A dumpling flew across the room and hit the wall with an unceremonious wet thump. Another one flew opposite and landed squarely on Kiba's forehead. A fit of laughter rose within the dango shop and then another voice rose up in laughter as well.

"Children, the both of you!"

It was Shikamaru who'd interrupted Kiba's and Akira's small-scale food fight. He and Kai were walking outside by pure coincidence and a small stream of sticky dumpling syrup had landed in Shikamaru's hair as the second dango was thrown.

"Oh, god, Shikamaru, I'm sorry! I was aiming for Kiba's stupid fat head."
"Hey! Don't insult my head like that!"
"What are you guys even doing?" Shikamaru asked.
"Having lunch, can't you tell?" Kiba chuckled.
"You two are hopeless," Kai said, shaking his head. "Well, have fun. Try to get some of those dumplings in your mouths."

Kai reached into the restaurant from the large storefront windows and nabbed a dango stick off of Kiba and Akira's table. He and Shikamaru ran off as Kiba began to protest.

"Calm down, Kiba, we'll just order more. We wasted a whole skewer throwing them at each other, anyway," Akira said lightly.
"We can't spend so much money on dango, Kira, come on. We're supposed to waste our money for new ninja tools, later."
"It's on me, Kiba, don't worry about it."
"I hate it when you pay for my food," Kiba grumbled. He wiped off the syrup from the table. "You know I can afford it."
"I know, but I'm horrible at gift-giving, so I'd rather shower my friends with food throughout the year so I don't have to get them gifts," Akira said with a small laugh. She ordered an extra 2 skewers of cha dango. "So, stop your grumbling and eat the yaki dango before it gets cold."

Kiba shook his head and smiled. The waitress arrived with the cha dango a few moments later and both friends dug into their remaining food. When they were done, Kiba whined as Akira paid for their food once again, leaving a little extra money on the table for the wasted dango they threw around.

As they exited the shop, Akira hopped up onto Kiba's back, as per their normal routine, and he carried her like a backpack all the way to the ninja weapons depot a few streets away. A few of the children they passed imitated them and toppled over when they couldn't keep hold of the person on their back, but they giggled about it and Akira encouraged them to try again. It was a childish thing to do, let Kiba carry her around, but some people, who would normally give her disparaging looks when she walked down the street, smiled and chuckled when they saw her being carried around. She enjoyed it. She enjoyed that for once, these people didn't see the horrors of the Uchiha Clan.

"All right, get your lazy ass off me," Kiba laughed as they arrived at the shop.
"Hey, you're the one who insists on carrying me everywhere," Akira said as she dropped down.
"Yeah, well, people don't look at you funny when I do."

Akira's brain stuttered for a moment and she turned to Kiba, eyes filled with shock and a little confusion. Kiba shrugged and ruffled Akira's hair. A small sad smile rose to Akira's lips.

"You don't have to, you know."
"Oh, shut it," Kiba scoffed. "We're not having a sappy conversation about this. I've got your back, Kira, that's all there is to it."

Akira chuckled and shook her head as Kiba beamed at her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the shop. The owner was an older man, with greying dark hair and keen green eyes. He had a stern face, but Akira knew him to be kind. She spent a fair amount of time in this armoury, perusing the shelves while her father got his weapons sharpened. There was a display of armour in the corner and a rack with long pole weapons in another. A stack of standard-issue flack jackets, worn by the years, was piled in a metal bin, and a vast display of weapons was scattered on tables and hung on the walls. The comforting smells of burning metal and soot filled Akira's lungs, and a gentle smile rose to her lips.

"Good afternoon, you two," the armourer said.
"Good afternoon, Mr Ogawa," Akira said politely. "Anything new you think I'd be interested in?"
"Ah... Let me get Mr Inuzuka's things and I will return with something I think you'll find fascinating."
"Things? I thought we came here to peruse," Akira said as Mr Ogawa left.
"Oh, it's not for me. My mother had something fixed," Kiba explained as he picked up a rather concerning looking kunai. "Think I could use this?"
"Kiba, no."
"Kiba... maybe?"

Akira chuckled and shook her head. Mr Ogawa came back with a rather large bundle and placed it on the counter for when Kiba and Akira were ready to leave.

"Now, Ms Uchiha, follow me."

Akira gave Kiba a look and she smiled, then followed Mr Ogawa to the far left of his shop. On the wall hung a rather simple-looking tantō. It looked old. The metal was dull, rusted in some places, and the leather on the hilt seemed as if it had been chewed away by time.

"It's old..."
"It's ancient," Mr Ogawa said.

The girl took a step forward and her eyes scanned the blade. Mr Ogawa could tell that, despite the lacklustre appearance and apparent uselessness of the weapon, Akira was fascinated by it. As she got closer, she could see something engraved on the blade. Akira frowned and squinted her eyes for a moment, then, abruptly, she turned to Mr Ogawa.

"Mr Ogawa, where did you find this?"
"There was an archaeological dig some way into the forest," Mr Ogawa explained. "It was found several feet underground near a small stream. The woman who found it brought it to me so that I could restore it. When I saw the inscription... I told her that it wasn't possible to restore it."
"Why? This could go to a museum! We don't have many artefacts from the Warring States Period that are still intact."
"Yes, well..." Mr Ogawa gently took the weapon off the display and presented it to Akira. "I thought that it should be returned to its rightful owner."

Akira took a deep breath and straightened herself.

"Can you restore it?"
"It would take a long time, and it wouldn't come cheap."
"I don't care," Akira said, handing the blade back to Mr Ogawa. "Do everything you can."

Mr Ogawa took a soft red cloth and wrapped it around the blade. He nodded and smiled, then took the blade to the back of his shop. When Kiba and Akira left, they headed down through the village with no particular destination in mind. Kiba was carrying his mother's parcel, as well as the odd-looking kunai he couldn't resist buying.

"What's so special about it?" Kiba asked. Akira looked up at him, seemingly pulled out of some deep thoughts. "The weapon the old man showed you."
"Oh, it's uh... it's old," Akira chuckled.

Kiba laughed and shook his head. He dragged Akira to the middle of the main street and they sat down on the benches beside the jasmine flowers. Kiba dropped his mother's bag of weapons on the ground with a loud thump and gave Akira a look.

"How old?"
"Warring States."
"OH SHI—"
"KIBA!"
"Sorry, sorry—but damn!" Kiba exclaimed. "Why'd Mr Ogawa say it'd be better suited to you?"
"Because of the engraving on it," Akira said, a little excited. Kiba rose an eyebrow. "It's got old characters on it."
"I don't like that you're so excited..."
"There are characters that literally translate to 'field, island, fan.'"

Kiba blinked.

"So?"
"Use your brain, Kiba," Akira groaned. "What are the old characters for those words?"
"Uh... ta, shima and... uchiwa?"
"Exactly, now say it in one go."

For a few seconds, Kiba repeated the characters until a look of realisation reached his face.

"Isn't that an old way of spelling your name!? The blade used to belong to an Uchiha!?"
"And not just any Uchiha, Kiba. It belonged to Tajima Uchiha—Madara Uchiha's father."
"No way!" Kiba exclaimed. "That's so cool! My little swirly kunai seems kind of stupid now."
"Well, to be honest, it was stupid regardless."

Kiba laughed and playfully punched Akira on the shoulder.

"Hey, Kira—can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Well... I sort of convinced Naruto to tell me what happened during your last mission." Akira let out a breath of laughter. "That was the first time you killed someone, huh?"
"Yeah, it was. I don't recommend it, really. It's pretty messy. Screws with your brain a little, too."
"Well, what's your secret to not eating yourself up inside?" Kiba asked. "If that were me, and someone jumped in front of my attack the first time I was going to kill someone, I'd be losing my mind... Don't tell anyone I said that, I have a reputation to uphold."
"I won't, I promise," Akira said with a chuckle. "As for my secret... well, having my entire family murdered helped."
"Kira..."
"No, I'm being quite serious." Akira turned and sat sideways on the bench, facing Kiba. "When I came home after that mission, I kept seeing Haku's blood on my hands. When I went to sleep, I could smell the blood. I felt dirty and sick to my stomach. Having known that feeling from having my family's blood on my hands... it was a lot easier to bear the blood of a stranger."
"So, you're okay?" Kiba asked. He looked worried.
"Honestly, no, and I won't be for a while. However, I think with time I will get used to living with it."

The look of worry didn't leave Kiba's features until Akira smiled at him, and then it melted away like ice on a hot day. He leaned back on the bench and swung his arm around Akira's shoulders.

"I know you will. And you'll be making that Tajima guy real proud by doing so."