Aurikki: This is one of the few situations where I will have a recap.

Recap:

"Being of the moon come forth and merge with Ayla Belenus. Being of the sun come forth and merge with Ayla Belenus. Merge and become one. Merge and become the Twilight Liger." I said.

From both gates burst two mighty lions. One was red orange, this one came from the Lunar Gate, and one was a light blue with darker blue, flame-like markings, this one came from the Solar Gate. They both gave a mighty roar and turned into beams of light that flew toward Ayla. Ayla was surrounded by the light for a few moments. When the light dimmed, and then faded, a white liger with red orange, yellow, and blue armor stood in Ayla's place, and this was no kitten. She was slightly larger than the ancient Saber-Toothed Tiger.

Begin

"Welcome Farvardin," I said, "Keeper of the Astral Gates. I have summoned thee to assist me in vanquishing my foes. If thou wishes, you may leave at any time."

The armored liger jumped at Zabuza and bit down on his leg. Zabuza managed to get the majestic beast off of him, but Farvardin had other plans. She rose onto her hind legs and her armor shot senbon needles at him. He was hit by most of them. As he struggled to get up, Farvardin fell back into a crouch. The armor on her back lifted slightly. She roared an almighty roar that pushed Zabuza back into a tree. From her raised back armor shot five kunai. Four stuck into the muscle of his arms and legs attaching him to the tree. The fifth stuck into the tree just right of his neck. She did that on purpose. She never misses. Farvardin then separated into her three entities and went back to where she came from.

A tracker nin came, killed Zabuza, and carted off his body. Weird. Tracker nins usually work right there. Not caring who sees. Oh well. I took a glance at my teammates and sensei.

"Where did you learn that?" Kakashi asked.

"My mother taught me. Ayla was one of her guardians. She found to lion cubs and discovered they could fuse with Ayla. One was named Savitri and the other was named Purnoma." I explained.

"Well it's a very amazing summoning." He said.

"Thank you." I said, "The summoning was my idea. My mother wasn't a ninja, so she didn't see the possibility of using her guardian and said guardian's cubs as fighters."

"Let's continue on." Kakashi-sensei said.

We continued on our way to Tazuna's home. The closer we got the more my mind dwelt on the tracker nin and Zabuza. After a short time, I realized that the tracker nin was probably working with Zabuza. I now recognized the area where the senbon hit. It was a pressure point that stimulated death. Clever, but not clever enough. We were almost there, or so the bridge builder said, and I had the beginnings of a plan.

I'll leave the so called tracker nin to Sasuke and Naruto. I thought, Kakashi-sensei and I can handle Zabuza. I'll summon Ayla, but not her comrades. I'll give the excuse that it takes up too much chakra and I want to be ready for anything. I'll then use my Sharingan to copy Zabuza's movements and anticipate his attacks. If I necessarily have to I'll use my Ketsuekigan, but not with others watching. I'm hoping he'll use that heavy mist jutsu of his.

Aurikki: Yes it's short, but I thought this would be as good a place as any to leave it off. I promise I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Ta ta.