Chapter Text
PART ONE
YOUR EYES JUST NEED TO GET USED TO THE DARK
As a child, his mother speaking of the moon clan had always felt like she was telling him a fairy tale. She’d caress his hair while putting him to bed and speak of animals that he’d never seen in real life. Fish that made the sea light up in a bright blue, birds that slept during the day, pitch black bats that were only visible against the night sky when flying right where the moon was shining.
Naruto knew these things existed, but at the same time it seemed like any other story she told him. Like any myth or bedtime tale. When he thought of his mother — her vibrant red hair, her loud voice and bright smile, so much like the sun herself — he couldn’t help but think of her stories of the nighttime.
They know about the moon clans from books and stories, gathered from the exchange they do every twenty years. With his mother being the last one who went, two years before he was born. He has seen what they gathered; heard of how they perform rituals around bonfires and they carry torches everywhere. It’s said that, if there is a crescent moon and the fires dim, their eyes glow. White, for some families. Others, a deep red.
Being in the sun is so natural to him that he often forgets that there is a whole other way to live. That there are other clans. He has never doubted the choice his ancestors made; rising with the sun feels like it’s meant to be. He feels it when he works on the fields with the sun on his back, or when he relaxes in the shadow. He can’t imagine living in the silence of the night.
He’s always been fascinated by it, though. Maybe because of his mother and all the questions he would have asked her now.
Maybe because of how he misses her.
Maybe it’s because of how he’s heard elders say that it made sense, that she was chosen. She had been like the sun itself. He knows he is too. Knows that his eyes are like the blue sky and that his voice carries. He thinks of his mother’s hand in his blond hair, telling her stories, and knows that he belongs here.
It’s precisely because of that, that he volunteers.
He steps forward with the sand of the fields still on his fingers. The sun is at its highest point and he can feel its warmth on his shoulder blades. When the elders see him, there’s a smile that they can not quite hide.
“Always the loudest,” their leader says.
It’s true. He has been. The truth is, that he’s not quite sure if he’ll be able to live at night. He sings and dances and tells so many stories that even the sun clan tells him to quiet down sometimes. He asks his questions unapologetically and he speaks up when he doesn’t agree. He’s heard the moon clan is quiet and tends to keep to themselves. That they are disciplined and dislike loudness.
He runs cold quickly too — so much that even a single cloudy day will have him impatient for the sun to return. He loves the way the sun feels on his tanned skin and he even likes the feeling of a slight sunburn.
But still. Still Naruto wants to go. He wants to know what the moon looks like; if it’s true that it can recharge your spirit and light up the water like it’s magic. He wants to know which part of his mother’s stories were real. He wants to have that same feeling he had upon first hearing them, even if it’s just one more time. “Stubborn too.” She chuckles, then adds: “Much like the sun, you. So was your mother.” With that, she motions for him to come forward.
She tells him that he’ll feel sick. That being awake at night will make him nauseous. That the cold will leave him shivering. That he will feel homesick.
She tells him that his mother would have been proud.
☾
The following days are an excited blur. They take measurements for his yukata; a beautiful red fabric that he’s already afraid he’ll dirty. His clan members spend days stitching beautiful golden and yellow suns onto the hems and collar. Every single threat reflecting the sun above them.
He packs his bags. He takes notebooks and empty satchels. He takes his favourite pants and ties a back-up pair of shoes onto his backpack. The next month will have cold nights and nothing more than what he can carry.
He starts his journey when the sun rises; knows he’ll be walking until after sundown. His father wakes him early in the morning and helps him get ready. They're both thick eyed and tired. The clan leader places his yukata around his shoulders and tells him not to fear when the sun goes down. The moon will be full and lead him. He has to let it guide him, against his nature.
There are people playing music and there’s a big buffet. He gets pulled into everyone's arms, even the ones of people who he usually doesn’t speak to. They hug him warmly and tell him good luck and have fun and stay warm and to come home safe. His chest swells with it. Though he wishes he could join in for the party, he feels as if he’s glowing when they see him off with a lunch box full of their traditional food and a big bottle of elderflower lemonade for on the road. His father hugs him and takes too long to let him go. Naruto doesn't even want to pretend he's embarrassed. He hugs back.
He leaves and walks. He walks and sits down in the shadow of a big oak to eat. He walks and watches as sparrows fly high up in the sky. He walks and tries to remember the words of the clan leader as the sun slowly goes down — the sky turning a bright pink, a purple hue — until it turns dark blue and eventually a deep black.
☾
The moon is brighter than he could have ever imagined.
With the moon rising higher, he finds himself able to see the path he’s following more clearly. The silence is so deep that he knows that he’s getting closer by little details; the air changes and eventually he even hears faint waves.
He doesn’t look at the moon directly or for too long, afraid that it will leave him blind like the sun would. He glances to see how high up it has risen. When it’s right above his head, he knows he’s supposed to arrive soon.
He can imagine what it’s like to arrive at his own village; you’ll hear them before you can see them. The moon village is almost silent, but it’s one that you feel. That’s the first thing he realises; he feels the air — already colder at night — becoming even colder as he nears the sea. There’s a deep quiet, making him able to hear the waves, the cackling of the fire, the wind — a bird.
A night bird.
He stops and stands still. The sound of the bird is deep, nothing like anything he’s heard before. He tries his best nog to move — not to startle it — when he suddenly hears a voice:
“An owl.”
He reels back. “Holy—”
In front of him, stands a beautiful middle aged woman. She’s smiling at him calmly, as if she hasn’t just scared him with how quietly she’d walked up to him. “Much like the last visitors. The sun-clan will first notice the owls, thinking that birds only rise with the sun.”
He remembers his mother’s voice, telling him of birds that only flew at night, not visible to the eye but loud in their call. He remembers it as if it’s a fairy tale. He’s here now. Knows it hadn’t been. “What does it look like?” He asks.
“They are strong birds. The one you heard must have been a small one, but they get as big as a child. Brown with a white face as if it’s wearing a mask. Night birds don’t like showing themselves. You’ll be lucky if you get to see one.” After she has spoken, she slowly bows. The village elders had prepared him for this. No hugging. No hand shaking. No reckless touching. “I’m Mikoto Uchiha.”
Naruto bows in return. “Naruto Uzumaki.”
He follows her as she walks through the last part of the woods. The trees get thicker, the leaves blocking out the moon. It’s the kind of path that makes him wonder if he would have been able to find the way by himself. It ends in an open field that has an ocean view. In the middle there’s a huge bonfire. Around it, are smaller campfires where they are grilling different things, a lot of fish and some meat.
Naruto feels the heat of the fire on his skin, and finds that it reminds him of the sun.
“Bright moon tonight,” Mikoto says, softly. She looks up, directly into the moon, and tells him: “Look up, boy.”
“Can I—” He falls into a silence as he follows her eyes and looks up. The moon, he realises, is nothing like the sun. The moon has a relief you can see with the blind eye. A soft white hue that surrounds it like an aura. The moon, in spite of its brightness, is softer, making you able to look at it. “Oh— wow.”
Mikoto laughs. “Go sit down. She won’t be this big every night, but she won’t go anywhere.”
☾
Naruto eats fish with rice, grilled over the fire. He takes a blanket he’s been given and sits as close to the fire as possible. He talks with the people he’s seated in between. He talks and answers everyone's questions as well as he can. Sometimes, when a silence falls, he jumps into a story about how they do things in the sun village. The elders watch him with a soft smile— as if they think it’s funny that he can’t make the silence last — but the children listen to him wide eyed.
Mikoto keeps smiling at him, almost motherly. Naruto wonders if Mikoto knew his mother. He wonders if she looks at him and sees her— something about her makes that he can imagine them being friends. Her soft spoken amusement, a confidence
He wonders if she knows
He doesn’t get the chance to ask. From one of the wooden houses, two men emerge. As soon as the door closes behind them, the people around the bonfire bow slightly. Naruto follows suit, glancing up at the men’s straight posture. The younger one’s dark eyes, searching for something, though calm.
The older man looks at Mikoto, then asks: “Where is Sasuke?”
She lowers her voice as she almost sighs: “I haven’t seen him, dear.”
The man frowns, huffs slightly, and then walks up to him. Naruto puts his hands around his cup of warm tea, a green tea that is too bitter to his liking, just so he can do something. “Welcome, boy. Are you a Senju?”
“Uzumaki,” Naruto answers, making sure he bows again. He’s pretty sure this man is their clan leader. His energy completely different from his own clan leaders — the amused and loud woman. Her sternness hidden behind that until it’s necessary to use it.
This man radiates it.
“We welcome you with the moon.” He says.
“Uh. Yeah, thank you so much.”
The other man, probably the leader’s son, slowly nods and bows in a greeting. His face gives away nothing. Though he seems to take after Mikoto, the same openness does not quite reach his eyes.
As soon as Naruto has finished his greeting, they both turn towards their own people again. The elder calls out: "Somebody. Find where Sasuke is hiding. He is missing the opening of the exchange.”
He’s heard the name multiple times by now. Sasuke. Just when he wants to ask about this guy— somebody refills his bitter tea and asks him if he’d like dessert. Mooncakes. Naruto’s stomach growls at the idea of tasting some. He notices how people get up and scurry — moving in search of this guy — but he finds himself too tired from his trip, too warm near the bonfire. The mooncake too, is still warm when it’s handed to him. He chooses to ignore his curiosity, and, once he’s inhaled this pastry filled with delicious sweetness — they allow him to have seconds and he kind of forgets about it.
☾
The sun rises before anyone has found Sasuke. The clan gets something restless to them, the longer it takes to find him. They’re whispering among each other, and they are glancing at the clan leader and his son as if they might snap at any minute. At Mikoto too, as if she might have answers for them. And, lastly, they glance at him. He’s not quite sure why.
Before the sun comes up, he gets shown to one of the old wooden houses. The houses in the moon village have multilayered sliding doors, one of the elder ladies explains as she demonstrates closing and opening the door. One with rice paper windows, one to keep the sun out and one for nights when it storms. Naruto’s new house has one bedroom room, a small bathroom with a bath and a small kitchen with a firepit and a teapot hanging above it. There’s a round table and a collection of blankets next to it, as if they knew he'd be cold. Next to the table, there’s a mattress on the floor. The lady leaves him in the middle of the room, leaves the doors open as she leaves.
It goes against everything in Naruto’s nature to go inside when the sun is coming up. He can’t help but, instead of letting himself rest from his travels against the softness of his mattress, pull one of the blankets around his shoulders and sit down in the opening of the sliding doors. His legs hanging off the small veranda.
There’s a yellow and purple hue in the sky — the clouds painting the sky in thin layers, soft white stripes. The village has gone completely silent; all the double doors tightly shut. Some of the bonfires, put out earlier, still have some black smoke rising from them. This quiet is new to him.
In spite of how much he longs for the sun, he feels his body become heavy watching the first signs of the sunrise. Just when he is about to turn away from the coloured world around him — the rising sun, the first daytime birds — he sees a young man hurrying towards the main family’s house. He’s walking fast, precise, silently.
As soon as he notices being watched, the man looks at Naruto. Naruto finds his breath knocked out of him by the depth of the man’s dark eyes as they look at him. The pure black of them. The same pitch black hair cupping his face.
He looks like he’s gotten caught, falls still.
There’s something proud to him. Instead of scurrying away, he straightens his back and sends Naruto the smallest but most mischievous smile.
Naruto can’t help it. He grins.
It feels like he’s been allowed a secret to share.
The man turns away from him without letting anything else show. He closes the door to the main house behind him. Naruto waits for the tingling of his fingertips, the warmth of his cheeks, to quiet like the moon village itself, and then follows suit. He turns away from the sun. He closes the doors to his temporary house —he one to keep the sun out first, then the rice paper one — drags himself and blankets he’s wrapped up in, towards his cold mattress. He expects himself to lie awake, aware of how the sun has risen outside, but he finds his exhaustion to be stronger than his nature.
By the time the sun is in the sky, he’s fallen into a deep slumber.