This is a Haiban Hollow fanfic. I do not own any of the Naruto characters. Please read and review.
-Haiban Hollow
Chapter 1
Owning a comic shop is interesting, especially when it comes to being con season. Cosplayers would be buying snacks, mostly Pocky, left and right and large amount of items being sold almost immediately once they hit the shelves. Sometimes if they could get away from the fangirls that is famous voice actors come swinging in to buy something and sign a couple of posters, even a few plushies you'd hold behind the counter that you would sit out sometimes to greet customers of characters that they've voiced for. Business was booming for your small town shop. Well actually it wasn't exactly a small town but also not a big town, that's for sure.
Your thriving little shop was placed on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho; placed in the state that most people don't care about. Where the smallest of events either get put in the newspaper or on the news. You were just glad you stocked up THREE MONTHS before the 'rabinus' cosplayers and non-cosplayers came stampeding through your shop. But that was two months ago. The customers had dwindled to almost a trickle. Nowadays things where pretty boring, rarely ever a single cosplayer in sight, both literally and metaphorically speaking. As lonely as ever. No boyfriend to speak of in sight.
You did have those guys that you had befriended, but they were either gay, or already taken. Even your little brother that was three years younger than you had more of a love life than you, with his own 'Juliet', in both terms. You envied them, but glad they were at least happy. Life never seems to move very much when you're in a full swing lovelorn mood. Which, of course, could make you flirty at times. Sitting around in the shop all day couldn't be good for your health, either. Often enough, one of your very 'few' employees arrived for their shift and you were immediately out the door, heading for the art supplies store (called the 'Boise Blue') and then on to public library afterwards.
From canvasses to drawing pads, from acrylic to oil paints, it was all there. You would paint the workers pictures or drawings, and some times they'd been nice and give you a nice 20 discount, which made your life that much easier. They'd even drop of your art supplies back at your shop. The 'Public Library' on the other hand was across town and didn't do deliveries but you'd borrow books from there anyways. As for Borders well, that was a once in a month thing for you now since the gas prices are ridicules. Your friends would call you up if they where ever at the mall to see if you had any books you were just dieing to get. You have a car and all but almost everything was walking distance so driving when you could walk seemed pointless.
Besides there wasn't much to your life right now. Just a single you, friends, family, and the occasional stray animal that you would help find its owner. Every night you made it a habit to leave a small bowl of food and water at the back porch of your shop alongside the small dog house that had old donated towels in it to keep them warm and out of the cold that had a small flap to keep the wind out. Always changing the towels every 5 days or so. You'd keep them in the back room if they where willing to stay. Most of them had collars but not all the time so you'd have to put up posters.
The latest one you found was a female adult dog. She'd apparently been a dog breed called Cav-A-Mo. Her tag only had her name, Kinu written out in the single kanji character with the translation underneath it. You'd found her in the doghouse one morning with injuries on her back and legs covered in dirt. After finding her there you called in an animal doctor. He'd became a good friend of your over the past couple of years and was willing to treat her for free. He'd later told you she didn't have major injuries but that she'd have to stay at the clinic for about a week.
After checking her in and closing the shop for the day you went to clean out the doghouse. You found a small cape of sorts in the doghouse along with the makeshift bedding. The back was torn-up, about the same area on the dogs back was. There was a picture at some point but it was to torn to know what it was a picture of. You had a feeling it meant something important; you knew that something was missing. You just brushed the thought off and walked back inside and put the tattered dog's cape in a box and set it in the back room.
You did miss something very important in fact. In the foliage behind the shop a metal headband gleamed in the underbrush. A symbol you know all to well engraved into its plate. The symbol of the hidden leaf village swirled on its surface along with two blood stained kunai lying close by.
To be continued… in the next chapter. plz review for the time being and still deciding a name plz put in suggestions.
