Of all of the Konoha group, I would have though that Kiba and Akamaru were the weakest. Why did they have to pit those weaklings against the strongest of the sound 4 (not including Kimi)?

I have faith in Shikamaru, but I wouldn't be too shocked if he displayed his Chuunin-level thinking again and just gave up.

As for Naruto, that's pretty disapointing. He's charged up, but still fighting like he always does. He should be using something that Jiraiya taught him. It's not like he's short on chakra right now.