As it always did, the blazing ball of flame hung high in the heavens.
He had always heard tales about the divine kingdom above the clouds as a child, with his mother constantly whispering them in his ear to lull him to sleep when he lay awake brooding in the middle of the night.
Everything was remembered in vivid detail.
The way his mother would urge him to display his affections more and stop isolating all those emotions under a mask as cold and hard as the statues one sees on graves.
The way her soft voice would made him hunger for a normal life, where he would graduate from the academy, grow up with friends there to support him and pull him to his feet if he ever slipped and fell, develop special feelings for someone, bring her home to his parents, having a family, advancing the ranks of a shinobi to serve his home in full glory.
He closed his eyes, taking a moment to purge all of the thoughts that linked him as a normal human from his mind and to shift his focus onto something else.
He averted his gaze up into the skies, which slowly faded into hues of purple, red and orange as the sun began to set.
It looked beautiful and instilled some feeling of serenity within him.
Time had seemed to pause in stillness as he fixated his eyes on the ever-changing colors of the vault of heaven.
Heaven.
A place so wonderful and perfect; where everything was pure and clear. Where acts and thoughts even breaching the fine line of evil and good were unheard of.
Immediately, a vast field of blooming flowers came into mind. He envisioned himself strolling through the meadow, thousands of sweet-smelling scents wafting into his nose, conquering his senses. As the warm rays of the sun caressed his skin, he allowed his eyes to scan across the blossoms as he advanced deeper and deeper into the sea of colors and scents.
It seemed like he had been walking a long time, but it did not feel burdensome whatsoever. Instead, a feeling of rejuvenation was welling up within him, as he fought the strange sensation to smile. Wandering through a beautiful place like this felt so different, it made him want to relax, urging him to let his guard down, to take a moment of peace and indulge in the wonders this beautiful world has to offer.
A strange tree seemed to rise above all the flowers as he advanced slowly across the meadow. As he got closer, he discovered that it was just a cherry blossom tree. The usual ones that bloomed every spring, the ones that he had seen in numerous villages which had the time and climate to cultivate these rich symbols of transience when he took shortcuts to minimize the hassle of traveling so much due to his useless tasks.
Life was beautiful. And also remarkably fragile. A reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but also tragically short.
He reached out his hand to touch the tree trunk, but as his hand was merely centimetres from the uneven surface of the bark, the tree would suddenly evaporate into thousands and thousands of sakura flowers, leaving him to stare after them as they fluttered up into the sky.
That was the dream that had always appeared in his mind every time he had managed to slip into sleep. He never slept soundly. A dream was the closest thing he had come to sleeping soundly, resulting in the deep lines under his eyes.
The feeling of a peaceful night's sleep felt so far away, it was so many years ago that he had felt the relief to be swaddled in the warmth of his blankets. That feeling of comfort would have been forgotten if he hadn't tried so hard to relive it in his mind every night.
Unfortunately for him, it was a life of a soldier's that he was living. Things like home, love and all mortal feelings of contentment held no meaning for him whatsoever.
He knew this was his duty. But if he did not hold on to some memories, he was afraid he would be driven to the brink of madness one day, and everything he had struggled to build and achieve would be destroyed.
They would disappear into nothingness, just like how he would one day.
That was inevitable.
And he would make sure that when it was his time to vanish, he would go, knowing that he had fulfilled his duty.
The duty that he had pledged his entire life to.
Hello, everyone! Haven't had much time with all the homework and assignments in school, not to mention a severe case of writer's block, I apologize. Anyways, Happy Lunar New Year to everyone and their families who's celebrating! Enjoy the mini chapter ^-^