Starring:
Date: Unknown (log received July 16, 2012)
Summary:
Soren goes to the head of Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade for help with a missing limb issue and discovers Kara is one of the more eccentric of the Hidden Sand's ninja.
"Soren and Kara sittin' in an… office…"
Puppet Brigade HQ - Sunagakure
Work, work, work. Somedays, Kara feels like an orc. She isn't entirely sure what an orc is, but she's almost completely somewhat sure that they work a lot and get tired of it just like her maybe! The dark-skinned woman is in the Puppet-Development Workshop at the moment, looking over some new designs, inspecting one particular Puppet they've recently gotten from a family of Puppeteers known as the 'Shirogane Clan', and otherwise doing the work expected of her. Actually, she's expected more to be doing 'official' stuff like reading reports, organizing the lower-ranking Puppeteers and assigning them the missions that have in turn been assigned to the Puppet Brigade, and all that crap.
But she prefers working with her hands. So her reluctance to work more comes from when she has finished her inspecting and advising and has warily advised the Shirogane representative to cease crafting of the 'Master Puppet' due to it not being viable for mass-production (but more due to Kara feeling uneasy about an automated Puppet that can repair itself and requires no human input). After she has done all the work she >likes< to do, she has to return to her office and do the monotonous lamer stuff she has been having to do for over half a year now.
"Uguuruuuuuu…" Kara grumbles all =_= faced as she drags her feet the whole way to the office. Whenever she passes someone in the halls she is instantly perky, and ^_^-faced, with a bounce in her step and even more bouncing in >other< places, only to slouch again when she's alone. "Uguuruuuuuuuu…" she lets out again as she walks right by the door to her office, keeps going, turns around, walks towards it, walks past it again, and then stops. "Jo-san," Kara says to a Puppeteer girl who guards Kara's office and also is kind-of-but-not-quite Kara's secretary. The girl looks up from where she's sitting in bowl-shaped Puppet with many legs scattered around its edges and also a marble desk with a cushy leather chair in the bowl that Jo is in turn sitting at and in (desk and chair respectively). "Hai, Uudo-sama?" "Do I got any appointments today?" "You >have< an appointment, Uudo-sama. Please use correct grammar." "Mmph. Who is it?" "He is a foreigner who has requested to speak to you after receiving referrals from the Scheduling Department in the Administration Dome. He has been cleared with the Security Department as well. Please do not slouch, Uudo-sama. It is unbecoming." Kara sighs at Jo and straightens up a bit.
"Has he been cleared with the Ugliness Prevention Department too?" Kara asks sternly. There is a brief pause while Jo looks over some papers and then glances up and nods an affirmative. "Mm-hmm!" Kara perks >right the heck up then< as she straightens her back and gets a certain >look< on her face. "Oh-hooooh~. Well, send him in then. I'm going to take off my clothes. <3" Jo puffs out a sigh and blushes a bit while wondering how she got assigned to this job. 'Non-Combat Puppeteer' indeed!
So it is that Soren is called in from the waiting room, where a Puppet that appears to be a grandfather clock with arms and feet, and a Puppet that appears to be a giant bull-dog with chainsaws for teeth have been watching him the entire time. The face of the clock is replaced by a shimmering image of Jo, the pink-haired Puppeteer, and the clock says in time to Jo's mouth movements, "'Uudo-sama is ready to see you now, Soren-san.'" Then it tacks on, "She says." when Jo finishes speaking and her image vanishes. The secured door into the office area clicks open and then Kara's office door after that. Whenever Soren gets to Kara's office, he'd find a room cramped and cluttered with all kinds of bits of machinery, filing cabinets, half-finished Puppetry pieces, tools, papers, and all that stuff. A cloud of smoke erupts from everywhere that fills the entire room. As it clears, the room itself also appears to be much, much… Emptier. It's a large office, with a desk, a chair, and a dark-skinned woman with some bandaged wrapped about her chest and lower-body that don't appear to be adequately holding her in and also a head-dress like an Ancient Egyptian. She's lounging in the chair and sucking on a red lollipop, with an enormous scroll propped up on the wall behind her into which all that 'other stuff' probably just went.
Kara pretends not to realize Soren has arrived until he says something.
Thank you Asao, for helping him hack through even just a bit of red tape. Finally he had gotten in to see Kara-sama, and he could finally get the ball rolling on this arm problem of his. Soren walks in, glancing at all the puppetry peices with a bit of awe, before they're poofed away. Awww. His attention focuses in on Kara. He was still wearing a light cloak over his form, mostly as most people are rather offset at first by his lack of an arm. "Kara-sama. It's nice to finally meet you." he says with a bow. "Asano Soren, at your service. Asuka-sensei (NPC) spoke very highly of you, in the few times he spoke of Sunagakure. I'm curious… were you showing off just now, or did I jsut walk in a moment too soon?" he asks, grinning a bit.
When Soren begins to speak, Kara allows the red lollipop to *pop* from her mouth, leaving her lips pouting slightly, and glances up with half-lidded aqua eyes as she goes, "Aah…?" She's doing her level best to seem coy and seductive and all of that. Because she >really< has 'the itch' and would like to vent some frustration from this obnoxious job. But then Soren calls her on the fact he showed up a bit too early and she sweatdrops a bit. Then she just pouts more and straightens up in her chair as she leans forward on her elbows. Cleavage blast attack! "Oh, it was just too >hot< in here, so I thought I'd get some fresh air moving through the office. You must be…" A drawn-out silence as she realizes Jo never told her Soren's name or made mention of an 'Asuka'. Soren told her his name just now, but she is searching her brain for who this 'Asuka-sensei' is. "…Thirsty." she finishes.
Nice save!
A jug of ice-water and a glass she must have unsealed from that scroll at the time she sealed everything else up are made available just by lifting a hand. A Chakra String from one finger tugs the turn-table the jug and glass are on, causing it to spin slowly until it stops with the offered items closer to Soren. The office is dimly-lit, so Kara picks up a remote from her desk and clicks a button, and the slanted blinds on the windows begin to clink and clank as they rise upwards via a mechanized pulley system that is reeling in the wires. Kara puts the remote back down and then folds her hands and rests her chin on them, with a smile on her lips as he tries a different tactic. "So, you've heard things about me from Asuka-san, ne? Like how… 'good' I am?" She winks and still can't remember who Asuka is. Really, she can't remember >everyone< she has ever hit on! Then she sees Soren in the now-bright light that streams in from outside. She goes 'hm?'. Then her eyes widen. Then her brow furrows and she leaps up from her desk, coming >very close< to a wardrobe malfunction in the process, and strides quickly around her desk until she is standing face-to-face—Well, more like face-to-chest with Soren, his being the face and hers being the chest. Then she looks at him fiercely and… And…!
"…Aw, maaaan~!" she groans finally as she steps back and rests her bandage-thonged butt on the edge of her desk. "You're just a kid! All that wasted 'Seduction Energy'!" She mutters and seems to have decided Soren doesn't matter anymore. She grabs up her remote thing and clicks it again. The blinds drop shut like rocks and *SLAM* into the windowsill. She jolts slightly in surprise, but just peers at the blinds and then back to Soren as she turns on an overhead light and heads back around to the giant scroll behind her desk. "Well, what did you come here for? I don't really remember anyone by the name of Asuka, to be honest, but if she thought sending you to me was a wise decision I'll at least hear what reason she had for doing so."
She then proceeds to unroll her scroll part-way and unseal a changing-screen and some clothes that she hedas behind the screen to put on.
Soren grins at the entire display. Well now. Isn't that an interesting little turn of events, seeming to try futily to surpress a chuckle when she backs off. "Oh no, don't mind me. I was quite enjoying that." he says with a grin. "Although, probably would have been a bad Idea for me right now anyway. And I'm not surprised you don't remember Asuka-sensei. By the way, guy. He hasn't been around for… what… probably 6 years now? I dunno… sometime around the founding of the village? He started traveling after the wars. Met a spunky, 12 year old noble anklebiter, that wouldn't stop bugging him till he agreed to teach the little bugger." He lifts his left hand. "And that'd be me. And as for who sent me. No one did. Asuka mentioned your skill at building puppets the few times he spoke of Sunagakure… and well… Ineedyourhelp."
Kara sighs, all =_= as she changes behind the screen. "I see. I don't really remember any guy like that, but I guess he could have heard of me. I'm not exactly an obscure celebrity!" …Is there even such a thing as an 'obscure celebrity'? >NO ONE KNOWS.< "The newly-formed Puppet Brigade is a group that I am in charge of because of my skill and my servive to Sunagakure. So, while I don't make a habit of talking about how great I am, I'll make an exception this time." Kara slides the screen aside, wearing an ornamental mantle of gold, with a black tanktop, a belt and skirt, etc. Properly dressed at last! >:o
"With the creator of Kugutsu no Jutsu, Chikamatsu Monzaemon dead, and the Puppeteer disciple of Yotsuki Raiga, known as 'Dead Hand', also deceased, I'm probably the greatest Puppeteer alive right now. Whatever you need my help with, I will >do my best<!" She holds up a fist and clenches it. Then she flops down in her chair and says much less dramatically, "…Or that's what I'd like to say, but I don't know anything about Medical Ninjutsu, so my skills aren't going to fix your arm directly."
How did she know Soren was missing an arm? "Excellent question!" Kara says to seemingly no one. "Your balance is off. I can tell by the way you carry yourself that the weight on one side of your body is different from the other side. So, what, you need a replacement arm? I can >build< one for you, but you'll need to find someone else to attach it. Alternately, I could assign you to one of my underlings, a miss 'Konomi' who is both a Puppeteer >and< a Medic-Nin, but…"
Kara's imaginary brings up an image of Konomi standing triumphantly over Soren at an operating table, with the new arm looking a bit like a blender crossed with a chainsaw crossed with nunchaku crossed with a seven-ton statue of a tanuki. 'Like, this is totally tripendicular! 8D'
Kara returns from imagination land and says, "…Ugh. You might just be better having me build the arm and then have Konomi put it on you. If she designed it herself, horrors beyond imagination would unfold." =_=
Soren grins, and nods. "You certainly keep things interesting, don't you Kara-sama? Figured you'd notice before I got to that. Yes, I'm missing an arm. From roughly two inches below the shoulder join down. Has it healed properly yet? No. Do I want to replace it with a puppet monstrosity. … Maybe. I probably want multiple versions so I can pick and choose how I want to murder someone based on my mood. But that's jumping a bit ahead of myself. If it's allright with you, I'd like to take part in it's design, or atleast it's construction. I know the bare basics of building puppets. Havn't brushed up on it in years though. Why? No good at using the freaking things. So I figure I should brush up on the subject while I'm here, and take part in the construction, so I know the thing inside and out. You know. Maitenance purposes."
Kara looks up and hmmmmmms thoughtfully as Soren explains his situation to her. She taps a finger on a kanji hidden under one of the gold plates of her ornamental mantle she wears and a puff of smoke later, she's holding a paper fan that she snaps open and starts fanning her face with. "So you're no good at using Puppets, you were trained by a Puppeteer who never formally joined Sunagakure, you haven't studied Puppetry in years but want to aid in designing your new Puppet arm, and may even want multiple Puppets arms for >murdering< people." Pause. "And you're also not from Sunagakure or even the Land of Wind. Uh, I'll be blunt and say that I have some reservations about equipping you with secret weapons without knowing more about you."
Kara leans forward again, this time without cleavage blast attack on account of wearing something that passes for a shirt (though a very tight spandex one) and points at Soren with her fan. "I should probably have some background checks performed on you and stuff, and I also probably shouldn't be telling you I'd like to do so or that I'm not keen on giving you this arm, but… Deception is something I've spend too much time with already. So, I'm not saying I won't help you, but I want to make sure the person I wind up helping is the person I >believe< I'm helping, instead of someone else. I'd like some time to check records on Asuka-san, and if your arm hasn't healed properly that will need to be tended to before any prosthetic surgery can take place. No point building an arm for something that's all infected and going to need to be amputated or something, right?"
Kara shrugs helplessly. "I also will want to know in more detail what you intend to do with a replacement arm if it's going to be weaponized rather than just be a prosthetic. A prosthetic can be controlled by brain signals alone as long as it's attached to the Chakra Network properly. But complicated things like Puppet-weapons and sealing storage and all the rest require a working knowledge of Puppetry to use, and…" Kara sighs and leans on her elbows on her desk as she looks seriously at Soren, or perhaps through him, lost in thought. "This isn't going to be a fast process even if I agreed to start working on the arm right now. It will also take months of acclimation time to be properly recovered and able to use the prosthetic without straining or damaging yourself first. With all this in mind, are you still interested?"
Soren nods. "Yes, I'm still interested. By the way, 'murder' is a turn of phrase. And as far as the background check is concerned. My name is Asano Soren, I was to be a protector for the next prince of the Land of the Moon, but was banished for, 'reckless abandond'. The techniques, and the way they were being taught to me wasn't making sense. When Asuka showed up, he helped them -make sense-. So when he left, I left with him, went traveling for a bit, learned a bit of ninjutsu, etcettera. Went back to the land of the moon, realized the prince I was to protect was a self serving, egomaniacal, twerp, told him that to his face, infront of his father, and got banished for it." He shrugs. "Been wandering ever since. Apparently they've gone far enough to brand me a traitor too. Something about fearing that I'll 'give up land of the moon secrets to rival nations'. Pheh… like I knew any… *grumblegrumblegrumble12yearoldtraitorgrumblegrumble* Sorry. Anyways, I have working knowledge of how storage seals work. I have storage seals hidden in my clothes actually. It's the puppetry stuff that I'm gonna have the most problems with. Basic object manipulation I have a handle on. Vector alterations, and trajectories are a piece of cake. It's the precision mechanisms that get me, and I'm hoping that since I'll only have a few to deal with, it'll help me get a handle on that. And yes, while I'm here, under your care, I would be happy to do whatever is required of me by the village. I just have one thing I would preffer not to do. If at all possible, I'd preffer to -not- be put on any 'attack the enemy' missions. Not that I forsee many missions in my future."
Kara nods a few times throughout the explanation. "That all sounds reasonable to me, but I >do< need to check >our< official records as well. I'm not suspicious about anything in >particular< about your story, but someone can say anything. If there's no corroborating evidence to support what the person says, there's much more reason to start digging deeper and find out what's >really< going on. So, for both your sake and the sake of my interest in this project, let's hope my request to the Records Department turns up what we're both expecting, okay~?" Kara smiles then.
"Hone Nai used to run the Records Department as Head Records Keeper, but he's gone missing. I think we're finally getting things straightened out, but he could find things really easily…" Sighing, Kara leans back in her chair and puts her hands behind her head, arching her back as she stretches and pushing her chest out. "Mmmnnggh…" When she finishes her stretching, Kara looks up at the ceiling and says, "If everything checks out, and I get the go-ahead, I'll not only work with you to design the arm, but I will also provide you training with Kugutsu no Jutsu whenever I have the time. You already know some of it, and if your instructor parted ways with the ninja who would form Sunagakure on amicable terms, I don't see any reason why we should be antsy about helping you out. However, yes, you'll be expected to owe us as a result. Possibly more than just a few missions, too, since skills last a life-time. How do you pay back something you were given that will last forever?"
Kara lowers her arms and rests them at her sides as she thinks to add on, "But… There >are< non-combat Puppeteers. That Konomi girl is part of the 'Emergency Medical Response Group' after all. She heals people, gets them to safety, that sort of thing. I have a Puppeteer secretary outside, whom you've probably already seen. Jo-san uses Puppets for secure storage and easy-accessing of records. She basically acts as a 'mobile records department', and can even communicate with others over long-distances with her Sensor-Nin skills. Pretty awesome stuff, huh?" Kara asks with a grin.
"So, for now, please consider my answer to be a tentative 'yes', barring anything crazy happening."
As Kara goes through her explanation Soren can't help but look away, a touch of color to his cheeks as she stretches. But once she starts talking about the other Puppeteers, he turns his attention back to her. "Wow…. I didn't think that puppeteers could be so versatile. I was under the impression that they were all poison using sharpthing catapults." he says with a grin. "Hmmm… maybe…" he scratches his chin. A thought for later then. Soren smiles, and nods. "Understandable. And thank you, Kara-sama." he says with a smile, standing up and bowing to her slightly. "The chance is greatly apperciated." he says with a smile. "So then, I assume I should report to the medical facility… again." God he hated hospitals… "So for now, it has been a genuine pleasure, Kara-sama. And also very amusing." he says with a huge grin. "But for now, I must be off. Places to be. People to speak to. And sleep to have."
