Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Now, usually, Izuna’s ruts weren’t a big deal. Ever since he had presented, he only had to suffer through two, at most three days of mild horniness and extreme clinginess. Really, if anything, his ruts were more of an inconvenience to Madara, usually the subject his alpha brain fixated on and thus clinged to the whole time. He sought his brother’s scent, letting himself be pampered extensively, not unlike Madara had done when they were both kids and the omega took care of him every day. Then, after his rut passed, Izuna reverted to his baseline clinginess and his brother was allowed to leave his eyesight to actually do work

This time it was going to be the same. It should have been the same.

“You seem more restless than usual,” Madara commented, looking at him not unlike he did on a battlefield. “Did something happen?”

He had been restless. The whole morning he had spent securing food, reorganizing his and Madara’s closets, and taking inventory of their whole kitchen. He had also dragged more blankets and pillows to his den, not using them, but so they would be ready for later. He also—

Izuna groaned. “I spent the last three days around Kagami. His scent has my alpha thinking that I should have pups soon.”

Madara raised an eyebrow, finally approaching him rather than watching from the door. He moved to grab the nest supplies Izuna had brought, starting to re-arrange his bed into a proper nest. “Pups? I didn’t know you were thinking about having them.”

“I wasn’t,” Izuna whined, sitting at the end of his futon.  “It’s this stupid alpha instinct— it’s telling me I should. But I truly wasn’t thinking about it. The last thing I actually want is to sleep with some omega.”

“‘Some omega’” Madara repeated back, snorting. “Are we so bad?”

He gave Madara a look. His brother would never be anything less than perfect. Other omegas…  “I have no interest in having an omega as a mate, nii-san.”

Madara kept silent for a few seconds. “I didn’t ask if you wanted to mate with an omega,” he retorted, interlacing the blankets and mattresses in layers. “Regardless, it wouldn’t be wrong to think about pups. You’re more than old enough and…” he gave Izuna a look. “I’ve seen you spend time with the clan kids. I know that you love being around them”

Izuna let himself fall back, looking at the ceiling. It wasn’t that Madara was wrong, not really. But….

“Of course I want pups,” he said, using his arms as pillows.. “Even before— before you and that stupid Senju decided to agree to peace, I always thought it would be nice to have kids running around our home again, to be able to raise them. I didn’t— I’ve never raised one, not the way you raised me and the— the others. I was too… young. But I would like to do so, one day.”

Madara shrugged. “Then have one,” he said. Like it was that easy.

Izuna moved his head just enough to send him a dirty look. “I just said—”

“I’m not saying you should get someone pregnant,” Madara interrupted him. Which, rude. “You can adopt a kid too.”

And he… Well, he had considered it, but it always came to the same problem. “I don’t want a kid from outside the clan.” He paused, trying to put his thoughts into words. “It’s not just that they would be different, but I’m your heir, nii-san. My pup would inherit the clan. If it’s an outsider…they would never be allowed to inherit the position. It would be worse, I think, for them to be raised as part of the clan only to be passed over because they wouldn’t be Uchiha by blood.” That would probably fuck up the kid in the head. He had seen it before, among other clans. Izuna wasn’t so cruel as to do that to a kid.  “And even if I wanted to adopt an Uchiha baby… there aren’t any right now. Even the orphans left from the war have all been adopted.”

Madara stopped his movements, something… complicated in his face. “You’ve thought about it before.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Izuna sighed. He was itching to lay down on Madara and burying them both under the blankets. “It’s not only the inheritance issue. I would… I would also like to be part of the pregnancy, you know? I want to be part of the pup’s life from the beginning.”

He remembered how excited his cousin had been when pregnant. How much her mate had spoiled her before and after Kagami was born. Her mate always had food for her, always made sure there was a place for her to rest, always was there for her service. He wanted to do the same. He wanted to… to take care of someone like that.

And sure, Izuna could do without it. If someone handed him a baby, he would cherish them. But… If he could choose…

Madara hummed. “It’s not pretty,” he told him. “When our mother was pregnant she would get very sick each time, and she was on bedrest most of the pregnancies. There’s mothers who lose their babies, or don’t survive themselves. You would need a medic-nim supervising to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

Which… was a really good point. But a moot one. “It’s not like it’s going to happen,” Izuna mumbled, suddenly feeling like shit. “So what’s the point in thinking about it?”

“...” Madara sat on his knees. “The nest is done. Move.”

Without thinking, Izuna rolled to the side and got into the nest Madara had crafted for him, pulling his brother with him immediately after. Madara didn’t complain, he never did, even as Izuna buried his nose on his neck.

They stayed like that, Izuna just content breathing in Madara’s soothing scent.

“... what if you ask an omega to have your pup,” asked Madara, breaking the silence.

“I don’t like omegas, nii-san,” he repeated, again. He pressed Madara closer. “Their scents— they make me sick. I don’t think I could handle being around one for long enough to actually have a pup.” Not during a rut, where his nose was most sensitive, or a heat, when an omega’s scent became twice as strong.

“... You like my scent,” Madara pointed out.

But that was— It was different. To Izuna, Madara’s scent meant safety. It meant home. Madara’s scent had been the one that clung to Izuna as a kid, the one that consoled him each time they lost a brother, and the one that managed to calm down even when his emotions became too much. Madara’s scent was everything. His brother was everything to him.

“I only like your scent,” Izuna corrected him. “If I found an omega like you, one that would be willing to have my pup, let me stick around during the pregnancy, and then leave immediately after… then yes, I would love to have a pup then.”

But omegas willing to part ways with their babies weren’t… common. Not that Izuna knew many omegas, not really. He was only familiar with the ones in the clan, and out of them, only Madara had expressed no desire for pups. Not that Izuna could really blame him; Madara had raised him and his brothers, after all. He had been trusted, perhaps unjustly, with the task of caring for four pups, only to lose three of them to a war he hadn’t even participated in yet. Because it was his duty as the eldest. Because he had been an omega and omegas were supposed to take care of pups

He knew Madara loved him and his siblings, and he knew he would do it again if he had to, but…

A memory of his brother played inside his mind. It had been before Madara had met the Senju, before he had started sneaking out of the compound to… to just be, probably. Madara had to have been maybe eight years old, and they had been mourning the loss of one of their siblings. It had been Madara the one consoling them, one toddler in his back, Izuna and his other sibling on each hand. His father had also been there, Izuna thinks. He hadn’t said much to them beyond the threatening words to the Senjus before withdrawing into his office to plan retaliatory attacks. Izuna couldn’t remember his brother crying, despite the sorrow embedded into his still undeveloped scent, but he remembered how it had been in his hands to keep everything together. How he had to do it again and again as both his younger brothers met the same fate. How Madara had clung to him, when he thought Izuna had been asleep, promising that he wouldn’t let him die as well, his scent so sad…

No, he truly couldn’t blame his brother for not wanting to have kids. He had already lost too many of them.

He wrapped his body around Madara, hugging him tightly. Madara put a hand on his head, running his fingers through his hair.

“... what are you thinking about?” Asked Madara. “Your scent turned… sad.”

“... You,” Izuna replied. “Well, us as kids, I suppose.”

“Thinking about your childhood makes you sad?” Madara chuckled. “Did I do such a bad job at raising you?”

“Nii-san, don’t even joke about it.” He nipped his brother’s neck, feeling the vibration of his quiet laughter. “You were the best.” The best brother. The best mother. Just the best.

“Then why?”

Izuna sighed. “... Nii-san…”

“... Is it because of the pup thing?” Madara shifted a bit, turning so they were face to face. “Do you really want to have a pup so badly?”

Yes. No. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t have one.”

“... what if you could?” Madara pressed his lips together. “What if we get one?”

“...” Izuna blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“What if we get one?” Madara repeated. “One that is yours, so that there wouldn’t be any inheritance issues.”

He felt his heart skip a beat. He sat up, looking at his brother like he had grown a second head. “I told you, nii-san. I would have to find an omega willing, and—”

“— and you don’t like omegas,” Madara cut him off. “But you— You like my scent.”

“Yes,” Izuna said, a bit exasperated. “Yours. Not even other omegas in the clan I can actually tolerate during a heat or rut. So there’s—”

“Let me finish,” Madara snapped, and oh. His face was starting to turn red. His brother was flustered. “Just— listen to me. You need an omega to have a pup. You like my scent. I’m an omega.”

Izuna raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“So,” Madara continued, using the same exasperated tone as when he had taught Izuna how to read basic characters a third time because Izuna didn’t pay attention, “what if I have your baby?”

Izuna blinked. Then he blinked again.

He waited a few seconds, Madara’s face turning a deeper hue of red, but the shoe never dropped. Madara never laughed, never told him it was a joke.

“Are you—” Izuna swallowed his saliva, feeling his throat dry. “Are you serious?”

His powerful, beautiful, precious brother, the one that meant everything to Izuna and more, was… offering to have his pup?

There were so many things Izuna wanted to say. He wanted to shake his brother for offering his body like he was some— breeding cattle. He wanted to yell at him for saying that when he clearly never wanted to go through that before. He wanted to hug him and tell him how much he loved him.

He did none of those things. Instead, Izuna took a few seconds just to find his voice again. “I thought… you didn’t want to get pregnant.”

“I won’t— I don’t want to raise the kid,” Madara immediately said, completely missing where Izuna’s thoughts had gone. “I don’t want to be their mother.  I don’t want to raise a pup. But… I don’t think… I don’t think I would care much about… making them… and then handing them off.” He took a deep breath. “And you— You only need someone to have it. I can do that. I can have your pup, and then I can be their uncle. You can be their parent.”

Izuna felt his heart grow five sizes. Madara was… too nice. Too generous. Izuna feared the day this… kindness would go back and harm his brother. It was dangerous to be such a good person when one was in a position like Madara. One where vulnerability could cost lives.

Vulnerability. The word echoed inside his head. There was a reason omegas were discouraged to go have pups while active on the field. An omega shinobi was a great asset to war.  A pregnant omega was a target.

A shiver ran through Izuna’s back. It felt like someone had poured water from a cold spring on his head.

If Madara were to have a pup… he would be exposed to danger. More than he already was. It usually didn’t bother Izuna, not really. He knew Madara was capable of destroying the whole fire country if he so wished. But… He wouldn’t be able to defend himself as well if pregnant. He would be a target. And not only to outside threats; the pregnancy itself was a threat.

Izuna grabbed his brother’s arms like it was a lifeline. “Nii-san, you said earlier— Pregnancies aren’t easy. What if something happens to you?” Like it happened to mother?

His brother snorted, as if Izuna had made a joke. “I’m one of the most powerful shinobis in this land, Izuna. Only second to Hashirama.” He put his hand over Izuna’s. Reassuring. Izuna didn’t feel better. “I can handle a pregnancy. Nothing would happen to me. A pup would be safer coming out of my body than someone else’s.”

But that wasn’t necessarily true. Their mother had been a shinobi too, he knew. And he still had died. “Nii-san— I don’t care. I don’t want to risk you.” His voice broke the tiniest bit. It seemed to make Madara soften, if anything. “I can— I can live without a pup. I can’t live without you.”

Losing Madara… Izuna wouldn’t die. That would be an insult to his brother’s sacrifice, to all the years he spent taking care of Izuna instead of living his own life. If Madara died, Izuna would go on in life. He would protect the clan, and the village, because that’s what Madara would do. But that would be out of duty. Uchiha Izuna, clan leader, would remain alive as many years as possible, taking care of everything. Izuna, the person… That’s the one that would die. Because if his brother died, he would take with him Izuna’s heart.

“You won’t lose me,” Madara assured him, letting his soothing scent out. To calm Izuna, most likely. “I’ll be fine, and we’ll have medics with us.”

Izuna felt a stab on his chest. “Nii-san—”

“Just— You’ll have what you want, Izuna,” he said. “And I wouldn’t mind. I want to do this for you.”

But you have done so much for me already, Izuna wanted to say, but couldn’t. He didn’t know how to make his voice work. How… How can I ask this from you as well?

Why did his brother have to sacrifice so much for him?

“Think about it,” Madara asked. Pleaded. “Your rut won’t start until tomorrow afternoon, probably— take your time and think. Or take longer. It doesn’t have to be this time. My heat is just three weeks away.”

“Nii-san—-”

“For me?”

And Izuna—

He looked at his beautiful brother, with his cute red face and warmth scent, and imagined him round with a baby. Pregnant with Izuna’s baby. And how, if everything did go alright, he would have a pup, and—

Well.

Izuna laid down on the futon again, pulling Madara close so he could inhale his scent again. He let himself relax.

He was just a man.

“... We can do it,” Izuna finally said, after a whole eternity. “But I have three conditions.”

His brother put a hand on his back, his touch somewhat grounding. “What are them?”

“One,” Izuna counted, “is that you have to let me take care of you. Actually take care of you. No protesting or complaints.”

Madara’s breath hitched. “Izuna—”

“No, nii-san,” Izuna cut him off. “You’ll be in a delicate position. And I will be the father. The least I can do is take care of you. But you have to let me do so. I don’t want you to pretend everything is fine when it isn’t.” Like he always did.

“... Okay” Madara conceded. “What are the other two?”

“The second one is that if something, anything,” he stressed the word,” happens, and your life or health is in danger… we’ll put yourself first. I can have other pups. I can live with no pups. I can’t have another you.”

“... that’s… acceptable…” Madara agreed. “And the last one?”

To this one, Izuna had to take a deep, deep breath.

“The third one,” he said, the words feeling like glass inside his mouth, “is that you have to allow Hashirama Senju to be there when you give birth.”

He felt the instant his brother’s scent spiked. “What?!”

Izuna couldn’t really feel offended at his brother’s surprise. It was known that Izuna wasn’t the biggest fan of the Senju clan. Sure, he did work with them. They lived in the same village; he had to. But Izuna didn’t like them. And he particularly hated Hashirama and Tobirama Senju above everyone else.

But, for his brother…

“I will not risk your health, nii-san,” Izuna grumbled. “And, despite how much it hurts to say it… Hashirama Senju is the best medic-nim in Konoha. In the whole country.”

And he would never let you die, he wanted to say. He loves you too much. He’s the best person to tend to you.

“I will not have Hashirama there.” Madara sounded bewildered. “That’s too— I don’t want him to see me giving birth.”

Which… yeah. Izuna did not want Hashirama to see his brother like that if he didn’t have to. But if his something wrong, he was the best person to have around/

“... He doesn’t have to be right next to you,” Izuna amended. Because he could compromise, despite what others believed. That, and if he could avoid Hashirama unnecessarily seeing his brother undressed, he would. “But I want him to be near so he can heal you.”

Madara shook his head. “Izuna…”

“Those are my conditions,” he said. “I won’t let you do this otherwise.”

“...” Madara hugged Izuna. Tight. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

Izuna closed his eyes as he relaxed into his brother’s arms.

Later, they would talk more in depth about the… situation. The agreement.

But right at that moment… Izuna let himself be held by his nii-san.

Izuna had been called spoiled multiple times throughout his life.

To be fair, such an assessment wasn’t wrong. Izuna knew he had been more spoiled than other kids. He was raised by his brother, after all, and Madara rarely told him no. Especially as their family shrunk to just the two of them. If Izuna wanted something, Madara made sure he got it. Even now that they were adults, Madara tended to side with him every time, to the Senju clan’s dismay.

(Izuna knew that the reason his brother had taken so long to accept the peace treaties had been for him; because he refused to compromise with the Senju. Sometimes, Izuna wondered how many of his clansmen would have survived if only he had accepted the first time.)

The thing was, despite how much Madara spoiled Izuna, it wasn’t unilateral. Izuna had never told his brother no either, not when he asked. And the issue was that Madara rarely, rarely, asked Izuna for anything.

‘I’m the older brother,’ he would say. ‘You are supposed to ask things from me, not the other way around’

Sometimes, Izuna felt a certain way about it. Not bad, because he knew Madara liked that Izuna wanted his help. Needed him. His scent always told him as much, if not the way his shoulders relaxed and his eyes softened whenever Izuna asked for anything. But… It still gave him an itch. One he couldn’t get rid of until he did something back.

Except Madara never asked, because he was the clan head and the most self-sufficient person Izuna knew, so Izuna had to find other ways to… provide for him, even when Madara didn’t ask for it. He would get his brother’s favorite tea blends, would make sure he had ink on his desk, that the paperwork left for him was only the one he had to see and not something trivial that wasted his time. He even helped coordinate so that his brother had the time to… hang out with the Senju clan head. Because it made his brother happy, and it made Izuna happy that Madara was happy.

So, when his brother laid down on his nest, cheeks flushed a deep red while he opened his legs for Izuna and asked him to do something because it hurt and he needed him…

What was Izuna supposed to do but help?

“Nii-san,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around Madara’s tights. His scent was stronger there; it made Izuna’s head fill with a buzz. He pulled his brother closer to his face, looking up just to see Madara looking at him with clouded eyes. He looked… beautiful.

“Please,” Madara begged. “Izuna, please, I— I can’t—”

Izuna left a kiss on the inside of his brother’s left thigh, and another, another. He moved closer to Madara’s cunt, already dripping with slick. He ran his tongue just over it, just to get a taste. Then again, and again. Then he pressed his lips against Madara’s clit, before carefully sucking on it, Madara’s quiet moans like a siren song to his ears.

He couldn’t help but tighten his grip, knowing very well his fingers would leave marks on Madara’s skin. It made something inside him, some alpha instinct, feel pride. He should bear his marks. Madara’s was Izuna’s, after all. He had been Izuna before he had been anyone else’s.

(Not that his brother had ever belonged to someone else— not even to the Senju. Every single heat that he didn’t suppress, he spent with Izuna. It had always been Izuna he depended on when his omega left him in a vulnerable state, stripped down to his most basic instincts.

And Izuna knew it would stop, someday— He knew his brother had feelings for Hashirama Senju, after all. And everyone knew the Senju clan head was head over heels for his brother too. If Madara gave the Senju even the smallest hint that he would reciprocate, Hashirama would probably waste no time and claim him.

But until that happened, until his brother decided to go for the Senju—

Madara was Izuna’s, only).

(And sure, Izuna could make it so Madara never went for the Senju. If he asked, Madara would never mate with anyone else. Because he cared more about Izuna’s feelings than his own. He cared more about Izuna than anything else.)

(It was why Madara never asked him to accept the Senju’s peace offering. Not until Izuna’s life had been at risk, and his brother had asked him to just accept Hashirama Senju’s help. And Izuna had said yes, because he couldn’t deny his brother anything either.)

Izuna felt Madara’s hand on his hair. He stopped, turning his eyes on him.

“Please,” he repeated. “Izuna, just— Fuck me. Fuck a pup into me.”

(And what else was he supposed to do, but to say yes to what Madara asked of him?)

Izuna crawled over Madara, just so he could kiss his brother’s forehead before he entered him, Madara’s cunt molding perfectly around him. Madara’s breath hitched, just the tiniest bit, and Izuna stopped, nuzzling his brother’s neck and licking over his glands.

Madara’s legs wrapped around his back, urging him closer. “Izuna,” Madara whined. Called.

“Nii-san,” Izuna replied, slowly thrusting in and out his brother’s cunt.

“Izuna.” His name had never sounded better. It made him feel like fire ran inside his veins. “Faster, please.”

He did so, taking in the way Madara’s pitch increased, the way his nails dig in his back. Marking him back. Izuna gazed his teeth over Madara’s gland, the urge to bite bite bite ever present inside his head.

But he didn’t, because he couldn’t do that to his brother. Madara was already giving him a pup. He couldn’t take this too, not when Madara was in love with someone else. He wasn’t going to let his brother lose on being happy with the alpha he wants just because Izuna never learned how to share.

“Izuna.”

I’ll fill you up so well, Izuna thought, sucking a mark on Madara’s shoulder. You’ll smell of me for days, nii-san. And then you’ll grow round with my pup. The pup /I/ put inside you.

“Izuna, please—”

“Nii-san,” he whispered, unable to say more than that. He felt his knot start to inflate, and he made sure to drag it as much as he could against Madara’s walls.

“Izuna,” Madara moved his head, exposing his neck even more. “Please.”

And Izuna, well—

He sunk his teeth on his brother’s neck, not to mate him, but a— an imitation of it. A mark that wouldn’t be there forever the way a mating mark would, but one that Madara would have to carry for days and remember that Izuna was the one who put it there.

Madara trashed under him, just for a second, and Izuna held him down while drilling into him, until his knot made it so he couldn’t continue doing so. He felt the moment Madara relaxed, the moment he sunk into their nest and started purring. Izuna licked his neck, making sure to take care of the bite mark..

“Nii-san,” he finally said, lifting himself just to see Madara’s face.

Madara looked back at him, his breath still elaborate. He put his hand on Izuna’s forehead, moving the sweaty hair that had stuck to his skin. “Izuna.”

His heart felt so heavy. “Nii-san, I love you.”

Madara smiled, eyes softening as his hand moved to caress Izuna’s cheek. “I love you too.”

And that was enough for him.

Unsurprisingly, Madara’s scent changed within the month of his heat.

Izuna noticed immediately, of course. He knew Madara’s scent like no other— He had been there when Madara lost his milky scent as he presented, when the ginger and smoke overpowered everything else. Izuna shared the smoky smell, although his scent had a hint of cinnamon instead of ginger. Madara often told him he smelled like their mother.

(Izuna couldn’t remember his scent, so he was never quite sure if Madara was right).

“It’s not only your scent,” Madara had told him one day, their first patrol since Izuna had presented, long before their father had died and Madara had been made clan head. “You… you look like mom a lot. You have the same face.”

“... I don’t remember,” Izuna had replied. They didn’t speak much of him— Izuna never asked, and Madara rarely brought up the topic himself.

Madara had squeezed his hand. “You wouldn’t— You were too young when he died. I barely remember him, and I don’t— I don’t remember much about him. But I remember his face. I remember his scent. He used to… scent me often. Said pups should smell like their mothers.”

The only scent Izuna had ever carried on him was Madara’s— They often slept in Madara’s nest, and when they didn’t, his brother would scent him first thing in the morning. Izuna wondered if he did it to make up for the mother that should have scented them but was no longer there.

“... are you planning on doing the same?” Izuna asked. “When you have pups.”

Madara hadn’t responded immediately. Izuna hadn’t rushed him.

“... I don’t think I want them,” Madara finally whispered. It felt like some sort of confession.

Izuna had looked at him, curious, but Madara hadn’t met his eyes. “Why not?”

His brother closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I don’t— I don’t think I would enjoy it. Being a mother. I— I don’t want to have to take care of pups like that. I will be busy as it is with the clan and—” He turned to Izuna, his scent sharpening. And there was something on his face…

Fear, he recognized. There was fear written all over the place.

It wasn’t an emotion he liked in his brother.

Nii-san, he wanted to ask. What are you afraid of?

“ —and,” he continued, ignorant to Izuna’s thoughts, “I thought that, maybe... I don’t have to have pups.”

Izuna nodded. “Okay.”

Madara’s eyes widened the tiniest bit. “Okay?”

“If you don’t want pups…” Izuna shrugged. “Then don’t have them.”

His brother frowned. “But— I’m an omega. And the clan… We need heirs.”

Izuna shrugged again. “Am I not your heir, nii-san? You don’t have to have them.”

“The elders—” Madara shook his head. “They already are arranging for me to mate as soon as I come of age.”

Izuna knew that. It had been somewhat of a priority, recently, since Tajima had made clear that even though he had an alpha son, Madara was still the one to inherit the clan head position. They had received multiple offers from other clans, even though the Uchiha would never allow an omega to marry out, as was tradition. Especially when said omega was set to lead the clan— very few were in a higher position than his brother, alpha or otherwise, so it would be ridiculous to do such a thing.

Not that it mattered. Madara was already known as a great warrior, and others clans weren’t foolish enough to miss on a possible alliance, so the proposals piled up. Everyone had alphas to spare, after all.

“Nii-san,” Izuna moved closer to Madara, putting his hand on his brother’s leg. “They can’t force you to do anything. You could kill them all without breaking a sweat.”

“I’m not going to kill the elders,” Madara chastised him, although his scent relaxed again. “But they will try to oust me if I don’t compromise with them.”

Izuna scoffed. “Who would they have lead then?” he asked. “The clan cannot afford to lose you. That would be handing our people on a silver platter to the Senju.”

There was a complicated look in his brother’s eyes. “I would never fight you, though.”

And to that—

“Nii-san,” he said, both hands cupping Madara’s face. “I would rather die a thousand times than to even think of fighting you.” Especially for the elders. Izuna would set them all on fire if Madara asked him. Izuna would set himself on fire.

Madara’s scent had— not spiked, exactly, but it had turned sweeter. Softer. “Izuna…”

“The only way for me to lead the clan,” he continued, “would be if you didn’t want to continue being the clan head. Then, and only then, I would do it. For you.” Because he knew his brother wouldn’t fall before him— It would be blasphemous to think Madara would die like a regular person. Not when he was so above everyone else.

Madara opened his mouth, but Izuna didn’t want to hear it. He hated when Madara thought that he— That he wasn’t the best option for anything. That Izuna wouldn’t choose him above everything. Even himself.

So, he carefully pressed his lips against his brother’s and kissed him.

It wasn’t— It wasn’t the best, because so far in his life Izuna had only pecked at his brother’s lips, but it was something. This was different. He moved his lips against his brother’s, trying to convey just how much love he had for him. Madara responded in kind, because of course he did.

The morning Izuna woke up to the milky, pup-like hints in Madara’s scent, Izuna grabbed his brother’s face just like he had done that first time and kissed him. Madara had woken up startled, his chakra agitated for about half a second as he realized it was Izuna who had woken him up, before melting into the kiss. Izuna laughed, breaking the kiss just so he could leave small kisses all over his brother’s face.

“Why are you so happy?” Madara asked as soon as Izuna stopped his attack.

He beamed. “Your scent, nii-san.”

Madara tilted his head. “My scent?”

Izuna buried his nose in Madara’s neck, taking a deep breath. He wanted that scent inside his lungs. “You’re pregnant.”

He felt Madara tense under him. Izuna nuzzled against Madara’s glands, covering him with his own scent. It took his brother two minutes to relax again.

“... I’m pregnant,” Madara mumbled. “Hah. Congrats, Izuna. You’ll be a dad.”

Izuna put his hand on Madara’s still very flat stomach. “I’ll be a dad, nii-san.” He laughed. “Thank you.”

Madara moved to his side, looking at Izuna. “You don’t have to thank me.”

But I do, he thought. I really, really do. He sat up, leaning down to kiss Madara’s forehead. “We should go with the healer. The sooner they’re aware, the faster they can start monitoring that everything is alright.”

His brother snorted. “There’s nothing to check, Izuna. It’s too early. At most, the only thing the healer can do is confirm that I’m pregnant and tell me to change the way I eat.”

Izuna took his brother’s hand. “Please, nii-san?”

Madara’s eyes softened. He ran his fingers through Izuna’s hair. “Fine, we’ll go. But,” he laid on his back. “We’ll go later. The sun hasn’t even risen yet, Izuna. I was asleep.”

He nodded. “Deal.” He then proceeded to lay down on Madara, wrapping himself around him. Madara welcomed him with open arms, putting a blanket over them both.