"The seventh match... Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba!" Hayate-san said as he stood by both participants.
"Hya ha ha ha! It's like we've already won! So lucky! Eh, Akamaru?!" Kiba yelled excitedly.
Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Shut the hell up!" Uzumaki-kun yelled before pointing at the two. "Hey Kiba, don't bring a puppy. It's in the way!"
Kiba took Akamaru out of his jacket and put the white-furred dog on the ground. "Idiot! Akamaru's fighting with me!"
The pup released a fierce bark towards the one who insulted him.
The blonde looked over at the proctor. "Hey, hey! Is that alright?!"
"Yes. Animals and bugs are the same as ninja tools. There's no problem," Hayate-san explained.
The idiot stared for a few seconds before smirking and putting his hands on his hips. "Heh. That's fine. You need the help."
I facepalmed before muttering, "This is why you can't make friends with anyone. Two-faced moron."
"Hah, acting all tough. Then I'll do this..." The boy with red fang-like clan markings on his cheeks stood up. "Akamaru, stay out of it. I'll fight alone."
His partner released a whine in disapproval.
"Naruto! Don't lose to him!" Sakura yelled.
"Don't hurt Akamaru!" I yelled immediately after, making Sakura look at me with an annoyed expression. "Don't you look at me like that! Akamaru is a precious puppy! That blonde isn't worth that dog!"
"He's our teammate!" Sakura scolded as she slammed her fist into my head.
"And that's an adorable puppy!" I exclaimed while extending my arm over the railing towards Akamaru. "What's your point?!"
She grit her teeth before pinching the bridge of her nose. "You idiot. Dogs don't match up to a person."
"Exactly. They're higher than people," I said with a smirk, only to receive another punch to the head.
"I feel bad for you, so I'll end it in one punch," Kiba stated as he raised his right fist.
"Ah, is that so? Then me too..." Uzumaki-kun replied as he raised his left fist.
"Stop acting tough!" The brunette demanded while pointing at my teammate, earning a bark of approval from Akamaru.
The two glared at each other, but had nothing more to say.
Hayate-san looked between the two boys before yelling, "Then... Please begin!" He quickly moved back.
Kiba got down low to the ground as he made a certain chakra symbol. Chakra surrounded his body as he yelled, "Here I come!" His sharp nails, attached to his boney fingers, scratched against the ground for a split-second before Kiba quickly moved to Uzumaki-kun. He nailed the blonde in the gut, sending my teammates flying. With a smirk, he said, "He won't be opening his eyes for a while, referee."
"I knew it..." Shikamaru-san said, obviously not using the amazing brain his clan gave him.
"That Naruto could never beat Kiba," Ino-chan said, making me roll my eyes.
"Man, he's weak," Kankuro said as he looked down at my teammate.
I looked at Kakashi-sensei, as did Sakura.
As the three of us exchanged glances, we all had our own confident expressions. We knew that there was more to Uzumaki-kun than met the eye.
The blonde has begun to stand up, drawing surprise from several people.
"What?!" Kiba exclaimed as he turned around and faced the idiot.
Uzumaki-kun smiled as he yelled, "Don't... underestimate me!"
"Tell that bitch!" I cheered excitedly.
"Go, Naruto!" Sakura hollered.
Lee-senpai made a fist as he looked down at the blonde with slight awe. "Ohhh!"
Kiba was alarmed and just a bit angered. "Saying that as you bleed?! I told you to stop acting tough!"
Akamaru let out a few angered barks himself.
"I let you hit me to test your strength," the blonde lied before wiping the blood off of his chin. "You should stop acting tough, too. Use your dog or whatever."
His opponent narrowed his eyes before growling, "You'll regret that. Let's go, Akamaru!"
The two quickly rushed towards Uzumaki-kun as Kiba threw the two smoke bombs he had taken from his back pouch. As the area was covered in smoke, Akamaru and Kiba made their moves. They hit my teammate harshly on several occasions, causing the blonde to release a few noises of pain.
Uzumaki-kun tried fleeing from the smoke, only for Akamaru to lunge at him with his teeth barred. The blonde was forced back into the smoke when the pup bit his arm.
Kiba landed outside of the smoke with a triumphant expression. He waited patiently for the smoke to clear before smiling at what he thought he was his dog and a beaten Uzumaki-kun. "Uhya ha ha! Yes! Great job!"
The dog released bark as he ran towards the brunette. Well, if that was actually a dog. It definitely didn't have the chakra of a dog, but rather...
"You did it, Aka-" Kiba cut himself off as alarm covered his face. His eyes widened as Akamaru bit his arm harshly.
Uzumaki-kun undid his transformation, but failed to released Kiba's arm from his teeth. "You fell for it, grrr!"
"You! With the henge jutsu...?!" The Inuzuka exclaimed in shock. "Damn it! I wasn't paying attention! Where's Akamaru?!"
Uzumaki-kun suddenly gained a disgusted look and released Kiba's arm. He quickly backtracked and began to spit some saliva from his mouth. "Bleh! You stink of dog!"
"Over here!" Uzumaki-kun's bunshin yelled as he held up the pyrenees by his front paws.
"Bitch, are you trying to break Akamaru's legs?! If you hold him like that, his front legs will pop from their sockets and break!" I yelled angrily at the blonde.
"Calm down!" Sakura commanded as I flailed around angrily while screaming promises to break my teammate's arms.
"Akamaru!" Kiba yelled as he looked at his partner.
"No way... That Naruto just combined kage bunshins with the henge jutsu... It can't be..." Shikamaru-san muttered with shock evident all across his face and in his voice.
"What?! That's Naruto?! He's even with Kiba, no better than that," Ino-chan said with her in widened eyes.
"He has good timing with his jutsu," Temari praised.
"He's better than I thought..." Kankuro admitted as the match held his full interest.
I released a growl as I finally calmed down. Good or not, he's still the type of idiot that bites someone and then gets pissed... I gave a sigh before easing up. That moron should have been a comedian...
"So you've gotten a little stronger... But it's over. I'm serious now," Kiba stated.
"Ah, is that so? Then... me too!" Uzumaki-kun declared.
"N... Naruto-kun... W-wow," Hinata-san said softly as she looked down at her crush with amazement.
"You're great, Naruto!" Sakura praised.
"Whooo!" I agreed with my fists high in the air.
"Looks like he's not that Naruto anymore..." Shikamaru-san noted.
"Yeah," Ino-chan replied seriously.
Kiba suddenly pulled out a food pill before quickly flicking towards Akamaru. "Here I come, Naruto."
Akamaru easily caught the food pill in his mouth and quickly ate it. Immediately, the effects of the pill showed a physical effect of the dog. His fur turned red and grew much courser. His teeth seemed to grow larger as well as the rest of his body, but only be a fractional amount. Akamaru growled fiercely before kicking Uzumaki-kun, causing the blonde to release him. From there, he returned to Kiba's side.
"His fur is... red? What did you feed him?!" The idiot yelled.
"That's why he's Akamaru," Kiba replied, not at all answering the question he was asked. He took a food pill himself before bending down, allowing Akamaru to jump onto his back. "Here we go, Akamaru!"
The dog released two loud barks.
"Ninpō: Shikyaku no Jutsu!" Kiba yelled before his partner transformed into his appearance.
Both of the Kibas looked wild and feral as they glared at their opponent.
"His eyes are scary! He took some weird medicine! Isn't that doping?! Is that allowed?!" Uzumaki-kun asked worriedly.
"Yes, the soldier pill is a ninja tool," Hayate-san answered.
The blonde pointed at the proctor and yelled accusingly, "That's all you say!"
"What did he eat?" Sakura asked with a furrowed brow.
"A soldier pill," I answered as I spared her a glance. "The soldier pill is a special medicine that is said to allow a soldier to fight for three days and three nights without resting. It's full of protein and contains a special stimulant. Of course, it can't actually be used to allow someone to fight for that long, but it is often used by ANBU members as a ration when they're performing a long mission that involves quite a bit of combat. In any case, Kiba's and Akamaru's chakra have momentarily increased because of it. Uzumaki-kun is in a bit of trouble... Releasing the body's chakra and attacking like a wild beast - those effects make the pill perfect for Kiba."
"Will he be alright?" Sakura asked, making me shrug.
Of course he will. The idiot can always pull something out of his ass when it's time to shine, I thought. It was too troublesome to say out loud though, so I just watched on.
"Here it comes!" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru lunged for Uzumaki-kun. "Jūjin Taijutsu!"
Uzumaki-kun was given barely a second to dodge, resulting in him getting nicked in a few places. He dodged under another hit before jumping over the two clawing at him. He soon landed, his back faced towards both of his opponents, providing an opening.
"Take this! Jūjin Taijutsu Ōgi: Gatsūga!" Kiba yelled before he and Akamaru began to spin at a ferocious speed.
They delivered many powerful beast-like attacks, the force strong enough to send Uzumaki-kun flying into the air. They soon stopped their attack and allowed Uzumaki-kun to flop onto the ground, the blonde caked in blood.
"That's the difference between our abilities," Kiba stated as Uzumaki-kun released a cough of blood.
The boy shakily moved his hand a bit. "I... Hokage..." He tried lifting himself up, his entire body shakily from the effort. "Can't lose... here..."
Kiba gave a laugh. "You become Hokage?! Even though you're weaker than me?! You don't actually think you can become Hokage, do you?! Stop acting tough! Hehe... If you want a Hokage... I'll become one!"
I allowed my face to become blank before turning my head towards Sakura. "You think...?"
"Oh, yeah," she agreed, making me nod.
"Get up, Naruto!" The two of us then yelled together.
The boy rose to his feet before smirking at Kiba. "If you're gonna compete with me for the Hokage name... I'm gonna whip you like a dog..."
"That simile sucked! Chose a different one!" I scolded.
Kiba pointed at my teammate. "Hey! Do you ever give it a rest?!"
"No," I answered with a deadpanned expression.
"Akamaru, let's do it!" The black-eyed boy demanded as he and his transformed dog ran towards the blonde.
"I won't fall for the same trick twice!" Uzumaki-kun yelled.
I snorted as the Inuzuka and his dog went after the blonde again. "Hey, you remember how that idiot fell for the same trick twice back during the bell exam?"
Kakashi-sensei chuckled as Sakura gave a deadpanned expression. "He was definitely the easiest of your four to test."
"This isn't going to turn out the same way, right?" Sakura muttered pleadingly.
"He has grown. Give him that much," I said with a grin before looking back at the cloud of smoke that had covered the area.
"What are you going to do, Naruto?" Sakura asked herself worriedly.
I narrowed my eyes at the smoke before blinking in surprise. "I see..."
"Huh?" Sakura asked.
"Look closely," Kakashi-sensei advised, he too able to tell what the knucklehead was thinking.
Sakura did so before finally seeing the three Kibas that stood in a triangle formation.
"If Naruto transforms into Kiba, then the real Kiba can't tell which is Naruto and which is Akamaru. Thus, he can't attack. Akamaru is the same... He doesn't know which is which and can't attack either. But to Naruto, they are both enemies, meaning he can attack." I then held up my index finger as my eyes narrowed. "However, there's a fatal flaw."
"What do you mean?" Lee-senpai questioned curiously.
I put the end of my finger onto my nose. "The Inuzuka Clan is known for their many dog-like traits. Their amazing sense of smell is no exception." I looked back at the two and said seriously, "Kiba and Akamaru will be able to tell who's who by smell alone."
"Ren is right," Kakashi-sensei agreed with a nod of approval.
"So then-" Sakura cut herself off as she worriedly looked down at the arena.
"So that's your plan, but... I'll warn you about something. I wasn't focusing and didn't notice last time, but..." Kiba quickly turned before punching one of his look-alikes across the face. "The henge jutsu won't work anymore because...!"
That Kiba went flying and skidded across the floor, his hands doing a handsign so fast, practically everyone else missed it.
"You smell..." Kiba wiped under his nose with a large smirk. "Don't underestimate our noses, Naruto."
The Kiba laying on the ground gave a small groan in reply.
"Heh, I won!" The brunette declared before a cloud of smoke enveloped the one laying on the ground. He looked slightly alarmed before his eyes widened at the sight. "Akamaru?!"
The white-furred dog laid on the ground.
"Damn!" Kiba cursed. He quickly whirled around and punched the other Kiba across the face. "Then you're Naruto! Take that!"
The other Kiba crashed into the ground before turning into Akamaru.
The first Akamaru stood up before undoing its transformation, revealing itself to be Uzumaki-kun in the flesh. He quickly lunged for Kiba, who was in a temporary state of shock. The blonde easily kicked the dog-like boy's chin upwards, sending his enemy coughing up blood while in the air.
Sakura suddenly gained an excited look as she pieced everything together.
Lee-senpai made a small face of annoyance, making me sigh.
"When Kiba smelled Naruto and punched him, Naruto quickly transformed into Akamaru. That made the appearance that Akamaru was hit, and the jūjin bunshin had been released," I explained to the boy.
"Yeah, I get that, but..." Lee-senpai's face scrunched up a bit. "How could you go back in your choice like that? If you trust a certain part of yourself and go through with that decision, why would you go back on it?"
"In a moment of doubt, he allowed his better judgement to wane. He only just graduated, so his resolve isn't as solid as ours," I said as I leaned my upper body against the railing again. I looked down at the scene blankly while resting my chin on my arms.
"Crap..." Kiba cursed after glancing at Akamaru, who was out cold next to him.
"Heh..." Uzumaki-kun gave a thumbs down. "Think before using a jutsu, or it will get used against you! And also... Don't fall for such obvious traps, idiot!"
I burst out laughing and had to hold my gut. "Holy fuck, he used Kakashi-sensei's words like the same thing didn't happen to him about two months ago! Holy shit! This is fucking gold! Hah hah hah!" I cut myself off with a harsh cough and watched apathetically as some of my blood splattered onto the railing and floor. "Uh... That wasn't me..."
Sakura glared at me fiercely, her eyes burning holes through my skull. "Ren..."
"Can I finish watching the match?" I asked hesitantly.
"...Fine," the girl grumbled before turning her attention back to Kiba, who had calmed himself down by biting his hand to the point of drawing blood.
The brunette pulled out eight shuriken, four for each hand. He was ready to fight again.
"So you're finally serious, eh, Kiba?" Uzumaki-kun asked before making the tora handsign.
Has he too figured out the most sacred technique of Konoha? I thought as I watched on eagerly.
"Then... With my new special technique... I'm going to end things!" The idiot declared.
"Huh? Since when...?" Sakura trailed off in confusion.
"Hm?" Kakashi-sensei hummed, his befuddlement clear in his tone.
I, too, stood there baffled.
"He was saving a special technique? Impressive..." Lee-senpai praised.
Uzumaki-kun suddenly made a handsign I didn't recognize while stretching his arms out towards Kiba.
"I don't know what kind of special technique it is, but..." The black-eyed boy threw all of his shuriken at the idiot. "I won't give you a chance to do it!"
"This time, Haku's not around to cancel it," I muttered as I watched with slight worry.
The orange and blue covered boy quickly dodged around the shuriken in odd positions, making me sigh in relief.
Kiba saw an opening and rushed forwards while performing another jutsu. He quickly got behind Uzumaki-kun while said idiot yelled as he summoned up his power. "Too slow!" He swung his left hand forwards with sharpened nails. "Eat this!"
I clenched the railing as I bit my lower lip.
That's when Uzumaki-kun released a fart right into poor Kiba's face.
The boy with an excellent sense of smell immediately recoiled while holding his nose. He even released a loud noise of disgust.
Everyone stared down with shocked or deadpanned expressions.
"Even though that fart was coincidental, it's definitely an Uzumaki-kun move..." I muttered while facepalming.
Sakura nodded besides me before holding up her left fist. "Naruto! Now's your chance!"
Uzumaki-kun slammed his hands together while yelling, "Damn it! I clenched too hard! But now I'll do my new technique!" He performed the kage bunshin jutsu, making four copies of himself. "I'm going to return the pain you gave me all at once!" He then used one of his doppelgangers as a springboard of sorts to get high in the air. "U!"
His other three clones kicked Kiba in the air. "Zu! Ma! Ki!"
The real Uzumaki-kun slammed his heel into the top of Kiba's skull, sending the Inuzuka crashing into the ground. "Naruto Rendan!"
Kiba spit up blood before temporarily passing out.
The blonde huffed and puffed as his bunshins disappeared.
Hayate-san checked Kiba's vitals before looking at the idiot all judgmentally. He gave a few coughs before standing up. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Ohhh!" Lee-senpai exclaimed excitedly as he looked down at my teammate.
"Shannaro! This feels great!" Sakura yelled.
"That Naruto beat Kiba!" Shikamaru announced excitedly as he and his team looked down at my teammate.
I chuckled before closing my eyes. I allowed myself to rest once more, happy with how things turned out. "He's an idiot, but if he sets his mind to something, he has the guts to pull through. He's... a gutsy shinobi."
"That he is," Kakashi-sensei said with a nod of approval.
The blonde began to run up to the second floor with a large spring in his step. He gave a laugh while yelling, "Easy! Easy!" Once he reached the top of the stairs, he put his hands behind his head and began walking along at a nice pace.
Just after he passed Hinata-san, the girl worked up the courage to talk to her crush. "N... Naruto-kun..."
The boy stopped and looked at her in confusion.
She silently held out her small cylinder while shaking, a large blush on her cheeks.
I nudged my sister before pointing over at the two. "Wouldn't they make a cute couple?"
"Eh?" Sakura looked over before frowning. She looked back at me and made a certain hand motion.
I shrugged while looking away.
Her frown deepened before she motioned to Hinata-san. She then motioned back to me.
I sighed deeply as I moved my hand from towards Sakura's head to her feet.
The pinkenette rolled her eyes before holding up her hand, her palm towards the ceiling.
I put my hand up, my palm facing towards her to interrupt her thought. I shook my head, making her drop the subject for the time being.
"What just happened?" Lee-senpai asked as he looked between the two of us.
"Twin talk. It takes many years to master," I replied before holding my index finger up. "Now shut up so I can listen in."
"I didn't know you liked gossip," Kakashi-sensei muttered.
"Of course. He's the gossip sponge," Sakura explained softly, earning a deadpanned expression from the man.
"What's this?" Uzumaki-kun asked.
"Medical cream," Kurenai-sensei answered.
"Why for me?" The blonde questioned.
Hinata-san's blush turned a deep red as she couldn't bring herself to verbally answer. Oh, she was so in love.
"Just take it, Naruto," the woman said with a small smirk.
"Uh... Sure..." Uzumaki-kun muttered as he took the cream. He then perked up and said, "Thanks! You're nice, Hinata!"
The girl gave a happy smile before she began to play with her fingers.
I smirked while looking over at Sakura, who gave a sigh.
"It isn't healthy," she scolded with her hands on her hips.
"Well, it's what I'm gonna do," I replied stubbornly, my arms crossed over my chest.
Her facial expression clearly said that she disapproved my change of heart.
"What's not healthy?" Kakashi-sensei asked, his overprotective motherly instincts kicking in as he looked between my twin and I.
"Nothing," I replied, waving him off.
Sakura just shook her head before giving a warning look to me.
"Yeah, I know," I grumbled before smiling at Uzumaki-kun. "Nice job! We're all proud of you and your growth!"
The blonde beamed at us, happy that his hard work had been recognized. He then pulled up his sleeve and put his medicine on his wound. His cut immediately began to close, making my eyes practically bulge out of my skull.
"Give me that!" I demanded as I snatched it away. I pulled my shirt up before quickly pulling out a kunai. I easily cut up the center of my wrappings and allowed them to fall away as I took a large glob of the medicine in my hand. I then smeared it across my wound before bouncing up and down excitedly. My excited smile slowly died once I realized that I wasn't healing nearly as fast at Uzumaki-kun.
A hand suddenly placed itself on my head and grabbed a large handful of my hair. "Haruno Ren..."
Oh, that's definitely the right spot, I thought happily as his grip on my hair tightened, my body shivering slightly from the pleasure. I quickly gulped down the knot in my throat and asked, "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"
"You're now going to be under ANBU watch while you're in the hospital, and you're going right now," the man said darkly as his eye pierced a hole straight through my soul.
"Aw..." I pouted before looking at Sakura. "Save me 10." I then looked at Rock Lee with the utmost seriousness. "If you happen to be put against Gaara, you need to quit. He's going to try to kill you." I then looked back at Sakura. "Also, tell me all the details when you come visit."
Kakashi-sensei didn't let me say anything more before he shunshined to Konoha's hospital. He refused to so much as let me out of his sight until he was sure that I was restrained and surrounded by ANBU members that would immediately hunt me down if I tried escaping. Needless to say, he was more overbearing than my own mother.
As soon as he left, I blurted out, "No wonder Kakashi-sensei has to read that porn book all the time. He clearly can't keep a girlfriend and needs to image one while reading that fucking trash."
One of the very faint chakra signatures in the room flickered away, but I could hear the laughing coming from outside of my window. That chick was in hysterics from my sass.
"She do that often?" I asked while looking towards were another ANBU officer was hidden.
They didn't give a reply.
I shrugged before looking back up towards the ceiling. "So any of you know Hitsuji? He doing good? Oh, and what about Risu and Ahiru?"
Once again, no one answered.
"Okay, cool story..." I trailed off before smirking. "So are all of you trackers? Is that why you guys were the ones that have to babysit me? I bet it is."
The one ANBU member came back, her chuckles under control. She seemed confused about her team's tenseness, but didn't say anything.
"So how fast could you guys track me down if I used the hiraishin jutsu?" I questioned curiously.
No one answered.
"Mkay..." I stared blankly at the ceiling for a few moments before boredom began to run through my veins. "Ugh... There's nothing to do..." I traced out the ceiling patterns in my head. Then, I made up small statistics about how the next room over would fair in terms of patterns considering how much space would most likely be in between both rooms and the like. Once I realized that I was far too bored, I gave a loud hum.
The beeping of monitors filled the room. The scent of the room was sterile, but that was something I never had a problem with. Light not only came from the light fixtures on the ceiling, but also through the window.
I'm bored.
Hi bored, I'm Sado.
I snickered at that. Okay, fuck you. You know those stupid jokes always get me.
Yeah... We probably won't be making those jokes anymore though, he said, his voice oddly depressed considering his usual attitude.
Yeah... I should really get on that soon. Hm... I wonder when I'm going to be released...
Well, if a medical ninja uses their healing chakra.
It's called iryō ninjutsu.
Fuck off! Sado demanded before clearing his throat. -then we'll be released significantly faster. Of course, the problem after that comes in to play with our training. We have a about a month to develop our techniques and maybe learn a new one. We also have to show all of our shit off if we're going to be promoted to chunin.
Yeah, but since Sakura isn't being promoted, shouldn't we just drop out?
...Shit.
I gave a deep sigh. This is troubling.
If we do focus on training, we won't have enough time look up certain things for Duckass and his seal. Besides, we were going to look more in depth about him, remember?
Yeah. There's no way we can back out of that. Okay, we'll drop out and focus on research.
Agreed. I hope the dickhead can focus on the research instead of being a pushover bitch baby.
I burst out laughing at that one. "Pushover bitch baby! That's hilarious!" I ended up coughing since my saliva went to the back of my throat and into my trachea. As I was choking to death on my own spit, one of the ANBU members were nice enough to come out of their hiding place and push my nurse class button.
They then went back into hiding instead of helping any further. That person had secured themselves a place on my 'I-will-get-revenge' list.
A nurse soon came in and saw me still coughing. She then quickly undid my restraints to let me sit up before rushing off to get a glass of water. Of course, she didn't undo my wrist restraints.
I was left like a baby before she came back. I was allowed to drink my water and calm my coughing down before I was shoved onto my back and restrained once more.
That woman was going to leave me hanging!
"Um, when can I get out of here?" I asked.
She looked back at me with a small glare. "You shinobi are all the same. You haven't even begun to scab over, and you already want to leave."
"Is that a Tuesday?" I questioned, earning an even more irked look.
"Get some rest," she demanded as she left my room and slammed the door behind her.
"I think that was a Tuesday!" I said optimistically.
It wasn't a Tuesday...
