Disclaimer: You should all probably know that I own nothing related to either to Naruto or Soul Eater. In fact, the only objects I claim ownership over are any O.C.s that may or may not appear later in this story. That, and this completely, 100 percent original plot that you are not likely to see anywhere else. And if you do, it is probably a knock off, and, therefore, your, the reader's, obligation to band together and rise against the perpetrator of such blatant thievery. Unless, of course, I give this up for adoption for some obscene reason and don't tell you, or I let them use the plot device for a different crossover. You know what, on second thought, just inform me and forget all about it afterwards if you find something like this. That being said, this is only a preview, unlikely to be continued for a year, and only if it wins the current poll. For more information, skip to the bottom of this page after reading the story, starting after a line break, title, and 7 more words of this and a period.

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Chapter 1: Just One of Those Days

Hatake Kakashi was distressed. If one who knew him looked upon him at this moment, they would be able to tell this easily. For one, gone was his ever-present book of smut. Another, more obvious, sign, was that his hitai-ate was pulled up, revealing his left eye's sharingan. However, it wasn't a normal sharingan.

No, over a few years of intense training, the eye had morphed, mutated. Gone were the three tomoe. They had fused together to form a strange, pinwheel-like design. And with it, came a new power, one he was currently trying to use. It just took a little while to concentrate the needed chakra to use the jutsu, one of the reasons the jounin was so stressed out.

The other reason was also the reason he had to use the jutsu in the first place. Currently, the infamous Copy Ninja was chasing down the dangerous S-class criminal, member of the Akatsuki organization, Deidara. Why? Well, that took a bit more explaining.

To put it simply, the criminal had kidnapped the kazekage, Gaara. Deidara had engaged the jinchuuriki over the night skies of Suna, having successfully infiltrated the village with his partners aid. From what Kakashi understood, Gaara had broken one of the criminal's arms with his sand, before Deidara dropped a large explosive that would have leveled the village. Gaara, though, erected a gigantic sand shield to protect his village, leaving him open to an attack.

The Akatsuki then proceeded to extract the bijuu out of the kazekage, killing him, before Kakashi and his team had managed to break in. Deidara quickly left, his partner staying behind to engage Sakura and Chiyo, while Naruto had taken off after him, Kakashi not far behind.

Quickly, Kakashi glanced at the student to his right, not willing to take his eye off of the criminal in front of him for long. He was able to clearly see Naruto's anger, personified by the red glow surrounding him, twin tails of crimson flowing behind the blonde.

Seeing that made Kakashi think back to something Jiraiya had told him before he left. As long as he didn't go up to more than three tails, he was fine. But still, better safe than sorry. "Calm down, Naruto," the masked man said, catching the blonde's attention. "We'll get Gaara back."

"Yeah," Naruto replied, a bit drearily. Even though they wanted to get Gaara back, Kakashi knew that he was dead. He knew Naruto knew it, too, but he also knew that the blonde wouldn't fully accept it until he saw it for himself. It was a closure thing, something Kakashi was willing to help his student get.

That settled, the silver-haired man once again focused on his target. He was flying on a giant bird made of clay, a special ability of his. In the creature's mouth, the kazekage laid, motionless. Deidara himself was dressed in the customary Akatsuki robe, solid black with red clouds and lining. The left sleeve was swaying freely, showing the arm was unusable.

At that moment, the criminal looked back at his pursuers, checking how long he had left. His flowing blonde hair slapped against his face slightly from the high speeds he was moving at, but he could still clearly see the two gaining fast, causing him to scowl. However, that scowl soon turned into a grin. He would just have to fix that, wouldn't he?

With that, Deidara spat the lump of clay he was chewing out of the mouth in his palm. Taking a few seconds to form it, he then flung it back at Naruto and Kakashi, aiming directly for the latter. Naruto paid the small swarm of little mind, dashing past them. That is, until they exploded right behind him.

Turning his head, Naruto could only see a thick cloud of smoke where Kakashi was supposed to be. He stopped momentarily, growling and fearing the worst. He was put slightly at ease when he heard Kakashi's voice call to him. "I'm fine, Naruto! Keep after Deidara! Don't lose track of him! I'll catch up!" as the smoke cleared a bit, Naruto could see Kakashi pinned by a few large pieces of wood. He just nodded to the man before continuing off after Deidara.

Less than a minute later, Kakashi was free and was speeding off after the two blondes. Thanks to his years of experience, it wasn't long before he had caught up to them. Naruto was still trailing behind, but that was what Kakashi had expected and hoped for. He didn't want his student digging a hole for himself.

However, he could see that Naruto was getting activated, probably due to him being aggravated by Deidara. He would need to help him out, and soon. "Naruto!" he called out, catching the blonde's attention. Actually, both blondes' attention. The point is, seeing Kakashi helped to slightly calm Naruto, and worried Deidara.

"Sensei!" Naruto called back, surprised. However, that surprise soon turned to seriousness. "Sensei, we need to do something fast! We need to get Gaara back! We need...!" the boy was suddenly cut off by his silver-haired elder.

"Calm, Naruto. We need to think through every action we make." however, this had the exact opposite effect as intended and only incensed Naruto further.

"The time for thinking is over! We need to take action!"

"Naruto, listen!" Kakashi said harshly. Truly, he cared about his students, but sometimes they required a more... heavy handed approach. "I know that you want to save Gaara and I know that you think we need to stop." Naruto looked down slightly at this. Kakashi was completely right. "And I agree with you."

"Wha-?" Naruto started, surprised. He wasn't expecting that.

Kakashi just gave him an eye smile, showing his amusement. "You aren't the only one who has learned something over these past three years. Allow me to show you what I've learned." It was at that point that Naruto finally caught sight of Kakashi's new sharingan eye. He was, unremarkably, surprised.

"Sensei, is that...?"

"Hush, Naruto. Just watch and learn." while Deidara couldn't exactly hear what the two were saying, he knew that it couldn't be good. That worry increased exponentially when the criminal noticed the air around him start to shimmer, almost as if it was unraveling around a focal point.

Try as he might to get away, the distortion seemed to stay on him, getting smaller and smaller, before the disruption finally closed in around his arm completely. Deidara screamed in pain as his good arm was separated from his body. It didn't just fall off, though. It was gone. Like it had been sucked into the air itself. That was the arm that had his ring, too. Damn.

Naruto, who had seen the whole thing, could only stare on in awe. "Whoa," he said. Then his face split into a grin. "Great! Now we can go over to him and kick hi ass!" Naruto was about to speed on ahead, but Kakashi stopped him.

"Not so fast, Naruto. He may not be able to use any more jutsu, but his bird is made of clay, he can still make it explode. Let me try again." While it was true Kakashi couldn't exactly control his new technique, he thought that he should give it another shot. Deidara wasn't just going to accept that though.

The crippled man needed a distraction, needed something else to get sucked into the trans-dimensional ripple surrounding him that wasn't him or the bird. Looking back, he noticed Naruto, and an idea formed in his head. The kid was easily susceptible to persuasion, wasn't he. Let his emotion control him? Deidara just needed to bait him a bit.

"Stupid brat!" he shouted out. Kakashi narrowed his right eye, wondering what game the criminal was playing. Naruto, however, didn't see it as that. "What makes you think I'm going to allow myself to die in such a drab way? I have a more... artistic way in mind! Unfortunately, I'll have to take your friend with me, but an artist must make sacrifices for his passion, including involving philistines like him!"

Naruto's eyes widened as Deidara started to laugh, and so did Kakashi's, but for different reasons. Naruto thought he was going to blow himself up and take Gaara with him. Kakashi, though, saw the ruse for what it was, and had his suspicions confirmed when Naruto rocketed off after the flying blonde.

"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi reached out for his student, but it was too late. He couldn't stop the jutsu, and Naruto had just jumped into the distortion previously surrounding Deidara in an attempt to save Gaara. He pulled his fist back to punch, before he felt the tingling, pulling sensation of thee vortex surrounding him. Soon, it became too much, and the shock caused Naruto to pass out.

Kakashi could only watch as his student was finally sucked into the vortex completely, leaving only his arm behind. "No," he said, not wanting to believe it, as Deidara just flew away, laughing the whole time. For a few seconds, the jounin just stood their, before chasing off after Deidara again. Naruto had just wanted to save his friend, so Kakashi would make sure he got Gaara back, and made sure Deidara paid for what he did.

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"Ahhgh, damn. What happened?" asked Naruto, sitting up lazily. Wincing a bit, he reached up and grabbed his head to fend off a headache. He remembered being tricked by Deidara and being sucked into that stupid wormhole. And, to be frank, he was angry.

He was angry at Deidara for both kidnapping Gaara in the first place and getting him into position to take the attack. He was mad at Kakashi for preforming the attack a second time when they easily could have taken Deidara after the first time. Most of all, he was mad at himself for not thinking. Right now, he was making a vow to think things through better. Or, you know, at least try.

The self-loathing would have to wait, though. First, Naruto had to figure out just where he was. Taking quick stock of his surroundings, the blonde deduced that he was in a sewer, in ankle deep water, with red and blue pipes running the length of the walls and ceilings. In other words, he was in his mind.

"Damn, I must've really fucked up,"said Naruto. And it was a reasonable conclusion. After all, the only times he showed up in this place was when he got his ass in some serious shit. So, figuring he should figure out the problem ASAP, the blonde began down a path he had previously memorized to find the one who got him there.

It wasn't long before he came to a large atrium so tall one couldn't see the ceiling. In this chamber was a cage, orient bars stretching to wherever the ceiling was. The gates were held shut with what appeared to be but a flimsy piece of paper with kanji on it, but it was far more powerful than that. It had to be to serve its purpose.

Naruto walked into the room, head held high, and didn't stop until he was about three meters from the cage. And when he did, a wave of malicious intent washed over him, something so potent that it would incite fear in the souls of those much older and with more experience. To Naruto's credit, he did nothing but shiver.

"You are truly a FOOL! Have you any idea what you have done?" a great voice barked out. From the cage, a set of large, crimson eyes snapped open, and the intent coming from it increased ten-fold. The cage became awash with a deep, red glow, illuminating a large fox, its fangs bared in obvious contempt as it snarled wildly. Still, Naruto stood his ground.

"Please, spare me your 'holier than thou' speeches. I fucked up, I can admit that. But I thought I was saving my friend. I would think you would be able to somewhat understand that, considering those bastards made off with one of your own kind."

The beast continued to growl, but it let up slightly as it contemplated what Naruto had said. Finally, to the blonde's shock, the beast seemed to agree with him, though the contemptuous tone remained. "As much as it pains me, you aren't far off in your assumption. However, consider this. The sealing of the Ichibi is nothing more than the gathering of a lost limb, waiting for the other remnants to be recombined with it. However, it goes deeper than that. The price to pay for once again being whole and regaining full power is a lost sense of self, the lack of individuality. In short, we would become a sort of hive mind if brought fully together, which I have no doubt is this 'Akatsuki' group's intention. Believe me, that is the only reason I don't try to influence you to be captured by the group."

Naruto was actually impressed by the Kyuubi's response, but a few thing still bothered him about that. "Wait, why would you care about something like individuality? I mean, isn't power the most important thing in life to something like you.

The Kyuubi just seemed to scoff. "Don't insinuate that I am no more than an instinctual beast. It is insulting. As for your question, I have been trapped behind this cage for sixteen years. I have had everything but my own sentience stripped from me. It is all that remains of my freedom. I would kill us both before I lost that, believe you me, regardless of how rash it is. If you cannot understand that, you are more pitiful than I thought."

There was an awkward silence after that, as Naruto worked to digest the information. However, having been as oppressed as he was when he was small, it wasn't all too hard for him to relate. "I... think I understand."

"Good," the Kyuubi said, giving a satisfied grin. However, it was quickly dropped, as matters then turned more serious. "Now then, the reason you were brought into your mind. We have been sent to a different dimension." At hearing that, Naruto gaped openly and was about to give an indignant shout, but was quickly cut off. "Wait, let me finish, because it gets worse. Due to your eagerness to get in the way of that attack, you weren't whole transported here."

"What do you mean?"

Kyuubi just stared blankly, saying only, "Your arm." This prompted Naruto to look down and see, indeed , that his right arm was missing at the shoulder.

Wide-eyed, Naruto screamed, "Holy shit!" then, rubbing the stump, asked, much more calmly, "How did I miss that?" and, "Why doesn't it hurt?" Expectantly, the blonde looked up to Kyuubi.

"You see, this is the irregularity. Normally, the loss of an appendage is only physical in nature, its 'sovereignty' remaining with the individual in spirit. However, that jutsu somehow managed to sever all ties between you and your arm, understandable since it warped reality itself. Normally, if an amputee were able to get their limb back, their spirit would quickly re-inhabit said limb. Without a spirit, though, even if you were to get another arm, it would be useless. You remember that Orochimaru fellow, don't you?" Naruto just nodded, entrapped by the explanation. "That is very similar to this. But, you don't need to worry with being a cripple. You see, when you came out of the vortex, you were incredibly close to that other blonde's arm. Similarly, it was inhabited by a spirit, by needed to be controlled. I was able to fuse the arm onto you, giving you any ability that man had."

"Whoa, really?" Kyuubi nodded. "But wait, if that's all true, why isn't the arm's spirit here on me now?"

"Well, you see, the melding of spirits is a much more complex process, it will be a few months before you are truly one, even with me acting as a catalyst. Rest assured, you will still be able to control the arm outside of here. Now, you will wake up soon, before you go, I have one request. Find a way back home. I refuse to die here and then go to a hell where I am not honored. I'm sure you feel the same about going to a heaven without loved ones. Just think about it."

And with that, Naruto woke up, and the sewer disappeared from sight.

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Sorry to cut it here guys, not any Soul eater in it, but it is already longer than my other preview chapters. Too much more, and that would be unfair. Regardless, what do you think? If you want to see more sooner, go vote for it on the poll on my profile, or if you haven't already, read the other competitors and make an informed decision. Poll closes whenever the fuck I feel like it, probably closer to when the winner will be continued. As for why this batch of stories is so late, I couldn't find time to write for this one. That's why I hate Thanksgiving. Before this turns into a rant, I'll end this now. Don't forget to vote!