, I turned back and gave a little wave, my hair pulled back from my face in a high ponytail before I then hurried to the training grounds in order to not be late.
I arrived punctually and after a few moments, my trainers and one or two of the Uchiha elders who always came to observe my process. It was slightly daunting, but for the most part I simply ignored them and submitted myself to learning the secret techniques of the Uchiha clan which had been passed down from generation to generation. It was gruelling and arduous, being still rather young and fragile I got hurt easily but I was becoming better at defending myself.
The use of the Mangekyo Sharingan was dangerous, as it would eventually lead to blindness in an Uchiha, so I chose to never use it unless in actual combat or for specific purposes. I did not wish to become blind, but as the elders and my superiors put pressure on me to practice more with my Sharingan, I found it harder to stand my ground. They just wanted me to become the best I could possibly be, though for a long while I could not understand for what purpose. I suspected that they simply wanted a strong Uchiha to content with the rest of the village prodigies, with Itachi fast becoming a similar specialty, but I preferred less attention and only complied because it meant less confrontation for the time being.
Every night I would wander home exhausted, only to wake up before everyone else the next morning. It was in the mornings that Fugaka would accompany me, as we would walk in the same direction towards the new Leaf Police Headquarters and the training grounds. Usually we would be silent, simply walking in one another's company, however today I sensed something was gnawing at him. He was a little more twitchy and unsettled, as well as more intense than usual, however when I suddenly felt his hand upon my shoulder, I looked up to see somewhat softened eyes.
"I am sorry that so much pressure has been placed upon your shoulders, Miyuki." He told me quite unexpectedly as we came to a stop in the street. "You are doing well to bear everything the way you are, and the clan is very proud to have you. I am proud of you." My back straightened slightly, staring up at Fugaka as he then patted my shoulder. "Well then, we best be going otherwise you'll be late." Resuming his stoic character, Fugaka marched forwards, leaving me behind momentarily.
After recovering from his rather strange attempt at being understanding and sympathetic, I hurried after him and reached out my hand, taking his larger digits as they swung at his side then contentedly walked alongside him. At first he was shocked, looking down at me quickly as I held onto his hand but after recovering, did not push me away. He allowed me to continue holding his hand as he brought me back to the training grounds, and this time when he left, he paused to pat my head and wish me luck.
Fugaka was a stern person, and an even sterner father, but perhaps it was simply because he did not know how to separate the roles as chief and paternal figure. I appreciated his effort, and found myself liking him a little bit more than what I'd used to, as after all, he was the only father figure left in my life, though he remained as different to my own father as night and day.