23. Rocks and Gems

Rating: K

Verse: Hokage Madara by victoriacapo

Idea: creation of the AU and of Masaru - victoriacapo, plot of the drabble - me

"Seriously. Madara. What have you been thinking giving a kid of three a stone worth half of a village?" Sakura sent him a look that could incinerate the said half of the village. "And this isn't even a question!" she interjected when he was opening his mouth to explain that he had told Masaru very precisely what had been hung on his neck. "This is a purely rhetorical question! Because I already know what you were thinking! Absolutely nothing! You weren't thinking absolutely anything!"

Madara inadvertly edged a bit away from his wife's finger furiously poking him in the middle of the chest.

He glanced at Masaru – he was sitting at the table, building a tower from his rice. With his hands. Madara gritted his teeth. Exactly three minutes earlier he scolded the kid about exactly the same thing. Actually, first he told him that there are norms at the table. Then he told he not to be wasteful with his food as there are people in the world who would be very happy to even have that meal. He was sure Masaru understood. He was such a bright boy. His son stayed calm for a minute, and then, when Madara's attention was back at conversation with Sakura, he restarted his construction project. It was on purpose, Madara was sure. The kid was clearly testing his patience.

That was what Sakura was always complaining about. That damn stubbornness and inclination to seek conflict. To poke, and jab and tease until the other person lost their nerve. Masaru seemed to enjoy it. Madara really didn't know how to navigate a conflict with his own son. Especially if he was three. 'I got lucky' he thought two minutes ago when the case of missing necklace diverted their attention and provided an excuse not to address Masaru's misbehavior again. He really didn't know how to handle the situation of his in-your-face defiance. With anyone else he would have resorted to enforcing his will. With Masaru he didn't want to go this way.

'I got lucky', he thought two minutes ago.

Now he was facing a furious Sakura. Not so lucky anymore.

"When did you give it to him?"

"Yesterday evening. When I was putting him to bed. And I explained to him that.."

"He's three! He doesn't understand shit! And in case you haven't noticed yet, he's made defying us into his life-goal!"

Madara raised his eyebrows. Sakura was clearly missing the work in the hospital, it seemed. That extended maternity leave was making her slightly delusional when it came to the boy.

Sakura took a deep breath. "There was no necklace on his neck in the morning," she said with studied calm.

"Alright. Let's search his bedroom then."

Three hours later they found it. Masaru must have taken an advantage of the unusual hardness of the stone and used it to dislodge a wooden board inside the wardrobe. Apparently, the pointed tip of the crystal was also a good fit for the screws in the wardrobe as a make-shift screwdriver... They found the jewel lying under the pile of clothes where their son must have dropped it when he heard Sakura approaching.

Madara waited almost four years until he presented it to him again. He wanted his son to have it. The stone carried a lot of meaning to him. Hashirama gave it to him when he became Hokage. He had said it contained his dream to unite the people, and that since he had been now living his dream, Madara could have the stone to put his hopes into it.

The necklace helped him a lot. Madara didn't believe in the 'container of hope' sentimental bullshit of Hashirama, but the stone made tailed beasts tame. Or tamer.

And now, looking at his son, he had a feeling that all his dreams had been fulfilled. That he had no right, or no reason, to hold on to the stone.

It wasn't the stone that brought him luck. It was his own doing. But it wouldn't hurt to pass it on.

And that taming effect… It wouldn't be bad if it worked on human children as well…

Because Masaru was a little devil.

He would do each and every thing he was forbidden to. And then he would deny doing it with the straightest face. Or argument with loopholes that followed such a peculiar logic, that they put adult brains into a standstill.

And he was plainly mean. He liked making people upset. Madara had an impression he was somehow feeding off the negative emotions he was evoking. Taming really wouldn't hurt.

So, when Masaru was six, he tried again.

"Son. You may not remember, but I gave it to you once." Madara fished out the stone from his pocket and let in dangle in front of the boy's eyes. He had to smile. Masaru had something from a cat, and this acute, predatory focus that was now directed at the necklace made Madara smile. And he had to smile as well because it was staggering how the boy's green eyes, the green eyes he had from Sakura, corresponded exactly to the shade of the stone.

"I don't."

"Last time you used it as a screwdriver. I hope it won't repeat itself. You have to be aware that this stone alone is worth more than most of the families in this village would earn during their entire lives. I give it to you because I believe in you. And in your responsibility."

Was it still too early? But Madara just wanted so much to give him everything he could. He couldn't wait. And there was so little time he was spending with him anyhow.

Sakura would have known better, but he wasn't risking another confrontation with her. If Masaru succeeded now, and didn't get into trouble with the necklace, then Sakura would have to accept the status quo. And in the worst case they would dig the entire compound through. Masaru wasn't leaving the house much anyhow. Not after all the neighbours complained about their abused cats.

Masaru furrowed his eyebrows. "I want it!"

"Promise me that you will take better care of it than the last time." Madara sat down on his heels and put the necklace onto Masaru's palm. "A friend gave it to me. He was a bit stupid, that friend of mine," he saw a glimmer of attention in Masaru's eyes. His son liked talking people down, and he must have felt a camaraderie with Madara now. "And he believed that this stone makes wishes come through. He said that his dream had come true and therefore he doesn't need the stone anymore. So, he gave it to me. My dreams also came true. So now you can have it."

Masaru grinned closing his fist around the stone. He looked up to him with glee. Madara wondered what were exactly Masaru's dreams… Something was telling him they weren't very noble.

AN: Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think!