"I passed the exam." As soon as those words fell from Sasuke's lips, Akiko let out a gasp and brought a hand up to her mouth. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry, but it was just too hard. She had been waiting for this day for quite sometime, and she was so proud of Sasuke too.

"W-wait! Why are you crying!? I thought you would be happy?" Sasuke stared at the woman with a baffled expression. He wasn't sure if he was suppose to try and comfort her or not. Akiko shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm just...so...happy for you, and proud! I'm shocked you aren't crying too!" She put her hands on his shoulders.

Sasuke blinked and let out a chuckle. "You know..I don't cry when I'm happy like you do." The woman nodded in response and smiled. "That is true...- OH! The graduation cermony! When is it?"

"It's in a few days, why?"

Akiko grinned and clapped her hands together. "I have to find you something nice to wear! Don't even try to argue with me on this. It's too important!" Sasuke's expression fell a bit. There was no convincing her when she got like this. She was in full "mom mode" now.

Akiko quickly stepped over to the closet at the wall, then opened the door excitedly. The closet was full of clothes that hadn't been worn in years. She rummaged through the clothes in a messy manner, and pulled out a blue dress shirt with a white flower pattern. "What do you think of this?"

Sasuke frowned. He was not impressed. "..No...Akiko...no." He crossed his arms. Akiko glanced back at the boy and narrowed his eyes. "By the power vested in me, I will find you a nice shirt to wear."

"What is wrong with what I'm wearing?" He looked down at the blue collared shirt he currently had on. "I wear this all the time. No one cares Akiko."

The woman turned around dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. "Was this kid serious?" "Sasuke...sweetie...! I will not allow you to wear that sweaty training garb to your graduation." She worried for Sasuke, she really did. She could have washed his blue shirt, but she really wanted him to wear something special for this.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. He didn't see the point in picking out special clothing. Akiko let out a sigh, then motioned for the boy to come forward. "Why don't you pick something out then? There are a lot of clothes here." At least if Sasuke picked out what he wore, he wouldn't totally reject the idea, right?

If it would make Akiko happy, he'd gladly pick something out so he could go on with his day. He went forward into the closet and glanced around briefly. "Well...I can see why these things haven't seen the light of day in years." He picked up a dusty purple sleeveless jacket and shook it off. "Pff...look at this thing.." He held it up towards Akiko.

"Oh...this is..." She took it from the boy and looked over it. "I wore this when I was about your age!"

"...And you still have it? ...After...how many years?"

Akiko opened her mouth to say something, but she had to think for a moment. "Well..I'm 37 now so that would be...eh...it doesn't matter!" She held it up to Sasuke's body and a wide smile appeared on her face.

Sasuke went wide-eyed and gave Akiko a quizzical look. "This? ...Really?" The woman tilted her head. "This color looks nice on you...but there are plenty of other things to rummage through and look at!"

Sasuke took the jacket from her and looked it over again. It was old, but there were no tears or stains. He wondered how often she even wore this, or why she kept it for over 20 years. It must have been special for some reason. "...I guess...this is fine. It must be pretty sturdy to have lasted for this long..right?" He glanced up at Akiko.

Her face lit up and she nodded quickly. Yes but...are you sure that is what you want to wear? I won't object if you want to look for something else!" The boy shook his head. He thought the jacket was decent enough, and he didn't want to spend anymore time on this than he had to.

Akiko quickly snatched the jacket back from Sasuke, grinning. "I have to wash it then, and add the final touch!"

"Huh...? Final touch? What do you mean? It's fine how it is..."

The woman shook her head and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Just...trust me. " Her expression softened and he took notice of it. "..Okay.."

"It might take me a few hours so...you'll have to wait until then. I want to get this right!"

Sasuke watched as Akiko excitedly shuffled into the next room to complete the secret final touch. While he was confused as to why the jacket needed a final touch, he couldn't help but feel curious about it too. Despite his intial irritation, anytime Akiko did something like this it always turned out well and he appreciated it in the end.

TBC