AN: I am not certain why all of a sudden this story and Carapace are getting more attention and reviews but it has helped relight the urge to update them. So thank you. Sometimes inspiration is hard to pull out of the mire of real life.

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"We graduated." Ten-ten had come over first thing in the morning and let herself into the back yard. She knew that new graduate or not I would be stretching at sun up whilst Lee began his laps. It helped and immensely to know that my favorite cousin and twin would be on a team with my frenemy. At least they would all be familiar with each other.

"We did. Pinky promise time?" I inquired without concern as I folded my forehead against my shin. There was only really one reason for her to be there and I had not forgotten. A soft sound of sighing told me that neither had Ten-ten. We had been playful but serious in our pledge to focus on our career for now. Indeed all the chaos that came later with the Uchiha had only strengthened that determination in me. I would not yield to fate, I had come to this life and it was mine. Mine and those I loved, for I did not belong solely to myself even as they shared a part of their own existence in my keeping. So with one more exhale I stood and looked over at Ten-ten. She'd left her hair down.

It was strange, seeing her with her brown locks loosened. I imagined it would make my face and shape every bit as peculiar so accustomed were we to the higher traditional hair style. There was an unusual hesitancy to the proud young weapons-mistress though and she stepped forward holding out a fabric bundle.

I may have forgotten to breathe.

You see in the Yue clan, not only do they have those silly forelock and romance traditions but ways to cut them off and handle the process that is quite ceremonial. It involves fire and witnesses but you can actually do the act away from anyone else as long as another of the clan or whom knows of the rite, is there for it. Burning the hair later. It's a symbolic offering to the ancestors to burn our hair in any state it was in. I'll be honest, I certainly do not mind the idea of being rid of some of these bells!

"Now?" Though my voice is curious my eyes are fixed on my relative's without any hesitation. Ten-ten grins and nods.

"Now. I've been preparing for it."

There's only one way Ten-ten can mean that and at her encouraging smile I step forward and flip back the rich red fabric.

Of course there is a knife there. Two to be exact. They are well done if not precisely beautiful. Function over glamour. Yet their wooden handles have been stained in a soft purple hue and the metal blackened. They are clumsy art, but art that will cut and protect and thus worth far more than any gold that they may equal in weight. It is what is really being showcased though that has me blinking back tears, and I hope that Ten-ten sees them. Because I know she has to learn to make weapons to properly use them and these are stunning for they are entirely functional. I could use these in battle even if they are less kunai and more meant to practice the elegant forms of wakizishi and katana. They are the size of kunai and I do not doubt it is only that she must have told her father why she was shrinking down something that needed mathematical precision for it's elegance that she was permitted to do so.

She made us matching blades.

"There's a third." She confesses softly and Ten-ten rolls her eyes. "I figured Lee would do it when he is ready, Gai-sensei said that there's something he wanted to give him first and would pass it on for me."

Which is appropriate and makes me think that for all Gai's apparent loud enthusasiam he's a good match for Lee because someone has told him that men and women do this cutting ceremony away from the other. To ensure there's no interference as it is. But still, Ten-ten made us triplet weapons.

"You really made them all match?"

"Yep!"

"That's..that's amazing.." And it is and I don't hesitate to beam at Ten-ten who blushes cutely but seriously to make three identical weapons is hard work forging by hand and she must have been working towards this for ages. I fight the urge to pull her into a hug and instead start undoing my hair so it will fall loose as well. Much as I would rather just cut them and the bells off, it's not nice to dull my new blade on the metal in my hair.

"Took me a long time." Ten-ten agrees as she kneels in front of me, patient as I unravel the bells with chakra keeping them silent. "And that was after I decided on the colors and the forms. We're the closest in our year you know and I just also wanted them to be things we could keep on us. They'll stay really sharp too, Tou-san taught me an alloy that is easy to sharpen but keeps a good edge. A back up weapon just in case."

Just in case from a weapons master is beyond overkill but I completely agree with her. "No wonder you insisted we work on knife and kunai training so much this last summer."

"I wanted to be sure you two would actually use them. I know Lee is mostly taijutsu and so are you but that doesn't mean things like ropes and heck even if you have to cut up food or something and.."

I lean forward and touch our noses together. It's little more than a tap but it hushes Ten-ten and we smile at each other.

"It's perfect. Ready?"

Ten-ten reaches out to grasp one of my forelocks and I do the same to her, in sync our blades saw through the hair -sharp as they may be hair is a thick protein and many strands, it's a sawing motion not just a rapid slice despite what the world's entertainment may have you believe- Once brown and purple has fallen, though the last strands are surprisingly painful as to cut cleanly enough you have to pull on it at the same time; we move to the second side.

There's no witnesses besides us, the cuts are awkward and uneven due to the hair's nature but it feels so..light.

In a way until my hair grows back my clan will consider me entirely off the market for any sort of romantic entangling which means I won't even be teased that much. My own teasing of Lee and Sakura will edge back as well if he returns without his braid, acknowledging his choice. When done we gather each of the strands, intermingled brown and violet and carry them back to the house, Ten-ten having been kind enough to provide a sheath with the new blades that we wear along our waist, the hair gathered in the red fabric she brought them in. My grandparents are there smiling and usher us to the back where one of the Yue clan ancestral altars is set up with the Lee one, a fire having been readied. No doubt they knew, have been waiting to see if we would follow through.

Together we toss the hair on the blaze and stand there clasping hands smelling the less than pleasant aroma tempered by the herbs grandfather throws on to help with it.

I know Lee will have his own ceremony later and it's okay that he does it without me since this is a gender thing not a twin one. I know grandfather has really been looking forward to sharing a few stories with him about when he did this himself, and I wouldn't want to intrude.

But something about knowing that today really begins one of my days as an official ninja, for all that Anko will not be training us until tomorrow, I feel optimistic.

Also I may be a little excited to see how the Hyuuga react to learning about whom my new instructor is.

()()()()()()()

Okay I may have completely all but ran to the compound once Ten-ten left after lunch to meet up with her team. What I did not expect was for the guards to be waiting for me at the gate to hurriedly wave me in and Kou's father to be there with a very unhappy expression. His eyebrows had actually touched. That's Hyuuga level freak out of hair pulling and stammering.

"Hyuuga-san?"

"We have heard, of course, of your passing. Congratulations. Though your..instructor is much cause for concern. So today we shall be revisiting etiquette and behavior lessons. Today I will be working with you."

Oh come on. Dangit. I should have stayed home.