Disclaimer: still not owning Naruto …yet (all rights belong to Kishimoto and shueshia)
Writer: myself
Beta-tester and incredible supporter of my attempt of writing fanfiction: Vicucha ( u/1447918/vicucha )
Farewell in the sunset
The sun was going down, but the concrete was still hot as hell, that day was one of the hottest days of the summer holidays, and the playground basketball court was like an oven. He was looking at the floor, drops of sweat were falling down from his forehead, and mixing with his tears. He couldn't resist it, he felt like he was falling apart, like someone was ripping something really important for his soul. The sound of a bouncing ball passing near his ear and a voice he knew really well told him
- "You lose, I hope I never see you again."
He was trying too hard to lift his eyes, but he only got a glimpse of the back of his former companion and greatest rival fading away in the distance, his sight was blurry but he was able to recognize that mark on the back of his hoodie, red and white in the shape of a fan. The mark of the proud Uchiha corporation.
Beated up and almost hopeless Naruto walked with an unsteady feet back to his home, he was so down in his thoughts that he didn't notice a sweet voice calling him from a stall in the shopping district , nor the valiant and powerful voice of his fearsome middle school basketball team manager, Sakura. When she saw his face she grabbed his arm without hesitation. Sometimes Sakura looked as scary as a hellhound, but if she noticed something was wrong with her friends, she was bound to care.
-"What happened Naruto?" -said Sakura with a cheering voice - "is something bothering you?"
-"Ha , Sakura-chan , it's nothing really , it's just... just..."-Naruto was about to start crying again, but his pride would never allow him to do it in front of a girl.
- "Sakura, it's about Sasuke. We were ..."
-"Sasuke-kun you said? Did you do something to bother him again, Naruto? I told you to stop troubling him!" -she said with a grim look on her face.
-"Stop it ,it's nothing like that. He is leaving town!" - Naruto yelled in response -"He told me he was going to Otou High School. It's that famous school in the Chiba district, you know, where his brother Itachi studied some year jerk, I hate him. He told me he wanted to play a one on one game, and after beating the pulp out of me he told me I was not a challenge for him any more. That our middle school was a minor league team with no hopes nor dreams , and that he wanted to step on the top of the inter high tournament. So he decided to play basketball in Otou, and he is leaving tonight"- said Naruto as fast as he could. Sakura looked a bit confused at first but then she said .
-"You are saying he is leaving town tonight? How is it possible? He didn't say anything to me. You are joking, right?"
Sakura's face changed in an instant. She knew for a while about his family's intentions of making him leave his grandparent's hometown, but she had refused to believe it. She looked like she was going to burst into tears but she simply ran off and disappeared in some back alley.
When Naruto reached home, he tried to remember all the events of that afternoon, from the moment he received the text challenging him to a one on one game , to how his childhood rival had defeated him without breaking a sweat. "How could he be that good?" . This question kept going back and forth in Naruto's mind. There had always been a difference in abilities between them when it came to basketball, but he never thought the gap was so big, it's as if there was an incredible ocean of pure talent between the two, and he would never be able to cross it.
Naruto knew the Uchihas had certain natural talent for sports, and there were even some rumors about their gifted sense of play and accuracy, like foresight or something like that. But for Naruto it was all bulshit, or so he thought, until this afternoon. Before the sunset, he had been destroyed to the core by Sasuke. His amazing game sense was something out of a middle school player's league.
Naruto was recalling Sasuke's moves that afternoon, and trying to mimic some of them without a ball, when the anguish striked again. Naruto remembered the harsh words Sasuke had said to him after the game. After telling Naruto he wanted to go to Otou-gakuen, he gave a speech about family tradition and how much of a powerhouse this school was and about crap like honor being nothing against victory. He called his former team a useless bunch of amateur players. Naruto wa angry, yet the pain of Sasuke's words was overwhelming.
Night was falling upon town, the street lights seemed somehow depressing for Naruto , who was now lying on his bed and staring them from the window. He always felt the lonely at home because he had always been an orphan, but since his best friend's departure the rooms seemed even bigger than before. Naruto was the only inhabitant of the department that used to be his mother and father's home.
Naruto got up from the bed and decided to take a shower which lasted longer than usual. He had lost track of time for a bit when the doorbell rang. It rang around 2 or 3 times before Naruto realized it was actually ringing. He ran out of the shower and quickly grabbed a towel. He moved towards the door almost slipping and falling, but he was able to take a hold of the doorknob just in time. He stood up properly and opened the door .
Sakura was at his porch. He was going to make a lewd joke about her trying to hit on him, but before he could say anything Sakura embraced him. She did not even notice he was only wearing a towel. Her face was a mess , and tears were pouring from her eyes. Naruto felt uneasy but he knew why she was like that. He told Sakura to enter to his apartment, and made her wait some minutes in the kitchen. He went to change to the bedroom as fast as he could , and put some water to boil for tea after that.
- "Did you see him ?" asked Naruto, anticipating the obvious answer.
Sakura nodded and said in a fragile voice -"He told me that his past was only a burden, that he was going to cut every tie that could hold him down. He said he was leaving, there were so many things I wanted to tell him, Naruto"- she raised her voice a little- " I wanted to do lots of things with him, I wanted to go with him to the summer festival. I also wanted go to the beach. But now he is gone, and I couldn't do a single thing to stop him".
After an awkward silence she spoke again - "And what hurt the most was his farewell. He told me "Thank you, for everything". She was now staring at the ceiling, and more tears came out.
-"How can he be so cold, inflict me so much pain, and then tell me those sweets words in the end. I don't get it" .
Naruto tried to comfort Sakura, but he was no expert in the love department, nor had any idea of what to do with a girl in these cases. So he finished preparing the tea and said-"It might have been my imagination, but I felt something was off. Maybe sasuke is going against his will, maybe he is trying to make this easier for us". He was trying to lie to both, Sakura and himself, but Sasuke's harsh words were too much for him too.
Midnight came, and Sakura's father went to pick her up. She bade Naruto farewell from the end of the street and they disappeared on the dark of the night.
Naruto gazed up at the sky. It was a clear night, hot as hell. A shooting star crossed the night sky, and in Naruto's heart a new resolve was born. If Sasuke went to Otou School just to win the Inter High Tournament, then he simply needed to enter it too and beat the crap out of Sasuke. And when he was done, he would drag him back, and make him pay for what he had done and said.
Naruto felt a fire burning inside him. He was so pumped he could run 10 time round his block. He started to plan from scratch how he would make it to the High School team, get selected for the regular team and defeat Sasuke. He even thought about some cheesy lines to tell Sasuke after beating him.
A mosquito bite brought him back to reality. Starting tomorrow, he would have to endure a hell of a training if he really wanted to enter to the team.
The End