As far as teachers went, Sarutobi Hiruzen was pretty lax when it came to checking up on the progress of his former students. (Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Orochimaru despite the boy being his favorite – more often than not, the snake charmer was too busy studying the various jutsu archived in Konoha's records to be bothered).
Perhaps that's why he was shocked to see Tsunade wrapped in the affectionate embrace of another fellow jounin while walking to Ichiraku one day, early in summer.
The weather had just turned warm and though the scenario was neither unpleasant nor unexpected, it was the fact that this particular jounin was not also a former student of his which perturbed him.
"I thought I'd find you here."
Jiraiya, his hair a mess as always and face contorted in what Sarutobi knew to be deep thought, leaned against a tree. He'd grown taller than the old man once remembered.
"So, do you want to talk about it or would you prefer I leave you to mope in silence?"
"I have no idea what you're getting at."
The young toad sage's brow twitched and he crossed his arms in an almost child-like manner, but Hiruzen only smirked as he drew a cigarette from his vest. Carefully he balanced it between his lips as he spoke.
"A man will do anything to see the woman he loves happy, even if it means just standing back and watching her pursue that happiness with someone else."
A moment's pause and then, "I don't lov-"
"Of course not. You're the gallant Jiraiya; the gutsy shinobi. You spend your days chasing skirts and anything with a pulse. It doesn't take much to catch your attention, does it? No. You could never be tied down to one woman. Let alone pine after a teammate who's rejected your advances time and time again. And yet…" A puff of smoke. "The second she pays you an ounce of attention nothing else in this world matters but the thought of how to make her smile again."
When he was finished Sarutobi merely flicked the cigarette to the ground, crushing it beneath the heel of his sandal. A look of acceptance had passed over Jiraiya's face and both men, one young and the other old, observed the sunset low on the horizon.
"She deserves to be happy sensei. After all she's been through she deserves someone she can love who's not going to leave or abandon her to go wandering aimlessly after some foolish dream. She needs him now, more than ever."
"And you need her. The irony of it is that while wars may divide countries and tear people apart, heartache is still the greater struggle."