Alright, so I got the idea to write this after reading 'Naruto My Career' by Fox sage123. It's a good read go check it out, he also has plenty other stories similar that I highly recommend. After reading those and getting some inspiration, I decided to try my hand at it and write a similar one. I asked if it was cool if I did it and he said yeah, so here it is hopefully you guys enjoy it. Also I have made a change in the draft so don't be alarmed if the first pick isn't the same as in real life.
Naruto Namikaze, born October 10th 1993 has a passion for basketball. It's always been a part of his life, mostly because his dad Minato Namikaze was a former NBA player for the San Antonio Spurs.
Occasionally whenever they had a home game Naruto and his mother Kushina would be courtside or one row behind watching his father play. The most memorable of these games was in 99 when he attended the NBA Finals and watched his dad and the spurs win their first championship.
He was allowed into the locker room to celebrate with the team and took a photo with his dad while holding the Larry O'Brien trophy. He struggled to hold it being five and all but still got the photo. It was at that point, when he saw his reflection on the trophy that he decided that he too would be an NBA champion one day.
"Something on your mind son?" Minato asked him noticing him staring at the trophy.
"Yeah, you guys just wait. One day I'm going to be a champion too." He said loudly. The entire team clapped and encouraged him.
"We're sure you will kid, and we'll all be there when it happens." Tim Duncan says as he ruffles his hair.
His dad had to retire two years as he suffered a leg injury in a car crash due to a reckless driver. He retained the ability to walk and jog, but he wouldn't be capable of playing at NBA level again.
As Naruto grew up he had plenty of help from his dad learning how to play basketball. Minato taught him the fundamentals of the game and constantly pushed him to do better. For a seven-year-old Naruto had good handles and picked up lessons quickly.
Later on he attended Winston Churchill High School and it wasn't exactly as he had pictured it. He didn't have too many friends; most people only saw him as the son of a champion or a rich kid. His best friend Sasuke Uchiha, who he had met at an early age was his friend because he could relate to him.
Sasuke's dad was a former player for FC Barcelona. Just like him he hoped to follow in his dad's footsteps and become a pro soccer player. They lived close to each other in a well off neighborhood and quickly became friends and decided to attend the same school.
Naruto joined the basketball team and found that at 5'9 he was the shortest player on the team, but that didn't stop him. He made varsity soon during his sophomore year. He played point guard and managed to impress everyone on the team with his handles, long range shooting, and playmaking ability. Needless to say he quickly became one of their key players.
People knew he was good, after all being the son of a pro he had to have some good training. It wasn't until his senior year during the final match of the State Championships that everyone would know just how good he was.
Churchill High School Vs New Braunfels State Championship
Naruto looked out into the crowd and noticed his family there along with Sasuke's as they were always at each other's major events. He began his stretches and got in a few practice shots before the game.
When he saw everyone getting in position he took his spot at the very back and waited for their center to jump for the ball. He didn't disappoint. He smacked it over to their side and his team mate threw him the ball before running up the court.
Naruto dribbled up the court and stopped as a defender got in front of him. He looked around and saw everyone was tightly guarded. He faked right, then left, and went to the right around him and down the middle before finger rolling the ball into the basket.
The home crowd cheered as they made the first points. Quickly he got on defense and guarded his mark. The boy was taller than him by about four inches and had longer arms so reaching in didn't work. He stayed close enough that the boy couldn't get a good look at his team mates and had to blindly pass.
The ball landed into the hands of one of his team mates who took the ball and made a quick layup. The first quarter went similar to that as both teams went back and forth with Churchill obviously having the better defense.
During the second quarter Naruto was often double teamed and wasn't able to score as much but was still able to find his team mates to make buckets.
With possession of the ball Naruto dribbled down court quickly and once again found two guys coming at him. Quickly he passed it to his team mate on the right before running behind him and getting the ball again. He ran to the right and faked a pass before cutting the ball through two guys to find the open man in the paint.
On defense they saw that the New Braunfels were starting to feel the pressure as the lead began to widen against them. In their attempts at a fast break one of their dunks was denied by their center to passed it to the shooting guard. Naruto motioned for him to just keep possession of the ball until the clock runs out.
It was the final seconds of the second quarter so the shot clock had been turned off. When it got to two seconds the boy ran as close as he could and shot the ball which hit the backboard and went in right as the buzzer sounded.
The first half had ended with the score 44-27 in Churchill's favor.
In the locker room Naruto put a towel over his head as the head coach began speaking.
"You guys are doing good work out there. You're forcing them to make careless mistakes that we can capitalize on. If we can keep doing that the championship is ours. Naruto, they're most likely going to be putting a lot of pressure on you and we'll use that to our advantage.
If they're focused on you they'll leave others completely open. Keep doing what you guys are doing for the next twenty minutes and we'll be champions." The coach said.
During the time they had before they had to get back to the game Naruto pulled his phone out and got onto YouTube. He looked up some highlights of his favorite player, JR Smith of the New York Knicks.
He liked him because of how well he shot as well as the fact that the guy was hilarious. When the time was up he was ready to go to work.
The coach was right. When Naruto got the ball he was immediately rushed by two defenders. He quickly passed to the open man who had an easy bucket.
On defense Naruto saw that they were still trying to continue their fast pace play. Naruto saw that one of his team mates was in position to pick the ball right so he began running back. No sooner did he look back and see the ball was coming at him.
With no one in position to guard him he decided to give a little show. He ran to the basket, jumped and slammed it in. The bench erupted into excited yells and players jumping up and down hyping him up.
When the final quarter began he noticed that New Braunfels seemed tired. No doubt from the pace they tried to keep. He was no longer double teamed and managed to find easy passes to his team mates.
When he got the ball once more he dribbled slowly up court and was guarded once more. He faked running forward and came back to his spot four feet behind the three-point line and shot. Splash.
For the next four shots in a row he hit from the same distance from different spots on the court.
Over in the stands Fugaku (Sasuke's dad) whistled at the shots. "Your boy is quite the sharpshooter Minato. He's taking shots from practically NBA regulation distance. Did you teach him to do that?"
Minato shook his head. "No, I only taught him how to properly shoot. He would tell me at the park when we would go that shots from that distance felt too easy, so he started moving further back." He says feeling proud of his son.
The game ended with Churchill's victory 89-70. The home crowd cheered as Naruto and his team got the trophy.
His family comes down and hugs him as they take pictures and celebrate. Naruto fist bumps with Sasuke as they take a picture as well.
"Now it's your turn Sasuke. Bring home the soccer state championship for us." He says
"Hn, you already know." He says. He hears his phone chime and checks who it is.
"Who is it?" Asks Naruto
"It's some girl from one of my classes."
"She trying to get the pipe?" Naruto asks laughing.
"You watch way too many JR Smith videos. No she's asking If I did my part of the project, which by the way I haven't so I'm gonna go get started on that. I'll see you tomorrow."
After that game Naruto continued to practice his game and it paid off as he got a scholarship to Duke University. He quickly made the team as the coach had seen the video of the state championship game when considering him for the scholarship.
Naruto's skill only increased with the coaching of Mike Krzyzewski who took his skills in playmaking and offense to the next level.
Naruto finished his freshman basketball season averaging 20 points, 4 assists and 3.7 rebounds.
Having coached for Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers he knew what to do to help get Naruto ready for the NBA. Like with Kyrie he knew Naruto was special and told him after their final game of his freshman year.
"Are you sure? Isn't it a bit too early? Am I even eligible?" Naruto asked coach K.
"You've spent one year in university and you just turned 19, that makes you eligible for the Draft. I know you have what it takes. In the event that you don't get selected you can always come back and it won't hinder your education. Not many people get this opportunity."
"Alright, let's do it." Naruto wrote a letter to Adam Silver the NBA commissioner and sent the required forms needed to enter the draft.
It was finally happening, soon he'd be one step closer to joining the NBA and becoming a champion. One month after having sent his forms he received word that he had indeed been selected for the draft.
His parents along with his team mates and coach were thrilled that he had gotten accepted. Naruto was more excited about where he would end up though, preferably he would like to be in san Antonio like his father but he'd be happy anywhere.
He had also been told that he was a possible first or second pick in the drat as many scouts had seen him play.
When the day finally arrived Naruto was with his family in Brooklyn in the Barclays Center dressed in a nice suit waiting for his name to be called and begin his NBA career. Cameras were all over the place commenting on the players waiting to be called and zooming in on any former players in the arena.
After what felt like hours when it was only about 30 minutes Adam silver took the podium and the draft began.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Adam Silver the commissioner of the NBA and welcome to the 2013 NBA Draft.
With the first pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors select, Naruto Uzumaki from Duke University."
This is the shortest chapter I have ever written I think for any story. However, this first chapter was definitely the hardest but don't worry from now on I'll try and get them to at least 3K per chapter. Anyways next chapter he'll start his career as a warrior and I'll go into detail about his day to day life as well as how he does in his games. As for pairings since this is a real world fic choose anyone you want just leave it in a review and we'll see who gets the most votes. Anyways hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you next chapter.
