Just about every sport is a fast paced game, so when you have a few seconds of an open window, you have to take your shot then and there. No time for thinking or planning.
"Lee, give me a lift! I'm gonna jump!"
"What?!"
I was running toward him, since he was right between me and Sasuke.
"Just do it!"
Luckily, he didn't freak out and ruin the whole thing. His hands actually had a tight grip pretty quickly. I jumped off the support as hard as I could when Lee tossed my weight. I performed a front flip using my chest as the core and glided inches over Sasuke's head. I was able to kick the ball toward my desired area before Sasuke had a chance to jump and headbutt it or chestbump it to another teammate.
We had gotten so close.
"Tobi," I yelled with all my strength before falling to the ground. I would have stuck the landing had I not called out Tobi's name like I did. I was able to tuck and roll back to my feet though.
Tobi executed an amazing kick. We would have made the goal, but Kakashi was able to barely tap the ball with his fingers and sent it out past the goal. Yamato was our goalie. I guess it made sense why no one could get a goal in.
I ran back to reposition myself, and of course Sasuke was hot on my tail. Kakashi blew his whistle, and I abruptly stopped and turned around. Sasuke didn't.
"Practice is over for today. It seems that the majority of you understand the importance of teamwork. Go home. We reconvene Sunday at ten AM."
I didn't hear a word of what Kakashi said because I was on the floor. Sasuke ended up tackling me, and our feet twisted as we fell. Our eyes were both wide as we just stared at each other, frozen in place. Of course we'd end up like this. One of his hands landed on the ground to support his body, as much as it could anyway, and his other hand was heavy on my chest. The situation didn't feel so much awkward as it did surprising and confusing. That was, until Yamato cleared his throat, then the realization of the situation hit us.
Sasuke suddenly got up, then walked away in a huff as if he was angry, but he wasn't giving off any negative vibes. Almost all of the others were staring at either me or Sasuke. A few just didn't really care and were heading in. Some were still staring at me from the weird jump I made earlier.
I sighed and got up off the ground. Then, I was startled by a loud voice from behind me. It was Lee.
"That was amazing! How did you learn to do something like that?!"
I began to wipe the sweat off my face using my arms.
"You're amazing yourself. You're pretty strong Lee and react quickly. My mom and dad enrolled me in dance and gymnastics when I was younger, but now I'm thinking I shouldn't have done that at tryouts. Or, well..."
"Huh? What is it?"
"I just didn't want people to think I was showing off, but I guess I shouldn't care, right? I mean, aside from what the coaches think. I just did it because I couldn't think of anything else, and we got so close to the goal. Plus, it was pretty fun."
"Are you not coming in?" Lee asked after I leaned against the wall a few feet from the locker room.
"Nah. I can wait. I like my solitude."
"Oh, I see," he replied before going on in himself.
Sasuke came outside several minutes later and looked at me as if to say 'oh, there you are.' His cheeks were still a bit red. He turned from me and quickly walked off. Yamato came out with Kakashi on his heels.
"Rori, here you are. You can go in now. Neji's the only one in there."
"Oh. Okay, thanks."
Kakashi followed me in after nodding to Yamato and waited for us at the corner of the entrance. My cheeks began to heat up a bit as I went to change. Was I blushing? ... Hey, wait a minute. ... They were blushing?! My face heated up even more as I struggled to get my pants up faster and tossed Neji the shorts.
"Um, thanks man," I spoke before I ran out of the locker room.
"Thanks Coach K! Bye!"
I jogged away and slowed down once I reached the entrance of the school. Okay, maybe today wasn't all bad, but it was really weird.
"Rori! Finally. Do you wanna come over to my place?"
"Suigetsu. ... Um, yeah. I just need to go home and get my phone. And maybe change into better clothes."
"You don't have your phone?"
"I did, but I had someone take all my things home so I wouldn't have to carry anything."
"Oh."
We walked to my house, and I called for Gilroy. I asked him where my things were, and he said he had put them in my room. I led Suigetsu to the second floor toward my room.
"Woah, you're room's pretty nice. I was expecting it to be a little more..."
"Boy crazed and girly?"
"Sort of. It's just what I'm used to from girls. You should see Karin's room."
"Hm, makes sense."
"Hey, why are your closet doors-"
"Okay. I'm gonna change now. Get out."
I shoved Suigetsu out of my room and locked the door before he could say anything else. I took off my shoes and top layers of clothes and replaced them with a short-sleeved light grey turtleneck, light blue cargo jeans, and a pair of white flip flops. I opened the door to see Suigetsu at the back end of the hall. He was leaning against the railing and staring out the window at something below.
"Hey! You OK?"
"I didn't know you lived in this house."
"What's wrong with my house?"
"There's nothing wrong. It's just that no one's lived here for over twenty years. It was rumored the place was haunted."
"Yeah? Well, nothing unusual's happened since we moved in, so it probably was just a rumor, nothing else. Maybe someone was just playing a prank or something. That's all."
Suigetsu went quiet as I grabbed my phone and a few other things and tossed them into my backpack.
"Let's go?"
Suigetsu nodded.
"Yeah. Oh, I almost forgot. Speaking of this house, you live right behind me. We can just jump the fence."
"Oh, really?"
Again, he responded only by nodding. I went downstairs and grabbed onto the doorjamb of the kitchen door and leaned inward from the side to where only my top half was visible.
"Gil."
"Yes, Master Rori?"
"Let Mom know I'll be gone awhile. I'm heading to the neighbors' behind us. I don't know when I'll be back tonight, but I'll be leaving my phone."