Forked Shadows

Chapter 10

"Tenten," an elderly man called out, hobbling behind the counter. "I heard you failed the prelimnaires."

"Yeah," Tenten's smile tightened on her face. The old man glowered at her, sticking a wrinkled hand towards the back of the shop.

"You know what to do. I still have many orders for repairing and sharpening," the old man said, showing them the cluttered back.

"Then we'll help right away!" Raicho exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves. The old man whirled at her.

"Who are you?" He sneered, hobbling closer.

"This is my best friend, Raicho," Tenten said, confidently, slinging an arm around her. "She's with me." Although Raicho was no weapon expert, she spent many hours in her childhood helping her father clean various weapons.

"You can count on us!" Raicho added. Uncle only grunted, but said nothing as the two girls scurried to the back.

The next half hour involved Tenten teaching Raicho how to sharpen a kunai and a shuriken. "Poison also wears off after time, so we have to repaint them."

"You should do that. I wouldn't want to accidentally kill myself," Raicho said, scooting away.

Hours later, the girls trudged from the shop, waving goodbye. Raicho had given up and had ended up watching her friend finish cleaning the rest of the weapons that had gotten a new grip wrapping or sharpened blade.

The weapon's shop children come up from the basement, saying hello several times and taking down a new batch of unfixed weapons. Every time they came up, however, Tenten's face tensed up, a scowl darkening her features when they finally went down.

"What's wrong?" Raicho asked worriedly. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Tell you later, Tenten mouthed silently. "It may have been the fish," she added out loud, groaning for emphasis.

Raicho nodded and said, "I've got painkillers. Want one?"

"Please."

Late evening hung over them, the sunset signaling both girls dinner would soon be ready. "I've got to go. Did you hear about the tower that crashed at the training grounds?" Tenten asked, undoing her hair.

"The one where some Genin teams had been training?"

"Guess they got carried away. Wanna go tomorrow?"

"I'd love to."

They walked on in silence for awhile, almost reaching the park. Tenten seized Raicho's hand, dragging her towards the swings.

"So what's wrong? Earlier, I thought you were going to kill me or something," Raicho joked, sitting on a swing.

Tenten sighed heavily, slumping on a nearby swing. "It's Uncle's kids. They're liars."

Raicho blinked confusedly.

Tenten sighed again. "You saw how much work I did this afternoon, right? Well--"

"You cleaned forty-six weapons, polished twenty sets of equipment and gear, sharpened all the kunais I still hadn't gotten to, fixed thirteen weapons, mended fifteen pieces of gear, rebuilt numerous katanas and machetes, painted two hundred shurikens with poison, and took care of all the incoming customers," Raicho's interrupted, pulling out her notebook, showing Tenten. "I counted, so I know how hard you worked."

"That's so you, Rai-chan," Tenten smiled softly. "Anyways, remember whenever they came up they took the weapons with them?"

"Yeah." Raicho looked closely at Tenten. "They weren't taking the broken weapons or storing them, were they?"

Tenten shook her head sharply. "No. Heck, no. They're taking my work. Uncle believes them and thinks I'm slacking."

"They're taking credit for your work."

"What I just said," Tenten nodded.

"I'm guessing Telling Uncle involves him thinking you're the one lying."

"Yeah. Trust your own blood than your hardest worker. Then again, you don't believe in your 'hardest worker'."

"I wish I could help--"

"You being there was enough. I loved your company and I love that you don't under-appreciate me or my work. I'm a weapon expert, and I know my stuff," Tenten said, smiling happily again. "I just..." she trailed off.

"You'd love it if your superiors noticed the work you did."

"Yeah." Tenten slouched even more. "I wished they did."