Thank you all for reading so far, I wanted to address some stuff:

First of all, for those of you reading on AO3, you might have seen that I uploaded the first 3 chapters immediately, this is because I started writing this rather spontaneously and I didn't have an account when I uploaded on

Secondly, when it comes to an upload schedule… I'm a bit busy with school and I have a somewhat active social life so I don't always have time to write a chapter… I could probably write at least one chapter a week and it wouldn't be too bad for me, two is possible as well… I'd probably mostly write on weekends, though.

When it comes to honorifics and Japanese ways of saying names, one of you noticed I used "Might Guy" instead of "Maito Guy". I agree that it's a bit weird in that case, so I edited it shortly after that chapter on AO3 but not on . (future chapters will be consistent with AO3, but I don't like editing in ) I just didn't want to make it as weeby sounding as some others… I like honorifics but I have always had a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to using too much Japanese for no reason, like when people use "Kami" instead of "God"... I will probably still call the villages by the names Iwa, Kiri, Konoha, Suna, Ame, etc, but I will probably refer to the countries as their English name, f.x Hi No Kuni - Land of Fire.

Sorry if it seems inconsistent, it sounds weird in my head too but that's how I'll do this.

As always, feel free to comment if you have questions, concerns or criticisms about the story. I have a lot of plans for the future, so I hope you'll all enjoy future chapters.

Also, to those of you wondering, by the start of this chapter, Daisuke is around 4 years and 11 months old.

*** chapter edited on May 5th, 2024

—-—-

From the first time I started training together with Gai, 5 months had passed. Gai had dragged me off to train almost every day for those entire five months, and while the experience has left me the most exhausted I'd ever been, old life included, it was also incredibly rewarding. Every time I got used to a facet of the regimen, Gai added something to it. Used to jogging at that 'ol pace? Then sprint until you couldn't anymore and force your body to recover while jogging. Sometimes I wondered whether he was trying to kill me, but seeing his excitement whenever I passed a certain milestone cemented the fact that he was just a training addict – like a gym rat from Earth.

It took me two whole months to be able to run the whole 100 laps around the playground, though I'd always end up exhausted. As long as I wasn't collapsing, though, we would simply move on to do more exercise. I started bringing leaves with me while training with Gai to stick on my body. Having to learn how to subconsciously manipulate my chakra was gonna be nothing but an asset when I'd have to get used to chakra manipulation in the midst of battle.

—-

"Gai, I have to go home now but thanks for training with me!" I informed Gai, grinning at him. He deflated for a second before I elaborated. "Tou-san said I have to come home earlier today because he had something to show me." Gai regarded me with understanding, "No problem, Daisuke-kun! We can make up for the lost exercise by training two times, no three times harder tomorrow!" he said, watching my grin turn into a grimace. Three times the intensity, or three times the volume? I sighed good naturedly.

"Yeah, Gai, can't wait…" I forced myself to say with mock cheerfulness. Gai laughed heartily as he waved me goodbye. 'He's gonna kill me one day', I muttered to myself, walking back home. Passing through Konoha, I saw a cat being chased by what seemed to be two Genin. Judging by the commotion and the fact that it was actually outpacing the poor kids, it was obvious that the cat was the infamous Tora. Chuckling to myself, I watched them chase around the cat before suddenly it noticed me chuckling. I could've sworn I saw an evil glint shine in its eyes. Tora immediately faced me and changed its course to my direction, claws exposed, which elicited a panicked yelp from me as I started waving my hands around in an attempt to convey an apology.

No good. It actually sped up.

"Quick, Aoba, get it! It's running towards a kid!" the unfamiliar genin yelled to his out of breath friend. I had little time to think about the familiar name as the cat was still running towards me. I was never scared of cats or anything of the sort, but my mind sort of blanked, flashing me cat videos I'd seen on Earth where cats started holding onto someone for dear life, scratching at them furiously. Hell no. I don't deserve this!

I screamed, "Get it away from me!" I blurted out in a panic. From what I remembered, Tora was an especially evil cat, a supposed monster that terrorized generations of genin. I had clearly underestimated both its treat and intelligence, and now my mistakes were coming back to bite me. "Raido, we won't make it in time! Catch that cat, kid!" Aoba screamed in my direction. Catch it? Catch it?! This guy wanted me to catch this… feral beast? That's your job, you idiot!

Tora was still bolting towards me at high speeds, and I could almost make out a mean smile on its face. My knees faltered as time slowed. This was like facing down a Bijuu. An out of control, rabid Bijuu. Snapping out of my own thoughts, I decided to run. This is not my problem, I decided, as my legs regained their strength in an attempt to launch me out of the way of mortal danger.

As I turned around to run, ignoring the offended look Aoba sent me, I lost my balance, and I began to trip forward. Gasping, I could see Tora in a pouncing position right in front of me. But I was falling over, and if Tora was there, wouldn't that mean…?

Tora's eyes widened as it flailed around to dodge, but considering its positioning, it was unable to get away in time. A booming RAOU swept through the area as I landed directly on it. Thankfully, due to my size and weight, Tora didn't seem to be especially hurt, it probably just had the wind knocked out of it. Hah, that's what you get for targeting civilians, you war criminal!

Light reflected off of its exposed claws, reminding me of the impending danger at hand.

I hurriedly stampered up, breathing heavily, a small grin on my face. The two genin, Aoba and Raido, managed to take advantage of Tora's bad luck, quickly snatching the frankly terrifying cat and saving me from its retaliation. Raido threw the now-tied up cat into Aoba's arms before walking to me with a grateful look on his face. "Kid, you are a godsend! How did you manage to catch Tora by surprise?" he asked me, impressed with my… victory against Tora, patting me on one of my shoulders. He completely ignored the comically outraged Aoba behind him, scrambling to keep Tora still.

I looked up at him, still shaking from adrenaline (don't judge me, that was a near death experience), "You're w-welcome, Raido-san?" I asked cautiously, continuing after a nod from him "Lady luck smiled down upon me. All I did was trip on it." I clarified. Raido seemed surprised that I'd managed to catch Tora by sheer accident.

"Lady luck?" he said with a puzzled expression before shaking his head, "Well, regardless of any kind of luck, you've just saved us quite a lot of trouble. What's your name?" he said, shaking off his surprise. Now that I think about it, while I didn't remember who Aoba was, Raido was a member of Minato's Hokage Guard in the future, wasn't he?

"My name is Uchiha Daisuke." I replied, looking up to him and smiling. He didn't have that identifying scar quite yet. "An Uchiha? You don't really look the part," he mused thoughtfully, "or act the part…" he said to himself. Between my curly hair and blue eyes, I could see where he was coming from. "My dad's civilian-born." I added, watching the confusion clear off his face as he nodded.

"Well-" Raido opened his mouth to continue, before being interrupted. "Get over here and stop chatting with that kid, you asshole! Tora's still going crazy over here! Let's get this mission over with!" Aoba screamed at Raido, looking more scratched up than before and most definitely extremely pissed off. Woops.

Raido, realizing he forgot about Aoba, looked back at his teammate and scratched his head sheepishly before facing me. "Well, kid, I've got to go. I guess I owe you some kind of favor now… just find me and I'll help you out! My name's Namiashi Raido, and my teammate over there is Yamashiro Aoba. Cya 'round!" he said, hurriedly running towards the Hokage tower, waving back at me.

Well that was… interesting. Never thought I would catch Tora at age 4. I smiled to myself arrogantly. What a genius I am! My mouth opened in realization as I remembered I was supposed to be home already. Tou-san's gonna have to forgive me… Still, I wonder why he told me to come home earlier today.

—-

Getting home, I opened the door and put my shoes away. "I'm home!" I said loud enough for anyone to hear, walking down the hallway towards the living room. I found Tou-san sitting at the couch, reading a book. Sitting next to him, I greeted him by rudely waving my hand in front of his book. He glanced down at my sly grin before sighing and bookmarking his page, putting the book down at the coffee table.

Tou-san turned to me. "There are nicer ways to get peoples' attention, kiddo," he said pointedly with a frown. "Sorry, I just thought it would be funnier," I responded, "so why'd you tell me to come home earlier today?" I asked impatiently. He nodded, "Right. It's time to teach you another important shinobi skill." he clarified neutrally. Another shinobi skill? As far as I knew, except for what I was already practicing, there were no new shinobi skills I could learn that my body could handle at the moment, except perhaps throwing kunai, though I doubted that I had the arm strength for it yet.

Continuing from where he left off, he showed me his hands, "It isn't training, like you may think, it's more like important practice. You're gonna learn how to do hand seals." he finished, hands alternating between miscellaneous hand seals. Ah, that made enough sense. They always looked hard to do in the anime, so getting used early on was a great idea if I ever wanted to do them fast like Itachi or Kakashi. "Hand seals?" I asked, wanting to know more about them. Tou-san smiled at my innocent question. "Hand seals are used by shinobi to guide and mold chakra for different jutsu. Each jutsu requires a certain amount of hand seals, and the key to using jutsu quickly is to commit each seal to muscle memory through diligent practice." he explained further.

I listened closely to Tou-san and made mental notes to myself. "There are twelve basic hand seals, and you're going to learn each of them by heart. We won't let you go into the academy if you can't do all twelve of them in at least a 30 second series." he demanded firmly. It was a fair demand, really, and it seemed pretty doable. "Sure thing, tou-san! I'll do my best!" I agreed excitedly. Tou-san eyed me before grinning and got up with a dad-grunt. "I'm coming back with a book that will show you pictures of the hand seals for when I can't help you with practice. Wait for a second." he said as he was going to the next room.

Things were moving faster and faster now. I was learning more and more essential shinobi skills as the days passed, and now I was even learning hand seals, a staple for any shinobi. It wouldn't even be long before my time at the academy would begin, and after graduating, I'll have to go on missions. When that time comes, will it still be peace time, or will war have already begun? Gai's 8 years old, so about three years older than me. Considering his generation was forced to fight in war by the time they were at least 12, it wouldn't be much longer until the dreaded news broke out.

The thought was a bit worrying.

Tou-san walked back into the living room with the book in hand, a relaxed smile on his face. Right, I was learning from Tou-san, Kaa-san and Gai for a reason. They were doing their best to give me a fighting chance, so there was no use worrying now. I took a breath and smiled just as Tou-san came around and dropped the hefty book on my lap. He watched me fondly as I looked over the cover with a starry-eyed expression. I flipped the book open.

There were 12 basic hand seals to learn:
Monkey, Dragon, Rat, Bird, Snake, Ox, Dog, Horse, Tiger, Boar, Ram and Hare.

"Okay Daisuke, pay close attention as I show you each hand seal slowly." Tou-san said, standing up in front of me. I nodded while watching his hands closely. He started going through each basic hand seal slowly. He made sure to patiently show me the specific finger placements for the less obvious hand seals.

Hand seals were done rapidly by most shinobi in the anime, but there were a lot of small errors that could occur with incorrect finger placement, hand seals had to be memorized through muscle memory to ensure you didn't make some kind of error. While modified hand seals apparently existed, messing the seals up wouldn't provide the same 'oompf' that allowed shinobi to use jutsu. According to the book, it was possible to omit hand seals as you gained proficiency in specific jutsus and internal chakra control, but as jutsu became more complicated, so did the process of omitting seals. It was the reason a shinobi could use the Substitution sealless, but used most or all of the seals in a B-ranked jutsu.

After Tou-san finished showing off the hand seals, he motioned to me, wordlessly telling me to try them out. Making sure to not mold any chakra while doing a hand seal, I looked back at the book to make sure I remembered how the Monkey seal looked. It looked like you had to place your hands on top of each other. I clumsily moved my sausage-fingered hands to form the hand seal. Hands lying on top of each other, making sure my pinkies and thumbs were pressed together, tou-san gave me a thumbs up of approval after double checking for any minor errors.

"Good job, kiddo. Keep going, I'll correct any mistakes along the way," he said proudly, as I grinned, satisfied. Continuing clumsily forming hand seals, tou-san fixed any mistakes I made. There were a few intricacies to fix, like which thumb goes on the outside of the rat seal or which angle to point my fingers in the bird seal, but we spent a good hour practicing before kaa-san came home, smiling amusedly at me forming the Hare seal for the nth time.

"Welcome home, honey." said tou-san as kaa-san put away the groceries she picked up on the way home. "You're already teaching Daisuke-chan about hand seals?" she asked tou-san, not upset but curious. Tou-san went over to kaa-san to give her a hug, "I thought he should be familiar with the basic hand seals before we send him to the academy." he replied to kaa-san, chuckling at my excited attempts at each hand seal. To be honest, it was nice to actually try the hand seals. Doing them was kind of cringe back on Earth, but now I had an excuse.

I felt like a Power Ranger!

"Good idea, Kichiro." she set down her groceries, gesturing to tou-san to finish putting them away. "Are you making good progress, Daisuke-chan?" she asked evenly, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I beamed at her, "Kaa-chan, kaa-chan, look! I can already form the Monkey seal so fast!" I yelled excitedly, holding my hands to her. I formed a monkey seal right in her face with a proud grin.

Kaa-san smirked, "Your thumbs are placed wrong, sweetie," she showed me her own Monkey seal, "I win!" she laughed dramatically. I pouted with reddened cheeks, "I could've done it, too…" I mumbled. She patted my head, "Show me what else you can do!" she ordered halfheartedly, a mock stern expression covering her face. I gave her a serious nod before forming a Tiger seal from memory. It ended up looking like a Ram seal, as my left fingers were elevated too far. Ah, that was just a mistake from a lack of control. It wasn't my fault that my motor skills were still so underdeveloped. These chubby fingers were hard to move. Kaa-san chuckled at my turmoil as I swiftly corrected myself.

"Good work today, Daisuke-chan, but you'd better take a break for now. How about you make dinner with Kaa-chan?" she suggested warmly, pointing at the kitchen. I nodded as she set me down at the counter. I was starting to get too big to just sit on stuff. Watching kaa-chan cook stuff, I noticed how large her stomach had become. She's already almost 8 months pregnant. In one month or so, I am gonna have a little sister! I couldn't wait to meet the new member of the family. Tou-san, Kaa-san and I shared a comfortable silence, Kaa-san humming a peaceful tune as she cooked.

We ate together as a family, enjoying each other's company. Kaa-san's cooking was top notch and I was in need of a lot of food as a growing boy who trained with Gai. While eating, I noticed kaa-san looked deep in thought. It wasn't an expression that suited kaa-san. I frowned at her with a worried expression. "Kaa-chan? What's wrong?" I asked solemnly, mouth full of food.

"If you become a shinobi, your life will be at risk," she began, dropping her fork to look at me. I quickly swallowed my food and paid attention. "There's no doubt that one day, you're going to awaken the Sharingan." she finished. Having said this, both of my parents remorsefully looked at each other.

"The Sharingan is a big burden to bear. The clan likes to celebrate its awakening, but the bloodline isn't so glamorous. They ignored the trauma that comes with it," she sighed, "and I'm scared of you being forced to awaken it one day, sweetheart," kaa-san added, eyes moist with emotion.

I'd known from watching Naruto that the Sharingan came from stressful circumstances, which could be during the heat of battle, through pain, or with the death of a loved one… Sure enough, awakening the Sharingan meant that something bad would probably need to happen. Maybe I would never unlock the Sharingan because of my mixed blood, but considering the canon example of Sarada, it could still happen.

"I'm sorry, Tou-san, Kaa-chan, I understand that you're both worried, but," I said, picking my words. "I already made my choice to become a shinobi. I know it's unfair to you, and I know it scares you, but I'm going to do it.." I said, giving my parents a firm and determined look, "So if my Sharingan awakens one day, I'll have to deal with it like everyone else has, and move forward. I chose this path, after all." I explained.

Kaa-san hesitantly nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Tou-san stared at me meaningfully, reminding me of my promise to them. That I wouldn't die in the field, no matter what. We began eating again with an oppressive silence. Finishing our food, Kaa-san came to me and picked me up, hugging me tightly. I felt her tears against my head, but I didn't mind. I hugged her back. "I love you so much, Kaa-chan." I muttered softly. "I love you too, sweetie." she let me go and stood up.

"When the time comes where you will awaken your Sharingan, promise me that you'll talk to me about it, okay?" she asked of me, as we walked towards our bedrooms. It was getting late. She set me down before Tou-san patted my head, wishing me a good night. Kaa-san brought me to my room, kissing me on the forehead and tucking me in bed. "Good night, Daisuke-chan."

—-

I spent the next two weeks practicing my hand seals diligently every day, including when I went to train with Gai. I couldn't quite do all of them from memory perfectly well, but I had memorized a fair few of them and I had the general shape of each seal down. Things were progressing well, overall. Speaking of progress, Gai and I started making runs around the village. The village itself was much too big for me to make laps around, but we started running through less populated streets. Running through Konoha was a way to get used to having to weave around obstructions at a higher speed. We had to make sure we didn't hit anybody. Gai also mentioned that we would include roof jumping when I was a bit older.

"Gai," I started, breathing evenly between my words, "my parents told me that they would let me start resistance training and sparring when I enter the academy." I mentioned, glancing at Gai. Gai has been wanting to start sparring with me for a while, and I recently asked when they would let me.

Gai's face lit up, slapping me on the back and nearly making me lose my balance. Calm down. "Wonderful, Daisuke-kun! Tou-san told me that now is the best time to strengthen the power of youth! I'll teach you everything I learned at the academy!" he promised, picking up speed out of excitement. I couldn't respond because I was too busy trying to control my breathing, but I nodded with a satisfied smile nonetheless.

"I forgot to inform you, but I decided that you are going to catch up to me! If we are going to spar with one another, a challenge of restraint will be the only challenge I face," he said innocently, stating the facts, "I suppose that means that you have to pick up the pace! Prepare for greater intensity, my friend!" he yelled excitedly, pumping his arms in excitement. My smile disappeared in an instant, revealing a mock-glare. His grin widened comically at my reaction. But… surely I was too young to train too intensively…?

His honest expression proved me otherwise. He was going to work me to the bone and would enjoy it the whole way, the maniac. Gai never got tired from our runs, usually only getting a bit winded. I knew from the anime that Gai had crazy motivation and trained all the time, so it was never surprising to see Gai staying at the park as I went home earlier every time training was finished. He would eventually become a Jonin nearly capable of killing Madara, allegedly surpassing even Hashirama in pure taijutsu, so his advanced physical condition wasn't especially surprising. It just made me incredulous, and ever so slightly jealous.

Curse the gods for reincarnating me so young!

After finishing our prescribed laps, I faced my unphased friend, still struggling to keep my breathing under control, "... I'm going home now, Gai. Kaa-chan's made my favorite food for dinner today! Bye-bye!" I chirped, waving him off. "It was a pleasure to train today, Daisuke-kun! Have a good evening!" Gai returned, "And prepare yourself." he menacingly added, immediately returning to his training. I shuddered before walking off. The original story didn't show this scary side of the Green Beast.

Who was I kidding, his behavior kind of cracked me up.

Grinning to myself on my way home, I remembered what kaa-san was making today. She was making a beef stew, pretty much a Japanese curry. It was my favorite food she makes, though that isn't to say that anything else she cooks wasn't also great, her cooking was immaculate. Humming Don't Stop Me Now, I stood in front of our door, noticing the lack of noise from the inside. Opening the door, I didn't smell any food. Weird, I thought she was making the stew today? "I'm home!" I yelled as I normally would, but no one responded.

Making my way to the kitchen, there evidently really wasn't anyone home. Opening the fridge to look for food, I found some rice balls in the fridge. I took them to the table and started eating them as I noticed a note left on the kitchen table. It was written in Tou-san's handwriting.

"Your Kaa-chan's in labor! After you finish your food, come to the hospital!" it said, underlining the word labor. She was in labor? Already? And I missed it? Shit! I stuffed the rice balls in my mouth, quickly running to get my shoes on. I absolutely couldn't miss the birth of my little sister! I'm an idiot, I should've thought to come home earlier in the weeks leading up to Kaa-san's due date!

Still, I was glad I learned to read early on.

Running with Gai proved useful when I ran full speed to the hospital, paying little mind to my surroundings. Even through the slight weariness in my legs, I was running at full speed. The world felt like a blur both physically and mentally as tears blurred my vision. I wasn't sure if it was out of excitement to meet my new sister or disappointment in myself, I just kept going to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, I stopped in front of the receptionist, gasping for air. The hospital was a little far from our apartment, so I was winded. "M-my Kaa-san! She's in labor! Her name is Uchiha Hazuki! Where is she?!" I said in a hurry. The receptionist's eyes flashed with recognition.

"Ah, you're Uchiha Daisuke-kun? I was told to expect you. They're in room 142." she finished, sweat beading on her forehead. She pointed in the direction of the room and I gave a thankful nod. Running down the hallway, my heart was beating fast. I felt my chest thumping hard. I was careful not to knock over anybody as I ran. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of room 142. Staring at the number with bated breath, I slowly opened the door.

As I opened the door, I saw Kaa-san, sweat covering her face as she smiled down at a sleeping girl with brown hair. Tou-san noticed me first, calling me forwards with his hand. Smiling at me, he tapped Kaa-san on the shoulder.

"Daisuke-chan, you're here! Come 'n meet your little sister!" she said with a bright yet exhausted tone, holding the newborn up to me. "Izumi-chan, meet Daisuke-chan!" She introduced us. I recognized that name. Uchiha Izumi, a childhood friend of Itachi's. But canon didn't matter to me at the moment. I missed my sister's birth, what a disgrace! Tears welling in my eyes, I inhaled sharply as Izumi's small hand curled around a finger on my outstretched hand.

"M' sorry, Kaa-chan." I mumbled quietly, warm tears rolling down my cheeks. "I wasn't here for you," I sniffled, "Or Izumi." Kaa-san frowned at me before flicking my cheeks. "Don't stress over something so stupid, Daisuke-chan!" she shot me a gentle smile. "You were training! And besides, you, here now, aren't you?" she said, holding my cheek in her hand.

"Your Kaa-san's right, you know? How could you have known she would go into labor so soon after you left for training? Tou-san reassured me. He patted me on the back before wrapping me in a warm hug. They were right. What mattered was that my sister was here now, All that mattered now was that I would be the best older brother ever.

"Hello, Izumi," I whispered softly to my sleeping sister, gently holding her small hand. "Welcome to the home."

—-

After calming down, I acknowledged the fact that my sister was Uchiha Izumi. It was quite the surprise, especially since we have limited information on Izumi in the actual series. I didn't know much about her already, considering it had been a while, and I knew absolutely nothing about her family or background. It seems that our parents had me before they had her, for whatever reason. Her birth gave me another reason to keep to the shinobi path, after all, she was going to be killed in the massacre. And by Itachi, through a 70 years' Tsukuyomi. Well, that wouldn't happen here.

Above all else, preventing the Uchiha massacre was a priority. No one, not even Itachi, deserved that disaster. And Danzo sure as hell didn't deserve all of those eyes he got as a reward for his 'noble' act. If I had any say in the matter, the bastard would rot in hell for everything he has done and will do.

I took a breath.

Anyway, Izumi was a normal baby, apparently unlike me. She wasn't reincarnated or anything, so I guess I was some weird fluke. A funny little mistake made by Buddha or whatever was in charge of reincarnation. Izumi was a genuine baby. This meant that she cried. A lot. Especially during the night.

It was a normal night and I was sleeping peacefully as usual. It'd been a few weeks since Izumi was born, when suddenly I was awoken by a crying Izumi. Opening eyes proved a monumental task as a lack of sleep seemingly glued them together. I groaned before managing to roll out of bed. The two of us shared a room, so waking up when she went into a crying fit was pretty common. It kind of sucked for me during training, but nothing could be done about it until Izumi grew out of the phase like any other baby.

Kaa-san and Tou-san had already woken up, eyebags comically-sized as they stumbled to my and Izumi's shared room like zombies. "Ah, I'm sorry Daisuke-chan, you don't have to wake up for us," she mumbled half alseep, looking guilty. "You were such a quiet baby, I thought other parents were exaggerating about how hard the first few months would be…" she sighed to herself, carefully lifting Izumi out of the cradle and humming a lullaby.

Though she looked happy to take care of Izumi, I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor woman, because between her tired gaze and raspy morning voice, I could tell how exhausted she was becoming. I wanted to shoulder some of the responsibility of taking care of Izumi. "Say, Kaa-chan, what if we take turns putting Izumi to sleep at night? You guys look so tired..." I whispered to kaa-san in an attempt to keep Izumi from crying again. She was already calming down. I watched her eyes widen for just a second.

Tou-san sent me a grateful look, but Kaa-san shook her head. "I couldn't possibly allow you to miss sleep because of me, sweetie." she said, looking kind of hesitant at my offer. "I miss sleep anyway, since Izumi and I share a room. What's the problem of relieving your burden just a little bit?" I explained. Kaa-san sent me a warm smile, and looked to be in thought while rocking Izumi back and forth.

"Why not, Hazuki? If he slept in a different room, then the choice is obvious, but he's right; he wakes up anyway." Tou-san spoke to kaa-san in a soothing voice, hugging her from behind. Kaa-san made a complicated expression before finally speaking. "Oh, fine! If you want to help us so much, I'm glad to accept your help. But if your lack of sleep starts affecting your training, I'm moving you to our room!" she finally relented.

On queue, Izumi fell back asleep and Kaa-san gently lowered her back into her cradle. "Good night, Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, Izumi." I murmured, voice full of sleeplessness from the previous day's fatigue. I saw my parents smile, looking at me and my sister, before turning away and going back to their room to sleep.

—-

The next few days passed like normal, I trained with Gai, I practiced hand seals, and I enjoyed my family's company - especially the newest addition, Izumi.

Izumi had brown hair like Tou-san, but had Kaa-san's black eyes and straight hair, just like I remembered from canon. She would eventually grow up into a kind Uchiha who wanted to help others. She would be the only one apart from Shisui to try and help Itachi open up more. She loved Itachi not because he was the clan's heir, or because he was talented. She loved him because of who he was. And she died in return for that. Even if I couldn't stop the massacre, I would die before letting Izumi get killed.

At night, I awakened blearily to the familiar sound of a baby's sobs. Right. It was my turn to put Izumi back to sleep today. I tiptoed to the crying Izumi, climbing into the fairly large cradle, which was just big enough for me to fit inside without stepping on Izumi. I belatedly realized that damn, I was kind of small for a 5 year old. My tiredness worn off a bit, I laid Izumi on my lap gently, trying to hush her asleep. Humming to her and rocking her back and forth wasn't working, much to my frustration. How did Kaa-san do it so easily?

I remembered back to my time on Earth. A popular lullaby in English popped into my head. Looking warmly down at Izumi's crying face, I smiled at her.

"Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

When the blazing sun is gone

When there's nothing he shines upon

Then you show your little light

Twinkle, twinkle, through the night,"

By the time I finished the lullaby, Izumi stopped crying, giving me a curious look before giggling. I hoped she wasn't making fun of my horrible singing. Regardless, I was glad that it worked, though I might have to ask kaa-san how to properly hush a baby. She smiled a toothless smile, which almost made me laugh. Ah, she's cute. I gazed fondly at her. "I'll protect you no matter what happens. Good night Izumi." I said in English. Izumi stirred softly as I hummed to her more songs from Earth until she fell asleep again.

Climbing back into bed, my tired eyes finally forced themselves shut. I would need to get stronger. Tou-san told me he'd let me into the academy if I could do each hand seal consecutively in 30 seconds, I only need to practice for a few more months and maybe I could join the academy. Albeit a bit earlier than normal. Speed was of the essense, though.

The Uchiha Massacre isn't a simple matter that an uninfluential Genin or Chuunin could solve. I needed to become strong enough for people to acknowledge me, and I needed to gain allies. I needed to rise in the ranks, and the first step to that was the ninja academy. Entering as early as possible was the headstart I needed.

—-

A few months passed that night. After deciding to enter the academy early, I needed to prove myself to my parents. They were surprisingly complicit with my desires to be a shinobi, but they were worried about me nontheless. I wouldn't disappoint them. I practised my hand seals until my fingers became stiff, I ran until my legs felt like jelly, and I practiced taijutsu katas until I could do them in my sleep, and as promised, Tou-san eventually allowed me to enter the academy.

I was allowed to enter due to my parents' insistence, even though I was five and a half years old. Of course, I would be a bit younger than my peers, but that didn't matter in the long run. I felt a pit of nervousness in my stomach while waiting for Lord Third's speech with my family. "I just can't believe it! My little boy is entering the academy already!" Kaa-san exclaimed with a proud look on her face. Izumi, who was being carried by Tou-san, made that cute baby screech sound.

"He's a little young, but we did promise him this as his reward for hard work." Tou-san noted. He smiled at me, ruffling my hair. I was somewhat excited to enter the academy. It was the school that taught all future generations of shinobi, after all. I looked around and saw a whole lot of civilian kids, but also many clan children. I saw plenty of Uchiha, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Hyuuga, Nara, Akimichi and Aburame waiting. Not to mention the less easily-distinguishable Sarutobi.

Seeing so many clan children intimidated me a little, until I realized that technically I was also a clan kid. I might not have been imparted with as much formal training, but I'd nearly mastered Kaa-san's taijutsu katas and hand seals, and I'd improved my physical conditioning a lot with the help of Gai, not to mention my above-average chakra control (for my age).

I may have felt nervous or intimidated, but I didn't feel inadequate. Not in the slightest. Those who were precious to me had thoroughly prepared me.

The Third Hokage came in front of the crowd, getting ready to make his speech.

"Welcome, good citizens of Konoha…." the Hokage went on and on about the Will of Fire and how proud he was of our bravery, and what it meant to a shinobi. Propaganda existed everywhere, both on Earth and here, so I didn't especially hate to see it.

Admittedly it felt a little bit wrong that this propaganda was used to conscript a bunch of child soldiers, but there was little I could do. If Naruto grew up and did his job right, the world would be a less violent place. I didn't feel much loyalty to Konoha as a whole, I felt loyalty towards my parents, my sister, my friend, and Gai. If we just so happened to be under Konoha, it would simply serve me well to 'serve Konoha'. A safe Konoha was a safe world for all of them.

Bored out of my mind, I looked to see if I recognized any children from the anime. I wasn't sure if it was because of the size of the crowd or because of everyone's young age, but I didn't recognize anybody at first glance. I huffed in annoyance, Kaa-san noticed it and sent me an amused look. She probably assumed I was scouting for new friends or something. She wasn't entirely wrong, I guess. Through my incredible observational skills (scanning the faces of other children), I could tell that at least I wasn't the only kid who was bored beyond belief. Some kids seemed bored, and many others were starstruck by Sandaime's speech. The Hyuuga seemed to be the exception, of course, stoically looking forward.

Hiruzen eventually stopped talking after almost an hour. We were assigned classrooms and told to meet at our assigned classrooms tomorrow to be introduced to our academy sensei and the rest of our class.

It was finally time to begin my path as a shinobi.

Notes:

Hopefully this chapter wasn't too long for you guys! If you have any comments, concerns or criticisms, please let me know! I didn't mention this before, but I don't have a beta reader at the moment, so some stuff may come out a bit choppy.

*** POST EDITING NOTES: I didn't change anything plotwise, I just made the chapter more readable! I also tried to make Daisuke feel less like a blank slate with no real personality. For new readers: This chapter was so bad before my editing.