Falling Short

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto etc etc.

Summary: They failed, they won, they laughed and they cried. Somewhere along the way, they learned to grow up, both on the court and off.

Prologue

The fear in us is not that we're inadequate by our own means, but whether the inadequacy assimilates into the mindset of others. And for that, we have reason to be afraid.

--

The gym was empty, and finally, he breathed.

The hardwood, filled with the dulling shine of hours of practice, stayed firmly beneath his feet. The orange ball, gripped firmly in his right hand, seemed to defy gravity. His ebony bangs hid his betraying eyes, which seemed to flicker with a crimson glint right before he ran to the rhythmic pace of his dribble.

He jumped.

And then he believed.

--

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru drawled before the large notice posted right beside the vending machine where Chouji so badly wanted to buy his daily bags of chips. The fifteen year old boy leaned lazily against the wall, arms crossed and his hair pulled into a high ponytail.

"Do it, Shika!"

"No, Ino."

"Do. It."

"Nnn. Ohh."

"…" Silence is good, he thought…

"DOOOOOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!! DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT D--"

Damn it. "Fine."

"Don't you realize that I'm doing this for your own good, Shika? Girls love athletes!" Ino practically beamed at him, and who could have faulted him if he couldn't resist? Ino was one of the most sought after girls in the whole school. She had a slim figure, and beautiful long blonde hair to perfectly match her cerulean eyes.

"Maybe you'll actually get a date, or at least a hello," she nudged him playfully.

"Shikamaru, let's both give it a shot! You never know!"

Shikamaru shrugged, accepting defeat with relative ease. There was no arguing with Ino, even before Chouji had joined her side. As the trio walked away, each lost in his own thoughts, another stood in front of the notice, eyes fixated on the bold letters.

BOYS BASKETBALL TRYOUTS – THIS FRIDAY AT 4:00 PM

"I'm gonna be the MVP, dattebayo!"

--

"Asuma-sensei, when can we start?"

"Asuma-sensei, you can't smoke indoors!"

"Gai-sensei, why are you wearing that?"

"BOYS, THIS IS A TRUE REPRESENTATION OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOU—"

The door to the gym opened, and in stepped a silver-haired man in a green vest. A long scarf covered his whole lower face, while his left eye hid behind a large blue headband. In his arms, he held a clipboard, and as he put a whistle around his neck to indicate that the chattering should die down, all forty-some boys in the gym stood in awe of his height.

Tall, they thought.

"Kakashi, you said 4 pm," one of the adults spoke, standing with his arms crossed. He had dark blue hair and a full beard. In his mouth was an unlit cigarette, and he was wearing the same green attire. "I can understand you making these punks wait, but us?"

"Sorry everyone, today I got lost coming down the fourth corridor but–"

"MY HIP RIVAL, YOU'RE ENTRANCE WAS WORTHY OF PRAISE, BUT I WILL SHOW YOU A DYNAMIC ENTRY!!"

All players stared surprisingly at the third adult in the gym. He wore a tight green spandex bodysuit underneath the coach's vest, and his face was decorated with thick black eyebrows and a black bowl haircut.

"— please form a line along the baseline and we will introduce ourselves first."

"OH MY GOD! KAKASHI, YOUR IGNORANCE IS SO VERY MODERN!"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I'm your head coach this year. You can refer to me however you want; I have no preferences on honorifics or anything. However, when I ask you to do something, you will do it, and you will give it your all. I expect nothing less."

Kakashi motioned to his left. "This is Sarutobi Asuma, your assistant coach. He's responsible for all your drills. Piss him off and you'll be running suicides until you understand why the exercise is called just that. And to the right, this is—"

"I AM MAITO GAI, YOUR STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING ASSISTANT COACH! EVERYONE, TOGETHER WE SHALL ACTIVATE THE FLAMES OF YOUR YOUTH!!"

"Well, if you piss me off, I'll make you listen to Gai for a whole practice," Kakashi mused out loud, but his masked face kept the students in mystery as to whether he was being serious or just plain kidding.

"Ano sa, ano sa, my name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the MVP!" Heads turned towards the short blonde at the end of the line, jumping up and down and pumping his fist. Many of the other boys groaned inwardly, others rolled their eyes, already being used to Naruto's antics.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember asking you to introduce yourself. 10 laps." Kakashi smiled, his one visible eye curled upwards in a crescent.

"WHAT? I'm not running no –"

"Naruto-kun, that wasn't a suggestion." Kakashi's voice remained playful, but his hardened look made Naruto gulp. Grumbling, the short boy began running.

--

And then, there were eight. Eight very sore, bruised and tired boys who had trouble brushing their teeth in the morning and couldn't get through a subway ride without pain in their thighs.

Oh, and one list.

Konoha High Varsity Boys Basketball Team

PG: Nara Shikamaru

SG: Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba

SF: Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino

PF: Uchiha Sasuke

C: Rock Lee, Akimichi Chouji

--

A/N: Please review guys! It's one of my first fanfics and I only have a couple of chapters planned out. Any feedback is welcome!

Next Chapter: The team's first challenge, Neji's dilemma, and Sasuke's subtle action.