Commander Kitsune

Fourteen

Naruto's POV

Kiba shifts so he's down on all fours, with Akamaru on his head. He growls at me, fangs bared.

"Let's go, Akamaru! Beast mimicry!" He shouts, and with a puff of smoke, Akamaru transforms into a perfect replica of Kiba. Two mutts. What did I tell you.

"Fang over Fang!" The two of them start spinning, forming two sharp tunnels of wind, twisting around each other, heading straight for me. Narrowing my eyes slightly, I stepside the first one, and jump over the second one. Landing on the floor again, I turn to look behind me, and grimace. The two of them have turned around and are headed for me again. If only I could use my full power. But I suppose high genin level will do.

Smirking, I duck beneath the first one, and swing my leg up, applying chakra into my kick, so it collides with (the real) Kiba's stomach, stopping him mid-air. He lets out a cough, and flies toward a wall, landing with a hard thud. The wall cracks with his impact. Turning back to the other spinning column of wind which was Akamaru, I stepside him again and send a kick to his side, gaining a yelp from him. Akamaru turns back to his regular form, skidding across the arena floor.

From the corner of my eye, I see Kiba get up again, though his movements are sluggish. 

"You good, Akamaru?" He says, turning toward his mutt. Akamaru stands up weakly, barking an reply. Kiba turns back to me and lets out a "tch," taking out two smoke balls from his pocket. 

"Take this!" Kiba shouts, throwing the smoke balls on the floor. Purple gas starts to enter the air, and surrounds me. I raise my eyebrows. Is he trying to run?

Suddenly, I feel something clip my jacket sleeve. I dodge that, and duck, before a foot collides with my head. Ah. Attacking using the smoke so I can't sense him. I dodge a few more punches and kicks, as well as Akamaru's teeth, before this is boring. The life. Out of me.

Sighing, I jump up, so I'm above the smoke. Then, in a spinning motion, I land on the ground, dispersing the gas. Kiba stares at me wide-eyed, and his face turns into a grimacing frown. I curl my lips ever so slightly, and shunshin so I'm behind him.

"Boo." I whisper- then bring my foot up to his chest, slamming him into the floor, my foot on his chest. I think I cracked something. He gasps in pain, coughing out blood. Akamaru yelps in surprise, but I send him a cold glare, and he whimpers, unable to do anything.

"...Told you I would win this without my hands." I said, turning back to Kiba and sneering. I expected him to protest, or insult me, or do something- but he does the weirdest thing. He laughs.

"But I put up a good fight, didn't I?" He says, smirking. "I'll beat you one day though. Count on it." 

Still shocked, I take my foot off of him, blinking my eyes rapidly. He grunts, and tries to get up, but ends up collapsing back on the floor. He chuckles nervously.

"Oops... I can't move. That's probably a bad thing, right?" 

I hear a sigh from Hayate, and turn to him. He steps forward. "The winner... Naruto Uzumaki!" 

Frowning, everything starts to blur as I try to process what happened. I don't even realize it when Kiba gets taken away by medical ninja, or when I walk up the stairs back up to the balcony. I don't seem to hear Sasuke calling my name, his voice full of confusion and concern.

What... just happened? I beat him... I taunted him... and he just... laughed? What does that mean? What's happening to me?  I-

"Naruto." I hear again, this time more firm and clearer. Confused, I turn to Sasuke, and start to realize where I am. All the others are staring at me worriedly, and Sakura's in the middle of fighting Ino in the arena.