Chapter 15: Hard Issues, Harder Feelings

The leaf's special jounin Hatake Kakashi sat calmly on a log, listening to every word that his latest assignment had to say. Akira Toshida, the mysterious nin from the prison colony known as the village of sin, remains perched on the branch of the nearby tree, towering over the large pond on the borders of the leaf village. Kakashi's assignment: Ensure that Toshida does not become a threat to the rest of the village. If he does, Kakashi's orders are to eliminate that threat at all costs.

"It is getting late Kakashi." Toshida says, as he drops from the tree and lands firmly on the soft ground moistened by a recent rain storm. "I will tell you everything you wish to know, so keep that in mind before you start getting impatient. But you will have to wait for another day."

"I don't care if you are tired or not. I had comrades at Tarawa Creek and I want to know what happened to them!" Kakashi firmly states as he places a hand firmly on Toshida's left shoulder. "Don't turn your back to me kid. Tell me what I want to know, now!"

Toshida glances at the hand firmly grasping his shoulder and a confident smirk crosses over his face as he closes his eyes for a brief second before turning his attention to the leaf jounin. Kakashi looks on in surprise as Toshida's eyes slowly change from the calm and stoic brown, to the menacing and piercing green glare of the ryuugan eye. The iris of the ryuugan glows vibrantly with the green glow of the dragon's chakra and spirit, as the pupil thins and lengthens vertically. After several seconds of the intense visual showdown, Kakashi removes his hand from Toshida's shoulder and Toshida takes his leave, stopping several meters away from Kakashi.

"Believe me when I say this Kakashi," Toshida then turns around slightly to face Kakashi as he speaks in an ominous tone. "If I do decide eventually to tell you what happened that day, I guarantee, that you would have been happier living in ignorance."

Toshida's remarks catch Kakashi off guard and underneath his ever present mask, Kakashi's teeth begin to grind. "You know nothing about me boy, The leaf lost many shinobi that day and so did the cloud!" Kakashi's words fail to phase Toshida's stoic glare. "Many of those shinobi were my comrades, and I have had to live with the fact that I wasn't there to fight along side them in their last moments."

Toshida's head lowers and his eyes close, his stoic look becoming an evident frown as he remembers numerous painful memories. "And I've had to live . . . with knowing that I was there . . . during their last moments . . . and the last moments of many others. So don't talk to me about some burden you carry from your youth. Because I can guarantee that our burdens are beyond comparison."

Toshida quickly turns and leaves the area, leaving Kakashi behind, with many questions left still unanswered. He too takes his leave and returns to his place for the evening, leaving Toshida to his own recognizance as night fell upon the leaf village.

(Music: "Yuugure" from the Naruto OST)

The next morning the leaf genin and the sin shinobi all sit just outside of the Nara household. Shikamaru and Keinea continue there on going games of shogi, while Hinata and Maea enjoy a friendly conversation. Toshida sits by himself in a slightly meditative state, his arms and legs crossed in front of him and his eyes closed. His expression is calm and as always, even as he can hear Sakura walking toward him attempting to be as quiet and stealthy as possible in case Toshida was in serious meditation.

"Can I help you Sakura-san?" Toshida asks, startling the young leaf genin who tried her best not to disturb the focused sin shinobi.

"I-I'm sorry Toshida-san I didn't mean to disturb you, I thought you were asleep, or meditating or something, I didn't want to break your concentration." Sakura exclaims quickly waving her hands in front of her, oblivious to the fact that Toshida's eyes are still closed.

"I wasn't asleep or mediating at all. In fact, I was simply listening."

"Listening?" Sakura asks, "Listening to what?"

"Nothing actually . . . hmpf . . . and everything at the same time. I suppose it's all based on how you look at it." Toshida explains as a grin crosses over his face.

"Everything and nothing? I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, let me explain. Since arriving in this village, we have not had to worry about being hunted or chased and we haven't had to keep our guard of full alert. This is one of the first times in many years that I have simply been able to just admire everything around me."

"But this is just the village. What is there to admire exactly?"

"Everything and nothing at the same time Sakura-san. The hummingbird at the rear of the house, The chipmunks fighting over food in the trees to your left, the sound of the wind blowing, or the rustling of the leafs as the wind passes by them. It's listening to everything that is going on at once, but listening to nothing in particular at the time. To me, they are some of the most beautiful sounds imaginable."

Sakura looks onto the enigmatic nin astonished as she looks around to verify all the sounds that he mentioned. "I never looked at it that way. That's incredible. You were able to hear all of that without focusing in on any particular sound?"

"Yes. But you didn't come over here just for me to tell you what I was doing. Is there something I can do for you Sakura-san?"

Sakura stammers for a minute as she tries to remember why it was that she came over to Toshida in the first place. "Um . . . Oh yea. I am sorry if I am prying at all but I wanted to ask you something."

"Of coarse Sakura-san, what did you wish to ask me?"

"I noticed when you first arrived in the village that you did not seem to have any scars on your body at all. Being a seasoned shinobi, I find it hard to believe that someone like you could get through all of your battles without a scratch. After learning more about Naruto and the kyuubi, I learned that his massive chakra heals his wounds almost as fast as they are inflicted. So I assume that you are the same considering that you have a demon just like Naruto's inside of you."

Toshida laughs briefly at the power of Sakura's deductive skills. "That's correct Sakura-san. Good work. I do heal a lot faster than the average person because of this thing. But if you already figured all this out, then what is it you have to ask me?"

"I was wondering why, if all of your wounds heal so fast, do you have such a large scar along the base of your hairline?"

Toshida's heart slows down and his eyes open as he lowers his head, more painful memories flooding back into the forefront of his mind. "It doesn't heal . . . because I keep it from healing." Toshida says, as his eyes stare off into nothingness, his mind wandering as the memories of Tarawa creek race across his mind's eye.

"Keep it from healing? But why would you want to keep such a scar from healing? It doesn't look that deep. I am sure that it could heal just fine on its own. Are you saying you choose to keep it from healing on its own?"

(Music: Que "Sadness and Sorrow" from the Naruto OST )

"Some scars run deeper than the flesh young medic. When training to be a medical nin, one of the first lessons they teach you, is that a scar is only the visual surface of the damage done. That the damage runs deeper then what you can see, and that you need to repair the damage done below the surface and let the body take care of the rest. But what they don't teach you . . . is that some scars never heal . . . and although the damage has been repaired and the scars have disappeared . . . the body never forgets what happened to it, and the flesh remains stiff and scar tissue under the skin still remains."

Sakura looks on as Toshida closes his eyes yet again and it becomes blatantly evident to Sakura that Toshida's past is darker then she can fathom.

"Medical jutsu is used to heal the body from damage . . . but no jutsu can heal the mind. Sometimes even the smallest injuries can never heal if the mind has sustained damage . . ."

Sakura's concern becomes evident as she too can remember emotional wounds she suffered in the past. Thoughts of Sasuke's departure from the village flood through Sakura's mind, and although she didn't suffer any injuries during the exchange, her mental wounds have also never healed. "When Sasuke-kun left Konoha . . . I was powerless to keep him from going. Even pouring out everything I kept in my heart all that time, couldn't keep him from going to Orochimaru. I haven't gotten over that . . . and it was over a year ago." Sakura puts aside her reminiscing aside for a moment and returns her focus to Toshida. "What happened to you?"

Toshida pauses for a second and begins rubbing the scar on the back of his neck as he remembers where he got the scar. A large naginata (A Japanese spear used for slicing) striking him at the base of his hairline, splitting his flesh open and sending him to the ground splashing blood across the already soiled ground. "It was during a great battle. I kept the scar from healing so that I would never forget what happened that day."

Suddenly the silence between the two shinobi is broken by a loud and shrill call coming from down the street as Konoha's number one loudest ninja runs toward the Nara household. "GOOOOOOOODD MMMMOOOOOOOORRRNNNNNNNIIIIINNNGGGGGGGGGG SAKURA-CHAN!"

The entire ensemble of leaf and sin shinobi direct their attention to the loud rambles of the approaching Naruto. "Boy it sure is a nice day out isn't it? What's everybody up to? Me and Ero-sensei have to be headed out in a few days so I would love to be able to play catch up with everyone before I have to go! Hey Shikamaru, what's up Hinata?"

Sakura interjects and leaves the dreary conversation with Toshida. "Naruto will you relax! You keep jumping between statements and questions without a break. You don't allow anyone to give a response!"

Keinea stares at Naruto with a glare of annoyance and grits his teeth at every word leaving the annoying shinobi's mouth. "How can anyone stand this guy? How can someone this idiotic have been able to beat me back at the tournament?" Keinea then quickly finds his attention drawn to the long-haired Hinata who has taken up her trademark pose with both fingers pushing against one another as she blushes while watching Naruto. "Dammit. And she loves this guy! How could anyone, especially someone so beautiful . . . be attracted to this buffoon!"

"So what is everyone up to today Sakura-chan?" Naruto asks again.

"I am not sure." Sakura looks around to the others in the group and then shakes her head. "I'm not sure what everyone else is doing but after lunch I am going to go visit Ino in the hospital and see if she is doing any better."

Naruto's face shows signs of concern as he remembers hearing about the accident in the forest that sent Ino into her current comatose state. "She hasn't recovered yet has she?"

"Unfortunately no. Even Tsunade-sama doesn't understand why it is that she is still unconscious. She is in perfect physical health . . . but her mind . . . seems to have suffered more damage then we can understand.

Meanwhile, in Ino's hospital room Chouji has not left her side for even a moment since she was admitted. He sits in a comfortable chair with his feet resting on the windowsill as he stares off blankly into the village. As he tries to remain awake, he can see the children at the academy playing outside during their break. He can see the regular commerce of the village proceeding as usual, with people buying and trading in the marketplace and the regular customers visiting the Ichiraku ramen stand. Chouji's mind wavers from his nonchalant reconnaissance of the village as the sound of his rumbling stomach becomes too much to ignore.

"Awww." Chouji says aloud, "Still so hungry after two bags of potato chips. Oh well, the ramen stand isn't far." Chouji moves closer to Ino's bed side and grabs onto Ino's hand, cradling it in his own. "Don't worry," the husky genin says, "I'll be back soon."

Chouji leaves the room and makes his way down the street toward the Ichiraku ramen stand. Meanwhile, Ino's subconscious mind races as he dreams remain haunted by the visions she saw in that brief moment inside Toshida's mind. Her expression begins to grimace and for the first time in more than a week, Ino shows movement in her hands and lets out a number of solemn whimpers. Her eyes begin to flicker and the hospital white hospital lights begin to shine into her eyes that only remain open for milliseconds at a time. Her movements begin to intensify as the visions in her head become more and more vivid. Sounds of screaming and clanging metal echo through her mind, and visions of death and destruction passes through her minds eye like a flip book of pictures and still images, memories of the dragons past . . . and secrets of the dragon's mind all revealed without her even knowing it.

Minutes later Ino thrusts up forward into a sitting position in her bed with her head and hair hanging in front. Her breathing labored and a cold sweat running down her face with her eyes wide open staring off in horror into nothing at all.

Chouji slowly makes his way back into the hospital with a bowl of pork flavored ramen placed in a container for him to take with him, and a drink to go with it. He makes his way up the stairs and around the hallways and finally opens the door to Ino's room.

Ino screams as Chouji enters the room, startling him and sending the ramen to the ground as Chouji screams in return. Ino backs up as far as she can in her bed but loses her balance and falls out of her bed hitting the floor hard before backing up quickly and cowering in the corner of the room. The ramen causes Chouji to slip and he too hits the ground hard, but quickly draws his attention to the frightening Ino.

"Ino? INO! What's wrong? I didn't mean to startle you, are you ok?" Chouji says, as he reaches a hand out toward Ino, who continues cowering in the corner, scared to death of the large but gentle shinobi.

"Go . . . away . . ." Ino says, her voice in a whimper and barely audible.

"Go away?" Chouji backs up just a little bit, but keeps his hand extended toward Ino. "Ino, it's me . . . Chouji. You remember me right? It's ok . . . no one is going to hurt you, not while I'm here, not ever. You're in the hospital back in Konoha, you were attacking and we brought you home to recover." A tear begins to form in the gentle Chouji's eye as the sight of his close friend in such a diminished state tears away at the boy's giant heart.

Chouji moves a little bit closer to Ino slowly and gradually as not to startle the frightened shinobi. Ino cowers further into the corner and raises her hand in an effort to keep Chouji away as she continues her frightened whimpering. The tears fall from Chouji's eyes as he abruptly stops his advance and can only look onto his friend and hope that she will eventually remember him. "Ino . . . It's Chouji . . . I don't want to hurt you . . . don't be afraid of me."

Ino peaks over from underneath her left arm used to block her from making eye contact with Chouji and she takes a look at the crying shinobi. She remains scared but takes a quick look around the room as things start becoming more and more familiar to her. The ceiling, the hospital bed, Chouji's head protector. Finally, she glances over to the trash bin just beside Chouji and notices an empty bag of potato chips crumpled up and thrown in the bin. The sight triggers numerous memories to quickly pass through Ino's mind as she remembers all the times she told Chouji to cut back on the amount of snacks, and to stop eating so many potato chips. Her eyes tear up more and her expression changes as the fear slips away from her face and all that is left is the intense sadness she feels. She begins crying in front of Chouji causing the warm hearted brute to cry as well.

"Chouji . . ." Ino says as she quickly moves toward Chouji with her arms thrust outward. She wraps her arms around Chouji squeezing tightly as she continues to sob. Chouji cradles her in his arms as he tries to comfort the poor girl.

"Its ok Ino. You're safe . . . you don't need to worry, you're going to be ok." Chouji's face shows an intense look of determination as he looks up from his embrace and in the back of his mind the only thing he can see . . . Is Toshida's face.

"I don't care if he is stronger then me Ino . . . I am going to punish that man for doing this to you. I swear it!"

Meanwhile, back at the Nara household . . .

"Hey Hey, I won!" Naruto says out loud drawing attention from everyone around him. He raises his hands in victory and begins to gloat in front of his opponent, Shikamaru. "I guess you aren't as smart as everyone thinks you are Shikamaru!"

The leaf chuunin is not amused as he lets out his trademark sigh at Naruto's always evident idiocy. "This is why I don't try and teach you anything Naruto, It's far too troublesome. That wasn't your piece that you just moved, you just moved my piece and defeated yourself!"

Naruto maintains his ridiculously large grin on his face and tries not to show any signs of embarrassment as his stupid move was just made public to all those around him. "Ha ha, that's just my way of saying I don't wanna play anymore! Next time we play Shikamaru I'll get you don't you worry!"

Toshida cannot help but let out a smirk at the situation and he opens his eyes again and rises up from his sitting position and turns his attention to Sakura. "I enjoyed talking with you today Sakura-san. May we talk again some other time?"

The kind hearted question comes as a surprise to Sakura who finds herself at a loss for words. "I-um . . . I suppose that would be ok. What would we talk about?"

"It doesn't matter to me at all Sakura-san. It has just helped to remind that I am still human, and being acknowledged as one is something I haven't had over the years. But or conversation will have to wait for another time. I am afraid we have so research to do today and I would like to get into it as much as possible."

"I understand," Sakura says with a gentle smile, "it isn't hard to find me around here. I look forward to talking with you again."

Maea sits a distance away from the two conversing shinobi with a slight scowl across her face. "What are they smiling about? What did she say to him? We have work to do. I don't understand why we have to be sitting around here mingling with the leafs when we should be finding a way to help Toshida." As Maea looks around the area of the Nara household she cannot help but become more inquisitive. "Keinea, where's Toragai? I haven't seen him all morning, do you know where he is?"

Keinea does not answer as his attention is focused purely on the still smiling Naruto. His teeth grind together and the scowl on his face only grows the longer he watches Naruto. "How could this idiot have beat me back at the tournament? And why does no one seem to care that this kid is a moron!"

Hinata sits close to Naruto with a smile on her face, one hand clutching at her head protector hanging around her neck and the other hand slowly inching its way to the hand Naruto has placed on the table as he continues laughing over his latest hijinks. "Naruto-kun, I think you'll win next time. You can always do anything that you have set your sights on, this time will be no different, I'm sure of it."

Hinata's remarks catch Naruto off guard and he turns his attention to Hinata who now has a hand placed on Naruto's hand and continues smiling as Naruto makes eye contact. Shikamaru looks on quietly with a subtle smile across his face as he can only wait to see how Naruto reacts.

Naruto looks down to his hand and then back to Hinata's face. "Hinata . . . you're . . ."

Before Naruto can say anything, Keinea kicks over the table in front of Naruto and Shikamaru bringing up an angered objection from Shikamaru and Naruto respectively. "I can't stand this anymore!" Keinea yells out loud staring a hole into the back of Naruto's head. "You are nothing but an idiot and I refuse to believe that you are the one that was able to defeat me one on one in that tournament."

Naruto stands up and comes face to face with Keinea as the situation only intensify's as the two shinobi begin sizing one another up. Naruto's face changes as his childish expression becomes focused on the task at hand, demonstrating his growth in only a year of training as he already subconsciously begins molding chakra in his body allowing him to pull off jutsu much faster and more efficiently.

"If you have a problem with me then we can settle it another time. You guys are our allies right now and I am not going to start fighting in the middle of the street." Naruto's words surprise all the other leafs as he is usually more than willing to start a fight anytime or anywhere.

"If you don't want to fight me, then it is going to be very easy for me to lay a pounding on you!" Keinea says, as he leaps backward and reaches behind and pulls a kunai from his weapon's pouch, hurling it at Naruto at highspeed.

"Oh crap!" Naruto exclaims as he uses his foot to quickly lift the overturned table into the air and into his grasp, barely blocking the kunai as it penetrates and stops just inches away from Naruto's face. He lowers the table just in time to see both Shikamaru and Hinata leaping away, as Keinea comes in fast with his fist drawn back ready to strike.

"Eat this Uzumaki Naruto!" Keinea's fist bursts straight through the table and into Naruto's chest sending him back hard and into the wall of Shikamaru's house. Keinea tries to follow the attack up as he comes in fast with a dropkick. Naruto kicks off the wall and flips over Keinea's head dodging the attack. Keinea kicks off the wall as well and moves in fast to keep up his attack, thrusting another punch at Naruto who blocks with both arms crossed in front of his chest. The punch sends Naruto flying backward as he slams hard against a nearby tree. He looks up only to see several swirling balls of wind speeding toward him at highspeed.

"Kaze No Shuriken!" (Shuriken of Wind) Keinea screams as the wind shuriken whip toward Naruto at incredible speed. The shuriken impact hard against Naruto's torso sending him straight through the thick trunk of the tree and then hard into the dirt.

"Stop it, leave him alone!" Sakura yells out loud at the two combatants in vein as Keinea does not let up his assault. "There is no need for this! If one of our superiors see's this both of you will get in serious trouble!"

"Sakura-san, don't waste your time." Toshida says, as he watches the fight unfold before him, shaking his head in disappointment.

"But Naruto isn't fighting back!"

"Then it will be his fault if he gets hurt. Keinea is not the bully type, but he is a proud shinobi. Naruto beat him back at the stadium even after I told Keinea to throw the fight."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asks as she turns her attention to the elder of the two brothers. "You're saying Naruto didn't really win?"

"Not at all actually, quite the opposite. Our plans called for Keinea to lose the fight so I told him to let Naruto win. But the truth is, Keinea didn't have to let Naruto win at all." Toshida then remembers the finish of the match back at the tournament with Naruto debuting the "Uzumaki Naruto Tebayo Rendan" defeating Keinea in the semifinals of the tournament. "That move took a huge toll on Keinea and he was unable to continue the fight even though at that point, he had a burning desire to finish Naruto off."

"But if he was going to lose anyway then what does matter if he lost fair and square?"

"Keinea doesn't lose Sakura-san. He almost never loses at anything and certainly not in a fight, he is too clever. The only time he ever loses is when he chooses to lose."

"If he chooses to lose? Why would he want to do that?" Sakura asks, as this whole situation becomes more and more confusing.

"If the situation served him better to lose, then he would lose. Bottom line is that Keinea only loses if he wants to lose. Naruto took that privilege away from him and he will give it everything he has to ensure that he regains that privilege. For the first time, he was not in control of the outcome of the match and now he intends to prove that it was just a fluke." Toshida cannot help but shake his head in disapproval at his brothers vanity and almost childish actions. "It would also appear that he is a sore loser. He isn't even fighting with a calm head, his movements are sloppy and he is getting carried away . . . it is already evident as to who will win this fight."

"Naruto is kind of headstrong as well. This isn't a very stable situation to have both of their egos contesting with one another. If Keinea-san wants to fight then I am sure that Naruto won't offer much in terms of restraint."

"They are too much alike . . . which is why this is a dangerous situation. And I cannot interject here and neither can anyone else. They will just have to be left to settle it, if they get too heated then I will call Keinea off."

"This situation is starting to get awfully intense for this early in the morning." Sakura says in annoyance as the two fighting is the last thing she would have wanted on such a beautiful day.

"I agree . . . and throwing the Hyuuga girl into the mix is only escalating things." Toshida directs his attention over to the nervous Hinata clutching both her hands up in front of her chest as she cannot help but be worried at the dispute that has erupted partially because of her.

"You mean that Keinea . . . ?" Sakura asks.

Toshida stammers slightly as he is a tad bit embarrassed at the fact that his brother would fight over something so petty. "Y-yes I am afraid my brother has grown quite found of Hinata-chan."

"Aww that's cute!" Sakura says, as a smile comes over her face for the first time during this confrontation. It quickly fades away as she realizes that the two are fighting because of her. "Seems kind of silly to be fighting of a girl! But still it is kind of cute."

Toshida rolls his eyes, "Pfft . . . women."

Keinea and Naruto stand at a distance of roughly fifty meters from one another, eyeing each other up with the utmost precision, trying to predict what the others next move will be. Naruto cracks a smile and has a delayed blink of the eyes before he addresses the angry Keinea.

"I don't want to fight you, but it looks like you won't take no for an answer."

Keinea only grinds his teeth more as he looks over to see Hinata with her eyes focused diligently on Naruto as he speaks. "You're damn right I won't take no for an answer! We settle this NOW!" Keinea then reaches behind and pulls out his kunai and places the handle in his mouth as Naruto reaches into his pouch and pulls out three shuriken in his right hand.

(Music: Que "The Kinslayer" by Nightwish)

Meanwhile, Shikamaru looks on at the damage already done to the outside of his house, the broken table and the two combatants readying for a fight. He lets out his trademark sigh as he can only shake his head and watch it all unfold. "Man . . . how troublesome."

(Music Time: 00:20)

Keinea and Naruto begin their charge at one another, both unleashing a series of hand seals as they charge toward one another. Naruto completes his sequence of seals first, Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Serpent, Tiger, and then throws his shuriken in front of him to complete the jutsu.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" (Shuriken Shadow Clone) Dozens of shuriken then appear out of nowhere and fly toward Keinea as he finishes his seal sequence, Rat, Boar, Dragon, Tiger, Bird, Monkey, Bird, Hare, Ram, he finishes the technique with a hand clap as he stares down along the tips of his fingers at the shuriken that are only roughly three meters from him. He slams his hands down to the ground and in the blink of an eye, the air in the area is sucked in toward Keinea and all the oxygen particles form together and form almost into an invisible blanket that then rises up like a tidal wave several meters in the air. As the Shuriken pass into the blanket their trajectory takes a steep decline and all of them plummet to the ground, dispelling a second later.

"Koumitsu No jutsu" (High density technique) Keinea shouts as a smile brandishes across his face. It soon fades however as he starts another charge and another sequence of hand seals. Naruto leaps backward several meters as Keinea's technique caught him by surprise. He throws another set of three shuriken toward Keinea as he continues his seal sequence, and Naruto begins one of his own, pulling out a sequence of seals so fast that it surprises even Toshida. Rat, Boar, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Bird, middle index cross, Tiger, Ram.

Toshida looks on in awe at Naruto's speed in seals and he cannot help but be curious as to the third last seal in the sequence. "The middle index cross is the seal used for controlling the shadow replication technique . . . something that kid uses often. But I know that seal sequence and that seal is not part of it. What the hell is he up to?"

"Gensundai Shuriken no jutsu" (Full size Shuriken technique) Naruto's jutsu causes the shuriken to increase in size and mass by more then ten times, sending three shuriken the size of those used by Mizuki, steaming toward Keinea and only increasing in momentum as the move closer. Keinea is caught by surprise and slams his feet forward halting his forward momentum and causing him to cut his seal sequence short as he slams his hands down to the ground yet again.

"Hyouton: Joushou Aisu Hashira (Ice Element: Rising Ice Pillars) Several columns of jagged ice then form out of nowhere and then rise to defend Keinea. The pillars are several inches thick and manage to stop the first two shuriken in their tracks, but as the third one comes in closer Keinea then notices that the shuriken has slightly changed its direction so that it would rise just above the pillars. Confused, Keinea pumps more chakra into the pillars in an attempt to raise the pillars, as something doesn't seem right. It is too late however as the shuriken passes over the pillars.

The shuriken disappears in a puff of smoke and suddenly Keinea looks up to see Naruto diving downward toward him. The "original" Naruto then also disperses in a puff of smoke, as the real Naruto lunges toward Keinea with a powerful punch lined up and ready to strike. Keinea cannot react as the punch connects straight on with his face knocking him to the ground. Naruto's smile soon changes to a look of surprise as Keinea disappears leaving only a bunch of logs in his stead as the Kawarimi no jutsu was a success.

Naruto turns around only to see the pillars of ice being obliterated by dozens of Wind shuriken. He leaps out of the way and looks up to see the oncoming Keinea with his kunai drawn. Naruto answers by drawing his own kunai, and a shinobi style knife fight erupts. The two exchange a number of slashes and stabs both trying to get a critical hit in on the other. The two seem evenly matched in the knife wielding department and it isn't until Naruto is able to land a well placed kick to the wrist that the knife fight stops. The kick sends Keinea's kunai flying and Naruto tries to follow up with a lunging strike of his own, only to have his momentum used against him as Keinea grabs his wrist and is able to send him to the ground using a judo style flip. As Naruto rises to his feet both fighters are at a stare down, waiting for the other fighter to make the next move in the sequence.

(Music Time: 2:02-2:13)

After the brief intermission in the fighting the two charge yet again demonstrating both of their talents in the art of taijutsu. Naruto focusing on using a series of well-timed punches and back hand swipes, aiming high as to try and take Keinea out one try, while Keinea uses kicks. Aiming low to try and off set Naruto's balance and following up with a more devastating technique. Naruto blocks the kicks as best he can, using both the bottom of his feet to halt the progression of the kick, and using his hands to force Keinea's foot backward in an effort to catch him off balance. Keinea's countering shows more of a finesse as he tries to keep the punches from making any impact with his body at all or using his forearms to parry Naruto's onslaught.

The two then kick off and get some distance between them before they start to run further into the forest. Running parallel to one another as even in running they try to out do the other. Naruto is the first to break as he heads to the air in an effort to get the drop on Keinea. He lands in a tree and readies two kunai to attack Keinea with. Keinea notices Naruto's action and then crosses his middle and index fingers in between one another in front of his chest in an "X" formation.

"Rai Bunshin No Jutsu" (Lightning Clone technique) All of a sudden Keinea is surrounded by four lightning clones all with Kunai drawn and ready to fight. Naruto throws his two kunai at two of the clones that just stand by and allow the kunai to make direct hits. The clones do not dispel and the kunai remain lodged in the clones chests resonating with electricity as they then begin their charge. The clones and Keinea all begin to advance on Naruto who can only dodge by leaping from tree to tree in an effort not to make contact with the clones, as he remembers the damage that the clones are capable of from the example back at the tournament. The clones all try to make physical contact with Naruto, trying to electrocute him with a single blow. Naruto manages to dodge in a pattern swift and clever enough so that two of the clones leap at one another and collide in mid air. However instead of the two clones dispelling, the simply form into one single clone before continuing its pursuit.

Naruto spins around quickly and throws yet another kunai at the clone behind him, striking it in the chest, but bringing about no reaction from the clone. After the Kunai connects Naruto turns around with a smile on his face and spreads his arms out wide allowing the clone a clean shot at his torso. The clone strikes without fear or apprehension and sends electricity through Naruto's entire body. Naruto's smile does not leave his face as he then disappears in a puff of smoke leaving the clone confused and on the hunt yet again.

"Dammit another shadow clone" Keinea curses to himself as he searches the forest looking for the real Naruto to show himself. "I can never even tell when he makes the switch between himself and the clones. He may be a one trick dog, but at least he uses it well." Keinea searches around the forest and only see's the three lightning clones he created. As he continues his search, he notices the kunai stuck in all of the clones chests, and finally Naruto's battle plan becomes evident. "Dammit! He marked them!" Keinea shouts as he leaps down from the tree he was perched on and begins to run toward the outskirts of the forest. He looks behind him for a brief second to see if Naruto was in pursuit. Seeing nothing, he turns about only to see Naruto waiting only a few feet away with his arm swung behind him ready for a strike. Keinea does everything in his power to stop his momentum, but it is all too little too late as Naruto swings his arm outward revealing the swirling blue orb of chakra in his right hand as it thunders toward Keinea.

"SHIT!" Keinea exclaims as the attack moves to only inches from his stomach, as Naruto screams out loud.

"RASENGAN!"

(Music Ends)