In the early hours of the morning, the Haruno household was suddenly shaken to its very foundations by Mebuki's strident voice, rousing Sakura from her slumber.
"Sakuraaa! You're being called in for work!"
Sakura lifted her head from her pillowy breasts resting on her desk and opened one bleary eye, then the other, raising a hand to shield herself from the morning sun spilling through the window.
Morning already…?
As her senses gradually returned to her, Sakura briefly wondered why she was not in her bed… and then she remembered she had fallen asleep knitting at her desk. Today was the tenth of October, and having failed to make a scarf of adequate length in time for Naruto's birthday, she had been forced to make emergency modifications late into the night.
"Today's my day off, mum!" Sakura shouted back. "Tell them to go away!"
Barely a second later, Shikamaru's voice rang out from below her window.
"Lady Fifth wants to see you and Naruto in her office, right now," he called from the front porch. "Now that you know, you can take care of informing Naruto, yeah? (Man, what a drag…) Anyway, see ya around."
Without bothering to unbutton them, Sakura tore off her pyjamas, only for the velour top to end up inside-out, tangled round her head as it snagged on her heaving chest. After a brief struggle, she freed herself. Then, hopping on one foot as she pulled on a pair of blue-and-white striped knickers, she wriggled into a front-clasp bra, before tugging her red dress over her head and squeezing herself into a pair of black, sporty spats.
…and almost immediately, the bra's straps gave out, and her bust sagged heavily to her bellybutton with a loud plap.
"Not another one," Sakura groaned, fishing the deceased garment out from under her top, cradling her bust with her free arm. "That took me days to make!"
Sadly, the burgeoning women's underwear industry had not yet reached the point where uncommon sizes could be manufactured en masse. Most brassieres on the market were in the A- to C-cup range, and one would be hard-pressed to find D-cups, so Sakura was forced to make all her bras by hand— it was either that or sticking to wearing a sarashi.
Sakura had yet to measure herself or check the System's panel, but judging by eye, her latest growth spurt had surely pushed her past O-cup.
Though she hadn't developed much over the past two years— largely due to not using Breast Flow often—her prime growing years had finally arrived. And though it hadn't been immediately obvious— she'd still been in her deflated state at the time— she had absorbed Guren's breasts, which meant that once she'd fully recovered…
[Congratulations to the Host for attaining a 120 cm bustline (32 P)! Dispensing 0.5 KK stamina…]
"No wonder I don't fit in my clothes," Sakura rationalised. "It's definitely not because I ate too many strawberry crepes before sleeping last night."
Sakura hefted her heavy breasts with both hands, marvelling at their weight as she squeezed them, her fingers sinking deeply into the pliant flesh. Her girls were now so enormous they made her hands look childlike by comparison!
"Sensitive, too!" Sakura gasped.
And then she remembered that Tsunade was waiting for her.
Sakura dashed downstairs to the dining room, crammed a slice of toast into her mouth, and bolted out of the house, mumbling a hurried goodbye to her parents. Five minutes later, she'd broken into Naruto's home and dragged him out of bed; five minutes after that, they were standing in front of the Hokage's office.
Although her distracting presence had caused a few accidents on the way to the Hokage's Residence, Naruto's shirt was inside-out, and he was still wearing his sleeping cap (the one that made it look like his head was being devoured by a walrus), they had at least made it just in time!
"Oh good, you're finally here," said Tsunade, looking up from her paperwork as Sakura dragged Naruto into the room. "I have a mission for Team 7."
Sakura glanced around the room. As usual, Shizune was standing behind Tsunade like some sort of accessory, but she wasn't alone in keeping her mistress company, this time around.
The first person her gaze landed on was Kakashi, who was leaning nonchalantly against a wall. He flashed her a thumbs-up, and Sakura's eyes shifted to the next person.
Her lip curled in distaste as she recognised the old woman sitting beside him: Utatane Koharu. The old crone from the Konoha Council was calmly sipping green tea, acting as if she hadn't just committed multiple violations of the Geneva Suggestions before breakfast.
The third and last of Tsunade's visitors looked to be a monk: bald, broad-shouldered, with a simple sash tied around his waist. He seemed like the sort of character who would be introduced purely to be killed off only moments later, just to demonstrate the strength of some new villain. Personally, Sakura gave him two days.
"It's way too early, Granny Tsunade," Naruto yawned. "What was that all about, having Sakura-chan pull me out of bed like that, y'know?"
It would have been a totally different story if she'd got in bed with him, instead yanking off his bedsheets and dragging him out onto the cold floor, though.
"And here I thought you'd be happy to learn your beloved teammate is safe and sound," sighed Tsunade, pushing a sheet of paper across her desk. "Here, read this."
"I hate that Sasuke bastard so much," Naruto grumbled to himself as Sakura reached for the letter. "He's not even here, and he's still finding ways to bother us, ya know?"
Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she skimmed through the short letter.
"Systeeeeem!" Sakura hissed under her breath. "What the hell's going ooooon!?"
Naruto peered over Sakura's shoulder to read, enveloping her in an aura of miso and too much garlic. Sasuke's letter read:
Found Ryūchi Cave at the designated coordinates. Additionally discovered previously unknown hidden village or shinobi clan within the Land of Fire's borders. They do not appear to use any known clan crest, but the following word (魔乳) appears multiple times on their banners. Standing by and awaiting further instructions.
-Uchiha Sasuke
"What's that kanji mean?" Naruto asked.
He pointed at the word in question, his arm brushing against the side of Sakura's teardrop-shaped breasts, which curved outwards on either side of her trim waist, visible even from behind.
"This isn't a joke, Lady Tsunade?" asked Sakura, her mind still reeling. "The Manyū clan actually exists!?"
Tsunade nodded.
"Unlike other, weaker countries, the Land of Fire cannot abide and will not tolerate wild shinobi clans and unaffiliated villages operating freely within its borders," Koharu explained, a kindly smile on her grandmotherly face. "I will serve as the Hidden Leaf's representative, while Chiriku-dono here will accompany you on behalf of the Daimyō. Your mission will be to safeguard us as we attempt to establish peaceful dialogue between our villages."
Sakura wasn't convinced. Was that really all there was to the mission?
"And as you've probably already guessed," said Lady Tsunade, taking off where Koharu had left off, "Team 7 was picked for this mission precisely because of you, Sakura. We're hoping negotiations will go more smoothly if you accompany the delegation."
Sakura glared into empty space. The System had some serious explaining to do!