Open up~ [haran]

[Nonohana Geki]

Garonbin closed his book of names, sliding it into his haori. He had looked hard and wide for a suitable test dummy, and this Genin kid seemed to be the one. Sacrificing his arm in war and replacing it with a puppets? Yeah, he was just what he needed.

The click of sandals could be heard as Garonbin strolled through Sunagakure. Many people who knew him, or those whom he had donated too, gave him a courteous hello or nod and he replied in kind. Others were put off by his smile and simply did what they could to avoid catching his gaze. These various actions served as a fuel for Garonbin, whom thrived off of the reactions and positions of other people. His smile grew a bit wider every time someone shuddered at seeing him, and it grew wider still when someone looked at him and quickly shuffeled away.

However his stride had ended when he found his destination. A simple workshop for puppets, in which Shirogane Haran, Genin-class puppeteer, worked. His smile not dimming, the nonchalant Garonbin allowed his pale knuckles to wrap on the door a few times. He was a bit eager to get started on today’s new mission in life, and so he felt a bit impatient waiting for the kid to open the door.

[Haran]

Ah, dango! Oh, just how much Haran loved, loved loved loved loved, LOVED dango! And what day of the week was it? Why, it was FRIDAY! His designated dango splurge day! Oh man was he in a good mood; he'd had a good ten skewers back at the stand and had a large bag with him, holding another forty of them. He was just glad he kept a fridge at the little place he rented out as his puppet workshop; he spent more time in there nowadays than he did back home!

Sometimes, he thought, it was nice having a puppet arm. It didn't get tired like a normal one, so he didn't have to worry about the dango's heaviness at all. The one problem was that he couldn't feel anything with it. Oh, the horror! Only having one arm to feel hot, cold, softness, hardness, pain—well, the last one was a plus, but the rest weren't! Either way, it was a thought for another day, his workshop was just around the...

... okay, now here was something he didn't see every day. One of Suna's Jounin puppeteers, knocking on the door to his workshop. O... kay.... now how to handle this one? Eheh...

"Ah! Sumimasen, Garonbin-san!" He ran towards the door to his workshop, dango stick hanging out of his mouth, key in real hand, bag in puppet one. "I didn't think I'd get any visitors so I went to go get some food and didn't leave my puppet here to check up on stuff for me and wait a minute why are you here? Uh, no disrespect from that of course it's just that I'm a Genin and you're a Jounin! Eheh..."

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[Nonohana Geki]

The kid was cheeky, yes, but that was to be expected of a puppeteer. They often weren’t the most normal Shinobi there were. The smiling face of Garonbin didn’t dent when he asked his question, and in response to the hello he only gave a curt bow of his head.

“Eller’ there, Haran-kun. If you don’t mind…” Taking the opening of the door as an invitation in, Garonbin entered into the puppet shop. It was a nice place, kind of, and it had the materials needed to make puppets of suitable quality. However that wasn’t really what Garonbin was looking at as he entered.

The quality of Haran’s arm was simply spectacular. The details and craftsmanship showed that the kid put a lot of effort into what was going to be attached to his body, which gave Garonbin a bit of respect for him. Though not a lot, he didn’t really respect people and, as of now, this Genin was just here to serve as a useful tool for today’s activities.

“Bit rude, eh? Oh well, I was once a kid too. Anywho, Haran-kun, I’m just here to make ya’ an offer. You gon’ be good for today…?” The ghastly smile turned to face Haran then, awaiting his hopeful yes.

[Haran]

...
......
..........
Wow...

This guy was cccrrrreeeeeppppyyyy... That smile of his was really kinda scary; it certainly fell under what could only be considered a slasher smile... or maybe it fell more under that of a trickster? Either way, that was not a smile he wanted to see in a dark alleyway, cause he'd probably be dead the next morning.

"Huh, mind? O-oh no, by all means please come in! Ah, it's a bit messy in there, I need to put away a couple of tools and pieces and parts and oh, please sit down!"

He scurried over to one of his various work tables and grabbed the chair that was next to it, put it into the rest of the room and started gathering up the various stuff that was sitting on his table. Poison? No, no, that was at home in a sealed scroll. Metal weapons? Yep, plenty of those; they all went into various scrolls and put away on the shelf. Wood? That got stacked in the corner. Tools? Those got put away in the drawers and oh man this place was a mess. He really needed to put in a weekend to clean the damn place out!

"Huh offer what now? Eh?" He dropped a couple of tools when he heard that, his eyes bugging out when he saw that one of his fletching knives very nearly just stabbed him in the foot. "Aaahhh! Ah, one sec, please go on I'm listening I just need to get all this stuff away! Oohh, this place is a mess! Argh!"

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[Nonohana Geki]

Sitting down, Garonbin rested his still smiling head in his hand, using it to cup his chin. He watched Haran with a sort of morbid pleasure, inwardly laughing at how the boy tried so hard to make a good first appearance. Then again, Garonbin was a bit of a start amongst the puppet circuit, and that fact seemed to fuel Haran even more. Sadly, the amusement could not simply be enjoyed forever. The way things progressed in this world, he would have lost his chance at learning his new little jutsu if he just stayed here and watch Haran try to clean up this dirty apartment.

“Ya’ a young and promisin’ puppeteer, kiddo. You even went n’ lost your arm and replaced it with a new one. I think ya’ got what it takes to study under me a bit and, in exchange, I want ya’ to help me perfect a new jutsu of mine. It won’t hurt (much), and I can promise ya’ I’ll give ya’ a nice reward in exchange. Deal?”

The words were said smoothly and without hint of anything real malicious in them, though the fact that his smile didn’t dim did seem to make Garonbin seem a bit sketchy as he spoke. Regardless, it was a good offer and one that Garonbin wasn’t expecting Haran to refuse.

[Haran]

Gah, all of this stuff that needed to go away, fletching knife had to go away in the drawer, drill in the one below it, uh, wait the drill bits were still on the table, those needed to go away also, a couple of ball joints needed to be put back with the rest and—

"Huh?"

He stopped, stood up, turned around and faced Garonbin.

"New jutsu, what would you need me for to perfect a new j—... oh. That one." Sometimes, it was nice to have a father who was a retired Jounin. He knew exactly which jutsu would need a willing participant—or a handy corpse—to train with.

He wanted to be able to control other people like puppets. Step one was controlling somebody who didn't resist. Step two, they start resisting.

"Uh... sure, I guess? Not like I'm doing anything better right no—oh crap my dango!" He darted over to the work bench, grabbed the bag, opened up the fridge, slammed the dango inside, slammed the fridge, and went back to paying full attention to the older puppeteer.

He really needed to clean this place up...

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[Nonohana Geki]

Suddenly a flurry of movement came from Garonbin’s fingers. Feeling like seeing another interesting reaction, he used the chakra threads he could compose with his fingers and picked up dozens upon dozens of left over bits. In but moments most of them were all filed away in various cabinets that Garonbin had assumed were their proper resting places. Well, to be accurate, he knew they were. While sitting and walking around the apartment, Garonbin had been able to rather easily get a mental map of the place.

“Knowledgeable, aren’t ya’ kid?” The hickish accent that Garonbin was attaching to his words was dropping a little bit, replaced with a thin strand of amusement at the kid’s abilities. So, not only did he have the skill to replace limbs as a Genin, but he knew about one of the more effect puppet variants? Perfect, perfect…

Using both arms to hoist himself up from the chair, the taller Jounin turned his closed eyes down towards his junior. He didn’t plan to give Haran one of his own puppets, those were worth quite a bit and were needed for the Ao Higi. Perhaps, then, he’d…

“In exchange I’ll teach ya’ a neat trick and give your lil’ dolls some tricks. We even then, kiddo’?”

[Haran]

"... Why didn't I think of that? That would've made cleaning this place up so much easier..." With that, Haran opened one of the only drawers that hadn't been opened and withdrew an envelope that read on the front:

OPEN ONCE YOU DISCOVER THE SECRET TO CLEANING UP THE WORKSHOP QUICKLY

He opened up the envelope, took out the piece of paper within, and put it down on the table. The piece of paper had a circle in the center with the words "forehead goes here" on it.

And so Haran slammed his head into the table over and over again.

"Stupid!" Slam. "Stupid!" Slam. "Stupid!" Slam."

Once he'd gotten all of that out of his system, he tore the piece of paper in half, tore it again, and tore it again before throwing the pieces in a wastepaper basket.

"Sounds good! Uh... where to then? I'm not quite sure ya wanna do this here, from what I read the first step needs a bit of an open area soooooo do you have a place in mind?"

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[Nonohana Geki]

This kid really was interesting. No, not reaction. The accurate statement would be to say that this kid was really easy to provoke, possibly even easier to control. Garonbin’s nearly shut eyes observed his every reaction with a close and analytical gaze, making sure to encode every action Haran made into his memory. Eventually the kid was done being a fool and asked Garonbin where they would be going for this, when they would start, so on and so forth. For a moment or so Garonbin didn’t reply, or even move, his smile just twitched and grew a bit larger.

Then, “Well then, kid, if ya’ done jokin’ around, we’ll be goin’ to the training fields ASAP. Bring ya’self a puppet.” With that he would get up and approach the door, opening it and standing to the side, his smile turning back to Haran. “Ladies first?”

The joke being said, once the two were out of the workshop Garonbin would make sure they would talk and walk. He had gone over the training schedule many times in his head, and he had more than prepared himself for what was to come. Of course Haran preparing himself was more or less the variable here—being controlled by puppet strings was no pleasant experience.

“It’ll work like ‘dis, kid. First I’ll control ya’, learn how to make your actions look realistic. Then you’ll resist. Once I can hold ya’ down, I’ll practice on taken your puppet. Once I can take ya’ puppet, I’ll work on taking control of you while we fight. Got it?” Ending his little explanation with a question, which was more like a statement, Garonbin would pull back, allowing Haran to walk infront of him. Instead of waiting until they got here he would practice here and now, attempting to attach strings to the boy without him noticing. That, truthfully, was the full step to this technique.