Naruto: Age of Jashin

Chapter 5: The Way of Jashin

Naruto and Kiba stood across from each other down in the arena. The Inuzuka boy set his canine companion and looked at his opponent with an arrogant expression. Naruto just moved his head sideways a few times to pop some of the bones in his neck.

"This is gonna be easy Akamaru old buddy." Kiba said with a smirk.

"If I had a dime for every time I heard that expression." Naruto grumbled before trying to contact Kushina. "Hey, Kushina-san, are you ready?"

"Yes Naruto-kun." Kushina said as she began to channel her chakra into Naruto's system. The blonde could feel the demonic chakra mixing with his own. "This should be more than enough to make the Inuzuka not only eat his words, but the floor as well." Naruto grinned evilly as he got into an attack stance.

Kiba noticed this and was about to break out into laughter…until he heard a whimper from Akamaru. "What is it boy?" Kiba asked, concerned for his friend. Akamaru whimpered some more before hiding behind one of Kiba's legs. "The last time he acted like this was after we saw that Garra guy slaughter those Rain Genin. He couldn't be getting that kind of vibe off Naruto of all people…could he?" Kiba looked over at Naruto again and this time, the usually cocky Inuzuka took a moment to really get a good look at his blonde opponent. He wasn't his usual hyperactive self. That was certain. Plus, there was that scene from earlier where Naruto grabbed Sakura by her throat and pushed against the wall to consider. Plus, Kiba did manage to catch the verbal spat Naruto had with Sasuke when the proctors were calling for people to drop out of the prelims.

"Okay, so maybe he toughened up a little during the forest exam. Survival tends to bring out the viciousness in people." Kiba thought as he looked at Naruto and then back down at Akamaru. "Akamaru's never been wrong before. I'll just finish the runt quick. No sense in taking chances."

"The next match will begin. Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka." Hayate stated as he raised his hand. "Begin!" The proctor said as he brought his hand down, signaling the start of the match.

A millisecond later, Kiba performed a series of handsigns to perform one of his signature jutsu. "Fang over Fang!"

With that, Kiba spun forward like a flying drill, intent on finishing Naruto off as fast as possible. Just as the Inuzuka heir was about to hit his target, Naruto quickly dashed to the side with surprising speed, sending Kiba ricocheting of the stone wall. "Fang over Fang!" Kiba called out again as he zoomed towards Naruto again.

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Up above on the platform, the Konoha shinobi watched the battle unfold.

"Feh, I'm surprised the dobe has managed to last this long, but it's only a matter of time before Kiba catches up with him." Sasuke said, feeling a little better from the curse mark.

"I hope Kiba tears him to pieces." Sakura angrily said as she rubbed her throat.

Hinata looked over at Sakura. The memory of Naruto grabbing the pink haired girl by her throat and slamming her against the wall replayed in the Hyuga girl's mind. While the indigo haired girl knew it was wrong to think it, but part of her was happy that Naruto did it. "Maybe he's finally over Sakura? Maybe now, he'll notice me?"

"Personally, I'm kind of hoping Naruto knocks Kiba down a few pegs." Shino said to himself in a low tone. "But still, I'm sensing some kind of strange chakra coming off Naruto. Plus, he's just as boastful as Kiba, yet, he hasn't made one proclamation about being Hokage since the start of the Chunin Exam." The bug user thought to himself. "I've heard that the Chunin Exam can change people, but this is too unusual."