A Hatred That Will Never Bloom Into Friendship

Naruto stands up, hands balled at his sides, face impassive. Blood trails from his forehead and mouth, but he still looks at Kiba with venom in his eyes. "I am going to become Hokage!" He glances up at me.

'This boy...' Orochimaru ponders.

"Come on, Naruto!" Sakura shouts.

Kankuro rolls his eyes. ""That little punk never gives up, does he?" Temari shakes her head. Gaara just stares.

Sasuke crosses his arms. 'Naruto.'

'Let's go, Kiba. Wrap this up,' Kurenai urges.

Kiba growls deep in his throat. "Come on, Akamaru."

Kiba throws more smoke grenades at Naruto and the little mini tornado show starts up again. Minutes drag on and more smoke grenades go off. By this time the whole floor was covered in a thick gray haze and Naruto nor the two Kiba's could be seen.

I lean halfway over the railing, squinting into the now dissipating smog.

"Very nice," Naria sensei says lowly. Lloyd looks back at her.

I smile in delight. Now instead of just two Kiba's, there were three!

"Whoa... who would have thought that Naruto..." Shikamaru trails off.

Kiba sniffs the air. "Nice trick with the clone of me. But I can still smell you." He punches the Kiba to his left, but surprisingly it poofs into an unconscious Akamaru. "What!"

"What happened?" Shino says bewildered.

Lloyd's eyebrows raise. "He hit Akamaru?"

"Then it's you!" Kiba turns immediately and hits the other Kiba behind him. But it also poofs into an inert Akamaru. "What! No!"

The first Akamaru gets up and it poofs again into Naruto.

Sakura gasps. "Nice going, Naruto!"

"Ha! Now it's time to reveal my super secret killer move!" Naruto proclaims boastfully, making a hand sign.

Kiba throws several shuriken in Naruto's direction. Naruto dodges each of them, and jumps into the air to miss the last one.

Kiba smirks and runs out at Naruto just as he lands back down. He body slams him and Naruto grunts and slides backwards, but stays on his feet. Kiba then appears beside him and punches him dead in his face. Naruto falls face down on the floor.

"Kiba's still faster," Lloyd says. I only glare at him.

Naruto gets back up and Kiba is already on him, claws extended. His right hand slices down Naruto's arm but at the last second Naruto grabs Kiba's wrist and throws him over his shoulder. Kiba slides back on his feet. Blood drips down Naruto's right arm as he turns to Kiba.

Kiba growls and charges. Naruto dodges and jumps past him, but Kiba was quicker. He leaps up at Naruto and swipes at him with his claws. He strikes him and Naruto falls down again.

"Naruto!" Sakura screams.

Naruto stays unmoving.

Kiba smirks. "You never had a chance against me, kid. Huh?"

Naruto shifts and slowly begins to stand up on his feet.

The Hokage smiles. 'That Naruto certainly never gives up.'

"Oh, come on! Someone needs to lose this," Kankuro complains.

Naruto looks at Kiba with hard eyes. "I absolutely will not lose to you! I will be Hokage!"

'Oh, Naruto,' Hinata thinks adoringly.

"Whoa. I'll give Naruto this... he never gives up," Shikamaru says.

Naruto smirks. "That's enough of this! Time to reveal my new technique!" He makes a hand sign.

Kiba dashes to him and comes up behind him, claws out.

Naruto then farts, full in Kiba's face. He jumps away hollering, covering his nose with his hands.

"Um..." Sasuke begins.

Everybody's faces was repulsed or utterly shocked, but I was smiling, trying hard to repress from laughing. That was Naruto for you.

While Kiba was still trying to shake the smell from his nose, Naruto finally does his hand signs. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Two Naruto's appear on either side of him, making five total in all.

They all go and surround Kiba. Naruto leaps at Kiba and punches him in the jaw. The other four clones all kick up into the air, and then Naruto deals the finishing blow.

He jumps up after Kiba and lifts his leg over his head. "Naruto Uzumaki Barrage!" He slams his foot down over the top of his head and Kiba floes down onto the floor face down. I cringe at the impact.

Naruto's clones all disappear, and he stands over an unconscious Kiba in triumph.

Hayate clears his throat. "The winner of this ninth match is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes! Yes! Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura yells happily. Sasuke smirks beside her.

Gaara glares down at Naruto.

"Whoa. Who would have thought that he could have won against Kiba?" Ino asks.

Kiba is lifted then onto a gurney by a couple medical ninja's, where he finally begins to stir.

"Man, Naruto beat Kiba..." Lloyd says, his statement sounding more like a question.

Naruto jumps around on the floor, ecstatic about his victory. He looks up at me, and throws both his fists into the air.

I smile back. "Nice going, Naruto," I call down.

"Ha! I know, right?" he retorts.

"Naruto, come on up here so the next match can begin!" Sakura says to him sternly, but with a smile.

"Oh, I knew that." Naruto smiles cheerily and runs up the steps back to his team.

"So, there are only two matches left in these preliminaries," Naria sensei states, after all the excitement over the previous battle dies down.

I nod. "Yeah. Four shinobi left. Lloyd, Gaara, Lee, and Sasuke." And one of them was going to be paired with Lloyd, obviously.

I look across the railing at Gaara. At his cold demeanor and his hard-set eyes. All I could think of when I looked at him now was how easily he imploded my arm in the Forest of Death. If Lloyd went up against him...

The panel lights up and names begin to flash in quick succession.

"Come on," Lloyd whispers.

The panel stops, and my heart skips a couple beats. My mouth also drops open of its own accord. This pairing... I couldn't believe it...

Lloyd and I glance at each other, then down to Kakashi's team.

Sasuke looks back at us.