The Tale of Momo and her Sword Shirasaya

Not too long ago there was a small town some ways away from the Kirigakure in the island nation. It was a small town. There was nothing really spectacular about it. It mostly consisted of farmers and fisherman. The town was located so far away from the capital of the nation that they operated solely by themselves without any interference from Shinobi. The governing force of the town was an extremely wealthy family by the name of Yakuza. The Yakuza’s made most of their money from the trade of steel. Not just any steel, but the steel used to kill. They sold most of their blades during the previous ninja wars. The Yakuza pretty much controlled or had a part in every aspect of life within the town. Whether it be running store fronts or acting as the sole police force with no one else to report too. The thing is, with great wealth, comes great power, and in this part of the world, no one had the kind of power as the Yakuza’s. Their great wealth had allowed them to secure their assets through the assembling of a small private army. The army consisted of a thousand or so men, most of which grew up within the small town of only ten thousand or were out laws or vigilantes from the surrounding areas. Thugs is what they were. Rejects. Men who couldn’t quiet find their place in the world and whose sole purpose was to kill and obey orders like a dog. For the most part, the people of the town lived pretty peaceful lives. Since the location of the town was less than ideal for contact with the shinobi, but ideal for isolation and seclusion, the Yakuza ruled with an iron fist. For the last hundred years the family had controlled the town. For the most part, the population was pleasant, as long as you adhered to the Yakuza’s demands and paid your dues. Life here was alright. Until one day it all changed, by the hand of a single girl and a very, very wicked sword.
 
“Honey! Hurry up your breakfast is getting cold!” The sound of a woman’s voice could be heard calling out. Moments later strolled in a young girl in a pair of blue pajamas. This girl’s name was O-Ren Momochi. Or Momo for short. At the time she was only 11 years old. She had short, jet black hair that was tied in a pony tail. Her skin complexion was pale. Her eyes deep brown. She stood at about 5’7”. She was rather tall for her age. Momo was like any other child her age in the town. For the most part, Momo was a rather average girl with no extraordinary talents, other than her ability to handle a blade, however her parents perceived such a thing as just a hobby which was unique to their family because of the situation they were in. In this town, it was unorthodox to see a women wielding a weapon. The town was pretty old fashioned.
 
Momo lived in this modest home with her mother and father, who were both refugees from Kumo. They moved here in search of safe haven away from the shinobi world. Momo’s father was a black smith and made his living off of producing blades for the Yakuza family. Momo never knew why her parents moved to such a place, but she would soon find out. Anyways… because of her father’s profession, Momo had grown up around blades. She would often spend countless hours watching him work the steel over his anvil, crafting some of the finest swords the world has ever seen. In Momo’s spair time, she would often sneak away to her favorite place and practice using her father’s swords. Here she would dream of what it must be like to be a shinobi. Often she would visit the small pond behind her house, hidden by the foliage. Momo treated this place as her own personal get away. As long as she could remember, she had never ever seen anyone else come to this place. Most nights she would lay in the tall grass and stair up at the stars, wishing that she could leave this place and go to Kiri and become a real life shinobi.
 
Back to reality…
Momo walked into the kitched where she saw her mother cleaning dishes. “Momo, darling, you need to eat you’re too skinny” Momo’s mom would say. Momo just rolled her eyes. “When is dad coming home?” Momo would ask eagerly. “He said he has a surprise for me!” Momo’s mom seemed to become distant for a few moments, before breaking her blank stare and illustrating a smile. This is where things started getting interesting.
 
As the day pressed on. Momo was outside at her favorite spot training with a wooden sword on a nearby tree when she heard what sounded like a voice. It was faint, almost a whisper.
 
“..shirasaya..”
 
“What was that?” Momo would say as she lowered her guard, allowing the wooden sword to lower from her guarded state. The girl’s eyes shifted around from side to side as she examined the area around her. It appeared that no one was there and he then tightened the grip on her sword and began training once more. Momo continuously slashed at the tree for what seemed for be a half hour with great precision. Then she heard the voice call out to her once again. “..come to me..” This time Momo was completely bugged out and stood up straight allowing her wooden katana to hit the floor. She stuck her neck out and peeked into the forest around her. She spoke out. “Who’s there? Show your self.” To her surprise no one answered. A moment passed and then she heard the whisper one more time. “..come girl..”
Momo picked up her wooden sword and tied it to her back. She was so freaked out that she decided to go home. As Momo walked home she thought about how weird the voices were, but she figured she was just over tired from training all day. What was really on Momo’s mind was what her father was going to get her, he said it was a surprise. Momo hoped it was going to be something good, it was her birthday after all. Momo closed her eyes momentarily and day dreamed, picturing the perfect gift in her mind. A sword. A real one too. Not just a crudy old wooden one. Momo aspiried to be the best swordsman there ever was. How was she going to accomplish that goal if she didn’t even have a real sword? In all honesty, Momo’s sword skills were much more advanced than that of a typical thug, but there was still a lot for her to learn. Compared to a shinobi, she was just a novice. Maybe even a slightly bit better. But a noob at most.
Momo entered her home and laid her wooden sword against the corner near the front door. She walked passed her mother who seemed to say something to her, but momo didn’t listen. As she placed her right hand on the door to her bedroom, she heard a voice. “..closer..” When Momo opened the door her jaw dropped. On her desk was a beautiful katana. Shimmering in the light, the black gloss of the sheath would be reflecting the light which was coming in from the nearby window which was giving the sword a beautiful glowing shimmer. On the sheath and handle were cherry blossoms engraved. Momo was beside herself with excitement. “It’s..It’s.. It’s perfect!” Momo yelled. Her mom could her here from the other room and was a bit confused as to what Momo was making a fuss about. Momo neared the elegant, glossy katana which had appeared on the desk. Momo was under the impression that this was the gift that her father had gotten her. It was perfect and more. Momo reached out with her right hand and left hand to grab a hold of the sword. It would have appeared to be in slow motion, cinematic almost, the setting was perfect. As her hands touched the sword, Momo felt a weird sensation. The room became dark and the sword began radiating a weird pink and purple glow. She could feel power rushing into here and her hair was beginning to stand up on its own. After a brief moment, this phenomenon stopped and her hair fell back to its original position. Momo was so in love with the sword it was as though she didn’t really understand what had just happened. What really happened is that Momo had just formed a bond with the sword. An unbreakable one. Momo gripped the hilt of the sword and unsheathed is slightly, showing where the steel blade met the hilt. There was a strange marking followed by the engraving of a cherry blossom. Just beautiful. Momo was full of excitement and couldn’t wait to thank her father. Speaking of her father, she heard the door open and close. Her dad was home now. Momo ran out into the kitchen and upon seeing her father, she threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight in joy. “Thank you so much its perfect! Perfect perfect perfect!!” Her father was surprised by her daughter’s actions. He had yet to give her the sword that he had made for her. It was still in the shop. He had actually needed to finish it, but had been so busy with the Yakuza requests that he hadn’t found the time. Looking down at Momo in confusion, faking a smile he asked, “What are you talking about Momo?” “The sword daddy! The one you left in my room! Its perfect. I love it! Thank you so much!” Momo would say as she continued to squeeze him. “I didn’t leave a sword in her room…” Her dad thought, but couldn’t come to say the words because he didn’t want to disappoint her. Momo’s father moved past her and to his daughter’s room to see exactly what she was speaking about. Momo’s dad walked towards the door of her room and placed his right hand on the door and opened it. He then pushed the door opened and immediately his eyes were attuned to the beautiful piece of steel on Momo’s desk. Immediately he knew that the sword before them was not of his work. He could never possibly craft something as magnificent as this, luckily momo was too young and naive to know such a thing. He couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about the sword as he looked at it. Almost as negative energy was spewing out of it. Her neared the sword and touched it. It truly was beautiful, as he made note of the engraved cherry blossoms aligned along the sheath and hilt of the blade. He then pressed his other hand against the sheath and removed the blade ever so slightly from its container. As he revealed the blade, he quickly noticed the weird insignia and the cherry blossom pressed into the blade. He had never seen such a thing. The blade itself was sharper than any blade he had ever seen before. Truly magnificent. Mom’s dad was contemplating revealing that the blade was indeed not of his work and he was going to question Momo where she had gotten it from or who had given it to her, because he definitely had not and needed answers, however he wondered if it was worth hurting his daughter’s feelings on her birthday. Before he could make his decision there was a loud knocking on the door. His heart dropped. He knew exactly who that was, and with the way things have been going, this wasn’t going to be a pleasant meeting. Momos dad looked nervously at Momo, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Momo could see the concern on her dads face and was very perplexed. Her dad shut the door behind him and immediately after he left momo ran to the door and pressed her ear to it in an attempt to understand what was going on, on the other side. All Momo could hear were loud voices, some yelling and then a loud thud. On the other side of the door was two men, both pretty big carrying swords, sheathed on their hip. They were interrogating Momo’s dad. She was able to make out most of what they were saying. “…The boss isn’t happy. We demanded 1,000 swords be delivered by last Friday, where are they!..” Momo could hear her father respond. “I’m sorry, We’ve been understaffed I just need a litte more time..” That is when she heard the thud. The bigger of the two had grabbed Momos father by his shirt and brought him up to his face, causing his feet to lift off the ground. “If you don’t have them ready by tomorrow then you’re dead and we’ll be taking over your operations since you can’t seem to do it correctly.” The thug then through her dad to the floor and stormed off, slaming the door causing it too come off one of its hinges. Momo’s mother went to her father’s side and tried to comfort him. Momo’s mom spoke about fleeing, but her father refused. He said that he was crucial to the operations and even if he didn’t get them in on time he would give them what he had and they would spare him.
 

All of this made Momo feel weak. She as unable to do anything, but hide behind a door. This was one of the reasons Momo so wished to become as shinobi, so that she could protect her family and make sure nothing like that would ever happen again. Momo put her head between her knees as she gripped the sword with two hands tightly in anger and sadness. She was feeling a lot of emotions at the moment. She wanted to protect her father, but she felt helpless. She also knew that his pride would make him stay. She was afraid for his life. And her mom’s life. As well as her own. Momo gathered herself and hid her sword underneath her bed in case anyone uninvited came snooping around. Later that night Momo was lying in bed. She was having a bad dream. In front of her eyes, her mother and father was killed. Momo would be seen sweating as well as tossing and turning in her sleep. In the back of her mind as well as in her dream, the same voice as early called out to here. It said, “..kill..” “take revenge…slice them apart..use me and I’ll show you the way…” Momo shot up in her bed. “uhg.. it was just a bad dream” She laid back down wiping the sweat from off of her forehead. She had a bad feeling in her gut.
WC: 2,500

Part 2… A few days had past and still no sign of the Yakuza’s grunts coming looking for her father’s product. During this time she hadn't even seen her dad. He would come home exhausted at odd hours I night. No, not the night, the early morning. After gathering whatever little strength he could, he would return to working trying to get the complete order done while under staffed. In the meantime, Momo continued to use the blade that had mysteriously appeared in her room while still having the same reoccurring dream from the other night. She didn’t say anything to her parents about it thought because her father was stressed enough and her mom was so frazzled by the whole ordeal she hadn’t completely been neglecting Momo.
 
The day was quiet and Momo was in her favorite spot. It was about evening time. The sun was high in the sky and it was pretty mild out for a spring day. Momo was wearing a light blue robe which her mother had made for her and a slim white rope which was tied around her waist keeping her robe together. Upon her feet were two black sandals that fit her snug. In Momo’s hair was a freshly picked cherry blossom which she found on the ground. It was peculiar to find one of those here she thought. There was not a cherry blossom tree in sight. There was a slight breeze in the air which lifted Momo’s jet black hair ever so lightly.
 
In Momo’s hands was the beautiful, glossy black blade sheathed in its glory. Momo was still astonished that her father was able to make such a thing. She was very familiar with his work but never before had she seen something quite like this one. Momo then held the blade parallel to her face at eye level and began to slowly unsheathe the blade from its beautiful holster. As the blade popped open the light caught the blade and caused the light to be reflected into Momo’s eyes. The light also shimmering off the impression of the cherry blossom which had been mysteriously engraved into the bottom of the blade right before it met the hilt. Momo then, with one quick motion, unsheathed the sword, its brilliant blade emerging from darkness and into the light. In that moment the day flashed from the moment to the next.
It was early the next day. The sun had barely broken the horizon. Momo’s room was positioned in such a way that right when the sun’s light broke the surface that it entered through a slight sliver of opening through the blinds in her room and entered into the direct line of sight of the girl. Like every other day, this daily occurrence took place. The suns light broke the window and awoken the tired, sleepless girl. Since Momo came into contact with the sword the dreams of her parents being killed became more vivid. Last night was the worst of it. She wasn’t able to sleep a wink. Momo then rose from bed and began to rub the cole from her eyes. She got out of bed and put her usual attire on. A blue robe, a white belt and her black sandals. She spent a few moments looking over the sword which sat quietly on her desk. She then picked it up gently and slid it into the rope behind her back so that it was positioned diagonal.
 
Momo could then hear her father enter the house making a rukus. He was barely making any sense. He then heard his body drop to the floor as he fell to his knees talking to his wife. Momo could over hear him telling her that they quota wasn’t met and they were only able to make about half of what the Yakuza had expected. He then informed her that they were coming. Someone had saw them gathering a mass of thugs to come down here and take the swords. Momo could hear her mom sob and say that we should leave but her father kept insisting that they weren’t gonna harm them, they were just going to take the swords and then leave.
 
Momo then took a look outside her window and saw a mass of people coming over the hill. There was about a hundred or so men. One on a horse. As they came into view, Momo heard her father gathering himself and leaving the house through the front door. Momo’s mother then came into Momo’s room. She told her to hide under the bed. Momo resisted momentarily with tears running down her face due to confusion but did as she was told, as she did, her mom exited the room to go to see her father outside.
 
The scene outside was gray. There was a light mist in the air as well. It didn’t seem like a typical spring day. It was different. The smell of death was in the air. Momo could hear yelling coming from outside and sobbing as the men raided the smithing workshop in the back of the house. Momo could also here her mother sobbing and ‘thud; sounds which were coming from the thugs ruthlessly beating Momo’s father. The next thing to happen would change Momo forever. Her innocence leaving her for good. Forcing her to mature faster than any child should ever have to. The door crashed open, causing the door to Momo’s room to open ever so slightly. Momo watched through a crack in the door from underneath the bed, she could see directly into the kitchen. Momo’s dad fell through the door and onto the floor. Momo’s mother throwing herself on top of him crying for mercy.  The head thug of the Yakuza who was wearing a black pair of shades which caused him to stick out from the rest of them, picked up Momo’s mother by the neck, spit on her then thrusted his blade through her chest, dropping her to the floor. Momo’s father wept as he watched. It was too late. Now that his wife was gone death was imminent. Momo’s father’s head rolled to the side as he was able to somehow catch momo watching from underneath the bed. He mouthed the words “I’m sorry” and then the yakuza took her fathers head with one swallow swoop of his blade. As the blade met his neck it caused his head to fall and roll onto the blood causing a fountain of blood to shoot up from the hole in his neck.
 
Momo watched all of this transpire and couldn’t blink or cry. She just laid there hidden underneath the bed in silence as tears ran down her face. The whole time she couldn’t take her eyes off the man who did this. That day a fire was sparked in the young girl. She then passed out from great stress and awoke some days later. During the time she had passed out, the negative energy being cast from the sword had completely almost taken over her mind, Once Momo awoke, she walked to the door way of her ransacked home, which was now destroyed and motioned towards town. She seemed possessed almost. The sword in her hand sheathed.
Momo stood at the steps of the Yakuza headquarters. Momo took one last look at the great doors and pushed the right one, which was extremely heavy but due to the powers of the sword it allowed her great strength. The door flew open causing it to crash and break, dust flying in the air. Her presence was now known. In front of Momo was a thousand man all with their swords drawn. The entire Yakuza Force was before her. Momo then grabbed the sword in a dead cold stair, which gazed past all the pawns before here and focused soley on the man that had taken the life of her parents. Momo slipped the blade from its casing and once again it emerged from darkness into light. Momo Then held the blade parallel to herself, causing the blade to fall between her line of sight.
 

The blade began to flow a deep pink and the voice which had been whispering to her had emerged from Momo’s mouth. “…DIE!..” The voice spoke, not in Momo’s regular voice. Momo’s movements were that of possession. It was no longer her controlling her body, but her will along with the sword. The sword continued to glow a deep pink before it began to disassemble right before her and the thugs eyes. The sword dispersed into a thousand tiny blades, too small to see with normal eyes. The way the light reflected off of the small blades caused them to appear as cherry blossoms. The men before her were confused, but that did not matter. They would all be dead soon. The girl of the cursed sword was born and a town was freed from the control of tyranny.
TWC: 4,000
Claiming Shirasaya
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t31427-momo-s-sword#237425
will continue the story with a 2k post for bonding so that I can use requip with it