Freezing The Fire
Long ice blue and white robes rustled in the wind, as the owner was sitting in the snow. Their hands clasped in a prayer as the person faced a large temple. Crimson hair that was tied up in a high ponytail was swaying in the wind. The pale, delicate looking skin of the 12 year old showed no marks, almost flawless except for the few faint freckles that dusted the bridge of the small nose. A faint smile was present on their lips as dark green eyes slowly opened, watching as a snowflake fell to the ground. She looked up and smiled. It was starting to snow. She placed her hands on the snow covered ground and bowed before getting up.
She looked at the hitai-ate that she had placed on her left arm and smiled, running her fingers over the 4 small dots that made up the hidden snow symbol. Even though her father was a ninja, he never did approve of her becoming a ninja. Yet she was persistent with him and he caved in, letting her train as a kunoichi. However he forced her to continue training as a priestess as well. She didn't know why he pushed her to and she had stated that she didn't like it a few times, yet her father ignored her complaints.
She adjusted the forehead protector and turned. Her smile faded slightly from her face as she watched her father walk over.
"Hello daddy," she said in a pleasant tone. The man nodded, brushing his crimson hair out of his eyes that even his hitai-ate couldn't keep in place but failed miserably as it moved back to where it was. She had gotten her looks from her father, that was very obvious but she had inherited her mother's gentle yet fierce personality.
"Come on," he said, holding his arm out to his 'little' girl. She looked up at the temple one last time before linking her arm with his, a small chuckle escaping from her lips.
"Daddy. Are you busy tonight?" she asked. Her father looked at her with his weary green eyes.
Understanding full well that his daughter meant, if he had to oversee things that only he, the clan's leader, could, he shook his head, "No tonight sweetie. Why?"
"I was thinking of cooking dinner for the 3 of us seeing as you love my food so much," she said, her smile grew.
He nodded, "That sounds great." He looked away from his daughter and thought for a few minutes.
"The festival's coming up in a month. Have you got yourself a kimono yet?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not yet daddy. I figured I'd get it a week before," she said, slightly shaking her head.
"All the best ones will be gone," he said.
"I don't mind," she said, looking at him as he led her inside their home. She slipped her arm out of his and took her shoes off before heading to the kitchen to start dinner before her mother could even think about starting.
Pushing up the long sleeves for what felt like the hundredth time, she served dinner. She sat down watched as her parents took a bite. She watched the smiles on their faces indicating that they liked it. She picked up her own chopsticks and begun eating.
-----
She sat in the same place, her eyes wandering around, taking in the other priests and priestesses that were praying along with her. She felt a presence behind her and thinking it was her father, she bowed and stood, turning around she came face to face with onyx eyes and black hair. She blinked before sighing.
"Hello sir," she said noticing his forehead protector and the slash across it, "You are far from you village I see. Would you like to stay the night, simply stock up for your journey or are you here for the upcoming festival?"
He sensed her chakra flow and smirked, "Who are you?"
"My apologies sir, I am Tora Harumaki. And may I enquire as to who you are?" she asked.
"Itachi. Drop the act," he ordered her. She blinked and sighed.
"Fine Itachi," she said, slightly glaring at him for ordering her around, "What do you what around here, Shinobi?"
"Nothing much," he said looking around, "just show me a place to stay." She turned and walked off, mumbling to herself about what an arsehole he was, not caring that he could hear her.
"I wouldn't complain if I were you. I might just find the urge to kill you," he whispered in her ear. She went rigid from how close he seemed to be.
"You wouldn't dare," she said, releasing her breath she had held in.
"Wouldn't I?" he asked, resting the tip of a kunai on her back. She gulped but kept her cool.
"I'm not scared of you," she said, turning around, glaring at him.
"Impressive for a girl," he stated. She was about to open her mouth when she saw the ninjas from her clan run towards the gates.
"Find somewhere yourself," she said running off, unaware that he was following.
----
She stopped next to her father.
"Daddy. What's going on?" she asked. Green eyes met hers.
"Tora stay back," he said.
She shook her head, "No, I'm a kunoichi daddy. I have a duty to protect this clan." The leader sighed.
"Akatsuki," he mumbled watching as Orochimaru appeared.
She gasped before looking at Orochimaru then back at her father, a look of determination within her eyes.
"I'll take the kunochi and do long distant attacks," she said. He nodded, smirking as her natural leadership skills were coming through. The females disappeared and hid in trees. She silently nodded to the knunochi and they begun throwing kunai and shurikens. Unfortunately none hit but Tora hoped that it would distract the lone Akatsuki member. The shinobi on the ground charged and done close range justus's.
Itachi watched the battle, frowning. He knew they couldn't beat the snake sannin. He saw a flash of red among the trees as Tora jumped, just missing an attack from the snake. After a while most of the Harumaki ninjas were on the ground, their breaths laboured and faces contorted in pain.
Tora was still among the trees, most of the kunochi had gone to help the shinobi. She bit her lip watching as Orochimaru walked up to her father and picked him up by the neck. She growled, fingering a kunai. She couldn't throw it, fearing that it would hit her father. Orochimaru threw the leader and Tora narrowed her eyes, noticing her father wasn't getting up.
"Daddy," she whispered as she leapt, kunai posed to defend the kunai that the snake sannin was holding inches away from her father. She landed between the 2. A defiant yet murderous glare in her eyes.
"How dare you," she yelled, attacking with her icy blue chakra encased kunai. Orochimaru smirked as he dodged with ease and pinned her to the ground, face down.
"Why are you here?" she asked, gritting her teeth as she felt him pull her head up by her hair, hard.
"There's someone in the village I want," he smirked, catching her hand with the kunai in it as she swung it up at him. He dislodged the kunai and pressed it against her back, creating a tear in her priestess robes and making them stain with blood. She tried to surpass a scream, opening her mouth and hissing in pain instead. She looked at her father who was a few meters away and reached out only to have the snake sannin step on her wrist, nearly breaking the bones. She shut her eyes feeling more pain as he pressed the kunai deeper. Her breathing became laboured, hearing her blood drip onto the once white snow. She gulped as a scream ripped from her mouth, her chakra building around her making Orochimaru take a step back. Her eyes snapped open revealing that she had awoken the bloodline trait of her clan: the talented eternal eyes or as her clan called it the misty eyes, the Saichiyo. Her once dark green eyes were now a pearl-ish mixture of silver, pale baby blue and white. Her wounds healed and her chakra was replenished. She smirked as she took a step forward. The akastuki member took a step back, nearly tripping over a compacted pile of snow. He didn't think he would encounter the bloodline trait, thinking it had died out long ago.
"Run," she ordered him. He glared as he threw the bloodied kunai at her. She dodged it easily. Orochimaru took her word of warning and ran. She watched him go, knowing that she couldn't defeat him in the state she was in. She turned and knelt down by her father who had regain conscious but still too weak to open his eyes.
"Daddy," she whispered, collapsing in the snow next to him, her energy and chakra spent.
Itachi smirked; he could officially say he was impressed with her power. Deciding that he wanted to know what her limit was he used genjutsu to make himself look slightly different, enough to throw everyone off, before stepping out of his hiding place and picking Tora up while some medics dealt with getting the others to hospital. Her hitai-ate fell from her arm. He picked it up and laid it on her stomach as he carried her, using his mangekyo sharingan slyly to check for any internal injuries. She had healed herself pretty well except for her wrist which has a slight bruising to it. Deciding that it wasn't serious, he left it to heal naturally.
----
She groaned as her green eyes opened. The first thing she noticed was that it was dark but a lamp was lit close by. She put a hand to her head, a slight headache was present. She looked around noticing that the room was not hers but from a lodging place not to far from her home.
"Daddy," she gasped as she abruptly sat up in bed remembering what had happened. The pain quickly intensified. She groaned, clutching her head as Itachi looked up at her from the other side of the room.
"You're awake," he said, walking over and placing a glass of water on the bedside table.
"I...Itachi," she said looking up, "Why am I here?"
"I carried you after the fight," he said, slightly in a monotone. She took the glass and looked at the water.
"What happened to the others?" she asked, looking up.
"They're all been taken care of," he replied.
"Thankyou," she whispered as she nodded once before looking down and staring at the water again. The room was plunged into an eerie yet comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"How long are you here for?" She asked after a while. He shrugged. She took a mouthful of water before putting the glass back on the bedside table.
"You must be tired and cold," she said. He looked at her before lying down on the floor, using his arms as a pillow. She shook her head.
"I won't do this but because it's cold, come. The bed's warmer than the floor," she said.
"Don't order me around," he glared.
"Fine. Don't complain to me when you freeze to death," she huffed, turning onto her side as she hugged the blankets to her chest. He glared at her. They were back to this. He was surprised that he didn't use his mangekyo sharingan on her and kill her. He sighed, getting up after a while as his feet were getting cold and moved to the bed, climbing in.
She smirked, knowing he'd climb in bed after a while considering she had done the same thing and refused to get into bed when she was younger and no matter how much she had refused, she'd always end up in the warmth of her bed.
"Night Itachi," she said, closing her eyes, not expecting any reply.
"Night," he whispered, nearly inaudible yet she heard. She opened her eyes and blinked. A true smile appeared on her face as she closed her eyes again only to feel him shiver a few minutes later. She rolled over, noticing that he was curled up into a ball. She shook her head as she placed her hand on his cheek. His hand lashed out and clamped down on hers. She shut her eyes, trying to escape his grasp.
"Don't," he said, one red sharingan eye opening.
"But you're cold, you're shivering," stopping her struggle. He loosened his grip in shock when she moved closer to him. He admitted that it was a lot warmer with her against his back. He sighed and closed his eyes, mentally cursing the cold weather.
----
She walked around with Itachi by her side, after going home and changing her robes the next day. She was glad for the long sleeves as a cool wind blew, sprinkling snowflakes everywhere. She looked at Itachi, noticing the Goosebumps along his arms. She smiled, shaking her head as she looked up at the temple.
Itachi noticed she had stopped. Turning around he watched her, her eyes seemed softer.
"What is in there?" he asked standing next to her. Tora turned her head and regarded him for a second before turning back to the temple.
"The only thing our fallen goddess: Miyuki left us. A weapon of some sort," she said, her voice soft.
"Fallen?" he asked. If this was anyone else, he would have mentally kicked himself, instead his voice was full of curiosity.
"She turned to the dark side a few years before she disappeared," she turned back to Itachi, "some say I look like her, like I'm her reincarnation. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't see any resemblance between us." She watched him as he stared up at the temple. He turned to her, onyx eyes met dark green. He turned away, looking around.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Dunno," was her reply as she stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his arm, feeling how cold his skin was. His muscles tensed as his eyes flashed with the sharingan for a brief second before he forced it back, noticing she had walked off.
"You coming?" she asked. He sighed, following the redhead.
----
She sat down at a cafe, ordering green tea and the clan's specialty: spring rolls.
"So you going to stay for the festival?" she asked. He looked at her and shrugged before looking back out at the snow covered street.
"Come with me, it'll be fun," she said with a smile.
"Don't..." he faced her and decided against what he was going to say, "fine. I'll go." She nodded as the tea and spring rolls were set down on the table. He picked up a spring roll, taking a bite of it. She poured the tea before taking her food and nibbling on it, a strange yet comfortable silence fell between the 2.
She noticed her father walk up to them, people in the cafe bowing their heads slightly in respect.
"Tora, where the hell have you been?" he said, glaring down at his daughter. She blinked up at him.
"I didn't think they'd let you out the hospital so quickly," she mumbled.
"Answer me young lady," he said, scolding her.
"Don't 'young lady' me daddy," she said, raising her voice slightly. Before she knew it, he had backhanded her across the cheek.
"Do as you are told," he said, his eyes narrowing at the disobedient his daughter was showing. Itachi mentally growled at him.
"With a friend," she said; her tone darkening as she nodded in Itachi's direction. Itachi was shocked at the statement and blinked at her a few times. Sure he had had friends in the past be he had killed them all. Before he even registered what he was doing, he had giving a curt nodded.
"And you are?" the redheaded clan leader asked.
"Itachi," was his reply. The 2 guys stared at each other and Itachi wondered if he could see through his disguise.
'That name sounds familiar but why,' the redheaded male thought.
After a while the redhead placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"I expect you home early," with that he was gone. She held her cheek in her hand, it was slightly swollen. A tear rolled down it, making it sting a little.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. He's normally not like this," she whispered as more tears followed the path of the first. She lowered her head, allowing her bangs to hide her face while she silently cried. Itachi looked around at the others that were there; they were all staring at her. He growled again before taking her hand and dragging her out of the shop.
"He had no right to hit you," he said as he turned around, removing her hand from her face and brushing his fingers over the reddened area. He was contradicting himself but his clan deserved to die. Tora's father had no right to hit her after she had saved his life fighting against Orochimaru.
"Don't worry about it," she said, looking up at him. His eyes held a hard glare and she let out a very soft gasp, knowing that he wasn't directly the murderous glare at her but at her father. He wiped away her tears before doing something that was so unlike him, he drew her near and held her. She was shocked at his actions but eventually gave in to the warmth of his body.
"Thankyou Itachi-kun," she whispered, lifting her head and giving a faint smile. He nodded, loosening his grip.
"I better go otherwise he'll have another psycho attack," she said, breaking out of his arms and turning around, disappearing in a cluster of snowflakes. He sighed, rubbing his temples as he made his way back to the lodging room. He didn't know what was wrong with him, maybe it was the coldness of the snow that was getting to his head, but for some reason he didn't mind, though he was seriously thinking of getting even with Tora's father. He felt protective of the girl. She was the first friend he had after killing his clan. He sighed, wondering how she would take it if he told her about the massacre. He shook his head before going for a shower, thinking of going to bed afterwards.
-----
She entered the house, glaring at her father before going up to her room, slamming the door shut. Lying on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling. A smile appeared on her lips as she remembered the warmth of Itachi. Sure he was an arsehole at first but she enjoyed being around him. She sat up, shaking her head as she headed towards the bathroom, stripping from her priestess robes and submerging herself into a hot bath. She sighed, closing her eyes. It's what her body was longing for a nice steaming hot bath, though she concluded it wasn't the same as Itachi's warmth.
"Stop it," she whispered to herself, gently punching her arm.
A month later
She went from store to store, trying to find a kimono for her to wear to the festival. Nothing caught her eye and she begun cursing herself for leaving it so late. She sighed walking past a shop she had apparently missed. She looked up with a bored expression, wondering if it was even worth going in and having a look. She sighed, deciding that it wouldn't kill her and walked in, getting hit in the face by the strong smell of incense burning. She looked around, sighing as she looked up at a white kimono. She blinked as she reached out and touched it. It was beautiful no doubt about that, but for some reason or other she decided to leave it. Walking around to the back of the store, she spotted another kimono. This one was gorgeous. The silk like material was as black as night with silver edging. The obi that hung next to it was dark blue with silver snowflakes, the clan's symbol, decorating it. She sighed, looking at her clan's symbol on the obi, but deciding it suited the kimono. There was no doubt that this was going to be hers, so she picked it up and bought it, not even glancing at the white one on her way out.
She almost ran into Itachi. She smiled, waving to him. She had gown closer to him over the month and she'd admit that he was cute but she wouldn't allow her thoughts to get further than that.
"Itachi-kun. I'm sorry," she said, gripping the bag tighter. He looked at her, a faint smile present on his lips as he took the bag from her.
"What you got?" he asked, opening the bag slowly, teasing her. She reached from the bag but he held in out of her reached.
"Itachi-kun. Give it back," she pouted. He shook his head. She gave him a playful glare before tackling him into the snow, grabbing the bag and getting up, dusting the snow off herself and begun walking off, not bothering with helping him. He sighed and got up, running to catch up to her. She looked at him and smiled. He said nothing, walking her back to her family's house.
"7," he said. She smiled and nodded, knowing exactly what he had meant. She bowed before turned and walking into the house. Closing the door quickly, she ran up to her bedroom and into her bathroom to get ready.
----
Her fingers glided over the fabric of the kimono before she placed it on, adjusting it so she was happy with how it hugged her body before picking the obi up and putting it on, adjusting it so that it was perfect. She smiled at herself as she brushed her hair, deciding to leave it out.
A knock was heard on her bedroom door. She placed her hairbrush down on the bed, watching as her father entered, admiring her in the kimono.
"I won't even ask," he said, though he was wondering where she had gotten it only hours prior to the festival. Sighed he sat down beside his daughter, making a comment about how her mother was taking so long which earnt himself a punch in the arm. He chuckled as he instructed her to hold out her wrist. She obeyed him, curious as to why he asked for her to do such a time. His hands went around her wrist and she felt coldness of metal as he fiddled around a bit before drawing his hands back. On her wrist was a silver bracelet with snowflakes and moons.
"Thanks daddy. It's perfect," she smiled and hugging her father. He nodded; a smile too was present on his face as he looked up at see his wife standing in the doorway.
"I'll catch up in a minute. I just wanna finish up here," Tora said as she searched for some shoes. Her father nodded and stood, taking his wife's arm and leaving, heading towards the festival.
Tora sighed as she placed black shoes on before turning the lights off and walking to the front door, opening it and getting startled by Itachi.
"Itachi-kun," she said after a few seconds. She closed the door. She turned around, took his arm and headed towards the temple where the annual festival took place.
"You look...beautiful," he said awkwardly. She looked up at him and kissed his cheek.
"Thanks. So do you," she said. He looked away, hiding a blush that had crept up to his cheeks. He said nothing as they approached, looking around at the different stalls that were set up everywhere. Her smile grew wider as she dragged him around just about everywhere. Groaning, he followed, unwillingly. Though he hated these sorts of things, he was enjoying watching the redhead have fun while allowing her to drag him. She laughed as she noticed his expression. Taking his hand yet again she veered away from the laughter and games, heading towards a secluded place. He gave her a look which made her laugh harder. She walked up and stood next to the lone tree, looking out to the bright festival lights.
"Why are we here?" he asked, walking up beside her.
"Wait and watch," she said, hearing the faint countdown before lights exploded into the sky.
"I found this was the best place to watch the fireworks," she said turning to him, lights flashing across their faces. She took a step towards him, bitting her lip. He looked down at her, wondering what the hell she was doing now. She reached up, placing a hand on his cheek for a second before moving it to the back of his head and forcing his head down, capturing his lips with hers. His eyes flashed as he registered what she was doing and without thinking he pushed her away. Her back hit the tree and she winced. Looking up at him with hurtful and confused eyes. He sighed, kicking himself, for breaking such an enjoyable thing, before walking up to her.
"Sorry," he said, leaning down and kissing her. She blinked, closing her eyes and kissing back, all while the fireworks were finishing in the background.
----
She sighed as she walked with Itachi, looking as people rushed around; clearing what remained of last night's festival. She looked up at the temple.
"Tora," he said; his voice low. She turned and looked at him.
"Yea," she said, smiling.
"Meet me here late tonight," he ordered. She gave him a questioning look but nodded.
"Why Itachi-kun?" she asked. He leaned down.
"You'll find out later," he whispered in her ear, kissing her on the cheek before disappearing. She sighed again before deciding to head home and to figure out a way of sneaking out of the house without her parents knowing.
----
She looked around her room, her eyes wandering back to the window. She looked back at her bedroom door before climbing out the window. She ran to the temple, noticing Itachi leaning against a tree. She skidded to a halt, panting. He lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her on the lips, to which she melted into.
"Was this why you asked me here?" she asked, playing which his hair. He shook his head, activating his mangekyo sharingan and ordering her to steal the weapon within the temple, saying that it should be for her and only her.
Tora nodded, kissing him again before entering the temple. It was cold down there but she didn't care. All she wanted was the weapon. She passed through a number of chambers before eventually reaching the weapon. It laid on a stone pillar, the gold sparkling in the light. She picked it up, it felt warm to touch. She held it in her hand as she ran back to the entrance where Itachi was waiting for her.
"That's it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head, the sharingan's effect wearing off yet she didn't seem to care she had just stolen a weapon.
"Its deceiving," she smiled, "I'm sure you'll get to see its true form soon." He looked at her, blinking, before turning and walking with her towards the gates.
"Tora. Get away from him, he's Akatsuki," her father growled, appearing out of nowhere with her mother beside him and the clan's ninjas and ANBU behind them. Tora gasped, looking at Itachi who just nodded once. She closed her eyes.
"I don't care. I love him," she whispered after a few minutes. Itachi looked at her.
"What!" her father exclaimed, "Tora come." She gulped but decided to ignore her father's orders. Instead she moved next to Itachi, her hand finding his.
"I'm sorry father but I'm making my own decisions. You're not going to blackmail me anymore," she said in a defiant voice.
"Traitor," he said, ordering the ANBU to attack. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for kunai to pierce her body. None ever came. She heard the kunai hit the snow. She opened her eyes looking at the weapon in front of her. She reached out, her hand hovering above it for a second before she curled her fingers around it. She looked it up and down, studying her fallen goddess's weapon. She looked at Itachi before her father and mother. A smirk placed along her lips.
"Maybe I am a lot like Miyuki after all," she said, referring to the fallen goddess.
"Drop the weapon," her father ordered. She shook her head.
"Do you really wish to become a missing nin?" he asked, "where will you go?"
"Akatsuki," was her reply.
"They won't accept you," he growled.
"Well looks like I'll have to work on that," she let out a chuckle as she walked towards her father, her new weapon killing the clan's ANBU and the other ninjas, leaving one hidden kunochi alive. She had no control over it; it was like it was protecting her out of its own free whim.
"Tora," he said with gentleness yet harshness in his tone.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking into his eyes for a minute before swinging the pitchfork and decapitating her own father, the clan's leader. She turned to her mother who was screaming at the blood. She rolled her eyes, stabbing her mother with the pitchfork, driving one of the points through her heart. She watched her mother keel over before looking up at Itachi. She nodded as she took off with him, turning the weapon back into its deceiving form, a necklace. She clasped it around her neck, smiling at how it seemed to fit so perfectly. He placed his arm around her waist and they stayed like that, until they reached Akatsuki.
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. wish i did, but sadly i don't.
royalphoenix: ok longest one shot i've ever done. and the longest piece i've ever posted. anyways this is about my OC and what she was like before joining Akatsuki. check out her profile out, the link is on my profile. Luv Phoenix