Let the Music Do the Talking, a Naruto fanfiction
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
A/N: Damn you lot can't seem to get enough can you? 150 followers!? I'm not worthy of such praise, but thank you all the same! A shout-out goes to sburlisonmoffatt for being number 150! Here's Chapter 8;
Chapter 8: The Doomed (Side B)
Previously...
"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 utop the bridge of his nose. "Or should I say...Karin Uzumaki!."
Karin stood there in shock like a deer in headlights, only wondering how Kabuto had found out that information. His comment was loud enough for Sakura and Ino to overhear.
"Related to Naruto? Sakura, what is she talking about?" Ino questioned.
Sakura looked at the two, hesitating with an answer. "I...I don't know, she's never said anything…"
"I'm not afraid of you anymore Karin." He said, raising his voice, standing his ground. "Why should I be? Funny to believe that you'd be related to Naruto of all people. How someone as empathetic and kind as him shares the same name as an arrogant, self-centred bitch like you is unbelievable and-!"
That comment was the last straw for her as she felt her anger boil up inside; The mention of that name, the name-calling; enough was enough. In a blind rage, she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him up against the wall of lockers. The vibration of the noise drew the attention of everyone else who was nearby.
"You filthy little shit! You think you can just start talking back like you have power over me!? I own you!" She screamed in his face as he felt the pressure of his windpipe being crushed by her grip.
Other students started to form a crowd around the two, with Namida and Wasabi looking on in horror.
"Karin stop!" Namida cried. "He didn't do anything to you!"
Peering over her shoulder at the young girl, Karin growled. "Oh look, lover girl's shown up! If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of this!"
Just then Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura and Ino appeared from both sides of the crowd.
Karin's face scrunched up into a snarl, her full attention now on Kabuto. "You're gonna tell me how you found that out, you little dweeb, or I swear-"
"Enough!" Naruto jumped in and wrestled her arm away from the boy's neck. Kabuto dropped to the floor, coughing violently as he did. Shikamaru rushed over to his left side and slung Kabuto's arm around his shoulder.
"Karin, what the fuck did you do!?" Naruto demanded angrily, clutching the girl's wrist in a tight grip. "Kabuto has done nothing to you. What gives you the right to pick on him like this?"
"Oh don't get me started on you, bastard!" Karin spat venomously as she herself snapped away from the blonde's grasp. "I know exactly what you and Ino have been upto…"
"What? What has that got to do with any of this?"
Ino felt a lump in her throat as she looked at both Naruto and Karin with an expression of fear. What was going to happen now?
Kabuto continued coughing. "Naruto…." He began, gasping for breath. "I'm sorry...she asked me to spy on you...on your date with Ino. I'm sorry…" He said between coughs, trying to catch his breath. "...but I couldn't do it anymore. She had no right-"
"What…?…" was the blonde boy's only response. But how? He thought disgruntled. Is that why he seemed to out of it recently? Because he was blackmailed?
"-I have every right, you filthy creep!" She countered, not wanting to lose this battle. "Don't think I don't know what you did to Wasabi Izuno!"
A gasp elicited from the crowd with Namida looking at her friend worriedly. "Wasabi...what is she talking about?...what did-"
Wasabi's only response was a stoic expression, her eyes locked on Karin.
"That's right," Karin continued with a smirk. "This little shit has been doing more than just 'studying' with Izuno over there. Things even got a little 'R-Rated' shall we say…"
All eyes of the students were on Kabuto at this point, only wondering what would happen next.
"Kabuto…" Naruto said, unsure of what was going on. "What is she saying-"
"Oh, believe it!" She carried on gesturing. "This good for nothing sack of shit is nothing more than a pervert. He was trading sexual favours for helping her pass her exams last term...and poor little Izuno over here had to-"
"-SHUT UP!" Kabuto roared at her accusations. "You bitch! You know nothing!"
"Aw, what's wrong?" Karin stepped closer to the three, teasing. "Poor little orphan here going to run back to his foster parents? They don't even love you! Face it, you've always been and will always be a loser!"
Murmurs and whispers carried on through the crowd.
"Kabuto's an orphan?"
"Kabuto's a sexual predator?"
"I always knew he was weird, but now he's just a freak…"
"That's enough Karin!" The blonde boy moved forward in front of his friend to defend him. "Kabuto is nothing like that, and now you've gone too far!"
Karin's face continued to elicit anger. "Oh, and what are you going to do? Beat me up? You'd have the guts to hit a girl? No wonder that bastard who raised you has no moral compass! Like him, always getting what YOU want, no matter-"
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"
Everyone turned round to see the source of the booming voice that pierced their eardrums. It was the Principal, Tsunade Senju, looking at everyone with a very crossed look.
"Go on and head home now, all of you!" She demanded, with the crowd beginning to disperse "I will not tolerate this sort of behaviour!" She eyed up the students who were standing closest to the lockers. "And you three…" Tsunade pointed to Naruto, Karin and Kabuto. "My office, now."
"But Principal-!"
"That's an order!" She barked.
The three students walked into the office as the crowd dispersed, leaving just Shikamaru, Sakura and Ino with each other. Shikamaru's gaze cast over to the two girls, his mind now filled with questions.
"Do either one of you want to start explaining what the hell is going on here?" He asked with a demanding tone.
"Us!?" Sakura retorted.
"Yeah, you," Shikamaru continued. "Karin is your friend and all of a sudden she has the nerve to attack Kabuto like that? He's done nothing wrong, and I noticed the other day in the lunch hall that he looked out of place." He folded his arms. "Now, care to explain what's going on?"
"Oh, so all because she's our friend, we're the ones to blame?" Sakura replied with gritted teeth. "Look here lazy-ass, believe it or not, I'm not responsible for this-"
"-But clearly you've helped instigate it." The spiky-haired boy emphasised the last word. "If you were against it, you would have stepped in and stopped her, wouldn't you?"
His eyes turned to Ino, who looked down at the floor in sorrow.
"And you," Shikamaru questioned. "What did Karin mean by 'you and Naruto'? Did you set Naruto up for this? Because I swear if you-"
"-No."
Shikamaru had to stop himself from cursing the air. "What are you-"
"No, I swear I didn't do anything. It's just that…'' Ino knew she couldn't hide it anymore. Everyone had pretty much heard what Karin had said about the two of them. What would be the point of lying now?
"Ino," Sakura asked, "Are you and Naruto dating?"
At that moment, it was like time had completely stopped for her. Taking a deep breath, she realised there no point in hiding it anymore. It was time to tell her friend the truth.
Meanwhile, the students found themselves sitting in the Principal's office, with Tsunade looking over them with a look of fury.
"So, " Began the older woman eyeing each of the teens. "Which one of you wants to explain exactly what happened?"
"Principal, Karin attacked Kabuto and tried to strangle him!"
"Only because he provoked me! He and Naruto! All they want to do is try and ruin me, I was only trying to protect myself!" Karin said, lying through her teeth.
"That's a lie!" Naruto responded with a tinge of anger. "We did nothing to you! You almost killed him." He pointed to the grey-haired boy's neck, which was now coming out in multiple bruises.
"Oh, and you're innocent too!? You attacked me too, you sick bastard-!"
"ENOUGH!"
The three snapped to attention when they felt the table vibrate next to them loudly from her slamming her hands down.
"It looks like both of you are to blame for this. What the hell provoked you to attack Kabuto like that?"
"You didn't see anything, Principal! These two provoked me-!
"Stop lying!" Naruto screamed. "I'm sick of you thinking you can get away with everything because you're popular!"
Karin snorted. "I'm a liar!? That's rich coming from you and-!"
"Naruto Uzumaki and Karin Tatsumaki!" Tsunade interrupted, feeling her own temper reaching breaking point. "This arguing is getting us nowhere and-" She glanced over at Kabuto, noticing he was looking quite shaken, and still coughing.
"Kabuto, is this true what Naruto is saying?"
He could only nod in response, as he didn't have the strength to respond.
"Please, go to the nurse's office; if she says you have to go home, do so and rest up."
Kabuto nodded as he stood up and headed out the door.
"Right now, I'm not sure who I want to believe." The blonde woman continued, placing her hands together. "If you really did attack Kabuto for no apparent reason, that is unforgivable. For that extreme behaviour, I have no choice but to expel you for two weeks."
"Two weeks!?" She yelled rising up from her seat. "You're giving me two weeks and not punishing that douchebag!? He's a fucking predator and-!"
"SIT DOWN!" Tsunade demanded, her voice getting louder. "For once, I actually don't believe you; you're accusing a student of this school of lewd and sexual acts towards another student? I find that hard to believe. However, I will personally ask him myself, but I doubt it very much given his track record-"
The blonde boy couldn't believe his ears. He just had to defend his friend. "-But Principal, Kabuto is nothing like that and-!"
"Did I say you could speak, Uzumaki!? You're just in as much trouble as she is. You could have calmed the situation down and resolved it, but you instead chose to retaliate and fight back."
Fight back? All I did was wrestle her off Kabuto before his windpipe was crushed! Naruto thought, disappointed with how he was being treated.
Tsunade leaned forward on her desk, rubbing her temples.
"Uzumaki, I'm going to call your parents regarding all this. You're expelled for one week."
"One week!? But Principal-!"
"You want to shoot for two!?"
As Karin smirked in pride, her face fell when Tsunade addressed her again.
"And don't think I'm going easy on you, Tatsumaki! If you ever harm another student again without reason, you will be permanently expelled! I don't care how rich your family is, don't you dare pull a stunt like this again. Am I clear?"
The red-haired girl trembled in fear. She was usually tough as nails, but when it came to someone like Tsunade Senju, she'd know when to cut her losses and quit.
"Crystal." She muttered quietly.
Tsunade's gaze fell to her desk again. It was time to do some investigating.
Kabuto made his way to the nurse's office as the hallway was now completely deserted and void of any life. It was the same emptiness he had felt day after day being by himself, but now, it felt like he just wanted the void to swallow him up and not let him go.
What did Namida think of him now? Had he lost all hope of being with her? Was it hopeless to try and resolve it?
He didn't know. All that he felt right now was his heart being stabbed over and over, and the aching pain of his neck muscles from where he had almost been strangled.
He approached the door and slowly turned the cold, metal handle. He looked down the hall one more time with disdain, before opening the door and walking in,
"...and that's the whole story really." Ino had spent the time explaining herself to Sakura and Shikamaru.
"So these last couple of weeks, you've been with him?" Sakura was taking in all this new information, surprised at what she had heard.
"How come you lied to me then?" Sakura felt hurt by her friend's actions. "I asked you if there was a boy you liked and you clearly said no, why all the secrecy?"
Ino frowned, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's...well...you know after the whole thing with Sai? I didn't think I'd be interested in anyone else, and Naruto just happened to show up on that Friday." She broke eye contact with her friend for a split second. "I didn't think things would turn out like this. Naruto…" Her face fell again. "Naruto is a great guy, quite different from anyone else really."
"And he never once said anything about his relationship with Karin?"
"No. I mean, besides meeting his parents, he never said anything."
The red hair though...when I saw his mother, I couldn't help but think there was some kind of connection, but I didn't want to think much of it.
"Don't ask me either," Shikamaru said with a shrug, noticing that both girl's eyes laid upon him. "Yeah, I'm friends with him, but that doesn't mean I've had conversations about families."
"Perhaps I can explain to you about this whole situation." Another voice spoke up and joined the three of them.
"Shino Aburame?" Shikamaru questioned his sudden appearance. "What the heck do you know about all this?"
He adjusted his glasses slightly. "Let's just say that things needed to be dealt with and I dealt with them in my own way. Why is that you ask? It's because I didn't want Kabuto to suffer any longer."
"Hold on," Sakura interjected. "Do you mean the truth about Karin's name or the accusations regarding Kabuto? Because there's no way you knew about all this."
"On the contrary," The boy replied, his expression remaining unchanged. "I know a lot about all of you. Let's just say, when you dig deep enough, you uncover things that you never knew about a person. Why is that you ask? It's-!"
"Ugh, could you just shut up and get to the point!?" Sakura shouted, annoyed at the boy's constant phrasing. "What is the deal with Karin and her relationship with Naruto?"
The boy let out a disappointed sigh. "And to think, this is what I get for trying to help out a comrade. Fine," He carried on, turning his back towards the group. "Why don't we head outside and talk out front on the lawn? I think everyone here has had their fair share of gossip today, wouldn't you say?"
Sakura let out a huff. "Fine, but if I find out you're lying-!"
"-Easy Sakura." Shikamaru held his hand out to stop her from trying to slug him. "I personally want to hear what he has to say. For once, he's the only person here with what seems like a clear conscience…"
The last remark cut through the pink-haired girl like a knife. On the one hand, she felt guilty for not stepping in to stop Karin; but on the other, she felt no remorse for what had happened. She hadn't been involved in this whole blackmail scheme, so why should she feel bad?
"I wanna know too," Ino added, her tone increasingly concerned. "This sounds like a big deal."
"Very well," Shino said. "Follow me."
To be continued…
Song Reference: The Doomed - A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant (2017)
A/N: And the plot thickens...well, for now anyway. Glad you made it to the bottom! 'Tatsumaki' translates to tornado, which you could basically say is almost parallel to Uzumaki (spiral).
Don't worry about Kabuto, he'll be back in top form in no time. As for Naruto and Ino? Only time will tell. The next chapter will have some revelations, plus some more stuff with Kiba and Hinata.
Thank you again for all your ongoing support. The next chapter will be out on July 2nd. Until then, have a good one.