Chapter 14: Matchmaking with a Monster
The girl standing at my door didn't just look like a nightmare; she looked like she'd spent the morning auditioning for a horror flick.
Thick, jagged eyeshadow. Lips painted a shade of violet so dark it bordered on black. This wasn't just makeup—it was a statement. In the world of Puppet Masters, your face was your first line of defense. If the enemy didn't know which one was the human and which one was the wooden doll, they couldn't kill you.
"My preferences are none of your concern, Miss Saya," I said, my voice flat. "If you're done insulting my décor, please leave. I have a date with some ironwood and a very sharp chisel."
I moved to slam the door, but a pale, surprisingly strong arm blocked the frame.
(Internal Monologue: Of course. Because my life isn't complicated enough. Now I have a high-maintenance neighbor trying to break into my workshop.)
"I heard you were kicked off your team," Saya said, her voice dripping with a mix of pity and smugness. "Abandoned. Cast aside. Is it true?"
"News travels fast in a village made of sand and gossip," I replied. "Are you here to mock me, or do you have a point?"
"Who cares about your pathetic drama? I'm here to offer you a lifeline," she said, tossing her light blue hair over her shoulder. "My team needs a third for this year's Chunin Exams. If you listen to my commands and don't get in the way, I might just let you tag along."
I stared at her. I'd been in a new team for over a month. I'd finished four missions and stared death in the face at the border. How disconnected from reality did you have to be to miss that?
"And let me guess," I said, leaning against the doorframe. "The other teammate is your sister, Sana?"
Saya stiffened, her silence confirming everything.
Just then, the door next door creaked open. Sana stepped out, dragging a massive sack of trash. She had light purple twin-tails and green ribbons—the picture of sweetness. But I knew better. Sana was a sister-complex nightmare who would skin you alive if you so much as looked at Saya wrong.
"Senior Daimaru," Sana chirped, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "Is Big Sister bothering you? She doesn't need to do chores like recruiting losers, so I usually handle the heavy lifting."
"Your 'Big Sister' is currently trying to draft me into her suicide squad," I said.
"How dare you!" Saya's face flushed a deep red under her makeup. "Are you rejecting me? You? A nobody who was thrown away by Satetsu?"
"Miss Saya, I already have a team," I said, putting a hand up to stop the impending tantrum. "I've had one for weeks."
The color drained from her face. Then it returned, twice as bright. "You... you're lying! You're just saying that to humiliate me! Sana, don't stop me! I'm going to curse him! I'll make his puppets rot and his skin peel!"
"Big Sister, don't waste your energy," Sana said, her voice dropping an octave as she glared at me. "If he's a liar, I'll just make him clean our toilets for the next ten years. With his tongue."
(Internal Monologue: These sisters are genuinely unhinged. Is it the wood lacquer fumes? It has to be the fumes.)
"Whoa, easy with the death threats!" I recoiled, hands raised. "Look, if you're that desperate for a warm body to fill a slot, I might have someone. A recommendation."
Saya paused, her hand halfway through a theatrical cursing gesture. "A lone Genin? At this stage? Who would be stupid enough to be available?"
"He's not exactly a Genin yet," I said, a slow smirk spreading across my face.
"You're mocking me again! Sana, the toilet brush—"
"Let me finish!" I snapped.
I reached behind the door, grabbed a spare wooden club I used for bracing puppets, and delivered a swift thwack to both of their heads.
Clonk. Clonk.
The sisters shrieked, instantly dropping to a squat and clutching their foreheads. The world was suddenly, beautifully quiet.
"Listen up," I growled. "The guy I'm talking about is a Taijutsu specialist. He doesn't know Ninjutsu. He doesn't know Genjutsu. He hasn't even officially passed the academy exam yet because of his grades."
"Then he's a civilian!" Saya wailed from the floor.
"He's a monster," I corrected. "His physical strength and speed are already beyond most Genin in this village. You two are Puppet Masters—you're glass cannons. You need someone to stand in front of you and take the hits. This guy is a literal shield who can break bones with his bare hands."
Saya looked up, her ridiculous eyeshadow smudged by her tears of pain. "But... he's not a ninja."
"You're the daughter of a wealthy family, Saya," I said, my voice dripping with intentional provocation. "Can't you even pull enough strings to get one kid a temporary Genin license for the Exams? Or are you as powerless as everyone says?"
That did it.
"How dare you! I can get anyone a license!" she screeched, standing up and ignoring the bump forming on her head. "Fine! If he's as strong as you say, I'll take him. But if he fails, I'm coming for your head."
"My teammate Yome knows him well. I'll set up the introduction tomorrow," I said, turning back into my room. "Whatever happens after that isn't my problem."
"Wait!" Saya called out. She reached into her pocket and threw several small glass bottles at me.
I caught them out of the air. High-grade external wound medicine. The expensive stuff.
"That's the deposit," she huffed, her tsundere energy returning in full force. "There's more where that came from if the guy isn't a total dud. If you don't accept it, the curse is back on!"
"Generous," I muttered, looking at the medicine. "I'll take it. Now get out of here. I have work to do."
I closed the door and leaned against it, breathing a sigh of relief.
(Internal Monologue: One problem solved. I've offloaded the 'Taijutsu Freak' onto the 'Nightmare Sisters.' Now, maybe I can focus on building something that actually kills people.)
I walked back to my workbench, the pile of ironwood and chakra-conductive wire waiting for me. I began to carve, the rhythm of the blade soothing my frayed nerves.
But as the hours ticked by, the air in the room started to change.
It grew cold. Not the normal desert cold of night, but a heavy, oppressive chill that made the hair on my arms stand up.
I stopped carving.
A shadow fell across my window. I didn't move. I didn't breathe.
Outside, on the opposite roof, a small figure sat perched on the edge. He was shrouded in darkness, but the moonlight caught the massive sand-gourd on his back.
Gaara.
He wasn't moving. He was just... staring. Those kohl-lined eyes were fixed directly on my window, glowing with a hollow, murderous hunger that felt like a physical weight pressing against my chest.
Why is he here? I reached slowly for the poison-coated kunai under my table. My hands were shaking.
Suddenly, the sand around the window frame began to vibrate. It wasn't the wind. The sand was weeping. It trickled down the glass like tears, forming words that made my blood turn to ice.
I SEE YOU, DAIMARU.
The glass shattered. A tide of sand surged into the room, faster than any human could react.
"Mother is hungry," a voice whispered from the darkness of the hallway.
I didn't even have time to scream before the world went black.
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[End of Chapter 14]```
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