[table][row][cell][color=green]Natsuo Aburame[/color][/cell][cell][color=green]"Everyone talks big till there’s a bug in their mouth. Then they can’t talk at all, cause of the bug in their mouth!"[/color][/cell][/row][row][cell][sup][color=#2E2C2C]_______________________________________________[/color][/sup]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/DFeSMtX.png[/img][/cell]
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Waiting at the cave’s entrance with the rest of the group, Natsuo looked up at the clouds and rolled his head from side to side while he turned his new nickname over in his mind. He  smiled. He liked it!  “Hat and Stars” sounded like a children’s game, something you’d play with a handful of paper stars and a wooden cup. That sounded like a fun game to him.  It also sounded a bit like an exclamation. “Oh, my hat and stars!” He raised his eyebrows, thinking the exclamation out across his face. 

He supposed Ari herself was the sort of person who exclaimed a lot. He perched himself on one foot, gently wobbling side to side as he peered at their self-declared team leader’s display of muscle. It reminded him of a rooster he’d seen on a farm, posturing and crowing to keep the hens in line. She was certainly being rather loud. 

Natsuo frowned and put a finger to his chin, which, as he was still standing on one leg, put him in a strange tilted position, like a cactus growing diagonally. He didn’t think Ari was as stupid as she looked. Posturing was a useful strategy in the animal kingdom, especially if you were small. The best defense against a bear is to flap your arms around and act big, and none of them were bigger than a bear. Perhaps Ari knew what was coming.  If she wanted to be leader, it suited him fine. 

Natsuo relaxed his legs and stood upright. He was glad he’d made a good impression on Ari, even if it was partly based on his potential pocket money.  And with her on the team, Natsuo had some idea of the strategy they’d be using down in the caves.  His Kikiachu and Yue’s shadows made a deadly combination, in darkness or light, while the other two seemed the assassin or brawler type. He folded his arms and looked over at Bakuto. It was good for an assassin to be scrawny and/or battle damaged. They’d have to be quick, because the consequences of failure were always right there where an arm used to be. He nodded to himself. Reminders were helpful.

Then again, Natsuo had no idea how the other boy had lost his arm. He’d never asked. For all he knew, Bakuto could have lost his arm in a freak farming accident,leaving him with nothing but a longstanding fear of chicken coops. Natsuo peered sideways at him, hiding his stare behind his sunglasses. Bakuto seemed annoyed, and he furrowed his brows in empathy. He supposed Bakuto could have just been born without an arm. 

It occured to Natsuo that he could just re-introduce himself to this new team and see how it went. Maybe he could show them his kikaichu. But the air felt different now than it had back at the card stump.  He felt timid before the yawning cave and the odd, puppet-like man who’d chosen them.

Natsuo accepted a handful of gummy stars and put them into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.



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