Disclaimer:

Was Sasuke's chokutō's origin never even talked about despite the fact that he called it Kusanagi[-no-Tsurugi], and Orochimaru's (mystical) sword went by that same name? If so, I don't own Naruto, nor any of the associated universe.

Chapter 10:
Changing Reflections

Tayuya woke to a blinding light, and blearily wiped at her eyes. Her elbow hit something, why–

Oh, right. Iron. Blizzard. Cave. Sleep. Fu.

The fresh, cold alpine air woke her quickly, bringing her to full awareness at a rate that she had never experienced before.

She looked down at the bright green blob that was the head of girl who was still holding onto Tayuya's torso, even eight hours later. She decided not to disturb her, and to simply enjoy the warmth in her chest that she felt.

Tayuya was not usually one for physical contact. Or 'warm and fuzzy'. But there was a sense of protectiveness, ease, and content that she felt around Fu that made her think that it was alright. Anybody else, no. But Fu was allowed.

Maybe even wanted, the voice in the back of her head whispered.

She looked closer at the girl's shortish mint hair. You might not expect it, but it was amazingly soft. The orange clip that normally held back her bangs was temporarily gone, stored away while they were in the freezing temperatures of Iron. Metal, skin, and freezing cold could only ever result in pain. Hmm. Tayuya idly wondered how her healing would react to frostbite, when would it kick in? Or would it just not happen, like how she never developed bruises? Not that she was going to be testing this out anytime soon.

Tayuya turned her head away from the still-sleeping girl, and tilted her neck up, craning over her puffy jacket and Fu's head to try and get a glimpse out of the cave entrance. She could see blue sky above mountains far off in the distance. Which was great. The blizzard was gone, having blown itself out in the night. Now they just had to deal with the giant snow drifts. Which is what snow pants were for.

She relaxed her neck from its awkward position, placing it back on Shin's bag which she had been using as a pillow. Her left arm was still wrapped around Fu, holding her in place. Which explained why Fu was still like that. Oh. Well…

Tayuya considered letting go for all of half a second before reasoning that it would disturb the other girl, thus she shouldn't… it wasn't because she wanted Fu to keep hugging her or anything.

A little while later (she wasn't really keeping track of time) the girl began to stir.

"Mmmrgh." Her eyes fluttered open, and she turned her head to look up at Tayuya. Their noses were only inches apart.

"Look who's finally awake." she greeted, smiling.

Fu shook her head, and then looked at Tayuya again, wide-eyed, before throwing herself backwards off of the shorter girl… right into the wall of the narrow cave. She quickly turned to look out of the entrance, making it so Tayuya couldn't see her face, and clutched at the back of her head in pain.

"Auuuuuuuuu." Fu whimpered a little.

"Shit, are you alright?" That had looked like it really hurt.

Tayuya sat up, now that she was no longer being restrained, worried that the other girl might have a concussion or something. It would leave a bump, at the very least.

"I-it's nothing! Nothing." Fu laughed nervously, still rubbing at the back of her head. "I'll be fine." Well, okay. But Tayuya didn't like seeing the girl in pain. That sense of weird protectiveness was showing itself again.

"How'd you sleep?" Tayuya asked her.

"Good! I slept really well. Even though we were in a cave." Fu laughed again, the sound echoing in the cave's chamber. "Weird huh?"

"No, I slept great too." She felt amazing.

The green-haired girl turned around, slightly red in the face. Tayuya was probably a bit rosy-cheeked too. Cold air would do that.

Tayuya turned around and brought her bag to her front, placing it on her lap. "So, you want to eat and get going? We need to figure out where the hell we are and where the path is."

Fu nodded. "Yeah."

The two of them ate their weird-tasting ration bars and got ready to leave. They ventured outside, only to immediately step into snow that reached halfway up Tayuya's thigh. Wading through the snow bank, they made their way over to a less deep patch, but only by about half.

"Damn. That must have been two feet. Where do you think the path is?" Tayuya tried looking around. She really hoped they weren't lost. "It could be anywhere now." She pulled out a compass from one of the pockets on the side of her bag and flicked it a couple times, trying to get the needle move around.

Fu tapped her shoulder. Tayuya turned to her, and followed her gloved hand to look where she was pointing.

"Oh." There was a fresh trail in the snow obviously made by a human, so someone must have already passed by since the blizzard had ended. "We'll just follow those south then." Hopefully the tracks would at least bring them to a point where there was a sign or something. Tayuya really wanted to get out of this fucking cold weather, and inside somewhere warm.

The girls trudged along through the eleven-inches of snow that covered the ground, their boots crunching as it compressed beneath their feet.

Fu glanced at Tayuya. "So what do you think he's going to be like?"

"Hm?" Tayuya turned her head so she was facing the other girl. "Who?"

"Your grandfather, silly." She stuck out her tongue, but then quickly retracted it and made a weird face, like she had just accidentally eaten a bunch of pepper.

Tayuya laughed at her expression. "I don't know. My dad seemed to think really well of him, from what he wrote. He lived with Takumi and my mom ever since they found him. And then Takumi let the two of them get married and move away. So he can't be too bad." Right?

"But, I bet he's lonely. All by himself." Fu said, solemnly. Tayuya couldn't help the like you were? that ran through her mind. But she wasn't alone anymore. And Tayuya would make sure that's how it would stay. "Shu-san never mentioned your maternal grandmother, right?"

"Nope." Tayuya said.

"Then maybe she was at Uzu. But your mom was traveling with Takumi-san when he was delivering that blade. So maybe something happened to her before that? And Takumi-san had to take care of her on his own?" Tayuya paused her walking for a moment. She hadn't thought of that. But it would make a lot of sense. She resumed her steps, crunching quickly to catch up with Fu.

"We could just ask him when we meet him. If we can find him. He might be dead for all we know."

Like everybody else who's ever been important to me. she thought bitterly.

That would really suck. A lot. Her last connection to family, gone.

Fu gave Tayuya a side-glance around her jacket's hood and smiled at the redhead. "Nahh. He looked too tough in that picture to just die in 14 years. He didn't look too old either." She bumped into Tayuya's shoulder, making her smile. "And you know, if anything, he's probably hanging on to life just to give you that blade. Shu-san made it seem like your grandfather would do anything to make sure you got it. And I know you're looking forward to that."

Tayuya grinned at that. The thought of being able to learn something that was clan tradition, that was in her blood (well, besides sealing, which she was justifiably wary of right now) got her really excited. And apparently it was from both sides too, forging on her mother's and wielding on her father's.

She just hoped she wouldn't be as terrible at using a knife or a sword or whatever it was as she was at hand-to-hand. That would be depressing. But she'd still learn it, even if she never got good enough to use it in combat.

She'd thought about it in passing while reading her father's letter, but now she was almost positive that her abilities in Yin Release came from her mother. And if the Yakin could really use spiritual energy in creating something physical like a sword without even being ninja, it sounded to her like some kind of advanced, highly-specific bloodline limit.

Tayuya enjoyed the feeling of having something that was truly proof that she was part of a clan. That she belonged. And Shu had said he'd actually gifted her his life force. That implied that she had the potential to live as long as a full-blood Uzumaki. Which connected her tightly with that side of her parentage as well.

And to think, only two days ago she had been without a last name. Clanless. And now she had not one, but two that she had inherited legacies from.

The green-haired girl seemed to read her mind. "So, Tayuya Uzumaki." She couldn't stop herself from grinning even wider at hearing Fu say her name like that. "Are you going to try and live up to what your dad asked? Learning sealing and stuff?"

She nodded. "Fuck yes. Even if it takes me forever." And even if she was kinda scared of it right now.

Fu looked at her quizzically for a moment, before smiling. But it had a hint of sadness and longing to it. "You're really excited about all this, aren't you?"

Tayuya struggled to think of a reply that wouldn't end up with her foot in her mouth.

The green-haired girl shook her head. "You don't have to answer that. I know you are. I'm happy you're excited. And I don't want to make you feel bad about it. I can only imagine what discovering all of this after not knowing anything for 11 years was like."

Tayuya finally got something. "But, that doesn't mean I'm any better now because I suddenly have a clan and a bunch of stuff I can learn. You're a fucking tank. We both know that you could easily beat me without even breaking a sweat. Even if you didn't have Chomei, you'd be able to take me down before I could even start to get my flute out.

"And it's because of how much work you've done. I think that matters more than some kind of fancy clan ability. Especially the ones that make things easy. It just makes you complacent and arrogant. I died because I was like that. Chomei only assists you and makes you better at the things you're already good at. Which is a hell of a lot better, in my opinion. You remember that one day you explained the Hyuuga's Jūken to me? How it was based on an old hand-to-hand form that nobody but you seems to know about?"

Fu nodded.

"They made all of their techniques revolve around their abilities. The Jūken is tailored for the Byakugan. And that isn't good. It makes them predictable and vulnerable, because they're all using the same style. Figure out the weakness of one technique, and you've found the weakness to all of their techniques, and the entire clan. But if you go in the other direction, and instead take what you know, and enhance it with the extra abilities you have, like a bloodline or your bijū chakra, the thing that you're strong at becomes even stronger, while your weakness might even disappear. Having something like a bloodline or clan ability doesn't mean you're automatically better." Tayuya stopped, hoping she had gotten her point across.

Fu looked at her weirdly and laughed. "Okay. But that really wasn't what I was talking about."

Ugh. Tayuya drooped. Her long-winded attempt at cheering the girl up had failed in its main purpose, but at least she had made her laugh. She'd settle for that.

Fu turned to the right and looked at her while they continued to stomp through the snow, before returning to look forwards. "I was talking about how you can relate to Takumi-san, since neither of you have known about the other for eleven years, but you can still immediately connect and be happy. Because you're family."

Oh. Oh. Fuck. What could she say? Tayuya had learned early on to avoid talking about the other girl's family at all costs. And the past day and a half and been nothing but her shoving the fact that she now had one in Fus' face.

Not smart, dumbass.

Fu kept looking forward, making it difficult for Tayuya to gauge her emotions. "I'm just a little bit jealous. I'll get over it. I'm still really happy for you though."

"W-Well, you've got me, right? I'll always be here." That seemed like a safe response. Assuage her insecurities while giving her a different target to focus on.

Fu turned and beamed at her. "Yeah. And I'm going to hold you to it." She jumped at Tayuya, and brought them crashing down into the wet snow. Tayuya could only shout "Shit!" in defense. Their tumbling ended with Tayuya on her back, staring at the blue sky, while Fu was laying on top of her, turned to the side and looking at the redhead's face because of the tube on her back, both of them breathing heavily.

"Fuuuuu. You got me soaked." Tayuya sat up and shoved the girl playfully into the snow to get her off her lap. Fu only laughed brightly in response. The redhead stood up and started brushing herself off. Fu sat up and started doing the same, before standing up and finishing with her legs. "C'mon, I think I see a sign."

The sign post actually did have markings for Haboro, and indicated it was less than an hour away. The sun slowly dried them off from Fu's impromptu attack, and by the time they reached the first signs of civilization, the high sun was baking them in their jackets, while the wind attacked any skin that was exposed. There was just no way to win.

But they finally made it.

Haboro was a small town, and almost entirely residential.

In the center of it, there were two main streets, which is where all of the businesses were. And so, that's where Tayuya and Fu had gone, trying to see if they could possibly learn anything. They had managed to find a samurai outpost, presumably for peacekeeping, and had ended up just asking them for directions, reasoning that if Takumi was as well known by the samurai as Shu had implied, then they would at least have some idea.

And they had. The pair that the girls had talked to had actually been able to give them fairly detailed directions, explaining that they usually got people looking for him once or twice a month. Tayuya committed their instructions to memory, and they left the town, walking towards the mountains to south-west for about thirty minutes before coming to a large swath of forest with a single path that wound its way through the snowy expanse of trees. And after twenty minutes of trudging through the (relatively) shallow snow, it brought them to a moderate-sized two-story house.

It was made entirely of wooden logs, and Tayuya got the feeling that the timber had come right from the forest around them, A much smaller second building sat a ways behind it and to the left, and she figured that had to be the forge.

"We-We made it." The reality of the situation sunk in with the force of a sledgehammer. Ever since the Shu's book had appeared, everything that had happened had almost felt like a dream, one that she could wake up from at any moment. But now, she would be meeting someone she'd never known (well, supposedly couldn't remember), who either would or would not know her, immediately validating this entire thing… or not. And she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little apprehensive. But she had to know.

They walked to the front door, and Tayuya reached out to knock on it, but hesitated and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Fu asked

"I… What if he doesn't like me? What if he's not happy with what I've been doing? Fuck, I'm not happy with what I was doing." Fu was silent and Tayuya only heard the slight rustling of water-proof fabric. Fu's arms came around her shoulders, hugging her from behind, her cheek resting on Tayuya's shoulder blade right above her bag.

"I think you shouldn't worry. If it happens, it happens. But like you told me earlier, I'll be here for you no matter what."

Tayuya nodded. Right. She would have Fu. And Fu would have her.

Fu released her hold, and stepped back, boots crunching in the snow. The redhead reached her hand out again, and rapped sharply on the door.

For a while, there was no response. So she knocked again. A loud voice shouted "I'm coming, I'm coming."

A lock clicked out of place and the doorknob turned, the door swinging open on well oiled hinges.

A grey-haired man with a soft face appeared from behind it. He was shorter than she had expected, but still had all the muscle that she had seen in the photo. Clearly he was still in business.

His voice was gruff and scratchy from inhaling smoke. "Wasn't expecting anyone today. Who are yo–" He stopped, his eyes growing comically wide as they settled on Tayuya's face, roving over her face and hair.

"T-Tayuya?" He spluttered in shock.

She could only smile slightly in response. "Hey."

Tayuya sat on a couch in the living room or the 'main' room as Takumi called it. It was technically one large room that included an open kitchen and a dining area on the far side, and the part where she and Fu were now.

Fu was sitting in a comfortable-looking chair in front and to the right of her, in front of the fireplace, swinging her bare feet and toasting her toes. Tayuya smiled at the carefree attitude that she exuded, even if she knew it was mostly a show and that Fu was hiding her feelings of discontent in order to make Tayuya feel better. It was working.

Takumi had nearly broken her back hugging her at the front door, before looking around her at Fu and asking Tayuya who she was. She introduced Fu as a close friend, and saying that they'd traveled together because of her circumstances. Vague, but true.

He had invited them in out of the numbing cold, and the moment the door was closed they had discarded their jackets and snow pants and boots as the house was extremely warm. When Fu commented on it, he had laughed and said that he preferred it a bit hot because of how much time he spent at the forge, and that even though he had lived in Iron for almost thirty five years, he still hated how cold it could get.

Takumi was in the kitchen right now, preparing the three of them cups of tea, having offered as soon as they had taken off their coats. It was fairly modern, and included appliances she hadn't expected. Electricity was another thing she was surprised he had, and she wondered if he had somehow managed to get a underground line run all the way from town.

The older man exited the kitchen area, and walked over to give Fu her drink. The green-haired girl stood up to take it, and instead of sitting back down like Tayuya had expected, she walked over to where Tayuya was on the couch and sat down next to her. Takumi came over, handed her a hot cup (which she put on the table in front of her), and sat down in a chair across from them, the fire roaring and crackling in the background, heating the room

He looked at Tayuya and grinned widely. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes. You certainly got your mother's looks. That's for sure." She blushed at the complement. Her mother had looked exceedingly beautiful in the photo. "You must've been what? just barely five? the last time I saw you. At Akiha's funeral." He sobered. "And then you and your father just… disappeared. I went to the house about three or four years later to see if something had happened, since you two weren't responding to any of the writing I sent. It was a mess. Looked like there had been a fire. And most of the stuff was there, but little bits, like the photos and Shu's things in the basement, were missing.

"But here you are. Right in front of me. What happened to you? Where's Shu?"

Tayuya shifted uncomfortably. The topic of her father and her role in the accident she had caused was still haunting her. Thinking about how it had been her fault he was dead. All her fault.

Takumi was sitting there, waiting for an answer. She couldn't look him in the eyes. "There was an accident. A sealing accident." she said softly.

His face went grave. "And- And he died?"

She nodded hesitantly. He ran a hand over through his hair, wide-eyed in shock. "Ahhh. Gods, Shu. What the hell were you doing? I always told him that those seals would be death of him. But I was only joking about how hard he worked on them. He was so careful. How- how did it happen?"

Urgh. She wanted to crawl into a ball and hide somewhere. How was she supposed to tell him that it had been her? That the only reason his son-in-law was dead was because of her childish stupidity? Her ignorance?

She looked at Fu, trying to put off answering as long as possible. The girl sat there, slightly blank faced. This family reunion-thing was not doing anything good for her. As she looked, Fu's eyes brightened slightly and moved, settling on Tayuya's face. They became considerably warmer, and the redhead tried to draw strength from that look, knowing it was the best way Fu could comfort her right now, feeling out-of-place and awkward. The redhead knew she would if she was in the other girl's shoes, so she didn't blame her.

Tayuya turned back to Takumi. She needed to tell him. He had the right to know what happened. "I-It wasn't him." She took a breath. "It was me. I was the one who caused the accident." The bladesmith looked at her silently, and she was unable to tell what he was thinking. "I-I don't really know what happened, but I somehow got a hold of some of Tou-san's supplies. A-and. Well." She laughed hollowly, trying to hide her growing anxiety. It sounded fake to her ears. "A seven-year old trying sealing without knowing anything…" she trailed off, hoping that would be enough.

He appeared to accept it, and stared forlornly into the fire, sighing. "Well. That's a real shame. He was a good man, your father. One of the kindest I've ever known. But… how? How could that have happened?" He looked lost, unable to comprehend it. "I thought that after my daughter died, he wouldn't have let you leave his sight, trying as hard as he could to make sure you grew up happy even though Akiha wasn't there anymore, because she wasn't there anymore. Taking care of what had been the most important thing to her: you." His voice held deep sadness and sorrow.

He looked back at her, his face suddenly shifting to understanding. "But it went the other way didn't it? He buried himself in his seals because he couldn't handle the loss." Tayuya couldn't respond.

Takumi shook his head sadly. "I-I should have known. I should have known he'd do that. It was what he did after Uzushio fell. After he lost his family. But I thought you would be enough that he wouldn't fall into that. That he wouldn't, because of you. But… it just must've been too much for him." A tear crept down his face. "I'm so sorry. So sorry. Maybe, maybe I had just come to visit more, or even moved down there to live with you, this never would have happened. I should have known. He and Akiha were so close. Inseparable. And I should have known he wouldn't be able to handle it."

"I-it's not your fault." Tayuya said quietly. "It's no one's fault." she told him, even though she still didn't believe that in her heart. But it was what he seemed to need to hear, because he drew himself up, nodding, and wiped away at the trail on his cheek.

"Right. You're here. You're safe. And that's what matters. It's so good to see you, mago-chan." He looked at her, laughing with wet eyes.

He noticed the seal on her hand, and smiled fondly at it. "It was you, wasn't it? In the accident. You got hurt. And he did the same thing his shishou did on Uzu, sacrificing himself in some way for you to live on, giving you everything he had at the same time." She started getting uncomfortable at how accurate his reasoning was. "But it's the only thing that makes sense. And if there was any way he wanted to go out, I know it would have been that. Saving you somehow with his own life."

She nodded slowly in affirmation. "A-After the accident, I lost all of my memory. I can remember living with an old lady for a couple months, but those are my earliest memories. She died, and I-" She didn't want him to judge her. Didn't want him to know her past and be disappointed in her.

He sat quietly, waiting for her to go on. He was her grandfather, right? Family? But she didn't know what that meant. Could she trust him? Would he accept her despite everything she did?

"It's okay, mago-chan. You don't need to tell me right now if you don't want to."

Tayuya shook her head. If she didn't do it now, she wasn't going to do it ever. "I ended up on the streets of Tanzaku Gai. I was there for three years." She drew her legs up to her chest, unconsciously trying to put something in between herself and her grandfather to make it easier.

"A man found me. A not nice man." Yeah, that's one way to say it. More like an absolutely depraved, sociopathic man. "He noticed me because I was unconsciously using Yin Release to help get food. It seemed like the best option was to go with him… but I would have been better off on the streets."

She stopped, afraid to go on, afraid to tell him of the terrible things she had done. But she needed to. Needed to keep going.

"I became a ninja. But not a good one. Not one of the ones who protect people. I did terrible things for him. Things I wish I could forget. Tasks I wish I could have refused. But he had a seal on me. An altered slave seal. And I couldn't say no to anything." She hugged her legs tightly.

"But somehow, the seal got removed. I don't know how. But I decided to escape. So I ran to Waterfall, hoping I could survive long enough to find a job or something so I could eat and sleep. I found this couple in the capital, who took me in, and treated me like I was their daughter. It felt so different to anything I could remember. And I knew I'd made the right choice." Tayuya smiled slightly at the memories of their doting kindness. It was getting easier to talk, now that she was past the worst of it.

"The man, Shin, was able to get me a job in Takigakure. So I went and worked there for a while, and ended up meeting Fu and becoming friends with her. We got really close." Completely attached was more like it.

Tayuya's thoughts got a bit darker. "The village was treating her like a pariah. She was an outcast. So when I found out that you were living in Iron two days ago, I convinced her to come with me. And that's how we're here."

He sat there silently, and then started talking quietly, carefully. "I want you to know. That no matter what you've done, you will always be welcome here. It's the least I can do. And it's the only way to help ease my conscience about what happened. If only I had-" he shook his head. "No. You're here. You're alive. And that's what matters."

"Yeah." Tayuya whispered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the crackling and popping of the logs in the hearth the only audible sound in the room.

And then Takumi abruptly slapped his thighs, deciding to try and lighten the mood for both of their sake. "So! I don't really have much to say. I've been living here, same as I did when Shu and Akiha were here. Doing the same thing, making swords for samurai. Managed to make a pretty good living doing it.

"And I've got one for you too, well two now. Did you know that? I figure Shu might've mentioned it in whatever he left you that led you here. You know anything about why?" This would be a much happier topic than the one they had just been on.

Tayuya nodded slowly. "J-Just a little. A clan tradition?"

"Yup. Well, I can explain it more in-depth, then. And tell you some of the history at the same time. Alright." He nodded to himself. "We'll start at the beginning."

She settled in for the lecture, glancing at Fu and bumping her with her shoulder to get her attention when Tayuya noticed the green-haired girl had a bit of a dazed look. It didn't really do anything. She gave up on rousing her, and turned back to her grandfather.

"About three hundred years ago, three bladesmiths met each other. Isamu, Masaru, and Hideki. They were some of the best of their time, and each thought that keeping their techniques secret and only teaching one or two apprentices was leading to the loss of the old ways of forging, and that in time the world would forget those practices. In order to make sure that wouldn't happen, they formed a clan. A clan where the techniques would be passed down, not from master to apprentice, but from generation to generation. That clan was the Yakin."

That… was actually pretty smart. As each successive generation got larger, the techniques would get passed onto more people, and force them to become more and more skilled before they would be recognized for the quality of their work.

"For seventy years, our clan moved around, place to place, following the demand of our weapons. Until the head of the Uzumaki clan at the time, Kiyoshi Uzumaki, saw one of our swords. He was so amazed by the quality and craftsmanship that he personally searched for who had made it, and when he found our nomadic clan, he offered to give us a permanent home on Uzu. The Yakin would be protected and always have a demand for work, and the Uzumaki would always have weapons they could use. We accepted the offer, and migrated to Uzushio where we would remain."

A stereotypical win-win situation. The ideal alliance, where both sides benefited with none to minor drawbacks.

"Nobody really knows when we started having such a strong connection to spiritual energy. But based on records it looks like it started showing up around the third generation of the clan, and almost all of the fifth generation had it. And it's only gotten stronger with time. The tradition of making a birth-blade and gifting it on their coming of age was established around then. It's said that because a baby has never done anything, their soul is at its purest, and so anything that reflects their spirit also reflects their deepest qualities.

"But yours" he gave a look at Tayuya. "did things I've never ever heard of." He shook his head. "I'll talk about it after I give them to you, since it'll make more sense. The clan believed that the best bladesmith is the one who knows both how to forge and how to wield. And it's practical beyond that. Even if the kid doesn't end up being a smith, they'll still know how to protect themselves. There's a bit of symbolism to it, too. But we'll also cover that when I give them to you.

"In the meantime, how about I tell you about your parents? Hmmm. Let's see…"

Tayuya sat up straighter, her previous discomfort slowly dissolving. She was eager to hear anything about her family, and what it had been like before everything had fallen to pieces.

"After the invasion, Shu was really lost. Losing his family and his shishou hit him hard. Akiha was the only thing that ever seemed to get him out of his shell, but even then it took him a couple years to start acting normal again. They did just about everything together. Well, except for Shu's seals. Neither of us could make heads or tails of the stuff he did with those. Akiha would usually be helping me in the forge when he worked on that. Which was a lot of the time. She got pretty good because of that.

"But Akiha usually managed to drag him out of his room at least once a day for sparring. Oh, that front room's the dojo. They both did kendo training. Akiha was really good with a sword." he said proudly. "She'd beat him four out of five times, and he always came back groaning. She could've been a good samurai, but she said she didn't want to do it 'cause she didn't want to stand out in the cold all of the time, but I think it was really because she didn't want to leave Shu all alone." He laughed.

"I don't know if it was her whacking him over the head all of the time or what, but Shu fell in love with her. It was so cute watching him fumble around whenever he saw her after that." Takumi smiled at the memory. "And Akiha knew something was up, because until then they'd been like peas in a pod. So she eventually she just told him to spit it out, and when he told her how he felt, all she replied with was 'I know, you idiot. What took you so long to figure it out?'."

Takumi laughed again, and Tayuya chuckled at the mental image. It sounded like she would've gotten along with her mother really well.

"They were good for each other. Shu was always laughing and smiling around her, and she would always be in a good mood after spending time with him. Eventually, he asked her to marry him. They had a little ceremony done down in town, with just the three of us, but it was the thought that counted.

"After a couple months they decided they wanted to move out, out of Iron, which I can understand. They were about twenty at that point, so they were itching for some independence. And they eventually wanted to have a kid, but thought that growing up in Iron would be terrible, not to mention there're almost no other people around, nor is there much room for raising a child here. So, they decided to go to Grass Country, and they settled down a ways away from a village, bit bigger than this one, and built a nice house with Shu's fancy basement and everything.

"Shu was making seals and selling them to ninja stores, and Akiha actually did some bladework, but it was more knives and stuff that she'd sell to shops in the village. And then when they were about 28, they had you. Less than a year after you were born, war broke out again."

Tayuya knew which one that was. "The Third Shinobi War."

"Right. Damn war lasted almost three years. And they were smack dab in the middle of it. Iwa invaded Grass and kept fighting with Konoha on the eastern border. Not an environment they wanted to be raising a kid in. But since they lived in the south, nearer to Rain, and their house was fairly remote, everything turned out okay. After the war was done, I came down and lived with you guys for a couple months, since they had made me promise not to try and visit while it was still going on.

"That was a lot of fun. So the next year when I came down I stayed for a month." Those times must have been where the photo in her father's book came from. "And then about eight months later, Akiha got sick. After the first three days, they managed to get a doctor to visit them and take a look at her, and all he could tell them was that her organs were failing, and he had no idea why, or what he could do to stop it. And three days later, she passed away.

"Everything after that was just sad and miserable, and I don't want to dredge up things like that when it's in the past. The important thing is, you're safe and you're here. And you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Your friend too." he said, nodding at Fu.

Tayuya turned to look at her and see how she was doing. She still looked a little out of it, so the redhead reached up and put her hand on the girl's shoulder to try and get her attention. Fu jumped, and Tayuya jerked back in surprise.

"Whoa. Everything's fine. I was just trying to see if you were alright."

"Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking." the green-haired girl said evasively.

Tayuya just nodded in response, fully aware of how awkward and uncomfortable this probably was for her.

"Who's ready for lunch? I know I am. You guys want any soup?" Takumi asked as he stood up.

Soup sounded wonderful after being in the cold for nearly a day. "Yeah, that'd be great. You want any?" she asked Fu.

The girl nodded slowly. "She'll have some too." Tayuya told Takumi.

"Alright, soup for three."

Lunch was good.

The soup was a thick ankake udon with beef and some mushrooms and vegetables.

It was very tasty. Especially in contrast to the shinobi rations and energy bars they'd been eating while they were traveling

Tayuya slumped back with a contended sigh, the warmth inside her spreading out to her limbs.

"So! How do you want to do this?" Takumi asked.

"What?" Tayuya asked dumbly. What was he talking about?

"Your blades! They're four years late, after all. Well, that was probably for the best, all things considered. But still! Hm… I think the dojo would be best. Ah, but don't worry about changing your clothes into something fancy or anything. It's more about the symbolism of the thing." he said, standing up to clear the table. "Why don't you girls go on ahead. I'll meet you out there once I've got 'em." He took their dishes into the kitchen then walked away down the hall to the other side of the house.

"Uh. O-okay." He seemed really determined to give them to her. Then again he had been holding onto them four years longer than tradition said. So maybe it was to be expected.

She turned to Fu. "I-I know how hard all of this is for you. You don't have to be there if you don't want to."

Fu shook her head and smiled. "It's okay. It's important to you, so I'll be there." Ba-dump.

Tayuya looked away from her. What? Why did that make her chest feel tight?

"W-Well, come on then. Let's go." she said, getting up from the table, and walking down the same hall Takumi had gone down. A landing and stairwell were right above the entrance of it, which had to go to the second floor. She walked down the hallway, looking for the door. He said the dojo was the front room, so it should be around here, somewhere.

An large traditional shoji door was open on her left. It looked extremely out of place with the rest of the building. Inside was a room with a polished wood floor. It was smallish, but still large enough that it could accommodate a pair of people sparring with one of the shinais that sat in the rack over on the far wall. Three windows were set in the wall across from the door, and bright white-tinted light reflected into the room from the snow outside.

Tayuya moved to the center of the room, Fu trailing behind her, and sat down in seiza since it seemed appropriate for the room. Her leg muscles strained in protest at the uncomfortable position that she usually avoided. Fu copied her, sitting about a foot back and to the right of her. They faced the wall in the direction of the main room, and a few seconds later Takumi entered, carrying a wooden box.

He sat down in front of Tayuya about three feet away, facing her, and set the box down to the right of him, undoing the clasps and lifting the lid off, revealing two things that were she couldn't see because of the distance, the sides of the box hiding them in shadow.

"Alright. We got some oaths and stuff to do. Clan induction and all. Let's see if I can remember them. It's been about forty years since I had to participate in one of these." He cleared his throat, his face becoming serious.

"Tayuya Yakin-Uzumaki. We are gathered here to recognize your coming-of-age, reaching adulthood in the eyes of the clan."

There's not really much of a 'we'. she thought. It's just you, me, and Fu.

"On the eve of your birth, a blade began to be forged, showing the person you would become today. It is a baring of your soul, a purest distillation of your true qualities. We do this because a bladesmith must know themselves completely, both strengths and weaknesses, advantages and flaws, before they can say they are worthy to stand by our side at the forge. Do you accept this knowledge and the burden it may bring?"

He looked at her for a response. Well, she knew what the right response was. Did she really want to do all of this? Did she even have a choice? She didn't think she did. But she wanted this right? This is what she had always wanted. A clan. And here it was. So there was only one thing to say.

"I do." Tayuya spoke firmly.

"A bladesmith cannot focus on one thing completely. For there to be perfection, there must also be imperfection. Imperfections provide flexibility to a blade that would otherwise be brittle. Hard metal must be combined with soft metal. Everything must have a balance. A smith must be one who is in harmony with all facets of the blade, not just in forging, but also in wielding, seeking to be balanced in all ways possible. Do you understand your duty to seek out and find the balance in life that you require to become a smith worthy of our forges?"

Balance. A tenuous position only maintained through precision and care. Too much of one thing, and everything would be upset. But what was her balance? What were the things that she needed to moderate? What were the things she needed to develop? Was it things like her fighting style, moving away from long-range specialties to more well-rounded techniques? But what other things in her life needed balance? She had a feeling that it would take a long time to find the answer to that question. But it would also make her a better, stronger person. She just hoped she could do it.

"I do." she answered him.

"A bladesmith must always care for themselves. Just as you will maintain your birth-blades, so too must you care for yourself, in mind, body, and soul, not permitting yourself to become tarnished and corrupted. Do you promise to always tend to yourself, not allowing yourself to fall into disrepair and decay?"

Wow. There was a lot of subtext there. Incorruptibility. Promises of trying to live a healthy life, in just about every way that mattered. A lot of shinobi focused only on their body. Tayuya's body was small, underdeveloped, and not very strong. So she had focused on her mind, playing tactical games and studying hundreds of battles and wartime strategies, trying to give herself an advantage over the more muscular boys that had surrounded her. And it had paid off. But this was like the balance thing, wasn't it? You couldn't focus too much on something without another, unless you were prepared for the consequences.

But there were other things in there. Like you shouldn't grow lazy and complacent. To be prepared for anything, and always take care of yourself.

These promises were really complex for such short statements. But then again, they had been developed over the course of 200 years.

"I do."

"A bladesmith values family and friendship above all else. Our family, true friends, and allies are the ones who will always be by our side, supporting us in the heart of the forge even when they cannot be there themselves, and thus, we must do the same for them. Do you vow to stand by them so long as you live, pledging your metal and blades to their cause?"

Tayuya turned and looked at Fu behind her, who locked warm eyes with her, smiling slightly in encouragement. Her best friend. And then she turned back at Takumi. Her family. She thought of Shin and Yomi, the two people who had helped her even when they weren't required, who had been her first taste of kindness. Her allies.

There was no decision here. No questioning. She had already made this choice in her heart.

"I do."

"Then, I am proud to introduce Tayuya Yakin-Uzumaki as an adult in the Yakin clan. May your forge burn bright."

Takumi let out a big sigh, deflating. "Not that there's really any of us left." It seemed like the serious part was over now.

"Alright. Usually after that bit, there'd be a formal introduction of the blade between who was getting it and whoever made it. But I'm not one for formalities, and that just about wore me out. So we're going to do this normally." He switched from seiza to cross-legged, and Tayuya mimicked him, glad to be out of the awkward position. Takumi waved at Fu, motioning for her to come over. "Normally it'd be just the two of us because of some of the stuff it could reveal, but I figure you two're close enough from what I've seen that that isn't necessary."

The green haired girl stood up, walked over to them, and sat back down, so that three of them were positioned in a loose triangle shape.

"So. You've got two blades. Which wasn't really that rare, all things considered. In fact it's pretty normal compared to a couple of the things I've seen. There was a pair of twins who both got pole-arms. And one girl with a whip-blade. That was a weird weapon. But usually, they're swords or knives of some sort. So you were pretty normal."

He reached into the box at his side, and pulled out a straight white wooden shape that she assumed was a sword in a sheath. Tayuya couldn't really make out much of the other details because of how he was holding it.

"When you were born, I made this blade. Mikoto, the Beloved One." He pulled the blade out slightly, giving her a glimpse of the bright steel inside, but only enough so that she could see the dark '命' that was engraved on the flat of it, and then he hid the blade completely, still holding it so she couldn't see much. Maybe he was doing it as part of the explanation or something.

"I knew it meant that you would be loved dearly, held close within every heart you touched, and that you would become important in someway, whether that was only to a few people or the whole world is something we'll probably never knew. The name certainly seemed to fit, 'cause I never saw a child that was as loved as you were, by your parents, by me. But then you and Shu disappeared…" He trailed off before continuing.

"Anyways, the person who forges the blade always has some kinda connection to it since it's their creation, even if that connection's much smaller than the person it was forged for. So it was really obvious to me that something was off with the blade, because it felt so different. Our souls and spirits never change, but they can be expressed in different ways, kinda like the different aspects of a god. Like how Susano'o is both a god of the storms and a god of the seas.

"Blades can change names, especially after something traumatic happens, but yours became nameless. It was just… blank. Like it was lost. Now that I know you forgot everything, it makes a lot of sense. I don't think I've heard of anyone with a birth-blade having complete amnesia. But since the blade changed, I knew you had to be alive somewhere.

"And then four years later, after I had almost given up hope, it got its name back. Mikoto. But it felt kinda twisted, somehow, like the tone had become sarcastic and ironic."

Tayuya's mind connected the dots and she interjected. "Arrogance. It was reflecting my arrogance and pride." He looked interested in her explanation, so she went on. "That was the kind of person I became after losing my memories. My favorite saying even used to be 'I alone am exalted', where exalted can be written with 'mikoto'. I knew that some people used it as an insult, but I used to think that that it was significant somehow, the perfect representation of how I felt, and that because of that, I was above the negative meaning it had associated with it. Which was pretty conceited in retrospect, and just goes to show how bad my pride really was.

"Now that phrase just seems so… self-centered and shallow. But it must be why the blade felt like that to you. Because I had changed from someone worthy of being loved to someone who thought they deserved it." she concluded.

"Hm." Takumi nodded. "That makes sense. Well, anyways. Nothing happened after that for a while. Your fourteenth birthday came and went, and I was afraid that something may have happened to you. But for four years I've kept polishing and maintaining the sword, hoping you were still out there. And then two and a half months ago, it changed again."

Two and a half months. That was when the fight had been. When she had died. When she had lost the curse seal. The hair on the back of her neck started to rise, and she wondered what she was anticipating. What was making her feel so antsy.

"Even though a blade can't change physically, and so changing names always just means changing pronunciations, what happened here is still really different. More different than any other name changes I've heard of other blades going through. This sword." He trailed a hand over the white sheathe. "This sword is now Inochi."

Life. Its name was Life.

Tayuya's spine was tingling. She was almost vibrating, itching to take the sword from her grandfather's hands, as though it had to be in hers, where it belonged.

"You changed so much, that the very meaning, the core of what it represents about you, became different." He shook his head in disbelief. "Minor shifts aren't unheard of, but I have never known a blade to change like this.

"And not only that, but I felt like I had to make a second blade after seeing this one. Compelled almost. I couldn't get it out of my head. I have never imagined that a person could gain another birth-blade later in life. But it seems like you did."

She cut in. "I died." He halted, thrown completely off-guard by her statement. "The first time it changed was probably because I lost my memories. But this second time. I died. For real. A no-chance of survival death, crushed under tree trunks almost as wide as I am tall. And yet somehow, I lived, and now I have this ridiculous ability that lets me heal from just about anything."

He was visibly shocked, but managed to recover from it smoothly. "Wow. That's a new one. Definitely never heard of that before either. You'll have to show me that healing thing later. But… it would certainly explain the second sword. So it's technically not a birth-blade…" he said to himself, replacing the light-colored sword in the box. Tayuya's sense of needing to hold it got stronger, but she pushed it aside for now.

Takumi pulled a straight, dark-looking scabbard out of the box instead.

"This." He frowned. "This is not a nice sword. If the other one is warm and bright, and a representation of life, then this one is cold and dark, and represents–"

"Death." Tayuya finished for him. It was the only thing it could be. The only thing that felt right to her. In her bones.

He nodded. "Yeah. Its name is Shi. He opened the scabbard slightly and showed her a silvery-white character, '死', engraved on a dark blade before clicking it shut again."And unlike your other one, there's no other meaning it could possibly have. It's a symbol of one thing, and one thing only. Death."

Tayuya was getting the tingling feeling in her spine again, her arms aching to reach out and touch it, but he returned it to the box. It felt like being teased in the worst way.

Takumi sighed. "Now that we've got the heavy, important stuff, the meanings, out of the way, I can tell you about some of the lighter stuff, like what they're made of, and the things you've gotta know about them." He pulled the whiter sword back out. But this time, instead of holding it in a way she couldn't see it, he held it out to her, both palms open and cradling it.

She reached out and grasped the scabbard; holding it felt like fire rushing up her arm. Eventually the fire died down to a dull, comfortable warmth. But it also felt like something was missing. Something fundamental. She pushed the feelings aside momentarily and looked down at the sheathed sword in her hands.

The scabbard was very light-colored. Almost snow-white. But not quite. A pattern of black vines and leaves were inlaid into the flat sides, trailing down from the hilt. The hilt itself continued the oblong shape of the scabbard, and was wrapped in black thread, diamonds formed from the winding pattern, but through the diamonds she could see the same white color as the sheath.

She put her hand around it, testing how it felt. The hilt fit perfectly in her hand, her palm on one edge while her fingers curled around the other. The thread created a surface that she would have no trouble gripping onto even if her hands became sweaty while fighting

"The scabbard, and the hilt, are made of bleached ash wood. 'Bout the whitest thing you'll come across other than ivory or bone. The sword reminds me of a jian in shape, but there's no pommel and it's fairly short. And there's no guard at all." He eyed Tayuya. "That probably says something about you." Fu started giggling, the first noise she had made since they had come into the room. Tayuya almost jumped, startled at the outburst from the girl she had thought was just tuned out.

"What is it? What's so funny?"

Fu eventually calmed her laughter in order to respond. "You're very unguarded and open. Ever since I met you, I could tell what you were thinking just by looking at your face. Not that it's a bad thing, just different in a good kind of way. It's part of what makes you who you are, and it's one of the things I like so much about you."

Tayuya felt her face heat up, and looked away from her, pouting slightly. "Whatever."

Focusing on the sword she was holding, she pulled the blade out with a soft ring. It was a delicate silvery-white, and seemed to shimmer in the light that came through the windows. It was symmetrical, tapering slightly and then ending in a point, with both sides of the blade having an edge. They looked extremely sharp. But the thing that really hit her was how perfect the sword felt in her hand. It was like it was part of her body: balanced and light, but not too light. A natural extension of her arm.

The blade itself was about one and a half times the length of her forearm. It had an engraved leaf-and-vine pattern running up and down the flat of the blade, starting just above the '命' that was inscribed near the hilt, similar to but not exactly the same as the inlay on the scabbard. But instead of black, the engraving only appeared darker than the surrounding metal because of how the light was unable to reach inside the decoration at certain angles.

Takumi resumed his commentary. "The design lends for stabbing and slicing in the dominant hand. It's unreasonably sharp, one of the sharpest things I've ever made, and since it was polished and sharpened while reinforced with Yin chakra, it won't ever lose that edge."

She placed the blade back in its sheath and laid it on her lap. It felt weird letting it go. Like it had to be in her hand. But the feeling wasn't as bad as before when Takumi had had it or when it had been back in the box. Maybe because it was touching her.

Takumi pulled the other sword out of the box and held it out to her. If the first blade had given her a feeling of fire and then warmth, this one gave her a sensation of ice in her arm that settled down to coolness.

Where the other had been white, this one was black. The polar opposite of the one that sat on her lap. Instead of leaves, there were little marks protruding off of white curvy lines, and Tayuya realized they were thorns. Thorns on a dead vine. The hilt was wrapped in bleached, snow-white thread, with the same diamond shapes in the grip showing black wood beneath it.

"The scabbard and hilt on this one are made of ebony, just like the inlay on the other. The blade on the other hand. Well, I can't really describe it."

She pulled the sword out of the sheath with her right hand. In comparison to the scabbard, this was truly black. Jet. It seemed to absorb the surrounding light, not reflecting anything except in the engravings of the character '死' and a similar thorn-vine pattern that climbed the blade, appearing white in contrast to the surrounding darkness. Even the edges, which she expected to be silver from sharpening, were black. She looked closer at them. Were those–

"They're teeth. Teeth like you'd see on a pull saw. Made for tearing and ripping flesh, and sawing through bone. Not a clean weapon. You'll have to be careful taking care of it, as stuff will get stuck in them when you use it. You're really lucky you don't have to worry about sharpening it. It'd be a nightmare."

Wow. That was vicious. She'd used a back-saw a couple times with Yamada, and this looked far more lethal than that had.

Takumi went on. "Oddly enough, it too lends itself to usage in the dominant hand, just with pull-strokes instead of stabbing. Makes me want to suggest that you practice with both swords in both hands, so you're able to switch between them depending on the situation. Whatever Shu gave you should at least have some basic two-handed styles that you can work with."

She sheathed the black blade and laid it next to the white one on her legs.

"Even if they won't lose their edge or rust, you still need to care for them. Just like in the clan oaths you just took. Oiling them, taking care of the hilt and scabbard, and cleaning the edges after getting them dirty are the bare minimum.

"Both scabbards are lined with hard metal, so you don't have to worry about harming them while drawing, unless you're trying to not pull the blades out straight. And both them and the hilts have an epoxy finish, so they should be able to take on just about anything and come out looking fine. Water, dirt, etc. You can attach 'em to any of those straps you ninjas use for carrying stuff, so where you carry them is up to you."

Maybe she'd get some sort of cross-strap thing like Fu had for her tube. The redhead looked down at her chest. She hoped her breasts wouldn't get in the way. They were such a pain in the ass sometimes, even if hers were on the smaller end of the spectrum. Well, if Fu didn't have any trouble with the straps, Tayuya doubted she would, considering the other girl's chest seemed to be only slightly smaller than hers.

That would probably end up being what she did, as something like a vest with clips on the back was too bulky for her tastes. She'd have to think about it. It wasn't like she could use them now, anyways. So for now, they'd probably go in a scroll in her bag. As long as she could get over the annoying tingling feeling and sense of extreme attachment to them.

She realized she had zoned out for a minute, and both Fu and Takumi were looking at her. She bowed over the blades on her lap. There was really only one thing she could think to say to him.

"Please accept my thanks for your generous gifts, Ojii-sama."

He smiled at her. "Of course. You're my only granddaughter, after all."

A/N:

I'm curious to see what you guys think of this. Cliché or no? If you think it is, was I at least able to twist it in a way that made it interesting?

The light sword is similar in color to cobalt (the metal, not the shade of blue). And the dark one is like vantablack. As in really, really black, absorbing 99.965 of visible light/radiation.

Dual-wielding swords of that size is actually both possible and practiced. Butterfly swords (as used in a couple martial arts) are similar. Tayuya's swords are longer by about five or six inches, but the blades are much less wide and are reasonably lighter overall.

Now that we're here, I can say that Takumi is the last OC we're going to be seeing in-depth for quite a while. I'm so excited to get to characters we know and love (well, besides Tayuya and Fu). It only took us, what, ten chapters and 80,000 words? Holy shit.

If you're interested in some of the more obscure information about how that whole single-word, multiple-meanings Japanese character thing works, read the stuff after the break. Otherwise, just ignore it.

Translations:

mago: grandchild

ankake udon: large, chewy wheat noodles served in dashi (that soup base made from bonito flakes, remember?) that has been thickened with potato starch, and flavored with soy sauce and honmirin. Typical additions include egg, mushrooms, green beans, negi (spring onion), carrots, shrimp, snow peas… yeah. Lots of different stuff. Meat's a bit rarer, but I've seen some variations that have it.

Tayuya's Sword Names (or Kanji Readings 101)

Chinese literary culture was brought to the Japanese by missionary Buddhist monks and trading throughout the millennia. Originally, Chinese was used as 'high' language, with only a small population knowing how to read and write it, much like Latin was in western cultures. But after a few different writing systems using Chinese characters (kanbun, man'yogana), kanji and kana evolved to become what they are today, finalized by a number of Japanese script reforms in the early to mid 1900s.

But this adoption created problems, since Japanese and Chinese aren't very similar. So sometimes, a character is read (approximately) as it would have been pronounced in Chinese, while other times the Japanese associated a native word for what the character meant. These different readings are known as on'yomi and kun'yomi, respectively. And there can be a number of each per character.

Tayuya's phrase, 唯我独尊 (yuiga dokuson : I alone am exalted) is a shortened form of what legends say was said by Prince Siddhartha Gautama (the first Buddha before he was Buddha) as he was born: 天上天下唯我独尊 (tenjou tenga yuiga dokuson : In both the Heavens and the Earth, I alone am exalted.). The shorter version has gained a reputation of being used to refer to someone who is conceited and self-assured. Basically, Kishimoto was just really reinforcing that arrogance was Tayuya's main character trait and fatal flaw.

In that phrase, '尊' (exalted) has an on'yomi reading of 'son', which is used here since it's a traditionally Chinese phrase and is surrounded by other kanji. This character is considered a more complex (fancier) form of '命', both sharing a kun'yomi reading of 'mikoto' and meaning either 'beloved' or 'exalted, honorable'. It's usually used to refer to someone important (like an emporer), which Takumi took to mean to the people that Tayuya interacted with.

But '命' has a second kun'yomi reading, 'inochi', which means life, or more literally 'the concept of life, the state of being alive', since the English word 'life' could also be written as '生活' (seikatsu : daily, physical life) or '人生' (jinsei : a person's life, their lifetime).

Additionally, '命' has its own on'yomi reading: 'mei'.

Destiny.

Ha. Ha. MUAHAHAHAHAHAH. *cough* eh-hrm.

Remember, a soul is always fundamentally the same. It only expresses itself differently.

So just because the spoken name and primary meaning of the sword changed, doesn't mean all of the others don't apply…

I think I did a pretty good job of describing the important stuff in the story, but this is just some extra info in case you were interested.