A step forward, Kirito makes new allies

Wandering around the village for a while trying to find out where Sakura was, Kirito ended up on the rooftop to the Hokage Mansion in the old district of the village. Looking around he sighed and sat down on the ground to think for a moment. "This village is so massive, how am I supposed to find just one person out of the thousands here just to get my new puppets." Just then Kirito heard footsteps and looked behind him, it was Lord Seventh and Sakura with Kankuro and the Fifth Kazekage. Jumping up Kirito bowed his head in respect to the Kazekage with a nervous look on his face. Naruto was the first to speak up and say something on the matter. "You really are jumpy today aren't you Kirito. Well I am glad we found you since Kankuro and Sakura have something for you." Stepping back both Sakura and Kankuro stepped forward and placed a bunch of scrolls on the ground and opened them. Within a cloud of smoke many different puppets appeared, three came in groups and the others were just single puppets.

Looking at all of the puppets before him Kirito knew that these were the ones he could pick from. "So Kirito you may pick as many of these as you like. Take one group and four other puppets or take them all. It is up to you." Hearing Kankuro say that gave Kirito the ability to chose which ones he really wanted to have around with him on his journey. Catching his eye was a single puppet that had read hair and the symbol of a scorpion on it which made Kirito really like it. "That one is the puppet scorpion, made out of the body of the famous puppet master and maker Sasori of the Red Sand." Kirito knew what that meant, that this one was a Human Puppet that was created back in the darker days. "I'll take Scorpion then, as well as that group of ten white puppets over there. Also what is the story behind those two puppets over there? One looks like a boy and the other a girl."' Kankuro quickly packed both the Scorpion puppet and the ten white puppets away into their scrolls and handed them to Kirito before looking over at the puppets Kirito was talking about. "Those are the Mother and Father Puppets, the first puppets ever created by Sasori. Those are also modeled after Sasori's actual parents but aren't human puppets." This shocked Kirito to a great amount and began to think to himself that he could use those two to help the Scorpion puppet and make them work together as a team. Using a three puppet combo wouldn't be too hard however it was utilizing the techniques created properly and at the right time to make them effective. "I want to use those two as well. I shall use them with the Sasori puppet, it is the best fitting team I can see here at this time." Kankuro looked at him surprised but knew that it would be a great idea to give him the two other puppets too. Placing those two into a scroll he handed them off to Kirito who placed all puppet scroll into his back pouch. Waving his hand back and forth signified that Kirito was done browsing through the puppets since he knew that he had what he needed to accomplish what he wanted. Naruto then stepped forward and began to speak as Kankuro was packing away the other puppets. Just before speaking Naruto smiled with a warm smile towards Kirito and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Kirito, you are a genius of this generation. Much like Sasuke and many others before you. Just remember to always stay strong to your path. Oh, the toads want to train sometime too so summon them sometime soon. See ya." Just like that in a flash Naruto and Sakura were gone in a flash, a feat that still amazes Kirito to this day. The Fifth Kazekage stepped forward towards Kirito who stopped just a few feet in front of him. "You also have the Hidden Sand's blessing as well young Kirito Gekko. You peaked Kankuro's interest so I shall be keeping an eye on you as well. If you are ever near the Hidden Sand feel free to stop by, there is always a room open for you." With that Kankuro finished packing away the remaining puppets and took off in a blast of sand with the Fifth Kazekage, another thing Kirito was amazed by. "I have to learn how they do that. Both of those Kages have some very fast teleport thing that always looks flashy when they do it. Oh well can't complain about it right now."

Pulling out one of his scrolls to the puppets Kirito noticed that they also had hidden jutsu techniques written inside of the scroll and Kirito wanted to give it a try. Opening the scroll completely Kirito then summoned the puppet that was inside and attached his chakra strings to it. This puppet was the Sasori puppet that Kankuro once used during the war but was now Kirito's main puppet to use. "Alright let's see what this puppet can do, time to get down to business!" Moving and wiggling his fingers the Sasori puppet was moving around relatively easy compared to the training puppets did during training. Getting a smile on his face Kirito was ready to learn everything about this puppet and use it in his first mission which is to get those students back. "I should just train with my puppets and learn some other jutsu and charge into the Land of Woods by myself! They won't stand a chance against me, time to avenge my family and get those kids back to their families!"

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Acquired Sasori (Puppet), Mother and Father Puppet & The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets

Taking a look at the scroll of techniques each puppet was capable of Kirito knew that things were getting a bit off. He wasn't training like he should have been this whole time instead of getting new toys. His jutsu was more important and completing his missions for the village so he could become strong enough to defend it. Plus the fact of that Hakaruto guy who gives off a bad vibe with how he was during that moment and the fact that he hasn't shown himself since then. Rumors have been spreading about that Hakaruto kid that made Kirito more curious about him. Thinking about it more, Kirito knew investigating Hakaruto wouldn't be a bad thing. Getting ready to leave he saw the Lord Hokage coming back up to the roof staring up at the sky for some reason. Deciding to go up the Hokage and ask him what was wrong, Kirito knew that he had to do something for him since he did train him earlier. "Lord Seventh, you seem troubled by something what's the matter?"

Naruto turned to his attention for a moment then looked away with a worried look on his face. "No need to worry, it's nothing. Just feeling a lil under the weather all of a sudden." Kirito noticed that his attention was focused on the north where the swamp lands were, however he couldn't figure out as to why. "Speaking of which, Kirito the mission for the Academy students do you think you can be ready to go in less than three days? The Anbu will be ready to move and Sasuke will be going with as well." Blinking for a moment he couldn't believe the mission was going to be this soon and with so little time to get ready. However Kirito filled with confidence and nodded giving Naruto his answer. Finishing his last business Naruto quickly retreated back into the building leaving Kirito wondering why he was out and about to begin with. "Something was bothering Lord Hokage and it had to of been something major for him to get that look. However I don't have the time to worry about that right now." He had to get to training, there was no time left to spare and at his current level he wouldn't be able to do much on the mission. Jumping off into the air Kirito took off to pick up with his training once again.

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