Fairytale Happiness

Twenty Eight

Gaara has now volunteered to coach Konoha as Kankuro is coaching Ota. It's basically the elder brothers versus the younger brothers.

In the huddle, Hitori, who is the stat keeper of Konoha asks, "Any words of wisdom or encouragement Coach Sabaku?"

Gaara looks down at the others and looks back with a blank face before shrugging. "Beat that ass." Naruto and Sasuke deadpan before chanting win with the team.

They walk out into the court to massive cheers. Naruto closes his eyes and focuses. It's been years since he touched a basketball. He hears a voice that has always been there for him.

Hey there son.

Hey dad.

Don't stress yourself. This game is just for fun. So go out there and do just that. Have fun.

Thanks dad. You always know what to say.

Anytime. Now, get out of here. Your mom and aunts are trying to get me to ask about your new girlfriend.

Naruto quickly opens his eyes with a chuckle. 'Let's ball."

(cue the video)

The two teams are going at each other like this is a championship game. Menma and Itachi are destroying Konoha players in the paint but no one from Ota can stop Naruto or Sasuke.

Sasuke switches defense to guard his older brother. Itachi smirks knowing he has a slight height advantage but Sasuke is smart. He uses his angles to guard Itachi and successfully neutralizes him.

He and Naruto use double teams to cause Menma to take wild shots. Unfortunately for them, he seemingly can't miss. The two have to figure out a way to stop Menma while keeping Itachi at bay.

After halftime, Naruto comes out and makes 7 shots in a row. Sasuke hits 5 more.

Itachi has made 4 and Menma has made 12. Naruto comes up with a plan. He rushes his brother and positions himself close to him. Menma turns to create space and knocks Naruto down drawing an offensive foul.

Menma looks at Naruto who's smirking. Menma takes a deep breath and helps his brother off the floor. Naruto and Sasuke keep trapping Menma in double teams causing him to get into foul trouble.

With Menma sitting out the game for most of the third quarter, the two younger siblings and their team go in a rampage. They take turns shooting jump shots and layups while getting their teammates involved with passing the ball around.

Itachi has shown a different side of him, however, keeping the game close. He has shown great ball handling skills and is controlling the offense himself.

Now, with 2:14 left to play, the crowd is really getting a great. Gaara and Kankuro are on the edge of their seats. Sasuke hits his free throw and Konoha is down by 5.

Menma brings the ball up and Naruto is caught in a hard screen, but Menma misses the shot. Caught in shock and awe he forgets to run back down court and turns to see Naruto throwing an alley oop to a teammate.

Itachi bring the ball up and runs the clock out for a bit to hurry this game along. Sasuke approaches him and he dribbles to the side. Menma runs around him to retrieve it. Menma motions for a screen and Itachi runs Sasuke right into it causing him to fall to the ground.

Itachi and Menma both stop worried about the younger Uchiha. Sasuke looks up and smirks at them.

Naruto takes off in a full sprint down the court as a Konoha player steals the ball from a distracted Itachi. He passes to Naruto who is wide open. Naruto shoots a long three pointer and turns around to face his elder brothers knowing the shot is going in.

The crowd howls in delight as Konoha ties the game. Kankuro facepalms as he can't believe his friends fell for that old trick. Hell, he's the one made it up. He looks over at a snickering Gaara with a scowl. Gaara laughs even harder when Kankuro flips him the bird.

With 21 seconds left and the score tied, everyone is in the edge of their seats. This game, even though a fundraiser, turned out more entertaining than anyone could have imagined. Even the bearded man in the shadows is into it. He went a bought some nachos and a large drink just to tune in. He's even FaceTiming his boss to show him the game.

Itachi inbounds the ball to Menma and he is immediately double teamed. Luckily for him, he can keep a sound mind in those situations. He throws the ball to Itachi who takes two steps and passes it to a wide open teammate.

The guy shoots the ball only for Sasuke to block it from behind him. Unfortunately, it falls right into the hands of another Ota player who lays the ball up for the lead. Konoha has 7 seconds left.

The ball is inbound to Naruto who quickly rises up to shoot a three. Menma anticipated this and blocks the shot. The crowd gasps at the moment. Sasuke jumps to rebound the ball mid air and turns and shoots it.

Itachi stretches as high as high can and grazes the ball as it flies just over his fingertips towards the basket. His touch is just enough, however, as the balls rotation is thrown off.

The buzzer sounds as Sasuke's shot rolls off the opposite side of the rim and falls to the ground. He missed.

Ota wins.

The Konoha team drop their heads in disappointment but Ota cheers them up with encouraging words. Menma grabs Naruto and hands him the ball. He whispers to his little brother, "I told you that you'd remember why you started playing."

Naruto chuckles and sees Menma looking at the crowd. He follows his eyes right to Hinata. He looks back at a smirking Menma and grunts. "I was not showing out for Hinata. I was showing out for your niece thank you very much."

Menma and Sasuke share a look, "We never said a name. Guilty much?"

Naruto turns red and storms off embarrassed. He wants to get as far away from them as possible.

While the crowd is cheering and celebrating, the dark haired stalker is sending out a group message signaling for their mission to start. After he sees that everyone had red his message, he destroys his phone and tosses it into the trash exiting the coliseum.

Hinata is celebrating with the others when she remembers what Naruto said. She tells everyone to meet up at the house for a group after party. A loud squeal is heard. Well...several loud squeals. Ino, Hanabi, Karin and Ayame aren't even trying to hide their giddiness. Tenten rolls her eyes and walks to the parking lot with Hinata.

The guys are finishing up showering before going out to greet some fans. Neji stayed behind to help out with the paperwork and because he needed a break from his starstruck son. Apparently the little boy is a huge Gaara Sabaku fan and has been nagging his father to introduce him.

Naruto gets a phone call.

"Hello. Uzumaki speaking."

"...hello Uzumaki."

"Um...hello. I just said that."

"Tell me something."

"What's that?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Orange. Duh. Who doesn't know that?"

A venomous chuckle can be heard through the speaker. "Here I was thinking that the whole time your favorite color is red."

As soon as the word red leaves the guys lips, a beam is placed right on Naruto chest. Neji sees this and reacts before anyone else. He tackles Naruto as a loud shot rings out. People scream and frantically run to escape.

Naruto helps Neji up and they check on their friends. Everyone is seemingly okay. Until they hear, "N-n-na...ru...t-to..."

Naruto turns and his breath hitches. Standing their, in shock, with a hole leaking blood from his chest and blooding now spewing from his mouth is his friend.

The red head takes one last look at everyone before collapsing.

Naruto's voice cracks in a loud scream, "Gaaraaaaaaaaaaa!"

Off in a distance, the shooter chuckles, "Target missed. Satisfying results. On the stage 2."