When they get competitive: Part one

(AN: For this one, I genuinely think this might actually be credible logic. Without the use of chakra, Kiba probably is the strongest physically out of the main cast, minus maybe Lee since he legit works out 24/7 but meh, we'll ignore that little detail for now! Enjoy the chapter!)

"Alright, Naruto. Pay up!"

"Wait! One more round. And if I win this time, you owe me all the amounts of money I've already bet you, with interest!"

"Are you kiddin'? Easy money. That was your ninth consecutive loss and you wanna throw away more money?"

"Prepare to eat your words, Kiba! There's no way I'll lose to you again!"

From across the room, Luna sat swilling a glass of iced tea with Ino and Sakura. "So, what're they shouting about this time?"

Ino sighed into her palm. "Who cares? It's dragged on for four days now."

"Kiba's been thrashing everyone in the village at arm wrestling, and it's gotten the boys all riled up." Sakura supplied.

"Really?" Luna thought back. She had noticed Kiba had been acting slightly more arrogant than usual as of late, but after his latest crash of confidence over his mother's constant comparisons between him and the Leaf Hero, she figured he was just making up for lost bragging time.

"He even beat monster-strength Forehead here."

"Hey!"

Ino sniggered but otherwise ignored her friend's offence.

This time the she-wolf really was surprised. "He beat Sakura too? I mean, no offence to him, but how?"

It wasn't that she doubted his strength, but when it came to Sakura, Ino was right in likening it to monstrous.

"It's a no chakra game apparently. Kiba's rules. Obviously." The blonde sighed again, glancing over to where Lee had finally managed to squeeze his way back into the match, the taijutsu user burning holes into their locked fists as though glaring would help him win.

"I know I could beat your sorry ass into dust but without chakra, I'm not exactly Mr. Muscle." Sakura sulked, still hung up on how they had briefly focused on her loss.

"Even Sai has been researching ways to win at arm wrestling."

Ah, so that's why it was annoying Ino so much. As for Sakura, Luna supposed her own loss, along with the added irritation of her orange-clad, blonde teammate rambling on about it was probably enough reason for her to be pissed off.

"Huh." The hybrid blinked, tearing her gaze from the intensity across the room and changing the subject to something less.. well, boring. "How are things going at the hospital, Sakura?"

The pinkette smiled, grateful for the distraction. "It's going well. I took on a bunch of students fresh from the academy who've expressed an interested in medical ninjutsu. I've been teaching them about poisons. Next week we'll be focusing on ways to medicine to increase speed and strength, like… food pills…"

Her voice trailed off as Ino's head snapped to hers, the two exchanging a knowing grin.

Luna's ears flattened, not liking the way their faces then turned rather sinisterly towards her. "Errr…"

"Oh, come on, furball, just swallow the damn thing already, it can't be that bad!" Ino scolded the she-wolf, the nickname having grown rather popular among her friends after Sai unexpectedly dubbed her with it a few weeks back.

"I just licked it and it already tastes like–"

"Like what, Luna?"

Luna gulped as the pinkette rounded on her with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"L-like candy. And r-rainbows!" She stuttered, throwing one last reluctant glare at the small round object, then forcing it down her throat. She had to hold back the gag that threatened to follow, mustering all her mental and physical prowess to smile and make a 'Mmmm' noise.

The reaction, though incredibly fake, seemed to satisfy Sakura at least.

"This is gonna be so good!" Ino squealed, rubbing her palms together like an evil genius.

"Remind me again why it has to be me?" Luna grimaced, swallowing thickly and still suffering the consequences of the terrible taste of whatever the heck they just convinced her to consume.

Ino poked her in the forehead. "Be-cause, he won't expect this from you."

Sakura nodded, joining in on the enthusiasm. "Not to mention he won't be able to back down if you openly challenge him. He's got too much pride to refuse to take on his own girlfriend, no one will ever let him live that down!"

"Besides, you're the only one he hasn't already taken on and already beaten."

The she-wolf wasn't sure what threw her more, the fact that Sakura so blatantly called out their relationship or the revelation that Ino had also joined in on the matches at some point.

"And you can't deny the opportunity to beat him in public isn't tempting."

The corners of Luna's mouth tilted upwards at that. It was no secret that she loved to lord her lupine bloodline over his.

"Fine, let's go get this over with then."

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as his hand was once again slammed against the rather beaten looking wooden surface, glowering at the shit-eating grin his opponent was giving him.

"That makes eleven out of eleven! You ready to give in yet, loser?"

The blonde pouted as he reached into his now considerably lighter frog-shaped wallet, chucking a few more coins across the table.

"I'm gonna win them back, I swear it!"

"You're going… to take him… on again?" Choji asked in between mouthfuls of crisps, having lost hours ago and now simply sticking around for the show.

"Of course I am! I'm never gonna quit!"

Kiba drummed his fingers on the wood with a contented sigh. "Then I'm gonna be a whole lot richer come tomorrow."

"Before that though," Luna started as she approached the group, flanked by Ino and Sakura with barely contained excitement. "Mind if I cut in?"

The dog-trained blinked, surprised, but it was Lee who voiced the question. "You want to have a go? But why?"

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that tone, Lee." Luna bristled. "But yeah. It's getting kinda annoying all this noise you're making, and I happen to like this hangout without all the added chaos. If I beat you then this whole event is over."

Kiba shot her a confident look. "And what do I get when I win?"

He didn't miss the slight flattening of her ears as she realised she hadn't thought what her stakes would be in their competition. "Er, the satisfaction of winning?"

"Uhuh, nice try." The legs of his chair scraped noisily across the floor as he stood, reaching out a hand to shake on their deal as he proposed his terms. "When I win, you have to submit to me."

Luna scowled, and scowled even harder when one of their friends snickered the word 'kinky', but she barely had a chance to identify the culprit when Kiba prompted her.

"Deal?"

Their hands met in the middle. "Deal."

"I look forward to it." He grinned, then dropped back into his seat, pulling her down into the opposite chair with their hands still connected. She mirrored his actions as he leaned forward on his elbow, their free hands lying flat, palms down.

"Two rules for you, Princess. No chakra, and only human limbs, got it?"

"Fine by me."

Lee crouched down between them, his eyes lowering to the level of their locked hands as though to mediate. "Are you both ready? Then, begin!"

The match started quite civilly, Kiba not really applying a whole lot of force right off the bat if only to give her some amount of pity, and Luna only applied her estimated regular amount of strength.

She could feel the effects of the food pill raging through her veins like fire, and she worried briefly that Kiba might be able to sense the pumping of her pulse as their wrists brushes together. But Sakura had assured her the pill would only be detectable by taste alone, followed swiftly by a joke from Ino that there was to be no kissing the enemy before the match.

Kiba, on the other hand, was the picture of confidence. He'd sparred with her plenty of times, so he knew all her strengths and weaknesses and physical strength was not one of her better qualities. This match would be a walk in the park, but he was enjoying this public competitive streak that the she-wolf was displaying, so he figured he could drag it out a little.

"What, is this all you got, Inuzuka?" She taunted, pushing against his hand slightly.

The dog-trainer clicked his tongue. "Impatient to lose so quickly?"

"Impatient to prove you wrong! Put some effort in, you lazy mutt!"

"Alright, since you're so confident, wanna up the stakes?"

There was a collective series of 'ooo's from their friends around them, and Luna rolled her eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

"If you win, I'll do whatever you want for a whole day."

The 'ooo's repeated, but Luna was not fooled. Her strength may have been increased, but she was still not entirely assured she would win. He wasn't even trying to beat her just yet, so their match up till no was no helpful indication.

"Oh yeah, and what do you get if you win?"

He flashed his fangs in a grin. "You have to back me up next time my ma's getting on my case."

"…Wow I didn't know you hated me that much."

Kiba chuckled. "Aw, come on, you know she likes you way more than me."

"Not when she's in full blown kill-her-stupid-son mode."

"So, what you're saying is, you're scared of my mother?"

Luna grit her teeth. Damn him. "Fine. If I win, I'll protect you from your big scary mummy. I'd say let's shake on it but…"

Her words trailed off as their locked fists began to move, very slightly to her right. Apparently choosing to tease him at that moment wasn't the right choice, and he was stronger than she'd anticipated, even with the added help of the food pill.

Face contorted in concentration, Luna allowed him to push their hands to an awkward angle that almost had her body angling with it, then she began to push back properly. She could practically feel the tension rolling off Ino and Sakura hovering over each of her shoulders as their hands began to incline, Kiba's expression flickering subtly with surprise. Obviously, he had not expected this kind of resistance.

After a few seconds of weighty silence, she felt someone's chakra probe at the edges of hers, which remained in its natural state, as the rules demanded.

She smirked as Shikamaru frowned and muttered, "Didn't see this coming."

Kiba scoffed, applying more force than before as their hands levelled off, ignoring the gasp and bewildered round-eyed gaze of their bushy-browed mediator.

The hybrid watched with undisguised smugness as Kiba debated calling her out, but they all knew if he commented, he'd be admitting he was having a hard time.

"You know, if you two want to just sit and hold hands, we can leave…" Sai rubbed his chin, confused by the situation and apparently not having caught onto the actual situation yet.

"Shut it, Sai." Kiba snapped, brow furrowing as their hands descended a few inches to his right. "What the hell…"

Luna smirked. "Something wrong, mongrel?"

"You tell me, Princess. I thought we agreed no chakra!"

"She's not using chakra." Shikamaru supplied. "I checked."

She sniffed, holding her heart in a fake, hurt gesture. "You know, you guys' lack of faith in me is kinda upsetting."

"I never doubted you for one second!" Lee exclaimed proudly.

Naruto on the other hand, was less polite. "Not gonna lie, I totally did. But I'm definitely rooting for you now! Kiba, I'll bet you all the money I already lost that she beats you!"

She chuckled as the Inuzuka ignored the enthusiastic blonde, lifting her free hand to rest her chin against it, throwing Kiba a suggestive smile.

The uncharacteristically flirtatious expression was enough for his composure to waver again, and their fists drew down even further until he caught himself and pushed back.

"How are you doing that?!" He finally demanded, frustration evident in his strained voice. "I've fought you plenty of times, and I know for a fact this isn't your strength. You think I believe for one second you got this strong since the last time we sparred?"

Luna shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "They say seeing is believing, I suppose."

Their hands began to creep towards the surface again, this time eliciting a small growl from the dog-trainer as he bared his teeth at their connected palms. "I know you're cheating… But how?!"

"It's only cheating if you get caught." Sakura smirked, causing Kiba's dark gaze to flicker briefly over his opponents' shoulder, something dawning on his expression.

"You know something…" He accused, then sharp onyx eyes snapped back to ruby. "So, you are cheating then."

"Actually, I'm not. If I recall, there were only two rules to this match, no chakra, and no wolf form. I'm complying to both, aren't I?"

By now, the back of his right hand was mere centimetres from the wooden table, all it would take was that last burst of strength and she'd have done it. And she was about to do just that, her eyes casting one final glance over his form. His expression contorted with confusion and frustration, fangs bared, eyes narrowed. His free hand had moved to grip the edge of the table, knuckles turning white from the force of his grip.

Her eyes flicked back to meet his, and in the next second, their fists slammed against the surface of the table and ending the match once and for all.

Only, it wasn't his hand that was touching the wood, it was hers.

The group fell silent for several heartbeats, and then…

"What the hell was that, Luna?!"

"He beat you?"

"Guess it was too good to be true…"

"This wasn't part of the deal!"

All eyes snapped to the Yamanaka at that last exclamation, and her hands flew to cover her mouth.

Kiba leapt up from the table, pointing a finger in fury. "So, you were in on whatever this," he waved between him and the hybrid, "was!"

"Luna! What were you thinking?!" Sakura demanded, apparently seeing no point in discretion now the cat was out of the bag. Or, the wolf.

Lee reached up to rub his chin, having had the clearest view out of them all. "What happened, Luna? Why did you let him win?"

"I didn't." Luna sighed and leaned back in her chair, wrist rotating in the air before her. "Sorry guys. I guess he really is just too strong for us."

She stood up in the next moment, flashing an apologetic but still somehow cheeky grin. "Well, I'll catch you guys later."

She made her exit quickly, leaving the group in an explosion of noise before they could drag her into it. She found her way to the nearest training ground hurriedly, which turned out to be exactly what she was looking for – an obstacle course.

Sakura's food pill only seemed to be increasing in intensity the longer it was in her system, and Luna had felt as though one more second sitting still like that and she was going to burst.

(AN: This one got pretty long for what this list of one-shots is supposed to be, so to keep it light reading, I split 'when they get competitive' over two chapters. Part two to come!)