Hero
�GET IT!!� The coach yelled from the sidelines.
A blond haired boy wearing a silver and burgundy football uniform ran a few yards in front of the other teens, who were wearing green and white uniforms.
He caught the football in his hands. He grinned widely.
Only 5 more yards.
Four more....
Three...
He felt the hands wrap around his ankles.
No!!!
He jumped, just evading the grasping fingers. But, it slowed him down enough to have the other guys catch up with him.
He tried not to cry out when he felt someone tackle him viciously from behind, ramming into the small of his back. As soon as he fell because of the one guy, he could immediately feel more piling on top of him.
He felt the air rush out of his lungs, and he couldn�t breath. It felt like there were hundreds of tons of pounds piled up on him. He couldn�t move, he couldn�t suck in the life giving air that he so needed.
After what seemed like an eternity, the bodies finally got off of him. He lay on the field, the grass wisping seductively at his face, the cool dirt under his face, unmoving for a moment, while he regained his breath.
When he looked, he saw that the upper half of his body was over the End Zone Line. He sighed in blissful relief.
Then he stood up, and brushed himself off. He looked at the scoreboard, to see his teams score move up the needed points to be that much more ahead of their opponents.
The buzzer. The break between the 3rd quarter and the 4th. He walked over to his teammates, the smallest hint of a limp in his walk.
�Way to go Naru!� One of them called out. He grinned at him.
He walked up to his coach. Waiting to hear his praise. Or his contempt. There was no in between for him.
�Uzumaki, you son of a bitch,� the coach said simply.
The boy, Naru, studied his coach's face. �You son of a bitch� could mean anything from, �how the hell did you screw up that much on a single play,� to �way to go! Keep this up and you�re going to lead our team to victory today!�
The coach's face broke into a grin, and Naru knew it was choice number two. �Have some water kid,� he offered. Naru nodded, and accepted the bottle hungrily.
He didn�t touch the rim with his lips - this was the team's water, everyone drank from it - as he drank in the sweet water. When he had to swallow, the water flowed down his chin. Then he handed it back to his coach and sat down on the bench
�What�s our next play, sir?� Naru asked him.
�Well, you�re going to be benched,� the coach said simply. All his comments seemed to be simple to his subordinates.
Naru stared at him, hardly believing his ears. �Whadda ya mean, I�ll be benched?� Naru demanded. His teammates seemed to be thinking along those same lines.
�You got a limp in your step, boy. Can�t risk having you being to slow to get to the goal post, can I?�
Naru looked at him in disbelief. How could his coach have seen that? Admitablly, his ankle did throb a little, he must�ve twisted him when he had fallen, but it wasn�t going to slow him down.
�It won�t slow me down,� Naru pleaded. �I promise! Please, just don�t take me out of the game okay?�
The coach looked at him, then looked at the timer on the scoreboard, counting down the minutes of this short break.
�Fine, Uzumaki. Run a lap around the field. I�ll time you, if you�re any slower then usual, then I�ll decide if you�re up to playing, okay?� he said.
Naru nodded eagerly and began to run. He was aware that nearly everyone�s eyes were on him. Watching him. Curious, wondering what he was doing (save for his teammates).
Dammit!
His ankle began to throb. He sped up, knowing that it was probably slowing him down. The pain grew more. Throb throb.
Faster, faster.
Throb!
Come on, a little more.
And then he pitched forward. He couldn�t help it. It was as if his ankle had just collapsed from underneath him.
He cursed under his breath, and stood up, wiping the dirt from his face. He looked up at the timer on the scoreboard, and limped off of the field.
The buzzer rang. The final quarter started. He limped back to the bench, feeling beaten. As though the whole world was weighing down on his shoulders.
He hated sitting out. And this was the semi-finals. The semi-final�s dammit! They needed him out there. That much he knew. He was the star player. The fastest and most agile on the team. He just prayed that they could win.
He sat beside his coach, and all the other benched losers.
�Hey,� his coach said to him, �I didn�t want my star players ankle to get really bad, which would�ve happened if you had gotten tackled again. I wouldn�t want to have you not able to play in the finals.�
�We won�t be playing in the finals anyway,� Naru spat.
The coach looked at him, and then sat back down in his spot.
Much to Naru�s surprise, they won.
Part two |
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