7:00

Sasuke hated first days.

"Ethan it's time to leave," Sasuke said firmly. Ethan had just finished having what could be described as a 'hissy fit' and quite frankly, his father was quite annoyed.

Earlier, the four-year-old boy had decided after getting ready that he did not want to go to his new school.

"But daddy I don't wanna go... I wanna stay with you." Ethan said softly as he dramatically slumped his head and shoulders. Sasuke silently released a breath. This was somewhat a ritual for them; as the only thing the toddler disliked more than school was the first day of school. Seeing that he was already later than he'd like to be for work, Sasuke decided to compromise.

"Hn. If you cooperate and let me take you to school, I'll invite your uncle Naruto to pick you up from school..."

Ethan's head was still down as he silently crossed his little arms across his chest.

"- and take you somewhere after. " Sasuke continued, sensing that being picked up was not enough to get the boy to agree quickly.

"Really daddy ?" he asked innocently. Ethan raised his head and his eyes widened as he grinned sheepishly. Sasuke could've sworn the tears that threatened to come from his eyes earlier disappeared instantaneously.

What a little trickster.

The Uchiha felt a slight pang of jealousy in his heart when he saw how Ethan reacted to the promise of a play date with his long time best friend. Uzumaki Naruto always seemed to impress people and his charm tended to encapsulate everyone he was around, toddlers being no exception. Sasuke still didn't know how he became a father before Naruto did.

Ethan often explained his attachment to the Uzumaki by describing him as 'fun'. Sasuke had no idea how to perceive this however because he was sure he was 'fun' too. He never pressed on to this matter however, because for some reason explaining his preference of Naruto's company in front of his father made Ethan ... fidgety.

"Yes." the man answered plainly. Ethan smiled cheekily, as he knew his father always kept his promises.

Sasuke's lip curved slightly upward as he watched the young boy draw and release a deep breath and straighten his uniforms' jacket, visibly calming himself. The boy had obviously copied this technique from his father in private, but watching him made the Uchiha feel a bit uneasy.

Did he look this... comical when he was calming himself?

Sasuke soon let go of the -what he perceived to be - ridiculous thought and just looked at his son.

" Let's go ".


6:30

Sakura released a little sigh as she examined herself in her body mirror.

The young woman really loved her job, but the official ending of the school term was always somewhat painful. Her vacation was over.

Sakura eyed herself from bottom to top examining her work attire for the day. Her black two-inch heels adorned her tiny feet and matched perfectly with her black skirt that was an inch above her knee. Her outfit was completed by her new yellow polka dot blazer. She also wore a plain white inner shirt as well as small emerald stud earrings, which beautifully complemented her eyes.

Looking at her face closely in the mirror, she admired how professional she looked with her simple makeup and her hair in an elegant updo with two yellow barettes.

She always liked to be colorful at work, the first day was never an exception. The young woman gathered her things, making a mental note of if she had everything she needed for the first day. Much was never done in the first few days, however, so she didn't need to worry too much.

After deciding that she was ready, Haruno locked her apartment, got into her car and started the 40-minute drive to work.


7:25

Haruno Sakura loved first days.

Regardless of whether she was introducing herself to a new class or reuniting with an old one like today. The pink-haired woman was currently in her classroom adding the finishing decorative touches, she liked to make.

She made sure to come super early as she procrastinated a bit getting her room ready and it didn't help that she lived a little under an hour away from the school. Truthfully though, Sakura always had the most colorful, creative room and this made her worry a bit less as her distinction was effortless.

Taking various educational posters from her tote bag, she made sure to put a few on the walls as well as the bulletin board. She combined colorful tape and tacks in order to hang them up. The young teacher actually had a staff meeting 20 minutes before the kiddies started rolling in, it was something the staff did at Konoha Elementary ritualistically.

She sighed as she thought of all the new ideas the school's principal- had proposed and now await implementation. 'More trips and more meetings.. how delightful ' she thought to herself as she finished hanging the last poster.

The young teacher loved students but she so often rather not deal with the parents. If they weren't over-protective or rude it was a rare blessing.

"How typical of you to be here so early Sakura-san"

Sakura looked up as she heard the familiar voice, she smirked.

"And how rare of you to be early, Kakashi-san" she retorted swiftly. She smiled as her emerald eyes met the man's much darker ones. He put a hand in his white hair, ruffling it and gave a small sigh.

"It wouldn't be professional of me if I didn't come early on the first day.", he replied as he took his hand out of his hair and placed both hands into his pockets.

"So the other days in the school year don't matter huh? What are you here for anyway? We rarely cross paths during the school day."

He laughed at that. "I almost forgot, Tsunade requested you. Something about a new kid in the class and meeting his parents at 7:40... I'm supposed to take your class when they all get here."

"Take my class?" she frowned. This was weird as she usually met parents during the meetings and she gave her introduction to new students' parents after the first week of class. Although confused, she wasn't one to question the headmistress and so she just nodded. giving the man her thanks.

Sakura and Kakashi talked for a bit until Sakura decided to leave in order to put her bags away, then meet up with the headmistress before the parents. All teachers, (which wasn't a lot) shared a common office space separated by dividers and she hated the fact they considered it private. They were literally cubicles. After placing her two bags in her office space she began the journey to the principal's office.

Eyeing the paved walkway that led to the office, she decided to use the grassy area next to it as it provided a short cut deciding she'd rather not go all the way around.

About to step back onto the walkway Sakura's eyes caught a tiny figure kneeling behind one of the walkway's many columns. Just as the woman was about to say something she watched the tiny figure young child run from one column to another.

'How strange'

Walking cooly towards the child the young teacher spoke. "Hello there, what's your name ?" she asked kneeling down.

The child ran away again, this time she could hear him giggling.

Releasing a small sigh while getting up Sakura watched a dark-haired child go behind another column. Sakura looked at her watch, not impressed at all with the situation.

"You're going to run out of pillars to hide soon..." she muttered softly, a smile could be heard in her voice.

"You must new here...I see you like to run, however. You don't seem to want to talk to me though, but I'm pretty fast as well. How about I race you... if I win you tell me your name" Sakura concluded. She watched as the young boy slowly peered from behind the pillar showing her a bright smile, he nodded his head confidently.

'Isn't this boy in my class' she inwardly mused observing the boy's dark hair and dark eyes. 'What was his name again?... Ethan Uchibori? Uchida?'

Of course, this wasn't Sakura's regular way of handling things -as it was quite silly- but she had a meeting- with this boy's parents- and he wouldn't even talk to her before she offered to quickly run with him.

Pointing out to him where they would race, Sakura took her heels off preferring to hold them in her hands.

Of course, Sakura beat him, but instead of being upset, the toddler burst into a fit of giggles, which quite frankly made her laugh a bit herself.

She lifted the small child and again asked him his name. Even if she knew already, Sakura still won the race.. so it was only fair she reap her reward from the playful boy. He smiled and opened his mouth seemingly about to respond to her but instead shouted "Daddy! ".

Haruno froze as she heard the word, the boy still in her hands. Her heart almost sunk into her chest.. not only was she supposed to meet the child's parents but they also caught her in a very unprofessional interaction with the child.

"I'd appreciate it if you put my son down," a cold unfamiliar male voice said.

Sakura gave the boy a small smile as she slowly put the young boy down. Not wanting to turn around and look the man in eye she moved particularly slowly and prayed to Kami for a miracle. After putting him down, she heard him run in the direction his father resided and she silently slid her feet back into her tiny heeled shoes.

-"Ahem" a familiar voiced chimed in. Sakura turned herself to see her boss and had quite frankly never been so happy to hear her voice.

"I see you've already met your new student, Ethan Uchiha ... I was just telling his father here all about you Haruno-san and about how much he will enjoy his time here," Tsunade said smoothly. Haruno cleared her throat, turning to face the principal as well as the man.

He was tall and looked like a perfectly aged version of his son, she felt even more embarrassed to be caught being so childish as he was a very handsome man and his business suit along with his serious air led her to believe that he was a very important person. Not to mention the fact that she was to meet him so early.

What was the name? Uchiha. As in the Uchiha Conglomerates?

Sakura's eyes widened and she felt ten times worse about her approach as she thought about the situation she was just caught in.

"When we were all walking the boy sprinted off... we were both looking for him but it looks like you've found him before we could" principal Tsunade continued.

"Ah yes, he is quite the little athlete " Sakura joked. She soon wished she hadn't as her eyes met cold obsidian ones that seemed emotionless yet so scornful at the same time.

She inwardly sighed. Making her way toward the three she couldn't help but feel embarrassed about the entire interaction. They took a walk discussing the school term, well mostly Tsunade discussing while Mr. Uchiha stayed silent the majority of the time. She could only hope that she wasn't the reason... Sakura loved her job and couldn't imagine a life without it.


I took way longer than I expected to update... 2021 has started out kinda rough. My grandmother passed and I'm still recovering from a car accident I got into last year. I already know how I'm approaching the 3rd chapter, so stay tuned it will be posted faster than this one was. Thank you for reading! Be sure to review, letting me know what you think.