IV.

Sasuke's birth was a Big Deal—so deserving of each capital letter—considering he was the second child of the clan head.

When the kid kicked and Mikoto's water broke in the middle of the street during one of her daily strolls, there was utter chaos. Like, complete and utter chaos, I kid you not—it may as well have been doomsday because it sure as hell felt like there would be hell to pay if things went south.

—Well, mainly for me, Shisui and Itachi, who were the only three present when the kid stubbornly decided today would be his birthday because we were keeping her company that day. And, of course, being the only girl nearby other than Mikoto, those two nimrods immediately glanced my way.

"Don't look at me!" I'd never seen or been around a woman ready to give birth in either of my two lives and it was the worst way to experience an adrenaline rush. My heart was all the way up in my throat! Did they really think I was equipped to handle something like this?! I could barely wrap my tongue around the words I needed to speak, let alone figure out how to help a woman in labor—it was hard to even look at her, strong as she was.

Poor Mikoto was on her knees, hunched over, but handling it like a pro because she hadn't made a peep yet even though her face was twisted in pain and ow ow ow I could only imagine. That boy was coming out now and he wouldn't wait for us to try to get ahold of ourselves to figure out what to do. Impatient as always.

"We gotta go get someone now! A medic! A nurse! My mom!" I grabbed Shisui's shoulders and shook him hard, trying to conduct all of my nerves and anxiety to him so he wouldn't just stand there all stupefied with wide eyes and an unhinged jaw like a useless dummy. He was the oldest here—he should have been the one picking up the slack. Pride of the Uchiha my ass!

"I—I'll go!" Itachi called, finally coming to his senses as the weight of the situation began to press down on him and worry took over his shell-shocked expression.

"No way, she's your mom! You stay here!"

"Then—I'll go. I'm the fastest of us. It's the hospital, right? Right, Auntie Mikoto?" Shisui finally gathered his bearings and pulled up his responsible face, grabbing my arms to keep me from throttling him as he looked towards our pregnant relative and ohmygod oh my god that kid was really not going to wait!

"We...we want...it to be a home—" she sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth, clutching her stomach, "—a home birth!"

There was no way in hell the woman would make it back home in that condition with the help of three kids.

"A home birth!? Go Emiko, Shisui! Go sweet's shop lady! Hell, go to get Fugaku-sama the husband!" My shrieky Japanese just got worse and worse under pressure, but somehow the mangled words were conveyed through the rising panic and urgency.

"I—right! I'll be right back!"

Meanwhile, Itachi was at his mother's side, rubbing her back and doing his best to comfort her through the pain. Model son, he was. His level-headedness was contagious—because he was so calm, my own racing heart began to quit trying to hammer its way out of my ribcage.

Wouldn't that just be great, if I had a heart attack and died right here while a totally important character was born at the same time…? I could see it now, my tombstone would read something humiliating, like:

R.I.P. Uchiha Rika: Frightened to death at the age of seven by childbirth.

But, thankfully, that wasn't the case.

I crouched near Mikoto's other shoulder and awkwardly set my hand on her back, too, tracing a gentle, hopefully soothing, pattern. "A-Auntie, hey, is there anything we can do? Help you to the house?"

Help you birth your second child publicly right here in the village, maybe?

I wanted to cry.

I never thought I'd be around to witness Sasuke's birth—and I wouldn't have been in this situation if it hadn't been for Shisui and his pushy persistence that I should hang out with Itachi more and that we should get to know each other better because we were going to start attending the Academy together soon and because I needed more friends.

I didn't need any damn friends! Especially when it involved the guy who would eventually kill me! Who in their right mind would make friends with their murderer? I mean, I didn't hate Itachi—he was one of my favorites, before and his life would already be tragic enough—and I knew this was the way things had to be, but the whole thing was just so twisted and stupid.

"N-no, just—" Mikoto made a muffled, strangled gasp of pain through gritted teeth and Itachi and I exchanged panicked glances.

"Hold on, Mom!"

"Uh, breathe! Breathe, Auntie! Just breathe!"

Shisui kept his word. Not even five minutes passed when he returned with Fugaku—just as panicked as us kids—following briskly behind. But now that I think about it, we were pretty close to the police station. If we'd been thinking clearly in the first place, that would have been the obvious place to go.

And—being the great, devoted husband he was, Fugaku picked up Mikoto and carried her all the way to the hospital (because it was way too late to go for that home birth now) like a real trooper, with a gaggle of kids following close behind. Bet we'd make great gossip for the locals when this was over.

It was a miracle we made it to the place before she burst—little Sasuke (now actually given the name) was born no less than five minutes after being admitted.

He was an ugly baby.

"He's so...little. And sweet."

There was no other way for me to describe the two-month-old brat. He just looked so damn happy and smiley, showing off his little gummy gums all the time except when he was snoozing, ever since he'd been brought home from the hospital. If I didn't have the information I did, I wouldn't believe you if you told me this baby would end up becoming such an angsty, serious and severely misled, manipulated guy in the future.

It was the first time I really felt for him, deep from my heart.

I mean, up until the day I noticed, and really noticed, just how messed up the poor kid's—and he was just a kid; they all were—life had been to make him choose such over-the-top methods that warped him into some kind of near-villain, I never thought twice about him.

During my younger years, I was never a part of the pro-Sasuke fanclub, anyway, and it took quiiiite a bit of time up until I realized and understood that anyone could have ended up that way with those kinds of things working against him. He didn't receive the guidance he needed, but when he did—when he had Team Seven—he rejected it for as long as he could for the sake of his own goals.

Well. We all know how that ended up. Everything turns out fine sooner or later when Naruto is involved.

And, hey, what's life without a little struggle?

But…he wouldn't have to deal with the beginnings of his tragic lifestyle until eight years from now. For now, he could just enjoy being a happy, tiny baby with his brother watching over him.

Itachi glanced over his shoulder, where I was hovering to get a better look at the wrinkled, fat little pink-cheeked, swaddled baby in his arms, and there was a soft, loving smile on his face. Even then, I could tell he was proud of his little bro.

Thanks to Sasuke's birth, Shisui sort of got his wish that Itachi and I spend more time together and try to become friends. Mikoto was grateful that I'd been there to help when she was in labor and invited me over to play with her new kid pretty often. Emiko thought it was a wonderful idea, because—for some reason—she was under the impression that being exposed to a baby would impose some sort of responsibility on me. In fact, I think it was partially the idea of all of the local moms, who wanted me to quit being so rowdy and finally mature up a little. How naïve could they get?

I'm just surprised they didn't expect me to end up dropping Sasuke on his head whenever I was given the chance to hold him.

Boy, would that just screw everything up.

(Or would it make things better…?)

As for Itachi, he was... I didn't really know how to describe him. He didn't talk much, but he was a gentle kid. Sweet, kind, responsible, and pretty damn cool because of it—I mean, he was only so many years old and his parents already fully trusted him to look after his baby brother without supervision—especially with me around. I was a little jealous. But...there was also just something more to him, like he didn't let the stuff beneath the surface really show. Like he was only acting how the others wanted him to—a perfect, model child. Even Shisui showed his boyish, childish side every now and then, but Itachi...

Sometimes it just felt like he wasn't really himself. And it would only get worse after he became a shinobi, burdened with his heavy fate.

If everyone could be so lucky, the only burden he should be holding was the fourteen-pounder (did I mention Sasuke was a fat baby, too) currently curled up in his arms. There was another chance to change things, just dangling right in front of me.

Oh well.

I moved around to Itachi's side and plopped down on the porch before reaching for the spiky tuft of black hair that stuck up from Sasuke's scalp, mussing it gently. It was so soft! Like cotton candy.

"Hey, how old are you, Itachi?"

The boy looked briefly surprised by the spontaneous question, but replied regardless. "I'm five."

"Ah, that's a gap, huh!" In my first life, my older brother had been six years my senior. We never really could get along up until we were both adults and finally made the attempt to understand each other better.

And when he stopped trying to drown me in the swimming pool. Some sibling.

"...You're gonna be nice to him, right?" He wouldn't be that type of brother, I knew, but I had to make sure.

His eyebrows drew together, slightly perplexed. "Of course."

"Better be."

We fell silent after that, and only Sasuke's chirpy, happy, cooing noises could be heard. He loved Itachi already, too—in fact, it was almost like I wasn't there at all and those two siblings only had eyes for each other. He was gonna follow his brother around like a baby duck just as soon as he figured out how to walk.

No baby ever looked at me like that. In fact, I'd never even held one.

I must have been scowling or something because when I glanced back at the brothers, Itachi was eyeing me strangely. "Rika...do you want to hold Sasuke?"

"Yeah!" I threw my arms out with a wide grin, even though I knew I looked like an idiot.

With care, Itachi transferred the little baby bundle over to me, muttering things about just how to hold him right, to make sure to support his neck, all that stuff. Granted, it was harder than I thought it would be to hold a heavy kid when I was so little, myself.

It wasn't really anything that special, to be honest. I'd had more fun holding a dog.

Sasuke grinned a big, toothless grin my way as he groped his little chubby baby hands at me and, despite myself, I smiled, too. What a little idiot!

But then he wrapped his fingers around a chunk of my hair that was hanging over his face and pulled.

"Ow ow ow ow, let go!" I yelped, but the sound only caused the tiny brat to increase his own shrill chirps because torturing me was apparently so much fun...!

I did my best to distance myself from him while still keeping a firm, safe hold, but that only made him strengthen his grip and keep right on tugging. And Itachi, oh Itachi had the audacity to sit there and laugh while I struggled, like he planned out the entire thing just to make me suffer.

Then—neither of us expected it to happen—Sasuke let go so suddenly that my head snapped back and smacked into the wooden banister behind me, and then, and then—

Sasuke's blanket swaddle must have come loose—and I swear it was an accident!—because the kid started to slip out of my arms before I lost hold on him completely (but thank god I was sitting)and he tumbled across the floorboards, rolling to a stop against Itachi's leg, grinning the whole time. That was the sight our moms happened upon.

Thankfully, he wasn't hurt, since the fall wasn't much of a fall at all. Emiko yelled at me anyway.

But, to my credit, I didn't drop him on his head.