A/N: Why hellooooo everybody! I have a nice new chapter here for you all today. I hope lots of people get around to reading this one because I was really proud of the viewership it got, and I just hope that all of the rest of my chapters get a similar amount of attention. This chapter may not be my best one that I make because I found it hard for some reason, I guess I hit a little bit of a stump already, but those come often when you just write whatever you think will sound good at the time of writing, rather than making a storyboard or something like a professional writer would :P Anyway, please, please, please leave a review if you like it or see something wrong or anything! I just want feedback from you all to see if there is anything you really like or something that I could do better with. Without further interruption, here is Chapter 2! Enjoy.

Chapter 2: The First Day

**Small time skip**

Tomorrow was the inaugural day at the soccer academy for the incoming class in Konoha. The boys that had signed up were sent a letter in the mail describing the attire they would need to bring, and an order form for their academy jerseys and practice outfits. Every boy was to bring a pair of shin guards, boots, and a ball and would be given everything else at the entrance. The academy was located towards the center of town and was very large in size. Inside was a full field, as well as one large practice one. Every incoming class' first day began with a scrimmage in which their teacher would try and fit the young players into, what seemed to be, their best positions. After the game on the first day, they would be divided into two teams for the next day. One team would consist of players that were guaranteed an academy roster spot, while the other consisted of players that are 50/50 as to if they would make it or not.

Naruto awoke that morning to the sun hitting his eyes from behind his window that overlooked his bed. He sat up groggily and wiped his eyes, trying to resist the urge to flop back on his comfy bed and go back to sleep. He then stood up, walked toward his pantry and pulled out his typical breakfast meal, a cup of instant ramen. While Naruto prepared that, he went over to his refrigerator, pulled out a carton of milk and put some in a glass. As Naruto ate his "breakfast," he couldn't stop thinking about tomorrow. Nervous wasn't really the emotion he was feeling, at least not then. He was feeling anxious, wondering if he was good enough. Naruto wasn't normally one to doubt himself, especially after what he had accomplished a few weeks ago, but that incident wasn't something to ride off of for such a long time. Actually, when he remembered that moment, he didn't focus on the fact that he scored or making Aoto eat his words, but that Sasuke stuck up for him. He felt that when Sasuke said those words that there was maybe a bond between them, one that he had never really acknowledged before.

Sasuke and Naruto have known each other for as long as they can remember, they were in the same classes in school, and also played on the same little kid's soccer team. No matter what the situation, the two always found something that they could compete over. Whether it was who could take their test the fastest and get the most right, or eat the fastest. Anything really, as long as one of them proved something to the other. Although Naruto really wasn't that bad at anything, Sasuke was just better. Naruto always lost and that always made him angry at Sasuke, yelling at the raven haired boy every time that he cheated or some other lame excuse. Maybe that is what clouded the connection that the two boys actually had with one another. Naruto had never thought to consider Sasuke a friend; he was always his rival, while Sasuke always considered Naruto a dumbass, never on equal terms with him.

Naruto's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. Naruto got up and went to open the door and found Hiruzen Sarutobi in the doorway with a box in his hands. He had a nice, old person smile on his face as he looked down at the boy, "Why hello there Naruto," he said nicely. "Oh hey, gramps. What are you doing here so early?" Naruto asked. Hiruzen looked irritated, he hated being called that. "Well Naruto, seeing as tomorrow is going to be your first day at the soccer academy, I thought I would give you a good luck present. Here. Open it," he said handing Naruto the box. The boy looked curiously at the box as he grabbed it from the old man's hands. It had a little bit of dust on it, and was just your normal brown packing box. Naruto opened the top of the box and dug a hand inside. His eyes lit up with happiness as he felt the item inside. He grabbed the item in his hand and removed it from the box, causing his mouth to drop in shock and awe as he finally saw what he was holding. "Old man, are these really…?" he asked. "They sure are. Those are the boots (A) worn by Konoha's very own Yellow Flash when he was your age." Naruto couldn't believe it. He was really holding the same boots THE Yellow Flash wore when he entered the academy! Naruto stared at the moment still in shock by the old man's gift. The boots were originally a pure white color, but no had a slightly brown tint to them, probably from being so worn out and from aging. On top of the white were three yellow zigzags on both sides and yellow laces on top, as if they were made just for him way back when. Everyone in the village knew the story of the Yellow Flash; he was the best player to ever come out of the Land of Fire and is still their all-time leading goal scorer. He was world-renowned for his efforts in his first Shinobi World Cup, playing in it at only 15 years old! He guided the Land of Fire to their second World Cup trophy that same year and went on to win it one more time. His career ended abruptly though, when he and his wife were found dead after a robbery attempt turned into a homicide, leaving their new born child behind.

"Wow old man, thanks! These are amazing," he glanced down at the boots once more, 'I can't wait to use these tomorrow! Maybe some of the Yellow Flash will rub off on me when I wear them…' Naruto thought. "It was the least I could do for you Naruto. I will see you tomorrow at the academy entrance. Good luck!" he said as he walked out of Naruto's little apartment and closed the door. He walked over to his small kitchen table and put the boots on. "Wow, these fit perfectly…" Naruto just stared at the shoes on his feet; he couldn't let the legacy of the Yellow Flash down.

The next morning Naruto sat up from his bed and yawned, 'Man, I slept great last night…' he thought. That was when he looked at the clock, it read 9:51. "Oh crap, I'm going to be late!" he exclaimed. The first day at the academy began that day at 10am. So Naruto got up quickly, as he hopped up from his bed. He quickly grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed the shin guards off his counter, found his socks underneath his bed and grabbed a ball from the closest and was about to run out the door when he thought he was forgetting something. "Oh yeah! Can't forget these," grabbing the boots the old man gave him the day before. Naruto ran outside his room and closed the door, and with a ball and the boots he ran towards the Academy.

When Naruto arrived he was greeted by the old man, who was seated next to a guy who held a clipboard in his hands. "Ah Naruto, cutting it close as always." he gave a soft smile to Naruto, as the boy chuckled and rubbed the back of his head at the comment. "Naruto Uzumaki…let's see…oh, here is your name," he marked off his name with a pen and said, "Here is your uniform and warm-up clothes, you will find a locker room on your right when you enter, after you are all dressed and ready, and the game is about to begin, you will be given a colored penny (B) so that we can identify which team you will be on. Good luck!" The man smiled and Naruto thanked him as he went inside and into the locker room. Once he was in the locker room, the room was nearly empty, apart from a few people here and there. 'Hm. I guess most people are already out there.' Naruto thought. He found a seat on a bench and undressed, then putting his own clothes in the locker, and putting on his new ones. After he had put on his warm-up uniform like he was supposed to, he closed his locker and was startled by a face behind it, "Well look who decided to show up. If it isn't Naruto Uzumaki…" Naruto regained composure after being startled by the boy, when he looked at him again, he recognized him, "Oh. Hey Kiba," Naruto replied rather uninterested in talking to the dog-lover, "What do you want?" Kiba replied, "Well I just wanted to say good luck to you these next couple days, you may just need it." Kiba give him a playful, but rather rough, push as he chuckled and walked away. 'Fucking dog-breath…' Naruto thought to himself as he put on his new boots and walked out onto the practice field.

When Naruto went through the doorway to the practice field he was amazed at the sight he saw, he had never really gotten to see, let alone play on a field as nice as this one. 'Wow, and this is only the practice field.' The field was nice and trimly cut grass, marked off with a distinct white lining and new goals with big goalposts and new netting. Naruto was admiring the facility still when he heard an older gentleman call out, "Already everyone, gather around so that we can began today's activities." Naruto hadn't really been paying attention to the people that were there at first, but when everyone was called in to gather around he began to notice a lot of familiar faces. Naruto walked over to where the voice of the man came from along with the other students. The voice came from a man who had on black track pants and a gray shirt. He had brown hair that ended in a ponytail and black eyes and had a long scar across the bridge of his nose. "Hello everyone, my name is Iruka Umino and I will be your coach while you are all here at the academy. While I coach you guys I do also play for the Premier League team here in Konoha, the Konoha 11 (C). Anyway, enough about me, we will start off with roll."

"Choji Akimici?" Here.

"Shino Aburame?" Present.

As the names were being called out, Naruto looked around at how many of them there were. There were at least 50 of them, which meant that a little more than half of them would be cut. 'This could be a lot more difficult than I expected.' Naruto thought as he recognized some of the kids from school, some of them were more muscular looking than athletic.

"Neji Hyuuga?"

"Here."

"Kiba Inuzuka?"

"Yo!"

'At least he doesn't have his damn dog with him…' Naruto chuckled inwardly, looking at the Inuzuka.

"Rock Lee?"

"Present and as ready and as youthful as ever sensei"

'Oh god, not this guy again…' Naruto looked on at the strange individual with the insane bowl cut and the infamous eyebrows from which Naruto got his nickname for him, "bushy brow." 'Well, at least he isn't wearing his jumpsuit.' Despite his unusual appearance and annoying tendencies, Rock Lee was actually good, no; he was actually REALLY good. It was just the sport for him, he was nimble, agile, lightning quick, and all around good with his feet. Naruto had only seen him play once, but that one time left a crazy impression on Naruto. His skills were pretty enviable, but his looks on the other hand…

"Shikamaru Nara?"

"Yep."

"Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto looked up at Iruka after hearing his name. Though a little early to get excited, just hearing his name on the official preliminary list for the academy got himself all hyped up.

"Is Naruto Uzumaki here?"

At that point everyone was staring at him which in return made Naruto realize that he needed to speak up.

"Oh! Im here, Iruka-sensei!" He chuckled a little bit and rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed.

"Lastly, Sasuke Uchiha?"

In response to his name being called he just raised his hand slightly and gave a little, "Hn." along with it. 'That damn Sasuke, always attacking smug and cool…' Naruto thought in response to Sasuke's lack of one, giving Sasuke a clear as well only for it to go unnoticed by the Uchiha.

"Well, I believe that is everyone. Alright now we will pass out the pennies and divide you into 2 teams, but since there are so many of you, we unfortunately have to do preliminary cuts for the first time in the academy's history, meaning some of you will be cut today." This prompted some of the kids to whisper amongst one another. Naruto gulped after hearing that, he would have to give it his all right from the start.

"OK, now we will assign everyone to a team, if you are on team one, you will grab a blue penny, if you are on team two, you will grab a green one."

Naruto watched and waited patiently as name after name was called and each player picked up a penny and moved to their side of the field. Choji, Neji, and Shikamaru and Sasuke were on team one, while Shino, Kiba, Rock Lee and Naruto were on team two. "God dammit, we have Naruto," Kiba said angrily as the Uzumaki's name was told to go on team two, "We might as well quit now and save us the struggle." Naruto hastily replied, "Shut the hell up, dog breath!" Kiba and Naruto engaged in an intense stare down and yelling match, "Just make sure you keep away from me and don't make me look bad!" Naruto returned Kiba's tone, "Why don't you just keep your dirty paws away from me, and not make ME look bad? How about that?" The two were on the verge of trying to kill each other when Rock Lee decided to step in, "Guys! Let us not forget that we are meant to be working together, for we are on the same team! There is no point in wasting our precious youth bickering with a fellow teammate." The two looked dumbfounded at what Mr. Bowl cut had just tried to tell them before they looked back at each other and turned away from one another, crossing their arms. Shino just gave a small face-palm and said quietly, "This could be a long first day."

When both teams were all ready and set up, Naruto wasn't even on the field. He was designated to go in to the second rotation along with Shino and the others. Naruto watched with his elbow on his leg and his head in his hand. "Man, I just want to go out there and show what I am made of already!" Naruto said, rather angry at his misfortune. "Everyone will get their time eventually," Shino said creepily over Naruto's shoulder, so close to him that he was almost touching him. "AHH! Damn it, Shino! Why do you always have to be so damn creepy all the time?!" Naruto exclaimed as he was taken aback by the Aburame's unusual way of trying to help him.

The game began with the Green team in position. The first pass was made to Lee, who with his first touch of the ball exclaimed, "Let this match be played fairly and with the power of youth!" and with that Rock Lee stormed ahead with the ball blowing by the first defenders who had approached him. "Whoa, bushy brow is really fast!" Naruto exclaimed from the bench. Unfortunately, Lee didn't make it all the way through the defense, as he was stopped by Shikamaru, who took the ball off of him with a good tackle, and with the ball in his possession; he lazily made his way up the field with the ball rolling slowly at his feet. He was going rather slowly. He wasn't really jogging, but wasn't walking either. A defender tried to step up on him, but before he could, the Nara pushed the ball a little so it was out at his feet and sent the ball airborne over top the enemy defense. On the opposite side of the field was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, who, when he saw Shikamaru take the touch out of his feet, knew immediately what to do. Sasuke took off sprinting for the ball that perfectly pierced the defense and would put Sasuke in a 1 on 1 scenario with the goalkeeper. The ball landed precisely where Shikamaru had intended it and Sasuke took the ball out of the air with the most delicate of touches, leaving Sasuke with nothing else to do but put it into the net, and he did just that. Sasuke walked calmly back to his side after his perfect run and positioning, but nobody neglected the pass that Shikamaru gave him. It was a pass that a professional would rarely ever pull off and this was a 13 year old kid doing it.

"WAY TO GO SASUKE-KUN!" a chorus of girly shouts came from the opposite side of the field. Up atop the field was a stand of bleachers in which parents and other kids watched the match that was taking place. In one corner of the bleachers, was a group of girls who were there to watch and cheer on Sasuke. Amongst them was someone that Naruto recognized. As Naruto looked up at the bleachers, he caught the gaze of the pinkette that was there alongside a blonde girl. Naruto gave her a wave and big-toothed smile; the pinkette gave him a small wave and let out a quiet chuckle that showed her embarrassment of being picked out by him. He took his gaze away from her and directed it to the raven haired Uchiha that was still walking back after his display. Sasuke felt someone was watching him and turned to meet Naruto's gaze. The two stared each other down for a small period of time, faces of irritation were on them as they discontinued their stare down and refocused on the game at hand.

The game progressed with a counterattacking flow, one team would get the ball and get close to goal, then the other would take it off of them and run down the field, and then the other team would take it off of them and do the same thing. For the first few minutes Naruto watched the people he had recognized and tried to see how they were doing. Choji was really holding his own as a goalie; he saved shot after shot that came at him and seemed to take up the entire net. His reflexes needed a bit of work, but it was covered by the sheer amount of space he seemed to cover, his diving and his positioning were awesome and really seemed to contradict his stature. Neji was really living up to his name too. Every time he received the ball with his back towards the goal he was attacking, he was able to turn the ball fast the other way in a sort of rotation (A/N: HA! See what I did there? I'm too clever.). His visual prowess was also outstanding. He could thread an entire defense with one smooth pass. It helped a lot that he was very agile too. All in all, he was a pretty complete midfielder. Then there was Shikamaru, who was like a manager on the field. He told everyone around him where to position themselves and tried to set up accordingly along with them. All of his plans would've worked, but unfortunately, some of his teammates were too foolish to understand and would miss it up. His laziness was only noticeable when he got the ball, but off of it he never seemed to run very fast unless he had to. He is just like his father was, that's for sure. Next was Rock Lee, and well, despite his outrageous "youthful" antics, he was really exceptional. His speed was unmatched and his shots were beyond powerful. The only problem was that he seemed to lose the ball more often then he should, but he made up for it with his inhuman stamina. After Lee, there was the defender Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba played at the center of the defense and seemed to be very aware of his surroundings. His reactions to the play weren't fantastic, but his awareness of the situation going on around him sure was. He was rarely beat, and when he shielded you from the ball, it was near impossible to get around him. Last and certainly least in Naruto's mind was none other than Sasuke, while he seemed to dub everything Sasuke did as "easy" and that "he would do so much better if he was in," he really couldn't deny how good the teme actually was. Sasuke was, without a doubt, the best player on the field. Sasuke simply glided around the field, his movements were unparalleled and his touches were sublime, he played with tactical knowledge like Shikamaru, speed like Lee and prowess like Neji. He was everything you wanted in an attacker and more. Maybe he did have the quality to catch up with Itachi.

"How much longer are we going to wait on this damn bench, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said, rather angry at the fact that the players on the bench, including him, haven't even seen the field yet. Iruka glanced at his watch and wrote some stuff down on the clipboard he was holding, "Well, actually there is about 5 minutes left before it is time to substitute everybody out and put you all in. Why don't you guys go on and get warmed up along the sidelines?" The boys stood up, but Naruto was still a little peeved there was still more time to wait. They went along the sideline and did some stretching; others tried to pass a stray ball they had found around, while others jogged up and down the side and just watched and talked about the game. 'My chance is finally coming.' Naruto thought to himself and he grinned inwardly. Instead of being anxious or nervous, Naruto felt a sense of excitement and a rush of adrenaline at the thought of competing against the others and proving something. 'After this, people aren't going to make fun of me for my abilities, but rather they will be jealous of them! I'll show them.' He was determined now, he looked down at the cleats he had on, those worn by the Yellow Flash himself, he bent down and gave each lace on both of his foot a tight tug making sure they wouldn't come undone, and he felt confident, something he hadn't felt in a long while. A whistle blew and everyone turned their attention to the sidelines, "Alright everyone, it's time to make the substitutions," Iruka exclaimed, "Everyone will be coming off that is on the field now and almost everyone that is off the field now will go in, and if I don't call your name to go in, you will be subbed on in a short while. First, I would like to see Naruto Uzumaki playing forward for his team, then I…" Naruto's concentration on what Iruka was saying ended there. This was his moment, his first real chance to prove himself. It was time to prove to everyone here that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a failure anymore. It was his turn to shine.

– Boots are a more European term for cleats, as they say here in America.

– A penny is also called a bib, or something along those lines. It is one of those mesh things you put on over top your warm-ups for a drill or scrimmage or something.

– That is the name I am thinking of giving the Premier League team that comes from Konoha, and yes, I know that the Konoha 11 is the main characters from Naruto's class, but just roll with it.

A/N: So here is where I would like some opinions from you all! If you have any suggestions for team names for all the different villages, then PLEASE leave them in a review or you can message me or something, because they are kinda hard to come up with :/ Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and are ready to see how Naruto plays during his time to shine! See you all next time!