Chapter 1 First Game and New Recruits

Naruto walked onto the field, fans cheering all around him. His helmet underneath his arm, the blue eyeshield glimmering in the sun; the large 21 on his back stood out as the crowd started chanting between his name and his nickname.

"Naruto! Eyeshield! Naruto! Eyeshield! Naruto!" He smiled and waved at the large crowd in the stadium, and the crowd went nuts. He slipped on his helmet and snapped on the chin strap, and made one final wave to the crowd as he stepped onto the field.

It was here, it was finally time to take down the best team in Japan and become the new champions. They were in the Christmas Bowl, and the Konoha Ninjas were planning on winning, even when the odds were 50 to 1. But most importantly, it was Naruto's time to take the title of best running back away from the "Real" Eyeshield 21.

He walked to the middle of the field where the coin toss was. Across from Naruto stood the real Eyeshield, and they locked gazes for a moment. The referee broke them from their staring contest and he asked Konoha for their call. "We want heads," Naruto answered, never looking back at his opponent.

"Konoha chooses heads..." he flipped the coin, "...Konoha you choose attack or defend?"

Naruto smiled, "Attack."

The referee announced it to the stadium, "The Konoha Ninjas won the coin toss and have chosen to attack first!" The stadium erupted into cheers.

OoOoO

It was four or five months ago, the start of the football season. The Konoha Ninjas were playing their first game in a spring tournament against a terrible team. That team was the Deimon Devilbats!

Naruto walked up the bleachers and took a seat to watch the game. The only reason he was there was because his best friend Sasuke was the quarterback, oh and also because... Naruto looked over at the cheerleaders. Sakura was the captain cheerleader. Naruto smiled as he looked at her in her short skirt, being flipped into the air. Hehehe, perfect view, score for me! Naruto thought proudly. Shikamaru walked over and sat down, Chouji close behind him, obviously with a bag of chips in his hands. "Hows the view Naruto?" Shikamaru asked smiling.

"Shhhhh, dammit, do you want me to get pummeled to death?" Naruto whispered.

"You wouldn't have to worry about that if you didn't do it. Besides, you know the head cheerleader only goes out with the captain of the football team, which is Sasuke by the way," Chouji said between mouth fulls.

"Yea, yea I know," Naruto said scowling.

"Come on, just relax and watch the game, this should be a good game," Shikamaru urged Naruto.

Naruto leaned forward to watch the start of the game. Deimon won the first attack and so their offense took the field. All of a sudden the ground shook as a huge guy ran onto the field and took the center position. "Holy crap," Naruto yelled, "he's as fat as you, Chouji!" Naruto immediately regretted what he said as he looked over to see flames in Chouji's eyes. Naruto, beaten and bruised, promised never to make fun of Chouji's weight again. Deimon had already took the field and were huddled up. The quarterback of Deimon let out a chant, "WE'LL FUCKING KILL THEM! YA-HA!" The team repeated it and got into position. Naruto turned to Shikamaru, "That's one hell of a chant."

"It's for intimidation. That's Deimon's quarterback, his name is Hiruma, and he has mastered the art of intimidation." Deimon hiked the ball and Hiruma fell back for a pass. Looking around he spotted a wide open receiver and launched it. It hit the receiver in the hands and he dropped it. "Not only that but it seems that he has one hell of an arm too,"Shikamaru observed.

"To bad no one can catch, hahaha," Naruto replied. Deimon in the end had to punt and Konoha took position at the 20 yard line. Sasuke stepped on the field and gathered the offense to him. Naruto watched from the bleachers as they broke the huddle and set up for their first attack. "Too bad we can't catch either," Naruto muttered. "So, Shikamaru, show me your magic, what's the play?"

"It's a run to the left," Shikamaru stated matter-of-factly. As if he read Konoha's mind, it was in fact a run to the left, but it was stopped for only a 1 yard gain. The big guy was the one who smashed the running back.

"What's that guys name?" Chouji asked pointing to the huge lineman for Deimon.

"That is Kurita, arguably the strongest linemen in Japan," Naruto answered, "I read about him in a magazine."

On the third play of the Ninja's attack, it was 3rd and 4, their last attack before punting. They had three wide receivers set up on the right side when Sasuke hiked the ball. The pass defense was breaking down under Kurita's pressure and Sasuke knew he had to throw it fast. He scanned the field and saw a wide open reciever who had beaten his man. Just as Kurita broke through, Sasuke launched the ball 40 yards down the field to the wide receiver. He jumped and juggled the ball before dropping it. Sasuke raised his arms in frustration and called on the punt team.

The game went on the same for the first three and a half quarters. It wasn't until there was one minute left to go in the game that the Ninja's got some luck. After another terrible punt by Deimon, the Ninja's were set up at midfield. "So, with only one minute left in the game, what do you think they'll do, Shikamaru?"

He thought for a moment. He closed his eyes and it wasn't until Konoha was setting up for their play, that he opened his eyes. "Its going to be a pass all the way to the 20 yard line, and it will be complete. They will then kick a field goal and take the lead to win. The only way they would lose is if some unknown variable was thrown into the mix." The very next play, Sasuke threw the ball to a wide open receiver who ran to the 20 yard line before being stopped. The Konoha Ninja's then went on to kick a field goal and take the lead.

Shikamaru and Chouji got up and were about to leave when Naruto stopped them. "Umm, Shikamaru?"

"Yea?"

"Would a player who hasn't played the entire game and is coming in for this final kickoff be called an unknown variable?"

"Yea...?"

"Look over there..." Naruto pointed to a small kid walk onto the field. He wore a green eye shield and had the number 21 on his jersey. "You still thinking of leaving Shikamaru?"

"Nope, they had a reason for hiding him this entire game, which means he's probably really good."

Konoha set up for the kickoff and launched it down the field. It was caught by the quarterback, Hiruma, and he ran forward. He was about to be tackled when he tossed it back to the mysterious 21. He took off running, but...

Naruto started cracking up, "So much for secret weapon, he just went the wrong way!"

Shikamaru frowned, "No, its not over yet..." After being yelled at for going the wrong way, 21 stopped and sprinted the other way. In a swirl of dust, he was running so fast Naruto almost lost track of him.

"Holy shit!" Naruto exclaimed, "He's passing everyone! Crap he's in the clear!" Once free from restrictions, 21 took off at full speed traveling the remaining 40 yards in 4.2 seconds.

"4.2 seconds...hmmmm..."Shikamaru muttered.

"Touchdown!!" the referee yelled, "No time left on the clock, Deimon wins!!"

Naruto slumped in his seat, "Wow, that kid was fast, I wonder if I could beat him?"

"Depends if you can run the forty in 4.2 seconds," Shikamaru said.

"4.2?! Last time I checked I was only 4.37!" Naruto said.

"That's not bad, when did you last check your time?" Chouji asked.

"About two years ago, I got lazy after that."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto, "You know, you could probably run a 4.2 now. It's been two years, and I bet you're a lot faster than you were."

"Maybe, but what good will it do me? I'm too lazy for sports, trust me, coaches have told me that to my face many times before."

"You wouldn't even do it to prove you could beat that guy?"

"Nah, got to keep up my reputation."

"Of what, a lazy bastard?" Naruto grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Shikamaru sighed and walked away. Naruto decided to go give Sasuke hell about losing and jumped off the bleachers and onto the field. Sasuke was at the side of the field talking to his team. Naruto walked close enough to hear what he was saying.

"What the hell? We had that game won! You guys expect me to say that we tried our best, that we will try harder next time? Well it's not going to happen! Why couldn't anyone tackle that last guy? If someone had done that the game would have been over!" Sasuke screamed at his team. He chucked his helmet across the field and turned to walk away. "Practice tomorrow and the rest of this week, from 3 to 6." The team groaned as he stalked away.

Naruto walked up to him and Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Soooooo...how's it going?"

"Shut up Naruto, I'm not in the mood for it," Sasuke said as he brushed past Naruto.

"You know, you shouldn't be so hard on them, that guy was good, really good."

"Yea I know, that speed was unreal."

"What you need are some better football players." Naruto suggested.

"The only problem is that no one at our school wants to play. They're too lazy." Sasuke said, smiling at Naruto.

"Just have to get the right motivation for them, unfortunately, I have nothing that would motivate me at the moment, so ha." Naruto said smugly.

"I'll think of something," Sasuke said smiling.

At that moment, Sakura walked up and stood next to Sasuke. "Hey, Sasuke-kun, sorry you guys lost."

He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, "Nah, its alright, that 21 was just really good."

"Yea, oh and..." she pushed him away and pinched her nose, "go take a shower, you stink!" Naruto laughed as Sasuke started chasing Sakura around. He finally caught her and lifted her in the air. "Put me down, you stink, let go of me!"

He brought her down and kissed her on the lips, immediately shutting her up. Naruto cleared his throat and the two broke apart. "Now that you two are down eating each others faces off, lets go get something to eat that's actually edible."

"What's wrong Naruto, jealous I have a girlfriend and you don't?" Sasuke asked.

"Nah, girlfriends are troublesome," Naruto said.

Sasuke leaned over and whispered in her ear, "In other words yes, and with that, I have found a way to get him to join the football team."

Sakura smiled and shook her head at Sasuke, "That would be mean you know."

"Eh, whatever."

Naruto was already at the other end of the field when he noticed that they weren't following. Irritated he turned and yelled at them, "Hurry the hell up, I'm starving!"

"We're coming, we're coming."

OoOoO

The trio walked into the ramen stand and sat down. Since Naruto was a little kid he always came here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it was his favorite place. Thanks to Naruto, they have now expanded and have more than one stand in the city. They ordered their meals and talked about school life. Sasuke then brought up football again, and started talking about all the different teams all over Japan, but mostly the ones in their league. "You heard of the Zakugaku Chameleons?"

"Yea, I read that they're a no good, gang, crap team," Naruto answered.

"Not this year, they have a sprouting linebacker called Habashira Rui, and I've heard hes whipping them into shape."

"One man can't help a crap team." Unfortunately for Naruto, the Zakugaku Chameleons were also eating ramen in the same stand and heard what Naruto had said. They stood up and walked up behind him. One guy put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned around and looked up at the hulk standing before him. Relaxed, Naruto leaned back in his chair, "What can I do for you fine gentlemen today?"

"We're members of the Chameleons, and we don't appreciate what you said about us." Naruto's face immediately paled as he stammered out an apology. "Sorry isn't good enough, I'm afraid we are need going to need compensation." They grabbed Naruto by the collar and threw him outside.

"Ummm, Sasuke a little help please," Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke looked at the guys and then back at Naruto, "Sorry, but I don't want to be killed. If I were you I'd run."

Taking the advice, Naruto took off down the street, the thugs chasing after him. "Why didn't you help him?" Sakura asked.

"No time to explain, come on, I want to watch this," he replied as he ran in the direction Naruto ran off to, dragging Sakura with him."

"Watch what, Naruto get the crap beat out of him?" He didn't reply as they went up on a bridge and got a clear view of Naruto running from the thugs. "So what are we looking for?" Sakura asked.

"Well, that 21 of the Deimon team today ran 40 yards in 4.2 seconds, and if we had a kid like that we could actually win a football game."

"What does this have to do with Naruto?"

"Shhhh, just watch..." Naruto was soon surrounded by the Chameleon's players and one of them punched him in the face. Naruto fell hard on the ground and slowly got up. "Come on Naruto where's your motivation?" Sasuke whispered.

Down where Naruto was the head thug moved closer to Naruto, but stopped. He bent over and picked up a cell phone lying on the ground. "Whats this, is it yours?" the thug asked. Naruto immediately recognized it but didn't say anything. "I'll take that as a yes," he said as he flipped it open. "Whoa, look at these pictures! You really are a perverted boy. I'll think I'll keep this as blackmail, which means you'll do what I say when I say it."

"I'll never do anything," Naruto growled.

"You will if you don't want these pictures to get out, and if they do, no girl will ever talk to you again.."

What am I going to do, Naruto wondered, I'm surrounded and there's no way I can take them all on. Guess I'll run for it.

Naruto stood up, a determined look on his face. "Here it is!" Sasuke exclaimed. Sure enough, Naruto dashed at the guy holding his phone, snatching it before he even knew what happened. Another thug jumped in his way, and Naruto spun to the side. Once he spun past that guy, Naruto pumped his legs and dashed away from them. They tried blocking him in but he outran them every time. Soon he spotted a large crowd in front of him. Shit! What am I going to do now? Naruto yelled to himself. Suddenly, it seemed as if time slowed down, and Naruto clearly saw a path through the crowd of people. Not bothering with wondering how it happened, he followed his instincts and ran the path he saw. Dodging and juking around people he finally made it past the crowd, and once he got through the group of people, he ran into a subway tunnel and jumped down the steps. The train's doors were beginning to close as Naruto ran to the train, and he knew that he had to dive. He dove forward, and barely missed getting caught in the doors. Naruto sighed in relief and took a seat, he would get off at the next station and get a ride home, then kill Sasuke for not helping him. The Chameleon hugs ran down the steps to the subway and when they saw Naruto was gone, they decided to just go home.

Sasuke stood in disbelief at what he had just seen. He just saw Naruto run exactly the same to the 21 of the Deimon Devilbats. "He's got to join our team," Sasuke said.

Sakura was just as shocked and all she could do was reply with a "uh-huh."

Sasuke smiled a mischievous smile, "Now we just need a girl that likes Naruto to convince him into joining the team."

Sakura's face lit up, "I have the perfect person, just as long as you don't mind that this person is possibly the shyest person in the world."

"As long as she can convince Naruto to join the football team, I couldn't care less."

"Well then lets go."

OoOoO

Hinata had been minding her own business, walking in the park admiring the beauty of it, when she had been ambushed. Sakura and Sasuke had jumped out from the bushes and grabbed Hinata telling her they needed her for something. They then proceeded to drag her to the football club office, where they sat her down and locked the doors.

"Are you guys kidnapping me or something?" Hinata asked.

"No, no, nothing like that. We just need you to do a very important task for us, and I think you'll find that it will be right up your alley," Sasuke said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well it has to do with a certain boy with blonde hair," Sakura said.

"Naruto-kun? What about him?" Hinata asked, her face looking worried at the thought of Naruto.

"We need him to join the football team, but it seems that the only thing that will motivate him to join is a girl," Sasuke said.

Hinata immediately understood what they wanted her to do, they wanted her to convince Naruto to join the team. "How would I do that?"

"First off, we're making you the manager of the team so it doesn't seem weird to ask him to join, and second..." Sasuke looked at Sakura and grinned, "You're going to have to ask him out on a date and ask him there."

Hinata almost fell out of her chair as she yelled out, "Are you nuts?! There is no way I can do that."

"You have to, please, for the sake of the team. We need a win and Naruto can help us do that. You just need to bring it up casually and ask him."

Hinata thought for a moment and then agreed to do it. "When do you want me to ask him out?"

"The next time you see him," Sakura replied immediately.

"Your kidding me," Hinata said as she rubbed her temples, "All right, I'll do it then."

OoOoO

Hinata was standing in front of the classroom door the next day waiting for Naruto to come out. At the moment, he was being yelled at by Iruka for sleeping during class.

Finally, the door slid open and Naruto walked out. He sighed and turned to leave when Hinata called to him. He turned around, "Oh, Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"I w-was waiting for y-you Naruto-kun," she replied, a slight blush on her face.

"What for?"

"I was w-wondering if y-you'd go get something to e-eat with m-me."

Naruto blinked and then grinned, "Well sure why not, where do you want to go?"

"How a-about to the r-ramen stand?"

"I like your the way you think! Let's go," Naruto said, grabbing hold of Hinata's hand. She blushed as she let Naruto pull her toward the ramen restaurant.

Once they entered the ramen stand, Naruto immediately ordered two bowls of ramen. "So Hinata, why did you suddenly ask me out?"

Hinata blushed, she knew what she wanted to say, but it wasn't what she had to say. Instead she went with the neutral route, "I j-just wanted to g-get to know y-you better."

"Oh," he blinked and then a hint of, what seemed to Hinata, a look of disappointment crossed his face. It was so quick, however, Hinata dismissed it as her mind playing tricks on her, a cruel sick joke, but a joke nonetheless. "So what did you want to know?"

Hinata thought about what to say when she thought of a way to bring up football. "Do y-you play any s-sports?"

"No not really, I just think I would be really bad at them, so I just don't play. That and I guess you could say I'm lazy, so practice isn't very appealing to me," he replied.

"I t-think y-you would be r-really good at s-sports," Hinata said.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, smiling, "You think so?" Hinata nodded her head and smiled back at him. "Well thanks Hinata." He paused for a moment and seemed to look over Hinata's shoulder and then asked, "In your opinion, what sport do you think I should play?"

"I think y-you should p-play f-football," she replied.

"Mmhmm...that's what I thought. You can stop pretending Hinata, I know Sasuke and Sakura hired you, they're sitting right there. In the sunglasses and trench coats, reading the newspaper. No matter their disguise, you can't hide Sakura's pink hair; they're so stupid."

"I'm sorry N-naruto-kun, t-they forced me into it, t-they even m-made me team manager so y-you wouldn't think it w-was weird that I asked y-you to p-play," Hinata said bowing her head.

"Nah, it's alright, I'm just wondering why they chose you to do it." He grinned and raised his eyebrows at Hinata, "Is it because you like me Hinata?" She turned a dark scarlet and quickly shook her head. "I'm just kidding, just kidding." Hinata gave a sigh of relief and looked down at her bowl of ramen. "Hinata, truthfully, do you think I should play football?"

"Y-yes I do," Hinata said, looking into Naruto's eyes, trying to let him know she wasn't pretending to mean that.

He looked into her eyes a little longer and then sighed, "Damn Sasuke to hell. All right I'll play, but on a few conditions..."

Sasuke was immediately next to the table, "Name 'em."

"First, Hinata has to stay the manager of the team," he looked at Hinata who had a confused look on her face and winked, "You got me into this, so you're coming along for the ride. Second, I want to bring in a few other people to the team too, but it might take an hour or two to gather them all."

Sasuke nodded, "So far, it's all a yes."

Naruto grinned and leaned back in his chair, "Last, I want a cool eyeshield and the number 21 like that guy from Deimon."

Sasuke patted Naruto on the back, "Done. We'll call you 'Eyeshield 21.'"

"Why, can't you just call me Naruto?"

"No way, once the other people from school find out how fast you are, they'll be trying to recruit you for every sports team around. I think you'll agree when I say that that is too troublesome."

Naruto laughed, "You know me like a book!"

"Of course I do, now about those other recruits..."

"Yea, about them, they'll be pretty hard to convince, but I'll get it done. The ones I want to recruit are..."

OoOoO

First to be recruited...

Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji

Shikamaru's strong point: IQ over 200
Weak point: Lazy

Chouji's strong point: Super strong when mad
Weak point: Weak when hungry

Naruto walked through the streets looking for Chouji and Shikamaru. Naruto walked past a restaurant, and out of the corner of his eye, saw a guy stuffing food in his mouth. When he turned his head, Chouji was sitting there stuffing his face with barbecue as Shikamaru shook his head. Naruto walked into the restaurant and sat down next to them. "Hey guys what's up?"

"Chouji's draining all my money, that's what...how troublesome."

"Let me tell you what, I'll buy, but you both have to do something for me," Naruto suggested.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto suspiciously, "What do you want us to do?"

"I want you guys to play football, I'm recruiting for the team!" Naruto said.

"Oh, hell no," Shikamaru replied.

Chouji put down his food and swallowed what he was chewing, "Why are you helping them recruit?"

"Well, since I'm to lazy to really go to practice, I figured I'd try helping them out another way."

Chouji scratched the back of his head, "Sure I'll play, I need something to do anyway."

Naruto laughed and patted Chouji on the back, "That's great!" Naruto looked back at Shikamaru, "Come on, you have an IQ of over 200! You need to play football, it's a game of smarts and strength, and you and Chouji are a team. If Chouji's the strength of our football team, you could be the smarts."

He sighed, "Will you leave me alone even if I say no?"

Naruto smiled, "What do you think?"

"Then I guess I have no choice, I'll play on the team."

Naruto pumped his fist in the air, "Only a couple more people left to recruit, come on guys."

Next up...

Hyuuga Neji

Strong point: Confident and extremely athletic
Weak point: Not humble and looks down on everyone

The two new football players walked with Naruto up to the Hyuuga house and knocked on the door. Neji opened the door and immediately wished he hadn't. "What do you want Naruto?"

"Wellllllll...we want you to join the football team."

"No," Neji slammed the door his face. Naruto knocked again. "Go away Naruto, I'm not joining."

"Aw, come on, we need you! We need your skills. No one else can compare to your level of athleticism." Naruto winked at the two behind him and whispered, "As long as you compliment this guy, he'll do whatever you ask him."

Neji opened the door, "You serious?"

"Of course! We can't do it without you."

"Well then I guess I'll join."

"Good, come with us, we have one more person to recruit, and you will be the one that's going to convince him."

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because your his rival."

Shikamaru groaned, "You don't mean him, do you?"

Naruto grinned, "Sorry."

Last to join the team is...

Rock Lee

Strong point: Never gives up no matter what
Weak point: Obsessed with the power of youth

Naruto led the small band of new players into the woods. "Why are we going into the woods?" Chouji asked.

"Because this is where he comes to train," Naruto answered.

"Train for what?"

"Martial arts, he's really good, only second to Neji." Neji smiled at the praise.

They heard a loud crash ahead of them and moved towards the sound. They walked into a clearing and saw Lee punching a tree. Chouji stepped on a twig and Lee turned around at the sound of it snapping. He smiled and waved to the group, "What can the power of youth do for you today?"

"We want you to join the football team," Shikamaru said.

Lee grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face, "Sorry but I'm busy training for martial arts, I need to be as strong as possible."

Neji stepped forward, "I've joined the team, Lee."

Lee looked surprised, "You have? Why, we have a tournament this weekend."

"They said they needed me, and I guess since they have me they don't need you."

Lee scowled at Neji, "Do not underestimate the power of youth! I will join your team and beat you Neji!"

Naruto turned and whispered to Shikamaru, "That was easier than Neji."

"Yea, it's amazing how dumb they are," he whispered back.

"Ok, now that we have everyone, its time to go back to Sasuke and get our gear.

OoOoO

Sasuke sat in his office, wondering when Naruto was going to get back. As if he read his mind, Naruto walked in followed by Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Lee. Sasuke smiled, "Seems Naruto convinced you all, that's great!"

"So now that we're all here, it's time to give us our jerseys and gear," Naruto told him.

"Fine follow me, I got everything ready. Oh by the way, Naruto I need to talk to you."

"Alright," he said.

Sasuke looked at the others, "You guys go outside, we'll be there in a minute." Once they left Sasuke walked over and sat at his desk. "About you being Eyeshield, Naruto, that means no one can know, not even the team, which means you need to come to practice already dressed or get here early. Can you do that?"

"Yea, that is fine, so only you, Sakura, and Hinata know I'm Eyeshield, right?"

"That's right, now come on." They walked out of the office and into the locker room. In the middle of the room was a box and Sasuke went and opened it up. "Neji, you're number is 52." Sasuke threw him the jersey and pointed to a shelf, "Grab pads and a helmet that fits. The rest do the same once you get your jersey. Shikamaru your 57, Lee yours is 85, Chouji you have number 97."

"What about Naruto?" Lee asked.

"Naruto's not playing, he's just going to be the assisstant manager; he's going to help Hinata," Sasuke said.

Lee shrugged, "Alright."

"Okay everyone, I want you all to go out to the field, we'll be there in a moment, just have to sort out a few things." Everyone nodded and left the room. "Ok then Naruto, here's your jersey, number 21, and a helmet with a blue eyeshield."

Naruto took the helmet and held it in front of him, his face reflecting back at him. Naruto smiled and looked back at Sasuke, "Let's go meet the rest of the team!"