Chapter 13: Unlucky Times!
Bloody Battle of Old Friends!
Kiba stuck his face up next to Ino's and sniffed the air. "Smells like trouble kitty cat."
She pulled away from him and shot him a dirty look. "Don't be an ass Kiba." She said and backed away from him. Ever since Kiba and Zaku had been at odds, she and Kiba had an uncomfortable silence between them. Kiba made her nervous now, like a strange dog that you didn't know whether it was going to slink away or maul you. Zaku stepped up beside Ino and stared Kiba down. "You're pushing your luck mutt." He said with a snarl. Kiba lowered his head slightly and seemed to growl under his breath. The image of him being a dangerous stray dog was solidified in Ino's mind.
"The final match up of the second round ladies and gentlemen, two fighters from right here in Konoha, Nara Ino and Inuzuka Kiba!" The judge shouted out from the arena. Kiba smirked and walked past Zaku and Ino. He leapt out the window and trotted towards the judge. Ino sighed and got into her fighting state of mind. She walked by Zaku and nodded. He nodded back but didn't say anything. He wanted to wish her good luck, but the nod she gave told him that she didn't want to psyche herself out.
Ino and Kiba faced off as a light wind blew dust around the arena. "No one to save you now kitty cat." Kiba said as he laughed and shook his head. Ino frowned at him and cracked her neck. "I don't need anyone to save me Kiba, especially not against you." She powered her chakra and her shadow wavered slightly. Kiba gritted his teeth and balled up his fists.
"I'll make you eat those words you miserable little cunt." He said, his voice already starting to strain with rage. Ino smiled to herself and grabbed a scroll from her pack, this might be easier than she thought. She twirled the scroll and slammed it to the ground, sending a line of writing spreading out to six points around the arena. Kiba surged his chakra and dropped to all fours. The ground rumbled as Kiba charged Ino at full speed with Akumaru behind him. Six black pillars shot out of the ground at equal distances around the edge of the arena, casting long shadows into the center. Kiba scrambled to a stop and leapt backwards away from a shadow. The shadows of the pillars all met in the center of the arena, creating a matrix of shadows. Kiba cocked his head to the side and looked at the shadows, something was off. Ino laughed and nodded. "Yeah, you can see it can't you? It's impossible for the shadows of those pillars to meet like that unless there are numerous light sources all around them. Unfortunately for you these are the pillars of shadow, a secret Nara clan jutsu!" She jumped into the center of the arena were the shadows all met. Kiba growled and sniffed the air. He didn't like this, he knew how annoying Ino could be with her shadow binding from training with her. "Nothing more than a minor annoyance." He said as Akumaru jumped onto his back. Ino laughed and did a hand seal. "If that's what you think, then by all means, prove me wrong." She said. Kiba howled and ran at her with Akumaru still on his back. He jumped and Akumaru was sent flying high above. Kiba landed and dashed to the side as the shadows swirled into one mass under his feet. Ino stood there, sill holding the hand seal. A shadow tentacle whipped up out of the ground and lashed the falling dog out of the air brutally, sending it smashing into one of the pillars. Kiba hesitated for a split second, his attack plan had already failed miserably. The shadows around his feet exploded upwards and engulfed him in darkness. Ino smiled as a section of shadow stretched out and caught Akumaru's shadow as the dog tried to get up. Kiba struggled inside of the seething mass of shadow that had engulfed him.
"You cant escape Kiba, the shadow pillars increase my power tenfold, and you are dumb enough to let me catch you so soon.
"Fang Destroyer Jutsu!" Ino braced herself as the shadows stretched and bulged under the stress of the attack from within. Kiba burst from the shadows like a spinning missile and came straight towards Ino. "Shit!" He dropped to the ground and shadow tentacles slashed at Kiba as he narrowly missed her. Her shadow binding jutsu wavered and broke from Akumaru and the little dog leapt into the air. He and Kiba collided and in a flash of light Kiba was transformed. He landed and flexed the muscles that came with his were wolf form. Ino stood back up and gritted her teeth. "He overpowered my shadows?" She took a step backwards and quickly performed a complicated hand seal. Kiba charged her, his mouth dripping with saliva as he howled crazily. She released her chakra and the shadows swirled around her in a spinning orb of darkness. "Ultimate Shadow Guard Jutsu!" She screamed and shadow tentacles swarmed out of the orb around her and lashed out at Kiba viciously. He took multiples hits that slashed him and cut his skin like blades. He screamed and kept charging her. More tentacles arose from the shadows and wrapped around his arms and legs. He kept charging, breaking free of one of the restraints, but more whipped around his body. Kiba kept pumping his lets, straining against the shadows as Ino struggled to keep the Jutsu up.
"YOU WILL NEVER STOP ME!" Kiba screamed as he dropped to all fours and began ripping chunks of ground up as he moved forward. Ino put all of her chakra into holding him back, but he was to strong. He opened his mouth wide and began snapping at her viciously. His teeth came within inches of her face and he snapped wildly. Ino shook with fear as she looked into his eyes, Kiba was gone, and there was only a monster there now. She jumped backwards and threw her hands forward. "Shadow Lance Jutsu!" She screamed and the shadow tentacles stiffened, turning into long lances. Four of them stabbed Kiba in the chest and stomach and went clear through. "Shadow Destruction Jutsu!" She yelled as tears formed in her eyes, it pained her to hurt her former friend. The shadow tentacles began to crush Kiba and he screamed in pain. "YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed and began writhing within the restraints. Ino poured her chakra into the attack. Kiba thrashed violently and screamed as the shadow lances piercing him and the tentacles crushing him began to loosen their hold. He raged like a frenzied beast as foam started to form in his mouth. Ino started to move backwards, fear slowly overtaking her. "Think Ino think… can he escape that? I don't have much chakra left… My style is made for stealth missions… I can't take this kind of straight forward combat." She let her strategic mind wander, and came up with a plan. She threw chloroform bombs at Kiba's feet, his super sense of smell multiplying the effects by a hundred. He slowly began to slow down, to lose his immense strength. She smiled and pulled an exploding scroll from her pouch. It was working so far, now for the second part of her plan. She threw the scroll and it landed it Kiba's feet, exploding into a ball of bright fire. She covered her face as rocks and dirt flew through the air.
"Shit, did she kill him?" Zaku said to himself.
The smoke cleared and a very hurt Kiba stood, barely conscious and in his human form. Ino smiled and sighed in relief. It was a close call, but she has stopped him… wait, what about Akumaru? She turned just in time to see the wounded dog leap through the air and rip into her forearm. She screamed and fell to the ground as the dog clamped onto her arm and thrashed violently. They rolled around in a bloody, dirty fight of desperation. She punched the dog in the nose violently, leaving spurts of blood, but he did not let go. The pain of him tearing into her arm was enormous. She reached for a kunai and plunged it deep into Akumaru's left eye. The dog yelped in pain and rolled away with the weapon sticking out of his eye socket. Ino held her badly bleeding arm close to her body and breathed heavily. She slowly arose to her feet and stumbled slightly. Akumaru was still crying and rolling around in the dirt as blood spurted out around the kunai in his eye. Kiba came out of nowhere and clasped his hands around Ino's neck from behind and began choking her. She choked out and fell to her knees. Kiba had lost most of his strength, but he still had enough to finish the job. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he slowly choked the life out of her. Tears streamed down from Ino's eyes and she choked out for breath. Kiba laughed and tightened his grip, his eyes lost in his own madness. They suddenly widened and he coughed, a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down to see that Ino had driven a kunai deep into his abdomen. Kiba's grip on her slowly weakened and she scrambled away, choking and wheezing. Kiba dropped down to his knees and held the wound. "I… I…" He almost seemed puzzled as he held the kunai. He looked up, just at Ino came screaming at him with her fist drawn back. She punched him hard in the face and knocked him down. He threw a handful of shurikens out of nowhere and they stabbed across Ino's upper chest and shoulder.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She screamed and spun away, dropping to the ground in pain. Kiba managed to stand up and pulled the kunai from his stomach. "I'll finish this! I'll kill you here and now!" He held the kunai above his head and brought it down in a death strike.
His hand was stopped in mid strike by someone holding his wrist. "What?" Kiba turned to see Sasuke standing beside of him and stopping his hand.
"You would kill a teammate so happily, you're no student of mine." He backhanded Kiba and sent him to the ground. Sasuke looked at the judge and nodded. The judge ran over and held up his microphone. "The winner of this match up is, Inuzuka Kiba!" Sasuke walked over to Ino and immediately started to aid her.
"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Kiba screamed in a primal fury as his body burst into feral form. The judge turned towards him just in time to see Kiba leaping towards him. Sasuke looked back from Ino, but he couldn't imagine what Kiba was going to do. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, as the course of Kiba's life was changed with a single action. He slashed at the judge with his claws, ripping out the man's throat in one swipe and sending blood spraying like a fountain. Kiba kept going, flying towards Sasuke with mad rage overwhelming him. "YOU WON'T HOLD ME BACK ANY MORE!" Kiba screamed with fury.
Zaku could do nothing but watch in horror as he leapt from the window and rushed towards the scene unfolding before him. Sasuke jumped to his feet, grabbing Kiba's wrist and twisting it, breaking his arm and dislocating his shoulder in one smooth motion. Sasuke's other hand came up in a flash, jamming his index and middle fingers into the side of Kiba's neck; a pressure point, and sending him sprawling to the ground unconscious. Zaku reached them as Kiba hit the ground, he jumped Kiba's body and ran straight to Ino. Sasuke rushed over to the judge as medical personnel swarmed out of the doors with equipment. The crowd turned into a fluttering mass of yelling and talking, not believing what they had just seen. The ANBU members jumped down into the arena and converged on the area.
"Dammit, I didn't think something like this would happen…" The ANBU leader said absently. Sasuke pulled Zaku back from Ino as the medical personnel tended to her. The ANBU members grabbed Kiba's unconscious body and dragged him away.
Kakashi shook his head as he watched Kiba being taken away. He knew what would happen now, he had seen it before. If Kiba was lucky, the judge would survive, and he would only get a life sentence. If the judge died… Kiba's death wouldn't be far behind.
"What the hell happened between you two? There has to be something more than what I know for Kiba to be so stupid…" Sasuke said as he and Zaku walked back to the waiting room. Zaku looked back and Ino being carried away on a stretcher.
"I… The thing is… Kiba had feelings for Ino at one point, and she didn't feel the same way. Ino wanted someone else… me… And when Kiba found out about it, well that's when we fought that one time. He said that it was because of the way I acted, and I'm sure that had something to do with it… But I think that Kiba really cared deeply for her, something in him snapped when she rejected him, and he couldn't even take out his anger on me that day… I just… I never thought it would come to this. He must have been steadily getting more and more unstable as time went by, and no one was there for him… I feel like this is my fault." Sasuke looked at him as they reached the stairs.
"This is your fault Zaku, this Kiba is the result of your actions. But it's his problem that he lost control, now he will have to deal the consequences." Sasuke leapt up the wall and disappeared into the crowd. Zaku hadn't expected Sasuke to agree that it was his fault, his conscience began to burn at him.
He made his way back up to the waiting room, only he, Mako and Dosu were left. Mako looked at him with a sympathetic stare but said nothing. Zaku walked over to the window and looked out it absently. "Your friend has quite the temper." Dosu said in his cryptic, raspy voice. Zaku spun around and grabbed him by the coat. He slammed Dosu against the wall and lifted him off of the ground by the collar. "If you for one second you think that I'm going let that slide, you're in for an ugly surprise!" Zaku screamed in his face. Dosu calmly looked Zaku in the face with his one burning eye. "I could have told you that he was going to try and finish the girl, after all, I did suggest it to him." Dosu said. Zaku had to think for a second to understand what he had just heard. "You… You did what? YOU DID WHAT!" Zaku gritted his teeth and shook with rage. "All this time, you were back here, whispering shit like that to Kiba! You crazy son of a bitch!" Zaku could feel the chakra starting to grow within him, there was something about his anger that seemed to get Ryumaru excited. "Now of course I couldn't have planned what happened, that was just an added bonus." Dosu said, urging Zaku on to attack him.
Mako put a hand on Zaku's shoulder. "Any fighting outside of a match is an automatic disqualification, you should know that." Mako said to him. Zaku slowly let his grip loosen as the idea of being disqualified sunk in. "Yeeeees, let that rage build, hate me, hate me and lust for the moment of my death." Dosu whispered into Zaku's ear as he let him go. Zaku balled his fist up, but stopped himself. "Play any mind games you want, you have a match with me next." Zaku said to him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, due to unfortunate circumstances, we now have a new judge." Zaku was still staring at Dosu when the new voice came over the microphone.
"I'm the new judge! Believe it!"
Zaku recognized the voice and spun around to see Naruto standing in the middle of the arena with the microphone. "You've got to be kidding me." Zaku said to himself and shook his head. "We can now go on to the next match ups, Its Zaku versus Dosu, believe it!"