Seconds later Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura scrambled from the empty office and ran full speed down the streets to their house "Oh hey Sakura-imouto what's got you in a big hurry" Musubime arrived at the same time.
"Mission Musubime-ni, don't have much time to make rounds and tell everyone as our mission leader only gave us twenty minutes, half of that time will be spent packing and dressing accordingly for said mission and the rest to meet him at the gates" Sakura rushed out.
Hurriedly unlocking the door "Do you want me to have Kyogo and Koron to take care of Kuri for you three while your gone" the fourteen year old blonde questioned, though she was sure he'd be fifteen by the time they returned from their mission.
Cause finding Tsunade would not be easy in the least "What do you think you guys" the pinkette paused for a split second knowing that they could spare a couple minutes, they were use to rushing around anyway.
"Old Man said that anytime we had a mission she had to go with us, however I think this time it will be way to dangerous, so yeah" Naruto nodded his head then sprinted up the steps to his room to quickly pack.
Sasuke creased his brow considering what had been so far "I think the Dope's right, we always manage to get in to trouble on a mission" Sasuke admitted with a grimace, he didn't want anything to happen to the horse after all.
Decided Musubime headed back to the house next door while the three preteens packed and checked over their weapons and storage pouches to make sure they had everything "Eight minutes left a new record" the knuckle-headed blonde grinned.
As they locked the door behind them and made a quick trek next door to hand over the keys "Right now to the gates" the ebony haired preteen announced once Koron had taken the spare keys to their house and led the way down the streets to the gates.
Making it with five minutes to spare out of the twenty they'd been given "We didn't think we'd see you three here, are you our escort" a somewhat familiar gravely voice rumbled from off to the side of them and Sakura was the first one to realize who it was.
"Gaara-san and sorry we have a separate mission, we're off to find Lady Tsunade" Sakura explained lightly glad that the red head was doing much better than the last time she'd seen him, and that they were getting ready to go home themselves.
Baki turned at her voice "I see, is she to be your new Hokage then" the turban wearing Sand Jonin questioned carefully with a wince, it was their fault for trusting Orochimaru in the first place, if they hadn't Leaf might still have their Hokage.
And wouldn't have to send off children to look for another of the Legendary Sannin "Exactly though we're sure it's not going to be easy finding her in the least" Sasuke glanced to the sky and noted the time before frowning.
"That guy's late, just great" Naruto flopped down with a sulk on his lips as he realized that their mission leader was going to be extremely late never mind that it seriously reminded him of Kakashi and he wondered why their sensei wasn't going on the mission with them.
Sakura giggled lightly "Say uh Sakura right, if you were that smart to come up with multiple plans why didn't you participate in the Chunin Exams" Kankuro asked eyeing the younger girl, then his gaze trailed over her attire and his cheeks turned pink much like her outfit.
Before she could answer Temari whacked her slightly younger brother over the back of the head "Idiot, it's obvious, they didn't feel ready besides she already told us that remember" Temari snorted harshly then straightened.
When a man came tearing down the streets "Okay you three sign out and lets go, there's no time to loose, we have to find Tsunade fast or I fear Orochimaru might get to her first" Jiraiya ordered and Sakura gaped at him in response.
"Orochimaru, the very Orochimaru who's after me now and still after Sasuke, the Orochimaru who bloody broke into our house the night the Chunin Exams began" the pinkette twitched already not liking this mission in the least.
Jiraiya raised a brow at her, before his expression turned "You mean your serious about that, he broke into your house" the white haired Sannin took his turn to gape in horror especially when all three genin before him nodded.
"Yeah cause he was after the Teme, if it hadn't been for Darui and Cee two guys that were staying with us the very night that guy came, that creepy snake guy would have taken off with Teme" the blonde exclaimed.
From behind them "And I'd appreciate it Jiraiya if you'd return the brats in the same condition as they are now because that one's extremely important to this entire country" Iwashi cleared his throat drawing eyes onto his sudden appearance.
He looked a little out of breath as if he'd run the entire way there to the gates, Sakura crinkled her nose up in frustration "Not calling you weak brat or that you'd use your position since we all know who you are now, just don't want anything happening to you" the chunin with a goatee grumbled.
Sakura grinned "We'll be okay Iwashi-san I promise and don't worry about it" the fuscia haired preteen waved her hands then walked forward to sign out at the gates, as she was walking by Kankuro, he reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Excuse me what does he mean by you being extremely important to this entire country" Kankuro was extremely confused on the matter, what he didn't expect was to find himself facing down an angry Chunin and for the girl to end up behind her teammates in three seconds flat.
Or the fist that slammed into the back of his head "Idiot the hell were you thinking grabbing her like that, even I understand she's the Princess of Fire Country Kankuro" Temari hissed in a furious tone at her slightly younger brother.
Who paled in response "Exactly and I'd appreciate it if you didn't grab her like that again, I'd rather not have to explain any accidents to her betrothed regardless of whether your hesitant allies or not" Sasuke snorted harshly.
Kankuro grimaced "Betrothed, your set to get married how awful, I pity you" Baki shook his head thinking that the guy the girl was betrothed to was a noble and was one of the worst guys in history never mind how he would treat her.
"Darui's actually a pretty good guy, he cares about Sakura-chan and would never hurt her so don't say that" Naruto scolded not liking that anytime that subject came up Sakura was pitied, it was because of her position.
Baki's visible brow rose "If your finished with your chat, the rest of you need to sign out so that we can get going" Jiraiya harrumphed "And don't worry I won't let any of these brats get hurt" the white haired Sannin assured the Chunin.
Iwashi grit his teeth and watched the four of them walk away from the village "You care about her to, her position isn't the only reason you care about her" Gaara spoke in that gravely tone of voice everyone was use to.
Drawing the Chunin's gaze onto himself "Course I care, like hell I'll tell her that, she's a brat and I don't give a rats ass about her position, she's a shinobi, one of us and she's been through literal hell already" Iwashi snorted, Gaara was satisfied and soon their own escort arrived so they were on their way home to Wind Country.
Meanwhile in that short little time Jiraiya, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had made good headway already and were four miles away from the village in only twenty minutes "By the way that's a nice outfit Sakura" the ebony haired teen commented.
Sakura smiled lightly and looked at her outfit, thigh length kimono in a pale pink, with the edging a darker pink tied around her waist was a pink bow, and attached to her chest was her white chest armor, sleeves tied around each forearm that went beyond her hand.
White shorts with bandages beneath and knee length boots in black "Thanks and I brought many more in this particular style, if I have to fight the sleeves can be removed which allows for more movement" the pinkette explained her reasoning for choosing such an outfit.
"Nice and well thought out, by the way I thought I would have to wait on the three of you instead I find you waiting for me, how long were you waiting when did you get to the gates" the white haired male questioned.
It was Naruto who answered "Five minutes out of the twenty you gave us was what we had left to reach the gates and we were waiting for well over ten for you" the blonde quipped in a proud tone of voice, they were never late to anything.
Jiraiya huffed and pushed them to go a little faster all while keeping an eye out for any trouble until the need to stop became inevitable and because it was lunch time and they were no where near the outpost town they would be eating outdoors.
"Okay which of you kiddies knows how to cook" Jiraiya faced the genin brats hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't have to cook for them, to his absolute surprise all three of them raised their hands "No kidding all of you" he asked stunned.
Pink brows rose skyward "Well of course Jiraiya-sama, they've been learning how to cook for weeks now, so is there anything you prefer or can it be anything" Sakura inquired, Jiraiya shrugged so she sat and pulled out a scroll.
Then unsealed it to set everything up "Ooh, you even brought tons of water, how on earth did you manage to pack all that in less than twenty minutes" Naruto was in awe of everything coming out of the scroll, Sakura grinned.
And their other teammates understood "She didn't, that stuff she's had in the scroll for a long while anytime we get payed she buys supplies to seal away for missions" Sasuke announced and Sakura nodded.
While wrapping aluminum foil around four chicken breasts covered in oil, salt, pepper and onion powder, followed by plenty of healthy vegetables and some potatoes, a pot of water was set up over a portable burner and four tea bags of chamomile tea was pulled out plus honey.
"Crazy, just crazy" the white haired Sannin shook his head, this is not what he'd expected when he'd gotten saddled with all three brats when he'd originally only wanted Naruto, the Elders had made a good argument that the genin of Team Seven worked better together than separated.
Now he understood, they were different than the normal fresh out of the academy genin brats, they came prepared for anything and everything, it was odd and weird "Maybe Jiraiya-sama but I'd rather be over prepared than under and have something go wrong" the pinkette stated.
Making the man snort and settle on the ground with the brats "Precisely, especially if that Orochimaru guy is lurking around trying to get at us" the ebony haired preteen on the team shuddered and rubbed his arms.
"Yeah, yeah, though one thing I don't understand is why is he after you Sakura-chan, you haven't done anything to this guy" the blonde frowned in confusion with his head tilted to the side and Sakura felt sorry for him in that moment.
Before shaking her head "Because gaki, she's the one who helped put a stop to his plot, by the way I've got something I'm going to teach you later though" Jiraiya piped in with an answer before the girl could.
Who smiled sadly "It's true which is why all three of us have to be extremely careful while outside the village" Sakura blew out a breath already getting that usual feeling of dread that something was going to happen.
"Agreed, that means no goofing off and sticking together as much as possible even while looking for this Tsunade woman" Sasuke jumped in wanting to drive the seriousness of the situation into the knucklehead's brain.
Thankfully the goofball did understand "Got it Teme, Sakura-chan and right I can't wait Pervy Sage" Naruto said without even thinking about it, Jiraiya gave him a look, while Sakura's eyes widened and even Sasuke looked surprised.
Then his two teammates shook their heads in amusement while Jiraiya grumbled, not to long after that lunch was decreed done and ready to eat so they all dug in, drank their fill of tea, afterwards everything was packed up and they were on their way again.
Less than a couple hours later they were in the outpost town that was near the Hidden Leaf Village "Right you three we're staying here tonight, let's sign in at this inn and then I'm going to go do research" the white haired Sannin ordered.
Only to be distracted by a woman in the next moment "Guess the Dope was right he is a giant pervert" the ebony haired boy on the team grunted disgruntled at how quickly the man had been to abandon them for a woman.
Sakura winced "Now, now even if he is a pervert that's no way to talk about one of the Legendary Sannin" the pinkette ushered her teammates up the stairs to the room they'd been assigned to wait for Jiraiya to return from whatever he was doing.
Naruto sighed twenty minutes in as they all settled around the room to meditate for a bit, replenish their chakra after using it to enhance their speed to keep up with their current mission leader "Man this sucks we should be out there helping look for this Tsunade lady to but no we're stuck in this measly hotel room" the blonde whined.
Five minutes later the complaints picked up in volume and Sakura was just about to reach over and whack him when a chakra she hadn't felt in over four years brushed against her right outside their hotel door.
When she went completely rigid Sasuke knew that something was about to happen and it wouldn't be good, then he felt that familiar chakra wash over him to and he broke into a cold sweat when a single polite knock came on the door.
And then the knucklehead had to hop up and start towards the door "No baka stay away from the door" Sakura lunged tackling the blonde inches away from the door and hastily leaping to her feet in the next moment only to drag Naruto back with her.
"But what if it's Ero-sennin shouldn't we answer the door" Naruto asked cluelessly since he was the only one that didn't know Itachi's chakra, nor could he differentiate between different chakra's which made everything even worse.
Sakura shook her head and ushered him towards the window that Sasuke had thrown open "We have to go find that man now" Sasuke ordered in a brusque tone practically shoving Naruto out the window only to follow himself in the next moment.
It was when Sakura was taking her turn to climb out the window that their hotel door room was busted down and inches away from leaping to the ground a hand tightened around her arm like a vice grip and drug her backwards "RUN" the pinkette screamed.
"Teme the hell is going on we have to go back for Sakura-chan" the blonde panicked trying to run back to the hotel only to be held back in a steel grip by his other teammate so that he couldn't go back to save his friend.
"Listen Dope, we have no chance of facing that man on our own, we have to find that pervert" the raven haired boy snapped spreading out his senses quickly and finally locating Jiraiya's chakra which was quite a distance away from them, but speeding in that direction anyway.
Back in the hotel room "Hehehe smart little brats aren't they Itachi-kun" Kisame chuckled eyeing the girl that was held tightly in his partners grip, "What's your name girly" the shark like man leaned forward getting in the brats face.
"Very smart and this, this is Sakura Haruno, it's been a long time hasn't it Sakura-san" Itachi peered down at the young girl who'd grown from that little eight year old to the twelve almost thirteen year old she was now.
A glare entered her viridian orbs "Do you know how much suffering you've caused Sasuke you jerk, why did you do it mmpphm" Sakura couldn't resist asking questions only to have a hand pressed over her mouth.
"Easy now Sakura-san to test my strength of course though I should have guessed due to your influence he would not turn out as I expected, wouldn't foster hate in his heart, couldn't kill you his best friend" the ebony haired eighteen year old shook his head in disappointment.
The glare became even more intense at that "Oooh so little girly has some guts, though no ones going to come to your rescue for awhile so might as well get comfortable and don't try anything we'll know" the blue skinned man threatened.
Sakura grit her teeth and seconds later she was deposited on a bed, while Itachi took up post in front of the window and his partner blocked the broken down doorway, her hands tightened into fists she was trapped 'Unless….' she thought inwardly.
Peeking at Itachi from the corner of her eye, she wondered how much he knew of her abilities, then decided to test her theory by folding her hands into her sleeves to activate her prepared genjutsu tag with a specialty genjutsu for this kind of situation.
Once neither male made a move, Sakura created a clone and then pulled an illusion tag from her storage pouch and activated that, Itachi's chakra flared just as she was fully covered with her chakra completely suppressed, and her clone acted by flying up off the bed.
At Kisame, Itachi was quick and that small window of opportunity when he left his post gave Sakura the chance she needed to make a break for it and leap out the window to the street below the hotel shouts sounded above as her clone dispelled and she ran like a mad person.
Pumping chakra into her legs on a straight path towards her teammates and Jiraiya, she practically slammed into the Sannin as her illusion tag deactivated "Wha…Sakura what happened, how are you here, these two told you got captured" Jiraiya was immediately concerned.
Was it another trick to delay them "She was captured but the little brat got us with a genjutsu" the two nuke-nin appeared in the next moment, Kisame was the one to speak as he glared at the young girl and brandished his Sharkskin at her.
Sakura leaped behind Jiraiya at that "I don't do being a captive very well" Sakura announced bluntly while gripping the arms of Naruto and Sasuke to keep them in place next to her, she wouldn't allow for either of them to get harmed.
"You managed it then to study the brain fully and create your own special genjutsu, you would make a great Uchiha Sakura-san, I would give you the world if you only forget about that Cloud Shinobi you fancy Darui was it" Itachi offered suddenly.
Making his brother sick "Like hell she would not that I would let her, stay away from her Itachi or I'll kill you" Sasuke snarled feeling hate like never before, Naruto looked at him in shock then cowered against Sakura.
"What do you want with these brats anyway" the Sannin kept the trio covered and out of sight, he wouldn't allow for anything to happen to them, not after getting practically threatened by that Chunin to keep them safe, especially the girl.
Itachi's ebony orbs shifted "The blonde, we want him for what he has sealed inside of him" the Uchiha heir stated simply, Jiraiya straightened at that and prepared to fight, then the most shocking thing happened.
Before them appeared two Mist Shinobi "Ao-san, Chojuro-san what are you two doing here" the pinkette immediately recognized the duo and quickly pulled out Nuibari, Kisame stared when he saw the weapon in her hands.
"Girl the hell are you doing with one of the legendary blades of the Mist Village" the blue skinned male growled not liking this in the least, not only that but neither male that had appeared before them were even concerned that the girl had it.
Ao glanced over his shoulder briefly "Couldn't help but overhear, and Hoshigaki, Nuibari chose her as his wielder" Ao focused his steely gray/blue eye on the rogue Mist Nin before him, knowing better than to think they had a chance to take the man down as they were.
Kisame grit his teeth "Also we wouldn't let you harm any of these genin" Chojuro took his own stance holding his own sword before him like Sakura currently was doing, onyx eyes narrowed on the two rogues.
"It's time to retreat Kisame, we don't have much of a chance right now with one of the Sannin and two Mist Shinobi as our opponents" Itachi saw no opening and the duo of rogues quickly fled after all leaving behind a relieved group of people.
Sakura nearly slid to the ground on her knee's, only managing to keep herself upright when Ao and Chojuro turned in their direction "Now what may I ask are you doing out here outside the village" the gruff Hunter nin growled not liking that the girl was in danger.
Her eye twitched "A mission to find Lady Tsunade, she is to be our next Hokage and I can handle myself just fine thank you" Sakura huffed putting away Nuibari now that there was no reason to have him out.
Ao snorted "You're an eternal magnet for trouble brat, something's bound to happen to you that's beyond your capabilities" Ao grumbled not happy in the least why couldn't the girl just be a normal Princess and stay in the Capital like she was suppose to.
No, she had to be a bloody ninja and get involved with a whole heap of trouble "That's why she has us on her side, cause together, nothing can stop us you know" Naruto frowned deeply, they were treating her as if she didn't deserve to be a ninja.
"But what if so..someone comes along that's st..stronger than the th..three of you combined" the blue haired teenager pointed out, obviously having gotten a backbone somewhat during the month they'd been back in their own country.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes "They'd have me and I solemnly swore not to let anything happen to these brats especially Sakura" Jiraiya announced in an even tone tired of being ignored, and then suddenly something else happened.
Three more people arrived on scene "Sorry we're late, but we'll be joining you on your mission from this point onward, Tsunade would react better to us since we're family to her" the white haired former Hokage said.
With no more arguments forthcoming the two Mist Shinobi turned and left their business finished anyway "Why are you here then Gai" the only Sannin in the group questioned as he looked over the three that had joined them.
"Heard about Itachi Uchiha being in the area, came to help fight him off before he could hurt those kids, also Kakashi's in the hospital was put in Tsukuyomi" Gai explained for once not acting like a goof.
Sakura's heart dropped into her stomach "Bit to late then, cause he was here already and he left about ten minutes ago" Sasuke snapped irritated beyond believe and itching to go back to Leaf to check on his sensei.
Much like his two teammates "Relax Sakura-chan, your sensei will be alright, I eased his pain a bit though he's stuck in the hospital" the mahogany haired former Hokage assured seeing the conflict warring on the lone girl's face.
Earning a very small smile "Let's go back to the hotel, get some rest and then go" Jiraiya ushered the group back to the hotel, thanks to some bartering they got an extra room and poor Sakura was still stuck sharing with males.
Tobirama was extremely disturbed that it was them that got stuck with her, not because he thought he would do anything or that she would try to do anything, but that she was a young girl, he understood though that Sakura couldn't be left on her own.
"I'm very sorry I promise I won't get in your way or anything" Sakura apologized for the millionth time after she appeared from the bathroom wearing a full sleeping yukata that practically went to the floor and climbed into the bed furthest from the window.
Hashirama waved her off though "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, we're fine, we understand so go to sleep and tomorrow we'll be on our way to finding Tsuna-chan" Hashirama ushered her beneath the covers and soon her breathing evened out.
Which made him feel relief "Thought it would be harder than that to get her to go to sleep" Tobirama commented eyeing the young girl, she had to have been scared not to much worried on top of everything else now.
In response his older brother nodded before they to climbed into bed to get some shut eye, the next morning at six they were woken up by a knock and an alarm clock going off "Breakfast is served" Jiraiya didn't wait just entered the room pushing a cart.
On his heels were Naruto and Sasuke "Ack Ero-Sennin Sakura-chan's not even dressed yet" Naruto hastily covered his eyes and backpedaled until he slammed face first into the hotel room door, giggles filled this ears.
"Knucklehead I'm wearing a sleeping yukata that covers everything" Sakura rolled her eyes in amusement as she hopped out of the bed glanced at the two males she was sharing a room with, they nodded for her to go ahead and then she vanished into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later she was back dressed in a similar outfit from the one she wore yesterday only this one was all purple "Why do you wear that chest armor" Tobirama was the first to ask in curious tone as they settled around the room to eat quickly before they had to be on their way.
Sakura paused in making her plate, then glanced down at her armor "Never know when someone might try to stab you in the chest, so better to be prepared in advance than to not be prepared at all" the pinkette announced her reasoning.
"Yeah she's weird, always have been actually though I'm glad for that fact and that she wasn't like normal girls from the get-go" Sasuke snorted already half way through finished eating, he knew better than to talk with his mouth full though.
Lest he get whacked over the back of the head "Obviously, you remind me of a kunoichi from the warring states era we grew up in, what drives you Sakura-chan" Hashirama questioned next wanting to hear her answer.
Emerald orbs glanced in his direction "My country, village, family, friends and betrothed, I want to protect them and be able to heal them at the same time" the fuscia haired preteen said in the most serious tone ever.
Both former Hokage shared a look when she was focused on eating again, before looking to Jiraiya "Don't look at me I barely know this kid, in fact having all three of them on the mission wasn't exactly my idea either" the white haired Sannin admitted.
Thankfully none of the genin were to upset about that fact "It would have probably been for the best if a couple of us weren't coming along, then again if it had just been the Dope, the outcome from that bit yesterday would have been a lot worse" the Uchiha scowled.
His sole female teammate nodded in agreement "Hey I'm sure I would have been fine" the lone Uzumaki on the team gave a shout of offense not realizing that the situation would really have been dire if those two Mist Shinobi hadn't showed up or if Sakura hadn't been with them.
It hit him then and he grimaced "Actually I'm suddenly not to sure about that, if Sakura-chan hadn't been there I would have opened the door like an idiot" the blonde admitted glaring at his now empty plate.
"Precisely, all three of us could have been trapped in that room if Sakura hadn't been with us, I would have panicked to much" the raven haired preteen winced, he should feel embarrassed about relying on a girl to come up with plans, but he didn't, Sakura was his friend and he knew she would never let anything happen to them.
The truth hit the two boys hard, they relied on Sakura for a lot of things and knew they needed to start pulling their weight if they were going to be a true team "Alright we should hit the road before more trouble catches up with you" the Toad Sage clapped his hands.
Just like that they packed up their limited belongings, paid their rent for the rooms and left, hightailing out of the outpost town and on to the next "Hey Ero-sennin you said you were going to teach me something" Naruto burst out in remembrance.
Making the man groan and pull them a stop twenty miles later "Okay here you go Gaki, you have to pop this water balloon like this" Jiraiya demonstrated before handing over another water balloon to the brat he chose as his apprentice.
Naruto blinked and then tried his hand at popping the balloon "You suck at explaining things" Sasuke scoffed when he got tired of watching Naruto struggle, Hashirama chuckled finding the situation amusing.
Until inevitably Naruto flashed his pout at Sakura, "Wait a moment shouldn't you be asking Jiraiya to explain the task to you" Tobirama asked in confusion seeing how close the two boys relied on Sakura for everything.
Of course why wouldn't they, she was better at explaining things, which she proved in the next moment "The point is to pop the water balloon with your chakra, though Jiraiya-sama's chakra was going in several different directions, yours is only spinning in one" Sakura explained.
Jiraiya glanced back in surprise as Naruto tried the technique again, with better insight to what he was doing wrong "Nicely said Sakura-chan, I bet you'd be a great academy sensei in the future" Hashirama burst out.
Sakura smiled but kept silent for once completely on guard and wary of any unsavory situations that they might stumble into accidentally while they walked "How many outside the village missions have you three had since you became genin" the white haired Second Hokage questioned suddenly.
"This is our third Nidaime-sama, the first one I temporarily died, throwing needles hit a couple pressure points that stopped my heart, the second one we saved Kuri from those bandits and yesterday proved that outside the village missions are dangerous for us" the pinkette stated.
Gripping the lapels of her pack tightly in her hands "It's equally as dangerous inside the village for us to so either way it wouldn't matter" the ebony haired preteen snorted, it was nothing but the truth after all.
Naruto nodded "Yeah, yeah that's why we train everyday to get stronger so that we can overcome whatever comes our way together as a team you know" the blonde burst out exuberantly before falling silent to focus on his task again.
"Kami you three really are trouble magnets" the mahogany haired First Hokage shook his head, not understanding the three preteens in the least, especially the girl, he was use to nobles being all nobly and stuck up and stuff, none of which the lone girl was.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes "I'd like to at least make it to the next town before lunch" the white haired Sannin admitted pushing them past their limits, what was really surprising was how easy it was for the kids to keep up with them.
Hours later right at noon they made it to the next town and once again they signed in at a hotel rented two rooms and then Jiraiya, Tobirama and Hashirama vanished to search for Tsunade, leaving the genin behind once again.
This continued for weeks and by the time they found a small scrap of information on Tsunade's whereabouts Naruto had partly mastered his new technique, the Rasengan, that's not to say Sasuke and Sakura hadn't been working on their own jutsu's in their spare time either.
So when the three adults appeared that evening for dinner "We're headed to Tanzaku Town" Jiraiya announced to their surprise because the three preteens thought they'd be stuck in the small town they were in for another week longer.
"Alright and your sure this Tsunade woman is there" Sasuke stared hard at the perverted man, he just thanked the kami Jiraiya hadn't tried to pull any sort of stupid stunt to peek on Sakura while they were outside the village.
Jiraiya nodded seriously "Positive these guys gave us a confirmed I.D, it's definitely Tsuna-chan and they said she was headed to Tanzaku Town to gamble some more" Hashirama grimaced, wondering what happened to his grand daughter.
"Either way once we find her it will be back to the Leaf Village for the lot of us" Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest, relieved that nothing else had happened since they'd been on this mission and he'd be happy to be back in his village wiling away his time like before.
Sakura's brow creased in concern something about the name of the town made dread hit her in the stomach like a sack of rocks "You okay Sakura-chan" Naruto was the first one to notice and draw everyone's attention onto her.
She tried to smile but it came out like a grimace "Just a bad feeling is all, remember at the start of this mission how you said that Orochimaru was possibly after Lady Tsunade to, I just get the feeling he's already found her which doesn't bode well for us" Sakura admitted.
In response Jiraiya choked on his tea, how the hell had he could have forgotten all about Orochimaru "Your right that's not good, he could have already found her ahead of us, that means we need to go double time and make sure nothing happens" the white haired Sannin frowned.
"Are you sure that's the feeling your getting Sakura-chan" the mahogany haired former hokage asked feeling conflicted over this whole mission, Sakura nodded seriously and it didn't look like either boy were going to be convinced otherwise.
Because Naruto spoke up in the next moment "It's probably best we take her gut instincts at face value, cause every time she feels bad something does happen" the blonde offered and decided to stick like glue to his teammates.
Since they were the ones this Orochimaru guy was after as well as their mission target "Why are you so worried, it's not like Orochimaru is going to be bothered with a bunch of genin" the snowy haired former Hokage scoffed.
To his surprise "Actually that Orochimaru is after both Sakura and myself, for my Sharingan and because she helped put a stop to his plot to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village by stopping Gaara" the ebony haired preteen announced.
Red eyes widened "Nothing but the truth, he even went so far as to break into our house when we didn't participate in the Chunin Exams" the pinkette said, then stood to collect her belongings and just like that they were on their way to Tanzaku Town.
None of them spoke for a long while and once they reached the town Sakura's feeling of dread increased as they searched around for Tsunade, when they arrived at Tanzaku Castle, they knew they were to late "That's Tsunade's handy work alright" Jiraiya grimaced.
The three genin straightened, though the two boys shot a look at their female teammate and inched away from her "Are you telling me that someday Sakura-chan will be able to destroy entire walls like that to" Naruto gulped as shudder crawled up his spine.
For her part Sakura merely smiled innocently before she was right back to staring at the obliterated wall "Hilarious are you two just now realizing what Sakura-chan will be capable of in the future" Hashirama laughed in moderation.
Naruto nodded with a quiet shudder "Well at least we're on the same side and we know Sakura won't hurt us to badly unless we piss her off, anyway we should really start looking around to see if that Tsunade woman is still here" Sasuke spoke up.
Trying not to let fear of his teammates future capabilities take hold of him "Sasuke's right Jiraiya-sama, there was clearly some kind of fight here or possibly a disagreement" Sakura looked to the Sannin finally.
Well at least she was polite unlike the other two brats "Is it to dangerous to split up in teams of three" Tobirama inquired, apparently not and like it had been for the last three weeks Sakura got stuck with them as they went around Tanzaku Town looking for Tsunade.
By the time it was dinner none of them had found the woman so settled on a restaurant to get something to eat before finding a hotel, inside though was the very woman they were looking for "JIRAIYA" Tsunade jumped up in surprise.
"Tsunade we've been looking for you all over" Jiraiya was immensely relieved as he looked his former teammate over and didn't spot any thing out of place, though that didn't mean Orochimaru hadn't gotten in her head in order to have her heal him.
Honey orbs narrowed "What the hell is going on, why are you here with three genin brats and why were you searching for me…..Grandfather, Great Uncle" the blonde woman cut off in surprise as she stared at two of her family members.
They nodded in response and then sat down at the booth "But how, you aren't reanimated are you, my apologies I'm Shizune Kato" the raven haired woman frowned in concern, before glancing to the booth across from them that sat the three genin.
Since there was no more room at their booth that was full of adults "We're not reanimated, we're living, some kind of incident when we were reanimated, a large blast of chakra washed over us and gave us life again" Tobirama explained carefully.
Confused mostly still on exactly what happened "As for why we were searching for you Tsuna-chan, the elders have chosen you as the Fifth Hokage" Hashirama added which started the argument, but when Tsunade insulted the Third.
Naruto could no longer hold his tongue "Don't you talk about the old man like that Granny" Naruto scowled furiously not liking this in the least, why was she resisting so much, couldn't she accept the position with grace.
Sakura sighed and held her friend back, they as genin shouldn't interfere, that was her mindset until Tsunade said something that really struck a cord within her and Tobirama was massively surprised when the politest out of the bunch of genin stood.
"That's it then you just dishonor their memory, their dream and wallow in your grief and to think I actually looked up to you" Sakura shook her head and stood "We're gonna go find a hotel nearby" she dragged her two teammates with her.
Leaving behind two stunned women until the one spoken to stood in a rage and charged after the girl "Hold it brat, what gives you the right to talk to me like that, you don't know loss or pain or anything" Tsunade gripped the girl tightly by the wrist.
"Maybe not Tsunade-sama but still how could you just abandon your home, your country like this because you lost people, it happens all the time and sure it's tough at first and you grieve but there's a time where you need to put the past in the past and look towards the future they wanted" the pinkette spat ripping herself free.
Honey orbs widened, Tsunade could hardly believe her ears, this brat was talking to her as if she was an equal "Okay that's it you stupid little brat" the blonde glowered and brought her hand down full force.
What she didn't expect was for her hand to be caught in an equally chakra enhanced grip "Uh this is bad isn't it" Sasuke shrunk away from the two obviously temperamental females, dragging Naruto with him as they managed to get out into the streets.
The two former Hokage, Jiraiya and Shizune on their heels "Lady Tsunade, she's a kid, she doesn't know what she's talking about" Shizune tried to hastily calm down the situation unfortunately for her though.
Neither female listened "I'm not saying your grief and sadness over their loss isn't legitimate Tsunade-sama, just that you can't keep punishing yourself, it's time to wake up and face reality" Sakura scowled much like the older woman.
Hashirama looked between both females and hunched his shoulders "Shouldn't we do something Tobirama" the mahogany haired male grimaced not wanting to see the two come to blows or for his granddaughter to get punished for harming the Princess.
"To interfere would be detrimental to our health Anija, it's probably best if we just let them have it out with one another" Tobirama shook his head, his mistake though was that Tsunade overheard him and a smirk formed on her lips.
"A bet then girly, you manage to last a whole week of training sessions with me, I'll apologize to the blonde brat for insulting the Third, throw in this necklace for him, take you on as my second apprentice and go back to the village all while admitting that you were right" Tsunade offered.
Shizune winced "Very well then but I'll have you know Tsunade-sama, I don't give up no matter what you put me through" the fuscia haired preteen princess glared right back while crossing her arms over her chest.
Her teammates were at a loss of what to do when they hurried down the streets to a hotel to get some sleep for the night "Crazy, just crazy" Jiraiya shook his head when the genin were asleep and he was one of the few awake for the time being, until he got to tired and fell asleep himself.