He started to run, in the distance he saw how the midfielder from his team intercepted the ball and considered further moves ... this type of maneuvers practiced often in training, and now was the opportunity to test them on the battlefield. In the end it was a match for everything, a kind of mini championship final. Fight between Konoha and Sand teams.

They ran parallel, defeating the next meters of the pitch marked by direct clashes between the players and headed towards the opponent's goal occupied by Gaara with his incredible protection – a sand barrier. No one has managed to defeat this wall so far. Sand's team defended the champion at this year's competition for the third time in a row.

In the Sand penalty field there were only 2 opponents, the case was practically won, but the biggest problem was the goalkeeper,

well ... thought Midnight Blade, do not call me “lightning strike” for nothing ...

In his head there were pictures of trainings with master Guy, the concept of training speed over strength training, joint conversations, he was a trainer for him, a second father, a friend ...

Guy smiled slightly and said: Midnight Blade, with pure animal strength you can not do anything, on the pitch the speed, only speed and instinct of the attacker count. From the very beginning, as soon as I saw you moving around the pitch, I knew that you were created to score amazing goals, and that you might be the only one who would lead our team to the dream title.

The boy blushed slightly, he was only 8 years old ... from that moment passed another 3 years ... and he had a chance to meet the hopes set in him.

The first shot towards the goal was reflected from the barely visible barrier ... sand ... what is going on... shouted MB, the situation repeated twice more times ... two shots, both in goal area and both futile ... MB could do anything with the ball. He scored goals in all possible ways: with using right and left leg, from near and far distances, using head, after overtaking several opponents. However, he did not like to shoot penalty kicks or free kicks, he was basing on his speed.

For a moment he had a moment of hesitation, he was troubled by the attitude of his opponent, an opponent who did not move for a moment, but defended his shots.

His base speed proved to be insufficient, he tried again and again to shoot from outside the penalty area, curled shots, the barrier from the sand seemed to be alive, some intelligent being who was an excellent goalkeeper avatar.

The opponents definitely attacked him and they did not intend to let him go. Finally, however, he managed to outsmart them and fired at the approaching Gaara. The ball inevitably headed for the goal. - GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! GOAL as a perfection of victory! - shouted the commentator. The fans broke up from places! And then, at the last moment, the ball was kicked out of the field by a stream of sand coming out of the gourd! The fans began to howl with despair and whistle.

Team's midfielder throws the ball from the side line. The throw was far to the penalty area. At that moment time slowed down and just like in the movies the picture stopped. MB in an amazing jump shooting his head with unstoppable power. In Gaara's eyes one could see astonishment, but how is it even possible? - he thought ... but it was too late, the ball crossed the goal line. The impossible barrier did not help. In the Konoha team, the initial disbelief was replaced with shouts of joy, they nervously looked at the clock measuring the time of the game, more than 19 minutes.

87th minute of the match. Midnight Blade takes the ball on the foot in such a way that itself passes the first protector covering it, and then, as if playing jugglery, throws the ball over the head of the other and shoots from the air at the speed of thunder, Gaara had no chance once again . Goooooal! What a wonderful goal. In the 88th minute of the game, Konoha was winning 2-0 with the Sand team.

When the referee finished the match, madness broke out in the stands. Somewhere in the distance a strange sound began to grow slowly, trrrrrrrr trrrrrrrr at first quietly, in a moment to resound in the head of the MB more and more loud ...

He slowly opened his eyes, it was just a dream, the mysterious sound was just *arm clock standing on the cupboard next to his head. He quickly got out of bed, today is the first day of school, I can not be late. He smiled blissfully to himself and ran to greet the family.

My details: Server Number: NY386 Serpant's Rampart. Character Name: Emperor Lone. UID: 200000100062044

The Will To Be Accepted

Scarlet Blaze; the youngest and shortest member of the Konoha Rasengans, sat on the bench as he bit his lips in frustration. He had been ridiculed and taunted for his height ever since he joined the team.

It was only thanks to his occasional, 'moments of luck', as the other team members called them, that he was able to be selected to just be a benched player for them. baseball meant everything to him.

How many years had he worked hard to perfect his Scorching Pitcher? How many hours had he toiled away by himself, almost breaking his body, to make up the difference in his small frame with strength? Too many to count. What was the point of all of the training, all of that hard work, for it to be ignored and dismissed as 'luck' or a 'fluke'?

Scarlet only wanted two things: To gain the respect of his teammates and to help win the game.

All of the professional juniors teams from the five great villages had conferred for the annual baseball cup, and in this event, great fortune and fame could be earned by the winners.

Unfortunately, the Konoha Rasengans had never once won this tournament. It was only open to Genin, like Scarlet, and due to the tensions between the five great nations, only the weakest Genin were allowed to join their ninja sports divisions to let the stronger ones focus on their training in preparation to deal with the fourth great ninja war that could easily break out at any moment.

'We can't lose again! We have to show the other villages that we're better than them!', Scarlet's mind raced as he let his fiery temperament consume him for a moment.

It was at that moment, that a loud array of voices suddenly inhaled sharply or cried out in surprise. Raising his head, Scarlet could see that the ace batter, Naruto Uzumaki, one of the weakest Genin, had been hit in the face with a chakra infused baseball, knocking him out cold.

He was dragged away by a few medical ninjas as Asuma Sarutobi, the temporary coach for the team, furrowed his brow as he thought of what to do.

This was the last inning, and their opponents, the Hard Hitters from the village of stone, had been purposefully eliminating their best players via chakra infusion, a technique that the Konoha Rasengans hadn't learnt yet in their Genin training.

Now there was only one option left if they wanted to win. "Scarlet!"

"Me?" Scarlet looked around a bit sheepishly only to notice that he was the last person sitting on the bench. Had everyone else been taken out with those insanely fast throws? He didn't know, but he did know that this was his chance.

"Yeah, you. I know it's not right to ask you to face those monsters... *ed Iwagakure cheaters... It was a silent agreement to use the weakest ninjas... unless these are there weakest?" Asuma paled at this thought.

He held no hopes for the young fifteen-year-old, Scarlet Blaze, but he couldn't take this defeat lying down. That wasn't Konoha. That wasn't the undying Will of Fire that filled all residents of Konoha's hearts!

"I'm sorry to put this on you," Asuma said while he put a hand on Scarlet's shoulder. he showed his teeth holding his cigarette in place as he smiled. "I believe in you, even if the team doesn't. I was keeping you back as our trump card, so go show them the Will of Fire, okay, kid?"

"Asuma-sensei..." Scarlet felt his chest pound and his blood begin to rush. 'Asuma-sensei believes in me... Even if it ruins my hands, I have to use that! I can't let Sensei or Konoha down!'

"I can do this, Asuma-sensei! I won't let you down, I swear on my name as a member of the Blaze Clan!" Scarlet passionately declared.

"Kid..." Asuma was taken aback before he closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, that's the spirit."

Scarlet grinned and walked over to the batting stand. Asuma had a conflicted look on his face. 'There's no way we can win. He needs a flawless home-run... With the way the Earth boy is throwing his *, there's no way...'

Scarlet stood firmly in front of the catcher with a determined look in his eyes and he stared at the pitcher who was twenty or so feet away. His palms were sweating and he was nervous. The boy who was holding the baseball and getting ready to throw it was a hulking mass of muscles unfit to be called a teenager. Not only was he covering the small leather ball in chakra, his raw strength alone was enough to scare Scarlet.

'I can do this! Asuma-sensei, the team and all of Konoha are counting on me!' he gritted his teeth and prepared for the pain that was to come from using his secret jutsu.

The pitcher wound his arm back and threw the baseball. It was shrouded in a thin layer of brown energy, clearly, this was Earth-natured chakra. Scarlet swung his bat to match the height of the ball, and just as the two were about to hit one another, Scarlet moved his fingers in a strange pattern and mumbled, "Jigoku no bō no jutsu."

Immediately, his metal bat was covered in a wild and fierce layer of roaring flames. All Scarlet felt after that was his arms flopping to his sides and his feet moving as fast as they could. Something that seemed like a loud cheering sound passed through his ears before he collapsed.

A few days later, he woke up in a hospital bed with Asuma sitting next to him. "You're finally awake, Scarlet." A big smile was on his sensei's face.

"What happened? I can't remember anything past when I..." Scarlet looked down at his arms and was glad to see that they were still okay.

"You won, kid. I couldn't believe it. When did you learn such a powerful jutsu? It must be at least rank A. Here, take this," Asuma praised before he passed a small black lump of something to Scarlet.

"Is this... the ball?" Scarlet asked in confusion.

Asuma laughed. "You messed it up pretty badly. My Uncle, the Hokage, he wanted you to have it. Also, welcome to the team, Ace-san."

"A-Ace-san?" Scarlet stuttered.

Asuma nodded and grinned. "The whole team decided. You're the new Ace. Naruto had to step down to go find Jiraiya-sensei, an old toad hermit."

A tear rolled down Scarlet's face. He had finally been recognised! This was all he had ever wanted! With the help of the lost art from his long-dead clan, he was able to carve his path ahead!

What the future held for the young Scarlet Blaze, no one knew for sure. However, he would never forget this moment for a single day as he grew to become one of the most powerful shinobi in the known world.

TRY TO GET 1ST PLACE

Born ,.

Midnight Blade is a boy is deeply in love with football and dreams of one day winning the World Cup for japan. He lives in a house located in the south of Konoha, to develop his talent he joined a small team lead by Iruka but he does not have soccer shoes and he works to earn money as Ramen's introduction to buy a soccer boots. Every day while delivering Ramen orders he practiced while kicking apples as his ball.

Career.,

Midnight Blade follows the selection of football players held by the Hokage, the talent scouts who saw him then told the Hokage that a boy named Midnight Blade would be "the world's best player". Midnight Blade then started his debut with a team lead by Kakashi. Every Event held by the Hokage he never missed and at the end of the season he became the top scorer and earned the title of "King Of The Battlefield" as his first trophy.

Cross Server ,.

The tournament starts with a controversy in which Midnight Blade is always on tacle With Stongest players, Then Midnight Blade crashed out in the preliminary round. Since then Midnight Blade has vowed not to follow the event. But he took his intention and fight back to become stronger but the day never come.
yeah because he F2P ( hahahahahhaha,.)

THE END,.

MVP

The Crimson Fist, a name feared on the battlefield but earned on the basketball court. Given because he moved the ball with such speed and athleticism that it appeared as a red blur. Even at a young age scouts were lining up to commit him to their roster, however the Hokage also noticed his physical prowess and extended an invitation to become a Shinobi. Duty bound, he accepted the call. Ninja of any rank are banned from organized sports, so his first day as a Genin was his last as a sportsman. At that time he didn’t understand or agree with the rule. Sitting in the stands today as a Special Jounin he fully endorsed it, however no rules existed that stated he couldn’t be a fan. He had loved the Konoha “Leaves” since he was a young boy, and it was his dream to join their ranks. He knew this dream could never be fully realized, so he embraced fandom by suiting up for every game wearing, their home colors of green and yellow. As a season ticket holder game attendance came second only to his responsibilities as a leaf Shinobi. The Professional basketball League hosted teams from all the major villages. Every season a few new teams would enter but they seldom stayed long due to the extreme level of competition. This year was the exception with the brand new team, “the Snakes” toting an undefeated record. They even had a large following since the proceeds were given to the orphanage that sponsored the team. To make it to the championship the first year in the league was unheard of, he was excited to see what they were all about. After saying hello to all the regulars he eased back into his seat and enjoyed the cacophony of sounds that make him feel at home in the arena. Music began to play as the teams entered the stadium. He immediately recognized the Leaves, they made a fine squad, he had played with several of them when he was younger, and he had acquired each players autograph at least once. The Snakes were immense, not just basketball player big, but huge by any standard. It seemed like a team full of Akimichi’s using expansion jutsu. “This has to be some sort of mistake, the league screens for steroids stringently, there is no way they are natural. When the snakes manager was introduced it sent a chill down his spine, “Kabuto Yakushi” rang out over the speakers. The name had crossed his path multiple times on missions. Supposedly reformed, Kabuto was a scientific genius who’s moral ambiguity led to extensive human experimentation. If anyone could augment a person in such a way that the PBL could not find a trace it was him. The game began and the difference was all to evident. The snakes simply outsized and overpowered the leaves and jumped up to a quick lead 34 to 16. “This was the leafs year, I’m can’t just sit her and watch a championship cheated away from them. He saw Kabuto softly clapping on the sideline as a member of his team slam dunked from nearly the three point line, a large serpentine grin spreading across his face. An irrational bloodlust boiled up within him. He pushed it down into the cold place in his chest and started calculating his counter attack. The score at the half was Snakes 75, Leaves 28. Many would consider his intentions cheating. But Shinobi don’t recognize such childish words, it is results that matter in a mission. The teams retook the court, this half was going to be different. After a little shiver he tucked his arms into his green Leaves jersey and started signing in secret. The effect of super lightened bolder jutsu was immediate. Some of the Leaves stumbled around as they got used to their new lighter body and drastically increased speed. They quickly adapted and began to run circles around the larger and slower opponents. The strength that had once been the Snakes advantage hurt them as they sent Leaves flying with each physical contact eliciting a foul call from the refs. He winced as one of their players nearly jumped over the backboard, maybe he had overdone it. The score said otherwise with the Leaves leading 111 to 110 with 30 seconds left on the clock. Every muscle in his body clenched as the snakes passed the ball in. The defense was immediately on them but the Snakes had planed for this. The smaller faster Leaves would steal the ball if they put it on the hardwood so they held it overhead and instead of dribbling they formed a line and handed it to each other slower making their way for the basket. With 2 seconds left and a eight foot tall Snake inches away from scoring a sudden chill sent his hands back into his jersey. As the ball descended into what was surely the championship securing point he signed wood style low rafter and sent the hoop toppling over sideways. He intended to make it look like the player had torn down the backboard missing the game winning shot. He wouldn’t have bought it, but the crowd did, and they went wild. He found himself on his feet adding to the uproar. The leaves finally have a title. A well deserved championship. He saw that trophy handed to the star player and a celebratory bucket of sports drink dumped on the coach. He looked down at his green and yellow Leaves uniform and felt a tinge of pride for doing his part for the team he so loved. Then a melodic hissing whisper said “good game, don’t you think?” He turned to see Kabuto standing right beside him. To think he could have gotten so close without him noticing. “It was certainly the most interesting game of the season” said Kabuto. He was caught, a punishment for his abuse of power was sure to come but he would weather that, it was the knowledge that his season tickets would be taken and that he would probably be banned from spectating altogether that really hurt. An ice cold hand gripped his shaking him out of his stupor, “I just wanted to shake the hand of the Leaves most valuable player” hissed Kabuto. See you next season.

The End

Okay, first of all, I've never played basketb*ll, so forgive for some inaccuracies here. This contest was too good to pass up. So, I decided to participate and take a little break from hiatus, let's go! Also, I've already censored b*ll and bl*w since there are times where they get censored for some odd reason. Good luck, everyone!

Youthful Dunks

Crimson smirked as he arrived at his destination. He was in a rather large clearing in Konoha's Forest. There was a wide, open space. The ground was bare of grass. No trees were in the middle of clearing, all were perfectly aligned on the sides. And most important of all, the clearing is in the shape of a rectangle.

This brought a smirk on Crimson's lips. "Perfect." he said out loud.

The buff shinobi walked up to the clearing and started to perform a set of hand seals. Ending in the Tiger seal. The orangenette slammed both of his palms onto the ground, causing it to quake. On both sides of the clearings, basketb*ll rings emerged. Both were entirely made out of wood.

Crimson chuckled and brought out a scroll. He unfurled the object and channeled chakra into it, a single item materializing. A basketb*ll. He picked it up and raised the index and middle finger of his unoccupied hand, smoke shrouding him. When it was bl*wn away, it revealed Crimson in a green basketb*ll jersey, shorts and a short sleeve on his right arm.

"Alright!" declared Crimson. "Now, all there is left is-"

"Crimson-senpai!"

On top of a hill was Lee, Neji and Gai. For some odd reason, Tenten wasn't with them. And what's more, they were not in their usual outfits. Neji was wearing a standard referee's uniform, a whistle hanging from his neck. Gai and Lee, however, were wearing orange jersey shirts. Over their green spanded, of course. Crimson smiled and waved.

"Yo, Gai-sensei, Lee-kun, Neji!"

The two exuberant males of Team Gai waved enthusiastically, while Neji settled for a calm nod. They jumped down onto the clearing. Gai smiled and clasped Crimson's hand.

"Thank you for inviting us into the little basketb*ll match, Crimson-kun."

Crimson shrugged. "It's no problem, Gai-sensei. Honestly, even if Scarlet wasn't busy with baseb*ll, or with Midnight focusing on footb*ll, Breeze doing volleyb*ll and Azure participating in the gymnastics tournament, you guys would still be my top pick."

Lee cheered loudly. "Yosh! Then let us start!"

Before they could run up to their side of the court, Crimson stopped them. "Wait! Let's make things a little bit interesting."

Both wearers of the spandex looked at each other, before staring at Crimson. "What do you have in mind, senpai?"

Crimson slipped into a position, Gai and Lee immediately recognizing what he wanted. The three crossed their arms and shouted as one.

"Eight Gates Formation: Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain: Release!"

Neji had to momentarily block his eyes as a green aura surged out from the three, powering up their eight gates. Crimson, Gai and Lee looked at each other and smirked.

Neji picking up the b*ll. He held it up high and activated his Byakugan. "Alright, I want a good, clean match. No using of Ninjutsu or Taijutsu to harm the opponent. I you do use any sort of jutsu but it's for dramatic flair, I'll allow it. The winner will be declared once one of you reaches 15 points. Ready? Hajime!"

Neji then threw the b*ll up into the air, prompting the three to jump and fight over it. Lee managed to grab the b*ll and started running towards Crimson's court, dribbling the b*ll. Crimson caught up with Lee and prepared to steal the b*ll, only for Lee to pass it to Gai and dunked it into the hoop.

Neji ran up to the conveniently placed scoreboard and flipped the numbers to 2. Crimson picked up the b*ll and started dribbling. He dashed off in a blurring speed, which caught both mentor and student by surprise. Crimson jumped up and dunked shot the b*ll, earning himself 2 points.

"Heh. This is gonna be great!"

Lee picked up the b*ll and went towards Crimson's court. However, Crimson managed to catch Lee in a bind, blocking him from throwing it into the hoop. Lee saw his mentor motioning for him to throw the b*ll towards him. The student nodded and threw it to Gai, only for Crimson to intercept it and threw it all the way to the other side, shooting it into the hoop. Neji flipped the numbers, Crimson's score count becoming 5.

Gai and Lee frowned but remained undeterred. When Neji threw the b*ll towards them they immediately started running zig-zagged, catching Crimson off-guard. Gai quickly passed the b*ll towards Lee, whom shot it into the hoop, being awarded 2 points.

Crimson blinked but smirked nonetheless. "Getting a bit competitive, I see?"

The Green Beast of Konoha did the "Nice Guy" pose, but with a smirk instead. "We will not lose this youthful match, Crimson-senpai! We will beat you, and if we cannot, then we will juggle two dozen, no, four dozen basketb*lls with our feet!"

"And if I cannot beat you two, then I will juggle seven dozen basketb*lls while running 10 laps across Konoha!"

Neji stomped his foot, gaining the three's attention. "Stop babbling and get to playing!" He threw the b*ll to Crimson, whom started bouncing the b*ll.

Once Neji bl*w the whistle, Crimson dashed ahead, but was quickly intercepted by Gai and Lee. Crimson gritted his teeth and tried to rotate, only for Lee to sn*tch the b*ll away from his hands and moved towards his court. Gai smirked as he caught the b*ll from Lee and slam dunked the b*ll once again, bringing up their score to 6.

Crimson was given the b*ll again, the orangenette dribbling it with intense ferocity. He ran off into a start, focused on getting to the other side. Gai attempted to block, only for Crimson to jump over him. Lee ran towards his senpai and tried to grab the b*ll, only for Crimson to dash back and threw the b*ll inside the hoop, adding his score to 7.

Neji tossed the b*ll to his teammate, whom quickly jumped up and threw it immediately. Crimson rushed and went to intercept the b*ll. He jumped up and tried to catch it, only for it to slip through his fingers. It shot into the hoop, awarding Gai and Lee 3 points.

"Yosh! We're two points ahead of you, Crimson-senpai!"

The buff shinobi chuckled as he dribbled the b*ll. "Don't count me out yet, Lee-kun. The match still has a long way to go."

Crimson flinched, along with Gai and Lee, feeling the Eight Gates' strain finally making its way to their bones. The dark-skinned male s* it off and swerved around his kouhai and mentor, shooting the b*ll into the hoop. Neji flipped the scoreboard again, the score now 8 - 9.

Lee dribbled and tossed it into the air, confusing Crimson. Lee jumped after it and unwrapped his bandages slightly. He wrapped it around the b*ll and tossed it towards hoop. It bounced in, only for it to bounce out but then it bounced in again.

Neji blinked and grabbed a book from nowhere, reading through its contents quite quickly. Once he found what he looked for, he faced the scoreboard and changed up the score, Apparently, what happened counted as separate scores. So now, it was 13 - 8.

Gai laughed boisterously and flashed a thumbs up. "Truly, for a short basketb*ll match, this was very youthful! But this is your downfall, Crimson-kun. All we need is just two points and-" Gai blinked as Crimson just passed him, the latter quickly dunking the b*ll into the hoop, getting 2 points.

Neji tossed the ball towards his sensei, who had recovered from his shock. Gai narrowed his eyes and dashed off. Konoha's Blue Beast dribbled very intensely, the ground kept getting indented. Gai jumped up from where he stood and threw the ball, in hopes of getting it in. However, out of nowhere, Crimson managed to intercept the b*ll and threw it into their court instead.

It got in. The score was now a tie. 13 - 13. Whoever scored next would be the winner. Crimson smirked at the two, whom smirked back. "It's time we end this match. Ne, Gai-sensei? Lee-kun?"

Gai nodded. "Indeed!"

Much to Neji's shock, Crimson started to perform a set of hand seals, prompting him to berate the orangenette. "Hey! What are you doing? I thought I said-"

"Wood Style: Wood Human Jutsu!"

An enormous statue-like creature popped out from below, the entire creature made out of wood. It growled lowly and took hold of the b*ll. The creature c*ocked back its arm and threw the ball in blurring speed. Gai smirked and jumped up, spin-kicking the b*all back to Crimson. The dark-skinned male jumped over his golem and punched the b*ll towards Lee.

Lee unwrapped his bandages again and wrapped it around the oncoming b*ll. He started spinning around, the wrapped up sphere catching on fire. He spun one more time, right before tossing it to the wood person. The statue-like creature merely flicked it back to the duo.

Gai and Lee nodded at each other and kicked the b*ll into the air. The three then smirked at each other and jumped after the blazing b*ll. Lee threw a punch only for Crimson to block it and threw him quite far. Gai spin-kicked Crimson and side-kicked him down. Gai front flipped and drop kicked Crimson, sending him back down. The wood statue manage to catch Crimson, who rubbed his aching head.

He saw Gai manage to grab the b*ll and started descending down.

"Leaf Drop Dunk!"

Crimson looked at his creation. It nodded. The wood person tossed his creator right towards Gai. The Blue Beast was surprise as he found himself in a bear hug by Crimson. The orangentte smirked as he started to spin around.

"Reverse Lotus!"

Neji looked up, seeing the two enter their vision. Crimson stopped spinning and dunked Gai into the hoop, which caused, somehow, a small explosion. Neji slipped into a stance and spun around. "Kaiten!"

Neji started rotating, deflecting most of the oncoming rubble and debris. Once everything cleared down, Neji stopped the jutsu, to see the court destroyed, the hoops quite a wreck and Crimson and Gai, laying down in the middle, their jerseys quite torn up. Neji sh*ok his head and flipped the numbers on Crimson's side.

The final score was 15 - 13.

"Match set. Winner, Crimson."

"Noooooo!"

Neji turned around seeing Lee burst out of the bushes, his jersey torn up a bit. The Green Beast fell to his knees, anime tears flowing down his face.

"Gai-sensei! Forgive me! I've costed us our win!"

Gai chuckled from where he lay. He looked at his prized student and sh*ok his head. "No you did not, Lee. It's not always about winning. This was for pure fun. This match, it was quite youthful!"

Crimson nodded in agreement. He looked at his sensei and they high-fived each other, only to flinch as they heard their bones break.

"Maa maa. You guys never cease to be this wild, huh?"

The four looked around and saw Kakashi wearing a football outfit along with Midnight. Scarlet dropped down, along with Sasuke, the two of them wearing baseball uniforms.

"We were just coming back from a brief practice match, and then we came home to see you do an unorthodox basketb*ll match." The Uchiha sh*ok his head bemusedly as he stared down on them. "I'll never understand Taijutsu users. I'll really don't."

Kakashi eye smiled and pocketed his hands, agreeing with his student. "Well, come on. Let's go carry these two idiots to Tsunade-sama."

Scarlet and Kakashi dropped down, carrying Crimson and Gai respectively. The orangette blinked, remembering something.

"Gai-sensei, Lee-kun. You two lost, which means you two ahve to juggle four dozen basketb*lls with your feet."

Lee sh*ok his head, fire burning in his eyes. "No! We will not be doing that! Instead, we will juggle EIGHT dozen basketb*lls with our feet, while we run 20 laps across Konoha!"

Sasuke and Midnight looked at each other, looking quite concerned. Scarlet and Kakashi looked relatively unconcerned, but were actually laughing in the inside. Crimson let out a small chuckle as he looked up at the sun.

"I'll be waiting."

Azure Fang looked at the crowd from behind the stage. She has been practicing her routine for weeks just for this big day. It was the Championships for Gymnastics, her dream is about to come true. 'Finally' she thought. 'It's now or never.' Taking a deep breath Azure Fang couldn't help but get nervous. Anxious that her performance might not be up to par with her other competitors. She suddenly felt herself backing from the stage. Her name will be called soon, but she lost her confidence as soon as she thought about failure. 'I can't do this. I can't!' Azure Fang felt the stinging of tears about to fall.

A hand tapped her shoulder. Surprised, Azure Fang turned around. What she saw almost made her tears flow from her eyes. All her friends were here - supporting her. Naruto was the first one to speak. "Don't you dare give up on your dream now, Azure Fang!" Of course, she remembers now. She and Naruto made a promise to fulfill their dreams and never give up on it. She is already close so why would she give up now? Breeze Dancer and Ino Yamanaka walked forward. “You should have more confidence. You should give yourself more credit.” Breeze Dancer said. “I agree, you are actually better than you think you are!”

Remembering all the practice she did and the failures as well. It helped her improve her skills and it was time for her to show everyone that she is the best there is when it comes to Gymnastics. Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga approached her this time, giving her a hug simultaneously. “We believe you can win this, Azure Fang.” Sakura said. Hinata nodded and added, “We are rooting for you.” Azure Fang nodded back and with a determined look, gripped her equipment harder. With confidence at last, she looked at all her friends and comrades that came to see her performance. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Lee, Breeze Dancer, and Crimson Fist. Even Neji, Shino, Midnight Blade and Scarlet Blaze came to support. They were all there with her, cheering for her. Naruto grinned and had his thumb up for her. Azure fang did the same in return. ‘It’s a promise!’ She thought.

“Come on! Let’s watch the other performances!” Naruto shouted. “QUIT BEING SO LOUD!” Sakura bonked Naruto on the head. The others either laughed or s* their heads at the pair’s usual antics. Azure Fang sat at one of the seats for audiences, there are still a few contestants before she will be up front. ‘You can do this! Just breathe.’ She tried to calm herself. Pretend that it is not a big competition and that she is only performing for her friends. Hinata suggested it, if she think of it as that, she wouldn’t be making any mistakes and her movements would be perfect. One by one the contestants performed for them. And at last, it was Azure Fang’s turn up the stage. Her friends all cheered for her, with Naruto and Lee being the loudest to cheer – screaming ‘You can do it-ttebayo!’ and ‘The power of Youth is strong in you!’ respectively. Gripping her ribbon tightly, she prepared to go up the stage and perform her routine.

‘Deep breats… 1.. 2.. 3.. Let’s go!’

------------------------------------------------------------

Azure Fang was nearing the end of her routine. She is covered with slight sheen of sweat, but it is normal for she has been moving nonstop since the start of her performance. She imagined that she was only doing her practices and pretended that there weren’t anyone watching her – only her friends. She is almost at her limit, her breaths are getting shallower by the second. Relieved that her performance is almost over, she did her final twirls and stopped for a few moments to prepare a bow to her audience.

Azure Fang came to when the crowd finally applauded her with claps and whistles, some even throwing her flowers – most likely coming from her friends. Catching her breath for a moment, she prepared to walk out of the stage. There she found her friends already waiting for her. “That was awesome, Azure Fang!” Naruto shouted. “All your practicing really paid off!” Sakura added. Ino, Hinata and Breeze Dancer nodded agreeing with Sakura’s words.

"Let’s go out and celebrate with Ramen!” Naruto said. “We still have to wait for the results, Naruto.” Azure Fang said. “I really want to know how I did.”

“Ahh! Right, right!” Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. “Let’s go back to our seats!”

It didn’t take long to tally the results. After waiting for 10 minutes, the host is ready to announce the winner of the championship. 2nd place, 3rd place was called, Azure Fang was getting nervous that her name is not yet called. Finally, the champion was announced. She almost lost her hearing. She couldn’t believe it. She won. Her friends were all cheering and patting her for success. Azure Fang was so happy she couldn’t even speak or even move, until her friends dragged her on the stage to take her medal and trophy. ‘Thank you, Naruto. Everyone, I couldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for your encouragement.`

Middle of the night GAME ON!

Middle of the night, Midnight Blade walking down the side walk’s path just out and about he wasn’t sleepy none the least. A text on his phone

“Midnight u still up man?” the text read

“I know you are your always up at this time of night, I know that’s your name but you don’t sleep” A sarcastic message.

Midnight replied back “what do you want?” Neji texted back as quickly as Midnight Blade answered

“There’s this game tonight you should come and play it will be loads of fun there’s also a prize c’mon man I wouldn’t of texted you if it wasn’t on some power up type stuff” Midnight Blade replied and Neji gave him directions to the place. He walk upon this darken arena. Midnight Blade just stood there staring for a few seconds. He felt a hand placed upon his shoulder making him jump a bit

“Chill man it’s just me” Neji chuckled a bit

“Not funny make a sound when you’re approaching me” Midnight Blade said

“Sorry man im like a ninja sometimes” Neji chuckled again. “Anyways here’s how this works I’ll explain everything.”

About two minutes later after explaining the game Neji handed him some clothes

“Here put this on and feel the magic also you have to be wearing it before the match keep it on from start to fini* will give you a boost of power and give you an advantage. Don’t forget we are goin up against the Hidden In The Mist.”

Midnight Blade took the clothes from Neji putting it on over his other clothes. They both walked inside the lights turned on a few minutes after they walk out in the middle of the arena. The other people was already in position. He took his place out on the field. He placed himself in the front line at the same time he could feel the power of the clothes taking over him.

The rules we’re simple get 10 points and the game will be yours along with prizes. Rocklee comes in the middle of the field between the two teams and tosses a coin the coin flips a few times in the air before landing on his hand

“Ok call it” Rocklee said covering the coin with the opposite hand.

“Tails!” yelled Midnight Blade.

“Heads” Yelled Kisame.

Rocklee removed his hand from covering the coin “Alright tails it is” he said.

(Alright let’s get it) Mightnight Blade spoke inside his head.

Starting the match Neji being one of the attackers grabbed the ball rolling it down the field, as the other player, Yagura come towards he dodged trying not to get the ball taken away. Midnight Blade also running down the field trying to find an opening. Neji using his feet he guided the ball upon the top of his foot picking it up he bounced it giving it good air throwing it towards Midnight Blade doing so he left himself open and the other person grabbed him.

Midnight Blade waited for the ball to come closer running towards it at the same time he positioned himself underneath the ball quickly letting it bounced on the top of his head. He bounced it twice before letting it fall to the ground see another player coming. The other team player Utakata slides trying to steal the ball. With quick agility Midnight Blade dribble the ball (Left foot, right foot) moving it away making the other player steal ineffective.

(What was that) Midnight Blade thought to himself.

He look seeing one of his teammates he quickly rolled the ball upon the top of his foot bouncing it giving it good air. He then caught it on top of his knee bouncing it twice before, with the top of his foot yet again passing it to his other attacking teammate. The game went on they was tied in points

“Midnight we need one more point” Yelled Neji. Midnight Blade looked at Neji, gulping he thought

(We are tied in points.)

The other side had the ball. Kisame, dribbling it down the field dodging the other players like he had gain some special new power. Chasing behind Kisame, Midnight Blade had a plan to steal the ball. He judged the speed and distance between the ball and kisame’s foot, kicking the ball it took air towards Neji. Neji caught it with the top of his head bouncing it to the other player. The other player then bounced off his head to another player. The last player the ball came to made the point by kicking it in the other team goal. “Goal!!!” Yelled Rocklee “Wait a minute isn’t the winning team supposed to say goal?” Asked Midnight Blade. The winners laughed. The score board read 9//10.

Breeze’s Beach Showdown

“Ahhn, such a nice day to hit the beach!” said Ino while streching her back as the group arrived at the Grassy Coast.

“Yeah, so nice of Tsunade-sama to give us all a break” replied Sakura.

“Uhhhm, is...... is it really fine for us to invite Sasuke and Na... Naruto-ku” “ALRIGHT THE BEACH!!! Last one in’s paying for Teuchi’s!”

Naruto races passed and cannon * into the water, soaking the girls before Hinata could finish.

“.....¬_¬.” “*_*” “O_O”

“NA.RU.TOOOOO!!!” Sakura releases a murderous aura while being held back by Ino.

“What a loser...” Said Sasuke as he passes the girls.

“If anybody bothers me.... I’ll kill them.”

The girls stare while he lays down a towel, puts on his sunglasses and starts to sleep.

“Sasuke is so hot.”

“Quit staring he’s mine”

“Ara, ara, let’s leave the boys for later and have some fun just us girls?” Said Breeze in her trendy hot blooded sports games outfit, volleyball in hands and Tsunade beside her.

“You mean beach volleyball?” Asked Hinata.

“That’s right!” Tsunade replied. “The best sport for a sunny day at the beach, and there’s a special prize for the winners.”

“What would that be?” Asked Sakura, curiosity curing her of her anger.

“Tsunade-sama’s one-of-a-kind aphrodisiac! Just one drop and you’ll be irresistible to any man.” Claimed Tsunade with her chest puffed out full of pride.

Ino and Sakura turn to look at Sasuke,

“I”M IN!!!!” x2

They slowly glare at each other, “In your dreams! You’re going down!!” x2

“Now, now, you girls will be on the same team so calm down...” Sighed Tsunade with a hand on her forehead. “It’s ‘Team Sasuke’ vs ‘Team Naruto’ 1 set of 21 points, winners get a vial of aphrodisiac each!”

“Looks like we’re on the same team.” Said Breeze as Hinata shyly walks over.

“Ye-Yes, I’ll do my best. I won’t pass up the chance to get Naruto-kun to finally notice me!”

“I’m not interested in Naruto, but for that person I won’t lose.”

The two teams get into position, first serve is Team Naruto.

“Try this!! Summon Kirin!”

Breeze launches the volleyball in the air as she uses her summon to blast it on the other side of the net.

“O.O””O.O”

“Tsunade-sama! Isn’t that agianst the rules?!?!” Sakura wailed.

“Hmm... It’s interresting so I’ll allow it! Point Team Naruto.”

“Have another!” Breeze gleefully says while blasting over the volleyball.

“Not this time! Summon Katsuyu!”

Katsuyu takes the blast full on and the volleyball is rebounded into the air. Ino sets it as it falls for Sakura to launch a full power spike.

“Eat it!!!”

The volleyball flies straight to Hinata’s face.

“Kya!!! Protective 8 Trigrams 64 Palms!”

The volleyball deflected back towards the net.

“Nice Hinata!”

Breeze runs full speed, leaps into the air and spikes in Ino’s blind spot.

“Point Team Naruto!”

It’ll be easy like this! Breeze thought as she set up her next serve.

“Now! Mind-Destruction Jutsu!”

Before Breeze could call Kirin her body froze over and the serve failed.

“Point Team Sasuke!”

“Wa- wait! Ino just used mind control!! That can’t be fair!”

“It’s not like the rules say you can’t.” Said Ino *ing out her tongue.

“I’ll let it slide this time but the mind control stops here.” Tsunade replied.

Drat I was careless... Just to be safe I’ll use Flower Guard for the rest of the match.

Breeze serves and the teams rally for a bit, until....

“Enough of this, Hurricane Jutsu!”

Breeze launches a gust of wind, blinding Team Sasuke and causing Sakura to miss her block against Hinata.

“Point Team Naruto, 3 to 1!”

Alright! We’ve got this. Breeze thought as she serves and uses Hurricane Jutsu.

“Regenerative Healing Jutsu! Don’t think a trick like that can beat me!” Sakura shouted as she receives the strike after relieving the debuff.

“Nice Sakura!”

Ino goes for a spike and scores.

“Point Team Sasuke, 2 to 3!” Tsunade announces. “This is game is finally heating up! How about we make things more exciting? Match point for the team that scores next, no restrictions!”

“Sounds fun, let’s go all out! ” Breeze exclaims energetically.

“No restrictions? Then... anything goes?” Hinata asked timidly.

“All’s fair in love and war!” Tsunade replied, “Besides we need to end this quick to help Naruto.”

“GAAAAH!!!! Sasuke, I’ll die for real if that hits me!”

“That’s the point idiot!”

Naruto runs for his life as Sasuke launches arrows from his Susano’o.

“>.<” ”-_-” “O_O” “^o^”

“Hang in there Naruto we’ll save you soon!” Breeze gleefully shouts, “Ara, ara, boys will be boys.”

“So that’s how it is... all or nothing is just my style!” Sakura exclaims.

Sakura Launches the volleyball like a missile homed in on Hinata’s blind spot.

“As if I’ll let you win that easily!” Breeze shouts as she dives.

Hinata sets the rebound and Breeze goes for the finishing move.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

A multitude of clones fill the air.

“Odama Rasengan!” x9000

A wall of rasengan blasts the other side of the net like a meteor shower as Sakura and Ino run for their lives.

“Ahh.. I think the volleyball got destroyed....But since it got caught up in the rasengan I’ll count the rasengan as the new volleyball! Point Team Naruto! Breeze and Hinata win!!” Tsunade declares.

“Yatta!!” Breeze and Hinata high five.

“Now to save Naruto-kun!”

“No need.” Sasuke says as he drags a beaten Naruto by the foot.

*

Naruto disappears from Sasukes grasp.

“Haha, I’m up here!” Says Naruto from atop a palm tree.

“Ara, looks like he’s safe.” Breeze said, “Lets all go to Teuchi’s to celebrate then!”

“WAIT!! HOLD UP!!! I CAN’T GET DOWN!!!!!”

As the group (Naruto jumped in the end, It’s Teuchi’s after all) headed back to Konoha, Breeze couldn’t stop thinking about how she would use her prize.

Tonight I’ll make it finally make it happen.

To Be Continued....

An impatient Scarlet Blaze wakes the campers up early for a challenge. After a volley of insults between Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi, Scarlet Blaze takes matters into his own hands by pulling out his trusty megaphone, which gets the now-angered competitors out of bed. Scarlet Blaze then explains to the campers that he's adding a twist: two teammates will be sent home instead of one at the end of the night! This means the two teammates with the most votes will both be eliminated. Hinata in particular is eager to use this twist to her advantage.

Scarlet Blaze continues explaining that many competitors will be safe in today's challenge, so not everyone needs to worry. He tells them that they're playing an ordinary game of baseball! Two captains will randomly be selected, and one team will have one extra player, determined by a coin flip, due to there being an odd number of competitors remaining. Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake are selected, and Scarlet Blaze lets Hinata Hyuga begin picking first. At first, both groups pick their friends/alliance members until Hinata Hyuga unexpectedly picks Kabuto , deliberately choosing one of Iruka friends. Iruka picks Sasuke Uchiha although he would have rather picked Hinata, just because he didn't want her to have to play against her boyfriend. Kakashi, naturally, is also relieved not to have to play for Hinata. All campers are eventually chosen except Naruto, but he is given to Sakura after the coin flip, though she is more annoyed than anything as she considers him "dead weight." After all decisions are made, Sakura team consists of herself, Haku, Tsunade, Temari, Tenten, Kushina, Yugito, Lee, and Mito, while Kakashi team consists of himself, Itachi, Deidara, Hidan, Akatsuchi , Kabuto , Guy, and Ino. Scarlet Blaze tells the campers to meet at the baseball field in an hour; first team to get ten runs wins!

Kakashi asks his team if anyone has played baseball before, but only Ino and Itachi have. Kakashi places Hidan and Kabuto in the outfield, Lee as catcher due to his lack of arms, Hidan as the pitcher, himself on third base, Sakura on second base, Deidara on first base, and Yugioh as shortstop. Everyone is okay with their positions, so Haku resolves to take down Sakura's team.

On Sakura's team, TenTen volunteers as pitcher, which she approves. Sakura places Haku as catcher because she's slow. She also puts Tsunade, Temari, and Lee in the outfield, Kushina on second base, herself on first, Sasuke on third, and Kabuto as shortstop. When Kabuto questions how he's even supposed to catch a ball with Guy for hands, Kakashi growls that he'll have to figure it out. Yugito says in a confessional that she would consider losing the challenge just to vote Sakura out, but Sakura still has immunity so that's not possible. Kakashi also says in a confessional that Sakura just keeps getting worse and worse.

The campers arrive at the baseball field, with Scarlet Blaze and Iruka seated in the announcer's section. There is also a wall in the back, which Scarlet says serves as a border; if a hit takes the ball over the wall, then it counts as a home run. Irula announces the teams, taking the time to insult Sasuke, but as soon as he is finished, Sasuke speaks up, saying he'd like to use his ticket from the last challenge, which gives him the ability to not participate in one challenge, though it will not give him immunity at the elimination ceremony. Scarlet surprised and questions Sasile, reminding him that if his team loses, he'll be at risk of elimination, but Sasuke says they can't blame him if they lose. Kakashi glares at him as he leaves and shouts in a confessional about him ditching them at the last moment. She says she's voting for him if they lose but then pauses, seemingly thinking of something better.

The game begins, with Sasuke throwing the first pitch to Lee. Lee struggles to even hold the bat with his tentacles and apologizes to his team when Sasule strikes her out easily, as he not built for sports. Hidan laughs in a confessional, saying he won't vote for Lee at all because he’s weak and he knows he could take her in the finals. Sakura goes next and lands a good hit after Sasuke's second pitch, but it is caught in the outfield by Gengar, so she's out. Charmeleon goes third, getting two strikes but a home run on the third try, earning his team one run. Sakura’s team won at last.

A/N: A warning, I know jackshιt about baseball in general xD so please forgive any inconsistencies. In fact, most of this may or may not be word barf-- *bows head* Forgive me for inflicting this on any readers ahaha…

_________________________________

Link to properly formatted entry: (entry on forums has pretty much no italics, bolding, or correct paragraph spacing--it also censors words, as we all well know :P)

https://docs.google.com/doc

ument/d/1a89-IrpC-THAQ2UQNH5ppZTHXnSwI373zd5VTnrIV00/edit?usp=sharing

Copy/paste for link.

_________________________________

Scarlet Blaze was all of 10 years and 3/4ths of a day alive, a barely-contained pipsqueak of excitement and joy, when he saw for the first time something that’d alter his life forever. Rising prodigy Uchiha Itachi, newest and perhaps greatest sporting talent the world has seen, running, running, swinging, long hair tailing and snapping. Winning. (Scarlet falls in love.)

Later, he tugs his parents to the library to look up what that sport was---they’re all immigrants here, unfamiliar with local language, customs. The pale-haired lady, bespeckled behind the desk, points him smiling to a shelf twice his height and more in length. “Baseball, that sounds like the sport you’re looking for.” “Baseball?”. His lips round and flatten over the foreign syllables, accented all wrong but still very, very right-feeling, warm in the way that sunshine sinks into your pores. “Mhm, would you like to look it up?” “Yes please!” With a stretch, the encyclopedia falls. Opens, aardvark-ants-banana-bats-there! Baseball (Sport). The words are too small to be traced, little flat sesame seeds under his fingertips. He reads, mouths the word over and over again until it becomes familiar, strange again, then familiar.

He imagines, and a future sparks here.

(Scarlet’s parents laugh to themselves, and agree heartily when he requests to sign up for classes at the local baseball club. Their baby boy is growing up! He has a dream! And maybe even a crush from the looks of it...? He starts wearing his hair in a ponytail, and they beam proudly from afar as Scarlet begins to walk his own path in life).

_________________________________

What they don't mentions is how this is the first time he's smiled, the first time he's laughed truly in this country. Scarlet lost that namesake blaze of his somewhere across the ocean, and now that he found something to relight it he's never, letting, go--this none of them will ever voice aloud, but they'll understand regardless. Because without he would wish to leave so much as to follow the sea, chasing waves back to home-no-longer until he's too far out and swimming down, down. Down, and staying there.

All of this his parents will never say, because Scarlet himself doesn't know yet, won't let himself know and they see no point in changing that.

_________________________________

First day of class -[Baseball for Beginners! Sign up today, ages 8-12] , a boy resembling a flying squirrel falls out of the sky.

In the defense of the onlookers, surprised as they are, Scarlet really does appear like said squirrel, baggy shirt futilely catching air, failing wings. And he really did trip and fall off the bleachers, short legs flying and small feet slipping, with attention riveted to everything---but himself.

(Poοf! Violently floated the dust as his features were introduced to the dirt. Undeterred, he pops up like a demented jack-in-the-box.)

Scarlet’s newly-gained ponytail was spiking and poοfing, flying up-down-up-down to the steps of short legs as he bounced back up. Hair, as well as body salt-and-pepper colored, he gasps and shakes off dirt.

The watching audience decides: A shocked squirrel then. Or maybe a deluded squirrel that had eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms stoned sky-high, who thought to jump off a tree with fantasies of flight. (There’s not much difference to a casual viewer, and casual then they were).

Chirpy, fluttering eyes, the skin around stretched tight as he tries to look at [everything! An actual bat! An actual baseball! Ohmygosh the field is actually so large, it seemed smaller on T.V] Scarlet is flying fae bound to earth and flesh by only mere strands, excitement buoying him so much.

He can’t even remember ever seeing a field this large, a field made with intent for recreation. Not where he grew up before. It was always cramped, open space a luxury not even the rich had--an unforgiving jungle of concrete trees and steel vines, chirping car horns--Scarlet’s memory fails here. (He wills it to fail, doesn't want the burden of remembering). Memories of before, of across the sea, are hazing as years pass, but no matter. Scarlet dampens, joy freezing into little icicles of want that stab. It's all gone now, three shredded passports and 13 hours of flight and two days by boat, “lets-go-cmon-Scarlet” friends and the softly shaped snack lady who gave him extra. Gone away, away-fallen behind. (liar liar you're the one who left, you left and you're forgetting, you want to be rid of -)

He blinks away the voices and longing, the home-sized hole with the shape of an entire country in his chest because now there is a dream to dream, a future to catch up with and Scarlet is going to do it no matter what. No matter what, since that jagged gap started smoothing when he saw Itachi play baseball, when he saw that wide, wide field in front of him, and Scarlet wants to heal. He wants to live, and fears wasting away and crumbling until there's nothing left but that dαmned wound where his heart used to be. So there's not enough time to waste here.

Besides, more importantly is how he’s seeing real people (!!!) play baseball right there! In front of him! Another armful of moments pass, emotions trying to surface but he doesn't notice them, willfully blind to everything other than the ongoing game. He's back to his original state, awed and amazed, admiring.

Soon however, snapping out of it, Scarlet sprints over to the other kids--there was learning to do and people to meet, watching people play could come later. After he could play it himself.

_________________________________

The other children snicker (younger, all of them, eight’s and nine’s), and the instructor hides a smile as Scarlet announces to the world “When I grow up, I’m gonna play for Konoha and be the best teammate Uchiha Itachi ever had!”. Their amusement is not unfounded, however--this was spouting out of day-old stripling, soft-handed with a grip that’d never touched a bat before. One that fell off the bleachers, so star-struck by the sight of the field.

He doesn’t notice, (pointedly ignores, Scarlet isn't deaf or stupιd, no matter how might he wishes) their amusement at a small boy with a dream (not a dream, a future) large and bright enough to overflow.

Rest of instruction proceeds normally.

The class falls quiet when he tries playing for the first time, and this...this...he’s good. Sure, his posture is off in some places, and movements are sloppy elsewhere, but there is talent here. The teacher makes note, and avows to watch him closely in the future.

On Scarlet’s side, the universe has never been so colorful, so wonderful before. He’s finally good at something, after stumbling alone for so long, failing and trying again, again, in language or school or friends. He streaks through and overtakes everyone in skill (they were only a local leisure club, after all) before turning twelve, bids a bittersweet farewell to old-new friends and moves on to the state league, with the pride of his town behind him.

Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, he’s running and training and there’s a new coach who seems to hate Scarlet--who picks at everything from his stance to posture to the way his arms move when he sprints. And the way he bats. “Freedom in the swing, boy. You think tensing up like this is good enough for nationals? You can’t even make it into the junior ones, and you’re thinking of joining Konoha? Trαsh.”

He knows it’s for his own good, that he needs to get better and better. The gap between him and Itachi is closing, but the other boy--no, adult now--is still rising, in the news and on magazine covers more often than not.

But the problem is, he doesn’t understand. Not this problem, not how to relax when all he should be doing is focusing more, more. (It’s not the actual swinging the

coach is referring to, he knows that. It’s as perfect as his record, straight and shiny. People have started whispering he’s the next prodigy of the generation, but he pays that no mind--not when there’s training to do and games to play.)

On this, and only this, he utterly ignores his coach. After all, it's only worth listening to someone if they're right. That’s one of the first things he learned in this country, disgusting pet-eater (how was he supposed to know what meat they ate or didn't here? Food is food, and to waste it is evil), weird foreigner, “bay-CEE-ball idiot, how stupιd its “BAYss-ball”--actually, he did listen to this one. Correcting his pitch over and over at home, and when fixed he had gone back up and pronounced it carefully, stressing the “A” and tacking the “ss” to it lightly. The kid ignored him, and chose to point out “pronounced” was said wrong. This is how Scarlet truly learned the language, correction-friend (friend in his mind because correction-friend never physically harmed him, only pointed out with words his differences) fixing all the small nuances. For that he's forever thankful, because without that classmate he would've been left out even more, not even seen to be fixed and assimilated into the world he lived in now.

Scarlet goes home that day tense, but not knowing why (lying again, you know perfectly why, they were never friends but you're forgetting this too--). He spends the rest of the day practicing, mind empty of everything but tense-relax-watch, follow the ball there!-hips turn, arms-and-shoulders snap-turning behind it, shockwaves from impact--

He ends up finds a flaw in his batting, previously invisible: When the ball is low his knees are too tight. Not relaxed, so through this night and ones after it Scarlet becomes a ballerina dancer, a river-soft ribbon floating until force lets it crack the air, a whip. His knees lose tension, and in days after the coach doesn't mention relaxing again.

_________________________________

He's fifteen, lanky-but-not tall with calluses permanently protecting hands and skid marks sunk so deep in his knees that they never wash off, despite scrubbing and soap. He's lost the height advantage that came from being older. The other boys on his team have all sprouted up, growing at what seems like the rate of bamboo--an inch here, another inch there--and a couple days later, oh hey, it's a foot taller than Scarlet now. At about the same time, annoyingly, they also begin noticing girls. Noticing girls. Noticing girls.

He does not grow much more.

Interestingly enough, this doesn't cause him to be bitter. He's used to standing out, regardless of choice or not, and this isn't a large problem, barely a problem at all. (if it wasn't for the height, his accent as well as hair would mark him apart just as easy--the only one with long hair in a forest of summer buzz cuts).

Scarlet notes the gains of his teammates, longer strides and reaches. He also notices the seeming disadvantages--loss of coordination if a pretty girl is in the audience, distraction and sighing in the locker rooms later. Rather obviously, none of this affects him, and he spends his time narrowing attention on sprinting faster, arms-hands-fingers flying quicker. It would so no good to fall behind simply due to luck in genetics---His skills are good enough to overcome that, and if they aren't, well, he'll practice until they are.

It's not like he has anything else to do, without friends to bother; his locker mate tried to invite him to a party before, but he declined. What for, he doesn't remember. (Scarlet was afraid)

_________________________________

Scarlet is all of sixteen and eighty-nine days in age when headlines blare; “Star Player of Konoha Defects to Rival Team Akatsuki!!!” and “Konoha Loses MVP to Akatsuki, What Will They Lose Next?”. He doesn’t let it deter him, just changes his future from [Itachi’s Teammate] to [Itachi’s Rival]. It’s still Konoha that he’ll play for--it’s been so long he can’t even imagine doing something else. baseball has become his life now, the thrumming of his heart to aching joints and muscles--and he’s never been happier.

It’s only in private that he allows himself to mourn, the loss of a future to a dream---the smiles of shared victory, high-fives for a well-executed home run--but Scarlet moves on. He pushes forwards, moves on because that is what he has done and will always do, blazing like his name. Besides, he doesn’t remember how to cry anymore, or to feel sad. There’s been no time (and although baseball healed his heart those years ago, it's been what feels an empty chest cavity since). Scarlet promises to himself that he'll find something to love--after making his future a certain possibility. He can be careless with time then, giving hours to laughing and anger and maybe even sorrow, if he found something to care about and lose.

Freedom in the swing, there's nothing free about it, it's all calculated lax and tense and coordination. He doesn't want to try understanding,

_________________________________

His eighteenth birthday should’ve been a party of friends, of family cheering, well-wishes for joining the adult world. A toast for his future.

There's no family and no friends, but his teammates treat their shortest member to free drinks at a plyboard-windowed shαck---a bar where the only ID check depends on whether you have payment and a mouth to drink with. Scarlet goes, but decline the alcohol. After all, there’s no point in getting drunk for something so insignificant as this--he hasn’t even made it out to the pro league. He walks out and leaves once he hears them singing about “wannabe-Uchiha boys”.

_________________________________

He’s twenty-one and finally, finally drafted into the professional league, into the prestigious Konoha team. Scarlet is nothing but viciously, viciously satisfied--but he doesn’t allow that to bloat his head, to do anything. He’s still rookie-of-the-team, weakest of the bunch (compared to the seasoned players, is that no wonder?).

He still doesn’t understand what his old coach meant, not yet--but he thinks he might allow himself to, now that he’s there.

He tries to remember all that he's forgotten, but habit is a nasty, difficult thing to break and there is still a part of him who says no. No to diverting attention, because just being scouted and recruited by the team doesn't mean much, he still has to get better and not be benched, not be--Scarlet listens to this voice, the one that's kept him alive and on the path leading here--promptly, that's the end of distractions.

_________________________________

He plays against Akatsuki, and Itachi. He feels nothing and wonders what went wrong, what changed inside him. It makes no difference who won or lost, and Scarlet wonders when the world lost its color.

Fifty-three games later, Scarlet finally gets it. He laughs wildly, bαngs and ponytail swinging, and for the first in a very long time, he takes his mind off of getbetterfocusfocusforwardstomorrow and truly plays baseball, enjoys the game for what it is (and not another step to take, another procedure he must follow in making his future). He's twenty-something back to ten years alive, and Scarlet is finally, finally, free.

(Scarlet falls in love, again)

_________________________________

Afterwards, it doesn't take long for him relearn how to live. He lets himself actually talk to his teammates, finds some to be admirers and others hopeful friends. They talk, find miscommunications galore, and all promise each other to get together for just fun often, in order to make up for all that lost time, lost like morning mist and dew in the sun.

(He remembers lying to a teacher, his parents about where bruises came from at school).

There's also been a good-looking sports reporter watching his matches recently, and Scarlet fumbles a catch when the sunlight glinted off the newscaster’s white hair (so pretty!! Scarlet wonders if it's natural, then about the age of said reporter). Although that mistake somehow makes tabloids, [Konoha’s Blaze Makes First Crucial Mistake--Has Something Gone Wrong?]- he finds that he doesn't really care. Couldn't care less, because the distraction was named Midnight (so cute!!!) and he was actually younger than Scarlet by a year, newbie reporter on the scene.

(Memories of fellow then-teenaged teammates, clumsy handed because eyes were elsewhere, repeatedly sighing with dreamy eyes later. These return, and Scarlet sympathizes with them a lot more now, understands what drove the seemingly inane behavior.)

After a match one day, the Uchiha Itachi and Scarlet Blaze talk face to face for the first time. It began simply, with the older man just walking up and smiling: “You played very well today, I'm proud to be your opponent”, then extending a hand out for a handshake. Unfortunately for the recipient of said handshake, Scarlet had somehow regained all his childish idol worship, and was resembling a wide-eyed bushy-tailed squirrel once more. Slightly panicking, instead of returning the handshake, he ended up awkwardly enacting a bizarre fistbump-highfive-handshake-hug. (That also made the headlines, “Rivals Uchiha and Blaze Enact Secret Ritual Handshake After Match--Could They Be Long-lost Siblings? By Sai. Most of you have probably noticed and wondered about the resemblances between Blaze and Uchiha---from iconic hairstyles to genius talent, they are nothing but….)

Scarlet remembers….he decides to stop remembering, and focus on the present instead. After all, there's a new friend to know better (Itachi) and a reporter to ask out (Midnight! He’s actually adorable~) and a team to go out and drink with, to name a few. No time to waste here lost in thoughts of tomorrow or yearnings of yesterday, Scarlet has a now to live life in. He has now to sob and rage and hope and laugh, now to fall down and let himself rest, now to love.

He has now to be alive.

_________________________________

Fin.

Azure was on her feet pacing up and down in her favourite leotard and holding her lucky ribbon. She had just come back to the changing room after performing in the Gymnastics Competition between the Allied Shinobi Forces. She was against Temari who represented Sunagakure, Kurotsuchi from Iwagakure, Kirigakure’s Ayami and Karui of Kumogakure. All of them were fierce competitors, and her nervousness worsened. Representing Konohagakure was a dream come true, but for some reason, today her nerves were on fire.

‘All of them were so good,’ she thought, ’I hope I've done it well.’

Temari, as she had visited Konoha on many occasions, knew Azure as a cheery and happy-go-lucky person. She had never seen Azure so nervous. Before she had a chance to speak, Sakura came wearing her doctor's badge to see Azure. “You were amazing Zurie!” Sakura exclaimed and hugged Azure with all her might. "You moved so effortlessly with such beauty, elegance and style. I almost cried tears of joy. You should’ve seen Naruto’s face he was like -‘whoa I never knew Azure could be that awesome’ and….” Sakura trailed on while Azure paid little attention to what she was saying. “….You guys were awesome too,” she added addressing to the other competitors. At that moment there was an announcement, “We will be announcing the winners. All competitors, please come to the main stage.” Azure stiffened hearing this. Sakura put an arm around her to calm her down.

“You did your best Azure. I know you will win” Sakura calmed her down. With a side hug, Sakura pushed Azure to go with the other competitors.

Shizune was the commentator and she was looked so happy Azure though her happiness was infecting the crowd cause the crowd was livelier th*ual.

“I have the results in hand right now and it is time to announce our winners. 3rd place goes to....Ayami from Kirigakure!” There was a huge applause and Ayami happily stepped forward to receive her medal.

At this time Azure's mind ran wild. ‘What if I don't win?’ she thought. ‘All that hard work would all go to waste. Tsunade-sama even personally trained me and made sure I had a very healthy diet….which also meant no chocolates. All that crazy exercises Tsunade-sama made me do. How could I face her? What would I say to my friends? No no no I must stay positive for the sake of my friends and my village’ By now the 2nd place had been announced and Temari stepped forward to receive her medal.

Now Azure was sweating buckets. Kurotsuchi sneered at her. “Looks like it's my win blue girl. Better luck next time,” she smirked.

‘Oh god! This is one time I wanted to do something badly in my life…Please just let me get this and show Kurotsuchi who’s the boss. If I don’t win Midnight may never speak to me again, Scarlet will tease me until my last breath, Breeze will torture me with her mean remarks and Crimson will be the only sweetheart who will try to cheer me up but it will get annoying as hell…’

"And the winner of this competition is….”

‘Please be me, Please be me, Please!!!!!!! ’

“.......Azure Fang from Konohagakure."

By then the crowd had drowned her announcement with a lot of cheers and hoots and Shizune jumped from her seat doing a fist pump in the air. Mabui put a hand on Shizune's shoulder to refrain her from doing any more damage and she sat down with a sheepish look on her face. Tsunade and Sakura hugged each other with tears in their eyes and that’s when Azure noticed all her friends who had come to support her. All of them beamed at her with happiness and cheered for her. They all screamed Azure’s name on top of their lungs.

Azure had burst into tears of joy and she went and hugged everyone who was within her reach (Kurotsuchi failed to respond because she was too shocked to move) and ran to get her medal. She stood on top of the winner's podium after shaking hands with the other two winners and showed off her medal with a big smile on her face.

When she caught up with her friends all of them gave her chocolates (she was denied those during her training). Sai drew a beautiful picture of Azure holding her medal with a bright smile on her face. Ino gave her a beautiful bouquet and Naruto offered to treat her to Ramen because that was the only thing he could afford at the moment. Scarlet was about to give her a hug but was pushed away by Breeze, who squeezed the lights out of Azure. Crimson lifted her and carried her on his shoulders. Even Midnight smiled at the scene and politely congratulated her.

This one of the best days Azure had ever had.

Azure has the lights on her as she was about to do her routine for the contest. She knew had to beat Ino and Tenten to get first place, but be hard because Ino got a 8.9 and Tenten got a 9.0 on their final routines. Azure had to impress the judges Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Yugito Nii Azure said to herself "To not worry and do her best, cause she trained very hard for this." She gets started by running and having her ribbon do six vertical spirals and then leaped ten feet into the air. Then when in the air she did five small circles and four horizontal spirals. When she landed on her toes, she made the ribbon do a snake. Then the hardest part was next, Azure had to nail it just right for max points. She took off running and made the ribbon do seven small circles and eight horizontal spirals. Then she leaped eleven feet into the air and did a back arched (her head made contact with her leg). During the back arched leap, the ribbon did more medium circles and a vertical spiral. She landed on her toes and did a small pivot which made the ribbon do a snake. Then she ran and made the ribbon do ten horizontal spirals while running in a small circle. Next up was the grand pivot and the three vertical and four horizontal spirals. Then was the last leg of the routine, which was a long snake into a leap. Azure ran into the leap and did seven vertical spirals. She nailed the landing. That was the end of her routine. She matched Tenten's score. The judges said "Good night all and the head to head will be at 7 pm tomorrow."

Tenten and Ino came up to Azure Fang and said "good job". Tenten and Azure would have to do a head to head to pick a winner in a new round. The next round would be tomorrow at 7 pm. It was now 5pm and dinner time. Tenten, Ino, Azure went to eat dinner at a ramen place right after the gymnastic contest. Tenten said "You both gave me a run for my money and we all did well." Ino said "We all did our best and congrats to the two of you for having to do a head to head championship to pick a winner." Both Tenten and Azure said "Thank you very much and you did great too." After dinner, all three said goodbye and Azure went home. She went to bed cause she had a big day ahead of her tomorrow. She got up the next morning. She had a good breakfast and went for a short swim. Then came lunch time. She had good nap before heading to the head to head match. Azure got in her gymnastic outfit and headed to the match.

When she got to the gym,she looked for Tenten and found her. She said "good luck" to Tenten and Tenten said "good luck to you too". So Tenten went first and got a 8.8 on her run. Next up Azure was next to go and feeling prepared to do her best. She began her routine with a set of three vertical and six horizontal spirals. Then she did a back arched leap while doing three small circles and six medium circles. Then she nailed the landing and did a small pivot with the ribbon doing ten vertical spirals during the pivot. Next she ran in a complex pattern and did four snakes, two vertical spirals, five horizontal spirals, six small circles, and two large circles. Next was a leap nine and half feet into the air. During the leap, Azure did five large horizontal spirals and nine small vertical spirals. She nailed the landing and took off to do a very long snake. Then after the snake a leap was next. She leaped at the end of the snake and did a fifthteen feet leap. During the leap, the ribbon was used to do five large circles and seven small horizontal spirals. She nailed the landing. Then she did a pivot and during did two vertical spirals. That was the end of the routine. Azure scored a 8.9 and barely won the championship. Azure and Tenten shock hands and both said "good job" to another afterwards. Then came the award ceremony and the medals were given out. Ino got the bronze. Tenten got the silver. Azure got the gold.Then after the ceremony, Azure went and had a victory dinner with her family. The dinner was a ramen dinner and a cake was the dessert.

Azure wakes up and puts on her gymnastics outfit. She has breakfast. Then she heads to the gym for her ribbon championship.

Ok, so here comes my entry for contest- theme : baseball. Let's swing it, luvs! (my wattpad, in case someone feel like leaving comment: https://www.wattpad.com/600021869-clothing-release-celebration-fanfiction-contest )

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

'I am so... sooo borrrrrred...' Scarlet groaned, rolling over on his back, on a patch of grass.

Ground of Training Field, pleasantly warm, thanks to summer sun, was making him sleepy and he started to think that a short nap is a way better idea to kill time, than just staring either on those little clouds lazily flowing through sky, or on his best bro, being busy with another set of push-ups.

'You c*ways join for some workout. Training is a lot of fun!' said Crimson, switching for sit-ups.

'Borrrrrinnnng...'

'Beside, it really would be good for that lack of muscles of yours.' Crimson grinned.

'Are you calling me weak??? Take that, you mountain of flesh!!' Scarlet threw handful of grass at other boy, who had to stop training because of laughing too hard.

'For your information- not everyone can be a beefcake like you. Some are born to be blessed with BOTH marvelous appearance AND intelect, just like my- humble yet amazing- self.'

Scarlet said it all with serious face but bursted out laughing together with Crimson, short after.

'No but really...' he stood up and sighed. 'I wanna do something fun... new... ugggghhh!'

Sudden loud sound and cheerful yells following it, breaking through calm and hot air of afternoon, caught attention of boys.

'Looks like baseball team is training...'

Scarlet knew that those sounds were coming from a nearby ballpark, built few years ago, when this new sport got introduced to the Konoha and conquered hearts of small group of young people rather fast. It was already during his time before ninja training in Academy, when he got to play it a bit too- and man, was it fun!

'Crimson, I have idea. How about we go ask them if we can joi-'

His words got interrupted by unexpected, angry barking, from the level of his knees. Scarlet gazed down at Akamaru.

'What do you want from me, you little devil?'

For some mysterious reasons, this one certain ninja dog, always was reacting like this for him. And seemed that ONLY for him. At this point, Scarlet was pretty sure that Kiba, who never really was a good friend of him, simply trained him to attack anytime he saw him.

Scarlet barked back at noisy dog, who bared fangs at him.

'Leave Akamaru alone, you punk!'

"But of course... All I need now is that annoying guy and his rat..."

'Not my fault, he started. ' said Scarlet, putting hands in pockets. 'He's always like this, barking at me for no reason at all! tell him Crimso-... no... what are you... why are you petting this hell spawn?? Stop it right there you traitor!!'

Scarlet stared betrayed at his friend and Akamaru happily licking his hand. Kiba's laughing rung in his ears, to his growing irritation.

'Hahaha! Even Akamaru knows how much of a loser you are, Scarlet Fail!'

Fire-nin snorted.

'Ya' know, Kiba- if your level of IQ was as high as low is your creativity at making funny, derogative nicknames- you would beat Shikamaru at shogi.'

What stopped Kiba from chargin at other boy, was familiar voice, coming from somewhere above.

'You are all too loud.' said Midnight, with his usual ice-cold tone. he was sitting on a branch of nearby large tree. 'How about you two go somewhere else and fight, so maybe at least one will finally drop dead.'

'Awesome idea! Fight me, you midget!'

'A duel, huh?' Scarlet smiled widely. 'How about something more fun.' he pointed at ballpark, from where they could still hear sounds of an ongoing training.

'Here's the deal: beat me at baseball match and I will admitt that you are way better than me.'

'Huh?' Kiba rose eyebrow. "What kind of * idea is this... Are you joking?'

'Naah. Get a beast team you can find and meet meat ballpark in, let's say- 3 days. let's show them all who's skilled enough to win EVEN at something like this.' Scarlet decorated face with his trademarked smirk. 'Or such pathetic puppy like you can't even fetch a ball, huh?'

'it's on, punk.' growled Kiba, swearing to himself that he will beat that smile out of his face, even if would be at ballet dancing.

Midnight jumped off the tree, landing near Scarlet.

'It won't be a duel anymore, you dummy. Why are you dragging others into your nonsense ideas?'

'Oh, Middy-chan, you know nothing about fun! Beside~' Scarlet wrapped his arm on taller's boy shoulder. '~you gonna be in my team, sweatie.'

Midnight s* other boy off him, fighting strong urge to stab him.

'Not in a million years. And call me "sweatie" again and I will fillet you.'

'Hah!' Kiba snorted with contempt. 'What would that failure wannabe-Kakashi show us in match anyway, hahaha. Go play with that wittle stiick you call a sword!'

Midnight's cold and still expression didn't change even a tiny bit. Just a single, pullsing vein, showed up on his temple. His voice was filled with intense murder intent when he finally spoke out.

'Count me in, Scarlet.'

Crimson grabbed both boys in bone-crushing hug.

'Ok then! Looking forward for a good game, see you in 3 days, Kiba!'

Scarlet wasn't wasting time- one successful visit at Ichiraku ended up with naruto joining the team. breeze, who agreed after long list of promises from fire-nin, did a great job at persuading baseball team's coach to lend them place for training and match, and also- borrowing them equipment. They also decided to add few junior players to fill up empty spots in both teams.

'Thank you so much!' Breeze blew a kiss at the coach, leaving him with a dreamy look on his face. her charm never failed.

Kiba had a bit of hard time finding volunteers, untill Gai-sensei and Lee heard about this and proclaimed it to be a "great opportunity for youth to shine!". Their enthuism was something not worth opposing. And so, Team Blue was formed of 5 young ninjas: Lee, TenTen, Neji and Sakura (who seriously just wanted to beat naruto after his last antics during mission) joined Kiba, together with few more proffesional baseball players.

Meanwhile, Team Red was trying out their new outfits. Scarlet stood in front of them, with big, bright smile.

'Now, look at this team- we're gonna do great!'

'Doubt.' said Midnight, staring at Naruto chopping air with a bat and Crimson trying to figure out the rules, with rather puzzled look on his face.

'Don't worry! A little training and it will be fi-'

Azure, standing next to Scarlet, put a red, shiny helmet on his head, then knocked on it few times.

'Safety first! I will be watching whole time, in case anyone will get hurt.' she sighed. 'Be safe there, guys.'

'Our beautiful guardian angel!' Scarlet tried to hug her but got stopped with a finger placed on his nose.

'Out for training you go! Shoo shoo!'

Finally, after 3 days filled with chaos, both teams marched on the field- prepared (at least partially) and hyper (too much), lively cheered on by a small group of supporters, who came to watch.

'Hey, lookie, Middy-chan- your fanclub is there too.' Scarlet pointed at group of girls, which was following lightning ninja pretty often, bringing headache to poor Midnight, who wasn't interested in this sort of stuff.

Scarlet, ignored completely by friend, waved at Azure, standing near the play field.

'Do your best, Scarlet-kun!' she shouted, waving back.

Iruka, who got forced to be a 2nd arbiter, together with baseball teams' coach, stood in front of teams, to remind them rules for this match.

'Forget that you are ninjas for the time of playing. No weapons, nin- gen- taijutsu tricks. No ninja pets allowed either.'

Akamaru was whining quietly in arms of Hinata, who was watching match with others.

'Let it be a good and fair game. Let's begin!'

Scarlet took a look at both teams. All of them were focused and even if they had really so little time to actualy learn to play- seemed that they are pretty sure of their skills and were happy for a match. He gazed at Kiba, who, not surprisingly , was looking very confident.

'Ok team, let's rock it!!' Scarlet yelled to teammates and voices of agreement answered aloud.

Blue Team, leaded by Kiba, was first to get on offence. After 3 fast and powerful throws by pitcher Crimson- TenTen got strikeouted.

'You go, brooooo!!' Scarlet chanted from his position near 2nd base.

Kiba was next at bat. he let first ball without even trying to hit it. Second one was a clear hit to the middle of the field- enough for him to get 1st base.

Players of Red Team, being in defense, were doing their best, trying to take out opponents. So focused on ball, that few times they were closer to knockout own teammates by colliding with eachother.

First part of this round ended after furious Sakura got outted by Breeze, with 5 points for Blue Team.

Teams switched. Rock lee, who was now the pitcher brofisted Crimson, as they exchanged looks saying "do your best!"

One of "borrowed" players managed to get to 3rd base, other at 2nd. Third of them got strikeouted. Next one was Naruto. After 1st strike, he managed to hit the ball pretty hard- it flew high and other team created a small havoc on field, trying to catch it before it hit the ground.

Naruto threw bat away and started to run... But...

'Noooooo... Naruto back! Go back!' yelled Scarlet from the bench, where he waited for his turn. 'WRONG DIRECTION!!'

Blond ninja realized his mistake after few more steps and turned to run back to 1st base- miraculously, he got there before ball. Players from 3rd base scored. Scarlet fell back on bench, with loud sound of relief.

Midnight stood up and marched on position, cheered on by applaud of noisy fangirls.

First throw. Midnight took a wide swing and... missed.

'Strike!'

Second ball and... also this one got missed by his bat for few centimeters.

'Where are your glasses?? C'mon man, don't do this to meeee...' cried out Scarlet.

Lightning ninja tried to focus and ignore growing irritation and fact that it was all actually Scarlet's fight, not his problem. he imagined ball as a head of that annoying shorty.

This time it got hit with a sound of thunder. Midnight dashed, while ball flew far away into field. he stopped at 2nd base, freed by Naruto just in time.

Scarlet was watching nervously but Breeze managed to hit ball- letting both boys on bases score.

Now was his chance Scarlet took position and weighted bat in his hands. He focused blood-red eyes on the ball and mind on all the throws of Lee he saw untill now.

He swinged bat with fast, strong precise hit and ball flew with great great speed, between opponents and bounced further on ground. before they could get close to it, Scarlet passed 1st base. When he was getting close to 2nd, Kiba caught the ball and with full force threw it at his direction. Aimed on purpose, ball hit the head of running boy, making him fall on his back just in a moment when his foot touched the base.

He was lying for a moment, without a move, when Azure dashed to him, calling loudly.

'Scarlet... Scarlet!'

When she got very close, boy suddenly moved his leg, making her trip and fall on top of him.

'Oh my gosh...imsorry...imsoclumsy!!!...are you ok??' she cried but then meet the smilling all happily face of boy.

'Well, look at that. Someone's falling hard for me.' he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Azure went straight from panic to full *n blush and escaped from boy's arms, standing up very fast.

'BAKA!!!' she yelled. 'A-are you ok, * you...'

He also got up and knocked on his helmet. 'Safety first, haha.'

Azure punched his arm and run fast back to her position. Breeze sighed loudly from 3rd base. Boys, ehhhh...

Last hit, done by Crimson, was strong but not really precise- still it was enough to let Breeze and Scarlet score, while last "borrowed" player sadly got strikeouted by Lee.

First half came to an end with 5:4 for the Blue Team.

Scarlet didn't lose a bit of his will to win this- during whole break, he was warming and motivating his team, for even better second round.

'They might be winning by 1 point now- but when we will end them on next half- they will be crying, hugging to their puppies!"

It didn't matter of how much sense it had, Scarlet's words lead them to field with great moods anyway.

But not everything went so smooth.

When 3rd of Blue players got outted- they had 9 points. Scarlet was looking nervously at Red Teams' score, after Naruto, breeze and 4 borrowed players finished their turns. they had 8 points. Need 2 more for a win. Scarlet looked around at team, while holding bat again. Midnight would need to pass 2 bases to give them chance for that.

Fire-nin took a deep, slow breath. he tightened bit shaking hands on wood.

Focus and hit.

With all he got, he send ball flying high and far, almost near the end of the field. Both him and Midnight dashed.

'Point for Red Team!' he heard and moment later he landed on 2nd base. Score was even now.

Scarlet gazed with hope at Crimson. He catched that look and rised his thumb in return, then swung bat in the air for a try.

All they needed now was one, good hit. Two bases to pass- Scarlet wasn't so fast as his white-haired friend but if hit will be good enough...

Only one out was also needed to end this match.

Scarlet swallowed slowly. Then looked around again at both teams. Even tho pretty nervous and tired- everyone seemed to have fun. teammates were communicating with smiles, group of fans cheered aloud for both teams. Akamaru was barking from time to time.

He closed eyes for a moment and smiled. He can do it. Just 2 bases and it's their win.

His heartbeat rushed for the sound of the hit. He could almost hear sound of the ball breaking the air, when he dashed.

3rd base. Just few more steps.

Other team got the ball from ground. It flew closer, passed from one to another.

He can make it. Barking ball of fur won't stop him.

Huh...

In a split second of like a slow-motion movie, he saw scene on his side: player being closest to his position was about to catch high ball but misscalculated and tripped, falling backward in comicaly long motion...

...straight on a small, white dog, running towards Scarlet and barking furiously.

He didn't think. It was all in a one, loud heartbeat. One jump dividing him from score got broken, as he dived under falling opponent, shielding confused Akamaru with his body and rolling further, thanks to momentum of jump.

Ballfield suddenly turned silent from cheering a moment ago. Other opponent catched the ball and threw it to home base. Whistle of arbiter ended turn of red Team and match.

'Hey, you little dummy, are you ok?' Scarlet looked at whining, scared puppy, who moment later run to approaching Kiba and jumped to his arms.

'Man... you could win this, you know, right?...' Kiba stood over the boy, lying flat on grass.

'Aha.' he smiled wide in response.

Kiba turned a little ashamed face away.

'Dude... thanks.'

'As if I could let them turn that noisy fluffball into a demon pancake, haha.'

Scarlet looked up at hand reached out to him. he stood up with a help of other boy.

'We're even now, yeah?' he smiled. 'And man, was it fun!'

Kiba smiled back and suddenly whole crowd around them exploded with loud happy chants and laughs.

'You are sure you don't want to settle this even score?'

'Naah. You know what is better idea?' Scarlet wrapped one arm around shoulder of other boy. 'Let's go eat. I'm deadly hungry!'

Akamaru barked at Scarlet again- this time with pure agreement.

END.

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!”

FF Story

It was the first day of the Oasis games when the first precursors to trouble became obvious.

Whatever the case, three dozen athletes marched forward under the sweltering heat.

Of course, almost all of them were clones.

Trouble began when the bloodhound of the football team, the legendary footballer Midnight Blade smelt water in the air, sinking his teeth into a gymnast doing stretches on a mat next to him.

The gymnast then exploded, tagging the football player as six other clones lined up with batons, ribbons, and the occasional kunai.

Midnight was not fast enough to escape the wrath of the clones, one of whom was able to skewer him with a well aimed punch to the stomach, destroying his legendary root of warrior, and leaving him unprotected against the wave of whips.

Upon noticing their teammate (and creator), the lightning clones dashed into battle, kicking foot* upon the crowd of gymnasts, the barrage was overwhelming, for there were two lightning clones for every water clone.

It went well, right until a cheerful voice called across the din, casting a bright green light upon the exausted gymnasts, all of whom seemed to remember their routines.

With a cry of war, the lead gymnast hauled Midnight to his feet, forcing him to dance to their rhythm, each freshly revitalized clone vicious with her whip as the Midnight clones did their best to fire upon their foes. Sadly, Midnight lacked debuffs, as he was under chaos from the dozen or so critical hits he had suffered.

Upon his release minutes later, a bloody, battered Midnight rushed from the crowd with the speed of a man under chaos, slipping on the remains of a water clone as he drunkenly danced around his own confused clones as his target became openly clear.

He was charging at the goal-posts!

High above, the administrators watched in awe as he came home, firing a mighty shot that tore one of his clones in half.

As one, the crowd cheered.

Well, the laugh track cheered. But mainly because the shot had gone out, striking a man who looked far too much like a girl over the head.

Slumped onto his knees, Midnight tore his shirt away, causing gasps at his not-so ideal physique (being pale and skinny), then ended his turn.

Then the poison came along.

With a scream of agony, blood spurted out of Midnight’s mouth as he fell backwards, his clones shaking their heads in disbelief as they *ed out of existence.

“Remind me why we chose this location again?” One of the administrators asked a colleague, munching on a ice cream cone.

“Safer than the backup. And free healthcare.” Came the reply, behind yet another ice cream.

Down below, three Anbu grunts carried Midnight away, ready to ship him to the local hospital. Somehow, by the time they they had arrived, the football player had been dressed in the leotard of the clone he had eaten, much to the amu*t of the media outside.

“Biggest Scandal since Madara!” The Konoha Times declared the next day, proudly displaying the prone form of Midnight, forced into a outfit two sizes too small and foaming at the mouth.

...

Meanwhile, back with the pitcher hit by an errant football.

Scarlet Blaze was not amused when a spotted missile literally flew out of left field and struck him across the head.

Staggering to get off the ground, he found no less than six of his clones standing over with him, their faces plastered with confusion and amu*t.

Wait.

He made twelve clones! Where were the other six?

Staggering to his feet, he snarled as he turned about, his face scanning the field around him. To the left was the set of gymnasts doing the splits.

Boring. He thought to himself, growling at the titanic form of the man who stood before him, shooting hoops alone.

He found his gaze fixed upon the slender forms of a dozen girls to his right, his eyes unable to leave as one of the beautiful girls fired a rapid missile

Into the face of one of his missing clones.

“Oh. That’s where they went.” Scarlet said to himself as the clone assassinated via volleyball turned to dust.

With a shout, Scarlet marched forward, ready to give the girls a piece of his mind.

It was not a long walk. Barring the lag spike that froze him in place, forced to watch as another clone ate a missile of death in slow motion.

Thus, Scarlet stood with three of his clones along the hard court, in bitter contrast to the soft turf he had spent his career on.

He tapped one of the girls on the shoulder, which annoyed him, for he was pretty short.

Blankly, the girl looked back at him, high cheekbones and bright blue eyes and all.

“Oh, we were just coming to fetch the rest of you. Thank you for volunteering.”

Scarlet growled as he pointed a finger in the face of the confused girl.

“Get her!”

The air was silent for a moment, except for a distant basketball, a obscure laugh track, and the humming of the AC.

Scarlet glanced at the clone at his left, then at his right.

Both were mysteriously gone.

Scarlet glanced back at the baseball diamond, and found the blank stares of six clones, still gawking blindly at the beautiful form of the volleyball player.

And then his last clone fell, his head torn neatly off his orboro shoulders.

Scarlet glanced back at the girl, who now held him with an iron grip.

With a scream, Scarlet found himself forced to kneel where his clones once had, his eyes unblinking as a powerful serve flew at him.

It was really hard. Like clone killing hard.

“Huh,” he heard a voice say, amused. “Either I’m growing tired or this clone is tougher than the other ones.”

“Test it out.” The voice ordered as Scarlet heard the shifting of sand.

…

Breeze Dancer sighed as she took a sip of her water, fresh after perfecting her Rasengan serve.

It was a beautiful day, expect for some reason the clone had begun bleeding on the sand.

That wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?

“Can we get a doctor here?” She called out over the humming air conditioning, meeting the stares of perhaps a dozen blank faces across the arena, some of which were her own shadow clones.

“I suppose not.” Breeze muttered as she tossed the volleyball in the air again, ready now to test her spike.

…

“Nobody likes Scarlet anyways.” Administrator One chuckled as a intern opened the door.

“You have no idea where I had to go to find instant ramen.”

“Tell us. We are at an interlude anyways.”

And thus Crimson played alone.

Fin.

A Sport all the Better

There was a calm to the wind today. Taking deep breaths, Midnight let his head fall back, chin raised to the sky as he basked in the bright sunlight. His white hair thudded against his back, firmly tied into a tight ponytail. This was the last match of the week, sports tournaments have been going on all week to give everyone a chance to shine. Soccer was the last match to take place, and Midnight could feel his friends' presences in the crowd; Azure and Crimson yelling despite the game not having started yet, Breeze whistling loudly and yelling instructions to him, Scarlet happily watching him prepare to play.

It made him happy, to have them all there in the crowd supporting him. He had watched all their matches as well, despite not being as excited as they were. They all played different sports, each so unique in their own ways that it made Midnight wonder what it would be like if they all played the same sport.

Would Crimson be as powerful as he is on a basketball court, commanding his team and leading the defense? Would Breeze be as agile and quick as she is on the sandy shore, blocking and diving for the ball? Would Azure showcase her flexibility and arm strength just as she does on gym mats? Would Scarlet be quick to strategize, would he use tricks and jokes to get out of a precarious situation as he does when running between second and third base? Would Midnight himself be able to overlook the field and control the ball towards his comrades as well as he does on the soccer pitch?

They all had differing skills that made them suitable for their sports, those skills were what made them choose their sport after all.

With a harsh * of a whistle, Midnight called for his team to return to their bench. He heard his friends cheer together and with a reluctant smile he glanced up at them and gave a small wave. This seemed to make them all scream louder, Crimson pulling a large sign out of nowhere with Midnight's name on it. Before he could feel embarrassment creep upon him, Midnight turned away and garnered the attention of his team.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" he waited for shouts of acknowledgment from his team. When they quieted once more, he continued. "We've prepared for this day for a long time, spent hours upon hours in the heat practicing for this very moment! Let's go out there and show everyone exactly what we prepared for!" He ended with passion, throwing a fist into the air for emphasis. His team copied the gesture. "Everyone hands in!" He shoved his fist into the middle of several bodies, all beaming with excitement. Other hands joined his own, piling atop one another.

"Konoha on three!" he yelled, pushing down on the hands as he counted. "One... Two... Three!" And then he pulled his fist up, everyone else's hands flying to the sky in unison, everyone screaming out Konoha in honor of their village. And then his team was off, people running at different paces to get to their starting positions, Midnight following in a slow jog. He hurried to his place just outside of the mid-circle, standing by and waiting for his strikers to begin kickoff.

The other team piled onto the field soon after them. Once everyone was in place, the middle referee blew his whistle, the pitch high and piercing and Midnight watched his strikers begin the game.

Midnight ran down the pitch, dribbling the ball before him. The cheers from the crowd fell away, silence permeating through his ears as he maneuvered around opposing players on the field. He passed the ball through an opponents legs, spinning around the other and sprinting forwards to accept the return pass. He received the ball once again, gaze moving up and catching on the goalkeeper before him, imposing figure that stood between Midnight and the final goal.

Kicking the ball slightly forwards, the keeper rushed out, thinking he made an error, but Midnight smirked, speeding up just barely and tapping the ball softly around the rushing keeper. The keeper dove forwards and missed the ball by a hair. Midnight leaped over the keeper and stopped the ball's momentum with his left foot. He looked up at the goal, smile overtaking his features at the sight of an empty goal.

With a soft tap from his right foot, he kicked the ball into the goal's right corner, the ball hitting the back of the net snugly and staying there. When he turned around, the sound slowly came back to him and he was greeted by intense cheers and screams. He looked up to the stands, waving wildly, eyes finding his friends with relative ease. Azure had at some point during the match also gotten a sign and was waving it around with Crimson. Breeze was shouting wildly, no doubt trying to tell him how she would have scored. Scarlet had his fingers between his lips and was whistling, pausing to smile and wave at Midnight.

Grinning maniacally, Midnight jogged back to his team's side of the field, earning pats on the back for his goal. They set up once more, the time the last thing on their minds. The other team set up the ball and when the referee blew his whistle, they kicked it off once more, sending the ball flying over Midnight's team's heads. But seconds later, before Midnight could even make a move to run after the ball, three whistles sound, signaling the end of the game.

Midnight joined his team in cheering for their win, everyone coming together for a group hug. They separated quickly after, lining up on the midfield line and shaking hands with their opponents, giving the same respect to the referees.

As soon as he came off the field, he was accosted by his friends, Azure jumping on his back and crawling all over him, Crimson throwing an arm around his shoulders and crushing Midnight against his much larger form. They were both speaking loudly, far too loudly for being directly by Midnight.

"And then you were like whoosh!" Azure exclaimed, hands flying and clapping as she explained. "And the ball went shoom! And it went in!" Crimson was nodding enthusiastically, agreeing with every word Azure said, making even bigger gestures that almost knocked Midnight off his feet. His arm was grabbed and he was dragged out from between his two excitable friends and Breeze was curling her arm over his shoulders, bending Midnight in half and she rubbed her knuckles into his head.

"Nice fight-o, Middie!" she exclaimed, pulling at his ponytail and flinging it away from him. He let out an indignant, "Hey!" before he was pulled away and another arm was wrapping around him.

He recognized Scarlet's spindly arm around his waist and wrapped his own arm around Scarlet's neck, dragging the shorter boy into his chest, the fire user immediately protesting and struggling to escape. "No, no, no, stop, Midnight, no, stop, this is gross you are covered in sweat!" He screeched, pulling at Midnight's arm around him. The ruckusScarlet made caught his other friend's attention and then Crimson was screaming;

"DOGPILE!"

And with a startled yelp, Midnight was falling to the floor, being buried underneath Crimson's large form, Scarlet being squished beneath him. There were two more jumps that followed, obviously being Breeze and Azure, laughing as Midnight at Scarlet being trapped beneath their behemoth friend.

Despite his annoyance, Midnight couldn't stop his own laughter from bubbling up. His friends may be insane, but they were his friends and they made playing his sport all the better with their support.

Summoned to the Hokage's Office, Hagoromo Sanae paused for a moment to catch her breath and compose herself a moment, flicking a stray lock of long blonde hair out of the way of her face before breathing out her held breath and knocking smartly. The summer heatwave had started to become unbearable and even with her newer combat gear, lighter and roomier than her previous tight kimono, Sanae had been sweating buckets recently. Lady Tsunade was likely to be hot and irritable, even more cranky th*ual so the Breeze Dancer steeled herself for the worst.

To her slight surprise a male voice beckoned her inside.

Her other four fellow classmates were all there already, stood waiting in front of the desk. A couple of Jonin clerks Sanae didn't recognise stood to the side, clipboards and scrolls out, scribbling down notes. A weasel-like man with small glasses leant to the side to peer at her, tilting his eyes downwards to regard her over the lenses. Sanae had the distinct impression his eyes had started at her chest level, before rising to meet her gaze. She ground her teeth a little before giving a very slight bow.

"Ebisu-Sensei. Is Lady Hokage not here?" she asked, glancing at the others who just shrugged back.

"Lady Tsunade and her aide, Shizune are on leave for a few days. I have been tasked with delivering her missives and issuing missions in her stead!"

Ebisu sneered a little, puffed up with his own self-importance right now.

"Now that you are here, Miss Hagoromo I can start with an important task I have for all of you that could see relations between Konohagakure and Kumogakure improve tremendously! Lady Mabui here..." he indicates a officious looking Kunoichi standing off to one side with the characteristic tanned skin and white hair of the Land of Lightning, "and myself are overseeing a grand event between our two nations that will see our best and brightest young talent demonstrating their skills and thus the skill of their whole village!"

A hand went up from her classmates, Gotuo, the tall Earth Style user known amongst them as 'Crimson Fist'.

"Err... Ebisu-Sensei, the Chuunin exams aren't due for another 8 months though. Isn't this a bit early?"

Ebisu sighed, pushing his glasses back up his nose in indignation. Mabui stepped forwards.

"Don't worry, it’s nothing that serious. The Hokage and the Raikage have decided it would be best for us, with an eye towards many of the relations built up by Naruto and Lord Bee, to celebrate our new friendship with a bit of friendly competition. As you may know, the Land of Lightning is home to many sandy beaches which attract visitors from across the nations, purely to relax and have fun, away from the cares of the world. In the spirit of this, we are collaborating with the Land of Fire, and the Land of Waves, to host the first Ninja World Sport Series! We'd like to focus on our up and coming ninja, so we have decided to leave the decisions of who gets to play what sport up to you! We've shortlisted down to five sports disciplines we believe will showcase the best and brightest our villages have to offer, while not alienating any of the other villages should they too wish to send teams to compete!"

Her smile was warm and friendly, she reminded Sanae of Shizune is many respects.

Ebisu sat forwards, elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers, copying the usual pose of the Hokage.

"Ahem, the five sports we have shortlisted are: Football, or Soccer to some people, baseball, Basketball, Gymnastics and, especially for the Land of Waves, Beach Volleyball. I expect each of you to go around your fellow ninjas and choose who would be the best for your teams. Each of you will be the team captain for your assigned sport."

Sanae saw Misou grin and punch her fist into the palm of her other hand eagerly. The water style tomboy was a keen football player and would be eager to demonstrate her skills on the pitch. She wondered if she should talk with Youmo, the Midnight Blade, over which of them would head up the baseball team as they seemed the most likely candidates for it. Her war fan swing was spot on, designed for power and distance while he had knife-edge accuracy down pat. Big Crimson would probably want Volleyball, he seemed to enjoy showing his chest off any opportunity he got.

Master Ebisu gestured for attention before continuing in his preachy tone.

"I, of course, have assigned each of you to be Captain of our team based on exhaustive research of your skills and abilities! Of course, as it is my choosing, I have chosen the best candidate each time, moreover you are to consider this a mission of at least A rank or even higher! The reputation of Konoha and the entire Land of Fire rests on your shoulders!"

One of the clerks steps forwards, handing each of them a scroll.

"Use these to collect your approved uniforms. Each of them was designed by myself, you will like them! That is all! Dismissed!"

The Five-styles Five exchanged confused glances with each other before moving towards the door and leaving, Ebisu practically shoo-ing them away before they could protest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You have got to be kidding me!" Misou, known to the Five as the Azure Fang, screamed at the face of the quartermaster clerk, the vein on her forehead bulging as she practically leapt the desk to assault the poor man, clearly angered by the choice of sport she had been given as captain. Youmo, taciturn and to the point as ever, had already left with a duffel bag full of football kit; checklist in hand, presumably to ask Chojii to play goalie for their team and Shikamaru to consider heading up the midfield with Lee, or maybe even defence. It’s what little blue would have done.

"Calm down Misou!" Oiwa, the Fire Style expert pleaded, reaching out to pull her away from the poor clerk.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! THIS A-HOLE IS A PERVERT!"

"Please Blue! He's just doing his job!"

Misou scowled. There was a slight sound as chakra was charged, then a sudden rush as the liquid in the quartermaster’s drink suddenly trebled in size and flew into Oiwa's face, drenching him from head to toe. He stumbled backwards, tripping up on the loose pile of baseball bats he had been issued with.

"Oh man, I think I got coffee in my ear!" he moaned.

"Just what the hell were you creeps thinking?" Misou asked, holding up the ridiculously small piece of fabric so Sanae could see. "There is no way this will cover me up! You think I want people staring at me in just my pants?!!"

"It's called a leotard Blue, it'll stretch." Sanae called over with a sigh as Gotuo, the body-building beef-slab taijutsu and earth style specialist of the Five, stepped up to receive his kit bag.

"But I wanted to be the football captain!" Misou protested. "I thought Gymnastics was more Oiwa's thing!"

He shrugs in agreement. "I mean, I'm not going to moan, I would have thought baseball would have been suitable for Youmo, or even Sanae. I mean, I'm more of a kunai kind of guy," He held up a wooden bat, peering at it strangely. "I mean, I've not exactly had much practice swinging these things around of late."

"Its fine, I'm not sure I know much about basketball either." Sanae replied with a shrug. Ebisu Sensei had some weird ideas for his team captains, that was for sure. She stepped aside as Gotuo turned, swinging a large net bag of orange * around his shoulder. "Funny, I always thought Volley* were white, Gotuo."

"Huh? They are." Gotuo's bicep replied as his free hand pulled a basketball shirt out of his bag and tossed it over his other shoulder, admiring the colour as Sanae placed her scroll on the counter top and unrolled it for the clerk.

Her eyes fell on the kanji text contained within it as the clerk pulled a small bag of white rubber * out from storage and an even smaller bag of kit than Misou had been given. Her fists clenched, screwing up the ends of the scroll.

"Is there a problem with your order as well Miss?" the clerk asked, his voice almost fearful at his point. Sanae's face reddened, her hair casting long shadows over her eyes as she contemplated introducing Ebisu Sensei to death by a thousand wind-chakra blades. Not the clerk's fault though, she reminded herself, breathing out a short breath and forcing a smile.

"Nope, no problem at all, all in order! Thank you!" she said as she grabbed the bags off the desk and turned, storming out of the building. Misou, catching the tension, lifted her chin and turned on her heel as well, following Big Sister Breeze.

The clerk looked down at the crumpled scroll as Oiwa and Gotuo exchanged glances and shrugged at the departure. Written upon it was a simple order:

'Konoha Beach Volleyball team - Girls only.'

<cont...>

<cont. from above>

"As far as I can see, the biggest problem will be convincing Hinata to join the team once she sees the 'uniform'" Tenten pointed out.

Sanae had to agree with her. So far, her chosen team was rounding out nicely. She only needed 2 people each game, so picking complimentary skills was easy and Tenten and Ino had both been easy sells; both Kunoichi had jumped at the chance the moment Sanae had mentioned the word 'beach'.

"Hey, it would be good if we could get Sakura to come along too! I bet she'd be an awesome spiker if we needed a reserve!"

"Game doesn't work that way Ino, I'm afraid" Sanae said with a sigh. "No substitutions in teams, two on two, same two all sets, so whoever we go with as our 'A' team, its them for the whole match."

"But still, we'd need a fourth member for practice at least, why not ask her?"

Tenten agreed.

"Yeah, makes sense! Ino, why don't you go and see if Sakura is free while we go talk to Hinata!"

"Will do! As long as that's ok with you, Captain?"

Sanae shrugged, her intention was to show that creep Ebisu that the women of Konoha were more than just objects. Sakura's now legendary strength would potentially be a huge asset on that part.

"Sure, go ahead!"

Ino gave a small cheer and a giggle as she ran off to find her best friend. Tenten knocked on the gate to the Hyuga Clan compound, stepping back from it to wait politely while Sanae made an adjustment to her team sheet.

An elderly face opened the door, raising a wrinkled eyebrow at the two as they bowed respectfully. "Friends of Lady Hinata's, yes?"

"Yes, sir!" Tenten began, "I was wondering if she was at home at the moment and if we could speak with her?"

"Yes, yes, come in! One of your other friends is already inside, though she wanted to speak with Lady Hanabi."

He stood aside to let them pass, both of them thanking him as they entered. He led them to the courtyard, where Hinata sat watching a sparring duel between Hanabi and the Azure Fang herself, Misou Senju. The two danced around each other, twirling and dodging, a long flowing whip of water lashing out continuously from Misou's hand, Hanabi ducking, diving, cartwheeling and acrobatically avoiding it with every strike. Those she could not, blue chakra blades around her fingers neatly snipped and parried.

"Remember, if you are going to win this, you need to master grace, as well as power!" the commanding voice of Hyuga Hiashi extoled, the leader of the Hyuga clan himself sat watching the balletic sparring match from a small pagoda, fanning himself to keep cool in the heat. The two older girls sat down next to Hinata, entranced by the flow before them.

"Lady Misou is really good with water style, isn't she?" Hinata whispered across to them, eyes never leaving Hanabi as she danced around. It was weird, in a way, but made sense for two intensely driven and focused kunoichi to practice Gymnastics in such a potentially deadly way.

"Yeah, she's come a long way. But her fury drives her currently." Sanae said with a sigh.

"She even asked me to join up with the Gymnastics team," Tenten chipped in. "Wanted to train dodging kunai, shuriken and other ninja tools. I declined, but only because you asked me first."

"Yes, you are really good at that as well Tenten!" Hinata beamed.

"Yeah! But I'd much rather be down the beach working on my tan and enjoying the cool water than stuck in a hot, stuffy Gymnasium learning dance routines! Plus, imagine all the boys that are going to be there!"

Sanae shot Tenten a warning glance, but it appeared Hinata had been too transfixed on the dance between her younger sister and Misou to notice. She coughed politely.

"So, Hinata, I was thinking you might be able to help out with the Volleyball team. I mean, we'll be down the beach and enjoying the fresh air. I'm pretty good on offence, but my defence is a little lacking, I don't think I'll be allowed to summon endless shadow clones mid-game."

"Yeah, we could really use your Eight-Trigrams on defence to stop any wayward shots from the other team. Leave the scoring to me and Sanae!"

Hinata gave them one of her sweet, kind smiles.

"I mean, I would, but..." she trails off, pulling her puffy training gi tighter across her chest.

"Are you still wearing that? In this heat!" Tenten asks, incredulous. "Come on Hinata! It’s like 100 degrees out here! Take it off, enjoy the sun! Come on! Join in with us on the team! The bikini's we've got for uniforms are really cute too!"

Tenten elbows Hinata playfully in the side of her well-developed bosom. "and I bet those milkshakes will bring ALL the boys to the yard!"

"Wha?!!! No!!!!" Hinata cries, face going as white as a sheet despite the blazing heat. Clutching her chest even tighter, she takes off into the house.

"Tenten!" Sanae scolds, "what you have to go and say that for? Seriously?"

"Huh? Oh, come on, you know it would be true! When it comes to the chest area, she has all the other girls in Konoha beat!"

The look Sanae gives her in response makes Tenten quail a bit, hand up defensively, the other scratching the back of her head. "I mean, present company excepted, of course!"

Sanae holds her frown a moment longer, before melting back into a smile and clapping the other * the shoulder. "Well, someone has to provide the spectators with something to look at, at least."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Tenten pouts.

"Oh, come on! Just admit you are jealous of me and Hinata. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll get yours soon enough."

"Hey! I'm not... you're cruel!"

Sanae just smiles, before heading in doors to talk to Hinata in private.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The beach-front stalls overlooking the volleyball pitches were packed, and many more spectators had taken up positions on the boardwalks and local cafés. For the competition itself, four villages had submitted teams and had put their brightest and best up for the competition.

For Konoha, Sanae had managed to enter three teams altogether, while Kumogakure had entered four, Sunagakure had sent two and Takigakure, the Village hidden in the Waterfall, had sent one. There was even a pair from the Land of Waves themselves.

Looking over the match brackets, Sanae was relieved to see they would be facing off against two unknown kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud, meaning they would dodge the team from Hidden Sand headed up by none other than Temari herself. Sanae and her were loose rivals, each seeking to claim greater mastery of wind style and the use of the Iron Fan ninja tool over the other. So far, they had each proven greater allies than enemies, but Temari's stern approach and cool head often jarred with Sanae's carefree attitude and desire to prove herself. Temari's team had also faced a team from Kumogakure, and had proven extremely cool under pressure, recovering several hard spikes that Sanae had thought sure to score with artful uses of small wind gusts to slow the ball down just enough to recover it.

Sanae had split up Ino and Sakura. While great friends, their own rivalry meant they occasionally didn't work as well as they should together, and so Ino had been paired with Tenten. They won their first match convincingly, the flexible rules governing the ninja games aspect of the sport meaning Ino's mind-transfer technique could be used in small burst to stun or delay a blocker, while Tenten proved more than adept at controlling the ball in the air and nimble enough to cover Ino's slack on the ground. Sakura brought sheer brute force to her team, her chakra assisted leaps and spikes driving the ball into the ground faster than most could see. Her partner, an Inuzuka Chuunin named Ruiyo who specialised in using a ranged attacks as well as working with her clan's signature Ninja Dogs turned out to be a great support, sending several Nails Sakura's way for her to attack with pinpoint precision and power. Their team even tied the leader board for most Aces in the competition. Konoha was doing ok, and the girls were having fun.

<cont>

<cont. from above> Putting down her clipboard, she moved to sit next to Hinata. The pale Hyuga sat with a towel d*d over her shoulders, a large floppy hat covering her neck from the sun.

"Hey. You ok?"

Hinata nodded.

"Good. We are up next. Remember the training we did for this and relax. You'll be fine."

"Umm, okay, if you think so. There's a lot of people here." the pale girl said, tapping the tips of her index fingers together nervously.

"There is? Didn't notice!" Sanae responds with a wink, whipping off her loose shirt to reveal the bright yellow sports bikini that marked her as team captain and tying her long hair back out of her eyes. Turning to the nearest crowd of spectators, she noticed several young men looking at her. "Stare too long, you'll go blind!" she says, *ing them a kiss and winking. The announcement comes over the tannoy.

"Match 6 will be Konoha A vs Kumo B! C*l participants please proceed to court number 2!"

"That's us!" Sanae calls down to Hinata, who still hasn't moved. "Hey! Hinata, you listening? Hello?"

Hinata just sits there, trying to bury herself further in the towel.

"Alright, that's it..." she cries, grabbing a small hand-fan and making the sign of the Bird one handed to channel chakra before sending a small swirling gust of wind out the fan, striking Hinata from underneath and sending her flying from the bench into the court, towel flying off. There is a roar of approval from the nearby crowd as Hinata tumbles in the sand a moment before kipping up to her feet nimbly. Her face darts around in shock as she realises everyone can see her in her bikini.

A volleyball suddenly flies straight at her face with some considerable force, Hinata desperately bringing her hands up to catch it just in time, her eyes wide with shock.

"Concentrate on the ball! Ignore everyone else." Sanae urges, stepping onto the court beside her, hands on Hinata's shoulders. "You are strong, and kind, a true ninja of the Hidden Leaf. Let them see you are brave too!"

Hinata gives a weak nod and a small whimper of ascent, eyes not leaving the ball.

"What's the matter? Afraid to lose?" came the snarky comment from the other side of the net. Sanae turns to look at their opponents, both displaying the tanned skin and pale hair common to this region. The Kumo team captain had chosen to die her hair bright red, fading to pink at the tips. Something about her attitude made Sanae instantly want to beat her so hard it would be a humiliation, not just a defeat. The captain turns to her team-mate, *ing her thumb over her shoulder at Hinata. "Guess they just thought to send the * squad this time? Do they even know how to play?"

"The other two teams seemed to do ok. Guess they got lucky!"

"Hah! Sure they did darlin'!" the captain snorts, moving to position for the start. Sanae just stares at her opponents, eyes narrowed, assessing the way they move, the way they walk and hold themselves. The referee calls for the coin flip, Kumogakure winning with 'Heads'. "Time to lose, Leaf-*s!"

"Ignore them Hinata, focus on the ball. Let’s show 'em what it means to be Konoha kunoichi!"

The referee *s his whistle. The red-haired Kunoichi sends an easy serve over the net, straight at Hinata. Her hands go up at the last moment, batting the ball away from her face, messily sending it off to the side furthest away from Sanae.

"A shank?! On that ball?!" Sanae hears the other Kumogakure player cry out in surprise and disgust, giving out a short breathless laugh like a choking hyena. Desperately, Sanae dives to get a hand underneath before it hits the floor, her only saving grace the lightness of the serve already robbed of much of its momentum by Hinata's fumbling. The back of her fingers feel the press of the rubber just enough for her arm to fling up off the floor, sending the ball bouncing back over the net. Quickly switching, the red-haired opponent darts forwards, sending the ball into the sand where Sanae had been standing before, Hinata nowhere near close enough to recover it.

"First point to Kumogakure!" the referee calls as Sanae pushes herself up off the sand, biting her lip to hold back her frustration.

"Ya know, there ain't a consolation prize afterwards if you can win a wet tshirt competition here. Cow!" the white-haired member of the opposing team calls through the net to Hinata. Hinata looks distraught, her hands trying to cover herself up from every angle at once.

"Yeah!" the red-haired captain agrees, "A dumb, white cow! All udder, no *, no brains!"

Grabbing Hinata's shoulders, Sanae whips her team mate around and pulls her face close to her own.

"Are you really going to just stand there and let them talk to you like that? You are a Hyuga! A noble woman and one of the most powerful kunoichi I know!"

"But... but... but..." Hinata stammers, pulling away. The referee *s his whistle, the two Konoha women nowhere near ready, and the Hidden Cloud team send a lazy Ace into the sand behind them.

Some of the crowd are laughing at the exchange, just enough for the two women to hear it. Sanae feels red heat building within her gut, anger rising.

"Look at me!" she shouts at Hinata, hoping to snap her out of her reverie. "You are not dumb, you are strong! You are not a Cow, you are a ninja!"

Another whistle, another soft thud. "Kumogakure leads three to nil!" the referee calls. Sanae defends the next point on her own, Hinata just kneeling down, trying to cover herself up as much as possible. The two Kumogakure nin look shocked as Sanae actually manages to single-handedly score the next point. Noticing her team mate trying to carry on without her, Hinata stands up, and timidly manages to help Sanae score a second point, then a quick third, coming out of her shell a little bit. The Hidden Cloud nin huddle for a moment, then giggle. They start pointing at Hinata's chest, then their own, making rude gestures and swirling their fingers around their temples, mocking Hinata. Several male members of the crowd laugh and holler. Someone wolf-whistles. Sanae feels her cheeks beginning to burn with red hot rage. The whistle goes and Kumogakure send an easy serve straight at Hinata, who barely reacts in time and knocks the ball out of bounds.

"Ignore them!" Sanae commands Hinata, pointing at the crowd, noticing as she did that Ebisu Sensei has gotten himself front row seats and sure as heck doesn't seem to have noticed his village's team hadn't done anything for two *. Sanae wasn't even sure if he was aware a team sport was actually being played. Was that blood gushing out of his nose? Creep.

She felt her rage peak at that and growled in disgust. Hinata gave a small, pathetic little wail and seemed to want to disappear under the sand. "Fine, I guess I made a mistake. I thought you'd want to show Naruto how confident you had become!"

She steps away, returning to the attacker’s position at the net, leaving Hinata to sob alone at the baseline. This time, their opponents serve hard, the ball sailing over Sanae's head and smacking full force into Hinata's chest and face. The Hyuga woman staggers back a few steps in shock, eyes practically glazing over.

Sanae gives a small gasp of annoyance, raising her hands as the ball tumbles through the air, about to land out of bounds. Her hands whipped through the motions practically on auto. Bird, Ox, Dog, Release!

Suddenly, a huge wave of sand *s up from the beach behind Hinata, pushing her and the ball back towards the opponent's half. The sand wave travels through the net, straight into their opponents, blinding both as the ball is carried along above it, landing half buried in the sand at the back of the pitch.

The referee *s his whistle.

"Chakra Foul! No jutsu allowed to carry the ball further than one half! No score!"

"What the hell was that?!! Dumbo!" the red-haired captain called, brushing loose sand out of her eyes and hair. Her partner staggers up beside her, shaking sand out of ears and bikini top. There is a brief respite as two earth style Jonin attendants mould the court back into its officially determined shape.

Hinata starts to walk away. Sanae sighs, chasing up to her.

<cont...>