Chapter 1

Beta's can throw a punch

Izuna was not allowed out often even at the tender age of two. Instead he would sit on the wooden archway looking out to the garden with a pout. Glaring at the koi in the pond as they swam in circles. He liked to feed them, watch as they dumbly grouped up trying to grab a slither of the bread crumbs he would throw in. All blubbered mouths and angry splashing. It made him giggle even when his father shook his head in disapproval.

Right now though, Izuna is not allowed to feed the fish as he instead listens to yet another lecture. Stubbornly ignoring his fathers blathering teachings which follow the same line they do everytime the two find themselves alone. His teachings are always the same and always a headache to the young ninja who only dreams of mischief.

'Izuna this and Izuna that', Tajima runs laps around the boy with his prodding.

It's for his best interest to listen and learn. He knows that. Tajima has said as much in hush whispers when the others were out. The older man has sworn Izuna to secrecy with a pinky promise. Something about Izuna needing to be a 'beta' for his and the families safety.

Izuna doesn't really know what a beta is though, classes on genders don't start till four. All the tiny boy knows is that it's better than being an omega so he happily takes it. Though he is a bit irked when his father says his brothers are all alpha's, thus higher ranking than him. How come Izuna is not an Alpha?

"That's unfair" he'd noted one day when his father was on one of his long stringent rants on subgenders. The older man had simply turned to Izuna with a fond smile and fondled the boy's dark locks.

"Life Izuna, you will find, is not kind. It has no favoritism on who deserves what, no just system that hands out betterment to some and not others. Life simply gives what it feels like in the moment and goes on." The two sat in silence after that. Izuna with drawn brow trying to find meaning in his fathers words and Tajima simply staring off in solemn silence.

The clack of bamboo on wood is what brings his father back from his deep thoughts. Turning then to the child with a smile and a clap on his back "I believe it's time to start chakra training." He starts just as Izuna gets his bearing from the strong push. His eyes shine at the idea of something more than simple lectures and jumps from his spot in excitement.

"Woohoo, chakra training!" He hollers with little punches in the air before stopping in thought. "What's chakra?"

His father simply plants his head into his hands in defeat. A loud sigh forming from his lips. "Do you ever listen when I talk, Izuna?" Izuna shrugs just as his father starts a new tangent all about the wonders of chakra.

Apparently chakra is a part of every shinobis body, or something like that. With it, shinobi are able to do all kinds of cool things. Like the fireballs Madara recently started doing! Izuna can't wait to do that! But first his father claims he must control his chakra, understand them, learn to use only what he needs.

After his talk Tajima hands him a leaf. Izuna stares at it with confusion before his father sighs again "use your chakra to stick it to yourself, then we will move on to more difficult things." Izuna blinks from his father to the leaf before tilting his head back and placing the leaf on his nose.

"Done." He declares with a smirk. "Now let's do fun stuf-ACK'' Izuna rubs his forehead with a pout as Tajima takes his hand away with a deep chuckle.

"No Izuna, use your chakra only, no cheating and moving your body to help. Just chakra and gravity ok." He says this as he once again hands Izuna the leaf. Izuna glares down at the thing with a huff.

"Then we do fun stuff?"

"Then we do fun stuff."

So Izuna took the leaf and began his training in vigor. Expecting the whole thing to happen quickly with ease. He is an Uchiha after all, he was meant to succeed. Yet the leaf simply falls from his forehead no matter how hard he tries and Tajima is simply watching silently. Surely this could not be that hard, given time he would easily complete this lesson.

Only days turn to weeks and he's still at the simplest part of training. Still sticking a leaf to his body and hoping, praying for it to stick. He's not sure what he's doing wrong and he's too stubborn to ask for help from his father. Tajima would simply start one of his long rant on the body and how it works and blah blah blah.

Izuna thought of asking his brothers for help only to change his mind. His older brothers were the teasing type, always cooing about how tiny and slow Izuna was. If he confided about his troubles sticking a leaf to his own body they would have a field day. The two oldest would even make a point to tell him fake information. Like they did the one time they let Izuna follow them out onto the compound. They made a point to tell Izuna he, as the youngest, needed to call them lord in public.

Thankfully after the third time Madara had stopped Izuna and questioned him. Only to turn and scold his older brothers for their silly trick. It hadn't changed Izuna's mortification when he realized he had been fooled. It took a week for him to accept his brother's apologies and that had only been because Madara snuck a box of mochi into his room.

Said sweet quickly became the young boys favorite treat. When Madara promised a box after their next trip he had grown excited only for his father to pull him back by the nape of his shirt. With a simple grunt of 'training' Izuna was back in sieza glaring at the koi and his father staring on in waiting.

That was weeks ago and Izuna has grown tired of this 'chakra training' as his father calls it, he wants to go out with his brothers to eat street food. They always swear they will bring him back a treat or two home yet when they show up it's always pointedly empty handed. Amida, the second oldest, would pat Izuna's head roughly with an apology on his tongue. Ugaya, the oldest, would then roar in laughter about how they were hungry on the journey home and had simply eaten the sweets. Madara, as the youngest of the three, simply shook his head in annoyance but said nothing more.

Izuna has a small feeling that maybe Tajima is hiding sweets as a punishment for the boy's insolence. That maybe Izuna will never taste another fluffy mochi till the day he either dies or figures out this darn chakra thing. A lesson in how he either learns chakra control or gets not sweets.

If Izuna was out with the three he wouldn't have to risk his sweets being gobbled up by selfish brothers. But no, Izuna must learn how to keep a leaf on his nose no matter what. It's imperative to his betterment as a ninja...Or something like that. All so he could be a good beta and survive when battle comes.

None of that really interests Izuna at the moment though, so when his father comes marching to his room for training, always at the crack of dawn, Izuna makes like a ghost and tries to hide. He scrambles between doors and crunches his tiny form into the corner of the closest. He thinks he may get a moment of peace with his new hidey hole only for Tajima to walk straight to the closest and throw the door open with a clang. He quirks his brow in question and watches Izuna shuffle out with little words of betrayal.

The game of cat and mouse doesn't end there. As after months of no progress Izuna has lost every sense of interest in the tiny leaf. So he starts to hide, anywhere and everywhere. It becomes a game between the two.

At first Tajima would take only seconds to find the boy. The time grew longer as Izuna grew more cunning in his need to slack off. Yet, Tajima always found him, even in the smarter hidey holes he could think of. It was annoying if Izuna was being honest. The way his father could find him no matter where the little boy hid. No matter what nook or cranny he forced his tiny body to fit inside.

Then one day, after being pulled from between the roofs shelving his father sat him down with a fond sigh. "Do you know why I find you every time Izuna?" He'd asked the pouting child who shook his head in wonder. Tajima then leaned over, as though sharing a secret between the two. "It's your Chakra, the less control you have on it the more I can sense you no matter where you go."

"Like anywhere?" Little Izuna asked with a tilt of his head.

"Anywhere." Tajima nods.

To say Izuna liked knowing he had a GPS stuck to his little form was an understatement. To have his peaceful days ruined by his stinky dad was a no-go, so little Izuna did as his father always yapped about and reached into himself and felt for his chakra coils. He sat in that little sieza formation for maybe a week before he decided he knew enough and began to hide once more.

What once took maybe minutes began to take hours of a time. Till one day Tajima never found him. For hours little Izuna slept squished between two pliers of wood as his father bustled about searching for his youngest minx. Yet Izuna made no move to be found and his father got no closer to finding him. Only when Izuna smelt the savory scent of fish did he finally creep out of his hidey hole for dinner.

He expected his father to be mad, upset that his youngest had skipped a whole day out of lessons. Instead he loomed over the dinner table with pride. On top of the table sat an array of sweets. There, closest to his seat, was a plate of mochi. Izuna could feel drool escaping his mouth as he sat down before the delicacy.

Then Tajima spoke, his voice booming with authority. "I think you are ready to proceed to your next lessons." Izuna beamed, excited as all can be to finally be able to start the fun stuff. And so at the tender age of four little Izuna started training to be a ninja.

One should know, the fun stuff is not all that fun. No, well some of it was fun. The tree and water walking had been really fun to learn, though oddly easy after hiding his chakra. Maybe it took more control to hide said chakra then use it? Aiming a kunai at a board was also easy to get a hang of. Something Tajima later admitted he was the best at between his four children.

Either way those parts had been fun. Even the ninjutsu was rather fun! The fireballs his clan are known for took a bit of time but were amazing upon its fruition. Leaving little Izuna stunned in his spot when he first felt the heat escape his mouth. The flames licking his skin yet leaving not a mark.

Honestly if being a ninja was all about walking up trees and randomly spitting flames Izuna would have been more than welcome to the new experience.

Sadly there was more to it.

Maybe Izuna had forgotten that shinobi were meant to fight or perhaps he had simply decided to not think about it. Either way when one morning his father brought him out to an open lot and asked him to fight Madara Izuna broke into tears. His whole body hurt just from the insinuation. Just the thought of hitting his older brother upset Izuna.

Izuna knew this day would come, had acknowledged it when he first started doing katas. Yet when the words finally escaped his fathers mouth his whole body buckled in disagreement. Causing him to cry out in mere seconds. Madara stood ahead in uncomfortable confusion, squirming from foot to foot. Unsure how to react to his little brothers sudden onslaught of tears.

Tajima simply waits with a tight frown. His body seems tense, as though he wishes to sooth his son. Still he simply waits, lets the emotion wash past Izuna before beginning the fight.

When said tears had been wiped and Izuna was awkwardly throwing hands towards Madara he became nauseous. His body tenses every time he so much as tries and hits his older brother. His palms would be mere inches away before they awkwardly pause, giving time for the older to move away.

After minutes of close calls Madara growls in frustration and pushes his brother down with a scowl. "Take this seriously Izuna" he barks with frustration. Izuna gulps, trembling hands squirming in lap before nodding and pushing himself up. He goes into position yet again, even as his body screams to run away, to go and hide.

Before he can even give thought to his mind screams Madara is back on him. Harshly throwing punches and kicks his way. He's angry Izuna notes. Upset with Izuna for not taking these lessons seriously. Or maybe simply hurt that Izuna had been so close to hitting him only to stop. Tajima always said pride was an alphas weakness, the one thing that would blind an alpha easily in battle.

Izuna feels bad, really bad for hurting his brother like that. He hadn't meant to treat his brother like something lower. Madara is amazing after all. Far more talented than Izuna could ever wish to be. The throbbing wounds scattered all over his body says just as much. By the next morning Izuna will be purple and bruised all over, proof of his brother's talent.

Izuna had only been close to punching the older man due to his speed. A skill he had learned in his mad dashes away from Tajima. Said skill was one Madara had never favored. He always prefered pure strength over speed and agility. This, Izuna notes, was another difference between alpha's and beta's. The only way a beta could beat an alpha is if he can dodge the others punches afterall.

"Izuna, pay attention!" Madara snaps just as he throws a left hook towards Izuna. On reflexe Izuna bends back, stumbling a bit and throws his only punch blindly. It hits with a loud smack and they both freeze in surprise. Madara is blinking dumbly at Izuna's fist, a small amount of red showing on his cheek where fist met skin. He's less hurt and more surprised by the hit.

Izuna on the other hand isn't paying attention, he's too busy shaking. Too busy convulsing at the sight of his hand hitting his dear brother. He, he can't breathe. Everything feels like it's closing in.

He hurt his brother.

Izuna can't do this.

He can't hit his brother again.

Would've been fatal. Would've killed him.

That's what shinobi do isn't it, they kill.

Izuna can't do that, just a weak punch to his brother's face makes him want to puke.

Izuna can't do this.

He'll end up dead before he even manages one hit.

He can't become a shinobi.

He's a failure.

"Breath Izuna, breathe."

Blurry eyes look up to see his father looking down in concern, crouched near him with a hand heavily placed on his shoulder. Izuna thinks he might have lost consciousness at some point as he doesn't remember laying down on the ground. He doesn't remember much after the simple punch, more of a slap really, to his older brother's face. "M-madara?" He asks in a quiet breath, his voice weezy from asphyxiation. Tajima moves slightly to show Madara behind him with wide panicked eyes. When Madara notices Izuna's eyes on him he lets out a shaky smile to ease the smaller boy.

"He's here Izuna, he's ok. You didn't hurt him." Tajima claims in calm tender words. Izuna simply nods dully before he squirms in his fathers hold.

"I...I don't want to hurt people." He shakily told his father. Tajima holds him closer with a sad sigh.

"It's not up to you to choose whether you hurt others or not. The time will simply come that you HAVE too hurt them." He notes as he starts rocking the boy back and forth in a soothing motion. Izuna opens his mouth to complain only for his father to shush him. "Think of it like this, we fight, not for the feel of blood on our skin, not because we like the idea of others dying by our hand, but instead for the knowledge that our own families may live another day."

"But why do I have to fight...Can't I just stay home, help here." Izuna notes dully. A sad smile crosses Tajima's face upon his words as he leans back, away from his child. He instead looks over at Madara's pale form in thought.

"You love your brothers, yes?"

"Mhmm." Izuna nods slowly in confusion of the sudden turn in their conversation.

"Then think of it like this, say one day you go to battle and your brother gets caught-"

"That wouldn't happen Madara is suuuuper strong!" Izuna cuts off with a quip. From his spot farther away Madara jolts before smiling softly at his little brother. Standing taller in pride of Izuna's words. Tajima simply flicks Izuna again with a gentle hum in thought.

"Hypothetically Izuna, hypothetically. Now, say he was caught and held as ransom. Would you let your brother die or follow orders for his life?" The older man questions, dark eyes staring down at Izuna in thought.

"I'd do whatever I can to keep him alive!" Izuna chirps without a single moment of thought. So set that his brother's life is meant more than anything else in the world. Truthfully Izuna can't see his older brother ever getting caught, he's already leagues ahead of others his age and he's only six! By the time Madara enters the war front he'll be a deadly force to reckon. His only true weakness at the moment, at least in Izuna's eyes, is his lack of speed.

"Anything?" Tajima questions, prods, for clarity. Izuna nods once, twice, in determination. "Even give out secrets, kill your own clan mates, or say sacrifice yourself for him?" When Izuna pauses for a moment before nodding yet again Tajima grows cold, tense over his son's form. "Then let's change the scenario, say it is you who has been held captive and Madara is told to kill himself or watch you die. What do you think he'll do?"

Tajima doesn't wait for an answer from Izuna, instead turning towards his elder son in expectation. Madara, who had been quietly listening to his fathers ramblings, tenses upon the sudden attention. His brows furrowed in thought before speaking up, "if it were for my little brother, I would gladly put down my blades and accept my fate…" He says this with balled fists, as though the idea pains him deeply, even in a hypothetical realm of imagination.

"No! If I ever get caught you should just let me die!" Izuna yelps in dismay, disgusted at the idea of his brother sacrificing his brilliant life for his. "You have a higher rank in the clan, without you things can't move on, the world will live without me Madara!"

Which is true. As the only beta, he theoretically can never be clan head. Madara, while the youngest of the three alphas still is in a position of power. Had both older brothers died in battle Madara would be next in line to be clan head. Because of this Madara had extra training, a precaution for the worst. Izuna on the other hand has little to no rights as the youngest and a beta. Had all his close family tied an alpha of close relation would uphold their line instead of him. A tradition passed from ages ago, only an alpha can run the clan.

AKA, Izuna is not needed.

"While this may simply be hypothetical one day this very scenario may come to light." His father draws, jolting him from his thoughts as he looks up at his father in worry. "Being weak in the face of war does not only burden you Izuna, it burdens the whole family. You cannot tense up in a fight lest you want your siblings turning their backs on their own enemies just to protect you. You must become strong, if not for yourself than for your family. Always think of it like this Izuna; it's either their family or yours...Which do you care more for?"

The three stay quiet between the open lands. Izuna stuck staring at his hands, contemplating his fathers words and Madara awkwardly hanging back, waiting for his fathers next words. When Tajima notes Izuna has nothing left to say he pats his son on the back before slowly standing up.

"For today," he starts, "we will call this enough. But tomorrow I want you ready to fight your brother with your all, no more missing hits on purpose. Both for your sake and his, Madara needs to sharpen up as well. If a four year old is swiping hits on him he's not paying enough attention."

"W-what?! I was going easy on him father! I'm not in any way being beaten by my little brother!" Madara chips in with a waiver of horror in his voice.

"Ah, so it wasn't that you're heavy on your feet?" Tajima teases, walking past his oldest and away from the training grounds. Madara squeaks from his place beside Izuna before chasing after his father, and arguing upon his tongue.

Izuna on the other hand stays planted on the ground in thought. His fingers draw shapes into the dirt as he glumly ponders the day. Does he really have to hurt others just to protect his own? His father had made a good point. Reasoning that his weakness could become his older brothers one day. Yet Izuna still can't help but question the need for violence. The need to fight at all.

Why does any family have to risk loss just for the other's safety? Izuna doesn't get it. May never understand the inner mechanisms of war. All he knows is that he hates it. Hates the idea of killing another just as he hates hitting his brother. Hates that one day he will be the reason a family loses a father or son. Hates that it's either that or his own life. Or worse his brothers.

Izuna knows he should train, that he needs to get stronger to ease his brothers worry, ease his fathers worry. Yet every part of his body screams 'no', it screams in denial of his destination. So when morning comes the next day Izuna takes one large inhale and grounds his chakra to his form. Sticking it much like the leaf in training, to his skin before crawling out the window and off into a new hidey hole.

Tajima may be disappointed later; but for now all that matters is Izuna's sanity and right now it's telling him not to fight. So he won't.

It won't be till years later that he realizes how foolish his actions were. Of the danger they brought him and his family. But by then he would have already lost someone far more important, leaving him with a heavy object and bloody eyes as a parting gift. Tajima's words echoing in his head as he accepts his first mistake as a shinobi.

This chapter went by faster than I first expected! Basically trying to showcase Izuna's key points of growth as a kid. They will go pretty fast and probably take five chapters at most. Seeing as we only know so much of Izuna from the manga or anime I felt his personality was free reigns.

Hopefully this chapter and the coming ones will help illustrate just why omega shinobi is difficult to have. Mentally they just don't wanna and their whole body will fight the idea. The only true way for an omega to join the ninja world is for them to break their omega mentally.

Tajima is still the best dad, you can't stop me from forcing this belief on every single one of you. His only weakness is not being used to physical affection and thus missing cues sometimes. Madara is even worse, the homeboy just kinda sat and watched his baby brother cry in confusion. He gets better. Just not something he's used to in an all alpha household.

Also, while we know they had older brothers their names were never confirmed so I kinda googled and found others opinions and chose Amida and Ugaya. There's actual meanings to the names that I found interesting but i'll talk about them after we get to know the two gremlins.

Think that's it for me this time, don't expect quick updates like this all the time, I'm a mess and should not be trusted. Also I got school to drown through so, yeah.

Anyways...Thanks for joining my Ted-Talk and till next time find a nice nook and go to sleep.