Sup all. I'm back with a new short story, and it's definitely not going to be as long as my previous one. This one was inspired by one of my favourite astronomers named Neil DeGrasse, and I wrote a similar one about Carl Sagan called Suspended in a sunbeam.
Before reading I hope you all know that we are made of star dust. Our atoms are literally made from dead stars. If you don't know this, it might seem a bit confusing for you.
Nothing like Bete Noire, in which I replicated—it's more philosophical and involves no romance what so ever.
It's Itatchi and Sakura. Itatchi fits the role for this story so well, and Sakura's innocents and stupidity contrasts great.
Disclaimer
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There was a seemingly insignificant vibe Sakura was feeling at the moment.
It wasn't her knees all scratched up, bruises and filled with dirt, or her hair matted in different directions and sticking out in odd places—it was the quiet plain that stood before her. There was a mocking, aching feeling of vast isolation in the night sky, as if the dark had swallowed their entire world whole and the stars from above were the only lights left.
The rising ash from Madaras battle with the tailed beats was not settled, and the dark debris was still scattered around in the night sky. The night was silent—dead silent. It was quiet enough to hear Sakura's soft ragged breath inhale and exhale. She lifted her hands and turned them over, as if she were waiting for someone to fill her palms. There was nothing left the earth could give her—only the stars and the vast universe.
Finally someone spoke, "…Is Naruto alive?"
Sakura swallowed heavily, and turned to face the wounded ninja who muttered the question—her greens eyes flashing with ferocity.
"He has to be." She whispered, looking up at the universe once more. There was something about that place that made her want to reach up and be suspended in a different atmosphere.
Ninja around her were collapsing of fatigue, and she was way too exhausted to share her chakara. Still, it was her duty. So Sakura crawled over, and placed her hands on a wounded man, trying her best to concentrate on all the wounds.
A shadow crept across the dirt and Sakura turned her pale face to look at the man. "You shouldn't exhaust yourself. You will die before you can save this man."
"You're still here?" She croaked.
Itatchi stood above the kunochi and simply nodded. "Both of us are still here, so that must mean the battle is not yet over. Someone has to lose."
She had almost wanted to laugh aloud. If she had enough energy, she would have, but the situation was not laughable. Collapsing of exhaustion, and not being able to hold her herself any longer, she fell onto her back, watching the stars scatter the black canvas.
Itatchi peered over his shoulder and watched her. He stood strongly, and wrapped his hands underneath the sleeves of his cloak.
Right now, they were all awaiting their destinies.
Suddenly, Sakura lifted up her hand and reached for the sky. Her delicate fingers were trying to grasp a hand full of the universe but the act was only futile.
"I want to die now." She whispered. "So I can go up there… I belong there."
Itatchi exhaled, and glanced at the vast keep. There was little movement in the battle field.
"We all belong there." Itatchi murmured.
Sakura gave a light chuckle. "Not Madara, he belongs in hell."
"That's not what I meant." He replied, gazing at her green eyes. "There is a fundamental reason why we look into the sky with longing. It's for the same reason we stand, hour after hour, gazing at the swell of the ocean waters."
"It's because we want to die—to drown." She said.
"Wrong," He replied sharply. Itatchi looked at his immortal hands and sighed. "The same way a bird knows its tree, or a fish knows its creek. There is something ancient tucked away in our DNA—something our genes know where we really belong."
Sakura fluttered her eyelashes, "..heaven."
Itatchi nodded, "Correct."
A silence eluded the atmosphere, and Sakura's ragged breath filled the air again. She was crying— again. Tearing salty waters like an ocean.
"You know that out there, our universe is only a fraction of a dot. There have never been records beyond the universe." He said, ignoring her tears.
"Makes me feel tiny." She said looking up. Itatchi nodded, and glanced up into the vastness.
"…It makes me feel big." He replied quietly. There was stillness in his voice that eased her somehow. It was probably because of his modest upbringing in a prestigious clan.
"Big?" She questioned. "Our galaxy is but one speck of dust on a universal map. How can you possibly feel big in a place like that?" With confidence in her voice, she asked again, "How can you possibly feel big especially in a place like this?"
Sakura's hands pointed into the broken valleys, as if she were showing him an art piece. It was a broken landscape filled with death, and sadness and sin that was always around.
Itatchi sighed. "Because Sakura," He replied, stepping around a collapsed body, "There is something spectacular about human beings. It is encoded somewhere in us—the very atoms of our body. And this is the Iron, the calcium, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen that we are made of."
His voice became stronger, and filled with passion. "Notice that every single molecule in your body is a construction of molecules from long dead stars."
"I don't get it." She cried silently.
"You see these stars?" He said, pointing up into the night. "These stars were once unstable in their older years. They sooner collapsed and exploded, scattering their guts across the galaxy. These guts are what we know as the elements on the periodic table. These are the ingredients for the fundamentals of life itself."
Wiping her tears, Sakura crunched up her bros and made a sour face. "This is a problem." She said. "Stars are stupid— dead stars are stupid. If stars never died, they wouldn't have to create humans—stupid humans like us."
Sakura's crying made Itatchi sick.
"We are all connected to each other biologically. To the earth, chemically, and to the rest of the universe, automatically. It's just like a dog knows it's home, we know ours. "
The vast keep became silent again, and the stars seemed more distant now. With all the strength she could muster, Sakura climbed onto her legs and stood up, with her hands on her knees. There was still nothing beyond the battle grounds, and the night sky was clear of any approaching clouds. Slowly, Sakura turned her head to meet the eyes of Sasuke's brother.
The similarities were obvious, but his eyes seemed less lost. Even if Itatchi was dead, there was something so incredibly exhilarating looking at him.
The both of them waited for a small speck of blonde hair to shine through the darkness, but none came. They perhaps had to wait it out a bit longer.
"So we're all connected, huh?" She replied finally.
Itatchi nodded. "We are all connected, like messy constellations, capable of inhabiting life. Simply suspended in the idea that we are alone, when we are not."
/
"I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up—many people feel small, because they're small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars."
― Neil deGrasse Tyson