Thirteen years had passed since Pakura's "unexpected" death, which made the villagers and ninjas heave a sigh of regret. Due to the shortage of resources, they couldn't train as many ninjas as the other villages and followed the path of forming quality ninjas rather than quantity.
Pakura was the epitome of achievement in that sense.
Only a few high-ranking officials besides Rasa knew the true mission and how they used their best kunoichi to cover their weaknesses, buying enough time to recover as a whole.
Although Kirigakure was dissatisfied that Pakura had left not a single hair behind after her death due to a massive explosion in the last moment that took some of their own, the main objective they were seeking was achieved, and they kept their word.
During these thirteen years, new generations have emerged, and those who managed to grow without dying on the way have become the next batch of ninjas capable of contributing their skills to the village.
But none showed Pakura's potential; none was a true moral pillar, and some ended up regretting their decision, but there is no medicine for regret.
But now there is hope!
Three genins have been gaining fame since their entry into the Academy.
Temari, the Fourth Kazekage's daughter and nicknamed the Princess of the Sand, has shown a talent for handling the giant fan, is a capable strategist, and wind ninjutsu has been her specialty from the start.
Gaara, the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage who harbors the Shukaku within him, has been recognized for having impenetrable defense and returning from each mission without even the slightest injury to his person.
Although his disturbed attitude and inherent danger make his fame not particularly positive, the fact is that his instability has begun to disappear since the third, who holds the title of the best puppeteer of his generation, came into action.
Kankuro?
No, although the genin's talent has been praised by the venerable old lady Chiyo herself and forms a team with his two brothers, there is another genin who has surpassed him by much as he refuses to admit it.
Takara, also known as the Crazy Puppeteer. The sole survivor of a caravan that perished in the desert at the hands of bandits and was adopted by Pakura's student, the chunin Maki. He has shown to have his own unique way of thinking, which, employed in the art of puppets along with his mechanical skills and the sealing knowledge he learned at home, results in a new type of puppets.
Unfortunately, since Maki's death a year ago on a mission entrusted by the Fourth Kazekage himself, some people found out that his personality seemed to change.
He seemed more... detached.
It wasn't easy to notice, after all, nobody remembered seeing him without the bandages that covered his body, nor the strange mask that hid his face.
Even his voice seemed less human through said mask.
He began to take more and farther missions, being absent from the village for weeks at a time occasionally. People were worried, as Takara had earned a good reputation, he was not of "noble" origin like Temari, nor was he a killer like Gaara.
It was expected that he would be the next figure most similar to Pakura, especially considering that he was raised by the latter's student.
Others suspected Maki's death, believing that Rasa was not satisfied with Takara's "uncontrolled" growth and wanted to give him a blow to keep him low and obedient.
Either way, one day Takara suddenly approached Gaara and offered him the possibility of sleeping by employing his latest puppet, the Noxina.
A puppet similar to an insect, composed of a lens focused with small legs and a hollow chest with wings on top. It had a small stinger in a gear that resembled that of a bee, and all Gaara had to do was let it prick him when he wanted to sleep.
To everyone's surprise, Gaara tried it.
And it worked!
The news was known immediately by Rasa, and he demanded that Takara hand over the blueprints of the puppet, but the genin had the audacity to refuse to do so and provided a simple explanation as a solid argument.
According to Sunagakure's law (one that hadn't been revised since the Second Kazekage), if someone accesses the records and puppet techniques, the village can ask for the blueprints of a new creation to increase the overall strength of the puppeteers in exchange for adequate compensation.
But that was under the pretext that Takara accessed those files, and according to the documentation registered in the secret library, he never touched a single scroll from that place.
Everything was learned through "self-study" and by observing other puppeteers.
In other words, legally, Takara had no obligation to hand over his original creation to anyone, and that was what he did, refusing to face the Kazekage.
And when later a Noxina "went missing," a chakra explosion resonated in the village that very day, coming from a specialized workshop in puppet assembly.
Chiyo looked at the explosion area with both admiration and frustration.
She herself had examined Takara's Noxina before secretly delivering it to this place, and although it seemed simple, she had no idea where to start to recreate it. It was a completely different style from what had always been used in the village, more similar to the work of a high-precision watchmaker.
The principle is simple: to drain the chakra of the Shukaku that seeps from the seal and that interferes with Gaara's chakra, allowing him to sleep without being tormented by the tailed beast.
Each Noxina could be used for three days before it was full and needed to be replaced by a new one, which was a bit expensive to build.
But for Gaara, who had been accumulating money from his missions without having anywhere to spend it, it was not a problem at all. He paid in advance and received seven Noxinas, which he guarded jealously, aware that his brother Kankuro was looking at them too intently.
And while people were glad that a better-rested Gaara was less likely to seek blood and kill people, no one seemed to notice a small and insignificant detail.
Where did the Shukaku's chakra extracted by the Noxinas go?