I don't own Naruto.
This is around the time when Naruto is eight years old, because Sari is two years older than him. (Iruka is 19)
Iruka Umino walked down the street with a little bouquet of daisies in his hand. He spotted the little tavern that he was searching for, with an old woman out front, sweeping off the porch.
"Mrs. Tanaka?" She looked up and smiled at Iruka.
"No one calls me that; just call me Maya." She held an old wrinkled hand to her chin. "You're Iruka Uminno, right? You were Sari's teacher."
"Yeah, I uh, brought flowers." He held out the daisy bouquet. "I wanted to talk to Sari."
"Good luck, she's been crying in her room all day; she won't even eat."
"Wow, she must really have wanted to be a kunoichi." He looked up at the upper part of the tavern where Sari and her aunt lived.
"No, she never really liked the idea."
"What?! Then why'd she go to the Academy?"
"I'm not sure. She always said that she only had one reason to stay at the Academy (and to get up so early) but she never told me what it was."
"Hmm." Iruka thought what it might be for a moment, but gave up—Sari had never really showed promise at the Academy—she liked to goof off and had received a detention almost every day of the school year. "Can I go talk to her?"
"You can try." Maya continued sweeping the porch. "It's straight up the stairs, second door."
"Thank you." He left her and climbed the outer stairs to the second level.
Even though Sari was a troublemaker and rarely had done her homework, he had always liked her. He would miss her now that she wasn't going to be at the Academy anymore.
He knocked on the second door.
"Go away!" Sari yelled from her perch in the window. She wiped her eyes and tried to ignore the person at the door, but then a voice said: "Then what would I do with these poor flowers?"
Iruka had opened the door and held the little bouquet out to her.
"Iruka-sensei!" She jumped from the window-bed and ran to her teacher, tears springing back to her eyes, and hugged him tightly around the waist.
She lets go and he hands her the bouquet. "The doctors told me about your sickness, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I didn't want to be a kunoichi anyway." She said, putting the flowers in a vase on her dresser. "There's too much work."
He laughs and ruffles her light brown hair. "You are the laziest person I know." He kisses her on the forehead and then turns to leave.
"I-Iruka-sensei, w-will you come visit me again?" She was looking at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes.
He leaned down so that he was on the same level as her. "Let's make a deal—I will come and visit as often as I can if you promise not to be sad anymore."
"I promise!" She raised her little pinky and he entwined his own.
The next day . . . (lol, that's the lamest transition ever! XD )
Iruka stepped into the tavern and saw Maya serving some customers. She spotted him and hustled over.
"Whatever you said to her, it really helped—she's been bouncing around all day, just full of energy!"
"Iruka-sensei!" Sari popped out of the back room and joined them. "Guess what—Auntie's going to let me work here in the shop!"
"Really? Then I'll have to come back and order a drink sometime"
"Really?" She beamed at him and then ran back into the back room to retrieve customer's drinks.
"Is it really a good idea to let her serve drinks in a tavern? She's only ten."
"It gives her something to do instead of sleeping all day."
Iruka didn't like the idea but he dealt with it anyway, sometimes he even ordered a drink when he came to visit.
I guess it's a little weird that Iruka's nine years older than Sari, but I just really wanted him to be with a younger girl.
(It's not that weird though, my old youth pastor was married to a guy nine years older than her . . .)