"Waaah! Teme, do you think I can jump that high?"

The three high school students from Karasuno turned towards the loud voice just in time to see a blonde teen jump as high as the kid they were watching, earning a gasp from the other onlookers as the male almost toppled over the railings.

The teen's companion merely glanced at him before focusing back on the game, "The kid has potential."

"Which one?"

"The setter from Kitagawa Daiichi."

Sugawara, who was taken aback by the blonde's jumping power moments before, overheard their conversation and spoke up, "Excuse me," The two teens turned to him, "Are you two volleyball players?"

The males in question shook their heads. The blonde was the one to answer, "No, we play ball. Basketball." The other teen with him remained silent, eyes glued back to the match below.

It explained the jump power the blonde had. Interested, Daichi piped up, "Are you two high schoolers?"

Nodding, the loud teen replied, "We're first years from Konoha High, dattebayo!" Then, he pointed at himself, "The name's Naruto Uzumaki!" And, gesturing to his companion, "That emo-looking jerk is Sasuke Uchiha." Some people from the stands shushed him, causing him to grin sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

As Sugawara and Daichi introduced themselves, it was Tanaka's turn to take an interest in the conversation, "I'm a first year, too. Tanaka Ryunosuke. You have a really high jump, Uzumaki-san!"

Said man puffed out his chest, proud, "Call me Naruto! That jump was nothing, dattebayo!"

"What brings you guys here? Is there a basketball game nearby?"

Naruto grinned, once again looking sheepish, "We're actually here to look for a friend, she's a volleyball player," He looked around, "We were supposed to help her scout for new players but I think we went to the wrong gymnasium…"

Tanaka wasn't able to reply as they heard gasps from the audience, their attention immediately turning back to the game—just in time to see the setter from the losing team slip up and their number ten suddenly appearing right where the ball was despite it being there purely on accident.

A tense beat. Then a whistle.

All five teens looked stunned. They noticed the wary looks the winning team gave Yukigaoka High. Those weren't the look of winners. Sasuke was the first one to snap out of it as he turned to leave, not bothering to wait for the blonde.

"Hey!" Naruto hastily bid his farewells as he caught up with the other teen. "That kid was amazing! Did you see that, teme?! He was there one second and then on the other side in a flash, and then he jumped so high and bam! And—it was out! What a shame!"

Those from Karasuno could still hear the teen's complaints about how the match ended with an out of bounds, and they couldn't help but agree. What an anticlimactic end.

"Hey, do you guys know that school they mentioned they were from—Konoha High?"

Sakura Haruno breathed in slowly, eyes narrowing as she tossed up the ball she was holding, doing a short run before jumping up and hitting the ball dead center, exhaling forcefully the moment her palm made contact. She watched as the ball hit the top of the net, stopping its momentum and causing it to drop at the forefront of the other side of the court.

She heard clapping from behind her, causing her to turn her head to the source. Seeing her friends, she rolled her eyes and walked to where the ball rolled off to.

"C'mon, Sakura-chan. How were we supposed to know the girls' game was in a different place?" Naruto whined, watching his friend bend down to grab the ball, "And you should really buy longer shorts. You shouldn't be seen by other men wearing shorts that short. Wear my shorts."

Sakura ignored his latter comment, "I texted you the address."

"What? But—" Checking his phone, he noticed the message Sakura sent required him to scroll down, and that was when he saw the rest of the message. And she was right, she did include the address, "You included both the men's and the women's! How was I supposed to know that?!"

"I just copy-pasted what they sent me. Sasuke, why didn't you take charge?" They both turned to the other male, finding him with a basketball in hand and just about ready to shoot.

Sakura threw the ball she was clutching at him, causing him to stumble and lose his stance, "How did you idiots even know I'd be here?" She caught the volleyball thrown back at her, sticking out her tongue at the scowling culprit.

Twirling the orange ball on his finger, Sasuke replied, "Where else would a volleyball junkie go? This is the only gym you go to to train. Besides," He tossed up the ball and caught it in both hands, "We all know how boring the girls' game would be." He ignored the look Sakura sent at him, turning back to the hoop.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded in agreement, holding up his hands when the pinkette held up the ball threateningly, "In the game we watched, there was this kid that people called "The King of the Court" and against them was this other kid that jumped really high and had amazing reflexes!"

"'King of the Court', huh?" Sakura turned back towards the net, rolling the ball in her hands, "Sounds like a prick."

"24-23, match point for Konoha! Will the defending champions bring home the title once again?"

Sakura panted, ignoring the sweat trailing down the side of her face, "Ino! I'm open!" She glanced at those in front of her, the blockers looking ready to jump up in defense at her call. She watched as Ino ran to where the ball was sent, hearing Hinata squeak out a small apology for the poor receive.

Said setter raised her hands in position, "It's all yours!" Ino tossed the ball to their ace, watching as the pinkette ran towards the net. She knew Sakura spiked best when it was close to the net and as high as possible.

Eyes darting to the left, Sakura grinned, seeing exactly where the defense was weak and made sure to do a cross to hit the open space that the blockers practically paved way to. Wrist snapping, she spiked the ball directly to the opening, hearing a crack from the blocker's hand as it was hit in the process. It barely changed the ball's course or power as the other team's libero was too slow to catch the ball, and the ball slammed down right where Sakura wanted it to.

The blocker cried out, clutching her hand as the space between her pinky and ring finger bled, her team mates rushing to her aid as the commentator announced the score.

"And the champions of this year's Summer League goes to the defending title holder: Konoha!" And, seeing what was transpiring on the court amidst the cheers, "And it looks like Haruno did it again!"

Hearing her name and glancing around, Sakura turned back to where the other team was huddled, breaking out of her own team huddle to go under the net and towards their last opponents. Said team moved away to reveal the sobbing blocker on the ground, her fingers already bandaged together, "Hey, Amanai-san, was it? I'm sorry for that," She smiled, apologetic, "I honestly wasn't aiming for that to happen." She bowed her head in apology.

"It's okay," The teen managed to choke out, "I know this kind of thing happens on court." The player slowly stood up, and it was only then that Sakura really noticed the height difference and that the other female completely towered over her, "It was great to be able to play with you, Haruno-san. I hope to one day be like you."

Sakura blushed, waving a hand in embarrassment as the other player bowed, "You're going to be better. With height like that, it's your weapon to sharpen." Then, addressing the team as a whole, Sakura looked at each player, noticing the tears building up in their eyes and chose not to comment on it, "I hope to see you all soon. On the court, at the nationals." They all bowed, shoulders shaking as they dipped their heads in thanks.

The pinkette turned back, crossing the court to get to her own team. She was stopped by an orange-haired kid, who jumped down from the bleachers and landed in front of her, "That was an amazing spike, Haruno-sama! It went down with a Bam! "

'-sama? Bam?' Sakura giggled, "Thanks—"

"And you're much shorter than me!"

At that, and with how loud the kid said it, she could hear her own team laughing from a few feet away. Glaring at her team mates who pretended like they didn't do anything, she turned back to the kid, "Look here, shrimp. I may be short, but you're not one to talk. There's barely any difference!"

The kid shook his head, "It doesn't matter. Short or tall, what matters is how well you play volleyball, and you're way better than the grandmas I train with!" Then, he looked to be at war with himself, face flashing with different emotions at a speed too fast for her to keep up with, "Would you—uh…"

"Hey, forehead!" Ino called out to her, waving for her to come along as their bus arrived, "Time to go!"

Nodding, Sakura was just about to bid farewell to the kid, but was cut-off, "Would you… maybewannatrainwithmesometimes?" Sakura cocked her head to the side, blinking at how fast it was said, not understanding a thing. "What?"

The kid inhaled loudly, "Would you… maybe want to train with me… sometimes?" He managed to croak out, suddenly looking shy, not being able to meet her eyes.

"Oh." Sakura glanced at her waiting team mates. They were already onboard and were looking out their windows at her and the orange-haired kid, watching their exchange. "I would love to, but…" She scratched the back of her head, looking apologetic, "I'm actually from Tokyo, and we're just about to go home."

She felt bad the moment the slightly taller male's face fell, crestfallen, "Tokyo, huh…" Then, as if a switch was flipped, the male suddenly returned to looking excited, "That's so cool! You went all the way here to join, huh."

Sakura nodded, "Yeah." Then, hearing a certain blonde setter groan loud enough to capture her attention, "I'm sorry, but my team mates are getting restless. I'll think about it and maybe I'll come back sometime and find you."

The male's eyes widened, "Really?!" Grinning, he bowed, "I'll see you soon, Haruno-sama! Safe travels! Congratulations for winning the match!"

Sakura smiled. What a nice kid.

Nice doesn't make up for how horrible the kid was at volleyball.

Sakura sighed, watching the kid—Shoyo, he said, because she laughed at his face when she found out he had the same name as her team mate—practice his receiving on the wall. He couldn't even return the ball properly, couldn't start a receiving streak.

It had been about a week since he asked her to train with him, which, when she returned three days later, turned out to be her training him. He told her about his first and last match, about the team he managed to put together at the last minute, and the anger he felt at himself for not being able to stay on the court like he had planned. He told her about the team they were up against, with a player the others called "The King of the Court", who he promised to one day defeat.

Hearing that part made her remember what her friends told her before. Putting two and two together, she concluded that Shoyo was the one with the jumping power and reflexes, which was soon verified to her when she tossed to him as he had requested the first time they met.

Her eyes surveyed her surroundings. They were at a community court made specifically for basketball, but had makeshift poles at the side to be used, probably donated or made by the neighborhood volleyball association. When she accepted his invitation, she didn't exactly know where he would be, and stumbled here entirely by accident. It was by luck that she saw older women training that when she stopped to watch, she saw Shoyo eagerly chasing after balls. When a stray ball rolled to where she was, the male almost barreled into her in his excitement to grab it, and when he saw her, he dropped everything and practically kneeled as thanks for keeping her word.

Smiling at the memory, she glanced back to the subject of her thoughts and sighed for the nth time, "Shoyo, bend your knees more. You're supposed to move with your legs, not just your arms."

Said boy groaned, "When are we going to start with the real training? I want to spike!" He grumbled, practically dragging his feet to where the ball rolled off to.

"This is real training. Receiving should be your top priority. It's the most basic of basics and the most important skill in volleyball. You need a solid foundation before going ahead and learning how to spike," Sakura tsk-ed, "All that jumping power, stamina, speed—it would be a waste if you were to ignore those gifts. You should hone it, discover and use your full potential."

She was met with silence, "Are you even listening?" She asked, annoyed. Here she was, a long way from home to train a brat that didn't want anything else to do but spike, "Y'know—"

"It's not like I'm ignoring them." He spoke up, gaze far, unblinking, "I just… I didn't have an actual team that I could call mine, you know?" He looked down to where the ball was, clutched in his hands, "I've always been asking my friends from the basketball team or the soccer team to help me with my training, so I didn't really have a coach to tell me where I should start or what I should be doing."

"All I know is I want to be like that player I saw on TV—The Little Giant."

Sakura was silent. The little giant, huh?

"Alright," She began, stretching her legs as she walked closer to the male, "I'll help you become like that idol of yours. But first, let's fix your form and receiving."

It was during a break from training when she received Shoyo's text: "Sakura-senpai, come watch me play! If we win this, I can join the team!"

Waaaah! It's 4:26am where I'm at. I'm kind of proud of this so I wanted to post it as soon as I was satisfied, and I kinda am. Thank you for all the support!