Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters present in said manga, all of that is property of Masashi Kshimoto.
Samurai over Ninja
Prologue:
The office was silent, only the birds were heard through the open window. Hiruzen Sarutobi was worried, sitting in front of him was a little kid in complete silence, the old man never thought he would use the words naruto and silent in the same sentense, but here was naruto, his spiky blond hair, his cerulean blue eyes and his whiskered like face devoid of any sound. The village leader opened his box of tobacco tha was on the table and filled his pipe, the tension was getting to him so a good smoke was in order. He caught a matchbox, lighted his pipe and took a long breath of tobacco, letting his thoughts wonder for a moment, he really didn't know how to start this conversation, he was expecting the boy's usual rutine, running to the chair, grinning and loudly calling him jiji; but instead the boy just walked silently with a serious expression on his face and sat up calling him Lord Hokage. That were a lot of bad signs and with that in mind, Sarutobi decided to greet the boy and discover the reasons for this unexpected behavior: ¨Hello little Naruto, i'm very glad to see you. But i sense some distress in you, may i ask what's dwelling in your mind?¨. The boy, than until that moment was staring at the floor,lifted his head to look at the old man and with a resigned look answered: ¨Hello Lord Hokage, i... mmm was thinking about what to do for a living when i grow up¨, ¨But i thought you wanted to be a ninja?¨, interrupted Sarutobi with a hint of concern in his voice. ¨Yes, i wanted to be a ninja, but i did some research on ninjas and what was the people expect of them, and there are some assinanomentsthat i will not be able to complete¨. ¨Assignments, Naruto, and what kind of these you feel you can't complete?¨. ¨Assassinations¨, replied the blond in less than a second, taking sarutobi by surprise. The leader of the village hidden in the leaves paused, pondering how the blonde knew about thise missions, since it was something that for obvious reasons kept out of the public knowlegde. But after some consideration decided that it didn't matter and continue with the conversation: ¨I see... Well Naruto, not every ninja must go the same path, you can be a ninja without taking those kind of missions, after all the main role that ninja plays is to protect the village¨. ¨And that's the other problem, Lord Hokage, why should i protect this village?, when the people in it despise me and i don't even know why!. I decided that i want to leave this place and since i'm an orphan i want your permision to enroll the land of fire samurai academy, and see if i can find there a place to call home¨.
After that outburst, the silence came back full force, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was at lost for words, finally what he was fearing was coming to reality, the kid got fed up with the people's hate, and even if Naruto wasn't looking for revenge, something that was showing the strong will he possesed, he wanted to leave the village and get a life away from it. The Yondaime's legacy didn't want anything to do with the village hidden in the leaves. Sarutobi was ashamed of himself, for not being able to make the kid feel at home in his village, but he was double ashamed of the people of his village, for letting ignorance and hurt blind them and use the kid as a scapegoat. He couldn't sacrifice Naruto for the village anymore, the villagers didn't deserve it, the time has come to unveil some truths and do something good for the kid. A letter to the Land of iron was send the same afternoon, a council meeting planned in 3 weeks should be enough to send the kid away and stop any attemp of meddling from Danzo, and to tell the ninja council just who Naruto really was, since the land of iron was a neutral nation, there was not risk in sharing the boy's parents anymore. In a week, the Kyubi's vessel will be travelling to the land of iron to become a samurai, after telling Naruto to come back in 3 days to set his schedule and dismissing him, the boy left with a little smile and after closing the door, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt tears running down his cheeks, he has failed his promise to the best Hokage the village ever had and the embodiment of the will of fire will be lost, a sad evening indeed.
Two days later, the Fire Daymio got a letter from the hokage explaining the situation developed with the kyubi's jinchuriiki, and the safeguard measure Hiruzen was proposing. The leader of the Land of Fire considered for a couple of minutes and decided to accept the hokage's proposition, the moral fiber the boy posssesed was ideal in a soldier with the mission to defend him and his people, in four or five years Uzumaki Naruto will be ready to be part of the Daymio's guard, a little retribution for the heroics of his father.
Meanwhile, a little red toad jumped to the hokage's desk with a scroll from one of his students. Hiruzen took it and read the news: ¨Sensei, i was tracking Orochimaru and discovered that he has joined an organization called Akatsuki. There's not much information on this group, but rumors said that they have at last 6 people, all ninjas of S class rank. I'll try to get more info on them, but i can tell you that an association of those characteristics will bring a lot of trouble for us in the future. Anyway i'll keep you updated¨. The old man sighed, more problems in the making. Taking a scroll to write a reply he adressed the little toad: ¨Gamakichi, thanks for the information, i'll write a reply for Jiraiya, could you please take it to him?¨, ¨Of course, hokage sama¨, said the little toad. In his note, Hiruzen decided to explain to Jiraiya the new future decided for his godson, he knew that his pupil would be really angry with the news, but hopefully with the help of the Daymio, the boy will get a better chance of a normal life.
And 3 days later, Naruto was leaving the village in a trip to the Land of Iron to start his training, escorted by the Daimyo's personal guard and with only 3 people knowing of his whereabouts, the hokage, old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame, the ramen stand couple that always treated him good.
Finally, at the council meeting, the old man made his last move: ¨Now that we are all here, i have an announcement to make. The last 8 years i was leading this village with the hope to get back the stability we had before the kyubi incident. I can say now that we are coming near to that point, with that in mind i decided that my time as hokage should come to an end, and before any of you decide to interrupt me, my reasons to step down are as follows:
1.- I retook the mantle only because there's was nobody else ready at that moment, but now with 8 years passed, that's not true.
2.- Not only i'm old, but i found myself dissapointed and ashamed of the people of this village, people that let his ignorance and hurt influence his actions to the point that they consider a poor boy as scapegoat. I will not lead, nor will i put my life in the line for people like that. I would like to suggest to the next hokage to disband the civilian council, these kind of people dont deserve any kind of representation.
I have a final announcement for the ninjas only so if the civilian council has nothing to add i'll ask you to leave, please¨.
The entire council was speechless, nobody expected this development, the civilians were pale, they knew they only had a voice in the village's affairs because Hiruzen promoted it, but now even he was calling to cut that right from them. The ninja side got a solemn look, but some were showing a light smirk and nodding, clearly concurring with Hiruzen's last suggestion. With nothing to add, the civilians left the room and the old man adressed the ninjas in his last action as hokage: ¨Now that we are alone i must inform you two things. First, it's time to clarify the origins of one Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sure most of you deduced that his mother was Kushina, so i'll just tell you that you are right, and his father was none other than Minato Namikaze, our Yondaime Hokage. Second, under orders of the Fire Daymio, and considering the threatment the boy was subjected here, Naruto Uzumaki was recruted for the Daymio's guard and left Konoha 2 weeks ago, here is the letter with the orders. Now i'll sugest Tsunade or Jiraiya as next Hokage, but of course this council can pick another candidates too, that's all¨. And with that bomb, Hiruzen Sarutobi left the room, full of shocked ninjas.
A week later, the civilian side of the council was disbanded and Shimura Danzo was appointed as Godaime Hokage. Under his rule, the village suffered an inside conflict that decimated the ninja forces, the Uchiha clan, except for Mikoto and her sons Itachi and Sasuke (they asked for asylum at the Inuzuka's land), a quarter of the civilian population, and almost half of the rest of the prominent clans were lost in the struggle, all in just half a year. With the dead of Danzo and the elders, the fire Daymio recalled Tsunade and Jiraiya, and appointed Tsunade as Rokudaime Hokage.
Now, 4 years after his departure from Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki is traveling to the capital of the Land of Fire, to join the Daymio's guard, and we will follow him in his adventures as Samurai.
AN: Welcome everyone to Samurai over Ninja. I always thought that Naruto's personality didn't fit for a ninja, add to that the little we know about the samurai of the Land of Iron, and this idea came to me. Next chapter will be about Naruto's first assignment as Samurai.