Let the Music Do the Talking, a Naruto fanfiction

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

A/N: Thanks for all the follows and favourites, here's Chapter 3.

Chapter 3: The Outsider

Friday came around once again for Konoha High with sunny spells and cloudy skies to accompany the day. Today, Naruto and his classmates were out in the playground for Might Guy's Physical Education class; the one class where everyone would want to try and get out of due to their teacher's extraordinary attitude.

"Alright you guys," began the eccentric personality that was Guy. "Today we're practising one of my favourite pastimes; the relay race! I wanna see how you all fare working together as a team!"

A response of unsatisfactory groans greeted the ears of the outlandish teacher, his eye twitching in response.

"Oh come on you slackers! I know you've got the power of youth in you somewhere!"

"Of course Guy! I will show them all how it is done!" Rock Lee, one of Guy's favourite pupils responded with an optimistic attitude and a small salute. Naruto looked over at him with a face of discontent. At least someone's positive today...damn, all I want to do is practice with Ino again later on…

The PE teacher smiled, flashing his teeth with pride. "That's the spirit, Lee! See, you could all learn a lesson from this one."

"That's right." The group of boys noticed another teacher walk over and join Guy. A female with purple hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a black and white tracksuit accompanied with white sneakers. This was Anko Mitarashi, another gym teacher who looked after the girl's classes.

"I think you boys are getting a little soft lately from what I've been seeing." She commented with a toothy grin. "So how about we make this interesting? We'll do a double relay race, boys vs girls. If you boys can't even beat one of the girls, you'll have to stay behind after school today and clean up the girl's locker room!"

A look of disgust greeted the entire group of boys. Why would she insist on such a crude wager?

Guy furrowed his brow. "Mitarashi, how can you even suggest such a thing against my honourable students!? I can assure you they are not soft as you proclaim!"

"Care to put your money where your mouth is?" Anko retorted, sniggering darkly.

"Isn't gambling illegal on school grounds?" said Shikamaru, wondering how ridiculous this bet was going to be.

Guy grew more annoyed. "Fine, I and my beloved students will accept your challenge! But if we win, your girls have to do a rigorous training exercise that involves fifty pushups, a hundred situps and one hundred laps around the school grounds!"

The purple-haired girl laughed. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Best set yourself up, Guy." She turned away to walk over to her group who were on the benches on the opposite side. "I'll give you ten minutes to prepare…"

Guy sighed heavily as he wasn't one to normally turn down a challenge, but when it came to Anko, he had his work cut out for him. She was known for having a ridiculously lucky streak when it came to winning bets. No one knew how she did it, but many thought she was cursed by something or she prayed to a deity every night.

"Team, we're doing this for the sake of our pride as men! We are not going down like this, and if I go down, you're coming with me!" He observed the boys, figuring out a specific order. "I want Sasuke, Naruto, Lee, Neji, and Kiba in that order!"

The Uchiha scoffed at his teacher's decision. "Please, all these chumps will just slow me down."

"What was that Uchiha? Too proud to work with someone of equal stature?" Neji Hyuga replied, challenging him.

"Oh if you think I'm slowing you down, let's go right now one-on-one!" Naruto cried, cracking his knuckles ready to take on Sasuke.

"Enough!" Gai shouted angrily. "If you keep this up, you'll be serving detention with me later on. Now are we going to do this or what?"

"Hmph, fine," Sasuke replied. "Just don't screw this up, dead-last."

"Oh, it's on…" The blonde mumbled quietly. As the guys took up their starting positions on the race track, Anko's team of girls were warming up themselves.

"Damn Anko, why'd she put us up to this?" Karin grumbled, stretching her legs.

"It can't be helped," Sakura added. "She just loves to win all the time."

"Let's go kick their arses!" Tenten shouted fist-pumping the air.

"You're in high spirits as per usual, aren't you Tenten?" The pink-haired girl shook her head. Did Tenten get all this spirit from all that coffee she drank?

The girls joined the boys at their respective spots on the track. The girls were ordered as followed; Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Karin and Hinata. Anko observed the situation from the benches. There was no way she was going to lose this.

"Alright youthful ones!" Guy commanded. "On the firing of my pistol, you shall take off! And may the best man…" A line to which he received a look of death from Anko. "Uh...or woman win!"

"3…."

"2…"

"1…"

As the teacher fired the starting pistol, Kiba and Hinata raced off to begin their first lap around the course. The blue-haired girl found herself keeping pace with the boy at first, but had an uncomfortable feeling in her shoulder which began flaring up.

"Damn…" She grunted as a reaction of shooting pain began to overtake her senses.

Kiba, being witness to this, saw this as an opportunity to speed up slightly to tag Neji. He finished his lap, and the Hyuga prodigy began his lap. Hinata had managed to tag Karin but started falling behind. Anko looked at her stopwatch, noticing that she could be a few seconds behind if someone didn't pick up the pace.

Damn it Hinata, why'd you have to fall out like that? The red-haired cursed in her mind as she was trying to keep pace with Neji. The two competitors got round again, tagging in Lee and Tenten respectively. Lee, being Guy's best performer, got an immediate headstart and raced around at blistering speed, which surprised the girls immensely.

"Come on Tenten don't lose to that mushroom haircut!" Karin shouted angrily. The brunette scrunched up her face as she increased her speed. While this happened, Kiba and Hinata sat down on the benches on the side of the track.

"Hey, you did pretty well out there," He smiled "Is your arm okay?"

Hinata, taken aback by the boy's words, felt her cheeks turn red. "I-It's n-nothing...I must have p-pulled a muscle exercising earlier and-"

"You want me to take you to the nurse's office?"

"N-no it's f-fine thank you, K-kiba." She stammered slightly. She hadn't had much boys attention lately in the last few months (a rumour went round she had like Naruto at some point) but Hinata didn't really feel that she was attractive enough to have a boyfriend. That, and her father's overzealous attitude towards boys in general. But here Kiba was showing concern; was he being nice? Or was it more? She had a terrible habit of overthinking things.

The race carried on with Naruto and Sakura neck and neck with each other. The blonde was cursing himself mentally; why did he agree to this insanity? Meanwhile, Sakura believed she had him on the ropes. She enjoyed racing like this, and there was no way she was going to lose!

Sasuke who had been watching the whole thing was not amused. Come on, you idiot! Don't make us lose! He gritted his teeth as Naruto almost stumbled on the final stretch, before tagging him in. The Uchiha was off like a shot with Ino seemingly having gained seconds ahead.

What!? How did she!? The race was entering its final lap and both groups were cheering on their last team members.

"Do it Sasuke!"

"Smash it Ino!"

"Don't let them show us up!"

As the last two competitors entered the last stretch, both of them pushed as hard and fast as they could. They eventually crossed the finish line and collapsed both out of breath.

"See….see..." Ino panted heavily, clutching her chest in pain. "We...kicked...your...ass…"

Sasuke regained his breath, spitting out saliva and glaring at the blonde girl with a furious look. "Not...a….chance….I did..."

Guy and Anko came over to each other, both wondering how to settle this.

"It's obvious Sasuke crossed the line first, so we win!" Guy declared triumphantly.

"Are you blind!?" Anko shouted. "Ino got here first so we win, so pay up Guy!"

"What?" He answered flabbergasted. "I didn't agree to any financial wager!"

"Well I'm saying you did, you owe me 2000 yen!"

"Not a chance!" The male teacher stood his ground. "I'm saying Sasuke won here fair and square!"

The two teachers squared off with each other, with Sasuke and Ino staring down at each other as well. That is until they were interrupted by another individual.

"Might Guy and Anko Mitarashi, if I may, I can tell you who won. I was watching the whole thing." They both turned to see Vice Principal Shizune Kato, a young woman wearing a dark brown blazer, white blouse and long skirt.

"Vice Principal Kato...what brings you here?"

Shizune placed her hands on her hips. "Just getting some fresh air while Tsunade has a meeting. I was watching the whole race and I noticed they both crossed the line at the same time."

Both teenagers' jaws hit the floor in shock. "What?"

"It's true. These eyes of mine don't lie. Both Uchiha and Yamanaka crossed the line together; no two ways about it." She turned to Anko, her gaze sharpened. "As for you Mitarashi, if you had any kind of wager on this, I suggest dropping it. It was a draw, so neither of you won."

Anko growled. "I demand a rematch!"

"Anytime!" Guy boasted proudly. "I'll show you again why my students are the best!"

Sasuke and Ino however, looked completely dumbfounded by the whole situation as they walked over to join their friends. How could they have tied?

"Hn." Sasuke scoffed. "If the dead last loser over here hadn't stumbled over his own shoes, I would have won that"

"What was that, bastard?" Naruto snarled as he stood up from his seat. "You wanna go a few rounds?"

"You're cruisin' for a brusin' Uzumaki!" He yelled as the two teens faced up to fight one another. Sasuke flew a right hook towards his face to which the blonde countered with a block from his elbow. Retaliating, he went for a swift kick towards Naruto's gut which he dodged by an inch. Both groups were in shock and awe as the two boys started fighting each other.

"Stand and fight me you coward!"

Sasuke threw a series of blind jabs furiously, which Naruto managed to avoid before he countered with a few strikes to his chest. Before he could land a third, Sasuke grappled him to the floor, ready to land another blow to his face. Naruto quickly retaliated with a swift uppercut to his jaw, which caused Sasuke to stumble back. The blonde got to his feet, ready to throw another punch, but both their fists were stopped by a third individual who stepped in.

"That's enough you two!" Guy bellowed, breaking up the fight. "Detention, one hour at lunchtime, my office, the pair of you. And don't make me have to come and find you."

The two boys stepped back from each other and walked away.

"You got lucky, Uzumaki. Don't piss me off again." The Uchiha spat venomously.

"Oh screw you!" Naruto replied, flipping him off.

Ino looked on at Naruto, who looked disappointed with himself.

Sasuke can be a real dick to others. Jeez, Naruto was only trying his best… She was feeling a sign of concern for him that she hadn't done before, and was beginning to see what the Uchiha was really like. He's definitely not a team player that's for sure.

Karin looked over from chatting with Sakura as she watched her blonde friend's eyes follow Naruto as he walked away with Lee, Kiba and Shikamaru.

Uzumaki? No, she couldn't be…could she? The red-haired pondered, thinking this would require some detective work later.

The rest of the day carried on as per normal, despite both Naruto and Sasuke serving detention during their lunch hour. Aside from that, Asuma Sarutobi's history class was a drag as per usual.

The final bell rang for Friday as everyone began packing away their books.

"Nice work everyone, I'm pleased to see that you're actually getting this." He murmured as reached for his end of the day cigarette. "Shikamaru, nicely done as always." He gestured towards the lazy student, before turning to the trio of girls.

"And girls, I'm liking the improvement but Karin…" He emphasised her name with a tinge of seriousness. "...for the love of God, please remember citations using the correct referencing system. If you don't get any practice with this now, any university you go to is going to be murder."

"Yeah, yeah…" Karin droned, wanting to get out of here as soon as.

"Plans people?" Sakura asked curling some hair behind her ear.

"I'm...hanging out with Tenten today." Ino declared immediately.

Karin's jaw dropped. "Say what? The coffee geek? What is she up to?"

"Not much, just wants to catch up with me is all." Ino shrugged, eyes darting towards the door. "Look, I'm sorry I've ruined both of these Fridays for you two, rain check?"

Sakura, looking a tad disappointed, gave a small smile. "Sure, but you're buying okay? Karin?"

The red-haired folded her arms looking extremely displeased and frustrated. She knew something was up and she was going to get to the bottom of this no matter how long it took. She knew it was probably something to do with Uzumaki, but she couldn't be a hundred per cent sure.

"Fine." She replied annoyingly. "But you do owe us big-time now, Ino."

"Cheers girls." The blonde hoisted her backpack over her shoulders. "Catch you Monday."

As she ran out the door, Karin began conducting a plan in her head. All she needed was a little help from a certain spectacled boy who had a habit of spying on people…

"Come Sakura, I need some cake to escape this madness."

Naruto quickly made his way to the music room, hoping to find Ino. He entered and set up his guitar, his amp and waited for her. Ten minutes later, she entered wearing a casual outfit similar to the one previously, except she had swapped out the white hoodie for an aqua blue t-shirt with a grunge graffiti tag that spelt out 'No Rules', accompanied with blue denim shorts and black leggings.

"Hey, sorry about that," Ino scratched the back of her head sheepishly. She didn't like lying to her friends like this, but it was the only way she'd get some alone time like this.

"Don't sweat it." Naruto smiled as he adjusted the tuning keys. He looked up to notice the blonde girl and admired how nice she looked.

Damn, she's…hot. He felt himself blush slightly. I don't know why she bothers with all that make-up and stuff during the day, she's stunning like this.

Ino, noticing him in a daze, snapped her fingers to get his attention. "You falling asleep on me Naruto?"

He shook his head, attempting to hide his blush. "No, not at all…You look…nice. Real rock and roll."

As she grabbed her bass from the instrument locker, she couldn't help but feel her heart flutter in response. Many boys before would compliment her on her good looks, but something about this one felt genuine. Was it probably because she was in more comfortable clothing and didn't have to doll up as much?

"Thanks." She replied, her voice almost a whisper. "Do you think so?" She swayed her hips slightly, to which the blonde boy's eyes widened at her attractiveness.

"Yeah...like Orianthi but with a bit more punk-edge."

Ino chuckled. "I was hoping you'd say Joan Jett, but she's cool too." She propped herself up on the table and plugged in her amp.

"Hey, you okay? I didn't know Sasuke was just a jackass." She said, noting the fight that took place earlier. "He had no right to do that, it was just a bit of friendly competition."

Naruto coughed. "Don't worry about it. He seems to get like that with a lot of people." He stretched and rotated his shoulder blades. "I was so close to kicking his ass though. Would have torn him a new one in detention if Guy hadn't been there."

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you had done. So, what are we playing then? Didn't you say something Nu-Metal?" She questioned, remembering their earlier conversation.

"I did," He answered, browsing through his phone. "But I figure this'll be more fun though; Heart in Hand by Opeth."

"The melodic death metal band? Pretty sure that's way above my level…"

"Nope, their current stuff. This is more progressive and mellow. The tuning you want is E-A-D-G."

She raised her eyebrow at the requirement. "The same as Metallica?"

"Almost but not quite, have a listen." He started the song, letting her have a taste of the music. It began off with a weird monologue in Swedish and after a few more seconds, the instruments kicked in. She began tapping her fingers on the table to get an idea of the rhythm and how fast she would need to play. About a minute passed, and Naruto stopped the music.

"Sounds good right?"

Ino nodded as she finished tuning her strings correctly. "Sure, let's give it a try."

The two began playing the song without much trouble and it was something that she ended up enjoying quite a bit. A different style of music that she wasn't used to playing, but found enjoyment nonetheless.

"Great stuff." She spoke up after the song ended. "It's an interesting style from this band."

"Indeed," Naruto answered. "Opeth are one of my personal favourites; I love all their catalogue." He placed down his instrument and took a sip from his water canteen. He offered some to the blonde girl, and she accepted his offer.

"So I'm curious about something else…" He had something on his mind he had been wondering for the last week. "How have you managed to keep this a secret from Karin and Sakura? Surely your two closest friends haven't caught on that something's amiss with your tastes right?"

Ino looked up into his blue eyes and wrinkled her nose. "Well, it's not been so bad. I hide the music on my phone when I'm out and about, and I don't keep any records in my room. My dad put up shelves of records in the living room some time ago so if I borrow something, I put it straight back when I'm done."

"You listen to records? Not mp3s?"

Ino chortled. "Blame my dad; he's always like 'Ino, nothing beats a nice cosy day sitting in your favourite chair with an ice-cold beer listening to your favourite record on a crisp audio setup'. And, I kind of agree, he's got me into vinyl...sort of."

"Your dad sounds amazing." The blonde boy smiled. "I'd love to see his collection sometime."

"Cheers." She replied with his compliment. "And as for wondering how else I hide it? I act and pretend to enjoy most of the stuff they listen to…" She shuddered at the thought of having to share headphones with Karin again. "...I just feel...bored y'know?"

"I hear that."

"So, how about A Perfect Circle?"

Naruto's eyes widened at her choice. "That's C Tuning, you wanna try that?"

"Don't think I can do it eh?" She poked her tongue out. "You wanna lose again today?"

Naruto smirked. "Challenge accepted."

Ino began re-tuning to C Drop, striking a few chords, producing a thick, hollow sound from her bass.

Why is it that always sounds good? He thought as she fixed up her tuning. Like she is damn good at that.

"The Outsider?" He questioned, recognising part of the bass line she played.

"Disconnect and self destruct one bullet at a time, bitch." She teased with another finger-snap and a grin plastered on her face.

"Oh, it's on now girl!" He re-tuned his own guitar and joined her in playing.

"Help me if you can/It's just that this, this is not the way I'm wired/So could you please/Help me understand why/You've given in to all these/Reckless dark desires." The blonde boy crooned as he bobbed his head along to the riffs.

"You're lying to yourself again/Suicidal imbecile/Think about it, put it on the faultline/What'll it take to get it through to you precious/Over this. Why do you wanna throw it away like this/ Such a mess. I don't want to watch you." Ino sang in response, to which Naruto couldn't help but smile.

"Disconnect and self destruct one bullet at a time/What's your rush now, everyone will have his day to die…" The two of them sang in unison, their hearts aflutter at how comfortable they were with each other. They carried on singing verses to each other until the song ended.

Ino took a deep breath. "That was pretty good, Uzumaki." She flicked her ponytail to one side. "Told you I could do it."

"You been practising over the weekend haven't you?"

"Maybe." She replied in a sing-song voice, standing up to stretch. "Got any more cookies?"

"Peckish?" He teased, remembering her actions last time.

She flushed red, wanting to smack him. "And what of it?"

Both of them laughed it off and carried on jamming together a bit longer.

Elsewhere, Kiba and Hinata had walked together after school towards her house. After PE class, Hinata had complained of more pain, so the boy had done the gentlemanly thing of walking her to the nurse's office. Turns out the injury just needed a couple of painkillers and an ice pack, nothing too serious. But then she was left with the annoyance of having to carry her books home, to which Kiba kindly offered to help out with. The walk back had been pretty casual, with the two asking each other about likes, dislikes, what they enjoyed in their spare time.

Kiba had had a small crush on the Hyuga for a while but wasn't so sure what to make of it. He had heard about the family's strict ruling and wasn't too sure if Neji would be happy with anyone dating his cousin. Hinata herself was pleasantly surprised at the boy's generous nature and how he cracked a few bad jokes which made her giggle with happiness.

"Thanks for walking me back, Kiba." She said as the pair reached the front garden of her house. Kiba looked upon her dwelling; maybe 'house' was a bit of a stretch. This place was more mansion than anything else. A two-storey building with what seemed like five or six bedrooms, accompanied by two garages and an attic.

Holy shit! He bit his lip, gazing at the well-designed architecture. How rich are these people? And I thought my house was enough, but this is insane!

"Uh, it was no problem...hehe…" He scratched his right cheek nervously. "Hope you rest up well this weekend and I'll see you on Monday yeah?"

The blue-haired girl's face turned pink. "Yes...thank you. See you Monday." She turned to walk down the gravel path towards her front door. She had never had a boy walk her home before and didn't know what to expect from all of it.

Kiba suddenly remembered he had left his backpack behind at school. "Shit! Don't want mum busting my balls again on homework this weekend!" He hurried back down the several blocks towards the school. Checking his phone, it was half-past four and remembered that the caretakers would begin closing up at five. He arrived ten minutes after, bashing through the front door into the main corridor, heading to his locker and retrieving it.

Nothing everything in, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank lord, it's all here." He heaved it over his shoulder and was about to head back out when his ears caught the sound of a thick, hollow bass line being played.

Who the heck could be playing that? He wondered as the rumble seemed to get a tad louder. Is Naruto still here? He told me he usually heads home on a Friday unless he's decided to learn bass as well? He headed towards the staircase down to the music department. As he got down the second set of stairs, the rumble seemed to stop.

"Hm? Weird...I'd best take a look…" As he made it down and began checking the rooms for the source of the noise, he noticed the large music room at the end of the corridor. As he walked towards it the door opened, prompting him to dash into the small alcove nearby.

"...say Ino, are you busy tomorrow?" He heard the voice of his good friend.

Naruto? And what the heck's Ino doing here? I thought that blonde prissy had better things to do?

"No, not really why?" Came her response as he saw the girl midway out the door.

What the hell is going on here?

In the music room, the two blondes had finished playing a few Metallica songs.

"Nicely done. I'm enjoying this." Naruto commented as he took another sip of water.

The platinum-blonde girl smiled softly. "Yeah me too…" She looked at her phone. "Crap is that the time!?" She hurriedly placed her bass back into the locker and grabbed her bag. "Sorry, I can't stay; my dad's cooking a nice roast dinner tonight and I said I'd help him out with the vegetables."

"Sounds delicious." Naruto tapped his foot on the floor, with a burning question on his mind. "Say Ino, are you busy tomorrow?"

Ino stopped midway out the door. "No, not really why?"

The blonde boy scratched the back of his head, his eyes dropping to the floor. "Er, well, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out tomorrow?"

The girl's eyes widened. "You mean…like a date?"

"If you want to call it that, yeah..."

Her whole face went as red as a tomato. It had only been two hangouts after school and now he was asking her out on a date? She felt she had suddenly entered the backwards universe where it was raining cats and dogs and up was down. Truth be told, she hadn't had a proper date in a while; there was that time with Sai a few months ago, but the chemistry didn't click. But hey, what did she have to lose?

"Sure." Came her reply, a little hesitant at first. "We can do a few hours. Meet me outside the Bare Brew Coffee Shop at 12pm?"

"Great." Naruto grinned widely.

As she pushed open the rest of the door, she shot a look that could only be described as a mixture of seriousness and cute. "And don't keep a girl waiting, Naruto." She brushed her ponytail to one side and walked out of the room towards the back exit towards the car park. Not many people used this exit, but the caretakers would often leave it unlocked for anyone staying behind most days if the front door was locked.

Kiba watched as the girl made her way out. He couldn't believe his ears. Were those two really going steady with each other? How did this happen in the first place? So many questions and he wondered if he was going to get any answers.

As Naruto began packing his equipment away, he heard the door open and saw Kiba walking in.

"Kiba, what are you doing here?" The blonde queried his friend

"Hey Naruto, forgot some books in my locker and heard the commotion. What's Ino doing here?" He folded his arms, accompanying a stern expression."I saw her walk out the room and head towards the back door...are you two...together!?"

Naruto swallowed. How was he going to explain this?

To be continued...

A/N: Oooh cliffhanger! I bet you're wondering why I have another chapter out so soon? Well, I'm away for the bank holiday weekend here in the UK for a couple of days so I'd thought I'd leave you with this little surprise to tie you over for now.

Also, I wanted to use this chapter to explore more of the characters and I had a blast writing, especially with Anko and Guy as PE teachers. And yes, I am aware Sasuke is a bit of a dick to people but I plan on smoothing that out a little later on as well.

So yes, Naruto and Ino are going to go out on a date next time; however, like most first dates, it won't be as smooth as you think it will be. I don't want to spoil it for you, but there are a few surprises in-store! Kiba and Hinata I've been wanting to write for a while, so this will be Plot B for the remainder of this fic...and maybe a bit more, I'll see how it goes.

Just a few clarifications/trivia for all of you readers; Hinata's house is based on a couple of dwellings in North London, UK (close to where I live) so I wanted to use that.

I gave Shizune the last name of Kato since her uncle was Dan Kato, who you may remember as Tsunade's lover.

Asuma's conversation about citations was an actual real-life scenario I had with a University professor of mine several years ago who was extremely picky about citing work and would literally pick on anyone who didn't get it right.

Orianthi (full name Orianthi Panagaris) is a guitarist who was going to be on Michael Jackson's tour before he died, but she ended up joining Alice Cooper and doing a solo gig.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next week.