I'm back! And if you're gonna ask why its been so long. Three things.

Busy at work due to this whole pandemic crisis, having the bits of writers block due to trying to come up with what I want to write, and lastly...too much Fire Emblem and Trails of Cold Steel.

In any case though, just note that the upload schedule is gonna be kinda on and off for a while instead of weekly uploads. And if the chapter title didn't note it, yes, it's time to get at least a little dark. Now for the usual...

Disclaimer: I will note this as many times as I have to. I don't own any of this other than the story itself, any OCs i put in, and any custom jutsus I come up with. In any case, be sure to enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 19: Fall of the Sword God

Ichiraku Ramen, Konohagakure, Land of Fire

It was a typical day at the ramen stand for the father daughter duo. Customers occasionally came in for a bite to eat, some of the males got shot down when they hit on Ayame, and some of said males ended up with a frying pan to the face if they tried something stupid, which tended to be about twice a day normally. They just didn't learn.

Ayame sighed as she prepped up some more of the delicious noodles. It had been a few days since the lovable blond ninja stopped in. She knew he had gone to the chunin exams since a day or two before they started Naruto had stopped in for his daily meal. Though of course, they always had to make sure the boy was properly nourished, so they tended to sneak in all sorts of healthy things into a few of Naruto's ramen bowls. Well, he eventually caught on, but went along with it since it still tasted like 'the food of the gods' as he called it.

She then spoke to herself "I just hope Naruto-kun comes back soon. I worry about him sometimes…"

Then the flap opened as the just mentioned ninja spoke "Worry about who?"

She then turned her head towards the counter and saw Naruto had entered the stand. She then smiled as she saw the boy's smile. Ayame for a moment blushed as she realized he heard the end of her little self-conversation.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Ayame said as she walked over to the counter.

She then saw another person come in. It was none other than the famous, or as she noted 'infamous', Sasuke Uchiha, and as Naruto once told her as a joke, the emo edgelord himself.

"Well this is a surprise, Sasuke actually joining you for once." Ayame said as the 'boy' sat down.

Teuchi happened to enter the front after she spoke and noticed the two customers.

"Ah, Naruto! Welcome back! Exams go well?" Teuchi asked him.

Naruto nodded as he responded "We kicked ass, but we got one more part to go. Now...Ramen please!?"

Sasuke smirked while Teuchi laughed as he spoke "Of course, after all, you're our favorite customer here." He then started cooking up a batch of the food, quickly and efficiently making the blond boy's favorite food.

While her father made the food, Ayame hung over the counter as she said "So, anything interesting happen during the exam?"

"Like you would not believe. Also, remember that one annoying guy who owns the shop down the road a bit?" Naruto said in response.

"Yeah why?" Ayame asked the boy.

"I heard he had a fly problem." Naruto said with a cheeky grin.

Ayame smiled back at him as she said "Of course that was you. Though then again...he hit on me last week, so I say he probably deserved it."

'Sasuke' then asked them "Wait 'dobe', what exactly did you do?"

Naruto smirked as he said "Well...that one clone I had transform into a fly went to said guy's house, and trolled him. It was great! He even smacked himself trying to swat the unswattable fly!"

Ayame and 'Sasuke' both shrugged as they thought of it as a typical Naruto thing. Teuchi then came over to Naruto's spot and delivered several bowls of ramen to him. And of course, the second it left his hands, Naruto began to devour it with enthusiasm.

Teuchi then looked over at 'Sasuke', he then looked around behind them for a moment, shrugged, and then said "So, Asuka, nice to see you drop in after quite a while."

Asuka's eyes widened in surprise, and Naruto even stopped eating his ramen just for that.

Ayame looked at her father with a bit of confusion as she asked him "Asuka...don't you mean Sasuke?"

Teuchi simply laughed as he said "Remember that one girl that stopped in once or twice with Naruto a few years back?"

Ayame pondered for a moment, and once it came to her, she looked back and forth between her father and the 'boy' at the counter until she said "...ok...Sasuke actually being a girl. Did not see that one coming."

Asuka started to sweat bullets as she remembered that she had indeed come here twice with Naruto back during that week they hung out with each other. She was surprised that he was able to recognize her despite her current looks.

The man simply laughed as he said "Don't worry though. It may not look like it, but we do have silencing seals in here. You would not believe the things people talk about when they eat here."

Ayame smirked and said "Well, he's not wrong. Lord Hokage-sama at one point even had us sign a confidentiality agreement just because so many people let things slip their tongue in here."

The two young ninjas then calmed down for the moment. Naruto had also known about said agreement since he had to sign it as well. He had come here enough that he happened to hear one or two things meant to be secret...like where Hiruzen hides his porn stash. The old man literally made Naruto swear to never tell anyone, especially some woman named Kurenai about it. And so far, he had kept said promise. Not like the old man gave him any reason to break it yet.

Teuchi then asked the currently tomboy girl "So, I'm guessing the good old Uchiha special for you missy?"

Asuka smiled as she remembered exactly which one she meant.

"Of course."

Teuchi then went to start cooking up the ramen. Ayame went over towards Asuka and then said "So...should I ask why?"

Asuka sighed as she said "Dad was an asshole, and the civilian council...well..."

Ayame nodded as she replied "Say no more. I got the idea."

Ayame then looked over at Naruto and then towards Asuka, and whispered to her "So...are you two-"

"Yes and no...let me guess, you like him too?" Asuka whispered back, checking if Naruto heard them. He didn't as he was too focused on the food at the moment.

Asuka blushed as she nodded, a bit of worry on her face. She had a feeling that she might not be able to be with her crush. However, Asuka smirked, deciding to channel her inner Haku in this case, as she then whispered "Well...Naruto is technically the last member of two clans. Think about it."

Ayame took a moment to process it and then asked her "Wait...you mean?"

Asuka nodded, and Ayame smiled. While she found the idea of multiple women sharing the same man a bit weird, she felt she probably would be fine with it.

That, and I've heard about much...weirder things Ayame thought, thinking of some of the more...out of the ordinary customers they have had. Plus Naruto was one of the few boys she actually liked.

Naruto then turned towards them as he asked "Wait, what are you two talking about?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Both girls said. However, Teuchi had an...interesting smile on his face. He heard the entirety of their conversation. While he was a bit put off by the idea of his daughter basically joining a harem, to him Naruto was the son he never had. Plus out of all the people he knew, Naruto was the only person he felt he could trust his daughter to. Better him than all those guys that kept hitting on her when she clearly was not interested.

Now if only he could be a little less dense. Gods, it's like watching Minato in his teenage years all over again. Though at least now Naruto's been getting a bit smarter. Teuchi thought to himself. He also took a quick and inconspicuous glance towards one of the nearby trees. He guessed that it was likely one of the Hokage's Anbu watching over the boy, like it was back before the boy officially became a ninja, so he simply let it be.

Of course, said Anbu had noticed said look. She wasn't surprised in the least though. Back when Team Ro was whole, the man had quite literally called them out after Naruto had left and asked if they were going to sit around all day or buy something. After that, none of them could argue that the man had quite the eye.

Behind her mask though, Neko, her real name being Yugao Uzuki, smiled. She was happy that Naruto seemed to be making friends. Of course, she was also one of the few in the know about Asuka's situation. As she had been ordered to watch over Naruto, she had ended up watching over the two's interactions when they were younger. She honestly found it enjoyable...outside of the small thoughts of jealousy she had. But that was more out of how she saw the boy as a little brother...though of course her fiance Hayate would tease her for it. Just the thought of that made her pout for a moment, only to look in the direction of where he was ordered to go, wondering how said man was doing.

Back in the stand, Teuchi then brought over the ramen for Asuka, and set it at the table.

Asuka then used the pair of chopsticks to eat said ramen, at a normal pace and savoring the flavor of the ramen that had tomatoes mixed in with it...unlike Naruto who was basically a ramen vacuum.

Though she did have to say, it was delicious.

Near the Golden Leaf Hotel, Konohagakure, Land of Fire

Meanwhile, Hayate had been keeping an eye on the team from Sand while staying hidden. He could tell the most troublesome member of the bunch was Gaara. After what he did in the stadium, plus the amount of bloodlust the boy held.

If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't know he was the one tail's Jinchuriki. He thought to himself as he watched the boy make his way up onto the roof of the inn. It seemed that the boy decided to wander off from the inside to gaze at the moon.

As to how he knew about the Jinchuriki, well most of the higher ranked ninja had been told at one point about some of the more particular traits some of the Jinchuriki of the past had. One of which was that those who held the Shukaku could use Sand Style Jutsus. And while it may be similar to the Iron Sand style of the Third Kazekage or Gold Dust Style of the current Kazekage, it was much more versatile,being able to even use the minerals in the surroundings as a weapon. It was in fact one of the reasons why Konoha was originally fine with making an alliance with Suna.

After all, when you have a Jinchuriki that can manipulate sand AND their nation was mostly DESERT, invading Suna was up there as one of the dumbest ideas one could do.

In any case though, it's clear the boy is unstable based on what we've seen in the Exams. Just what is the Kazekage thinking? Are they really working with Orochimaru? He thought as he continued to watch over the place.

He then saw the Jonin of the Sand team leave the building. Hayate guessed that if he was going to get any leads, there were only two people of their group that looked well enough in the know. Gaara clearly wasn't mentally stable enough, and the way Kankuro acted he likely couldn't keep secrets. That left Temari and their Jonin, a man named Baki.

In a split second decision, he decided to follow the Jonin, considering he would be higher up in the chain of Suna's command.

And so, he tailed the man to one of the nearby buildings. Baki ended up going to a canopied section on the roof of said building while Hayate hid in the section below, silent as the night and unnoticed.

After waiting for about an hour, clearly to Baki's displeasure, he saw a second ninja appear next to the man. It was none other than Kabuto Yakushi, someone that was already under suspicion as a member of Orochimaru's fold due to the note Naruto had left in the first exam.

"Kabuto." Baki greeted the white haired youth.

"Baki." Kabuto replied back.

"You're late." Baki noted in annoyance.

Kabuto shrugged as he said "Sorry about that. Had to get away from some watchers earlier. Seems they're on to me earlier than we expected."

Baki then spoke "If they're onto you, you do realize that if they learn of our meeting here, our plan to destroy Konoha and afterwards will be ruined, correct?"

A frown appeared on Hayate's face as he thought Dammit. Lord Hokage was right after all. As soon as these two finish up, I'll report back immediately.

Kabuto shrugged as he replied "While not everything is panning out to plan due to one or two...complications, things are still mostly going to schedule."

"Does this have to do with making the Uzumaki fight Gaara instead of Sasuke like you originally planned?" Baki questioned the man.

Kabuto nodded as he then pulled out a scroll to the Sand Ninja and said "Yes, it does. In any case though, here are the plans with the one or two revisions we had in mind. Make sure to pass it along to your subordinates."

Baki simply nodded.

With this, Hayate was sure that he had heard enough and planned to make his escape.

However, luck wasn't quite on his side.

Just as he started to move, he made a slight cough.

Shit! Damn my stupid lung injury! It just had to act up now! He thought in a panic.

Baki and Kabuto looked unperturbed, as they both had suspected that someone would attempt to spy on their little meeting.

"So, do you want me to get rid of our little rat?" Kabuto asked the half masked man.

Baki shook his head as he spoke "No, allow me. I can't let your lot do all the work. And besides...one little mouse is no big deal."

At this point, all three ninja shunshined away from their spots, with two of them reappearing on the tiled roof of one of the nearby buildings. These two were none other than Baki and Hayate.

Baki spoke to the man "Well well well, if it isn't the proctor. What brings you out for a night like this?"

Hayate simply ignored the man attempting to call him out. It was already pointless. If he was noticed on the street or something, it would have been easy to pass off, which was the idea of why he had been originally put on this job. But in this case, he was caught red-handed in spying on the Sand Jonin and Kabuto. Worse off, he could tell the man was at least as fast as him. Hayate wouldn't be able to simply run without the man catching up to him.

Thus he had only one choice in this matter.

"And what are you planning with Sound?" He decided to respond back, putting his free hand on the hilt of the katana that was strapped to his back.

Baki simply spoke back "Considering what you're doing...you should already know."

Hayate then leapt forwards in a blur, drawing his sword out while making several signless Shadow Clones appear.

"Crescent Moon Dance!" Hayate yelled as he and his clones rushed to attack him from three different directions.

Baki however merely made slight movements with his hands in response to the Leaf Jonin's attack.

As a result, two of the blades simply hit what seemed to be thin air, while the third ended up hitting on an armored portion of the sand ninja's shoulder, unable to cut through.

"Impressive. But you'll need to do better than that proctor!" Baki said as he then maneuvered his hands, causing the two clones to be dispelled.

Hayate attempted to jump back, only to notice his own sword was stuck. Baki took advantage of the moment and then sliced the man in two.

However, Hayate simply smirked as he said "I plan on it."

The Hayate in front of him then dispersed in a poof of smoke. Baki smirked as he thought clever. He merely made one of the famous sword techniques of Konoha into a distraction to see what I can do.

Meanwhile, Hayate was hiding behind one of the structures on the building as he analyzed the memories his clones had left him.

Wind style? Crap. This just really isn't my day. Hayate thought to himself. Wind style was the one element that he honestly found annoying to deal with. It made Lightning Release, one of the main jutsu styles he tended to use, ineffective. And moreover, due to the issue with his lungs, he couldn't use fire style jutsus.

Worst of all though, if he attempted to block the wind blades, they would chip away at his sword until it was nothing. Yes it was a good, sturdy blade made of chakra metal, but wind blades could be used as long as they weren't up against a stronger wind user, a fire user, or until the user ran out of chakra.

His eyes then widened as he rolled to the side, dodging a vertical slash of one of the wind blades. He then took the opportunity to slash as the opponent now in front of him. However, the blade was blocked by the second wind blade in baki's other hand.

"Impressive. If I tried to block that with a normal weapon, I wouldn't have been able to block it. And it seems it's chakra metal too since my wind blade isn't instantly cutting through it." Baki sneered.

Hayate gave the man no response as he then used a substitution with a tile behind Baki and attempted to slash the man from the back.

However, Baki managed to block said attack again...only for his eyes to widen when he tried to make his own attack with his other wind blade. In a feat of acrobatics, Hayate ended up dodging the attack with a single jump past the attack and attempted to attack the Sand ninja again.

Only this time when Baki blocked the attack, he was pushed to the side, still on his feet though.

He then looked at the man and noticed that unlike before, Hayate now took a slightly different stance. One in which seemed to be focused on speed.

I can't hold back against this one. He's too experienced in the Wind Blade Jutsu. I just hope I can last long enough… Hayate thought to himself.

However, Baki grinned as he spoke "This is a surprise. To think it's you of all people. Some said you were dead, others retired. But I admit, it's an honor to fight you...Rabbit of ANBU, Sword God of Konoha."

Hayate grimaced. He knew that the style that he shifted to would have made the man recognize him. Back in his days in Anbu, it was the most recognizable thing about him. The sword style he created to work with his speed. And despite how ANBU was meant to work more as a stealth force, he managed to end up in a bingo book or two under his ANBU alias.

"Now then, from one swordsmen to another...let's continue...shall we?" Baki spoke to the ex-Anbu.

And then, in a moment...the two then clashed once more.

Back with Naruto

While the duel was going on, Naruto on the other hand was walking back home. He had a big smile on his face as he thought about how his time with Asuka over at Ichiraku Ramen was honestly quite nice.

Now that she's not pretending to be 'Sasuke' anymore, being with her is a lot nicer now he thought with his hands behind his head.

Maybe it's just because she was trying to NOT be too close to me before as 'Sasuke'.

"Likely, after all I would say she was trying to carry the burden herself and not drag you into it." Minato spoke from within the seal.

The Kyuubi, currently in her humanoid form while in the seal, also added on "Besides that though, just out of my curiosity, you have noticed, right?"

Naruto smirked as he thought-spoke You mean the female Anbu that's been watching over us?

The Kyuubi had to hold in a laugh, as while she knew about that, she was noting something else, but decided to go with "Sure, let's go with that."

Of course Minato facepalmed as he knew exactly what the Kyuubi had meant. He was very much starting to feel that the Kyuubi was right in that his son had somehow inherited whatever denseness he had in his youth.

Might be because he thinks Orochi-Pedo might come after us. Though I don't know why...she feels...I don't know, familiar? Naruto thought-spoke to his tenants.

Minato removed the hand from his face as he spoke back "Well, considering your childhood, Hiruzen probably had some guards protecting you in case things got too much for you to handle."

Naruto then put his left fist into his other hand as he put together and thought Oh you mean li-

However, he was cut off as the Kyuubi spoke "Wait a second...it's too quiet…"

At this, Naruto stopped in his tracks, along with Neko who had just noticed it as well. There was no one currently on the streets at all. Not even any of the small animals or other critters that would wander around the village after dusk.

Naruto then looked around and noticed a seal put into two walls not far in front of him. He walked over to them casually and gave them a glance. Meanwhile, Neko in her cautious curiosity, got closer as to try and inspect the seals as well. It wasn't her forte, but she had been trained to at least recognize the basic functions of different seals.

Naruto then widened his eyes and spoke aloud "Miss Anbu...question?"

The woman stopped in her tracks, before she then sighed and shunshined next to him, now in the open, revealing her to be wearing Anbu based attire, her mask that looked like a cat, and lastly a single katana strapped to her waist, with her purple hair blowing gently in the slight breeze..

"It's Neko. And what is it?" she asked.

"Is there some sort of exercise or something going on?" Naruto asked her, a part of him swearing he recognized her voice in the back of his mind.

"Because these seals act as a barrier to keep sound and smells in and keep chakra flares from being noticed...as well as enticing people to not walk near it." Naruto said as now he and his two tenants were now on high alert.

Neko's eyes behind her mask narrowed, as surely this was the act of an enemy...but then widened as she realized just what was beyond this area.

It was the Golden Leaf Hotel, the area in which Hayate had his current mission.

She then asked him in urgency "Can we get through?"

He nodded as he said "Yeah, its set so that as long people don't notice it, they'll be hit with its effects."

"It's a good thing I managed to get almost all of my fuinjutsu knowledge into you before the exams." Minato spoke, slightly worried as to why such a seal was in the middle of the village.

Neko then made a handsign and summoned a small, black cat that had a Konoha headband around its neck like a collar, and told it "Inform the Hokage that someone has made a privacy seal around HIS mission location. Understood?"

The summon nodded before it then ran in the direction of the Hokage Tower as Naruto and Neko then walked through the barrier, feeling as if they walked through a sort of membrane. Right after they got through though, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he spoke "I smell steel...and blood."

They then saw a figure being sent flying into a building near them. Unlike earlier, his vest was now in shambles, his chest sporting several deep gashes...and now missing an arm. He coughed blood as he impacted the wall...only to then start falling to the floor.

"HAYATE!" Neko yelled as he fell, with Naruto on pure instinct running to catch the man from his fall, skidding across the ground after the man fell onto him.

Neko ran over as well, noticing that Naruto managed to catch him in time. However, considering the severity of his injuries, it was clear an enemy was still nearby, so she tried to home her senses as to where.

The Kyuubi then yelled at the blonde boy "Brat! Tell the woman they're at 2 o'clock!"

"Neko! Two o'clock!" he yelled as he told her the Kyuubi's message. She then jumped up onto the building, only to see a mere glimpse of the figure in a cloud of dust before he disappeared in a shunshin.

Shit, he's gone. She thought. It was clear the man would outrun her at this point. And with that seal still active, reinforcements would likely not get here in time to track the assailant down.

While that happened, Naruto looked at the man now in his arms, and realized exactly who it was. It was the third exam proctor that he had met just earlier.

"N-Naruto?" the man spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, blood flowing from his lips.

However, Naruto's eyes widened, as while he hadn't recognized him before...he did so now, as his mind flashed back to 6 years ago.

Back to one of the few times he barely escaped death.

Kakashi: Well, should have seen this coming since it was in canon

Haku: Though considering Naruto-kun's involvement and his reaction here, likely there's something more to it

Asuka: I just hope it doesn't shake Naruto too much. I know he's been through a lot already...

Ayame: Me too Asuka. Me too.

WVH: He'll be fine probably

Hayate: ...still alive here...dying, but still alive...also WVH, did I at least do a good number on the bastard?

WVH: Oh yes you did. I'll be sure to note it later. Canon did not do you justice in that regard, and I plan to leave Baki at least a few scars from that if I let him live.

Neko: You mean if I let him live. *Glares*

WVH: Just be patient Neko and wait to find out. In any case, thanks to all you wonderful readers for waiting and supporting the series. Be sure to R&R and come back next time! Also before anyone asks, yes he'll be getting summons, and no, its not the toads. So see you th-

A bunch of random characters: HEY! WRITE THE STUFF FOR OUR STORIES ALREADY DAMMIT!

WVH: Oh shit gotta run BYYYYEEEEEEEE! *runs from the angry mob*