Wow! That's all I can say. I know the Naruto fandom is much larger than most other fandoms that I write for but still. Although I have not gotten a review yet as I type this, this story has received more views in its first few hours of life than some of my other stories have in the past month. So I really cannot help but give the people what they want. (Note I already had most of this chapter thought out, so the fact that I'm writing it now has as much if not more to do with that, than the huge reception I've received. In other words there won't instantly be a Chapter 2 out if this suddenly explodes. I honestly haven't thought that part out… Yet anyway. But hey we have thunderstorms and clouds today [major mood booster for me, I'd swear I was some form of undead if not for my beating heart] so who knows?)

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

Chapter 1:

By thy Name Uchiha

June 4th 11:32 AM (Present Day) – Land of Waves – Great Bridge.

Sasuke Uchiha could honestly say that he was screwed. He might be a near genius when it came to the ways of the shinobi but that wouldn't help if he couldn't at least plan ahead. And nothing had gone according to plan on this mission. It was supposed to be a simple C ranked escort mission. Guard the bridge builder, a drunk named Tazuna, and prevent highwaymen from harming him.

That fell to pieces right out of the gate, he thought as he dodged another volley of senbon. The Demon Brothers, two known assassins from the Land of Water had attacked them when they were only on the road for about 3 hours. Sai got himself sliced up real good and poisoned to boot by their claws and that Sakura… The rather useless and simpering girl on his team nearly got her heart ripped out. If he hadn't diverted the guy's blow with a kunai she'd be dead.

And it was only after that that Kakashi bother to show that he wasn't actually dead and then proceeded to wipe the ground with the bastards, he apparently thought it was okay to use his own students as bait so he could ascertain the target of the enemy ninja.

To Sasuke it was obvious, what would anyone hope to gain from attacking 3 genin and their teacher? It was the bridge builder they were after, but apparently Kakashi had to be sure. And that lead to the current assessment of his comrades.

Sai, vulgar and intolerable as he was, was a decent ninja and could be counted on to act in life or death situations. Sasuke trusted him to do what needed to be done.

'If only he would just turn down the penis jokes then everything would be perfect' the black haired boy lamented.

Sakura on the other hand was fairly useless, something he thought when he first met her and only further reinforced by recent events. She had practical knowledge but lacked to power or the skill to apply it. Furthermore she froze when placed in a combat situation. She could not be counted on to be of any assistance in battle, and since she had no knowledge of non-combat jutsu, for instance healing techniques, she was pretty much useless at best and a liability at worst.

Then there was his sensei, Kakashi was powerful, obscenely so. After the quick fall of the Demon Brothers, Sasuke assured himself that there were few people in the entire world who could match him in a fight. That was a comforting thought. He would be both protected from any lethal danger and he could learn much from this man. Much that would propel him forward towards his goal of avenging his fallen clansmen. By killing his murdering bastard of a brother Itachi Uchiha.

It was his singular goal in life, his destiny.

'It is the only reason I draw breath.' He thought.

Unfortunately for Sasuke's luck they eventually ran into a foe that could match Kakashi in the form of Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Famous as the Demon of the Hidden Mist for both his mastery of the silent killing technique as well as the way he ended the Mist village's graduation exam in a bloodbath.

Sasuke would be lying through his teeth if he said that Zabuza didn't scare him shitless. The man was a monster. Not only was he a deranged psychopath, he was monstrously huge towering over Kakashi by at least a foot. Furthermore his strength both physical and in his chakra was unfathomable. To finish it off the guy was swinging around a sword that was as long as he was tall, nearly a foot wide and probably weight about five hundred pounds at the least and he did so like it was nothing. In fact scared isn't even the right word. Terror is most like it.

Sasuke was arrogant, it was hard to admit but he was. He was the top of his class and he was better than any other genin out there. But he wasn't stupid either he knew that in this game he was nothing more than prey to the Demon of the Mist. He even was able to match Kakashi even after he revealed his Sharingan eye.

'I must have looked like a fish when he pulled down his mask… how the hell did Kakashi sensei end up with a Sharingan?' the young orphan thought.

Which made the fight against Zabuza when he captured Kakashi all the more difficult. The monstrous ninja gave of an aura of death in waves.

That he a Sai manage to pull off an offensive against the man that make him choose either to lose his arm or free Kakashi was nothing short of a miracle.

It was shortly after that that a hunter-nin from the Mist Village appeared and quickly killed Zabuza with a strike to the neck.

That later lead to them arriving in the capital of Wave country, and meeting Tazuna's rather depressing family, wherst the man came clean about Gato and the strangle hold he had on the country. It was a sad tale sure, but not sad enough that he not only cheated Konoha out of the money it would have earned for an A rank mission…

'Likely S rank now with Zabuza involved, though I doubt that Tazuna knew about him in particular. He seemed aware of the fact that assassins in general would be involved, but I don't think he would have had the details on the individuals.' Sasuke thought trying to dodge another round of needles, this time a pair struck in him in the leg.

The young shinobi winced as the needles tore into his muscles, slowing his movements even further.

But also caused a bunch of genin to be put in a position that would have certainly called for a Jonin team to be dispatched. The man's desperation place all their lives in jeopardy, something that Sasuke was pissed about.

'I'm all for testing my skills against stronger opponents a proving my worth as a ninja but I can't kill Itachi if I'm dead'. The black haired boy thought a he braced himself.

And learning from Kakashi not only was that Hunter-nin almost certainly fake and working for Gato, but that he or she was likely a partner to Zabuza who was still alive, was just the icing on the shit cake from the young Uchiha's perspective.

And that all lead to his current situation, an all-out battle between both parties on top of the unfinished bridge. Sakura was protecting Tanzuna while Kakashi engaged Zabuza, who had enshrouded the entire bridge in a deep fog like mist. He was unable to see his sensei's battle from his current vantage point. Not that he'd be watching, he had his hands full with his own battle.

Currently Sasuke was engaged with the Hunter-nin, who was much to his surprise and slight discomfort a very pretty boy instead of a homely girl as he one thought. He had erected some sort of formation of mirrors of ice and then proceeded to meld with them before appearing in all of them at once. Further the ice was much to his chagrin completely immune to his fire jutsu.

'I should have just expected that.' Sasuke thought with an exasperated breath. ' If the boy's story was to be believed the "Demonic Ice Mirrors" are formed by a powerful blood line limit allowing an true Ice Release to occur by combining wind and water chakra, instead of using either water that had been cooled or pre-existing ice. This meant that the ice bordered on being a supernatural substance. Even a powerful fire release jutsu was no match for something like that.'

Furthermore it appeared that it allowed Haku, as he had introduced himself, to be in multiple places at once, seeming to cast his hail of sharp senbon from every direction.

Sai was his battle partner but he was down for the count, his body covered in needles. It was when Sai fell thought that the battle changed. Sai was a vulgar pervert, but he was also Sasuke's comrade, and perhaps someone that he might someday see as a friend. The anger at seeing his team mate struck down awakened with in him his own Blood Line. The Sharingan, it wasn't complete yet by any means but by God he could see.

Haku wasn't in 9 places at once; he was simply moving far too fast for the unaided eye to see. He was warping between the mirrors before jumping from one and casting his senbon, he'd then retreat to another mirror and start the process all over again.

Sasuke had his confidence back, he could win this! Now that he could see Haku's movement he could counter attack and avoid being hit.

"Hen, this battle's over" the young ninja muttered under his breath.

That was when Haku sped up a bit and tossed a hail of senbon. Sasuke saw it coming and dodged… Or at least that what he intend to do. His body however didn't obey his commands and he was hit with a hail of metal spikes which dug painfully into his already wounded flesh.

At first he suspected that perhaps the needles were infected with some type of paralytic agent, but soon it became clear that it was in fact his own short comings that were to blame.

Sasuke's eyes widened with his revelation. Yes he could in fact see and track Haku's movements and attacks with his eyes and brain. But just because he could see the movements did not mean that he could in fact move his body at the same speed. His senses were now far superior to his reaction time. He wasn't as fast as Haku, ergo he could not dodge the attack even if he did see it coming. In short he was fucked.

The black haired boy collapsed to the ground as he was hit by another volley of needles. His body felt weak he couldn't move.

"As much as it pains me to say this Last of the Uchiha, it looks like I am the victor in this fight. Today it will not be my bloodline that fades… but yours…" Haku spoke with grim finality behind his mask as he emerged from the mirror nearest Sasuke.

"Perhaps it was your thirst for vengeance that did you in? You fight for nothing other than to gain the power to end the breath of another, while I on the other hand fight for and to protect what is precious to me. Perhaps that is the fundamental between you and I and maybe that was reason I was victorious. You have lost everything in your thirst for vengeance, perhaps if you too had something precious, something you desired to keep safe and protect then this battle would have been different." The young bishonen theorized. Before taking aim to throw a final deadly needle aimed at the Uchiha's heart.

"Good bye Sasuke…" There was a glint of silver and a flash of light and then Sasuke felt nothing.

Author's Note

Yessssssssssssss… I'm evil, very, very evil. This chapter originally was set to continue for some time after this point. But when I finally got to here I just found it too good of a nail bitter to waste… Hehehehehehe! At any rate I'm stopping the chapter here. One because I've been up all night and haven't eaten since dinner nearly 17 hours ago. Furthermore I have to take a shower and walk the dog. But I'll be back… maybe (I really will). Remember when I said at the beginning of this chapter that Chapter 2 wouldn't be posted immediately… Well… I LIED! Once I'm done with lunch I'll finish the next chapter and have it posted by say 3 or 4-ish (That is if I can avoid being summoned to be my mother's chuffer, he driver's license is expired and she still hasn't renewed it so I have to take her everywhere.)

So see you guys (and gals) next time with Chapter 2: Death is a Blond?

This is Johannes The Egg Emperor over and out!