Music to Their Ears
By
Trisana of Burns
Summary: When the shiest member of a concert band decides to step into the light, will her longtime crush, and fellow band member, notice her? Warning! There is a bit of OoC-ness. NarutoxHinata Rated T for possible happenings in future chapters.
AN:Naruto, Hinata, and the rest of them are about 16/17; Sauske's been gone and back already.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in this world, only in my dreams. But it I did, would I be writing this fanfic? Actually, I probably would knowing me, just to be able put my characters a little OoC.
"talking"
'thoughts'
"flashback talking"
(my notes)
If music be the food of love, play on. Playing on is what bands of all kinds do, whether they be rock or county band, modern or classical, or even a school concert band. A concert band is meant to play all kinds of music with all kinds of people. It just so happens that all our favorite Kohona characters are in it, well most anyway: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, Hinata, Tenten, Kiba (Akamaru too), and Iruka-sensei. You name it they're either in it or watching it; except Kakashi, he's got his nose in that damn perverted book too often to come to practice. Everyone plays a major instrument, with exceptions to Iruka and Akamaru; they direct and keep players alert, respectively. To name instruments in the order I named people, they would go: tuba, flute/piccolo, percussion, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, tenor sax, flute, French horn, and alto sax. There are others, but these are the important ones, most important being the top and bottom of the band, Naruto and Hinata. Now we have some information, on to practice!
(AN: The instruments for each individual came randomly to my head, except for Naruto and Hinata. If you don't like it (:P)! Back to band...)
When Iruka first entered the practice room, conductor's baton in hand, he got more than an earful of noise. Instruments blaring to warming up, friends chatting about stuff, from the music on their stands to their plans after practice, and some sleeping on the floor. He shook his head miserably; eight in the morning was way to early for band practice. He looked around again taking in the usual sites; Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura having a 'friendly' conversation (in other words Naruto yelling, Sasuke 'hn'-ing, and Sakura trying to shut Naruto up without whacking her flute, or his tuba, over his head), Lee trying to get Sakura's attention, and Akamaru running around barking to get everyone and anyone's attention. Iruka pulled his hand over his face, knowing this was going to be a long practice. He stepped up on the little podium and everyone went silent, including Naruto.
"The big performance is in three weeks. We have to stop screwing around and get some serious work done. We've rehearsed all the parts and got them pretty much down, except one. In First Suite, there are two flute solos, one in the first movement and one in the second. Sakura, I'd like you to play them."
Sakura shook her head. "No, Iruka-sensei, I had someone else in mind."
"Really?" Iruka looked shocked. Sakura didn't want to be in the spotlight. "Who do you think should play it then?"
Flashback
Sakura, Ino, and Tenten had gathered at Sakura's house for a girl's night. Hinata had been invited and wanted to come but was told no, flat out no. So the girls were partying, having a blast, and talking about boys when Hinata's name came up.
"Who do you think Hinata-chan likes?" Ino asked no one in particular.
Sakura smiled wickedly. "I've caught her staring at Naruto from time to time. I think she does it more though."
"You really think she likes Naruto?" Tenten asked. Sakura nodded. "Then we have to do something! Than knucklehead won't see how she feels unless we get him to notice her."
"My thoughts exactly Tenten. I even thought about how." Sakura took her music out of nowhere and flipped through it, pulling out First Suite when she came to it. She laid out the first and second movements in front of her and her two friends. "See this solo here, and this one in the second movement? We haven't gone over them yet, but we should soon. Iruka-sensei will probably want me to play them, but I'm going to tell him I won't."
"Then he'll who else would be able to play it and you'll say Hinata-chan could. Right?" Ino asked.
"Yep. I figure, if she does something that she normally wouldn't, Naruto might actually see her." Sakura started to put her music away when Tenten grabbed it from her.
"Well, why don't we give her some more solos? She's way to shy for her own good." Tenten spread all the music in front of them and looked to Sakura and Ino. "Well, they have to be from your music; she can't exactly play French horn or clarinet parts."
"There are some I want to keep, but we'll see what we can do." The three girls got to work going through page after page of music.
End Flashback
Sakura looked up to Iruka then around the flute section. There were eight flutes in all, each qualified to play the solos. It wasn't like Sakura to give up a solo, even a small one, so they looked at her expectantly, wanting their name to be called. Sakura settled her jade eyes on the one flautist that wasn't looking at her.
"I know the parts already, but I want to give my solos to Hinata-chan." Hinata looked up at Sakura and shook her head violently, her pearl eyes closed tightly. She didn't want the parts but was getting them one way or another.
"I think that's a great idea!" Iruka exclaimed, though he saw Hinata shaking her head no. "Would you be willing to help her practice them? To get her caught up on them?"
Sakura nodded. "Of course I'll help. If I wasn't I wouldn't have given her the solos. I want to give her one more as well." Iruka just raised an eyebrow at her in question. "I want to give her the one in Regenesis as well; and I'll help her with that one to."
"Very well. Hinata, practice those parts with Sakura until you have them down well." He watched her nod respectively, but not without a touch of fear.
"Y-yes Iruka-sensei." The quiet girl said.
Iruka caught Sakura's eyes and jerked his head toward the practice rooms; she understood and simply nodded back. The pink-haired girl gently put her piccolo away and, moving around her stand strode to Hinata. The shy flautist raised her head a tiny bit to look at Sakura and dropped her eyes to her lap once more.
Sakura moved the stand away and wrapped her long fingers around the girl's hand and flute. "Come on Hinata-chan; let's go to a practice room." Sakura picked up Hinata's stand and gently pulled on the girl. "Come now. We'll take care of this soon enough." The Hyugg girl followed obediently as Sakura led her across the front of the band to one of the many practice rooms. Though her dark hair hid most of her face, the faint pink blush of embarrassment could be seen clearly.
Though practice continued on a normal in the main area, inside the little room a different practice was about to begin. Sakura set the stand down away from the door and turned back to the new soloist. Hinata was still blushing and trying not to fidget with her flute.
"Hinata-chan, why are you still embarrassed? Playing a solo isn't something to be ashamed of, it's something to be proud of." Sakura placed one hand on Hinata's shoulder and used the other to raise her chin. "You can tell me what's wrong, I promise not to laugh."
"I-I don't want to play a solo. I like playing underneath your parts; I don't have to worry about missing something and everyone noticing that I did because you and the others cover it." Hinata avoided Sakura's green eyes, but as hard as she tried, her gaze always wandered back.
"That's it isn't it? You're afraid you'll screw up, miss a note somewhere, and that people will laugh. That's what your afraid of, isn't it?" Hinata nodded when Sakura pulled her hand away. "You know, I'm always scared that will happen and it makes me play all the better."
Hinata looked back to Sakura in disbelief. "Really?"
"Yeah, really. I'll tell you a secret; you know that solo in the Nutcracker I did at Christmas?" She paused as the pearl-eyed girl nodded silently. "I was scared witless that I would mess it up. I would have stuck out big time, and I already stand out enough as it is." Sakura hugged her friend with one arm and pulled her to the corner where her music sat, ready to come alive. "Are you ready to play?"
"N-no."
"Well you're going to anyway, but we'll start with something simple. See this part here?" Sakura pointed to the solo in Regenesis. "It's a simple one though it's in the bottom of our range. We've played it together in class many times, so just pretend we're still in class playing as one." When she saw her friend hesitate, Sakura encouraged her, "Go ahead and play it. If you mess up, we'll go back over it together." Hinata took a deep breath and began to play.
Though only a few measures long, the music flowed as if really alive. It filled the room with the sweet sound of the flute, with just a hint of deepness that came from the low octaves of the instrument. The notes were clear and flowed smoothly from one to the next, only the slightest space between them indicated that they were really separate notes not just one big slur. Sakura was lost in the musicality of the short solo, picking up the little details that turned notes into music: dynamics, vibrato, and fluidity. When Hinata ended Sakura was speechless.
Hinata took it as a sign of disappointment and bowed her head. "I'm sorry if I messed up. I told you I didn't want to do the solos."
"Oh, Hinata-chan, don't worry that you messed up. Be proud of what you just did; I doubt I could have played it better. It was perfect." Surprise and shock zipped over Hinata's face, completely erasing any lingering signs of embarrassment. "If you play like that all the time, you shouldn't be sitting so far from me, so far down. Play it again and go on; I want to see if you can make it flow through the song." Hinata played it again, starting just before the solo and continued on to the end. "Wow! That was amazing. Let's see if you can play the First Suite solos that well, shall we?" Sakura flipped the right page up and pointed to where Hinata should start. "Take this first one about this fast," Sakura snapped out a tempo that was easy to follow, "you can go slower if you need to but try not to go any faster."
Hinata tapped her foot in time with Sakura's snaps, adjusting to the tempo. She closed her eyes for a minute, then began. Once again Sakura closed her eyes to follow Hinata in the music. A slight problem here with rhythm, but that was an easy fix. A little too soft on another area, but otherwise it was well performed. Her vibrato was strong and blended perfectly with the song. When Hinata ended the solo, Sakura continued humming, unaware she was doing so.
"S-Sakura, you're humming."
Sakura stopped and giggled when she realized that she had indeed been humming. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away in the music." She smiled at Hinata and shook her head. "You defiantly need to be sitting closer to me. You only had two tiny little problems that are easily fixed. Do you know where?"
Hinata nodded. "Here," she said, pointing to a spot in the piece with a jump in the run of eighth notes, "and here." Her finger moved another where the dynamic marking was mezzo-forte and she had played it piano.
"Good, I want you to play this run here again; just that run." Hinata played the run once more, this time without stumbling over her own fingers. "Perfect. Now this second spot. It's supposed to be soft, but not piano soft. Try it again." Try she did and Sakura was impressed. "See, you think you can't do it, but you can. The first time I went over that particular run, I had to go through it six times before I got it right; you did it in two. That's defiantly something to think about. Play that one again too, I just want to hear how it sounds compared to Regenesis. Start six measures back." Hinata counted back quickly and began again. Sakura nodded in time and watched the music flow by in her head. When her friend finished, the pink-haired flute player smiled approvingly.
Sakura turned to the second movement without a sound and snapped out a faster tempo. "This solo goes faster than the first but I think you can do it. Start from the beginning and play through to the end."
Hinata tapped out the tempo again and played. Yes it was faster than the first, but not by much. It was easier to play even as it was harder. The music flowed from the fingers of the Hyugg. She was so involved that she didn't see or hear Sakura open the door the practice room to the main room.
Iruka glanced over from where he stood alone. The other students had been dismissed already, leaving him to ponder the work of the day. He set his baton on his wooden stand and soundlessly walked over to Sakura. He nodded silently, glad he had agreed to give Hinata Sakura's solos. She would play them wonderfully at their concert. He smiled at Sakura and left them again as Hinata finished. Sakura clicked the door shut and stood there.
"H-how was that?" Hinata stuttered.
"Perfect, again, Hinata-chan . Come on now, everyone else has already been dismissed." Sakura and Hinata moved back to the main room to put their instruments away. "That was wonderful. We can practice some more tomorrow, if you'd like that is."
"I would like that very much. Thank you for helping me, Sakura." Hinata slid her flute into the flute cubby and her music into its slot; Sakura followed suit.
"Join me for lunch later?" Sakura led the way out, waving to Iruka as she went.
"I don't know, I have to practice."
"Not you flute, I hope. If you were to get any better, I may be losing my seat."
"I have to train. But, do you really think so?"
"Nope, I know so. When you're as good as I am, you tend to know these thing. Take a day off from training and join me for lunch. And Naruto will be there." Sakura teased Hinata, knowing she liked Kohona's number one, knuckle headed ninja.
"N-Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah, and we're going to the ramen shop. Think of it as mental training."
"Okay then, sure. I'll see you at lunch." Hinata ran of to her next class. Moments later, said knucklehead ninja began yelling for Sakura.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Are you coming to training or what?" She rolled her eyes and caught up to him. Uh-huh, they were still training with Kakashi. "What took you so long? Sasuke and I have been waiting forever!"
"Let's not make him wait any longer. I was helping Hinata-chan with the music. She's really nervous about it." Sakura watched Naruto in the corner of her vision as they exited the music building.
He turned to walk backwards and talk to her. "Are you serious! Hinata-chan's nervous? But she performed with us hundreds of times, why should she be nervous."
Sakura rolled her green eyes; Naruto was exaggerating again. Hinata had performed with them less than a dozen times, as had all of them. The band had started just a few years ago. Everyone had gone from flopping, musically talentless ninjas to amazing performers; their musicianship improved along with their skills.
"It's been less than a dozen. But it's her first solo and she has three of them at that. I would be nervous too." Sakura turned her gaze ahead of her and behind him. Sasuke was already waiting at the bridge. Sakura stepped from Naruto to hug Sasuke and say hi, again; they had already seen each other at practice. Yeah, Sasuke had melted a little and admitted he liked Sakura.
"What do you think about me letting Hinata-chan have some solos? Hm, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked up at the brooding boy. Oh yeah, he still brooded a lot.
"Hn, I'll tell you later," was all she got out of him.
"What's that mean, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto yelled. Sasuke just repeated his little word and sent Naruto off of a rampage. "What's that supposed to mean? Is 'hn' even a real word? Give me some answers here!" Just as he was going to step towards the Uchiha, POOF! in came Kakashi.
Before he even started on his excuse about being lost on the path of life, he was being yelled at. "Liar!" Sakura and Naruto yelled together. "You weren't lost and you know it!"
"So maybe I wasn't," He pulled out his perverted book and started off to the training area, his three students trudging behind.
AN: This is my first fanfic EVER, so if you like it cool, if not oh well. But you know the drill, read and review, please. This idea, as well as another, came randomly when I was playing tennis of all things. The other will have to wait for a different pairing though... yes it's tennis and use your imagination on who.