Here goes chapter three.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto cause' if I did I'd be swimming in money while yelling: "I'M RICH BTCH!"

SPOILER ALERT:

IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO DATE ON THE LATEST MANGA CHAPTERS AND DON'T WANT ANY SPOILERS THEN DON'T READ.

"Hello" character speaking.

'Hello' character thinking.

"HELLO" character yelling aloud

'HELLO' character yelling in his/her mind

LEGEND

PART 1, CHAPTER 3: HIKO SEIJURO! (AKA: ERO-RONIN!)

Inside of a dark cave a meeting of an organization comprised of the most feared S class criminals in the continent was taking place. Nine shadowy figures were standing in a circle and silence reigned amongst them until a spiky haired figure spoke.

"Your pawn failed to acquire Konoha's Scroll of Forbidden Jutsu, Itachi-san."

"……" Silence was the only answer.

"Not only that but the fact that it was the Kyubi jinchuuruki and left Konoha."

"Yeah, weasel-kun, that looser you chose messed up big time, yeah"

"……"

"That's enough Deidara."

"Whatever you say leader, yeah"

The leader spoke once more. "However, this unexpected turn of events gives us a perfect opportunity to capture the Kyubi as he has no one to protect him now."

Finally the figure known as Uchiha Itachi decided to talk. "I apologize but I will rectify that mistake by finding the boy and bring him and the scroll to us."

Seven figures left the circle and after a few moments a new one entered.

The leader addressed the new figure. "What do you think, Madara-san?"

"It matters not; we are still some seven years away from really needing to capture all of the bijuu and I don't believe the kid is stupid enough to release it. Until then keep them busy and inline." Madara paused and chuckled in a sinister way "After all Pein, you are the leader."

And so the meeting of Akatsuki ended.

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'This kid has a horrible sense of fashion! Brightorange! And he calls himself a super ninja!' These were the thoughts of the swordsman while he stared at our young hero.

Not that Naruto was doing any better.

'Holy shit! Is that cape alive?! It's moving way too much! And there is no wind today!'

Yep! Deep thoughts from two of history's greatest philosophers… NOT!

The swordsman was the one who decided to break the silence. "Well… it seems like shorty here took care of those bandits, doesn't it?" And that was the wrong choice of words to go with.

Now you have to understand, Naruto is very, very, veeeeery height conscious. This is due to a severe lack of a balanced nutrition he suffered back in Konoha. Thus, he was teased more than the usual kid would be.

"HEY! WHO YOU CALLIN' SHORTY!? YOU… YOU FASHION REJECT!" The kid in question shouted in an extremely loud volume level, an 'it'll make your ears bleed' level.

"What d… d… WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME YOU YELLOW HAIRED RAT!?" Indeed the answer of a fully grown and mature adult.

"You heard me… FASHION REJECT!"

"What do you mean 'fashion reject'? I'll let you know that my rugged good looks have gotten me into the beds of beautiful young ladies many times over not to mention that UNLIKE YOUR HEIGHT IT CAN BE FIXED!"

As the 'meaning of life' discussion was happening the members of the caravan could not help but turn their heads in a back and forth manner taking bets on who would come out victorious from this verbal battle. Hell! They were even taking bets on the 'cute, foxy blond kid' and the 'weird, perverted creep!'

Everyone was so concentrated on this that they failed to notice the bandits had finally recovered from the smack down they had received earlier and start advancing on the unsuspecting and mismatched duo.

Indeed, Naruto was so engrossed in the 'debate' that he did not see them until it was too late for him to react but for the very experienced swordsman they were little more than bothersome mosquitoes.

'They're distracted, now it's our time to get them!' was the general idea on the minds of the bandits. However, one of them had recognized the swordsman.

'The clothes! The hair! The face! It's him! If the stories about him are true we are done for!' "H… H… H… Hiko Seijuro!" The now scared bandit managed to whisper despite his growing fear. No one heard him, much to the misfortune of his gang.

"YOU'LL STAY OUT OF THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Shouted the now revealed Hiko Seijuro and with just a couple of 'impossible to follow with the naked eye' swings of his sword all of the bandits went down.

Naruto was frozen in place. He had never seen nor heard about anything like this before. He had always thought that a ninja's best weapon was ninjutsu and had nearly become obsessed trying to learn them. But what he had seen, he really didn't see anything, just now was unlike anything he had ever imagined.

'If I learn how to do that I'll become really strong' he thought, "W… What was that? I only heard you unsheathe and then sheath your sword and they all died" Naruto's voice came out more shaken than he intended.

"You really think they are dead?" Asked Hiko, he then paused. "No, they are not dead for it would be a show of disrespect to my style of swordsmanship if wasted my skills by killing these buffoons!"

Then one of the downed bandits groaned and looked up to the master swordsman. "You… You are Hiko Seijuro, aren't you?"

"So, you've heard of my exploits." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes, but why did you spare our lives?"

"I already stated my reason. However, there is another."

"What?" Asked the bandit now-become a nervous wreck 'Will he just leave us to die slowly from bleeding out here with all the wild animals around to eat us, as an example?!' He could not help the tears that came to his face.

"Well, I'll just tie you up and get the town guard to come and pick you up. That way I'll get a reward!" He said in a tongue in cheek way. This answer made everyone stare at him in disbelief. "What? A man has to eat you know?" was his innocent reply. And with that said every face hit the ground.

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And so, the duo decided to accompany the caravan all the way to Hokuryu. The people were grateful enough and felt secure enough in the hands of the legendary Hiko Seijuro to allow them to load the captured bandits and take them into town.

During the trip Hiko became increasingly annoyed from all the attention the blond brat was receiving from HIS ladies (he actually thought they were his), but could not shake the vaguely familiar vibe he was getting from the boy. His curiosity finally won and decided to get some information from the kid. He beckoned him to come all the way to the rear of the caravan were no one would listen in on them.

"So… what's your name kid?" That question took Naruto by surprise considering that they had been in a glaring contest ever since the first moment they met.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto." He said in a guarded way "What's yours?"

Hiko crumpled to the ground at that but he quickly recovered "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT'S YOURS?' I'M HIKO SEIJURO, GREATEST SWORDS MASTER THAT HAS EVER LIVED!" He then continued in a more calmed but no less pompous manner "I am very famous you know. Besides, everyone's been saying my name since our encounter with the bandits. Didn't you hear it at least once?"

"Sorry but I really wasn't paying attention." Naruto answered back with his typical sheepish look and a hand scratching the back of his head. Once again the swordsman's body connected with the ground.

He recovered yet again and stayed silent as troubling thoughts ran through his head 'Uzumaki?! That's the name of the girl Minato was always talking about! And he looks just like him!' This made him remember better times some 15 years ago, before the third great shinobi war began. When he was younger he met Namikaze Minato during the blonde's 2 year leave as a sennin from Konoha. Sure it had not been the best first meeting, after all, it was the first and only time he had lost a fight. Afterwards they had traveled together and made quite a name for themselves. Then, six months before the war Minato was recalled due to the growing tension between the great shinobi nations.

'I shouldn't rush to conclusions, they might be completely unrelated' He turned to look at Naruto once more 'Still, the resemblance is uncanny!' he then continued his interrogation of the boy "So where are you from? And what is such a young child doing out here all alone? Won't your parents get worried?"

When he saw countenance become sad Hiko knew he had hit a sour spot. All he could do was to wait for an answer. Said answer took a few seconds to come.

"I… I'm from Konoha, and I never knew my parents."

For some strange reason Naruto felt he could trust this man. It was a weird sensation that he felt often, like a voice telling him what to do, who to trust and detect whether the person was telling the truth or lying. He knew it was not the Kyubi; it was something else deep within him and it came in very handy.

'There's no denying it this is their son but, what is he doing outside of Konoha? The Sandaime hokage must have known who he was just by looking at him and wouldn't have let him wander outside all alone… unless he didn't.' He finally noticed the huge scroll attached to the boy's back and the word 'kinjutsu' written on it and came to the realization that the kid had run away from home. The question was: why?

"So you ran from Konoha?"

Naruto gave Hiko a startled look before and only nodded in affirmation.

"Why?"

"Because to them I'm only a remnant of the past, something that reminds them of a horrible event that happened ten years ago."

'Ten years ago? What happened a decade ago?' Then the answer hit him in the face with the force of a sledgehammer 'The Kyubi attacked Konoha ten years ago!' Hiko had always wondered how Minato had defeated the demon 'He couldn't have killed it, no mortal man could. Unless said man was wielding a divine weapon but… there is only one such weapon in the continent and it has not been wielded by anyone in over fifteen hundred years!'

Indeed, the Ryuken (dragon sword), mythical weapon of heavenly origin and great power; said to have been forged from the fangs of the ancient dragon kings, had not been drawn from its sheath in over fifteen centuries. It was kept as a holy relic in the temple erected to the ancient dragons deep in the mountains of Mizu no Kuni. Special blood seals were placed on it by its last wielder so that it could not be unsheathed by anyone who was not of the dragon line. There was a long list of the people that died, over that span of time, trying to claim it. For many it was proof enough that the stories around it were no mere legend.

'So how did he do it?' And after finally remembering that his long deceased friend was a seal master the answer came to him.

'That fool! He wouldn't have done what I'm thinking he did now, would he? Only one way to find out I guess…' "The Yondaime Hokage sealed it within you didn't he?"

'He figured it out! Now he'll hate me too' Naruto thought morosely "Yes… I guess now you'll hate me too, huh?" Hiko's answer really surprised Naruto.

"No! Do not confuse me with the scum you have dealt with for most of your life! I know the difference between a ningen (human) and a youkai (demon) when I see it and even though its essence and energy is filtered and siphoned to you I can sense that at your core you are human just as much as I am!"

Now the young child had tears running down his face but they were not tears of sadness but tear of joy: someone else, a stranger really, had accepted him for what he was. Still that last part confused him. He wiped his tears and voiced his question.

"Sense the difference? What are you talking about?"

Now Hiko took a scholarly look not unlike that of a teacher who's about to impart his knowledge to his favorite class.

"My style, the Hiten mitsurugi- ryū, was created nearly three thousand years ago by a man named Hiko Seijuro." He noticed Naruto's confused look and explained "It became tradition that every new master of the style would take the name of Hiko Seijuro in honor of its founder." He continued "Anyways this occurred when the ancient nation states were still in their infancy. It was created with the intent of enabling a single man to fight off an entire army. 'A sword that pits one against thousands' my master called it. It's based on the wielder's ability to read his opponents emotions and killer instinct in order to react against any attacks that might be thrown at him" He paused to look at Naruto and saw that the kid's attention was completely focused on him and the history behind Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū, "It was originally created to fight human opponents but some twenty five hundred years ago, the barrier between our world, the mortal plane and the demon plane weakened and with it came a period of war between us and the demons of the Makai realm. According to some of the records from that period that were kept by the Hiten Mitsurugi successors we, humans, had created weapons so devastating that they could reduce entire cities to rubble in less than a second… Our ancestors were losing and in an act of desperation they decided to use them, these weapons reshaped the land into the form that we see now. The problem is that their plan did not work as they hoped it would, in fact, it backed fired on them as it created an even bigger opening for more of the foul beasts to come into our world."

A look of horror came to Naruto's face, the level of destruction Hiko was talking about had him completely stumped and he just could not imagine what it would feel having your last hope for victory turn into something out of your worst nightmares.

Hiko continued with the story. "Some of these demons could take human shape and they could walk amongst us undeterred until it was too late to stop them, you can already imagine the chaos these creatures in disguise could create. So it was for that reason the successor of that time searched for a way to distinguish between humans and the demon look-alikes."

He turned to look at Naruto again and couldn't help smiling at the boy's look of concentration mixed with curiosity. He had obviously never heard of this. 'After all' he thought 'many people have already forgotten what happened in the past'

Naruto's thoughts on the matter were along a similar line. 'I've never heard of all this until today! Not even in the academy! And how come Iruka-sensei was always so boooring when talking about history?' He frowned at that last thought.

"The answer to the problem came from an unexpected source: a ninja of the Dragon Lineage. You see, it was not the first time that such things happened. When humanity first came into being the youkai walked the land without care and they saw the new creatures as nothing more than prey. Humans were hunted and had no way of protecting themselves. It all changed when their desperate cries for help reached a heavenly dragon and it clawed at its heart that no other divine would take action. It came to a decision: It could not in good conscience let humanity die. He assumed human form and fought to protect the humans he took under his care. However, having taken human form had unexpected side effects. He started to feel something it had never felt: human emotions, it did not take long for him to fall in love with a mortal woman. She conceived for him several sons and they would take the protection of mankind as their duty even after their father was forced to return to the heavens."

He realized then that he was getting into another topic "I'm sorry I got all sidetracked there kid but the story is just too good for it to not be told."

"It's Ok! I mean, I wanna hear it all! Please keep going!"

A chuckle escaped from Hiko's mouth as he continued. "Aaanyways, the men of the Dragon Lineage were the first ninja to exist, they kicked demon ass and saved the world. Now, you would think that they would have relaxed and gotten lazy but they decided to keep watch over the world in case their enemies returned. They trained each successive generation in the same arts that gave their ancestors victory all those ages ago whiled adding new things here and there. And so it came to be that one of them thought the Hiko Seijuro of that age how to detect the life force of living beings and tell the difference between youkai and ningen. It's been passed on as part of the successor training ever since."

"Wow! I take back what I thought about you before Hiko-san!"

"Huh? And what was that?"

"That you were just a stupid looking perverted ronin!" And with that said Naruto ran to the front of the caravan in a fit of laughter.

Now Hiko sported a very large vein throbbing in his head. He could only mutter something about stupid yellow rats and how disrespectful children were nowadays.

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Jiraiya was on the road to the new gambling town that his contacts had reported Tsunade being in. He could not help thinking about the "What if's ", "Could have been's" and the mistakes that were made in regards to a certain blonde boy. But now it was a moot point. He had to concentrate on finding her first and then have his spy network concentrated on finding the kid. He knew that soon Akatsuki would start moving and the kid, being all alone and defenseless, would become an easy target.

He also prayed that Tsunade had already forgiven him for trying to peep on her last time they met. Poor Jiraiya had never been as close to death as he was that day. Hell! He could still feel the phantom pain caused by her small yet so frightening fists.

'Why do I get the feeling that by the time I get back to Konoha I'll be looking like an old crappy punching bag?'

He sighed and continued on his journey.

A/N

Whew… that was my longest chapter yet!

Anyways, I hop you guys like it! And remember: I live for the reviews!

Next chapter: Jiraiya finally finds Tsunade, will she take the news well? And the test to become the Hiten Mitsurugi successor is not conventional at all!

Chapter 4: MASTER AND APPRENTICE!

Feel free to post any criticism (constructive) or suggestions.

Thank you for reading!