Chapter 9: Tsukimi, the moon festival dance
The girl was flooded with stage fright mixed with overwhelming excitement. This will be her first show in front of a crowd of strangers. The Nanusake clan was famous among many villages and nearby lands for their immeasurable talent for singing and dancing. The members created mesmerizing choreographies as they danced in front of the audience in traditional costumes, their long sleeves and sashes fluttering gently like the ethereal wings of divine butterflies, carrying stardust behind them, following the dancer's every move. Nanusake would be eagerly invited to every village, including Konohagakure, to give a show during festivals. Their charms would make the village officials turn a blind eye to any dark rumours that would surround the clan.
On one of the festivals called Tsukimi, being barely 10 years old, Akira met Itachi. The girl has only recently tamed her Shinengan which was a great opportunity to give her the main role in one of the performances. Young dancers enjoyed special attention from the crowds. Midori also participated in the performance, while Izumi, still too young, sat behind the scenes, watching her relatives with excitement.
The first notes of the instruments sounded through the crowded town square. The gathered audience, illuminated by the glow of the moon and stars as well as festival lanterns, waved with noise and excitement. Suddenly, the lights went out except for one spotlight, focusing on the petite girl at the front of the stage. Her silver curls shimmered in the starlight.
'Itachi, Sasuke, look, these are Nanusake's dancers! Now watch out, it's going to be a show like you've never seen before.' A black-haired woman with a twinkle in her eyes pushed her way to the front of the crowd so that her sons could see the show better. The father was also with them, he smiled knowingly at Midori on the stage. On their backs, there were red and white fans, symbols of the Uchiha clan.
Bury me deep underneath everything I keep inside.*
The first words of the song came out of Akira's delicate throat. Her voice, mature and sensual for her age, charmed the viewers from the first moments. They all fell silent as they focused on her. The girl raised her eyes, deep and pitch black. Her subtle movements were like a fairy in the wind.
All people would find themselves under the influence of genjutsu, which carried them into a hypnotic trance. The dancers moved to the rhythm of deep sounds and the captivating voice of Akira, who, despite the stress, performed her movements with the greatest grace. Her bare feet moved gently but firmly on the boards of the stage, there was so much finesse in her body and movement, and at the same time physicality and hypnotic allure.
The girl made eye contact with the boy in the front row. He kept his gaze, his huge almond eyes followed every move and a blush flooded his face.
Akira suddenly began to feel that she was in the Abyss alone with him. She was less and less on the stage of the theatre and more and more in the black space, where the only connection with reality was the boy standing opposite.
During the chorus, she began to feel something strange. Beside the boy, she began to see her reflection, which morphed into a more mature image with each beat of the rhythm. Akira was losing her childlike features and starting to see an adult woman. She was incredibly beautiful, and calm, power emanated from her eyes. The boy no longer looked like a boy, and his eyes widened even more as he realized that he also saw himself, an adult, in her reflection. In fractions of a second, they raised their hands to each other, trying to touch, those moments interspersed with the bloody cough of the man, the sight of the woman's battered and dirty bloody hands, a smile through tears, the shadow of a flock of crows, a red cloud on the fabric of the coat, one, the other ... The visions bewildered her.
They are children again, but turning their heads, they are able to swear that they see their mature faces again. They reach out to each other, but they're too far away. Her white moths flutter restlessly, tangling in her hair, rushing towards the boy. In flight, the closer they get to him, they begin to change shape, gain feathers, and screech. They reach the boy, sitting on his head and shoulders in the form of black crows. However, they both feel a hot, all-encompassing chakra that boils inside them in an as-yet incomprehensible feeling. Shaking knees, lack of breath, blush flooding the neck and cheeks, sweaty palms ... Too much, too much.
Akira shakes herself off, outside still dancing to the routine but inside boiling with the amazing new feeling and vision the Moth has given her. The first sights of the future, which only later she will be able to comprehend.
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Apashe - Behind My Eyes