"Aniki!"

At Izuna's childish call, Madara looked up from bottle-feeding Ryouta, his eyes instantaneously zooming to the running toddler. He shifted his hold on the infant for better security and bodily turned from Izuna just as the latter crashed into his side.

Thankfully, he was well prepared and had glued his feet to the ground with chakra, knowing how energetic Izuna's usual greetings were.

"Careful," he whispered, voice cracking slightly from how seldom he uses his voicebox nowadays.

"Sorry, aniki, Ryouta-chan!" Izuna smiled sheepishly, the four missing front teeth and tangled hair making him twice as adorable.

Madara shook his head slightly with a small smile, showing his little brother that all was good. Without conscious thought, he balanced the bottle and baby with one arm whilst his free hand started to groom Izuna's hair, plucking out leaves and twigs whilst detangling the strands with his fingers.

He hummed slightly in question when Izuna continued to fidget in place, his eyes looking at Madara with blatant adoration. He returned the look with his own besotted one.

In this life, Madara felt more like Izuna and Ryouta's parent rather than eldest brother due to the difference in age, and with how their biological parents acted, parental affection was something Madara has never experienced. Still, he tries his hardest for Izuna and Ryouta, not wanting them to feel neglected.

"Can aniki teach me how throw shur'ken now?" His little brother peered from his lashes, lower lips jutting out in an adorable pout. Madara chuckled endearingly at the butchered pronunciation and a rather obvious attempt at manipulation.

Regardless, he nodded his consent and guided Izuna to the wooden targets at their backyard, but not before correcting his word and sentence structure. Although a commendable effort for a three, going four-year-old, their father was not a patient man and would punish them if they did something wrong. Even if that something was as an inane as grammar mistakes.

As he went about correcting Izuna's form, he didn't neglect the babe in his arm. Gently burping Ryouta after the infant was done with his milk, Madara set aside the bottle and rocked his baby brother whilst paying close attention to Izuna, not wanting the toddler to injure himself whilst training.

It was strange, Madara mused, to be training someone so young.

The first time, Izuna had been trained by the clan elders alongside the other kids in their clan. Madara had only started to spar with Izuna after the latter had reached seven, at least, due to how far they were in strength. He had to first learn how to soften his blows to avoid giving any unintentional injuries to his brother.

Now, during his second childhood, it was Madara who took the initiative to train his little brother. Others might think he was heartless for pushing someone so young to become a shinobi, but Madara knew that this was the best course of action to protect his younger siblings. The stronger they were, the fewer people that could kill them.

It was also better for him to be the one who trained them. Tajima and the clan elders were merciless, always dishing out corporal punishment and only giving the barest amount of praises (or none at all). Although effective on a whole with competitiveness as a measure of strength, Madara didn't want that for his brothers. He would rather they not be hurt unnecessarily, be it physically or emotionally. He wanted them to enjoy as much of their childhood as possible whilst also training to become child soldiers.

Besides, he had once turned Obito, a dead-last fool, into a powerhouse that could fight on par with an S-Rank shinobi, a master puppeteer who pulled far too many strings to count, and someone who could control a Bijuu all within a limited span of two years.

Hashirama's cells might have played an important part in speeding the process, but if it came down to it, Madara was confident that any student he trained would become a legend in their own right.

"Aniki! Did yous see that?! I hits bullseye ten time in' row!" Izuna squealed with laughter, arms in the air as he celebrated his victory of nailing all ten shurikens on the wooden target.

Ryouta jolted awake from his light doze due to the loud exclamation, causing Izuna to physically cover his jaw with his tiny hands, although his gleeful giggles slipped through his fingers once in a while. Madara only rolled his eyes fondly, automatically bouncing the infant in an attempt to comfort him.

"Yes. I saw. Well done, Izuna."

Madara lifted Ryouta higher just in time to avoid the little one from being squashed by Izuna. The toddler having wrapped two skinny arms around Madara's middle and rested his chin on Madara's abdomen, a goofy and wide grin playing on his lips.

"Un! Thank you, aniki. Fo' teachin' me and be patient with me!"

"Always, otouto."