A New Year, A New Life, A New Love: Chapter 3 - Stories, Secrets and Scents
A thousand times over I apologise for the mega spacing, but alas, it cannot be helped. Sorry this one took so long, I got a bit busy, lost a bit of interest in it, and when I got around to it had to work out a few details and such. Plus there was correspondence with other authors along the way. Anyways, enjoy, and please comment.
Chapter 3: Stories, Secrets and Scents
As Kroqgar and Whisper followed Izumo through the gates and into the village beyond, they shielded their eyes with their forearms, momentarily blinded by the bright sun. When they lowered there arms, their eyes hot wide open, and their jaws dropped open to an unnatural angle.
They were in The Village Hidden In The Leaves.
This was the dream of every huge Naruto fan. They were actually walking the streets of Konoha! They could see the villagers walking around, bustling back and forth in their day-to-day activities. Children ducking between the legs of the adults, obviously playing (Whisper gave a small gasp of excitement) ninja with wooden kunai and shuriken. They saw all the shops and buildings, the Japanese architecture, and all the writing in kanji. Briefly the two worried about how they were going to survive in a world where they couldn't read, until a white light flashed through their vision, momentarily blinding them. They took great care not to tip off their ninja escort, but in a flash of insight and understanding, they saw all the kanji scroll through their mind's eye, faster than they could comprehend. Meanings, definitions and inflections inserted themselves in their head almost painfully, as if the current knowledge had to jostle around to make room.
When they both looked again, they saw that the kanji written on every building, advertising it's wares and business was unchanged.
What was changed was that they could now read it.
Whisper shot a glance at Kroqgar. He could read her better than anyone else, and knew what it meant. "Was that the same as...?"
He responded with a glance of his own. "Yeah, that was exactly the same as when we learned to use chakra and those jutsus."
Izumo was not a chunin for nothing. He did not miss the brief interchange that happened behind him, but could not interpret it. He stored it away in his brain, in the file of what he knew of these people, ready to report to the Hokage.
Kroqgar and Whisper stared around the village in newfound appreciation, no longer concerned about reading. They seemed to be on the main road, going straight from the gate to the Hokage mansion. They could see lots of smaller roads branching off this, leading to various other parts of the village. In the distance, behind the Hokage mansion, they could see the sun shining off the Hokage monument, the four faces gazing watchfully over the village.
"Hey!" They heard a voice say sharply, and they lowered their gaze to see Izumo standing some distance ahead of them, arms crossed and waiting. "You coming?"
Cheeks reddening in embarrassment, they both hurried forwards to catch up with him, as he turned and walked off.
...
Ino Yamanaka stepped out of The Iron Kimono, the foremost clothing store for shinobi in Konoha. It specialized in casual and formal clothes for shinobi, that could also double as battle gear. It was owned by a woman named Hotaru (A/N: Firefly), a jounin in her late thirties who had retired after losing her whole squad in action many years ago. The orange haired woman was still quite attractive, a trim body kept fit by daily exercise with a chest that was the envy of many of Konoha's women. As a fashion diva, Ino had always idolized Hotaru, the older woman's knowledge and grasp of fashion dwarfing her own. If she had the time, she stopped in on her every day, to chat about fashion and catch up on the latest gossip. Hotaru always looked forward to the visits, she could see the potential for a truly great ninja in the girl.
And besides, for her it was always fun to talk about clothes.
Hotaru had just revealed to Ino some of her new designs and prototypes, and Ino had not been in the shop anywhere near long enough to look at and try on everything she liked, but she had to get moving. Her mother Ikari (A/N: Anger, I thought it would work well with Ino) had told her in no uncertain terms that she had to work in the family flower shop that day, and brave as Ino was she was terrified at the thought of seeing a loaded Ikari pointed at her.
She waved goodbye to Hotaru as she moved towards the door. " I should be in tomorrow!" she said.
"I'll see you then Ino. If your lucky I might even tell you a story about The Kit!" Hotaru smiled back at her. She gave a small chuckle as she saw the young kunoichi's jaw drop at the thought of seeing her legendary tailoring kit, that almost every kunoichi in the village wanted a look at but none, not even the Hokage, had ever seen.
Ino waited until her companion had said her goodbyes to Hotaru, then opened the door and stepped out onto the Konoha high street. As she looked around, the Hokage Monument on her right and the Hospital on her left, she heard a slight scuffle and a thud behind her. She turned to see her closest friend Sakura Haruno in a bent over position, her foot obviously having caught on the doorway as she walked through, and causing her to stumble. Ino smirked down at the pink haired kunoichi, scathing remarks already forming in her head.
"Nicely done there Sakura, I guess your billboard-brow threw you off balance."
"Shut up Ino-pig!" Sakura said, straightening up and shooting a glare at the blond.
"'Shut up'? Is that the only response you can think of with that brain of yours?" Ino shot back, still smirking.
The two continued to bicker amiably as they walked down the high street in the direction of the main gate, towards the turn off to the Yamanaka compound. Few heads turned at the vehemence of the pair's arguing, most by now knew of the sometimes confusing but deep friendship those two shared. Said two waved hello to friends and family along the way, stopping briefly to talk with Ino's father Inoichi. As they were passing the hospital they saw Izumo heading in the direction they had come from, looking like he was going to the Hokage mansion.
"Hey Ino, isn't that the Hokage's assistant? You know, he guards the gate with that other guy?"
"Yeah, Izumo. I wonder why he's not at the gate."
"It's gotta be something to do with those two," said Sakura, eyeing the couple tailing the chunin. "I don't recognize either of them. And look at their clothes! I've never seen anything like them. They must be from another country." Not hearing a response, Sakura turned to see Ino standing there, stars in the blonde's eyes as she stared at Kroqgar.
Sakura waved a hand in front of Ino's face, trying to get her attention. Ino didn't even blink as she said "Who cares about their clothes!" though secretly she was admiring their pants, never having seen anything like them, and quite liking the way they looked. "Check out that boy!"
Although Kroqgar was already larger than most of the adults in the village, his looks even while disguised and his walk seemed to speak of his youthfulness, and the pair could tell he was only a few years older than they. Sakura eyed him as the pair approached, and while secretly thinking that Sasuke was still cuter, agreed with Ino.
After a good eyeful of the admittedly attractive Kroqgar, Sakura turned her gaze towards the girl next to him. Her eyes widened slightly at seeing hair similar to hers, in colour if not in style. She had to admit that, strangely clothed as she was, the girl quite beautiful, with perfect skin and dancing eyes. She gave a small start as she saw that this girl was almost as tall as Izumo, and re-estimated Kroqgar's height. He was huge!
Suddenly the girl's head swiveled in Sakura's direction, and they looked straight at each other. The grin on the other girl's face seemed to fade for a moment, and then she smiled widely back at Sakura as a greeting. Sakura blushed for a moment, then gave a small smile back. She saw the girl look at Ino beside her, and although she couldn't hear it at this distance, knew that the other had just laughed. She turned to see that Ino was still staring at the handsome stranger, almost drooling.
Sakura turned back just in time to see the girl whisper something into the boy's ear and point in their direction. He looked confused for a moment, before turning his head to gaze directly at them. Sakura was paralyzed under his gaze, and knew that she was blushing furiously, but could do nothing to stop it. His eyes were so... so... captivating. That mix of green and blue, like the sea after a storm. Suddenly his eyes moved to Ino beside her, and the spell was broken. She saw Ino start, then give a small smile and wave at him. Oddly enough, the stranger immediately flushed bright red, and then looked anywhere but at them.
With an effort, Sakura tore her gaze away from the two strangers, and focused her attention on the still staring Ino. She grabbed the blonde by her arm and started dragging her along.
"Come on Ino, you have to get to your shop. If you don't get there on time we'll need Kakashi-sensei's sharingan to calm your mother down."
...
Izumo had taken great notice of the brief interplay that had occurred behind him. What could these two strangers, who supposedly had never been in Konoha before, have to do with a Haruno and a Yamanaka? He filed this information away in his brain, gathering what he knew of these two into a mental file that he knew he would have to relay to Tsunade eventually.
...
Kroqgar and Whisper were having a hard time restraining themselves from shaking with excitement. They couldn't believe they were standing just outside the Hokage's office! Izumo had led them through the Hokage mansion (which was a lot larger than the books gave it credit for), and now they were standing before a door on a staircase that hugged the outside of the building, with a breathtaking view of the Hokage Monument behind them. With a glance back at them, Izumo slid open the door and walked inside.
They entered what looked like a waiting room, complete with a few chairs, a window, a few potted plants, and even a secretary sitting at a desk just to the left of a large set of double doors. The secretary looked to be in her late twenties, with black hair and a pleasant, smiling face. She looked up as Izumo entered, and smiled at him.
"Hey Izumo, what brings you up here?"
"Izumo stopped before her desk and smiled back. "Hey Shizune, I'm just escorting these visitors to the Hokage," he said, pointing behind him. Shizune looked behind him and noticed the two for the first time.
"Oh, hello there, welcome to Konoha!" she said with a smile, watching the two grin weakly and wave tentatively back at her. "Lady Tsunade is with someone at the moment, so if you'll just take a seat..." she trailed off as the door next to her slid open, and out backed Hana Inuzuka.
"...and the kennel cough seems to have faded, so the pups should all get better soon." she was saying.
They heard a very familiar voice respond from in the room, "Ok, thank you for the report Hana, give my best wishes to Tsume. SHIZUNE! THERE HAD BETTER NOT BE ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE!"
Shizune turned back to them with a scared smile on her face. "Heh heh, that was her last appointment for the day..."
"I HEARD THAT! I GODDAMN KNEW IT!"
"She'll see you now, go right on in. Izumo, you can go back to the gates." said Shizune, waving them forward. She leant in close and whispered, "Try not to stand too close."
"I HEARD THAT TOO!"
Izumo flipped the pair a lazy goodbye, and began walking away. Just as he was opening the door, he half turned and caught Shizune's eye. In that split second he managed to convey to her that something was up. The two before her were not as they seemed. He urged her to be alert but not alarmed. She gave him a microscopic nod and he left the room. He was followed by Hana Inuzuka, who stood aside to let the two pass by her. As they did, she smelt them, as did any Inuzuka when coming across strangers. She managed to keep her composure, but inside she was reeling at what the sniff had told her. She stared at them over her shoulder as she exited the room.
"One things for sure," she thought to herself, "Those two sure spend a lot of time around dogs."
...
Kroqgar slid the door shut behind him, and tuned to join Whisper in staring, open-mouthed, at the woman at the desk across the room, bathed in the sunlight streaming in from the open windows on the left. This was Tsunade.
Tsunade, granddaughter and grandniece of the First and Second Hokage's respectively. Tsunade, student of the Third Hokage. Tsunade, one of the three legendary sannin, the Slug Sage, and one of the most powerful people in the world. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.
The legendary woman stared back at them a moment, before saying in a dangerously low voice "It's rude to stare."
Immediately Kroqgar and Whisper snapped their jaws shut, not in the least wishing to displease the woman before them. They crossed the room to stand before her.
"So," began Tsunade, eyeing the pair up and down, "What brings you to Konoha?"
Kroqgar and Whisper shared a glance, before Kroqgar repeated what he had told Kotetsu at the gates.
"Alright," said Tsunade, leaning back in her chair with a smile. "Before you tell me about this very far away land," she began, the very being spoken quite sarcastically, "and why you have come to The Village Hidden in the Leaves..." and then she leaned forward in her chair, and glared at the two of them. "You're going to tell me why you have transformed yourselves, and you are going to reveal your true identities to me, before I kill you both."
Kroqgar and Whisper looked at each other, alarm showing in their eyes. Tsunade gave a loud laugh, and said, "I am the Godaime Hokage, did you think I wouldn't see through your disguise?"
Kroqgar looked down at her. "Very well," he said, looking weary. "Would you please invite Shizune in? I have no doubt you will tell her this anyway, and it is a long story."
Tsunade's eyebrows rose in slight surprise, but these two strangers had her intrigued now.
"Shizune!"
The door slid open, and Shizune poked her head into the room. "Yes Lady Tsunade?"
"Come in here, I want you to hear this."
Shizune gave her mentor a quizzical look, but stepped in anyway, sliding the door shut behind her, and walked over to stand by Tsunade.
"Also, before we begin," said Whisper, speaking up for the first time, "Can you seal the room so no one can hear what we say?"
At this Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. She had very rarely sealed this room, and even then only when what was being spoken was a beyond S-Rank secret. This could just as easily be a setup for an assassination attempt, they had come from younger and more innocent looking people before, but she got no sense of malice from the two. So she nodded at them, formed a hand sign in front of herself, and said "Hidden Style: Dead Silence!" A shadow seemed to pass over the entire room, then nothing else happened.
Not noticing any difference, Whisper turned towards Tsunade, and asked, "What does that do?" Or at least she tried to. Her lips moved, and she felt the sound coming out of her throat, but didn't hear a thing. She saw Kroqgar next to her trying to speak, but to no avail. Beginning to panic, she turned back to Tsunade, to notice that she was rummaging in a drawer of her desk. The sannin emerged with four tags, each with the kanji for voice on them. She gave one to everyone in the room, then put her own over her throat.
"If my lip reading is still what it used to be, then to answer your question it means that no one can hear or see what goes on in here," said the Hokage with a smile. "Now, let's hear this story of yours."
"All right," said Kroqgar, sitting down in his chair. "Get comfortable, this'll take a while. Ok... where to start..."
Whisper took the initiative, and with a thought dismissed her transformation in a poof of white smoke. Whilst she was still hidden from view, Kroqgar stood back up and followed her lead. Needless to say that even Tsunade was more than mildly surprised when she saw the appearance of two half-canine people in front of her.
Shizune, however, was blown away. The stunned expression never leaving her face, she asked, "Is everyone...like you where you come from?"
Kroqgar's short laugh told her all she needed to know. "No, we are the only two like this."
"But why? How did you become....?" Tsunade trailed off, gesturing wordlessly at them.
Whisper drew in a sharp intake of breath, and her ears flattened against her head. Kroqgar's eyes flashed dangerously, but otherwise he remained unmoved by the question. "That's another story," he said.
"O...K..." haltingly replied Tsunade, willing to let sleeping dogs lie. (A/N: Hehehe.)
"And we don't come from far away," continued Kroqgar, settling down in his chair once more and taking care not to sit on his tail (an act that Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but notice), "We come from...an entirely different plane of existence. A different reality..."
"...a different world," breathed Whisper, finishing Kroqgar's sentence.
...
Kroqgar and Whisper told her everything. Where they had come from, what their world was like, how they had gotten here. Tsunade noticed they left out just how they had come into being, but decided not to push the issue. She didn't want to displease these people they could learn so much from. The two had almost finished their explanation of how they had come to the village when a light clicked on in her head, and she butted in.
"So I suppose you two are responsible for the destruction just outside the village?" At the confused looks the pair gave her, she sighed before elaborating, "Broken trees, smashed rocks, torn up grass...?"
"Oh," said the girl, who Tsunade now knew as Whisper. The foxy lady reached her hand up and nervously scratched at the back of her head, before grinning and saying "Yeah, that was us. When we came here we found that we were both really strong and fast, and we can manipulate chakra."
"Woah, hold on. You know about chakra?" Shizune interrupted, not caring that it wasn't her place to speak.
Kroqgar gave her a funny look. "Of course we do."
"Well then how come you haven't said anything about it before now? Why didn't you use it to help yourselves hide back in your world?"
Whisper replied "Because we couldn't use it in our world. No one can, it is unheard of."
Tsunade frowned. "Then how do you know of chakra's existence?"
The two before her shared a glance, before the girl nodded, and Kroqgar turned back to her with a sigh.
"In our world," he said, "There is an anime series, it is really popular. The anime is called Naruto."
Shizune laughed. "We have a Naruto here in our village."
Tsunade smiled at those words, before turning to the pair before her and smirking. "I don't suppose it's about him is it?" she asked, every word laced with sarcasm.
Instead of laughing as she expected the pair to do, Kroqgar responded with a dead serious face, "Yes. It is."
Tsunade did a massive double take. "What!?"
Whisper looked her straight in the eyes as she responded. "The series is all about Naruto Uzumaki, genin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and the container of the Nine Tailed Fox. It follows his career as a ninja."
Tsunade and Shizune's eyes met, and there was no mirth in the room now. Tsunade recovered from her shock quickly.
"So what you're saying is," said the older blonde, "That our whole existence...our reality is just an anime series in your world." It wasn't a question.
Kroqgar answered it though. "Yes. It is."
Tsunade'e eyes slid between the two in front of her. "You'll forgive me if I find this all a bit hard to believe."
Kroqgar and Whisper had foreseen this though, and had prepared exactly what they were going to say. "We know that the Yondaime Hokage fought but could not kill the Nine Tailed Fox. He sealed it inside his newborn son, Naruto. Naruto is despised by most of the village because of this, because they see him as a demon who took away the Hokage they all loved. He became a genin after failing the graduation test three times, because of his terrible clones. He learned the shadow clone jutsu after stealing the scroll containing it from this very building. He is a member of Team 7, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Their sensei is Kakashi Hatake, the copycat ninja."
Tsunade's jaw hit her desk halfway through Whisper's explanation. These two knew things that no one could possibly know. Still...it was not beyond the realms of possibility for them to have gathered all this information...
"Alright," said the sannin, composing herself. "If you can answer seven more questions, I will believe you." The two seated before her nodded for her to continue. "What is my last name, my brother's name, my lover's name, the names and titles of my grandfather and granduncle, and Shizune's relation to any of those people? Also, what summon contract have I signed, and who is my personal summon?"
Kroqgar didn't even blink. "Your last name is Senju, your brother's name is Nawaki and your lover's name is Dan, though both of those two have passed away. Your grandfather, Hashirama Senju, was the First Hokage, and his brother, your granduncle, Tobirama Senju, was the Second Hokage. Shizune is Dan's niece. You have signed a summon contract with the Slug Clan, and your personal summon is the clan's head, the slug queen Katsuyu."
Shizune's eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and her eyebrows were so high they were in danger of losing themselves in her hairline. This...this wasn't possible! These two knew things, things that they couldn't possibly know. Unless, of course, their claim that Shizune's entire reality was...was a cartoon was true. But that wasn't possible. Shizune's mind warred with itself as she tried to reach a conclusion. Sure, the appearance of the duo between them lent credence to...well, basically any far-fetched claim they would make, but still... No matter what something looked like, the thought of another reality existing was not difficult to believe in, but that the two before her were from a different reality....That was a whole new can of beans, in her opinion.
Tsunade however, seemed to accept it easily. Shizune knew her mentor well enough to figure out why she was acting the way she was, and how her thought process worked. She clung to this like a lifeline, drowning as she was in the whirl of her thoughts. Tsunade had proven through her questioning that the two before her knew things that were known by only very few people, and Tsunade not only personally knew all these people, but also personally knew they wouldn't reveal this information. Therefore, Kroqgar and Whisper knew things it was not possible to know unless their story, or some other set of entirely implausible circumstances was true. And seeing as Shizune had yet to think of another set of circumstances that fit with the facts before her, the two's story had to be true. That wouldn't stop her from wondering how it was true, but not right now. She had to keep her wits about her and see what Tsunade had to say.
"Alright," said the sannin, steepling her fingers before herself. "insane as your story may seem, in light of your knowledge I have to believe you, there is no other way you could know these things. The question is though, what do you want, now that you are in our world? You have only spoken of your world, and how you got here. What are your plans?"
Whisper and Kroqgar had spoken about this, and the answer was easy. It was their dream.
"We want to become Leaf shinobi," said Whisper.
"Because of the circumstances we would like to be genin straight away. Neither of us really wanna go to school, and we think that since we basically have passed all the tests to become a genin anyway it's not unfair," continued Kroqgar.
Tsunade considered this for a moment, before nodding her head. "That's reasonable." The sannin leaned down and rummaged in her desk, and emerged with two Leaf headbands, the symbol of Konoha gleaming proudly on the metal plate. She leaned forwards, and handed one to each of the two in front of her. "I'm sure you know what these are. Wear them with pride. Congratulations, you are now shinobi!"
Whisper gave a small squeal of joy, before clasping her hands to her mouth in embarrassment, and Kroqgar clenched one fist and softly said "Yes!"
Shizune however, was not so happy. "Lady Hokage?" she asked, as she leaned in closer to Tsunade, "Might I have a word with you?"
Tsunade had expected this. "Of course Shizune. Would you two mind taking those tags off for a moment?"
Kroqgar and Whisper had no issue with that; they had both been expecting far more skepticism than this. They both reached up and peeled the tags off their throats. They watched Tsunade and Shizune curiously. The Hokage and her assistant seemed to be having a conversation; only their mouths were closed. Their heads were moving, they were gesturing, but that was it. Little did they know that if they were outside the range of Tsunade's Dead Silence jutsu when she had used it they wouldn't even be able to see them without the tags.
Shizune and Tsunade however, were anything but silent.
"Lady Tsunade, do you think it is wise to trust them so quickly? How are you sure they are on our side?"
"The fact of the matter is Shizune, that I'm not sure they're on our side. Nor do I trust them entirely. But they have information. If our existence is a story to them, who knows what they could know? They could tell us anything we wanted about the other nations! How can we turn down that opportunity?"
"Well, I suppose..."
"Shizune, I'm not gonna lie. The information that they have is priceless. I think it's best to keep them happy, and under subtle observation, until we decide what to do with them. They seem like good people, and if it turns out they truly want to be Leaf shinobi then we could be gaining a great asset. And we simply can't let the other nations get a hold of them. We'll keep them here, and even train them, but we will keep an eye on them."
"If you say so, Lady Hokage."
With a nod to Shizune, Tsunade turned back to Kroqgar and Whisper, and gestured for them to replace their tags. After they did, she said, "From now on you two are citizens and genin of Konoha. Shizune will show you the village, then she will take you to your new home. You won't have to pay any rent, and it is already furbished." The Hokage rummaged in one of her draws once again, then came back up holding a small purse and a key. She handed the key to Shizune, and the purse to Whisper. "That should be enough ryo for now. Soon you two will start going on missions, and start earning your keep. Speaking of which, I want you both back here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to meet your new jounin senseis. They'll take you to meet your new teams. (Tsunade noticed that at the mention of joining a team both of the youths before her grew quite excited.) Shizune, you know the place they're staying at. It's tenant just left because she didn't like her neighbour," Tsunade said, a smile quirking her lips. "Before you take them anywhere though Shizune, I would go to The Iron Kimono and get them some clothes from Hotaru, on the Hokage tab. Hopefully they won't stick out as much then. See you tomorrow morning, you two."
Kroqgar and Whisper both stood up, and with a thought Tsunade cancelled her jutsu. The two took off their tags and handed them back to Tsunade, before bowing slightly, a bit unsure of how to communicate their thanks.
Tsunade gave a short laugh. "No need to bow, I don't think I'll get used to it. Just tell me if your grateful!"
"Thank you very much for all this, Lady Hokage," said Kroqgar, a big smile on his wolfish face. "We promise you won't regret your faith in us." Whisper backed this up with a big smile and a nod. Tsunade felt a brief flush of guilt flash through her. "Out of curiosity though, how long have you been Hokage?"
Tsunade smiled and said, "Hmmm, let me think... about a week."
Kroqgar's smile grew slightly fixed, and she noticed a flash of worry go through his eyes. It did not take a Nara to figure out why.
"Something bad is going to happen soon, isn't it?"
Kroqgar started, then all too late brought a smile back to his face and said "Of course not!"
"You can't lie to a sannin, Kroqgar. I assume you haven't made the offer of telling us the future because you are going to keep that to yourselves?"
The two exchanged a glance, and Whisper said "We're sorry, but we don't want to mess with time. If we changed something for the better, who knows how bad it could turn out? We..." the vixen girl hesitated, glancing at Kroqgar. "We might tell you about some small things, if we think that changing them could only be for the better. But that's a big if."
Tsunade saw the wisdom in this, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "We'll talk more about this another time," she said, and saw Kroqgar and Whisper nod in agreement. They turned to leave, and Tsunade stopped them with a question.
"Aren't you two forgetting something?" she asked with a quirked brow.
Kroqgar and Whisper looked at her quizzically, then at themselves, before realization dawned on them. They both said "Oooooooh!" at the exact same time. They then made the Tiger hand seal, and disappeared in a puff of smoke, to reappear seconds later in their human guises. Tsunade chuckled at their cluelessness, but got deadly serious in an instant.
"No one else is to know about your appearance yet, understand? If anyone else found out, it could endanger your lives, and the whole village. From now on your true form is an S-Rank secret, and is only to be revealed to people if I say so. Got it?"
Kroqgar and Whisper nodded their understanding, and walked towards the entrance to the room, where Shizune was holding the door open. As the two were leaving the room, Tsunade called after them "Remember, my office, nine o'clock tomorrow morning!" Shizune closed the door with a quick bow to Tsunade, and the sannin was left alone. A sudden thought dawned on her.
"AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHIZUNE, DON'T LET THEM NEAR THE INUZUKAS!!"
The Iron Kimono and Hotaru are both the intellectual property of MikeJV37. I strongly urge you to go to his profile page on Fanfiction.net and check out his stories, especially The Fox Hidden in the Leaves. I couldn't stop reading it.
I'd like to hear people's opinions on how I'm portraying Whisper and Kroqgar as a male and a female. I'm not great at writing female leads, and I've been trying to do my best to focus on her as much as him. I don't want her too seem weak when compared to him, I want them to seem equal, so I would really like some feedback on whether I need to make her stronger.