Toshiko woke up on a dusty floor. She found it strange because she shouldn't be waking up at all since she was dead.

She gingerly stood up, further revealing that her body had somehow shrunk itself, and looked around. She was in a musty smelling room, with rows and rows of foreign looking masks lined up on the walls, and was holding a good colored mask with a circle drawn on it.

With a jolt, she remembered the place. It was the temple she had found after she had runoff to the north forest, after she got the news of her grandmother's death, when she was five. It was one year after the Kyuubi attack (during which her mother had died) and Toshiko was living with her grandmother, her father already being a casualty of the third shinobi war. The deaths, all one after the other, and the realisation that she was alone in the world, were too much for her, and in was the wisdom of a five year old, she had decided to foresake civilisation and live in Konoha's forests. It had been a few hours of roaming amongst the Hashirama trees when she had found this worn down building had and went in. She didn't remember much after that, but somehow she had gotten her hands on the mask she was holding in the moment, and had lost several hours.

She had slowly made her way back to Konoha and crossed path with the police officers who were looking for her.

Judging by the state of her current body, she hypothesised a few theories.

First:  She was dead and this was Pure World. This was the least probable one because it went against every description of Pure World she had read about.

Second: She wasn't dead but in some super genjutsu of Itachi's creation. Again, low in probability, because there wasn't anything he would gain by putting her in a genjutsu.

Third: She had gone mad. She would like to think that wasn't the case, but madness did run in her bloodline. Case in point- Itachi.

Fourth: She had somehow time travelled back to when she was five years old.

The last option was the she was choosing to go with for the time being. Looking at the strange mask she was holding, she could even guess the source of her predicament.

Trying to follow the script, Toshiko decided to head back to Konoha. An hour later, she found the same police officers as last time. Surprisingly, this time she didn't get scolded.

"Ah, Toshiko-chan. How long has it been since it activated?" Uchiha Shota, her father's old friend, asked sympathetically.

Toshiko blinked once, before understanding what he meant. She hadn't even noticed that she had activated her Sharingan. Getting murdered would do that, she supposed.

She carefully directed the chakra flow away from her eyes, and her vision turned slightly duller, less precise. That was a stupid move since it drew attention to the fact that she could manipulate chakra consciously.

Her rescuers shared a 'discreet' glance before deciding to take her to the clan head.

Toshiko didn't want to go to the clan head, but as usual she didn't have any choice. She hoped she wouldn't encounter the six year old version of her murderer, only the universe didn't wish to grant her even that.

They encountered Fugaku near the lake teaching the great fireball jutsu to his son. The little genius, of course, got it on his first try. Fugaku's smug smile was a sight to behold, before he turned to acknowledge Toshiko and her rescuers. He narrowed his eyes in disapproval at spotting her.

"You found the run-away, then?" He asked, his tone dismissive, while Itachi stared curiously at them.

Toshiko tuned out the conversation. She didn't have any interest in hearing Fugaku's disapproval of her actions, she had heard enough of it in the original timeline. Instead, she focused on Itachi. He was a six year old chibi, not the devil that murdered her, therefore she was able to keep her more hostile thoughts in check. She was not going to murder the clan heir, no matter what he turned out to be. First of all, nobody would believe her if she told them of the future. Secondly, she didn't want to murder a six year old.

When, he came after her again, she would be sure to give him what he deserved. But, for now, he wouldn't suffer her ire.

"..... enroll her at the Academy."

"Wait, what?" Toshiko exclaimed, cursing her decision to ignore what they were saying.

"I have been informed that you can deactivate your newly awakened Sharingan consciously." Fugaku said, his tone implicating he found it doubtful.

"You have the Sharingan?" Chibi-Itachi piped up, earning himself a Disapproving Frown TM from his father.

"Yes. I awakened it this morning." Toshiko answered, ignoring Fugaku. It showed how much you hate a person, when you hate him even more than your murderer.

"Clan Law states that an Uchiha with conscious control over their Sharingan is considered an adult. This ties things up nicely, we don't have to find a substitute gaurdian for you." Fugaku sneered, clearly not appreciating her disrespect.

Aashole. As if he'd bothered to find a gaurdian for her last time.

"You will be joining the academy this year, if you wish to avail the benefits of the orphan fund provided by the clan." He continued.

This was new. The normal for addmission in the academy is six. Fugaku hadn't bothered to get Itachi started early, even though he was a genius. What could be the reason for insisting for Toshiko?

Her question was answered by Shota as he accompanied her home. "It's pretty rare to control the Sharingan at such a young age. You are a potential asset. Fugaku-sama wants to get you close to his heir, by putting you in the same year as him." He explained.

Toshiko managed to control her snort of derision at that.

She was left alone at home with a envelope with some cash. Last time, she had no idea what to do, but now she had an experience of seven years of taking care of herself. She quickly got herself to sort out the house, seperating objects she would be able to sell, stuff to throw, and stuff to keep; her grief over grandma's death an old scat at that point.

She found several of her parents kunai which prompted her think how she'd handle her second stint at the academy. She had gone through it once, she knew what they were going to teach, poorly; but still she won't be able to pretend to be average anymore.

Not that being average would help her in anyway. Her misguided belief that she would be safe as a career genin, had been torn to shreds. She wasn't safe even as an academy student. If she wanted to live she had to be strong; stronger than the person who wants her dead. She could still retire when she'd have completed ten years of service.

Additionally, she knew she had to survive Itachi. She had heard rumours about him being an ANBU at eleven. She needed to put everything she had to fight that kind of genius.
_________________________________________

Academy didn't turn out to be the walk in the park she'd expected it to be.

On the first day, Chibi-Itachi came up to her desk, greeted her, before taking a seat next to her. Toshiko was probably the only person he knew in the class, but that didn't stop her from being uncomfortable and unable to concentrate the entire time he was there. After lunch break, he changed his seat to the opposite end of the classroom, probably picking up on her discomfort. Somehow, it made her feel bad for rebuffing a child, even though the child in question would become a murdering psychopath.

He didn't talk to her after that, much less anyone else. She silenced the part of her that whispered that perhaps he just needed a friend.

The classes continued. She had the advantage of six years of schooling and the brilliant cheat code that is the Sharingan, and she still wasn't able to beat the boy genius in the class rankings. She was a close second, a far improvement from her previous rankings, but it still rankled to be beaten by a child six years younger than her.

Soon, both her and Itachi were given the chance to upgrade to a higher class. Itachi managed to enter the final year class while Toshiko got into the year below.

It was a bit of a relief to be in a different class than the person who killed her. Her nightmares of being stabbed and drowning in her own blood reduced considerably.

At seven, and a year later than Itachi, Toshiko finally graduated as the top kunoichi. She was proud to say that she had considerab improved in almost all aspects including physical fitness, throwing, chakra control (even though her reserves were bigger this time and thus harder to control), and taijutsu. They weren't taught much ninjutsu or genjutsu in the academy except the academy three and genjutsu dispel method, and those were easy enough that she had mastered them even in the original timeline.

Her growth had stagnated (her Sharingan was stuck at one tomoe even after two years) and she needed a team and a jonin sensei to progress further. So, ofcourse, because the universe hated her, she was put in a team with two civilian born graduates and a jonin sensei who clearly despised the idea of teaching. It was exactly the kind of team she had been hoping for last time when she wanted to get into genin corps.

Predictably, the team failed the jounin's test despite Toshiko's best efforts and they were presented with the option to return to the academy or become career genin.

Toshiko went for the third option and applied for medical jutsu training at the hospital. Her chakra control turned out to be just enough to be entered into the course.

__________________________________________

Working at the hospital was not what Toshiko had in mind for her future, but it turned out to be a rewarding experience.

Fugaku had objected, naturally, because apparently Uchiha were elite ninja and weren't supposed to lower themselves to work as a medic nin. Toshiko asked him if Uchiha could lower themselves to work in the genin corps, and he backed off. Apparently, no progress in the Sharingan for more than two years was enough for him to dismiss Toshiko as a lost cause and relabel her  Sharingan awakening as a fluke.

She wasn't naturally good at the mystical palm jutsu and it had taken hours of refining her chakra control, dozens of dead fish and months of hard work before she was even capable of healing a paper cut. During that time she had been helping the healers with non chakra healing, and learning medicine.

At twelve, she had a solid grounding in the subject and had learned enough about the body to practice self healing, which was her intention when she decided to join the hospital. If she couldn't fight Itachi, she could heal herself after he'd stabbed her.

Toshiko took care to remain in her house on the night she remembered the massacre had taken place last time. She hoped little Sasuke would be okay. Considering that Itachi had only put him under a genjutsu last time, indicated that he would be fine, but she couldn't help but worry.

For the hundredth time, she told herself to stop feeling guilty about not warning anyone to what was going to happen. They never would've have believed her.

A slight shift in chakra told her of the arrival of her would be attacker. She prepared herself, gathering her chakra towards her chest, as Itachi approached her blade drawn.

Then he cut off her head.