I changed some things in the last two chapters that were pointed out to me by reviewers. Any other inconsistencies can be attributed to this being a work of fanfiction.

All of you are free to comment what you find incorrect, but I may not change it if it is too major or I don't feel like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2 – The Start of a Legend

"Hmm... he's late... later than me..." Kakashi mumbled as he sat on a stool in the Tendou shop. The silver haired shinobi had showed up his normal half an hour late for the appointed time to see what the young blacksmith had done to his sword, only to find that the boy had yet to arrive. "Should I be worried?"

"Nah, something's probably just holding him up. Kid has a problem that he just can't leave other people's problems alone. He usually ends up late to things." Taichi said with a shrug as he continued to polish an oversized sword.

"That's right! I'm sure there is a good reason that Shirou-kun isn't here yet! He isn't a useless tardy-pants like you!" Tenten shouted at Kakashi, being unreasonably angry for some childish reason.

"Hey, I had a reason... I was..." Kakashi tried to defend himself, but Tenten cut him off,

"Liar! Liar, liar pants on fire!" She shouted at the high-ranking shinobi who simply deflated under the assault. Taichi glanced up from his sword before looking back down as his wife giggled at Tenten's childish behavior from behind the cashier.

"Don't worry, he'll be here. Kid's pretty mature for his age. And even though he is a genius of sorts, he has remarkably little pride. He won't try to hide his mistakes. Once he gets here, he will give you an honest apology for wasting your time and give you back the pieces of your..." Taichi started, but his daughter cut him off.

"Shirou won't have failed! He will have done the greatest job ever!" Tenten shouted, stomping her foot on the ground and giving a deep pout.

"Yeah, and maybe the Akimichi clan will all start dieting." Taichi mumbled. He'd only believe it if he saw it. Up until now, Shirou had only been doing minor repair jobs and using molds to make kunai and shuriken, which was already impressive for a four-year-old. But there was a huge difference between that and forging swords, and an even greater gap between that and being a blacksmith good enough to forge actual chakra weapons of legendary status.

Before Tenten could say anything, the door opened and the boy himself came in, gasping for breath while clutching a box to his chest. "Sorry... I'm late... The market... cooler broken and..."

Taichi waved him off. "Don't need to hear it. We know you get distracted."

"Shirou-kun!" Tenten shouted excitedly as she ran up to him and gave him a strong hug. "I knew you would come!"

"Why...why wouldn't I?" Shirou said confused as he looked around the room and spotted Kakashi. A wide smile spread across his face. Not the kind of smile that someone who was about to give bad news had. "Kakashi-san, I got your sword for you."

Tenten immediately let go of Shirou so that she would be able to see the sword. Shirou put the box on the counter before opening it up and pulling out the sheathed blade. In his small hands, it looked like a full-sized sword rather than a long tactical dagger. Gasps filled the room as the four-year-old boy drew the blade out of its sheath. The shop had a few other shinobi inside it browsing over the displayed items who all stopped to gap at the white light emitted by the tanto.

The flawless metal blade seemed to glow with a strong white light, every small movement leaving a trail of white energy behind it as Shirou moved it carefully in front of him. Then, pulling out a raw iron ingot out of the box, Shirou tossed it up into the air before slashing through it with the blade, cleanly cutting the metal ingot in two as if it had been nothing but air as a long white streak came from the blade.

The sword Taichi had been polishing slipped from his fingers and fell onto his steel toed boots, crushing his foot as the piece of protective metal was driven into his toes. But the man didn't react, he simply continued to stare at the pale blade. "No way... It's not possible."

Tsukiko gaped as Shirou held the blade hilt out to an equally stunned Kakashi. She was a kenjutsu mistress and knew blades. That was a blade of a quality that was unmatched, perhaps on par with the other legendary blades like the ones belonging to the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Kakashi accepted the tanto with shaking hands, tempted to use his Sharingan to make sure that this was real and not a genjutsu. "Its... I've never..." The blade was as good as new. Better than Kakashi himself had ever seen it.

Even before it had first ended up in the copycat shinobi's hands, it had seen decades of hard use and was nowhere near its peak condition. That and improper technique were the reason it broke when he used it against an Iwa jonin during the Third Shinobi World War. The blade in his hand surpassed his memories.

"I did the best I could. Some of the seals that were hidden inside the old handle will need to be redone. But the steel is about the same as when it was first forged." Shirou said with a smile.

"Well... you did a much better job than I was expecting." Kakashi said honestly, testing the weight of the weapon, finding it to be exactly as he remembered it and perfectly balanced. The pale white stream followed the blade no matter how he twisted it. "How much do I owe you?"

"Owe?" Shirou asked tilting his head before his eyes widened as he realized Kakashi was talking about payment. He laughed a little to himself, scratching at the back of his head. "I actually didn't think about pay. I have no idea what this kind of job is worth. I was so wrapped up in the blade itself, everything else kind of slipped my mind." Shirou looked at the blade again. "Just use it well and become a hero, just like your father."

Kakashi went into a solemn silence at the mention of his father, slowly sheathing the sword, leaving it an inch from being fully sheathed for a moment so that its white light could stream out of the crack for a moment longer before sheathing it completely. "Becoming a hero is a tall order. But I suppose I could give it a try." The silver haired said disinterestedly, already deciding to pay the boy the amount of an S-rank mission. He was still filthy rich from his inheritance as the last Hatake and all the missions he took as ANBU.

Shirou grinned until Tenten grabbed onto his sleeve and gave it a sharp pull. "Shirou-kun!" She shouted, looking him dead in the eyes with a killer pout that confused the boy. "I want one."

"Huh?" Shirou said, not comprehending what it was that the girl wanted.

Tsukiko chuckled at them, already getting over the shock of seeing the White Light Chakra Sabre re-forged. 'Not even at double digits and he already has girls fawning over him. The fangirls are going to eat him up when he goes to the Academy.'

"I want you to make me a sword. One just as good as that one."

"I don't believe it. I don't believe it." The shop owner said again and again as his daughter begged the young boy for a sword. "It can't be. I just can't..."

"I know what you mean... but shouldn't you get that foot looked at?" Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow, glancing down at the man's crushed toes as the boot turned a darker brown from the blood seeping into the leather.

"What?... FUCKING HELL!"

"DEAR!"

*Line Break*

Shirou eventually managed to get away from Tenten as her parents rushed to the hospital. Tsukiko apparently was still perfectly capable of picking up her husband in a bridal carry despite being half his size and run towards the hospital.

That left him to tell their adorable daughter no. He pointed out that she was not supposed to practice with real swords until she was older and that she wouldn't need one until she was a full-fledged kunoichi. She had still forced him to make her one as a graduation present for when she did graduate from the Academy.

He hoped she would simply forget about that... What were the odds of her remembering? She was only four and that was eight years away. Besides, he would only give her a sword if Tsukiko said she could handle one.

Looking inwards, he found the chakra blade on his hill of swords, now re-forged and whole, the way it was meant to be. Kakashi had no idea that the blade now in his hands was far greater than it had ever been in life.

Shirou had used his magecraft to restore the sword. He used a paradox called the Ship of Theseus Paradox in order to maintain the identity and memory of the steel as he reshaped it. The story was based around the ship that the legendary king once sailed on, that was stored and maintained. Over time, all the wood that made it up rotted and had to be replaced. The paradox asks, after the last plank of wood has been replaced, is it truly the same ship? And if not, then at what point does it cease to be the same ship?

Through the theory, the ideal form of the blade was maintained. In the same way that iron is folded again and again to increase purity, Shirou slowly blended the idea of the sword that existed within his Unlimited Blade Works with the physical weapon until the ideal form and physical form matched. And then, at that moment, the blade transcended and became a Noble Phantasm. Shirou was torn from giving it back to Kakashi. Part of him wanted to keep the original blade for himself.

It had been a slow process, much slower than Tracing, but it was still much faster than forging the sword from scratch. The original blade took over three years to complete. And even if he had, it wouldn't have been the same sword, not possessing the same history as the blade that had served the legendary White Fang for decades and therefore wouldn't have become a Noble Phantasm.

Shirou was grateful to Kakashi for providing him that chance. He had never been allowed to hold onto shards of a weapon that should have been a legend. He had always believed that he could use the Ship of Theseus Paradox in order to obtain a Noble Phantasm, one that did not suffer from the inherent flaws of his Tracing. But shards of ancient legendary weapons were far too rare, and any magus who got their hands on one would guard it with their lives.

He had laid his hands on an actual Noble Phantasm back in his old life. It was when he was on a mission with Gray, Lord El-Melloi II assistant and he asked the Saber look alike nicely and explained why. She let him hold onto it for a minute in its unconcealed form. Though she kept blushing for some reason and snuck peaks at him from under her hood. Later, when they found their target, he even got to witness the lance unleash its might.

Rhongomyniad: The Lance that Shines to the Ends of the World, the Holy Lance of King Arthur. It was one of the few actual Noble Phantasms that still existed and was in the hands of magi. The other, Fragarach he had never actually seen with his own two eyes, but it was in his Reality Marble from when Archer did see it.

Anyway, the method wasn't very practical. He would need shards of legendary weapons in order to re-forge them into true Noble Phantasms, but it was interesting and could one day be highly useful if he found himself fighting against powerful opponents, like the Kages. Taking their swords and transforming them into pseudo-divine weapons.

Shirou stopped in his thoughts about possible applications of this new method when something caught his eye.

Three people stepped out of Konoha's Shinobi Library. Two adults and a child around his age, all three of them looked to be of the Hyuga Clan, dark brown to raven hair, plaid clothes with long sleeves, the adults having their forehead protectors on their foreheads, and their signature white, featureless eyes of their bloodline. One of the two adults, a tall man with long brown hair, was carrying a stack of around a dozen scrolls towards a coach.

None of this was all that strange. The thing that caught his eye was the young girl, or more specifically, her hair. The black hair was pulled up into twin ponytails on either side of the girl's head, the hair was so long that it still came down to her shoulders. It was the hairstyle that Rin had worn back in their teenage years.

He remembered being a bit surprised when she dropped the hairstyle when they were both starting in the Clocktower, letting her hair fall down her back. The conversation about it was a bit of a blur though. She said something about the old hairstyle having its charms, but that it was becoming too childish for her. Shirou couldn't exactly remember how the rest of the talk went, but it ended up with him being smacked in the head. She would have gone for his 'sword', but Sakura was in the room and would have disapproved of such actions.

The hairstyle was something rather iconic of Rin, and he hadn't seen anyone else use it since he had been reborn. The age seemed about right, and she carried herself in a rather proud fashion. Shirou's suspicions had been aroused. However, none of this was concrete evidence.

He checked the air for her Od but didn't find it.

That wasn't surprising. Unlike chakra channels which always seemed to be putting out at least a little energy, magic circuits didn't waste. No self-respecting magus would let their Od leak out as they went about their daily business, so unless Rin used a spell, any spell, while he was within around three miles of him, Shirou wouldn't be able to lock onto her. It was the reason they could go to the same school for years without even realizing that the other was a magus.

With the option of reading her magic out of the window, Shirou checked the girl's chakra. He was immediately made even more sure than before when he got a lock onto the scent.

It was 'average'.

Usually, when he was sensing chakra, he was getting a feel for what type of chakra they had an affinity with. Different chakras holding different scents based on their affinity. So, for something to have an 'average' smell meant that it held not just one or two, but all five affinities.

It was not something he had seen in any shinobi before. And with how similar chakra affinities were to elemental affinities in magic, it became another reason to believe that this girl was indeed Rin.

Among all the magi Shirou had ever met, only one had ever had all five elemental affinities, and that was Rin. Such people were often called 'Average Ones' and were always sought after by other magi.

The three Hyugas climbed into the coach and the horses were pressed forward, taking them up the road and towards the Hyuga compound. The clan's compound was a large section of land within the borders of the village. It had to be given that the Hyuga clan had around a thousand members including civilians. It was far enough away from the main village, that even if Rin had used her magecraft there, he wouldn't have been able to detect it. It had been so long without him detecting her magecraft, that he had assumed she had been born in a different village. He felt like an idiot for not looking more.

The reborn swordsman started running on the direction the coach was going, following the scent of chakra. It was about time for their four years separation to come to an end.

Man, Rin was going to be pissed that he took so long. And even more so when she found out that he hadn't found Sakura yet.

*Line Break*

Danzo was quickly giving orders to his ROOT units to try and stop the spread of rumors, though he worried that it would be a lost cause. It had taken less than an hour for news to spread of the return of the White Fang's sword to its former glory.

The old shinobi didn't waste time questioning how this had happened or where the child had come by the knowledge of how to do it. The only question was what he needed to do.

A blacksmith that was able to create swords on that level was invaluable to the village. He could easily remember when Kirigakure was at its height. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, most of them were hardly special as shinobi went, but their blades pressed them into a whole new level. In the hands of a skilled master, a sword like that could raise an individual who only had as much skill as your average chunin and let them hold their own against even a high ranking jonin.

If one took the seven legendary swords Kirigakure possessed out of the equation, they would drop from being perhaps one of the most powerful village to a joke.

If word got out to the other nations that a genius blacksmith had been born, one who could forge swords of legends at the age of four years old, then assassins and kidnappers would flock to him in order to kill the boy or kidnap him for their own use. Either way, they would ensure that the boy wouldn't be able to reach his full potential and produce his masterpiece, a weapon that would no doubt cement their village's position as the greatest village for years to come or steal that for themselves.

It had come as a pleasant surprise to Danzo to find that the Hokage had already taken steps to ensure the boy's safety and give the child the chance to practice his art. Sarutobi Hiruzen had not only declared himself to be the boy's guardian, letting him continue to live at his forge but had also convinced the child to turn his home into a hotel for off duty shinobi. There was not a single day where at least one high ranking and skilled shinobi wasn't watching over the boy, and since it wasn't counted as a mission, there was not the usual attention drawn by such a heavy guard detail.

Perhaps his old friend hadn't lost as much of his edge as he thought, if he had already noticed the boy's importance to the village.

However, the boy's talents were being wasted. Before re-forging the White Light Chakra Sabre, he had been only using his skills to mass produce kunai and shuriken, only doing the odd repair on more advanced weapons from time to time.

Perhaps this was all part of a cover while he performed his more advanced training in secret. But he was still a wasted resource if the village didn't use him properly.

While the boy might not be shinobi material like Uchiha Itachi, the influence his swords could bring would last over generations. Making him arguably more valuable than even the Uchiha genius.

Danzo was already devising ways to make commissions from the boy in order to encourage the advancement of his skills, and to empower himself further as well. The old man would have to make this his top project.

*Line Break*

Nara Shikaku groaned as he finally returned home. This whole day was troublesome. Somehow, a four-year-old boy managed to do the impossible and re-forged Hatake Sakumo's broken tanto and rumors started to spread about the White Fang's sword being made whole again.

Naturally, the Hokage called in Kakashi to clarify the rumors and when he showed them the re-forged tanto, white light blinding them as he unsheathed it, his day just got infinitely more troublesome.

Yamanaka Inoichi, as head of Konoha's Intelligence Division and he as Jonin Commander had to smother the truth somehow. Too little too late as far as he was concerned. From their investigation, the rumor started from when other shinobi who were in the Tendou shop saw the re-forged White Light Chakra Sabre and started spreading the word.

At least the shop owner himself had the wise idea and kept his mouth shut about it, though that might have more to do with his wife being a former kunoichi and knowing that this would put a target on the boy's head.

After a long day helping Inoichi stop the spread of the truth by spreading even more outlandish rumors and ordering the ones who first saw the re-forged tanto and spread the word to keep their traps shut, he finally got to go home. The odds were that until Kakashi used the blade in combat against enemy shinobi, the news would remain in Konoha. He couldn't use the damn blade for his ANBU missions anyway since it was so distinctive and ANBU was all about being unseen and unheard.

"I'm home!" Shikaku called out as he opened the door to the Nara clan's head house. Unlike his Hyuga and Uchiha counterparts, his house was more modest but could still comfortably house ten or so people if necessary. He didn't even have servants and did the housework himself with his family.

"Welcome home!" a violet haired girl and a black-haired boy with his hair in a pineapple styled ponytail replied. His dear niece, Nara Sakura was playing shogi with his three-year-old son in the living room.

Shikaku's mood raised considerably at seeing his niece and son. Nara Sakura was orphaned when both her parents died during the Kyuubi attack. Her only remaining relatives were the Nara clan and her mother's then 13-year-old sister, Uzuki Yugao, a newly minted ANBU agent.

There was no way she could look after her year-old niece by herself, so she left her to him as the girl's paternal uncle to raise alongside his own son. She visited regularly when she could and Shikaku made it clear to the young ANBU agent that his door was always open if she needed a place to stay.

Nara Sakura was the darling of the Nara clan. Her soft-spoken manner and kind demeanor endeared her to many in the clan and the others in the Akimichi and Yamanaka. She was their little princess and Shikamaru's sister as far as he and his wife were concerned. There wasn't anyone in the clan who wouldn't do anything for her if she asked. She also had his and his two teammates children following their 'Sakura-nee-chan' like ducklings following their mother.

Inoichi often lamented about how unfair that his little princess was so demanding of him compared to Sakura-chan when they had their weekly night out at the nearby pub. Choza and he just smiled along with him as they listened to their friend go on about how easy he and Choza had it. Sakura-chan was a sweet little princess, Shikamaru-kun was his father in miniature, meaning that he napped whenever he had the chance, preferably in his nee-chan's lap somewhere in the Nara clan forest. Choji-kun never kicked up a fuss about anything and was a sweet little boy who loved snacks. Ino-chan on the other hand, was a bossy little thing who had mastered the art of getting her daddy to give her anything she wants. It wasn't his or Choza's fault that Inoichi was weak against Ino-chan's Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu. Though he had a feeling that if Sakura-chan ever turned those eyes on him, he would cave immediately.

Sakura looked him over. "Hard day oji-san?"

"Yeah," Shikaku answered as he took off his sandals and sat on the sofa and looked at the shogi board. Hmm, it would seem Sakura would win in seven moves unless Shikamaru moved his gold general.

Yoshino walked into the living room. "Busy day?" She always knew somehow when he was late because he was lazy or because he was busy.

"Like you wouldn't believe. Some kid no older than Sakura-chan managed to re-forge Hatake Sakumo's White Light Chakra Sabre and some chunin who were in the same shop saw it and started spreading the word."

"Should you be telling us this?" Shikamaru asked, grumbling as his sister defeated him again. That would put their score at 10-7 in her favour.

"No point hiding it. Too many people know now and at best we can keep the secret confined to Konoha."

"Well, there's leftovers in the fridge. I'll go heat it up for you and get you some sake dear." Yoshino and Shikaku left for the kitchen to get him a late dinner.

"Why are you smiling nee-chan?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura did in fact have a smile on her face.

"No reason Maru-chan." Shikamaru grumbled at the childish nickname his sister gave him. It was bad enough when Yugao-oba-san called him that. "Whatever." He went upstairs to his room, time for bed.

Sakura was still smiling as Shikamaru went to bed. In here mind, there was only one person who could have re-forged a legendary sword at such a young age. 'I found you senpai!'

AN: My new semester is starting up in June. All online courses and it may interfere in my updating.

Next Update – 29 May 2020