Izuna (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter Eight

Izuna paid no attention to the few clansmen that surrounded the training field. Instead he focused on Fugaku who stood opposite him.

He fell into a comfortable stance, feeling a bit empty with a blade, and watched as Fugaku remained standing as he was. The young Uchiha was aware that his body was weak, six was an age far too young for his body to develop, but he was still confident. What was a Uchiha if not confident after all.

Fugaku gestured for him to begin with a simple hand movement. Both Uchiha's stared into each other's eyes, red meeting red.

Izuna rushed forward with a body flicker, catching Fugaku off guard for only a moment before the man caught the fist aimed at his gut. Using his light frame, Izuna grabbed the hand and flipped his body upwards, dragging Fugaku's upper half down with his weight and the kick connected with Fugaku's chin.

The older Uchiha leaned his head back with the impact, his feet now off balance with Izuna's weight dragging him down. He dropped into a wide stance and threw the boy to the ground behind him.

Izuna used the momentum and rolled into a low crouch, eyes never leaving Fugaku. There were murmurs of surprise around them. He smirked at the redness of Fugaku's lower face.

Fugaku was on him in seconds and the two traded blows, Izuna dodging most hits to avoid the power behind the strikes. His small frame kept him just out of Fugaku's reach but also stopped most of his swings from hitting the man. He cursed his child body then darted between Fugaku's legs in a swift lunge.

He brought hands up to form a simple hand sign and twisted around. Fire erupted in a furious roar of orange and white.

Ashes flew in the breeze, the log Fugaku substituted himself with nothing more than dust in the wind.

More shocked gasps and Fugaku's stare greeted him. Fugaku raised a hand and Izuna dropped his stance, taking his usual upright posture. The spar was over.

An elder from the crowd walked over to Fugaku and Izuna could barely make out the hushed words.

"Fugaku-sama, his talent is incredible, he may grow to be the strongest Uchiha since Madara-sama and well, Izuna-sama!" Pride bloomed in Izuna's chest. Of course he was going to be as strong as Izuna, being Izuna and all.

The spar was a simple assessment to gauge whether he was ready for the academy next year or not. Itachi had entered this year and graduated recently after only a few months. As the Hokage had allowed, he graduated at seven. Now Izuna only had to wait a year before he could enter and graduate. Of course he could enter now, but he saw no point in entering without being able to graduate in the same year.

Atmosphere in the home was tense. The Uchiha clan had moved back into the original compound a few months after reconstruction efforts had begun. Izuna was a bit disappointed that the layout had changed since he was alive last, even before the Kyuubi had ravaged everything, but with time came change he supposed. Even if it would have been nice to stay in the same room he'd shared with Madara as children.

Fugaku questioned Itachi about his team as Mikoto passed food around the table. Questioned was maybe too light of a word. Izuna felt more like he was witnessing an interrogation. The Uchiha head seemed dissatisfied with Itachi's placement. The names weren't any Izuna recognised either.

Sasuke's unintelligible blabber interrupted the interrogation. Mikoto used the opportunity to change the subject.

-

It was one of those rare nights where Sasuke was quiet and asleep, meaning Mikoto got time to spend with her older sons. Itachi was out training with Fugaku which left her and Izuna to their own devices.

"Izuna-chan," He put down the scroll he'd been studying, the recent history of the Uchiha clan, and gave her a smile as she called out to him. She was one of the only people he'd willingly let his mask down around. Her and Shisui, Itachi of course, but it was taking him time to come around to the older boy again after his acceptance that Itachi and Madara were in fact not the same person.

There were more people starting to worm their way in and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Teuchi and Genma were becoming a constant in his life, Ichiraku a place he sought to escape from his family when it got too much to bear.

Mikoto beckoned for him to stand by her as she placed a large pot on the stove.

"Dango?" Izuna's question was met with a nod.

They worked quietly, Mikoto humming a song while she kneaded dough. Izuna appreciated nights like this. He felt that this was what his brother had been working for all those years ago. Peace where children spent time with their mothers instead of being killed needlessly in a pointless war.

It made him think of his mother, or what little he could remember of her. She was never around much, Madara raising him more than she ever did despite being a child barely older than himself. She'd passed away from complications after the birth of their youngest brother..

Izuna stopped stirring the water.

"Izuna-chan?" Mikoto looked him over, noting his saddened expression, "Are you alright?"

His youngest brother.. What was his name again? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember his own younger brother's name.

The wooden spoon hit the edge of the pot with a clang and Izuna all but jumped off the stool to race to Fugaku's study.

He threw the door open, his sharingan blazing as he scanned the shelves. He pulled out the clan registry and flicked through. Izuna sank to his knees at the names, the lack of names actually.

The registry only began after the founding of Konoha. Tajima Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha. He gave a curt laugh at the thought that Madara didn't think it necessary to record the existence of their three younger brothers, or even their mother. Maybe Madara didn't remember either. It was a sour thought.

A hand pulled him close and it was then he remembered he wasn't alone. Mikoto whispered soothing words he realised he was crying. He missed Madara. After the early death of his younger brothers and their mother before he even turned four, he and Madara's bond was nothing short of unbreakable. It wasn't like his father cared for anything but the strength of the clan.

He missed training with Madara, he'd even take returning to the battlefield if it meant he could fight beside his brother again. He needed the bond they had. Izuna, in the warm embrace of his mother, had never felt so alone.

"Izuna," The call gave him pause. Mikoto never called him anything but 'Izuna-chan'. There was something about her tone that told him she wasn't just calling her son's name.

Looking up he saw her eyes staring at the name on the registry. Her hug tightened.

"Izuna, right?" She asked it like a question but Izuna could tell it was more than that. He nodded into her chest. A hand, caloused by years as a shinobi, ran through his hair before a kiss was pressed to his forehead.

"Good thing we didn't go with Fugaku's name choice," Izuna laughed at that. It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, the mask pulled off and put to the side letting him breathe in fresh air. Mikoto knew.