Skittering and clunking of wood and metal upon the cobblestone gave notice to the appearance of a young man with odd two coloured hair and a pair of puppets at his side. One was a rather large rendition of a massive centipede, the other a short puppet fashioned in the image of a young girl. His hands were out, fingers contorting and moving as they do when a puppet master controls his marionettes.  Eyes, a shade of brown not unlike the dirt beneath the stones rather boredly looked about the village as he walked with his constructed partners. There was much to do in a place so vast, and yet he found himself without a purpose. Since his home had been destroyed, the young man found little interest in much and couldn't bring himself to find the company of others as soothing as it normally would be. Sakyu, his final creation before leaving the ruins of Sunagakure no Sato, was the last friend he had 'made', quite literally. There was just something to say about becoming detached from everything when you lose all you once held dear. He wasn't jaded though, he was eager to find someone he could be close to again, but wasn't eager to make the move or put in the effort to get himself 'out there.'

He was a mess of emotion and contradiction. A storm among the mist.

Still, the young man would step into the market district, stopping at a rather well lit and nicely decorated cafe. The lights of the night shone upon his form, giving view to his loose fitting robes of light brown with easy on the eyes green hues. He had bottoms that matched his robes, with the trim matching his beautiful green and he wore no shoes, preferring at this time to go barefoot and feel the cobblestone beneath his feet. With him, in much the same clothing, Sakyu also wore a loose fitting robe of light brown and beautiful green, as well as bottoms to match. Sakyu obviously went barefoot as well, her being a puppet and all. While he stared quietly at the door, the young man tilted his head to the two puppets of his and took in a deep breath before deciding that being in an area with more people was good for him, he was getting a bit too lonely. With a twitch of his fingers, the giant centipede Omukade skittered to him and climbed his slender frame to wrap its underbelly around his body at multiple places to hold itself up. The legs would hook in such a way that once he released his puppet strings from the puppet, it would stay in place without any hassle.

With this done, he pulled Sakyu closer to him and pulled open the door of the neat little cafe, leading Sakyu first where he would follow. It was a nice enough place, this cafe, the atmosphere was that of laid back enjoyment and people merrymaking. His eyes scanned around, looking for a good place to sit before he stopped on something that looked much more interesting. It was a puppet, in the shape of what could only be an arachnid by the door. Who had made such a thing, and further more, how was it used? What were the capabilities and advantages? Tenno's eyes lit up like stars on a clear night. This was a marvelous wonder of ingenuity and craftsmanship! He simply had to find whoever had made it and ask them about the specifications! His eyes went back to searching the faces of those in the cafe, walking forward as he did so, looking to and fro with Sakyu now at his heels as he needed a clear line of sight. Before long he'd notice a young girl sitting at a table alone, books strewn about the place. He wasn't one to bother someone so grossly encumbered, but he figured she was as good as anyone to ask about the marvel he'd seen. As he stepped closer, readying to speak with her, his eyes caught the books' titles. It was then that he understood and he smiled to himself. He'd found his craftsman..er..craftswoman. Now how to play this?

"Er..hello! I happened to notice you uh..like books. I like books! Especially books like that and er...is that your arachnid puppet?"

Smooth.

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Tenno's eyes moved from the girl at the table in front of him to the puppet he'd seen by the door. Kurogokegamu was its name and it was interesting at that.  Interesting only because he didn't really understand what it meant, it seemed to be in a dialect he wasn't familiar with. Tenno looked back to the table over the books, noting that some had been the girl's own collection and that was nice to hear. It was hard to find anyone else who was studious in nature and was willing to purchase books about their preferred subjects. Too many looked for word of mouth answers or swept themselves into what little technology was available. Information used to be the best tool a ninja could have in their arsenal, but the newer generations would simply throw it away at the drop of a hat if they found an easier way to learn what they needed. Whether it was inherently wrong or right was neither here nor there, however, he was simply delightfully pleased to find that this young woman shared his enthusiasm for puppets.

She mentioned his puppets were impressive, especially the one he had wrapped around him. The young man activated his chakra strings for Omukade once more and had the centipede unwrap itself from his body. "This is Omukade, and my other puppet is Sakyu. I made Omukade during my academy days and Sakyu before leaving the village hidden in the sand. After complications arose which made it inhospitable for anyone to stick around." With that, he contorted his fingers to make Omukade slither over towards the girl's spider puppet, wrapping itself into a circle near Kurogokegamu. He released the control over Omukade and sat where the young woman indicated for him to join her, smiling softly to her. His fingers contorted and pulled Sakyu to walk to the opposite end of the table to sit herself down, after which he released control upon her as well. Tenno looked over as a waitress came to collect old dishes and take the young woman's order once more. He contemplated eating something himself as he was feeling famished, but it seemed to be on her mind as well when she offered to treat him to a dinner. He smiled and nodded, looking to the waitress to place his own order. "I'd like beef lo mein if possible, as well as a cup of black tea. Three sugars if it's not too much hassle."

With their orders taken, the waitress would walk away, leaving the two alone at the table, quietly sitting there. The young woman must have felt that they should break the silence because she then introduced herself to him. Her name was Nova, he smiled and spoke to her, nodding in introduction. "I'm called Tenno. The pleasure is all mine." She then went on to speak about how she'd only met one other puppeteer since leaving Suna, though she only knew of him in the chuunin exams. Tenno sighed inwardly as he realized he'd probably just missed the chance to participate in the exams himself. She asked if he happened to come from Suna as well, stating he looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. Now that she said something, she too looked rather familiar, and even the name was a callback to something he'd heard in the old clan grounds. "I do come from Sunagakure, yes. And I know what you mean, looking at you now something about you seems familiar. I come from the Chikamatsu clan that used to reside in the hidden sand village. As you're a puppeteer you've likely heard of them. In fact.." Tenn rubbed his chin, looking up in thought. Could she be the young puppeteer from Sunagakure that was part of his clan? The one who lost her leg and used her wits to fashion a mode of transport? He looked back to her arachnid puppet then down to her leg, noting the prosthetic and recognition blossomed upon his face. "You're from the clan too aren't you?! I heard about you from my old man, they say you lost your leg in an accident but didn't let it stop you from getting around. In all honesty I'd only seen you in passing once or twice but it's surreal to be meeting you here!" His eyes were alight with excitement, while his cheeks were alight with a slight pink hue because he realized he was leaning in a bit close to her in his bravado.

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When the waitress came back with their food, the embarrassing moment for Tenno would come to stop, if only for a few moments. He'd sit back in his chair, straight back with posture as good as he could muster, nodding in thanks to the waitress. He would pull his lo mein closer to him, lifting up his tea to sip upon it before reaching for his chop sticks. His eyes would dart back towards the young woman who made her company with him, noticing she wasn't eating just yet. She'd asked if he'd ever been to the establishment they were in before and he could merely shake his head before speaking. "Honestly, I've never even been to Kirigakure before. I haven't been here long and haven't really done much since coming here. It's a bit embarrassing, but most days I'd rather sit alone and work on my puppets, trying to devise new weapons and devices for them. I'm not really anti-social, just have a bit of an inverse personality in new places."

The young puppeteer would look down at his food silently then look up to Sakyu who was sitting across from him and smile. He really enjoyed his work and felt it kept him anchored down to reality. Tenno would sigh softly and snap his chopsticks apart and begin to feast upon his beef lo mein. It was surprisingly good here, despite it likely not being one of their more popular or normal dishes. Tenno listened quietly to Nova as he ate, being as respectful as possible, while also focusing on what she was saying. To come here every weekend likely got expensive if not a bit boring to do over and over. Variety being the spice of life as it were, he figured she would have preferred a new place at least once or twice a month. Still, there was something to be said for patterns. Establishing a pattern one would enjoy over the course of their activities was a good way to train their brain to get used to doing such activities and even to enjoy them. Tenno was caught up in his thoughts so much that he completely forgot what he was doing for a moment, and found himself returning to his food quietly.

Tenno stopped eating at the mention of her product and tilted his head, finishing the few noodles he was chewing before he spoke. "What project are you currently working on? I don't mean to pry into your life, I'm sorry. I just find myself incredibly enthused when I take on projects and learning about the projects of others bears much the same result." He smiled and looked over at Nova, tilting his head as he listened to the rest of what she was saying. Mentioning that she'd have to stay in Kirigakure, the village proper, for the night because of how late she'd been out. Without thinking or letting himself stop to consider anything else for a moment, he blurted out a bit of word vomit in the form of an invitation: "If you've got to stay in the village for the night anyway, perhaps I could invite you to my home? It's not much but I do have a couch I can rest on, and give you my bed. It's clean, well, mostly."

The puppeteer rubbed his chin quietly and looked back to his puppet sakyu, tilting his head. "There are a few parts littered here and there, nothing too major and nothing on the bed. I simply spend a lot of time bringing things from my workshop into my room to work on overnight. I get a lot of inspiration when waking up randomly." He chuckled a bit and rubbed the back of his head. He looked over to see a waitress return with a plate of mochi, saying that it would be on the house tonight. The mochi was apparently Nova's favorite, so she definitely came here a lot for them to know such a thing.  Nova, in fact, mentioned he should try one and asked a few questions about himself while leaning against him. He didn't mind and laid his head against her own, taking one mochi for himself and taking the whole thing in his mouth at once. It was sweet and savory, an interesting texture, but not unpleasant. He supposed this was what happened when you mashed rice into a paste. After finishing and swallowing the mochi, he took a sip of his tea before responding. "I'm currently training to grow my own prowess to eventually become well.. this may sound silly but I want to be a seven swordsman. Other than that I run a small workshop where I do maintenance on people's weapons and build parts for their puppets or work on my own. It's actually here in the market district believe it or not."

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When Nova began to rifle through her pile of books, explaining her new puppet idea to Tenno, he found himself pouring over her notes and sketches in her sketch book when presented. She had a lot of talent for the sorts of things she did and it was clear that some of the influences on her work came from their old home in the village hidden in the sand. Well, before it was glassed. He listened intently, scanning over each page with the same enthusiasm and wonder of a child seeing fireworks for the first time.  The mochi in his hand was almost immediately forgotten as he looked at the modifications hse pointed out, mentioning a summation of what they'd be able to do and what she wanted them to be. Her designs and blueprints were so intricate and complex, Tenno found himself feeling a bit envious of her careful planning. Usually when he took notes it was quick jottings of one or two words, expanded upon with him just 'winging' it. Inspiration took the two to completely different places it seemed. As he was all but disorganized when it came to actually writing out his thoughts.

When it came time for the meal to be paid for, Tenno was reaching for his pouch, only to find Nova digging into a deeper one to pay for them both. She accepted his offer to see his workshop and home, which were admittedly basically the same building, and they would be off. He stood and thanked the waitress for his meal, conjuring his chakra strings to bring Sakyu to life once more. He did the same to Omukade and nodded to Nova, smiling, before leading her back out of the cafe and into the streets of the darkly lit market district.

[Exit, To be Continued Elsewhere]


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1,650/1,650 (+10% Chikamatsu Drawback) Bukijutsu D>C-Rank
750/750 Reaction Time E>D-Rank
225/225 Perception E>E-2
22 Words discarded