Moonlight Shadow

"You left me! You weren't there when I screamed for you, when I called for your help, how dare you! Why are you doing this to me!"

From the darkness, lazily, an incredibly tall humanoid figure emerged. She descended from a slimy elevation that pulsated, changed shapes, and seemed to live its own life. Sadness and terrifying suffering radiated with a slimy aura from the marshy hill that the Moth guarded meticulously from Izumi. Or rather, guarded Izumi from it.

Her long and clawed hands hung loosely at her sides, swaying as she walked. The skirt covered with numerous talismans, ornaments, and small animal bones rustled with each step. Black hair mixed with the darkness of the Abyss, hiding her demonic face, from which grew fluffy insect antennae. In her natural form of moth-woman, she was much larger than Izumi, so she adjusted her height to match her, modifying and changing to resemble a more friendly woman.

"My Child..." she bent over Izumi while simultaneously shrinking. Her antennae retracted, and her face took on the warm gaze of human eyes resembling one of the Nanusake.

"Why are you doing this to me..." Izumi panted. Her face was red, nostrils flared, and fists clenched as if ready to fight. "I can't rely on you like I used to, you're gone more and more often, I'm alone more and more, I'm starting to be afraid again, I don't want this." Huranaishi could smell her fear, the real terror of losing control. The girl's glassy eyes told her the most, yet she maintained her gaze calmly.

"I have my hands full protecting you," she replied slowly.

"What are you talking about!" Izumi spread her arms, shaking her head.

"I protect you from harm, from your suffering and darkness," Huranaishi swept her hand behind her, pointing to the muddy organic hill, "as long as you don't remember all of this, you're safe. You know I want what's best for you..."

"But..." Izumi herself didn't know what to say. Every glance at the pulsating mass of nightmares made her tremble. Like looking at traumatic memories best left forgotten. She turned away, hugging herself and lowering her head.

"You're not alone. You have Sasuke. And Akira. Soon you'll be able to be together again. Besides, Konoha... it's not too late to return to them. Let's not fool ourselves, Orochimaru will never be that true home. This place is just limbo, where you're suspended in endless waiting. Sasuke will soon undergo his transformation, and it will be time for you as well."

"What do you mean by this transformation?"

"Great changes are coming, storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. What Akatsuki is planning... you'll have to run and find shelter and asylum where you once found home before. You can't delay, remember, you must take your fate into your own hands, it's not too late yet."

Izumi opened her eyes, blinking. She was back in Orochimaru's hideout, sitting on a stone platform in one of the training halls. Sasuke appeared in the doorway, ready for training in the Abyss.
This time the opponents resembled ninjas, with faces similar to people they both had known in their lives. Though indistinct masks, shadows of people, this movement added an emotional element to their training. The abandoned cottage would sometimes appear and disappear as if Izumi had no control over its presence. They took advantage of moments when descending into the Abyss, they saw it waiting for them again at the hilltop, knowing that at the end of the race, sweet refreshments would await them and that familiar childhood pleasant relaxation on the veranda steps while staring at the stars.

Sometimes, however, it wasn't within sight. They would then take their swords and spar on the lush grass, jumping over rocks and slippery stones of streams winding between trees. They often ended up in hand-to-hand combat, testing their strength and agility. Izumi loved this physical contact with an opponent, being able to rough them up when possible or at least try. Despite gender differences, they managed almost equally. Eternal twilight hung on the horizon as if suspended in time, they spent hours duelling until falling exhausted to the ground, starting to laugh, dirty and drenched in sweat. Something began to spark when they lay like that beside each other on the grass, catching their breath, staring at the strangely coloured sky or counting bruises.

On the third night, Izumi came to Sasuke's room, shyly asking if she could stay with him. The boy was flustered but didn't protest. She hadn't screamed yet this time, perhaps guessing that his presence would help her sleep through the night. They fell asleep next to each other. Izumi under her duvet, Sasuke covered with a blanket, lying turned away from her at the edge of the bed. Several hours later, her screaming and sobbing woke him up. He turned and grabbed her hand sleepily. Her breathing calmed instantly, tears stopped flowing. He had a feeling she hadn't woken up but had felt his soothing presence through her sleep. He didn't let go of her hand, finally falling asleep with his forehead close to her head.

Throwback: Tenchi Bridge Arc

"Have you ever wondered why Izumi is so drawn to you? I don't mean the usual infatuation that hundreds of women fall into. I mean that true magnetism."
Orochimaru spoke to Sasuke, breaking the silence as they safely reached one of the hidden chambers in their hideout. Sasuke showed nothing, but he sensed greater tension from him. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword. Kabuto joined them after a moment.
"Does this red ribbon have any power beyond being a simple symbol?" Sasuke finally asked. Orochimaru noticed a note of hope in his voice.
"Izumi has wind chakra. Like a moth to a flame, she has always been drawn to your fire chakra. You have a special bond... And now I'll tell you something important. You have great power to destroy her, yet together, you're capable of combining forces to create something that will be above all. Her powerful wind can amplify your fire. Your potential is endless. And that's just one reason why you should consider saving her."

Another training in the Abyss, present time

The fire from a gigantic wave of flames consumed acres of forest. The hot gust burned their faces and whipped their hair as they stood on the hill watching the power of their joint destruction.
Izumi winced, feeling uneasy at the thought of the destruction of beautiful nature and life that their elements sowed, though in illusion, she had a foretaste of what they would be able to do together in reality.

Charred remains of opponents pierced through the smoke, which Izumi dispersed with another jutsu. They knew the main opponent was still waiting for them. They tried another jutsu.

"I have an idea," Sasuke turned to his companion as their strategies began to run out, along with rapidly depleting chakra.

"I'm all ears, partner."

"If you create clouds dense enough, perhaps I can manage with the Kirin jutsu. After all, you can influence the weather here, right?"

"This could work! I want to see it, of course!" Izumi excitedly nodded eagerly, grabbing Sasuke's forearm. She stepped back to fold her hands in concentration. After a moment, the wind intensified, extinguishing the dying flames while summoning dark clouds over the horizon, which flowed from behind their backs, lazily and ominously following above their heads toward the valley. Sasuke smiled. He had never seen the potential of genjutsu as so much fun.
Izumi winced and fell to her knees, grabbing her head. The image before their eyes blurred, glitched. Something hissed in their ears. Sasuke felt it too.

"What's happening?" he crouched before her, concerned.

"The illusion..." she clenched her teeth, shaking her head every moment. "No, go away," she hissed as if to herself. Sasuke noticed huge, night-black worms crawling from the ground beside the girl. He began to feel weakening as if their presence was draining their chakra.

"This is not my doing, something's wrong."

"What can I do?"

"I got this," she jerked again as if fighting an invisible battle in her head. The image blurred again with a hiss, black holes appearing, like tears in the fabric of reality... or their illusion, threatening to pull them back out again.

"It's okay, we can't die here, really... I mean, I hope so," she began uncertainly, trying to cover nervousness with a touch of humour. "We just need to find the cabin."

"But it's not here this time."

"I thought so too, but something's changed. I feel it's appeared."

"Shouldn't we defeat him first?" Sasuke broke off when he realised that the gigantic opponent at the valley bottom had disappeared, replaced by a mysterious mist.

"He's gone..." Izumi replied with certainty in her voice. "I don't know, I feel that-" she didn't finish. The mist reached her and formed hands that lunged at her, grabbing and choking her neck. A demonic hiss pierced both their ears as the mist wrapped around them seconds later. The red of the Sharingan flashed in the dense grey darkness.

"Sasuke!" Izumi tried to free herself, cutting at the illusory hands, through which her wakizashi passed. The mist was resistant to all physical weapons. Unable to produce sound, she couldn't resort to her singing jutsu either.

The mist wasn't ordinary - it moved with purpose, with killing intent. When it reached for Izumi's throat, the hands that formed were skeletal, ice-cold, leaving frost burns wherever they touched. The demonic hiss that pierced their ears carried whispers of ancient malice.

"Sasuke!" Izumi's wakizashi passed harmlessly through the spectral grip. Each swing dispersed the mist momentarily before it reformed stronger. Without her voice, her sonic jutsu was sealed away. The frost was spreading from her neck, threatening to paralyse her completely.

Sasuke's Sharingan revealed the truth - the mist wasn't just chakra, it was alive somehow, a mass of countless malevolent spirits woven together. Physical attacks were useless, but perhaps...

"Try it now," Izumi managed through blue-tinged lips, still maintaining her concentration on the storm clouds above despite her predicament. Understanding flashed between them - they needed perfect timing.

Sasuke's hands flew through the signs, gathering massive electrical chakra. The dark clouds Izumi had gathered became charged, crackling with building energy. The mist sensed the danger, surging forward to stop them, but it was too late.

"Kirin!"

The gigantic lightning dragon materialised, its roar drowning out even the mist's otherworldly screech. As it struck, Izumi executed her escape - her body dissolving into moths at the exact moment the lightning hit, reforming safely beside Sasuke as thunder shook the valley. The combination of pure electrical energy and her wind-nature moths created a devastating vortex that tore the malicious mist apart.

Izumi pulled him away from the range of destruction and they fell backward onto hard ground. Under her hands, she felt familiar smooth pebbles and turned to examine the surface more closely - a familiar path stretched upward before them, growing from nowhere along with a small forest and...

"There it is!" she pointed to the hilltop. Behind them, the murderous mist howled in its last throes of rage. Sasuke breathed heavily, smeared with soot and dirt from the mist and exhausting battle. Clawed hands suddenly shot toward them. Both rushed into a run, putting their last chakra into their legs. The path dematerialised behind them like a crumbling illusion.
They reached the steps at the last moment, tumbling onto the veranda. The boom and hiss ended at that moment as if cut with a knife.

"First!" Sasuke reached out, almost falling onto the doorframe of the cottage with all his weight. Izumi widened her eyes, opening her mouth to protest. She gave up though, falling to her knees to catch her breath.

"Fine, you win, haha," they both started laughing, exhausted they fell onto the veranda steps, lying on the boards that were pleasantly warm.

"I deserve one question answered now," Sasuke demanded in a confident tone, after a moment's rest. Izumi raised herself and sat leaning back on her hands.

"Go on then."

"If my brother spared Akira's life during my clan's massacre, does that mean she was involved in all of this from the beginning?"

Izumi took a deep breath, while Sasuke also raised himself to meet her gaze. Before them, stretched a new landscape of the familiar childhood garden from the Uchiha estate. No trace remained of the previous battlefield. The sun was in eternal twilight again, the surroundings illuminated by stars and the silvery turquoise glow of a gigantic moon. Among the trees, single bird chirped, slowly preparing for sleep.

"Akira learned about the betrayal only just before the massacre. Itachi blackmailed her," she said honestly, staring ahead. "If she wanted me to survive, she had to flee with him, she had no choice."

"Why did you forgive her? If so, then you're a traitor yourself," Sasuke replied bitterly.

"It's complicated... Bigger than we think," she replied evasively. She turned around - behind them on the floor at the cottage entrance, a tray of snacks appeared. Izumi stretched and pulled it toward her, placing it between them. Sasuke opened his mouth in surprise. He hesitated for a moment but reached for one of the rice cakes after Izumi stuffed a whole one in her mouth.

"Besides, that was a second question, and you'll have to earn that one again." She was relentless; Sasuke sighed heavily, resigned.

"Do you remember the first person you've killed?" Izumi asked when they finished eating. Her directness and honesty constantly surprised Sasuke, repeatedly challenging his comfort zone. A swarm of moths appeared from nowhere, encouraging them to go inside. When the rain intensified, they didn't hesitate. Izumi began searching for glyphs on the walls and frames of the old cottage interior, certain she had seen them before, eager to decipher their meaning. She hoped to learn more about the secrets her predecessors held. Instead, they both found physical closeness wrapped in safe darkness. Their first kiss, awaited by the girl for years, finally became a reality. Though in an illusion that began to break down inexorably, bringing them back to earth.

Izumi felt bolder that night, slipping into Sasuke's room after many hours of failed attempts to fall asleep and wait. Although he had avoided her like fire after that visit in her genjutsu, she felt that perhaps she could allow herself more now. She felt that the boy might return her feelings... He didn't move when she quietly closed the door, hoping he was asleep. She slipped under his blanket, hugging his warm body from behind. Sasuke took a long breath waking up, tensing his body under her embrace. However, he didn't move. Both their heads were buzzing, endlessly replaying their first kiss in the illusion, paralysed by reality to make the next move.

Days blended into weeks as their training sessions in the Abyss became a ritual both anticipated with equal measures of focus and unspoken tension. Each morning, Sasuke would find himself counting the hours until their scheduled descent into the dark realm, where reality bent to their will and their abilities could truly flourish without restraint.

Their spars grew increasingly intense - every dodge bringing them closer, every blocked punch lingering a moment too long. Sasuke found himself studying the way Izumi moved, how her chest rose with each breath, how strands of hair clung to her neck with sweat. The physical contact during their hand-to-hand combat sessions sent electricity through his skin, and he caught himself creating scenarios that required close-quarter fighting more often than necessary.

Yet beneath the growing tension, Sasuke couldn't deny the rapid progression of his skills. Training with Izumi pushed him in ways Orochimaru's guidance never had. Her unique abilities and the way she challenged his Sharingan forced him to adapt and evolve. Each session left him stronger, sharper, more prepared for his inevitable confrontation with Itachi. The guilt of enjoying these moments, of looking forward to them beyond just training, conflicted with his single-minded mission of revenge. But as their powers grew together, as they learned to read each other's movements like a dance, he realized that perhaps this wasn't the distraction he had feared - it was the catalyst he needed.

In the darkness of the Abyss, where no one could witness their lingering glances or the way their hands sometimes stayed clasped a moment too long after a takedown, both pretended not to notice how their "training" sessions grew longer each day. The excuse of preparation, of gaining strength, became their shared secret - a way to justify the magnetic pull that drew them together in combat, in strategy, in silence.

"Trust me, you're not wasting time here," she told him during one of their first training sessions, as he remembered. "Time flows differently here, faster. Take advantage of it - you'll be able to learn more in less time."

"This all sounds too good to be true," he replied, grunting between strikes. Izumi increasingly alternated between using her wakizashi and employing her moth claw jutsu - when turquoise chakra enveloped her hands and wrists, flowing thickly from the black tattoos decorating the inside of her wrists. The blackness grew, consuming her hands, reaching her elbows like a plague, simultaneously giving her greater strength but causing the girl to balance on an increasingly thin line between sanity and madness, which was why she feared using them for too long.

"Don't worry about me," she responded, downplaying it, though the glint in her eyes spoke differently.

Sasuke moved against her, limiting her movements, pinning her to the tree. He held her right hand up against the trunk, gripping her wrist until he forced the last wakizashi from her grasp. Both were breathing heavily, their bodies close together. They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, his Sharingan fading to reveal his dark, deep eyes - eyes that Izumi felt she could drown in forever.

"So, about that next question?" Izumi smirked, conceding victory. Sasuke remained silent, drilling her with his gaze before leaning forward, ignoring her words.

Their lips opened to each other, and the girl's sweet warmth poured into him. He couldn't think, couldn't do anything but absorb her, every released breath, every soft movement of her lips. It's a miracle, Izumi thought, it worked, a second time. She trembled, afraid of frightening him away again. Sasuke gripped her wrist tightly, his right hand holding her neck. His entire body screamed with internal conflict.

Izumi raised her left hand, placing it on his collarbone. Carefully, she began to move, feeling the warm, slick skin on his chest. His tense muscles, ribs, defined abdomen, his warm hip. Tenderly feeling him beneath her touch, patiently trying to open him to her, fingers gently pressing against him. She wanted him, so intensely, wanted this moment to last forever, wanted all of him. Her fingers moved slowly toward the edge of his pants, Izumi enchanted by his build, his chiselled body, greedily wanting to discover more... that was a mistake. The boy hissed, instantly pulling his lips away and pushing her off, tearing himself away, his energy and desire instantaneously extinguished by cold fury.

"What's wrong...?" Izumi felt the familiar wave of shame and fear washing over her. Sasuke lowered his gaze, and seconds later the illusion shattered into pieces, throwing them into reality's cold embrace.

They didn't speak to each other for the rest of that day.

Reality began slipping through Izumi's fingers like sand, becoming increasingly blurred at the edges. In the real world, Sasuke maintained his distance, unreachable and unreadable as ever. Yet in the Abyss, under cover of darkness or within their shared illusions, he allowed himself to draw closer, to show glimpses of vulnerability that vanished like morning mist in the harsh light of day. This dichotomy only pushed her further into preferring their illusory world, where possibilities seemed endless and pain felt more distant.

She’d return to the thoughts of one of their many conversations on the steps of the small cabin, bathed in purple moonlight. "It's like someone took some of my memories and replaced them with someone else's. I know something has happened here and there, but I can't figure out what. Dwelling on it drives me insane, so I try to move on and focus on reality. However possible that is... It's hard though, especially when this world in the Abyss is so... comforting and limitless."

'Please just let me dream,' she would think when reality began to cut too deep, despite knowing that even dreams rarely came without nightmares. The Abyss beckoned like a siren's call, offering escape. Yet Huranaishi no longer wanted this fate for her, not after Sasuke had fought so hard to pull her back from that darkness. She couldn't disappoint him now.

She needed to stay present, to find her way home - but where was home? Sasuke spoke only of revenge as if nothing existed beyond his confrontation with Itachi. He never discussed the details of rebuilding his clan or what would come after. His tunnel vision sometimes left her perplexed, wondering if he ever considered the practical implications of being a renegade ninja, or if he actually had any plans beyond his singular goal.

One thing remained clear: the yearning to return to those who felt like home, to the possibility of a new life. Freedom beckoned in the form of Konoha, though hope felt almost desperate at times. She clung to the dream that they might overlook her time with Akatsuki, somehow forgive her crimes, accept her back. The alternative was too painful to contemplate.
But whenever Konoha was mentioned, Sasuke's expression would darken, anger flashing in his eyes. The unspoken truth hung between them like a shadow - perhaps their paths would diverge once again, leading them in opposite directions. The thought alone made the Abyss seem more inviting, where such painful possibilities could remain forever unclaimed.
The longed-for night enveloped them again, bringing with it silence, the safety of darkness, an absence of unnecessary questions and judging glances.

Izumi opened her tear-filled eyes, waking from another nightmare, full of fear expecting the cold and dark loneliness of an empty room, but saw Sasuke's familiar face above her. She allowed herself to cry harder as her remaining defensive mechanisms gave way, like a fragile dam under the pressure of spring mountain snowmelt.
Sasuke didn't shy away this time. He didn't leave or avert his gaze. Instead, he took her in his arms. Darkness gave them strength, and no words were necessary. Her sobbing gradually softened, replaced by pleasant relief as he held her so surely, providing safety. She was no longer alone with all of this. And neither was he.

Finally, they settled beside each other, wearing only loose night shirts, covered by a light blanket. Izumi rested her forehead against the boy's face. They lay embracing, not knowing how long, existing together until finally, their lips met again, in reality. Sweet darkness taking away their awkward sight, gave them the courage to explore their bodies through touch, kiss, closeness, when they could once again transform into their other, deeply hidden versions of themselves. Remove the masks and tear down the walls they built around themselves each day.