Sweat slicks my skin as I push my body to it's limit in an attempt to keep Michiko in front of me. She's taunting me, I know it. She lazily dribbles the ball, posture relaxed as cold green eyes bore into me, declaring victory even with ten minutes left in the game.
A slight tensing in her legs signals the drive. I vaguely here Ino call out the screen seconds before colliding with Yuka, which with the addition of her jutsu feels like colliding with a brick wall.
Ino switches without a word from me, taking my place guarding Michiko. It's no use though. A small spark of lightning, hardly visible to the untrained eye, jumps from Michiko's free hand to Ino's exposed leg. Ino winces, losing concentration for hardly a second, and Michiko drives. I try to get past Yuka, but she's used justsu to root me to my spot just long enough for Michiko to make it to the basket. The lay up goes in easily and I glance at the scoreboard as our fourteen point deficit becomes sixteen.
A frustrated sigh escapes my lips. It was all going so well. We had caught them off guard, used jutsu to help us out, but we were at a disadvantage from the beginning. Our stamina failed us long before Suna's and injuries riddled out team. Sakura had just gone out for a broken finger. Nothing too tragic, but the refs saw it before she could use medical jutsu to heal it and sent her to the infirmary, where she's now watching us fall apart. Hinata isn't a bad shooting guard, but her defense is too timid and voice too quiet.
Suzume is playing on an injured foot, curteousy of Noriko increasing her weight when she "accidentally" stepped on it. It's been three quarters since the beginning of the game, yet it seems so far away. Suna's dirty tricks have left all of us battered and bruised. At this point it feels like we're just waiting for the buzzer to sound so we don't have to endure this anymore. It's like the team's lost all hope.
Suzume inbounds the ball to me and I immediately turn to the ref to call time out. The shrill whistle pierces the air and the clock stops. I motion for a full time out and join my teammates at our bench.
"Okay, everyone gather round. I've got something to say," I gesture for them to surround me. I look my team over, each one heaving for breath and wiping the sweat from their eyes. "What the hell are we doing?"
"What?" Ino asks.
"What do you mean, what the hell are we doing?" Temari growls. "We're getting our asses kicked by Suna!"
"Yeah?" I raise my right eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Because to me it looks like Suna is playing the same way they've been the entire game and we've just given up."
"We're trying our best out there!" Ino defends. "If it wasn't for their damn jutsu we'd be crushing them right now!"
"We could still crush them." Suzume speaks up. "We're only down by sixteen with ten minutes left. That's three threes and a foul shot or eight twos. Where's the enthusiasm from the beginning of them game? The fire to win?"
"Listen to me," I smile and link arms with Suzume. "The five of us, we're a team. Sure we lost Sakura, but be have Hinata still and she's a phenominal shooter. Forget about the jutsu, if we focus on it we distract ourselves from playing the game. We can beat them, without cheating. Without playing dirty and stooping to their level. We run our plays like we always do and accommodate for when things go wrong. The game isn't over until the final buzzer sounds! Now get it together or get off the court!"
I thrust my hand out in front of me and the rest of the team pile theirs on top. I gesture for Suzume to do the honors and she smiles briefly before calling out, "Konoha on three! One! Two! Three!"
"Konoha!"
Applause rips through the stadium as fans realize that we refuse to give up. We get back on the court and get in position. Suzume inbounds to me and I take off down the court. "Shuriken!" I yell and slow down a the top of the three point line to allow the girls to set up. I fake left, drawing Michiko's movements, then go right. Teruko steps in to stop my progress and I pass to Hinata. Yuki rotates up to block her, while I roll around Teruko to get open.
Hinata passes back to me and I encounter Noriko just outside the paint. I pull up and fake a shot, drawing the block, then pass the ball across the court to Ino who puts it up for three. The crowd roars it's approaval when the ball goes through the hoop with an audible swish. "That's right, come on girls! Get back on defense!" Kira shouts from the sidelines, the rest of the team echoing her.
I get back and take my place at the top of the three point line, dropping down in to a defensive stance. I take a deep breath and train my eyes on Michiko's stomach. She smirks as she approaches and I feel the sting of her lightning on my leg moments later. I tense against the pain, but stay focused. Michiko drives, thinking she managed to distract me and I cut her off.
I see her eyes shift to the court ahead of her, but my team is doing a good job of blocking all of her possible passing lanes. While she's distracted I take a swipe at the ball, knocking it loose. I chase after it and manage to get it under a controlled dribble. I take off down the court, the Suna team far behind me, and make the easy lay up.
"Good job, Tora!" Suzume calls from the opposite end of the court.
"Nice steal!" Ino slaps me on the shoulder and I smile sheepishly.
"Just gotta pay attention and take advantage of distractions." I shrug and get back on defense.
This time around Michiko isn't smirking. Her glare is harsh and bone chilling; unnerving, but I can't afford to get distracted. I focus on channeling chakra though my body to increase my speed. If they score now, they'll break our streak and I don't know if I can bolster moral again.
Michiko pauses for a second at the top of the three point line, I see her legs tense slightly, then she takes off headed right at me. I stand my ground and step to cut her off when she suddenly veers right. Her foot collides with my ankle with the force of what felt like a ton of bricks. My vision whites out as the sharp pain engulfs my left leg.
The crunch of my bone is audible to those around us and I drop to the floor, clutching my leg close to my chest. I breathe through my nose to keep from screaming, closing my eyes tight to stop the tears springing to my eyes. The whistle blows and suddenly Kira's by my side. "We need to get you off the court before medics come." She says lowly, setting a hand on my arm.
"I know," I breath, voice strained. "Give me a second."
"We don't have a second," Suzume mutters. "They're almost here."
"Then get me up."
Suzume nods and hooks her arm under my shoulder. She helps me hobble over to the sidelines and I thank every god out there that the break isn't bad enough to show. "We'll take her from here." One of the medics says, reaching towards me with long fingers.
"Oh no, I'm fine!" I chirp and throw on the brightest smile I can. "Nothing's wrong, just an old injury acting up. Silly me forgot to wear my brace, I just gotta go get it."
"Are you sure?" The other medic asks, eyeing my ankle dubiously.
"Postitive." I remove Suzume's arm from around my shoulders and take a tentative step forward. The pain flares again, but I force it down with a smile. "See? Totally fine! I'm just gonna run to the locker room real quick and grab my brace."
I leave before they can argue. Pushing through the pain to walk. It feels like it takes forever to get to the door, but Itachi's there to catch me as soon as it falls closed. He sweeps me into his arms, a worried look on his face. "It's broken, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I groan. The pain lifts a bit as my weight is taken off of my ankle, but it continues to stay at about an eight, which is high for me.
Itachi easily carries me through the halls to our lockerroom where Tsunade is already waiting. "You're lucky I'm here kid." She mutters and gestures for Itachi to set me down on a bench.
"I'm lucky I'm good at faking my way through pain," I chuckle, then wince as she prods lightly at my ankle. "If those medics would have gotten ahold of me the game would be over."
"Someone sounds a bit conceited," Itachi teases and places his hands on my left thigh to help hold me still.
"Well she was recruited for the purpose of helping our team win," Tsunade says distractedly while removing my shoe gently. She examines my ankle with glowing green hands. "Lucky for you this is only a small fracture down near your ankle which means I can just heal it. No painful resetting of the bone."
"Oh thank Kami," I breathe and close my eyes. "Whenever you're ready."
"So how do you plan on making a comeback?" Itachi asks to distract from the tingling feeling of Tsunade's healing.
"I'm just gonna do what I do best and play my way. Not gonna let them throw me off with Jutsu." I mumble and close my eyes as the tingling turns slightly painful. "Just got to do what I do best, grin and push through it."
"I'm sure you can pull it off."
"I hope... otherwise we're in for a painful defeat."
"Well," Tsunade says looking up from her work as the green glow fades from her hands. "You better get out there and figure it out."
"Will do," I salute her and flex my ankle. "Good as new, but I should probably figure out some kind of brace so the medics don't get suspicious."
"I'll tape you up, then you can tell them you forgot your brace at home." She reaches for the tape and begins a complex pattern of support for my ankle. "It's probably better this way. The bone's still a little weak."
I patiently wait for her to finish taping me up before getting my shoe back on and practically run back to the court. The stiffness in my left ankle is a bit weird, but it's not too bad. Kira has me sub in for Hanabi Hyuga as soon as I make it back. They managed to shrink the point gap from eleven to eight with two minutes left in the game.
I wait patiently on the sidelines for play to stop so I can sub in. Hanabi has the ball at the top of the three point line, frantically looking for someone to pass to, but Suna's defense is tight. I want to help her out so bad, but I know that she has to figure this out on her own. If I help her, her confidence would be crushed.
She backs up a couple steps to give herself some space from Michiko and scans the situation. I can literally see the gears turning in the soon to be freshman's head. She locks eyes with her sister and some sort of unspoken communication passes between them, the kind that only siblings can understand. It lasts only a second before both girls activate their Byakugans.
Hanabi drives, Hinata sets up a screen. Suna reacts perfectly, cutting off Hanabi, but what they didn't account for was her ablitiy to pass without looking. She tosses the ball over her head where Hinata's wide open at the top of the three. She puts up a shot and the ball goes in with no problems.
A buzzer goes off to signal that there was a sub, and the ref waves me in. "Nice play," I smile and ruffle Hanabi's hair as I pass her.
Suzume grins and claps me on the back. "Good to see you back, Captain. Ready to win this thing? Got a minute and a half to score five points while holding them to none."
"Let's do this," I say and step up in front of Michiko while she waits for the ref to give the ball to Yuki to inbound. "Press the hell outta them!"
The rest of the team takes their places, just as the ref hands Yuki the ball. A sudden burst of energy ripples through me and everything around me sharpens. I activate my Sharingan and study the minute movements of Yuki. I watch every muscle, every movement of her eyes, and when she tenses, eyes on her sister Yuka at the wing, I react. The crowd is shocked to silence when I cut off the pass. The Suna team stands stunned, eyes wide with disbelief as I put up a shot for an easy two points.
Three points to tie, four to win. Suna recovers quickly and Michiko inbounds the ball this time. She passes with more force than necessary, down court to Noriko. Temari fouls her on purpose, and the whistle goes off. Play stops and the players take their places around the key so Noriko can shoot her foul shots. It's a one and one shot, meaning if she misses the first, she doesn't get another. Suzume and Temari take their places in the lower key, while Ino and Hinata stand in the spots closest to Noriko.
I stand at the top of the three point line, and watch as the ref passes Norkio the ball. The players in the key all tense, waiting for the shot. Noriko dribbles twice, then sets up to shoot. While Michiko and Teruko focus on their teammate, I discretly take a couple steps back towards half court.
Noriko bends, and lets the ball fly. I instantly know the shot is off and take off down the court. Temari gets the rebound, while Ino positions herself outside the wing, just beyond the three point line. Temari passes to Ino, who in turn instantly chucks the ball down the court to me. Teruko and Michiko try to catch up and cut me off, but I'm too far ahead of them and go in for an easy lay up. The Suna coach calls a time out, and I jog over to the bench. I take a seat next to Suzume and I can feel the anxiety radiate off of my teammates.
"We've got forty seconds left to win this," Kira says, kneeling in front of us. "You can't let them score. Temari I want you to foul Noriko again, she's their weakest foulshot shooter. When you get the ball, let the shot clock run down as much as possible. Go for the three, then foul Noriko again to get the ball back and pray she misses. If we're up at that point, let the clock run down. If not, wait until the last minute to score. Got it?"
We nod and stand as the buzzer sounds. "Let's end this," I say, rolling my shoulders. As I take my place guarding Michiko, a sense of calm washes over me. I know what I have to do, and now it's time to do it.
My teammates cover every player, but Noriko, forcing Yuki to inbound to her. As soon as the ball's in her hands, Temari fouls her. We line up, she takes the shot and makes it, but misses the second. Temari rebounds and I call for the ball out on the wing. I hang back for a second, waiting just past the half court line for the shot clock to reach a single digit number.
While I wait, Ino and Hinata work to get open outside of the three. With eight seconds left on the shot clock, Temari and Suzume set a double screen in the center of the court. Ino goes to one side, and Hinata the other going in opposite directions. The Suna team gets jumbled up in the middle and Hinata pops out on the right wing. I pass and she puts up the shot for a three. It hits and we're up one!
"Nice shot Hinata!" Suzume yells as we scramble to block off their inbound. This time Noriko inbounds so that we can't target her for the free throws, but it doesn't matter. There's ten seconds left, and Noriko throws the ball down the length of the court to where Suzume and Yuka were struggling with each other. Yuka physically pushes Suzume to the ground and catches the pass, but what she wasn't counting on was Temari acting as a rover, ready to defend her while Suzume recovered herself.
Yuka goes up for a shot, but Temari is able to block it. Yuki tries to recover the ball for her sister, but ends up knocking it out of bounds! The ball is ours with five seconds left. I motion for Hinata to inbound using her Byakugan to find the best opening. She does as I say and the ref hands her the ball.
This is it, just hold on to the ball for five seconds and we break the endless string of defeat that followed us into this game. Michiko guards me, not giving me an inch of space to get open. Across the court the other Suna players use jutsu to prevent us from getting open, but they underestimate Hinata's Byakugan. It was the smallest opening, unnoticeable to anyone but a Byakugan user, and Hinata took full advantage to pass the ball between Noriko's legs to Temari's waiting hands. The minute she had the ball, she took off out of reach of Noriko to prevent her from fouling to lengthen the game.
Then the clock runs out, and the buzzer's sounding, and I find myself in the center of a full team hug. I look up at Suzume, the first to reach me in a hug. "We did it!" I shout and she smiles.
"As if there was any doubt, Captain!" She winks and I fight my way out of the crowd, already overheated from the game, let alone human contact. I manage to slip out of the gym and make my way towards the locker room in order to shower and change out of my sweaty uniform before it gets crowded with my teammates.
Exhausted, I collapse on a bench and strip out of my jersey. I lay there for a few minutes with my eyes closed, not bothering to move when I hear the door open and someone walk in.
"Congratulations on winning," a familiar voice says. My eyes snap open and I sit up with a huge smile.
"You know only players are allowed in the locker room, right Kou?" I go to hug the blue haired boy, but stop short when I realize I'm all sweaty.
"I know, but I couldn't resist coming to see you. You looked really good out on the court," he winks, then chuckles and wrinkles his nose, "but you don't smell very good."
"You try playing an entire game and we'll see how good you smell after," I laugh and hit him lightly on the arm. "Hey so I invited Naruto to come over to your place after the game to talk about getting my memories back, he found out about it and wants to help, is that okay?"
"Well," he says, moving closer to me and wrapping an arm around my waist. "I thought tonight could be just you and me, you know what I mean?"
My heart drops, realizing that I have to break up with him. This is going to be harder than I thought. Maybe I should just do it here instead of stringing him along all night? "Listen Kou," I start, pulling away from him. "I don't think we should do this."
"Do what?" He asks, voice taking on a sharp edge.
"Kou, I can't get my memories back with you. I can't be with you either. Something's happening back home and I'm going to have to go away for a long time on a mission, and I don't know how long it'll take. I just don't want you to hang on to me, because it's dangerous and there's a chance I won't come back. I want you to be able to move on." I look away from him so I don't have to see his hurt reaction. "I'm sorry."
It's silent for a long time before he speaks. "Did you really think I'd let you get away from me that easily, little Tiger?"
"What did you just call me?" I whip around to stare at the silver eyed boy, panic rising slowly in my chest. He smiles, a malicious glint in his eyes.
"You heard me," he says, advancing on me. I'm so stunned that all I can do is take halting steps backwards until my back hits the cool metal of the lockers. His hand closes around my throat before I can quell the fear rising within me. His features begin to shift, eyes getting darker, hair growing longer and lightening to a pale silver. Something sharp pricks me in the leg, and my vision begins to blurr, darkening around the edges. The last thing I hear is shouting from somewhere in front of me.
Third Person POV
Naruto curses under his breath as he sprints towards the locker room. He forgot to change into his lucky underwear earlier, and he wants to beat the girls team back to to the locker room so he isn't late for warm-ups. He bursts through the doors, praying no one's in there yet, but stops short when he sees Kou's back. Only, it wasn't exactly Kou, his hair was in the process of becoming longer and lighter, and his body was becoming shorter.
"What the hell is going on here?" Naruto shouts, stalking forward and placing his left hand on the Kou imposter's shoulder. He freezes when Tora comes into view, the imposter's hand clamped around her neck, the color draining from her face as her eyes begin to slide closed.
The imposter drops her and turns quickly under Naruto's touch, but Naruto's eyes are still glued to Tora's slumped figure, not knowing if she was passed out or if the man had strangled her to death. His shock is so much that he barely feels the chakra scapel slice through his left wrist. His hand falls to the floor with a thump, and Naruto watches the blood flow from the stump in front of him with a kind of detached fascination. Is that really his body?
His eyes shift to the imposter's face, confusion turning to anger when he looks into the amused eyes of Kabuto. He lets out a small growl and swings his good hand at the other boy's face, but his body feels sluggish and his fist barely makes an impact. Black blurrs the edge of his vision, but he fights to stay awake, he has to if he wants to save Tora!
"Poor little Naruto," Kabuto chuckles and pushes the blond to the floor. "Can't even get one hit in. I'm taking your sister now, and don't bother coming after me. We're going somewhere no one, not even Orochimaru, can find her and there we can be together forever!"
He bends over and picks up Tora's limp body, slinging it over his shoulder. "You... you wont get away," Naruto coughs out. "We'll find you... we wont let you have her."
"Give up," Kabuto sneers. "I've already won."
"Sleep with your eyes open," Naruto says, doing his best to stay awake through the blood loss. "Because I'm coming... for you."
Kabuto merely snorts and gingerly steps around the pool of blood gathering around Naruto. Naruto watches as he disappears through the door with Tora. He has enough sense to pull off his jersey and tie it around his stump like a tourniquet, before he's passing out.
~~~~~
Suzume's the first to find him. She's looking for Tora in order to get a team picture as they receive their trophy, but what she finds is something straight out of a horror movie. The locker room is slicked with blood, spattered on the lockers, covering the floor, and in the center of it is Naruto, passed out, with his detached hand sitting a foot away from his body.
Her first instinct is to scream, but she forces that down, knowing it wont help Naruto. She races over to him, phone in hand already dialing Minato's number. The first thing she does is check for a pulse, it's there, but it's weak from loss of blood. The next thing she does is inspect the stump at the end of Naruto's arm, and tightens the tourniquet he wasn't quiet stong enough to tie.
"Hello?" Minato's voice crackles through the speaker.
"Locker room, now," is all Suzume can get out before she puts the phone down and uses what little she knows of medical jutsu to stop Naruto's bleeding.
There must have been a note of panic in her voice because Minato's there in a flash. "What happened?" He asks, trying to keep the rising panic out of his voice at the sight of his son in a pool of blood.
"I don't know," Suzume responds, "I found him like this."
"You stay here, I'm going to find Tsunade and tell Kakashi to keep everyone away from here." He flashes out of sight and Suzume focuses all her energy on keeping Naruto from bleeding out.
The next moments are a blurr. Suddenly the locker room is filled with shinobi, and she's pulled back so Tsunade and take over healing. Kushina's next to her, trying not to cry, while clutching Naruto's in tact hand.
Suzume takes a seat on the bench, shifting when she lands on someone's jersey. She picks it up and inspects the little flecks of blood that had gotten on it. Her eyes widen and she stands quickly, pulling Kakashi over to her.
"Have you seen Tora?" She asks.
He pauses for a second and scans the group in the locker room. "No," he mutters.
That's odd, Suzume thinks to herself. Tora would've been one of the first people here as soon as the news broke. "She can't be far, she left her jersey here." Suzume holds the article of clothing up, displaying the number 4 on the back. She watches with a sense of forboding as Kakashi walks over to her bag and digs through it.
"All her stuff's still here, even her phone." He confirms. "But where's Tora?"
"Do you think," Suzume starts, her anxiety rising as she begins to to connect the dots, "That Naruto's injury, and her not being here are connected?"
"I don't know," Kakashi shakes his head. "We should go talk to the school to see if we can get the video footage from outside the locker room. Let's not tell Minato or Kushina until we know for sure that Tora's missing, they've got enough on their plates already."
Suzume nods and the two of them quietly slip out of the locker room. They weave their way through the crowd of people waiting outside, and go back to the gym, where most of the people were waiting to hear news about what was going on. They track down the Suna basketball coach and pull him to the side.
"What can I do for you," he bows his head slightly. "They told me what happened, and I know that the boy is a shinobi. I've been instructed to let you know that the Suna shinobi are at your disposal."
"Right now all we need is access to your security system so we can see who's gone in and out of the locker room after the game." Kakashi instructs.
"Of course," Baki nods. "Right this way."
He leads them through a series of halls to the front of the school and into the main office. The security cameras all streamed to the Principal's office, and Baki pulls up the feed from just after the game. Suzume watches as Tora enters the locker room, a couple minutes later Kou follows after her. "So she was in the locker room," Suzume mutters to herself. No one comes out for the next five minutes, but Naruto goes in. So she was there when whatever happened to Naruto happened, Suzume thinks.
Two minutes later, the unmistakable form of Kabuto walks out of the locker room, with Tora over his shoulder and blood spattered across his body. "That bastard," Kakashi growls. "When I get my hands on him, he's dead."
"Calm down Kakashi," Suzume places a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know what any of this means. We have to wait for Naruto to get well enough to wake up and tell us what he knows, so we can figure out what happened in there."
"You're right," he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "A tragedy with one kid is bad enough, but now I have to tell Minato and Kushina that their other one was taken by that bastard."
Suzume feels his pain. It's never easy being the one to deliver bad news, especially right after finding Naruto without a limb. They nod their thanks to Baki and go back to the locker room. Once there, Kakashi pulls Minato aside to tell him the news. Suzume watches as the man finally breaks, blue eyes welling with tears.
He wipes them away, and makes his way over to Kushina and his son. Suzume winces when Kushina lets out a heart wrenching sob, and Minato holds her close while tears of his own fall into her hair.
Anger wells up inside Suzume. How dare Kabuto do this? The Namikaze's are like a second family to her, and by hurting Naruto and taking Tora, Kabuto had made things personal. No one touches Suzume's family.
She softens for a second when Naruto's eyes flutter open, unfocused and staring at nothing. "Find Tora, she's not safe, he has her, I have to save her," he mumbles and tries to stand, only to be pushed down gently by Tsunade, "Wants her for himself, somewhere not even Orochimaru knows, please gotta find her before he disappears."
Kabuto did this on his own, Suzume realizes. His sick love for Tora must have finally won out and he's going against Orochimaru so he can have her to himself.
Suzume sits down heavily next to Tora's things. What can she do? She doesn't know where Kabuto could've taken Tora, or anything about him for that matter. Her eyes catch on Tora's phone, there's a message on the screen from Tenshi.
Tenshi: Good luck tonight against Suna! I know you can win it.
In that moment, Suzume knows exactly what she needs to do. She grabs Tora's phone and her own stuff and sneaks out of the locker room so no one will notice. Everyone else needs to focus on getting Naruto better, she'll be the one to focus on saving Tora. Minato would never allow her to do this, but it doesn't matter, she's going to save her best friend, and she knows exactly how she'll do it. Kabuto can run to the ends of the Earth, but Suzume will find him, because Suzume has a plan, and not even he can stop her from getting Tora back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello all, yes I'm aware it's been three years (maybe four?), but I kind of fell out of writing for a bit, and the writing I did do wasn't fan fiction. I'm happy to say that I've found myself with copious amounts of free time and have gotten back into the swing of things. I'm not going to make any promises to update within a reasonable amount of time, but life is crazy and who knows what can happen? Thanks to all of you who have stuck around, and all the new readers I've gained in the last year. You're all amazing people and I love you very much!
Also sad to say that this is one of the final chapters I had planned. I do still plan on writing a sequel, but it'll be slow going, but if you're willing to stick around, I'm willing to write it!
Cheers!
~C.S.