Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ All-Girl's Sasuke ❯ Curtains and Windows ( Chapter 6 )

Info: Thank you for the reviews, and I am TERRIBLY sorry for not updating earlier... (sob) I blame my sudden er... o.o; Erm.... (is trying to think up a good excuse) Uh... well, I blame my sudden lack of wanting to write anything. -.-0 I couldn't call it writer's block, because this entire time I knew what was going to happen to this fanfic... maybe a few surprises, but.... Well, it's here now, so no crying! xD

Warning: Sasuke... is a tad OOC in this chapter. Even if you don't think he is, I do. Therefore, I'm putting this warning up.... oh, and Haku's fairly OOC every chapter... though this time he actually gets halfway IC! Huzzah. And Sakura is as crazy as ever. (grin)

Disclaimer - Take the topic Naruto, google it, then see the amount of entries you get. Come ON, someone like me could never make up an idea that would get that many sites on it. Unless I seriously invested time and energy, but obviously I can't even do that with a simple fanfic.... (lament)

Chapter 6 - Curtains and Windows

-

School productions. With their shoddy workmanship, ill-performed pieces, and jacked up prices, it was a wonder that the schools creating these things gained any profit at all. Yet, students' praiseful parents were a constant sight at them, never paying any real attention to detail but only caring that their children were onstage and... "stars."

Yes, even the ones who played the awkwardly swaying and singing flowers were "stars." There were never small parts, those parents believed, just small actors. Or small lines. Whichever floated your boat, they said.

He despised school hosted whatnots merely for this factor. What use did Uchiha Sasuke have for them, when he didn't have parents to come to them? When he didn't have parents to brag and boast embarrassingly about whatever random talents he held? None. And yet, the boy was being forced-yes, forced-by the faculty of St. Ruto's School for Girls-girls, dammit-to perform in their play. He wasn't in it last year, so why now? It would have been mind boggling, if it were not for the obvious reason as to why.

Damn the one who chose to do a romance bit, Sasuke mentally cursed. He was walking along the sidewalk, the setting sun still lingering on his right. Sasuke was headed for the school's theater building, much to his dislike. He couldn't see the point in all of it; why not just a comedy bit? There's nothing to complain about in those. Or even tragedy... anything but romance. Well, maybe if it was a romance that didn't have to include him- Don't even go there.

He checked his watch. Almost five.... Today was the day for auditions. No, of course he didn't have to audition, but the teachers running the play wanted him to be there to see the girls act. It would give them inspiration, Kurenai had said, knowing full well that Sasuke was the picture of Adonis for nearly every female student. And, the boy knowing that she knew this, figured that he might as well be late. Anything to change their minds... Their sick, sadistic minds.

Sasuke stopped a shudder before it could even happen, as the thought of him onstage with whoever was his costar, kissing. A grim look crossed his expression. It could be worse... as long as... His hand stopped on the door handle of the theater building, hovering above the gold painted metal. As long as it isn't...

The handle flew down without him even touching it. Sasuke, along with his hand, jumped back as the door zipped open. A mass of girls was soon streaming out of it, hardly paying any heed to Sasuke. For once in his life, anyway. He looked over the crowd, noting the cross looks on some of the girls' faces.

Oh, please don't let it be worse...

He waited until the doorway was clear, then made his way into the building. Don't let it be worse, as long as it isn't- Sasuke looked this way and that, the darkness making the atmosphere even more suspenseful. Just don't let it be... The stage was the only thing illuminated, its oak flooring made white by the bright light streaming across it. The aisles seemed to close the distance between Sasuke and the stage. Or was that him?

Voices. Behind the curtain, no doubt. Unseen, but faintly heard. Looking over to the side of the stage, he saw the steps leading up. Sasuke walked up them, and to the velvet curtain that would soon hang behind him in three months, when the play would go on. It probably used to be entirely red and soft, but the years obviously made this curtain stained and crusted with God knows what.

He didn't dare touch it. Though, now the voices were clearer. The distinct voice of a woman. Two more... Sasuke turned his head. What were they saying? He instantly brought his head back, stepping backwards. What was he doing?! It wasn't like it was a secret, right? Whatever they were discussing, he would eventually know.

Suddenly, the curtains flung apart, startling Sasuke to the point of nearly falling backwards off the stage. A curious look met him in the guise of Kurenai.

"Uchiha?" He nodded, as if to confirm her question. She frowned. "You're quite late, boy. Where were you? Those poor girls wouldn't have been so disappointed if you were at least here."

Sasuke stood straight again, having been in an awkward position after being startled half to death. "Eh... I... forgot?" Stupid, he scolded himself, knowing he could have made up a much better excuse. "I mean..." What kind of better excuse? "... I got caught up in my homework and... yeah." Not like that's much better, Uchiha....

Kurenai's eyebrows furrowed. "Right..." Despite her answer, he could tell that the teacher still had her suspicions. "Well, Mochi-san is currently informing the girl-" Oh, God don't let it be worse! "-about the exact piece you two will be starring in. You may go back there to listen, or wait out here." Before Sasuke could say anything in return, Kurenai turned and trotted down the steps on her black high heels, her shoes making a sharp noise against the wood of the steps, before turning into a more muffled click on the theater's tiled and carpeted flooring.

Returning his attention to the once-velvet curtain, Sasuke suddenly became all too aware of the rising tone behind them. Arguing? He found himself standing close to it once more, straining to hear more despite his better reasoning. Why are you doing this? So the girl gets a bit too emotional about a simple play... The sound of something-someone?-falling. And aggressive. Just step back, it's probably just- Then, a cry of defiance.

... this isn't... All too quickly, the voices became much clearer, much sharper, than before. Each statement was repeated again in Sasuke's head after he heard them, as if he were trying to memorize them, in case he had to recite them later on.

"Why did you follow me here? You should have just stayed in your perfect home, where I left you." Hadn't he heard these somewhere before? "At least then you wouldn't have to deal with nonsense."

"Perfect?" A derisive, bark of a laugh followed. "Only when I was with you was anything perfect. And even then... now that I remember, it was all so tainted, as well..." The sentence seemed to fade at the end, and disappear into the air.

"Like that snow." Why was this voice so sharp? It was like a knife at one's throat... Sasuke could feel its edge digging into his skin. "What a beautiful death that would have been, had you frozen during the night."

"But I didn't. And I know you didn't want me to die, then."

"Is that why you insisted on staying awake rather than succumb to the bitter cold?" Why could Sasuke suddenly feel his breath turn to ice in front of him? Why could he see himself wandering in the pit of a glacier? His hands automatically brought themselves against his arms. There was a sudden block of chill on the bare skin of his right arm, where his left hand had rubbed against it; Sasuke could feel it was his ring.

"I can't leave you alone!"

"Are you sure it isn't the other way around?"

"Maybe..." A hesitant word. "But then that would mean it goes both ways."

"Hah. I've been living fine without a kid like you fogging up my view."

"Is that why you're living like a criminal?"

There were no words after this, at least not for a while. Sasuke wanted to interject at this pause, to put in his own input. But what would it consist of? What would he say had he the chance? He decided it would be better to keep his mouth shut, just as the reply came.

"There are more reasons for that than what you think you know."

"Zabuza-san, I know what you did...." Who? Who did she say was the other? "That's why I came out here. I said I can't leave you alone."

"You know nothing. You never did, and you only think you do. Get out of here, I don't care to talk to brats about anything right now-"

"But, Za-"

"Leave, Haku!"

"Zabuza-san...!" Haku's words sounded pleading... full of tears. As if Haku was sorry for whatever it was that this 'Zabuza' had done.

A sound of someone's steps stomping over. Sasuke immediately found his legs, though it took awhile before he realized where the stage's stairs were. He rushed to them as quietly as he could, believing that whatever sound he made would somehow be louder than the current ruckus being made behind the curtains. The instant he touched the bottom step, the familiar sound of curtain rings being slid across a metal pole signaled that the velvet wave had once again been flung apart.

Turning almost at once, Sasuke saw the pale form of Mochi-san-or was he actually called Zabuza?-standing in the rippling red's midst. A dead glare was shot Sasuke's way, as Zabuza walked to the edge of the stage before jumping off, landing on both feet without a daze. He proceeded to leaving the building, as Sasuke stared after him, the teen believing that if he didn't watch him, Zabuza would somehow disappear into thin air.

The conversation he had heard, after all, sounded nothing less than fantasy within reality. What kind of dream was this? Sasuke's dark eyes returned to the stage, as he kept one hand on the short stairway's railing.

Haku stood there, in center stage, her eyes staring forward at the double doors that Zabuza had left out of. Instantly, Sasuke was reminded of her pleading, almost apologetic words. Her face mirrored them, anguish dripping out of the corners of her eyes.

"Yukio..." She started at the sound of her name, and relaxed the instant she recognized the voice. Haku instantly turned to him, brushing away the tears with her palm.

"S-Sasuke-kun," Haku addressed him, again unaware that he was calling his roommate this. He attempted a laugh, though it turned out feebler than he'd hoped. "You're... late...."

Sasuke nodded, keeping his eye contact elsewhere. Why did he think Haku's tears were his fault? They were the work of that bloody teacher, Mochi-san or Zabuza or whatever his name was! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Act -normal-. However, this demand was harder than he'd thought. Exactly what was it that connected Haku and that... man?

"When... did you get here?" Haku asked, soon joining Sasuke at the bottom of the steps. In other words, 'Did you hear our conversation?' That close to him, Sasuke suddenly became aware of what looked like the beginnings of a nasty bruise on Haku's arm.

"Just a few... seconds ago..." Sasuke replied, hesitating at the false answer. "Where'd that come from?" He nodded to the mark on Haku's arm.

Haku automatically rubbed against it with a hand. "I fell outside." He pulled that arm's sleeve down to cover the spot, despite knowing that the fabric would just spring back up when he brought his hand away. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I was due to be tortured by audition-watching today, but I decided to be late," Sasuke said, trying to lighten whatever it was that had just gone on between Haku and Zabuza. "What about you? Never exactly struck me as the acting type."

"Weren't you paying attention to what I was asking you yesterday?"

Unfortunately... "Yes. I didn't think you'd get the part, though," Sasuke commented, hastily adding, "No offense meant, I mean..."

"I know." Haku's expression suddenly became more languid. "But, when you've spent most of your life pretending, acting becomes child's play." He didn't include his current time of cross-dressing in this statement.

Pretending... Sasuke could only look at Haku from the corner of his eye. Was he afraid of what he might see? Are you pretending now, Yukio...?

-

The threads tore under her fingers, pulled from their places one by one. Sakura grimaced as she ripped her doll of Naruto apart, the thing holding together tighter than she had thought. Ino had been watching moments earlier, finding the show half interesting, before walking out the door to rant to friends about how she should've been chosen for the lead part in the play instead of 'that damned Yukio Haku.'

"Damn you.... Naruto....!!" Sakura swore, with the final tear of the little blond ragdoll's head. She tossed the now miniscule pieces of the mini-Naruto into the air, making it seem like it was raining fluff and orange and yellow cloth. Sakura fell backwards onto her bed, with a sound that resembled a mix between a growl and a yell.

Who does he think he is, anyway?! Just because he's screwing Sasuke, Naruto thinks he can bloody do what ever the hell he wants! What the heck?! She rolled over, soon finding the white ceiling's glare annoying as well. Sakura had walked all that way-All that bloody way!-and all Naruto did was walk off in the other direction. And now the pink-haired girl was left with an unappeasable fury that would probably go on for days!

"Damn you, Naruto!!" she cried again, her hands running wildly through her blush-colored locks. Who cared if someone heard her? Sakura knew she would feel a heckuva lot better if someone knew, anyway; even more points if that someone was Sasuke.

All she had wanted to know was if it was true. Had her eyes deceived her, or had the lack of sleep finally gotten to her head when she and Haku were standing out there on the sidewalk Thursday morning? Or had she actually seen Sasuke kiss Naruto? Apparently, all signs pointed to that last one. What in the world had Sakura done to make her deserve this?

She sighed angrily, as if she were a kettle blowing off steam. Which was exactly what she felt like inside. Boiling mad, and ready to sock someone's lights out if they grazed her the wrong way. When Ino was still in the room, Sakura had sorely wished that the girl would make even one snide remark to her. Unfortunately, Ino was also cross, but this time at Haku for winning out over her, and so the light-haired girl barely felt like making a deriding comment to anyone.

Surprisingly enough, Sakura wasn't so peeved about this idea. As long as it wasn't one of her rivals in love (which was pretty much every girl at school, plus Naruto), she could care less. In fact, Haku getting the part over Ino sort of eased her anger for Naruto. Eased, mind you; it was still there, clawing away. Just not quite as rabidly.

Obsessive teenage girls were the worst kinds of lunatics.

-

The weekend was over sooner than it had started. Haku had pretty much stayed in the dorm building the entire time, not wishing to leave his and Sasuke's room for any reasons other than being dragged out by Sakura. She had only done this to have someone to rant to, everyone else either not knowing who she was talking about (Haku still had never met Naruto, either, but she paid no mind to details), or too into their own rantings to listen to hers. After all, most of the girls in the building were loathing Haku at the moment, hating how 'she' had managed to beat them.

In fact... it could've almost been described as scandalous. A set up, in other words. How was it that this one, random girl from nowhere suddenly not only gets to share Sasuke's room, but also sit next to him, and now play opposite of the spiky-haired boy in Ribbon Heart, the upcoming school production? Conniving little prat she was, one could say. Or perhaps it was all coincidence? Most of the students thought not. And that was all they could ramble about over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Haku, of course, acted merely as if nothing had happened at the auditions and went on with his life. No use putting up a fight; women were emotional beasties. Better to let them say what they want, and just ignore it all.

Sunday night, a particularly loud group of rant-happy girls passed by Haku and Sasuke's door, apparently trying to make Haku feel guilty for what he'd done. It didn't work. Their words sounded a little too planned out, and he'd figured it was just a half-elaborate plot schemed up over a slumber party between neighboring roommates.

He arched a brow as they passed, propped against the headboard of his bed. In his lap was a book that he was already more than half done with, and hanging from his mouth was his plastic bookmark. Obviously, it was an old habit of his to chew randomly on the top of his bookmarks while he read.

"Somebody hates you," Sasuke's muffled statement came, in a flat, yet trying, sing-song tone. Haku had previously thought the other boy to be sleeping, but judging from this sudden remark, Sasuke was fully awake, plus most likely bored out of his mind. He'd have to have been, to even have the gall to say what he'd just said.

Letting the placemarker drop from his teeth and fall rather ungracefully down, Haku smirked, looking over. Sasuke was lying facedown on his own bed, looking as though he were trying to strangle himself with the pillow. That certainly explained why his voice was stifled before.

"Well, somebody hates you, too, but you don't see me singing about it," Haku said, his words light in the air, considering what they were implying. He received a glare from Sasuke, as the other male's head turned slowly in its spot just enough to reveal one dark eye.

In just a few short days, Haku had gotten used to Sasuke's way of silently saying things his own way. In this case, the meaning was quite vulgar in its taste, but Haku shrugged it off, returning his attention to the print that was opened before him, as well as the plastic bookmark to his mouth.

Sasuke watched this, his gaze soon turned all the way around. His glare had faded the second Haku had looked back down. What kind of habit was that? Eating your bookmarks while reading... stupid, random idiosyncrasy, that's what it was. Haku was full of it, these quirks. Half of them were probably fake, too.

That was the conclusion Sasuke had come to, after Haku had made her little statement of truth before.

"When you've spent most of your life pretending, acting becomes child's play."

Was that was she was doing? Was Yukio Haku really who she had made him believe she was? Perhaps it all was a lie, and she was actually someone else entirely. Something else...

But, now Sasuke just sounded paranoid. And that was probably the one thing he wasn't at the moment. He was curious, maybe suspicious and a little annoyed... but not afraid. That would've been ridiculous. Him, Uchiha Sasuke, afraid of a school girl whom he could easily overpower any day of the week? Hah.

It was then that Haku noticed Sasuke looking at him. No, not even looking. Staring. Though, it appeared more like the brooding teen was at it again: brooding. Well, a mix of that and just looking half-dead, seeing as how he wasn't wearing his practically trademarked 'brooding scowl.'

"What? Saddened at the thought?" Sasuke seemed to start at the words, as if blinking himself awake. Haku stared at him curiously. Had he merely been sleeping with his eyes open?

His eyes met with Haku's, nonplussed. "At what thought...?"

"Never mind." And again, Haku returned himself to the confines of his book.

To this, Sasuke scowled. "You've been saying that more and more often since Friday. Would it kill you to end a conversation like a normal person, despite knowing that you are far from that?"

Haku promptly shut the pages of his text, not even bothering to place the bookmark between them. However, he still didn't look over at Sasuke. "Maybe." Instead, he stuck the plastic mark between the front cover and the first page, knowing he could easily find his place later. "What's it to you, anyway? You're not exactly the chatty type, so why the sudden interest?"

Sasuke propped himself up before flipping over and sitting. His eyes never strayed away from Haku's face, which was still fixed on the cover of his book. From what Sasuke could see, however, Haku didn't look very thrilled. "It's not sudden. It's not even an interest," he said, plainly. "More like... a curiosity, of sorts."

"Huh, right..." Haku gave him a deriding look, placing his book aside as he turned to stand from his bed. Sasuke's gaze rose along with Haku, almost questioningly, as he watched. The false-female walked around the corner of his bed, his long, dark hair seeming like curtains as it hung around him. Sasuke was reminded of the theater's stage with this thought.

There was that, and then another memory. Just a few nights ago, Haku's hair had looked like a long, black river running down her back. But then, it was still slightly sopping, and now it was fully brushed and smooth, but without the sheen to it. Completely different from Naruto's hair, which was made better soaked with water, Haku's locks looked best as they were. But now he wondered why he was thinking this in the first place.

Haku stopped just short of the foot of Sasuke's bed, not wavering in his spot. Sasuke, however, suddenly felt the urge to scoot backwards, to possibly avoid whatever attack Haku was planning.

"Don't move," Haku stated, stopping Sasuke before he could even start.

Sasuke looked ready to protest. "I wasn't-" He didn't get to finish, though, because just then Haku leapt onto him, pinning Sasuke down onto his own bed. Haku's hands were pressed forcefully on the other boy's shoulders, his knees on either side of Sasuke. The spiky-haired teen could barely hide his surprise at this action.

Haku's eyes seemed to search Sasuke's own, as if he were hiding something and that was the whole reason why Haku had knocked him down in the first place. Sasuke obviously had much opposition to this, but he couldn't find his voice.

"Little boys would do well to keep their hands away from rattling snakes," Haku warned, his own grip tightening further on Sasuke's arms. "Otherwise, they could get bitten off." With that last word, Haku rolled off his roommate and the bed, landing squarely on his feet, before making his way to the door.

Sasuke sat back up, his stare fixed on Haku's form, as if not watching would earn him another tackle. Haku raised a hand in valediction, stating, "I'll be at Sakura-chan's," before leaving a very riled up Sasuke in the dorm.

Sasuke swore, hitting the mattress. What the hell did she mean by that? Now he wasn't allowed to ask questions? Girls like her were a perfect reason to turn anywhere but straight, he mentally remarked, again finding himself hating the play they would soon have to perform together in front of the school. Two months... the entire time will be a nightmare, won't it?

If she kept pulling weird stunts like this last one, then yes. Did she honestly think she was some sort of sex goddess or something? Who did she think she was, then, if not that?

Sasuke ended up getting off his bed, spurred by the need to move around after being held down in such a degrading matter. Who was he to be routed by a girl? What was stopping him from striking back? Not in literal terms, of course, she still was a girl, but there were other ways to attack. So, what kept him from doing so?

"Only when I was with you was anything perfect. ...and, it was all so tainted, as well..."

"I said can't leave you alone."

"Zabuza-san...!"

Of course. That. He grimaced, running a hand through his spiked hair. Now, while he'd been lucky enough to have been spared the clichéd dreams of those words echoing in his bloody head, Sasuke still had the misfortune to recall them every time Haku actually looked at him without a derisive glare in her dark eyes. Which, while not as often as it was before, still gave him plenty of questioning musings.

Looking to release his mind from these things, Sasuke wandered to Haku's side of the room. Glancing down at the bed, still placed like a stage prop in a perfect angle, he noticed the book Haku had been reading. Another one from that dragon series.... Just when he was about to reach down to flip through it, a sudden and unexpected wind swished at him from the wall. Turning, he found that the wind actually came from the open window, a screen currently being the only thing that was between him and the outside.

Shuddering, he brought his hands to the window's top, aiming to shut it. However, the faint sound of Sakura's voice stopped him. What? He leaned in closer to the screen, despite the wind picking up even more then. Her window must also be open, how else could he hear her? Haku's voice was also there, of course.

Why did it seem that all of a sudden he's wanted to listen in on everyone's conversations? Well, to be truthful, they were all mostly Haku's conversations, but that shouldn't have been an excuse. Still... perhaps this was the best version of revenge he could wreck? Pitiful, if that was true. Even sadder, still, if it wasn't. Still, he attempted to listen to their faint words, made only more stifled by the winds blowing past his ear.

Sakura's came in a bit clear. "He's not stupid, you know. We do have more reason to like him than just for his looks; he's also a very intellectual person." Sasuke had the sneaking suspicion she was talking about him....

When Haku spoke, it was a bit harder to hear. She certainly didn't seem that soft when she was in the room with him. But maybe Sakura just naturally spoke louder than Haku, and it only made Haku seem quieter. "Maybe not, but then he's a much better actor than I give him credit for. Either that, or he knows and just thinks that girls look the same as boys."

A disdaining, flat laugh from Sakura. "Ha, ha." Well, at least someone was standing up for him to Haku. "You realize that if he has already found out, which for some reason I doubt as happened, then you're very lucky he hasn't turned you in already. I mean, if what you say is true... about him hating you and all... then, obviously he'd want to get rid of you."

"Right. You know, it's times like these that I wish I had a girl for a roommate. At least she could be sympathetic with me." A pause. Sasuke could feel himself wishing the same thing at that moment, though it went along the lines of him being alone again, and Haku just having a different room entirely. "Men are arrogant gits that need to be tied up with collars, chains and leashes."

This time, Sakura seemed to laugh for real. So much for standing up for me...

"You tend to forget, Haku-kun, you are one of those arrogant gits."

What?

"I blame my cross-dressing habits. It's not my fault." And then Haku's own laugh, though it was much more poised than Sakura's.

What...? Cross-dressing...?

"Shh, shh!" Sakura suddenly claimed. "These cheap walls are going to give you away...!" she said, before snickering at calling the walls cheap.

However, Sasuke was barely paying attention either of their odd jokes anymore. Cross-dressing? Haku is...

"Ah, it's getting cold!" Sakura shivered, the sounds of she and Haku suddenly being cut off by the shut of her window. Sasuke's own window soon mirrored hers, though the male was barely conscious of it. Sasuke was standing so close to the glass, his reflection was fogged away by his own breath.

Haku isn't... a girl.... He's.... a.... boy.

-

After notes: I warned you... too much brooding, eh? Eh.... oh well. Anywho, I won't be able to answer your reviews this chapter like I wanted to ((rushing and all to get this chapter out, you know)), so I'll just answer the one question I remember.

Q: Are you a boy or girl? I am a girl, despite the username I go under. A very open-minded one, but a girl nonetheless. O.o; I've noticed that most female FF.net writers are fairly open-minded... huzzahs, then. xD Again, the reason why I go under the name of a male Naruto character is because Gaara is the hotness. (purr) I will steal his virginity one day and- (is cut off by millions of anti-sick-behavior fans who trample over her like stampeding cows) ... cough....