Happy Birthday Kiba!

"Ah, nothing warms the heart like the relationship between man and his best friend. And what better way to pay tribute to that relationship than to give a jaunty birthday salute to Kiba and his partner Akamaru, who comprise Naruto's leading man-dog tag team? Naturally we have a character wallpaper for this occasion (be sure to pick it up on our wallpapers page), but feel free to also add birthday wishes of your own, and read the following tribute by our writer David F. Smith...

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Happy Birthday, Kiba Inuzuka!

And many happy returns to Akamaru while we’re at it, since Kiba’s constant canine companion doesn’t have an official birthday on the books. They’re hardly ever more than an arm’s length apart – especially when they morph into virtual twins – so it stands to reason they’ll celebrate together anyhow.

Kiba did a lot of growing up on his way into the Naruto Shippuden story arc. Not least because he somehow didn’t find his way into the spotlight for more than 30 episodes [Shippuden Episode 33: "The New Target"]. In all the rush to take off for the Sand Village at the start of the series, Naruto Uzumaki didn’t even find time to say hi to the guy.

On the other hand, Kiba did get a lot of exposure way back before the time-skip. He gave Naruto the beating of a lifetime during the Chunin Exams [Original Series Episode 44: "Akamaru Unleashed! Who’s Top Dog Now?"], and starred in a knock-down-drag-out with Sakon and Ukon as part of the team sent to rescue Sasuke Uchiha [Original Series Episode 120: "Roar and Howl! The Ultimate Tag Team"]. Still, that’s a long time to disappear off the face of the planet. Long enough for Akamaru to grow to…oh, maybe 10 or 12 times his original-series size?

Since then, of course, Kiba and Akamaru have made up for plenty of lost time. Chasing after Guren and the Three-Tailed Beast has been the perfect mission for Squad 8’s pair of sharp-nosed tracking experts [Shippuden Episode 94: "A Night of Rain"].

So here's to our boy and his dog, now that they're hopefully back on the trail with us for good. Just in case, though, we'd better make this celebration count. He might wind up spending next year's birthday fading into the background."

Happy Birthday Kiba!