Q: If I delete photos off my ipod, will it delete photos from my icloud?

If you have iCloud Photo Library turned on and you go into the Photos app and manually delete photos on the device they will automatically be deleted from iCloud and from other devices connected to that iCloud Photo Library. However you can clear the device (for example when preparing to sell it) without affecting what is stored on iCloud. See What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support