Meeting

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'A puppet technique revolves around the shinobi-made wooden puppet, that has hidden weaponry, and is used mainly for combat purposes by a creator through chakra strings... How fascinating.' I mused to myself, as I closed a book about woodworking. Throughout the year after an "ambush" I pestered my dad to show me his "doll collection", and when he heard the phrase he visibly cringed, while my mother was laughing her sides off.

His tan-coloured collection included a spear-holding humanoid puppet, a 2-meter ape with tower shields attached to both arms, a mole, and a spired with a flattened top - presumably as a means of transport.

Despite allowing me to witness his collection, I wasn't allowed to get even within 2 meters of them, as my parents were afraid of me triggering some hidden mechanisms inside of them and injuring myself. Meanies.

Most of the technique-specific knowledge I had to pry out of my father with puppy eyes aimed at both of my parents until one cracks and convinces the other. 'Ugh, the damage that I suffered to my dignity will take a while to heal.'

From what he told me, there are three limitations of the puppet technique.

The first one would be its cost. Making puppets with all of the hidden mechanisms and at a battle-worthy quality takes time and resources. Learning the craft in the first place is expansive, as the majority of the wood is imported from outside of our borders, and the price of it has been steadily increasing in recent days. That is not to mention all the blades and other weapons themselves.

After finishing the creation and attempting to use it for the first time there are two possible outcomes. It works and everything is fine, or the pressure of your chakra that comes out of your chakra strings crushes the insides or even blows the creation apart, resulting in resources being lost, and time wasted.

Many practitioners suffered injuries of varying degrees when the hidden weaponry blew up in their faces, some even lost their lives. "Because of people not wanting to risk their wealth and life, there are not that many people entering puppetry path. One could be a puppet user by using bought puppets, but he will never be able to utilise it fully, as one cannot have a full understanding of a puppet without creating it, no matter how hard he tries." My father told me.

The second limitation would be from the human side. No matter how great the creation is, if you send out late command signals through a chakra string - you will lose.

If your chakra control is weak you might accidentality send a wrong signal - again, resulting in defeat.

If you run out of chakra, you no longer can send any commands to the puppet, making it useless.

If you do not know how to fight (taijutsu), then how do you expect it to win in combat?

Your skill and limitations matter, there is no doubt about that.

The third limitation would be your imagination. One cannot make something new without getting an idea about it in the first place.

After passing the first limitations, the other two dictate how far one will go as a puppet technique user. Now, to aim for the peak of puppetry, one should also learn fuinjutsu and medicine - branch about poisons, to be more specific.

Puppet technique can synergize with fuinjutsu through simple storage scroll - to easily carry multiple puppets, to even explosive tags or barriers, while the poisons can allow even the smallest of scratches to become fatal, increasing the danger of any hidden weapons inside the puppet. After all, a puppet will never be at risk of his poison. The possibilities are endless.

From what I gathered about fuinjutsu from my limited sources, it's basically imprinting a will using a medium, mixed with finely controlled chakra upon a surface for different effects, and can be activated at the cost of chakra, varying between different effects and their strengths. The better the seal, the more chakra it can withhold before breaking apart, with a general rule of thumb being that the more chakra a seal takes, the greater its effectiveness of it.

When I realized that both (fuinjutsu and puppet technique - chakra strings) require fine chakra control, I tried getting my parents to teach me about the whole chakra thing, yet I was refused. Even my attempts of using 'puppy eyes jutsu' were mercilessly rebuffed, though I learned that it had more to do with anatomy and growing period, as awakening chakra before age of three is a dangerous endeavour.

After hearing their words, I could do nothing but accept the fact that I'm gonna spend a sizeable amount of time only on carving in wood and reading books, which was fine with me.

'It was mentioned that puppets are made of wood, but I wonder if it's the only material that can-'

"TERUYA!" A sudden scream stopped my thought process, and soon after someone started shaking me. "Ugh, why are you always stuck with those boring books." I heard Pakura, as she took a book out of my hands and put it aside on the table. "Let's go outside and play she said with a wide grin."

'Right, the woodworking CANNOT be the only way I spend my time, as Pakura clearly will go nuts without some form of activity. Where is she getting all this energy from?'

"Your definition of playing wildly differs from mine. Why whenever we "play" it ends up in some way in physical activity?" I asked as she started dragging me outside.

"It's just a coincidence." She hastily sputtered.

"Right, as a coincidence we always end up playing shinobi. As a coincidence, all of your toys are blunt kunais and shurikens." I said with a dry voice. "So troublesome. You're such a tomboy."

"I am NOT a tomboy, you bookworm." She answered with reddened cheeks.

"I apologize, Miss Defender of Suna, Protector of Oppressed. I beg your forgiveness, your lordship." I said in a fake polite voice and bowing, while snickering, as I reminded her last nickname she wanted to use when we were last time playing.

At that I saw her stop, ready to explode. 'Oh sh*t.' I sweat dropped.

My self-survival instinct activated and decided to dip before she could go off.

"Hey!" I heard her yell, as I ran past her. "Wait, we need to 'talk'." I heard her say with an upset voice.

"Uh-huh, and why did you take out that kunai?! Why are you getting closer, while getting ready to stab!?" I asked franticly as I tried increasing my pace.

"Don't worry." She said in a polite tone, that somehow didn't match her smile as she cornered me at a dead end. "It won't hurt... much."

"What do you mean it won't hurt much?! Wait, stay where you are! Stop getting closer!" I felt my heartbeat speed increase, and it wasn't from running. 'There's no way out, so I need a distraction, think Teruya, think.

As she neared 10 meters away from me I straightened my back, joined my hands together, and said in a calm voice that was opposite to my state of mind. "I would like to apologize."

When she stopped for a second I thought my skin was saved, yet it was quickly dashed, as she continued walking and said. "Nope." With a popping P. "Too late for that~" as her SMILE SOMEHOW WAS GETTING WIDER.

'Okay, time for plan B.' When she neared 2 meters, I looked to her side while faking confusion and said "Huh, I didn't know they are selling ice cream here."

She has a chronic sweet tooth, a weakness I HAD to exploit, that would make any self-respecting shinobi impressed. In her moment of weakness, when she looked away from me, I dashed past her, securing my skin just for a little bit longer.

"Hey, don't you dare run from me!" She swiftly reacted, and the hunt began yet again.

"You will never take me alive!" I yelled as we continued to run.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

When we stopped the chase near the playing ground my feet were killing me, yet she somehow still looked fresh, with strength ready to run again. 'Where's she getting all this energy from?' I wondered.

When I saw her ready to drag me to the other kids at the playing ground I stopped her, saying "Let me catch a breath first. I will join you in a bit."

She seemed reluctant, but nodded and left.

As I was catching my breath, I saw a kid, woodworking out of a small block some animal. 'It looks like a scorpion.' I thought.

I walked up from behind, and just looked as he was slowly chipping away at the block without saying anything - not wanting to distract him. As he stopped to catch a breath I said "You're good at this."

When the boy heard my voice he jumped a little - startled by my presence. "T-thank you." He stuttered.

"I also enjoy woodworking, made quite a few pieces already," I said as he calmed down. I continued. "Maybe both of us could meet up and do it together?"

"Sure." He said, and after a pause, the boy asked. "Who are you?"

I slapped my forehead. "I'm sorry, my name is Teruya. And yours?"

"Sasori." The red-haired boy answered.