I do not own any of the Naruto or Kuroko no Basuke characters. Their ownership resides solely with Masashi Kishimoto and Tadatoshi Fujimaki.
Normal speech - "Kurama"
Flashback – kurama
Sound effects – kurama
Chapter 17
Naruto gazed out across the ocean as he watched the sun make its way above the horizon. He breathed in the fresh air and released a tired sigh. The past few months had been hectic for him with barely any days to rest. He was now playing 32 minutes per game, much more than he expected to be playing in his rookie year. He was almost positive that Kobe and Magic had convinced the higher-ups to give him more game time. Not that he was complaining or anything. His stats for the season so far were almost reaching those as the elites in the league: 23.8 points, 7.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.3 steals. He found out early on that he couldn't become a scoring machine yet due to the fact that he would tire himself out too quickly.
Things weren't all smooth sailing though. The Lakers were just holding on to the 7th seed in their conference. The west was packed with strong teams who were going to get stronger over the coming years if what Magic says is true. Even though he knew that they were planning to build around him, he was eternally grateful that he had Kobe there to guide him.
Speaking of Kobe… they had their ups and downs. Naruto would often get frustrated after not receiving the ball in open space while Kobe would shout at him when the ball would not get thrown to him. Before, training sessions involving the two of would be tough and competitive but fair. Now, however, it was rare to make it through a practice session without the two of them shouting at each other. It became such a common occurrence that the rest of the team and coaching staff just left them to deal with things on their own.
That's not to say that they haven't been playing well together. When game time came around the two of them were almost always in sync. Naruto was the team's most versatile player, being able to play three positions with ease and beginning to learn how to use his body when put in as a PF. He was also the player on the Lakers team who covered the most ground during games. His ability to score from anywhere, as well as being able to defend against most players, was getting him noticed as becoming a well-rounded two-way player.
He was broken out of his thoughts by being tackled to the ground by a big ball of red fur. He chuckled as he tried to get Kurama to let him up.
"Make sure not to injured him, Kurama." An angelic voice says as both man and fox stop wrestling to look at the owner of said voice.
'Alex' walks towards the pair while carrying a sleeping Himawari in her arms. Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face from seeing the sight before him. He takes no note of Kurama leaving him be to run towards 'Alex'.
"She's really tired after our girl's night." She says in a quiet voice with a soft smile upon her face. "Poor little thing had the time of her life."
Getting up off the ground and brushing the dirt off of himself, Naruto makes his way over to his two favourite girls and gently takes Himawari into his arms while placing a gentle kiss on Alex's cheek.
"Thanks again for looking after her. I know you can get real busy with work and stuff but she prefers being around you when I have a stretch of away games." He says quietly.
The make their way over to a bench and sit down, both content with the peaceful silence surrounding them.
"So, I was thinking…", Naruto starts and takes a deep breath, "…it's All-Star Weekend this week and I got an extra ticket left. My family will already be there but it would mean a lot to me if you would be there with them."
"Oh? Hima-hime didn't tell me you were playing in any of the games otherwise I would have gotten a ticket!" She whispers in an agitated voice.
"Hehe well," he uses a hand to rub the back of his head while the other is wrapped securely around his daughter, "I kinda told her not to say anything cause I wanted to give you a ticket. It's not like I'll be playing in the All-Star game, just the Rising Stars game and the 3-point challenge."
"He forgot to say that he also wants to introduce you to our family and friends." A tired voice speaks up, surprising the two adults.
"Naruto," Alex starts off hesitantly, "if I spend time with your family at the games then everyone will know that we are close. You'll also find out who I am."
"Yeah I know all that but I honestly couldn't care less at this point." Naruto says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Plus, I really do want to spend more time with you."
Alex turns her head away from the father-daughter duo so that they won't see her blushing face. She felt the same way as Naruto. The few months that the have known each other have been some of the best she ever had. Things just got better when she met Himawari and started spending vast amounts of time with the adorable little girl. The only damper on the entire experience was the need for secrecy as both she and Naruto thought it best to keep Himawari away from the media's attention as much as possible.
"I would love to meet everyone." She says with a tearful smile. "I would also love to spend more time with the two of you together."
Naruto walks into the Smoothie King Center surrounded by friends and family, Himawari on his shoulders and Kurama walking at his side. Everyone was decked out in Naruto's Laker's memorabilia. Even Kurama had on a custom made jersey.
"Troublesome… everyone gather around so I can get this over with as soon as possible." All the guys tried to hide their laughter at Shika's reluctance at taking charge. "We were fortunate enough to get tickets for everyone, so we have a big group with us here today. Mr Hirai managed to get us all together quite close to the court so the camera will be on a lot. Make sure you are using Sony products as much as possible as well as showing off our Naruto merchandise. Ruto, when is your guest arriving?"
"No idea." He says with a shrug. "Himawari will know when she's here."
"Okay, I'll have Hima-hime keep me posted. Sakura, there'll be a wheelchair close by in case you need to go anywhere."
A heavily pregnant Sakura gave Shikamaru a grateful nod.
"Okay guys," Naruto says as he hands Himawari over to Kakashi, "I'm going to get ready for the games."
Naruto secures his bag on his back and makes his way over to the locker rooms as his family and friends make their way to their seats to enjoy the All-Star weekend.
"Everyone, please stand up and give a loud cheer for our 4 semi-finalists!" the crowd rises to their feet with shouts of encouragement.
Naruto, Kyle Korver, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry made their way to the middle of the court as they raised their hands in acknowlengement of the cheering crowd, all four men easily making it past the preliminaries. It was now a battle between the shooters of the Lakers and the Warriors.
"The first match-up will be between Klay Thompson and Naruto Namikaze. Kyle Korver and Stephen Curry will battle it out right after the winner of the first match-up is decided."
Naruto, Kyle, and Curry make their way over to the bench as Klay takes up his starting position. Naruto crosses his arms and closes his eyes in an attempt to focus himself. He knew there was no point in watching Klay since he already knew that he was going to be given a tough time from the remaining three guys in the competiton.
"Man, I can't wait to play against Klay."
Broken out of his thoughts, he sends a confused look to the man sitting on his right.
"What do you mean? Neither you or Klay have won yet."
"No offense to you guys, you are actually really good, but me and Klay aren't called the splash brothers for nothing." Stephen Curry says with an innocent smile on his face.
"That doesn't mean you are going to win though." Naruto answers back with irritation laced in his voice. "Kyle and myself could just as easily make it to the finals and face off against each other."
Curry can't help himself and let's loose an amused chuckle, further angering Naruto and even managing to make a slight sneer appear on the face of the normally calm Kyle Korver.
"Calm down Rookie." Curry says with a roll of his eyes. "All I'm saying is that it's still too early for you to be playing with the big boys."
He feels the tight control he holds over his anger begin to loosen just a bit and for once does nothing to gain it back. He was tired of some of the superstars in the league not taking him seriously. Even, if it was just his rookie season, Naruto knew that he was playing at a higher level than what most of them were when they started out. It angered him that they would not take him seriously and he was finally going to do something about it.
Naruto could feel his body start to heat up with anger. He stands up and begins to rip off his tracksuit in preparation for his turn. He steps onto the court as Klay makes his way over to the bench. With his back towards Curry he tilts his head to the side and says in a quiet voice so only Curry can hear.
"This is one of those moments where you should…"
Naruto walks towards the starting ball rack, ignoring all attempts made by the crowd to get a reaction out of him. The crowd, noticing the look of irritation on his face, begins to quiet down. Everyone in the stadium feels the tension in the build rise as they gaze upon Naruto. He ignores everything happening around him as he sinks deeper and deeper into his primal state of mind, concentration levels rising higher and higher.
He grabs the first ball and releases the shot just as the buzzer goes off for him to begin. Naruto pays no attention as it rattles through the hoop, already going through the motions for his second shot. He misses the second and third shot but manages to sink the fourth. He grabs the money ball and shoots it before racing to the next rack while the ball is still in the air.
He gets to the second rack as the money ball bounces off the rim. He grabs a ball but rushes through his shot and misses the basket completely. He manages to make his next two shots but misses the last two. Running towards the third rack his eyes gaze at the bench, making contact with a smirking Stephen Curry.
Naruto growls, grabbing a ball and sinking it before doing the same to the next one. He rushes through the next two, missing both of them. It was the sound of Curry's laughter that finally caused his anger to boil over. His face falls into a half-lidded bored expression, a clear indication for those who know him that he has now stopped holding back. Grabbing the money ball of from the third rack, his body smoothly goes through the motions of his jump shot. The ball barely leaves his hands before he casually jogs to the fourth rack.
His surroundings fade away as he becomes entirely focused on the basket before him. First shot, banks it in. Second shot, rattles it home. Third shot, rattles home. Fourth shot, gets a lucky bounce into the basket. Money ball shot, nothing but net.
As he makes his towards the money rack his body begins moving on its own. As if he were having an out of body experience, Naruto was able to see himself reach the rack, grab a ball, and face the basket. The sight before him causing him to hesitate in awe. Sweat was pouring down his emotionless face, eyes opened wide due to the amount of concentration being generated. Naruto would never be sure of this fact but in that particular moment, gazing at himself in a way that nobody else could, he though he might have seen the faint sign of lightning sparking from his eyes.
Splash
Splash
Splash
Splash
Splash
The crowd erupts into cheers as Naruto turns around on the spot and spreads his arms out wide, a shocked Stephen Curry in front of him.
"…sit down and shut the fuck up."
Klay 21:24 Naruto
Cameras were flashing as Curry and Naruto stood centre court, waiting for the coin to get tossed to decide who would go first. After Naruto's aggressive statement to Curry the media had been having a field day with the growing rivalry between the two. For some reason, many of the reports and commentators were painting Naruto in bad light. Naruto couldn't say that this surprised him. Ever since draft night the media have always tried to make him look like the villain.
"You should've just kept quiet Rookie." Curry calls out as the ref tosses the coin into the air. "Cause you tried to be the hero I had to crush your teammate. Now it'll be your turn."
As much as Naruto hated to admit it, Curry had completely destroyed Kyle in the semi-finals. While Kyle managed to score a good 20 points, Curry caught fire early and managed to score a ridiculous 26 points, posting a new 3-point contest record.
"I'll go first, ref." Curry says before he even looks at the coin. "Don't want the little Rookie to feel like he has to do too much." He says with an arrogant smirk.
Seething in anger, Naruto sits on the bench and waits for Curry to start his shooting clinic. It made him even angrier to admit but Stephen Curry really was one of the best shooters he has ever seen. A lot of the shots that were made did not even seem as if any effort was being applied. Curry simply looked to be enjoying himself, playing off of the crowd and just running around with an idiotic smile upon his face.
Curry releases his last shot, equalling his score from the previous round, and turns to face Naruto while pointing at him, making a talking motion with his hand.
"You talk to much Rookie!" Curry says much to the cheers of the crowd. "Its too soon for you to be coming for the league!"
Naruto didn't realise he was moving towards Curry until he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and hold him in place. He turns his head to shout at the person holding him back and feels his jaw drop down in shock at seeing those behind him.
"Daiki? Shintaro?" Naruto asks in disbelief. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?"
Daiki releases Naruto and steps back with that ever present smirk still on his face.
"What's this I see? I came here to see you show up all these weaklings and yet all I see is you losing your shit over some foolish comments made by someone dubbed the 'baby-faced assassin'?" Daiki questions with clear confusion. "What kind of nickname is that anyway? Its not threatening at all!"
"What Aomine neglects to state is that we are in America for personnel reasons." Shintaro says as he pushes his glasses back into place, tape wrapped around his fingers as always."
"Oh? You'll have to tell me everything after I'm day for the day." Naruto says as he turns his attention back towards Curry. Clenching his fists at his sides, Naruto begins to concentrate on the upcoming task of setting a new 3-point record. "I need to go put this dude in his place."
"You won't be able to." Daiki says in a bored tone, Shintaro and Naruto snap their heads in his direction. "Don't give me that look." He says with a roll of his eyes.
"What you mean I won't beat him?"
"You are holding back." Daiki says with a shrug. "You are still thinking too much. Its why you haven't been able to reach that stage I told you about. Until you can actually admit that you are hiding away a part of yourself, you won't be able to progress to where you want to go."
"I don't have time for this, Daiki."
Naruto walks towards the starting point, glaring at Curry all the way.
"So… anybody have any idea what just happened there?" Asked a very bewildered Obito.
"He wasn't in the right mindset." Jiraiya answers.
"It almost seems as if he was looking for something as he took each shot." Kakashi says as he goes back to reading his book.
Himawari watches with a worried look on her face as Naruto walks down the tunnel to the locker rooms. She knew her dad well enough to know that the smile on his face was anything but real.
"What's wrong, Little One?" a soft unfamiliar voice made the entire family pause. "Wanna come with me to go visit your dad?"
Himawari and Kurama jump up, surprising the entire family and catching the attention of various surrounding people, and run towards the owner of the voice.
"Alex!" Himawari screams with glee as she launches herself at the newcomer. Both girls squeal in happiness as the hug each other, drawing even more attention from those around them. Cameras start flashing as reporters race to see what all the commotion is about.
Just as it looks like the pair is about to be crowded by reporters looking for a scoop, Kurama jumps in front of them and growls menacing at everyone he deems a threat, the crowd freeze in tracks as the face down a wolf sized fox with its hackles raised in warning. Himawari and Alex ignore everyone else entirely as they focus on catching each other on what has been happening in the few days since they were last together.
"Tou-san seems upset." Himawari says with worry.
"I know. I tried getting his attention as he left the court but it seems as if he wasn't taking note of anything around." Alex responds as she holds Himawari's hand. "Let's go surprise him."
The girls walk away from everyone, holding hands and chatting away without a care in the world. Kurama growls one last time at the crowd of fans and reporters before trotting off behind the pair as their silent protector.
Naruto's friends and family watch in shocked silence as Himawari walks away without a word. The come out of their daze as cameras start flashing all around them. Pictures are being taken along with questions being shouted to gain information.
"Troublesome… you'd think he'd at least tell his manager that he was seeing a celebrity." Shikamaru sighs. "Now I have to deal with all this bullshit."
Shika gets up from his seat and makes his way over to the crowd in order to do as much damage control as possible.
"Lucky bastard." Kiba says under his breath with many of those who heard him nodding their heads in agreement.
The first thing they see as they walk into the locker room is the sight of Naruto sitting against his locker with a towel upon his face. They look at each other before making their way to him as silently as possible, sitting on either side of him and wrapping their arms around. Naruto tenses for just a second at the contact before relaxing as he feels the familiar embrace of his two favourite girls.
The trio sit in silence for a bit, just basking in each others' presence as a watchful Kurama stands guard by the door.
"Don't worry, Tou-san." Himawari says as she tightens her arms around him.
"It just one game, Naruto." Alex says as she gently takes the towel off of his face. "You'll have many more opportunities to show everyone that you are the best."
Naruto gives them a grateful smile and wraps his arms around them. The girls started giggling as they try to get out of his hold.
"Naruto let go!" Alex says as she loses herself in a fit of giggles.
"Yeah Tou-san, you are all sweaty." Himawari finally gets out of his hold and stands in front of him with her hands on her hips. She tries to put on her sternest expression, which the adults just find adorable. "You need to go shower."
Naruto laughs at his daughter acting like the parent again.
"Okay Hima-hime, whatever you say. I just need to check my phone first. Go back sit back with the family so long and I'll catch up with you when I'm done." He rummages around in his locker as the girls make their way towards the door. "Oh and Hima-hime," the girls pause and look at Naruto to see him scrolling through his phone, "make sure you properly introduce everyone to Selena, okay?"
The girls freeze in shock as they look at him with shock clearly written on their faces. He smiles at them and shows them a video of Himawari and Selena hugging each other on his phone with a caption reading: ROMANCE ON THE COURT FOR SELENA GOMEZ AND NARUTO NAMIKAZE?
SO SHE'S FINALLY BEEN REVEALED! Well done for those of you who guessed it. Some won't be happy with the choice but it's my story. The drama won't stop now that she's been revealed.
Sorry that this chapter took so long. I completed it a few days ago but after re-reading it I didn't like the where the story was going. It looked like almost all other NBA fanfiction on here. So i decided to change things up and this is the best i could do without losing my mind over plot and everything.
SPOILER ALERT: this is not just a one season fan fiction. I'm trying to go for a lengthy read.
I just have to also add this last message: the way i portray certain people in this story is not how i really feel about them (in most cases). it is all for plot.
As always, please read and review. i'm good with all kinds of criticism as long as its constructive.