SAKURA POV:
"You got to meet Tsunade-sama!?"
Naruto and Sasuke took their fingers out of their ears once they saw that she wasn't screaming anymore.
"Watch your volume" Sasuke complained "I'm pretty sure the Fifth Hokage heard that from here."
Sakura scowled at the Uchiha.
"You don't get it Sasuke, meeting Tsunade-sama is like one of my dreams! She's the greatest medic nin!"
"I can introduce you if it's that big a deal for you dattebayo" Naruto said casually as he finished another stick of dango "she's just an old granny though, so I don't see what the fuss is about."
"An old granny huh?"
The three turned to see the woman they had been talking about come to their table and sit down before calling the waiter for a plate of dango for herself.
While Sakura stammered through a 'good evening, Tsunade-sama', Naruto made no such effort.
"Yo"
Tsunade just nodded at him before grabbing his last stick of dango and munching on the top piece.
"Hey, that's mine" he complained.
"I just ordered a plate, take one of mine then" she dismissed "Why are you here anyway? All you did on the way here is talk about that Ishikawa's ramen stand."
"Ichiraku's" Naruto corrected "And Sakura here didn't let me, said that there was no way she was eating ramen after spending all that time saving the old man's life."
Tsunade's eyes gleamed with interest as she looked at his pink haired teammate
"That was you? Good work holding back the poison kid. I heard from one of the standbys you used some sort of a unique Jutsu for that?"
"I wouldn't really call it a Jutsu, Hokage-sama. It's just controlling the flow of my water chakra and exerting that flow on the poison."
Tsunade nodded "It sounds simple when you say it, but if it was that easy the other medics would have subbed in. Don't downplay your own skills kid."
"She's really strong" Naruto said, and even Sasuke nodded at the statement.
"Wow, thanks you guys" she said, slightly moved.
"Of course, she totally beats us up when we annoy her too though."
That killed the mood, and Sasuke saying that it was usually just Naruto getting hit didn't help either.
"Is that so?" she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Naruto, who had started on a dango stick from Tsunade's plate that had just arrived, didn't see her and just agreed.
"Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if you're not a gorilla in human skin with that strength of yours."
Sakura didn't notice her other teammate quietly slipping away, nor the smirk Tsunade-sama was wearing as she quietly picked up her plate.
"YOU IDIOT!"
With a roar , Sakura punched Naruto's chin with a fist filled with righteous fury.
"YOU JUST PROVED MY POINT THOUGHHHhhhh" was what came out of his mouth as he went flying through the air.
Before he could go too far, he was pulled by a…big tongue?
The two ladies looked down to see Jiraiya and an orange toad standing in front of the stand.
"Tsunade, did you get a chibi version?"
"Don't insult a woman, especially in front of her!" Sakura roared, ignoring Jiraiya for now after having met him a few times during that one month of training.
Naruto's eyes lit up when he registered what Jiraiya had said after landing safely.
"Oh yeah, Granny Tsunade, you could be Sakura's mentor! Like how Pervy Sensei is for me!"
Sakura's eyes widened, and the three turned to look at Tsunade eating her dango.
She shook her head "I could teach her summoning, but that's all I have to offer. She's already good at healing and seeing how far you flew I'd say she has super strength down too. There's just not much I could teach."
"What about that diamond mark thingy you used back then?" Naruto asked " That was pretty cool."
Tsunade hummed in contemplation.
"Kid, state your name and rank." She said as she pointed at Sakura.
Sakura blinked before snapping to attention and replying, more out of habit than anything.
"Sakura Haruno, Rank Chunin."
"Alright Sakura, come to the Hokage office sometime next week so I can see what you can do. We'll talk about mentorship after that."
As Sakura nodded furiously and bowed like a 100 times, Naruto turned to his own mentor.
NARUTO POV:
"Didn't you say you had to go somewhere for a mission yesterday? What're you hanging around here for?"
"I'm leaving for it right now kid. Me and Tsunade had a talk with the old man so I couldn't leave."
"Ohh"
"I…need to tell you something Naruto."
The man crouched down to eye level for what he said next.
"I'm going to be taking you on a training trip."
Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Oh seriously? Hell yeah! Where are we gonna go?"
Jiraiya shook his head, and Naruto slowed down at that.
"The trip is going to be for two years kid. Possibly three."
Naruto deflated.
"What?"
Jiraiya nodded solemnly.
"That's how long we have to get you at the level to be able to fight the Akatsuki."
"That organisation Itachi and shark-guy are from?"
"Yeah" Jiraiya nodded "They're after all the Jinchuriki, but my source tells me they'll start moving in 3 years."
"I can't leave now! They need me!"
"I think the leaf can hold the fort down for three years without you kid" he said dryly.
"Not that! Well somewhat that, but mainly my friends! I can't leave everyone I've known for three whole years!"
Jiraiya sighed.
"Listen kid, you have to get stronger, but you won't be the only one. When we return, you'll get to see how much they've grown as well. You may be slow, but I know that you've understood the need to get you up to snuff."
Naruto nodded, albeit sadly.
"So…that's it then? I have to leave?"
"In a few months, yeah" Jiraiya nodded "After this mission I'm going to go to a bunch of other places so I know that they're ready for us when we go there during the trip."
Naruto nodded.
"Also" Jiraiya continued "You'll still be doing missions during the trip, most solo but some with a team, so it's not like you'll never see them at all. Besides, you have the toads to send messages to each other don't you?"
"True enough" Naruto muttered.
"Don't worry kid" Jiraiya said as he tightened his scroll and flashed him a grin "You'll be back in no time"