Prologue
The sand village was dark, the clouds blotted out the moon and the stars, casting deep black shadows everywhere. The only light was a small twinkling from lights in the sand village. Coming from the houses and buildings. One of the buildings was the puppet core, made to use and learn everything about puppets. Chiyo was the leader of the core and was preparing for another experiment.
Her assistant Kagura was helping her, this was the eleventh attempt, and they both hoped it would work this time. They were attempting to create new life inside of a puppet. Using a reanimation jutsu to breathe life into the puppets' still body. The only downside was that it would require a large amount of chakra, and would most likely take the life of the person using it. Kagura and Chiyo were the only ones who knew this jutsu, and it was decided that Kagura would be the one to give her life, if it worked.
The other ten attempts before, they had come close, but there was never enough chakra to do it fully, and the longer they spent on the body, the more tired it would get. They had gotten through two bodies already, first a girl, who had lasted four attempts before falling apart, then a boy, who had lasted the other six attempts. But Chiyo wanted a new body to try it on now, so she had made this one.
The third body, the eleventh attempt, was a girl. She had long flowing brown hair, and Chiyo had crafted her eyes, and made them blue, though they were closed now. Her wooden body was laid on a table, with no clothes, just a wrapping of bandages across her chest and upper legs. The puppet wasn't overly tall or short, she was an average size. There was nothing remarkable about her, if it hadn't been for her wooden body then you'd think she was just an ordinary girl.
Kagura took a deep breath and placed her hands on the puppet's shoulders, and prepared for another try. The past ten times Kagura had come close to death, but she never had enough chakra to get past the final boundary, so she would collapse, weak and helpless. The puppet hadn't lived, so she hadn't died. This time was going to be different though, Chiyo was going to help, with their chakras combined there would surely be enough to bring this puppet to life.
Chiyo looked over at Kagura "Ready?" She asked. Kagura nodded,
"Ready." Then she began. Her hands glowed with a green energy, her chakra, and she directed it into the puppet. Kagura felt it fill the body of the puppet, flowing through it like a bloodstream. She started with the area's closest, the shoulders, the worked her way down the arms, then she began on the chest. Filling it with her own life force, Then she felt something warm on her hand, she looked over and saw Lady Chiyo's hands on her own. Chiyo opened up her chakra to Kagura and there was a sudden surge, Kagura was able to go quicker, strengthening the puppet with chakra. She went all the way down the legs to the toes. Just one part left now.
Kagura was sweating from the effort, and holding her body up was a task now, she was growing weaker as the puppet got stronger. But she focused on the body, drawing her chakra, and her life force, up towards the head. The energy swirled around inside the wooden head, and Kagura put everything she had into it. This was the moment it had always failed before, she would collapse before she could finish. But this time, with Chiyo's power added to her own, she was able to keep at it, until finally her legs gave way. She fell to the floor, her eyes rapidly darkening.
"Chiyo…Did it…Work?" The last word was just a sigh, and her vision blacked out, her body had passed its limit. She had died.