(Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything related to the universe he resides in.)

Chapter Two

Needing a Backbone

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Airi whined as her older brother washed her scrapes from the afternoon's encounter with Gaara. Moshi laughed as he patted the wet cloth gently on her skin. Airi bit her lip and looked up, whimpering and then closing her eyes as a hand pushed against the top of her head, hearing laughter above her.

"I thought you didn't want to be a kunoichi, Airi-chan," her eldest brother, Zion, remarked with a grin, a cigarette between his lips.

Airi sweatdropped and retorted, "You want me to be a second-hand smoker…?"

Zion laughed loudly, leaning towards her and pinched her cheek. "Only if you want to!"

Annoyed, Airi swatted his hand away. "Onii-chan! Cut it out!"

Zion laughed even more, stepping back and grabbed a 25 kg barbell with one hand and pulled the weight to his chest and back down. He takes the cigarette away from his mouth and puffed out a small cloud of smoke away from his siblings. "You're so easy to tease, Airi-chan."

Airi stuck out her tongue as Moshi chuckled and stood up. "Airi, please be careful around Gaara-sama. He's quite powerful…"

Zion snorted, "He's a freak…"

Airi stood up, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance and placed her hands on her hips. "What would you know? You never met him, did you? Have you talked to him? If you do not know him, why are you calling him a freak?"

Zion and Moshi blinked in unison. Zion puts his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "Oh…? And have you?"

Airi blinked and sweatdropped. "No…but I'm going to tomorrow!" she proclaimed with a grin.

They both yelled simultaneously, "NO!" Her two brothers took a breath and gained their composure. Zion grabbed another cigarette and started to light it, his dark blue eyes fixed on the end of the cigarette as Moshi smiled nervously, his hands before him. "We're just worried about you…he is known to be dangerous…we don't want you to get hurt like today…"

Airi blinked and nodded slowly before walking outside to the porch to feel the cool night air. She understood that her brothers didn't want another family member to be killed by violence. Airi's parents, Hiroki and Ayame Harui, were killed in a mission to save some hostages which in the end turned out to be a trap on the enemy's part. Once news of their deaths reached the children's ears, Moshi quit being a ninja, having been a Chuunin for a couple of years, to take care of the household at the young age of 15. Zion became the main source of income, already a Jounin at the age of 20. Airi was only 4 years old, and that day made her want to take a different path than the path of a shinobi, to find a way of living without resorting to violence. Two years have passed, and life became as peaceful as before her parents' deaths.

Airi sat on the porch stairs and yawned widely, closing her eyes and stretching out her little arms. After rubbing her eyes, she looked up at the sky. 'Oh…a full moon…' Airi thought to herself as she hugged her legs to her chest, staring at the glowing orb in the sky which was surrounded by tiny specks of light against the dark sky. She blinked as she heard quick footsteps. Airi got up quickly and turned around, tripping over the front step and falling on her hands and knees. She crawled rapidly to a sand pillar and hid behind it as best as she could, turning her head to the side to see what was going on. Airi looked surprised to see Gaara no Suna running to Tara's house across from Airi's. Airi leaned toward that direction to be able to hear what they were saying.

She glanced, seeing the timid boy knock on the door and Tara opening the door a bit, but Airi could recognize Tara's voice.

"I'm sorry about earlier…That must've hurt…" Gaara stammered as he held up something Airi couldn't see. "Please use this ointment…"

Airi smiled widely at his kindness, believing he really wasn't the monster her brothers and friends said he was. Then Airi's jaw dropped as she heard Tara's short reply, "….go away, you monster…" With that, the girl slammed the door in his face. Airi frowned at Gaara's rejection and sighed a little. Gaara looked back toward Airi's house for a few seconds before he dropped the ointment and trudged down the street. Airi sat behind the pillar of sand, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.

After a few minutes, Airi peeked out of her hiding spot and looked around to see if the coast was clear, sighing in relief to find Gaara gone. Airi got up and then stomped over to Tara's and pounded on the door.

"Leave me alone, you monster!"

Airi puffed out your cheeks in anger. "It's Airi!"

Tara opened the door and blinked before sighing in relief. "I thought you were that monster, Gaara no Suna…"

Airi glared at her friend. "He was trying to give you ointment. He said he was sorry! He didn't mean it…why are you calling him a monster when he was trying to help us out?"

Tara blinked in shock and looked annoyed. "Look…he's a monster because he hurt us. I heard from my parents that he could kill people with sand whenever he wanted to!"

Airi ignored whatever Tara was saying, quickly becoming impatient with her behavior and pointed at her. "Have you even tried to talk to him? Maybe he is just a lonely, generous boy looking for friends."

Tara glared back and pointed at Airi. "Oh yeah!? Then you become his friend…you freak…!" She slammed the door once again.

Airi clenched her fists and yelled, "Maybe I will!" Airi stomped off Tara's front porch angrily and marched down the street to find Gaara no Suna.

After calming down a bit while walking through the village, Airi spotted him, walking past a drunken man on his way home. Airi strolled toward him when the man sneered at Gaara who bumped into him. "Watch it, you little bra…" As he said this, he realized that he bumped into the redhead. His eyes grew wide with fear. "…You…you are…"

Airi was about twenty feet away from them as sand swirled around Gaara, the sand flying at the man and buried him alive. A small explosion can be heard from within the small dome of sand, blood flying everywhere. Airi stopped where she was, eyes wide as she heard the man screaming before his voice was silenced. She could feel the blood drain from her face as people started running out into the street, Gaara walking away.

"What…What happened!?"

"I…it's Gaara!"

"H, hey…this guy's dead…!"

Airi felt like she was frozen to that spot, staring at the blood-stained mound of sand highlighted by the moon's rays, seeing a limp hand poking out from the bottom of the mound. She barely comprehended what was going on at that point. She was shocked; she was terrified; Airi witnessed Gaara's first murder…