Babies always grow up fast and have a remarkable capacity for learning, so the second major milestone in a life of eating and waiting to die arrived: walking.
It was summer once again, the scorching heat baking the ground, and even the cicadas chirping endlessly. It was the hottest time of the year, and though Feitao was only a year old, her restless nature meant she had already learned to walk. Books said that babies typically start walking around the age of one, though some were a bit later, taking until a year and a half.
While Feitao longed to dart about with flying speed, her uncooperative body forced her to crawl along at a snail's pace. Kushina, meanwhile, followed closely behind Feitao day and night, terrified she might trip or bump into something. Moreover, given Kushina's own fondness for ramen, she frequently visited Uncle Ichiraku to grab a bowl, occasionally feeding a bite or two to Feitao—which ultimately instilled in Feitao her own love for ramen. Every time this happened, Minato would lecture Kushina at length, pointing out that such food had no nutritional value for a baby, yet Kushina would still sneakily take Feitao out for ramen behind his back.
What bothered Minato, however, was that Feitao's hair grew much faster than an ordinary person's. Although he received an explanation from Kushina about the special physical constitution of women in the Uzumaki Clan, Minato still found it somewhat peculiar. Fortunately, at this rate, the hair-styling techniques he had learned from his predecessors would soon come in handy, as would the pretty dresses he kept in the closet—whether they were the latest seasonal summer frocks or traditional yukatas and kimonos.
Just thinking about how Feitao would celebrate Girls' Day in the future was wonderful; it gave him another excuse to buy her new clothes, and he was thrilled.
As for little Itachi, while his speech development couldn't match Feitao's, his running speed completely blew hers out of the water. It was perhaps the classic difference between the tortoise and the hare. He darted around the house all day long, lively and energetic, which brought endless joy to Mikoto.
Though Fugaku didn't say much on the surface, hearing Itachi call him "Father" for the very first time made his heart soften, as if this were the true meaning of life, the answer to everything.
Yet, more often than not, there is a gap between ideals and reality.
The two little dumplings continued to grow sturdy and strong, but soon the two mothers discovered a major problem: Itachi was extremely clingy toward Feitao, while Feitao wanted nothing to do with him.
Feitao's reasoning was simple: she genuinely could not bring herself to like this KAMISAMA whom she was supposed to worship. Putting everything else aside, first impressions were deeply ingrained. Convinced that Sasuke was the victim and deserved pity, Feitao had mentally cast the person responsible for his suffering as the villain. Consequently, every time Itachi approached her, she unhesitatingly kicked him away with her tiny foot. After all, they were just children—raw, uneducated wild toddlers—and no one paid any mind to Feitao's "bullying" of Itachi.
Do you know how ancient people used to train elephants? When an elephant is a baby, they tie it with a thick enough rope to prevent it from breaking free. After struggling in vain multiple times, the baby elephant forms the impression that "I cannot break free." Thus, even after it grows up, it is still bound with a rope of the exact same thickness—one that could never actually restrain it—yet it still makes no attempt to break free. (Protecting wild animals is everyone's responsibility.)
Therefore, Feitao decided to instill in Itachi the impression that "it is impossible to defeat Feitao." As a result, Feitao was always bullying Itachi; every other day, one could see Itachi being pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt by Feitao. Yet Itachi, seemingly impervious to it all, would bounce right back and crowd around Feitao's side the moment the ordeal ended.
As for Mikoto—heaven only knew what was going on in her head. Feitao could only conclude that her nerves were made of steel, to still let the two of them play together under such circumstances.
*Aunt Mikoto, there is simply no way we can happily play together.*
Days passed, and Feitao and Itachi grew older by the day. Mikoto had assumed things would simply continue this way, until one day, their routine was shattered.
Itachi was extremely smart; this was something Mikoto had known for a long time, which is why she had always felt completely at ease leaving Itachi on the tatami mat while she went off to cook.
One day, she suddenly noticed Itachi was gone. Growing anxious, she finally found him in the entryway, only to discover him holding a shuriken and examining it. She naturally knew how dangerous the object was, but by the time she hurried over, she watched Itachi throw the shuriken, embedding it into a target not far away. Although it didn't hit dead center, it still struck the target.
This was definitely no coincidence.
Mikoto felt a twinge of fear. She knew that if Fugaku found out, he would start Itachi's training far too early. But the moment she saw Fugaku walking down the hallway, she knew it was already too late; her little Itachi would prematurely experience things he never should have to endure.
"Itachi? Ha, as expected of a genius." Fugaku reached down and scooped Itachi up into his arms, his face brimming with an unstoppable pride, and ambition.
Fugaku was a man of ambition and grand aspirations. Although the Uchiha clan was Konoha's premier noble family, he knew that the villagers more or less harbored jealousy and resentment toward them. While they were one of the two founding clans alongside the Senju clan, the Senju clan had long since intermingled with others to the point where not a single pure-blooded Senju could be found today. The Uchiha clan, however, was different; to preserve the heritage of the Sharingan, they tended to marry within the clan. Furthermore, entrusting the Konoha Military Police Force to the Uchiha was essentially stripping them of any access to the center of political power.
Fugaku didn't just want to remain confined to the Police Force; he wanted something far greater, or perhaps he simply desired a future for the Uchiha clan.
And so, barely a year and a half old, Itachi was subjected to early training by Fugaku. Even when Mikoto voiced her objections, she failed to stop it. She didn't know how to persuade him otherwise. Perhaps from the very moment Itachi was born, the moment he took on the Uchiha surname, his dark destiny had already been sealed.