Kindergarten 101

Chapter One

Monday September 5th, 2014

The dark haired man watched his bedroom door inch open little by little. He could see the messy hair of his daughter already sticking out from behind the door. He could give her props for how quiet she was, compared to when she first started sneaking into his room to wake him up. Sasuke's lips turned up in the corners as he watched his daughter crawl into the room once the door had opened enough for her tiny body to slip in.

She did a barrel roll from the doorway to the end of Sasuke's bed. That was something he could blame Naruto for. His blond best friend enjoyed teaching Koemi the best ways to put grass stains in her clothes. And of course, after that, Sasuke would get chewed out by Sakura for letting their daughter mess up her clothes. Sasuke cringed at the memory.

Messy black hair peeked up from the end of his bed and Sasuke had to bite his lip to stifle any laughter.

"Koemi, what are you doing?" the raven asked his daughter.

The small, oval shaped face of Koemi popped up and a wide smile spread across her face. "Morning Dad! Guess what day it is today!" The small girl began hopping up and down, her grin growing.

Sasuke watched with an amused look on his face. Naruto's influence on Koemi was obvious to someone like Sasuke, who'd grown up in a very strict household. She preferred to smile all day rather than frown even once, she would fidget and play with her clothes when she was nervous and when she was excited, it was impossible to stop her from moving – all very similar traits to a certain blond haired idiot.

To excited to wait, Koemi decided to answer her own question. "It's the first day of school!"

"Koemi, you've been counting down for the last week. Trust me; I know what day it is."

The little raven haired girl pouted. "You could at least act like you're excited then, Dad."

Sasuke shook his head and tossed the covers off his legs. The bedroom was cold and brought goose bumps to the raven's skin. "I can't act to save my life," he replied as he got up from the bed.

He mentally patted himself on the back for buying a carpeted apartment instead of hardwood. His feet were still warm and cozy thanks to the fuzzy fabric under them.

"You should ask Naru to teach you. He's good at it," Koemi told him, skipping out from the room.

Sasuke frowned and followed after his daughter. "When have you seen Naruto acting?"

"When Hina asks him if he's taken out the garbage and he hasn't."

"Koemi, that's called lying and it's not good."

"But Naru does it."

"Naruto isn't the best influence," Sasuke said. "How Hinata puts up with him is beyond me," he muttered to himself.

The girl shrugged and led the man into the kitchen. "Dad, can I have eggs today?" The older raven nodded and went to get a start on their breakfast. Koemi climbed up into her chair and happily swung her legs back and forth under the table. "Do you think I'll see Naru at school today?"

Sasuke shrugged as he pulled a small purple frying pan out from one of the lower cupboards. He turned on one of the elements on the stove and placed the pan down on top of it. Quickly, he buttered down the slowly heating surface and grabbed some eggs from the fridge. While the pan heated more, Sasuke turned and looked over his daughter.

Koemi was lucky. She'd somehow gained her fathers' untamable raven hair, his eye shape, his mothers' cute oval face, and Sakura's green eyes. Sasuke's brother often told him that she had his smile as well, you just couldn't tell because Sasuke was a sour puss. Sasuke was sure Itachi would have called him something different if Koemi hadn't been in hearing range.

"Is that what you're wearing today?" the older raven asked, observing the white and yellow dress she had chosen for herself.

Koemi nodded excitedly. "It's the one Mom sent me!"

Sasuke pressed his lips together in a firm line. He couldn't exactly say anything about it, since Sakura was the girl's mother, even if she didn't act it. He forced himself to nod and then turned back to the stove.

"Make sure to brush your hair and teeth after your done breakfast."

"Okay!"

"Ah! There's Naru and Hina!"

Sasuke's scowl deepened as he followed behind his daughter through the gates of Konoha Private Elementary. Just as Koemi has pointed at, standing at the doors of the school were his best friend and the blond's wife.

Naruto was someone you could easily pick out in a crowd. He was tall, having hit a growth spurt during his first year of college. His blond hair was unruly and bright, the sunlight catching on the stands and making them even brighter. And to top it all off, the idiot had bright blue eyes. He was practically the example of a foreigner in Japan.

On his left was a small-ish woman with long, long black hair. Her bangs cut across her forehead, just above her delicate eyebrows. Her eyes were large and pale. Sometimes Sasuke questioned whether the woman was actually blind and just knew how to hide it very well. But then again, her cousin, sister and father all had the same eyes. Somehow, her soft and doll-like features complimented Naruto's bright and loud appearance.

"Koemi, you have to call Hinata 'Missus Uzumaki' now. She's your teacher."

The little raven paused, looking back at Sasuke. "Huh, I never thought about that."

Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh. "You spend way too much time with Naruto."

They maneuvered their way through the mass of parents and children until they finally reached the couple. Naruto noticed the two right away and a beaming smile lit up his face.

"Hey there Sasuke!" The raven ducked under the blond's arm, avoiding the hug he would have been forced to endure. This didn't deter Naruto in the slightest. "And here's my favourite girl," he grinned and scooped up Koemi.

The girl giggled and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. "Naru, do I have to call you something else, like Hina? Ops, I mean, Missus Uzumaki?"

The blond shook his head. "Nope! I teach at the high school, so you don't have to call me anything different."

Naruto was the English teacher at Konoha Public High School, the same place he'd gone to school almost 12 years ago. Hinata was one of the two kindergarten teachers at Konoha Private Elementary, where she'd started her school life. Neither of these career choices surprised Sasuke. Naruto's father was the founder for both the private and public branches of the Konoha schools. Hell, even Naruto's mother was a teacher at the private high school.

"That's good, 'cause I don't think it'll be easy to remember to call Hina 'Missus Uzumaki'."

"Just think about how hard it's going to be for Hiroki. He's got to go from calling her Mom to Missus."

Koemi crinkled her nose. "That would be hard."

Naruto laughed and nodded. He leaned down and carefully set the raven girl back on her feet. She scurried back over to her father while Naruto turned to Hinata. "Where is that brat of ours?"

Hinata laughed softly. "He's already in the classroom; he didn't want to wait to see everything."

The blond shook his head, raising a hand and running his fingers through his hair. "Definitely my kid," he said.

"Hn."

"Oh come on Sasuke. It's the first day of school for those two; can't you be a little bit happy?" Naruto asked, pouting much like Koemi had early that morning.

Sasuke gave his best friend a long look before putting on the most forced and fake smile he could come up with. "Better?"

"Smart-aleck." From below, Koemi laughed as Naruto smirked. "You know, you look an awful lot like Sai when you do that."

Immediately the raven relaxed his face, turning the forced smile into his usual frown.

"Koemi, you're Dad's a stick in the mud."

"Stick in the mud?" Koemi repeated, tilting her head a little bit.

Naruto nodded. "It means he likes to be broody."

"Look at that, Dad. I'm already learning things!" Koemi turned her head up to look at her father, a big grin on her face.

"Fantastic," Sasuke muttered, glaring at the laughing blond across from him.

"Naruto, don't you have to get to the school soon?" Hinata asked from behind them. Sasuke had almost forgotten she was there.

The blond raised his hand and checked the watch strapped around his wrist. "Sadly, I do," he lowered his arm and turned to Sasuke again. "What about you, Sasuke? You leaving soon too?"

Onyx eyes glanced down at the little raven, a look Hinata didn't miss. "Don't worry, Sasuke. I'll bring her to class with me. I'm just waiting for the other teacher now."

Sasuke nodded slowly and crouched down, getting at eye level for the little girl. "Be good, learn lots and make some friends."

Koemi smiled and wrapped her little arms around Sasuke's neck. She gave him a little squeeze before letting go. "Don't worry about me, Dad. Naru says I'm much more friendly than you."

"Of course he did," the raven grumbled.

Koemi quickly pressed a kiss to her fathers' cheek before rushing over to Hinata. Both girls waved at the men as they left the yard, waiting till both had turned from the gate.

"Alright, missy, let's see if we can spot Miss Kojima," Hinata picked up the five year old and made her way through the crowd around them.

Uchiha Itachi was a stickler for being on time for everything. Maybe it was because his father had engraved the phrase 'the early bird gets the best worm'. Or maybe even because his mother had taught him that it was impolite to make people wait on you. For all he knew, it could have been a combination of the both. But that part didn't matter today. What mattered was the sight he'd found himself gazing at while waiting for his niece to notice him because he'd been early.

The afternoon sun poured down into the yard of the elementary school where the remaining kindergarteners had gathered. Almost every child and adult in the yard had black or brown hair, easily labelled as 'normal'. Even Koemi seemed to almost blend into the horde or children.

But what really cause Itachi's attention was the young woman talking adamantly to his niece and the group of children around her. It wasn't as much as the fact that the woman spoke with her hands as well as her mouth, or that she was standing outside in the still early spring weather in a long billowing skirt. It was her bright red hair that caught his attention. The strangely coloured locks were bound at the back of her head in a tight pony tail and looked like blood spilt onto snow.

One look at his little niece and Itachi knew that whatever this woman was talking about had captured the attention of the little raven. Koemi had the same expression Sasuke used to wear when Itachi or their mother would tell him bedtime stories. It made the older Uchiha curious to what the redhead could possibly be talking about.

Taking another look at the small group gathered around the woman, he noticed a familiar head of blond hair. Uzumaki Hiroki was just as much of his fathers' son as Koemi was Sasukes' daughter. With bright blond hair and milky blue eyes it was impossible for anyone to deny the boy's parentage. And sitting between Koemi and Hiroki was a slightly older boy with sandy brown hair. He was smiling and nodding along with whatever the woman in front of them said.

The bell ringing broke whatever trance that the kids had been under and immediately they returned to bouncing balls of energy. Itachi smirked and finally opened his door, tired of waiting inside the stuffy car for his niece.

"Alright kids, remember what I told you about your homework books. I want at least one page done by tonight," the redhead woman called out to the moving mass of cheering children. Itachi noted that the sandy brown haired boy stuck close to the woman's legs, his fingers fisted in her long skirt.

The gates opened up and children wandered out, easily finding parents, siblings or guardians.

"Uncle 'Tachi!" Koemi cried out, launching herself at the older Uchiha.

Itachi chuckled and squatted down to speak clearly to the young girl. "How was your day, Koemi?"

The raven girl grinned. "It was awesome! We learned about the calendar today and what month comes first and Miss Kojima even started reading us a book!"

"Oh? What book was it?"

"It was called James and the Giant Peach, but I can't remember who wrote it."

"Oh, that's a good one. Come on, you're spending the night at my house tonight," Itachi told the girl.

The grin fell from Koemi's face. "Dad's working tonight?"

Itachi sighed and stood up, dropping one hand on top of the girl's head and ruffling her black locks. "If you'd like we can go back to your house and wait for your dad?"

Koemi shook her head. "It's fine. I know you have work at home too."

"Are you sure? I can always do the paper work another time."

"It's okay."

Itachi threw one more glance over his shoulder, trying to find the red haired woman. Without any luck, he turned back and started steering Koemi towards his car. Once he had the little Uchiha buckled up in her car seat, Itachi started the car and out of the corner of his eye, he saw red. Itachi's head quickly snapped in the direction he'd seen it and found the woman walking with Uzumaki Hinata, her son and the little sandy haired boy.

With a curious expression, Itachi started the car and turned onto the road. "Koemi, who was the red haired lady?"

"Red hair?" the girl titled her head. Her face lit up and she grinned. "Oh! That's Miss Kojima!"

Hi there, lovely readers.

So, you stumbled across my new fanfiction, happy days! This idea has been in my head for a while now and I've decided to start writing it out. But, I dunno... I don't exactly know if I'm doing a good job with staying true to the canon characters. That's one reason why I'm actually posting this story - to get some advice on my writing and how to make it better.

Soooooo, it would really help me if you review and tell me what you think. Even if it's bad.

(P.S. I didn't do a read through, but I will be soon. So please, forgive me for any typos)

Okay, love you all,

Raven in the Ash Tree