Ninja Tool Exchange

Naruto did not deliberately hide the sound of his footsteps. He followed at an unhurried pace, maintaining a distance that was neither threatening nor far enough to lose her.

Tenten had graduated as a Genin the previous year. She had a full extra year of training and combat experience over Naruto, and Team Guy's training intensity was notoriously brutal throughout Konoha.

Any ninja who could endure the self-torturing training regimen of Might Guy and Rock Lee could not possibly have low vigilance.

Sure enough, when Tenten reached the middle of the alley, her stride suddenly paused almost imperceptibly.

Though it was only a slight shift in rhythm, within a fraction of a second, she transformed from someone merely walking into someone ready to fight at any moment.

Then, without drawing attention to it, she turned a corner and entered a nook at the end of the alley where empty wooden crates were piled. She stopped and turned to face the alley entrance.

The small cloth bag in her hand had already been set by her feet. Her right hand hung naturally at her side, her fingertips less than a centimeter from the clasp of the ninja tool pouch at her waist.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?"

Tenten's voice was crisp, but it carried a layer of chill as it echoed through the narrow alley.

At that moment, she was studying the blond boy before her with a calm yet appraising gaze.

A Konoha forehead protector, a Genin, and three whisker-like marks on his face.

She had never seen him before, but based on that description, she could vaguely guess who he was.

He was the Fox Demon everyone despised.

Naruto stopped at the mouth of the alley, his hands hanging naturally at his sides with no intention of approaching.

He gave a slight nod and offered a polite smile.

"Hello. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a Genin who just graduated this year."

"The Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up, and I need some ninja tools to improve my combat ability."

"I heard your family runs a ninja tool shop, so I wanted to follow you and take a look at it."

Tenten did not answer immediately. She looked Naruto over from head to toe.

Her gaze was not overly guarded, but it had not relaxed either. It was a habit drilled into her by Team Guy's training: assess any stranger who approached before responding.

"There are so many ninja tool shops on this street, yet you didn't enter a single one. You followed me through an entire alley instead."

"Why did you come looking for me?"

At those words, Naruto's smile gained a trace of undisguised bitterness.

He raised a finger and tapped the three whisker-like marks on his face, then pointed at the Konoha symbol on his forehead protector.

"You can probably guess my identity, right?"

Tenten's eyes shifted slightly.

Of course she could.

As a fellow shop owner, she knew better than anyone what the ninja tool shopkeepers on this street were like. If they saw the Fox Demon enter, they would probably want to shut the doors in his face.

"There probably isn't a single owner on this street willing to sell me anything."

Naruto's bitter smile faded slightly.

"Then why are you so sure I'll sell to you?"

Tenten moved her hand away from the clasp of her ninja tool pouch, folded her arms across her chest, and raised her chin slightly.

Naruto met Tenten's scrutinizing gaze and seriously considered how to phrase his response before answering.

In an instant, he had thought of it.

"Because the way you look at me is different from everyone else."

"When you looked back at the alley entrance earlier, your first reaction was to assess a stranger's strength and intentions, not to step back."

"When other people see me, their first reaction is always to take half a step back or turn their faces away."

"You didn't. So I thought you might be different from them."

"Sorry, though. Following you through most of that alley really was rude."

At that, Tenten slowly lowered her arms from her chest.

She looked into Naruto's blue eyes. There was no ingratiating intent in them, nor any hollow attempt at friendliness. He was simply explaining the logic behind his judgment with complete sincerity.

Someone who assessed first and judged afterward, rather than labeling someone first and instinctively rejecting them, really was the kind of person Team Guy would appreciate.

"All right. Come with me."

Tenten bent down, picked up the small cloth bag by her feet, looped it back around her wrist, then tilted her head toward the alley exit.

"I can't guarantee we'll have what you want."

"Thanks..."

Naruto followed her. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask. What's your name?"

"Just call me Tenten."

"Okay, Tenten."

Tenten led Naruto out through the other end of the alley, around two street corners, and finally stopped before a ninja tool shop in the middle of the Ninja District.

The storefront was not especially large, but its sign bore three hand-chiseled characters: "Ninja Tool Exchange."

Naruto paused when he saw the shop. He had passed by it earlier.

He had stood at its entrance for five or six seconds, carefully examining the samples in the display window. Under the side lighting, the Chakra-Conductive Metal plating on the blades showed faint interwoven patterns of pale blue and reddish hues. The quality was indeed exceptional.

At the time, he had not been sure whether this was Tenten's family shop, so he had not rashly pushed open the door.

He had not expected it to be this one.

"Jingle!" (Looks like I can't type the sound effect properly!)

Tenten pushed open the wooden door, and the bronze bell hanging above the frame gave a clear ring.

The shop was not particularly spacious, but everything inside was arranged with extreme neatness.

Shuriken and Kunai of all sizes hung along the wall to the left, ranging from standard models to elongated and weighted versions.

Several complete ninja tool maintenance sets and rune engraving knives specifically for Sealing Technique were displayed in the glass counter on the right.

On the wall directly opposite the entrance stood a locked glass cabinet containing several unusually shaped weapons.

There was a long whip that could fold into three sections, a matching set of throwing daggers, and a large item half-covered by a dust cloth that appeared to be some kind of foldable heavy throwing weapon.

Tenten casually set the cloth bag containing Soldier Pills onto the counter and gestured toward the display racks in the shop.

"Look around for whatever ninja tools you want. Tell me once you've chosen."

Naruto slowly walked along the left wall, carefully examining every Kunai and Shuriken hanging there.

These weapons were forged from high-quality iron ore, and the tempering was excellent. Their blades possessed an even, fine luster, while the handle wrappings were tightly bound.

They were on an entirely different level from the mass-produced standard equipment he had seen in ordinary ninja tool shops.

But after looking through them all, Naruto did not pick up a single one. Instead, he turned to Tenten and asked.

"Tenten, does your family have any ninja tools made from Chakra-Conductive Metal?"

Tenten had been pulling an inventory ledger from beneath the counter to record the sale. At his words, the ledger froze halfway in the air, and her brows rose.

She closed the ledger and put it back onto the counter, then leaned against it as she looked at Naruto with an expression of realization.

"Oh~ Naruto Uzumaki, so this was what you were after."

Tenten nodded, not looking particularly surprised.