The Phantom of the Desert

(I don't own anything from Naruto or The Phantom of the Opera)

3. The Phantom's Presence

Hinata was different the next day. She walked in a dream like state.

Last night, she had met the angel of music. Of course Hinata knew that this person couldn't really be an angel. But her heart believed so.

That night he welcomed her into his dark world of the night. She felt so much emotion from his voice that she was eager to know more about her angel.

"My angel…" she whispered and blushed. Was her really hers?

"Hinata!"

She turned around and saw Shino and Kiba with Akamaru.

"Hinata we were calling your name a thousand times." Kiba said. Akamaru barked.

"Are you tired Hinata?" Shino asked.

It was late last night and she did stay up for a long time after meeting her angel. But she was more excited than tired.

"I'm f-fine, really." She smiled and blushed at her worried teammates.

"Well we've been called to the Hokage's office. We're just going to have all our records and profiles updated." Kiba stated. "Let's go!"

---

Gaara didn't get much sleep after saying goodbye to Hinata. He relived hearing her voice and seeing her face for the millionth time when sunrise came.

Then his emotionless face appeared shock.

What did he just do? This was too risky. She'll find out sooner or later. And why is he acting this way? He couldn't explain it. Now he's pretending to be her angel.

He sighed.

"At least Hinata is mine in my world…" he thought while imagining touching her face again.

He slapped himself for thinking that.

"Gaara, are you alright?"

Temari was standing in the doorway with Kankuro when they saw Gaara hurt himself.

"I'm just… tired." He casually said with an emotionless face.

"Ooookay. We're going to go ahead and see the Hokage. Get ready and eat breakfast. This is why you shouldn't stay out all night doing God knows what." Kankuro wanted to get the business for the day over with, even if he did nothing but just sit with Gaara.

"Hn."

After they left, Gaara reached for his mask that was placed on his bedside table.

"Wait… if I see Hinata out in daylight like this, she'll know that she was deceived by a monster…"

As much as he liked to wear his mask, he left it there and got ready for the meeting.

---

All the papers in the Hokage's office were literally scattered everywhere and pouring out into the hall. It would take the whole day for all the ninjas of the village to organize their records and profiles. They also had to update them.

In her round room, many ninjas were seated in front of the Hokage like students facing the teacher. They had to fix everything one by one.

Gaara had finally arrived at the Hokage's doorway. He leaned against the door frame looking at the strange scene.

"Gaara-sama! I apologize. The meeting will have to wait. I don't want to beg but can you please help organize some papers while you're here." The Hokage was already holding a stack of papers which kept dropping more and more sheets on the ground. Gai-sensei and Lee were trying to catch each paper before they touched the floor.

But Gaara wasn't listening. He was staring at a kunoichi across the room.

It was Hinata.

She was busy reading over some files… but she had a small soft smile on her face and she blushed for no apparent reason.

Gaara smiled as he stared at her.

"Gaara! Take some of these papers from Kankuro. He's too slow."

Temari interrupted Gaara's "star gazing".

He was given a stack of papers and he walked over to a seat that was far away from Hinata yet it still gave him a perfect view of her.

While quickly slipping papers into a folder or placing folders into a box, Gaara would look up once in awhile at his student.

She would stare out the window once in awhile until either Kiba or Shino interrupted her.

"Is she thinking about me?" Gaara asked himself in his mind. "No… she's thinking about her angel… not this monster sitting in the same room with her."

He looked up at her again. Tiny tears fell from her eyes onto random ninja profiles.

"Why is she crying?" he thought.

Hinata was thinking about her angel. She had just met him and now she felt like she needed him with her. She missed him. She felt so connected to him last night, even though they exchanged only a few words to each other before departing.

Gaara wanted to reach out to her more than ever. Somehow, he wanted to let her know that her angel of music was always with her.

Then he had an idea.

Gaara was an excellent ventriloquist, a talent even his siblings didn't know about. He would sing to her from across the room as if he was singing softly into her ear and only she would be able to hear it.

Slowly, gently
night unfurls its splendor . . .
Grasp it, sense it -
tremulous and tender . . .
Turn your face away
from the garish light of day,
turn your thoughts away
from cold, unfeeling light -
and listen to
the music of the night . . .

Close your eyes
and surrender to your
darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts
of the life
you knew before!
Close your eyes,
let your spirit
start to soar!
And you'll live
as you've never
lived before . . .

Hinata stood up in all the commotion.

"Angel?"

She walked around the room as if looking for someone in particular. She was about to look towards Gaara when Kiba touched her shoulder.

"Hinata, I think you've been working yourself a little too hard lately..."

Everyone stared at Hinata as she sat back down.

But Gaara had a small smile on his face as he stared at his Hinata.

Hinata had one as well.

"Your angel is always with you…" he whispered softly.

"Did you say something Gaara?" Kankuro asked with a shocked look on his face. Gaara hardly said much and he just spoke something very quietly out of the blue.

"Hn." Gaara responded and went back to work.

Hinata knew her angel was with her.