Hallelujah
Tradition at Konoha High School dictated that, on the last day of the football season, the day of the championship game, the girlfriends of all the players on the team would wear their boyfriends' jerseys to school for good luck.
Last year, Sakura had come to school wearing number 24 on her back, underneath the name Inuzuka emblazoned in gold. She'd worn it with pride, handed it over that night at the championship game, and then felt irrational, immeasurable guilt when Konoha had lost. Like she'd been bad luck or something. A jinx; because she'd sullied Kiba's jersey with her unluckiness, he'd blown every pass that evening, Sasuke ended up in the hospital, and Konoha had lost the championship game to their division enemies.
So when Sasuke strode up to her locker that morning and shoved his jersey unceremoniously into her hands (to the joy of their friends who had gathered around them to witness the history-changing moment), everyone was shocked when she shied away from it like it was covered in scorpions.
"No!" she said sharply. "Get that thing away from me!"
Ino's jaw dropped; Naruto burst out laughing; everyone else looked stunned, but none more so than Sasuke, whose widened eyes were equivalent to a scream.
"Huh?" he asked bemusedly.
Realizing that it looked like an outright rejection of Sasuke himself, Sakura blushed and backtracked.
"I wore Kiba's last year, and I jinxed it," she said flatly. "I'm not gonna jinx you, too."
"Oh, for God's sake," Ino snapped. "It wasn't your fault that Oto played dirty, put that fucking jersey on."
"When I wore Kiba's, he didn't make one single catch that whole game," Sakura argued. "Sasuke's the quarterback. Think of the damage I could cause if I jinx the quarterback."
"Think of the damage you'll cause when all the chicks who like Sasuke see his girlfriend ain't wearing his jersey," Naruto pointed out, in a rare moment of wisdom.
Sakura's eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on Sasuke's winning smirk, picturing the way his admirers would interpret her refusal to wear her new boyfriend's jersey as a sign that he was free game again.
Oh HELL no, she thought.
"Give me that!" she hissed, snatching the mesh fabric from Sasuke's hand. It was over her hand in a second, entirely too large for her, nearly completely covering her pleated cheerleading skirt. "If we lose this, it's your fault," she added with a pointed glare at Sasuke, slamming her locker door shut.
Naruto laughed and clapped Sakura on the back as they all headed to lunch together. "Oh yeah, right, how can we lose?" he guffawed. "Not with our stacked defense, there's no way!"
"Because your stacked defense got its ass kicked last year during the playoffs," Ino reminded meanly, tossing her long blonde ponytail behind her shoulders.
"Yeah, and you ended up with a broken arm," Sakura added, with a worried look in Sasuke's direction.
"It's not gonna happen again," he scoffed, careless. "You worry too much."
"Because you don't worry enough."
She wished she could just be excited for tonight's game. It would be her last opportunity to cheer for the football team, and Sasuke's last game ever. Everyone was in a frenzy that they had made the playoffs again, and everyone was exhilarated that they were playing Oto two years in a row. It was nothing less than a grudge match, and adrenaline was running high. Everyone would be there that night, it would blow Homecoming's attendance out of the water.
She wished she could really get into the spirit of things (as a cheerleader, it was her job), but she couldn't get over her worry that Oto would pull another stunt like they had done last year, and Sasuke would get hurt again.
Then she felt a light pressure on the small of her back, and, blushing, realized it was Sasuke's hand. He wasn't much for PDA and neither was she; in fact, if you didn't know what had happened two weeks ago, you might never know they were together. But it made little gestures like this all the more meaningful.
"You worry too much," he repeated, with a gentle smile he only ever gave to her.
Sakura sighed and smiled back as they took their seats in the cafeteria. Maybe she was just being a downer, and Sasuke was right.
So how come she couldn't shake this feeling, then?
That something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong?
Her nervousness didn't abate when the school day ended, and when her dads drove her to the game that evening, she was two seconds away from a panic attack.
"What are you worrying for?" Kakashi asked with a laugh from the front seat, pulling into the (already-crowded) parking lot by the football stadium. "You look beautiful, you'll be terrific, and the boys are going to win."
"But it's Oto, Daddy," Sakura protested.
Even Iruka, who resented the entirety of the football team simply because he had a young, attractive teenage daughter to look out for, wasn't worried.
"In a fair fight, they can't take Konoha," he pointed out.
"Since when does Oto fight fair?" Sakura argued. "Am I the only one who forgot how they put Sasuke in the hospital last year?"
They all got out of the car and Iruka handed over her pompoms while Kakashi fiddled with the digital camera. Sakura wished she was as excited as they were – as everyone was – for this sure-to-be-thrilling night, but she could barely summon a convincing smile before Daddy was snapping pictures of her left and right.
"Sasuke can handle himself," he reminded her. "Now smile!"
"Maybe all the little punk needs is a good hit to the head," Iruka muttered nastily.
"Dad!"
"Iruka knock it off, you're upsetting our little star."
"You're both impossible! Ugh, I need to go warm up with the other girls. I'll see you after the game."
Kakashi smiled and hugged her tightly. "They'll be fine, Sakura," he said warmly, and she finally felt herself start to relax. Daddy never lied to her, and it was impossible not to feel at least a little bit better about the situation.
She jogged over to where the other girls were lined up, warming up for the game. People were filing into the bleachers, and it looked like Oto supporters showed up in droves on the other side. That would certainly heighten the crowd's energy, with so much opposition.
"Makes our job even easier," said Ino carelessly, when Sakura pointed that out. She bent her body into a perfect bridge to stretch, and added, "With how hype the fans are gonna be tonight, we won't have to work as hard. Not to mention…I doubt we'll have Abumi to worry about tonight, after you laid him out last time."
Sakura smirked. "Oh, yeah. There is that."
Maybe she was being paranoid. She wasn't sure how Oto had gotten away with what they did to Sasuke last year, but they'd have to be crazy to try something like that again. And Zaku was surely licking his wounds, having had his ass handed to him last time by a Konoha cheerleader. She was being stupid, like a frightened, overanxious little grandmother when really, this was her night, too.
The last night she would spend on the track by the 50-yard line, at the top of the pyramid.
"You're gonna miss this, huh?" Ino said suddenly, and Sakura looked over to find her best friend's eyes dreamy with nostalgia as she looked out into the steadily-filling stands. "I know I will."
Sakura smiled and shook off her track pants to reveal her cheerleading uniform underneath, with a long-sleeved sweater this time instead of the teeny half-shirt they wore for warmer games. "You know we still have basketball season," she pointed out. "It's not the end of cheerleading, just the end of football season."
"You know what I mean," Ino sighed. "There's no guarantee I'll get into KU like you did. Maybe I'll end up in Suna, or Kusa, or Iwa…and there won't be anymore of…like, this." She nodded to the audience, to the chilly night air, to the football team gathering in on the field for warm-ups.
"You talk like we're graduating tomorrow," Sakura giggled, before fluffing her friend's ponytail playfully. "You told me to stop worrying and enjoy myself. Allow me to echo the sentiment."
"You talk like you're seventy-six," Ino snapped, but there was a grin on her face all the same. "But you're right. Now get your ass on top of that pyramid."
Sakura found herself licking her lips as she surveyed the field.
The team was on defense, which meant that Sasuke was sidelined for the moment. He was 100% focused on the game, discussing strategy with Coach Gai and a few of the offensive linemen while Oto was in possession; there was something insanely attractive about a player who played with such narrow-minded intensity. He held his helmet under his arm, his dark eyes locked on play. She doubted he even knew she existed at the moment, and while some brand new, shiny girlfriends might find that to be offensive, Sakura loved him all the more for it.
This was Sasuke's night. His moment of redemption. But it wasn't going to be a blow-out victory like last time; the game was nearing the end of the first half, and Konoha and Oto were tied 17-17.
With fifteen seconds left, Naruto broke the line and sacked the quarterback while the ball was still in his hands. Sakura, Ino, and the other cheerleaders all exploded into raucous cheers of approval as Konoha snatched up the ball to secure possession; Sasuke jammed his helmet back on his head and ran back to the field with the rest of the offense.
"ALL RIGHT SASUKE, SCORE BEFORE THE BUZZER AND SAKURA WILL BANG YOU AT THE AFTERPARTY!" Ino shouted, her voice carrying even louder than the scream of the fans.
"Ino!" Sakura screamed, mortified, blushing all the way to the roots of her hair; hopefully, Sasuke hadn't heard that, even if everyone in the Konoha stands did.
"Oh, come on, we both know you want to," Ino snickered. "Let's Go Gold, ladies!"
The offensive line quickly reset with Konoha now in possession thirty yards from the goal post. Sasuke shouted out a play (Sakura rarely, if ever, heard him raise his voice, so to hear the deep, rumbling bass bark out a command like that was thrilling) and the ball was hiked into his hands. Sakura screamed with excitement as he aimed directly at Kiba and fired the ball.
"AND IT'S INUZUKA WITH THE CATCH FROM QUARTERBACK UCHIHA!" bellowed the announcer, as all the Konoha fans jumped to their feet in joy and encouragement. "INUZUKA'S HEADING FOR THE GOALPOST! HE'S CROSSING THE THIRTY-YARD LINE, THE TWENTY, THE TEN…"
Sakura knew she should be watching Kiba the way everybody else was, but something didn't feel quite right about the whole situation. She suddenly had a very, very bad feeling.
Sakura had kept her eye on Zaku and Dosu the entire game, not wanting a repeat of last year's championship game. And her gut instinct proved to be right, when she saw both of them peel back from the rest of their team's pursuit of Kiba, heading directly for Sasuke, who wasn't looking.
Her eyes widened as she realized their intent, and she screamed, "SASUKE! SASUKE, LOOK OUT!"
He heard her scream and turned to her in confusion – what was she doing yelling at him during a game? – and apparently caught sight of Zaku and Dosu flying towards him in that same instant. Lightning fast reflexes kicked into high gear, and Sakura watched him slide quickly out of Dosu's way. Her moment of relief was short-lived, though, because Zaku anticipated Sasuke's feint to the side, and with as much force as he could muster, slammed into him. Both boys went flying, and the crowd erupted into a chorus of boos.
"SASUKE!" Sakura shrieked, as he went down hard, Zaku sprawled on top of him.
"EJECTION!" shouted someone from the stands.
The referees blew their whistles like crazy, halting Kiba two feet from the end zone. Many people had missed the tackle and weren't sure why everyone else was booing Oto so viciously; those who had seen Zaku and Dosu make their vindictive attack on Sasuke were shouting, demanding their ejection from the game as the team trainer rushed onto the field, along with the coaches.
I knew it! Sakura thought, throwing her pompoms to the ground. I KNEW they'd try something like this again! Oh my God, Sasuke!
She prepared to run onto the field with the rest of Sasuke's teammates, but Ino seized her arm to stop her.
"Don't!" she said sharply.
Sakura watched, tears of fear in her eyes, as Zaku was yanked off Sasuke and thrown out of the game by one of the referees; his coach immediately argued the call but Sakura couldn't care less, her attention exclusively on the quarterback now surrounded by his teammates. Her heart was pounding as she watched Sasuke stir, then pull himself slowly to his feet.
The crowd's rage transformed instantly into joyous applause as Sasuke walked, unassisted, off the field towards the team lockers.
"Well, folks," the announcer declared, "it seems as though Oto linebacker number 21, Zaku Abumi, has been thrown out of the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. Konoha quarterback Sasuke Uchiha making his way off the field now, looks like he's gonna be all right, as the buzzer goes off on the second quarter. Konoha will kick it off after halftime, stay tuned."
The very second the whistle blew signifying the second quarter was over, Sakura yanked her arm out of Ino's grasp and sprinted towards the locker rooms.
Sasuke shrugged off the team trainer, the coaches, and all of his teammates as he stalked into the locker room.
He didn't want to see anyone at the moment. He was entirely too furious.
With a shout of rage, he ripped his helmet from his head and threw it against the lockers across the room, hard enough to dent. The helmet clattered loudly to the floor and he slammed his fast against the wall.
Fucking asshole, he thought, gritting his teeth as he pictured Zaku's stupid, smirking face.
He paused in his rampage to examine his face in the mirror above the sink. There was a nasty-looking cut running over his eye from where he'd hit his head on the way down and his throwing arm was killing him. It seemed that Abumi's goal was to take him out of the game by incapacitating his throwing arm.
There was no honor in that. There was no dignity in it, and not in a million years would Sasuke resort to such cheap, underhanded tactics. If it hadn't been for Sakura screaming at him to look out from the sidelines…
Now, he was angry for a whole new reason. Abumi had been ejected from the game, which was frustrating to him, because he'd wanted to beat the bastard himself, on the field, in person for the last time ever. There were college scouts at this game, too; if he couldn't pull it together, shelve the pain coursing through his arm until the game was over, his very future was on the line here.
With another snarl of anger, he snapped his attention away from his reflection in the mirror and sat down on the bench by the lockers, massaging his wounded arm with venom in his heart.
The door was thrown open then, and he looked around to glare at whoever dared to encroach on his solitary rampage, only to falter when he saw who it was.
"What are you doing here, Sakura?" he demanded, guilty at the terrified expression on her face. She had warned him, hadn't she?
"Are you okay?" she deflected, rushing to him in a flurry of glitter and a long pink ponytail. She was sitting next to him in an instant, running her hands in a soothing motion over the length of his throwing arm.
"It's fine," he snapped, knowing he wasn't supposed to take his anger and frustration out on her, but unable to do anything else with it. What he wouldn't give for just two minutes alone with Abumi…
"It's so not fine, Coach Gai's out there arguing like crazy to get Zaku and Dosu kicked out of school, it was so blatant, Sasuke, it's not even funny."
"How'd you see that coming, anyway?" Sasuke muttered; Sakura's massage was working wonders on his sore muscles.
"I was watching him the whole game," she sniffed. "Somebody had to. I knew you wouldn't take me seriously. He could've seriously hurt you tonight, Sasuke. Is it so terrible that I worry about you?"
"Worry about what I'm gonna do to him after this game."
"Are you okay to play?" she pressed, clearly trying to cool his violent streak into something manageable. "Or d'you want me to have Coach Gai send in the second string QB?"
"No fucking way, Sakura. I'm fine. Get outta here."
He didn't mean to be so rude to her, but she was an easy target. He appreciated her concern, but girls never seemed to understand that in moments of high-stress intensity, like a sports game, men needed nothing more than to be left alone. Not coddled.
Far from crumpling into hurt feelings, though, Sakura's eyes narrowed. Clearly he'd underestimated her temper.
"Don't be a dick to me," she snapped. "I'm allowed to worry about you. Keep some ice on your arm till the third quarter."
With that, she stood up to leave him to stew in his own bitterness. But remembering what had occurred in a locker room between them a few weeks ago, Sasuke felt his anger ebb. With an almost reluctant grin, he reached out and caught her elbow, stopping her. She turned a frigid glare on him, but he ignored it.
"When we win," he said arrogantly, studying her hesitantly curious expression, "what do I get from you?"
She raised her eyebrows, then giggled.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she promised. Then she reached into her pocket and removed a butterfly bandaid, tossing it to him on her way out. "Go get 'em, asshole."
There were thirty seconds left in his high school football career, and Konoha was trailing by one point.
Sai's last-minute touchdown put the score at 28-27, and Sasuke knew that Sai, the best field-goal kicker on their team, would get the extra point for sure. Forcing overtime.
He had a better idea.
"TIME!" he shouted, and his teammates immediately huddled around him on the field to discuss their next – and final – move in Konoha uniforms.
Sasuke wasn't one for big motivational speeches or too many words, but with his last act as captain, he knew he couldn't afford to lose anything in translation.
He was tired. He was hurting. They had to end this now – and go out like heroes.
"This is it," he said flatly, breathing heavily; they all were. It had been a rough, long, and dirty game. "We're gonna go for the two-point conversion."
"You sure about that, man?" asked Chouji, covered in sweat from head to toe, his round face worried. "If we fuck it up, that's it."
"They'll expect us to take the field goal and force overtime," Sasuke said decisively. "This is our chance to win."
Naruto, who typically disagreed with Sasuke just for recreation, pumped his fist in the air. "HELL YEAH!" he shouted. "All right, Sasuke, what's the play?"
He smirked. Once you secured Naruto as an ally, you were as good as gold.
"Fake pass to Kiba," Sasuke replied firmly. "Naruto, you cover my right. I'm gonna run this shit in."
"Bastard's in a hurry," Naruto stage-whispered to the rest of the guys. "I would be, too, if Sakura was gonna bang me at Ino's afterparty tonight!"
Sasuke sucked in air sharply through his teeth, but promised himself he'd beat on Naruto later for saying something like that. Now was not the time to be anything but 100% focused on and committed to the game. This was it. His last play in his last game as Konoha High School's starting quarterback, and with everyone watching – with her watching – there was no way he was going to let them lose.
He was going to run that ball in, or die trying.
"This is it," he reiterated, addressing the seniors on the line. "One last shot."
"YOU HEARD HIM!" Naruto bellowed joyously. "THIS IS IT! LET'S DO IT!"
All the other guys let out cheers and shouts of eagerness as they reset the line. Sasuke couldn't keep the smirk off his face when Oto realized they had no intention of kicking in the extra point.
A two-point conversion was a risk. If the pass wasn't complete, or if he wasn't successful at running the ball in himself, then it would be an automatic Oto victory. But if they succeeded, then they would win the game outright, without having to play any overtime.
And he had a party to get to.
Sparing a quick glance at the cheerleaders – he never thought he'd be the kind of guy to pay so much attention to a girl in a pleated skirt – he smirked against the racing of his heart and called out the last play of his high school football career.
Exhausted. Heated. Burned out. Injured. He ignored it all.
"BLUE 42, BLUE 42," he shouted. "Set…hike!"
The ball was snapped into his hands. Instantly, Oto's defense charged at him, pushing all they had into one last shield; Naruto and the others blocked every single one of them as Sasuke faked a pass to Kiba, the wide receiver.
It fooled enough of Oto's players to pull some of the attention away from him. Urging energy to his exhausted legs, he let out a shout of effort and sprinted towards the endzone himself, football tucked securely under his arm.
Naruto, the best defender on the team, ran right alongside him, a human shield to protect the quarterback and Konoha's last chance at a championship victory. A perfect team.
Together, no one could touch them.
And with untold amounts of exhilaration, Sasuke's foot crossed the line at the endzone with two seconds to spare.
The next thing he knew, the buzzers went off to signal the end of the game, and he was rushed by every single member of his team.
There was too much noise to hear anything clearly, but he could kind of make out the jubilant cheers and whoops of joy as he was tackled for the second time that evening, this time by his own teammates. Coach Gai and his assistant coaches raced onto the field as well, screaming with everyone else as the Konoha fans exploded.
"WE DID IT, MAN!" yelled Naruto, clapping Sasuke roughly on the back. "WE DID IT! WE'RE DIVISION CHAMPIONS!"
Sasuke's smirk couldn't be shaken off. There was nothing like this in the world, no feeling that equaled it. He'd done it; he'd helped take his team all the way, unseeding an incumbent Oto as division champions and taking back the glory for their school. This was how he would be remembered at Konoha High School: as the hero who'd led them all to victory. The proud Uchiha legacy would continue, thanks to him.
He didn't protest as he was ripped off the ground and lifted into the air by his raucous teammates, paraded around as their fans went crazy with excitement. He made out Kakashi and Iruka in the stands, both of them waving a sign with his name on it frantically; even Iruka looked happy about the way things had turned out. Their classmates screamed and shrieked and hollered with joy from the bleachers, the cheerleaders were backflipping and cartwheeling and…
And one broke away from the rest of them and sprinted up to him, her pink ponytail streaking behind her, her brilliant white smile a mile wide.
Sasuke's smirk evolved into a grin as he jumped down from his teammates' shoulders, took two long, swift strides towards the prettiest girl in school, and without any further ado, he grabbed her by the back of her neck, pulled her in, and kissed her right there in front of everyone.
There would be time to consider the consequences of his actions – the consequences of kissing Sakura Haruno publicly, in front of the entire school and, even more terrifyingly, in front of her fathers – later. But for now, he decided to throw caution to the wind, and ride out this peerless high for as long as it lasted.
He was the football hero now; as far as kissing the hot cheerleader went, he figured he pretty much earned the right.
note.. heyhihello, y'all. figured i kept you waiting enough on this one :) about halfway through and having a good time with this again.
also: came across this term while i was reading: "mpreg." what the hell does that mean? you guys must remember that i am like an eight-year-old when it comes to the ffnet vernacular. i understand it to mean "male pregnancy." but that can't be right, can it? i don't even fucking know. so if someone could educate me, that'd be delightful.
anyway, if you liked this one, let me know :) have fun this weekend.
xoxo Daisy