A New Day {P}

The sun shone brightly down on the sandy expanse that was the training grounds of Sunagakure. It was mid day and a slight breeze blew across the land, which whipped up a slight dirt devil. The swirling sand made the training grounds seem almost abandoned. However, this was not the case as Hirako Aburame had just arrived at training grounds with a rather bulky puppet. This was a puppet Hirako had been working on for sometime, but never had the chance to test it, so today was that day. The puppet measured three meters long and had a girth of about five and a half inches. It was without a doubt one of Hirako's proudest creations-not to mention his first. The only thing he was not sure about was whether or not the whole damn nothing would work at all. He had perfected each joint to a tee and made sure that the materials used to create the puppet were top shelf and not some cheap form of wood, which would make for a rather poor puppet. And a poor puppet meant a rather poor puppeteer, which was not something Hirako wanted to be.

Walking to the center of the training grounds Hirako placed the puppet on the ground in a heap. He then backed off about five meters. he had practiced his use of chakra threads time and time again on various types of practice puppets, but they had no real uses outside of entertaining small children and the like. With bated breath Hirako shot out his chakra threads from his right hand, which without hesitation jumped on to the snake puppet that Hirako preferred to call a pit viper, because, well, it sounded much cooler than "snake puppet". For one scary second the puppet did not move as Hirako aimlessly move his fingers up and down. Shaking his head a bit Hirako was quite surprised when the puppet all of a sudden jumped to life. Granted it looked like it was having a seizure due to Hirako's lack of practice with the puppet, but it was moving nonetheless, which was good progress.

Refining his hand movements Hirako tried to better control his puppet. It was rather odd control the puppet with one hand, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. The snake's movements slowly became less and less erratic and more and more serpentine. Things were looking up for Hirako, but he could not quite get the hang od actually moving the viper. He could have it move in place, but he could not have it move around. A little irked Hirako raised his left hand and five more chakra threads shot at the puppet. These extra chakra threads allowed for greater control, which was a lot better. Now fluidly moving each hand and moving all his fingers in sync Hirako now had control over the puppet. With a brief hidden smile he manipulated the puppet such that it slither slowly across the ground. As it moved there was the soft sound of wood clinking together. It was a rather interesting sound that made Hirako's spine tingle ever so slightly.

Taking a step forward Hirako found that his chakra threads got disconnected. It seemed like he was unable to move while using the puppet. This was a problem that Hirako had not faced yet. Before he never had to move, so it was not a problem. However, Hirako knew that if he ever wished to do battle with his puppets he would have to be able to move around while also controlling his puppets or he was naught, but a sitting duck, which was never good. It was then that he resolved to get the hang of these chakra threads to the extent of mastery. He had to to do it if he wanted to perform well on his genin teams and in turn the chuunin exams. With a new resolve Hirako approached the puppet and sighed. Then sat down next to it cross legged.

There was another skill that hirako had to practice if he wished to do well: sealing the puppet. For easy transportation this type of sealing was a necessity and another thing he had to be able to master. Pulling out a blank scroll Hirako placed it on the ground and moved the puppet onto it. Hirako then placed left hand on the puppet and his right one on the scroll. Finally he flowed chakra through both objects. The product was a poof of smoke and the puppet being successfully sealed into the scroll. It was a nice feeling to be able to do such a simple task without any flaws. It was at this point that Hirako heard a loud voice call out his name. Turning his head Hirako spotted another genin. Apparently the boy wanted to have a short spar. Shrugging Hirako stood up and grabbed the now rolled up scroll.

Naturally Hirako agreed to have a quick little spar. What better way to gain mastery over one's chakra threads than to use them in a battle? So, the two genin stood exactly twenty meters from each other. In his right hand Hirako was holding the rolled up scroll while the other genin held a kunai. This would be an interesting spar to say the least, but Hirako felt more than ready. In fact, he was fairly confident that he could best this scrappy genin. The other genin announced that he would throw another kunai straight up and when it struck the ground the spar would begin. Hirako watched as the genin drew back his arm and threw his kunai straight up. Tensing his body Hirako moved the second that the kunai hit the ground.

Instantly throwing down the scroll it furled opened released the puppet. Furthermore in an instant Hirako's chakra threads flew to the puppet-he did not miss a beat. The other genin had closed the ground, so that there was ten meters between him and the puppet while there was fifteen meter between him and Hirako. The summoning of the puppet seemed to have put the other genin on edge as he stopped his advance, but he did not give right away. The genin ran right at the puppet he seemed determined to destroy the puppet which was something that Hirako was more than ready to allow him to try. With both hands in front of him Hirako made the puppet charge at the genin who was also charging. The puppet moved much like a slithering snake while the genin was sprinting at his maximum speed. This was going to be interesting.

The genin seemed to have some experience fighting puppet as he watched the puppeteers hands-not the puppet. Thus, as the Viper puppet lunged the opposing genin lunged another way. It was a clever move, but Hirako was quite clever himself. The genin was finding himself lunging right into the viper's tail. Hirako had manipulated the tail in such a way that it wrapped around perfectly and hooked the genin. The front of the puppet was then brought around the back of the genin such that snake wrapped around the other genin much like a boa constrictor. The puppet effectively restrained the genin from moving his arms. The spar was easily over-just like that. The genin quickly cried uncle. Hirako complied with a simple hand movement that released the puppet, which quickly slithered back to Hirako and on to the scroll. With a sigh Hirako allowed his chakra threads to disconnect and looked over to the genin. Who walked over to Hirako and started speaking.

"That puppet is pretty incredible. One of my teammates has a puppet, but nothing like that. He has very generic human shape. I never wold have seen that tail hook coming. Good job. Well I have to go see ya later."

Hirako was unable to get a word in edge wise, so he just accepted the compliments like a boss. He then returned to his puppet with a a frown on his fast. The puppet was able to move a bit faster than he himself, which was an interesting discovery as it allowed him to control something that was faster than himself. It meant that this puppet could many things that Hirako himself could not do. This would not doubt prove useful later on when it became essential to use puppet in missions or the like. With a sigh he pulled the tail end of the snake up to his face, so he could inspect the most interesting part of the puppet that did not work in the spar. Had it worked when the genin was wrapped up he would have been hit by a stinger like senbon. But, for some reason the launcher was not functioning correctly.

Now, it was Hirako's job to figure out what the problem was and fix it. Giving the puppet a tentative shake Hirako heard a loose part. Furrowing his brow he gave an internal shrug and released a bug from his internal hive. His unique Aburame power over bugs made for a great way to get all the small parts of puppets done. The single bug crawled into the puppet and quickly found the problem. A small rock had become lodged in the firing mechanism and prevented the launcher. Thus, with a simple thought Hirako had the small creature remove the rock and thus bring the puppet back up to snuff. Recalling the small creature Hirako prepared to test his favorite attachment of the pit viper: the senbon launcher.

Standing up and backing away from the puppet Hirako once again shot out chakra threads at his puppet. They attached accordingly and the puppet sprang to life in an instant. Getting his bearings Hirako quickly brought the puppet in front of a target dummy. He then angled the tail of the snake at the target and with a pull of his index finger he was elated when a senbon flew from the puppets's tail and landed squarely in the center of the target. It was without a doubt one of Hirako's proudest moments. He had spent a month on the creation of this puppet and now all of it was coming together perfectly. It was a wondrous moment. Out of pure intellectual joy Hirako fired off nine more senbon in quick succession. each one impacted the target with considerable force, which pleased Hirako even more. Bored, and wanting to further test his dexterity with his puppet, Hirako had the puppet move with incredible speed toward the target.

Hirako had the snake bare its fangs and it bit hard down on the target. Alas, Hirako found that puppet had become stuck in the target and it was unable to dislodge itself. With a sigh Hirako deactivated his chakra threads and walked up to the target. He quickly extracted the senbon and held all ten of them in his hand. With a shrug he put them in his pocket. he then gave the jaws of the snake a tug and felt as it gave way. In a second the puppet was free. There was no visible damage to the puppet, so that was good. With a smirk Hirako carried the puppet back to the scroll and placed it on it once again. Taking out the senbon he carefully inserted them back into his puppet. Now, when the puppet was summon again it would be ready for battle or action in a mission.

Once again placing one hand on the puppet and one on the scroll Hirako sealed it back into the scroll for use later on. With the puppet sealed Hirako rolled up the scroll and put it in a holster on his right thigh. He had thew whole puppet thing down. Now, all he had to do was really practice with the chakra threads. Luckily Sunagkure was just the place to do such a thing. The village hidden in the sand had been the birth place of many a famous, and infamous, puppeteers, which was Hirako hoped to be one of those great puppeteers of history. So, standing up Hirako walked over to a very odd target. This target was about 1 foot in diameter and pitch black. The target was meant for puppeteers to test their mastery over their chakra threads. The material that covered the target allowed for the puppeteer to easily latch on to the surface of the target and begin practicing. Placing his right palm on the target Hirako pulled it away. However, five chakra strings remained attached to the target.

Now came the hard part: maintaining said connection while walking backwards. It was not the walking backwards part that was hard. It was more so the holding a constant stream of chakra in the threads. If the threads were to lose a steady stream of chakra then the connection would be broken and Hirako's ability as a puppeteers would severely be hindered. he had to achieve mastery over these chakra threads or he would forever be bound to the lowest tier of puppeteering, which was something he would not stand for. So, with a stress laden mind and a burning determination Hirako took one step back from the target-so far so good. He then took another, which was yet again good. However, on the third step back he felt the threads give way as the chakra fluctuated too much through the threads and left them useless. With his brow furrowed ever so slightly Hirako raised his right hand that had fallen to his side and fired off another five chakra strings at the target-they naturally jumped right on the target and stuck there. With a new fire in his heart Hirako repeated the same process. The only difference was that this time Hirako made it five steps before the connection was broken.

Smirking ever so slightly Hirako rejoiced in his minor victory-he was getting the hang of it. All it took was patience and practice. Luckily he had time and discipline for both. Walking back up to the target he placed his hand on it once again and pulled it away. Then step by step he got further and further back from the target. Once he was twenty steps away he erratically moved his hand, but the threads held strong as if woven by some oddly endowed spider. Now, came the harder part: moving fluidly while keeping up the chakra threads-this was going to be fun. Taking a quick lunge to the left and then another to the right. Not once did he feel his chakra control waver, so maybe it was time to take his training to the next level? He could now move freely while utilizing his chakra threads. However, there was one more step to complete and utter mastery: making the threads themselves invisible. The invisibility of the threads was key, because it would allow Hirako to hide and operate his puppets from the safety of cover.

The trick was to get better control of one's chakra threads, so that one could ultimately make them disappear. With a sigh Hirako walked stood his ground and pulsed his chakra through the threads in rapid bursts that seemed to make the thread go in and out of existence, which naturally it did not, but Hirako could not find the right way to keep it invisible for an extended period of time. So, for the next hour or so Hirako continued to pulse chakra though the threads with varying degrees of success. Finally after an hour of arduous practice Hirako was pretty sure he had it down to an art form. He could now turn the chakra threads visible and invisible with naught, but a thought and an corresponding chakra flux. It was a nice feeling of accomplishment that filled Hirako at this point. He had achieved what he set out to do. Maybe this was why so many people trained as hard as they could: for this feeling of accomplishment and power. Hirako decided that he quite liked the feeling, which was a large step for him. Formerly he did not enjoy training. However, now he very much liked. It was odd how people changed so quickly. Hirako was now a changed genin. So, early on in his career he had already killed someone and he now had mastery over his chakra threads. Who knew what was next.

For now all Hirako knew was that he was starving. For now his training was done and he could go home. Hopefully his parents were all ready getting food on the table. As this thought crossed Hirako's mind he sprung into action. First he removed the chakra threads from the target and then making sure he had everything he came with went on his way off of the blazing sandy expanse of the training grounds. It was nice to finally moving again and Hirako did not want to waste any time on waiting around. Thus, he made a beeline for his home. Upon arrival he found that food was already on the table and he had arrived just in time-what luck? And better yet Hirako had received a letter that informed him of being assigned to a team. All in all the day was a good one. With the mastery of chakra threads under his belt Hirako decided he could rest easy this night. However, his decision would not be one that he could keep to himself. As that very night nightmares haunted him. he kept seeing the eyeless body of Kaim walking around as if alive. It was eerie seeing the eyeless body walking around, but thus was the dream world. Maybe some day this nightmare would leave his mind, but not anytime soon. All things considered Hirako's internal world was in chaos. However, on the outside he looked perfectly calm and collected. One day this chaos will escape into the world, but for now he was forced to inflict internal damage to himself as opposed to external damage to others.

{TWC: 3010, +15 stats & +30 JP, 500/500 words for training to increase the range of chakra threads to 25 Meters, 1000/1000 words for training for invisible chakra threads, and 1510/1500 words of training to increase the range of chakra threads to 50 meters and allow the user to move freely while controlling the puppets. Basically full mastery of the basic chakra threads. For reference see this link: http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t13040-chakra-threads}

Done/bump.

All approved!