Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any form or fashion.

Naruto Ronin: The Rogue Ninja

Chapter 1: The Vagrant Shinobi

"...Soon the flames will fade, and only darkness will remain."

-Madara Uchiha

There ain't nothing about this world worth getting all excited for... Just a bunch of power-hungry retards fighting over what they believe peace is supposed be. I don't think peace is using your power to control everything around you like some sorta terrorist. I don't think peace is naming yourself some kind of God, hopin' that everybody will just follow blindly into the darkness. Peace ain't gonna start itself, but these fools aren't makin' it any better... But to be fair, I don't know a damn thing about peace. My good ol' pals, the Uchiha Clan, apparently know all about it...

I guess if you burn everything down, there won't be anybody left to argue with. Those Uchiha bastards... They ain't stepped a foot off of their high-horses since they annihilated damn near everybody in the Land of Fire. All it took was Madara Uchiha finding a new best friend...

One, gigantic new best friend and the rest was history... Do you remember anything about a Senju? Hell if I do. I don't think anybody's seen one in years, even if any of them are still alive. The Uzumaki Clan? I've been trying to find 'em all. It's been well over a decade and I'm eighteen-years old now... I can definitely tell you that I ain't seen another Uzumaki since I was a little kid.

Then that Madara went off into battle and died, leaving his Clan to ruin the rest of this crap-ass country. I hated coming back here.

I hate it so much, but the sweet, sweet cash brings me back every time.

The brightly-lit sun poured through the inn's open window pane, splashing warmly against his face and waking him from his peaceful slumber. It was only thanks to his hand that he managed to prevent it from blinding his eyes. He threw the plain-blue bed sheets away from him onto the floor, revealing his nude body to the world. With an ungraceful yawn and stretch, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and held his throbbing head in his hands.

Drinking was not his forte. He almost missed the bright-red panties lying beneath his feet, and wondered if she intentionally left those as a souvenir. He quickly looked around the room, mapping out the location of his clothing and hoping that the woman from last night didn't mix any of his own clothing up...

That would be dumb as hell. He'd also be royally pissed and would have hunted her down because that was brand new clothing hand-knitted by Haku, and then he'd be royally pissed at him for not taking good care of the 'delicate' clothing that he made. Lucky for her ass, and his own, she didn't take anything that didn't belong to her.

Probably the first woman he'd slept with that wasn't a snake-in-the-grass. He sighed and, with his wholly-bandaged arm, reached for his orange zip-up sweatshirt marked with black stripes. He slowly slipped his arms into the sleeves and zipped it up before moving across the room and retrieving his black pants and sandals.

With a hand in his pocket and the other scratching and digging into his unruly, short blonde hair, he walked over the doorway of the small, cozy inn room. He picked up his hooded traveling cape and wrapped it over his shoulders while he marched down the hallway. He knew if he was fast enough, he'd be able to beat all of the other stay-ins to the tea shop by the front counter. The old woman here made the greatest tea that he'd ever tasted, and that's coming from someone who's been all around this dreary world.

As he had hoped, he was the first to take a seat at the counter top. Much to his surprise, a steaming hot cup was already there waiting for him. He looked down at it before the sound of an opening door tore his gaze away from it, and he caught sight of an elderly woman with dark-maroon hair arranged in two buns on top of her head. Her flowing white kimono trailed behind her as she walked in front of him, a knowing grin on her face.

She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "The woman from last night paid for this... Dear lord, the young 'uns these days... I could hear the two of you from my room!"

A deep red blush spread across his face as he looked away from her and sipped at his tea, ignoring her contagious, haughty laughter as he mentally thanked the courtesan whose name he couldn't remember. He could save his money until the Daimyo paid him for his mission. It was difficult for Ronin like himself to come across stacks of cash...

That is, rogue ninja: Ninja that don't belong to any sort of Clan. In this world, your clan title meant everything. The Daimyo hired the strongest mercenary Shinobi they could afford. If you didn't belong to a Clan, it was doubtful they'd even take you seriously. Hell, if you didn't belong to a Clan, you probably wouldn't be a Ninja if the first place.

Lucky asses.

Lucky for him, he had connections within the Land of Fire's Capital. Not to mention that the Uzumaki Clan, regardless of its questioned existence, was still a recognizable name.

He downed the tea and gave a brief wave to the elder woman as he rose from his seat. It was doubtful that he'd come back, but that tea deserved another visit when he was finished, even if he had to steal it. He made it to the entrance and was preparing to slide the door open until the sight of shadow outside made him stop. It hovered in front of the entrance, swinging back forward hypnotically. He heard the elder woman's footsteps echo next to him.

"Oh my...what is that...? One of the paper lanterns fell?"

He threw his hand out in front of her, holding her in place. She looked at him worried before he responded, "You might wanna stay back, Granny... That ain't a lantern."

She watched as he crept up to the door, placing his hand on the paper door carefully. His finger tips brushed against the polished wooden edge and he began to slowly push the door aside. As the scene came into view, the old woman gasped and fell back on her behind in shock, and a disgusted grimace formed on his face.

"Oh my god... Oh my...!"

He took that earlier statement back. People without Ninja training weren't that lucky. The glazed eyes of the youthful brunette from the previous night passed right by him as her pale and beautiful corpse was strung up in front of the entrance, marked with scratches that clearly indicated torture. Her nails were caked with blood, which meant that she at least tried to fight back.

Those panties weren't some kind of souvenir: That was a message... If only he'd woken up earlier...

He knew that she was long gone, the lack of light in her eyes indicating that. But he reached out for her palm as her constantly spinning body brought it back to him. His thumb slid across her wrist where a small part of him had hoped that a pulse would come through.

It didn't. A tingling shock did, however, and his eyes narrowed. The elder woman listened as he mumbled under his breath, "...Lightning Jutsu, huh? So it was them?"

A sound of movement inside the inn revealed to him that they didn't leave. He reached put and grabbed the old woman, pushing her aside as a hail of shuriken tore through the thin walls with impunity. He drew a kunai and slashed at the throwing weapons. The clanging of metal rung through the room, and he threw his kunai in the direction of the enemy Ninja.

Hidden within the thin walls of the establishment, the enemy ninja smirked beneath his mask and moved to the side as the kunai swept past him. He reached into his pocket for more shuriken, but was frozen by the warm breaths tickling at his ear.

"Yo."

He turned his head, and the kunai was promptly jammed into his eye socket. His neck was broken before he could even scream out for his comrades. The other ninja, who were waiting outside for their target, quickly realized that their partner was down and rushed into the inn.

The old woman screamed and pointed as she saw them, but their attention was on the body of their ally flying through the air. The one closest to the old woman kicked the body out of the way as it fell in front of him, but a flash of orange was all he saw before blood began spurting from his throat. The only thing he could do was grab it to try and stop it, but it was much too late.

The last of them watched the second one fall to the ground before he looked down at the target crouching with the stained kunai held out. He clapped his hands together, running through a number of hand-signs, before shouting, "Raiton! Sandab-!"

The ninja was violently cut off as the target's hand gripped his arm and stopped his technique easily. He stared into the enemy's deep-blue eyes before another flash of blue came into his vision. The blue energy swirling in his target's hand was suddenly pushed into his stomach slowly, grinding and tearing away at his innards and causing him to scream as he was thrown back into the opposite side of the room into the wall.

He was dead on impact. The blonde vagrant watched as his body slid down the wall onto the floor with a passive, cold expression. If they wanted him, he was fine with that.

Strange men have tried to killed him since he was a child. But to kill an innocent woman who merely spent one night with him and attack an elderly woman just to provoke him wasn't something he could agree with. With each passing day and moment, he lost faith in the world.

A brief sigh emerged from him as he prepared to collect the bodies before the elder woman grabbed his sleeve. He looked down at her as she hesitantly spoke, "...Thank you for that, young man. I lost hope in believing in Ninja... I guess there are some really decent ones out there."

He stared at her with a small scowl before honestly stating, "Don't believe in 'em. Ain't no such thing as a decent Ninja... Not even me."

She stared at him out of narrowed, concerned eyes before they softened and a small smile formed on her face. She held his shoulder tightly before saying, "Don't worry about this mess... I'll just have my granddaughter clean it up... You just go on about your day."

He stared at her oddly. She must be quite used to seeing dead bodies, or maybe she's seen enough that it didn't bother her. As much as he wanted to stay and help, he really needed to be on his way. The next village was a few days away, and the Daimyo would be expecting a successful mission when he returned.

With a bow of his head and a brief apology for the disruption, he turned on his heel and walked towards the entrance. He only stopped at the sight of the woman's body still hanging at the entrance.

"...Please ignore her for now... I will bury her in a safe place... Just try to forget this, alright?"

With the way the old woman spoke, he would have thought that she was more of a Shinobi than he was. An incident like this would be forgotten in time, only an add-on to things that have already happened. He moved forward, being sure to avoid the hanging corpse before he continued down the dirt trail.

Haunting memories of glossy eyes will eventually be replaced by hopeful and naive ones, and vice-versa. That's the way this world works, anyway.

"Yaaahhhh!"

Her skinned seared slightly at the stinging touch of the water, though the noise didn't come from her own mouth, and it wasn't a pained one. It instead came from the blonde, blue-eyed girl stretching her arms wide into the air, allowing her breasts to bounce with each movement and splash the water beneath. The noise made was a relieving cheer of gratefulness for the break they were given.

She cheered loudly again and moaned, "Aren't hot springs just the best!? Thank god for your family, Sasuke!"

She was resting her back and elbows against the stone floor as Ino Yamanaka called out to her, and simply gave a womanly snort in response. The heiress of the Yamanaka Clan pouted her lips out, noticing that she wasn't paying much attention to either of her guests. She instead looked over at the third visitor to the Uchiha Hot Springs, which was a pink-haired young girl with emerald-green eyes.

"Ah, so how have you been faring, Sakura? It's been a while since we last saw each other. How's the noble life treating ya?"

Still wrapped in her towel, Sakura Haruno sat on the edge of the spring and simply kicked her feet across the surface, only stopping when she realized that Ino was speaking to her. She simply waved her hand dismissively, responding, "It's been dreadfully boring... Hardly anything happens at the Capital anymore... I'm sure you and Sasuke are having a lot more fun, especially with your Ninja Training."

Sakura Haruno was born in one of the Noble Families that exists under the Daimyo. To the average person, she's nothing more than a glorified civilian. She had always known that she wasn't particularly happy with that development. It always bothered her, even as they were all growing up. It was also a fact that Ino seemed to bring up all the time, knowing damn well Sakura gave her the same answer every time. She just wanted to hear her say it so she can go on about how cool it was to be a ninja.

It was annoying.

Right before Ino could even start boasting about how tough it was to be a ninja, the dark-haired, sixteen-year-old princess of the Uchiha Clan ran her fingers through her long dark-hair and simply growled, "Ino, stop it. It's annoying that you do this every time."

The blonde frowned disdainfully, and a grateful look appeared on Sakura's face for the defense. Sakura liked to hear her other friends talk about their ninja training, but it was when they began rubbing it in her face about her boring life that she couldn't bear it. However, she looked at Ino's put-out face and the common expression of boredom on Sasuke's and tried to diffuse the building tension.

"Ah, so you're going to be starting your special training too, huh, Sasuke? Kakashi me told at the Capital that you had recently unlocked your Sharingan."

A dumbfounded look and a cry of "Whaaaa!?" emerged from Ino as she closed her eyes before them. When they opened, the black was replaced by a deep, blood-tinted red, and gasps of shock and delight emanated from the pink-haired girl. Ino crossed her arms and looked away, grumbling how hypocritical Sasuke was for showing off her powers after reprimanding her.

She closed her eyes and opened them again, revealing her usual coal-colored eyes. She closed them again as she rested her head on her towel and murmured, "I only have one tomoe in each of them, so my Sharingan isn't fully matured... But my brother and Kakashi-sensei both are going to train me, so it will be as strong as theirs in no time."

She had been waiting for this moment all of her life. She didn't want to be treated like a spoiled, pampered princess (no matter how many times her brother told her otherwise) for the rest of her life, and she wanted to fight and die on the battlefield under the name Uchiha. The deal with her family was that she would only be allowed to train if she managed to unlock the Sharingan.

It was depressing to her; many of her other peers had already started their Shinobi training at the age of twelve, and she had just begun several months ago! She was behind the rest of the world, and it would take her years to recover and catch up to everyone else!

However, a single glance at the jealous Ino who was arguing with Sakura about how attractive her brother was (...Ew... And why the heck were they comparing Itachi's features to her own?) and she thought to herself that she didn't have much to compete with.

That was one good thing...

Sakura had already left with her guards back to the Capital that night and Ino herself had returned to her Clan. She decided it was about time for her to return home as well, as dinner surely would've been close to being done. She walked down the cold and desolate hallways of her Clan's home, her dark-blue kimono flowing behind her. She straightened the white obi around her waist and placed two pins in her mouth as she began to twist and wrap her hair into a tight bun and pinned it together, though some of her hair fell across her neck.

That was the first time she managed to do that on her own. Ha, she didn't need any servants to do that for her!

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

She paused. She had been cheering and congratulating herself upon her self-made accomplishment, and didn't realize that she was visibly doing it. She had brought her arms together and folded them in her large sleeves, and the passive, neutral expression common to the Uchiha formed on her face. She turned and looked into the equally cold visage of her older brother, Itachi Uchiha; The so-called strongest of the Uchiha Clan, being prepared and groomed to take over the Clan from their father. A genius at birth who began his ninja training at a much younger age...

Like, before she was even born. Something completely unheard of in this day and age; At five-years-old, Sasuke was playing hide-and-seek with Ino and Sakura. At five-years-old, she was running away from boys because she was sure they had some kind of disease. At five-years-old, the thought of being a Ninja was the same as being some kind of romantic hero.

For Itachi, at five-years-old, he had cast his first Genjutsu on an assailant who had tried to disrupt her birth. The nightmare he had lasted with him and left him in a vegetable state up until his death last year. The thought of it still made her shiver to this day.

Her eyes widened when she realized that he had poked her in the forehead and said, "Sasuke, answer me when I'm talking to you. You're doing that weird spacing out again. You need to stop that."

She frowned and rubbed the spot on her forehead where he made contact. She hated it when he did that, and he did it far too often for her own good. At the end of her life, she'd calculate how many times he's done that to her and see if it leaves a big indention in the middle of her forehead. She pouted at him as he walked past her into the dining area right as the servants were bringing out the food.

She could smell the scent of the cooked tomato dishes wafting into her nose, exciting her before she even managed to make inside and sit. She wondered what was the special occasion that their father would allow the servants to cook her favorite meals. Usually, he was trying to butter up to Itachi.

But she wasn't complaining!

Even though Itachi walked in the dining area before her, she was in her seat long before he reached his. And long before any of her cousins and aunts and uncles. She was deaf to the world around her, even as her family prayed to...that guy... Ugh... The leader of the Uchiha Clan...from long ago...

Madara Uchiha. Yeah, that guy.

She couldn't care less. All she wanted was to get these tomatoes in her belly right now and nobody who died decades ago was going to ruin it for her, Uchiha or not. The first bite went into her mouth without a single care if anyone around her could hear, even as her mother nearby reprimanded her for her bad manners.

"...Kakashi should be returning soon with their answer, Itachi. If they knew what was best, they'd agree with us..."

Ah! The tomatoes were a distraction! They knew she spaced out often when she was content with things, and they didn't want her to listen in on them! Damn her father and Itachi!

Tomatoes...or eavesdropping... Tomatoes, or eavesdropping... Decisions...decisions...

It was almost like a voice told her, "Why not both...?", and she had to agree with it. She brought a slice of a tomato up to her lips slowly in order to maintain her concentration on her father and brother. It upset her that Itachi and her father prevented her from being involved in many of the more important meetings and discussions of the clan.

When she was younger, it was because she wasn't training to be a Ninja. Her mother would push her out of the way when important things came up. But she was an adult now! She was sixteen-years-old, and she was planning on becoming a Ninja! They could no longer keep things like this away from her!

She saw the dark scowl form on Itachi's brow as he retorted softly, "And what if they don't?"

Her father, Fugaku Uchiha, pressed his pointing finger into his temple as he stared at his son out of the corner of his eye. He closed his eyes and murmured, "Let's think positively about this. Planning for the worst immediately is a sign of giving up. Remember that, Itachi."

Completely against table etiquette, Itachi rested his elbow on the table top as he covered his mouth in thought. At the same time, the two looked down at the other side of the table, beyond many of the other Uchiha at the crowded table. Their eyes locked with hers, and she realized that they were aware of her listening in. The turned back to their food at the same, not another word leaving their mouth.

She grumbled that they were still so adamant on treating her like a child and not letting her in on the good stuff.

She went to bed that night constantly thinking over her father's conversation with her brother. They said something about Kakashi coming back with an answer... That didn't help her at all, because she never knew why her master had left in the first place. Itachi had only told her that it was something important for the Clan's growth and prosperity, and that she didn't need to question it any more than that.

That frustrated her a lot. She'd become a good enough Ninja so they'd have no choice but to respect here and let her in on the Clan's secrets!

"Sasuke! Heads up! Gatsuga!"

There goes that spacing out again. Itachi was right, she needed to fix that. She didn't want to lose in fight, especially to Kiba Inuzuka of all people...!

Happy that the idiot at least told her that he was attacking, she dashed to the side as the shredding winds of Kiba and his companion dog seared past her. Her dark-blue training gi flowed above her waist as she barely dodged the rapidly incoming tunneling winds, with only the scratch on her white shorts indicating that he had barely managed to touch her.

Maybe she should have activated her Sharingan. Yeah, that's a good idea.

Her dark eyes transformed and became a bright-red, surprising her opponent. However, he was too late. She had already begun her hand-signs for the Uchiha Clan's prized technique.

It was unfortunate for him. She liked the dog, but the other mutt had to go. Her eyes went wide as she inhaled large amounts of air into her lungs, causing her cheeks to bloat before she roared, "Headsup, Kiba! Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

"Ahhhhh!"

The only thing the Inuzuka could have done in that moment was scream as the searing heat bathed over his body. His dark clothing was slowly being reduced to ashes, but the flames stopped before they could do any serious damage. His eyes opened as he realized that he wasn't being burned to death anymore, and he breathed heavily as he crawled up to see what had happened. He found her crouched to her knees and holding her throat, coughing up black smoke.

Her throat! Holy crap, her throat! She should have known better than to the Great Fireball Technique before she was sure she could use it properly! Oh god! Water! Water!

"Gah! Sasuke, are you alright!?"

She could feel him trying to help pull her up, but his hands were touching areas they shouldn't...and he still didn't think to give her any goddamned water! She kept slapping his hands away as she picked herself up and fell back against a nearby tree. A glass of water was thrust in her face, and she accepted it before flooding her throat with it.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she let out a relieving sigh and slid down the rough bark on the tree. Holy shit, she wasn't going to try that again in the middle of a spar without practice...! She was still working on the Phoenix Flower Technique!

She turned towards the third arrival to their little spar, Shino Aburame, and grabbed his arm tightly before breathing out, "Thank god at least one of you is smart...!"

Kiba protested in anger, but was promptly ignored by the other two. Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame were two Shinobi born from allied Clans of the Uchiha, and they were some of the few clan heirs that she had grown up with alongside Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi. They weren't the closest of friends, but she needed all the training she could get.

And unfortunately, the Ino-Shika-Cho combo was the laziest group she's ever seen; Ino's a spoiled brat who doesn't take training seriously, Shikamaru is literally the definition of lazy, and Chouji just wants to sit around and eat. At least Shino and Kiba actually tried...

She was brought out of her thoughts as Kiba leaned against the tree above her and began, "Man, that was almost wicked! For someone who started only several months ago, you're getting good! I mean, not as good as me, but it's a start!"

For some reason, he seemed to think that leaning over her with his boyish chest appealed to her. One of the reasons she disliked training with him is because he had a dreadfully disgusting crush on her. Every chance he got to touch her or be near her, he took it. She knew that he was trying to impress her. It never worked. But it made it feel better all the while.

The conversation went on for several minutes about their training. Neither of them, even with all three of their combined tracking powers, were able to sense the group of Shinobi looming over their heads. Sasuke had just looked down at her feet, chuckling softly at the argument that started between Shino and Kiba, before she noticed the oddly-shaped shadows moving over her head. She slowly looked up, a brief gasp escaping her lips and drawing the attention of the other two.

Three cloaked figures hovered down from the tree branches like spiders, and she felt like she was ensnared in their web with the killing intent they released. One of them quickly drew a knife from their back pouch and harshly whispered, "Don't you dare scream, Uchiha!"

He kicked off of the bark of the tree towards her, and she and the others froze at the sight of the metallic glint descending upon them.

She had to do something! She couldn't die here!

But her body was frozen in fear and wouldn't respond with any of the commands she had given to it. She could only sit and watch in surprise as a piece of white cloth flowed over her head and covered her face. Her eyes were blinded by the white, causing her to cover her face and yelp in surprise, "Wha-!?"

"Sorry, lil' lady. Didn't think ya were interested in gettin' blood on yer clothes."

An outlandishly-accented voice rung through her ears, followed by the sounds of slicing winds and horrific screams. An orange sleeve marked with black stripes swept past her face, and the bandaged hand grabbed the white cloth flowing near her. It quickly pulled it back and wrapped it around the tall, masculine form of a blonde-haired man. He held it up by his hood, looking down at the three teenagers who stared up at him in awe.

Sasuke had barely caught sight of the enemies falling from the trees behind him, blood trailing from several open wounds across their bodies. None of it splattered on him or the back of his cloak, and they simply hit the soft grass beneath with light thuds.

The bright, cheerful grin on his face heavily contrasted the scenery of death behind him. It couldn't have seemed more out of place.

"Hey now... Don't gimme that look."

Author Note and Guidelines:

So if you check my profile to see what stories I might have done, you'd see that the three (Four with my One-Shot series) I've worked on were all Bleach stories. I wanted to branch out and try something different from Bleach (Though to be fair, I did have a Naruto story up a long time ago. I took it down because I, and several others, didn't like it). So I decided to give a Naruto story another shot.

I'm also pretty big on answering reviews. I know that I'm pretty average when it comes to writing and my clarity needs work, so I answer questions and what not pertaining to the story to try and explain super confusing things. I also like to place a little trivia section at the bottom of the chapters to add further clarity and background...

...But there were also a lot of Reviews and Private Messages from my Bleach stories that displeased me slightly (note: triggered), and these have a high chance of being ignored.

1. I have a minor pet peeve when asked about what will happen in a story or when certain things will happen. It almost gives the feeling that you're asking to have the story spoiled rather than read it, which provokes the question: Why are you reading?

There's a huge difference in wondering and theorizing about an event in the story and flat-out asking.

2. Suggestions are never a bad thing, as it helps lead to improvement. Asking to take the story in a different direction, or making a threat like, "If this character dies/If something happens that I don't like/If something happens that I don't want to happen, then I'm not going to read anymore or I'm done with this story," is not helpful. I already have the story mapped out. This isn't a choose your own adventure. If you want those things to happen, go make your own and have those things happen.

I'm not going to apologize to you because you didn't like the direction of the story.

3. A really odd moment in reviewing is when you leave a review asking a question...and you're only 10 chapters in the story and not up-to-date. You don't even know if the story already answers your question. If the question you're asking is basically the same as point 2, then either keep reading to see if it's answered or don't.

I'm not going to apologize to you because you didn't like the direction of the story.

4. C.K.H.: Also known as Canon Knowledge Heroes. If a description or interpretation of something is different from the source material, maybe that's how the Fanfiction author is intending it (There's a reason that word is bolded) or maybe that Chapter came before the actual information did (Though Naruto is finished now). Many of us read the same chapters and watch the same episodes as you, and there's a Naruto Wikia online.

Keep your E-peen knowledge in your pants, nobody wants to see it.

Trivia:

-Naruto's accent is a little odd to read, mainly because I was inspired by Shinigami Youko's dialogue from Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa. If you're imagining it, try to avoid thinking "Super Dumb Redneck" and more "War Veteran Who's Seen Some Sh*t". It's not going to be changed or removed as the dialect is one of the things that contrast Naruto and Sasuke, and the world around them, but if it starts giving me a headache, it's likely to be toned down.

-As the story goes along, it will eventually become apparent why I decided to go with Fem!Sasuke instead of male.

-So the main setup of this world is that the Warring Clans Period never really ended because the Senju and Uchiha Alliance never formed. Hidden Villages haven't been formed (not yet) and clients pay and ask mercenary Clans or Ronin (In this story, as in the title, Ronin is used for Rogue Ninja. Not only do the words fit, but the word Ronin means "wave man", or a "man drifting about without a home".

-Madara's 'line' in the beginning is actually taken from Dark Souls.