Itachi was sat at the table when Sasuke came running in.

"Hey, Itachi?"

"Yes, what is it?" He didn't even look up.

"Can we go practice today?"

"I can't today, Sasuke. I'm sorry."

"You're always too busy. Father is always too busy. I have no one to practice with."

"I'm sure when Saori is old enough to start using jutsu she will practice with you."

"No she won't. She will end up training with you. She prefers you, just like everyone else does."

"What makes you say that? She can't have said it because she doesn't even talk yet."

"She's always wanting piggy back rides and follows you around everywhere. It's obvious you're her favourite brother." He was sulking. He didn't realise but Saori had overheard everything. Despite not talking yet, she fully understood everything he said. She walked in and looked directly at him, held out her arms indicating she wanted him to pick her up, even though he was not that much bigger than her. He just stared back. "Itachi is always the one who picks you up, he's big enough to." She shook her head in protest.

"Sasuke." Her voice was soft and sweet.

"Are you still sure she prefers me? Her first words were your name, not mine." Itachi looked over this time. "Just pick her up, you can do it." Her wide black eyes looked up at him and he couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart, which only grew when she smiled at him. He picked her up and hugged her, and she clung on for a while. She loved being picked up by her brothers. Itachi came over and gave them both that special forehead poke which was his way of saying 'I love you'. Seeing Itachi do this, she then copied and did it gently to both of them, then turned back to Sasuke.

"I think she's expecting you to do it too, haha." Itachi laughed. It wasn't often that he laughed, but when he did, it was usually because of Saori.

"Oh. Right." Sasuke finally did the forehead poke to Saori, then she looked back and forth between the two brothers.

"Go ahead." Itachi pointed to the centre of his forehead. Sasuke obliged and Saori cheered and clapped her hands.

"Well, she's happy. I have to get back to work. Why don't you take her outside and play?" Itachi dove straight back into his work, Sasuke nodded and smiled at Saori. The two went out to play. That night was about to change everything.

As if the attack of the nine tails five years prior wasn't bad enough, now Matatabi was on a rampage. He was in the Uchiha compound in Konoha.

"Itachi, look after your brother and Saori!" Mikoto instructed. Fugaku was already in battle with the two tailed fire cat. As the head family of the clan, everyone looked to them to stop the beast and save the clan and the village. Itachi and Sasuke watched on as their parents fought this demon.

From out of nowhere, Saori was stood in front of the two tails. The shinobi were frozen with shock and fear, worried that if they moved then the beast would kill her. Matatabi let out a roar."

"Rwar!!" Saori growled cutely. Matatabi's ears pricked up. He let out a breath of fire. Saori made some hand signs, she had used her sharingan to copy the fire. Gasps filled the air, and everyone looked to Fugaku. He gritted his teeth.

"Now is our chance!" Before she knew what was going on, chains went through her body and attached to Matatabi. They performed the sealing jutsu. Saori screamed in pain before losing consciousness.

The next day the family tried to carry on as normal. However, it would prove impossible. Fugaku no longer saw a child, whom he wasn't really close with as it was, but now all he could see was a demon who had killed his friends and comrades. He was even more distant with her than before, borderline refusing to acknowledge her existence to avoid stirring the anger and hatred within. The family then went out into the town but before they could even get to the end of the street, they noticed everyone was staring, resentment in their eyes, all fixed on Saori. There was also a hint of fear, which only fuelled their hatred further. Over the next two years, Saori had become used to being an outcast. Children would often call her a freak and avoid her at all costs, she had no friends. They even went so far as to throw things at her, but she never retaliated. She never even questioned it, she understood she was different. She often spent her time on the outskirts of the village, playing with wild animals, or spying on her brothers' training sessions. At night, when she couldn't sleep, she would sneak out and mimic everything she had seen them do, to a point of mastering it. All she wanted, was her father's acknowledgment.

One morning, Sasuke went to wake her up for breakfast.

"Itachi, Saori won't get up."

"I'll get her." He went to her room and attempted to wake her, but then he noticed something was wrong. There was blood all over her pillow and around her mouth, strange bruises all over her and her temperature was extremely high. He rushed her to a doctor.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"I'm afraid not. I believe it's the work of the two tails trapped inside her. She mustn't be compatible with its chakra and it's fighting to get out. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do for her, except make her last moments as comfortable as possible. Inform your father he needs to prepare a new jinchuriki." Itachi held back the tears of frustration. That night he argued with his father. Saori only heard pieces.

"So you're just going to let her die?!" He screamed.

"It is what it is, she brought this on herself." He said calmly. She heard Itachi break something.

"She's your daughter!"

"I have no daughter." Fugaku said coldly. Itachi felt a strange sensation run through him, like he was going to be sick.

"If it wasn't for her, we'd all be dead."

"That may be. But she is still a threat to us and the village. She won't be able to control it, so she's of no use to us. The best thing she can do for us, is to die quietly." Itachi would have retaliated but he knew Saori was listening, so he remained silent and walked away, this time.

Not long after, Saori was playing late at night when she overheard some of the Uchiha making a plan to take over the hidden leaf village. They were even planning to use Saori to do so. Panicked she ran straight to Itachi to tell him what she had heard. He in turn relayed it to Danzō. Danzō then gave him an ultimatum. Itachi chose the latter and that night, he massacred the Uchiha clan, with the help of Obito. However, back at their home, Saori was about to get Sasuke, as per Itachi's instruction, as she opened the door she saw two figures looming over Sasuke, kunai at the ready. She screamed and fire shot through the air like knives, killing the two assailants. When she opened her eyes, Sasuke was unharmed, but the bodies of her parents lay there, covered in blood, their soulless eyes staring at her. Itachi had come home.

"Itachi... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ... I..."

"You did what you had to, to protect your brother."

"Why? Why were they going to kill him?"

"They were going to kill you too. They knew you had overheard their plan."

"What now?"

"Run. Run as fast as you can and get far away from here."

"Itachi...?"

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes..." She left but stopped in her tracks once she got to the streets and saw all the bloodied bodies of her clan. "Itachi?" He had followed her out. She began hitting him, not hard enough for it to hurt. "What did you do?"

"One day, when you're older, I'll tell you. But for now, just do as I say. Run. Run and survive." That was the last she would see of him or Sasuke for a long time. She did as he said, without looking back, she ran and ran. She kept running even after the surroundings became unfamiliar.

"So you see, Sasuke. The Uchiha clan were planning a coup d'etat against the hidden leaf, because they wanted father to become the fourth Hokage, but to add insult to injury, we were all moved to this compound, on the outskirts of the village, kept under surveillance as they believed that we, as a clan, were behind the nine tails attack all those years ago. That was the final straw for our clan. There were Uchiha acting as double agents within the Anbu black ops, and some of them believed that a coup would result in a world war. Upon consulting with Danzō, Itachi had a choice to make. Either allow the coup to take place and the inevitable eradication of the Uchiha in turn, or do the deed himself and be able to spare us. Don't you see, he did it to save us."