Let the Music Do the Talking, a Naruto Fanfiction

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

A/N: Hey all, thanks for the reviews and ongoing support. If you haven't already noticed, I went back and tweaked a few things from previous chapters. We've reached 100 favourites on this story, big shoutout goes to greywolfe1701 for helping reach that number! Anyhow, here's Chapter 7.

Chapter 7: Eat the Elephant (Side A)

As Monday became Tuesday, the students seemed to carry on their daily lives as normal.

Well, except for some of them.

That morning, Kiba and Hinata met up before the first period outside the front doors. Upon seeing one another, they embraced each other with a warm hug,

"I'm sorry again, Kiba…" Hinata said softly as she felt a pain of guilt envelop her for her father's behaviour. "I mean, my father, he can be a little...antisocial and-"

"-Hey, don't worry," He replied, gently rubbing her back "It's fine. I'm just glad to see you." He embraced her for a little longer, before letting go. He cleared his throat, noticing how close they had gotten from that one action.

"So, um, we'll have a lunchtime study on Thursday right?"

Hinata nodded. "Absolutely. Meet me in Miss Yuhi's classroom?"

"Sounds good."

Ino walked to school on her own today as Sakura mentioned that she'd be running late due to having to take care of something at home, and Karin wasn't answering her phone when Ino rang her.

That's strange, she hasn't answered her phone, nor did she respond to my message this morning. She's probably got a reason but she normally responds to everything.

On her way, she walked past the Bare Brew only to see Tenten coming out the door with her favourite beverage in one hand.

"Hey Ino, how's it going?"

"Hey, Tenten." She replied. "It's going okay thanks…" She noticed upon closer inspection she had two cups in a styrofoam holster. "Two cups of coffee, Tenten? Don't you drink enough of the stuff?

She chuckled."It's 'Two for Tuesday' and I always get one with Neji, but he couldn't meet me this morning, do you want the other one?"

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

She held her hand out with the second cup. "Vanilla latte, half shot syrup with skimmed milk. Neji doesn't like the sweet stuff as much as me."

"Sure, never really tried it before." She received the beverage and took a quick sip. She was immediately greeted with a bitter sensation which was quickly washed away with a sweet taste of vanilla.

"Hm, not bad." Ino wasn't a big coffee drinker, but this was pretty good.

"You're welcome," Tenten said amusingly. "Shall we head on?"

The two set off down the road towards the school.

"So, how's it all going with that little crush of yours?" Tenten remembering their conversation from a few weeks ago. "Any progress?"

A wave of red captured the blonde girl's face straight away. "You could say that...we went on a date and we've hung out a few more times as well and-"

"Oh really?" The brunette teased as she took another sip. "Who's the lucky guy then? I know there are quite some lookers in our year group so you would be spoilt for choice."

Ino took a breath before replying. "You promise you won't say anything?"

"Promise."

"Well, believe it or not, it's Naruto."

Tenten's eyes widened as she spat out some of her drink upon hearing the name. "Say what!? You mean blonde hair, blue-eyed whiskers Naruto?"

"Yeah, him. He's actually a really down-to-earth guy. Interesting, fun to hang out with and just so damn friendly too."

Tenten wiped her mouth and took another sip. "Wow, that's something you don't hear every day. Have you two kissed yet?"

"No...I did give him a peck on the cheek twice though."

The brunette's face lit up in pure ecstasy. "Aww, that is so cute! But if you have another date, you have to make sure you kiss properly at some point!"

"Did you kiss Neji on your second date?" Ino questioned, wondering if what she was saying was right.

"Yeah." She scratched the side of her cheek. "I was kind of embarrassed, but he just made me feel so comfortable being with him I couldn't help myself."

The platinum blonde bit her lip. She did like Naruto a lot, so maybe a kiss wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Hmm." She added, acknowledging her friend's words. "I'll just have to work it out then is all."

Tenten grinned. "That's the spirit. But Naruto? That's something. He must've really impressed you alright."

Ino smiled softly. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Anyway, details!" Tenten continued eagerly. "What was your date like?"

Inside the school down the main corridor, Naruto set himself up for the day by his locker. As he closed his door, he looked over to see Kabuto on his own. He looked like was fiddling with something, and had trouble sorting it out. Naruto walked over, wanting to inquire if everything was alright.

"Hey Kabuto, everything alright? Are you having trouble with something?"

On closer inspection, the grey-haired boy was trying to shove a dozen papers in, without dropping them. Naruto quickly grabbed the bottom of the pile, while Kabuto quickly shoved the top half back in the locker, hoping that the blonde would not notice.

"Oh, Naruto!" He exclaimed as he received the pile from his friend and hurriedly shoved it back in. "Uh, yes….everything is...good…" He gestured awkwardly, not wanting to let him see what he was up to.

Naruto blinked, as he swore he caught the name of Karin on one of the papers that were shoved back in the cabinet.

What's he doing with notes on Karin? Unless someone asked him too-

"So," His voice broke the blonde out of his gaze. "What can I do for you? Need some advice with a class? Anything in general?" He spoke quite quickly and with such a worried tone, Naruto couldn't help but notice something was amiss.

"I'm good, thanks. What about you? You looked like you've just seen a ghost or something-"

"Ha, ha. Ha, you're a funny guy, Naruto…" He laughed awkwardly as he really wanted to move on. "Me? Perfectly fine, great, never been better!" His tone of voice seemed to crack from awkward to worried to scared all in the span of a few seconds.

The blonde had his doubts; Kabuto for the last couple of days had not been himself and Naruto knew something wasn't one-hundred per cent here.

"Kabuto," He spoke, eyeing him up with concern. "I consider you a friend and I know you're a stand-up guy. Anything you want to share with me, you have my word that I won't tell anyone, and that's a promise. Are you sure you're okay?"

Kabuto himself was taken aback by Naruto's empathetic nature. He knew that Naruto could make friends easily, but he was worried about his reaction to everything.

It's not like I can come clean. Oh, sorry Naruto, I've gone behind your back and spied on you because some bitch decided to blackmail me. Unless…

"Naruto," He began his response, regaining his composure with a deep breath. "There is something you should know, but not right now. I need a few days to get some clarification." His eyes fell to the floor. "I appreciate your concern and thank you. Now if you excuse me, I feel that we should start getting to class."

The blonde boy parted his mouth, wanting to reply but stopped himself.

"Okay," He knew he wasn't going to get any more answers. "Let me know when you're ready to talk."

Naruto walked ahead into his first class of the day, with Kabuto trailing behind him.

I'm sorry Naruto. I'm going to fix this.

After Friday, the information that he had gathered from Shino had been quite shocking, to say the least. But it would be enough to get her off his back? There was only one way to find out.

In their Maths class, Namida and Wasabi began chatting while solving equations.

"So, Kabuto eh? Do you like him or something?" Wasabi asked.

Namida got caught off guard, her face flushing red in response. "No, of course not! He's just a good person who likes to help me out is all."

"You sure?" Wasabi raised an eyebrow. "Because you two looked pretty cosy exchanging notes the other day. Are you sure you didn't get his number too?"

"I did not!" Namida replied annoyingly. "Look, he's just a nice guy. Besides, I don't know much about him. He's friends with Naruto I think and he does photography, but that's about it really."

Wasabi chuckled. "Why don't you find out more about him since you seem so interested?"

"I am not!"

"You keep telling yourself that…"

Wednesday lunchtime arrived and Naruto asked Kiba to join him for some more band practice. The blonde boy got their first and was by himself for a few minutes until Ino joined him.

"Hey," She entered the room and placed her bag down.

"Hey, you okay? You didn't reply to my last message."

"Yeah sorry about that. Karin and Sakura were being annoying and I didn't want them seeing who I was messaging." She picked up her bass from the locker and propped herself on the table. "Did you tell Kiba I was coming?"

"No, I haven't," He had his guitar setup and began tuning the keys at the end. "But he's understanding enough."

"If you're sure," Ino answered.

Ten more minutes passed, and Kiba finally appeared, looking a bit out of breath.

"Sorry…" He panted, catching his breath as he entered. "Damn Yuhi knows how to keep people waiting...huh?" His attention was drawn to the presence of Ino, who had set up her bass next to Naruto.

"Naruto, what the heck is she doing here?" He pointed aggressively at her. "This was meant to be our practice time and you invited the blonde prissy here?"

Insulted, Ino dropped her instrument on the table and squared off towards him. "Who are you calling 'prissy' dog-boy? Can't take the fact that a girl can play too?"

"Dog-boy?" Kiba countered. "Look, all because I have a dog and my family raises dogs doesn't mean I am one."

"You smell like one, that's for sure." She carried on, rolling her eyes.

"Oh so now I smell powder-puff?"

"Well if the boot fits!"

"Guys!" Naruto shouted, getting both their attention. "Look, me and Ino are getting along well and she's actually volunteered to be our bass player for the show. That doesn't take anything away from the dynamic; I think personally it just improves it. Kiba, please, let Ino show you what she can do."

Kiba folded his arms, his face showing displeasure. "Fine, I trust your judgement, Naruto." Eyeing up the girl, he sighed heavily as he walked over to his kit and set up his drums.

"Naruto tells me you're pretty good," Ino said with an exasperated tone as she tuned her instrument, striking a few chords.

"Pretty good? I'm the best out here and don't you forget it. Why bass pray tell?" He adjusted two cymbals, being careful not to drop them.

"Let's just say I like rhythm and how it sounds." She replied. "Why the drums?"

"Anything with strings just overcomplicates things."

"Too hard for you then?" She countered mockingly.

"Girl, you want to see hard? Watch my footwork with the double bass and you tell me if that looks easy."

Naruto looked at the pair of them, rubbing the side of his head. This is going to be hard work.

"Okay, so I figure we go over what we've got for the show." He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and looked it over. "Unless you want to make any suggestions?"

Kiba smirked, picking up his sticks. "I want to see what blondie here can do."

Ino stuck her tongue out at him. "You know that insult loses all meaning when there's more than one blonde person in the room right?"

"Anyhow," Naruto continued, clicking his tongue. "Why don't we have a couple of jams and get to groove with each other so to speak?"

"Fine," Ino added firmly. "How about In Waves by Trivium?"

Both boys looked at her with an expression that could only be described as vacant, mixed with curiosity.

"You serious?" Kiba asked.

"You wanted to show off that double bass footwork of yours so why not?" She added, snapping her fingers with a sense of authority.

"That's not a bad choice," Naruto added. "It also gives us a chance to work on vocal harmonies; especially if we're going to be working together like this. How about I do lead, Ino you do clean back-up and Kiba you do harsh vocals off every other verse?"

"So like a live performance basically?" Kiba interjected.

"Yep. Let's give it a shot."

"You're on," Ino smirked.

Naruto adjusted his position and began playing the opening riff, with Ino and Kiba following his rhythm. As the blonde boy finished screaming the opening words (a sound that caught Ino off guard) and began the first verse.

"Do I end this all for the world to see…"

"..in waves, in waves…" Ino sang softly

.."Do I take everybody else down?"

"Everybody else down with me!" Kiba growled loudly.

"In Waves!" Both Naruto and Kiba screamed the next bit together. In the back of their minds, this was sounding pretty good, but what about everyone else?

"Do I end this all for the world to see?"

"In waves, In waves" The girl carried on as she was enjoying the rhythm.

"Do I take everybody else down?/everybody else down!" Both boys continued as their vocals clashed with each other like a climactic battle of swordsmen fighting each other.

"Everybody else down with me" The blonde boy shot Ino a quick wink.

"I know that death approaches fast" Naruto and Ino sang together before Ino sang her next line solo. "In waves, In waves"

"What's the purpose if this life won't last?/what's the purpose?/Pulling everyone down with me!"

The song continued, with all three of them seemingly getting to grips with each other's timing and precision. Naruto himself was pleasantly surprised at how each of their vocals sounded playing off each other.

Ino was having the time of her life right now but she didn't want to admit it. Maybe music had been her true calling all these years and it was only now she was accepting of it.

The song ended after four minutes, with each of them taking a breather after all that work.

"Damn, you're pretty good." Kiba shooting a compliment over to Ino.

"Pretty good or just good because I'm a girl?" Ino remarked.

"I'd say pretty good overall. Sorry about the prissy insult."

"No sweat, sorry I called you dog-boy." She placed down her bass and stretched. "That footwork was solid; where did you learn to do that?"

"A lot of practice and plenty of exercises." He replied, reaching for his water bottle. "Not the easiest but it's fun as anything." He looked up at her. "Where'd you learn to sing?"

"Parents." She answered flatly.

Naruto smiled, enjoying the calm atmosphere he had created. "Nicely done. I think we might be onto something here."

Ino brushed some of her hair back. "You might be right, that was great. So, do all your songs for the talent show require multiple vocals or just one?"

"Not sure," Naruto commented, biting his lip. "Two out of the four I have in mind, but the finale probably not. I mean we can always change it…"

"I'm with you there, dude," Kiba said, rubbing the base of his Adam's apple. "As much as I like doing the harsh vocals, it's not so good on the throat."

"You tried lozenges, herbal teas, stuff like that?" Ino queried, remembering she had seen a video online regarding that sort of thing a while ago.

"Yep, but luckily I have Naruto to change up with me so it's not too much of a problem."

I got to admit, hanging out with these two goofballs isn't half bad. She thought, her gaze turning to Naruto. Naruto is really something though. The next date, I hope we can kiss.; that way I'll find out how he really feels and-

"Yo, Ino," Kiba called out, snapping the girl out of her romantic thoughts. "You okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, peachy," She chuckled nervously "What were you saying?"

"I was just asking if you wanna try something else? Maybe some Iron Maiden or Judas Priest?"

Her mouth gaped at the name's that came from the boy's mouth. "Are you sure you're not the same age as my dad?"

Kiba furrowed his brow. "Absolutely not! That's my jam so to speak! Hello? Scott Travis is one of rock and metal's greatest drummers! Have you never heard of Painkiller? The first time I tried playing that, I almost broke a bass pedal!"

Naruto laughed. "Oh, I remember you telling me that story! Didn't your mum have to come rushing up the stairs because she thought you kicked a hole in the floor from the sound you made?"

"No comment…"

The group carried on playing another few songs, and they each felt their chemistry was on point with one another. Ino was impressed with Naruto and Kiba's musicianship; two people shared the same interests as her and did so without judgment. Such a positive acceptance made her feel warm and comfortable.

The lunch hour eventually drew to a close, and the three packed away their instruments.

"That was pretty great." Naruto said, "Same time again next week?"

"You bet," Kiba replied, "I want to see the look on everyone's face when I bust out the kit."

"Ino?"

Placing her bass back in the locker, she curled some hair behind her ear. "Yeah, sounds great."

Noticing he had a message pop up on his phone, Kiba headed out the door with a big grin on his face. "Excuse me, I've….got to go see someone, later!"

As he rushed out, Ino was curious to who or what could have motivated him to move so fast.

"So, is it a girl or-"

"Maybe, you'll have to wait and see." Naruto replied as he heaved his backpack onto him. "I gotta go meet Shikamaru before class, what are you going to do?"

"I'm…" She started slowly. "I'm going to head to my locker and sort myself out." She looked towards the floor, playing with the hem of her skirt. "So, am I officially your bass player then, Naruto?" She asked coyly.

The boy smiled sweetly. "Yeah, you are. I mean, you're pretty damn amazing that's for sure. We might actually be the best thing there!"

She nodded "I'm looking forward to it actually. Say, do you want to hang out again on the weekend?"

Naruto's eyes widened at her request. "You mean like another date?"

"Yeah." She added blushing. "The last one was really fun and I'd want to try something different this time."

Naruto sniggered. "Oh, taking the lead I see? And what do I owe the pleasure of, Miss Yamanaka?" He added with a gentlemanly tone.

"Well, Mister Uzumaki, you'll just have to wait and see what the day ahead brings."

Both laughed with each other as they gazed into each other's eyes. Smiling again, Ino leaned in and hugged Naruto.

"Ino…" He whispered softly, gently hugging her waist.

"I just want to say...thanks. I feel….I feel I don't have be somebody else around you. Like, I can be normal, y'know?" She nuzzled her head on his chest.

"Hey, don't sweat it," He played with a strand of her hair. "I'm glad to have met someone like you. You are pretty awesome, Ino."

A wave of joy encompassed her face, and her heartbeat started pounding like it hadn't before. She looked up into his aqua blue eyes which were so full of wonder and carefree. She blinked and noticed that their faces were a few inches apart.

Naruto smiled and slowly leaned in closer. As Ino was doing the same, their little moment was interrupted by the sound of a large bang outside the room.

"What was that?" Ino wondered, feeling nervous

"Sounds like something fell down…"

Naruto looked out the door down both ends of the corridor. He noticed there was a small trash can next to a janitor's closet where it had been tipped over on its side.

"Hmm, guess they didn't clean up properly," He muttered.

Turning back to Ino, they both blushed, realising what they were about to do.

"Okay, so we have our second date, yeah?" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly

"Second date it is." She replied, still with a blush on her face.

He checked the time and noticed how late he was. "Oh shit, Shikamaru's waiting for me, see you later!"

Naruto raced off out the door, not before Ino noticed he left behind the scrap of paper he had read out earlier.

"Hey Naru-!" But he was already out of earshot when she picked it up. The note read the following:

Opening Solo/Riffs (Sweet Child?)

In Due Time

Willing (acoustic version? Might ask for -blacked out-

Kiba Drum Solo

(maybe add another musician)

Final Song (to be decided - needs to be arena-rockish...GnR? Metallica?

(need to practice more songs)

Note to self - come up with a cool name for the duo!

"His list of songs huh? Interesting…" She made a copy on her phone, and pocketed the paper, making sure to give it back to him later. She took a few more moments to head back up for the fifth and final period of the day. Lucky, this one was free time, where students could do what they wanted as long as they didn't leave the grounds without good reason.

Ino headed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Damn, we were literally about to kiss but it seems like someone or something didn't want us to.

She grew concerned. Karin? No, she would have probably flipped her lid…Sakura? But what would she have said? Who else could have followed us? I'd best keep an eye on my surroundings for the next few days.

She pouted slightly in the mirror. Still, this second date should be interesting indeed. I wonder if he is a good kisser.

Unbeknownst to the duo, Kabuto had witnessed the whole affair. His little accident had him tip over a trash can with his foot, and to hide, he had hidden in the alcove that laid a few doors away. As his suspicions were correct, he decided he was going to do something about it.

Naruto and Ino? Interesting couple. But no more games, I know what I've got to do...

Friday Afternoon

As Friday came and went once again, the final bell rang as Karin, Sakura, and Ino met up around Sakura's locker as she grabbed her books.

"You two ready to tackle this assignment? It will be good to get it done."

"Whatever." Karin snorted. "Just hope this doesn't take too long out of my Friday." She noticed that her little spy had been quiet all week, not giving her any news on her current situation. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kabuto had set himself by his locker, sorting out his books.

"I'll be right back." She uttered, walking over to the boy.

Sakura frowned as she noticed exactly what was going on. Damn it, Karin, I thought you were done with this…

Approaching him, the red-haired cleared her throat, causing his head to snap towards her.

"Alright, loser, start talking! What did you find out about those two? It's been almost a week and you haven't told me anything!"

Kabuto's gaze locked with her's firmly. "Why is it any concern of yours what other people get up to? Are you that insecure you have to try and ruin other people's lives?

She snarled and slammed her fist into the locker next to him. "When did you start growing a pair!? You think you can just start mouthing off to me!? We had a deal-"

"-the deal's off." He replied nonchalantly. "I'm not playing your games anymore Karin." He adjusted his glasses atop the bridge of his nose. "Or should I say...Karin Uzumaki!"

And just like that, Karin felt like her whole life had been put on pause. It was like someone had shot her, and the impact of the bullet was tearing through her subconsciousness.

But how did he know that information?

To be continued…

Song: Eat the Elephant - A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant (2017)

A/N: Well, that was fun wasn't it? I had a bit of trouble getting this chapter to flow especially with the revelations and all. I decided to split this into two, because let's just say I've got another surprise in the next one and I thought two twists might lessen the impact.

And as for the kiss? I wrote 2 different versions of that, but I figure it would be a bit more interesting to delay it just a bit longer.

If you want to see how I laid out the featured song, search on Youtube In Waves by Trivium, Live at Chapman Studios. It's a well shot video for sure.

Thanks again to Sommernacht for helping me out;

Stay tuned for the next part of this in a few days time! Next time, The Doomed (Side B)