When they get competitive: Part two

(AN: And here it is, 'when they get competitive, part two! Enjoy!)

It didn't take him long to track the scent that he knew so well, but he was mildly surprised to find her at one of the obstacle course training grounds, it's mechanical equipment all in full swing.

Kiba watched in silence for a while under the shade of a large oak tree, his eyebrows gradually rising the longer he stayed hidden. She had lupine blood, sure, but he was sure Luna's agility wasn't usually so smooth. It was almost like she knew what was coming before it could even hit, her reaction speed having increased tenfold.

His onyx eyes followed her form as she ascended the cliffside next to the training ground, leaping and twirling mid-air to avoid a round of shuriken being spat from one of the shooting apparatus.

Silvery ears flickered towards him as she landed, and he let out an impressed breath.

Their eyes met, her face splitting into a grin as she crossed the training ground to his side.

"Impressive. I haven't seen you move like that since… well, ever." He praised, folding his arms and leaning against the bark of the tree.

Her grin widened. "Yeah well I had a little extra energy to burn today."

"That's convenient. Wanna tell me why that is?"

Luna's expression faltered, guilt filtering through the amusement slightly. "Seems that the effects of Sakura's food pills last longer than expected."

"I knew it!" He barked, snapping his fingers in triumph, victory glinting in his dark irises. "I knew you couldn't really have beaten me."

"Oh yeah? Wanna put that theory to the test, Inuzuka?"

"What, right now?" Kiba scoffed. He might've been competitive, but only when he thought he stood a chance at winning.

Luna snickered at his reaction and held a hand over her heart. "Oh, come on. Don't be such a puppy… I'll even let you use your chakra and I still won't use mine!"

The dog trainer seemed to ponder that for a moment. He knew that if he agreed and she still managed to beat him even with his use of chakra, she'd never let him live it down. But then, he wasn't exactly one to back down from a challenge, and this was Luna he was talking about. He knew her moves inside out, or at least he did when they weren't -heightened by Sakura's infamously disgusting-but-effective food pills.

His decision was ultimately made when Luna shrugged her shoulders, angling away slightly to examine her nails nonchalantly. "I mean, if it scares you that much…"

"Alright, Princess. You're on!"

She sneered at how predictable he could be, and while they both knew she had just played him like a flute, his pride would never have allowed him to back down.

Their spar began as similarly to all the rest, with him striking first and opening with a round of taijutsu, as if to test the waters on how far he could push her this time. Kiba was both pleasantly and suspiciously surprised to find her responding much faster and with seemingly little to no effort, dodging each of his attacks quite easily. So, he figured, it was time to pick up the pace.

He skidded backwards away from her suddenly, putting several yards of distance between them as his hands wove together in lightning fast signs. "Tunnelling Fang!"

The hybrid grit her teeth as Kiba leapt into the air, his form moulding into a tornado of chakra and spinning directly towards her, his jutsu carrying him much quicker than his legs normally could. She darted out of the way at the last second, knowing a direct hit from that would be game over, even without Akamaru's added strength. The problem, though, was that he could hold this jutsu for several rounds, and she cursed as the spiral of chakra infused Inuzuka came hurling right back at her like a boomerang.

She kicked off from the ground, her pulse racing as the food pill reacted to her spike in adrenaline. Luna continued to avoid his attacks with relative ease, but she knew it was all for naught if she couldn't land her own hits on him. Unless he simply wore himself down, allowing her to take him down in one go, this fight was doomed.

Kiba broke out of his jutsu and threw her a lazy smile, which was both intentional and successful in winding her up further.

Alright then. She grinned as she landed on the top, safe part of a nasty looking training dummy, it's mechanical cogs wheezing as spears of all shapes and sizes spun out of its body like piercingly sharp limbs.

Sticking to her no-chakra rule, the she-wolf channelled her inner bloodline power and transitioned swiftly into her silver lupine form, her agility increasing even more.

The Inuzuka cursed as she lunged forward, trying to maintain the distance between them so he could restart his jutsu, but Luna had figured out that part of his plan. She suddenly disappeared from sight, and Kiba's nose twitched as he focused intently on tracking her from scent alone. Luna knew he was more than capable of doing so, which is why she had to act fast while out of direct sight.

Her paws burned as she clawed the Earth, uprooting enough terrain to roll her entire body through, caking her silver coat in freshly dug soil. The scent disguise wouldn't fool him for long, but she only needed a moment to get close enough to pin him down. She was sure her wolf form was at least strong enough to hold him until he had no choice but to yield.

The fur on her stomach skimmed the ground as she stalked the length of the training field, quickly positioning herself upwind. Keen scarlet eyes scanned the obstacles that now stood between them, and in the next heartbeat, she darted forward.

He'd left his back seemingly wide open as she hurtled towards him, until he turned to face her with a smirk at the last second. Her claws ripped through innocent blades of grass as she slammed on the brakes a second too late, taking a heavily chakra infused foot to her flank as she had begun to turn mid-halt.

The kick sent her sprawling away from him with enough strength to force her back into her human form upon landing, a disgruntled groan escaping her throat.

"Oops… you good?" Kiba called, his offensive posture faltering momentarily as she clutched at her hip.

She sent him a half-grin, half-glare, scrambling to her feet and dipping back into a crouch, this time looking more on the defence than previously. However, Luna was the first to charge this time, and Kiba threw his arms up to block a punch aimed for the centre of his chest.

He grunted upon impact; her attack much fiercer than what he was used to from her. And damn, she was a lot faster. He could barely spare a second to plot his next move, let alone form a hand sign as she continued an endless barrage of well-aimed hits, vaguely aware that she was pushing him backwards towards some mechanical training stumps, their bodies spinning with sharp objects.

Clenching his teeth, Kiba braced himself and deliberately took a solid punch to his shoulder, deftly using that chance to grip her arm and flip her small form over his, and threw her in the direction she had been forcing him.

Luna ducked her head, very narrowly avoid one of the rotating weapons, snarling at the offending object as though it were to blame. Then, rather unexpectedly, her hand shot out to grab it, halting it in its tracks.

Kiba, who had been backing away quite hastily and was in the middle of reforming his jutsu, froze to stare in open surprise. The mechanism inside the dummy whirred in protest at its hindered motion, the sound broken when Kiba burst into laughter at Luna's expression. She was mirroring his previous face of shock, as though she hadn't even known what she'd been about to do, and even more stunned at the fact that she had managed to actually stop it. The action had been more of an impulse reaction than a conscious decision.

"Geez, remind me to get some of those food pills from Sakura for my next mission, yeah?" The Inu nin cackled, still highly amused as she rolled to the side and released the weapon's handle, allowing it to continue its assault on the air.

"Okay, did not see that coming…" She muttered, loosely shaking her hand and refocusing her attention on her opponent. "Wanna surrender yet?"

Kiba bared his fangs in a grin. "Not on your life."

With that, his hands locked together in the final sign for his jutsu, and Luna had mere seconds to yelp as she leapt up to dodge. Only, without chakra, the increase of strength simply wasn't enough to propel her high enough to avoid a head on collision, and Kiba had anticipated 'up' being her direction of escape.

The Inu tornado hit her full force in the chest, knocking the wind out of her as she flew back and landed with a cry against a tree trunk, on the opposite side of the field.

"Ah, shit!" The jutsu dispelled and he tore after her, dropping to his knees as she curled onto her side in a coughing fit. "Are you alright?"

She shot him a disapproving glare. "No, you moron, I think you just collapsed a lung!"

Despite everything, his hand slapped across his mouth as he held back a snigger. If she could throw out insults like that, then she would most likely be fine. But unfortunately for him, she noticed his amusement.

"I'm glad you think it's so FUNNY!" The hybrid pounced as she roared out her last word, bowling him over easily since he'd momentarily dropped his guard. Her tail swished teasingly from side to side as she straddled his chest, a playful grin on her lips.

"Gotcha now, huh?"

Kiba's eyes widened, realising that neither of them had yielded yet, meaning they were technically still mid-fight, and now he was losing! AS for Luna, she might have thrown their arm-wrestling match earlier, but there was no way she was missing the opportunity to lord this win over him for the next few weeks. After all, it might be the only time she could ever actually beat him in a spar!

"Damn it!" He snarled as he tried to push up against her, twisting his waist as her nails dug into his upper arms, her forehead pushing into the crook of his neck effectively pinning him in place. What was more, with the added strength of the food pill still in effect, she barely seemed to be breaking a sweat now, despite her breathing still being a little ragged from that last hit.

He thrashed a while longer as her grip tightened around his upper body, her thighs squeezing into his ribs as she clung to him like a baby monkey, unshakeable. Knowing that she was already injured from his tunnelling fang wasn't helping either and, listening to her occasional gasps of pain when he fought a little too hard, it was making him reluctant to put more effort into his escape. So finally, with utter disbelief, he fell back against the grass.

They remained still for a while, Luna's breaths short and broken, his deep and exhausted.

"Urgh. You're never gonna let me forget this." He complained.

The she-wolf pursed her lips in suspicion as she lifted her head to stare down at him, their noses brushing lightly. "You give?"

A sigh washed over her face as his shoulders slumped beneath her palms. "Yeah fine, you win."

She snickered at his pout, closing the gap between them to press against him in a deep, though short, kiss. Kiba blinked a few times when she pulled away, offering him a hand to stand when she was on her feet, but her out-stretched fingers gave him a different idea.

A smirk flashed across his face, too quick for her to register before he'd grabbed her hand and yanked her back down, the hybrid landing on his chest again somewhat clumsily.

"And just where do you think you are going?"

She grinned as he pulled her flush against him, their lips meeting again as he rolled them over. Kiba's tongue felt hot against her skin as he dragged his mouth along her jawline, then leaned up to press a series of swift kisses up the side of her face to her temple, ending the assault with one last kiss on the tip of her nose.

Onyx eyes opened to meet hers, dancing with a wicked sort of smile as he connected their foreheads. She withheld the butterflies in her tummy at the suspicious expression, his fingers locking with hers either side of her head in a contradictorily sweet action to the look he was giving her now.

"Did you think I'd forget our little deal from before?"

The she-wolf gulped, her breathing hitching as he snickered and nudged her cheek with his nose.

"I-I didn't. Don't worry, I said I'd protect you from your mummy when the time comes." She laughed, but it was clearly forced, and Kiba wasn't buying her diversion. They both knew exactly which part he was referring to.

"Uhuh, and the other part?"

Okay, so deflection didn't work. "Umm, I don't know what you're talking about…" She squirmed a little under his weight, raising her head to kiss him again. Her lips parted slowly against his, knowing he normally wouldn't be able to resist holding back for long with that move, but apparently their deal was just too enticing.

"Nice try." Luna pouted as he pulled back, albeit reluctantly, and he chuckled at her sour expression. "Hmm. I thought wolves had more pride than to back out on a deal…"

She scowled as he taunted her with that irritatingly sexy lop-sided smirk, the spikes of chocolate hair that fell over the top of his headband tickling her forehead.

"Mkay, fine…" She sulked, her voice drowning out into incoherent words as she mumbled what he was waiting ever-so-patiently to hear.

A soft laugh fanned over her face as he raised an eyebrow. "What was that? Didn't quite catch it."

"I said," She huffed, frustration growing as her cheeks burned under his intensely amused gaze. "I sumfttyoo…"

Kiba's eyes flashed darkly, his voice dropping an octave as he leaned into her and pinned her hands above her head. "Once more, Luna… But this time, try and sound like you mean it."

The she-wolf gulped, her face now thoroughly coloured in a vibrant shade that rivalled her crimson irises, her eyelashes fluttering as her heart skipped several beats.

"I…" Swallowing the last ounce of her pride, her hands clenched in his as she closed her eyes briefly, as if doing so would help build up the volume in her voice. And when she finally spoke the words, she wasn't sure who was more surprised by the fact that her chin simultaneously tilted up slightly, baring her neck to him just a little. "I submit to you."

His smirk widened, tongue darting out to wet his lips before they crashed down onto hers. Their bodies melded together and their limbs intertwined, Luna's heart pounding so heavily in her chest she was sure he'd have been able to feel it, if his hadn't been exactly the same.

She supposed letting him win earlier and the intense embarrassment of having to submit to him were worth it, especially now she'd said it. The results of which almost making her consider saying them again in the future. Almost.

The food pill Sakura had given her finally seemed to be wearing off, her rational thought returning slowly as they lay flat on their backs side by side later that day. The evening breeze brushed over her sweat-dried skin and made her shiver a little, but her lips curled into a smile despite the chill.

Kiba appeared to be sleeping, his chest rising and falling evenly while gentle blades of grass swished against his bare arms. She allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she tugged his jacket further around her shoulders. It was a relief, seeing him so relaxed like this after the past few weeks he'd been having. While he might not have actually voiced anything specific to her, Luna still lived within proximity of hearing the arguments that raged between him and his mother, the fights seeming to have become more aggressive and more persistent recently.

From what she could tell, the shift in attitude had occurred after a simple mission-gone-wrong, and as Luna had learned quickly, Kiba did not take criticism from his mother well. And she couldn't blame him really, it was hardly constructive, and most of the time the hybrid swore Tsume was just saying things to aggravate him on purpose. But deep down, she knew his mother was only doing it to push him, because she knew he was capable of much more. It was just a shame that Kiba never saw it that way.

So yes, her loss during the arm-wrestle earlier had been deliberate, because despite all his bragging that had driven the female ninja to coax the she-wolf into their plan in the first place, Luna figured he deserved that win, at least. And, she supposed, holding up her end of the deal wasn't the end of the world.

That is, so long as she survived whenever she'd have to backchat Tsume Inuzuka. Now that, she was not looking forward to.