AN: Fic for iscriptikus, who asked "Would a cute MadaSaku be out of the question?" Absolutely not. Let's make some cute dragonette drabble fic!
Madara, his rounded horns peeking through his wild, inky mane, made sure he had his young charge's attention.
"Watch," he commanded.
With his chest bare and the light breeze buffeting his hair away from his face, he drew in a deep breath, held it a moment, performed a simple hand-sign, then blew a scorching fireball out over the cliff. They were too high in altitude for it to affect any of the trees below, but he didn't want to risk attracting too much attention. The plateau above the clouds was perfect.
The fireball dissipated several hundred yards away, as Madara expected.
Confident his example had been quite clear, Madara turned to look at the dragonette that had been placed in his care.
Her wide, sparkling green eyes gazed up at him in wonder, and her tiny horns, barely more than velvety nubs beneath her rose fringe, wiggled excitedly.
"Poof!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"Poof," agreed Madara. His stern features remained hard, but his shoulders were relaxed.
Gesturing to Sakura to join him at the edge of the cliff, Madara knelt down and positioned her feet—and tail—to help her maintain her balance.
"Aim for the sun," said Madara from behind Sakura. With his arms around her to steady her, he pointed with one long talon towards the source of their power. "You will never go astray if you remember where your power comes from."
"I understand, Sensei."
"When you are ready, unleash the fire inside you."
Little Sakura, who appeared no older than a five year old child, nodded fiercely. She would not let her sensei down.
Flexing her tiny, pointed fingers with their razor-sharp nails, Sakura made a fierce face, sucked in a huge breath—leaning so far back Madara lifted a hand in case she toppled backwards—and as she was about to blow out—
"What are you doing with Hashirama's great-granddaughter!" bellowed Tobirama, alighting upon the plateau. He shook out his silvery wings and glared at Madara indignantly.
Her wings flapped in fright when Sakura jumped. Quick as a whip, she hid her hands behind her back, as she hid herself behind her teacher. She peeked around Madara's legs at her great-grand-uncle, her shoulders up around her shapely ears as she cringed at his angry tone.
"What does it look like we're doing? We're learning about cloud formations and their relationship with the elements, as Hashirama instructed," lied Madara. "Sakura, point to the cumulus clouds."
Still too fearful that she was somehow in trouble, Sakura trembled and pointed a shaking talon at the lightest, fluffiest clouds.
Madara looked balefully at Tobirama, as if daring him to question his questionable teaching methods once more.
Tobirama glared at Madara, but did not pursue the argument further.
"Come, Sakura. It is time to come home."
With her tiny hands still clutching at Madara's loose trousers, Sakura looked up at her sensei for confirmation.
Resisting the urge to pat Sakura's soft pink head in reassurance, Madara merely nodded at Sakura, encouraging her on her way. When she was a bit slow to return to Tobirama, her usual guardian, Madara gave her a gentle push on her small back, between her leathery, sprout-green wings.
"No dive-bombing, or you'll scare your Tobi-ojisan," whispered Madara as Sakura left his side.
Her adorable brows drawing together, Sakura looked back at Madara questioningly and pursed her bow lips. Sakura considered his words carefully before she grinned at him in understanding. With a little hop to her step, Sakura joined Tobirama and reached a hand up to take his hand for their flight home.
Madara nodded. "Practice what we learned today, Sakura."
If Tobirama suspected anything untoward, he did not speak of it in front of Sakura.
"Come. We don't want to keep everyone waiting," said Tobirama as they walked to the edge of the cliff.
Stretching out their membranous wings—Sakura's as graceful as any Uchiha's, much to Tobirama's visible disgust—Sakura looked back at Madara one last time to smile and wave. Then she promptly leapt off the cliff, wings and arms outstretched, face turned up to the sun, a happy sigh escaping her lips as she caught her first draft and spun like a spring leaf in the air.
"Bye Senseeeeeeei!"
With Tobirama's back to him as the pair of Senju dragons glided away, Madara allowed the hardness in his eyes to soften as he fondly watched Sakura soar.
—before she promptly snap-folded her wings against her body and dove down through the cloud cover with an excited whoop and shriek.
"Catch me if you can, Tobi-'jisaaan!"
Madara's smirk was plainly visible when Tobirama shot him a dark look and chased after Sakura a split-second later.
Madara chuckled to himself as he turned away. With his student gone for the rest of the day—possibly longer, if Tobirama got his way—it was time for him to return home. He collected his belongings, including his discarded clothes, and wrapped them into a bundle before tucking them under his arm and hopping off the cliff in the direction of his own home.
When Madara arrived at his destination, his feet touching down on the simple sandstone path, he followed the redstone to his private sanctuary and hoard. Once inside with the doors locked, he carefully lifted his bundle and unwrapped it.
His dark eyes gentled as he untangled the flower and vine crown, one leaf at a time, from the shirt he had protectively wrapped around it.
Then, with a delicacy few knew him capable of, he lifted it onto the top shelf of his treasure trove... to preserve it with all the other flower crowns Sakura had gifted him.
THE END