Chapter 40: Shino's Purpose

Shino, Airas, and Aurion perked up as someone emerged from the final door. "Airi!" they shouted.

Airi looked at them. "Finally! I'm glad I found you guys!"

"We were beginning to get worried," Kiba said.

"Yes. We thought that maybe you were in trouble," Hinata added.

"Well, I'm here now!" She smiled. "So now what? We're gonna find Shinji, right?"

"Yeah, let's go," Aurion said. They walked over to a large door in the back of the room. "Here we go." They pushed the door open and went through.

"Heh heh, I see you all passed the trials…"

All six friends got into defensive positions. "Who's there! Show yourself!"

A cloud of smoke exploded before them and Shinji transpired. "Hello there my friends. I was lonely without you…"

"Shinji!"

"Yes, yes, I know. It has been a while, hasn't it?" He smiled. "And I see Airi is here." She glared at him. "So tell me, did you enjoy seeing Kaji last night?"

"You bastard!" Airi yelled. She ran forward at him, but Shino grabbed her arm. "I knew it! You were the one that released Kaji upon that innocent village! What did you do to him? Answer me!"

"Isn't it obvious? I summoned him."

"Wait a minute," Airas said. "That's not possible! In order to summon, you have to have a summoning mark!"

"Oh, but I do. I have one exactly like the one on your stomach, and on your bother's arm, and on Airi's back…"

"You no good piece of crap!" Aurion shouted.

"Why thank you. You see, that book you all got me was a Nozomi artifact that was chockfull of secrets of the Nozomi Clan. It even had a section on summoning."

"Why are you doing this?" Hinata asked.

"To take Shino's place of course," he answered with a smirk.

"What?" Shino asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Shino's…place?" Airi whispered.

"I guess it's time I let you in on Shino's purpose." Shino listened closely. "Shino, I can't believe you don't know this but here we go." He cleared his throat. "A long time ago, the Nozomi Clan had developed eleven weapons and five of those were supposed to go to the Aburame Clan. They were a sign of the alliance between the two clans. They called these weapons "Summon Spirits". The Nozomi people tested out the Summon Spirits in order to make sure that they were functioning properly. Of course, the entities were perfect. They helped the Nozomis Clan in many ways and they decided to keep all eleven. Instead of giving them to the Aburames like they promised, they passed down the art of summoning within their clan to the priests or priestesses. The Aburame Clan was outraged by the betrayal and grew jealous of the prospering clan. So what did they do you ask? They began a war. After many, many years of fighting, the leader of the Aburame the clan selected a child that had 'promise'. The child was Aburame Shino. My clan's leader at that time selected Shino to kill Nozomi Kyo, Nozomi Megumi, Nozomi Aurion, Nozomi Airas, and Nozomi Airi."

Airi froze. "…Mom…Dad…" She closed her eyes. "Shut up! You're lying!"

Shino stared at Airi. "I was…supposed to…kill her?"

"That's right!" He smiled. "But I was selected to be your replacement should you fail. Didn't you find it strange that we were always treated differently Shino-kun?"

"That's a bunch of bull!" Kiba yelled. "Shino would never do something like that!"

"On the contrary. This foolish boy speaks the truth." Everyone turned to their left and saw an old man approaching them.

Shinji glared. "Old man, why are you here!"

"Hold your tongue boy!" the man hissed.

"Yosaku?" the three siblings cried.

He smirked. "Yes, that was my Nozomi name. But my real name is…Aburame Shen!"

They took a step back. "But, Yosaku, why!"

"I needed to see what your clan was capable of. I wanted to see what it was like. And I learned that out of all the Summon Spirits, Inochi is the strongest! I want it!"

Airi clutched her necklace. "You can't have her you traitorous bastard! I won't let you!"

"Humph, you forget that I can destroy you with one hand."

"Get out of here!" Shinji screamed. "Once I get rid of Shino, you will have no choice but to acknowledge me! Then…I'll get rid of you! Then no one will be able to stop me! I'll have it all! Both clans!"

"You pitiful worm. You can't stop me. I created this war!" Shen shouted. He turned to Airi. "Airi, you said that you want to stop this war, right? Then the only way you can do that is by killing me, the man that started this war. The man that taught you everything you know." He headed for another door.

Airi stared at the ground. …I…What should I…do?

"Hesitation leads to disaster." Shino looked at her. "You must be swift if you want to do what's right…This is the ninja way."

I might not be a ninja but… She looked up. I am a priestess! She ran after Shen.

"Airi?" Hinata chased after her friend.

"Hey you guys!" Kiba headed for the same door.

Shinji appeared in front of him. "Stop! None of you will get away! If you wish to fight…here I am!" He kicked Kiba back. "Your fight is here with me…and your death is here!"