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Chapter 4: A Big Day

Kroqgar and Whisper neglected to remind Shizune that they likely knew their way around Konoha better than her, they could not turn down this opportunity to see Konoha in person. But first they were to go to the The Iron Kimono, which was obviously some sort of clothing store. What surprised them was that they had never heard of it.

As Shizune walked ahead of the pair, droning on about nothing of great interest, they slowed their walking to gain a respectable distance.

"So what do you think of this 'Iron Kimono'?", asked Kroqgar, eyes constantly roving, taking in every detail. He noticed with little surprise that when they had walked in with Izumo, they had been greeted by most of the villager's with stares that couldn't quite be called hostile, but were certainly wary. Since Tsunade had only just become Hokage though, this was to be expected. Konoha had fallen on rough times, with the invasion by The Villages Hidden in the Sound and Sand, and the death of the Third Hokage at the hands of Orochimaru. But even since they had put on the fore head protectors that Tsunade had given them (Whisper had tied hers around her fore head, but Kroqgar had decided to tie his around his right bicep) no one had given them a second glance.

"I dunno," said Whisper, the smile she had gotten once leaving Tsunade's office still warm on her face, "I suppose there are gonna be things that we've never heard of before."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Masashi Kishimoto wouldn't have written every single little detail of the entire Naruto universe. There are bound to be shops, restaurants, people, everything that we have no idea about. We really only know the main events. We're gonna have to figure out the other stuff as we go."

"I guess so... In that case," Kroqgar said, flashing a devious grin in her direction, "Maybe we should listen to what Shizune has to say?"

Whisper giggled, and like Kroqgar sped up a little until Shizune was back in hearing range.

"...and over there is where the Ninja Academy is, obviously that's where the younger children who want to become ninjas are trained and eventually take the genin exams. On your right," said the raven haired woman, gesturing to the east and by the vagueness of her gesture indicating a few streets over, "is where the village hot springs are..." Shizune suddenly stopped and turned to face them, eyes closed and grinning in mild embarrassment. A hand reached up to scratch at the back of her head as she said, "Though, I guess you two already know all this huh?"

Kroqgar and Whisper caught up to Shizune and started walking alongside her down the Konoha High Street. "Well, I suppose we sort of know our way around the village, as well as where a few landmarks are, and maybe where a few people live," said Whisper, smiling warmly at Shizune, "but we could still use this tour. Our knowledge of your world isn't complete. Imagine if people were watching your whole life. Sure, some times it would be very exciting, but a lot of the things you do would be pretty boring. Necessary, but still boring. What we've seen of your world really only covers the really exciting parts, the big events, and a lot of the things around Naruto himself. Back in our world he was the main character of the whole series, and it followed what he did more than anything else. But all the little things, the day-to-day stuff... we have no idea."

"So..." said Shizune, brow furrowed as she mulled over what they were telling her, "You know all about... for example, Lady Tsunade's battle with Jiraiya against Orochimaru?"

"In great detail," responded Kroqgar.

"But you don't know about the latest prank that Naruto played?"

"Depends. What was it?"

Despite herself, Shizune smiled. "He had one of his shadow clones give Jiraiya a present in the middle of the street. There was a bra inside. Jiraiya got a nosebleed as soon as he saw it, and thanked Naruto. Naruto just said, "Enjoy it pervy sage!" and dismissed his shadow clone. As soon as the smoke cleared Jiraiya saw Anko Mitarashi and she yelled out "That's mine!"

Kroqgar and Whisper laughed long and loud. Tears streamed from their eyes, and they got more than a few strange looks from passers-by. Shizune joined in, albeit more discreetly. She personally thought that Naruto had outdone himself with this latest hijink, and mentally took her hat off to him.

"No, we hadn't heard about that," said Whisper when their laughter died down, still with a hint of a giggle in her voice. "And remind me to congratulate Naruto when I see him."

Shizune grinned before noticing where they were. "Oh, here we are!"

Whisper and Kroqgar both looked up and followed Whisper's gaze to the large, prosperous looking shop before them. The sign over the door read "The Iron Kimono".

...

Hotaru Kazenagare smiled in the sultriest way she possibly could. She was leaning against the counter in her store, one arm resting on it, the other holding up her head in her hand. Her eyes were half lidded, her hair framing her face. She had taken great care to ensure that much of her ample cleavage was showing from her shirt, as her breasts rested on the surface in front of her. Her rear was stuck out at an obscene angle.

She had been amusing herself for the past half hour by trying to make herself look as absolutely sexy as she possibly could in the mirror across her store. It was almost two o'clock and her usually bustling store had been empty for the past hour. The normally procrastinating ex-jounin had decided to stay up late last night after a busy day and catch up to her work, expecting another hectic day on the morrow, and her foresight was rewarded with crippling boredom.

She was just beginning to contemplate closing early when she heard the unmistakable sound of her door sliding open. She started noticeably and faster than the eye could see she fixed her hair and closed her partially open shirt. She was blushing slightly; her activities had gotten her slightly hot under the collar. There was more than a hint of colour on her cheeks. Her eyes lit up as she saw who it was.

"Shizune!", she called out as the Hokage's assistant entered her store. "What brings you here at this time of the day?" Normally the younger woman would be working with the Hokage until much later.

"Good afternoon Hotaru. I'm showing our two newest shinobi around the village, they just arrived earlier today and don't have anything except the clothes on their backs. So, they need a new wardrobe, and when I thought about it there was only one place to go. And before you ask... this is on the Hokage tab."

Hotaru smiled warmly at the compliment, her eyes widened at the mention of a new wardrobe, and she practically salivated at the thought of working on the Hokage tab. She didn't want the money, if she didn't have to make a living somehow she would sell her clothes for free, but the thought of being able to go all out on someone was as a moth to a flame. As the two walked into her store with a great amount of willpower she was able to resist her natural urge to measure them in her head. All her old customers were used to it, but she didn't want to scare away any new ones.

"Welcome to The Iron Kimono, casual and formal clothes and battlgear for shinobi! My name is Hotaru, how can I help you today!" She had her warmest smile on; she got a good vibe from these two. More than that, the boy that had stepped into the store was gorgeous. She could tell that she was easily fifteen years his senior, but at this precise moment she didn't particularly care. Her activities of the last half hour had a nice buzz of endorphins flowing through her system, and her already warm nether regions suddenly felt a flash of heat pass through them.

"Nice to meet you Hotaru", replied Whisper, smiling warmly at this woman. She seemed very nice. "My name is Whisper, and he's Kroqgar." Kroqgar acknowledged his name with a nod and smile at Hotaru. The woman's gaze seemed to linger on Kroqgar for longer than necessary, and Whisper saw him going slightly red in her peripheral vision.

Hotaru tore her eyes away from Kroqgar to look back at Whisper, hoping that no one had noticed her brief slip-up. Briefly she thought to herself "I wouldn't mind measuring that one up" before asking "What brings you to my store, Whisper and Kroqgar?"

"Well," responded the admittedly very beautiful girl, "we don't really have any clothes and the Hokage said this was the only place to go for them, so...here we are!"

"What would you like to look at?"

Whisper considered this for a moment. As she thought, she felt something inside herself. A sort of fizz, like some sort of chemical reaction deep within, it spread out to her limbs, energizing them, bubbling along her senses as she felt energy flood herself. It spread to her brain and filled her vision, and before she knew what she was saying her mouth parted from it's massive smile and she blurted out "Everything!"

Kroqgar's head and shoulders slumped.

...

Whisper admired herself in the mirror affixed to the wall of the small changing room. After several hours of exhaustive (and in Kroqgar's opinion, utterly boring) searching and trying, Whisper had finally settled on the outfit she liked. She was wearing skin-tight black shorts that came to about halfway down her thighs. She also had on a wire mesh singlet similar to Shikarmaru's or Anko's however unlike the latter's it could not be seen through. On top of that she wore a button-up long sleeve shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over her biceps, and the buttons undone. The shirt itself was a very dark purple, with two pink circles on either side, just above where Whisper's ribs ended. The was a pink line running from the circles up and around either side of the sleeves, meeting at the top and then running down onto the sleeves themselves, where it expanded outwards so that, if the sleeves were unrolled, they would be solid pink from the elbow down. This was all topped off by dark purple fingerless gloves with a pink snowflake artfully woven into the back. Her left glove was of usual length, but the glove on her right hand reached her elbow, and was armoured along the outside edge from wrist to elbow. The armour itself was a dark red. Her fore head protector was still protecting her fore head, and she wore dark purple shinobi sandals to match the rest of her outfit. (Hotaru had noticed whilst measuring the girl that she was rather thin, and had deduced that wherever she had come from she had worked hard for a very modest living. She had equipped all the girls clothing with a special seal usually reserved for the Akimichi clan, so that their clothing wouldn't break when they used their expansion jutsus. Whisper's clothing would still be comfortable, but would stretch to accommodate her as she put weight back on to a healthy level. The same could be said of Kroqgar's.)

She opened the door and stepped out of the small changing room, noticing Kroqgar conversing quietly with Shizune on the other side of the store. Kroqgar had been finished for some time now, and Whisper could readily admit to herself that he looked quite handsome in his new clothes.

He was wearing a white and black uniform, with long, slightly loose white pants tucked into black boots with a white stripe circling the top, extending down the sides and back, and along the top to the toes. He was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt that was very open in the front, with a black undershirt and black wristbands. A black obi (sash) along his waist hid where the shirt ended and the pants began.

Basically, he looked like a black and white copy of Goku from Dragon Ball Z.

Amidst several of the Naruto volumes accumulated over the years by the two had been previews, snippets and sometimes entire volumes of various other mangas, but the only one they had enjoyed to some extent had been these slightly strange ones named Dragon Ball Z. They had only sporadically found them, and had a few far apart volumes in the series, so following the story was a lost cause, but what they could deduce was interesting enough. Whisper hadn't been particularly engrossed in it, but Kroqgar had read and re-read them, the combat and brute force in the book calling on the testosterone in him, the bloodlust and flames of combat that seem inherent in every teenage male. He had taken a liking to the main character of the series, one Goku, and had always wondered what it would be like to wear the famed uniform.

Now, he was wearing it himself, albeit a slightly modified version, and couldn't be happier. At his request, Hotaru had also put the kanji for 'new life' onto the back of his uniform, in black colouring and inside a large, empty black circle. When he had decided that these were the clothes for him, Hotaru had given him a big smile, before requesting the clothing back for a moment and disappearing into the back room. He smiled as he remembered her words as she handed it back to him.

"I've just put my special stain-repelling jutsu on that for you. Can't have your brand new white clothes getting dirty can we? Half the women in the village would kill to learn that jutsu!"

He looked over and saw Whisper emerging from the changing room, and his breath caught in his throat for the briefest of moments. She noticed his slightly startled gaze, and smiled at her own feet in embarrassment. She walked over to him and asked with a grin "So... how do I look?"

He made a strangled sort of noise and nodded absently, wide eyes never blinking as they roved over her. Shizune stifled a laugh with her hand at his actions. It was obvious how much he cared for her.

They stood there discussing each other's clothes for a few minutes, until Hotaru walked over to them from the back room. She gave them all a warm smile (her eyes seemed to flash as they roved over Kroqgar) and said "Alright, all your clothes are rung up. Here you go!" She handed Kroqgar a small scroll that she had sealed all their clothes in (they had bought several copies of their current clothes, as well as copies in different colours, plus just some casual clothing to wear around) and he tucked it into his pocket with a nod.

"Hotaru, we don't know how to thank you for all your help with our clothes. You're the second friend we've made here", said Whisper, with a grin at Shizune. Shizune smiled back. "If you ever need anything, you just ask and we'll do our best to help."

Hotaru smiled back, slightly embarrassed at the sincere thanks. "Don't worry about it, you don't owe me anything, I was happy to help. Just remember to come to The Iron Kimono for all your clothing needs", she said with a smile.

With a chuckle Kroqgar said "We'll do just that."

Shizune stepped forward, pulling an official looking card from somewhere within her clothing. "So how much sake is this gonna make Lady Tsunade drink to forget about Hotaru?"

Hotaru laughed for a moment, before responding "I'll make you a deal. You can have all of it for free if you give me those." She pointed at Kroqgar and Whisper's old clothes, draped over a chair by the changing room.

"Our old clothes?" asked Whisper, a quizzical expression on her face. "What do you want with them?"

"I've never seen anything like them!" said Hotaru, walking over to the clothes. She picked up a pair of jeans, and started running her fingers over them. "The material, the design! It's so different from anything I've ever seen. If you give these to me you don't have to worry about paying me a thing."

Kroqgar smiled. "Deal. We were just gonna get rid of them anyway, they're all yours."

Hotaru fairly bounced in happiness, and in a brief lapse of dignity threw her arms around Kroqgar in thanks. She stepped back, a faint blush on her cheeks, and said "I'm sorry, I lost my head for a moment! Thank you so much for this, I'll never forget it!"

They both looked uncomfortable at the amount of praise they were getting. Whisper muttered "They're only pants..."

"Alright, come on you two", said Shizune, "We still have places to go and things to do."

"All right. Thank you very much Hotaru, for all your help" said Kroqgar with a smile.

"No, thank you," said Hotaru, as the trio headed for the door. "Remember to come back if you ever need more clothes! Bye!"

"Bye Hotaru!" they all yelled as they walked out, Kroqgar shutting the door behind them.

Hotaru immediately took a small sign from beneath the counter, and went over to the door. She slid it open before hanging the small sign on it, signifying to anyone that walked past that, as the sign said, The Iron Kimono was "CLOSED". Hotaru almost ran back to the jeans, mind bubbling with ideas and thoughts of what she could do with them. She laughed out loud at the thought of what Ino would have to say upon learning of this entirely new fashion development. As she proceeded into the back of her shop, and the stairs there that led to her own home above it, she idly wondered why Shizune had hid the fact that Kroqgar and Whisper both had tails, and were transformed. Surely the Hokage's assistant would realize that as the master tailor she was, she would've seen through any illusion on her customers? She made a mental note to keep the information to herself; obviously they wanted their appearance's kept hidden. She decided to bring it up with the Hokage next time the older kunoichi visited her store, for her monthly check on the new clothes. The woman was only a dozen or so years older than Hotaru herself, and as she herself was fond of saying, "You're never too old to appreciate fashion."

...

Tenten sat in her family's shop, running a circular stone down a katana, over and over. She had been sitting there, doing this on autopilot, for well over an hour, but The Wolf's Claw weapon shop was known for their superior weaponry, and she'd be damned if she ruined the name of the family business.

So lost was she, in fact, in her trance-like state, that she did not even notice the tell-tale sliding sound of the door to the shop opening, nor the muted conversation that followed. She was, however, a ninja, and whilst caught slightly off-guard, she was not so slack to fail to notice when three figures crossed her field of vision.

More than mildly embarrassed at her state of zone-outedness, she almost dropped the whetstone. Quickly sliding both stone and sword under the counter she was seated behind, she stood up to greet her customers. One she recognized as the new Hokage's assistant. The other two, however, she had never seen before. They both appeared young, and wore the headband that dictated they were Leaf shinobi, but the slight stiffness in their garments, common to almost any newly-bought piece of clothing, told the sharp-eyed and -minded kunoichi that these two were very new citizens of Konoha indeed, let alone shinobi.

Her observations took less than a second. "Hello there, and welcome to The Wolf's Claw, best weapons in Konoha! You're the Hokage's assistant aren't you?"

"I certainly am," said the raven-haired woman with a smile. "My name is Shizune, and this is Kroqgar and Whisper." She gestured to each as they were named, and they both smiled at the young weapons fanatic.

"A pleasure to meet you all, I'm Tenten. What can I get for you today?"

"Well," said Kroqgar, (whom Tenten only now noticed was hot) "As it stands, we kinda...don't.... have any weapons." A sheepish smile crept across his face as he saw the shocked look on Tenten's.

"No... weapons? Wow...." Tenten couldn't even imagine herself weaponless. "Well, let's fix that! What would you like?"

With a shrug, Whisper responded "The standard set, I guess."

"Alright then!" said Tenten, and with that walked out from behind the counter and grabbed a couple of standard weapon pouches. "We'll get you each a standard package of kunai and shuriken." They walked around the shop, grabbing the aforementioned items, and putting them into the pouches. They chatted amiably about the different types of weapons, and all the while Kroqgar and Whisper began to feel more and more uncomfortable.

They didn't have the slightest clue how to use any of these.

Finally they had all the needed items in the right sizes for the two new shinobi. Tenten walked back behind the counter, carrying their weapon pouches.

"Is that everything you need?" asked the young kunoichi.

...

White shot through Kroqgar and Whisper's vision, taking them completely off guard. It would not have been so bad if Shizune saw, she had heard the explanation of their insights in the Hokage's office, but they both knew it would be a bad idea to show any more than necessary about themselves to anyone else for the time being. Flashing through their minds was image after image of every weapon conceivable, every blade, bludgeon, spike or stick one could think of. Trajectories, angles, thoughts and knowledge forced their way into the heads of Konoha's newest shinobi. They could feel their bodies tingling as muscle memory that they didn't remember working for was driven through them. It took every ounce of will the two possessed to keep their composure, and even then they were sure that the weapons kunoichi would notice something. But now they both knew how to fight with and against every weapon one could think of. And well.

But above all, through the maelstrom of all their new thoughts, one image, one thought, one fact, reigned supreme. This particular thought was different for both of them, but they knew from that point on it would become a part of them.

...

Tenten became a little worried as the two before her seemed to hesitate before answering. She noticed that their eyes seemed to go slack for a moment, and their bodies looked like a wave of tension swept over them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shizune's watchful glance between the two. Then, they seemed to normalize, and continued as if nothing had happened, albeit shooting a glance at each other.

"No, thank you very much, but that's all for today," said Whisper, a small smile on her face. "But..." She glanced at Kroqgar, who nodded imperceptibly.

"Yes?" asked Tenten, ever the polite shopkeep.

"Well...that's it for now, but...we will probably be back in soon... for something very special."

"All...right," said Tenten, a slightly confused expression on her face. "Well, I look forward to seeing you again then!" she continued, as Shizune stepped up to the counter, official Hokage-card in hand.

...

Shizune wheeled on the two of them as Kroqgar closed the door behind them, still waving to Tenten, both of the genin holding their new weapons pouches.

"What was that in there?" she said, indicating the store with a jerk of her head. "Did you guys have another one of your insights?"

"Yeah", said Whisper, rubbing at her eye, with the palm of her hand. All this new knowledge was giving her a headache. But she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she said "We know all about how to use weapons now."

Shizune looked to Kroqgar, who confirmed this with a smile and nod. She nodded herself, pleased with this. Even though she had known them only for a few hours, she had come to like these two, and did not wish them harm. "Good, that's information we want you to have."

With a chuckle, Kroqgar said "We should hope so."

They all laughed for a moment. Finally, Shizune asked "What was that about coming back? And it being very special?"

"When we got the insight, we both saw which weapon we are going to use from now on," said Kroqgar.

"Well, why didn't you get it then? Don't worry about it, it's on the house!"

"They wouldn't have had these weapons on hand," said Whisper, "They are unique, and likely very, very expensive. We don't want to take more than we need."

"Well, even if you don't need it, it sounds like you two would be pretty handy with these weapons of yours," said Shizune, a thoughtful look gracing her features. "Since you say they would be so expensive, I can't really pay for them now, but I can talk to Lady Tsunade for you and see what I can do?"

"Really? You'd do that for us?" said Whisper, astonished at this woman's kindness. Shizune's reply was a strangled "Yes..." as both Kroqgar and Whisper almost crushed her with a hug.

...

Several hours later, Shizune took them along the path to what was to be their new home. They had walked the streets of Konoha, talked to some of the people, seen the places that no one else from their reality had ever seen. They were both fighting a losing battle against the twin terrors of wide-eyes and slack jaws from the start, at some of the stories and background Shizune told them, that they had never heard before. For example, they were told that the record for the quickest lap on record around the village was set by a young Might Guy, over a decade ago, and before he had caught his breath his record had been shattered by the Fourth Hokage, who had done the lap instantaneously. Though to soften the blow, the Hokage had said that he cheated, and that the record still belonged to Guy.

Both Kroqgar and Whisper had noticed it: something about this area seemed familiar. They hadn't been here before, but they felt like they had. They both shrugged it off, thinking themselves paranoid, but they couldn't quite shake the niggling sensation at the back of their thoughts, especially as a building came into view.

It was a two-story affair, with outside stairs leading to the second level. It looked like it had seen better days as well, the paint was either peeling or long gone, the boards slightly warped.

"Don't worry," said Shizune, misreading the slightly confused expressions on their faces. "It might not look that great, but the inside is fine, and you only have one neighbour."

They both nodded at her, wiping the confused looks off their faces. She led them up the stairs, and along a small walkway, past one other door. Both Kroqgar and Whisper glanced at it; something about it rang a bell.

Shizune stepped up to the next door, the only other on the landing, and withdrew a key from her robes, sliding it into the lock. She opened the door and stood aside.

"Alright, here's your new apartment," she said with a smile. As they walked inside she handed Kroqgar the key, two sheets of paper and two pencils.

"That's your key, and the papers are a personality test. We need it to help us decide which teams to put you two on. It's not anything hard, just "Which do you prefer", or "What would you do" and such."

Kroqgar and Whisper nodded as they glanced over the papers. "What do we do once we finish them?" asked the taller shinobi.

"An ANBU will be along to pick them up in an hour. They shouldn't take that long, but I would get started right away anyway, just in case you get stuck on something. Oh, and one more thing," continued the kunoichi with a growing smile, "While I was showing you two around Lady Hokage had a special seal placed on this apartment. Whenever anyone looks in, they will always see you...as you are now. But if anyone comes in, they will see you in whatever form you are in."

Kroqgar's smile was warm and genuine and Whisper's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Never had they imagined such kindess. Shizune's smiled seemed to say that she understood that they couldn't accurately convey their thanks through words.

"All right, I'll see you two tomorrow morning, remember, nine o'clock! I won't be able to save you if your late," said Shizune with a smile as she started to turn away.

"Bye Shizune... and thank you," said Whisper, those words filled with emotion. Kroqgar didn't trust himself to speak, and simply swallowed and nodded. With a final wave, the Hokage's assistant walked off, and they closed the door.

...

Despite Shizune's advice to get started as soon as they could, Kroqgar set down the papers on a small table near the door, and he and Whisper both went and sat on the small couch. They put their new weapons pouches, the purse from Tsunade, and the scroll containing their clothes on the table in front of them. For a few minutes they both just sat there, zoned out, staring into space. Whisper was broken out of her reverie by a small popping sound next to her, and a puff of smoke. She realized Kroqgar had dropped his disguise, and with a thought dismissed her own. When she could see Kroqgar again, she saw that he was smiling at her.

He reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, and softly said, "I'd missed that face."

Her ears flushed red, but she did not pull away. With an embarrassed smile she leant in and rested on him, and he wrapped his arm around her. They sat there talking about the day so far, reliving moments of it. There was a particularly tense few moments when they hid in an alley after Shizune had pulled them in there, to hide from Tsume Inuzuka, out walking some of her clans dogs. The clan head had almost sniffed them out, but they managed to give her the slip. They didn't trust the scent-specialized jounin not to see through their disguises.

Eventually Kroqgar disengaged from Whisper, and brought over the personality tests. He set them down on the table, and they both did theirs in silence, occasionally asking a question of the other. Just as they both laid their pencils down, they heard a knock on their door. They glanced at each other, and Kroqgar silently transformed into his human guise, just as a precaution. Whisper followed his lead. He opened the door and saw one of the familiar, masked ninja standing there.

"Good day, I'm here to collect some documents for Lady Hokage?" said the ANBU politely.

"Oh, hello," said Kroqgar with a smile. Whisper waved from further in. "Hang on a second, just let me get those for you..." He walked back and grabbed his and Whisper's, before returning to the ANBU.

"Here you go, all filled in."

"Thank you," the ANBU said with a nod. He made to leave, but seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I hear your new here, so take my word for it, and don't judge us all on your neighbour. He's coming now," and with that he nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Whisper joined Kroqgar at the doorway, and they both heard the slight tapping sound of shoes climbing the stairs. They saw someone come up onto the landing from the stairs. And they recognized that someone from the top of his spiky yellow hair to the bottom of his orange jumpsuit.

The figure started as he saw them standing there, then grinned very widely.

"New neighbours, huh?", said Naruto, mischief evident in every line of his body. "I hope you guys are better than the last one, he was no fun."

The Wolf's Claw is 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.