Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodthirsty - Friendship ❯ The Changes ( Chapter 9 )

Hello again! Here I come with yet another chapter for this crazy fic of mine. I hope you like it and I wish you a wonderful New Year. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all, related to Naruto.

Bloodthirsty - Friendship

*By: NightAngel*

Chapter 8: "The changes"

It was a little past ten when the two teams walked to different sides of the football field. Naruto's walked to the left, and Lee's to the right.

"First we have to decide who stays where. Who's going to stay at the defense?" - Lee asked enthusiastically.

"Me!" - TenTen held a hand in the air and jumped, to make her point.

"Ok!" - Lee smiled. - "We need two more defenses." (Yeah I don't know much about football, but the thing is my dictionary doesn't have any of the words I need, so please try your best to understand what I'm saying. TenTen is at the Stake (at least that's what the stupid dictionary says, although I'm almost sure that's not the word I'm looking for))

No one lifted their hands, most wanted to be the attackers. Lee had to choose. - "Sakura-chan and ... Naruto/a or whatever your name is!" - Sakura and Naruta smiled and agreed. - "Next in line we have the centers. Who wants to do it, or do I have to choose?" - Lee saw he should be the one to choose. - "Alright! Shino and Kankuro. So Neiji, Ino and I are the attackers." - they all seemed to agree that was a nice choice. Ino was definitely good to attack. She was fierce and fast.

--- The other side of the field ---

"Let's select the positions!" - Naruto yelled happily. But, the others didn't seem all that happy, except maybe for Temari.

"What are you all moaning and complaining about? This is supposed to be a friendly match, so whether we loose or win, the important is that we all have a good time here. So CHEER UP!" - well that sure did have the desired effect. They all smiled and nodded, although they all thought they had a crappy team, but what did you expect when Naruto was the captain. - "Well, maybe we should let Naruto decide our positions. He chose us for the team, so maybe he has a plan." - They all looked over to Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head.

"I'd rather leave that task to Shikamaru." - Everyone sweatdropped.

"How troublesome! Why me?" - Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, as if he was deep in thoughts. Then after a long pause he finally spoke. - "Kiba ... and Akamaru to the Stake! Chouji and Gaara to defense! Hinata and I are the centers, and the remaining are the attackers!" - he said quickly and quite angrily.

"Seems good to me!" - Temari nodded. - "Kiba and Akamaru can both take a good defense. Gaara and Chouji seem rather suitable for it too. Shikamaru ... he is lazy so better not put him some place where he will have to work, and Hinata can actually make up for him and she always has Gaara and Chouji for protection. Sasuke, Naruto and I are surely the perfect ones for the attack. You're good at strategies Shikamaru!" - Temari smiled.

"If only he would make good use of it more often ..." - Chouji muttered.

"Chouji ... You were supposed to be my best friend! TRAITOR!" - Shikamaru said, completely pissed off. Seemed to him like Chouji was only jealous that Temari had praised him.

"I am!" - Chouji stated simply.

"Well ... is everyone okay with their assignments?" - Naruto asked and looked around. No one protested. - "Great!" - he rubbed his hands together and grinned widely. - "Let's show them what we're made off!" - Naruto raised a fist in the air, and much to his surprise, everyone cheered along with him ... except for Sasuke, who kept muttering about dobes and their childish acts.

(Now here comes the hard part. How the heck am I going to explain how the game goes. Please try to go slow and steady ... to try to understand what I meant to happen. And No! This will not be boring. After all ... it's played by ninjas! Arigatou for your patience!)

Naruto's team got in positions, as did Lee's.

"Who gets the ball first?" - Lee asked when he was face to face with Naruto.

"Throw a coin!" - Lee took a coin from his pocket. - "Choose Lee!" - Lee nodded and thanked.

"Face!" - Lee chose.

A bug clone from Shino, was the referee and he threw the coin in the air and it turned to be face. Thus the ball went to Lee's team first. The Shino-clone blew the whistle and the game began.

Neiji had the ball, and was immediately 'attacked' by Temari who tried to take the ball from him. He dodged and threw the ball at Lee. Lee caught it swiftly in his feet and with his amazing Taijutsu, he managed to dodge Naruto, who was cursing under his breath. Lee smirked as he made his way to a very annoyed Shikamaru, and easily got past him.

"Shikamaru you stupid ass! Give some use to those legs!" - Gaara yelled, and Lee made his way towards him. He smirked, as did Lee. - "You're not getting past me." - Gaara muttered under his breath.

Lee ran with the ball, as fast as he could towards Gaara. He could see the sand moving towards him and resting on the ground, thus slowing him down. Gaara was running towards him. Lee looked to his right and smirked. When Gaara was about to take the ball from him, Lee shot the ball to his right.

"What?" - Gaara yelled and looked over, to see a very fast and effective Ino take the ball, before Chouji could get to it. - "Damn!" - Gaara growled and ran after Ino, as did Chouji.

"TAKE THIS!" - Ino yelled as she lifted her right leg in the air and shot the ball with full strength. - "Ino's special kick!" - she yelled, sure enough that the ball would hit the net and score a goal. - "YE..." - when Ino was about to yell victory, she saw a very fast ball of fur intercept the ball, and another one, caught the ball before it flew away.

"Alright Akamaru!" - Kiba yelled when he caught the ball that Akamaru had amazingly stopped from hitting the net. - "Score a goal for us ... Sasuke!" - Kiba ran a little and then threw the ball in the air, in the direction of a smirking Sasuke.

"Hey! That's not fair! The dog shouldn't be alowed!" - Ino complained as she ran back to her former position on the field.

"Akamaru is a ninja tool!" - Kiba said and grinned. Ino wanted to punch him so hard. - "At least that's what everyone says ... but to me he is a lot more!" - Kiba patted Akamaru's head gently and then got into position.

"Good one Kiba!" - Chouji and Gaara greeted as they also ran back into stance. Hinata also smiled at him, and he grinned even more.

Sasuke caught the ball with his left feet, while it was still in mid-air and he started running to the opposite side of the field, a grin playing in his lips. Lee and Ino were still on the other side of the field, but a rather pissed off, and somewhat happy Neiji came running to him, tying to dribble him.

"You wish!" - Sasuke muttered under his breath as he quickly jumped up, and threw the ball forward. Using his amazing Taijutsu, he managed to catch the ball a little farther, while Neiji stood, gasping and very ... very pissed off.

"That bastard!" - Neiji ran after the Uchiha boy, and was soon caught up by Lee and a flaming Ino, who seemed more interested in jumping on Sasuke then on defending their side of the field.

Sasuke saw that Kankuro and Shino were the centrals, and he was thankful that Kankuro was the one on his side of the field. Somehow, Shino gave him the creeps. When Kankuro started running his way, he saw that he also brought along his puppet friend. The puppet launched at him, and Sasuke bowed down to avoid it. Ino wasn't so lucky and she took the puppet on her face, as she was right behind Sasuke. - "KYA!!!" - Sasuke smirked and took advantage of Kankuro's distraction, making past him at full speed, and still carrying the ball in his feet.

"Ah!" - Sasuke couldn't help but laugh, thinking no one could stop him now. He looked ahead and saw Sakura. - "Oh mama!" - he stopped and looked around. Seeing Temari he decided to throw the ball at her. - "TEMARI!" - Temari nodded and caught the ball. As Temari made her way to TenTen, Sasuke turned his gaze to Sakura and smiled, receiving one in return. There was no way in hell he was going to fight her just because he wanted to make a goal for his team. Next time he would come from the other side of the field. That way he wouldn't have to face Sakura.

"Alright!" - Temari caught the ball, barely avoiding Naruta from catching it. Naruta and Temari dribbled around, trying to get the ball. - "Damn you Naruto! Did you have to make such a good clone?" - Temari was starting to get frustrated, when she finally managed to regain control of the ball and ran off with it. She saw TenTen was the one on the way between her a point for her team. - "Get away TenTen! I don't wanna hurt you!" - Temari yelled as she prepared to quick the ball with all her strength.

"At least you improved on that!" - TenTen yelled, referring to what happened on the last exam, where Temari had showed her no mercy. - "But I'm no longer the girl you once knew." - TenTen watched as the ball came flying towards her at a fast speed. She smirked, jumping in the air and flipping around. With a yell she used her left leg to stop the ball and send it back to the middle of the field.

Temari was shocked. - "I used all my strength in that!" - Soon her surprised face was exchanged by a smile. - "Nice job there TenTen!" - and she ran off, back to her side of the field.

TenTen gave her a thumps up and blushed when Neiji and the others greeted her, before going after the ball.

The ball was supposed to reach Lee, who was exactly on the middle of the field. - "Way'ra go TenTen!" - Lee was smiling, but soon his form was shadowed by another. - "What th ..." - Before Lee knew it, Naruto had jumped in the air, and caught the ball while it was still a long way from the ground.

"Hell Yeah!" - Temari yelled when she saw Naruto landing like a cat on the floor, and then leaving at full speed towards TenTen.

"WHAT?" - before TenTen or any of the others could react, Naruto threw the ball in the air and made a Bicycle ride.

"EAT DIRT!" - his kick was so strong that none of the ninja even had time to watch the trajectory of the ball, as it made contact with the net, right before ripping it off and going for a fly. - "YES!" - Naruto jumped around in happiness, along with Temari, while the others were still O_O

"Naruto is the best. Naruto is the best." - Temari kept singing. Sasuke was still dumbfounded. Hinata and Chouji were jumping with happiness on the other side of the field. Shikimaru couldn't help but smirk and Kiba was jumping around along with Akamaru. Gaara was just looking wide-eyed at the kitsune-boy, before he also smiled.

"We scored! We scored!" - Naruto couldn't contain his happiness. Then he turned to his eternal rival and gave him the finger. - "Eat this! I scored before you did, and it was even my first game. Bet you can't do better than that!" - Everyone sweatdropped, but Sasuke smirked.

"Shut up dobe! You were just lucky!" - Sasuke teased.

"Nani?" - Naruto and Sasuke glared, and Temari had to separate them.

"Guys, we're trying to work as a team here!" - Sasuke and Naruto gave up, but there was a strange glint in their eyes. A glint that meant war.

"Let's move! We're going to get you guys back for this!" - Lee yelled. - "I'll score before you even notice I moved from the spot." - Neiji shocked his head. Lee would never change.

"You wish thick-brows! We're the ones who are going to score next ... and after that too and after the after that ..." - Naruto yelled as he, Sasuke and Temari ran to their positions in the field.

"Ready?" - Shino's clone asked and whistled.

Ino had the ball this time. - "Damn we can't do InoShikaCou formation anymore. It would be so darn cool." - she muttered under her breath. For the first time, wishing more that she was with her teammates rather than with Sasuke. - "Get away!" - she yelled as she swiftly dodged Temari. She then threw the ball to Lee, who threw it back at her when Sasuke came after him. She looked ahead and saw Shikamaru. A certain weird felling invaded her. She didn't want to fight with Shikamaru over some stupid ball. She looked around, hoping to be able to send the ball to someone, but Lee had Sasuke to worry about, and Neiji had Naruto. It was up to her. Maybe Shikamaru would be lazy and let her go without even trying to stop her. Yeah! He would probably do that.

"SHIKAMARU Don't you dare stay there without moving. Stop her!" - Ino heard Gaara shout.

"I don't need you telling me that!" - Shikamaru shouted back And believe it or not, Shikamaru actually ran to her and tried to take the ball from her.

Ino was scared in a way. She had never seen Shikamaru with those eyes. What was it she saw in there. She smiled when she finally understood. He was happy. He enjoyed being there, play with he others. Despite his always boring looks, he was a very caring person and he also felt lonely. Actually when he said he wanted to be alone, it was the exact opposite. That was just a way to test people. If they really wanted to stay, it wasn't simply because he said no that they would turn back. Ino knew that was the reason why he liked Naruto so much. It was also the reason why he liked Chouji. They both didn't flinch or ran away when Shikamaru stated that they were tiresome and annoying. They always stayed. Just like she did.

She smiled widely. - "Having fun Shika-kun?" - Shikamaru shot her a small smile, and before she knew it. - "Gah!" - Shikamaru had taken the ball from under her feet and ran the other way. - "Shikamaru, I will never forgive you for this!" - she yelled in frustration. Mush to her amusement, Shikamaru turned back for a moment and Winked at her. - "... ugh ..." - Ino was far beyond surprised. Shikamaru never acted like this before. A little behind her, Chouji laughed hard as he stared at Ino's reddened face. Gaara couldn't help but do the same. He found Shikamaru rather amusing.

Shikamaru ran across the field with the ball, but he was getting tired, and being the lazy ass he always was, he threw the ball at Sasuke, who caught it with much ease. Then Shikamaru ran back to his position, Finding that Ino was no longer there, but running after Sasuke. «As usual!» - he thought to himself. But to his surprise, Ino looked back for a moment and ... Threw him a kiss (what do you call those ... flying kisses ...) Gaara and Chouji hanged on to their stomachs as they saw a very disturbed and blushed Shikamaru froze on his spot.

Sasuke was off, with Lee following right behind. - "You're not going to score this time." - Sasuke smirked and ran faster, until he came face to face with Shino. His bugs started walking to him and Sasuke panicked. He didn't like bugs all that much. He performed a seal, and soon fire came from his mouth, burning and scaring the bugs.

"Shit! Don't burn them!" - Shino yelled in exasperation.

"Sorry!" - Sasuke said as he prepared to run with the ball again. But when he looked ... there was no ball. - "What on Earth?" - he looked up and saw Lee running happily ahead, with the ball at his feet. - "Just my luck!" - Sasuke cursed.

With his fast movements, Lee got past Hinata and Chouji, who tried but couldn't stop him. - "Here goes the first point to Lee's team!" - Lee kicked the ball hard, but Kiba managed somehow to block it.

"Wow!" - he yelled when the ball hit hard against his arm. It hurted like hell. He watched as the ball flew in the air and he ran to catch it, along with Akamaru.

"Ah!" - Ino smiled and jumped off to kick the ball to the net. When her feet was about to make contact, Kiba did it with his head, sending the ball further in the air. Ino and Kiba fell both on the floor, rapidly jumping up again. - "This time we score!" - Ino yelled as she finally kicked the ball.

The ball flew rapidly to the net, and there was no one to stop it this time. No Kiba and no Akamaru. - "Ye ...." - Ino almost slapped her face when a leg came in contact with the ball, stopping it from entering. And she gaped when she saw who it was. - "Shika you asshole." - she fell to the ground and ran to him, wanting to take the ball from him. But before she could, Shikamaru shot the ball up to the middle of the field. Ino almost fell off, then growled at her teammate. - "Shikamaru! You piece of shit!" - she growled.

"I love you too!" - he smirked and then ran back to his position, as Kiba gave him five.

Ino growled again and ran back to her side of the field. And whether she liked it or nor ... her cheeks had turned red when Shikamaru said the word 'love'. Somehow ... something had changed between them and although she wasn't sure what, it kinda made her happy.

The ball was caught by Kankuro who smirked and ran towards the 'enemy's' side of the field. Naruta was following right behind.

As everyone was still startled by Shikamaru's defense, they failed to notice the rapid movements of Kankuro and the Sexy Naruta. When they finally noticed Kankuro, he had already passed by Chouji. Kiba moved to his right, as Kankuro prepared to kick the ball.

"Keep dreaming!" - Kiba yelled.

Kankuro smirked, and to everyone's surprise, instead of shooting the ball to the net, he changed the direction of the ball at the last moment, throwing it to Naruta who was on his left.

"Oh no!" - Naruta's foot made immediate contact with the ball and ...

"GOAL!" - Kankuro yelled when the ball hit the net. Much to everyone's surprise. But it wasn't long before Lee's team jumped with happiness.

"YES!" - Ino jumped into Sakura's arms and they both jumped around with happiness, along with the others.

"I can't believe it!" - Kiba said dumbfounded. - "Darn!" - he hit his fist on the ground.

"Don't worry about it Kiba! We'll get them back!" - Gaara smirked.

"Ah! I'm so proud of my clone. She's smart, energetic and above all ... too darn irresistible for any male except for me!" - Naruto snickered. Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Dobe!" - and they glared at each other ... as usual.

Yeah, Yeah! I love Shika+Ino. Isn't it obvious? Well, I hope you all enjoy this little chapter. And I hope you all understood it. If not, I'm terribly sorry! Have the best New Year ever.

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