"You okay, Koneko?"

There it was again. The slight trickle of sweat on her brow, her sporadic sniffling. Even her usual monotone look wasn't the same.

Something was off with her Rook.

Her words seemed to flip whatever switch that had her friend acting so odd. The light returned to the younger girl's eyes as she turned to face her King.

"I'm fine." Rias knew that was a lie. It didn't take any of her devil magic to sense that. Koneko rarely found it within herself to lie and, when she did, was horrible at it. For someone that acted stoic most of the time, the young girl managed to let so many of her emotions show face when she told a fib.

The redhead pursed her lips. The backdrop of her office faded away as she focused on her friend. She hated seeing her peerage members suffer. Frankly, she had only herself to blame. No one told her to focus her recruiting on a bunch of mentally traumatized youths. Push too hard and they lash out. Push too little and they end up secluding themselves in a box.

Yet here she was.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" In the end, she decided on middle ground. A bit of a cop-out, honestly, but it would do for now. While something was obviously bothering Koneko, she wasn't going to force the issue out of the girl. A few spacey moments weren't too much to be concerned about, right?

"Right, of course. I know, Rias."

This was frustrating. And, with all honesty to God, she hated being frustrated.

A small hiss erupted from her as her hands flew to her temples. Right ... God. Can't say that. You would think being a devil for eight years would've hammered that into her head by now. Let that be a testimony on how frustrating her frustration was now.

It started a month ago with a sniff. Half her bento box had already made its way to her stomach as she sat on the school's roof. Her headphones sat unpowered over her human ears. That time of the day was meant for solitude. Her time away from the rabble of the school beneath her. Between the loudness of her peers, the perversion of the male students and the drama surrounding high school, she needed time away from it all.

So, she sat there eating. Just like she did most days. And things had been normal. Until she decided to sniff. An unsuspecting action that had, up until that point, no consequences whatsoever in her life.

Up until today.

That upturn of her nose, that slight inhale of air through her nostrils, fucked her up. She hadn't realized it at the moment, but something had changed then. Something foreign had made its way into her brain and for some ungodly reason, she couldn't get rid of it.

Another stab of pain led to yet another hiss. Ungodly counted too? Being a devil had its perks but not being able to take the Lord's name in vain really sucked sometimes.

A rare sigh left her lips. She hated this feeling. Too many unknowns left her feeling lightheaded. So lightheaded that she had no idea where she even was now. Her internal monologue had left her body on autopilot, dragging her feet all the way to the edge of the city.

What laid before her was a massive tree line. Kuoh, which served as the backdrop for most of her 'human' life, had masses of trees surrounding it. The city was like a gigantic metropolitan clearing within the sea of trees. And, here she was, right at its edge.

A quick glance at the sun made her take a step back. Her nightly activities with Rias started around sunset each night. And, the last glimpses of sunlight just barely peeking over the tree line, let her know that she was moments away from being late.

"Another wasted afternoon." The words barely made their way out of her mouth as she turned to face the city. As her feet began to carry her, her body produced another sniff. With the past month, it was nearly an instinct at this point.

The smell of the air entering her nose caused her to freeze. Every hair on her body stood on its end as the scent of the world overwhelmed her. She did a near full-body clench as she attempted to hold in her devil features.

This … this was it. Whatever had been plaguing her thoughts, it was here. Maybe not exactly here but close. Closer than it had been back at the school. And much too close for her to try and ignore the meteoric buzzing in her brain.

So, with Rias at the very, very back of her brain, the young Nekoshou turned around and marched to the forest.

Deep within the forests of Kuoh, tucked within one of the many clearings that sprinkled the land, a mass of blue light lit up the swiftly darkening sky. The light persisted for nearly a full minute before dying away into a few scant blue twinkles.

"Done for the night?"

"I think." Labored breathing filled the air within the clearing. It's source, a young blond male, looked ready to collapse as he stood pressed against a tree.

"Yeah, I am." The boy's words were punctuated by him collapsing on his ass. For a few moments, the only sound within the forest was the muted huffing coming from his mouth.

"Naruto…"

"I know, Kurama. I know."

It had been a month. At least, he assumed it was a month. It was hard to keep a good sense of time without a calendar. And to be honest, he hadn't paid much attention to the time-keeping sections of his nature survival training. Whenever Kakashi had started talking about angles involving stars and the moon, his attention had left for more important things.

Like ramen.

Now, he was regretting his lack of attention. Though, not knowing the time was the least of his issues.

"I'm still stranded regardless of what time it is."

Stranded through time and space. He had his dad and Kaguya to thank for his ability to even wrap his mind around such a concept. Warping through dimensions and time and space would've been too much for his pre-academy self to handle. But, after fighting alongside the reincarnated soul of his dead father and getting rag dolled through dimensions by his sorta-kinda rabbit grandmother, he had gotten used to these sorts of things.

But this? Now? Stranded from his own home all because some super powered bunny woman couldn't handle a loss? Even his ever-positive self was being pushed to remain calm. The lack of response from his summons and his own ability to use Hiraishin was leaving him with very little options.

"It'll be okay, kid. We've dealt with worse before."

A smile touched his lips for the first time that day. Thank Kami for Kurama. The fox's sardonic but honest attitude had kept him grounded since he had arrived in this dimension. He had been moments away from running through the streets half-naked and frantic before the fox gave him the idea to settle into the forest. From there, reconnaissance and research on how to get home had been his life. While much of his focus had been focused on returning, he couldn't help but be surprised by the differences in the world he had arrived in. Technology, culture, even the food had so much difference. In a different circumstance, he would've been ecstatic to explore.

"I may not have a choice but to explore."

Banging his head against trees wasn't doing him any good. Either more heads or better trees were needed. The problem was, based on what he saw from the civilians in this world, he didn't expect much help. While their technology was advanced, it wasn't 'dimensional travel' advance. While he was no scientist, it seemed clear to him they wouldn't get to that point anytime soon.

"Who would've thought I'd actually be wishing to see the Rinnegan?" The eyes that took away his sensei, plunged his world into an extinction level hole of death and sent him away from his home. Now more than ever, he wished he had access to them just so he could leave this strange place. While he was thankful for his spiritual super-powered grandpa's blessings, he couldn't help but be irked that Sasuke got the flashy eyes instead of him.

"Where's that dimension-hopping bastard when you need 'em?"

It was that day that and that very moment Naruto came to realize the power of his words. He wasn't ignorant to the strength of his speech. Most of the close friends in his life were converted to his side by his impassioned speech after they attempted to kill him. Out of all his abilities, the one to put together words was by far his greatest asset. His words were his strength.

This day would forever be a reminder of such.

One moment, his senses could only pick up the peaceful sound of a waning day within nature. Birds, deer, the occasional buzz of insects. Peace.

Then, it came.

His senses flared then receded. There was no need to expand when what was sensed was so immense and consuming. It was as if the sun had teleported right to his side. Yet, at that same moment, the sun had been swallowed by a black hole that seemed to pull every speck of everything within it.

By the time his brain adjusted to the presence of the new arrival, the individual bearing the massive presence was by his side. He only caught a glimpse of the inky, swirling image of what appeared to be a portal before its sudden disappearance, leaving all his attention to settle on his new clearing partner.

A little girl stared back at him.

…

Why was a little girl dressed in all-black standing next to him right now? And why did this little girl have enough energy to put nearly every person he's ever fought to shame?

And why was she staring at him so intensely?

"Hello?"

…

…

…

"Fight for me."

Fight for her? With the amount of energy pouring off her? What in the world was she fighting where she needed his help? He knew he wasn't any slouch when it came to power but sheesh.

"...I can reward you."

Oh. Well ... that changed things.

"...Can you send me through dimensions? I'm a bit lost in this one." It felt weird to bargain with what appeared to be a twelve-year-old but he had done weirder things in his life. If her power was anything to go by, she may have just what he needed.

"...Maybe. I live in the gap between dimensions in this universe. I've never been to yours, but I could try." Based on the swirling portal she stepped out of and the fact that he could sense every living creature within a kilometer of them fled when she arrived, he was pretty confident she was telling the truth.

"Well, good enough for me. As long as I don't have to hurt any good or innocent people, I'll help you out."

"Fine."

"You impulsive idiot. What did you just get us into?"

"What's wrong issue, Kurama? You can sense she doesn't have any bad intentions and she can maybe help us get home! What's the worst that could happen?"

AN: Things will be different. New chapter on New Years day. If you celebrate it Merry Christmas. Peace to all.