Quote the Speechless: "Well I'm finally back folks, back to my adoring fans and so forth."
Ghost Wolf: "...If you still have fans. When was the last time you updated this story again?"
Quote the Speechless: Checks the date. "I believe it was five months ago roughly." Looking out at the world. "I'm sure I've got a few left."
Ghost Wolf: "We'll see. Anyway... This is the Kiba/ Naruto fight chapter. I hope it was worth the wait."
Quote the Speechless: "Well I guess you'll find out. I just want to take a moment to explain why I've been away for so long." Takes a deep breath. "My Beta reader joined the Coast Guard and was sent to Alaska, and she's the only one I really trust to proof my stuff."
Ghost Wolf: "Well at least she's keeping busy. I think we've wasted enough time of the few readers you still have."
Quote the Speechless: "Yep, alright, on with the story." Waves what readers remain on to the rest of the story.
Legal Stuff: Don't own Naruto. Never will.
Chapter Fifteen: Dog Fight
Naruto's eyes opened and he smiled. Reaching over, he patted Kasei on the head. Kasei realized he was awake and let Naruto remove his hand from the fox's mouth. Naruto stood up and brushed himself off, he was in no hurry. He looked around and saw that Kakashi had returned at some point during his meditation.
"Stay here Kasei, just watch." The fox nodded and sat down by the balcony, watching through the bars. Naruto walked to the edge of the balcony and jumped down to the arena, walking towards the center.
"What were you doing Naruto?" Kiba called to him. "I thought I saw you taking a nap, you really that exhausted?" The tone of Kiba's inquiry indicated he really didn't care one way or the other. Naruto just smirked.
"If you ask me, you're the one that could do with some beauty sleep, dog face," Naruto called back. "Get your mutt out of the ring. This is no place for pets."
"He isn't my pet, he's my partner." Kiba looked up at the fox watching them. "Get your new friend down here. If he knows anything, he might actually make this fight interesting."
"No," there was a small yawn that followed. "I can take care of you myself," Naruto smirked. "Both of you as well for that matter."
"Enough," the referee said. "If you are both ready..." They each nodded. "Then, BEGIN!"
Kiba didn't waste any time, crouching down and activating a technique. "Shikakyu no Jutsu, (Quadruped Technique)." Kiba settled down onto all fours. His nature became more bestial than he already was. Claws, fangs, even how he moved. An instant later he was gone and charging Naruto. The clawed strike hit Naruto right in the center of his breastplate, and with such force that he ended up skidding back several feet from the force of the blow.
Well… that's what would have happened, if it had connected. Instead, Naruto reached out at the last second, grabbing Kiba's wrist and pulling it to the side, so that the strike passed harmlessly by.
"Too slow," was all Kiba heard just before the metal-capped toe of Naruto's right shoe kicked him in the gut. Naruto was a little surprised. The jacket that Kiba was wearing had the same feel to it as his first one from Kibou. The kick didn't hit as hard as it normally would have because of the armor sewn into the coat. Kiba recovered quickly. He pulled out of Naruto's hold and jumped back to his dog, Akamaru.
"So, it looks like you picked up some new tricks." Kiba reached into his pocket and pulled something out, hidden in a clenched fist. "Let's see you try two on one." He nodded to Akamaru and together they charged Naruto. When they were just in front of him, Kiba threw a smoke bomb at Naruto's feet. It exploded and blinded Naruto.
Naruto didn't have much time to react from the explosion before Kiba would reach him and attack. So he tried to run out of the smoke to see where his opponent was. But that was Akamaru's cue to join the battle. As soon as Naruto was out of the smoke, the small dog launched himself at Naruto, jaws open and ready to take a bite out of the startled boy.
Naruto brought his arm up to protect his face and ended up saving himself from any damage at all. The dog bit the armored forearm bracers and only managed to scratch the armor with his teeth, but he held on anyway.
"Get off you stupid dog," Naruto shouted and whipped his arm out. Akamaru couldn't hold on any more and was flung away from Naruto and into a wall.
"Akamaru is no stupid dog," Kiba shouted. Apparently, Naruto had hit a nerve with that last comment. Kiba reached into his equipment pouch and pulled out a small item. With a single motion, he flicked a pill to his dog. Akamaru caught it in his mouth and chomped down. Immediately, his fur started to shift from tan to red and he jumped up onto Kiba's back.
"No more playing around," Kiba shouted as he once again performed the body-altering technique on himself. As he became more beastlike, Akamaru barked and changed as well, turning into a more human like form. In fact, they looked identical, save for the expressions on their faces. Kiba was grinning, believing his victory to be assured. Akamaru didn't seem used to a human face and was mostly expressionless.
Together, Akamaru and Kiba rushed Naruto. Naruto figured it was time to fight numbers with higher numbers. A few hand seals and a burst of chakra later...
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" Suddenly there were four Naruto instead of merely the one. They paired off against Kiba and Akamaru, who hadn't expect him to use the technique so quickly. But Kiba wasn't down yet.
"Now, Akamaru!" Kiba called out and began to spin as he launched himself forward. Akamaru mimicked him. "Gatuuga (Double Piercing Fang)!" Caught unprepared, the three Naruto clones were destroyed, and the real Naruto was knocked back against a wall.
Naruto tried to figure out how to combat two spinning enemies as one of them came hurtling towards him. He jumped out of the way as inspiration caught him. He started doing hand seals while dodging the attacks. Naruto had to restart twice because he was interrupted, but on the third try he succeeded. He called out his own surprise technique, one he hadn't used in a long time and never in battle.
"Hinote inju (Fire Ribbons)!" Two ribbons of fire extended from his hands as he dodged a dual attack from both twirling adversaries. He kept the ribbons loose and dropped one end of each into the spinning forms.
In an instant, the ribbons wrapped around both Kiba and Akamaru. Both stopped spinning and it was apparent why, they were on fire. Kiba's coat, pants, even his hair were in flame and he swatted at himself in an attempt to quench the fire. Akamaru was worse off. When the fire had initially touched him, he had transformed back into a dog to escape the fire, but had only managed to brush his fur against the ribbons. As a result, his fur had burst into flames. He rolled on the floor to put it out, but it was obvious that he would not escape without some serious burns.
Kiba managed to put out his hair and pants while he had taken off his jacket and rushed over to Akamaru's side to see how bad the injuries were.
"Give up, Kiba," Naruto said as he looked down at his classmate kneeling over the injured dog. "You can get him treatment that way." Kiba looked up sharply at Naruto but saw the look of sorrow on Naruto's face. Naruto backed away. That angry glare reminded him of so many glares that he had received from the people while he walked though Konoha. It was only after Kiba's look softened that Naruto dared approach.
"I give up," Kiba mumbled before saying it again louder. "I give up! Please, a Medic for Akamaru." Medic ninja were already coming out to check both Naruto and Kiba. One Nin went over to Akamaru and started to treat the burns. When the medic started to remove Akamaru, Kiba insisted on going with him.
Naruto was approached by a hesitant medic but he brushed the woman off and walked past her to the stairs. He would never let anyone he didn't trust come near him. When he reached the observation balcony, he realized everybody was looking at him. It made him feel profoundly uncomfortable. Naruto looked down and refused to meet anyone's eyes.
Sakura was amazed. As usual, Naruto had pulled out another technique out of nowhere and won a battle that no one expected him to win. But it wasn't just Naruto that had amazed her. The fox that Naruto had brought with him had hardly moved at all during the match, but sat and watched though the bars of the banister. It never made a sound, only twitching its tail every once in a while. When the battle was over, and Naruto had returned to the balcony, the fox got up and walked over to him, rubbing against Naruto's legs until he reached down and scratched the fox's ears.
Naruto was happy to have Kasei there to comfort him, to remind him that he wasn't alone. He looked up from the fox and looked at where Sakura was standing. The look that he saw on her face was not an endearing one. The look she gave him made it obvious to him that she still didn't trust him, and that hurt him. He then noticed someone walking towards him.
Hinata had watched Naruto during the battle and was reminded of what her father had told her that day so long ago, 'He is stronger than people give him credit for. He will make quite a name for himself in the future.' Now she believed that she understood what her father had been talking about. The fact that her father had, in a way, vouched for this boy made it no easier for her to approach him. She bowed and held out a small container in her hands.
"O… Ointment…" she muttered. "For your b… bruises." Nothing happened and she looked up to see Naruto watching her. It was her turn to feel very uncomfortable. She blushed under the boy's silent inspection. Kurenai, Hinata's instructor, was about to tell Naruto to take the container of ointment, but it wasn't necessary. Naruto reached out and took it carefully in one hand.
"Thank you," Naruto knew that he didn't need it. In a few minutes the bruises would be healed. But he knew that it was important to hide his healing ability. Hinata bowed and hurried off to give some more of her ointment to Kiba.
Naruto walked over to where he had been before the match and sat down. He opened the container and let Kasei sniff it. The fox sneezed, but seemed to indicate that it was alright and safe. Naruto started to apply it to some of the more extreme bruises. He was a little surprised when the aches disappeared as he rubbed the lotion into them. This was very good stuff.
The next names were called out and Naruto looked up at the board where the names were listed. It was Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto had heard a lot about the fighting style of the Hyuuga from both Kibou and Keito. They told him that it was one of the single strongest fighting styles that existed in Leaf. This would be a perfect chance to see it in action.
"Kasei," the fox looked at him. "Watch them, this should be interesting." The fox sat down next to Naruto and looked out between the bars, taking a position much like the one he had used when he was watching Naruto's fight.
A few moments before the referee started the fight, Neji, the older of the two, tried to psych out Hinata. Naruto watched as he attacked her as being unfit for the Main House, which looked like it hurt her a great deal. Next, he attacked her willingness to actually fight him, coupled with an attack on her physical shortcomings almost broke her to the point of giving up then and there.
Naruto just watched. He said nothing until Neji came to his final verbal attack. He berated Hinata for her inability to use the family Blood Line and said that her future was set. It was his announcement that destiny could not be changed that set Naruto off. Naruto clenched at the supports to the railing so hard that one of them started to collapse under the pressure of his fist.
"THAT IS A LOAD OF SHIT!" he declared much more loudly then he had intended. "There is no set future, there is no destiny and no fate. We make our own paths through life with the power that we have. Hinata has the same right to victory that you have, but you're not going to see that if you keep jabbering on." Naruto looked directly at Hinata. "Show him, Hinata, prove to him that you have the power in you to change the future he believes so strongly in."
Hinata saw the anger at Neji in Naruto's eyes. Along with his words, they spurred her into action. Her resolve hardened and she got into a low fighting stance, arms wide, her eyes and Blood Limit focused directly on Neji with as much determination as she could muster.
Naruto smiled and released his death grip on the supports. Sakura looked at Naruto. She wondered why Naruto had exploded like that. Did he have a grudge against Neji? Or maybe it was something that the other boy had said? Kakashi, on the other hand, had seen the other reactions that Naruto had let slip when he had gotten angry. The tips of his hair had turned red and his ears had become more pointed for the briefest of instants. Was the fox affecting him more then he knew? If the change was coming about due to anger… He would have to talk with Naruto about this when they had a moment to spare.
Down on the arena floor, the referee signaled the start of the fight. The opening moves were stunning to watch. These two people had been training from a very young age. From long before they were going to enter the academy, they had studied their style to the fullest of their ability. Because of this, their skill appeared to be near equal. A flurry of blows deflected or blocked by each of them. It appeared as though two white cranes danced and battled together down on the floor. But there was a great deal of hostility between the two.
Neji struck out against Hinata in anger. His blows were slightly more damaging then hers because he did not try and hold back. Hinata fought against her cousin to prove to herself and to others that she was not useless. But in truth she didn't really want to hurt him, so her blows were restrained. She moved to just defeat which put her at a disadvantage to Neji.
The end of the battle was startling to all of the spectators. For a moment, it appeared that Hinata had managed to slip through Neji's guard and get in a good solid hit that would put her on an even standing with her cousin. But at the same moment Neji's guard had been down, he lashed out with both hands and attacked vital pressure points on Hinata's body.
The first pressure point was to the inside of her arm, near the shoulder. It halted the motion of her arm and stopped the chakra flow down it that was integral to the fighting style they both used. The second pressure point was truly sinister. Two fingers of his right hand jabbed hard right below her collarbone dealing a harsh blow directly to her heart. They held their positions, neither one moving.
Hinata tried to remain standing. But she could feel the damage to her body. The metallic taste of blood welled up from her throat and into her mouth. A moment later, she fell to her knees and was vomited blood all over the arena floor. Neji turned from her and started to walk away, confident that the fight was over.
From her position on the floor, Hinata looked up at the one person that had given her the confidence to continue on with the fight. She saw Naruto looking directly at her. She was gladdened when she saw him nod to her. 'You did well,' he mouthed to her. She smiled and let herself get carried off, without a fight, by the medic ninja for immediate critical care. Privately, Naruto vowed to make Neji eat those words that had gotten under his skin so completely.
"Winner, Neji." Though the announcement was completely unnecessary, it was part of the referee's duties. There were only four people left to take the two final positions for the tournament. Choji and Rock Lee were the two remaining for Leaf. Dosu from Sound waited impatiently for his turn. And then there was Gaara of the Sand.
Naruto turned to get a look at Gaara but saw that he was gone. He looked around, wondering where the ninja could have gotten to. He was surprised to see a moment later that Gaara had walked down to the central arena and waited impatiently for his opponent to come down and prepare for battle. Naruto looked over at the screen that displayed the named and cursed. Rock Lee. Naruto had hoped that it would be Dosu against Gaara so he wouldn't have to worry about what might happen. Or Choji, who he knew would give up rather then fight someone as scary looking as Gaara. But no, it was Rock Lee and Naruto knew that the fight would not end well.
Lee was so eager to start the fight that he didn't use the stairs. Instead, he jumped up to the railing and then down to the arena, landing right across from Gaara, ready to fight.
"Naruto," Sakura sounded nervous as she looked down at the two. "Is he really as strong as you said?"
"If he's my Missing Brother," Kakashi's head jerked and he stared at first Naruto and then at Gaara. "Then yes, and more."
"Your missing brother," Kakashi's voice was calm. "You're sure?" He sounded slightly hopeful, waiting to hear that Naruto wasn't so sure.
"Yep," Kakashi's hope sank.
"We really need to work on your communication skills, Naruto," Kakashi said with a sigh. "I really wish you had told me about this sooner."
"Whoops," was Naruto's only reply as the battle started.
Sand poured out from the gourd on Gaara's back. It swirled and moved around Gaara like an ill wind. With his arms crossed, seemingly defenseless, he waited. Lee got into the same fighting stance that Naruto had seen him use against Sasuke. A moment later, Lee was charging. A flying kick aimed at Gaara's head was suddenly halted by a wall of sand that had surged up to block the kick.
Lee's kick bounced off the sand and he started to fall but recovered quickly and landed on his feet. He gave a moment's pause to take a look at the sand and wonder at it. Unfortunately, a moment was all that was needed for the sand to gather together in front of Gaara and rise up like a crashing wave to smother Lee.
Lee back flipped out of the immediate range of the attack and readied himself. This was going to be harder than he had originally thought. However, Lee saw no reason to pull back his attack and indeed had no other way to attack the calm red headed boy. However the sand did not appear as calm as Gaara. It lashed out against him in the form of a whip, trying to attach itself to his arm or leg.
Lee dodged to the side, pulling out two shuriken and throwing them at his opponent. Gaara did not so much as flinch as his sand moved to intercept the projectiles. Now roughly 30 feet away, Lee paused in a ready stance. He dared not make a direct attack as there was sand spilled out on the floor between the two of them and there was no guessing as to how it would move if he should try to attack in such a straightforward method.
"He'll never win like that," Sakura admonished in a worried tone. "He should back off, attack from a distance with ninjutsu." She looked up at Kakashi to see if he had an explanation for why Lee had not done so but it was Lee's teacher, Gai that responded.
"Lee can't use ninjutsu." He replied with a slight smile on his face as he intently watched the battle on the lower level. "When I first met him he had almost no skill at all. Even now he doesn't have any ability with ninjutsu or genjutsu." He didn't seem at all troubled as he watched Lee dodging the attacks from Gaara's sand. "The only skill he has is hand to hand combat, taijutsu. That is why he can win."
Naruto listened to what the man said with only half of his mind. The rest was focused on the battle. When he heard the teacher's boast that Lee would win, he could not hold back a scoffing laugh.
Lee did a series of back flips out of danger's path as hands of sand reached up from the floor and tried to grasp him. He made a tremendous jump and landed on a sculpted set of hands in the form of the Tiger Seal. Gaara watched him and pulled his sand back around his body as he waited for Lee to come down.
"LEE!" Gai shouted, making all around him except for Kakashi flinch from the volume. "TAKE OFF THE WEIGHTS!" Everyone, including Lee, seemed a bit surprised by this statement. The boy was wearing weights as he fought, even when the stakes were so high?
"But… Gai Sensei, You said I am only to do that when I must protect many precious people!" Lee called back, perhaps a little hesitant to give away his ace.
"It's alright!" Gai shouted, giving his student thumbs up. "This is a special situation!" Lee looked confused for a moment and then gave a large smile and laughed a little. He sat down on his perch and pulled off his leg warmers. Once removed, the spectators could see that two bands of weights had been attached around the ankles.
Sakura took a moment to glance over at Naruto. She remembered how things had changed that first day as a team long ago when they had faced off against Kakashi. Naruto had removed his weighted Jacket and increased his power and speed. Would the same thing happen here? When she looked back at Lee, he was standing with the weights in each hand, apparently ready to return to the fight.
Lee just smiled and dropped the ankle weights off each side of the statue. "OK! I'm ready for a real fight now." No one expected the weights to make such a tremendous racket when they hit the floor. It seemed as if two boulders had been dropped instead of two small sets of weights. In a flash, Lee was off the statue and running along the ceiling. He left footprints stamped into the ceiling.
Gaara was shocked by the change of the boy's speed. So was everyone else except Gai. Lee was behind Gaara and threw a punch almost before the sand could block it. Even though the attack was blocked, the proximity to the red head's cheek startled everyone. The following strikes were even closer. A kick breached the sand by Gaara's shoulder, but without enough force to actually reach the body. Next, a punch flew by Gaara's leg with the same result.
Gai started to explain, but Naruto wasn't paying any attention at all. Was it actually possible for Lee to beat him? Naruto shook his head, breaking off any more thoughts of that nature. "No," he muttered to himself. "Gaara will not lose." However, his resolve was shaken when Lee feigned behind Gaara and the sand started to move to block the strike that did not come. Lee flipped over Gaara and delivered a drop kick to the red head's face that ACTUALY CONNECTED! And though it did not seem to do much in the way of damage, the mark was there.
Kakashi took note of Naruto's intent expression and continued to watch the match. The next strike was the same as the last, a feint in one direction to draw the sand away and then a attack to the opposite side. A powerful punch landed directly on Gaara's cheek and sent him flying. Only the sand saved him from a hard fall.
Naruto felt something and shivered. "This is not over," he warned and indeed Gaara was getting up. He turned to look at Lee and his expression shocked everyone. The boy who had been so calm throughout the entire test to this point was not so calm anymore. His face split open into an awful silent laugh that shook Lee to his core. Even more disturbing, a layer of sand started breaking away from his face. It revealed a cheek completely unmarked by Lee's attacks. The two blows that Lee had landed proved to be nothing more then scratches on armor. "Told you," Naruto muttered without looking up.
The sand started to swarm over Gaara's body, replacing the sand that had been broken off and reinforcing it around his body. As the sand poured over his face, his look of calm returned save for his eyes, which gave off a look of hunger. Hunger perhaps for battle, perhaps for something else. "Is that all you have?" Gaara said in a dull, flat tone.
Lee took a long moment as he watched the sand move around the Sand Ninja. Running the various options through his head, he knew he had to remove the armor from the equation. The only thing he could think of was for a single incredibly powerful strike that would break through the armor and harm the person underneath at the same time. He looked up at his teacher to get confirmation and received a nod in return that he took as permission to use the technique.
Naruto watched as Lee started to remove the bandages from his arms, stopping when they reached down to the floor. Then, with a blur of motion, he ran around Gaara, kicking up dust and breaking stones under the force of his pounding feet. Gaara's sand stayed in constant motion around his body, not leaving much in the way of openings for Lee to attack.
At last, Lee saw his chance. He attacked the same way as he had done against Sasuke before the first test. Sliding in close to the ground, he delivered a hard kick to the chin meant to drive his opponent flying into the air for the followup attack. However, due to the layers of compact sand and the heavy gourd on his back, Gaara needed more then a single kick to get him high enough. Gaara guarded his face against the kicks as they came. Kick after kick, each sending him higher and faster until there was sufficient height and speed for the next part of Lee's attack.
Naruto watched with interest as it seemed to him that the strain put on Lee's body was causing him a great deal of pain. Lee flinched and didn't notice when Gaara vacated the armor of sand. The Dynamic motion of the now empty vessel changed slightly but not enough for Lee to notice. Lee appeared behind the Gaara look-alike and wrapped the bandages from his arm tightly around what he thought was the Sand Ninja. Spinning at high velocity, the duo arched through the air until Lee guided the replica down onto the hard arena floor. Dodging away at the last moment, Lee landed and slumped slightly, relaxing a little as he waited for the dust to clear and show the damage done to the red headed boy.
"You were Wrong, Naruto," Sakura declared triumphantly, pointing at her team mate. "You said none of us could beat Gaara, but Lee has done it."
"It's not over," Naruto said watching the arena below. Kasei watched as well, his eyes glowing slightly as the dust cleared from the Arena floor.
Quote the Speechless: "Ah Cliffies, how I love thee."
Ghost Wolf: He throws a pillow at Quote. "That is the most evil cliffhanger yet. In the middle of a damned fight? Just when it was getting good too!"
Quote the Speechless: Laughs as the pillow smacks him in the head. "You know I can't resist doing stuff like this. It's my evil sadistic way to get people to come back for more!"
Ghost Wolf: "Or drive even more away... You are a sadistic writer, but it could be worse."
Quote the Speechless: "Oh? Do tell." Takes out note pad and readies a sharpened pencil.
Ghost Wolf: "No, I'm just going to say I can't wait to see whether or not Lee or Gaara win in the next chapter. Speaking of characters, when will we get to see Kibou and his wife again?"
Quote the Speechless: "In time, in time." Puts the pad and pencil away but keeps plotting. "Hope you all enjoyed this. I'll be seeing you."
Ghost Wolf: "Not likely in three weeks like you hoped though..." He whacks him in the back of the head with a BIG hardcover Naruto art book.
Quote the Speechless: "Oww..." Rubbing his head. "Probably not. But I can try."
Ghost Wolf: "We'll see. Later all."