A/N: Tenten's mother's name, Mirai, means "the future".
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
The Strength to Endure
Mirai eyes her daughter critically. Though Tenten has always disregarded her lessons on being a wife, she still pours the morning tea with an exact precision, not one drop spilling onto the table or splashing from the cups. But the knowledge that this skill has come from her daughter's work in the smithy and not a careful study of her mother's techniques, irritates her. Tenten has always been a headstrong girl, and as her mother, Mirai has naturally built a tolerance for her stubbornness. But after the previous day's events, Mirai's patience has been stretched thin. Her daughter's audacity to have acted so rudely in front of her betrothed and his uncle leaves Mirai feeling particularly merciless. At her insistence, her husband has already scolded Tenten for her behavior, but he is too gentle, and Mirai is glad when he retreats to the smithy after breakfast. Mirai is far more belligerent, and she knows the only way to temper a fiery soul such as Tenten's is guiltless discipline.
"I cannot believe you. Embarrassing your father and I in front of Hiashi Hyuga and his nephew." Mirai pulls the comb roughly through her daughter's hair for emphasis and twists her strands into two neat buns. Today the ladies of the town have decided to gather for afternoon tea, and Tenten, perhaps in a show of remorse, easily agrees to accompany her.
"And his nephew being such a darling and volunteering to fetch you himself. You are a very lucky girl. Would it kill you to be more gracious?" She brandishes the comb as skillfully as her daughter wields a sword, and she hopes it has the same threatening effect.
"I will never understand why your father permitted you to work in the smithy," she continues, forcefully clipping a hair ornament. " It is no place for women." From the steely look on her face, Mirai knows Tenten is doing her best to ignore her words. She has heard this lecture many times before.
But as she continues to rage, Mirai can feel a panicked tightening in her chest. Underneath all her anger, she is worried about her daughter's future. The traumatic childhood experiences of the last Great War, the heat of the flames burning her family's farmland, the darkness of the forest as her family fled, the endless hours of working menial jobs in an unfamiliar city, and the suffocating desperation that colored her teenage years, still haunt her.
Her desire to keep Tenten from the smithy and train her to be a proper wife is only to make sure Tenten does not have to face the same reality, and the advent of another war has only made her more determined. Hiashi Hyuga is a blessing from the heavens, and has presented her daughter with an easy path for escaping such a fate, and Mirai does not understand why her daughter would risk losing such an opportunity. And as an additional stroke of luck, though Mirai would have pressed her daughter into a noble marriage even if her betrothed were a cruel husband, she is secretly relieved that the fortune teller had predicted correctly: Hiashi's nephew is kind.
"Your fiancé is such a gentleman, so patient even with someone as infuriatingly insolent as you. You should apologize to him." Mirai glares at her daughter through her reflection in the mirror. Tenten's knuckles are clenched tightly, but she does not speak, a rare acknowledgement that her mother is right. She continues to be uncharacteristically compliant as her mother ties her kimono, and remains quiet during the tea ceremony.
When they arrive home after tea, and her daughter quickly changes from her kimono to her work clothes and spends the evening in the smithy, Mirai knows she is crafting something for her betrothed. And though it is not the apology she had hoped for, she understands that Tenten best manifests her emotions in the tools she creates. She shakes her head, exasperated as she gazes at the smithy from the backdoor, and calls her daughter to come for dinner.
Tenten emerges covered in soot, rubbing the ache from her shoulders, and Mirai feels a strange pride swell in her chest. Her daughter does not have the discipline to be a doting wife, but she does have the strength to endure. And Mirai decides that is good enough.
A/N: Thank you for reading and please review!
~M.I.
