Series: Naruto
Setting: AU
Prompt: 017: Weapon
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2, 813
Warnings: Language
Summary: Who said sport couldn't end up being something deadly.

For The Love Of The Game

Spring. The time where new life is born. Flowers starting to emerge from the winter frost, baby birds crying out for a feed from their caring mother, flowing greens and tender sunrays that warmed down to the very core. Spring was undoubtedly the best time of year for everyone no matter how much they object the heat or the cold. The opening day had the ability to bring joy to the hearts of all… well almost all.

"Sports season! Pick it now before you are forced into the netball team!"

Spring meant mandatory sports time and a pack full of whining teenagers that refused to be proactive with their health, jumping up and down screaming out all the sicknesses that the world offered. Period pain was still the most common and favorable with the girls but the boys were more inventive with their disease of choice. Even some tried to pass off that malaria was circling this year so their joints were stiff, familial paroxysmal polyserositis was the second popular yet no one knew exactly what it was. Apparently longer name had to mean that it was deadlier. Still, no amount of poorly written forgeries would get them out of this, pushed into lines forced to pick their sport of preference.

There were a variety of sports on offer, kendo, baseball, basketball, gymnastics and volleyball. Everything you could imagine an above average private school could offer even lacrosse but still teenagers would be just that, complaining all the way through until they reached the tablet, placing their claim to the spot. The most popular places were filled quickly while the boring ones were left for those who ran behind, leaving an angry and frustrated cry out every once in a while.

However, there was one who didn't have to worry about the fact that the sport was full, moving forward to put his name down despite the lack of slots left for him.

"There is no way that I am passing the chance to have you in the team. Captain of State Champion Team, the Tora's for two years running," the coach of the basketball team praised, slapping the teen heartily against the back.

A flinch away from the striking hands, stepping to the side to get away from the display of trainer butt kissing, the teenager shrugged and signed his name up, tossing the pen back down on the table without regards.

"It's just sport," he mused, leaving the coach behind with his ridiculous happy pose.

This happened every time he transferred to a new school. As soon as they found out about his sporting achievements they were practically throwing the place at him, begging to try out for one sport or another so they could push the team to be the best thing around. Then would come the speech that he was going to make the team, he would be the foundation, they all should be more like him. Animosity would come from team mates and then the nil friends he had in the first place would turn into a negative. And frankly, he didn't care at all.

After all was said and done, they were given their orders that they were to attend their chosen sport on Wednesday afternoons, last class. Wednesday had now become the hated day of the week.

Itachi had turned up on Wednesday just as he was expected to, changing out of the summer uniform and pulling on his basketball gear, jersey, skin pants, looser sports shorts, lacing up his shoes and headed out towards the courts. There were a few familiar faces that he knew from his classes but through the crowd, he found himself scanning for one that he knew better than them all. He had not seen Deidara the day of selections so he could only assume he skipped out and was forced into the Netball option but there was one thing for sure. He was not in Basketball.

The lesson went through as standard. Warm up drills, ball handling skills, shot practise. Weeding out who was the best and who just plan sucked for the school team. Naturally, the Uchiha was chosen straight off as captain but what else was new? Looks of hate started as soon as they were finished for the day, muttering petty comments and some childishly slamming into him with their shoulders giving fake apologies for running into him. He could only sigh and roll his eyes at them, picking up the ball that hadn't been put away with the rest, staying behind later to get himself back into shape.

Not that Itachi was not in shape, far from it. His body was toned in just the right places, not too much and not too little, not that he showed it, usually covered by loose clothes to avoid further attention from fan girls. Here he didn't have too many which was a change from the norm; his ways of being alone must have been picked up on.

Dribble, pause, jump, fadeaway shot. The ball swished through the net with the perfectly skilled shot, bouncing a few times rolling away to a stop, leaving him to go back and retrieve it. Another shot came up, moving to the three-point line for a jump shot, flawlessly poised with his hands up in the air following the shot through as it downed through the net again. Over and over again he ran from side to side, picking his position to take the shot with each of them hitting each time, only one missing that he quickly retrieved for self the alley oop as it bounced off the rim.

Although critics used to say that no Japanese players could hit a slam dunk, Itachi could but chose not to. He had done it once turning a formal game and another player slammed into him while he was attached to the ring and knocked him down. He came down awkwardly and tore the ligaments in his leg and had to undergo surgery that grounded him for a year. They said that he shouldn't be playing at all but he wasn't ready to give it up just yet. He wasn't going for career, just as long as it wasn't going to cause permanent damage to his everyday life.

But injures were felt after a good session, cramping, stabbing pain. He knelt down and hugged the injured limb, pulling back the leg brace to see how it was looking. Swollen with light bruising, painful to the light touch. It was time to finish. Itachi headed back to the showers and got changed, fresh for the walk home although there was a limp in his step, taking a mental note to ice it down when he got home. It wasn't bad enough to call up for a lift yet.

He crossed through the oval for a short cut admiring how peaceful the school was when there was no one around and how easily everything could he heard with the tranquil silence. The occasional car driving by, the birds chirping as they got ready to settle down for the night, the humming of generators with the sprinkler system starting to kick in. It could almost seem creepy if you didn't look at it as something more serene. There was one sound that he couldn't identify so easily, turning his head to see, cocking it to the side when he saw a different sight.

Someone on the oval playing? Practising? Someone that he had been seeking. Deidara. He looked busy so instead, Itachi continued on his way leaving the blonde be. Still he was curious to why he was at school so late. Deidara didn't seem to be the sporting type or at least enough to perfect skills. Still, the next day when he came out of the gym, he was there just the same as the day before. This time curiosity got to him, casually making his way over to the blonde, clearing his throat to make himself be known.

"What are you doing?"

Deidara almost jumped ten feet in the air even with the warning indicator, jumping back and tripping over his ball landing flat on his butt.

"Warning next time asshole!" he growled even though he did receive it. "I'm doing exactly what it looks like. I'm playing Soccer, un."

Soccer? What was that? Itachi's eyebrow rose slightly at the mentioning of this sport that he was talking about, soccer, nothing he had heard of before. Maybe this was what he was doing instead of Netball. "There is no one else here. How can you be playing it?" Practicing soccer he could have understood but he was playing it now? His mind was too logical for its own good, interpretation wasn't an option.

"I am playing by myself," he scoffed knowing very well that the brainiac's mind wouldn't take it to the vulgar extent. "We have no teams here."

"No teams?" That would explain lots, he hadn't even heard of this. "What do you do it in?"

Pulling himself up to his feet again, Deidara crossed his arms over with a put out pout but still explained the rules of the game to him. Ball, net, no hands to be used or else it's a foul. Some professionals were artistic with the skills they had, being able to balance the round surface on their feet, forehead, knees, rebounding it off their bodies, aerial flips into the hair and they booted it through the goals. He would have to track down those Nike commercials to show him how magnificent it looked when done by the likes of Totti, Ronaldo, Cantona, Nakata.

"It is becoming popular more so over here now, un. Just that the schools don't think it's worthwhile putting it in the curriculum."

Since the early 90s they were starting to show up, creating their own J-League but compared to baseball and the sorts, it was a minor league. But Deidara was enthralled with it, something that his home country was good at which is where he picked up the spark for it, sitting with his father on his lap watching the World Cup, cheering along with him.

"You want me to teach you it?" he suggested, popping the ball up on his knee, alternating it between the two.

Itachi hummed softly, looking up while he thought. The concept was strange being that he used his hands in Basketball but he would never turn down looking into a new skill, plus Deidara looked like he needed a partner. "Okay," he replied, placing his bags down on the ground.

Deidara was ecstatic when he agreed, bouncing back as well as his ball rebounding around his body to keep it up in the air. "Okay, now this will take ages to learn but I can do the basics, un." There was no way he expected Itachi just to pick it up and trick like that but before you could walk, you have to crawl… or drag your stomach along the grass and mess up your neat clothes.

For the upcoming days they trained together, all week long in each other's company after school. Deidara had wondered why he always came by so late so he investigated when he watched him leave for class, secretly in awe at his skills on the court but out on the field, he was the one that had the skills.

"This is a goal, un. You need to kick it into there." That couldn't have been explained simpler than that. What was he? Two years old? "I will be the goalie and I will try and stop you."Deidara finished up, running away to get into position.

No chance that Itachi would get by him nuhuh no way no chance. His handling of the ball was good but in no way good enough to maneuver around the guard to go straight into the goals. Deidara smirked and folded his arms around the back of his head giving a whistle of wait, rocking back and forth on his heels.

He was almost ready to go. Firstly, Itachi started to examine the trajectory that he would need, calculating now much force it would take to get a curve to get around him. Theoretically he should be able to do it without a problem but his lack of skills was a factor that he had to take into consideration. Ball handing with his feet was not as natural as his hands but regardless, he took a few steps back to get the momentum, charging towards the ball and then Deidara yelled out 'Ha! You suck!" before he kicked it which totally threw him off his game plan.

"Huh?" Itachi faltered, kicking the ball wildly without looking where it was going, tripping onto his back.

Within a couple of seconds there was a loud cry out, a thud against the ground followed by further mewling about pain. Itachi expected a complaint that he got it past or a laugh of how much he sucked but not that. Deidara was hunched up in the fetal position rolling around from side to side, coughing heartily between yelps of agony, his hands firmly placed between his legs. Ooops.

Itachi stood up and winced as he put pressure on his leg, hobbling closer to the injured boy to make sure that he hadn't snapped anything off, glancing down at him writhing trying to make the unbearable pain go away. He knew that pain, almost every boy did.

"Did I crush your testicles?" he asked deadpan and serious. Who would have thought that a ball could be a deadly weapon like that? His own fault though, he threw him off.

After a while he stopped moving which must have been a good sign, or so Itachi thought as he was knocked down onto his back once again, this time with a horrifyingly irate blonde pinning him down.

"Bastard, bastard, that hurt, un! What kind of shot was that? My dick could've been crushed." Or at least relocated up into his stomach.

He shook him around with force to make sure that the point got through to him, yelling every curse word ever invented. The Uchiha did nothing to stop him at all, just letting him get all the aggression out until he either calm down or got weak from shaking him around. Weakness was the first thing that hit, collapsing down on top of him resting against his chest breathing furious breathes waiting to hit the second phase. That was going to be the last time he taught him how to do anything… ever!

With all the confusion of the mis-kick, Deidara mustn't have noticed that he was lying on top of him but Itachi certainly did, unmoving waiting for him to get off in his own time. But then something happened that he could not predict. His hand started to move on its own up towards the golden mane of hair hanging over his back, twisting it slowly between his fingers playing with it. What was he doing? Why did he feel so natural? So… familiar? Why was he not pushing him off? His deep midnight eyes turned and looked up seeing the sparkling blue staring back at him, bodies, face, skin, almost fully in contact as his lips just lingered off his. What was he thinking?

"You owe me a burger for that," the blonde smirked, pushing himself up off him, extending his hand out for him to take.

Reaching up, he grabbed it sturdily thankful for the extra help to get back up, finding it hard to balance when he came to his feet. Spring, sport season, extra pressure… it would cope. "You could always find someone to rub it better for you but I will accept the burger arrangement," Itachi agreed, collecting their gear.

"Like you Itachi?"

He turned to be face to face with him once again, this time he gave a strange face back at the ridiculous grin that was as wide as the Chestershire Cat that came back at him. He was only playing with him, that smile totally gave it away. Itachi had no response for that unlike usual, stunned slightly enough to prevent him from answering, only giving a huff like he was not impressed at all of what he was implying.

Deidara threw his hands up in the air and his head back in laughter, slinging his arm around Itachi's back since his shoulders were too high to reach. "Kidding kidding. Why do you take things so seriously, un?"

"You were wanting me to do it weren't you?"

"What?! No way."

"At least you didn't want it kissed better."

"That's… what if I said yes?"

He laughed at Itachi and rested his head against his shoulder, walking together out of the school grounds.

"Try and ask me that again after the burger."