Never give up, never give in. Always keep fig- I sigh in frustration and crumple up the sheet of paper in front of me. I knock it out of the way and pull out a fresh piece. Across the room I hear Suzume muttering to herself quietly, tapping her pen against the notebook in front of her.
I stare down the page in front of me with a glare, willing the words to form. After five minutes of intense concentration with zero results, I lean back in my chair and look at Suzume.
She's sitting against the wall of our hotel room, notebook resting on her knees as she attempts to balance her pen on her finger. "You look like you're being extremely productive." I say, sarcasm lacing my tone.
"Speeches are hard!" She defends and points accusingly at the pile of crumpled paper in the corner of the desk. "Besides it's not like you're doing much better!"
"I don't understand why Kira gave us the job of the motivational speech," I huff. "She's the coach, she should be doing it!"
"I know. All I can come up with are stupid cliché things to say that sound like they belong on Nike merchandise."
"Same. Plus, the game is in two hours and she wants us there an hour early to warm up and go through our pregame speeches and such. There's no way we'll be done in time!"
"We could, I dunno, just wing it?" She offers, looking unsure.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I mumble, trying to convince myself. "I got an A in speech class that way, maybe we can make something up on the spot. We just have to pray that it doesn't sound like a Nike advertisement."
"Easier said than done though."
The two of us fall into silence. The weight of our impending failure looms over us like a dark storm cloud waiting to let loose a torrent of rain. Though our inability to write our speeches isn't the only thing contributing to the heavy atmosphere.
It's been two weeks since I found out that the masked man had been working to tear the Uchiha family apart. Two weeks since I found out I might have to go back to Orochimaru, and in that time no one has been able to offer up a solid plan that didn't involve my return to hell. There's only three weeks left until the deadline is up and as the days drag on it becomes increasingly obvious that we have no other choice.
Both of us have started to pull away from our loved ones. I can see how painful it is for Suzume to think of leaving Sasuke, but she knows her duty to the Leaf is more important than their relationship. I have to break things off with Kou today after the game.
At least with the others, they know that what we're doing is for the good the organization, but with Kou it's different. I can't tell him anything. He's a shinobi of Suna and therefore our enemy. It's better for both of us if I end things without telling the truth. The thought makes me feel nauseous, but protecting my family comes before boys. Luckily Naruto offered to come with me as a way to make things slightly less awkward. I just hope Kou isn't as dangerous as Tenshi was implying, otherwise this break up could go worse than expected.
A knock on the door drags me out of my gloomy thoughts. I turn my gaze to Suzume as she stands and makes her way to the door. Before she can even open it fully, my brothers are busting in both with similar looks of annoyance and defeat.
"Please tell me the two of you are having luck with putting together a motivational speech for pregame," Sasuke begged, crashing down heavily on my bed. "Because the two of us have absolutely nothing."
Sorry," I shrug and gesture to my ever growing pile of reject speeches. "Can't help you."
"We're so screwed." Naruto moans and joins Sasuke on my bed.
"At least you have more time! Tora and I only have an hour to come up with something!" Suzume exclaims and collapses on her bed.
"At least we're focusing on writing speeches instead of the fact that both Suna teams are nationally ranked and we're probably going to get our asses handed to us." I smirk and watch as their expressions darken.
"Thanks for reminding us, Tora." Sasuke glares.
"Welcome!" I chirp and start spinning aimlessly in my chair.
"We're gonna do fine." Naruto grins and nudges Sasuke. "Besides this year Konoha has three secret weapons that they didn't have last year."
"Oh yeah?" Sasuke rolls his eyes. "And what exactly are these 'secret weapons?'"
"Not what." Naruto says. "Who."
"What are you talking about?"
"He means us, idiot." I laugh and point to myself, Naruto, and Suzume. "Naruto and I were allowed into the school for the reason of bettering the teams, and Suzume is an added bonus for the girls."
"Great." Sasuke mutters sarcastically. "I feel so much better now. Because the three of you are going to make such a difference."
"What was that darling?" Suzume asks, a hard edge to her voice.
"Nothing!" He amends, withering under Suzume's harsh glare.
"I love how easily you control him." I smile.
"Thanks," she says proudly. "It's a gift."
"Gift my ass," Sasuke mumbles.
"Excuse me?" Suzume asks.
"I mean, what an amazing gift to have."
"That's right." She smirks. "And don't you forget it."
"Dude," Naruto shakes his head. "Your girlfriend is terrifying sometimes."
"So's our sister," Sasuke shudders and glances between the two of us. "It's even worse when they team up."
"Oh please, you love us." I say, standing from my seat and stretching out my limbs. "Since we're not having any luck with our speeches do you guys wanna head to the school early to warm up a bit?"
"Sure, why not?" Naruto shrugs. "Sasuke and I will go tell the coaches."
"Tora and I will go get directions to the school from the front desk." Suzume says as she grabs her gym bag. "We'll meet you out front."
With that the boys leave, a new confidence in their posture at the thought of warming up. I pick up my bag with a sigh and sift through to make sure I have everything. I dig through quickly. Uniform? Check. Shoes? Yep. Shooting shirt? Shit... where did I put it?
"Have you seen...?"
"Under your bed," Suzume answers without letting me finish. "It fell off when Sasuke and Naruto sat down."
I look down and sure enough the black shirt was there. "Thanks." I pick it up and throw it in the bag before securing the strap over my shoulder. "Let's go."
Suzume nods and we exit the room, navigating the halls to reach the elevator only to find it out of order. So we have to take the stairs... from the tenth floor. We enter the stairwell quickly and begin our descent.
"You know, the last time we were in this stairwell you were crying your eyes out because of Gaara." Suzume states quietly. "You were a wreck and I practically had to carry you up the stairs."
"You did not!" I exclaim.
"Yeah? How would you know? It's a memory related to Gaara and should be gone."
I think back and realize she's right, I have no recollection of a majority of our last time in Suna. "It still doesn't mean it happened." I pout. It just seems so outlandish and impossible that a boy could do that much damage to me.
"It did." She insists, pushing the door to the lobby open. "Ask anyone and they'll tell you."
"Whatever." I laugh uncomfortably. "It's not like it matters anymore. I can't be with him so it's not worth dwelling on. Maybe it's a blessing I forgot."
She eyes me dubiously, but doesn't say anything in response. Instead she stalks over to the front desk and asks for directions.
"Go left out of the front, take a right at the first intersection, go for about half a mile, and the school should be on your left." The cheery receptionist chirps in response. "There should be signs outside to direct you to the gym. They're making quite a big deal out of this game. Personally, being a Konoha alumni, I'm rooting for you guys. Let me know how it turns out when you come back, okay?"
"Of course," Suzume smiles. "Thanks for the help!"
"It's my job," she laughs as we walk away. "Good luck tonight!"
"Thank you!" The two of us call over our shoulders and go outside to meet the boys.
It takes them a good five minutes to meet us. Naruto bursts out of the hotel with a bright smile, fingers twitching at his sides. "I'm so ready to play!" He shouts, nearly bouncing up and down.
"Tch, we have hours until our game," Sasuke drawls. "Settle down will you."
"Asking him that is like asking a blind man to see." I point out and begin traveling towards the school at a light jog. "The school is close so we can use the distance as our warm up jog."
They nod and follow me as I set a steady pace. Naruto runs next to me while Suzume and Sasuke jog by each other, talking quietly.
"You ready to play?" Naruto asks as we take a right as instructed by the receptionist.
"Been dying to play this game for the past to weeks." I answer with a smile. "There's no way we'll lose. This is the debut of the new and improved Konoha basketball team and I'm ready to kick some ass."
"Me too." He agrees and lowers his voice. "So we're going to Kou's apartment after the game?"
"Yeah." I sigh, the smile slipping from my face. "I text him earlier. He's coming to the game and he lives right across from the school, so as soon as your game is over we're heading there."
"Do you know what you're going to say?"
"A little." I shrug. "Telling a guy we can't have contact with each other anymore isn't easy, especially since I can't tell him the reason."
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"I hope so."
We fall into silence as the school comes into view. It's huge, twice the size of Konoha, and is built completely out of marble. We stare in awe at the ridiculous and unnecessary, but still beautiful, architecture. We follow the signs leading us to the gym and I cringe when I see the name. 'The Ryo Nagano Gymnasium.' Orochimaru must have dumped a lot of money into this place, Rasa as well considering across the hall is a performing arts center named after him. No wonder it's built out of marble.
I shrug off my discomfort and push open the doors, staring in wonder at the place. The gym floor is tiny in comparison to the rows of seats surrounding it. It's almost as big as a professional stadium. "This place is insane." Naruto mutters as a man approaches us.
He's bald, with a veil covering half of his face. He's dressed in a freshly pressed suit and has a pleasant smile on his face. "You must be members of the Konoha team." He greets. "I'm Baki, head coach for the basketball program here at Suna."
"Tora," I nod and point at the others. "This is Suzume, Naruto, and Sasuke. We're the captains of the Konoha teams. We were wondering if we could get some extra practice in before official warm ups start?"
"Dedicated, I see." He tilts his head to the side. "I don't see why not. We were about to start running through some drills, but we can give you half the court."
"Thank you," Suzume smiles politely. "We'd like that very much."
"Allow me to show you to your locker room. There's only one, sadly. We expected the girls first and then the boys. Not both at the same time." He laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his head.
"No problem." I say. "We don't mind sharing."
"Right this way then." He gestures towards a door at the corner of the court and leads the way out into another hall. He takes us to a room just outside labeled 'Visitors.' We thank him as he walks away and go inside.
The locker room is spacious, with separate cubbies lining the walls and an open space in the middle with a few chairs and a dry erase board.
I pick a space on the end and open my bag. Suzume takes the spot next to me and Sasuke and Naruto go to the other side of the room. Keeping my back to the boys, I strip out of my jeans and into a pair of spandex then my light blue shorts. I take off the t-shirt I was wearing to reveal a neon pink sports bra and quickly slip on my shooting shirt. I'll put my jersey on later, just before the game starts.
I quickly put on my black and white shoes, tying them tight, and throw my hair up into a ponytail. The others finish at the same time and we head out onto the court, the members of the Suna basketball program staring at us strangely.
They're occupying their half of the court running through a quick shooting drill and those not participating where looking at us. I smirk in their direction and decide to show off a bit.
I grab a ball from the rack at half court and dribble it to test the bounce. I dribble a few more times before taking off towards the basket. At the foul line I send a tiny bit of chakra to my legs and jump up, dunking the ball easily.
I hang from the rim for a second, then drop down gracefully. As soon as I'm down, Sasuke comes barreling down the court. Being the show off that he is, and of course trying to one up me, he jumps from under the hoop and dunks the ball behind his head.
"You wanna go, Uchiha?" I growl and poke him in the chest.
"Bring it." He grins. "Half court, one-on-one. First one to three wins."
"Prepare to cry." I laugh and take the ball to the top of the court. Now, I'm obviously at a disadvantage against him. My 5'5" frame allowing my line of sight to barely reach his chin will make for an interesting game, but I don't plan on losing.
I check the ball, receiving his bounce pass with ease and going into triple threat. He drops down into defense, dark eyes studying my every move. I fake left and dribble right, but he keeps up with me easily. I crossover, then back, hoping to catch him off guard, but he's on top of his game. I dribble back behind the three point line and evaluate the situation.
With a plan in mind I force my way onto the wing. When Sasuke's momentum takes him right, I spin dribble to the left up to the elbow. He manages to keep up, but he's off balance. I lunge forward to force him back, then step back and put up a jump shot with the room I managed to make for myself. The ball leaves my fingertips with it's usual backwards spin and sails through the air, dropping into the basket perfectly.
"One point me!" I trill as he retrieves the ball.
"Lucky shot." He grumbles and checks. I merely sink down into my defensive stance and focus on his stomach. He drives left and I cut him off, forcing him to the the corner of the court. He crosses over and forces me back a few steps. He grins and puts his back to me, powering his way down to the block. I growl lightly, knowing his height advantage is going to win him a point. I plant my feet and extend my arms as high as they can go.
Sasuke drop steps and I move with him, but I'm unable to block the shot. Lucky for me it misses. Unlucky for me, he's able to rebound it and put it back up for a point.
"Don't think I'm gonna make this easy on you." He winks and hands me the ball. I make my way to half court again, vaguely aware of the Suna team's intense staring, and pull off my shooting shirt into just my sports bra. Sasuke follows my lead and pulls the long sleeved article of clothing off. We toss them on the sidelines and I check the ball.
Before he has time to react, I throw the ball wildly at the basket and take off sprinting after it, blowing right by the stunned boy. The ball bounces off the backboard and I activate my Sharingan to sharpen my senses. I jump up and catch the ball and my momentum carries me forwards to the rim. I dunk the ball hard and land in a crouch.
I stand and turn towards an astonished Sasuke. "'Don't think I'm gonna make this easy on you.'" I mock and toss the ball at him.
He catches it in a daze, then shakes his head when he notices my eyes. "Looks like it's time to step it up," he smirks and activates his Sharingan. "Time to go all out."
"Bring it."
He checks and immediately takes off the moment the ball is in his hands. He's past me before I can react, but I recover quickly and stop him just inside the three point line. He crosses over between his legs and drives against me. I battle back and cut him off. He lets out a grunt and spin dribbles to the inside, putting up a hook shot. The ball goes in and he turns to face me. "Next basket wins."
I check the ball and take a breath, slowing down the pace. I attack the basket carefully, not really expecting much. After a minute when Sasuke's lulled into believing I've given up, I attack again with more speed and power. I go up for a lay up, but Sasuke manages to knock the ball slightly causing me to miss. He rebounds and goes to the top.
I crouch in a defensive stance, my modified eyesight allowing me to see every twitch of his body, to tell what he's going to do before he does it. A slight tensing of his left leg and a twitch in the right tells me he going to go right. I move almost at the same moment as him, cutting off his drive before it can happen and forcing him to the side of the court.
He crosses over between his legs and tries to attack on the left. I move quickly and block him off, standing just inside the three point line. However, I make the mistake of giving him too much space and he shoots the ball for a three. He misses and the ball bounces off the back of the rim. I box him out successfully and retrieve the rebound.
At the top of the court I smile knowing I've already won. Sasuke's Sharingan eyes won't be able to predict what I plan to do next. I fake left, then right, then throw a bounce pass between his legs. It goes through clean and the extra fake allowed me freedom to go around on Sasuke's left. I get the ball and go up for an underhand layup and make the shot.
"I win!" I shout in delight and Sasuke pulls me into a headlock.
"You may have won this time, but I'll get you next time!" He promises and releases me, a broad smile on his face.
"You two are so childish," Suzume sighs and tosses each of us a towel and bottle of water.
"Yeah!" Naruto pouts. "You could have let us play too! I wanted to kick the Teme's ass!"
"As if you could beat me," Sasuke snorts and allows his Sharingan to deactivate. I follow suit and take a swig of water.
"Next time." I say. "Let's just not tell Kira and Gai about this, okay? They'll kill us if they find out we expended this much energy before a game!"
"Yeah, I don't want to deal with Coach Gai's incessant complaining." Sasuke shudders. The other two nod in agreement.
"Hey there cutie, you aren't bad with a basketball." A deep voice drawls. We turn to find two guys from the Suna team standing on our side of the court. "Maybe you should come play for Suna, that way we could... get to know each other better."
"Okay, first of all, ew." I say looking over the guy who had spoken. He's maybe six feet tall with blond hair that's straight and comes down to the tips of his ears. His eyes are a dark brown, almost black, and if he wasn't being such a creep I would call him attractive. "And second of all, I wouldn't leave Konoha for a million dollars. They're my family."
"Family's overrated," the other scoffs. He's even more attractive than the other guy. Black hair and blue eyes, one of my favorite combinations, and standing at about 5'9" with a muscular build. Once again, I would show interest if he hadn't just insulted me.
"Family is better than being in the same program as you creeps." I retort and hear Sasuke chuckle.
"Get lost." Naruto waves his hand at them. "My sister obviously isn't interested."
"Then what about you, darling?" The blond asks, turning his attention to Suzume. "I bet you're just as amazing."
"Ew, I'm with Tora. You two are creeps." She says and looks at Sasuke.
"My girlfriend obviously has better taste and wouldn't stoop so low as to like you." Sasuke sneers and places a protective arm around Suzume's shoulders.
"Your loss," the shorter one says. "But if you two wanna be with winners after we kick your asses, you know where to find us." He winks at me and I shiver.
"Never in a million years, pig." I smile pleasantly and turn away from them to start shooting baskets. The others join me in ignoring the two guys and they walk away in a huff of anger.
We shoot around for the rest of our time alone, occasionally going one-on-one at fifty percent intensity, until the rest of our team begins to trickle in. The girls go to change while the guys claim seats in the row of chairs behind our bench.
At the same time the doors open and fans of both teams begin to fill the stands. I throw my shooting shirt back on as we begin to run through our pregame warm up. We stretch and run through our drills before Kira calls us all into the locker room.
We cram inside, both guys and girls, and gather around the dry erase board. While Kira begins to speak Suzume and I change into our jerseys, tucking them into our shorts, then pull our shooting shirts back on. "Okay," She starts. "We're going with our usual starting line up. Tora at point, Sakura at shooting guard, Ino as small forward, Suzume as power forward, and Temari at center." She writes each of our names on the board and an abbreviation for our positions.
"Temari will be taking the opening tip off." I instruct, recalling what Suzume, Kira and I discussed the other day. "I want Suzume and Sakura on the sides, with Ino on the offensive end of the tip in order to intercept if the opponent manages to tip it back. I'll be behind Temari standing at the foul line of the defensive end to either catch a tip back from her, or defend against a fast break."
"If we get the ball out of the tip off, get it to Tora and we're going straight into Chidori." Suzume continues. Chidori is the name of one of our plays. Being the dorks we are, we decided to name all our plays off of jutsu. "If they get the ball and miss, we still set up in Chidori. However, if they score they're going to press so we're going to do Shadow Clone. Got it?" The others nod.
"After that, we lose the element of surprise with Shadow Clone and our press breaker to start is going to be Mind Transfer. If it's successful, we keep doing it. If not, I'll call a time out and we'll pick a new one." Kira takes over again. "When we reach half court, if we don't get anything off the looks from Mind Transfer, I want you to get the ball back to Tora and go into Sparrow Dive as default unless Tora calls out another play.
"We need to play fast, but smart. Don't get frustrated and keep your wits about you. We'll start with full court man to man defense, make sure to match up with someone of similar position. That means guards against guards, and posts against posts. If for some reason you're forced to switch, don't panic. Everyone here is good enough on defense to guard anyone. Just bide your time and switch back when you can. Communication is key. Make sure you're loud and clear so everyone is aware of what's going on. And for Kami's sake, please call out the screens. Scream if you have to, but don't let your teammate be blindsided like that. That's all I have to say. Now, I believe your captains have a few words of encouragement."
With that said she motions for Suzume and I to give our speech... that we didn't write. I take a deep breath and say the first things that come to mind. "So here we are. All our training up till now has led to this point. I don't need to stress how important victory is today, you already know that. This is our chance to make a name for ourselves. Our road to the championship starts today."
"They think they're better than us." Suzume continues for me. "They think we're weak. Are we weak?"
"Hell no!" Temari shouts while the others remain silent.
"I asked, are we weak!?!"
"HELL NO!" Everyone cries, some of the guys even pumping their fists in the air.
"Then we've got to prove that to them!" I take over. "We've got to go out there and give it everything we've got! If you lag or hold the team back, we'll throw you on the bench. If anyone gives less than 110% of what they've got, then we might as well go home now."
"We've dedicated hours of time to getting here!" Suzume adds. "We've worked harder than ever and pushed our bodies to the limit, just so we could beat Suna and let the nation know that in this coming season Konoha is a force to be reckoned with!"
"We want them to be scared of playing us the same way they're scared of playing Suna!"
"We want them the become like us, dedicating hours of work, just to beat us!"
"We want to become number one in the country and force them to recognize us!"
"No longer will Konoha be known as second rate compared to Suna!"
"No longer will people ignore our talents in order to marvel at those of the Suna team!"
"Today is our time! Today is the day we beat Suna and gain the recognition we deserve!"
"Now lets go kick some ass!" I scream and am met with the wild cheers of our teammates and friends. I toss my head back and let out a shout, then sprint out of the locker room, leading my team to the court.
We break out onto the court and are met with the deafening cheers of the multiple Konoha fans who showed up for the game. All around I see sections filled with the light blue of our school and notice the Akatsuki sitting in the row just behind where the boys left their stuff.
While the boys take their seats, Suzume and I each grab a ball and get the team to line up around the key for foul shots. The scoreboard hanging from the middle of the stadium tells us that we have five minutes until the game begins.
I step up to the foul line and take a deep breath. One, two, three dribbles. Another deep breath. I line my fingers up along the seams, crouch, and shoot. The ball makes a high arc to the basket, swishing through the net perfectly. Suzume passes me the other ball while Hanabi retrieves the one I just shot.
Three dribbles, deep breath, line my fingers up, crouch, and shoot. Once again the ball goes in. I step back and Suzume replaces me at the line. While the others take their turns at foul shots I jog over to the stands to say hi to the Akatsuki. "Looking good out there, Tora!" Konan says as I approach. "Konoha might actually win this game with you and Suzume on the team."
"Yeah," I grin sheepishly. "The team looks good. Would look better if you were able to play."
"I know," she sighs, obviously bummed out. "But since I'm graduating this year I'm not allowed."
"Oh suck it up," Hidan says, eyes focused on Temari. "I think your uniform shorts need to be shorter. Knee length is so concealing."
"You're a pig," Konan growls and smacks him on the back of the head.
"I think he meant to say that only Temari's shorts need need to be shorter," I smirk and Hidan goes red from either embarrassment or anger, I'm not sure which.
"Back to important matters," Itachi interrupts with a glare in Hidan's direction. "I can't wait to see you play. I mean I could never come to your games before and now I'm so excited to watch! I even made a sign, see!" He holds up a piece of poster board proudly. It's white and he wrote 'Kick some ass, Tora!' in alternating blue and black lettering. He even added my number, 4, after my name.
"I love it," I grin.
"I even made one for Sasuke!" He pulls up another poster board, this one light blue and I nearly choke when I see it. On it is a picture of Sasuke when he was younger, maybe seven, and he's stark naked holding a basketball in front of his private parts. Next to the picture Itachi wrote 'Oni-chan's little basketball star!' surrounded by a bunch of hearts. And just in case anyone wonders who the sign is for, Itachi made sure to put both his name and number on the sign.
"He's going to kill you," I laugh and hold onto the back of Konan's seat so I don't fall over. "It's brilliant!"
"It was Kushina's idea," Itachi confides with a smile. "She's somewhere in the stands with a sign for Naruto with a picture of him getting hit in the face with a basketball. She wrote 'Mommy's little superstar' on it too!"
"I remember that!" I giggle. "I was the one who threw the basketball!"
"You're a devil child." Sasori observes and Deidara nonchalantly starts to move away from me.
"He said girls couldn't play basketball!" I defend. "I was angry and the ball was in my hand so I threw it at him! He deserved it."
Sasori opens his mouth to respond, but before he can the buzzer goes off, signaling the start of the game. I shrug in his general direction and head down to our bench. I take my seat along with the other four starters. Kira crouches in front of us, while the rest of the team crowds around her.
"Normally this is the part where I say something wise or remind you of the plan," Kira begins, looking each of us starters in the eyes. "But I've got nothing to say that's even remotely wise, and you already know the plan of attack. So I'll leave you guys with this. You're all talented girls. You're smart and work together well as a team. You already have everything you need to win this game, all you have to do is go out there and play as hard as you can. I believe in you and your teammates believe in you, and that's all that really matters."
She puts her hand out and I stick mine on top of hers. One by one the other girls add their hands to the pile until we're all in. "First game chant," Suzume comments. "I think Tora deserves the honors."
"Awesome." I grin and look around at my team. I take a deep breath and shout as loud as I can, "Together on three! One! Two! Three!"
"Together!" Our hands go up, reaching to the ceiling.
The cheer echoes throughout the stadium, louder than I thought could be possible. We get a roar of approval from our fans and the five starters burst out onto the court, energy radiating off of us in waves. We line up at half court, matching up against the Suna team.
I'm standing across from their point guard, and captain, Michiko last name I can't remember. She's extremely pretty, athletically built, and almost two inches taller than I am. She sneers at me, green eyes narrowed dangerously. I merely yawn the moment our eyes meet, an easy smile on my face.
"Welcome fans to the 25th annual Suna Rattlesnakes versus Konoha Dragons post-season game! This is a chance of a lifetime to check out the up and coming teams you'll be watching play in the next school year!" The announcer's voice echoes around the eerily quiet stadium. "For the past ten years Suna has dominated this event, but Konoha has stayed resilient through every defeat!
"Now let's meet the starting line up for the visiting team of Konoha Academy! First, let me introduce to you Konoha's captain and point guard, number four Namikaze Tora!" The crowd roars it's approval and I step forward into the middle of the court, waving at the spectators, then pulling a back flip for showmanship. After I land, I wave one more time and return to my spot. "Next up is the vice-captain, and starting power forward, number five Suzume Haruno!"
Suzume steps forward, bows to the audience, does a flip of her own, and returns to her spot. "Next we have Konoha's starting shooting guard, number seven, the lovely Sakura Haruno!" Sakura steps up, waves to her fans, then turns to stick her tongue out at the Suna team. "My, what a spirited team! Let's keep the introductions going with their small forward, number eight, Ino Yamanaka!"
Ino flounces forward, a smile on her face. She begins blowing kisses to the audience and I see a few guys almost swoon. She finishes by turning in Itachi's direction and blowing him a kiss. My brother blows one back as Ino returns to the line. "And now, last but not least the desert whirlwind that was once a part of our fighting Suna Rattlesnakes, and now a member of the rival Dragons, my favorite and yours, center, number ten Temari Subaku!"
Both Suna fans and Konoha fans alike go crazy as Temari steps up and flexes her muscles. I sense a bit of animosity coming from the Suna team as they glare at my teammate. Temari returns to her spot, a huge grin on her face. "The Konoha Dragons are coached by Kira Yamanka."
"And now, time to introduce the home team! Let's start off with number four. Our point guard, our captain, the amazing Michiko Yoshihara!" The crowd roars, but Michiko makes no movement. She stands stoically, back straight, and head held high. The rest of Suna mirrors her stance. "Well... I guess our reigning champions are a bit more serious than the Konoha team... Anyways, moving along we have the vice-captain, number two. You know her as our center, Noriko 'The Wall' Hasegawa! And since we have such a professional team, I'll move right along and introduce our shooting guard, number twelve Teruko Kanai. Then our small forward and power forward, we call them the 'Terrible Twins,' numbers six and seven, Yuka and Yuki Taniguchi! Our Rattlesnakes are coached by Baki!
"Now that they've all been introduced to you let's get this game started!"
With that last part said, I tune out the announcer as the players move to their positions. I take my spot on the foul line of the defensive side, directly behind Temari. There's a tension in the air, radiating off of the two centers. Noriko is a few inches taller than Temari, but that doesn't matter. Temari has a large lateral and can jump higher than anyone I know without the use of chakra.
The Suna shooting guard, Teruko, takes her place beside me with a sneer. "Ready to lose another year?" She asks, hostility clear in her demeanor. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, but don't grace her with a response. The time for talking and showing off is over, it's time to get serious. When she realizes I wont respond, she huffs and turns to glare at me. "What? Too scared to reply?"
I look past her with a slight smirk as the ref holds the ball between the two centers. This only infuriates her more. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"
My smirk grows as the whistle is blown and the ref throws the ball up into the air. Both centers jump, arms stretching up towards the ball, but it's obvious Temari is going to win it. Teruko is still fuming at me, getting ready to say something when Temari makes contact with the ball, tipping it back towards us.
In a flash I'm around Teruko, jumping to catch the ball. The Suna shooting guard is left gaping at the empty spot where I was standing only seconds ago. "Alright!" I shout and begin dribbling to our side of the court. "Konoha, you know what to do!"
The others run to their positions and Michiko drops into defense in front of me. "Tora!" Ino shouts from my left. I fake right then make a clean pass to her. As soon as the ball leaves my hands, I'm sprinting down to the right corner of the court. Sakura sets up a screen for me at the elbow, effectively cutting off Michiko, but Teruko picks up guarding me. Once I reach the out of bounds line, I cut back down along the baseline. Temari sets up a screen for me at the block, I rub off her left shoulder and dodge to go off the right side of a screen set by Suzume on the opposite side of the key.
In all the confusion I lose my defenders and call for the ball down on the left side of the three point line. Sakura, who had gotten the ball from Ino while I was dodging defense, passes the ball to me and I turn and shoot, the ball swishing through the net perfectly.
"Nice Tora!" Temari yells. I merely grin and take up defense against Michiko on our block. Suzume stands tall, waving her hands in front of the in-bounder, Yuki. Michiko braces an arm against me and reaches the other out, asking for a lob pass. At the same time Yuka and Teruko cut in from half court on opposite sides. Yuki goes to pass to her sister, who was closest to her, but didn't expect Ino to be as fast as she was. The blonde jumps in front of the pass and intercepts it.
I back out to the top of the key, leaving Suzume open on the block, Yuki still standing in shock that her pass was stolen. Ino sends the ball to Suzume, who puts it up for an easy two points.
"What the hell was that!" Michiko screams at Yuki, eyes alight with anger.
"I'm sorry!" The power forward apologizes, but Michiko wont hear it. Instead she grabs the ball in a huff and stands out of bounds.
"I'm in-bounding from now on. Use Venom as a press breaker." The rest of Suna runs to take their places. I drop back to the middle of the floor, giving her the space to pass the ball in, while also acting as extra help to cut off the pass.
"Tora, behind!" Temari's voice warns and I look back to see Noriko barreling down the center of the court, my teammate not far behind her. I react quickly, anticipating the high pass from Michiko. I jump up, attempting to catch the ball, but I can't get high enough and instead the tips of my fingers hit the bottom just enough to elevate the ball over Noriko's head and into Temari's hands.
"Here!" Sakura calls for the ball, wide open at the right side of the three point line. Temari launches the ball to her and the rosette catches it with ease. She squares up and shoots, gaining us another three points.
"Nice one, Sakura!" Suzume calls.
"Time out!" Baki yells at the ref from the side lines. "Full!"
The ref blows his whistle and we return to our benches for a one minute time out. "Good job out there." Hanabi says as the others rush to get us water. "You're looking strong."
"They were just caught off guard." I shrug and take a drink. "Things are gonna get rough after this time out. They didn't expect us to play so well, so they weren't prepared. They were taking it easy, thinking they would have another easy win."
"We've gotta stay on our toes," Suzume says and glances over at their bench. "We wont be winning this game easily, plus I have a feeling they've got some tricks up their sleeves."
"So you felt it to?" Ino asks, leaning forward.
"Yeah," Suzume nods.
"Felt what?" Tenten asks.
"The Suna team," Sakura starts. "They have the potential to use chakra."
"That's not good." Hinata mutters and activates her Byakugan. She scans the other team and gasps.
"What's wrong?" I jump to my feet and block her view of them.
"Their chakra levels... they're... they're extremely high!" I look to Temari for confirmation and she nods to me.
"They use it in games." She says solemnly. "Baki trains them to teach them how to use it without making it obvious. A burst of speed here, an increase in strength there, and if they're desperate... They use jutsu. Sometimes lightning to spark their defender and momentarily stun them. Sometimes it's wind used to knock shots off course... It's why they always win, no other team in the league that I know of have shinobi for players."
"No other team," Kira grins. "But us."
"But we aren't trained!" Ino points out. "What if we get caught?"
"We wont." I smirk. "New game plan. Suzume, birds. We need them in the rafters to give us a better view of the court. Ino, I need you to link us all up. Players and birds alike so we all have a complete view of the court at all times. No blindsides and that way we can discuss moves without Suna hearing. Sakura, I want you on Noriko. I can sense that her nickname 'The Wall' comes from increased strength with chakra. You're the strongest one here, so I need you to keep her out of the key."
"But what about height?" Sakura asks. "There's no way I can defend her if she gets the ball. I'm not tall enough."
"That's where the mind link comes in." Temari picks up. "I'm going to take on Yuki. Both of their post positions stick close to the key and rarely move from the spot. Their main job is to post up. If she gets the ball, I'll know and as long as you stay down I can use you for leverage to get a higher jump and block her shots."
"Tora," Kira looks at me. "Ready to use that Sharingan of yours?"
"Born ready." I laugh as the buzzer signals the end of the time out.
"Let's do this." Ino smiles and we hide her while she links up our minds. I feel disoriented at first. My thoughts split into six views. The main one being my own, but the six showing various angles of myself.
'Ready?' I ask and they nod.
'Let's kick some ass!' Temari shouts and we take our places on the court, the new match ups shocking the crowd. I could hear the whispers of 'What's that small girl doing on Noriko?'
Oh if only they knew. I move into position in the middle of the court, activating my Sharingan. The world sharpens and the tiniest movements of the other players catches my attention. Michiko is inbounding and I focus a majority of my attention on her. If I can predict where the pass will go, I can move before the ball even leaves her hands.
The ref hands her the ball and takes a few steps back. He quickly glances over the court, making sure all players are present, the he places the whistle in his mouth. I grin as the shrill noise echoes throughout the stadium. 'Let the games begin!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
So.... here's an update, I know it's been like three months and I'm sorry. I've got a 16credit hour work load in college along with about 20 hours of work each week, and when I'm not in class or working I'm doing homework. It's really not an excuse, but I made this chapter long (it's like 13 pages on word) and so that's exciting. Next time you see me not updating or anything feel free to message me and yell or vent, I promise it doesn't make me mad, if anything it makes me try to find time to write a new chapter. Let me know what you think of this chapter!
~C.S.