A/N: Re-written as of March 27th 2024

Decided it was best to get this up before I got on the plane up to work, seeing as I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload while I'm there (the site isn't blocked, but the internet connection is not at all the greatest.)

Hope you all enjoy~


Prologue II: An Insane Proposition


Drip

The sound of a single water droplet echoed around him… but it shouldn't have.

Drip

Another one… yet everything was dark… and all other sensations had left him.

Drip…Drip

"Ne… Naruto?" Soft. Unsure. Another sound that should not have been there.

Drip

"Naruko?" Just as unsure, and clearly confused.

There was slight sloshing now that he never would have noticed if the world hadn't been so void of everything else.

"We're supposed to be dead right?" the now tremulous female voice asked. Light splashing sounds could be heard as feet moved along the surface of the water below them.

Sound… was returning… slowly. Or maybe it had never really left?

"I mean… I thought that's what would happen when it went pitch black." The soprano voice grew a bit louder, and the feet moved faster on the water's surface. "Dead means not feeling anything anymore right? Or like… going to the pure world, or something that this clearly isn't, dattebayo!" The feet stopped shifting, and silence stretched until they were aware of each other's breathing.

Breathing that had been heavy before from phantom pains, emotion, exaggeration, and the weight of finality that came with the end.

Breathing that was now only slightly troubled by one of those things.

"Maybe this is what it's like to be dead?" Naruto found himself responding. He could feel the frown on his face, but he still couldn't see anything at all. Not even the blonde woman he knew was only a few feet in front of him.

There was a scoff, unmistakably from that woman. "An eternity in our darkened mind-scape mashup? Sorry but I don't buy it, ttebayo" the woman responded, and he could practically picture her rolling her eyes. But there was something else he came to the realization of. Her voice was smooth, although still confused. It showed none of the fatigue and pain that had been there before all fell into complete darkness. Much as those things were absent from their breaths. "I mean, I like you and all Naru-nii, but we're a bit too alike to get along for an eternity here in the dark."

Naruto grimaced at the idea. She was definitely right. If the lack of sight didn't drive either of them crazy, then that coupled with spending the rest of eternity with someone annoyingly similar to yourself was sure to drive a person crazy. Sure, Naruto was fond enough of Naruko, his female counterpart. He Thought of her like a little sister after all.

However…that didn't mean Naruto could stand being around her absolutely every minute of every day. Not even for a few days, let alone with no end. Ever.

Oh he certainly understood where she was coming from. That would be a kind of torture.

"That would suck, ttebayo" He muttered, but the hum of acknowledgement told him she had heard it anyway. "Well at least you don't sound like your about to croak anymore."

"You too," the response came immediately, and there was relief in it. "That scratchy croaky voice sounded like crap." She complained, and he found himself slightly reassured by it. By her ease at voicing her complaints despite the circumstances… rather than breaking down. There had been times when they had met, when she'd been terribly overwhelmed… and so had he. He tried to hold that in… but she would let go in this space of theirs, allowing him to do so as well.

So yes, her complaints… they were strangely reassuring now, at the end of it all.

"Sooo aggravating ttebayo." A sigh followed these words, before the sound of feet hitting water reached Naruto's ears again. "You looked even worse though… still hurt?" She asks him in concern.

Naruto shook his head, and then remembered that nothing could be seen. "No. The pain stopped a while ago actually." It was the truth after all. When everything had faded to this darkness, the pain and other sensations had gone with it.

"Mmm… me too… So maybe this really is what death is like then…" A low groan followed these words, followed by a loud splash that was unmistakably Naruko stomping a foot. Naruto had to bite back a snicker. It had been awhile since she'd acted so childishly. But that didn't mean he wanted to set her off on him by letting her catch his amusement.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. Not because it couldn't, but because he stopped himself, lips still slightly parted, but eyes narrowing against what moments before he thought was impossible.

The water was emitting a soft yellow light. Although it wasn't much of a light, it was more than enough to hurt his eyes after the utter darkness of moments before. However there was another reason why this light made him hesitate.

It was all too familiar.

The light of his minds-scape from years ago.

On one specific visit to be exact.

Exhaling sharply, Naruto snapped his head to his right, seeking out the figure of Naruko, fearing that she had disappeared and he was now alone. He had to blink his eyes several more times to clear his vision… but the silhouette of someone was definitely there.

Yes, she still stood there, her features blurry and indistinguishable… but there. Gradually his vision cleared… or perhaps the light brightened. Naruto wasn't sure which, but he was soon able to make out first her form properly… telling her she was decidedly whole again. Not torn up terribly as she had been when this meeting had started. Then finally he could make out Naruko's expression. Which was just as shocked and confused as his. Only she wasn't looking at him, but ahead of her.

"Who?"

The question that the blonde woman posed was too soft to have been intentional, but it hung in the air nonetheless. And had Naruto's gaze flying back ahead of him, searching.

Two figures that were little more than silhouettes were before them. One standing, the other sitting. Both didn't touch the surface of the water, floating just above it. But what stuck out the most was what both figures had in common. They either had horned head plates adorning their brows, or they actually had horns. And both had spheres floating around them.

The Horns immediately made him think of the Otsutsuki. A possibility that initially brought forth wariness and anger both. The majority he had met had not at all been a good thing for his world.

The spheres made him think of the Truth-seeker orbs. Which was also not a good thing… but… they hinted at a less troubling possibility. Pulled at a memory. A memory linked to the glow.

The anger ebbed away.

"... Hagoromo o-jiji?" Naruko's clear but confused tone broke the silence, voicing what Naruto had been thinking.

There was a light laugh, as the features of the man who was floating in a seated position began to come into view. It wasn't long until he could make out the faded, once brown hair of the man, and then the rinnegan's purple hues in the shadowed face. "Indeed." Moments later they could clearly make out the aged face of the Sage of Six paths, who almost appeared to be grinning. "And one you do not yet know, but know of."

He raised an inquisitive brow.

"Again with the confusing speech, ttebayo" Naruko muttered, but her attention had clearly already gone to the yet to be identified figure. "Well… judging by the orbs and horns and stuff, You're another Otsutsuki. And the only one that I can think of that I just know of would be Hamura."

"That would be myself," The second figure spoke, and slowly his pale features came into focus as well. White skin. Pale Byakugan eyes, and age that seemed to rival his older brother.

Wait… no… those eyes… that was not the Byakugan.

Tenseigan? Yes… that had to be it… that was what matched with the… feeling the eyes gave him.

He'd never thought he'd ever see that again.

Naruto furrowed his brow in utter confusion. "What are you two doing here? I mean… last time I saw O-jiji over there was during the war," he stated point blank, pointing a finger at the older (yet younger appearing) brother. "And I only thought I was dead then. So… am I… are we not dead?"

Hagoromo's expression sobered, although it wasn't a frown either. More neutral, but in the eyes of the two Uzumaki it was a bit daunting and foreboding. "Well… Not yet at least." The sage answered, but there was no hope in those words. "But this time I am afraid I must inform you both that there will be no recovery to fight again in either of your worlds."

A sharp intake of breath.

A slow exhale.

Naruko worried her bottom lip, eyes falling to the water's surface rather than looking at the sage any longer. "So pretty much we are dead then," her voice quivered as she uttered the words lowly.

"Essentially, I would say so," another old, sort of gravelly voice spoke. "We have not come to grant you some miraculous escape from death, or a portion of our powers this time. Our mother is not there to be sealed once more." Hamura stated in a matter of fact, flat tone. "Since the two of you lost consciousness in your worlds it's only been a matter of seconds. In two or three more you will die."

"Seconds?" Naruto found himself repeating incredulously. It felt like hours. He stared at the byakugan wielding Otsutuki, willing him to amend his statement. That it was not true. Simply because another five or so hours of this before it was finally over would be torturous.

"Yes, that is indeed the case," The man said much to Naruto's displeasure. He felt the glare forming, and Hamura clearly noticed it, as a wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Naruto's glower darkened. "Time will pass more quickly from this moment onward, Male Child of Prophecy. Regardless of what course of action you or your female counterpart decide on pursuing."

A sigh of relief sounded from beside him, but the blonde man didn't bother to look at Naruko to see her expression. He was more interested in the multiple courses of action they apparently had if what this… slightly infuriating old mad had to say was true. "So… What are the choices then?" He nearly snapped the question.

Hagoromo cleared his throat, drawing the two blonde's attention, although Naruto still clearly wore a glare. The older sage chose to ignore it. "Well, Either or both of you can decide that this is far enough for you, and move on to the pure world," He stated matter-of-factly. "Or you can choose to live new lives in another world, knowing you will never again set foot in the ones you were respectively born into. Or ever see your loved ones as you know them again."

Wide, incredulous blue eyes stared, mouths slightly agape. No response was immediately forthcoming.

Drip

Still the two blondes stared on, perhaps not truly absorbing what they had just been told, or completely disbelieving of it.

"Brother, you forgot to mention the new world would try to reject their souls and attempt to cast them out into an abyss somewhere not quite a part of any reality," Hamura deadpanned. The words were dry, and almost dismissive.

"What the hell, Dattebayo!" Two voices rang out together, previously widened eyes now narrowing into twin glares leveled on Hamura, who seemed completely unperturbed by the nearly seething, still utterly confused looks. Hagoromo didn't seem at all concerned about his brother's words however.

"Well… There is that," the older of the two murmured softly. "However, it is of very little consequence. If it does occur, their souls will eventually drift into some pure world, somewhere." His words, like his brother's, seemed rather dismissive of the little tidbit, "Some when."

"HEY! Why the hell would we wanna do that, ttebayo!" Naruko shouted in exasperation, her blonde braid swinging with the sudden motion of her stomping a foot, kicking up quite a bit of water (splashing Naruto's ankles in the process), only to stomp again, fists clenched at her side. It was way too childish of a gesture for the grown woman that she was. Not that she seemed to care at the moment. Nor did he. In fact… he almost wished he could be that free right now.

Instead of frozen, his thoughts moving a mile a minute, and his body, if one could even call it that, refusing to respond to him at all.

"I cannot Fathom why either of you would make such a ludicrous choice," the younger brother responded boredly. "However, as both of you are lacking in certain departments of intelligence, my brother believes it is possible that you will choose to do so." His expression remained the same, but Naruto saw the slightest twitch in his torso, almost as if he had stopped himself from shrugging. "I am merely here to send you along if you make the highly unlikely and normally in-advisable choice to follow the aforementioned path."

Naruko practically growled at the man, her eyes narrowed into a beastly scowl. If her Kurama had been here, undoubtedly the feral features that they each had once sported in moments of extreme anger would be present.

Ah… what… a painful thought to have. Kurama…

"Your words give me a head-ache…. Hey, o-Jiji! You take over explaining!" it didn't sound like a request, with how annoyed the woman clearly was.

Naruto certainly couldn't blame her though.

"Very well," Hagoromo responded, not at all bothered by her tone of voice, or the now slightly miffed expression his brother wore (although that disappeared moments later). "I shall start by saying… everything you have divined amongst yourselves about different realities is a poor imitation of the truth at best, if not wholly wrong all together."

Silence from both blondes, aside from a short huff from Naruko.

"But the point of my brother and myself being here is not to educate you on the intricacies of other worlds and the flow of time that is likely beyond your comprehension." Naruko's shoulders slumped at these words that were spoken in a tone near amusement. The movement seemed more one of relief than disappointment however. The corner of Hagoromo's mouth twitched, and his rinnegan eyes narrowed slightly in his amusement over her reaction. "Instead it is first to tell you that it is indeed possible to go to other realities, as you must have concluded when we spoke of a different path the two of you could take from here on out."

Silence, accompanied by a nod. Naruto felt that if he wasn't void of… well feeling, he'd probably have a bit of a headache. But so far he thought he was following most of it.

"Secondly, we have come to ask if the two of you will enter into one such world and live new lives there… creating a divergence from that world's path and thus birthing a new thread of reality," The sage explained.

And Naruto was lost all over again. "Eeeh?" He clearly wasn't the only one.

The sage frowned for a moment, as if pondering how to make them understand, before he slowly began to speak once more, brow still furrowed (which sort of made the eye in his forehead bulge, which Naruko thought was creepy as all hell).

"There are many realities, and this is of necessity. Think of it as a tapestry, with versions of all the worlds being their own individual threads," the old man tried. Naruto scrunched up his own brow and tried to think of it like that.

So.. his world, and Naruko's world had been two threads of reality. And if it was like a tapestry, they wove together, with other threads?

It sort of made sense. He nodded, and with a nod of his own the sage continued. "These threads intertwine together, creating and holding together the fabric of existence. When one ends the thread stops, or is cut. Normally the end is held fast by other threads in some fashion" The man went on, and so he tried to picture that too. Perhaps it was kind of like when a loose thread hung off his clothing. Pulling it off usually didn't cause any damage to the shirt.

"But if too many end, then a hole will open up in the tapestry. Too many holes and the tapestry will start to fray before finally unraveling."

Oh… so it was kind of exactly like a loose thread as he thought. Because if that loose thread was from a hole, he knew from experience with threadbare clothes as a child pulling on it could cause the hole to widen, and ruin the clothing further.

Naruto blinked. Naruko blinked. They looked at each other with furrowed brows, before Naruko looked back and spoke hesitantly. "So… existence is like a piece of cloth?"

The sage shook his head, causing Naruko to glower at him now. "It is far more complicated than that, however, if that is what you understand of it, then that suffices for our purposes."

Why mention it was more complicated if their understanding was sufficient? They clearly didn't intend to explain it any more in depth…

How fucking annoying.

"Cloth. Then." The female Nanadaime bit out vindictively. Naruto would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't concerned she'd stomp on his foot (not that he would even feel it.) "So… there was a hole already, and one of the worlds that came to an end and opened this reality hole bigger… to an extent its a problem" Naruko summarized. "Is that what you're trying to say O-jiji?" Her voice sounded calmer now, but the twitch to her brow told Naruto otherwise. Well… they knew which one really had the shorter temper now.

"Yes, that understanding is sufficient. A hole has expanded past the limits of acceptability," he answered. "Which is causing other realities to warp. If left alone, some of the threads could collide, which will make this 'hole' worse. So the boundaries of this hole must be woven back into the fabric… or the hole pulled shut," Hagoromo explained calmly.

And Naruto thought he finally understood what the old man was saying.

"So… in other words you want to send us to this world that ended, some time before it ends and stop it from ending, right?" That had to be it right? Even though the sentence felt a little confusing when he said it out loud.

Hamura's shoulder twitched, but this time Naruto thought it was from stopping something else. His eyes narrowed at what that something else likely was.

Laughter.

"You cannot stop a world from ending when the thread has already been cut, no matter how far back in time you go," Hamura said almost condescendingly. Naruko and Naruto both glared at him once more. If their looks could kill (regardless of the fact that the man was already long dead), Hamura would have died a dozen times over during this conversation. "The Threads cannot extend past where they end." He stated, and he grit his teeth to stop him from cursing at the man. "However a new thread can split off from any thread before that end is reached."

What? New thread?

Hagoromo cleared his throat again, and the pair of blonds turned their once more confused looks back to him. "That is correct. You cannot stop that world from ending. We want you to instead create a new world thread that branches off from the one that has been cut."

Silence again. Naruto and Naruko looked back to each other, confused frowns and questioning looks were shared, and they both came to the conclusion that the other still had the same question. "Why us?"

It didn't matter which of them asked.

"Well, your two worlds happen to be two of the closest threads to the particular cut thread that needs to diverge into a new one." Hamura stated again in his no-nonsense, straight to the point, yet some how dismissive tone. Naruto decided he didn't like him. The sharp glare that returned to Naruko's gaze told him she agreed.

"So… I take it that this hole could somehow… hurt our worlds then?" Naruto asked. He had to. He had to know if this would somehow risk his important people.

Hagoromo nodded gravely. "Your worlds will be fine some decades to come, but they are already starting to tangle. In six decades it is likely the barrier between them will break and the threads will try to merge." The grim look told the pair of hokage's that merging threads was not at all a good thing, though they had no idea why.

"Okay… So I'll do it, dattebayo," Naruto said with a shrug. "I mean, if I don't then it could screw up things for everyone else." Possibly kill them. Well, they would all die eventually. And sixty years down the road probably would mean all his friends were dead… but his kids. And their friends, future children, and grandchildren. They were all important to Naruto even if he hadn't met them yet.

Even though he would now never get the chance to.

He looked over to Naruko to see if she agreed, but found himself staring at a furrowed brow and uncertain eyes. "Hold on… I still have questions," she stated, and he raised a curious brow at what she could be wandering about.

"Go ahead, Female child of Prophecy," Hagoromo prompted in a much kinder voice than his brother.

"Well.. I get why you picked people from our worlds," she said first, and there was an air of hesitance to her voice that… troubled him somewhat. An inkling there… He hoped he was wrong…

"But… why us specifically?" She finally asks. "Why not someone…. Smarter? Someone who's better… tactician?" She questions.

He had a feeling he was right.

"Not all souls are capable of this transference to another world," Hagoromo answered. "We made our selection based on the available vessels in that world, and who has the best compatibility with them." The sage continued. "There are a few others we could send from other points in your timelines, but as you both are already marked by my chakra, that also eases the process somewhat." He goes on.

Hamura clicks his tongue. "It's also because my brother believes you to have the mental fortitude needed to prevent yourself from being thrown back out, once you are there."

He frowns. "Thrown out?"

Hamura nods stiffly. "Souls have a bit of a mark on them from the thread they recently lived in," he explains. "And world threads don't like the mark of other world threads… This is what normally keeps them from merging even when they intersect somewhat."

So… the world they went to would try and reject them.

"This is why it must be only your souls that make this journey," Hagoromo supplies now. "The mark on a soul is malleable to an extent, affected by the body in which the soul resides."

Naruko sighs, then bites at her lip again, eyes trailing away… and he sees it clearly. That old inferiority that from time to time would show itself… the one that he was inadvertently responsible for.

Sometimes she just felt she wasn't as good as him.

Sometimes he would reassure her. But sometimes too it was better not to. Better not to acknowledge that he recognized it. So she wouldn't take that as further fuel for the complex. Now, he felt, was one of those times. So he stood there silently, waiting for her to work through it.

Her lips set in a firm line. "O-jiji… if we go, what exactly are we supposed to do there?" The woman's uncertainty was plain as day in her voice, and caused a frowning Naruto to look at her hands. They were trembling. She was not over it… but she was also not letting it paralyze her completely. So that was… something.

"Whatever you wish, so long as it causes a divergence from the ended world's time-line," It was Hamura who answered, but this time Naruko did not glare at him. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, worrying it harder as she closed her eyes. Had this been reality she likely would have made her lips bleed.

"Okay…. so when did it end then?" Naruto found himself asking. He needed to assuage some of Naruko's concerns, whatever they were. Without pointing out that he was aware of that complex rearing its head once more. The concerns that had nothing to do with it.

So she could make the choice for herself, whatever her decision might be.

"Six decades hence from your deaths," again, Hamura. Damn, he pissed Naruto off. Wait… what?

"How the hell are we supposed to stop something that happened after we died, dattebayo?!" Damn it, these Otsutsuki needed to stop catching him off guard with crazy words, and ridiculous expectations.

"Naruto, calm down," Hagoromo spoke gently, and with a sigh, the blue eyed man turned his attention back to the sage. "It is very simple. You two will be sent back to a time before your births." Before their births? How as that simple, that was even further from the point of the world ending.

But the sage continued on, heedless of his confusion. "This world, like Naruko's and your own, originated from the same thread. It split from that thread in a time before your two worlds split when your genders were determined."

What.

"That's supposed to mean what, Jiji?" He was losing his patience. Though he didn't quite glare… all the glaring and confusion was honestly wearing him out (odd, could a nearly dead person in their mind-scape really experience fatigue when they felt no pain?)

"It means that it has not been separate from your world long enough to have a drastically changed history. In fact, the history is a near clone of the two of yours, with only a few, not as significant changes, such as personalities," again, Hamura. Shut up byakugan Ji-ji.

"Which means?" His irritation laced his voice heavily, although he didn't glare at the other old man this time. His eyes remained fixed on the sage instead.

"Change a major part of the history you know, and you will create a divergence," And there it was. At last.

Change the history that he knew. Right. Simple enough, he supposed? Maybe? Depending on how far back they were sent? Because he wasn't a history buff. But… if this thread was one that split from the same place as his and Naruko's, which seemed to have split… from what he could assume… hold on…

"Does it take time for splits to set or something?" He asks, an idea forming in his mind.

Hamura let out a surprised sort of laugh. "Well, that is an insight I could not expect. Yes, it can take time." The Byakugan-ji-ji agreed.

It could take time… so the split between his and Naruko's thread… It was likely set sometime between the birth of Nagato, and him.

Sometime between two of the most possible 'Yogen no Ko' that Jiraiya sensei had trained. Because Pain in Naruko's thread had been a Nanako, rather than Nagato, and they had never been able to discover if Nanako had been born in his timeline or not…

And that left a wide range of history that this earlier split could have occurred, didn't it?

But Hamura had said the split had occurred when their, his and Naruko's, genders had been determined. That in itself he thought likely hinted that the split was closer to his birth than Nagato's… so Nanako had probably existed, and died young enough Nagato didn't remember, or didn't remember enough to feel it was something he should mention to him. Sometime before his parents were killed by Konoha shinobi then.

He took in a long breath, and then released it in a heavy, steadying sigh. Still this meant that they were going back to a time he might not be that familiar with.

Yet what did that matter? Because if he didn't do it… who would? Well… there had been the implication made that others could be sent. And honestly, perhaps others would be sent to other threads, all things considered. But the Sage, and his brother, believed him and Naruko to be the best ones sent to this thread. He didn't think that highly of Hamura, give how things had gone on the moon, and his attitude now.

But Rikudo Sennin. The sage of Six paths. He did think highly of that man. The man who had seen much of Shinobi history from after his death… the man who realized his mistakes with his sons. A man who was powerful, despite being incorporeal, yet humble, to a point… and trusting of the people left behind in the world. Even if they had taken a path he hadn't wished for, with Ninjutsu.

He trusted Otsutsuki Hagoromo.

Naruto nodded.

Never giving up was who he was. He was going to do this.

"Will you go, Female child of prophecy?" Hamura. Again. Seriously.

Naruko's eyes snapped open, and she glared into the pale ones of the younger brother.

"Damn straight, I'm going! Now shut up and send us, dattebayo!"

The shoulders of both Otsutsuki lowered slightly in something he thought might be relief. Then an blinding array of markings spread out over the inky water below him and Naruko, as the Hagoromo explained, and Hamura seemed to be muttering.

The last thing he sees is the eerie sort of glow of the tenseigan overtaking that of the water, and the array, until everything at all was consumed.


Word Count: 4989


To the Reviewers:

LucilliaNovaDreyar: I'm glad you've taken and interest and are enjoying it so far. Thank you for your kind words~

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