I do not own Naruto or the characters.

Her short, layered hair was tied up in a messy pony-tail, her shoe strings were laced tightly, and her red socks stopped barely below her knees. The thick black stripes she brushed under her eyes were now a mixture of paint and sweat. Her cleats seemed irrelevant for she nearly flew over the field. The stray hairs she missed in her rush to pull her hair up whipped back in her wind. She dodged, she weaved, she dribbled. Soccer was the most stimulating, thrilling, terrifying thing she could ever play.

She loved it.

She loved how her short pink hair would whip around, she loved how she could be counted on, she loved kicking, blocking, dodging, weaving.

The season started today. She could put the duties of a shinobi aside for all of soccer season. Shinobi from other villages and countries would join any team, no one team represented a village or country. The name of the team she was on was "Uma" or horse.

Only six teams competed, "Inu"(dog), "Kuma" (bear), "Ookami" (wolf), "Raion" (Lion), "Tora" (tiger), and "Uma". Last year, Uma's top rival was Ookami. In games with Ookami, blood was always on the field. Last year, Ookami won both times they played. Sakura wanted to beat them this year.

She was also curious about their new coach, since their old coach had been killed during the off-season, as a shinobi. The other soccer players started to gather on the field as they always did.

They waited for about thirty minutes for their new coach to show up, no dice. She sighed quietly. 'I hope our new coach isn't Kakashi sensei.'

"Might as well practice…" She said to herself.

"Naruto! Do you want practice a little? Maybe get in the goal for some shots?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Sure Sakura-chan." He replied.

They hurried down the field to the penalty box. Naruto set up in the goal and Sakura got on the line.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah!"

She kicked a roller the first time, which was easily blocked. She stopped the ball with her abdomen and took another shot that got some lift. The ball was angled perfectly and just barely swept in at the upper right corner of the goal.

Naruto kicked it far this time, she sprinted to retrieve it.

Sakura kept the ball close to her feet as she tore down the field. She had no idea what happened. The kunoichi slammed into something brick-solid and went sprawling on her back.

"Ouch…" She winced. She craned her neck to try to glimpse what she'd run into. Gaara. He was supposed to be on the Ookami team. "Dumbass… what are you doing here?"

"I believe it was you that ran into me." He sneered. "And, I'm the new coach for Uma."