Shizukana's P.O.V

It was dark when I woke up. I was on the floor.

Right... Chakra Exhaustion.

I stood up and rubbed my head. It was quiet. Way too quiet.

Something's wrong...

I dismissed the thought and went into the bathroom. Looking at the mirror, I saw my face (obviously), but there was something strange about it. Under my eyes were 3 red dots. They were small, but still there. I tried rubbing them off with my hands, but they wouldn't even smudge. Deciding to try again, I opened the tap.

But not a single drop of water came out.

I turned the knob several times, but the sink refused to work. Confused, I walked out of the bathroom and looked at the clock. It read 7:12 pm. A thing I should mention about my clock: it's not digital. While a digital clock would tell you just the minute and hour, this clock tells me the second. And the second wasn't changing. I walked over to the clock to take a closer look.

Maybe the batteries died? Yeah, that's it.

I removed the clock from my wall and lay it down on my table. I made my way to the kitchen to check for any spare batteries, but that's when I saw that the clock in the living room also wasn't working. I looked at it in confusion.

It reminds me of the scene in "The Conjuring" when all the clocks stop at 3:07 am. Just a coincidence...?

I shook head and walked to the kitchen. On my way, I accidentally hit the table, causing a plate to fall down. I closed my eyes in anticipation of the shattering sound, but after a couple of seconds, I opened them.

The sound had never come.

I looked at the plate to find it frozen mid-air. Giving it a closer glance, I noticed it falling down much, much slower than it should. It wasn't frozen mid-air, but it was hardly moving at all. It was moving so slowly that it seemed as if it wasn't moving at all. I backed away from the plate and watched the cracks formed as it hit the ground.

Fascinating...

I then looked at the window outside to find a moth flapping its wings near the light bulb. It was barely moving in the air at all, just like the plate.

Are the red dots connected? Am I doing this?

My mind raced into all sorts of questions. The most terrifying question being:

How can I undo this?

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Stop. Stop... Proceed with the normal time... Please...

I jumped when I heard a crash behind me. All of a sudden the world continued as nothing happened: the moth circled the bulb at a normal speed and the clock's second hands were moving. I saw my reflection on the window and the three dots had vanished. I narrowed my eyes.

What the hell was that?

I snapped my head towards the door when I heard a knock. I walked to it ever-so-quickly and opened the door to find Taka-kun smiling at me.

"Shi-chan, I have sushi," he said, holding up a takeout bag. I smiled at him. He grabbed my shoulder and led me to his apartment. We sat at the dining table and ate quietly. My mind, however, kept drifting to the incident just 10 minutes ago.

How did that even? I mean jumping on walls and all the other ninja stuff had a reasonable explanation. But this just seemed utterly impossible.

Taka-kun seemed to have noticed my distress. "Is something wrong? You are not in your usual mood, Shi-chan." I looked at him and sighed.

I can't tell him about it. 1: He works for the Hokage and if the Hokage knows, then Danzo and his root will know. If Danzo knows then Orochimaru will know and I can't let that happen. 2: I don't want him to get hurt...

"Well, I am kinda worried about what position to take," I said, shoving another piece of sushi in my hungry mouth.

He looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"Every ninja specializes in a specific area. Like how you are a weapons master and how Tsunade-hime is one the best medical Ninja in the shinobi world. So it's kinda hard to know whether I'm making the right decision," I rambled on.

I don't want people to know I am training in all kinds of things. If they think that I am good at one thing, then they won't know what hit them when I unleash my full strength. Plus, this way, it would help me get my mind of the time thing.

Taka-kun nodded and sighed. "I remember when I had to make that choice. It was either weapons or taijutsu since I have horrible Chakra control, but I don't regret my choices." He looked into my eyes and smiled. "Whatever choice you make, I'm sure it's the right one."

I nodded smiling. When we finished dinner, I went back to my apartment. I sat down on the couch and pondered what Taka-kun had said.

And I made my own choice.

I trained hard and focused on all the techniques, including the strange time-thing. I studied and memorized all the stances in Taijutsu and became even faster by wearing weights and running laps around Konoha. I was close to mastering water nature (I've done fire, lightning, and earth so far. I was naturally skilled in earth so I started there). Chakra strings were a success. I got myself a life-size puppet and mastered all the movements. The puppet's name is Karito, meaning Reaper.
(top picture)

Yeah, classic huh? Well, I didn't pick the name. I found Karito at some antique shop as I was strolling down the streets of Konoha after school. A stage story, actually.

Flashback...

On my way back from school, I heard an old Lady scream from inside an antique store. Me, being as curious as I was, went to check it out. Plus, the shop seemed interesting anyway. Just glancing at the store, I could tell it was old and well-loved. The sign was worn off and the roof was about to collapse, but there was something about it that made it seem special.

Entering the store, I found two men in masks threatening an old lady at the counter of the shop.

"Just put them in the bag!" Man #1 yelled at her while Man #2 held the bag. Both of them were armed with metal poles, but Man #2 had a weapons pouch as well. No one seemed to have noticed my arrival.

The lady kept protesting. "Just leave me be. I won't give you anything," she said, shaking her head in rebuttal. I raised an eyebrow at that.

She's brave.

Apparently Man #1 got sick of her protests and raised his pole to strike her. Now I had to interfere- I ran as fast as I could and used my hand to grab and stop the pole (which was about to hit the lady). The lady gasped and both of the Men seemed surprised to see me. It was odd, considering a ninja who was trained even the slightest bit would have noticed my presence. I guess that just shows the skill level of these two. None.

"You little b*tch- Get out of my way!" Man #1 yelled at me.

"My, my, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I gasped mockingly, then laughed at their angry faces. They both wore masks, but I could see their facial features twist in anger. Man #2 was about to speak, but I held up my hand in a shushing motion. I then turned around and looked at the lady behind me. My eyes softened at the fear in her eye.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a soft voice. She nodded. I then smiled at her and whispered, "Let me deal with them."

I turned to face the men. I darkened my golden eyes with a glare and spoke in a dangerous tone: "Now, boys. What do you have to say for yourselves?" The intensity in my voice was so... apparent that Man #2 flinched. Or maybe it was my eyes. Either way, I made a grown man flinch, which was an accomplishment in itself.

Man #2 whispered to Man #1. "Let's just leave Daichi. She must be a ninja." I heard it, of course, but just continued standing there and waiting. Man #1 (Daichi) laughed.

"Her, a ninja? I'm sure she can't even lift a kunai."

I was offended. Sure, I looked small, but trust me, I am not weak. So, in an attempt to prove them wrong, I snatched his pole from his hand and bent it in half. "Are you sure about that?" I said with a smirk.

I know Cliche stuff, but you should have seen the look on their faces.

Man #2 dropped the bag and bolted out of the shop like a scared rabbit. However, the Daichi guy simply snarled. "I'll teach you your place, little girl." He then reached into his back pocket and took out a kunai. He was about to slam it into my stomach when I swiftly punched him in the face and grabbed the kunai from his hand. His nose was bleeding profusely from my punch and the look in his eye... He was genuinely afraid.

I giggled. "Is this the very kunai you said I couldn't lift? Well, I'm sure you'll have second thoughts about that once it's made its way through your heart~" I, of course, would never have stabbed it through his heart, but as long as he thought I would, the lady and I were safe. Thankfully, he took the bluff and ran out of the store.

That'll teach him for calling me weak.

I pocketed the kunai and turned back to face the old lady. I smiled at her, giving a short wave, and she sighed in relief. The once fearful woman then came to me and hugged me. I (not being used to this sort of affection) tensed up like a stiff board. I laughed awkwardly, so she let go and smiled. "Thank you so much, dear. You were very brave."

I smiled. "No, you were the brave one Oba-san." In all honesty, I knew it must have taken her all of her courage not to give the money to the men. But apparently, her love for this shop was stronger than her fear. From the looks of it, she needed every coin if she was to keep this shop running. The sagging roof and worn sign were signals of bad funding, but the inside of the shop was well kept: not a speck of dust lay on the counters.

Realizing I had to get home, I glanced outside to see that it was getting late. "Well, I must leave," I said with a sigh. I wanted to stay and browse, but I needed to get home to study up on Chakra and train. The old lady frowned.

"But how can I repay you?" she said, with curiosity in her tone. I shook my head.

"No, no that's alright. Don't worry about it-"

"Oh please, I insist. Don't break my old heart," she said with some tears edging into the corners of her eyes. I don't want her to cry, that's just cruel.

"Alright." I sighed in defeat. She smiled, all tears forgotten. I narrowed my eyes at that. She's cunning.

"Choose anything you want from the store," she said, motioning her arm to show that she meant, quite literally, anything. I looked around to find all sorts of trinkets. The shelves were filled with various items, from teacups to elephant statues. But what caught my attention the most was the puppet in the corner. It looked old, but for some reason, it had a certain aura about it. I approached it to take a look, and what I saw was quite appealing to me. The puppet looked a Grim Reaper from a movie in my previous life, but it had a purple touch on the cloak. It also had a scythe that was attached to it's back in a sturdy fashion.

The lady noticed me eyeing the puppet with interest came over to me. "Ahh, Karito," she said with reminiscence in her mind, "Yes, I remember when I first saw him. I bought him off at a store in Sunagakure ( Hidden Sand Village.)" I took the puppet from its stand and admired it.

"He's beautiful."

She chuckled. "Well, now he's yours." I looked at her with an excited grin.

"Karito," I said, letting the name roll off my tongue.

"The name means Reaper. It once belonged to one of the most famous Puppet Master in the Shinobi World, but sadly, people tended to avoid Karito now," she said, only making me want him more.

"I will take him. How much?" I asked the lady, but she shook her head no.

"No, no, silly girl. Think of it as a gift," she said with a smile. I ignored the 'silly' part and nodded.

"What is your name Oba-san?" I asked out of curiosity. It was tiring only thinking of her as 'the lady' or 'woman.'

"Sayuri. What about you?" she asked.

"Shizukana."

She nodded, but then gasped and went to a cabinet. She opened one of the drawers and pulled out a purple scroll. I looked at her in confusion as she opened the scroll and laid it on the table nearby. She took out a kunai from the drawer and grabbed my hand. I didn't know what was going on until my hand was letting out a thin stream of blood onto the paper.

"Hey!" I yelled out. She placed my hand on the scroll and it glowed a yellowish color.

What the hell?!

"It's a storage scroll for Karito," she said, smiling sweetly, "That way you don't have to carry him all around." I nodded and she handed me a bandage to wrap my hand in.

"But a little heads up next time, Sayuri-San?" I laughed and accepted both the bandage and the scroll. Placing the scroll on Karito, the puppet disappeared with a puff of smoke. Glancing at Sayuri-San, I noticed she was looking out the window. "It's getting late. I should leave," I said with a sigh. Sayuri-San nodded.

"Well, I hope you visit again."

I laughed at that and left the store.

When I reached the apartment, I unsealed Karito and began attaching Chakra Strings to all the joints. It was a tedious job, considering the number of joints there was, and near the end, I felt a bit faint. Recalling what I had read about puppetry, if I move my fingers in the right way, it will be easy to control him. I took a break and had dinner to help restore the chakra that I had used on Karito. Of course, not all of it was back by the time I started my practice with him, but it was enough to do various things like pick up a cup and even dancing at one point. It was funny seeing the Grim Reaper dance.

When I showed Karito to Taka-kun later the next day, I'll just say: he was not happy.

A/N.. Just wanted to thank some of my readers who gave me the ideas. Also hope everyone enjoys reading.

ciao..