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.
