"Hey, are you paying attention?"

Gray blinked, forcibly yanked from his thoughts, which were all centred around a certain blonde girl, by his scowling captain. "Yeah, I am..."

Laxus didn't appear convinced, but continued to address the team. 'Everyone will need to do their jobs today. This won't be easy…"

"Sabertooth High School are meant to be the best team in the area," Jellal, Laxus' vice captain, added. "So no fooling around, or worse, no trying to be the hero."

Literally everyone in the changing room turned to Natsu, who glared back at them. "What? Why me?!"

"Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Loke…" Laxus began, addressing those four specifically. "You'll all be making your debuts. This'll be a tough game, so be ready."

"Keep it simple," Jellal nodded, wanting to focus more on tactics than his captain did. "It's better to have an average game than to try something risky and end up costing us."

Natsu grinned, bringing his fist and palm together. "Man, I'm all fired up! I've been waitin' for this for so long! I ain't gonna hold back!"

"Did he hear what I just said…?" Jellal muttered. Laxus smirked, resting his hand on his deputy's shoulder.

"Natsu's Natsu. You can't change that. Anyway, everyone take it easy for the rest of the morning. Kick Off's at two, so get here by around half one. Just don't fool around too much at lunch and lose track of time…"

Everyone nodded, both big game nerves and excitement beginning to kick in.

######

Natsu threw both his firsts in the air as he stepped outside. "Yeah, let's go practise!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Weren't you payin' attention? Laxus told us to take it easy before the game."

"I know, but I'm all fired up now! I just can't sit still in a lesson now, ya know?"

Loke chuckled slightly, trailing a little behind the other two. "Well that's what we'll have to do for now. Next lesson starts in a couple of minutes. I…"

Loke paused, noticing the changing room door opening behind him and a familiar face stepping out. When Loke stopped talking, Gajeel and Natsu turned around, both quickly realising the appearance of Gray was the cause.

Said boy sighed. "Relax Loke, we're cool."

Loke blinked. "Uh… really?"

"Yeah, really. I've noticed you've stayed away from Lucy for the most part recently, and I really appreciate that."

Loke bit his lip slightly, the memory of the weekend coming back. "I… uh…"

Gray shook his head, smirking slightly. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything. Besides, we need to focus on the game today. Our first…"

Natsu grinned, glad that Gray seemed to be cheering up. "Yeah! Man, playing up front with Laxus…. This'll be so totally awesome!"

Gajeel nudged Gray. "You'll be playing alongside Jellal in midfield, won't you? That must be pretty scary huh?"

Gray laughed. "As if. I'm not gonna let Jellal outshine me. Just you watch. You just worry about stopping the other team's forwards from scoring."

"That's right," Loke nodded, touching his glasses up. "Sabertooth are a strong team, but their strikers are meant to be unstoppable. They're nicknamed the Twin Dragons…"

Natsu snorted. "That's a dumb nickname. I bet these guys ain't all that. We'll definitely kick their asses!"

######

Lucy frowned. It was time for English, yet Cana was walking in the opposite direction to the classroom. "Cana?"

Said girl turned around. "Oh hey Lucy. What's up?"

"Uh… isn't English that way?"

Cana sighed. "Yeah, but the stupid soccer team are having one of their dumb matches today, so my dad's asked me to go into town and buy drinks for the players. He forgot, as usual…"

"Your dad?"

Cana blinked. "Didn't you know? My dad's the soccer team's coach. Mr Gildarts?"

Lucy's eyes widened. "He's your dad? But… I've never seen you two together ever!"

Cana snorted. "That's because I told him to stay away from me when we're at school. If he had it his way he'd probably follow me around all day…"

"Oh. Well it's nice that you're doing him a favour like this."

Cana blushed slightly, embarrassed by the memory of her father pleading with her on his knees. "Its… difficult… to turn down his puppy dog eyes look…"

Lucy giggled, the thought of the physically imposing teacher's puppy dog eyes pretty amusing. Suddenly, Cana gasped excitedly. "Say… why don't you come with me?"

"But I have class now."

"So do I. Relax, dad'll sort everything out with the teacher. The supermarket's only like ten minutes away and it means I don't have to go on my own."

Lucy sighed. "But Cana…"

"Come on…" Cana pleaded, giving Lucy her best appealing look. Lucy bit her lip.

"OK. But we have to be quick."

#######

"Gray!"

Said boy smirked at the sight of Erza approaching. It was lunchtime now, and Gray was about to head off to the changing room to meet up with the rest of the team. "Oh hey. What's up?"

Erza maintained her serious expression, unnerving Gray slightly. He sighed, knowing what she wanted to talk about. "Listen, if this is about Lucy, I don't wanna talk about it. Besides, I have more important things to worry about now…"

"Don't say that. Some silly game isn't more important than our friend," Erza scolded. "Besides, the only reason I'm doing this now is because I haven't been able to talk to you for the past few days, since you've been avoiding me and the rest of our friends."

"Yeah, there's a reason for that…" Gray muttered. Erza frowned at him.

"How long are you going to sulk like this? You and I both know that you care very deeply for Lucy and that she does the same for you. You two were good for each other, so I don't understand why you won't quit being so pig-headed and go back to her."

Gray groaned. "Hey, that isn't true…"

"What? You don't care about her?"

"No, not that,-"

"What, she doesn't care about you?"

"Not as much as she does about someone else!" Gray spat out, losing his temper.

Erza blinked, surprised by Gray's outburst. "What are you talking about? Is this about Loke?"

Gray turned his back on Erza and began to walk off. "No. It's not. Not him."

Erza watched as Gray disappeared from sight. "Then who?"

######

Lucy sighed exhaustedly, plopping down on the school's front steps next to Cana. The two girls had just returned from the supermarket with their "shopping", tired out from carrying the numerous heavy bags filled with water for the past twenty minutes. Lucy nudged Cana. "Just so you know.. I'm never doing this again."

Cana snorted. "Same here. That old man needs to do his own damn shopping…"

Lucy was about to say something when she noticed a bus pulling into the school driveway. It drove past her and Cana, parking a little away from them. "Is that the school the guys are playing against?"

Cana shrugged, laying down on the steps lazily. "I dunno, probably…"

Lucy was about to say something when the school door behind her swung open. Natsu sprinted out, eager to greet the Sabertooth players. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the bags around Lucy and Cana and tripped over them, sending him tumbling down the steps, landing in an awkward heap in front of the Sabertooth bus.

"O… Ouch…."

Lucy winced whilst Cana, not so nice, laughed. "Well that cheered me right up!"

"I hope he's OK," Lucy muttered. Just then, the door behind them opened again and out came Gajeel, scowling when he noticed Natsu lying next to the bus.

"What the hell are you doin' screwing about out here Salamander? We're meant to be getting ready with the others!"

Natsu scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off before beaming at the bus. "I'll be there in a minute. First, I wanna meet the guys we're playing against!"

Gajeel was about to retort when the doors of the bus opened. A blonde boy, around Natsu's height, emerged from the bus. He looked around before fixing his eyes on Lucy. He smirked cockily, making Lucy cringe slightly. He wasn't deterred however, shoving his hands into his pockets and strolling over to her. "Hey Beautiful.. I'm Sting. Sting Eucliffe."

"L.. Lucy."

Sting flashed her a 'charming' smile and was about to say something when a second person stepped off the bus. "What are you doing? The coach wasn't done talking."

The second person to emerge from the bus was a handsome boy with black hair, his cold neutral expression a stark contrast to Sting's cocky smirk. Sting laughed slightly. "So? Leave that motivation crap for the losers. You know players like us don't need to hear shit like that Rogue."

Rogue glanced back at the bus. "Rufus and Orga wouldn't agree. Nor would the rest of our team-mates. "

"Who cares? You know how it is. In the end, they'll just pass the ball to us and rely on us to do everything. They should be grateful for us carryin' them through every single game…"

Rogue was about to retort when he noticed Gajeel. He stared fixedly at him. Sting, Lucy and Cana looked between the two, wondering why Rogue was staring at Gajeel. Said boy scowled at the Sabertooth player.

"What the hell are you gawkin' at?"

Rogue wasn't intimidated. "Gajeel Redfox."

"Yeah. And you are?"

"Rogue. Rogue Cheney."

Gajeel waited, assuming Rogue was going to say something else. Rogue however continued to just stare at Gajeel, as if he was weighing him up. Gajeel glared at him. "What the hell are you starin' at me for?"

Rogue maintained his neutral expression, although inwardly he was surprised. "You… don't remember me?"

"No. Should I?"

"I was a student at Phantom. One year junior to you. I used to look up to you, the star of our middle school soccer team. But those days are gone now."

Gajeel smirked. "Oh? And why's that?"

Rogue stared Gajeel straight in the eyes. "Because I'm better than you are now. Back then I always dreamed of playing alongside you. But today… I'll crush you."

The two continued to stare each other down, Rogue not willing to back down. Gajeel however, grinned widely, before erupting into laughter. Rogue, keeping his composure, frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Gehehe… Ya know, it's a shame I don't remember you kid, because you're a pretty funny guy! Crush me? Sorry…" Suddenly, Gajeel stopped laughing, and smirked challengingly at Rogue. "But that ain't gonna happen."

Rogue was about to retort when he noticed Sting now staring at something. Or someone… "Natsu…"

Natsu, who had been watching the whole exchange between Rogue and Gajeel, looked at the other Sabertooth player. "Huh? You know my name?"

Sting smirked. "Of course. I'll never forget your name…"

######

A 13 year old Sting Eucliffe groaned in frustration as he watched another one of his shots fly wide of the tin can he was aiming at. It was Saturday, and like every weekend, Sting was 'practising' shooting in the park. He turned around and looked appealingly at his kitten, Lector, who looked unimpressed. "Reckon that was closer?"

Lector meowed loudly, as if trying to cheer its owner up. Sting smiled slightly before running back towards the goal to collect his ball. However, someone had already gotten there first.

Standing there was a boy with messy reddish-brown hair. He was resting his right foot on the soccer ball and was facing away from Sting, at a group of people behind him. Sting glared at him. "Hey! That's my ball!"

The boy turned around and smirked cockily at Sting. "What are you talking about? This is mine. Right, guys?"

"Yeah, it's yours Cobra!" one of the five boys behind him said, whilst the other four all nodded. Cobra laughed, scooping up the ball.

"Well, its your word against the six of ours…"

Sting lunged for the ball. "That's not fair. Give it back!"

Cobra easily evaded the boy one year younger than him, before roughly pushing Sting down. "Look, I won't tell you twice. Buzz off. Me and my friends here want to play soccer."

"No way!" Sting yelled, swinging wildly at Cobra who evaded it before again roughly shoving Sting to the ground. He rested his foot on the younger blonde boy and grinned.

"You ain't too bright are ya? I gave you the chance to go quietly, but it looks like I"m gonna have to teach you a lesson. Ah well, at least next time this happens you won't-"

That was as far as Cobra got before he was hurled to the ground by a pink haired boy. Cobra glared at the new arrival. "You!" He spat out. Behind him, his 'friends' were stunned frozen. Natsu took this opportunity to pin Cobra down and punch him hard in the jaw a few times. With Cobra momentarily out of commission and his lackeys still dazed, Natsu scooped up the ball and grinned cheerfully at Sting. He grabbed the blonde boy's arm and began running away from Cobra and the others, Sting making sure to grab Lector on the way.

Cobra gasped slightly before glaring at his henchmen. "What the hell are you morons doing? After them!"

They all looked at each other before clumsily stumbling after Natsu and Sting, who as well as being much faster than they were also had a huge lead on them at this point. Sting and Natsu quickly disappeared from sight, signalling to Cobra's lackeys that they'd be better off giving up the chase, which pissed off their 'boss' to no end.

#######

Natsu smiled cheerfully at Sting. The two were sitting on a bench at the other side of the park, Sting needing a rest after running away from Cobra's men. He was pretty sure they didn't need to run this far given their pursuers had given up pretty easily, but Natsu had wanted to make sure they were safe. "You OK?"

Sting nodded, still a little out of breath. "Y-Yeah, thanks. You really saved me… er…"

"I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. And you?"

"Sting Eucliffe."

Natsu grinned before turning to Lector. "And who's this little guy?"

Sting smiled, allowing Lector to crawl onto his lap. "This is Lector."

"Haha, it's weird, he looks really different to Happy…"

"Happy?"

"That's my cat. I would have brought him here, but He's playing with Wendy and Carla…. So anyway, why was that jerk Cobra pickin' on you?"

Sting sighed sadly. "I don't know. I didn't do anything to him. I guess it's because I looked pretty weak…"

Natsu frowned, seeing Sting was upset but not really knowing what to say to cheer him up. "Yeah well, that's what assholes like him are like…"

Sting gritted his teeth. "If only I was strong like him, or you, Natsu. Then I could be the one…" Sting stopped, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. So how do you know him?"

"I've met him a couple of times at soccer games. He's a jerk, but he's a pretty good player."

Sting gasped excitedly. "Wait, you play soccer for your middle school team?"

Natsu smiled. "Yeah, do you?"

Sting shook his head. "Not yet, but I think I'm a year younger than you, so maybe I will next year. That's what I was doing here actually. Training. Although it wasn't going that well…"

Natsu blinked. "Why not?"

Sting puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "I couldn't hit the target once," He grumbled irritably.

Natsu grinned, standing up. "Is that so? Do you mind if I give it a try…"

######

Sting's eyes widened. Five shots, five hits. Natsu laughed, turning around to face the stunned blonde. "What'd'ya think?"

"H-How did you… That's amazing Natsu!"

"Haha, I'm sure you'll be able to do it real soon too. Just keep practising and never give up!"

Sting groaned. "As if. I'll never be as good as you Natsu. It's probably impossible…"

Natsu laughed and flashed Sting a thumbs up. "Don't say that! In the end, you'll never know unless you try, right?"

Sting smiled slightly. "Y… yeah, you're right. I'll keep training hard, and maybe one day I'll be able to challenge you at this again. And I'll win."

Natsu looked at the knocked over cans. "You know, this stuff is fun and all, but…the only way to really know which one of us is the better player is in a proper match. Don't ya think?"

"An actual full match?"

Natsu grinned, holding his hand out to Sting. "Yeah, that'd be way better, wouldn't it? I'm a striker, and I'm guessing from the target practise that you're one too, right?" Sting nodded. "So it's settled. When you're done gettin' better, we'll play in a proper match and see which one of us scores more goals. That'll be the perfect way of seeing, don't ya think?"

Sting stared at Natsu's outstretched hand for a second before smirking himself and taking it. "Yeah. When that time comes, I'll be much better than I am now."

######

Natsu grinned. "Oh yeah, now I remember you! Wow, I haven't seen you since that day in the park… You've really changed a lot you know? You're a lot taller and not so skinny now!"

Sting smirked. "The same goes for you too. I'm sure you've gotten a lot better, but me… I'm on a whole different level to you now."

"Oh? And what makes you so sure of that?"

Sting glanced at Rogue. "Have you ever heard of Sabertooth's twin dragons? That's us, me and Rogue. We play up front."

Natsu blinked. "Twin dragons?" Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Oi, weren't you listenin' to Loke earlier? He said those twin dragons were meant to be some big shot strikers. I guess they're these two then."

Natsu frowned, genuinely unable to remember the conversation earlier. "Oh really? Well, it doesn't matter. I ain't gonna lose to anyone."

Sting was about to retort, but Rogue spoke first. "We should get back on the bus Sting. The coach will get angry if we don't…"

Sting sighed. "Fine, whatever. But Natsu…. " Sting turned around to flash the pink-haired teen one last cocky smirk. "Don't cry too much when I destroy you and your team."

With that the twin dragons stepped back onto the bus, the doors sliding closed behind them. Natsu frowned, crossing his arms. "You know… I swear he was much nicer before…"

Gajeel shrugged. "He's a cocky jackass. Doesn't surprise me you two got along…"

Natsu turned around to glare at him. "What's that supposed to mean? You lookin' for a fight?"

"Idiot. I'd kick your ass!"

Natsu was about to retort when the school door opened yet again, a familiar face making both Natsu and Gajeel freeze. It was Erza. And she was pissed.

"I figured you two would be messing around out here…"

Natsu gulped. "E… Erza. I… we… It's all Gajeel's fault! It's because of him we're late!"

Gajeel glared at him. "No it ain't! The only reason we're late is because you wanted to meet the guys from Sabertooth! This is all your fault!"

Erza cracked her knuckles. "I figured as much. You're twenty minutes late you know. What did I tell you about giving Laxus and Jellal a hard time...?"

Natsu and Gajeel looked at each other before running as fast as they could away from Erza, deciding that maybe it was time they got ready for the match now.

So yeah, Sabertooth are here! I personally am a huge fan of Sabertooth and Rogue in particular, so I always wanted to bring them into the story sooner rather than later. Same with Cobra too really, another awesome character imo.

Also, before I end this, I don't know if there are many people reading this story who also read my One Piece High School series, but if you are one of those people, would you be interested in some sort of crossover one-chapter story between the two? A reader of mine suggested it in a review on the One Piece story, and I'm not gonna lie, I would be super up for writing something like that. I can just imagine it being great fun to write. So yeah, would anyone be up for that, because if its something that even just a couple of people would be interested in, I'll make that my top priority from now.