Aligning the Stars

Plucking Flicky

Last Time:

"You going to explain?" Naruko asked the only teammate that wasn't acting weird, Akamaru. The dog just shook his furry head with a canine laugh ...

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"There are the mountains." said Tenten as he saw a mountain appearing as the tree line ended. "What is a Flicky anyway?"

"There is some debate about that. Some people call it a feathery insect and some call it a bird that looks like a beetle, but with only two long legs. They hide in the dry parts of mountains ... in fact, they should be right around here so don't land on the ground." She said and they stopped right in the last trees of the forest near a dirt path that wrapped its way up the imposing mountain.

Neji activated his byakugan and frowned, "I don't see anything."

"Actually I don't think you can. My sensei pointed out that it might be impossible because the byakugan sees chakra in creatures, but these are magical beings ummm ..." Naruko looked around and finally pointed at a tiny creature that looked like a tiny green humanoid person with a flower growing out of his head like an antenna., "Close your eyes and look at that little guy."

Both Neji and Hinata did as asked and were stunned to see that the little creature disappeared when they closed their eyes and only used their byakugan, "Oh crap ... this makes things more difficult." muttered Hinata.

Naruko smiled and chuckled, "Not really, we have the advantage because you can see the landscape." She said and with a slight wave of her hand making a ball of water appear in her hand. She blew at the ball causing it to break apart and shower the ground with water. A split second later a giant green crab popped out of the ground and scuttled away quickly with his claws snapping viciously. It was most likely pissed that its sleep was disturbed.

"Holy shit!" gasped Kiba as the crab snapped a tree clean in half to clear a path.

"Goblin crabs ... that means the Flickys are higher up the path." Naruko comment as she jumped down to the ground. "You guys coming?" She glanced back over her shoulder to look at the dumbfounded ninjas.

Shikamaru blinked, "Right ... we're coming." He and the others jumped down from the trees and followed her up the path.

As they traveled up the mountain they gazed at the unique land below and the strange animals they never thought existed before, "So Naruko ... what's your sensei like?" asked Gaara as he watched a cat with bat wings flutter passed them.

"My sensei saved me a couple times. After that incident with Kakashi and ... Marco." She rolled her eyes as she recalled the memory. "Marco and his brothers, Frank and Dan, tricked me with an illusion of someone screaming for help and it lead me right into Shadow Mountain ... sensei came out of nowhere in a blaze of fire to drag me out of the shadows' range. It wasn't long after that the shadows asked me to make a contract with them, which never happened before ... my sensei is also very sympathetic to people who are, as he calls it, 'hated for marks they never wanted.'" said Naruko softly

"Did he have a similar past to you and Gaara?" asked Kiba

"Yes." Naruko frowned sadly, "His father heard that he failed the exams and was furious. My sensei had the same issue I did with chakra, too much too control, but his father took failing as a sign of weakness and forced him to accept a demon summoning contract to 'get his honor back' ... it backfired ... sensei accidentally summoned a very strong demon and 12 people were killed ... everyone was afraid, his dad was proud ... my sensei disappeared after that and trained far away."

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Taiyo sat down in a chair in the with Pora on her tall stool, "We'll have to wait an hour or two until the race is done. The realm they choose has a big time difference so Naruko will be back soon." The green haired mage grinned as his goggle covered eyes focused on something outside. "It must be chilly outside, come in." He twisted his wrist and the front door flew open. Someone went flying into the chair opposite of him. "Hello Kakashi, I do believe we should talk."