The next morning was a flurry of activity as Yukimaru rushed through the compound looking for his dagger, he certainly didn't want to forget that because Yukimaru was positive that a little bit of marksmanship would be on the graduation test.
"Kaa-chan have you seen my dagger" Yukimaru turned to his mother as she exited her and Shikamaru's room, Sakura gave him a sweet smile and held out the black pouch "I'm sorry, I must've forgot it last time" he turned sheepish as he finally remembered.
"Nonsense my handsome little man everyone forgets so don't worry about it" Sakura was quick to reassure Yukimaru that he didn't have to apologize for things that were out of his control "Now you better hurry" she nudged him off and Yukimaru sprinted out the door.
"Has the brat left already" Shikamaru poked his head out of his bedroom door yawning, and then he completely exited the room as Kanpecki came bounding down the hall and through the still open doors to follow his Master.
Sakura gave him a unimpressed stare "Get dressed" she ordered, Sakura smiled impishly when Shikamaru reached out to give her a kiss but pouted as she danced away from his hands "After" she teased and then preceded him into the bedroom.
"Master Yukimaru wait for me" Kanpecki sprinted after Yukimaru who stopped at the wrong time and Kanpecki went head long into the teen sending the two of them crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
"Kanpecki how many times do I have to tell you don't do that" Yukimaru stood up and brushed his pants off before helping Kanpecki up and then together the two of them continued onto the academy so that they could graduate and become genin.
When he entered the classroom Tsukiko, one of his two best friends at the academy, started waving him over to sit in the spot between her and Yume who was his other best friend "Are you ready Yukimaru" Tsukiko giggled girlishly.
"You have no idea this is going to be so awesome-sauce" that was the one thing that had stayed a constant Yukimaru never stopped saying his mothers old saying even while she had, that was something he cherished and plus it was a cool thing to say nowadays anyway.
Yume who had been sitting quietly by his side spoke up as well "I hope we don't get put on separate teams because that would really suck" she pouted and flipped her long curly hair over her shoulder like she had seen the preppy females in class do more than once.
"Don't worry so much Yume" Tsukiko who also had long hair, tried to reassure the blue/red eyed teen "I think with how much promise we've shown, beating records of previous academy students, besides Yukimaru's mom, because it's impossible" she nodded decisively.
Yukimaru snickered into his hands, Tsukiko was still put out at never beating his moms record for being one of the best academy graduates and that was years ago, no one had beaten it yet "You two are ridiculous" he sat up straight when one of his bullies entered the classroom.
Ijime was a jerk and funnily enough his name meant bully, but Yukimaru would never tell that to him, he didn't want to go to the hospital again after the last time he had called Ijime by his names meaning the boy had broken his nose.
"Settle down everyone" Iruka and Ino entered the classroom, the latter of the two was a teacher's aide and after this batch of graduate's Ino would be taking over as a full time teacher because Iruka was retiring.
It had taken everyone a long time to guess that their favorite academy teacher was in a relationship and even longer to finally guess who it was that Iruka was in a relationship with, it wasn't until they went to the hospital one day that everyone got a shock of their life.
Anko who was a few years younger than Iruka, had finally settled down to have a few brats of her own as she had called it and the two had gone on many secret dates until finally he proposed and they got married in a private wedding outside the village.
Of course that led to Anko getting pregnant with twins Momo and Naruko, both girls were little hellions and kept even Anko on her toes at all times of the day, though whenever Anko had to go on a mission Iruka was there to sooth his girls and tell them their mother would be back soon.
Ino on the other hand entered a relationship with Sai over the years his emotions finally came out and the two fell madly in love, so far Sai hadn't proposed and Ino wasn't ready for that because it would be time to take over the Yamanaka Clan and she wanted to wait.
"Ok congratulations everyone for making it here to the academy graduation exams, I will be calling your names from Z-A and then you will follow Ino and I into the exam room, if you pass you'll receive your headband" Iruka called out, glad this would be his last time.
'At least I won't have to teach my little hellions' Iruka thought before going over the list "First up is Tsukiko Uchu and please leave Hoshi with someone you trust" he definitely didn't want that wolf coming into the exam room with Tsukiko.
Tsukiko giggled again "Will you watch Hoshi for me Yukimaru" she asked sweetly, Yukimaru nodded and the dog sized wolf settled next to him, Tsukiko then hopped up from her seat and walked down the steps to follow Iruka and Ino into the exam room.
"Tsukiko-chan" Ino smiled kindly at the teenager before getting down to business over the years the graduation exam had changed, thanks to Sakura relentlessly working on changing it so that everyone had a chance to pass and more potentials graduated.
Iruka took his seat and started "First up is chakra control anything goes" he read from the list and watched as Tsukiko gathered her chakra into the soles of her feet and walked right up the wall before dropping back down gracefully.
'Good but her chakra wavered a lot' Iruka wrote down "Next is weapons, you don't have to hit in the center just somewhere on the target" he assured the grey eyed girl who bit her lip in nervousness, Tsukiko was a dreadful shot, if it hadn't been for Yukimaru she would be worse.
Tsukiko took her silver kunai out, took a deep breath and then threw it at the target that was set up in the room, she didn't hit in the center but just a few inches to the right "Nice work Tsukiko-chan" Ino praised and then took over.
"3 more left to go the next is jutsu's, I would like to see you perform a standard academy level jutsu" Ino read off the list, and then watched as Tsukiko ran through a few hand signs and then transformed with a puff of smoke to look like Sakura.
"Flawless" Ino whistled, of course she transformed into Sakura, Tsukiko idolized her best friend to an almost obsessive degree "After that are two questions Iruka and I will be asking you" Ino grinned when Tsukiko lost her confidence.
It was part of the new academy graduation exam to ask two simple questions and see how each would respond, Iruka took over first "If you and your team got trapped somewhere without your sensei what would you do?" he read off to Tsukiko.
"Well I would make sure my team and I had sufficient supplies and a fire, and then I would find someway to alert my sensei of our location" Tsukiko thought for a few minutes and then finally rattled off a correct answer.
Ino read off the last question "If it was a life or death situation in which you had to sacrifice something important to you, to save your teammates what would you sacrifice?" Ino internally smirked, if she had to sacrifice something she would choose to sacrifice her hair.
Tsukiko however paused 'If I had to choose something to give up to save my team, what would I give up' the question was puzzling to her, she really wanted to graduate and be put on a team with Yume and Yukimaru.
Several minutes passed, she was about to say she didn't know and started shaking her head, when her long dark grey locks caught her attention and Tsukiko immediately blurted out "I would sacrifice my hair, since it's an important thing to me" she rattled off.
Iruka and Ino wrote down some things before facing Tsukiko who was waiting nervously "Congratulations Tsukiko Uchu for passing the exams" Ino handed over a headband and Tsukiko carefully took it in disbelief.
After that she was let out of the exam room and she slowly walked back to her desk "Did you pass Tsukiko" Yukimaru immediately asked he couldn't wait until it was his turn, but there were several people ahead of him that had to go.
"Yeah" Tsukiko mumbled and set her standard shinobi headband on the desk, the metal was silver and the cloth part was blue "They ask questions on the exam now" she briefed her best friends who wanted to know what it was like.
Soon enough Yume was being called into the exam room, so with a wave to her two friends and a determined expression on her face she gracefully walked down the steps to precede Ino and Iruka into the room where she faced them ready to get the exam over with and graduate.
This time Ino started they would be switching up the exam a bit so the first thing that was asked was a question it was a bit different "If you and one person of your choosing got into a difficult situation what would you sacrifice to save the both of you" Ino eyed the blue/red eyed teen.
Yume immediately knew what she would give up "My bloodline limit" she stated softly, if it came down to choosing between giving up her awful bloodline or giving up her two best friends she'd choose to get rid of her bloodline limit.
Iruka and Ino shared a look, they hadn't known Yume had a kekkeigenkai, Iruka took over asking the next question "Yume, if you had to go on a mission and assassinate someone, would you do it" came the completely unexpected question.
She wanted to say no but Yume felt like there was a hidden question within that question "If it was to save my teammates then yes" Yume finally answered and breathed a sigh of relief when Iruka gave her an encouraging smile and nodded, she had said the right thing after all.
"Use a standard academy level jutsu" Ino spoke again, and watched as Yume performed a mild genjutsu 'I spy another genjutsu mistress in the making' she noted down and hoped Yume asked Sakura to teach her some genjutsu's.
Iruka took back the list "Let's see how good you are at chakra control" he read off, of all the graduates, Tsukiko had the highest level of control so far, though not as high as Sakura, obviously no one in the several years since the girl had graduated had beaten her scores.
Yume grimaced her chakra control was terrible, and she hoped that it was enough as she ran up the wall after gathering her chakra into her feet, she couldn't walk up it like Yukimaru and Tsukiko could and then she landed gracelessly when she jumped off.
'Average' Iruka knew that Yume had trouble focusing her chakra most of the time but it was still good enough to get a passing grade "And finally weapon aim" Iruka motioned to the target that was already littered with holes from previous exam takers.
He watched as Yume took out a shuriken, her favored weapon and tossed it carefully at the target, it hit on one of the outer rings "Congratulations Yume, you've passed" Ino handed the headband over to Yume and she qucikly took it and headed out of the room.
Yukimaru and Tsukiko cheered when Yume sat down and showed off her shinobi headband and then it was an even longer wait until Yukimaru was finally called up "Stay here Kanpecki and behave yourself for Tsukiko" he ordered and then quickly followed the others into the room.
The minute he entered the room, the exam started Yukimaru breezed through chakra control, and marksmanship, he breezed through the jutsu part of the test and even the questions, until Iruka finally gave him his headband.
Yukimaru proudly showed off his headband and together the three of them placed them on their foreheads they would choose their preferred spots later after they found out who would be on their team or if they would be together.
"Congratulations to everyone that passed and for those who didn't, you'll just have to try again on the next graduation exams which will be hosted by Ino Yamanaka" Iruka motioned to Ino who gave the whole class a kind smile.
Ino stepped forward and started assigning the newly graduated genin teams until she came to the three genin left "And for Team Nine the members will be, Yukimaru Kamizuru, Yume Satsujin, and Tsukiko Uchu" she read off none of the newbies knew who their sensei's were.
Tsukiko let out a soft squeal and pulled her teammates into a huge hug "I knew we would get put on the same team" Tsukiko finally released them, all that was left was to find out who their sensei would be.
In the Hokage's office "It turns out that there was one more team than we thought there would be so all of you gathered here will become a sensei to a team of graduated genin" Minato had just received the list of graduates.
The four gathered in front of him consisted of Sakura, Neji, Shino and Chouji "In charge of the new Team Seven will be Neji, Team Eight will be led by Shino, Team Nine by Sakura and Team 10 by Chouji" Minato gave them their orders and then dismissed them from his office.
"I can't believe I got sucked into this" Shino had wanted to refuse but now he couldn't, he had so much to do, with his father stepping down, Shino would be the new Aburame Clan Leader and now he had to juggle that on top of becoming a Jonin Instructor.
Sakura took pity on her adopted brother "Maybe we can talk to Lord Minato and some days when we just can't get away from our duties, we can find a temporary instructor or trade of teaching both of our teams" she suggested.
Shino looked up and gave Sakura a small smile "Thank you Imouto-chan" he teased "But I think I can handle myself" he shot down her offer, it's not that he didn't trust Sakura, it's just that like him she had so many things to do.
He had never wanted Sakura to become a leader of a clan and that's exactly what had happened, so Shino would do everything in his power to avoid burdening Sakura with anything else that he could take care of himself.
Sakura hadn't thought that Shino would accept her offer so she didn't agonize over it any longer than she needed to as they entered the academy building and walked down the hall to the classroom where their genin teams were waiting.
Yukimaru's magenta eyes lit up upon seeing his mother but he refrained from calling out to her because Yukimaru didn't think that he would be that lucky to have him mom as his sensei though he was about to get a shock.
"Which three kiddies are team nine" Sakura called out and Tsukiko immediately let out an ear splitting squeal and waved her arm in the air rapidly when she spotted Yukimaru and Yume sitting next to the excited teen Sakura smiled and walked over to them.
Yume nodded at her sensei while Yukimaru gave his mother a hug "I'm glad your our sensei it means we will all be improving on our teamwork" he gave her a cheeky smile when Sakura smiled proudly at her son and his female teammates.
"Ok we still have some time so first order of business is taking you lot to the training field and seeing what we need to work on" Sakura wanted to see how much these 5 needed to be trained in their teamwork.
Tsukiko wanted to groan of course their sensei wanted to test them on their teamwork "Of course Sakura-sensei" Yume smiled prettily at the 22 year old pinkette and together all three of them followed her to Sakura's preferred training field.
Sakura turned and looked at her team "Who can tell me what the most important part of being on a team is" she questioned and Tsukiko waved her hand "Tell me Tsukiko what you think the most important thing is" Sakura smiled at the teen.
"The most important part of being a team is teamwork" Tsukiko recited what she remembered from being in class "Of course I could be totally wrong" she announced sheepishly a moment later now that she was in front of her idol, Tsukiko was loosing her confidence.
Sakura saw this and quickly praised her for giving the correct answer "Good job Tsukiko, teamwork is the most important part of being on a team and I want all of you to try and take me down before 6" she ordered.
It took them a few seconds to register Sakura's command before Yukimaru charged forward with Kanpecki at his side and started attacking Sakura like she had ordered Yume, Tsukiko and her wolf companion Hoshi joined in a moment later.
Sakura was trying her hardest not to knock all three of them out with a single hit and they had good teamwork between them it's just their overall stamina, speed and strength she really needed to work on them with.
She dodged Yukimaru's favored jutsu the water shotgun which had gotten more powerful over the years and then spun to the side to avoid Hoshi, flipped backwards and deflected Yume's shuriken and Tsukiko's kunai, while capturing Yukimaru's wrist when he tried to punch her.
Next Sakura flicked Yume on the forehead and sent her back a few feet and then she tapped Tsukiko and sent her backwards into Hoshi where they crashed to the ground neither of them got up but Tsukiko gave her a wave to let Sakura know she was alright.
Yume and Yukimaru shared a look and rushed Sakura together, it was a short taijutsu battle because Sakura decided to end the fight by knocking Yukimaru into Yume who couldn't remain on her feet and then she gently pushed Kanpecki into all 4 of the others.
"Well you guys have good teamwork, we just need to work on your stamina, strength and speed" Sakura ran a hand through her pink and silver hair while she gave her team the run down of what the next few weeks would be like.
Tsukiko pouted when she saw Sakura's long beautiful hair and wished she didn't have grey, it was so underrated "Sensei do you think we can go to the weapons shop and get our headbands decorated like yours" Tsukiko wanted to put her's around her waist like Ino sensei did.
Sakura seeing the jealous look Tsukiko sent her hair, internally smiled but nodded "Of course, and until you guys go on your first D ranked mission and get payed, I'll be helping you out with anything you need" she compromised.
Yukimaru grinned he knew exactly what he wanted to get put on his headband "Come on you three, tomorrow we'll be going on a little mission" Sakura grinned innocently it was to the village she had first gone to as a 13 year old.
Yume smiled, it would be her first time since she had moved here with her family, that she would be leaving the village, and then followed her teammates and sensei into the weapons shop to get her headband decorated how she wanted.
Sakura turned and then waited for them to hand over their headbands and tell her what they wanted done Yukimaru went first "Sensei, I want our family crests and the flower in water blue with the black and yellow bee and my full name" he smiled Sakura knew his favorite colors.
Tsukiko went next "I don't know what I want" she looked down at her feet, Tsukiko had suggested this little outing and now she didn't know what to do, she hated her hair and eye colors they were so plain.
Sakura winced, she knew Tsukiko didn't like her hair and eye colors and she had never mentioned having favorite colors either "Well do you have two favorite colors" Sakura asked Tsukiko, and then nodded at Yume, who was a good girl and would wait patiently.
"Pink and green" Tsukiko mumbled she knew the colors weren't very practical and that they were to bright but they were her favorites because her idol had them for hair and eye colors "Can they be used" Tsukiko slumped when Sakura gave her a sigh.
"They can but just barely anything else" Sakura knew just what she could ask for while she waited for Tsukiko to choose a decorative and identifying mark for her headband so that Yume could take her turn asking for what she wanted.
"I want the cloth pink and green vines along with my family crest and a star in green and my full name" Tsukiko had her answer ready and Sakura smiled at the grey haired girl before taking the headband Tsukiko held out for her and then turning to Yume.
Yume handed the headband over before describing what she wanted "Cloth red, blue metal, family crest and full name in blue along with a blue hibiscus flower" Yume finished, she didn't waste much time in her short description it was just that short and simple.
Sakura grinned "Now you three go have a look through the shop and I'll take care of descriptions this time" she nudged them in the direction of the shelves, Yukimaru hesitated because he already had all the weapons he needed.
Once she was sure all three of them were occupied Sakura turned to Tenten who stood up straight and waited for the explanations that were sure to follow like usual whenever Sakura shopped here.
"For Yukimaru, magenta cloth and pale green tinted metal, all four of our family crests his full name and the water blue flower with the black and yellow bee" Sakura kept the explanation short because of the other two and Tenten knew what Yukimaru liked very well.
"Tsukiko wants pink and green, so dark pink cloth and dark green metal, Tsukiko's family crest, green vines a green star and her full name Tsukiko Uchu in green" Sakura explained easily hoping that Tsukiko wouldn't complain about the dark colors.
"And lastly for Yume red cloth, dark blue metal, her family crest, her full name Yume Satsujin and a hibiscus flower all in blue" Sakura finished and handed over the amount of ryo the total came to before searching for her three genin.
Sakura found them by the swords, Tsukiko was completely enraptured by the dark pink sword with a dark green hilt, she knew that she would be contacting Touga's son Raiga soon, who had taken over his father's shop in the last couple of years.
'Do you really need to spoil the hatchlings that much' Isobu appeared it sounded like he was angry with her but Sakura knew otherwise, the turtle always sounded like that and she had gotten use to having another voice in her head.
Sakura rolled her eyes 'It's not spoiling, it's called preparing them for the troubles ahead of them' she explained, Isobu wasn't all that bad once someone got used to him but still he often treated her like she was still a child herself.
'And I wouldn't feel the need to do so if you wouldn't act like one' Isobu commented before fading leaving Sakura alone with her thoughts, he never talked long just to point out something and then he left.
Yukimaru spotted his mother standing behind them and nearly called her mom but stopped himself just in time, right now she wasn't his mom but his sensei and Yukimaru knew better than to call her anything but how she deserved.
"Sakura-sensei" Tsukiko blushed in embarrassment, her sensei had just caught her acting unprofessional "I'm sorry it won't happen again" she bowed her head in shame when Sakura quirked an eyebrow at her.
Sakura sighed "There's nothing wrong with getting excited over weapons Tsukiko" she explained to the grey haired girl, then Sakura thought of a question she wanted to ask the girl "Why don't you like your hair and eye colors" Sakura questioned.
"They are boring I wish I had bright hair like yours and Yume's" Tsukiko let out, everytime she had asked her parents if she could dye her hair they said no "And mama and papa won't let me dye my hair" she admitted next.
Sakura bit her lip "Maybe I can talk to Setsuko and Atsuko and come to some sort of agreement for a compromise" she offered to Tsukiko and her light grey eyes lit up in adoration "Only if they agree" Sakura would be as tough and sweet as Anko had been with her and her teammates.
The four of them walked back to the front of the store to collect the headbands, when each of them got their personalized headbands they each placed them in the places they had wanted to and Sakura wanted to groan.
Yukimaru had tied his headband around his right arm like Shikamaru did, while Tsukiko tied hers around her waist like Ino and Yume placed hers on her neck, like she did most of the time "Meet me at the gates at 7:00" Sakura called out to them as the two females split off to go home.
"Kaa-chan where are we going tomorrow and how long will we be gone" Yukimaru spoke up, he felt like it was ok to call Sakura, mom again and did so without repercussions "And what about otou-san" Yukimaru questioned again.
Sakura tilted her head in thought, Tazuna had contacted Minato with a request he send a genin team along with their sensei, because the bridge he built 9 years ago was falling apart and bandits had once again plagued the village.
"Pack for two weeks, though I don't think we'll spend more than a week there" she finally decided, it had been a few months since she, herself had been out of the village on a mission and hoped that this mission wasn't a repeat of the last time she'd been in Tazuna's village.
Yukimaru wanted to ask where they'd be going but instead chose to ask about something else "Don't Yume and Tsukiko's parents need to know about this" he snickered when panic flew across his moms face and they changed the direction in which they walked.
The two quickly caught up with the two girls "Sakura-sensei what's the matter we just saw you a few minutes ago" Tsukiko hoped that Sakura was coming to talk to her parents and get them to agree to let her dye her hair some other color than grey.
"Well Yukimaru here, so kindly reminded me that I need to tell your parents about the mission and how long it might last, and yes Tsukiko, I'll talk to your parents for you" Sakura had seen the hope enter Tsukiko's eyes and decided to not put this particular thing off.
As the group walked towards Yume's home since her house was the closest, a little blonde with light red eyes, ran into Sakura, followed by his parents "Father, Mom, hello Mamoru-kun" Sakura smiled down at her 3 year old step brother.
"I see you got put as a genin instructor" Tsunade snickered and picked up her son and then transferred him over to Jashin to hug Sakura and then Yukimaru "Say hello to your sister Mamoru" Tsunade eyed the boy in her husbands arms.
"Hi Onee-chan" he giggled childishly "Bye bye Onee-chan" Mamoru called when they started walking away so that Sakura could get back to whatever it was that she had been doing before Mamoru had run into her.
Sakura waved at the group before they turned the corner and then followed Yume into her home where her parents were waiting, though they hadn't expected to see Sakura "We'll be going on a mission tomorrow that might last a couple of weeks" she explained her presence in the home.
"I'll be sure to help Yume pack tonight" Yume's mother smiled at Yume before nodding at Sakura who gave the teen a wave and exited the house so that she could hurry and talk to Tsukiko's parents about the mission and ask for a compromise.
"Hello Setsuko, Atsuko" Sakura preceded Tsukiko into her house and nodded at the two Uchu's, they looked extremely proud of their daughter, who was now a genin and being trained under one of the top jonin's in the Leaf Village.
"Sakura-sama, it's a pleasure to have you in our home again, what brings you over today" Atsuko knew that Sakura didn't come here without a reason and knew that the explanation would come soon and sure enough after they sat down Sakura started talking with Tsukiko at her side.
"There are two things, the first one is easy, we'll be going on a mission tomorrow that might last a couple of weeks, so Tsukiko needs to pack a bag" Sakura started and then took a deep breath hopefully the two wouldn't react badly to her request.
"The second is more for Tsukiko, I know that she's repeatedly asked you in the past if she could dye her hair and you've always said no, but I was hoping we could come to some sort of compromise and get Tsukiko use to her hair" Sakura hoped her plan worked.
Setsuko internally smirked, Atsuko and he had actually planned to reward their daughter for becoming a genin by allowing her to put any color streaks in her hair, not completely changing it but still enough to satisfy their daughter hopefully.
"Well if the place your going to has a shop then Tsukiko can have streaks put into her hair, don't dye it completely though" Atsuko warned when Tsukiko let out a loud squeal, she was finally going to get her wish it was like a dream come true.
Business finished Sakura stood gave the Uchu's a wave and then met Yukimaru outside, he had chosen to wait outside with Kanpecki, and together the three of them went back to the Kamizuru compound where Shikamaru had been waiting for them.
"Hey my beautiful gem" Shikamaru greeted Sakura with a kiss on the lips "And look at you all grown up and a genin" he rubbed Yukimaru on the head only to have his hand swatted away and Yukimaru smooth his hair back into place.
Sakura bumped Shikamaru's hip with hers and led them into the house after giving a few of the Kamizuru's wandering about a nod and getting one in return "My genin team and I have a mission tomorrow, have Sukikyo deliver your messages" Sakura stated suddenly.
Shikamaru groaned, not even one day as a jonin instructor and Sakura already had to leave the village on a mission "And how long with you be gone" he wanted to know so that he could mentally prepare himself for sleeping alone.
"Shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks, and for obvious reasons Midori will be staying here with you, Shikamaru if anything happens to her let me know immediately" Sakura sighed, Hana had been by yesterday after the move and told her that Midori didn't have much time left.
Shikamaru grimaced but nodded, he needed to come up with a gift for their anniversary and he knew exactly what he would be getting his beautiful wife "I promise" Shikamaru pecked her on the cheek and watched Yukimaru putter about the kitchen cooking dinner for them.
The boy had an aptitude for cooking like his mother and the two always traded off cooking "Thanks Shikamaru" Sakura returned the kiss and laughed when Yukimaru fake gagged but carried on with cooking.
"One of these days Yukimaru your going to fall in love" Sakura warned, she had a feeling that he would end up falling in love with either Yume or Tsukiko, it would probably be Tsukiko because the teen girl had admitted more than once to her that she liked Yukimaru as more than a friend.
Yukimaru rolled his eyes when he thought his mother wasn't looking, she had caught that but didn't say anything, he was completely oblivious to all that was female and Sakura could count on one hand the amount of times Tsukiko had gotten angry with Yukimaru for it.
"That will never happen" Yukimaru willed himself not to flush, he had harbored a crush on Tsukiko the grey haired girl for far longer than he cared to admit, not that he had ever confided in his mother about that because he didn't want her to make fun of him for it.
Yume knew though because they often just sat and talked under the oak tree that had been planted in his old houses back yard when Tsukiko couldn't escape from her clan training, Yume had a crush on Ijime not that the black haired blue eyed boy knew.
Soon enough dinner was placed on the table and the three of them ate before heading off to complete some chores, Yukimaru had once again chosen the attic as his room, it gave him the vantage point and he could see the whole Kamizuru compound from one of his two windows.
When Sakura entered her bedroom that night she immediately went over to Midori, her white hair was falling out in some spots and she looked tired all the time, Midori had arthritis and her hip was out of place and she was thin.
"My poor girl" Sakura ran a brush through her hair "You know it's ok Midori" she soothed Midori who whimpered in pain when she ran over a particularly bad spot "It's ok to let go, I'll be fine" Sakura finished and gently hugged the white wolf.
"Mistress your words are kind but I can still go on, please don't leave me here" Midori struggled to get the words out, even her voice had been failing her lately "I can still fight" she tried to get to her feet but it was impossible for her and caused her massive pain.
Sakura gave her a sad smile and ran a soothing hand filled with chakra up and down Midori's back before giving her a small treat, Hikaru was kind enough to send her a couple bags of treats every now and then.
When Sakura crawled into bed after checking on Ankaishoku, Sukikyo and Sasuke who all shared a room across the hall, Shikamaru pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her lips "I love you" he murmured and then wiped the tears off of Sakura's cheek.
It had become a nightly ritual since Midori's surgery "I love you to Shikamaru, always and forever" she repeated what she had told him at their wedding, it was something she had started doing after they came back home.
After that they embraced like usual and the both of them slowly fell asleep wrapped in each others arms, the next morning Sakura woke up at 6 it was like back when Yukimaru had been a tiny 7 year old and when he still acted like a little kid.
Sakura checked on Midori who looked the same as last night before packing a bag with her storage scrolls, then she went across the hall and gathered the four year old fox Ankaishoku, who had become her regular companion on missions like this.
"Mistress" Ankaishoku had grown up wonderfully under Midori's care "Is it another mission" he wondered when Sakura called for him, his orange eyes blinked slowly as he stretched and yawned before coming to stand at her side.
"Yes Ankaishoku, a mission outside the village" Sakura led the fox back into her room where she tried to rouse her sleeping husband "Shikamaru" she shook his shoulder "Wake up lazy man" Sakura huffed and tapped her foot impatiently.
Shikamaru yawned and stretched lazily as he came awake at his wifes command "Good morning my beautiful gem" he sat up and rubbed his stomach "And good morning Ankaishoku" that blasted fox didn't like him most of the time and only behaved for Sakura.
"Master Shikamaru" came the response, it appeared this was one of the rare mornings where he liked him or he was in a good mood because he was going on a mission with Sakura either way it meant Shikamaru didn't have to deal with the fox and his various mood swings.
Sakura didn't have time to spare so she pressed a chaste kiss to Shikamaru's lips and bid him farewell "And good luck in your duties, I promise I'll be back in a jiffy" she hoped this didn't take long, she wanted to be here for Midori and her and Shikamaru's anniversary.
As she was heading down the hall towards the front door, Yukimaru dressed in his preferred outfit and shouldering his pack, he to had gotten into using storage scrolls, and Kanpecki wearing his collar it was an upgraded version of the first one he had ever had.
Came running down the steps, when he saw Sakura he paused on the last step before turning around making sure he had all of his weapons strapped to his body, and then he turned back to Sakura and finally told her good morning.
"Morning mom, I guess we don't have any time to eat" Yukimaru didn't mind it but the other two girls on his team might, they weren't like other girls who skipped out on eating so that they could be skinny for their crushes.
Sakura thought for a moment "We do it just won't be anything we've made" she nodded and then the two of them left the house, passing by an early riser, Sakura gave her a wave, and then continued on her way, Yukimaru was sitting sideways on Kanpecki instead of walking.
As they were walking by a food stand Yukimaru's gut rumbled in hunger and Sakura slowed to a stop so that he could buy some food for all four of them once Yukimaru had jumped back onto Kanpecki they continued walking.
It was 20 minutes before 7 and the females on her genin team were no where to be seen, Sakura sighed and eyed Yukimaru, Kanpecki and Ankaishoku "Ankaishoku behave for Yukimaru" she ordered and took off at a fast pace.
'And there she goes again always worrying about one thing or another' Yukimaru sighed and smiled nervously at the fox that had bitten him on more than one occasion a moment later he groaned out loud Ijime was walking towards him.
"Hey girly boy where's your momma oh that's right you don't have a real one and had to beg the Kamizuru clan leader to take you in" Ijime started in immediately, the black haired boy missed the fox standing on the otherside of the gate until it was to late.
Ankaishoku usually didn't like Yukimaru or well any male to be honest but nobody insulted his Mistresses son and got away with it not under his watch, Ankaishoku wouldn't seriously maim the boy but he would teach him a lesson that he soon wouldn't forget.
The fox bit him right on his bottom and Ijime let out a holler of pain, Yukimaru pressed his lips together as amusement filled his magenta eyes, he didn't want to laugh and add insult to injury but really Yukimaru couldn't help it and started laughing silently.
"What the hell is going on here" Anko and her to girls just happened to walk by at the wrong moment and Yukimaru cringed and tried to pull Ankaishoku away from Ijime "Don't worry kid I won't tell your mom if you don't tell her I cussed in front of you" Anko compromised.
"That's ok Anko-san and hello Momo and Naruko" Yukimaru greeted as Ijime finally ran away holding his sore bottom, the kid had deserved it somewhat, and Ankaishoku hadn't really hurt him that much it was just a little bite and could've been much worse.
"Hi Yukimaru-kun" Naruko the purple haired 3 year old greeted first before nudging her little sister but Momo didn't talk instead she grasped onto her moms hand just a little tighter and gave him a wave.
Anko laughed just as Sakura came around the corner with Tsukiko, Hoshi and Yume in tow "See ya brat" she disappeared before Sakura could ask her what was going on as Yukimaru startled laughing softly and Ankaishoku cleaned his foot off.
"Well lets go" Sakura shepherded the teens through the village gates, as Yukimaru handed out the remaining food to the two girls as they headed towards Tazuna's village to help out with whatever problem that had come up.
