Bleed It Out

Disclaimers I don't own Naruto or RWBY or LINKIN PARK, please support any to all official releases.

Having making SoHo her new home for a while now, Ruby has been known by many of the locals who come to see her, some being nice and others not so nice.

Overall she's known as that one girl who would stand out on these busy streets and hustle hard to make enough money for food today and promote herself as the next queen of rock music of the year.

Right now she had finished setting up her amp, her bass was in tune, and her guitar case was open ready to collect from patrons, before her mind went into the zone, her happy place.

Her happy place being back when she was only 14 years old at the time, and joining her sister and her friends to go see a live concert, only because they had an extra ticket they didn't want to waste.

Not remembering the bands name for the most part, their music on the other hand is what rocked her world and woke her to the world of music.

Having been known as that antisocial Goth girl in school who could be occasionally spotted eating sweets every now and again, now she was this punk who came out of her shell and is a self-proclaimed audiophile.

While not much of a singer she will sing a song or 2 that she feels a sort of resonance with, but much preferred using her bass to do all the talking.

As her act would continue on throughout the day, she'd spot a familiar face waiting for her as he had not only got himself, but her a bowl of ice cream.

Once her song came to an end, the small crowd she gathered began to clap and cheer while also giving her a nice amount of donations.

"Thank you guys so much, I'll be taking a small break, but please stick around if you want to hear more" said Ruby as she began to gather her belongings before making her way towards Naruto.

"Nice job out there Ruby" said Naruto in a tired voice, "Thanks, and thank you for the ice cream" said Ruby as she began to dig into it.

"Anytime now, so have you had any luck trying to get some big name studio producer to fund you yet" asked Naruto, "No, not yet" said Ruby as she took a spoonful of her ice cream before spotting a very unfriendly face.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't miss noise pollution, how are you doing today" came the voice of this woman who was dressed in NYPD clothing as she approached Naruto and Ruby's table.

"I'm doing good officer Cinder, how about you" greeted Ruby as she was visibly uncomfortable, "Well you know, taking care of the city is a full time job and one I wish there were some sort of super hero to make things easier" said Cinder before eyeing Naruto.

"Who's your friend here, he looks like he's one bad day short before going postal on Wall Street" said Cinder, "He's a fan who likes my music and wanted to treat me to some ice cream" defended Ruby.

"Well ain't that sweet, wish I had a man who could treat me out something nice every once and a while" said Cinder as her eyes slowly drifted back on Ruby

Getting the subtle hint, Ruby began to fork over and slide her earnings she got not only today, but yesterday to Cinder, which she happily took.

"Stay safe out there kid, wouldn't want to get jumped by some deranged bum, as for you citizen, stay away from her, she's more trouble than she gives off" said Cinder before making her leave.

"So, you want to fill me in on who she was and what that was all about" asked Naruto as Ruby could only grimace and stay silent over the situation that had happened.

"I really need to get back to making my money again" said Ruby as she couldn't finish her ice cream, and began preparing for her next set of the day.

"Ruby, if you're in trouble, please don't be afraid to talk about it with me, I can help you" said Naruto trying to reason with the girl, "Thank you Naruto, but it's fine, it's like what officer Cinder said, I'm more trouble than I looked" said Ruby as she put on a pained force smile letting Naruto know that everything is fine.

Unfortunately Naruto could easily see through the bullshit as he's the master of putting on fake smiles, but decided not to press forward on the subject as he was due back to work by now already.

Later

Having completing the last 4 odd hours of his shift, Naruto couldn't help but think about and worry about Ruby over today's interaction.

So naturally after work, he rushed back towards SoHo where he spotted her still singing and making music, though it seemed she had no crowd to sing to this time.

Walking his way around her, the amount of money Ruby had made compared to earlier were peanuts and good enough to probably get herself may a liquor store burger, but that's about it.

Having made himself visible, he continued to listen to Ruby play her music, and could now understand the raw emo emotion reflected on the songs she's played.

Eventually Ruby finished her last song, before she began to gather up her things, without so much as acknowledging Naruto, but he wasn't gonna stand for it.

"Ruby" called out Naruto as she refused to look him as she felt his gaze upon her, all the way up until her decided to give her a hand and help her pack up.

"Thank you" said Ruby as she tried to brush past Naruto, but he grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him.

"Look, I know a may be some random guy or fan or whatever you want to call me, but unlike these assholes from the streets, at work, or wherever for that matter, I genuinely care about you" stated Naruto.

"That's sweet of you to say, but really, I'm not worth it" said Ruby as she got Naruto to let go of her and was ready to crawl back whatever place she had called home, leaving Naruto frustrated.

"Dinner!" shouted Naruto as he got Ruby's attention as she turned her head back to face him.

"We can talk about this over dinner, just you and me" said Naruto as the thought of a nice full meal did sound tempting to the artist.

"As tempting as that offer sounds, we hardly know each other that well to be having dinner together" said Ruby trying to get out of this, "Than consider it a date, an excuse to get to know one another" said Naruto as he was determined not to let Ruby off without figuring her problem out and wanting to protect her.

Seeing as she had no chance of shaking Naruto off, plus he seemed ready to treat her out, Ruby was fine with going on this date with him.

"Alright, but I expect someplace with a hot meal and nothing cheap" said Ruby, "Dude, nothing in this city is cheap, but whatever" said Naruto as he began to take her out to a nice American restaurant where Ruby went all out in wanting to fill her belly, which Naruto didn't mind.

"So, feel like talking about your relationship with that cop friend of yours" asked Naruto as Ruby had looked at him with cheeks puffed out like a gopher and food crumbs around her lips.

Knowing he'd bring up the subject, Ruby gulped down her food and wiped her face with her sleeve.

"It's a long story, but it all started back about 2 years ago when I ran away from home, when I was just a month shy away from turning 18, and chose to drop out of high school that same year" began Ruby as she went back to eating.

"So here I am thinking like one winter season later my parents would give up trying to find me, since I was a legal adult woman now, and I've been out of school for a while now, but instead they had put up a police search for me still" explained Ruby.

"One day, officer Cinder found and recognize me and was insistent about returning me home, but I took it upon myself to bribe her on the spot to not let my parents know where I'm at, and so began our relationship where in return of not informing my parents about my whereabouts, I would pay her off the majority of my earnings once a week, until they dropped the search" said Ruby.

"…So are your parents still searching for you" asked Naruto, "Yeah, that is what Cinder has told me, and honestly I feel bad sometimes knowing that my parents still care about me even now, but than I'd be going back home feeling unhappy" said Ruby.

"I take it family life isn't that great" asked Naruto, "Mom and dad aren't even home to begin with, since both work as professors at Brooklyn College, and the only family member I had was my sister, but she left the house shortly after I turned 15 to god knows where" said Ruby.

"Honestly it makes no sense to go back to an empty house, and for what to get my GED, so I can work at a Subway" said Ruby.

"But hold on, you just said your parents are college professors, surely they want you to at least finish school and go to college right" said Naruto, "They were that strict in getting my sister to go to college, and they sure weren't as strict on me" said Ruby as she began to finish the rest of the contents on her plate.

"So now that you've made me open up these scars and made me face this painful fact of my life, I hope you know that I have pulled myself this far and there's nothing you can do about it" said Ruby.

It was true, Ruby was by all means a young independent woman, who's responsible for her own life choices, but still it pained Naruto to see someone as nice and talented as Ruby being stuck in this position.

"Well now that you know about me, I'd like to know about you Naruto, more so how and why you choose to let your life lead you here" asked Ruby.

"Hm, let's see, I'm an only child and the first born of 2 Japanese immigrant parents to be born here in the states, both of them pushing me to succeed in school and get myself a 9 to 5 job working in an office or hell even better get a business degree and start my own company" began Naruto.

"I have a best friend who went and got himself a degree in programming and computer science, he's now working for Apple, that lucky S.O.B., while I went and got myself a degree in business and economics, which really translates to me being able to work this crappy desk jockey job" continued Naruto.

"Tell me about your passion, your dreams" asked Ruby as she was curious to know what was the real Naruto.

"Honestly I loved playing videogames as a teen, and I love watching movies" said Naruto, "What kind of movies" asked Ruby.

"Doesn't matter, it could be the next Friday the 13th movie or the next Pixar film, so honestly it doesn't matter so long as I can enjoy something and unwind for like a hour to 2 hour and half" said Naruto as he's realized he hasn't been able to go and see a movie in like forever.

"If you loved movies that much, why not take up acting or film classes" asked Ruby, "Not much of an actor, and filming takes a lot of time, plus frankly I don't think my parents would approve" said Naruto.

"Sounds to me you really love your parents" said Ruby, "They came to this country to work meager jobs as translators for mostly anime, but the occasional movie from time to time, but after falling in love and choosing to make a life here in the states, mom decided to quit and focus on being a good housewife and mother, while dad continued to work, though because of the sudden interest in anime by everyone in this country, he's been struggling to find work given how everyone took an interest to study and learn Japanese" said Naruto.

"In spite of all the hardships they faced, they never stopped in providing me a life and making an impact on me to strive for higher goals, and frankly I think I owe my parents that much, not out of respect, but love" said Naruto.

"Wow, that sounds… really nice" said Ruby as she could envy having parents like that, "They're hard working people, even to this day, so I think it's only fair I pay my dues and earn my own stripes" said Naruto as he was given the check so that the couple could leave.

"How did you wound up working here" asked Ruby, "I was good at my job for the company I was working for and when it came to promoting me, they offered me spot here in New York, where the pay out is great, but had I known this damn city was being literal in it's name about never sleeping I would have refused and settled for my current position" said Naruto as he handed the waiter his card.

"Ok, so I know you're not from here, but where are you from" asked Ruby, "My home state is California, my home town being the Agora Hills, which is part of L.A." said Naruto as he was handed his card back where they both finally left.

"Need me to walk you home" asked Naruto, "Thanks, but I can manage things from here" said Ruby as she went and kissed Naruto on the cheek.

"Can't wait for when you treat me out to another one of these dates again" said Ruby as she grabbed her things and waved Naruto off as she walked towards one direction, and he himself to another.

Still after all things were said and done, Naruto couldn't help but still worry about Ruby, and Ruby couldn't help but envy Naruto, but who knows maybe this new friendship could actually do themselves some good.

Alright, thank you guys so much for waiting for this next chapter to be updated, honestly it only took me this long because I had to not only figure out the tone, but also choose which appropriate song to use as the title to fit theme of it, and it's actually quite hard given how the Live in SoHo EP is only 5 songs, well 4 for those who don't count Wake as one, which honestly you're a philistine for not appreciating LP's instrumentals.

Until next time people, be safe, be good people, and please support your local fandom communities, speaking of, might actually start a community of my own centered around this album fic's that aren't musicals, but do contain a lyrical line or 2 and turned into a sentence like I've been doing.

This has been your Humble Narrator and official author Tobi Yaza. =3