Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

CHAPTER 1:

Yesterday was the day Sumiko died.

Or so she thought. All she knew was that she had been in a dark room with only one window squeezed shut, the curtains drawn close to make sure she wouldn't even feel a beam of sunshine. There had been no respite for her, no matter how much she had tried to stay positive. She could remember the man's voice in the shadowed glow of the room, calling out her name in a raspy croak. She could still feel the cold tip of a cocked gun on her forehead, the cartridge exactly one bullet empty, instead lodging in the bones of her leg. She remembered the goose bumps on her skin, the feeling of blood rushing through her veins, cold with terror. She remembered the raging pain in the calf of her leg, blood gushing out in torrents.

Sumiko recalled the last moments of her life as she stared into the dark abyss of the man's eyes and thought about what the future might have in store for her. She had turned to the bracelet in her hand – a gift from her father – before closing her eyes. She didn't want the last sight of her life to be the cold, bottomless pits in her captor's eyes.

She heard the gun being cocked and recalled one of the last good memories she had. In her last moments, she remembered her father interrupting her as she was watching her favourite anime series, remembered how he had given her the cheap bracelet. It was a worthless little thing, nothing in comparison to the amount of precious things she owned. It was funny how the bracelet would be her last happy moment before everything came to an end.

She gave a small smile at the irony just before the gun went off and everything disappeared.

…

The next thing she knew, her body was cold and uncomfortable. She could feel the wind against her body but it didn't feel quite right. There was something wrong. She couldn't feel her limbs. Everything felt wrong, like it just wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Sumiko's heart raced. There was a ringing in her ears.

It took a moment for the memories to settle in, a moment for the panic to finally rise. It was only then that she heard the sound of crying. Was she dead? Were the angels mourning her death? Was that the crying she had heard? Somehow, she doubted it. She hadn't been good enough or kind enough in her life. She would be happy if she simply went to heaven.

Sumiko felt her body being lifted and placed gently on what felt like a soft blanket. She thought maybe the wrong thing she was feeling was her soul but she couldn't be sure. An arm brushed against hers and she turned to see a blur of a woman resting beside her. Was she one of the deceased too?

Something wrapped around her and she squirmed, trying to get away but the thing tightened. It was only a second before a warm feeling encased her and she didn't care anymore. She let the feeling wrap her in a cocoon and closed her eyes, letting sleep carry her away to whatever awaited her at the end of the road.

…

She was about three weeks old when she began to understand what exactly was going on around her. It was only then that she figured out she had actually been reincarnated – because how in hell (pun not intended) was she supposed to guess that – as a baby. By the next few days, she had found out that wherever she was born, it was definitely not an English speaking country. If she was not wrong and hadn't forgotten the little Spanish and French that she knew, it wasn't either Spain or France. The language sounded distinctly Asian to her, from what she could make out with those tiny ears of hers. It was only when she was a month older than she guessed the language to be Japanese and suddenly, she was glad for all the anime she used to watch in her previous life.

By the time she was about one year old, she could properly make out words and understand them. That was also when she almost got a mental heart attack. One day, she had just been sleeping peacefully in her crib or rather trying to sleep with a crying baby around (who even was the annoying kid?) when she saw a man walking in.

She wondered how she had never noticed it before. Maybe she just wasn't paying attention. At any rate, the moment she glanced at him, a wave of recognition passed through her. The metallic headband was gleaming on his forehead, sunlight flashing off it to make shapes on the curtains. He was wearing a bulky green vest with enough pockets to carry around a bunch of stationery and keychains. It really should have been apparent to her before. Maybe the blood on his face gave her the clue, maybe the bright red splotches jogged her brain to remember what she had seen in her previous life because that was the moment Sumiko realized she was in grave trouble.

The man was a shinobi. Specifically, the man was a konoha shinobi. Now, she was glad for being born in one of the safest villages of the Naruto universe but it seemed fate had other things in store, for it was then that she recognised who exactly the man was. Sharp eyebrows, long dark hair falling around the eyes, the umbrella-like symbol on the sleeve. It was obvious, really. It was Uchiha Fugaku and he was her father.

This was bad. Reincarnation was one thing. Reincarnation into the Naruto anime was another. But reincarnating as an Uchiha and a sister to Itachi and Sasuke was on an entirely other level.

Following Fugaku was a small boy with a headband of his own, eyes smiling down at her. The skin around his eyes crinkled, long lashes brushing against his cheeks. There was something about the boy that tugged at her.

Both of them stopped in front of the two cribs and Fugaku began, "Sumiko-chan, Sasuke-kun, how are you two doing?" He was smiling down at them, eyes gliding from one crib to another. Sumiko just stared ahead, eyes wide. Sasuke. He said Sasuke. This proved that the crying kid beside her was her 'brother'. And he was Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. She wanted to laugh out loud. She really had horrible luck, didn't she?

That meant that the boy in front of her was Itachi. With her lips slightly parted, she turned to look at him to find him staring back at her. Heart thumping, she tucked her face under the blankets, cheeks turning pink.

Itachi. Uchiha Itachi. That was actually Uchiha Itachi himself. She shook her head and the blanket rustled on top. Her baby fingers pushed down the blanket so she could take a little peek outside. She could hear Sasuke gurgling beside her, crying or laughing, she couldn't be sure. All she could do was stare at Itachi with wide eyes, heart thumping in her chest.

His dark eyes bore into hers, as if gauging her and suddenly she was afraid. What if he figured it out? What if he found out that she wasn't exactly a normal baby? What would he do?

She tucked herself in again, knowing she was trying to hide from her problems. In a bit of a literal way.

All of a sudden, Sumiko felt herself being lifted and the next thing she knew, she was in her father's arms. "What's wrong, Sumiko? Are you scared? What are you scared of?" He asked. "Remember, the Uchiha don't get scared. You are an Uchiha, aren't you?"

No. No, she wasn't. She didn't want to be. Why couldn't she be born in literally any other family? Any other family would do. Why the Uchiha?

She brought up a hand to push him away. She did not enjoy being right in his face. 'Move away', she wanted to say but all that came out was a gurgling sound. 'Don't come so close, Uchiha-san', she tried again, but to no avail.

Instead, he gave her a smile, brushing his forehead against hers. Sumiko decided to try another tactic.

She began to cry.

…

"Sumiko!" Sasuke's voice called out to her, opening the door to her room with a prior knock. "Let's train for some time. Nii-san is home too so you can sweet talk him in training us."

Sumiko closed the book she was reading to look up at her brother. His eyes were sparkling, excitement visible in his twitching fingers.

She grinned. "He's finally home, is he?"

Within the next moment, the two siblings were out into the hallway, grinning from ear to ear. The moment Sumiko's eyes landed on her brother, she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around her older brother's torso.

Itachi gave her a fond smile, eyes crinkling in amusement. Sasuke hung back, awkwardly waiting for her to finish showering their brother with affection. As a "man", he had too much pride to go and hug his own brother but Sumiko felt no such thing. If she wanted to hug her brother, she would and there was nobody to stop her.

"Did you miss me, little Sumiko?" He asked, hand messing up her hair, dark strands contrasting with the light skin.

"Of course I did! You take such long missions nowadays, I don't get to spend time with you at all!" She returned with a pout.

He gave out a laugh before turning to Sasuke. "Didn't you miss me?" He asked with a smile.

"N-no." He said, not meeting Itachi's gaze. His fingers fumbled with each other behind his back and Sumiko couldn't help but notice how it was bad for a shinobi-in-training. They had always been taught that a shinobi didn't fumble. He showed no signs of distraught. Her face dropped a little. "I was just upset that there was no one to train with."

"Oh?" He replied and promptly avoided Sumiko's eyes.

"Uh huh, nii-san. A promise is a promise." She said, hands on her hips. "You said you would train with us when you came back. No more next times. Come on, nii-san, please!"

"Sumiko!" Her mother's stern voice reprimanded her as she rounded the corner to greet her eldest son. Purple silk brushed against the floor before she held it up between pinched fingers. "Your brother is tired. He just came back from a mission, so stop bothering him and let him rest. If you want, I can do some shuriken training with you."

"But mom!" Sasuke and Sumiko protested together. "Mother," Sasuke continued, "Itachi nii-san is a genius prodigy, isn't he? Isn't it a brother's duty to teach his siblings? Especially if he is a genius. We could improve a lot because of him."

Sumiko walked towards her mother and gave her a prompt hug. "Listen, mother. Sasuke is right." She made her best puppy-dog eyes, pouting at her. "Come on, we never get to train with him."

Sumiko grinned, seeing her mother's weakening resolve. But before Mikoto could say anything, Itachi interrupted. "It's okay, mother. I'm not too tired, I can teach them. It's not always that I get time anyway so if they want it so badly, I wouldn't mind teaching them once in a while."

The young siblings gave each other a smug smile. Mission complete.

Gathering out in the backyard, Itachi watched them, hands on his hips. "So… What do you want to train with?"

They were both silent for a moment, looking at each other before Sumiko turned to her older brother, hesitating. "Um… Nii-san, I was wondering if you could teach us genjutsu."

He raised an eyebrow. "Genjutsu?"

She hesitated once more. Noticing the nod from Sasuke, she continued. They had discussed this beforehand and Sasuke had looked excited at the prospect. Genjutsu was something she needed to get used to as an Uchiha and there was no one better than Itachi to teach them. "I read it in a book about the Uchiha. It said genjutsu was supposed to be our specialty. That was the reason why our clan was among the strongest in Konoha."

She was walking on thin ice here. She wasn't sure if Itachi was already aware of the rebellion that their clan was planning but if he did, this was sure to trigger him.

This time, it was Itachi's turn to hesitate. After a moment, he sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the black orbs had turned a familiar shade of red. "The Uchiha clan are known for their genjutsu because of their eyes. This jutsu is called the sharingan and it's special to the Uchiha clan. Only those who are part of our clan can use this. It is what's called a kekkei genkai."

"Kekkei genkai?" Sasuke asked, face morphed in confusion.

"Kekkei genkai is basically something that only people of a particular clan can use. Like the Uchiha clan are the only ones who can use the sharingan and the Hyuga clan are the only ones who can use a jutsu called byakugan. These kinds of jutsus are very strong and represent their particular clans." He explained.

This was all information Sumiko already knew about. Itachi deactivated his sharingan, his eyes returning to their normal black colour. Sasuke gave out a huff of surprise.

"You haven't awakened the sharingan yet so you can only cast the genjutsu that others can, as of now. Once you awaken your sharingan, your genjutsu will become stronger and easier to cast. It'll also vary from the genjutsu cast by other shinobi." Itachi said and after seeing the confusion on their faces, continued, "You'll figure it out soon enough."

"Nii-san," Sasuke began. "How do we awaken the sharingan?"

Sumiko avoided their eyes. Itachi's body was slightly tense, the discomfort barely showing. If she hadn't known him as well as she did, she probably wouldn't have even noticed. "It usually awakens in a difficult battle, when you're trying to save your life." He answered. She was glad he hadn't mentioned the other possibility.

"Anyway," Itachi said, lightening his tone. "Since there's no point in learning genjutsu as of now, how about we do some shuriken training instead?"

"Yeah!" Sasuke returned. "I know you're really good at shuriken jutsu."

She was glad for the topic change. She had wanted to learn some genjutsu but her brother was right. There wasn't really a point in learning them now. And so, they began their training.

The kunai flew straight, two going in each direction. They heard the kunai lodge into their target, hitting exactly on mark. There was a moment of silence. "Amazing…" Sasuke whispered. Sumiko couldn't say anything. There was a reason Itachi had graduated top of his class after all.

"You're so cool, nii-san." She mumbled, staring at the target boards.

This was the third time he had shown them how to do it and they still hadn't gotten it. She knew it would take much more practice than that but it didn't cease to be annoying. When she had tried, the kunai had only pierced three of the boards. At least that was better than Sasuke's two, she thought with a smug smile.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Itachi said and only then did she notice the fleeing sun. "Mother would be waiting for us at home so let's head back."

"Yes, nii-san." Sumiko mumbled. They trailed behind him, walking back to the house. Sasuke went inside to remove his shoes but Sumiko held back, a thought poking around in her mind. Itachi turned to her with a questioning look. Hesitating, she looked at him and mumbled, "Nii-san, when did you awaken your sharingan?" She hadn't really realized it before but it was never shown in canon. The awakening of the prodigy named Uchiha Itachi was still a mystery.

He looked down at her, eyes boring into hers. A small smile forced onto his lips. "That, little Sumiko," He said, raising two fingers to tap her forehead. "is a story for next time."

…

Sumiko padded down the stairs, footsteps as silent as she could possibly make them. It was already quite late at night and she had no desire to disturb her parents. She got scolded enough as it was.

Soft voices reached her ears as she passed her parents room and stopped when she caught another familiar voice. Her father was talking to her brother and from what she could tell, they were all compliments. Or rather, as close as their father came to compliments. "These grades are well above mark, Itachi. You will be a great addition to our force when you grow up."

"Thank you, father."

There was a sigh. "I just hope that your brother will grow up to be as good as you are."

"I am sure he will, father. He shows quite some potential." Her brother's calm reply came.

"Well, he is my last hope. There is no doubt Sumiko is going to grow up to be a failure, if she's not one already." Uchiha Fugaku said, voice grave.

There was a short silence. Sumiko swallowed, chest suddenly feeling constricted. "I have no idea how she manages to fail in almost everything she does. She's supposed to be my daughter but she shows no talent for any of the ninja arts like my sons do." He continued. "I know men are generally stronger shinobi than kunoichi but this is beyond ridiculous. She can barely even manage clones, she would never be able to do the fireball jutsu."

She clenched her teeth. Kunoichi were not weaker than shinobi. Fugaku really should not consider her as the prime example. There were still plenty of strong kunoichi who could beat her father to a pulp. It wasn't all the kunoichis fault that she was so weak and useless. How could it?

She could feel her nose burning. Her fists clenched beside her.

"Be a bit more gentle, Fugaku-san." Her mother's quiet voice came. "She is your daughter, after all."

Before her father could say anything more, her brother began, "Father, I am afraid I do not agree with this assessment. It is known that a kunoichi's chakra coils take significantly longer to develop than a male shinobi's. Sumiko shows fair potential in her shuriken jutsu and while she's not Sasuke's level in taijutsu, with practice, she could get there." Sumiko felt her eyes fill up. "It is true that Uchiha rely on genjutsu which requires significant chakra control but she will surely develop that as she grows up. I feel it is too early to judge her right now, with her barely developed chakra coils compared to Sasuke's much developed ones."

A sigh. "You might be correct but right now, I see almost no potential in her. I pray to all the gods that there might still be hope for her." Fugaku's voice was tired. Sumiko didn't really care. "If this continues, I'm afraid she will not be able to survive as a shinobi."

There was another pause. Then, "Father, I apologize but I must get some rest. I have an important mission early in the morning."

"Of course," Came her father's immediate response. "You are excused."

With wide eyes, Sumiko turned around just as the door opened. Freezing, she looked up to see her brother walk away without a glance at her, heading directly to his room. Without a moment to waste, she ran up to her own room, tucking herself under the blankets. Closing her eyes, she didn't notice the small shadowed figure by her door, nor did she hear the soft click of the next room's door sliding shut.

…

Sumiko licked at her blue candy bar as she walked home from the academy. Beside her, Sasuke was mumbling something from around his own bar. They secretly reminded her of the ones from canon that Naruto and Jiraiya shared. The ice melted in her mouth, leaving a pleasant blueberry flavor behind. All in all, it was worth the small amount of coins she had on her.

Walking around the corner, she caught a flash of movement. Shinobi instincts kicking in, she glanced to the side only to have the civilians avoid her gaze. Frowning, she turned to her brother. "Sasuke, you go on ahead, I'll be there in a few minutes."

What could it possibly be that made civilians turn their gaze away? Shinobi, she could understand even though they would never be so obvious about it. But civilians? There was nothing for them to be scared or nervous about.

She hid in a nearby cove of shadows, using her enhanced hearing to catch the few snippets of conversation drifting close. "Uchiha… Yeah, he died… They say he … cliff…afternoon?" Warning bells went off in her mind. The candy bar was slowly melting in her hand, the cream sticking to her dirty fingers. "Yeah, they say it was… Uchiha Shisui."

Sumiko's heart gave a low thump. Shisui nii-san… It took a moment for her to connect the dots. She just hadn't wanted to. But as she let the thought form, she knew it for sure. Shisui nii-san was dead. Itachi had killed him.

She could see a flood of memories before her – the first time she met Shisui, how she didn't really know anything about him and yet she had liked him, how she had hugged him when he came over. He was her cousin, her favorite cousin. Her nails dug into her palms.

She let out a breath. She needed to calm down. If Shisui was dead… It meant Itachi…

The rebellion had started then. Or it was in the planning at the very least. Damn. This meant she had about two years till the massacre.

Sumiko gave a groan. The massacre was a subject she had avoided since the moment she had found out she wasn't exactly born in the normal world. There really wasn't much she could do. What in the world could a seven year old with horrible chakra control ever do? She had no way of defeating Danzo, that was for sure. Even shippuden Sasuke could barely beat him. She had to use her intellect.

She began to walk back towards her house, hoping to catch her brother before he reached home. She really didn't want to deal with questions right now. As she searched for his familiar face in the crowd, Sumiko wondered if she could tell the Hokage about the plan.

She struck it off immediately. No, that wouldn't work. The third Hokage was incompetent when it came to his old friend. He would not be able to handle Danzo.

Cursing, she finally located a dark bob of hair and jogged to his side. "What's wrong?" he asked her, trying to gauge her reaction with a worried frown.

"Don't worry," she said. "I just dropped something."

He stared at her a second before turning away, leaving it be. This was why she loved her little brother.

After dinner, Itachi went to his room early as usual. Sumiko usually let him be, knowing he must have been tired with whatever training genius kids did. It was something she could not relate to or understand. But today, she knocked on his door. When there was no reply she pushed the door open and peeked inside. The wooden edge brushed against the floor as if warning her brother that she was coming in. Not that he needed it. "Nii-san?" Her voice was small, smaller than she had anticipated. She did not like it. But of course she was afraid. She didn't know what condition her brother was in. His best friend had just died. And he was the one to kill him. What sort of trauma did that put on an eleven year old kid?

Her eyes caught on Itachi's figure on the bed, an arm resting over his eyes, lips slightly parted. He turned around and forced a smile. "Sumiko?"

She resisted the urge to grimace. There were dark circles under her brother's eyes that she hadn't noticed before. It was only now, when she was close enough to smell him that she saw them.

She walked forward and laid down beside him. "You don't have to pretend in front of me." She mumbled, face tucked in the crook of his arm. For once, she wanted to be honest. For how much longer could she lie? "I… I heard what happened. About Shisui nii-san."

He was silent. "Oh"

She looked up, staring at him, concern visible in her eyes. "I'm sorry." Squeezing her eyes shut, she mumbled, "I'm sorry that you have to go through this. You shouldn't have to. You're supposed to be happy and young and free. You shouldn't have to experience the death of a close comrade at such a young age!" Her teeth gritted together. Maybe this concept wasn't familiar to him, maybe it wasn't familiar to anyone except her but that still didn't mean she had to accept it. What did the grown-ups get by torturing the young kids? What could they possibly get from it?

When she opened her eyes again, he was looking at her, eyes widened. "Sumiko…" He began, "We're shinobi. This is the sort of world we live in. If you aren't ready for this, you should quit the academy and become a civilian."

She let out a breath. And wasn't he right? "You're so harsh… nii-san." She muttered. She tucked in her head further. She couldn't look her brother in the eye. "But, I know. I understand what you mean. If I want to survive in this world, I have to get stronger. You'll not always be there to protect me." That was the truth of this world. And no matter how much her brother wanted to protect her, he couldn't. Not always. And she knew that. Shisui's death meant the massacre was going to happen in two or three years. No matter how much she trained, she won't be able to best Itachi. But she could show him that she was worth saving. She could show him that along with Sasuke, he could trust her too. She would carry on the Uchiha legacy with her brother and survive. "I'll get stronger. I promise you that."

"You're right. I won't be there to protect you all the time. But in time, you won't need my help." Itachi said and brought his hand up to touch two fingers to her forehead. "You'll grow up to be one of the strongest kunoichi in the world. I know it."

Her cheeks blushing a tint of red, she gave a smile. Somehow, even if she had come in to console her brother, he had ended up consoling her. That was what it meant to have a big brother, she supposed. He would always love you and be there for you. No matter what.

Now, she just had to figure out how to save her clan from two crazy heads and a one-eyed buffoon at the age of eight. Yeah, that wouldn't be too hard, would it?

A/N: So, that was the first chapter... I have attempted to write novels before but this is my first time writing a fanfic so I look forward to your opinions. I would love to know what you think about the story so far (I know it's not a lot yet but still). Thank you for reading the story!