Perhaps my first tangle with true joy in my second life was the relative omniscience that my god-given eyes had provided me. There was no feeling that I had experienced, none that I could recall from my half-muddled memories of a life that grew increasingly far away that could hold a candle to that joy.

Byakugan

I could hardly make sense of it all. I cried far more than any normal child should, and Mother, bless her, dealt with me with patience that only a parent could display.

I, Hyuuga Haruka, had been born. Blank lavender eyes laid powerfully within my sockets from birth, and for a time, I was content to lay in my crib and absently observe my surroundings with my eyes whenever I could.

Swaddled in my blankets as I was, it was hard not to feel a bubbling sense of satisfaction and happiness. Life was simple, for now, and I was to enjoy it to the best of my ability.

We were to have a feast on that day, I was told. In celebration of your third birthday, Mother told me. I thought nothing of it. It was a celebration and I enjoyed a simple joy because of it.

I recalled a strange feeling of being out of place at my own birthday party. For reasons unknown to me at the time, I, instead of my father, sat at the head of the table. The chairs of the table were full of other Hyuuga children. Some were so young that they couldn't even sit in ordinary chairs and were given infant high-chairs. On the other end of the spectrum were children easily five or so years older than I.

The adults stood off to the side, not sitting down.

We ate a wonderful meal, and I remembered not truly considering the oddities of that unusual arrangement.

It was only after us children had finished our meal, that my father came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at him and watched curiously as he glared imperiously at the gathered Hyuuga Clan.

After the feast, I had cursed myself for not connecting the dots and realising it all earlier. It was so obvious in hindsight.

"Stand, Haruka."

Silently, I obeyed my father and felt distinctly self-conscious as I stood in front of the entire clan. Their blank lavender eyes focused on me, and it was difficult not to shrink back under their combined gaze. Out of fear of not disappointing my father, I refrained from doing so and did my best to stand tall and hold my chin up.

Father opened his mouth and spoke words loudly and clearly.

"I, Hyuuga Hiashi, as head of the Hyuuga Clan, declare my son, Hyuuga Haruka as the heir to the Hyuuga Clan."

My stomach dropped as my simple perfect world shattered.

"All rise," my father, whom I only now realised was Hyuuga freaking Hiashi, calmly said, in stark contrast to my turmoil inside, "And recognise the new heir to the Hyuuga Clan."

Without a sound, the members of the Hyuuga clan shuffled around and bowed, silent as shadows.

There was a dry thought in the back of my head, swimming and unclear as it was, that the timeline was absolutely and totally screwed. Where was Hinata? Hanabi? Why...

It felt surreal and unnatural for all of these people to be bowing to me. I was only three years old, at least physically, and the world felt a sinister sort of sideways and my mind span and grew dizzy.

"The ceremony shall commence," Hiashi intoned, "As is tradition."

They were silent ghosts.

The youths that had been seated at the table all rose and the infants that couldn't do so themselves were gathered by their parents and carried. They lined up in a single file beside the table.

The first one in the line, a boy perhaps two or three years older than I, walked up to me a bowed down low. I wasn't certain what I was supposed to do. Was I to nod at him? Smile? Anything?

Apparently, I was to stand there and be acknowledged.

The boy then stood up straight and waited patiently. I heard my father's footsteps from behind as he walked around me, stopping just in front of the boy. Slowly, Father's hand was raised to the boy's forehead.

The boy tilted his chin higher, and he looked almost defiant standing there before me.

Green light flashed from Father's palm, and the boy visibly gritted his teeth.

And when the light died down, when the hand was removed, when the smoke cleared, I saw very clearly that terrible ugly mark upon the boy's forehead. The awful barbarism of the Hyuuga clan, my clan, on full display.

The boy, head still held high, turned on his heel and walked away.

Bile rose in my throat.

And that was only the first one.

It was with mounting horror that I watched the youngest of the Hyuuga clan, infants even, be marched up to be marked with the cursed seal of the Hyuuga clan. Green flashes burned themselves into my blank lavender eyes.

A bittersweet feeling washed over my being as I realised that I would be the only child not marked on that night.

Happy birthday, Haruka