Kimiko's P. O. V:
The sixth match was a red haired and blue eyed kunoichi named Akemi Kasai VS her own teammate, a blonde haired girl with blue eyes named Michiru Tsukino who specialises in Water Style ninjutsu and fights with Kenjutsu.
Akemi used Fire Style and Taijutsu, and she'd won her match.
Naruto cheers, "Here we go!! Let it be me! Let it be me! Please let it be me! Let it be me!"
Lee says, "No! It's my turn!! My turn!"
The boys groan upon seeing it's Shikamaru VS Kin, Naruto crossing his arms as he leans his back on the railing. Shikamaru makes his way down to the arena.
"Guess it's me," He drawls, hands in his pants pockets.
Naruto, Choji and Ino cheer for him.
"Atta boy, Shikamaru! You can do it! You can win this, no problem! You've got it!" Cheers Ino.
"Ok, ok," Groans the Nara.
Ino fist pumps the air as she cheers, "All you've gotta do is tell yourself "I cannot lose!", right?! Come on! Get a big win! A big win! Come on! Yeah!"
Kin lingers on the balcony with a hand on her hip. Dosu reminds her, "Remember, he manipulates shadows. Watch the shadows."
Kin huffs, "Heh! You think I'd ever fall for a stupid Jutsu like that?"
Shinobu says coldly, "You look stupid enough to."
Kin glares at her.
Leaning against the railing, I let out a sigh. What is it with Sound and Leaf ninja?! First it was Zaku and Shino, now it's Kin and Shikamaru. At this rate, I wouldn't be shocked if Dosu went up against another Leaf ninja...
Ino continues to cheer, fist in the air, as Kin stands before her teammate, "Yeah, ok! Here we go, Shikamaru! Make that little girl cry!!"
Shikamaru says as in keeps cheers, "Oh, man! This is such a drag. I mean, give me a break. I've gotta fight a girl?!"
Kin mutters, "Yeah, you just keep thinking that way, little man."
Hayate announces, "Ready? The seventh match, Shikamaru, and Kin." He throws out his arm as he adds, "Begin!"
Shikamaru says as he puts his hands in a hand sign, "It's all I've got."
"You're not trying that stupid shadow thing again, are you?"
Shikamaru growls, "Shut your mouth!! Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
Kin demands as his shadow stretched towards her, "Is that all you know?! If that's the only trick you've got, this is going to be easier than I thought!"
Kin jumps to the side and throws two senbon with bells on the ends that jingle. Shikamaru ducks and they embed themselves in the wall behind him.
"Bells...?" Shikamaru utters as he looks back at them before looking at Kin. He gets to his feet, appearing unimpressed. "Oh, please! Not that old trick! Let me guess: next you'll throw senbon with bells and senbon without bells at the same time. I'll react to the bells, and while I'm focused on dodging them, I won't notice the silent needles coming at me. Am I right?" An indignant scoff. "Good luck!"
Kin says as she runs forward, "You sure talk a lot, don't you?!"
Shikamaru retorts as she throws the needles at him, dodging each one, "Now I know to be careful of all your senbon—not just the ones with the bells!" Suddenly, there's a couple of jingles, startling the Nara. He jerks his head over his shoulder and it was then we notice the thin threads attached to the bells, leading back to the female Sound ninja. "Oh, man!!"
Shikamaru turns back to Kin but he was too slow. "Too late!!" She throws two senbon and they strike his right upper arm, knocking Shikamaru over.
Ino says worriedly, "Shikamaru!"
Naruto grumbles as Sakura goes up to him, "Well, that didn't take long."
I say, "Hold on. Don't be so sure! He's not beaten yet." Both Naruto and Sakura glance at me in mild confusion, but my gaze remains on the Nara who is now on his feet and is ripping the senbon from his upper arm.
"One inch higher, and that would've been a fatal hit." He throws them away as he yells at Kin, "Ok, now I get a turn!"
"Sorry, that was your turn!" She retorts before tugging on the threads, causing the bells to sway. Shikamaru goes rigid.
"What the...? What's going on?!" He lets out a groan as he drops to his knees.
Shikamaru raises his head to Kin as she explains, "You see, you don't ever ask "For whom the bell tolls," because it tolls for thee. This bell sends off a peculiar sound vibration that travels through the outer and inner ear, then directly to the brain. First comes paralysis, and soon you'll start hallucinating." Shikamaru groans as he covers his ears. "It won't work. You can't block the Sound out once it's inside your head. It's useless." Kin suddenly multiplies as more copies of her spread out on either side of the girl.
Shikamaru stammers as he drops his hands and looks up, "I can't... tell which one of them is the real one...!"
All the Kins say, "You can't move your arms, or legs, and even if you could, you wouldn't know which one to throw your shadow at! Face it! You're cooked, little man!" They all hold out three senbon in their fingers.
"I'm gonna cook you nice and slow over a hot fire!"
Shikamaru mutters, "You think it's that easy, huh?" Kin throws the needles and Shikamaru crosses his arms in front of his body to shield himself with. The needles embed themselves in his arms, causing Shikamaru to topple backwards.
"That was three. Next time, I'll throw five," Kin tells him. "Each time, a couple more until you end up looking like a hedgehog!"
Shikamaru demands, "Stop playing games, why don't ya?!"
"Hm?"
"If you're so tough, get it over with! Stop wasting my time."
"I'm sorry. So you're not a fan of my slow and painful method, huh?" Says Kin. "Fine. Suit yourself! We'll do it the quick way then, and painful!" She holds up three senbon, as do her clones.
Shikamaru gasps as Kin's black eyes widen in confusion. "Wh-What's wrong?!" She stutters as her left arm twitches. "I can't move my arm...!"
Shikamaru huffs as her arm drops to her side and he gets to his feet. "It looks like my "lame" shadow Jutsu was a success after all."
Kin says in confusion, "But! You haven't thrown any shadow! No way! I made sure of it!"
Smiling, Shikamaru asks, "Heh. You really still don't see it?"
The female Sound nin gasps. "What do you mean?!"
"Look at that thread you're holding," Shikamaru tells her. "Don't you find it a little strange that it would even cast a shadow at this height?" Suddenly, the shadow from the threads begin to blur until they merge with Kin's. "Of course you didn't notice it because you were concentrating on other things, like killing me!"
Kin grunts, "The shadow is spreading out around me...! And I didn't see it coming!"
"Right!" States Shikamaru. "I stretched my shadow out along the line of that thread and followed it all the way back. Now I'm attached to you!"
He raises his arm as does Kin.
"And now, we mirror each other's movements, so what?! A cute trick, but what do you gain by it?" Kin queries.
Shikamaru grits out, "Man, you're annoying! Just shut up and watch!" Shikamaru opens his weapons holster and Kin is forced to do the same, shocking her. Shikamaru smirks.
"You must be insane! If you throw that shuriken at me, you'll just be attacking yourself!"
Shikamaru asks as they both hold their weapons, "Makes it kind of interesting, doesn't it?"
"You wouldn't...! You couldn't...!" Gasps Kin.
"Yeah! Like a game of chicken, let's see who ducks first!" With that, Shikamaru throws his shuriken at the same time Kin does.
"You're crazy!"
As the shuriken zoom towards the opponents, Shikamaru bends backwards to dodge her weapon. Kin smirks, going to do the same. But when she bends backwards, her head actually collides with the concrete wall behind her, emitting a pained grunt as both weapons miss them.
I smirk. I was highly impressed with the Nara.
Shikamaru is bracing himself on his hands as the Sound nin collapses and he says, "And that's what I call "Using your head!"" He flips so he's on his feet, facing Kin. "The wise shinobi carefully scouts the physical layout of the battlefield, and never loses sight of his position on it. That's your problem. I made sure she was so busy focusing on me, that she didn't notice the wall inches behind her head. So when we both dodged backwards, kaboom!! Now who's hearing bells?"
I snicker as Hayate says, throwing an arm to the Nara, "The winner of the seventh match—Shikamaru Nara!"
"Atta boy, Shikamaru!" Ino cheers as Kin was taken away.
Shinobu scoffs, "I told you so."
"YEAH! WAY TO GO!" Choji cries out.
Lee urges, fist clenched, "Come on! Me next, me next, me next, me!"
Naruto complains, "Even that good for nothing lazy bum won his match. When am I gonna get my turn?!"
Dosu murmurs as the names continue shuffling on the board, "Now there's only me left."
Hayate mutters, "Alright. Moving onto the next match."
Kiba states from beside Hinata while counting off from his fingers, "There's one Sound Village ninja left... there's me, you, Naruto, Choji, Neji, Lee... and that Sand Village guy."
Neji muses, "This year's rookies look like they can be quite a challenge." He the side eyes Hinata who notices and quickly averts her own gaze.
The next match is Naruto Uzumaki VS Kiba Inazuka.
Naruto cheers, "YEAH! It's here! It's here at last! The moment I've been waiting for! Finally I get a chance to show what I've got!"
Kiba says eagerly, "Look at that! It's us against the kid! Hey, Akamaru! I think you and I just won the lottery."
"Arf!"
As Naruto cheers, Lee turns away with a groan, "I am going to die of old age before I get my turn. I just want a chance to show Kimi-chan what I'm made of. She's going to get tired of waiting! All I want is a chance. Is that too much to ask?!"
I say to Lee, "Don't worry, Lee, you'll get your turn." I send him a wink. "It may even come sooner than you expect."
"How could you know that, Kimi-chan?" He asks, wide eyed as Kiba glares daggers at him.
"You could call it my women's intuition!"
Kakashi gazes at his rival. When Gai meets his gaze, he gives a sparkling grin and thumbs up. Kakashi and I sweat drop.
"Hey, watch it, Lee!" Shouts Kiba, gaining our attention as he points right me. "That's my girl who you're talking to! 'Cause by the time these exams are over," He grins and clenches a determined fist, "she and I will be official! I hope you'll wish me luck, Kimi-chan!"
My face turns beat red as the others glance between us.
Sakura snickers as she tells Kakashi, "Kimiko is in love with Kiba!"
"Way to tell the whole freaking stadium, Pinky!!" I snap at her in a flustered tone. She giggles cutely.
I then give Kiba a winning smile that makes him blush as I say, "Good luck, Kiba-kun!"
Naruto pouts, "Kimi-chaaannn! You're supposed to be cheering for me!"
"Oh! Good luck, Naruto! Do your best!"
Naruto giggles giddily as he says, "You know it, Kimi-chan!"
Kiba scowls at him. "Just you watch! I'll win this match, and Kimi-chain's affections!"
Naruto says with a clenched fist, "It's my time to shine!"
🗡🗡🗡
Hayate says as Naruto and Kiba stand before each other, "Now the eighth match. Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inazuka."
Naruto says, "I've been waiting forever for this! Sorry, Kiba! Don't take it personally if I blow you away and embarrass you in front of your girlfriend!"
Kiba snaps in a flustered tone as he points at Naruto, "Grrr! That's just what I was gonna say! Only not so politely!" He glances at the puppy in his jacket as he asks, "Right, Akamaru?!"
"Arf!"
A red tick mark forms on the back of Naruto's head as he points at Kiba and yells back, "Oh, yeah?! Well, talking's easy! Let's say what you gotta say at the end of the match!"
Kiba scowls as he sets Akamaru on the floor beside him, "Grrr! Little squirt!"
Naruto bursts out, pointing to Akamaru, "Wait a second! Are you kidding me?! What's the puppy doing here?! He's just gonna get in the way!"
"Deal with it! I never go into battle without Akamaru."
Akamaru gives a couple of barks of agreement.
Naruto asks the Proctor, "Come on! Isn't that against the rules, or something?!"
"No. Like Shino's bugs, they are a part of him." Hayate closes his eyes briefly. "He is within the rules."
Naruto groans, turning back to his opponent, "Eeehhh... whatever! Fine with me!" He plants his hands firmly on his hips. "I do my best work with a handicap."
Kiba scoffs, "Hah! We'll just see about that!" Kiba rises to his feet and glances at Akamaru. "Akamaru, you stay right here and leave all this to me! I've got it."
Akamaru growls in response.
Sakura yells, eyes angry animated white circles, "Go on, Naruto!! You can't lose to this jerk!!" She looks back at me with a sheepish expression and adds, "Eh, no offence, Kimiko!"
"Go Kiba-kun!! Beat his ass!" I cheer as I go to the railing, and fist pump the air. Kiba's lips curl into a smirk.
"You hear that, Naruto? She's cheering for me!" Kiba mocks, causing Naruto to glare.
"Kimi-chaaannn!!" Naruto gives me a pout, making me blink my eyes a few times.
"Ah... I know you can do it, too, Naruto!" I cheer, hands cupping my mouth. Naruto grins before turning back to a scowling Kiba.
"You can't cheer for both, Kimiko," Sakura tells me.
"Why not? They're both my friends. I can root for both, can't I?!"
Choji complains, "Awe, man!! Kiba's so lucky!"
Shikamaru "Hmphs!" in response.
Kakashi's P. O. V:
I gaze at Kimiko as she watches Kiba's and Naruto's match beside Sakura. As I do, I think back to my encounter with Orochimaru after I'd sealed Sasuke's Curse Mark.
Just before the snake Sannin leaves the room, he says knowingly, "Oh, and by the way, Kakashi, about the Sumire Princess? I'll be taking her back with me along with Sasuke. She has her clan's powerful Tengan Dojutsu. And she used to be my student. When the Chunin Exams are over, I'll be taking her with me."
I growl as my face darkens again, "I won't let you lay another finger on Kimiko! I'll protect her with my very life! I refuse to let you take her away!"
"The Princess has indeed grown not just more powerful, but beautiful too. She'd make a fine vessel. I'll do what it takes to get her back."
I growl, "Not without getting through me, first!!"
Orochimaru simply smiles as he says, "Oh? Are you sure you can, Kakashi? I promise you, Kakashi: one day, I'll have the Sumire Princess and her Tengan! If I must kill you, Kakashi, then so be it! She already has my mark; one day, Kimiko will rejoin me and Sasuke."
Orochimaru's laughter fills the chamber as my lightning Chidori fades from my hand.
When Orochimaru said he'd "Take Kimiko back," I'd felt fear and rage like I haven't felt in a long time.
Sure she's rude, insensitive, a little selfish and lazy, but deep down I know she's just a little girl in so much pain and lost in the darkness. I absolutely refuse to let him take her away and put her through all that pain and suffering again.
To have done that to a child after massacring her clan... it's just unthinkable...
Which is why I plan to protect her from Orochimaru or anyone else that would do my student harm.
After all, I did promise Kimiko I would.
Kimiko's P. O. V:
Kiba tells Naruto, "Look, I feel sorry for you, so I'm gonna finish you yoga with one shot, 'kay?"
"Yeah? Is that right? Man, you're even dumber than you look if you think you can beat me!" Naruto says.
"You sure talk tough for such a little squirt!!" Kiba snaps, and Akamaru barks in agreement. Naruto smirks back at a glaring Kiba.
Hayate announces, glancing between them, "When you're ready, you can begin!"
Kiba crouches and clasps his hands in a hand sign. I feel intrigued as blue chakra swirls around his body. He says in an animal like growl as Kiba gets on all fours, his fingers now elongated into claws, his canines also having been lengthen, "Here I come!" Kiba takes off at incredible speed, blurring right in front of a surprised Naruto. Before the blue eyed male could even react, Kiba rams his left elbow into Naruto's stomach. The force sends Naruto flying backwards.
Sakura gasps, her eyes wide, as my hands fly to my mouth in shock. Naruto hits the floor with a thud.
Kiba says as he straightens, "This little guy's gonna be out for awhile." He glances to Hayate as he adds, "You can call the match."
Shikamaru says knowingly, "Thought as much."
Ino agrees, "Yeah. I thought Kiba might be too much for him, but that was fast."
Lee states, "Oh, Naruto! That was embarrassing!"
Kurenai says while smirking to my Guardian, "See? Told you."
Kankuro mocks, "What was that?! I blinked and it was over! The kid's pitiful!"
Sakura turns to glance at Kakashi, but I wasn't worried. Kakashi chuckles as he gives her a closed eye smile. Sakura seems to understand as she smirks back and looks back at the arena.
Kiba smirks and turns as he starts to head back to Akamaru. He stops and turns in surprise as he hears Naruto grunting while pushing himself up into a sitting position.
"What?! No way!"
I smirk. Everyone always underestimates Naruto, and then it comes back to bite them in the butt. I'm still gonna cheer for the both of them, though, as I want both of my friends to win.
Kiba glares as Naruto stands up, breathing heavily, blood leaking down his mouth.
"Don't ever... Don't ever underestimate me!!" Naruto cries out with blue fire practically burning in his cerulean blue orbs. This shocks everyone but I was grinning.
"GO, NARUTO!! SJOW 'EM WHAT YOU'VE GOT!! YOU TOO, KIBA-KUN!! GO ALL OUT!!" I cheer.
Lee adds, clenching a fist as Shikamaru smirks, "YEAH!!!"
Sakura yells happily, "ATTA BOY, NARUTO!!"
Whirling to the blonde, Kiba grumbles, "Yeah, yeah! More tough talk! Look at yourself in a mirror! You're a mess!"
Naruto retorts, "Hah! I just wanted to see what you've got! Frankly, you hit like an old lady!" Kiba grits his teeth in anger. "You have a better chance of winning this if you send that puppy in to fight for you!"
Bad idea.
Kiba has told me all about how he fights with Akamaru, but I've only ever seen it while in training, not in a real battle like this.
Kiba growls, "You're gonna regret that! Come on, Akamaru!" Akamaru barks before they run at the Uzumaki. Kiba digs his hand into his weapons pouch. He pulls out a couple of ball of blue powder.
"Smoke grenades?" Utters Naruto.
"Take this!" Shouts Kiba before her throws the smoke grenades. A huge cloud of blue dust arises upon impact. Kiba dives in after the blonde.
Naruto runs out of the smoke only for be met with the sight of Akamaru. Kiba shouts as Akamaru launches at Naruto, "He fell for it!!"
Naruto cries out when the puppy bites his hand and they fall back into the smoke.
Ino utters, "What the...?!"
Shikamaru says, "Darn. The best part and I can't see anything."
I create a Crystal Telescope ball and summon an image of the two battling opponents. Immediatel, those near me who see me with the Jutsu father around me to watch; even the Jounin.
We watch as Kiba and Akamaru beat up Naruto until he collapses. Then Kiba jumps out of the smoke screen and lands in a crouch, a triumph grin on his face. We look up as the blue smoke clears, revealing the Uzumaki unconscious on the floor. Sitting beside him, Akamaru.
The puppy barks as I dispel my Jutsu, and the others peel away from me.
Kiba exclaims, "Yeah! This fight is over!" Akamaru runs up to the Inuzuka who holds out his arms. "Good doggie! Way to g—!" Kiba cuts hmself off as Akamaru suddenly launches himself right for Kiba and...
... bites his left forearm with a snarl, startling Kiba, and the rest of us.
"Hey... Akamaru...? What are you doing?" Kiba asks in immense confusion.
"Surprise! Gotcha!" Kiba's eyes dilated with shock as "Akamaru" disappears in a puff of white smoke, and is replaced with Naruto.
Kiba cries, "You used a Transformation Jutsu! You little...! Get off! Let go of me!" He throws Naruto off who's face is sickly blue as he spits to the side in disgust.
Naruto exclaims, "YOU SMELL EVEN WORSE THAN THE DOG!!"
Kiba gasps as he glances around in confusion, "Huh?! What'd you do with him?! Where is he?!"
"He's right here!" Another Naruto chimes while holding up Akamaru. He whimpers.
Kiba asks in shock, eyes wide, "How did you...?!" Then a glare takes over his features as his voice turns low. "Okay."
Ino says in surprise, "Whoa! Is that really Naruto?! Who would've thought Naruto... would be a match for Kiba!"
Shikamaru states in an impressed tone, "To balance a Transformation Jutsu and a Clone Jutsu at the same time? There's no way he should be able to do that!"
Temari comments, "He's got his Jutsu down. There's no doubt about it."
Kankuro murmurs, "Well, well! The kid's better than I thought."
Hinata says, "Wasn't that amazing? Amazing..."
Sakura cuts in louder, "Amazing, Naruto!"
"Way to go!" I cheer, smiling.
"Not bad," Says Shiori, grinning.
Naruto laughs.
Kiba says, "What do you know? You've gotten a little stronger, I see. But not nearly strong enough because now I'm getting serious!"
Naruto says, clenching a fist, "Oh? Well, good. I was hoping you would, because I want to seriously knock you out!"
Naruto grins at his opponent.