Hey guys, I'm back! Been a crazy year what with moving across the atlantic 3 times, but what do you do?

Anyway, just an idea I had floating around. Not sure how it'll turn out yet, but here we go :-)

/505

Chapter 1

Naruto cut left, a satisfied grin appearing on his face as Sasuke passed the ball so that it landed perfectly in his hands. Hidan raced over, cursing, but it was too late, Naruto was already in the air, slamming the ball into the basket.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered as the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the practice match. He landed, still smiling at his last minute shot, but his teammates had already turned away, wiping the sweat off their faces or talking amongst each other.

"Fucker," Hidan mumbled under his breath, shoving Naruto aside as he made his way back to his friends, snickering when he stumbled slightly.

The smile on Naruto's face faded as the euphoria that came from playing left him, and he was confronted with reality once again. He sighed, then quickly replaced the frown on his face with an idiotic grin and scratched the back of his head. They would pounce if he showed any weakness.

"Ok, guys, gather round," Iruka called, looking up from the scoresheet. Naruto headed over, stopping to grab water out of his bag first. "Good game, I can see some real improvement here, though there are obviously some places where some of you need work." He smiled at the group, who shifted under his gaze, each wondering if it was them he was talking about.

"Anyway," he continued, "as you all know, at the end of next month the yearly basketball tournament will begin, with the winning team splitting a cash prize and the MVP getting a full-ride basketball scholarship to the school of their choice." Naruto tensed with excitement. If he could pull MVP, it would be his ticket to Colombia University in New York. His ticket out of this small town. It was everything he wanted, and the only way he could afford it was with the full-ride.

"It's a huge chance," Iruka smiled, acknowledging the excited whispers that arose, "and I think that this year our team is ready. But before that, we have one final event."

"Training camp," the boys chorused, grins splitting their faces. Training camp was brutal and fast-paced, but it determined the starting players for the tournament (no small feat, as their team had nine players), where even those who didn't win had the possibility of being scouted for a college team. And most importantly, there were girls.

"Yes. Unfortunately I can't make it this year due to certain circumstances, but I've already forwarded all of your information to Orochimaru-sensei, who will be training you in my place. The bus is leaving from the parking lot at 8:15 tomorrow morning. Don't be late, behave or I'll know about it, and make me proud, guys. Dismissed."

Naruto's heart sank at the news as he turned with the group and headed to the locker room. Training camp without Iruka meant no protection. It meant facing his teammates alone.

I wonder how much time I have before they realize it, he thought, speeding up. Maybe if he got out quickly enough nobody would bother him for today.

"Hey, fucker, did you hear that?" No such luck, Naruto tensed as Hidan entered the locker room behind him. "Sensei's not going to be there for camp."

"So it'll be a party, huh? Those managers get cuter every year." Kisame grinned, following his friend.

"No you idiot," Kakuzu snarled as he walked in. "He means that without Iruka there, there won't be anybody to protect the mafia fuck."

Naruto flinched at the nickname, as he did every time.

"Don't call me that."

"Or what, mafia fuck? Whatcha gonna do? Call your parents?" Kakuzu laughed. "Oh, I forgot, you can't. Those mafia fucks were killed just like they deserved, weren't they?"

The words sent a wave of anger through Naruto, and he gritted his teeth. Don't respond. Just don't say anything and maybe they'll leave me alone, he chanted to himself, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference. He opened his locker and started pulling his clothes out, knowing that showering and changing in the same room as them would be reckless. He could wait until he got home.

"I don't know why you're even coming," Hidan sneered. "Nobody wants the son of murderous fucking mafia members around. You're fucking trash."

"Haha look, he's shaking." Kisame laughed. "Think he's angry?"

"Not like he can do anything about it," Kakuzu responded. "I heard that he's already on probation."

"Well he does have the tainted blood of criminals running through his veins, what do you expect? I wonder why they don't just throw him in jail now and get it over with."

Naruto's knuckles turned white around the strap of his bag as he quickly zipped it up. His entire being was telling him to throw himself at the boys and make them take back the garbage that had come out of their mouths, but he couldn't afford to. His probation officer, Kakashi, had made it clear that one more fight would mean prison time now that he could be tried as an adult, and all that would accomplish would be to prove what everyone thought about him. About his family.

Naruto's parents had been killed when he was thirteen, while participating in illegal activity relating to the Akatsuki, the largest and most dangerous mafia group around. Naruto knew his parents weren't mafia, but since all the proof stated otherwise, nobody had believed him. To everyone around him, he was the child of Akatsuki members. Trash.

Through middle and high school he had constantly been bullied over his parents and treated like a criminal. It didn't help that he had no other living relatives, and until he had turned 18 last year, he'd been a ward of the state, living in a foster care system.

Naruto had spent years fighting back to every attack, defending his good name and that of his parents, but the fights had eventually progressed to the point where the police couldn't ignore them anymore and had brought him in. If he got through the end of this year without fighting, his slate was clean and he was free. If not, all of his hard work in school and basketball would mean nothing. It would be a one way ticket to jail time.

His teammates were still talking shit, so he closed his eyes and breathed out slowly, just like Kakashi had taught him, trying to expel the anger that was simmering inside him, too close to the surface. Get out of here, he told himself. Just walk out.

Naruto opened his eyes and grabbed his gym bag, striding past the assholes towards the door. At the door he almost ran into Sasuke, who had been on his way out. They locked eyes for a moment before Naruto grabbed for the door and walked out, Sasuke behind him.

Sasuke Uchiha was famous in their school. Not only was he the richest guy around, he was also the sexiest, with girls practically passing out at the sight of him. Strangely enough, this didn't make him hated by the guys, who revered him. Not that Sasuke could care less; he pretty much just kept to himself, finding people uninteresting and not worth the effort it would take to talk to them.

He and Naruto weren't friends, in fact Sasuke generally completely ignored Naruto and his problems. But he never went out of his way to bother him or taunted him about his parents, like so many others were wont to do. That, combined with how much he loved basketball, made him alright in Naruto's book.

Plus, playing against him was actually fun, since Sasuke was the only guy on the team who could hold his own against him.

They nodded at each other at the exit and went their separate ways.

I'm gonna try to keep a regular update schedule for this one, now that I'm finally settled down :-P

Please comment and review!

paz

505/