Chapter 8: Borrowing Her Body

"Well, it was quite a hassle," Kurenai said as she wiped some blood from her lower lip, "but we got here."

"I didn't actually think that a few Aburames would be here," Kiba said.

"Or the fact that the Nozomis actually attacked us," Sasuke added.

"Well, at least we beat them without any casualties," Hinata informed.

"Sorry about dragging you through this," Aurion said, his apology aimed at the females.

"What about us!" Naruto asked.

"You guys are ninjas, so suck it up," he said.

"They're ninjas too!" Kiba said, pointing to the girls.

"Yes, but they're women. You all are men, you can handle it." He smirked. "If anything happens, ladies, I'll protect you."

"Uh…" Hinata said.

"We're not weak, you know," Sakura said.

"Thanks…I suppose…" Kurenai said.

Airi headed into the temple. "Airi?" Airas called. "Wait for us! I don't want you going by yourself." She ran after her.

"Let's keep moving," Sasuke said.

Aurion held up his hand. "Whoa there, you guys can't come."

"Why not?" Kiba asked.

"Because that's just the ways things are. You're not Nozomis, so you can't come."

"Does it matter!" Sakura demanded.

"I'm sorry my beautiful rose, but rules are rules."

"But Aurion, this is a time of crisis. I don't think anyone would mind," Hinata informed.

"Again, I'm sorry, my sweet angel."

"Aurion, please," Kurenai said.

"I hate to say 'no' to you, my glamorous beauty, but I have no choice." He smiled. "Besides, someone needs to stay out here and make sure no Aburames come in." He headed into the temple. "I'll be back, my hunnies!"

Sasuke sighed. "All he thinks about is women."

----

"It's about time you showed up," Airas said as Aurion ran up beside her.

"Sorry about that, lil' sis," he responded with a smile. He looked around. "Where's baby sis?"

"She's looking at Inochi's statue."

"Okay." Aurion ran over to Airi. "Hey Airi." She looked at him. "We're gonna help you, alright? We're gonna see if we can get Inochi to use your body." He led her over to a large stone dais. "Sit here and leave the rest to me and Airas."

Airas walked over. "Alright, we need to call Inochi out of the statue."

"Hmph, we don't have a Ritual Stone or anything…Oh! Do you have the Nozomi Charm?"

"Yeah." She held it up.

"That might work. Here." She tossed it to him. "I'll just put it in the hollow…"

"Aurion, the hollow is in the shape of a diamond, the Nozomi Charm is round. It won't fit."

"Hold on, hold on. Don't jump the gun just yet." He pointed to a crown on the statue's head. "We can just put it in there!" He put the charm in the hollow of the crown. "Okay! Now we just need to call her!" He turned to his sister. "Let's do it together."

Airas walked over to his side. "Right!"

"The protector of the Nozomi clan! The Goddess of Life! We call upon thee!" They held up their hands. "Gatherest before us and awaken!" Nothing happened.

"It's no working Aurion."

"Don't worry lil' sis, let's just do it again."

"But Aurion-"

He turned to her. "Let's put our heart and soul into this. We have to use our power to call her out." She nodded and they joined hands. "The protector of the Nozomi clan! The Goddess of Life! We call upon thee!" They held their hands up, still clutched in one another's. "Gatherest before us and awaken!" The Nozomi Charm began to glow, and little orbs of light drifted out of the statue. The two siblings closed their eyes and began to pray. Please, Inochi, we beg of you, help us! We want to save our sister! The little orbs morphed together and formed a woman.

"Who calls upon me?" the woman asked.

Aurion and Airas opened their eyes and let go of each other's hands. "I-Inochi?"

The woman tilted her head. "You're Airas and Aurion, correct?"

"Yes, we are," Aurion answered.

"You need me to help you sister, right?"

"Yes!" Airas replied. "Please!"

She looked at Airi. "…That girl…" She sighed. "…How do you expect me to help her? I am nothing more than a mere spirit."

"We want you to use Airi's body to help us find her soul."

"Do you think you can do that?" Aurion asked.

"Well I could try..." She walked over to Airi and hugged her. "Airi, let me help you…" With a bright light, Inochi was absorbed into Airi's body.

"Did it work?" Aurion asked as he walked over to Airi. Airi sat lifelessly for a while. After a moment or two, she opened her eyes.

"Look! Her eyes are green again!" Airas shouted.

"Airi?"

She looked up at Aurion. "Well, I guess it worked."

"Whoa, she sounds just like Inochi!" Aurion exclaimed.

"She is Inochi, you idiot!" Airas shouted.

"Yes, Airas is right. I'm just borrowing your sister's body, that's it," Inochi answered.

"Well, we'd better get back to our ninja friends," Airas said.

"A-Aaha," Aurion whispered, "Inochi, my amazing beauty…"

"I can hear you, you know, Mr. Tengoku Saru," Inochi said with a smirk.

"Don't you even think about flirting with Inochi while she's in you sister's body!" Airas hissed.

"I won't, I won't." They grabbed the Nozomi Charm and left the temple. They found the ninjas waiting impatiently outside. "Hey everybody! We're back!" He blew a kiss at the girls. "Hey there my hunnies, miss me?"

"No," Sakura said bluntly.

"N-Not r-really," Hinata said.

"Oh, you guys are so mean to me," Aurion whined. "How about you, Kurenai, my glamorous beauty?"

"I'd prefer it if you just called me 'Kurenai'," Kurenai responded.

Shino looked at Airi. Her eyes were green and she wore a smile on her face. "Airi? Airi!" He ran over to her. "Airi, you're back to normal now, right?"

Inochi held up her hand. "Oh no, I'm not Airi." The ninjas looked at her. "I'm Inochi."

"Wh-What?" Shino asked. "B-But…"

"Oh, I'm just borrowing her body for a bit." She smiled. "I hope we can all be friends, though!"

"So you're Inochi? The protector spirit of the village?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, that's me!"

Shino searched in his pockets and pulled out a figure. "You mean her!"

"Huh? Oh? Yes."

"Where'd you get that?" Aurion and Airas asked Shino.

He looked at the charm. "…Airi gave this to me…She gave this to me when I was…dying in the hospital." He clutched the charm.

"Oh! I remember that prayer she made!" Inochi said. "Yep, she prayed long and hard for your safety. She cares about you deeply, you know?" Shino looked down.

"Ahem, now that this is over, shouldn't we continue our mission?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, we should," Kakashi said.

"But what do we do? We didn't find any clues or anything!" Kiba informed.

"What're you guys trying to do?" Aurion asked.

"Yes! Tell us! Maybe we can help!" Inochi said.

"Well, we're looking for a guy named Keisuke," Kakashi answered. "We were told that a rumor said he was from this village."

"Keisuke…?" Airas repeated. "Hmm…" The two Nozomi siblings thought hard. Suddenly, they all looked up and stuck their fingers in the air. "That Keisuke!"

"You know him?" Kurenai asked.

"Know him?" They repeated. "They guy you're talking about is our uncle!"

"What! Your uncle!"

"Yes!" Airas gave them a curious look. "Wait, why…why do you want to find our uncle!"

"He attacked my father!" Shino shouted.

"What!" Aurion asked.

"What're you gonna do to him if you find him!" Airas demanded.

"We…We have to kill him," Kakashi said.

"What! No! You can't!" they shouted. "Not our uncle!"

Aurion pulled Airas aside. "Airas, we can't let them do that!"

"I know Aurion!"

"That's why we have to go with them!"

"What! Let's kill them first!"

"No Airas, I don't want anyone to die!"

"Aurion's right!" Inochi said. "We should resolve this peacefully."

Airas sighed. "I swear, you're both too nice for your own good, but…I trust you."

"Okay." Aurion turned back to the ninjas. "We'll come with you. Airas and I are the only ones that can find Keisuke, so we have to come."

"Alright, deal," Kakashi said.

Airas held up the Nozomi Charm. "We just need to follow the pulse waves from this."

"Then let's move out troops!" Aurion shouted.