Chapter 1: Prologue
Tsunade watched the clouds hump each other. Watched them make love in the clear aqua sky. Desperate and furtive and sloppy like all young lovers. But the tryst was ever so brief. After a minute or two they parted again. Bound to the wind's invisible roads. They drifted apart, never to see each other again.
Maybe there were more accurate ways to describe two clouds colliding on a clear spring day. But she was in one of her melancholy moods. And for once the sake didn't help. She finished the small cup in one gulp and wheeled back behind her desk. No sense in playing voyeur to horny clouds.
The view here wasn't quite the same. She didn't tower over the village like she used to. As tradition demanded, the hokage residence was much taller than the hidden leaf hospital. Not that she missed the old hat and cloak. Oh no, she'd had her fill of that job.
Compared to the fourth great shinobi war, the daily struggles of a doctor were downright leisurely. But maybe that was because she got so much more leeway than her fellow physicians. She had a corner office; her own attached exam room to take patients; and nobody cared if she was a little buzzed on the job. She could do the work while hammered flat by Jack Daniels, and everybody knew it.
Tsunade checked her inbox. Sure enough, it was emptier than Naruto's head. A spider spun a web in one of the corners. That was the problem. She was a woman of action and she had nothing to do. In fact, there was nothing to do in the whole village. Naruto and Hinata had gotten married not more than a month ago, and apparently, the universe took that as a sign to make things stop happening.
No more S-ranked terrorist cells. No more world domination schemes. No more creepy aliens poised to suck the planet drier than a juice box. Nope, just good old routine. Day in and day out. On and on and on… Tsunade dropped her forehead on her desk and groaned.
An evil genie must have listened in to her inner monologue. Or maybe there was some nefarious monkey's paw gathering dust in a locked drawer of her ancient desk. Either way she got her wish.
"Ano… Um, Lady Tsunade?"
She knew that voice anywhere. One glance told her that, yes, Hinata was in fact back from the honeymoon and peeking around her door. Tsunade was up from her chair so fast you'd swear she'd blazed a fire trail behind her. Yes! Social activity! Girl talk wasn't her strong suit but she'd take anything.
"Hinata! You're back!"
Tsunade all but dragged the much younger woman into her office. She might have come on a little strong but god dammit she needed this. She steered Hinata to one of the chairs in front of the desk. While she sat on the desk itself.
"How'd the honeymoon go?" She began with that, still excited.
"Um… it went fine but…" Hinata trailed off.
"I bet Naruto really made the earth move, huh?"
Hinata's blush deepened. "Oh, uh. Yes he was wonderful but…"
Tsunade plowed on. "I heard about the bed incident by the way. Did he actually snap the headboard--"
"Lady Tsunade!" Hinata finally lost it. Anguished under all the questions.
That took the wind from Tsunade's sails. She bit her tongue before she trampled the poor girl more. "Right, sorry I haven't had anyone to talk to all week."
Hinata pushed the conversation forward. "The honeymoon was…" She let out a soft peep. "Perfect. Naruto was wonderful. He was so gentle and considerate… mostly. Um, but there was one thing."
She wrestled with herself. Floundered on what to say next. That pinged Tsunade's doctor senses, she furrowed her brow.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" The question felt wrong.
Hinata shook her head fast. "No nothing like that it's just. After we… did it a few times. Something odd happened."
Tsunade sighed internally. She was going to have to pull it out of her. "Odd how?"
"Odd with my, my."
Hinata glanced at her chest. So that was what this was about. Now that she noticed, Hinata had reverted to type with her outfit choice. The poor girl was baking inside the bulkiest purple coat she had ever seen. Tsunade stuck her head out the office door. Lazy redhead of a secretary was, as always, filing her nails.
"Push my next appointment back." She said.
"But Mr. Hanako will be here in ten minutes." Her secretary protested.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "That hypochondriac can wait. I don't care how important he is. I've got a real patient."
Tsunade shut the door right as the complaints flew. About how this job was supposed to be easy and that she had important stuff to do. Yeah, right.
"I'm all yours now, Hinata. Let's take a look at you."
Tsunade guided her into the exam room. Nondescript as any other of the hospital's chambers. Hinata sat on a padded and paper-covered bed while Tsunade checked her out. Her temperature was normal. No infections in her ears or throat. She didn't have so much as a cold.
All the while Tsunade gave her the standard spiel about women's bodies. How unpredictable they could be because of all the hormones swimming around. How changes could be sudden and scary sometimes. And that they definitely didn't stop when puberty ended. It seemed to alleviate some of the poor girl's fears at least. Now for the big question.
"So, tell me in your own words. What's so odd about your breasts now?"
"Well, they've gotten… Um…" She poked two fingers together. "B-bigger?"
Tsunade blinked. "Bigger how? Is there any pain? Any discoloration?"
"They don't hurt at all. They're just… you know."
"Bigger." Tsunade finished for her. She tapped one finger on her chin. "Hmm. Is there any discharge?"
"Discharge?" Hinata didn't know what that meant.
"Milk."