A beautiful discovery (solo, private)

It's been a few weeks since Itami found his mother's old notebook in the attic. It was brown and leathery, filled with scribbled notes of jutsu, tehniques, weapons and ideas. Most were those already in existance and used by a fair number of people but there were a few among them that looked like they were his mother's own creation.

The letters were small and Itami noticed his handwriting was similar to his mom's. It was a strange little thing, a connection of sorts, to his long lost mother and he felt like he held a piece of something special in his hands.
At first, he simply flipped over it, scanning the dusty pages for clues and hints of his mom but after a few days of simply looking at it, he decided to read through it as well, word by word, page by page.

Each evening, before he fell asleep, he pulled the notebook out of its hiding place and read a few pages of it. Some parts were boring but he didn't dare skip over anything lest he would miss something important. The notebook appeared small, but the pages were thin and he barely got to one fourth of it after a month.

The jutsu and tehniques that he liked and thought he could use in the future, he marked with small strands of grass. So far, he already tried two of the jutsu in the notebook, and after a long time of practice, managed to perform them both correctly.

*

It was a clear evening, the twinkling stars easily seen on the sky. Just like every other evening in the past few weeks, Itami pulled the notebook out of the worn wooden box, hidden under his bed. Stroking the leather covers with his hand gently, he sat on his bed and leaned on the window shelf, letting the light of the moon illuminate the pages. He skipped over to the part where he finished yesterday, and continued reading. The first jutsu on that page was interesting, but not useful to him as he didn't have the water affinity which was clearly needed for this tehnique. He read it through still, and then turned the page.

A picture of some sort of a fan was drawn on the page in ink. It was a little faded but still clearly visible. The scribble on the top read: Folding fan staff.
Itami observed it carefully. It was beautiful, clearly designed for ninja who delt with wind type attacks. Itami looked to the page next to the drawing and read over its purpose.

The more he read, the more exited he was. The weapon was amazing, and it fit his fighting style so well. He wasn’t really used to fighting with a staff but he was a fast learner and the was sure he could manage to master it. Everything else about it was so perfectly in sync with how he fought, he couldn't believe it. He wondered if his mother used a this weapon.

As he came to the end of the page, he noticed a small note on the bottom.
From what it looked like, it was an address. His eyes widening, Itami jumped from his bed and walked over to his desk, barefoot.
He jotted down the address and a number which was next to it - on a piece of paper and returned to bed. He decided - he was going to visit the place because there was a good chance they might know something of this weapon, and more importantly, about his mother.


He stayed up long, looking at the picture and going over the words on the page. When his eyes started closing at last, he hid his precious notebook and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

[tbc ...]

The next day, Itami woke up early and after getting dressed, headed outside, not bothering with breakfast. He was too nervous and excited to eat, and frankly he felt a little sick.
The paper with the address on it was stored safely in his pocket as he walked along the streets of Konoha, searching for the right house.

Upon finding the correct street, he looked around, trying to spot the house with the right number. This part of Konoha held houses with workshops in the bottom floors. He knew he was in the right place. He walked pass the stores and finally came to a stop at number 6. This was the place.

His fists clenched nervously as he entered the workshop and greeted the shopkeeper.

"What can I help you with?" said the young boy who mended the counter.
Itami walked over to him and pulled out a drawing of the fan staff he copied from his notebook.
"Do you know anything about this weapon?" he asked.
The boy took the paper from his hands and looked at it.
"This is the first time i've seen it but a lot of custom made weapons have been made here in the past that I don't know of. Let me check the records book."

He leaned behind the counter and pulled out an old book. Flipping through the pages, he scanned them silently as Itami waited patiently by the side of the counter.
"Found it!" the boy exclaimed and turned the book so Itami could see it. "This is the weapon, right?"

Itami leaned over and looked at the duplicate drawing of the fan staff and the small letters next to it, describing the procedure of making it. "Yes, this is it." he breathed, his eyes wide. "Do you know maybe who made it in the past? And who ordered the making of it?" he asked then, biting his lip at the end.

The boy looked at him quizzically and then replied: "It must have been my grandfather who made it. He used to work here and took all the orders, before he fell ill. Now I took over the trade because he is incapable of continuing. About your other question, I have no idea. We don't keep track of who makes the order, sorry."

Disapointed slightly, Itami nodded and looked at the floor. He pulled some money out of his pocket and counted it.
"How much would it cost to get another one made?" he asked quietly and as the boy gave him the exact number, handed him the amount and stored the rest back in his pocket.
The boy took the money and smiled: "The weapon will be done in a few days. Here is your order ticket, don't lose it!"

Itami thanked him and left the wooden weapon's work shop. He decided it was best to head to the training grounds to train for a bit. He really had too many thoughts running through his head and he was not in the mood to dwell on them. He needed to occupy his mind and forget the disapointment of not finding out more about his mother. He would have to be satisfied that at least he would be getting a weapon she presumably used in battle in the past.