Welcome readers,

In the next chapter I will start the game against The chameleons, so right now it's just recruiting Raimon, So Without further ado…here you go.

Chapter 6: Wear your numbers with Pride

Naruto sat by the sidelines with Sena watching the deimon baseball team's game. The sound players of the cheering crowd and the crack of the bat really seemed to mask that this was actually a scrimmage match between the current players and the rookies who were hoping to join the team or bump up a rank on the bench so they had a chance of playing. Naruto just stared at the field blankly uninterested, as he was never much of a bystander. "So what are we doing here again?"

Through the various shouts of the players on the field Sena was distracted until Naruot shook his shoulder. "Sena! What are we doing here?" Naruto asked with a little more authority.

"Were here to recruit him…" Sena said as he pointed down to the field, at the monkey ike boy who was blazing across the field to catch the ball and managed to do so with his finger tips, allowing the ball to roll into his palm.

"I though he said no…" Naruto wondered aloud, not really asking a question but leaving it open to further explination.

"I thought we could convince him to try and be a two sport athlete" Sena said "It makes you more appealing to Colleges if you can manage to play more than one sport" When Sena finished a ball darted right over his shoulder and had pierced the fence. A quick look to the field and seeing monkey boy waving in apology made it quite clear who threw the ball.

In a fit of panic Sena grabbed a helmet and placed it on his head before handing one to Naruto who graciously accepted, not being one to rudely turn down a gift given in concern. As they placed their helmets on they overheard the coaches talking about monkey boy, whose name was apparently Raimon. "Raimon's a great catcher, if he's going to be a defensive player…." One of the coaches mumbled.

"No, his shoulder strength and ball control just sucks" The head coach said dismissively "Baseball needs well rounded players, not specialization".

The coaches then started talking about the rookies and asked all first years to raise their hands. Naturally Sena and Naruto raised their hands out of reflex; not realizing his was addressing only baseball players. They then called for all players who've played to lower their hands, Sena was quick enough to dodge the bullet but Naruto wasn't so lucky. "You there get to the plate…and what's with your shirt?" the coach asked.

"I just came here to watch…" Naruto sighed exasperatingly as ignored the following scolding and grabbed the bat and shirt, leaving the uniform unbuttoned as he walked up to the plate and held the bat in a reverse grip.

Murmurs echoed throughout the players as they questioned the rookie who didn't even know how to hold the bat. Te coach angrily began to march towards Naruto before he shouted at the pitcher to throw the damn ball. Confused the entire field stopped as the ball sailed across the sky and hit the bat with a large crack, sending it flying into town to hit some poor old lady who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Meanwhile Naruto was running past the bases with ease astonishing those who were still looking at the sky the ball had fled off too. " I know that guy…." One of the players said "That's Naruto Uzumaki #99…he plays for the American football team as a linebacker".

"Such power…if he joined the baseball team we could be unstoppable" Another player said as they all ran to greet him at home, including the coach.

While Naruto was being hounded with questions Sena was talking to Raimon who had noticed Sena as he was putting away the helmet so he could sneak away during Naruto's hit. Raimon was a bit dejected when he saw Naruto's hitting power, claiming that people valued hitting or speed over receiving, Which irked him cause it was his chosen speciality.

"So you want me t join the American football club?" Raimon asked as Sena smiled hopefully "Sorry no, I'd be uncool if I did that…not that I like to make fun of people's passions, it's just this is my thing and I bet my life on the glove, SO I got to become a hero through receiving and catching".

Sena looked dejected but still had a glimmer of hope "So you won't even try for a two sport?" Sena asked hopefully.

Raimon just laughed "I would never be able to pull it off" Raimon kept on walking to the club room while Sena broke off to go to the Football club room.

Later that day Raimon was polishing his prized catcher's glove as he watched the local sports channel. Hoever he had tuned in too late and only caught the last few minutes of the baseball game. However, the next game was the American football match between Oujou and Deimon. Having a little pride in his school Raimon decided to watch the game just for fun. "Sakuraba's position is the wide receiver, his job is to catch the balls that are thrown towards him" The tv stated, making Raimon jump up and grip the TV while he shouted "WHAT".

As the broadcast went on Raimon got more and more exicted, eventually imagining himself in Sakuraba's place. His imagination got the better of him and he started to jump in glee, dropping his glove before picking it back up to polish as if he was reinforcing the idea of baseball. Of course his interest spiked again when he saw Eyeshield 21's spot light appear on the screen, but the interview quickly changed his mind about the running back when he heard the whole killer tackle deal. The next part was interesting though, Naruto's spotlight. "Deimon's newest player is Naruto Uzumaki who plays Linebacker under the number 99, already he had proven himself to be a power to be reckoned with, on par with Oujou's ace Sakuraba, some say even surpassing, when we interviewed him he seemed much more light hearted then Eyeshield".

Naruto stood by the street corner confused as he was assaulted by questions from the reporter who had cornered him during his walk. ", why do you play America n football?"

"Well it's fun and it's the only thing that excites me anymore, I love it when I step onto the field" Naruto answered as he waved his hand asking them to speed this up.

"How do you explain some of your moves and actions while you were playing?" The reporter asked before she shoved the microphone back in Naruto's face.

Naruto just scratched the back of his head sheepishly "Well it's hard to explain but I'm a different person on the field, it's like I'm more animal then man".

"Okay , now just a few more questions"

Naruto and Sena stood at their lockers getting ready as they listened to the murmurs of the school talking about the mysterious Eyeshield 21 and the Ferocious and dense Line backer Naruto Uzumaki. While Naruto seemed to reveal in the positive and negative publicity, being one who always sought attention made him slightly impartial to how his name was talked about, Sena was downtrodden at being seen as a bassass and a jerk, or an evil hero as someone put it. However those thoughts were put aside When Raimon arrived. "Hey guys I saw your team on the TV, your interview on the TV was awesome, I even watched the full thing on the web" He said excitedly.

"Oh you did?" Naruto asked sheepishly, knowing that some of the questions asked were a little off.

"Yeah so what's going on between you and Mamori?" He asked with his ears open in a sense hoping he would say nothing.

"Well, I was living off the streets before I meet her, and she got me in here as a student and to showed me to the showers to get cleaned up and got Hiruma to allow me to crash in the club house while I sort out the mess with my folks" Naruto drawled on.

"Wait, what do you mean showed you to the showers..?" Sena asked in a suspicious tone.

"She walked me into the shower room by my hand, since I kept trying to get away" Naruto explained like these kinds of things happened often.

This comment stirred up ramblings from the crowd around them making them forget about Eyeshield. A group of girls in the corner were whispering just loud enough for the three boys at the lockers to hear. "Wow, Mamori is apparently really forceful in her sexual relationships" They murmured.

Naruto, Sena, and Raimon blushed from just hearing about that, mostly since they were all imagining Mamori dragging them off to the showers in an erotic fashion. Naruto managed to break the silence when he commented on his fantasy "I'm pretty sure Mamori wouldn't walk into a shower dressed like that" almost as if he was criticizing himself. "So Raimon, Naruto said somehow snapping out of the fantasy just as quick as he went in "What do you think of Eyeshield 21?"

"He's a dick" Raimon said plain in simple making Sena fall to the floor.

"Come on Naruto!" Sena said excitedly "we have to see the results!"

"I don't get why you're so excited " Naruto said in a bored and tone, hands in his pocket as he kept pace with Sena with little effort.

"Because he's my friend, don't friends want each other to succeed?" Sena asked curiously.

"You've never had a friend before have you Sena?" Naruto wondered.

"Not really, the closest I've ever had was Mamori and my old friend Riku, but he moved away and Mamori is more like a sister…other than that it's only been people who've used me as a gopher" Sena admitted.

Naruto just remained silent at that, not daring to comment for fear of insulting Sena.

As Sena looked through the list he realized something very important to his quest. In the few days that Sena had come to know the baseball player he had never caught his name. Naruto didn't know either, but knowing him it was probably because a lack of interest. As Sena tried to recall any instant that the players name was mentioned both the coaches walked out of the club room. Sena asked about the player by describing him while Naruto walked off, only to receive the shocking news that Raimon Tarou, the base ball player with amazing catching skills had not even made second string. Before leaving the coach had a few harsh words about the player and the 3rd rank players themselves. In a haze A Sena left to find Hiruma and hopefully get some answers about the players they need.

Naruto had grown bored of waiting around for Sena to find Raimon's name on the list. As soon as Sena had to ask for a name Naruto left, not even bothering to tell Sena that he actually knew the kids name (Mostly because he considered it rude to not know that name of someone you talk to regularly). Being a little bored Naruto decided to take the scenic route around the campus before heading off to the football club. As he approached the game fields Naruto spotted the baseball player Raimon, sulking.

"What's with you?" Naruto asked as he passed by the sulking boy.

"My dreams are crushed…" he said simply feeling to down to explain any further.

Naruto just stood there staring forward as he pulled a piece of advice from his head that he had heard long ago. "Sometimes we gain dreams to learn something, like a skill or a piece of old knowledge and no matter how good you are you will fail, because you were meant to, because in the end the skill we obtained and improved will guide you to a better future then that dream could attain" Naruto explained as he looked down at the boy who was now confused and no longer sulking. "You learned to catch to fulfill your dream of becoming a baseball legend, and failed, leaving you with only those hands that nothing can escape the question is now, how will that lead you too your tomorrow?" Naruto walked off wordlessly, hoping that his words stirred something up in him.

Raimon only looked at the ground solemnly as he contemplated the words that Naruto had said. It wasn't long before this was interrupted by a mad dog biting his pants while dragging along a screaming Sena.

Hiruma and Kurita had decided to go on a little recruiting drive in traditional devil bats fashion. They would haze the students by throwing footballs at them. Those that could catch them were given pamphlets and those that didn't were ignored. Hiruma surveyed the area for any tall first year students and was disappointed at first, until he saw one walk out of the building. A single ball was launched from Hiruma's fingers like a rocket, and collided with the poor sap's face like a wrecking ball. As the duo carried on Kurita apologized for Hiruma's actions.

Hiruma then spotted three more targets, and they were without a doubt the three tallest first year students. With his typical devilish grin Hiruma launched a trio of footballs with lighting speed and accuracy. The three very tall students missed on all accounts, but one managed to dive and recover the ball. His first reaction was to start yelling at Hiruma but he was stopped when a pile of papers was dropped on his head. Hiruma and Kurita went along their way, and after a while Hiruma started to get frustrated. "Gah…it's pointless, none of these first years are good enough" Hiruma fumed.

"you toss the ball over so sudeenly, of course no one's going to catch it" Kurita explained, asserting his role as the moral compass between the two.

"It's to test them, to see if any of them can just turn around and catch the ball single handedly" Hiruma explained as they passed by the lockers.

"Hey look it's Sena" Kurita said, drawing Hiruma's attention, especially to who he was talking with.

"Is that who Sena was talking about, this fucking monkey?" Hiruma wondered as he grabbed a ball from the basket and tossed it with as much power as he could.

There was so much power behind the moving ball that even though Raimon caught it his hand was sent back to his face. Hiruma grinned evilly as he tied the kid up and threw him into the basket.

As all of this was happening Naruto was passing by as well, grabbing his training gear so he could move on to his workout for the next few hours. Naruto just stared and wondered how he got involved with these people in the first place. He slapped himself when he remembered it was so he could sleep without being eaten savagely by Mamori.

Deciding to ignore the entire situation in exchange for some trainging Naruto Went to the weight room, and remained there for about two hours doing push-ups and bench presses and even curs while hanging from the ceiling. It was needless to say that the wrestling club members were astonished to see someone get there before them and leave after them , and not break a single sweat…he should really see a doctor about that.

After getting a drink of water, a long drink, Naruto began his runs which would probably added another his hour to day. It was already starting to get dark when Naruto passed by the park, but he could see a small trail of smoke coming from the playground, but he thought nothing of it. He had to get to the school fast and get a shower before the cleaning staff locked up for the night.

Raimon sat in his room contemplating the ultimatum he was given. He had to choose between his promise and his success, and it was not an easy thing for someone like Raimon to decide. Across from him was his prized glove, signed by Mr. Honjou and given to him by Mr. Honjou, the glove that sparked his dreams. "Shuei Eagle Honjou Masaru, Number 80 catching expert"

Images of the games he'd seen and the practice he put in came to mind, and suddenly the words that Sena and Naruto said to him started to echo through his thoughts as well. "I've given it my all and I couldn't become a regular baseball player, bt now there are finally some people who are telling me their team needs me, I'd like to try my luck on that team" Raimon explained as he gathered his strength and made his decision.

As Sena walked to the clubhouse the next day he noticed that the door was open, which wasn't hat big a deal since he knew that Naruto crashed there and had probably left to use the schools showers or something. But when Sena opend the door he was meet with a startling sight, Naruto in full uniform and another person. He turned around and Sena was shocked, it was Raimon.

"This is Mr. Honjou's Number, 80 "

End chapter six

This was by far the most annoying chapter ever, I wanted to get Raimon's joining the team over with so I could do the ground work chapters for the chameleon's game next so I could just get on with it, since I've read chapters 20- 24 like ten times now trying to get the scenes right. I love this series and I'm loving the end result of my fiction, but the beginning is so slow, I just want to get to the death march arc already….

Speaking of which I've planned a little twist for that arc, but no spoilers, this way you keep reading.

DRUNKEN NEW YEAR HAPPY 2012