PHANTOM OF THE SAND
ACT 1 – SCENE 4
For the first time in many months Gaara fled the Konoha theatre. He had never suspected he would feel such a need – to abandon that which quelled his inner beast. But everything was different now. All he felt was an overwhelming desire to take Sakura to the ends of the earth, anywhere away from the Uchiha who threatened to smother her…..
…her voice….
….her vibrance…
….and every ounce of beauty she had blossomed to in his absence.
As he towed the kunoichi with a desperate ferocity behind him Gaara was quite aware that he had felt drawn to Sakura from the start. Initially, his senses had overwhelmed him and his memory played secondary fiddle to it all. But now….the look in her pale green eyes…the way her cherry blossom colored hair fell over her cheeks…it all flooded back. Back to the time he looked her directly in those fearsome eyes when she stood between him and Sasuke. It had struck him then – even as his mind was overrun by the demon. She protected him. Him. And the more Gaara thought of it, the more he hated him.
He could barely keep himself upright and yet she felt for him.
No. Not her. Not his siren. Not his blossom. Gaara would not let her beauty be spoiled by a filthy Uchiha.
It wasn't long before Gaara had brought a bewildered Sakura all the way to a shoreline of Konoha village. It was evening by now, and there were seemingly no people occupying the port. He moved with a quiet swiftness across the dock and wordlessly swept Sakura up in his arms long enough to set her down in a small wooden boat tied there. The boat teetered only slightly as he stepped down into it and severed the ties that bound it there. In the dark, Sakura could barely see anything - much less the wisps of sand bubbling up from the bottom of the water to usher the boat forward, oar and sail less.
As they departed out onto the endless dark waters, Gaara turned and watched the shoreline shrink in size. He remained standing in the boat and turned his attentions back to the kunoichi who sat before him. Feeling his attentions returning to her, her gaze moved from the disappearing port to him.
Her eyes echoed confusion and slight awe. Gaara was simply glad she wasn't asking questions left and right – that would have made everything annoying. Instead, he decided to distract her.
All the agitation of the evening had made his fiery nerves prickle at the back of his mind. Crouching in the boat he leered over her slightly. Sakura raised an arm a little in instinctive defense, but didn't cringe at his sudden closeness.
"Sing for me," he said lowly. The request seemed a little odd to Sakura, but at the same time it wasn't surprising at all. That seemed to be all this entity asked of her. Never mind that he had basically just abducted her and her friends would be wondering where she was – the familiar seducing command was the same. It compelled her to do what he wanted.
She bit her lower lip and it quivered a little under the chill of the moist, evening air. "What--?"
"Anything," he answered before she could finish asking. "Whatever you want."
"Okay…," she said softly as her mind raced to think of something – anything to sing for him. The first thing that came was the latest song he had placed before her to learn. She had yet to perform it for him since their last private 'rehearsal'.
"No more talk of darkness…
Forget these wide-eyed fears…
I'm here..
Nothing can harm you…
My words will warm and calm you…"
Gaara's eyes narrowed behind the mask, which was strikingly evident against all the black surrounding them.
"Let me be your freedom…
Let daylight dry your tears…
I'm here…
With you
Beside you..
To guard you…
And to guide you…"
Gaara settled his vulture like stance before her and sat down to listen to her intently. The boat continued to brush forward although neither of them thought much of it, wound up in their own respective worlds. Sakura's eyes were fixed directly on Gaara's through the mask as she sang in the quiet night. Normally, she would just sing to herself since he had never shown himself as an audience for her to sing directly to. But now that he was right in front of her staring like he was she could barely manage to even blink.
Gaara felt his face growing remarkably warm at the words the kunoichi was uttering in his direction. He was vaguely aware of the rising temperature but he never would have attributed it to anything like shyness or embarrassment. He knew nothing of these things. Sakura continued to utter the words as Gaara turned his gaze to watch the dark water at the side of the boat.
"Say you love me every waking moment…
Turn my head with talk of summertime…" Sakura chuckled a little nervously and stopped singing. This caused Gaara to return his gaze to her. She looked back at him. "This is for a duet..really…" She murmured the words shyly, feeling her own cheeks grow red. "Besides… I ..I think I forgot the next verse…" Her unease was finally settling into her stomach and the dreamy quality of everything was melting away. Gaara's brow furrowed a little at this.
"Say….," he said lowly.
"Huh?" she asked, blinking.
"Say you….," he probed, trying to jar her memory. She continued to look at him in puzzlement – something that annoyed him to no end. Once more he loomed over her and looked right into her eyes, his masked visage mere inches from her face.
"Say you need me with you…
Now and always…
Promise me that all you say is true…
That's all I ask of you….."
Gaara's voice was not one prepped for singing, but it was not entirely unpleasant. His notes came low and wispy from the depths of his throat. He was not attempting to project – he did not want to perform. But the utterances from his lips caught Sakura in a state of surprise. Her lips parted but no words came. What was it? Was it how he spoke them? Was it the fact that he was so close? She wasn't entirely sure – all she knew was that his eyes were the last thing she saw before she blacked out.
The sand-nin regarded Sakura as she slumped into the boat wordlessly. As usual, the event barely fazed him although he found it a major inconvenience. Oh, well. It had been a stressful night for her – maybe she was overly tired. He sat back from her and unwrapped the sandy colored cloak from his shoulders to bring it over her slender form. She was not clothed properly to be out on the cold lake this late at night. The last thing he needed was for her to get sick and not be able to sing at all.
He shuffled the cloak under her form to pull it over her shoulders and against her neck. His fingertips brushed at the cloak as he sat for a moment like this, regarding her unconscious form. Suddenly, he became aware of the stifling heat in the mask and reached up to slowly push it back over the top of his head. The subtle flow of Sakura's chakra told him she wasn't going to wake anytime soon. She was exhausted. The relief from his disguise came immediately as the cool air brushed over his slightly moist and reddened face.
Sakura's lips were parted as she lay there and for a moment Gaara's eyes focused on them. The rising and falling of her chest lead to the slight quiver of her lips as gentle breaths brushed between them. The hand grasping the cloak moved so that Gaara's fingers hovered over her mouth, feeling the warmth there even against the cold breezes. His fingertips accidentally brushed the skin and he pulled back at the feeling of their softness. He hadn't meant to touch her. He looked at his hand as if to search for any sign of disturbance there, as if he expected his skin to boil. No such thing occurred and he subconsciously brought them to his own lips as he gazed down at Sakura.
He lifted his gaze outwards towards the small oncoming island in the distance. The chilled air caressed his face and hair as he finally lowered his hand to his knees. Quietly he began to murmur, rather than sing, the next verse of Sakura's song.
"Let me be your shelter…
Let me be your light…
You're safe..
No one will find you
Your fears are far behind you…
All I want is freedom…
A world with no more night…
And you…always beside me…
To hold me and…to…
…hide me…."
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Author's Note: Yes, I know, that song doesn't come way till later and yes Sakura is technically singing Raoul's part. This fic is not entirely musical but I wanted to put the song in somewhere and this seemed appropriate ;)