Let the Music Do the Talking, a Naruto fanfiction
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
A/N: Hey all, we're back with the main action! Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 11: The Burden of Belief
Two weeks had passed since the incident on the Friday between Karin and Kabuto.
No one had said anything, and no one had done anything since.
It was Monday morning again, and the students carried on with their daily routines.
That also included one Namida Suzumeno.
As she closed her locker door, she kept thinking about what Wasabi had said to her that evening of the incident. She was more shocked than anything else but then realised Kabuto had been the victim of a misunderstanding.
Flashback
On that Friday, Namida and Wasabi made their way to the Bare Brew Cafe. The rain had begun chucking down as they entered the establishment. Namida didn't like the rain, and the change in weather had seemed to make an already bad day even worse.
The girls sat in a booth together opposite one another, with Namida ordering a milkshake and Wasabi a black tea. The latter looked at her friend, who still had an expression of pain plastered on her face.
"Hey Namida," Wasabi began, wanting to break the silence between the two.
"Huh?"
"So, about the whole Kabuto thing, I think it's best I come clean. It's really not that big of a deal, to be honest, and frankly, I've moved on from it." She pulled out her e-cigarette and loaded it with a cartridge.
"About that," Namida began with a slight pause. "What happened between you two? Did you two...you know...the thing…" She was embarrassed to even mention such a thing in public, let alone in front of her best friend.
Wasabi brought the device to her mouth and took a drag or two, blowing out a small cloud of smoke. The brunette's nose crinkled at the smell; a weird sensation of strawberry mixed with smoke. Pleasant at first, but after the first couple of times, it began to irritate her.
"Yeah, we did. But it was consensual." She replied flatly.
Namida's eyes widened and her jaw parted. "YOU DID WHAT?" She shouted and slammed her hands on the table, causing nearby patrons to turn their heads.
"Hey, hey settle down!" Wasabi hissed, gesturing with her hands. "Look, let me explain. As I said, I've personally forgotten about it."
The brunette shuffled in her seat and took a sip of her milkshake, eyeing up her friend as she took another drag of her e-cigarette.
"Anyway," Wasabi continued as she placed it down for a moment. "It began last term. So my mum complained that I was falling behind in chemistry classes and she threatened to kick my arse if I didn't find someone to help. So, she spoke to the teachers, and well, they suggested Kabuto help me out."
"Hold up, Kabuto was assigned to tutor you?" Namida pondered her friend's statement. "How come you never said anything?"
"You never asked." The corner of her lip turned upward. "Besides, I had to make sure that no one else found out. I mean, that school's rough enough as it is."
"So, what happened then?"
"Well, he ended up tutoring me for a couple of weeks and before you know it, my grades are improving. One afternoon, we finished studying and started talking. Now he lays it all on me quite thick y'know? Grew up as an orphan, never knew his real parents and got adopted at the age of seven. Also goes on the fact he's never had a girlfriend or heck, even kissed a girl."
"Wait, you kissed him!?" Namida cried shockingly. "But you know I like him."
"Correction." She replied, sipping her tea. "You only started liking him a month or so ago when you were assigned to be his new lab partner, so my involvement with him becomes null and void. Anyway, so basically, as much as I feel sorry for the guy, I decided to reward him so to speak."
Namida's face carried the same expression of pain from earlier on. "You two...did it? Wasabi, how could you!? I thought you were better than that and-"
"-Jeez girl, let me finish, would ya!?" Wasabi shook her head, and slowly picked up her device to take another drag. "Look, at the end of the day, I took pity on the poor boy. Like you can call me a slut, a whore, whatever. Afterwards, we just laid together and chatted like nothing happened."
"Wasabi...I…" Namida was unsure of how to carry on. "But how did Karin-"
"The bitch must've realised something. We did spend quite some time walking to school together after it happened, so she probably put two and two together, y'know? Damn bitch, she just had to go there." She took another drag, exhaling slowly, her eyes taking note of her friend, who remained speechless.
"Look Namida, I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better, I know for a fact he likes you. Whatever I and he did, I know it sounds awkward, but at the end of the day, it was pity sex. I basically did him a favour and made him more confident around girls. Oh, and I did threaten I'd kick his ass if he ever said anything."
"But…"
"You're my best friend, and you always will be. I understand if you don't want to talk to me right now, I just thought you'd like to know." She took another sip of her drink. "I'm too much of a cynic right now to even consider dating anyone; and right now, Kabuto needs a girl like you. I mean what's not to love about you? You're always smiling, you see the best in people, and you're one of the best looking girls in our school!"
"Wasabi, but-" She said, blushing at the compliments she received.
"But nothing!" Wasabi exclaimed, but her tone suddenly dropped. "Though I'm worried about what's happening to him, fucking Karin. Let's hope Naruto is taking care of him."
Namida lowered her eyes, clenching her fists tightly in her lap. She felt hopeless, like what did a nice boy like Kabuto have to get mistreated so badly?
"Thank you, Wasabi." She said softly, tears filling up her eyes. "You really are an amazing person."
"Ah, don't you go getting all emotional on me and stuff," Wasabi gestured, "I say how it is, y'know?"
End Flashback
Upon remembering, she breathed a heavy sigh and closed the locker door. She looked down the hallway, hoping to see him again at his locker. To her sadness, he was nowhere to be seen.
Please be okay, Kabuto. You have no idea how much you are missed.
She headed towards her first class, looking over her shoulder once more hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Her face fell as her hopes had been dashed once again.
On returning from her exclusion, Karin reunited with Sakura, but as for meeting with Ino? Karin couldn't even begin to consider wanting to speak to her. She felt betrayed, and being off for two weeks didn't help the situation either. How dare Kabuto embarrass her like that in front of everyone? She had a reputation to uphold, and now, she had to deal with the fact everyone knew she was related to Naruto of all people?
Ino and Naruto hadn't even made a single glance at each other during this whole ordeal. Passing each other in the hallway was difficult enough as they would pretend to not notice one another going to class.
Tenten had been an observer to all this, and frankly, it had begun to annoy her. Closing her locker door, she witnessed yet another awkward pass between the two blondes. She let out a huff as Neji joined her momentarily.
"Those two have been at it for days now and I'm getting ticked off." She muttered to herself as she took a swig of coffee from her flask. "My coffee is bitter enough in the morning without those idiots adding anything more to my day."
Neji joined her, noticing her stare across the corridor.
"You're still wondering about those two?" He questioned, knowing she was still at it. "It's been two weeks and it looks like they aren't even close to making up."
The brunette let out another frustrating huff. "It's just, those two had a good thing going. I don't know what the hell Karin said that caused him to lash out like that, but it's getting ridiculous. When Ino spoke to me, she was happy. I could tell she was in love, and she loved spending time with him."
Neji looked surprised. "I've always known Naruto as being the guy who always messed about and pulled pranks, but if what you say is genuine, then I'm shocked. From what I heard, he was just trying to protect someone, Kabuto I think? But he hasn't shown his face since the incident. It sounded like Karin almost killed him."
Tenten slowly clenched her fist. "Whatever it was, I'm not going to stand and let this carry on much longer. There must be some way of getting them back together."
"Tenten," Neji began, his tone of voice leaning on the negative. "I understand how you must feel, but there's no way that's going to happen."
"Ugh, must you be such a buzzkill!" She retorted. "Look, I'm going to do this, and you're going to help!"
"Me? I'm being dragged into this? And why-"
"If you don't, I'm gonna tell Lee you've been messing with his keyboard when he's not around." She threatened, knowing that she had him on the ropes.
The Hyuga looked at her, realising he had lost this battle. Being an academic genius was tough, but when it came to his own girlfriend, Tenten Higurashi, he knew when he was outmatched.
"Alright," he droned, "What do you have in mind?"
In the time that has passed, Ino was no longer feeling herself. Sitting in Genma's English class, she zoned out now and again, not even wondering or caring if she had been following his morning lecture on the evaluation of Hamlet.
It hadn't been that class either; all her classes now, she seemed unfocused and uninspired these last two weeks.
Was she sick? No. She had had a decent breakfast before leaving the house.
Did she care that she might even pass this class? Probably not.
There was the addition of lecherous rumours and gossip that followed the week after she had returned to school, hearing the comments being passed along the hallway.
"Did you hear? Apparently, she was dating Naruto…"
"She was the reason Kabuto disappeared!"
"Prissy blonde bitch! I bet she broke that poor boy's heart."
Every time a new whisper entered her atmosphere, she felt like the earth would just swallow her up and take her away from all this madness. Her emotions seemed to collide all at once. Anger, sadness, confusion, solitude, pain; all mixed up into a bowl of mediocrity.
In the room she was in, her classmates' gazes no longer felt friendly as they used to be, only feeling hostile.
She rubbed her forehead, trying to maintain focus on her work and drown out the sounds in her head.
"...so as you can see, though Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous and most popular tragedy, the tragic action is constantly disturbed by comedy or irrelevance and the protagonist is inadequate as a tragic hero. How far would you say you agree with this statement?" Genma noted down on the whiteboard a list of character names and bullet points.
A wave of silence greeted him as he scanned the room for an answer.
"Again, it looks like there's only one person that knows that answer, and he's been off for two weeks." He looked over to the seat where Kabuto used to sit.
"Good riddance I say," Karin said rudely. "Don't need another freak like him clogging up the place."
"You got something to say, Tatsumaki?" Genma shot back at her. "If you want to talk smack about someone, you can do it in detention after school."
Ino blinked and looked over to the empty seat.
Kabuto's been gone for two weeks? Is he purposely not coming back after what Karin did to him?
"Maybe the little orphan cried back to his foster mummy and now he's staying at home. I'd do the same if I was that kind of-"
"That's enough Karin!" Genma shouted, slamming his fist on the board, his temper slowly rising. "One more word out of you and I will keep you back the whole week. I heard personally from the Principal you just came back from exclusion because of what you did. Do you honestly think this high and mighty attitude is going to last much longer!?"
Not a lot of people had ever seen Genma Shiranui lose his temper before. Some could even say it was a rare sight, like a comet passing through the night sky.
But if you saw it, oh boy, you were in for it.
The rest of the class remained silent, not wanting to face the wrath of their teacher. Karin, acknowledging the look of authority in her teacher's eyes, slowly backed down and became silent.
"Now, if we're all done with the dramatics and slander, I'd like to continue…"
For Ino, this was all too much for her.
"Excuse me, Mr Shiranui?" she asked, putting her hand up. "May I be excused? I'm feeling a little queasy at the moment."
Genma took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Yes, Miss Yamanaka, but please don't take too long."
Ino stood up from her desk, curled some of her long hair back and headed towards the door, with Karin watching her like a hawk.
What is she up to? I'm away for two weeks and this is how she repays me? Didn't even take my side in that argument. Whatever. She thought, rolling her eyes.
Ino walked out of the classroom and headed towards the nurse's office. Normally, she wouldn't do this, but she just had to get out of there.
If Kabuto really isn't coming back, is it my fault? All because I fell for a boy who I didn't know had family issues? Is Kabuto traumatised?
The walk down the corridor felt longer than it should have done. The empty hallway filled with the muffled echoes of students in their respective classes. The rumbling of the ventilation system as it calmly pumped air into the building.
Her lip began to tremble as she felt her emotions rise again. A pain travelled up through her body as her eyes began to water and her heart received that painful stabbing pain like before.
What have I done?
She collapsed to her knees, a few feet away from the nurse's office, clenching her fists and letting her nails dig directly into her palms.
Naruto...She began shaking nervously. I shouldn't have done that to him. What if he never forgives me for it?
A damn burst with tears cascading down her face as she could no longer contain her emotion anymore.
She was in love with Naruto Uzumaki.
And it bloody well hurt.
The door to the nurse's office opened and a friendly face observed her behaviour.
"Ino, is that you? What's wrong?"
The crying blonde looked up to see none other than Tenten, who had her right hand wrapped in a bandage.
"Ten...ten?" she sobbed heavily, trying to wipe her face with her hands.
Tenten bent down to her height where she had falllen and enveloped her into a friendly hug.
"Shh, it's okay." She whispered gently. "Just breathe. Do you want to talk about it?"
Ino was surprised at how generous she was being. Normally in the past, she had had moments of upset with Karin or Sakura, being best friends and all. But with Tenten? It was unusually different. It felt like seeing a long lost family member after many years of being apart. A warm, fuzzy feeling lit her heart up inside.
"Hey, I know we haven't been friends all that long," she said smiling, "But please, you can tell me what's wrong. And I think I know what it is."
Her mouth parted as she wondered how this girl was reading her mind.
"Come." Tenten got Ino to her feet. "Let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up."
Naruto and Kiba met up at lunchtime in the music room for their regular jam session. The two remained quiet with each other, only nodding when responding to questions about certain musical ideas.
Finally, after much annoyance, Kiba couldn't take the clear signs of denial his friend was putting out on display.
"Dude, I have to put it out there, what are you going to do?"
"Whatcha talking about?" Naruto uttered as he tuned his guitar strings.
"You know what I'm talking about," he replied firmly. "It's been two weeks and you've done nothing?"
"Kiba, she slapped me and said she was done. What am I supposed to take away from all that?"
"Maybe you were wrong about her? She's not said a word, and how do you know she's flipped back to that prissy persona of hers? Didn't I say that she'd be faking it?"
Naruto frowned. "Why would she be faking it? The whole school heard that we were dating! There's nothing to hide and frankly, why should I care?"
"Because everyone found out that you're related to the most popular girl in school and now they're having a hard time adjusting?"
For Naruto, the last two weeks were not the most pleasant. Being expelled for one week did not sit well with his parents. Kushina had banned Naruto from practising and told him he had to study the whole time. Despite the boy's allegations that he was only doing it to protect Kabuto, his mother questioned how and why Karin got involved; it had been years since Kushina had spoken to her sister and this would only stir up and open up old wounds.
A phone call between the two sisters had taken place over that week, with a lot of back and forth saying that Karin was the innocent one and Naruto had started it. Kushina defended her son, but Mio retaliated saying that 'the boy has no manners, much like his scumbag of a father'.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Refusing to continue with an argument, Kushina said nothing more than a silent goodbye, adding to the fact that this petty behaviour between the two of them had gone on for long enough.
"If your son ever comes near my daughter again, I will swear that neither of you will live to see the consequences." That was the last thing that Mio had said before the phone line clicked dead.
Kushina knew that this was a veiled threat. Sure, Mio may have connections but there was no way she was going to be taken down like this.
Naruto sat in silence for a brief moment while he contemplated the last few weeks. Was Kiba right and he was wrong? Was everything he had experienced with Ino nothing more than a facade?
He was missing her.
He just didn't know how to explain it.
"Anyway," Kiba huffed as he adjusted his kit once more, smashing a few cymbals. "We should work on finding someone else to help with the dynamics. You got anyone else in mind?"
Naruto sighed. "Well, Lee comes to mind. I'm just not sure if he'd be into playing what we like...I'll ask him."
"The dude who plays keyboard?" Kiba questioned. "Does this mean you'll have to adjust the song list again? Cuz I'm not sure it'll work with that addition…"
"No, it's fine. We have two more weeks until the show. We can work on it and make sure he learns everything." Naruto made a few notes in his journal.
Note to self; adding a keyboard player to a duo that plays guitar and drums is not the easiest thing to do.
He sat himself up from where he had been slouching and tuned the keys on his guitar. Striking a few chords, the sound echoed through the room. Part of him expected to hear a bass being played alongside him. He looked up for a brief second, expecting Ino to be there with him, but sadly, all that sat next to him was an empty chair and the locker where Ino had kept her instrument.
"Hey Kiba," Naruto added, sounding distant. "Let's try the solo again for song number three. I'm feeling rusty today."
Kiba nodded as the two resumed playing.
Ino and Tenten sat together eating lunch outside on the front lawn of the school. To cheer her up, Tenten shared some of her lunch with Ino as the latter only had her usual baguette her mum had packed for her.
"How are you feeling?" Tenten asked, splitting a chocolate bar with Ino. The blonde took a small bite, the sugary sensation lifting her mood only a little.
"A little better, I guess…" She answered weakly. During her time in the bathroom, the brunette had managed to calm her down. She had cleaned her makeup off, and let her hair down to keep herself more at ease. During that time, Ino had explained the whole story to Tenten, leaving her shocked and appalled at hearing everything.
"Hey, whatever you did to Naruto, I'm sure you didn't mean it." She nibbled and swallowed a mouthful of rice from her lunchbox. "To me, it sounds like Karin is the reason why everyone is so tense lately; I mean, what the hell was she thinking?"
It had pained Ino to admit it at first, but the last two weeks had been an eye-opener for her. "I've been friends with her all these years and that was the first time I'd ever seen her act that violent way towards someone. She really did look like she was going to kill him."
"And all because Kabuto found out that she and Naruto were cousins? That's over the top I have to admit." Tenten's mention of Kabuto made Ino's mouth curl into a frown again. "Hey, I heard from Neji, who heard from Shino that Kabuto is doing okay. He's still just a little shaken up from everything."
Ino felt her heart lighten at the news, but her eyes were still full of guilt. "That's bad huh? Is that why he's not been back?"
"Seems so," Tenten shrugged as she finished the last bite of her food. "But all that stuff about him and Wasabi…"
Ino remembered that outburst that Karin had laid into him. "Is it...true?"
Tenten shook her head. "I'm not one for gossip personally, but from what I could find out, no one could tell me anything, so I'm highly doubtful. I think Karin said it out of spite to get one-up over him, but hey, this is high school and word spreads around fast."
Ino did have her doubts. Kabuto didn't look like the kind of guy who would initiate that sort of thing, so why would Karin say that?
"Anyway," Tenten realised she was going off-topic "back to the case that is your potential love interest-"
"-When did I say I love him?" Ino countered defensively.
"It's written all over your face. And your crying session in the bathroom was more than enough to explain it."
Ino bit her lip; she was right about everything.
"What if I can't do anything? What if he's completely over me by now? I hurt him, Tenten, how is he going to forgive me?" The aching pain in her heart returned, the stabbing sensation remaining constant as her eyes watered again.
The brunette placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, giving her an optimistic smile.
"Ino, when you told me about all the time you spent with him, I think right now he would do anything to make things right with you. Personally, he's having his own troubles and is unsure of how to approach them. However…" she winked slyly. "I have a plan…"
"You what?" Ino said with shock. "A plan for what?"
"To make sure you two idiots get back together because you deserve one another." She chuckled. "Do you trust me?"
The blonde girl didn't know what to say. Was Tenten really capable of helping her get back with Naruto?
"But…" she answered doubtfully, "what if it doesn't work?"
"Oh, this will work," Tenten replied smugly. "Let's just say I've recruited some extra help…"
Neji sat in the lunchroom enjoying his own food. Whatever Tenten had planned, he had to be ready for it.
He felt a vibration in his jacket pocket as he reached in and pulled out his phone.
Tenten: Operation Jackpot is a go-ahead. You know what to do right?
Neji furrowed his brow at the message.
Neji: This had better work.
A few seconds later, she texted back.
Tenten: Oh I'm sorry, you got any bright ideas? -_-
The Hyuga prodigy rubbed his forehead.
This is going to be a long couple of days. He thought annoyingly as he turned back to his lunch.
To be continued…
Song Title: The Burden of Belief - Times of Grace - Songs of Loss and Separation (2021)
A/N: And so it continues. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I love writing about the dynamic between Namida (the happy-go lucky optimist) and Wasabi (the pessimistic cynic). Oh and even more so between Ino and Tenten; I can't wait to show you more in the upcoming chapters.
Wasabi's tale about the 'deed' is a reference to the tv series Skins, which was a UK teen drama airing in the early 2000s which was a lot darker than most shows at the time.
Many thanks to Sommernacht for their great beta work as per!
Chapter 12 will be more in-school scenes plus a few Sakura scenes and some little nuggets that will be leading upto the ending.
See you all in roughly two weeks (August 7th)
