Chapter 72: Second Match: Gaara VS Kiba!

Hiruzen's POV (Kage Box of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Hiruzen smiled slightly, proud of both Genin. They had fought well, conducted themselves proudly, and ended a battle as Hiruzen wished all fights would with smiles and companionship being found in battle. His happy mind was interrupted by Yagura this time.

"So that is your jinchuriki then? He acts as if he's human. Nor did he show its power. How odd." Yagura offered as the fight wrapped up.

"As always, you damn tree huggers make everything so emotional." A complained. "And your weapon has a bleeding heart like that? He could've ended the fight before it began if he hadn't held back."

"It is certainly a foolish trait for shinobi." Rasa agreed.

"One could argue he is saving some techniques for later. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened in these exams." Onoki countered.

"The strong have no need to hide their strength." A countered.

"True, only the weak need such a strategy." Yagura seemed to agree.

Hiruzen barely paid attention, seeing yet another one of his was up to bat. "It seems the next match is set to begin." The other Kage all locked eyes on the next match.

Gaara of the Sand VS Kiba Inuzuka

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 Kiba's POV ( South Entrance to Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

"You must listen, my dear student, for before you stand a wall. Too high to climb over, too wide to go around, too… eh- down to get under. Yes, many would call it insurmountable. Most, in fact, luckily, you have the guidance of Konoha's Sexy Beast. Indeed, you are armed even further, the power of You-"

Might Gai continue to lecture Kiba much to the Inuzuka's chagrin, Gai habitually did so. Even the most benign of activities were treated so particularly. Standards are to be held at all times, even throughout his hellish training. Kiba stayed with the team due to his friendship with Lee and Sakura, but it was hard. If Gai wasn't an oddly good sensei somehow, Kiba would've surely snapped by now. Well, good in the training, it had turned Kiba into a beast, able to keep up with Lee with his weights. Without it, he hadn't seen a Genin he could keep up with Lee then. But his advice or teachings often meant little to Kiba. Most of the time, he found some absurd way to tie it into the power of "youth." And the rest, some ridiculous moral code, that seemed needless to him. He was jealous of the other teams with a more standard Jounin sensei. Jealous of Naruto and Tenten, as much as it hurt to admit, Kiba wasn't sure he would have defeated either. It made his blood boil; Naruto was his friend, but he was always slightly behind him for the entirety of the academy. Friendly and competitive yet safe, he never truly stood a chance in Kiba's eyes. Yet Naruto had somehow surpassed him, so much so that the weapon girl that would likely leave Kiba bleeding and defeated seemed utterly outmatched by Naruto. Kiba also held no illusion of who between him and Gaara was the favorite, even by his own odds. He felt no humor in the irony of an Inuzuka being considered the underdog.

"Now I know your foe is considerable, likely one of the strongest Genin here. But I know with my training and your yout-" Even his sensei subtly suggested Kiba was outmatched here. Somehow, he had become the runt of this litter. Kiba knew better than most what happened to them.

"Don't worry so much, Gai; I have a secret weapon! No one in the exam is ready for me now!" Kiba roared with a smile that felt only a little forced. It matched the smile Sakura had given him before they had split up, her to the audience area and him to the contestant area. She had said the right words, wishing him well and saying she was confident in him. Yet Kiba had sensed her lack of faith in him. It, combined with Gai, made him seethe inwardly.

"Confidence goes hand in hand with youth Kiba, but-" Gai started but stopped when Kiba shoved himself by him.

"I don't need youth, Gai; I'm not the weakling you all think I am." Kiba said his fear of Gaara was simply smothered by his hatred of how everyone he felt was looking down on him. Kiba tried to stomp his way into the arena, but Gai grabbed his shoulder.

"I understand your emotions; despite what you may think, Lee and I have been there. So I know you won't back down, so let me offer more practical advice. Use that anger and your youth and hit that monster with everything you have with the intent to kill. Even when you do, it may not work; if he survives, he'll likely defeat you. May even kill you, for the sake of Akamaru, if that unyouthful monster should get a hold of either of you, surrender there and then. Kakashi should step in then; I'll be there shortly after. Otherwise, this may be the end of your career." Gai said seriously, eyes boring into Kiba's back intensely.

Kiba held back a growl but nodded, stomping forward. He was done feeling inferior; he would hit Gaara with everything he had, just like Gai had said. And when he did, and it worked, he would revel in everyone's shattered perspective.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's POV (North Entrance of Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Naruto walked back into the entry/exit of the arena, heading back to the stands for the Chunin hopefuls. But as he walked through the dim halls, he saw someone standing in the middle of it. It seemed Gaara had been following and had decided to wait for him. Was it time? Had he chosen not to stay and try whatever plan he had now? It would be bad if he had; in the enclosed hall, Naruto thought even his training wouldn't allow him to do too much. Gaara could merely drown the hall in the sand, and Naruto would have nowhere to go. Naruto steeled himself and drew Riptide from his back; maybe he could cause the hall to collapse if he had to. That may slow the monster down.

Gaara, creepy as ever, silently eyed Naruto as he got closer. Not even flinching at seeing Naruto draw a weapon. Naruto understood it; he doubted Gaara's power that he was ever unarmed. Naruto had prepared himself for their eventual fight; he wouldn't fall here.

"Calm yourself. Your time is soon, but I cannot risk taking you yet." Gaara said simply.

"A risk it would be." Naruto replied stiffly.

"Have you learned anything in the month?" Gaara asked with a knowing tone. Naruto felt his frown deepen. Gaara had indeed predicted it.

"I have." Naruto curtly replied.

"And do you see why we cannot exist with humans as is?"

"No, I see that I have to work harder than others." Naruto snapped, his anger towards the villagers bleeding towards Gaara. How dare he mock him now? Did he think he'd lose his mind instantly or something?

"Ha, you hold onto that false hope. Such keeps you human; you think it's good, but you will need much more than humanity to survive our encounter." Gaara promised as he stalked on.

Naruto would've replied angrily, but something about Gaara's words weighed on Naruto. He growled as he marched on reaching the area. He glanced around before seeing. Shikamaru, Shino, Neji, Yuno, Sai, Hinata, and Lee gathered on the left side of the area, standing near the railing and still waiting to notice him. Omoi, Samui, and Fuu sat in the seats chatting. Samui offered Naruto a wink upon seeing him and Fuu an excited wave. Temari and Kankuro sat in the back by themselves, looking bored. Kankuro seemed to make a small stick figure do an impressively dynamic dance. While Temari busied herself by throwing wads of paper at Shikamaru and Sai. Who were, from Naruto briefly heard from her, on her "shitlist." Shikamaru seemed to dodge these effortlessly, always doing so as efficiently as possible. Sai seemed to think this was a game and patiently let her tee off. Each time Sai was hit, he would attempt to bring the wad back. Temari didn't mind the auto-reload much, either. But Naruto didn't see Ino anywhere. He glanced towards the crowd, figuring maybe she had decided to watch with Sakura, the two being good friends. But he didn't see her anywhere. Before he could ponder much further, Naruto felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see Neji and Shikamaru both standing before him.

"Come on, blondie." Neji stated before heading back to his spot at the railing. Shikamaru nodded before explaining.

"Very nice victory there; I didn't even know that scary woman was so strong; she's such a drag. Anyway, the next match is about to start. I have a feeling this will be troublesome." Shikamaru said darkly. Naruto nodded and headed over with them. He hoped Kiba wouldn't die here, maybe even do well before losing. But as much as it hurt him to say, he was sure he would lose. Surely, Kakashi sensei wouldn't let him die. But still, Naruto would be ready himself. He could step in if needed; he wouldn't watch as Kiba would die.

As he gazed down into the courtyard, he saw that the match had begun. Kakashi had hidden his presence, and Kiba could be seen tossing something to Akamaru. Suddenly, the dog turned red, and with a bark and roar from Kiba, they both became beastly versions of Kiba. It seemed Kiba was ready…

Somehow, Naruto knew Kiba was wrong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 Gaara's / Ino's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

He watched as the human roared and his dog barked before becoming a merge between man and beast. Gaara supposed, for a human, it was interesting at the very least; he certainly wasn't opposed to becoming less human. Yet their so-called beast mimicry was aptly named. He knew the absolute beast; they were much more impressive than this human's mimicry.

The human weaved more hand signs, seemingly aiming to activate another technique. Gaara supposed he could summon his sand to chase the man around, but he was sure he'd be a squirrely one. Better to go with Plan A. So he merely watched as the human finished his signs; he and his dog were in sync.

"You should've stopped me; letting an enemy activate a technique is a dumb move." Kiba roared as he prepared to set off.

"Maybe for weak humans like you. For me, it makes little difference." Gaara lectured simply.

Kiba roared as he raced forward, activating his technique. "First up, Fang Over Fang!" He roared before becoming a tornado of gray. His dog followed up as both slammed towards Gaara. Gaara did not flinch as a wall of sand intercepted them. Nor did he feel any pressure when both made it through the sand. Close but close didn't matter in this cruel world. He attempted to crush them, though both managed to free themselves by flying back. But suddenly, one of the blurs called out. "Wind Style: Air Platform!" Kiba yelled before he suddenly snapped back even quicker. Gaara growled as an even more giant wall blocked it again. The idiot seemed intent on making this last.

Kiba's thoughts were much more straightforward. 'I can keep this up for one minute. Using Fang Over Fang repeatedly and Air Platform for me and Akamaru is draining. If I can just hit him once, it should finish him!'

Gaara was unaware of such, and it mattered little to him. Kiba and Akamaru slammed into his defenses repeatedly. Searching for an opening and never managing to breach his sand. Truthfully, this was boring. Time to stop playing…

 Ino's POV

Ino felt terrible as she sat next to Sakura. Truthfully, she had been elated to see Naruto win incredibly convincingly. But she felt panic at meeting him face to face. She felt too ashamed of her words. She would fix things but insisted upon doing so after proving herself. Naruto was the guy who valued action over words.

At the very least, Sakura seemed to appreciate it, seemingly terrified for her teammate. Ino understood it; she feared Naruto facing Gaara, let alone doing so blindly. Kiba was making quite the showing, smashing into the sand at blinding speed and with jarring impact. Yet Ino could not help but notice Gaara had yet to be hit even after thirty seconds of this.

"Kiba's almost as fast as Lee without the weights!" Sakura remarked. "Why can't he hit this guy?!"

"He's not strong enough…" Ino said softly, predicting it would trigger Sakura's temper. Sure enough, the pinkette sent a glare at her. But Ino pushed forward anyway. "This Gaara guy seems to be on a different level."

"I know…" Sakura said sadly. "But surely Kiba can do something with this new method of attack. He's easily twice as fast." She had helped him train and would feel guilty if it amounted to nothing.

"Doesn't he seem too calm, though?" Ino posed. She saw Sakura's eyes narrow, and she focused intently on Gaara. She was going into her more analytical mode.

"He does seem calm yet tense; he might be channeling chakra? But what for…?"

Gaara's POV

Gaara sent a meager amount of chakra into the technique his control was surgical, doing so as efficiently as possible. While the dog boy had been flailing around unable to even graze the redhead. He had been grinding minerals and stone beneath the arena into sand. Best to prepare for the more entertaining bouts later and besides he felt the need for an example.

Naruto and his connection had certainly been a surprise, yet he could not say he had hated it. Yet it had only steeled his resolve. Naruto may have been one with the ability to understand his pain, but he had yet to truly experience it. He could not allow such to affect him. He would show Naruto what his attachment to humanity could cost. With any luck this dog boy was a friend of his.

"Stop your infernal squirming." Gaara said darkly finally locking eyes with Kiba.

The dog boy and his mutt attempted to hit him from behind and the front, a wise move if a simplistic one. His eyes slid to the fast moving dog boy. A hand of sand formed and surged forward with a speed it had not shown so far. It was as if a giant made of sand had decided to slap Kiba. He slammed into his dog both forming a mass of tangled limbs. Both scrambled to get to their feet both realizing the danger.

"Too little too late." Gaara responded. With a mere thought streams of sand burst through the stony ground. It flew into the air until billowing to the ground. It formed a quickly growing pile behind Gaara. Kiba and Akamaru managed to crawl to their feet but it was to little effect. Gaara had already finished his hand seals. "Sand Tsunami." Gaara muttered. The pile behind him had formed into a towering pile of sand. It surged to life at his words, parting around him and forming a hill-sized wave. Kiba and Akamaru didn't seem to wish to try to counter him as the foolish swordsman had earlier. Instead they both took off as the wave came close. They had wasted precious second being shocked, it cost them dearly.

As they both ran to opposite sides of the wave to avoid it they were shocked when hands formed from the wave and grabbed both. Throwing them back into the path of the absurd surge. Gaara watched with bored focus as the two were buried utterly in sand. The massive attack had turned one half of the arena into a desert.

Gaara chuckled as he willed the sand to raise dog boy and the mutt to the surface. Both were covered in cuts and bruises, Akamaru had transformed and seemed to be unconscious. Kiba was conscious and swearing wildly, unfortunately clear that he was barely able to move.

He locked eyes with Naruto once again. 'I will show you.' He thought, no link formed this time yet he was sure the blonde understood. Responding dully with a grim shake of his head.

Gaara formed an idea to make a point.

"Time to finish you dog boy." Gaara said with malice as he raised a hand.

He could see the defiance in the boy's eyes. He seemed defiant even now, as if he was willing die as opposed to surrender. There was fear there but the boy seemed to think his pride was more than his life. Yet his gaze landed on his dog. He shook his head sadly before yelling out:

"I surrender!"

Gaara shook his head, this was no game the boy could hope to win. If it was it wouldn't change anything. Gaara played for keeps. He slowly closed his palm to kill the annoying boy who swore angrily as the sand tightened. Before the true fun could begin Gaara felt a presence fly by him, stopping to glare at him and tap his shoulder. A silent warning, Gaara attempted to speed up his execution but the presence quickly jumped to both strands holding his victim. His hand became a ball of lightning, used with expert precision, to cut his two victims free. He easily carried both to the other side of the field while avoiding sand that attempted to teach them. Gaara felt a ping of annoyance. Who was this man to stop him? He was undoubtedly powerful, too powerful? Before he could make up his mind an equally powerful presence formed behind him. Gaara looked up to see an odd man with a bowl cut before him.

"You lack youth." Gai said darky as he glared at Gaara. "Should you ever attempt to harm one of my wonderful pupils again I'll crush you."

Gaara raised a brow but realized he was outgunned for now. Besides the dog boy was hardly rough the trouble.