Chapter One: Origins and Champions
Naruto fell in love with basketball when he was nine years old. His father and mother took him to see a 76ers game and he never looked back. After that he was in the driveway practicing his crossover and working on his jump shot.
Two days after the game he told his parents about his dream of playing in the NBA. They were a bit skeptic at first but he quickly proved them wrong. His father signed him up for the junior league that played in the park after school and Naruto quickly learned a hard lesson about the sport, talent had to be earned.
After being horribly embarrassed Naruto's parents expected him to give up basketball but much to their surprise he was back in the driveway.
After seeing how determined their son was Minato and Kushina hired a coach to personally train him. Throughout his middle school years Naruto would go to school, head to the rec center then go home to do his homework and enjoy dinner.
At the age of thirteen a fire claimed his parents life while he was at his high school basketball practice. He had no family but luckily for him his basketball trainer took him in and let him move in with her and her daughter.
Even after losing his parents Naruto never let his love for basketball die. He played junior varsity for his freshmen year before being promoted to varsity in his sophomore year.
Things were looking up for him as he led his team in assists and steals, but like most high school teenagers he messed it up.
After two months of dating Hinata she got pregnant and Naruto ended up missing his junior season to take care of his daughter Nina when Hinata was killed in a drive by shooting.
Thanks to his new mom and sister he was able to play durning his senior year averaging 19.9 points and 8.7 assists per game and was subsequently voted his team's most valuable player.
Despite his excellent play he wasn't heavily recruited and ended doing a year of junior college in Philadelphia before accepting a full athletic scholarship to play at Louisville as a Sports Administration major.
As a college sophomore he averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 assists per game, and recorded a free-throw percentage of .768. Naruto moved into the starting lineup as a junior during the 2011-12 season and averaged 14.7 points and 6.4 assists per game, and earned All-Big East Honorable Mention honors.
As a senior in 2012–13, he averaged 15.7 points and 8.3 assists per game and earned All-Big East Honorable Mention for the second straight year.
Thanks to his phenomenal play Louisville made it to the NCAA tournament all three years he attended the school. But now as a senior he walked out onto the court for the last time to play the Michigan Wolverines in the championship game.
Naruto smiled as he stepped out on the court at the Georgia dome in Atlanta. After failing in the Final Four last year it felt good to make it to the big game.
Naruto scanned the crowd before spotting who he was looking for, his mother and daughter Nina, standing behind the scorers table.
"Daddy!"
Naruto smiled as he removed his warm up shirt. "Ready?"
The five year old nodded and the two did their signature pre game ritual. Three hand slaps before bumping wrist three times, then they brushed off each others chest twice before finishing with a superman taunt and roar. Naruto turned around and beat his chest.
"LET'S GO!"
When he turned back around he looked at the woman who was he had come to see as his mother.
"Go get em."
Naruto nodded and went to his spot for tipoff. He high fived his teammates as walked to his spot. He crouched down and took a deep breath as he steeled his nerves.
When he looked up he looked over to where his mother was sitting with his daughter, sister and friends from Philly He shook his head as they were all decked out in Louisville gear and holding signs.
The tip went to Louisville and Naruto brought the ball up the court. He dribbled through his legs a few times before using a screen set by one of his teammates and drove to the basket. The defense collapsed on him and he passed to a open teammate who knocked down a open three.
That's how the first half went. Naruto working to get inside and finding open teammates. He ended the first half with three points and seven assists as Michigan held a six point lead with the score, 39-45.
Naruto sat down with a towel over his head in the locker room. He could hear his coach talking but his mind wasn't registering it. He had everyone who cared for him in the stands and he knew they wouldn't care if he lost but he wanted to make them proud. They had all sacrificed for him and this was his chance to show it wasn't in vain.
"So this is how y'all gonna go out."
The entire team looked up to see their fallen teammate, Kevin Ware, standing with a pair of crutches. In their Elite Eight game against Duke his leg literally snapped and he had been in the hospital ever since.
"I came here looking for the future champs. Should I head to the other locker room?"
Everyone laughed as they all huddled up around Ware.
"Alright y'all listen up. Your so close. Twenty more minutes and y'all the next champions. Take it slow though. Y'all moving to fast, Naruto your passing the ball before they're even close to the spot. If your going to shot, shot. We gotta go on a run before things get out of hand."
Everyone nodded and put their hands up. "Cardinals on three. One, two, three. Cardinals! One, two, three. Cardinals!"
And with Ware on the sideline the Cardinals went on a run with and with two minutes left in the game they were up by one.
Naruto stuck to passing the ball racking up five more assists bringing his total up to twelve. But now with the game almost over his coach and teammates wanted him to put it away.
He bought the ball up the court and went between his legs a few times before using a screen set by one of his teammates. After coming off of the screen Naruto drove to the basket and went for a layup. The opposing center went to block it but just as he jumped up Naruto glided under the rim and did a reverse layup and the crowd went crazy.
After his layup the Wolverines managed to score and the Cardinals lead was back at one. Naruto just shook his head as he called for another screen. After using it he was double teamed but he simply picked up his dribble and took a step between his defenders and another to get in range for a layup which he made putting them back up by three.
Staying in the game the Wolverines hit another shot cutting the lead back to one. After their shot they tried to double team him again but this time Naruto saw his power forward open in the paint and the ball was quickly in his hands before being slammed into the hoop.
Michigan finally managed to tie the game with a three but they still couldn't slow down Naruto. Sticking to the use of screens Naruto called for another one but Michigan's center stepped forward after Naruto went around it. Never slowing down Naruto looked the center in his eyes and switched his dribbling hand. As soon as the ball touched his left hand the center reached and Naruto quickly went behind the back and drove past the frozen defender and got another layup at the rim.
After giving his team the lead back Naruto managed to strip the opposing point guard when he went in for a layup and instead of rushing up the court he walked up allowing his team to get in position.
When he reached halfcout the entire arena stood up on their feet to see what he would do next. Naruto just seemingly ignored the attention as he dribbled behind his back before pulling up for a three and knocking it down.
After his three the Wolverines called a timeout and Naruto walked to his bench.
"This is what I do! I was born for this!"
His teammates surrounded him and gave him pats on the back and high fives.
After the timeout the Wolverines managed to score bringing the lead back to three with thirty eight seconds left. Naruto wisely held the ball for as long as he could but with twenty two left on the clock he went back into action.
He slowly approached the three point line like before and went behind his back. That was enough to convince his defender that he was going to shot and Naruto used his speed and drove. His defender got back on defense and bumped him forcing him to pick up his dribble. Naruto just simply faded away hitting it off the backboard.
The crowd erupted as Naruto backpedaled to get back on defense while shaking his head.
"Game over!"
With only seventeen seconds left Michigan scrambled around trying to get a shot off. The Cardinals gave them no open looks and they eventually threw up a wild three with nine seconds left. The shot missed and a Louisville freshman grabbed the rebound before throwing it down the court to Naruto who was in front of his hoop.
Naruto respectfully choose not to lay the ball up and waited for the final seconds to tick off. Once they did he threw the ball in the air as confetti rained down from the sky.
The entire Louisville roster charged at Naruto and knocked him down to the floor as they celebrated.
When he was finally able to stand up he ran over to the area where people from his school were sitting. When he reached them he held out his arm and pointed to his veins.
"I got ice in my veins!"
His classmates cheered and one of his teammates placed a championship hat on his head.
After celebrating with his classmates Naruto approached Kevin.
Naruto hugged Kevin who held onto his crutches. "This one was for you man."
Kevin nodded. "I know but that was all you. You took over and finished the game."
Naruto smiled and patted Kevin on the back before heading into the stands.
His sister, Mia approached him first and gave him a hug.
"Congratulations bro. You did good."
Naruto smiled and then gave his friend Biggs a hug.
"Ice in those veins man! That's what I'm talking about!"
Naruto was congratulated by Starr, Micey, Shana, Davon, AJ, Tyson and Shikamaru all his friends from Philly. Then he was engulfed in a giant hug by his mother.
"I'm so proud of you and I know your parents would be too."
Naruto nodded as he felt tears stream down his eyes. He felt someone tug on his shorts and he smiled at his daughter.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her down to the court with him. By the time the presentation podium was set up Nina had both a championship shirt and hat as she sat on his shoulders.
As soon as the trophy was presented to the Cardinals a reporter approached Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki, what a end to a wonderful college career. A double double in your final game as a Cardinal, what motivated you tonight?"
Naruto looked up at Nina and smiled. "Honestly it was my family. They haven't seen me play a game since last year's season opener but they all made it tonight, all my friends from Philly made it and just having them here gave me a confidence boost."
"Must have been some confidence boost because you were responsible for thirteen points in the final two minutes, scoring eleven while you only scored three points in the first half. What was it like having that kind of confidence from your teammates?"
"Well all of the credit goes to coach and my teammates. They trusted me with the ball and believed that I could put the game away and thanks to them I did."
"Naruto your story has been well documented. You lost your parents at the age of thirteen. You were adopted by the woman who trained you in basketball and now after tonight's performance you will go down in college basketball history. What is some advice that you can give to a younger generation."
"Just never give up. There are going to be times where you feel lost and helpless but just keep pushing, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel."
"And I see that you've got your daughter Nina down here with you. Are you proud of father?"
Nina nodded.
"Well Atlanta Georgia I present to you the 2013 NCAA Champions The Louisville Cardinals and this year's Most Outstanding Player Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto smiled as everyone cheered for them.
Two Days Later
The celebration for the new champions ended quickly as they celebrated the victory of the men's team and the fact that the women's team made it to the championship game before losing to UCONN.
After the party Naruto was left with a pile of unfinished schoolwork. He was in his dorm doing work for his Healthy Living class when someone knocked on his door.
When he answered it he found Shikamaru on the other side.
"Damn who died in here?"
Naruto smiled. "The athlete in student athlete. What's up though I thought y'all left already?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "I'm heading to New York in some buisnees for you and I needed you to sign this before I leave."
Shikamaru handed Naruto a piece of paper. After Naruto read it he laughed.
"You want me to declare for the NBA draft?"
"Wasn't that point of all of this?"
Naruto sat on his bed. "I guess."
"Good now sign it and get back to work cause your mom will kill me if your GPA drops just a little."
Naruto looked at the paper then at the picture of him and Nina next to his bed. He always wanted to play in the NBA but now he knew it was for all the wrong reasons. Now he wanted to play in the NBA to give his daughter a better life.
"Alright but why the hell are you going to New York for me anyway?"
Naruto signed the paper and handed over to his friend.
"Remember when I wanted to be your agent?"
Naruto nodded and Shikamaru continued.
"Well I thought it over and I realised it would be a easier job if I was apart of a agency. More resources and more money. They were a bit skeptic at first but after seeing my grades and the promise of signing you they agreed to meet with me."
"Who?"
"Where's the fun in that. They said they'll be at your graduation so get back to work."
Naruto watched as his friend left his dorm. Naruto sighed and looked at the Allen Iverson poster on his wall.
"Well this should be fun."
And Done! New and improved version. The pairing as of right now is unclear but I will figure it out soon.
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