Days passed by in a blur as my small mind compartmentalised itself and tried to adjust to the situation, making sense of as much as possibly could be made sense of. It was jarring to suddenly understanding the possibility that all this was real and the script was diverting itself, that I was the change in the script and the potential ripples that could have on the rest of the story. For now, at least, I was content in accepting that Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi were real living breathing people and not just some characters with a preset destiny.
"Even if they were, more than likely, still destined to die..."
I'm not going to entertain any crazy ideas of making everything right, of fixing the fixable or even trying to maintain peace; because no matter what I do this world will try and rip it away. I'm no Naruto and his optimism, no Sasuke and his pessimism; I'm just me. And right now all I want to do is survive and live as long as I can, maybe that's selfish but as a baby in a completely useless body I'm powerless to hope for any better. I've already started on building muscles where I can, clenching my little hands into fists and trying to pump my little legs into working the way I want them to. I shouldn't have to worry about being called a prodigy, I'm an Uchiha and younger sibling to Itachi; I'm expected to progress quicker. Of which I'm taking full advantage of, surviving means being strong and being strong involves being able to defend yourself here. So to defend myself I need this body to move and act as I want, it needs to be fit and healthy and respond how it should. It'll be hard work but at least it is a focus, something I sorely need else boredom might consume me.
If I had to guess I'm probably about 2 months old, give or take a bit either side. That gives me plenty of time to grow and strengthen, that also means Itachi probably isn't all that much older than me. Given the way he smiles and the way he acts he probably hasn't experienced the hell of the battlefield or even started serious training. He's old enough to know some words, but can't hold me without sitting down or support from an adult. He can walk, run and understand on a level that really shouldn't be possible but he's not called a prodigy later on for nothing. I can't pinpoint an exact age but can safely say he is over a year old, that means that Sasuke is a way off and by the time he comes around I'll be well on my way to survival and still have many years before the bigger events occur. That places me in a good point of time, well before all hell is unleashed, though I'm hoping I might be able to conveniently avoid most of it by being outside of Konoha. However enough musing Itachi has just come into my nursery and is babbling nonsense at me, I don't even entertain him. I'm still struggling to come to terms with the reality of this all, of the connections I might form and lose and come to hate with time. But I do turn my head and acknowledge him, earning excited squeaks and a hand gripping tightly onto mine; contact that is slowly worming him into my stone heart. He continues to babble excitedly, still reaching to hold my hand no doubt on tiptoes to try and scale the crib-like bed. A small giggle escapes my lips and silence follows.
"Was that...me?"
Immediately Itachi is running from the room whilst I am stunned into silence, pushing away any thoughts of what that noise could mean for me and my connection to this world. Soon enough Mikoto is being dragged through my door by an eager Itachi, one arm eagerly pointing at me and making big gestures accompanied by small laughter-like sounds that I assume are examples. Mikoto looks up at me expectantly and I gulp, suddenly feeling clammy and un-wanting of all the attention directed towards me. Mikoto's face falls a little with sadness and her eyes seem to cloud, Itachi still insisting that it had happened and he wasn't lying. My heart ached, seeing the defeat in his eyes and in Mikoto's face.
"I did that...I caused that."
Too real, this is all too real. When Itachi suddenly jolted and moved towards me, arms reaching out to climb the crib I realised too late what he was trying to do, soon enough he was in the crib with me tickling my feet. I tried I really did, but soon giggles burst forth from my mouth and Itachi joined me in drowning out everything with delightful squeals. When finally he was pulled away by Mikoto I could see the gleam of happiness in both their eyes, and the relief in hers as she pulled me up too and held us both close to her uttering words of nonsense that I only assumed were thankful prayers.
"Why does everyone look at me in relief?"
The thought faded like so many others, but lingered just long enough to plant a seed of self doubt in the front of my mind. Another puzzle piece that pulled me towards this new reality, and the small part of me that wanted to make connections with this reality.
More days passes, weeks to be precise. Each brought new challenges in accepting this new world, each were populated by the three who were now my family. They entertained me and taught me subtly, from simple games such as how many times I can grab a finger with each hand to how long can I focus on one object. It all helped speed up my development which helped my ultimate aim of survival, and for this I'd always be grateful. Somehow my heart was accepting these people, this life and letting down its guard. However the world was determined to throw a spanner in the works.
It all started one day when I became more aware of It. It being something I couldn't quite understand. It existed everywhere, in and around everything. Blanketing the world and, even sometimes, feeling like It was choking me. The overwhelming feeling of being drowned in sensation, of having something heavy like water in my lungs scared me. I screamed. And didn't stop screaming till my lungs hurt and the pain was stronger than the feeling of drowning, until my tears made my eyes sting and the rocking of arms lead to me falling asleep from exhaustion. This happened every night, every time I was tired and starting to fall asleep It took advantage and began to fill my every pore and fibre. It was terrifying and I didn't even know what It was, all my old memories of this world still didn't help when I was so terrified of It. Now I knew this world wanted to kill me, because it had sent It after me.
"What did I do to deserve this?"
END OF CHAPTER 3: DROWNING
Key:
"Thoughts"
Inner Guidance
"Speech"
One Horizontal Line = Time Passing
Author's Note:
Hey there again! I know the chapters are quite short at the moment but please bear with me, the story is still building and later chapters will likely be a whole lot longer. I'm constantly writing and rewriting chapters before they are posted and any errors I spot are fixed or corrected. I like to take pride in my writing and enjoy knowing people like to read my writing also.
A big thank you to both of my guest reviewers and any followers/favourites! Your support makes this story possible!
So here's till next time,
Enjoy,
K-Chan x
