Kiba Inuzuka

is one of the main supporting characters of the series. He is a chūnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure's Inuzuka clan. He, along with his partner, Akamaru, are both members of Team Kurenai.

Background
At a very young age, Akamaru was given to Kiba by his mother, Tsume, and the two became very close soon afterwards. Before entering the Academy, Kiba and Akamaru played together a great deal, resulting in Tsume getting angry because they weren't training enough. During Kiba's time at the Academy, he often cut class with Akamaru, stating that he wasn't suited to sit still at a desk, or otherwise getting into trouble, along with Chōji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Naruto Uzumaki. Together, these four would skip class and go to the practice hall (not to practice). They thought that it was fun to also test the patience of Iruka Umino, their chūnin-sensei.

At some time in the past, Kiba knew his father; but because of his mother's attitude, Tsume scared him away, leaving him just with her and his sister Hana Inuzuka. Despite this, Kiba stays in a close relationship with his sister and mother, although he seems to agree that Tsume is rather frightening.

Personality
Kiba is often short-tempered and impulsive (in stark contrast to his team-mates Shino and Hinata), and can be prone to making mistakes when he becomes agitated in battle. The fact that he enjoys combat, as well as a habit of showing a joyful smile when facing a particularly strong opponent, indicates that he is willing to risk his life for a mission, and is rather bloodthirsty. He cares deeply for Akamaru, and is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect him. And, despite his rather gruff attitude, many of Kiba's actions reveal that he is very close to his older sister, Hana Inuzuka, and remains fiercely loyal to the Inuzuka clan.

Kiba often argues with Shino over what course of action the group should take, particularly when Shino advises caution. Kiba often sees himself as the group leader, and becomes offended at any of Shino's actions that he perceives as challenging his leadership. It seems that there was a contest for leadership of Team 8 during the Chūnin Exams, as Kiba said Hinata voted for him. Despite his disagreements with Shino, he considers Shino a friend, and respects his fighting capabilities. Kiba gets along well with Hinata, but tends to worry about her, urging her to be strong before the second phase of the exam, and to forfeit rather than face a dangerous opponent.

Kiba apparently likes to tease Hinata about her affections for Naruto. This usually includes telling her that Naruto is nearby, or just mentioning her reactions to him to other people, much to her embarrassment. Despite this, they have a strong friendship.

In the anime, mostly in the filler arcs, Kiba is shown to also get along well with Naruto, despite their arguments. This seems to be proven when it was shown that Kiba, Naruto, Chōji, and Shikamaru skipped classes together and play in the park. Those three seem to be some of the first true friends he made in the village.

Kiba also dreams of becoming the Hokage someday and expressed this desire both during his fight with Naruto during the Chūnin Exams as well as during the Fourth Shinobi World War, where he deduced that if he fought and gained a name for himself during the war, it would be a step in the direction of becoming the Hokage.

Appearance
Kiba's personality and fighting style is further complemented by his wild appearance as while clearly human, he has several physical traits more akin to animals. Like the rest of his clan, he has messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and nails that he can change into claws. He also has the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks.

During Part I, Kiba's attire consisted of dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood usually placed on his head, over an apparent plate of armour and fishnet undershirt seen in his fight with Sakon and Ukon, with a blue forehead protector and blue sandals.

During Part II, each piece of his outfit, including his forehead protector, switched to a black colour, with his coat being replaced by what looks like a nowadays leather form fitting black jacket, with zips over the chest and sleeves, along with black pants and sandals, also zipped, matching the jacket. He, along with the rest of the Konoha 11, dons the standard Konohagakure shinobi outfit during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Abilities
Kiba's fighting style, like all Inuzuka, revolve around collaboration techniques along with his companion Akamaru; but he's also able to make a perfect synchronisation with his team-mates as seen during his fight against Tobi where he works perfectly with Naruto. Due to his senses, as well as teaming up with Akamaru, he was the only genin to notice ANBU stationed in the Chūnin Exams arena. He also likes to use some ninja weapons such as military pills to increase his chakra and that of Akamaru's; smoke bombs to blind his enemy and make a precise attack or set a trap such as a fake Akamaru that explodes throwing dozens of kunai as seen during his fight against Ukon.

Taijutsu
In Part I, during the Chūnin Exams it was shown that Kiba has really fast movements, and his great speed makes him hard to hit in battle as seen during his fight against Naruto. In Part II, during his fight against Tobi, not only was Kiba the only one able to discover where Tobi had teleported to, he was even fast enough to surprise Tobi and attack him from behind, without anyone noticing the attack.

Enhanced Senses
As a member of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba possesses enhanced senses of hearing and smell. His most powerful sense, and weapon, is his sense of smell. By concentrating his chakra in his nose, Kiba can make his sense of smell a thousand times more sensitive than average; making it easy for him to distinguish people by their scent, as seen during his fight against Naruto. In Part II, Kiba stated that his nose was stronger than any ninja hound, a feat that impressed Kakashi who stated that the Inuzuka must be proud of him. This skill makes him vital in search missions because he is the one who tracks and also makes the possibility to avoid any trap or enemy.

But Kiba also replied to Hinata that, despite his nose being a great advantage, his powerful sense of smell was like a double-edged sword, rendering him vulnerable to strong odours. For example, during his fight against Naruto in the preliminary round of the Chūnin Exams, Naruto farted in Kiba's face — a smell that was greatly enhanced due to Kiba's sensitive nose. During his Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf, he is able to follow his enemy with his sense of smell after Akamaru uses Dynamic Marking.

Inuzuka Clan Abilities
He is proficient in several canine-based techniques. His battle style is usually a combination of taijutsu enhanced by his special clan techniques. He fights and attacks with the ferocity of a beast, utilising his sharp claws and other beast-like abilities that he gains from his Four Legs Technique. Despite his pride as an individual fighter, he usually performs tag-team tactics with Akamaru. Together, they can attack at high speed with excellent coordination, as Kiba can turn Akamaru into an identical clone of himself. In dire circumstances, they are able to transform together into a giant two-headed wolf, where they can use their Fang Wolf Fang, which is almost impossible to avoid, let alone block.

According to the third Naruto databook, Kiba learns how to use the between Part I and Part II. Other than giving him the power to protect someone he cares about, it is unknown what it does or even if it is a weapon or a technique.

Chūnin Exam Arc
During the first phase of the Chūnin Exams, Kiba used Akamaru to spy on the other examinees' tests and tell him the answers. During the second phase of the exam, while Team 8 easily took an Earth scroll from a rival team, Kiba wished to acquire yet another to narrow the competition, despite Shino and Hinata's reservations. While investigating a confrontation between two teams, they witnessed Gaara killing three Rain Genin, with Akamaru being traumatised by the amount of power he sensed from Gaara.

Kiba was matched against Naruto in the seventh match of the preliminaries. Kiba thought that he would easily win, since Naruto had been the worst student at the academy. Naruto then became extremely annoyed at Kiba's low opinion of him. While Kiba initially had an advantage, due to his superior speed and strengthening Akamaru with a Military Rations Pill, Naruto tricked him into knocking Akamaru unconscious, then, after farting in Kiba's face (overwhelming his sense of smell and disorienting him), defeated him with the first use of Uzumaki Naruto Combo. Kiba regained consciousness on the stretcher, and urged Hinata to forfeit if she was matched against Gaara or Neji Hyūga.

A month later, at the finals, Kiba watched the match between Naruto and Neji with Hinata. He appeared to have gained respect for Naruto at this point, as, when he heard Izumo and Kotetsu doubting Naruto's abilities to win, Kiba remembered how he had thought the same thing during his own match with Naruto, and had ended up losing. He also loudly cheered for Naruto during the match. After Kabuto healed Hinata when she began coughing up blood, he rendered Kiba unconscious (in the anime, he was about to recognise him), leaving him unable to assist the Konoha ninja during the invasion.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
Kiba can be seen at the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, mourning his death.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
As a request from Shikamaru, Kiba was the only member from his team to participate in the task of stopping Sasuke Uchiha from defecting from Konoha. Kiba was lined in front of the group due to the fact that he knows most of the Land of Fire's terrain and with his sense of smell, he could not only track Sasuke's scent, he could also detect the enemies' scent to avoid any traps in the way. Kiba smelled the Sound Four and proceeded to attack, but they were trapped by Jirōbō. After escaping, Neji and Chōji stayed behind fighting their corresponding opponent. Kiba and the others continued their pursuing for Sasuke, and soon they caught up with Sakon and Tayuya and engaged them in battle. After Naruto seized the container holding Sasuke, Akamaru set off a bunch of exploding tags, but one with the result of knocking Kiba along with Sakon and Ukon off a cliff. Kiba and Akamaru started fighting them, but when Sakon and Ukon pushed their cursed seal into level two, their power increased in such a huge way leaving Kiba and Akamaru with the only option to use their new technique, Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf. Despite using this technique and their Fang Wolf Fang, the brothers were able to block their attack with Summoning: Rashōmon.

With the wolf transformation dispersed, Akamaru was attacked and left heavily injured along with Sakon for the meantime. Ukon merged himself with Kiba's body thanks to his special technique. Not having any options, Kiba stabbed himself in the stomach, causing him and Ukon to start coughing up blood. Kiba found Akamaru and retreated, hoping to escape the brothers. Kiba smelled three other individuals, which were later shown to belong to the Sand Siblings. Kiba and Akamaru were saved by Kankurō, who trapped and killed the brothers with his puppets. Kiba was wounded with severe, but not life-threatening, lacerations, but Akamaru had suffered much harsher damage; tendons in all four of his legs had been ripped and his sister, Hana Inuzuka, told him that they wouldn't be able to take walks for a while. After Akamaru recovered, Kiba swore to never let anything happen to him again.

Pre-Shippūden Filler Arcs
Kiba made a number of appearances in the anime's filler arcs, often being sent on missions with Hinata and Naruto. He typically fought with Naruto over who should lead the team. In episode 158, the Academy students were divided into teams of three and were assigned to a genin who would lead them on a mission against the other teams. Kiba was assigned to lead a team of three Academy students: Taiga, Rai and Yamano. His time with them was not covered much, except that he was doing better than Naruto.

During the Search for the Bikōchū Arc, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Naruto were sent on a mission to find a bikōchū beetle which could be used to track down Sasuke Uchiha. They went to the forest where the bikōchū was, but there were some ninja of the Kamizuru clan watching them who wanted the insect too. After Hinata was able to locate and capture the insect, she was taken prisoner by the Kamizuru clansmen, to be used as an exchange for the bikōchū. Kiba and the others went to rescue her, but tried to trick the Kamizuru into giving them Hinata before they gave up the bikōchū. They were tricked too, being attacked by the Kamizuru when they met and subsequently trapped in a cave. Hinata was able to rescue them, but the mission failed when Naruto farted and the smell made the beetle attracted to Naruto's behind.

During the Bounty Hunter Arc, Kiba, Hinata and Naruto were assigned the easy task of capturing a crook. In searching for information about the crook, they met Sazanami, who was pursuing the thief too. Sazanami told them that the thief, Gosunkugi, was a dangerous killer, and also a skilled ninja. Sazanami said that he didn't want any competition, and rendered them all unconscious. When he was later wounded fighting Gosunkugi, they took him to safety, in turn discovering that he was also a wanted criminal.

The bounty hunter revealed that he had been framed for murdering a family, and that the thief that he and Kiba's group were hunting was the culprit. Kiba, Naruto and Hinata located the thief in a nearby city, in the process of attempting to steal a valuable bell. Sazanami arrived, and the four began fighting with the allies of Gosunkugi, which actually was just a trap to capture them while the thief stole the bell. Sazanami captured the thief, but he was suddenly captured by another hunter, only for Sazanami to be proven innocent in the end. Despite this, Kiba's group failed the mission, because they did not capture the thief.

During the Impostor Arc, Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata were once again teamed together, this time to find a treasure chest. They were given a mission to test their teamwork, and told they would return to the Academy if they failed this mission like they had their previous ones. They were ambushed during the mission, and were trapped by three people who could copy their identities, smells, and thoughts. Working together, the group escaped from a cave-in with the treasure, but discovered that Hinata had injured her leg. After realising that Naruto and Kiba argued too often while Hinata worried for the others too much, they headed into town to stop their copies. When they arrived at Konoha, Kiba defeated his and Hinata's copies, but the one of Naruto was still on the run and causing a lot of trouble. The three genin learned that the mission was a test to see if they could work together as a team, and that they passed it with honours.

Kiba's relationship with Akamaru was highlighted in the Kiba's Long Day episode. After Akamaru was infected with a biological weapon that caused him to go berserk, Kiba believed that Naruto was trying to find and kill Akamaru, and attempted to take Akamaru out of Konoha. Kiba eventually stopped resisting when he learned of Naruto and Hana's true intentions, but was paralysed by the prospect that their plan might still require them to kill Akamaru. He eventually regained his senses and appealed to Akamaru, and when Akamaru lunged, Kiba was able to administer the antidote, Kiba ended up severely injured. Kiba later noted that Akamaru had tried his best to miss anything vital and avoid killing Kiba.

Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba continued to be teamed together, proving successful in their missions to a haunted castle, escorting a man named Shin'emon, and providing back-up for Kurenai. In the last episode of the filler arcs, when some ninja tried to steal Gaara's power, Kiba and the rest of the Konoha 11 (minus Tenten who was away on another mission at the time) were sent to help the Sand ninja. Kiba and Chōji went to help Kankurō, in thanks for helping in the fight with Sakon and Ukon. Kiba defeated the enemy, and then they went to Gaara's aid.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
When Naruto returned to Konoha after rescuing Gaara, Kiba appeared riding on a much larger Akamaru, but said he hadn't noticed Akamaru's growth, due to spending so much time with him. When Naruto asked Kiba to go on a mission with him, Kiba was forced to turn him down due to a mission he and his team had already been assigned.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
In the anime, he can be seen at Asuma's funeral mourning his death.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Later, Kakashi formed the Eight Man Squad, which Team Kurenai then became a part of, in the hunt for Itachi Uchiha. When the mission was sidetracked, due to them being close to Sasuke's trail, Kiba managed to pick up on Sasuke's scent after Kakashi's ninken proved unable to. On the way, however, they encountered Tobi of Akatsuki, and proceeded to do battle with him. After Shino's attack missed, Kiba was the only one able to sense him, and tried to hit him, only to miss too (embarrassingly, Tobi, just stepped to the side to avoid him). They fought him together, but no-one was able to land a single blow.

Before Tobi disappeared with Zetsu, Kiba and the others noticed Tobi's Sharingan for their shock. They start chasing both of them, but as soon as they arrived, Sasuke was already collected by them. Kiba told Naruto that there still was a little trace of Sasuke's scent; however it was already too late. Because of this, the mission ended in a failure.

Invasion of Pain Arc
During the assault, and the chaos created by Pain, Kiba was together with his team-mates, watching the disaster. Kiba then joined his mother in fighting the Preta Path, because of the advantage he had on it thanks to his proficient taijutsu. The Preta Path flees. In the anime, before the Preta Path escapes, Kiba and Akamaru used the Dynamic Marking so that they could track him. Before they leave, Kiba worries about the injured medical-nin but as Katsuyu tells him she will take care of them; Tsume and Kiba then continue chasing the path. Just as it was about to be caught, it was summoned away by the Animal Path, so that Pain could use Shinra Tensei. Kiba, his mother, and their dogs were caught in the Shinra Tensei that destroyed the village. He appeared to have suffered significant injuries because of a giant column that is about to fall down on him; his mother told him to hang in there until help arrived but he's able to get it off and pushing it away with his legs. He was later seen again with Katsuyu, watching the battle of Naruto against Pain, noting that the Konoha ninja should just put their faith in Naruto. Kiba was next seen along with all his friends, thanking and celebrating Naruto's victory.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Afterwards, he was seen rushing to Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, informing them that Tsunade had been dismissed as Hokage, and that Danzō was now the acting Sixth Hokage. He also informed them that Danzō had given permission for Sasuke to be disposed of as a missing-nin. Kiba is then seen along with all his friends in a reunion; but because of Ino's crying over Sasuke's status as an international criminal, Kiba gets upset and tells her to stop. When Tenten defends Ino, he stands his ground and states that crying will change nothing to the established facts.

As a request from Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru accompany her along with Sai and Rock Lee to the Land of Iron in order to search for Naruto and confront him. He comments to Lee that compared to Ino, Sakura looked so determined, but when they do catch up with Naruto, it will all get awkward when Sakura talks to him. Kiba also states that because this is a top-secret mission, it is all on him to not only track Naruto, but also to make sure they are not being followed by Root agents or other enemies. Kiba and the others immediately arrive in the Land of Iron and find Naruto for Sakura to speak with him. Kiba stays present in Sakura and Naruto's talking but as promised to her, he or neither their friends, would interfere. However, he became increasingly irritated by what Sakura was saying to Naruto, knowing full well that she was not telling Naruto the truth in their talk and that she lied about telling Naruto their plans about Sasuke, yet still did not speak against it.

Kiba questioned Naruto about why Sasuke was with Akatsuki if Itachi already died; but received no answer. He then quietly asked Sakura if they should tell Naruto the truth, but Sakura stomped his foot and announced they're returning home. Immediately after, Sakura asked Kiba for help with a new job; tracking Sasuke and going after him. However, he became angry that Sakura had been lying to Naruto despite her protests. He then proclaimed that she takes Naruto far too lightly before finding Sasuke and Tobi and telling Sakura their position. Kiba then became stunned at Sakura and Sai's betrayal as Sakura prepared to knock them out to fight Sasuke herself. Annoyed he stepped back with Lee to allow the two of them to fight it out as Sai revealed Kakashi's orders for them to stop. Refusing to listen, Kiba attacked Sai with Lee, yet were quickly restrained by Sai's ink snakes. But before Kiba could free himself, they all got knocked out when Sakura took advantage of the situation to unleash powerful smoke bombs so that she could face Sasuke alone. Kiba and the others were soon found by Kakashi. Kiba, still barely conscious, told Kakashi which way Sakura went. Kakashi then moved the young ninja to a safer location before pursuing Sakura.

Soon after being awakened, Kiba reproached how Sakura and Sai's actions enabled Sasuke to escape again. Opting to return to their village, they met up with the rest of Konoha 11. Naruto then explained to them what happened at the summit. Acknowledging how Naruto practically became a legend after defeating Pain, Kiba believed Naruto let Sasuke slip away even though Naruto continuously denied the claim. Naruto also reinstated, much to Konoha 11's discontent, that he was the only one allowed to fight Sasuke.

Shinobi World War Arc
Kiba, alongside Hana, Shino and Ino, is placed in the Fifth Division to combat in the Fourth Shinobi World War, joking that if he does a great job, he might become Hokage. He is reprimanded by his sister who tells him that he should not take war so lightly.

Kiba leaves with the rest of his division, but soon enough, Mifune sends him, along with other ninja, to backup Kitsuchi's division. As the Zetsu are taken from the earth, Kiba rushes against them along with his sister, using his Fang Passing Fang. After the first day of fighting, Kiba is seen alive with Akamaru, along with Shino, Hinata, and Neji.

After night falls, Kiba along with Neji acts as a lookout for enemy attacks, scouting the area with his Byakugan. However, Neji collapses due to exhaustion. Kiba tells him that he should visit the medic compound to get treatment and that he would take over the watch. Neji however refuses to go claiming that he was fine. Kiba tells him that killing himself wouldn't impress anyone to which Neji retorts again telling him to shut up, but faces Akamaru when saying this. Kiba then tells him that he isn't even capable of differentiating him from a dog.

The next morning, Kiba and the other shinobi resume fighting the White Zetsu Army clones amidst the confusion due to the latter's transformation and infiltration into their ranks. Calling out to Neji he tells him that Hinata was in trouble as an Iwa-nin bore down on her. Moving to help her, he calls out to Neji to follow him. He later spots Naruto on the battlefield and tells Neji that Naruto smelled different than before hence why he didn't notice him. He then chastises Neji for asking him that question when he is the one with the wide field of vision. Naruto then mobilises with them to finish off the rest of White Zetsu clones. After being informed by Inoichi from HQ that Naruto and B were fighting the "masked Madara", Kiba and the rest of the Konoha 11 rush to his aid. As he runs, he states that he had marked Naruto as a rival a long time ago and that he should handle things there until he arrived.

Naruto: Shippūden the Movie
Kiba made a small cameo before Team 7 was being called up, Team 8, except Shino, were seen running through the streets.

Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire
Kiba was seen with Konoha 11 eating barbecue to celebrate Naruto and Sai's recovery. When Hiruko announced a fourth ninja war will occur, he was seen with Konoha 11 except Naruto assigned by Tsunade to secure the village. After Naruto and Sakura left the village to go after Kakashi, Kiba and the gang were sent to stop them. While pursuing them, Kiba and his team were soon attacked by Ni and her beast. Kiba uses his Fang Passing Fang to break the door and allow Naruto and Sakura to go and continue rescuing Kakashi since he believed in their cause. Soon after, Kiba starts fighting against Ni in her new beast form, being a distraction as Shino prepared his trap.

After San summons and fuses himself with her and Ichi, Kiba along with the Konoha 11 starts fighting the new powerful beast. Kiba again uses his Fang Passing Fang and pierces right through the beast's wings, making it unable to fly. Kiba made his last appearance along with the rest of Konoha 11, overhearing Kakashi and Naruto's weird conversation and wondering about Kakashi's preferences.

Trivia

 * Kiba was ranked as 15th most popular character in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He was 12th in the fifth poll and 17th in the fourth.
 * According to Kiba, his mother scared his father away.
 * Kiba means "fang", whilst Inu means "dog" and zuka means "a small hill".
 * In the seventh Naruto Shippūden opening, Kiba is shown fighting the Deva Path along with Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten, though in the manga, he fights against the Preta Path.
 * His name, Kiba Inuzuka, is based on the samurai Inuzuka of Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, a novel about a dog samurai.
 * Kiba was exposed to Naruto's farting three times. First during the Chūnin Exams, then on the mission to find the bikōchū beetle, and third during the Three-Tails Arc in Part II.
 * Kiba shares the same birthday as Akamaru which is on the start of which is the Japanese star festival.
 * According to the databook:
 * Kiba's hobby is to take walks with Akamaru. Kiba also eats with Akamaru, and personally prepares Akamaru's food. He also bathes with Akamaru, and lets Akamaru sleep in his bed with him, and while on missions, Kiba used to let Akamaru sleep in his sleeping bag - these days Kiba will just huddle up with Akamaru and share a blanket with him.
 * Kiba wishes for a rematch with Naruto Uzumaki.
 * Kiba's favourite foods are beef steak jerky, and cartilage, whilst his least favourite foods are anything that’s not chewy.
 * Kiba has completed 50 official missions in total: 21 D-rank, 19 C-rank, 8 B-rank, 2 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Kiba's favourite word is.

Quotes

 * (To Akamaru) "Yahoo! Akamaru, let's do this!"
 * (To Naruto) "You? Hokage? You can't even beat me! No-one's deluded enough to think that you have what it takes to become the next Hokage, not even you! Tell you what, though… I'll become Hokage in your place!"
 * (To Ukon) "Let's die together."
 * (To Akamaru) "Akamaru… you fought well. We were able to delay them for quite a while because of you. We even managed to wound them. It's all-right now, I'll protect you."
 * "Heh, I don't know what's going on, but I'm always up for getting wild."
 * (To Tobi) "Don't think you can run away from my nose."
 * (About the war) "If I kick enough asses I might even end up Hokage!"