Chapter 7: Puppet
"So, who exactly are we meeting?" Aurion asked. "What're they like?"
"They're all annoying," Airas responded.
"What? Really?" Aurion blinked.
"Airas!!!"
The two Nozomis stopped. Airas gritted her teeth. "You're about to meet them Aurion…" She sighed and they both turned around.
Kiba came running up to Airas. "Hey, Airas, where have you been?!"
Aurion raised a brow. "Hey, what's he doing here? He's not a Nozomi." He looked around. "And why is my village in ruins?"
"Geez, you're slow," Airas mumbled. "You just now noticed that?" She shook her head and looked at Kiba. "What do you want brat? Where are your inferior comrades?"
"Would you please not call me brat?!" Kiba shouted. "I've asked you that a million times! Do NOT call me brat!!"
"Shut the hell up!" Airas shouted.
"Airas, please, watch your temper," Aurion said.
"Huh?" Kiba looked at Aurion. "Who're you?!"
Hinata and Shino came running after Kiba. "Kiba!" Hinata called out. "Why did you run off?!"
"Eh?" Aurion looked at Hinata. "…Oh…"
"Aurion," Airas said with a sigh, "these three are Airi's friends. They-"
Aurion shoved Airi into Airas's arms and kneeled before Hinata. "Hello there, my sweet girl." He pulled out a rose. "Ahaha, would you happen to have a bandage?"
"H-Huh?" Hinata blinked. Everyone looked at Aurion in shock. "Wh-Why do you need a bandage?"
Aurion smirked and let out a low chuckle. "Because, my sweet angel…" He looked up at her, his eyes filled with hearts. "I scrapped my knee falling for you!!"
"AHH!!" Kiba screamed. "What the hell was that?!"
"Excuse me?!" Hinata said.
Airas jumped back. "Aurion!?!"
Shino looked away in embarrassment. "That was so corny it made me feel stupid."
Airas came up behind Aurion and punched him in the back of the head. "You skirt chaser!! She's six years younger than you!!"
Aurion jumped up. "Ow! What was that for?!" He rubbed his head. "So what if she's six years younger than me? Love knows no age!!" He knelt down before Hinata again. "Right, my sweet angel?"
Hinata blushed. "U-Uh…"
"Come on, just one kiss…" He leaned forward.
"Knock it off!!!" Airas punched Aurion in the jaw. "Iron Punch!!!"
"AAGH!!" He tumbled forward. "Shit, Airas, your punches have gotten stronger since I last saw you!" He rubbed his jaw.
"Quit flirting with her!!" Airas yelled.
Shino glanced over at Airi. …I don't care about Keisuke even though he did assault my father. I want to help Airi. I want to see her smiling face again…
Airas looked at Shino. "Hmm? What do you want?"
He looked at her. "…I want to help Airi."
"There you guys are!!" Naruto and his teammates came rushing over. "Why'd you guys leave like that?!"
Sakura put her hand on her hips. "We have to stick together!"
Aurion looked at Sakura. "Hmm?!" He grabbed her hands. "Hello there, my beautiful rose."
"What?!" Sakura asked. "Who is this guy?!"
"Not again…" Kiba said.
Aurion put on a sly grin. "You must be tired because you've been running through my mind."
"WHAAAAT?!?!" Everyone screamed.
Airas and Sakura punched Aurion at the same time. "Stop flirting!!" they yelled in unison.
"Geez," Kiba began as he rubbed his head, "those are the worst pick-up lines."
Airas shook her head. "Where are your teachers?"
"They should be coming soon," Sakura answered. Just as she said, Kakashi and Kurenai joined them.
Aurion looked at Kurenai and froze. "…Sh-Sh…"
Kiba looked at Aurion, then to his teacher. Hmm? What's with that look?
"Did you guys find anything yet?" Kurenai asked.
"Who's that?" Kakashi asked as he pointed at Aurion.
"I-I'm…I'm Aurion!" he answered as his voice cracked. Ah! My voice! He covered his mouth.
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "O-Okay…"
Aurion…?! Kiba held up his hand. "Hold it!" He pointed at Aurion. "You're Aurion?! So you know Airi, don't you?!"
"Yeah, I do," Aurion responded.
"No way!" Hinata shouted. "Oops." She covered her mouth and blushed. "I-I mean, you're the guy that Airas and Airi are fighting over?"
"Fighting over?" He looked at Airas. "Airas, what're they talking about?"
"I have no idea," Airas said.
"Shino! You don't stand a chance against this guy!" Kiba shouted.
Shino stopped daydreaming at looked at Kiba. What? "Sh-Shut up Kiba," he said as a blush crept across his face.
Naruto started to think about the things he had learned from Hinata. "…Oh!" Everyone looked at him. "Now I remember! Aurion is the guy that Airas and Airi are in love with!!"
Airas and Aurion froze and their jaws dropped. "E-Excuse me?!" Airas exclaimed. "What the hell did you just say?! That's disgusting!!"
"Huh?" the ninjas asked.
"Yeah!" Aurion shouted. "We're no damn hillbillies!! Airas and Airi are my little sisters!!"
"What?!?"
Kiba looked at Airas. "But Airas, the way you talked about everything made it seem like-"
"Well that's your fault you perverts thought that! I never said anything about wanting to date my big brother or anything!"
"What kinda pervert do you think I am?!" Aurion shouted again. Everyone looked at him. "Er, that is to say…You guys are nasty!"
"You're all a bunch of idiots," Airas said with a sigh.
Shino began to daydream again as he stared at Airi. …Airi…I'm so sorry…
"Eh?" Aurion looked at Shino. "Hey, why do you keep staring at my baby sis like that?"
He blushed again and looked away. "I-It's nothing…"
"He's in love with her," Kiba said.
"Kiba!!" Hinata and Shino exclaimed.
"You're…in love with my sister?" Aurion asked. He crossed his arms and looked away. "Nope, not gonna happen."
"Excuse me?" Kurenai asked. "Why not?"
"Yeah!" Sakura added. "I mean, we know that she's your sister and we can understand if you want to protect her, but I think Shino has the right to-"
"Shut up," Aurion said. "He can't be with my sister, I won't let him."
"That's right," Airas said.
"He's an Aburame," Aurion explained.
Airas looked at her brother. "Wait, Aurion, you knew?"
"Yeah. He's the guy that killed me nine years ago. He's also the one that killed our parents." Shino remained impassive as his ninja comrades gasped.
"Hold on," Kakashi said with a hand up, "you were killed, correct? Then how are you-"
"Ask my sister," he responded.
Airas shook her head and gave Airi to her brother. "Stop this right now!!"
"Huh?"
"We don't have time for all of this!!"
"What're you planning now Airas?" Aurion asked.
"Aurion! We can't leave Airi in this state! We have to do something!"
He looked at Airi. "…Airas…How did this happen?"
"What? Oh, those damn Aburames stole her soul!"
"How?"
"Well, she was going through the Extraction of Final Judgment and the Aburames attacked…"
"Why was she going though that process?"
"Because of what she did nine years ago…"
"Who told her this?"
Airas tilted her head and blinked. "I…I did."
"I see." He looked down at his sister again. "Tell me, my stupid sister, where were you when the Aburames attacked?"
"Stupid sister? Aurion-"
"Answer me!!!"
"I was gone!"
"Why?"
"Because I…" She looked down.
"Look at me." She looked up at him and he studied her eyes. "…You…" He shifted Airi over to his other arm and used his free hand to backhand Airas in the face. "You foolish girl!! You fought Airi, didn't you?! You fought her with the intent to kill!!!"
"Aurion!" Hinata whispered.
Airas held her cheek as she looked up. "A-Au-"
"What is wrong with you?! After that incident, all you and Airi had was each other and you fought her?! I can't believe you!"
"But Aurion, she-"
"I don't care what she did in the past! It wasn't her fault!! Airi is your little sister and you couldn't even take care of her?! And then you told her some shit about having to give up her soul?!"
"A-Aurion…I-I'm…I'm sorry…"
He shook his head. "Don't tell me that, tell her that." He sighed. "Airi's too vulnerable like this…" He put her down and put his hand on her forehead. "Okay…" He started to mutter some words, then he removed his head. "Come on Airi…" Everyone watched him. "Airi…" Airi's eyes slowly began to drift open. Soon, her eyes were wide open and she blinked.
"Aurion! What did you do?!" Kiba asked.
"Yes, I'm quite curious to know myself," Kurenai said.
Airi and Aurion stood up. "Phew, that took a lot out of me."
She's…She's back to normal?! Without thinking, Shino ran forward, ready to hug Airi. "Airi!"
Airi looked at him, grabbed his arm, and threw him over her shoulder.
"Ack!" Shino hit Kiba and they both fell down.
"Shino! What did you do to make her angry?!" Kiba asked.
Aurion laughed lightly. "You might not want to do that again." He rested her hand on his little sister's head. "You see, what I did was make her Summoner Crystal active. Now, she's just a soulless puppet."
"She's a…puppet?" Sakura asked. Hmm? Look at her eyes, they're red…
"All Airi knows now is the difference between family, friends, Aburames, and Nozomis."
"So…does that mean she'll attack an Aburame?" Sasuke asked.
"Yep."
"That's kinda dangerous, don't you think?" Kakashi asked.
"Just think of her as a lethal weapon," Aurion said. "Oh, and don't try talking to her, she won't respond."
"Will she respond to you?" Kurenai asked.
"Nope. Not to anyone."
"She can't talk anymore?" Hinata asked.
"You guys sure do ask a lot of questions." Aurion turned back to Airas. "So Airas, how do you plan to fix this problem?"
Airas looked up. "Huh? Oh…I was thinking that we could get Inochi's spirit to use Airi's body. Then we could go look for her soul."
"Hmm…That might work…Then let's go to the Temple of Life!"
"…Wait!" Shino shouted.
"Huh? What do you want, Aburame?" Airas asked.
"I'd like to come with you," Shino answered.
"Shino, we can't," Sakura said. "We have our own problems to worry about."
"Yes, we have to complete our mission," Hinata said.
"…This is something that I have to do," he simply said. "I…I'm responsible for all of Airi's suffering and the loss of her soul."
"…Shino…"
"…Alright, sure, come on," Aurion said.
"What?! But I thought-"
"Airas, let's allow him to come," he said.
"But I thought you hate Shino," Kiba informed.
Aurion smiled. "I never said I hated him, I just said that I don't want him falling in love with my sister."
Shino blinked. "…I'm sorry Aurion…"
"Don't worry about it kid. That's in the past now."
Kakashi sighed. "Well, the rest of us better go too."
"Yes," Kurenai agreed. "There's no use in the separating. Besides, I'm sure this will be quick. Then we can get back to completing our mission."
Aurion stopped. "…R-Really? You'll come too?" He grabbed Kurenai's hands. "I never got you name!"
"H-Huh? O-Oh, my name's Kurenai."
"Heel boy," Airas said. "We can get all acquainted and stuff along the way. Right now, saving Airi is our priority.