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A large majority of her toys look like ninja tools.

Rubber shuriken. Wooden kunai.

She has no illusions about her future. She knows she's going to be a shinobi – she doesn't have a choice in the matter. For all it was never actually addressed in canon, she knows that Itachi didn't either.

Itachi was the son of the Clan Head of one of the Founding Shinobi Clans of a Shinobi Village and as much as she may not wish it, that same role is now hers. She's come to terms with it. Mostly. The part about becoming a ninja anyway. The rest of it…she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it.

For now, she chews on the rubber shuriken because her gums hurt and she's tired of crying over everything. Though she now has a new understanding of the suffering teething infants go through – her mouth aches constantly and she only feels relief when she's chewing on something. The best thing though, is when Mikoto puts a chilled spoon in her mouth and presses down gently on her gums. It's heaven.

She is very glad that she doesn't remember this from the first time around and she prays that her teeth finish coming in soon.

She hates baths.

Well, that's not entirely true.

She likes baths, loves them even. Or at least she did Before. She still likes the way the warm water feels against her skin and how relaxing it can be. But it's harder to enjoy that part now.

So it's not so much that she hates baths; more like she hates being naked.

When she's wearing clothes, when she's covered, she can pretend. She can ignore the weight between her legs that's not supposed to be there because she can't see it. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. But during bath time, there's nothing for her to hide behind, nothing she can use to protect herself from the knowledge that her body isn't really hers.

And she hates that.

So, in turn, bath time become something she hates as well.

Mikoto notices of course and asks her about it like any parent would. Not to say that she makes bath time difficult, but she becomes noticeably unhappy and given how the beginning of this life went, Itachi's mother is reasonably concerned.

"What's wrong, Ita-chan?" Mikoto asks as she glares down at her lap through the water.

She blinks and turns her eyes towards the woman, staring for a long moment, debating on what to say.

Finally, she says, "W'ong," and points down at her lap.

Mikoto's brow furrows in confusion. "Is something wrong with the water, sweetie? Is it too warm?"

She shakes her head. "I w'ong," she says seriously, "No boy no."

Mikoto's confusion doesn't dissipate and her lips tug down at the corners. "What do you mean, Itachi?"

"I gul," she says, "Like Kaa."

Mikoto blinks and then, to her frustrated disappointment, the woman laughs. "No, no, silly, Ita-chan," she says with a fond smile, "You're a boy – like Tou-chan."

She shakes her head because that's wrong, because Mikoto doesn't understand, because she's not a boy and never will be. Her eyes sting and her throat burns and she wants to scream in anger and disappointment. She pushes back the tears because she's cried enough, damnit, and this is a ridiculous reason to start crying in the first place. She's an infant, a toddler – of course Mikoto doesn't understand what she's trying to say. She doesn't have the words to communicate what she means yet.

That doesn't stop the betrayal that lances through her heart even as Mikoto tries to sooth her.

"It's okay, Ita-chan," Mikoto says, "You can still be like Kaa-chan if you want."

That's not what she wants.

She wants to be a girl and she knows that it isn't Mikoto's fault that she doesn't understand. It's not anyone's fault. It's not. And yet.

She doesn't bring it up again.

The next time Mikoto asks her what's wrong at bath time, she simply shrugs and says, "No like baf."

She doesn't like the Elders.

Two of them came over for some reason or another; she didn't care enough to pay attention. Fugaku is Clan Head and that meant meetings upon meetings upon meetings. They disappear into the study and she forgets they're there, content to play games with Mikoto.

It's when they leave and catch sight of her that she starts paying them any attention.

Because the way they are looking at her is…not how one looks at a child.

There is awe in gaze, curiosity and wonder. But there is also something that looks a little too much like hunger in their expressions.

"So this is little Itachi-kun, then," one says, watching her with intense eyes.

She reaches for Mikoto without even thinking and the woman snatches her up, cradling her close to her chest as she rises to her feet, eyes hard and lips set in a displeased line. Fugaku, too, looks less than pleased.

"Yes, this is my son," he says and she'd have to be deaf not to hear the emphasis there.

For the briefest of moments, she swears Fugaku's eyes flash crimson.

The Elders startle, tearing their eyes away from her, smiles a little too kind to be genuine spreading across their faces.

"He's wonderful, Fugaku-dono," the other Elder says, "You must be proud."

"I am," Fugaku says shortly, "Now if that's all, it's getting rather late."

The dismissal is clear.

"Of course, Fugaku-dono," says the first Elder, "We won't take up any more of your time."

The pair of them bow and Fugaku sees them out.

"Fugaku," Mikoto starts when he returns, her brow furrowed.

Fugaku releases a slow breath. "I know."

She frowns as the tone. She doesn't know enough about current politics to know what's going on. The Uchiha aren't already suffering so terribly that they need to pin their hopes on a toddler are they?

"You never should have told them about Itachi's eyes," Mikoto says, thought there is no heat in her voice.

Fugaku just tips his head in acknowledgement, expression resigned.

Her brow furrows. Her eyes? What about them? Why would anyon –

Oh.

Oh.

She's an Uchiha.

She's an Uchiha, which means she has the Sharingan.

A power that was activated under emotionally stressful circumstances and an upgrade that came with witnessing the death of the person you loved most in the world.

She swallows at the implications.

"Tou?" she calls and she can't quite keep the quiver out of her voice even as she holds out a hand for him, the other firmly anchored in Mikoto's shirt.

Fugaku's eyes soften and he takes her hand. "Everything's alright, Itachi."

Her fingers curl around his thumb as she nods. "No like," she says.

Fugaku blinks before his lips curl up slightly. "I can't say I like them very much either," he agrees.

"Play?" she asks, hopeful. She doesn't like what those Elders brought into the room, the grim shadow that entered Fugaku's eyes or the stiff anger that entered Mikoto's. She wants it gone.

"Yeah, Tou-chan," Mikoto says, her voice light and her expression open again, "Play with us."

Fugaku sighs, but there's fond amusement in his expression. "If I must."

"Yes," she says imperiously, making Mikoto laugh and a smile bloom on Fugaku's face.

That's better.

Just wanted to add a little note here about the Red Eyes of Doom, in case anyone was wondering about the way I've handled.

In canon, it's stated that they're activated under emotional stress and then upgraded when you kill the most important person to you. I've always found a flaw in this explanation because Itachi got Mangekyō as a result of Shisui's death, but Itachi didn't actually kill him - just watched him commit suicide. Now it's entirely possible that Itachi felt like he was the cause because he wasn't able to stop Shisui and that's what triggered the eyeball upgrade. But Itachi still never killed him.

So that's where the idea that witnessing the death of Most Important Person = Eyeball Upgrade.

Until next time,

~Elri