Chapter 468: Naruko
"I'll demonstrate how to use this thing for you."
Kankuro took a deep breath. His fingers moved, and several threads quietly extended from his fingertips, connecting to the "Naruko" puppet's neck.
As his fingertips trembled extremely lightly, a wisp of gentle chakra transmitted along the threads, injecting into the puppet's driving formation.
The next moment—
As if a sleeping beauty from a story was awakened by a knight, "Naruko's" tightly closed eyelids slowly, naturally opened.
Revealed in the dim light was a pair of pupils carefully carved and polished from the finest sapphires.
The interior of the gems was beautiful, as if sealing a miniature galaxy. Under the faint glow of chakra, they flowed with clear, lively yet carrying a trace of non-human brilliant light.
These eyes were startlingly beautiful, yet also clearly reminded observers that this was not flesh and blood.
Immediately after, "Naruko's" lips slightly curved upward, outlining a brilliantly sunny, energetic standard smile.
A crisp, pleasant voice carrying a girl's unique vigor, mixed with pre-programmed enthusiasm, transmitted from her delicate throat's vocal device.
"Hello! My name is Uzumaki Naruko. Please take care of me from now on!"
The voice was incredibly vivid, with perfect cadence and rhythm, exactly like a truly lively, cheerful girl making a self-introduction.
That oncoming sense of reality made Gaara, who was already in extreme shock, miss a heartbeat.
However, this lively performance only lasted less than three seconds. After finishing that greeting, "Naruko's" smile on her face instantly froze. The light in her eyes also dimmed, her body returning to a slumped posture, once again falling into silence.
This abrupt shutdown made Gaara quickly lean forward, panic and loss passing across his face, fearing that brief vitality would thus disappear.
"Don't be nervous," Kankuro spoke at the right time to explain. "The method of using this puppet is very simple. Just through bodily contact, inject chakra containing your 'will' and 'instructions' into this specific chakra injection point on her neck."
He pointed to an extremely small circular mark on "Naruko's" nape. "She can make corresponding movements, expressions, and speak statements conforming to the 'setting' based on the chakra 'intent' you input. The core formation inside will analyze your chakra fluctuations and convert them into driving commands."
In other words, this was a specially made puppet completely driven by the user's will that could be operated without learning puppet techniques.
"Aside from the absurdly high cost, purely from the function of realistic companionship, this can be said to be the current achievable 'perfect companion.'"
Gaara's attention had been completely captured by the "Naruko" before him. He couldn't hear clearly Kankuro's later words about cost. All rationality and restraint completely collapsed in the instant those sapphire eyes opened and closed.
He could no longer restrain himself. Trembling, he extended his right hand. His fingertips carried cautious testing, lightly, extremely slowly, touching "Naruko's" shoulder.
The sensation transmitted from his fingertip made him slightly freeze.
The skin beneath the clothing, though lacking a living person's warmth, had delicate elasticity, soft texture, and the realistic friction of cloth fabric... Almost indistinguishable from true flesh and blood.
This sensation pulled that unreachable illusion to a reachable distance.
Gaara closed his eyes, calming his wildly beating heart. Then, following Kankuro's guidance, he mobilized his chakra, mixing it with the strongest, most primal desire from deep within his heart.
"Want her to move, want her to speak to me, want her... like in the dream, to smile at me"—slowly, continuously, from his fingertip injecting into that tiny chakra injection point.
The chakra activated the silent formation inside. The sapphire eyes lit up again, even more lively than before, reflecting Gaara's figure. "Naruko's" head turned slightly, her gaze focusing on Gaara's face. That programmed smile appeared again, but this time with more "curiosity" and "goodwill" fitting the current situation.
She spoke again, her voice still crisp and pleasant, but the tone had subtle changes due to the chakra "intent" Gaara injected, becoming gentler, carrying soothing and accepting meaning.
"Your name is... Gaara, right?"
She tilted her head, her golden twin tails lightly swaying accordingly. "What a nice name. From now on, we're family. Please treat me well."
After speaking, she actually proactively raised an arm. The movement was so smooth and natural it didn't seem like a puppet. Her fingers lightly lifted, caressing Gaara's cheek that was flushed from shock and excitement.
The fingertip's sensation was still slightly cool, but that gentle movement, that focused "gaze," heavily struck Gaara's already fragile heart.
However, all these seemingly proactive intimate behaviors actually completely originated from the "will" contained in Gaara's own chakra, extremely desiring to be treated this way.
This puppet was like the most precise mirror, materializing and feeding back Gaara's deepest desires in the gentlest manner.
"..."
Gaara's body froze. He felt that slightly cool sensation on his cheek, heard that familiar yet strange voice saying the words he most wanted to hear, saw those sapphire eyes reflecting only his own shadow... The complex torrent of boundless loneliness and illusory satisfaction instantly broke through all his defenses.
"...!!!"
Kankuro observed nervously from the side, his heart still full of contradiction and uncertainty—giving this thing to Gaara, was it a lifeline to temporarily help him escape the quagmire, or a dangerous push into even deeper illusion? He didn't have an answer yet.
However, the next second, he saw a scene that completely stunned him.
Two lines of clear tears, uncontrollably burst from Gaara's widened eyes, rolling down his pale cheeks, dripping onto the back of "Naruko's" hand caressing his face, also dripping into the thick sand dust in the room.
And "Naruko," once again sensing the intense emotional fluctuation in the user's chakra, her expression became even gentler.
She withdrew the hand caressing his face, then opened both arms in a gentle, embracing posture, lightly encircling the rigid Gaara, gently pressing his head into her shoulder hollow that had no heartbeat, no body temperature.
Her voice became even lighter, slower, carrying the gentleness and patience of comforting a child, softly sounding in Gaara's ear.
"Don't cry, don't cry... Gaara is a strong, good child... Don't be afraid, don't be sad... Look, I'm here... I will... stay by your side forever..."
This gentle speech, this long-desired embrace, this "illusion" created by his own will... made Gaara's tense body finally completely relax.
Like a child lost for a long time, he tightly embraced this lifeless "warmth," burying his face deeply into that neck hollow carrying a faint artificial fresh scent, letting tears flow freely.
Kankuro watched this both absurd and heartbreaking scene—his powerful yet lonely brother, tightly embracing a lifeless puppet, silently venting emotions suppressed for who knows how long in that "embrace" constructed of cold gems and biomimetic materials.
His heart was filled with mixed emotions, both feeling a trace of weak relief for finding a way that might "alleviate" his brother's suffering, yet feeling deep sorrow that this "alleviation" was built on such an illusory foundation.
Finally, he sighed and decided to temporarily retreat, leaving the space to Gaara himself. He needed time to digest and also needed to think about what to do next.
Just as he lightened his steps, preparing to quietly exit the room—
"...Thank you, brother."
An extremely light voice carrying heavy nasal congestion transmitted from Gaara's direction, buried in "Naruko's" shoulder.
Kankuro instantly froze in place. He abruptly turned around, looking at Gaara's figure with disbelief.
Brother.
In Kankuro's memory, Gaara calling him "brother" so naturally... this seemed... to be the first time.
A warm current mixed with deeper heartache instantly surged to Kankuro's heart, making his eyes also feel warm.
He forcefully blinked, his voice slightly hoarse from emotional fluctuation, yet he tried hard to squeeze out a relaxed smile.
"Haha... this, this is nothing. As long as you feel better, that's better than anything. You... you rest well first. I, I'll go check on Temari..."
He tried to use his normal tone to cover the shock in his heart, once again preparing to turn and leave this place that made his emotions turbulent.
However, Gaara's next words instantly extinguished the warmth that had just risen in Kankuro's heart, making cold sweat on his back "whoosh" out again.
Gaara slightly loosened the arms tightly embracing "Naruko," but did not completely let go. He turned his head sideways, his cheek still pressed against the puppet's slightly cool shoulder. Those eyes that had just shed tears looked straight at Kankuro, flashing with a mixture of pleading and anticipation.
"Brother!" He raised his voice somewhat. "Can you... make another one?"
"Ah?" Kankuro froze, not understanding for a moment. "Another, another one? You mean... spare parts for 'Naruko'?"
Gaara's next words, each one struck Kankuro's heart like a heavy hammer.
"Can you... make another one... just like Naruto?"
.....
ok the puppet was weird in itself, but now he want a harem of puppets?
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