The Land of Tea was Tsunade's last known location. From Sakura's memory, it was a quaint country on the outskirts of the Land of Fire about a day's journey on foot. Given the current era, however, she was almost positive that the definition of 'quaint country' would no longer describe the area.

The ache of loss crept back up within her, but she shoved it quickly back down, focusing on the task at hand. The team swung through the forest, traversing at high speeds from branch to branch. "We should stop for lunch soon." Sakura suggested to the others, adjusting her speed so that she fell in step with the Genin.

"Sounds good to me!" Boruto nodded, flipping forward to avoid an oncoming branch.

"I know of a place by a river near here on the route." Mitsuki commented, "That might be a good place to stop."

"Mitsuki, you've been around this area before?" Sarada questioned.

"Once or twice." the boy smiled in response. His nonchalant tone reminded Sakura of Sai in many ways.

She shook herself free of her thoughts and nodded to the group, "Lead the way, then Mitsuki."

The place that Mitsuki suggested was beautiful. The river that ran through was one of the clearest fresh water reserves that Sakura had seen in a while. Grabbing her water flask, Sakura gently lowered the canister to fill it with the running water.

"Man, I'm beat." Boruto exclaimed from his resting place on a nearby rock, stretching his arms widely.

Sarada laughed, "We've only traveled for three hours and you're already tired?"

Mitsuki smiled, addressing Sarada, "It's very Boruto, isn't it?"

Sarada hummed in agreement while Boruto crossed his arms. "Hey, what do you mean by 'very Boruto'?"

That launched the three Genin into a lengthy debate and causal banter that lasted long enough for Sakura to almost be finished with her onigiri that she had packed for lunch. A sudden warmth coursed through her as she witnessed the kids interact with each other. Flashes of bright orange clothes, dark red eyes, and late senseis came to mind.

A snap of a tree branch drew her attention back to the present. Sakura clenched her fist, ready to launch herself towards the sound at a moment's notice. A squirrel hopped out from the bushes, angrily chatting with another squirrel who was relentless in its chase. The pair ran around before scurrying up another tree. As Sakura relaxed, she noticed Mitsuki quickly look away and return to the conversation. He was observant, good to know.

"Oh! Sakura-Taichou," Sarada addressed, turning towards her, "I was wondering if you knew how long this mission should approximately take?"

"Why do you have somewhere to be?" Boruto teased, which earned him a swift elbow nudge to his shoulder. "Hey! Ow!"

Those two…"About two or three days, hopefully," Sakura told them. "Depends on how hard Tsunade-Shishou is to find."

"Shishou?" Boruto questioned while Sarada's eyes lit up in recollection.

"I remember Rachi telling me that you were trained by Tsunade!"

"Yes, I was." The Jonin nodded, "Although, I'm not quite sure it was training as much as it was studying medicine and dodging flying punches." Sakura grimaced at the memory of all the times she hadn't been quick enough to duck out of the way.

"I heard that you could destroy mountains with your bare hands." Mitsuki chimed in, his golden eyes regarding the older ninja with curiosity. "Is that true?"

Sakura thought for a moment, "I think it depends on your definition of a 'mountain'. Compared to what Naruto can do though, I definitely can't destroy those types of mountains."

"My dad?" Boruto questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion before he chuckled, "You must be kidding. My old man can hardly finish his mountain of paperwork on time, much less destroy an actual mountain. " He finished grin, his arms crossing in a way that bolstered his confidence in his statement.

But Sakura noticed the flash of hurt and resentment in his eyes, the way his fist tightened and his shoulders stiffened. The medical ninja frowned. Perhaps the Uzumaki Family had more issues beyond the stereotypical rebellious tween.

She had witnessed firsthand how busy Tsunade had been during her reign as Hokage and how difficult it was sometimes to even get five minutes of her teacher's attention. No doubt, the pressures and demands of the position of Hokage had affected Naruto and his family.

Looking at the boy and his barely concealed disdain for his father, Sakura wondered how much time Naruto had spent with his kid since becoming Hokage.

"Well, I'm not sure about how he is now," Sakura admitted, "But he definitely could blow up an entire mountain without much effort back in the day."

The boy shot her a skeptical look before shrugging, obviously unwilling to debate the matter further, "I guess I'll believe it when I see it."

Sakura nodded, accepting that this conversation was at its end, saving this newfound information for later,"I guess so." She stood, stretching her legs, "C'mon, let's get going."

The rest of the trip proceeded fairly smoothly. There was a slight run-in with a bear, but one quick finger flick made it reconsider having Team 7 for its lunch.

"THAT WAS A GENTLE TAP?!"

She may have also gained some respect points from the kids along the way, so that was a bonus.

It wasn't long after that they arrived at one of the village gates in the Land of Tea. Quickly gaining entry thanks to their status as Konoha Shinobi, they were now left with their final and main task: Find Tsunade.

Three pairs of eyes fell on her as they waited for instruction.

Since it was a generally safe town, Sakura felt certain that it would be okay to let the team venture out of her sight. Hopefully, she wouldn't regret that decision.

"Okay! Let's divide and conquer. Boruto, take the South, Sarada, the North. Mitsuki, the East. I'll check the West. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"Great. We'll meet back here in 2 hours."

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long to find her or rather Tsunade herself announced her presence when two men were sent flying into the forest surrounding the village followed quickly with a "Get out of my sight!" in a commanding voice that could only be her Shishou.

Tsunade looked unchanged. It was the same woman that she met when she was thirteen, her mentor of five years. While there was relief at having found her, a wave of fresh anxiety rolled through Sakura. She didn't quite think this through. How exactly was she to approach? What would Tsunade say? What would Tsunade do?

Time would tell if she was actually the same.

Sakura flared her chakra signal to project her presence. She didn't necessarily want to just surprise the former Hokage out of the blue. She knew too well what a surprised Tsunade was capable of.

The blonde suddenly stiffened in response, spinning around to face Sakura's direction from where she sat in the trees.

Sakura didn't know exactly what she was expecting her mentor's reaction to be. But she certainly wasn't surprised when Tsunade scowled at her appearance, fists held at the ready.

It seemed like she would have to fight her way to prove her existence once more.

"You got some nerve, Zetsu," Tsunade growled, barely containing her anger. "Pretending to be my apprentice," Her eyes flickered with potent sadness before being swallowed by seething anger, "You've got some nerve."

"Shishou-" Sakura called, only to be interrupted with a punch thrown directly towards her face. Reflexes kicking in, the medic-nin dodged the incoming blow by side-stepping. Several rows of trees exploded behind where she originally was.

Here we go again. Sakura thought to herself. At least, she was thankful for all the dodging training Tsunade had drilled in because the amount of times her old relations wanted to send her back to the land of the dead just by simply existing was becoming ridiculous.

In mid-air, Sakura grabbed a nearby tree branch and swung herself out of her mentor's range, avoiding the aftershock while simultaneously dodging yet another powerful punch. She and Tsunade had spars in the past before, but the unspoken rule was that neither would use their full strength since the resulting damages would be too costly.

This time Tsunade was not holding back.

On the defensive, Sakura used her speed to skillfully dodge the vicious kicks and punches thrown her way. "Shishou, wait!" She tried calling again to calm her mentor down. She just needed a chance to explain herself or to summon Katsuyu whatever was fastest but her feeble attempts seemed to only infuriate the former Hokage more.

"You don't get to call me that!" Tsunade roared, executing an earth-shattering overhead kick.

Sakura used her own momentum and chakra to shatter the ground below with her own kick. The earth underneath her feet gave way to her power, countering Tsunade's own quake and throwing Tsunade off balance. As the former Hokage stumbled, Sakura seized her mentor's wrists, locking her in place using her own monstrous strength.

"Shishou!" Sakura tried again for the third time, "It's me! It's Sakura."

"Sakura is DEAD!" Tsunade yelled, struggling against the tight grip.

"No, look at me!" Sakura demanded, shaking her mentor's wrists in an attempt to get her to see the truth, "It's me."

Tsunade's fists slowly unclenched and loosened. Honey colored eyes peered into emerald ones, searching for any falsehood or deceit. Then, her eyes flickered to the seal on the younger shinobi's forehead that mirrored her own.

Then, they narrowed. In an instant, she broke Sakura's hold and sent a punch that launched the Jonin backward through several trees.

Although the younger medic-nin was able to block and soften most of the blow with her chakra, she could still feel her ribs and back groan in pain at the heavy hit.

Tsunade's foot suddenly came into view. Just in the nick of time, Sakura managed to roll away and flip back up on her feet.

Well, reason didn't work, so summoning Katsuyu was Sakura's last resort. The problem was that she needed an opening.

Sakura suddenly regretted the decision to split up.

If there was just a way—

Two white snakes suddenly shot out, aiming towards Tsunade.

The Hokage's attention shifted off Sakura for a moment, dodging the creatures.

Sakura smiled as she felt three other chakra presences join them. Perfect timing.

Two Shuriken spun towards the Hokage, bouncing off each other in impressive skill to weave between the trees. Tsunade flicked the projectiles away.

The last member of Team 7 made his presence known in a less subtle way, "TSUNADE-BA CHANNN!" Boruto yelled, racing through the trees. "STOP FIGHTING."

Thoroughly confused, Tsunade frowned, pausing her movements, however, her eyes never left Sakura completely even when the three Genin slid to their position.

"It's her." Sarada confirmed.

"It's really her." Boruto repeated.

Tsunade's eyes darted between them, confusion evident on her face. "What?"

Sakura held her hands out in an effort to placate her mentor, "I can prove it." Biting the edge of her thumb, Sakura smeared the blood on her opposite palm, initiating the summoning circle.

A cloud of smoke appeared before revealing the great healing slug Kaytsu. "Tsunade-sama!" It greeted, "It is Sakura-sama. Her contract has been re-activated."

All pairs of eyes turned towards Tsunade. The former Hokage nodded slowly as if she was processing the information until suddenly her eyes rolled back, and she slumped forward.

Naruto let his eyes close shut for a moment, giving himself a brief respite from the various treaties and policies and reports that came with the title of Hokage. Slumping back in his chair, Naruto sighed. The peace and quiet of the village-

"Naruto!" Ino's voice rang in his head. The Hokage jumped, straightening in his chair immediately.

In the back of his mind, Naruto could sense the fox laughing at his startled reaction. He shoved the feeling down (giving a kick to Kurama in the process), projecting a sense of calm before he responded, "What is it, Ino?"

"There's been reports of several bombs that have been planted along the new transcontinental railroad tracks as well as several bombs planted in the stations. Sai and his unit are already responding on-site, but we need your assistance."

Naruto rose from his seat immediately,"What's the status of the evacuation?

"It's underway, but slow going. We have yet to find the perpetrator, but we have teams on the lookout."

Naruto opened the window of his office, climbing out onto the roof. The wind ruffled his hair, his Hokage cape billowing behind him. "Tell Sai to sit tight. I'm on my way."

The Seventh Hokage stretched his arms, reaching for the sky before he crossed his fingers, forming his signature hand sign.

"Ready, Kurama?" Naruto called.

"Like you even had to ask." The tailed-beast shot back with a grin.

Several shadow clones appeared beside the Hokage.

"Then, let's go!"

"Sai, what have we got here?" Naruto asked when he arrived at the station. His clones had spread out, coordinating with the rest of the ANBU and police force with the evacuation.

His former teammate beckoned the Hokage to follow him through the station. "Quite frankly, the bomb itself is rudimentary. We've already been able to deactivate this one." He stopped at the edge of the station, pointing to where they located the bomb wedged underneath one of the seating benches where a crowd of Shinobi had gathered.

"Okay?" The Hokage was puzzled. "How come you guys haven't removed it yet?"

"That's the issue." Sai frowned.

"Is that Naruto?" Tenten emerged from the crowd, giving the tools in her hand to a fellow shinobi, "Perfect timing. I could use your help with this, Hokage."

Naruto nodded. "What do I need to do?"

"Yeah, so, this bomb is fitted with three types of switches that will set it off. Kinda ingenious actually. A unique combination of explosive tags combined with the new quant—"

Naruto cleared his throat, halting the weapon's master in her explanation.

"Right. Sorry." Tenten flashed an apologetic grin. She could get overly excited about new gadgets and weapons. "Putting it simply, we deactivated one trigger. But if we remove this bomb it will trigger the others and remote detonation from the master switch is still a possibility due to the hidden explosive tag, which again if I tried to remove it…" Tenten made an explosion sound, her hands imitating the motion.

Naruto frowned at the information, "How many have we identified?"

"We have Kiba and Neji leading the search teams, so far we've found ten other compromised sites." Sai reported, "Ino should be giving us word soon on when they're finished with the sweep."

"Suggestions?"

"Well, we were thinking that you and your clones go into your super-powered form and minimize the explosions." Tenten explained.

Naruto lifted his eyebrows, "So the plan is to trigger them to explode?"

Tenten nodded, "We can't disarm them nor do we want to risk them being set off remotely, so the best way is for you to wrap them up in…" The weapons master squinted her eyes as she struggled to find the right terminology, "...your glowy form." She finished lamely.

"You never took the time to understand Naruto's power, huh?" Sai commented with a knowing smile.

Tenten waved him off, "Listen, I'm a weapons master. I leave the understanding of all the other stuff to Neji or Shikamaru."

Naruto chuckled at the interaction, "Ino, what do we got?"

"Sending you the location of the other bombs now. In total, there are sixteen locations." Ino's voice echoed throughout their minds.

"Tell everyone to fall back while I deal with this."

"You got it."

Tenten gave Naruto a thumbs up, "You got this. Shouldn't blow up too badly."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Not too badly?" He repeated.

By the time Tenten responded, she and Sai along with the rest of the unit were almost out the door, "Good luck!" Her voice echoed through the empty station.

Naruto sighed. "They always leave me to deal with the fun part." He turned his attention back to the bomb, golden tendrils sparked from his fingertips, flowing up and around his shoulders to his head and down to his toes as he activated his Kurama Mode. He could feel his clones follow suit in their respective locations. "How badly do you think this will hurt?"

"That all depends on how much chakra you put in to protect yourself." the fox replied. Then, he grinned wide as he remembered a memory, "Do you remember that-"

"We agreed to never speak of that incident again." The Hokage interrupted quickly. He did not need to be reminded of that. He stretched out his arm, sending three golden tails to carefully wrap around the contraption.

"Is everyone in position, Ino?"

"You're all set."

With his outstretched arm, Naruto closed his hand into a fist and took a step back, yanking the bomb backwards and activating beast mode simultaneously to act as a barrier.

Something audibly snapped and the world encompassing Naruto was lost to white.

Blinking the light away, Naruto was able to pick out the surroundings. He was happy to find that there was minimal damage done to the surrounding area. A few scrapes and dents here and there, which now that he thought about it, he just knew he would be receiving a formal complaint from the Railroad Board concerning the "damages". Mentally saving the headache for later, Naruto dismissed his clones, letting their memories combine back into his own. There was minimal damage across the board.

"Great work, Hokage." Shikamaru's voice commended. "I thought you'd like to know that we've apprehended a suspect."

Naruto's form flickered as he released Kurama Mode. "Great. I'll be right with you."

"Let me go!" The suspect grunted, struggling against his restraints. He had been forced into a sitting position with his hands and feet tied.

"Now, now. I wouldn't do that if I were you," Shikamaru drawled. "You have an important appointment with the Hokage."

At the mention of the village leader, the man's face morphed into rage. "The Hokage! So now I'm able to get an audience with him?" He chuckled darkly, "Of course."

"You scheduled an appointment with the Hokage?" Shikamaru questioned.

The man tugged at his restraints once more, "You leadership types never listen. Never listen."

Shikamaru frowned. This situation was becoming more troublesome. A sudden breeze blew Shikamaru forward. The Seventh's cloak fluttered behind him as Naruto arrived on scene.

The Hokage nodded in acknowledgement at Shikamaru, a silent signal that Naruto would take the lead on the interrogation.

Naruto kneeled down to get eye-level with the suspect, "Hi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"I know who you are." the man sneered. "And you've just doomed us all."

"What do you mean?"

"Those bombs were Konoha's last chance. You won't be able to stop what is coming."

"Would you miss me if I died?"

Tsunade groaned as consciousness returned to her. The fluttering leaves above her were painted in an auburn glow by the setting sun. Laying on her back, the memories suddenly rushed back to her.

Sakura!

"Hey, easy there." Sakura suddenly appeared in her vision almost like she was summoned by her thoughts. "Glad you decided to rejoin us, Shishou."

Tsunade pushed herself up into a sitting position, silently staring at her former apprentice. Her greatest personal failure and at the same time, her greatest personal success.

Sakura shifted from her kneeling position and sat down next to Tsunade. "I sent the kids out to collect some firewood. They shouldn't have any trouble finding some after our little spar this afternoon." Her former apprentice chuckled, her emerald eyes crinkling with mirth.

"This isn't just a dream?" Tsunade wondered out loud.

"Not a Genjutsu either. I'm sure you've had enough of that, considering the end of the war."

"How?" Tsunade continued her questioning like she was asking Sakura to recite the four rules for Medical Ninjas. If she focused on asking questions, she wouldn't have to deal with the ache of hope that started to burn within her.

Sakura only shook her head, "I don't know."

They sat together in silence, watching the sun disappear into the mountain ranges, leaving the sky painted in dark red and orange hues.

"I looked for you." Tsunade admitted softly, her breath hitching in her throat. "Afterwards." She clarified, "I didn't even know until the causality report." Her vision began to blur as her eyes began to water. For once, the former Hokage didn't fight it. She stretched out her arm, resting her hand on Sakura's head just above the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Sakura had been but a love-sick girl when their journey started, full of determination and hunger to become someone with potential. Now, the girl had grown into the very version of herself that had once been a dream. Tsunade smiled through the tears, "I always wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."

Sakura's shoulders that had slumped from an unseen weight seemed to lift at the Sannin's praise, her own emerald eyes shimmering. "It's really good to see you, Shishou. I missed you."

Tsunade gave a watery laugh, "I missed you too."