Chapter 1: Imbalance

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or Death Note, much to my dismay.

Italics Thoughts

Bold Italics Demonic Thoughts, primarily Kyuubi

"Regular Type´ Talking

Bold Script Demon talking, mainly Kyuubi.

On a monochromatic world, lost in the vast emptiness of the universe, dwell the Shinigami. These creatures, despite being responsible for the balance between Life and Death, have become lazy and complacent. They spend their time lounging about, playing games and gambling. Thus, the carefully maintained balance has become unpredictable, swaying back and forth. However, things would soon occur that would change that. For good or for ill, however, that can't be seen.

There is more to this world than meets the eye. Though few would think it, this is the central realm to this dimension. In this world meet the elements that create the balances. This is illustrated in the existence of the Shinigami themselves. Beings that bring death, yet also live life. It displays the perfect balance that can exist in a world. Of course, due to the general complacency of its inhabitants, it is no longer the balanced and neutral world it once was.

However, that was soon to be changed, and events would take place that would shape the course of history. For true balance is a tricky thing, and sometimes what should repair it, may often destroy it.

(Realm of the Shinigami)

"Yahoo! Two Death's heads! I win again!" said a short Shinigami holding a scythe. He began leaping up and down in delight, a comical sight to see, for he closely resembled a frog. His fellow gambler, a tall, lanky skeleton with bolts and screws all over his body, groaned loudly as he handed over the last of his cash. The toadish one cackled loudly in joy as he scooped up the precious stones that his opponent had relinquished, picking one up and holding it to his eye. "Pretty! I like these!" He turned around and, gazing through the jewel in rapture of its beauty, saw through it a figure he knew well. "Oi, Ryuk, wanna play? Dagtol here just lost big time! Why don't you try and win it off me?" The target of his comments rose slowly and turned towards the frog-like Death God.

"Nah, no thanks. Find someone else, Blikta." He waved at Bilkta and began walking off. Blikta blinked the large orbs that passed for eyes and looked closely at Ryuk. He turned to Dagtol and put a hand to his chin, scratching thoughtfully.

"Oi, Dag, ya think something's botherin' Ryuk? He aint been himself the past couple o' days..." His voice trailed off as he frowned in thought. Dagtol, not in the mood for conversation, just shrugged. Blikta glared at him for a moment, and then shrugged as well. He glanced down at the gambling setup they had on the ground. Heh, he thought to himself, that dumbass never realized that I'm cheating! I love doing this! Nobody ever notices around here, they're all too damn lazy. Just goes to show, I guess.

He reached down and grabbed the 3 tiny skulls that served as dice and looked at his friend again. "Hey, wanna play another round? Double or nothing?" He repressed a chuckle at the last sentence as he said it. Dagtol merely shrugged and waved his hand at the seat Blikta had just vacated. Blikta cackled gleefully as he realized how much stuff he was getting out of this.

He was about to sit down to relax, until he saw a sight that chilled him to the core. He slowly reached down and tapped his skeletal companion on his bony shoulder, pointing into the distance. Dagtol rose slowly to his feet, seeing what his gambling partner had been pointing at. There, in the distance was a gray pillar of light, stretching out into the perpetual darkness of the Shinigami Realm.

"Dammit!" Blikta muttered softly to himself. "Why the hell is HE coming here? What does he want from us?" Dagtol said nothing, merely turned and ran off. Blikta started and stared after his departing friend for a moment, before shaking himself out of his daze and sprinting off after him, waving his scythe and shouting to him to wait up. For a moment, there was nothing moving in the small clearing they had just left.

Then, suddenly, the light pierced the ground in the middle of the clearing, shining with a brilliance unsurpassed by anything seen with mortal eyes. For a moment, it stayed there, like a monumental pillar. Then, it began growing thinner and shorter, shrinking down to a ball. This sank slowly into the ground and disappeared. A few seconds later, where the ball had just entered the ground, a figure emerged. At first, it was shining brightly, so brightly you couldn't make out more than the most basic details. Then, abruptly, the light disappeared. When it left, it revealed a man standing in a small crater, brushing dust off of his clothes.

He was a somewhat tall man, standing at about 6 feet in height, and wore a large straw hat, like samurai's often wear. Under it he had medium length grey hair that stood out wildly in all directions. He wore a dark blue trench coat with a strange silver design on the right sleeve. Under the open coat, he wore dark green cargo pants and a loose black undershirt. He also wore a basic pair of sandals which had obviously been used a lot, its wear and tear plainly visible. He bore a katana on his back, and around his left arm was wrapped a chain, acting as a sort of gauntlet or armguard. He looked like a relaxed but alert warrior, always on the lookout for trouble but at the same time confident in his ability to handle it.

He walked out of the small crater his arrival had formed, stretching his arms back behind his head, yawning. Then he grabbed his head and twisted it sharply to the left and right, accompanied by the sound of popping joints. He bent forward a couple of times, and then backwards, his face contorting in a grimace as his muscles groaned and creaked about the exercise. Standing up straight again, he glanced around the clearing he had landed in. His lip curled a little in distaste, and he muttered to himself "This place is just as boring and dead as the last time. Damn, doesn't anything ever change around here?"

His gaze fell upon the abandoned gambling set the two Shinigami had left behind, and an eyebrow rose. He bent down to the ground and picked up on of the small skulls, tossing it up and down in his hand. He chuckled as he tossed them back onto the ground and crushed them beneath his heel. "Heh, one of those morons was cheating. Weighted skulls. Gimme a break." He sighed loudly at the idiotic ways of the Shinigami as he turned and began walking away.

He continued walking, his face grimacing whenever one of his muscles cramped. I really need to get that whole "hibernation" thing worked out. He thought to himself. Every time I wake up, I'm always so cramped! Ow, there goes my calf again. Damn, that hurts. He hopped for a second on one leg, clutching at his cramping muscle for a moment of agony. Finally, when the cramp subsided, he resolved to do a little exercise. He crouched down slightly in a basic martial arts stance, tensing and relaxing his muscles. Then, he relaxed his arms and held them motionless at his sides. "This time will be just the legs, I think. They need it more than my arms. Besides, it's more challenging this way"

He stuck his hands into the pockets of his pants and paused for a moment. He closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath. After holding the breath for 10 or so seconds, he let it out slowly. Repeating that cycle a few times, he finally reopened his eyes and tensed his legs in preparation for action. He switched stances several times, looking for one that would suit him. Each time, he would stay in the stance for several seconds, shake his head, and get in a different one. Finally, he adopted a loose stance meant for speed and agility above most other things.

He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, concentrating his chakra into his legs. Crouching down slightly, he leaped high into the air, performing several rising kicks and coming down with a downward sidekick. As he hit the ground, he crouched low to the dirt and swept his leg around in a circle close to the ground. Then he hopped backwards and performed a series of roundhouse kicks designed to cover distance and counter lateral movement. After his last kick, he rolled to the side and came up with a wild crescent kick, sweeping his leg high then low.

He paused then for a moment, catching his breath, then stood straight once more. "Ok, this time the arms!" saying this, he relaxed his tensed leg muscles and pulled his hands out if his pockets, preparing for another round of shadowboxing. Quickly he lunged forward, moving into a complex series of jabs, backhands and chops in a chaotic, yet fluid, fashion. Rolling backwards into a handstand, he pushed himself off the ground, flipped forwards and came down with both hands clenched together, a move obviously meant to crush an opponents skull. Landing on all fours, he jumped back into his fighting stance before leaping high into the air. As he came down, he focused a great deal of chakra into his left arm, which caused the chain wrapped around it to glow with a grayish aura. As he came down to the ground, he punched it solidly, releasing the pent up chakra at the precise moment of impact. This cause the ground to explode with force, creating a crater in the ground.

He breathed heavily for a moment, then stood up, shaking his left hand in an effort to relieve the pain of hitting the rocky ground. "I'm kinda disappointed in how this went." he muttered. His movements had been slow and sloppy compared to his normal level of fighting, and he was disappointed at his lack of balance. He had almost tripped over his own feet a few times. He sighed softly and shoved his hands deep into his pockets dejectedly, shuffling off in a random direction. This level of fighting is just sad. he thought to himself. I guess I let myself go while I was asleep. And there I was, so confident in my abilities. I guess fighting isn't like learning to ride a bike. You practice or you die. Hey, that sounded pretty good. Polish that up a little and I'll write it in my book. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a small notebook from an inner pocket. He wrote his idea down in the book and put it back into his coat, craning his neck and looking out into the horizon as he did.

Time went on, and he continued walking and looking for something. Until, suddenly, he found what he had been seeking. Off in the distance, a great monument stood. He smirked in triumph as he sprinted towards it, stretching his legs out with each stride. He reached the construction in short order and stopped in front of it, gazing at its architecture. The great obelisk was built out of large black stones piled high into two tall pillars that stretched out several hundred feet into the sky. It was on a tall hill, but someone had constructed rock stairways that led up to it. It was capped with a simple stone slab made of a strange milky white solid, which seemed to flow and move slightly when you tried to focus your gaze on it. After feasting his eyes on it, he climbed the steep steps. When he got to the top of the stairs, he looked at it and smiled in recognition.

For, now that he had climbed up to the top of the staircase, he could see again why it had been built. The great monolith was merely a frame for a much more important device. There was a large disk suspended vertically in midair by chains, which were attached all along the pillars top and sides. The design of the disk was a basic Yin-Yang symbol, roughly outlined with a solid iron frame. He walked forward until he was right next to the disk, and gazed at it. It was large, maybe 15 feet in diameter, and quite thick. However, the most interesting thing about it was that the borders between Yin and Yang, normally firmly outlined into a perfect balance, were horribly skewed. He gasped harshly in astonishment and looked closer. The Yang symbol had taken nearly half of the Yin symbol's space, leaving the white side greatly weakened. He stepped back in horror and astonishment. The balance was all wrong! What had happened during his nap? He was supposed to keep the balance, but instead it had all gone wrong. It's time for drastic measures. He thought to himself.

He ran around to the side of the disk and grabbed the chains, breaking each one individually with a well-placed blast of grey energy. He broke all but three of the chains before stepping back in front of the disk. Reaching into the left sleeve of his coat, he took out a jet black throwing knife, about nine inches long, and thrust it into the white circle in the Yang space. Then, reaching into his right coat sleeve, he withdrew a duplicate of the other, except an ivory white. This he thrust deeply into the black circle on the opposite side of the disk. When both daggers were inserted, the chains on the sides of the disc broke and fell away.

That left only one chain, hanging from the very center of the slab that served as a ceiling for the monument. He backed up a couple of step and quickly grabbed his katana from his back, drawing it gracefully. He held the long blade in front of him for a second, before slashing it roughly across the palm of his left hand, drawing blood. He covered the edge of the blade thoroughly with it, and then slashed through the last chain in a single smooth motion. As the last chain broke, the disk flashed brightly for a moment, then subsided. Where before it had hung suspended, it now hovered by itself, defying gravity and remaining motionless.

Thrusting his katana deep into the rock, he stepped forward towards the disk. Now, as he gazed at it, he saw the two sides of it come to life, watched them battle each other constantly and endlessly. Normally, when he unsealed the portal, the area that each side gained was always equal to the amount lost. After all, light and dark should be in perfect balance at all times. He drew much of his power from that, in fact. But, something or someone had broken the endless cycle. And now, the dark was beginning to quell the light. That couldn't be allowed to happen. If either side ever destroyed the other, both would cease to exist. For how do you define light or darkness without something to compare it to?

He jumped towards the disk and roughly thrust his hand onto the middle of the disc, where the normal border between the two powers was located. Suddenly, all motion stopped on the disc, and it split in two equal halves. As the two halves of the disc dropped to the ground, the iron outline remained. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the iron outline began glowing a dull grey, and began filling itself with grey light. When the entire ring was filled with the dim energy, he raised his hand and shot a pulse of pale grey energy into it. It reacted instantly, swirling and eddying in response to his blast of power. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Show me the location of Imbalance Alpha, Priority Command G; Authorization Password: Ramen. Activate Search mode and determine number and location of any and all possible causes of the imbalance. Cross-reference with previous condition of Balance at last checkup." He chuckled a little at the password he had chosen, and then waited for a second. The command he had given should have the portal show him the world that the imbalance was in, and hopefully the reason why it was so imbalanced. He sat on the rough stone floor, and pulled out a gourd of sake. Pulling the cork out of the top, he took a sip of it. Setting the gourd back on the ground for a moment, he leaned his head back and gave a loud sigh of satisfaction. He was no alcoholic, but give him a sake and some ramen, and the world was his.

Ah, ramen. He remembered the first time he had some. It was back in that fun ninja place. "What was it called, I wonder. Meh, whatever, they had damn good noodles. Who woulda thought that a buncha muscleheads with no fashion sense could make something so damn tasty?" He chuckled to himself as he thought of it. Man, some of those ninja's had pretty crazy outfits. He remembered one man in particular, who had worn a bright pink kimono embroidered with sakura leaves. "Aw, man, that guy had some serious issues. Haha, it was funny to see him fight, though. Most of his enemies just ran screaming. Good times, good times."

He leaned back against one of the pillars and relaxed, knowing that he had time and to spare. It had never come up with any results in a time span shorter than 12 hours, since it had to sort through thousands of worlds to find the anomaly. He closed his eyes and relaxed, letting sweet, sweet sleep carry him away.

Or, at least, that was the plan. For, suddenly, the portal began shaking violently back and forth, as if trying to break free of the arch it was under. He jumped up quickly and grabbed the chain he had left wrapped around his arm. Tugging at the end closest to his wrist, he pulled it off his arm and set one end of it against a pillar. He held it there with his left arm as he laid his right hand on the chain and sent a pulse of power into it. As soon as the power hit the desired link, it molded with the pillar, merging with it so as to provide an unbreakable anchor.

Then he took the other end and ran around the portal in a full circle, wrapping the chain along it as he went. He took the end and, gathering up the slack, bound it in the same fashion as the first one to the same pillar. This would keep the portal sealed in place. After that was completed, he stepped in front of the portal to figure out what had happened. When he got into view of the front of the portal, he gasped in shock. There, portrayed in horrible detail within the solid iron ring, was a gigantic fox, with crimson fur and nine long tails that lashed back and forth.

For a moment he gazed at the demonic apparition, wondering why it was so familiar. "I know that thing. Giant fox… 9 tails… Aw, shit!" He yelled aloud. "The Kyuubi! I know what's going on! That's that shinobi place! I trained there once, a hundred or so years ago, in Fire Country. The Kyuubi's attacking again? That shouldn't have caused the imbalance, though. Portal, stop the search, and show me the area surrounding the Kyuubi, and analyze the Kyuubi's chakra levels. Cross-reference the results with readings taken by me 104 years ago. Report any differences in size or density of the Kyuubi or any significant increase in chakra capacity." The Portal zoomed out a little, showing the terrain the Kyuubi was in. "Shit, that's the Valley of the End! What the hell is it doing there? Portal, what are the results on that chakra info I asked for?" The portal turned gray, and then showed the desired information in a three-dimensional reference table.

He gazed at it intently for a moment before stepping back a pace in shock. "What the... Portal, double-check these findings and highlight any new information." But nothing about the chart changed. "No way. How did the Kyuubi's chakra levels rise so far? That makes no sense! It's a greater demon, but it shouldn't have grown this much in only 100 years. It's easily doubled in strength from the last time I saw it. Portal, show me the terrain surrounding the Kyuubi once more."

The Portal obliged, and he studied the Kyuubi carefully. "Interesting. It's in pain. That thrashing ain't normal. Something's hurtin' it. My guess'd be mentally, since physical wounds ain't a problem for the Kyuubi. Portal, display the time difference between us and that worlds time in a minute to minute ratio." The Portal was grey for a moment, and then displayed the information. It was a 1 minute to 3 minute difference. So, every 3 minutes that pass here is 1 minute in that world. "Portal, continue monitoring the Kyuubi's actions and notify me if there is a significant change in either the Kyuubi's actions or in the environment surrounding him." After giving his orders, he crossed back to his sake gourd and took a swig, pondering the question in his mind.

What should I do? I can't directly intervene; I'd need a month's training before I'm strong enough to take on the Kyuubi again! Damn, why'd this have to happen now?! Makes no sense, right when I wake up and am helpless. How did the Kyuubi get that strong...? Well, I guess I don't have a choice. I'll have to restore the balance in that world by adding power to negate Kyuubi's added power and restore the balance. Hmm... He pulled out a folder from the depths of his coat and opened it, leafing though the contents with an intent look. After 5 minutes or so of looking into it, he came upon an individual who would be perfect for the job.

"Portal, ready new search. Continue watching the Kyuubi, but prepare a portal in World 2156. Name: Earth. Targeted Individual: The mastermind known as L. Use sequence 37 to portal him into the Limbo dimension. Once he's in Limbo, report back to me. That is all." The Portal began processing this new information, and he relaxed once more, content that help would soon be on the way. However, he would have to figure out a way to grant L power... Well, he could always simply lend him his power, wipe his memories, and then take him back.

'Course, he was gonna die back on Earth soon anyways. Well, might as well leave L there, then, and let him continue his life. But he would take back his power. Yeah, that was a good idea. He began leafing through the dossier once more, looking for the most powerful individual closest to the Kyuubi's area. His eyes fell on a specific file: Kazama Arashi, the Yondaime Hokage.

"Heh, the Fourth Fire Shadow, huh? Not a bad title. Well, then, since he's so powerful, he'll be there to back up L. Portal, Use sequence 37 again, this time in the village of Konoha, no, wait. The entire Fire Country. That ought to get his attention." the Portal grayed out once more, fulfilling the commands the master of the portal had laid down. The earthquakes had initiated. Looks like things were starting to work out.

He set the folder down on the ground next to him, yawning a bit as he did so. Grabbing his sake bottle, he took another swig and relaxed. "Now that things are in motion, maybe I can catch some sleep. It'll take a while before the Portal finishes with the commands, and I should have enough sake to last till then. Guess I'll do the training later, after this mess is cleaned up." He settled down for the long haul, keeping his eyes on the Portal.

"None of this makes any sense. I mean, the Kyuubi's been dormant for a hundred years, then comes back and starts having convulsions? What the hell, man? There's some serious shit going down there. Well, ain't nothing I can do 'til ol' Porty finishes up. Might as well get another bottle of this sake. Damn, this is good sake. Reminds me of that one time when…" Here he dozed off and he slid slowly down the walls surface until he lay on the floor. The folder in his coat slipped out and fell open on ground. If only he had been awake to look at it again, he would've noticed something rather odd about the page it was open to…

AN: Keep on reading., cuz this is only the beginning of what I hope will be a long and beautiful fanfic. Well, this is my first thing that I've actually posted, so this is very much an experimental phase for me. Especially since I never thought I'd do a crossover fanfic. But, don't worry, all I'm doing is taking the characters from one Anime and putting them into another. So, no worries, it's still Naruto. Just with a couple of guests. Anyways I'm trying to get through all this beginning stuff so I can get to the good stuff. Hope I didn't rush things in this first chappy. Don't forget to review! And don't hesitate to ask questions or comment on my work.

Gaereth

Preview of Chapter 2:

He watched as the great crimson beast writhed in agony, its power rising higher and higher. He was stunned at the vast amount of power this thing was exuding, the sheer force of it pressing down on his body, making it difficult to recover from his exhaustion. The beast suddenly noticed him, and in its pain-filled growls there entered a note of anger and murderous intention. It got stronger the longer it went on, until it threatened to overwhelm him. In one long, pain-filled roar, it screamed out its hate of the world it found itself in.