A/N: I know its only been like 2 1/2 days since I posted the story, and normally I wouldn't want to update so quickly... but considering the first two chapters are kind of like two halves of a one prologue (a long one i guess), I felt the need to post this one up early. So here is the second 'Prologue', and next up we'll have the first true chapter (where the story will finally get into what it's actually all about!). The next chapters content (when it comes to the life stories our two protagonists share with each other) has already been decided. But starting the chapter after that I'd love to start putting in content that you all ask for. So I hope to start hearing some requests if you have any~

Any responses to reviews, beyond the normal 'thanks for the reviews!', will be found at the end of the next chapter posted after the reviews were submitted.

Prologue II: Naruko

It's easier to believe the unbelievable and fantastic when you're young, and still have a child's run away imagination.

That was the case for Naruko, on the idea that there could be other worlds out there where things were different. Of course she didn't really think about it like that at first. No, she'd just had dreams since she could remember about a blonde boy who was somehow very much like her, but not. He had the same glares leveled at him from the adults in the village, didn't have any friends to play with just like her, and started off life with no one actually caring… exactly like her. Although, he seemed to be able to put on a smile much easier than she could, and didn't cry nearly as much as she did. She was jealous of that, so had worked doubly hard on smiling as much as possible, and only crying when she was sure no one was there to see her do it.

She never once thought the boy was a figment of her imagination… no, she knew he was somehow real.

The first time she had a dream about him that ended up helping her out of a real sticky situation, her jealousy started to change into admiration. Her sixth birthday was right around the corner. She'd be entering the Academy soon, so she was no longer living in the orphanage. She knew, of course, that it wasn't because she was Academy age that the staff there had told her she couldn't live there anymore. No, it was because they just didn't like her. A few days before her birthday she dreamt about the boy… and it wasn't at all a pleasant dream. It scared her terribly… the way the boy was set upon by unhappy villagers in the area. He'd eventually manage to get free from what was becoming a mob, and ran… right into one of those Shinobi dressed in black and grey, wearing a mask over his face. His presence stopped the hostilities of the mob, and that was it.

So when she was walking on the very same street she'd seen the boy on, on her own birthday, and she'd looked over to see a group of seven adults glaring her darkly, she'd cast her gaze about desperately for help, fearing the same thing was going to happen to her. She'd picked up her pace, as she spotted more adults looking at her the same way. They'd converged towards her, but she'd desperately dived through their legs to get away. And then there was the masked man, telling her he would take her home. She knew that things could have been a lot worse than they had… it wasn't the first time some adults had converged on her with the clear intent to cause her harm. But just the uneasy feeling brought on by how similar the sight had been to the dream had spurred her to act more quickly than she would have otherwise, saving her from a beating on that particular birthday.

At that point she didn't just know the boy was real because of a feeling. She was completely convinced there could be no way he wasn't real.

She found after that she mostly dreamt about the boy when things were getting hard or, sometimes, just before something really bad happened. The strength he showed, and the way he pushed through his own hurt and hate towards the village with a smile was nothing short of inspiring. It wasn't long before the boy, who she eventually found out was named Naruto rather than Naruko, became her first ever role model. Oh she could tell that the hate of others towards him bothered Naruto, but he never seemed to be consumed in hate of his own. She'd had days when she felt it was all just utterly unbearable, but thinking about the boy who never seemed to want to give up, helped her scrape through it.

Like many younger children tend to do when they have a role model, Naruko put in great effort to emulate Naruto. As her smiles through adversity become more second nature, and she was able to keep her spirits up most of the time (through sheer determination at first), the little blonde girl found she dreamt about the other blonde less and less. Still, whenever she felt like just giving up, she would have another dream about the boy who never would. So for her, it was like Naruto was always there when she needed him most, even though he wasn't physically around. She knew others would probably think it childish, but she couldn't help but think of Naruto almost like he was her older brother. After all, being there when she needed a boost to keep her going through a difficult situation was what she figured a good sibling would do. She found herself subconsciously referring to him as Naru-Nii, and started thinking "What would Naru-nii do in this situation?" Whenever she found herself facing a problem she wasn't sure how to resolve.

Eventually it became second nature, and she didn't even have to think the words before she could picture the reaction he'd have.

When she and her closest friend (Sakura) were tossed into some weird genjutsu, alternative reality thing, Naruko was quick to believe this was evidence that alternative worlds actually existed. If it wasn't for the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruko probably would have spent her free time pondering about other worlds, and whether she could make contact somehow. As it was she had her hands full with the revelations leading up to (and during) the war, all the training she had to undergo to control the Kyuubi's chakara… And a bit of grief over fallen comrades. Neji, who she'd sort of been forming a crush on, had nearly died… and TenTen had been ripped to shreds during the final, harrowing battle (Sometime between when Edo Tensei Madara had appeared and Obito became the Juubi's jinchuriki). She'd tried to save Gai as well, but apparently she was moments too late… when the Mugen Tsukiyomi was cast the amount of time he was trapped in the genjutsu was enough for him to die. If only she and Sasuke hadn't fought first, and released the Genjutsu right away, the man would still be alive. Or even if she'd just managed to somehow end the fight sooner! But… to have done that she probably would have had to kill Sasuke…

So following the war Naruko was riddled with guilt over all those she failed to save.

Once again dreams of Naruto and his world helped her cope some… but more than that she had thrown herself into rebuilding the shinobi world with a vengeance. She wasn't reminded of the idea of there being other worlds until nearly two years later, when Ino was talking about her Tsukuyomi dream, and how it reminded her of a strange day with Sakura. Sakura though had had no idea what Ino was talking about… although both Team 7 girls agreed in private that it reminded them of their weird alternate reality experience two years prior. So that was when Naruko, when she had the time, started to seriously consider the implications of there being other worlds; As well as how she might be able to make contact with Naruto. Honestly though, she didn't have that much free time to spare on it, what with the studies she was doing in preparation for being Hokage… and the important missions she was often sent on. Not to mention trying to figure out how she might let Neji know how she felt (she had no idea he'd actually already noticed her interest in him).

Before she could really figure any of that out, Toneri had attacked.

While the kidnapping of Hanabi (and subsequently Hinata) had led to a stressful mission, followed by a difficult fight with Toneri… It had also led to Neji asking her on a date when all was said and done. Shocked at the sudden invitation she had turned him down initially… only to agree with a feeling of mortification when he'd pointed out matter of factly that she'd only said no because he'd caught her off guard (and that she really did want to go on a date with him). But Naruko harbored doubt that Neji actually returned her feelings, even after he'd made it clear she was his girlfriend. She found herself thinking that he was only with her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings, since she was one of the world's saviours… or something like that. In the end, it was another dream about Naruto's world that had snapped her out of the negativity of her own thoughts; by making her absolutely terrified she'd lost Neji. It was like some sort of hand of fate (or something like that) had planned exactly when she should have a dream about the war in Naruto's world, where Neji died. She'd trained herself to exhaustion to be found by Neji sometime later, while she was in the midst of the nightmare. The resulting breakdown she'd had (in his arms) after she'd woken up had led to a conversation that left her no doubt his feelings were genuine.

Really, Naru-nii (and his world) always managed to give her whatever little push she required to get to where she was needed to be.

But after that she found she almost never dreamt of the male counterpart to herself… and when she did it was brief little snippets, barely enough to tell her that he'd married Hinata (at which she felt a pang of sadness, as her worlds Hinata had died in childbirth not long before she found this out). Following her son's birth, she saw a dream about him having a son of his own (although his son was blond), and then while she was nearing the end of her pregnancy with her daughter she had another dream of Naruto with a little baby girl (a black haired girl rather than blond, like hers turned out to be.) But other than that she didn't know much about how his life was going anymore. She'd talked to Kurama about it when he'd brought up a strange dream about another Kurama who was apparently amused at his Jinchuriki's antics while his wife was in labour (Naruko was sure immediately that it had to be Naruto). But honestly, at this point, she'd given up on the idea of meeting Naruto (as much as she really wanted to show him how grateful she was). If it was ever going to happen it should have happened when she was dreaming about him every single week. Now the dreams were growing further and further apart… although they were just as vivid (if not more so) as they had been to start with; they were just too short to learn anything!

Her inauguration was coming soon though, so she decided to focus on that.

The week leading up to her inauguration as Hokage had been mildly surprising though. For the first time in years she had a dream about Naruto's life every single night. Some of them left her rather disoriented and even a bit fearful when she woke (much to her husband's concern). She shrugged it off however, claiming she was simply on edge do to a mixture of excitement and nerves. When the day finally came she thought she was totally ready for anything, except, it would seem, breaking up an argument between her two darling children. Where both of them woke the Byakugan.

And managed to strike her.

Right in the Tenketsu.

The next thing she knew, she was inside her mindscape, Kurama laughing hysterically at her (although he seemed to be a bit affected by the blows too). Although she was a bit dazed, she somehow managed to convince the Kitsune to stop laughing at her (although she knew he would never let her live the moment down). And then she'd heard the strangest mix of a growl and a groan. Which hadn't come from Kurama. Or at least not her Kurama. She found her gaze drawn to her right in search of the source of the sound.

And there he was.

Word Count: 2051

To the Reviewers:
(Anonymous) Guest: I'm glad to hear you like the idea~ I was considering on including Sasuke (and his parallel) in this fic somehow myself... but I decided I wanted to focus more on how Naruto and Naruko relate to each other, and how they differ. Still I'd be interested in seeing something like this for Sasuke ;]

Thanks for the reviews~~!