Chapter 3:

Naruto stood before Yahiko with a light in his eyes that showed his excitement. "Now to begin with I want you to do three thousand swings before lunch and then after lunch I want you to do another eight thousand. This may seem excessive but I am training you the same way that the Jigen-ryu users train," Naruto nodded and got too it with gusto.

By the time lunch rolled around the young boy was exhausted and Yahiko asked if he wanted to call it a day, the samurai thinking that the young boy would take the opportunity, but he was pleasantly surprised at the determined glint his eyes. "No Way Yahiko-sensei, I don't give up its against my own personal Bushido" this got a bright smile out of the boys teacher as the child began his eight thousand swings to finish his training schedule.

7 YEARS LATER

The dojo was filled with sounds of wooden thwacks and meaty smacks; if anyone had looked inside they would have seen a young boy of twelve facing off against an older man of twenty-five. "Shinjitsu no pointo" (point of truth) cried the preteen as he lunged at his sensei, which was parried with a well timed downward swing. The older samurai smiled at the skill of his student as he sent a horizontal swing towards his student's middle only for the young boy to bring up his sword in an arc to disarm his cocky sensei. "Shin no hōhō" (true way) the boy took a step forward bringing the sword across his body and smacking his sensei in the chest with his bokken.

Naruto was breathing heavy that spar had gone on for an hour and the preteen was near his limit. This was a test to see if he had achieved mastery of the Shinjitsu-ryu. While he had defeated his sensei that didn't mean he was a master of the style, the boy waited with baited breathe as he look to his teacher who was getting up, he had been knocked down by the sword strike his student had landed on him. Yahiko stood before his student and smiled.

"Naruto, today I am proud to say that you have achieved mastery in a style that many have trained and given up on," the teacher walked to the one of the corners of the dojo where there leaned a slim box, one that usually held swords, "Naruto to award you for achieving mastery I bequeath onto you a sword that was wielded by the creator of our style, the Shin no ken, a sword made from the most potent of chakra metals. As of today it is yours," and with that the smiling teacher opened the box to reveal a beautifully crafted white katana, meaning that the hilt and scabbard were white and along the guard was the kanji for truth, it was a true masterpiece of smiting. Naruto gingerly took it in his hands and drew it. The steel made a beautiful humming as it was drawn from the scabbard. The blade was made of glowing white steel; Yahiko explained that the sword glowed because of the chakra in the boy's body.

Naruto did a few practice swings and found that the sword was feather light, if he didn't know any better he'd think that he was swinging a shinai and not a full blown sword. He turned and smiled at his teacher and friend "Thanks Yahiko-sensei, this really means a lot to me" his smile could light up the night.

"Your most welcome Naruto-kun now why don't you go get ready for your meeting with your dad and you can tell him all about our spar" Yahiko looked as the young boy bowed and ran out of the room at full speed which could put some of those ANBU to shame, which caused the black haired man to smile. No matter what path the boy chose he would change the world.

Mifune was sitting in his office doing paperwork, a dubious task, the pain of which he shared with his friend Hiruzen, when he heard a knock at the door. The old samurai told the person to enter, and as he looked up he smiled as he saw his visitor was his son. Naruto stood before his father in a simple kimono, consisting of dark blue top and white pants, but what caught the boy's father's attention was the white katana in the boy's belt.

"You wished to see me father?" asked the boy as he bowed towards the old general. "Yes, it has come to my attention that Konoha is having their graduation exam and I was wondering whether or not you had made up your mind." The old man looked at his son as he finished his sentence and was pleased to see a look of contemplation on his sons face. You see Yahiko and Mifune told Naruto about his past two years ago and started training him in a few ninja trick. They even told him about his father and the Kyuubi, and Mifune was proud of his son when he took it in stride and took to training as a ninja as he did a samurai, absorbing it all knowing that it may help him in battle later in life.

A year ago Mifune had asked his son if he wanted to try to become a ninja, the first question Naruto asked was if he became a ninja would he have to give up being a samurai; Mifune immediately reminded him that a true samurai was always a samurai in their heart even if they weren't in their profession. And now his son stood as a master of one of the more difficult sword styles in the Land of Iron thinking about whether or not to follow in his birth parents footsteps. "I think I will father, when will we leave?" replied Naruto after a few moments of contemplation. "We will leave in the morning and we will arrive the day before the exam which will give you a chance to get settled in the village, now go pack." Replied the boy's father as said boy bowed and exited his father's office.

As Naruto entered his room and began packing his things he looked out his window and ideally wondered if Konoha had a place to buy bonsai trees. He had come in to the hobby after admiring the tree on his father's desk; Mifune had told his sin it was a gift from a friend of his. Naruto went and asked this friend all he knew of bonsai and in those questions Naruto gained a teacher that taught him a skill that will stay with him long after his body is able to fight. Naruto went to bed after finishing packing and saying good bye to his friends he had made in his village.

The next morning Mifune, Yahiko, Naruto and a few cursory guards left the Land of Iron and headed for Konoha and with each step they came closer and closer to changing not only the world of the shinobi but the samurai world as well.

A/N: I hope you like it. I will be hopefully be introducing Naruto's love interest in the next chapter if you guess it right I will dedicate the next chapter to you…I have already given you a massive hint!

Please Review!

Until Next Time:

Dragon Vongola