The Phantom of the Desert
(I don't own anything from Naruto or The Phantom of the Opera)
2. The Phantom's Voice
The three sand nins would be staying in Konoha for some business that was to be discussed with the Hokage. It was just a regular "checks and balances" kind of thing between the two villages.
Once Gaara was done settling into his privileged kazekage room, he left in search of a private place to relax, leaving his siblings to worry about his whereabouts.
---
Hinata said goodbye to Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru. After a hard day's training, she wanted to find a peaceful place to just think. Not really think.
Dream.
She always consoled the sadness within with dreaming. Even though Kiba and Shino were dear friends to her, she knew them enough to know that they didn't have all the answers to the questions she keeps inside that confuse her nonstop. They were always willing to comfort her yet her sadness always returned.
"Why am I like this? Things are better now."
Hinata didn't show many people what a great ninja she was. But she really was a great ninja. Not the best but she was always working hard to improve. She enjoyed the honor of being a ninja.
But she enjoyed something else much more.
Singing.
Hinata loved to sing. She sang when she was alone. She listened to one in particular collection of songs.
"The Phantom of the Opera…" she whispered to herself.
A monster who was really a man behind a mask… a genius, a murderer, a phantom.
Hinata closed her eyes and listened to the phantom's voice inside her head.
When she opened her eyes, she was in front of her home. As much as she wanted to dream of the phantom, she had to get ready for bed so she went inside.
---
Gaara found a field where nobody seemed to come to. There was a tree that seemed to hold more branches than it could handle. It was dark beneath the tree so he would wait there until his night came once again.
Gaara began to call forth his sad. Along with the sand, a beautiful piano appeared which he settled near the tree.
A long time ago, Gaara received piano lessons from his uncle. His uncle showed him many famous pieces from Beethoven to Mozart. But Gaara found a deep love for a particular collection.
The Phantom of the Opera.
The song "The Music of the Night" had always touched Gaara as a young child. The Phantom was amazing, in his opinion. He even read the book. It pulled his heart into the story. Gaara sang to himself on a balcony and enjoyed every minute. It helped him express some of the emotions he kept from others. But after one bloody night, Gaara never thought of the phantom or the music. All he thought of was killing and loving himself.
Gaara hit one key on the piano. It brought back a strange sense of pleasure that was familiar from his childhood. But it also brought back the sad memory of his uncle.
He sat on his piano seat under the shade of the tree waiting for the signal to begin.
Night would come soon.
---
Hinata couldn't sleep. It was already midnight and she felt restless. Lying awake in bed didn't feel comfortable at the moment. She had an urge to walk outside. So she put on a white rob over her nightgown and put on some slippers.
She stepped into the courtyard and stopped out of shock.
"I can hear you, angel…" she said to herself.
She tried shaking her head. It seemed crazy but she could hear him. It was so faint yet she would know the beautiful music of the phantom from anywhere.
She had the urge to go to him.
Hinata quietly left the Hyuuga estate and followed the entrancing voice.
"Angel… please don't leave me…" she prayed in her heart as she ran towards a field.
---
Gaara sensed someone coming towards him.
Someone was coming to intrude into his world.
He stepped back into the shadows of the tree and put on a black cloak to hide his whole body better. The footsteps were coming closer but they weren't coming towards the tree. He put the cloak's hood over his head ready to get out of there at the right moment.
But he couldn't move. He saw a girl.
She was the most beautiful girl Gaara had ever seen. Her dark hair blowed gently around her soft innocent face. She wore all white and the wind blew against her silk robe fooling Gaara for a second thinking she had the wings of an angel. The young man recognized those pearl white eyes from the chuunin exams. Why didn't he see her before? She was an angel in his eyes.
Then he noticed that she was crying. The girl softly whimpered to herself and looked up at the moon. The white orbs of her eyes were a beautiful match to the white orb in the sky.
In sleep he sang to me, In dreams he came,
That voice which calls to me, And speaks my name.
And do I dream again? For now I find.
The Phantom of the Opera is there-Inside my mind.
"That voice…" Gaara's eyes widened. He couldn't believe what his ears were hearing. She was singing a song all too familiar to him. She had the voice of an angel. He didn't want her to stop singing. So much sad heavenly emotion poured out of her voice and tears.
"Angel…" the girl whispered to the moon.
Gaara wanted to answer that call. But he didn't know why. His heart pounded in his chest as he yearned to reach out to her. He wanted nothing to stop him from going to her and listening to her angelic voice.
But something did. It was the fact that he was Gaara.
He's anything far from an angel. He's a monster. She would be afraid and run away. Then he would never hear her sing again.
But there the girl stood waiting. Her eyes showed her desperate loneliness.
So Gaara touched the face of his mask and pulled his hood down to make sure his bare face was hidden.
Then a whirlwind of sand quietly brought him behind the girl.
How he desperately wanted to reach out and touch her.
"Not yet." He thought. He would do the next best thing.
Sing once again with me, our strange duet,
My power over you, grows stronger yet.
And though you turn from me, to glance behind.
The Phantom of the Opera is there -inside your mind.
---
Hinata was shocked once again when she heard him.
He was behind her.
"His voice… it's him…"
She was mesmerized by his voice. Hearing it up close was amazing. She couldn't move.
Gaara touched her shoulder and she shuddered. He thought she was afraid at first. But it was a shudder of pleasure.
He turned her around and her eyes widened.
The mask, the cloak, the voice…
"Angel…" she said softly and blushed. This pleased Gaara.
He couldn't stop himself. He placed her hand in his and let his fingers caress her face. She stared into his gleaming eyes that were under his hood. She closed her eyes as he touched her face. He was so tall compared to the young girl.
Gaara brought his face beside hers and whispered in her ear.
"You have a beautiful voice. What may I call you?"
"Hinata…" she said softly.
"Hinata, welcome to my world…"
His voice was like fine velvet to her ears.
With her hand still in his, Gaara led her to the piano seat and motioned for her to sit.
"Do I… scare you?"
"No, Angel."
He smiled.
"Every night, I'll be here waiting for you. In my nocturnal world, you are my student. Only at night will I appear before you."
He kissed her hand.
"I will let you see the secrets of this world."
