Mother know best

Allies and Enemies

From the day the two loving, friendly, and wise mothers saw their children cuddled up in the pinkhead's bed, things improved considerably. The three boys grew even closer, sharing work, meals, and nights of sleep. They couldn't have asked for a better situation. The joy of the two women was palpable, almost as if they were two schoolgirls who had just received the best candy of their lives.

They gained Sakura's trust to the point where they could squeal in front of her, hug her enthusiastically (though with some restraint to avoid appearing too excited), and care for her soft, fluffy hair. They even allowed themselves to pluck a strand of her hair occasionally, as a keepsake in case they ever needed to resort to desperate measures with voodoo. They also took pictures when Sakura did something funny or spent time with her sons and invited her over to their house more often.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in life, things don't always go as one would wish. For them, as for Konoha in general, everything changed during the Chunin Exams.

At first, they were proud that Team 7 applied for the exams so soon after graduating from the academy. They convinced Itachi to help each of them individually and threatened Kakashi with burning all the copies of Icha Icha in the country and its surroundings, as well as banning Jiraiya from publishing anywhere nearby that Kakashi could buy or order books, all to make him a good sensei.

They were excited to see the young kids coming out on the day of the exam. However, their excitement turned to horror when they learned that Orochimaru had attacked the team in the second phase of the Chunin Exams. They almost fainted when they saw Sakura with short and battered hair, sitting in a chair while her teammates recovered in beds after the second phase and preliminaries. At that moment, they praised Itachi for his cunning in sensing that something was wrong and sneaking into the exam, where he attacked Orochimaru when he tried to take over Sasuke.

Since then, Orochimaru was placed on their imminent death blacklist. No one, no one would dare to touch Sakura unless they were her children with the intention of giving her grandchildren or themselves to shower her with love as the wise and good-hearted sisters-in-law they would become. Orochimaru, oh, that despicable man, had the sense to stay away, for if he ever dared to cross their paths, he would end up begging like a baby and pleading to be a good boy who wouldn't harm even a fly. Oh, yes. They had devised all kinds of master plans under those brilliant minds they possessed.

However, luck was not on their side, or rather, fate seemed to smile at Orochimaru. When he attacked Konoha in the final round of the Chunin Exams, they were not nearby. That day became a dark one for Konoha due to the death of the Third Hokage and the fall into a coma of Minato.

Shortly after, they managed to get the legendary Tsunade to come to the village to heal Minato and become the Fifth Hokage. It's not like Minato was gravely injured, but he had decided to step down from his position as Hokage to spend more time with his family. Of course, Kushina was thrilled, and Mikoto, being a close friend of Kushina, shared her joy as well.

Finally, Tsunade accepted the role of the new Hokage, and to everyone's surprise, Sakura asked her to be her mentor. They organized a party at Kushina's house shortly after officially learning that Sakura was the student of the Fifth Hokage. Since their kids still had many bandages on their bodies due to the injuries from the recent event, the two mothers took it upon themselves to celebrate on Sakura's behalf. After all, they must maintain a good image, right?

Around noon, Mikoto walked through the streets of Konoha with a basket containing one of her special buns, famous for making her family fiercely compete for the last slice at the table. They knew Sakura would spend many hours learning from the Hokage, studying, and practicing, and Tsunade also had her responsibilities as Hokage, which were sure to be exhausting. Therefore, Mikoto, always considerate, decided to visit her and express her gratitude in a special way.