—Naruto—

The first fifteen minutes were the most nerve-wracking, but, in truth, even being flung through the sky in a paw-shaped bubble of force at supersonic speeds grew predictable after a little while. The landscape flew past him too quickly to take in, though really it was mostly ocean. He was shocked how quickly he caught up to the daylight.

In the end, all he could do was trust in the motives of their mysterious bear of a rescuer. It wasn't as though he could do anything else.

It was about half an hour before he really started to lose steam. First the Rookie Summit, then skirmishing with the Pacifista, then flying all the way up the Red Line… nearly dying at the hands of the Hokages and Roger… fighting Tobi, then fighting Tobi again, then moving heaven and earth to stop Tobi from killing himself… It took its toll.

Before he could even think about resting, however, he finally got back in touch with Sasuke. The heart-link that bound both of them together had stabilized enough for nuanced words, and Sasuke confirmed what Naruto had only been guessing at until then.

"We might be safe, or something close to it," Sasuke thought. "It was right near the end, and the rogue bear-bot, the one who was probably the Warlord, Kuma, approached us. He didn't say much, just thanked us and said that we were going to be going on a trip somewhere safe. He snagged me right in the middle of it all, but I think he was trying to get to everyone when I left."

That was a relief. "Yeah, he came up to Luffy, Sakura and I too. He zapped us right out of there even though the World Government was firing on him, so I'm guessing at the very least we're not gonna end up in a government prison again."

"No, I don't think so either. It's crazy to even think about, but… I think we won. Good job, man, seriously."

"Heh, thanks man. Right back at you. So, any clue where we're going? Are we even going to the same place? We might be, like, a thousand miles away from each other by now, right?"

Sasuke paused, lost in thought. "I… don't know. It's not frequent, but sometimes when the weather is clear I can see them. Dozens of miles off, other balls just like ours flying in the same direction as mine. I've seen Sanji, Chopper, and Franky so far. Couldn't tell you if it was all of us, but I think he's sending us to the same place. I just wish there was a way to tell everyone else what was going on."

The two of them commiserated and congratulated each other for a while longer before Sasuke finally bowed out.

"I'm done, man. I've had some long days before, but this… this is something else entirely. I'm going to go to sleep. Good luck, and wake me up if something especially stupid happens, alright?"

Soon, Naruto was alone again. Well, alone except for…

"Kurama, are you okay in there?"

Merely thinking. Attempting to make sense of it all.

"Yeah? You having any luck, 'cause none of this made any sense to me. That so-called prophecy was a load of-"

Putting aside your willful ignorance in the matter, the prophecy is what I was considering. I think I have neared a breakthrough. Leave me be for a time.

"Sure man, whatever," said Naruto. He felt the energy contained in the items in his pocket, each one calling for his attention, so he added. "Lemme know when you wanna talk about the whole Devil Fruit thing too, alright?"

There was no response for several minutes, during which time Naruto began relaxing, letting himself slide down against the transparent curve of the bubble-vessel. Far below him, a vast coral reef that poked partway above the ocean's surface appeared and then disappeared into the distance.

Ah, I see it now… "They shall come with the aid of the thunder, bearing its power and flame in their hearts."

Naruto worked his tired mind to catch up. "That's part of what the Sage dude said he remembered about the prophecy, right? Jiraiya was talking about the 'Will of Fire' as he trained me, and his name means 'Young Thunder.' But the toads said the prohpecy was just about me, and the Sage said it was about me and Sasuke, right?"

I am impressed you remembered as much as you do, muddled as you are. Yes, that is what the Sage said, though he did not recall the exact words The interpretations given by the Toad Elder and the Sage are… reasonable, if fanciful.

"But we already decided it didn't make sense, cause Sasuke was the other guy in the prophecy, and that old perv never even gave Sasuke more than a few hours of his time. And even if it's about me, it just seems kinda…" Naruto thought about it, shrugged, and added, "You know, wishy-washy."

The fox chuckled. It was an odd sound, far less absorbed in the malice he'd carried within him even a few hours earlier.

The Sage said something else that I found even more interesting. 'Not everything in the world revolves around Sasuke.' I think their interpretations were slightly incorrect. Bearing the power of thunder and flame in their hearts… The heart of lightning-element chakra, as well as the power drained from the heart of the flame-wielder that Tobi used to awaken the tree.

"Wait, what?"

That phrase wasn't referring to you and Sasuke, but you and Tobi. The fox spoke without doubt now, completely changing his tune from earlier. Naruto's plan, no matter how ridiculous it had seemed on the surface, had succeeded, and Tobi had returned the Millennial Fruit, taking the Divine Tree off into the West. There was no doubt now in Naruto's success.

"…Wait, WHAT?!"

Why such surprise? You must understand by now that the Sage was correct about everything else, even if slightly misled here. Had that loathsome cur, Tobi, not sought the fruit for his own ends, it would have been recovered by the world's nobility in a few decades time. Yet, without your influence, Tobi would have cast the world into darkness by giving the fruit to Madara. You both were the children specified by the prophecy, both necessary for the world to begin its return to prosperity.

Naruto frowned. He thought about it for a few minutes. "No way, I don't buy it."

That is your prerogative. I shall simply accept it as another vexing mystery solved.

The fox went silent. Naruto continued to think over matters of prophecy, back and forth, without gaining ground. It didn't really help that he didn't actually know the whole thing. In the end, he quit entirely, determined to put the matter behind him for the rest of his life. Far below him, a big, snowy island loomed and then vanished.

Eventually, he settled down to try and get some sleep, though he was half an hour into his attempt before he realized the big problem.

"Ugh, there's no way I'm gonna be able to sleep 'till I deal with the fruit thing."

You refer to the matter of my ongoing existence?

"Yeah, sure, if you want to make it sound all ominous and crap," said Naruto. "So? You ready to do this thing or not?"

Kurama did not speak for a few seconds. Though their hearts were not bound together in the same way his and Sasuke's were, Naruto imagined he could feel the fox's tension mounting by the second. Even after all the assurances he had been offered, even after speaking directly to the Sage of Six Paths, Kurama still clearly hadn't been confident that Naruto would choose to willingly give up power. Or, more importantly, to give up generational control of the Kyuubi.

You seem eager to jump right into this.

Naruto sat up from his relaxed position. "Well, yeah, I mean, what the Sage said back there got me thinking. All nine of you are living in a pretty bad place, and we're not going to get another chance to try this thing for another thousand years at least. And who knows if we'd even be ready next time the tree did its thing, right? So, now I've got to go around the islands talking to all the hosts for the rest of the demons that are like you and get them to buy in to this plan… and if I fail, then they might never get another chance… ever."

You've distilled the situation, yes.

Naruto scratched his nose. "That… makes me nervous, you know? What if this bubble doesn't even go anywhere? What if one second it just goes SPLAT and smacks me into the side of a mountain somewhere and I die before we can do this thing? All things considered, I'd rather help you right now. I'm not gonna be able to sleep until I know I've got this done and over with."

Kurama seemed to consider this for a while.

…Yes, all of that is true. You have quite the journey ahead of you, for all you agreed to leave the oceans to your brother.

"…'Leave the oceans…?' Oh, geez, I didn't even think about it too much, but the Sage said you'd turn into some kind of Devil Fruit, right?" He gave the sky a forlorn look and sighed deeply. "Guess that means I can say goodbye to swimming, huh?"

Bathing as well. We shall have to ensure your minders keep you well-showered.

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Did… did you just crack a joke?"

The fox said nothing in response. Silence reigned for a time, before Naruto asked, "So, like, what kind of Devil Fruit did you want to become?"

What… kind?

"Yeah, what kind? Like, I'm not an expert or anything, but there's all sorts of types out there. You could be one that heals me up and lets me shoot big fireballs at people, or one that turns me into a big pelican or something, or-"

I would rather continue being as I am, I think. A fox with nine tails.

"You don't think that's, like, taken already?" asked Naruto.

Kurama's anticipation was menacing to feel. If so, I'm certain that I could come to an… arrangement with the current placeholder.

"Oh, right, like if you go to prison the first thing you gotta do is find a big guy and beat the crap outta them?"

Prison, hmm? No… this, right now, this is the prison. Perhaps now I'll finally be free. Thank you. The Sage, I think, was right about you.

"Sure, I guess. Still a bit early to say so, if you ask me. Anyway, you gonna be fine sticking around with me for the rest of my life? It's your choice now, right?"

It would be remiss of me not to. You still have a mission, do you not? Become the leader of your village and force the other demon-hosts to submit to this procedure? How else would you accomplish that, if not for my aid?

"Well… it's a big help, I'm not gonna lie."

Naruto reached into a hard-shelled compartment in his pouch and removed from it the ornate crystalline bottle that he had recovered from the temple. Mother Ocean water, rich in concentrated seastone. He shook the bottle, then removed the stopper. He took a tiny swig, his best guess at a ninth-part, feeling the rich sediment slide down his throat. The sensation was like holding a conch shell up to one's ear and hearing the ocean, except far stronger and experienced by every sense all at once. He smelled, tasted, heard, touched, and saw the ocean. He felt himself suspended in it. For a moment, the ocean was within him. He was linked to it, and by extension, the world itself.

Then he retrieved a single pip of the Divine Fruit, giving the ruby gem a long look.

"Itadakimasu," he said, throwing caution to the winds. The gem slid down into his belly without resistance.

His awareness faded, and he lost consciousness. Sleep arrived for him in the end, submerged in the ocean's embrace.

—Sasuke—

For three full days and nights, those who had fought on the Divine Tree flew through the skies, circumnavigating the massive globe without a clue where they would end up; roulette balls spinning upon their wheel.

During this time, Sasuke had days to recover from the abuse he had put his body through, and it still wasn't really enough. Still, wherever he landed he would be ready to defend himself, and he was determined to spend some time stretching his legs once he was no longer confined in this ridiculous Devil-Fruit prison. Naruto was dealing with his own problems, though it was clear he was going to be fine, in the end.

The bubble gave him about five minutes of warning, and only because he happened to notice the slight descent as it curved towards the ground. There hadn't even been land in view when this process started, which was fairly nerve-wracking. In the end, the bubble slowed as it passed over a large group of islands, moving what seemed like a hundred miles inland in a tremendous arc. Then, suddenly, it plummeted to the ground.

He couldn't help it. He screamed a bit.

When the bubble collided with the earth, it popped like a balloon, depositing him safely upon the ground with no fanfare whatsoever. He landed on his feet, not even needing to roll, in the middle of a gigantic paw-shaped imprint in the earth.

He had appeared atop a grassy hill, the wind pushing the tall stalks that surged and broke like the crests of ocean waves. It was… nostalgic. It had been a while since he'd really been on land. It was… early afternoon here, or something, and he really had no idea if he was on the Grand Line or not. Certainly, it wasn't raining lightning bolts or salt crystals or anything like that. There were no dangers nearby.

Determined to figure out where he was, Sasuke set off. He climbed to the top of a nearby escarpment to survey the landscape. Far off in the distance, the outskirts of a small town began to emerge from the array of farmland and wilderness surrounding it. The Sharingan slid into place, taking careful account of the people, clothing, and architecture. He listened to the birdsong, and examined the flora and fauna. In the end, there was only one conclusion.

"Shit, all that fuss about leaving, and now I'm right back where I started."