Present day

  The full moon shone down on Hanamaru, still animated, when a terrifying roar disturbed the atmosphere. G?me, the five-eyed demon who had suddenly appeared as a legend to the villagers, was pouring out his rage and hatred on the village. The village chief and commander confronted him and managed to get him out of the way, where fleeing inhabitants and troops of soldiers mingled.

  Beneath the rubble of the buildings that had served as the Five-Eyed Demon's perch lay Tsukinoko, emerging from her malaise. Alone, as the inhabitants had deserted the streets. Her eyes sparkled in the half-light, before the reflections of the flames climbing the buildings. Her eyes as sharp as her mind, she climbed onto the roof of a building to get some height. Ashes fell over the village, like a dark snow camouflaging the lives snatched from it, a shroud muffling the last gasps. The child looked around and thought she recognized Hanamaru's village, but she couldn't explain his presence here. Nor the origin of this massacre. Nor where her parents could be. Without hesitation, she set off into the village in search of them

  Rounding an alleyway, she came upon two soldiers pulling out a corpse trapped under a wall. The wall fell heavily to the pavement, and Tsukinoko stopped for a moment, caught by a strange feeling in her stomach that made her look down.

  The soldiers threw the corpse on top of others, then leaned back on their knees to regain their composure. One of them heard a frightened sigh and approached Tsukinoko. Terrified, she fled and climbed the buildings before one of them could grab her by the arm. Her colleague pulled her by the foot, leaving her head dangling in the air to avoid his blows.

  - Calm down, we don't want to hurt you. You can't stay here, it's dangerous," he says in a broken voice.

  - We're going to take you up into the mountains with the others.

  -What's wrong with her?" he asks his colleague discreetly as she struggles to her feet.

  - I don't know, maybe it's because you're holding her by her feet over the void! he hisses at her. Hey, where are your parents? he hisses at Tsukinoko.

  Don't be afraid, everything will be all right. Don't ever reveal who your father and I are, okay? Don't ever talk about us, about where you come from. Forget us, lie, invent a past and a new identity, but never reveal who we are to anyone...

  The soldier sighs at Tsukinoko's silence and exchanges a sad look with his colleague.

  - Come with us, we'll get you to safety," he said to reassure her. G?me has left the village, but he could return at any moment. We'll take you to see your parents. They must be with the others, in the shelter," he lies naively.

  - G?me?" she wonders. Get the fuck off me, I've got a headache!" she shouts suddenly, managing to land on her feet.

  Tsukinoko pestered as she readjusted her clothes, a long-sleeved black dress, stripped of its long leather belt that had unraveled from her waist in the ruckus. The shelter the soldiers were talking about was in a huge cave, hidden in the mountain overlooking the Village, on which were carved three imposing portraits.

  The place was full of villagers, many crying, others trying to reassure themselves. After an hour's search, her parents were nowhere to be seen. Sitting in a corner, Tsukinoko hatched a plan to escape. Eventually, she climbed the wall to observe the surroundings through the openings in the stone, which served as orifices for the rocky faces, and memorized the view and the arteries of the Village so as not to get lost.

  The day dawned, and the announcement of G?me's capture finally allowed the inhabitants to go outside. Calm and tired after a hard night's work, the inhabitants anxiously made their way to the exit, where two soldiers were taking a census of the population. Tsukinoko made her way through the village streets without being caught. Her bare feet slipped between the debris on the ground, but she was surprised that no one noticed her, who felt like prey.

  A young boy, in pyjamas, sitting in front of the remains of a house was now a poor orphan, surely like Tsukinoko. With a lump in her throat, she swallowed her sobs, for her own parents could not be dead. Yet, since the day before, terrifying visions of her dying parents had been troubling her.

  They were just nightmares. Compassionate about the boys despair while denying her own, she left quietly, convinced that her parents were here somewhere. The Five-Eyed Demon had made a mess of things, and they must have gotten lost in the crowd.

  While theorizing about why she was here, Tsukinoko paced the streets, searching every store, restaurant and hotel that had been spared. But as the sun set, hope waned. She was alone once again. Tears welled up, fear camouflaging hunger as the cool of the night chilled her feet. Her mother had ordered her to fend for herself until they returned with her father, and so she let herself be carried along by his footsteps.

  Arriving at the foot of the mountain with its sculpted faces, Tsukinoko climbed straight up the rock. An immense tree towered at the summit, its branches stretched over the void. It was a hundred-year-old camphor tree, isolated from the forest that surrounded the Village. Imposing roots protruded here and there from the ground, defying the void. The less adventurous might feel dizzy climbing to the top, but the imposing foliage and sturdy branches could hide an entire regiment. The grass- and flower-covered roots reminded us of the flowery fields behind Tsukinoko's home, and her melancholy smile immediately disappeared.

  High above the void, the perch offered a clear view of the village and its surroundings. The first belonged to Hashirama Anba, the first chief. The second, engraved on her right, belonged to her younger brother, whom she recognized from her mother's descriptions. The other two faces were unknown to her. They were Haruo Sato, the 3rdrd chief. Lost in thought, Tsukinoko sighed heavily, wondering what she was doing here, why her parents hadn't come to fetch her, had they returned home safe and sound?

  Tomorrow she'll go home.

  In the early hours of the morning, awakened by her tummy rumbling with hunger, Tsukinoko waited for the passers-by below to leave before descending discreetly. Finally, she turned back and wandered off in the direction of the forest, until she sensed a tension ahead. With her eyes closed, she could make out a protective field enveloping the Village, shielding it from intruders. It was best not to risk being spotted crossing the field and followed.

  Shopkeepers were preparing their stalls in the streets spared by the attack. Ripe pears were neatly arranged in a crate in front of one store. With hunger becoming too oppressive, Tsukinoko naturally approached, but received a heavy blow on the head before she could get her hands on the fruit. The shopkeeper kicked Tsukinoko away like a mangy dog, until his wife came out of the store, alerted by her screams. The shopkeeper took pity on her, cowering to protect her head and tears welling up in her eyes.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Tsukinoko's face and hands were full of dust, her dress torn, her feet black and full of cuts from running relentlessly through the village. Left to her own devices and living outside, like so many orphans since the attack.

  - Finally, be nice," she whispers to her husband. Do you have the money?" she asks Tsukinoko, crouching down.

  - Paying?

  - Do you have any money to pay for the fruit?

  - Nan... I've never paid for anything!

  - If I feed her, I'll have to feed all the orphans, won't I! grumbles the merchant.

  The woman sighs, then hands two pears to Tsukinoko, despite the grumbling of her husband, who vociferates immediately.

  - Now go away, I won't see you here again, you thief!

  Safe at last, perched high in the branches to devour the fruit, Tsukinoko was already devising a new search tactic. The next day, Tsukinoko finally explored the last nooks and crannies of the village. All the way to a half-destroyed building called "Academy".

  She was surprised to discover what a school was, a place she'd never set foot in and only vaguely heard of. One of the rooms resembled a painting studio. The walls were lined with drawings of all kinds, and each desk had its own equipment.

  Last year, his parents had given him a brand-new paint case, full of colored pencils and acrylics, and sable brushes

  Every room in the Academy had been searched, looking for documents or archives, hoping to find some kind of information. Crouching in one of the upstairs archive rooms, documents and parchments strewn across the floor, a box full of curious parchments caught Tsukinoko's eye. The scrolls contained the syllabus for the practical and theoretical courses that the teachers had to teach their pupils every year.

  Incomprehension gnawed at her, faced with so many scrolls on an education she'd never received. Each one was dated, and she unearthed the one that seemed the most recent, with the most advanced date, even though they foresaw courses for decades to come apparently.

  A calendar hung on the wall next to the window, dated five years in advance. Wide-eyed, she alternated between the parchment in her hands and the calendar, both of the same date. She shook her head and convinced herself that they must be fake documents, decoration for a school project, before hearing noise in the corridors

  Already far down the alley, having left the room a mess, Tsukinoko was doing the calculations over and over in her head. Once back on her perch, she had returned with more mysteries to unravel rather than answers to her questions. Dying of cold and unhappy about the disappearance of her parents, sleep did not join her once again. However, she felt taller, more agile, her arms longer and her legs more muscular.

  As the day wore on, Tsukinoko was busy daydreaming, waiting for night to fall, without once coming down from her perch. Darkness fell over the village and she entered again, discreet as a feline. The Academy hall was tidied up, before being turned upside down again by her. Her harvest was meagre, but she lingered on a history book, in the chapter about a battle that took place in the Cursed Canyon. The location was very close to her house, and the fight concerned Jinmuya Karumin, using G?me, against Hashirama Anba. It resembled the events of a few days ago, but the location didn't match, and how it could already be written, like a premonition. She frowned, completely lost in front of this book that was very real. She ripped out the page about Jinmuya Karumin and Hashirama Anba, as well as those about combat, and returned to her tree. A sad smile could be seen in the moonlight as she deciphered the information profiles of the two opponents. It was written that the first chief had defeated his father, and that his wife had sealed G?me in an unmentioned sacred temple. Their battle had been titanic and had even distorted the landscape, more than five years ago. These two prodigies had been the founders of Hanamaru 40 years ago, but their ideals had gone astray and discord had buried their friendship, aided by G?me

  Tsukinoko crumpled up the leaves to shove them into one of the tree's eyes, never to be seen again. Her mind was racing, her eyes burning, her feet and hands frozen and her belly writhing in pain, begging to be filled as day broke again. But it would be better to wait until nightfall to go out and avoid being spotted

  The last of the onlookers returned, the last of the lights went out in the homes as a silhouette made its way through the streets. Everything was being rebuilt, in a state of disrepair, with many abandoned districts waiting to be reunited with their inhabitants. Tsukinoko was quenching her thirst at the tap at the back of a restaurant, when old food smells carried by the wind titillated her. Her mouth watered and she tried to force open the restaurant door, without success. Disoriented by hunger, anger and frustration got the better of her and she fanned a garbage can from which the odors were escaping.

  She rummaged frantically through them, but found only inedible detritus that lifted her heart. Her hands were covered in filth. Her disgust regurgitated, and the garbage was covered in bile from her empty stomach. The last trickle of spit burned her throat. She no longer had the strength to continue rummaging through the garbage, and kept her hands up, her gaze blank and her chin dripping. All the pressure and relentlessness of the last few days had fallen brutally on her shoulders.

  She'd been here for over a week and continued her search without respite, always sleeping with one eye open, on the lookout. The situation was still unexplained, her devotion weakening as she no longer dared to show her face in broad daylight, her dress in tatters and her feet pockmarked.

  Leaning against the camphor tree, images of her father and mother reappeared as soon as she closed her eyes. She screamed silently in fear, at the look in her father's eyes, so terrifying, and her mother's, so sad. And she was in their midst, terrorized. Abruptly opening her eyes without realizing she was crying, she struggled not to fall asleep, so that G?me's big, evil eyes wouldn't haunt her dreams. As she did every night, her nightmares returned with a vengeance, and she barely slept a few hours.

  Short of ideas, Tsukinoko decided to spy on the villagers. The chief lived in his own Residence, an imposing red building guarded by soldiers at the foot of the mountain, which she could see from her perch. Days were spent watching over the Residence at , and nights spent surviving against her invisible adversaries.

  The sun was warming the trunk marked with sixty notches, the last one carved this morning. The sky was slowly turning pale - a new day, a new hope of truth. Exhausted, her body on fire, Tsukinoko wobbled and clutched a branch to keep from falling. After another sleepless night, the dizziness didn't surprise her. But she had to hurry and get down the cliff before the inhabitants came out. A few meters from the ground, a cramp struck her leg as she placed her foot on a stone. Her chakra tried to stabilize her grip, but to no avail. She fell into the bushes below. Not all the creaks were from branches, and she had to bite her lips to keep from screaming. Giving up so close to her goal was out of the question.

  The Residence had an entrance on the right, accessible via a grand staircase that led directly to the second floor. As Tsukinoko ran up the stairs, she was running out of breath too quickly and an excruciating headache suddenly paralyzed her. Leaning against the wall, she held her head to climb the stairs, but ended up biting tongue as she stumbled. Adrenalin gave her a slight energy boost and she climbed the last few steps.

  Hiding behind the entrance, her instinct was to turn left and, hearing no one, she made her way down the corridor, silent as a panther. Adrenalin dissipated after the excitement and she stumbled against the wide burgundy carpet adorning the floor, arms outstretched. She takes a few more steps, reaches for the wall but doesn't reach it, and collapses on her side.

  Tsukinoko picked herself up from the floor, forcing her trembling legs to her feet, before collapsing again a few steps further on. Dizzy and unable to find her bearings, hungry, the corridor seemed endless before her. She began to suffocate, tried to get up, but just before she fell again she finally found the wall and clung to it desperately. The wall caught her in return, giving a pleasant warmth that squeezed her arm and hand.

  Her vision was blurred, revealing only a vague silhouette, perhaps a boy. Wearing the same kind of mask on his face as the men who had chased her that day. She struggled, screamed, managed to make him let go, then charged forward.

  A bright light shone at the end of the corridor, dazzling, to guide her steps. Gradually, two familiar silhouettes appeared against the light, and tears of joy rolled down her cheeks as she desperately reached out for her parents, closer with every step. As Tsukinoko hallucinated her hopes, her half-open eyes had lost their sparkle, not even hinting at the glimmer of hope to which she was clinging one last time.

  His body no longer produced any movement or sound, lying full length on the wide burgundy carpet. In turn, his exhausted mind surrendered to more comforting disillusions.