The Kage Cup

(Focus is Midnight Blade/Football)

A quarter of an hour until the game. The finals. The ultimate test of strength, endurance, and power.

Tonight was the night. The last game of the Kage’s Cup was about to begin. The largest football event in the shinobi realm.

From all the hidden villages, the Kages had send their best football playing shinobi to the field. An act of peace and of power to the other hidden villages.

Through a series of brutal games, Konoha, the Hidden Leaf had entered the finals against the well-known Kumogakure team, the elite Hidden Cloud.

It was the first year that the Hidden Leaf had been blessed with shinobi of such talent and skill. All years before, game by game they had fallen to the teams of the other villages. Some said that the Sage of 6 Path’s had blessed the team itself, while others believed that Midnight Blade, the team captain and midfielder, was responsible for the team’s sudden transition from an unorganized scrabble to powerful players.

But could they possible beat the Hidden Cloud? The 5 time champion of the Kage’s Cup?

The Hidden Cloud team was renowned for their very own champion players, the top goal scorers and superb coaches. In fact, most of the former players had gone on to become top shinobi and Jonin of the village, including Omoi and Darui.

Midnight sat in the locker room alone, while the rest of the team was on the field warming up. Even from the room, he could hear the thunderous din of the crowd, the roaring cheers, and the loud booms from the drums, signaling that the game would start soon.

His family would be there in the crowd. His friends, Azure, Scarlett, Crimson, Breeze. Even the Hokage and Raikage, Naruto and Darui.

Midnight felt that feeling again. That cursed feeling of dread, climbing up his chest, swirling in his lungs, choking him, swallowing him, sending icy chills into his bones more potent than any paralysis jutsu of the Nara clan.

What am I going to do? I can’t let my family and friends down. I can’t let my village down. He thought.

Never before had he felt such fear or apprehension. From the very beginning in ninja school and class, he’d learned to master his emotions, to control them, to blank his mind. It had given him the façade of an unfeeling shinobi, one dedicated to the task. It’s what made him such a great Anbu for Konoha.

Yet, tonight was different. So very different. This was no longer about fighting, about using the sword or performing jutsu. Today was about playing sports. Physical strength. Skill. Accuracy.

As the sweat slowly slid down Midnight’s face onto his jersey, he felt a warm hand touch his shoulder.

Midnight turned around sharply, sending cold beads of sweat flying into the air.

“Azure?” The words came out of his mouth almost faltering. Tripping over each other like a newborn calf.

There was no time to hide his emotions this time. No chance to build that cold mask of unfeeling.

Azure Fang brushed a finger over his lips, shushing him. She looked deep into his eyes, and Midnight felt a wave of relief just crash over him, washing away the icy feeling of fear.

“Midnight, you’ll be fine. I know you’ll do great.” Azure said with a warm smile, one that lit up every corner of her face. “Kakashi sensei told me once before: ‘You can overcome anything. You just need to love what you are doing.’ Have faith in your team. But also have faith in yourself. Remember, we’re all your friends, and we’ll be here with you.”

With that, she stood up and slid out of the locker room, leaving Midnight alone once more.

Midnight sat there still, staring at row after row of lockers, breathing in, breathing out. Bit by bit, the fear ebbed out like the tide.

One of his teammates poked their head in the room, “The game is starting, we’re about to formally enter the field, captain.”

Midnight stood up, his composure restored. He looked his teammate in the eye and gave one of those rare smiles. “For Konoha.”

The first half of the game passed in a blur, and it was nearing the end of the second half. The blinding stadium lights, the pounding of the feet, the thud of the ball, and the roar of the crowd all mushed together in those 45 minutes.

The game had gone poorly for the Hidden Leaf so far, every attack they tried crashed against the impervious defense of the Hidden Cloud. The possession of the ball lay mostly with the Hidden Cloud. Yet, the Hidden Leaf team had managed to fend off every ball from their own goal. The score remained 0-0. Still, they were exhausted to the point of near collapse. Midnight had tried everything he knew. Long pass after long pass was intercepted. They couldn’t even win the headers because of the sheer speed of the Hidden Cloud’s team.

The Hidden Leaf had also racked up a few yellow cards, through their desperation they had unintentionally fouled the other team multiple times. Now, they had to be extra careful as to not lose one player.

It was the last five minutes, and the end was looking grim. As Midnight looked around at his team, he saw weary faces and sluggish sweaty bodies on the edge of fainting. Nowhere did he see a spark of inspiration.

Suddenly, the shrill whistle of the referee pierced the field. Red card on Konoha. It was one of their strikers, a goal scorer, who had in the heat of the game accidentally elbowed one of the Hidden Cloud in the face.The crowd roared, mixed between protest and approval.

Midnight felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, as lifeline by lifeline was cut. Suddenly, he heard the words of Azure echoing in his ear: “You can overcome anything. You just need to love what you are doing”.

Midnight stood there, and looked into himself. Did he love this game? Did he love what he was doing; did he love his team, his friends, and his village?

He slowly looked up at the starry night, outside of the lights of the stadium. They seemed to glow brighter than ever, like specks of fire in the sky.

“Yes”, he breathed. “I love this game. And I know that we can win this.”

Midnight quickly called his team together, and they gathered in a small huddle of now only 10 players.

“Guys. This is the last chance that we will have. I know that you guys can do this. We will do this for our friends, our family, and our village. FOR KONOHA!”

The whistle ran again. The game was resuming again. 2 minutes added time.

2 minutes to make a difference.

2 minutes to win a game.

One of the Hidden Leaf’s defenders nagged away the ball from a Hidden Cloud defender, and sent it hurling toward Midnight, who was waiting at the midfield.

Time seemed to slow.

The roar of the crowd, the cheers, the drumming of the feet all fell silent. All Midnight could hear was his own heartbeat in his ears. The sound of his breath.

Midnight jumped like he never had before, and won the ball.

Three defenders of the Hidden Cloud jumped and swarmed around him, but Midnight knew that the stars would be on his side today.

Have faith in your team. Azure’s words echoed once more.

Midnight wove through one of the defenders, almost dancing with the ball as his feet lightly skipped the ground. Two more to go.

Have faith in yourself.

Midnight skipped around another defender, running faster and faster. One more defender left.

We’re all your friends.

Midnight outran the last defender, positioning the ball while running for the perfect position. Nothing but the net and the goalie left.

We’ll be here with you.

Midnight felt a surge of power course through his body, and for once through the entire game, he felt calm and at peace.

He brought back his leg, and kicked with all his might, aiming for the top right corner.

Time slowed down. Every eye on the entire field, in the entire stadium watched the ball glide almost effortlessly through the goalie’s hands and slam into the netting.

The entire stadium erupted into cheers. Midnight Blade had done it. In the last two minutes, he had done it.

The Hidden Leaf, for the very first time, under the leadership of Midnight Blade, had won the Kage Cup.

As his team swarmed him, Midnight looked into the stands and saw his family, his friends, and even the Hokage Naruto smiling and cheering.

Through the arms of his team, Midnight made eye contact with Azure, and both had the widest smiles on their faces.

All of the Hidden Leaf fans and team alike joined in with the loud cheer: “FOR KONOHA!”