Chapter 3

[Hyaku Bunraku]

The rhythmic click of wood against wood echoed faintly through the workshop as Hyaku meticulously assembled a puppet joint. His calloused, scar-riddled hands moved with smooth precision, pausing only to reach for the next tool at the edge of his work table. His expression was serene and calm as he distractedly rearmed the same puppet he had broken down minutes prior.

It was standard practice for those who had taken the elective of puppetry for their extra-curricular classes. The students were given different puzzle-like mechanisms to dismantle and assemble repeatedly to learn how they worked. He guessed it wasn't too dissimilar to those practices he had seen soldiers do in movies where they took apart and then reassembled a gun.

Hyaku would be lying if he said he didn't find it all a waste of his time. He acknowledged that the workings of the inner components of puppets, even the standard mass-produced ones provided there, could be fascinating. However, there were only so many times one could repeat the same activity throughout the entirety of a year before it became dull and monotonous.

Had it been Hyaku's choice, he would have gone for something a little bit more stimulating than that. He was still rather curious about the medical arts of shinobi. While the transmigrator knew his reserves weren't the biggest out there, his chakra control was another thing entirely. He didn't think he was quite at the level of Tsunade or Sakura in terms of talent, but from what he knew – which included a lot of the workings of the human body given that he was expected to concoct his own poisons – the healing arts seemed quite interesting.

Alas, different from most of his peers, that decision wasn't his to make but rather his clan's. A clan revered for being one of the foremost puppeteers in Suna, only second to Chiyo, who was the one true eminence of the art in Suna, and Sasori, who continued to be talked about in hushed whispers as the best puppet master in recorded history. Given that it was one of the traditional arts of war for Suna shinobi, the clan's reputation kind of made it a big deal.

That translated to no extra-curricular lessons that weren't puppetry being allowed for him. While personal interests weren't discouraged, any activity beyond the clan specialty, was something he was only allowed to practice in his own free time. The clan had an image to maintain and one of his members taking a class unrelated to their lineage might send the wrong idea.

So there he was, building simple mechanisms that had been ingrained even in his muscle memory for the past year while dreading his return home. There, he knew, even more lessons awaited. At least, those would usually be quite a bit more advanced.

He fought off a shudder that ran through his body at the thought of his clan and their fanaticism.

Hyaku didn't allow any of his thoughts or emotions to reach his expression though. Instead, he channeled them through Wara. The garishly dressed puppet reclined against his head on top of his cloak-covered shoulder, legs crossed and hands behind its disproportionately big head. A loud and extended yawn escaped the puppet, filling the previously almost quiet room with something other than the sound of clicking wood.

Its precise inner mechanisms acted as fake muscles, moving the puppet's face to mimic the action. Its four-point star eyes closed partially and blinked lethargically. A hand moved to cover the normally smiling mouth, which now had transformed into a wavy line. The only action not imitated was opening to yawn.

Instead, its lips remained tightly sewn.

The puppet's antics caught the attention of the rest of the class. The professor, Kaito, raised an impressed eyebrow directed at Wara rather than Hyaku's work. His gaze remained on the puppet for a few more seconds, before he shook his head and continued grading the homework of whatever year he taught during curricular classes.

Kankuro let out a huff from somewhere else in the class, but, other than that, he continued working on his own project. At his side rested a crude three-eyed puppet that Hakyu knew would one day be Karasu. He could already see the resemblance even though the design was far more simplistic than the one the transmigrator remembered the kid using in canon.

And then there was…

"You know, it's an impressive display of artistry you have here," a voice, smooth like silk, purred from behind him.

With a flick of Hyaku's fingers, Wara sprung to life with a flamboyant bounce.

"Oh, the noble Saya graces us with her attention once again," the puppet said with a bow. Only then did the transmigrator turn to meet the girl, who continued approaching him from her workstation behind him.

Hyaku hadn't missed how she had waited until he had picked a seat before she chose hers. Since that first day, she had taken every opportunity to engage in conversation with him. Were he a simpler man, he would have thought Saya simply had a crush on him or just wanted to befriend him.

However, there was something in her eyes that thoroughly unnerved the transmigrator.

The girl walked with a grace born denoting some kind of high-born status. There was a refined confidence in her movement, her steps measured and her posture perfect. She looked like a model on a catwalk, Hyaku thought to himself. Her head was held high, almost as if she was looking at everyone from above, and her lips pulled up into a self-assured smile.

The girl's puppet – which resembled one of those creepy old porcelain dolls – was pressed against her in a tight hug. Hyaku was sure that even after a week since they had become peers, he had never seen her apart from it for even a second. It wasn't uncommon behavior between puppeteers though.

Even without taking the exorbitant cost that usually went into creating and maintaining a puppet meant for war. If he had to draw a parallel between a puppet and his own world economics, he would say even the most basic of them cost as much as an average car. That wasn't even getting into those that were more advanced. Hyaku gathered that some puppets could get as expensive as a private jet.

Needless to say, not everyone could afford to become a puppet master without a rich family, or enough talent and luck to be sponsored by some of the puppetry clans of Suna.

Beyond that, one had to consider the amount of work and planning that went into their creation, sometimes spanning over the puppeteer's entire career. For many, it was more than just a tool like a kunai would be to the average ninja. It was their life's work. Seeing someone hardly separating from their puppet was certainly not rare.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Wara," Saya said to his puppet with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes while she took a sit beside him.

Hyaku felt slightly uncomfortable now. It was true that the girl was pretty enough. Goth aesthetics and exotic long purple hair that framed a regal face without a single defect saw to that. Her attitude and voice were smooth and exuded charm that you would expect from an actress. Were she a few years older, or Hyaku's his actual body age, he might have been attracted to her.

Yet, all he could feel was apprehension whenever the girl approached to interact with him. The transmigrator couldn't quite place what about the girl, who had been mostly friendly with him and Sho, put him so on edge. He had tried to keep their conversations short and superficial during the week, reluctant to engage too much until he figured out what was setting his alarms off. If there was one lesson he had learned during his new life, it was that a shinobi always had to listen to their instincts.

"If where it gets me is filled with pretty girls like you, then I guess I should keep it coming then, shouldn't I?" Wara said with an added wink as Hyaku flicked the invisible chakra strings to make the puppet do a finger pistol, playing to the given persona. "What do you think, Hyaku?"

He just rolled his eyes and pushed down his reluctance to associate with the girl. He left his face in the same mask of neutrality and apathy he always wore before going back to work disassembling the puppet joint… again and letting Wara take the lead of the conversation.

Realism was everything. That was the path of his clan. Wara had its persona to play, something that he had been both encouraged and sometimes forced to maintain at all times, no matter the moment. To blur the lines between a puppet and the puppeteer. He had long grown used to making Wara respond by reflex in ways Hyaku himself would have never considered. He wondered if, back on his Earth, that would have been considered something like method acting or if he would have been told to swallow copious amounts of pills for personality disorder by a psychiatrist.

"Quite the charmer," Saya tittered behind her hands. "A shame your master doesn't seem to believe the same, doesn't it? A lady might feel offended by such callous disregard," she continued with a hand flaring one of her long purple hair pigtails to her back. Still, there was no true edge behind her words, so he guessed she wasn't offended. He had seen plenty of times how her anger looked during that week whenever one of her followers, or even Kankuro, managed to get on her bad side.

"This chump?" Wara said, patting his head. "Don't take it personally. He only cares about puppets, after all. A man with a passion!"

"Oh? Do tell…" Saya inclined herself slightly and watched him work in silence for a few moments. More than enough time to disassemble the joint back again and be well in the process of remaking it. "I must say, your skills are quite impressive, Hyaku. As expected from a Bunraku."

"This? Princess, this is amateur hour, you know? Barely counts as a warm-up. You should see what Gloomy here is capable of when he is trying. Or well, you can see it right now if you wish," Wara said with another wink and standing proud hands extending as if presenting itself as a magnum opus.

"You? I hardly see you taking a hit, much less surviving a fight. At best, you are a fancy parlor trick." The new voice belonged to the only student taking that elective aside from the two of them. Kankuro seemed to have had enough of staying quiet on the sidelines and walked his way toward his table.

"Yeah? Well, perhaps there is more to a puppet than what meets the eye. Then again, I doubt yours work very well given that you still carry that trash with you. I think I see some puppet in your collection of arms. Did you run out of parts to use that weren't hands?" Wara taunted.

'Dammit, Wara.'

Hyaku let out a sigh as Saya laughed.

"The fuck you said?!" Kankuro said, going red in the face. "Karasu here is a masterpiece. Different from you, it can actually kill an enemy other than making them laugh to death."

"Well, with the amount of blades you put inside… that thing, I'd imagine that you would hit something at least once or twice. So, good job! You overcame your shortcomings in talent by pouring swords into the problem. I'd say that you both even match, lame edgy puppet and lame edgy make-up boy. A pair made in the Pure World."

"At least my war puppet does what puppets are made for, fight. What can you do? All I've seen you show off is your constant yapping. Like some kind of jester," Kankuro said with a snarl, his face so close to Wara that his nose was almost touching the big red nose of his creation.

"Heh, what can I say? It's gotta be on my smooth dulcet tones."

"It wasn't a compliment, asshole!"

"I know, but your opinion is as irrelevant as your feats in canon."

Hyaku wondered silently if the kid even remembered that he was talking to a puppet and not an actual person. The Kazekage's middle child seemed to have completely forgotten he, the puppeteer, was even there. Saya seemed to remember though, as she rested her head on top of the back of her hands, watching the byplay with a happy smile. The way her eyes moved from Wara to him constantly and the twinkling in her eyes showed as much.

Hyaku wasn't sure he liked the look on her face though.

The annoyed mute puppeteer spared a look to the professor who was doing his best to maintain his eyes firmly on his paperwork, unwilling to even look in their general direction.

Right, a member of one of the most esteemed clans in the village, the son of the Kazekage himself, and given the way Saya acted and dressed, Hyaku guessed she was anything but low on the social ladder.

Hyaku sighed, realizing there was no way for the man to help without risking his entire career for the equivalent of a schoolyard spat. Besides, as far as the man knew, Hyaku controlled Wara's every word which meant that from his perspective, he was the one instigating the conflict.

Who would have thought that a – probable – personality disorder could be so troublesome?

"I think," Saya's calm tone somehow broke through the screaming puppet and kid, who turned towards her, heaving. One of them was winded and the other was just pretending to be. "This conversation has been more than delightful. I'd like to see more, but alas, our time has run out" the girl said, gesturing towards the wall clock with a refined gesture, making them all notice that the class had just finished.

There weren't such things as alarms in the ninja school.

Hyaku imagined it was because having a loud sudden noise in a place jumpy, paranoid, armed-to-the-teeth shinobi usually frequented wasn't a good idea. It was usually the teacher's job, or the students', to keep track of time as any good shinobi should. Alas, theirs seemed to be too reluctant about getting dragged into the conflict of children hot-shots to end the class.

"Know this Hyaku," the girl said, interrupting his deadpan towards the profusely sweating professor. "I seek my delight and amusement beyond everything else. You and your creation are probably the best thing that has happened this year… At first, I thought that you would be just another crude brute, like Kankuro here-"

The boy in question made an outraged sound, but the girl continued before the man could start another fight.

"-that only cared about firepower and nothing else. Instead, I find myself pleasantly surprised that you own not only a masterpiece but one almost as cute as my dear Himiko," the girl declared, hugging her doll tighter. "You are clearly talented, as expected of a member of your family…. And yet, I find myself curious, how could someone with your skills have been held back a year? How could someone go from average to the absolute bottom only to rise again to your current level in a single year? The mystery is so exciting," the girl purred, her face so close to his that he could almost feel her breath on his nose while she stared at him straight in the eyes. It was as if she was looking at some kind of fascinating puzzle.

For the first time in a long time, Wara remained as quiet as Hyaku himself.

He blinked, finally realizing what had been bugging him about the girl's attitude since they first met.

"I wonder what secrets you are hiding behind that mask," the girl said with a chuckle. The light in her golden eyes danced with amusement. Her expression changed to one he had become completely familiar with in his long year in this world. A look he had grown used to from every member of his clan.

'Ah, she's crazy," he realized.

"Please, do try to hide it for as long as possible. It wouldn't do for you to make this mystery too easy for me. I want to see what kind of person is behind that mask and the face he will make once I take it off." He could see the elegant and poised facade the girl kept slowly crumbling and becoming sinister. Her face approached his, and purple lips rose to his ear as she whispered. "Please remain cute and interesting for as long as you can, will you? It would be a shame to break my newest favorite toy so soon."

With her piece said, the girl rose from her seat with a happy smile on her face and moved towards the exit. Her walk held the same regality as before, but there was a spring in her step as she hummed a happy tune. Just at the door, she turned once again and looked in his direction.

"I'll have a tea party with my group next month. It's usually a private thing, but of course you're invited. I'll send someone to deliver the formal invitation at a later date. I can't wait for you to join us." With her piece said, the girl turned once more and left, her happy humming echoing through the halls.

Hyaku let out a sigh. He didn't understand why he attracted all the crazies. Maybe it was because he had lost his mind himself? No, it was probably Wara's fault. His puppet was the crazy bastard.

"Man," Kankuro said with a whistle and a chuckle as he reclined against the transmigrator's worktable with his arms crossed, looking in the direction Saya had just left. "Talk about being neck-deep in shit, huh? I mean, she's pretty and all, and has that goth girl look going for her, but she is totally cuckoo, huh? I wouldn't touch her with Karasu even if you paid me." The Kazekage's son laughed at his misfortune. "Well, I guess better you than me, huh? Good luck, loser, I'll be cheering for you."

Hyaku's eye twitched which somehow made Kankuro laugh even more and turn to leave with a victorious smirk on his face.

Well, at least his situation couldn't be any worse.

"Hey, make-up boy. Did you know your sister couldn't keep her eyes off us last year?"

"You son of a bi-!"

'Wara's fault, indeed.' Hyaku sighed as he started to put his things away while the screaming match started once again.

[}-o-{]

[Sho]

His kunai and shuriken flew forward towards the targets.

'Expected,' he thought, tilting his head and ignoring the teacher, who was off to the side taking notes. He also ignored the snickering coming from Kankuro's group, because they were irrelevant, as far as he was concerned.

Gaara was crucial and Temari was… okay, he supposed. Importance-wise, she was kind of meh, but she hadn't been a bitch to them at their lowest point, which immediately put her in a much better place in their shared lists than most of everyone else. Kankuro, however, was completely unimportant, as far as Sho was aware. Not to mention he was also being antagonistic and insufferable, the very definition of a school bully.

He didn't remember the guy doing a single thing in Canon that was anywhere near important enough to be called necessary other than the Sound Four thing. In the grand scheme of things, considering Akatsuki, Madara, and Kaguya? Sho couldn't care less about the Sasuke retrieval mission if he tried. Besides, it had failed anyway.

With that and the guy's actions in mind, he pushed Kankuro and his friends into the "antagonize for spar practice" category in his mind and called it a day.

Sadly, none of them had the guts to openly come for him so far. They'd limited themselves to throwing insults, laughing, and generally being kids. It was annoying, for sure, but Sho had better shit to feel bad about than some name-calling and mocking. Like the fact that, even if he put his all into training, he might still be too weak to be relevant during late-game Naruto… let alone surviving that mess.

'Something for future Sho to worry about,' he told himself, finishing the last set of kunai and shuriken he was required to practice with. His throws weren't great, hence the mockery, but he didn't suck. He hit the targets fairly well, actually, even if he didn't hit a single bullseye. He was, if he had to compare, about average with the rest of the class, better than some, worse than others. The very definition of middle of the pack, that was him at that moment.

Not that he cared. Who the fuck cared about kunai and shuriken anyway? They became obsolete not even two arcs in with the absolutely bullshit power creep. Sure, it could be used for some stuff further down the line, but, realistically, it wasn't worth the effort.

"Done already, aren't you, slacker?" Nejiri asked from Kankuro's little group gathering. He wasn't the brightest, from what Sho had picked up so far. Almost at the bottom of the class, in both academics and skills, only coasting on his "friendship" with Kankuro to get his way.

It was honestly kind of sad, but… He was even more irrelevant than Kankuro, and that was saying something. He didn't remember his face from anywhere, so he guessed he was some no-show person in the series or some extra that didn't matter at all other than putting another face to Suna ninja.

"Yep," he replied flatly, moving off to the side. The teacher didn't so much as ask him a question or anything as he walked away from the target range. There were two sections in the general bukijutsu class, the range for throwing weapons practice and another open area for regular weapon practice. That's where he was going next and where he'd put some more work in during the previous year.

There were others around, he noticed, but not many. Then again, most people didn't bother picking up more weapons than basic kunai and shuriken. If they did, in Suna at least, it was likely to be a fan or a puppet, and those were taught in the extra classes. Thus, Sho took special note of the two people there. Koji, the guy he'd fought second in the first day's taijutsu training, was practicing with… anything and everything, by the looks of it.

Sho wasn't very sure what was up with that, but the pretty boy probably had his reasons… Although, knowing what he did after a whole week, he wouldn't be surprised if Koji's reason was just to impress Ameno, their class's "angel" as he had heard some say during class. The dour dirty-blond kid seemed to be attracted to her and stuck to her as much as he could get away with. Not that it was any of Sho's concern, but it might be a good piece of info to know.

The second person was… interesting. Sho was unsure if he should say he was using a weapon, really. What he had was forearm armor with two blades stuck to them facing outwards along the length of it. He didn't know what to think of that choice, but if it worked for him, good. It kind of reminded him of Wolverine, but not really.

Not like Sho or Hyaku had any issues with the guy and his group… yet, at least. In that regard, they were more lucky than the previous year. At least this time they only had one group antagonizing them instead of the whole class.

Time would tell if that continued to be the case.

"Knuckle dusters don't really count as weapons, you know?" Nejiri pointed out from further away since Sho had moved. Was he trying to say that he was only good at punching things? Was that some kind of weird dig at the fact that he was probably one the best taijutsu users in the class? Because that was kind of…

'Doesn't matter,' he told himself for the sake of his own sanity. Kankuro's group didn't seem like the sharpest kunai in the pouch anyway. Maybe it was better not to try and understand the inner machinations of their minds, or else he might end up as dumb as them.

Sho had already reached his weapons of choice anyway, so without hesitation he took them. A katana and a wakizashi, one long blade and one short blade, daito and shoto, also called daisho when used together. A remnant of the beginning, he'd say, from back when all his skills sucked and he was desperate for some strength. His taijutsu hadn't been worked on, his ninjutsu was non-existent and even his theory was abyssmal. So, he'd desperately tried to get any kind of strength and kunai and shuriken training hadn't cut it for him.

So, he'd looked for a weapon and stumbled his way to the swords. He could have picked a basic tanto, a cliche katana, or a more original wakizashi. Ultimately, he'd chosen both of the latter just because both felt right and he thought having some variety might help. Katana were good, but they could be cumbersome with their size. Wakizashi was faster but had less range.

And dual wielding was cool, even if Sho didn't like admitting that was part of the reason for his continued training with them, even when Hyaku and him had started to catch up eventually.

Pushing useless thoughts aside, Sho slowly started going through different stances and motions, with the practice katana, with the practice wakizashi and with both. Seconds turned to minutes as he tuned out the rest of the class with practiced ease. The teachers knew how he trained, so they knew to just snap him out of it whenever. The rest of the class was irrelevant except for Hyaku, who was currently off to the side continuing his shurikenjutsu practice even though his friend was as fond of that as Sho himself was.

It was a neat skill to know and practice, but nowhere near a priority, that was for sure.

It made for a neat way to take a break without wasting time, at least.

"You any good with those?" a voice asked and Sho turned to look at the person who spoke. It was no mystery though, what with the way their voice was muffled by something. There were only two people it could be, really, and Mamushi was nowhere close to where he was.

"I'm decent," he answered with a shrug, breaking his stance and relaxing a little. Now able to fully face Bunko, Sho took a moment to look at the guy. He was the leader of the third major group in the class, after Kankuro and Saya. He'd gathered as much after some observation and discussion with Hyaku. His group was also third place in terms of standing… although that meant very little since the three groups basically composed a great majority of the class, without counting outliers like Hyaku and Sho themselves.

'How to approach this…?' he wondered idly. Kankuro had decided to make himself an "enemy" of sorts and Saya seemed to be friendly enough for now. Bunko and his group had stayed out of things though, which was both good and bad. Good because it allowed them some peace, but bad because they knew next to nothing in regards to them.

It was hard to prepare against someone they knew nothing about.

"Decent like you are at taijutsu or decent decent?" the other boy commented, trying some levity. Sho let a slight smile form on his face. Well, it was a Saya situation, it seemed. Either a friend or an enemy pretending to be one, he supposed. How annoying. He'd have rather it be clear, even if it meant having more outright enemies. At least that way he didn't have to double-guess things.

"Decent," he repeated, his smile turning into a smirk while the other boy snorted.

"Guess I'll have to see for myself, won't I?" Bunko asked and Sho noticed, from the corner of his eye, that they were attracting attention from the rest of the class. Yet another moment that could define his – and to a lesser extent Hyaku's – standing in the class. Furthermore, he wondered if this was some sort of play by Bunko.

Sho wasn't quite adept at reading the societal moves of the people from that world quite yet, but he'd had a year of observation and he'd learned a thing or two. He had to, considering Hyaku didn't have much time to pull his eyes away from his puppets. One of them had to have a better idea of things.

"So, how about a spar?" Bunko added, moving towards the nearby ring drawn on the ground. Sho looked at him for a long moment, taking as much time as he could get away with to answer. Ultimately though, he just grinned.

As if he would say no to free practice.

Sure, maybe Bunko was playing pseudo-political games of some kind, but Sho didn't know enough to try and play them too. So, he'd go for the blunt approach and do whatever he felt like doing. Who was to say backing off wouldn't be the worst option? He didn't know, so all the choices available to him looked the same.

In that case, it was best not to overthink.

He needed to train and get better, so he'd spar with Bunko. Simple and straightforward, just how he liked things. And if the guy thought he could take advantage of him or screw him up… Well, then he'd have to kick his ass. Or Hyaku would have to pull some strings like the puppeteer he was and deal with the issue in more indirect ways. Being part of an important clan had some benefits, at least.

"Ready when you are," Sho said, taking his place on the opposite side of Bunko while one of the teachers positioned herself so that she could better oversee them. It all reminded him of why he liked bukijutsu class over the others. It was much more flexible since bukijutsu was such a broad subject.

Some people wanted to train shurikenjutsu. Some wanted to train with conventional weapons. Some wanted to train with unconventional ones. Some wanted to train with puppets. Ultimately, there was no way to make a "general" class for it. Thus, Suna just stuck to making sure they could use shurikenjutsu to a decent level and then left them to their own devices.

Bunko shifted into a stance, his bladed forearm guards – made of wood and weighted cores, since they were just training, just like Sho's own swords – positioned in front of him, breaking him out of his thoughts. He followed suit almost immediately, his practice katana in one hand and his practice wakizashi in the other. His eyes raked over Bunko, trying to read his stance, his style, and what he might do.

And as he did, he held back a grin… After all, he was much better with his swords than he was with his fists.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Thus, our protagonists continue trekking through the treacherous path called… the Suna shinobi classroom. Seriously. I thought Konoha's was a mess, but this? This is turning out to be… something.

Arc: Konoha had it easy. There were fewer crazy and shady people there… if you don't count Orochimaru, of course. Either way, the chapter gave us some initial perspective about our guys' current class. We didn't want Kankuro to be the only memorable person in the entire class, so we decided to put some effort into fleshing out the rest of the cast.

Adrian: Bunko is the first chapter that you can't just look up in the wiki. He's there, but he doesn't have a name, sadly. So we had to come up with that one. He appears as "Team Goji Leader", which is kinda funny, considering the other two members of the team have names but not him.

Arc: All the others though are, as we mentioned before, easily found through a wiki search if you want to add a face to the name. But with that said, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Do remember to leave a comment if you are interested in this particular story so we might take it into account for further updates.

Random Arc Question: I know it might be a bit early to ask this… but any of the side characters introduced so far that caught your attention?

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ