PHANTOM OF THE SAND
Act 2: Scene 6
Sasuke let the mellow snow drift over his face before he opened his eyes to the oncoming flurries. He hadn't moved from where he had been left and the snow beneath him had mostly melted leaving him in a mess of slush and mud.
Never enough. It was never enough.
Even now….
All the sacrifices he'd made since he left – they seemed to mean less and less ever since he returned. He'd left behind Sakura and rejected her openly numerous times. He had denied Naruto and even tried to kill him after admitting he thought of him as his best friend. Sasuke let his teeth sink lightly into his tongue until it pinched.
So what did he have now? He had the strength and the power he had always craved. But at what cost?
Gaara had only gotten stronger. Sakura was obviously no longer dedicated solely to him. And even Naruto was taking the other side – no doubt to protect Sakura mainly, but still. Could he really blame them? Did he really expect that everything was going to be perfect when he decided to return – as if it had never changed? As if he had not said what he'd said and done what he'd done.
No.
Sasuke was not that naïve.
But he was not a willing victim to defeat either. He dug his fingertips into the muddy ground beneath him and squished it against his palm.
Sitting up finally he brought himself to his feet and brushed what mud and snow he could off his clothes. Most of the moisture had soaked through his pants and shirt already. He shivered mildly as the chill sunk into his bones. In an effort to get out of the snow as soon as possible he turned and trudged back to the village and his apartment.
The room was almost as cold as it was outside but at the very least there was no snow. Sasuke promptly peeled his drenched clothing off of himself on his way to the bathroom. Shoving aside the curtain he turned on the shower and got in before the water had even had a chance to warm up. Absently, he leaned forward, resting his hand against the fore wall to hold himself up as the water finally heated and melted the icy feelings away.
Sasuke-kun!
He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cool tile of the wall while the water rushed over his back.
Would…would you like to go out sometime, Sasuke-kun?
She used to sound so childish. Half the time her voice was the last thing he ever wanted to hear. She sounded just like the rest of them. The only reason she gained any face at all was because she had been his teammate. Even then, it never changed.
Sasuke-kun?
Now he almost wished she'd say it. Any sort of endearment. Anything to prove she hadn't just given up on him for the sand-nin. Gaara…. How could Gaara be better?
You're the last one that should be calling people crazy!
The memory made him flinch a little bit and he opened his eyes, turning to lift his face to the water and force it from his mind.
You had better lay low for awhile, okay?
That was a new one. Gaara did just about everything BUT lay low his entire life. He decided to follow the advice this once while he attempted to figure everything out. Sakura was unconscious and he distinctly remembered the feeling of his hands at her throat. No doubt he had attempted to strangle her. Gaara didn't feel particularly shocked or shamed about this. He often didn't remember attacking people, or else the memories were fuzzy while his consciousness fought with the Tanuki. She was not dead, after all. She would be okay. Perhaps he should apologize. That's what people did, right? Apologize? How one actually did apologize was sort of foggy, though.
He felt anxious.
Maybe that was why he found himself prowling about the Uchiha's residence.
Sasuke had just departed the shower with a pair of clean boxers and a towel when he realized someone was in his apartment. His senses drew tight and his sharingan-enhanced eyes scanned everything warily.
"What are you doing in my house?" he murmured when he realized who it was and glanced upward with his eyes only.
"Watching you."
"Get out before I finish what we started." Gaara's eerily stark blue eyes peered at him from the shadows where he stood upside down on the ceiling.
"It was finished," Gaara replied.
"Get out…now." The sand-nin continued to watch him in that spooky and annoying silent manner. Sasuke flared with rage inside and dashed to the side, leaping to shove off the wall and fly at Gaara where he stood. The sand-nin made no movement to evade and both came crashing down against the opposite wall, upsetting a table and lamp that had been there. Sasuke wasted little time and moved above Gaara, grabbing him by his Kazekage uniform and slamming him up against the wall.
"…You're not so great. You're nothing," he seethed. "So you can manipulate sand. What sort of fighting is that? It's a coward's technique."
"…Says the man who fears to watch me with his real eyes," Gaara murmured as he looked down at him indifferently. Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"I'm afraid of nothing," he replied, bringing one hand against Gaara's neck.
"Lies."
"What?" Gaara tilted his head down against the hand at his throat.
"You're afraid you're losing her….and you should be."
"Bastard!" Sasuke declared and threw Gaara to the side against his dresser. Gaara hit it hard but managed to keep his footing and stand up. One of his hands brushed up to the raw part of his neck absently, his eyes never leaving the Uchiha. There was really no point in attempting to strangle Subaku no Gaara. He had suffered worse black outs, and things always got worse when they came about.
"Watch yourself, Uchiha…. I'm not just playing with you this time," the redhead murmured before his figure wafted away in a brush of sand. In mere seconds he had vanished. Sasuke stood motionless a moment after until he was sure the nin had actually left the premises. He agitatedly kicked the lamp table against the wall and swore.
"You're right, Gaara. This time we're playing for keeps."
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Author's Note: OMG! I haven't updated in forevvah! Sorries! I don't wanna lose any readers, plus I'm so close to finishing this!… Sort of short chapter but something to tide you over nonetheless!