Soul Searching

Chapter 54

"You ready for your first day?" Sakura asked as she crouched in front of our daughter to button her coat.

Her face was determined and she nodded her head sharply, so much so that she knocked her glasses to the end of her nose, "Yes Mama." She had all her supplies gathered into her backpack, hung on her shoulders.

Sarada walked between us, holding a hand of ours in each of hers. This would be the first time she's been away with strangers. The only other people who ever had her were her grandparents or Naruto and Hinata.

"You sure you're ready?" I asked looking down at her.

"Stopping worrying Papa" she scolded me.

Sakura tried to hide her laughter but failed miserably. When I glared at her from the corner of my eye she waved her free hand dismissively, "Her seriousness comes from you, you can't deny that." I remembered how I was, how serious and brooding, my tangents I went on, I wanted to roll my eyes.

Iruka was the one who greeted us. "Ahh Sakura! Sasuke! Is this your daughter?" He crouched down to be eye level with Sarada, "What's your name?"

"Sarada Uchiha" she said confidently, although she did have a tight grip on my hand still.

"Hi Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto called loudly behind us as he made his way over. He was carrying Boruto in his arms while Hinata was following behind with Himawari in hers.

"Hi Naruto" he greeted with a nervous smile. "Boruto all ready to start at the Academy?"

"He sure is! He's been excited all week."

I could tell Iruka was nervous Boruto would be a little too much like his father. Naruto was always a trouble maker in school and Iruka was unlucky enough to be his teacher. But as time passed they found common ground and built a strong relationship. Iruka even stood in as his father during Naruto's wedding.

"Well, Boruto- Sarada, come with me and I'll show you to your classroom. You all can follow us in and stand in the back of the room."

"Classroom? You mean they're classmates?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yes, they are. Now come on" Iruka directed. The kids have already had a rivalry brewing for years, being classmates will probably only amplify their competition.

We followed him down the halls to their classroom, which looked identical to how it used to despite being a completely new building. We stood in the back and watched as Sarada and Boruto were seated next to one another.

Their teacher went on to introduce themself and then pointed to each student one by one, they would stand and say their name then sit back down.

We also got to watch the teacher run through some pace setter questions, just to see how much the children knew coming into the Academy. Every question asked, Sarada and Boruto's hands shot into the air. They would try to raise theirs higher than the other and stared each other down only to smirk at the other if they were chosen to answer.

I was right, their competition was only amplified but it would push Sarada to do better. I wasn't concerned for her in the least.

"Alright parents, you are excused and can pick the kids up at 2:30."

We waved bye to Sarada before making our exit. Sakura spent the rest of the afternoon nervous for our daughter but I knew she was fine. If she had any nerves about the Academy they were quickly washed away by her rivalry with Boruto.

"Mama! Papa!" she greeted us as she ran over. We had been waiting outside the main doors for her.

"How was school?" Sakura asked as she picked her up and hugged her.

"Good! Boruto kept trying to act like he was smarter than me but I showed him" she said with a mischievous grin.

Yup. She's definitely my kid.