Chapter 1: The Beautiful Nightmare

AN: So, first chapter of my O.C. Naruto story 'Fire and Ice.' This story follows Ayame and Kiame, twin sisters from Konoha. Each portion is separated by different prov's from the girls, other characters, etc...This story is also a continuation/explanation of Ayame, from my story 'My Valentine' _ s/10572194/1/My-Valentine

At the end of this page, I'll post a little about the girls so those interested can see. :) Well, uhm, I hope you guys like it! R & R please! :D

~Aria

I try to run away,
from the pain,
from the world.
But as I do so,
your voice rings through my head
and breaks through all reason;
telling me to stay.

So I stop,
and turn back…
Knowing that one day,
we can run away with this pain together.

-Ayame's prov. -

The world around me was so silent, it was almost sickening. There was no sun, only a dark, sickly looking moon. That was odd, just a few minutes ago I was lying in my room…ah, must be another dream…I sighed.

The sky was painted an ominous shade of gold with bloody red clouds circling around its center. I rolled my head to the side; ancient trees surrounded the clearing I now laid in, forming a huge castle-like barrier of oak and leaves, with long gross looking vines hanging down from the withered branches. I watched in awe as the breeze rustled the upper canopies, causing a pair of dead leaves to fall gracefully to the floor below. The scene they created was so beautiful, it was almost as if I were watching a pair of dancers glide through on the dance floor; dipping, twirling then gently bowing as they departed on the grassy floor.

Taking a deep breath, I allowed myself to relax. For once, the nightmares of my family had subsided. Instead, I was embraced by a wondrously chilling dream of, seemingly, nothing. A feeling of security washed over me. Finally, I felt like I could let myself rest, relax.
Simply put, I felt at peace. After twelve years of suffering through murderous and blood filled dreams, I was, at last, having a calm and peaceful rest; and it was a rest I was going to revel in.

-Akatsuki Base, Kimigaugkre, 23:06-

"Itachi, have you located the objectives?" Pain asked, pausing briefly before the Uchiha. Itachi sat in a chair, encircled by the remaining members of the Akatsuki, eyes closed and hands held before his face in a prayer-like stance.

"No." He answered, somewhat annoyed.

"This is so pointless..." A voice complained.

"Silence, Hidan." Pain ordered, continuing his pacing around the room.

"I don't see how these girls we are trying to locate could possibly compare to the Jinchuriki we've been tracking down. Besides, Zetsu could have found them more efficiently than Itachi." Surrounding members agreed with Hidan's assumptions, "This mission is a waste of our efforts and goddamn t-"

Pain raised his hand, cutting off his statement. "You have spoken out of term, Hidan. This mission," He glanced around to each member, glaring. "I assure all of you, is of great significance."

"Hidan-sama does has a point," Deidara cut in, "Zetsu could have already located and captured these girl's in question, hmmm."

"Indeed, Zetsu would be ideal for an assignment of this caliber, but Itachi's Sharingan makes him useful for communicating with the targets through means other than confrontation." Pain explained, "This is the safest way to go about connecting with our targets; we cannot afford to let them discover our location, be it Zetsu failed. It's an unlikely scenario, but it still remains a possibility. They are both of high ranking shinobi lineage, it's too risky sending one member to take care of two targets. Not to mention the rescue group they are sure to send after their attempted kidnapping."

Deidara bowed his head. "..Just saying, un."

"I've found them." Itachi announced, opening his eyes.

"Well done, proceed with stage one." Pain replied.

-"Understood."

-Ayame's prov. -

The silent breeze suddenly picked up, whipping my hair around my face. I rose from my burrow in the grass, abruptly startled by the sight before me. All of the wondrous and mighty trees that had once towered over me were now leafless and shriveled; the grass had become brittle and yellow, breaking at my touch; and the sky was pitch black, the once golden moon replaced with a sinister looking lunar eclipse. One dream in twelve years that resembled peace, and now it was starting to fall apart…

I closed my eyes, silently hoping that I could wake myself. When I opened my eyes once more, it appeared as if the morbid display before me had only gotten worse. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of sickly black ravens now filled the limbs of the rotting trees, their scarlet eyes watching me from all positions; unblinking, and unwavering. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of one of the birds taking flight, its tattered wings growing larger and more blade-like with each and every stroke.

It then raced by me; one of its razor-like talons slicing the flesh of my cheek. Hot, metallic liquid instantly seeped from the wound, spilling down my face. The raven then circled above me, waiting for my next move. I inched backwards, trying to escape its next attack. But it followed, now joined by several others. I lifted my hands up to protect my face and snapped my eyes shut, attempting to shield myself from the bloodshed that was surely awaiting me...But again, it was useless.

They swarmed me, their beaks and claws digging into the exposed flesh on my arms and legs. I could feel the blood being drained from my veins, though the adrenaline kept me feeling awake and alert. A familiar feeling of loneliness seeped through the pain and began to bring me back to reality. I was alone again; no one would be here to wake me from the bloody onslaught, no one would come to my aid and keep me from experiencing that familiar feeling of dying, then waking in my room covered in sweat-just me, me and the ravens...Hmm, speaking of ravens… I opened my eyes; the attacks had stopped? Moving my head to the side, I noticed that a puddle of blood had now formed around my body, causing the surrounding grass and leaves to stick to my already damp skin.

I growled and bit my lower lip to fight back the pain. This was one hell of a dream... Using what little strength I could muster, I averted my gaze to the other side of the forest. The ravens had flown over to the opposite side of the clearing; and from the looks of it, it appeared as though they were joining together. At first they seemed to simply be a pit of growing darkness, swirling and cawing at each other; but slowly, gradually, they began to morph into a figure. A man..? From the looks of it anyway...

He had cropped black hair, a crimson band holding the longer portions back against the nape of his neck. Dark shadows clung, like his bangs, to the definition of his pale face, outlining his high cheekbones and matching pair of tear troughs beneath his scarlet eyes. He wore a Konohagurke ninja protector across his forehead-though a deep gash was torn across the emblem, symbolizing a broken tie with the village-and a long black cloak adjourned with numerous red and white clouds.

"Who are you?" I whispered, darkness beginning to creep into my line of vision. Great, I was dying…

"..That is not of importance." His dark, monotonic voice answered.

'Humph, so he's a smart mouth…' I thought, "Then why are you here?"

"I am here to deliver a message to you."

-"...Not interested."

"Are you sure?" I could hear a hint of humor in his voice as he spoke. "Would you still say no even if it involved you and your sister, Kiame?"

I clenched my teeth, "I don't know who you're talking ab-"

-"We are coming for you and your sister, Ayame."

With my last bit of energy, I managed to ask, "Who?" But my consciousness had slipped away before I could hear his answer.

--Kiame's Prov. -

I was deep in the forest, as for what forest-I did not know, but an eerie silence hung all around it. I had just begun to take out my kunai, when suddenly a blur of light raced by my face. I looked up, relieved to see one of my blazing red chakra phoenixes soaring above my head. Instinctively, I tuned my second sight into the creature and followed its already predestined flight pattern over the treetops. There was no feeling in the world like that of soaring through the sky... Although I was not physically flying, my mind was so attuned to the phoenix that I could see through its eyes, feel what it felt-and it was amazing. I didn't have any humanly bound restrictions; I was the one looking down at the earth, I was the one soaring and screeching into the sky, I was the one who was free.

It swooped low, dipping into a clearing not far from where I stood, then veered back up into the sky. The scout then circled around the clearing again, interested by the two figures now inhabiting its center. Both figures were dressed in black cloaks that had a red and white cloud pattern on them; I could tell by their appearance, however, that one was a man, and the other a woman. One figure, the one closest to the tree line, was stretched out on the ground, possibly asleep. A twinge of recognition was brought up by his face, although I couldn't possibly guess why. Uninterested, the phoenix only lingered over him for a moment, and instead soared to the other figure.

She pushed a pair of long brown bangs away from her familiar face, and looked up at the scout. Recognition suddenly dawned on me. That was Ayame…That was my sister.

She smiled once, recognizing the creature, but the smile didn't quite seem to reach her eyes, in fact, she seemed almost…sad to see it. I tried to get my scout closer-so it could communicate with her-but before I had the chance to do so something extinguished my creature, sending my mind spiraling back into my body.

I woke with a gasp.

I quickly looked around at my new surroundings, trying to assess my situation: I was in my bed at home, sitting bolt upright, with sheets tangled around my legs and sweat covering my body-no longer in that creepy forest. I sighed and laid back against my pillows, trying to catch my breath. It had all been a dream: a very weird dream, albeit, but a dream all the same…

Then it hit me…where was Ayame?

I shoved my blankets off my legs and stood, walking out the door and down the hall to my sisters' room. I peered through the small crack she had left in her door and smiled, relieved. Her dark brown hair was fanned out across her pillow, and her blankets kicked to the floor. I held back the motherly urge to sneak into her room and fix what little cover she still, because I knew if I did it would wake her; Ayame had always been a light sleeper, after all. She suddenly mumbled something in her sleep as I pulled away from her door. I didn't need to tell her the events of my dream just yet; she deserved to have a good night's rest. I turned away and returned back to my room, strangely comforted by her presence.

-Ayame's prov. -

My eyes shot open, quickly taking in the area around me. Half of me was fully expecting to find the same rotted clearing stretched out before me, but instead I was welcomed by the familiar scene of my bedroom.

I pushed myself up off my mattress and walked over to my dresser, kicking the last of my blankets off in the process, but was abruptly startled by the reflection staring back at me. My normally straight brown hair was wrapped in sweaty strips around my face, mostly clinging to my forehead and neck. The skin beneath my eyes was purple and black, and looked as though I had been punched in the face (probably caused by my lack of sleep this week)...The only thing I actually found comforting about my parallel self was the fact that the gashes I had received during my dream hadn't carried over to reality.

I sighed and wiped away some sweat from my forehead. "You are fine, Ayame. Quit worrying." I mumbled, "You know that both you and Kiame will be just fine. It was just a weird dream, nothing to worry about…"

From the next room over, I could hear Kiame sleeping-well, snoring-blissfully unaware that her sister was listening. I smiled a little, she was so childish…Now, some of the general things one needs to understand about my sister is that she is a calm, harmonious being. She's generally the playful, talkative little sister that everyone pictures in dreams and fairy-tales…Unless you've gotten on her bad side, that's a different story entirely. I, on the other hand, am pretty much an overprotective, determined, smart-ass.
Boring, but that's the best description I can give you of myself.

Kiame is a successful Jonin captain, newly appointed as of this year, and I'm an ANBU squad officer. Two totally different jobs, I know, but somehow we both make it work. Both of us grew up without knowing our mother; she died giving birth to the two of us, I believe her name was Izanami or something like that-no one ever seemed to know much about her, not when asked anyway. So, since we never knew our mother, or what country she hailed from, we grew up in the Azikuria household in Konoha, which was ruled under our father, Kioshi.

Though we had never known what happened to our mother, my father still saw fit to blame me for her death; thus, I was the disgrace of our clan. I looked like most of the members with our lineage; I had the build and appearance, save for my eyes and kekkei genkei-but even with these oddities, what reason was there for him to disown me?
Ah, but my sister on the other hand, was the family prodigy-the one true heir to the clan name and power. I was the protector and shadow, and Kiame held the glory of the successor. Anytime I would forget my place in the order of the clan, I would be reprimanded without intervention-a small detail Kiame never seemed to listen to (she tried to take half of my punishments on more than one occasion)-and in any way my father saw fit; beatings, starving periods, or times locked in a cell.

All in all, our lives were ruled by one man, and it was a living hell up to the point he died. True, without him I may not hold the position I do now with work and things such as, but upon his passing we could finally be free of his tyranny. Kiame and I could finally get to know each other as sisters, no longer protector and successor.

I sighed again, pushing the painful memories of my past away. I needed to focus my mind on the matter at hand-the message.

"We're coming for you and you sister, Ayame."

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

Someone who was coming after you would at least have enough common sense not to tell you they were going to do so, wouldn't they? That would only give you time to defend yourself against their attack, send help...and that's too risky...Unless...They were already here, ready and waiting.

My heart suddenly jumped. They could be here-watching us, following us-just waiting for the opportune moment when they could catch the two of us off guard or by ourselves, and attack. The thought of that enraged me. If they were here, it would be because of me. It would be because I had let them slip by my ANBU squad's watch, because I had forgotten to double-check the border for security, or because I may have let my guard down while at home with my sister.

No. I couldn't have let that happen. There was no way...was there? I know I am only human, but still...

It was then that I noticed that the temperature in my room had suddenly fallen. I growled and glanced back at my mirror. Frost had now snaked up the glass and around the wooden frame, causing my reflection to become partially covered by ice. But through all that frost and ice-I could still see the purple glow of my kekkei genkei now engulfing my eyes. I clenched my teeth and stormed over to my window, almost breaking the pane with the force my hand exerted upon it, and leapt outside. Of all of the times my kekkei genkei could go haywire, it had to be now…The cool night breeze swept over me as I landed upon the ground. I took a long steadying breath, reveling in the nights chill, and broke out into a full blown run. At this point, I had to get away. If I didn't, I would lose control and risk hurting those around me, and I couldn't bear the thought of that...So I would go to the one place where I knew I could lose myself, where I could think and let go of it all-our training ground.

AN:

Ayame Azikuria's BIO

Age: 17

Weight: 128 lbs

Height: 5"7

Birthday: December 11th

Registration #: 0000165937

Rank/Status: ANBU Captain/Jonin

Paired w/: Itachi Uchiha

Appearance:

Ayame has long, (falls to about mid-back) straight brunette hair, with jagged bangs that sweep over her left eye. Cropped layers are evident throughout her hair, starting from her cheekbones down to her shoulder blades (a few pieces stick out but still flip into her face) (links show pictures)... Ayame's eyes are normally a light blue, but, according to what stage her kekkei genkei are in, they will begin to glow purple.

ATTIRE: (age 15-17) Ayame wears a navy blue cut-off zip top (one sleeve (left)) over a black camisole and tank-top fishnet jumpsuit. For her bottoms, she wears a pair of baggy black Bermudas, ANBU boots w/ shin guards, and a white sash around her waist. On her arms, Ayame wears fingerless gloves, a black armband (right), and bandage wraps on her elbows. At this time, Ayame has three piercings in each ear (1 hoop in top, 1 stud and hoop in bottom) and a black ANBU tattoo on her right arm (customary for female members to be on right, rather than left).

ANBU: (Konohagurke) While in her ANBU attire, Ayame wears a tight, black halter jumpsuit with a dark red scarf tied around her neck (signaling her status as a capitan), her ANBU vest, black arm sleeves (tied at her biceps by bandages) with a pair of arm guards over top, black gloves, (somewhat) baggy black pants with a white sash around her waist, black boots with shin guards, and a sheath for her blades. (Ayame's ANBU mask is white, with slits for the eyeholes and a wolf-like snout and ears. Black kanji on the forehead reads "Rain", and a satin red tie attaches it to her face)

For those interested in what Ayame may look like, here are links- art/Ayame-Azikuria-471036022 _ art/Ayame-Azikuria-278046508 _ art/Ayame-Azikuria-s-Timeline-260181525

Kiame Azikuria's BIO

Age: 17

Weight: 132 lbs

Height: 5"7

Birthday: December 11th

Registration #: 00003643290

Rank/Status: Konohagurke Jonin

Paired w/: Sasuke Uchiha

Appearance:

Kiame has long, (falls to about mid-back) straight/swept brunette hair with jagged bangs that fall over her right eye. Cropped layers are evident throughout her hair, starting from her cheekbones down to her shoulder blades, but flip outwards at the roots of her hair (unlike Aya's). Kiame's eyes are normally a light green; however, according to what stage her kekkei genkei are in, a bright red-orange will begin to show.

ATTIRE: (age 15-17) Kiame wears an emerald green tank-top over a long-sleeve fishnet jumpsuit and the normal green jonin vest over that. For her bottoms, she wears a pair of khaki brown shorts, brown/black combat boots w/ multiple pockets for her weapons, and a white sash around her waist. On her arms, Kiame wears black/brown fingerless gloves, a silver clasp armband (left), and bandage wraps on her elbows with grey armguards on her forearms. At this time, Kiame has five piercings in each ear (2 hoops in top, 2 studs and 1 hoop in the bottom).

And Kiame - art/Ayame-and-Kiame-Azikuria-267601857 _ art/Fire-and-Ice-302025435

Thanks for reading everyone! :D Anonymous and regular reviews welcome, por favour :D

~Aria