Lets Learn to Build(Training)

The mid-afternoon sun shone brightly as a short and slender figure strolled through the village, making his way toward the small home that was given to him by the state. Naturally, he had to pay the rent but with him being so young, the rent was directly withdrawn from the sum of money that he received on a weekly basis. The sounds of children happily playing and laughing radiated through the area as the young Kaname made his way home with a small chisel and a pack of senbon.

From a young age, Kaname had an interest in puppets, however, it never developed to an extent where he created his own puppets. However, as of late, he came across a guide to the foundation of puppets, and contemplated applying the guide to a training exercise where he learn to build the wooden structure.

“Todays the day! Todays the Day! Todays the Day, I say Todays the Day” He skipped happily as his eyes darted around the area. He nodded to a few people on his journey, the very same that he saw on a number of occasions throughout his journeys in the village. His navy trousers stood out from the ground while it blew with the breeze. The same shade hair blew along with the harmony of his body. Gently gritting his teeth, he passed a group of boys covered in bruises and scars. You see it was these boys who had come to torment Kaname on the day of his unsuccessful graduation; after finally graduating, he beat the boys so hard that the tooth of one was dislodged and three teeth of another were smashed out. Naturally, fearing for their well-being the boys simply made excuses for what had transpired leading up to their bruising.

Within a matter of minutes, he had arrived at his destination, home. The build that he had called home was a makeshift house with a basic exterior that allowed for a sliding door as oppose to a solid wooden one; in addition to that it was lightly built so if a wolf were to huff and puff it would surely be blown away. Slowly shifting the door to one side, Kaname glanced down, eying the small mechanism that acted as a trip wire. Gently, separating the string, he walked through before re-connecting.

TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP.

A continuous echo that radiated across the floor boards as the figure made his way down into the underground compartment which was commonly dubbed a basement. With a quick nod, he placed the chisel atop the table, pulling a draw open before pulling out a knife, screwdriver and other metal constructs.  In front of him laid a number of large wooden blocks, enough to span a total of five meters in length. Scanning the area in front of him, he eyed the large schematic that lay within reaching distance. At each corner laid a chess piece that held the scroll in place; with a brief pause, Kaname nodded to himself.

“So if I start with the tail, I’ll chisel down the far sides and carve into the center before sawing into it effectively. That would take a while longer, alternatively I could create the main body before creating the head and the tail since the vast majority of the body is consistent in design.” The utterance flowed ever so gracefully out of his mouth. Moving his hands across the desk, he secured his grip onto the in the chisel.

After performing the aforementioned action, Kaname moved to the center of the room and crouched down to the square wooden block the laid before him. One swoop, two swoop, three swoop, four. With every swoop, the shavings of the wood peeled off the block and onto the ground by Kanames feet. The initial motions were to remove the sharp edges that the wooden blocks had possessed, coming to think of it, Kaname figured that a better alternative would have been to use wood stumps so that he did nothave to waste so many resources in the process. Nonetheless, he carried on with the process, essentially chiseling down one part before moving onto the next.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” He counted as he picked away at the wooden block that was stationary in front of him. The county primarily correlated to the schematics he had drawn up. With every motion of the chisel he applied the exact amount of strength, so that the process could be repeated on either sides in the exact same manner.

Naturally, it is understandable why a puppeteer would take such great care in creating a masterpiece such as this. With every puppet, the puppeteer projected their interpretation of living creatures; the attention to detail was key in ensuring that each and every part of the puppet is of identical measurement so that it effectively reflected the image that Kaname aimed to portray with his puppet.

After around five or so minutes, Kaname moved across to the opposite side of the block and proceeded to chisel away in the exact same manner. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” Were the utterances that transcended out of his mouth as the shavings came off ever so gracefully; smiling to himself he inhaled to full his lungs with air before abruptly exhaling, blowing the shavings off the block.

“Perfect. The dimensions of both of them look identical. HA!” his nonchalant voice echoed through the room before he began marking the dimensions for the interior of the snake looking construct. The dimensions followed a 1 meter radius from the center of the block; the drawing and the light carving was almost as accurate as possible. The continuous “X X X X X X X X” of the carving process had led Kaname to formulate a beat that was a combination of a foot tap with every second of the carving process. It was a rather catchy tune which helped pass the time as the finished the first block in the series.

As he carved the outline, he a drill saw to cut out the inner wood. The wood created shavings that were dispersed across the room, the deeper Kaname went the more resistance he was met with. From time to time he shook his head and withdraws the saw before re-inserting it in the hopes of success.

Kaname did nothave the luxury that some other clans possessed that involved having other individuals build the puppets for him. He was well aware of the fact that the richest clans in the village possessed some marvelous technology; he would have had this puppet built in a matter of minutes had he been a born into their sovereign family trees. But Kaname knew little of his familial origin, from what he had heard, he was left in the center of the village, with a scroll that depicted his name and surname. He never met his parents nor share any close bonds with his peers; the thought of the potential that puppets possessed, brought a glow to his eyes, a glow that made his very iris tingle with pleasure and pain.

Having grown up alone, Kaname was no stranger to solitude. He spent the vast majority of his time alone, be it walking around the village or learning at home. It was this solitude that led him to misbehave at a younger age. It was no mystery to any of his teachers why he behaved in such fashion, but no one bothered with a mere orphan; for all they knew he would be fodder for the village to freely be rid of without anyone ever as much as caring. The whole thought brought distaste to his mouth, he tried not to dwell on his solitude as he planned to prove his peers wrong through a string of successful endeavors that would bring honor to his village.

Kaname worked throughout the night, hearing the footsteps and sounds of people heading into the village to have some fun while he simply sat in his basement carving a puppet out of wood. It was true, it took months to sketch the relevant components of this creation and it took even longer to get the parts required to construct it. Taking specimen one as an example, the second joint of the puppet contained a chakra cannon that would be released through the mouth. It was pretty fascinating, but truth in the matter was the Kaname had to take out a loan in order to have the required funds to purchase such thing.

Sure, he had saved up money from the weekly allowance that the village gave him, but that did notcompensate for the huge fees that came with building such exquisite puppets. Shifting his left hand, chakra strings extended out of his fingers and instantly binded to the nearby equipment. If Kaname had any intention of finishing his marvelous creation anytime this century, he would have had to have sped up construction.

On the topic of construction, Kaname came to notice that the entire puppet would be too big to fit in the house. He came to wonder where he would store the wooden creation before having the need to use it. The thought instantly brought intrigue and he rescinded the chakra strings before running up the swirling stairs that led up to his house. As he ascended, the bells of the house rang, which symbolized that someone had opened the door. Climbing out of the small hatch that led down to the had crafted basement Kaname peered around the corner at two men that anxiously peered into the interior of the house.

A cold chill swept Kanames body as he glanced from one to the other. Within a matter of seconds they began making their way into the house without as much as asking if anyone was home. Hoping to drown their advantage of surprise, Kaname stepped out, eying the duo. You must understand that the entrance area was narrow which forced one man to be in front of the other. Slowly shaking his head, Kaname motion his hand and in an instant a vase flew over toward the mans head, smashing into his nose. A gruel burst of blood covered the mans attire as his nose bled; to the men, it looked to be sorcery but all Kaname did was extend a string to the vase and attach it, then as he confronted the duo, he simply had to guide the string to the mans head.  

Naturally, the second fellow fled, dragging his companion along. This was a regular occurrence in this part of town. But the villagers that attempted these petty crimes were so stupid that they attacked the same houses multiple times in the hopes of success. Each time, they’re geared with ever more armour and weaponry which brings to question who funds these imbecilic turds? Shaking his head in disbelief, Kaname approached the door, shutting it before re-attaching the string that was bound to the bells. With a nod and a ‘yosh’ he moved through the room and approached the cup board. From there, he withdraw a wide variety of paints and began contemplating where he would put the whole thing together as there would be no chance of it fitting in this cramped place.

Suddenly, Kaname rushed down to the basement as a thought transcended through his mind. As he rushed down, he happened to trip, only to regain his footing at the last moment. Upon arriving at his intended location he rushed over to the design schematics that were packed neatly on the table. He moved his hand across one to straighten it out before guiding a fine pencil across the asthetitcal areas in order to produce horns onto the designs. He had times of simple recollection; times where the simplest of ideas were most effective, and this was one of those times. With a smile and a nod, he was satisfied.

Tapping his feet across the floor, he made his way back to the main body of the puppet, collecting the first chiseled block before using a carving knife to carve out the depth of the asthetics. The design appeared to resemble the scales of a fabled creature. Throughout his child hood, he often read stories to help him go to sleep and among the stories was one of a fabled dragon that had scales that resembled chain mail. In a similar sense, Kaname went over the scales in order to produce an immersive design. He would nod every so often, ensuring that the design was consistent with his idea of what the dragon would look like.

The pattern was coherent, it was consistent, it was marvelous. It was almost like a tattoo that spanned miles on end. He grinned as he slipped into the inside of the block in order to carve out the areas where the multiple joints would naturally adjoin. The carving came with finesse, he did notwaste any time nor did he fear failure. He followed a routine motion, one that was common for puppet creation.

You see, throughout his child hood, Kaname often spent a lot of time with the puppet creator that lived in the center of the village. The man had some wonderful creations which allowed Kaname to learn the arts of puppetry. He is the reason why Kaname had developed a passion in puppetry. He was the reason that Kaname knew what to do at such a young age. He was the reason that Kaname pursued a life as a shinobi in order to show the world what true power the puppets wielded. He was the reason behind Kanames desire to succeed. However, it was rather unfortunate that the old man lost his life around a year ago. Something that struck Kaname with a lot of pain; since that moment, he had began designing the puppet that was soon to be created, in both the mans name and honour.

He valued the relationship he had with the man, although his younger daughter now runs the family store, the feeling isn’t the same. It was almost as if Kaname had inherited the mans arts as the girl simply employed some puppeteers from the Village Hidden In the Sand to create the puppets that were required. She did notcare for her fathers work, hence why she lives in a great mansion, collecting the weekly income from the store. At one point throughout the last year, she had considered to sell it. Sadly, Kaname couldn’t receive a loan big enough to buy the store for himself. It was rather sad really, but thankfully no one purchased the store as it would have led to Kanames memories being extinguished before his eyes.

As a matter of fact, all of the equipment that had laid before Kaname on this rather bright day had originated from that store. He had received somewhat of a discount, although he knew that the old man would have provided him the equipment for free had he been alive. The old mans wife was a kind lady who shared his misfortune a few days after him; it turned out there was something in their water and sadly only those two were affected because of their aging immune systems. The thought of the duo and their funerals brought a tear to Kanames eyes, solely because they both treated him like his own son. Their daughter was a shinobi and they had no son nor heir to their business.

Having inherited the business brought the girl to curse her parents as it meant that she could no longer be a shinobi. Well, she could have remained a shinobi but she couldn’t leave a village as there was no other heir to the source of puppetry. Apparently their business had been brought about by generations of hard work, it was the mans predecessors that began development in the village hidden in the leaves. Kanames parents having left him in this village could have been fate as far as he knew.

“Alright then, what’s next. Ahh right, the next one. Mh” much like anyone of his age, Kaname liked to have a monologue while in private and focused. This allowed him to structure his thoughts more effectively and proceed with relevant courses of action is such manner. Moving onto the next block, Kaname reached the first edge which to be precise was the area in the top right corner of the block. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” After having got rid of the sharp edge, Kaname went onto smooth the rest of the block to provide it that tender oval shape. With that out of the way he moved onto the opposite side where he began the same procedure, counting along to keep track of his progress. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” To some individuals, his counting would be seen as a symptom of an obsessive compulsive disorder, but to him it was simply a means of keeping track.

IT was often that he got side track by his thoughts and in order for his first puppet to be perfect, he had to ensure that he produced it with the absolute precision. Shortly after smoothing that edge down, Kaname flipped the block onto the side that was yet to be chiseled down and began with the identical process on that very side. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” In around three minutes, the sides were equal and Kaname had created an oval shape that had dimensions matching the first one to the dot. It was marvelous how precise such a young man could be. He got the saw and once again marked the one meter radius before cutting the inner area of the block out. This time, the carving came with ease, naturally being a bit more experience at the process than the first time, it came with the movement of the hands.

He did not focus too much now how ease the process was, rather he focused on keeping consistent dimensions throughout the whole cylindrical shape. He had a keen eye, one that was uncommon for someone of his generation and age. He was only eleven yet he masterfully crafted a puppet, one that would have taken the masters of the craft days on end to perfect. He had a keen attention to detail, he was focused and devoted. He had full faith in his abilities and was dead set on completing this puppet before his team was determined. He nodded as the saw zoooped through the wood. The tricky part of the process was actually removing the inner area but it didn’t take him long to figure out that a simply kick was enough to lodge it out. As he did the aforementioned action, he used the chisel to smooth the interior of the wooden construct; he moved the chisel ever so masterfully, ensuring that he took an equal layer off the whole of the interior as oppose to making it more so uneven.

Having completed that stage, Kaname compared it with the first and cried out with joy. He slipped into the wooden thing in order to outline the area for the joints to connect at. Using a small knife, he carved out the relevant areas. This wasn’t any knife though, it was actually a knife used specifically for carving which made it very effective in these sort of situations. Grains of wood descended down atop his face as he performed the procedure, he was forced to narrow his eyes to prevent the dust from disturbing his vision. As he made his way around the oval creation, he felt his eyes getting heavier and heavier before he eventually swept off into dream land.

In the depths of his dreams, he dreamt himself atop the puppet that he was creating. Gently hovering atop the ground as he moved toward the sky; his dreams were filled with marvel and color; he could picture the possibilities that puppets could unlock. He had heard of arts that related to space and time, he figured that combining his knowledge of puppetry with the ever so powerful arts of space and time would create a puppet that would be un-parralled in strength and it’s revered creator would be Kaname. Joyful thoughts filled his mind as he slept ever so peacefully in among the most uncomfortable positions. The thoughts of his predecessors and his future rivals rushed through his head ever so effortlessly. The way he viewed the world shifted through the dream while a smile crept across his face in the realm of reality.

In the depths of his dreams, he could see a creation, an image, a schematic. The closer he got to it, the more it broke down and as it broke down it came to look more and more like a schematic for another puppet. It looks marvelous, it looked almost divine in its appearance. It had to be what Kaname was to make next!

Suddenly, a fiery drone woke Kaname from his slumber. His eyes opened as a racket radiated from up the small pathway that was commonly dubbed as stairs. The noises got louder and louder until they eventually silenced. Inhaling, Kaname crept out of the puppets shell, slowly crawling up the stairs before peering out through a tiny gap in the flooring. It appeared that no one was there, maybe it was merely his imagination? Who knew?

SMASH, the floorboards shattered, sending Kaname down the flight of stairs that he had created. There was something that people had to know about Kanames residence. It never possessed a basement, it was something Kaname had made through endless digging. It was that or causing trouble around the village and trouble wasn’t really an option considering his potential expulsion from the shinobi academy. It took him roughly a month to create it and place supporting pillars that ensured the house didn’t collapse atop the basement.

The sudden smash of the floorboards sent Kaname tumbling down the makeshift stairs and at the feet of his creation. Cold sweat began forming across his forehead as he picked up the chisel and began working on the next block that was nearby. The truth in the matter was that for grown men it was difficult to fit through the gap, which gave Kaname an advantage of around five minutes to get prepared for their impending attack.

Eagerly chiseling away the block, Kaname sanded down the edges before using the saw to removed the interior, in the exact same fashion as the first of the puppets. IT was rather interesting to see him work at such rapid pace, considering he was to create each part identical. Slipping into the inside, he carved out the joint areas and jumped out to quickly whip the joints together. Initially, he brought the first two joints together, although he had no desire to join them by wood or steel, rather join them through his chakra. Moving his hands in haste, he rushed over to the large, new chakra canon. He carefully went onto place the chakra canon in the first joint. The dimensions were perfect as the canon slotted in with ease; this was almost incredible. Kaname was over joyed by what he had witnessed, the whole creature was now near completion; his chakra threads connected to the relevant areas, charging the chakra canon in an instant.

Within a matter of moments, five men rushed down the stairs and quiet frankly they all looked scawny, tired and pretty damn idiotic in the cyan attire they wore. But it didn’t protect them…. BOOM erupted the canon as the whole foundation of the puppet shook; they scurried like rats up the stairs but the leader was caught in the back. The very fabric of his being was getting torn apart by the small threads of lightning chakra that instantaneously pierced his body, destroying what nerves remained in his rear. The boys dragged him up and fled.

With that… Kaname woke from his dream. Glancing around, the puppet was still far from completion but the chirping of the birds was ever so comforting. “So… what an odd dream…” he thought to himself, rubbing his eye before tentatively moving toward the third block. The sounds around him were rather stoic as he rather redundantly tried to chisel the wooden block with a blunt chisel. He was sure the one he had brought was what was recommended but it appeared that extensive work on the thick wood had made it so.

As a result of the damage, Kaname was forced out into the village to purchase a chisel. He made his way out rather slowly; judging from the position of the sun in the sky, he figured that the day was still very young, but he knew that he had slept for a long duration. Nodding once, his feet slowly shuffled across the ground as he made his was toward the center of the village. Around him, merchants were setting up and Ramen was being cooked afar. The sweet and sour smells of the noodles filled the vibrant atmosphere as Kaname reached the building with the puppeteers symbol on it. The symbol looked something like a letter, but Kaname was never taught the connotations behind the symbol it self.

As he entered he was met with a warm smile of the main puppeteer. “Could I have a chisel please, this one got a little blunt.” In turn the old man grumbled as he replied “How veryyy odd. I shall exchange yours for mine”, he smiled as the duo made the casual exchange. With that, Kaname began making his way out as another person entered, shoving Kaname out of the way. To some extent, Kaname eyed the guy in disbelief but soon got over the fact that the village was filled with ignorant and irritating individuals. Shaking his head, he approached the ramen stand where he ordered a pot of ramen to go; all the hard word quenched his hunger but now that he was out in the open he appeared to be famished.

In a matter of minutes, thirty to be precise, Kaname was back home. He first sat and ate the pot of noodles; he was rather strategic in his approach, he drank the juice to begin with and ate the noodles and the remained of the contents before it got cold. The flavors rushed through his mouth, one after the other they coated his tongue as he swolled section after section. He felt the noodles descending down his trachea before entering his digestive tract. The invigorating feeling had him full of energy. He felt around the desk before reached the chisel and rushed off to the basement, closing the flooring behind him.

As he descended, the smell of dirt and daisies filled his senses. The combination was rather peculiar but daisies grew by Kanames house and after he had shoveled the dirt out, he couldn’t bare the overly strong smell of the area. Naturally he padded the surroundings with rock but even that wasn’t enough to keep the earthly smell away and so he substituted it with the smell of daisies. Though I must tell you, the smell is horrible in the winter. Yuck.

In a matter of minutes, Kaname began to chisel away at the block, beginning his regular routine of counting.  “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.” After completing the first half, he simply flipped the square shaped creation and replicated the process on the other side. The whole thing was coming together nicely; he came to smile because the puppet was appearing as he had envisioned it. It was magnificent; he wondered whether he would get the opportunity to show his marvelous creation to the village people.

A flare filled his eyes as he powered through the last block of the main body. Feeling satisfied and content with the pieces be brought them close to one another, loosely connecting them with ropes. Now came the tricky part. Approaching the last two blocks, Kaname began to cycle through the documents that were on the desk; the schematics focused on each area and the one that Kaname had come to stop at was the head schematics. The creation of the head was ever so intricate, it involved a lot more finesse than the remained of the body.