Title: The Dimensional Whirlpool
Synopsis: Team 7 had thought there wouldn't be any more troubles after they left the Land of Waves, but a Sealing Scroll awarded to them by Tazuna before their departure held more dangers than they would have ever guessed. Now they find themselves in an unknown world with no idea how to get back, and the only chance to end up back home is to use the technique again...
Words: 4508
Series: Naruto, Fallout
Chapter Title: Interdimensional Travel
To New Readers: The story periodically changes from one major crossover to another, and if you're reading based on the crossover listed as the main categories, please note that the listed ones are in relation to the current crossover taking place in the story. Initially, I had this story in the main Naruto category, but I've since changed it(along with the title and description) to be part of the crossover section, since it only makes sense to use the crossover system if it's there.
"I've got spuuurrss that jingle, jangle, jingle!"
"Jingle, Jangle!"
His whole body hurt. Every beat of his heart was pumping a cold fire through his veins, a searing burn coursing throughout every inch his body.
"As I go ridin' merrily along!"
"Jingle, Jangle!"
The strange song echoing in his ears didn't help the pain – or his mood – any. His head pounded from every single beat of the obnoxiously noisy tune. It felt like he had been hanging upside down a little too long, and all the blood had pooled inside of his head. Some of the pain, disorientation, and stuffed head likely stemmed from the mild case of chakra exhaustion he seemed to be suffering from.
"And they sing, 'Oh, ain't you glad you're single'!"
"Jingle, Jangle!"
Just what in the world was that song, anyways? It wasn't making much sense to him, other than causing him excruciating pain every other beat. Cracking open his eye, one Kakashi Hatake stared up at the pale blue sky above him...
Odd. The sky seemed far paler than normal, and there was an unpleasant looking brown smog that made the sky look as if someone had regurgitated upon it. At least, that was the most apt description of it Kakashi could think of in the haze of his own mind. Normally, he would have had a better description, but alas his head was pounding too much to form any coherent thought.
"And that song ain't so very far from wrong!"
"Jingle, Jangle!"
Kakashi turned his head in the direction of the song, pausing upon sighting the source of the sound. It was a large metal ball of sorts that almost looked like an eyeball that was floating roughly a meter or so off the ground. If not for his years of experience in the oddities of war, life, and death... Kakashi would have thought he were dreaming, or that it was some sort of illusion or hallucination. While not a master of illusions by any means, he knew enough about them, and about the workings of his own body, to recognize the tell-tale signs of when he was under an illusion. No experienced ninja would be unable to tell that much; dispelling it was another story entirely. The true problem of genjutsu was learning how to counteract one when in the heat of battle. After all, the strongest genjutsu were always the ones that kept the mind from focusing enough to dispel them.
"Oh, Lillie Belle! Oh, Lillie Belle! Oh, Lillie Belle! Oh, Lillie Belle! Though I may have done some foolin', this is why I never fell!"
The metal eyeball wasn't moving too much, just hovering some ten meters away. Kakashi wondered just what it was doing, only to freeze up when his eye noticed that the eyeball was not the only thing around. Indeed, Kakashi could see at least three tall brown creatures past the metal eyeball. Looking all around him, Kakashi found there were six more of them standing about. They were all pale brown in color, ranged from two to three feet tall, and were incredibly well built, with muscles five times the size of his own. While not all of them had horns, they all had half meter long claws, some ten-twenty centimeter long teeth, and glowing, pale green eyes.
Kakashi had never seen a creature quite like them in all his years. They were certainly intimidating, and he could tell they were eyeballing him as food. Pushing himself up slowly, Kakashi examined his surrounding. It was a rocky, desert wasteland, with what appeared to be hill country in the distance. That alone didn't match up with any place he knew. It was closest to the Land of Wind, but the grassy hill country in the distance put that thought out of his mind. Not five feet away from him was his team. Naruto was closest, the young blond boy sleeping noisily on his back, his hands and legs spread out him in a haphazard way. A great deal of irritation for the boy entered Kakashi's mind all of a sudden, but he pushed it aside. Literally on top of Naruto was Sakura, who looked quite peaceful lying nearly face down in the sand and dirt. Past the two was Sasuke, the still bandaged boy slightly curled up on his side. All three of them were fast asleep, Kakashi could tell that much.
"I've got spuuurrss that jingle, jangle, jingle!"
"Jingle, Jangle!"
Kakashi really wanted the blasted thing to shut up. It wasn't doing anything for him as far as helping him get out of this situation. In fact, the damned thing was probably what attracted these strange creatures in the first place. "Okay..." Kakashi assessed the situation carefully. He was not at his full capabilities, feeling a great deal of fatigue and disorientation. His three genin were fast asleep, with no signs of waking unless forcibly done so. A small metal eyeball was hovering around, being of no help to the situation, or for his headache. There were nine creatures that looked like they could tear him and his genin apart if he let them, and they showed no signs of backing off.
Wonderful. Kakashi was officially pissed off. With the situation fully assessed, he considered his options. The beasts seemed to be creatures that traveled and hunted in packs. Judging by how they eyeballed him, they were no doubt carnivorous, and no doubt very aggressive if the situation called for it. Likely the only reason they had yet to feast upon their flesh was due to them being alive.
Rather, they didn't feast upon their flesh because he was alive. Animals and beasts knew an experienced ninja when they looked at one, even when they were asleep. Their instincts knew not to mess with a sleeping ninja, because it would spell certain death. That was good. It meant they were smart predators, and not fueled purely by their hunger or bloodlust.
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi flared his killing intent a smidgen. The beasts shrunk back a few steps, showing Kakashi that they were at least aware of the pecking order. However, they still had strength in numbers, and showed no signs of simply running away without some show of being outclassed.
That gave Kakashi an idea. Slowly and carefully walking over to Naruto and Sakura, Kakashi gently woke them up. "Naruto, Sakura... wake up."
"Nn..." Sakura lifted her head, blinking owlishly. Frowning, she spat some sand and dirt out of her mouth in distaste. Rubbing at her dry eyes, she seemed to recognize Kakashi through her bleary vision. "Kakashi-sensei...?" she slurred, only to notice something stirring under her. Immediately, she jolted wide awake, sitting upright and about to yell at Naruto from lying under her – albeit unintentionally – only to have Kakashi clamp a hand over her mouth.
"Shhh..." he said quietly, nodding his head to the strange creatures, who were slowly repositioning themselves around the four, aware that the group was awakening. "You don't want to provoke them, do you?" The blood in Sakura's face drained completely, her eyes widening in shock and fear at the strange creatures. Turning to the blond still on the ground, Kakashi sighed. "Naruto. Wake up."
"Nnghhh..." Naruto rolled over, his hand reaching out wildly, patting at dirt and rock. "Stupid alarm... I don't... want... radio."
"Oh, I've got spuuurrs that jingle, jangle, jingle."
"Jingle, Jangle!"
Kakashi shut his eye, shaking his head. "Naruto, it's not the radio. Get up."
That brought Naruto to the real world quickly enough. Sitting up and rubbing at his eyes, Naruto let out a yawn before asking, "Kakashi-sensei? That you?"
"Yes, Naruto, it's me." Naruto frowned up at Kakashi, trying to blink sleepiness from his eyes. "And I need a small favor from you that only you can do." That instantly woke Naruto up, the boy grinning brightly.
"Sure, sure! Anything you need!" Naruto happily said, standing up in a flash. That caused some of the creatures around them to get agitated, two of them leaning down, ready to pounce. It didn't help that Sakura let out a terrified scream – one that awoke Sasuke with a start – but a quick flare of Kakashi's killing intent controlled the creatures long enough for Sasuke to snap to a hasty stand and Naruto to realize they were surrounded by very deadly looking creatures. "U-uh, Kakashi-sensei...!"
"Naruto, I need you to make as many shadow clones as you possibly can. Quickly, please!" Kakashi had a hand in his kunai pouch, noticing that one of the creatures was getting awfully close.
"R-right!" Naruto formed the Clone Seal, and seconds later the surrounding area was covered with smoke. Roughly seven dozen copies of Naruto appeared in the clearing, kunai in hand, all ready to fight. The sudden appearance of so many new Narutos startled and confused the creatures. It was apparent they didn't know whether to stay and fight, or turn and run. The decision was made when one of the creatures lunged at three of the Naruto clones, its maw held wide open, forcing the trio to hastily dodge the beast and retaliate with seven of the other clones. Dozens of kunai and shuriken riddled the beast, and after ten seconds of just wailing on it, the creature let out a groan, falling to the ground.
The sudden death of one of their pack members flipped a switch in the creatures that had been off. Their previous hesitance forgotten, the creatures all rushed the Narutos en masse, letting out loud bellows as they did. The unison cry of seven dozen "Shiiit!" echoed throughout the desert.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, both scared and angry at Naruto for provoking the creatures into attacking.
"Sakura, Sasuke – stick together!" Kakashi barked out, drawing a kunai from his pouch and shifting into stance. "Naruto, if you can, summon some more clones – and, the real you should stick close to Sakura and Sasuke!"
"Got it!" Naruto yelled, forming another Clone seal, summoning a couple dozen more clones before sliding up alongside Sakura and Sasuke. "What the heck are these things?!"
"I'm not sure, but they certainly seem aggressive." Kakashi drawled, his lone eye snapping from creature to creature, making sure none of them were getting too close. "It seems that a rookie genin is strong enough to take care of them, at-" Kakashi forcibly cut himself off when a particularly large variant of the creatures barreled through two dozen of the clones towards the group of genin with no signs of stopping. This one was much different than the rest, having several much larger horns, a slightly leaner build – if larger in size than the rest – and darker skin. It was also apparently much more dangerous than the rest.
Cursing under his breath, Kakashi moved to intercept, forming a half-powered Chidori in his right hand and plunging it into the creatures chest. This did not seem to deter the beast nearly as much as Kakashi had hoped, as it let out a roar right in his face. Kakashi was thankful for his mask, as the smell it had in its mouth was very, very strong and very pungent. "Kakashi-sensei, look out!" Sakura yelled, though Kakashi was already on it. With a quick leap backwards, the creature swiped at nothing but empty air. Sliding to a stop, Kakashi wrung his hand of the blood, eyes never once leaving the beast. The beast didn't even seem sluggish after taking a direct it like that to the sternum. It seemed he'd have to up the ante.
Forming a full-blown Chidori, and flicking up his Forehead Protector with his off-hand, Kakashi watched the beast closely. It seemed to be aware that the audible and glowing chakra in Kakashi's hand was not good news for it. With speed the creature couldn't keep up with, Kakashi plunged the Chidori right into the throat of the beast. It let out a strangled, gargled cry, reaching its arms out towards Kakashi for a brief moment in a vain attempt to grab him, before it crumpled to the ground; dead.
"Cooool!" Naruto breathed, only to let out a surprised yelp when the remaining four creatures became outright frenzied upon what Kakashi assumed to be the Alpha of the pack fell. While this seemed to have toughened them up considerably, Naruto's clones had already made a dent in them. Their lack of coordination led them to fall quickly.
When the dust settled, and all of the beasts were dead, Naruto dispelled his clones. "Man, wasn't expecting that when I first woke up! What the heck were those things?"
"I don't know." Kakashi admitted, wringing his wrist to rid his hand of blood. "I've never seen anything like them."
Naruto nodded, collapsing – exhausted – onto the ground. "Um... Kakashi-sensei...?" Sakura started, Kakashi turning his head to her. "Er... where are we? I mean... shouldn't we still in the Land of Waves?"
"We should still be in the Land of Waves," Kakashi agreed, "but it seems we've somehow ended up somewhere else. I'm not familiar with where we are. The closest approximate I have is the Land of Wind, but as far as I know, there aren't many hills or trees of this type there. It also looks nothing like where the woodlands of the Land of Fire taper into the desert of the Land of Wind."
"So... we don't know where we are?" Sakura asked, distraught. Kakashi nodded solemnly, something that caused Sasuke to growl under his breath.
"This is all your fault, dumbass." Sasuke growled to Naruto. Kakashi's brow rose in questioning, but Sasuke didn't notice as he continued to glare at Naruto. "If you hadn't actually tried to learn that damn jutsu the old man gave you, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Upon those words, the memories all came flooding back to Kakashi in an instant.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei... what do you think this jutsu is?" Nartuo asked as he examined the reward scroll Tazuna had given them as a bonus for driving off Gato and his men. Apparently it was an old Ninja scroll that was passed down from his grandfather when the Land of Waves was once under the jurisdiction of the Land of Whirlpools. Tazuna claimed he hadn't a clue as to what it did, but figured that proper ninja would get more out of it than he ever would.
"I'm not entirely sure, Naruto." Kakashi said, as patiently as possible. He didn't want the boy to dive head-first into learning a potentially dangerous technique without some forewarning. "From the looks of it, it's a Fūinjutsu, rather than an actual Ninjutsu."
"Fūinjutsu?" Naruto parroted, gawking at the scroll in his hands.
"Yes, Sealing Techniques are another technique many ninja learn. At their most basic forms, they are capable of sealing one thing into another thing, such as several canteens of water into a paper scroll. They can also seal much bigger things into much smaller things." Kakashi explained, and Naruto's hand immediately landed on his stomach, rubbing the spot where the Seal harboring the Kyuubi laid.
"Oh." Naruto muttered, staring at the scroll with a frown. "Is that all Sealing Techniques are good for?"
"Not at all. Sealing Techniques are far and away the most 'unknown' of all techniques. The amount of applications for them are limited only by the user's desires. For example, the Fourth Hokage's signature 'Flying Thunder God' Technique was predominantly a Sealing Technique, and it was regarded as one of the strongest techniques ever conceived." Kakashi explained, causing stars to sparkle within Naruto's eyes. "One problem about Sealing Techniques is that they are much harder to learn than your average ninjutsu. A technique like the Flying Thunder God could very well kill the user if they do not understand the the Seal to its fullest, meaning Sealing Techniques are very dangerous for a beginner. I wouldn't recommend learning the technique until someone can examine the seals to make sure it's not dangerous."
That caused Naruto to deflate. "Okay..." Kakashi had to commend Naruto for recovering from his depression so quickly, as the boy was staring at the scroll in awe. "I wonder if this is a super awesome technique like the Fourth's... I hope I can learn it!"
"As if an idiot like you could ever learn a technique comparable to the Fourth Hokage." Sasuke said snidely towards Naruto, though Kakashi noted it didn't hold as much venom as it normally did. Perhaps a good sign!
Of course, Naruto didn't pick up on that very subtle detail. "I could too, bastard! I'm going to be Hokage one day, so of course I'm going to learn techniques that the Fourth Hokage could use!"
"Pfft. As if. You probably can't even learn that jutsu you have in your hands." Sasuke goaded, smirking at Naruto's growing ire.
"I'll show you that I can too learn this Sealing Technique, bastard!"
"Hmph. Want to bet on that, moron?" Sasuke asked, to which Naruto nodded his head rapidly. "If you can't learn that jutsu by the time we get back to Konoha, you'll do as I say for three months." Which, by Kakashi's assumption, likely meant 'shut your mouth for three months'.
"Fine! If I learn it by the time we get back to Konoha, you'll have to do what I say for three months!"
"Deal."
"Just you watch, bastard! I'll learn it before we get back to Konoha!" Naruto unfurled the scroll, burying himself into reading it from top to bottom. Kakashi sighed as he shook his head, though he was slightly relieved that the animosity between Sasuke and Naruto wasn't quite as harsh as it had been at the start. Sure, they were still at each others necks, but it was progressing nicely into genuine friendship and camaraderie, rather than full blown hatred. Kakashi just prayed that Naruto didn't cause any irrevocable damage upon himself or anyone else. He'd just keep an eye on his progress.
When night rolled through, and Team 7 had set up camp, Kakashi naturally took watch to let the genin get some rest. Throughout the night, it was completely peaceful for Kakashi as he read his favorite book(Icha Icha Paradise, naturally) until around the time the clock struck four in the morning. Naruto burst out of his tent, a flashlight in his left hand, the scroll in his right. "I figured it out!" He proclaimed loudly, causing Sasuke to stir in his tent. Sakura was apparently too exhausted to have heard or cared about Naruto's outburst, as no sign of movement came from her tent.
"Dammit..." Sasuke grunted, sticking his head out of the tent to glare at Naruto. "What are you shouting about now, dumbass?"
"Shut up, you!" Naruto glared right back at Sasuke, pointing the flashlight at the scroll. "I figured this Sealing Technique out!"
"Did you have to wake us all up to tell us that?" Sasuke ground out, ready to climb back into the tent, only to have Naruto stomp up to him. Sighing, Sasuke snapped out, "Fine. What does the damn thing do?"
"I don't know." Naruto said simply, causing Sasuke to turn around and crawl back into his tent. "Wait, wait! I know what it's supposed to do, but I don't really understand it." Sasuke rolled his eyes, still vying to get back into his sleeping bag, when Kakashi broke into the conversation.
"What does it say it's supposed to do?" Kakashi asked, causing Naruto to turn his head to him and squint his eyes shut in concentration.
"Well, it says that the seal allows for 'Enter-Die-Mention-Ul Travel' and that it can cross through 'Time and Space' as well as 'Die-Mentions.' I don't really understand what that means." Naruto explained, while Kakashi let out a hum of thought.
"It's pronounced 'Interdimensional' and 'Dimensions'." Kakashi corrected, taking the scroll from Naruto and giving it a quick run over. "From the sounds of it, it's a Space and Time technique, similar to the Flying Thunder God technique. However, it seems instead of instantaneous transportation from seal to seal, it allows travel literally through time and space..." Just looking over it, Kakashi was shocked at what he was seeing. While he was no master of Sealing Techniques, he was very knowledgeable in them – one of the best still in the village, in fact – so he could see how potentially powerful and dangerous this technique was. As one would expect of what was possibly Whirlpool's Sealing Techniques. "I would suggest against using this technique. The Sealing Array doesn't look complete in some spots, and there are no self-stabilizers meaning too much or too little chakra and the entire Seal could 'blow'. Not to mention there are no details on what the Seal will do to the caster, other than that it's 'Interdimensional, Space and Time Travel.' There's no telling the effects that using this technique could have upon you, or your surroundings."
Naruto of course, was not happy to hear that. "But I've already learned how to use it, and I have to win my bet with Sasuke-"
"Your bet is null and void, now." Naruto's jaw shut with a click. As sternly as he could, Kakashi continued,"This is an order, Naruto. Do not use this technique." Kakashi ordered, causing Naruto to glower but hold his tongue. Kakashi rolled up the scroll, tucking it into his own backpack in order to deliver it straight to the Third once they returned to Konoha. "Now, go to bed, Naruto. We're leaving early in the morning."
Bristling, Naruto nodded and sulked all the way to his tent. Sasuke just shook his head, nearly asleep again as he crawled back into his tent. Kakashi just sighed, curious as to just who Tazuna's grandfather was to have come up with such a technique. He was dubious to think that he was a descendent of the Uzumaki, just because the sealing technique lacked a lot of staples of the Uzumaki's Sealing Techniques, but they were certainly someone who had extensive knowledge in Sealing Techniques.
It was no more than ten minutes later that a bright red light flooded from Naruto's tent, and Kakashi felt a coil of pure, raw, evil Chakra wrap around his body. Kyuubi. Kakashi snapped to a stand, rushing to Naruto's tent in an instant. Before he could open it to figure out just what was going on, a blinding flash of light surrounded the entire campsite. Then, complete darkness overtook him.
Kakashi let out a minute sigh, realizing exactly what had happened. Naruto didn't take his words of warning to heart, and had set out to use the technique he had just learned. More than likely, due to the intense chakra needed to perform the technique, Naruto unwittingly tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra just as he had on Tazuna's bridge when fighting the young Haku. The result was something that encompassed more than the desired area of effect for the technique. The technique had transported everything within the campsite to an unknown location.
"Me?! How is this my fault!?" Naruto barked, glaring at Sasuke for the accusation.
"You didn't listen to Kakashi-sensei, and used that stupid technique anyways." Sasuke growled, crossing his arms. "Now we have no idea where we are, and-"
"Stop arguing, the both of you." Kakashi ordered, causing an immediate halt to the conversation. Immediately, all three Genin snapped to attention, looking up at Kakashi expectantly. "Sasuke, you're partly to blame for this as well. If you hadn't been goading Naruto into that bet of yours, he wouldn't have been so adamant to learn the technique." Sasuke glowered at the reprimand, but accepted it regardless. Sakura on the other hand looked ready to protest. Kakashi cut her off before she could, "Naruto, you should listen to your superiors when they tell you not to do something. As it stands, that counts for insubordination, negligence, and complete disregard for the safety of yourself and your team. When we get back, the Hokage will hear of this." Naruto paled considerably, gulping loudly. Kakashi doubted the Third would punish the boy too severely, but he needed to know that this was not acceptable behavior by any means. "Your little stunt has also landed us in an unknown location, and possibly an unknown Dimension and Time."
"Um... Sensei... what does that mean?" Sakura asked nervously. "You said... dimension... but you don't actually mean-"
"Unfortunately Sakura, I do." Sakura looked horrified, while Naruto and Sasuke merely looked confused. "According to that scroll, the technique's intention was Interdimensional, Space and Time travel." All three of their eyes bugged, though Sakura understood the implications more than Naruto and Sasuke did.
"So... you mean we could time travel with this technique?" Naruto sputtered. "Whoooaa... and I actually used it!? HAH! Eat that, you bastard! I won the damn bet! Whooo-" Sakura cut his victory off by hitting him – hard – in the head.
"NARUTO! YOU IDIOT! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?" She bellowed. "There's no telling where we've ended up, because it's not just a transportation technique! We could have ended up on an entirely different planet,in an entirely different time, and in an entirely different dimension!"
"Well... I can just use the technique again and transport us back..." upon seeing Kakashi shaking his head, Naruto paled, "r-right?"
"There is no guarantee that using the technique again will transport us back to our original location." Kakashi explained, causing the severity of the situation to finally hit home in Naruto's head. "In fact, we could end up only worsening our problem."
"Is there any way to pinpoint the location?" Sasuke asked, curiously. Kakashi noted he was much more interested in the technique than he had been before. The notion of time travel was not lost on the Uchiha genius, and Kakashi wouldn't deny the thought had crossed his own mind.
"I would have to study the Sealing Array more closely, which will take some time." Kakashi glanced around, noting the remnants of their campsite were still around. The metal eyeball from before was no where to be seen. It seemed that with the creatures having been felled, it had decided it was safe for it to leave. Regardless, Kakashi found his backpack, and made sure the scroll was still safely intact. By all that was holy, it was. "Find your own bags. Before I examine this scroll, our first order of business is to figure out where we are. We don't want to jump to unnecessary conclusions about interdimensional, time and space travel when in reality we simply ended up in an unknown country far from the Land of Fire."
"Right!" Naruto quickly began to search for his bag, Sasuke and Sakura following suit. Though the situation was weighing heavily on all of them, Kakashi was proud to note that they were not panicking. Apparently the mission in Wave had already strengthened their resolve. That was good.
Now if only they weren't in this predicament...
A/N: And thus begins the start of my 'epic' story. By epic, I mean it's going to be long... probably. Unless I get stuck and never update it again. Which could happen. I will make no promises about my ability to maintain this. I already have a good number of chapters written, and have the ideas for the plots of a few worlds after that all planned out in my head... which means nothing, if I can't actually get myself to write it out... I'm pretty bad about that, you see.
Now, a little primer so you know what to expect. The premise of this multi-crossover story is somewhat based on the old television series known as "Sliders". If you don't know what that is, it was a show about a group of four who traveled to various Parallel Realities via physics, but were unable to return to their original world because there wouldn't be much of a show without it(more to it than that, obviously, but you get the gist). Instead of Parallel Realities(which is an idea that I considered, but opted against), I decided to have them traveling to entirely different worlds, dimensions, and even time periods. This, essentially, means crossovers. Lots and lots of crossovers. My tastes in series varies, so it'll span a lot of different things... and I won't delve into any crossovers I don't know personally, so don't expect literally everything to be featured.
Now, I will attempt to keep the characters as in-character as possible, and I don't intend to have any radical personality shifts from what is canon. There will be character development for all, but there will be no sudden personality shifts. Like, Naruto won't become dark, brooding or super smart(he might just get a little more smart), Sasuke won't suddenly be all about friends(and probably never will be, at least overtly) nor will he go crazy and end up rogue where the group follows after him through dimensions(that'd only happen if this was Shippuden!), Sakura won't suddenly become strong and competent(it'll happen eventually, though), and Kakashi will, more or less, be the same as he always is(but he too will grow and have some moments of development, depending). In addition, I have no real intention of adding any romance or pairings into the story. I may subtly hint at some things, but it will never be a direct focus of plot or story. Despite that, canon relationships will still be canon... if that ever actually comes up, that is.
Team 7 will learn various abilities and powers, and get various items/equipment from other worlds, but they won't become super-powered in a day. Hell, they won't even become super powered in a year. They'll progress relatively fast, but they won't be defeating the likes of gods any time soon, if ever. Eventually, they'll become 'super-powered'(as far as Naruto goes), but don't expect them to surpass Kakashi any time in the foreseeable future(if ever, depending on how I go about things... haven't gotten that far ahead).
Additionally, I'll be doing my best to explain certain aspects of certain series as they come up, so if you don't know the series, you won't be completely lost. However, I won't be going into every single detail, since most of the time it won't actually come up in the story. Any information that Team 7 needs to know is what you'll get. Whether it's a good explanation or not, hell if I know. I'll be doing my best, and I'll be putting the name of the series in the headers, as well as slightly more detail in the A/Ns here at the end of the chapters.
Two last things about the overall story, just so we're on the same page. There will be repeat crossovers where the group ends up in the same series, but they may or may not be the same dimension/time as the last time they were there. Parallel Universes may or may not come up, so there is that, too... as for the last thing, there will be an overarching plot eventually, but I have to hash the idea out before that even becomes a thing. (And for those who know Sliders, no, it won't be anything like that)
Now, since this is a constantly "series-changing" story as far as the crossover goes, I'm just putting it in the normal Naruto category for right now. I may put it in one of the "Misc." Crossover sections, but I'm not really sure since it'll change from games to anime to tv series, etc. Regardless, since it is in the Naruto section, I will be listing what series they crossover into are. I'm sure a lot of you know what series they crossed over into first, but if you don't know, it's the video game series "Fallout"; more specifically, it's some time before "Fallout: New Vegas". Most, if not all of the worlds that they end up in will be set in a time different than the 'canon appearances' so to speak. It helps me mesh the characters into a series better, it allows me to be more creative with my writing, and it helps me give the stories their own unique flare instead of copy-pasting Team 7 into an already established story. However, that doesn't mean it will always be that way. Depending on the series, I may dump them into the main plot, or I may not. Really just depends on whether or not I can come up with a good enough idea or not. Heh.
For anyone who wants to do some research(in the off chance you're unfamiliar with Fallout, but want to keep reading/know more, or have a better image of what I tried[and probably failed]to describe above), the 'floating eyeball' that was playing Fallout: New Vegas' "theme"(Jingle Jangle Jingle) is known as an Eyebot, and this particular one is Fallout: New Vegas' "ED-E". The creatures Team 7 fought are known as "Deathclaws", the toughest enemy you'll likely encounter in the Fallout universe.
Now, with that absurdly long AN out of the way(and hopefully the LAST really long AN), I'll just say that I'm going to attempt to update every Saturday. Since I have a decent amount of chapters already written, releasing what I have weekly will help give me time to write more while balancing studying/school. Yay College!
Until next time. Ja ne.