Prologue
The smell of burning filled the dark air, choked with coal dust that was quickly swept away by a slight breeze. The heat was stifling and it made even the simple act of walking or raising an arm hard, sweat pouring from the brow as the action was attempted.
Naruko sighed to herself as she surveyed the space that was her workshop. From the large forge in one corner of the room, a massive thing contained in metal and stone, but even that was unable to retain all the heat that poured out from the opening in the centre of it, the lid could be opened to the reveal the oval shaped area inside that burned as hot as magma. The buckets of water and oil, various clamps sat attached to several benches along a wall next to the furnace, stacked with various materials and fittings, all freshly made from the forge, ready to be utilised in any number of ways. The anvil's sat ready with the hammers stored in a bucket next to them, all of various weights, sizes and shapes for forging her goods. The tongs sat next to the forge as she placed them back and stepped back to gaze at the mixture of tools and items she now had available to her, even the hammers were her own handy work after all.
She wanted a furnace as well, to mix the alloy she required for her more specialised goods but alas that was but a dream for the moment, her not having enough money for the moment, having gone nearly bankrupt from the building of this place.
She strode out of the basement and ascended into the ground floor of her shop, taking care to lock the heavy metal door behind her as she encountered the main storeroom, filled with the real weapons and their various fixtures, many needing only a few more hours in the workshop to be finished. Waiting to be customised to the customer.
She shut that door as well and turned towards the front of the store, walking through the doorway into its bright space. Dark wood covered the floors and walls, the roof a light beige colour, the windows barred to deter theft of the weapons she had stored here. The finished items were all locked down in the basement storage anyway, so all the items on display in front of her, hanging on the walls, in display cabinets and even on small cushions for the most expensive ones. The counter took up all of the rear of the store, underneath it were all the basic repair kits and the like needed to keep weapons and the like in good condition, they could only do so much but even so it made her job easier if it was kept in good condition in the first place, the kunai and that were also under here, the only finished weapons in her store save for the one on her belt at the moment.
The place was bright enough to show off the quality of the pieces without hurting the eyes with all the polished metal around. It gave the right kind of mood to the place as well, she thought, a darker air that other stores, allowing the mind to accept that many of these things were meant for the sole purpose of killing and little else. The armors were a different matter.
The store was also divided into two sections, one on the left being filled with tools of the ninja trade and the like, high quality goods and a large variety of them as well. The other was designed more for civilians, smaller blades that could easily be hidden and the like, kits for tools and even some tools as well, such as bows and arrows along with various knives and axes. It was armor that stood out the most though, standing on mannequins it looked like normal clothing, but looks can be deceiving, everything on that side was designed for defence mostly after all.
All in all she felt the place was good. Her forge was ready, her items were all on display, now she only had to wait for someone to walk in here. She may have set up right on the other side of the street from the main retailer in this town, but she was more than confident that she would be able to out compete him, he sold mostly mass produced, inferior goods while hers were made for the elite, ninja or civilian.
She opened the door and hoped back over the counter and stood straight, waiting for her first customer. It would not be too long after all.
Chapter One
The sun was just beginning to rise over the false horizon of trees, casting great beams of yellow-orange light across the village of Konoha, when Tenten found herself standing outside of the new weapon store that had just opened in front of the other weapons store, the one where she worked and gathered all of her weapons from. The sounds of birds distracted her for a brief moment before she heard the door to the shop click open, at six in the morning it was very early for any shop to be open in this town, but then again, this store felt different from her own.
She had worked there for several years now, manning the counter and dealing with customers, stacking boxes and the like, and not feeling like she was really getting much out of the deal at the end of it. They stocked mostly mass produced, one-size-fits-all stuff that did the job but was not overly nice to work with, especially since the material was usually low quality. But it was all cheap, it needed to be after all, however just by glancing at the weapons in the window of this new shop Tenten could see they were not your cheap jobs. They looked highly polished and the markings on them clearly revealed their custom nature, however these were clearly display pieces, the handles had not been fixed properly and the sheathes were missing entirely, the polished effect was likely just wax, completely faked to draw in more customers. But nevertheless, Tenten could not deny the quality of the blades.
She had been thinking about coming here for a few weeks now. She was tired of her weapons breaking, or being slightly too heavy or not heavy enough for her to use effectively. In battle the smallest length of time could change whether or not you died, or your opponent did. So quality weapons were in demand, but were always in short supply. There were every few true blacksmiths left in the world, what with the use of mass production and the like thanks to those 'Black Factories' that existed.
With these thoughts in her mind Tenten pushed open the door and stepped, almost cautiously, into the store, looking around all the while, feeling its warmth seep into her cold skin.
What she saw made her jaw drop. The weapons were all clearly well made with only the highest quality materials, even the handles and sheaths appeared truly handcrafted, with great care taken to ensure a perfect fit and look for each and every weapon that she saw. From small knives, to tantos and katanas, everything she expected was here, but then there were scythes, large blades as tall as herself, straight swords with chains attached to the end and numerous other oddities her store never even saw let alone stocked. It made her drool at the thought of utilising some of these in combat, their rarity made them very hard to defend against as very few people had ever even seen them let along viewed how they were supposed to be used in combat.
She walked around the shop in a daze, feeling the razor sharp edges of the blades, the knives perfect balance and odd shape, the clothing on the other side of the store that felt strangely metallic and hard. All of these things made her head spin, who in the world could produce such fine craftsmanship and not be employed by the Shogunate?
"Good morning" a voice called out and she turned from the knives to see a young woman, with short blonde hair, ocean deep blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin looking over at her
"Good morning" Tenten replied as the woman wiped soot from her face and hands, putting the cloth into her belt as she hopped over the counter, revealing her firm defined muscles, the sheath hanging from her belt made Tenten sure this woman was the one that had made all of these and she had a sudden sense of fandom overcome her, much like as if Lady Tsunade had suddenly walked into the room. She had always admired women who refused to submit to this world run by men after all.
"May I see?" the woman asked and Tenten blinked in confusion as the woman took her hands in hers, turning them over and running her thumb over her callouses, looking her up and down, gently pressing her fingers against her arms and back, along with her shoulder and upper chest, light touching her abdomen before pulling back, leaving Tenten feeling embarrassed, confused and a little upset over what had just happened
"What are you…?" she tried to ask angrily before the woman cut her off
"You must be Tenten-san" she said and Tenten blinked, shocked
"How do you know that?" she asked with suspicion in her tone
"I had heard the name before, that you were a 'weapon mistress', your musculature supports that" she said and Tenten blinked, trying desperately to remain on sure footing as the woman spoke
"What?"
"Your muscles groups" the woman explained "none of them were over or under developed, save a few in your lower back and legs, but that's not overly important. Did you come here to buy a weapon?" the woman then asked while moving over to the left side wall while Tenten watched her
"Yes" she replied simply though she winced internally, this woman was strange, even though she was brilliant. Tenten wanted to leave at that moment, not only that but the price of these things was likely to be extreme
"I see" the woman said thoughtfully while closing her eyes for a few moments "I know, you specialise in throwing weapons, so…" she trailed off as she picked up a knife, no bigger than her hand, shaped like square with one end tapered to a point. There was no handle, instead the entire thing was sharpened save a darker portion at the back, the entire thing being quite thin
"What?" Tenten asked as she woman deftly handled the strange knife, balancing it on a finger one moment before twirling it around, spinning it in her palm before holding it out to Tenten who took it gingerly and immediately felt the lightness of it, along with the sharpness of its edges
"These are my own design, they're designed to pass through a target, they're smaller and lighter than kunai, easier to pack and carry and create nearly no sound when thrown" she told Tenten who looked at little dubious at the last part before the woman took the knife back and deftly threw it at the counter, the knife easily sinking quite a ways into the wood and Tenten was shocked to find she had not heard the usual whistling sound that was produced when most knives were thrown
"Oh" Tenten said after a moment, unable to think of anything to say
"These are perfect for assassination of a target, and are able to slip between armour very easily as well, however they are only throwing knives, you cannot use them for close quarters" she said and Tenten nodded before the woman took another weapon off of the wall
"This is similar to a pike" she said, the weapon being like a bo-staff but tipped with a spear point at the end. It was nearly as tall as her but she twisted and twirled with it rather easily "it is for both defence and offence and easily provides greater reach than conventional weapons without compromising on weight, as most weapons do" she explained
"But its wood" Tenten pointed out
"Indeed, but the wood it very sturdy and has been treated, the handle" she said motioning down the length of the weapon "is contoured to allow for lunging thrusts and aggressive handling, the bonds that fasten it together are very durable, they won't break without extreme pressure" she said and Tenten's look grew more and more impressed as the woman talked her through the weapons special features and the like, causing her to realise that the woman was likely familiar with how to handle each and every weapon in the store.
"The counterweight is quite heavy, it makes it a little slower but the power given when thrusting is greatly improved, it also makes it more stable, being harder to knock away. And finally, this barbed spearhead is very, very effective at punching through even heavy armour, let alone light-armor" she said and Tenten nodded with a dumb look on her face and the woman handed the pike over to her, allowing Tenten to feel the fantastic balance of the weapon alongside its surprising agility as she twirled it around with ease while the woman watched
"This stuff is amazing" Tenten then remarked and the woman nodded, still completely professional
"Thank you, I make almost all of it myself, the upgrades to this pike were my own design, alas I was forced to purchase the shaft from another store" she told Tenten who nodded absently, admiring the straightness of the shaft
"How much is it?" she then asked with some trepidation as the woman hopped back over the counter
"For the knives and that? About 120,000 yen" she said and Tenten gaped
"I don't have that kind of cash" she moped, she really, really wanted these weapons, but these were quality goods and as such she was unlikely to be able to afford them for some time
"Tell you what" the woman then said as she took the items off of Tenten before walking downstairs briefly and returning with a different set, the real ones, Tenten guessed correctly
"I'll make you a deal" she said "you promise to only shop here from now on, and I'll drop that price to 90,000 yen, then you can pay me back in instalments, okay?" she said and Tenten looked at her in astonishment
"A-are you sure?" she asked, knowing just how much money that was, she had just managed to get a quarter off without doing anything
"Of course I am Tenten-san, just make that little promise for me and you can go about your day, I won't lose anything if you pay me it all back eventually after all" she said and Tenten nodded
"Sure, defiantly, I'll only shop here from now on" she said and the woman smiled at her
"Very good, here you are now, just be careful with the knives, they are quite capable of cutting a finger off if you grab the wrong end, as the pike, well, I'm sure you've handled a staff before, its similar but with different attacks" she said and Tenten nodded
"Thank you very much" she said honestly, a little taken aback by the show of generosity "I'll see you again…um" she trailed off as she realised she didn't know the womans name
"Naruko" she replied "Naruko Uzumaki"
"I'll see you soon Uzumaki-san" Tenten said and with a smile large enough to split her face in half she exited the store and made her way to the nearest training ground to test her latest addition out in peace. She was definitely going to pay Naruko back for that show of generosity, at least she knew where nearly all of her earns were going to go now, there was no way she was going to go anywhere else when she could get his kind of quality there.
Naruko stood straight behind her counter, watching the people peer into her shop and walk away. It had only been a few days since she had opened and already she was surprised at how many customers she had received, given the value she set most of pieces at, she had expected at least some reluctance, but with even that Genin, Tenten, buying from her despite the cost she had reevaluated the costs of many of her pieces. The cost came down to the purity of the metal and the time she had to take to make the custom pieces. While it was certainly a great deal less time than the man across the street had to take to make some of his own pieces it was still time taken, and so she added her own little cost onto it, even if it was almost second nature to her now.
She smoothed down her clothing, damaged as it was from the sparks and heat from the furnace burning away beneath her feet. It was simple, dark trousers and a black shirt she needed little else, since anything more fancy would only get ruined by the heat of the furnace and her own sweat, or give away the sheer amount of crap that tended to get on her clothes when she worked the forge. She had no orders to fill for the moment, since despite her popularity very few customers had sought anything more than kunai or basic equipment, which she had in stock, but it was not her particular area of expertise.
She looked up when the door opened and a familiar face peered in as though unsure about whether to enter or not
"Good morning Tenten-san" she called out to the girl who noticed her and began to walk over.
She had brown hair up in two buns, brown eyes and was dressed in what appeared to be her usual attire, consisting of a pink blouse and dark green trousers that hugged her contours rather well.
"Good morning Uzumaki-san" Tenten replied with a small smile
"What brings you back so soon?" Naruko asked seriously
"I, uh, need some help" Tenten admitted, blushing a little and Naruko nodded
"With the staff?" she asked and Tenten nodded "that's fine, it's quite a difficult weapon to get a handle on, especially due to its versatility" she explained and Tenten nodded with a sigh
"Yeah, I tried practising with the thrust and all, but I just…it didn't feel right" she explained and Naruko nodded
"I'll be happy to help when I go on my break" she said and Tenten smiled gratefully
"Thank you, Uzumaki-san"
"It's no problem, we can talk about some things as well" she said and Tenten frowned
"Like what?" she asked suspiciously
"Nothing like what you're thinking I suspect" Naruko said "I meant things such as your combat abilities and the like, its a common thing I've noticed here" she said and Tenten frowned but did not try to rebuke her so Naruko turned her attention back to the door
"Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to have a job for me would you?" Tenten then asked and Naruko shook her head
"Not right now, no. I'm quite capable of handling all of this myself anyway" she said and Tenten pouted
"Damn it" she muttered under her breath
Suddenly the door was pushed in once again and two women walked in, chatting to each other
"Are you sure?" one of them, a woman with purple spiky hair, wearing a trench coat, asked her companion who was glaring at her
"Yugito-san, good morning" Naruko said with a small bow
"Good morning Uzumaki-san" she replied
"Are you here for your order?" she asked and Yugito nodded before Naruko removed it from under the counter and presented it, taking off the wrapping as she handed it to the woman who inspected the simple sheath and the blade inside
"It feels really nice" she muttered and Naruko nodded
"I rebalanced the blade for you and redid the joint between the blade and handle, it should feel easier to handle now, unfortunately I could not do more without more materials. I would've liked to have redone the handle to fit your hand perfectly, and modified the spine of the blade. But this should do" she said and Yugito nodded
"It's perfect" she said in astonishment
"I guess she is good then" the other woman said "Anko Mitarashi" she introduced herself
"Naruko Uzumaki" she replied
"This is some impressive stuff here" she said and Naruko nodded
"Thank you, I do try for a variety in here" she said while looking Anko up and down
"What?" Anko asked with a soft hiss
"I see, Jonin level and you use mostly hand-to-hand techniques, I can only think of a few weapons that might suit you" she said and Anko raised an eyebrow before turning to Yugito who now had her sword secured in its sheath on her belt
"She did that to me as well, she suggested several weapons to me that would compliment my fighting style, despite never having seen me fight" she said with a glance to Naruko who nodded
"You can tell a great deal from someones body language and the way their body is built" she said
"Then, what would suit me?" Anko asked her
"Something easy to use and flexible, it would have to be knife, probably curved" she said before pointing at one in particular
"This one?" Anko asked with a dangerous smile as she picked the blade up
"Yes, its light enough of quick strikes and even throw, the serrated edges will rip the flesh to shreds. I suspect if it was curved it would be better in hand-to-hand, however I find that is a good compromise" she said as she watched Anko play with the knife, serrated on one side, the handle allowing for even a loose grip to secure it in the hand with ease
"I like it" Anko said with a dangerous grin
"Good"
"How much is it?" she asked and Naruko gestured to the price tag making her whistle "bit much" she said
"I only sell the best Mitarashi-san" she told her "these are all designed to last dozens of battles, not just one or two" she said and Anko hummed in thought, wincing when she cut herself testing the edge
"It's certainly good quality" she said absently
"You can always order a custom one Mitarashi-san, I'll have it ready in about two days" she said and Anko looked at her with a grin
"Really?" she asked and Naruko nodded
"It'll cost a little more but will be more suited to your tastes I think" she said and Anko nodded
"Okay then, that suits me just fine" she admitted and Naruko nodded
"Very well then, may I?" she asked as she took hold of Anko's hand and traced over it before nodding to herself
"Done already?" Anko asked in surprise
"Yep, come back in a few days and it'll be all ready for you"
"I like you" Anko said with a laugh
"I know all about the weapons in this store Mitarashi-san, I build them all after all. I'm usually open around six, in case you need emergency supplies" she said and Anko nodded
"Count me in, I'd rather by here than with that pervert over the street" she said and Naruko bowed as she noticed Tenten nodding her head at Anko's statement
"Thank you very much, in that case, I'll see you in a few days" she said and Anko nodded as she and Yugito both left the shop before she turned to Tenten
"Let me close up and I'll come with you" she said and Tenten nodded while patiently waiting for Naruko to finish up.
For now this is all I've written for this, as I said, but I think you get the general thrust of the idea.