11Author's Note: Finally! I have, finally, started writing a fic - My FIRST fan-fiction. Do you know what this means? This story is my first BABY! And, hopefully, more are to come. But let's start slow, shall we? =3
Be warned! Rating may change to M as it progresses. There will be plenty of character bashing, as well!
Edit:Right, please, forgive me as I've been too lazy for my own good. I just got around to editing a few (plenty, actually) details in this chapter as well as the next. I thought the ending bit, somehow, seemed too rushed. I hope this suffices well, now. Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: If I'd owned Naruto, I wouldn't have been writing this story. *Sobs*
Summary: A basketball genius, a dancing queen, a harmless crush, a compromising situation, jealousy, betrayal, hunger, and passion. Would this one individual make their own destiny without making enemies who want her to fail? Or worse: dead?
Glossary:
CAPITAL Speech = Exclamation, shout, emphasis on a certain or particular scenario.
Speech in " " = Talking, conversing.
ItalicizedSpeech in " " = Whispering, emphasis.
ItalicizedSpeech without " " = Thinking, wondering, inner thoughts, verbs/actions.
.:{}:. = Change in scene.
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Slam Dunk - A Basketball Romance
Chapter 1: Form
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Sunday, 11:45 PM
Someone was in the university's basketball court. The loud 'thump, thump' of a basketball was heard, resounding within the walls of the building. Along with that, someone was slightly panting; the panting of someone, clearly, in need of some rest. But that someone was never keen on giving up, or quitting, until or unless a new goal was achieved. Speaking of goals, tonight that someone was trying to complete a thousand dunks. And out of those thousand dunks, 99 were achieved. Looks like that someone had a lot of work to do.
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Monday, 7:45 AM
Konoha, or Konohagakure, is a peaceful little town in the state Hidden in the Leaves in the Country of Fire. The town is one of those few places which are blessed with the coming of all four seasons. Today, in the month of May, is the middle of spring. It's warm, yet soothing, and windy. Flowers have blossomed in every nook & cranny, their faces guided by the morning sun.
At this time of day, grown men are seen rushing to wherever their work awaits them; children are scampering to their respective educational institutions; some women are preparing to start on their house-hold chores while others are dashing to work, leaving behind their maids & nannies to take care of their darling bundle of joys.
Out of all these people, a group of 1st year students are hasting towards their university. Now, these group of students consisted of boys; each and every one of them had their own distinct qualities. So to say, all of them had plenty of things in common. Yet, none of them were alike; which would make an average person wonder, how in the world do those kids get along?
One of the boys, having hair the color of sunshine and eyes the deepest azure crystal, was deep in discussion...
"Hey, Naru, watch that..." a boy with a pineapple-shaped ponytail and a lazy stance was warning before the object of his conversation interrupted him…
... by failing to look out for the lamp-post.
"Damn, Shika! You could've warned me earlier, y'know?" Naruto exclaimed, rubbing the now-sore spot on his forehead.
Shika drifted a lazy eye towards the blonde. "I did. But you were too busy talking. Plus, you never listen. Tch. Troublesome,"
A tall boy with black goggles and a long gray hooded jacket, covering almost half of his face, seemed the least bit surprised, "It's a wonder how Naruto can turn such an uneventful start of a day into something so... eventful, everyday. Shikamaru, you should learn something from him."
"I agree, Shino-kun! I must confess it exhilarates me to see Naru-kun so excited and jubilant, everyday! Yosh! The power of youth always prevails!" said an eccentric-looking boy with thick eyebrows and a bowl-shaped haircut, wearing green spandex tights.
"Though, I doubt it's by choice, Lee," replied Shino.
"Lee, do you always have to take bloody everything so damn positively? Especially, so early in the damn morning?" wailed a sleepy boy with red tattoos under his eyes. "And how does running into lampposts everyday make one youthful?" he muttered to no one in particular.
"Hai, Kiba-kun! Unless one does not take everything positively, how can one look towards the future with high hopes?!" the spandex-clad individual gave a thumbs-up.
"All of you are fuckin' losers," replied a beautiful, bored-looking boy with skin as pale as the moon.
"Sai-san, must you always be so pessimistic?" cried Lee.
"Heh. His middle name is Dip-Shit, remember? Or was it Penis-Breath?" responded an annoyed, arrogant-looking boy with gorgeously long, chocolate brown hair, tied-up in a loose ponytail.
"Hey, Neji! Don't talk dirty while people are eating!" a chubby teen exclaimed with disgust.
"Forgive me, Cho. But I'm under the impression when you're eating, which is all the time, you tend to not listen to anyone. So, it's amazing how you never noticed the fact I call Sai DipShit ... until now?" Neji stated, matter-of-factly.
"Chouji, how many bags of Bar-B-Q flavored potato chips have you eaten today?" Naruto asked, interested.
"Well, I dunno. I never count. Uhhh, I'm thinking about 14."
"Fuck-face," someone mumbled.
"What was that? Sai, I dare you to say that, again," Shikamaru yelled – as much as he could, anyway. He hated anyone calling his first ever best friend names and such.
"Alright," Sai said, shrugging. "Fuck-face."
Wow. Neji's right. Shikamaru mused.
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On the other side of town, a group of girls, also belonging to Konoha University, were rushing to their morning classes and chattering aimlessly. These ladies plan to meet up at the Delicatessen Patisserie near IchiRaku's Ramen Shop every morning. Hence, they go through a similar routine every single day. Call it a ritual, if you may.
"Ooooh! Guess what!?" a pretty brunette with hair pinned-up as buns on both sides of her head practically screamed, excitedly, while reading the current week's Teen Idol Magazine, "Trouble in Paradise is showing tonight in the KonoCine!".
"Really, Ten?! Oh, my Kami! I read in the gossip column Genma Shiranui's looking hot in it! But I wanna see Kotetsu Hagane!" a tall, attractive, blond with long hair, and a bang covering one side of her face, screamed equally exuberantly.
"Ano, Ino. We can go watch it tonight, ne? Tenten, what do you think?" asked a small individual wearing a baggy, light gray and lavender, hooded sweatshirt and indigo, identically baggy, cargos. It was difficult to distinguish that figure from a male or a female underneath all that...baggy-ness. Also, the individual's head was covered by a… well… hood.
"YES! Hina~chwaan, you're wonderful! Adorable!" jumped Ino, huddling a shy Hinata.
"Aww, Hina, stop being so shy, already!" said Tenten, all the while hugging her. Hinata was delirious, to say the least.
"Also, what's up with your wardrobe? Don't you have anything feminine to wear, Hina? You promised us you'd be ditching everything baggy in your wardrobe this semester. Don't you want to impress… him? Aren't you even gonna try?!" Ino was annoyed.
Hinata started poking her index fingers together nervously. "Ano... Umm... Well..."
"Ino, let's leave her today. We'll do our stuff with her tonight, before we go to the Cinema," an equally annoyed, but eager, Tenten, sighed.
"Awesome plan!" Ino grinned evilly.
And I just HAD to open my big mouth. Hinata, inwardly, groaned at the thought of The Make-Over.
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Monday, 8:00 AM
Reaching the gates of the University, the boys started towards their respective classes.
"So, ummm... what classes do we have?" asked Naruto, scratching his head, ashamed to be asking such an obvious question.
"Wha? Naruto, don't tell you don't even know your class schedule?" Shikamaru was, surprisingly, bewildered.
"Why am I not surprised?" smirked Kiba.
"Alright, alright! Would you, please, tell me, already?!" wailed Naruto before something, or someone, with a head of bubblegum pink caught his eye. "Oh, whoa! There she is! Sakuraaaa~chaaaan!"
All the guys turned around to see Miss Popular Cheerleader, Haruno Sakura, emerging from the Coffee Shop opposite the university.
Ugh, why HIM of all people? Sakura's alter-ego grumbled.
Lee, excitedly, jumped over to where Sakura was standing. "YOSH! It is I, Sakura-chan! The Green Handsome Devil of Konoha! How is my Sweet Lily Blossom today?"
Sakura, who had thought Naruto was her worst nightmare, was off to a bad start. So bad that her left eye started twitching.
Damn, just when I thought I almost made it to uni before these… annoying…
"So, Sakura-chan..."
"Naruto, your conversation skills are extremely impressive. Actually, they're growing remarkable with each passing day," said a sarcastic Neji, "Sasuke's social skills are, definitely, rubbing off on you."
Sakura, internally cheering, realized they weren't alone and looked behind the two boisterous boys. She scanned all the good-looking boys standing in front of her and realized the entire basketball team was there. Except for the one her eyes were always searching for.
Oh, well, she mentally shrugged; at least they've noticed me. They're so hot.
"Sai, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji-sempai, Shino-san, Kiba" while nodding to each of them, "hi!" then turned towards the remaining two.
"Lee-sempai," giving him a tight smile and a brief nod. "N-a-r-u-t-o," she almost snarled.
"Save it, bitch." said a quite predictable Sai giving a quite predictable retaliation.
Sakura's right eye started twitching.
The boys smirked except for Naruto and Lee,who were not at all amused.
"What did you call my Sakura-chan?!" screamed a furious Naruto, whose balled fists were hanging by his sides.
"Yes, you mean man with a bad mouth, what did you call my Sakura-chan?" yelled Lee. Then he realized something. "YOUR Sakura-chan? She's MINE as she prefers her men more youthful!"
For 10 minutes the boys bawled and lashed out at each other - verbally, of course – while, the entire time, Sakura's eyes were going haywire.
"Shut. The. Fuck. UP!"
Naruto and Lee stopped arguing, looking at Sakura with bewildered expressions, while the rest of the guys, who expected this kind of reaction, stayed indifferent.
"Give me my 10 Rio. I told you she was gonna pop in less than 10 minutes," whispered Kiba.
Sai put on his signature creepy smile (which was, actually, a defeated look) and jammed the 10 Rio into Kiba's waiting palm.
That did it. Sakura turned and entered the university gates, not even once looking back, her fists balled up in rage.
The boys, minus two, took breaths of relief. The remaining two kept on bickering, unaware of their surroundings.
Just then, the trio appeared, talking animatedly.
"Hina, that's not fair!' Tenten pouted. "I never knew you could be so funny. And why tease ME? Why don't you do stand-ups while you're at it," Tenten's statement dripped with sarcasm.
Hinata's eyes grew wide and her lips started quivering (not that anyone could see, of course); she was THE one to do THE puppy dog look and THE pout. What a surprise. Then, surprisingly, all three starting giggling, which turned into full-fledged, heartfelt laughter.
"Y'know, Hina is right. Your name..." Ino burst into a fit of giggles, again. "Say it, again, Hime!"
Hinata nodded, "Well, I saw this video on YouTube last night. It was a pretty old Japanese Game Show", Hinata stifled newly-aroused giggles. "One player from both teams had to translate Japanese into English and vice versa. So this one guy from a team had to do counting from 0 to 100. He was going perfectly until 20 showed up. Then 30. Then 40. Then 50. Then 60. Then 70. Then 80. Then 90. And, finally, came 100."
Ino nodded hysterically, nudging Hinata to go on. Tenten groaned.
"Well, whenever those numbers came up he would say ten that number of time. For instance, when 20 came up, he said Ten Ten," Hinata started giggling.
Tenten dropped her head in shame. Ino, who was enjoying too much, consoled Tenten, "Hey, Ten, sweets, no worries. I'm sure if it wasn't your name you'd be laughing with us right now."
Tenten growled. The other two laughed and pecked Tenten a cheek each.
The boys, who were watching with evident fascination, were going through different phases of . . . wonderment.
Tsk, women.
Blossoms of Youth!
Troublesome.
I'm hungry.
Mm, girls.
. . .
Weird species.
Girls other than Sakura-chan?
The girls, sensing stares, looked up and saw this group of eight tall, good-looking guys and realized, at the same time, the Konoha University Basketball Team, the team on the Top 3 of the Country Basketball Association, is STARING at US.
Then, luckily, something happened.
"Hey, Tenten-san!"
The girls turned their heads towards the source. Tenten shifted her otherwise-elsewhere attention to the ever-green Lee and smiled. "Lee-san, how are you today?" However, the chirpiness left as soon as she noticed the person beside him. "Good morning, Hyuuga-san…"
Unknown to the boys, Hinata tensed at Tenten's mock salutation. Ino simply squeezed her shoulder in understanding.
Neji just gave a cursory glance towards the glowering Tenten and answered her with a brief nod.
Hinata and Ino always noticed Tenten's antagonistic behavior towards the boy which was bared for all to see. Sometimes they wondered if she would get over the fact that he was never going to change his prude, arrogant, and egotistical ways.
Ino sweat-dropped. Tenten was, visibly, irritated. Hinata, being Hinata, was concerned but, as soon as she noticed who was standing right in front of her, she wanted to hide in an inky black hole. Naruto-kun.
"Ah, Tenten-san! I feel like a freshly-blossomed lotus, today! Though, I must admit, I'm a bit skeptical about the literature assignment Jirayia-sensei gave us."
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "But, Lee-san, isn't that due tomorrow?"
Lee nodded.
"Then what are you doubtful about?"
Lee sighed, closed his eyes and crossed his arms in a thoughtful pose. After a few seconds of meditative silence, he shouted, "I don't understand what we have to write about!"
Nobody would've been surprised to see the blank faces of his classmates. And a facepalm, courtesy of Neji.
Ino cracked up. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she chuckled and gave a sly grin to her comrade. "Sexual exploits, Lee-san."
Hinata, out of mortification, just wanted to die right there and then. If only Ino wasn't holding her tightly upright she would have passed out. She looked at the others' faces and realized that, at least, she wasn't the only one embarrassed.
Lee's eyes had widened and he had a noticeable blush but was rather, even more so, confused. "Uh, how is Character Development after Mature Excursions related to… that, Ino-san?" After a while, Lee realized he had answered his own question.
Tenten smirked but gave Lee a sweet, knowing smile. "Lee-san, you should know by now how much of a pervert Jiraiya-sensei really is. Don't you remember the last essay assignment?"
Lee nodded. "Deflowering the Maiden! Of course, I remember! It was my favorite topic but, somehow, I got a D on it."
Everyone sweatdropped. Even Neji's calm façade cracked in a few places, leaving an open mouth in its wake.
Tenten tried not to laugh so she asked him seriously about what he'd written.
"Well, I wrote about how a beautiful flower maiden, bundled with lilies and azaleas, would look so empty and forlorn if she were to be stripped of all her flowers."
That was the limit. Ino and Tenten were on the ground, holding their sides, shaking with mirth. Hinata just stared at Lee and wondered how innocent a guy could be. On the other hand, the guys were not only incredulous but ashamed of the fact that he was their friend.
"Oh, Lee-san!" Ino choked out between fits of laughter. "You're just too sweet!"
Lee didn't notice the wide range of emotions his statement had created but Ino's declaration was enough to make him blush.
... and show his usual thumbs-up pose.
"Ino, you should probably get up before Sasuke sees you in that state," Shikamaru drawled. Ino realized her friend was right and got up, dusting off her clothes, before she made a fool of herself. "Hey, Shikamaru. Hiya, Chouji." Shikamaru yawned a reply. Chouji hmph-ed, chips in his mouth. Geez, way to answer a lady, fellas.
Kiba became aware of his fellow classmate and howled, "Hinata-chan! We got Dance class first!" Hinata giggled and noticed Shino giving her a slight nod. She smiled (not that anyone could see it), shyly, and acknowledged the gesture with a meek, "Yup, Kiba-kun. Hello, Shino-kun".
Too bad for her, she was, now, the center of attention. Even Neji's.
I should've kept quiet. Damn you, Hinata!
"Hinata? Isn't that a girl's name?" he asked.
Ino was thinking that not only did this guy have a huge ego he was stupid, as well. "Uh, duh?"
"If Hinata-chan wasn't in my Art class, I'd have thought she were a guy, the way she dresses and all. Not to mention, that hood" Sai cleared to Neji, jokingly. "Actually, everyone thought she was a guy on our first day."
Naruto interjected, obviously, without thinking "Ohhh! So, why do you dress like a guy? Are you not pretty, Hinata-chan?"
Lee gasped. Chouji stopped munching on his chips and, almost, choked on one. Shikamaru face-palmed and shook his head, "Naruto, why do you have to be such an insensitive knucklehead with no brain or ability to think, whatsoever?"
"Ehhh? Nani?" Naruto couldn't comprehend all the mumbo-jumbo and technical jargon. "Damn, Shikamaru why'd you have to... Shit! Now my head hurts!"
The girls weren't able to look away from the scene unraveling before them. Other than that, Hinata was dumb-founded. Not pretty? Did everyone think she was ugly… just because she wears a hood? Wait, did Naruto-kun, actually, call her Hinata-chan?!
Ino and Tenten could feel Hinata's discomfort, yet not her elevation, and thought of standing up for their best friend.
Hinata thought she was in hell. Or heaven. Depended on what she focused more on. Not only were they talking about her, they were talking about her in front of Naruto. Kami-sama, I've never been this embarrassed my entire life. Now, Neji-ani will find out, as well. I've tried so hard to keep away from my past. Only father knows as he's the one paying, reluctantly, for my education. Hiding and sneaking away from ani's view, all down the drain. Damn it!
Ino and Tenten noticed Hinata's internal struggle. "Right, guys. I think we better run before class…" Whatever Tenten was going to say was interrupted by Sai's compliant inquisition. "Say, Hinata-chan. You're a Hyuuga, ne? Wouldn't you be related to Neji, then?"
That made Neji swivel towards a distressed Hinata. "Hinata-sama?!"
The way he had said her name caused the said girl to wince. Looks like he still hates me.
Sai interjected, "So, you know her?"
Busted.
Neji turned towards Sai and gave a barely decipherable nod, "… my cousin. But it's been 4-5 years since I'd last seen her. I had heard she was started university 6 months ago but I never knew..."
Then the bell rang. With that, Ino and Tenten stalked towards Hinata, grabbing each of her arms, and pulled her away towards Dance class, leaving a wide-eyed bunch behind them.
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After-notes:
Ani – is what you call your older brother when you are talking about them.
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Author's A/N: OK, people! I hope to get reviews - constructive criticism will be much appreciated - as it will warm my feeble heart. Marshmallows for you all who took the time to make me a better writer and, also, to give you what you deserve - a good, old-fashioned, heart-wrenching, fluff-bunny, and sensual story (which I doubt it will be, lol).
Edit: Apart from all the other Notes & Edits, I'll be letting everyone know the ages, classes, job description, etc. of all the characters included in my story. You should be aware that every character would be majoring in something related to their…character, of course. Anyway, I'll explain the basics as a chapter. I hope you won't be disappointed. Ja, ne! =3