#werebeast shinobi au

[ithecrystaldragonheart]

The God and the Beast

Shinobi training had a big focus on discipline.

Discipline your body to push itself,discipline yourself to wake up and get ready even if you’ve only gotten two hours of sleep since the last mission and discipline your chakra to use it properly in jutsus.

Some special shinobi also had to learn to discipline their animal natures,either to repress it or use it in their missions and training.

Madara Uchiha was disciplined very strictly,at first it was simply because he was the son of the clan head but then it was because he had an animal side to tuck away until needed and then it was because he was quickly becoming one of the most powerful Uchiha in clan memory.

Of course he heard the stories of Uchiha like him that would lose their grip on humanity when they lost too much and would fly away and go crazy,only to be dragged back for fear of them being captured or killed in their vulnerable state.

Tajima had made sure he would never go like that.He remembered how even when his last brother died he had wanted to scream out of his skin and set the world on fire but his father told him he was an Uchiha and he would never survive war if he lost control in a fight or when in enemy territory.

That day when he had been forced to vow to fight his first friend he had kept it hidden until he stumbled into his room.

When he saw Izuna,his only precious little brother,collapse after being struck by Tobirama Senju all that discipline left his suddenly blank mind.

He had to get to him he had to get to him he had to get to him

A cry left his throat and only he knew that the hellish screech was meant to be “Izuna!” but even so it didn’t matter,nothing mattered,only Izuna who was right next to that damned Senju.

Madara Uchiha didn’t care that his clothes and armour would hurt his feathers, he didn’t care that he was technically still fighting the head of the Senju clan and he certainly didn’t care that this would be another image in many warriors’ nightmares to come.

Feathers like needles of midnight pierced through his skin and grew and grew until wings replaced his arms and talons pierced his footwear and merged with his hair.

His eyes glowed amber,some swore on their life it was red,and there were fangs where his teeth would be and feathers like black clan markings framed his face and the expression of pure rage that shaped it.

The man that many called a demon flew to his fallen brothers’ side with chakra-enhanced speed and people nearly stumbled to get out of his way because they knew if they were in it there would be no mercy.

Even Tobirama could be seen to shocked in the few milliseconds before he used hiraishin to move away.

Maybe even Izuna was shocked and a bit scared to be the focus of this creature,no this beast,that was his brother but also not.It wasn’t like he could move away so he just braced himself.

Madara had no plan and that became apparent when he just hovered over his brother and could only warn everyone else not to touch him,he certainly couldn’t use his feathers to tend to the wound.That thought didn’t cross his conscious mind and he only thought of keeping everyone else away.

It was a testament to his courage that Hashirama could bring himself to face his former friend and old opponent.

“Madara,let me heal your brother,he will certainly die if nothing is done.”

The feathered beast cawed at that but didn’t move to attack him,though he did puff up slightly when the man braved a few steps forward.

“Brother,you cannot accept his help and I will not allow him to touch me-”

No-one expected the harmless but firm whack that Madara gave him with his wing,almost like a mother telling their child to mind their manners.Izuna certainly didn’t expect it if his expression was anything to go by - some describe it as a spoiled child being told “No” for the first time.

In this form Madara was less concerned of his brother’s stubbornness and more about his well-being,which meant that he wasn’t afraid to scold him if he said something stupid,as opposed to the norm.

He was staring intently at the man with skin not unlike the fur of his chosen animal and smelled like he slept in a tree every night.

It was definitely unsettling how he tilted his head and let out near-silent coos of curiosity.

Hashirama was definitely weirded out that his former friend’s face looked at him with no anger or worn determination to fight him even if it never went anywhere just because he didn’t know what else they could do.

As if sensing that some of his clan would risk this opportunity to strike at the enemy he gestured for them to stand back,despite Tobirama’s obvious displeasure.

The man who some called a god risked moving closer to the beast by a few more steps.

An alert movement of the head but no clear aggression yet.

He walked slowly closer to the protective creature,ready to move back if he started getting antsy.

Hashirama kept up a string of commentary,telling him he was safe for now and that he would never be able to harm Izuna.

Said person tried protesting but was either ignored or shushed with feathers to his face and clearly felt very undignified in his current position and glared at the man with obvious resentment.

Finally Madara moved aside to allow Hashirama full access to his brother and stared at him with an odd amount of intrigue,as if he was familiar with the man but had none of the complicated feelings he should have - many people claimed that their animal halves were separate entities and were less complicated in their emotions,like not hiding their dislike of a person and normally reserved people clinging to people they liked.

Anyway it was an awkward session for Hashirama with the birdman staring at him intently without blinking and the patient trying to resist but he managed to get him out of danger of dying.

Then another unexpected thing happened:Madara cooed at him and tried nuzzling him.

Izuna had an expression of pure horror and he would’ve laughed if he wasn’t so shocked himself.He gently tried pushing him away because when Madara went back to normal he would kill him if he enabled this behavior and he didn’t want to go to an early grave.

It turned into a small struggle and his feathers were so sleek and he didn’t want to risk upsetting him by grabbing and unavoidably pulling them.

Fortunately some of the Uchiha decided that this scandal couldn’t go further and approached,Hashirama gladly moving away,a bit faster than strictly necessary.

Everyone decided to not talk about this,at least until behind closed doors.

Izuna however did not feel like sparing his brother and gave him all the details to his mortification and eternal shame.

When the peace talks eventually came neither brought up the incident and never would.

[ithecrystaldragonheart]

A Moment of Peace

“No.”

The two brothers scowled at each other,equally frustrated but for different reasons.

Hashirama had been on a mission when Tobirama apparently transformed for the first time and had immediately started asking what he was.If it weren’t for the fact that his little brother was controlling and repressing his animal a lot better than he had when he was two years older he would’ve just waited for the fur or even possibly scales to slip out.

At this point he was secretly starting to get concerned.Most of the gifted only started transforming when they were a year or two younger than his brother’s current age,coupled with the insistence on hiding it could mean something might have gone wrong or he triggered it prematurely.

He decided to change his tactic.

“I swear I won’t make fun of it or be disgusted.Please.” Hashirama pleaded in an unusually soft and reassuring tone.His guess seemed to have been right because his brother shifted from defensive to slightly uneasy.

“It’s not that important.Can you just let it go,anija?” he tried to act irritated and curt as usual but with the way he was tensing you could tell he was uncomfortable.

He pursed his lips but knew it wouldn’t do any good to keep going,even if he didn’t like that his little brother was hiding things from him.Especially after the Incident.

Of course he knew that Tobirama had only been following father’s orders and acted out of concern for him,that didn’t help the feeling of betrayal at the time.

It had diminished a bit after stopping that kunai from killing him,he could even swear that his brother maybe looked slightly ashamed afterwards.But why would he be,his concerns had been proven right and his brother had declared he would even fight his supposed friend to keep himself safe.

Despite that he remembers how he refused to leave his brother’s side for the rest of the day.Fangs and fur had materialized any time someone got close to them and he vaguely remembers even stubbornly sleeping on his brother’s futon that night.

There was a silence before Hashirama asked if they could spar.

~~~

There was something strange afoot.

It was not unusual for the brothers to go through the shoji that separated their halves of the room at night,it was one of the only times in the day they could spend time together that wasn’t sparring.

But it was almost always Hashirama that crossed the boundary to his brother’s supposed annoyance.

He had decided to give him some space,at least for today.He knew himself well enough to know he’d be back to badgering him in the next few days if not tomorrow.

Wait.Was that why his animal was a badger?If there was a deity that assigned appropriate animals to a shinobi they had a weird sense of humour.

Anyway,after some time the door slowly slid open and Tobirama stood at the doorway with unusual hesitance.

There was a few moments of deliberative silence.Hashirama wondered if he should invite him closer or let him make his own choice.His brother wondered if he should wait to for a gesture to come closer or should just suck it up and walk over.

Eventually the boy with the ridiculous bowl cut gave a tentative nod.Some of the tension left his brother’s expression only to come back when he sat down on the futon,facing away from Hashi.

After seemingly collecting himself he spoke. “I don’t know what I am exactly. When it started I...got scared and stopped it.”

This at least gave his anija confirmation that his concerns hadn’t been unnecessary.

It was uncommon but not unheard of for shinobi to get scared when they first transformed and repressed it,either because of shock or more unpleasant reasons.Aside from the Senju that seemed to depend more on the person’s character most clans usually had a set animal and if someone deviated it would be a cause for some investigation at least.

Now Hashirama wondered,had his brother simply been shocked to transform this early or were there more...complicated reasons.

“Could you show me?Just quickly.” he carefully inquired.His brother seemed to have expected that question but still stiffened.

There was no spoken response from him but he held out his arm.

Tobirama closed his eyes - whether it was to concentrate or because he didn’t want to see it and lose his nerve is something he’ll never confirm.

Hashirama watched as his brother squirmed and tiny bumps started forming on his skin.No cause for concern yet,the transformation was very uncomfortable in the early stages,something he knew all too well.

For a moment he dwelled on how he’d never see if his other two brothers had been born with this ability or even what animal they would’ve been.It was also an unfortunate truth that this was a reality for too many parents and siblings in this time.

He was pulled out of that especially unpleasant thought process when he saw what emerged from the bumps.

Feathers.

Even in the dark he could tell they were white or at least a very light grey.They were small and he didn’t get a good luck before they were pulled back into his brother’s skin.

His brother opened his eyes and seemed to be looking for something in his brother’s expression.

It was rare for a Senju with a bird as their animal to be found but it wasn’t like it was taboo or anything,at least not that Hashirama was aware of.

“Are you surprised by it?Our mother’s family was from the Land of Birds so maybe that’s where you got it from.” he suggested,trying to be helpful.He was surprised when his brother suddenly huffed in frustration.

“Don’t you get it?It reminds me too much of...of the Uchiha.” Tobirama explained with his voice losing strength on the last word as if it took too much energy to even utter it.

His anija’s expression didn’t darken exactly but it seemed to tighten a little bit.

The clan’s name had unspokenly been declared a sore topic after the Incident, there were too many conflicting feelings on it.He still remembered the feeling of shock when he found out his brother had been friends with a member of the clan that killed their brothers,even if he later found he was unaware of it.

While he did feel a bit guilty for betraying his brother’s trust he didn’t regret getting him away from them.

Maybe this was some kind of divine punishment,maybe the spirits didn’t like him being a tattletale and had in some form realised his worst fear.

“I’ve seen the Uchiha transform before and when I started getting feathers it made me think I was turning into one of them.I know it’s stupid but I just really don’t want to see these things if they make me feel like I’m betraying the clan.”

There was an odd expression on his anija’s face.Neither of them was used to Tobirama,himself especially,telling his feelings outright if he even wanted to show them at all.

When his father ordered him to show him he hadn’t shown any reaction ouright but he was sure he was thinking of the same thing.

He was scared of the looks his own clan would give him so he pushed everything down,even if it felt like he was waiting to burst.It had been so hard to pull the feathers back in after he showed Hashirama and he was afraid that he might not be able to hold back much longer.

He remembered how his brother had sprouted claws and fur at the drop of a boushi.An especially clear memory he recalled was of the fangs inside his mouth when he wolfed down dinner after an especially taxing day of training. Their father had not been pleased with his conduct and sentenced him to even worse training the following day.

Meanwhile Hashirama was surprised to say the least of his brother’s thought process.Sometimes he forgot that Tobirama was younger than him and still got scared.

In hindsight it was natural for him to be scared of his transformation if that’s what he associated it with.

He didn’t know what to say for a while.

“I’m not scared or disgusted by your feathers.It’s okay if you don’t want to show anyone else,but know that you can show them to me.” he tried,not sure of what else to offer.

He nodded in acknowledgement of his words but didn’t say if he agreed or not. Maybe he wasn’t even listening and just wanted to appease him.

Tobirama looked at him and back down again.

“Could I sit with you for a while?” he asked hesitantly.After their father expressly discouraged them from sharing a futon as they were apparently not children anymore they had only risked lying together before separating for the night.

There was no reluctance when his brother nodded.

They both knew this was an issue that would have to be addressed soon - Butsuma would not accept any excuse for training,maybe he was even planning on finally turning the tables on the Uchiha now that they had their own winged shinobi.

But for tonight they could just try not to think about that future that could easily come as early as tomorrow,they just tried to feel comforted that they at least had eachother.

Hashirama would make sure that it stayed that way.

[ithecrystaldragonheart]

Adventures in Defying Gravity

It was not uncommon for the various clans to use their animal-afflicted individuals to their advantage.

The Yamanaka may have pride in their mental abilities but if the opportunity comes to use some brute force they won’t say no.The Aburame have an infamy for terrifying any intruders or enemies they come across and giving them a lifelong fear of anything that crawls.

With the Inuzuka you can’t tell where the jutsu ends and the animal begins,and vice versa.The Akimichi are surprisingly graceful and have some special dances that utilize their butterfly wings.

The Uchiha have been known to carry their comrades to safety or carry them for an aerial attack and wouldn’t be the last to admit dropping things or swooping down on their opponents.

But for some reason,that didn’t put Madara at ease.

The drop from the launching platform was considerable even if the person were a shinobi.There weren’t any mats put down like when he had been learning to fly only about a year or two ago - the feeling of desperately trying to keep the wings flapping strong only to lose balance and fall was not a memory he liked to dwell on.

Izuna,like their father,had not been born with the ability to grow feathers as Madara and one of their deceased brothers had.When it came to things like molting and lice he was clearly relieved but naturally felt jealous of being unable to fly.

Which is why they were in this situation now.

At first Madara had thought it was an exciting plan to carry his little brother for a short flight,a chance for some quality if not unconventional sibling bonding.

The doubts and fears had quickly started as they walked to the tower.The main one was that he was still building up flight muscles and wouldn’t be able to carry another person even if they were as small as Izuna.A close second was that he would lose his grip and cause his brother to plummet to the ground.

Actually,scratch that,now that was the most glaring fear.

“Anija,how long are you going to just stand there?”

Madara was brought back to the present and realize he had been staring off into space while he was imagining his brother crumpled on the ground like an abandoned origami project.

There were two choices before him:he could stop while he was ahead and tell Izuna that he would have to wait longer and suffer his grumpiness for a good long while,or he could dive in headfirst and hope for the love of Amaterasu that this wouldn’t go horribly wrong.

He started sprouting feathers.

When he had first started shifting it had itched something awful every time the feathers came in and would have to rub in some balm regularly to soothe the irritated skin.These days it just felt like something rough running down his body,like liquid sandpaper or something.

A beginner’s mistake that he had eventually grown out of was not uncovering the feet and legs and feeling very cramp and uncomfortable down there.

His toes fused together and stretched out as the nails curved into talons and the scaly skin spread upward and switch to black feathers about two-thirds of the way.Izuna tried not to flinch as the bones rearranged before his eyes.

Madara wasn’t really bothered about sleeves since they usually could just be rolled up but the sudden weight his shoulders and back had to carry was still uncomfortable.

Some feathers could be seen on his neck and the edges of his face and he could feel the clothes rubbing against the ones on his torso - he didn’t often bother to see what his body looked like without any clothes hiding it and he doubted that would change anytime soon.

Almost unconsciously he stretched his newly-taloned feet and did some grabbing motions while he rolled his shoulders and tried settling his wings properly.

Meanwhile Izuna was watching with bemused fascination.He didn’t often see his brother during the transformation process and hadn’t expected the surprisingly smooth transition,almost disappointed that there hadn’t been more bones cracking or visible pain.

Their eyes met,black against orange.

As a few moments passed they realized they hadn’t worked out how Madara was supposed to pick him up.

After some deliberation it was decided that Madara would take to the air first and circle back to snatch up a waiting Izuna,who would have to wait on the tower.

The boy moved back to the edge of the safety railing to give his anija space and waited.

It was slow work at first as Madara struggled to flap his wings into gaining momentum - it wasn’t easy lifting things bigger than your body,let alone two that were supposed to carry your weight.

Eventually he did the running start off the tiny runway and thanked the gods that he didn’t hesitate about jumping off like he used to.

He still lost some height as he struggled to keep his balance in addition to trying to rise up.Even though he had an impressive wingspan for his age he couldn’t glide or dive properly and his need to constantly flap was an obvious indicator of his inexperience.At least he wasn’t flapping like a deranged chicken anymore.

Izuna had seen enough birds flying to know that his brother was not as adept as he had first thought but told himself he couldn’t back out since it had been his idea in the first place.

He watched as his anija’s figure stayed on the open course that had been left for the flyers to have space on order to avoid hitting any of the buildings,which he could now appreciate wasn’t as much as he had first thought.

It took him a good ten minutes to settle into a good groove before he crowed for Izuna to get into place.Of course his brother couldn’t hear him but got the message anyway.

With much more trepidation than he originally had he moved to the centre of the platform and held out his arms,feeling very much like a mouse about to be snatched up.At least the earlier show had dampened any “deadly hunter from above” effect his anija would have had.

He may or may not have closed his eyes,not that it helped with the great hearing shinobi cultivated.

If he screamed it was lost to the wind,though with how tightly he was clenching his jaw he doubted there had been any sound that could have escaped.

The thing he had least expected to be a problem was his hair and yet it was impossible to ignore how the wind pulled at it.No wonder Madara’s looked like an animal had wrestled their way out of it constantly.

Speaking of Madara,he had never realized to take into consideration that Izuna couldn’t grow an extra eyelid to protect his very vulnerable eyeballs like he could.It was interesting the things you took for granted when you could turn into a giant crow.

Izuna also made this discovery when he tried opening his eyes and only got tears as a reward.

You may be thinking that since shinobi could run extremely fast they would be able to handle the winds in flight,yes?Well basically like how when they walk on water the chakra creates a minuscule bit of space between the water and feet, while using their chakra to move at high speeds their body naturally creates a sort of tiny chakra shield for their eyes like invisible goggles.It’s something shinobi gain quickly and don’t think about much afterwards.

Also,it was cold.

His legs were completely bare and had no feathers or scaly skin to protect it and he was uncomfortably aware of how the wind was lifting up his clothes and exposed his midsection to the elements.

Madara was too focused on keeping them up to notice his brother’s discomfort or that this whole thing was pointless since he couldn’t see what was going on anyway.

The adventure lasted maybe twenty minutes in mutual discomfort but both were too proud to give in early,or they were so distracted that they didn’t realize that they could stop.Either was viable.

Izuna had barely any warning before he felt his feet touching ground and Madara let him go.

If he hadn’t been thrown around before in training or battles he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from stumbling to ground.He still wheeled his arms like a child’s first time on a balancing beam anyway.

His anija was very relieved to transform and land on the ground again,his arms still wanting to flap and his feet unusually stiff from having a death grip on his fragile cargo.

His hair was a mess but he had learned to live with it and just live with it until he had to brush it again.Izuna,however,had not and was resembling a windswept tangle of especially bushy bushes.

They were both tired,Izuna was still shaking from the cold and Madara was just relieved he hadn’t dropped his little brother and ended up an only child.

The kitchen was raided and extra blankets were added to futons.They would definitely not do this again in a hurry.

Until their father decided a weak later that it was time they started training for aerial attacks and had to continuously do it again for weeks.

At least Izuna learned to wear goggles and tie his hair down.

[ithecrystaldragonheart]

A Pining Ball of Feathers and Sadness

Izuna felt conflicting emotions as he eyed the divider that hid his brother’s side of the room from him.

He told himself that the Senju boy had been tricking his brother and today had been proof of it,at least that’s what he had processed.But he remembered the expression of horror when he realized that he had followed him and told their father and just as clearly his declaration mere hours before.

Naturally people had noticed when the Uchiha heir started slipping out weeks ago and then started improving skills and coming back dirtied with the occasional various bits of plant life in his hair the common consensus was that he was training by himself.

Their father had been a bit suspicious but since Madara always stayed when ordered and still performed his duties he had decided to allow him some alone time,maybe being generous after the deaths of their brothers.

But Izuna had been jealous.His brother spent less time with him and with as little as they had it made a big difference to him,the fact that he actively seemed to enjoy his escapades didn’t help.

Originally he had just planned to follow his brother and demand that he join the sessions and hadn’t expected a second boy to show up.

If he had been jealous before it was nothing compared to when he watched his only living brother playing and even laughing with this stranger.Maybe he was even envious that he could talk with the boy about his dreams for a peaceful future when he couldn’t even do it with his own brother.

At first he just watched and seethed in jealousy but then he thought that maybe this boy was tricking his brother into getting information or stealing clan techniques and decided to tell their father.

When Tajima told him the boy was the son of the patriarch of their rival clan it all but confirmed that he had been right to tell his father.

A not-so-small part of him had waited for his brother to thank him or at least acknowledge that he had done the right thing,instead there had been hovering and an obvious challenge to keep his emotions under control - the black feathers and orange eyes had shifted with his breathing,pulling in when inhaling and sliding back out when exhaling.

With a forced politeness he excused himself to his room and their father had let it go with only a scowl that promised that this was the last bit of leniency he would have for a while.

Madara hadn’t appeared for supper and with the head of the Uchiha sealing himself in his study he was forced to sit there alone.

It was common for their father not to join for meal and usually the two boys would entertain each other and enjoy the rare chance to spend time with one another when one or both of them weren’t on a mission.

Afterwards he’d crept into his room with more silence than he should have,it was his own bedroom after all.

He remembered sharing his room with their most recently deceased brother and how he’d snore despite their father’s repeated attempts to get him out of that possibly fatal habit.

Now it was quiet and empty despite the presence on the other side of the shoji.

Feeling decidedly not guilty Izuna finally gathered the nerve to sneak over and the slide the opening just a crack.

The only light was from the lamps he had lit in his own room that shone through the paper walls which gave the room an oddly cozy and intimate feeling.

It was a stark contrast to the black monstrosity currently lying on his brother’s futon.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t known that certain people in his clan could turn into bird monsters,it was just that he had never seen them give in completely,so he could be excused for choking when he saw an enormous bird head instead of his brother’s.

He still wore his yukata but other than that there was no real way to tell that this giant bird was Madara Uchiha.

The feathered adolescent had arranged his bedstuff into a sort of makeshift nest and seemed to be...sighing?It sounded more like half-hearted cawing than anything human.

Nevertheless they quickly became aware of another presence in their space and stood up and spread their wings to appear more intimidating.

It was extremely unsettling to watch his brother turn his head from side to side to better study the intruder and the wicked-looking beak wasn’t exactly reassuring.

Seemingly recognizing his little brother he folded his wings back in and decided to move closer.

Too stunned and fearful of the sudden unpredictability of what was now his brother he allowed himself to be tugged to the rather sad nest and after some prompting sat down.

Izuna felt indignant when the bird-brain started grooming his hair with his beak and wrapping his wings around him like some kind of chick but after some annoyed cawing he accepted that there would be no quiet escape from this situation - he at least would never let his brother live this down.

If he fell asleep to his brother’s cooing and woke up with feathers in his hair being crushed by a decidedly human Madara it was his business and no-one else’s.

[ithecrystaldragonheart]

Werebeast Shinobi AU

*A shinobi has the chance of developing a part-animal nature and in clans there are mostly dominant patterns

*The Uchiha are crows

-Izuna is normal along with Tajima and at least one of the two deceased brother was also unaffected,actually he dies too young to say definitively

-Madara has trouble suppressing it because he’s very powerful and constantly is aware of it right under his skin

*The Senju don’t have a set animal but are usually some kind of forest dweller

-Hashirama is a Japanese badger

-Tobirama is a crane and likely got it from their mother’s side of the family since they were originally from the Land of Birds

-Touka is normal but enjoys teasing the two about their quirks,especially Tobirama about the time she caught him swallowing a live frog

*The Hyuga are tigers with the head family often being white tigers

*The Uzumaki are koma-inu or lion dogs.You thought they were foxes didn’t you?

-The Namikaze are actually the foxes in this

*Yamanaka are boars

*Akimichi are butterflies

-They have traditional dances that utilize these wings and they even make prop ones for normal participants

*Nara are sika deer

*Aburame are different kinds of insects and traumatise most people that see them in that form because they’re fucking giant human/insect hybrids

*Sarutobi are monkeys

*Inuzuka are dogs and have learned to embrace it and combine it with their jutsus so even normal clan members can use it

*Hatake are wolves