"Are the results in yet?" Akira bounced onto the tips of her toes. "Did we get in?" She flittered around – a ball of nervous energy as they waited and waited. "What if I failed? What if I'm the only one who failed? Noooo… That can't happen, can it, Saku-nee?"

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch as she stood behind the stove, a bowl of pancake mixture in her hands. A triangular head scarf was in place on her head, keeping her spiky pink hair out of her face, ensuring it cascaded down her back in a somewhat orderly fashion. Deep breaths, she reminded herself, resisting the urge to wipe at her tired eyes. Her sisters didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of her shortened temper. They were too adorable for that. "Calm down, Aki-chan," she said, setting down the batter on the side, deciding it was in her best interests to calm her sibling as best she could before she did something she'd regret. Like snap at her cute sister. She couldn't bring herself to be angry at that adorable face so much like their mothers that it hurt. That was a raw wound in her chest. A reminder of her continued failure to protect all her precious people.

"But nee-chan!" Akira's hands fisted in the slightly too-large apron Sakura wore, their noses practically touching as Akira pulled her back and forth in her worrying. "What if I messed up on that test? What if I was really lame in my fights…? I only won three, and the last one was super close!"

Sighing, Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand, the other lancing out to poke at her sister's forehead. "Hush. Stop worrying," she said softly, smiling at her idiot of a sibling. "If you fail, then there's always next year. Admissions are open until the age of eight." Though the requirements became stricter each year. "But I taught you everything you needed to know." Her hands clamped down on her sister's shoulders, a toothy, threatening grin on her lips. "So any failure would be down to my part, unless you didn't revise or train as much as I told you to…"

Seiren smirked from where she sat, next to her twin. "Told you nee-chan can be super scary," she said smugly.

Sora turned her head away from her twin. "Hn."

Sakura felt her eyebrow spasm. The Uchiha-ness was spreading and infecting them all. "Stop pacing about, and just relax, would you?" she spoke, prying herself out of her sister's grasp. "It won't make the results come any sooner, so just play with the twins and the triplets. You won't be able to do that as much once you get accepted to the academy."

"You think I've passed?" Akira blinked.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You'll start at the academy eventually, no matter how many times I need to beat all the necessary information into that thick skull of yours," Sakura said, grinning sadistically, relishing when she spotted the shudders running down her sibling's spine. Her sisters were adorable, and clearly she'd spent too much time hanging around T&I in her last life. "Go and bring the twins to the table, would you? Pancakes are nearly ready," she said, returning to the oiled pan, lifting up the mixing bowl.

"Nee-chan makes awesome pancakes," Seiren declared, ignorant of the way it made a warm fuzzy feeling build in Sakura's gut. "They're the best."

"Nee-chan's are the only ones we've ever had, stupid," Sora grumbled. "Not like we can try those shop-made ones the other kids are always waving in our face. Oh…" She blinked, and Sakura felt a gaze bore into her back as she loaded the first pancake onto the plate, the heat seal she'd painstakingly carved and inked already humming with chakra. "Saku-nee, what's a whore?"

Sakura choked on her saliva, pouring the next bit of batter into the pan. "Uh. Where did you hear that?" she hissed, barely able to keep the surprise and snarl out of her voice. "Or should I say who?"

"Oh, just some bigger kids at the park."

"Names. I want names. Names and descriptions," she snarled, setting the pan off to one side, grabbing the nearest piece of paper and pen, scrawling words down before she planted it down in front of her four-year-old sister. She hurried back to her cooking, hearing the sounds of both the triplets and the twins being herded towards the main room.

"What's a whore, nee-chan?" Seiren asked, repeating her twin's earlier question. "Tell us! Tell us!"

Sakura turned, even while flipping yet another pancake, smiling sweetly even as her eyes promised unholy vengeance. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Aww, but I wanna know now!" Seiren complained.

"Nee-chan." Sora looked up from the sheet of paper she'd painstakingly ordered the smaller girl to fill out. "Why's this called 'The Hit List'?"

A grin cracked at her lips, wild and manic. "You don't need to know, Sora… You don't need to know…" Her gaze flittered back over to Seiren. "And as for that word… let's just say it's a very very bad word, which you shouldn't say, m'kay?"

"Why's it bad?"

One pink brow twitched. "It's a mean thing to call someone, so don't say it in front of the other twins and triplets, understood? They don't need to hear that language."

"Oh… OK." Seiren bit her lip, scratching at her duck butt of a hairstyle. Both she and Sora were oddly persistent when it came to asking Sakura to keep their hair short, and no doubt another trim was due soon enough. "They said mean words about kaa-chan… said that's what their parents told 'em."

"They'll regret that, mark my words," Sakura snarled, quickly erasing all traces of her rage at the fear that flashed across both of their faces. She couldn't be too scary about her siblings.

"Come on," Mio spoke, pushing open the bedroom door just as Sakura piled the last of the numerous pancakes onto the plate. "Sakura-nee has made us pancakes!"

"Pancakes!" Tora cheered, dragging the other two of her triplet group to the table. Yet another one of her siblings who wanted to keep her hair short in a rather unflattering bowl cut. Sakura silently resolved to make it look more like little Hinata's the first chance she got. "Nee-chan you're the best!" Her new world would make a hairstylist out of her yet.

Ran smiled at her silently as Tora pulled her into their seats opposite the older twins. Sakura returned it tenfold, carefully gathering up the large stack of pancakes, carrying them plate and all out to the table. Yumi just rolled with it, already far too accustomed to her triplet's antics. They were so different from the older twins who were always at each other's throats.

And the two youngest…

Sakura blinked as she felt a tug on the apron she still wore, eyes softening as little Nozomi tried to get her attention. What for exactly became obvious as she sat down, and her little sister crawled into her lap. Akane was busy pestering Mio and Akira, and Sakura sighed softly as the large stack was passed around. Just another morning in the house, with their aunt sleeping in her room, and all of them dinning together. A smile pulled at her lips, even as she snuck her newest hit list away from Sora, tucking it into her pocket. She'd deal with it later.

She picked up the spoon with one hand, helping Nozomi with her breakfast as she ate her own with her other hand. One of the perks of having decent coordination with both hands.

"Spikes all over beat that chicken butt on the back of your head," Sora bickered, mouth full of pancakes and sugar.

"Nu uh!"

"Pass the water."

Sakura eyed Tora. "What do we say?" she asked, eyebrow arched.

"Ugh. Please."

Sakura reached over to flick her on the nose. "Manners will get you far in life."

"Don't steal my pancake, Tora!"

"Tora," she cautioned, eyeing her sister. "Don't steal Yumi's pancake. You have your own."

"Say ah, Kane-chan!" Akira said, beaming down at one of their littlest sisters, forkful of pancake in hand.

"Ah!"

"Don't give her too bigger bites, Aki-chan," Mio cautioned, and Sakura knew the pair of them had the situation well in hand. Mio always was the more sensible one out of all of them. Not including herself, of course.

Sakura batted the golden syrup away from Tora's hands. "That's enough on your pancake, missy," she said, turning away from the pout the little triplet threw her way. "Honestly, do you want your teeth to decay or something—Oh, shoot," Sakura winced, spying just who had ended up with the syrup next. "Mio!"

"Akane, put the syrup down!" Mio barked, but it was too late. She, Akira, and the second youngest were already covered with a smattering of sticky syrup. "Yuck. Now we're all sticky."

A soft sigh escaped her, and Sakura stared up at the ceiling, silently praying for something to give her strength. This was why she only made pancakes once a week at most, and only cracked out the golden syrup when they were all near enough due for a bath. Movement in the corner of her eye made her freeze, a bright flash of reflected light nearly blinding her as she glanced at the window, eyes narrowing before she shook her head. The sunlight wasn't pouring through that window, and it was a bit shaded. Maybe the light had come another window. Or maybe one of those idiots had peeked in on them to check what they were doing. They still did that on occasion. Sakura refused to acknowledge the fuzziness in her gut when she caught them in the act.

Sakura lifted her fork back to her lips, blinking as she realised the pancake that'd been speared on the end of it was missing. Nozomi giggled, and she smiled softly. They were all so adorable, no matter how much of a mess they always seemed to make. She polished off the rest of her breakfast at record speed, not wanting to lose any more of it to her cute little sister on her lap. "Right," she said, looking around at her sisters and their empty plates. "Bath time, I think."

"Please," Mio mumbled, eyeing the sticky trails of syrup running down her arms.

"You gonna cut my hair again, nee-chan?" Sora looked up at her.

"No, she's gonna cut mine," Seiren said, elbowing her twin out of the way. "My hair needs it more!"

"No your ugly chicken butt doesn't need trimming!"

Sakura blinked, staring down at the heated argument over haircuts of all things. Sighing yet again, she poked their foreheads. "I'll be giving everyone a little trim, but only if you all get in the bathroom," she said, ushering the pair towards the little bathroom. It was a rather large room for a bathroom that was for sure, but with all ten of them in there, despite their small sizes, it was a bit cramped. Sakura pulled the door to behind her, counting all her nine siblings in varying states of undress, watching as Mio turned the shower on, making her incredibly grateful all the bathroom was tiled all around the shower area as water splashed almost everywhere. Soap was already being thrown around, the shampoo not far behind, and she knew the conditioner would soon be added into the mix. Sakura felt her shoulders slump. She really didn't know why she'd been expecting anything to be any more orderly. She'd shared enough baths with all of her siblings to know the truth by that point – they were all horribly messy little monsters.

"Sakura-nee!" Mio called her over, sitting on the stool, shampoo in her hair, and Sakura ignored the water and the soap being thrown. "Hair."

"Just a trim, right?" she called, quickly finding the comb and the scissors stored in the bathroom for occasions such as this one.

"Yep!"

"Aww, why does Mio get to go first?" Sora grumbled.

Akira smirked, lathering soap onto her sibling's smaller back as they sat on two of the other small wooden stools kept in the bathroom. "It's 'coz we're older!"

"Your turn will come eventually, Sor," Sakura called, peering down at the silky pink locks. "Just be patient for me."

Folding her arms, her little sister grunted. "Hn."

Sakura sighed at the far too familiar noise, mindlessly combing and cutting her way through her sisters' hair. She'd never thought all of Ino's instructions in the art of hair care and hair cutting would come in handy like this. The scent of the shampoo was mild enough, but it still caught on the back of her throat, especially with how many heads of hair she had to wash and cut, and Sakura coughed – grateful that the sound was mostly covered by the splashing of water and giggling of her siblings.

"Nee-chan?" Mio looked at her from where she sat in the tub with Akane.

She smiled, washing away the spots of blood concealed in the middle of her palm as she rinsed the conditioner from Nozomi's freshly trimmed hair. "I'm fine, Mio. Don't look so worried. It's just a little cough."

A little cough she somehow needed to hide thanks to the physicals coming up for the academy. She bit her lip, sending Tora over to the tub, watching as Sora and Seiren dried themselves off under the less than watchful gaze of Akira. A thin coating of chakra to her lungs for the duration of the whatever tests were done would probably hide it just about for that years. Whatever was wrong with her lungs was only in the early stages. Next year's physicals, should there be any – and knowing Tobirama even for the short time she had, there was no doubt there'd be some sort of yearly health check-up – would be a whole other ballgame. She rubbed at her chest. She'd pull through the academy even with them in the state they were. She had to. There was no other option.

"Saku-nee!"

Blinking, she paused, mid scrub, eyes widening as she felt a comb in her messy hair. "Wait—"

Snip.

"No, twin, you're doing it wrong," Seiren said, and Sakura felt another presence creep up behind her. "You made it lopsided now."

Snip.

"See. That looks better."

Akira padded towards them, nudging the pair to the side as she leant in close. "Lemme see."

"No more cutting my hair!" Sakura hissed, edging forwards away from the hands pawing at her fluffy wet pink locks.

"Well, at least it looks somewhat straight now…" Akira mused. "Even if it is a little bit diagonal…"

Sakura sighed, washing out the shampoo, quickly conditioning her hair and rinsing it out, if only to get away from her scissor-wielding siblings that much sooner. "Diagonal is fine," she said, climbing in the tub of lukewarm water to soak, smiling even as Nozomi cuddled up to her in there. Nudity wasn't really an issue, given how young they were, even less so because they were all related. It was slightly alarming how easily she was adjusting to her younger body. She'd never got the chance the bathe with siblings in her last life thanks to a certain lack of them. Though the novelty of now having nine of them to do just that was quickly wearing off, if only because of the amount of corralling and supervision they all needed.

The water cooled quickly, and Sakura wasted no time in lifting both herself and her littlest sister out. It wouldn't do for Nozomi to catch a cold. Not with how young she was – only a little over a year. Plus with academy season coming up, she wouldn't be able to stay home and take care of them as she'd have liked to. She'd have to rely on a clone to do that, and a clone wasn't as good as her.

Yawning, she dried herself off, pulling her clothes back on, somewhat sad and glad the weekly ordeal was over and done with. Well, it was probably more like monthly in regards to the haircuts, but their weekly shared bath was over and done with.

A tug on her pant leg had her attention back on the youngest of her siblings.

Nozomi stared up at her, yawning just as widely, one hand curled in the fabric of her trousers, the other closed around a battered storybook. "Read?" she asked, big black eyes staring up into her narrower ones. "Pwetty please?"

Her resistance crumpled under the puppy dog eyes her sister employed, and Sakura smiled softly. "Sure thing, buttercup," she mumbled, leading Nozomi into their shared bedroom, her grin only widening as she heard the pitter patter of Akane's footsteps as she hurried to join them. They both loved their stories… and they loved them even more when Sakura narrated them. Sitting down on their shared futon, Sakura cracked open the worn book, watching as they snuggled under the covers, ready for their daily nap. "The Tales of the Shinobi Princess began in a land far far away…"


"Now," she said, smiling at the honey-covered half-naked boy tied to the tree as the sound of bees buzzing from the nearby nest reached them. "What are you never going to do again?" she asked, pulling down the gag over his mouth as she waited for an answer.

"Please…" he whispered, shaking as the hum of bees grew ever closer.

She grinned, teeth bared. "I'm waiting…"

"I—I'll never teach your sisters another bad word," he shrieked, squirming in his binds. "Now could you please untie me?"

Sakura hummed in contemplation. "Nope," she said, smirking as she turned and skipped away. "But just remember I can and will do worse if you dare to utter any more bad words around my siblings. Bye bye!" she called over her shoulder, ignoring the screamed pleas for her to come back. She hummed under her breath as she checked the last name off her hitlist, ducking under the nude form of the boy she'd tied upside-down from the tree branch which arched over the middle of the empty street a little earlier on. Well, the currently empty street, anyhow. It'd get busier in a matter of minutes. That was for sure. She'd dealt with all of them that very day, only stopping to return home for a couple of hours to make her siblings lunch before resuming her hunt.

She glanced over at the setting sun, sighing as she headed back home, ready to make dinner for her sisters and her aunt. That day had been a good one. A somewhat relaxing one, and probably one of the last of those that she'd have for a while. She would be attending the academy soon enough, and with that came the watchful eye of one Senju Tobirama. Her shoulders slumped. She just needed to take it a day at a time… remember her plans…

"I'm home!" she called, walking in through the door, blinking as she caught sight of one exhausted Tomoe busy behind the kitchen counters.

"Ah, welcome home, Sakura-chan," Tomoe called, wiping at tired eyes as she continued cooking dinner. "I got off my shift a little earlier, so dinner is on me tonight. You go play with yours sisters. They've missed you while you were out in town."

"Sure thing, oba-san!" She nodded. "Let me know if you need any help."

"I'll be fine, missy, so go and enjoy your time with your sisters. You won't have much of it to spare if you make it into the academy."

"I'll make it into the academy. There's no doubt about that," she mumbled, heading into their bedroom, blinking tiredly, glancing out the window at how low the sun was hanging in the sky. "I'm ba—"

Her eyes widened, sharingan swirling to life almost unconsciously as she caught that sudden flare of light again. Once might have been a coincidence. Twice was something else. Light reflecting off a hitai-ate, and with her sharingan she'd finally caught the glimpse of what it was even as it vanished out of sight seconds later – what was engraved on it, and the sight made her blood run cold as it was burnt into her memories.

A musical note.

Sakura bit her lip. She really hated Oto, and she hated their kage even more. But why on earth was there a spy for Orochimaru hanging around her home? She wasn't sure. Sakura hated being unsure.

Her hand closed around the knife under her pillow later that night, the cool familiar weight of steel being the only thing that allowed her to get a wink of sleep.

She really hated uncertainties, especially when her sisters were at stake.