Kiba Inuzuka

Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚キバ, Inuzuka Kiba) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto.

The name "Inuzuka", meaning "house of dogs", belongs to a clan which was one of the most powerful in the Chiba prefecture in Japan during the Edo period. They were known as "dog warriors" and worshipped Inu ("Dog"), a deity representing the zodiac sign of the dog. The name "Inuzuka" also originates from Hakkenden, a novel about a dog samurai. "Kiba" literally means "fang".

Background

Template:Spoilers Kiba Inuzuka is a loud and boisterous Chunin member of Kurenai Yuhi's team 8, although he has a very soft and caring side that he shows to his friends. He's from Konohagakure's Inuzuka family, known for their use of Nin-dogs (忍犬, Ninken) in battle, and has an almost symbiotic relation with his nin-dog Akamaru - they are even able to communicate with each other, allowing Kiba to gain information from Akamaru's heightened senses of smell and hearing. The two also perform many jutsu together, such as Beast Human Clone so that they both look like a beastlike Kiba. Afterward they can use Double Piercing Fang to spin towards the opponent at high speed, causing great damage on impact. By gathering chakra to his nose, Kiba can also increase his own sense of smell by a thousand-fold.

Kiba and his team members, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame, are highly specialized in tracking and survival; Kiba's and Akamaru's heightened senses, combined with Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's Destruction Bug Host Technique, make their team exceptional at this. Compared to Team 7, Team 8 appears to be on very good terms with one another (although Shino proclaims his dislike for Kiba's bossy attitude during the second part of the Chunin exam and seems to think Kiba should be more serious and less goofy); Kiba watches out for Hinata in a manner reminiscent of an older brother and the three spend time together as they pursue their hobbies (Kiba training Akamaru, Hinata picking flowers, and Shino collecting bugs).

Naruto and Kiba both play the goof-balls of their groups and have to put up with the more serios members of their groups, Sasuke and Shino, who sometimes find Naruto and Kiba too goofy and irretating.

According to official databook Kiba's favorite foods are beef jerky and gristle. His least favorite foods are anything that he can't chew. His hobby is walking with Akamaru, which rarely involves simple walking. His favorite phrase is "Akamaru". Unlike the rest of his team, Kiba takes off his jacket when he sleeps and goes to bed in his undershirt. While sleeping, Kiba curls up like a sleeping dog.

Part 1

Chunin Exam Arc

During the first part of the Chunin exam, a written test, Akamaru is sitting on Kiba's head, thus being able to look at the other examinees' papers. Since Kiba is the only one in the classroom able to understand Akamaru's barking and growling, Akamaru can easily pass the answers through to Kiba.

In the third stage preliminaries, Kiba is set up against Naruto Uzumaki. Although Kiba has the upper hand for most of the battle, Naruto manages to turn the tables for a while through his use of surprisingly clever strategy, as well as some luck. While everyone is amazed by Naruto's growth, Kiba gives Akamaru a food pill, increasing his chakra. This turns Akamaru's fur red, revealing the true reason for Akamaru's name ("aka" meaning "red" in Japanese). Once again having the upper hand, Kiba and Akamaru attack Naruto. However, Naruto, with his determination, and a clever use of Transformation Technique, manages to eliminate Akamaru from the fight. While Kiba is down, Naruto attempts to debut his Uzumaki Naruto Combo, but Kiba gets up and tries to prevent this, eventually ending up behind Naruto. Naruto, having his concentration disrupted by Kiba, farts, making Kiba's own heightened sense of smell turn against him. This distraction allows Naruto to finish the Uzumaki Naruto Combo, thus finally defeating Kiba.

As Kiba is being carried to the emergency room, Hinata comes and offers him the same ointment that she gave Naruto. When Hinata comes up to him, she is worried that he knows and is mad that she was rooting for Naruto even though Kiba is on her team. It turns out that he is concerned for her. He tells her in a to forfeit if she is placed with Gaara or Neji Hyuga. When Hinata is placed with Neji, Kiba is discouraged and worried. He is brought to the emergency room soon after and doesn't see Hinata's match.

Though during the fight Kiba taunted Naruto about his inferior strength and mocked his dream to be Hokage, by defeating him Naruto earns his respect and Kiba cheers for him with Hinata in the third stage main matches. Kiba has realized that Naruto has changed and is one of the few viewers that believe that Naruto has a chance in beating Neji. When Kabuto, dressed up as an ANBU member, comes to cure Hinata who is coughing up blood, Kiba follows them and is protective of Hinata making sure Kabuto doesn't try to pull anything. When Hinata is cured, Kabuto knocks Kiba out so that he won't get involved with the invasion.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc

Kiba is a part of the team sent to retrieve the renegade Sasuke Uchiha, together with Naruto, Neji, Choji Akimichi and their leader Shikamaru Nara. He and Akamaru successfully kept Sakon and his twin brother Ukon occupied, allowing the rest to move on and continue the mission. The fight is a close one, with Sakon and Ukon having to resort to using Orochimaru's last defense to protect themselves from Kiba and Akamaru's powerful Double Wolf Fang, after performing Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf. He shows amazing intelligence during the fight which impresses even Ukon who tells Kiba, while fused into his body, that his nose and brains won't help in this situation.

However, the twins are ultimately stronger, and almost kill Akamaru, so Kiba decides to withdraw and hide with Akamaru from the brothers. They eventually find him, but Kankuro intervenes at the last second — saving Kiba from certain death and killing Sakon and Ukon - as a part of a joint effort by him, Gaara, and Temari to aid the Leaf-nin on their mission.

In the anime, we see during their fight, how Kiba met and grew up with Akamaru, which goes some way to explain how incredibly close the two are.

Filler arcs

Like Neji, Kiba is teamed up with Naruto numerous times on other missions in the anime after the failed Sasuke retrieval mission. During the episode "Kiba's Long Day," more of the connection between Kiba and Akamaru is seen while Akamaru is infected with a biological weapon. It also takes an in-depth look at Kiba's family life.

In the Treasure Hunt arc, Kiba sees the error of his and Naruto's ways of wanting leadership. When he points out that the team of Naruto, Hinata, and himself has a weakness, Naruto and Hinata think he is talking about Hinata because she has an injured leg. Kiba then tells them that Hinata is the strong part of the group since she worries about everyone and that he and Naruto are the weakness because they always argue. Kiba makes the point that they will be a better team if they work together.

The Treasure Hunt arc also hints that Kiba might have a crush on Hinata. Before Naruto and Kiba head back to the village to stop some people who are pretending to be them, Hinata thanks Naruto and Kiba. Kiba gets an awkward look on his face, and quickly pulls Naruto towards their destination with a choked-up tone in his voice.

In the Konoha 11 arc, Kiba and Shino unsuccessfully attempt to search the village for the missing blueprints, only to find that a smoke bomb set off the previous night also had a scent-neutralizing agent. Later on in the arc, Kiba is teamed up with Neji while searching the school. Kiba proves that he can easily lose his temper when he is angered by a group of children taking part in a kunai throwing practice. The reasoning for this is because if a kunai hit the bulls-eye, the academy would be blown up. While Kiba does lose his temper, it is simply because he doesn't want to hear the kids complain.

Part II

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Kiba & Akamaru in Part II

During Naruto's two-and-a-half-year absence from Konohagakure, Kiba passes the Chunin exam and is promoted to Chunin level. He has largely remained true to his loud, joking personality. He has lost his thick fur coat in exchange for normal, black ninja clothing. Akamaru also grew so much that Kiba can ride on his back. When Naruto commented on Akamaru's growth, Kiba said he hadn't noticed since he had been around him the entire time. Template:Endspoiler