Santoryu no Naruto

Professor King

Summary: Naruto stumbles across the resting place of one Roronoa Zoro while skipping school one day, and begins to learn the art of the Santoryu: Three Sword Style from a scroll left by Zoro before he died. Taking on the man's dream (and reading about the adventures he faced with his captain and his crew), Naruto comes to realize the importance of Nakama far before the Wave mission, and everything changes.

Line Break: Chapter Number (Ex: One, Two, Three, etc.)

One

Chapter One – Presence

One

"Ooouuhwaa~" Uzumaki Naruto grinned at the sky with his fingers interlaced behind his head. Today was going to be a good day, he just knew it! He'd decided not to go to the academy today, and had taken a walk in the forest atop Hokage Mountain after pulling a prank to escape his pursuers.

It was such a beautiful day today that Naruto had gotten sidetracked, and begun cloud watching as he wandered between the great boughs of the forest. Not paying attention to his feet, it came as a surprise to the nine year old blonde when, upon putting his next foot forward, there was nothing beneath it to support him.

With a startled cry he fell, tumbling down a muddy slope and into a fast-flowing creek with a mighty 'Splash!'

If one were to have passed by the creek by some happenstance, they would have come across a mass of orange cloth, unconscious and floating face-up in the tumultuous waters of the creek.

One

When Naruto came-to, the sun had fallen below the horizon and the sky was bright with stars. Naruto had seen his fair share of the heavens before, laying atop the Yondaime's head in nights of melancholy, but never had he seen a sky as bright as this once night had fallen.

Away from the night time lights and activities of Konoha, the stars had the most brilliant glow to them, twinkling so far above his head, taunting him with their freedom.

The sky was so beautiful that Naruto nearly forgot that he had absolutely no clue where he was. Propping himself up on his elbow, his grimaced in disgust at the heavy weight of his clothing. Checking himself over in the light of the stars, Naruto's grimaced disgusted grimace turned to a scowl of frustration.

His favourite orange jacket had been entirely soaked through and torn excessively. With a sigh, he shrugged it off and left it on the rocky plateau upon which he stood. No more than thirty feet in front of him was a cliff face, the walls spreading out behind him on either side. It seemed like the creek flowed into a deep ravine somewhere along the way, and he'd ended up at the bottom.

Wearing nothing but his orange trousers (which were nearly two sizes too large) and a tight-fitting black tank that clung to him uncomfortably, Naruto began to shiver slightly in the frigid night air.

Rubbing his arms to try and warm them up, Naruto looked around as his vision slowly got accustomed to the darkness of the chasm. As his eyes wandered from left to right, Naruto passed over the cliff face before him once more and did a double-take.

There was something there.

Inching closer, Naruto walked up to the cliff face with slow, unsure steps, until he was no more than a couple of feet away from it. With squinted eyes, Naruto came to the startling realization that he was staring at a tomb.

Carved out of the wall was a massive block of marble, almost as high as Naruto was tall.

'Here lies Roronoa Zoro,

Nakama,

Friend,

First Mate,

Greatest swordsman who ever lived.'

The inscription was simple, but its words sent shivers running up and down his spine. With cautious steps, Naruto approached the marble tomb, brushing his hands against the immaculately carved inscription.

Just as Naruto's fingers passed over the man's name, Roronoa Zoro, there was a flash of light that temporarily blinded him. The words began to shine with a blue, otherworldly light and an unnatural breeze began to whip itself up in the bottom of the ravine.

Water began to crash forcefully against the rock walls, creating a misty spray that hung heavy in the air.

Naruto opened his eyes and watched with slack lips as the blue light began to dance through the mist, whirling and swirling together until, impossibly, a figure appeared in the light.

He was corporeal, but Naruto could feel the power of his presence. This was the kind of man who could walk into a hall filled with Kings and have everyone's attention on him from the moment he stepped foot in the room.

This was the kind of man Naruto wanted to become.

This was, Naruto knew without a doubt, Roronoa Zoro.

The man didn't move, his arms crossed, back straight, and head tilted towards the moon, but Naruto could tell that the man's single eye was trained on him.

And then the man smiled.

In the blink of an eye, the mist and light were gone, as if they were nothing more than an illusion, a trick of the mind. With shaking hands, Naruto realized that where before there had been nothing at the foot of the tomb, there were now five objects.

Naruto approached them with fire in his eyes; A simple scroll, with green caps and a white middle, yet huge, over half of Naruto's height and weighing nearly thirty pounds. A bandana, green as the forest and battle-worn, tied around the scroll's middle to hold it closed. And, Naruto noted with a combination of excitement, confusion, and trepidation; three swords, rather like the katana he had seen some of the village's Shinobi using.

His hands shaking, Naruto clumsily undid the bandana and slipped it into the pocket of his pants.

Unfurling the massive scroll, Naruto came upon something that would forever change his life.

'Santoryu; the Three Sword Style, by Roronoa Zoro.'

'Nami's been pestering me about passing on my teachings to the next generation, yet I find nobody with the determination or the heart to truly learn the art of my blades; only the greed. So, I leave my teachings here, in the hopes that one day there will be someone worthy to carry on the will of my blades.

To understand the way I fight, you must first understand me. Since childhood, it has been my greatest dream to be recognized as the Greatest Swordsman in the World. This dream began with a girl named Kuina, who promised me (and I her) that someday one of us would be the Greatest Swordsman in the World. Not a day later, Kuina was dead, and I made my duty and dream to fulfill our promise.

I have succeeded; my dream is fulfilled. There are none in the world who can claim to challenge me in the art of the blade, and I fear that I will one die without passing on my title.

Reader, you have come across the Kenjutsu that made me the most feared swordsman who ever lived. Use it wisely and with purpose as I did; to protect my Nakama and their dreams.

The Santoryu was created by myself when I was still a child, and believed that the more blades I used, the more damage they did. I now know that these were the foolish ideas of a child, but the style has nonetheless led me to my title.

Much of the training for the Santoryu employs the strengthening of the neck and jaw muscles, as well as the arms and torso. This is entirely due to the fact that the Santoryu requires the use of one Daito Katana in each hand, and the third to be held in your mouth.'

It was here that Naruto had to momentarily stop reading, his young mind trying to process the image of the man he'd seen earlier holding a wicked blade in each hand, and a third in between his teeth.

He shuddered. The image was terrifying.

Then… another thought came to Naruto. What if, instead of picturing Zoro with his three blades… what if it was him.

Naruto couldn't stop grinning. Nobody would be able stop him from becoming Hokage if he became the Greatest Swordsman in the World.

… but… wouldn't be really un-Hokage-like if he forced himself into the position? The Old Man often told Naruto that he saw everyone in the village as members of his family, and Zoro spoke of using his blades to protect his Nakama, and their dreams…

If Naruto was honest with himself, that… that sounded really cool. It sounded like the kind of thing you'd hear from those action heroes on the radio, something Naruto had wanted to emulate since he was a child.

Even though he didn't have Nakama, he'd just have to make them! He'd have to show people that he was worthy, worthy of being their friend and worthy of learning Zoro's teachings.

He'd show them all!

One

This is it, the first installment of Santoryu no Naruto. Kind of inspired by Rokushiki no Naruto and another OPxNaruto Xover where Naruto finds the Thousand Sunny and eats the Ope Ope no Mi, but I forgot the Title…

Anyhow, we're going to have a Zoro-like Naruto, but only slightly. He is still Naruto, no matter how much the stories that he'll read of the Straw Hat Pirates' adventures will change him.

Alright, King out!