Author's Notes:

Hello everyone. It's been a long time since I last posted a story, so I'm really happy about this one. It would be my third Naruto-fic by now. *Jumps up and down from excitement!*. I haven't really decided on how many chapters it will be, but so far, I'm planning on 8-9 chapz. We'll see how it plays along. And many thanks for my wonderful Beta, Missbip0lar for her assistance. Anyways, without delaying it any further, read and enjoy, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters have nothing to do with little old me, and I'm not gaining any penny from these ficz. Such a pity.

Naruto stretched his right hand to open the big brown door leading to the basketball court. His sweaty palm was so eager to open the door that it took him a while to be able to turn the knob right. With each failed attempt, his nerves would end up flaring with excitement. He has finally done it, after busting his ass for three whole months in extensive training and studying, he had finally done it! Eyes glittered at the view in front of him; he stepped inside the grand court.

There was no one there, the polished floor reflected the lights above and an energized grin appeared on Naruto's face. He threw his back bag to one side and released the ball from the net it was wrapped in, it slipped from his hands to the refined floor. He started dribbling towards the net, the sound of the ball pumping to the ground and his hand while he moved, was melody to his ears. Twirling around himself he pushed his energy into his heel and jumped, scoring a loud slam dunk. It echoed with a bounce, before the ball could touch the floor again, Naruto caught it in his palms grinning like an idiot.

"A dunk so bad, it's my first time seeing it."

At the calm confidant tone, Naruto turned around to see just who had the nerve to look down upon three months worth of training. A tall, pale complexioned, black haired guy that seemed as if his hair was spiked by the mere wind, smirked down at him. Naruto glared.

"Alright then, if you think you can do better, here!"

He threw the red-orangish ball to his rude intruder, challenging him to do better.

The smirk turned into a confident smile and pale practiced fingers twirled the ball with their tips. "With pleasure."

At that instant, Naruto didn't know what happened; the only thing that his senses were able to pick up was the swift wind that blew past him and the sound of the ball as it whooshed inside the net echoing inside his eardrums. His eyes widened at the figure that delivered the ball, what speed was that? If he wasn't the person he was, then he wouldn't be able to catch the other's movement at all! His eyes met with those black ones and at that precise moment, Naruto knew the feelings of a squashed bug.

"And this is how you dunk."

The arrogance and superiority that radiated from the other made Naruto feel as if his insides wanted to puke. But at the same time, he felt a thrill run down his spine, this was it, this was why he wanted to join this particular high school. It had amazing players, amazing coaches and a hell of a record. Getting in was difficult, no, it was close to impossible for him with his grades, but spending every minute training his mind and body, had proved him right, and with difficulty, he managed to get in.

A challenging smile embarked on his lips, and he threw the ball back to the black haired guy.

"I'm not admitting defeat just yet. One on one, if you're able to score ten points then I'll admit it."

"Hn. And why would I want to do that?"

"Because you don't want to lose."

The blue orbs filled with determination, made a strange feeling run through the other's veins, his smirk returned to place.

"Alright Blondie, let's see what you've got."

With that they started a heated battle. Naruto had to direct all his focus on the ball, for the other's way of dribbling was that of an expert's. And damn that dribble behind the back, it was his weakness. He frowned, this being before him seemed like the type to like crossover dribbles done behind the back. But still he won't lose!

Naruto made every effort to steal the ball but the raven kept a tight defense, scoring at any opening Naruto forgot to fill. As the score began to rise to the other's favor, Naruto cursed and stripped from the heavy jacket that was limiting his movement. He stood with only his T-shirt on, in hopes that by this, his movement would lighten. But it didn't help much, for the other had stepped up his game, making it harder for Naruto to keep up, and by the amount of sweat his body was producing and with his stamina running down on him, Naruto's chances of winning were slim.

He lost count of how many times his face came in contact with the floor, but he didn't give up, he couldn't give up, because with every point that was going inside the basket, his nerves would fire up. Still, he knew there was an obvious difference in skills here and there was really no way for him to win this, so, his objective has changed, instead of winning, he wanted the other to remove his jacket.

Through their little challenge, Naruto noticed that the amount of sweat his body was giving off was three times heavier than that of the raven's. So, he directed all of his power to tire the other out. His mind counted the points and there were only three points left for this stranger to win, Naruto cursed, how in fuck's name was he to do what was on his mind?

"Tired already?"

The same annoyingly superior tone faced him, Naruto paid it no attention. "Just continue playing!"

"Hm, you asked for it."

His eyes were on the ball, and his defense was perfect, yet, how could the other slip away so easily, and make the ball fall in so elegantly, was beyond his comprehension. It was a three pointer, and so, he lost. The ball sounded at the ground reminding him of the massive difference between their two skills.

"Now, we're done."

The calm steps towards the door woke Naruto of his daze, and before he knew it, his legs were running after the other, trying to catch him before he walked out of the court.

"Hey! Wait up!"

The taller teen ignored the shout and stepped out of the court, into the cold night's air, he pulled his jacket closer to him to shelter his bones from the chill that came his way, but before he could take another step away, a mass of blond blocked his way and the face of the other came a bit too close to his. He wanted to move away but the grip on his jacket plus the sparkling blue orbs forbade him.

"What?"

"What's your name!"

"Huh?"

"Your name? Your given name, the name you were born with, what is it?"

The raven rolled his eyes. "I know what my name is, idiot. I just don't know why I should give it."

"Because I want to know it."

"And why would you want to know it?"

"Because I want to, now give it!"

The raven snorted. "This is the more reason why I shouldn't."

"Come on, it's just a name, not like I'll stalk you with it or anything!"

"Try saying that when your hands aren't hooked on my jacket. That would be more convincing."

Naruto felt his face heat up from embarrassment, he let go of the jacket and moved a few steps away, allowing the other some space. From his excitement, his body moved before his mind could, and he ended up giving the raven a suspicious feeling of him.

"Okay then, if you don't want to, then I'll give you mine. It's Uzumaki Naruto! You better remember it, 'cause I'll be the one who kicks your ass next time!"

The blond ran back to the court with that, apparently without his jacket, the cold has finally gotten to his bones. Black orbs watched him, their owner stood for a minute observing the shorter teen vanish inside, a smirk formed on his lips and continuing with his calm steps, he walked away.

"Heh, this year is going to be fun, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto released a moan at the alarm clock that refused to stop ringing, and drew his blanket over his head to reduce the annoying sound. His mind processed the motion that he should be getting up by now but his organs refused to obey. He had stayed up all night thinking about the strange guy who rendered him speechless with his amazing skills and strategies. But thinking too much about things and analyzing them was never one of his good points, so getting into unfamiliar territories caused him to sleep at dawn.

His second alarm began ringing, and the two alarms produced chaotic music aching Naruto's ears and making him jolt up from his bed annoyed. He glared at the two alarm clocks, but his eyes widened upon seeing the time. As if struck by lightning, Naruto flew to the bathroom, washed up, changed his clothes into his new school's uniform and finally, bolted out the door. The cries of his guardian for him to have breakfast faded into the background.

Naruto was more than happy to see the entrance gates of his high school still open. Using his flash memory, he remembered the location for his new class, and with no further delays –except the little break he made before bolting up the stairs– he continued running. Now, there was nothing separating him from the class inside except the wooden door, and Naruto didn't know why dread had suddenly started rushing inside his veins when he grabbed the handle to open the door. Cheering himself from the inside that there was nothing to be anxious of, Naruto slid the door open.

"Nice of you to honor us with your attendance, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto's azure orbs shifted from the eyes watching the person who had so foolishly interrupted Kurenai-sensei's class, to the black haired teacher. He cringed at her hard bloodshot glare.

"I'm sorry sensei, I overslept."

"Overslept, eh? For your information Uzumaki Naruto, I don't allow students to oversleep in my class!"

Naruto wanted to argue that he didn't oversleep in her class but at his own house, still he chose to follow the warning aura his fellow students were giving him to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm very sorry, sensei. It won't happen again!"

The woman looked from the book she was carrying towards Naruto, and continued with her stern tone. "You bet your lousy scores it won't, and since it's the first day in school, I'll be a bit generous and let you off the hook, but don't make a habit out of it. Because I'm not as patient as I seem."

The glare told him everything he needed to know. And sweat dropping; Naruto nodded his understanding to her.

"Good. Take your seat now; it's on the back, beside Haruno Sakura."

An annoyed looking Sakura met his cheerful grin. He was glad that his long-time friend was accepted into the same high school as him, that way he wouldn't be so lonely on his first day, after all. Naruto started walking to his seat, ignoring the whispers and giggles that came his way. He had wanted his high school days to be filled with images of how cool he was, and wanted people to speak praises behind him as he walked the halls, with girls dying to be his girlfriends and guys envying him from head to toe. But looking at the faces of his classmates, he knew he needed a miracle to pull that one off now. Sighing, Naruto put down his back bag and sat on the wooden chair.

"Naruto, I can't believe you did that after I especially warned you not to sleep in!"

The hushed angry tone had him rub his head. "Sorry Sakura-chan, but I couldn't wake up, my body was too tired."

"Don't tell me you visited the court last night?"

He averted his eyes and smiled sheepishly to her.

"Naruto!" She sternly called. "I told you first years aren't allowed to go in there without permission!"

"I know, I know, but I just couldn't help myself, the desire was too great!"

"How did you even get in!"

"The door was open, no one was there."

"Do you know the amount of trouble you'll be in if you got caught?"

"Well, I'd think a lot, but I didn't get caught. In fact, I had a challenge."

"A challenge?"

"Yeah, there was thi-"

A piece of chalk found its way towards Naruto's head; making him clutch it in pain. His body froze as he turned so slowly towards the board and a flamed looking Kurenai glared daggers at him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, out!"

"But, sens-"

"I said OUT!"

Sakura looked apologetically at the retreating blond; since it was her that started the conversation, Naruto waved her apology away saying that it wasn't a big deal to get kicked out and walked away. As he stood outside, the thought of all chances of ever being cool flying out the window were once again reminded to him. Naruto sighed and looked around him, the halls were empty, and no one was walking, figures. Since everyone must still be in their classes. He looked back at the closed door and a grin plastered on his face. His teacher never said he isn't allowed to wander around, right?

Taking no time to rethink his decision; Naruto made his way to the spot where he felt his soul was buried in, the basketball court.

This time as he was about to open the door, a chirpy voice echoed behind him, stopping him.

"Hello there, can I help you?"

Naruto turned to see a guy with flowing black hair that reached the middle of his back and a nice smile. At the beautiful lilac eyes, his expression turned to that of pity all of a sudden, the poor guy in front of him was blind. Shaking his head at the silly idea, he gave his best smiles ever. After all, if there was a person in this world who knew how hard it was to get pitied on, it would be him.

"Umm….I'm thinking of joining the basketball team."

"Oh, a new member? Wonderful! What's your name?"

Naruto's smile widened at the kind male. "Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Alight Uzumaki Naruto, I'm Hyuuga Neji. A member of the team. Follow me I'll take you to where you can sign up your name for the tryouts."

The blond nodded and started walking beside him, he looked the other up and down, amazed at how wonderful the eye color was; degrading from dark mauve at the center to light lilac in the sides. And even though the other was blind, you could see a hidden life-force in there.

"Oh, watch out!"

Naruto grabbed the pale hand before the other could trip over the big rock before him and fall. Neji turned his eyes towards the freaked out blond, his brows knotted in confusion.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just fine."

"Thank God, it would be bad if you were to suddenly trip or something."

Neji's mind started to utilize what had happened before him, three seconds later, a smile spread on his face.

"Could you…be thinking I'm blind?"

"Huh? Umm….yeah?"

The raven broke out in a fit of laughter, bending to clutch his stomach at the hard laugh. Naruto felt his cheeks flush from embarrassment; and now that he looked the other more closely, he didn't have any cane in his hands guiding him, or a dog. And as he recalled, Neji was leading the way, how could a blind person be leading the way? His cheeks reddened more with each laugh that left the other's mouth, he was clearly mistaken. Naruto waited 'till Neji could control his laughter to stand up straight and speak with him.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that it's been a while since someone mistook me for blind."

"Ummm…no, I should be the one apologizing. It's my fault."

"Then we are both even, since I laughed at you. And just to avoid any future misunderstandings, these are my own eyeballs, they aren't contact lenses."

"Yeah…I figured that part myself."

"Good," Neji released a final laugh then said. "Shall we go? Since you're planning to sign up, you have a long day ahead of you."

Naruto didn't know what the other had meant with his words, but when they got into the sign-up area, his eyes bugged out of their sockets. There was a long row of people reaching to the outside of the office.

"Don't tell me….this is the sign-up office?"

"Yep! Our basketball club is very famous, and thus a lot of boys want to join. The tryouts are hard as hell, only a few get accepted each year. Well then, good luck and do your best. I'll be rooting for you!"

Naruto sweat dropped at the row before him and at the cheerful smile his senpai in basketball was giving. With a sigh, he made his way towards the dreadful row. Knowing that he'll be stuck here for the rest of the day, and will most likely be yelled at by Sakura for skipping what's left of classes for that day. He began thinking of the time that he'll be able to hold another competition with that foreign stranger, and before he knew it, his nerves started getting excited.

By the end of that day, Naruto was both drained mentally and physically, the only thing that he was able to see when he got back home was his bed. He lay on it and tried to forget the pain and agony that went through his being that terrible day. His body had consumed all energy he had and soon, he fell asleep.

When he came to, his lights were all off and the sky has already darkened. Naruto read his clock and two in the morning looked back at him. He rubbed his eyes and went downstairs, his body already rested enough and no sleep was on the horizon. He found a piece of paper on the dining table from his guardian saying that if he wished to eat, then there is food in the fridge and he only needed to heat it up.

Not feeling the urge to eat anything right now, Naruto went back to his room, he opened his window and climbed to the roof, it was his wonderful secret place, where his thoughts would organize and he would make sense of things that had none. Naruto steadied himself as not to fall and come to sit on the edge.

The sky had as little stars as possible as he figured, but there were nights where you could actually make out a star or two. Sadly, the city's lights were controlling the air made it hard to spot any passing stars. Naruto smiled, even though the possibility of seeing any stars was lessening each passing day, he liked this town. It had cool air around it, the neighbors were nice, no one interfered in his guardian's way of life and most of all, it had his No. One basketball high school.

Speaking of basketball, the tryouts were only three days away; he needed to start practicing, because from what he'd seen, there were pretty good players in there. But the one that caught his eyes was a red haired guy, he was tall enough to pass as a basketball player, and had this feeling about him, Naruto didn't know how to pinpoint it yet, but he knew he wanted to make friends with this one, and that was exactly what he'd do.

Feeling the night's air getting colder, Naruto went down to his room. He ruffled beside his bed and got his basketball out; his mouth soon broke into a smile. Since that match with that strange raven, Naruto felt like he wanted nothing more than to play with him again. But, he had no name and because the other was wearing causal clothes, he didn't know if he was even with them in that school or not.

But, he was always one to be known for his positive thinking, and so, he believed that they would cross paths someday, no matter how long it takes, they will. Because they both loved basketball.

A yawn escaped Naruto's mouth and the girl walking beside him wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"At least cover your mouth, Naruto! That's common courtesy!"

"I gave up on that long ago, I yawn every two seconds," As to prove his point, another yawn escaped his mouth. He slouched. "I'm just so tired."

"Then sleep for heaven's sake!"

"Can't do that. There is only one day left, I need to prove myself."

"You could prove yourself without dropping dead."

Naruto covered his mouth at the third yawn as not to anger her any more. "No can do either. You didn't see them, Sakura-chan, those guys are amazing. It will take all I've got to prove that I'm on the same level."

"Well, it won't do you much good if you dropped in the middle of the tryouts just because you are sleepy."

"I know but, at night, I can't sleep, so I practice,"

"And you only get sleepy in class?"

"Apparently."

"Kurenai will kill you if you continue down this line. She has all eyes set on you as it is."

Naruto released a long sigh. "I know, but I can't give up now, I need to win this!"

"It's not a serious competition, just normal tryouts for a basketball club. And we are here, just give me a minute."

"You really don't understand, Sakura. It's a major event!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes at him then went inside the library, she had just finished the second book she had borrowed, and she was returning it to start another one. As far as Naruto knew Sakura, she was a bookworm, with perfect grades, perfect attitude and graceful body. In his sight, she was the perfect girl, too bad he wasn't her prince charming.

Sakura stepped out holding a different book than the one she had before.

"Another fiction?"

She shook her head. "Nah, this time I'm not reading for fun; Ino needs information about flowers and instead of reading the book herself, she wants me to read it."

"And being the bookworm you are, you couldn't refuse."

"Hey! She begged me you know."

"That's what you say each time."

Sakura puffed her cheeks at him; they took a turn and came face to face with a mob of girls. Naruto knotted his brows at the moving circle.

"What's going on here?"

Sakura shrugged. "Beats me."

He tried to see the centre of the circle and who was the one that was getting fawned over so much, but he couldn't penetrate the tight mob, 'cause every time he tried to move a girl aside to see, she would kick him right out, using some inhuman power that he didn't know girls owned. Eventually, he gave up and lost interest, gritting his teeth at the guy who was taking the place he should be in. Naruto directed his pink haired friend away. Damn all those guys who had their fun in high school.

As they neared the class, Sakura told him that she needed to go over to Ino's class and having nothing better to do, Naruto tagged along. They made a few turns then came to a class similar to their's. Sakura looked around the masses then smiled when the light blond hair of her friend flashed her way. Naruto still tagging along in her heels.

"Sakura! Just the person I wanted to see. Tell me honey, did you read the flower book?"

"Not yet, I just borrowed it. To tell you the truth, there were a bunch, so it took me a while to spot the one that would be most helpful to you."

Ino smiled at her long timed friend. "Great! When are you planning on reading it?"

"I'll start today, after club activates."

"I knew I could count on you, Sakura." Her sky light eyes turned to the teen beside her friend; she gave him a mocking smile. "Naruto, I see your lousy grades haven't forbid you from entering."

"Hm. I bet they were better than yours."

"Dream on boy, dream on."

"Yeah Ino, I want your English dictionary, I kinda forgot mine today." Sakura interrupted their bickering.

"Okay, I don't mind, but….it's unusual for you to forget."

Sakura's face turned red, she darted her eyes. "….I was thinking about something and I forgot to pack it in."

"Thinking? Of what?"

"Umm….I'll tell you later, now give it."

Naruto's eyes strayed away from the two girls to the people in the classroom; so far, he didn't come across anyone from his middle school, all of the students here were strangers to him, he wondered if Ino was fine with a class full of people she didn't know, he shrugged, him not knowing them didn't mean Ino didn't know them. Suddenly through his search, his eyes sparkled. He spotted the red haired teen he had seen during the signing up the other day walking to the outside of the classroom. Naruto quickly excused himself from the two girls and dashed after him, glad to know they were both in the same year.

"Hay! You, the one with the red hair, wait up!"

Two pair of jade green eyes turned to Naruto, their owner stopped moving; the blond caught his breath and straightened his stand. He pointed a finger towards himself and released a friendly grin.

"The name is Uzumaki Naruto; would you have a match with me?"

"Dun wanna."

With an instant reply, Naruto was ignored and the red haired continued on his way. Not one to know where to stop, Naruto followed.

"Yes you do! I need someone to match with, to see how much I have improved, and I'm sure you want that, too."

"I already have someone to match with."

"A change won't hurt, come on!"

"Dun wanna means dun wanna. Now, piss off."

Naruto came to stop in front of the other, cutting his path. "And I said you'll match with me!"

"Dude, do you want to fight?"

"I want a match!"

A staring competition started and the redhead looked with uncaring eyes at the other. "When I beat you, you buzz off."

With a grin, Naruto corrected. "If you beat me that is."

From the information Naruto heard during their little match, the guy's name was Gaara, he came from Sunagakure Middle school, on a scholarship to this high school. According to Sakura, the ones getting on scholarships are usually very smart, being one to enter on a scholarship herself. But this guy was very talented in basketball as well, the feeling that Naruto got when he first saw him but was unable to identify, he could now, it was trust at first sight. He knew that if they wound up being friends, then this one will become a dear friend for him and they'll walk the same path together. He felt a wonder puzzle inside him at being able to determine all of that just by the way the other liked to play basketball, but then again, he used to read people relying on their basketball skills.

They finished with a tie, and tired with the third match; Naruto threw himself on the floor catching his breath.

"You're not so bad, after all."

"You too."

"Hn."

"But, I don't think it will be enough to enter the team though, they are too strong."

"We will pass. I know that for sure."

Gaara stood up, looked at his watch, then went to fetch his discarded ball. "It's time for class to start; I'll be going, you coming?"

"Naaah, I need a few minutes to catch my breath, you go on ahead."

The red haired shrugged. "Suit yourself, Uzumaki."

"Naruto is fine, and I'll call you Gaara."

"Don't go deciding to call people by their first names on your own."

"But you don't mind."

"Maybe I do."

"But you don't."

Gaara rolled his eyes at the grinning idiot on the floor; he shook his head and started walking. "Don't be too late."

"Only five more minutes, tops."

He didn't know why he doubted those words, but not one to waste his scholarship on stupid stuff, Gaara started walking towards his class, basketball firmly held in hand.

Naruto closed his eyes and released a loud sigh. His muscles hurt a bit from the running that he'd done but he thanked his tough exercises, because they gave him the stamina enough to be able to hold a one on one with the other. He was tough, truth be told, and it took everything Naruto had not to fall behind. In fact, he knew that if he were to at least miss on one move, the other would take the lead.

But he didn't, and they tied.

"Next time I'll beat him for sure!"

"Beat who?"

At the collected calm voice, Naruto's eyes opened, he sat so fast the other thought he must've cracked a vertebrae or two.

"You!"

"Me? You still fantasize about beating me?"

"Huh? No! I wasn't referring to you."

The raven raised a brow. "Strange, 'cause I swear I just heard you say it."

"Arrghhh, just forget it!"

A shrug was given to him. "Not that I care or anything."

Before Naruto's mind could catch up to what was going on, the other started walking away from the old court they were in, in fact, he had decided to come here to avoid the stalking girls but he never thought to meet the teen who was so brave – or stupid– as to request a one on one with him. The king of Konoha basketball team, but again, he did enjoy their little face off.

"I said wait!"

Naruto stationed himself before the other, blocking his path. He released a loud groan, why didn't people stop when they were told! He seemed to be doing the blocking a lot of times these days.

"What?"

Now that he got a good look at the one beside him, in the day light, Naruto felt his reason fly and at the hard stare he was getting, he didn't know what he wanted to say, it was like the words flew away from his mind. But the desire to stop the other from leaving was too great for him to handle.

"Spit it out already!"

"Umm…I want a new match!"

"No can do, you took all of your chances. There is no need for me to match with you since the result is already known."

Naruto knotted his brows, aggravated. "You can't know that! A game isn't determined till the bell rings!"

"And I don't enter a game where I know the ending. If there is nothing else, I'm going."

The raven started walking, passing beside him. Naruto felt something inside him tell him to chase after the other and get a hold of him, but he had nothing to say, and apparently, the raven had no desire to speak with him any further.

"What's your name!" Naruto shouted to the retreating form.

There was a pause at the movement, and at the brief moment those eyes turned to him, Naruto felt his heart thump.

"Wouldn't you want to know?"

At the sinister smirk, he faced the other with determined eyes. "Yes I want to know! It's not fair that you only know my name."

"You offered it on your own."

"That's true….but…."

Naruto looked at the ground sheepishly, feeling his cheeks grow hot at what he was about to say.

"But?"

He looked up, ignoring the embarrassment that seemed to control him and continued. "But I still want to know your name! Tell me your name."

The raven turned completely, giving his whole attention to the other. With slow steps he made his way towards Naruto, and stood face to face with him. At the close proximity, Naruto took a step back, but one pale strong hand on his shoulder steadied him from moving any farther.

"If you want to know my name, then become a regular. Win!"

With that Naruto was let go of, and the raven disappeared from his view. The blond fell on the ground, he clutched his heart, not knowing why it was pounding so hard, but with each pound, his anticipation to the day he'd know the name, deepened.

"Alright, those whose names are being called, remain in the court. The ones whose names are not, please step out, you didn't have the needed skill for this basketball team."

All the guys in the big court swallowed hard. Naruto breathed in and out, trying to calm the butterflies inside his stomach. He looked to his right to check up on Gaara. The red haired looked passively alright, almost uncaring, Naruto frowned. Why wasn't his friend anxious as he was? A bubble of air escaped Gaara's nose, indicating that he was nodding off; Naruto was starting to get seriously pissed. He held himself not to go and kick the other awake.

Paying his attention to the names that were being called instead of his sleeping friend, Naruto fisted his hands in eagerness.

"Takashi Masahiro, Haku Zabuza, Shino Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka and last," The one reading the names, Neji, paused and walked towards the sleeping redhead, he hit him on the head with the chart he was holding and said. "Sleepy old Gaara."

A set of jade orbs woke up and glared at the raven. "There was no need for that, I was up."

Neji ignored the remark and continued with his words. "The ones who didn't make the cut, I'm sorry guys, try next year."

There were some groans and mumbles but no one has picked up a fight saying that they were unjust to them. Neji closed the door and locked it as no one to step in or out. He turned to his freshmen with an evil twinkle in his eyes.

"Now boys, your real tryouts begin now!"

Each looked at the other, not figuring out what their beautiful senpai was speaking about.

"The first tryouts we did were just to eliminate useless garbage. The real tryouts begin now. You'll be evaluated according to the three S-es. Strength, skill, and my own favorite, stamina. Fail one and you are out!"

Neji looked at one of the assistants and signaled him to hand him a different chart.

"You all will have one on ones with each other, then you'll be divided into two teams as to see how you will be functioning in real play. After that, I'll choose those of you, who I see fit to join the team, those who will crumble under pressure are NOT needed."

Gaara groaned at the amount of work ahead of them and mumbled under his breath. "I had a feeling he'd pull something like this."

Naruto's ears perked at the sentence, he turned to his friend with questioning eyes. "You know, this has been on my mind for a while now, but do you know Neji-Senpai?"

Gaara's eyes followed the target of their conversation as the latter started directing his assistants to prepare the court for the upcoming battles.

"Senpai, ha? Well, we have been something of childhood friends."

In an instant, Naruto's eyes sparkled with thrill; Gaara had to step away from the bright stars dancing inside Naruto's eyes if he still wanted his sight to remain intact.

"Neji-Senpai is your childhood friend? That's so cool man!"

"What's cool about that?"

"Everything! I wish I had a childhood friend who cares about basketball as much as I do, my only friend is a bookworm!"

"It's not as fun as it seems, Neji," Gaara made sure the other was out of ear's reach then whispered. "He has a sadistic side. You wouldn't know how many nights I spent awake just because he had the urge to drag me out at three A.M to practice some shooting, dribbling, or to just chat because he was bored and couldn't sleep."

Naruto kept on grinning. "That's even better!"

Gaara scowled at the dope beside him that refused to understand just how tough having a willful childhood friend is. But Gaara knew that by the end of this year, Naruto would come to learn a little bit about Neji's true sadistic nature.

"Hey, you two! Seeing as how chatty you both are, you'll be the ones to play the first face off!"

Naruto eeped at the angry tone and stumbled on a ball when he was running to his side of the court, he swiftly straightened himself thanking God that none laughed at his silliness. As Gaara came to stand on the opposite side, Naruto's eyes flared with challenge. This was his chance to finally redeem himself and break that stupid tie they had earlier.

Naruto dragged his legs across the stairs, taking extra care as not to push his weight on any of them but on the rail. A yawn broke out of his mouth as he supported his tired body to the dining room table. Sleepily, he eyed the delicious breakfast his guardian had made for him, they were all his favorites. His eyes teared up, and as soon as he saw his guardian, he leapt into the man's comfy arms, sobbing.

"Iruka~ I'm so glad you are my father."

"Yes, yes, I know."

By now, the brown haired male had gotten used to Naruto's strange quirks and he stopped getting all mushy and teary with. Iruka removed the strong tan hands from his shirt as not to dirty it –forcing Naruto to sit down not to fall– and walked inside the kitchen to bring the last dish out. Seconds later, he came out placing the omelet then sitting down.

"So, still tired?"

The teary eyes didn't go away, Naruto nodded. "I'm so exhausted I could die; my legs feel like two lumps of wood."

"Was it that hard?"

"You just don't know how hard. Neji-Senpai is the devil."

Iruka smiled sheepishly. "That hard?"

"Worse, after playing one on ones, teaming against each other, being thrown into another challenge where he made us run thirty push ups, he made us perform another one on one to see who cracks first."

"Seems like a strict one."

"But I won't give up!"

"And you shouldn't, but I'm afraid you'll end up dying before you make it into the team."

Naruto put a muffle of rice into his mouth, feeling more tears well up at corners of his eyes at the amazing taste, he swallowed.

"I have not put that possibility away but, luckily, the results come out this Monday, although he had them prepared, everyone was so tired that the only thing they all comprehended was the sole word of 'Bed'."

Iruka continued smiling with joy while eating his food in a calmer way than Naruto's. "At least you are having fun."

"This amount of fun, kills, Iruka." Naruto released another whine.

"But this is your dream school, you've worked really hard to get in, you shouldn't surrender at a minor set back."

"And I'm not, but it's just, I've always heard how strict it is, and how torturous the training there is, but…"

"You didn't think it would be this hellish."

"Correct."

Iruka rose from his chair, having finished his share of breakfast, and took his dish to the sink. "But Naruto, that school has amazing records in basketball, I'm sure you'll become a wonderful player there."

"Yeah, I know, that was the reason I wanted in. But let's stop talking about my agony. You are a little too dressed up for home, where are you going?"

Iruka gave his son a kiss on the head as he walked pass him to go to the stairs and winked. "A date."

"When did you score one?"

"Last Wednesday, when I was doing some shopping for the kitchen."

Naruto held up his fork warningly. "Hey, don't go brining another lunatic in here; I'm still recovering from that Yoshinari dude you brought last time."

Iruka released a laugh. "Don't worry, he seems to be normal. But I won't bring him home on the first date, I'm not that cheap."

Naruto puffed his cheek at his guardian. "And I'm not saying you are. Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will."

Naruto watched the man disappear upstairs to his room. In fact, his guardian was as straight as an arrow, but there was one accident when Naruto was seven that had him give up on all the female gender. Iruka had brought his girlfriend to live with them at home; unfortunately, she was the type to hate kids, so clearly Naruto wasn't on her good side. She had tortured him to the bone, and being the kid who didn't want to ruin his guardian's happiness, he didn't say a thing. Till one day, when Naruto was beaten too hard that he developed a fever and was taken to the hospital. There the doctor informed Iruka that the child has been abused.

After a long and hard conversation, it turned out that Iruka's girlfriend was the one who had done it. And ever since, Iruka seemed to be scared of brining any woman home. Naruto knew it was his fault, but every time he would try to convince Iruka on taking a date from a woman, the guy would refuse, saying that he was in the beginning bisexual, and right now, he just couldn't find the right person, be it a girl or a guy. But Naruto knew the truth. For since that awful night Iruka kicked his girlfriend in, all the dates he brought home were men. His guardian was scared of chicks now.

Naruto sighed, and picked at his eggs.

"If you don't want to eat it, then put it in the fridge for later."

Iruka's voice came before his figure come down the stairs, Naruto answered with an "Okay.", then stood up to clean up the breakfast table. He finished just in time as his guardian came to the living room all prepared.

"Iruka, don't you think this date of yours is a bit early?"

"Early?"

"Yeah, most people go dating around the afternoon, not at ten o'clock in the morning."

"Well, we aren't most people, and we did decide on doing lots of stuff today, so we are starting early. And Naruto, don't tell me you're planning on lazing out around the house this whole day."

"Can't I? It's a holiday, my long awaited one."

"I'm not saying you can't, it's just unproductive. Your muscles will rot that way."

Naruto stuck his tongue at his guardian, knowing very well how childish that was making him appear. "No they won't, besides, I was thinking of going to the park later on."

"To play basketball?"

He grinned to the brown haired man. "What else?"

"Sometimes I don't know whether this obsession you have with basketball is healthy or not."

"Sure it is!"

Iruka gave his son a look, then departed out the door after delivering a huge piece of advice about what should or shouldn't be done around the house. Naruto just sat listening to the other, knowing that whatever he has to say about him not being a kid anymore would befall on deaf ears.

Clutching his basketball in hand, Naruto knew he couldn't go play at his usual street court, seeing as how lots of guys took it as their own. And he didn't want to enter into a fistfight then break something in him making all the effort he made into making the team evaporate in thin air. Therefore, decreasing his chances of ever being a regular and thus, finding out the name.

As he twirled the ball on his index finger, Naruto had no clue why he was so interested with learning the other's name, but he was, and each time he would think about it, the blood would fire up inside his veins.

He continued walking, but after an hour of pointless bouncing of his ball, he decided that he'd go see one of his friends. Calling ahead was something that Sakura had insisted he does before going to anyone's house, calling it a necessity; so, he picked up his cell and dialed her number. Minutes later, she answered, apologizing to him that she had already promised Ino to go shopping together for pots of flowers and that she couldn't break it because they were waiting for this chance for a long time.

So, Naruto dialed the second number he knew of. Gaara's.

The first time around, no one picked up, thus the second time, but by the third time he dialed, a grungy voice of Gaara picked up. Naruto greeted his obviously sleepy friend and asked him about hanging out together. The answer he got was an obvious no, because the latter was too exhausted to leave his bed, but he invited Naruto to come over if he liked. And having nothing better to do, the blond took the invitation.

At the huge apartment building before him, Naruto closed his mouth that was gaping like a fish out of water. He went up the elevator and headed to the fifth floor, room thirty five. He stood beside the door, suddenly feeling his fingertips getting cold; why was he acting like it was his first time going to a friend's house, he didn't know. So, he puffed them to extinguish the nervousness away and rang the doorbell. Seconds later, the door opened to reveal a sleepy looking Gaara. His hair was a red mess flickering in all directions and the only thing that was covering his body was his boxers.

Gaara's drowsy jade eyes yawned before his mouth could. "Come'n, you got here fast enough."

"Yeah, your building kinda stood out."

"Oh right."

Naruto closed the door behind him and walked further inside the apartment, his basketball held in his right hand.

"So, no one's home?"

Gaara opened the fridge, got two cans of soda and sat across from Naruto at the small kitchen table.

"I live with my big sis and big bro. The two are out and about."

"Ahaa….and you were planning on sleeping the whole day?"

Gaara rested his head on the table. "Dude, you have no idea what happened to me last night. After you all left, Neji held me back for another exercise."

"Wow, he really wants you on the team."

"No, that's not it. He was bored and wanted someone to play with, seems like us playing before him has fired him up. So, he forced me to play Basketball with him."

Naruto started feeling sorry for his friend, and he asked the dreaded question. "I'm afraid to ask, but when did you get home?"

"Three, three thirty, around that time. We were kicked out of school by eleven, then he had me practice with him at the court in his house till two. By the time I saw my bed, it was three in the morning."

"Man, my muscles hurt just by hearing you speak about it."

"Imagine mine."

Naruto gave the other a sympathetic look, then stood up, holding the can in his hand. "Okay then, I should get going, you take your time resting~"

"You could stay for a little, you know."

"I know, but you look on the verge of falling down, you better sleep."

Naruto ignored the insistence of the latter that he should at least stay and finish his can of soda, and walked off while telling a white lie about how he needed be somewhere. Being the thoughtful person he was, he knew how much Gaara needed to sleep right now, and he wasn't one to ask people to give up their resting time just to be with him. So, he walked away. When his hand touched the knob of the front door, it suddenly sprung open on its own and a horrified look came across Gaara's face at the long haired raven who came barging in.

"Gaara! Darling, I'm here! Did you miss me?"

Naruto watched the drama play out in front of him; Gaara's face broke out in a sweat as if he was hearing the devil's voice, while Neji was cheerfully making his way towards the red haired.

"Holy shit!"

Neji stepped inside and quickly came pouncing on a tired Gaara, the other felt his head hit the ground and before he knew it, stars decided to play in front of his eyes. At the lifeless corpse before him, Neji lifted himself up from the other, then kneeled a second later to check how badly he had hurt his childhood friend.

"Gaara? You alright? Oi, speak to me."

"Stars…twirling….stars."

Neji sighed and pulled him up by the shoulder, suddenly the burden of Gaara's body became lighter. Neji looked to the other side noticing the presence of a third party for the first time.

"Uzumaki Naruto! What brought you here?"

Naruto smiled as a greeting to the other, not surprised that he was just noticed. "I came to visit Gaara."

"Oh, you two are friends?"

"Kinda."

"Now that you mention it, I remember Gaara saying something like that. Okay; help me put him in bed. I had no idea he was still this weak, one would figure after a hard and extensive training each and every day, he'd grow some balls. But no, just me pouncing on him made him faint." Neji looked with disapproving eyes at the other. "Pathetic."

Naruto sweat dropped at what Neji had said and he came to understand a little about what Gaara meant by Neji being a sadist.

"Anyways, now that we won't be getting much of him, how about you join us?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, I had originally thought about taking this idiot here, but he seems to be on cloud nine now, so there is no use. You have free time, right? It would be a good chance to meet the guys, too. Since you already made the cut."

"Made the cut? You don't mean…?"

"Yep! You are one of the team, although you will be on bench for now. We still have amazing regulars, it would be hard to have you steal their spot, but do work hard, you might just do it!"

"I can't believe it, are you for real?"

"Yes, you know the guys I root for never lose." Neji looked at his cell as it started ringing. He picked it up with an annoyed face. "Yes, we are coming down now….yes, I know….okay, no…wait…I told you we are coming! Sheesh, Sasuke, who woke you on the wrong side of the frigging bed!"

Naruto watched as the cell was flickered shut, and the angry face was soon turned into a smile.

"So Naruto Uzumaki, what would it be, coming or not?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." Naruto nodded; amazed at the speed the other's facial expressions would change with.

The two soon made their way down through the elevator. As Naruto remembered how he had now made it into the team, his mouth produced a grin that refused to budge. He knew he would appear like a happy fool to whomever was looking, but at this time, he didn't give a flying rat's ass, because he was really feeling happy.

"Neji-Senpai, aside from me, who made it?"

"Neji would do. It was actually very hard, since you all seemed to be doing very good. But at the end of the day, I had to rely on your stamina. And 'cause we already wanted only four, two were excluded."

"Who were the two?"

"Haku and Takashi. That leaves you, Gaara, Kiba, and Shino."

"So, we are going to meet those guys now?"

"Not today, right now it's a meeting for the regulars only; it's nothing much really, just a normal get together to see what's new with each other's lives. So, I don't think they'll mind getting to know you a little; after all, you are our new kōhai. Oh! Here's our ride!"

Naruto felt like the heavens were coming down on him as the face of the person that was haunting his every nightmare, the guy who defeated him two times, the one who made him work extra hard to make the cut, stared back at him.

"Hi there Uzumaki Naruto, I heard you are on the team now."

"You!"

The raven inhaled at the cigarette in his hands then threw it out the window. "You know, that word of yours is getting old, don't you have any except this 'You' each time we meet?"

"Wait, you two know each other? Since when?" Neji asked dumbfounded at the unexpected surprise.

"Yeah, dummy here was dumb enough to challenge me to match, two times, in a row."

"Hey! I'm not a dummy! Neji-sen…I mean Neji, where the hell do you know this guy from?"

Neji hopped inside the car, on the front seat, clicking the door from the inside for Naruto to get in behind them. "Oh, Sasuke, he is our Ace player. A member of the team."

"Dammit Neji!"

Naruto's eyes widened as the name he fought to know sounded to his ears, his surprise turned into a smile.

"So, your name is Sasuke."

Neji watched the faint blush that appeared on the raven's face, he smirked, thinking that there seems to be something that's kept in the dark from him, but it won't be too long till he finds out the whole story…..he will make sure of it.

"In fact, his full name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's Uchiha-Senpai to you!"

"Just call him Sasuke."

"Hey! I don't care if you want to drop the barriers of respect between you and your kōhais but don't drop mine!"

"Ignore him Naruto, just call him Sasuke."

The blond nodded. "I was planning on calling him that in the first place."

"See, problem solved! Now drive, Uchiha! Naruto here needs to get to know the other members, as well."

"Tche, I'm not your fucking chauffer!"

Naruto played with the ball in his hands as the three other teens introduced themselves, apparently Gaara's older brother who is a third year is on the team, his name is Kankuro. It amazed Naruto how the other put up through his face being tattooed like that, but it only increased his respect, because what can you hold for a person that can endure such awful pain? And even though he'd thought that the captain was Neji, it turned out that he was only the vice-captain. The true captain was a laid back person called Shikamaru, a second year. He was again astonished as how a second year could rob the captain title out of two third years, but Naruto had a feeling that there is more to that laid back person than meets the eyes.

Finally, there was an odd member of the team; he made Naruto feel….strange. And frankly, the thick eyebrows he had made Naruto's mind focused on them that he'd forgotten the name of the said person and came to recognize him as, Thick Eyebrow guy.

All in all, the regulars were nice, but there was one person whom Naruto was interested in besides of all those fine people. And that was the person whose name he had finally known. Sasuke Uchiha.

Suddenly, the guy occupying his mind came to stand before him, and with an ordering tone, he said. "You, come."

Without his brain processing that he was being ordered around like a dog, Naruto's body moved on its own and he started walking beside Sasuke. They stepped out of the restaurant the team was meeting in and strolled down the road.

"Where are we going?"

"To have a smoke."

"I don't smoke."

"I didn't say you will, I'll take a smoke."

Naruto stopped his feet. "No you can't, basketball players can't smoke."

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"And who might you be?"

"The guy that will stop you from smoking!"

Naruto came to stand before Sasuke, blocking his path to whatever place Sasuke thought smoking would be nice in.

"You must be kidding me. Do you honestly think you'll stand before me in a real fight?"

"Yes I do! I may not look it, but I know how to defend myself."

"Okay, Blondie, let's see what you've got!"

The two started a serious fight, a series of punches, kicks and swears were delivered to both sides. Naruto didn't know he had it in him to be so violent. But the pressure of killing or be the one that get's killed, brought the worst in him. Sure he has taken a few Karate classes, but he didn't think they'll really help him in real life, and here is where they proved him wrong. They continued fighting till the afternoon's sky turned dark, and by the time they got back to their little get together, everyone had already bolted.

"Drive me home."

"You have the nerves to ask me that after what you have done."

"I didn't do anything,"

"You ruined my smoking time!"

"No I didn't, I saved you from an illness that will kill you ever so slowly! You should be thanking me."

"Let the one that will drive you home thank you. I'm outta here."

Naruto stood before the beautiful car, not letting Sasuke leave. "You can't leave me here! I have no car, no idea where we are, there are no taxis here either and my guardian is on a date! There is no one that will take me home!"

"That's your problem, not mine."

His desperation turned to anger in a mere second. "Look here you asshole, if it weren't for you wanting a fucking fight, I'd be home right now! You let me miss my ride, so take responsibility!"

"I didn't see you complain at the time! In fact, you were into it more than I! And I have no obligation to take you anywhere."

"That because kicking your ass was very much satisfying! And you do!"

"Oh no, as I recall it, I bashed that pretty face of yours to the ground!"

Scowling with heated nerves, Naruto retreated. "You can't possibly think that your lame punches did anything to me!"

"I don't have to think; your face is a walking proof."

Not having a retreat to the truth, Naruto turned his head, puffed his cheeks in anger –which wasn't such a good idea since it was where Sasuke has delivered his death punch, making pain shoot up his brain- and walked away from the car. It was obvious the other had no intention to drive him anywhere, and so, it was better to move away and reserve what's left of his dignity, for hell would break loose before he bows his head to such a person. His clear cerulean eyes spotted his ball lying around; Naruto picked it up and glared at the raven for his flat out refusal.

"Fine! I'll take a ride with anyone, go die!"

Sasuke watched the blond walk away with angry steps. In truth; he had asked Naruto to come with him because he wanted to know of the reason that had him –Naruto- glance every two seconds at him. It was annoying and was getting on his nerves, but he wasn't intending to start a fight with his kōhai over it. Still, without his knowledge things started heating up and he ended up with his hand on the other's face. Sasuke sighed when Naruto walked straight into a pole. He stifled a laugh after the other turned to give him a deathly glare, with his face all red from the pole; the glare wasn't all that intimidating.

But as the next step the blond took had him falling on the pavement, Sasuke decided that his teasing had gone a bit too far. The idiot obviously wasn't able to take care of himself, and he had a feeling that if he were to just drive away and leave, tomorrow at school, he'll hear about how Naruto was hospitalized after getting mugged and gang raped.

Sasuke got inside his car and drove beside Naruto. He clicked the passenger door open and called.

"Get in."

Naruto ignored the voice of reason calling him and continued stubbornly walking the dark street.

"I don't like to repeat myself, so you better get in."

At the pink tongue that was being stuck to him, Sasuke knew he had met his match in stubbornness.

"I told you to go die! I will never ride with an asshole!"

"I don't think you should be saying that right now, since the street you are walking on, is haunted." Sasuke smirked at the flinch, knowing now how to lead the other. "About a week ago, a body of a girl was found on that corner over there, she had been killed cruelly with her intestines all spread on the ground. Her organs were cut into little pieces and were stuffed inside a garbage bag, that's why it took them a while to locate the stench from her decaying flesh."

Naruto swallowed hard, he tried not to show the blood draining off his face, but his shaking fingers were totally giving him away. But no matter what, he wouldn't go with the jackass! The body had already been collected; there is nothing to fear…..right?

"There is a rumor going around that the girl's ghost shows up around this time of night. Seems like some people heard her crying….Oh, kinda like that voice right now."

Not a millisecond later, Naruto was inside the dark vehicle. Sasuke's smirk widened. The idiot was so caught up in his fear that he didn't pay attention that the sound they heard was a mere cat meowing.

"Well, well, who thought you'd turn out to be this scaredy catty."

Blushing, Naruto shouted. "Shut up already!"

The satisfied smirk told him that his upcoming days wouldn't be as wonderful as he thought they'd be. And Naruto didn't know why his mind had started wishing he had never gone to that stadium that night, or he had never met this obnoxious creature that sent his body trembling all over.

So? What do you think? Like it? Hate it? I'm waiting for your reviews.