I never recalled when I fell asleep, only that Shisui had me in his arms at one point and the next I was bolting upright at the sound of yelling. I looked out my window to see it was dark out, meaning I had been asleep for a while, several hours at least. Itachi and Shisui were gone by this point, though I could feel their lingering chakra if I focused. More shouting drew my attention. It was Mother and Father.

I had heard them argue before, most people in relationships do, but it was nothing like this. Mother rarely raised her voice, but now she was screaming at Father. I had mentioned once that I was a very curious child. Right now, that curiosity was peaking.

I muffled my chakra and creeped out of my room and down the hall towards the noise. I did not dare to get too close, but now I could hear what they were fighting about.

"She's two! Two years old, Eiji!"

"She's a prodigy and you know it! She needs to learn now while she can!"

"It should be supervised and suited for her age! Our daughter had chakra exhaustion! She cut her head open practicing something she had never been taught before because you told her too! She could have killed herself instead of suffering blood loss!"

"She doesn't have enough chakra to do any damage." There was a crash of something breaking and then Mother was shrieking at Father.

"Chakra sensitivity! Does it ring any bells!" She screamed. "She can feel it well enough to direct it forcefully!"

I crept back into my room, thoughts whirling.

In the safety of my bed I began to sort out my thoughts. According to Mother I had been in danger. Danger caused by Father's lack of explanation. If Shisui and Itachi had not shown up when they did, things could have turned out very differently. And I had never even thought about it.

I knew chakra exhaustion was bad and could be very dangerous, but I had never thought about it before.

An icy feeling grew in my stomach as I recalled what Father had told me before he left.

"Itachi and Shisui would be proud of you if you could do this. They already can."

Only now did I see the bitterness and jealousy in his words. He was jealous of his older brother having a prodigy for a son. Jealous that his brother-in-law had a prodigy for a son. Two boys, both hailed as prodigies from a young age.

I was his daughter. A girl, and both smaller and weaker than the two boys due to my age. But Father did not care.

The Curse of Hatred.

My stomach rolled before I finally fell back into an uneasy sleep.

The next time I woke up it was morning. The house was quiet but I could sense Mother in the kitchen. I climbed out of bed and walked towards her.

Mother was sitting at the table, papers strewn before her, and a cup of tea sat near her. She must have brought her work home with her. Slowly I began to recall things that should have been obvious to me.

When I was younger and had gotten sick, it was mother who had stayed home. When I could not stop crying, it had been mother who held me, trying to comfort me.

When I had been born and father had held me, I knew there was love in his eyes, but at some point, that love had turned corrupt. I knew he still loved us and would never hurt us purposely, but Father was not the Father I thought he was.

"Mama!" Mother, no, she was Mama, looked surprised when I darted in and threw myself at her, hugging her. But she gamely hugged me back. I looked up at her.

"Mama, I love you." The smile that stretched across her face had me smiling back. She looked so happy just then, and it was only then that I realized, I had never told Mama outright that I loved her.

"I love you too, Hitomi, my sweet, beautiful eyes."

While Mama worked, I sat on her lap, eating some leftover miso soup. I watched her work, curious, but more hungry for the time being. Once I finished my breakfast, however, it was fair game.

"Mama?"

"Hm?" She paused in her reading to look at me.

"I can't read. Will you teach me?" She blinked, slightly taken back, but agreed none the less. On one condition though.

"I'll teach you, but only if you tell me why."

"I'm curious." And it was the honest truth. However, Mama, for some reason, started laughing.

"Of course, my curious little kitten."

"I like kittens." That brought out a whole new wave of laughter. I was not sure why, but that was ok. I had never heard Mama laugh so much. I needed to spend more time with Mama.

Mama patiently went over each and every word. Most of it was in hiragana, so it was easier to understand for me. Mama said when I was a little older she would teach me kanji.

"Too much at once will burn your brain." She told me, and I nodded, remembering cramming for exams in college. So much information at once had left me a zombie for days.

Writing would come later, maybe in a few days, when I had a basic understanding of the words.

My process felt slow, almost aggravatingly so. If I had not been enjoying spending time with Mama, I knew I would have been beyond frustrated. As it was, Mama decided it was time for a lunch break.

"I am not a prodigy of reading." I told her seriously, she did not laugh this time, but Mama still smiled.

"But you are still very quick at learning." I could pick out names and words like of, the, no, yes and some numbers and colors. Everything else left me at a loss.

"Only because Mama is teaching me." I was rewarded with another Mama laugh.