This story is loosely based on the game Final Fantasy X but is not a crossover fic.
He pulled the zip to his black and orange jacket up, leaving himself room to breathe with his orange shirt underneath. His black trousers looked as though someone had cut the left leg off above the knee showing a white bandage peeking out underneath while the right leg ender halfway down his thigh with a red spiral embroided on the front. His heavy boots, matching his jacket. Taking one final look in the mirror he ruffled his blonde hair, making sure it was spiky as his blue eyes scanned the three whisker marks on each cheek that made him look like an animal. Satisfied with the way he looked, he checked his pocket pulling out an old crumpled photo and taking a quick look before stuffing it back in and heading out the door.
As soon as he stepped out of his small apartment he was swarmed by his fans, screaming, shouting and cheering his name. All looking for the chance to say that they'd seen the star player. Naruto looked across the crowd of people blocking his way, every single one calling his name.
"Can you sign this?" a small child sat on his father's shoulders asked holding out a blue and white ball.
"Sure thing." The blonde replied with a smile as he took a pen out of his pocket before catching the ball that was thrown to him. Quickly he signed the ball before handing it back to the kid who promptly jumped off his father's shoulders and ran off to find his friends, holding the ball high above his head and a big smile on his face.
Seeing what he'd done the crowd pushed forward holding balls, notebooks, t-shirts and anything else they could get their hands on for him to sign, which he willingly obliged.
"You going to the game?" he asked a pair of girls as he signed a ball for them.
"Of course." The tall blond replied "we never miss any of your games."
"Great" he laughed as he passed the ball back. "Well when I score a goal... I'll do this is." He held his right arm stretched out in front of himself, his hand in a fist. "That'll mean it's for you."
"Really?" the girls squealed in delight.
"Believe it. Where bouts you sitting?" he asked.
"East block third row, second on the right." The girls swooned.
"K then, I'll see you there then." Naruto winked before moving back through the crowd around him.
For the next 30 minutes Naruto spent time with his fans, signing autographs and posing for photos, until he finally looked up and saw the time on a clock tower. Looking around himself he then realised that he'd spent so much time with the people in the crowd that he'd only gotten a few feet away from his apartment.
"Wow, hey guys I need to get going." He called out as he quickly handed back the notebook he'd been signing and started to push his way through the crowd to get to the stadium but was stopped when a group of three kids blocked his way.
"hey boss, can you teach us how to play blitzball?" the small boy that was at the front of the group asked, his long blue scarf waving in the breeze as the other two kind voiced their agreement.
"Aww come on guys you're going to make me late for the big game." Naruto moaned, but grabbed his head in frustration when the children didn't move. "How about tonight after the game?" he asked.
"You can't tonight." He heard a voice call out, but as he looked out across the sea of people, all pushing and pulling against each other he couldn't tell who had called out.
"I know, how about tomorrow." He asked looking at the trio after thinking about it. While he didn't know who had spoken it made him change his mind thinking that he'd want to celebrate tonight if they won the match.
"You promise?" the girl in the group asked with a blush on her cheeks, which only increased when he said he would.
Nodding in agreement the three kids suddenly stood to attention and held their right hand in front of their faces with their middle and index finger pointing upwards and bowed their heads, moving aside.
"Are you sure he'll teach us?" the girl asked as they raised their heads just in time to see the blond rush off through the crowd and disappear.
"Of course" the boy with the scarf laughed as he put his arm around the shoulders of his two friends. "After all, he promised and he never breaks his promises."
Running down the streets of Konoha, Naruto took in the sights around him. Loud music played as people went back and forth between shops, bars and restaurants. Children where running in the streets playing games with their friends, singing and laughing. Some were kicking balls around, pretending that they were playing in the big match that would be taking place later that night. Coming out of the high street Naruto entered Konoha's great park, filled with hundreds of trees and flowers. Following the winding path through the trees, more children were playing while squirrels scurried around. Seeing one squirrel looking at him, Naruto stopped and looked back. The animal tilted its head at the blond, trying to understand the strange person he it was seeing. Not knowing why Naruto did the same as the squirrel was joined by a second and moved closes to have a better look only to step on a twig, startling the animals which ran back to the safety of their tree. Laughing to himself he carried on along his was enjoying the sights around him. Eventually he came to a clearing with a large stage and screen set up with hundreds of people gathered before it as someone with a microphone stepped onto the stage.
"I was just a kid who'd run away from home when I heard the news. Minato, the greatest blitzball player there ever was, was missing. Well I just ran straight back home and back to my dad. He must have been the biggest Minato fan there was, we must have spent the whole night just talking about him. It's the closest I think I ever was to him." The announcer said with a far off look in his eyes the longer he spoke till someone called his name offstage as the crowd got restless. "Oh sorry about that everyone, got a little nostalgic there didn't I." He laughed. "Well that was over ten years ago and now we're here today for the ninth annual Minato memorial cup. The finalists in today's match are the Leaf Blades and the Konoha Spirals along with their star player and Minato's own son Naruto." As soon as his name was mention the park was filled with a roar of cheers. "Will we see his father's legendary shot?" the host said as he started bouncing up and down caught in the crowds enthusiasm as they got rowdier and rowdier. "The kid looks like his father, plays like his father and I'm sure he's just like his father outside the sphere as well."
The announcer carried on speaking but Naruto didn't hear any of it and carried on his way, losing interest in what was being said as soon as the fact that he was related to Minato was mentioned. To the people of Konoha Minato may have been a hero but to him he was just a man who'd left his family behind, but he had plenty of time to think about that later so he tried to pushed it to the back off his mind. He was so lost in his thoughts though that he didn't see the large man that he bumped into the back of.
"Oh, erm, sorry." Naruto apologised looked up at the towering man, who turned to face him with a scowl on his face and fist drawn back
"Yea I'll make sure you're sorry." The man said as his eyes burning through Naruto, but before anything happened they suddenly softened when he realised who'd bumped into him.
"Oh no I'm sorry." He laughed. "Oi everyone look, its Naruto." He called out waving to a group of people at the side of the road who quickly ran over. The small group however quickly began to grow larger and larger till the whole courtyard outside the stadium was filled with people. People who'd come to see the biggest game of the season, to remember the great Minato and to see his son play. With a smile on his face Naruto slowly began pushing his way through the sea of people that surrounded him, before finally making his way to the entrance of the stadium which had two giant statues flanking each side of the doorway. As he reached the top of the ramp way he took one last look behind him at the cheering fans being held back by the security and the clear blue night sky above them. It was strange but he couldn't help feeling that after the game, nothing was ever going to be the same again. The smile on his face faulted slightly as he waved to the crowd before turning back around and making his way into the locker room.
The stadium, filled beyond capacity with people standing in the aisles and sitting on the roofs were ecstatic as Naruto scored the first goal. He turned to face the crowd in the east stand and held his fist up, a move that caused two girls sitting there to scream louder. Smiling to himself he then turned back and quickly rejoined the game that had already restarted. The crowd roared with cheers as the two teams fought for possession of the ball inside the sphere of water that seemed to float before them, above the ground, almost like magic. Inside the sphere the ten men swam around frantically in attempts to catch the ball that was continuously being traded between the two teams. At one point a member of the Leaf Blades was tackled so hard by two members of the swirls that he bust out the side of the sphere and flew across the stadium, finally landing on top of some fans sitting in the fourth row. The swirl players looked at the damage they'd caused and high fived each other before swimming off as the sphere repaired itself, closing the gap and stopping the water that'd been leaking out.
As the match played on, a lone figure stood atop of a building not far away from the stadium looking over the city. His tall spiky white hair defied gravity as the bottom of his red haori blew in the breeze with a thick black belt holding it closed round his waist that matched his trousers. A black mask covered his mouth and his left eye was also covered with an eye patch, a thin scar running from underneath it and down his cheek. His lone black eye looked over the city lit up by the lights and giant monitors that were showing the blitzball game, as the sound of music rose up from the streets below filled with people sing and drinking. At one side of the city, the land met the sea, illuminated by the ships that were in port, setting of fireworks into the clear night sky. The then looked in the opposite direction from the sea across to the other side of the city where towering above even the largest building stood the Kage Mountains, where the faces of Konoha's greatest people had been carved into it. Many were previous leaders or those who held a position of power. And yet the most prominent among them was the face of Minato, smiling across the city he loved. Holding up a canteen the man made a silent toast to Minato before lowering his mask and taking a long drink as a large shadow loomed over the mountains.
Back down in the stadium the match was reaching its climax. With only a minute left on the clock the score was tied at one goal each. Both teams fought furiously for the ball getting rougher and rougher as the seconds ticked away, each man hoping to score the winning goal. In the far end of the sphere Naruto fought desperately to get back into the game as two Leaf Blades kept blocking his way, preventing the Swirls star player from helping his team. Suddenly the Swirls defence was broken, and a Leaf Blade made a dash for the goal. Twenty feet from the goal the player quickly kicked the ball, causing it to sail past a swirl trying to intercept the ball and straight at the goalkeeper. Diving quickly the keeper leapt across the goal, catching the ball with the tips of his fingers and deflected it back across the sphere. As the ball floated through the water a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared around it and when it disappeared Naruto held the ball in his hand. The two players that had been blocking Naruto looked between the two identical people, and letting their guard down the first Naruto broke past them and swam to the top of the sphere. Meanwhile the second Naruto kicked the ball to the centre of the sphere just as he was tackled, but rather than tumble through the water, disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving his opponent looking around confused. As the ball reached the spheres centre another Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke, kicking it upwards before disappearing the same way it came. The ball flew through the water breaking the surface at the top of the sphere just as the last remaining Naruto reached the top himself. The whole crowd was suddenly up on their feet and cheering as the blonde left the water, and prepared to take the final shot of the game as the final few seconds on the clock counted down.
But before he could shoot though, something caught his attention. Looking over the stadium roof and across the city his eyes widened in surprise and shock as he saw a large creature towering over the city suddenly fire several blasts of energy which flew across the skyline before impacting several buildings causing massive explosions. One blast flew past Naruto hitting the stadium stand behind him causing rubble to fly from the explosion and the sphere of water below him to disperse and fall like a heavy rain to the ground along with him. Panicking as he started to fall be quickly grabbed a hold of a beam sticking out the side of the stadium desperately trying to hold on for his life. But as another blast hit the stadium causing it to shake, he lost his grip and plummeted to the floor screaming in terror.
A.N. spellings corrected.