PHANTOM OF THE SAND
ACT 2: Scene 4
Things were a huge mess, or at least that's what it certainly looked like. The new cast for the production of Don Juan Triumphant lined the stage in a jumbled mess as they attempted to learn the new piece. At the piano near the left of the stage sat none other than Hyuuga Neji. Since a great deal of the staff and musically inclined members of the company had fled by this point, Hinata had suggested that Neji might help them learn the parts. Neji, it seemed, was incredibly good at playing the piano. He had taken very few lessons but had unsurprisingly caught on to his instructor's motions very quickly. His fingers were primed for fast and graceful movement. He had made little argument when asked to help – partially intrigued by what he had been hearing about the events at the theater.
A reluctant Sakura, Ino and chorus stood practicing their parts. Leaning on the side of the piano, Naruto kept himself close and mused over the antics going on during rehearsal.
"Hide your sword now, wounded knight! Your vainglorious gasconade brought you to your final fight – for your pride, high price you've paid!" they all sang.
"Silken couch and hay-filled barn – both have been his battlefield," Sakura sang out her part with as much energy as she could muster.
Silence.
"You guys aren't really expecting me to do this, right?" Everyone turned to look at Shikamaru who stood at the side away from the others, his copy of the music script held limply in one hand. His expression was the norm, his mouth drawn into a discontent frown.
"Well, yes," Tsunade said simply.
"I wasn't even IN the theater. Why was I even CAST?" he asked, exasperated.
"We have no idea – but the point is you were, so you're going to do it!" Ino declared, a vein rising in her forehead.
"Please, Shikamaru. This will only take a few moments out of your life. Think of it as a mission, alright?" Tsunade added. "Just do your best." Shikamaru sighed.
"This is so troublesome…" Despite his opinion he lifted the script and cleared his throat. "Those who tangle with Don Juan…" Neji's fingers clanged down on the keys.
"No, no," he said, looking at Shikamaru like he was a complete idiot. "Don Juan, Nara. It goes like this." He played the part on the piano again, singing along with it to demonstrate. "Those who tangle with Don Juan ….Try it again."
"Those who tangle with Don Juan" Shikamaru tried again, but without much effort.
"No. Those who tan, tan, tan…," Neji corrected again, pounding out the one note repeatedly.
"Those who tangle with Don Juan..!" Shikamaru sang louder, but the tone of annoyance in his voice was apparent. Ino blew at the long strip of bangs in front of her face, hands on her hips.
"His way is better. At least he makes it sound like music," she huffed.
"Try it again," Neji demanded. "Five…six…seven…"
"Those who tangle with Don Juan…"
"Augh! What does it matter what notes we sing? No one will know if it's right or wrong. No one will CARE if it's right or wrong!" Ino insisted. She was becoming thoroughly frustrated with all the interruptions. She just wanted the whole production to be over so they could get on with real material.
"Those who…tan…tan," Shikamaru tried again with another sigh. "Is that right, Sakura?" he asked as she was the nearest to him. She blinked and looked to him as if he'd caught her of guard.
"Not quite. Those who tan…tan..," she demonstrated, a little embarrassed at having her head in the clouds.
"If everyone could please SILENCE themselves!" Neji declared, slamming his fingers on the piano keys a few times to get their attention. He calmly settled himself down onto the piano bench again and began to play the intro for the chorus, silently cueing everyone to catch up with him. Scrambling to find the correct pages in their scripts the troupe eventually fell back into harmony. Sakura was the only one who remained silent, staring at her booklet numbly.
"Poor young maiden! For the thrill on your tongue of stolen sweets you will have to pay the bill - tangled in the winding sheets!" the choir of voices echoed around her. She could barely make out what they were saying. From his stance by the piano, Naruto noticed her motionless form in the small crowd. His blue eyes regarded the distant and uncomfortable expression gracing her face and he frowned a little.
You shouldn't have to go through this, Sakura-chan…. Naruto thought. No one else knew the weight bearing down on the pink haired kunoichi. Though some obviously suspected she knew more than she let on, no one knew how deep things were. And if their fellow ninjas did know what she was keeping secret it only made her load heavier with their pressure. Naruto was still trying to overcome his own shock at Sasuke's return to Konoha, but he was not blind to the accusing ways their former teammate spoke in Sakura's presence. What did he know?
In her head, Sakura was mulling over all her choices and actions again. Was she doing the right thing? Who was she betraying? Who would she lose? Who mattered most? She didn't want anyone to suffer, especially because of her. After a moment she raised her hand in an attempt to excuse herself from the rehearsal, but the chatter amongst the others grew so loud that no one heard her. She eventually gave up and turned to go anyway. Naruto jogged around the others to follow her and eventually caught up with her at the coat closet in the dressing room hallway. She was just slipping on her winter wear when she noticed him approach.
"Hello, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with his usual glowing smile. "Are you feeling okay…?"
"I'm fine," she said softly as she brushed the hair back from her face, a halfhearted smile crossing her lips. Naruto admired her efforts to allay any worry about herself. As much as he wanted to probe more into what was bothering her, he could pretty much guess. He knew she didn't like to be pushed when she was upset.
"…Okay," he said softly, offering her a gentler smile. "Where are you going to go…? Are you hungry? Maybe we can go have some ramen? It'll warm you up."
"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry," she replied. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm just going to go for a walk right now…and then probably go home." She brushed her hands into her pockets and smiled fully at him now. With all his concern for her, he at least deserved that. He nodded. It wasn't the first time he'd been turned down for ramen, after all….and he had no hard feelings about it.
"Okay. I hope you feel better," he said with a nod. She nodded once and turned to head for the entrance. "Sakura?" In mid-walk she turned to look at him questioningly.
"Take care… okay?" She paused a moment and then nodded before turning to go. She was aware of the double meaning.
………………………………..
Before long Sakura's feet had taken her farther than she had realized in the newly fallen snow. She was standing before the monument now – laid to honor those shinobi who had lost their lives in battle. The black and gray colors were stark against the blankets of snow covering it. Stepping close to it she brushed away some of the frost and read the names of those she never knew. Somehow she felt very small here, in the presence of those spirits who had fought and died. She felt very weak inside. They fought wars, and she could barely stand her own inner turmoil.
Coming to her knees she sat in front of the stone and rested her hands on her thighs, head bowed slightly.
"I don't know what to do," she spoke to no one. "About Sasuke….about…Gaara… Things seemed to be going so well. I loved the theater and now it's just one big nightmare for me. Sometimes I wish the building would just burn to the ground so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore." She sighed softly. "I feel so torn up. I mean…. I prayed and hoped with everything that I had for Sasuke to come back to me. I didn't think it would be possible….when even Naruto – our Naruto – couldn't convince him to come back. And then all of a sudden there he was…. I didn't know how to react… I felt….like I was twelve again – like it was the first day of our training together. Now….I'm scared. I can't even talk to him and I'm afraid of what he might know. And Gaara…. " Her fingertips brushed into the untouched snow and numbed at the cold. "He started it all. He was the reason I am where I am…but am I happy about it… or am I upset? I was happy… until bad things started happening…. And I don't understand him… no matter how much I think about it…… I don't know. Sometimes I just want to run from him and others I …." She paused.
"You what?" came the low voice from behind her, startling her so much she whirled and fell back on her rear in the snow. About two feet from where she sat stood a maskless Gaara. The snow was clinging to his clothes and hair, although it did nothing to soften the intensity of his gaze.
"G…Gaara…!" she stammered, her cheeks flaring an uncontrolled red. He slowly took a couple snow crunching steps towards her and looked down on her a moment.
"When you don't want to run. What do you want?" he asked in his usual uninterested tone.
"You were listening to me…?" she asked, wide eyed – suddenly feeling very embarrassed and wanting to bury herself in the snow. The sand-nin continued to stare at her, expecting a response. "Well… I …um…" Awkwardly, she attempted to get up, though the ice on the monument base caused her a small amount of trouble. She grasped the rock to try to regain her balance. Sand crept under her feet and eliminated the ice while more snuck in a cloud up behind her to press her upright. She glanced back at this and then looked to Gaara, now face to face with him. Sakura wasn't sure how to respond, and her instinctive ideas weren't something she was sure would be good to try on Gaara. His eyes remained locked on her and when her words continued to fail her she gave up on them. Stepping forward to close the gap between them she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, clenching her eyes shut and pressing her face into his shoulder. If she was going to die now she should be ready for it.
She waited a moment or two and finally realized she was still alive and well. Gaara hadn't moved. In fact he still wasn't moving.
He stood there stiffly, but made no motion to do anything besides that. Sakura was at a loss for what to do now – dare she move away? It was going to get awkward if they stayed this way.
Despite his dead response everything in Gaara was very much alive. He felt everything. Somehow he had fought his instincts to initially repel her in case she was attacking, and now he just felt a little confused. Amidst all the things running through his head and body he remained calm and assessed things as best he could.
She was just so warm….and she smelled so sweet. It was distracting.
He could feel her becoming unsure of herself because of her slight, nervous body language. He did the only thing he could think of to stop her from pulling away. His arms wrapped themselves about her small frame and pulled her into himself. Sakura nearly went into shock when it happened but relaxed when she realized this was all he was doing. She shifted a little and rested her forehead on his shoulder, unable to look at his face just yet. Who would have ever thought that the embrace of Subaku no Gaara would be so comfortable…?
Gaara's blank expression melted a little bit, and his blackened eyes closed halfway. There was an ache in his chest again, but it didn't bother him. It felt different. It was not a bad pain. He turned his head slightly, trying to catch a wayward glimpse of her face. Her eyes were closed and there was a faint smile on her lips. Curious to what she was feeling, Gaara slowly tilted his head a little bit and rested his face down against her shoulder and neck. He felt her heart speed up though she made no attempts to escape him.
"Gaara…," Sakura began. She was thrown off, though, when Gaara turned and straightened his posture. His arms did not leave her completely but the soft expression reverted back to an angry one.
Behind them, Sasuke stood silent in the snow.
"Subaku no Gaara," Sasuke said lowly.
"Sasuke!" Sakura declared.
"Get away from her," Sasuke said, his eyes locked on the sand-nin. Gaara simply glared. "I don't know what you're planning, but it ends now."
"Sasuke, he's not doing anything," Sakura defended.
"Anything?" Sasuke replied, with a raised eyebrow. "I seem to recall he's done plenty. Including trying to steal you away from me." Once again Sakura's cheeks grew red.
"Sasuke?"
"What?" he said, averting his eyes for a moment. "The point is he's dangerous and we don't know what he's planning. Let her go." Gaara obliged, but only to step directly in front of her, blocking her from Sasuke. Sasuke's brow furrowed, acknowledging the challenge in an instant.
"This is ridiculous," Sakura said nervously. "Let's not get hasty here. We can – SASUKE!" She brought her hands up to her face as he completed the seals and inhaled deeply. The rush of fire flew out towards them, but as always Gaara's defense was at ready and flew up in a wall to block out the flames. Once they had subsided, the sand melted down enough to reveal Gaara's face to his opponent. Sasuke closed his eyes once and activated his Sharingan, intent on unleashing the cursed seal as well if he had to. He brought his hands up, ready to form more seals.
"Sasuke—stop!" came another voice from behind them all. Naruto ran up, having followed Sasuke when he left, and seized him by the shoulders.
"Back off, Naruto." Sasuke growled, shoving him off.
"You have no idea what's going on - ! Just calm down!"
"You always were an idiot," Sasuke muttered and turned back towards his target. Naruto glanced over to Gaara and Sakura in exasperation, knowing he couldn't easily talk much sense into Sasuke. Moving to the side he spoke to Gaara instead.
"Gaara, please let Sakura go. I'll take her somewhere safe," he said. "She might get hurt here." Gaara's form didn't move, but his eyes shifted towards the fox boy. Naruto worked hard to gain the trust of many people, and Gaara was no exception. He respected Naruto and though he may not have trusted him completely (he rarely trusted anyone that much) he trusted him just enough.
"Go to Naruto," he spoke back to Sakura lowly. She looked up at him.
"Gaara, I don't want this," she pleaded.
"Go. …..Please," he said. Sakura hesitated while Naruto beckoned her hastily. She finally turned and rushed to his side. The two retreated a ways into the path.
"Naruto, I can't leave them!" Sakura protested.
"I know. We have to keep our distance, though," he said, leading her farther away and up into the trees.
"How can we just let them do this! If one of them dies it'll be my fault!" Naruto grasped Sakura's shoulders and looked at her.
"This isn't your choice Sakura. This is how they want to handle it," he said lightly. "You can't tell people how to act or deal with their problems, right? Whatever happens, it's not your fault."
"But they're fighting because of me…," she said hopelessly. Naruto looked at her gently a moment, his eyes half closed.
"Sakura… There's no one out there fighting because of you. There's at least one guy fighting for you." Sakura looked at Naruto a moment and he returned her gaze. He finally turned and looked over in the distance to where Gaara and Sasuke stood. "Sakura…," he said, "he let you go."
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Author's Note: Wee. This was a fun one to write. I would have put the battle scene here but… I'm….lazy… and sick right now :P So you'll get it in the next chapter. Besides, what great suspense!