'Thinking'
'Kyuubi_talking'
"Talking"
/Naruto Talking to Kyuubi/

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. The plot idea is my own and the OC's as well.

Chapter 26

Naruto's POV

Cries of fear came from both sides as well as shouts of confusion. "It's the Nine-tails!" "How is she here? How was she summoned?" "Run! She's going to kill us like she did our parents and friends!" "Which side is she on?" "Some get the Elders!" And even more cries came out. Some even about himself. "I thought he was dead!" "Maybe he's a ghost coming back for revenge!" "It's Naruto!" "He's alive!" "What're we going to do?"

Naruto didn't pay them any attention. He did a quick survey of the battle grounds and noticed that some of the village was in rubble. There were many dead bodies littering the ground and pools of blood seeping out of them, staining the dusty streets a dark red. Naruto could tell that the bodies were from both sides and felt a twinge of sorrow to see the lives of the young were the majority that scattered the area. He quickly adverted his gaze and found a lot of his old comrades watching him with looks of disbelief, but those looks were also full of excitement.

Down below, he caught sight of a certain blonde hair hokage shaking her head and another certain red-head Kazekage (even from here) rolling his eyes.

"Well, well, well," a voice cut through Naruto's search and brought his eyes to the one speaking. "Naruto Uzumaki has finally joined the party. And even brought his sister with him." Orochimaru was standing on the Leaf's gate, acting like he had been there the whole time. He didn't even seem to show interest that his summon was just hurled hundreds of feet away.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he felt his sister rise from her sitting position. She clung to his side but stood her ground. And just to give her a little more courage, Naruto uncrossed his arms and laid a hand upon her shoulder.

"You ready?" He whispered to her, barely moving his mouth.

Sana barely nodded her head.

"And if you get into trouble or a tight spot, find me." Naruto added.

She nodded once again.

"Well, let's get this show on the road." Out loud, he yelled to the enemies on the battle ground, "I'm giving you one minute to get your ass out of this village and get away as fast as you can before you become a tailed-beast's meal." And just to add effect, Kyuubi lightly growled, though her eyes remained on her own opponent who was straightening up and glaring daggers at her.

No one moved inside the village, let alone anywhere else. Naruto only shrugged his shoulders, muttering how it was their lost, before he disappeared from his perch and reappeared in the air a couple of yards away. His hands were crossed in the form of a familiar hand sign and he yelled out, "Time to even the odds! Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds upon hundreds of Naruto's suddenly appeared all over the area of the sky. Orange, black and a whisk of blonde was all the ninja's saw before the battle resumed.

XxxxX

Normal POV

With the hundreds of newly added Naruto's coming to the Leaf's rescue, the odds were indeed becoming even. Instead of the numbers being four or five to one, it was more like one on one. More deaths started to become the enemies as the younger ninja were no longer being ambushed. Most Leaf shinobi were relieved that they had a helping hand while some were feeling a little awkward and doubtful.

Over in a wide open field where many battles was, many familiar faces were there fighting. The clones appeared and began helping. As the fights continued, a light conversation started.

"Naruto! I thought you were dead!" Rock Lee exclaimed as he punched his own opponent hard in the gut and then bringing his knee up in a flash, kneeing him in the chin. He heard a loud pop as the jaw bone snapped out of place.

The clone grinned as he himself battled an enemy ninja, using tijutsu. Fists went flying as well as blood. "So did everyone else in the village," The Naruto clone chuckled.

Fighting next to them was Kiba; his trusted companion Akamaru somewhere else in the mass of people. "But why?" He asked. He raked his long nails in someone's face, sending them falling to the ground clutching their heavily bleeding face.

"So the Leaf village didn't have to worry about me anymore." He explained. "So I could live my life not having to worry about coming into the Fire County and being ambushed all the time or attacked." His opponent went down, knock unconscious with a rather large bruise on the back of his neck. The clone went to his next opponent, relieving Tenten of watching her back. He threw a kunai at an enemy running in his direction and the kunai landed in his thigh. Yet, the nin continued coming, hardly slowing his pace down.

"I'm glad you didn't die and all, but why didn't you tell any of us?" Tenten asked and punched her opponent. Her opponent gladly punched back and nicked her in the cheek with a surprised weapon in hand. But Tenten didn't seem to notice or care as she brought out a Shuriken and swung it at the enemy. He went down with a deep gash in his stomach and died before he touched the ground.

From his pouch, Naruto brought out a few senbon he acquired just recently and aimed them at the man getting closer and closer. He threw them and as quickly as he had thrown them, brought out a new weapon before charging the man head on. The needles hit and embedded themselves at the enemy with gusto and from the force of the attack, sent him flying back. As gravity began to bring him down, Naruto threw his weapon of choice at the moment –a shuriken- at the man, sending if flying for the final kill.

"So you wouldn't come looking for me." He answered. Naruto looked around after his kill and noticed the area was beginning to clear up a bit. Some of his old comrades were finishing up with their fight before they stopped and watched him. "That was supposed to be my final goodbye. If you knew I wasn't dead, there would be suspicion among certain ninja here and they would have some way or another find out the truth." He shrugged.

Shino, who had been quietly in combat but finished, walked over at the same time as everyone else did. He came to a stop in front of the Naruto clone and did something no one saw coming. He punched the clone straight in the face. "That's for lying to us." He said calmly.

Naruto grinned and brushed the side of his face with his hand. He smirked and glanced at all of his old comrades that were here. "I guess I deserve that."

Kiba looked as though he wanted to do the same thing but ended up saying, "After this is all over, we're going out for a drink. And you're coming whether you want to or not."

"But-,"

"And we'll make sure your sister just drinks some juice or something." Tenten added, remembering he now had a sister, most likely not of age yet. She grinned at him.

Naruto could all but roll his eyes and agree. It was the least he could do for them.

"Alright. I guess I'll come."

"Oh, you are coming alright!" Lee fist pumped the air in front of him. "You don't have much of a choice!"

XxxxX

Two hours later…

The battle was still raging. The numbers were still pretty even and there were only a few deaths coming from the Leaf. More and more bodies strewn the ground coming from the other side and their blood stained the dusty floor. Of the hundreds of Naruto's that had been summoned, only a few 'died' but there was always more to be replaced. The clones were everywhere, aiding almost everyone whether they needed the help or not. Quite few Naruto's were helping to protect the hospital as well as helping the injured with simple wounds.

Out of the village but close to the gates, a single Naruto was engaged with a group of the enemies. He was hardly panting and had barely any wounds littering his body. His expression was calm as he dodged flying weapons and limb and occasionally threw in punches of his own. His opponents didn't know it, but he was merely teasing them, having them think they had cornered him. When really, Naruto was barely paying them any attention as kept track of what was going on throughout the whole village, using his clones to 'see' everything.

The numbers in the group started to die down. Naruto kicked one man in the chest, sending him flying and colliding with someone else. The two people flew through the air where they ended up against a building, bringing it down on top of them. No movement was made after that.

"I'll kill you for doing that!" A woman shrieked, whipping her head from the scene to the blonde man.

Naruto rolled his eyes as his focus was directed at her. "Sure you will." He muttered under his breath. He waited maybe a second and the woman who had threatened him came at him. She swung her fists with a knife sticking out of one end in which he easily dodged it and as soon as he did, she caught herself and immediately used the fall as a spin to kick her leg out. Naruto caught her leg in one hand while the other disappeared and he brought it down upon the back of her neck. Her body immediately slumped downward, unconscious from the blow. Naruto gently helped her to the ground before he switched his attention to the battle field once again.

Those he had been fighting just minutes before were laying either unconscious or dead on the ground. Only a few of their chests rose and fell, presenting their beating hearts still alive and healthy. He turned his gaze away from them and quickly stepped out of the area. But as soon as he left the circle, a loud explosion to his right was animated. He froze and his gaze shot to find a big cloud of dust in the air. Next to it was Kyuubi, her jaw wrapped around Manda's middle. The snake was on the ground, having been thrown by the overly big fox and he let out a horrible anger-filled hiss before he surged upwards with lightning speed and attacked the fox. Kyuubi released her hold and backed a few yards (since feet to her would be like inches to humans) away to be able to swat the oncoming snake with her paws.

Knowing his summon was capable of her own battles, Naruto lost focus on the two and was immediately on edge. He back flipped three paces away with a kunai was already in his hands as he faced the spot where he was just occupying. A second later, an exploding tag landed on the ground and blew up.

With narrow eyes, Naruto glanced up and found a figure casually walking towards him with a sadistic grin on his face. He stood out from anybody Naruto had ever faced and yet, there was no mistaking that face from anywhere. Covering one side of his face were ugly scars from previous battles. One of them was as long as his face, starting way up in his hair line and going all the way down to the end of his jaw. It was as white as snow, healed nicely after it had been damaged. The others were smaller and pinker, showing with age. The other side of his face was almost perfect, flawless smooth skin, perfect smile and his hair was all there.

"Well, well, well, so we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki." The man said. In one hand, dragging against the ground, was the biggest hammer in history. It must have weighed a good ton from the amount of metal used to create it. The handle of the hammer was maybe two yards long and about as thick as the circumference of a big ramen bowl at Ramen Ichiraku; about seven inches in diameter. There was a worn down band on the handle where you held the weapon. The metal, taking the shape of a normal hammer except for the back where it was just a point instead of the claw, was gleaming with a crimson red and had a slow and steady stream coming down off of it. The man looked as big and dangerous as the weapon he dragged behind him. He was shirtless, showing off his huge, well-built chest that was littered with even more scars than his face. Battle scars. His eight pack showed and gleamed with a thin layer of sweat from the battle still raging. The pants he wore had many tears and cuts in them, blood soaking the edges of them.

Naruto straighten up but his grip on the weapons tightened. He glared at the man who calmly continued to walk towards him. The noise the hammer was making as it was dragged behind its owner was drowned out but the sound of war. But Naruto didn't need to actually hear the noise as he could remember it clearly from when he fought against it many years ago.

"So we have," Naruto commented. He watched as his new opponent came to a stop a couple of yards away from him. He dropped his weapons a little to the side and leaned against it, looking as if he was about to have a calm and relaxing conversation. His arms casually crossed at his chest and besides his grin, his eyes bore the hint of boredom.

"You don't look surprised to see me, Blondie." The man said and mocked a little hurt in his voice. "After all this time, I thought you'd be excited to see me."

Naruto said nothing. To be honest, he was a little surprised to see him, especially now of all days. The last time he had seen this man, he was half dead and running for his life, making lifeless threats that sounded desperate even to children's ears.

Flashback!

"Why… why did you have to kill them?" An exhausted Naruto asked, crouching on the ground with his life force slowly seeping out of him. "You told me yourself that you'd do anything to protect them that they were your family. Why did you kill them?"

The man just grinned as he leaned against his hammer with ease. Unlike his partner, he was almost in perfect condition save a few gashes on his arms and legs. He was hardly panting and although he had beads of sweat slide down his face, no one would have imagined he had been in a fight.

"I only told you that so you wouldn't suspect me." The man said. "I was paid highly to kill these people."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Two weeks ago, he was dispatched on a solo mission from the Sand to go and protect a family that was being targeted by an assassin. The mission was to go for as long as it needed and since most of the Sand shinobi had other missions to attend and couldn't be out for weeks on end if that was what it came down to, Naruto decided to take the mission. Gaara had signed the agreement papers and gave him all of the information he needed. And soon after that, he left and headed out to the Land of Glory. The information provided him that he was to protect a family of three; mother, daughter and son, and keep them from anything suspicious. It had been said that a village council from a few villages away had wanted the family dead because the father of the three had messed that village's government up with lies. No one knew why he had done it, but it had caused a huge commotion that the council had killed the man and wanted his family slaughtered. Because the council were targeting the innocent, and decided to send a highly trained assassin to get rid of the family, the ninja's got involved. Not to mention the assassin was a wanted man, having slaughtered many villages before.

The information also addressed that he would be meeting up with another man to help protect the family. The only description of the man it gave was he wielded a humongous hammer. Naruto was to meet up with him at a certain place and time and then both were to make their way to the village.

It took two days from the Sand to the meeting place where his partner was already waiting for him. He had been leaning against a tree, shaded from the blazing sun. Besides him, laying flat on the ground was the named weapon from his information packet. After exchanging a polite greeting and names –his name is Keith-, the two set off, only making conversation when needed.

They arrived at their destination within three days and immediately sought out the family. In the two weeks of guarding them, Naruto became used to his partner Keith and trusted him. They would often train together and talk about anything all the while keeping the family safe. And after a couple of days upon their first arrival, they grew close to the family and became friends. The mother treated the two with utmost respect and would always tend to whatever they needed and the kids –the daughter seventeen and the son eleven- admired them. They all got along fairly nicely.

At the end of the first week having been there, they were attacked by a group of men aiming to kill the family and Keith had announced his promise then that he would keep the family safe no matter what. From how Naruto took to know him, for him to say such words meant a lot. He was among one of the few who kept their promises no matter what. The men had been disposed of but Naruto knew they weren't the ones his report had been talking about.

The longer he spent time with the family and Keith, the more he came to trusting all of them. Besides the Sand village, Keith had been one of the few people he had become to trust again after his banishment which had only been fourteen months ago. But, he was a fool to completely trust his so called partner. At the end of two weeks, they were all attacked once again but this time, the group that attacked them had many numbers. Over thirty well trained men. When Naruto and Keith went out to intercept them in battle, Keith switched sides, betraying the family he had sworn to protect and the man he had used. Keith and his men battled with Naruto but there were simply too many and Naruto was at a loss. Keith had dragged the family out of their shelter and murdered them in front of the blonde, all the while wearing a cruel grin.

"Did you really believe," Keith asked, snapping Naruto back to the present, "I would become friends with the likes of you?" He walked forward and aimed a kick into the blonde's midsection, watching as he curled up on his side. "Become friends with a 'demon'?" He spat the word like it tasted awful.

Naruto remained silent, waiting for the right opportunity to spring into action. He wished ever so badly that he could make his revenge on Keith and everyone else. Why would you murder the innocent?

"You trust too easily," Keith stated and kicked out with his foot again, this time managing to put more force into it and having Naruto skid a few feet. "You make friends with people way too easily. You need to learn that not everyone can be trusted."

"Y-you'll be sorry you… you did this." Naruto managed to say. Blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth and he struggled to sit up. He spat out a mouthful of his own blood to the side and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Keith threw his head back and had the nerve to let out a booming laugh. At the sound of his laughing, his men stopped what they were doing –some keeping watch while the rest (that were still alive; Naruto didn't go down without a fight) gathered dry weeds and wood and kerosene and throwing it in the house along with the three dead bodies- and began to laugh as well.

With their attention a little distracted, Naruto took the opportunity to stand up on his feet. Right then and there, he was wishing for Kyuubi's healing ability. But he had found out that before Keith had switched sides, he had somehow managed to slip a chakra suppressor into his tea. So during the battle, Naruto couldn't use any of his chakra and for some reason, couldn't make conversation with his tailed-beast.

Naruto blinked sweat out of his eyes and ignored the pounding sensation in his head.

"You think that's funny?" Naruto demanded in a quiet voice.

Somehow, Keith had heard him and stopped laughing and glanced at him. Though he wasn't laughing anymore, there was clear amusement in his eyes. "Actually, I kind of do." Around him, his men quieted down and went back to what they were doing. Keith watched his supposed defeated opponent straighten up. He wouldn't admit it, but he was a little surprised to see that Naruto could stand, much less have a look of death upon him.

Naruto shook his head and a small smile formed on his face. But his smile held no amusement or happiness. "I'll show you what's funny and then we'll see whose laughing last." He said.

Keith frowned and only had enough time to bring his arm up to his face before Naruto was there, kicking him in the face with his foot. The man went flying from the force and ended up snapping trees in half that were in his path. At least a good fifteen trees went down as his velocity finally slowed.

Naruto didn't get to stay and watch to see if his opponent recovered or not. As soon as their leader went flying, his lackys stopped what they were doing and charged at the blonde. This time, Naruto didn't hold back. He attacked and dodged and fought. The enemies didn't know what hit them, their vision darkened by their confusion. Where had this monstrous strength and energy come from? Moments before he was lying on the ground, exhausted and so beat up he could barely move.

Without even realizing it, the numbers started to dwindle. He started off with more than thirty and he was now at twenty. Seventeen. Thirteen. Ten. Seven. Two. And then there were no more.

Panting rather hard, Naruto ignored the blood running down his face and his aching muscles. Exhaustion was setting in but he blocked it out, knowing that this battle was not done yet. He looked around for the last person and found him leaning against a tree, his arms crossed loosely at his chest, watching him. Blood was running down the side of his face as well and there were many cuts all over him. He wasn't smiling, nor was he frowning. But simply watched the blonde ninja.

No words were said between the two. They watched each other for another minute before the fighting began.

Naruto ran at Keith the same time Keith ran at Naruto. Both of them drew weapons, a kunai and a dagger, and they clashed against each other. In a battle of strength, Keith managed to shove Naruto back and started to slash out with his weapon. Naruto dodged and remained in defense for a couple of seconds, having no opens to switch his position.

"You failed at protecting these people," Keith spat, swinging his dagger and managing to open a new wound on Naruto's arm. Blood spilled out and ran freely down his arm. "You failed your mission and you failed at life."

Naruto didn't say anything. He wasn't one to listen to his opponents anymore when they insulted him. He had enough of that in his past, he was going to take no more. Waiting for an opening, he muttered, "At least I didn't give up. At least I'm keeping my word to protect them." And he found his chance. Keith had made one of his swings too long, giving the blonde enough time to slash upwards with his kunai. The blade managed to cut into Keith's face, going deeper than any of the other wounds he had ever received.

"Gah!" He cried out and backed away, clutching his heavily bleeding face with his hands. His hands covered half of his face from where Naruto had slashed upwards, up to his hairline. "You little bastard!" He shrieked and his one visible eye glared at his opponent. "You're a dead man!"

Naruto showed no emotion. Instead, he ran at the bleeding man and began his attacks.

Half blinded with blood dripping into his eye, Keith's fighting grew sloppy. He tried to fight off Naruto but he was in pain and seeing red at the same time. He barely held his own. And Naruto didn't go easy on him because of this.

A couple of minutes later, Naruto backed away from the crumpled form that laid on the ground, hardly moving. He stared down with disgust written on his face and he told him, "I hope this has taught you a lesson. Never keep promises you can't keep. Especially if you don't intent to keep them anyways." Not wanting to take pity on the man who has done so much damage to not just him, but the people in the past, he went for a killing move.

Before Naruto could move a muscle, however, Keith, who shouldn't have been able to move, sprang to his feet and threw a flash bomb at Naruto's feet. The clearing was illuminated with light, blinding anybody and everybody who were there. Totally caught off guard, Naruto was blinded as well. And by the time the light disappeared and he could see again, the spot where Keith had just occupied was empty. Keith had made his escape and fled the scene.

End of Flashback

Coming out of the past, Naruto just glared at the man in front of him. The scar he had given him seemed to stand out even more. It looked as though it had healed nicely in the few years it had been, but it was still ugly was a bright pink color.

Noticing where the blond was looking, the man named Keith, grinned and lightly touched his scar. His fingers traced all along the long line. "Admiring the mark you left me?" He asked. He didn't sound angry just really calm like they were having a normal conversation. "You know, after I got it, I was pretty pissed at you and wanted revenge. But the longer time went on, I came to liking the new addition. More people became scared of me. If they didn't know who I was, one look at this scar and they knew from stories." He stopped touching the side of his face and glanced at Naruto. He gave a lazy grin. "I should be thanking you, you know."

Naruto looked at him with disgust. "I don't want your thanks."

Keith just shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself, blondie." He rolled his shoulders and then took notice of his surroundings. He let out a low whistle when he caught sight of the damaged village. "One hell of a sight." He said.

Growing impatient with the man in front of him, Naruto growled out, "What do you want, Keith? Why're you here?" And more importantly, how did you know where to find me? He mentally thought. He never would have thought he would see him again.

The questions brought Keith's attention back to Naruto's. He grinned and shifted his weight. Naruto tensed, eyeing the way Keith's hand started to grip the handle of his weapon. But instead of attacking, he answered, "I'm here because you are. That creepy guy, one that looks like a snake? He sought me out, somehow knowing about me wanting to take my revenge on you. He said he had an army in the making and they were going to attack a village that you still held dear to you. And he even said that you were going to be here. I've been looking for you for the last three years and the first time I hear of word of your whereabouts, I took it. We still have unfinished business to attend too."

Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, you found me." He said.

Keith grinned. "Yes I have. And I'll tell you this now; I'm not the same person as I was before. Much like how you've been training, so have I." He didn't give any warning before his grip on his weapon tightened. And as if in slow motion, he picked his hammer up and spun in a three-sixty circle before throwing it at where Naruto was still standing.

Because of the laws of gravity and physics, the hammer should have moved slowly with its weight and all. But one to know that that the law of science was always ignored in battles, Naruto didn't take a chance. And because of this, it saved his life.

Instead of the weapon taking it's time to get to him because of its weight, it looked as though it weight nothing more than a kunai. Right when it left its owner's hands, it came speeding at Naruto with such speed that it was a blur. Naruto only had time to dodge to the side before he got hit by the metal. But as soon as he was out of the target area, he was in the danger zone once more. Keith came at him with as much speed as did his weapon. He was there in a blink of an eye and started throwing punches and kicks at Naruto. With years of training, Naruto was able to deflect all of them without breaking a sweat.

"You've gotten faster," Naruto commented, swiftly dodging a kick aimed for his head, "But not fast enough." Breaking out of playing defense, he struck out with a punch aimed for Keith's midsection. He managed to make contact and readied himself for another strike but never got the chance. Instead of his opponent doubling over in pain, Keith just took it without a grimace and pulled back and struck Naruto in the shoulder.

"I may not be as fast, but I have muscles made of steel now. Every kick, every punch you manage to get won't hurt me." He stated. He aimed another few punches at Naruto who deflected every one of them.

Without showing it on his face, Naruto frowned. This was going to be an interesting fight.

Back flipping to get out of Keith's personal space, Naruto moved his hands and aimed at creating hand signs to begin a new jutsu when Keith appeared once again at lightning speed. He blocked the hand signs and punched Naruto hard in the face, sending him flying backwards. But he wasn't done yet. He vanished where he was and reappeared behind Naruto, stopping him from flying backwards by throwing his hands down at the back of Naruto's neck. The blonde went crashing downwards, making an indention into the earth.

Dirt and dust filled the air when Keith walked over to the creator. He half expected to see the blonde to be unconscious. What he didn't expect when he glanced down at the hole when the air cleared was Naruto to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Above you," A voice came out of nowhere.

Keith tense and dodged quickly to the side. A millisecond later, a second creator appeared where he had just been standing. He started to straighten up but barely had time to when a dark flash zoomed out of the hole and at him. He only had time to throw up his hands up in defense before Naruto began throwing punches in every which way.

'He got faster… A lot faster.' Keith thought. While he stayed in defense, he quickly let his glaze slide away from his opponents, looking for his weapon of choice. About five yards away from where they currently were, his weapon laid on its side, its handle in the air. He grinned. Naruto only had a second to see the smile before he was forced into defense when Keith managed to use brute force and shoved him backwards. Instead of going after him, Keith ran away from him.

Knowing what he was doing, Naruto quickly formed hand signs and let his chakra form into the palm of his hand in one of his favorite signature jutsu's. The wind quickly gathered into his palm and started to form a star-like shape as chakra merged into the shape as well. Within seconds, the shape was completed and ready for use.

Naruto ran at Keith with his new weapon just as Keith made a grab for his hammer. When he swung around, Naruto met him and both weapons intercepted. A loud explosion took place, forcing both men backwards. Wind whipped around them and chucks of earth went with them.

It was silent between the two, only the sounds of war in the background continued on. When the air began to clear, both men were slowly getting to their feet, both at different ends of the battle field. Naruto brushed rubble from the building he had just collided with off of his clothes. He shook his head and tiny particles escaped from his hair. Across the field, Keith rolled his shoulders back and popped his neck. Many scratches that oozed blood came from both of them.

"I thought you had to have clones to be able to produce that jutsu," Keith shouted, somewhat impressed by the outcome.

Naruto just smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "After a couple of years in training, you learn how to master some justu's. I learned to make hand signs in substitution of shadow clones. It's faster that way."

Keith nodded. "And what do you call that jutsu again?" He remembered years back when they were on the mission that Naruto had failed, the kid had been training in the forest with another shadow clone. And he used that jutsu. He just couldn't remember the name.

"The Rasenshuriken." Naruto answered him. He rolled his shoulders back and felt them pop. The scratches along his arms and a few on his face stung but there was nothing he could do about them. With Kyuubi out, her chakra wasn't going to heal him. He could deal with these ones. No problem.

Once again Keith nodded. He didn't say anything as the battle resumed and he went straight for his weapon that survived the explosion. As soon as his hand touched the handle, Naruto was there once again. He didn't have any other justu's formed so Keith easily swung his hammer around. Naruto jumped free of the danger area and jumped high into the air. He pulled paper bombs from his pouch and when he was at his peak, threw them down. Keith didn't move or dodged, he just swung his heavy weapon in a circle above his head like it was the lightest thing in the world.

The paper bombs struck the rotation of the hammer and exploded on impact. Naruto, before the explosion took place, disappeared out of the range of it and reappeared a few yards away, a kunai in his hand. He gave his opponent no time to recuperate before he was at him, throwing attack after attack. Keith had gone from deflecting the bombs to guarding his body from the numerous hits.

Thirty seconds later, Naruto had managed to embed his weapon into Keith's thigh before jumping backwards. Keith managed to keep a yelp of surprise in from the wound. He shouldn't have been able to puncture his skin! His skin was like iron!

As if reading his mind, Naruto smirked and said, "No one is untouchable." Seeing an end in the battle soon, he brought out another weapon and went in for another attack.

XxxxX

Until next time! I'm going to end it here for now. It's a pretty long chapter, but don't worry, I have more battle scenes in mind. Next chapter you'll be able to read about Sana and her fighting skills. It's about time you get to read about her.

Okay, I'm just going to let you know that when I was writing and introducing Keith, I totally pictured the Executioner in Resident Evil with its bad ass hammer thing. Don't know why. And I only added him into the story to give you another little peak at what Naruto's life was like before Sana. I didn't really talk much about the time before, so why not now in flashbacks? Tell me if you like it or not.