PHANTOM OF THE SAND

Act 1: Scene 9

Despite Sasuke's vehement attempts to see Sakura he had dramatically failed. Stuck between a strict medic-nin hokage and her parents he hadn't even been able to catch a glimpse of her. He now found himself sitting alone in a solitary box above the theatre's stage awaiting the start of the evening's performance. Kakashi and Iruka had offered him a seat in their own box but he had refused. As usual he didn't feel much like being around anyone else, particularly when his mind was reeling with ideas and he was trying to think clearly. The other reason for his refusal, however, was the fact he suspected the jounins wanted to keep an eye on him and he wasn't about to give in to the childish treatment.

The box he currently occupied was none other than the lonely box that had never been used. It had been deemed a haunting zone for the ghost of the theatre from time to time so no one wanted to sit in it. Sasuke, on the other hand, had no knowledge of these rumors and was perfectly satisfied with the fact that no one seemed even the slight bit interested in joining him there.

The Uchiha was slumped broodily in the velvet seat overlooking the small balcony, a finger to his lips in deep thought. What exactly had been going on since he had been away? It seemed like the entire village had gone bonkers and, for once, it wasn't because of Naruto. Sasuke had idly noted his former teammate's absence in all this. In his head he was trying to pull together anything and everything that had to do with Sakura since she appeared to be the epicenter of all these events. Naruto had always had a crush on Sakura, but no matter how much he tried Sasuke could barely put the spiky haired blonde in the role of a con-man. Sure, he was quite mischievous but he would never risk the lives of others, much less for his own benefit.

The other main thing that disqualified Naruto from this whole fiasco was the presence of the sand grains on Sakura's floor after she had been abducted. At first Sasuke had suspected that maybe the grains were bits of dirt he or someone else had tracked in from outside. He studied the texture a moment in the room before he decided that it was, in fact, sand rather than dirt. Almost instinctively, his thoughts conjured a phrase:

Sand-nin.

From what he'd heard Konoha and the Sand were doing well enough in terms of alliance. Their relationship pretty much held to the understanding of "I leave you alone, you leave me alone". Sasuke couldn't help but be the suspicious type, though. Considering what he'd dealt with already he didn't quite trust anybody.

What he didn't understand, however, was why Sakura was being targeted. Was there something he was missing? Was it someone that knew her?

Sasuke's thoughts were clouded as the performance proceeded and Sakura made her first appearance on stage with Ino. Ino was decked out in the extravagant costume of the Countess complete with wig while Sakura wore the less fancy outfit of one of her maids. Sasuke let his eyes graze the stage quietly before he actually began to pay attention to what was going on there.

The play involved the Countess who was having an affair with a mute pageboy. Disguising him as one of her maids she continued the adulterous actions while her husband was away on business. One day, however, her husband decided to hide himself and confirm his suspicions of her disloyal ways.

"Serafimo – away with this pretense!" Ino sang as she tugged off Sakura's skirt to reveal the breeches of a boy beneath. "You cannot speak but kiss me in my husband's absence!" Sakura kept silent but moved in a flirtatious fashion towards Ino's words. She really wasn't enjoying herself. Inner Sakura fumed: "There's something incredibly wrong with playing a boy now! Especially when I finally LOOK like a woman!"

Ino and her chorus continued with the next couple of verses completely unaware of what was soon to happen.

"Poor fool, he makes me laugh!

Hahaaaaa

Haha haaaa

Time I tried to get a better better half!

Poor fool, he doesn't know!

Hoohoooo

Ho ho hoooo

If he knew the truth he'd never ever go!"

"You think you're quite clever, don't you?" came a sudden looming voice from all around the theatre. The sound startled everybody, and even made Sasuke jump to his feet in sudden alertness.

"It's the ghost again..!" Hinata murmured from where she stood as one of the maids onstage. Her eyes were wide in nervousness and horror. Sakura's expression echoed the same fear as she looked all around, trying to find the source of the voice. Never mind that Gaara never really sounded happy – right now he sounded positively dangerous. That familiar, low tone coursed through his throat and utterly surrounded them.

Something bad was going to happen.

"It's him…. Oh, no. Ga… Please," she stammered, almost blurting out his name to the entire company. She wasn't sure what stopped her from doing so; perhaps it was the deeply hidden innocence in Gaara's dark pleas for music. He needed it like medicine for his wild and incurable disease. At the moment, though, Sakura was torn between her sympathy for him and her instinctive fear of what she knew he could do. What he could be.

"You're supposed to be silent, Sakura!" Ino hissed out, annoyed at the interruptions.

"Silent…?" Gaara growled softly. "I think it is about time that you were silent." Even as he spoke from his hidden place above the stage quiet streams of sand were snaking down the backdrops towards where the leading lady stood.

"Serafimo, away with this pretense!" Ino continued. "You cannot speak, but kiss me in my ---!" There suddenly came an awful dryness and itch in her throat and she gasped, an awful noise coming from her mouth. Everyone in the audience started up at her, including Kakashi, Iruka, and Sasuke in the boxes. Sasuke was still on his feet and narrowed his eyes, eventually turning to rush down the stairs.

Ino grasped her throat and swallowed thickly. It felt like a bunch of small, sharp knives were prickling inside there. One of the stage hands hurried out to give her a glass of water which she downed hastily before handing it back. Her throat felt a bit of relief and once again she attempted her part, though her voice sounded a bit wary this time.

"Poor fool, he makes me laugh

Haaahaaa"

No sooner had she managed this last phrase than she began to hack and gasp in the most horrible fashion. The prickling was back, but even worse. After a moment she dropped to her knees, finding it hard to breathe as something began to clog her air passage. Above Gaara narrowed his eyes, his inner demon thrilling at her pain and suffering. The audience began to grow restless and upset while stage hands and actors alike rushed to Ino's aid. Tsunade pushed past them all to examine the girl who was quickly losing consciousness. Upon a closer inspection, she discovered a wet, grainy substance at the corner of the kunoichi's parted lips.

Sakura kept a slight amount of distance from this crowd onstage, her hands clasped in front of her in terror. What could she do? Would Ino be okay? Was she suffocating? Gaara, why?

Gaara's eyes remained fixated on his victim right up until he noticed a new presence up on the catwalks with him. Turning to look from behind the mask, his assault on Ino subsided. From the other side of the catwalk, Jiraiya was looking at him quite triumphantly. He was pleased that he'd finally caught the culprit – or at least a glimpse of him anyway.

Slowly, Gaara crouched a bit. He wasn't for being caught. His muscles tensed as he attempted to figure out the best method for escape. Jiraiya readied himself to counter whatever it was Gaara was planning to do. There was no way he was letting this little troublemaker slip through his fingers. The masked figure was keeping still for what seemed like an awful long time – Jiraiya wasn't a very patient person. What he didn't notice, however, was how the sand that had been attacking Ino was now edging its way up his leg. When he finally began to feel the chafing against his skin and allowed his eyes to divert for a mere second, Gaara made his move. He didn't make an attempt to attack Jiraiya directly; he didn't have the time or the patience to assess the sennin properly. He had already caught a glimpse of Sakura retreating with Sasuke to the rooftop and he felt an urgent need to catch up with them. So when Jiraiya's attentions momentarily shifted, Gaara flew past him and launched off of his back before departing through the door. Jiraiya, caught by surprise, toppled down off the catwalk. His ankle became snared in a coiled rope there and before he knew it he was dangling upside down in the middle of the stage.

Tsunade and all those on stage looked up at him, bewildered.

"Idiot!" Tsunade declared.

Meanwhile, Sakura continued to tow Sasuke up the stairs to the top of the theatre. He had raced down to the stage when the chaos began and as soon as Sakura had caught a glimpse of him she panicked. She ran to him, unsure of what to do and in need of some sort of comfort. Her mind raced, wondering if she should tell him everything. There was no way she could face Gaara alone – not like this – not in his murderous and vengeful rampages. She even feared for Sasuke now, all the memories of his fights with Gaara flooding back into her mind. If she told him everything he would want to fight the sand-nin. She wasn't sure if she could handle that again.

"Sakura, where are we going?" Sasuke asked, impatiently.

"The roof, it'll be safe there!" she replied. She wasn't entirely sure about this, but it was the only place she could thing of that Gaara might not be. There was no way of telling where he was at all.

Little did she know that he was already tailing her back in the shadows with an all too familiar look of murder in his eyes.