Please Enjoy and I only own Ami and her unique Justus. The chapters of the story will occasionally combined some episodes in to one
Chapter 12: - Who's Top Dog Now
"I've been waiting forever for this. Sorry Kiba, don't take it personally if I blow you away," Naruto boasted to the boy. This boast, however, annoyed Kiba immensely.
"That's just what I was going to say, only not so politely. Right Akamaru?" Kiba retorted. His dog was tucked in his jacket, responded with a bark. I was worried about Naruto, with that seal Orochimaru had put on him – an odd number over an even number – it might have affected this chakra control.
"Oh yeah! Well talking's easy, lets' see what you've got to say at the end of the match," Naruto challenged
"Little squirt," Kiba growled out, as he put Akamaru on the floor. I wondered what Kiba's fighting style was like, it seemed everyone was different in this exam.
"Wait a second! Are you kidding me? What's the puppy doing here, he's just going to get in the way," Naruto protested.
"Deal with it I never go into battle without Akamaru," Kiba shot back. Akamaru then let out a bark at Naruto.
"Come on, isn't that against the rules or something?" Naruto questioned the proctor. Hayate confirmed that Akamaru was, in fact, within the rules as he considered a part of Kiba as much as Shino's bugs were a part of him. I found that analogy really strange.
"Whatever fine with me. I do my best work with a handicap," Naruto boasted. I was worried that Naruto's overconfidence might make him underestimate his opponent, like he had with me when we sparred, however that had ended in a tie and if Naruto wanted to proceed he would have to win.
"Ha! We'll just see about that," Kiba shot back. Although Kiba had the same problem as Naruto, overconfidence, however he was a lot more arrogant that Naruto was. "Akamaru you stay and leave all this to me. I've got it," Kiba told the canine. Akamaru seemed unnerved by this but complied with his orders.
"Go on Naruto, you can't lose to this jerk!" Sakura called out to the blonde. I was glad to see that the pinkette had regained her energy.
"Oh man Kiba's so lucky," Chōji complained. I was confused by this statement, if anything lucky would be fighting someone who was weak, and Naruto was far from weak.
"Why do you say that?" I questioned. Everyone looked at me confused, before Ino spoke up.
"Because Naruto was the weakest graduate at the academy," Ino responded. I narrowed my eyes causing the Ino and her team to flinch backwards.
"Only combat tell the of truth of shinobi's true ability. In class he might be weak but in battle he is strong," I stated. I then turned back to the battle which had not begun, yet.
"Look I feel sorry for you, so I'm going to finish you off with one shot, ok," Kiba stated. I grounded my teeth, I despised people like Kiba, those that thought of themselves higher than others and thus they underestimate those that seemed to be weaker.
"Yeah is that right. Man you're even dumber than you look if you think you can beat me," Naruto retorted.
"You sure talk tough for a little squirt," Kiba growled out. Hayate began the match and immediately Kiba squatted down and formed a hand sign, his chakra then began to roll off of him, his nail then sharpened into claws. "Here I come," Kiba stated. He then moved to fast for Naruto to stop him as Kiba managed to elbow him in the gut sending the blonde backwards.
"This little guy's going to be out for a while. You can call the match," Kiba told Hayate.
"Looks like you were wrong, in battle Naruto is still the weakest," Ino taunted. I looked at Sakura and Kakashi and all of us shared a smile, knowing that our hyperactive teammate would easily brush this off and come right back.
Naruto had bragged about Hokage even before I came along and in my mind he was truly a Kage at heart, someone who empathise with all people and bring them together. I don't how, I knew, I just did, and then true our belief Naruto began to rise to his feet.
"What! No way," Kiba cried out in shock. It seemed that everyone was shocked that Naruto was getting back up. Kiba seemed to be especially mortified by this as anger began to burn in his eyes.
"Don't ever, don't ever, underestimate me!" Naruto declared. I smiled at the boy's determination.
"Yeah!" Lee cried out. I could tell that he was also glad that the boy had risen to his feet.
"At a boy Naruto," Sakura cheered. I knew that she would repay Naruto's support in this battle.
"Yeah, yeah. More tough talk, look at yourself in a mirror, you're a mess," Kiba shot back at the blonde. However Naruto just brushed it off.
"I just wanted to see what you've got. Frankly you hit like an old lady," Naruto responded. I waited to see what would happen now that Kiba knew it wasn't going to be an easy match. "You have a better chance of winning this if you send that puppy in to fight with you," Naruto taunted. I sighed and hung my head, Naruto's overconfidence had probably given him a disadvantage as Kiba was use to fighting with Akamaru.
"You're going to regret that," Kiba growled out. His face twisted with anger at Naruto's comment. "Come on Akamaru," Kiba told the canine as they charged for Naruto. Kiba pulled out two small balls from his scroll pouch and I saw that they were smoke bombs, Kiba threw them and both Naruto and Kiba were surrounded by smoke, whilst Akamaru remained outside.
I knew Naruto was in trouble, he wouldn't be able to seem inside the smokescreen, but Akamaru, despite not being in there, would be able to pick up Naruto's scent and he could guide Kiba right to Naruto. Sounds began to echo from within the smoke, they sounded like grunts of pain, then Naruto rushed out right into Akamaru who bit his arm forcing him back into the smokescreen.
The smoke then began to fade away as Kiba jumped out, when the smoke finally cleared away Akamaru sat next to a collapsed Naruto, wagging his tail. Akamaru then ran up to Kiba who cheered about winning he held out his hand but Akamaru went a bit him on the arm instead, this action shocked everyone who knew the duo.
"Surprise. Gotcha," Naruto voice called out from Akamaru. Then a puff of smoke surrounded Akamaru and when it faded in his place was Naruto.
"You used a transformation jutsu. You little- Get off!" Kiba cried out. Naruto let go of his arm and stepped back.
"You smell even worse than the dog," Naruto complained as he spat out, something from his mouth.
"What did you do with him? Where is he?" Kiba asked. He looked around searching for his companion, when another Naruto held up Akamaru in his hands.
"He's right here," Naruto called out. I smirked at Naruto use of the smokescreen to confuse Kiba
"How did you- ok," Kiba growled. The others were impressive and stunned at Naruto's skills, I smirked at this. Sakura called out to Naruto whilst I nodded in agreement.
"What do you know? Gotten a little stronger I see, but not nearly strong enough. Because now I'm getting serious," Kiba commented.
"Oh, well good. I've been hoping you would, because I want to serious knock you out," Naruto retorted. Kiba took a deep breath and seemed to calm himself down from his blind rage and reached into his scroll pouch and took something out.
"Naruto if I were you, I'd let Akamaru go," Kiba informed. He then threw what appeared to be a small, round, brown object at Akamaru, who ate it. Then Akamaru's fur turned a rusty red shade, he kicked the clone Naruto who disappeared and landed next to Kiba.
"What the heck happened? What was that thing you feed him? How come all his fur just turned red?" Naruto question. Kiba then ate the same thing, he then bent down and formed a hand sign whilst Akamaru jumped on his back.
I focused on what he ate and I realised what it was, a food pill. They were specially designed pills which restored one's chakra and nourished the body, however the devastating side effects – anxiety and exhaustion – were rather crippling, especially when in the heat of battle.
"Ninja Art – Beast Mimicry," Kiba growled out. A puff of smoke surrounded the two and when it faded Akamaru had changed into a clone of Kiba. "Man-Beast Clones," Kiba finished up. Naruto believed that Kiba had to be disqualified for eating a food pill, but Hayate explained that they were simply another ninja tool and thus allowed.
The two then attacked Naruto, but just before they hit Naruto was able to dodge out of the way. They then proceed to attack from all sides, Naruto could barely dodge their attacks and I knew with how exhausted he was, he couldn't hold off two attacks simultaneously and that unless he managed to confuse them somehow, Naruto would most likely lose.
At one point Naruto jumped into the air, however Kiba and Akamaru took the chance to attack and they began to rotate at such a high speed they became blurs. They slammed into Naruto sending him up into the air, he then crashed, face first, straight into the ground.
"I told you it was going to get serious," Kiba taunted. Naruto began to twitch as he pushed himself up.
"I will, I will be Hokage, I will," Naruto declared as he struggled to push up.
"And how you going to do that? By lying flat on your face, I got news for you, I'm going to be Hokage," Kiba declared. He then began to start laughing, I gritted my teeth at his declaration, Kiba didn't fit the title of Kage. "Come one do you really believe a weakling like you can be Hokage? You must be weak in the head," Kiba insulted. I bit my tongue to keep myself from shouting ta him but my grip on the rail became white knuckled.
'You're dead wrong. I don't know what Naruto's done before I arrived but he was that mind, strength and heart of a fox. Tricky to understand and unpredictable, fights to his last breath, caring and protective of his loved ones. If anyone is weak, it's you Kiba.' I thought in my mind. Then Naruto began to get up.
"Sorry but you can forget about being Hokage. Because I'm the top dog around here," Naruto told Kiba.
"You're kidding, you're a real glutton for punishment," Kiba snickered. They then began to rush at the blonde.
"How many times are you going to us that move?" Naruto asked in a taunting fashion as he recognising the attack pattern that they were using. The two began to use their high-speed spinning attack, known as Fang over Fang. Naruto smirked as he jumped into the air but his opponents were still able to hit him and force him back to the ground.
Naruto knelt up and then Kiba threw more smoke bombs trapping Naruto in the same old attack. The two then launched in using Fang over Fang to attack Naruto who couldn't defend himself properly.
None of us could see what was happening because of the smoke, then Kiba and Akamaru came out of the smoke, when it clear we saw Naruto still stood on his own two feet, although he was badly beaten and bruised.
"Ha looks like you've run out of gas kid," Kiba taunted. I watched the two fighters careful, waiting for the
"Yeah bring it on dog breath, because no matter how many clone of yourself you make, I'll still have enough gas to beat you," Naruto shot back. Kiba and Akamaru charged again using the smokescreen attack for a third time in conjunction with Fang over Fang.
"What's going on? I can see," Sakura stated as we watched on. However this time when the smoke began to fade I saw that there was a third silhouette of Kiba.
"Very clever," Kakashi commented. I nodded my head understanding Naruto's quick thinking and it was a very impressive plan. Sakura however was confused and didn't understand. "Wait you'll see," Kakashi told her. She looked back to match, confusion marring her face.
When the smoke faded away the three Kibas were facing off against each other, the real one was unsure of which one was Akamaru and which one was Naruto as he looked between them.
"Perfect! Good one Naruto. Brilliant!" Sakura complimented, realising Naruto's plan. Sakura and Lee detailed Naruto's plan, Kiba couldn't attack either without the risk of hurting Akamaru, whilst Naruto could attack either one of them.
"Ok, so I've see you've gotten better at the Transformation Jutsu, but you forgot one little thing. I admit you look a lot like me but and that threw me for a minute, but I still know which one is you. You can't hide from me, want to know why…," Kiba stated and trailed off. He then punched the one that was on left and he went flying back.
"I can smell you kid, there's just no getting passed our sense of smell. Tough luck," Kiba told him. The Kiba that was knocked down was surrounded by smoke, which –when it cleared – revealed that the Kiba was in fact Akamaru. Shocked and angry Kiba when whipped around and punched the other Kiba who also turned out to be Akamaru.
'Impressive instead of de-transforming, Naruto turned into Akamaru, confusing Kiba and making him take Akamaru personally.' I thought. The first one that Kiba punched stood up and transformed into Naruto, he then rushed at Kiba and sent a kick straight into his chest.
"The smart shinobi is careful how he uses his jutsu, otherwise it's liable to come back and bite him on the butt, dummy," Naruto told Kiba. I smirked wondering who he learnt that line from, of course this comment made Kiba angry and to keep himself calm he went and bit his hand causing blood to run down the back.
Kiba pulled out some shuriken and held them between his fingers, Naruto had to be careful now since Kiba's red haze had dissipated he would be able to think more clearly. Naruto had to think through his next move carefully… or make Kiba angry again.
"So are you finally getting serious Kiba? Good, that means it's time to unveil something special I've been saving. My super-secret killer move," Naruto said as he formed a hand sign. I wondered what the blonde meant by this.
"Your what? You got to be kidding me?" Kiba questioned. It seemed that everyone was confused by what he said. "Hah, 'super-secret killer move'. Get out of here it's a bluff!" Kiba exclaimed.
"Yeah? Well try me and find out," Naruto challenged. Kiba began to charge at Naruto and threw his shuriken the blonde, Naruto proceeded to dodge the spinning weapons. Kiba then proceeded to use his Beast Mimicry and charged at Naruto, he then smashed into Naruto with two punches which sent him to the floor.
"No Naruto!" Sakura cried out.
"Naruto!" I called out alongside Hinata. Kiba was attacking too quickly for Naruto to build his chakra, he to find a way to stop Kiba.
Kiba charged in for another attack and slammed back down to the floor, Kiba went in for another attack but instead of being knocked down, Naruto caught Kiba by forcing his opponent to sink his claws into his arm, Naruto then proceeded to throw Kiba over his shoulder. Kiba landed on his feet as he skidded back coming to a stop, his chakra began to ooze off of him.
"I will be Hokage, I will never lose to you or anyone here," Naruto declared as he formed the hand sign again.
"Dream on kid. How can you beat me when you can't keep up with me?" Kiba questioned. He charged at Kiba and jumped into the air and dived at Naruto, slashing him across the arm. "Hey kid, heads up," Kiba called out to Naruto as he launched for another attack. He slashed Naruto on the back forcing him to the ground.
Kiba taunted Naruto, who managed to climb back to his feet, refusing to give up. Naruto challenged Kiba, encouraging to attack him as Naruto began to build up his chakra. Kiba charged at Naruto and when behind him, he launched for an attack when all of a sudden Naruto… farted.
Kiba reeled back, clutching his nose, everyone else simply froze in shock at the unusual attack tactic. Naruto revealed that it wasn't planned, but hey it worked, Naruto returned to his jutsu and created four shadow clones.
"You've kicked me around pretty good so far, now it's payback time," Naruto declared. His clones surrounded Kiba who was still stunned from the fumes, one of the clones charged in and punched Kiba, then Naruto jumped off his back and into the air, his other three clones charged and kicked Kiba up into the air
"Na. Ru. To," The clones declared as they kicked Kiba. The real Naruto then lifted his leg up and slammed it into Kiba's face forcing the boy to go sailing back down to the ground.
"Uzumaki Barrage!" Naruto declared. I chuckled realising that Naruto had used an improvised version of Sasuke's Lion's Barrage technique. The clones dissipated leaving only the real Naruto, Hayate checked on Kiba and declared that Naruto was the winner.
Naruto came back with a jar that contained healing ointment, he applied it to his wounds and they quickly healed. I realised it was his tailed beast and not the ointment causing such rapid healing.
The panel then began to shuffle through the opponents for the next match and it came up as Hinata and Neji Hyūga.