A/N: I was really not looking forward to this chapter (it's actually one of my least favourite scenes for some reason) so I decided to fall back to my procrastinating tendencies. Sorry about that. On another note, if I chose to summarize or time skip the rest of the preliminary rounds would y'all hate me?
Last time:
"Right! Next up is Uzumaki Naruto vs Inuzuka Kiba!" the proctor announced.
'Whoever decided to put those to loudmouths together was an idiot.'
Now:
"YESSS! IT'S MY TURN!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped into the fighting area.
"I hope you're ready to accept your defeat," Kiba said as he too made his way to the fighting area.
"Good luck, Naruto," Sakura smiled.
"All right, seeing as there aren't any objections, let the fifth preliminary match begin!" Hayate announced.
"Sorry, Kiba, don't take it personally if I blow you away," Naruto said.
"Ah! That's exactly what I was going to say, only not as politely. Right Akamaru?"
"Arf!" Akamaru responded as he jumped out of Kiba's sweater and onto the ground.
"Wait a second, what's the puppy doing here? Come on, isn't that against the rules or something?"
"No, like Shino's bugs, the dog is a part of Kiba. He is within the rules."
"Hmph, whatever. Fine by me. I do my best work with a handicap."
'Ugh, is this entire match just going to be a huge trash-talk session?'
"Aw man, Kiba's so lucky!" Choji exclaimed.
"I think you'd be surprised Choji," Hanara smirked, "I mean, this is the same Naruto that's escaped squads of ANBU after doing a prank."
And then, their attention was brought back to the match when Naruto let out a huge yell and his body hit the floor with a thud.
"This little guy is gonna be out for a while," Kiba told the proctor, "You can call the match."
"Thought as much," Shikamaru commented.
"Yeah, I thought Kiba might be too much for him, but that was fast," Ino responded
"You know, you had me believing in him for a moment," Choji said to Hanara.
Hanara shook her head, "Watch. If there's one thing Naruto is good at, it's surprising everyone and defying expectations."
As if that was his cue, Naruto forced himself to his feet.
"What! No way!" Kiba said, turning around.
Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, and practically everyone but Hanara, Kakashi, and Sakura, let out a gasp of shock.
"I told you!" Hanara laughed.
"Don't ever," Naruto growled, "Don't ever underestimate ME!"
"Heh. Seems like the kid's come a long way." Shikamaru smiled.
"YEAH!" Lee cheered.
"Yeah, yeah, more tough talk. Look at yourself in a mirror, you're a mess!" Kiba exclaimed, hiding his shock.
'Ughhhh can we get to the actual fight already? What is this? A let's-see-who-can-talk-their-opponent's-ear-off-first competition?'
"Come on, Akamaru," Kiba said, running in Naruto's direction with a bunch of smoke bombs.
"He's planning on doing what I did to defeat Shikamaru on our first day with Asuma-sensei," Hanara muttered as Naruto was engulfed in a bunch of smoke.
"Darn, the best part and I can't see anything!" Shikamaru exclaimed.
"Hey, Hanara-"
"Sure," Hanara cut Ino off.
'Byakugan,' she thought, putting her hands in the Tiger seal.
There were a bunch of groans coming from the smoke covered area, all of which were Naruto's.
"Basically, Naruto is being beaten to a pulp by Kiba," Hanara responded to all of the curious glances.
"... you aren't going to elaborate?" Choji asked.
"Nope!"
Naruto finally ran out of the smoke, only for Akamaru to pounce onto him, forcing Naruto right back in.
The smoke cleared, revealing Naruto lying on the ground with Akamaru beside him, wagging his tail while Kiba was on his feet, directly opposite to the two others.
"Yeah! This fight is over!" Kiba exclaimed.
'This isn't the end, right? He's gotta be the Number 1 Prankster for a reason! As dumb as he is, he's creative in the weirdest moments! Come on, Naruto! Kiba's too arrogant for his own good! You gotta beat some sense into him!'
Akamaru bounded over to Kiba.
"Good doggy! Way to-" Kiba's eyes widened in surprise.
Akamaru bit Kiba.
Hanara smirked, knowing that somehow, Naruto had something to do with this.
"Hey, Akamaru?" Kiba asked, shaking the arm that 'Akamaru' was on, "What are you doing?"
"Surprise! Gotcha!" Naruto laughed, dispelling his transformation.
"And that is why Naruto's the village's Number 1 Prankster," Hanara smiled.
"Dang, you even smell like a dog," Naruto commented.
"You used the Transformation Jutsu!" Kiba exclaimed.
'No shit, Sherlock.'
"Who would have thought that Naruto's a match for Kiba?" Ino asked in shock.
"Here's Akamaru," Naruto said, taking out the puppy from inside his jacket as his clone stood up.
"To balance a transformation while using a clone as well? There's no way he should be able to do that!" Shikamaru said in disbelief.
"You know, Naruto's chakra is actually off the charts," Hanara informed, "He has more chakra than almost all the participants in the room."
"This ain't the Naruto we used to know," Choji said.
"Mhm, he's learned to use his brain for more than just pranks, that's for sure," Hanara commented.
"Naruto, if I were you, I would let Akamaru go," Kiba threatened as he tossed a food pill into the puppy's mouth.
True to his name, Akamaru's fur started turning red and shaggier. His teeth sharpened as well. All in all, Akamaru didn't look like the harmless puppy he usually was. In fact, he looked feral.
"LET'S GO, AKAMARU," Kiba yelled as the dog jumped on top of him, "MAN BEAST CLONE! ALL FOURS JUTSU!"
Kiba and Akamaru attacked Naruto over and over again, not giving him any chance to counter. Naruto was doing okay, he didn't seem very injured, but then he made a huge mistake: he jumped into the air to dodge. It was then that Naruto, for the first time, became acquainted with the technique that is known as Fang Over Fang. By the yell of pain that was let out after Kiba and Akamaru were done with him, it was clear that Naruto did not like it.
When Naruto landed, there was blood all over his face.
"I will- I- I will be Hokage," Naruto forced out as he struggled to get back on his feet.
"Come on! Do you really believe that a weakling like you could be Hokage?" Kiba mocked, "You must be out of your mind! I'll be Hokage!"
"Sorry but, you can forget about being Hokage. Because I'm the top dog around here," Naruto growled.
"Heh. You're a real glutton for punishment, aren't ya," Kiba laughed.
Naruto grunted in acknowledgement.
"Okay, it's your funeral. Let's go Akamaru! Fang Over Fang!"
Once again, Naruto was hit- well scratched -with the Inuzuka's most painful technique.
When it became clear that one time wasn't going to cut it, Kiba threw more smoke bombs and then did Fang Over Fang a bunch of times while Naruto couldn't dodge.
But then, the smoke cleared and Naruto just picked himself up.
"I'm going to make sure you'll never get up again!" Kiba said, throwing more smoke bombs at Naruto, "Fang Over Fang!"
Hanara sighed, "Kiba better get creative soon or else Naruto's going to find a way to counter like he did before."
"Mhm," her teammates grunted.
The smoke cleared, and just as Hanara predicted, Naruto found a way to counter. He transformed into Kiba.
"Brilliant, Naruto! Way to use your head!" Sakura cheered.
"Okay..." Kiba sighed, "I see you've gotten better at the transformation jutsu. I admit, you look just like me and that threw me for a minute. But I can smell ya, kid. I know which one is you."
And with that, Kiba ran and punched the person directly across from him, "Game's over."
There was a puff of smoke and... it revealed Akamaru.
Kiba's eyes widened, "Huh?"
Hanara turned on her Byakugan, 'That's way too much chakra for a dog... smart! You're using that trick again. You are smarter than anyone gives you credit for, I'll give you that.'
Then, Kiba turned around, and in a fit of rage, punched the 'person' behind him hard enough to knock him out.
There was another puff of smoke that cleared to reveal another Akamaru.
Kiba looked around, confused.
Kakashi smirked and turned to look at Kurenai. Or well, Hanara assumed he smirked. Stupid mask.
"Well, this is coming from the class clown."
The first 'dog' that Kiba hit transformed back into Naruto and let out a battle cry, running towards Kiba. Kiba turned, but it was too late, he was kicked on his stomach by Naruto, sending him flying back to the real Akamaru.
"Who would have thought that the Naruto that we used to know could ever be that smart?" Ino asked rhetorically.
"Well, he had to be smart if he was going to get through the Forest of Death," Choji reasoned.
"The smart shinobi is careful about how he uses his jutsu, dummy," Naruto smirked.
"... why do I feel like he learned that lesson the hard way?" Hanara muttered to Shikamaru.
"He probably did," Shikamaru responded.
"Hmph, I've still got the advantage here," Kiba said, "Don't get cocky."
"You should watch out, Kiba! Because I'm going to use my new super-secret killer move!" Naruto announced.
"You gotta be kidding me," Kiba groaned, "Super-secret killer move? It's probably a joke!"
"Get ready!" Naruto exclaimed, putting his hands in the tiger seal.
But Kiba was intimidated enough not to take any chances. He sent a bunch of shuriken at Naruto. While Naruto was occupied with that, Kiba did his All Fours Jutsu and started attacking him.
"Smart," Shikamaru commented, "He's not taking any chances."
"He's going at Naruto so fast that Naruto can't build up any chakra to counterattack!" Ino exclaimed.
Naruto was sent to the ground time and time again, but it seemed like he was building a plan while being pummelled. When Kiba decided to attack him for what looked like the hundredth time, Naruto finally managed to counter by grabbing his hands and throwing Kiba into the opposite wall. But sadly, Kiba had lightning-fast reflexes which allowed him to land on his fours, much like a cat would.
"I will be Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed as Kiba came running at him.
That only angered Kiba further, causing his attacks to become even more brutal.
"I'm getting one thing," Choji said, "The kid doesn't give up."
"Mn," Ino gave a nod of agreement.
"With all the negative comments he gets, he kinda can't. He won't get anywhere if he does," Hanara said.
"Yeah. Naruto's like a bad cold," Shikamaru added, "No one will ever be able to shake him off."
"Enough of this!" Naruto exclaimed, "It's time to unveil my new technique!"
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands in the tiger seal.
Kiba ran faster than ever before until he was right behind Naruto, ready to attack.
"I've got you now!" Kiba yelled.
Naruto farted.
Kiba's nose was right behind Naruto's behind.
"ARGHHH!" Kiba exclaimed, clutching his nose and running away from Naruto's butt.
"With his sense of smell a thousand times more sensitive... Kiba's not gonna be able to get rid of that stench any time soon. I guess, disgusting as that technique was, it works," Hanara said when she saw all her teammates' jaws were dropped in disbelief.
"B-But- NARUTOOO!" Ino yelled, shocked.
"Ugh! Nasty!" Kiba said before coughing, clutching his nose.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said, creating 4 clones that surrounded Kiba, "You beat me up pretty bad so now it's payback time!"
"H-Huh?!" Kiba said, eyes widening as he took his hands away from his nose.
The first clone punched Kiba, almost sending him to the ground. Before he could hit the ground though, three other ones kicked Kiba, shooting him up into the air, where he met the last clone, whose leg met Kiba's head.
"NA- RU- TO UZUMAKI BARRAGE!" Naruto yelled.
Kiba faceplanted onto the floor and Naruto dispelled his clones, panting.
After it seemed like Kiba wouldn't get up, the proctor checked him and announced Naruto as the winner.
"YES NARUTO! THAT'S MY TEAMMATE! WAY TO GO!" Sakura yelled.
"Unbelievable! Who would've thought he could beat Kiba!" Choji exclaimed.
"A major upset," Shikamaru said.
"Mhm!" Ino and Hanara agreed.
'He must have picked up that last move by watching Sasuke,' Hanara thought.
'Beep!' went the screen, announcing the next match.
"Okay! The next match is Temari of the Sand vs Ino Yamanaka!"
Hanara's eyes widened, 'Ino has no chance.