Naruto Primer: Lil' Kiba

Shiromaru

We've previously touched on the fact that Kiba and Akamaru are the best of friends.  But how exactly did Kiba come to own Akamaru?  And why is their bond so strong?  I think it's time once again to look in the Magic Crystal Ball of the Past.

Kiba was only nine on that fateful Christmas morning.  At about five o'clock, he shot upright in bed and let out a loud gasp.  He knew it was Christmas and that it was time to go and open his presents.

He jumped out of bed clad in his favorite pajamas; the blue ones with the yellow stars on them; and holding his little puppy stuffed animal.  He went right for his parents' room, turned the lights on and quickly shook them awake while exclaiming all sorts of adorable phrases like, "Wake up, it's Christmas!!" and "We have to open the presents!!"

Kiba's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Inuzuka, were particularly excited about this Christmas morning as well because they had got Kiba the one thing he had always wanted.

He ran downstairs and was wowed by all the beautiful Christmas lights that were already on and flashing, and the full stockings and the absurd amount of presents that were under the tree!  He ran through the presents like a buzz saw, tearing open all the wrapping paper, pausing only to take a breath here and there.  That's what it's like for only children on Christmas day.

When all the presents had been opened and the new toys stacked, there was a time for a bit of Christmas reflection.

"Wait…didn't we forget to put something under the tree?" said Kiba's mother to his father.

"What?!" Kiba said eagerly.

"Why, I think we did!" said Kiba's father.

"What is it?!" Kiba asked, jumping up and down.

"See for yourself." Said Kiba's mother as she pulled a box out from the closet and handed it to him.  "Don't shake it, though."

Kiba lifted up the top of the box and looked down inside to see a little puppy sitting on the bottom with a red bow around his neck.  "A PUPPY!!!" he exclaimed happily as he pulled the happy puppy out of the box.

"We figured it was only fitting since we both had dogs and we're a very dog oriented family." Said Kiba's father as he stroked his evil dog with a patch.

"I'm going to name him Shiromaru because he's white!" said Kiba.  "Is it okay if I take Shiromaru outside to play with all my friends?"

"Of course!" said his parents.  Kiba ran upstairs to get changed in some of his brand new Christmas clothes that he just got from Santa and then took his new puppy outside where all the neighborhood boys were playing with their favorite new toys.

"Wait here, Shiromaru!" said Kiba as he put the puppy down and ran over to where all the boys were standing.

"My favorite toy is this new butterfly net." Said Lil' Shino.  "I can't use it yet because it's, you know, winter.  But later I'll use it all the time."

"I got an Easy Bake Oven!" said Chouji.  "I didn't bring it outside though because that would just be silly."

"I got a new bike but I'll never use it." Shikamaru said.

"I SO beat you in ALL your presents!" said Kiba.  "Because I got a PUPPY!"  He turned around to present Shiromaru to the three kids only to find that he wasn't standing there anymore.  "Hey!  Where'd you go?"  The four of them went on a scavenger hunt for Shiromaru until Kiba finally round the corner to find the most horrid sight that no little boy should ever have to see.  Road kill.

"OH MY GOD!!!" yelled Kiba, slapping his cheeks.  "SHIROMARU!!"

"You can have my bike." Shikamaru offered.

"HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!" Kiba yelled.  "I PUT HIM DOWN FOR ONLY A MINUTE!!"

Kiba ran all the way back to his house and flung the door open.  "MOM!!  DAD!!  MY PUPPY GOT RUN OVER!!!"

No sooner had he said these words did his parents have him at the nearest pet store to buy him a new one.  Every other parent in the world would scold their child for being careless and letting their puppy die within ten minutes, but not Kiba's parents.  They had way too much experience with puppies and losing puppies to be unsympathetic.

"How about this one?" suggested his father as he pointed to one of the puppies in the cage.  "It says that he'll grow up to be three feet tall!"  He turned around and found that Kiba wasn't looking at the puppy HE was looking at.

"How about one of those?" Kiba said, pointing at a big cage that had about seven puppies frolicking around in it.  "I want one of those puppies."

"Those won't get very big." Said Kiba's mother.

"But I like these puppies because they look like Shiromaru except they're red." Said Kiba.

"We could get you the same kind of puppy as Shiromaru." Said Kiba's father.

"But then I'll be reminded too much of Shiromaru and get sad whenever I look at the new puppy!" whined Kiba.

"Well…I suppose…" said Kiba's father uneasily.  He was a firm believer in big dogs.

A store clerk walked over to help out.  "Which one would you like?" he asked.

"That one!" said Kiba, pointing at the little puppy that was in the corner sitting by himself as all the other puppies jumped around and had fun.

"That one's the runt, Kiba." Said Kiba's mother.

"Yes, he's probably not going to live much longer." Said the store clerk.

"What?" said Kiba.  "Then I should definitely get that one!"

"Kiba…that's…that's the runt." Said Kiba's dad, looking slightly shocked.

"I want that one." Kiba decided.

The store clerk shrugged and pulled the runt puppy out of the cage and handed it to Kiba.  "I like this puppy!" Kiba said.  "I'm never going to put him down ever and I'm going to take care of him!  And, since he's red, I'll name him Akamaru!"

"You know, the amazing thing about that breed of dog is that they have the ability to change their color from red to white." Said the store clerk.

"Really?" said Kiba.  "So he'll be just like Shiromaru!  But if he's white then the name Akamaru seems kind of ludicrous!  Oh well!"

"Are you sure you want this dog, Kiba?" asked Kiba's dad, trying to lure him over to where all the big dog puppies were.  "It's not going to grow up to be much bigger than that."

"That's okay." Said Kiba.  "If he was any bigger than it would be too heavy to carry."

"You don't always have to carry him." Said Kiba's mother.

"Yes I do." Said Kiba. "I'm never going to let him out of my sight!  Not after what happened to Shiromaru!"

Much to the family's disappointment, Kiba's parents bought the new red puppy for him.  Kiba took him home and gave him all the loving he needed to grow into a healthy, yet still runty, dog.