Itachi's 8th Birthday + Sharingan

Two days later, when the Kumogakure diplomatic mission was to hand over the evidence, because the deceased Kumogakure ninja were in their possession, the Hyuga clan couldn't uncover anything.

The unreasonable demand that Konohagakure hand over people, as the Kumogakure ninja had requested, was naturally not agreed to by Minato. In the end, Konohagakure compensated Kumogakure with some supplies, and Kumogakure ultimately still signed a cease‑fire agreement. Neji's father, Hizashi Hyuga, also did not die as he did in the original story.

June 9, Year 55 of Konohagakure. Today is a rather special day—Itachi has been a Genin for a year now, and more importantly, eight years ago on this day, Itachi was born.

At the Uchiha household of Fuke, both Fuke and Mikoto returned home early today. The house was tidily cleaned, and the table was laden with delicacies, the most abundant of which were the three‑colored meatballs that Itachi loves most.

After placing the final dish on the table, Mikoto also sat down.

"Finally everything's set up; now we just wait for Itachi to come back."

Mikoto said with a smile, clearly very happy.

"​Nissan mentioned in the letter sent by the summoned beast that he should be back tonight; he should be arriving soon," Yoru no Tsuki said. He's almost four years old now, and July 23 is Sasuke's birthday.

After more than half a year of training, Yoru no Tsuki's Hadō and Byakugan have reached a good level; his Shunpo is average. Moreover, he now knows several basic ninjutsu; the basic three‑body technique need not be mentioned, and he has essentially mastered all B‑rank and lower fire‑style jutsu of the Uchiha clan.

(Classification: Average, Good, Proficient, Mastered)

Because low‑rank Hadō doesn't deal much damage, especially the Hadō that forgoes chanting, for him now the damage of ninjutsu is slightly higher than that of Hadō.

"​How about we turn off the lights and give Nissan a surprise later?" Yoru no Tsuki suddenly suggested.

Fuke clearly hesitated, but under Mikoto's and Yoru no Tsuki's strong urging, he eventually agreed.

After a while, the Fuke house was plunged into total darkness...

On a street in Konohagakure

"Farewell, Itachi‑kun!" a girl with two gray pigtails, wearing a midriff‑revealing outfit, waved and laughed.

"Hmph!" the spiky‑haired boy beside her snorted, turned his head away, then turned back to Itachi and said, "Next mission I'll definitely outshine you!"

"Hey~ Tenma, that's a bit bold, isn't it? Itachi‑kun is way stronger than you, and he even saved you once during this mission," the pigtail girl teased.

Hearing the girl's words, Tenma's face flushed a little.

"Hmph, I never asked him to save me, and maybe next time I'll be the one to save him!" Tenma said tsundere‑style.

But his words weren't wrong; in the original story, Itachi's team encountered the Masked Man on a mission, and Tenma stepped in front of Itachi. In the end, Itachi's team was reduced to just him, which directly triggered Itachi's awakening of the Sharingan.

"Hey~ hey~ do your best, I'm heading home now," the pigtail girl said as she left. Itachi waved and said goodbye.

"Goodbye, Tenma‑kun." Itachi smiled, waving at Tenma; he was already eager to get home and see his cute younger brother.

As he turned and ran a few steps, a voice called out to him.

"Wait!"

Itachi halted, puzzled, while Tenma stood there clenching his fists, his gaze elsewhere.

"In this mission… thank you for saving me. But I'll definitely return the favor someday!"

After saying that, Tenma ran off without looking back.

Itachi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and turned toward home.

Yoru no Tsuki had been hiding behind the door with a fireworks tube for about ten minutes, and Mikoto and Fuke had been doing the same; now a prominent vein was already bulging on Fuke's forehead.

"Sasuke, what kind of half‑baked idea is this? We don't even know if Itachi will make it back today, could it be…?"

Fuke was about to lecture his younger son, but Mikoto cut him off.

"Shh, there are footsteps outside."

Upon hearing that, the three fell silent instantly.

Can't find it by title? Try searching by author; maybe it's just under a different name!

Creak!

After a while, the front door was pushed open; Yoru no Tsuki's quick reflexes lit the lamp and set off the fireworks tube.

"Happy birthday, Nissan!"

"Happy birthday, Itachi!"

"Happy birthday!"

The Fuke house instantly brightened, fireworks burst in all directions, yet none landed on today's protagonist.

Outside, as soon as Itachi opened the door and heard the noise, he jumped back, then drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch; when he saw the scene beyond the door, the kunai slipped from his hand onto the floor.

Seeing Itachi's reaction, Fuke was momentarily stunned, but quickly began praising him: "Not bad, having such vigilance."

Mikoto's eyes were full of concern. "It must be tough out on missions; hurry back, take a shower, and we'll eat soon."

Yoru no Tsuki said nothing, only feeling a bit reflective; what's commonplace in everyday life must be a luxury in the shinobi world.

Itachi's reaction confirmed that.

He was stunned for a moment, then tears fell. His mission this time was to eradicate bandits; during it he saw many children who had lost their parents. Coming home now, he felt an extraordinary happiness.

"I'm home!"

Itachi said with a smile.

At that moment, Yoru no Tsuki suddenly noticed something odd—Itachi's eyes seemed to have changed.

.He looked more closely and realized, that's a Sharingan! And it's a double‑tomoe!

In Itachi's big, cat‑like eyes, two tomoe appeared in each.

"Nissan, your eyes..."

Yewu Yue pointed at Itachi's eyes. Itachi, who had just been about to go inside, froze for a moment; he also felt his own eyes had changed a bit.

At that moment, Fugaku had just returned to reheat the dishes, while Mikoto was preparing hot water.

"Dad, Nissan's eyes opened!" Yewu Yue shouted.

Hearing this, Fugaku, who was heating the food, rushed out in his apron.

Itachi, meanwhile, was rubbing his eyes as he walked into the house.

"Double‑tomoe Sharingan! Hahaha, just as I expected of my son!"

Seeing Itachi's eyes, Fugaku was first shocked, then burst into a proud laugh.

While Yewu Yue was happy, other thoughts also crossed his mind.

The requirement for a Sharingan to awaken is a strong emotional upheaval—no specification whether it must be positive or negative—and Itachi's awakening today proved that.

Joyful, elated emotions can also satisfy the condition, meaning that if one is sufficiently happy, awakening a Mangekyō Sharingan isn't impossible—it doesn't require the death of a loved one.

Too bad that glittering man isn't in this world; otherwise I could have asked him how to achieve happiness.

At the dinner table, because Itachi's Sharingan had awakened and it was his birthday, the whole family was in high spirits; even the usually solemn Fugaku was grinning.

"To Itachi's eighth birthday and the awakening of his Sharingan, cheers!" Fugaku said, raising his cup.

"Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!"

The family clinked their cups together; Fugaku's cup held sake, while everyone else had fruit juice.

After setting the cups down, Fugaku fell silent.

"What's wrong, Father?" Itachi asked.

"If… every Sharingan awakening could be like yours, how wonderful that would be…"