a/n: Hello everybody! This is the first chapter of my third bibliography fic. I hope enjoy this one as much as the last one. Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto series and Uchiha Itachi. They belong to Kisha-san! Also, please tell me if there are typographical errors, grammatical errors and misspelling in these two chapters. The grammar and spelling check in my Word is not working…please bear with me…Thank you

I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
I'm forced to fake
A smile, a laugh everyday of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with

Chapter One: The Uchiha Clan

Even before I was born into this world, my life was already written. Long before I was born, I was expected to be a lot of things. To be the greatest head of the Uchiha family, that is what I was referred to. What they anticipate of me was the same, and perhaps even greater, for any future head of the clan; to be smart, skilled, talented, gifted, and, of course, to have mastered the sharingan at a very young age.

Like what the seers and fortune tellers have predicted, I was to be born on the ninth day of the sixth moon in the year of the rabbit. I was born the same way every head of the Uchiha was born; in the presence of the entire clan, the council, and the Hokage himself. I was given the finest clothes, the warmest blanket, and the freshest milk. I was offered the most expensive toys and attention anyone could need. I was given everything a child could ever need, and yet they still failed to give me some things.

And at the same time, they wanted me to be everything, the perfect child; obedient, skilled, smart, artistic and having a dream to be like his father. I was raised to be like that. They brought me up in that I never understood the word play and friends. I was given, all right, but I never really got to play with them, not once. I used them in a way that my family would be proud of me. I was cautious all that time. I needed to show my brilliance and my ingenuity in my 'play'. And the only thing that me happy was to see my clan pleased with what I was doing.

The Uchiha clan was considered one of the most powerful in Konoha. It is said that one of the ancestors of the Uchiha clan founded the Konoha Military Police, and the organization itself largely consisted of members of the Uchiha clan until recently, that is. We are skilled in fire jutsus like Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Technique. And of course, we possess the Sharingan; a powerful kekkei genkai giving us unrivaled insight, among other benefits. But, I always ask myself, is the Sharingan a gift or a curse?

My father, Fugaku, was the head of the Uchiha Clan and the Konoha Military Force. He was a very stern man. He ruled with an iron fist. He always liked to play favorites among his men, and especially among his children. I was afraid of him but I always try, even now, to make myself believe that he loved me. He would scold me if I wasn't able to accomplish the task he assigned to me. I hear him talk to his subordinates with authority and firmness.

Every morning, ever since I can remember my oto-san would take me out in the fields and watch me practice. He first taught be basic taijutsus. He told me I learn quicker than he expected of me. He was very proud of me. I knew because he often bragged about me to his fellow ninjas and relatives. Of course, there were time when he just wasn't quite pleased with my performance.

I wasn't really quite good at throwing kunais.To be honest, I sucked at it.It took me nearly three months to be able to hit the bull's eye fifty times in a row. I would often receive a lot of spanking and scolding. But, I got use to it anyway. Still, I tried my very best to please him. I practiced evry single waking monent for nearly a month. I even skipped meals. I was so tired everyday that oka-san carried me from the entrance of our home to my room.

Sometimes, he talked about pleasant things. He would tell me how beautiful the sun is everytime rises in the morning behind the mountain ranges. He would then tell me how sunlight would slowly melt away the dark and coldness of the night. And sometimes, he would tell me stories.

One spring night, while sipping green tea, my oto-sama told a story. It really didn't have much meaning to them, but now, I treasure that story in my memory. It was about a samurai and a kunoichi who trully loved each other. They meet secretly in the forest under a tree that bore white flowers and they would talk for hours there. One night in spring, the lovers were both sent by their leaders to fight. The two promised to see each other again. But in the battle, the ninja unknowingly fatally injured her lover. And when she returned to the promised place, she saw him barely alive. With his last bit of strength, he whispered into her ear, "I love you". He then died in her arms. It was only then did she realize that she was the one that killed him. She stabbed herself with a katana immediately. After a year, the flowers of the tree where the lovers met bloomed, not white but pink, from the blood of the two star-crossed lovers. That is how the cherry blossom tree came to be. It is a symbol of everlasting love.

"I know it's a cheezy story."

"I don't know," she replied. "Kinda liked it though I think I heard it somewhere before."

"Oto-san told me that story. I don't really know why."

"Really? Your dad told you that story. I thought-"

"Are gonna listen still going to listen to my story?"

Real affection, it was one the things I was trully short of. Oto-san never really kissed me or hugged. He never, not once, told me he loved me. He could only tell me he was proud of me. But my mother, if not the opposite, she was unlike my father. It was also an enigma to me how the two of them could stay together in the same house. She had a very sweet voice and gentle nature. It is very hard to imagine that she is a jounin that completed many class A missions. She would carefully tend my wounds and kiss them. And surprisingly, the pain would all go away. She would always cook very delicious meals. The meals she would cook would always hit the right spot. I wouldn't be to full but I wouldn't be hungry, just satisfied.

And at night, before I go to sleep she would often read me a bedtime story. I remember some; the one about a princess and a frog, another about a cat wearing boots, and my favorite was about a puppet who became a real boy. And after the story, she would sing me a lullaby. It is very nice. Sometimes even up to now, I can still hear the wind hum the same tune.

"Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high, there's a land
That I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue and the dreams
That you dare to dream
Really do come true…"

After she sings the song three times, I would fall asleep. No matter how bad my day was, no matter how many cuts and bruises I got that day, my day would be all right just as long as she would sing that song to me. And now, looking back that was one of the things I loved about my childhood. It was one of the very few things trully made me happy.

As I have told, I don't really have a lot of happy things from my childhood. Aside from oka-san, a young boy made me smile. I don't really remember how he looked like but I see him in my memories as a boy wearing goggles. Whenever I saw him, I saw big smile on his face, much like kyuubi's vessel's stupid smile. I think he was my uncle. And I can't quite remember his name though, Omito, Habito or was it Obato. I don't really remember. I remember him because basically he was nice to me and well…he treated me like a kid. He made me laugh sometimes. Sometimes, he almost makes me cry. He would tease me and it even reached the point that he pissed me off.

During the summer when my father was out on missions, he would visit my house and bring a few weapons and show of his techniques to me, although, what I did most of the time was laugh at him for almost killing himself. And then after that, we would go to the store two blocks away from our house and buy shakes, juices, iced candy, dried mangoes, green and red dumplings, anything that his money could buy. Then, we would go to the roof of our house and watch the people in our neighbourhood. We would stay there until the sun sets.

I was three, I think, when I met him. Even though he showed me a lot of his techniques, not once did I ever see him use the sharingan. I don't if had already awakened his sharingan and did not want to use it or he still wasn't able to awaken his sharingan. Thinking back, I realize that I have been together with him for only two years. After I became five, I never saw him again. And I have no idea what happened to him since then.

That boy was, I could say, my very first friend. He was one of the very few friends that I had. Sure, a lot of people wanted to be with me but it was either because I was an Uchiha or they were afraid of me. To put it simply, my childhood was basically pathetic. I thought I had everything I need. I never realized how empty my childhood was. I wasted my childhood doing things a child need not do. I missed a lot, but the irony is I never realized I missed it.

I never had a chance to laugh someone for tripping on the ground, to be laughed by someone for falling face first in a puddle of mud, to bully, be bullied and cry, to play hide-and-seek and realize you got yourself lost, and to accidentally break your favourite toy and let your father fix it for you. My childhood life was already complicated then; I carry by clan's burden and I was expected to think like a grown up. I wish there was a moment in my childhood when any wound or pain could be healed just by a striped-blue band-aid and a chocolate flavoured lollipop.

I used to believe that prodigies were more privileged than regular kids. I believe that the regular kids missed a lot, not knowing it was the other way around. I believed that I was already happy with my life then. I now realize that prodigies don't really get what they need to make them happy in life. I have realized that there was more to life than becoming a prodigy.

a/n: That was the first chapter of this fic. Anyway, I would like to thank wikipedia for the information on the Uchiha clan. I hope you enjoy this one the second chappie will be uploaded quite soon. Anyway, comments, suggestion, violent reactions? Please leave them in the review section. And oh, if there are any conflicts in fiction with the anime please do tell me. I would appreciate it. 'til next time!

P.S. Itachi's b-day is June 9 right? The ninth day of the sixth moon is June 9. I just want it to sound cooler. Bu you guys already figured that out…The legend of the cherry blossom I made it up myself. The real legend was short and a bit boring. (Once, there was princess that came down from heaven. To cushion her fall, she landed on a tree. That tree became the first sakura tree…)