“You really should have come in earlier,” Tsunade grumbled as Naruto plopped himself down on her desk.
“But Tsunade-baba, you know I never have time,” Naruto grinned. “All these missions you send me on, and I’m still a growing boy who needs his sleep.”
“Remember when you call me ‘Tsunade-baba’ that I can still wipe the floor with you,” Tsunade said. Really, some things never changed. “And unlike some people, I have no compunctions about hitting women.”
“Not that you would, Tsunade-baba,” Naruto retorted. “You’re a woman too.”
“Off with your shirt,” Tsunade said, exasperated. She still had a mountain of paperwork to do, and Naruto really should have come in weeks ago for a follow-up examination. She’d done a physical the day after his strange transformation, but hadn’t been able to determine the cause. Hopefully she’d get better results this time.
“Ooh, are you sure you can handle me shirtless, Tsunade-ba--” Tsunade made as if to flick him on the forehead. Naruto smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head before continuing. “I meant, ah, ‘Tsunade-babe.’ Yeah. That was it.”
She eyed him critically, struggling to keep her mirth from showing. If there was one thing Naruto was good for, it was comic relief. “That’s a bit better, but watch it, buster.”
Naruto nodded vigorously and shucked his shirt. Tsunade took his pulse, then put her ear to his chest to listen to his heart and lungs. All normal. She noticed as she sat back up that his face was flushed. She scowled. They should never have let Jiraiya train him. She gripped his upper arm and placed her fingers on the artery; blood pressure seemed to be normal. No fever, despite the flush that lingered.
Physical possibilities exhausted, she closed her eyes and reached out with her chakra. The flow of chakra through his body appeared behind her eyelids. Using it as a guide, she reached out and placed her fingers on a few of the particularly active ‘pulse points’ for his chakra, on his temple and below his right collarbone. The instant she made contact her eyes popped open. Something was amiss.
Naruto had always had a naturally high chakra level, especially in the abdominal area, where the demon fox was sealed. The two chakras had been steadily mixing through the years, but Naruto’s own chakra had remained dominant, through sheer force of will on his part, Tsunade suspected. Now, however, they appeared to be separating--as if the demon fox was reforming within Naruto’s body.
For a moment, she panicked. Had The Fourth’s seal not worked completely? Would they have a repeat of the tragedy of sixteen years ago? She shook her head, taking her hands off of Naruto’s skin. If the seal hadn’t worked, she’d just redo it; she had the power, after all. The only problem was, what would it do to Naruto, physically and psychologically, to have such a powerful jutsu used on him at this stage in life? The Fourth had used a baby because infant’s chakra systems weren’t fully formed yet, and thus easy to manipulate. Naruto’s chakra system, on the other hand, was extremely well-formed, both from conscious strengthening and from the added strain of the demon fox’s chakra flowing through it. To reseal the demon fox at this point could be disastrous for the boy.
“Tsunade-baba?” Naruto asked, sounding worried. “What’s going on?”
She put it out of her mind for the moment; she’d have to consult with the Jounin on this, and Naruto himself, of course, but she wanted to mull over it first.
“Nothing, Naruto. Put your shirt back on,” she said. “But I do have a few questions to ask you. First: have you been having any trouble breathing lately?”
“Nope,” Naruto said, and took a deep breath to demonstrate.
“That’s good. Peeing?”
Naruto blushed. “It still feels kinda weird,” he admitted.
“That’s to be expected. Eating?”
“Well, I was throwing up a lot, but I’m better now.”
Tsunade paused. “Throwing up? When was this?”
“Oh, up until about a week ago. Just in the mornings, though. Weird, huh?”
“Only in the mornings?”
“Yup!” Naruto said. “And then afterwards I was always really hungry. Hey, Tsunade-sama, wanna treat me to ramen after this?”
Tsunade steepled her hands and regarded him carefully. Yes, now that she was thinking about it, there was a definite bulge in Naruto’s belly, too large to be caused by mere weight gain. And though the level of chakra in Naruto’s abdomen was always higher than the surrounding areas, it was higher now than she’d ever seen it before. She’d passed it off as a side effect of the transformation, but now...
If her suspicion was true, the situation had just become infinitely more complex.
“Naruto,” she said seriously, “have you had sex since you transformed?”
Naruto turned bright red. “Wh-Wh-What?”
“Have you had sex, Naruto?” she pressured. “Specifically, have you had sex with a man?”
“N-No! No way!”
“Are you absolutely sure, Naruto?”
“Yes!”
“Have you ever lost consciousness in a strange place? Passed out from drinking too much?”
“What are you talking about, Tsunade-baba?” Naruto cried. “Of course I haven’t! Why are you asking me all these weird questions? Hey, I bet you’re a pervert too, just like that Pervert Sennin!” His chakra flared righteously. “You wouldn’t believe the things he wanted me to do--but I swear I never did any of ‘em!”
Tsunade crossed her arms and looked away for a second. “All right, Naruto,” she interrupted, “I’ll ask you one last question: when was the last time you had your period?”
“Huh?” Naruto said, scratching his head. “I never did.”
Tsunade took a deep breath, let it out, and looked Naruto straight in the eye. “To answer your earlier question, Naruto,” she said, “the reason I’m asking you about your sex life is because I think--”
“--you think you might’ve figured out what’s wrong with me?” Naruto said happily.
“No, Naruto,” she said. “I think you may be pregnant.”
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