Title: Hot Shot!

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Characters and Lan qiu huo are not mine.

AN: Thank you all so much for the wonderfully encouraging reviews C: It's because of them I actually came home early from a Christmas party to write this XD Yes I know I need a life, don't have to tell me. Hope you like this chapter~

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE3

~o0o~

Chapter 3

And so we meet

"Ouch!" Uzumaki Naruto was rudely woken when his lolling head hit hard against the bus's window when its wheels caught in a pot hole in the road. He massaged the place where head met glass, hoping to ease the bump he could already feel forming. He stuck his ear piece which had fallen out in his sleep back into his ears and continued listening. He looked out the window at the scenery. They were becoming denser with high rise buildings and less from large trees. 'I'm reaching urban Konoha soon.' The thought made him feel mixed emotions.

On one hand, he felt excited because he hardly travelled out from his small and cosy village that this felt like some sort of adventure to him. Plus he was travelling by himself so that gave a thrilling edge that one feels when they were independent. On the other hand though, he was sad because he was leaving his home, alone. It wouldn't have been this way if his mother was still around. But life goes on and it was better to move forwards than backwards or not moving at all.

During the journey he thought back to the letter he had kept back home. He contemplated the guy he was supposed to meet and live with from now on and then how he would feel now that he was allowed to play basketball. It was all really overwhelming. Things just went by so fast he had trouble adapting to it all. He opened the windows to feel a little less suffocative and hoped he won't start hyperventilating.

'Since both mom and dad were really good at basketball, will I be just as good?' just as he thought that, he pulled out the old basketball that used to belong to his mother. He looked at it, felt along its seams, and lightly bounced it around using his fingertips. It felt really foreign. 'Oh well. I guess it's just a matter of practice. Don't worry mom. I won't let you down. I'll become the best basketball player ever.'

Then the bus jerked violently to a stop and the ball fell out the open window. He stared for about three seconds in pure shock and horror before unhesitatingly jumping out the window and off the bus to give chase to the rapidly bouncing ball. It bounced from one hood of a car to another, shocking the drivers into stopping. That was good for the blond because then he wouldn't have to worry about getting rolled over. He followed the path of the basketball, jumping over hoods and boots of cars as he went.

He had almost caught the ball when he was met with a motorcycle that had weaved its way in between cars to move. The bike rider, upon seeing the blond, cursed colourfully and jerked to a stop. Naruto had been running at full speed to catch the ball he refused to lose because it belonged to his mother. Due to that he was unable to stop unless he wanted a literal head on collision with the bike which would undoubtedly crack his head open. So he did the next best thing, he jumped over the bike and its rider. He used the front of the bike as a spring board and soared over many of the immobile cars and the motorbike, stretching his arms outwards to catch the ball before it landed and bounced away again.

He caught it deftly between his fingers and landed heavily on the boot of an expensive BMW. The boot dented from his weight and force. Naruto stood unmoving, letting the initial adrenaline wash away from his body. All the drivers in the vicinity stared stunned at him.

When he finally did move, he slipped and fell face forwards into the windscreen of the BMW. He met face to face, with glass in between, with a scowling raven haired, pale skinned boy he figured was about his age. He smiled sheepishly and turned to the driver who looked like an older version of the previous boy. With a smile he bowed his head in apology, thinking they couldn't hear him through the glass. Then he slowly and carefully slid from the hood and onto the gravelled road.

As he passed by other drivers he nodded an apology and bowed as well. He hadn't wanted to cause such a traffic jam but then he couldn't let his mother's prized possession get lost in such an unlikely way. He really felt guilty though. He made his way quietly back to the bus with heated gazes from all the drivers he had undoubtedly but unintentionally offended tickling the back of his neck.

'Ok. I'm not putting this ball near open windows again.' He got an earful when he finally reached the bus from the driver and many of the passengers. He got awe-filled praises from little children who saw him run too, said he was like superman or something. The bus continued its journey smoothly again after some difficulty moving due to the heavy congestion.

~o0o~

Hyuuga Neji had been on his way to meet his friend, driving leisurely on his motorbike when suddenly he was faced with a rapidly bouncing ball and a mad blond running full speed in the middle of the highway. On instinct he had jam-braked his bike to stop from running the blond teen over with his bike when the awkwardly bouncing basketball had bounced passed him. He noticed the ball did not bounce like a normal basketball. This ball bounced erratically so it was difficult to predict the ball's pathway. He should know. He played basketball on a regular basis and trained really hard to surpass his rival. He had expected the teen to do the same. He was wrong.

The unpredictable teen had continued running straight towards him, even using the front of his bike as a sort of trampoline to give him an extra boost to allow him to jump higher in the direction the ball had bounced. He looked up, trying his best to keep the interesting teen in his sights. He watched, transfixed as the teen finally caught the ball in the air and landed rather heavily on the BMW directly behind him. He saw the hood dent form his weight.

'What an interesting kid. He has good reflexes.'

Without waiting to see what became of the teen, he sped off, determined to find his friend and bring him to a nearby basketball court to train together. The kid just ignited his passion for basketball and his obsession to beat his rival.

~o0o~

"What the fuck?" Uchiha Sasuke had trouble minding his language in front of his older brother after having their car damaged and their time wasted due to unmoving cars.

Itachi let that comment go for now. He was having trouble believing the situation himself as well. They were driving peacefully and smoothly to Konoha junior college when they had to stop due to a traffic jam. Sasuke had started tapping his fingers on his lap due to annoyance and impatience from waiting so long for the cars to bloody move. Then they saw a silhouette in the sky, trying to catch what they thought was a ball. It soared up and up to catch it and then down and down onto the front of their car, heavily denting the hood. Sasuke had scowled in irritation and indignation while Itachi had just looked like getting his hood dented by a mad, jumping idiot was an everyday thing.

They simply stared, one emotionlessly whilst the other scowling, at the blond haired, blue eyed boy when he apologised and went away. Soon traffic was moving again and they said nothing else about the situation, choosing to ignore such a weird occurrence.

How lucky that they would be reminded again of it later when they reach their destination.

~o0o~

Night had fallen over urban Konoha by the time Naruto arrived. He had apologised again to the driver when he got off for the earlier occurrence and then went on his way to find "Mimosa parkway condominium" which was the place he would find the guy named Kakashi and his housemate. That's right he would be living in luxury from now on.

He had gotten the man's address from one of his mother's address books. Since they seemed to trust this Kakashi fellow to look after him, he figured they must be pretty close. Sure enough, he found the man's name in the 'H' section. It was the first one with a star for favourite. Naruto didn't know what to make of him since they hadn't met before and the name doesn't ring any bells. He decided the guy must be nice and respectful if his mother bothered to put a star next to his name.

He was about to be proven terribly wrong.

"Whoa..." after explaining to the security guard that he was looking for a man who lives here in unit 3-33 block 3, Naruto turned speechless after seeing the condo. It was high and modern looking, with glass and metal covering almost every inch of the buildings. Lights were placed along the lift's panels, illuminating them. The lifts weren't hidden like many other condos or high rise flats. It was built in such a way it was on the outside for the people inside them to see the scenery as they went up. All the blocks were connected by a sky bridge that was a long way up the building. Naruto tried counting the number of floors each building had. He stopped counting after thirty because he couldn't see the floors that were further up from where he was standing. He walked into building three, which was facing the huge pool, to take the lift that would bring him to the level Kakashi lives at. Kakashi apparently had a real money tree with actual money growing out of it if he could afford to live like a king.

As the lift went up, he looked down at the pool and the neighbouring blocks. He looked to the right and saw the highway. He looked to the left and saw nothing. However as he went up, the view that was obscured by the other towering blocks gave way to the entire view of urban Konoha. Streetlamps illuminated the roads, high rise buildings showed off their colourful lightings to attract people, trees and greenery filled in the spaces between each property and in the far horizon, Naruto saw the sea. It wasn't perfect but it made Naruto feel like he was floating. 'Oh my God I'm actually going to live here now.'

The lift came to a stop at level 33. He came out and saw that the sky bridge was on this level to his left. To his right the long corridor would take him to the individual units. Kakashi stayed in unit three. He walked to the third door and knocked on it. He waited. He waited some more. He tried to knock again but before he could, the door opened and a man with silver, gravity defying hair stood there half dressed with a forced smile on his face. His right eye was smoky grey while the other was hidden behind an eye patch. Naruto was stunned. His first thought was this guy was weird.

"If you aren't going to say anything, I would like to punch you for disturbing my alone time," he said all that with the force smile still on his face. He was definitely weird.

"Err hi. My name's Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina's son. I'm looking for Mister Hatake Kakashi. Is he around?" Naruto didn't know if he was talking to the man or the housemate so he didn't want to assume.

"Minato and Kushina?" the man asked with a confused frown. Naruto simply nodded.

"Are you Mister Hatake Kakashi?" he asked hopefully.

The other man nodded and then asked, "So you said you're Minato's and Kushina's son. How can you prove that?"

Naruto scrunched his eyebrows at the weird question but decided on a way to answer it. A light bulb went off in his head and he pulled out the basketball in his bag. He showed it to the older man the name that was printed on it. Uzumaki Kushina, it read.

"This is my mom's basketball. See her name's printed on it," he pointed to the words with a smile on his face. The other man looked at it and recognised the same basketball the red head would always have with her when she was still actively playing. He took it and scrutinised it.

While the older man was busy inspecting the ball, Naruto had invited himself in. He entered an entryway where he took off his shoes and placed them in the shoe rack along with the others. He walked through a short walkway, turn right and down the short flight of five stairs and came into the large living room. It was filled with glass, leather and metallic furniture. The flat screen television was placed against the opposite wall from the stairs. The black leather couches were placed surrounding it with a glass coffee table with silver metallic legs in the middle. The wall on Naruto's right had a large display cabinet that occupied the whole width of it and within it held various glass figurines and other expensive looking ornaments. He walked away from it, scared he might have the urge to take one for a better look and then accidentally drop it. He walked further into the house.

The living room was connected to a balcony. When the blond slid open the glass sliding door to get onto it, he was met with a view of the whole of the condo area plus the pool below. He walked back in, walking all the way straight towards a dining room that was half the size of the living room. The dining room was on a raised platform so he had to take the flight of five stairs up to stand in it. Again the room was filled with metallic and glass furniture. The dining table itself was like the coffee table; glass table top with silver metal legs. The chairs had silver metal frames with black leather seats. There was a cabinet which held various kinds of plates and bowls on his left. He guessed that was where they stored their utensils too.

Then he was met with a cross road. If he went straight, he would enter another walkway that would take him to maybe the kitchen and washroom. If he turned right, he would find two doors that would undoubtedly lead him to the bedrooms.

He was unable to decide because a creak of a door opening had him spinning on his heels to face the direction the sound came from. He witnessed a door he didn't see that was hidden in the shadows of an alcove connected to the living room that he had missed. Another man came out of it half dressed as well. This man had brown hair that was tied in a high ponytail at the back of his head. He also had a long scar across his nose. His warm chocolate brown eyes made him look approachable hence the reason why Naruto didn't start spewing nonsense of why he was touring the house on his own without permission first. The warm eyes turn to look at him.

"Who are you?"

"His name's Naruto. He's Minato's and Kushina's son," a voice from the walkway that led to the front door made Naruto jump. He had totally forgotten about Kakashi.

He went on to the introductions, "Naruto this is Iruka. He's my housemate." Naruto grinned and waved in greeting. The man known as Iruka smiled and waved back.

"Naruto why aren't you home with your mom?" Kakashi immediately felt bad for asking that question so bluntly because Naruto's face shadowed in sadness.

"...Mom died yesterday...In her letter she told me to find you. Said you will take care of me from now on," Naruto looked up with teary eyes. He suppressed the urge to start crying again. He was sick of crying all the time. He didn't want his guardian-to-be to think of him as a cry baby either.

Kakashi's face was one of pure shock. His one visible eye was wide.

"She passed away..." he said to himself and then he nodded resignedly before tossing the ball back to Naruto to hold. He walked towards the blond then turned to the right where the two doors were. He walked to the left one and opened it.

"This will be your room," Naruto walked towards it and looked inside.

His bedroom was fairly large, about the same size as the dining room. There was another door on the same wall the main door of the room was that probably led to the bathroom. On the wall opposite him, a large floor to ceiling window that showed the view of the whole of urban Konoha with the sea in the horizon. If he were to look out the window and look to his right, he would see the sky bridge. It was now alight in various coloured lights. His room contained an inbuilt cupboard that filled the whole of the wall on his left. The wall on his right stood a desk and a shelf. The desk was very much like the coffee table and dining table. The desk top was made of glass with silver metal legs. Its drawers were thankfully not glass or metal but acrylic made to look like glass. It was currently empty except for a desk lamp. He placed his bag on it before turning to examine the shelf. It was black and wooden with five levels. He figured he could put his school books in it when he bought them.

Kakashi stood by the door looking at his new charge. He was undoubtedly their son. He looked exactly like his father. He had the same big grin. His curiosity and many other mannerisms were his mother's. He became nostalgic as he remembered his time spent with them. Over the years he visited them less and less and eventually stopped altogether because he lacked time and he was always with Iruka. That was the reason the blond didn't remember him or he didn't recognise the blond immediately because the last time he actually saw him was when he was about three years old. Now he regretted not seeing them as much as he used to because he won't get the chance anymore. Kushina has passed away and her son was staying with him now. It was sad really that tragic things kept happening to them. First Minato, then Kushina and Naruto might be next.

Putting aside the foreboding feeling in him, he asked the blond, "How old are you Naruto?" the blond looked at him before replying rather proudly that he was seventeen. The silver haired man nodded, his gravity defying hair bounced from the action.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" he asked all smiles. At least the blond thought he was smiling because his eyes were an upside down "u". He couldn't really tell because he was sputtering so much in embarrassment. The older man simply laughed.

"Ok then boyfriend?" Naruto's face was the colour of a tomato by then. He was still sputtering incoherently. Kakashi laughed even more before his housemate came over and whacked him on the head.

"Don't tease him so much Kakashi. He just had a long journey," Iruka knew about the blond and his family and where they lived from the older man but haven't actually met them. He saddened at the thought that he can't see them anymore except in pictures. But it just wasn't the same.

"Oh I was just wondering if I should prepare for anything unexpected again," the man gave what Naruto suspected was a cheeky smile. The brunette simply shook his head muttering that the blond was more than likely to stumble upon something he was better off not seeing. He turned to the young blond with a smile.

"Are you hungry? I can cook some late dinner for you." The blond's stomach growled at the mention of food and he blushed when the adults laugh. He had been travelling for most of the day and hadn't stopped anywhere to eat anything.

The adults led him to the kitchen where Iruka made him a welcome feast. Naruto liked this place already.

~o0o~

Sasuke was silently fuming in his room that night after filling his stomach with food. Their plan of meeting the principal was dashed when they were an hour late for the end of school. By the time they reached the school, the principal had already returned home. So the Uchiha brothers had decided to eat out before returning home and setting out early tomorrow morning to KJC again. What a waste of precious time.

"It's all that idiot blond's fault. If he hadn't stopped traffic we would have at least made it on time," Sasuke knew the blond was just a small part to blame. They lived in the far southern end of urban Konoha while the school was in the far north. It would take a long time to get to school every day even by car because urban Konoha was a really busy city. He was not looking forward to staying in the dorms in school. However his older brother did mention that if the dorms were not to his liking, he could buy his own apartment near school. It's not like they don't have the money. They do, billions in fact.

"I'll just give it a shot."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity little brother," Sasuke jumped minutely on his bed when he heard his brother's voice from his now open doorway.

"Don't you ever knock? I told you to knock before you come in," Sasuke scowled at his brother. He was really annoying sometimes.

"And miss you going insane? Never," scratch that. He was annoying all the time.

Sasuke was about to throw his pillow at his brother's face but Itachi was already slamming the door shut and running to his own room. 'And he's the older brother. How childish.' Sasuke knew he wouldn't have his brother any other way.

His brother had always stuck by him through anything. He was grateful for it. Without him, he might have actually gone crazy. When his great grandfather kept forcing basketball on him, Itachi was the one who actually made training fun. He always kept throwing balls in his way to distract him or make weird noises by the sidelines that grated on his nerves whenever he was about to shoot. It was done without great grandfather knowing of course. Being young and energetic, Sasuke would give chase to his brother before actually getting caught by strong hands and whirled into the air. His brother would then train with him even if he hated perspiring. He could admit to himself that he loved his older brother. He wondered where he got his personality from anyway.

His father was always away for business and was really stern. His face was always set in a frown. The number of wrinkles on his forehead increased every day. Not that Sasuke actually bothered to count. He rarely comes home for him to keep track anyway. Sasuke remembered when he was younger that his father would pay more attention to him because great grandfather said he was special. He could see pride in his eyes whenever he gazed into them. Now it was just disappointment. Sasuke thought it might have something to do with his rebellious attitude. He didn't care though.

His mother was the silent type. She was always at home but she never shows herself. She was always in her room and never leaves it. She would always ask one of their many butlers or maids to fetch anything she required. Sasuke remembered a time when she was all smiles and energetic. Maybe her husband's many business meetings overseas had finally weighed her down with loneliness until she finally gave up. She never talked to him anymore. He hated to admit that he missed her. Her cooking was always a treat. It was way better than the food the maids or butlers cooked hands down.

Then there was great grandfather. He had always been obsessed with basketball and finding the perfect player for as long as Sasuke could remember. So when Sasuke came along, he didn't hesitate to make his obsession a reality. Great grandfather saw his talent for the sport and made him train and perfect his techniques and skills to achieve his goal. He had even confessed to the raven during their last training together that he would one day be part of the perfect basketball team. Sasuke always knew his great grandfather was crazy. He was ruthless too. Sasuke still had nightmares from his great grandfather's hellish training. It was a relief that he was not here at the moment. He won't be for quite some time. Before he left, he had announced that he would be searching for the perfect players to form his perfect team. Maybe he won't be coming back at all because no one is perfect. Sasuke wouldn't mind.

All in all Sasuke thought his family was fucked up. He didn't care though. He never felt any strong family ties with them from the beginning anyway except his brother. Deciding to forget it, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him. Tomorrow would be another fucked up day. He could feel it.

~o0o~

AN: So~ how do you like it so far? Tell me, tell me! *Hint hint* hahahah C: