*headcanons. - “Uchiha births, funerals, and myths”
The Uchiha believe that children should be present for childbirth. Not just because it is one of the realities of life, but because there is a unique power in it, bearing witness to creation itself. Something strong and living, to pull them a little farther from the precipice of death that they always toe.
Madara is present for the birth of all three of his younger brothers, but only Izuna’s birth sticks with him after. With him, he’s the one to smear ash on his forehead with clumsy four-year-old fingers, marking him as one of Amaterasu’s flock, like every Uchiha that’s come before them. Born for fire.
Some babies are named immediately. Most go nameless for a year. It’s better that way -- you can’t love something without a name. It makes loss easier.
Nameless children have little cords around their ankles to remember whose get they are. This hasn’t stopped accidents. When so many come out dark-haired and dark-eyed, mix-ups happen.
The Uchiha burn their dead. The pyre is always built by their closest kin -- their parents, siblings, children, lovers, and dear friends. Only they can cut down the trees, build the pyre by hand, and then strap the body to it. Only they can light the final fire.
It is said that the sparks from the corpse carry their spirit to the next life, so the burning has to take place on a clear day. That way, the sparks can’t be extinguished before they complete their journey.
They never burn a body at night if they can help it.
If an Uchiha dies far from home, then anyone who is near them has to carry their corpse back. If not, they have to pull their eyes out. If there is no other option, they have to be destroyed.
It’s tradition to preserve the eyes of honored family members. They can watch over the clan, bringing protection even from the afterlife. (And they do, sometimes. An implanted Sharingan will never function as well as their natural counterparts, but they will do.)
Sometimes, unnatural children are born -- ones with nubby horns, deformed foreheads, or ringed eyes. The clan used to kill them immediately. Occasionally, though, some survive past those first days of alarm and some even manage to live into adulthood. But all of them are cursed to die young.
Every Uchiha has the potential to awaken the Sharingan. The more tragic the family, the likelier it is.
If an Uchiha looks too long at the moon, they have to be pulled away before it looks back.
It’s bad luck to separate lovers. (It’s caused more than one civil war in their history.)
It’s even worse luck to separate siblings.
They say that Madara’s grandfather had an extra ring in his Sharingan and horns hidden in his hair. None of this is true. Madara simply burns hotter than most.
