Chapter 21

Sunagakure
Ryoma, Jonin

A sharp knock at this door caught his attention. He looked up from the pot of slowly boiling water and towards the door, reaching out a finger to tap into the sight of the eye mounted upon it. Someone at his door this early in the morning almost certainly meant business. Business or it was Mari showing up to harass him again.

A short woman he didn’t recognize was at the door, with black hair, blue eyes, and a sort of white uniform on. It was a bit too blurry to make out much else in the pre-sun morning, but he could recognize a flak vest loosely worn and a Suna headband tied around her waist.

“One moment!” He called out, reaching forwards to turn off the stove and doing a quick check to make sure nothing flammable was near the lingering heat. He’d have to reheat everything, but it was literally just boiling water, no big loss if it cooled off a bit. He hadn’t added the rice yet.

He scratched his neck as he approached the door, reaching out a string to turn the knob and open up the door, looking down at the stranger at his door.

She was maybe five foot tall, maybe, glaring up at him with a somewhat stern expression. She was wearing the standard issue ‘parade’ uniform of Sunagakure, the one used to show off to civilian clients, being a solid-colored long-sleeved jacket with golden buttons that went from the neck to mid-thigh. The same kind that Captain Gentai wore under his flak vest.

She was short enough that the standard flak vest was more like a cape, hanging down and out to frame her torso. Her legs were bare, leading into tall black boots that paired well with her black gloves.

His initial impressions told him that she didn’t see active combat too often. “Hello?” He greeted in a questioning manner, rubbing his neck as he did so.

“Jonin Ryoma of the Puppeteer Corps, 40-064?” She asked sharply.

“That’s me.” He nodded in a casual manner, still waiting for her to get to the point. The only person he was expecting to show up at his doors was the supervisor Gentai was sending over, but it was entirely possible she was here for some other reason.

Her glare tightened slightly, boot-heels clicking together as she snapped into a formal salute. A sort of diagonal gesture with the right arm, hand ending up near the right eye if performed properly. It was the least formal of the formal gestures, the others being bows and kneels. “I am Chunin Yuki Toyoko of the Puppeteer Corps, acting supervisor for your use of construction silo 3. If you will follow me, I will guide you to the location.”

He pressed his lips together beneath the mask, and glanced over at his stovetop. “I was actually just about to make breakfast. I can put on another serving, if you don’t mind waiting a few minutes for it.”

She maintained her salute and glare for several long seconds. He raised his brows and maintained his own stare, not exactly feeling intimidated at the current moment.

“I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s a ‘yes’.” He continued dryly, turning around and walking back towards the stove. He waved a hand in a nonchalant manner. “Go ahead and shut the door behind you- you’ll let all the tepid air out.”

He turned the stove back on, ignoring the stare burning a hole through the side of his head as he brought the water back up to a boil and prepared the rice and sweet potato. He reached down into his pantry and pulled out the second ration serving for the day, going through the motions of opening up the packets and tossing the various bits into their respective recycling containers.

Upgrading the Mk1 meant he’d have a bunch of metal cans left over now, no longer using them for the Dragoon’s armor paneling. This gave him a bunch of free metal to use as armor for his side-project, already hanging on the same rack that once kept the Wood Dragoon standing.

A much more sleek, form-fitting, and massively simplified variant of the puppet armor concept. Something that would mold around his body like normal armor and be operated with the chakra strings in his feet, mostly made of metal and an extra-durable black jumpsuit. Theoretically speaking, it would be something to increase his overall physical power and durability while not hindering his speed and mobility too much. Something to wear as his ‘daily’ puppetarmor while reserving the Mk2 for the big events.

The biggest practical issue being that all the components had to be in ‘one piece’ for it to be the ‘same puppet’ and for his strings to saturate it correctly. So the helmet and the torso and the limbs all had to be directly connected. Without that, he’d need to use multiple strings to operate it, and if he was sacrificing his hands to control the armor then he might as well just use Bolters like normal. Those would be more practical and safer at that point.

Finally giving up, the woman at his door entered his apartment, a judgemental stare on her face as her eyes wandered over the slightly cramped workshop interior and over towards his kitchen. He ignored it, washing off another potato and rapidly dicing it into easily eaten chunks.

“…Wearing a white veil over one’s face is an indication of service to the Sunagakure ANBU.” The short woman began with a clipped tone. “Impersonating a member of the Sunagakure ANBU is a severity two offense.”

He poured a bit of vegetable oil into a pan, a different pan than the one used to melt metal, and waited for it to heat up. The water now boiling, he added the rice and put a lid over the pot. “…Is it?” He asked with a raised brow, turning back to look at the woman in his apartment. “I’ve been wearing it for two years now and no one has told me that.” Indeed, it was one of the ANBU watchers who gave him the veil, during the war, so he was pretty sure it was fine for him to wear.

Actually, assuming that was true, the veil might be why people tended to stay clear of him on the streets. Whoops.

“Ignorance is not innocence.” She declared firmly. “As a fellow member of the puppeteer corps, I will leave you with the warning about your criminal action, in hopes that you will correct your behavior before reprisal from the Disciplinary Squad comes.”

On one hand, the veil made him look dashing and mysterious and he was pretty sure he wasn’t about to receive a disciplinary notice any time soon. On the other hand, it was probably safer to just find something else to cover his face. “Hm… What about a black veil?” He asked over his shoulder. “That would be fine, wouldn’t it?”

“It is highly recommended that all Suna ninja leave their face visible to increase client trust. The use of cosmetic agents such as makeup and facepaint are acceptable, although piercings are strongly discouraged.”

A real stickler for protocol, wasn’t she? He supposed that was what you wanted in a supervisor. He had absolutely no interest in wearing either of those, so he supposed he’d be incorporating a high bevor into his next set of puppet armor. He almost gave a sigh, before asking another question. “Do you want salt on your sweet potatoes or not?”

A long few seconds of silence.

“…Yes.” Her sharp tone was downright bashful underneath all the professionalism and impatience. He added some of the canned meat to the sizzling pan and checked on the rice again.

—

“Your request to reserve the entirety of construction silo three is nigh-unprecedented, keep in mind.” Toyoko explained as she led him to one of the rounded ‘towers’ that served as a general workshop for puppeteers who didn’t have the space for it at their own properties. “Previously, only wretched traitor Sasori was given this privilege, for the construction of superheavy class puppet ‘Sanshouo’, with Honored Elder Chiyo serving as active supervisor.”

Her heels clicked as she walked, he idly noted.

She tilted her head to glare up at him. His white veil currently serving as a neck-scarf and little else, with his wide-brimmed straw hat shading him from the early morning sun. “As acting supervisor, I will be responsible for ensuring that Puppet Corps resources are not being mishandled, and that fruitful work on the puppet continues at a regular pace. I am also available in an advisory role, and will be able to assist in the integration of components if need be.”

“Hm? Oh that’s quite good.” He responded. “I’ll be sure to make full use of you.” He teased with a flat tone and a tiny smile.

“Don’t word it like that.” She demanded at once.

“Word it like that?” He asked, badly pretending to be confused. Her glare intensified as he innocently continued, raising a finger up to tap at his chin, bending at the waist to be slightly closer to eye-level with the short woman. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what such a statement implies. Cease at once.”

“I’m really at a loss here. All I know is that supervisor-chan told me she was available to help me with integration of components, and next she’s telling me to stop.” He raised his hands in a mock shrug and shook his head. “It’s all too confusing for me, honestly.”

She let loose an actual growl at him, which was really cute, before sharply turning her head and marching on ahead. Most notably, her hands were splayed out and crossed behind her lower back, as if trying to shield her rear from his nefarious and perverse gaze. He rolled his eyes in an amused fashion and kept following.

Soon enough, they were at the front doors of the construction silo three, a sort of immense oblong tower of compressed sandstone with the same carved interior and ventilation shafts as any other building in Suna had. The side facing the road had a reasonably sized door for people to walk through, and the side facing a sort of walled courtyard had a much more substantial door available for the larger puppets to be transported through.

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“Do you have a schematic for your puppet design ready?” Toyoko asked as she opened the door, fiddling with the keys for a moment to do so. The doorknob was about chest-high for her, and waist-high for him.

“I do. Do you need to see it?” He asked idly, following behind her into the construction silo and waiting for her to turn the lights on.

“If you would like my assistance in an advisory role, it would be helpful for me to have a reference of your intended design.” She replied sharply.