Chapter 4: Inter-High

Waking up in your bed without knowing what time it was…...few moments could match something as wonderful as this. That was no exaggeration either. It was like you were resting on the clouds, or whatever else looked soft. Naruto couldn't think of any other examples. Not right now. Not when he was slumped in his bed, sleeping the day away.

It was Saturday today, which meant no classes. Today had also been marked as a day off from practice. The coach wanted them well-rested for the preliminaries of the Inter-High. Kasamatsu had explained to them how the tournament was set up, but Naruto had mostly tuned the older teen out. He got bored easily like that. He understood the gist of it anyway, so paying attention to every little detail was redundant.

Anyway, it was a day of pure laziness for him. Naruto knew that, once the Inter-High got started, he wouldn't have many days like this. If at all. The main tournament went all the way into the summer, so even when classes were done they would still be working hard. They were definitely making it to the main tournament. That much was a fact.

How did Naruto know that? Because the true challengers were at the main tournament of the Inter-High. According to Kise, none of the other Generation of Miracles were in their district. So if they were going to face them, it was at the main tournament.

But that was for later. Sleep now, crush those guys later.

Aaaaaahhhhh, this was the life. Nirvana. Nothing could come close. It was a-

"NA-RU-TO-KUN…...,!"

Oh boy. That was his name…...and called out slowly to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. This could only mean one thing.

Yuki was going to force him out of bed.

Damn, what a cruel world.

His guess turned to reality when the girl practically kicked open the door to his room. Oh, and did he mention his room was big? Like, needlessly so? Naruto had told his mother that he didn't need so much space, but she hadn't bothered to listen. She was always like that. Spoiling him even when he didn't ask for it.

…..where was he again?

Ah, right. Yuki. In his room. Angry. Angry Yuki in his room. That was the gist of it.

The girl flipped the light switch on, causing Naruto to duck under his covers. He had closed the curtains on his windows for a reason. He didn't need to be bombarded with light right now. That would just be a pain.

His wishes went unanswered as Yuki removed the cover over him with one pull. Despite her looks, the girl had some strength on her. It was yet another thing Naruto liked about her.

Speaking of Yuki, she was dressed in more casual clothes today. No school today meant that he got to see her like this. A privilege of their friendship. She wore a light blue floral dress that reached down to her knees and brown short heeled ankle boots. It was a simple outfit, but she looked good in just about anything.

Ah, that was a thing Naruto had asked her to do when they were at home. She could wear her regular clothes. Even though she was a maid and thus practically an employee when she was in the house, she didn't look the part. That's because Naruto didn't consider her a maid. Not since that day.

More on that later.

But because of this decision, it had caused many of the other employees to wonder if he and Yuki were more than just a maid and her "master." Naruto had heard some of the rumors going around, that Yuki had seduced him so that she and her father could rise in society. It really pissed him off, and the only reason he didn't do anything about it was because Yuki didn't seem to care. If she didn't care, then there was no reason for him to get involved.

Her father would often glare at him when he thought he wasn't looking, though. Whatever that was about.

"Jeez, what time do you think it is!? You need to get up!" The girl didn't bat an eye to seeing him in his underwear. She was practically used to it by now. The first time had been hilarious, though. She had blushed harder than any other time in her life. Too bad he didn't have a camera ready at the time.

Groaning, Naruto scratched his hair, still refusing to stand or even sit up. "That's the whole point of a day off, Yuki. You try to do nothing. That's the only way to truly relax. Besides, shouldn't you be happy? It means less for you to do too."

Yuki picked up some of his clothes off the floor while shooting him a glare.

Oh, shit. There it was. Her infamous glare. Her eyes turned even colder than normal when she did that. Like, it was almost as if she had ice stored in her eyeballs or something. Naruto could practically feel himself turning colder just by looking at her.

Not a good sign for his "do nothing and stay in bed all day" plan he had come up with. He had even managed to ignore all of Kise's calls too.

Again, what a cruel world.

"Don't start with me. You already know that Kise-san invited you out today."

"And?"

"It's the first time a friend has asked you out! You should be happy!"

He was happy…...in bed. Saying that probably wouldn't be good for his health, though.

"I can't keep up with that guy's enthusiasm," Naruto muttered. "I thought I was annoying, but that guy has a motormouth. Almost makes me feel kinda bad about all the times I rambled on about the greatness of ramen to you."

Almost.

"I swear, sometimes you make me feel so frustrated." Yuki sighed as she placed Naruto's dirty clothes in the basket in his room. It wasn't laundry day today, so no need to take them downstairs. "I'm guessing you haven't even seen the video that's out about you and Kise-san."

Cue eyebrow raise. "There's a video on us? What?"

Yuki nodded. "Yeah. It seems someone was recording your practice match from a few days ago. They uploaded it yesterday, and it's gained quite a traction. It's almost reached a million views by now!"

Seriously? What the hell kind of situation was this? It should also be noted that Naruto would have never learned about this unless Yuki told him. He and technology didn't quite have a good relationship. No, that was being too nice. Naruto downright hated technology. He could use his phone, but that was only because of necessity. Even still, he only used it to call and text. Apps and other stuff like that were beyond him. Computers were worse. It was almost like he had never used them to begin with. It was frustrating. He had to wonder how his past self had managed to use those things.

Yuki went and grabbed his laptop from another pile of clothes. The sight was enough to make her twitch.

"Is this why you haven't let me clean your room for the past week?"

"I haven't let anyone clean my room for the past week," Naruto corrected. "I like it this way."

"It's a pig sty."

"It's my pig sty."

Yuki shot him a pout, which he ignored. Otherwise, he would be crumbling to her demands faster than a newborn baby crapping his diaper.

"Just show me the video already," Naruto said as he picked up a t-shirt from the pile of clothes. It didn't smell, so that was good enough for him.

Yuki ignored him for the moment as she set out to find the video on his laptop. It didn't take her too long to do so and showed it to him. Naruto peered over her shoulder to watch the video. It was definitely recorded by one of the students who had shown up to watch the game. The angle proved as much. The video started from sometime around the third quarter, with plenty of cuts. It only showcased the "best" plays of him and Kise.

"Huh."

"That's all you can say?" Yuki asked him as the video ended. "Shouldn't you be more excited? More people will know about you now!"

"It would have been better if the opposite happened. No one would know me, which would make them underestimate me, and then I could strike as a secret weapon." Naruto fell back to his bed. "Now my dreams have been crushed. So crushed, that I don't think I can get out of bed today. Just leave me to my misery, Yuki."

"Oh, you're not pulling this on me!" Yuki quickly caught on to his game and poked him on the side. "Kise-san has been trying to get in touch with you all day today, and he said you've ignored all his calls and texts. Why do you have to be so rude?"

Hold up.

Naruto sat up just enough to look at Yuki in the eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"Because Kise-san contacted me, duh."

Okay, a more direct approach then.

"And how exactly did he do that?"

Yuki looked confused. "Because we traded numbers?"

And there it is! The two of them could now work together against him like this. He should have just locked the door to his room-no, wait. Yuki had the keys to his room.

Dammit. There was no escaping this.

"Now take a shower and get dressed," Yuki ordered him. "Kise-san is waiting outside for us. We can't be rude guests, now can we?"

Naruto wished he could, but that probably wasn't an option.

"You son of a bitch, you have a lot of nerve disrupting my sanctuary."

"How mean! You're terrible, Uzumakicchi! If I didn't know any better, I would say you didn't want me here!"

"What gave you that impression?"

"Naruto-kun, manners."

A sigh. "…..hai, hai."

A crying Kise was now standing in the kitchen with a yawning Naruto and a glaring Yuki. Kise sported a red t-shirt with dark green cargo pants. Naruto was in an orange t-shirt with black shorts. It was just the comfortable thing to wear now that the summer heat was starting to hit.

"I can't believe you left me standing out there for an hour," Kise said through his animated tears.

Naruto had no remorse. "You're the one who had to bug me on my day off. Believe it or not, I like my sleep."

On the side, Yuki was still glaring at him, but he did his best to ignore that. He was probably going to have to treat her to dinner for this.

"I couldn't help it!" Kise was the most excited one here. "Did you see the video already!? Sugawaracchi showed it to you, right?"

"Is this what this is about?" Naruto sighed and went for a drink in the large refrigerator. "Why are you so excited about it?"

"Because it means everyone else must have seen it too!" Kise's face was like that of a child on Christmas. "Now they'll know that we mean business!"

"Yeah, but isn't that like bad?" Naruto said, pouring himself some orange juice. "Now the other teams we'll know what to expect from us."

Well, it wasn't like they had used all their moves in the practice match, but still.

"Uzumakicchi, don't you want to have a fair and straight fight against the others?"

"Sure, that sounds fun, but crushing your enemy with a surprise attack is fun too." Naruto grinned. "Seeing their faces when they realize they've been caught in a trap is pretty sweet."

Kise gawked at his words while Yuki shook her head. "Sorry about this, Kise-san. But this guy has a pretty mean streak to him."

Another reason why no one in their old school would approach Naruto was due to his pranking habits. Anyone that crossed him would be on the receiving end. Worse still, no one could prove it was him, but everyone knew it had to be him. He was the only one crazy enough to pull off such crazy stunts. Yuki knew some of his victims had deserved it, like some third-years that had tried to bully him just to look tough. But there was such a thing as going too far, at least in her mind. Naruto wasn't of the same opinion.

Kise quickly got over his gawking and smiled. "Well, that aside, I'm still excited about all of this. The Inter-High is going to be so much fun."

Yuki looked at the part-time model. "Kise-san, are you really okay fighting against your former teammates? Some people would find that difficult to do. You guys were on the same team for two years, right?" That was something that had been bothering her ever since Kise had told them about his promise with the other Generation of Miracles.

"We already promised to do just that," Kise answered and shrugged. "There's nothing more to it than that. This will be the first time we can all go against one another, to see who's truly number one. With the way things are, Midorimacchi and Aominecchi will go against one another first. Well, unless Kurokocchi gets in the way."

"Hm?" Naruto joined them with his drink in hand. "How's that?"

Yuki almost groaned. "Did you not hear Takeuchi-sensei and Kasamatsu-senpai talking about the schedule of the preliminaries?"

"…...maybe?"

"Naruto-kun…..."

"Alright, alright. I wasn't listening. Don't look at me like that." Naruto took a step back from the scowling girl, trying to stay away from her glare.

Kise laughed at the sight. It was just too funny.

"The schedule for all the preliminary tournaments were made public, Uzumakicchi. Both Seirin and Shūtoku are in Block A for the preliminaries. That means only one of them can advance to the final league before the actual Inter-High."

"From what I gather, Tōō Academy will more than likely win Block B," Yuki said, picking up the explanation from here. "No other team in that block has a chance against them. That's why, whoever wins Block A, will meet them in the final league. It's bound to happen."

"Eh?" Now that made Naruto curious. He wanted to see what kind of player this Kuroko was. He had earned Kise's respect back in middle school, so that was more than enough for Naruto to want to know what the guy could do.

'This Kagami dude sounds promising too…...'

Most of all, Midorima and Aomine. The shooter and the ace for the Generation of Miracles, respectively. Naruto was more than ready to take on either one. Or both. Both would be better. But for that to happen, they would have to get to the actual Inter-High tournament first.

"It sucks that we aren't in Tokyo," Kise pouted a little. "We'll have to wait a bit before we can get in on the fun."

There it was again. Kise's dismissal of anyone else as a threat. While Naruto was pumped to face against the other Generation of Miracles, he wasn't brazen enough to let his guard down against the other schools. Anything could happen, and there might be some good competition there. He didn't know. Yuki had told him that Kaijō was considered the strongest school in this region by far, and with him and Kise on the team now, they were stronger still.

Hopefully something interesting happened during their preliminaries. Otherwise, this tournament could become boring real quick.

Those thoughts were pushed aside as Naruto noticed another person suddenly walk into the massive kitchen.

It was his mother.

"Kaga-sama." Yuki instantly bowed, showing her respect. She didn't look surprised by his mother's sudden appearance. But she should be. Even on the weekends, his mother spent her days working. It wasn't until the afternoons that she came around to spend time with him. Surely it couldn't be that late already, could it?

Maybe he had been sleeping longer than he realized.

"Wipe that expression from your face, boy." Michiko walked around Yuki to engulf him in a hug while Kise just watched on. "I came here to surprise you."

"Uh…..." Naruto didn't know what to say to that. Surprise him? That never happened.

"I've heard about your new friend, so I came to see how things were for myself," she elaborated after seeing his dumbfounded expression.

The blond shot Yuki an annoyed look, which she ignored. It was her way of paying him back for ignoring her earlier.

Devious girl.

Kise finally caught on to what was happening and grinned. "So you're Uzumakicchi's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'm his best friend, Kise Ryota. Part time model, all time basketball player!"

What a crappy introduction. And wait, best friend? When did that happen?

"So you're the one, huh." The woman turned to the boy with a smile of her own. "I'm glad to see that my son is finally socializing. Can't enjoy your youth with only one friend."

Naruto disagreed, but his opinion probably didn't matter right now.

"I can totally understand that." And Kise was just going along with it.

Goddammit, Kise.

"I'm guessing you must be in the basketball team as well."

Kise nodded. "Of course. Uzumakicchi and I are the star players for our school. We'll become the number one team in Japan."

Saying their ambitions just like that…...damn, how embarrassing. At least, Naruto felt embarrassed. Probably because it was his mother.

Yuki just giggled at his suffering. She was totally enjoying this, the evil girl.

"Hmm, I'm glad to hear that. My son has been lacking ambition for quite some time now. It's good to see that he's hanging around people who can turn him a new leaf."

Oi, he wasn't a social experiment dammit!

"But come, I'm very curious to hear more." Michiko was all over Kise, dragging him out of the kitchen. "Yuki informs me it's your day off today, so I want to hear everything you have to say about your future plans."

So this was their scheme, huh. Get Kise to spill the beans. Yuki and his mother, these two evil women had planned against him. He would be impressed if only he wasn't the victim here.

As a laughing Kise followed Michiko out of the kitchen, a bemused Yuki dragged the grumbling Naruto after them.

They had a whole day to spend together.

True to Kise's words, the video of the two blonds facing off against one another had spread across Japan like wildfire. It wasn't everyday you got to see such a contested game involving two skilled players, and people were loving it.

However, this video also brought troubling news to many people who saw the skills the two possessed. None more so than the players from Seirin High.

"What the hell is all this, man!?" Koganei, the resident cat-like student in the team, moaned in despair after seeing the video one of the first-years had brought to the team He and all the other members of the club were in the gym, where they had finished watching the video of Naruto and Kise's match from a few days ago.

"This kind of improvement is insane!" Tsuchida cried out. Notably, he was the only member who was currently dating someone. You go, man.

"The Generation of Miracles are something else," Izuki muttered. He was the resident "pretty boy" and self-proclaimed pun master. Not that many of his puns were that good, but that's a story for another time.

"Idiots, that's not the only thing that's concerning," Hyūga said. He was the captain and also the best shooter in the team. "That other guy, whoever he is, he's just as good as Kise is."

The implications of those words was more than enough to give pause to all the other members. It was like Kaijō had two Generation of Miracles in their team. If they were tough before, now they were on a whole different level.

Kuroko stayed quiet, although his face was troubled a bit by this turn of events. He had never expected that there would be another player this good out there. To be able to rival the Generation of Miracles like this…..not only that, but Kise's growth had also shocked him a bit. He had already been impressed with how the model had improved since middle school. Now, he was growing even more.

It was spectacular, but also worrisome for them all.

"Ha, what difference does that make?" Kagami wasn't looking all that troubled. It was the opposite really. Unlike the others, he looked very excited. "This just means there's another guy out there we have to beat next time."

The others all sweatdropped. Did nothing faze this idiot, or what?

Riko, the coach and sole female member of the club, got her act together and faced her team. "Kagami-kun is right. We can't let this stop us from getting into the Inter-High. We have a bunch of other teams we have to worry about before we can start thinking about Kaijō and this new player of theirs."

She said this, but she already knew that not thinking about it was just impossible. At the very least, it was going to be a big worry in the back of their minds moving forward. The Generation of Miracles were worrisome enough, but this development was just a pain in the ass.

"Suddenly, all my motivation is gone," Fukuda, one of the first-years, said with his shoulders slumped.

Kawahara, another first-year and the one to show the others the video, looked worried. He hadn't meant to bring the mood down, but he still felt the others should know about this. Maybe he should have kept it to himself?

"That's enough of that!" Hyūga took charge as he walked over to the court in the gym. "We already knew we were fighting an uphill battle to begin with. This changes nothing! We'll still be the best in Japan. You hear me!?"

The others all stood up straighter. "Yes, sir!"

Riko just looked on, happy to see Hyūga acting more like a captain. It's exactly what the team needed right now. Leadership.

"Kagami-kun." Said ace looked down to see Kuroko staring at him. "How do you feel about this?"

"Huh? Do you really need to ask?" The dark haired teen smirked. "Kise and this new guy. We're going to defeat them both of course. Our goal is still the same."

It was like their captain said. To become the best in Japan. Nothing would stop them from reaching that goal.

A small smile started to form on Kuroko's face. He felt the same way, but he needed to make sure Kagami hadn't lost his confidence.

"Hai."

Practice would continue as usual.

Seirin wasn't the only team to react to the news. Somewhere else in Tokyo, in a different gym inside a different school, one Momoi Satsuki was running inside said gym as fast as she could, her long pink hair blowing in the wind. She had a figure that rivaled Yuki's, and likewise she was very popular in the school. She had a high number of admirers, but like Yuki, she didn't pay attention to these things. Rather, she was here to deliver a message to someone who was very important to her. Just as important as Kuroko was.

"Aomine-kun! Are you in here!?"

She had already checked the roof, and he wasn't up there. Since there was no practice today, it meant that he was probably napping in the gym since no one was in here. Even though it was Saturday, as members of the basketball club, they had access to the gym. This extended to days off too. It was a nice little perk to them from the school.

As she suspected, Momoi found Aomine fast asleep on the stage of the gym, happily snoring. This really ticked her off.

"Aomine-kun! Get up already! It's past noon!"

"S'what?" The powerful player managed to get one eye open to see who had disturbed his sleep. When he saw who it was, he closed it back again. "Oh, Satsuki. It's you." He promptly fell back asleep.

This only ticked off the girl even more. "Wake up, you overgrown gorilla! This is no time for sleep!"

"What are you even going on about?" Even though he didn't want to, Aomine still sat up. As long as Momoi was here, he wasn't getting any sleep anyway. "We don't have practice today, right? So let me sleep."

"You sleep even when we do have practice…..."

"…"

Aomine couldn't deny that.

Shaking her head, Momoi said, "Forget that. I have something to show you!"

"Jeez, what's got you so excited? Did you finally get a boyfriend or something?"

"Stop being so mean! Besides, you know Tetsu-kun is my boyfriend."

There she goes with that. Did she not realize it was one-sided? Aomine didn't have the energy to get into that conversation, though. Better to just let her think that she wanted.

The girl sat next to him as she pulled up a video with her phone. Aomine yawned as she did this, still not giving this conversation too much attention. It was probably just a stupid picture of a cute dog or something. Not really worth his interest.

His mood did a 180-turn when the video started to play on her phone. It was a video of a basketball match. It wasn't between some weak players either. It was between Kise…..and some other blond Aomine had never seen before. But the guy was good…..so good that he matched Kise at every turn. No, maybe it was better to say that Kise matched him. And his moves…...Aomine recognized them.

Especially when the blond used a formless shot.

A grin started to reach him. "Eh? Now this is something…..."

Momoi looked at her childhood friend with anticipation. "See? I told you it was important!"

The girl was quite shocked herself. She couldn't believe that there was another player out there that could move like Aomine. At least, not in Japan. But she had been proven wrong today. Kise had also surprised her. If he could copy this guy's moves, then it was very likely that he could copy Aomine's too. That was something he could never do back in middle school. It just spelled a bunch of trouble for them.

Aomine's reaction wasn't that of worry, though. Far from it. It was excitement, pure and simple.

"Looks like Kise has been training real hard since the last time I saw him."

Maybe that victory Kuroko managed to pull off against him was just a fluke?

"Now you see why you have to start coming to practice!" Momoi said as she pocketed her phone. "If we don't, then we could possibly-"

"What are you talking about?" Aomine got to his feet, his back to her. "In the end, the only one who can beat me is me."

This changed nothing in his mind. Even with Kise's impressive improvement, even with this new guy on the court, his victory was still assured.

That was just a fact.

Momoi had to look away in disappointment. She had thought this would make her friend snap out of his shell, but it didn't look that way. She wondered if it was even possible to get the old Aomine back.

She could only pray for a miracle.

"You know, this was a really fun day. Much better than just staying in your room all day, right?"

Naruto let out a dismissive grunt. He and Yuki were coming back from spending the whole afternoon with his mother and Kise. His mother really wanted to know more about Kaijō and the basketball club there. She probably wanted to figure out why he was suddenly so interested in the sport.

Kise had been annoying about the whole thing too. He had enjoyed teasing him every step of the way, and his mom had ate it all up.

Stupid model.

Thankfully they had split up. His mother said she had something to do, and Kise had to get back home.

"Aww, don't be like that." Yuki poked him on the side playfully, her face gleeful. "You have more people in your life now, so you have to get used to that."

There it was again. Naruto knew this is what she wanted from him. Trying hard, socializing. Naruto admitted that it was…...nice to be around other people who treated him normally. Not as some creature behind a glass wall that had to be admired from a distance.

He still needed his sleep, though. He couldn't just go from a lazy truant to an outstanding individual overnight. That was just too difficult.

Yuki suddenly grabbed his hand with her own and smiled. "Most of all, the Inter-High is almost here. It's exciting to think that we'll be facing off against so many other people."

"I'm more surprised that you even care about this. I didn't think you held much love for sports."

"I don't. But everyone in the club…..it's like we're close friends now. I want to see you and Kise-san win with them. Ah, my friends from our old school wished you luck too. Apparently they saw the video too and were amazed by your abilities. They say they might even come cheer for you in the tournament if you do well~ Doesn't that make you happy?"

Was she teasing him or something?

"I didn't think they liked me very much," Naruto said offhandedly.

Yuki looked away, embarrassed. "W-Well, they didn't dislike you…...not that they liked you either….."

Oh, Yuki. You were too nice for your own good sometimes.

"B-But they said that they see you in a different light now!" she quickly added. "Handsome even! Since you were looking so determined and whatnot..."

Hm? Naruto eyed the girl for a second, sensing that she might be annoyed now. But why? Before he could ask her, she twirled in front of him before placing a finger on his chest.

"Anyway! You have to promise me too, Naruto-kun. That you'll do your best with Kise-san and win at the Inter-High."

So she said.

Naruto placed a hand over her head. "Don't worry, Yuki. I already made a promise with Kise. And you know me. I never go back on my word."

Yuki leaned closer to him, enough to where she had her head resting on his chest. Naruto didn't stop her.

"It's been a while since you said that. I was afraid you were reverting back to your old self. That's why, I'm glad that you met Kise-san…..."

"Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?" Naruto said, this time him doing the teasing. "I'm flattered that you care so much about me, but there's no reason for you to go this far."

"I have to. Otherwise, you wouldn't last long by yourself."

"Now that's just mean."

"But it's the truth."

From a certain point of view, maybe.

"You should start having more faith in me," Naruto said as he walked off, bringing Yuki with him. "You'll be knocked off your feet if you don't."

Yuki was counting on it.

The following week came and went. Naruto, Kise, and everyone else on the team continued with their practice. Nothing as intense as the practice game, but they still made sure to work on everything they wanted before the Inter-High. They wanted to be as strong as possible so that they could overcome any challenge. This year's competition was sure to be tougher than any other. If they wanted to stand a chance, they needed to be at one hundred percent.

During this time, Yuki made sure to gather as much information on other teams as she could. She didn't want to feel useless, so she got busy on whatever she could help with. This included bringing them snacks too, which just made everyone on the team happy.

Her cooking was just that good.

As fun as all of this was, it still needed to come to an end eventually. Which it did. And the preliminaries of the Inter-High finally started at the end of the second week of practice.

It was the first day of the preliminaries tournament. Naruto was finally able to dress in the Kaijō uniform. He was in the jacket and pants, but underneath he wore the jersey and shorts. The others did the same as they headed for the building that would set the stage for the Kanagawa tournament. The winner of this tournament would then have to go to the final league and become the best of three.

Kaijō was going to be one of those teams.

Yuki accompanied them, wearing one of the team jackets too even though she wasn't a player. She also wore her school skirt. The two colors mashed very well actually.

Naruto felt a bit disappointed, though. He tugged on his jacket and said, "I can't believe our uniforms don't have any orange in them. How uncool is that?"

Moriyama snorted. "Idiot. This has been the traditional Kaijō colors for years. You can't just change that."

"But…..we could."

"No, we can't."

"But we could."

"We can't."

"We cou-"

"That's enough, you morons!" Kasamatsu came in with a double kick, one for each idiot. "We aren't here to goof around today. It's finally the start of the Inter-High. One mistake can cost us the whole tournament. Get your game faces on!"

Naruto rubbed his sore back. "Damn, that hurts. I see now how you manage to keep Kise in a leash, captain."

"That's not true, Uzumakicchi!" Kise whined but went unheard by the others.

"H'mph, we shouldn't be so hasty," the coach spoke up. "This is only the first round. I'm sure we can manage an easy victory today."

Kise leaned in closer to Naruto to whisper, "He said the same thing about Seirin, but we still lost. How embarrassing is that?"

"What was that, Kise!?" the coach turned a sharp eye on the model who froze on the spot.

"N-Nothing, coach! Just asking Uzumakicchi what he thought of my upcoming photo album! Hehehehe….."

Not a very convincing lie there, Kise. Naruto would never ask about that.

The coach sighed. "Well, it's not like you're wrong. I did promise myself to be more vigilant in this tournament. After all, we can't be defeated before we get our revenge on Seirin."

He was still sore about that loss.

His team felt the same way. They all wanted to redeem themselves after that embarrassing defeat. Naruto didn't feel as strongly about the matter since he hadn't been a part of the team at the time, but he was more than willing to help his new friends in their revenge.

"We all know that better than anyone else." Kasamatsu stepped forward, leading the team. "But before we can concern ourselves with that, we have to win this tournament first."

The others all shouted in agreement.

The coach merely smiled before they headed inside the building, which was quite big

This was where their journey would begin.

Yuki helped set everything up on their side of the court. Water bottles, fresh towels, and the like. She glanced around the court. There weren't that many spectators around. Apparently the first few games didn't really attract that much attention. This was because they involved minor schools that most people didn't care about. Yuki felt that was insulting to a lot of teams, but then again she had felt the exact same way until recently.

Funny how things changed.

The first string of Kaijō finally set foot in the room. Naruto was obviously among them. He wore the number nine jersey. He had traded the number with Nakamura, who was now in number six. The powerful defender hadn't minded.

It was the first time Yuki was seeing the blond in uniform, and it made her face heat up a little. Kise noticed this and nudged her on the shoulder while giving her a wink. Yuki nearly slapped him away, but Kise just laughed at her flustered look before joining the others.

The first string of Kaijō consisted of Kasamatsu as the captain and point guard, Moriyama as the shooting guard, Kobori as the center, Kise as the small forward, and finally Naruto as the power forward. Hayakawa hadn't been exactly thrilled to give up his spot, but he understood it was for the team's success.

"Hm, so this is where the preliminaries will be held, huh," Naruto muttered as he looked around. He could spot several other teams watching from the second floor. Since Kaijō was always a serious contender, they were probably here to scout out the competition. The video of their practice match hadn't helped. All the teams were going to be keeping a close eye on them, probably.

"Feeling nervous, Uzumakicchi?" Kise stood next to him with a playful smile. "This is your first official game, after all."

Naruto snorted. "Don't be an idiot. This isn't enough to make me sweat."

"Ha, glad to hear that." Kise looked over to the other side of the center line where their opponents of the day stood. "I'm sure our competition wouldn't appreciate that much."

Naruto looked over as well. Mishima High. They were the ones they had to go up against here. They were in grey-ish uniforms. That's why Naruto and the others were in their blue and white uniforms today, as oppose to the white and blue ones.

"Sugawara-san said they were a strong offensive team," Kobori spoke up. Yuki had shared with them what she was able to learn about the enemy team. "We didn't play them last year since they were on a different block. But they're bound to be stronger this time."

Moriyama grinned. "They're not the only ones who've improved. We'll be sure to stop their offense, no matter what."

Kasamatsu had to grin as well. "Now that's more like it. Get excited, people! The game's about to start."

Naruto cracked his neck as he and the others set foot on the court, their opponents already waiting for them in the center. The referee was there as well, ball in hand.

None of the Mishima players were very tall, but Naruto was still the shortest player there. Normally, that would have made the other players underestimate him and look down at him, literally and figuratively. But they were not going to do that. Not after seeing how well he could play.

'Well, there goes my plan of attack.' Naruto was really annoyed with that video. Sure, he didn't mind being well-known. But not being able to surprise the enemy…...that was just annoying.

Oh, well. Nothing could be done about that now.

The referee blew his whistle, catching everyone's attention.

"Alright, the first game of the Inter-High preliminaries between Kaijō High and Mishima High will now commence!"

There was little cheering, but the excitement in the air was evident. Naruto and Kise were both more than ready to start their first official game together.

"I can't believe we actually came all this way just to see the game."

"Stop complaining already, Fukuda-kun. We need to see with our own eyes how much Kaijō has changed in the two weeks since our practice match. We're lucky that their tournament starts a little bit earlier than ours, otherwise we wouldn't have the free time to be here."

Hyūga was in agreement with Riko's words. "Stand straight, you fools. If things go as we expect, then we'll be facing them sooner or later. Make sure to soak as much information as you can today!"

As Rika said, once their tournament started, they wouldn't have the free time to check out the competition anymore. The Tokyo region, despite having the most schools participating, had its preliminaries commence last. Maybe it was because it was harder to organize than other places because of the large number of schools. Who knows. Point is, they were here today to see how Kaijō's first match went.

Kagami was in the back, not sure how to feel about all of this. He wasn't one to usually do stuff like this. Checking out the competition, that is. He felt more excited not knowing what his opponent could do and dealing with it on the fly. Another side of him could admit to being curious about seeing how strong Kaijō was now, though, which is the side that won. That's why he was with the others today.

Kuroko was unusually silent. Not because he had nothing to say, but because there was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was really making him anxious, not that he let that show on his face. Having total control of his emotions was one of the things he had to learn to master his Misdirection.

Riko led them inside the building to where Kaijō was playing. They made their way up to the second floor where they could see the game. There were more than enough open seats for them to use. But that became irrelevant when they saw the score on the screen.

"Sixty to…...four points….." In Kaijō's favor. Koganei was speechless, his face full of shock. The others all felt the same. They thought their eyes were playing tricks on them, but that wasn't it. It was the truth.

It was only the second quarter, but Kaijō was annihilating Mishima completely.

"How the hell is this even possible?" Hyūga said in disbelief.

The answer came soon when he focused on the actual game. Two Mishima defenders were trying to hold Kise back, but the tall blond was able to get past them with ease. They all noted just how faster he was now compared to two weeks ago. Another defender came for him, stopping him from going for the layup. It didn't deter Kise at all, though. Instead of going around him, Kise made a pass to Naruto who went straight for the dunk undefended.

And like that, Kaijō had two more points added to their already high score.

"Unbelievable!" Another spectator shouted. "Mishima hasn't been able to stop those two all day! They keep scoring with every play!"

So that's how it was. Kaijō's offense was just too strong for Mishima to stop. Riko had heard that Mishima specialized more on their offensive power, though, so that wasn't all too shocking. But their score…..only four points? Really?

How could that be?

That question was also answered when Mishima tried to go on the offensive and pay Kaijō back. Keyword being tried. One of their players went for a three-pointer, but the ball was easily swatted away by Naruto who jumped in time to block the shot.

"It's just like in the video," Izuki said. "I didn't want to believe it, but even though he doesn't have the size, that guy can jump just as high as Kagami….."

Maybe higher.

Kagami himself had wide eyes. Like Izuki, some part of him hadn't believed in the blond's explosive power, but seeing it now with his own eyes there was no doubt about it. It was all true.

This new guy was strong.

Kuroko's eyes were wide as well. Down below, Kise managed to drive past the two defenders again and scored. He and Naruto high-fived one another afterwards, the two blonds grinning. The other three were also smiling as the benched players all cheered them on.

"It's just as I feared. Kise-kun has become even stronger than before…..."

It was hard to believe. In only two weeks, there was this much improvement from Kaijō. Seirin was forced to accept this. They all realized that victory against Kaijō now would be an even tougher feat than before, if possible at all. No, could they even win now?

A bitter smile started to appear on Hyūga's face. He too was forced to realize the truth of the situation.

"Goddammit all…..."

It was only the first match of the Kanagawa preliminaries, but Kaijō was already making big waves. And they all felt it in their hearts.

Down below, Naruto and Kise high-fived one another again, their first victory assured.

On the sidelines, Yuki smiled, her face flushed with pride.

'Naruto-kun, Kise-san…...'

She couldn't be happier than she was right now.

In their first match, Kaijō would go on to win with no problem, racking up a total of 163 points and only giving up twenty points.

It was a total slaughterhouse.

Will Naruto and Kise breeze their way to the main tournament? Or will there be an actual challenge waiting for them before then? Well, the answer should be obvious.