It was an accident, the consequence of someone not thinking that took the life of the blond. And it was the will of the blond that prevented the death of the black haired youth. At a price of course. Death is what brought them together. Death shaped their lives and ended them. In one case figuratively, in the other quite literally. And Death is what they both desired, the Death of those who brought Death upon them.
I claim no ownership of the Naruto franchise or any of its components.
The Fic is rated T for Teen (For now) It contains semi-mature themes, including: Character Death, violent imagery, blood, mentions of the use of tobacco and alcohol as well as some foul language. NOT A BLEACH CROSSOVER
The Paper Fan and The Death God
A Naruto Fan Fic
By Egg Emperor
Prologue
Birth by Death
August 7th 3:58 PM (6 Years before Present) - Konoha- Central District
It was an accident really. No one wanted this to happen… but happen it did. The poor boy, he didn't deserve what happened. It was felt acutely across the large city, the loss of the smiling blond. His bright blue eyes that would never more glint in the sun. His sparkling teeth that were usually found in a mischievous grin, that smile would never more be seen in Konoha. The flashes of bright orange and blurs of blue racing around corners after pulling some mischief, the worn goggles nestled among golden hair, they were gone forever now.
It wasn't fair the people realized in hindsight what they did to him. But, they were angry, they still felt the pain and the loss of that horrific night that had occurred nearly eight years ago. No the boy wasn't the monster that attacked their village and took the life of their beloved leader and so many others, they knew that. But he was its jailer, its living prison. The orphan provided something the people of the village desperately needed, an outlet a scapegoat for their anger and hate. Perhaps some may have justified it by saying that by hurting the boy they were also hurting the fox inside him. That of course was nonsense but when faced with the horrors of either disaster or their own misdeeds people will often cling to whatever misguided notion can offer them comfort.
The boy in his short life had been mistreated; the people would glare icy stares and throw hateful words as well as any nearby debris at the child when he passed by. And the child in turn would retaliate by playing pranks and causing other manners of mischief around the town. Cats in the Inuzuka kennels, bug bombs hurled into the Aburame compound. Oxen kept finding their way into various china and glass curio shops. The Hokage monument was covered with paint these days more often than not. Once during the Fire Lord's annual visit; a very large poster of an immodestly dressed woman found itself pasted to the south side of the Hokage tower.
This particular time, a plague of frogs had descended on the public baths. After all the screaming and yelling. Finally when the confusion and bedlam had died down, the gang of angry bathers set off to find the likely culprit; with many irate shop owners and incensed common citizenry joining the mob along the way.
They finally cornered their prey someways down, near the center of town not more than a block or two from the tower where the aged Hokage watched over his village.
The young boy let out a squeak of surprise at his being caught and began to nervously rub the back of his yellow wreathed head, his crystal blue eyes wildly searching for a way out of the mess his latest prank had placed him in. He knew it was but a matter of seconds before he would be chased across town and pelted with all sorts of random trash by the victims of his latest gag. Thought the bruises from his encounters often faded within a day and the worst he suffered was a black eye from a thrown boot and perhaps a few nicks and cuts from a stick or rock; these encounters were never the highlight of his existence.
Unfortunately for the child, this time would be different, far different. He had gotten himself into a stickier situation than usual. He was cornered in a narrow alleyway that linked two larger streets, the irate mob approached picking up rocks and sticks, cans and other bits of garbage from the ground to throw at him. Soon the air was filled with the small projectiles, some bouncing off the walls others hitting their mark leaving sore spots that would soon bruise on the young boy's body. It was as he ran towards the other street at the end of the alley and began to turn out of the narrow space that it happened; the cruel had of fate intervened. Someone picked up a rock, it was no different from any of the others that had been thrown today. It was neither big nor small nor out of the ordinary in any way and yet, it would now define the future of the village.
The hand pulled back and the arm then rushed forward, the rock flew straight and true, striking the boy in the back of the head, just above the neck as he rounded the corner. By cruel destiny it struck a spot that was still healing from a fall the previous day. There was a sharp crack as it landed, a sound that seemed deafening even above the shouts of the angry citizens. A sharp cry escaped the child, his bright blue eyes began to dim even as he fell toward the ground. By the time his crumpled form lay upon the gravel of the street the life had all but left those azure orbs.
Gasps and cries rang out among the assembled people, the haze of their collective furry swept away in shock and horror, as crimson blood could be seen oozing from the back of the boys head.
In an instant ANBU ninja, their porcelain masks shining in the afternoon sun appeared. Two of them held back the crowd, both the mob and the gathering onlookers. The third, wearing a dog mask his silver hair gleaming, ran to the fallen boy, pulling his still form into his now shaking arms.
The dog masked ANBU was conflicted. Half of him was bent on rushing the boy to the nearest hospital, the other wanted nothing more to incinerate those responsible for the child's current state.
His fear for the child won and only seconds after he had appeared he vanished in a puff of smoke heading for Konoha Shinobi Hospital.
As he dashed from rooftop to rooftop, his arms wrapped around his precious cargo, other ANBU ninja joined him. Less than a minute later he landed in front of the Hospital doors to the greeting of four more of his corps, flanking an aged man. Dressed in his robes of red and white, a grim look on his weathered face. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, had been given word of the incident only moments ago and surprising many showed speed defying his advanced age in arriving at the Hospital.
"How is he?" the powerful and commanding voice asked. Again displaying the unnatural strength Konoha's leader possessed even in his seventh decade.
The masked man simply shook his head.
To the old man the message was clear, unknown but apparently it was at least as bad as it looked and it looked bad.
Just how bad, would be revealed when the medics took the small boy from the Black Ops soldier's arms.
They quickly placed him on a bed, one medic feeling the child's neck for a pulse the others running to get supplies. The Hokage and the dog masked ninja hovered near the bed
The head medic then waved his hand asking for assistance.
To other men joined him as he ushered his visitors out of the vicinity and closed the curtains around the bed.
Several minutes passed until finally the curtain reopened.
The three doctors were visible again around the bed. One was removing some sort of device from the child's chest, while the other simple walked away.
The other doctors were still gathering tools and supplies.
The first medic, the one who originally grabbed the boy from the ANBU ninja, then held up his hand, the simple gesture stopped the frantic movement of his collages. Many shut their eyes and looked down or turned away
The aged leader and the silver haired man looked toward the first medic as he looked back up. He simply shook his head, a grim look taking hold of his face. The faces of the two other men became just as dour, though only the Hokage's could be seen.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do… he's gone." The medic said his face pale, sweat dripping from his hair.
"His heart stopped and we couldn't seem to restart it, we'll have to wait for the autopsy to know for sure, but I suspect localized severe trauma to the brain was the cause. From where it's located." The man pointed to the back of the boy's head which was still oozing blood. "It looks like when the skull cracked a fragment was probably forced into the brain likely causing a giant bleed near the brainstem, it destroyed his ability to breathe and maintain his heartbeat."
There was a loud bang as the silver haired masked ninja punched a hole in the wall. Soon after the was the groan of bending metal, as Sarutobi had gripped the rail of the bed so hard his hand print was forced into it.
Seeing the obvious distress of both his leader and the other man the medic said one final thing before leaving the room.
"There was nothing anyone could have done, the boy was dead before he even hit the ground or shortly thereafter. Not even Tsunade-hime herself could have saved this one, so please do not blame yourselves for his passing."
And so it came to pass that on that warm summer afternoon Naruto Uzumaki son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage, Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox; died at the age of 7 a little over two months before his eight birthday.
Well there you have it the prologue for The Paper Fan and The Death God. Yeah I know it's a bit short but I've been working on other things nonstop and had this baby in my head for a while. The beginning just came yesterday morning which is why I'm only just starting it now. That and if I don't get things down quick they usually vanish on me. I may work on the Chapter on tonight while working on Silver Skies. Heck if I get bored maybe I'll even write the first chapter to Things that Go Bump. It really all depends on my mood and how things go. At any rate I have one last thing to reiterate this is NOT a CROSSOVER FIC. I will be avoiding Bleach or any material from it as much as possible, it's cliché and it doesn't mix with colors, especially bright orange! So stay tuned for the next Chapter, Chapter 1: By thy name Uchiha