Wow, I'm updating this one fast. I really have so many ideas for this story, that's why it's coming along so nicely. Please read and review so I know how I'm doing! Now, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer no Jutsu: Don't own Naruto or any of the characters, Shouyou Sugi is mine though, so don't touch!

Chapter 3: Onward to the Ninja Academy!

The forest: The most peaceful place in Konoha. The animals and trees are all perfectly tuned into the rhythm of nature. Early morning is best, of course, the birds are just waking up, the dew on the trees make them shimmer under the rising sun, orange-clad ninja brats are yelling at their elderly mentors...yes, all was right with the world.

"Come on Gramps, teach me something!" A ill tempered Naruto stood in a clearing on the outskirts of town. His teacher, one Shouyou Sugi, was trying his best not to snap the boy's neck in frustration.

"Look kid, you don't even know how to handle a sword and you want me to teach you some fancy move! First you've got to get comfortable with your weapon, it's your life remember?" Sugi said. Naruto remembered, he had spent all night and the better part of the morning reading about samurai history.

"Now, take this..." The old man tossed a wooden sword to the frustrated blonde, "And I'll teach you some basic Kenjutsu moves." Naruto couldn't help but smile. Catching the sword, he found it to be much heavier than he expected and had to use both hands to hold it.

"Uggg...Hey Gramps, this thing weighs to much!" The five year old struggled to keep the sword upright. It was wood, but the end of the hilt had a plug in it. Before he could examine it more closely, he heard chuckling coming from his 'sensei'.

"Of course it does, it's a training bokuden I made myself. The end has a hole where you can fill it with sand, which it is now. It's the best way to gain muscle strength in your arms! Once I feel you have a good grasp on the art, I'll give you a real bokuden and the actual training can begin." He walked over to the boy and corrected the way he was holding the wooden sword. Once corrected, he stepped back and took up an identical stance with his weapon. "Ok, kid, come at me."

"Heh, sure thing, Gramps!" Naruto charged like a bull at the elderly man. Flailing about like he was swinging a piñata, the young blonde didn't notice the subtle movements the senior samurai was making in response to his assault. Barley moving, the old man misdirects each thrust and swing, never actually having to stop Naruto's blade. Getting frustrated, Naruto tries a overhead chop. Sugi sighs and drives the hilt of his bokuden into his students exposed stomach, driving the air from his lungs. Doubling over, Naruto coughs and sputters.

"Don't get so mad, kid. You've got to be calm and collected during battle if you ever want to be a samurai. You can get mad and frustrated once the fight's over. It's the way of the samurai, you have to separate the two attitudes." He helps the winded boy back up to his feet before taking up the stance once again. "Now, calm down and try to hit me." This time, Naruto breathes deeply before taking up the same stance, this time without guidance. He and his elderly teacher stare at each other for a few moments before the small blonde yells and thrusts at his sensei. The old man smiles and knocks the blade away once again, but Naruto whips the sword back around and makes the older man actually stop the blow. He smiles at his young charge before sliding his blade down and hitting the boys hand to make him drop his bokuden.

"Oww! That's cheating, old man!" Naruto whines as he shakes his sore hand in the air. He narrows his eyes at the grinning senior.

"Not in the least. You have to watch for things like that to make sure a less than honorable opponent doesn't do the same. Understand, hardly anyone you're going to fight in your life will play by the rules of combat, you have to learn to deal with people like that so you don't end up dead." He stops for a moment and pats the boy on his head. "You did better that time though, I actually had to block your attack." The young boy smiled before puffing out his chest.

"Of course you did! I'm the great Naruto Umaza...OWW!" The boy stopped mid-boast due to the blunt end of a bokuden impacting on his head.

"Don't get cocky, kid. You've got a loooooong way to go before you're anything other than a kid with a stick." The old man chided. "Now, that I know what you can do, lets run though your first basic kata." The two warriors squared off as the old man barked out orders to his young charge. Unknown to either of them, a pair of eyes was watching the entire procession from behind a white mask...

Later, at the Hokage Tower

Walking quietly, yet briskly, towards the Hokage's office, a masked ANBU member nodded to a secretary. He didn't have to be searched or checked simply because he was ANBU. Knocking on the door, he waited for an answer.

"Who is it? Come in." Came the reply. Heading in, the masked ninja stepped towards the large wooden desk of the Sandaime Hokage. The old man in question was puffing on his pipe as he signed various documents.

"Hokage, I'm here to make my weekly report." Said the ANBU member.

"Ah, of course. Good to see you again, Inoshi. How's your wife and daughter?" Sandaime asked the ANBU named Inoshi.

"Oh, their both well, Hokage-sama. It's Ino's birthday this week, she'd turning six." Inoshi replied.

"Ah, the newest group of ninja's are going up so fast. Now, how is Naruto doing?" Inoshi winced at the name of the boy. It had been the Third's idea to set a ANBU member to write up a report on the demon child once a week. Inoshi had been unlucky, his turn came up the same week his daughter had her birthday. He wasn't getting to spend that much time with his family, and he'd get to spend even less time once his daughter started konoichi training. Even less appealing was the fact that she'd be in the same class as the Uzumaki kid once they all started at the Academy in a few weeks.

"Well, there was an incident the other day." He watched as the Third's eyebrows furrowed. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he was so interested in the Uzumaki brat, but he was only a lowly ANBU member, nothing he could do other than do his job. He could, however, skirt the issue and keep his wife and daughter out of trouble. "He caused a scene at the park and was chased out by some of the villagers. ANBU broke up the crowd and I followed the boy." Of course the Third knew this was a lie. He knew that Naruto had done nothing wrong and that Inoshi was protecting his wife. Sarutobi had watched the entire event on his jutsu-warded crystal ball. He was actually happy that the young Ino had been so kind to Naruto. It wasn't until Yuriko, Ino's mother, had intervened did things get bad for Naruto. After Naruto ran out of the park, Sarutobi stopped watching and headed out to talk to the ANBU on guard, he would at least make sure the nothing like this would happen again. He was about to let Inoshi leave when the ANBU continued with his report to the surprise of the Third, he didn't know anything else interesting had happened to the boy.

"After the boy left, he ran into a drunkard that was chased out of a bar. He took the man to his apartment and there he stayed the night. He was quite old and I believe he was a samurai." This caught the Third's attention. It was big news when a samurai came to Fire Country. "They left early this morning and headed out of town to the forest. It appears the boy is getting lessons from the man in return for room and board. From what I have already gathered, the man's name is Shouyou Sugi, a ronin from the south. From what I have seen, his skills are Chuunin-level at best."

"I see..." Sarutobi was pleased with this development but yet, apprehensive. Hadn't Naruto had his heart set on being a ninja? I doubt that boy has given up...it's good he has a teacher though, I was worried his skills wouldn't be up to grade the way he was being treated at school. Now, it should be interesting to see how his being trained by a samurai will effect his ninja training..."Keep me informed of this situation, understood? Good work, Inoshi, you're dismissed. Give my regards to Yuriko and Ino." The Sandaime Hokage went back to his paperwork as Inoshi bowed and headed out of the Hokage's office. Damn demon brat, now I have even more work thanks to him and that ronin. Cursing under his breath, Inoshi headed home for the night and away from a anxious Sandaime...

Several Weeks Later...

And so the days passed for the village of Konoha. The young Naruto advanced in his training up to the point where he would enroll in the Ninja Academy. It was on the eve of his sixth birthday that was the day before he starts, that is where we find him and the old ronin...

"Yeah! Tomorrow I start being a ninja!" Yelled a hyper Naruto. It had been six weeks since his new roommate/unofficial guardian, Shouyou Sugi, had joined him. Now the old man was more of a Grandfather than employee to the young blonde. His sword skills had come along better than either of them had predicted, in a few more weeks, Sugi would move him into chakra control. That would put him several months ahead of his classmates. All of that was forgotten today though, for this was the day Naruto turns six and one day before he heads off for full-time ninja training.

"A ninja, eh? Already tired of trying to become a samurai, are we?" Said the old man between gulps of root beer. Such a poor substitute for the real thing, oh the things I do for this kid...

"No, I like the whole samurai idea, it's a really good way to go and I intend to use it first and foremost." Naruto said as he took a bite of cake. The training had been rough for the young demon vessel. He still had his weighted bokuden but he did know several kata's by heart. What would one expect from someone who spent almost every waking moment practicing. Even the old man was having trouble keeping up. Sugi enjoyed the time the kid spent at school each day, it was the only time he had to drink/rest. Every other moment was taken up with training. Now that his charge was taking off to the ninja academy, he was sure it would take-up a large portion of the blonde's energy, giving Sugi more time to rest. If things kept going the way they were, he'd be dead from exhaustion by the end of the year!

"That's good to hear. Now, how do you plan to mix the two styles?" He was referring to Naruto's goal of using both samurai and ninja training. Although he never tried it, others had...and failed miserably.

"Well, I would think Kenjutsu would classify as a kinda Taijutsu. I'd use it as main means of attack and use ninjitsu for long range stuff and other skills." Naruto replied as he cut another piece of cake. Sugi nodded, impressed with the idea.

"That might work kid. It's not like the type of Kenjutsu I'll teach you doesn't have long range attacks though. Ninjitsu would definitely help with sneaking around or getting out of tight spots. It also will give you a wider variety of attacks to use. Some of those jutsu tricks are pretty nice." Another cup of root beer fell victim to the samurai's ravenous thirst. "Ah, now it's time to open presents, kid." Sugi said as he pulled out a long box from it's hiding place under the couch. Smiling, the old man sets the heavy box down on the table he and his charge are sitting at.

"All right! Thanks Gramps!" Naruto yells before ripping into the wrapping paper. Wrapped up is a shiny box of dark wood. It's curved and polished. There is a gold dragon carved into the wood with the symbols for "Flow" and "Power" also carved on the surface. Blinking, Naruto opens the top of the box and nearly falls over. Inside is a polished wood bokuden. About four feet in length, it has a pearl-white handle with the same dragon design carved into it. On the bottom of the hilt is the symbol for "Loyalty" carved into it. Naruto took it out of it's velvet box and drew into a combat stance once he got up from the table. It weighed much less than his practice bokuden. Without a doubt, it was the nicest thing he owned.

"Hope you like that, kid. It was my first actual sword. You'll get a real one I 'graduate' you and deem you a proper samurai, until then, this is your weapon. It's lasted me for over fifty years and hasn't chipped once, so I don't think you can hurt it. It's called 'Yori', means 'dependence.' You'll be depending on this sword until you earn your first real sword, so take care of it." Sugi could see that the kid liked it. He was still staring at the hilt of the sword when a knock on the door startled them both.

"What the heck? I never have visitors." Naruto was a bit mithed at having his birthday interrupted. He put Yori back in its case and headed over to the door as Sugi stole a bit of cake. "Yeah, what do you...want?" Standing on the other side of the door was none other than the Sandaime Hokage.

"Hello Naruto, having a good birthday?" Said a smiling Sarutobi.

"Old man! You remembered? I thought for sure you'd be at the Kyuubi festival." Naruto said, startled. The six year old happily motioned for the elderly Hokage to come in.

"I can't stay I'm afraid. As you say, the festival is going on and I have to make an appearance. I mearly came by to see how you are doing and to give you a gift." Naruto lit up at the mention of another gift.

"Ah, it's ok. You're a busy guy so it must be a bother to even get enough free time to see me like it is." The third blinked. Since when did Naruto start to think things through?

"Ah, yes, it's as you say. I hear you have a houseguest, how is he doing?" The Third asked.

"Oh, you mean Sugi? He's probably stuffing his face with MY CAKE AS WE SPEAK." At the accusation, they both heard muffled gagging and a fork drop to the floor along with a strained response of 'am not' coming from a choking Sugi.

"Ah, that's good. You start at the Academy tomorrow, correct? I think you'll like your teacher. Iruka is always a favorite of the students." Hearing fireworks in the distance, the Third sighs and smiles at Naruto before handing him a gift bag. "Unfortunately, I have to be going. I hope these things are to your taste. Have a happy birthday Naruto and have a good first day at the Academy." With a puff of smoke, the Sandaime Hokage gone. Dang, I really wish I knew how he did that... Naruto closed the door and headed back over to dinner table where he set his gift bag.

"So, that was the Sandaime Hokage? He's as old as I am, you really need some younger friends." Sugi said as he chugged yet another root beer. "So, what did you get?"

Naruto shrugged and opened the bag. He pulled out a headband, a set of weighted bracers, blue shorts that would come down past the knees, and a blue vest with fishnet sleeves. The white headband had one red character for "River" offset in the middle. Sugi looked it all over and whistled.

"That old guy has some taste. The bracers are especially nice, they'll help with your training." He said as he looked them over.

"Yeah, but how did he know? I haven't seen him in weeks..." That the Third knew about his samurai training was unsettling to say the least.

"Eh, don't worry about it. He's the Hokage right? It's his job to know these things. More importantly, you need to go to sleep early tonight, right? Big day tomorrow." He knew he was being watched by several high-level ninja every time they trained, he would have to find some way to remedy that once he started teaching his young ward the more advanced samurai techniques. Maybe that Hokage could help with that?

"Yeah, I guess. I don't wanna fall asleep in class the first day." Naruto replied with a foxy grin. After a celebratory last cup of birthday ramin before turning with one blonde samurai-in-training dreaming of becoming Hokage...

The Next Morning...

"Got your kunai knives? Spare Shrunken? Bokuden?" Asked a still half-asleep Sugi.

"Yes, yes, and yes. Geez, don't worry so much. No way I'm going to let this day get messed up for me because I forgot something!" Naruto said proudly. The six year old was finally going to start off to the Academy today. Having been up half the night from sheer excitement, Naruto had laid out all his ninja equipment and gave it all a thorough cleaning then started on his new bokuden until he woke up Sugi who promptly took over the preparation.

"Oh really? You've got everything under control, huh?" Seeing Naruto nod, the man snickered. "So, you're going to head off to your first day in your boxers?" Naruto looked down at himself, in his hurry he had indeed forgotten the shorts the Hokage had given him. One quick curse/pair of shorts later, Naruto once again stood ready by the front door. He had on his 10lb bracers the Hokage had given him along with his blue vest and shorts. His kunai pouch strapped around his waist while his Shrunken were on their belt strapped around his left arm. His white-handled bokuden, Yori, was tied to his back since he was too short to wear it at his side. The old man sat up from his 'bed' and looked the boy over.

"Well, if no one knew better, they might actually think you were an actual ninja and not some green kid." A string of bit-off curses and loud laughter filled the apartment. "In all seriousness kid, I want to talk to you about something." Sugi's tone dropped into a serious one that told Naruto to listen up. "Ok, I'm going to be honest with you here. At your level of Kenjutsu training, you can probably hold your own with any of the other trainee's out there. The first day is probably what your teacher is going to use to gage your talent, be sure to try your best. A definite pecking order will start to form and trust me, you'll want to be on the top. Of course, that would draw a bit of attention to you, so you might want to keep a low profile. Don't hold anything back fighting though, use everything I've taught you and don't be ashamed of your samurai training, ok?"

"Yeah, sure thing Gramps. No way will I let anyone say anything bad about Bushido!" Naruto flashed another fox-like grin before he headed out the door. Sugi could see him run down the stairs that lead to the street and ultimately to the Ninja Academy. Ha, that kid is going to split that place wide-open today. Sugi felt a bit sorry for the hell his ward would cause, but shrugged it off as divine karma for the way the kid had been treated throughout the years. Guess I should go see that Hokage guy about getting those ANBU off our back... The old man sighed before dressing and heading off himself, only his destination was the highest seat of office in the land...

Next time on Bushido no Jutsu: Naruto meets up with some familiar faces as two old men talk about a certain blonde demon vessal. And hey, is that the girl who lost the red ball all those chapters ago! All this and a Sasuke/Naruto fight during the next chapter, "Rivals and Ridicule", see ya there!