"We understand that you step down as Hokage, but risking your life to search for Tsunade is just foolish!" Protested Koharu.

The elders had once again held a meeting, this time at the request of the old Sarutobi, who now held the position of merely an advisor. His old age and his great struggle in fighting Orochimaru made him realize that it was time for a generational change in the leadership of the village.

"I will be going with Jiraiya. And I might be old but I can certainly still take care of myself!" Hiruzen waved off the concerns of the other elders.

"Jiraiya also requested to take the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails with him." Added Homura with a stoic expression. "We can simply not allow so many important resources to be put together and sent to search for someone that has been off the radar for years. And especially as we suspect that Itachi might be planning some form of retaliation!"

Danzo, the new interim Hokage, cleared his throat to announce his intervention in the conversation. "I'll allow it. Jiraiya and Lord Third are a duo that very few, if anyone at all, can even dare to challenge in the world. It's also in Konoha's best interest to officially elect a Hokage as soon as possible."

Homura and Koharu exchanged stares. Eventually, they reluctantly nodded in understanding, knowing that they could not protest the decision of the interim Hokage. However, they could try to give a suggestion.

"Then we at least request that a black ops squad escort them from the shadows through the whole mission."

Sarutobi glanced at his old friend, who understood that the final decision was relayed on him. For the interim Hokage, it was quite surprising how much his old friend avoided important decisions. His desire for retirement came back uncharacteristically after the invasion.

"I believe Masanari has recently returned to Konoha after several years on an S-class intelligence mission." Said Shimura. "Seems like a fitting leader for this elite black ops squad."

"Seems ideal indeed." Agreed Homura, now a little more satisfied with the outcome.

"I'll decide on the other two ANBU, but it's settled." The man with half of his face bandaged nodded. "Hopefully you do find Tsunade and bring her back to the village."

Hiruzen could read that there was something off about his old friend's tone. And even more strangely, Danzo had a small smile on his face when giving his good wishes to the Third. He was a stoic man, with always a serious expression on his face. He was not the expressive type of person, and he had never been.

Another quiet day was girded over the serene forests of northern regions of the Land of Fire. Near the cabin you could only hear the flow of the small stream in front of it.

Right there, a small green-skinned boy was looking at five vaguely rounded stones very carefully. He seemed to be concentrating solely on their form, examining them carefully. They had to be round enough to function as a mold for the future set of dragon balls. If they were not, the process would be delayed for several more days.

In his opinion, although not very reliable due to his young age, they were enough. But still, there were only five of them, and there had to be seven in total, at the very least.

A sudden sound of splashing water distracted him. He turned his head towards the small river and watched as a purple dragon emerged happily from the water. He shook the water off him as he touched the grass and then kept walking towards the boy.

"Icarus!" The little Namekian shouted, waving at the dragon with his little hand.

The dragon responded with a smile and one of his signature dances.

It had been a couple of days since that mysterious portal appeared along with a wide variety of gifts. Akira still didn't quite understand it, but he was happy with several of those things. For example, he used Yamcha's old sword as a toy from time to time.

On the other hand, Icarus was not yet accustomed to all this. He had recognized Piccolo, of course, but he was still waiting for Gohan, who was he really excited to see again. For him, it had been a few years since he had met the young Saiyan, and such a fact made him a little sad.

Regardless, he had found good company in Akira, who reminded him of Gohan in more ways than one.

Both continued to play for several minutes, as they did not have much else to do either way. Until Piccolo arrived, of course.

The Namekian landed in the small clearing holding the last two rocks. Despite their imposing size, his arms supported their weight as if it were nothing remarkable.

He shook his hands and then cracked his neck. He sighed and finally spoke.

"I think those work. I found them in a cave in the mountain range that is further north. It looks like there was a collapse recently." He said in his usual calm tone.

Both Icarus and Akira stood firm as they noticed the arrival of the Namekian. However, they quickly noticed that Piccolo was distracted. Normally it bothered him to find them playing, but this time he didn't even notice.

The two exchanged confused glances as the Namekian looked up at the sky. He looked serious, but in a different way than usual.

"Akira."

"Hm!"

"Remember what I taught you about suppressing your Ki?"

"Mhm!"

"Never stop doing it unless I tell you to. Understood?"

Akira nodded, and Icarus imitated the gesture.

"I wonder where Gohan is." The dragon raised his head in interest at the name of his old friend. "It's taking longer than usual."

After a few seconds of silence, the Namekian seemed to come back to his senses.

"Well, Akira, let's continue. The sooner we have the spheres, the better."

"So let me get this straight…" Said a familiar blonde boy.

He was standing in between two men in the middle of a road. They were out in an open field, surrounded by grass and the occasional tree. They had just crossed the thick forest that surrounded Konoha, and were now in the outskirts, where the roads became visible and some small stands began to appear.

One of the two men was the now retired Third Hokage, who was now wearing regular robes and who was free of any headdress. He calmly smoked from his pipe, while carefully glancing at the young genin.

The other man was considerably taller and almost as bulky as Lord Third had been in his youth. His very long hair was also white, but not due to old age. He had red markings under his eyes, almost resembling tears.

"You're looking for a cutie that disappeared a while ago." Continued the genin, while the two older men nodded enthusiastically. "So this is just a perv trip! Why would you take a kid like me on such perverted travels?!"

Sarutobi laughed a little before shaking his head, while Jiraiya seemed quite proud of the way the kid described his mission.

"This woman is actually a renowned kunoichi from Konoha!" Explained Hiruzen.

Naruto squinted, and crossed his arms. He stared at both of them for a few seconds. "I still don't see how that is relevant to me. I should be training and getting stronger! Trying to fight that Gohan guy or something!"

"Hey, hey. You know… I can teach you a certain secret jutsu I know!" He tested an offer, and continued once he noticed that the boy's eyes were now glowing with interest. "It's even better than Kakashi's Chidori!"

Now, even Hiruzen was glancing at him with interest. If his suspicions were not wrong, the Sannin's intentions were to teach the boy the secret jutsu from Lord Fourth.

"Say no more, Pervy Sage! I'm in!" Yelled Naruto with excitement.

Jiraiya could not hold his big smile back. Instead, he showed it to his master with pride. He already knew the kid pretty well, so much so that he could convince him with relative ease.

The old Hokage smirked slightly, remembering when Jiraiya was as old as Naruto and used to be as enthusiastic as him.

Naruto then remembered something, and his enthusiasm declined a little. He stopped walking and began scratching his chin.

"Yo, old man." He called.

Hiruzen turned to look at him once again. He raised an eyebrow, indicating he was listening.

"Has there been any news on Hinata?"

The old man gulped before glancing at Jiraiya, though of course the Sannin could only shrug at the question. He placed his hand over his wrinkly forehead, wanting to make sure no drop of sweat fell from it to reveal his nervousness.

"Not yet, Naruto." Replied the old man, accompanied by his usual warm smile. "I'll let you know once I learn anything about the mission."

At the main gates of Konoha, the Haruno family had gathered to bid farewell to their latest guest. The one who had kept his daughter safe out in the open.

As it was daytime, the flow of people was just as massive as usual, so they had moved to the side of the entrance, where they would not block the entry and exit of people.

The place they chose was, specifically, near the hut where three chunin were placed to watch who entered and left through the gates of the wall. These were the only visible shinobi, but civilians knew well that many others were watching from the shadows.

Gohan was a little nostalgic. He spent about a week in the village and received relatively good treatment for the bad situation they had been experiencing lately. The reconstructions were still in process and it would take several more weeks to return to normal. But both he and Sakura knew well that he had a place to return to.

The girl's parents took their time thanking the boy. They gave him clothes that bore the symbol of his clan, which was a great sign of respect, despite being a modest clan. In addition to several other gifts, mainly food. Then, right there, he received many bows in gratitude for having saved the life of the young genin.

Of course, Gohan blushed at such great gratitude. He tried to bow as much as they did, for he was also tremendously grateful for the good treatment the family had given him.

Finally, what seemed to be an endless loop of bowing came to an end. For a brief moment, a somewhat awkward silence formed.

That's when Sakura took her chance. He approached the boy and hugged him. She also had a lot to thank him for, including the new skills he had acquired in his brief training.

Gohan just stood there, nervous. He didn't know how to react, but eventually he returned the hug.

The girl separated after a few seconds, but stayed close to him.

"Thank you for everything, Gohan." She said as she lowered her gaze. "Send greetings from me to Mr. Piccolo and Akira."

The saiyan nodded. He scratched his head.

"We'll see each other again, won't we?"

"Yes, I'll try to come back from time to time." The boy replied. "After all, the Hokage asked me for that favor. I don't know why, but it seems that he wants me to stay."

"I see..." She smiled. "Well, know that I am waiting for you here!"

Gohan smiled back, revealing his teeth.

"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye." The saiyan said as his smile waned a little.

Sakura nodded, while maintaining a somewhat bittersweet expression. They both sighed, and he turned to leave.

However, someone stopped him.

"Wait!" A high-pitched voice shouted from the crowd.

Gohan turned and tried to identify the source of that voice. It was then that from the horde of people walking a familiar child emerged.

He tried to pose but stumbled as his blue scarf got stuck in the crowd. Instead, the image he gave was that of his face colliding with the ground.

"Konohamaru?" Gohan asked, somewhat worried about the hit.

He tried to get closer, but someone else beat him. Gohan looked up and met the familiar face of the purple-haired woman. The saiyan swallowed.

"Oh, Lady Anko." Sakura exclaimed, a little confused to see her there.

The woman took the child by the hair and lifted him up. Konohamaru rubbed his face, now wounded by the blow he had given himself. Still, he regained his composure surprisingly quickly and resumed his pose. Finally, he pointed towards the spiky haired boy.

"Take me with you!" He yelled.

Anko groaned at the boy's attitude.

"Huh?" That was all Gohan could say.

"Don't even think about it, kid." The purple-haired woman replied.

Again, the saiyan swallowed. He didn't want to make her angry, because he didn't know what she was capable of. Especially after that unfortunate encounter they had right before his meeting with the Hokage.

"But father and grandfather have just left again on a mission! I don't want to stay here alone and bored while they come back!" Konohamaru claimed, clearly defiant. "You're no one to stop me!"

Gohan feared for the boy's life, but the woman did nothing. She simply sighed.

"I don't have time for this."

"Umm... why do you want to come with me?" The saiyan asked with genuine curiosity. "You don't even know where I'm going."

"That's not important. I just know that you are strong and I want you to train me!" The boy declared. "Naruto told me that there were no shortcuts on the way to being Hokage, and I don't plan to be left behind."

On his back he carried a backpack that was very large for his size. He took it off for a moment to show it to the spiky haired boy.

"Look! I'm ready."

Gohan laughed nervously. "It looks like it."

"So, will you train me?"

"I don't think it's good to leave the village without your grandfather's or father's permission." Gohan patted the boy twice on the head. "Although, if you want to train, you can do it with Sakura."

The boy pointed at the pink-haired girl, who was surprised.

"She knows some of my tricks." He said while winking.

Konohamaru sighed in defeat. That he took defeat so quickly was uncharacteristic of him, but perhaps it was a sign of a certain early maturity.

He put his backpack on his back once again and kept his gaze on the floor.

Sakura cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Excuse me, Lady Anko." She said in a soft voice.

Anko looked at her, and her gaze softened a little. It seemed that the only presence she tolerated there was that of the girl.

"Yes?"

"Are you taking care of Konohamaru?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "No, I found him by chance."

"Then what brings you here?" The girl asked. "Are you on your way to a mission?"

She shrugged. "Something like that. Lord Third tasked me with the mission of keeping an eye on your friend."

Sakura's eyes widened. Keeping an eye on Gohan?

"It was one of the conditions of the Hokage to allow me to go." The boy said a little nervously. "I accepted more than anything to avoid problems. I really need to go back; Mr. Piccolo must be worried."

Anko looked away at the mention of the Namekian. She was still a little in desbelief by everything he had told them during their meeting.

"I will ask you one thing, though, Sakura." The woman said. "Do not lose sight of the honorable grandson. He's one mischievous creature."

The girl, a little nervous, nodded her head. She didn't understand why the village thought it necessary to assign a jounin as Gohan's escort. He was anything but dangerous. They simply feared him without knowing him.

But she did not protest. She remained silent, fearing the consequences opposing such a measure could have on her and her family. At least she knew that, in any situation, Gohan and Mr. Piccolo could figure it out.

"Anyway, it's time to get going. You lead the way." Anko said in her usual tone disinterested tone.

Gohan simply nodded.