Taking a break from 'Can't Let Go' for a moment.
One-shot, relatively spoiler-free.
Someone was playing the piano. Dosu could hear it, reverberating from the depths of the house. The house that he shared with Kin and Zaku – the house that he'd thought was empty. Empty, in body – Dosu had heard Zaku and Kin leave –
And empty, in soul. They were all empty on the inside. None of them had a precious person in their life. They didn't need one. They were doing just fine on their own. They lived in the savage Oto village, and they were still alive. It was hard enough to take care of one's self in Oto – they didn't need to put up with the burden of having to take care of someone else either.
They were all empty on the inside, but none of them was ashamed because of it.
(Another day, another moment.)
The house was empty, but someone was playing the piano.
It was still early in the morning, but as if to defy this, the sun shone outside. Not very brightly, of course. Nothing shined brightly where they lived. The rays of lights were watery, at best. Yet…
The beams illuminated the tiny dust particles drifting in the air, and reflected off the somber, amber-colored walls and floors of the building. It gave the entire place a more soft feel, which Dosu was not used to. Nothing in Oto had a peaceful, content aura, nothing. Yet, this morning, that was just how it felt in the house. It felt almost heavenly, and Dosu was tempted to shut all the windows to block out the sun. He wasn't afraid – no – Dosu was never afraid – he couldn't be – but he felt out of place, alien – it just wasn't right for there to be a day like this in Oto. Orochimaru said that Konoha was peaceful – silly, Dosu thought – so an atmosphere like this in Konoha wouldn't be strange, but this was Oto.
And someone was still playing the piano.
(Another moment, another feeling.)
Dosu pushed through the corridors of his home, so familiar, yet, today, they seemed so different. Not different in the frightening way – because Dosu couldn't be frightened – but different in a strange way. Almost as if someone had repainted the entire place with a very different color – but deeper than that. Maybe it was just the damn piano.
The next entrance was completely immersed in sunlight. Dosu raised his arm, almost as if to shield himself, but reached out for the door instead, and then stopped before his fingers brushed the rice paper stretched across the wooden frame. He could hear it more clearly now. The melodies and harmonies which were mixing with each other to create a song. It was, Dosu admitted, the most beautiful song he'd ever heard, but he'd never heard many songs in his life. That was mostly because any songs played in Oto were usually fatal if heard, the most prominent being Tayuya's melodies.
The door slid open smoothly and noiselessly when Dosu finally opened it and he stepped inside the room. For no particular reason, he reached out behind him and closed the door.
(Another feeling, another pause.)
The person sitting in front of the piano did not notice him, which was not surprising. Being a ninja, Dosu tended to always be silent whenever walking in on something. So he was still silent as he made his way over, coming to a halt directly behind the piano player.
He'd already recognized the player when he'd opened the door, yet he'd found it so surprising that he was taking another look just to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. Tilting his head even further to the side, Dosu's visible eye widened just the slightest bit when he'd confirmed the person's identity.
The music stopped as the player hit the wrong note. He paused, although his hands stayed hovering over the keys, and slowly, he turned his head around to face Dosu. His eyes widened in surprise too, a reflection of Dosu's own expression.
"I thought – didn't you – You left earlier on!" Zaku exclaimed. Hurriedly, he pulled his hands away from the piano and let them hang at his sides, as if they'd never been anywhere near the white-and-black keys.
Now, Zaku wasn't far away enough for Dosu's comfort, so he backed away and stood up straight for once, looking Zaku hard in the eye. "I thought you left too."
Looking around the room, warily, like he expected someone to jump out from the corner at any moment, Zaku said, "Kin left, didn't she?"
"I heard hertalking to someone when they left," Dosu replied.
"I thought she was talking to you," Zaku growled, expression sullen, as if Dosu had done something wrong. He crossed his arms in front of him and turned away, doing nothing else.
The entire house was silent for a moment. The house was usually silent, but after the piano music, Dosu found the current silence rather eerie.
(Another pause, another sound.)
Zaku was the first to break the silence. Not turning around to face Dosu, he muttered, "I swear I'll kill you if you laugh at me. Silent laughter counts too – don't think I can't see if you grin under those bandages!"
Hearing those words, Dosu couldn't help but smirk. Zaku spun around to glare at him, and Dosu's eye curved in amusement. It was relatively easy to get Zaku angered. Although it would be more beneficial to the team if he was less easily provoked, Dosu would oftentimes exploit Zaku's temper for his own entertainment.
Zaku kept his glare on Dosu, noted the smirk, but did nothing about it. Instead, his glower melted into a less fierce scowl and he turned away once more, obviously unsure of what to do next.
Dosu's smirk disappeared as well, and, finding it tiresome to keep standing straight, slipped back into his normal, hunched over stance. His eyes traveled to Zaku's hands. Zaku's hands, and arms, had always been a source of great pride to himself. He'd withstood the painful procedure of getting the tubes implanted into his arms, and could use them with ease. However, Dosu had never paid much attention to them, except when they were being used against him in a fight.
Now he noticed them. Zaku's fingers were longer and more slender than both Kin and Dosu's. Dosu wasn't quite sure whether this should've automatically registered Zaku as a piano player in his mind. The piano itself had stood in the house ever since the three had moved in, but it'd never been put to use – or so they'd thought.
"I haven't played in a while," Zaku said, in a tone that suggested he thought Dosu didn't care. "Otherwise I'd never have messed up, even with you hovering over my shoulder."
Dosu didn't respond. Zaku hadn't expected him to.
The silence was getting to Dosu now. It was always silent, before, because the three never interacted much. Kin was almost never near the house, Zaku was usually training in the yard, and Dosu usually hung around the building alone. The silence had never bothered him before. It bothered him now.
Damn piano.
Yet…
He looked around the room. It was empty, and bare – just like most of the house. It seemed to reflect him, Zaku, and Kin.
Perhaps – in another lifetime – in another place – with different circumstances – they wouldn't have had to be killing machines, working for Orochimaru, feeling nothing for each other.
Perhaps Zaku would've been happier. Perhaps they'd all be happier.
"Play again."
The request came out sounding more like a command, though it was simply because of habit. Dosu had always been the leader of the three. He was the strongest, and smartest, and so he was the obvious commander of their group.
"What?" Zaku uncrossed his arms and turned once more, this time to give Dosu a skeptical look.
Dosu tilted his head to the other side this time, and closed his eyes, even the one that was hidden behind the layer of bandages.
Very quietly, he said, "I think you play beautifully."
He never opened his eyes to see Zaku's expression of surprise, or to note the ghost of a smile that flickered across Zaku's face before he turned once more to the piano.
(Another moment, another song…)
I still don't know whether this could be considered a DosuZaku fic. O.o; I think out of all the yaoi pairings possible in Naruto, DosuZaku might be my favorite/the only one I like despite the fact that it's painted in large, bold, red letters that the Sound Trio don't care about each other at all. ;
And. Um. Who'd Kin go out with? …SECRET. Bwahaha, Kin has a secret boyfriend.
Or not.
Now I'm going to go and yell at Gaara's team for killing off a large portion of my favorite characters. Dosu, Hayate, Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya. DAMN YOU, GAARA AND COMPANY. YOU KILL OFF ALMOST ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AND I LIKE YOU ALL ANYWAY.
…Oh yeah, damn you too, Shino. Make Zaku's arms blow up and you're still one of the coolest characters anyway. D: