They were unseated, which served Neji just fine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Prince of Tennis and I am not making any sort of profit by writing and posting this story.

Warning(s): None

They were unseated, which served Neji just fine. It was better if your opponent underestimated you. Though, as Naruto had put it, being unseated meant you made a bigger splash when you blew the seated teams out of the water. Neji disapproved of such a point of view.

Lee found it hilarious.

Neji sat himself out the first round, as team captain. They didn't have a coach yet, unfortunately, but Shikamaru was a damned tactical genius, and Neji was no slouch himself. He'd been worried, for a while, that not having a coach would be detrimental to their newly formed team. Seeing them in action had put a stop to those thoughts, of course. They were perfect. Lee still kept going on and on about the wonder of finding such a strong team right off, when Konoha Middle School hadn't had any sort of tennis program for something close to thirteen years.

Neji had been extremely pleased to find underground/street players right in his own class. He'd had no idea Tenten could play. Though unfortunately for Tenten, they hadn't found enough female players to form a team. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata may be good, but four wasn't the standard number for tennis teams.

Neji himself had been amazed at the unknowns he'd found. Not just good players, serious competitors. Shikamaru with his lazy yet genius style, Chouji with that top spin shot that you just couldn't return, Kiba with his specialty backhand, Shino who returned every ball like there were eyes in the back of his head, Lee with his stupid martial arts shots, Sasuke with his photographic memory, and Naruto with that hit that spun weird and seemed like it was in five places at once.

Neji had decided when he first looked at his team lined up and ready for practice that they were going to enter tournaments this year, and not the next. Who cared if the captain was just an eight grader? Who cared if most everyone else on the team were seventh graders? They were going to kick ass this year – make waves, whatever – and next year they were going to win.

For the first round they played Juuben Middle. Shikamaru asked to play second doubles with Chouji. Neji consented, and placed Kiba and Shino in first doubles. Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee played singles in that order: third, second, and first.

It was a relatively easy match in Neji's opinion. They won most of them six to love, and no one had to use any specialty shots. He was pleased to hear that rumors of them were spreading. The next game they played had many more spectators. This they won with six-love across the board. Neji figured that might be because he sat Naruto out.

Their third was much more difficult. Oto Middle was also unseated, but they were damn strong. Neji figured that their underestimation of the team cost them a lot when it came down to it. Shikamaru and Chouji played doubles again, and they went up against Kinuta Dosu and Abumi Zaku. That was a hard match. Shikamaru actually had to move and Chouji used his Meat Tank shot just about every third hit. It didn't help that Dosu was a powerhouse and Zaku was a speed demon, and they both had this shot that sort of whistled through the air and hurt your ears.

Shikamaru and Chouji lost the set 6-3. When they sat down, Chouji was holding his arm like it pained him and Shikamaru was panting. Neji didn't swear, because he was Captain and couldn't show emotion, but he did feel like it. He stepped up next, playing first doubles with Lee, and hoped like hell that Naruto, Shino, and Kiba could pull off singles.

They played a pair of brothers, twins probably, named Sakon and Ukon. Neji counts that match as one of his top five hardest to win. But win it they did, barely, at 7-5. He had to use his insight the entire match, working his brain into overdrive analyzing the opponents' body language and facial expressions, and then he had to strain muscles so that every shot was absolutely perfect and exactly where it needed to be. Lee used so many of his various martial arts shots that Neji had lost count, and that was saying something.

There was, however, an upside to this. Neji almost kicked himself even thinking that, wanting to kill Lee for infecting him with optimism, but through the course of the match, he and Lee had finally established the trust they had been lacking. Lee had trusted his coded directions, and Neji had trusted Lee to get what he couldn't, to be the strength and speed to his skill and precision. Lee had felt it too. He wouldn't, unfortunately, stop proclaiming the beauty of it. When he glanced at Tenten trough the fence, she was smiling.

Sasuke was actually visibly upset that he was sitting. He kept doing that thing with the tennis ball in his left hand; something Neji had been having trouble categorizing, unsure weather it was a nervous habit or some sort of exercise. But Naruto was up next, and Sasuke turned his focus back to the match.

Naruto lost, and badly. Shino after him won, and Kiba lost the last set. The Konoha Tennis Team went home after loosing their match against Oto. They trained hard for several weeks, entered the next tournament, and lost at the onset to Kaze Middle.

Lee had to spend a week in the hospital.

Neji decided they needed a coach, and fast. Vice Principle Tsunade stepped up, (Neji didn't even bother feeling surprised – by that time he'd pretty much accepted that weird things were going to happen where Konoha Middle and tennis were concerned) and then promptly recruited some old students of hers to help out. She split them up into pairs and assigned them an assistant coach to train under. Unfortunately for Neji, he found himself stuck with Lee's dad. Neji suddenly understood where his friend got his, ah, enthusiasm. Gai-sensei was a trip.

The next tournament they entered was a major one. It had both Oto and Kaze on the roster, as well as Seigaku in (of course) the number one seat. They played Oto first. Sasuke looked about to punch Tsunade when he was put on doubles with Shikamaru against Dosu and Zaku. Sasuke hated doubles with a passion.

Shika and Sasuke murdered their Oto opponents with a six to love score. Kiba and Shino lost to Sakon and Ukon 6-3, but Chouji beat Jirobo 6-4. Naruto faced Kimimaro, the team Captain, and Neji heard Tsunade cursing about Captains in second seat when they should be in first. Shikamaru figures they did it to garentee a win, which they succeeded at, considering Naruto lost 7-5. They were all proud with how well he did anyway, fighting until the very last, and Tsunade could be seen giving him praise.

Neji himself faced Kidoumaru and won 6-love. They move on to the next match with high spirits and deep worries, because their next opponent was Kaze Middle, and they fell to them badly last time.

Neji overheared Tenten telling Lee that Tsunade received several requests from the team to play Gaara in honor of him, including Neji. Neji wondered if it was for honor or revenge with the other, because it's the latter for him. He figured it's probably honor for Naruto and Chouji, but Kiba and Sasuke were both in it for revenge like he was, Neji's sure.

In the end, it's Sasuke Tsunade picked to face Gaara. Naruto couldn't seem to decide whether he was angry he didn't get it or worried because his best friend did. Naruto settled on a little of both and expressed his worry by shouting angrily at Sasuke about Lee's broken wrist and arm. It's a heart-pounding, dangerous set, and Sasuke stayed ahead by using his speed and that memory of his to copy Gaara's shots, and won using some sort of ace left-handed serve he apparently learned from Kakashi. Neji almost couldn't believe they'd done it.

They made it to the finals. There's a semi-finals match playing, but Coach Tsunade demanded they all get some rest. Neji ignored her, of course, and went to watch Seigaku play Kio. Sasuke was already there, and Shikamaru gets dragged over by Ino five minutes later with a lecture about the duties of a Vice Captain. The three of them watch, and memorize, and calculate.

There was a half an hour break between the end of the Seigaku match and the start of the finals. Neji gathered the team together and goes over what they know. Shino wasn't there, and he didn't show up until after the team meet was over. Apparently, he'd been spying on Seigaku.

Neji was disturbed by what he's told, and wondered if this Sadaharu Inui character has an IQ higher than Shikamaru's. He had to warn Sasuke that the enemy was anticipating his Chidori serve even though he'd only used it once in the entire tournament, Shikamaru that they knew he forced his opponent to hit the ball so it was returned right to him, Chouji that his Meat Tank hit was going to be useless, Kiba that his opponents plan to never give him the opportunity to hit the ball backhanded, and Naruto that Seigaku wasn't fooled in the least into thinking he was a weak player.

He was happy to know that, thankfully, Naruto had yet to use his multi-hit and that Sasuke had been working on a variation of the Chidori with Kakashi. He hoped Shikamaru had enough time to adjust his game with Chouji to throw his opponents off, and he knew that Shino would create an opportunity for Kiba to use his backhand. For himself though, well, they'd see.

Neji wonders if it's destiny.

He's in ninth grade and Captain of Konoha Middle School's boys tennis team, though he's not sure that he's entitled to that spot when Naruto beat him in the placement tournament. He pulled his team through their first year as rookies to organized tennis, and led them through their second year to the Nationals Qualifying Tournament. He picked up the pieces when Naruto blew up over Sasuke playing for Orochimaru, Oto's Coach, in underground matches. He stood at Lee's side through every step of his rehabilitation, and watched in utter amazement as he regained his ability to play tennis.

Neji wonders if it's destiny that he became Captain to this team. Then he wonders if maybe it's not destiny. Nothing is inevitable, Naruto taught him that. But still, here they were – facing Seigaku again. Full circle. Destiny.

But destiny can be flexible, Neji knows now. Full circle doesn't necessarily mean that they'll lose again. It's been over a year, and his team has come a very long way. Shikamaru has learned to put his genius to use with more than manipulation, Chouji can hit his Meat Tank backhanded and overhead now as well, Kiba's speed has doubled and he can play a match without breaking a sweat, Shino sabotages his opponents better even than Shikamaru, Lee's hits are somehow ten times stronger, Sasuke can use Chidori as a hit as well as a serve when he uses two sword style, and Naruto pulled a forehand curveball called Rasengan seemingly out of thin air.

And it doesn't matter that Seigaku has a new player everyone is whispering about, the seventh grader professional's son that beat out Sadaharu Inui in their placements and who Shikamaru said reminds him of Sasuke. It doesn't matter that there are rumors of Seigaku's Captain being injured, or that Tsunade plans to have he and Lee play doubles and Naruto in the top three with Sasuke and Shikamaru, breaking up the Chouji-Shika duo that has worked so well. None of that matters for one very simple reason.

This time around, Neji knows, they'll win.