Title: Singing Silently
Author:Yami Aunuum
Pairings:NaruSasu
Warnings: Slash, yaoi, Shounen ai, mm, whatever you want to call it.
Rating: T for now
Disclaimer: The strangest thing happened, Masashi Kishimoto rang and informed me that he'd get his lawyers onto my ass if I kept claiming Naruto as my own. I, of course, have no idea what he was talking about.
A/N: I take singing lessons myself, and it occurred to me that even if, for some reason I lost my voice, I'd probably still mouth out the words, purely because singing is as natural and often practised as breathing for me.
It is to be assumed that Naruto is 19 and the rest are varying ages of 20-22, Sasuke being 20.
Summary:Naruto gets into the prestigious Konoha Music Academy, and is amazed by the various personalities gathered there, but most of all, the strange Uchiha boy, a mute musician. AU NaruSasu
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"Welcome, Mr. Uzumaki, to Konoha Music Academy. This is Mr. Kiba Inuzuka, He'll be able to show you around and introduce you to other students."
"Hey."
Naruto beamed at the scruffy looking brunet, who grinned back happily and gestured towards the door.
"Shall we, Newbie?"
"Sure. It's Naruto, just for the record."
Kiba laughed and patted the slightly shorter blond on the back, "Sorry man."
"Not a problem. Thanks Ms. Sannin."
The large-chested blond just smiled and nodded at Naruto as the two walked out the door, Kiba's arm slung over his shoulders.
"Welcome, Naruto my man, to the men's dormitories, I assume you've got a room number? You'll probably get a roommate, 'cause you're a newbie. Can I see the number?"
Naruto tried to keep up with Kiba's long-legged strides, rummaging in his pocket for the card Professor Tsunade Sannin had handed him when he had first arrived.
"Urm, I've got room 126…Christ, are there really that many students?"
Kiba pulled Naruto to a stop and gave him an excited grin, "You're my roommate, you lucky bastard! Uh, yeah, I think there are over 6,000 students and around 60 teachers, but some of the kids don't stay in the dorms. I've been here two years, and I'll never know everybody, but I'm working on it!"
Naruto was incredibly relieved to be sharing with Kiba, who seemed pretty friendly and easy to get along with. He had a red, upside-down, triangle shaped tattoo on each cheek and was a couple of inches taller then Naruto. Said brunet dragged Naruto through a door marked 'common room', practically skipping into a room completely packed with bored looking boys. Kiba dragged him over to a close-knit group huddled close to the entrance, chatting in varying degrees of amusement.
"Hey guys! This is the newbie, Naruto. Naruto, this is Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, Chouji, Gaara Subaku, Shino Aburame and Lee Rock."
Kiba pointed to a lazy looking guy, apparently called Shikamaru with brown hair pulled into a spiky ponytail, who offered a brief wave from his game of chess with Neji, who had long black hair that dangled just above his waist, a strange tattoo in the centre of his forehead and very pale, practically pupil-less eyes.
Chouji, who was perhaps slightly overweight with brown hair and a scarf, glanced up and offered a smile before turning back to the game and eating another handful of chips. Gaara, with shaggy red hair, piercing aqua eyes and what looked like a Japanese symbol on the left side of his forehead, just stared unnervingly at the uncomfortable blond. Shino, with dark hair and sunglasses, nodded in Naruto's direction and went back to his book.
Lee Rock however, proved to be contrastingly different to the quiet group of boys by leaping to his feet and vigorously shaking Naruto's hand, with a blinding smile and a toss of his black, bowl-cut hair.
Naruto flinched slightly at the sight of Lee's abnormally caterpillar-like eyebrows and heard Neji chuckle quietly at his reaction.
"Naruto! What a Youthful and Energetic Name and Complexion! It is Wonderfully Awesome to Meet You, Oh Cheerful Rival!"
Kiba pushed Lee slightly away, with a 'down boy', before seating himself and motioning to Naruto to do the same. Once Naruto got over the shock of Lee's assault, he sat gingerly next to Shino and Kiba, folding his legs underneath himself. Kiba started pointing at others in the room, giving Naruto a brief sketch of what kind of person they were.
"And that one is Sasuke Uchiha, apparently a lesser-god who plays every instrument or does anything remotely musical known to man. You have to be careful of his little fanbase; they'll trample you flat if you get between them and their Sasuke. He's done everything in concert apart from singing, for obvious reasons."
This caught Naruto's attention and he turned his blue eyes from their silent observation back to Kiba's face, looking at him questioningly, "What do you mean? The demi-god doesn't sing?"
"He's mute, hasn't spoken a single word since he arrived at the Academy."
The blond's eyebrows furrowed and he looked over at the raven-haired boy sitting propped up against the wall with a book, completely ignoring the majority of the common room.
"That's alright, I know sign language."
Kiba shrugged, "yeah, but it's kinda of useless, because he doesn't. Oh sure, he can communicate with signs, but not ones you'd generally use when addressing people."
"What?"
At this, the brunet grinned, and before Naruto could stop him he had taken a large breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Oi! Uchiha!"
Naruto watched in amazement as Sasuke stuck his middle finger up at Kiba in a rude salute without even looking up from his book, choosing instead to turn the page and continue reading.
"Oh. So he's a nice guy too."
Kiba laughed in amusement, lowering his hands and slouching back against the wall, "a regular ray of sunshine even."
"But then, how does he attend school? If he can't communicate at all…"
"Nah, he can communicate. He mouths the words as if saying them and everyone around here has just sort of learnt to watch his lips. It makes you think though, obviously, he used to speak, if he still uses the movements automatically, and why won't he learn sign language? He sings too, you can't hear him, but he attends the class and mouths the words."
"You can hear him."
Their heads both jerked up at Gaara's addition to their conversation, Naruto furrowed his brows and replied, "But…Mutes can't sing."
Neji also looked up with a small smile on his face, sharing an undecipherable look with Gaara. "Sure they can, you just have to listen."
Kiba cleared his throat uncomfortably and changed the subject hastily, "So, Naruto, what incredible musical talent do you possess?"
Naruto laughed, glad for the change and shook his blond mane, indicating towards the large case by his feet.
"What, you hadn't guessed yet? Electric guitar and vocals, I used to get called 'Mr Magical Fingers', for how fast I could play on my treasure, Kyuubi. I applied here on the off chance that my scores might be impressive enough, guess I got lucky. How about you?"
Kiba chuckled, "Drum-kit all the way my man, my baby is called 'Akamaru.'"
Shikamaru, who had started packing away the chess set, obviously having beaten the Hyuuga, snorted loudly.
"Any excuse for ridiculously loud noises, eh, Dog-Boy?"
"Whatever you Lazy-ass! Hey Naruto, guess why he plays keyboard? Because other instruments are too troublesome."
Naruto snickered and turned to Neji, "What about you?"
"Vocals, I come from a long line of die-hard singers."
Naruto nodded sympathetically, having recognized the Hyuuga name almost immediately.
After twenty minutes of amusing commentary by Kiba, he eventually discovered Shino had a secret tenderness for bass guitar, Gaara had a weakness for his tan guitar, Shukaku, and Lee had a burning passion for piano. He also found out that Gaara's tattoo was the Japanese kanji for 'love', Kyuubi was a nine-tailed demon fox in Japanese history, Kiba's family were all dog breeders and he himself was an avid dog-lover, Shino went through a disturbing bug phase when he was younger, and tended to carry them around and the group had managed to convince Lee not to wear green spandex at the end of last year, but before that it was practically a form of torture.
Time crept by and unnoticed and soon enough it was 9:00pm, which was the 'lights out' for Sundays and weekdays. Naruto bid a goodnight to his newly discovered friends and followed Kiba down a long hall to their room, yawning as the dog-lover fumbled with the key.
Kiba watched in barely concealed amusement as Naruto pulled offensively orange sheets, pillowcases and pyjama pants out of his black suitcase.
"Man, are you trying to blind me?"
Naruto looked up sheepishly and scratched at his head, having finished making his bed and getting dressed. "Orange has always been a favourite of mine, along with ramen…"
Kiba cackled and settled down under his own sheets, switching off the light on his side of the room, "Night Uzumaki, see you at some ungodly hour tomorrow for lessons.
The blond also laughed, turning off his own lamp and burrowing under the blankets, "Night Kiba, thanks for introducing me and everything.
A sleepy 'no problem', was the last thing heard before light snoring filled the room.
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I thought I'd throw this one out here and see what everyone thought, hence the shortness. Constructive criticism would be appreciated, I always like working out how to improve my writing. I'm also looking for a beta, if anyone's available, just someone to correct spelling and help with ideas and brainstorming. Flamers will be laughed at without fail, and reviews are always appreciated.
Much love,
YamiAunuum