REVERBERATING DOOM
By Hitokiri Midori
Started: August 4, 2004 [11:07PM]
Author's Notes: Thanks so much for the reviews, Ignorantly Grinning, Fiery Love, and Rikona! The suggestions really helped me.
Fiery Love: I changed the word to "childish" in the first chapter. I have nothing against homosexuals at all (if anything, I support them), but I was trying to express how certain guys I know tend to be… frightened of the prospect as if it were like cooties or something. I'm terribly sorry if it offended you (or any of the readers) and I deeply apologize. bows
Rikona: Oh my goodness oo What a terrible typo for me to make… over… and over again… Well, I fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out ; embarrassed
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PART THREE
"Minna, this is Tsuchi Kin-san!" Sakura introduced Kin to a large group of people. She received mixed reactions in return. Lee belted out a very loud, "WELCOME, KIN-SAN!" while Shikamaru, a boy who Kin thought had hair shaped like a pineapple, mumbled, "This is so troublesome…" Sasuke had his usual "Mmm" reaction that could barely be audible, so it was easy to pretend he didn't speak.
"So, Kin-san, what class are you in?" Naruto asked cheerfully, slurping down his ramen. There were twelve of them, and they all drawn days to pick where their group would eat. Every other Tuesday, Naruto and Neji switched off choosing. Usually, their group preferred the latter, as Naruto demanded the same place. Every day. Even days he wasn't allowed to pick. Naturally, it wasn't surprising that most people actually brought their lunch today, with the exception of Naruto, Chouji, who brought a lunch and bought ramen in addition, and Hinata, who was seen passing her lunch to Kiba under the table.
"I'm in Class A." Kin answered coolly, before remembering she was supposed to be social. Slapping on a grin, which she felt was rather silly, tried to spark a conversation with a longhaired boy a few seats down. His eyes were closed, but she had the feeling that they weren't normal eyes.
"So, are you in Class C?"
She received no response from the dark haired boy. She moved on to the person sitting beside him, but slightly removed from the others. He wore round, dark sunglasses and had spiky black hair. "What about you?"
The boy, in truth, seemed more interested in the fly passing by than her, so she tried another. "What class are you in?" She asked a heavyset boy, who was obviously enjoying his food. He wasn't holding back at all. He swallowed down bag after bag of potato chips, before downing it down with a bowl full of steaming ramen.
"I'm so sorry, Kin-san!" Ino laughed. "The people you're talking to aren't very social. That longhaired one is Hyuuga Neji, the guy with the classes is Aburame Shino, and you just tried to speak to Akimichi Chouji while he's eating. It can't be done. Nothing distracts him from his food."
Kin laughed nervously, thoroughly uncomfortable now. She had no desire to hang around these people any longer. They all looked as if they knew each other from previous experiences, something she could not compete with. Besides, they weren't exactly an interesting lot, either. They had been lunch for a whole hour and nobody was beaten up or sued yet. She remembered the constant death threats from various restaurant managers when she dined with her friends. They rarely did anything wrong, but when they did, it was catastrophic. News got around, and restaurants started banning them. They got quite a new taste for cuisine, considering they had to eat at a different one every time. If she were to hang around these people, she wouldn't get a chance to even see them anymore… and if they got mad at her…
"Is something wrong?" Kin turned, surprised, to see Sasuke asking her that question.
"Oh, everything's fine. Thanks for inviting me today, Sakura-san, Ino-san. I have to go back." She told the two girls while standing up.
"Alright. We'll see you later!" Ino waved as Kin excused herself from the table and walked out. A few of the group noticed her run on the street, past their window. She looked distraught; her long, rich tresses flying behind her as the purple ribbon was slowly undid itself in the wind.
Not surprisingly, Zaku and Dosu chose to eat at Dosu's apartment. Kin realized they had a strange tradition of only eating out when Kin was with them, and otherwise, they always ate at Dosu's. She didn't realize this as whenever she was with them, Dosu acted like he had thousands of dollars to spend at whim. He couldn't bring himself to stop her when she saw a pair of shoes she liked while window-shopping, and he couldn't help but offer to pay for her latte.
The two were picking at a bowl of rice with some vegetables that looked questionably old. Kin stepped through the open doorway, and mentally stopped herself from scolding Dosu for keeping it open.
She heard chopsticks drop, and looked up to see Zaku gaping at her.
"I thought you were eating lunch with your new friends," Dosu grumbled, scarfing down the bowl of rice as if it suddenly become five-star cuisine.
"What happened to your hair?" Zaku asked, his voice sounding strained.
"Hmm?" Kin examined herself in the mirror. Her hair, which had always been tied back by a purple ribbon, was missing, leaving it to cascade down her back freely. Gasping audibly, she examined the tip of her hair. "The ribbon…"
"Where's the purple ribbon I gave you?" Zaku demanded. "For your seventh birthday? Do you remember?"
Kin remembered, alright. It had been the only birthday present she ever got from him, but maybe that was why she treasured it so much. They had been fighting earlier, so she didn't expect anything from Zaku at all. Dosu always gave her a customary birthday card or a small trinket, but Zaku rarely did anything but bring cake over.
Maybe that was why she was so surprised when he showed up without a cake that day. She didn't really expect anything, but she didn't want to have to live under such strained relations anymore. Back then, Zaku's mother lived with them, usually to flee from his violent father. His mother made a cake for her that day, since Zaku didn't buy one. Dosu came in with a card and an empty stomach, and patted her on the back, which was rare enough for someone like him.
But he had a small box with him, wrapped in reused wrapping paper and without a bow. It looked rather grimy, but there was a box he made himself inside. The purple ribbon was inside, looking so neat and clean, different from the rest of the packaging. Zaku mumbled something that sounded vaguely apologetic and thrust the present in front of her face, looking away as if he were embarrassed. It still made her smile when she thought of it.
"Well? Where is it?" Zaku pressed, and Kin blanched. She couldn't let him know she lost it; it would completely destroy their friendship, which was already growing precariously thin. She never dedicated any time to them or their band, and she was the one who kept putting off their gigs, anyway.
"It's… It's… I had better go! School's starting soon! I mean, I need to go to tutorials!" She cried, backing out of the door. The wind blew her hair in front of her, and she suddenly felt how strange it was to finally feel the hair on her shoulders. The ribbon was tying anything back anymore. Was this freedom? Freedom from friends who would only pull her down?
Kin shook her head, the hair flying behind her. Bending down on her knees and ignoring how grimy she was becoming, she slowly retraced her steps from Dosu's apartment to the ramen shop. By the time she got to the street, she was thoroughly covered in sweat and dirt. Breathing heavily, she leaned against the moldy wall of a store and groaned loudly.
"Where is it…?" She mumbled, fighting the desire to hide her head in her hands. She needed to take a bath, but she needed to find that ribbon first…
"You skipped afternoon classes for this?" She looked up to find the one person she didn't want to- and couldn't afford to- see in her state of shabbiness.
"Ah… Uchiha-san, what are you doing here?" She forced a cheery tone into her voice, despite the fact that she was grimy, weary, and smelly.
"I never expected the candidate for top female student to skip class and crawl around in the street." He said coldly. Kin stared at him before she could help herself. Was he really just a shell? He was a handsome shell that the girls all loved, but why did he never accept their love? Maybe, if they got a hold of him, the shell would shatter and then, they would realize how hollow he was.
"Well…" Kin chuckled, mostly at her own stupidity. "I'm looking for something that I lost." Her mind shifted to Dosu and Zaku. Recently, it's as if the gap between them was growing larger. It was harder to hang out with them and feel at ease. It was almost as bad as hanging with Sakura's group.
"This?" To her surprise, Sasuke held up a purple ribbon. It wasn't nearly as dirty as she was, so he must've found it right after it dropped. She allowed her mouth to fall open and openly displayed her surprise.
"How did you…"
"You crawled through the streets for four hours looking for this?" Sasuke looked disgusted, but handed her the ribbon. "We found it right after we left the ramen shop. That's what you're in front of, after all." Kin looked up to see herself standing at Ichiraku Ramen.
"How did you know it was mine?"
"I'm observant." He said simply, before turning his back to her and simply walking away. A couple meters down, he said in a monotone, "You don't deserve that award."
"What? Why?" Kin got up now, enraged. "I'm grateful you found my ribbon, but you're not at liberty to say that! I'm better than all the other air-headed candidates!" She declared.
"Nobody will vote for you." Sasuke answered without hesitation.
"Why? Is it because I'm not as good looking as Sakura? Is it because her hair is glossier than mine? Why are you so damn shallow, Uchiha?"
"It's not just me." Sasuke began to walk away again. "You're not even a good friend, are you?"
Kin shifted uncomfortably as a crowd began to cross the street, and the boy disappeared into the crowd.
"It's not my fault, is it?" Kin asked herself weakly. "That little girl doesn't know what it's like to be me…" Being banished from your home when you were a mere child, forced to live and support yourself from the time you were seven… she felt so lonely now.
But she didn't feel lonely back then. Why didn't she? She remembered how tired she felt from coming home from the only work she managed to get as a ten year old. She scrubbed the floors endlessly in a neighbor's restaurant, earning only enough for some small pocket money, but it often had to be loaned to Zaku's mother to pay for the apartment expenses. As they got older, they could make more, but it still wasn't…
Wait. Zaku's mother? And Zaku, too… she wasn't alone then. Maybe that's why she felt the stinging now, but she didn't remember it back then. She remembered how he used to come in every year, on the same day, with a poorly made cake and smirk sheepishly.
She sighed, and leaned against the wall. She felt very old, suddenly.
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She sang with more conviction than she felt for the last few months combined. Too many thoughts swirled around her mind, and it was easier to just focus on the music Dosu wrote. She didn't even notice that the music stopped already. Dosu's steady drumming beat ceased, and Zaku's guitar stopped it's strumming.
"Kin." Dosu tried to catch her attention, but she kept belting out the tunes. Zaku covered his ears.
"She sounds even worse when she's pissed." He grumbled, before taking the liberty to smack her on the head.
"Hey! What was that for?" Kin snarled. Her hair was still damp from her long shower. She had walked home to the apartment Zaku and her shared, grateful to find that he wasn't there. It had taken her over an hour to wash the grime out of her hair and off her skin. Shortly after, she headed for Dosu's. Today was Thursday, which meant band practice. She had blown them off on every other practice day, after all…
"At least you don't suck after not practicing for so long." Zaku glared.
"I already said I'm sorry for skipping so many times!" She spat back.
"The point is, are we ready for the Homecoming Dance?" Dosu interrupted them. "We don't have to play for the entire time. At some point or another, a DJ is taking over. We'll do the seven we originally planned."
"I wrote three of them." Zaku huffed proudly. "Even if Dosu wrote the rest, mine are still good!"
"No. I switched out one of mine with the only one Kin wrote." He showed his partner the sheet of paper. "See? The last one is the one Kin did." Kin glanced at the slip of paper.
"You're going to perform Paper Kill?" Kin gawked, before mentally cringing. It had originally been a low-quality poem she had scribbled to vent frustration for her classes. Zaku, being the nosy brat that he was, dug through her notebook and found that little tidbit. He also came up with music for it, and expected Kin to do all the singing in that song. She groaned.
"Oh, please. Anything but that."
"It's the only one you wrote!" Dosu protested. "We are putting something you wrote in there." He said with a tone of finality.
"What are you going to do about your socializing problem?" Zaku asked suddenly, leaning back on his chair. "If you don't want to sing with us the entire time, there are a few we can do as a duo. You're eventually going to have to come on stage, especially for Paper Kill."
Kin paused. "I don't know yet. We'll see then."
Dosu raised an eyebrow. "That's unlike you. You normally like to plan meticulously."
"Well, maybe I'm changing, huh?" Kin snapped at the bandaged boy. "Grow up! People change, Dosu!" Dosu frowned, but found himself unable to comment.
"Whatever." He said finally, leaning on his drum set. Zaku fingered his bass guitar carefully.
"I'll play bass tomorrow in Paper Kill, which means you get the total lead with guitar and vocals, Kin. Don't screw us over." He warned.
"Shut up." Kin spat. She wasn't in the mood for this.
"Are you going to show up and play, or not?" Dosu demanded. "You keep avoiding a direct answer."
Kin paused, brooding. "Come on, guys." She looked up pleadingly. "The award is awarded the day after the dance… if I show up on stage with you guys…"
Their eyes hardened. Dosu was widely known for being a freak, and Zaku a dangerous bully. Sure, Kin knew that Dosu was just picky and Zaku didn't like being judged or pushed around, but for the most part, they didn't hang out inside school. What if it were publicly known, especially at an event like the Homecoming Dance? Everybody went, even if it was just to make fun of the band that played. It was like a ritual now. The women competed among themselves to see who would be Homecoming Queen with Sasuke, who was always Homecoming King. The boys who were dateless went to torment the bands, which seemed to digress in quality more and more every year. But this year, they were playing.
She didn't exactly get a head start in making friends. She had just barely managed to introduce herself to Sakura's group, but they would all obviously vote for Sakura, who made good grades, joined the volleyball team, and was pretty.
Kin buried her face in her hands. The other two did not respond at all. Instead, Zaku picked up his electric guitar and started playing the chords in a familiar song. Why did it sound so vile when he was playing it? Paper Kill was a song that belonged only to her, but he made it belong to everybody. Dosu's drumming picked up, and on cue, Kin had nothing to do but start singing.
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END NOTES:
1) I just saw the episodes with the Sound-nins fighting Sakura in the Forest of Death. (I'm just trying to get it right- is it the Shi no Mori? I'm not sure about 'shi' but the rest sounds right) Okay, everybody is so out of character. I mean, Zaku and Dosu were willing to attack Kin. Zaku and Dosu seem to watch out for each other… a lot –coughyayforyaoicough- but Kin doesn't seem to be very attached to them. So this is OOC. Argh. This is frustrating, especially after I tried so hard to keep them in character.
2) Why did I put the ribbon in there? I'm not sure. If you guys haven't noticed, Kin wears a purple ribbon at the end of her hair.
3) Sasuke is rather grumpy and moody and all around ruffled in this fic. Keep in mind that this is from the sound-nins point of view, which means they view our happy main characters (as in, the leaf-nins) as the enemy, so except for Rock Lee (who will remain the awesome good guy no matter whose point of view I'm doing), the rest get to sound like bitches. Sorry.
4) I'm getting to the climax. Somehow. Ohohoho.