A/N: I figured, 'since I'm taking the initiative for "Gura Gura no Naruto", why not do so for another one of my challenges?' and so this was done. To those reading this, do not fear ruining the potential of this story…I was just interested in seeing who would take those ideas up and how they would apply it. Without further ado, I give you the first shot at "Naruto: First Samurai of Konoha". Do read and review would you kindly?

[Memorial Stone, Konohagakure no Sato…]

It had been three years since the incident at the Valley of the End where Uchiha Sasuke had tried to defect from Konoha. The village had celebrated when their precious Uchiha prodigy was brought back to the village by Hatake Kakashi. Upon hearing that Uzumaki Naruto was apparently killed while knocking out Sasuke, even more celebration had broken out on behalf of the civilians and a good number of shinobi joined in. Sakura was among the shinobi that didn't care if 'Naruto-baka' was dead…she had Sasuke back, and that was all that mattered, and the dobe was beter off dead anyway. Kiba on the other hand saw this as an opportunity to win Hinata's heart from the moron and rub it in his face, as well as proving to him from beyond the grave that he was the alpha.

Others however, did not take the news of his death well: Tsunade snapped, a look of horror on her features soon became a look of sadness with a feeling that the accursed necklace had claimed another victim—and one with so much potential. Shizune was there to comfort her master, and for once she did not bother keeping her away from the sakè as she joined in on the drinking binge to try and drown out the pain. Jiraiya on the other hand, was never heard from again although he did visit Tsunade from time to time.

After hearing of the boy's fate, Iruka went to a nearby pub and drank himself silly out of guilt for not helping Naruto out sooner. It was fortunate for him that he would soon be joined by Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai, Mitarashi Anko, and many other jounin-level ninja who liked (if not loved as was in Anko's case secretly) the boy. From then on, it became a sort of means to keep the genin's memory alive when they would recount Naruto's natural talent at outrunning many ninja with every drink on his birthday. They would also recount the horrible things they saw done to him, what they did to save him, and what they could have done better to help him.

As per everyone else who was below the chuunin rank, Ino was ashamed of her former best friend's behavior towards Naruto—sure she had her sights set on Sasuke, but in her opinion that was no excuse for the words Sakura said about her own teammate as even she treated him better; Rock Lee found that while he had managed to defeat Naruto easily at first, he had come to respect the other boy's tenacity which allowed him to defeat Hyuuga Neji; Tenten wept as she went home, wondering why Naruto could not be adopted from the orphanage with her despite her mother's many attempts to do so, as well as why so many people were cruel to a boy she really loved…at the same time, she dreaded the expression on her mother's face when she broke the news; the Konohamaru Corps and their sensei Ebisu had gone to the top of the Hokage Monument to give praise to the boy that had improved their lives.

When it came to clans and families that supported Naruto, Shikamaru and a good many Nara clan members thought it was troublesome even back then that people would abuse someone, and it especially made him clench his teeth in anger at the fact that his friend had to go through such a childhood; Choji and his family put up a picture in their restaurant of the time when they invited Naruto to eat at their restaurant when they found him in their trash cans picking out scraps shortly after the orphanage matron kicked him out, and the young Akimichi heir would begin to mourn his death and the fact that he would no longer enjoy eating contests; the Hyuuga clan became a severely divided house the second Naruto's death was made apparent between family members who cared for him (Neji, Hanabi, and Hiashi being among them) and the people who were against him (the clan elders, and those who joined in the annual 'fox hunts'), but none was more affected than Hyuuga Hinata as she momentarily lost her will to live before throwing resolving to get much stronger so that she could make him proud; Tsume had help with Hana to practically clean house in her own clan compound with assistance from the clan dogs when they heard that their 'alpha' was murdered by turning them against their owners that have participated in the 'fox hunts' or contributed to Naruto's pain in any way; the Ichiraku family had mourned his death greatly, and kicked out all customers who had badmouthed Naruto…especially the ones whom Ayame knew had defiled his grave (although they were punished by her in secret due to her status as a Chuunin).

With all these changes on the inside came changes from outside. The Sand Siblings simply went home depressed, and Gaara being even more so as he had met the first person to have acknowledged him for himself, his biggest regret was that he had not met Naruto sooner. Kazahana Koyuki and the village of Haru no Kuni mourned his death, and many other people whom Naruto had helped had joined in the sadness. Even Tazuna and his family commissioned a memorial to him.

It was lucky for Kakashi, as he paid respects to the memorial stone to Rin, Obito, and everyone else he lost that nobody knew he was the one who killed the damn Kyuubi brat—but he was satisfied that did the deed anyway. The brat was the reason he had lost his parental figures, and as far as he was concerned he did his sensei and his wife a favor by finishing off the beast for good! That and he would've made a better son than that waste of life that could barely even perform the Rasengan correctly. That boy was nothing but a failure from the moment he laid eyes upon him, and it was also a good thing for him that he bribed the teachers at the Shinobi Academy to make sure he learned his place by sabotaging his education! If anything, even Sasuke would've been a better son for them!

"A lovely day don't you think?" asked a voice from behind him, as the sound of a sword being unsheathed filled the air, "It really makes me wonder why someone of your caliber, and a hypocrite no less, would spend his time here making paying insincere respects to people he never even liked while they were alive."

The second Kakashi turned around, he felt a 'woosh' blow past him, before he found himself standing a few feet away from a stranger in a tattered black kimono with red trim and the word 'fox' written in one large kanji character on each sleeve as sound of 'clock, clock, clock' resounded with each geta-wearing footfall. The jounin took this opportunity to study his opponent: the fact that he was toting around a large katana was indication that this brat was a samurai, or at the very least a ronin…something that this village most certainly didn't need. "It's been a while Kakashi," said the apparent samurai, finally stopping at the third step, "almost three years to be precise."

At that, the jounin had widened his eye in surprise for a brief moment before he narrowed his eye. He then eyed that katana in his hand—it was an impressive and massive black blade with a red temper line and a flower-shaped guard while the samurai turned to face him. "I'm impressed, the fact that you know who I am tells me two things: either you used to be from these parts, or you are well-schooled. Normally a samurai of any sort would be ignorant as per the who's who in the ninja world."

Even though the lower half of his face was hidden under the crimson scarf, and the fact that his large sandogasa was obscuring his eyes, Kakashi knew that the younger man was grinning. "Right on both counts!" said the samurai, "Although to be honest, the latter didn't come to pass until later because of a group of assholes that had the nerve to call themselves teachers! And you should know, because you're one of them!"

Now Kakashi knew of the boy's identity! And with that revelation, the jounin pulled out a kunai, ready to attack. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back Naruto!"

Naruto shouldered his katana. "Just like you have the nerve to preach that line you drilled into our heads? What was it you said again? Oh yeah…you said, and I quote, 'those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than scum'! I guess that makes you lower than scum for trying to kill me and leaving me for dead!"

This elicited a sneer from Kakashi. If he played his cards right, then the demon brat would die on this day and he would be named a hero to the populace! "I don't know how you survived Naruto, nor do I care. But one thing is for certain; you won't be so lucky again!"

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Naruto laughing as he pulled the saya from his obi, "once I see Obaa-san, she'll make sure you die a traitor's death the second she gets a Yamanaka to read my mind. Besides, you've already lost this."

Once he finished that sentence, Kakashi was mystified; how had this brat beaten him? He merely ran past him and then slowed down. Before long, he watched as Naruto lifted up the saya of his katana, and started sheathing the blade slowly. "Hanauta Sanchou…" he said, stopping near the guard, "YAHAZUGIRI!"

Suddenly, there was a sharp and resounding 'clack' as Naruto quickly sheathed the remainder of his black sword. As if on cue, Kakashi's eyes had rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground unconscious. Once he was certain of the jounin being taken down, Naruto laughed. "You're lucky that I decided to hit you with the back of my sword. No sense in getting revenge if you're not alive to witness it…consider it payback for all the times you tortured me you asshole, and what I'm about to do to you is a little number you've done to me. Think of it as the prelude to the pain you shall be receiving in the future."

[Hokage's Office, half an hour later…]

There! All the paper work was done! Now all she needed now was that bottle that Shizune had hid away. After burning through this week's supply of sakè, Tsunade had come to realize that ever since Naruto's death, her favorite brand of sakè was starting to lose its flavor and so she had taken to getting the new "Kurotsuki" brand imported from Tetsu no Kuni which had a ginger root in the bottle dispersing its juice into the wine to add more kick. She hoped that the spicy flavor of the ginger would re-awaken her taste buds and keep her going after the headaches that had appeared as of late.

Ah! There it was! Hidden behind the painting! Ever since the countries Naruto had traveled to and helped had heard of his demise, all communications with said countries had gone dark…as if to spite Konoha. Now Tsunade knew that the boy had it hard and it was no surprise to her that it was bad enough that Nami no Kuni and Takigakure had cut off trade relations with them. The most surprising attack against the village however, had come from Harugakure when Kazahana Koyuki had come to her personally with a message for Jiraiya which came in the form of tearing the script for the new Icha-Icha movie he was writing in half and throwing the pages into a paper shredder a servant had brought before declaring that she would cut off all communications with Konoha and Hi no Kuni in general. While Tsunade laughed a bit at that moment, it was not funny for the powers that be as the daimyo worked twenty-four seven from that point on to try and convince her to open up trade agreements once again.

She immediately found the secret stash of sakè cups hidden in her drawer before pouring a shot for herself. As she looked on the map at Tetsu no Kuni, Tsunade could not help but feel that she was getting the evil eye from Mifune for some reason. Well, at least she did not have to deal with the Uchiha-brat coming in and demanding that she teach him all that she knows every day. It was as she predicted: ever since he was returned to the village, Sasuke spent the days following his recovery getting stronger while mocking Naruto…once she even caught the little bastard pissing on his headstone with Kiba just before Sakura shat on it. After that little episode, she beat the two culprits to an inch of their lives and Sakura was disowned as her pupil, just as well in her opinion; Hinata and Ino were much better students anyway.

"Hokage-sama!" called out the voice of Shizune running into the office and startling the Hokage enough to throw her cup out the window, "There has been an attack in the village on Hatake Kakashi! He was found hogtied with a tightly-woven hemp rope, naked, blindfolded, and left with a note hanging around his neck saying 'you are free to violate me as you please', and that is not the worst part for him…"

Tsunade didn't know what to make of this; she had suspicions with Kakashi given how full of holes his report was. On the day she heard from his mouth that Naruto was murdered by Sasuke, Tsunade asked Jiraiya privately to check the toad contract only to find his name still written where it was and not crossed out. Inoichi was then called in to walk the last Hatake's mind—his exact words were 'either he's telling the truth, or he is so delusional in believing that the lies he tells are the truth'. Since that day, she's given Kakashi and his team a lot of D-rank missions and the stink eye every time they came in for missions. To hear that Kakashi was attacked and then placed in a compromising position had made Tsunade curious as to the fate of the jounin. "What is the worst part?"

"He was found hung by his bindings on a lamp post in front of a strip bar favored by the worst former death row inmates…and it's Gay Night there."

Now this was a sight she wished she could have seen! Tsunade only wished she could watch as Kakashi was sodomized by those men. But then again, another thing bothered her, and decided to make her question known. "What do we know about the attacker?"

"Nothing much, except that when we put him on a sedative after putting his rapists in jail (as much as it pains me to do so) I found something strange. He had a bruise on the back of his head in the shape of a straight line; as if he were hit in the back of the head with the back of a sword at high speed, and a heavy one at that given how dark the bruise was. Judging by the shape, and the darkness of the line, I'd have to assume that he was hit in the head with a katana…leading me to believe he was attacked by a samurai."

At that, Tsunade's eyes had widened in shock. "A samurai? Those armor-headed nut jobs live in Tetsu no Kuni and are Mifune's men. What the hell is a samurai doing here, and why would he attack one of our shinobi?"

Shizune was concerned. "If I may Tsunade-sama, we have other matters to attend to other than the fact that we have a samurai here—and a ronin if the attack were any indication. We need to find and question him."

With a snort, Tsunade reluctantly agreed. As much as she liked Kakashi's attacker for what he did, she knew that ronin were samurai that were without a master and so they were little more than mercenaries who may or may not be bound to the code of bushido. "Do it," she said, "and when you go out there, start with those two lazy-ass guards. Surely hey must've got a good look at our ronin."

A bow was Shizune's response as she ran off to do her master's bidding…

A/N: I decided to expand a bit more on Naruto's kenjutsu techniques, and add some of Mihawk and Zoro's techniques (he'll eventually get a second katana for nitouryuu, but he won't pick up on santouryuu), along with the standard samurai techniques, but make no mistake he'll make use of several of Brook's techniques.

Songs Used:

"Marine Swordsman's Battlecry" from "One Piece"—Naruto attacks Kakashi

"Nine-tailed Demon Fox" by Toshiro Masuda from "Naruto"—Tsunade and Shizune discuss the attack

Vocabulary:

Sandogasa—the sedge shade that samurai are known to wear…it doubles as a hat and an umbrella, and is wide-brimmed.

Kurotsuki—literally read as "Black Moon"