Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Before the redemption
Chapter two: The Chunnin Tournament part one- The dog, wild
Naruto Uzumaki, a chunnin-rank ninja of the village of Konohagakure, was walking over to the Hokage office building one day. Very recently, a kunoichi from Kumogakure, Karui, had come to Konoha seeking political asylum due to what has been going down in Kumo as of late. Karui's request was granted, but only after a three-to-three tie of voting among the various clan heads of Konoha's ninja clans was broken because the Inuzuka and Yamanaka clans, who were in favor of Karui's request, were allowed to invoke a rule that allowed advisors they brought to vote on the matter as well.
According to Naruto's friend Sakura Haruno, Lady Tsunade, the fifth (and current) Hokage, said that this had put a real bee in the bonnet of her advisor Koharu when this meant that Tsume Inuzuka's Ninkin Kuromaru was allowed to vote.
But this is getting off subject. The reason why Naruto was walking over to the Hokage office building was because he, along with all of his friends that were at the chunnin-rank, had received summons from Tsunade to appear; the message didn't go into much detail after that, but it did say that it would be wise for one to brush up on one's skills as a ninja.
Eventually, Naruto reached the Hokage office building. A secretary working a front desk on the ground floor directed him to a large meeting room. When Naruto got to that room, he noticed a few things; one, Tsunade was there with her assistant Shizune and the aforementioned Sakura. Two, there weren't any tables or chairs or anything else; the room was completely empty. Three, unless you counted Sakura, who would have most likely accompanied Tsunade here along with Shizune, Naruto was the first among his friends that were still chunnin to show up here.
"…I'm assuming that you want to wait until everyone else shows up first before you go into why you called us all here?" Naruto said in a casual tone to Tsunade.
Nodding in the affirmative, Tsunade replied, "You shouldn't have to wait long. If you'll recall, the summons I sent stated that showing up as close to the dot as possible would be in all of y'all's best interest. Although I wasn't expecting you to be the first to show, Naruto."
Pointing to Sakura, Naruto asked, "What about her?"
"Sakura came here with Lady Tsunade and I, so it wouldn't really be fair to count her as having beaten you here," Shizune explained, drawing a mild nod of agreement from the pink-haired medic ninja.
True to what Tsunade had said, it wasn't long before Naruto's friends and fellow chunnin all started filing in; Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka plus his Ninkin Akamaru, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Tenten and Rock Lee all showed up within the next few minutes. Neji Hyuga, the teammate of Tenten and Rock Lee and older cousin of Hinata, had also shown up as well, which struck Naruto as odd; Tsunade had only called for the chunnin among Naruto and his friends, yet Neji is a jonin.
Tsunade seemed confused by this as well, but before she could say anything, Neji handed her a letter. Taking the letter, Tsunade opened it and read what it said. "…Oh, well that makes sense," Tsunade replied in a casual tone that understood the intent of the situation. Pointing to Neji, the Fifth Hokage asked, "Wouldn't it make more sense for that Ko fellow in your clan to do this job rather than you, though?"
"Ko is on probation, so Lord Hiashi gave me Ko's job to do in the meanwhile," Neji explained.
An eyebrow arching in confusion, Tsunade asked, "What the hell did he do?"
"Ko pulled a stunt that, according to Lord Hiashi, would be more at home on the respective track records of Mr. Fisher, Mr. Yamanaka and Mrs. Inuzuka," Neji replied. His expression taking on a somewhat confused hint, the Hyuga prodigy added, "I didn't get anything else, though." (1) Both Sakura and Ino moaned in mild embarrassment; Kiba let out a quiet chuckle.
"Well we can discuss stuff like that later," Tsunade said to the gathered shinobi as a whole. After Tsunade had gestured for Sakura to join the other chunnin, Tsunade said, "Now then, kiddies. I suppose that some of you are wondering why I called you all here."
"Are we all in trouble or something?" Shikamaru asked, making some of the other chunnin look mildly uncomfortable; Hinata even let out a small 'eep' of mild fright.
"No, no," Tsunade replied with a slight chuckle, "There's no trouble at all." Tsunade looked like she was going to begin to explain something, but she stopped before even starting. With a mildly confused look on her face, Tsunade said, "Hey Neji, can you do me a solid and, like, stand off to the side somewhat? I need to address the chunnin only." Nodding in understanding, Neji walked over to the right-hand wall (if you're facing Tsunade) and leaned against it.
"That's better," Tsunade remarked as she watched Neji prop himself against the wall. Turning her head back to face the chunnin, Tsunade said, "Now then. The ten of you are among Konoha's finest chunnin-ranked shinobi." Stopping short, Tsunade shook her head gently. "No, scratch that," Tsunade said in a tone of correcting herself, "The ten of you are Konoha's finest chunnin-ranked shinobi."
Continuing on with her original line of thought, the Fifth Hokage said, "Do you all remember back when you all took the chunnin exams for the first time, particularly the one-on-one matches where you all fought each other and a few genin from other villages?"
After all of the chunnin collectively nodded in the affirmative, Tsunade continued, "Konoha will be hosting a combat tournament where the ten of you will be the competitors. The matches will not be unlike that of the chunnin exams."
"But…but we're all already chunnin, Lady Tsunade," Ino remarked in a mildly confused tone as she raised a hand, her expression showing how lost she was.
"Yes, yes, I know," Tsunade replied, "But that's not why you all will be competing. This tournament will be done to showcase the strength and skills of Konoha's finest to the various nobles of the Land of Fire, as well as various other potential clients. Furthermore, representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri will also come to watch. None from Kumo, though; given how they're acting, I wouldn't trust any of them in Konoha." With a quick glance in Choji's direction, the Lady Fifth added, "Political asylum seekers excluded."
"So, there will be representatives from Suna, eh?" Tenten asked, her right fist clenching up.
Nodding in the affirmative, Tsunade replied, "Oh yeah. Both you and Rock Lee had run-ins with Suna genin in the aforementioned chunnin exams, did you not?"
"Of course, Lady Tsunade!" Rock Lee stated, "I fought Gaara, whereas Tenten fought Gaara's older sister Temari."
"Oh, that reminds me," Tsunade said. Turning to face Naruto specifically, Tsunade continued, "Naruto, I was informed by Lord Kazekage Gaara that you can expect an apology from Temari."
A confused expression appearing across his face, Naruto said, "I can expect Temari to apologize to me? What did she do?"
"Gaara didn't say," Tsunade replied, "All he mentioned is that Temari will be handing you a handwritten apology letter, along with something that Gaara said Temari should have handed off to you a long time ago."
"I know what it is, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Shikamaru said. Chuckling to himself, the Nara chunnin said as he rubbed his hands together, "This is going to be fun."
"Anywho, the representatives from Suna, Iwa and Kiri will be showing up sometime tomorrow," Tsunade said to the chunnin, "As well as the various Land of Fire nobles. We'll wait for all of them to show up before starting the tournament. You will all be informed about the location and time of the Chunnin Tournament sometime tomorrow morning." With a slight smile, Tsunade added, "Now go home, brush up on your skills, and get some rest. You'll be needing it!" With that, all of the gathered chunnin took their leave.
That afternoon over at the Inuzuka clan compound, Kiba walked through the front door of his family's home, with Akamaru trotting in after him. When Kiba entered, he noticed that Hana, his older sister, was sitting at the dining room table with another Inuzuka clan kunoichi; this kunoichi looked a lot like Kiba's mother Tsume, except for the fact that this kunoichi's hair is roughly fifty percent longer than Tsume's (it looks just as wild though) and a (much) lighter shade of brown. Additionally, this Inuzuka kunoichi's red facial markings looked somewhat wider than those on Tsume's face.
When Hana and the mystery woman noticed Kiba and Akamaru's presence, they both got up and approached them, stopping about two-and-a-half feet in front of them. It was then that Kiba noticed that his older sister wore a clearly upset expression on her face. "Yo Hana, sis, you okay?" Kiba asked in a concerned tone, "You look like someone died." Feeling a similar level of concern as his master, Akamaru walked up to Hana, sniffed at her left hand, then licked it a bit. This drew a small but sad smile from the Hana, who proceeded to ruffle the top of Akamaru's head a bit.
"Someone did die, dear nephew of mine," the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi remarked to Kiba, "Or rather, a number of someones died."
Turning to regard the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi, Kiba said in a mildly alarmed tone, "What are you talking about, Aunt Pirate?" (2)
"Four of our clan's Ninkin who were being kept over at our clan's kennel died," said the mystery Inuzuka kunoichi, revealed to be Kiba's aunt Pirate, "To make matters worse, one of them was a bitch who was nursing a litter she had just given birth to."
"You…you have got to be kidding me," Kiba replied, too shocked to show anything resembling an emotion, "How…how did they die?"
Scoffing in a tone suggesting that she thought Kiba should already know the answer, Pirate said, "They died from the exact same frigg'en cause of death that caused all of the deaths that happened in our clan so far this year. Starvation."
"There's also a chance that we may also lose the litter whose mother died," Hana choked out as tears rolled down the sides of her face, "There's only one or two other bitches who are nursing litters right now, and those litters are big enough as it is."
Akamaru whimpered in an upset manner, his tail tucked between his rear legs. Kiba, his emotions starting to get over the shock that held them back, had a different reaction.
"How the frig can we let any of our clan's Ninkin starve to death?!" Kiba snapped as his brow furrowed, "I know that food has always been an issue for us human members of the Inuzuka clan, but we always make sure that the Ninkin are fed! Seriously! What the actual frig?!"
"We've been forced to make more cuts to the clan's budget," Pirate explained to her nephew in a grim tone, "I didn't want you or Hana to know about the fact that one of those cuts was to how much our clan spends on dog food. You especially, Kiba, given how much I know you care about our clan's Ninkin. But as I was talking about the recent Ninkin deaths with some of the other women in our clan, Hana walked in, and…well…you can probably guess the rest."
"Where's mom?" Kiba asked, "Does she know about this?"
"You and Hana's mother, along with Kuromaru, Choza, Shikaku, Inoichi and Harold all went to some drinking festival in a town somewhere in the Land of Fire," Pirate explained, "They won't be back for a bit." Chuckling to herself, Pirate remarked, "For an Inuzuka, that older twin sister of mine is rather tame. She doesn't hold anything against the people who are the reason why our clan has had to make so many cuts to our spending, why some of our clan's facilities have had their power cut, why some of our clan's members have been dying from starvation as of late."
"Aunt Pirate, not this again," Hana said in a stressed, mildly upset tone.
"They've been lording over the Inuzuka clan for at least the past three generations, Hana," Pirate pointed out in a stern tone, "So long as they keep our clan under the thumb of our inescapable debt to them, our lives and the lives of every other member of our clan are essentially forfeit!"
"You're just blowing things out of proportion, Aunt Pirate," Hana said, "There's no way they'd seriously be that selfish!"
Scoffing, Pirate replied, "Hana, my niece, you disappoint me. You're sounding like Kiba before he woke up and smelled the coffee." Putting both hands on her waist, Pirate said to Hana, "When the hell are you going to wake up like your brother and realize that the Hyuga clan are a bunch of right proper frigg'en bastards?"
"Aunt Pirate's got a point, sis," Kiba said, his tone taking on a serious, mildly grim tone. Turning to face his aunt, Kiba said, "Sorry if this is getting off subject, but I don't suppose you've heard about the upcoming tournament that I'm going to be entering?"
"Ah yes, the Chunnin Tournament," Pirate remarked, "Lady Tsunade wants to show off Konoha's finest young chunnin to the various Land of Fire nobles, along with representatives from the major villages who aren't pissing on everyone's shoes at the moment." Regarding her nephew more directly, Pirate asked, "I don't suppose you have any idea who you and Akamaru will be fighting in the first round, do you?"
Shaking his head gently in the negative, Kiba replied, "I have no clue, Aunt Pirate. All I know is that me and my friends who are chunnin will be squaring off against each other. That's a total of ten chunnin."
"Which means that there will be an odd match in one of the rounds, assuming that there won't be any double knock outs," Hana said as she did a bit of counting on her fingers.
"Who are you banking on winning the whole thing, Kiba?" Pirate asked.
Smirking, Kiba pounded his right fist into his left hand. "Are you seriously asking me that, Aunt Pirate?" Kiba remarked, "Akamaru and I are going to the top!" Akamaru barked in a manner that sounded as if he agreed wholeheartedly with his owner.
"Heh," Pirate chuckled softly in an amused tone, "Forgive me if I sounded like I was selling you short, Kiba. I know you'll clean everyone's clocks." Holding a fist out to her nephew, Pirate said, "You're an Inuzuka. The strongest, the fastest, the wildest. We're the kind that can never be put down." Kiba smirked in an amused manner, and accepted the fist-bump his aunt offered.
The next day, the members of the Konoha eleven who were still chunnin had gathered at an indoor arena; it would be some time before the Chunnin Tournament started, so everyone was trying to relax. As Naruto walked up to Choji to inquire about where Shikamaru went off to, he heard Shikamaru's voice call out, "Oi, Naruto! Over here!" Turning around, Naruto saw Shikamaru approach with the representatives from Sunagakure who came to watch the Chunnin Tournament; Gaara, who is Suna's current Kazekage, along with Gaara's older siblings Kankuro and Temari.
Leaning forward slightly and turning his head to face his older sister, Gaara said in a stern tone, "Temari, I believe that you have a few things that you would like to hand over to Naruto right now." Sighing in an exasperated tone, Temari walked up to Naruto and handed him an envelope and a folded-up sheet of paper.
Naruto first decided to look at the folded-up sheet of paper, which had a list of some of Naruto's various skills and techniques. It didn't seem to have been written by Temari, though. "That is a list, written by your Hokage, of some of your various skills and techniques that, in the interest of fairness, the people organizing the Chunnin Tournament don't want you to use," Temari said in a mildly annoyed tone, sounding as if she was speaking some much-rehearsed dialogue.
Giving the eldest sand sibling a wry look, Naruto deadpanned, "Now I see why Granny Tsunade said that Gaara said you owed me an apology. It's nice to receive info like this beforehand."
"I forgot to do it the last time, alright?!" Temari exclaimed in a stressed tone of complaint.
"Enclosed in the envelope you will find an apology letter handwritten by Temari," Gaara continued, "She originally wanted to type it up on a computer and print it off, but I insisted that she write it by hand."
"Thanks for the consideration," Naruto replied. To Temari, Naruto said, "And I'll accept your apology. This is actually the first time someone ever wrote me an apology letter after wronging me, even if they were forced to write the letter."
Seeing the mild amusement in the smile Naruto gave her, Temari said, "I hope you lose in the first round, you little orange bastard."
"I stopped wearing orange jumpsuits a long time ago," Naruto replied. It was true; out of all of the Konoha eleven, Naruto's outfit was the only one which changed from what he wore in his mid-teens. Naruto wore the standard outfit of all Konoha shinobi ranked chunnin and up, although Naruto added a little extra flare in the haori he wore. The haori was just like the one worn by the late Lord Fourth Hokage, except the white was replaced with orange and there was no writing on the back.
"Well I'M hoping that you win the entire tournament," Gaara remarked to Naruto as he offered him a handshake, which was accepted.
"I myself am also banking on you winning," Kankuro said, "And that not just because I have twenty-thousand ryo on you winning."
"…You bet on me?" Naruto asked, regarding the middle sand sibling with a confused look.
"Events like these make for good gambling," Kankuro remarked, "Hell, Lady Tsunade is getting in on this action as well."
"Granny Tsunade is taking part in the betting," Naruto remarked in an unsurprised tone as he shook his head gently, "Of course, she is."
"Yeah," Kankuro continued, "Lady Fifth Hokage bet your and Gaara's kunoichi friend from Iwa fifty-thousand ryo that Sakura will win her round one match."
Naruto's attention was piqued by what Kankuro had said. "Kurotsuchi's here?" Naruto asked.
Nodding in the affirmative, Kankuro explained, "Yeah. Lord Third Tsuchikage was supposed to come, but his back suffered some serious spasms that made traveling impossible. So Kurotsuchi, her dad Kitsuchi, and some dude named Akatsuchi came instead. They're the representatives from Iwa who's come to watch the Chunnin Tournament."
"Lady Mizukage Mei Terumi, along with two random Kiri shinobi acting as her guards, are the representatives from Kirigakure," Temari stated.
"If I were you, Naruto," Gaara whispered to his closest friend in a mildly panicked tone, "Say that you already have a girlfriend if Mei asks. Mei has recently taken to acting as a matchmaker of sorts, probably out of frustration over failing to find herself a significant other." (3)
"…I'll keep that in mind," Naruto replied, "By the way, how's Shukaku doing?"
"We've been getting along splendidly," Gaara said, "As well as you and Kurama get along now. Although for reasons that escape me, whenever the subject of Baki is brought up, Shukaku tells me to kill him. It's just Baki that he wants me to kill, though."
"I can understand that," Naruto remarked, "I occasionally have similar troubles with Kurama from time to time." Thinking inwardly towards the realm of his seal, Naruto thought, "Isn't that right, Kurama?"
"Kill Tenten," Kurama replied from within the realm of the seal.
"For the last time, no!" Naruto thought at Kurama. Outwardly, Naruto said to the sand siblings, "I'm glad to see that you all are doing well. And thanks again for the apology letter, Temari."
As Temari gave an annoyed sounding 'Hmph', Gaara looked to Naruto after giving his older sister a quick scowl. "Kankuro, Temari and I should get going to the viewing box that been prepared for us ahead of time," Gaara said, "Good luck."
After a few minutes, Tsunade showed up with Shizune. Accompanying the Hokage and her assistant were the two jonin instructors to the Konoha eleven that were still around; Kurenai Yuhi, the sensei to Kiba, Shino and Hinata, and Might Gai, the sensei to Rock Lee, Tenten and Neji. Kakashi Hatake, sensei to Naruto, Sakura and (the currently missing) Sasuke, was on leave, and Asuma Sarutobi, sensei to Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, was dead. Standing alongside the jonin instructors was Neji.
"I'm glad to see that all of you are here," Tsunade remarked, "Now we can begin the Chunnin Tournament!"
"The Chunnin Tournament will play out like the combat portion of the chunnin exams," Kurenai said, "You will all take part in one-on-one matches, with the winners of those matches going on to the next round."
"I expect each and every one of you to give it your all!" Gai proclaimed. Pointing to where Rock Lee and Tenten stood, Gai continued, "This goes doubly so for my own darling students! And it's not just myself who you cannot let down! Your teammate is also among those who will be watching!" Turning to face Neji, Gai said, "Isn't that right, Neji?"
"Please quit embarrassing us, Gai-sensei," Neji remarked casually.
"Now then," Shizune began, "There will be five matches in this first round, with the pairings having been decided ahead of time by Lady Tsunade herself, in the interest of trying to make sure all of the match ups are as fair as possible."
"You cheating whore!" the familiar voice of Kurotsuchi could be heard shouting angrily from the Iwa viewing box. But that was mostly ignored.
"The first match of round one will be between Shikamaru and Naruto," Tsunade explained, "The rest of you can wait up along on the walkway up there." The chunnin turned around and saw a walkway not unlike where they all waited in between matches during their go at the chunnin exams. The chunnin all made their way to the walkway, save for Naruto and Shikamaru.
"Aww man, I have to face you in round one?" Shikamaru said, worried about fighting Naruto.
"You're a pretty smart dude, Shikamaru," Naruto replied as he and Shikamaru stood in opposition to each other, "You shouldn't be selling yourself short."
"This round one match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Shikamaru Nara," Shizune announced, more for the benefit of the foreign guests that had come to watch the Chunnin Tournament, "Now then…BEGIN!"
Right as Shikamaru started to bring his hands together to use his Shadow Possession Jitsu, Naruto quickly took out and threw some shuriken, aiming to graze against the tops of Shikamaru's hands. Naruto's aim was true, and both shuriken cut the tops of Shikamaru's hands that they were aimed at, causing Shikamaru to flinch and break his concentration.
Not wanting to give Shikamaru any time to use the intellect that has so often been attributed to him, Naruto quickly threw some smoke bombs at the floor of the arena, creating a large cloud of smoke similar to that of the one Kiba made during his match with Naruto during the chunnin exams. "Naruto is playing hardball," Shikamaru thought, "Leave it to him to-" Shikamaru was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a whirring sound.
Suddenly, Shikamaru dropped to the floor as a foldable Fuma Shuriken whirled overhead. After the Fuma Shuriken had safely flown past, Shikamaru looked up to see Naruto running straight at him. "…The hell is Naruto up to?" Shikamaru thought in a confused manner, bringing his hands together to cast Shadow Possession. Not only was Shikamaru finally able to finally initiate his technique, but he had also trapped Naruto as well.
"Heh," Shikamaru chuckled as he started to get up off of the floor, "You sure did give me quite-" Shikamaru was cut off, however; as Shikamaru was halfway from getting up, a punch to the back of his head cut him off, knocking him back to the floor of the arena while making him take his hands apart from each other, breaking the Shadow Possession. As Shikamaru laid face-down on the floor, he felt someone place their foot on his back, grab ahold of his left arm so as to keep him from using any Nara clan techniques, and place the edge of a kunai against his throat. Looking up to his left, Shikamaru saw another Naruto, crouching down, regarding him with mild amusement.
"…Wow, and here I was expecting you to figure out what I was up to," the second Naruto said as the first one, who Shikamaru caught in Shadow Possession, poofed away in a cloud of smoke.
"…Well you certainly weren't giving me the time to plot out a strategy to beat you," Shikamaru remarked with increasing amusement at not only having been beaten by Naruto, but by how easily it happened. Slapping the floor of the arena with his free hand, Shikamaru called out loud enough to be heard, "I would like to forfeit now, please!"
Raising her right hand, Shizune announced, "Shikamaru Nara has surrendered! The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Oh, come on!" Temari could be heard shouting from the viewing box for the representatives from Suna. Unlike his girlfriend, Shikamaru was holding no hard feelings towards his defeat.
As Naruto helped him up, the Nara chunnin said, "So you threw yourself at me." As the blonde chunnin nodded in the affirmative, Shikamaru said, "Heh, not bad, Naruto. And people think that I'm the only one good at strategy."
When Naruto and Shikamaru reached the walkway where their friends were waiting, they were ambushed by Gai; he, along with Kurenai and Neji, were waiting on the walkway with the chunnin. "That was a spectacular, hot-blooded match!" Gai proclaimed at Naruto and Shikamaru, "Truly the springtime of youth burns brightly in the two of you!" Regarding Naruto in particular, Gai said, "I am especially looking forward to seeing more out of you in your future matches, Naruto!"
"Umm…thanks," Naruto replied, "Anyway, can I get ahold of Sakura or Ino now? I did hit the tops of Shikamaru's hands with some shuriken, and there's more bleeding than I was expecting."
"Yeah, these cuts are smarting more than I would like," Shikamaru confirmed.
Having overheard Naruto's request, Sakura walked over and said, "Very well, let me take a quick look at-"
"The second match of round one will be between Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka!" Shizune announced from down in the arena, cutting Sakura off.
"…Sorry," Sakura replied, mildly embarrassed.
"Hey, Ino can handle a small job like this no problem," Naruto replied. Offering a fist bump to Sakura, Naruto said, "Go knock Kiba's block off." Accepting the fist-bump, Sakura thanked Naruto for the vote of confidence as she made her way to the arena floor.
As Sakura walked down the steps from the walkway to the arena floor, Ino cheered, "Woohoo! Yeah Sakura! You can win this!"
"Like hell I'll let her!" Kiba shouted as he jumped over the rail of the walkway and landed on the arena floor, followed by Akamaru in a likewise manner; both beast and master beat their pink-haired opponent to the arena floor by a good couple of seconds.
Up on the walkway, Gai remarked to Kurenai, "That student of yours is just as impatient as ever, not to mention the fact he overestimates himself far too much."
"I will admit that Kiba needs to slow it down from time to time," Kurenai replied as she turned to face the Taijitsu master, "But what's this about Kiba overestimating himself?"
"Not only is young miss Haruno one of the students of my eternal rival Kakashi," Gai said, "But she has also been trained by Lady Tsunade herself. Sakura not only has supreme mastery over medical jitsu, but she also has raw strength that rivals, and occasionally eclipses, that of my own student Lee." Shaking his head gently, Gai said, "I'm calling it now. Sakura is going to win."
"…I wouldn't call it yet, but you have a point on everything else," Kurenai remarked.
"Go Sakura!" Ino cheered once again.
"Hey Ino!" Choji said as he walked up to his teammate, "Naruto asked either you or Sakura to heal the cuts on Shikamaru's hands!"
"Oh! Sorry!" Ino said as she turned around and went right over to where Naruto and Shikamaru were at; the Yamanaka chunnin stopped short upon seeing Hinata using Mystical Palm on Shikamaru's cuts. Naruto, noticing that Ino had come up, turned his head to regard her.
"You seemed too busy cheering for Sakura," Naruto said in a mildly sarcastic tone, "Luckily, Hinata also knows the Mystical Palm technique." (4)
"She's actually better at it that Ino," Shikamaru remarked.
"Grr…" Ino growled in an annoyed tone. Walking back over to where Choji was at, Ino turned to face the arena. "Kick Kiba's butt, Sakura!" Ino cheered, a mild amount of anger in her tone.
Like Ino herself, a number of others standing on the walkway were also cheering for Sakura; one could even hear cheering from the viewing boxes for both Suna and Kiri. Thanks to his enhances senses, Kiba heard all of this cheering all too clearly, not to mention every last word spoken by the two jonin sensei. (5)
He let out a quiet, annoyed growl.
As Sakura and Kiba faced each other, Shizune announced, "This round one match will be between Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka. Now then…" Raising up her right hand in a quick flourish, Shizune said, "BEGIN!"
Kiba and Akamaru leapt back to get some distance from their pink-haired opponent. "Use Dynamic Marking, Akamaru!" Kiba ordered as he reached into his weapons pouch to pull out some shuriken to throw at Sakura. If it hadn't been for the fact that Akamaru was about to mark her, Sakura would have noticed that the haughty tone that Kiba is usually known to sport during combat is totally gone, replaced with a tone of cold brutality.
Sakura leapt back, intending not to get marked by someone's dog, when she noticed the shuriken flying at her. Acting quickly, Sakura concentrated her chakra into her right arm and punched the arena floor in front of her, causing rubble to shoot up and block the shuriken. "Ha!" laughed the pink-haired chunnin, "Like such a straightforward attack could EEEEEWWWWW!"
Sakura stopped midsentence and cried out in disgust as Akamaru's Dynamic Marking hit her. As Akamaru landed back on the ground next to Kiba, the Inuzuka chunnin snapped, "This is what you get for messing with the pack!" Clapping his hands together, Kiba said, "Human-beast mimicry!" Akamaru leapt onto Kiba's back, and not one second later transformed into a copy of his owner. Additionally, both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru had longer, sharpened nails. Their eyes looked wild, and their lips were pulled back in snarls.
"FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba shouted, his tone entirely a mix of brutality and anger as his face became a mask of primal savagery. Both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru spun at Sakura with such speed that it created visible streams of wind.
"I should be able to avoid this," Sakura thought as she tried to calm herself down from the mild amount of panic she was feeling, "Kiba and his dog are spinning too fast to-" Sakura was cut off mid-thought as both Kiba and Akamaru hit her dead-on. Stumbling to the arena floor, Sakura saw Kiba and the transformed Akamaru come out of using the Fang Over Fang. It was only then that Sakura had noticed that the respective nostrils of both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru were flaring.
"So, that's how they were both able to hit me, despite spinning too fast to see properly," Sakura thought as she struggled to get up. As she was getting up, Sakura finally noticed the looks on Kiba's and Akamaru's respective faces. "Is…is this really Kiba?" Sakura thought worriedly as she brought her hands together to use a medical jitsu.
"Like hell I'll let you heal!" Kiba spat savagely, rushing forward to smack Sakura's hands apart with an underhand slap from his left hand. With Sakura off balance slightly, Kiba reached up with his right hand and, with his elongated nails, clawed at the side of Sakura's head, cutting skin and drawing blood.
"AHHHHH!" Sakura cried out in pain, but the Inuzuka chunnin wasn't done yet; pulling his right hand back, Kiba curled it into a fist and used it so smack Sakura against the other side of her head, knocking her to the ground. Right as Sakura fell over prone, Kiba rushed her, grabbing Sakura's throat with his left hand while his right hand was raised back, ready to claw at Sakura at a moment's notice. After a few seconds of no response from Sakura, Kiba got up off of his fallen opponent while still keeping his guard up; Akamaru, who had transformed back to normal, was stalking around, keeping his eyes locked on his owner's opponent as he growled in a threatening manner.
As Kiba and Akamaru waited for a response, Shizune ran up to take a quick look. After examining Sakura for a few seconds, Shizune stood up, raised her right hand and announced, "Sakura Haruno has been knocked out! The winner is Kiba Inuzuka!" (6) As medic ninja came in to place Sakura on a stretcher and carry her out, silence fell upon the arena. Everyone was shocked into silence; although Kiba was a skilled shinobi in his own right, those who knew the Inuzuka chunnin weren't expecting Kiba to defeat Sakura.
But he did.
As Kiba and Akamaru walked back up the stairs to the walkway where his fellow chunnin, the jonin instructors were all waiting, Kurenai and Gai met the Inuzuka chunnin and his Ninkin at the top of the stairs. Both jonin wore looks of mild concern on their faces. "Umm…" Kurenai began, her tone a clear mix of uncertainty and mild worry, "…Congratulations on winning your first match?"
Kiba shifted his gaze to regard his jonin instructor, but otherwise did nothing to acknowledge the praise he had received. After a few seconds, Kiba shifted his gaze to regard Gai. "I sure proved you wrong, didn't I?" Kiba remarked in a tone that was equal parts bitter and angry. Neither Gai or Kurenai did anything to reprimand Kiba; they were both too shocked by this new attitude, this new air of aggression, that the Inuzuka chunnin was giving off. Not helping their case was the fact that Akamaru was mimicking his owner's attitude, acting hostile towards everyone other than Kiba. It's not a good idea to get on the bad side of a large and angry dog, after all.
As Kiba and Akamaru walked past where Naruto, Tenten, Rock Lee and the students of Asuma were waiting, everyone other than Naruto tensed up; the blonde chunnin regarded Kiba and Akamaru with a serious look. Although Naruto's crush on Sakura had long since faded by this point, Naruto still considered Sakura a friend; thus, Naruto doesn't really enjoy seeing Sakura take a beating, even if it's in an official match.
"…Congratulations on your victory, Kiba," Naruto said in an emotionless monotone as the Inuzuka chunnin and his Ninkin walked past them. Hearing Naruto call out made Kiba stop, and when Kiba stopped, so did Akamaru.
"…Akamaru had a hand in it too, you know," was all Kiba said, without bothering to even turn his head to regard Naruto, and with about the same amount of emotion that Naruto had used. Kiba then promptly continued to walk away, Akamaru following him as always.
After a few seconds, Kiba and Akamaru walked by where his teammates were waiting. "That was…" Shino began, clearly unsure on how to talk to Kiba, "…Umm…good job on winning."
"Y-yes, Kiba, good j-job" Hinata stammered with a mild hint of fright, "Although d-did you have t-to be so b-brutal with-"
"ZIP IT, HYUGA!" Kiba snapped, making both Hinata and Shino jump back in surprise. His face once again becoming a mask of primal savagery, Kiba pointed an accusing finger at Hinata's increasingly frightened-looking face. "You're the absolute last person I want to hear any of that kind of crap from," Kiba snarled angrily, "So don't you even frigg'en dare." To help drive his owner's point home, Akamaru made a deep-throated angry growl at the Hyuga chunnin, making her back up as far as the railing would let her. Feeling that the point was made, Kiba walked away while saying, "Come on, Akamaru."
After Kiba and Akamaru walked away from Shino and Hinata, Neji came walking out of a hallway. "Sorry, but I had to use the bathroom," Neji remarked to the two chunnin as he came up to them, "So, what did I miss?"
"Kiba defeated Sakura," Shino remarked, "While managing to frighten the hell out of most every other chunnin here, myself and Hinata included."
"…Is Sakura okay?" Neji asked, a concerned look on his face.
"She'll be fine, Neji-niisan," Hinata replied, "But Kiba…" Shaking her head softly, Hinata said, "…I'm not sure if the same can be said of him."
Later that evening, Kiba and Akamaru returned to their family's home at the Inuzuka clan compound. Walking in through the front door, Kiba found Hana and their Aunt Pirate sitting on the sofa, watching TV. From the sounds Kiba heard coming from the TV, it was a news story about the first round of the Chunnin Tournament. Looking up from the TV and seeing that her nephew and his Ninkin had returned, Pirate got up, a pleased and amused look on her face.
"Kiba! Akamaru!" Pirate remarked joyously, "The two of you have done the Inuzuka clan proud today, that's for sure!"
"…I take it that you and Hana saw the results of the first-round matches in the Chunnin Tournament?" Kiba asked.
"Yes, we did see the results, Kiba," Hana replied gently as she got up and walked over to join her and Kiba's aunt, "Congratulations on you and Akamaru getting past round one."
"I gotta admit, even if you weren't my nephew, your match against Tsunade's apprentice still would have been my favorite of the round-one matches," Pirate remarked, "Better than Uzumaki beating Nara, Akimichi beating Aburame, Gai's kunoichi beating Gai's mini-me, and LOADS better than Hyuga beating Yamanaka." Holding a fist out to her nephew, Pirate said, "I hope you'll be keeping it up in round two."
Accepting the fist-bump from his aunt, Kiba replied in a mildly emotionless, casual tone, "I got a clan to make proud, don't I?"
"Do you know who you'll be facing in round two?" Hana asked her younger brother.
Shaking his head gently, Kiba replied, "No clue, as the match-ups haven't even been decided yet. But it doesn't matter." Looking his older sister in the face, Kiba continued, "I said that Akamaru and I would make it to the top, and that's just what's going to happen."
"Ha! That's my nephew!" Pirate barked in laughter. Wiping a tear from the corner of her right eye, Pirate added, "Just know that the whole Inuzuka clan will be supporting you all the way! A damn shame Gaku can't be there with the rest of the Inuzuka, though."
"…What do you mean Gaku can't be there with the rest of the Inuzuka clan?" Kiba asked, a confused and mildly concerned look on his face, "I know that he's been sick recently, but he can power through it! He's powered through drunken stupors that would leave even Ma laying on the couch for a whole day, so he can power through his sickness!"
"…" Pirate regarded her nephew with a somber expression, "…It wasn't sickness on its own. Gaku, just like the rest of the Inuzuka clan, was frigg'en starving. Sickness working hand-in-hand with hunger is a real pain in the ass." Shaking her head gently, Pirate said, "I'm sorry, Kiba. I know how much you looked up to Gaku, given that the two of you were the only ninja in the Inuzuka clan that weren't kunoichi. But it looks like his number was called." (7)
His eyes widening with shock, Kiba quietly said, "No…"
"He…he died?" Hana said in a shocked tone as she stepped back; when the backs of her shins made contact with the base of the sofa, Hana sat down. "Gaku actually died?" Hana said as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, "No, he…he couldn't have, he…he just couldn't have died. There were so few men left in the Inuzuka clan to begin with, and now…now this…"
"Not helping the fact of the matter is that in addition to hunger playing a role, Gaku's specific sickness required a specific medication," Pirate stated, "The Inuzuka clan can't afford the health insurance that would have allowed us to get Gaku the medication he needed, and we certainly can't afford the medication out of our own pocket." Regarding her niece, nephew and nephew's dog, Pirate said in a knowing tone, "I believe I don't have to tell you lot who's to blame."
"…Hyuga…" Kiba muttered in a dark tone.
"Do you finally see reason, Hana?" Pirate asked as she turned to regard her niece specifically, "Do you finally understand what it means to be an Inuzuka? To live your life completely at the mercy of Hyuga whim?"
"…No…" Hana said as she shook her head. Shaking her head more forcefully, Hana shouted, "No! That can't be it! That just can't be it!" Turning around, Hana ran right down one of the hallways, presumably to her room. Hearing a door open, only to be slammed shut a second later, confirmed that theory.
Turning to regard her nephew, Pirate said, "You said that the match-ups for the Chunnin Tournament's second round haven't been decided yet, right?" Kiba didn't reply verbally, only nodding in the affirmative.
"…Can you do your dear aunt a favor and hold down the fort for a while?" Pirate asked in as sweet of a tone as a rough Inuzuka kunoichi could manage. Her tone going back to its usual cruel indifference, Pirate said, "I've got some people to see in town."
TO BE CONTINUED…
END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER TWO
Author's Notes:
(1) Hiashi wanted to spare Neji the truth; Neji would be able to get to sleep easier.
(2) Kiba's aunt, Pirate, is named after a character mentioned in passing in 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha'. That character Pirate is stated to be of historical significance to the Inuzuka clan, and to Konoha as a whole.
(3) Mei has been shown in the series proper to have trouble when it comes to getting a love life. This is my way of playing around with that fact.
(4) Hinata has been shown using Mystical Palm before.
(5) Although his sense of smell is the most prominent example, Kiba's other senses are likewise enhanced, due to his Inuzuka heritage. Therefore, it stands to reason that Kiba has good hearing in addition to his good sense of smell.
(6) According to the data books, Kiba had Sakura beat in both strength and stamina until the third data book, at which point Kiba and Sakura were tied in both strength and stamina. Additionally, Kiba always has Sakura beat in the speed department. That being said, if he's given the right motivation, I believe that Kiba can prove to be a serious threat.
(7) Gaku was that Inuzuka fellow that was with Minato when he confronted Killer Bee. For the sake of building things up, Gaku's death was required.
I was originally intending to write out all of the matches in this chapter, but by the time I finished the second match, I realized that writing out all five matches would have made this chapter go on way too long. I may end up writing a one-shot where the other matches of round one take place. But yeah, I'm trying my hand at writing content that's at least somewhat darker than my usual fare.