Chapter 18: See you through my eyes

Akira and Itachi trained together sometimes, which would be mainly the idea of the older Uchiha brother who'd motivate the girl to keep striving for greatness. He'd give her comfort in hard times and seeing her own struggles and difficulties, he began to slowly open up to her. He recognised her maturity, at the same time seeing her big heart, full of gratitude, humility and gentleness. More than once after the family dinner, they went back for a walk, to sit at one of the local benches by the road in more secluded corners of the village when Akira would bring her guitar and play him the most beautiful melodies.

Itachi, despite his incredible intelligence and exceptional ninja skills, was clearly lacking in the communication skills department. Especially when it came to interacting with women. Nonetheless, it didn't change the fact that he felt the company of the older Nanusake and although he didn't know how to express himself, he knew that he was beginning to slowly look forward to their meetings and homecomings each day.

Akira had an exceptionally beautiful smile, eyes sparkling and blue like the early morning sky, still full of stars. Her cheeks were covered with small freckles adding charm to the oval and smooth face. The silver locks glistened in the moonlight and billowed in the wind like the waves of a stormy sea. Itachi pondered sometimes staring at her out of the corner of his eye and finding himself surprised with inventing more and more eloquent ways to describe her beauty. Still, he never dared to voice his thoughts aloud.

X

One evening, during the training, while testing their genjutsu skills, Itachi suggested that Akira use his Shinengan on him.

'Show me your visual prowess.' He came very close to her, staring deeply into her wide-open beautiful eyes. He tried to hide his nervousness while feeling warm from the closeness at the same time.

'Are you sure about that?' the girl hesitated. Itachi did not activate the Sharingan, entirely relying on her grace this time. He nodded without breaking his gaze. Akira stood motionless for a moment, took a breath and closed her eyes, and after a while showed the boy two black abysses, magnetizing like black holes.

Act I: Sea Borne*

Nothing happened for a while. In a moment, however, Itachi had the impression that he heard something. Delicate, quiet individual sounds of instruments coming from a distance. They were still standing in their garden, yet, the sun had already set completely, but the sky was still covered with a bright glow from the west, it was covered with an increasingly deep blue, coming from the eastern side, almost like a storm. Akira took a step back. Her face was calm as she watched the boy. She smiled slightly, still not breaking eye contact.

The sounds of music began to grow louder. The wall separating them from the street, by a strange coincidence, stopped being in the same spot where it had been since Itachi remembered. He looked around curiously. Everything was still the same but… different. Nothing has changed, but everything seems to have changed coincidentally. The girl slowly began to move her hips, adjusting her movements to the rhythm of the music.

She walked towards the gap separating the Uchiha garden from the street and stepped over it, reaching her hand towards Itachi. Without thinking, he followed her. The music slowly began to make sense, and the next sounds of the instruments came together to create a harmonious whole. The trumpets and drums added choruses to the as-yet-unseen singers.

They both stepped over the wall and Itachi realized that his suddenly bare feet were threading over something unimaginably soft. The lush green and shiny grass caressed his feet reverently, after a while it was no longer just grass but a fluffy sea of ethereal clouds shimmering pink and purple, reflecting the golden glow of the still-setting sun. Things slowly stopped making sense, but at the same time retained it as much as possible, as if everything was only now falling into a logical whole.

In front of him, a girl with silver curls, like a mermaid, was leading him dancing ahead, who knows where. With each step and rhythm of the music, it seemed like the girl was getting older. her body and features became more voluptuous, losing their childlike shape. Long, lush curls hung down to her waist, flowing ceaselessly with a mesmeric lightness. He touched his own face and was surprised to realize that he no longer felt fourteen. His jaw tightened, the muscles in his chest and arms also gained definition, and he felt decidedly taller. The older Itachi intrigued him, not only through physical changes but also through new feelings and thoughts that suddenly awoke inside him. Things the younger Itachi had no idea about.

Suddenly they found themselves in an atmospheric boudoir, surrounded by dancers with veiled faces, dancing to the rhythm of increasingly loud and pleasant music. Itachi felt unusually calm and careless. Strangely, he found himself in a good mood, he felt extremely... comfortable... He was beginning to acknowledge Akira being the main cause of this fascinating mood, being there with him. It was becoming incredibly difficult to take his eyes off her.

'How do you like it?' She moved closer to him all the time alluringly swaying her hips, with a confident and charming smile.

Internally, the consciousness of the 14-year-old Itachi increasingly merged into the consciousness of the 18-year-old boy. New sensations were incredible and overwhelming, but he welcomed them with complete openness. He was deeply shocked by his self-confidence, but he decided to carry on with the sensations, rather than wrestle with thoughts about whether anything now made any sense at all.

Akira came close enough for her breasts to rub against his shoulders, making him shiver. She walked around him, her fingers brushing his hand, after a moment she gently moved it along his cheek. Itachi sighed and turned his mouth towards her hand. Akira smiled warmly and laughed heartily as she returned to the others.

She was the most beautiful dancer of them all. Her long skirt hung with fringes, sashes and jewellery waved to the rhythm of the dance, shimmering in the light of... who knows what, because it was no longer obvious whether it was day or night. The concept of time and place has gone completely clouded to give way to a new experience, being everything and nothing at the same time. Itachi was impressed by the array of colours, sounds, and sensory stimuli that the Shinengan was able to produce. If Akira was able to build such a perfect paradise, he shuddered to think of the hell she was able to create when the need arose.

The rush of stimuli and experiences was starting to get intense, and Itachi felt that he had to sit down. He immediately fell back on the soft pillows, which surrounded him like fluffy clouds. He sighed closing his eyes. The music rocked him welcomely in the experience.

After a while, he opened his eyes to see Akira next to him, who, propping her head on her hand, was watching him with a beautiful smile. She also wore a translucent veil covering the lower part of her face and delicate dancer's robes - skirts and trousers, bare feet covered with jewellery. Her bra was all gold, emphasizing her fine curves. Itachi had never seen anything so dazzling in his life. His whole body vibrated pleasantly, heat flooded the cheeks and his core, descended lower and lower... He wanted to stay in this blissful immobility at the same time he wanted to stare at the girl all the time, hypnotized... no. He wanted to touch -

Kiss her?

The thought confused him, but compared to the previous times when he and the girl had gotten close, he didn't feel so nervous this time… genjutsu was exceptionally helpful in breaking down any constraints.

Was it his fantasy or hers?

Were these their mutual thoughts and desires?

The thought suddenly terrified him and jolted him from his deep relaxation. Akira, however, brought her face closer to him, reminding him of her presence again. She touched his forehead with her fingers, gently rubbing the single frown wrinkle that had appeared between his brows.

'What are you nervous about?'

'N-nothing... actually... I'm not worried at all.' He smiled at her, but it came with the greatest difficulty as the incapacitation resulting from the growing desire came back to the fore. Her touch was paralyzingly pleasant.

Akira took his hand to hers and slowly brought it closer to her face, stopping his fingers on the clasp of her veil. Itachi unfastened it slowly revealing the girl's face. His breathing sped up sharply.

'Close your eyes' the girl whispered, and suddenly it was dark.

Itachi opened his eyes standing again in his garden, with cold grass wet with dew under his feet and Akira in front of him, still in their training garments. The night deepened, and the crickets chirped. Akira opened her eyes, feeling that she was standing so close to Itachi, and she felt his rapid breathing. The tension she had built between them in genjutsu suddenly imploded in them with impetus. She parted her lips to let out a sigh as the boy took her face in his hands and kissed her hard, flooding her mouth with his warmth. The girl lost feeling in her legs, but she grabbed the boy by the shoulders and pressed him to her, which he reciprocated immediately, their bodies wanting each other, every particle. The kiss was deep and long, but the girl suddenly took his cheeks in her hands and pushed them away to catch her breath. They were both panting heavily, flooded with heat and passion. But the violent new feelings were terrifyingly overwhelming, causing the girl to drop to her knees. Itachi caught her in flight and gently slid to the ground with her, embracing her firmly.

'Akira… are you okay…?' Inhibition, restraint, and shame pushed away the confidence and openness he had experienced in Shinengan illusion.

'I…' The girl felt blank in her head, in which the only thing she heard at that moment was the deafening roar of blood and a tornado of hormones. Her mouth was open and her eyes dulled, partly from the effects of chakra consumption on the genjutsu and partly from the intimate moment she and Itachi just shared. 'I'm sorry!' she gasped.

They both sat side by side on the grass, leaning against the porch wall. Darkness reigned around them with dark clouds pierced here and there by the soft light of a new moon.

Whatever happened in the genjutsu was the result of their mutual desires and fantasies, the illusion removed all filters from them and pushed them towards each other. Overwhelmed by the enormity of strange sensations and hitherto unknown impulses, they tried to sort out the storm of thoughts in their heads. Akira tried to calm her breathing, apparently overwhelmed by her own genjutsu, the effect of which she herself had not predicted. Itachi noticed her nervousness and moved his hand closer to her. Their little fingers touched for a sweet moment that brought another warm wave of pleasant feelings to both of them. Shaking slightly, he took her hand in his, and Akira returned the squeeze. She smiled, feeling the flood of peace and comfort in the presence of Itachi. They didn't need words. They sat there in silence, soothed by each other's presence and closeness.

Izumi screamed, awakened from the nightmare, snapped them out of their trance and brought them back to earth. Akira shook herself off and reluctantly let go of Itachi's hand apologized and retreated towards the house. The boy stayed outside for some time, contemplating his feelings and trying to process the storm of physical and hormonal confusion before he pulled himself together to go back to sleep as well.

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Author's Notes:

*Dead Can Dance - Act I: Sea Borne (and the whole Dionysus album, highly recommend for the Nanusake rituals vibes!)