Reunion

"That voice sounds so familiar..." the boy's voice came from behind the door, "Who is it?"

The orange-haired boy Gate of Opening and walked in with a bright smile on his face.

"It's Naruto..."

Sakura Haruno's lips curled up, and she smiled faintly, her eyes narrowed.

"Haven't seen you for a long time!"

"Sakura!?" Naruto's eyes lit up, and he rushed over, laughing, "It really is you!"

"Ah, and there's also Tsunade!"

"... You're back, Naruto!" Teuchi Naruto up and down before replying, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards the door again.

As she expected, the burly man followed her in.

He wore wooden clogs, his face was painted with face paint, and he wore a carefree and unrestrained smile.

Tsunade's lips curved into a slight smile.

"Long time no see, Sakura." The man waved casually at Sakura Haruno before turning his gaze to Tsunade.

"Hmm... and Tsunade too," the man said casually.

Their eyes met in mid-air. Tsunade smiled faintly, her eyes sparkling, and lowered her gaze, saying, "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Jiraiya?"

It's been over a year.

Jiraiya certainly remembered that the last time he met her in Konoha was after the Chunin Ninja Exams last year.

It has been one year and three months since then.

"Yes, it's been a year." Tsunade sighed softly.

Jiraiya chuckled, walked over, and glanced at Tsunade, his gaze settling respectfully on her face. He said, "You haven't changed much... you even seem younger."

Tsunade chuckled.

"Stop flattering me." She glared at the man, a rare hint of feminine tenderness in her eyes. "You haven't changed a bit, have you!"

For some reason, the two of them exchanged a glance and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright." Tsunade, stopping her laughter, and said seriously, "Let's get down to business. Now that you're back, you won't be leaving again, right?"

Who knows?

Jiraiya gazed deeply into Tsunade's eyes and said meaningfully.

"I might stay for a while before leaving, or I might just stay here." He seemed to be anticipating something.

"Hmm?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"At least for the time being, I'll stay in the village." Jiraiya and explained, "Until Akatsuki's problem is resolved, it would be dangerous for even me to wander outside the village recklessly."

"It would be troublesome if we ran into that person."

To Tsunade, this sounded more like an excuse.

"Well..." Tsunade pursed her lips, paused, and whispered, "Now that you're back, don't rush off."

Jiraiya paused for a moment.

He stared directly into Tsunade's eyes, but the woman's clear, autumn-water-like eyes were lowered, avoiding his gaze.

Is this an attempt to retain them?

"Hmm..." the man mumbled incoherently.

"You've wandered for so many years, it's time to stop... This is your home." Tsunade fiddled with her pen, her gaze wandering, and said softly, "Konoha needs you."

"We... need you."

For a moment, the man's resolute and rugged face softened as if melting from solid ice.

He gazed silently at the blonde woman before him. She appeared strong, but the people she deeply loved had died repeatedly before her eyes, leaving her heart scarred. Although her hemophobia had healed, the deeper wounds in her heart had never healed, to the point that she dared not face Jiraiya's feelings.

That's not what he wanted to hear.

But he knew this was Tsunade's limit.

"Ah..." Jiraiya hesitated, opening his mouth slightly. He, who was usually good at witty banter, suddenly realized that he was so tongue-tied.

Jiraiya, who wanders the Shinobi World like a prodigal son and frequents brothels, is skilled at spying, drinking with women, writing erotic novels, and flirting with girls, but he is adorably clumsy when it comes to his own love life.

What should it be?

What should we respond to?

So he ended up saying nothing, gave a self-deprecating laugh, hesitated, and finally said, "Well... we'll talk about that later. What were you and Sakura discussing just now?"

He hesitated to speak, then said only, "What a pleasant autumn day!"

Tsunade's smile dimmed for a moment, but when she looked up, her smile remained bright and unchanged, "Regarding Sakura's recent training with the Jinchūriki in Kumogakure Ninja, she can have Naruto try it out. It's not over yet, and you've already arrived."

"Kumogakure Ninja?"

"Yes, the Waterfall of Truth of the Kumogakure Ninja. This is the first time I've heard of it either."

Tsunade nodded. Once she got down to business, her expression completely changed, and she could no longer show the girlish demeanor she had just displayed. Her eyes were filled with the unwavering determination and strength that belonged to the Hokage.

After briefly introducing the Waterfall of Truth, she said, "So Sakura wants Naruto to try it too..."

"We should verify the authenticity of the information first. I can go and check it out." Jiraiya was subconsciously uneasy about information from a single source. "But wouldn't rashly spying on such classified information affect the alliance?"

"Need not."

Tsunade her head. "Just ask the Kumogakure Ninja directly. If the Kumogakure Ninja really wanted to keep it a secret from us, Killer B wouldn't have revealed the Waterfall of Truth."

The Kumogakure Ninja wanted information on Konoha's Medical Ninjutsu, but they had nothing to offer in exchange, and Konoha didn't think much of the Kumogakure Ninja's swordsmanship.

So they decided to reveal the Waterfall of Truth and see if Konoha was interested in talking to them.

"Hmm... I see. Alright then." Jiraiya rubbed his chin.

He had little interest in understanding this kind of political exchange.

"Sakura still cares about Naruto quite a bit," he chuckled, glancing at the two young ninjas beside him.

When the two of them got along, there was absolutely no entanglement like that between Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"How enviable!"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto's simple yet enthusiastic smile and remarked with emotion.

He hadn't seen Naruto this happy in a long time.

Seeing Jiraiya turn around, Naruto excitedly waved and shouted, "Pervy Sage, come and see if I'm much taller than Sakura now!"

From childhood to adulthood, Naruto has always been completely overshadowed by Sakura Haruno... Remember the first chapter? Ever since the era of the "King of Kids, "Sister Sakura, Naruto has always been a head taller than her. Now that he's discovered he's surpassed her in height, this carefree guy is overjoyed.

"Look how much taller I've grown!" Naruto said with a sly grin.

He made a gesture, spreading his thumb and forefinger a full five or six centimeters apart, which annoyed Sakura Haruno, who gave him a flick on the forehead.

"You're nowhere near that taller!" The girl glared at him fiercely. "At most, you're a hand's width taller! You idiot, don't include the hair in your calculations!"

"Stand up straight!"

She walked over, stood back to back with Naruto, and gestured with her palm above her head.

Then, very solemnly, he showed his palm. "See that? It's only this much! At most two centimeters!"

Now that Sasuke is taller than her, Sakura Haruno doesn't seem to mind.

But seeing Naruto grinning slyly and Jiraiya showing off to Jiraiya that he was much taller than her, Sakura was furious and felt it was necessary to correct his misconception!

Many people have probably encountered friends like this who always seem to lower your IQ and argue with you.

Jiraiya turned and exchanged a glance with Tsunade, then they both laughed.

"Alright, stop fooling around, you two." Tsunade finally managed to suppress her smile and waved her hand, saying, "It's serious business."

"Cough cough."

The woman looked at Naruto seriously and said solemnly, "Sakura just told me that there's a Waterfall of Truth in Kumogakure that's said to be helpful for Jinchūriki training. So, I'll discuss this with the Raikage later. You should prepare to go abroad for training."

"You're going out again as soon as you get back?" Naruto hadn't said anything yet, but Sakura Haruno frowned.

"There's no need to be in such a hurry."

Tsunade.

She explained that Naruto's Tailed Beast Transformation training would continue until he reached a bottleneck in the village before considering training in the Kumogakure Ninja.

"Let's consolidate this first," Jiraiya a chuckle, patting Naruto's head. "Let's master the Six-Tails State first."

"Sakura, will you come and lend a hand then?"

"Okay." Sakura Haruno nodded matter-of-factly. "I'll also call Sasuke. Actually, if it's just the Six-Tails Form, the two of us are enough."

"Alright." Tsunade nodded and smiled, "You guys haven't trained together in a long time, so this is a good opportunity to restore Team Kakashi's coordination. I might—"

Tsunade stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.

There was a rapid knocking on the door.

"Come in," the Fifth Hokage said in a deep voice.

"Lady Tsunade!" An Anbu Ninja Earth Flow over, presenting a confidential document to Tsunade, slightly out of breath, and said, "Urgent message from the Land of Water!"

"The Land of Water... Kirigakure?"

The woman frowned slightly as she took the letter.

She unfolded the letter, her eyes quickly scanning the words. The relaxed expression she had just worn vanished from her face, replaced by a serious one.

After reading the urgent document, Tsunade placed it on the table, looked up, and her gaze swept back and forth between Sakura Haruno and Naruto.

"It seems... the reorganization of Team Kakashi is inevitable." The Lord Hokage smiled knowingly and said slowly.

"Konoha Jonin Sakura Haruno, Genin Naruto Uzumaki, heed my command!"

Sakura and Naruto immediately stopped smiling and stood up straight.

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

[This is the second update since last night. My goal is to update two more chapters this afternoon and evening.]