Author's note: This chapter didn't turn out as well as I'd like but I knew I was going to have trouble with this chapter. Come on! I have a month for these guys to get good enough to compete with Itachi, who excels at all things, and his band of hardcore rock shinobi. On top of that, My first wave of exams are approaching and I'm slightly behind on my reading (Ironically, the class I have the most catching up to do is in History of Rock Music. Then again, that info might come in handy in later chapters.) I think I'll have to put my writing on hold after the next chapter, but I will definitely try to finish it!

Conscience: ahem, didn't you say that about your last fic that's still not gong anywhere fast?

Me: Hey, I added another chapter so get off my back!

Enjoy.

Discovery: Who's That Rocking Out?

A few days had passed since the Akatsuki had arrived and all hell broke loose. Sakura had begun her lessons with Genma, proving to be a quick study when it came to banging on things. When Genma asked how she was able to pick it up so fast, her only comment was, It's easier than bringing a dead fish back to life. Sasuke, on the other hand wanted to die. Being invisibly linked to the pink haired kunoichi was not exactly a walk in the park, especially where the bathroom was involved. While they were at his house, Sakura forced him to use a blindfold. While they were in public, Sasuke was forced to accompany her into the girl's bathroom and wait patiently in a neighboring stall.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Shino was busy being Shino as his bass playing needed little work. When the bug-obsessed kid learned that Naruto had obtained a guitar, Shino did his best to teach him the basics. However, he learned soon enough that paying attention was not one of Naruto's strong points. So instead, Shino decided to just tell him where to hold his fingers, have him pluck the string, and then told him what note he was playing. He used the same method the next day when he taught him chords.

Naruto may not have been able to remember the names of the notes or chords, but he had a keen ear and memorized where his fingers needed to be to get the sound he wanted, be it note or chord. Shino thought it was freakish. Then again, he thought everything about Naruto was freakish, from his boundless stamina to his bottomless stomach.

Despite his speedy progress, Naruto was pissed. He thought that after everything he had done in the past two days, the Kyubi would be satisfied and finally help him out. When he asked the Kyubi why he was holding out, the great beast merely said, Making noise doesn't mean you've passed my test, kid. Your sound lacks feeling. Now quite bothering me, I'm trying to take a nap!

Since Shino had other things to do Naruto found himself wondering aimlessly through the village with his guitar on his back. When he finally stopped to look up, he saw Hinata sitting on a bench with her eyes closed listening to some music via a CD player. What was surprising about this was that Hinata was nodding her head back and forth. On top of that, she had a slight grin on her face. Curious, Naruto approached the girl and tapped her on the shoulder.

Hinata freaked, falling off the bench. She quickly rose to her feet looking for something to hide behind. When she could not find a tree or wall, she brought her CD player to her chest and began twiddling with her fingers nervously. "N-N-Naruto-kun, you sc-scared me," she stated, still trying to get her heartbeat under control.

"No kidding," the boy said dumbfounded "I'm really sorry." They both remained silent for a few moments, not knowing what to say.

"Were you g-going to ask me something?" the shy girl asked.

Naruto scratched his head. "Oh, nothing really," he started. "I was just wondering what you were listening to. You seemed…different."

Hinata blinked, not knowing how she should take his remark. "I-I guess I got carried away." Hinata felt exposed but continued anyways. "This is the Fallen Shinobi farewell Album. They used to be Leaf ninja a long time ago but they got permission from the Fourth Hokage to retire and travel outside the village as a rock band. I was k-kind of depressed when I heard they were really calling it quits so I came out here to cheer myself up." She was proud that she could say that much to Naruto, but decided to sit down before she fainted.

"I didn't know you liked rock music Hinata-chan," Naruto said, genuinely surprised.

"Most people don't think so and I don't talk about it. Besides, my father doesn't approve of this kind of music."

Naruto thought for a moment and then sat next to her on the bench. He had heard from Neji how strict the Hyuga household was. Still, here was Hinata listening to music her own father disapproved of. There was more to Hinata than met the eyes. He decided to get her opinion on the question that had been bugging him all day.

"Hinata-chan, do you know what a soul of a rocker is?"

Hinata was unsure how to respond. She looked at the ground before speaking. "I'm not sure if I'm the person you should be asking. Most rock stars are filled with confidence and don't let anything anyone has to say get to them. If that's what it means to have a soul of a rocker then I guess you already have one." She hesitated before adding the next part. "The only difference I can see is that real rock stars let there emotions show in their music. I've watched you practice with Shino and you're really good, but just making the right sounds isn't really rock." Yes! I didn't stutter once!

"But how do I do that?"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I really don't know." They both seemed to sulk for a moment, and then Hinata held out the CD she had been listening to. "Why don't you borrow this? You might find it a little depressing, but maybe it could help give you an idea of what it means to show your emotions through music."

Naruto did not think something depressing would fit his situation, but if Hinata thought it could help him then he was going to take her word for it. The blond boy looked at the CD in her hands and slowly took it from her. "Thank you Hinata-chan, I'll listen to this the second I get home. Why don't you stop by our practice tomorrow? I'm guessing we'll need all the support we can get."

I wide smile snuck onto the quite girl's face and her cheeks turned color. "Hai!"

Sakura's Practice Session…

"Alright Sakura, I've got nothing else to teach you," said the toothpick chewing jounin. "You're perfectly capable of working with the band tomorrow."

"It's about time!" shouted Sasuke. The raven-haired boy had been holding it since they started that morning. However, there was no way he was going to make it back to his house.

The two ran as fast as they could to an old bookstore no one they knew ever went into. Sakura was about to run into the girl's restroom when Sasuke grabbed her arm. "Sakura, I have been going in and out of girl's bathrooms for the past two days and I refuse to go into another one. For the sake of what little dignity I have left, please let me use the men's restroom."

The look on his face was so pitiful Sakura could not say no. She made sure no one was looking their way before she led him inside. She found two things immediately wrong with her situation. First, there was no lock on the bathroom door to prevent anyone from walking in while she waited. Second, the urinals, which Sasuke demanded he be allowed to use, were on the opposite side of the toilet stalls so Sakura had no way of hiding herself. "You better make this quick pretty boy."

Sasuke took his rightful place in front of the urinal and proceeded to bleed the lizard. Sakura did her best to hide next to him in front of the stall furthest from the door. "You better not be peeking," Sasuke told her, being to relieved to finally pee in a urinal to care how she reacted. Sakura could only blush considering the thought had crossed her mind.

Just then the door to the restroom opened and in walked a bookstore customer. Sakura was horrified, but tried to act like everything was completely normal. The very confused man could not do the same. "Um, excuse me. Ma'am?"

"You got a problem buddy!" the pink haired girl snapped. The look on her face scared the man so bad he lost all need to use the restroom and ran out crying. Sakura let out a breath of relief.

"Nicely played," Sasuke complimented.

"Thank you." She returned

FLASH!

When the blinding light had subsided, Sakura and Sasuke were staring into the lens of a camera held by none other than Ino. She had seen the two walk into the bookstore together and followed. When she saw the two of them walk into the boy's restroom, what was a gossipy girl suppose to do? Grab a camera and capture the memory on film!

"Ino-pig I swear to god if you don't give me that camera, men will flee in horror when they see what I do to you!"

"Are you kidding me! This'll be worth a small fortune if I sell it to the village tabloids. You're going to have to pry this little baby from my cold dead fingers," she said waving the camera mockingly from the doorway.

"THAT CAN BE ARANGED!" Sakura lunged for her rival, forgetting entirely about her bounded charge.

"Sakura, wait. I'm still attached to-" the boy had tried to say right before Sakura bolted. What ended up coming out was:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Somewhere in Konoha…

Despite wanting to go home and listen to the CD, Naruto felt very hungry and was not one to deny his good friend sustenance. He stopped by his favorite ramen stand, ate a meager thirty bowls, and paid the owner. When he stepped out of the shop, he saw the lazy chuunin walking by.

"Oi Shikamaru. Where're you off to?"

"I'm going cloud gazing. Nothing you'd be interested in," the chuunin said lazily hoping the blond boy would just go away.

"Cool, can I come with? I need to let this food settle and cloud watching might be just the thing I need."

Needless to say, Shikamaru was stunned. "You…want…to go cloud watching?" Oh my god, the world must be coming to an end!

They headed to Shikamaru's favorite spot and were greeted by Chouji, who was already munching on snacks. "Naruto, I didn't know you were coming. If I did I would have brought more food." Naruto was speechless when he saw the pile of food.

"Chouji, you have enough there to feed a small village for a couple of days."

The two boys took their places on the ground and just stared into space. There were different forms of relaxation. A person who has been journeying for several days finds sleep in a comfortable bed relaxing. Someone who has been working in the hot sun all day may find a cold shower relaxing. For Naruto, who had been thrown into a world of music he knew next to nothing about, a calm afternoon under a nice blue and white sky was all he needed.

"Yup," came Naruto.

"Yup," came Shikamaru.

"Yup," came Chouji.

'Yup,' a voice from within Naruto boomed

All of a sudden, the trio heard a loud commotion in the distance and it was heading their way. They decided to ignore it, hoping it would go away. It didn't. Out of the blue and jumping right over them was Ino with a camera in hand.

"Nah, nah," she taunted, sticking out her tongue behind her.

"Come back here with that camera you bitch!" Sakura said a she leaped over the three.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SOMEBODY HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP MEEEEEEEEEE!"

Naruto could not stop himself, "Try not to stress you voice to badly Sasuke-chan! You're gonna need that for tomorrow's practice."

"NARUTO YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke shouted, fading in the distance. The world was quite again and the trio once again stared up into the sky.

Naruto's House One Hour Later…

"Well, since I'm here I might as well listen to this," the boy said aloud to know one in particular. He took the CD Hinata had given him and put it in his stereo. Naruto, having been warned about the gloomy content, prepared himself for the worse. He was surprised, a recurring theme in this chapter apparently, that the first song was not half bad. In fact, Naruto understood why Hinata had been acting the way she had while she was listening to it.

The lyrics were a little depressing. The song told the story of a dangerous mission gone wrong. The shinobi saw their leader as a strong and brave man, but the leader himself was as scared as the rest of them. When he saw his comrades dying around him, he did what he was trained to do and pushed on forward, completing the mission. However, the loss of his friends stained his heart wishing that he had fallen with them all those years ago. It brought a tear to Naruto's eye. That was, after all, the life he had chosen for himself.

The music behind the vocals seemed to enforce the lyrics. Where the lyrics emphasized the sorrow in every shinobi's heart, the instrumentals seemed to embody the rush that comes with putting your life on the line. The combination of the two emotions was intoxicating. Naruto was especially getting into the guitar solos. Without even thinking about it he was jumping up and down, cradling an invisible guitar and playing strings that did not exist. The sound just seemed to bring out all of Naruto's darker emotions. Sadness at his lonely upbringing and solitude, Jealousy at all of the other kids his age who took their families for granted, Fear at the thought of losing the few loved one he had left, and Anger at the village who caused him all this trouble in the first place. Sure the fox might have been the root of the problem, but it was the village the made him an outcast for something he had no control over.

Screw Them, Damnit! He screamed in his mind. With that, he found himself transported before the cage of the Kyubi.

The demon fox grinned a menacing grin behind his bars. Well done boy. Air guitar hasn't been that entertaining since Bill and Ted. Now those two were decent appetizers, though they left me with a serious case of the munchies.

"Eh? What exactly did I do?"

You were finally able to let go of ALL of your emotions. You stopped being a wussy and finally stood up to your inner demons…in a manner of speaking. Since they are no longer bottled up inside, they will flow freely through your hands as you perform. You fulfilled your end of the bargain by finding your inner rocker and now I will live up to mine! A wave of orange chakra burst from behind the bars and engulfed Naruto. He felt a burning sensation in his arms but ignored the pain. When the pain subsided, Naruto found three black streaks swirling around each forearm.

Those are my marks that will contain my awesome skill, but if you want to harness it you will need to maintain the same state of mind you just experienced. Do that and all will bow before you!

Konoha Hospital…

"Did you really have to beat her that badly? I'm pretty sure you killed her," Sasuke said, rubbing his own bruises.

Sakura merely snorted at the Uchiha's empty concern. She had every right to react in such a way with her reputation as a lady on the line. Besides, the Sharingan using whiner had no right to complain since she was taking care of his injuries personally. "If you'd prefer to keep your broken ribs, keep talking." That had Sasuke closing his mouth no time flat.

Yeah, you better shut up, you sexy boy, you! Inner-Sakura shouted. "Besides," Real Sakura continued, "I doubt there's a god or demon that would collect that soul."

From the Emergency Room down the hall they heard many frantic medic-nin tending to Ino.

"She losing a lot of blood and I can't stop the bleeding. She's fading fast people."

"Begin pumping the heart manually!"

"Where is it!"

"It's that purple thing that looks like it was ripped out, stomped on and then shoved back in."

"Oh I see it," said the same medic-nin, fainting soon after.

BEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"She's gone. Time of death is 7:30 pm. Let's get something to eat guys. I'm pretty sure we all lost our lunches out of this one."

In Heaven…

"Hey Dad, we have incoming," Jesus shouted.

"Bring her in," came the Almighty.

The blond walked into the grand hall, shaking her head in disappointment. "Uh," she grunted in disgust, "I'll be damned if I'm going to spend the rest of eternity in this dump. I'll need a team of decorators, painters, Fung-Shway specialists, beauticians for yours truly, and the giant fat man that's shining is giving me a headache. He has to go."

The two just stared in silence. The Holy Spirit walked in, saw the situation, and quickly walked out. No use getting involved with this mess, now was there?

Ino began tapping her feat vehemently. "Well, what's everyone just standing around for? Move people, move!"

"Send her back! Send her back!" God shouted.

"Why not just send her to hell?" His Son asked.

God gave his Son an odd look. "Aren't you the one that went on about compassion, kindness and all that junk? Satan may be an ass at times, but not even he deserves this!"

Back At The Hospital…

BEEP, BEEP … BEEP, BEEP… BEEP, BEEP… BEEP, BEEP… BEEP, BEEP

"Nobody eat a thing boys and girls! We got a live one here!"